The little voodoo shop

What happens when you're forced to share your life with an angelic being, Xander is about to find that out when his friend is gifting him with a warrior angel to keep him safe in the business of voodo

”Get a pet angel he said, it’ll be fun he said, he will keep the place safe he said. Dear Thoth give me strength to deal with this”, he was done, done! This deal had been bad from the beginning, and four weeks in Xander was ready to strangle the baby angel warrior. Of course he was used to warrior angels coming in and out of the shop by now, since Uriel had made a point of getting them slowly used to being around voodoo and the voodoo priest had grown used to dealing with angels, they were rude and unkind, they frowned and if they hadn’t been so in love with Uriel they would complain holy hell over the smell of the shop and everything the elder angel made them come and get. It had been amusing at first, Xander would mess with them, make the potions even more smelly for them to carry around the different planes, but now it had grown boring, he barely exchanged a word with them when they came to get their chosen poison.

He hadn’t thought it’d be so bad with a live in warrior angel, albeit he had known the guy was young and Uriel had some whatever reasons to place the guy to live with Xander. The voodoo priest wasn’t so sure as to why Ethan actually was there, but he was almost sure it was to drive him up the wall and commit suicide. Maybe Uriel wanted to get rid of him? Now that would be very hurtful. And Xander resisted the urge to go bang his head against the table as he heard the bell that hung upon the front door, needed to get professional, sure, and ignore the statue of an angel standing in his space glaring at the customers. The raven haired priest got up, running his hands through his hair, taking in a long deep breathe to calm his nerves and whip up the customer service smile. Then he entered into the shop side, greeting the couple, vampires �" Xander could tell immortals apart, and he could also tell the f*****g growl on Ethan’s face.

He called out to the couple, telling them he’d be with them in a minute, thankfully the two weren’t too off put by the fact there was a massive warrior angel glaring them down. And thankfully by now Xander wasn’t anymore worried that the man would try to kill him. He had been at first, angels weren’t kind, he had never had the illusion they were kind breed �" he had been killed once by angels, and it hadn’t been a calm and soothing death by any means. When Ethan had first come in he had thought the man might just kill him, the angel was tall and wide, he was made of pure power and muscle and even if Xander liked to think he was fit and he liked to go kick boxing and to the gym, but one look at the angel told him he wouldn’t break a sweat while ripping Xander’s spine in half. But after flinching for three weeks every time the man reached to go and get something, while nearby to the voodoo priest, Xander had finally figured the man wouldn’t kill him, ever. Of course Uriel assuring him over that for the millionth time might have had something to do with it too. Xander’s distrust in people hadn’t formed in this life, he had been cautious for the past six or seven lives he had lived through already. And he definitely wouldn’t say he trusted in Ethan, but he was comfortable enough to stop by the man and give him a glare of his own.

”Behave, and if you keep glaring at them you might as well go outside and stand in the rain”, Xander’s voice was low, almost a hiss even though he knew the vampires probably heard him too, Ethan growled but he didn’t move, he stopped staring at the two customers though which was a good thing. It was Xander’s time to sell his magic. And really he didn’t udnerstand why all the angels were so against vampires, especially sweet kind like the couple were, they were looking at plenty of things, and there was plenty to look at.

The shop was a quaint little place, it was off the main road in an old building with a lot of history, the window was covered with a blanket and there was some tacky signs about palm reading and voodoo spells for sale, like all the fake voodoo shops had. It was all for an illusion, besides actual travellers did bring in some nice money, they wanted the whole ride and Xander gave it to them. Palm reading and s**t included, he could do potions, but he sure as hell couldn’t do palm reading �" he was good at talking s**t though. The inside of the shop was dimly lit, it was mostly black shelves and dark walls, and everything was filled with trinkets, bottles with different coloured liquids in them, insence sticks, orbs of all sizes and colours. Xander liked to say anyone could find what they wanted from there, find their meaning of life. And whether it was a clueless human or a vampire couple �" he would always find something to sell them.

Xander was always dressed for the part too, well he supposed he had been moulded into the part during all the lifetimes he had had on earth. He wore eyeliner, and he always had some sort of bracelets on, whether they were gold bangs, wooden bangs, metal, leather or vowen, it depended on the day, but he didn’t come out of his apartment without them, and he liked to have lots of them too, he had a pendant around his neck, and his simple top fell off one shoulder, but it was long enough to cover his a*s �" today was a leggings day, who said only women can wear them? Besides they looked smoking hot with his worn combat boots. He wasn’t sure if the angel in the room approved of these looks but since when did the man approve of anything Xander did or said?

The dark haired male sauntered over to the couple, greeting them with a pleasant merchant smile, asking what they were out to purchase, and it looked like the sourpuss in the corner wasn’t dampening the mood. After looking through multiple different things in the shop, there was plenty to choose from, they bought some replacement blood as well as some weird little tidbits that would surely fit well in their no doubt gothic home. However Xander was merely happy to make a sale, sometimes the place got slow, no one got hurt, no tourists found their way into his little place, but he always made by. He had a very large regular clientele, which Ethan hadn’t been able to drive away yet, so he had a somewhat steady income.

And the voodoo priest’s mood was lift tremendously by the fact there was more customers coming in, whether to escape the rain or actually make a purchase he didn’t really care, he even managed to shoo Ethan to take a seat off the vision of the customers. The back, where there was some storage space and enough room for a table to eat in as well as make coffee, it also served as the set up for palm readings and other mumbo jumbo, it was divided from the front by a bead curtain, the angel could sit or stand there and be off the way. The best part was he got to show off his french skills with the group of girls looking at everything small and shiny, they were on a holiday from europe �" Xander loved the ones on holiday! He could always ask for a little higher price and they paid it without a hitch, nothing he had in the shop had a prize tag on them, he priced them upon a feeling when the time came to.

In the end he got a lot of trinkets sold, nothing magical, but he didn’t sell anything with magic to normal humans, he didn’t trust them to be able to handle anything magical and he didn’t want to take the risk. He had sold some magic to humans before and then he had had to clean up the mess afterwards, he wasn’t making the same mistake more than twice, or like… four times.

”You sure you don’t wanna taste? Do angels have taste buds? Uriel eats… and he looks like he actually enjoys eating”, Xander waved his piece of tofu in the air in front of Ethan and the angel but frowned at him, Xander was pretty sure the man knew no other look than frowning, or growling, but he supposed those two fell in the same category. Baby warriors usually didn’t have but one face to show and it was honestly getting a bit boring, couldn’t Uriel give him a healer or messenger for a companion, or to be taught human manners or whatever the man was here for.

”Yes we do taste, and commander has been here for a long time, he has his reasons”, the angel sounded gruff too, Xander supposed he wasn’t so used to talking, but whenever he growled a bit at the voodoo priest the raven haired male kind of liked it, he supposed it was because the whole gruff voice sounded strong, and since Uriel would be mighty pissed if Ethan would let someone kill Xander the angel would aid him? Sure Ethan had said Uriel did send him here to offer Xander protection but to be completely honest Xander didn’t completely believe that, why would he be sent an angel to protect him and if they didn’t shouldn’t it be a guardian like what Dexter got? He knew a lot more about voodoo than what he did about intricacies of angelic things and how they worked, but he didn’t see the reasoning behind sending a strong warrior to keep him safe. Xander had dangerous suppliers and customers, but not THAT dangerous.

”Your loss, this is good too. I think they changed the recipe”, he popped the piece of tofu into his mouth, savouring the spicy taste before digging the chopsticks back into the food, this time going for the fried rice, vegan of course. He had long ago developed the habit of filling the air with his voice, he’d speak to the angel, chatter away about everything, the man would rarely answer and if he did it was to frown and growl more. But Xander didn’t actually mind, he was satisfied with just talking to the angel. About the stupid things, like his food, or how he slept, or the lastest episode of his tv shows.

Gradually it changed from complaining about the need to go and get new black eyeliner pen, or how he had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up to feeling of his drink falling all over him, to speaking to the angel about his nightmares, or the trinkets he liked, complaining about annoying customers even. And he could’ve sworn sometimes the angel had other impressions on his face than just annoyance or hatred, but Xander wouldn’t have bet any money on it. Ethan was there only because his commander told him to, and Xander didn’t believe anything else, he had always had trust issues anyway, came with the curse he had on him. But it was rather nice to know someone at least was in the room while he was speaking.

”Alright, your job is to go stand outside, if it rains you can come in… but anywho, if someone asks anything just come up with some mumbo jumbo about Marie Laveau”, Xander was in even more flashier clothes, black, golden rings, his precious black eyeliner and black nails, some white chalk on his face to replicate a skull. It was a dark magic weekend, a celebration like every weekend was, but this time he was putting all in the game, the shop would be busy all weekend, and he needed the little angel to pull his weight. He hadn’t manage to threaten any make up on him. He would, eventually, he just had to figure out how, maybe ask Uriel for some help, the elder angel could force his deciples to do anything. However even this simple task seemed to be too much for the warrior to handle right now and for once it was Xander’s turn to growl at the man, for once couldn’t the man do as he’s told!?

”The voodoo priestess I told you about, she used to be in here, her bones are still here, the strongest voodoo priest there ever has been. All that jazz, you’re an angel you lie all the time, just come up with something”, he didn’t even try to hide his frustration and Ethan scowled, sometimes, most of the time, it was like he was this huge rock, unmovable.

”I don’t lie”, that was the issue here? It was almost adorable how that was the matter Ethan got stuck into. But right now Xander had no time to deal with that, he would need to open up the shop and serve the masses, he could make good money this weekend and he didn’t want Ethan to ruin it all up for him.

”I’m sorry, let me correct myself, when you grow older you learn to lie like a pro. Now will you just please do as I ask you”, he was ready to get on his knees and beg, or call Uriel, that threat seemed to usually work.

”I don’t know anything of… Marie Laveau”, good, the angel was caving in, maybe he saw how stressed all of this was making Xander and he figured it would save the both of them a lot of problems if he would just do ask he’s asked, and Xander was happy to write down a little paper from which the angel could read something for each customer asking him something. It would work well, if the man had a skull drawn on his face it would be even better but beggars can’t be choosers. And when that was done, he again kicked the angel out of the shop, but this time it seemed to be a good choice on his part, for it seemed to mean there was even more drooling women willing to buy anything from him. The longer the angel stood outside, apparently spewing some sort of crap at the people passing by, the more people came in to buy and ask Xander more questions, and they were so thrilled to see him looking like a proper voodoo priest. He took their hands, he blabbed on about something useless which could be taken one way or another about the future, and they ended up buying fake potions and all of the useless trinkets Xander had on sale. By the end of the night the voodoo priest was all smiles, even if Ethan wasn’t.

”This stench is disgusting, I need a shower”, the angel wasn’t in the good mood, definitely not, and Xander but raised his hands up �" the angel was free to go and hang out at the angel haven for as long as he liked. He was getting Xander sour too, the sooner the angel was out the better. The man always seemed to find a way to kick him down when he was happy, like it made the other man happy �" that was a sad thing to think about. And the more he’d mull about the angel’s doings the less happy he’d feel, so instead of going to have a shower himself and then maybe turning on Netflix and watch some more brain rotting movies he figured he could do some more work. Usually after work he curled up into his plush chair in the corner of the apartment to read, there was nothing better in the world than good old books, with paper that smelt like library and wood, and curling up into a ball while getting lost into a world that wasn’t his own. He wouldn’t change books into anything else in the world. But TV was a pretty neat invention, he liked to turn off his brain and stare at the screen every now and then, just like all these modern people.

However not tonight, instead he redid his make up, fixed his messy hair and got some dark clothes on, a couple of old papers with curses written on them in his back pocket in case things went wrong and he was out of the building again. The home he had wasn’t much, one bedroom, and from outside it looked pretty bad, it certainly needed a new paintjob, but since his landlord hadn’t bothered to do it he couldn’t complain. Besides the rent was cheap and he had his own yard so he wouldn’t change anyways, he never lived long enough to really settle down. Plus his house was right off the streetcar line which he could ride to work and back so it was the perfect spot for him, and like so often he hopped onto one, taking a seat in the back and minding his own business. He of course got always stares, as if people were somehow offended by the fact a guy was wearing make up, or maybe he smelled foul like all the potions did, maybe he was just as gross as Ethan said his shop was? Xander growled at his own thoughts, feeling some eyes on him even so late at night and he ignored them, opting to stare out of the window instead, stupid angel and his stupid thoughts.

He got off at the french quarter where his shop was too, but he continued his trip with a bus this time, finding his way to the other side of the city, to the parts where the demons liked to hang out, Xander never liked it, he didn’t like to be around the people that could put him through agonising things, of which half probably wouldn’t even kill him. And he hated the eyes on him, lust and hunger, he usually pushed the trip off for as long as he possibly could. Or he came here when he was already on a bad mood like today, even if he knew tomorrow would be another voodoo festival day and he would have plenty of customers, didn’t do much to appease his annoyance now. The building was the same as it had been for couple of centuries now, it was disguised as a fast food joint, one of those which made different mexican foods to take out or eat in. The demons also knew him, they all took a small step back to let him pass, but not enough to make room, just enough so he could push past and they could leer at him, touch him and feel him, the worst part was he couldn’t exactly do anything considering he needed to get the herbs from here. Bite his tongue and take it, if Ethan would see he’d probably call him a disgusting s**t too right? Sometimes he did consider sending the angel run the errands, but considering a warrior baby’s temper they’d all wind up dead, and Xander couldn’t run a voodoo shop if he didn’t have herbs to make potions with.

So, here he was. Offering the list of what he needed to the so called herbalist and the demon silently read it, gathering everything into a paperbag while Xander waited. He was used to waiting in silence, he opted to not speak or look at anyone when he was here. It was safer and faster that way. But sometimes luck wasn’t on his side, and he nearly let out a pained whine when he felt someone grab his wrist and pull him around, he felt something twist and give in, but he knew to never complain with demons around, suck it and bear with it.

”You smell like angels, been making new friends lately?” at the silent threat he did frown at, pulling his hand back and biting back the wince at it. He’d need to wrap it up when he got home, if he got home, by the looks of it. He supposed the holy of Ethan was rubbing off on him as well.

”What I do on my own time is none of your business, I sell my products to demons and angels alike. You should know it by now”, everyone knew it, he didn’t care to pick apart whom he’d sell things to and whom he didn’t, what they did with what was bought wasn’t of interest either. Angels and demons would fight, whether Xander provided them with potions or not.

”I don’t need angels busting my a*s here”, wow, someone was not happy either, did Ethan come here too? Getting everyone sour around the town now it seemed.

”If they do it’s your own fault, if you’re out of business where do I get my herbs? Wouldn’t be good for my little shop either now would it?” the man growled at him, oh boy was Xander used to people growling at him by now, the demons would have to up their game if they wanted to be scarier than the angel hanging out at his store now. And without a word he went to offer the man a wad of cash, for the herbs, which the demon took and Xander could collect his herbs and be on his way. He was glad dealing with that issue was done soon enough, he didn’t care for arguing with demons about whether Ethan was an issue for them or not, he honestly didn’t know, he still wasnt sure what reason the baby angel had in the shop. Why did everything have to bring up the warrior now? He had come here to forget the man’s very existance! Now his wrist was throbbing, and he had a smelly bag of herbs, and on top of all he was hungry. Tonight was definitely not going as planned, and the man made the sensible decision of not sleeping at all for the rest of the night. The voodoo priest rarely did sleep, it was one of the reasons why he was friends with the red haired hunter, for the same reasons too. After living so many times he often had nightmares of the times he had died, or memories from the past, he’d wake up either in fear or in sorrow, neither a very nice feeling right off the morning. So he didn’t sleep, only once every third night or so, he wasn’t AS stupid as Dexter was, he didn’t push sleep off until he was at the brink of death, 72 hours was the most he could stay awake, and that was with loads of coffee.

But tonight he didn’t try to sleep, he did drop off the herbs at his shop, and then he got something to eat. Even if angels frowned at food Xander loved it, he supposed it was still a thing from his very early lives, when he had been poor and starving, now when he had the chance he enjoyed food. The rest of the night he spent walking around the city, that was the biggest reason why he was fit, he liked walking in the city during the night, especially the quiet streets, with the oldest buildings. There was something calming in the feeling of being all alone and in his own world, and when he wandered off to the cemetery it felt like he was back in the past, when the curse hadn’t felt all that bad, and when he hadn’t felt so lonely in the world. That all was of course just an illusion, for when he returned to his apartment to change his clothes, redo his make up once more and wrap up his wrist he was back to modern days �" back to being on his own and needing to run a shop, with an angel in it, he just hoped Ethan was late today.

The angel was never late, not today either, and Xander couldn’t help but hide the frown he felt like giving the angel. He was usually a nice person, but this was bringing out all his bad habits. But he gave the man a tired smile instead, digging out his keys to let them both into the shop and Ethan was the one frowning at him. Especially at the bandage Xander had around his wrist, it didn’t feel too bad now, unless he used it for something and it would start to throb. Hopefully no one wanted to look at heavy objects today, that would suck.

”You weren’t home last night”, Xander was pretty surprised the angel spoke to him, not by the fact the angel had apparently been to his place, the voodoo priest had figured out a long ago the man wouldn’t just stick around during the shopping hours, he’d stalk Xander while he was at home too. It was almost creepy, he’d have been worried for his life if he hadn’t known Uriel was behind all of this.

”I went to get herbs, food, walk around”, Xander shrugged his shoulders a bit for the angel and this time he was pretty sure the angel wanted to strangle him a bit, but he didn’t, it was almost impressive to watch him restrain himself.

”And you got that there? Is it broken?” the angel motioned for his wrist and Xander was kind of surprised the angel cared, but then again he knew he didn’t, he cared what Uriel would say, and the elder angel wouldn’t be happy if he’d find out something had happened and Ethan hadn’t been doing his job right? Not that Xander thought Uriel would actually be that upset, sure Xander was Dexter’s friend but he didn’t see a reason for the angel to be sad if someone killed him �" which is why he didn’t understand why he had an angel bodyguard now. Ethan probably thought he’d get reprimanded if he let Xander get hurt, so it made sense to be upset about something like this. The voodoo priest could do nothing but offer him a shrug.

”While getting the herbs yes, I don’t think so, I’m no healer”, of course he could brew potions and place curses, but he wasn’t actually capable of healing, voodoo magic didn’t work the same way healers did. And his answer to everything was to put a bandaid on it and hope it would go away, so no he wasn’t a reliable source to ask help in any kind of open wound or physical problem. Ethan holding out a hand didn’t make much sense to him either, and he didn’t even deny that he simply stared at the man with a confused look on his face, maybe he was too tired to try and deal with this now? He didn’t even remember to put the skull make up on! He’d need to fix that before the celebration and the people started flooding in.

”I have tended some wounds during work”, ah yes, warriors usually knew something about treating wounds, came with the work territory. Xander didn’t ask more, he went to hold out his hand to the man and he was surprised how gentle the angel managed to be. Maybe he put in his best effort knowing Xander didn’t like pain, any pain, he could take a lot, again with his past he had taken a lot of pain before. But he would admit it would destroy whatever mental healthe he had, hell, he even hated going to the dentist because of the pain, and he was pretty sure he had complained about dentist or something else to the warrior. Maybe the man actually listened to what he said? That didn’t seem likely but Xander was thankful the angel was careful to unwrap his wrist, then moving it around a bit, making the voodoo priest frown at the man, complain a bit at the pain, but the angel looked rather satisfied when he went to wrap it all up again.

”It looks like it’s just sprained, you should put something cold on it”

”Yeah, maybe later, now I have to prepare for the second day of the celebration”, he didn’t even pay mind to the man frowning at him, he was too used to the whole frown, growl thing, so he dismissed it alltogether, instead he went to organise all the herbs into the glass jars on the shelves. He kept them out for everyone to see, mostly because humans and often non angels found them rather intriguing to see, some roots were blood red, or purple, there was some herbs whom were bright red and blue. They made a nice decoration in the shop, so he would keep them out, same with some rare angel herbs and even some feathers from many kinds of winged beings. He needed to ask Ethan if he could keep the feathers the man would molt around the shop when the time would come, but that was an issue for another day.

He got his make up done before he needed to open up, and he even got to whine a skull make up onto the angel, it took a lot of whining and being annoying but he even got it done, even if the angel was still growling and calling it all stupid and useless. Xander was kind of impressed how the man still hadn’t figured out Xander ignored all of his growling, but Dexter had told him on multiple occassions how stubborn baby angels could be. Xander could assume he had only scratched the surface of that stubbornness.

And the skull mask worked even better! It was again a busy day, and even if after just an hour of serving the customers Xander’s wrist was throbbing he was able to ignore it, and maybe slip some herbal rub on it to numb the pain when the customers were all busy. He made loads of money and he had somewhat fun on predicting future with the whole vague things to blabble to the tourists, he even entertained a were by telling her all sorts of useless stuff, but she seemed so sad and Xander’s endless chatter always brought a smile on customers face, so he was at least good on that. Ethan just didn’t appreciate his gift!

Though by the end of the night he was wiped out, and he even trusted Ethan to grab his keys and lock the door, blow out the candles in the window �" those were magical, wouldn’t set anything on fire even if they were touching the blanket or the ads. Usually Xander didn’t like to let the angel touch anything, he didn’t want the man to throw up or gag on his things, since apparently angels were too precious and couldn’t take any of voodoo, and he didn’t like letting other people do his work. He was bad at sharing workload, he had worked in the shop alone all of his time, there was certain way how things should be done, and he didn’t think Ethan had any clue how things should be done. But since Xander had also forgotten to get anything for lunch and he had lived on crisps and a cookie for the past 18 odd hours, he didn’t have any energy to argue this. So while the angel was locking the door the voodoo priest was looking through his collection of take away menus, he ate take away a lot, he liked spending time more at the shop than his home so he didn’t cook much. Take away was so easy, if only he could choose what he wanted. And when he was getting the money out so he could go and get his dinner, but Ethan was there again with his hand stretched out for him, what now? Xander either frowned or looked so quizzical the angel actually thought he should explain himself.

”I’ll go get it, apply ice to your wrist”, well that was a surprise, maybe the angel took pity on him? Or maybe he didn’t want to deal with more injuries, like… whatever could happen while walking couple of blocks to get some food. Yet again Xander was too tired to argue, instead he handed over the money to the angel, writing down his order for the man.

”Just make sure it’s vegan gumbo, same with pancakes, please”, he really didn’t want to end up with a surprise of mouthfull of meat, not only would it be a huge displeasure but considering how many years he had lived without meat he would probably feel sick from it. Thankfully the angel nodded his understanding, leaving to find the right place. Xander wasn’t sure how well the angel actually knew the area yet, but he didn’t expect him back too soon, he could only hope. While he waited he did as he was told, there was some ice packs in his small fridge and pressing that to his wrist felt amazing, he went as far as to lean back in the chair behind the counter and he was drifting off when he heard the door again, food! Oh Xander was up that moment and his face was split into a bright smile as he could smell the gumbo the angel had brought him.

”You’re my hero!” the angel looked more uncomfortable than ever with the happy voice he was greeted with, and the fact Xander kept thanking him and telling him what a saviour and a nice guy he was while stuffing his face with the gumbo and the pancakes, they were all vegan too so Ethan had done well, followed every wish. And Xander supposed it was a refreshing change to see the angel squirm around on his feet because he was uncomfortable while getting praises rather than because he thought the smell or something Xander did was disgusting. It was almost cute, in some distant way the voodoo priest could see why Florent liked to keep his pet angel around, even if Xander was sure the healer yelled at the angel more than anything else.

 

Nightmares kept him up the nights again, the air was already turning cooler for the year, not that it ever got cold in New Orleans, but cool enough to sleep better �" though it seemed not help in his case right now. And whatever was going on it was getting steadily worse, he was not only exhausted because he got an hour or two of sleep every night, the nightmares were disturbing and they plagued his mind even when he was awake. He could hear the scratching from the sleep echo in his empty apartment, and he could imagine the claws of whatever kept scratching his windows in his nightmares crawling through his shop floor towards him. And if he dared to nod off he would be jolted awake by hearing the sound again, the high pitched scratch on glass, more scratching on his windows, and when it would break whatever was trying to get in would come for him �" the gut instinct told him if that happened dying was the least of his worries. This wasn’t like his normal nightmares of his past lives, this was something new and something he wasn’t used to, it reminded him of his childhood, of the times when he had dreams and he didn’t know what they were and they scared the life out of him. He hated the feeling of not knowing what was after him, in dreams or awake. He almost jumped as Ethan placed a cup in front of him on the counter, thank Wadjet they were having a slow week… since when this was THEIR business?

”What’s for dinner?” Xander had been able to see gradual changes, the angel wasn’t so hostile anymore, he could tell when Xander was tired or not in a good mood, and instead of calling him and his shop stupid or gross the warrior had shifted towards bringing him a cup of coffee or tea, whichever he happened to pick first from the cupboard it seemed, and sometimes the angel went to get him food. During times like these, when Xander was beyond exhausted, unable to form a coherent thought.

”Uh… vegan tacos?” he really had no clue, anything would do, and the angel left before he could even give him any money to pay for the food, oh well, he’d just have to pay the man back when he was awake again, it wasn’t like the angels were ever short on cash. And the main thing was he got to eat, it was the best part of his day so far, and he even agreed to go home earlier, letting the angel close the place down. He did trust Ethan with some things, not many, he still didn’t like to share any of the work, it was against his nature by now, but he was too tired to argue, honestly he was happy to surrender the key to the angel and walk out of the place. He was barely holding it all together to hop into the right streetcar that would take him home, and it took him all the willpower to not fall asleep in the transport, to make it all the way till his apartment before he would go have some more nightmares.

If he had been more awake he’d have paid more mind to the empty swing, moving on it’s own while he walked past the empty playground. It seemed like nothing, but he was a voodoo priest, he’d have known better if he paid any mind to it, he’d have figured his dreams and such things would have a connection. But right now he didn’t care, he didn’t hear the creaking of it, the chains begging to be oiled before someone would use it again, the voodoo priest was far too tired, he walked right past it, into his little one bedroom apartment that was nice and cold for the rest of the night. He didn’t care for washing off his make up, or brushing his teeth, his clothes were dropped onto the floor when he managed to shake them off, he was out of it as soon as he hit the bed.

Only to wake up to the nightmare again, the same one, someone scratching on his window and like he always did he moved enough on the bed to lift his head and check if there actually was someone on the window, no one �" as per usual. And with a string of curses he rolled onto his other side, he was getting fed up with this, and he wasn’t sure whether to turn to alcohol or pills to fix it, maybe he ought to actually ask the wolf healer for help. The priest’s cursing was cut short when his eyes fixed onto the tall mirror in his room, he panicked. No one would blame him. That’s where the scratching came. From his mirror. From the demon.

He had never been awake so fast. The glass would break sooner rather than later and before Xander was even going through a plan in his mind, he could still hear the scratching and the crackling of the glass of his f*****g mirror, he was grabbing his phone, flailing his hands at the table by his bed. Ethan was on a speed dial, just in case, just for moments like these, thankfully the angel had got himself a phone. He didn’t put the phone to his ear, he was far too busy to grab the chalk off the table, but he could see from the screen someone picked up.

”There’s a demon here! Could use some help, a lot of it, f**k!” there was a particularly loud crack from the mirror and it chilled Xander to the core, the demon was staring at him, clicking it’s tongue and showing him it’s sharp teeth. The voodoo priest managed to draw some protection symbols around him, it’d last for long enough for him to get some clothes on before he would be the f**k out of the place. He didn’t know if Ethan was coming, maybe he should’ve called Dexter instead, but then again what could the redhead do from hours of drive away? Send his husband? Yeah didn’t seem likely.

The demon lunged at him.

There was shards off the mirror everywhere, and the voodoo priest shielded his face from them with his arms. He didn’t have weapons at hand, his offensive curses were in the back pocket of his jeans that he had stripped in the living room while walking to the bedroom. He had the chalk in his hand, that was all there was in the room. He had managed to pull on pyjama pants, but that was it. The surge of relief washed through him when the protective circle did keep the demon at bay, but the circle was weak, it wouldn’t hold for too long, he didn’t have time to do better and altering it now would break the spell. However as he looked down he realised his error, there was a piece of glass in the circle, not big enough to defend himself with, but big enough to let the demon know of his error too.

The circle kept demons at bay, not materia.

”Axra min kida mafiis”, nothing shittier than this, he made such a beginner mistake, but maybe the demon had relied on that, Xander hadn’t slept well for couple of weeks, he could be trusted to make all the mistakes like this. And he could do nothing but shield his head and neck again as the demon took the chance to hurl all the piece of glass at him. It hurt like a b***h, he was covered in scratches, couple of deeper wounds, and he could hear the demon howl with laughter, glad someone was having fun. And the voodoo priest felt the thrum of energy as the demon pushed against the protective circle he had drawn, it would give in, one moment and it would give in. His only chance was to get out of the room from the window, it was slightly open, it always was when he slept, he just needed a moment to reach it. The man took a deep breathe, okay, he could do this. On a count to three.

”wi’yaw...” he didn’t get further than one when the circle gave in. The priest managed to avoid the claws aimed at his chest as he struggled to get to the window, he didn’t make it, one of the hands grabbed his wrist, pulling him back with enough force to slam him down onto the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of his lungs. Panic settled in again. He wasn’t a warrior, not without proper knives or a spear, and his movement was slow, he was tired. Where was Ethan?

Xander saw the demon’s mouth open into a sharp toothed grin. F**k, s**t, f**k. Next thing the voodoo priest knew was a blur, he felt the sharp nails on his wrist scratch him, but he was pulled back. Something glistening and sharp cut the demon’s arm by the wrist and it let go of Xander. He could feel the increase of energy in the room, the power humming in the cool night air, and then he was pressed back agaisnt the wall. Behind the warrior angel, what felt like in safety. And the warrior didn’t waste time to destroy the demon in the room. To say Xander was impressed was an understatement. The warrior even dismissed the knife he had had, instead pounding onto the demon with his fists, breaking it’s face in, probably breaking all of the bones it had before he was done. The warrior always looked… well not too intimidating, maybe it was the beard or the fact he looked like dutch fisherman, he looked strong but he didn’t look Dexter or Remiel style freak strong. Or maybe it was because Ethan was calmer, he hadn’t so far ended up in a screaming match like the two mentioned before. Xander kept pressed to the wall even when the warrior turned to look at him, the voodoo priest felt he was shaking lightly.

”Are you badly hurt?” Xander took a moment to understand the words, his mind was dragging on, and he was a bit surprised to hear english, he always reverted back to egypt when he got too tired, or scared, right now he was both. He looked down at his battered form when he managed to process the question and after a moment of listening to his body he shook his head as a no. He didn’t think he was badly hurt, cuts and bruises here and there, nothing life threatening. The angel nodded a bit going to grab the demon’s body, and all of it’s parts getting rid of all of it, disappearing from the house for a moment. Xander didn’t know what angels did to dispose of demon bodies, and he didn’t want to know, nor did he want to sleep, he was tired yes, but he was too shaken up. His window was broken now too, thanks to Ethan using it as a shortcut in, and there was the shards from the mirror too. So of course, like any adult capable of making good decisions he decided to try and clean up instead of sleeping, he should’ve probably taken care of the wounds he had too, but that would be next.

”What are you doing?” Xander almost jumped to the roof at the sound of Ethan’s voice, and he turned around fast enough to drop half the shards he had gathered onto a paper plate. He was sure he was going to have a heartattack before tonight was over, and he kind of felt like bursting into tears, he was that tired.

”Cleaning? The… reflective, see through thing, got smashed”, it was harder to grasp words in english, and he frowned a bit at himself, trying to figure what it was actually called, while Ethan glanced at the window, and Xander was already by then so lost in his own thoughts he kind of got scared again as the angel went to take the paper plate off him. But the voodoo priest let go of it, letting the angel put it aside.

”You need to sleep”, some part of Xander’s brain made a note on how the angel put an effort into sounding calm and he spoke in quiet tone, almost like dealing with an infant. Uriel would be proud, Xander would need to tell the angel, maybe Ethan was done wiht the whole training thing now, he had picked off some humanity, maybe Uriel needed him elsewhere? The thought of the angel leaving, or getting replaced by someone else, was oddly melancholic, he’d come to enjoy the angel around. Especially since Ethan didn’t frown so much anymore, and the angel had a touch making good coffee. The voodoo priest didn’t come to his senses until he was already sitting on his bed, and it was his turn to be frowning at the angel.

”I just had a demon from my mirror, I can’t sleep now!” he motioned for the broken mirror in the room and Ethan glanced at it too, but the angel went to offer him the blanket anyway, Xander took it, it felt like he was being rude if he wouldn’t have taken it.

”The demon is dead now”, the angel pointed out, and Xander didn’t fight the man when he went to take a look at the wounds he had got from the shards of glass and getting pushed around in them on the floor. And after Xander had pointed out the drawer with plastics, when Ethan had described the item to the great detail since Xander’s now half arabic half ancient egyptian mind couldn’t comprehend what the hell was a plastic and what he needed it for, the warrior did cover some of his wounds, mostly on his arms. Everything else seemed to have stopped bleeding now and they were only a bit sore, nothing too bad, not right now, tomorrow morning might be another thing, or afternoon, he didn’t know what time it was right now.

”You need rest”, well the angel got that right, but Xander knew if he closed his eyes he’d see the demon again, he’d have more nightmares fo what happened, he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep, not tonight. Not unless he brewed a real potion to knock himself out, he had everything he needed at the shop, but not here. But the angel didn’t look like he was about to entertain a no as an answer. But Xander wasn’t moving to lay down either, he was stuck in place.

”I’ll stay on guard”, Xander looked up at the angel standing in front of him, right now he was really glad Uriel had placed someone to stick around him, and before the angel had a chance to move and go find a place where he felt the best to stay on guard Xander had grabbed the man’s hand. It was warmer than he had thought, not as rough either, and he dwelled on that thought for a moment before finding what he was about to say. Ethan seemed stuck on place, as if moving a finger would shatter reality or something just as bad. If Xander hadn’t been so tired he’d have found it really amusing.

”Stay here, and I’ll try, please”, the angel didn’t even need to think, instead he offered Xander a nod immediately, thankfully. And relief coursed through the voodoo priest, he wouldn’t be alone in the house, he was safe. He went to get comfortable on the bed again, patting the space on the bed and after looking like he debated on the decision Ethan took a seat on the bed. It took the voodoo priest a while to fall asleep, couple of times he jerked back awake when he could still hear the sounds of scratching, and he still saw the demon lunging to him, the malicious air was ever present in his sleep. And at some point he went to grab onto Ethan’s hand again, holding on for his dear life as he did so, until he finally managed to fall asleep.

He must’ve been asleep for the whole day because it was dark again when he woke up, and he almost felt bad for the angel, stiff as a board while Xander realised he had somehow tangled himself around the man’s waist, most likely after the warmth the angel provided. And in his defence he apologised plenty as he pulled away, let the angel go and clean up the shards off the floor, which the man seemed more than eager to get done when he was free. Xander was slower to get up, it had been a long time since anyone had slept with him, or stayed near him while he slept. He hadn’t loved anyone for many lifetimes, he had been alone for long and he had been content with it. He’d have been cruel to love someone only to know he’d leave them behind, but having Ethan close was nice. Though he knew it was a once in a lifetime thing, a mistake, he wouldn’t have his hopes up for anything.

 

”Gumbo again?”

”Pizza! Extra cheese please”, they had fallen into some sort of a pattern, Ethan would still glare people around the shop, but he was better at hiding it, the angel would make Xander coffee and tea and he would bring him food, the angel even paid for the food off his own pocket, Xander had tried to argue but since Ethan had pointed out he had plenty of money to spare the voodoo priest had given in easy. If a man wanted to treat him to food who was he to say no? He should be flattered, no one had bought him food for a long time. And while Ethan was running for the food, Xander didn’t even need to remind the man to get him the vegan option either, the voodoo priest usually spent making the potions. On a good day he could leave the front door open too, so the shop would air out before the angel was back. He knew the warrior had got used to all of the smell by now, but Xander didn’t try to make it worse fort he man now. He did mess with the other warriors who happened to pass by, and even though Ethan still frowned at that he didn’t do it as much as before, instead he reprimanded them if they called Xander disgusting or insulted him. Xander was most glad about that, he had someone watching his back.

He would still thank the angel plenty as he brought him food, like he always did, setting the pizza down in the back and eating while he went through the paperwork. Xander hated paperwork, and he usually neglected it until the last minute, or he bribed a demon to do it. Demons were good at it, they found the loopholes, ways to cheat the system and pay as little in taxes as possible. Xander had been crawling to the same woman for years now, she’d chew his ear out for taking such a bad care of his paperwork and receipts, but in the end she always got everything done in recort time and the shop was saved. And that was all that mattered for the voodoo priest. His shop was everything he had in his life, his pride and joy, it was what he was married to.

The raven haired man was only brought back to the world at the sound of the bell above the door, and the pulse of energy that entered in, or maybe the void, something familiar. And he could feel Ethan’s energy still, like waiting for something, it was ominous. And he got back out to the front before a fight could break out, he still didn’t completely trust in the young warrior to not try and maim a demon when given the chance. Today there was no fear of that. And unlike Ethan whom seemed to turn into stone at the sight of the man entering the store Xander broke into a huge smile when he recognised the guest. And in his haste to cross the distance so he could hug his old friend welcome he missed how the warrior almost moved to grab him and make him keep his distance.

”Gavreel! What brings you here? It’s been years”, the death angel responded to the embrace, chuckling a bit at the excitement of the human, and after a moment he pulled back a bit, keeping the voodoo priest at arm’s length and taking a look. The familiar lines of not sleeping enough were there, but perhaps not as deep as they sometimes were, he was well fed though, Gavreel could smell the food in the shop, masking the smell of all the potions and herbs the voodoo priest had in there. But most of all, it had been centuries since he had seen the ravenette this… bright eyed he supposed was the best word for it. He looked alive, happy, full of life �" and Gavreel had an inkling it had something to do with the warrior angel watching his every move.

”I heard Uriel gave you a… what is he? A bodyguard? Errand boy?” Gavreel looked at the warrior and he could see the familiar frown, oh it had been a long time since he had mingled anywhere near warriors, they stayed away from him and Gavreel didn’t feel like he needed friends. Very rare death angels had friends, especially other angels, most angels avoided them, Xander was an exception, Gavreel had been the angel to reap the man’s soul for the very first time, and every time after that. It was an odd sort of friendship but it worked for them well enough, Gavreel had made sure to check up on the human whenever he had a chance. Especially when the man was younger, offer a meal or two, do whatever he could while he was on earth, unfortunately for someone as old as Gavreel he usually reaped elder angel souls, more fine work.

”A friend Gavreel, he is called a friend. And my hero, but that’s the nickname I gave him. Hungry?” Xander gave Ethan a bright smile too and it was obvious for Gavreel, the whole reason why Xander was this happy was the warrior angel. Gavreel made a mental note to send a message to the elder angel, Uriel, he had never actually met the man �" despite the fact they were roughly the same age, maybe hearing and seeing the now elder angel as a young warrior had put him off? But he’d write a little thank you note for the angel, if someone had managed to make the voodoo priest happy again they deserved a thanks, Gavreel would owe the elder warrior a favour. Gavreel glanced at the younger angel in the room, looking as uncomfortable as a warrior angel could, he almost shook his head but he understood it. Warriors more than any other angel had a reason to grow to be uneasy while Gavreel’s kind was around, and Gavreel was old, he had a say on whose soul would be recycled and whose wouldn’t. Maybe it added some intimidation for angels much much younger than him.

”I’m an angel, I don’t feel hunger. But I’ll entertain you, what are we having?” he finally let the voodoo priest pull away and lead the way towards the table where he had been eating. Gavreel saw from the corner of his eye the warrior moved so he could keep an eye on them, it was always kind of funny, they really should start teaching the warriors more of how the death angels did their job. If he had been there for a soul he’d have taken it already, this was a social call, Uriel needed to up his teaching game. The death angel thanked the voodoo priest for the piece of pizza he was given, and sure enough it tasted alright. Gavreel wasn’t much into eating, he did occassionally, he had learned mostly so he could share food with the voodoo priest when he was young and starving, it worked better to share what he was having rather than buy the kid his own meal. It was a way of showing the food wasn’t poisoned either. Dealing with suspicious kid was a work sometimes. And despite the warrior angel staring at Xander the whole time they were sitting down, the voodoo priest was telling Gavreel about everything that was going on, it had been a while since the death angel had been around, there was a lot to catch up to. But he found himself just lost in the radiance from the voodoo priest, ah Gavreel almost chuckled, he felt like a proud father. He was getting soft with age.

And the proof of it was the bottle of vodka the voodoo priest managed to pull out of nowhere, Gavreel hadn’t even thought people were allowed to have them in the shops, let alone pull it out so casually, at least they all had the sensibility to lock the front door before any customers walked in on the shop owner getting wasted. Gavreel didn’t say no to the drinks the voodoo priest poured him, he couldn’t get drunk with human stuff anyway, but the taste wasn’t horrible, and he didn’t want to let the man down by saying no. So the evening turned into multiple drinks, but it was nice, and it was rather cute how every time Xander poured a drink he did go ask if the younger angel would like one too, only to be turned down, but the man could never take a no for an answer anyway. Maybe that’s why Gavreel had come to look at the human as if he was his own child in this world, so positive and full of energy even if he had been let down by life so many times. Gavreel couldn’t fathom how it must feel to know you’re about to die, yet the human still made a living for himself, he had a life, some friends… he was still surviving to his best extend.

Of course sometimes that also meant the voodoo priest would drink until he was oblivious to the world around him, and Gavreel couldn’t blame him to be honest, anyone in that situation would drink, Gavreel knew warrior angels who ended up drinking because they saw others of their kind die. Xander died himself, it was bound to drive him to drink. Gavreel didn’t stop him from having more drinks, however he did switch their positions, pouring the drinks for the voodoo priest, a little more of the mixer and less of the vodka, the priest would be having a headache in the morning that much was for sure. And Gavreel almost felt bad when he told the voodoo priest he should be going, Xander could present a rather impressive sad eyes when he needed to.

”I haven’t seen you for ten years! You should stay for longer”, good thing the voodoo priest didn’t try to get up from his seat, Gavreel wasn’t completely sure if he could stay up if he did. He patted Xander’s hand, pulling away from the man and taking the left of the vodka with him as he went, he placed it off reach before stopping by Ethan.

”Take him home, tuck him in bed, and keep up at what you’re doing, he likes you and you seem to make him happy. But by your maker if you hurt him Uriel will be the least of your worries”, the warrior seemed to understand the simple orders, and even the little threat, Gavreel was old enough to throw such threats around. He wasn’t strong physically by any means, nor was he trained to fight, no death angel was �" they didn’t need to fight. But he knew people, and he was old enough to pull strings on someone dying, any angel should be able to tell it from the aura he carried, he wasn’t just death, he was the very root cause of death. Gavreel returned to the table, placing a kiss on the voodoo priest’s head, it was sad to leave, he wasn’t sure if he saw the man again before he died, some things were hidden even from the top angels of death.

”Look after yourself, and send for me if you need anything. Abuse this… friendship with Uriel if you need help, okay?” the priest was nodding for him but Gavreel wasn’t completely sure if the male actually remembered anything in the morning; ”now excuse me, I have some souls that need reaping. I’m already late”, he gave the warrior angel a smile before leaving the place, from that moment on it was up to Ethan to take care of the voodoo priest.

When Xander woke up the next morning, with a splitting headache and a baby warrior sitting in a chair in the corner of the room watching his every move he wasn’t sure how the angel had managed it. But everything seemed to be in order, the voodoo priest glanced at the mirror, it had taken him a while but he had got one back into the bedroom �" he was a vain person what could he say? He could see he hadn’t washed off his make up, and he could taste he hadn’t washed his teeth either, but he had slept, and apparently Ethan had been watching his every breathe, if it had been anyone else it’d have been creepy, but Xander was kind of used to Ethan staring at his every movement.

He rolled around in the bed for a moment, and he could see the angel was both confused and worried by his antics this morning, but in the end Xander did get up, dragging his feet to the kitchen, the warrior was right behind him.

”Do you need food?”

”Dear Anubis no”, the warrior looked kind of shocked at the force of the answer, no, Xander wasn’t going to ever eat again, nor was he going to drink, he was pretty sure he was about to die right now. He rummaged through his cupboards finding some painkillers to take before he escaped the room to have a shower. He could feel Ethan hanging around in the house and he didn’t really mind, he had come to feel safe when the angel was around. The voodoo priest didn’t feel much better when he was out of the shower, he didn’t throw up but he wasn’t feeling well.

”You should rest more”, Xander frowned a bit but he went to shake his head as a no, he couldn’t afford a sick day, not with the tourists around for the celebration again and they all of course wanted voodoo something when they came down to New Orleans.

”I’ll run the shop, sleep. Call me if you need me”, the angel once again didn’t actually give Xander much choice, the man was out of the door and apparently going to open the shop for Xander. The voodoo priest didn’t even try to hide the stress that put on him, no one opened his shop for him, no one ran the shop for him, ever, he didn’t trust in people enough to let them take care of his precious baby. Thankfully he fell asleep again, so he couldn’t worry about this too much, and when he woke up again it was already getting dark, much of his faith could be put into the one picture �" he called Ethan the first thing, but the angel seemed to have everything under control, like he always did. He had made sales, and cleaned up the shop floor and he asked once more what Xander wanted to eat. Even if the voodoo priest still wasn’t sure if he could eat, he would take the offer. The voodoo priest had learned to never say no to food. Besides somewhere deep inside his mind he could always pretend it was a date, no matter how stupid that was.

 

It grew rare for the angel to leave the shop for much anything but food or necessities Xander needed. He took on his case to go get the roots and the herbs from the demons as well, since it was more dangerous than a normal case the angel argued it would put Xander into unecessary risk, and the voodoo priest had long ago figured out if there was something the warrior had decided he would do �" it was no use arguing. Besides in all honesty, after Xander had figured maybe the man wouldn’t kill the demons while he was there, he let the man tag along for one ride. The whole trip to get the herbs he had been terrified the angel would kill someone, or that the demons would attack the both of them �" the worst freaking business trip in all of his lifes by far. But it had all gone without a hitch. Xander gave the angel credit, a f*****g loads of it, despite all the taunting and calling the angel with multiple different names, and speaking demon languages nearby, the angel still walked in and out looking like a stone. Staying almost too close to Xander the whole time, they got the herbs, and they got out alive �" after which the voodoo priest decided to have couple of drinks because he deserved it. Howeever after it he had let the angel go and do it on his own, and so far the man hadn’t been killed nor had he killed the demons so everything was going well enough.

Usually when the angel went to run the errands Xander would head home and sleep, or eat, he had time to sit back and read as well, it was almost surreal �" he hadn’t had so much free time since he had been a teenager. But tonight he stayed at the shop, he closed the place up and he figured he’d do paperwork, maybe brew some potions and what else he could do so he wouldn’t need to do that in the future. Anything that kept him busy and he wouldn’t be thinking of the nightmares. He still had them but they weren’t usually so bad, not like they were now. He almost wanted to ask Ethan to stay with him through the night and hold his hand while he slept, but he didn’t want to push that on the angel. So he stayed up, to do whatever he could get his hands onto in the shop, and he didn’t even look up when he heard the door again, Ethan had his own key now �" he could come and go in the shop as he saw needed, and many times when Xander got there the man was already inside and doing little things before opening, sweeping the floor or organising the things that had been misplaced by the customers the day before. It was all therapeutic in a way, Xander had had to let go a little because of it, he wasn’t so obsessed with how things were in the shop now, he could relax more.

He only looked at the angel when the man placed something on the table before him and after a moment or two of studying of the necklace, with wolf teeth and fangs that were obviously from vampires, the voodoo priest broke into a big smile. This wasn’t the first time the angel brought him something more than just the herbs, actually it was getting increasingly more usual for the angel to bring him… gifts? Xander wasn’t completely sure what to call them, but they were always interesting, most of the time something that would be pricey in the shop as well, and it always brought a smile to the voodoo priest’s face. It was flattering to think the angel thought of him so much as to bring him gifts, even if Xander would place them on sale, it was still nice to think about him.

Today was different though, he didn’t manage to put the necklace down when all of a sudden the angel was on him, hugging him, almost scaring him to the death, this was the last thing the voodoo priest had thought the angel would do. But when he relaxed, and went to wrap his own arms around the angel he relaxed into the motion. It had been a long time, ever since Gavreel had been around couple of months ago, when he had been so close to another person. Ethan was warm and he was taller and wider than Xander, leaning against the man’s chest and closing his eyes while Xander soaked in the comfort the simple hug provided him. This was completely surprising but he liked it, he could even get used to it, he knew he was, he had developed feelings for the angel, even though he kept them tightly closed in a secret box in some part of his brain. Ethan was nice to him, he was also handsome and the angel was always there by Xander’s side, how could he not develop feelings for the man? The angel’s no nonsense and honest attitude was a turn on too, it was refreshing, intriguing �" Xander enjoyed it. When the man would leave it would truly break the voodoo priest’s heart, that much was for sure. How cruel of Uriel to do this. He was comfortable there, leaning onto the man and he didn’t want to let go but he was jerked back into reality by the angel pulling away. Ethan looked embarrassed, maybe little upset too, and he refused to look at Xander.

”This is stupid”, of course, what else would the man say? But even though Xander should’ve been used to it, as the angel pulled off, bringing the distance between them he… he felt hurt? He didn’t even have any reason for it, there was no reason to get upset either to be honest, but he felt upset anyway, upset and hurt. And he usually didn’t lose his patience, he could deal and take much everything that came his way, he knew how to ignore peoples mean words and smile through them. Today was different in this aspect too, the voodoo priest didn’t know why he was so unstable emotionally all of a sudden. Maybe because he liked the angel and this was just mean for the man to do. Xander couldn’t say for sure.

”Get out”, he spoke before he even thought about it and the warrior angel looked shocked by it , Xander couldn’t blame the man, he had never told the warrior to get out of the shop before. Not like this. He had told the man to go outside, to stand on guard there or if he wouldn’t stop glaring he should go outside, but… he had never told the man to get lost, until now. Just because of a stupid hug, yeah Ethan must feel really stupid over it now. The warrior didn’t even argue, he probably saw in Xander’s look there shouldn’t be any arguing now, it was better he went out now rather than try and insist on staying. The angel gave a simple nod and he walked out of the place, leaving a void in there, Xander was so used to the man standing in and around the shop, it felt so cold and empty when the man wasn’t in it all of a sudden. He felt lonely, maybe he’d have wanted for the angel to argue this, to say he was going to stay and keep him safe, but the man didn’t, instead he left without a question. It was disappointing, he sometimes thought maybe the angel might like him too, maybe the man could actually feel something for him, other than need to protect him from demons and whatnot… he was clearly mistaken.

He did the unthinkable, he sent Uriel a text, asking when Ethan was done with his training, even though he really didn’t want to know, he really didn’t want to be alone anymore. This is why he didn’t let people close anymore, it would always end up in pain and heartache.

 

Author's Note

This hasn't been reviewed and rewritten, I'll do it when I find time for it.