Xibalba always loved his wife; he loved everything about her, from her red dress to her long raven hair. But as much as he loved her he couldn't help but be a bit, devilish around her at times. He found himself trying to run a finger or two through her hair or plant a kiss or two upon her collarbone. His attempts for touch always resulted in some sort of bodily harm done to him by his feisty mi amor. But honestly, every slap and flush and shriek of disapproval only encouraged him, as if this was her way of teasing him until he could stand it no longer. It only put more spirit in the god of the dead. She wore a large sombrero that held candles and fruit and he always wondered how in the realms her head supported it. Her ebony hair was in a long type of ponytail and swirled beautifully around her body that was covered in a patterned dress of crimson, the cuffs at her elbows and white while the end of her dress was at the floor, covering her feet which mysteriously never showed up. Her face pale sugar and dotted and swirled with golden paint while her fiery eyes were half lidded with blue, lovely eyes that took his breath away. In other words, she was a scorching hot, mysterious goddess that literally drove him to madness. (Though in reality as a god he couldn't be driven mad, even though he felt like he was insane sometimes) But it was one of these times where he was incredibly devilish and mischievous around his dear wife, a snake of a man that made her wonder why in the realms she married him. They were within her room of red, La Muerte toying with her hair as she wove a brush through the thick locks. Xibalba watched the brush, mesmerized at its constant, steady pace through her divine hair. He found himself envying the brush and wishing his fingers could do the job for her, run through her locks again and again and again... La Muerte turned from the mirror at the sound of soft babble, the sound her husband usually made when her fingers twirled and teased through his mustache and beard of white. But this time he was not melting in his seat at her touch, he was staring with a drowsy, dreamy expression on his face at her hair, his eyes following the brushes every stroke. She couldn't help but smile, it wasn't a secret her husband liked her hair; she only worked it into her advantage. Feeling particularly playful she stopped brushing her hair and snapped her fingers right in front of his ruby eyes, causing the deity to jolt back to reality. "Now what were you staring at hm?" She inquired. He felt his cheeks grow red hot but thankfully his dark, tar skin kept the color from showing. He coughed and stretched his wings, he was not going to tell her he'd been hypnotized by her brushing her hair, he had his pride after all.
"N..Nothing my dearest sugar skull, just..." He bit his inner cheek as his eyes searched for some sort of reasoning for looking like an idiot. His lips pulled into a smooth, slick smile, "Just admiring the architecture my lovely goddess, you do after all have a very beautiful room and kingdom at that," The look on her face told him she did not believe a single word he'd just uttered. He managed a chuckle as her arms crossed and her look said, "Seriously? That is the best you could come up with? Smooth talking indeed," But to his surprise she smiled gently and flipped the brush in her hands,
"You know Balby; it's hard for me to reach the back of my hair, would you mind brushing it for me?" His ruby eyes suddenly glowed with a rascally glint. He took the hairbrush, or rather snatched it as if a cup of cold water in the desert.
"Why, of course mi amor! You merely had to ask," And with that she turned to the mirror as he moved his little seat closer to her and began to brush her thick, luscious hair in long strokes. Her hair tie was lying on the table, letting her hair flow to its full extent, wild and attractive, just like her. She drowsily began to close her eyes, listening to him hum out of tune with amusement as the steady strokes slowly helped her drift to sleep. When she suddenly sat up and froze as she felt something very wrong. He was plucking at the buttons on the back of her dress, slowly undoing the line of buttons to reveal her undergarments. She knew the buttons stopped just above her hips but even then that was too much skin revealed. Xibalba on the other hand was still humming out of tune, his eyes focused intently on undoing the buttons that showed a silky white under dress that didn't do much to protect her body. The brush forgotten and only buttons on his mind he didn't have a second to blink before she shrieked in rage and spun to him. With a swipe of her hand she gave him a hard slap across the face, knocking Xibalba to the floor and left to face an enraged La Muerte. She stared at the damage he'd done through the reflection of the mirror and glared at him furiously,
"Why you sneaky, devilish, dirty son of a half-bred donkey! Look what you've done! Do you know how long it takes to do all those? It's going to take me an hour to do all of them!!!" She snapped, trying to reach back down to redo the fastens, grumbling and cursing her Xibalba as she did so, managing the first one within a good minute. He watched her painful procedure for about another two buttons before deciding to do something if he wanted to be able to walk out of here alive and not charred to bits once those brooches were completed. She began to work on her fourth button, muttering what she planned to do to her husband when she got done before she paused as she felt his fingers touch her own and heard his voice, soft and slightly spine-tingling.
"Let me do it my dear, this is going to take you forever," He whispered in her ear. She glared at his reflection, not in the mood to forgive.
"Now why in the realms should I let you do it? You'll probably undo the rest of them," She huffed, still fiddling with the button. He paused her fingers again and whispered gently,
"It's my fault mi amor, give me a chance to, as you say, redeem myself?" This made her fingers pause and lower to her sides.
"Don't try anything funny Xibalba or I swear I will..." But that's as far as she got before she jolted, back arching in surprise. A shriek of astonishment left her ruby lips as she felt the same sensation again, a little higher up her back. Was he... he kissing her back?! It was unusual but felt a bit good, causing her to blush bright red in embarrassment that she liked his treatment, each kiss causing a tingling thrill to dance across her mind. Xibalba had a system, kiss button, kiss, button, kiss button. It certainly was fun, each kiss getting a shrill or gasp or a small jolt. But as he said, his fingers stayed upon the buttons and only the buttons, no matter how curious his spidery fingers were to touch. She shivered as his fingers moved her hair out of his way and ran higher, each kiss sweet and light, as mischievous as the one bestowing them. He finally did the last button, her back covered completely once more but that certainly didn't stop him from kissing the back of her neck and her shoulders. She couldn't help but giggle and push at his cheek.
"You mathedetho, there are no fastens there," She teased as he kissed her neck again. Xibalba rolled his ruby skull eyes childishly.
"Aww, must there always be some sort of logical reason I get to kiss you? Can't it just be because I love you?" Xibalba complained, causing her to chuckle.
"I think that might just be a logical reason, don't you?" She responded softly, earning the most devilish wink from her husband, causing her to flush prettily, at least to him. Then again everything she did was gorgeous. She gently engaged his lips in the faintest kiss that made his wings fluff happily before she handed him the brush.
"Now, can we go back to the actual brushing? If I don't brush all of it my hair turns into a mess, are you willing to continue Balby?" She asked, sitting down at the mirror once again. He gave a slick, smooth grin and kissed her hand royally,
"Why of course my sweet sugar skull. It is after all, a pleasure to help you mi amor,"
Fin.
Can You Tango?
"Mi amor, can we do something fun? I'm bored!!!" La Muerte looked up from her knitting to find her husband Xibalba lying lazily on her bed, head was dangling over the edge as he watched her in complete boredom. She rolled her eyes,
"Well I'm doing something fun, here's a bright idea, how about you pick up a hobby instead of pester me for something to do hm? I found myself a hobby and I rather like it," He glanced at what she was doing,
"What in the name of the realms are you doing?" Xibalba inquired. She smiled.
"I found a hobby called knit-ting, it's where you weave yarn with two needles into any garment you want. I'm trying to knit a shawl," He raised an eyebrow at the mess of red yarn in her hands with two needles sticking out of it and gave a scoff,
"When people knit something, does that always turn into something ugly?" His wife scowled at him and dumped her knitting on her vanity.
"Well I'm sorry for trying something new, it's not like you've tried anything new in the last two centuries," she retorted, crossing her arms.
Xiabalba picked at his teeth, "That's because I'm already perfect at everything mi amor. Now don't be ashamed my love, not everyone can be as dignified, handsome and perfect as I," He gave a loud burp, "Isn't that why you married me?" She raised an eyebrow and with a wave of his hand, struck his cheek, causing him to yelp and fall out of her bed in a tangle of limbs. She smirked,
"No you vain peacock, I married you because you were honest and loved me more than the world, what happened?" he stood up and rubbed his sore cheek, grumbling about insufferable women before replying,
"As I just said, I'm perfect at anything, name it and I shall accomplish it with ease," He boasted, rubbing his crown clean and putting it back on his head. Suddenly La Muerte's eyes lit up with an idea. A smile curled onto her lips.
"Anything? Any hobby at all Balby?" she purred. Xibalba noticed the look in her eyes but apparently did not process anything was wrong but merely waved his hand.
"Of course, name away mi amor," She placed her hands on her hips and replied,
"How about we make a bet out of this little disagreement," he grinned slyly.
"What are our terms my sweet sugar skull?" La Muerte smirked,
"Tango, we are going to tango..." But he interrupted her.
"Tango? You mean the bizarre new dance that all the mortals are doing? Oh come on, why that!" He complained but she shot him a glare.
"Hey, you told me choose something and I did. We are going to tango and we are going to learn from Candlemaker since he had been offering me lessons for a while," Xibalba suddenly flared with jealousy, green flames growing brighter. He'd seen how close the dancers were who tangoed; he was not going to let his wife tango with that lump of wax! She noticed the jealous look in his eyes and rolled her own before continuing, "If I tango better than you, I believe you will have to tell me to my face that you are not perfect and you will take lessons with me for the next decade until we are perfect at this dance. And if you tango better than me..." He suddenly flared his wings and cried,
"And if I tango better than you mi amor, I will be able to spend an entire week within your room and land and not need to go back to the land of the forgotten for that entire week and you will tell me I am perfect," La Muerte flared at his words but smirked, calming her anger. He stuck out his hand and she daintily shook his gloved fingers with her pale sugary hand. With smile she murmured,
Be ready to tango Balby, we start tomorrow,"
Xibalba stood in the ballroom La Muerte had agreed to have the two of them tango in; Candlemaker hadn't come yet so at the moment the deity was left to entertain himself for a little while. The ballroom had a sheen of orange that formed the appearance of a skull on the floor, the walls blue, red and yellow while the roof made of thousands of multi-colored skulls all facing the floor. It was quite large and perfect for their dance lesson. Glancing around, he pulled out his purple staff with the two snake heads on each end. Xibalba began to stroke the head of his snake staff, causing it to hiss to life and wrap around his arm, letting him pet it gently of both heads. "You're a good little snake staff aren't you? Yes you are, a very good little serpent," He cooed, causing it to hiss in agreement. But he was not prepared for the voice behind him,
"Are you, cooing to that venomous little viper Xibalba?" A voice accused. His wings burst open in surprise and he yelped, turning around quickly to find his wife La Muerte standing in the doorway. He gave a nervous chuckle, tucking the staff behind his wings.
"Ah... Of course not mi amor, just... uh... why did you take so long?" He retorted swiftly, trying to change the subject. She crossed her arms and walked up to him before he actually noticed what she was wearing. It was a gorgeous crimson dress with a marigold blossom around the bodice and hem of the dress. But the thing that shocked him most was the dress stopped at her ankles, revealing dainty little feet in black shoes just like what the mortal women wore. She also wore no sombrero and her hair hung in its ponytail with a large marigold was tucked gently behind one ear, a small wisp of hair dangling over her forehead in a tantalizing swirl. She spun around and the dress flared slightly, making his eyes widen greatly but to his disappointment she pressed down the hem from reaching any higher than the bottom of her calf, or rather where he estimated her calves were. (Again, that dress kept her legs a mystery from him!) Looking him up and down La Muerte sighed,
"You didn't want to dress up at all? Not even a rose?" She criticized, causing him to snap from his trance and grin at her, showing off a slick smile.
"Oh my sweet sugar skull, you're ravishing! Could you wear that every day from now on?" She came up to him, a faint blush in her cheeks.
"Xibalba, don't ask that question ever again, we are here to dance," She replied. He continued his examination of her new outfit before giving a heavy breath of frustration.
"For the love of the realms woman are you trying to make me lose? I will not be able to focus on a single dance move with you dressed like that, absolutely stunning," He purred, causing her cheeks to grow redder. La Muerte noticed his gave continued to rove across her frame and pushed his gaze from her body.
"Your constant mischief and staring is the reason I don't wear things like this often, so stop. Unless you want to forfeit right now Balby," She mocked, causing him to glare at her. Eyes half lidded as his anger melted to amusement. Giving a chuckle he began to circle her, like a vulture that had spotted its prey.
"Ah mi amor, you think I am going to give up because you wear a pretty dress? When I have the chance to get an entire week out of that wasteland? HA! Keep trying my love, the only way I'll go back to the Land of the Forgotten is if you tango better than me and I doubt that," She watched him circle for a few more seconds before catching a wing and stroking it gently, causing the ragged feathers to stand on edge and for him to freeze. Running gentle fingers over each feather she whispered softly,
"Now what makes you think you are going to win hm?" He opened his mouth to speak, trying to form words as her fingers searched for sweet spots.
"You... m, might have the great voiccceee, mi amor!" He yelped as she tugged on a sensitive feather that had just grown in, "Bu, but I've got the... the moves!" He stammered out before yanking from her grip and glowering at her, she had an almost smug look on her face which only fed his irritation. "For the love of the realms, dearest wife I love your sweet touch but this is not the time, we are here to compete alright?" She gave a small laugh at his moodiness since she loved to tease him like that before responding,
"I love you dearest husband but I'm concerned at why you were talking to a snake cane," Xibalba visible bristled at this before snapping loudly.
"WE AREN'T HERE TO TALK ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE; WE ARE HERE TO TANGO IF THAT CANDLEMAKER WOULD SHOW UP ALREADY!! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION IT'S A STAFF, NOT A CANE!!!" noticing he had lost his cool he quickly regained his composure as she kissed his cheek and Candlemaker suddenly appeared, a sombrero on his head.
"Sup yall! It's time to TANGO!!!" he cried happily, the Book of Life flapping its pages. When he saw La Muerte he smiled but when he saw Xibalba he frowned, "What's wrong man? Why you no play dress up? You would look good in a sombrero," With a snap of his fingers a black sombrero sat of Xibalba's head instead of his crown. La Muerte giggled, covering her mouth as he yanked off the hat and caused it to disappear.
"Because only my wife wears hats, I much prefer my crown. Candlemaker, are we here to talk about which hat I look best in or are we here to tango?" La Muerte then spoke up,
"For once Xibalba, you're correct. I want to get to dancing which is the reason I called you Candlemaker, and Xibalba, isn't a crown a kind of hat?" He scowled at her before Candlemaker clapped his hands together,
"Okay then, but dude, you gotta have something!" Xibalba rolled his eyes but La Muerte smiled, pulling a marigold from midair and settling in a crevice in his armor.
"That will do, okay, let's start then," She replied, giving a look to Xibalba that said, "Be ready to lose Balby," Which made him smirk and turn back to Candlemaker who was about to give instructions.
"Okay you two, now Xibalba you face her... and La Muerte, take his right hand. Xibalba, a kiss isn't necessary but ya know, I guess it just adds to the mood. So now La Muerte you put your left hand on his shoulder blade, or, how about his wing? That'll work. Okay, Xibalba you settle your hand on her hip..."
"What? Candlemaker, isn't there a different place he could put his hand?" She stammered out, glaring at his hand that had slunk to her hip where it sat patiently, like a coiled snake. Xibalba on the other hand was certainly enjoying the predicament they were in. Giving a smirk he replied smugly.
"What's wrong my sweet sugar skull? I certainly like how this is going, but then again you don't have to dance with me, you can always forfeit." She narrowed her eyes at her husband who looked pleased with himself before gripping his right hand tightly.
"I will not forfeit Xibalba, I either lose or win but never forfeit." She snapped, giving Candlemaker a nod that looked slightly uncomfortable. Putting his hands behind his back he murmured awkwardly,
"You two know that this is a passionate dance right? I mean, like, passionate passionate,"
"What?" La Muerte shrieked, getting his hint. Xibalba grinned wolfishly, raising an eyebrow.
"Ooohhh, I like it already. We'd better continue then," He chuckled, making her flush profusely and bite her lip. She had two choices, dance the tango with her husband and just hope everything went like she hoped (with her winning) or leave and admit defeat. Well she was not a woman to back down from a challenge and from the looks for her husband, neither was he. Taking a deep breath she stared Xibalba in the eye,
"I agree," Candlemaker seemed intent on moving on from that incredibly awkward atmosphere so he quickly began to instruct them on how to move.
"Okay Xibalba, one step forward with your left, then your right, then you're left again. La Muerte your steps are going to be backwards starting with your right, then your left, then your right again, got it? Let's try it," The two of them watched the floor as they muttered the steps under their breaths, uno, dos, tres. But then they fumbled, the two of them stepping on the same foot. She mentioned nothing about it but when the fumble happened another three times she said self-contentedly,
"Xibalba you're doing it wrong," He opened his mouth to speak when Candlemaker quickly interjected,
"Uh, La Muerte how do I say this...it's you fumbling, not Xibalba," La Muerte felt herself grow cold before red hot as her husband gave her a smirk. "Ya see, you gotta follow his steps because he does the opposite of what you are doing," She raised an eyebrow,
"I'm following him?" She inquired. Xibalba rolled his eyes,
"You make it sound like it's a bad thing mi amor," She whipped her hand in the air in an irritated gesture.
"Let's go on then," They got back into their positions as Candlemaker continued to instruct them.
"Okay, now Xibalba you're gonna need to lean forward as you make your steps to lead her," Xibalba's eyebrows wagged at La Muerte who rolled hers as Candlemaker clapped out a rhythm. Xibalba pressed forward on her so she could feel the pressure on her gentle hands and began to move, quickly fumbling as he smoothly danced with ease. Giving a sound of frustration she glared at him,
"How are you doing this so easily??!!" She snapped, causing him to shrug and smile at her.
"Maybe I'm just a better dancer than you my sweet sugar skull. I am after all perfect," They tried again two more times but each time La Muerte saw that to her dismay Candlemaker was right, it was her who fumbled or took a wrong step, not Xibalba. Finally she broke away and threw her hands into the air before whipping to her husband.
"Alright, how did you cheat? Did you use magic to make yourself better or to make me worse? Did you poison me with that serpent of yours?" She accused, glaring fire at him. He put his hands in the air, giving a smile.
"Nothing mi amor, just pure talent," La Muerte turned away from him as he chuckled. "I believe I know what this means, my dear, do you have something to say to me?"
"I have a number of things to say to you; however it would be very unladylike for them to leave my lips," He raised an eyebrow at this but she went on, "But it's not over yet, Candlemaker has to decide which one of us did better remember? Choose Candlemaker, me or Xibalba," Candlemaker got a very uncomfortable look on his face. Giving a cough he looked at the floor before murmuring.
"Well, I'm sorry La Muerte but I've gotta go with Xibalba, he danced pretty well without fumbling or losing count," Xibalba grinned while La Muerte's eyes grew wide.
"WHAT?! THAT CANNOT BE POSSIBLE!" She shrieked, causing Candlemaker to back up slightly.
"I'm sorry La Muerte, but I've gotta be honest," Her eyes were glowing with anger before she snapped her fingers and Xibalba disappeared...only to be transported outside her castle, causing him to call out from outside,
"Sore Loser!" Meanwhile La Muerte crossed her arms and began to pace. Candlemaker walked to her side, hoping to break the painful silence.
"La Muerte, I'm just wondering, why can't you let him win and not blow anything over it? You just gotta accept he's a better dancer than you," La Muerte's eyes flashed and she spun to the wax deity.
"Have you met me? And even more so, Xibalba? He will rub it in my face for the rest of eternity! And I don't think I could stand a week much less forever. Besides, I'm supposed to do everything right and better than him!"
"Wow, you are really competitive aren't ya?" He wondered aloud, causing her to shrug,
"True, but he can't be better than me and beat me like this!" Candlemaker patted her shoulder.
"La Muerte, you know you two are awesome at a lot, as long as he's not cheating you've gotta accept he can best you in some things and that you ain't perfect," She looked down, flames dying down.
"I know that, but he's going to think like the arrogant man he is that he is perfection incarnate! At least you won't be married to him," Candlemaker smiled.
"He may think that but the truth is, he ain't perfect, in fact he does a lot of things that are the opposite, like sing. All you gotta do is hold your head high and just admit it," La Muerte smiled faintly and there was a soft silence before they heard crashing and the doors slammed open to reveal an irritated Xibalba standing there.
"Well thank you very much for making it impossible for me to enter with magic so I had to walk down all the corridors to get here!" His irritation then spun to haughtiness, "Now mi amor, the judge has voted and I believe you have a part of a deal to hold up hm?" La Muerte took a deep breath, biting her crimson lip savagely. Oh there were no words to explain how much she didn't want to do this but his smug little smile was awaiting the words to slip past her mouth to his ears. Remembering Candlemaker's words she made a very faint smile appear on her face before muttering,
"You are perfect Xibalba," He cupped a spindly hand against the side of his head.
"What was that? I'm sorry my dear, I don't think I can hear you. Please speak up," She shut her eyes as she spoke a bit louder, silently calling him every bad name under the sun.
"You're perfect Xibalba," La Muerte repeated, causing him to give a chuckle, wings fluffed proudly.
"I believe my ears are burning as you talk of my perfection," La Muerte crossed her arms and gave him a sharp glance.
"If you're not careful your ears will not be the only part of you burning," She replied, causing him to gulp but still have a proud grin as he wrapped a wing around her, a sly look on his face.
"And I believe, if my thoughts are correct, that I now get to spend an entire week here, not only in your realm and out of all that dreadfully depressing snow and groaning souls, but in your room as well. What a score I have stumbled upon!" La Muerte rolled her eyes but couldn't help, deep down inside, be a bit happy he had won their little bet. At least she got a week with her husband all to herself.
And how did these two death deities spend their week together?
They tangoed; they tangoed for hours, Xibalba helping La Muerte find her footing and teaching her how to move. Very soon (since gods and goddesses catch on to things very quickly) they could tango exquisitely. Yes Xibalba never let it go that his wife had called him perfection but deep down inside he was surprised she had been able to admit it, after all he had married a very proud woman indeed. And La Muerte made sure not to lose her temper over a bet. However when they tangoed the night away they saw perfection in each other's eyes.
Fin.