CHAPTER EIGHT- Renee Meets Xav
"You gave her a key?!" Xavion yelled, pointing to Renee with a look of disbelief. "You didn't even ask me!"
Grant shook his head, "Absolutely not. She just likes breaking herself in."
Renee stopped in her tracks, looking at Xav with wide eyes. "Oh, hey. You must be Grant's roommate." She greeted awkwardly, "I'm Renee."
"Xav." He responded in a deadpan, munching down on his tenth cookie. He narrowed his eyes at her.
She smiled, "Uh... nice to meet you, Xav."
"Sure," Xavion muttered, not really looking like he meant it.
Renee looked like she wanted to continue some sort of conversation, "Uh, how long have you two been living together?"
Grant sighed, "Oh, about a year. It's crazy how long you can live with someone and not really know much about them." He said it in more of an amused way, but threw a subtle glare at Xavion with the statement.
Renee nodded, as though she also had a demon roommate she just found out about. "Tell me about it." The conversation lulled as Xavion and Renee both looked at each other with awkwardness. "Well, I see you met Ishy."
Xavion did not react. His eyes slid over to me before he looked back to her. He hummed a note of confirmation as a response before snatching the last cookie from the sheet and shoving it in his mouth. The conversation dwindled into nothing. I leaned against the counter a bit, trying to act less awkward than I was.
Grant coughed, trying to ease the uncomfortableness coating the room. "So, yeah. Renee is the girl I went on a date with, we're both sharing... well, sorta "custody" of Ishmael."
"Ah, well... you needn't worry about that anymore. I'll own him for you." Xav said around the cookie in his mouth.
Grant frowned, "There will be no owning of anyone."
Xav only shrugged in an 'agree-to-disagree' manner.
Then Renee decided to finally join back into the conversation. She moved further into the kitchen and leaned against the counter with me. Her eyes slid between Grant, Xavion, and me. "So... does he... know?" She asked meaningfully, jerking her head Xavion while gesturing to me.
Xavion smirked, swallowing the cookie. "I know many things, honey. Maybe I could show you a few?" He winked suggestively, raking his eyes over her form.
Renee immediately scowled. She straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest, in a protective manner. She sharpened her gaze, "No thanks." She looked to Grant, "So? Does he?"
Grant paused for a breath, contemplating an answer. He ranked his hands through his curly hair and shrugged, "Yeah, Ishmael is bad at secrets."
"Am not." I crossed my arms, feeling mildly offended.
Xavion chuckled, "Are too." He went to pick up another cookie, but frowned as his hand hit the empty sheet. He threw the empty cookie sheet in the sink.
Renee followed Xavion's every movement with her eyes. "So..." she trailed cautiously, "What do you think?" She asked, somewhat nervous and somewhat hopeful.
"Huh? 'Bout the angel?" He shrugged, "He can use some fixing-up."
Renee's eyes lit up, "Exactly! That's why I wanted to take him to my father! I think, with the right guidance, he can ascend again."
"Nah." Xavion shrugged, "God's a dick, he has absolutely zero chance of that. I'm gonna teach him how to sin with style. Right, Ishy-poo?"
I scowled at the nickname, "Ishmael."
"Anyway," he ignored my input and proceeded, "I'm actually planning on tagging along to meet the parents." He smiled, "Can't have anyone ruining the progress I've already made."
I glanced down at my light soul, swirling with plenty of virtue. He made much less progress than he was bragging about.
Renee's smile had died. "Should have guessed. No one around here has any sense. God is nice and forgiving, so I'm sure He'd let Ishmael back in."
"Sorry, do you know God?" Xavion asked, raising an eyebrow. After giving Renee a pause to respond, he continued, "Didn't think so."
My head tilted, "You don't know God either. He really is pretty nice and forgiving."
Xavion gasped in offense, pointing to my soul-- which had, consequently, became a bit purer. "Fix that. Fix that right now."
I fought an eye roll. "I think you're a great teacher. And you know what you're talking about." I lied with a smile, showing off my soul as it darkened slightly.
Xavion's mouth dropped, "You really are earning your nickname right now."
Meanwhile, Grant and Renee watched our conversation with confusion.
"What was that all about?" Grant questioned.
Xavion scoffed, "Bitch-mael is using his soul to make fun of me."
Renee's face mirrored surprise. "Hold on-- you can see his soul?"
We all just stared at Renee for a moment. She didn't know that Xavion was a demon yet. Honestly, she'd probably try to kick him out if she knew.
Xavion probably realized this too, because he shrugged. "Of course not. I'm just speculating. I have this feeling that he's lying as an attempt to reverse the effect of... being nice to God." He lied sloppily, but Renee nodded in understanding.
"Why would I do that?" I asked sarcastically. A little grin pressed into my face, "I meant it! I think you're a great guy." I relished the sight of my soul darkening.
Xavion scoffed, still facing Renee "There's no way in Hell, Heaven, or this damned Earth that you'll ever get that gremlin to ascend again." He said 'that gremlin' with distaste, waving a hand over me. "Give up on that dream."
Renee's eyebrow flexed. She crossed her arms, "thanks for the motivation." She spoke in defiance. She turned to me with a smile, "Don't you want to ascend?"
I puffed my cheeks out. "Not really."
She looked mildly hurt.
"They kicked me out for a reason." I quickly defended myself. "Even if their reason was nothing. I don't need that kind of toxic energy in my life."
Renee sighed, "I still think it's worth a try-- you belong there, with your people. Hopefully, my dad will be able to knock some sense into the lot of you." She gave us all pointed looks, "You'll all be on your best behavior for meeting him, right?"
"Of course, mommy." Xavion smirked, "I'll be a good boy." Grant smacked him in the back of the head, drawing a pained hiss from his lips, "Ow!"
"I'll also be a good boy," I confirmed, nodding. "Though, I can't promise that I'll actually listen to anything your dad says."
Xavion, who had recovered from his smack, patted me on the back. "That's my boy!"
"And especially not anything Xavion says," I added, swatting his hand off of my shoulder.
"Well, as lovely as this talk is," Renee cut in, clapping her hands, "I came over in the first place to pick you up. All this chit-chatting is making us late."
Grant frowned, "Hol' up. You're picking us up for dinner... now?"
"Dinner?" Renee narrowed her eyes. "Grant, we're meeting him for lunch."
Grant pursed his lips, "Are you sure? I distinctly remember it being dinner."
She clicked her tongue. "I'm 100% certain it was lunch."
"Oh." Grant paused, glancing down at his messy T-shirt and stained jeans. He shrugged, "Eh, I'm dressed enough. I'm ready to go."
Renee still looked annoyed, but she didn't verbally express it.
"Oh, we're leaving now? Like now now? I'm not even dressed." Xavion scowled, motioning his arms over his tank-top and boxers.
"Yes, now now." Renee crosses her arms, "If you aren't ready, we can always just go without you."
Xavion's expression changed to a small smirk, "No worries, hun. It'll take me one minute max." With that, he turned and sauntered down the hallway to his room.
We all paused, waiting for his return. Renee's eyes trailed to the couch, which was a mess of blankets and pillows that I hadn't bothered to clean up. She scowled, "You're still making Ishy sleep on the couch?"
Grant grunted, "I'm not letting him take over my bed."
Renee huffed, "Can't you at least share a bed?"
"Absolutely not." Grant's head shook.
"I wouldn't mind sharing a bed with Ishy-poo!" Xavion's voice called from down the hall. We all looked towards him. Suddenly he appeared, looking like an utter mess. His obsidian hair was disarrayed, poking up everywhere. He wore a torn leather jacket and a prominent smirk. His arms crossed naturally as he stopped in front of us.
A grin spilt Renee's face, "Finally! Someone sensible! I'm sure Ishy is sick of that couch." Honestly, I didn't mind the couch.
Grant's jaw was dropped, "Fuck that. How'd you get dressed so quickly?"
Xavion shrugged, not bothering with an answer.
"I didn't think he got dressed that quickly," Renee input. "He took like ten minutes. Too long, if you ask me."
"Te--what--huh?" Grant sputtered, "He took like 30 seconds!"
Xavion's eyes rolled, "It's called using my demon charm to fuck with her perception of time, dumbass. I didn't want to waste time pretending like I didn't just snap my fingers and completely change outfits. Stop questioning it or she'll think something's up." Grant opened his mouth, but Xavion continued quickly, "Before you question why I just admitted that in front of her-- she currently thinks I'm talking about why it took me ten minutes to get ready." The beginning of a question was on my tongue. "Do not ask any questions until she's gone. I can't charm whatever you guys say, so don't fuck this up." Finally, he stopped talking and faced Renee.
"I still think ten minutes is excessive!" Renee scoffed, as if she really just heard an explanation for why he got ready so slowly. "I mean, you look like you just pulled on some pants and your leather jacket. How does that take so long?" She asked rhetorically.
"Takes a lot of work to look this sexy, hun." He winked.
Renee scoffed, "Okay, sure. Whatever you believe." Then, she patted her pockets. "Okay, now that Xavion took so long we really are going to be late. Let's get going." She raised an eyebrow at me, "Unless you're also planning on changing."
I blinked and shook my head, not really caring to change. I just raked some of the flour out of my hair as I followed Renee out of the door. Xavion's weird charming spell was stuck in my mind. That kind of ability was really powerful and useful, but also really freaky. I wondered if he ever used it on me. Grant was probably having the same idea from the thoughtful expression on his face.
I looked back at Xavion, tilting my head at him. He only winked back.