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Sophie
I’d just agreed toget into a dark, confined space, alone, with one of the most dangerous creatures known to exist. Was I out of my ever-loving mind? My eyes tracked to X’s huge form as we moved through the evening crowds, back across the aisle to the shop. Although, we weren’t really moving through the crowds. It was more like the people were diving out of the way of him. Of us. Being a slightly shorter-than-average Terratribe woman with no hint of a resting bitch face, I’d literally never had this kind of experience before. Of people moving out of my way. It may have just been because I was next to a mountain of a man with horns and claws, but it still, in some small tucked away part of myself, felt really... nice.
Well, almost everyone was moving out of our way. A young man dressed in expensive finery, his face stuck in his personal tablet as he walked, crossed directly in front of my path. I jerked to a stop, but not soon enough. I flinched, my eyes automatically closing. A second later, when I realized the impact had never come, my eyes snapped open once again, to find the man slack-jawed and terrified, staring up at X’s face. X’s massive hand was clamped down on the man’s shoulder. He wasn’t a small man by any means, but that huge, meaty hand on his shoulder absolutely dwarfed him, making him look like a child.
“Watch your step,” X growled in a register so low and dangerous it made my hair stand up on end. I held my breath, my heart pounding.
The man’s wide eyes twitched over to me.
“I’m sorry!” he stuttered.
I waved my hands in front of me.
“No worries! It’s OK!”
But despite the OK-ness of all of this, X still hadn’t let go of the guy’s shoulder. I didn’t feel like I knew him nearly well enough to tell him what to do, but I couldn’t just let him snap this dude’s clavicle just because he’d deigned to get in my way.
“You need to let go,” I said to him, fighting to keep my voice steady. X’s chest heaved as he sighed. Then his intense, yellow eyes slipped down to me. His brow unfurrowed, just the tiniest bit, and he let the poor, shaking sod in front of us go. The man hurried away, keeping his eyes in front of him the rest of the way.
X and I continued to walk in silence, finally reaching the window, or rather glass door, of Hallowed be thy Bean. As X pulled the key from his pocket and bent to the lock, his shoulders threatening to bust right out of his shirt, I couldn’t help but wonder, once again, if I was making a very serious mistake. Was I putting myself in danger right now? I mean, back in the aisle, that had been a bit of an overreaction, hadn’t it? But then again, he stopped as soon as you told him to. He listened to you...
I blew out a breath. We were going to be working together, which meant we’d be alone in this place starting tomorrow anyway. So I might as well get used to it.
I realized, as the key clicked and the door swung open, that X was muttering something under his breath.
“What was that?” I asked before thinking better of it. Maybe I shouldn’t be asking this guy anything right now...
“I said, ‘sorry excuse for a male.’ That guy. Not a care for his surroundings. He could have hurt you...”
OK, that was a bit much.
“We would have walked into each other. Not like he was going to run me down with his shuttle or something.”
X held the door open for me, allowing me to pass into the darkness of the tiny coffee shop. I heard the door shut behind both of us, plunging us into dim silence. I was aware of the hulk of X’s form behind me, and practically felt the rumble of his voice as he spoke next.
“He still could have hurt you. You are... small.”
That had me whipping around, all my fears forgotten as I prepared to defend the honour of my perfectly acceptable height.
“I’ll have you know I’m five-foot-three, thank you! Only a little shorter than the average Terratribe 1 woman. Of course I seem small to someone as big as you!”
I mean, the guy was truly massive. A monster of a man stuffed into bizarrely, almost comically, mundane clothing. Except on him, it really didn’t look mundane. Even in the gloom of the closed shop, I could see the impressive outline of his insane muscles beneath his white collared shirt, and the thick, muscled track of his thighs beneath his pants. In any other circumstances, I would have maybe even thought he was attractive.
But he’s a Chimera. A killing machine. Someone dangerous.
And yet...
He was looking at me intensely, that was for sure, but I couldn’t sense any malice or aggression in his alien features. Slight annoyance, maybe, but I was starting to get the impression that was a permanent state of being for him.
“No need to be offended. It’s not a statement against your character, just a statement of fact.”
“Hmph,” I answered, crossing my arms and looking up at his serious face. “You sure about that?”
“Very sure.” There was something really sincere about his instant response, so much so that it had me uncrossing my arms and cocking my head as I looked up at him. And, holy fucking Terra, was that some kind of alien smile?!
“So far all I know of your character is that you hid behind a Christmas tree to get a good look at me. So your height really has nothing to do with my perception of you.”
Holy shit, he was smiling! He was making fun of me!
