Becoming a new man
After being yelled at by Wesley, Xander found himself walking toward the front gate of the cemetery. He didn’t need to be lectured by someone who didn’t even belong there. Buffy had said Wes was going to help but Xander had yet to see it. All the former Watcher had done was act all high-and-mighty with them. Wesley wasn’t Giles, and he needed to stop acting like he was.
The drive home was done with Anya yammering on about Wes’ manners. Xander agreed but didn’t say so, knowing if he did she would never shut up. Most of the time he didn’t mind her talking but lately, her constant talking made the headaches hurt more. Luckily for him, she wasn’t badgering him about telling his friends about their engagement.
Arriving home, Xander went straight to the bedroom and put his sweats on. He climbed into bed, tired from just about everything, and pulled the covers over himself. Anya joined him shortly after and quickly fell asleep. Xander looked at her and sighed, wishing he could do the same but the constant throbbing in his head made it difficult.
It was well past midnight when Xander got up and headed toward the kitchen. He grabbed a carton of milk out of the refrigerator and started to drink.
“Hey, Xander.”
“Ah!” Xander yelped. The carton of milk slipped from his hands and hit the tile floor. Milk splashed all over him and the kitchen cabinets. Turning around, he jumped again when he saw Cordy and…a demon standing there. “W-What do you want? Making out with me and giving me visions wasn’t enough? Who’s that? Your other worldly boyfriend, here to kick my ass for kissing you? She kissed me first, buddy!”
“Xander,” Cordy quietly muttered. “This is Skip. He’s here to help you with the visions.”
“By doing what? Poking my brains out with his horns?”
“You were right,” Skip suddenly said as he glanced at Cordy, “he does whine a lot.”
“Hey!” Xander exclaimed as he moved from behind the counter. “She started it by coming here, looking all hot and kissable! Batting her eyelashes like she had back in high school. How was I going to resist that?”
Cordelia let out her patent sigh and rolled her eyes. “Look, Xander, stop acting so mentally challenged for once in your life and listen. The visions are going to get more painful and possibly kill you.”
“Thanks, Wesley Jr.,” he muttered before doing a double take. “Kill me?”
“Yeah. Humans aren’t made to have the visions. Some pretty nasty things happen, mostly involving their heads exploding. Brains splattered all over the place. Never a pretty sight,” Skip said.
“Let me get this straight,” Xander said, giving Cordelia a pointed look, “you give me the visions and then tell me my head is gonna get all explode-y?”
“Xander…there is a way to stop it,” Cordelia said. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm. “That’s why Skip and I are here.”
Xander blankly stared at her for a few seconds, wondering how they were going to fix it. Only one thing came to mind so he pulled Cordelia closer and leaned down to kiss her, thinking if he kissed her, it would just reverse everything.
“Ew!” Cordelia said before pushing him away. “Stop trying to kiss me, doofus! The way to help with the visions is for you to become half-demon.”
“Half-demon?” Xander asked.
“Half-demon,” Cordelia repeated.
“Half-demon?” Xander blinked.
“Half-demon! Look, I gotta get home some time tonight. The wife doesn’t like it when I’m late. You gonna do it or not kid?” Skip asked.
“I can’t just pass them on to someone by kissing them?”
“Believe me, if it was that easy, I would’ve gotten rid of them sooner,” Cordelia said.
Xander let out a long sigh and started to pace around the room. Death or becoming all demon-y. Well, half-demon-y. He was never good under pressure and he found himself muttering under his breath, weighing the pros and cons. He really didn’t want his head to explode, especially so close to marrying Anya.
“Make me a demon,” he finally said.
Skip snapped his fingers. “There. Welcome to our world,” he said.
“That’s it?”
“Yeah. What were you expecting? Fireworks?” Skip asked, shaking his head. “Ready to go, Cordelia?”
Cordelia nodded her head and glanced at Xander one last time. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. And, some of things are pretty cool,” she said before Skip and her disappeared.
Xander stood in the quiet living room for a few moments. For the first time in days, his head wasn’t throbbing and he didn’t feel the urge to spend the night throwing up. He actually felt tired and like he could actually sleep. Maybe this demon wasn’t so bad. As long as Buffy didn’t try and kill him.
Going back to the bedroom, he slipped in beside a snoring Anya. He was getting comfortable when he looked down and noticed his hand was glowing. Glowing. “Crap,” he muttered, shaking his hand hoping it would stop. “What have I gotten myself into?”