A Matter of Beasts

AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

As for Kirallie’s comment on Why This Fanfiction is AU; the demon who granted Xander’s wish decided to change something hundreds of years ago instead of just a few years ago, as Anyanka did in “The Wish.” The event that was altered was one I have completely made up which doesn’t exist in the BtVS-verse or the Anita-verse. A spell cast by a powerful coven late in the Middle Ages, meant to register vampires and the super/preternatural (in the minds of your average magical null or run-of-the-mill sensitive) little more than superstitious myth and urban legends. It failed miserably The affect would be similar to the Hellmouth-affect, which seems to be remarkably widespread in a world with only two active Hellmouths per continent…Joss never did explain that satisfactorily.

Anyway, the Slayer/Watcher line difference evolved because of this failed spell. The whole world was aware, and continued to be aware, of the supernatural, but didn’t understand this threat and couldn’t defend themselves. Vampires hid themselves remarkably well when they so desired, and werewolves looked just like everybody else – when they weren’t shifting. Because of the aware populous, however, demons did tend to stay away from this merger world, and only the very powerful and/or the summoned demons were able/willing to present themselves where they would have to work at concealment.

Hm…where was I?

Ok, so the Slayer line was interrupted centuries earlier by more of those interfering witch/warlock covens, resulting in the Slayer strength being weakened by being spread thin into hundreds of Potentials. As a result, the Watchers had to train these Potentials much better, and they actually lived longer because vampires didn’t seek them out to decorate themselves (since they tended to be relatively soul-ish). Thus, those Slayers got old enough to require training their own progeny, and eventually, Slayers could be girls selected by destiny, or girls and boys born to Watcher or Slayer families, or just girls and boys who found their way to a Slayer old enough to want to train them and become a Watcher him or herself.

The seriousness and responsibility of this makes Xander decide to go stag to prom and come home early to study demonology. Also, he is secure enough in himself to not be embarrassed by not having a date. Thus, Anya-generated weirdness becomes a non-issue, and it doesn’t matter, because the Ascension doesn’t happen – no evil mayor. Also, to ensure Xander doesn’t come back to Sunnydale, the demon (we’ll say it’s Halfrek for my sake) sends Willow and Buffy off to different colleges, and Panther is given a magical nudge to shift. Halfrek doesn’t want to kill Xander, but she knows that even if he’s a licensed Slayer, he’ll never feel confident enough to measure himself against Buffy if he doesn’t have a power of his own.

If anyone has questions, please review and ask them! That was fun!

Oh, also, someone remarked that Xander seemed stiff and out of character. I am a firm believer that Xander really does have a brain under that jocular exterior, and as you may have noticed, his voice is rather similar to my own tone of writing. Since I have five seasons of Buffy on DVD, I’ll probably “research” him later, to improve my depiction.

I’m sorry it’s taken so long to update this. You may have noticed the slightly altered summary…and the fact that it’s been over a year.

I can give you one last chapter, short though it is, and then I’ve got the fic opened up to free-for-all posts. So if you really want to see more fic…write it yourself! If you have questions about what I was planning, etc., just review and we’ll chat it out.

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The movie turned out to be a romantic comedy, and the Ulfric and Lupa/Nimir-Ra were making out as Jason gagged and Nathaniel watched the movie, enraptured. Xander’s long day caught up with him, and he put the armrest up and slept in Jamil’s lap. Jamil, surprisingly, didn’t seem to mind.

Xander half-woke when Jason half-carried him to the car, the promptly fell back asleep in the blond’s lap, this time. He rather thought someone might have been stroking his hair, but it didn’t seem like a very Jason thing to do, and he was mostly sleeping. He found the gesture comforting and calming, regardless of who performed it. When he woke, it was to find his shirt had gone missing, and he was lying on a couch, with his feet in someone’s lap.

Upon opening his eyes, he found that person to be a completely strange male.

“Xander,” he smiled tiredly.

“Caleb,” the man replied with a quick grin. “Anita’s gone to champion you to Nimir-Raj.”

The younger wereleopard frowned sleepily. “Why didn’t you call Anita Nimir-Ra?”

Instantly Caleb’s grin disappeared. “She is human. She is dating the werewolf king and not our Nimir-Raj. No matter if Micah calls her mate; no matter what her animal to call is – which is too strange – she is not Nimir-Ra, she is at best a Lupa.”

“Hmph,” Xander replied. “I don’t think it should all be a matter of beasts. If she takes care of the pard, treats us properly, I think that’s enough to get some respect. If Nimir-Raj calls her his mate, whether they actually mate or not is a moot point. He has your respect, so his decisions should be given that same reverence. Besides, I have heard of the Executioner’s reputation. It seems to me, that if you have her protection, you are very well protected indeed. If nothing else, be glad you aren’t passed around for vampires and all and sundry lycanthropes to enjoy. I know I am glad, and very fortunate, to have never been anybody’s meat.”

Caleb fell silent.

A beast brushed Xander’s. The talking in the next room had stopped, and a short, dark-complexioned man stared intensely at him from the doorway he could just see, if he craned his neck uncomfortably. Caleb fluidly escaped the weight of his legs and rested on his knees on the floor. Xander, with a lethargic air borne of sleepiness, rolled gracefully to his hands and knees and crawled forward in that catlike, inhuman motion he had envied Oz for possessing, once.

When he arrived at the dark-haired stranger’s feet, his beast was compelled to lie down on the floor to beg to be petted. Instead, he did what Panther called “the brave Alpha thing”, and rubbed his face in the man’s groin, rising until he could nuzzle the shorter man’s rather pleasantly scented curls while standing and barely leaning forward. He kept his hands at his sides, particularly after withdrawing to watch from under heavy eyelids.

If the man – Nimir-Raj, he knew – rejected the brave Alpha greeting, or didn’t recognize it, Xander hoped he could become properly submissive fast enough to satisfy without being hit. If he accepted it, Xander would introduce himself and hope for the best.

It seemed to take hours before Micah moved, but Xander knew it was mere seconds. He extended his hand below his hip, a gesture of acceptance, not violence. In order to properly reply, he would need to submit, but that was a small price to pay. He easily got back on his knees and ran his smooth cheekbones and jawbone over that palm repeatedly.

“My name’s Xander, Nimir-Raj,” he introduced after a moment.

“Micah,” came the reply. “What was that odd greeting?”

“Panther calls it The Brave Alpha Thing. I don’t know the real name, if it has one. But it felt right.”

“Are you an Alpha, young one?”

Xander let his beast dance free, rubbing metaphysically against Micah, who nodded slowly.

“You are an Alpha. A fairly powerful one, too. That is good; we do not have many. But test me, young one, and you will see how very insignificant you are in the scheme of things.”

Xander ran his cheek over Micah’s knee and sat back to watch through half-closed eyes. The Raj was cute, not that the Ra was unattractive herself. Micah petted his head and massaged his scalp. Xander purred delightedly. Yes, the Raj was very nice. He would stay on this cat’s good side, that was for certain.

A large part of him wished to curl up at Micah’s feet and take a nap, but there was far too much to do.