Guardian For Hire

Chapter 3: Invite

I changed back int my angelic form before Xander had a good chance to laugh at me.  I didn't think that was funny at all!  "How am I gonna get clothes, Xander?  Seriously!  I don't have a . . .job.  I don't have money!  What am I supposed to do?"

"Calm down," he laughed.  "Why don't you just do that thing where you go into homeless person mode and then change into a human.  If that works then you've got it made."

"I'll try," I said and pulled my wings in.  I put myself in a different costume that would be accepted by today's youth.

"Ok," says Xander.  "Now switch over."

I did as he said and I was naked again.  Clearly this wasn't going to be easy.  I sighed and switched back to my angelic form.  At least I had pants on that way.

"What am I supposed to do?  I an't just pull clothes out of thin air!  Not that I wouldn't like to, but clearly this is going to be a lesson to me, somehow."  I sighed and sat down on a generator on the roof.  I was so confused.

"You could check the dumpsters," Xander offered.  I see humans dump old clothes in there all the time.

I perked up right away.  "Xander, you're a genius!"

"Really?  You just noticed," he shouted at me as I flew off the roof on a dumpster hunt.

The first dumpster I dug through I found a brand new pair of sneakers in a taped shut shoe box.  That was really good!  I flew back to the roof top to leave them until I had found at least a pair of pants.  I checked six more dumpsters and didn't find anything that would fit me.  It was getting tedious!  I wasn't sure if I could last in patients to look through anymore dumpsters but I did it anyway.  By the time I hit dumpster number ten I had found a plaid button up shirt.  Why couldn't you be a pair of jeans? I thought as I stared at the shirt. I took it back to Xander and continued my search.

I wasn't sure how many more dumpsters I dug through but when I was just about to give up I found a pair of blue jeans and a black v-neck shirt.  I flew them back to mine and Xander's roof top and changed into my human form.  I yanked on the jeans while Alexander stared at me from across the roof through the corner of his eye.  "You know?  It's a shame to cover that tattoo up," he said.

"Why's that?"  I spoke to him over my shoulder.  I had my back facing him as I dressed my human self.

"I've only seen a few humans with 'ink' like that," he said.  I could hear the air quotes in his voice.  "It's really quite painful for them to finish an exquisite tattoo like that in one setting."

"If I have an opotunity to take my shirt off, Xander, I will.  Okay?"

Once I had the jeans on and fastened I turned to face Xander.  "Is it really that painful?  I mean, I know mine isn't really real but I'm just curious."

"Yeah, Luka.  They actually bleed!  It's pretty gross."

"Hmm," I considered that as I yanked the v-nck on over my head and shoved my arms through the sleeves.

I went to the latter on the edge of the roof and swung my leg over the side.  "Where are you going?" Xander asked me and flew over to hover beside me on the later.

"I'm going to find a job," I told him.  "I can't live out of dumpsters for however long I'm like this, until I can just be a guardian again.  I have a feeling it's going to be a while."

"You really like that Emily human, don't you?"  Xander was both shocked and confused at the same time.  He didn't understand.

"Yes," I told him.  "I do.  Not to mention she needs protecting from that teenager that hit her.  Todd.  I can't believe humans condone that kind of behavior!"