Chusont'rai Shen-ro (family name first), Alex's butler, is having words with the Zebrats--Gil the Oni's pets. And they're paying attention! It's probably about the gnawing and "Who let you in?" I'm not exactly sure if the Zebrats actually answer; I rather doubt it. Anybody in that household who does not mind is an idiot. Like, you do what the demon butler tells you. We call him Meri, which is easier for us to pronounce and is short for his summoning name. And it's kind of fun to have a demon named "Merry" around. He's not a Christian demon; he's a Rakshasa, of an ethnicity we call Kitsune, the fox-demons. They actually are transgenic, like the Oni; they created themselves that way a loooong time ago, when humanity was still in its infancy--they're about 5,000 years ahead of us. And they're technologically superior to us--one reason they get pissed off when barbaric humans summon them. Meri, from a warrior clan of the Kitsune, was a young general, a war hero back home; he retired, made lots of pretty children with his three wives (the usual way); and in his blunt, soldier's style, being the clan-mother's senior husband and therefore liaison to the Princes, criticized their politics in a matter of strategy. And...was right about it. They punished him, for various reasons: slapped a summoning name on him and sold him to the Alchemists (paying a debt), who sold him to a Very Bad Wizard here on earth about 30 years ago. He's not a magic user; he was summoned here physically and used as very scary muscle--even if he's barely 5 foot 6. The Rakshasa are very strong and blindingly fast, and take a lot of damage. So yeah, Meri's basically a super-soldier. And, um, Meri is Ian's father. More long story...Alex hired him as his butler after freeing him and the Lady of Sorrows, she holds his summoning name now so nobody else can. Bad Wizard, very dead. Alex helped. And the story goes on... Production notes: My M4 character with RawArt's Prince Albane skin; M4 Business suit; Powerage's Precious room and a very old chair model; Noggin's zebrats; Rendered in Poser Pro2010. Hair, color adjustments, frame and so forth done in post (Photoshop). Attitude? That came with Meri. PS - About the tails...he has a stripe of fluffy hair that grows down his back--a mane if you will--that ends in a long tuft over his but. No actual tail in physical reality. But if he were to show them if he were a magick-user? Probably 7 to 9. He was a heavy-hitter back home. PPS - Don't worry, he won't hurt the Zebrats. If he was going to, they'd be dead already and buried in the compost heap. He knows Gil adores them, and he's very fond of Gil. Besides, they're cute and smart and very trainable.