Zelgadis was sick. Not just "sniffle, sniffle, I have a cold" -type sick,
but the kind of sick where you feel like your head's about to implode and your body aches
like you were just the victim of an overzealous mugging and you want nothing more than to
simply cease existing.
Lina, Gourry, and Amelia had left him in this inn to
recuperate while they went on to the next town. Lina had heard about some magical artifact
being located there, and so had dumped the ailing Zel at the first inn they'd found, with
promises to be back for him in the morning.
So now Zel was lying here on a lumpy bed in a cheap room,
feeling like crap and ALL ALONE.
At least, he reflected, it can't get any worse.
Xellos phased into the room with his happy face on.
"Well, hello, Zelly-boy!"
I was wrong, Zelgadis thought.
He glared up at the Trickster. "What the h#ll do YOU
want?" he growled, noting with irritation how weak his voice sounded.
Xellos beamed at him. "My, my, so hostile! I just
came to see how you were doing!"
Zel scowled. "None of your... d@mn business." He
shifted uncomfortably on the bed, wishing that the annoying priest would go away so he
could get some sleep. D@mn, how he hated letting anyone see him like this!
Xellos clicked his tongue reprimandingly and shook his
head. "Now, now, Zelly-boy, there's no need to be rude. Having the plague certainly
makes you grouchy!"
Zel sat up quickly, yelling "Don't call me
'Zelly-boy'! And I do NOT have the plague!" Then, suddenly, the world did a
stomach-turning flip-flop that worlds are not supposed to do, and he collapsed back onto
his pillow, gasping. The dizziness wasn't as severe lying down, he discovered.
Xellos came over to peer down at him, and Zelgadis found
that he didn't even have the strength to tell him to get away. The Trickster took off one
of his gloves and pressed a surprisingly gentle hand to Zel's forehead. His skin was cool
on Zel's fevered brow.
Xellos shook his head, tsk-tsking again. "Oh, this
simply will not do. You're just no fun when you're in this condition, Zelgadis."
"What're you... gonna do?" Zel muttered weakly.
"Nurse me back to health?"
The Trickster Priest grinned. "Ex-actly! And I have a
little something right here--" he began rifling through the contents of his satchel--
"that just might do the trick. A-ha!" He pulled something out and held it aloft,
triumphant.
It looked like a dried weed. An ugly, scraggly dried weed.
Zel frowned. "What's that?" he asked warily.
"No need to be suspicious," Xellos said.
"This plant is useful for healing, especially when brewed in a tea. I'll be right
back!" With this, he disappeared.
Before Zel could even work up the strength to get up and
find a place to hide, Xellos returned, carrying a steaming mug. He held it out to Zel.
"Here you go! Time to take your medicine, Zelly!"
"If you think I'm... going to (cough, cough) drink
that, you're crazy," Zel mumbled.
"It's not poison. You have my word."
"Maybe not. What IS it, then? I don't want to be
turned into a lizard or put to sleep for twenty years or made to think I can fly to the
moon by flapping my arms." There was just the tiniest bit of sarcasm evident in his
voice.
Xellos sighed. "I promise it won't turn you into
anything or make you see any pink elephants. It will heal you, nothing more."
Zel snorted disbelievingly. "Right. (cough, cough!)
Forget it. You're the last person... I want... (cough cough hack!) help from..." He
broke off to go into an unpleasant fit of coughing that nearly succeeded in pulling his
lungs out through his esophagus. The world did another loop-the-loop. He clenched his eyes
shut, wishing he could just die and get it over with.
He opened them with a start as he felt a gentle hand brush
the hair back from from his face. Xellos was sitting on the edge of his bed, still holding
the mug.
"Just drink it, Zelgadis. You can't very well
strangle me when you're like this." He smiled slightly.
Zel tried to frown, but he didn't have the energy.
Xellos seemed to take his lack of response as aquiesence.
He helped the ailing chimera sit up long enough to down half the bitter brew, and then Zel
collapsed again, exhausted. Soon he was asleep.
Xellos looked down at him thoughtfully. What a stubborn
man! Cold and hostile and suspicious and--
And handsome. Very, very handsome. Xellos had to admit
that the chimera had lovely eyes-- deep blue-green, like the ocean. And that voice...
Impulsively, Xellos leaned down to brush Zel's lips with
his own.
Zelgadis stirred slightly, but did not awaken.
Xellos smiled, then kissed him again, a little more firmly
this time. Again Zel stirred, a sound like a sigh escaping from him.
When he woke up, Xellos knew, they would be enemies once
more. Xellos would taunt and annoy; Zel would get angry and try to fireball him. It was
just the way things were.
But... Well, there was no harm in indulging in a few
fantasies while the chimera slept...
Xellos bent to kiss him again-- then gave a startled
exclamation as Zel roughly grabbed the front of his shirt.
Zel's eyes snapped open. "What the h#ll do you think
you're doing?!" he hissed.
Xellos blinked, astonished. He should've been out for
hours! Then again, he'd probably forgotten to take into account Zel's chimeric
physiology...
"Um, doing? Well, I, uh-- URK!" He gasped as Zel
yanked him forward and down, till they were nearly nose-to-nose and Xellos was looking
into the other man's eyes. Zel was recovering awfully fast, and XELLOS was in trouble...
Then Zelgadis kissed him.
Xellos was startled, to put it mildly. Zelgadis took
advantage of this and swept his tongue into the Trickster's mouth. Xellos made a sound low
in his throat, a mixture of surprise and sudden desire. After a moment, he began to kiss
him back.
A minute later, Zel released him abruptly, and Xellos sat
back, breathing hard. His expression was the most shocked Zel had ever seen it. Xellos
stared down, amethyst eyes wide and disbelieving.
"Wh-why?" he asked finally.
Zelgadis looked away guiltily. "I... I don't know,
really. I suddenly just... I wanted to." Then he scowled. "This isn't like me! I
like GIRLS!"
"As do I," Xellos spoke softly. "But I've
learned over the years to take what life gives and enjoy it."
Zel turned back to him, and there was something in his
eyes. "We are enemies by nature," he said. "We will always be
enemies."
Xellos nodded. "I know."
For a timeless moment their eyes locked, amethyst to ocean
blue. Then, as if on cue, the two men moved forward, and their mouths met in a hungry,
desperate kiss. Xellos pushed Zel back gently, straddling him in the process, and Zel
stared up at him, eyes dark with undisguised lust. The Trickster's hands traced a teasing
path over Zel's chest, and then moved up to the clasp of his own cloak. He smiled.
"For tonight, however, I think we can make an
exception."
