To start off with, thanks to Yumeko, Nayka Verdandi , Winged Dancer, Xelloss-samaismine, Badgerwolf, Kioku who all reviewed the last chapter... I'm glad that this story, which is being quite intentionally written to reverse roles, is getting so many reviews. I wasn't sure when I started how many people would like this, since Xelloss is so often written as, well, sexually knowledgeable & Filia is written as being rather good and pure so regularly... I'm glad you all like Zelas as a mother, as I've been enjoying writing that. The wolves just deserve the detail I give them, because they're a bunch of lovely beasts. No, I'm not just saying that because they'll eat me alive if I did't. Whatever gave you that impression? All the questions will be answered eventually. Really. But I wouldn't recommend holding your breath while waiting for Filia to actually apologise to Xelloss. Thanks for the chocolate, those who did give me some. (I have no problem with dark chocolate, actually, though I do find milk a bit pale-tasting now.) Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzanka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story. All lyrics used in this story are from the songs of This Mortal Coil. _Dreams are Like Water_ is copyright I. Watts-Russell / J. Fryer & Momentum Music Ltd. +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ Mr Somewhere +=== A Slayers Fanfic by Ryo Hoshi 04 +===+ Bitter We cried as we kissed - it was too new We died and we lived - it was too new Too strong still too much -- Dreams are Like Water Xelloss sighed, feeling the warm and quite physical body in his arms shift again. He hadn't been able to figure out what of Filia's movements were due to whatever she was dreaming of, and which were due to the fact that she still wasn't used to having somebody else in her bed, no less somebody else who was warm but without breath or heartbeat normally. _So far_, he thought to himself, _my idea's been working. I'm in a much more comfortable position than I had been in the last two times, and I had actually got to *agree* to having sex with Filia-chan, with her *awake*, too. This is as close to perfect as this could be without Filia-chan taking up talking in her sleep and telling me exactly what's wrong with her..._ She shifted again, nuzzling his chest, her arms tightening around him. _Damn. She's not going to..._ He felt her lips gently kissing his chest, getting closer, and closer to his nipples... _Oh, *no*... She *is*..._ Xelloss resigned himself to yet another round of being used as a sex toy. _She better 'thank' me in the morning..._ Filia yawned, and snuggled against Xelloss. "Good morning, namagomi," she said, the last bit almost being swallowed by a second yawn. "Sleep well?" Xelloss moaned slightly. "My night was good, except for the two times you rode me." He paused, and decided that he might as well risk telling her, particularly after being called 'namagomi' almost first thing in the morning. "Filia-san, you're heavy..." "What...?" Confusion blossomed, and quickly was consumed by anger. "Do you mean that I'm _fat_, namagomi?" "No, Filia-san. You're a dragon." He kissed her gently, not wanting her to get _too_ angry. "If I was a human, I'd be very badly hurt, if not dead. Could you maybe try to be a bit more gentle in your sleep?" Filia blinked, as her mind processed that and what he had said earlier, about her riding him twice during the night. "Oh. _Oh._ I'm sorry, Xelloss-san! I hadn't realized..." she said, holding him close to her, but being careful as she did so not to hurt him. "That's alright," he said with a smile. "I'm not that badly hurt, and you can make it up to me..." Filia started to protest, but Xelloss covered her lips with his own. It was not very long until she was kissing him back very enthusiastically, her protests forgotten. Xelloss sipped, contentedly, at his cup of tea. He had managed to settle down on the kitchen's sole chair, a high stool designed for being sat on when the cook was going to be watching a pot for long periods of time. He had chosen it for, more than anything else, the view of Filia's back as she made her own breakfast. He was feeling rather content, and in a contemplative mood. Filia's emotions when she was willingly having sex, or at least awake during the act, tasted different from the times when she was half-asleep for it. When she was awake, her emotions were just as strong, but even _more_ focused on him. The mix itself was different, too: one part the bitter and sour citrus flavor of romantic love, four parts the spicy and intense wine he had decided was definitely lust. There were a few traces of negative emotions, but they were undertones, not strong enough for him to identify through the dominant mix of love and lust. He wondered if Filia knew how she felt about him yet. He hadn't expected it, quite, until he had offered himself up to her willingly. He didn't know why she might feel that way about him, either, since she was _supposed_ to hate him simply because he was a mazoku. _Maybe Zelas-sama was right about there being something very wrong with Filia-chan,_ Xelloss finally admitted to himself. "Filia-san?" She turned, looking at the mazoku perched on her kitchen stool curiously. "Yes, Xelloss?" "How do you feel about," he paused delibrately, "me?" Filia blushed, her entire face going red. "I feel like I'm supposed to feel about a namagomi mazoku like you." Xelloss smiled slightly, and wondered if she considered 'namagomi' an endearment. +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ +===+ Xelloss probably should take being called a 'namagomi' as a complement. Raw kitchen garbage is one of the most easily obtained forms of rotting organic matter, and is quite useful when conducting primative biological warfare. A bit of rotting organic matter in a woun d almost always results in the wound becoming infected. As primative biological warware methods go, it's almost as good as the dead-body-in-water-supply or the infection-carrying-trade-goods methods. This chapter is a bit short, due to the last scene wanting to be the last scene, and, well, making that scene longer would have been padding. But, for the curious, below is what would have been the rest of the scene: ::sip tea:: ::cook:: ::sip tea:: ::serve herself at kitchen table:: ::sip tea:: ::eat like a starving dragon:: ::sip tea, not letting his amusement show...much:: I've finally managed to track down the proper information for the lyrics. Some of these songs were not originally done by This Mortal Coil, though their version is the one I am most familiar with and am first aware of hearing. The lyrics quoted in the prologue are from _Mr. Somewhere_. The original version by The Apartments, and is copyright P. M. Walsh & Complete Music Ltd. The lyrics for the first chapter are from _Drugs_. The original version by Talking Heads, and is copyright D. Byrne & E.G. Music Limited. The second chapter's quoted lyrics are, like those of this chapter, from _Dreams are Like Water_. It was copyright I. Watts-Russell / J. Fryer & Momentum Music Ltd. then, too. Quoted in the third chapter is lyrics from _With Tomorrow_. Its original version is by Gene Clark, and is copyright Clark / Davis & Rondor Music (Londod) Ltd.