The Slayers & the characters from it were created by & are copyright Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. (Lovely...a standard disclaimer...)

Twist and Crawl was done by The English Beat.

This is the result of yet another mood swing of my dear muse. Usually she swings between 'funny stuff', Gothic (in the classic sense), Dark, and hentai, with a tendancy to mix them at will. (I usually ignoe her when she tends to mix too much hentai in; I don't want to write graphic sex scenes yet...)

Today, she's in a dark mood with a dash of hentai, though nothing to earn a Lemon warning -- just a [Lime] and a slight 'if you like your songfics romantic, don't bother with this one' warning... (If you find this completely romantic, go see a shrink.)

Xelloss carefully controlled his expression as he gracefully guided his partner through the intricate steps of the dance. It wouldn't do for him to let his emotions show... After all, he was Xelloss, the ever-cheerful Trickster Priest. Even though he knew that mask slipped...

That dragon maiden had a talent for causing *that*. A faint idea skittered briefly out of the darkest shadows of his mind, something concerning telling Filia just how...admirable her skill was. How mazoku-like her ability to make his persona slip was.

He barely kept his cheerful smile from getting nudged out of the way by a much more sinister smile at the thought of what Filia's reaction to such a complement would be.

Filia rested her chin on Xelloss's shoulder. Maybe that way she could hide the tears she couldn't supress from him. She did't know why she was doing this...

She didn't know how she felt about this, either. Here she was, dancing with that, that, mazoku -- who was holding her all too closely, really, but it would be improper to flatten him right on the dance floor. Besides...she was enjoying it.

Her worst fear...and most beloved fantasy, now...

It wasn't right.

Why had she felt compelled to smile when she saw him, to say hello to him and agknowlage his precense?

Filia hadn't expected to see Xelloss in the tavern. It was strange to see him, standing causually at the edge of the impromtu dance floor, watching, amethyst eyes open and staring.

She was going to sit down and eat with Lina and the others, but...

...Xelloss was watching. Her. Why? Did he care about her?

There was something going on in this area, Xelloss reflected, that could use some investigation, if for no other reason then to find out how widespread this phenomenon was. This was the second tavern in a row which had a makeshift dance floor.

Tonight was much better then last night. He had been stupid. Orders had kept him away from Lina and company, meaning that he had missed an entire misadventure of theirs (which would have been such a nice meal for him)...

When he had caught up with them, they had already eaten, and had already joined the dancing. He spotted Zelgadiss dancing with Amelia upon entering; he could tell that Zel's expression of annoyance was faked. Maybe he could cut in sometime, just to see if the chimera'd be annoyed, Xelloss thought.

But first -- Filia. He quickly located Filia and cut in on her dance. She was cross, delicously so. Her hair also looked...strange; a bit dry and not quite the right shade of gold.

Perhaps he shouldn't have asked her if she dyed her hair. That would explain why she had tried (and almost suceeded) to turn him into a pulp, and why Zelas-sama had ordered him to apologise (to a Gold Dragon, to boot!)...

Filia tried to collect her scattered emotions. This was a trap, she told herself; Xelloss was a namagomi mazoku, and he wouldn't -- couldn't -- really care about her, a golden dragon. So why hope that he might even return any of the more...positive feelings she might have for him. No, falling in love with namagomi mazoku was bad.

Namagomi mazoku'd break your heart, just for fun.

She should know better...

...should have known better...

Filia looked at Xelloss as he pressed her up against the wall, pinning her arms to her sides tightly. She could feel his fingers, dancing feather-light across her back. "Xelloss...what do you want?"

A dark smile crossed his face, as his fingers found the row of buttons. "Why, my dear Filia, I want you..." He deftly started unbuttoning Filia's dress, soon uncovering a white shoulder to nibble and bruse...

The moral of this story: Xelloss has got some major problems.

Poor Filia. ^_^; (Poor Xelloss. ^_^;;)

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