Renfield contributed Xellos's "wake-up" speech, and my friends Bev and Jemma sat me down and made me drink black tea until it was done. Now excuse me while I do my Happy Dance.






Zel's senses came back to him in a rush. For a moment, all he could do was lie there, unmoving.

"Zel? Zel!"

He opened his eyes.

There was no wind on his face. He felt slightly numb, and a little ragged around the edges, but he also felt--solid. Substantial. Heavy.

With a start, he lifted a hand, examined it.

Blue. Relief gathered in his chest. The switch had worked.

There was something small and metallic in his hand: a tiny, dark red gem, which glowed faintly against his palm. He stared blankly at it, his mind still reeling from what he'd just been through.

"Zel, are you okay?"

Warmth, pressure--Lina's hands on his shoulders. He rolled over; her face was blurry, but definitely not imagined.

"I'm not sure yet," he said.

"Can you get up?"

"With assistance."

"Then you're probably okay. C'mon. Up."

He sat up, and with Lina's help got to his feet; despite the unquestionable weight and balance of his stone body, Zel felt as if his mind had just been through the roughest part of a hurricane.

Xellos was still lying, pale and unconscious, where he had fallen. Amelia was advancing towards the trickster priest's limp form, timidly, eyes still wide and fearful.

"Mr. Xellos?" she ventured, in a very quiet voice.

He can't be dead, Zel thought. The spell wasn't that strong... was it?

"Mr. Xellos," Amelia repeated. The chimera felt Lina's hand find its way to his wrist and then tighten around it.

There was a soft sound, almost like a moan, and then the mazoku's eyelids began to twitch.

His violet eyes fell open, focused, and then settled into their habitual smiling squint.

"So," he asked, "was it good for you?"

Zelgadis felt the blood rush to his face.

"Whaaaaat?"

Xellos batted his eyelashes innocently. "Well, you appear to be wearing my clothes, and I presume I'm wearing your things as well, correct?"

"Yes, but--"

"Then obviously this could only have happened after a cataclysmic, alcohol-soaked orgy," the mazoku reasoned, rolling onto his side and assuming a playfully seductive pose. "You know, the kind involving four or more people, three or more days, various props, foodstuffs, and costumes..."

He paused for a moment to take in the speechless shock of those standing above him, and grinned.

"So, I repeat. Was it good for you?"

Zel was suddenly aware that every muscle in his body had tensed at once.

"I think you should leave," he said, in a dangerously quiet tone of voice. "Right now."

"Oh, and somebody got blood all over your nice suit!" Xellos pouted, in a sympathetically syrupy tone, as he collected his staff and got to his feet. "Do try to be a little more gentle next time."

"Why--y-you--"

"Yes, I know. We can save that for another day. I'll be back for more later--and, don't worry, I'll bring the wine."

With that, he tossed his staff lightly from one hand to the other, skipped across the short distance between then to deposit a kiss on the tip of Zel's nose, and vanished.

There was a long, tense silence, during which the three companions began to register the sheer boldfaced audacity of the trickster priest's gesture.

Then Zel managed, "Son of a bitch," turned on one heel, and left.



He didn't bother to close the door to his room the whole way; muddled as he was by sheer exhaustion, he found that he simply no longer cared about maintaining his usual cool isolation. As a matter of fact, he hardly even cared whether anyone saw him stripping off the trickster priest's robes and trading them for the slacks and tunic he had worn earlier.

When he had finished, he sat down heavily on the edge of his bed and let his eyelids slide shut. He would never have expected that he would find the unyielding weight of his freakish body comforting... but then, he'd never believed that any of this could have happened, had never even imagined it.

Or that he would end up with such a macabre memento.

He opened his fist, let the gem roll across the palm of his hand. Sparks danced crazily just beneath the stone's ruby surface; he knew each flash was a memory, and wondered which one of them was his cure.

I can't release it, he thought with a pang. Nothing in there that means anything to me can ever get out.

Including...

A shiver slid like water down his spine as he remembered the texture of Lina's hair between his fingers, the taste of her breath, that strong spike of attraction lancing into his mind. What I wouldn't give to have that in a solid form... or to erase the rest of the last forty-eight hours.

But then... I might be the only one of us who wants those memories gone. He suppressed a shudder. If Xellos ever knew... if he found out what I did...

Zelgadis made up his mind, and hurled the thing at the window. It hit the glass, and with an eerily sweet tinkling sound broke through and disappeared from sight.

There was a sharp knock on the door.

"Zel, you in there?"

Lina's voice. He had to take a deep breath before answering. "Door's open."

"Hey..." The sorceress peeked around the edge of the door in a waterfall of blazing hair. "Sorry I went off the deep end earlier, didn't know it was you in there. I didn't mean to hit you so hard."

"No, you meant it."

Her fiery eyes grew indignant. "No, really, I didn't mean to--"

"It's okay, Lina." He held up both hands in a gesture of acquiescence. "You don't have to keep apologising."

She edged into the room, somewhat tentatively. "For what it's worth, I kinda hurt my hand."

He was on his feet almost instantly. "Let me see."

"No, it's fine."

"Let me see!" he insisted. "Hey, I'm entitled; I owe you for getting rid of the fever."

"You kind of needed it, Zel."

"I could have taken care of myself."

"Oh, sure, Zel." Her tone was sardonic now; she planted both gloved hands on her hips mockingly. "You really had that whole body-switch thing under control."

"Don't patronize me."

"I'm not patronizing you, I'm just pointing out the obvious."

"Yeah, and when I point out the obvious, you slap my face!"

Both their voices were rising, in pitch and volume; Zel felt his eyes narrowing. Dammit, why was she always like this?

"I thought you were Xellos, goddammit!" she shouted.

"That's no excuse!"

"Like hell it isn't! I got you out of a really bad situation; you should at least have the class to show a little appreciation!"

"Well, how do you want me to show it? You want me to plant a big kiss on you?!"

As soon as he said it, he knew it was a mistake. You just didn't say that kind of thing to Lina Inverse, at least not if you expected to live another day. The silence stretched so taut Zel didn't dare to breathe.

Finally he heard himself mutter, "I... I mean... oops..."

Lina blinked, then turned half away, her eyes dropping to the floor as a blush rose to her cheeks.

"Well," she mumbled, "actually..."

The world stopped, absolutely and completely; when it began to move again, his fingers were wrapped gingerly around her wrist.

"Lina...?"

It was barely a whisper, barely a breath, but it seemed to echo and spread ripples in the quiet room.

Their eyes met, and for one dizzy moment he felt as he had during the first teleport--everything seemed a little blurry, a little tangled, his ears were ringing...

And then he was suddenly aware of the sweet and overpowering taste of summer on his lips, dispelling any memories of Xellos or of the switch. Time stopped, thought stopped--only his heartbeat, and the faint sense of her pulse somewhere beneath his fingers, continued.







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