Lina looked back again at Xellos and Amelia. Something was nagging at the back of her head about the two. She couldn't put her finger on it, not yet anyway. Gourry had been on guard duty when they had gotten back from...well Lina had some foggy memories of the night she and Xellos had gotten drunk. This really didn't coincide with her image of Amelia and she decided she was better off NOT thinking about what they had been coming back from. Curious as she was, the pair and their odd behaivor were not on the top of her mind. She looked up at the chimera walking next to her, she playfully snapped her hand across the back of his head.
"Ouch, damn it Zel, your hair cut me!" She sucked on the thin cuts that the steel wire had inflicted as she slapped him.
"Well, what did you slap me for?" he asked tightly.
"For not telling me about this sooner," she answered. "Damn, do you pass a sharpening stone through that hair?"
"Oh Lina-san, are you hurt," Sylphiel called from ahead.
"Nothing I can't take care of myself, Sylphiel," Lina said tightly.
"There's no reason to be angry, Lina-san," Amelia said, smiling.
"Syl-chan was only offering a little help," Xellos added in his normal tone of voice.
"Thank you for the support guys," Lina growled, rubbing her red-stained hands.
"Lina either cast Recovery or let someone else," Zelgadis said looking guiltily at where she had sliced her fingers and the blood was easily flowing.
"This IS the hand I do most of the gestures with you know," Lina complained.
"Oh, by Ceifeed," Zelgadis pauses in his walk and took the slightly injured hand and examined it. "These aren't too serious."
"I didn't say they were," Lina answered, then Zelgadis smirked playfully and slipped the finger into his mouth. Lina blushed furiously and glanced about at the other four members of their troupe. As goosebumps rose on her arms she spoke to him in embarrassed whisper. "Zelgadis, what are you doing!? Everybody is watching us!"
"I'm just cleaning the wound," Zelgadis feigned innocence, elliciting an exasperrated sigh from Lina.
"No we aren't, Lina-san," Amelia called back from where she Xellos were ahead all of a sudden. "Go ahead and enjoy him, unless you prefer yourself." Lina and Zelgadis looked at her with blank-beet-red faces.
"Ame-chan, be polite," Xellos said cheerfully. Lina and Zelgadis could almost feel the smile on the otherside of his head.
"What's going on," Gourry asked.
"Nothing for us to worry about," Sylphiel spoke in an embarrassed, scandalized tone.
"Oh fine, do it your way," Lina gave in as Zelgadis cleaned the other cut finger and then licked the blood from the small cuts on her hand. Lina gasped as the edges of her cuts were gently pulled by Zelgadis's tongue. She released her breath as lhe et go of her hand and finally cast recovery on the cuts.
"There you go, all better," Zelgadis said with a cat-like smile.
"Thanks, Zel," she said embarrassed. Then they moved to catch up with the other four.members of their party. She remained silent over the next few minutes. She knew that she should have been thinking about the quest they were currently on, but she instead kept coming to the question of this new relationship with Zelgadis. "We aren't moving too fast are we?"
"You don't want me?" Zelgadis started, mood turning black with a speed of emotional descent only he could achieve.
"No! No! That's not what I mean," Lina stammered. "I don't want to...hurt you." Zelgadis smiled grimly.
"I'll take the risk," he answered,
"And you want a little runt like me?" Lina asked.nervously.

Hmm, Lina-chan seems a little nervous about this.
I never realized that she was so...
Fragile?
Yes, that's what I was looking for.
Only in some situations, Ame-chan, usually she's tough as iron.
Should we do something?"
Give Zel a couple more lines.
Well, the angst IS delicious Amelia actually licked her lips.
Wait until you taste some true anger.
Actually I think we can arrange that. Then both of them smiled and leaned close while they walked.

"You are NOT a runt," Zelgadis corrected her in frustation. "And you are NOT flat-chested. You certainly proved that last night." He said the last in a whispered undertone that still invoked a flood of red into Lina's face.
"Zelll..."
"Now you'd want a fre..." Lina covered his mouth and prevented him finishing.
"I heard this yesterday, and I'm not going to let you call yourself a monster freak, if you don't let me call myself a runt." Zelgadis arched an eyebrow, and she removed her hand.
"That has got to be the silliest sentence I have ever heard," Zelgadis said. "Why would some one WANT to insult themselves?"
"That is pretty silly," Lina laughed. Then she looked up. "Hey, Zel, why are Amelia and Xellos smiling at us like that?"
"You know, now that I think about, they're both a lot more alike than I thought," Zelgadis said. "Still since last night Amelia's been acting...weird."
"What's the matter with you two?" Amelia asked suddenly. "You're both so afraid of nothing. It is kind of amusing, but its going to get very boring, very quickly. So could you please get on with your emotional discoveries and then we can go kill some bandits or something." Everybody stared in outright shock at Amelia.
Think that'll get them wondering?
Oh, one of them will be figuring it out any minute now.
"Amelia, what did you and Xellos do last night?"
"Well," Amelia rolled her eyes up towards the sky as if in thought. "First I got undressed and then I undid Xellos's belt and..."
"WITHOUT THE DETAILS!!" Lina, Zelgadis and Sylphiel shouted at once. Xellos and Amelia flashed matching smiles.
"Ouch, that hurt my ears," Gourry mumbled.
"We did everything I wanted to do," Amelia said cryptically.
"Yes, but what did you do?"
"Well, after Ame-chan finished..."
"NO DETAILS!!"
"Could you please stop doing that?" Gourry asked.
"So you want to know what we did," Amelia started.
"But you don't want any details."
"I'm not really all that..." Sylphiel looked at the disbelieving faces directed toward her. "...okay, yes I AM interested."
"So out with it," Lina snapped. Xellos and Amelia smiled at each other and then leaned toward everybody else, in unison, wagging their fingers.
"Sore wa himitsu desu," they said in unison. Lina arched an eyebrow in frustration as she stared at the pair, looking from Amelia to Xellos. Then suddenly the sorceress cried out and pointed at the raven-haired girl.
"What is it?" Zelgadis asked anxiously.
"Amelia...you're...you're..."
"Mazoku? Yep!" the former princess finished cheerfully. Everybody but the mazoku face faulted.
"Xellos, you, sick-bastard, how could you do this to such an innocent young woman..." The two mazoku let their friends rant and rave about Xellos's evil ways and Amelia's ruined innocence. They were already beginning to accept it, though, and in another half hour or so of ranting they would calm down and be back to what the slayers considered normal.
oooooo, this IS tasty Amelia restrained herself from shivering with delight at the wave of anger and shock coming from her friends.
And I notice they're less doubtful of their own feelings.
Yes, well they do need each other.
Still can't give up the justice kick can you Ame-chan.
Nope, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun getting there