#xelzel

"Very funny," Zelgadis drawled, standing his ground. 

 Xelloss' mouth had been on Lina. It had been on Gourry. It had been on Amelia for gods' sakes. There wasn't much degree of separation between them by now. And the tension was killing him. He was sure Xelloss was getting satisfaction out of it, too– the turmoil of his feelings about whether or not Zel should let the mazoku touch him.

"Oh but I was being sincere, Zelgadis. I promise." Xelloss smiled, and he put a hand on Zelgadis' chest. 

He shuddered again– or maybe it was more of a shiver. Zelgadis had been human for months now, and every time someone touched him it felt strange, and foreign. Vulnerable. It felt more vulnerable than ever to have Xelloss' hands on him. 

"Sincerity from you is still such a bizarre reality for me to cope with," he admitted.

"I know," Xelloss shook his head. "What a pathetic end to our little game. It feels almost like a waste. Maybe you should pretend not to trust me again, and I'll come up with some fun way to manipulate you, hmm?"

Zelgadis felt the foreign sensation of the hot blood crawling up his cheeks in a flush, and he looked away. "I'd rather not."

Xelloss almost certainly knew that the truth of that statement was 'I'd rather not, right now'.

"Well then I guess we'll have to make due with sincerity after all!" Xelloss laughed. "For the moment at least."

He reached up and cupped Zelgadis' warm cheek with a cool, gloved hand, and Zelgadis didn't stop him. He saw the sliver of Xelloss' bewitching eyes under his long, heavy lashes.

"More fools us," Zelgadis muttered, glancing away.

"I'll leave you alone, if you ask me too, Zelgadis. But I can tell that isn't what you want."

"Of course," Zel snorted. "Fucking mazoku."

Xelloss laughed softly, and scooped his other arm around Zelgad's waist, pulling him closer, his hand still on his face.

"You hide your emotions from everyone, Zelgadis. No wonder you don't like that I can see right through you, hmmm? You want me to kiss you."

Zel felt himself flushing even brighter, and he refused to meet Xelloss' gaze. "You've kissed everyone else by this point."

"And you're jealous. Tut tut, that's a truly negative emotion you now."

Zelgadis' stomach knotted. "I'm not! That isn't!!"

But of course there was no way to lie to the mazoku about jealousy. He was eating it up like a good dinner, he was sure.

Xelloss' glove stroked Zel's lower lip and sent another, different kind of shiver through him.

"Now, now, as much as I am flattered– and well fed– by your jealous feelings here, why don't we put an end to them, hmm? And then I'll tell you a secret. I've gotten into the habit of telling secrets recently, so you can have this little one."

"A secret?" Zelgadis couldn't help his curiosity any more than his jealousy.

"Mmhmm, but after we kiss– that is, if you still want to, Mr. Zelgadis?"

Zel found he couldn't take a single moment more of the teasing, and the tension. After years of bitter— whatever it was, between them– here they were. With Xelloss' arms around him, and his hands on his face.

"Gghhh, yes! Alright! Yes, I want you to kiss me damn it, let's get this over with, I'm dying here!"

"Well we can't have that!"

Zelgadis didn't have time to prepare himself as Xelloss jerked him closer, shifting his hand to tug his chin upward into position. Xelloss' mouth cut off his noise of surprise as he pressed lips against lips, and Zel found himself swooning against the mazoku's chest.

Zel was furious at how good he was at it– kissing. At the way Xelloss' lips and the tongue that intruded on his mouth took his breath away and made him want more. He was furious that he'd waited this long to kiss him– with Xelloss constantly sticking his face in his own, getting up close and personal and practically begging to be grabbed and kissed just to shut him up.

Zelgadis grabbed the front of Xelloss' clothes in his fists and jerked him closer to him, kissing him harder in return, driving his tongue into his mouth and sucking at his lips.

What the mazoku got out of this exactly, Zelgadis had no idea. Mazoku emotions were warped, and Xelloss' were even more warped and strange and unnatural than a typical mazoku. But he was certain that in some way, Xelloss was enjoying himself, and that was enough for him.

He pulled back, and gasped for air.

Xelloss just smirked with his usual amusement his arms still around him. "Was it good for you?"

Zelgadis shook him, a low growl of frustration in the back of his throat.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Xelloss laughed.

Zelgadis jammed his mouth angrily back against Xelloss' lips– finally taking that moment to shut him up. He kept kissing him, until he was entirely out of breath, and gasping against his shoulder– a human weakness that Xelloss didn't share.

"I suppose that was a long time coming, after all," Xelloss purred, stroking his fingers over Zelgadis' ear and jaw as he leaned on him. "So did you want to hear that secret?"

"Yeff," Zelgadis agreed, his voice muffled against Xelloss' shoulder.

Xelloss tilted his face up toward him, and whispered in his ear. "That wasn't the first time you've kissed me."

All the blood drained out of Zelgadis, leaving him cold and suddenly in shock. He pushed away from Xelloss, still holding on to the front of his clothes.

"What?" 

Xelloss put a finger to his lips secretively. "You were actually the first of the group. I'll tell you the story in the morning. How's that? Does it settle your jealousy?"

Zelgadis' stomach lurched. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Xelloss smiled widely. "I'll tell you in the morning. Let me enjoy the suspense a while, why don't you? While your mind lunges on what it could possibly mean."

"You bastard! What kind of—"

"Oh hush." Xelloss pecked him on the lips, and Zelgadis was ashamed by how quickly it shut him up. "It's nothing really bad, I promise. And as I said, you kissed me."

"I have no idea how that's possible," Zel pouted, looking up at him with a suspicious gaze.

"And that's what makes it fun!" Xelloss beamed. "Now come on, let's get to bed. You poor humans need your sleep, and I know you sleep better with a big spoon, Mr. Zelgadis."

Zelgadis hated that he was right. He lay awake for a while in the narrow inn bed with Xelloss curled around him, his thoughts going over what Xelloss could possibly mean. But eventually the feeling of the warm weight of Xelloss' physical body lulled him to sleep despite himself.