Title: New Life
Author: Chrissy Sky
Beta-read: Rose Thorne
Rating: M.
Warnings: Not much of the sexing this time either.
Prompt: 2. Slayers, Xellos/Zelgadis: beloved enemies - reincarnated in the modern world
Word count: 1382
Summary: Modern Day AU Xellos/Zelgadis pretty much covers it.
A/N: This is not as long as I wanted to make it. Sadly, February was very busy and I ran out of time. I hope the prompter likes it anyway. ^^;
The campaign season was in full rush. Like a speeding train, it threatened to crash with political intrigue, scandals, and which subject the senators flip-flopped last on. The nation could only stand and watch as the chaos ensued, their eyes on the politicians.
Both were charismatic and charming, able to win listeners over with powerful speeches. Both were sneaking liars, of course, but the general public didn't know just how much. They wouldn't until they voted one of them into office.
No one paid attention to those that worked for them, who watched from the sidelines. Why would they? They both had great experience in being unnoticed unless they wished otherwise.
They watched from above the crowd of the televised debate. Their employers were currently throwing polite jabs at one another, so polite that one would almost not notice.
Xellos went up to the private box where Zelgadis had hid himself, and found the younger man leaning against the railing as he watched.
Zelgadis shook his head in bemusement. "Zelas' tongue has gotten sharper since the last debate," he commented, obviously sensing his approach.
Xellos grinned, closing the door behind him. "Oh, she's been saving those barbs since Rezo-san called her on those expensive clothes."
He joined Zelgadis on the edge, studying the younger man more than the scene below. Rezo's aid had a smooth, boyish face, with intelligent blue eyes that could sometimes be cruel, and soft blue hair on his head. He looked very mature with his compact frame dressed in a dark suit, a campaign button pinned on his lapel.
If he concentrated hard enough, he could see the stones that weren't there. That hadn't been there for lifetimes. Or dimensions. It was hard to tell the passage of time and space the way things were.
His thoughts must have shown on his face. Zelgadis glanced at him and turned serious.
"Xellos… Stop thinking about it."
Xellos smiled. "Thinking? Was I doing something so foolish?"
Zelgadis snorted, lips twitching. "You? No way."
"Of course not."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Xellos giggled and shifted closer subtly. "I was just marveling again."
Zelgadis cocked one eyebrow up. "Yes, I stop traffic," he murmured sardonically.
"You always did," Xellos reminded softly. "Though now it's in a different way."
Out of habit, there was a tightening around Zelgadis' jaw. But his full anger did not rise. The younger man exhaled, seeming to push the old feelings out with it. His body was normal, had been for a long time, but there were some things that just couldn't be forgotten.
The spirit remembered. His body remembered. Dulled sensations, invulnerability at the sacrifice of feeling the simplest of touches, strength that was hard to control… The former chimera had explained it all to him.
There were things he couldn't forget either. That was what had brought them here, both physically and otherwise.
Xellos smiled gently and pulled the curtains closed, blocking out the scene below and most of the light with it. "Zelgadis…"
He reached up, touching Zelgadis' cheek, knowing how much he still craved touch. Perhaps now more than ever, freed from the curse and having experienced touch frequently.
Zelgadis shivered, his skin oversensitive. He flushed. "Here?"
"Why not?" Xellos asked with an evil grin.
"Public."
"Only mildly."
"Someone could walk in," Zelgadis whispered, flushed, eyes on the floor. "The scandal…"
Xellos smirked. "Oh? You wouldn't enjoy seeing Rezo-san squirm?"
"Not while I'm squirming too, thank you."
He giggled. "Relax, dear. The door is locked."
Zelgadis gave a long suffering sigh, which Xellos took as permission, which he usually did.
The spell had gone horribly wrong. Not because Xellos had tried to stop him—it had gone wrong long before then. To this very day, Zelgadis couldn't figure out what he had done wrong. Xellos even assured him that he probably hadn't. The spell itself was just too complex for humans to use. Even Lina Inverse would have gotten it wrong, hard as that was to believe.
For a moment, a brief moment, Zel thought it was going to work. He could see his stone skin flaking off, revealing human flesh underneath, and he had been so happy, before the power ripped through him like a hot blade. Xellos had appeared a moment later, his expression different than Zelgadis had never remembered seeing—shocked, bordering horrified, then startlingly helpless.
Xellos screamed—his name, maybe even an expletive, Zelgadis didn't remember now—and rushed for the manuscript in his hands. At that moment, Zelgadis would have gladly given it to him if he could.
But he couldn't. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, wasn't sure if he'd even had a heart still at the time. As soon as Xellos reached for him, his body was ripped open as well.
"Too late," Xellos murmured as the world around them dissolved, fading. "I've never been late before."
"First time for everyone," Zel wheezed, not knowing how he was still able to speak.
"Listen, Zelgadis-san." His voice was urgent. "There isn't much time left. You're not dying, but everything is about to change."
"It's not curing me. Feels like I'm—"
"You're not dying!" Zel thought he felt arms wrap around him. "Just hold on. Focus. Don't lose yourself. It will soon be over."
Somehow, Zel 'held on.' Xellos kept speaking, words that Zelgadis couldn't remember and probably hadn't recognized at the time, his voice in his ear, over the rushing noise around them, before everything went blank.
When he woke again, it was morning and he was lying in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, in the strangest building and city he had ever seen. Venturing out of the apartment had been hard, even with his wonderfully human form, because there were far too many people roaming around. It had been harder to learn that he was supposed to be working for his bastard grandfather. Thankfully Rezo seemed to be without magic in this strange new world.
Unfortunately, so was he.
Zel managed to locate Xellos a week later—or rather, vice versa—and the former priest had explained it more fully. They were in a different world that ran parallel to their world. There were no Mazoku, no dragons, no gods or monsters, and absolutely no magic. There was no way to get home unless someone back home managed to figure out what had happened to them and was able to undo it.
That had been nearly a year ago.
He wasn't entirely sure he could explain how or why the sex had started. But it passed the time and seemed to give them both some sort of comfort—it was still weird to think that Xellos might need comfort. Plus it was kind of fun.
Okay, it was very fun.
He hadn't expected or welcomed the warmer feelings. Not at first anyway. Xellos, as it turned out, was a cuddler, seeming to crave contact almost as much as Zel did. He liked nuzzling and spooning and biting him very softly and having coffee ready for him when he woke up in the morning. It was sweet, really, and Zelgadis had never had a chance to experience it before.
He wasn't sure he wanted to go home anymore.
"Let's move in together," Xellos murmured against his shoulder later that night, after they had skipped out on the rest of the debate.
Zelgadis felt his heart do a little flip and was glad the room was dark. "Yours or mine?"
"Either. Or we could get a new place."
"That'd be nice."
"Mm-hm." Xellos sniffed around his hair, breathing in his scent. "Want to?"
"Sure…" He rubbed Xellos' lower back thoughtfully. "You ever think about what it'd be like if we went home?"
"Yes." And that was all he said.
"I… dread it."
"It's been a year," Xellos noted, seemingly unconcerned. "Either time passes faster here or Lina-san isn't any closer to figuring out what happened."
"Good sign then?"
"I'm taking it as such." He laughed softly. "I feel like a student skipping out of my classes for an extended period of time."
"I feel like I'm dreaming," Zel said. "And I don't want to wake up."
Xellos smiled. "So, you like being enemies during the day and secret lovers at night?"
"I've done worse." But never better.
Xellos hummed and snuggled closer. For the moment, Zel chose not to think about anything else. Tomorrow he could, like he always did. But for now he had something approaching happiness and he wanted to enjoy it.
~ End. Thanks for reading! ~