Title: Display of Affection
Author: Tsutsuji
Fandom: Slayers
Pairing: Xelloss/Zelgadis
Rating: NC17
Warnings: consensual rough sex, violence, painplay (including hitting, scratching, biting, and hair-pulling). not beta'd
Written for the "Painplay" square on my kink bingo card.
Word count: around 2970
Summary: For a mazoku and a chimera, love is always a battlefield.
Author's Notes: Idea originally based on a prompt for a previous round of Springkink: Xellos/Zelgadis: Rough sex (quick and dirty sex; hate or grudge sex; angry sex; fighting/wrestling; jackhammer fucking; sex with no or little lube) - struggle. I couldn't write it for that round of springkink, though - I guess it just needed a little more kink! Also with thanks to Chrissy_Sky for the icon that provided the title.
This story doesn't take place in any of the other Xel/Zel continuities I write in. Takes place following episode 2 of Evolution-R and refers to events in that series.
The last thing Zelgadis remembered, he had just plunked his line in a tidal pool for a little late night fishing, more for the sake of some peace and quiet away from Lina and the others than out of any strong desire for fish.
Then something very hard had come flying out of nowhere and hit him in the head, and now here he was, lying on his back and blinking up at Xelloss.
"You! What the hell did you - ow!" He sat up quickly, sputtering, but stopped short when a spike of pain shot through his head.
"Oh dear!" Xelloss said with exaggerated concern. He backed off from where he'd been leaning over him, and sat crossed legged on the ground. "It wasn't me who hit you, I'm afraid, Zel-san."
"Oh, really?" Zelgadis said skeptically, squinting up at him. The pain was receding quickly on its own, but he added a little Recovery to help it along. "Then what was it?"
"Nama's head, I believe!" Xelloss answered cheerfully.
"What?" But he realized immediately that this actually made perfect sense. He rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course. She - it! - must have pissed Lina off again."
"Apparently so! They don't seem to get along very well, do they?" Xelloss mused. "Almost as if they were old rivals - a little like us, in fact!"
His head having cleared a little, Zelgadis sat back and glared at him again, then took a look at their surroundings. They were in a clearing in a thick grove of trees, with the first streaks of dawn light showing in the open sky overhead. Nowhere near the tidal pool where he'd been fishing, of course.
"What are you up to, Xelloss?" he growled. "Where the hell have you been all this time? And what do you have to do with - "
Xelloss had already raised his finger in front of his face, as Zelgadis should have expected. But then he leaned forward and placed it against Zel's lips.
"You should know better than to ask me that, Zel-san," he said softly. His violet eyes gleamed in the dim light of the clearing. "Leave the questions for now. I don't have much time, you know, before duty calls me back."
Zelgadis scowled even harder at him, but he didn't bother to ask any more questions about his mission, about his interest in Taforashia or Zanaffar, or, especially, what he knew about Rezo's jar. He had an uncomfortable feeling he didn't really want to know, anyway.
That didn't stop him from being furious. He grabbed Xelloss by the wrist and yanked him closer, glaring into his face. Xelloss' eyes opened a little wider in surprise, and gleamed a little brighter. He was sure the mazoku would appreciate his anger, much more than he would enjoy the relief Zelgadis felt at finally seeing him again after all this time, without the others around, and without being on opposite sides of some scheme or battle.
"You brushed me off, Mazoku!" he snarled. "What's the idea, anyway?"
"My, my," Xelloss said, feigning surprise at his outburst. "Nothing personal, I assure you! As I said already, Zelgadis-san, I had duties to attend to. The tedious task of following your friend Duclis around the countryside... "
"Not that," Zelgadis growled. "I'm talking about our little battle in Wizer's ridiculous trap. You couldn't even be bothered to use magic against me. You don't take me seriously enough to fight me properly, do you, you arrogant mazoku bastard!"
He tightened his grip on Xelloss' wrist and twisted it, forcing Xelloss to move closer on hand and knees.
"Oh," Xelloss said. Now his eyes were definitely glowing, and the corner of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile. "Don't be insulted, my dear chimera! I only hit you hard enough to snap a normal human body in two, after all. I would gladly have done more, but our dear Inspector wanted you all captured, not maimed or killed!"
Xelloss shifted, apparently trying to ease the strain on his wrist, but he also tilted his head and peered up into Zel's face, his feral grin stretching wider.
"But should I also be insulted at that ridiculously slow and obvious Ra Tilt you threw at me?" he said. "Or how about attacking me with your hair, of all things, when we first met near Taforashia? My, my, Zel-san! There's a nice greeting for an old lover! I was tempted to keep those strands as a memento, you know, but that might have been far too sentimental. Besides, they made such a good object lesson for little Prince Pokota."
"If I'd known it was you in that forest, I would have thrown something a lot more lethal," Zelgadis said through clenched teeth.
Xelloss pouted, but he obviously didn't take this threat seriously. Considering that easily dodged Ra Tilt in their later battle, Zelgadis couldn't really blame him.
"Well," Xelloss said, grinning again. "Considering all of that, would you rather fuck or fight now? I'm afraid we don't have time to do both!"
Zelgadis bared his teeth in what passed for a smile with a mazoku.
"In that case, why not could combine the two?" he said, and grabbed Xelloss by the collar.
The mazoku's eyes lit up, but the air in the clearing seemed to grow darker in spite of the daylight slowly creeping in over head. The space between them crackled with magical energy as Zelgadis twisted his hands in Xelloss' shirt. He pulled him up off the ground and dragged him forward until they were face to face, their lips almost touching.
Xelloss only stopped him then, throwing his hands up between them to keep them at that distance. He cupped Zel's chin with one gloved hand, his fingertips fondling the stones on Zel's face with only the slightest hint of his full power, and smiled when Zelgadis glared at him.
"Why not indeed?" Xelloss said, a soft and deadly purr. "It would certainly not be the first time..."
...
Xelloss had not been at all certain of the welcome he would get from the chimera, considering how much time they'd been apart, and especially considering certain aspects of his current mission. The existence of Rezo's soul-sealed jar had no doubt awakened all of his old anger, along with his never ending obsession with finding a cure for his chimerical condition. But it seemed that, just like Xelloss, he quite happily welcomed the opportunity to set all of those worries aside for a while in favor of pure sensual pleasure.
After all, no matter how angry Zelgadis might really have been about their recent, all too brief and public encounters, the fury Xelloss felt through his grip and saw in his eyes right now was surely enhanced for his own benefit. Zelgadis knew perfectly well how exciting all that rage would be for him, and how Xelloss would repay him for it.
Their first kiss after far too long a time was rough and harsh, as full of sharp teeth nipping at each other's lips as it was of tongues thrusting together, as each of them sought the first taste of dominance. Xelloss let Zelgadis tear at his clothes with his sandpaper fingers, while he twisted his own hands in the shaman's wiry hair, yanking his head to the side to gain more control of the kiss.
Zelgadis let him get away with that for a few seconds before he shoved Xelloss back from him with surprising force. Xelloss had a brief, wonderful moment to see the chimera's blue eyes blazing at him, his mouth twisted in a leering grin that revealed demonic fangs. Then Zelgadis muttered the words "vis farank!" and swung at him with a magically enhanced backhand. The battle for dominance began in earnest.
It was exhilarating, all the more so because of the long wait while Xelloss' duty and Zelgadis' friends had kept them apart. But Xelloss was too aware that they really did not have much time at all. The friends in question were already searching for Zelgadis so that they could continue their quest for that cursed jar, and his Mistress had limited patience with his little personal indulgences.
So as much as he would have loved to let their little battle drag on through the day until he wore the chimera down through sheer persistence, Xelloss gained the upper hand fairly quickly. Zelgadis put up a brief, determined resistance, but he also seemed to recognize the urgency of their situation. Either that, or he was too desperate for their encounter to even care if he ended up in control of it or not.
Even so, once their positions had been decided and Xelloss had that beautiful, stone-covered body naked and pinned to the ground beneath him, Zelgadis refused to be completely subdued. He continued to struggle against Xelloss with renewed strength, twisting around almost quickly enough to escape his grasp, and still casting quick attack spells that Xelloss had to either dodge or block.
It was intensely arousing - Xelloss assumed that was the point - but it was also only delaying the inevitable and much desired outcome. Xelloss was forced to use more of his strength and more magic than he'd intended. It was almost, he thought with a rush of pure lust, as if Zelgadis was inviting Xelloss to hurt him.
But even when he finally had Zelgadis panting and gasping, spread out under him and ready to be taken, the chimera still struggled. Xelloss paused on the verge of thrusting into him, and held him down hard, with his hand twisted in Zel's hair tightly enough to make him gasp and wince.
"Zel-san," he said, bearing down on him, nipping at his pliant, bruised lips to get his full attention. The struggles almost stopped, although Zelgadis still strained against him, panting heavily. When blue eyes finally cleared and focused on his face, he continued. "Why are you still fighting so hard, my dear chimera? Do you want me to hurt you even more? Or do you not want me at all this time?"
He would have been sorely disappointed if that was the case. In fact, he wasn't sure if he would be able to stop himself now, even if Zelgadis had said no to him. But Zelgadis had never fought him this hard before, and Xelloss had never had to hurt him quite this much to get what he was almost certain they both wanted. Maybe he'd been wrong to assume that was still true.
Zelgadis stared up at him for a few seconds while he continued to pant, with every heated breath sending a shiver of desire through Xelloss. Then, to Xelloss' surprise, he laughed, a low, guttural growl of laughter. His eyes blazed suddenly, and he dug his fingers into Xelloss' arms so deeply that Xelloss nearly winced.
"Are you an idiot, Xelloss? What do you think I want?"
On the last grunted word, he twisted hard and arched up underneath Xelloss as much as he could with his body pinned so tightly to the ground. Xelloss' eyes went wide, and Zelgadis laughed again, even more deeply, as his state of arousal became quite obvious.
"I'm used to this with you, Xelloss. What else would I have to expect, with a mazoku for a lover? It's what makes you want me, isn't it?"
He closed his eyes and thrust up against Xelloss again, and twisted his head to the side, as if to feel Xelloss' pull on his hair more intensely.
"It was probably wise of you to take me out of that battle so quickly like that," he said, low and breathless. "If you hadn't, if you'd given me even a moment to think about it, if you'd even touched me any more than that... I probably would've done something that would have embarrassed both of us in front of the others."
"Is that so?" Xelloss said, amused but still surprised.
For the first time, he wondered if this was part of the reason Zelgadis had let himself be seduced in the first place, knowing how it would be with him. Xelloss had always hurt him in their encounters, or rather, Zelgadis had always allowed himself to be hurt. Until now, Xelloss had thought that was only for his benefit, as if Zelgadis assumed he needed to feast on his pain, and had decided it was worth it to for the sexual pleasure and release he got with Xelloss. He'd never even considered that Zelgadis might actually enjoy the pain as well.
Under the present circumstances, though, this made things a great deal simpler.
He'd never been this rough before, but they were in a hurry, after all, and he really did want Zelgadis rather desperately by now. And obviously, Zelgadis wanted him just as badly, wanted all that Xelloss did to him.
He thrust into the tense, struggling, stone body roughly, and when Zelgadis threw his head back with a gurgling scream, he sank his teeth into the chimera's arched throat without reservation. Zelgadis shuddered, gasped, but clamped his legs around Xelloss and pulled him in even harder.
After that, Xelloss fucked Zelgadis hard and fast. There was no time for the luxury of patience. It was perfectly clear to him now that Zelgadis was just as excited with the harshness of it as he was, even if he was screaming long before the end. He still fought Xelloss, kissed him hard in between throwing his head back to scream and moan, and bit him and clawed at him with enough magic in his demon-infused body to hurt Xelloss, too.
It was so incredibly arousing that Xelloss nearly lost himself in it. He didn't even know which of them finally climaxed first. When he could finally focus his senses again, he was still inside Zelgadis, with the chimera's strained and trembling limbs still wrapped around him tightly.
Zelgadis was nearly passed out under him, though, panting softly, finally exhausted by the struggle. Xelloss was a little amused to discover that he was actually sore in places, too, both from the intensity of his own exertions and from the magical attacks Zelgadis had used against him. That would fade quickly, though, once he got his thoughts back in order.
He knew Zelgadis would be able to heal himself, and the marks Xelloss had left on him would be gone before the others had any chance to see them. His stone skin was difficult to mark, but there were gouges and bites where Xelloss had broken through with clawed fingers and sharp teeth, a bleeding lip, a gash on his upper arm from Xelloss' grip, and bruises that were like the dents of a hammer in stone where Xelloss had held him down...
Watching Zelgadis finally go limp, it crossed Xelloss' mind that he should be glad Rezo had given him this body, even if Zelgadis hated it so much. It meant he didn't have to hold back with him, whether in battle with the chimera or in sex. More importantly, though, it was reassuring to know Zelgadis was so resilient, especially if he had to face the battle Xelloss suspected he might be facing soon. He was glad to know that Zelgadis was not easy to hurt, even if he seemed to enjoy pain more than Xelloss had realized. And that was something he hoped to explore further, if they all survived what was coming.
It was probably just as well that they didn't have much time now, only enough to exhaust each other like this. No time to think about what they were doing, about how strange it was to want each other like this, and no time to think about the fact that the next time they met, they might truly be enemies. Or, perhaps stranger still, they might instead be allies, if the terrible suspicions Xelloss and his Mistress had concerning the soul sealed in Rezo's jar turned out to be true. It was almost a shame that he couldn't even offer Zelgadis a hint of that possibility yet.
...
Zelgadis winced when Xelloss pulled away and sat back on the ground next to him. With the heat of arousal sated for now, he could feel every ache and scrape in his body. He was too tired to heal himself yet, and even too tired to cover himself, even though he knew Xelloss was happily staring down at him.
Reluctantly, he pried his eyes open and sighed. It would be nice to stay in this pleasant, mindless state a little longer, but already, the questions were starting to nag at his mind again.
He knew better, but there was one question he couldn't help asking.
"How much longer until this is settled?" he asked.
"I wish I knew," Xelloss answered, all too cheerfully. "But I'm afraid I have no idea, Zel-san!"
Before Zelgadis could turn around and scowl at him, Xelloss leaned over him and plucked a handful of wire strands from his head.
"Ow!" Zelgadis winced and swatted at this hand, then sat up and glared, rubbing his head. "What's the idea, Xelloss!"
Xelloss giggled.
"I'm keeping these," he said cheerfully, "as a little memento! Until we meet again, Zelgadis-san!"
He shimmered out of sight. Zelgadis sat in the middle of the clearing and fumed silently for a while, before he finally started to heal himself and dress, and then set off to find Lina and the others.
He was the only one who knew that, hidden under his clothes, the bruises left by a mazoku's fingers on his thigh remained in his stone skin. They would fade eventually even without a healing spell, but for now he kept them as his own memento of Xelloss.
~~ the end ~~
(And with this fic done, I officially have my line finished for BINGO! yay!)