Chapter 2: Zelgadiss' Christmas Day

Fortunately for Zelgadiss, Xelloss had neglected to steal his pajama bottoms. Unfortunately, his star-covered pajama bottoms really didn't go with his white tunic. The combination, combined with his cloak, kind of made him like a wizard wannabe. Oh well. There was nothing that he could do about that at the moment.

Then he blushed with a realization. Xelloss had stolen his pants. Repeat that. Xelloss had stolen his pants. Which meant that Xelloss had removed his pants in the first place.

And this was the same Xelloss who had stolen a kiss before.

What the hell. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed it. He couldn't deny that. It was just that... well, his first kiss (real kiss) had been taken by a guy. No, a Mazoku. Who was probably just playing around with him.

Regardless, Zelgadiss thought, Xelloss had made his Christmas Eve a lot more bearable. And...Xelloss had also helped him deal with certain newfound information about his form. Xelloss had helped him out, and he couldn't deny that, either.

But then, he couldn't deny the fact that Xelloss was also intentionally making a fool of him. By stealing his pants.

He looked outside at the position of the sun. It was already afternoon. He must have slept in. Understandable, considering the quantity of alcohol he had drunk the night before. But that meant that he didn't have all that much time to meet Xelloss, and thus had no time to go out and buy a new pair of pants before their meeting.

Whatever. He'd just have to meet Xelloss in his pajama bottoms. That couldn't be too bad. No, wait. It could be very bad. But he'd just have to deal with it when it happened.

With that, Zelgadiss packed and left the inn to find Xelloss.

According to the sundial in the town center, it was already past 3 pm. And Xelloss was nowhere to be found.

"Of course..." Zelgadiss muttered to himself. Who would expect the Trickster Priest to actually be on time for once? Even if it had been Xelloss' own invitation. Zelgadiss sat down in the snow, leaned back against the pillar holding up the sundial, and waited.

Then his senses tingled. He wasn't sure if it was something that came from his shamanism training or because of his brau demon part, but when something powerful was coming and he was paying attention, he could tell. He leaped to his feet, ready for combat. But it was probably just Xelloss.

And he was right. "Why hello, Zelgadiss-san! What... interesting attire," Xelloss observed, predictably.

"Yeah, it's your fault," Zelgadiss grumbled.

"I suppose it is!" Xelloss grinned. "I think they're really very cute pants. You should wear them more often!"

"Shut up," Zelgadiss said, "And hand over my sword and pants."

"Yes, yes," Xelloss said. "So impatient." He produced the sword and pants and handed them over.

"There he iss!" hissed a voice.

Zelgadiss turned around to see... a snake-shaped demon. Accompanied by about fifty other snake-shaped demons. "What the hell...?"

"Ah, I thought you might like a Christmas present. Don't worry, I didn't expect you to get me anything," Xelloss said, his grin widening.

"Gee, thanks so much," Zelgadiss groaned and turned to his new foes. "Astral Vine!" he cast, using the new version of the spell. Since they were in the town center, there were plenty of people around for him to draw energy from. Even if they did decide to run away as the snake demons charged.

"Oh, don't worry!" Xelloss chirped. "They're really very easy to kill. Of course, their bite is extremely poisonous, but... you don't have to worry about that, now, do you?"

"And how's this supposed to be a Christmas present?!" Zelgadiss cried as he plowed through the snakes.

"Oh! I thought that would have been obvious. It's a chance to test out your new spell! Also, due to their fatally poisonous bite, each one has a disproportionate amount of experience points! You could even gain a level!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Oh, never mind. Here, I'll join you!" And with that, Xelloss leaped into the fray. "I've got your back!"

After the sixth one fell, they started to get the idea. "They're too strong!" hissed one. "Run!"

But it was too late. Xelloss teleported on the other side, blocking their escape route. Xelloss blocked and distracted them while Zelgadiss slashed eagerly away. Together, the two of them chopped and exploded fifty snake demons in under five minutes. Xelloss didn't even use any of his really flashy spells.

Zelgadiss found himself sporting a rather wide grin, a grin splattered with dissipating lesser-demon blood. "Now wasn't that fun?" Xelloss asked, teleporting beside Zelgadiss. "And not even a scratch!"

"No," Zelgadiss agreed. "It seems like their only real attack was their bite..."

"Mostly," Xelloss nodded. "Now, I bet you haven't even eaten anything yet, have you?"

Zelgadiss shook his head. "No, I woke up too late."

"Terrific!" Xelloss grinned. "I have the perfect place picked out."

Zelgadiss' jaw dropped as realization hit him. "Wait a second. This is your idea... of a date, isn't it?"

Xelloss's grin just grew. "This way," he said.

Xelloss led Zelgadiss to a cozy little restaurant that was only a few blocks away. At least, it would have been cozy, if it weren't for all the ridiculous Christmas decorations everywhere. With the giant Santa tucked in next to their table, the restaurant's description fell from "cozy" to "damned cramped." Christmas lights lit the place up brighter than the sun, and the waitress had been forced to wear a female elf costume. Actually, that elf costume helped make the place bearable.

"Interested?" Xelloss asked, seeing Zelgadiss's gaze creep up the waitress's legs to land on her cleavage.

"Uh... no!" Zelgadiss blushed, looking away.

"Oh, don't feel so bad," Xelloss said, patting Zelgadiss on the back. Which just made Zelgadiss blush harder.

"But... uh... isn't this some sort of a date?" Zelgadiss asked.

"Do you want it to be?"

Zelgadiss looked away.

"I take that as a yes!" Xelloss exclaimed, grinning like a fool. "Which means that, yes, this is a date, Zelgadiss-san. And that you should be punished for looking at women while you're on a date with me."

"P-punished?" Zelgadiss didn't want to think about the punishment Xelloss might have in store for him. Xelloss scooted his chair closer.

"Yes,punished," Xelloss breathed into his ear. Zelgadiss jumped, then froze when he felt Xelloss's hand on his leg.

"Uh... X-xelloss..." Zelgadiss stuttered.

"Yeees, Zelgadiss-san?" Xelloss inquired, his hand moving up.

"I... I don't think this is the place... for that."

"For what? This?" Xelloss' hand slipped in between Zelgadiss' thighs.

"Y-yes!" Zelgadiss cried, causing the waitress to turn to them in surprise. That shut him up.

"Oh, Zelgadiss-san," Xelloss whispered in his ear, "You know I don't care about such human things like the opinion of others. But you do, don't you? Which means you'd better be quiet."

The waitress turned around, and Xelloss grabbed Zelgadiss through the cloth of his pajama pants. Zelgadiss' breath caught. His face turned beat red as Xelloss began doing some very unchaste things to him under the table.

And then their food came, and thankfully, Xelloss stopped, giving Zelgadiss a chance to breathe. "Xelloss..." Zelgadiss growled.

"Yeeees?" Xelloss replied innocently.

"Please don't do that anymore."

"Oh, you can't really mean that."

"Yes, I do."

"But you were enjoying it so much!"

Zelgadiss couldn't deny that. "Fine. Just not... here. All right?"

"Then I suggest you hurry up and eat, before I can't contain myself any longer."

Zelgadiss took the hint, and ate like Lina.

Xelloss followed Zelgadiss up to the inn room this time. But he didn't do anything until they were through the door, to Zelgadiss' relief. But as soon as they were through, Xelloss attacked. And Zelgadiss was very willing to be attacked. Xelloss pushed him down onto the bed.

"Still wearing the pajama bottoms, I see..." Xelloss observed with a grin as he began to pull them down.

Zelgadiss gave out a little "Eep" at that. Xelloss didn't even pause.

"Xelloss, hold on!" Zelgadiss said, pushing Xelloss away.

"I've never... done anything like this before. Okay?" Zelgadiss panted. "None of this."

"But we just kissed!"

"Yes. And I've never kissed anyone before, especially not a guy. I'm not... ready."

"But..."

"No."

Xelloss sighed. "Fine."

Zelgadiss sat up. "But I am really glad that I had someone to spend Christmas with for once."

Xelloss grinned. "Me too," he said, sitting beside him and wrapped the comforter around them both.

Which made Zelgadiss jerk in surprise. "You are?"

"Well yes. Christmas is much better when you have someone to spend it with."

"But you're..."

"Indeed," Xelloss agreed. "It's complicated and difficult, so let's not talk about it any more for now. All right?"

"Sure..."

"For now, let's just enjoy Christmas." Xelloss pulled the comforter tighter around the two of them and gently nudged Zelgadiss' head down to lie on his shoulder. Zelgadiss gave a pleased sigh as he breathed in Xelloss' unique, slightly spicy scent.

Yes, this was best, Zelgadiss thought. He'd deal with the issues later. For now, for the first time since Rezo had changed him, it was really Christmas.

And the snow fell outside the window in soft, soundless flakes.

A/N: Yeah, yeah, no sex when you wanted there to be sex. And yeah, it's just fluff. XD Maybe I'll add more to it sometime... probably not. Slayers fandom is practically silent these days, and us writers need our review-food before we write much. Sooo I probably won't be adding anything to this any time soon.