Ghost Slayers

Chapter Thirty-eight

By Relm

Getting Amelia, Sylphiel and Filia to leave had been hard for Lina. Since all the crazy things that had been happening the three Ghost Slayers were loathe to leave their boss alone.

True Lina wouldn't really be alone as Slimer, Xellos and Zelgadis would be there as well but that didn't help matters. The ghostly trio could only do so much when dealing with certain dangers. But never the less Lina said she was okay on her own and she mean it. That left the remaining Ghost Slayers parting ways.

Usually it was Amelia or Sylphiel who choose to leave last but strangely not this time. Though originally fine with the arrangement Filia was feeling very apprehensive about leaving. She claimed it was because she was afraid of what Xellos would do, but that wasn't the case. Filia had always thought she hated Xellos and she was rightfully so in assuming that. Xellos was a pain in the ass. In recent light Filia though still easily annoyed with Xellos she couldn't help but feel a little protective over him. It bothered her that he was in this state of in between. It was one thing to see it happen to a stranger but another if it was something you knew.

Xellos pretended not to care or that he found the experience interesting even but Filia didn't think that was the case. She worried about him. Not that she would ever admit that in a million years.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Filia asked for like the millionth time.

"Yes Filia I'll be fine." Lina insisted.

"You call me if there's a problem." It was more of an order than a question.

"Yes Filia. Go home and get some rest I'll see you in the morning."

Letting out a sight Filia hesitantly got into her car. What she didn't know was that she wasn't the only in her car.

...

To say Val was used to being the centre of attention was an understatement. All through his life he was used to having the attention on him. But it was never good attention. Val had been a trouble maker and a bad boy in school. He wasn't the prom king, class president, football captain or even boyfriend material. He was the guy drinking under the bleachers or vandalizing cars. Sure he had been a tough guy but he had also been very academic too. It was a strange combination. If he had been less of a trouble maker he probably would have been praised by his teachers.

Walking into that charity function Val was the center of a different kind of attention. People looked and stared. Some looked jealous while others flashed flirty smiles and winks. He felt very important at that moment even if it was as one of Naga's glorified accessories.

"How did she manage to score a guy that handsome?" Martina, one of the actresses at the party sneered glaring at Naga. "She's the most annoying woman in the world!"

"She can't be that bad." Officer Zangulus Zoanna said to his wife. "Kinda looks familiar though." Zangulus mused as he looked at Val.

"I'll bet you've busted him for prostitution! He must be a gigolo. That's the only way she could get a date that good looking." Martina insisted.

"'That good looking'?" Zangulus repeated. "And what exactly am I then?"

"Absolutely perfect." Martina purred at him. "Now let's go find out the gigolo's name." Martina dragged Zangulus with her over to Naga and her date.

Naga laughed as she clung onto her date's very muscled arm. Several people were taking photos and she and Val posed for each one of them. Even though Val was not quite as tall as she wanted he was still a very good compliment to her outfit. 'I'll have to remember to thank Amelia later. She has done me well! OHOHOHOHOHOHOH!' Naga thought to herself. Yes in even in her own thoughts Naga still laughed that annoying laugh.

"So who do we have here with our lead actress?" Martina exclaimed sourly as she and Zangulus approached Naga and Val.

"OHOHOHOHOH! Well if isn't my little understudy... what was your name again?" Naga smiled ever so sweetly.

"Martina. Martina Zoanna." Martina answered her voice ripe with agitation and anger. 'How dare she forget my name!'

"Right Martina! Who is you date?" Naga batted her eyelashes at Zangulus flirtatiously enticing a jealous filled glare from Val.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Officer Zangulus Zoanna. I'm Martina's husband." Zangulus offered his hand to shake Naga's.

Naga took Zangulus' hand with a playful smile dancing across her lips. "A cop? Wow! Beautiful and has the licence to carry a gun! How dangerous."

Val cleared his throat as if to remind his date that he was also present. "I'm Valgaav Ul Copt." Val offered his hand to Zangulus and Martina to shake. "I'm Naga's date." He emphasised the word 'date' in annoyance.

"Right now silly of me. Was my yummy little accessory feeling left out an ignored?" Naga petting Val on the arm affectionately.

"I am not an accessory." Val reminded her.

"But you are yummy." Naga purred.

"Yes I am." Val beamed happily. He was very obviously amused by the littlest of things.

"Ul Copt... I know I've heard that name before." Zangulus mused. "Yes now I remember! That's Filia's last name. She works for Ghost Slayers with my partner's dream girl Sylphiel."

"Filia is my step sister." Val admitted grudgingly. "We used to work together at the University before she went to work for Ghost Slayers."

"What do you do in the University?" Zangulus prompted him.

"I'm an English Literature Professor."

"No way!" Martina exclaimed while gasping. "And you came here of your own free will, with her?"

Naga glared at Martina. "I don't think I like your tone little understudy."

"It's Martina you big chested bimbo." Martina matched her glare.

"And that's my cue to take my wife away. Nice meeting you." Zangulus quickly dragged his wife Martina away.

"OHOHOHOHOHOH! She is a silly little girl." Naga sighed. "Do you know how to dance? Or are your looks all you've got?"

Val glared at her. What an infuriating woman! There she was supposed to be his date and she just finished flirting with another woman's husband. And now she was insulting him. "I'll have you know I can dance better than any of the sad men here." He nearly growled at her.

Naga couldn't help but smile. Something about that throaty angriness in Val's voice was a real turn on for Naga. "OHOHOHOHOHOHOH! Good! Because that will make the pictures look that much better." With no further explanation Naga grabbed Val and dragged him to the dance floor.

Val had half a mind to leave Naga on the dance floor but it was kinda hard to leave a lady wanting to dance especially when she was currently grabbing your ass. "Excuse me who said you could handle the merchandise?" He protested though he wasn't at all offended by the action. He was enjoying being treated like a piece of meat.

"OHOHOHOHOH!" Naga laughed but didn't answer.

God did Val find that laughter annoying. But for some strange reason it was starting to grow on him.

...

Since there was only one bed in Ghost Slayers HQ and Lina was going to be using it they were going to have to think of a different sleeping arrangement for Zelgadis. The ghostly librarian insisted that he could just sleep in a chair but Lina wouldn't have anything of it.

"So what are you going to do?" Zelgadis wondered out loud. "You're not going to suggest... sharing the bed are you?" His face was red at the suggestion even though he was the one suggesting it.

Lina's eyes went as wide as her face was red. "No!" She was quick to snap. "I and I alone am going to use that bed. Sorry but even though your condition is sad I'm not going to be deprived of my beauty sleep."

Zelgadis blush faded and was replaced with sheepishness. "Fair enough but what do you want me to do? Should I sleep in the office?"

Lina shook her head almost violently. "Oh no you're going to sleep here in this room with me. If you're going to end up popping up next to me if you get scared you may as well be close to start off with." She rationalized.

"I thought you didn't want me to sleep in the chair?" Zelgadis asked in confusion.

Lina didn't answer but instead gathered up all the discarded sleeping bags from her co-workers. "I'm going to put these all together and create a sort of bed for you on the floor. It's not going to be the best thing in the world but it will be much better than trying to sleep sitting in that chair."

"What about that fruitcake? Where is he going to sleep?"

"Quite frankly I don't care. As long as he doesn't cause any trouble he can sleep wherever he wants."

Zelgadis shrugged. He couldn't argue with that.

...

Filia hummed to herself as she relaxed at her home. The first thing she did once she parked her car and went inside was shrug out of her work uniform and head straight to the shower. After dealing with a day filled of disgusting ghostly antics Filia was in dire need of freshening herself up. Since she lived alone she got out of her clothes on the way to the bathroom not caring where the articles landed. She would pick them up later but for now all she wanted was to get naked and hop into the hot steamy water.

If Filia did have a roommate they might have been surprised by the Ghost Slayer's sudden nakedness but there wasn't one to be shocked. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else in Filia's home besides her at that moment. But what Filia didn't know was that she brought home a little hitchhiker from work.

All Xellos could do was watch in wonder as the blond goddess he lived to torment unknowingly stripped in front of him. If this were the old Xellos who had all his memories he would have stopped her before she got to her last articles of clothing. He would have made his presence known and received a barrage of attacks and insults for his peeping. Because when it all came down to it Xellos wasn't a peeping tom. Sure he would have loved to see Filia naked but he wouldn't injure her pride or modesty that way. He may be an annoying man but he was as much of a gentlemen that a pervert could be.

But this wasn't normal Xellos. He didn't have all his memories at his arsenal to use in such situations. The sentimental attachments he had were scrubbed from his mind leaving on the basic more primal urges exposed. He knew he was attracted to her but beyond that he knew little of why he was drawn to Filia.

So as Filia stripped Xellos' mouth was shut and his eyes wide. Very wide. Xellos felt his heart thumping wildly in his chest even though it was doubtful he had one in his current ghostly form. His eyes followed Filia's every movement as if she had spun a spell over him. It only ended when Filia slammed the bathroom door shut once she was inside. Then and only then could Xellos regain his focus.

"My that was... interesting." Xellos mused to himself. He looked to the closed door and thought about how pointless such a barrier was. He could go through it and all that would be separating him from his Filia would be a simple shower curtain.

His Filia.

Xellos mind was murky with memories too blurry to comprehend but in the depths of it he took ownership of the blond Ghost Slayer.

Suddenly Xellos was feeling regretful. Deep down he was aware he was supposed to stop her. That he was supposed to tell her he was there. He didn't know why this was the case but he knew it was.

No Xellos was going to stay where he was and not go through that door. He just wouldn't tell her that he saw her naked. He'll just pretend he just arrived. Yeah that's what he'll do. And he'll find some way to get her going.

Even with that decided in Xellos' head he still looked at that bathroom door longingly.

...

Sylphiel had been eating popcorn when it happened. Since she had eaten not too long ago she didn't want to eat something so heavy so close to bedtime so she opted for a snack. The plan was to pop up some popcorn in the microwave and relax on the couch watching TV or reading a book. Or perhaps there was a good movie on and she could watch that. Either way Sylphiel's mind was far away from anything related to ghostly things.

But as the popcorn finished popping and it was put into a bowl there wasn't a whole lot of relaxing on the couch. The moment Sylphiel sat down to turn the TV on she saw something in the screen's reflection that made her jump and scream in fright.

There staring back at her in the reflection was a man.