Chapter 5:
"So uh…"
"Zell, ma'am."
"Zell. Right. Zell…I've never seen you around before."
"I just joined, ma'am."
Strolling across the parade grounds with the black-haired Private, Lina's eyes seemed to pierce into his face, as though trying to memorise his handsome, rugged features. After a few minutes of silence, Zell suddenly smiled. The fiery-haired field scout started. Now where had she ever seen that mischievous, I-know-something-you-don't grin before? Clapping his hands together, Private Zell winked. "I'm very honoured, ma'am, to have been singled out by you."
Lina blinked. "Oh? Why is that?"
The young man bowed. "It is always a pleasure to meet someone with super-b talents like yours, isn't it, Lina Inverse…" With a widening grin, the Private straightened. "I mean…ma'am."
Lina bit her bottom lip as millions of questions thundered through her head. It was not impossible for the Private to have known her name, for she was rather infamous within the army. However, the possibility of the man having knowledge of her former powers…now that was highly questionable. And why did she keep having that nagging feeling that she had seen that irritating grin before?
Only one thing left to do…
* * *
Zelgadiss stepped out of his Jaguar, his white coat slung over his shoulder as he proceeded to lock the car doors. Another day, another bottle of aspirin…
The dark-haired man threw open the front door with a yell. "I'm home!"
He raised an eyebrow as a crash sounded in the kitchen, followed by his wife's flustered reply.
"Welcome home, dear!"
"Your husband, ma'am?" A distinct male voice floated after his wife's.
"Yes, yes…now help me clean this up…"
"You're doing fine, ma'am."
"I asked you to help me!"
"Moral support is help."
"You've got a lot of nerve, kid."
Hanging his coat on the coat-stand, the curious Zelgadiss entered the kitchen to find his angry wife glaring at a young teenager about 17 or so sitting upon a stool, a cup of coffee in his hand. The boy gazed over at the older man, who frowned deeply. This boy…he had black eyes…quite unusual, for black eyes are very rare. And these eyes, they shone brightly, like a newly-polished marble surface. Before Zelgadiss could speak, the teenager shot from the stool and grabbed him in a tight embrace.
"Zel-aniki*!"
Lina dropped another pot of coffee, along with her jaw. "What?!"
* * *
Rubbing his temples, the dark-haired Zelgadiss shook his head at his persistent wife. "For the thousandth time, Lina, I don't know this boy."
"But he obviously knows you."
Zell took another sip of coffee, bearing an annoying smirk on his face. "You haven't forgotten me, have you Zel-aniki?"
"Will you please stop calling me that? It's unnerving."
"Why, Zel-aniki?"
"You're being impudent, Zell!" Slamming her palms on the table, Lina knocked the two cups of coffee clear off the table to the fury of the cups' owners. "Watch our coffee," the two shouted simultaneously as they caught their cups. The Field Scout slapped her forehead. "If you ask me, Zel, you're both like peas in a pod." Except for the one fact that he's a Metallium…
"So we both enjoy coffee, what's your point?"
"That we share the same interests, and are therefore related."
Zelgadiss turned to look at his supposed younger brother, who threw him a cheeky grin in return. His wife sighed. "Oh, come on, Zel, even his name sounds like yours."
"Oh? What is your name?"
"Zell."
The ex-chimera entirely missed the glance his fiery-haired wife flashed at the young boy. Lina's eyebrows shot up, while she clasped her hands in front of her, leaning her chin upon them. How interesting…why did he decide to leave his last name out? Not that I'm complaining…
The kitchen clock could be heard ticking away in the background in the silence as Zelgadiss buried his throbbing head into his hands. "All right…Zell, is it? Give me a proper introduction of yourself and explain to me why I have never seen nor heard of you before."
A familiar voice breathed into Zelgadiss's ear. "Perhaps I could do that for you."
Leaping off his chair, the dark-haired man glared daggers at the other. "Xelloss! How did you-?!"
"I let myself in through the front door."
Lina's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets as the violet-haired Trickster grinned at her husband. Yes…yes indeed! The Private's grin resembled…Oh my gawd, don't tell that Zell and Xelloss are-
"Xelloss-aniki, you look real classy today." Xelloss glanced down at his black suit, complete with a pearly-grey tie, white gloves and chestnut brown shoes. A classic suit for a businessman. "Why thank you, Zell-chan."
He blinked at the two twitching forms of the newly-weds, who had sprawled out upon the kitchen's tiled floor.
"Is there something wrong with my suit?"