~Chapter Two: Even the most carefully-laid plans can go awry…~
Finally, breakfast got under way. Gourry and Lina were gobbling everything within sight, Syphiel was alternatively nibbling her food and staring dreamily at Gourry, and Amelia was sneaking glances at Zelgadis, who was blissfully absorbed in his food. Filia had put her remarkable talent of producing a teapot from out of nowhere to good use, and was now daintily sipping her tea, trying not to glower at the violet-haired Mazoku sitting next to her. Martina, of course, had her eyes fixed on her latest target, who was, at present, smirking at the furious blonde girl next to him.
Yup, just another normal day…
…but not for long.
Somewhere Up There, L-sama gazed deeply into her crystal ball, saw what was about to happen…and fell off her chair cackling with mirth.
~*~
Martina leaned across the table, smiling brightly at her prey – uh, object of affection. "Xelloss-sama…wouldn't you like to drink some nice, hot coffee?"
She picked up the pot of coffee on the table and was about to pour some into his cup when the Mazoku held up a hand to stop her, smirking gently.
"No, thank you, Martina…I think I'll have some *tea* today." Twinkling mischievously, he peeked at Filia out of the corner of his eye and almost laughed when he saw the red flames flare up around her again. Baiting Filia was just *so* fun…
Waving his hand casually, he summoned the innkeeper and ordered a cup of tea.
Filia gave her amethyst-eyed nemesis the Evil Eye. "In that case, I think *I'll* drink *coffee* today…"
The Fire Dragon's miko grabbed the coffee pot from a dismayed Martina, and, before the green-haired girl could utter a protest, Filia had poured herself a steaming cup of coffee and started to gulp it down.
Xelloss tapped the blonde girl on the shoulder. "Hey, Filia – "
The girl in question grumpily turned to him, coffee cup still in hand. "What do – "
She blinked, mouth dropping open slightly and forgetting what she'd been about to snap.
//Since when did Xelloss become so…so…handsome?!?//
Xelloss furrowed his brow at her slightly. Filia was staring at him, and she didn't look angry. Nope. Not angry at all. In fact she was giving him this…kinda…soppy smile. Oh no. Nononono. This was…downright…*scary*.
"Uh…Filia…are you feeling all right?"
"Oh, I'm feeling *fine*, Xelloss-sama!" she chirped happily.
//Xelloss-***sama***?!?? What happened to "namagomi"?!?//
This was really, *really* starting to scare him.
Across the table, Martina buried her face in her hands and groaned. //No, no, NOOOOO!!!!!!!!//
~*~
"Oi, Lina, you stopping already?" Gourry looked up in the middle of a bite of toast, staring at Lina in concern. "You hardly ate anything…only five plates today!"
Lina grinned cheerily back at her companion. "Nah, just taking a rest for a while…then I'm gonna start again! So you'd better eat fast or there'll be nothing left after I'm done!"
Gourry took this advice to heart, and, turning back to his food, started gobbling twice as fast as usual.
The red-haired sorceress leaned back in her chair, stretching luxuriously and yawning. //Ah, wonder why I'm so sleepy this morning. Need something to wake me up…//
She caught sight of the coffee-pot sitting on the table in front of Xelloss. //Hmm…maybe coffee will help…//
[to be continued…]
