Notes: A huge thanks goes out to the 'Queen of Swords' for letting me use her sword, the FireDrake, in here. It's a brief mention to a spectacular series that she wrote, entitled, 'Zelgadis on the Couch' (ZOTC) and Zelgadis on the Road (ZOTR).. Her web-site can be found at www.queenofswords.com and has a large selection of other Anime fanfiction besides Slayers.

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Lina had stormed out of the restaurant, her cheeks flaming and her mind in a haze of embarrassment. She fumed as she stormed along, incoherent thoughts about things they hadn't brought up, but had implied, swept through her mind. She blushed again. Gourry, bumping along behind her, had figured that it would be best to be quiet and just take the bruises. Xellos, sitting on the edge of a building, sipped tea and tilted his head, following the couple with his closed eyes.

Lina swept into along the street, people jumping out of her way. Innocent town folk having an innate sense that lets them know who can randomly blow up their town on a whim. Lina was one of those people, for all of her short stature. She only stopped when she reached their inn and were going up the stairs. At that point Gourry decided to let her know that being dragged down the street was all fine and good, but getting his tailbone dragged up stairs was another thing all together.

" Lina…um, LINA!" He said louder, yanking slightly on the sleeve of the arm dragging him. That caused her to startle and drop him, somewhat unceremoniously, onto the steps and he took the opportunity to stand up.

" Lina," he asked as he made sure that his shoulder guards were on straight. " Why do you let them get to you? I don't know why, but you usually get upset when they show up for the first time, and then you go red and yank me out of where ever we happened to be and drag me halfway around town before you remember that I'm there and I've forgotten what I was going to say."

" Why do I let them get to me." She supplied helpfully, leaning somewhat listlessly against a wall that the staircase ran up. Gourry nodded, his train of thought back from it's minor pit stop. " That's right," he said, leaning against the opposite wall. A man who looked like he was going to go upstairs got a look at Lina's narrowed eyes, Gourry's sword, and decided that a little more to drink wouldn't hurt him.

Gourry put his hands behind his head. " They only say those things to get you going you know." Lina gave him a sharp look.

" What?" He said defensively, bringing his hands out and defending himself. " You know I'm right. You give them something to joke about."

" And when exactly did you come to this realization?" Lina asked, looking at him with curiosity and a good healthy dose of embarrassment. If he was smart enough to realize that fact then he might be smart enough to realize…

" Besides," Gourry went on," with such small cleavage---"

*Eye-twitch*

"--and that bad attitude---"

*Fist clench*

"--and big appetite--"

*Patience snapping*

WHAM!!!

The scene abruptly changed as we find Lina standing over the still twitching legs of Gourry sticking out of the floor. The guy downstairs was fairly glad he hadn't stepped between those two. At this point Xellos discretely entered the small bar downstairs…if teleporting onto the bartender's head can ever be called discrete. There immediately commenced a large shout and much teleporting and throwing of mugs.

That effectively interrupted Lina and Gourry's argument…or more correctly, Lina pounding Gourry's head into a wall and yelling at him about what a clod he was. The only coherent thought that was going through Gourry's mind was that love hurt…at least until he registered that Lina had stopped pounding him and was leaning over the side railing.

" Hmmm," she said, looking over the edge. " What's the commotion?" She leaned out farther and was almost toppled from her precautions position when Xellos teleported in front of her and smiled.

" Lina-san," he wagged his finger. " You shouldn't lean out that far or you might fall and hurt yourself. I'd get in trouble if that happened, she'd be sure to blame me."

Lina managed to regain her balance and looked up at Xellos from her slightly inferior position and glowered. " Why are you here?" She asked, her arms crossed. " Don't tell me that you wanted to make sure that we got to the inn safely…and I'd bet a gold coin that you were the cause of that commotion…" she ducked a thrown ale mug and grinned her fangs at him. " I see I was right."

Xellos smiled and floated down a little so he could whisper in her ear, " How should I stop this commotion Lina-san, I'm sure you have an idea."

Her face went red and she was ready to cast a fireball when Xellos turned mid-air, floated towards the angry barkeep and went monster…that didn't exactly help too much though.

Lina yelled and jerked back, Gourry putting a protective arm around her and slinging her behind him by automatic process. They both knew Xellos pretty well, but neither had ever seen him in monster form, which they associated with blowing up. Xellos 'stood' there, blackness snapping out of jaws lined with razor sharp white teeth. Lina stared in shock as the form glowered at the barkeeper…and effectively cleared the entire hotel.

" Rather impressive, isn't it?" Xellos asked from behind Gourry and Lina's heads. " Took me about five seconds to think up." They both faceplanted on the floor, while Xellos took out yet another cup of tea and sipped it, looking at his creation. " Humans are frightened so easily," he lamented. " They really should get out more."

" Xellos," Lina said in her deep warning growled, " What the heck was that?"

" Why, sore wa himitsu desu!" He said cheerfully, grinning like the madman that Lina was starting to suspect he was. " If I told you then it would ruin my wonderful surprise." He glanced down at the empty room. " I wanted to make sure that we talked in private."

Lina groaned and rubbed her head. This was going to be a long day. " Common," she said, motioning Gourry and Xellos downstairs. " If I'm going to listen to this then I'm going to listen to this with food in my belly!" Gourry nodded agreement as they marched downwards. By the time they got to a table, Xellos was already sitting there, leaning back in his chair and holding yet another teacup. Lina eyed the cup oddly.

" Do you ever go anywhere without that thing?" She asked, taking hold of a back of a chair and seating herself. Gourry sat down next to her, leaning his new sword against the edge of the table. There was no one left in the bar and it was oddly quiet…to Lina's dislike. She couldn't find a waitress to take her order, much less a cook to cook it. This wasn't starting out on a good note.

" Why," Lina asked, " do you want us to go with you so badly?" She leaned back and put her hands behind her head. " And why did you tell us that we had to be in a certain place by the end of fall?"

Gourry looked at Lina, then at Xellos, his mental processes taking in the information and then sorting it for processing. Xellos, while Gourry was doing that, took another sip out of his mystery teacup and tilted his head to the side while he pondered how to explain in such a way that it wouldn't ruin his surprise, but would be enough to get her to actually go. He immediately hit upon a gold mine…as it were.

" There's a treasure, " he said, noting how her eyes twitched slightly at the word. " But it is sealed against Mazoku and Dragons. Now, while the monster race isn't the least bit interested in the gold, we are very much interested in a sword that lies with it, it's called FireDrake."

" Why?" Lina asked, sitting up straight, her hair settling around her shoulders as she swung herself forward. Her eyes betrayed her cool demeanor though and said that she had a definite interest in what he had to say afterwards. His eyes slitting even thinner, Xellos leaned foreword, well aware that even through his cool demeanor Gourry was watching him and quite capable of inflicting pain, however slight, on him. His mouth curved in a smile.

" Why, sore wa…himitsu desu!" He said cheerfully, causing Lina and Gourry to faceplant straight off their chairs and into the floor.

" I," Lina said shakily, as she clawed the table to get herself back upright, " saw that coming a mile away but was helpless to put a Fireball through it. I am not," she continued, " going to work with a sneaky bastard who always says the same thing to any question that might give the people he's working with any information at all."

Xellos faltered his grin not as bright as he got plagued with small sweatdrops all over his head. " Ano," he said, raising a hand, " I've been authorized to pay for the expenses of getting you there."

Lina turned slowly, her bangs covering her eyes as she looked at him slowly. Suddenly she straightened, her eyes coming into the light. They glowed an unhealthy glow…and she started that low chuckling of hers. " Throw in some treasure and I'm in," she said, leaning way over the table and getting in the faltering Xellos's face. His head got some more sweatdrops and he leaned back even further in his chair. The thought of all the expenses he was going to have to pay for and all the money he was going to go through made him grimace. Just because he was Mazuko didn't mean that he wanted to spend anymore money then necessary, and traveling with Lina always made his purse light, no matter if he was the main supplier of cash or not.

" Hai," he said weakly, starting to wish he hadn't offered. Lina was now sure to go out and do extravagant things just because she wasn't paying. Oh Shabringdo, she was going to kill him when she saw the state of their coffers. How was he going to explain it…but then again, all that delicious anger to feed on…his smirk grew bigger as he contemplated how he could come out of this with something in his benefit.

Xellos came out of his wanderings to an empty bar. Gourry and Lina were gone. He teleported up the stairs and listened outside the rooms. Through the doors he could hear Gourry asking Lina questions through the thin walls. Grinning, Xellos decided to check in on them in a few hours. They could certainly convince Amelia to come now that Lina had decided to go, and where Amelia went, Zelgadis followed, whether he admitted it to himself or not; and where Lina went, Gourry followed. He'd better go, she would miss him if he was gone to long…not that that could be a bad thing. Grinning Xellos teleported himself out of the inn.

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Did you ever notice how every single hotel in my story has a restaurant attached to it somewhere? Oh yheah, and how much do I love that teacup? Jeez, I think I'm obsessed with that thing.

Next Chapter: Contemplation! Sleep deprived men!