Part 2: Dating

Xelloss called his sister the next day and told her he'd gotten a date. She was disappointed that he hadn't let her set him up with the girl she'd found, and emphasized her point with very forceful language. He listened to her for a bit, and once her annoyance had been vented, he wrapped up their conversation.

And then he picked up the newspaper and looked at the article on the front page. A photo of three women took up one third of the page beneath a huge headline: "Metallium Corporations Involved In Animal Testing! Environmental Society Fights Back!"
One of the women had been trying to set up a meeting with him for months. Eris. She had short black hair spiked up with plenty of gel and wore very baggy clothing. Behind and next to her were a pretty, shy-looking woman with long, silky dark hair, and a tall blonde woman with dark blue eyes and long legs.
Xelloss cut out the article and put it in his briefcase, then smiled to himself. So he was going out with the vice president of the city division of the National Environmental Society. How interesting.

Xelloss met Filia at the pizza place. It was dark by the time they got there, and there were a few college students hanging around, so they got a table near the back and ordered a medium cheese pizza because Filia was a vegetarian.

Xelloss urged her to talk, listening to her interests and the stories of her childhood. She was concerned about talking too much, and said so, but he encouraged her, preferring to listen. So she talked about her animals and her work with the Environmental Society, and how frustrated they were that Mr. Metallium wouldn't talk to them. And all through it, Xelloss listened and stroked her hand on the table, and watched the way her eyes flashed and glowed, and the way she tilted her head back when she laughed. And he smiled, because he was actually enjoying himself. It'd been a long time since he'd last had any fun with a beautiful woman.
Long after the pizza was finished, they lingered. And finally, near midnight, the college students long gone, they stood to go and walked outside to their cars.
It was too dark to see much, so they parted companionably and went to their respective homes. They had two more dates soon after that, roller blading in the city park and going to see a movie.
The park had been sunny and cool, perfect weather for being outdoors. Filia had no scenes to tape that day, and Xelloss had taken a few hours off of work, so there weren't many people out but the elderly.
Filia was promptly informed that he hadn't roller bladed for a very long time, and would be a bit wobbly at first. Fillia laughed and helped steady him, but when they tried to move, he brought them both down on the grass with his clumsiness. They lay there for a long moment, tangled together and laughing, Filia's skirt riding up a little on her thighs, and then they calmed down long enough to just look at each other.
He didn't have far to move to kiss her, and then they were clinging together in the grass and her lips were warm and moist, and her body was moving against his . . .
And then she pushed him away, untangling from him, and sat in the grass, catching her breath and not looking at him. Xelloss remained half-reclined beside her, watching her from beneath half-closed lids. When she finally glanced at him, he smiled impishly.
Filia couldn't help laughing, and she was still chuckling as she pulled Xelloss to his feet. The moment he tried to step on the path, he lost his balance again and clung to Filia, who laughed at him, tipping her head back and flushing in the effort to keep him from falling down and taking her with him. Xelloss was laughing too, hanging onto her shoulders and hips alternately. She was in a light spring skirt and soft v-necked top, and she looked heartbreakingly beautiful.
Xelloss planted his feet and pulled her against him, standing and holding her firmly. He got the faint scent of the perfume she used -- an exotic blend of sweetness and spice. Not the type of perfume he would have expected her to wear.
Filia caught her breath as he lowered his mouth to hers, his eyes mesmerizing, and she blushed brightly as they met and her eyes closed, the sensitive skin of her lips tingling as they pulled apart to breathe.
"You know what, Filia?" he whispered as he pulled a little further away from her, taking intense pride in the dazed look he left her with, and the ravaged state of her lips. He didn't bother for her reply, but rolled a little backwards and smiled. "I think I know how to roller blade after all." And with that, he took off easily away from her, manipulating his skates like a shark would water. He swirled a little, to see if she was following, and was just in time to see her dawning understanding of his trickery.
Her eyes were wide and blank for a brief moment, and then her eyebrows came together and her mouth opened in a silent, indignant cry. "You!" she exclaimed, and then started after him. "I'm going to kill you!"
Xelloss ran, proving himself in fact an *excellent* skater. He reached an ice cream stand and hid behind it, laughing at the breathless Filia, who was trying desperately to both reach him and not laugh. The physical exertion had flushed her cheeks, her heart was pounding, and his smile was doing strange things to her knees.
"Okay, okay," she panted, trying to catch her breath as the ice cream vendor pretended not to be watching them. "Just hang on."
"Anything for you, lovely Filia," he smiled cheerfully, and she glared venomously at him for not being short of breath at *all*. He only laughed.
She finally sighed and put her hands out in a peaceful gesture, pouting a little and looking apologetic. "I'm not mad," she said when he looked uncertain.
He came out and Filia put her arms around his neck, looking up at him from beneath her lashes. And when he bent his head to hers, she pushed away, socked him in the arm, and put her hands on her hips, smirking. "Now we're even."
Xelloss was surprised, and then he grinned, snatched her hand up, and pulled her to him, holding her body firmly against his and bending his head to whisper in her ear. "Now I guess we're even." Filia was blushing with the intimacy of their position, and the ice cream vendor was watching openly now. "Should I buy you some ice cream to make up? Or should we do something else?" Filia gasped a little at the feeling of his tongue on her earlobe, and Xelloss straightened, turning and smiling to the vendor, still keeping an arm around the waist of a very unsteady Filia. "Yes, I think ice cream would be a very good idea. Two ice cream cones, please. One chocolate, one . . . vanilla? No? Strawberry? Strawberry, then."
Filia was grateful that she had regained her legs by then, because Xelloss had to let go of her to pay. It was nice of him to pay, and she filed that away in her mind to call up again later. He didn't offer to let her buy her own, so he still ran by old-fashioned rules of courtship.
Then she remembered how unafraid he was to be affectionate in public and edited that idea: he didn't run *completely* by the old rules of courtship.
Xelloss took her free hand when they had their ice cream, and they roller-bladed slowly along the path, comfortable with the silence. Filia blushed again, uncertain as to whether she liked Xelloss's forwardness or not. He certainly was very attractive, and he seemed to find *her* attractive . . . But whether it went deeper than that, she didn't know. The thought worried her and made her be distant for the next few minutes. Then Xelloss said something that made her laugh and they started talking and skating more quickly and Filia's unhappy thoughts were pushed to the back of her mind with Xelloss's gallantry -- to be pondered over at a later time.
When Xelloss had to go back to work, they changed into their shoes and walked toward where Filia had parked her car. Xelloss would be walking back to his building, since it wasn't very far and he didn't want Filia to know where he worked yet. Things were still far too new for her to handle *that* information. As he had when they first met, he kissed her hand to say goodbye and they parted.

That same weekend, they went to an action movie. Xelloss bought the popcorn (with extra butter), but insisted on choosing where they sat. Filia wasn't so sure about letting him, but she didn't put up any protest and only winced a little when he chose the very back row. Since the movie had been out for a while, there weren't many others in the theater, and no one else on the back row, Filia hesitantly asked why Xelloss didn't choose a spot closer to the middle. When he simply smiled at her, offering nothing, she sighed and settled back into her seat, munching at the large bucket of popcorn.

When the movie started, Xelloss put his arm around her. Filia blushed and leaned into him a little, as well as she could with the hard plastic chair arm between them.
The movie immediately got scary, and Filia found herself clinging to Xelloss and occasionally hiding her face in his shoulder. When she did, he would tighten his arm around her and she would peek at the screen from the safety of his embrace.
Filia couldn't remember afterwards at what part of the movie he started kissing her. But she did remember how heady and delightful it was, and how she suddenly appreciated the point of sitting in the back row.
She didn't let him put his tongue in her mouth for one simple reason -- she would be dreadfully embarrassed if he noticed the popcorn stuck in her teeth.
It was dark when they emerged from the theater, arms about each other. Every now and then, as they meandered towards the parking lot, he would drop a kiss to the top of her head, or on her temple. They talked quietly, Filia smiling and enjoying the feeling of his warm, firm body against her side.
"Good night, sweet Filia," he said when they reached her car. Instead of kissing her hand this time, he gently kissed her on the mouth. The lack of heat and fervor was made up for in the sincerity of the kiss, and the length. Filia was again breathless when they parted.
"Good night," he said again, and watched to make sure she got in her car okay before walking away. He was confident in the fact that she'd never seen his car and didn't guess that he had a lot of money -- and *definitely* didn't guess that he was Mr. Metallium. Every time they drove somewhere together, he made sure he was either already waiting for her or it was too dark to tell what type of car he drove.
Yes, she had no clue who he really was.