Lauren-sama, I don't know yet if -- or more accurately, when -- things might get to be too much for Amelia within the story itself. At this point, there's only one thing left between her and at least one smooth year is Zel's issues. (However, she's had a pretty rough time up until now, and if people are interested I might go ahead and write a side-story covering Amelia's back-story. Currently, I don't really expect to go into much detail about it here, since this is turning out to be mainly Zelgadiss's story.)
The way you talk about my revealing plot details makes me feel like I've been writing this as a mystery! I couldn't have had the encounter with her cousin occur sooner, though. At least I don't have to wonder anymore if my version of Alfred here isn't too off; I couldn't quite justify to myself having him be very close to how he was in NEXT... Your question(s) on the setting are the primary subject of this chapter's end notes.
Alea Ishikawa, I'll take any good-quality dark chocolate. I'm very happy you liked it, and I'm really sorry about having taken so long. (Lauren-sama seems to have jinxed me by complementing my having been previously able to update weekly. I've no idea if I'll be able to return to doing that now, but I will try...)
Slayers is the creation of Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. I don't own it; they and a lot of other people do. I'm not making any profit off of this story.
By Ryo Hoshi
Chapter 7 Changes (2)
Zelgadiss watched Amelia nervously, wondering if he had won this round. He knew it was cruel to her to have promised to...to have sex with her when that was the last thing he intended to do. So far, his delaying tactics had been on the whole successful.
She hadn't complained when, after they had spent untold minutes cuddling, he announced he wanted to bathe. He didn't bother mentioning that it would be a cold bath. She had even encouraged him, saying that she would see what could be done towards dinner, since she was hungry and she was certain he could stand eating something before bed.
She had 'borrowed' his clothes while she was at it. All she had left him was his robe. Then he discovered what she had gotten them for dinner.
The presentation was lovely, he had to admit that. The two teacups were beautiful works of art. The bowl of stew was steaming, with a sprig of a foreign herb called parsley looking crisp sitting on the center and clearly intended to be eaten from directly.
The tie had come loose on Amelia's belt, too, and it hung open just enough for him to see that she was wearing nothing but the robe. He wasn't sure why he felt relieved when she reassured him that she hadn't actually left her rooms, and had cooked the stew herself. He was doing his best to ignore the fact that she blushed cutely as she said that.
Now they were sitting on the couch, with her sitting in his lap and leaning against him. He was, in his opinion, doing a wonderful job of ignoring the fact that she was warm, soft, and almost completely naked. She hadn't said anything yet about being poked by something.
The bowl had been emptied quickly. The stew had tasted good, and it had felt somehow wrong to talk while they shared it. Amelia looked drowsy, and he thought that perhaps if he carried her to bed carefully enough she might be willing to just sleep, snuggling together.
He lifted her up gently, nervous in case she might protest. When she smiled and cuddled closer to his chest, he relaxed and started heading for the bed.
Amelia sighed happily as Zelgadiss-sama cradled her against his chest. She felt wonderful; he'd been so nice and understanding. He'd not insisted on making love immediately after their conversation or otherwise rushed her, but had been content to cuddle together.
She had done her best to repay him. While he bathed, she had remembered that she'd forgotten to make sure his pajamas had gotten washed during the day, and noticed that his clothes had gotten dirty. She went ahead and sent them to the laundry room, knowing that they'd be returned in the morning. She had then gone ahead and done her best to prepare a meal for him, since she'd been unable to arrange for something to be sent from the kitchen while it was still early enough that the kitchen would have been cooperative.
Amelia would have preferred to have had two separate bowls for the stew she'd made. She had added to her grocery list a request for more china, in pairs, while Zelgadiss-sama had still been bathing. She didn't regret doing so, because while she had enjoyed getting to cuddle with Zelgadiss-sama while eating, she wanted to have it by choice next time instead of necessity.
Now Amelia felt relaxed, her stomach full of good, warm food. She could tell that Zelgadiss-sama was carrying her to bed, and she felt ready for what she certainly hoped he was planning on doing once there. She had felt evidence of his arousal poking her almost all through dinner.
She was certain that this was what she wanted. He'd been very kind to her, kinder than she'd had any reason to expect a customer to be. She knew that it wasn't unknown for a customer to actually want to do nothing more that cuddle and maybe kiss, but... She had become certain early on that Zelgadiss-sama wanted more than just that and the reason he wasn't trying to do more with her was because he genuinely cared for her.
She wasn't sure that it wasn't too early to say that she was in love with him, with all that would imply. They'd only known each other for about three weeks, and they'd only rarely talked about themselves. Until now, they'd never spoken about their pasts, or about anything more important in their lives than the relevant parts of their schedules.
Amelia felt a slight twinge of guilt at the thought of schedules, and was thankful that he was distracted by the door to the bedroom. She wasn't certain how little he knew about female biology, but he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that her time of the month was almost certainly due soon. At least some good had come of that day's events. It would have been uncomfortable for the both of them if she'd had to ask Zelgadiss-sama to make love to her because...that was coming up and she needed to be at least able to honestly say that they were trying.
She sighed happily as Zelgadiss-sama put her down on the bed, and stretched out in glad anticipation. Finally, she'd get to do her job and remember doing it.
Amelia smiled as he lay down beside her and pulled her against him, embracing her. She cuddled even closer to him and waited for Zelgadiss-sama to do...something.
After a few minutes of listening to his soft breathing and waiting, she pulled back and looked at his face. His eyes were closed, and his expression peaceful. Under other circumstances, she might have happily let him sleep, except...
Amelia still felt the proof that he was ready and able to make love to her poking her thigh, and she doubted that anybody could fall asleep as quickly as he seemed to have without some prior sign of lethargy.
"Zelgadiss-sama...?"
I've realized that I need to expand on the setting time-wise of this story. To start with, this is not modern-set. The primary sources, aside from Slayers, of the setting are late Victorian & Edwardian England, America between the turn of the (20th) century and the Great Depression, and late Tokagawa & Meiji Japan. Most of the truly modern elements are directly from Slayers itself. (A few things might get randomly shuffled in, too.)
If anybody is interested on which of those (not including Slayers), is being used for what... The culture is taken from England and Japan, in pretty much equal measure. The technology is mostly from America during the first three decades of the previous century, though some things are at later stages in development. This story's world isn't really supposed to be an analogue of our own at any given time.
The distinction between saying, in this setting, that you 'like' somebody and 'love' them does bear a short note. 'Love,' when not referring to the sort which is supposed to exist within a family, normally implies that you desire a long-term committed relationship with the other person. Neither Zelgadiss or Amelia are likely to say that they love the other one too quickly, particularly since it would be rather awkward under the present circumstances for them to marry.
The full version of this chapter is posted on AFF.net, at adultfan. nexcess. net/aff/story.php?no=15313 because it includes a lemon...and part of the plot which insisted on sharing space with & involving the lemon.
Dark chocolate and reviews will encourage me to work on getting the next chapter out sooner.
