Seyruun High Jinx –NEXT!
Chapter 39
Putting Together a Puzzle
"Recruits are the penultimate articles of syndicate trade and commerce-- death being the final one." - Zelgadiss
Puzzling People
"You'll give me an autograph, won't you?" Miwan asked with hope in her eyes.
"Autograph? I guess so, but I can't imagine why you'd want it. I tell you, the band's becoming pretty well known but I'm just a small part of it," Zelgadiss felt awkward by the request.
The girl, nevertheless, withdrew a small notebook and pen from her bag. "Please?"
"Fine. So, ah, do I just sign my name or write a message or what would you like?"
"Oh, I don't know. Whatever you like, just make it out to me, Miwan."
"Miwan. That's Japanese, right? My mother was Japanese. She's dead now, but I'm studying the language."
"Chinese, actually, but I'm proficient in Japanese as well."
Zel felt foolish. Not Japanese. Why had he volunteered so much personal information to this complete stranger? Zel lowered his head and tried to hide the faint blush spreading from cheek to cheek. Then he noticed the cute girl was still talking to him.
"I could help you to practice!" Miwan smiled and kindly didn't laugh at Zel's flustered look. "I guess you could be part Japanese...from your build."
Zel had just managed to meet her eyes again. My build? She's looking me over? He had somehow forgotten that he no longer wore concealing, loose-fitting clothes. His black leather jacket was open to reveal a tight, black-mesh shirt. The confidence coming from being a performer and from having others depend on him in desperate situations, had seeped into his daily choices, as in what to wear, and now by allowing him to open up to a stranger. At that moment, it occurred to him that he was acting like a different person than the Zelgadiss he was more familiar with—perhaps, more secure with.
"I'm more comfortable with others my size. Those big guys intimidate me. Are the other two guys in your band nice?"
Zel nodded. "Three. The tallest one, Gourry, is the nicest, kindest guy I think there is on this planet. Val, the punk-looking guy, is harsh but a great guy once you get past his act. The guy about my size, Xelloss, is the priest here, in fact, so you might have a chance to meet him. I share a house with Val and Xelloss."
"Really? All three of you? How does that work out? I mean, who rooms with whom?"
"We each have our own room and we divide up the different chores. Val is a part-timer out at the Cephied Clan and gone a lot, so it works out all right."
"I see, then that leaves just you and Xelloss alone together. You two must be pretty close?"
Zelgadiss thought that to be a rather unusual conclusion. "Rather like brothers. We're related."
He was further confused by Miwan's reaction to that admission. She brightened and smiled, "Oh! Family. How nice for you then."
"I have a father in town, but Val and Xelloss have no living close relatives (that aren't trying to kill them) so we just ... you know..."
"Have each other! How lovely! How sweet!"
Zel wouldn't have put it that way exactly (There's that term sweet' again!) "We have safety in numbers at the very least."
"Ahhhh... So who does your hair? Or...is that too personal to ask a star?" Miwan's eyes were twinkling with stars themselves.
"No, it's just..." Zel was caught off guard by that question. He broke his train of thought, sighed, and then said, "It's just the way it is. A wiry mess. Yes, go ahead, if you must...touch it." He couldn't believe he said that! And he had made the offer!
Miwan reached over and delicately drew a few strands through her fingers. Zel drew in his breath. She was so close. He closed his eyes and saw, that is, pictured AMELIA. But this wasn't her. This girl was not nearly as well-endowed as Amelia. Not at all, in fact. He wondered how old this girl actually was. From her voice he'd thought that she was his age or even older.
"It's like a necklace my last boyfriend gave me of something called 'liquid silver'. Even the color! Oooh! Pretty earrings!"
Boyfriend?Well, she wasn't that young, then, he guessed. His eyes remained closed as the girl's slender fingers caressed his one exposed ear, sending a shiver up his spine. That feels so...nice. She's flirting with me! I'm not hiding my scars and this really cute girl's not turned off by them! This startling realization broke him out of his trance-like state. "Ah...yes, well..."
"They accentuate your unusual ears. Hey, if you've got them, flaunt them, right?" Miwan laughed so charmingly that Zel had to smile.
By this time Miwan was nearly sitting on his lap; their legs were touching. She had one arm draped across his chest with her hand resting on his shoulder. The hand had left his ear, but was still entertaining a hunk of his hair in a manner Zel could only think of as a seductive one. She's not so shy as I thought at first. Maybe I should invite her to stay at our place? In our guestroom. Just until she got a place of her own, of course. How would I explain that one to my roommates? Hi, I just met this girl and she has no place to live so I've brought her home. Mind? Funny thing is, they probably would do the same thing, but with different motives. Maybe different. Well, kind of. Wait, hadn't she said that she was meeting someone here? He decided to find out a bit more about this very exciting young woman. He was quite smitten, but ever cautious.
"Right. So, Miwan, who are you meeting here?" Your potential boyfriend?
"A boy named Subaru. I had friends in common with some guys in his band, but I never knew him. He was hard to get to know in Atlas City. Then I heard he'd moved here and then his sister died. I thought...maybe...he'd need a friend."
That was unexpected as well. "Subaru? Ah, yes, a friendship he could use, but not a girlfriend." Then Zel caught himself. What right did he have to decide what was right or wrong for Subaru? Or to reveal someone else's secrets?
"I sure hope not!"
What? Zel was confused now.
"I would have wasted my time if that had been the case. Of course, had I been a girl, I wouldn't have been thrown out of my folk's home. As it was, when I refused to marry the girl they'd chosen for me they were mad, but when I told them I preferred boys to girls, romantically, well...that was that."
"You're a guy?" Zel gasped aloud. He had had no idea!
Miwan took that response poorly. "I see, you thought I was a girl and were being nice, but now that you know I'm gay, you're going to...to...what? Beat me up?" Miwan looked defiant, and scared at the same time.
"Me? Nothing. No! I mean, yes, I thought you were a girl, but now that I know you're not... it's all right, I guess. I mean, I'm not attracted to you or anything, but I'm no homophobe either." Zel took a deep breath to calm down and attempt to speak more logically and then continued, "Subaru-- I consider him to be a friend. And now that I think about it, I don't think he needs a boyfriend now either, but I could be wrong." Zelgadiss was agitated, shaking slightly as a nervous reaction to his recent shock. Miwan was a guy!
"I hope he can use another friend. And I hope I can find friends as good you are to him." Miwan held out a hand and smiled, "Truce?"
Zel nodded. "All right." As they shook hands, Zel said, "Let's start over. My name is Zelgadiss and I'm a friend of Subaru's."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Miwan and I'm hoping to make some new friends here in Seyruun. And I'd really like to have your autograph, too!"
How could Zel refuse? He smiled shyly and took the pen and notebook.
"Hey, Zel-gaaaaa-diss! Look who I found coming in the back door!" Xelloss called from the far hallway. He looked questioningly from Zel to the as yet unknown Miwan character.
"Hi, Xelloss. Hey, Subaru...I'd like you to meet a guy who's come a long way to see you. This is Miwan from Atlas City. Xelloss, he needs a place to stay for awhile. Do you think the shrine can put him up?" He put only a very slight emphasis on the gender-specific words.
Xelloss looked the pretty boy over, and then gave Zel an odd look. "Okaaay...Come with me. If you pass the background check, we'll go talk to Nels Lahda, the head priest. Okay? I'll meet you guys back at Subaru's room." Xelloss added his own emphasis, for emphasis.
Miwan looked up at Xelloss a moment, then back to Zel.
With a knowing smirk to Miwan, Zel warned, "Not him either." Zel then turned toward Xelloss again and replied, "All right. Good luck." Then over to the other young man, Zel asked, "So, Subaru, show me how much those fish have grown."
With a sigh, Miwan picked up his pen and notebook from the bench where Zel had placed them. He read the note, which said: "To Miwan, a guy full of surprises," and signed, "from Zelgadiss, your friend."
"What a nice guy!" Miwan chuckled.
"Who, Zelgadiss? Yeah, my little brother's just figuring that out." Xelloss smiled and led Miwan in a different direction.
Zelgadiss was in good spirits. That had been a really weird event. It could have been worse, he supposed. He might have gone as far as asking the guy out before finding out he wasn't a she. Yep, that would have been worse. As it was, he began entertaining an entirely different train of thought—a constructive one.
The Shapes of Puzzle Pieces
January flowed naturally into the month of February. Scripts for the musical were on their second re-write. Each time the band read through the entire composition, they suggested changes, mostly improvements. The pages became so altered that Lina finally broke down and produced updated versions. Now the band had to memorize their parts.
Zelgadiss had time to kill, or so Lina declared, and so he was put in charge of designing a lighting system which could be computer controlled. It wouldn't fit into their plans to have Rodimus and Zolf bogged down with technical details. If the musical would be the syndicate draw they figured it would be, the Slayers would need all the reliable backup possible.
"Costuming is way ahead of schedule," Zel told her early one Saturday morning before band practice. "I talked to Bobby the other night and he said we should arrange a fitting of what was ready. While I was at it, I had his band scour the bargain bins and re-sale shops for those items you wanted for the band."
"My eighteenth-century-gentry look? Shirts with ruffles? Knee pants? Velvet and long coats and brocade vests? Really?" Lina asked.
"And you won't believe it, but those guys are very lucky. They came across a going-out-of-business sale for a --get this-- costumier in Sairaag." Zel folded his arms across his chest and looked pleased.
"You're kidding! No? Oh WOW! That's gotta be great, huh? I wanna see the stuff now!"
"Not now, but tomorrow. Sylphiel's meeting Bobby to help pick up and deliver the clothes to Amelia's, after practice. We'll try them on tomorrow in the coach house. If anything needs adjustment, and something will, Sylphiel will do the markings. Who knew we'd use her tailoring class background?"
"Yeah," Lina thought over what Zel had told her. "So, Sylphiel's happy with her car. That was pretty nice of you to get her that."
"It wasn't much. The tricky part was convincing her father to let me, thus the tailoring work in trade."
Lina thought it was a big 'much'. The Zel she knew a year-and-one-half ago wouldn't have bothered, if it would nave even occurred to him to do such a thing as replace her destroyed car. And now, he was passing it off as 'no big deal'. She decided to make 'no big deal' out of it either, then. "Okay, sounds like things are moving' right along then. Xelloss has arranged for some dance troop to come and give us dance lessons. Oh, just enough to improve a few parts, nothing too elaborate. Except for Val. He's got a big number with feather dancers for him!"
"No!" Zel chuckled. "That just won't happen."
"Well, maybe not, but there's feathers involved and a lot of howling."
"Ha, all right. Howling I'll give you, but feathers...? Oh, yeah, his costume has them on the wings. I wanted them huge, but we couldn't make the wings large enough without making them too heavy to wear. They'll be cool, though." He stood arms aloft giving her the proportions. "If you're lucky, he might let you borrow them for your next Halloween costume."
Lina was grinning, but for more reasons than just satisfaction with how the musical was coming together. Every now and then she had her wickedly witty, fearless friend from childhood back. Zelgadiss was happy, involved, talkative, and funny. How she wished he could just stay this way a little longer before slipping back into one of his dark moods. Lina realized that having him lighthearted made her feel cheerful as well. They were so much alike. They shared so much past, so much history. A history filled with 'if onlys', headlined by: 'if only he hadn't had that terrible accident'.
But now, watching him laughing and chattering away carelessly, it was as if a part of that past was being rewritten, creating a new story for them to follow. And that wasn't all. As she continued to concentrate on his face, she discovered that he really was changing. He looked different. She stepped so close to him, in fact, that he stopped speaking and stared back. "What is it? What's the matter?"
"You. I hadn't noticed before, but...something Xelloss had passed on that Kiki had said."
"What?" Zel wondered what Kiki might have said about him.
"My gods, Zel, she's right! Your eyelashes have re-grown on this eye. How about that one you have hidden under there? Not only that, but your face..." she reached out and grabbed his hand, examining it carefully, something Lina never did, something she had always avoided, for his sake mostly. "Your hands too! Have you noticed!"
He was smiling and nodded in answer. "I can't say about the eyelashes. They just did that on their own without any reason that I know of, but the skin, yes. Apparently something in the spa treatments I had improved the outer surface. It's not nearly so rough. That in turn reduced some of the irritation which was causing much of the red splotchiness. Xelloss and I had an appointment at the dermatologist and he's isolating the active ingredients for me. It's no cure, but nothing short of complete skin grafts is. We think it will continue to improve a little more. It's a start. It's at least something I can live with a bit better, I think."
"That's really great for you. I, ah, hadn't noticed before."
"Why should you? I don't expect the people I see all the time to see little changes like that."
Lina smiled at that. "I stopped noticing your scars a long time ago, Zel. The hair, well, that's hard to say. Silver-lavender is hard to overlook. It's striking, really...ah...gives you that glam-rock edge."
"Oh, pul-eeeese," Zel covered his face with a hand in embarrassment. Lina dishing out compliments was disconcerting.
"Icy-like...a good contrast to my fiery beauty!" Lina finished.
He chuckled, a deep rumbling sound. That was more like it!
"You laugh, but you don't havta hear all the fan-girls at school gushing over my best bud."
Pointing to one pointed, bejeweled ear he said, "I hear enough. It's certainly...different. Last year I was one step up from the school pariah, whoever that poor chump might be, and now... Did I tell you this... guy I met while waiting for Subaru at the shrine asked me for my autograph? It was weird (and only the gods know how weird). He called me famous. Are we famous?"
Lina smirked. "Infamous as well! I kinda like that notorious bad-guy image as much as the glamorous one."
"You would." He looked down, meeting her red-hot gaze. "I do, too."
"You know what else Xelloss passed on to me?" Lina asked.
"Do I want to know?" A split-second later he changed his mind. "All right, I'll yield on that one."
"He told me that Kiki likes you."
"Lina..."
"Eh! Let me finish. I only mention this, and gods know I normally don't care to interfere in anyone's, ah, life, but...geesh!" Lina saw the little light in his eyes dim, and then go out. Relationship chat might be the death of them both at this rate. "From a band perspective, all right! I'm trying to keep the band intact here. Now, Xelloss doesn't seem too broken up about it, but it's kinda strange...the two of you...her...not to mention Amelia..."
"Yes, please don't mention her." Something in his gut clenched up– guilt's punch. "Leave her out of this. Lina... Xelloss and Kiki are not 'in love', in fact they are just barely clinging to 'in like' mode at times. It's a syndicate tie of some kind. They both want out of the marriage, but can't sever the contract without, we think, at least her parent's approval." Zel continued to explain to Lina all he knew. "I promised them both to find a way out for them."
"And? Do you have an idea?"
Zel looked away, admitting, "Not exactly..."
"Well, I do."
"That was quick..."
"Yep. You ever watch that TV 'reality' show called 'My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancee?' Getting the gist yet?"
"I've never seen it, but I have an inkling... Won't work."
"Why not?" Lina thought he hadn't given her terrific idea as much consideration as it deserved. He'd better have a good reason for shooting it down so abruptly.
"I don't think parents who force kids to marry that way care if he's a jerk or not, as long as he brings his inheritance to the alter."
"Nuts."
"Sorry."
"So what do her parents and syndicate people have in common when it comes to their reprehensible need to acquire material? More precisely, what would they both hope to get from a marriage? They don't get the money, Kiki does. Neither kid is actually part of the syndicate, so what does that bunch get from it?" Leave it to Lina to get the lowdown on the insatiable greed angle.
"A cut of the profits?" Zel speculated.
"Not just a cut...something even more important."
Their eyes met as understanding washed over them simultaneously. "Children."
"Recruits," Zel expanded on the theme, "are the penultimate articles of syndicate trade and commerce-- death being the final one."
"So," Lina slapped him on the back. "We just have to prove they can't have children."
"Oh? WE only have to do that?"
"Well, you do. You made them the promise, right?"
"Oh, joy..."
"I just know you can do it!" Lina cried out in an imitation of Amelia's upbeat attitude, adding the fluttering eyelashes for effect.
"Cut it out," Zel blushed, but smiled just the same. "I suppose we could fake some medical documentation..."
"It'll be like...climbing a tree."
"A tree?"
"Yeah..." Lina's face softened and her face took on a dreamy expression.
Zel wondered at that. He wondered whether or not he wanted to know what had crossed and settled on her mind, or if he should, in fact, run for his car and get the hell out of there while he was safe.
He had wondered too long.
Lina latched onto his arm and shouted, "I got an idea. Come on!"
She led him out the back door of her house and into the backyard.
"Yes...it's a tree." He bowed to her superiority.
"Yeah, but look at how big it is. Big enough for a tree house. Whaddaya think? Wanna build one? Nothing complex..."
Lina went on describing her plans, while Zel wrestled tools, ladders, and lumber from the cluttered, car-less garage to the tree.
"Lina," he said at last. "You'll need a real builder, say, Gourry, to complete what you've just described."
"But I don't want GOURRY to build it. It's...not for him. Just do what you can do, and I'll help, of course."
Zel had no idea what Lina was up to, but he didn't really mind either. "It won't be very far off the ground. The limbs aren't strong enough."
She didn't care. "Yours or the tree's?" she asked sarcastically.
They exchanged smirks. For a split second Zel considered ripping off his shirt to show off his lean, but well-muscled arms and torso, just for an instant. He chuckled to himself. Man, am I going nuts? What's with me? Besides, it's not even forty degrees outside!
"There's not enough wood for a roof," he sighed.
"Don't need it!" came her opinion with an airy wave of her hand.
"The railing is not worth a damn," was his analysis.
"So I won't lean on it!" she dismissed him absentmindedly.
And at last when it was done, he had to confess, "The platform's tilted."
"Perfect. Put that ladder up close and hold it for me."
Zel did as he was told, then joined his friend. The plank surface wasn't very large. They lay on their backs side by side and stared up at the leafless branches and dark, cloudy sky.
"So, why did we do this?" he asked.
"Because."
"Because...? You want to see what I'll do when asked?"
"Nah, I know all about that. Just...because."
They stared in silence a little longer, and then she said, "I wish we were ten years old again. Yeah, ten or so when everything was simple and new and endless."
"Ten? Yeah, ten was good. So was eleven. You called me an elf then. We'd been reading Tolkien, stumbling over some of the difficult names and skipping some of the long descriptive passages..."
"I didn't skip anything!" Lina declared. "Did you really?"
"Found out at last!" Zel chuckled softly. "I knew you loved that stuff, but I was just a kid and thought it was boring. Hey, I didn't skip much!"
"You cheated. I never knew." Lina turned toward him. "And here I thought you were perfect, and now I find out you were flawed."
"Perfect? You were faster, stronger, smarter, and at times even taller than me. I always felt...well, privileged to be chosen by you to share your company."
"Yeah?" Her turn to laugh. "Well, you were of course, but so was I. I was best friends with an elf, the one everyone was in love with, for gods'sakes. That counted for lots. Funny..."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Now you're faster, stronger, taller...nearly as smart, ha ha!"
"But even more flawed." He didn't say it with sadness, however.
"Only your skin, but underneath you're still Zel. Clever and witty, funny and deep, loyal and thoughtful, and talented."
"Whew! My head, my head it's...growing!" He sputtered out hands on either side of his head as if to hold it together.
Lina whacked him. "At times you're even funny..."
He just grinned up at the sky. It wasn't much, but he'd built it all himself. Lina had held things steady and given directions, but he had supplied all the labor. Turning his head slightly, afforded him a view of Lina out of the corner of his eye.
She was so tiny. When had that happened? He'd been so small and frail and Lina had been his protector, but now his hands looked huge next to hers. Well, not huge, gigantic, but big. Her little finger looked like a child's with skin glowing like pale, perfect porcelain. His eyes traveled up toward her face. She hadn't grown in years. She looked fragile with her lean narrow frame, while he thought he was looking ... well, more manly. His shoulders had really filled out, thanks to the sword work and swimming and, no less so, to the male growth hormones. He wondered what Lina would say, or do, to him if he leaned a little closer and kissed her. Zel shook his head and smiled. No, he wanted to see adulthood yet. What an asinine thought! Danger averted. They were growing up, sure enough, but then, lying up there, sharing their tree house, it was like he was a kid again, too.
After a few minutes, he said, "I know why you wanted this tree house now."
"Eh? You do huh?"
"Yeah. You wanted to make time stop and reverse."
"I wanted you to think back and realize how much like that guy you still are. And... I wanted to return to a time when my problems were infinitesimal compared to now. No life-or-death situations on a weekly basis. No inter-friend rivalries. No great partings and separations looming in the near future..."
"Lina, all those challenges were there in the past too, we just weren't aware of them. We were in a magical world of our own creation where nothing and nobody could touch us. For a little while, that is..."
"Then came your accident, and the whole world was kicked off kilter," Lina sighed and covered her eyes with an arm.
"Just our world, Lina. The rest of the world was already moving off in full swing toward this future. Amelia had lost her mother and her sister was about to go into a downhill spiral. Sylphiel's parents, your father were already dead. Val's memories of his birth family were already fading away. Xelloss ...was about to..." Zel paused for breath.
But there was no reason to say any more. Lina knew where each piece of the puzzle had to move to fit into place for the story to work, for the picture to look right.
"If there had been no accident, or attempt on your life, whatever it was...then..."
"Then we probably would have missed this part of the story; we wouldn't have fit into the puzzle because events wouldn't have shaped us right," Zel said with a sigh. "So, I have to accept what happened to me as a good thing?"
"Not 'good' exactly, but an important thing. It made you grow and develop into the guy you are today, prepared to carry this story to its end. It made you stronger."
Zel looked over at Lina, "And you, too. Who knew that anyone could hold onto a friendship with the basket-case I became? That took strength, more than all the musclemen in Seyruun could muster."
"Yeah," She smiled and looked back up at the dark sky.
Zel squeezed her hand, so tiny in his. "I'm glad we built this."
"I'm glad, too."
"I'm glad we had his talk, too."
"Yeah..."
From below they heard an oh-so-familiar voice.
"Hey, Lina? Whatcher doin' up in the tree?"
The platform, being not far from the ground, and Gourry, being comparatively tall, were nearly neck-and-neck, so to speak. Gourry was just eye level, at the lower end of the lopsided platform, to Lina and Zel.
"Zel? You're here too?"
"Gourry?" Lina sat up. "Oh, yeah. Hi."
"It's Saturday and I got no work and I thought you might want some lunch before goin' to practice, but if yer busy..."
"Busy? I'm never too busy to eat. You know that!" Lina sat up and stretched. "How long have I been out here?"
"A few hours," Zel supplied. "Well, I ought to be off then. See you at practice."
"Dontcha wanna come, too?" Gourry asked.
Zel looked at Lina then back at Gourry. Could he honestly say he adored Lina, or anyone else for that matter, like Gourry did? He wondered if he could ever feel that deeply for anyone. He was only just warming up to himself and (if he was going to be wholly honest with himself now) to an unattainable girl or two. "No, I think I'll go home and get a few things done. Thanks though. Bye."
Gourry watched Lina hop down. She turned and waved. "And Zel?"
"Yes?"
"We'll do this again sometime, when we need it."
Zel smiled, "If we need it."
Puzzling Times
"Hello, is the mayor in? Ah, Zelgadiss Greywords." Zel waited for the housekeeper to announce his arrival. He had not called ahead. It was a gamble coming here this way, against the man's orders, but he felt it was necessary to force his hand. Phil once held all the cards, but this time it was Zel who had dealt them out.
A few minutes later, he found himself waiting in the office where a couple months earlier he'd battled Kanzel and Mazenda. Everything had been repaired. He couldn't find a mark, scratch, or dent to tell of their adventure.
He hoped that this meeting would clear up the obstacles in the path to their double-date with Xelloss and Kiki, and that it would relieve his conscious concerning Amelia. He hadn't asked her out since her birthday in December, although he supposed he was expected to. He had hardly talked to her over the weekend fearing her father had hired a detective to watch his every move. He found that his attention had wandered to the unreal Rubia, the unavailable (for the time-being) Kiki, and the un-female Miwan, while the real, available and most definitely female Amelia was just waiting with bated breath for him to acknowledge her presence.
But, Zel had only pretended not to notice her. He had rescued that damned purse of hers at great risk to his own neck! He had sympathized with her when she inadvertently had kicked over the fog-machine canister, relieving it of its contents, even though he was thrilled not to have to sit in the mist for the two-day gig. And there was the way he pictured her in his mind... He really couldn't help himself. Anytime, anywhere, a nude vision of the little princess would pop into his mind. Evaluating equations in math...Amelia. Carefully measuring out the powered hydroxyls in Chemistry lab...Amelia. Taking a shower...oooh...Ameeelia...
Nothing like that had ever happened to Zelgadiss. It was like being a little out of control. He wasn't sure how to deal with it, but he knew he didn't trust himself alone with her. So, he withdrew from her. Unfortunately, his brain just kept flashing those pictures, with enhancements! Other girls were looking good, too. He should have commiserated more with Xelloss. He would definitely understand. Maybe he would have a talk with him about it. It was distracting!
Of course there were times when fantasy-Amelia was neatly tucked away, or tossed aside to make room for some other vision of femininity, like Rubia, Kiki, Lina, hell...even Kagome. Miwan, he had stuffed away in his brain's recycle bin, ready for emptying. Yeah, Lina was not exempt from his flights of imagination these days, although he was extremely circumspect around her. He knew that it would be far more prudent to hide his feelings than to let on that he felt, could feel, any sort of attraction for her beyond friendship. Not that he did. He wasn't even certain that it was anything more than that she was a cute girl with which he had close and frequent contact. Unfortunately, he felt, just about any cute girl was getting his notice. Even the fans were getting in under his 'don't touch me' radar. It was crazy!
At that moment it occurred to him what was happening to his mind and body, those horrible hormones were kicking in. It was affecting his skin and his brain at the same time! Great, just great. He thought he'd missed this stage of development. How old was he...eighteen? Great...oh...joy...
Zel's musings were interrupted by the sound of the office door closing and a large man clearing his throat. "Ahh, I wasn't expecting you, considering I had barred you from this house."
"Sir? I...know you did, but I was hoping that you might reconsider."
Phil's eyebrows drew into a single black line. He hadn't taken a seat and he hadn't indicated that Zel could. The two men shared the increasingly shrinking space uncomfortably.
Zel took the pause as his signal to say his piece. So he did. He explained what he knew or conjectured about the Xelloss-Kiki affair–especially the syndicate involvement. "It's put a strain on them, to say the least, to the point where Kiki asked me to arrange some double dates...ah...with Amelia, you see. Which is why I'm here. To see if you might..."
"Your time would be better spent looking for a solution to the problem, than giving in to it– both you and Xelloss."
"Don't you think we are?" Zel gasped with exasperation. "In fact, I gave both of them my word that I'd get them out of it...and I have a couple ideas. Getting contracts dissolved is no easy task, especially when the person holding Xelloss to the syndicate agreement is unknown and unknowable. The key, as we've determined, is to get Kiki's parents to void it. Aside from that, besides dying, there's nothing Xelloss can do. In the meantime..." Zel cleared his nervous throat. "I'd like to date your daughter, with Kiki and Xelloss along as well."
Phil still hadn't given him a sign.
"What was he thinking?" Zel wondered.
"What do you young men have planned?"
"For the double-date?" Zel guessed. To the mayor's nod, he answered, "Dinner and dancing." As an afterthought he added, "You are welcome to come along, if you want."
"Ho,ho!" Phil grinned. "I might just do that!"
"What?" Zel gasped. He hadn't thought the old guy would take him up on that. Well, two can play at this... "Then you will have to supply your own date. I'm not in the dating service, sorry, and no singles. That would mean you'd be looking to pick up someone and that...hanging out picking up chicks... well, it wouldn't fit into our wholesome plans for the evening. Understand?"
Zel looked so stern, so serious, and the action was so unanticipated that Philonel was caught wordless and unprepared.
Zel had meant it all as a joke, but now regretted his offhand manner. He wasn't Xelloss, whose occasional flippancy was overlooked, if not allowable. With each passing beat of his heart, he was wishing that he'd never come.
Then Phil began to laugh. It started deep within his chest and rumbled around until it broke free of its restraints, exploding in a half-bark, half-holler. "Ho, ho, ho...ha, ha, ha..."
He was so loud, the windows shook and rattled, and there weren't any in the room– they were shaking in the front hall!
"Daddy!" Amelia's tiny voice cried out. The laughing resounded throughout the house so that from her room she couldn't tell if he was shouting in pain or anger or what. "Where are you? OH!" What was Zelgadiss doing here?
Zelgadiss was smiling and so was her daddy.
"Ah, my darling daughter...come here." Phil clasped her small body to his strong, tall one. "This young man would like to take you out for an evening of dinner and dancing. Would you like that? You'd be doing your friends Kiki and Xelloss a favor by going with them."
Amelia was happy to accept.
While he was on a roll, Zel added, "We're liable to be late."
"Oh? Why's that?" Phil countered.
"Xelloss wants to make sure we get some ballroom dancing in, and that begins at ten-thirty or eleven. Dragging him away will be difficult."
"Well, you tell him to remember the Cinderella story. At midnight, magically, everything goes back to the way it was; you boys will turn into a pair of mice, easily devoured by the hungry, mad father cat if the princess-in-disguise isn't home." He grinned, but he was serious. Phil tapped his cell phone. "If there's a problem getting her home on time, call."
"Yes, Sir!" Zel gulped. "Ah, I'll see you tomorrow night, then, Amelia. Bye. Thank you Sir!"
Puzzling Friends
"Well, I gotta go before Filia starts ta call wonderin' where I am. Damn, she's a demandin' woman," Val grumbled, but Xelloss ignored him. Val wasn't in danger of being walked all over by Filia; he was a handful himself, plus he appeared to enjoy being indispensable to her. "Take care of the little girls," Val added in a teasing tone.
That made Xelloss look up from adjusting his tie, but he only returned a smirk, and then asked, "Does this look straight to you?"
Val grinned, "As straight as you ever look."
An exasperated sigh escaped his pursed lips. "You are in a mood. I'm glad you're heading out to the clan for the weekend. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
Val blurted out his he-haw laugh, and then controlled it enough to take another stab at his friend. "I was waiting to say goodnight to yer date. Ah, here he comes now!"
"Val, go to hell," Zel recommended.
"He was just on his way, right Vally-boy?" Xelloss asked with a smile.
"Ah, gotta get outta this geekfest. See ya Monday!" Val chuckled and loped out to his caravan.
It didn't take a shrink to tell that Zel was bothered by something. He had been, Xelloss hesitated to say, 'upbeat' of late. Zelgadiss could be a study in contrasts. What had changed that?
Oddly, it was Zelgadiss who ventured forth. "Xelloss, ah..." He plunked himself onto the couch with a sigh.
"At your service, my good man," Xelloss perched on the arm expectantly. "What may I assist you with on this pleasant evening?"
The corner of Zel's mouth turned up slightly. "Did you ever wonder about yourself? You know, have doubts...?"
Xelloss snickered. "More like, when haven't I? But you mean about something specific, right?"
Zel nodded. "It would be easier to explain by telling you what happened at the shrine." He paused before continuing.
"Miwan, you mean." Xelloss' eyes twinkled before he shut them in a smile. He just bet he knew what Zel was alluding to now. He decided to make it easy on his friend. "Thanks for the hints you gave me when you introduced him, by the way. I might have asked him out thinking that he was a girl, although he was even less...mature looking, shall we say, than Lina."
A rush of relief swept through Zel, his face lightening. "Yes, I thought so, too! I... ah...it took me awhile, though."
"You saved me from an embarrassing moment."
"Well, I had one of my own. No reason we should both disappoint him."
"No, that was a kindness also. Not something I would have expected from the Zelgadiss I first met."
Zel started. That's right. He had misunderstood Xelloss and insulted him without apology in the past. "I was a jerk, then."
"At least you admit it!" Xelloss chuckled. "So that's all then? You were thinking that you might be gay because you were attracted to another guy? Well, it doesn't count. You liked Miwan because you thought he was a cute girl, and that's natural for a straight guy, although for you..."
Zel looked slant-eyed at his big brother. "What...?"
Xelloss laughed. "I only meant that for you to be checking out girls is a notable event!"
Zel objected. "No, it's not! I just keep my thoughts to myself!"
"Okay, then what I reeeeeally meant was that for you to confide in me about it was most unusual."
"And this is why I don't."
Xelloss dropped his smile. "Sorry, I'll try to be more serious then. Was there more to all this?"
Zel relaxed. "What you said helped. I just wondered."
"All guys go through periods of 'doubt', as you put it—leastways, that's what Dr. Lester the shrink told me. What matters is what gets you excited. Once you knew he was a guy, did you wonder what he had in his pants...and really focus on that?"
Zel was shyly shaking his head as Xelloss chatted on. "Or do you picture girls or guys when you...you know?" Xelloss nudged Zel for confirmation that he knew what activity he was referring to without becoming crude.
Zel nodded as a blush crept up from his neck.
Got it. Xelloss smiled and continued. "You don't have to tell me now or ever, for that matter. It's just that that's what the doctor told me. It's not your choice, necessarily; it's just how you are."
Zel broke in, "All right, then I think about girls, exclusively...especially lately. But, how about you? You said you once had...'doubts'?"
Xelloss' voice dropped and became more serious. "Of course I wondered about myself! Zelgadiss, what I went through with DuBois...often daily for months... You definitely don't want me to describe, but I will if you think it would help you decide..."
"No!" Zel blurted out. "I, ah...that's fine. I can imagine and that's bad enough."
"Good, because I might have needed therapy again to have to re-tell that stuff. So?"
Zel allowed a nervous smile to show. "I keep envisioning...um, Amelia, or at least her...body... at the worst of times."
"Only the worst?"
Zel barked out a laugh. "No! But it happens at the most inconvenient times!" He calmed down a bit then added, "I saw her completely naked in bed, you know."
The shy guy was so wide-eyed with this admission that Xelloss nearly exploded with mirth. "I figured as much!"
"And, well, she's very...mature..."
Xelloss was really trying not to laugh. "Come on, just say it 'She's hot!'"
Zel smiled. "Well, yes. She is. And it's almost a torture to be around her all the time and not..."
"Want to make mad, passionate love to her?" Xelloss slipped in.
Zel punched at his ribs lightly. "...Want to touch her, anyway."
"I doubt she'd mind, my ever-cautious friend."
"Oh, she probably wouldn't and that's another problem."
"I don't get it, Zelgadiss. Where's the problem?"
"She wants a boyfriend with all the frills and I don't think I can be that way."
"By 'that way' do you mean straight or...?"
Another punch, harder this time. "We are done with that topic. We have moved on to another. I mean, I don't know if I can be the kind of guy she imagines a boyfriend should be. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can't, seeing at what you guys go through. I'm not romantic-thinking like you or out-spoken enough like Val to say what I want."
Xelloss nodded. "So, you are thinking maybe you just ought to date around... see different girls for awhile—no strings attached? Well, good luck! That's the dream of half a million guys in the Seyruun area alone! Unless they're hookers, you're going to have to put a little time and attention into each one. Maybe..." Xelloss lowered his voice as it thickened against his will. "You might have to give up a little of yourself, too."
Zel emitted another big sigh that spoke volumes. "I was afraid you'd say that. But then, I have the problem of her age and her father; that is, if I stick with just Amelia."
"Stick with? Do you like her? I mean, as in 'girlfriend', not just 'a friend' or as a lovely-naked-vision. That's what you have to decide, or just give it a try and see what happens."
"But what if she doesn't like me after that?" Zel asked lamely.
"Then you'll have to work harder for the next one." Xelloss looked up at the wall. "Which reminds me, it's time to pick up our dates. Are you ready?"
"Ready as ever," Zel said.
"Remember, you'll get to dance with Kiki, too."
That brought a sly smile to Zel's face.
"But remember also, my good man, when you are dancing with Kiki, I will be dancing with Amelia." Xelloss waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated way. "And I have my ways!"
Xelloss jumped out of the way of Zel's punch this time and ran laughing out the door. "My ways! I'll have her in my arms wanting me by the end of the evening. Just you see!"
Zel chuckled along with him but inside there was the tiniest little snippet of worry tickling at his self-confidence.
From the Authors:
Where are the pictures?
Seyruun High Jinx has a home. Please go to the author profile for Kaeru Shisho and choose the link. You will find the pictures under Seyruun High Jinx NEXT. Pictures for each of the other stories are associated with their links.
KS
End Seyruun High Jinx –NEXT! Chapter 39.