Valgaav Learns To Fly

By Threshie

Warnings: Cursing, a bit of violence. Not intended to be yaoi, but interpret it how you wish. Shrug I tend to think father/son when writing about Gaav and Val, myself...

Author's Note/Disclaimer: This is the sequal to Valgaav Learns To Phase, both because people seemed to like the first one so much and because I needed an excuse to write about Gaav and Val some more. It's got a slightly different tone than the first one, but that's to be expected since this time it's from Gaav's point of view. So, without further ado, here's the ficcy! Oh, yeah... Sweatdrop Alright, a little more ado needed. One, I don't own Slayers or anybody in it, including Valgaav and Gaav. And two, please review!

"Good morning, Val." Gaav grinned as his minion wandered by with his mop of green hair even more mussed-up than usual. His headband was missing, bangs falling messily around the small black horn in the center of his forehead, and it was obvious from his stormy expression that he was even less of a morning person than Gaav was. Ordinarily, the Demon Dragon King was quite frightening in the early hours, but the Ancient Dragon/Mazoku was so amusing to watch when he was half-asleep that getting up early was almost fun these days.

This morning, however, Valgaav didn't give his usual reply of 'Wha...?', instead frowning distantly and disappearing into what served as a kitchen in their cavernous home. Curious as to what was so particularly bad about this morning (the green-haired man was always grouchy, and more so when tired, but never rude enough to not even reply when Gaav spoke to him), the redhead peered into the 'kitchen'.

Valgaav was currently putting some water on for tea (dragons, Gaav had long ago learned, were obsessed with the stuff) with a rather dejected expression.

"A-hem," the giant redhead cleared his throat just to break the silence, asking pointedly, "Val, is something wrong?"

"Didn't sleep well," Valgaav replied shortly, now rummaging through a low cabinet for a mug. Sweatdropping, Gaav came over and plucked one off of the hooks where they hung in plain sight on the wall.

"It shows." The green-haired man sat up, mouth open to give an annoyed reply, when he spotted the mug in Gaav's hands and realized he'd been searching in entirely the wrong place. The Dark Lord grinned, handing the cup to him and leaning on the counter. "You look depressed," he informed Val.

Staring down at the mug he'd placed on the counter, Valgaav frowned and didn't reply.

"You know, I'm only the man who gave you, oh, immortality, Mazoku power and a chance to live the rest of your life," Gaav commented in feigned disinterest, peering into the heating water in the pot. "Answering me when I talk to you wouldn't be too much to ask in return, would it?"

Val sighed, spooning tea into the tea ball and not noticing when he poured some on the counter. "Look, Gaav-sama, I only don't answer because I have nothing interesting to add to the conversation."

"Which is thus turned into a monologue," Gaav raised one bushy eyebrow curiously, "You usually have at least one smart-ass remark--what gives?"

Valgaav glanced at him briefly, then sighed and tucked the tea ball into the teapot, muttering, "You'd think it was stupid..."

"I think a lot of things are stupid," Gaav shrugged, crimson hair rippling with the movement, "So what?"

"So if I tell you you'll think I'm an idiot," Valgaav frowned, checking on the heating water. Seeing that Gaav wasn't going to leave him alone until he at least somewhat explained himself, he crossed his arms, grumbling, "You know, being able to live the rest of my life isn't nearly as appealing without my wings."

"Aha..." Gaav grinned, sitting up. "Is that what you're so dull about?"

"It's not easy for anyone who's a cave dragon to understand," the green-haired man said pointedly, and Gaav sweatdropped. His dragon form had three heads--who needed wings, anyway? Besides, Mazoku could....hmmm....

"You know, if not being able to fly is the problem, you really shouldn't react so hastily," he told Val, who was shifting from one foot to the other while impatiently watching the water. "A Mazoku can do anything a Ryuzoku can, including flying."

Valgaav blinked, turning to stare at him. "Mazoku can fly?" He asked in surprise.

Gaav grinned broadly, "Damn right--how do you think I travel so fast? Not by walking everywhere, surely."

"Well..." Val poured his tea, trying not to sound as excited as he really was, "How's it done?" He shrugged, "For curiosity's sake?"

"Oh, it's so simple you barely have to think about it," the giant redhead smirked, picking himself a large mug off of the rack, "It's as simple as phasing!"

Recalling just how difficult learning to phase the Mazoku way had been, Val's shoulders slumped a little. "Great..."

"Honestly, it's so simple anybody could learn," Gaav assured him, preparing himself some coffee. "I'll teach you today."

"In one day?" Val asked dubiously--phasing had taken four days.

"In one day."

Some time later (even in the most urgent of times, no one rushed Gaav's coffee routine), the two sat on a couple of the battered chairs in the largest chamber of the 'house', a big round cave that had tunnels leading to the other rooms. While it wasn't tall enough to fly anywhere, the highest part of the ceiling was three times Val's height--plenty enough space to learn to levitate in.

"All right," Gaav began his explanation, "It's really very simple. To fly Mazoku-style, you simply will yourself off of the ground."

Valgaav sighed, "With phasing you 'want' it, with flying you 'will' it--neither of those are simple."

Shrugging, Gaav drifted up several feet--not too high, or he'd hit his head on the ceiling, but definitely with his feet off of the ground. "They are if you haven't told yourself it's hopeless before you even try it," he smirked at his minion's frustrated expression.

"Gaav-sama, you've been Mazoku all of your life--I'm sure it's easy to do any Mazoku ability by now."

"Are you calling me old?" The redhead offhandedly ended his levitation, dropping to his feet on the floor again. Crossing his arms, he towered over Val, raising a thick eyebrow. "That's not appreciated, you know."

"No, I'm not calling you old," Valgaav frowned, crossing his own arms, "just accomplished. And I wish you'd stop expecting me to magically be able to do whatever you can do!"

Gaav grinned, "I don't expect you to take over the world and kill every other Mazoku and Ryuzoku in existance, Val--I'd be out of work if you did."

"Look, dammit, this isn't going to work!" Val growled, standing, "I'll just have to stay on the ground. I lost my flight ability when you killed me."

"When I resurrected you and bestowed Mazoku powers upon you, you mean?"

"When I died," Val countered angrily, "When everything good left my damned life!"

"That's funny," Gaav said skeptically, blinking, "I seem to recall that you were on the verge of death, and suddenly were gifted with my presence and assistance. And agreed to it readily, might I add. And now you're complaining because you haven't learned how to use all of the amazing abilities I've handed you, gift-wrapped. What a backward way of saying thanks."

"I only joined you to avenge my people!" A growl rose in Valgaav's throat along with the volume of his voice. "I wasn't asking for your damned 'assistance'! In fact, if I remember right, I told you to go to Hell, and then you offered to help me slaughter the damned Golden Ryuz--!!"

Gaav blinked, as his tempermental minion abruptly ended his sentence, shuddering.

"The Golden 'Ryuz'?" He asked sarcastically. Val, however, was not listening. Hmm...he's not joking around, Gaav realized a bit worriedly, when the green-haired man fell to his knees, gritting his fangs in pain. "Err...Val?"

"Wh...what...the hell...a-are....you d...doing to me...?" Valgaav gritted out, doubling over and wrapping his arms around himself.

"Me?" Gaav blinked, about to inform his minion that he was, in fact, doing nothing but standing there, but this train of thought was wrecked violently when a pair of enormous, feathery black wings tore themselves out of Valgaav's back, their owner giving a scream of pain in the process. Both men sat there for a long moment in silence, Val trembling a little and Gaav feeling rather stunned. They're his wings from when he was pure dragon, he observed. Slowly, he smiled. I see....he's still half-Ryuzoku, after all.

"I'd guess these are the pair you were missing so much this morning?" He asked, picking one of the wings carefully and examining it. Several ebony feathers drifted to the floor, as Valgaav raised his head to look at him uncertainly. When he saw that the Dark Lord didn't look angry, he sighed.

"I-I think so. I've...never been able to stay in human form while I had them, though... And," he grimaced, "It never hurt before."

"Most likely a side-effect of being half Mazoku, half Ryuzoku," Gaav mused aloud. "When you try to change to dragon form, your Mazoku half violently protests. I wonder if you can fold them in and out at will, or if you have to be angry?"

Looking a bit embarrassed at his earlier outburst, Val hung his head and mumbled something.

Gaav grinned, "With your kind off temper, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

His minion's shoulders slumped a bit at this, and he muttered some more inaudible words that may or may not have been an apology for what'd he'd said a few minutes ago. Then again, knowing Val he was probably cursing...

Gaav shrugged, "I guess you won't have to master Mazoku-style flying just yet, hm?"

He thought Val would be happy to accept this easy way out and be done with it. Instead, the Ancient Ryuzoku/Mazoku took a slightly unsteady breath and, amazingly, drifted several feet up off of the ground, shakily at first and then faster. He quickly reached eye-level with Gaav, and hung there in mid-air, ebony wings still touching the floor.

"L...like this?" He asked with slightly shaky sarcasm, smiling for the first time that day.

Gaav chuckled in his usual rolling 'mwahahaha' manner, grinning. "You know, if you keep this up, I won't need a new General and Priest."

Owari

Valgaav Learns to Fly Akugi!

---Akugi #1

Gaav: "Val, is something wrong?"

Valgaav: "Didn't sleep well." (Rummages for mug)

Gaav: (sweatdrop) "Bad dreams of Xellos again?"

---Akugi #2

Gaav: (Sarcastically) "The Golden 'Ryuz'? What is that, a brand of sponge?"

Valgaav: (Blinks confusedly) "...What?"

Gaav: "You know,'Ryuz', 're-use'? Don't you get it?"

Valgaav: "...."

Gaav: (Sweatdrop) Either he has no sense of humor (probable) or I don't out enough to know what's funny and what's scary anymore (also probable.)

---Akugi #3

Narrator: Gaav blinked, about to inform his minion that he was, in fact, doing nothing but standing there, but this train of thought was wrecked violently when a pair of enormous, feathery black wings tore themselves out of Valgaav's back, their owner giving a scream of pain in the process.

Valgaav: "THE GOD OF DEATH IS BACK FROM HELL!!"

Gaav: "...."

---Akugi #4

Valgaav: "When everything good left my damned life!"

Gaav: "Aw, that's not true! You still have ice-cream, don't you?"

Valgaav: "..." (Sweatdrops and smiles faintly, despite himself) "Yeah, you're right...no matter how bleak things look, life with Fudge Ripple in it can never be all bad..."

AN: ;; Sorry for the awfully cheesy Akugi--I'm just having fun not taking myself too seriously, here. Anyhow... (Sparkly anime puppy eyes) A review would be niiiice.... But even if ya don't, thanks for reading!