Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers. I do not own Amelia or, sadly, Zelgadis. I do not own a strip club or strippers. However, if you are male and would like to be my stripper, please feel free to give me a call. nodnod

Note: I know pretty much nothing about strip clubs. If there's a mistake, please don't mind it.

Amelia Gets a Job

Amelia glanced at the clock. It was a quarter to 2 a.m. She donned her 'uniform', studied herself in the mirror for a moment, and, satisfied with her appearance, left for her first day at her new job.

Zelgadis was having a bad day. Not your typical bad day, but a bad day. His latest lead on a way of turning his body back to normal had wound up leading him through a deep forest full of briars (which didn't really hurt him, but it did snag his clothes and tear holes all through them), halfway up the side of a steep mountain, and finally into Seryuun's sewers, and it had turned out to be a joke courtesy of none other than everyone's favorite trickster, Xellos. Zelgadis was currently plotting ways to cause the mazoku as much pain as chimera-ly possible.

For the time being, though, he just needed a good bath and a change of clothes. He managed to find his way back out of the sewers. Luckily, it was late, and there weren't many people about. As if looking like a green statue wasn't bad enough, he smelled like something that had seen the inside of one digestive track too many.

As he walked down the street, he spotted a figure walking toward him on the opposite side of the road. He pulled up his hood, though it didn't cover the awful stains on the rest of him. It took him a moment to recognize it as Amelia, and another to realize what building she was going into.

"You're sure, Zel?" Lina asked.

"Yes! It was Amelia, and she was going into the- the gentlemen's club!"

Gourry cocked his head to the side. "Amelia's not a gentleman, is she?"

The others looked at him, then glanced away, not caring to explain.

Gourry, realizing no one was going to include him in the secret, went back to his room.

"Well, if a girl needs money, there are jobs she can do to get it…" Xellos said, his perma-smirk in place.

Zelgadis glared at him. After yesterday's fiasco, he was in no mood for the priest's jokes.

Filia frowned. "I'm not sure why, but the only reason I can think for her to go in a place like that would be if she did… work there…" Filia said hesitantly.

Zelgadis and Lina stood frozen.

"That can't be it," Lina said. "Amelia's way too… too innocent to do something like that."

"She'd see it as evil, more than likely," Zelgadis said, agreeing with Lina. "There must be another reason."

"We'll ask her when she gets here," Lina said, straightforward as always.

The door to the tavern opened revealing a sleep-deprived princess. Amelia yawned as she took a seat beside Zelgadis.

"Hello, Zelgadis-san. How are you?"

Everyone at the table suddenly found the walls or ceiling very interesting.

"I, er, I'm fine," Zelgadis stuttered.

"Amelia! Zelgadis was just asking about where you work."

Zelgadis blushed. "Ah, I… er… What he means is, I was looking for a job, because I have to pay for all this food Lina and Gourry ate, and, er…"

Amelia pulled a few coins from her pocket and handed them to the chimera.

"I started a job yesterday. You can have this, if you need it," she said.

Zelgadis took the coins, eyeing them warily. "So, you have a job?" he asked carefully.

Amelia nodded.

"That's great," Lina said, her voice only cracking slightly. "Where do you work, now?"

"Well, it's a place called the …" she said, sounding embarrassed. "It's not much of a job, I know, but-"

The others jerked as Zelgadis stood suddenly, knocking his chair over with a clatter.

"Amelia…!" he started, then stopped. "Amelia," he tried again, "if you needed money, you could have asked any of us! We would have given you anything you needed! You shouldn't have to- to humiliate yourself like this!" he cried. It hurt to see someone so close to him brought so low.

Amelia looked up at him, startled at his outburst, then angry.

"Zelgadis-san, please don't lecture me. I'm a princess. I've been pampered all my life, and if my dad knew what I was doing, he would be terribly upset. But… I want to be self-sufficient! I want to earn my way in the world! I don't want to be the little spoiled princess who has everything brought to her on a silver plate, who never has to work for anything. And I may not have much experience with this, but I feel like people appreciate me, like they appreciate what I'm doing for them. I like that feeling." she said, determination in her eyes, daring anyone to argue.

"Amelia," Zelgadis said, almost pleading. "Earning money like that, for- for entertaining sleazy drunkards like that-"

Amelia blinked. "Um, I don't think any of the customers find me all that entertaining, actually. It's nothing that special…" she said uncertainly.

Zelgadis blinked. "What? How could they not find you entertaining? You're very-!" he stopped, blushing.

Xellos finally broke out into laughter. "What were you going to say, Zelgadis, hm?" he chuckled, winking at him.

"Er… I," Zelgadis said. Amelia cocked her head to the side.

"I think Zelgadis would like to watch you do what you do at work!" he said, giggling.

"Xellos! That was uncalled for!" Filia said, brandishing her mace in his direction.

"That's fine by me," Amelia shrugged. "Zelgadis-san, would you like to come with me?"

"!" said Zelgadis.

"Go on!" Xellos said, pushing the two of the toward the bathroom. "Have fun!"

Lina and Filia simultaneously attacked to mazoku, but Amelia had already led a very scared chimera into the bathroom. The door shut behind them.

Lina and Filia froze in shock.

"Well, I guess my work is done here," Xellos said as he disappeared.

A few minutes later, Amelia and a widely grinning Zelgadis exited the restroom.

Lina and Filia stared. Amelia walked over the two of them.

"I've never seen anyone so happy to watch me clean toilets," Amelia said.

"I don't know what Zelgadis-san was so upset about," Amelia said to Xellos. It was late, and the others had retired to their rooms, greatly relieved that Amelia wasn't working as a, er, woman of ill repute. They, of course, hadn't told her what they had thought.

"I mean, I know that a princess working as a janitor seems a bit strange, but he was really upset, wasn't he?"

Xellos shrugged innocently. "Maybe you should ask him to explain it to you," he suggested, carefully keeping his face straight.

Amelia nodded, then stood up decisively. "He'd still be awake, wouldn't he?"

Xellos nodded. "Probably,"

"I think I will talk to him then. I'll be back in a few minutes, Xellos-san!" she called.

Xellos grinned. "Poor Zelgadis," he mused before disappearing once again.