2005

GRAVEYARD SHIFT

CHAPTER THREE –Informative–

"Whether you are planning ahead or have experienced a loss, our Funeral Directors and Staff are prepared to help you with any questions you may have."

"You all right?" Xelloss asked Zelgadiss during his first embalming session.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It was just that first...it was unexpected. I'd never seen a dead body before," Zel explained.

"You'll get used to it," Valgaav noted, "or not."

"What's next?" Zel worked to control the tremor in his voice.

"What we do the most, embalming." Xelloss opened a manual and pointed to the title page: "'Embalming forms the foundation for the entire funeral-service structure. It is the basis for the sale of profitable merchandise, the guardian of public health, the reason for much of our professional education and our protective legislation.' -from an old embalming text."

"We only do the prep stages and the funeral director, Mr. Vurumagen, does the cosmetics in the morning," Valgaav clarified. "That or his assistant, Ms. Eris."

Zel knew her, Eris. His grandfather was dating her, although the old man treated it as more of a 'backstairs' affair. It must have been Eris who had gotten him the job. He nodded.

"Vurumagen doesn't trust us," Xel grinned. "Thinks we'd shave off the eyebrows or paint on moustaches."

That made Zelgadiss smile faintly.

"It takes training to do it right," Valgaav admitted. "What we gotta do now that we've stuffed it and stitched it up is to pump embalming fluid into the main artery. It'll take awhile so in the meantime, Zelgadiss, you can take the body's inventory list and cross-check that with the personal stuff sent over from the hospital."

Zelgadiss, happy to be anywhere else, took the clipboard and located the box stacked among others with the matching ID label. Inside the box was a suit, white shirt, tie, jewelry (rings: paired, one with a plain band; and glasses). So the man had been married. Zel wondered about the family he'd left behind, but not for long.

"When you're done, we need a hand here," Valgaav shouted.

Zel quickly verified that everything that was listed was in the box, closed the lid securely, and hurried back to the table. "It's okay. Nothing's lost."

"Great," Valgaav said.

Zel tried to ignore the faintly pink fluid being pumped into an artery. He noticed both of the other men were wearing their face masks. "Should I put mine on too?

"Yeah, you should always use a face mask and ensure that the embalming room is sanitized and ventilated. These chemicals are dangerous so don't breathe them, spill them, or get them in your eyes," Valgaav warned him.

"We'll be done in a minute, then we have some cleaning up to do. Find the germicidal solution," Xelloss said then directed Zelgadiss where to find it on the shelf. "The recommended sequence calls for a thorough disinfection and body cleansing with a germicide-insecticide-olfactant. It's a safety precaution against most diseases and keeps the stink of decay down," Xel said with a smile meant to put Zelgadiss at ease, but didn't.

Embalming, Zelgadiss was discovering, was a smelly business. "Is there a fan I can turn up?"

Valgaav told him where to find the ventilation switch and how to adjust it. "We must be getting nose burn out," he said. "If you think it's too strong, rev it up."

Zel nodded and rushed off to crank up the fan. When he got back, Xelloss was ready to have him assist in the cleaning. Valgaav concentrated on the fingernails, while Xel washed the man's face and hair. Xel demonstrated the proper hair care for Zelgadiss to take over, and then moved on to snipping nose hairs.

"Hairdressing is normally done after embalming is done," he told Zelgadiss. "You're doing fine, by the way."

"Thanks," Zelgadiss muttered.

"He doesn't need a shave, I don't think," Xel mused as he examined the final results. "Japanese?"

"Could be," Valgaav pointed to the body's chart and said to Zelgadiss, "Turn to the last page. What's the guy's name?"

Zelgadiss let out a gasp of surprise, "Tadaaki." That was the man Sylphiel was talking about. The man she was seeing and just died. Gourry was just telling them about that. Mr. Tadaaki, mister 'faithful and bright' had been a married man and had over-done life, killing himself to be youthful again. Not too bright and not at all faithful, apparently.

"See whaddaya know, Japanese. Can I call them, or not?" Xel smiled triumphantly. "Whoa, what's the matter? You know this guy?"

"No," Zelgadiss shook his head. "But friends of mine did."

"Are we done then?" Valgaav called out from the sink where he was washing his hands. "We don't have anything else tonight so we can pack him back into the cooler and swab the decks, then go home early."

Zel looked up at the clock. Where had the time gone? He yawned.

Valgaav made room for Zelgadiss. "You look like you're about to drop."

"I'm not usually up all night, working anyway," he added with a smirk.

"Oooooh, party guy, huh?" Xel punched him in the shoulder. "Hey, we're having a party this weekend. You gotta come."

Zelgadiss smiled to himself. He thought Valgaav and Xelloss were pretty cool. Older guys that treated him like an equal. "Sure, I don't have anything going on. Can I bring someone?"

"As long at it's a girl," Xel looked at him seriously, then broke into a smile, "That was a joke. You can invite anyone. We met some girls the other day and they're bringing friends. We know a few people around, but not many."

"So you guys are new to...this too?"

"The work? No. We've been at it, training like you during the school breaks for years. Family businesses suck you up that way." Valgaav untied the black headband holding back his hair, letting a long straight fall of green hair move freely past his shoulders. "We've been at college in Atlas City."

"So you are family? Both of you?"

Xel nodded, "I'm his cousin. His father is my mother's brother. She runs a funeral business out of Wolfpack Island. Don't tell me you're related, too!"

Zelgadiss nodded, "My grandfather said so, but I don't know the details of the family tree."

"My dad's the owner," Valgaav said. "Gaav Rubyeye. Welcome to the graveyard shift, cousin."

"Right," Zelgadiss smiled shyly and followed them out the door.

"Where's your car?" Xelloss asked casually as they strolled into the parking lot.

Oh... Zelgadiss had forgotten his lack of transportation. His face must have said it all. "My bike was stolen the other day."

"Wanna ride with us? If you don't live too far we can give you a lift to and from," Valgaav offered.

"Thanks, I'd like that." When he saw the car Xelloss was unlocking, it took his breath away. "Nice..."

"Yeah, mom bought a new one and I got her cast off," Xelloss' cool smile turned into a goofy grin. "Poor me."

Zelgadiss climbed into the back seat of the four-year-old BMW and closed his eyes. The faint smell of leather was discernable over the chemical smells still present in his hair. The heavy beat of rock music filled the car.

He woke up in a totally unfamiliar place. He shot up from a couch, spilling a blanket off onto the floor, and checked his watch: 2:30 PM. What! His next sense to kick in was that of smell; coffee was brewing close by. Then, he was keenly aware of not having eaten in several hours. He turned at the sound of footfalls coming from a linoleum floor to a carpeted one.

"Hey," Xelloss greeted him. "Remember me?"

"Xel." Zelgadiss collapsed back onto the couch. "Am I at your house?"

"Yep. Valgaav and his dad's, to be precise, but I have a room. We didn't feel like trying to get you home last night." He drew close to Zelgadiss and said in a spooky, low voice, "It would have been like waking the dead." He drew back smiling, "You were wasted so we carried you in. Want some coffee?"

"Yes, thanks." Zel felt supremely embarrassed. He had just met his coworkers and now they must think he was a real light-weight, a kid.

"Valgaav looked up your grandfather's number and called him. Left a message telling him you were here. Here," he repeated the word loudly and passed Zelgadiss a mug of coffee. "Black okay?"

"Yes...thanks...for everything."

"Forget it," Xelloss chuckled, ruffling the guy's hair. "Ugh, you'll want to shower after every night at work or that smell will stick around forever. In fact, you can use the one down the hall, dry towels are in the cabinet under the sink; you'll see them. I'll fix you a sandwich. You can eat when you get out, and then you can help me shop for party food, okay?"

Zelgadiss sat, transfixed by the energetic enigma called Xelloss. Shower...wake up...eat... "Okay," he muttered and dragged himself in the direction of the bathroom.

Later...

"Hi, Filia? Zelgadiss. Yeah, say... I met some guys at work. Yeah, real cool. They're having a party this weekend and I wondered... You are?" the disappointment oozed from his voice.

"Yeah. Oh, Zelly, I promised Lina to go to some party at the home of these horrible guys and she was supposed to invite you. Where have you been?"

"Work and not at home. No, I haven't a cell phone. My last one was stolen from my locker. That's okay, if you'd rather go to that party, I understand." Although, Zelgadiss understood not a bit.

"Actually," she paused a moment to consider her choices. "I'd rather go with you. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll tell Lina we'll stop by her party later, if we want to, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Zelgadiss was pleased. He was going to a party with the most beautiful girl he knew. That would impress his new colleagues! "Oh, and how would you like to join our bowling team? We play Sunday afternoons."

"I don't know. I'll think about that. I'm a pretty busy person."

They said their goodbyes and hung up.

"Gotta date?" Xelloss asked.

"Yeah, she's coming. So, you want me to help shop? Can we stop at my house first so I can change clothes?"

"Okay, although, you look about my size, you can wear something of mine..."

"Thanks, man, but you've done so much already. I think I'd better go home first. We have time, right?"

"Yes, we do," Xelloss smiled sedately and grabbed his keys of the counter. "Shall we?"

Zelgadiss hadn't given his location much of a thought. It wasn't until he stepped outside that he thought he ought to know the address, just so he could find his way back. What he discovered as he twisted his head back caused him to stumble and nearly fall. The house-that place where the druggies hung out! He stood frozen in place comically aghast with his eyes wide, mouth agape.

"You okay?" Xelloss asked. He was able to steady the other guy with a quick grab of his shoulder.

"Ah, sure. It's just that," he looked Xelloss dead-on in the eye, "this house has been a problem for the neighborhood for years. Police cars had reserved parking spaces out front on Friday and Saturday nights."

"Really?" Xelloss smiled and chuckled. "Valgaav's got several older brothers. The last moved out just before I moved in. From the looks of the house, I believe you. Valgaav and I have been cleaning up the mess as we go, not that we're especially clean, but..."

"Understood," Zel returned a shy smile and followed Xelloss to his car. "So where's Valgaav this afternoon?"

"Climbing."

"Climbing, what?"

"Walls," Xelloss smiled and started the car. "Indoor rock climbing."

Zelgadiss needed a car. He wanted to take Filia to the party driving a car, not being driven by her like a little kid. Eris was visiting his grandfather, a common occurrence, and she drove an okay little car. Good enough. She had even told Zelgadiss on numerous occasions that he could borrow it. So, when considered in that light it wasn't exactly stealing, was it? He would have asked her, but the two of them were indisposed, behind a locked bedroom door. What could he do?

Leave a note. Zelgadiss scratched out a short explanatory note: "Eris, taking car to party at Valgaav and Xelloss'," and hoped that would save his neck. He didn't have a phone number to leave, but since she worked at the same place as the other two guys, hopefully she would know how to contact him– and hopefully she wouldn't. Besides, he'd probably have the car back before she even saw the note.

Hot keys in hand, Zelgadiss sped to the door, pausing long enough at the hall mirror to check his hair. Looking good.

"Uh, Gourry? Why are we going this way?"

"Zangalus lives over here." He gave her a quick smile and turned his attention back to the road.

"Okay. So what? Lots of folks live over here, but not Xelloss and Valgaav, which was my point 'cause that's where we're going, if you recall."

"Oh, yeah. I know. We're giving Zangalus and Martina a ride to the party."

"We are? Why's that? Can't we just go and get there early and check out the spread just to be sure that Xelloss character got everything right?"

"Oh, don't worry. He'll get it all right," Gourry chanced a brief look her way, then back to the road ahead.

"What do you mean by that?"

Gourry meant a lot, but he didn't want to lay it out in front of Lina. If she couldn't tell that guy liked her, well then, good. He changed subjects. "See, I owe Zangalus for covering for me at work the other day. Ya know, when we went out. And, well, his car's in the shop so I said I'd drive. Martina lives next door so–"

"I know where Martina lives," Lina said irritably. Gourry was such a good-hearted and virtuous man. He was doing the right thing and yet it wasn't for her, and that made her feel peevish, selfish, and petulant as a result. "Fine. I'm staying in the car, though."

"Okay. I won't be a minute, Lina," he said, blissfully unaware of how close he'd come to having Lina take out her anger on him, and loped up to the other man's house.

They could hear the music emanating from the house as the two girls marched up the narrow walk. Amelia and Sylphiel chattered together excitedly.

"It's my first party with older men," Amelia snickered with nervousness. "Do I look okay?"

"Uh-huh! You look really cute," Sylphiel smiled sweetly back at her younger friend. "So are they creepy or nice?" Everyone had met the new guys but her. She was always the one being left out, she thought, but was happy to have been invited to the party. Ever since her break up with Gourry, she had had a hard time meeting the right guy. No one could compare with him, and it didn't help that she was still in love with him while he had clearly moved on to Lina. And then after her first date with a new man, that guy up and died!

"Thanks, I-I hope so. Mr. Valgaav has these really gorgeous golden eyes." Amelia might have said more, but the door opened.

"Hi!"

"Hi, Mr. Xelloss! We're the first, aren't we?" Amelia asked.

"Yes, but on time is fine," he pushed his bangs out of his eyes and got a better look at the girl with Amelia. "Helloooo, beautiful."

Sylphiel felt the blood rush to her face.

"How rude of me," Amelia cut in. "Miss Sylphiel, this is Mr. Xelloss, Mr. Valgaav's cousin. Mr. Xelloss, this is Miss Sylphiel who is a priestess at the shrine with me and works at the same athletic place as Mr. Gourry. Mr. Xelloss and Mr. Valgaav are actors!"

"Sylphiel, a pretty name to go with your pretty green eyes," he grinned and stepped aside for them to enter. "I hope we can become good friends, too."

"Y-Yes," she whispered, tongue-tied. He was flirting, and as much as she liked it she forgot what to say.

"Oh VAAAAAAAAAAL-GAAAAAAAAV! Come out and greet your guests!" he hollered. "Go on in, ladies." Xelloss shooed them on. He could see another car pulling up.

Valgaav ambled into the front room, unfolded his arms and nodded at the newcomers, "Yo."

"Hi, Mr. Valgaav! This is Miss Sylphiel and you remember me, Amelia!"

Her eyes were shining with such intensity and excitement, he broke into a rare smile, "Yeah, I remember you. So, ah, come over here and pick out some CDs you like. We can get the music started."

"Oh, what a big collection you have!" Amelia squealed as she knelt by his knees to peruse the wall-to-wall CD rack.

When he knelt alongside her, his lanky arm brushing past her face to pull out a CD, she nearly fell over. Instead, she grabbed at the arm to steady herself.

"Sorry," they said together, then looked away and chuckled.

His arm tingled where her tiny hand had clutched him and he wondered at that.

But it wasn't Lina, as Xelloss expected, who stepped out of the car. It was that blond with the attitude who had been so anxious to leave when Lina and Amelia called to sell cookies. But who had she come with that could have talked her into coming back?

"Zelgadiss? Oh my..." Xelloss shook his head and muttered to himself. "She is not the girl for you, my friend."

"I can't believe it. This is that house! That place with the perverts I was telling you about. Lina's got some party thing going on here. Zelgadiss, you mean you actually WORK with these guys? You're an actor too?"

Zelgadiss blanched at the thought, "Er...no. I'm more a technical person." Xelloss had mentioned their job cover-up while shopping for the party. Zel had forgotten until this moment that he too would be part of the subterfuge.

He stopped at the front steps and greeted Xelloss, "Hey."

"Hello, Zelgadiss. What a pleasant surprise, you again!" He smiled soullessly in Filia's direction.

"Yeah, right."

"Xelloss, this is Filia," Zelgadiss said hoping not to get turned away.

"Filia, a lovely name to go with the face."

"Oh stuff it, Xelloss. You are not as charming as you think you are. We're only here for awhile to say hi and then go," Filia snapped and met Zelgadiss' eyes. "Right?"

"Let's see how it goes," Zelgadiss sighed. He wasn't a complete pushover. Close, but he had enough ego to stand up for himself.

"That's the spirit!" Xelloss laughed. He opened the door wide, hiding behind it to allow the two to pass without encountering him. Before he could close the door, however, his attention was riveted by a flash of red curls between several other figures coming up his walk. "Lina."

Lina grinned and waved, "Hey, Xelloss!"

He couldn't help but return her enthusiasm, "Hello, Lina, everyone!"

"Everyone here already?" she asked. "Oh, this is Gourry, who you've met already but I wasn't sure if you got his name. Ah, this is Xelloss, by the way. Oh, and these two are friends, kinda, Martina and Zangalus. He and Gourry work at the same place." She turned away from Xelloss and said to the others, "This guy's an actor or something so if you wanna plug that awful script you've been writing for the last ten years, now's your chance."

The girl Lina introduced as Martina, flushed beet red, but controlled her temper, barely, "I-It's not much but it's really good. I'm certain you're cultured enough to appreciate the finer things in life."

Xelloss staggered under the weight of the tome she thrust at him, "Oh, yes. I, um, must find a place to put this. Make yourselves at home, in the meantime."

Lina was already elbowing Martina out of her way.

"Oh, Lina, just a minute."

"Huh? What?"

"How many people did you actually invite?" Xelloss asked in a low voice.

She rattled of a list, and then asked, "Are they all here yet?"

"Well, yes, but," he paused to readjust the stack of leaning papers in his arms. "You told me to get enough food for twenty, and there's half that many. That's a lot of food going to go to waste."

"Ha! You don't know this bunch and me in particular. I said 20 so you'd get enough. Don't worry 'bout leftovers!" she laughed and made a beeline to the kitchen. "Let's see just how good you did."

"Lina's here!" several voices shouted in concert. "Now the party can start!"

Happy faces, music, summertime, no work, time to play, exciting new people, and romance was in the air– everyone was contributing to the good time. After awhile, they were all sitting and eating on the floor of the living room after running around and dancing. The conversation was in danger of dying from neglect, when Valgaav reached over and turned down the music.

"Tell 'em a story, Xel," Valgaav urged him to get started.

Xelloss shrugged his shoulders, then stood and began to pace a few seconds with a finger to his temple, thinking before beginning, "Well, okay... Traveling back to England's past, around 1500, when folks with money had dinner plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content would cause some of the lead in the pewter to leak into the food causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous."

"Oh, that's why!" Amelia said excitedly. "That's so neat!"

"I think he's full of lead," Filia said. "And it's gone to his head. There are lots of plants in the tomato family that ARE poisonous, that's what gave them all a bad reputation."

"Maybe so, but that doesn't make my story untrue," Xelloss argued.

"Well I don't believe it!" she snapped.

"The poison in lead wasn't understood at the time, Fi-lee-a," he argued back. "In fact... Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the drinkers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days, and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up; hence the custom of "holding a wake".

"What!" she cried out. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Okay..." Xelloss pushed a very fat tabby cat off his chest where it had been snoozing. He sat up, laced his fingers behind his back, and paced, looking thoughtful. "England was old and small, still is, but back in the late 1500's when the local folks started running out of places to bury people, they would dig up coffins and take the bones to a bone-house in order to reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside. They realized that they had been burying people alive, a practice commonly frowned upon. Probably a few of those who didn't get a wake performed, don't you think so...Filia?"

She didn't answer, so he continued, "To prevent this from happening, then, they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it up through the coffin, up through the ground, and tie it to an above-ground bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night on the 'graveyard shift' and listen for the bell; thus, someone could be 'saved by the bell' or was considered a 'dead ringer'."

"Oh, for gods'sakes..." Filia groused.

"You sure know some creepy stuff, Xelloss," Lina noted.

Zelgadiss sighed as the cat skirted his chair avoiding his extended hand to greet Lina instead. "Why did she do that? I like cats."

Lina scratched the cat behind the ears and was rewarded with a lap full of cat, "Women love cats. Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats. And cats know it!"

"Tell us another story, Xel," Amelia asked politely.

"Oh yes do...and stink up the place," Filia grumbled.

"Why thank you for the brain-nudge," his smile turning more smirk-like, "I know one more factoid from 1500 England. Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, if they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor."

"That reeks of idiocy," Filia said. "I don't believe a word of it."

"I might argue with you, but I won't. A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument," he smiled and inched his way toward the kitchen. "Anyone want something while I'm up?"

Zelgadiss thought Xelloss was right and funny, so he chuckled, which nettled Filia especially when Gourry leaned over while carefully balancing a plateful of food and said, "He's a pretty nice guy. Funny, too, but I don't think he and your girlfriend get along very well."

"No, it doesn't look that way," Zelgadiss sighed in agreement, although he was pleased with the sound of 'girlfriend' when Gourry said it. Too bad.

"Yeah, get me...some of everything," Lina answered Xelloss, and he did.

Sylphiel was commenting to Xelloss as she accompanied him into the kitchen where a large buffet was spread on the table, "It's amazing how much Lina can eat, don't you think? I mean, that will be her third plateful!"

"Fourth," Xelloss corrected her with a smile. "She must burn it up. Lina looks slender."

"I know. It isn't fair. I just keep dieting and dieting just to stay the same size."

Xelloss paused in his 'plating' of food to step back and admire the attractive girl. He reached out with a free hand and encircled her forearm with his fingers. "I think you are dieting too much. You're plenty slim. More exercise and you'll build up muscle and burn calories and not have to deny yourself the pleasure of eating." He reached up and touched her hair lightly. "Beautiful. You take very good care of your hair, I can feel it. Don't forget to eat food with some oil and fat to keep it healthy. Here, I recommend the fruit salad with the cream topping."

Sylphiel did know that he was right, but had been so infected by the dieting craze that she had come close to neglecting her own health. Her eyes widened in wonder, "Are you a doctor? You know so much from just...a touch."

Xelloss was uncertain how to answer her. The two of them were still alone in the kitchen and he had to think fast. Valgaav, Zelgadiss and Xelloss had all agreed not to reveal their workplace and unusual employment; it was way too soon. Not many people, and in particular younger ones, would find mortuary work to be interesting, maybe they'd even find it repellant, and these were new friendships they were trying to build. The guys wanted to impress the girls, but they had agreed that 'messing with corpses prior to burial' would not do the trick, so Valgaav had come up with the 'filming' idea. Now they were stuck with that 'white lie' to explain their jobs, Zelgadiss included.

"No, we're in the film industry, although we do see a lot of poor-nutrition cases ...starving actresses. Oh, you should try this cheese with the chopped figs. Here, I'll scoop some on a sesame cracker for you."

Xelloss made the mistake of looking into her eyes. Sylphiel sniffed and grew teary eyed, then sobbed, "You're so nice and smart."

"Is something the matter?"

"Well... my boyfriend just died. Not boyfriend, really; we had just started to date, but he was so...so..." she sniffled some more.

Xelloss ripped off a paper towel and handed it over. "Here you go."

"Y-your hair reminded me of his. Long and dark, not purplish hair, but thick and straight. Are you part Japanese?"

"Me? Ah... I don't think so, but I never saw my father."

He didn't want her to fall in love with him, but nearly everyone did so he was familiar with the signs. Not Lina, though. Of course, it was early in the game and he hadn't applied his 'mojo' to her yet. Guys fell for him, too. At first he was afraid that the new guy at work, Zelgadiss, might. He was a great looking guy, but Xelloss was relieved when he asked to bring a girl to the party. No, he liked Sylphiel well enough, but it was Lina he had decided to target– for tonight, anyway. Not that he had made much headway. So far he had mostly jousted with that Filia siren.

To distract Sylphiel, then, he wanted to startle her by saying, "I'll give you a diet tip, okay? You can lose weight quickly by eating raw pork or rancid tuna. The subsequent food poisoning/diarrhea will enable you to lose 12 pounds in only 2 days."

She, however, was not repulsed. Indeed, she was thankful for the advice! She attached herself to his free arm and gushed, "Really? Wow, that is so cool! I'll have to try that."

"Oh?" his face fell.

"So what's holding things up in here?" Lina said in a raised voice as she entered the kitchen. "I got tired of waiting for you."

Xelloss discreetly shook off the other girl and handed over the plate he'd prepared for Lina, "Here you go, Lina."

"Xelloss was giving me heath tips. Did you know that you can lose over 10 pounds by eating..."

Both Xelloss and Lina tried to cut her off, but for different reasons. Xelloss didn't want Lina to hear what he'd told her and Lina didn't want to hear 'diet' talk. Didn't work.

"...but I'd have to eat, what did you say, Xel? Raw pork and bad tuna? Something like that."

Sylphiel looked so proud, while Lina turned a little green. "Uh..." She stared at her plate of food, then up at Xelloss.

"Oh, no!" He shook his head and waved his hands. "Nothing like that in this food. Everything's... wholesome. Guaranteed!"

"Uh, huh," Lina nodded.

He cast about for something to say to change the topic and found, "Have you ever wondered if the light really goes off inside when the refrigerator door is closed?"

"Yeah... Does it?" asked Sylphiel.

"The what?" Lina scratched her head mystified momentarily at the weirdness of it all. "No, it should shut off 'cause the of the way the switch works."

"Let's find out!" he popped up and opened a drawer. "All I need is the drill. Where do you think Valgaav would keep a drill?"

"A drill, Xel?" Lina looked at him askance.

"Yeah, I need to drill a hole in the refrigerator door. This will allow us to check that the light goes off when the door is closed. How else?" A smile grew over his face as he watched Lina's expression change.

"Ah, geez," she started to laugh. "Oh, and about that 5 dollars..."

"Ten, but don't give it another thought. Consider it your contribution to the party, okay?" Xelloss smiled. He liked Lina's gumption.

"Sure, if you want it that way, then yeah."

"I want it that way. Oh, and as a special favor to me, don't tell Valgaav. Let's just keep it all a secret, okay?" So far Valgaav hadn't reminded Xelloss of their bet, and Xelloss had lost because Lina had not showed up at his house with the money she owed, as promised.

"Sure, okay."

"I'd also like to show you something...in another room."

Lina, curious by nature, agreed, "Sure, as long as I can come back for more food later."

End Graveyard Shift, CHAPTER THREE