Here, school has started and with it, I have been drawn back into fanfiction. I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but I just didn't have any inspiration. Plus, some reviews on my other stories were just plain pissing me off. I enjoy my fiction, but I also enjoy CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. However, since this canon story got lots of reviews with just two chapters, perhaps I should start it up again. I only hope this time, I shall not end up postponing it again. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I give you yet another installment of "The Crackpot Cafe."

Kara Metallium !

For the disclaimer, see first chapter.

Chapter 3--Exit Stage Left

As electric as the kiss was, it lasted but a minute. Filia stared wide-eyed up at Xellos, the sheer force of his kiss evident on her already pouty lips. Her mouth opened to respond, to say anything, but nothing came out. Xellos looked down at her for a moment, as if trying to decide how to proceed. After a moment of hesitation, his gaze undecidedly lingering on her delectable honey-sweet mouth, he shut his eyes and withdrew from her. Filia tried to say something, anything, but Xellos put his finger against her lips to stop her, smirked a bit, and disappeared.

Filia's eyes widened and then closed. She leaned against the door and slid against it to sit on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Well, that had been interesting, to say the least. A shiver of excitement ran down Filia's back as she remembered the minute-kiss. For one whole minute she had been in heaven. Warm, exciting, and completely disillusioning. Then he had withdrawn. It felt as if she had been expelled from heaven. How was she ever to get back?

Xellos stopped in once in a while to see Filia. But by seeing it was meant he merely watched her go about her daily routines while she chatted merrily to him about nothing. It was sort of creepy to have Xellos, yes a mass homicidal killer, sitting at her kitchen counter watching her cook for them or bake goodies for sale or clean the kitchen. He never said a word. Just watched her over a cup of tea, with his genki smile, that seemed to falter when she wasn't looking.

One day, Filia set down to throw some pottery on the wheel. She had just gotten some inspiration. For as all artists know, some days you have it and some days you don't. And when you have IT, you've got to drop all your doing and just go with it.

Twenty minutes later, Filia found herself in the pottery workshop. A bucket of warm water sat by the wheel. Filia cut a slice of the clay from the bin and weighed it. Exactly two pounds. She tossed it onto the worktable. A minute later, another lump followed and made a large thud! on the worktable. Filia looked up. There stood Xellos with a full white apron on like hers and his hair was back in a pink handkerchief. He smiled at her. She stared. A pink handkerchief? She shook her head. He shook his head.

Filia went to the bench and started kneading the clay. Xellos proceeded to do the same thing. And so it went that Xellos copied Filia exactly in every movement and preparation. Lucky for Xellos there was another potter's wheel.

Filia centered her mound of clay easily and glanced over at Xellos. The clay was being temperamental and was zinging around wildly between his hands and the fast moving wheel. Funny enough, the clay ended up spinning completely off the wheel and hitting Xellos in the face. A high pitched giggle escaped Filia as she watched Xellos wipe away clay from his face. And that smirk of his frowned slightly at her merriment. He looked a little indignant and pouted his lips looking endearingly boyish. Filia felt sorry for him.

She stood up and walked over to Xellos. Filia took the end of her apron and wiped the remaining clay from his face. Filia took Xellos's arm and tugged him up and pulled him over to her wheel.

"Sit," she commanded. Xellos looked at her questioningly, but she pointed to the seat nonetheless. "Sit," she insisted. Xellos sat. What followed, whether Filia knew it or not, was Xellos first art lesson. It was pretty obvious he didn't know how to throw pottery, but never to have been taught any kind of art? Sickening really. Filia took Xellos hands in her own, and placed them around the lump of clay that she had already centered. They pushed it slightly off-center. "Now," Filia began, "You have to command the clay. It is something to be molded, yes. It is something that is temperamental, yes. But remember, you are the master. Therefore, it must conform to your will Xellos." She showed him how to keep the clay centered. It didn't take much time because the clay was already mostly centered.

"Now that you have the clay under your control," said Filia, "it will obey you as long as you work it with a strong and guiding hand. If your hand becomes to weak, it will break free of your control. If you hand is too strong, you will crush it under your force." Filia showed Xellos how to put a hole in the center, measure the depth of it, and pull the walls up. She showed him how to make a lip, and even shape the walls to his own fashion. In the end, Xellos had, with Filia's help, made a very successful pot, albeit slightly off center. After this, Xellos and Filia continued making pots the rest of the afternoon in a comfortable silence. The only dialogue between them were the shapes of clay forms under their fingers.

Xellos returned the next afternoon, while Filia was making tea. She handed Xellos a cup and he took it wordlessly. He looked shyly at her from time to time. When they finished their tea, they went into the pottery studio.

"Today," Filia said, "we'll be firing our pots. Usually, they take longer to dry, but since it is a dry season right now, the pieces managed to dry out overnight." Filia walked into the small kiln room at the back. She had already brought the pots back there and was ready to fill the kiln. The kiln itself was four feet in diameter and five feet high. Filia picked up a pot,. as did Xellos and they proceeded to fill the kiln. Xellos brushed her arm as he bent over the edge and placed a pot on the bottom. Filia responded in turn by bending over the edge as far as she could to put the pot at the back of the kiln, causing her dress to rise pretty high on the backs of her thighs. The occasional touches and obvious flirting continued as the kiln was filled. When it was done, Filia closed the top of the kiln carefully and asked Xellos to step back. She revved up a small, but intensely hot fireball and hit the kiln with it. The stone glowed red for a moment and then settled down to a very hot pink.

"And then we leave it to cook for a day," said Filia, ushering Xellos out the door. She closed the door to the kiln room and turned around. Only to find Xellos looking at her with his open eyes glittering at her. "Xellos, what-"

Filia was cut off as he slammed her against the door. Hot lips on top of hers, made her realize just exactly what he had been looking at her for. The kiss soon became more involved as Xellos's mouth opened, causing her to follow suite. Open mouthed kisses with Xellos were delightful. His warm wet tongue flicked across her lips, and her tongue answered in kind. However, every time her little pink tongue tried to catch his, it pulled away suddenly. This game on went for a minute and then Filia growled in frustration through the kisses. Xellos chuckled, a deep purring in his throat and chest that Filia could feel vibrate against her body. She let out a little moan of a sigh. She could feel Xellos smile while kissing her. His hands that had been on either side of her, suddenly lifted off the door behind her, and Xellos backed away from her. He held his palms upward and out to her, as her expression went from dazed to slightly irritated that he had separated them. He smiled at her mysteriously, as was his way, and disappeared.

Filia frowned and blew at piece of hair out of her face. Xellos's inopportune exits were really getting irritating…