Title: Between the Lines
What This Is: Amelia/Zel one sentence drabbles written based on the 1sentence prompts theme set delta.
Rating: I have been told it should be light R because it's suggestive, but nothing is explicit.
Notes: These are one sentence drabbles, and are not connected unless otherwise noted. A few of these take place over the course of the series, first season and Next, some take place post series. Expect long sentences, angst, humor, and Amelia growing up.
01 – Air
"Why is it that I can't seem to speak properly when you are around?" she whispers, his lips a breath away from hers.
02 – Apples
She sits on his shoulders, his hands on her thighs to steady her, and she pulls the bright red fruit from the trees lowest branches; she doesn't say anything when his thumbs trace small circles on the bare skin of her legs, and he doesn't protest when she stops to play with his hair.
03 – Beginning
Sometimes, when he is feeling especially foolish, Zelgadis dreams of dark haired children with blue eyes that he can be a proper father to, that he can call his own.
04 – Bugs
"What are you afraid of, Zelgadis-san?" she asks quite innocently, but he can't tell her because it is her, this bright and beautiful girl that he can't hold onto or keep or wrap his mind around, she slips through his hands; he wants to keep her on a string tied to his wrist or in a jar like he used to with butterflies (when he was young and human) so she can't ever leave, but that wouldn't be fair, because she can't be tied down or caged, she's Amelia.
05 – Coffee
"Zelgadis-san prefers to take his morning coffee in Princess Amelia's room now," the maid whispered, so the Crown Prince would not hear.
06 – Dark
Their first night together was spent in darkness, not because he did not want her to see him (it was too late for modesty now, especially when she was touching him there), but because he couldn't stand to see the bruises he left on her skin and the way her face contorted with pain when he pushed into her.
07 – Despair
The smell of Zelgadis' blood assaulted her as she leaned over him, and she could taste her own—metallic and nauseating on her tongue; her hands fisted in his bloody tunic—there was so much blood on her hands, she didn't know he could bleed so much—someone very far away was screaming, and with a start Amelia realized that the raw voice she was hearing was hers.
08 – Doors
He leans against her bedroom door and waits until he can no longer hear her moving about her room before he goes back to his own.
09 – Drink
The kiss is clumsy (she misses her mark at first, her lips landing on the corner of his mouth, so she takes his face in her hands and tries again) and tastes of the wine that has given her courage but Zelgadis damns himself and returns it all the same.
10 – Duty
Amelia tells him she belongs to her people and that her place is with them now, but in his heart he knows Amelia belongs to no one.
11 – Earth
"Amelia, you have a meeting in an hour, and you have to look respectable, and I really think a mud fight would make you look the opposite of respectable!"
12 – End
"Not everyone can live happily ever after," he argues, glaring at her fiercely; the uncomfortable silence refuses to dissipate until she leaves, "For some of us happily ever after is just out of reach," he says to the empty room.
13 – Fall
Zelgadis threw himself at Amelia and they fell to the ground, his weight knocking the wind out of her, and when she could breathe again she murmured weakly, "Not that I don't appreciate it, but a simple 'look out' would have been okay too."
14 – Fire
Amelia plucked the hot marshmallow from her stick and blew on it gently before bringing it to her lips; Zelgadis glanced at her out of the corner of his eye: "You have the last one, and Justice demands that you share."
15 – Flexible
Amelia's remark that she had slept funny on her back seemed innocent enough, but he nearly scalded himself with his hot coffee when she twisted in new and exciting ways to get the kinks worked out of her spine.
16 – Flying
She stretches her arms out and turns her face to the sky, and when she tells him that she loves it up here, you can see everything, Zelgadis finds himself wanting to show her the world.
17 – Food
They tried to bake a cake in the palace kitchen, but were soon asked (very firmly) to leave when they had an epic flour battle that resulted in a very dusty kitchen and two very embarrassed cake bakers when they were caught kissing enthusiastically on the counter.
18 – Foot
He secretly loves it when she stands on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, and when she needs him to reach things for her, and how she fits against his chest when she hugs him for no reason at all.
19 – Grave
The guest room was silent except for Zelgadis' whispered reassurances in Amelia's ear that it wasn't her fault, that she couldn't have saved him, and that she would make her father and all of Seyruun proud.
20 – Green
When Amelia asked him if he liked her new dress, Zelgadis had to answer yes (because the green velvet really did cling to her nicely), but inside he was furious that it had so many damn buttons.
21 – Head
Lina slammed her hand on the table and glared at him, "Damnit, Zel, stop thinking with your head and listen to your fucking heart for once!"
22 – Hollow
Sometimes looking at her is too much, and he forces his eyes closed and averts his gaze; why does looking at her make that hollow place inside him ache?
23 – Honor companion to 09
Her hands fumble at the clasp of his cloak and Zelgadis pushes her away, not knowing how else to protect the princess from herself.
24 – Hope
At her two dearest friends' small and simple wedding, Amelia cannot help but sneak a glance at the reserved man next to her and smile.
25 – Light
"Zelgadis-san, I think your problem is that you spend too much time in the dark," Amelia said confidently, taking his hand, and Zelgadis considered telling her that he was trying to change that.
26 – Lost
He reassured her that yes, he knew where they were going, and yes, he meant to go this way it was much faster to take this route, but Amelia didn't look entirely convinced.
27 – Metal
Amelia watched in fascination as he picked the lock on her manacles, "Are you ever going to tell me where you learned this?"
28 – New
Her breath caught in her throat when he removed the guitar from its case: "I thought you didn't play for anyone."
29 – Old
"Where would you like to grow old?" she asked him.
30 – Peace
That night, after Darkstar's defeat, they held each other and talked about everything and nothing until they fell asleep; when morning came and Zelgadis rose to leave, whispering apologies in her ear, she pressed her bracelet into his hand.
31 – Poison
"It really is a shame, Highness, that no human lover would have you," the prince remarks, patting her shoulder in a pitying way.
32 – Pretty
Zelgadis always found himself greatly fascinated with physical beauty because he felt it unattainable, and after careful study, decided it was very offensive to refer to the princess of Seyruun as merely "pretty".
33 – Rain
They snuck into her room through the balcony doors and dripped all over the fine rugs, Zelgadis in a foul mood and cursing thunderstorms, but Amelia helped him out of his wet clothes, pulled him to the warm bath and Zelgadis decided he didn't mind thunderstorms so much after all.
34 – Regret
Zelgadis stands at the palace gates and thinks of what might have come to pass if only he had been a reckless man.
35 – Roses
First Zelgadis had yelled and threatened never to talk to her again when she suggested it, but eventually she convinced Zelgadis to bring a bouquet to the castle gardens to leave on the stone marker that Amelia had placed there in the Red Priest's honor.
36 – Secret
She feels a hand across her eyes and another settles on her shoulder; she can hear the smirk in the low warm voice from somewhere behind her: "Guess who?"
37 – Snakes
"Amelia, I don't care if it looked lonely, we are not keeping a snake as a pet."
38 – Snow
Zelgadis caught Amelia around the waist and they tumbled into the fresh snow; she shrieked as it melted and soaked her clothes, but her complaints dissolved into laughter, and Zelgadis had to suppress the urge to kiss her senseless.
39 – Solid
He inspected her torn knuckles and brought her hand to his mouth, alternately kissing and pulling the bruised skin of her hand between his lips as he administered the recovery spell; "Serves you right for hitting me when you know what I am," he whispered hoarsely, then teasingly dipped her finger into his mouth.
40 – Spring
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Zelgadis wonders how he went from being a heartless mystical swordsman to playing Truth or Dare and making daisy chains with a princess.
41 – Stable
She catches his rough hands in hers and holds them to her heart, tells him that she wants him to stay, wants to give him a home, but all he can say in return is that sometimes we don't get what we want.
42 – StrangeHe watches the little dark-haired girl with large eyes jump onto a high ledge to deliver a speech about justice and peace in the middle of battle, and he mutters under his breath that she has the nerve to call him strange.
43 – Summer
She seems so proud of it, he waits until her back is turned to spit out the lemonade he is quite certain she forgot to add the sugar to.
44 – Taboo
They need to keep up appearances, and so she continues to call him 'Zelgadis-san' in public, but sometimes in the bedroom she will moan it in his ear out of habit, and he hides his smirk in her hair.
45 – Ugly
Amelia lifted her shirt to show him her stomach and the white scars that criss-crossed the expanse of skin there: "I like them, I wouldn't trade them for anything."
46 – War
His eyes are ablaze and his mouth twists into a shadow of his grandfather's smile as he faces his opponent; Amelia hopes that Xellos finds Zelgadis amusing enough to let him live.
47 – Water
Zelgadis remains firmly against the trip to the beach until he sees Amelia model her new (very tiny) swimsuit.
48 – Welcome
She twists her hands as she stumbles over her words, "Can I - I mean, would you mind if I – perhaps I could - " but Zelgadis cuts her off with a finger to her lips, "Stay with me tonight."
49 – Winter
Amelia watches him train with her cloak drawn tightly around herself, he is so focused and intent, grunting and growling with each flawless move, tunic and cloak discarded even though his breath is visible in the cold air; she can hear his voice, raw and rasping: "I want to be strong".
50 – Wood
He has never seen another staff like it in all their travels, and now it is pressed to her throat, and she doesn't dare move; the edges of his vision cloud with rage as the smooth voice hisses too close to Amelia's ear, "Tell me, Zelgadis-san, just what will you do to save her?"