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I wrote this back in...2000 or 2001 or so. It was actually my first lemon, and still has a place in my heart as such.
This is something that was spurned by a revelation of mine - all Xelloss x Firia fics I've read will inevitably have Xelloss evilly seducing Firia. It started to get to me. This has more Warm and Fuzzy Feelings than lemon, but Tiffers said it was citrusy enough, so hey. And thanks to Tiffers and Trav for beta-ing this sucker.
This is in first person from the POV of Xelloss, which made writing it ...interesting, to say the least. 'Akuma to ocha' means 'devil and tea'. Also, I sadly don't own Slayers.
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Akuma to Ocha
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My favorite thing about my job is the fact that I rarely have to do it.
Really, Lina-tachi don't stir up trouble that constantly. And since my kind are more interested in killing each other than fighting the opposition, I've managed to be excusably lazy these days. In fact, after the Dark Star affair, things slowed down enough for me to be almost indecently lazy - much better than working.
Whenever I get lazy, I tend to think of accquaintances more, and visit friends as a reminder that I'll always be there for them. No matter what they do to prevent it.
This being said, at that time I was often staying at Firia's shop more than I stayed at my own home.
Firia runs a pottery shop. She also sells quite efficient maces. I can personally attest to the latter.
She was getting along well for the last dragon of her clan and for a mother. Valteria's egg was, in fact, almost finished growing its shell. Shortly after that, the world would see the true Valteria for the first time in centuries. Firia looked forward to it.
Firia enjoyed the sight of me and enjoyed my conversation. I seemed to have grown on her. As well, I thoroughly enjoyed my visits to her shop. Lina-tachi were busy slaying bandits and would be less welcoming to my presence than I would prefer. But Firia had adjusted to me, and quite possibly knew me better then than any beings save some very old Mazoku and dragons.
This being said, she was making me extremely uncomfortable at certain times in a way that I could not understand.
However, I was always of the understanding that Firia could do less harm to me than I to her. This understanding lent me quite a lot of self-assurance around most mortals in the world. Firia was certainly no exception.
And if things got out of hand, I would be in full control. Some beings find the binds of honor and trust constraining. I couldn't say that I understood that then.
* * *
Blue eyes smiled at me over the rim of a teacup. "You know, you're right. Dragon's Peak is a pleasant place to visit."
"Ah," I said, taking a sip of my own brew, "but is it a pleasant place to live, Firia?"
She seemed to think for a long time about that. "There were enough dragons to make up for my loss of kin many times over. There were giant libraries of scriptures that I had read as a child. And everyone there held me in the highest regard, as if the entire world had been saved by my actions alone."
I tipped my cup as if to toast her. "That's not entirely untrue."
Firia nodded. "Still, I'm not a heroine that saved the world. I'm a trader, a merchant, and soon a mother. And I shall remain in my shop." She seemed to look at me in a deeper way than usual. "I think that's for the best, in the end."
"Ah." I took another sip and let her take the conversation where she wanted it. The race of Gold Dragons, as a whole, was not personally a good subject for a lighthearted conversation. It tends to get me serious, and I don't like to be serious.
Then she told me about the traders she'd met on the way back, and about the wagon she'd had to buy to carry all of the wares. I could see the crates stacked along a wall, still not completely unpacked even with Firia's frightening determination working at it. There were new shelves there, too. Firia described the new wing she was going to have built. Firia was quite successful at what she did. She was very proud of it, and we had more to talk about before the moon rose and the stars came out.
A giggle. "Xelloss, really, are you that tired?" The water splashed into the sink as she prepared the dishes for a soak. "I've never heard anyone yawn so hard. Are you getting enough sleep?" She flicked a dishtowel at me.
I wrinkled my nose and wiped away a few droplets of water. "Well, you know how much I work these days."
A snort. "I know Zelas is pushing you so hard, Xelloss. How do you manage to visit with such a full schedule?" Firia has a lovely voice. It's well suited to sarcasm.
I smiled. "It's a talent, Firia." Sigh. "I would prefer to sleep soon. It's not something Mazoku are supposed to need, but you'd be surprised how many habits one can develop over time." I looked over at her for an answer. She seemed to be thinking about something. Fair enough, I supposed.
Firia turned to me with that sweet smile of hers, the one that unexplainably made me so nervous. "Well, why not sleep here?"
I'll never be able to explain exactly how much that surprised me, or why it disturbed me.
"I have an extra bed, after all." Firia dried her hands and hung up the towel. "You can stay the night, and save yourself a journey." Another sweet, sweet smile. "I can cook you breakfast in the morning."
She waited for my reply. It took me longer than it should have to answer her. I felt uneasy and nervous now. I couldn't understand why sleeping there, with her there, would make me so uncomfortable.
Everything should point to the reverse, right?
I smiled in a way that wasn't as sincere as it should have been. "Well, breakfast does sound very inviting. I think I'll take you up on the offer." No sense in refusing her. What could I say?
Why was I even thinking twice?
Another smile. I was truly on edge for all my want of sleep. "I'm glad you're staying, Xelloss."
* * *
What is it about pottery traders and very soft beds?
"Are you going to be able to get up in the morning?"
I snuggled down further, lying on my side. "No. I'm not getting up at all. Send Zelas-sama my farewell."
A very long bout of laughter. "I'm glad you're comfortable. I'll be in the next room after locking up." She passed the bed and left to a part of the shop that was out of my line of view. And I wasn't about to move to see it. I was going to steal this bed in the morning.
I didn't know why I was ever nervous about this. I must not have been getting enough sleep, just like Firia said. All that paranoia had been standing between me and the best night's sleep imaginable. How criminal.
A weight settled beside me by my back. I blinked. Firia?
Two sharp clicks, two wrists that suddenly felt the cold of metal around them. One jingling chain.
"Firia?"
Hands sliding over my arms, dancing over the metal that held my hands behind me.
"Firia?"
The bedsprings softly creaking as she stretched out behind me, her breath on my neck.
"Firia?!?"
Her lips brushed against my ear. "Xelloss...these are a gift. From the Kataato Dragons to me." The chain jingled as Firia toyed with the links. "They were concerned for my safety. I'm all alone here. And they were wary that you might visit." Her breath was very, very hot. That was all I felt for the moment. "So they made these wards strong enough to keep you at bay." And still more breath. She was probably smiling that sweet, sweet smile. "What should I do with you, Xelloss?"
At the moment, I could not voice a suggestion. But that was okay. Firia wasn't going to pay any more attention to conversation. I could tell because she had gagged me.
I think this is what I was afraid of when I had my second thoughts about sleeping over. I would never have believed it if you'd told me then. What Firia was doing with her hands I had trouble believing as well for a moment.
Silken hair slid over my neck as a slim body slowly climbed on top of me, straddling my thigh. She lay there like a wild cat surveying its territory from a high cliff. If I hadn't been watching her every move, I still could have felt her eyes raking up and down my body. She smiled. It was not sweet.
I have been through many dangerous times and seen events that would madden the uninitiated. I have lived longer than most creatures on this world. And still I had never been so terrified.
Sparkling blue eyes laughed at me. "You look so scared." A hand drifted slowly across my chest. "Really, Xelloss...you're only helpless." She leaned down to whisper in my ear. "If I were in your position, would I have a reason to be scared?"
Yes, yes and yes.
"It's funny when your eyes widen like that." She toyed with the chain again. "Am I that frightening like this?"
Yes, yes, yes and yes.
She smirked. It wasn't an expression I was accustomed to seeing on her. She slid down to lay in front of me, looking over my form in the bed, her eyes drawn to my face, fascinated. Her hand wandered down my chest, tracing the folds of the shirt I wore.
Before I'd hit the unbeleiveably plush sack, I had tossed off my shoes and socks and cloak and cape. If I'd known how skilled Firia was at removing other people's clothing, I wouldn't have bothered. I was learning about quite a few talents of Firia's that I'd never suspected she had.
And as her hands brushed over my bare arms, sliding over my chest, followed lazily by her lips, I realized that Firia was a very talented dragon. I never knew she could touch like that.
I also never knew she could kiss like that.
And I very surprisingly found out that I never knew she could bite like that.
"The look on your face..." Moan... "It's amazing to see you when you have so little control over everything." Moan... "It's like you can't make up your mind whether to be uncomfortable or not." Moan...
Those were my moans.
She lay her head against me, under my throat. Her cheek was so warm. She nestled there for a moment as if she were listening for something in my chest. Her fingertips barely brushed my arms.
I thought I was almost getting used to Firia's actions. That was a mistake.
Firia's hands strayed lower, and then lower still, and then strayed so low as to become the most important thing in my life at the moment.
"You make the strangest noises, Xelloss."
I was glad I could amuse her. She seemed to be too. Her hands were certainly enjoying the moment. I couldn't blame them. If circumstances were different, I would be having a lot more fun.
Firia's behavior was scaring me, however, and so was her smile, and so were the cuffs around my wrists. Those scared me the most. And as Firia pushed herself against me...
I think that I fear what I do not understand. I think Firia realized this long before I did. She looked into my eyes and the smirk vanished, replaced by something very honest.
And then Firia's body merged very much with mine, and I realized that some things I did not understand were still very, very, very good, and I'd have to try them again sometime.
I think she came to her senses before I did. It definitely took us both a while.
There are moments when someone looks into your eyes in which you know that they can only be honest, and you can only be honest. And I did not discover this until it happened to us.
For all her boldness that night, Firia's face was tinted pink. She lay a hand on my cheek, as if feeling it for the first time. Her hand was so warm. "I'm going to ask you a question, Xelloss. When you tell the truth, I'll release you." Her eyes looked very sad for a moment. "If you cannot tell the truth, I will do as the clan wished I do, and you will be their guest and not mine."
Ah. I understood. I nodded, and Firia took away the gag around my mouth.
"Xelloss, do you love me?" She hooked a finger around the chain connecting the cuffs.
If I lied, she'd never take them off.
"Yes." I actually admitted it. "I'm not prone to admitting things, especially when I don't realize them myself." I looked into her eyes. "You develop certain habits over time."
Firia radiated joy, and surprisingly, it didn't hurt me. And her sweet smile only made me feel as if the warmth in her body was filling every space within me.
And then we kissed.
The cuffs did not come off until a long time afterward. Both Mazoku and Dragons have amazing stamina, and neither of us was thinking about them long enough to bother.
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END
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You can find more of Irk's works at http://www.mazoku.com/~snapple/ficarc/
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