Xelloss Metallium quietly sipped his tea at the back of the tiny tavern, watching the activities before him behind closed eyes. There was a storyteller at the tavern that night and the young bardess was spinning an outrageous tale to the townsfolk clustered around her. She was a small girl, with nonassuming brown hair and a crowd-pleasing smile. Also, she had a big mouth. In the Trickster's opinion, anyway. The girl had been going on and on about fairies and royalty and other such absurdities for at least an hour. He found her quite irritating.

Not her audience, however. She had them riveted with every word she spoke. Even his Filia was on the edge of her seat. "...yet the maiden was saddened, for her prince had not yet arrived to save her from her devilish captor. As time passed, the maiden lost all hope of salvation, and one day," the bardess continued in a low voice, causing the crowd to draw nearer in curiosity, "she gave in to the demon's inveiglement..."

Xelloss watched his Filia lean forward in interest, her blue eyes alight with anticipation. How ironic that she would enjoy such a tale. He noted the way her cheeks grew rosy with excitement, her eyes transfixed on the young storyteller. Perhaps this legend was one she mirrored to her own life.

His smile darkened considerably as he watched the blond female. He had plans for this little dragon. Oh, yes...many plans. The Trickster greatly awaited the moment when he could capture that golden creature, keep her as his own. There was that little racial problem, of course, but he was sure there was a way to overcome it. Especially with what he had in store for her.

The bardess was finishing up her tale, much to the crowd's disappointment. Obviously, they wanted to hear more of her silly stories, but she declined with a gracious smile and departed. Her audience gradually began to thin out after that, the more honorable of citizens returning to their homes while the local riffraff took up their usual tables. Lina and the others were preparing to leave, to take up residence at an inn nearby. It was late, after all, and they planned on leaving in the morning. Xelloss smirked imperceptibly at the departing crew; they knew nothing of what he planned to accomplish.

The Mazoku rose as his 'companions' exited, stopping Filia at the door. She looked at him, aggravated. "What is it, namagomi?"

"I have a challenge for you," he replied bewitchingly, giving the dragon maiden a secretive smile.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't have time for this, Xelloss. It's late."

"Oh? You're backing out? So you're admitting Mazoku are better than Ryuzoku?" he asked, that infuriating smile on his face.

Filia glowered at him, her eyes burning with rage. "Anything you can do, Mazoku, I can do better."

Xelloss peered at her through one eye. "Prove it," he dared.

She glared at him for a few moments before laughing darkly, one eyebrow twitching with anger. "All right, namagomi. I accept your challenge. I will prove that Ryuzoku are, and always will be, better than Mazoku," she declared.

He led her to an unoccupied table, gesturing to the seedy-looking bartender. "A test of endurance, Filia-san. Who can stomach the most alcohol and still remain relatively sober." The Mazoku gave her a mocking glance. "Are you up to it?"

Filia's mind balked at the thought of participating in such a wicked pursuit, but her determination to beat Xelloss was stronger than any qualms she held. "Fine, Xelloss. I'll prove to you that I'm better at everything."

Filia felt groggy. Everything hurt, especially her head. Oddly enough, she couldn't remember why. It was almost like she had a hangover, but the rest of her body was sore as well. A...hangover... she repeated silently, a few memories coming back to her. She had been in a tavern. Xelloss had challenged her to a drinking contest, and she'd lost. Quite miserably, actually.

Now she was lying in bed. How she arrived there was a complete mystery. What had happened after she'd gotten drunk? And who in their right mind invented hangovers, anyway? They were decidedly unpleasant. Filia really wanted to stay in bed until her head stopped pounding, but there was only one way to find out the truth. That was to wake up. The dragon maiden lazily pried her eyes open and stared blankly around the cramped inn room, letting her eyes adjust to the dawn's dim light.

She nearly shrieked when she noticed the purple-haired Mazoku curled up beside her in the bed. A sleeping purple-haired Mazoku who consequently wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing. And neither was she, Filia belatedly noticed. What the hell had happened?! A strangled gasp escaped her throat as images of the previous night's activities flashed through her mind. She...and Xelloss...no,no, it couldn't be true! The dragon maiden whimpered softly as she recalled more images, waking the Mazoku next to her. Exactly how drunk had she been?!

Filia panicked and made a move to get up, but was halted by a pair of strong hands. Her eyes widened, all too aware that Xelloss was now straddling her in a most undignified fashion, pinning her to the bed. "Xe...Xelloss..." she managed to croak. "What are you...why...?"

The Mazoku's eyes were open now, a playful smile dancing on his lips. "Don't you remember, Filia-chan?" He lifted her hand to her face, displaying the golden band on her ring finger.

Confusion dotted her features, replaced by a dawning realization as Xelloss revealed a matching band on his own finger. She gasped in horror, tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. "You...you...did this?!"

He brought his mouth down to her ear, still keeping her firmly pinned to the bed. "Oh, I'm not the only one. You did it several times yourself last night. Or have you forgotten that as well?" he whispered.

Filia closed her eyes, trying to keep the memories from resurfacing. "Namagomi," she whispered, tears pouring from her eyes. How could he do this to her? More importantly, how could she have let this happen? She'd taken his bait without a second thought. That bastard had found her weak spot and was using it against her, the dirty Mazoku. "I hate you."

Xelloss wiped the tears from her face with the back of his hand. "Hate? I sincerely doubt that, my dear Filia-chan."

"You tricked me, you...you..." she cried in despair. "I'm so ashamed! I'm dirtied now, you filthy Mazoku! I'm...I'm..." She began to sob softly, her shoulders shaking with emotion.

Xelloss spoke to her in a low voice. A serious voice, one that she'd seldom heard him use before. "Then how long were you planning on playing those games with me?" he asked quietly. "How long were you going to deny your feelings for me? I know both our races live long lives, but were you going to avoid me forever?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the dragon maiden sniffled. "You're a namagomi Mazoku and I hate you."

"Don't lie to me, Filia. I can sense everything you feel. From the moment I met you, I could tell what you were feeling concerning me. Hate. Disgust. Annoyance. A growing fondness. Conflict." His voice lowered to a whisper as he slipped his hand beneath the covers, causing Filia to squeak in protest. "Love. Lust. Desire. Denial. I sensed all of these."

A new flood of tears began to spill down her cheeks. Filia felt as though her soul was bared to his eyes, as though he'd broken through every barrier she'd erected in self-defense. She was completely exposed to him, in more ways than one. "Why are you doing this to me?" she whispered in a tortured voice.

"Because I love you," he answered simply.

"But...but you're..."

"Mazoku?" he asked, giving her a soft smile. "There's no rule that says Mazoku can't love. Perhaps we're not supposed to, but we are capable of it." He gave her cheek an affectionate nuzzle, shushing her protests. "I know what you're going to say. And you're right, neither of our societies will accept this. Mine doesn't accept any sort of union, anyway, but I know no one will question me."

"And me?" Filia asked shakily.

"If anyone questions you, I'll just kill them!" he answered cheerfully.

"Xelloss..."

He laughed. "All right, I won't kill them. But I promise we'll figure something out. I won't let anything get in the way."

She was quiet for a few moments, taking in everything that he'd said. "Xelloss," she whispered finally, her voice quivering. "I-I love you, too."

"I know." His feline eyes took on a particularly naughty look, and he leaned down to kiss the dragon maiden. "Now, no more talking."

Amelia wandered downstairs to breakfast, still drying her hair from the bath she'd taken that morning. She hoped the others had left some food for her, though knowing Lina and Gourry, they probably hadn't. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking for her companions in the inn's large dining area. Zelgadis, Lina, and Gourry were seated together at a rounded table, the latter two devouring their food with ferocity.

"Ohayo, Amelia," Zelgadis, the only one not completely absorbed in his meal, mumbled to her over his coffee.

The princess sat between Zelgadis and Gourry, just then noticing there were two empty chairs at the table. "Ne, where's Filia-san and Xelloss-san?"

The chimera shrugged. "It's no surprise that Xelloss disappeared again."

Lina looked up from her breakfast, swallowing her food before attempting to speak. "Where's Filia, though? Is she still sleeping?"

Amelia shrugged. "I didn't look. I thought she was already up."

The red-haired sorceress stuffed a forkful of sausages in her mouth. "Go check her room. If she's sleeping, drag her out of bed and tell her we're leaving soon," she ordered.

Amelia nodded and skipped back upstairs, making her way to Filia's room. Which just happened to be all the way at the other end of the hall. She raised her hand to knock as soon as she reached the door, but paused suddenly. Voices. Is Filia-san talking to someone? Amelia put her ear to the door and listened carefully, identifying the voices as belonging to Filia and Xelloss. Then blushed furiously as she realized what was going on in there and hurried back downstairs.

Lina gave her an inquisitive look when she reached the table. "So, was she there?"

"Yeah, she was there..." Amelia trailed off.

The sorceress took another bite of sausage. "Did you wake her up?"

Amelia blushed. "Um...she was already awake."

"Well, is she coming down to breakfast or what?"

The princess's face grew even redder. "No, I don't think she'll be joining us for a while..."

Lina was getting fed up with the girl's noncommital replies. "Amelia, what are you talking about?" she demanded. The princess leaned over and began to whisper in her ear, causing the sorceress to choke on her food. "Are you serious???" she exclaimed, a deep blush marring her features.

"What is it?" Zelgadis asked them curiously. Lina motioned for him to come closer and repeated Amelia's words in a low voice. The chimera's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "FILIA AND XELLOSS??? YOU MEAN..." he trailed off, just realizing he was yelling at the top of his lungs and quickly lowered his voice. "You mean they...right now...?"

Amelia nodded with embarrassment and lowered her eyes. "Yeah, I sorta almost walked in on them."

The chimera sat back down and began to fumble with his coffee mug, a tint of pink staining his cheeks. "Well...I didn't think those two...don't they hate each other or something?"

"Not anymore, obviously..."

Gourry was still wolfing down his breakfast, quite oblivious to the current situation. "What are you all talking about?"

Lina facevaulted onto the table. "I'll explain it to you later. Just eat your food, Gourry."

Amelia glanced over at Lina. "What are we going to do now? I mean, we can't exactly leave them here..."

The sorceress sighed. "I guess we stay here another day."

"Lina, we really need to get going," Zelgadis protested. "If we don't start walking now, it'll take - "

"I know that, Zel," the redhead snapped at him. "What do you want me to do, go up there and interrupt them? Unless you'd like to do it..."

The chimera shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "No, that's okay. I was just saying..."

Filia sighed with contentment as she snuggled next to the Mazoku, basking in the warmth their bodies created. Her headache was gone, though she found that she still didn't want to get out of bed. For other reasons, however. She rummaged around until she found her lover's hand and locked her fingers around his.

Xelloss stroked her golden hair slowly, smiling to himself. The little dragon was finally his. A great triumph on his part, he decided, gathering her into his arms. "What are we going to tell the others?" he murmured into her hair.

"Who cares?" she responded lazily. "As long as I have you, I don't care what they think." She wriggled around in his arms to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I love you, Xelloss."

He smiled warmly down at her. "And I love you."