Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Owner of a Lonely Heart ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Owner of a Lonely Heart

Author: Yugure

Rated: PG-13

Genre: Supernatural/Drama/Angst/Horror/Romance

Disclaimer: If you think Slayers et al belongs to me… I humbly request you step back into sanity.

Author Notes: ACK!! Okay, so I didn't make the Halloween deadline. *sheepish grin* Sorry. But I'll still finish it… someday… Well, this chapter is really short and has absolutely no angst/drama/horror in it. It's a transportation chapter, really, just to get the story from point A to point B. Expect more. Expect better. Expect the unexpected. Muahahaha…

Chapter Two

Zelgadis watched as the blankets over Lina rose and fell with her deep, even breathing. She looked so small and helpless, curled up and ensconced in fleece blankets and the fluffy comforter. A smile lit Zelgadis's face as he remembered the redhead's fierce attitude of only a few hours before.

"Such a firebrand," he said quietly, leaning against the wall and sipping a cup of coffee. Of course, he couldn't taste the potent drink (or rather, he had no taste for it), but the simple act was familiar and soothing.

"Hmmm…" mumbled a sleepy Lina as she rolled over onto her side. Her face looked slightly distressed. Zelgadis, feeling an overwhelming, annoying sense of protection, stepped closer to the bed and smoothed Lina's bangs away from her face.

"What troubles you so, ma cherie, that it enters your dreams and turns them to nightmares?" he asked. Not expecting a response, Zelgadis nearly dropped his coffee when Lina's eyes opened and she blinked up at him.

A few moments passed, in which Lina gauged her surroundings. Strange bedroom + strange man - her own clothes = panic.

"What the hell…?!" Lina exclaimed, rocketing into a sitting position. Eyes wide and confused, she backed away across the bed and nearly fell off the other side. "Who are you?! Where am I?!" A quick look down, and then: "And what the HELL am I wearing?!"

"I'm your savior, you're in my home, and you're wearing one of my shirts," Zelgadis replied quickly, hoping to avoid a full-fledged panic attack. "I didn't know where you lived and I couldn't leave you in the street; you passed out so I had to take you somewhere-"

"A hospital would've been nice!" Lina snapped. She leaped off the bed and searched the room wildly for a weapon. Nothing struck her as useable. "You can't just go picking strangers up off the street and take them home!! How do I know you're not a murderer or rapist or something evil like that?! And where are my friggin' clothes?!"

"Please, calm down. I don't mean you any harm-"

"Yeah, that's what they all say, right before they slit your throat!"

"Lina Inverse, I humbly request that you sit down and listen to what I have to say." Zelgadis spoke plainly and quietly enough, but her full name caused Lina to falter. She paused in her fruitless search and ranting tirade.

"How… do you know my name?" she asked, stupefied. Standing there in only an oversized button-up shirt, the cuffs of the sleeves hanging past her fingertips, Lina looked terribly alarmed and fragile.

"I know many things, Lina. Please, accompany me to the living room," Zelgadis replied. He exited the room. Lina, seeing no choice but to follow, trailed after him.

The rest of the apartment was rather lavish, decorated in black, white, and gray and accented with splashes of red. It was beautiful and pristine. Zelgadis reached over a countertop that separated the kitchen from the main living room and picked up a coffee mug. He held it out to Lina without a word.

Feeling utterly self-conscious and every few seconds tugging on the shirt's hem, Lina took the mug and stared at its contents.

"What is it?" she mumbled.

"Hot cocoa. If you prefer, Sylphiel will make you coffee," Zelgadis replied. Lina's head snapped up. Someone else was here? So she wasn't as in danger as she thought… was she?

A raven-tressed head poked out from behind a pantry door. Large green eyes blinked soulfully at Lina, and a small smile lit carnation pink lips.

"Hello," the girl said, voice quiet and gentle. Lina returned the smile, although hers was considerably more watered down. "See, Zelgadis, I told you the shirt would fit her just fine." Lina let out a small breath of relief. It was obvious Sylphiel was the one who had changed Lina's clothes. Still, it was very uncomfortable to know that a complete stranger had seen her in her underclothes.

Zelgadis looked a bit disconcerted over this statement, and if he was capable of it, he would have blushed.

"Still seems rather high cut," he muttered, turning away to take a seat in a large leather chair. True: just leaving her arms hanging straight down brought the hem up to her palms.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on here?" Lina asked. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to just take my things and leave."

"Actually, Lina, I can't let you do that. Not yet." Zelgadis kept his cool blue eyes trained on Lina. The petite redhead bristled.

"Why the hell not?!"

"Sylphiel, please take your leave," Zelgadis commanded the other girl. Without so much as a glance back, Sylphiel left the apartment.

"Answer me! What's stopping me from leaving right now?"

"I don't know. Why haven't you left already?"

"…"

An observation Lina would rather have done without. She crawled into the other oversized leather chair and glowered at the man across from her, hot cocoa mug in one hand and the other tightly clenched into a fist.

"You must think I'm crazy-" Zelgadis began.

"Damn straight," Lina mumbled. Zelgadis either hadn't noticed or didn't care, as he continued on as if Lina hadn't spoken.

"- But I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Stalker!"

"No. Hear me out. Please." It was the 'please' that did her in. Lina couldn't ignore the plaintive voice and the polite request. That, and the quiet sadness in Zelgadis's eyes was eating at her insides.

"Fine, but this had better be a damn good story."