To Build a Love Nest
Summary: The gang finds Xelloss building a house.
A/N: Hey @xellychan040! I'm your @slayersweek Secret Santa this year and I went with a fic plus illustration of Xellina with unconventional courting. I hope you enjoy it!
To Build a Love Nest
Lina stretched her arms over her head as she and the others strolled through the outskirts of town. It had been a couple of days since they arrived there, and after some rest, they were ready to leave. But before that, they were looking for Xelloss who happened to be with them at the time. Recently, he seemed to be acting strange, more so than usual. He had been looking at architectural books and had been seen with the local carpenter recently. Luckily, the same carpenter told them that he had been heading into the forest. So now they were trying to find him. But they weren’t prepared for what they saw when they made it to where he was.
There, amid a clearing, was what appeared to be a building site. It was easy to assume so since there was a pile of construction wood along with the foundation and flooring. Xelloss was also there, hammering away at a wall frame. The sheer sight of seeing him do something so out of character made them speechless, to say the least.
“Xelloss, what are you doing?” Lina finally asked despite guessing the obvious answer anyway.
“Oh, building a house.”
“We can see that.” Zelgadis crossed his arms as he stared at him. “We would like to know why you are building a house.”
He stopped hammering for a moment before turning to the group. “I’m planning on courting Miss Lina with it. Though the rest of you are welcome as well.”
Hearing that, they all became very flabbergasted, Lina most of all. It was obvious that he did have a distinct attraction to her, albeit a peculiar one. But for him to build a house just to court her seemed unconventional, even for him. In any case, he was hammering away at the wall frame while they remained silent.
After a while, Amelia spoke up, “Mister Xelloss, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you trying to court Miss Lina with a house?”
“Well, you see…” He stopped again and turned to the group. “I was at a library looking for information on how humans traditionally court each other. I did ask one of the assistants there and he must have misheard me because he came back with a book on birds’ instead. Not wanting to correct him, I decided to get the book and read it. I then learned certain species build nests for their mating rituals. And well, it seemed to be the most practical…”
“… Xelloss, you’re ridiculous.” Zelgadis pinched the bridge of his nose.
Rubbing his chin, Gourry said, “I don’t know. I would build a house for someone I really like.” No one was surprised by this.
In the midst of her self-agonizing embarrassment, Lina clenched everything, even her teeth. Of course he would go with the most absurd way to court someone. Not that she wouldn’t want to be with him. If she were honest, she did find him appealing in his own way. Still, this was too much by normal standards.
Feeling that she should at least indulge in his antics, she let out a sigh and looked up at him. “So, Xelloss, what made you choose this place for our house?”
“Well, I remembered that you said you’d like to live in this kind of town.” He then wiped the metaphorical sweat from his brow. “Also, I considered other factors, such as property value, accessibility, view-.”
Waving her hands, she said, “Okay! I get it.” She remained silent for a moment, now scratching her head. “But… What if I change my mind and want to live somewhere else?”
He stopped hammering for a moment, thinking about it himself. “I guess I could teleport it to where you wanted to be. Though depending on its size at the moment and distance, it will take a lot of energy to do so.”
“Hold on, how big are you planning on making it?” Amelia asked, tilting her head a bit.
“Well…” Xelloss stopped and moved closer over to them. Then, he materialized a piece of folded paper in his hand. He started to unfold it as the others watched intensely. Once it was fully unfurled, he continued, “I had planned on starting with a small living area at first. Though this will be the final product.”
Seeing the entire house plan, all of them gawked. There was a small cottage, but it sat between two larger houses. In fact, they were pretty much mansion-sized. There were also plans for a deluxe kitchen, a grand dining room, a library wing, a garden, and other things. It was certainly something that fitted well into a certain sorceress’ extravagant tastes.
Lina’s mouth twitched as the others stared at her judgingly. After a while, Zelgadis sighed. “So, when do you plan on getting it done?”
As he folded up the plans, Xelloss answered, “I think I can manage to get the cottage done in a couple of months by myself. The rest of it…” He then scratched his head. “I estimate a few years or so. Within a decade at best… Perhaps I should find help.”
It was at this point that she found herself getting uncomfortable again. She wasn’t going to lie that she would like that kind of place, but a part of her felt guilty. He certainly put a lot of thought into this. Though if she was honest, this was too much, especially just to be with her. After sighing again, she said, “Xelloss, you don’t need to do this.”
“Oh? I thought you would like a nice place to live. Should I stop and destroy it then?” He turned to her, raising an eyebrow.
“No!” Lina waved her arms frantically. She then placed a hand on her forehead, rubbing it. “What I mean is that you shouldn’t go this far just to go out with someone. I’d be happy if you asked me with no grand gesture involved. So, you can at least postpone building this thing until I’m ready to settle down. Okay?”
Tilting his head, he stayed silent as he thought it over. After a while, he nodded. “I suppose it can wait until then.”
She felt herself filled with relief. Ceipheed knows that would be more excessive than she was willing to deal with. But that didn’t last long when he asked, “So does that mean you’re willing to be with me?”
“Uhhhhh… Oh look at the time! We should be heading off now, right guys?!” Pointing off in the distance, Lina started to head off. Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia looked at her suspiciously while Xelloss stood there bewildered.
“Welp,” Zelgadis said as he glanced over at him, “Looks like you’ve got your answer.”
“Oh but on the contrary, she didn’t say no.” He turned to him while flashing his usual cocky smile. With that, he teleported right next to Lina, quickly sneaking in a kiss on her cheek. She went bright red before pushing him away. While she was yelling about how he shouldn’t be so sly, the others followed after them.
“Just so you know…” Amelia said as she looked over at Zelgadis with a faint blush, “I don’t expect anyone to build me a house.”
“Yea, you already have a palace,” he retorted, not noticing her puffed-up cheeks.
Crossing his arms, Gourry closed his eyes. “Well, I would still build a house for someone I like.” And once again, no one was surprised.
