Lina woke to find Syphiel bandaging her arm.
"Lina? Are you feeling alright?"
"Syphiel," Lina mumbled, shielding her face with an elbow from the sunlight. "Where am I?"
The priestess laughed. "Don't you know recognise this place? This is my home. Gourry brought you back two nights ago."
"Two nights ago?" Lina asked incredulously. She tried to prop herself up, but failed. "Ouch..."
Syphiel looked at her sympathetically. "Your arm was sprained when you fell. The spell - whatever it was - hit you rather badly, but the healing spells fixed all that... I've told you a million times to be careful, but you never listen."
Lina nodded, not really listening to the speech she had heard over and over again, and forced herself to sit up. Syphiel handed her a fresh bundle of clothing. "Here, Lina. Wear these - you can't wear your training outfit out."
"Thank you, Syphiel... I really must be going. I've imposed on you long enough, haven't I?" Lina pulled on her new shirt, wincing in pain when coming to her hurt arm.
"Of course not! Anyway, you should rest a little longer."
"I'm fine!"
"But don't you want to eat first? You haven't eaten for two days..."
Lina ceased her protests.
A few days later, Zelgadiss stormed out of the headquarters for Sailune. Apparently, Shabranigdo had not sent any further messages regarding his next step or his failure.
What am I going to do now? I hardly know anything about this group, and I won't until the results come back from the party I just sent to research them.
He walked through the outdoor marketplace. Vegetables, raw meat, live fish, and loud voices crying out bargains. There wasn't much he could do here.
Suddenly, he caught sight of a mass of blonde hair. That hair... there's only one person whose hair... Damn it.
"Excuse me, excuse me..." he mumbled, pushing past the crowds of people. Hell, I'm losing sight of him...
"Excuse me!"he nearly yelled, and forced his way past the young woman in front of him.
"Ai...!" The girl fell on all fours, dropping all that she had been carrying.
"Oh shit," Zel murmured under his breath. He looked in direction of the swordsman, and he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Sighing, he bent down to help retrieve the rolling tomatoes.
As he reached to pick up the last of them, he hand came in contact with another's. He looked up to see a very familiar, red-headed girl. Where have I seen her before...? Isn't she from that restaurant? He noticed her bandaged arm, and that she seemed in pain. He quickly picked the fruit up.
"Here," he said apologetically, handing over the pile of things he had retrieved. "I'm sorry for ... running you over like that. Are you alright?"
"...I-I'm fine."
You don't look it, he thought as she tried to hide her bandaged arm behind her back.
"Look, I"m sorry. Here, I'll tell you what. Um, I'll help you carry all those back to your home, okay?" he suggested, pointing to the huge bags at her feet.
"..."
She seems a lot less talkative than the other girl I met. Maybe I've mistaken. "I presume that IS a yes." He reached for the bags.
The girl suddenly shook her head and put a hand out to stop him. "N-no. It's okay. I'm fine, really."
Zelgadiss took the bags anyway. "I've nothing to do," not anymore "and this is my apology. I'd feel awful if I didn't do this."
When she didn't protest, he smiled. "So, you need to buy anything else?"
"No, I'm done," the redhead blushed.
"Right." Oof. These bags are kinda heavy. Unless she's really strong, I don't see how she could've managed with one hand alone... And she does seem frail.
"So you are the waitress from that restaurant!"
"Mm-hmm. I didn't think you remembered me, though I recognised you when I saw you just now."
"Same here! I thought I had the wrong person..."
The two walked down a narrow alleyway, and came to an intersection point. "This way, sir."
"Zelgadiss."
"What?"
"My name is Zelgadiss Greydwers. You don't have to be so formal, and keep calling me sir."
"Zelgadiss Greydwers," she repeated after him, and laughed. "Weird name."
"Yeah, thanks. And you?"
"'And I' what?"
"Your name."
"Oh right. Lina."
"Lina...?" Zel prompted.
"Um... Just Lina. Oh, we're here."
Zelgadiss recognized the small restaurant and walked through the wooden sliding door after the redhead.
"Hey, uh, Lina. Where do I put all this stuff?"
"Just over here!" she called from the kitchen. "On the counter."
Zelgadiss heaved the bags of food up and sighed. "Here..."
Lina looked at him sympathetically. "Poor soul. Are you hungry?"
"You planning to cook?"
She shrugged. "Why not?"
"Well, it's okay, don't bother. I'm not hungry anyway."
Lina narrowed her eyes, and planted her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to imply something about my cooking?"
"Of course not! But my mother - "
"What does your mother have to do with anything?!"
"Well, she taught me to be courteous and to resist imposing in on people... that is..."
"'That is' what?"
"Unless they continue to press me to a certain extent..."
Lina giggled. "Okay, Zelgadiss. I really want you to have lunch here. Please? I'm almost begging you. If you don't do me this 'honor', I will be extrememly insulted. Alright?"
Zel smiled in mock innocence. "If you DO insist..."
"I DO insist."
"Okay then, I will... Um, just wondering, can you manage with your arm like that?" He nodded to her bandaged arm. "What happened to it anyway?"
"Say, could you help me with that pot? It's too heavy to lift up..."
"Sure..." He bent down to pick it up, and gave it to her. "Here."
"Thanks. Now you can help me peel the carrots. Here's a knife." She shoved the said carrots and knife into his hands. He stared back at her as she returned to her pot. Feeling his eyes on her, she muttered, "What is it? Don't you know how to peel them?"
When he didn't answer she looked up to see him smiling sheepishly. "Well, it's not my fault I've never worked in a kitchen before."
"You haven't?"
"Nope."
"Oh..." my lord. He doesn't even know how to do this?
"Zel?"
"Yeah?"
"Why don't you wait outside? I'll manage..."
He raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I was just kidding. Here. Give those to me."
Lina wondered if she would ever understand him.