Oh, and I'm ignoring the fact that Shilfiel casts a 'Dragon Slave' in Next 'cause that's one of the problems I have with how magic is handled in this series. BUT that's a whole different rant all together ::grin::
Lina lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling and fumed. Sure they were in Sairaag, sure that meant visiting Shilfiel, but did Gourry have to accept her invitation to a private dinner? Did he have to be so excited about it? So what if Shilfiel was the best cook in the universe, so what if she treated him like he was the greatest guy in the universe, so what if she was gorgeous and had a nice rack, so what if...
Where had she been going with this again?
Groaning, Lina flipped over in the bed and buried her face in the pillow. She was never going to get any sleep like this. Why was it bothering her so much anyway? After all, it's just Gourry.
And Shilfiel.
Alone, at her house, late at night.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" She yelled, jumping out of the bed suddenly, "I hate this!" She flung the door to her room open and stalked out into the hallway. If Amelia hadn't been back in Seyruun she would have gone to talk to the justice-freak of a Princess. However, she was, so Lina decided on the next best thing.
She pushed Zelgadiss' door open without knocking and started complaining the second she entered the shaman's room, pacing back and forth as she did so. "Gourry's not back yet, and it's getting late. He should know better than to hang out in this town all by himself; something always goes wrong when we come here."
"Lina, calm down," the chimera said reasonably. "Gourry can take care of himself."
"But Zel, look at our track record here, it's best if we stick together."
"Well, he is with Shilfiel -- "
"She's useless! How's she supposed to help him if she can't even cast a 'Flare Arrow' properly?"
"She's jealous," Xellos declared cheerfully.
"Completely." Zelgadiss agreed, and Lina finally clued into the scene she had walked in on.
Xellos and Zelgadiss were lying together in the bed, obviously naked, and watching her with amusement. She turned bright red and began to stammer, "I'm not jealous."
"Lina-san, it's better to just admit it to yourself." Xellos said, still smiling.
"I'm not!"
"You're not normally so unobservant Lina," Zelgadiss pointed out. "You can't seriously be that worried about Gourry when we have no real reason to suspect any danger."
"Yeah, but..." She really couldn't think of anything to say to that, especially not while looking at their knowing expressions. "Fine, I'm jealous, okay." She sunk down into a chair pouting.
"That's the first step Lina-san." Xellos said happily, "Now try admitting to yourself the reason behind your jealousy."
"Because he's getting a great meal and I'm not."
Zelgadiss slapped his forehead, "Lina, just get over it."
"Get over what?" She countered stubbornly.
"It's no good Zel-chan, she has to come to accept it on her own."
"I know, but this is still painful to watch."
"Hello? I'm still here, please stop talking about me like I'm not."
They shrugged, "We can't help if you're going to be stubborn Lina." Zelgadiss replied, "You'd be a lot happier if you admitted that you have feelings for Gourry."
"Yeah, how would you know?"
"Been there, done that, got the chimera." Xellos exclaimed, throwing his arms around Zelgadiss, who began to blush.
"Xellos, cut it out." A friendly squabble ensued that Lina watched wistfully. After a moment she stood and smiled.
"Thanks for your help guys, I'll see you tomorrow." They said goodnight as she left the room. Walking slowly, she headed back to her own, deep in thought.
Admit her feelings for Gourry? Fine, so she liked the idiot, a lot. More than a lot. More than more than a lot. She sighed as she reached her room and went in, letting the door shut softly behind her. So, she'd admitted it, now what? Gourry was still over at Shilfiel's, having dinner with a woman who'd never hidden her own feelings for him, who never hit him, never insulted him, and who was probably exactly what the blond swordsman was looking for.
She flopped down on the bed again. Oh yeah, this was much better. She should've just stayed in her room.
Gourry walked cheerfully through the rebuilt streets of Sairaag humming. He'd just had a great meal, and Shilfiel was always wonderful company; it'd been an excellent night.
Well, except for the kiss good-bye.
He sighed, okay, so he should've caught on to Shilfiel's attraction to him earlier, but he hadn't. That really caused a mess of things when she'd wanted a kiss and he only gave her one on the back of the hand. He wondered if she'd started crying after he'd left, it had looked like she might. He sighed again, his cheerful mood completely destroyed. He'd botched things without really meaning to.
Not that he could help it, Shilfiel really wasn't his type, and she never would be.
No, his type was a short, under-developed sorceress with red hair and a fiery temper who liked to hit him, call him names, and occasionally dress him up like a girl. He must be a masochist.
He stopped in front of the inn and looked up at the windows, then frowned. Lina's light was still on. It was late, she should be sleeping, so why was she still up? Walking into the inn he went up the stairs quickly and knocked on the door.
"Come in," she called, and he opened it to find her sitting in her bed reading a spell book. "Hi Gourry," she greeted him with a smile, "How was dinner?"
"Great," he answered, just as cheerfully. "Shilfiel is one of the best cooks I know." He thought he saw her eyes dim at that, but it was probably his imagination. "So, why are you up so late?"
"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to read for a while."
"Ah, that makes sense." There was silence for a few minutes, then he sighed. "Well, I guess I'll go to bed then." He turned and was reaching for the door when her voice stopped him.
"Hey Gourry," she asked softly, "what do you think of Shilfiel?"
He turned around; she was looking down at her book and blushing a little. Maybe... "She's nice enough," he answered cautiously. "A good friend."
"Just a friend?"
"Yeah."
"You know she likes you more than that, right?"
"Yeah, but I can't help that."
"No, I guess not."
Time to take the plunge, come on, he was a warrior, why did this scare him so much? "Besides, I already have someone."
She looked up at him in shock, her eyes filled with confusion. "Who? Not Amelia?"
And he was supposed to be the dense one? "No, not Amelia."
"Who then?"
She really didn't know, she hadn't figured it out. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the bed and leaned down, "You." He kissed her before she could say anything.
They stared at each other for a tense moment after they broke apart. Gourry held his breath, waiting for her answer and then Lina suddenly yelled,
"Why didn't you say something sooner!?"
"Why didn't you?" He countered and she closed her mouth and blushed,
"Well, I, I just didn't, okay."
He smiled at her fondly, "Okay."
"Hey Gourry?" she said as they sat together shyly, "No more private dinners with Shilfiel, kay?"
He grinned, "Don't worry, I don't want you to Dragon Slave her house while I'm still in it."
"I wouldn't do that," she pouted indignantly, then grinned. "It wouldn't take more than a few fireballs."
Gourry laughed and wrapped his arms around her. She snuggled into the embrace contentedly, then murmured,
"Looks like they were right."
"Who?" He asked, confused. What had he missed now?
"Never mind, I'll explain it later," she promised, and he thought about asking again now since they both knew he'd forget, but it felt so nice to just be sitting there holding her that he decided it wasn't important.
They sat together on the bed in silence until the candle in the corner went out and they both fell into a peaceful sleep.