For once, it was just the two of them. Gourry, after almost interminable persuasion by Lina, had agreed to escort Sylphiel back to Velast, Amelia was in Seyruun, probably delivering justice speeches, and Lina and Zel had decided to wander back to Velast more slowly, via some magical libraries reputed to have interesting, if small, collections. They'd found a low stone wall, covered in moss and warmed by the sun, and were sitting on it companionably, having eaten lunch: they were in no particular hurry.
"C'mon, Zel, you can't tell me you never thought about Amelia in that way…"
He sighed. "I'm a guy, Lina. She's a girl. Of course I've thought about it. It doesn't mean I want… erm…" He stumbled, suddenly aware that he'd perhaps said too much.
Lina's eyes grew huge. "You… you've thought about… with… Who with?"
Mortified, and sure he was blushing, he mumbled something noncommittal in the hope that she'd drop it, but Lina was having none of that.
"Filia?"
The blush got worse.
"Sylphiel!"
Strangely, that gave him the impetus to respond, although perhaps it was just the fear of the inevitably approaching question of herself. "Lina, stop it. Are you going to go through every girl we know – or that we've ever met?"
The best defence is sometimes offence.
"Besides, it's not like I mean full-on, detailed fantasies. It's just… considering. And I bet you have, too –" and from the colour that leapt instantly to her cheeks, he knew he'd hit home.
"Well, even if I hadn't, I would've now, wouldn't I?" She grinned at him. "Besides, travelling with you two, there'd be something wrong with me if I hadn't, I reckon!" She winked at him and ducked away to fish the canteen out of her bag. When she turned back, Zelgadis was still looking at her with what she privately referred to as his 'stunned fish' expression.
"Zel? Hello? Still in there?" She waved her hand in front of his face, experimentally. Eventually, he managed a horrified whisper.
"Not… together?"
A momentarily bewildered look flashed over her face before she realised what he meant, and then her face mirrored Zel's horror, and she waved her hands about in a frantic negative.
"Nonononono! No! Just… no!"
They sat in silence for a few seconds, each struggling against unwanted mental images.
"Zel, I hate you. I need to wash my brain."
"Sorry."
With a visible effort, she returned to the conversation.
"Anyway, I haven't even kissed anyone yet. So I was just thinking about that, you pervert!" She poked him in the ribs, and they subsided into another, far more comfortable silence.
"Have you?"
"Have I what?" he asked, warily.
She sighed at his obtuseness. "Have-you-ever-kissed-anyone?"
"Well, yeah."
She looked down, embarrassed again. "Is it, y'know, difficult?" He raised an eyebrow as she rushed on. "Because, I don't know how you do it, and there's all those things like, what do you do with your tongue, and, um, do you breathe? 'Cause I was never so sure about that and Syl and 'Melia said different things when we talked about it, and Filia just sort of went 'hmph!' and didn't want to talk about it, and I just thought, if you didn't know how to do it, then the first time'd be, y'know, weird. And. Um. And you'd get it wrong."
She looked at him appealingly, and he attempted, somewhat unsuccessfully, to repress his amusement. Now I know what they discuss in the hot springs…
"It's not exactly difficult. But you're right in that the first time, it doesn't tend to, ah, work so well."
She seemed to expect him to continue, so he went on.
"I don't think there's a right or a wrong way to do it, truly, Lina. It's more a matter of practice…"
She frowned at that, and then her face lit up with that I've-just-had-a-great-idea-but-you-aren't-going-to-like-it expression that he suspected was largely reserved for him.
"Hey! You could show me! It doesn't count if it's a practice, right? That is, if you didn't mind…" She trailed off at the end, clearly thinking that she'd asked too much – like it would ever be a hardship kissing Lina, he thought, bemused. Gourry really shouldn't tease her so much; it's really knocking her confidence…
It was that thought, after all, which decided him. "Well, okay… I guess." He was still unsure about this, but they were friends, right? It wasn't as if they weren't close… and it was only a kiss, after all… never mind whether or not he'd thought about doing this before…
She looked at him, anxiously. "You sure you don't mind? I…"
He ran her fingers along her jawline, gently tilting up her chin. She'd stopped speaking at his touch, and her eyes were fixed on him, as intensely concentrated as when she cast her spells. She bit her lower lip, nervously, and started to say something, but at that moment he kissed her.
It wasn't the longest kiss, but in spite of a little confusion and banging of teeth, it was one of the sweetest kisses he'd known.
Lina sat back a little, ran the very tip of her tongue over her top lip, smiled. "Mmmm…"
She looked up at him anxiously. "Was that… okay?"
He smiled. "It was fine, Lina."
"Because, um, I thought perhaps I wasn't really that good. And… perhaps I ought to have some more practice… if you didn't mind, that is?"