(Standard disclaimers apply) Okay, I'm starting to realize that this fic is heavily into stream of consciousness - I can't seem to get it organized, feelings and images and
impressions just keep pouring out of me.
Hopefully you will all find this part a bit of a break from the last two -
a little silliness and some mush to lighten the mood before it gets all dark and depressing and totally awful again...
And it will. *gives Lina a big apologetic hug and gets fireballed for her trouble*
*Part 3*
"Lina?" Gourry's voice provoked an unexpected wash of gratitude as she was drawn out of her unwanted memory. "I've got the key. Just open the door and I'll bring it back. You left yours in your room right?"
"I guess..." Lina took the key, her bare fingertips barely brushing the swordsman's calloused ones. The heat from the brief contact seemed odd to her today, shooting straight up the slender bones at the back of her hands. It was not often she touched anyone without her gloves on... let alone him. "Gimme a sec to get changed, okay?" she stammered, unsettled by this new layer to her already confused thoughts. She turned to go.
"Lina?" Gourry called.
She rolled her eyes. "Hmmph, what now?"
"You don't have to do this," the blonde man said, shrugging his broad shoulders, "you know, throw yourself back into everything right now. I can bring you up some food if you'd rather not, ummm, you know..."
Great, pity. Didn't she just loooove pity? Big sarcasm there. Just great. Nevermind that his suggestion sounded pretty darn good to her right about now. She blinked, her sunset eyes still haunted, projecting on the walls of her brain all that she had seen the night before. It was normal to feel this way, the more reasonable part of her brain interjected. Something very bad had happened, you couldn't just sweep it all under the carpet and forget about it. On the other hand, lingering on this sort of thing was probably just what her tormentors hoped she would do.
Forcing a bright smile she took a step towards Gourry, reaching up to muss his long blonde hair, disguising it as an attempt to box his ears. "Hey, hello in there yoghurt for brains, it's me, Lina!" she yelled. "You know, Lina Inverse, beautiful sorcery genius? This is nothing - we've fought bigger stuff than this. Besides, with the amount of food I want, it would take you all day to bring it up here. Now shut up and let me get ready for breakfast."
The usual spring in her step came back to her slightly more easily as she continued to force it along, and she was able to hold the facade a little longer, until she unlocked the door of her room and stepped inside. But even inside she held on, closing her mind like a vise around the tiny part of her that was still screaming, hadn't stopped in fact, since she had been taken from the room. Yes, it was true, they had fought worse and won. Shabranigdo, Copy Rezo, Gaav, Phibrizzo, Darkstar... but though they had been powerful foes, none of them - except maybe Phibrizzo - had ever had this one particular power her new unseen enemies obviously did.
The power to make it personal.
She went to the mirror and surveyed her face, not particularly caring for the dark circles under her eyes, or the way they matched the finger-shaped bruises running along her upper arms. They'd had to work to keep hold of her, at least she'd had that much satisfaction, making them fight for their prize.
Pouring water into the earthen basin, Lina washed her face reflexively. It was a comforting, routine familiarity, one that she realized, half-way through the ritual, wasn't really needed. Gourry had taken care of that too, along with the rest.
She didn't really want to think about that, but everything about her body conspired to tell the story to her senses, the story of how she had made it, how she was free and no longer tainted by... things better remaining unthought. She was clean, she smelled of soap, and in her coppery hair, the fresh tang of some sort of herbal shampoo. A vaguely familiar scent all told, one that made her flush as her brain connected the dots, forming a picture of Gourry himself when he emerged from a bath.
Of course he would have used his things, her door had been locked.
Lina wanted to be angry with him for doing it. It would make things so much simpler, but she just couldn't, because no reasonable person could deny that Gourry had done what he had to help her. Not that Lina was given to prolonged bouts of reasonableness, but she was certainly observant. Gourry was dense, there was no other way around it, but there were times when the blonde swordsman had the devil's own luck. He didn't really see social proprieties, and it was quite ironic in the end that the same thick-headedness that had lead him to lift up Filia's skirt when he had spied her tail had also inspired him to save her. It awed her in no small measure to realize that if Gourry had had the brains, or the squeamishness, to be a 'gentleman' about the whole thing - which would no doubt involve a lot of hand-wringing and wondering what to do - she probably would not be feeling quite so normal right about now.
Normal except for the fact that...
/He saw me, he actually *saw* me... Well, he'd better say his prayers, 'cause if he makes one more comment about my chest size after this.../ Lina's ruby eyes seemed to darken as she surveyed her reflection grimly in the mirror.
"Boom," she said.
The scene that afternoon at a scratched inn table, lit by sunlight streaming in through the watery glass panes of the taproom windows, was one that was much more in tune with the natural order of things, and in fact a comfortably recurring theme in Lina's life.
Food, glorious food!
"Mmmm, these noodles are good!" Lina exulted, taking another forkful of hollow spiral noodles, drenched in creamy garlic sauce. Across the table lay an assortment of other delicacies just waiting to be consumed.
"Yeah," Gourry echoed, stealing a bite from her plate. "You know, they look a little like Martina's hair."
"Blech," Lina declared, then gave the swordsman a baleful look just as he was about to snatch another bite. "Oh no you don't. If you think you're going to make me lose my appetite with that tasteful comparison, think again..."
"I know you better than that," Gourry answered, distracting himself with some soup, which he drank straight from the bowl with a slurp. "Nothing kills your appetite, and if you thought Martina's hair tasted good she'd be bald."
"Why you -!" Lina tossed a meatball at him, then blinked as what she saw.
Gourry grinned back at her, the meatball held triumphantly between his teeth for a moment before he began to chew the tidbit with great relish. He swallowed, beaming at her as if she'd offered him the world on a plate. "Mmm, thanks, Lina. That was tasty. Gee, you sure are getting mellow - you never used to share your food with me before."
"Hmph," said the bandit-killer, biting into a bread roll with more teeth than the job really required.
Gourry, ever the wise fool, said nothing.
A study in gluttony later, the pair stared at a heap of empty dishes, glasses, bowls, plates and platters; the wreckage of what was, for them, a light afternoon snack.
Lina was quite pleased with herself, and enormously pacified after the substantial meal. All was right with the world. With a full stomach came the return of her trademark optimism in full measure. Maybe this *was* just an isolated incident. That was it, it had to be. Someone had obviously just wanted to see the great Lina Inverse brought low. /Well, fine,/ she admitted, /I was low, and I hope they got a good look, 'cause it's the last one they'll get./
"This was a really great town," she said aloud, "I think we'll stay another night."
Gourry's somewhat vacant smile of satisfaction vanished from his handsome face much sooner than most would have expected. A frown creased his smooth brow. "Is that a good idea?" he asked, looking behind him anxiously as if expecting an assassin to appear at any moment.
"Why not?" Lina shrugged. "It's late in the day - I don't think we'd make the next town before nightfall. Besides, I'm sure running away is just what the people who did this would want. So, the question is, do we want to spend the night on the road, looking like we're running scared, or stay here where it's warm and comfortable and there's lots of good food to eat?"
"I don't know, Lina," said the swordsman, without much enthusiasm.
"No you don't know," Lina found herself replying cheerfully. "So why don't you just leave the thinking to me?" She experienced a minor twinge of conscience for insulting him, which was quickly repressed. It *was* true after all, and Gourry was too dense to notice.
Or was he?
Poor brainless jellyfish... or not... an annoying voice in her head interrupted her train of thoughts, forcing her to acknowledge that he *had* remembered an extremely important detail about her. One she ought to have been grateful for. Geez, she was sounding more and more like Luna every day.
"Sure Lina," Gourry was saying as her mind returned to the present conversation. "You just keep on thinking, I'll just keep watching for when you don't think enough about *you* to stay out of trouble."
/Dammit!/ Now *Gourry* was sounding like Luna. What next? Lina felt herself blush. Why did he have to keep *doing* that?! Acting all... protective and stuff... acting like... like... some sort of hero... Or something.
Acting like... well... Gourry.
'Feed a dog for three days and you get used to him', her own words came back to her mockingly. Like it or not, Lina was quite used to the swordsman by now. He was... comfortable, she realized, like a broken-in pair of boots or a nice warm cloak - easily taken for granted until you're faced with the daunting task of finding a replacement. She thought back to the times when he had been injured while helping her, when Phibrizzo had taken him from her... when she had awoken in his arms, with no memory of anything beyond speaking the words of the Giga Slave on a day when all hope seemed lost... and clobbering him afterwards because it had appeared that they, that she... because being in his arms had felt... No. What she remembered feeling was guilt, after hearing from her companions later how he had braved the Sea of Chaos to save her... ...the mental picture of him scaling the very sky itself rather than lose her... Gourry... ...not smart enough to realize, as Zel and Amelia had, that doing such a thing was impossible... And Lina wondered...
Could Gourry even be replaced at all?
The question flared brightly in her mind for just an instant before she reflexively forced it down, unanswered.
/What is wrong with me today?/ She looked at Gourry, paying the bill from his own collection of coins and a treacherous voice within her remarked that, all things considered, perhaps there really wasn't too much wrong with her at all.
/Shut up,/ thought Lina, not realizing that she was smiling.
Lina seemed totally recovered as she flitted from booth to booth in the town marketplace, her cloak flapping behind her in the wind like the wings of some darkly enchanted butterfly. But the wind, airy element that it was, could not be content with a scrap of fabric and raked its teasing fingers through the curtain of her cinnabar hair, sending it billowing out behind the young sorceress. It floated in her wake, a signal, a flaming standard finer than any silk banner, and Gourry, like any good soldier, followed it mindlessly.
It seemed like they had been here in this town for ages, but, when he thought about it, they'd only gotten here yesterday. And yet so much had happened since. That must be what made it seem longer.
This was something even he could understand, how sadness seemed to stay, while the happiness found in beautiful things, in beautiful moments like this, when Lina's hair caught so much sunlight it seemed to blaze with a light all its own... these moments never seemed to last.
Tearing his eyes away was not so easy, but duty made it easier. He scanned the crowd, instead of Lina's entrancing brightness, alert to any danger towards her. When nothing initially seemed wrong he took a breath and let it out slowly in relief, unclenching his half-gloved hands. Despite the excitement of this morning, Lina didn't seem to be attracting more than her usual interest. A few people did give her more than a second glance, but he had gradually come to realize that it was normal around her - that he was not the only one to be distracted by the fiery brilliance of her hair, drawn to it like a hapless moth.
But of all of those who stopped to look that day, beneath his stillness Gourry was the one most aflutter.
Such a thing to say about a man, but it was true - she made him feel things that took away what little sense he'd held claim to, and that was before...
Before.
/I can't believe I thought she was a kid./ The swordsman rubbed the back of his head in bemusement as he watched Lina stop at a clothing vendor's. A kid. No one could call her a kid after seeing... /No./ ...her small, neat figure... ...well-proportioned... /Uh uh./ ...not flat!... /Quiet!/ ...painted in hues of cinnamon and cream... /No, don't think...!/ Too late.
The tall blonde clenched his teeth stoically against a wave of substantial... approval. Gourry wasn't sure how he knew it, but at that moment he felt sure that someone, somewhere was having a hell of a laugh at his expense. For somewhere along the way he'd lost his heart to the 'kid' he'd seen face down a bandit gang... Only to find she was not a kid, but a powerful sorceress. Only to find that while that self-same sorceress had mind-boggling power at her command, she was not ready for the power she had over him, stronger than any magic.
The power of her heart.
Whatever Lina looked like - whatever the secrets of her changing body hidden under that huge cloak, those ridiculous shoulder-guards and a silly yellow band - she was not ready yet. Not for the kind of feelings he wished he could show her.
Her idea of expressing affection left bruises that took several days to fade, and the way she returned any tenderness he showed reminded him of the time he'd tried to give the neighbour's cat a bath. Yes, he could remember that far back, thank-you-very-much. Some things left unforgettable impressions.
Lina was one of them.
He saw her turn away from the clothier's at last, a small bundle tucked under her arm.
"Hey, Lina!" he beamed, "what have you got there?"
"New PJs," said the sorceress, grinning with acquisitive joy, then making a face, "that nightgown Amelia gave me, I guess there wasn't really anything worth saving."
Gourry nodded in embarrassed agreement, not really wanting to bring up such a painful subject. "Ummm, yeah, not really..."
The petite red-head before him went from a flash instant of razor bright anguish into a manic segue of extreme bi-polar glee. "Good! I didn't really like it that much," she told him confidingly, lowering her voice to a comical stage whisper, "but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. So now she's happy, and I'm happy!" She held up the articles of clothing in question, bright blue with little stars. "Aren't they cute?"
"Ummm, sure Lina, they're cute - they kinda remind me of what I see whenever you hit me."
Just for that she did hit him, making him stumble with the force of her blow and the element of surprise. Gourry could have sworn an entire galaxy was swirling around his head, on the threshold of total destruction.
"Yup, just like those stars..." He said dazedly.
No question, Lina was definitely back to normal.
Or as close to normal as she ever got.
impressions just keep pouring out of me.
Hopefully you will all find this part a bit of a break from the last two -
a little silliness and some mush to lighten the mood before it gets all dark and depressing and totally awful again...
And it will. *gives Lina a big apologetic hug and gets fireballed for her trouble*
*Part 3*
"Lina?" Gourry's voice provoked an unexpected wash of gratitude as she was drawn out of her unwanted memory. "I've got the key. Just open the door and I'll bring it back. You left yours in your room right?"
"I guess..." Lina took the key, her bare fingertips barely brushing the swordsman's calloused ones. The heat from the brief contact seemed odd to her today, shooting straight up the slender bones at the back of her hands. It was not often she touched anyone without her gloves on... let alone him. "Gimme a sec to get changed, okay?" she stammered, unsettled by this new layer to her already confused thoughts. She turned to go.
"Lina?" Gourry called.
She rolled her eyes. "Hmmph, what now?"
"You don't have to do this," the blonde man said, shrugging his broad shoulders, "you know, throw yourself back into everything right now. I can bring you up some food if you'd rather not, ummm, you know..."
Great, pity. Didn't she just loooove pity? Big sarcasm there. Just great. Nevermind that his suggestion sounded pretty darn good to her right about now. She blinked, her sunset eyes still haunted, projecting on the walls of her brain all that she had seen the night before. It was normal to feel this way, the more reasonable part of her brain interjected. Something very bad had happened, you couldn't just sweep it all under the carpet and forget about it. On the other hand, lingering on this sort of thing was probably just what her tormentors hoped she would do.
Forcing a bright smile she took a step towards Gourry, reaching up to muss his long blonde hair, disguising it as an attempt to box his ears. "Hey, hello in there yoghurt for brains, it's me, Lina!" she yelled. "You know, Lina Inverse, beautiful sorcery genius? This is nothing - we've fought bigger stuff than this. Besides, with the amount of food I want, it would take you all day to bring it up here. Now shut up and let me get ready for breakfast."
The usual spring in her step came back to her slightly more easily as she continued to force it along, and she was able to hold the facade a little longer, until she unlocked the door of her room and stepped inside. But even inside she held on, closing her mind like a vise around the tiny part of her that was still screaming, hadn't stopped in fact, since she had been taken from the room. Yes, it was true, they had fought worse and won. Shabranigdo, Copy Rezo, Gaav, Phibrizzo, Darkstar... but though they had been powerful foes, none of them - except maybe Phibrizzo - had ever had this one particular power her new unseen enemies obviously did.
The power to make it personal.
She went to the mirror and surveyed her face, not particularly caring for the dark circles under her eyes, or the way they matched the finger-shaped bruises running along her upper arms. They'd had to work to keep hold of her, at least she'd had that much satisfaction, making them fight for their prize.
Pouring water into the earthen basin, Lina washed her face reflexively. It was a comforting, routine familiarity, one that she realized, half-way through the ritual, wasn't really needed. Gourry had taken care of that too, along with the rest.
She didn't really want to think about that, but everything about her body conspired to tell the story to her senses, the story of how she had made it, how she was free and no longer tainted by... things better remaining unthought. She was clean, she smelled of soap, and in her coppery hair, the fresh tang of some sort of herbal shampoo. A vaguely familiar scent all told, one that made her flush as her brain connected the dots, forming a picture of Gourry himself when he emerged from a bath.
Of course he would have used his things, her door had been locked.
Lina wanted to be angry with him for doing it. It would make things so much simpler, but she just couldn't, because no reasonable person could deny that Gourry had done what he had to help her. Not that Lina was given to prolonged bouts of reasonableness, but she was certainly observant. Gourry was dense, there was no other way around it, but there were times when the blonde swordsman had the devil's own luck. He didn't really see social proprieties, and it was quite ironic in the end that the same thick-headedness that had lead him to lift up Filia's skirt when he had spied her tail had also inspired him to save her. It awed her in no small measure to realize that if Gourry had had the brains, or the squeamishness, to be a 'gentleman' about the whole thing - which would no doubt involve a lot of hand-wringing and wondering what to do - she probably would not be feeling quite so normal right about now.
Normal except for the fact that...
/He saw me, he actually *saw* me... Well, he'd better say his prayers, 'cause if he makes one more comment about my chest size after this.../ Lina's ruby eyes seemed to darken as she surveyed her reflection grimly in the mirror.
"Boom," she said.
The scene that afternoon at a scratched inn table, lit by sunlight streaming in through the watery glass panes of the taproom windows, was one that was much more in tune with the natural order of things, and in fact a comfortably recurring theme in Lina's life.
Food, glorious food!
"Mmmm, these noodles are good!" Lina exulted, taking another forkful of hollow spiral noodles, drenched in creamy garlic sauce. Across the table lay an assortment of other delicacies just waiting to be consumed.
"Yeah," Gourry echoed, stealing a bite from her plate. "You know, they look a little like Martina's hair."
"Blech," Lina declared, then gave the swordsman a baleful look just as he was about to snatch another bite. "Oh no you don't. If you think you're going to make me lose my appetite with that tasteful comparison, think again..."
"I know you better than that," Gourry answered, distracting himself with some soup, which he drank straight from the bowl with a slurp. "Nothing kills your appetite, and if you thought Martina's hair tasted good she'd be bald."
"Why you -!" Lina tossed a meatball at him, then blinked as what she saw.
Gourry grinned back at her, the meatball held triumphantly between his teeth for a moment before he began to chew the tidbit with great relish. He swallowed, beaming at her as if she'd offered him the world on a plate. "Mmm, thanks, Lina. That was tasty. Gee, you sure are getting mellow - you never used to share your food with me before."
"Hmph," said the bandit-killer, biting into a bread roll with more teeth than the job really required.
Gourry, ever the wise fool, said nothing.
A study in gluttony later, the pair stared at a heap of empty dishes, glasses, bowls, plates and platters; the wreckage of what was, for them, a light afternoon snack.
Lina was quite pleased with herself, and enormously pacified after the substantial meal. All was right with the world. With a full stomach came the return of her trademark optimism in full measure. Maybe this *was* just an isolated incident. That was it, it had to be. Someone had obviously just wanted to see the great Lina Inverse brought low. /Well, fine,/ she admitted, /I was low, and I hope they got a good look, 'cause it's the last one they'll get./
"This was a really great town," she said aloud, "I think we'll stay another night."
Gourry's somewhat vacant smile of satisfaction vanished from his handsome face much sooner than most would have expected. A frown creased his smooth brow. "Is that a good idea?" he asked, looking behind him anxiously as if expecting an assassin to appear at any moment.
"Why not?" Lina shrugged. "It's late in the day - I don't think we'd make the next town before nightfall. Besides, I'm sure running away is just what the people who did this would want. So, the question is, do we want to spend the night on the road, looking like we're running scared, or stay here where it's warm and comfortable and there's lots of good food to eat?"
"I don't know, Lina," said the swordsman, without much enthusiasm.
"No you don't know," Lina found herself replying cheerfully. "So why don't you just leave the thinking to me?" She experienced a minor twinge of conscience for insulting him, which was quickly repressed. It *was* true after all, and Gourry was too dense to notice.
Or was he?
Poor brainless jellyfish... or not... an annoying voice in her head interrupted her train of thoughts, forcing her to acknowledge that he *had* remembered an extremely important detail about her. One she ought to have been grateful for. Geez, she was sounding more and more like Luna every day.
"Sure Lina," Gourry was saying as her mind returned to the present conversation. "You just keep on thinking, I'll just keep watching for when you don't think enough about *you* to stay out of trouble."
/Dammit!/ Now *Gourry* was sounding like Luna. What next? Lina felt herself blush. Why did he have to keep *doing* that?! Acting all... protective and stuff... acting like... like... some sort of hero... Or something.
Acting like... well... Gourry.
'Feed a dog for three days and you get used to him', her own words came back to her mockingly. Like it or not, Lina was quite used to the swordsman by now. He was... comfortable, she realized, like a broken-in pair of boots or a nice warm cloak - easily taken for granted until you're faced with the daunting task of finding a replacement. She thought back to the times when he had been injured while helping her, when Phibrizzo had taken him from her... when she had awoken in his arms, with no memory of anything beyond speaking the words of the Giga Slave on a day when all hope seemed lost... and clobbering him afterwards because it had appeared that they, that she... because being in his arms had felt... No. What she remembered feeling was guilt, after hearing from her companions later how he had braved the Sea of Chaos to save her... ...the mental picture of him scaling the very sky itself rather than lose her... Gourry... ...not smart enough to realize, as Zel and Amelia had, that doing such a thing was impossible... And Lina wondered...
Could Gourry even be replaced at all?
The question flared brightly in her mind for just an instant before she reflexively forced it down, unanswered.
/What is wrong with me today?/ She looked at Gourry, paying the bill from his own collection of coins and a treacherous voice within her remarked that, all things considered, perhaps there really wasn't too much wrong with her at all.
/Shut up,/ thought Lina, not realizing that she was smiling.
Lina seemed totally recovered as she flitted from booth to booth in the town marketplace, her cloak flapping behind her in the wind like the wings of some darkly enchanted butterfly. But the wind, airy element that it was, could not be content with a scrap of fabric and raked its teasing fingers through the curtain of her cinnabar hair, sending it billowing out behind the young sorceress. It floated in her wake, a signal, a flaming standard finer than any silk banner, and Gourry, like any good soldier, followed it mindlessly.
It seemed like they had been here in this town for ages, but, when he thought about it, they'd only gotten here yesterday. And yet so much had happened since. That must be what made it seem longer.
This was something even he could understand, how sadness seemed to stay, while the happiness found in beautiful things, in beautiful moments like this, when Lina's hair caught so much sunlight it seemed to blaze with a light all its own... these moments never seemed to last.
Tearing his eyes away was not so easy, but duty made it easier. He scanned the crowd, instead of Lina's entrancing brightness, alert to any danger towards her. When nothing initially seemed wrong he took a breath and let it out slowly in relief, unclenching his half-gloved hands. Despite the excitement of this morning, Lina didn't seem to be attracting more than her usual interest. A few people did give her more than a second glance, but he had gradually come to realize that it was normal around her - that he was not the only one to be distracted by the fiery brilliance of her hair, drawn to it like a hapless moth.
But of all of those who stopped to look that day, beneath his stillness Gourry was the one most aflutter.
Such a thing to say about a man, but it was true - she made him feel things that took away what little sense he'd held claim to, and that was before...
Before.
/I can't believe I thought she was a kid./ The swordsman rubbed the back of his head in bemusement as he watched Lina stop at a clothing vendor's. A kid. No one could call her a kid after seeing... /No./ ...her small, neat figure... ...well-proportioned... /Uh uh./ ...not flat!... /Quiet!/ ...painted in hues of cinnamon and cream... /No, don't think...!/ Too late.
The tall blonde clenched his teeth stoically against a wave of substantial... approval. Gourry wasn't sure how he knew it, but at that moment he felt sure that someone, somewhere was having a hell of a laugh at his expense. For somewhere along the way he'd lost his heart to the 'kid' he'd seen face down a bandit gang... Only to find she was not a kid, but a powerful sorceress. Only to find that while that self-same sorceress had mind-boggling power at her command, she was not ready for the power she had over him, stronger than any magic.
The power of her heart.
Whatever Lina looked like - whatever the secrets of her changing body hidden under that huge cloak, those ridiculous shoulder-guards and a silly yellow band - she was not ready yet. Not for the kind of feelings he wished he could show her.
Her idea of expressing affection left bruises that took several days to fade, and the way she returned any tenderness he showed reminded him of the time he'd tried to give the neighbour's cat a bath. Yes, he could remember that far back, thank-you-very-much. Some things left unforgettable impressions.
Lina was one of them.
He saw her turn away from the clothier's at last, a small bundle tucked under her arm.
"Hey, Lina!" he beamed, "what have you got there?"
"New PJs," said the sorceress, grinning with acquisitive joy, then making a face, "that nightgown Amelia gave me, I guess there wasn't really anything worth saving."
Gourry nodded in embarrassed agreement, not really wanting to bring up such a painful subject. "Ummm, yeah, not really..."
The petite red-head before him went from a flash instant of razor bright anguish into a manic segue of extreme bi-polar glee. "Good! I didn't really like it that much," she told him confidingly, lowering her voice to a comical stage whisper, "but I didn't want to hurt her feelings. So now she's happy, and I'm happy!" She held up the articles of clothing in question, bright blue with little stars. "Aren't they cute?"
"Ummm, sure Lina, they're cute - they kinda remind me of what I see whenever you hit me."
Just for that she did hit him, making him stumble with the force of her blow and the element of surprise. Gourry could have sworn an entire galaxy was swirling around his head, on the threshold of total destruction.
"Yup, just like those stars..." He said dazedly.
No question, Lina was definitely back to normal.
Or as close to normal as she ever got.