Brushed

I certainly make no claim to Kanzaka's characters, and just like playing with them, gaining nothing but a release of thoughts in my head.

**********************************************************************************

Swisssh, swisssh went the brush through Gourry's long, silken, yellow hair as Lina groomed him in their room at Amelia's palace. That is to say, Amelia's and Zel's palace, soon to be that couple's child's as well. Brushing each others hair in the morning and evening was a daily ritual each looked forward to. The steady rhythm and gentle, extended pressure caused an almost meditative state in both brusher and brushee. Goodness only knows how Lina needed that to bank her personal fires. It gave Gourry a feeling of peace and wholeness he had never imagined he'd have after fleeing his home with the Sword of Light.

(In the early days of their sleeping together, one morning they had awoken to find their long hair had knotted them together in their sleep. It took such a long time to separate the strands, that they were very late to breakfast, causing Amelia innocently to comment,

"Goodness! I've never known you two to be late for a meal!"

It didn't help Lina's embarrassment that Gourry responded, "We were very knotty this morning."

Zel snidely muttering "I bet you were!" made things even worse. Gourry had to quickly grab a doughnut and stuff it in Lina's mouth to prevent her from firing off a spell. The confection also distracted her from pounding her husband and Zelgadis into hamburger.

After that, when it was time to sleep, they braided each others hair.)

Gourry had moved a chair to sit in a patch of sun. His face had the most contented expression. Lina laughed softly in pleasure at the beauty of it and his angelic tresses glinting in the intense light.

After a final stroke, she wrapped her arms around his neck and briefly nuzzled him, before leaning forward and putting her cheek on his. "My turn, Jellyfish." she purred and handed him the brush.

Kissing her fingers, he stood up, and she cheerfully plunked herself down on the chair. Admiring for the umpteenth time her fiery hair sparkling in the sunlight, Gourry undid her braid.

"Nope," Gourry reflected all of a sudden, "Nothing's changed our lifestyle since we got married, but we're certainly are more comfortable with each other. I hope it always stays like this. But I guess Amelia and Zel are in for some big changes." He lifted some strands of her hair and began his ministrations.

"Yeah, Gourry. I think having kids changes a lot of things. We've got it good right now. It'll be interesting, though, to see what their baby will look like, having a mix of human mother and chimera father. I hope the mixture of species works for the kid."

"Huh?"

Well, you know sometimes it doesn't. You know what you get with a mother horse and donkey father?"

"A big hay bill?"

Lina turned her head and torso to glare at him, "No, mush head! What they get when they mate successfully."

"Eh, oh, you mean a mule?"

"Yeah. It may be strong. smart, and tough, but it can't breed. No little mules."

"That's sad."

"Could be bad for Seyruun if Amelia's royal line ends with her child, although I hear she has an older sister adventuring out there in the world. But at least we know a humanoid chimera and human can produce." Her mind spun off on another tangent. "I've heard there's no problem either with elves and humans. Don't know about a dragon and human, since dragons are egg layers. Would a human female lay an egg or a female dragon have a fully formed baby pop out?" Lina mused.

The swordsman paused in his brushing and admiration of Lina's hair. "A dragon in human form has all the plumbing of a human, and would produce a baby in the human way. While she's carrying the baby, a female dragon in human form couldn't transform, though. The transformation would kill the baby," Gourry replied softly and matter-of-factly and resumed brushing. "The female human would just have a baby the usual human way. The kid would have no problem reproducing."

Lina scoffed, "Dear, how the heck do you know that? You've never showed any interest in being a biologist."

"Hey, you know I'm strictly straight, not bi-anything," he responded in a slightly hurt and indignant tone. "Anyway, that's what my granny told me."

"That's kind of a weird thing to tell a kid. Even weirder that you remember. How the heck did that topic of conversation ever come up with you, of all people?"

"My brother asked her about family history. Something to do with a granny riding a dragon and using the Sword of Light to save Sairaag. I dunno. Hey, there's the signal breakfast is ready! Man, I hope they have those good doughnuts again!" He dropped the brush on the dresser and, grabbing Lina's hand, dashed for the door.

Thought of food wiped any further questions and the conversation from Lina's mind as she raced her husband to the breakfast room. During breakfast, Amelia's water broke, and the excitement further drove the discussion from her mind. Gourry, of course, never gave it a second thought. For him, the past was just the past and never as important as the present.

**********************************************************************************

A couple I knew both had very long hair that knotted them together one night, and they resolved thereafter to braid their hair before sleeping.

In an interview, Kanzaka surprised me by revealing the ancestor who had saved Sairaag with the Sword of Light was a woman who rode on a dragon, and said dragon was her male companion. Fans had been assuming the ancestor was a man for a long time, although the riding of the dragon I think was mentioned in the novels. The nature of their relationship wasn't clear and up for speculation.. It could have been like Milgasia and Memphis or like Lina and Gourry.