Wishing You Were Somewhere Else Again
By Snugglekitty, a.k.a. Yezo the Yellow Priest(ess)
Disclaimer: Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia are owned by the guy who created Slayers. Everyone else is owned by Gaston Leroux. Everyone I use in this story, I do so without permission, but that's okay, since no one's giving me money for this. [Irritated grumble.]
Chapter 1
"Oooh, I'm so HUNGRY!" Lina Inverse, petite red-headed sorcery genius extraordinaire whined with special fervour. "The food those guys gave us wasn't enough to feed ME, let alone enough to share with the rest of you-"
"But Miss Lina," Amelia Wil Teslea Seyruun piped up timidly, gingerly fingering a long, shallow cut extending across her forehead, "you didn't share with the rest of us. When I tried to take a piece of bread, you attacked me with a fork!"
Lina, ignoring her small, disgruntled companion, continued.
"-and I had to threaten those two with certain death-by-fireball to get even that!"
Zelgadis Greywords sighed, moving across the room to a large window surrounded by draperies of rich green velvet, and stared out moodily.
"Lina, I sincerely doubt that Andre and Firmin even believed you."
"Yeah," Amelia agreed, "they probably just thought you were a harmless lunatic."
"Harmless?!" Lina shrieked incredulously. "Harmless! I'll show you just how 'harmless' I can be!"
Amelia, reading her own certain doom in the hunger-addled sorceress's eyes, backed away nervously.
"Oh, stop it, Lina," Zelgadis admonished, barring Lina's advance on the smaller girl with an outstretched arm. "This situation is far from ideal in all our minds, and putting one of us in the hospital is not going to help matters any."
"Yeah, Lina. And anyway, I'm sure they'll bring us more food if we ask for it," Gourry Gabriev, silent until now, suggested. Lina's eyes lit up noticeably, into their ruby depths flashing into a glow that her three companions recognized immediately as a sure sign of trouble in the offing.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, Gourry," she began, a sly smile overtaking her features, "but I like the way you think."
"You.do?" Gourry started in surprise at this unexpected admission.
"Sure! If I prove to our kindly hosts that I can, in fact, fireball them into next year, they'll be more than willing to supply us with more food in return for their safety!"
"Oh, Miss Lina," Amelia protested, "that's hardly fair on them. They were, after all, nice enough to give us shelter until this storm passes, and an amount of food that already must have cost a small fortune. Won't we seem ungrateful if we demand more food instead of thanking them for what they already gave us?"
"Hey, I know! We could thank them, and then demand more food!" Gourry suggested proudly.
Zelgadis sighed, then turned to Amelia.
"If I were you, Amelia, I wouldn't worry about the financial state of our good hosts Firmin and Andre. They were dressed pretty pretentiously, and I don't know if you've seen the insides of their offices, but the furnishings don't exactly suggest a thrifty nature in either of them."
Lina nodded.
"Zel's right, Amelia, and you're hungry, aren't you?"
"Well.I suppose so, but."
"Don't worry! We'll pay them for our food and lodging when we leave," Lina assured her.
"Well.I suppose, if we pay them, it's alright, but we should ask more nicely. After all, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," Amelia finished, nodding. Lina rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that's great if you wanna catch flies, but I'd rather get some food. Look, kid, I've been around a bit more than you, and while being polite and all may make you friends, using a bit of force to back it up will get you better results faster."
"In her own way, I believe Lina's making a valid point," Zelgadis commented, shrugging. Amelia was spared from replying as a soft knock sounded on the door and a young, dark-haired girl walked in.
"Good evening, everyone," she greeted them in a soft voice, smiling shyly. "My! Monsieur Firmin was right! You certainly are a strange bunch," she continued, inquiring as curiosity overcame shyness, "So, who are all of you?"
"I'm Lina Inverse," Lina told her flatly, awaiting the usual reaction of "What?! The Dragon-Spooker?!" that usually came when she revealed her identity.
Her surprise, therefore, was rather great when the girl only nodded and commented,
"That's an interesting name." Then she turned to Gourry. "And what's your name?"
"I'm Gourry Gabriev," he replied, shaking her hand heartily. "And who are you?"
"I'm Meg Giry. I'm one of the dancers for this place," she explained.
Gourry nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, Meg."
"Likewise, Mr. Gabriev," she replied with a smile, then turned to Amelia. "And who are you, dear?"
"My name's Amelia Wil Teslea Seyruun," the small girl replied, smiling politely. She turned to where Zelgadis was planted by a large window, watching the torrents of rain pour down as one hypnotized. "Mr. Zelgadis?" she ventured. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"
"Hmm?" Zelgadis shook himself from his thoughts. "Oh, yes. I'm Zelgadis Greywords. It's nice to meet you, Meg."
Thus saying, Zelgadis turned back to the window. For a moment, Meg stared, somewhat taken aback by the purple metallic cast of the man's hair, and the blue hue and distinctly rocky-looking texture of the skin of his hands. 'However,' she decided resolutely, 'it is probably neither the time, nor the place, to ask about it. Perhaps Amelia can be induced to explain later on...' Glancing up, and finally becoming aware that she had been silent for some moments now, Meg, grinned wryly, commenting softly to Amelia,
"Your friend's a real social butterfly, I take it."
"Zel? Oh, don't worry about him. He doesn't like people very much," Lina informed her, overhearing. From the window, drifted the retort,
"Well, maybe I'd like people a little more if they weren't all such idiots."
"Ah. I think I understand," Meg nodded. "Oh, yes," she continued. "Monsieur Firmin asked me to see you all to your rooms."
"Ooh! Can we have more food, too?" Lina cut in excitedly. Meg raised an eyebrow, her expression uneasy.
"I'll.have to ask Monsieur Firmin about that. I'll do that once you're all settled for the night." Lina nodded her satisfaction.
"Now," Meg continued, "we have three rooms, and so you'll have to decide on rooming arrangements. Would you girls each like your own room, or would you like to share and let the gentlemen each have a room to themselves?"
Amelia shrugged.
"Any preference, 'gentlemen?'" Lina inquired, winking at Gourry.
"Well," Gourry replied, winking back, "being the gentlemen that we are, we should probably let you ladies have rooms to yourselves. Don't you agree, Zelgadis?"
Zelgadis, still planted by the window, turned slightly and shrugged.
"Why do I get the distinct feeling that they're making fun of me?" Meg muttered aside to Amelia. The young traveller patted the dancer's shoulder consolingly.
"Don't worry about it. They do it to me all the time," she assured her.
"Lucky you," Meg replied with a sympathetic smile.
"Actually," Amelia amended, "they do it to everyone."
"Uh, Meg?" Lina spoke up. "I think Amelia and I will share a room. After all, I don't think two nice, defenceless young ladies like us should be left alone." Another wink at Gourry.
Meg sighed.
"They're doing it again," she informed Amelia, a hint of irritation in her voice, then turned to Lina and said brightly, "Well, then, let's be off!"
She led the group of weary travellers from the room and down a long, dimly lit, grandly, if rather gloomily, decorated hallway.
"This is where you two will be staying," Meg announced, leading Lina and Amelia into a smallish room with two narrow cots, one in either corner opposite the door.
Other than these cots, the furnishings were rather sparse. There was a dressing-table and mirror next to the door, a dresser in front of each bed, and a night-table with an oil lamp and a wash basin between the two beds. Centered between the two cots was a large window, and the rain pattered ceaselessly against the glass.
That's gonna drive me nuts before the night's through, Lina reflected wryly. Good thing Amelia snores so loudly. Maybe that'll cancel it out.
If Miss Lina didn't snore so loudly, that rain would become annoying quickly, Amelia reflected with a small smile.
Why are they both being so quiet? Meg wondered uneasily. Am I going to get out of this alive? Why, oh, why did I leave my room after nightfall to investigate the cause of the ruckus? Nothing good has ever come of it before. Why did I never learn before? Why-
"Ahem.Meg?" A slightly annoyed Zelgadis put an effective end to her internal rant.
"Yes, Mr. Greywords?" she replied cheerily. Zelgadis sighed.
"Are you going to show Gourry and I where we're supposed to be now?"
"What?!" Lina burst in, in mock surprise. "You boys aren't staying in here with us? But we'd have so much FUN, wouldn't we, Amelia?"
"Oh, yes!" the princess exclaimed, continuing along the older girl's vein. "We could have a sleepover party! We could do each other's make-up, and talk about boys, and have a taffy pull, and tell each other our deepest, darkest secrets!"
Meg giggled.
"Well, even if the boys don't want to join in, could I come to the sleepover?"
"Sure! The more, the merrier!" Lina proclaimed. Amelia jumped up and down, clapping her hands and squealing giddily. Zeldagis sighed once more. Gourry ginned.
"Are you beginning to have serious concerns about their mental state, too?" he inquired sympathetically. Zelgadis snorted.
"[Beginning] to have serious concerns?" he repeated incredulously.
Gourry chuckled as Meg, waving a cheery goodbye to the girls and promising to return later with lots and lots of chocolate, stepped nimbly between the two men and set off down the hallway. After calling a final good-night to Lina and Amelia, Gourry and Zelgadis exited the room, Gourry shoving the door closed with his foot behind them, and followed after the bobbing circle of light emanating from Meg's oil lamp.
By Snugglekitty, a.k.a. Yezo the Yellow Priest(ess)
Disclaimer: Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia are owned by the guy who created Slayers. Everyone else is owned by Gaston Leroux. Everyone I use in this story, I do so without permission, but that's okay, since no one's giving me money for this. [Irritated grumble.]
Chapter 1
"Oooh, I'm so HUNGRY!" Lina Inverse, petite red-headed sorcery genius extraordinaire whined with special fervour. "The food those guys gave us wasn't enough to feed ME, let alone enough to share with the rest of you-"
"But Miss Lina," Amelia Wil Teslea Seyruun piped up timidly, gingerly fingering a long, shallow cut extending across her forehead, "you didn't share with the rest of us. When I tried to take a piece of bread, you attacked me with a fork!"
Lina, ignoring her small, disgruntled companion, continued.
"-and I had to threaten those two with certain death-by-fireball to get even that!"
Zelgadis Greywords sighed, moving across the room to a large window surrounded by draperies of rich green velvet, and stared out moodily.
"Lina, I sincerely doubt that Andre and Firmin even believed you."
"Yeah," Amelia agreed, "they probably just thought you were a harmless lunatic."
"Harmless?!" Lina shrieked incredulously. "Harmless! I'll show you just how 'harmless' I can be!"
Amelia, reading her own certain doom in the hunger-addled sorceress's eyes, backed away nervously.
"Oh, stop it, Lina," Zelgadis admonished, barring Lina's advance on the smaller girl with an outstretched arm. "This situation is far from ideal in all our minds, and putting one of us in the hospital is not going to help matters any."
"Yeah, Lina. And anyway, I'm sure they'll bring us more food if we ask for it," Gourry Gabriev, silent until now, suggested. Lina's eyes lit up noticeably, into their ruby depths flashing into a glow that her three companions recognized immediately as a sure sign of trouble in the offing.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this, Gourry," she began, a sly smile overtaking her features, "but I like the way you think."
"You.do?" Gourry started in surprise at this unexpected admission.
"Sure! If I prove to our kindly hosts that I can, in fact, fireball them into next year, they'll be more than willing to supply us with more food in return for their safety!"
"Oh, Miss Lina," Amelia protested, "that's hardly fair on them. They were, after all, nice enough to give us shelter until this storm passes, and an amount of food that already must have cost a small fortune. Won't we seem ungrateful if we demand more food instead of thanking them for what they already gave us?"
"Hey, I know! We could thank them, and then demand more food!" Gourry suggested proudly.
Zelgadis sighed, then turned to Amelia.
"If I were you, Amelia, I wouldn't worry about the financial state of our good hosts Firmin and Andre. They were dressed pretty pretentiously, and I don't know if you've seen the insides of their offices, but the furnishings don't exactly suggest a thrifty nature in either of them."
Lina nodded.
"Zel's right, Amelia, and you're hungry, aren't you?"
"Well.I suppose so, but."
"Don't worry! We'll pay them for our food and lodging when we leave," Lina assured her.
"Well.I suppose, if we pay them, it's alright, but we should ask more nicely. After all, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar," Amelia finished, nodding. Lina rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that's great if you wanna catch flies, but I'd rather get some food. Look, kid, I've been around a bit more than you, and while being polite and all may make you friends, using a bit of force to back it up will get you better results faster."
"In her own way, I believe Lina's making a valid point," Zelgadis commented, shrugging. Amelia was spared from replying as a soft knock sounded on the door and a young, dark-haired girl walked in.
"Good evening, everyone," she greeted them in a soft voice, smiling shyly. "My! Monsieur Firmin was right! You certainly are a strange bunch," she continued, inquiring as curiosity overcame shyness, "So, who are all of you?"
"I'm Lina Inverse," Lina told her flatly, awaiting the usual reaction of "What?! The Dragon-Spooker?!" that usually came when she revealed her identity.
Her surprise, therefore, was rather great when the girl only nodded and commented,
"That's an interesting name." Then she turned to Gourry. "And what's your name?"
"I'm Gourry Gabriev," he replied, shaking her hand heartily. "And who are you?"
"I'm Meg Giry. I'm one of the dancers for this place," she explained.
Gourry nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, Meg."
"Likewise, Mr. Gabriev," she replied with a smile, then turned to Amelia. "And who are you, dear?"
"My name's Amelia Wil Teslea Seyruun," the small girl replied, smiling politely. She turned to where Zelgadis was planted by a large window, watching the torrents of rain pour down as one hypnotized. "Mr. Zelgadis?" she ventured. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"
"Hmm?" Zelgadis shook himself from his thoughts. "Oh, yes. I'm Zelgadis Greywords. It's nice to meet you, Meg."
Thus saying, Zelgadis turned back to the window. For a moment, Meg stared, somewhat taken aback by the purple metallic cast of the man's hair, and the blue hue and distinctly rocky-looking texture of the skin of his hands. 'However,' she decided resolutely, 'it is probably neither the time, nor the place, to ask about it. Perhaps Amelia can be induced to explain later on...' Glancing up, and finally becoming aware that she had been silent for some moments now, Meg, grinned wryly, commenting softly to Amelia,
"Your friend's a real social butterfly, I take it."
"Zel? Oh, don't worry about him. He doesn't like people very much," Lina informed her, overhearing. From the window, drifted the retort,
"Well, maybe I'd like people a little more if they weren't all such idiots."
"Ah. I think I understand," Meg nodded. "Oh, yes," she continued. "Monsieur Firmin asked me to see you all to your rooms."
"Ooh! Can we have more food, too?" Lina cut in excitedly. Meg raised an eyebrow, her expression uneasy.
"I'll.have to ask Monsieur Firmin about that. I'll do that once you're all settled for the night." Lina nodded her satisfaction.
"Now," Meg continued, "we have three rooms, and so you'll have to decide on rooming arrangements. Would you girls each like your own room, or would you like to share and let the gentlemen each have a room to themselves?"
Amelia shrugged.
"Any preference, 'gentlemen?'" Lina inquired, winking at Gourry.
"Well," Gourry replied, winking back, "being the gentlemen that we are, we should probably let you ladies have rooms to yourselves. Don't you agree, Zelgadis?"
Zelgadis, still planted by the window, turned slightly and shrugged.
"Why do I get the distinct feeling that they're making fun of me?" Meg muttered aside to Amelia. The young traveller patted the dancer's shoulder consolingly.
"Don't worry about it. They do it to me all the time," she assured her.
"Lucky you," Meg replied with a sympathetic smile.
"Actually," Amelia amended, "they do it to everyone."
"Uh, Meg?" Lina spoke up. "I think Amelia and I will share a room. After all, I don't think two nice, defenceless young ladies like us should be left alone." Another wink at Gourry.
Meg sighed.
"They're doing it again," she informed Amelia, a hint of irritation in her voice, then turned to Lina and said brightly, "Well, then, let's be off!"
She led the group of weary travellers from the room and down a long, dimly lit, grandly, if rather gloomily, decorated hallway.
"This is where you two will be staying," Meg announced, leading Lina and Amelia into a smallish room with two narrow cots, one in either corner opposite the door.
Other than these cots, the furnishings were rather sparse. There was a dressing-table and mirror next to the door, a dresser in front of each bed, and a night-table with an oil lamp and a wash basin between the two beds. Centered between the two cots was a large window, and the rain pattered ceaselessly against the glass.
That's gonna drive me nuts before the night's through, Lina reflected wryly. Good thing Amelia snores so loudly. Maybe that'll cancel it out.
If Miss Lina didn't snore so loudly, that rain would become annoying quickly, Amelia reflected with a small smile.
Why are they both being so quiet? Meg wondered uneasily. Am I going to get out of this alive? Why, oh, why did I leave my room after nightfall to investigate the cause of the ruckus? Nothing good has ever come of it before. Why did I never learn before? Why-
"Ahem.Meg?" A slightly annoyed Zelgadis put an effective end to her internal rant.
"Yes, Mr. Greywords?" she replied cheerily. Zelgadis sighed.
"Are you going to show Gourry and I where we're supposed to be now?"
"What?!" Lina burst in, in mock surprise. "You boys aren't staying in here with us? But we'd have so much FUN, wouldn't we, Amelia?"
"Oh, yes!" the princess exclaimed, continuing along the older girl's vein. "We could have a sleepover party! We could do each other's make-up, and talk about boys, and have a taffy pull, and tell each other our deepest, darkest secrets!"
Meg giggled.
"Well, even if the boys don't want to join in, could I come to the sleepover?"
"Sure! The more, the merrier!" Lina proclaimed. Amelia jumped up and down, clapping her hands and squealing giddily. Zeldagis sighed once more. Gourry ginned.
"Are you beginning to have serious concerns about their mental state, too?" he inquired sympathetically. Zelgadis snorted.
"[Beginning] to have serious concerns?" he repeated incredulously.
Gourry chuckled as Meg, waving a cheery goodbye to the girls and promising to return later with lots and lots of chocolate, stepped nimbly between the two men and set off down the hallway. After calling a final good-night to Lina and Amelia, Gourry and Zelgadis exited the room, Gourry shoving the door closed with his foot behind them, and followed after the bobbing circle of light emanating from Meg's oil lamp.