AN: So this is set during the second novel, The Sorcerer of Atlas. If you are only familiar with the anime, Slayers NEXT based a series of episodes on it with the Atlas City Sorcerer's Guild feud. There are significant differences in the plot. The novels are a lot darker for one. Tarimu is also translated as Talim in the J-Novel translation. Given how long this wonderful novel is and how many plot twists there are it was a struggle with how much to include, especially as I did not want to re-write the whole thing. And this is the balance I came up with.
"So what are you wanting to see in Atlas City?" Gourry asked as he followed Lina through the unfamiliar sights.
"Well there's this restaurant, Chimes, that has a list of delicacies so renowned that its praises are sung all the way in Zefiel City, my home town!" Lina said as she held out her hand and started counting on her fingers, "And then there's Zumi's which supposedly has the best seafood in the kingdom, though some say that Guppy's is the best, so we're also going to have to eat there just to see for ourselves."
Gourry looked at her, "So you traveled all the way here for food?"
"What other reason would there be to travel all this way?" Lina asked as they turned the corner, "You may scoff but once they take the dinner plates away tell me that all this wasn't worth it."
Gourry opened his mouth to reply but felt the words flee as he saw a group of women in garish outfits standing on the corner, illuminated under the glow of a bright red lantern. Don't make eye contact! He thought in a panic as he tried to find something safer to look at, settling for the grimy street instead as he tried to ignore the sounds of solicitation and the smells of bad sex. Had Lina intended to take them to the Red Light District? Or had she merely taken a wrong turn in a strange city? He felt his face go flush as Lina continued to confidently walk down the sidewalk as he mumbled, "If the restaurant is on this street I think I'm just going to skip."
"Huh?" she said, and then she looked around and blushed as her hair stood on end, "I, um, think I took a wrong turn back there."
They turned around to leave and Gourry felt his face burn. Since he'd met Lina they had been in small towns and on the run from dangerous people and there hadn't been much time to dwell on sex much less the opportunity to have your face planted into the seedy side of it. And given how annoyed he had been with Lina at times it wasn't as if he even had a lot of urges at first. But now he was developing feelings that he had no idea how to act on and no clue if she would even be interested in reciprocating.
He looked at Lina and felt a wave of tension and desire that was overwhelming as he yearned to touch her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and tore his eyes off her and wondered if it would really be so bad if he did make a move and give into his desires. It seemed as if everyone else he'd met had. Even before he'd left home he'd been teased for being chaste and had people make pointed observations on his sexuality. He thought of what people would think if they knew he was traveling with a young woman but keeping separate rooms and…
He couldn't worry about how this would look. People who are focused on projecting a certain image miss the mark on doing an actual good job. He saw it all of the time with inept swordsmen who thought that wielding a weapon well involved striking a cool pose and laughed disdainfully when asked to practice meditating or other exercises to build focus, concentration and emotional control. While it was tempting to rush the process, being a good swordsman involved a lot of patience. It wasn't something to rush.
Grandmother had said it was the same with a good relationship. Take it slow. Never sleep with a girl you aren't prepared to support. It sounded easy as a child. But as he grew into manhood he realized just how difficult it was. Very, very difficult.
He took a deep breath as they left the Red Light District. For once Lina was quiet. It seemed as if embarrassment had dampened her garrulous nature. But he wanted the distraction. Because thinking about how to build the relationship he wanted to have with Lina always led him to the stark realization that he had no idea how to do it. When he was training to be a swordsman he had masters to consult with. But he had no one now to teach him how to do this. How to be supportive, flirty or even sexual without being sleazy.
He knew all too well how to be sleazy. Gunther had embodied sleaze and even in his time as a mercenary Gourry had met few people who rivaled Gunther. Gourry had vowed not to be like him, but who could he be like? Grandfather had died before he was born so he'd never seen the happy relationship he had built with Grandmother. And while Father had a functional relationship with Mother, it was also a cold one that Gourry also feared recreating.
He thought of the man with the long, black hair, who mentioned having a wife he loved and two daughters. While he knew plenty of men like him, he had only ever seen the end result of their efforts. How those men started them was a mystery to him. He wondered what sort of advice the man with the long, black hair would give him.
He glanced at Lina and instantly regretted it. She did look cute with her face slightly flushed. There had to be something less stimulating to look at! Because the desire to rush things took ahold once more! For all he knew the man with the long, black hair might have quickly gotten involved with his wife. Perhaps he was overthinking this and should do what came naturally to him, and his impulses were currently screaming at him to grab Lina and kiss her.
Until he thought of how she would likely punch him into next week if he did. Sure, she was traveling with him. She seemed to care what he thought of her. But did that mean she really wanted him? And how could he find out without getting hurt?
It was easier with Sylphiel. He knew it would have been unthinkable to even so much as kiss her without a promise of engagement and a blessing from her father. And to secure that blessing there would have been coded statements he could present to her that she could decline gracefully and give him a respectful out that would blunt the pain of rejection. A life with Sylphiel would have involved a lot of rules but those rules would have allowed him to save face somewhat even if he had little confidence that those rules would be enough to save them from the destruction the Sword of Light would bring.
Lina's life afforded her freedoms that Sylphiel's did not. And because of that he could share his life with Lina in a way that he could not with Sylphiel. But it also meant that there were no rules and no roadmap for him to follow when it came to physical intimacy. All he knew was either the strictly regulated courtship rituals or a sleazy seduction. He had no idea how to navigate a romantic relationship without either of those formats and no teacher to guide the way.
"Oh, that looks good!" Lina commented as they passed a marquee that was advertising a play, some sort of comedy from what Gourry could determine. "We should have enough time to grab a bite to eat and catch this afterwards. Whaddaya think?"
That this is really starting to feel like a date, Gourry thought as he could feel his ears heat and he hoped that she didn't notice. "Could be fun," he said, scared to sound too interested. Especially since they did end up paying for their own tickets.
And as it turned out, he did end up having a lot of fun. In fact he could hardly recall the last time he had had as much fun. As he went to his room at the inn that night, his belly full with a good meal and wiping tears of laughter from his eyes as Lina kept re-enacting the funniest bits from the show, his head was spinning with exhilaration. So this was how much fun a life of travel could be with the right person!
"Night!" Lina said as she waved and went into her room. It wasn't until the door closed behind her that he wondered if he should have tried to hug or even kiss her. But then perhaps it was best that he hadn't. Yes, there was the drive within him that he felt would not be satisfied until he fell asleep beside her, but perhaps he needed to focus more on just enjoying his time with someone again without rushing things. Afterall, it wasn't as though he could settle down so long as he carried the Sword of Light. And after tonight he wasn't even sure why a settled, family life was so attractive when there was so much fun to be had traveling.
Gourry sat on the bed and took off his boots and found himself drawn to the sounds of Lina's movements in the room beside his. Wishful fantasies of hearing her walk to the door and coming into his room wearing nothing but a thin nightie dazzled his mind. It would be so much easier if she did that. Then he wouldn't feel bad about losing control when he took her to his bed.
His head hit the pillow, and instead of stewing in his resentments over all he had lost he was carried to sleep on a wave of the enticing potentials of what could be. And when he woke the following morning to Lina knocking at his door he realized it had even infected his dreams.
Once more he had dreamt of sitting on a porch with a woman dressed in white. Only this time he knew the woman in the dream. It was Lina. But before they got to the part where they were in the bedroom he was woken. It was with a mix of emotions that he was pulled from the dream. Annoyance for once. He had wanted to get to the fun part. But mainly relief. Surely if Lina was in his dream, then that had to mean something good. It had to have meant that he had finally found the right woman.
"Come on, Gourry, let's get going, I'm starving!" Lina said in her exaggerated fashion.
Gourry brushed the hair from his face as he sat up in bed, "Go on down, I'm going to need a minute."
Lina sighed, "And they say women take forever to get ready."
He smiled to himself as he heard her footsteps walk away. Since they had started traveling together it had been one of the easier things to get used to. Waking up to her knock on the door, eager to see him at breakfast. It gave him a flicker of hope that she liked him for more than the Sword of Light. Another thing he enjoyed was the fact that he shared his meals with someone rather than eating alone. It was fun to eat with Lina. She was easy to talk to and joke with and he didn't spend half of the meal cringing over how she treated the waitress the way he did while he was eating with other mercenaries. And then if the food fights got a little physical, well, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed it quite a bit when she would end up pressed against him as she stole the last sausage from his plate.
He also loved the fact that his days were now filled with sightseeing and shows. He never bothered to enjoy the places he traveled through. He never felt as though he deserved to. But while a good meal was the main motive for Lina's travels she also enjoyed seeing the local attractions and taking in a sporting event or a comedy. And it was decidedly more enjoyable than ruminating about the things he could not change as he stewed in his resentment over the Sword of Light as he wandered from town to town.
And he couldn't help but think that Grandmother would be glad that he was enjoying this time. She wouldn't have wanted him to be as miserable as he had been. But he'd been unable to see how he could possibly be happy so long as he was tethered to the Sword of Light. Until now.
But it was hardly all fun and games. Gourry had been right that Lina was one to stick her nose into trouble and despite the fact that Lina had said that after slaying Shabranigdu they weren't going to take any jobs and enjoy themselves for awhile, they soon found themselves in knee deep and accepting a job as Talim's bodyguards.
Several things troubled Gourry. The first was Lina's rather confrontational style. The reason they'd gotten into the whole mess was because they wanted a peaceful way to get out of a bar fight Lina had started when she had hit Lantz with a tray for grabbing her butt. And while Gourry did have to concede that he'd never been subjected to such an indignity, he also felt there had to be a more peaceful way to resolve the situation. Granted, through the years he had had to conclude, reluctantly, that there were times you just had to take a firm stand with your fists, but it never sat well with him. Despite his life as a mercenary he held on to the idealistic hope that more peaceful means should be exhausted first before swinging with your fists.
And idea that Gourry realized would be severely tested by Rod, who was obviously looking for a reason to spar with him. And not a friendly fight. Rod had seen straight through Gourry's attempts to minimize his skills by playing the idiot and hadn't been afraid to let him know. Rod didn't want an ally. He wanted another enemy to conquer and the only thing holding him back was the fact that they were both working for Talim, and Gourry's attempts to find some spark of warmth within him to build a bridge with were going nowhere fast.
The other thing that bothered Gourry was how he had let himself get carried away by having a bit too much to drink. Sure, if the reports of people around him were to be trusted, Gourry's ability to fight wasn't compromised when he was drunk. If those reports were to be trusted. Because Gourry had to trust those reports because he had no memory of what would happen after he got drunk. And while he was typically happy to play the idiot, actually not remembering things disturbed him. Especially if those things included a couple of Mazoku making threats.
Usually Gourry was more mindful of how much he drank as a result. But it appeared as though his resolve on many issues was being tested. He was fighting off his urges for Lina all the damn time now! He simply couldn't resist the allure of the delicious food and wine. Being with Lina was pushing him to his limits. And as exhilarating as it was, it also scared him.
But now there was a job to do. To get to the bottom of what was happening with the Mazoku they would have to be bodyguards for Talim. And while Gourry wasn't sure if it was a good thing that they were doing this, he also couldn't deny that he had walked into it. Hadn't the reason he'd decided to travel with Lina been to find a meaningful use of the Sword of Light?
It wasn't long after accepting the job that his differences in style with Lina came into play. While he and Lina were scouting Talim's house to better understand how to defend him they ran into Lantz. And while Lantz may have been a perv, the facts of the matter were that they were all working for Talim now and things would go a lot more smoothly if they could all get along.
But Lina's confrontational nature was making that difficult. And part of him appreciated it. He realized that her bullheaded tendency to get to the bottom of the matter meant that she would be more likely to find herself in challenging situations then him, who tended to live and let live where he could. So he let a lot of it slide and appreciated the fact that she had strengths that he lacked.
But as he watched as the discourse between her and Lantz sank lower and lower he realized he was going to have to change the dynamic somehow. "She's right." Gourry said before he could think better of it, "If you don't work on fixing your personality you'll end up like Lina here."
Lina's head smacked the banister of the staircase, and Gourry realized instantly that if he was planning on winning her heart this would not be the best way to do it. "Dammit, Gourry, whose side are you on?" she asked.
"Well, you don't think of yourself as a sweet, lovable person, do you?" he asked, glad at least that he had defused the growing tension between Lina and Lantz.
"Lay off!" she said as she folded her arms under her breasts.
Gourry took a breath. Whatever damage he'd wrought with Lina could be fixed later. Now was the time to use this sacrifice to mend things a bit with Lantz, get him on their side and then hopefully work up to Rod. If it was possible to reach Rod. "Anyway, Lantz, it seems as though you're upset that Master Talim likes us and Rod approves of us and that we showed up out of the blue and were hired without proving ourselves, is that right?"
"Basically." He said sulkily.
"But you saw us beat Daymia's sorcerer." Lina interjected. Gourry wished she would pipe down. He was reaching him and she could derail the inroads he was making.
"Oh please. All you did was body chuck him into the mud. You weren't good, he was stupid." Lantz said.
Lina's forehead scrunched a bit and Gourry said quickly, "Why don't I show you a sample of what I can do."
He pulled his sword, and Lantz quickly put his hand on the handle of his own, "Why you…"
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to start something," Gourry said soothingly. Lantz relaxed. Gourry pulled out a coin and balanced it on his sword and took a moment to focus. And then he bisected it in two.
"Awesome!" Lantz proclaimed in genuine awe, and Gourry relaxed a little. One thing he had learned during his time as a mercenary was that it helped him tremendously to gain the respect of the other men quickly by demonstrating his skills. It was the best way to avoid the cruel torment such a rough crowd could dish out.
"You bastard!" Lina screamed as she slid down the banister and hit him.
For a moment he was too stunned to register what had happened. At first he'd wondered if she had underestimated her strength. They'd wrestled during plenty of food fights and it was easy to get carried away. But as she berated him for ruining a copper coin he realized that she really was angry. And he couldn't help but think that the loss of the copper coin was merely the straw that broke the camel's back.
While he appeased her by selling the coin to Lantz, he felt a horrible feeling in his stomach as he remembered how Mother had hit and punched him after Gunther had died as she screamed about how she'd wished it had been him. He'd wanted her to love him, to appreciate his gentle ways. She never did.
But surely with Lina, in time, it would be different!
At the end of the day he walked Lina to her room. Talim had given her a room of her own as she was the only woman on staff guarding him. Gourry didn't begrudge her for it one bit and felt a bit better knowing that she would be away from the other mercenaries. It would make things easier for both of them.
"Do you mind if I check your room first, security purposes?" he asked.
"You know I've been doing this on my own for some time," she said, but her lips turned up in a small smile and she held out the door for him anyway.
"It never hurts to have two sets of eyes." He said.
"That is true." She said as she stood in the doorway as he inspected her room, "With you around I can let my guard down. If but slightly."
Same, he thought, but he didn't want her to worry about him. "Well, I am your guardian." He paused for a moment and resisted the urge to explain that he was on her side but that he also had to appease the guys. But if he tried to explain that, what else would he have to explain? The torment that could befall a man of principle among such rough company? It was like what the man with the long, black hair had said. Never show your troubles to the girl you fall in love with. "It looks safe. Night, Lina."
"Night, Gourry."
"Of course the girl gets her own room." One of the guards muttered as he sat down on his bedroll.
Gourry put a blanket over his own bedroll tried to let it wash over him. Being crammed in like sardines with so many men was never pleasant and it went more smoothly if he didn't ruffle any feathers.
"She better not drag us down." Another one grumbled as Rod came in and the temperature in the room fell a few degrees as he locked eyes with Gourry. Gourry's stomach flipped. He could almost sense how Rod was scheming for a way to start a fight.
"I wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating the girl." Rod said, and while his tone was neutral enough Gourry couldn't help but feel that Rod was letting him know that he'd spent a lot of time sizing them up, "If half the things they say about her are true then she should not be treated lightly."
"Is that right?" one of the men asked as they looked at him, and Gourry wished that the spotlight were on someone else.
"Stick around long enough and you'll see." Gourry said as he laid down and hoped for the conversation to end before it veered into dangerous territory.
"And why aren't you in there with her?" one of them jeered.
Too late.
"Master Talim is paying us to protect him, not get cuddly." Gourry said as he hoped this would be the end of it.
"Exactly." Rod said coldly, "That's enough chatter for one night. If you're not on watch you'd best be sleeping until your shift begins."
"Yes, sir." Several of the men said, and Gourry thanked his lucky stars that even if he hadn't made an ally of Rod, at least in this case he was useful.
From the moment he was roused by Lina's cries of, "Wake up, it's an attack!" he was desperate to keep an eye on her. So far he had not exactly done an admirable job as her guardian and he wanted to fix that. At first their enemies, while innovative, weren't too difficult. But then Lina went charging out of the house chasing after a Mazoku.
Gourry wrestled with his conscience for a moment. They had been contracted to protect Talim. But he and Lina had only gotten involved to get to the bottom of what was going on with the Mazoku. And Rod and Lantz and the rest of the men were certainly capable of handling the homunculi. Lina, while powerful, up against not only one but potentially two Mazoku, would need his help more. And besides, if the Mazoku did intend to attack Talim then they both had every reason to be on the offense.
It didn't take long to find her, thankfully. And soon they were chasing Seigram through the city and to Daymia's mansion where Seigram disappeared. Gourry was ready to call it a loss and go back to Talim's to see if they could help there. But to Gourry's befuddlement he soon realized that Lina planned to go and pay Daymia a visit despite the late hour and suspicious nature of their appearance. And despite one more thing that bothered him.
"I gotta say, this feels like a trap." He stated.
"I know that, dammit!" Lina said, her voice a bit too loud for his taste, especially given that she had every intention of breaking into Daymia's place to track down Seigram. She was still ramped up from the fight and the chase through the city as she vented, "This is the trappiest trap that ever trapped! But if we don't spring it we'll never figure out what they're after!"
She had a point. And even though it wasn't his style, it was why he was traveling with her. So perhaps he should just bite his tongue and go along? Still, before they went charging into Daymia's she would have to calm down a bit. Before he could think better of it he moved towards her and put his hands on her shoulders to ground her. Or was that the excuse he was feeding himself? "Lina…" he said.
Her eyes widened. Was it in lust or panic? Did she yearn for him the way he wanted her? The thing that he had been planning to say, that sounded so good in his head, didn't quite come out right as he stated, "All this shouting in the middle of the night is going to bother the neighbors."
He had to get it together. This was not the time to be making moves or getting drunk or any of the other stupid things he'd been doing lately. They were, in of all places, Daymia's mansion, and if they were caught they would have a helluva time explaining this to the authorities. So he ignored the tension he felt every time he looked at Lina and focused on his surroundings.
Unfortunately he still ended up being caught off guard, but in his defense it was not because he was lusting over Lina. And further in his defense, he felt that most people in his position would have been as unprepared to meet someone as unhinged and insane as Daymia. So basically he hadn't noticed the trap door on the floor until it had been sprung.
Fear rose within him as he fell through the floor and he quickly held tight to the only person who could get him out of this alive: Lina. She knew magic to fly, he did not. There had been no ulterior motive, only panic and a desire to live. And if in retrospect he found that he had actually enjoyed it, well, who could blame him?
For many reasons, one being that her magic had failed her, it was a good thing that the water broke their fall. The shock knocked Lina out but for him it was bracing as he got them both safely to a nearby pillar. It was easy enough to get Lina breathing again with a few slaps on the back so he left her alone and tried to think about how to get out of wherever they were and not how good it had felt to touch her. Only it was rather hard to forget how good it felt. His hands charged with an electric sensation at the memory of how soft her hips actually were and a desire to feel more!
He tried to distract himself by focusing on his surroundings as she slept. But it was so dark that he couldn't see well and anything he did see was not terribly helpful. And he was cold and wet and kept thinking about how warm Lina would be if he snuggled next to her and…
She moaned. "You awake?" he asked.
"Yeah, hang on." She said as she chanted a light spell, allowing him to see a little bit. Mostly that they were in some large underground chamber that was flooded with water and sitting on one of five pillars that jutted out of the water. Gourry wasn't sure what to make of it, but she sighed, "Another rune breaker."
"What..?"
Lina gave an explanation about how the barriers weakened her magic, and the practical thing he took from it was that they would not be able to levitate out of there. They swapped ideas on how to get out of there briefly before Lina stood up, drawing his attention to how her clothes were wet and clinging to her body in so many enticing ways. "I guess we'd better do something about our clothes." He said as he quickly averted his eyes and hoped she didn't notice how his blushed in the poor light.
"Yeah, we'll catch cold at this rate." She said.
He grinned, saying before he could think better of it, "I think the thing to do in a situation like this is to strip and cuddle."
He regretted it the instant he said it. And not just because of the Fireball (admittedly, the super weakened one that merely dried his clothes and gave him one helluva fright) she sent his way. But because he was acting like Gunther. It was the sleazy sort of thing that Gunther would say. And the absolute worst timing. They were hardly in a safe situation. It was hardly the time to get romantic and cuddly! He needed to keep his mind on getting out of the basement safely, not copping a feel or indulging in his desires.
Especially as Lina had made it clear where the line was. While he did wonder if perhaps his timing had been better she might be a bit more receptive if they were in a warm, safe hotel room and not a cold enemy's lair, that was also the type of thing Gunther would say. He would back away and wait for her to show him when she was ready for more. No matter how long it took.
The remaining embers of doubt that Gourry had about Lina and her confrontational methods were smothered the moment he saw what became of Daymia the Blue. As a warrior he had seen a lot of horrible things in battle. But few approached the horror of being turned into a lump of flesh and organs to be devoured continuously by a snake and unable to find a release from the torment through death.
If there were beings in this world that could do that to a person, then Lina was right to tear through any door to stop them. And rather than questioning her methods every odd second he should do more to support her in doing what she did best and putting his own qualms aside. Afterall, being the goody two shoes had never endeared him to his family. It had also never endeared him to Rod.
Rod, who when they returned to Talim's mansion they had found standing over Lantz, who he had just gutted, along with most of the other men they had been guarding Talim with. Gourry wasn't too surprised to learn that Rod had gone and gotten a job with Halciform so he could turn on Talim and his former comrades. But he was disturbed that he had done it just for the opportunity to fight him! And angry and disappointed. Mostly in himself. Once again he'd let himself be blindsided by his idealism that he could reach people's better natures. And others had suffered and died as a result.
Perhaps he shouldn't have been so hard on Lina for hitting Lantz with a tray. That was the only thing some men understood. They saw the world in terms of who was the strongest and only respected those who bared their fangs. Gourry should have learned that lesson well, growing up with Gunther. Perhaps if he'd taken a firm stand with Rod from the beginning the bloodbath would have been prevented. Or perhaps it would have ended the same. Because Rod did not appear to want to live if he could not be the strongest. Perhaps their battle was unavoidable.
Gourry could barely control his anger as he fought him. They were evenly matched. But what Rod didn't count on was that unlike him, Gourry had a good reason to fight. Rod had hurt a lot of people and threatened Lina. Gourry fought for them. Rod fought for his own vanity. And it was why Gourry was victorious.
Even if he didn't feel victorious. He sank, trembling, onto a bloodstained sofa as Lina continued to heal Lantz. He tried to summon the voice to ask how he was doing but the words kept dying in his throat. Blood and gore were everywhere. And what for? How could people be so callous and cruel? He could never understand, he hoped he never could understand…
"We need to get Lantz to a doctor. I have him stabilized for now but he needs more help than I can give him," Lina said as she approached him, her manner unusually timid. Had he scared her? He tried to reign in on his anger, "I should probably heal your arm first. I can't carry him."
"Right," Gourry said as he held out his arm to her and started his breathing exercises as she started chanting. A compulsion to tell her everything rose, to explain why he had been so angry, to make her see that she would never have to fear him. And, perhaps, to hear a comforting word from her. To feel her wrap him in an embrace, to hear that it would be okay. But how could be begin to explain? And would she ever look at him the same if she knew that plenty of people in his family were cut from a similar cloth as Rod?
Her spell took the physical pain away as he gradually calmed himself down. There was a mess to get to the bottom of. Though perhaps later, when all of this was over, he could ask her if she had anything in her book of spells that helped to quell mental anguish.
The battle with Halciform had been desperate and they nearly had not made it. And while in retrospect it would have been easy to beat themselves up for the role they had played in releasing Halciform, if Gourry really thought about it, if they hadn't done it eventually someone else would have. And they may not have been able to stop him.
Still, it hardly felt like a victory when so many had died along the way. But at least Atlas City was no longer plagued by a sorcerer who had made a pact with a demon for eternal life. Slaying Mazoku was no easy feat. The sheer amount of manipulation and mind games they had been subjected to made him question whether it truly was worth the effort of doing so. But then he thought of all the people who had been hurt and killed. And then, how could he turn away?
And there was another thing that gave him hope, and made him feel a little lighter every time he thought about it. Back when they were fighting Halciform, the sorcerer had targeted him and Lina had used a Lei Wing spell to grab him out of harm's way as she attacked Seigram. The spell had gone out of control and they had ended up hitting the wall at full speed. But Lina had managed to maneuver so that she was between him and the wall and cushioned the blow for him. He did feel a little guilty. She was so much smaller than him that she had ended up hurting herself by protecting him. But for her to do that, to protect him at her own expensive, perhaps it meant that despite her denials that she really did care for him.
After all, actions spoke louder than words.
Atlas City had been a lot of fun at first, but he was glad to be leaving. And while there were times he still cringed at Lina's confrontational methods, he had to concede she had been effective in protecting them and Rubia from prosecution from the council. She was young but she was fierce and knew how to take care of herself. Her methods worked. He may not like that they lived in a world that required such methods, but he couldn't deny that he wouldn't have been able to get the council off Rubia's back the way that Lina had.
Still, as they left the gates of the city behind them, there was one matter that he had to clear up with her. "Hey Lina."
"What?" she asked as she tucked some hair behind her ear (damn, but he wanted to nibble on them!)
"Did I hear correctly at the guild that you have a color status?"
Lina blushed as her hair stood on end, "Let's not discuss this!"
"But isn't that something to be proud of? Or is it meaningless? I don't understand."
Lina's skin remained flushed as she stuttered for a moment, "Well, um, yeah, it's an accomplishment, yes and I do have one but…"
"What was the color again?"
"Just forget it the way you forget everything that's important!" Lina yelled as she turned a charming shade of pink. Speaking of…
"Is it pink? I think I saw that on something you signed somewhere."
Lina facepalmed, and it was all Gourry could do to keep from laughing. He wasn't sure why she wasn't happy with the status, but it was fun as hell watching her! "Yes, it's pink. But don't go around spreading the word, I much prefer to be known as Lina Inverse."
"But what's wrong with Lina the Pink?" he asked.
"Well would you want to be known far and wide as Gourry the Pink?" she shot back.
"Well, I'm a man…"
A vein noticeable throbbed on her forehead, "Why do I bother. Just leave it."
"But do the colors mean anything?" he asked. "You said Daymia had a water affinity. Is that why he was blue?"
"The colors are assigned at random. It just means that you're skilled at magic. And I had the bad luck to be saddled with pink."
"So I guess I won't be seeing you in pink robes any time soon?"
"As if you'd want to!" she roared.
"I don't know, I bet you would look cute in them."
"I see you're spoiling for a fight." She hissed as she held up her fists.
"I think we've had enough fighting for awhile."
She sighed, "It has been one adventure after another since we met, hasn't it? Well, I guess we're due for some relaxing times while we figure out where to go next. On that note, where are you from anyway?"
Oh boy.