Title: People skills
Characters: Gourry and Zelgadis, mention of Lina, Amelia, Randy, and Gracia
Pairings: L/G and A/Z if you reach.
Rating: G
Timeline: Slayers NEXT episode 9.
Summary: While Lina and Amelia are talking to Alfred, Gourry takes the chance to have a talk with Zelgadis.
Gourry held his breath unconsciously as Lina and Amelia left to investigate the contents of the letter that had been delivered to Lina. Once their footsteps faded away, he let out the breath and turned to the man beside him. "That was stupid of you."
Zelgadis stared at the ground, looking thoroughly miserable, "I know..." He had started to play with his fingers again, a nervous habit that Gourry had never seen him use, which meant that he really did regret bringing up Amelia's sister and uncle.
Gourry sighed, "Just remember, the death of a sibling isn't something people want brought up."
"She's not dead."
Gourry blinked, "You said the loss of..."
"Her sister ran away," Zelgadis informed him quietly.
Ran away...?
The sword at his hip felt unusually heavy, he unconsciously rubbed his thumb along its hilt. "Why?"
"I've heard that she couldn't take it after the death of their mother, and the mess with inheriting the throne..." he trailed off.
Gourry sighed, putting a hand on Zelgadis's shoulder, "We need to work on your people skills. One day you're going to get slapped."
"You hit me already," Zelgadis pointed out.
"It would've hurt more if Amelia had hit you," Gourry shrugged. "Have you seen her fight?"
A/N: Might make a bit more sense if you've read Gourry's side-story, where we finally get to hear a bit about his past... I think that sometimes, that lets Gourry relate to Amelia's past a bit more than the other characters.
And yes, I know that Gracia is officially on a training journey, but I doubt that's the story Zel heard. Personally, I can't see Gracia wanting to take the throne after all the problems going on.