Thank you Ivan for proving that my language skills are not infallible! -bows- We have now exited Zelga-land and gotten back to our main protagonists! -proud of self- I could go on all day about Zelgadis and his issues... but the story was away from Lina for way too long. I do not own Slayers, Major League Baseball, Washington D.C. and many other things I ramble about. Enjoy!
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An (Un)Excellent D.C. Adventure! What Happened to Them?
Lina leaned back in her seat on the airplane and tried her best to relax. The past week had been a tiring one. Besides Rezzo Graywords dying and his "prick grandson" (as Lina had called him) trying to sell the team, the entire Slayers team was in a major slump. Arizona had taken all three of the games in their series and Boston had just whipped them good by winning two out of three games. Everyone on the Slayers was nearly drained in energy and drive. Everyone that is, except Kurt. He was sitting between Lina and Amelia on the plane, chatting it up with the latter.
"So then I said 'What's with you saying 'us' all of a sudden? Are there two of you now?' He nearly died of embarrassment!" Kurt laughed. Amelia giggled in return. The whole flight, the two of them were simply talking and flirting with each other mercilessly, making Lina more and more irritated by the second.
"Will you shut the hell up? You are grating on my nerves," Lina growled at Kurt. Both of her friends looked over at the redhead with an eyebrow raised.
"What's with you all of a sudden Lina?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah Miss Lina. You haven't been yourself lately."
"How can I be myself with you two flirting up a freakin' storm over there?" Lina snapped.
"Sorry Miss Lina, but we're just talking," Amelia said apologetically. "Mr. Kurt and I enjoy each other's company. We can't exactly help it if you happen to be annoyed."
"Whatever," Lina grumbled as she pulled her baseball cap over her eyes and tried to go to sleep, hoping that the rest of the plane ride would be a bit better if she got some rest.
In reality, the rest of the time Lina was on the airplane, she could not sleep one bit due to Amelia and Kurt's talking. She did not want to make a scene in the airplane, considering what had happened when she had the nightmare on her way to Detroit made her a bit nervous about accidently drawing attention to herself and maybe even be recognized. Lina was fairly good about wearing her wig in public and it was very difficult for her to control her temper, yet that was what she was forced to do. It was even more important now that Rezzo Graywords was dead. She now no longer had the backing of the team's owner, causing Lina to be at the mercy of the very distant Graywords heir. She was able to keep her mouth shut until after the flight had landed in the Ronald Regan Washington National Airport in Alexandria and they were on the road in a rental car towards their nearby hotel.
"Can I ask you something Kurt?" Lina questioned as Kurt made the little green car turn a corner.
"Sure Lina. Shoot."
"Do you remember the discussion we had a while ago the day before Old Man Graywords died?"
"What discussion?"
Lina did not really want to say anything too specific with Amelia in the back seat of the small car, even if she was asleep. Sighing, Lina took off her wig when they passed underneath a dark bridge and stuffed it in her duffel bag.
"The discussion we had in the bathroom about her."
"We talked about someone while in the bathroom?"
"Yes. We talked about her."
"Her?"
"Her." Kurt looked over at Lina to find that she was motioning towards the back of the vehicle, trying to incline the fact she was talking about Amelia.
"Oh... that's right. What about her?"
"I told you to keep your hands off."
"What? Oh come on Lina! It's only a little bit of flirting..."
"That back there is like my sister," Lina said, looking out the window at the historically marked buildings that whizzed by. "Besides, the guys all think that she's my girlfriend. What do you think would happen if all of a sudden the two of you were spotted together... flirting of all things?"
"Don't worry about that Lina," Kurt assured as he pulled into the parking lot for their hotel. "Amelia and I are smarter than that."
"I know. It's just that... so are our teammates."
"Relax and go check in please," Kurt said with a deft and almost pleading smile. Lina chuckled and hopped out of the car and went to go check in. Once she got the keys to the two-bed room she was sharing with Kurt and Amelia, she waited patiently until Kurt emerged through the doors with not only his oversized duffle bag, but Lina's duffel and Amelia's suitcase as well. Lina relieved Kurt of her duffel and they both went and put their stuff in the room. It was nice enough and the first thing Lina did when she put down her bag was flop down on one of the big and fluffy beds.
"I want to take a nap," she said happily into one of the pillows.
"Sure. You do that," Kurt said with a hint of cynical flavor to his voice. He took one of the room keys and closed the door. As soon as his footsteps were not audible anymore, Lina bolted off the bed and headed for where she left her shoes at the entrance, grinning widely. She had been wanting to go and play double-not spy on her friends for days already and now was her chance. After throwing on her shoes, she ran out the door, only to run right smack into Aaron Reed, who appeared to have just checked in himself, his own huge sports bag flung over his shoulder.
"Hey Liam!" he said with a chuckle as Lina stood there frozen in shock. "Hey, you'd better get downstairs quick."
"Why...?" Lina asked nervously. Aaron looked at her with amusement.
"I think Kurt might just be hitting on your girl. It would be wise to stop him before some two-timing began."
"Kuuuurt..." Lina fumed as she headed towards the stairs. Aaron waved good-bye, not quite realizing that he had as good as signed Kurt's death warrant and continued on to his own room.
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Meanwhile, back in the parking lot, Amelia had woken up and realized that the car had stopped. She looked in the front seats to see that Kurt and Lina were not there. Getting out of the car in a panicked state, she calmed down when she saw Kurt casually walk out of the hotel building with a grin on his face that could barely be matched.
"Do you want to go see the sights and catch some lunch before Lina gets up from her nap and realizes that we aren't there?" Kurt asked as Amelia rushed up to him. The raven-haired woman thought about it for a moment as they stood in the shade of an oak tree.
"What would happen if Miss Lina wakes up and notices that we are not there?" she asked. "She would be awfully angry."
"Then again, she would not know where to find us..."
"...and would have to force herself to calm down before she even got to us! Perfect Mr. Kurt! Is this going to be like a date?"
"Only if you want it to be Miss Amelia," Kurt said courteously. Amelia smiled and began to lead a blushing Kurt away by the hand. They were almost at the little green rental car when none other than Lina popped out of the bushes and right in front of Amelia, frightening both her friend and teammate.
"Where do you two think you are going?" Lina asked with a sly grin.
"Miss Lina... before you get angry with us..." Amelia started.
"You two were not planning on leaving without me, now were you?"
"Yes, that was the plan," Kurt said, a bout of male honesty and pride coming upon him.
Mr. Kurt! Amelia shrieked in her mind. This is not the right time to grow a spine! She was right, for Lina's right eye began to twitch as her face became as red as her masculinely cut hair.
"WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Lina yelled at the top of her lungs. "DO YOU GUYS EVEN REALIZE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF SOMEONE SEES THE TWO OF YOU TOGETHER WITHOUT ME?"
"Mr. Liam! Calm down!" Amelia shouted back. Lina grabbed Amelia by her shoulders and squared her friend up so that they looked into each other's eyes.
"Do you know what the guys on the team think about us?" she asked in a barely contained growl.
"What is it that they think...?" Amelia replied, her eyes trying to furiously find Kurt's. He was no where to be found, finding refuge behind the car while Lina went on her ranting-fest.
"They think that you are my girlfriend. We are supposed to be a couple, not you and Kurt."
"That would be gross..."
"...BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY THINK!" Lina shouted as she shook Amelia's shoulders for emphasis. "I was told that you two were out here by Aaron! He means well but he has no damn clue! Amelia!"
"M-M-Mr. Liam...?"
"What?"
"Would you like to come along and chaperone us?"
"Sure!" Lina said in an amiable manner as she hopped into the back seat of the rental car and put on her seatbelt. "Come on! Time's a wastin'!"
Amelia and Kurt stood there dumbstruck. Neither of them knew what to take by Lina's sudden change of heart, but decided not to test their luck and go along with the redhead no matter how oddly mercurial she was being. Sweat-drops adorned their brows as they got into the front seats and Kurt drove off towards the monuments, praying to God that nothing would go wrong.
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Once the trio of friends got to the area of Washington D.C. that contained most of the monuments, things seemed to go fairly smoothly. It was fairly warm as they walked all around the National Mall and looked at the monuments that lined it. It was lucky for them that no one there recognized Lina, or even Kurt for that matter, for they were determined to blend into the crowd. They were successful at this and were having a fairly good time.
"I wonder how many people know about this memorial?" Amelia asked inquisitively as she walked over to a memorial that was almost hidden on a tree-covered island. It was some plaques commemorating the signers of the Declaration of Independence, the document that first created the United States of America. The plaques were polished granite slabs set into the earth at an angle so that Lina, Kurt and Amelia had to go down a small flight of steps to view them properly on the cobblestone circle the stones surrounded.
"I don't know," Lina answered, looking around and noticing that they were the only ones in the area. She itched her fake hairline, becoming quite uncomfortable in her wig due to the heat. "I never heard about this place before."
"It must not be the biggest crowd-puller," Kurt stated as he leaned on one of the engraved stones. He started to look about the area and wondered why no one else was there, even if it would be just for the shade the trees provided.
"Mr. Kurt! Don't sit on that!" Amelia snapped. "That's disrespectful!"
"So? No one can arrest me for wanting to sit down."
"...but I can take you off the opening line-up," a voice said, making Kurt jump up onto his feet. He looked on the raised earth behind him to see none other than Xellos, standing there with a soft-serve ice cream cone and a rather bemused look upon his face.
"What do you want?" Lina spat at the purple-haired man. Xellos hopped down to where Lina was and opened his eye in a reverse wink.
"Just checking up on you three, of course," he smirked.
"Damn it all you fu..." Lina began to shout. Kurt went and covered her mouth before she could say anything else.
"Well, at least I am not a pansy," Xellos grinned as he took another lick of his ice cream. Lina wrenched herself from Kurt's grip and turned bright red as she screamed insults at her manager, only receiving calm replies back.
"Wanker!"
"Flat-chest."
"Idiot!"
"Girly."
"Ass-hole!"
"Toothpick."
"Bastard!"
"How did you know that?" Xellos asked, slightly taken aback. Lina fell down in shock at his reply. Amelia and Kurt stood there watching the scene with embarrassment enough for all four of them.
"Let's go and take off before they stop fighting and want to come along," Kurt whispered.
"Right Mr. Kurt," Amelia replied. She did not want to leave Lina alone with Xellos, but did not want to be seen with Lina and Xellos fighting even more. "I had hoped to see Mount Vernon before having to go to the stadium."
"Not Mount Vernon, there is not enough time. We might be able to see the cherry trees though if we hurry," Kurt said as he began to casually walk off as Lina and Xellos started up their fight once more. Amelia followed him and snuck off without the bickering pair even noticing they were gone until about five minutes had passed and Amelia and Kurt were far from sight.
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Kurt and Amelia stood outside the door to the visitor's locker room in JFK Stadium, becoming more and more impatient by the second. After abandoning Lina and Xellos and seeing the cherry trees, they had gone directly to the stadium where the Slayers were to be playing the Nationals that night. Even though the game was scheduled for five after seven in the evening, the fact that hours had passed and that six o'clock was inching closer and closer was putting the two friends on the edge.
"I wonder what happened to Mr. Liam," Amelia sighed, leaning into the wall.
"Ah, Liam will be fine. It's our manager I'm worried about," Kurt lightly joked, forcing a small smile to appear across Amelia's face.
"Hey Kurt, any sign of them?" Kenny Rook asked as he poked his head out into the hall. Kurt gave him a disheartened shrug and the third baseman went back into the locker room to relay the news to the rest of the team.
"Mr. Kurt," Amelia asked. "Why does Mr. Liam and Mr. Xellos have to be here at six when the game does not start for over an hour?"
"So that they have time to get ready of course," Kurt replied, looking up and down the hallway. "We need to get a game-play from the manager about what we should try to do and not do during the game, figure out what the other team possibly has in store for us, things like that. Also, Liam doesn't really give himself much room to change, now does he?" Amelia looked up at Kurt and into his eyes, feeling the immense worry he had for his sisterly figure Lina. She gave a comforting smile and decided to take another look down the hallway.
"There they are!" she gasped, seeing Lina and Xellos run down the hallway and towards the locker room. Both ran straight at the door and Kurt had to take Lina's wig right off her head as she rushed into the locker room without even stopping for a second.
"I wonder what's with her?" Kurt mused as he threw Amelia Lina's wig. Amelia stuffed the mop of red hair in her oversized handbag for safekeeping during the game.
"I don't know. They seemed awfully rushed though, as if something was chasing them. I don't think I even want to know what they just went through."
"I second that," Kurt laughed as he began to walk into the locker room. Amelia paused him for a moment to give his a short peck on the cheek and then ran off, wishing him well for the game. Kurt smiled as Amelia ran off to go to her seat in the stands, feeling as if he was one of the luckiest guys in the world.
Things To Know
The Washington D.C. Area: Just trust me in the fact that the characters are there. I could go on forever about what every little detail is, but I don't think the admins would like that very much. There is a post size limit and I think author's notes can't be longer than the story content. Superfluous really.
D.C.: So the Nehszriah went here for a family vacation in the summer of '05 and it was torture getting around. High-top vans can go virtually nowhere to begin with and we got lost because multiple streets had the same name and my mother and father are not the best with directions in brand-new places.
Double-Not Spy: I took this from the classic television show The Beverly Hillbillies, for I always found it humorous when Jethro wanted to be just like James Bond and said that he wanted to be a "double-not spy". Nehszriah is just easily amused.
JFK Stadium: This is the home of the Washington Nationals, having their base settled in Washington D.C.. I saw the outside of this stadium one day. It was big. It was also round-ish. I do believe we were lost at the time.
Kurt/Amelia: Yes, they are a couple. I hope their shipment is believable. Most know my track record of Amelia-shipment usually goes only one way... towards Zelgadis. I thought this would be a change of pace, since I already hooked Zelgadis up with an OC of his very own. Amelia needs to have some fun herself, am I right?