Feria looked up from doting over her poor little nephew to see Gourry happily prance into the house. She sighed and waved, then returned to convincing Val that he was terribly injured and shouldn’t get up from his current position on the couch. Val, on the other hasnd, was insisting that he was fine, for her to stop treating him like he was still five (“It was only ten years ago that you were, Val-chan! Not that long!”) and to leave him alone so he could get his hair back in place and to STOP IT!!
Gourry smiled blandly and walked upstairs. He knew better than to try to understand anything around here.
Felia and Val continued arguing until Lina and Zel raced in and slammed the door behind them, breathing heavily. Both were covered with burn marks and looking like they had just run through hell, which they could argue that they had. Zelgadis had love notes stuffed into his clothing every which way, as if he had been tackled and they had been shoved in any which way. He also reeked heaviily of many different kinds of perfume. Lina was a little worse for wear, but she had managed to keep anyone from ripping off anything important.
Val and Felia blinked.
Val looked at Felia. “Please tell me that’s not Lina.”
Felia shrugged.
Zelgadis glared at Lina. “You just HAD to blow up the fan clubhouse and make them angry, didn’t you?”
She snorted. “What, miss it?”
“HAH!”
“Anyway, you weren’t exactly placating the antiZel club, either.”
“They were trying to kill me!”
“My point exactly!”
They glared at eachother.
“Anyway, at least I got out of it with my clothing intact.”
“HAH!! At least I don’t reek of seven diferent kinds of cheap perfume!”
“You think I do this by choice??”
“You weren’t fighting too hard when they tackled you.”
“They’re girls!”
“So am I!”
“Not as noticably so—OW!!”
“Jerk!!!”
Val looked from one to the other. “Are you two going out?”
Val nearly fell off the couch as two evil glares were sent his way.
“Going--”
“—out?”
Val laughed nervously.
“Like I would go out with a scrawny little spitfire like her!”
“WHAT?? You weren’t complaining about that when you kissed me!”
Beet red blush.
“You tackled me!”
“I tripped!”
“Hah!”
“I did!! What, you think I would tackle a over-ego ridden, over glorified boulder??”
“WHAT??”
Val nodded in a very gourry-like way. Funny, how Gourry tends to see the obvious so uncannily while other people overlook it.
“So you ARE going out.”
“HEY!!!” * * *
Felia pressed a warm cloth to the head of a now very ill Val. “I told you you weren’t feeling well.”
She was answered by a string of curses. * * *
Zelgadis felt much better after washing all that awful perfume off. Knowing Lina, she’d probably laugh at him for a week. Dammit…..
“Hi!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” Zelgadis jumped back under the water as a cheerful girl with a hammer appeared.
She smiled cheerfully. “Have you seen Amelia?”
Zel speechlessly shook his head no.
“Oh. Thank you anyway.” She smiled and opened the door.
To reveal a prtially clothed Lina. The bathroom had a door to the main bedroom, which Lina, you may remember, had previously taken.
First, Lina registered Zelgadis. Then, she registered that There was a young girl in the bathroom. Then she registered that they were both in the bathroom, together, and Zel wasn’t wearing clothes.
male + female + room – clothing = XOXOXOXOX
Then she registered that he was currently staring at her as the girl calmly exited the room.
“EEEEEEEEEEK!! PERVERT!!!” * * *
Lina and Zelgadis were sulking at dinner that night. Zelgadis, this was usual, but Lina wasn’t acting like it was all out war. She just glared at Zelgadis while eating, and he gave her the same courtesy. Lina huffed and turned, smiling, to Feria.
“So, Feria! Where’s the screaming toddler you want me to take care of tomorrow?”
Feria smiled. “Val, this is Lina. Lina, Val.”
“I’M BABYSITTING THAT???”
Val sweatdropped. “Surely I’m not THAT bad…”
“How the hell am I supposed to keep the girls off of him? He’s gonna be as bad as Zelgadis!”
“Hey--”
“Oh no, Zel, don’t you start with me.”
“What the hell did I do?”
“You stared at me!”
“You were looking pretty closely, too!”
“I was only shocked to find you in the bathroom with that girl!”
“I wasn’t!! She just appeared!”
“Oh sure, like I believe that!”
“What, are you jealous?” Zelgadis nearly yelled across the table. The group, who had been politely ignoring them, turned to Lina and leered.
Lina turned beet red with embarrassment and…
Hello? Lina we’re talking about?
“LINA-SAN!! DON’T BLOW UP THE HOUSE!!”
“Lemme go Amelia I’m gonna beat that over-pompous bastard until he can’t breathe without moving his foot and I’m gonna ram that ever so smug smile up his candy a--”
“MISS LINA!” came the scandalized retort, “Not in front of Val-chan!”
“Hey! I’m older than you!”
“I don’t need babysitting! I’m moved out of my parents home!”
“It’s not as if it’s MY fault!!”
“Would you require babysitting if you had not done some hideous crime?”
“If I’d done some hideous crime, would that shrimp be able to do anything?”
Lina cut off her bickering with Zelgadis immediately and turned to Val.
“What? What did you call me?”
“LINA-SAN!! DON’T KILL VAL-CHAN!!”