Lina walked towards the sea, looking for a better spot to set their things, Gourry following behing and carrying most of their supplies. She used a spell to levitate the parasol, and then planted it in the sand. No need to get her hands dirty.

She covered her eyes from the sun with her hand and looked over the sea; this was very short from what they had originally planned, it was merely a coastal town close to where they had raided the last group of bandits. The amount of money they had got from that had not been enough to afford anything more luxurious.

Her friends falling dead around her, all surrounded by the maniacal laughter of a child.

Her own body paralyzed in horror and indecision, until his glass started cracking.

Lina woke up in a silent scream . It took her a moment to realize where she was and what point in time it was. She rested her face in her hands and recollected the information on her current situation. She was in a tent after having left Seillune in the morning with Gourry, and he was in charge of watch for the first half of the night. He had insisted that she needed her rest.

She laughed nervously and thought to herself, Heh, I am becoming a nervous wreck, aren’t I?, but the fake sense of release was not enough to allow her to go back to sleep. She needed to see him, make sure that he was alright and not in the hands of mazoku. Not that it made any sense; she knew he was safe, but the panic came back to her every night and nagged at her mind until she could barely tell dreams from reality.

She had been worried. Not worried about the night itself; no, sir, Lina Inverse could deal with that (or so she had told herself). It had been the morning after that concerned her. That, when all the adrenaline died down, when hormones, or black magic, or whatever the hell had gotten into her and made her pull the swordsman into her room, went back to their natural order, it would be awkward.

And so she had laid in the bed awake, refusing to open her eyes and test her theory for about ten minutes. But if Lina was one thing, it was impatient, and she was soon looking at Gourry’s sleeping form besides her. His long golden locks were splayed on the pillow and over his muscular arms. Really, it was all, apart from the sheets, that was covering him. None of them had bothered to grab a pijamas after what had happened. Now was a little too late.  She panicked as she felt him stir and finally wake up, but she could only stay exactly where she was. He opened one unfocused eye and looked at her, then he closed it again, and muttered “Nghh, just five more minutes…”

A small smile formed in the corner of her lips. Nothing wrong there, pretty much the same reaction she got from him every morning. Minus the clothes.

She was about to drift off to sleep again when she noticed his hand trying to find her. She hesitated for a moment and then curled herself against him, closing her eyes, and let him take him in his arms. She could get used to this; it was just a normal lazy morning at an inn that made her feel warm and fuzzy, almost like a content cat.

She didn’t complain much when he lazily pressed his lips to her, and she was glad to turn it into a very sleepy kiss. It was herself who wrapped her arms around his neck and brought them closer. But then his hands slipped from her lower back further down, and she did fret for a moment.

“Hey, Gourry! Oh!... oh”

Promp 2: Build a Snowman

They were stuck. Stuck at an inn for days while the snowstorms passed and they could move onto the next city. The worst part of all was that the frost had destroyed most of the crops in the surrounding areas, and the eating options were limited. A bored and hungry Lina made a dangerous Lina. One that wanted to blow shit up.

She looked out the window with an expression of disgust on her face. She hated snow. Sure, when she had left Zephilia she had been excited to see it for the first time, but it only took one snowstorm to change her mind. One second her eyes had lightened up as she observed the pretty snowflakes falling around her. The next, she was cold, soaked, and miserable, and that was the end of Lina Inverse’s fascination with snow.

But there had to be something fun about it; after all, the courtyard of the inn was full of children and adults alike playing in it.  And she was bored enough to give it one last chance.

She walked to her traveling companion, who had spent the last hour cleaning his sword, with determined look on her face.