Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Soap and Bubbles ❯ Soap and Bubbles ( Chapter 1 )

Soap and Bubbles

 

Lina was irritated. No, she was positively seething, and she was trying very carefully not to go on a killing spree in this restaurant and char everyone with a special humungous, nasty, and stress-relieving fireball. And she wished that at the center of that fireball, Gourry would be the first to burn.

 

She could not believe the mess they had gotten themselves into. First of all, it wasn't really a mess, and it would be a perfectly easy problem to squirm out of with a few flare arrows and quickly moving feet.

 

She had done it before, and she didn't know why this time was so damn different.

 

She huffed loudly, and a chunk of soap bubbles broke away from the suds in the sink and blew up in her face. She groaned, slamming her arms into the sink and splashing water all over herself and some of Gourry next to her.

 

“Calm down, Lina,” Gourry said in a Zen-like voice that made her want to throw a plate at him. “It's not so bad, and for once we're not doing something illegal. We can't keep running out of paying for our meals every time we don't have any money.”

 

Lina glared at him, and for once she was uncharacteristically silent. Mainly, she couldn't say anything because she was feeling so damn angry, and looking into Gourry's serene face only seemed to fuel her raging temper.

 

“Besides, we get these great uniforms!” he replied jovially. He looked down at the white buttoned up shirt and apron he wore that was given to both of them by the head cook.

 

“Oh, shut up! There's nothing great about standing here doing manual labor and wearing these ridiculous outfits of servitude. I'm the beautiful and talented Lina Inverse, and I could bust right out of here and not have to be subjected to this ridiculous activity!” she bellowed, huffing out her lips and nose on the verge of an anxiety attack.

 

Gourry put a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a stern look and replied in a calm voice, “Now Lina, Landus is a family friend of mine, and there's no way I'm ditching out of paying him for our meals. He's been a loyal friend and like an uncle to me since I was a small boy. He's a little short staffed today and it doesn't hurt to repay him. Besides, this shouldn't take too long. It's only washing dishes!”

 

“But Gourry! I had loads of stuff I needed to do today! I had to go to the magic shop and bargain some of my treasures, and I had to go check out the Borelia Caves for that rumor about some long-forgotten scrolls of the Ancient Dragons! But no! Instead I'm here, washing freaking dishes!” She slammed her fists into the water again, and water splashed conveniently into her nose. She sneezed.

 

“Damn it!” she screamed again, looking at the water as if it was villain of the month. She was about ready to call the whole thing quits and leave Gourry there by himself until she heard him laughing next to her.

 

She gave him a warning glare. “What's so funny, jellyfish?”

 

“Haha! Look at your face! You have a handlebar bubble mustache!” Gourry laughed harder, clutching his sides.

 

Lina hesitantly put her hand to her face and felt the soap forming an amorphous protruding shape over her lips. She automatically licked her lips, and almost retched when she tasted the soap.

 

“Yuck!” She hollered, only to fuel Gourry into more fits of giggles.

 

“Stop laughing!” she ordered, and she dipped into the sink and grabbed a clump of soap and handful of water and flung it into Gourry's direction. The force of her throw was so intense that Gourry became positively soaked. Lina stared at him wide-eyed on the verge of laughing herself.

 

Gourry froze, halting his laughing and running his fingers over the wet mass of his hair that clung to his face. He removed it out of his eyes and gave her a wicked look.

 

“Oh, now you've done it, Lina,” he said playfully, and he scooped his large hand into the water, preparing his ammo to aim. “Watch yourself!”

 

Lina coiled back, stunned and unprepared to his next move. `No, he wouldn't dare…' she thought.

 

And before she could come up with a payment for Gourry to even suggest splashing her, she was already soaked, and so was half the kitchen floor. Lina stood still and clenched her fists to her sides. She blew a raspberry through her lips to get the soap out.

 

“Why you!” She launched herself at him, ready to pound him into the next century, but then she slipped on the floor. Gourry saw her shocked expression as she tripped into his arms. Automatically, he caught her from her inevitable fall.

 

Then as she settled into Gourry's arms, both of them were silent. Lina started to feel warm against his body, heating the wetness from the water on her uniform. She blushed as she felt his hands shift around her more tightly, and drawing her into a more affectionate embrace.

 

“Lina …” His voice was soft and wanting, and she couldn't stop the tantalizing images coming into her head prompted by such a tone.

 

She hesitated, moving her head up slowly to look at him in the eyes. He looked down at her with a peculiar expression, one laced with uncertainty and desire.

 

Instinctively, she felt herself reaching upward, staring at his lips as his too descended downward. She felt her eyelids close, and before she could see total darkness, she noticed that his eyes were closing too.

 

Suddenly, she felt his soft lips graze over hers, feeling chaste at first and then breaking through the barrier past her closed mouth. She opened to him daintily at first, and then her tongue became inviting, sliding against his and soaking in his melting heat.

 

They heard someone clear their throat behind them, and automatically they pushed each other away. Gourry's expression seemed blank, and Lina's face had turned a brilliant crimson.

 

Gourry's friend chuckled at them, and Lina saw him wink. “How's those dishes coming along, lovebirds?” he asked, and then he noticed the floor.

 

He whistled, “Phew, looks like the Water Dragon had a mini-war in here. I guess you guys will have to stay longer and clean up some more.”

 

Lina sighed unhappily, and she turned around to see Gourry grinning goofily at her.

 

`Great,' she thought, `after something like THAT had happened, how does this guy really expect us to get our work done now?'

 

The End