Gourry draped an arm across Lina's shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "It's not so bad Lina," he whispered as he pretended to nibble on her ear.
Lina blushed and nodded.
"This will be your set of rooms," the bell-hop said and opened the door for Lina and Gourry to step through.
"Wow!" Lina bubbled as she looked around her. "Gourin and I get to stay HERE?!"
"Yes ma'am. There's a hotspring out back if you and your 'companion' should care to 'play' before dinner," the bell-hop said and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Lina put her head against Gourry's chest and sighed. "Two months of having to act like Amelia and I'll go crazy for sure," she said.
Gourry wrapped his arms around Lina. "I won't let you go crazy Lina. I'll make sure of that. Besides, you aren't really acting like Amelia. She's a lot more shy," he said.
Lina looked up. "Thanks for pointing that out Gourry. Let's get all our stuff unpacked and look around," she said and smiled. "I want to see the hotspring."
Gourry returned the smile and released Lina. "Does it bother you that we have to share a bed?" he asked suddenly.
Lina was startled. "I... uh... well... No. It doesn't. I know I can trust you," she replied.
"Then let's get unpacked and check out the hotspring," Gourry said, a happy smile on his face.
"I quite agree," Xellos said and looked out the window. "hey! There's Lina and Gourry. I wonder where they're going," he said.
"Who cares? Look, we need to set some things straight," Filia said, sitting up.
Xellos nodded and looked at Filia. "You start," he said.
"Well.... Since we have to share this bed and everything, I think we should try to get along. We want to make this as believable as possible," Filia said. "If Gourry and Lina can do it, and Lina is one of the most bashful people I know when it comes to anything concerning love, then we can do it too."
Xellos nodded. "i agree. It's gonna be hard, mostly because we're from two races that are mortal enemies, but I think we can handle it," he said.
Filia gave a hesitant smile. "We should get unpacked and join Lina and Gourry. Or 'Lily' and 'Gourrin'," she giggled.
"At least we get to keep our own names," Xellos said, his smile reappearing.
Gourry laughed and tried to avoid Lina. he pretended to surrender when she caught him before trapping her in his arms. "Gotcha," he said, breathing heavily.
"Now what are you going to do with her?" Xellos asked. "You can either dunk her or let her go."
Lina glared at Xellos. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Filia and I are going to be joining you," Xellos replied pleasantly. He made sure his towel was secure and stepped into the hotspring, helping Filia down.
Gourry sat down, Lina still in his arms and now on his lap. "So what's your room like?" he asked, settling Lina more comfortably on his lap.
Lina was blushing a fiery red, but she remained where she was. She didn't actually mind sitting on Gourry's lap, but she didn't like other people seeingit.
"We have a really pretty room with a view of the path to the hotsprings," Filia replied. She smiled at Gourry, Lina and Xellos.
"Ours has a view of the hotspring itself. We've also got a view of the lake and rowboats," Gourry said. He liked having Lina on his lap. It gave him a chance to hold her. 'I could get used to this,' he thought.
All too soon, they had to leave the hotspring because a group of couples coming to 'play' before dinner.
Lina looked up at Gourry shyly as they walked back to their room. She didn't know why she was feeling so shy with Gourry all of a sudden, but she knew she didn't like it.
Gourry could feel the shyness eminating from the tiny woman who walked beside him and wondered at it. 'Why would she be so shy with me? I haven't done anything to make her feel that way. Have I ?' he asked himself. 'I'll just have to work on making her comfortable with me,' he decided.
