Head Over Feet

A Slayers Songfic by Majo-chan
Author’s note: As the title indicates, the song is Head over Feet. The song and its lyrics belong to Alanis Morissette, and the Slayers belong to whoever owns them. In short, I have no money even if you sued me. Enough complaining on my part, onward!

**

I had no choice but to hear you
You stated your case time and time again
I thought about it

            "Uh, Lina?"
            "Wrat?"
            Gourry sweatdropped as she continued to shovel frightening amounts of food into her mouth. Plates of sausage, eggs, pancakes and whole pitchers of syrup were being inhaled. His slow thought processes tried to work out what he wanted to say.
            She’s eating all my food, he thought, but I can’t tell her that because she’ll hit me for it…Hmm… Better to stick to a safer topic.
            "Hey, Lina?"
            The sorceress took a gigantic gulp of water and swallowed. "What, Gourry?"
            "Where are we going next?"
            She looked thoughtful, well, as thoughtful as one could be when devouring a large pie. "Hmm…there are rumors of an outbreak of crime near the border of Sailloon. Want to go check it out?"
            "Why?" he asked brilliantly.
            "Oh! To rob bandits! Duh!"
            "Oh, okay. I don’t really care as long as I’m with you."
            Lina stopped shoveling food n her mouth rather suddenly.
            Innocently, Gourry looked at her. " Lina, are you alright? You’re really flushed."
            " No..! I mean….nothing…" She coughed. " Nothing at all."

You treat me like I’m a princess
I’m not used to liking that
You ask how my day was

            "Are you really okay?" He asked worriedly as they walked down an ordinary forest path. " You’ve been really cranky and you still look flushed."
            Lina sighed, her head and her stomach hurt. She really should have just decided to stay at that inn for another day…. " Nothing’s wrong, Gourry."
            " Hmm…I get it!" He hit his fist into his palm. " It’s that time of the month!"
            " G-Gourry!" She would have smacked him. She wanted to smack him. But she didn’t because it hurts to move. "Grr…I’ll get you for that!" She growled, then blinked in confusion as he looked around. " What?"
            " This looks like a good place to spend the night, don’t you think?" He asked cheerfully. " We’ll stop here then."
            " Gourry, what in the world are you saying?"
            The big dimwit was already setting his stuff down. " You’re not feeling well, so we’re stopping for the day."
            " Gourry, it’s barely past noon!"
            He shook his head. " I’m supposed to be nice to girls. You’re not feeling well, so we are stopping. What do you want for dinner?"
            Lina looked at him as if he had turned into Shabranigdo and declared that he was going to destroy the world, then blushed. " Anything’s fine." She mumbled.


You’ve already won me over in spite of me
Don’t be alarmed if I fell head over feet
Don’t be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn’t help it
It’s all your fault


            Lina leaned against the tree. It was stupid, stopping so early. They had places to go, food to eat, and bandits to beat. But she really didn’t feel up to it today and secretly, she was glad that Gourry made her stop.
            But why was he being so sensitive and nice all of a sudden? Lina shook her head. Okay, now she wasn’t being honest. He had always been that nice and sensitive. Well, maybe not in regards to her temper, her appetite or her chest, but in all other things, he had been the perfect gentleman.
            She blushed as what he said this morning came back to her mind. Damn you, Gourry, why now? Why me? You can do better…

Your love is thick and it swallowed me whole
You’re so much braver than I gave you credit for
That’s not lip service

            " Hey, Lina, look at what I got!"
            " What?" she asked, sitting up straighter. He waved a big fish in her face and she recoiled back, yelping. "Watch it!"
            " I caught one!" He exclaimed excitedly.
            "…" She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Gourry."
            " Here."
            " Huh?"
            He stood up. " Got to go get another one. That one’s yours."
            Lina stared at the fish in her lap, torn between the urge to slap him and the urge to hug him even though he was such an idiot.
            " Uh…okay."
            He smiled and began to walk off.
            " Hey, Gourry."
            " Hm?"
            " Uh…thanks."

You are the bearer of unconditional things
You held your breath, and the door for me
Thanks for your patience

            " Argh! Stupid fish!" She hissed as she wrestled with the slippery thing. " Damn it! Fireball!"
            A small poof of smoke was all that came out of that.
            " Oops. Forgot." She muttered. Footsteps came close. " Gourry, what the hell was I supposed to do with this?!"
            Gourry scratched his head. "I think you have to gut it first. Then you cook it over a fire. I think."
            " I knew that! I meant, how am I supposed to do all that if this stupid fish won’t stay still!" Gourry, meanwhile, was making the fire and nodding at her rantings.
            " Here, let me."
            " I’m not a baby, Gourry, I can do this." She glowered at the fish, and if dangerous looks can cook, it would’ve been fried to perfection by now.
            " Of course not. It’s just I have this." He took out a knife and neatly impaled the fish. " It’s easier this way."
            " Oh." God, she must have sounded so stupid…stupider than the fish even.
            " So, do you want it rare or well done?"

You’re the best listener that I’ve ever met
You’re my best friend
Best friend with benefits
What took me so long

            " Hey, Gourry."
            " Yeah?"
            She twiddled her thumbs. "Um…we had this conversation before but you probably don’t remember it…Well, that’s not important. Where are you from? I just realized I don’t know anything about you."
            " Eh? Me?" He blinked. "Well, I don’t really know…I think I used to live near the northern edge of Sailloon. I’m not sure though. Since I traveled around as a mercenary, things kinda ran together after a while." He shrugged. " Places usually all look the same to me."
            " Do you have many friends at home? Anyone who would want you to go back to them?" Lina silently hoped that he wouldn’t doze off like last time.
            " Hmmm…." Gourry’s brows creased as he tried to retrieve the information from his memory. " I think…Well, there’s Ruford and Demie…"
            " Demie?" Lina asked.
            " Yeah, she’s this girl I knew. She’s really pretty and nice, and she’s a great cook. Kind of like Shielfiel, now that I think of it." Gourry grinned. " You’d love her."
            "Oh." Lina replied, suddenly very interested in her piece of fish.
            " But last I heard, she married the town blacksmith. I was happy for her because he’s a really great guy. And he’s been in love with her forever." Gourry scratched his head. " I guess the only person who’d really want me back is my grandma, but she was the one who told me to get out of town in the first place…"
            " Wait a minute, Demie is married?!"
            " Didn’t I say that?"
            Lina rolled her eyes. "Well-"
            " Hey, don’t I get a question too?"
            Lina raised an eyebrow. " Uh, okay. Ask away."
            " Why are you traveling?"
            The sorceress gulped. "Uh…that’s is a secret."
            "That’s not nice, Lina."
            She sighed. "Okay, okay. I did something that made my sister really angry at me, so I decided that if I’m going to die anyway, I might as well see the world first."
            "She’s going to kill you?!" Gourry asked, shocked.
            "She will if she ever get her hands on me…" Lina shrugged. "I know I’ll have to go home and face the music sooner or later, but I want to experience what life really is before I do that. But that’s enough about me. Back to you."
            "What do you want to know?" Gourry still looked worried.
            "Ever had a girlfriend before?"

I’ve never felt this healthy before
I’ve never wanted something rational
I am aware now
I am aware now

            Gourry actually blushed. "Me? A girlfriend? No way!"
            "Why ever not?"
            He looked at his fish. "They all thought I was stupid. It was true, of course, but…"
            "That’s really mean," Lina agreed. "Well, I got out of Zephilia before I was actually old enough to date, but the boys always teased me about my…lack of figure and how aggressive I was. I doubt I could’ve gotten a date even if I tried."
            "That’s not true." Gourry protested. "Maybe you don’t have much of a figure-" He stopped and flinched. She rolled her eyes.
            "Please continue, Professor Gabriev."
            "I mean, you’re still really pretty and stuff. You’re energetic, if nothing else." He opened one eye to see if she was going to whack him into tomorrow.
            "Hey, Gourry. That’s a really nice thing to say."
            "Well, Grandma always said to be nice to girls." He opened both eyes now, slightly assured by the fact that he wasn’t in severe agony, but kept his guard up just in case. Lina smiled a little.
            "I want to meet your Grandma someday, she sounds like an interesting person."
            "Uh, sure."
            "And do you remember those girls who thought you were stupid?"
            "Huh?"
            Lina made a wringing motion with her hands. "I’ll do this to them. How dare they call you stupid! Only I can do that!"
            "Lina, you’re being unusually nice today." He noted observantly.
            "Aren’t I? So what’s for dessert?"
            "Dessert…Well, I dunno."
            "It doesn’t matter. I’m full anyway." Lina leaned back against the tree and sighed. "What a great life."
            "Hey, Lina?"
            "Yes, Gourry?"
            He fidgeted with some leaves on the ground. "I’m sure you can get a date. Those guys were wrong." He coughed. "I mean, I’d go out with you. Not that I’d ever ask but-no, I mean…" He stopped, red as a tomato.
            Lina felt her face smile a lot wider than she wanted it to. Finally! "I know what you mean, Gourry. I know."

You’ve already won me over in spite of me
Don’t be alarmed if I fell head over feet
Don’t be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn’t help it
It’s all your fault


            She watched him sleep. Lina Inverse wasn’t about to let him take the whole night watch, no matter how hard he insisted on it. She smiled a little.
            "Silly Gourry." She whispered.

End