Disclaimer: Slayers belongs to Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, Kadokawa, TV Tokyo and SOFTX. I neither claim to own the series nor am I making any profit with this story.
Note: Mild sexual references but no such things directly happening within the story. I blame this fic on Gourry saying the dreaded "Good morning, sunshine" phrase way too often in the novels..
The first thing he sensed was warmth. Warmth that wasn't there normally. The second thing was the scent of her hair, her skin. The scent he knew so well from whenever he was able to be close to her, and if it was only at the various occasions she would put him in a headlock. And yet it was… reassuring. Somehow calming.
Slowly he became aware of the sound of breathing. Her breathing. Not just the sound, he could feel her breathing. Close. A warm tingle against his chest with every exhale.
And finally when waking up further he felt her body against him, encircled in his arms. Lina.
Carefully he opened his eyes, fearing it would have been nothing more than an illusion. He blinked a few times until his eyes got used to the light of the sun that shone through the window right onto the bed.
He slowly let his right hand move from where it was resting on her back. Fascinated he let it run through her hair, watching the lingering flames the rising sun was creating on it. Softly it went through his fingers like silk and fell back loosely on the pillow again.
He lifted his head and carefully pulled his arm away from under her body. She made a slight noise and shifted a little from lying on her left over to lying on her stomach. Slowly to not wake her up he took her arm from around him to lay it on the pillow in front of her face. Having pulled out of their embrace he sat up and stretched. Though he turned his gaze on her sleeping figure on the bed again quickly.
There she was, Lina Inverse, the Bandit Killer, Dragon Spooker and whatever frightening names people had given her. The girl who caused havoc and mass destruction wherever she appeared and considered harassing bandits a virtue. The very same girl he had been with every day for the last few years and who he had sworn to protect for the rest of his life.
She looked so peaceful as opposed to the usual short-tempered sorceress. It amazed him yet again how small and thin she really was - despite how often she would beat him up for saying anything like that loud. She seemed so vulnerable. Although the lack of clothes probably added to that impression..
Due to him sitting up the blanket had revealed the majority of her backside. His eyes wandered over her and although he was afraid to wake her up he couldn't resist touching the skin on her waist slightly. She shivered a little in her sleep and he decided to lay back next to her. Gently he ran his fingers from the small of her back upwards, remembering the feeling of her skin from last night. It was surprisingly soft and delicate under his touch, without any fault. Not a single spot of it that he hadn't explored with his hands last night, not one that he hadn't softly caressed with his lips.
He pulled the blanket back over both of them and carefully brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She looked content and calm like he only very rarely saw her when she was awake. He rested his head lightly against her arm and simply enjoyed the peaceful moment and his memories of the past night.
It still felt like a dream to him. He didn't often remember his dreams but what he always remembered was that most of the time they evolved around the girl next to him. But not even in any of these dreams he had been able to imagine ever waking up with her like this.
He could feel the warmth in his chest increasing while he was studying her face intensely. An invincible hand tightened its grasp on his heart until it was almost painful and he had to close his eyes and take a deep breath.
It was hard to believe that this was the same Lina Inverse whom the rest of the world knew. Tough, stubborn, fearless and with a dangerous temper and powers beyond most people's understanding. Someone you should better not get too close to if you value your life. Still this was also the Lina Inverse from last night. Shy, insecure and before anything else afraid of her own feelings and to be hurt. And yet she had trusted herself into his hands and allowed him to take control. Control over her. If it wasn't for her threatening to fireball him to the next town if he kept asking her if she was alright every two minutes he would have started to wonder if she was real.
He opened his eyes again and looked at her. So this was the real Lina Inverse, stripped down to her skin and her soul. She really looked adorable laying there. A beautiful young woman no matter if her body stature fit any standards or not.
He couldn't help himself from wrapping his arms around her again and pulling her closer to him. She made a quiet noise of complaint and her eyes slowly opened. She blinked a few times before her eyes met his. Feeling a bit guilty for waking her up he just smiled and said the first words that came to his mind.
"Good morning, sunshine."
The next thing he felt were his ears ringing from her scream and him landing on his back on the floor. Not without slamming his head against the night console hard, of course..
He laid there for a moment while his head was trying to comprehend both the sudden pain and how he ended up on the floor all of a sudden. For a moment there was nothing but silence before he heard hasty movements on the bed. Lina's hands appeared quickly within his view, grabbing the blanket he had pulled with him unintentionally and jerking it back on the bed. Some hasty movements and ruffling later it was silent again. He decided it sounded safe enough to try looking so he slowly sat up with one hand on his aching head.
"Owwww", he whinced and looked over to Lina. She was now sitting in the middle of the bed wrapped in the blanket, "What did I..?"
"Don't surprise me like that!" she interrupted him.
He blinked at her in confusion. She blushed and turned to look away from him. "It was a reflex..," she said more quietly, sounding almost guilty, "I was just waking up, you can't expect me to immediately realize…", she broke off and blushed more.
He sighed. Ignoring his throbbing head he lifted himself up back on the bed. She grasped the blanket over her chest tighter for a moment but let him crawl under it as well and pull her in an embrace from behind. She relaxed and leaned back against him, laying her head on his shoulder.
"How are you feeling?" he asked placing a kiss on her head.
"Fine… I think", she answered hesitatingly.
"You think?"
She chuckled a little. "Stop worrying already, you idiot. It's just kind of.. weird," she whispered, "but.. in a good way."
"Oh, I see.."
"What about you?"
"Huh? I.. " he thought about it for a moment, "I think I have a gaping wound on the back of my head."
She turned around with an annoyed snort. "Entirely your fault", she insisted and reached behind his head. He didn't feel like argueing with her right now and just closed his eyes.
"Only a tiny little bump, stupid.." she sighed and murmured something he didn't understand. She made his head stop hurting, that was all that mattered.
"Better?" she asked after a minute of silence.
"Hmm.." He pulled her closer again and softly leaned his head against hers.
For a short while they sat in silence before Lina started shifting around restlessly. "Gourry?"
"Yes, Lina?"
"Uhm..", he could feel her cheek getting warmer against his own, "I was wondering if... I mean can we..?" She giggled nervously.
"What is it?"
She whispered it into his ear and his face immediately brightened up at the idea. "Sure! I was just thinking the same."
She leaned back to look him in the eyes. "Really?" she smiled happily.
"Yeah", he scratched his head, "But I thought you might get angry if I asked."
"Rubbish", she gave him a soft nudge against his shoulder, "come on, what are you waiting for?" With that she pulled away and jumped out of the bed.
Gourry couldn't help grinning broadly, wondering if the anticipation of getting breakfast was what it took to make Lina Inverse overcome her shyness in front of him or if she simply forgot that she was naked.