Lina sneezed and rubbed her arms, trying to regain
the feeling in her frozen limbs while loudly cursing
the blizzard that raged around her. Zelgadis glanced
over to her curiously, doing his best to block the
cold from his mind.
"You’re just taking cold air into yourself by talking
so much," he commented. She glared at him, an act that
went totally ignored.
"You’re not doing anything the better the situation,"
she snapped. He shrugged, repressing the urge to
shiver and mimic her tactics for relieving stress.
Luckily, his keen sight caught the edge of the almost
drift covered cabin over the next ridge.
"Lina." He nudged her, and she looked up expectantly.
"there’s a cabin up ahead. Let’s see if we can take
shelter in there, at least until the storm ceases."
"A cabin?" A smile broke across her face. "Great!
Let’s pick up the pace, ne, Zel?"
"As you wish." He assented. "However, it is still
some distance away."
"Damn." Her smile quickly vanished.
"I’d agree with you, but I have a better idea." He
almost smirked, but did not let his mirth escape his
cerulean eyes.
"Zel… what are you plotting?" Lina raised an eyebrow,
then let out an undignified squeak ass he threw her
over his shoulder and began to plow through the
knee-deep snow with his demon speed.
She was still swearing when he closed the door of the
cabin behind him, in effort to seal the minimal heat
in.
"Zelgadis…" she shot him a dark glare, which he
completely ignored in his search for something to use
as firewood.
"Nothing," he grumbled, "except this blanket." His
scowl almost sent the temperature plummeting.
"That’s it?" Flame red eyebrows furrowed to express
her displeasure.
"There’s no where near hear to get firewood, Lina."
He shuddered. "Not without freezing to death in the
process." He chucked the blanket to her, and she
caught it with a look of surprise. She glanced to him
to speak of her confusion, but he was already leaning
against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes
closed.
"Zel?" The chimera made no response to his name.
"Zel?"
"What?" he finally grunted, still not opening his
eyes.
"Aren’t you cold?" She offered him the cloth, to
which he snorted and waved it away.
"What would I need a blanket for?" He muttered. "My
skin is stone. A little chill won’t kill me." She
wrapped the cover around herself, curled into a tight
ball, and feigned sleep. Zelgadis, hearing her
breathing even out, released his iron grip on his
frigid muscles, and allowed himself the luxury of a
few silent shivers.
"Ah-HA!" She leapt up, turning on him in an instant.
"I knew it! You’re just as cold as I am!" The chimera
could only stare on with large, startled eyes.
"Lina…" He bowed his head, arms rigid at his sides.
"You’re supposed to be sleeping, not criticizing me
for how I chose to do certain tasks."
"Admit it, Zel, you’re freezing, too." She crossed
her arms over her chest, fixing him with a Look. "I’m
going to keep bothering you until you ‘fess up."
"Fine!" He exploded emotionally. "I’m freezing my ass
off. Is that what you wanted to hear? You win, Lina. I
give up."
There was a long moment of silence, during which
Zelgadis never looked up. He didn’t want to have to
see her smirking face, mocking his loss of temper.
He nearly jumped out of his stone skin when she
wrapped her blanket-draped arms around him.
"Stupid." She chuckled. "I wasn’t playing for
winning. I want to share. There’s enough to share,
besides, two bodies and a blanket keep heat better
than just one."
"I don’t see how this will… work…" The sudden rush of
blood to his cheeks stung, the cold was so great as to
make blushing painful. Lina had situated herself in
his lap, arms draped around his neck. To add to his
predicament, she was already asleep, which increased
the chance of being Fireball-ed when she awoke.
Zelgadis sighed, attempting to recline against the
wall without jolting the petite red-head. Finally into
a somewhat comfortable position, he wrapped his arms
around her slender waist and kissed the top of her
head. He inhaled the soft aroma of sunny afternoons
that seemed to follow her eternally, and smiled when
she snuggled closer to his now warm body.
‘Oh well,’ he thought, ‘she may toast me in the
morning, but I’m going to enjoy tonight.’
CREDITS
"The Slayers" is the product of Software Sculptors, Tokyo TV, Enoki Films Co., Ltd., Monthly Dragon Magazine, Weekly Comic Dragon, Fujimi Books, Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, and Kadokawa Publishing Co., Ltd.
