You said, "Write the scene where Lina kills time
with Gourry."  Well, if they must play a game, and it isn't Bonkers (I
expect to see references to cartoon bobcats sometime, btw)...

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     Gourry straightened his smile just a bit more.  "How
about...'Honey'?"

     "Honey?  What, is this some game where we go mess with a beehive or
something?"

     "No, no, that's Insect Training.  We do that to hone our
swordsmanship.  Makes you scratch a lot, too.  No, 'Honey' is something
different entirely."

     Lina was skeptical, but bored.  And, since Reason probably had her
reasons for making them wait (but not thinking that bonding might be one
of them), she bit.  "Okay, how do we play 'Honey'?"

     Gourry sat down next to Lina.  "First, we need more than just two
people - otherwise, it gets a bit boring.  Myth?"

     "Uh, sure, I guess."  Myth walked over, her Talent hinting that
whatever was going to happen was going to make for a good scene.  Gourry
gestured for her to sit in what now was a circle.

     Gourry breathed slowly, calming himself.  "The idea of this game is
not to smile, but, instead, to respond to the person talking to you,
"Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile.  I'll start."  Immediately,
before Lina could protest/scream/run/fireball Gourry, he sat down RIGHT ON
HER LAP.

     Lina ceased all normal motion, instead shaking approximately 3.5 on
the Richter scale.

     Gourry looked at her, eyes enlarged like they belonged to young,
twitterpated deer.  He spoke softly, with a touch of whine for effect.

     "Honey, I love you.  Will you give me a smile?"

     Lina hit 6.2 and sweated big time.  Slowly, trying to compose
herself, she stammered out, "Honey, I...love
you...but...I...hehheh...pbbtHAHAHAHA..."

     Gourry beamed.  "Got ya!  Your turn, Lina."

     "What?!  How DARE you..."  A dozen spells of mass destruction floated
through Lina's mind, but she remembered Aunt Koirry and kept civil.
"Ooh...what am I supposed to do?"

     "You sit down on someone's lap and say, 'Honey, I love you.  Will you
give me a smile?'"  Gourry explained.  "The idea is to get them to crack a
smile before they say, 'Honey, I love you, but I just can't smile.'"

     Lina looked at the two sitting down on the ground and weighed the two
evils.  Sit on a girl's lap and say that.  Sit on Gourry's lap and say
that.  Walk away and be rude as well as bored.  She sighed.  She threw out
three because it just didn't seem right to her, and then tossed number one
because people were around and it might not seem right to _them_.  She
vowed to get Gourry back for this sometime, smiling as cutely as she could
manage and sitting down gently on Gourry's lap and resting her head on
Gourry's shoulder, eyes wide and shining like only anime could show them.
Putting the thought of how much she looked like Amelia at the moment on
the far back shelf of her mind, she put enough sugar into her voice to
sweeten a water tower full of Kool-Aid.  "Honey, I love you."  She paused
to try and put that thought back with the image of her as Sailor Justice.
"Would you give me a smile?"  She blinked a few times with emphasis on her
eyelashes to give the full effect.

     Gourry, calm, straight-faced, and breathing not-quite-as-deeply,
spoke.  "Honey, I love you...but I just can't smile.  But a good try,
anyway."  He then gave Lina a small peck on the cheek.

     Remember the scene at the end of Chapter 5?  Gourry's kiss was just
enough to cause a relapse.

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Nicholas Eckert
vidstudent