It was dark. Disfigured shadows crept closer and closer. A high pitched alarm sounded somewhere nearby, causing Midnight to jump. However, the creatures were not fazed. They continued slinking nearer and nearer. One of the larger ones grabbed the Dark Mage by the shoulders, and…
Shook him.
"Wake up, idiot!" growled a familiar voice. Midnight cracked open one eye to see his teammate, Cobra.
"Five more minutes?"
"No way! Quit acting like a three year old and get up!"
"Fine, fine…" Midnight slid out of bed, stretching luxuriously.
"No time for that." stated Cobra as he jabbed his friend in the ribs. This earned him a squeak and a glare. He rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up." He paused for a moment and grinned. "Ticklish little girl."
The dual-haired male glared daggers at him and trudged downstairs.
Now, you may be wondering why there even was a downstairs. Long story short, the Magic Council had ordered them to stay at a house in Magnolia where they could keep a close eye on them until further notice.
As he reached the bottom of the stairwell, Midnight stared wide-eyed at Racer, horror etched onto his pale face. The 'speedster' was dressed in a burgundy bathrobe, pale blue pajama bottoms, and a pair of black slippers adorned his feet.
"Ah, so I see you're finally awake, Middo-kinz!" He winked at the Dark Mage through a pair of thick transparent glasses.
"Shut up." Grumbled said Mage, his voice slurred with sleep. He took a seat across from Angel and began eating his bacon.
Cobra ran down and started dancing around his chair.
"Eat faster!" he rushed. "The snakes are waiting!"
Midnight gave him a perplexed look.
"What?"
Angel smirked, a lump of scrambled egg on her chin.
"We're going down to the Reptile Sanctuary in a few hours." She turned to the maroon-haired mage. "Did you hear that? A few hours. Not a few minutes."
Cobra snorted irritably, then took a seat next to Midnight and began slowly nibbling on his toast.
"Is he sleeping again?" murmured Angel. Racer nodded.
"It appears so…"
Cobra clicked his tongue nonchalantly.
"I'll wake him up." he sighed, leaning down and blowing on the dormant figure's ear.
Midnight shot up, gasping. He frowned at the three adults before him.
"Which one of you did that?" he inquired threateningly. Angel and Racer pointed at their friend.
"Cobra!" they shouted in unison.
Red eyes burned into violet ones. Eventually, both parties gave up.
"Hug." suggested the white-haired female.
"Huh?" grunted Cobra."
"You know, hug each other. It's a sign of forgiveness." she explained.
"But we were never fighting."
"Too bad."
"Fine, if it'll make you shut up." He wrapped his arms around the smaller male in a warm (if not, slightly forced) embrace. The hug was returned after a few moments of calculating just what the hell was going on. Racer and Angel grinned mischievously at the two.
Wait a minute… thought the Celestial Wizard. She narrowed her eyes.
"Midnight, are you okay?"
"…Yes."
The Dark Mage pulled back from the hug, and looked away.
Unfortunately for him, Angel had already looked at his face.
And she could have sworn that she saw a deep blush spreading across his cheeks.
Or maybe it was just her imagination.
Cobra raced down the cobblestone pathway that lead to the Sanctuary with immense speed and vigour. Excitement rolled off him in waves.
"Someone's a little overexcited." snickered Racer, ruffling his hair. Angel padded up beside them.
"Midnight's sleeping on someone's porch… I think we should go back and get him." she told the guys.
"That's random." muttered Cobra.
"I'll go." volunteered Racer.
Angel turned her head towards him stiffly.
"No." she refused through gritted teeth, smiling falsely. "Let's allow Cobra to do the honors."
Said mage raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"You've been wanting me to do a lot of stuff with him lately…"
The Celestial Wizard glared at him.
"Just get moving, hon."
All the men in the house knew not to piss her off when the word 'hon' dropped from the belt. He hurried off without uttering another word.
"Hey, Midnight, wake up!"
Cobra had yelled those words in his ear so many times now, he honestly couldn't count them all.
He had tried shaking him, slapping him, poking him; all his efforts were futile. Midnight was well and truly in a deep slumber.
"Hmm…"
The snakelike mage sat on his friend.
Nothing.
He waved his hand in front of his face.
Nothing.
He even tried licking his cheek, a very 'last resort' type of thing.
"Damn…" Cobra picked up the small male and ran off to catch up with his teammates.
Angel's face brightened when she saw the pair running towards her. Well, one of them was running. The other one was just hanging limply in his arms. This worried her slightly. Even though Midnight was a deep sleeper, you could usually wake him up. Maybe Cobra could answer the many questions floating around in her head.
"Hey, Cobra!" she called, motioning for him to hurry up.
He picked up the pace and eventually arrived at Racer's side. However, the smell of sweat clouding the area around him was enough to send the speedster inching a few steps in the opposite direction.
"Midnight… Wouldn't… Wake… Up…" he wheezed.
"Why not?" queried Angel. She stared down at the sleeping bundle in his arms, then jumped. "Oh shit."
"What is it?"
"He's wet. It's cold out here. How could you have not noticed?" She looked around desperately for a few moments. "We need to get him inside before he catches a cold." She ordered urgently.
"Inside the Reptile Sanctuary?" questioned Cobra hopefully.
Angel looked into his eyes sadly.
"Sorry, not today."
His shoulders sagged.
"Maybe tomorrow. But for now, we have a possibly sick friend to care for."
Racer tugged on Cobra's sleeve.
"Let's go! As in, let's go now! Enough chitchat! Onwards!"
The other two grinned and ran off, leaving Racer gawking after them.
"Wait for me!" he whined.
"Tough love!" Angel called over her shoulder.
I just hope we can get home before it's too late… thought Cobra.
After what seemed to Cobra a very long period of time, they finally reached their destination. He rushed upstairs to Midnight's bedroom the second they walked into the house and gently placed him on the bed. He frowned. Even though they had poured every last ounce of strength into making it home on time, it appeared that their efforts were wasted. Cobra placed a trembling hand on the dual-haired male's forehead.
Damn…
It was much warmer than usual, and the tip of his nose had a slightly pinkish tint to it. So much for being fast. In the end, they were just a bunch of wizards with no brains at all.
He slowly played with a lock of pearl-colored hair that had fallen into his hand, and twirled it around his finger. Midnight's hair was softer than one would expect. He had obviously put lots of time and effort into keeping it this way.
Cobra stroked the side of his face and let out a sigh.
"It's all my fault…" he mumbled.
"No, it's not."
He jumped slightly at the sudden noise.
"It's not your fault." the voice repeated.
He looked down. Midnight's ruby eyes stared up at him, slightly glossy.
The tanned male snorted.
"It is. It's my fault that you're sick, and you know it."
"Don't be so dramatic. It's just a cold."
Cobra looked down, groaning.
"But if I had realized that you were wet, I could've taken you home before it got worse." he muttered.
"It doesn't matter anymore." his friend replied calmly.
Suddenly, he stiffened and his breath began hitching. His half-closed eyes watered a little before scrunching shut as sneeze after powerful sneeze forced its way out of his sinuses.
"Hnxt! Nchuu! Hitchoo!"
Cobra handed him a tissue. He took it gratefully and blew his nose noisily into it a few times.
"Jeez, I feel awful about this…"
"Don't."
The two stood (or lay, in Midnight's case) in awkward silence for a few minutes. It was then that things took a turn for the worse.
"Um, hi!"
The maroon-haired mage leaped about a foot in the air, before turning around.
The wizard he saw there was the one he expected to see least of all.
Lucy Heartfilia.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!"
Lucy winked at him.
"I came here to see you!"
"… I don't even know you."
She grinned cutely.
"Then let's get to know each other!"
Before Cobra could do anything, she had grabbed him by the hand and ran out of the room, casting the sick mage a cruel glance.
Then they were gone.
Midnight watched the doorway frustratedly.
Things can only go downhill from here…