The comforting smell of warm chocolate filled the air in Lucy's apartment, making the blonde eager to finish her bath. Perfection couldn't be rushed, though, and a perfect evening required a long soak in a warm tub. The water temperature was just right and the fizzing bath salts in soothing lavender scent had the blonde feeling more relaxed than she had in ages. Losing herself in a good romance/adventure novel made the experience utterly blissful. The book wasn't terribly long, so maybe she'd be able to finish the entire thing in one night.
When the water started to cool and her fingers were nice and prune-like, Lucy stood from the tub and toweled off. Her hair was still mostly dry in its bun on top of her head, so she just dropped the towel in the floor when she was done drying her body. Who cares if leaving towels in the floor wasn't something she'd normally do? Tonight was not about cleaning or keeping up appearances. It was all about doing her own thing while relaxing and if walking into the kitchen as naked as the day she was born to snag a brownie seemed like a great idea, she was going to do it. The full pan of cooling brownies, minus the small square she'd cut off as soon as it came out of the oven, was calling her name. The vanilla ice cream was still a little too hard to properly scoop, so she left it out on the counter to thaw for a bit while she got dressed.
With a brownie in hand, the blonde made her way back to her room to get dressed in a set of adorable, comfy pajamas she'd never dare wear in front of her teammates. Luckily, tonight she didn't have to worry about them popping up. It would be a night she spent in peaceful solitude. Since finding out everyone had plans that evening, she made sure none of them found out she had no plans at all. One of them, or maybe all of them, would invite her to go with them in a way that didn't allow her to say no.
Natsu and Gray wouldn't be popping up because they were out on a self-appointed mission. The pair thought they were clever, but Lucy knew her friends too well for them to fool her. Their 'mission' wasn't one that had been found on the request board and consisted solely of them attempting to convince Lisanna to join them in a threesome. Unfortunately for Lucy's eyes, she had walked in on her two male teammates in a sweaty, lusty embrace a few weeks ago. It was a traumatizing experience she couldn't bleach from her memory. They were like family to her and there were some things family members weren't meant to witness each other doing. The following day had been a little awkward, but they all got over it quickly and things went back to normal. As long as they didn't try to pull her into their escapades, she wouldn't spill their secret to anyone.
Even Erza wouldn't be showing up demanding her fair – completely unfair – share of more than half the sweets. The warrior-woman planned to polish her entire collection of weapons in one night, a feat that would take many, many hours. As long as Lucy's night alone remained a secret, Erza wouldn't be pounding on her door in a completely unnecessary attempt to save her blonde sister from loneliness. The last menace, Happy, had his own plans to woo Carla. Wendy would be with the exceeds since Carla refused to be left alone with Happy, leaving Lucy blissfully alone all evening.
Nothing short of a natural disaster could ruin Lucy's night of freedom.
Lucy had just pulled on her favorite celestial-themed pajama shorts when she heard her front door slam open into the wall, followed by a grunt and thud coming from the direction of the kitchen. Grumbling profanities under her breath, Lucy grabbed her hairbrush before leaving the bathroom, intent on leaving many brush shaped bruises on whichever teammate decided to interrupt her alone time. The idiot that just broke into her apartment had better not be touching her brownies or they might not have ten fingers by the time they escaped her wrath.
The sight that greeted her was not one she expected. Several thoughts whirled through her mind in the two seconds it took for her come to the most important conclusion: She would not be spending the night alone binging on sugar.
"Well, shit."
Cobra turned at the sound of the Celestial Mage's voice and did his best not to show his amusement at the brush-wielding woman dressed in children's pajamas. He knew of her plans for the night due to her inner ramblings on the subject, but didn't have time to deal with any of that. "If you're done gawking, he could use some first aid."
Lucy's attention was diverted to the person lying on her table. The table that was formerly clean and blood free. The table she normally ate off of. Looks like she'd be buying a new table. Her brow furrowed as she stepped closer to examine the unconscious figure. Whoever it was looked terrible. Clearly they'd been hit with some powerful magic, maybe even a pointy weapon or two. Their outfit was torn and blood soaked. Blood loss made their familiar-looking face appear washed out, though whatever brand of lipstick the person used was some quality stuff to still be intact and smudge-free. If they lived through this, she'd have to find out where they bought it.
A snort escaped Cobra when he heard the lipstick comment, the sound drawing Lucy's attention back to him. When she looked at the questionably reformed ex-con, she suddenly realized the identity of the man on her table. Her head snapped back to look at the dying man, Midnight, or Macbeth, whatever he was going by now. Of all the places for the two of them to end up, why did they pick her apartment? And why tonight? Couldn't this have waited until tomorrow?
Sighing in frustration, Lucy closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. The delicious, mouthwatering brownies were tempting her to ignore Cobra's very rude request for help, but she knew she wouldn't be able to fully enjoy her treat with the Reflector Mage bleeding out on her table. Pointing towards the sink, she said, "The first aid kit is under the sink on the left side. Run some hot water in a bowl and I'll go get some towels."
Not liking being ordered around but knowing he needed to play nice to get help, Cobra reined in the urge to poison the wench and headed into her kitchen. The first aid kit was exactly where she said it would be and a bowl was easy enough to find. While completing his assigned task of filling the bowl with hot water, Cobra focused on Lucy's soul to make sure she wouldn't be calling any of her guildmates over to help. He wasn't afraid of them, not even the fire breathing nuisance. He just didn't want to deal with the wild idiots. Cobra had brought Midnight to Magnolia at Jellal's request, but he didn't plan to follow his leader's order in its entirety. Jellal may have felt Fairy Tail was Midnight's best hope for recovery, but Cobra didn't trust those imbeciles to care for his comrade. Once he'd made it into the city, Cobra had picked up on the Celestial Mage's scent and followed it here. Though he hadn't ever had a conversation with her, he'd heard enough from her soul during previous encounters to know she wouldn't turn them away.
Lucy returned to the kitchen and dumped the towels she'd gathered in one of the chairs. Another cursory glance at the injured man confirmed her earlier thought that this was out of her league. His skin was deathly pale, more than it usually was with his makeup. So much blood soaked his clothes that it was pooling around him on the table, making her briefly wonder how much was actually left in his body. Someone with healing magic would be much better suited for this job. Lucy knew a bit of first aid, she was on the most destructive team in Fairy Tail after all, but she wasn't confident she'd be of much help in this situation. Why had Cobra brought him here?
As gingerly as possible, Lucy cut away Midnight's shirt with the shears she'd had the foresight to grab from the bathroom. She felt the intensity of Cobra's gaze but was doing her best to ignore the scrutiny. It wasn't like she planned to hurt the injured man even further.
Lucy couldn't stifle her shocked gasp with she saw the damage done to Midnight's chest. The deep gash looked like something out of a horror movie. Dark blood and fleshy bits that should never see the light of day were showing in the wound that was at least six inches long. This clearly wasn't something she could do much for. No, someone with actual healing abilities would need to treat the wound soon if Midnight was going to survive.
Cobra froze in his spot on the other side of the table after hearing Lucy's thoughts. She was right. It didn't make sense for him to bring a heavily injured person to a Celestial Mage. Now he doubted his decision to bring Midnight to Lucy and wondered if maybe he should have just followed Jellal's orders. At least the little dragon slayer could have used her healing magic on him if they were at the guildhall, but Cobra had ignored the orders and followed his instincts. He couldn't explain the pull he felt to come here but it seemed like the best idea.
"I need that." Lucy nodded her head towards the bowl Cobra was holding, spurring him to move from the spot he was standing in uselessly on the other side of his injured friend. She understood he was afraid, but he could be more helpful. Not to mention he was holding onto the water she needed.
"Why are you helping him?" Cobra asked as he set the water bowl down in another chair next to Lucy. He knew it was a little ridiculous to ask her why she was helping after he'd already demanded she do so, but he found himself curious.
She spared Cobra a quick glance, surprised by his question. "A better question would be why wouldn't I help him? It's been a long time since the clock fiasco and I'm past it. He needs help, so I'm helping." As she spoke, she turned her gaze back to the task at hand, wetting one of the towels and wiping away the blood drying to Midnight's skin. The cut was deep enough that she was worried about injuring Midnight further by cleaning it. What if touching it caused him to get an infection or made him start bleeding heavily again? Blood wasn't pouring from the wound anymore, mostly just oozing a little, but she didn't want to irritate it. She had no idea how to properly care for something like this.
Cobra turned away to rummage aimlessly through the first aid kit to hide his shock at her easy acceptance of the situation. It didn't make sense to him, but he was glad he brought Midnight to Lucy. Cobra wasn't sure anyone else would have helped without questioning the situation first.
Lucy's voice brought Cobra out of his musings as she said, "Can you go get my keys? They'll be in the bathroom on the counter. I should have grabbed them while I was there. I need Virgo's help."
Though he'd never seen Virgo, Cobra got a vivid image of the pink haired spirit from Lucy's thoughts. He nearly told her not to summon the spirit but decided against it when Lucy's soul provided him with memories of times in the past when Virgo had patched up her teammates. The spirit probably had more first aid experience. It didn't take him long to figure out where the bathroom was and return with the keys. As soon as the key ring touched her palm, Lucy found the key she needed without looking and wordlessly summoned the maid spirit.
A flurry of golden sparkles announced the spirit's arrival. A pink haired maid identical to the image he'd gotten from Lucy's memories spoke, "Punishment, Princess?" Cobra flinched at the overwhelmingly disturbing thoughts coming from the spirit with this question. He immediately listened in on Lucy to see if they were into some weird BDSM shit, but the blonde's thoughts were innocent.
It was clear to Cobra that Lucy didn't realize how serious the maid's question was as she said, "Not today, Virgo. Can you stitch this up? This is more than I'm capable of."
"Of course, Princess."
The spirit took over stitching up Midnight with the supplies from the first aid kit while Lucy did her best to clean up the unconscious mage. He'd lost so much blood that it took a lot of time and every towel she owned to get his upper body even remotely clean. Unless Virgo could work some serious magic on the towels, they would be in the trash alongside the table. His pants were also blood soaked but Lucy didn't want to try cleaning his lower half unless it was absolutely necessary and things didn't seem to be at that point. Maybe he'd wake up tomorrow and take off his own pants or she could just ask Cobra to take care of that part later.
Cobra stood off to the side, again feeling useless, while he listened in on Lucy's soul. Gone were her thoughts on the alone time she'd been so excited about. Instead, her thoughts were filled with compassion for Midnight and curiosity on who could have managed to strike a Reflector Mage. Her earlier irritation seemed to be completely gone as well. She wanted to ask what had happened but understood the secrecy of Crime Sorciere's missions.
"There was a mage with the ability to cancel magic and another skilled with a sword." Cobra vaguely answered her unasked question.
Lucy hummed and nodded but didn't look away from her task. When Virgo was finished stitching Midnight's wound, she said to Lucy, "I've closed the wound but he will need to rest, preferably somewhere more comfortable than your table."
Rolling her eyes at her obnoxious spirit friend, Lucy said, "Thanks, Virgo. Do you think he'll be alright tonight or should we have Wendy come now?"
"He is stable enough to survive without immediate medical attention but he should be seen as soon as possible tomorrow. If that is all, I will be leaving." With a bow and burst of sparkles, Virgo disappeared back to the spirit realm.
The room was silent for a moment while Lucy debated on the best spot for Midnight to rest and Cobra wondered how long it would be until her teammates showed up.
"I'm going to get a couple of old blankets to cover my bed. Can you carry him? I'll be done in a second."
A small nod from Cobra was the only response he gave to Lucy. She rolled her eyes at his lack of even basic social skills but didn't say anything. There was an injured man that needed help more than Cobra needed lessons on etiquette.
Once Midnight was settled on Lucy's bed, the two unlikely companions cleaned up the bloody mess while Cobra wondered what to do next. He had no intention of leaving Midnight in the apartment alone while unconscious and defenseless, but he wasn't sure how to bring up the subject of staying. It wasn't as if he'd spent much time around any people except the other mages in their so-called guild. The idea of spending an entire night in an unfamiliar place while worrying whether his friend would live or die had Cobra feeling more insecure than he'd ever be willing to admit.
Cobra didn't like feeling unsure. The feeling had him on edge, ready to defend himself and his friend from the smallest threat. It wasn't helping that Lucy's soul wasn't the easiest to get a clear read on now that she wasn't focused solely on caring for Midnight. There were too many thoughts and feelings flitting through her mind constantly. He'd occasionally catch a snippet of thought, but it wasn't anything useful. The most he could tell was that she was less upset than he expected her to be about them intruding in her home.
Lucy, on the other hand, was ignoring Cobra's brooding and wondering if she could still manage to enjoy her brownies before it got any later. Her pint of vanilla ice cream was a total loss. It had melted completely during the mad rush to save the bleeding man. At least the brownies could be microwaved and eaten with fudge. The night was still young – not really, but she was also ignoring the ticking clock – so maybe she could still finish the book she had been reading in the bath while pretending she was alone. Lucy was determined not to let the ex-criminals that tried to sacrifice her once upon a time completely ruin her relaxing evening.
Nearly an hour passed with Cobra standing uncomfortably in the Celestial Mage's kitchen focusing on the gentle yet confusing hum of her soul in hopes of discovering her intentions while Lucy continued pretending to be alone. He watched for any signs of ill intent as she moved around her kitchen preparing a third helping of brownies drowned in enough fudge to put a diabetic in a coma. It smelled good but he was ignoring his stomach in favor of focusing on figuring out what she was thinking. She was clearly in the middle of some internal debate that centered on him, which had him prepared to knock her out via poison gas. He had been wondering how long it would take her to ask him to leave and it seemed that time had arrived, but she would be in for a surprise. There was nothing she could do to force him to leave the apartment where his injured comrade slept.
"Do you want some of this? I have enough to share." Lucy said with a bright smile while holding out a bowl full of brownie topped with melted fudge. Normally, she prided herself on her ability to read people, but Cobra was really throwing her off. Her smile became strained the longer her stared at her with one eyebrow raised. She had expected a simple yes or no, not this uncomfortable silence. He looked slightly relieved but seemed frozen in a state of shock, as if she had just offered to have his babies.
The blonde's last thought came through loud and clear, making Cobra snort and shake his head. This woman was strange but seemed genuinely kind and wasn't going to ask him to leave. The tension eased out of his body as he accepted the bowl of sweet poison from her. If he wasn't so damned hungry, he would have said no, but his body wouldn't let him pass up the offer. He hadn't eaten all day and had used a ton of energy carrying Midnight here. He needed to keep his strength up in case her teammates showed up.
Lucy nearly offered Cobra a seat at the table until she remembered no one would ever be eating at that table again.
"Yeah, I'm sure as hell not sitting there." He grumbled as he moved past her to sit on the couch. Lucy followed him and sat down on the opposite end, doing her best to ignore how awkward it was to be sharing brownies with Cobra, the Poison Dragon Slayer, on a late Thursday night. She'd seen him around Magnolia and even in the guildhall a few times when Jellal forced them all to come visit, but they'd never spoken to one another. It wasn't that she had a problem with him causing her to avoid speaking with him. He just always made a point of avoiding everyone, so she let him be. Getting tired of the silence, she finally asked, "Do you like it?"
Cobra nodded but didn't say anything out loud. He wasn't about to tell her they were good but not nearly as good as the ones he baked.
A few more minutes passed until Lucy finished eating her brownie and decided it was time to address the elephant in the room. "You know, I don't mind if you guys stay here tonight, but we should at least call Wendy in the morning."
The one-eyed, blank stare Cobra settled on her left Lucy feeling a little uncertain. Was he actually going to say no to someone coming to heal Midnight? What was he planning to do? A horrible thought crossed her mind. What if Cobra planned to leave Midnight here with her? That would completely ruin all her plans for the morning. She thought she'd be able to sleep in a bit and whip up some nice, fluffy waffles for breakfast since Natsu probably wouldn't be climbing through her window. That couldn't happen if she was caring for a nearly-dead guy on her own.
With her mind focused on one subject, it was easy for Cobra to pick up on her thoughts. Her growing panic was too amusing to pass up, so he let her work herself up a bit more. His emotionless mask almost broke when her thoughts spiraled out of control as she imagined Midnight becoming disabled and moving in with her.
"You can call the mini-dragon in the morning." The immediate relief he picked up from Lucy made what she'd just been imagining even funnier. Her mental image of pushing the man around in a wheel chair with a quilt in his lap to keep him warm while he slept was something Cobra would have to remember when this was all over. Before she could even voice the thought that formed in her mind, Cobra said, "Don't even think about calling any of your crazy ass teammates. If any of them shows up, I'll poison the shit outta them."
"You're not poisoning anybody, asshole." She shot back with her eyes narrowed, though she relented and added, "But I won't call them if they make you that uncomfortable. I know they can be pretty crazy."
Cobra nodded and turned his attention back to his bowl. He scraped the last of the fudge from the bottom and licked it off the spoon. Bored and feeling unusually talkative, he said, "These brownies are alright but you added too much butter."
Lucy thought she might get whiplash with how quickly her neck snapped to stare at him in disbelief. "Too much butter? What do you know about baking?"
He shrugged and said, "Enough."
The blonde shook her head and tried to suppress the urge to argue with the dragon slayer. She had enough experience with the slayers in her guild and Sabertooth's to know it would be an uphill battle to win an argument with him.
After the unlikely pair settled on the couch and she finally managed to get him talking, Lucy found she didn't mind the Poison Dragon Slayer's company as much as she expected. He was quiet but could keep up a conversation if the topic interested him. The strangest of those topics being baked goods. Cobra claimed he could bake better than she could, which she argued wasn't possible, and he insisted he would prove to her at some point in the future. Cocky didn't begin to describe his attitude when it came to something he did well. Apparently, her brownies were subpar when compared to his confectionary masterpieces.
A loud yawn from the blonde signaled the end of their on and off conversation. She was tired and knew she should go to sleep if she hoped to be in a decent mood come morning. If she stayed on the couch much longer, she'd end up sleeping there and using Cobra as a pillow. Lucy was well aware she was a cuddly sleeper and assumed Cobra wouldn't appreciate being used as her teddy bear.
"You're damn right." He grumbled, which earned him a sleepy smile from Lucy that made him slightly uncomfortable. "I'll just sleep on the floor and you can have the couch." Though the floor did not look inviting, it wouldn't due to have the blonde sleeping on him. He hated being touched and all forms of affection were unacceptable.
"Don't be ridiculous." Lucy said as she slapped his shoulder with the back of her hand when he moved to stand. The gesture of familiarity went unnoticed by the blonde but Cobra stiffened at the contact. No one ever touched him. Lucy shot up off the couch and shouted "I have an idea!"
Cobra watched as she whipped a key through the air and summoned another spirit, one that was somewhat familiar to him from her time spent with Sorano. The lamb-woman's thoughts bordered on insanity, even stranger than the maid's. She envisioned Lucy shouting at her for taking too long to appear, though Lucy's soul told him clearly nothing of the sort had ever happened. The lamb-woman squirmed and cried, "I'm sorry, Princess! I'll get here faster next time."
A little confused but brushing off the odd statement, Lucy said, "Don't worry about it. Do you think you could use your Wool Bomb to make two beds for us to sleep on?"
"Of course, Princess!" The spirit extended her hands, palms out and meekly said, "Wool Bomb."
Two perfectly formed pink, mattress-sized cushions popped into existence. The timid lamb-woman asked, "Did I do it right?"
"Yes, Aries. That was great! You can go back now." When the spirit disappeared, Lucy walked over to a storage closet to grab two throw blankets. Handing one to Cobra, she said, "Here you go. Pick a bed and I'll be back in a minute to take the other one."
Lucy made a quick trip to the bathroom to brush her teeth before going to sleep. She'd considered skipping it for the night but didn't want to wake up with the taste of old chocolate on her tongue. Always the considerate host, she pulled out an unopened toothbrush and extra bottle of toothpaste for her guest. Leaning out of the doorway, she was about to speak but realized she didn't have to try talking around her toothbrush with someone like Cobra around. Looking at him to make sure he was paying attention, she focused on thinking at him, I have an extra toothbrush you could use. You could even poison yourself with this extra bottle of toothpaste, if you want.
The only response he gave was a raised eyebrow, but he stood and walked over to the bathroom. It was strange to have her think at him that way. Only the people he'd spent most of his life with did that. Pushing away the thoughts, he took the tube and ripped the top off with his teeth. Of all the poisons he'd consumed, he had never tried out toothpaste. He squeezed a glob into his mouth and savored the flavor. The taste was nice, not surprising considering it was toothpaste, and the tingly feeling coursing throughout his body wasn't bad, either.
Immune to the oddities of dragon slayers after being Natsu's partner for so long, Lucy finished her nightly routine and left Cobra to do his own thing in the bathroom. She went into her bedroom to make sure Midnight was still breathing and then returned to her living room. It was clear to her which bed he'd chosen since he'd left his bloody coat lying on it. "Hey, Cobra. I'm gonna summon Virgo and send this bloody stuff with her."
Assuming the responding grunt was acceptance, the blonde summoned her spirit friend and sent the items away to be cleaned. Virgo assured Lucy she could get the blood out, something Lucy was grateful for. Buying several new towels wasn't in the broke woman's budget.
She got comfortable on the fluffy, wool mattress and tried not to worry about the possibility of the Reflector Mage dying while she slept. She didn't know him well but she was sure he'd be missed if he died. He was probably a nice enough guy now that he wasn't trying to take over the world. Hopefully Wendy could fix him up in the morning.
Unaware of how badly she was disturbing Cobra, Lucy allowed herself to relax and drift off to sleep. He waited until her breathing fully evened out before leaving the bathroom. It had been an unusually stressful day and he didn't think he was capable of more small talk, even if he didn't mind the big tittied blonde as much as he minded other people. She was strange but not completely in a bad way, though she was clearly as insane as the rest of Fairy Tail. Doing things like welcoming ex-criminals into her home then going to sleep with one of them awake and roaming around was not something a rational person would do. He couldn't exactly say he hated it, though. It was a nice change to be treated like a friend without the reserved behavior he was accustomed to.
What the hell was he thinking? He'd been awake too long. That had to be the reason he was thinking about how nice it was that she'd been kind to them. Maybe the poison in the toothpaste worked a little too well. It didn't matter, anyway. Tomorrow morning the little dragon slayer would come heal Midnight, and then they'd be off. It would probably be a long time before he saw the blonde again.
After checking on Midnight, Cobra walked back to his bed for the night and tried to get comfortable, but he couldn't relax. After turning a few times, he finally settled on his side facing the blonde. Even in the dimly lit room, he could make out her features well enough. She was still as good looking as she had been when her team fought his over Nirvana. Even covered up by the blanket, he could still make out the curve of her full breasts. The sight had his mind going to places it shouldn't. He couldn't leave to go find a whore and he wasn't about to fuck a Fairy Tail mage. Especially not one partnered with Titania and Salamandar. That was just asking for a headache.
He rolled to lie flat on his back and stare at the boring ceiling instead of the attractive woman a few feet away from him. Without the distraction, his mind replayed the moment Midnight got slashed by that sword over and over until he was angry enough to feel poison building up in his throat. It was a close call. He hadn't been sure his only friend would survive the trip here. At least he'd managed to dismember the sword wielder before the guy could get away.
Needing another distraction to make his mind relax, Cobra focused on the blonde's soul and found himself entertained by a very strange dream. Dream Lucy was standing the middle of her kitchen taking cooking lessons from a one-eyed, maroon snake that stood nearly as tall as she did. The snake hissed at her and nodded its head, directing her actions. Understanding what the snake wanted, she grabbed ingredients to bake sugar cookies and prepared the dough. The dream morphed to have the pair standing in front of a counter, but the snake was now wrapped around Lucy's body while helping her cut the dough into star shaped cookies.
Cobra pulled his mind back from the oddity that was Lucy Heartfilia. She was definitely crazy. He would just have to let his mind wander until sleep finally took him.