I got stuck on this halfway through until I started a RP with a Midnight on Twitter. So, thanks to UnboundVanity for giving me a few ideas without intending to do so –

No actual romance orz but still

IMPORTANT INFO AT THE BOTTOM; PLEASE READ WHEN YOU FINISH BEFORE MAKING A COMMENT ABOUT MIDNIGHT'S "REFLECTOR" ABILITY :)

She really doesn't want him here.

Okay, she knows that they're supposed to be all about atoning for their sins, or whatever, but he's committed a sin that she just doesn't think she can forgive, no matter how hard she tries. Sure, Meredy isn't perfect either, and she's done some bad things in her life, but that doesn't make her a hypocrite for this grudge she's holding against Midnight, does it? After all, Meredy had some sense talked into her by one of her former targets, but this, this arrogant bastard hasn't learned the error of his ways.

The only thing he learned is that some people are just so determined to win that they will, in fact, crush their own eyes to see past one of his stupid allusions.

So now, Meredy's lost the person she once considered a mother, and Jellal will never be the same again.

But that's not even the worst part! What gets her so worked up about having the former Oracion Seis around isn't that Midnight's there being as much of a dick as always, but that Jellal actually wants her to forgive him! The others, sure, she can handle that; yeah, they threw Jellal around a bit, and beat him up some, but it's nothing he can't heal from, right? He's endured worse, and he'll recover.

But his eyes; those can't be bandaged and back to normal in a few days, or even a week. It's permanent. Midnight's stupid magic is the reason that Jellal will never see again! Jellal tries to tell her that it's really not as bad as she makes it out to be, but the fact of the matter is, Jellal's sight is damaged, and that can't be fixed.

So she refuses to listen. He's in pain – well, not so much anymore, but when she saw him fighting against the Oracion Seis, lips parting in labored breaths, the twitches of his eyebrows, those slight hints screamed agony; Jellal can act all tough if he wants, but he was suffering severely then, and he still is now. Sure, the pain may not be as intense as it had been at first, but it's definitely still there. It reflects in his eyes – his bloodshot, virtually sightless eyes.

Meredy won't be able to maintain eye-contact with him because she'll only see the white turned red, the blankness of the chestnut hues. He won't be able to see the face of his beloved, won't be able to read a map, to admire the scenery of where they are now, none of that. His other senses may have sharpened to better accommodate his lack of sight, but that isn't the point. She wants Midnight to suffer for what he's done.

And honestly, she's been following him around – which, yeah, he knows, but she doesn't know he knows, and he just thinks she's too much of a coward to even try to do something to him while he's got his back turned. She's looking for the perfect chance to get some revenge, any revenge, a chance to talk to him while Jellal isn't breathing down her neck and ready to scold her for being a bitch.

Just her luck, of course – after a few weeks of careful observation of Midnight, 'without him knowing' – she spots the very object of her hatred snoozing against a tree around midday. With no one else but the two of them, the perfect opportunity to get some payback is quite literally lying right there in front of her.

It's not that just looking at him gets her blood boiling – okay, that's a lie, because pretty much the mere sight of him pisses her off. The pinkette's lips curl into a wicked grin as her eyes narrow in his direction, a ferocity flashing within those crimson hues. Though, a glint of mischievousness peeks through, because they're totally alone, and she has some wicked ideas buzzing in that sweet-and-sour brain of hers.

She hasn't been able to hold a conversation with him since he joined Crime Sorcière because she knows that it'll only result in a fierce screaming match – at least, on her part, and she doesn't want to frustrate Jellal with things he most likely sees as 'trivial.' Plus, she wants to at least try to respect Jellal's decision of bringing them in, even if she doesn't agree with it all that much, and she really does feel bad for her previous shouting and degrading of the dark mage, since Jellal was the witness.

Besides, really, she is trying! Not all of the former Oracion Seis members are that bad – Angel took some getting used to, but she warmed up to Hoteye rather quickly. So Jellal can't say that she's not accepting of their new members.

She ponders the consequences of doing what she wants to Midnight right now – the possibility of losing her slight bond with a few of their members, the scolding that she'll get from Jellal later (assuming he hears of this soon-to-be incident), and the physical repercussions that she'll undoubtedly feel when she gets attacked by her 'victim.'

But she decides that it's all worth it.

Her gaze doesn't venture from the man before her as she studies him – his painted lips are pressed together, eyes shut in serenity, and legs crisscross. His arms are folded across his chest as it rises and falls with slow breaths, and his face is relaxed. Normally, he's always scowling, glaring, sporting some kind of unamused and irked expression.

Seeing him like this now, it's cute.

At least, it would be if he hadn't blinded her friend.

Oh, no. She'll never forgive him that. Never will she be willing to make amends with that bastard – well, that's a lie, because maybe after she's tormented him enough, she'll have loosened up a bit. But for now, she has to torture him. Ruining his peaceful slumber is a really good way to start, she believes, because Jellal can't really be mad at her for just accidentally waking him up, can he?

And Ultear – oh, Ultear would be so proud.

Then, Meredy briefly considers what to do to him. Damn, drawing on his face would've been good, but she doesn't have a pen on her – besides, she wants something crueler. Slouching with the curve of a frown on her lips, she rakes her fingers through her bangs in thought, the tip of one brushing against something softer than her pink hair. A light bulb goes off in her head, and she hums, giving a tug to the dark earmuffs to pull them off.

She smiles down at them as she turns the headpiece over in her hands because, yeah, this'll work just fine for a first shot at pissing Midnight off. The pinkette lifts her arm, curls her wrist, and flings the earmuffs at him.

And she had no idea before, but apparently she has a damn good aim, because those earmuffs smack him right in his tranquil, relaxed face and fall onto his lap.

The nearly silent grunt she hears from Midnight is really satisfying, but when one of his eyes crack open ever-so-slightly to look at her, she feels a brief rush of irritation and terror – because one, why doesn't he seem more bothered, and two, shit, he's pissed. He stares at her that way for a moment before opening both eyes fully, looking at her almost blankly, and she grits her teeth, refusing to speak even though he's clearly waiting for an explanation as to why she threw something at his face.

The silence stretching on for the next few moments makes her skin crawl with anticipation, because she's made up her mind in that short time that she isn't going to explain her motives to that bastard. So instead, she lamely says, "Wake up."

Quick and irritable, he replies, "Tell me. Do I look like I'm sleeping to you?"

Meredy clenches her jaw to bite back a retort.

He blinks, fingers drumming against his arm. Noticing the shifting of her feet and recognizing the slight movement to indicate discomfort or embarrassment, his expression contorts into a smug one – and the pinkette realizes that immediately and just wants to slap it right off his face. "Do you feel foolish yet?"

Her right hand curls into a fist, her nails biting into the soft flesh of her palm. Punching him would be really nice right about now. Seriously, why is it that every little thing he does pisses her off so much? He could smile sincerely at her and she'd want to kick him in the jewels. She tries to think of a witty comeback, some way to snap back at him, but the best her frustrated mind can manage is, "Shut up."

His lips twitch upward, eyes falling shut in content when he takes note of the anger boiling within her. "Clever one. I'm surprised, really. Usually, silence is a foreign concept to you."

Is he saying that she talks too much? Sure, she's normally chirpy and friendly, all smiles and laughs, but she certainly doesn't talk too much! Does she? She grinds her teeth together as the thoughts mill about in her mind. Fighting back the urge to throw herself into a losing battle – yeah, she's losing pretty bad right now, because he's getting under her skin, and he knows it, and he's enjoying the show, really – Meredy scoffs and folds her arms beneath her breasts, saying nothing.

"Well, it appears that I'm the victor here – again – despite your petty attempt to turn the tables."

Wait, when was it over? She scowls, shaking her head, the toe of her boot scraping up the grass as she grinds it anxiously into the ground. She has to force her voice to remain firm and dominant, realizing just how transparent she really is to someone like him. "You've no reason to assume victory." Stupid bastard – he keeps finding reasons to get all smug, to feel like he's superior to her.

"Enlighten me, then." He lifts his arms, placing his hands behind his head as he leans back against the tree, a carefree attitude taking place where a smug look had been. "Do tell why you've 'won' this round."

Meredy, irked, takes a small step towards him, but otherwise, doesn't close the distance between the pair – and no, it's not because she's scared! Or maybe, perhaps, that might actually be part of the problem. She holds her balled fist near her chest, eyes glittering with anger, thick hair swinging behind her from its ponytail. "No! You enlighten me! Explain to me why you're even here, when you clearly don't want to be! You aren't even welcome! That much is obvious!"

He blinks – once, twice. His calm, carefree demeanor doesn't diminish, but his eyes glint with some kind of guarded threat that Meredy doesn't fail to take notice of. "Do not speak to me with such an attitude, child." His words prompt her cheeks to puff in protest as she stamps her foot on the ground. "I am welcomed by all except you – which, don't get me wrong, I could care less about either way. However, I do not appreciate the way you are handling this situation."

"Who said I needed your permission!?" she spits back. "I'll handle it however I want! I'll deal with it my way!" Frustration seethes within her; is he legitimately not bothered by her, or is he only putting up a façade to piss her off?

"It is irresponsible – irresponsible and childish."

"No, it's not!"

"Oh?" He shifts from his position, a hand dipping down to his lap to claim the earmuffs that had fallen there after she'd struck him in the face. Hardened crimson gaze fixed on her face, meeting her own eyes, he holds the earmuffs up to catch her attention as he gets to his feet. "Throwing these at me, you don't consider that to be childish? Tsk, tsk, what would that guardian of yours think of this? He must be so disappointed."

"Shut up!" She raises her voice, meeting his glare, her own unwavering; her eyes follow his movements. How dare he bring Jellal into this! She briefly wonders if he may tell the blunette about this incident, but she supposes Midnight doesn't seem all that much like some kind of tattle-tale. "Maybe if I threw my shoe at you instead, that would've knocked some sense into you."

He stalks towards her menacingly; she's the predator, and he's the prey – his footsteps are nearly silent on the ground, the only defining sounds that he's getting closer being the shuffle of his clothes. He stops within arm's reach, and Meredy nearly flinches away as he holds her earmuffs up for her to see, clutched tightly in one hand.

She considers snatching them back from him, but something prevents her. He has this intimidating air about him right now that frightens her out of doing so much as moving – really, she began this 'task' of pissing him off with no problem, considering she'd never faced him one-on-one, but now that she has, she's really starting to have her doubts. Sure, she's a strong mage, and can prevent things terribly bad from happening to her with a Sensory Link to the both of them, but she still fears for her safety.

"If you had hit me with your shoe –" He brings his other hand to grip the other end of the earmuffs; Meredy holds his gaze for a moment before her eyes flicker to his hands in curiosity, just in time to see her cherished headpiece bent in an irreparable way before snapping in half with a sickening crack. "–then this would not have been the only thing to be broken."

Meredy's eyes widen as her lips part; words refuse to form on her tongue as she watches the two halves of her earmuffs fall from his hands and land on the ground at their feet. His foot crunches down on them, startling her into looking up again into his eyes – his cold, sadistic eyes.

"I am going to take a nap now. And I expect that this time, I will not be followed."

This is the start of how they begin to love each other –

PLEASE READ: So, a guest asked about Midnight's "reflector" – which I had completely forgotten given that I'm not a big fan of him other than that 'oh my god he's so adorable.' Anyways, I researched that power and at first was thinking only magic attacks would be deflected, but I guess that's not true. SO, IN LIGHT OF THAT INFORMATION, I will have to make the change (that I was originally thinking of including) that Midnight is not actually asleep (because I pointed out that he KNOWS she's following him around) and basically trying to 'bait' her. In that case, there are still some loose ends to tie up...either way, thanks for reading it and bare with me on this little mistake, and if you have a suggestion, drop it off! :)

(:Mizune