Why hello there. It has been a while hasn't it? Geh... I apologize for that... it seems that once you have your muse firmly trussed up like Christmas dinner just to spite you it won't focus on what you want it to focus on, delivering all these delicious ideas, but well... never coming through in the end. I know this has been a long time coming and I hope it isn't too great a disappointment. Enjoy!


"No."

"Please~"

"No!"

Pouting at the refusal, Erza turned away, grumbling into her hand. Lucy sighed to herself, rubbing tiredly at her temples; sometimes the great Titania was such a child, sulking whenever things didn't go her way. Secretly though, the young Celestial mage found it quite endearing, not that she would ever admit as much, the red-haired knight already had an inflated ego without her adding to it.

In an attempt to placate the sulking mage, Lucy gently grabbed her shoulders, drawing the redhead into her embrace.

"You just brought one last week, do you really, really, really need a new one?"

Peeking at the blonde from under long eyelashes, she nodded, pouting slightly, a pale imitation of the Spirit mage's most effective weapon; Erza just couldn't resist when Lucy pulled that face on her, so she figured it was worth a try to see if the reverse had the same effect.

Lucy frowned at the pouting mage, not at all taken in by the large tearful eyes, the downturned corners of her lips, and general sulking air that surrounded the feared Titania. Oh, who was she kidding, it was simply too cute.

Sighing in defeat, knowing that it wouldn't do to indulge the red haired knight, but not being able to deny the adorable look in her deep brown eyes, Lucy wracked her brain for a compromise before her mouth betrayed her and allowed Erza to buy yet another suit of armour, not at all different from a set she had brought months ago.

"Ne, Erza..." She started, breathing the words softly against her exposed ear. The red head immediately stiffened in her arms, suspicious of the sudden change in Lucy's voice.

"Yes?" she replied cautiously, trying not to fidget in the celestial mage's slowly tightening embrace, tendrils of breath tickling the curve of her ear.

"I was just thinking,"

Always a dangerous pastime, her fears not at all allayed by the innocent tone in her loves voice.

"that..." deliberately drawing out her suggestion, mostly to keep Erza in suspense, but also to figure out a suitable distraction from the shiny object within the Titania's reach. Slowly she traced lose circles on her exposed collarbone, revelling in the feeling of the soft skin there. She felt Erza's sharp intake of breath at the motion, but she didn't resist which was a good sign.

"Maybe," She punctuated the word with a kiss to the back of her neck, "if you don't buy this," another kiss, "we could," and another, "go somewhere," and another, "nice." gently easing her teeth into the exposed side, she felt a rumble deep within the older woman's chest as she did so, knowing that the redhead had been won over.

"Hmmm..." Humming to herself in contentment, Erza was forced to reappraise the shiny suit before her. It was a limited edition rendition of an earlier model, granted it wasn't that different from the original, though it had a lovely engraving on the side of a little dragon in red.

So the choice was some nice alone time with the love of her life or a limited edition set of dress armour that would look magnificent with that sword she had commissioned some months previously.

Eyeing the suit balefully, Erza sighed in disappointment that she couldn't have both - if only she hadn't spent so much on that new Magic Motorcycle - it was the flames that had won her over. Well, that and the thought of riding around with Lucy strapped onto the back holding her tightly...

"If it means that much to you..." She mumbled quietly, playing with the fingers of the hand that was not drawing those delicious circles on her collarbone.

Grinning to herself, Lucy tightened her embrace, excited that she would finally get to go on a trip with Erza, preferably one without any violence or the boys to mess things up. She kissed the redhead's cheek, feeling it heat up under her touch.

Maybe I'll finally be able to show off my new swimsuit...