A/N; I'm so excited about the response this story has been getting! Thank you sooooo much to those who commented last chapter; Missy 63 and animegirl549 ! I'm happy you guys are loving super sweet Cobra as much as I am! More fluff and teasing? Hmmm... I think yes!

Enjoy the chapter!

Word Count: 4,717

"A favor?" Hellia questioned as her dark brows drew together in confusion. She wasn't entirely sure what he'd meant by that and wasn't sure if she should be afraid of whatever this man had in mind.

"Yep," Cobra said, popping the 'p' cheerily. "You thought about bolting multiple times last night when we were in the bar. So, you owe me a favor of my own choosing, to be called at any time, mi alma."

Hellia's lips pursed when she realized that he was right before a sigh escaped her mouth. She resigned herself to whatever this man had in mind and found herself smiling slightly when Lucy stood by the doors of the hotel with a bright smile on her face and a very bored looking Laxus by her side.

"Hey, Hellia," Lucy greeted, quickly grabbing the woman's hand and walking out of the building, leaving the men behind them. "How did you sleep? Was Cobra an ass? I hope that idiot didn't do anything to freak you out. Though, if he had, you wouldn't have walked down with his arm around your waist."

The Luck Mage found herself trying to keep up with the questions and comments that left the blonde's lips as she was pulled through the streets of Crocus, glancing back to see that Cobra and Laxus were walking a bit behind them and glaring at anything that got too close to the two women. She looked back to Lucy and took a small breath, trying to remind herself that this woman was now a guildmate and wouldn't treat her like she'd been treated before.

"I slept okay," Hellia said with a light blush on her cheeks when she remembered her dream again, then seeing Cobra in nothing but a towel. "He didn't do anything… um… bad," She added on, blushing a bit harder as the kiss came to mind. That had been her first kiss and she'd never imagined it to leave her so… needy for something she wasn't sure how to explain.

"Good," The woman nodded firmly with a serious face. "Cause if he had done anything wrong, I would have had to kill him, Kin or not."

"Kin?" The smaller woman questioned softly, not really understanding the term.

"Well, yeah," Lucy replied with a laugh as she pulled Hellia into a market that was sprawling with all kinds of wares and stopped to browse a stall holding jewelry that looked far too expensive for anything Hellia had ever seen before in her life. "He's a Dragon Slayer," The blonde explained as she pointed out a necklace of gorgeous ice blue and golden yellow sapphires in a single row.

Hellia found herself running her fingertips over the piece before quickly pulling her hand away again, remembering that she was severely unlucky and not wanting to break anything. "What is a Dragon Slayer?" She asked Lucy as they moved on to a boutique that sold expressly women's clothing.

"It's a kind of magic," The woman responded, grabbing a rolling rack and putting a divider in the middle.

"I thought he had some kind of soul magic?" Hellia was confused, tugging on her sweater sleeves as she tried to wrap her mind around some kind of magic having to do with dragons, especially as she was told dragons had died out centuries ago.

Lucy nodded and placed a few sweaters on one side of the rack, "He does. He has a lacrama implanted that gives him another magic, like Laxus. It makes them second-generation slayers."

"Oh."

Hellia wasn't sure what this had to do with that word Lucy had used before… what was it? Kin? What did that even mean? She was interested, but didn't want to press the woman for more information, not wanting to scare off the first woman who had spoken to her without sounding condescending.

"When a slayer finds someone who they deem as worthy," Lucy continued, adding a few pairs of shorts onto the other side of the rack before moving to a table with undergarments that had the darker haired woman blushing vibrantly as she glanced back to see the two men standing outside of the shop looking bored as could be. "They claim them as Kin. This means that anyone who were to touch that person would be breaking draconic law and sentenced to death by the slayer or any punishment he or she deems fit. I'm Kin to all six of the other slayers."

"So, I'm his… Kin?" Hellia questioned, thinking maybe she understood.

This brought a chiming laugh from the other woman and Hellia flushed when she shook her head. "No," She replied after she'd gotten ahold of herself. "You're far more important than that. Just like I am to Laxus," She moved her hair to the side and that was when Hellia noticed the mark that she'd missed the night before.

Dozens of tiny yellow scales rose from the woman's skin, massing together into the shape of a thunderbolt and appearing to connect two larger scales at each end. The scales seemed to glow with some form of unseen energy and, as Hellia reached out hesitantly to touch it, she was surprised to feel a shock of electricity pass towards her finger.

"What…" She didn't know how to phrase her question, wanting to know so much of what was connected to the strange marking.

"It's a mating mark," Lucy explained easily, letting her hair fall back into place. "I'm Laxus' mate, which is kind of like… hmm…" She seemed to think for a minute as she placed a few pairs of panties into a bag attached to the rack. "Okay, you know in stories how dragons have a hoard?" When Hellia nodded, Lucy smiled softly, "Think of a mate as the most important treasure that a slayer could ever add to that hoard. They're bound together by the soul, destined to be together from the moment a slayer gains his magic. The mate is the only one who can tamper down a slayer's generally rough nature and balance them out."

Hellia bit her lip, trying to process the information. She glanced over to see the two men still standing there, seeming to be having their own conversation. She couldn't see their faces, but the way their shoulders were moving, she was able to tell that they were talking about something out there. Could she really be something so permanent sounding to a man like that? Her mind went back to the conversation they'd had the night before, when he'd told her she was more special than she knew, was that what he'd meant? That she was his mate?

"Do you know why we all cheered when Sting announced that Cobra had found you?" Lucy asked, smiling gently when Hellia shook her head and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder reassuringly. "Because no one had ever believed he would find that one person who would bring out this side of him. Seeing you walk in wearing his jacket, to me, was one of the greatest moments of my life. I love him like a brother and I've hoped and prayed to the stars that he would one day find his most precious treasure, that shiny diamond among millions that would fit perfectly into his soul and make him whole." Lucy's warm brown eyes shone with mirth as she pulled the woman into an embrace, "Thank you for giving my brother a chance at true happiness when so much in his life has gone wrong."

Hellia's breath caught in her throat, unsure of what to say to such a speech. She looked over to the window once more to see Cobra looking over his shoulder at her, a soft look in his eye that she'd thought was always there. Now that she knew that that look was only for her, she wasn't sure what to think. Her mind was working on overtime, trying to figure out if this was all some strange dream triggered when she'd used her magic on herself during the Games and perhaps she were in a coma, her mind creating some event that would never truly happen otherwise.

That purple eye narrowed at her and she knew that she needed to stop thinking along those lines, just let things be what they were so that the man wouldn't be upset with her. She took a shaky breath and gave a small smile to the man, hoping to quell any discord that might be running through his own mind. She didn't need to doubt, even if this was a dream, she was sure that it was one of the best she would ever have in her life.

Several hours and many more stores later found Hellia smiling easily with the blonde bombshell that was Lucy. The woman had this air about her that made the raven haired woman relax into her usual goofiness. She'd spent a lot of time laughing with the woman and chatting about anything and everything, learning about the other people in the guild and her newfound friend.

Lucy was apparently a Celestial Spirit Mage and the people she'd seen the night before were two of her spirits. Hellia had fawned over the adorable Plue when Lucy had spawned him and carried the small dog spirit in her arms as they walked into the hotel. Hellia smiled and waved when the two blondes walked away, letting she and Cobra head up to Cobra's room with the bags they carried- as well as a shiny new suitcase in a deep burgundy.

Hellia put the case onto the bed and sat down, kicking off her boots so she could sit cross-legged and watch the man as he tossed bags down onto the bed around her. The man hadn't allowed her to carry anything, only allowing her to pull the suitcase behind herself once Laxus and Lucy had split off from them and her hands were no longer full of cute little snowman dog spirit. He was somewhat chivalrous and it made her wonder if he was as dangerous as she'd thought the night before.

"I am," He spoke up, drawing Hellia from her thoughts.

"What?" She asked, not quite understanding what he was referring to.

"I'm dangerous," Cobra clarified, his look telling her that he was dead serious about it, though she still had a hard time believing him.

"Not to me," She said defiantly, craning her neck when he stuck a finger under her chin and tilted her head back to look him in the eye.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked with a low tone that sent heat to the pit of her stomach once again, a heat she'd forgotten he could cause with nothing more than a look. "How do you know I won't hurt you?"

Her breath halted in her throat for a second at his words, her mismatched eyes searching his face for any sign that he was bluffing. Had she been wrong? Had Lucy simply been instilling her with a false sense of security at the idea she was more important to this man than she really was? If so, why? Why would they be toying with her, of all people, in such a way?

She shook away the thoughts and frowned up at the slayer, "You won't. You would have already. In the park, last night, at any point today, you could have simply done whatever you wanted, but you didn't. You won't hurt me, I know that much, even if I don't really understand why, yet."

This seemed to please the man as a smirk appeared on his face a moment before he pressed his lips to Hellia's. She whimpered, immediately drowning into the kiss and leaning up for more when he pulled away only to blink down at the velvet box that had been placed into her hands. She looked back up at him, hesitant to open the box as he seemed to be waiting anxiously for her to make a move.

Hellia opened the lid of the box and gasped slightly when she saw the necklace she'd been admiring earlier in the day with Lucy, the blue and yellow stones winking in the lighting of the room wonderfully. Her heart pounded in her chest as she ran her fingers over the jewelry, delicately brushing the beautiful piece with a look of wonder in her eyes.

"It reminded me of your eyes," Cobra said with an oddly giddy tone to his voice that had Hellia looking up at him once more to see a childish grin on his face. "I think that's why Lucy pointed it out to you," He continued, gesturing for her to hand the box back to him. He pulled the necklace from the box and moved to sit behind her on the bed.

Hellia closed her eyes when his hands brushed against her skin, the cold necklace being pulled against her as it was clipped around her throat snugly. She shivered when his lips brushed her bare shoulder and felt her hair let loose from it's pins to tumble freely down her back. Her eyes closed, relishing in the feeling as Cobra ran his lips up her neck before pulling away.

She looked down at herself, her hand coming up to touch the necklace a moment. No one had ever given her something like this before, had never given her such a gift that had likely cost so much to obtain. The fact that he'd compared the necklace to her eyes had brought her nearly to tears, having only ever heard comments from others about her being defective due to her eyes not matching.

Not thinking her actions through, Hellia turned quickly and threw herself into the stunned man's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she placed her lips over his. She tried to mimic the way he'd kissed her the night before, wanting to show him how much she appreciated the gifts- because, surely, he'd given her so much more than the object of a necklace- that he'd given her in the span of less than a day. She wanted so badly to let him know that she was grateful for him and adored everything he did, so sure that she would likely never be upset with anything he could do as there would likely be a good reason for it.

She delighted in the soft growl from the man as he turned her over onto her back and laid his body on top of hers, quickly dominating the kiss she'd initiated. One of his hands came up to cup the back of her neck, the other grasping her hip. The sounds coming from the slayer only served to raise her level of excitement and Hellia found herself remembering her dream, how he'd moved his hand beneath her shirt to splay across her back and-

Her mind went still when he did exactly what she was thinking, his palm caressing the skin of her stomach a moment before trailing to her back and rubbing the skin there a moment as he deepened the kiss, twining his tongue with hers and giving her more of that heady almond mocha taste that she was quickly becoming addicted to. Cobra's hand on her neck moved to trail down her throat, making her whimper when he traced her collarbone and lightly skim the edges of the skin left bare by her sweater.

"Please," Hellia whispered like a prayer, not knowing what she wanted but knowing that whatever he gave her would likely fulfil that soft and innocent request.

"No," Cobra said, dropping his head to her shoulder as he let out a shuddering breath. His hand came from under her back, allowing him to pull her small body up and into his lap as he sat up, his face still buried in her neck.

Hellia's mind was reeling and she felt like her body was on fire, every nerve ending alight with some unknown tingle that screamed for her want of… something. She couldn't put a name to it still, couldn't speak what exactly she was feeling and, so, couldn't understand why he'd so blatantly denied her whatever it was that her body and mind both craved, that glorious touch that sparked a need that only he'd ever caused to grow within her. Was there something wr-

"Finish that thought and you'll piss me off," He growled against her neck before raising his head to gaze intently at her. "There's nothing wrong with you," The slayer assured, cupping her face gently in his large hands. "I already told you that I don't want to hurt you. We'll take it slow and I'll show you exactly what it is that you want from me."

"But I-" She never got to finish her thought as he roughly grasped her hair and crushed his lips to hers again, completely wiping her mind clean of whatever it was that she was going to say next, whatever argument that had been on her tongue simply dying as that fire sparked once more.

Cobra sighed heavily, dropping his head back to her shoulder and taking a deep breath. "Fuck, that smells too fucking good," He practically groaned out.

Hellia didn't know what else to say, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm sorry."

This brought a chuckle from the slayer as he gave a gentle nip to her neck that made her yip in surprise. "Don't be," He said, tracing his tongue over the spot he'd just bitten. "It's part of why I can't give you what you want, yet. I don't think I can hold back."

The woman pressed her lips together even as her eyes shut when he continued licking and sucking at the skin of her neck. If whatever she wanted was anything like he was doing now, he could sign her right the fuck up because he was driving her absolutely crazy. Her mind was blissfully focused only on whatever he was doing to her and his touch kept that fire stoked low in the pit of her stomach even as butterflies bundled there in fear of the unknown.

"We should get your clothes put in your bag and get ready to leave," Cobra sounded regretful as he moved her off of his lap and stood from the bed, quickly turning away from Hellia for a moment.

The flushed beauty ran a hand through her raven colored locks that spilled down her back and looked slightly rumpled. Her lips were just a tad swollen and there were the start of red marks on her neck from where Cobra had nibbled and sucked on her skin. She cast dazed eyes around the room and realized that most of the bags had been knocked to the floor during their… um… activities, making the small woman move so she could grab all of them, crawling on her knees to pick up the fallen bags to place them back on the bed with her.

She froze when a hand ran up the outside of her thigh and chewed her lip, looking back to see Cobra with a heated look in his eye. A blush crept up her neck when she was gripped by the ankle and pulled backwards, the slayer turning her over to stare intensely down at her. He went back at her neck, bringing her frazzled mind right back to the thrashing storm it had been moments before, leaving her hot and needy as she whimpered.

"Don't you know not to tempt a dragon?" Cobra whispered huskily in her ear, making Hellia shiver involuntarily. "Pack up your bag and do it without tempting me this time."

She let out a shuddering breath when the slayer once again released her, leaving her skin alight with fire and her heart hammering in her chest. The man was going to kill her, was all that was on Hellia's mind. He was going to simply devour her entirely all-too-willing body and she really wouldn't think twice about letting him do it.

Was he dangerous? There wasn't a doubt in her mind at this point as Hellia sat up and attempted to readjust her clothing and began to focus on the mindless task of removing tags and folding the new wardrobe that the man had bought her. He was dangerous if he could set her mind into a hazy whirlwind of emotion with nothing more than his touch- not even that, just simply looking at her would make Hellia's heart skip a beat.

She shook the thoughts away and made quick work of putting all of her new clothing into the large suitcase, grabbing out a thin scarf to tie around her hair as she waited. She wanted her hair off of her neck, but it seemed that Cobra liked it down, so Hellia had decided she needed a compromise. Tying the stark black scarf around her head to trail beneath her hair, she assured that the worst of the marks on her throat were covered by the strands of hair pulled forward, the necklace drawing some attention from any others.

She readjusted the sweater, not wanting anyone to see the marks on her back and hoping she would be able to afford a tattoo to cover- or, at least disguise- it at some point in the near future. No one would like seeing the marks that lay there and she didn't quite feel comfortable with anyone, especially Cobra, seeing the scars littering her skin there. Didn't really want him seeing any of her scars, actually, but that would be something she would think about at a later date as she was certain the questions would arise eventually.

Hellia tugged the hem of her sweater and tank top down before turning a smile at Cobra, who she fully realized had heard every thought in her head. She simply hoped he would give her time to adjust to everything before he questioned her about the scars on her skin and in her heart, simply leave well enough alone until she determined she was strong enough to come completely clean with him about what had truly happened to her in the past.

She wasn't a fool, she'd realized that he had scars of his own, it had been hard not to notice when the man had basically been stark naked before her just that morning. The fact of the matter was, she hadn't noticed them until after she'd been thinking about her own scars, the idea of them existing simply being lost in the void as she'd been drooling over the gorgeous mocha skin stretched taut over rippling muscles. She had a hard time believing that a body like that had been on top of hers multiple times already, with hints that there would be more.

"Your thoughts run in weird ways," Cobra commented, tossing his bag over the handle on Hellia's suitcase so he could pull both while he put a possessive arm over her shoulders.

"I'm… sorry?" Hellia hesitantly replied, not quite sure what he meant.

"You went from drooling over me, to appraising yourself, to thinking about your scars, then went to thinking about my muscles, to my scars, to end up drooling over me again," He explained with a light chuckle and tug to her hair. "Your mind runs in these weird fucking elaborate circles, always looping around to the beginning again before you end up darting off into a completely different direction. I've really never heard anything like that."

"Oh," Her nose scrunched up in thought and she hardly noticed when they approached the other members of the guild, all talking excitedly to one another as they awaited the train. She was pulled from her thoughts when the pink haired man that had been sitting next to Lucy at the bar the previous night stood before her, staring directly at her with an odd expression on his face. "Um…" She inched behind Cobra a bit, wary of this new face.

"Fuck off, Matchstick," Cobra snapped irritably with a coldness that Hellia had never heard him use before.

"She accepted the gift," The man stated, his eyes glued to the jewelry hanging around Hellia's neck.

In a moment, another man with long raven black hair and piercings littering his body had joined the first one, both staring intently at the necklace that Hellia wore. She felt extremely uncomfortable, although someone pulled towards these other two men, it was highly confusing for the small woman and she felt the urge to step forward until Cobra tightened his hold on her.

"Gods," Cobra grumbled. "Yes, she accepted the gift. No, I haven't explained jack shit to her. Fuck off before you scare off my fucking treasure, you assholes."

They all seemed to hesitate, the pinkette and the one with piercings looking like they wanted to say something more but turned back around reluctantly when Cobra's glare hardened. When they got a distance away, Cobra pulled Hellia into his arms and nuzzled her hair, that purring sound making another appearance. She awkwardly stood as others around them looked at the scene, the only ones not staring being the two men she figured were Dragon Slayers.

Glancing over, Hellia caught Lucy's eye and the blonde simply smiled at her, mouthing the word 'later' to her and making the darker haired woman sigh in relief. Knowing that she had someone who would explain things to her made Hellia a bit more comfortable with whatever was going on between herself and Cobra, especially because it looked like he wasn't going to be filling her in any time soon.

"I will," He mumbled into her hair. "As soon as we get back to my place and I can make sure those asshats aren't going to make a random appearance to bother us."

Hellia was unsure if he meant the whole guild or just the other slayers, the latter being the more obvious option due to whatever was going on before. She would appreciate if the man was honest with her about this stuff, but Hellia also knew that if she truly was his mate, it would be nice for her to have another woman in her shoes to talk to about things that a man might not think to explain to her- like, perhaps, why the fuck he was still holding her and smelling her hair in public?!

"Possession thing," Cobra mumbled once more, finally letting her go to walk with her onto the train. "Couple of them are either unmated. Instincts told me to make sure they knew who you belonged to and I'm pretty sure you'd rather me hold you like that rather than fuck you right there on the train platform."

He easily caught her around the waist when she choked on her next breath and her feet fumbled, nearly sending her foot down between the train and platform, her face just missing the grip bar as he pulled her into his chest. Hellia took a moment to collect herself, her face a brilliant scarlet as she let him direct her to where she would be sitting with him. Curling up on the seat with her knees to her chest, Hellia gazed out the window as she willed herself not to simply die in a puddle of embarrassment at the man's brash attitude.

Her eyes went wide with surprise when the train gave a lurch and her lap was suddenly filled with a large lump of sickly looking dragon slayer male.