A/N: We've finally reached Day 4 of CoLu Week 2017. I know you guys have been waiting a month for this, so I hope you enjoy what's to come. Because this got super long, I broke it up into two chapters. You guys will get the other half of this chapter next week.

Also, this is so loosely related to the prompt, it's not even funny. I completely broke away from the outline I'd had, because of the major edits that were made in the previous chapters.

Regardless of all that, let's get to the story.

2017 - Hollow

Sick and Twisted, Part 1

It was a good thing they didn't have to sneak onto a ship to get to Caelum. Aside from the fact that it probably wasn't a good idea in general, the entirety of Crime Sorciere had been extremely surprised to find Cobra turning an alarming shade of green once he stepped onto the ship.

"I guess Second Gens get it too," Lucy giggled.

"Cobra," Jellal said slowly, "Are you alright?"

He nodded and stumbled forward, keeping his head down while the group began moving again. He didn't apologize when bumping into people, even when he knocked a little old woman over. She should have had a better grip on her damn walker. Luckily, Meredy was quick to help her stand and made an excuse for him.

Something about motion sickness and that his fiancée was getting him to his room so he could lie down, and how they were so very sorry, and that if he could talk without vomiting he would be apologizing.

That last part was a stretch. He wasn't sorry. But if his mouth opened, he was going to puke. A lot.

He could feel the boat rocking and they hadn't even left the harbor. It was never like this with Cubellios. Then again, he'd never really had the chance to ride on anything else. Okay, so there was the prison vehicle that had picked him up from Crocus when he'd gone back into custody. He'd been a little queasy, but it wasn't this bad.

"Just a little further, okay?" Lucy moved closer to him and wrapped her arm around his hips, pulling his own across her shoulders. "Is it bad?"

Cobra nodded.

"What's wrong with him?" Angel chuckled.

"Dragon Slayer motion sickness," Lucy said, glancing over her shoulder and smiling right back at her. "Has he ever had it before?"

Cobra shook his head, then burped and threw a hand over his mouth to keep whatever was burning the back of his throat right where it fucking belonged. When they reached their room, he wasn't surprised to have Jellal and Midnight follow himself and Lucy in. There were three places to sleep in each small room - a little on the cramped side already for just three people - but this wasn't some vacation cruise. It was a stupid fucking cargo ship that was hauling ridiculous fucking plates across to Caelum. With bullshit little kittens painted on them. It meant they'd only had to pay a few Jewels each to get rooms. They'd only paid for two of them and had promised to stay out of the crew's way. No matter how small the rooms were.

Well, it was more like they'd bribed the captain of the ship, and Angel had been using her tits to distract the guy, so he'd agreed to let them on without papers saying they could leave the fucking country. Jellal had been the one to decide they would be bunking with the cargo and away from the few other people who had paid for transportation to Caelum, just to sweeten the deal.

On the far side of the room (that wasn't all that far away) sat a twin bed, pushed against the wall and into a corner. Two hammocks that were mostly just heavy rope nets with canvas draped over them, one hanging over the other like a sailor's bunk bed, took up the area just in front of the porthole window. The bulk of the room was filled with stacked crates, giving them just enough space to squeeze by and get to their sleeping quarters.

Lucy was about to lead to him toward one of the hammocks, but he redirected her to the bed. They'd yet to share anything other than her bedroll and tent, so she didn't know that he had to sleep beside a wall. He wouldn't be able to sleep near the door, it was too close to anyone trying to break in. He couldn't sleep under a window, either. Nope, against the far wall with no window, in a fucking corner. That was the best bed in the room.

Besides, if the boat moving wasn't bad enough, then adding a swaying fucking hammock would be worse. His stomach flipped at the thought. Definitely not a good idea.

She didn't question it, and instead just followed his lead, then carefully laid him down. Of course, it wasn't really a damn bed. Just some pallets stacked on top of one another with a thin mat thrown over them for some cushion. And a couple canvas blankets.

"We have about thirty minutes before we leave the dock," Jellal said. "If there's anything you need before we leave Fiore, make it fast." They'd already double-checked to make sure they had everything before boarding, but he wanted to be positive they weren't forgetting anything. Angel and the others would be putting their things away, then going back to town to get some supplies for the trip, but they knew time was limited.

Lucy shook her head and gave him a small smile. "There's nothing left for me in Fiore," she said. "My guild's jumped ship, right?"

Midnight chuckled and pulled himself up onto the top hammock, leaving his feet dangling. "I guess you could say that," he said. "We'll be coming back though."

"Shut up," Cobra moaned. He curled up on the bed and wrapped his arms around his stomach. Maybe extra pressure would make his innards cut the bullshit. Bile shot up into his throat when the ship swayed and he whimpered while throwing a hand over his mouth again.

"I kind of like him this way," Midnight snorted. "He's so quiet."

"F-Fuck y - blrgh…"

Lucy smiled down at him and took a moment to pull her boots off. She turned toward Jellal to find him silently searching every crevice in the small room. Paranoid. "How long will we be sailing for?" she asked.

"A couple weeks."

"This type of ship moves at about 14 knots, so it'll be closer to nine days," Midnight said. When Lucy and Jellal stared at him with wide eyes, he frowned. "It's a frigate."

They stared harder.

"N-Nine?" Cobra whimpered. "Fu - blrggh…"

"What?! I like ships!" Midnight shouted.

Meredy's head peeked through the open doorway and she grinned at the Reflector mage. "Me too!" she chirped.

"Different ships," Jellal sighed as she squeezed past.

Midnight leaned forward and reached down, grabbing Meredy's hand to help pull her up onto his hammock. She scrambled up and rolled onto the net, and her body pressed flush against his side once she'd settled. It couldn't be helped though.

"Is Cobra alright?" she asked, peeking over the edge to find him curled up on the bed, moaning and switching between holding his mouth and stomach while trying to make himself into a literal human cannonball.

"He'll be fine," Lucy said softly. She turned and started removing his shoes, lightly setting them on the floor, then his socks. "Jellal could we find a bucket of some sort? I don't know how long it'll be before he upchucks…"

He nodded and slipped out of the room. Lucy went about carefully trying to pull Cobra's jacket off, then rolled her eyes when all he did was shrug her away and tighten his hold on his stomach. "Erik, come on, you should be comfortable."

"Leave it on him," Midnight said. When Lucy looked at him again, he readjusted slightly on the hammock, sending it swinging just a little and accidentally pushing Meredy closer to him. "Cobra gets cold easily."

"He does?" she asked, frowning. Just one more thing she didn't know about the Poison Slayer, then.

"It's where the bulk of the snake jokes come from," he smirked. "He's cold-blooded."

Lucy rolled her eyes with a smile and looked back down at the bed. Cobra's back was flush against the wall, and with the bed itself really only made for one person, his legs needed to move for her to lie beside him. So, instead of taking his jacket off, Lucy forced him to straighten out, first one leg and then the other. She listened closely while he pulled in deep, quaking breaths through his nose, and laid down. Her fingers sifted through his hair and dragged gently along his scalp. "It's alright, Erik."

Cobra relaxed slowly over the next few minutes. His white-knuckled grip around his stomach loosened, and when Lucy shifted and pulled his head to her chest, he didn't have the energy to fight her on it. Once his cheek pressed against her breast, he could hear the steady thrum of her heart. So soft. Soothing. Gentle enough to make the torrential rage in his stomach calm just a little.

"There you go," she said. She smiled when his arm draped across her hip. "Keep breathing deeply. You'll feel better in no time."

"Mmkay," Cobra hummed. "Wh'ever y'say…'

"The dragon whisperer," Meredy giggled, still peeking through a gap in the canvas over Midnight's hammock to watch the new couple on the bed.

It had been a week since Cobra had tried to murder Midnight. His bandages were off and he was just a little bruised by then, just a few yellowish-green spots here and there that he covered with makeup. But things had definitely been interesting, to say the least. Cobra carried Lucy piggyback for almost an hour every day before she made him put her down so she could walk. He was nearly always touching her though.

He wouldn't hold her hand, and seemed to favor his arm around her, but Meredy was more than fine with watching it. Especially when they started arguing with one another. There wasn't any yelling though. Lucy and Cobra practically whisper-shouted at one another while they tossed around insults. But then every single time, without fail, Lucy would give him this look and he would start laughing. Uncontrollably. And then she'd get a kiss on the cheek and something whispered in her ear that had the blonde's face turning a very alarming shade of red. Every time.

Then there were the nights they shared in Lucy's tent. Sometimes her tent would be empty come morning, and Midnight would simply say that they went out for a walk. Meredy hadn't a clue what the two of them did at night though. Maybe they talked, or looked at the stars. Maybe Lucy told him all about her magic, and he kissed her when they saw a shooting star. Maybe Cobra was really a sweetheart, but only around Lucy, and they snuck off together so he could profess his undying love to her with moonlight cascading down around them.

Maybe...

"Maybe I take her out in the woods and fuck her against a tree," Cobra mumbled. "The fuck is wrong with you?"

Meredy frowned down at him and stuck out her tongue. His eye was closed, but he looked a whole lot more relaxed than before. Maybe it was because of what Lucy was doing, running her fingers through his hair, scratching his head.

Meredy's eyes honed in on how her thumb glided just behind his ear and up over the pointed tip, then how Cobra snuggled closer to her to hide the smile that barely lifted his lips.

"Aren't they adorable?" she sighed.

There was no response from the mage beside her, but she didn't pay any attention to it. Not until pale arms curled around her - she wasn't sure how one had wheedled its way under her body - and then a white braid kissed her cheek. She looked back to Midnight with wide eyes, only to find him fast asleep.

That wasn't good. She was supposed to be helping Angel and Racer get food for the next week. Honestly, she'd only stopped in the room to check on Cobra and see if Lucy needed any help. But then she'd gotten distracted.

Cobra sighed in relief when Lucy used one hand to keep scratching his head while the other lowered and rubbed slow circles over his stomach. "So good," he groaned.

"Midnight," Meredy hissed. "Midnight, wake up."

"He's out," Cobra hummed. "And he's a cuddler."

"Cuddler?" Meredy squeaked. "Oh no. No, I have to-" She tried to move away, and froze a moment later when Midnight mumbled something unintelligible and shifted, taking her right along with him, until they were lying properly on the hammock. "M-Midnight!"

"He's a heavy sleeper," Cobra said. "Just cuddle."

"No!"

Cobra frowned and lifted his head just a little, propping his chin on Lucy's chest as he looked up at where Meredy struggled to pull free of Midnight's hold. "Don't wake his ass up," he said.

"Angel's gonna kill me!"

"Do you have any…" He paused when saliva flooded his mouth, closing his eye against the sudden wave of nausea rolling over him. He didn't fight it when Lucy gently pushed his head to lie on her chest again. "Fuck… Any fucking clue how little he sleeps now?"

Meredy was silent, but he heard her mulling it over. Everyone knew that Midnight was awake at night, and he never complained about them constantly being on the move during the day, even though it meant the only time he was able to sleep happened to be just before they broke down the camp every morning.

Before, when he'd still had that damn magic carpet, Midnight had been asleep almost constantly. Well, it only seemed that way because it could be the middle of the fucking day and he'd be found snoozing.

Now, he was only getting fifteen minutes of sleep, tops, in a day.

Still, Meredy tried to get Midnight to let her go.

Lucy bit her lips and looked up toward the hammock, then let out a devious grin. Cobra's hand slid down from her hip to tap twice on her thigh in agreement. "Aw, aren't they just so cute?" she crooned. "Look at how he's holding her."

"Mm," Cobra muttered.

"I think they're an adorable couple," Lucy continued, lowering her voice to a stage whisper. "What should we call them? Midnedy or Mernight?"

"Could call them Merbeth," Cobra smirked. "Or Macedy."

"Where did that come from?" Lucy giggled.

"His real name is Macbeth," he said.

Meredy blinked and looked up at Midnight's sleeping face. She couldn't stop herself from noticing how long his mascara-coated lashes were. She would have been blind not to see the coal liner or his night-black lips. But his name was really Macbeth? She vaguely remembered Jellal trying to get everyone go by their real names, but that hadn't lasted very long. Macbeth did sound a little familiar though.

And it was a nice name. She kind of preferred it to Midnight, in all honesty.

"I like Mernight better," Lucy said. "Maybe Mere-night, I don't know."

Cobra shook his head and burrowed closer to her before she could try and pull away. He didn't care that she needed to piss. Her hands were fucking magical and they were the only thing stopping him from feeling like death warmed over. "Don't go."

"I'll be back soon," she laughed. "Meredy won't bother you. And if you have to throw up, just don't do it on the bed."

"Asshole."

"You love it."

"I'd love it more if you let me in it."

"No." Besides, Lucy needed to figure out where the nearest bathroom was in relation to their room, because she was not going to be sharing a bed with Cobra for nine days without him showering. Or getting a bucket of water thrown on him, at the very least. Ripe man stink was something that she refused to snuggle with if it could be helped. Dire consequences could change her mind about it temporarily, but his motion sickness was not dire. No matter how he felt about it.

"Asshole."

Lucy grinned and slid away from him, then stood and watched as Cobra's limp body rolled into the place she'd just been occupying. His face pressed into the mattress, and she could swear she saw him draw in a rather large inhale. She kissed his cheek, then his earring, and pulled on her boots before leaving the room.

The minutes dragged on in silence.

"Midnight, you can sleep all you want," Meredy said. "But just let me get up!"

"Seriously, shut the fuck up," Cobra snarled.

"But he's touching me!"

"He doesn't have the fucking plague." Cobra's head shifted enough so he could look at her while keeping his nose buried in the bedding. It still smelled like Lucy, and if she wasn't going to be in the bed with him right then, then smelling her was the next best thing.

'Oh, I know he doesn't… But this really isn't good for my brain. Why are his hands so soft? Oh my god, he's touching my thigh! No! But his hands feel nice. He's not being creepy about it. Or grabbing me… Wish he would… He's just sleeping…'

Cobra rolled his eye and buried his face in the bed again. They were two peas in a fucking pod. The last thing he was going to do was help them figure it out though. It wasn't his job to be a fucking matchmaker, or to let Midnight know that Meredy had had a crush on him back when she was only fucking twelve and still part of Grimoire Heart.

Just like he wasn't telling Meredy that Midnight had been eighteen when he saw her for the first time and just bumbled his way through the few meetings their guilds had because he was too fucking nervous around her. Because Midnight had been weirded the hell out over realizing that he found someone so young to be attractive. In any way.

Cobra had listened closer at the time though - back when he gave a couple more shits about things - and found that Midnight just liked talking to her. A lot. And that he thought she was pretty. It wasn't until Meredy had grown up that the physical, and sexual, attraction had come in. Midnight hadn't thought about Meredy that way until she actually had a woman's body - when she'd gone from being pretty to being beautiful and breathtaking so fucking sexy, according to Midnight's inner monologue. When Jellal had gotten them out of prison, the poor Reflector mage had nearly doubled over from seeing her all grown up.

It hadn't taken much to convince Midnight to join Crime Sorciere because of that reason. He wanted to spend more time with Meredy.

"Cobra, can you please help?" she whimpered.

"You want help?" he mumbled against the bed.

"Yes!"

"Alright, I'll help. He'll sleep better if you take those stupid fucking braids out and play with his hair." She groaned in frustration and a sly grin lifted his lips before she could say another word. "Dream come true, right? Now you get to touch his hair."

"I-I didn't say-"

"I hear you."

Meredy scowled and ignored the roaring flush to her face. Midnight shifted slightly and her gaze drifted higher to the braid draped over his cheek. Her fingers itched to loosen the bead enclosure and undo the plaited strands, to finally touch the two-toned hair she'd been enamored with since first seeing him so many years ago.

That was her own little secret though. Or, it had been before Cobra wriggled his way into her head.

He had a point though. Meredy had always wanted to spend time with Midnight like this. Except she really loved her sleep, and he was usually so exhausted when she was awake enough to talk. He was always too tired to have a full conversation with her. But if she just stayed there - it wasn't like she could really get out of his snuggle-hold anyway - then they could hang out when he was awake.

Slowly, she removed his braid, tucking the bead enclosure in his pants pocket so it didn't get lost. Even slower than that, she lightly touched the ends of his hair. "So soft."

Meredy bit her lips and pulled more hair between her fingers, glancing up here and there to make sure that Midnight wasn't waking up. Or staring at her. She would die if that happened. But he was still slumbering, still dead to the world, and he probably would be for some time. When she thought about it though, they'd been moving at double speed for the last few days to make it to the docks in time to get on a boat to Caelum. She was feeling pretty drained herself.

Meredy let go of his hair and removed the band holding her own pink locks in a high ponytail. She smiled once the pressure against her scalp was gone, and relaxed in Midnight's arms. Maybe a little nap wasn't such a bad idea.

And it wasn't like Midnight would do anything to her while she was sleeping. Evil past and vaguely perverted nosebleeds aside, she knew better than anyone that he wasn't a creep. Midnight had always been a gentleman with her. With Angel and Lucy as well, when she thought about it. It wasn't like he would start feeling her up or trying to rape her or anything.

They were guild mates though, and that meant - in this new dynamic that everyone was still growing accustomed to - she could trust him to have her back. To take care of her while she was so vulnerable.

"I'll make sure everyone knows you were coerced," Cobra chuckled. "Nighty night."

"Shut up, Cobra," she muttered. Meredy closed her eyes and allowed herself to get a little more comfortable in Midnight's arms.

Twenty minutes went by before she began snoring quietly, and Cobra blinked slowly as he looked up at the top hammock. "You're a sneaky asshole," he said.

Midnight's lips twitched slightly, but his eyes stayed closed and he didn't move away from her. Cobra had agreed to help, after all. He'd just never said whether he was actually helping Meredy. Or even Midnight. Mostly, it was himself. If Meredy just accepted the snuggling she was being forced into - like she really fucking wanted to do anyway - then it would be quiet. And if it was quiet, then Cobra could relax a little more while he waited for Lucy to come back.

It had been a bit since she'd left the room, but when he sent his magic soaring across the ship, he found her just a few doors down the hall, talking to Virgo and thanking the spirit for bringing her some tampons during her emergency bathroom stop.

Well, it wasn't like he would be getting laid anyway while they were travelling. He was too nauseous, and they were sharing a room with other people. He didn't really mind it all that much, but Lucy probably would. Definitely the best time for her period to start, from his perspective.

Then again, when he heard that she had cramps with pain radiating down to her fucking ankles, Cobra realized she didn't really share that sentiment.

Cobra kissing the ground in Caelum would be burned into her memory forever, that was for sure. He'd looked so genuinely happy to be on solid ground and off the ship after nine days at sea. Even though they'd gotten to port a little before noon, and it was already well after sunset, Lucy was still wracked with the occasional giggle over the mental picture.

Cobra, however, didn't find it so funny. The way he kept pinching her ass every time she laughed and the harsh glare he sent her way was enough reason for her to try and keep it to herself. It didn't work.

"We should be a little more free to move around here," Jellal said once everyone sat around the fire.

"You mean because it's another country and the Oracion Seis never left Fiore," Angel said with a smirk.

"Or maybe because Grimoire Heart was the same," Meredy giggled.

"Dark guilds just really dig Fiore," Lucy laughed.

"And Mister Siegrain over here kept his insanity in Fiore as well," Midnight chuckled.

"The island that the Tower of Heaven was on is technically the property of Caelum," Jellal said. He winced when everyone but Meredy and Lucy glared at him. "B-But no one knew what was going on there. It was in this kingdom's jurisdiction, but they didn't know there was anything happening on the island."

"Who even authorized that bullshit?" Cobra asked.

"No one," Jellal said. "The Council in Fiore didn't know about it until X784. I stopped Erza from being tortured in X776 by the cultists that were running it, but then they took me instead and… well, you guys know what happened after that. I was crazy, but at least there were better living conditions..."

Midnight looked at the others, then back to Jellal and slowly placed a hand on his shoulder. Jellal's downcast eyes shot up to look at the Reflector mage beside him. "Now we know," he said. "No one ever told us why we were taken there."

Jellal's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"We were just kids," Angel laughed. "Do you really think someone sat us down while we were being kidnapped and said, 'So here's the deal. There's a cult that's going to force you to build a tower and beat you half to death if you don't listen. Oh and by the way, there's been a coup and now there's just a kid running things'? None of us knew why we were taken away from our homes and families."

Racer nodded. "I barely remember the time after you took over though. Brain took us before anything really changed, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Midnight said. "It was almost a year afterward though."

"Not like it was much better with him," Cobra mumbled. He kept his glaring eye trained on Jellal when everyone turned toward him with matching frowns.

"Cobra, don't start on that," Angel huffed. "It was much better with Brain than being forced into hard labor and beaten all day and wishing you could just go home."

"Says the one who just got some fucking keys tossed their way," he said. He forced himself to stay relatively calm when Lucy gently pulled his hand into her lap and started lightly tracing his fingers. Relaxing as it was, he was still pissed. Thinking about the past always made him that way.

"We know," Midnight sighed. "You never asked Brain to cut you open and put the lacrima in, but you have to admit it was definitely helpful."

"So, how about a subject change?" Meredy asked. Was it smooth? No, but she could feel the tension rising in the air pretty rapidly.

"How about we hash it the fuck out for a change?" Cobra asked.

"Erik," Lucy said, "Maybe this isn't the best time to-"

He turned his hate-filled glare to her and pulled his hand away. "It is," he spat. "Not that you'd understand it, considering you and everyone else here actually had a goddamn family to begin with. You weren't even a fucking slave, so shut the fuck up because you don't know a goddamn thing about what pain really is!"

"Cobra, that's enough," Jellal said as Lucy's jaw dropped open and she drew back from the Poison Slayer.

"No, Slave Driver, I'll say when it's enough," he sneered. "You wanna feel good about the fact that you made things better, but it was too little, too fucking late. Me and the others still remember what it was like being tortured there, and Titania was the only one lucky enough to get a fucking pass."

"Cobra, stop," Hoteye said gently. "You need to relax-"

"Oh, fuck you, Koolaid Man! Why don't you ask Jellal why he never mentioned your little brother being friends with him and Erza? Better yet, call up Erza and tell her to talk to Milliana over in fucking Mermaid Heel, because that kitty bitch knows where the fuck he is!"

Everyone always wanted him to shut up, but they didn't get why he hated Jellal so fucking much. Cobra wanted the asshole dead, but there was never a right time for it. Sure, he'd wanted to stick with the others, and Midnight's decision to join Crime Sorciere had kind of pushed everyone else in that direction as well, but it was bullshit.

Just like the shit Jellal had pulled to get them to join in the first place. Sure, he'd asked them to join, but he'd also beaten all of them into submission to do it. Boo-fucking-hoo, he'd scratched at his eyes so Midnight's illusions hadn't affected him. If the guy had to enslave them all over again, then how the fuck did he think he was actually making up for what he'd done in the past?

Then there was the guild mark issue. Cobra really hadn't been happy about that.

"Wally is…"

"Alive and fucking well, and the blue waffle over here has the means of helping you find him, but he's never even offered it."

"Cobra, if you knew why didn't you say anything?" Jellal asked.

"It's not my fucking job to coddle people," he spat. "You drag our asses every which way, and not once have you given a shit about what we really want. Angel wants to find her sister, but have you done a fucking thing about that? No. Did you even take the time to ask if there was something she wanted now that we're not in prison or stuck under Brain's thumb? No! Meredy is willing to follow you to the end of the fucking world because that's what Ultear would have wanted. But what about Midnight? What about what I fucking want? Yeah, we agreed to go after Zeref, and I get that that's a huge fucking deal, but you need to pull your head out of your ass and think about something aside from atoning or Erza's strawberry snatch for five fucking seconds."

"Cobra, come on," Midnight said slowly. He edged away from Jellal just a little and kept his eyes trained on the angry Slayer.

Angel shifted where she sat, trying to get Lucy's attention. Except instead of Lucy looking her way, it was Cobra, glaring and growing more tense by the second. "You want her to move?" he hissed. "You really think I'm gonna hurt her right now?"

"No," she said carefully. "Just when you get like this, sometimes your poison leaks out."

"I know how to fucking control myself."

"You really don't," Jellal said. The attention was drawn back to him in an instant, but he didn't flinch away from the heavy weight of Cobra's burning gaze. "If you don't want to pussyfoot around about anyone's feelings, then I won't do that with you either, Erik."

"Don't call me that," he spat.

"But it's your name," Jellal said. "Yes, you got the name Cobra from working with Brain, but we all know just how much you hated him before you killed him. And even now. Yet you insist on using the name that a man you hated gave to you."

"And that's my goddamn choice, asshole. You took enough of my fucking choices away from me. I decide who calls me that and who doesn't. I don't give a shit if you know what it is, since the only reason you know in the first place is because I was born in that slice of hell you made for all of us, and-"

"Erik, please," Lucy said softly. "Just calm down, okay? Jellal is just-"

Cobra rounded on her again, so quickly his vision blurred. "Don't fucking tell me what to do!"

Lucy's drew back from the intensity of his voice, but that hadn't scared her. Not nearly as much as seeing a thin trail of blood dripping down from his nose did. And when she looked into his eye, she found his pupil had fully dilated, only for it to thin to a point. Then dilate again. Far too rapidly to be healthy.

"Look, Erik-" Jellal began.

"Shut up, Jellal," Lucy said. She leaned forward and placed her hands on Cobra's shoulders. "Erik, are you okay?"

His brow furrowed and when he licked his lips, all he could taste was blood. Sickly sweet and coppery. His blood. He'd know that taste anywhere. Why the fuck was his heart pounding? He'd been angry, sure, but he never got worked up quite like this. Not in a long time.

"I-I don't feel so good."

It felt as though someone had laid a vulcan on his chest and suddenly he just couldn't breathe. To anyone else, he was breathing normally. To Cobra, he couldn't pull enough air into his lungs.

In a matter of seconds, his anger was gone entirely. Instead it was fear coursing through him, because he didn't understand what the hell was happening, why he wasn't angry and yelling, why he felt the same way he used to when that guard pulled him away from his cell, when he'd been left waiting for his torture to begin again and again.

"Belle, I… I-I don't…" He tried so hard just to focus on Lucy's face, but then the ground tilted sideways and it was as though he was going right along with it. If it hadn't been for her hands on his shoulders, he would have toppled over. "I don't f-feel right…"

"You should lay down," she said. He could hear the worry in her voice and how it echoed in her soul. How that somehow rippled through all the souls around him and ricocheted right between his ears. And even though Cobra had spent most of his life not trusting anyone, when Midnight came closer and helped Lucy guide him to his feet, he trusted them. Especially because his legs just wouldn't work right.

One foot went in front of the other, but the ground just kept wobbling. When Cobra looked at the tent he shared with Lucy, the flap fluttered in the wind, and suddenly everything shifted in the opposite direction. He stumbled more than once, but Midnight and Lucy both caught him. Time and again, they held him up until he was in the confines of the tent, sitting on the new bedroll he and Lucy had gotten that was large enough for both of them with a spare blanket tucked away for the coming winter months.

Lucy removed his jacket and shoes and socks while Midnight blotted at his sweaty face with a towel that Cobra hadn't heard him grab.

"What's wrong with m-me?"

"I don't know," Lucy said softly. She still smiled while looking into his eye though, and her hands were so soft and gentle as they rested on his cheeks. "But maybe you just need to relax for a bit. We were travelling for a long time."

"Y-Yeah…" Except he'd been resting almost non-stop for the past week. He should have had all the rest his body could handle. But when he thought about it, he did feel tired.

"And you did stay in that cramped room for almost the entire trip," Midnight added. "I think you just got a little stir-crazy."

"M-Maybe," he said, still looking into Lucy's eyes while the world around her twisted and turned. But this wasn't how Cobra felt when he was locked in a room too long. That usually left him itching to kill something, not uncoordinated and scared out of his fucking mind.

"Remember how it used to be?" Midnight blotted at Cobra's nose and carefully wiped away the drying blood on his upper lip. "If you were in a room for too long, you got sick when you came out." At least, that's how it had been before Cobra started killing everything he came across. He had to sleep outside for days on end with just Cubellios for company if he'd stayed inside too long. He had to have fresh air around him. He never left the Oracion Seis compound without permission, just stayed by the wall, but he'd apparently needed more than four walls closing in on him.

"Maybe don't bring up the past right now," Lucy said. She didn't look away from Cobra though. She held his gaze, even when her fingers slid behind his ears and up into his hair. "Erik, are you feeling a little better?"

"I don't know…"

"Your eye isn't freaking out anymore," she said. But he heard her soul whispering that he should see a doctor just in case. She was worried that he'd been having a seizure, that there was something wrong and if they didn't get him to a doctor that night, then he wouldn't make it. In a matter of seconds, a part of her soul had planted the seed of doubt that he wouldn't live through the night. And through it all, she kept smiling at him, forcing herself to wear a brave face, to keep him calm even though he could hear how worried she was.

"Maybe I should just sleep for a bit," he said. He felt off. Everything felt wrong. His fingers were tingling, like he'd been sitting on them for an hour and the blood was starting to rush back in. Just the fingertips though. Lucy nodded and helped him lie down, brushing his hair back and away from his face. "Stay with me?"

She glanced toward Midnight, who simply blinked back at her before leaving the tent and closing the flap behind him. He could hear her shuffling inside and lying down, and he waited for another moment while the two got more comfortable.

"Come here," Lucy said gently. "It's alright. You just hold on tight, okay? I'm staying with you."

"Thanks…"

Midnight went back toward the rest of the group and took a seat where he'd been before, between Jellal and Meredy.

The only sounds to be heard came from the crackling fire. No one wanted to speak. They didn't have anything to say right then. And when they heard soft, feminine humming coming from the only occupied tent in their little camp, they didn't want to disrupt the calm that Lucy was trying to give Cobra right then.

It went on for several minutes, until eventually she was silent. Midnight looked at Jellal then. "We have some things to discuss," he said softly.

"You can say that again," Jellal muttered. "What just happened to him?"

"Not a clue," Midnight said. He wasn't a doctor, how could he possibly diagnose Cobra with anything other than being a psychopath? It didn't take a degree to see those symptoms in the Poison Slayer. "But about the Tower. We probably shouldn't have talked about it."

"Why?" Jellal asked, frowning as he looked toward the others.

"Cobra's touchy about it," Angel said. "He always has been."

"It actually used to make him have panic attacks," Hoteye said. "But those stopped a long time ago."

"You know," Meredy said, "Cobra acts like an asshole all the time, but you guys are always tip-toeing around him. Why do you care more about his feelings than he does about yours?"

"He does care," Racer shrugged. "Just, in his own way."

"And making excuses for him," Jellal sighed.

"If he didn't care, he never would have brought up that thing about Hoteye's brother," Midnight said.

"If he cared, he would have said something well beforehand," Jellal countered. He looked toward Hoteye then. "I had no idea that I knew your brother."

"It's fine," he said, still looking at the tent Cobra and Lucy were in.

"It's none of his business," Angel said. "Cobra might exploit the things he hears when it suits him, but he really does try not to pry."

"Could have fooled me," Jellal said. Still, he could understand that a little. Cobra's magic was something innate, something he couldn't just turn off whenever he wanted to. There was no switch for hearing souls the way he did. But he hardly tried to use that magic he'd been gifted with for anything outside of his own personal gain. Whether it was in a battle or just some petty argument, Cobra did things to suit himself.

"Well what about your sister?" Meredy asked Angel. "You've never mentioned her before."

Angel's eyes lowered to the fire. "I'm not ready to look for her yet," she said. "But he knows that's what I really want to do. I want to find her, just to know that she's okay…"

"And you, Racer?" Jellal asked.

He shrugged. "Don't have a clue," he said. "All I ever wanted was to be able to outrun anyone who was chasing me. I'm fine with looking for Zeref. Moreso now, since it was some stupid cult running things in the Tower to begin with."

"Midnight?"

"It's not important right now," he said. "If it ever is, I'll let you know." He sighed and looked up into the sky, smiling softly for a moment at the stars. "We don't tiptoe around him though. We've spent years with Cobra, and he knows when to stop pushing us, just like we usually know when to stop pushing him."

"And when you don't?" Meredy asked.

"He'll punch someone and storm off, go kill something, and then come back feeling better," Angel said. "Well, he punches the guys. He always just yelled at me if I pissed him off."

"The point is," Midnight said, "We should have stopped that conversation before it even started. No matter what Cobra says about wanting answers concerning the Tower, the fact is that he can't handle answers about it."

"But why?" Jellal asked. "That's what I don't understand."

"Because Cobra's mother was raped by one of the guards, and he's the product of it," Angel said softly.

"And the guard who fathered him was the same one who always beat him once he was old enough to start doing labor," Hoteye added. "He even gave Cobra extra beatings at night or forced him to keep working, refused him the few rations we got, and made sure he almost always went without water."

"He was trying to kill Cobra," Racer said. "And he was the first person Cobra ever killed, because of Brain."

"All he's ever known is people stopping him from doing things," Midnight said. "People holding him back, telling him no, hurting him for wanting things. I won't even begin trying to make excuses for the things he's done, but you have to understand Jellal… What he does might not be right, but there's a reason that he is the way he is."

"It doesn't matter what he looks like when everyone sees him," Racer said. "The only person who's seeing anything behind that asshole façade he puts on, is in that tent with him."

"You really think he lets Lucy see it?" Meredy asked softly.

"I know he does," Racer chuckled. "Because otherwise she'd be kicked out and he would be by himself. The fact that he kept her in there means a whole lot of something."

After a moment of watching Lucy's tent, Jellal sighed. "Fine," he said. "I'll talk to him about it another time. What I was getting at originally though is that, even though we're in Caelum and should be able to move around freely, just be cautious and keep your guild marks hidden."

"Speaking of guild marks," Meredy said, frowning. "How come Lucy doesn't have one yet?"

Everyone went quiet, so quiet that the only thing to be heard was the buzz of cicadas and the crackling fire. Lucy had been part of the guild for a month, but when Meredy brought it up, they all realized that she'd never gotten her guild mark. Jellal had never even offered to give her one, and she hadn't asked. She still had her Fairy Tail mark though, so he'd just assumed that she hadn't wanted to part with it.

"Are you kidding me?" Angel hissed to Jellal. "Jellal, we got our marks right away."

But all he could wonder was if she really did want a guild mark. Maybe things would be easier for her if she could just leave them whenever she wanted, without having to have the mark of a former-criminals' guild on her body.

It was something that Jellal had decided when forming Crime Sorciere with Ultear and Meredy. Once a member had the mark, that was it. They could never get rid of it. This was their final guild. Each member who had one knew that before getting it, and all of them - even Cobra, who had been threatening him for an hour after the explanation - agreed to it, because it was what they wanted.

He would have to get rid of her Fairy Tail mark and brand her as one of them for good. But Lucy wasn't a criminal. She'd never sinned and didn't need to atone for the pain she'd caused. She wasn't like them in that respect, and a large part of Jellal didn't want her to have one. It wasn't her cross to bear.

"Way to make her feel welcome," Midnight groaned.

He'd let her join them in the first place because she was a friend of Erza's, and he'd been worried about her when she showed up in their camp. If anything, Lucy being around them for just a little while would maybe brighten things up, and then she would eventually move on and continue living a normal life.

At least, that's what he'd thought. But she'd stayed.

She'd grown attached to the former Oracion Seis members, more than just through her relationship with Cobra. She had brightened up their days little by little, and had tamed some of the intensity that the Poison Slayer exuded when he was feeling particularly agitated. Usually by grabbing his hands, leaning against him, just touching him in general. Cobra was less likely to start flinging poison if Lucy was close enough to get caught in it.

Everyone wanted her around, and he knew for a fact that Lucy felt like she had a home with them.

It was a broken home, but a home either way for her. For all of them.

She was so innocent compared to them, though. Lucy had never been part of a dark guild. She'd never gone on murdering sprees, or enslaved children and forced them into hard labor, or abused her spirits. She loved everyone, cared for them and gave them a second chance. She was naive, and that was something Jellal really didn't want to take away from her.

"Jellal, you're fail whaling all over the place right now," Meredy sighed.

He just wanted to help protect her a little bit. But then he remembered what he'd told Erza that day two weeks prior. Lucy didn't need to be protected, and he wasn't going to treat her any differently than the others just because she was Erza's friend.

He'd been a hypocrite once again. At least this was something that could be fixed easily. Assuming Lucy actually wanted to go through with it.

Lucy lifted the hood of her dark blue cloak and peered through the pouring rain at the town around them. Slick paved streets made the path for them to follow. There wasn't a cobblestone in sight between the towering structures in Caelum's capital. It was cold and uninviting here, far too structured and orderly. So sterile.

No wonder these people hadn't noticed a huge tower being constructed somewhere off the coast of the kingdom. They were too busy creating a mecca of infrastructural anomalies right there in the middle of the country.

Neon signs lit up storefronts and fluorescent bulbs filled in the gaps. The streetlights were a pale orange glow, instead of the normal blue from lacrima powered lighting.

But the stupid rain was ruining everything. She wanted to enjoy the city, except there hadn't been a pause in the downpour since they'd come out of the forest between the shore and civilization. They hadn't realized until reaching the city that there was actually a road leading from the port, and if they'd taken a gas-powered vehicle it would have been a twenty-four hour ride on something called a highway. Instead they'd spend two months getting there, trudging through the forest, camping just like they did in Fiore.

If the rain wasn't bad enough, there was the humidity. The air felt heavier with each step she took through puddles on the sidewalk.

It was so odd to see people not walking in the streets, because there were too many vehicles moving around.

It made her wonder what their marketplace looked like.

"Jellal, this is ridiculous," Angel groaned. "Let's just find an inn and get out of the rain, okay?"

He nodded his agreement. Apparently no one was enjoying having waterlogged boots. They made their way further into the heart of the city and eventually stopped for Jellal to ask someone for directions. He ignored the odd looks the little food cart owner gave him, and instead led the group to the hotel they'd been directed toward.

The rooms were cheaper than they would have expected based on how opulent the hotel was. What would have been nearly two thousand Jewels a night back home was only seventeen Karms. The exchange rate had made them exceedingly wealthy, apparently. Well, they weren't royalty rich, but they could afford to sleep in hotels, at the very least.

When they reached their rooms, it was even more apparent that there was definitely something strange about Caelum. They used electricity for the lighting and appliances, instead of a lacrima. Nothing was run on magical power there. Lucy wondered if it meant that no one in Caelum used magic. Was it maybe outlawed?

"Meeting with Jellal in his room in an hour," Cobra said while he closed the door to his and Lucy's room.

She nodded and searched for the bathroom. That was the most important thing right then. Because she was soaked and freezing and she needed a nice hot shower. Immediately. She flipped the switch and her eyes lit up at the sight laid before her. Cream tiles lined the floor with limestone countertops sitting over rich oak cupboards. The shower was surrounded by glass with a large stone bathtub beside it.

"Shit. And we paid how much for this?"

"Not enough," she whispered in awe. Lucy took a step forward, then paused and looked down at herself. She was a hot mess and a half. Walking in there the way she was would just mess it all up, dripping rainwater all over the place. "Get undressed at the door, okay?"

"You're ridiculous."

"Humor me."

Cobra chuckled and reached up to the clasp of her cloak, then let it fall to the floor before moving to stand in front of her. Lucy's clothes were soaked, even though she'd been covered with the cloak, but he was in much the same predicament. He peeled her white tube top off, sliding it down to her waist instead of trying to pull it over her head. "Someone forgot a bra," he said.

Lucy gasped when his hands caressed just beneath her breasts, and his thumbs moved higher in teasingly slow circles until he was pinching her nipples and his lips closed over hers. Goosebumps rippled over her body and she inched closer to him until she came to his own wet clothes. That just wouldn't do at all.

Because she knew for a fact that he did get cold very quickly. And if she was feeling chilly, then he had to be freezing. A soft moan left her when Cobra's hands slid down to her skirt. He'd watched her get dressed that morning, which meant he had no issue finding the zipper and removing it and her shirt and panties, leaving all of the soaked fabric pooled at her ankles.

Lucy clutched at his shoulders and gulped down precious air when his lips trailed across her jaw and his fingers slipped between her trembling legs. "N-Not fair," she rasped.

"Get my clothes off then," he said, grinning as his teeth skimmed her flesh. "I can wait."

"Oh, please don't," she whimpered. He paused and she was left wondering what he had rattling around in his head. Would he pull back and wait until he was naked before touching her? Would he make her wait until they were in the shower and warm again? Maybe Cobra would force her to wait until they were fully washed and dried before giving in and making her scream.

Part of her was terrified at the thought of having to bathe with him and not get what she wanted. But there was something else that surprised her. It excited her, not knowing when he would take her, or even if he would. He was too unpredictable to figure it out.

Would he want to fuck her in the shower though? Maybe in that bathtub over there? On the counter, holding her legs up and making it so she could see just what he was doing to her? Only on the bed, since they'd yet to have sex in an actual bed? Maybe he wanted her on her knees in the shower, giving him a blowjob and trying not to get waterboarded in the process.

Lucy gasped when her body was slammed into the wall. Cobra roughly claimed her lips in a sloppy, needy kiss and pressed his cold, still-clothed body against her. His hands moved over her in desperation, her thighs and hips and breasts until one wrapped around her throat and the other worked loose the zipper on his pants.

She pushed his boxers out of the way, and set her shaking grip around his length. She still couldn't get over how hot he was, how ready for her whenever they were like this. Lucy pumped him slowly, even with the ferocity of his movements driving her to the brink of bliss. He pinched her nipples, pulled them enough for her to cry out in pain - nearly enough to break her out of the moment entirely - and then he was actually choking her.

It was just enough pressure to constrict her airway without hurting her as his lips moved to her ear.

"Think about that shit again, and I won't be gentle," he growled. "Fuck, I love your imagination."

Lucy smiled at the sound of his quivering inhale. Her puckered nipples brushed against his shirt and sent tendrils of pleasure rippling through her. But it was too rough against her tender flesh. Much more of that and it really would take things from tantalizing to uncomfortable, and she didn't want that. His grip on her throat tightened in warning. He knew just what she was going to do, and maybe he didn't want her to, but Lucy didn't care.

"Who said I wanted gentle?" Her hands lifted to his collar and she pulled with all the force she could muster, sending buttons flying and ripping the stitching along the hem as his scarred flesh was finally bared for her hands to explore.

Cobra spun her so quickly that Lucy nearly tripped over the clothes around her feet, then drove into her without warning, without muffling her sudden cry of shock at being filled so roughly. He didn't wait for her to adjust before he started moving, withdrawing until his cock was barely inside of her before slamming in again until his hips were flush against her ass.

"You ripped my shirt," he snarled in her ear. She clawed at the wall when his pace quickened and his low growl vibrated through her body. "Fuck, Belle… So sexy!"

He grabbed her jaw and forced her head to turn to the side, and Lucy couldn't find the will to pull away when his tongue plunged between her lips. She could hardly hear their skin slapping over the heady sound of her moans mixing with his own. His chest pressed against her back, letting her feel the multitude of scars on him each time he moved. His hips shifted and she broke away from the kiss on a crackling scream of his name.

He hadn't been rough like this for some time. Not since that night before Erza had found out about them. The week after that, and the time they'd spent in Caelum so far, may have had them fucking in the woods, away from camp so they could have more privacy, but Cobra had been much more gentle. Every time they were together like this, writhing and clutching at one another, she wondered if it would be the gentle lover who'd brought tears to her eyes just last week where they'd laid in a patch of dewy grass under the stars, or this beast who ravaged her body and made her crave each spine-tingling snap of his hips.

But in that moment, Lucy knew it was his wilder side, the ravenous beast that coiled its way around in his soul and came out screaming its fury.

One arm hooked under her leg and lifted, and she was surprised by the loud moan that spilled past his lips. Cobra wasn't one for being too loud during sex. He didn't talk much when he was lost in pleasure. There was an occasional grunt or growl, but nothing quite like that. Her back arched and she tried to push back against him, ripping another moan from the Poison Slayer.

"F-Fuck," he rasped. "Fuck, yes! Don't stop." Cobra pulled back enough to set his gaze between their bodies and went still. He watched as she pressed her body to the wall, then tilted her hips and forced herself back onto his rigid cock.

Even standing on one foot, with the other held perched in the air, she could still move this way. He could watch her body contort for hours as she rode him, even against the damn wall. He could listen to her breathy whimpers morph into quivering moans of his name when his fingers started relentlessly teasing her clit. Nothing would give him greater pleasure than to hear her crying out in pained ecstasy when his hand came sailing down on her ass, and Cobra's eye rolled back when her tight passage constricted around him.

"Oh god, Erik… Erik! Yes!"

His eye flashed with excitement and he dropped her leg to the floor. His pace slowed long enough for his hand to wind in her hair and gently pull her head back - the last thing he wanted was to snap her neck from getting too excited - until it rested on his shoulder. He led her back, forcing her to take small, stuttering steps while he was buried in her, until his back was pressed against the opposite wall.

Lucy's back arched and she started to move when his free hand wrapped around her hip. Slow at first, setting her own pace even though he could hear that she wanted him to fuck her into the ground.

"Dirty bitch," Cobra rasped in her ear. He grinned at the instant effect it had on her. How he could hear her nerves lighting up and how it had caught her off guard. "Couldn't even get your boots off before opening up your legs for me."

"Shut up," she gasped.

"You were desperate for it," he growled. His breath stuttered when she slammed back onto him and swirled her hips.

'Call me dirty again… Damn, he sounds sexy like that…'

"Worse than dirty," he said. Cobra's hand slipped between her legs and he spread her lips open while rocking his hips to push just a little deeper. "Filthy. Fuck you're so wet. Nasty little bitch." It was a good thing he caught the wisping thought that she didn't want him to call her a slut or anything like it. Apparently, that would actually piss her off, even if it was just a little roleplaying during sex. It was fine though. Bitch seemed to work wonders for the time being.

"Sh-Shut up…"

While her brain was too busy questioning what had come over him, why he was suddenly talking during sex and why he'd decided to start talking dirty, Cobra listened to her soul. To the deepest parts of her that begged to be heard. "Go on and ride my dick," he rasped, his fingers pressing against her sex on either side of his cock. "You're fucking dripping."

"I'm not..."

"You are," he growled against her hair. "I can feel it. All over my hand…" His hand shifted down to her thigh, spreading her own juices over her trembling flesh. "Down your legs. Fuck, you're soaked."

'Oh god, I really am! It's his voice though… Talk to me more…'

"Shut up," Lucy moaned, her hips still shifting, grinding against him as her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Later, I'm putting you in front of that mirror," he rasped. "I'll make you watch me finger you, watch me fuck you, and you won't get to look away."

Lucy moaned more loudly than before, and his hands slid over her stomach to tease her breasts.

"You can… mm… watch the faces you make." He marveled at how he could nearly feel the heated shame washing through her soul at just the thought of what he was saying. "See that look in your eyes when you're screaming my name."

"Oh god," she whimpered. "Erik, please…" Her sex tightened around him and her hands found their way to his hips as she tried to encourage him to take over, to fuck her harder than she could manage on her own.

"Fuck, just thinking about it is gonna make me cum," Cobra snarled. "I want you to watch it. Watch how I fuck your wet little cunt."

"Erik…"

"See how soaked you get, how your tits bounce just fucking right!" He groaned and grabbed at her chest, pulling her onto him more forcefully. "I want you to see yourself cum, Belle," he hissed. "Maybe I'll… fuck… spread you open and… oh fuck… m-make you watch how tight you get when… Fuck!"

Lucy's eyes went wide when his arms barred around her body so tightly she could barely breathe. Cobra pulled her closer, his hips snapping relentlessly as his teeth locked onto her shoulder and broke the skin. But she was past caring about a little bit of pain when her release was barreling toward her. When he was forcing her closer to it with each rough thrust.

"Fucking take it," he snarled, biting her again.

Lucy couldn't stop the scream that ripped itself from her lips and echoed in the room as she broke apart around him. And still, he didn't stop. Even as she screamed his name and spasmed around him, even when her legs shook so intensely that the only thing keeping her standing were his arms around her, Cobra didn't slow down.

"Ngh, that's right. Take it all, Belle…"

Her oversensitive body shuddered against him, and her weakened slaps at his arms did nothing to slow him down. But she could feel how close he was. How frantic and desperate he'd become for his own bliss. Between one moment and the next, he was spearing into her a final time, twitching inside of her while spilling his seed, holding her tightly and moaning against her bloody shoulder.

"Fuck," Cobra panted. "Y-Your… fuck… love… so much…"

Lucy's eyes rounded and her head slowly turned toward him to find his bloody lips pressing tender, trembling kisses up toward her throat. His eye was still closed, and sweat beaded his brow while his strangling hold on her lessened.

"God, I needed that," he sighed.

"What'd you say?" she asked just before he claimed her lips in a gentle kiss. It was a whole lot more tender than normal when he'd been like that during sex. But what he'd said wouldn't get out of her head. Or, what she'd thought he was saying. Maybe it was something else. Maybe he wasn't trying to say he loved her. Because the last thing Lucy wanted was to not be able to say it back.

And right then, she couldn't. She wouldn't lie to him and tell him that she felt the same way. It was too soon for talking about love. Way too fucking soon. She'd only been part of the guild for three months. She and Cobra had really only been official for a little under that. Way too fucking soon for the L-word to come out.

Cobra drew back with a frown and looked into her wide eyes, then chuckled softly. "Your soul," he said, now that his breathing was a little more normal. "I love hearing your soul."

"Oh thank God…"

"Asshole," he laughed. He hummed when she kissed him and slowly slid off his softened member to turn in his arms. Her fingers were gentle as they slithered up his stomach and clasped behind his neck. "What if I'd been saying that instead?"

Lucy sighed as his forehead rested against hers. "I would have told you the truth," she said. "It's too soon to think about that, and I don't feel that way yet."

"Yet?" he asked. That definitely had his full attention. It had a very large part of him ready to fix his soggy ass clothes, torn shirt be damned, and jump out the fucking window. But then he looked at her and her soul whispered through the air, and he understood it.

She was scared to feel that way about him. About anyone. Lucy's fear of being left behind kept her from letting herself open up more. No matter how open a book he thought she was with everyone, there were still bits and pieces of her under lock and key. He could dredge them up if he really tried, but he didn't want to. Cobra wanted to find out about those things on Lucy's time. When she was ready for it. He knew it was nothing horrible, nothing that would make him want to kill her, but he just wanted to give her the chance to tell him when she was ready.

"Can I tell you something?" He chewed at his cheek when her brow furrowed and she nodded slowly. "I feel the same."

"What?"

"Scared," he said, forcing his gaze to stay locked on hers instead of drifting to the wall behind her like his brain was screaming to do. "I've never… felt that way. About anyone. I don't, um…" He really did look away from her then. "I don't know how."

Lucy's soft smile burned itself into his memory when she moved closer to kiss his flushed cheek. "It's not hard," she said. "We'll deal with it when we get there."

He wanted to tell her it wasn't as simple as that. That he didn't know if he'd ever feel that way about her. He didn't know if he even could love someone. He didn't know if he'd even realize that was how he felt when the time came. What if he couldn't tell that he loved her? What if he really did feel that way some day, but he just hadn't a clue that was it? Because there was a very big difference, in his mind, between the feelings he'd had for Cubellios and something romantic. There was a difference between seeing that beautiful purple snake (who'd come to be a purple-haired woman) as the only being in existence who cared about him, and what he might feel for a woman he'd want to spend his life with.

He was lost in thought when she pulled away and removed her boots, then turned on the shower to almost its hottest setting. And when Lucy came back to him and peeled his clothing away, dropping everything in a sopping pile on the floor, he barely even registered she was there.

It wasn't until they were beneath the water and her soapy hands were lathering shampoo in his hair, with her breasts brushing against his chest and her lips pressing soft kisses along his throat, that Cobra realized he wasn't even standing against the wall.

"You're fun to pamper," she giggled. His lips lifted only slightly while she tipped his head back to rinse his hair. "And the noises you make are kinda precious."

"Fuck off," he snorted. "I don't make precious…" His head whipped forward, flinging soapy water at the suddenly laughing blonde, when her memory of only a few seconds prior replayed for him to hear. His soft hums and sighs, and even an occasional purr, and the slap-happy grin on his face when she kissed the scar on his cheek. "Oh, fuck you…"

"Been there, done that," she teased. "I'm gonna need a minute to make sure my legs work properly before you make them go all jelly-tastic on me again."

"Bed," he said while leaning back to finish rinsing his hair. "I would love to fuck you in a bed for a change."

"Bed sounds good."

"Sounds fucking fabulous," he said. "I don't even remember the last time I slept in a proper bed." He definitely didn't count the bullshit that had been on that ship. It was like he'd been sleeping on a damn rock for a week, and he knew for a fact that Lucy felt the same way. Aside from hearing her mentally counting the days until they were on shore so they could get out of that room, there was also her internal complaining about how much her back was hurting from the poor attempt at a mattress being too firm.

"Too long, I'd say." The last time she'd slept in a real bed had been her own back in Magnolia. The wall of her apartment had been shredded and there was debris covering most of her living room, but Lucy had simply put some plastic over it and laid in her bed at the time. She'd wanted something that was normal, and her bed was it.

But that was all gone now. Her bed and furniture. Her apartment. That old desk she'd bought at a consignment shop where she'd kept her manuscript - both of which had been irreparably damaged. Her favorite blanket and the boxes of letters to her mother were trashed.

But she was moving on with her life, and that was the important thing.

She sighed while Cobra gently scrubbed her arms with a soapy washcloth, then found herself laughing at the sight of his lips closing around her bubble-covered fingers. "Really?"

"Poison," he chuckled, nipping at her fingertips. His tongue slithered down to curl around the engagement ring she still wore. "Tastes better when I lick it off of you."

"Absolutely ridiculous." Still her hand curved around his cheek, and she watched as he gently kissed her palm. Cobra flipped her hand over, and she knew just what he was looking at when his thumb swiped away the bubbles covering the bright pink mark on the back of her hand.

"I heard Jellal talked to you," he said.

"He did."

"And you don't have a guild mark yet."

"I don't," she nodded. She was honestly surprised that it had taken this long for Cobra to bring up the fact that she still had a Fairy Tail mark on her hand.

"Do you want my opinion on it?" She nodded again. "Don't get one. Don't brand yourself like the rest of us…"

"Erik…"

"No, I know you've been thinking that I might think you're not getting one because you plan on leaving," he sighed. "I'll admit, it crossed my mind. But I know better than that. And I know that you still have this old one because they were your family and all that shit."

"Well, it's not so simple," she muttered.

"But you don't have to brand yourself as a fucking criminal just to be with me," he said. "I don't want you to think you have to do that. Jellal keeps thanking his fucking stars that you haven't asked him to give you one, because he feels guilty. He never thought about the fact that someone who wasn't like us would want to join the guild."

"An oversight on his part," she smirked.

"Definitely," he chuckled. "But… in case you were wondering… I don't think you need it to be part of the guild. You can still be a Fairy, and that won't change a thing while you're with us. And if you ever decide to go back…"

"I won't," she said with a frown. "Fairy Tail is gone, Erik."

He sighed and kissed her forehead, then wrapped his arms around her to pull her further under the warm spray of the shower. "If you do decide to go back one day, or join some other legal guild, I'm not gonna stop you. I'll be pissed, maybe kill some animals over it, but… I won't stop you from leaving, if that's what you want."

"I'm not going anywhere," she said. "This is my guild now."

He nodded and simply held her there, but that was fine. He'd really just wanted to get his opinion on the matter out there for her, because the last thing Cobra wanted was for Lucy to think she had to stay with Crime Sorciere because of him. They may not have been in love, and the fiancée jokes had all pretty much subsided by that point, but he had to know that she knew there was still a chance for her to live a regular life. Away from him.

She could go back and still be part of society in Fiore. She could do anything she wanted there. If she stayed with him, and with Crime Sorciere, there was no telling what would happen. The monarchy might decide that she really was a criminal if they found out that she was with them, and then her life would be over. She would be stuck running from Rune Knights forever.

He didn't want that for Lucy. She'd never done a thing to deserve the life he and the others had no choice but to live.

Update: I had an old note on this chapter that said the second part would come out on Day 8 of CoLu Week. That was incorrect, since I wrote something different for that prompt. The next (maybe final?) chapter will be posted sometime next week.