Laxus lived in uptown Magnolia which was one of the most expensive parts of town. Lucy wouldn't have recognized any of the buildings, even if she wasn't hallucinating. She had been poor ever since she had left her affluent home to become a mage.

Bickslow led her to a large stone building and they went up two flights of stairs. He opened the apartment door and ushered her in. "Hey are you thirsty?" He entered the doorway and began taking off his armor, revealing a Sex-Pistols t-shirt underneath.

Lucy shook her head and wandered around the apartment. Everything was done in typical "bachelor style"; black leather sofas, a modern glass coffee table, and steel accents throughout. The apartment seemed sterile and it was making her tense.

Lucy sat on one of the leather sofas. The leather clung to her skin and seemed to be sucking her in. She stood up quickly and moved over to a more comfortable-looking recliner.

Now this is more like it, she thought. She rubbed her cheek against the soft fabric. It seemed to caress her face, sending little currents of sensation across her skin. She turned in her seat and started to rub her head and shoulders against the cushion.

"Mmmm, this feels good," she murmured. She turned slightly and saw Bickslow staring at her intently. He had gotten himself a soda and was sitting on one of the black leather sofas.

He sat up straighter and shut his mouth when he saw her watching him. He laughed nervously. "Ha, you're acting like a cat."

Lucy giggled. She lifted her hands above her hands, striking a diva pose and purred.

Bickslow's eyes widened. "Hey that's pretty good. Where'd you learn to do that?"

Lucy smiled and rubbed her back against the recliner. Her skin was still tingling. "Grade school," she said airily.

"Oh yeah? Well, I don't think school girls should be making sounds like that." Bickslow took a sip of his soda and set it down before disappearing back into the kitchen. He re-emerged a minute later with a tub of ice cream.

"Oh, what flavor is that?" she asked. She squinted at the container but the letters were dancing around the label.

"Vanilla." Bickslow took the lid off and helped himself to a spoonful right out of the container.

"May I have some?" Lucy turned upside down in the recliner so that her feet were over the top and her head was hanging off the cushion.

"I don't know. Have you been a good kitty?" Bickslow raised an eyebrow and helped himself to another bite.

Lucy purred again in response. She turned over and slid off the recliner. She closed the few feet between them by crawling on all fours. The punk rocker mage froze with a spoonful of ice cream halfway to his mouth. Lucy sat up on her knees and started to take the ice cream from his hands.

The movement seemed to wake Bickslow. "Hey, no fair." He pulled the frozen desert from her grasp. Lucy tried to follow the pint of vanilla deliciousness but only succeeded in falling into Bickslow's lap. She pouted.

"Aw, come on."

Bickslow regarded her for a minute. His adams apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He took a spoonful of the ice cream and offered it to her.

Lucy didn't bother to take the spoon. Instead, she leaned over and cleaned it in three long licks. Bickslow stared. "Damn," he whispered when she had finally finished the last drop of cream.

"What?" Lucy asked innocently before sitting back on her feet.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Bickslow asked.

"Acting like a cat, of course. I kind of feel like a cat. It's fun." She smiled and tilted her head at him. "Why?"

Bickslow just shook his head and got another spoonful of ice cream. He held it a few inches from Lucy's face. She moved forward to lick it but he eased back so that Lucy had to press against his thighs to reach the spoon. Bickslow let her lick the ice cream before putting it in his own mouth.

"Hey, you didn't get any ice cream," accused Lucy. The older mage shook his head. Sweat had begun to form on his brow. He put the spoon down and hesitated. He dipped his finger in the ice cream and held it out to her. Lucy smiled and wrapped her lips around the finger, twirling her tongue to lick the last of the ice cream.

Bickslow let out a long, slow breath. "Shit, shit, shit," he muttered. He wiped his hand off on his jeans and put his hands on Lucy's arms, easing her back. "No more ice cream." He took the container back into the kitchen.

Lucy started to shiver. "The ice cream is making me cold," she called into the kitchen.

Bickslow shouted from around the corner. "No problem, I'll find you a blanket." He came back a minute later with a soft blue afghan that seemed out of place for the modern apartment. Lucy wrapped it around herself and sat on the sofa. Bickslow sat next to her and started to wring his hands together nervously.

Lucy stared at him. "It looks like your tattoo is dancing," she said.

He sighed. "That's just a hallucination. It isn't real."

She leaned forward and touched the figure tattooed along the bridge of his nose. "I know, but its still wicked looking."

Bickslow stuck his tongue out at her.

"You have a big tongue."

"Yeah, the ladies seem to like it." Bickslow smirked.

Lucy blinked at him. "Why?"

Bickslow gulped and leaned back. "Nevermind."

"Speaking of ladies, did you have a nice time dancing with Cana last light?" She lowered her voice, hoping to gain his confidence.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Cana's cool."

Now it was Lucy's turn to frown. "That didn't sound very convincing. What's wrong with Cana?"

Bickslow took a long sip of his soda and then lowered his elbows onto his knees before looking at her. "You're prying," he said. "Nothing's wrong with Cana."

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest. "Well does that mean something is wrong with me? You seemed to prefer dancing with her last night."

Bickslow coughed and almost spilled his soda. "Seriously? That bugs you? You can't stand that I asked Cana to dance instead of you?" He started laughing. "Oh man, women are crazy."

Lucy scowled. She didn't like what he was implying. "I'm not crazy. Besides, it's not like I would have liked dancing with you anyways."

Bickslow's laughter abruptly stopped. He glared at Lucy. "I know. You did a pretty good job of shutting me down last year when I asked you out."

"Oh." She wrapped the blanket around her more tightly. She was shivering constantly now. "I forgot about that."

"Yeah, well I didn't." Bickslow looked angry now. "Besides," he continued. "If it makes you feel any better, I was playing wingman for Laxus. It wasn't a matter of personal preference."

Lucy looked at him questioningly. "What's a wingman?" A vision of Laxus with an Exceed like Happy or Pantherlily flashed through her mind. "Oh my God, is Laxus trying to find an Exceed?"

She was excited. Exceeds were tons of fun. It would be great if Laxus found one to hang out with.

Bickslow shook his head and made a disgusted sound. "Nevermind."

Lucy's teeth were starting to chatter. She huddled deeper into the blanket. "I'm still cold," she moaned.

Bickslow squinted at her and touched her mouth. "Your lips are blue." He put his hands against her face. "And you're skin is like ice." He suddenly looked scared. "This is bad."

"What does that mean?" Lucy started to panic. "Am I having a bad reaction to the spider bite or something?"

Bickslow pulled Lucy into his lap. "I don't know, but I need to warm you up." He took the afghan and wrapped it around both of them. He pulled Lucy in tight against his chest. She could feel body heat radiating off him.

"Wow, you're really warm."

"It's not that I'm warm. It's just that you are so cold." Bickslow rubbed his hands across her arms, trying to get her blood circulating.

Lucy was scared. She tried to get bury herself in the crook of Bickslow's neck. "I'm sorry I was mean to you. Please don't let me die."

"I'm not mad and you're not going to die." He smoothed her hair back.

Lucy couldn't stop shivering. "I didn't mean what I said earlier. I would have been happy if you had asked me to dance. I bet you are a great dancer. Laxus was pretty bad when we first started dancing, but then he was awesome. But I'm so cold now. I don't want to be cold anymore." She was babbling now.

"Shhh, it's okay." Bickslow kept stroking her arms.

Lucy fell silent and let her caretaker try to warm her up. Several minutes passed and the cold didn't seem to bother her as much. She started to feel sleepy. She let her body go limp.

"Hey, don't pass out on me." Bickslow shook her a little and Lucy's head bobbed back and forth. "Shit." He stood up and carried her into the bathroom. He set her down on the cold tile floor.

"This is even colder," mumbled Lucy.

Bickslow turned on the bathroom faucet. "I'm going to see if I can warm you up in the bathtub."

Lucy whimpered. "Please hurry. This feels awful."

Bickslow's face hovered above Lucy. "I'm going to have to undress you so I can put you in the tub. Okay?"

Lucy nodded weakly. She would have agreed to just about anything right then.

Bickslow grabbed one of the towels off the rack and covered her with it. He reached under the towel and eased her out of her clothes, trying to keep as much of her covered as possible. The process added a little time to his efforts but the blush on Bickslow's face let Lucy know he was having enough trouble, even with the towel.

Once the clothes were removed, Bickslow lifted Lucy and started to ease her into the tub. The water scalded her and she squeaked in protest. Bickslow did his best go slow and give her body time to adjust to the heat. Once she was fully in the water, the towel floated above her. The Seith magic user had decided to leave the towel on.

Lucy was beginning to think of Bickslow as her knight in shining armor.

"Thanks, but I haven't saved your butt yet."

Lucy blinked at him. "Did I say that out loud?"

"The part about me being your knight in shining armor? Yeah."

"Oh god, how embarrassing."

"You are completely naked except for a towel and you're embarrassed about that comment?"

Bickslow moved behind Lucy and supported her with his hands under her armpits. The position was uncomfortable and Lucy struggled to sit up more.

Bickslow understood her situation, but couldn't see a way around it. "Sorry, if this hurts but I don't think you're able to support yourself yet and I don't want you to drown."

"Can you find a more comfortable position?"

He leaned closer and lowered his hands so that he was holding her ribcage. He pulled her back and her head settled against the back of the bathtub. He tried to ignore the weight of her breasts on his forearms. Laxus was going to fry him if he found out.

"Perfect," she said. She was now resting comfortably and starting to feel better. She noticed that the sleeves of Bickslow's shirt were skimming the water. "You're getting wet. Maybe you should take your shirt off."

"No way, if Laxus comes back and finds us both undressed, he'll kill me."

"You don't really think Laxus would kill you, do you? You're doing a great job of looking out for me."

He didn't respond. Lucy wished she could see his face but the angle was all wrong. "Really," she continued. "I'd probably be wondering around Fiore right now if you hadn't helped me." Her towel had floated to a corner of the tub but Lucy didn't pay it any attention.

"I'm glad you and Laxus are friends," she added. "I'm looking forward to getting to spend more time with you and the other Thunder God Tribe members."

"Laxus isn't just my friend, he's my best friend." Bickslow spoke close to her ear. He sounded sad. "I look up to him. He's strong, smart, good-looking... The guy's got it all."

"You're not jealous are you?" Lucy joked.

The grip on her ribcage tightened. "Not often," he said softly.

As if on cue, Lucy heard the front door open. "Lucy? Bickslow? Are you here? I got your message and came back as soon as possible."

"Shit," whispered Bickslow. He let go of Lucy and stood up.

"We're in the bathroom," called out Lucy.

Bickslow shot her an angry look. He turned around and adjusted his pants.

"What?" asked Lucy. She didn't think she deserved the dirty look Bickslow had given her. All she had done was let Laxus know where they were.

Heavy footsteps starting coming towards the door. Bickslow's eyes went wide. Lucy didn't understand why he looked so scared.

"Cover yourself," he hissed.

"What?" she hissed back.

"With the towel." Bickslow pointed fiercely at the soggy cloth that was bunched in a corner of the bathtub.

Lucy blinked, trying to remember what it was there for. Towels were used for drying, and this one was all wet.

The door opened and Laxus came in. "What are you guys doing in the bathro…" The last word hung in the air as Laxus took in his surroundings. His eyes went to Lucy, wet, naked Lucy, then to Bickslow, back to Lucy, and then finally settled on Bickslow. His face was started to turn red and his fists were clenching and unclenching.

"What… the… fuck… is… this?" He paused between each word like it was hard to speak them.

"I can explain," said Bickslow in a rush. He held up his hands as if in self defense.

"Laxus!" called out Lucy happily. She started to stand up so she could go and hug him.

"Sit back down," snarled Laxus.

He sounded livid and it scared her. Lucy sat back down and tried to make herself small in the bathtub. She wanted to ask him what she had done wrong but something told her that was a bad idea.

"Don't be mad at her," said Bickslow. "She probably doesn't understand what's happening."

Laxus looked at Lucy again and the anger in his face lessened slightly. "I'm not mad at her. She was about to expose herself." His eyes slid back towards Bickslow and his anger flared. "Right now, I'm going to focus on being bad at you." He looked down. "You seem to be pretty happy that she's naked, you goddamn pervert." He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of the bathroom.

Bickslow was stammering. "I-I couldn't help that. It's not what it looks like. There was a medical emergency. I would never… I know what Lucy means..."

He was cut off as the door slammed shut behind them. Lucy stared at it. She could hear yelling. She didn't want to hear it. She closed her eyes and sank deeper into the tub so that the water covered her ears. It felt good. The water blocked out most of the noise. She opened her eyes a little and could see steam drifting up from the water. It was beautiful. She closed her eyes again and let her thoughts carry her away. She imagined that she was sitting at the beach, soaking in the sun's rays. It was hot and she liked it. She relaxed further. Maybe she would take a little nap. A nap sounded heavenly. A nap would make everything better. Lucy smiled lazily and drifted off into unconsciousness.