AN: Better late than never right? Yeah sorry it took me so long, i just wasn't inspired (i knew what to write but it wouldn't happen) and also i had a lot of other stuff to do :p
I honestly didn't think it would take me this long to update, so i'm sorry but I'm back now.
And hello cute 'guest', that was very nice of you to say! You all might've noticed the rating is now 'M' but don't get too excited just yet o.O I just thought its better to be safe than sorry at the moment. As for a lemon...i'll just have to see how we go XD
Also i totally skip over a scene because im lazy and i wanted to get to more interesting stuff o.O
Chapter 9-
They weren't stuck like that for hours like Jellal had predicted, no, instead Erza only slept for half an hour. She awoke with a jolt and he immediately released her from his hold. She scrambled back away from him and stared with wide eyes and a blush colouring her face.
"J-jellal," she said shakily, "I…"
He slowly sat up and rolled his shoulders, removing some of the tension from having held her in that position for so long. His own face was tinged red as he stared fixedly at his hands.
"It's alright, Erza," he responded softly, "You were affected by magic…"
He paused before adding, "How are you feeling?"
What he really wanted to know was how much she remembered, did she remember her actions? Or, possibly more importantly, did she remember his actions?
Erza shifted a tad uncomfortably, "I feel fine…just embarrassed."
She waited a moment before forcing herself to add, "Thank you, by the way, for stopping me."
Jellal swallowed hard and rubbed his arm before he replied as evenly as he could, "It was nothing, you probably had no control over your actions, it's not like you would ever-"
He cut himself off and winced, cursing mentally for saying more than he should. Erza looked away, deciding that she would definitely keep what she knew to herself. She knew that the magic in the cheesecake had only taken away her inhibitions and forced her to act impulsively and in a way she would never allow herself to act, she had done things she would do if she were reckless and brave enough.
She suddenly recalled very clearly when Jellal's face had been so close to hers, when he had been going along with her antics. Heat pooled low in her stomach and she cursed herself and Jellal.
That's it, she vowed silently, I will not allow myself to be affected by him any longer! It's unacceptable, I need more control, if I had had control, the magic of the cake wouldn't have affected me.
While she was scolding herself, Jellal was just trying to erase all thoughts of Erza's earlier behaviour; he needed to separate her and her actions in his mind. Silence filled the room, but they were both so much in their thoughts that they neither noticed nor were bothered by it. A knock on the door jolted them and was followed a moment later by the voice of Mr Davden.
"Excuse me, but are you, by any chance, in there?" the man enquired, "I have been told by the Mayor himself to tell you that there has just been another attack!"
Erza and Jellal's eyes jumped up and met before they hurried over to the door. Jellal opened it, revealing a rather worried looking Mr Davden.
"Another attack, you say?" asked Erza immediately.
Mr Davden nodded, "At the aquarium apparently."
Erza requipped her casual armour back on and then pulled out the folded map from her boot and thrust it into the man's hand, telling him to point out the latest attack site. As soon as he did so, she reclaimed the map and stepped past him into the hallway, striding off determinedly without bothering to check if Jellal was following her or not. He did, but after politely excusing himself from Mr Davden and also locking their room once more.
Jellal stifled a yawn as he and Erza walked along a cobblestone street.
"The attacks are similar," stated the red haired mage in a business like tone, "This attack on the aquarium had no causalities or even any injuries."
"Yeah," agreed Jellal, rubbing his eyes, "Not even the tanks or fish were harmed, only the seating areas and a few display stands."
"We're starting to get a good idea about the culprit at least," remarked Erza, "It won't be long now until we catch them."
Jellal did yawn then and Erza's stomach growled loudly. They looked a little sheepishly at each other.
"Maybe we should discuss it over lunch," suggested Erza, spying a restaurant across the street.
Jellal simply nodded in answer. As they headed towards the welcoming building, he watched Erza warily, still half waiting for her to try and seduce him again. It would probably be a while for him before he could look at her without remembering the sultry expressions she had worn.
If she ever looked at me like that without being influenced by magic, not that that would ever happen or that I would deserve that…but if it did happen, I would probably not survive.
He imagined the scenario and decided that he would most definitely melt into a puddle at Erza's feet. While he followed Erza into the building, he fought off yet another yawn and mentally cursed his tiredness.
The effort from trying to keep Erza from doing anything crazy earlier, along with his rather uncomfortable night of sleep, had left poor Jellal quite drained. Erza herself seemed fine and he reasoned it was because she got to have that little nap just before.
The thought made him yawn again and he nearly walked into a chair because of it. Erza took the lead and scanned the room, noticing the bartender and narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him as she wondered why he was there. Her attention was then taken by a squat woman with curly brown hair and a friendly smile.
The woman guided Erza and Jellal to a table and took their order, though Jellal had to repeat his a couple of times because he kept yawning mid-word. As soon as the woman was gone, Erza let herself study Jellal in concern.
"You look awful…Sapphire," she remarked, remembering last second that she had to use his false name in case of any unfriendly ears. Her statement was true of course, Jellal wasn't particularly at his best, he was practically slumped in his chair, his hair was messy (more than usual anyway) and his green eyes looked tired. He clumsily scrubbed at his face in an attempt to keep himself awake.
"Thanks, Erza," he said dryly, "But don't worry about me, I'm fine."
"Mhm," she responded, folding her arms and staring with a gaze that clearly said she didn't believe him for a second, "You should rest soon; it'll be no good to have you around when you're like this."
A waitress arrived with their food then and set it down before them. Erza tensed slightly, imagining that the other woman would let her gaze linger on Jellal. Surprisingly, the waitress didn't give him a second glance and instead let her appreciative eyes wander over Erza herself.
The red haired mage straightened up a little in pride, a small smirk spreading on her lips. Jellal stared at her as he rested his head in his hand and idly jabbed at his plate of food with the dainty fork.
"So," he said after he yawned yet again, "We should think of a plan to capture this mage."
Erza nodded and mulled different ideas over as she ate. She very nearly forgot Jellal was even there until he spoke up.
"Erza, you're…"
She blinked and realised she had been mindlessly shovelling imaginary food into her mouth, as her meal in actuality had been finished a few minutes ago. She dropped her utensils and hated the way heat climbed up her body and tinted her cheeks pink.
"Yeah, well," she said defensively, "You're annoying."
Jellal raised an eyebrow, "Am I?"
"Yes," she answered emphatically as she got to her feet.
He copied her movement and received an odd, childish thrill at being those few inches taller than her.
"How so?" he asked, "I don't wish to annoy you, Erza."
She used jerky, restrained movements to pull out the necessary money to pay for the meal from her pocket. She glared at Jellal all the while and even hissed.
"You're annoying me right now," she told him through gritted teeth as she dropped the money on the table.
"No," she ordered, pointing at him, "I know what you're going to say…so don't."
Jellal snapped his mouth closed and frowned at her as she stepped away from the table and began to stride towards the exit. He rather sluggishly followed and, once they were on the streets again, he tried to get her to explain what was going on in her head.
"Erza," he implored. He had always thought he would be fine if Erza hated him, it would be what he deserved after all, but it was quite a different matter to know he was somehow annoying her. He stared at her while they walked, waiting for her to say or do anything.
He also found himself fighting the urge to hug her; he did tend to get clingy when he was tired. Mentally berating himself, Jellal held his hands in fists at his sides to stop from actually acting on that urge.
Erza sighed grumpily, "Fine, I find it annoying that you're always tiptoeing around me, you don't want to annoy me and that very fact annoys me."
Jellal frowned and tried to think of an appropriate response, then he inwardly facepalmed as he realised that that was basically what Erza meant, she didn't want him to control everything he said and did.
Fine.
"Do you want me to annoy you then, Erza?" he questioned, "On purpose that is."
"Yes," she answered, "Wait…no, oh I don't know what I want."
"Clearly," said Jellal dryly just before his mouth opened up in a jaw cracking yawn, "What attack plan trap mage happen…?"
Erza snorted and looked over at him as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"You do know that last sentence made no sense, don't you?" she asked in amusement.
He mumbled something under his breath sleepily. Erza grabbed his arm to stop him from shuffling into a pedestrian.
"That's it," Erza said decisively, "You need to sleep, we're going back to the Inn, I'll try coming up with a plan while you rest, no protesting!"
Jellal's mind felt heavy, as did his limbs and eyelids, sleep certainly did sound like a good idea.
"Mmkay," he mumbled, leaning onto Erza and allowing his eyes to fall closed.
"No sleeping yet!" Erza scolded, though she did nothing to stop him and only wrapped her arm around him. She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes, wondering for the rest of the journey back to the Inn about the mage behind all of the attacks.
At the entrance of the Inn, Erza jabbed her fingers into Jellal's side and he jerked back into the land of the fully conscious.
"We're here," Erza told him pointlessly.
He blinked and nodded as he rubbed at his eyes again. She pushed open the door and led him back up to their room, managing to avoid the questions of Mr Davden who was quite eager to hear details about the attack on the aquarium.
Before she closed their room door on the man's face, Erza explained that no-one was hurt in the attack and that she and Jellal were getting ever closer to catching the culprit. The door closed with a 'click' and she turned to see that Jellal was half asleep against the doorway of the bathroom. She laughed softly and shook her head.
"Idiot," she muttered fondly as she crossed over to him.
His cheek was squished up against the frame and his blue hair partially covered his face. Erza frowned as she realised the residue from whatever was in that magic water earlier was still sitting on the top of Jellal's head. Her face turned the colour of her hair and she winced, recalling her offer of helping him wash it out.
"Jellal," she prompted, poking his shoulder, "Stop drooling on the doorway."
He frowned and pried his eyes open as he protested, "Not drooling…"
He slowly straightened up and blearily glanced around, spotting the shower in the small room behind him. He was struck by the sudden awareness of the sand like substance in his hair and the need to be clean.
"I'm gonna shower," he muttered, stepping into the bathroom.
Erza's eyes widened and then she nodded and moved away to sit on the end of the bed. Jellal gracelessly shrugged out of his cloak and then remembered to close the door of the bathroom.
That would've been awkward, he thought, imagining if he had forgotten to shut himself in the room while he undressed. Fumbling with the buttons of his shirt and also trying to remove his boots, Jellal very nearly lost his balance and had to throw his hand out and catch the wall.
The shirt came off, as did the boots and socks; he studied the room as he struggled to undo his belt. The shower was simple and had no curtain or anything to divide it from the rest of the room.
Bad luck if anyone walks in on you, thought Jellal. He reached in and set the water going.
Erza meanwhile, was sitting perfectly still, trying to stop herself from thinking about Jellal undressing in the next room.
Focus, Erza! She ordered herself, Remember; we're not going to let him affect us anymore. Professional thoughts only!
She crossed her arms and set her face determinedly, forcing her thoughts to turn to the mission. No-one's been hurt in the attacks, what is the real motive? Hmm, so the public gardens were targeted…no, specifically it was the fountain.
Erza made a thoughtful sound and continued her musings, and then the baths…why those places?
She got to her feet and strode around the room in a loop, an expression of deep concentration settling on her face. Her pacing brought her near the bathroom door and she heard the steady spray of the water.
"Water," she whispered in realisation, "Water is the connection!"
Adrenaline and excitement surged inside her; she grinned triumphantly and immediately wanted, no, needed to share her epiphany with her mission partner. She charged over to the bathroom door and unthinkingly shoved it open.
And there he was.
Jellal, slick and glistening with water, his back to her as he stood under the heated spray of water. The dark blue Crime Sorciere guild mark rested on his right shoulder blade and begged to be kissed.
She gulped and couldn't pry her eager gaze from the smooth, muscled feast that was his body. He hadn't noticed her yet, surprising considering the startled gasp she had let out upon seeing him.
Her blood was simmering, heating her with desire even as a small voice in her head screamed that she was doing something wrong.
Turn around, Jellal, a stronger voice in her head called, show me more, show me everything.
She bit her lip and let her eyes glide down his back to his ass. Her hands clenched with the need to dig her nails into that glorious flesh. Jellal raised his arms to his head, catching her attention as he rubbed his hands through his dripping blue hair.
Erza traced the movements of his arm, shoulder and back muscles as they gilded and flexed because of his actions. Oh how she wanted to touch him, wanted to get as close as possible, rub against him, taste, bite, suck and grab him.
"Mmm," she moaned lowly at the barrage of images that invaded her mind, as they added to the one standing before her, coated in steam and water.
Then Jellal turned around. He had a frown on his face as he had finally noticed that something was off. He jerked upon seeing Erza standing in the doorway.
"Erza!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide, his startled movement causing him to slip and fall backwards. He hissed as his skin made contact with the cold shower wall and his hands flew to cover between his legs as a blush coloured his face.
Erza's heart thudded erratically in her chest, she'd been caught! A flush to match Jellal's came to her cheeks.
"What are you doing!?" Jellal questioned.
"I, um…"
Shit, she couldn't even remember. Her brain could only focus on the drops of water as they trickled down Jellal's hair and landed on his chest, making their way along the definition of his muscles. He could feel her eyes roaming his body, heading steadily lower.
He swallowed hard and instinctively checked to make sure he was covered up completely. Erza's gaze was making his skin tingle with awareness. He had an odd thought then, that if this had happened when he was Siegrain, he would've handled it in a completely different way.
He probably wouldn't have fallen on his ass, he would've been confident and it's very likely that he would've made some comment about Erza joining him in the shower.
Shit! He thought, do not think about that!
The idea sent a bolt of heat straight down his spine. He was chanting expletives mentally now, as well as commands to keep calm.
"Erza," he stressed, "Get out of here already!"
It would be hard enough to look her in the eyes after this incident without adding in the awkwardness of her witnessing him, well, getting hard.
"Out!" he hissed, slamming his eyes shut to close off the visual of her intense expression.
Erza snapped herself into action and fled the bathroom, roughly pulling the door closed behind her.
"What have I done?" she breathed as her skin lost all hints of her earlier blush, "What was I thinking?"
She covered her face with her hands and groaned. She could still see him in her mind's eye and the image was not helping to calm her fluttering heart. She grumbled under her breath, frustrated at the fact Jellal could affect her.
It didn't really make sense to her, she had seen Gray, Natsu and others naked before and it didn't bother her at all, why was this any different?
Jellal. Naked. Water. Everywhere. His eyes wide with surprise. She winced, remembering that she hadn't even been able to answer his question about why she had gone in there.
Relax, Erza, she ordered herself, Just explain and everything will be fine.
The sound of a loud expletive carried through from the bathroom, along with a dull thump.
He's probably panicking as much as I am, Erza consoled herself, but I just need to remember why…yes! Water! That's why I burst in there!
Of course then her mind provided her with the startlingly clear memory of exactly what she had burst in on. She blushed and whispered a reminder to relax.
Her eyes widened, "Relax…the parfum of relaxation!"
A slightly manic smile spread on her face as she turned to face the bathroom door and dug out the vial from her pocket.
He's probably panicking and embarrassed; I'll hit him with this and then explain! Everything will be fine, she attempted to convince herself.
It was a moment later that the door opened, revealing a fully dressed and slightly blushing Jellal.
"Erza," he said seriously, "Why-"
Before he could finish his question, she uncorked the vial of magic perfume and shoved it into his face.
He coughed and spluttered, "What the-"
Then he fell forward, unintentionally tackling her to the floor in a tangle of limbs. He groaned right next to her ear and the sound caused a tingling wave to roll through her.
"J-jellal?" she asked hesitantly.
He slowly raised his head up and stared down at her with heated green eyes. She froze. He was smirking at her.
"J-jellal?" it was more of a squeak this time.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I like it when you say my name, Erza."
Her surprise at her plan backfiring kept her from immediately pushing him away.
"U-unbelievable," she mumbled in shock, "that was not the parfum of relaxation…"
At least not in the way she wanted it to be.
AN: Some of you are putting things together, particularly those of you who have read my gruvia fic (its clear as day if you've read it, like seriously) But anyway, if you know whats going on, sshhhhh, keep it to yourself! Just say "i know whats going on!" or 'i think im getting it now' if you have to say something. Just think of the people who are just starting on this fic and who might look at reviews, we don't want to completely ruin it for people, now do we? ;)
PS- please note that im not happy with this chapter at all .
