Quid Pro Quo

by Meta Bunny

Gajeel and Lucy have been having trouble with both their love life and sex life. Seeing as they are both in the same proverbial boat, they end up helping each other out for what was meant to be one night. But what started as a one-night stand turns Gajeel and Lucy into friends with benefits, and then into something more... Rated M for obvious reasons.

10. The World and Heart are Fickle Things

"My Lord, we present to you, the Fortitude Orb." Evangeline said, her tone respectful, bending down on one knee, the magical orange sphere in her hands as she had her arms outstretched towards Xan, the armour-clad man sitting down on his throne, crimson eyes focussing on the magical relic that was being held out towards him. Behind Evangeline was Dimitri and half of Siren Fin, the other half having been defeated by the Fairy Tail and Imp Fang mages and now in the custody of the Magic Council. They too were bowing down on one knee as they were before Xan, knowing that he would demand respect from those that are a part of his Dark Sect.

Xan rose from his throne, slowly walking towards the bowing Evangeline as she left her arms outstretched towards him. With gentleness that one would never expect from someone as brutal as him, Xan picked up the Fortitude Orb; the small sphere letting out an equally small pulse of an unknown magical esomething n looked at the little orb that he held in his hand, his expression completely unreadable with the exception of his eyes; filled with what could be compared to the wonder of a child. A smile slowly rose of Xan's face, the man keeping his red eyes continuing to be fixated on the small, orange orb. And yet still no one rose up to their feet, not wanting to risk changing Xan's mood to anger because of actions that he would see as 'disrespectful'.

"Congratulations, Evangeline. You managed to bring Dark Sect closer to its goal." Xan said as he turned around. The man walked behind his throne, there sat a golden treasure chest. Xan reached for inside his armour, pulling out a golden key. Xan bent down, inserting the golden tool into the keyhole and turning it. The chest's lid opened up, revealing it to be empty. Xan placed the Fortitude Orb into the treasure chest, the man closing the chest and locking it again, putting his key back into where it was. The half-bald man walked back in front of his throne, noticing a lack in some of the Siren Fin mages. "I see that half of your guild has seemed to disappear."

"I apologise, Lord Xan." Evangeline responded softly, hoping that there was a way for her to not become punished by the man. "Half of my guild was ordered to guard the entrance of the Sorrel Caverns in case any mages tried to stop us, while the other half was directed in Dispelling the barrier that guarded the Fortitude Orb. Some mages, mostly Fairy Tail mages, had came and defeated half of Siren Fin while Dimitri, myself and the other mages were able to escape. I promise you, I was close to ending both Lucy Heartfilia and Gajeel Redfox, but I was stopped just before I could end their worthless lives."

Xan sat down on his throne in silence, his arms resting down on the trees arms, another unreadable expression on his face. Xan was silent, and it sent a chill up the spines of every Siren Fin mage that was present, including the guild master. Xan had slowly rose to his feet, Evangeline flinched. She had no doubt that he would hurt her.

"You have only lost half of your guild, and you succeeded in getting me the Fortitude Orb." Xan said calmly. It was kind or soft or welcoming in any way or form, it was just calm. "Getting me the Fortitude Orb has made me feel a little gleeful, and it is only half of your guild that you lost. I shall let your losses slide, however if you ever wish to get any of those mages back then you're going to have to retrieve them yourself."

"Do not worry about retrieving some of our lost mages, Great Lord Xan." Theodora said, the red-haired woman standing up, a small smile on her face. She was now wearing a dark cloak, her entire body covered in a black clothing of some sort. Theodora's head was the only part of her that showed, the cut on her cheek from when Xan slapped her growing small and fading slightly, almost healed completely from then. Her hair was no longer in a curly ponytail, but instead was now in a single French braid that hung out form the hood of her cloak. "I already have plans to attack the Magic Council. Specifically where they keep their prisoners."

Xan made a grunt. "Then see to it." He said.

"I will." Theodora promised as she lowered down onto one knee, her hand on her chest as she as solemn about her promise.

"I have no reason for you all to remain here, leave my throne room." Xan ordered, the mages in front of him obeying and leaving.

"Well that went a lot more better than what Lord Xan usually does, I guess he really is in a happy mood now that the Fortitude Orb is in his possession, though I'm sure that he'll now want the other orbs, 'specially since they are required for our plans to work." Dimitri commented as most of the remaining Siren Fin guild members decided to head back to their guild, the Shadow Magic mage and Evangeline being the only members of the Dark Guild that weren't heading back. Dimitri stretched his arms behind his head, a little pop coming from the joints that connected his arms to his shoulders, a smile appearing on his face. Not the usual sadistic grin that most dark mages have (one that Dimitri is no stranger to), but instead an adoring sort of smile, sorta like one that a kid would have upon seeing a puppy or kitten. "Whatever, when Dark Sect finally rules supreme, we dark mages will finally be the ones calling the shots. I think I should go see my beloved little sister."

Dimitri entered his shadow, the now disembodied shape now speeding down the halls and through the stairs of Dark Sects headquarters to see Dimitri's aforementioned sibling.

"He sure does care for his sister, doesn't he?" Theodora commented, having seen Dimitri disappear into his shadow and move to his sister's room.

"Of course he does, he was even protecting her before I brought him here, to Dark Sect." Evangeline commented, remembering that rainy day, when she found a little boy protecting and holding an even smaller girl. Oh how she saw the potential in his eyes and the exceptional level of magic power that he had for someone his age. He was perfect to recruit as long as Dark Sect upheld their end of the bargain. Evangeline looked at Theodora, a question building up within her as she looked at her old friend. "Why are you taking notice of Dimitri's love for his sister just now?"

"I need his sister's help. That is all." Theodora responded.

A look of concern grew on Evangeline's face. "Dora, you know that I will do anything - anything at all - for you, but I don't know how long I can keep Dimitri pacified if he finds out that you're using his sister." The green-haired woman said. "I know that you're more than a match for Dimitri, but he has his ways. What would you need her for, anyways?"

"Because I need her power, her magic, to begin my revenge against the Fairy that defeated me and done this to me." Theodora responded, pointing to the healing cut on her cheek. Evangeline grimaced at the cut, even as it was healing, she still hated to see it. The water manipulator knew that Theodora's animus towards Lucy was the same reason for her own shared feelings towards the aforementioned blonde; because she got Theodora on Xan's bad side, thus she was punished. "I have plans to make her suffer, to hurt those close to her. I will make sure that bad things happen to her family before she gets in our way again."

"Now that you have mentioned it, the blonde has gotten in our way as of late." Evangeline noted. "If she keeps this up, then Lord Xan will know about her and that she needs to be gotten rid of."

"That Dragon Slayer, Gajeel, has also helped her in getting in our way." Theodora said, looking down at her hand, small sparks of lightning circulating around her hand. "We may have to get rid of both of them. I think they might be some couple now or something."

"Fairy Tail is the same guild that has gained recognition as being the strongest guild in Fiore, and has taken down the entire Balam Alliance, nearly single-handedly." Xiraceal said, the inexplicable entity appearing from the shadows. Theodora and Evangeline were startled by the creature's sudden appearance, as even they had gotten well used to what he is and what he looks like, they didn't know that he was listening to them, or even present for that matter. "We have recently started coming out from our hiding, and those little pieces of Fairy Trash are already getting in our way. If this keeps up, then we'll have to destroy that guild for once and for all. It would even leave a good message to all the other Guilds of Light: fuck with The Dark Sect and you will be eradicated."

"That sounds like a good plan, Xiraceal. A very good plan indeed." Theodora said. "However, Xan doesn't want to put all his eggs in one basket. He wants to keep all his cards up his sleeve and his resources as available as possible. He also wants Dark Sect to be as unknown as possible, so we would need a very good reason to convince him to officially order Dark Sect to destroy a guild as popular as Fairy Tail."

"Quite true, indeed. Lord Xan wishes for the Dark Sect to remain as unknown and unfindable as possible before our plans are near completion, for the more that know about us means the more that they can get in our way." Xiraceal agreed, the creature making all of the paper-thin arms of its right side form together, transforming into a single, muscular arm that was obsidian black. "But if Fairy Tail continues to get in our way, then we will have to get rid of them for sure. And with their history of disbanding Dark Guilds, especially now that the members of a former guild that was dedicated to destroying Dark Guilds has mostly joined them, we will have to get rid of them nevertheless."

"We can get rid of them when everything comes to fruition, they'll be the first of the legal guilds to be washed from the face of the world when we have all of the orbs in our possession." Theodora said, smiling as her own plans concerning the guild and the Magic Council were still alive and well in her mind. "That is if the guild is lucky to be alive when it happens, especially with some of the plans that I have for tonight."

A wide grin grew on Xiraceal's face. "I look forward to seeing what the outcome shall be." The creature said, his body changing into a dark mist that disappeared into the air.

---

Panther Lily was sitting down on the couch of his and Gajeel's home, the Exceed in his small form as he was reading a large book (at least large in comparison to his small, default form). The book he was reading was Great Magus Labyrinth: A Numen's Lament, the fifth and most recent instalment of the novel series that is still taking the world by storm. A small distance from the couch that the cat-like entity was sitting on was a coffee table (that of course wasn't there until Lily had moved in), where there is a half full glass of kiwi juice.

It was nice for Panther Lily and Gajeel to spend time at the guild, with their friends (or lack thereof, since they aren't as outgoing as the other members of the guild), but there were still the days that they preferred to stay inside at home, doing their own things. After all, they don't really have a landlord to pay rent to and they have a couple hundred thousand Jewel on hand anyways from all the jobs they have been taken.

There was suddenly a light knock at the front door, causing Lily to look up from his novel and to the wooden, hinged barrier in confusion. The location of his and Gajeel's house wasn't very well known (unlike the occupants themselves), and most of the few that do don't usually come by. Lily placed his book down beside him and activated his Aera Magic, using his wings to fly towards the door. With his little paws, Panther Lily had grabbed hold of the door handle and turned it, the cat-like entity being relatively surprised by who he saw on the other side of the door.

"Lucy!" Panther Lily said happily as he saw his blonde teammate, immediately hugging her as best as he could do with his little arms. He could probably transform into his Battle Mode to hug her properly, but the transformation can only last for a certain time, and after that time is up he can't enter his Battle Form until a few minutes later, so it was best to not change into his Battle Form in case they were surprised attacked by something or someone. And it didn't seem like Lucy minded him hugging her in his little default form, the blonde woman giggling and hugging him back as she smiled at him.

"Hi, Lily, I came here to see you and Gajeel." Lucy greeted her feline friend as she hugged him. "I asked Mira for the directions here because you two weren't at the guild and I wanted to see you two."

"We didn't feel like going to the guild today, so we decided to stay home until we do some training later. Though it is nice to see you here." Panther Lily said, flying in front of Lucy as he and the Celestial Spirit mage had ceased their hug. Panther Lily looked at his blonde friend, she was wearing long, red pants that were completely different to the short skirts that she usually wore, with plain black shoes. Aside from that, Lucy wore one of her usual tops, this one a tank top, with her hair tied up into two pigtails. "Do you want a small tour around the house?"

Lucy smiled at her friend. "I would like that."

Panther Lily smiled back at his friend in response, showing her the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, his room and Gajeel's room. "And this leads to the basement." Lily said, pointing towards a stairway on the first floor that led even further down below, underneath the ground. "Gajeel is down there. He turned it into a little gym of his, he spends a lot more time there than I do, but I still workout there from time to time."

"So Gajeel is down there?" Lucy asked, pointing at the same basement. "And he turned it into a little gym of his?"

"Yep." Panther Lily responded, an almost mischievous grin growing wide on his face, making Lucy think that he has some motives in mind. Quite honestly, such a grin looked very uncanny on Lily's face. "Maybe you should go down and see him, I'm sure that he will be both surprised and elated to see you here."

Lucy had a feeling that Lily was alluding to sex, giving Lucy the impression that he too is a friend that believes and is trying to get her and Gajeel into becoming a couple. Though Lucy and Gajeel's friends with benefits relationship is basically now public news, something which the magazines (including Sorcerer Weekly, much to Lucy's mixed feelings) and tabloids have been using to stir up rumours about the two Fairy Tail mages turning into a couple. Though it wasn't like Lucy had came here with intentions that were completely pure; while she did genuinely want to spend time with Lily and Gajeel, she also has had a problem of having the Iron Dragon Slayer's body on her mind.

Which is why she is wearing what she is wearing underneath the long pants, and even why she is wearing the long pants in general. Though what she was wearing underneath the pants was also because she found it to be somewhat comfortable.

Lucy suddenly noticed that Lily was no longer flying in front of her, the blonde looking behind herself to see that Panther Lily was sitting back down on the couch and reading his novel. Guess she got too caught up in her memories and such. Nevertheless, Panther Lily's agenda wasn't all too different from Lucy's own, so she started going down to the basement. As Lucy was walking down the stairs to Gajeel and Lily's basement/personal gym, she could hear heavy grunting sounds coming from the baritone Dragon Slayer.

Lucy stopped as she was in front of the closed doors. She knows that people often let out grunts when they are training or lifting weights, but these grunts sounded gruff, even for someone who naturally has that pitch like Gajeel.

On the night that they first became friends with benefits, Gajeel had made it rather clear to Lucy that he is one to beat his meat (though it wasn't much of a shock to Lucy), but would he really be masturbating right now, when it is still technically the morning and Panther Lily is in a room that is almost next to the one that he is in. There was a good space between these grunts of his, though, so maybe he was just lifting extremely heavy weights. Well, she isn't going to find out by standing in front of a closed door.

And she has already seen Gajeel's penis and quite frankly wouldn't mind seeing it again. Or having that studded piece of meat in her again.

Lucy opened the door, seeing Gajeel sitting down on a weight bench, hunched slightly as he was lifting quite the surprising and impressive barbell. That is too say that there were three weights on both sides of the metal bar, each of the three weights being almost the size of a small child. Lucy already knew that Gajeel had strength that could leave any bodybuilder that wasn't a mage completely flabbergasted, but that barbell looked like something Laxus or Gildarts would be lifting. Though the rough grunts and gritted teeth were enough of an example that, even if he was lifting it with one arm, it was a hard effort for the Dragon Slayer. Though Lucy would admit that it looked hot as his bicep flexed with each lift of the weight, or that he was just plain shirtless, which is already hot enough on its own.

God, how many pheromones is she releasing?

Speaking of those pheromones, Gajeel must be smelling them as he made a very audible sniffing sound, the black-haired man turning his head from the barbell in his hand to Lucy. Gajeel had a face of surprise, though it quickly changed into a smile, one that looked like Gajeel didn't know if he wanted it to be a genuine smile or one of his usual smirks. Though there was still a noticeable bulge in Gajeel's pants, one that looked like it got bigger slightly. Gajeel was definitely getting a reaction from the pheromones Lucy must be giving off, and it will no doubt get worse if she doesn't look away or try to get all of Gajeel's many sexy aspects out of her head.

"Damn, Bunny, are ya tryin' to make me hump you senseless right here, right now?" Gajeel said as he rose to his feet, his naked chest glistened in sweat. As much as Lucy disliked sweat, for obvious reasons, she still found it to be something that only made the fire burning within her even hotter. And judging from Gajeel's reaction, she must have unwittingly hit the Iron Dragon Slayer with a wave of her sexual pheromones. Stupid, sexy Gajeel. Speaking of which, he quite honestly looked like he was putting his willpower to the test by not jumping her bones right now. "Jeez, Bunny, Lily's literally only a room away. Hell, it's not even a room. Do you want us to traumatise him with our sex or somethin'?"

Lucy couldn't help but smirk and laugh. At least it caused her heat and pheromones to die down. "Yeah right, like Lily is going to become traumatised from hearing and seeing us doing the hanky-panky. He's probably had sex, himself." The blonde Celestial Spirit summoner said. "Besides, with his long history as a general underneath Faust's command, I'm sure he has seen far more terrifying and traumatic things then the simple act of sex."

Gajeel couldn't help but smirk back at Lucy. "So you're sayin' that you're okay with us fucking when Lily can easily see and hear us?" The long-haired Dragon Slayer said as he began wiping his chest with a towel.

"N-No." Lucy responded, blushing madly at the implication. Sure she is more than okay with having sex with Gajeel, but she still had some of her dignity. Besides the thought of being heard or seen making love just felt embarrassing to her, she still had a sense of shyness to herself. "I-I was just making a point, Gajeel. I would prefer that we would do it later and in privacy."

Gajeel froze, becoming as still as a statue. The Iron Dragon Slayer turned his head towards Lucy slowly, before suddenly appearing right in front of her, his face mere inches from hers. "So you're in the mood for some, aren't ya, my horny bunny friend."

Lucy smiled back at Gajeel, her blush beginning to fade, though it still continued to exist on her cheeks as a light pink colour. "Only if you're patient, big boy." Lucy said, not even trying in the slightest to move her face further away from the Dragon Slayer's, nor did she try to move it closer. "I can easily just say no and we can get it on again another day, I have much better willpower than you do. Maybe I might even make you beg me for some sex."

Gajeel snorted in amusement. "Like you can make me beg, Bunny." Gajeel purred into Lucy's ear seductively, moving himself closer towards Lucy, his groin almost grinding against hers. "You don't seem like the dominative type. And I can make you beg to me."

"I only don't come off as dominative because I choose not to." Lucy retorted to Gajeel. "Don't doubt what I can do."

"I can hear both of you, you know." Panther Lily called from the living room. Lucy's courage and bravado went away as she heard the Exceed speak his acknowledgement of her and Gajeel's conversation. Granted, she shouldn't be surprised as Panther Lily has a much greater hearing and sense of smell than most humans (at least those that aren't Dragon Slayers), but it still nevertheless caused her blush to re-emerge as a red blush that was like face paint applied over her cheeks. Gajeel snickered and laughed at the funny look of Lucy's face, even though he secretly found that it made her look cute.

"Has the cat, or should I say the Exceed, suddenly got yer tongue, Honey Bunny?" Gajeel remarked at the blushing Lucy.

Panther Lily flew down into the basement, not at all bothered by Gajeel's lack of a shirt or the fading smell of lust, landing down on Lucy's shoulder and sitting on the upper joint of her arm. "Are you ready now for some training?" Lily asked with his little arms crossed over his chest, his face looking less serious than usual, especially as the cheeky grin that he has started to develop in the past few weeks was starting to grow on him again. "Or do I need to give you two some privacy for a few minutes to release your hormones?"

"Bunny's kinda smellin' outta the mood right now, Lily, I don't think she wants to get busy right now anymore." Gajeel snickered as he put a black muscle shirt on, one which seemed to be a little loose on his body, much to arguing emotions of disappointment and relief from Lucy, though she was silent about both emotions. Gajeel put his hands on his hips, smiling at his friend with a sense of genuine interest. "What about you, Lucy? Do you want to train with us?"

Lucy was kind of surprised that Gajeel would ask her that question. Not that she felt offended, in fact she felt frilled that he would ask her that. When Lucy was a member of the now-disbanded Team Natsu, she, Natsu, Gray and Erza did train a lot (especially the latter three... a lot), but they didn't train together that much. There were times where they did train together, like when they were training for the Grand Magic Games until the Celestial Spirit King invited them to his realm and took away nearly three months of their time in on day. It wasn't a friendship-related thing, not training together, it was just a thing that happened. Plus, the reason why Lucy trained with her teammates the least was because they're ability-type wizards while she is a holder-type wizard; they train differently, ability-types hone their magic by regular training while holder-types mostly increase their magic power through meditation.

"Hey, Bunny, are you still there?" Gajeel asked as he waved his hand in front of Lucy's face to break her out of her daydream. Lucy blinked rapidly as she came back to reality, seeing Gajeel standing in front of her with a confused face while Lily was flying near them with a look of slight concern on his face.

"Sorry, I was just a little surprised and I got caught up in my head." Lucy responded with a slight laugh to calm her two male teammates down, giving them a kind smile. "I wouldn't mind training with you two."

"But wait, don't holder-type mages like Celestial Spirit Mages train a little differently from the regular ability-type mage?" Panther Lily asked as he continued to fly in front of Lucy. His question wasn't with malice or anything else of the sort, but concern that there may be a huge difference in training between him and Gajeel and her because of how different their magics are. "Would it make our training become complicated?"

"Don't worry, Lily, I have done a lot of training with ability-types before; our training won't become complicated in the slightest." Lucy replied in a calm and happy manner, petting the cat-like entity on the head. Panther Lily felt relieved at the information, he hasn't trained with a holder-type mage before and he didn't know about any specific differences between them and ability-types like him when it came to magic training. He didn't want for anything that he didn't know about their differences to hurt his friendship and partnership with Lucy. Lily smiled at his friend, a slight purr coming from him thanks to his cat-like instincts. "So where are we training?"

Gajeel smiled at Lucy, she clearly has had enough experience in training with ability-type mages to know that they usually have to train in wide outside areas, since training in a small inside area, like the basement or a house, would cause damage. "Lucky for you, Bunny, Lily 'n I have a great area for training." The Iron Dragon Slayer said.

Lucy's eyes had seemingly lit up in response. "So where is it?" She asked.

"Yer gonna have to follow us there." Gajeel answered, grinning at Lucy. "But I must warn ya, it's a long walk."

Lucy snorted in amusement. "I'm sure I can handle it."

---

Gajeel and Lily were walking for a long while, maybe even hours as they weren't keeping track of time, until they finally reached their location. It was a meadow; a vast, green land of lush grass and vegetation. There was gentle breeze, not strong enough to cause anyone to feel a chill, but still strong enough to fight against the heat of the sun, the many wooden arms of the many trees swaying and ruffling slightly from the breeze's gentle push. The sun floated high in a blue atmosphere, long and thin clouds floated by, creating moving shades that went across the ground, yet they weren't too huge to ruin the beauty of the grass. Bird chirps floated along the wind, emphasizing the tranquillity of the grassland.

Panther Lily quite enjoyed the area, it is far more calm and quiet than the guild, and a lack of sound was useful for him, as it made it easier for him to focus on his training. Of course he can always adapt and train in loud area, but he still preferred the tranquil nature of the grassland overall. Gajeel didn't care much about the tranquil nature of the area, but it still had a lot of space for him to practise his magic, so it was alright in his book.

"So whaddaya think, Bunny?" Gajeel asked as he looked at the lush land that he had grown familiar with (or at least familiar to training in), turning his head around slightly to look at the blonde as she walked slowly from behind them, hunching forward as her arms hanged limply, panting in exhaustion.

"I feel like my feet are going to fall off and die." Lucy moaned, not prepared for the miles that she had just walked. Gajeel turned around as Lucy slumped against him, the man wrapping his arms around her slightly to stop her from falling off and falling down (despite how comical it would be).

"Well that's how long Lily 'n I walk to here whenever we train, so you're gonna havta get used to it if you wanna start training with us." Gajeel said as he helped Lucy sit down next to a rock. "'Sides, this isn't even a warm up for our training."

"It's okay if you want to rest and regain your energy before changing." Panther Lily said to Lucy in a calm and sympathetic, putting one of his small paws on her arm.

Lucy nodded in acknowledgment, the blonde watching as Gajeel and Panther Lily walked a distance from her, most likely to not accidently hurt her whilst training. Lily transformed into his Battle Mode and grabbed hold of his Musica Sword, the aforementioned magical weapon growing in size until the blade was twice his size, though he was still able to hold the sword with his two hands with little effort. Gajeel smirked at his teammate, merely raising an arm and gesturing Lily to attack with his hand. Without a second thought, Lily swung the large sword towards Gajeel. The usually loutish Dragon Slayer armoured his forearm with iron scales, using the forearm to protect himself from the blade.

Panther Lily smirked, flying forward and punching Gajeel in the gut. Gajeel made a grunt of pain, his hands moving towards the hit area. Panther Lily pulled his sword back, preparing to swing it back at Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer smirked as the magical sword was heading towards him from his cat, grabbing hold of the blade, much to the surprise of an incredulous Exceed. Despite how sharp the blade was, to cut through armour, not even an iota of blood dripped from Gajeel's palm, the man protected by his unique magic.

"Shoulda thought that it would take much more than that to make me stop fightin'." Gajeel said as he kicked Lily in the face. Lucy gasped in shock, she knew that training between the two males would probably be rough, but she never suspected anything quite like that. Lucy was almost about to run to the cat-like entity and see if he was okay, but he had already managed to somersault and land like nothing happened. Lily turned his head back up and looked back at Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer tossing Lily's magical sword back towards the Exceed (as he relied more on himself than weapons), smiling almost competitively at his teammate as they went back to training.

The two were sparring, with Gajeel deciding to protect himself with his iron scales completely, which caused Lily to increase his attacks in quantity and power. Lucy almost felt her breath move away as she watched them; it was almost like a precise dance that was choreographed to be perfect, like they had strings being pulled by the most delicate of puppeteers. Their two bodies moved like they could predict each other's moves, trying new tricks whilst also trying to improve their old cards.

It was disorder and accordance, it was a sign of how used they had became to training with each other throughout days that passed.

But, alas, that dance of a strange beauty had ended abruptly as, in a literal puff of smoke, Panther Lily had turned back into his smaller form that he adopted upon coming to Earth Land, his little body staying in mid-air before he was remembered by gravity and landed on his hind.

"I guess my battle time is up." Panther Lily commented as he looked at his little paws. The Musica Sword shrunk back down into its small size, Lily picked it up before growing angelic on his back, the panther-like being proceeding to use the wings the fly into the air until he was on an equal eye level as Gajeel. Panther Lily held his sword high, increasing its size as far as he could while still being able to hold it with his small body, a glint of determination flashing in his eyes. His and Gajeel's training wasn't over with just yet. "But don't think that I'm out of spirit just yet."

Gajeel looked all but elated at Panther Lily, his iron scales disappearing. "Your fighting spirit is one of the reasons why you're my cat." The Dragon Slayer said as he took a battle stance, ready and eager for Lily's next move.

Panther Lily flew towards Gajeel, his Musica Sword only one half bigger than the regular sword, swinging the sword at Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer dodging the attacking blade with a backflip. Lucy continued to watch as the two continued to spar, though it was obviously not as thrilling or exciting to watch as earlier then before, mostly because Lily can only remain in his battle mode for a limited amount of time. The blonde could feel her energy return and adrenaline run through her veins. Without really realising it, Lucy had rose to her feet and her body began moving like she was trying to dance without moving her feet.

Lucy felt a warmth at the side of her hip, the blonde looking down at the source of the heat, seeing a golden and silver glow coming from Celestial Spirit keys, Zodiac and regular respectively. Obviously her spirits have sensed her renewed energy and zest, because of their connection with her from their contracts, and now probably want to be summoned. Maybe her enthusiasm towards training and fighting and using magic has spread onto her Celestial Spirits because of their connection. Lucy noticed that most of the glowing and warmth of magic power was coming form her Zodiac Celestial Spirit keys, even the shy and usually timid Aries had her key glowing. In fact, the only golden key that wasn't glowing was Loke's.

Lucy frowned, knowing that this was a result of the Celestial Spirit King locking the lion constellation's gate until he calmed down, an exhausted and annoyed sigh coming from the summoner shortly thereafter. "By the time he stops being grouchy about my sex life and can come back into this world, I'll be covered in wrinkles and saggy and what little that remains of my hair will as grey as ash." Lucy thought in miserable annoyance as she held the golden key tight between her thumb and index finger before putting it back with the rest of the collection. Damn stubborn spirits.

"Hey, is somethin' wrong, Bunny?" Gajeel asked, the Iron Dragon Slayer and Panther Lily (who was looking visibly exhausted, since he isn't used to fighting in his small form and has been fighting for entire minutes without rest... not that the same fact affected Gajeel much). Gajeel looked at Lucy with his usual stoic expression, though there was some sympathy and worry in his eyes, the man crouching down in front of the Celestial Spirit summoner. "You've been looking kinda in a bad mood and starin' at Loke's key. Is something wrong?"

"Uh-no, Gajeel, no." Lucy responded, quickly getting back up on her feet (even though Gajeel was definitely okay with her sitting down against the rock) and standing upright (she just has to ignore the minor orthostatic hypotension).

Gajeel knew that Lucy is definitely upset about still being unable to summon her strongest spirit, because that spirit has problems with her having sex with him despite that same spirit basically being a womanizer. Gajeel felt a little guilty for these upset feelings that Lucy had, as even though he loved having sex with her, he also valued her happiness as she is not only a teammate but one of the few people who have managed to get close to him. But the same thing was that he still loves having sex with her and wouldn't stop because one of Lucy's spirits was acting like an immature child. Still though, because of both these feelings of guilt and because he cares for Lucy's happiness, he should do something to help Lucy forget about these feelings and her little problem with Celestial Spirits (or at least just a Celestial Spirit).

"Hey, Bunny, do you wanna train with me now? You're looking refuelled on energy and Lily here needs to rest, himself." Gajeel said. Instantly, Lucy's eyes lit up and Gajeel's heart skipped a beat; he didn't know he could feel so happy.

"I would be more than happy to train with you." Lucy said, grabbing hold of one of her keys and pulling it from her usual key ring, making a small swishing sound as it cut through the air. The golden Celestial Spirit key made a glimmer at the tip from the sun in the nearly cloudless sky.

Gajeel grinned at the enthusiasm in Lucy's eyes, a reflection of her eager spirit to fight. The Iron Dragon Slayer and Celestial Spirit mage walked to where the former and Panther Lily sparred, the aforementioned Exceed sitting by the rock that Lucy had sat down next to earlier.

"You sure you're ready, Bunny?" Gajeel asked with a grin, eagerness in both his voice and smile.

Lucy grinned back at Gajeel, pressing the golden key in her hand against her chest. "Star Dress: Capricorn!" Lucy yelled, a golden light coming from her chest, the same light beginning to grow and cover her body, the blonde changed into the goat Star Dress. Lucy continued to hold Capricorn's key, holding it in front of her, pointing it up towards the sky. Lucy mumbled some words under her breath, though it wasn't hard to infer what those quiet words were, especially as the key that she is holding in her hands began to glow with magic. The sound of a doorbell ringing was heard as a glow of light appeared behind Lucy, the light dispersing to reveal Capricorn (unsurprisingly), the humanoid spirit bowing down respectfully behind his master and summoner. "Loke may be my strongest spirit, but Capricorn is the one and only spirit that excels pass him in combat. Furthermore, this Star Dress gives me combat intuition; all of Capricorn's skills in fighting and combat are now possessed by me as long as I wear this dress with his power."

"It is always an honour to help you, Lady Lucy." Capricorn said in an impassive yet respectful tone, smiling at his blonde master. "And it is especially an honour to help you with your skill and magic power. I know that Lady Layla has passed away, but she would be proud of you if she saw this magnificent young madam you have metamorphosed into."

"Thank you, Capricorn." Lucy said happily, giving the aforementioned Celestial Spirit a wink and a thumbs up before turning back towards her teammate in front of her. "You better beware, because you will be fighting against... Gajeel...? Are you drooling?"

Gajeel is, in fact, drooling at the sight of Lucy. Even if he had already seen her in that dress, it didn't change that he still loves the sight that it made with her body; the plumpness of her breasts becoming emphasized and her beautiful, long legs being completely uncovered. He would be smiling at the shy look on her face if he wasn't to distracted by the sight of her body, her sudden shyness and desire to cover her breasts with the cutest blush on her face making Gajeel almost wanting to pounce her. The sunlight didn't help in how amazing it made her look, making her features clear.

Capricorn stood in front of Lucy, his brow scrunched and Gajeel could even feel angry eyes from behind the black sunglasses that the Celestial Spirit is always seen wearing. "I know that I may not be a feline or a Dragon Slayer, but I can still recognise certain pheromones." Capricorn said, his words making Lucy fall down in embarrassment behind him. Whenever Capricorn was aware of what his master just did or not, he didn't show it. "I know that other spirits, like Virgo and Gemini, may be more supportive of your current relationship with Lady Lucy, however I still made a promise to Lady Layla that any possible suitor of Lady Lucy's will meet all expectations before he has the right to court her."

Both Gajeel and Lucy were left spluttering in response to what Capricorn said, Lily laughed at his friends' reactions from where he sat and watched.

Lucy weakly rose to her knees, not knowing where she was able to find the strength or will power to continue standing up after something like that was said. What is it with everyone believing that sex and a close friendship automatically means that two people are in love? Gajeel and her are just humans and have natural urges that they help each other out with. "Lets please focus more on the training and less on what Gajeel and I willingly do, okay?" Lucy asked with a voice that was of a slightly higher pitch, her feelings of embarrassment about someone mentioning her sex life (which is embarrassing in any form unless it is pillow talk) blowing helium into her voice box. She was silently praying to any deity that was willingly lending its ear to her to stop this awkward moment.

"My apologies, Lady Lucy." Capricorn said with his usual tone of respectful impassiveness, turning around and bowing towards Lucy. He didn't say even a single 'sorry' towards Gajeel (the aforementioned Dragon Slayer starting to regain his wits), but at least he wasn't requesting to be punished. Man, does she have a lot of weird spirits or what?

"Alright, Bunny, I'm takin' you both on. An' don't think that I'll hold back 'cause you're a girl or my teammate or my friend with benefits." Gajeel said, raising his fists into a fighting position. While Gajeel was definitely serious about fighting with Lucy, as it is part of the training, it was still hard to get her shapely body, especially since she is standing in front of him, off his mind, and how the Star Dress that she is wearing was complimenting her tremendously. Gajeel could feel two holes being basically burned into him from Capricorn's eyes, once again.

Lucy's spirits don't like him that much, don't they.

In the blink of an eye, Lucy was in front of Gajeel, the blonde aiming a swing kick towards the raven-haired man. Gajeel blocked the blonde's kick with his forearm, seeing Capricorn appear at his side through his peripherals. Gajeel made a lurch backwards, the Dragon Slayer backflipping and dodging as the goat humanoid tried to punch him. By the time Gajeel was back on both of his feet, he still had little time to react or think as the Zodiac Celestial Spirit and his summoner (whom was imbued with his magic from the dress she was wearing) began to continue their pursuit against him. Gajeel turned both of his forearms into iron poles and crossed them in front of him, using them as shields against the oncoming fists and feet towards him.

Panther Lily had watched in interest, almost like what Lucy had did when the feline was fighting-training with Gajeel. Of course the two (or three, as Capricorn was present and helping Lucy) had never trained together before, thus they couldn't predict each other's movements as well as Panther Lily and Gajeel could. Nevertheless it was still an enjoyable sight to see, even if Panther Lily could easily list many other fights and battles (including ones that he himself had participated in) that he was more thrilled by.

It didn't change that Panther Lily still felt impressed by what he saw, especially as Gajeel turned one of his iron pole forearms into a giant blade and aimed it down upon Lucy and Capricorn (without fatal intentions, of course. No damage was intended to be serious or lasting; he was certain that she could survive and heal as long as he didn't go overboard), the former of the two somersaulting backwards and dodging the attack like an elegant and acrobatic dancer.

Capricorn rolled to the side, away from the Iron Dragon's Blade, the goat-like Celestial Spirit quickly back onto his feet, his stern expression still on his face. Gajeel tried to kick Capricorn in the stomach, but the Celestial Spirit parried the oncoming foot with his hand. Lucy appeared behind Gajeel, the Dragon Slayer looking back and noticing her a little too late as she had already socked him in the face with her fist. Gajeel made a grunt of pain as he staggered backwards, looking away as he covered the area of his face with his hand. Lucy was almost worried that she may have hit Gajeel too hard, but that worry had melted as he looked at her with an excited smile.

Despite his aloof demeanour, Gajeel was definitely someone that loved a good battle. Especially since this battle was more for the purpose of training.

"That was a good hit, Bunny." Gajeel said, aiming a punch towards Lucy, which was blocked by Capricorn, the protective spirit in front of his master in seconds. Gajeel felt a little mad that the Celestial Spirit had gotten in his way, but at the same time, there was a small part of him in the back of his mind that was more than happy that the goat spirit had gotten in his way and stopped him from hurting Lucy.

---

Gajeel and Lucy had their backs against a tree, the many leaves attached the fingers of the trunks creating a shade that protected them from the sun, useful as they were both sweating and feeling hot from their training and needed the shade to cool down. Capricorn had returned to the Celestial Spirit World a few minutes ago, though his parting words were that he would return soon to help Lucy with the rest of her training, and Lucy was back into her clothes that she wore before activating the Star Dress spell.

A sigh of relief was between Lucy's small gasps of air, knowing that what she was wearing them again underneath her red pants; that they returned after disappearing from her Star Dress.

The sun was still high up in the sky, even though it was definitely no longer in the morning, it was still far from sunset. Lucy's heartbeat began to calm down and she no longer felt like she was being cooked by Natsu (way too many experiences of Natsu accidently hitting her with fire or heating up water that she is having a bath in had given her enough of an idea of what it was like), the blonde looking at the muscular male sitting next to her. Gajeel was looking at the sky, a distant look in his red eyes, like he was deep in thought.

Lucy's ears picked up the sound of light footsteps coming towards her and Gajeel, the Celestial Spirit mage looking to see Panther Lily approaching her. "That was quite a session you both had. It looks like both of you can't train anymore." Panther Lily commented as he approached the two, almost sitting down until a giant flash of light appeared behind him. Memories of lightning strikes flashed in Panther Lily's mind, like the same element that he has a fear of, the astraphobic cat entering his Battle Mode and pulling out his Musica Sword as he turned around, acting less on thought and more on instinct. While Lily's body was shaking like he was in cold weather at first, he began to calm down and become still as he realised that it was Capricorn, the Zodiac Celestial Spirit having summoned himself.

Panther Lily calmed down as he lowered his sword from where it pointed towards Capricorn, the Celestial Spirit unflinching from the weapon. Lily made his Musica Sword shrink back into regular size, the Exceed's own size and muscles shrinking as he returned to his regular form. "Your magic training isn't over just yet, Lady Lucy." Capricorn said in a usual calm voice as his mouth was a straight line. Gajeel rolled his eyes towards the goat-like entity, wondering how he was able to stand effortlessly with his hands folded behind him after what just happened. Even if he returned to the Celestial Spirit World, Gajeel heard that time is meant to be much slower there than in Earth Land. Damn spirits must be made of steel that could break Gajeel's teeth(!). "Don't forget that you still need to do your meditation."

"Oh right, my meditation." Lucy exclaimed with wide eyes, mentally criticizing herself for forgetting what was basically the most important aspect of a Celestial Spirit mage's training. Lucy got up onto her feet, only for a powerful invisible force to suddenly push her back onto the ground and slam her back against the tree behind her. This force was Lucy's exhaustion. "Sorry, Capricorn, but could you please let me rest for a minute or two, I can't meditate when groggy."

Capricorn looked a Lucy, his mouth in a thin and straight line. Lucy almost felt tense under his gaze, she knows that Capricorn loves her (platonically speaking), but he can be very serious and strict when it comes to her increasing and developing her magic power. And he doesn't hold back for her either.

"Very well then, I will give you a few more minutes to rest." Capricorn said calmly, disappearing back into his dimension in a flash of light. It was most likely because he had a limited time in Earth Land, even if he comes from his own power instead of Lucy's. He was probably also conserving his magic power by not keeping his gate open. And with how much slower time is in the Celestial Spirit World, he would only have to wait for a few seconds at the most. Lucy rolled her eyes, even if Capricorn is one of her personal favourites of her Celestial Spirits, he could still be very impatient at times.

Lucy just sighed and leaned back against the tree behind her, her exhaustion making the rough bark feel like a comfy bed. Maybe she can sneak in a small nap before Capricorn returns; she has been really testing herself today. You know what they say: no pain, no gain.

Lucy let her head slump to the side, seeing Gajeel looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Great, looks like she couldn't sneak in a nap. "What's your question, Gaj?" Lucy asked, her brown eyes seeing in her peripherals as Panther Lily walked and stood beside Gajeel, though she mostly focussed on the aforementioned Dragon Slayer's face.

"I don't get what is so important about meditating." Gajeel said, at least he wasn't rude as he spoke. "Doesn't sound too important or exhausting, is it really essential to making you stronger."

"Meditation is an important and exhausting process in increasing magical power and energy, as long as you do it right." Lucy said, forgetting about her exhaustion and sitting on her legs as she shifted her body around to face the Iron Dragon Slayer completely. "It's a process that is used much more by holder-type mages than ability-type mages, mostly because we holder-types rely more on objects for our magic, so we have to find alternative ways to increase our magic power. The meditation requires intense concentration, you have to focus deep on your magic power. If you do it right, you expand the amount of magic power in your body, but it does also cause one to become greatly exhausted, like this battle we just had."

A flash of light appeared in front of the tree that shaded Gajeel, Lucy and Lily with the ring of a doorbell, signalling Capricorn's arrival. "I apologise if I have came too early, but Sir Leo kept on pestering me with demands, mostly related with hitting and punching Sir Gajeel because of his relationship with you, Lady Lucy." Capricorn said calmly. "I feared that if I didn't go somewhere that he couldn't follow, I would have punched and hit him."

"I understand, Capricorn. I guess I still have a long time to wait until I can summon Loke again." Lucy said as she walked out of the shade, thankful that she had cooled down from her training earlier, as well as that there was still the cool breeze of the air to stop her from feeling irritation from the heat. Lucy sat down cross-legged, her back up straight, her arms stretched out and the pads of her thumbs and index fingers pressing against each other. Lucy looked at Gajeel and Lily as the two males watched her from underneath the tree, the blonde smiling invitingly towards them. "Do you wish to meditate with me?"

Gajeel was surprised by Lucy's question; he did feel a little warmth in his heart that she wanted him to join her, but he was sure that she knew him enough that he wouldn't want to meditate. Not only did he not believe that the whole meditation thing would work, but it sounded boring to him. However, before he knew it, Gajeel saw Lily join Lucy by her side, sitting down cross-legged in the meditation position. Gajeel could feel Lucy, Panther Lily and Capricorn's eyes on him, looking at him with the expectation for him to join. Gajeel let out a little angry growl, knowing that he had no real option or way out of this. So, reluctantly, Gajeel sat down on the other side of Lucy that Panther Lily was sitting to, taking part in this dumb meditation shit.

"Focus. Close your eyes. Take deep breaths. Clear your mind." Capricorn said as he circled around the three Fairy Tail, his hands once again folded behind him. Gajeel grumbled but did as the Celestial Spirit said anyways, mostly because he could see in his peripherals that Lucy was. Even with the darkness (caused by him closing his eyes) and the clearing of his mind, Gajeel could still hear Capricorn as the goat-like entity walked around him and the others continuously. "Your magic is a pool of water, it is a pool of water for all; it always starts off as a puddle, but enough concentration, focus and hard work can make that puddle grow into an ocean. Meditation can help you widen and deepen your current pool into an ocean, even those that don't naturally have magical abilities can grow to gain magic if they meditate."

"What the hell is he talkin' about?!" Gajeel mentally yelled, even as he kept his eyes closed and continued to take deep breaths. He inhaled and exhaled with quiet and shallow breaths, hopefully that is how he is meant to do it, because it sounds like that is what Lucy and Lily are doing, and Capricorn isn't yelling at him or getting angry about him doing it wrong, so he must be doing it right. Though maybe the hoofed creature instructing him about this meditation shit can't hear breathing as good as the Iron Dragon Slayer did.

Then again, he was able to detect the pheromones Gajeel was letting out when he saw Lucy in her Capricorn Star Dress in the sunlight.

"You must continue this process until you leave your body and enter your pool of magic. Everyone's pool of magic is different and depends on what their specific magic is, this is how some regular humans that meditate to achieve magic are able to figure out what their magic is." Capricorn said, his voice so drawling that Gajeel could almost fall asleep. The Dragon Slayer wasn't sure if he was tired or the whole meditation thing was working, because he was starting to lose feeling in his body. "You must recognise and accept your magic pool when you enter it, that is the only way that you're able to expand that pool and your magic power in general."

Despite the feelings of boredom that made him feel frustrated, Gajeel continued the breathing technique. Eventually the sounds of Lucy and Lily's breathing, the tweets of the birds, the sounds of Capricorn's hooves and voice began to grow quiet, until Gajeel could no longer hear them entirely. Nor could he feel the sun on his back, the breeze against his skin, the grass and ground underneath his body. Gajeel slowly slid one of his eyes open, taking a peep at what happened to the world around him. Both of Gajeel's eyes opened and were wide, the Dragon Slayer seeing that he was no longer in Earth Land. At least he presumed that he was no longer in Earth Land, since this place sure as hell didn't look like it was a part of the planet.

The sky was covered by massive black clouds, how Gajeel was able to see the rest of the area around him, even with his eyesight, was beyond him. The ground was a terrain of black, jagged rocks, large iron poles stuck out of the ground, chains of iron stretched and reached out from one pole to another. Many weapons of pitch-black steel hung from the chains, connected to the metal rings. From giant swords, to spiked maces, to battle-axes, to saw blades and many different weapons, all used by hand and made of iron.

"Well this is definitely my magic pool, that's for sure." Gajeel mumbled in a deadpan manner as he looked around the area, seeing if there was somewhere that he was meant to go to. Gajeel then spotted a giant cave in the distance, the iron poles were at least a noticeable distance away form the cave. Gajeel felt a certain feeling to go to the cave, maybe it had something important in this whole 'increase magic power through meditation' thing. Gajeel shrugged, knowing there was no point in resisting. "Lets get this weird experience over with."

Gajeel walked past the pillars of iron and the many weapons made completely of the same element that were attached to them (even though he did think that they looked delicious, though even he knew that they most likely weren't real since he's in his magic pool), going closer and closer to the cave until it was absolutely towering over him, its shadow already going over him a metres ago. If this cave is housing something, its either something gigantic or an entire freakin' town.

A loud rumble came from the cave, creating powerful vibrations that shook the ground beneath Gajeel, the Dragon Slayer was thankful that his motion sickness didn't apply here. Other rumbles - quieter, yet still incredibly loud - suddenly came in rapid quantity, each becoming louder and closer than the last. Something gigantic was indeed coming from the cave, it wasn't coming at a quick speed, but it was still coming. Gajeel prepared himself, turning one of his arms into and iron pole as he took a battle position; if he had to fight something in here then you wouldn't have to tell him twice (though the actual possibility, in a zone that is meant to be a representation of his own magic, was unlikely, not that he was fully aware).

A dragon came out of the cave, fitting as Gajeel's magic is Dragon Slayer Magic. It was gigantic and muscular, its scales made of iron and surrounding seemingly every nook and cranny of its body. Each shoulder had a muscular wing attached to it, its eyes were an absolute crimson, its teeth were large, sharp and as white as a pearl. There were giant blades, like those of swords, that protruded from its spine and started to become smaller and smaller as they started to go to the dragon's tail, eventually shrinking down to the size of dagger's blade, and even then to a knife's blade, yet still retaining a dynamic sharpness.

Most people would either be running away with their arms flailing and screaming in fear at the sight of the dragon, or be paralyzed in awe at the sight of the mighty-looking creature. But Gajeel isn't like most people, he's a goddamn Dragon Slayer and a human that eats iron like it's a regular food. A dragon covered in iron scales is basically - if not literally - the very thing that he was trained by Metalicana to kill since his childhood. It would be murder of his pride to run away from this dragon, and a painful and horrible murder, at that.

"Gajeel Redfox." The dragon said, its voice rumbling with a small echo. Gajeel didn't flinch upon hearing the dragon say his name, but he did leave his battle position and turn his transformed arm back to normal. There was something about the dragon's tone of voice that told Gajeel that he wouldn't have to battle against the creature (even though he honestly had no problems with fighting the dragon). "I have been with you for many years, Black Steel. I have been with you before you could even talk or eat your first piece of iron. I am your inner dragon; I am the living embodiment of your magic and my name is really no different from your own. As I possess no name of my own, you can just refer to me as Dragon."

Dragon was not kindly in his tone as he spoke. In fact, if anything, he was a little demanding. Gajeel did not take well to Dragon's tone. There are only two people in the whole world that are allowed to demand Gajeel to do something: Metalicana and Makarov. The first because he's Gajeel's only known parent (not that he would ever admit it out loud), the second because he's his Guild Master (as ashamed of it as he is, Jose had the same control over Gajeel back then that Makarov has now, for the exact same reason).

Gajeel turned one of his arms into an Iron Dragon's Sword, and swung it towards Dragon. The giant, metal creature didn't flinch at the giant sword swinging towards him, in fact he gave out a tired and annoyed sigh. In the blink of an eye, Gajeel's transformed arm turned back to normal, the black-haired Dragon Slayer looking at his own arm in surprise.

"What the...?!" Gajeel said as he looked down at his arm in surprise. Gajeel tried to transform his arm back into an iron weapon, however he found that the command wouldn't work. The Iron Dragon Slayer tried to use his magic again, however nothing happened at all. It was like his magic was turned off, at least to the extent that he couldn't make dragon iron come from his body, or something else of the like.

"You cannot use your magic against me, dumbass. I basically am your magic." Dragon said, looking down at the Dragon Slayer in front of him in mild annoyance. Dragon turned around and walked back into his cave, torches connected to the walls of the cave becoming set alight as Dragon walked deeper and further in, the giant, iron-scaled reptilian creature stopping and looking back at Gajeel. "Follow me, your meditation won't end by standing there and gawking at your arm."

Gajeel looked up from his arm and towards Dragon, who is also his own inner dragon, the giant creature still looking back at him before resuming to go deeper into the cave. Gajeel growled in anger, wanting to give Dragon a real ass kicking. However, Dragon has seemingly disabled Gajeel's magic (because he's his inner dragon, which means that he has some sort of connection to Gajeel's magic), and even Gajeel knew that he had no hope of defeating a dragon without the help of his Dragon Slayer Magic. So Gajeel followed after Dragon begrudgingly, hoping for this weird experience to be done with.

The cave entrance went on forever, seemingly. Gajeel was almost certain that Dragon was only making him follow the creature for the entire experience, however the two then entered a bigger area of the cave. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, there was a massive pile of gold coins, rubies and treasures underneath the stalactites. Dragon walked towards the pile and curled his body down on the coins and rubies, the giant creature not taking his crimson eyes off of Gajeel.

Gajeel looked at the rest of the cave, seeing very little of other interest. Then he spotted something on the walls; there were portraits of his friends and moments in his life. One was of him when he was particularly young, Metalicana was by his side, lying down on the grass, one of the iron dragon's wings raised above Gajeel and acting as an umbrella that protected the young Dragon Slayer from the rain, the words 'Father' etched into the bottom of the portrait's wooden frame. There was another one next to it, showing a grumpy and bored Gajeel sitting at a table, in the (then) new Fairy Tail building, after it rebuilt from the destruction he brought to it, the words 'New Guild' etched into the frame's bottom.

There was another, Gajeel was wearing sunglasses and wore a white suit with a white hat, a guitar in his hand and a spotlight shinning down on him. It seemed like this portrait took place when he was still in Phantom Lord, and that was purely because he could see Jose in the painting's background, a comical expression on the old man's face as his eyes were as wide as saucers and his jaw was hanging comically low. Like every other portrait in the cave, this one had words etched into the bottom, these words being 'First Song'.

There was one of him crying tears of joy as he hugged a small Panther Lily in the rain. 'New Cat'. One of him and Levy dancing in fancy get-up after the Grand Magic Games. 'Dance'. The Fantasia parade that managed to happen after Laxus decided to become a megalomaniac and try to take over the guild. 'Fantasia'. A moment back when he and Levy were still a couple, the two happily at a beach. 'Beach Date'. Lucy standing triumphantly around many unconscious and beaten mages, the emblem of Wendigo Skull noticeable on some of them. 'Awesome First Mission Together'. Him and Lily sitting at a table in the guild, with him shaking hands with Bunny. 'New Team'.

Gajeel stared in awe at the portraits that decorated the cavern's walls, recognising them all as moments that have happened in his life. Then he saw a portrait that looked different from the others, in many ways. This portrait was gigantic, and unlike the other portraits, which all had a wooden frame, this portrait had a golden frame surrounding the painting. It was placed behind the pile of coins and jewels that Dragon sat on, the inner dragon looking at the portrait like he was in love with the image that it held.

The image in question was Lucy. It wasn't from a memory, at least it didn't seem like it was from a memory. She was stunningly laying down on a purple fabric that acted as the background for the painting, dressed in a beautiful white dress that was transparent, the only thing stopping he private parts from showing in the painting being the white lace panties and bra she was wearing. One arm was slung over her head while the other reached out towards the other side of the painting, almost like she was trying to beckon the viewer of the painting towards her. She had a soft and loving smile on her face, her brown eyes shining and her hair long and free. She looked beautiful, a divine image beyond words and definitions.

Even Dragon was entranced by the image in the portrait, the metal creature looking at the painting of Lucy lovingly. And on the bottom of the portrait, written in gold instead of etched into the frame, was the words 'Mine'.

Gajeel snapped out of his little trance created by the beautiful portrait in golden frame, shaking his head from side to side so fast that it was almost like a blur. Gajeel stopped shaking his head, closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and slammed the palms of his hands against the sides of his head repeatedly. Dragon could hear and sense the actions of the Dragon Slayer that he is a part of, the reptilian beast moving his eyes away from the portrait and towards the human, a little sigh of annoyance escaping the creature as he rolled his eyes.

Or at least it kind of seemed like he rolled his eyes, though Gajeel wasn't looking at him anyways so it probably doesn't matter much anyways.

"You know, trying to damage your brain is something that is far better left undone." Dragon said in a calm yet bored voice, catching the attention of Gajeel. Dragon folded his arms and leaned forward towards Gajeel, his giant snout covered in metal scales inches away from the Dragon Slayer's face. "After all, you barely have any brain cells as it is. If you damage your brain further, you'll be dumber than an idiot."

"Hey!" Gajeel yelled angrily in indignation, the Iron Dragon Slayer slamming a fist down on Dragon's snout in an attempt to punch. Usually, Gajeel's fists can break through powerful armour without damaging or hurting the skin or flesh of his hand. However, when his fist slammed against Dragon's nose, he had to hold back the yelp of pain that came running up his throat. Gajeel's teeth were clenched shut, his last attempt to keep that scream from escaping, as he looked at his knuckle, temporarily red with bleeding cuts. Of course, as this wasn't really physical, the cuts closed and the blood and redness of the skin were seemingly absorbed back into the knuckle.

But that didn't change the sting of pain that continued to linger. Chuckles came from Dragon as he tried to hold back from laughing at the human in front of him. "Did you seriously forget who I am? Oh, how I have been too kind and forgiving towards you whenever I doubted your idiocy." Dragon said, causing Gajeel to give him a sour look. "It's honestly a pain and an annoyance to be with you throughout your entire life, but these moments of tomfoolery and general idiotic moments are what makes it all worth it."

Gajeel growled at Dragon as flung his hand from side to side limply. "Alright, I didn't fucking meditate myself here to get insulted by you, oversized bunch of scrap!" Gajeel yelled at Dragon, pointing his finger towards the mental entity. "And what the hell is with all of these damn paintings here?! You plannin' on opening an art gallery or somethin'?!"

Dragon let out a little snort in response to Gajeel's questions. "If I were to ever open an art gallery, it wouldn't be here, within you. The only other people that would get to see the paintings would be other aspects and parts of you. And philistines are, by definition, incapable of truly enjoying fine art." Dragon said, almost looking amused before giving Gajeel a stern look. "And it is not my claws that painted these pictures, it was your fingers and heart that made them. These portraits are purely the unforgettable memories of your life that you hold close to your heart."

Gajeel was startled by the explanation, though it did make sense as a lot of the paintings in these portraits were of some of his fondest moments in his life. But that still didn't make sense of that. "Then why the hell is there a painting of Lucy like that over there?" Gajeel demanded an answer of as he pointed to the golden portrait of Lucy that hung behind Dragon. "I have never seen Bunny Girl like that ever before. I mean, I sure would love to, but that still doesn't make sense."

"Lucy...!" Dragon purred as he looked back at the portrait of the blonde-haired Celestial Spirit mage, a gentle little smile on his face as he looked at her. Dragon's soft features, however, disappeared as he turned his head back to look at Gajeel. "There are certain things that I cannot tell you, Black Steel. Certain dragon laws and concepts that your primitive human minds cannot comprehend forbid me from telling you. As much as it annoys me, as much as I want to tell you so we can be with her, I have to let you figure out for yourself."

"What?!" Gajeel outburst in anger, if he was still able to cast his spells in here he would give Dragon an Iron Dragon's Roar to the face. "You're not just gonna cop out of telling me why that portrait of Bunny Girl is there!"

"You will not always find the answers by yelling at others!" Dragon roared angrily at Gajeel, almost causing fear in the man for a second. "You should feel honoured for an experience like this. Your magic is a Slayer type of magic, thus I exist in your pool of magic. Most other mages that meditate to enter further into their magic pools don't get to have such an experience and search of self! You should show respect for this privilege you have undergone!"

Dragon suddenly inhaled a massive volume of air, like he was going to perform a Roar spell. A giant beam of air suddenly shot out of Dragon's mouth, causing Gajeel to close his eyes. A rush of power and energy suddenly flowed through Gajeel, like he just suddenly became stronger. However, the Iron Dragon Slayer couldn't revel in this new power as a wave of exhaustion suddenly rushed over him and it felt like every muscle in his body was screaming pain.

Gajeel opened his eyes, finding himself back in his meditation position in the meadow. Capricorn was standing in front of Gajeel, his body position to that the left side of his body was facing the Dragon Slayer, meaning that he was circling around him when he opened his eyes. The Celestial Spirit stopped and looked at Gajeel, his hands still folded behind his back, a hum escaping from Capricorn.

"So you are the first." Capricorn said rather cryptically. Gajeel raised an eyebrow before looking to his side, seeing Lucy and Lily still sitting down in the meditation position with their eyes closed. Wind and magical energy suddenly rose from the ground beneath them, and Gajeel could sense an increase in their magic power. It wasn't tremendous, but it wasn't slight either. It was simply an increase.

Lucy and Panther Lily both let out a groan of exhaustion, the former of which even falling down onto her back in her exhaustion. Gajeel couldn't blame them, it seemed that this meditation really pays off in increasing magic power, but it can be painfully taxing on the body. Clearly Gajeel hasn't been giving holder-type mages enough credit if that is the kind of shit they have to grow through to increase their magic power. Okay, they probably don't have to go with that thing of talking with their inner dragon, but the augment and exhaustion thing still counts.

"Can I please stop training for today?" Lucy whined like a little child weakly, reaching a shaking arm up towards Capricorn, the goat-like Celestial Spirit looking down at his summoner with an unreadable expression. Honestly, even Gajeel wanted to stop training now, with each muscle in his body screaming in pain from even the simple action of staying sat up. If Capricorn tries to make them do some more meditation, then he's a freaking sadist in disguise.

"Your magic power is noticeably greater than it was this morning, Lady Lucy, and it is clear that you are tired." Capricorn said as he offered Lucy a hand back onto her feet, a hand that Lucy happily took. "I recommend that you now take a warm bath and a hearty meal."

"That sounds sublime." Lucy commented as she stood back up, though it didn't change that she was hunched slightly. At least she is able to stand up. Panther Lily crawled towards Lucy, stopping at the woman's feet and reaching his paws up towards her, wanting to be picked up and carried by her. Lucy let out a little moan of defeat as Panther Lily had seemingly made his eyes become bigger and cuter, the blonde picking the little Exceed up and holding his ting body against her chest. "You're so lucky that your little form is so cute and so light, right now I'm so tired that I wouldn't bother picking up most others."

Lucy began walking the direction back to Gajeel's place, holding Panther Lily in her arms as Capricorn followed after her, the blonde stopping as she saw that Gajeel was still sitting down cross-legged. Lucy cocked her head to the side slightly, giving Gajeel a confused look.

"Aren't you going to come with us?" Lucy asked as she looked at Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer didn't make a verbal response, instead he stood up silently... and fell down flat on his face. Lucy and Panther Lily looked at Gajeel with surprised wide eyes, thinking that he would simply just get off the ground and start moving, considering his strength and overall stubborn nature. But no, the Iron Dragon Slayer just stayed laying down on his front, with the slight movements and shakes of his body being the only evidence that he was trying to get back up but couldn't move his body. Capricorn let out an annoyed sigh, the Celestial Spirit walking towards Gajeel and grabbing hold at the back of the human's shirt. Without even the slightest sign of exertion, Capricorn picked Gajeel up and slung the Dragon Slayer over his shoulder, the Celestial Spirit continuing to walk like the large and muscular man was only as heavy as a thin sheet of paper.

Gajeel was taken by surprise as the Celestial Spirit effortlessly carried him, a feeling of embarrassment almost rising within him, however his tiredness outweighed his pride so he didn't complain. Gajeel looked down at the ground as his arms hanged from his body pathetically. Gajeel turned his head up and looked at Lucy as she followed after Capricorn with Panther Lily in her arms, the blonde walking like her earlier exhaustion applied. That almost felt embarrassing, that one of Gajeel's teammates was walking off her exhaustion while he was basically unable to move. Though he probably trained himself the hardest and thus is probably the most tired.

Gajeel has already known that if he ever wants to achieve his ambitions of strength, he'll have to push himself past his limits and into new levels. And it seems like this meditation stuff that holder-types go through is an underrated tactic that can be very useful in increasing his magic power.

Plus, Gajeel wants to see Dragon again; that oversized asshole has some questions that he needs to answer.

Gajeel snapped out of his train of thought, realising that Lucy was looking back at him, her brown eyes filled with a confusion of sorts. Gajeel looked away from Lucy, trying to ignore the look of surprise and increased confusion that he could see on Lucy's face in his peripherals. After seeing that beautiful portrait of the blonde in his magic pool, with the words 'Mine' written on the portrait's bottom, Gajeel was a little uncertain of her. He still valued her highly as a friend and teammate, but the implications of what that meant... he would rather not face that reality.

They passed by many trees that Gajeel could call familiar if it weren't for the fact that they looked plain and dull until Capricorn stopped, the Celestial Spirit suddenly holding Gajeel out in front of him before dropping the Dragon Slayer to the ground. Capricorn turned around towards Lucy, bowing down. "I apologise, Lady Lucy, but I cannot stay here much longer." Capricorn said, his voice was mostly monotonous but still had shades of sincerity to it. "I promise you that two of your other spirits will summon themselves to help you. As a Celestial Spirit, it would be heinous for us to let our master and her friends remain in the woods while they still greatly exhausted."

Lucy felt a little angry that Capricorn called her 'Master', the blonde was about to remind Capricorn that she preferred for them all to be referred to as friends, instead of this master/servant relationship that so many believe Celestial Spirit Magic to be about, but he had already retuned to the Celestial Spirit World. Lucy just huffed in annoyance and sat down on a nearby rock. She's too tired to walk the entire way, and she doubts that she can carry both Gajeel and Lily the rest of the way back in her current state.

Hell, she doesn't know if she can really carry Gajeel in general.

Two of Lucy's Zodiac keys lit up with magic power independent of the blonde's own, two flashes of light followed by a doorbell ring coming afterwards. "Moo, your might bull is here for your service, Miss Lucy." Taurus said as he appeared in Earth Land, holding his arms high above his head. Two imp-like creatures flew around Taurus, their tiny bodies much smaller than the large, bovine-like creature. The imp creatures stopped in front of Lucy, making a little dance with small poses.

"Piri-piri, we're happy to help you, Miss Lucy." Gemini said, the two twins speaking in perfect unison as they continued their little dance.

"Gemini~!" Lucy squealed happily as she hugged the two small, floating creatures by bringing them close to her chest with her arms around them, the small Celestial Spirits hugging her back. Taurus looked dejected as Lucy had seemingly ignored him in favour of Gemini. Gajeel snickered as he looked at the cow-like entity, the fact that the Celestial Spirit that wants to get in Lucy's pants the most is being ignored by her making him feel happy for some reason.

"So how are these two supposed to help us?" Gajeel asked as he managed to push himself up until he was sitting up.

The two Gemini spirits flew away from Lucy before bashing against each other, a large puff of smoke covering them, the smoke puff becoming so huge that it could even cover Gajeel. When the puff of smoke cleared away, there was now another Taurus standing in place of where Gemini once was, his knuckles on his hips and a big grin on his face. "Taurus possesses enough strength to carry even heavy humans a long distance, and we can copy even other spirits of Miss Lucy perfectly, so we can also have enough strength to carry one of you two the rest of the way." Gemini said in their copied form of Taurus.

"I'm not all too happy about having to rely on my spirits for transport, but I appreciate it anyways." Lucy said, standing back up as she continued to hold onto Panther Lily, the little Exceed falling asleep. "I'll take Gemini, you can take Taurus, Gajeel."

"Why do I have to carry Gajeel instead of your beautiful body, Miss Lucy?" Taurus whined like a little kid, causing Gajeel to glare at him. He wasn't so happy about being carried by the Celestial Spirit either.

"Because I trust Gemini much more with my hands that I do with you, Taurus." Lucy responded like it was common knowledge (though it probably was). "Point is, Gemini has never once attempted to cop a feel or anything else that is perverted, which is really more than I can say for you."

"But I can't help it, Miss Lucy, your body is one of the best in the entire universe." Taurus said in response, like it was a good defence. The bovine spirit walked towards Lucy, a silly grin on his face and a perverted look in his eyes as his fingers flexing and moving. "Moo. All I want to do is have a touch at one of your udders or your rump roast."

"Aaaaand now you're going home." Lucy said as she pulled out Taurus' key and sent him back to the Celestial Spirit World by forcing his gate shut. Even if her magic energy was a little low, it was nowhere near dangerous levels, so she spare some of it to send the Celestial Spirit back. Lucy turned back towards the Gemini Taurus as the real Taurus wailed her name in a dramatic manner. "Sorry about that, Gemini. Can you carry both me and Gajeel or should I summon another spirit to help you?"

"You don't need to summon a spirit, Miss Lucy, we can summon ourselves now if you really need us. Your training has helped us as well." Gemini responded, continuing to keep themself in the cow-like spirit's form; they didn't even turn their voice or eyes back to normal. It reminded Lucy of the reason why she cares for Taurus, despite his blatant perverted nature. Gemini, in Taurus' form, gave Lucy a smile and a thumbs up. "Besides, Taurus is jacked and very strong, we should be able to carry you, Lily and Gajeel without a problem."

Gemini picked up Lucy and managed to balance their master on the shoulder of their Taurus form, keeping one of their hands on the blonde's side so she and the Exceed in her arms wouldn't fall off. Gemini then picked Gajeel up by the back of his shirt, taking the heavy man off the ground easily with one hand. Gemini began walking as they continued to carry Lucy, Lily and Gajeel in their copied Taurus form, the Celestial Spirit summoner sitting comfortably on their shoulder whilst Gajeel was swaying slightly as his arms and legs hanged lazily, his feet and hands dragging against the ground slightly.

Gajeel didn't care much, at least his motion sickness wasn't acting up. Though that could be the Stillness Elixir's effects still in work, he hasn't really been keeping track of the passing days.

---

Gajeel had almost slammed his door open, the Dragon Slayer and Lucy (with Lily still asleep in her arms) entering his home. Gemini had the two Fairy Tail mages close enough to Gajeel's house before they had to return to the Celestial Spirit World, the two humans having enough energy left to walk the rest of the distance. Panther Lily woke up, the Exceed using his Aera Magic to grow wings and fly out of Lucy's hold before stretching his arms and legs, little popping sounds coming from within his little body. Panther Lily flew onto the couch, ignoring the little scowl coming from Gajeel; it seemed like too much of a coincidence that he chose the exact moment that they arrived home to wake up.

Maybe he's just mad and thinking this because he's kind of tired, but Gajeel is growing suspicious that Lily might be using his wits to be lazy. Gajeel may appreciate a smart cat, but he mostly got Lily because the Exceed is also really frickin' strong.

All that Lucy did was take her shoes off before she layed down on the couch in a foetal position, her head resting on a cushion as if it were a pillow. Lucy was asleep in an instant, her sleeping form shuffling into a more comfortable position. Gajeel looked at the clock, seeing that it was halfway through four in the afternoon. Gajeel looked back at Lucy, seeing Virgo suddenly there and kneeling down as she draped a golden blanket over the sleeping beauty.

Virgo turned her head towards Gajeel, the stoic maiden putting her index finger over her closed lips in a 'shush' manner. Virgo stood up, walking towards Gajeel quietly with elegance and grace. "Princess is tired and in need of sleep. Her magic levels are nowhere near as low when you and her took down that Dark Guild, but she still needs at least a few minutes of rest." Virgo explained in a quiet voice, remaining poker-faced. Gajeel nodded silently in acknowledgment to what the Celestial Spirit said. Virgo suddenly smiled, which was surprising enough on its own, but it also showed a sense of deviousness. Gajeel needed to take a double take and was still nonplussed. "You can feel more than free to join Princess, Sir Gajeel. I just request that you don't wake her up."

Gajeel was still a frozen statue with a hanging jaw as Virgo returned to the Celestial Spirit World, the Iron Dragon Slayer didn't even have a chance to respond to what she said. Damn spirit is even more crazy than Gajeel thought. Gajeel had eventually regained his control of his body, but his eyes seemed to have a mind and intention of their own as they kept on pointing towards Lucy, the blonde looking serene as she slept with the blanket over her body. Gajeel looked around the rest of the room, trying to find somewhere else that he could sleep, but kept on returning to Lucy. He could just go up to his own bedroom, but frankly it's starting to feel like someone sewn heavy weights under his eyes.

With no other choice because of his own overbearing lassitude, Gajeel trudged as quietly as possible towards Lucy, the Iron Dragon Slayer crawling under the blanket that Virgo put over his teammate, the blanket smelling of that celestial element that all things from the Celestial Spirit World smelled of. At least it made sense as to why the blanket was comfy on a nearly unbelievable level.

Gajeel wrapped his muscular arms around Lucy, the sleeping blonde turning around and pressing her face against his chest. Gajeel tried to ignore the warmth she was igniting in his heart and in his pants (especially the former because of reasons related to why he doesn't want to fall in love again), closing his eyes and falling into the Sandman's embrace.

---

Lucy's nose wiggled and sniffed as a delicious smell greeted and kissed her nostrils, the aroma was small and hard to notice but nevertheless had made her stomach rumble and churn quietly in a desire to taste what food the smell was coming from. However, as Lucy slid her eye open, she saw a muscular chest covered with a black shirt. Lucy's face heated up around the cheeks as Gajeel was sleeping with her, his arms wrapped around her protectively, a soft snore escaping from the baritone man.

Lucy had to keep her mouth shut to stop an 'epp' from escaping, the blonde trying to wiggle her way out of Gajeel's grasp, however she found that Gajeel also had his legs around her own, rendering her completely unable to escape. 'Well this looks like a good moment for déjà vu.' Lucy thought as she was trapped in the Iron Dragon Slayer's hold until he either woke up or released her (there was no certainty that one would happen after the other.). Lucy continued to look at Gajeel, the blonde shifting slightly to put herself in a more comfortable position. 'Guess I'll be stuck like this until he lets me go. I could wake him up... probably not a good idea. Fuck, though, does he have such a good face to kiss.'

Her brown orbs transfixed on Gajeel's lips, Lucy had leaned forward and landed a kiss on Gajeel. The blonde's eyes widened and her pupils had shrunk in horror as she just realised what she did, almost flinging herself away from Gajeel if it weren't for the arms and legs that he used and was locking her in place against him with.

She kissed him, what sort of madness was that?! They are friends, damn it, friends! Granted, they are friends with benefits, but that means that kissing is only for when they are in the mood. And he is asleep, and she was aiming for the lips. Granted, again, she narrowly missed and kissed his cheek instead, but that doesn't really make anything better.

A grunt-like sound came from Gajeel, the Dragon Slayer asleep before he slowly slid his eyes open, becoming awake. Lucy sucked the air in between her teeth, fearing that Gajeel was aware of the kiss; that their relationship of friendship with a side of sex was going to fall apart or go crazy and out of control because Lucy decided to act on an impulse. Gajeel's mouth was like a frown as his brow was furrowed, looking as though he was mad at her or something. But when Gajeel's red eyes began looking a Lucy, he smiled at her.

Lucy's heartbeats became faster and resounded throughout her ears, her tongue feeling dry as Gajeel's smiling face was close to her own, especially after she kissed him. Was he aware that he kissed her?

Gajeel moved his head up and sniffed at the air before looking back at Lucy. "Lily's cooking a spag bol, you probably have some time to take that bath that Capricorn talked about." Gajeel said in a rather matter-of-fact voice, the Dragon Slayer getting off of her and walking around the room like it was all nothing. Maybe it was all nothing, that Lucy just acted on a random impulse and that was all she wrote. Maybe Gajeel didn't even feel the kiss because he was in a deep sleep. Lucy suddenly noticed a golden blanket covering a part of her body, the same blanket glowing and sparkling as it disappeared. Must have been something from the Celestial Spirit World.

Lucy heard the sound of running water from upstairs, the blonde looking at the stairs to the upper level of the house, seeing Gajeel descend down into the room from them. "I've already started running the bath for ya, you should go an' make sure that it doesn't overflow or somethin'." The Iron Dragon Slayer explained in a calm voice.

"Thank you, Gajeel." Lucy said as she began walking upstairs, giving the muscular man a hug.

Gajeel felt that weird warmth in his heart from the last time that Lucy hugged him return, once again permeating throughout his entire being. He didn't know how to react, his face was heating up intensely on the cheeks, his arms were shaking as he didn't know if he should hug back or not. Gajeel didn't hug others as much as most people did, you would have to be someone that he cares greatly for so he would be willing to hug you. Lucy was definitely in this category, at least because of recent days, but Gajeel still felt a feeling of hesitance.

"Hug her, you damn idiot. Hug her!" Gajeel could hear himself from inside his head. The Iron Dragon Slayer yielded, his arms slowly closing around the blonde woman-

Lucy let go of Gajeel and began walking up the stairs, the aforementioned Dragon Slayer looking up the stairs as he saw the Celestial Spirit mage enter the bathroom. The feeling of warmth in Gajeel's heart simmered, the Dragon Slayer walking down the stairs to the gym in his basement.

Lucy closed and locked the bathroom door behind her as she entered the aforementioned room, her back against the closed door as she looked at the rising water in the bathtub. Lucy put her hand in the water, only to immediately take it out as the water was hot; not scalding hot, but still a heat that the blonde was still more than uncomfortable with. Lucy turned the tap for the cold water, the stream of water flowing out of the faucet becoming bigger and colder. Lucy put her hand under the faucet, smiling as the water was at the right temperature. Lucy began stripping down out of all her clothes, the blonde noticing a shower that was completely separate from the bathtub.

Lucy put a towel on the toilet seat, as it would be in arms' reach if she would need it while still in the tub and that it would generally not take up too much space. Lucy looked at the clothes that she wore, now lying down on the floor of Gajeel and Lily's bathroom, including that particular article of clothing. Lucy's brown eyes turned towards the locked bathroom door, not wanting anyone but Gajeel to see them, and even then she only wants him to see them later tonight.

She had bought them over a year ago, and yet they still fitted comfortably. Not to mention that tonight seems like a good moment to wear them, especially if they get Gajeel excited.

Lucy turned the taps as the growing water in the tub seemed at a right height, the faucet stopped pouring water. A soft moan escaped from Lucy as the warm to hot water massaged her body as she descended into its body, the blonde Celestial Spirit summoner laying her body down against the tub's like it was a soft bed.

Every muscle in Lucy's body had instantly relaxed as the water touched the skin and flesh that surrounded it. Even with the probable hours that she had spent asleep, Lucy still felt like she had just relaxed for the first time today as the water touched her. It really was like a massage made by divine hands.

Lucy spotted a soap bar on a small rack at the side of the tub, pearl-white and clean. Lucy picked up the bar and held it in front of herself, wondering if she was allowed to use it. Of course, Gajeel didn't say anything like she wasn't allowed to use the soap bar, and it still looked like it has a long time before it's all used up, so the blonde had determined that she was allowed to use it.

The Celestial Spirit mage hummed happily as she scrubbed herself with the bar of soap, the bar's innate lilac scent spreading over to her as she continued to wash herself with it. There was a window on the opposite side of the bathtub, at least from the side that Lucy was facing, giving the blonde a view of what was happening outside of the house. She could see dark clouds moving in as the orange sun was retreating into the horizon, a scratch of rain appearing on the window. More and more scratches made sudden appearances on the flat, rectangular glass as it became more apparent that it was starting to rain.

There was a drizzle outside, one which quickly grew into a storm. A storm limited to rain only, a thankful thing because of Panther Lily's phobia of thunder, but a storm nevertheless.

A soft sigh escaped from Lucy as she looked at the raining world outside of the window; it doesn't seem like she'll be able to go home, though she probably wouldn't go home nevertheless because of her plans. Lucy put the soap bar back on the rack that it was on earlier, the blonde washing the soap off her body with the bath's water, grabbing hold of a bottle of shampoo and squirting some of the bottle's contents onto her flat palm. Lucy rubbed her hands together, the shampoo becoming foamy between her palms before she started to move her hands through her hair. Lucy hummed a little tune to herself, even with the loud rain outside, as she rubbed the shampoo into her long, blonde hair.

Eventually, Lucy was done with her bath (especially as the water began to lose its heat and become lukewarm), washing out her hair and drying off. Lucy put the towel back on the towel rack, where it could dry off, and covered her dry body with her clothes again. Lucy unlocked the bathroom door and opened it, the constellation spirit summoner looking downstairs to see Panther Lily appear at the bottom floor, floating above the ground with his angelic wings, the small, cat-like creature smiling up at his friend.

"Dinner is finished, Lucy. You're right on time." Panther Lily said, the Exceed in front of Lucy's face in the blink of an eye. "Come downstairs, I'm certain that you'll love it."

"And I'm certain that I'll love it as well." Lucy responded happily as she descended down the stairs while Panther Lily flew down the stairs.

---

Gajeel huffed as he made bench presses, the Iron Dragon Slayer lifting a large barbell with weights at the ends that could be just as big if not bigger than him. Even though he had already became exhausted earlier today from his training, Gajeel had felt more than refreshed when he woke and needed to get rid of some of the spare energy he had gained. So a quick workout session made as much sense to Gajeel, especially as he could already smell the oncoming rain when he started up the bath for Lucy.

Gajeel put the barbell down after his three hundredth or so lift; he already knew that his arms, legs and every last muscle in his body will already be sore in the morning, there was no reason to make it worse than it would already inevitably be. Gajeel had already put his regular tunic on before weightlifting and decided to not take it off during the activity, knowing that he wouldn't do as much as usual and that he wouldn't have as much time as usual.

Gajeel looked at one of his muscular arms, lifting it into the air and flexing it. It still surprised him how much power he could feel within him now, that he had grown quite stronger than before in that session of training; it was truly surprising how much ass meditation could kick. Gajeel smirked; even if it took a surprising toll, meditation was surprisingly useful for increasing one's magic power.

Maybe if he adds meditation to his training schedule, he'll end up becoming so much stronger than Salamander that he can defeat him with one arm tied behind his back in no time. It would be fun and awesome, especially 'cause he knows it would be a sore hit to the cocky annoyance's pride.

Though Salamander would then just start yelling and demanding to know how Gajeel would get so strong after he would be done moping about how inferior of a Dragon Slayer and mage he is. Maybe Gajeel could just knock him unconscious to make him shut up.

Gajeel snickered at the thought, putting his equipment away before exiting his basement. The smell of the dinner that Panther Lily was cooking hit Gajeel's nostrils like a hyper Vulcan, his stomach roaring like a dragon in response to the tasty smell. Gajeel walked up the stairs to the basement and headed for the kitchen, the delightful smell becoming stronger and almost blocking Gajeel's other sense as he came closer towards the source. The kitchen door was wide open, Gajeel could see Lily and Lucy as they put the spaghetti and mince onto clean plates.

Gajeel stopped walking as he looked at Lucy, the blonde woman seemingly glowing as he looked at her. Time froze to a still image; an instant trapped in an eternity; like a photograph or a painting. Lucy's golden light began to spread and cover the rest of the world that surrounded her and Gajeel until they were both all that existed in an inexplicable area of golden light. Lucy was still frozen, she was like a statue: eternally unmoving and indescribably beautiful. Gajeel didn't know what to make of the phenomenon that was happening before him, he didn't know if he could even make sense of it. All that the Dragon Slayer knew was that he couldn't take his eyes off the frozen image of Lucy and that there was a greedy feeling of want growing within him.

And that want was Lucy. He didn't know how to describe it, if it could even be described. It was that he just wanted... Lucy. He just wanted all of her; to be his, and his alone.

Whatever part of common sense, and part of him in general, the still resided in the back of Gajeel's mind was able to break past a wall that was pushing it back as Gajeel and Lucy were transported to this mysterious dimension of light, bringing the Dragon Slayer back to reality with a mighty yell. Gajeel found himself back to his senses, back to the real world and in his kitchen; and time was moving once more. Lucy and Panther Lily had finished placing the spaghetti bolognese onto the three plates, the former placing the finishing touches to them by grating cheese onto them. Panther Lily looked at Gajeel with a sense of confusion, noticing that something was slightly off with his close friend.

Gajeel ignored the Exceed's eyes, hoping that it will divert his attention away and make him forget (though it was unlikely). "Dinner's ready~." Lucy said as she picked up two plates, each with an individual hand. "Gajeel, could you please be a dear and help me and Lily by bringing the knives and forks to the table? Oh really, yes? Thank you, you sure have improved on being a gentlemen."

Gajeel scoffed at the blonde woman, knowing that she purposely left little of a space between her question and response to make him do as she wants. As if she could get him to do what she wants.

And yet, weirdly enough, he found himself laying down the utensils like his friend requested. Gajeel let out a little sigh as he finished laying down the knives and forks as Lucy laid down the plates. Lucy gave Gajeel a sweet, kind smile as the Dragon Slayer looked at her, the smile was because he did what she asked without complaining. That pesky, welcoming warmth in Gajeel's chest and cheeks came back once again, though this time it was more subtle. But that didn't change that Gajeel was able to feel and notice it, the Dragon Slayer looking away from the Celestial Spirit mage until that transient warmth gave up and went away.

Gajeel, Lucy and Panther Lily sat down at the table and started to eat their dinner. "I'm honestly surprised that there is still cutlery here, I thought that Gajeel would have already eaten any of them by now." Lucy jested, sticking a fork into a pile of spaghetti and spinning it until the pasta was wrapped tightly around the prongs, a giggle escaping from the summoner before she stuck the spaghetti in her mouth and began eating it.

Gajeel smirked and snorted at Lucy, finding the humour in her little joke; even he knows that most people would be surprised that there is cutlery in his house that he doesn't eat; he does eat cutlery at other places, if it's made of metal or iron. Besides, there was no way that he could stay mad at her when she has such a nice smile, or such a nice laugh.

"We had to get them enchanted." Panther Lily responded, the Exceed using a knife to put a pile of mince onto a flat fork and sticking it into his mouth. Gajeel frowned at Lily, though the reaction was more of a result of the memory that the cat-like entity had resurfaced; so much Jewel that he had to spend for the knives and forks when he could spend it on rich, tasty metal. "It is hard, but it is possible to enchant metal to be uneatable to a Iron Dragon Slayer. The enchanter in question needs to be a powerful and skilled one, and even then it takes a long time for the enchantment to become complete. It wasn't cheap though, even a single utensil costed a lot of Jewel to enchant."

"Yeah, instead of buyin' some tasty metal I had to spend money so I can't eat the knives n' forks n' spoons 'cause Lily here likes to use them." Gajeel said, his mouth full of mince and spaghetti as pieces of them flew out of his mouth and onto the table as he spoke. "Personally, I still think it's highway robbery."

"Can you please not speak with your mouth full." Lucy said, looking at Gajeel with a sense of scorn as she saw the food on the table, purely a result from the Iron Dragon Slayer. "Didn't Metalicana teach you anything about table manners."

"I was raised by a giant dragon in the forest in ancient times, this is the closest thing to table manners for me." Gajeel said, using his fork to shove food into his mouth in an uncouth manner.

"I'm pretty sure that they still had tables and manners back during the ancient times before you went through the Eclipse Gate." Lucy said, keeping her glaring eyes at Gajeel. The black-haired man rolled his eyes, shutting his mouth as he ate and swallowing all of his food before talking. Lucy smiled at Gajeel, the blonde returning to her own dinner. For a while the rest of the dinner was eaten in silence from all three participants, the only sound in the house being the tapping of the rain outside.

When the two humans and Exceed had finished their dinner, Panther Lily transformed into his Battle Form and stacked the plates atop of each other and the knives and forks on top of the top plate. Lucy raised an eyebrow, knowing that Lily preferred to not enter his Battle Form for everyday tasks, in case if something happens where it is required, like a sudden attack from a dark mage or a wild animal. Panther Lily noticed Lucy's confusion in the peripherals of his eyes, the muscular anthropomorphic feline smiling silently at his friend in response. Panther Lily carried the plates and utensils to kitchen and to the sink, turning one of the taps and making water run out of the faucet, wherein he began to wash the plates and cutlery.

"Maybe he just thinks that there will be no risk of an attack. Or maybe it's just quicker and easier for him if he does it like that." Lucy thought as she looked at Panther Lily, the blonde turning towards Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer looking out the window to the dark world outside, rain still falling in vast quantities.

"Looks like you ain't goin' home tonight, Bunny." Gajeel said as he turned his head to look at Lucy before looking back at the rain. "It's raining like Hell out there, not to mention that you live far from here. I ain't letting you go home when that rain can kill ya with hypothermia, you're gonna have to stay here."

"That's okay, Gajeel." Lucy responded with more happiness than she wished to let out, the blonde regaining a calm demeanour as she got back up on her feet and tucked her chair back into the table. "I don't mind it. I just hope that you and Lily are okay with it."

"I'm completely fine with it." Panther Lily called from the kitchen, Lucy and Gajeel looked at the transformed Exceed as he was looking back at him, a grin growing on his face. "And I'm sure that Gajeel would love to spend more time with you."

Gajeel gawked at what Lily said, wondering if he was implying about sex or actual love. If he was implying the latter.

"Y'know, if you keep making that face then it's going to stay frozen like that." Lucy giggled as she looked at Gajeel's face, the Dragon Slayer's mouth closing his mouth as he looked at her with unreadable eyes. Even with the smile on her beauti- moderate face, Gajeel didn't know how to react in response to Lily; he already knew what Gajeel went through after the breakup with Levy, and he knew about Gajeel's adamance. "I don't think people will be able to take you seriously like you want them to if your face is stuck like that 24/7."

Gajeel blinked as he looked at Lucy, the corners of his lips turned downwards, even if he wasn't frowning or scowling. Lucy's smile faded as Gajeel looked at her like that, the blonde starting to fear that she did something wrong or crossed a line with her last joke. Gajeel walked past Lucy, the blonde turning around and looking at the Dragon Slayer with hurt eyes, fearing that she did something wrong. Lucy squeezed a hand into a fist in anxiety, unconsciously bringing it high up and close to her face. Lucy looked at the fist, slowly turning a pale white from how tightly she was squeezing it, creating an emphasis on the pink guild mark on the back of the hand.

Panther Lily appeared to Lucy's side, the Exceed having reassumed his usual little form and flying next to her with angelic wings. Lucy looked at Lily quickly before looking upstairs towards Gajeel, the Dragon Slayer carrying a towel. It was like Gajeel could sense his little centre of attention status, the black-haired Dragon Slayer sharply turning his head towards Lucy and Lily.

"You're sleeping in my bed, Bunny. I'll be sleeping on the couch." Gajeel said.

Lucy's eyes widened, the blonde running up the stairs and grabbing hold of Gajeel's wrist before the aforementioned Dragon Slayer could fully enter the bathroom; his body already halfway inside. "Wait." Lucy said, gasping lightly and slightly as Gajeel was looking at her. "Why can't you sleep in your own bed?"

"Because the only rooms here are mine 'n Lily's, and I'm not letting you sleep on the couch again." Gajeel answered.

"Well then why can't you and I just sleep in the same bed. Together." Lucy said, unconsciously moving her hands behind her back and folding them together; there was as sense of intimacy that she was feeling from that statement that felt like it was on a different level than what she and the Dragon Slayer have experienced in the past. "It wouldn't be the first time that you and I have slept together. We can even have some of that fun that caused our close relationship and team to begin in the first place."

A wide grin grew on Gajeel's face before he quickly regained his indifferent mask, though the grin still lasted enough for Lucy to notice. And boy, that grin sure did make her happier. "Fine then, Bunny. If you want to share a bed with me, then I'll allow it." Gajeel said before he disappeared behind the bathroom door, the clink of the door locking coming from inside.

Lily flew past Lucy, the Exceed holding his copy of Great Magus Labyrinth: A Numen's Lament close to his chest with his small arms, the cat-like entity flying into his room and closing the door behind him. A feeling of guilt and hindsight had overcame Lucy, the blonde all but knocking on Lily's door. Lucy may have technically planned what she was going to do tonight, but it was all done during a period of a surge of heat between her legs, a period of when Lucy had Gajeel's iron dragon on her mind. She never considered that Panther Lily shares a house with Gajeel, or that he too has powerful hearing; she didn't consider that he could hear and he left uncomfortable at the sound of her and Gajeel making love.

Lucy had a hand balled into a fist, hovering in front of the wooden door to Lily's room. Lucy's hand was shaking, a sense of nervousness in her. Lucy didn't knock, her hand slowly lowering and unfurling, a sigh escaping from her as something was stopping her from gaining the will to knock. Her brown orbs moving to an open bedroom door, Lucy entered Gajeel's bedroom.

Lucy was almost surprised by how well kept Gajeel's bedroom was, though maybe it was like this because he made it this clean for her to sleep in it. The thought of the possibility that Gajeel would do that just for her, and the actuality of that possibility being true, made a wide and powerful feeling of warmth emerge in Lucy. The Celestial Spirit pressed her hands against the heat source that her heart has turned into; that would be quite possibly one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for her; the only moment in her life that Lucy could say was indisputably more heartwarming was when Natsu uprooted one of the rainbow flower trees because she was too sick to enjoy the festival with everyone else.

Lucy found herself sprawling down onto Gajeel's bed, a large if not king-sized bed with a black pillow and black bedsheet. She rolled onto her back, taking in the other details of Gajeel's room. There was a large, wooden wardrobe on the right side of the room (at least it looked like the right side from Lucy's perspective), wherein it took up half of the wall there, being large enough to fit multiple clothes in. There were two dumbbells that sat motionlessly at the foot of the wardrobe. A large, dark red mat took up most of the centre of the room, one of the sides of one of the barbells sat on the aforementioned mat. There was also a standing mirror that was placed near the wardrobe, which really struck Lucy as odd; since when did Gajeel ever have an interest in fashion? Lucy could have though up or theorized other reasons that Gajeel may have that mirror, but neither she nor her brain were truly in the mood to think about it.

Lucy noticed a small coffee table that was basically littered with piles of metal, from broken metal bars to metal nails and bolts. It didn't have to take being a genius to know that they were all there with the intention of being a snack or overall food for Gajeel. Being a Dragon Slayer who's element wasn't something that caused automatic destruction was probably a perk that Gajeel had over Natsu and Laxus.

Lucy rolled back over to her front, pressing her nose against the covers and taking in Gajeel's scent. It was unsurprising that Gajeel smelled like metal, he basically has that flowing in his bloodstream. Lucy had to keep on blinking repeatedly to stop herself from falling asleep; slumber's gentle hands refused to let go of her.

Lucy sat up with an upright back, the clingy claws of the desire to sleep finally relenting and letting go of her, making her feel more awake. Lucy turned her head towards a small three-drawer cupboard, the blonde approaching it and opening the drawers without full realization of her actions. She found the drawer to be full of black boxers, surprisingly looking like they were all cleaned and then ironed meticulously, maybe that was done by Lily. There was a packet of condoms in the corner of the drawer that the boxers were located in, but Lucy didn't pay much mind or attention to it.

Lucy closed the top drawer and opened the middle drawer; the only difference that this drawer had from the one above it was that it was socks instead of boxers. Lucy was uninterested in the sight of folded socks, the blonde ready to close this drawer and proceed onto the next, however she saw the sight of a different colour, like that of a picture. Lucy pressed a finger down on the different sigh, not feeling anything like the wooden surface of the cupboard. Lucy moved her fingers underneath the pile of folded socks, eventually reaching an edge of unknown object, no doubt a picture. Lucy grabbed hold of the picture's side, pulling it out from under the socks.

Lucy's face burnt to the colour of a red beet, her heat palpitating so intensely that it felt like it was going to pop like a balloon, her legs slowly losing their strength like invisible, intangible leeches were draining them dry of all power. It was picture of her when she worked for Sorcerer Weekly... as a model. The photo could have of course been describe as a sultry boudoir photo; Sorcerer was never shy of showing men or women (especially the latter) in scanty clothing. Though Lucy always enjoyed Sorcerer and still loves it to this day, she honestly feels like she has had enough pictures of her taken, at least for the time being. As both a wizard and novelist, it hurts your pride a bit when some people only know about you because you agreed to be in a photospread. Nevertheless, the picture was of her sitting on a bed, wearing some slightly revealing lingerie and doing a slightly seductive pose.

Lucy looked down at the pile of folded socks in the drawer, the blonde putting her hand into the pile in an attempt to see if there were anymore photos. They were; many of them were from Sorcerer Weekly, though some were obviously from magazines and whatnot that are strictly adult. Nevertheless, most of them were of her; and she was dressed in revealing clothes and in revealing poses. She was a constant among most of the pictures. More gears than usual in the machine that was Lucy's brain began turning and running as thoughts were being shoved in mercilessly.

Does Gajeel have these secret photos (most of which consist of her, mind you) to help him whenever his little dragon feels the need for attention? Did he get these prior to his friends with benefits relationship with her, or did he only have them after they started to make love for both of their sake? Lucy surely can't see any photos of any of the other females in Fairy Tail, she can't even see any females that looked like the other girls in Fairy Tail remotely. And even for the photos of those unknown women, whom were obviously used for photospreads, they all had a slight feature that looked like her; long blonde hair. Brown eyes. And many other little features that could allude to her.

Lucy shook her head from side to side; maybe those little features and such were all just illusions that were stuck in by her mind. Lucy put the photos back in the drawer and covered them with the socks again before shutting that drawer, hoping that the continuing experience of a rapid heart, red-hot face and weakening legs would finally subside and leave her be. Lucy didn't know how long it took, but she finally returned to being normal. But Lucy still couldn't have the bliss that was escaping the thought of Gajeel becoming that interested in her and her body. Or the bliss that was escaping the thought of becoming something more with Gajeel.

Thoughts like that shouldn't be; she still wasn't all that interested in returning to the dating scene (which still, as far as she could remember, was just a cesspool of disasters and jerkasses), and she could tell that Gajeel still wasn't ready to fall in love again. It was something that he hid well, she could only find it from small clues, and she knows that she'll never fully understand what it was like for him. She just knows that the Iron Dragon Slayer isn't yet ready to find someone who means as much to him as Levy did back then. Still though, the thought felt fun to entertain; him holding her tight in his arms as they kissed on their wedding day, their friends cheering and clapping at them for finding love. Her in a beautiful, white wedding dress while he was in a white tux suit, his long hair neatly tied into a ponytail.

A love story ending that she would have reveries about, so many times in that past she would have daydreams about marrying the perfect man. Her many different husbands in her many different dreams were always her own creations; their appearance, their names, their personalities, their magical abilities, their past, their friends, their families. She knew them all perfectly because they exist purely in the form of her imagination. This was the first ever reverie of a wedding that she had where her husband is someone she knows, a friend, someone that she might have feelings for...

Lucy growled and started hitting her head with her fists, trying to get such a preposterous thought out of her head. Sometimes it felt like her brain was her true enemy that only sought to make life become so needlessly complicated and frustrating for no other reason than its own amusement.

She only wants to see Gajeel as a friend, she doesn't sex and the existence of being in a team to change it.

Lucy bent her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs, at least the front of her legs. She was balancing on the front of her feet, it was almost strange how she didn't wobble. One of her hands feel to the ground, slowly getting back onto its front and crawling to the drawer that laid at the bottom, crawling onto the wooden piece like a spider. Lucy pulled the last drawer open, revealing nothing more than shits that were different than the usual tunic that Gajeel would wear. Lucy had briefly wondered if Gajeel was hiding more photos underneath the shirts, but she reached an ultimate decision to not check. She didn't want to once again go through that whole fiasco of imagining Gajeel as her husband on their wedding day.

Though he did look kind of sexy in that sharp tux; definitely a man that she would love to marry, far better than any husband that she could make up or imagine.

She needs to purge herself of these thoughts.

Lucy pushed the drawer shut, falling down on her butt as her ankles were beginning to scream from the constant weight of her entire body on them. Lucy leaned her head up to the ceiling, looking at the lamp that illuminated Gajeel's room. Boredom was altering her sense of time, she couldn't tell if second were passing in minutes or minutes were passing in seconds.

Lucy must have began to lose touch with her sense of reality as she looked at the lamp like a confused child, because she didn't hear or notice Gajeel's bedroom door opening behind her. "What's up with you?" Gajeel asked as he entered in and closed the door behind him. Lucy twisted her body and neck slightly to look at Gajeel, the blonde getting back onto her feet shortly thereafter to look at him more. The Iron Dragon Slayer was all but naked as he stood there, the only thing that resembled clothing being the long, white towel that was wrapped around his hips and obscuring his legs and penis. Gajeel had his hands on his hips, looking at Lucy with a raised eyebrow, his arms and torso were covered only in small drops of water that trailed down his muscular arms and his muscular chest.

"I got a little bored waiting for you." Lucy answered in as calm of a voice as she could muster, trying to pretend that she wasn't looking at Gajeel's sexy, shirtless body. The Dragon Slayer, however, noticed her wandering eyes, smirking and making his pecs do a small bounce. Lucy let out a little whimper as her face turned red, letting out pheromones that made Gajeel grow hard as he smelled them. Within the blink of an eye, Gajeel was in front of Lucy, the blonde caged in his arms.

"I know you want my body, Bunny." Gajeel purred into Lucy's ear, his arms remaining tight around her body and he pressed her against his chest, his hard members pressing and grinding against her pelvis, she could feel heat radiating from the organ, even with the layers of fabric that separated them. The rock-hard shaft had only made Lucy release even more pheromones at an even stronger rate, hitting Gajeel like a tidal wave. But that didn't deter Gajeel from his desire. On the contrary, it made his libido grow stronger. Gajeel let out a lustful growl and his grinding penis had only grown harder and hotter. And, in response, Lucy's scent had only became even better; it was like a cycle that would only result in both mages becoming more lustful. "I know you're hungry. I know you're horny. You want me and I want you, you know this is only going to end with us humping each other's brains into mush. And you know it's going to happen inevitably."

"This is what I wanted since this morning." Lucy said before she slammed her lips on Gajeel's own, her lust erupting like a volcano from within her. Gajeel was at first taken by surprise, but it was within a second that he began to kiss her back. Their tongues made an orgasmic dance in theirs mouth, alternating between Lucy's mouth and Gajeel's mouth. There was no special meaning behind the kiss, no deeper emotions or anything else of the like. It was purely an expression of the mood and their carnal desires. That was what they kept on reminding themselves; that's what they wanted to believe.

Gajeel grabbed hold of his towel and yanked it off, the piece of cloth falling to the ground as Gajeel's erect dick flopped upwards, finally free of its prison. "Get that top off and get it off before I rip it off. I want to see those plump ass boobs of yours!" Gajeel demanded. Lucy giggled, making an alluring smile as she grabbed the hem of her tank top with her fingers before pulling it off in a second, the only thing that stopped Gajeel from seeing her bare breasts being the pink lace bra that Lucy wore. Gajeel's jaw dropped as he saw the blonde's bra, his cock felt like it was on fire, his sexual arousal growing stronger as he saw the pink lace around the sexy organs.

Lucy smirked, a dominating look appearing in her eyes as she saw Gajeel's reaction. Lucy put her hands behind her back, almost like she was about to unhook her bra, before making them go further down and instead pulling down her long red pants. Gajeel officially believed that he had died and gone to sexy heaven. Underneath her red pants, Lucy was wearing suspenders. The lingerie suspenders, as pink as the lace bra she was wearing. Gajeel didn't know that the colour pink could make him feel so hard; it must have been because Lucy herself is such a goddess of sexiness. She had fucking planned this, she wanted to have sex with him and she really was going to make him beg her for it. Beg! She's freakin' sexy and insane.

"Looks like you're now under my power, aren't you?" Lucy purred as she looked at Gajeel, the blonde finally unhooking her bra, releasing her plump breasts as they layed down, much to Gajeel's joy. A smirk had merely grown on Lucy's face. "Tend to my breasts, I know you want them."

Lucy didn't need to repeated herself, Gajeel had already began to suck on her left nipple while his left hand touched and massaged her right breast. Lucy began to moan in sexual ecstasy, making Gajeel suck and massage her boobs even more intensely. He was growing hungrier for her body with each taste, the desire to fuck her was becoming near overwhelming, he practically needed her right now. Gajeel slammed Lucy down onto his bed, the mattress being so soft that the blonde barely felt it as her body sunk into it. Gajeel's wet manhood kept on pressing and rubbing against Lucy's core and the pink panties that covered them, the aforementioned panties becoming soaked from the precum that came from Gajeel, the Dragon Slayer reaching new levels of arousal.

Gajeel pressed his thumb down on the nipple of Lucy's breast that he was massaging while his tongue caressed the nipple of the breast he was sucking on, the Celestial Spirit mage's moans of pure, sexual delight was an orgasmic symphony to the Dragon Slayer's ears.

Gajeel pulled Lucy up from where he pinned her down on the bed, his free arm wrapping around her back whilst the hand that massaged her right breast had let go of it so he could grip her ass. Lucy moans grew deeper, Gajeel pressed her against one of the walls of his bedroom. Lucy's arms where wrapped around Gajeel, her fingernails digging into his back and creating crescent moons, much like the first time they made love, and much like that first time, Gajeel didn't care for them or the pain they delivered. Lucy could barely breathe in between her moans, she wanted Gajeel to be inside of her so desperately.

As if he could hear her thoughts, Gajeel began to pull Lucy's suspenders down, revealing her now bare vagina, covered in her invisible juices. Gajeel suddenly stopped his sexual touching, removing his mouth from around the large breast, looking at the blonde and down at her muff. "God, you're just too damn sexy, Bunny." Gajeel said as he looked at Lucy solemnly before he slid his erect member into her. Gajeel and Lucy were both overwhelmed by rampant waves of pleasure, moaning deeply as these powerful tsunamis of sexual joy refused to leave them. "I'm going to fuck you until you can't remember your own name."

"Do it, Stud Sexy." Lucy responded.

Gajeel began to thrust in and out of Lucy, the two mages moaning in pleasure as the sensation pulsed throughout both of their bodies. The Dragon Slayer began to ferociously suck on one of Lucy's buds (this time the other one) and he continued to press her against the wall whilst simultaneously thrusting in and out of her, slowly and gradually becoming faster and faster each time he pushed himself into her, going deeper inside her. He was radiating from them, between them, and bouncing off around them and the room's walls.

Their pheromones were becoming thick in the air, and if any entity that could smell them were to walk into the room at this exact moment, they would suffocate on the pheromones. Lucy and Gajeel had lost all awareness of the world that surround them, Gajeel ceased on sucking Lucy's nipple and moved his mouth up to her, the two naked humans devouring each other in a passionate kiss. Gajeel was becoming faster and faster and deeper and deeper; they could both feel it, the inevitable breaking point; the climax creeping out from behind the horizon. They both knew that they would have to release soon, and they knew that after that release they would be hit with an immense sensation of exhaustion.

But that exhaustion would contradict with their plans, their intentions. They didn't intend for this end with one climax; their blood was hot like boiling water and rushing through their veins like river rapids. Gajeel separated his mouth from Lucy's, pressing it against the side of her neck, muffling the roar that he let out as he orgasmed into her, the blonde letting out a cry of pleasure as she could feel his juices enter her whilst her own had escaped, enjoying the pleasurable and relieving sensation that arrived at the release of her orgasm. Fireworks exploded in their heads as their climax lasted, not even the draining feeling of exhaustion could make them feel tired.

Gajeel looked down to his and Lucy's crotch area, his flaccid penis falling out of her vagina as the blood left it, taking away all of its hardness, however in both his and her juices. Gajeel still felt hot, his penis reacting as it already started to become half erect. Gajeel looked up at Lucy, a massive grin on his face.

"You ready for another round, Bunny?" Gajeel purred at the blonde, his half erect organ rubbing against her leg.

"You bet I am." Lucy responded, kissing Gajeel in the heat of the moment. Gajeel kissed Lucy back; neither gave their consensual actions any thoughts, they would be too caught up in their love-making that they wouldn't know if the kiss had actually happened or if it was just a dream. It would be in a moment, when the two started to truly ponder about their relationship and the potential of it becoming further, that they would come to fully realise it. But it didn't matter to them right now, nor would it matter to them for the next few days or weeks. Gajeel pulled Lucy back from the wall, the Dragon Slayer turning Lucy around, the blonde now facing his bed. Gajeel cupped one of Lucy's voluptuous butt cheeks in his hand, the blonde moaning pleasure as his rough hand touch and squeezed the area of her soft skin.

Gajeel was definite that he was already three quarters hard, his hard member was practically squeezing between the two fleshy mounds on Lucy's bottom as he pressed against them. Gajeel gently laid Lucy onto her front on his bed, her beautiful and perfect ass in front of him and ready for him to enter her. The tip of Gajeel's member, once again wet with his juices of erotic pleasure. A whimper-like sound squeaked from Lucy, the blonde looking back at Gajeel, the two Fairy Tail mages silently communicating with each other with their eyes. Lucy nodded at Gajeel, silently answering to him to continue pressing himself in her.

Gajeel thrusted himself into Lucy's anus, her body making a spasm; she had never had sex like this before, the nerves in her anus reacting to strange and new position. It was odd and slightly uncomfortable for Lucy when she did it for the first time, although at least this time she didn't have to suffer the stinging pain that was her cherry popping. Gajeel's bare hands were around her body, most likely to keep her in position, the Dragon Slayer entering further into her. Lucy gripped the bedsheets, moaning in pleasure, even though she couldn't control the small movements of her body; reactions to the currently unusual position she was having with Gajeel.

"Gajeel..." Lucy moaned in pleasure, her moans becoming deeper as Gajeel went further inside her. "Don't stop! Keep going until you release in me again."

Gajeel bent forwards, his entire length inside the blonde as his mouth went to the side of her ear, a rumble emitting from his body. "You don't have to tell me twice, Princess." The Iron Dragon Slayer purred into Lucy's ear, his back becoming upright as he began thrusting into her with great power and speed. Lucy continued to moan, each thrust making a tingle of pleasure race up her spine. She felt high on the sexual pleasure she was feeling from Gajeel, and the Dragon Slayer's own pleasure was causing a similar sensation towards him, continuing to thrust into her until he came inside her, his semen leaking out of her anus slightly.

"That felt so good." Lucy breathed, turning over onto her back, showing her wonderful boobs towards Gajeel again, her nipples still hard and erect. Lucy raised a hand, gesturing Gajeel to come closer to her. And come closer Gajeel did, this is that he mounted over her and kissed her, the blonde kissing back; this kiss was definitely completely lust, unlike the other kiss earlier, which had something deeper than just sexual desire in it. Gajeel's limp penis rubbed against Lucy's entrance, heat warming up their bodies from those genital areas, though they were much less hot and powerful as the last ones, though there was still enough fuel and energy in both of them for one last climax for the night. Lucy smiled at Gajeel as they finished their kiss, the two on the same wavelength. "Do you want one last round, Iron Stud?"

"Aww, I thought you knew me well enough." Gajeel said in faux betrayal, his face almost becoming tight as the grin stretched across his face. "You've hurt and scarred me where it matters the most. I should punish you by fucking what's left of your brains out."

With a pleasured and slightly animalistic growl, Gajeel slid himself into Lucy, the blonde moaning accordingly. That moan of hers was still the sweetest melody to Gajeel's ears, and the Dragon Slayer had an intense love of music that he often kept mostly to himself (at least until joining Fairy Tail, even in Phantom Lord he would do it rarely and pretend that he was drunk or under the influence of a magical spell). Purrs mixed with Gajeel's sexual growls, moans of pleasure roaring out of him as Lucy's already tight walls were squeezing down on his hard member.

In minutes of pleasure that had sadly felt like they only lasted seconds, Gajeel and Lucy had once again developed a powerful, coiling pressure that they became relieved of as they climaxed; Lucy's body relaxed onto her bed whilst Gajeel's body relaxed onto Lucy.

Gajeel wrapped his muscular arms around Lucy and, with the last ounces of his strength, pulled himself and Lucy under the covers, his head resting on the pillow as Lucy's head rested sideways onto his chest. "God... you are too fucking good, Lucy." Gajeel breathed as he kept his arms around the aforementioned Celestial Spirit mage, stroking her long blonde hair. He knew that he'll be sleeping well tonight.

"You're like a monster; you're a beast in battle and in bed." Lucy responded, feeling serene after that divine release of the sexual desire that has been building up within her.

"I strive to be the best I can in everything that I'm passionate about." Gajeel laughed.

Lucy giggled, her eyes slowly closing before shooting wide open just before her eyelids touched. "Wait, what about Lily?" Lucy whispered intensely with worry, looking up at Gajeel with anxious eyes. "What if he heard and smelled us?!"

"Don't worry, Bunny, Lily smelled and heard nothin'." Gajeel responded. "These walls here are strong enough to block out noise an' smell. Lily wouldn't be living here willingly if he could hear and smell every time I had sex with a woman."

Lucy felt relieved upon the information, even though she felt an odd and inexplicable feeling of jealousy for a reason that she didn't understand the meaning behind. Lucy didn't ponder about the feeling of jealousy, mostly because she felt so tired that she could sleep on the hard ground. Gajeel looked up at the ceiling as his head rested on his pillow, the sounds of Lucy's faint snoring acting like a lullaby for Gajeel, as he to had fallen asleep.

---

The official building of the Magic Council stood high and tall as it always had since it was rebuilt, this time it was more guarded and secured to ensure that another incident, like when Jackal of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros massacred the then standing members of the council, would ever happen again. A black thunder cloud that appeared to be as vast as the sky itself was floating overhead, creating a constant gust of wind and many roars of thunder.

And it was unbeknownst to the Magic Council that two cloaked females were looking at it. Well, at least one of them definitely was.

Theodora looked at the building with glee, knowing that it was also technically the same prison that they sent Dark Mages to when caught. Truth be told, Theodora could probably retrieve her imprisoned members of Wendigo Skull on her own, however she needed the help of the female beside her for another objective. It would be killing two birds with one stone. "Doesn't it look both so beautiful and so disgusting, Mia?" Theodora asked of the woman standing beside her, looking clearly at the Magic Council building, even if her long hair was slightly obscuring it because of the wind. "So tall, it speaks of power and authority whilst also looking like a painting. But the attachment of the name 'Magic Council' almost ruins its beauty completely. Don't you agree?"

Theodora looked back at the woman beside her; she was petite, her small stature and flat chest almost making her look like a little girl. She wore leather gloves and leather boots, her body covered in a leather suit with a small leather skirt attached. She had long, purple hair and heterochromic eyes; her left eye was red whilst her right eye was grey. Her body was surrounded by a cloak that she put over her clothes, flapping in the wind.

"Dimitri... Dimitri!" The other woman, Mia, cried out in alarm. "Where are you, Dimitri? Where are you, Big Brother?!"

"Shh, it's okay Mia." Theodora said in the most calming tone she could muster, holding the smaller woman in an embrace. "Your brother is safe and sound back at Dark Sect."

"O-oh." Mia responded, her face full of shock and confusion. How did she forget where her brother was? "I should go back. B-Big Brother gets worried if he doesn't know where I am."

"I know that your brother is greatly protective of you, Mia, but I greatly need your power." Theodora said, keeping Mia in her embrace to not risk the other Dark Mage escaping and running back to Dark Sect.

"My... power?" Mia said in confusion, looking up at Theodora.

"Yes, your magic. Don't you remember your magic?" Theodora responded. Mia blinked at the red-haired woman with innocent confusion, trying to remember what her magic was. What was it again? Big Brother can control shadows with his magic, but her magic is meant to be different. And if she needed a mage in Shadow Magic then she could just get Big Brother to help, right? Big Brother is stronger than her. Did it have something to do with fire? No, not that. Is it Teleportation Magic? No, not by a mile. Was it...?

Oh yes, it was that...!

"Yes, I remember now." Mia said.

Theodora smiled, letting go of Mia and facing towards the Magic Council again, the ruling body of Magic in Earth Land still none the wiser to her and Mia's presences. "Yes, you see, you're far greater than any other mage of your magic; even Lacrima and Wizard Saint's can be tricked and duped by you. And that is why you are essential for my other plan." Theodora said.

"But... but how can I help?" Mia asked, genuinely curious as to why she would be needed by Theodora. She isn't good at combat, nor is her magic. What use does she have?

"Just listen to everything I say and do it." Theodora answered, looking down at her hand as she made lightning crackle between her fingers.

---

Author's Note: There, chapter finally done! Damn, this took forever to make (it's just a month, really, but it kinda feels like forever). So yeah, I guess I owe a bit of an explanation. For, you see, I am still in collage, and with summer holiday over I'm back in it and now have much less time to work on this story, particularly on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Although you could say that the amount of time that it took to create this can also be blamed on me writing other stories as well, and the chapter being other 25,000+ words long.

Speaking of which- HOLY SHIT IS THIS CHAPTER LONG! I seriously didn't mean for this chapter to be so long, but it didn't want to end. Anyways, the plot has gone further by at least a little bit, I guess. And I finally got another smut scene in this story, this time being three acts of sex in one going, two of which that I just tried out this chapter.

This story is officially longer than the average novel (providing that the average novel word count is 70,000 - 120,000 words) and I still have a few things planned for it, so this is going to be a really long read.

Reviews are welcome, they help me gaining the desire to write more fanfiction. This isn't a demand, you only have to write a review if you want to, but it would be appreciated nevertheless.

Sayonara.