A/N: Still own nothing. Also, Enjoy!

9. At Levy's

When she came round next, Laxus was once again there. He was staring at her and Lucy felt intimidated by his intensive gaze. His coat was still covering her.

"Morning, blondie," he said tersely.

"Hey, you're blonde too!" Lucy exclaimed softly. She was warm and comfortable under his coat. She didn't want to return it to him.

"You've been sleeping for days," he noted, when the girl slowly sat up. She was surprised there was no pain.

Lucy combed her hair with her fingers and felt the dirtiness of them. She felt self-conscious all of a sudden, Laxus was still looking at her.

"Here." the man awkwardly pushed a glass of water in her arms. The girl blushed, bringing it to her dry lips. The water running down her throat made her realize just how thirsty she was.

"What happened?" she asked, taking small sips. It was hard not to drink it all at once, but she managed. Laxus turned away from her, as he spoke.

"Your magic linked with mine," he said, shoulders tensing. "It started draining me off-guard. How in Edolas did you do that?" he sounded angry.

"I honestly don't know," she said quietly. There was a silence between the two.

"Levy said you're a dragonrider," Laxus said, breaking the awkwardness. He turned back to her, eyes void of emotion, but Lucy found herself easily getting caught in them. "An artificially created one. My condolences."

So Levy had told them. Lucy sighed in relief. That meant she didn't have to do it. She removed the coat from her and handed it with a simple thanks to Laxus, who accepted it wordlessly.

Lucy looked around. There was no one else in the room, besides her and Laxus. It seemed he was babysitting her. The man noticed her trail of thoughts and stood up, draping the coat over his shoulders.

"Come along," he said, taking her by wrist. His grip was firm and Lucy looked at it with a small smile. Then she turned her face to his. A smile was on his lips as well.

He led her to Levy's dorm, where the bluenette immediately sent her to shower. She barely dared to glance at the mirror. When she did, she wondered how Laxus could stay silent about his horrible looks. She was still covered in blood.

He had probably seen worse.

Lucy washed herself carefully. Swiping the blood off from the new skin on her stomach and back felt strange. The scales were now almost invisible, but under her fingers, she knew they were there. Some were soft as feathers, some rough like Laxus' hands. They melted into her skin.

She got dressed quickly and exited the stalls with a contented smile. She entered Levy's room, which looked as tiny as before, and was surprised to see Laxus still there.

"He refused to leave," Levy shrugged and handed a cup of hot chocolate to the girl, who had entered. She was reluctant in doing so, eyes peaking at books judging their safety.. Lucy nodded and took a sip.

"I did some research," Levy explained, when Lucy had sat down next to Laxus. The boy unconsciously wrapped a hand around her shoulders. Lucy did not mention it, listening to her friend with immense curiosity.

"Rogue helped me with it and he was right about the pills. Thanks to him, we know for sure you were fed the one and only lacrima of dragonrider magic," she said bitterly. "Apparently, it was the doing of an ex-counsellor, who stole the lacrima and decided you had enough latent magic for that. Luckily, you did," she stopped and let Lucy think about it. "But your body is far too fragile for this kind of magic. Originally, all dragonriders were strong men with powerful magical abilities by tradition. That is, before they died out." Her eyes switched to Laxus for a moment and then back to Lucy's. "Magical powers you don't entirely have. That's why your body used Laxus as a power source. Because he was the one with most probable magic for a dragonrider."

From the corner of her eye, Lucy saw the man look smug and content with himself. She smiled gently, finally acknowledging his hand on her body.

"But your body was very injured in the process of using this magic," Levy said. "It went out of control. Fortunately for us, you only wiped out the enemies, but there's no guarantee for the next time. You're literally a grenade waiting to blow up." She looked regretfully into the eyes of her best friend.

"Well," Lucy grinned half-heartedly. "That just means I have to toughen up, doesn't it?" Levy smiled, relieved how her reaction was not as panicky as she had expected. "Somehow, someone has to make a man out of me," she giggled, clinging to Laxus' hand. When he looked at her, frozen on spot, she winked at him. Only then he realized where his hand was, but he couldn't remove it now that Lucy had noticed it before him. He put on his most arrogant face and said indifferently: "I doubt anyone wants to train you. You whine too much." Lucy frowned.

"Thanks," she giggled, letting go of him. Levy grinned, seeing how Laxus' eyes almost immediately flew back to the girls. "I know at least Natsu won't turn me down," she added almost as an afterthought. Laxus snorted, but it was evident on his face that before she could ask Natsu, she would have to get past him.

"Sorry to burst the bubble for you, but it's the guild master that gets the fun of choosing your trainer," It was Erza, standing in the doorway. She was desperately trying to hide a book behind her, face red. Lucy's mouth fell open, but she distracted the boy next to her nevertheless.

"Hey, Laxus," she said, forcing him to look at her. "Why are you so against training me?" She was surprised how much she enjoyed the feeling of his beautiful face against her cold fingers. Laxus was dazzled by the sincerity in her eyes.