A/N: And here we are at chapter 10. The long-awaited "Kid Mission." This chapter in particular was one of the first scenes that I imagined when I thought up this story… I'm so excited!
So, on to the story!
Toddles with Snakes
Cobra was finding the sight before him both utterly hilarious and completely horrifying. The short, pudgy, red-faced little oompa loompa that was Duke Sawarr Junelle was just creeping him right the fuck out. His little oval glasses were stupid. The crown on top of his head was cheap. Hell, he had nearly gagged just at the amount of cologne the perverted little shit was wearing.
And to top it all off, his wife was barely legal. Before arriving at the opulent mansion, Lucy had given him a quick rundown of how things would work - how he would need to keep snide remarks to himself, because Dickface would whine and have his ass arrested for some trumped up fucking charges, and a little bit about how high society marriages worked. So really, the Poison Slayer shouldn't have been surprised to find the just-turned-eighteen year old girl with a three-year-old daughter with shoulder-length brown hair latched onto her poofy fucking skirt, was actually the Duke's wife.
But he was. And he was also almost positive that he was more sickened by this shit than the goddamn train.
'If he doesn't stop staring at my tits, I'm going to staple his nuts to his asshole, superglue his dick shut, and give him brownies full of laxatives and diuretics… Forcefully… For days!'
It took everything in Cobra's power to not burst out laughing at the constant stream of irate thoughts from his blonde partner. Ever since getting off the train, Lucy had wavered between being just a little sick to her stomach and pissed as hell. And since they'd been standing in front of their current employer's desk for the past ten minutes, and he'd hardly said two words about the actual job, and had instead spent the entire time leering at her, Cobra wasn't all that surprised by how inventive her threats were getting.
He was, however, loving the fact that Lucy didn't show a single damn sign of what she was actually thinking about. She was the picture of politeness. Her arms hung at her sides, because keeping her hands behind her would push out her chest and accentuate her curves, while clasping them in front of her would push her breasts together. Her face was blank, which was almost eerie.
"Lucy… Little Lucy," Duke Junelle sighed.
'What I wouldn't give to have her for a night. Hopefully she hasn't been whoring herself out too much in that trashy guild. Then again, maybe she'll have a few tricks up her skirt that I can take advantage of… Now, to just get rid of this mongrel that accompanied her. Maybe I can-'
"So, this job's about babysitting, right?" Cobra finally sighed. He had to force himself not to sneer at the derisive snort from the pompous shitgoblin in front of him. "Any particular reason you couldn't just hire a nanny or some sh-"
Lucy quickly elbowed Cobra in the side. 'No cursing in front of the kid, goddamnit!'
"Or something," he corrected with a growl, sending the blonde a side-eyed glare.
"That's rather simple," the duke tutted, his eyes closing and his smile curling with condescension. "My lovely wife and I must attend a ball tonight, and our daughter is not old enough to join us."
"And you needed a mage, because…" Cobra rolled his eye only a moment later. "Wonderful."
Lucy frowned and turned her narrowed eyes to the Poison Slayer. "What is it?"
"Because there is a chance that someone will try and take advantage of our absence," Junelle said, his eyes cutting over to Lucy again. "Now that the competition has died out-"
'You slimy little fuck! You mean my dad. You took advantage of him, and I know it! I'm gonna fucking murder you so hard, you don't even know!'
"-My family is at a higher risk for being targeted," he continued, utterly unaware of the Celestial mage's hands tightening into fists at her sides.
'I knew she would show up. I hadn't expected her to bring someone with her, though. This would have been so much simpler if she was alone. A simple charm spell, and that delicious little body would be all mine. She hasn't aged one bit in all this time…'
Cobra sighed and closed his eye for a moment, then slowly opened it to look at the man behind the desk. Of course that was the real reason the guy had put out the request. From what he could tell, Fairy Tail was the only one that had received the job, and it had been tailored to fit Lucy's particular skills from what she'd learned while growing up. "Well, you give us a list of duties and a time frame. This request doesn't say much as far as the actual job is concerned."
"Yes," Lucy ground out. "That would be preferable. I'd love to know what our job actually is."
'Getting on your knees and screaming my name is the only job you're good for, you little...'
The mental image that accompanied Junelle's lewd thoughts nearly had Cobra vomiting right there. Instead, he took a deep breath, and counted to twenty in his head to keep himself from poisoning everyone in the goddamn room. This was starting to give him a headache.
Between Lucy's nearly constant internal screeching, Junelle's circle-jerk in PervTown, the silent wife's mental undressing of Cobra, and the terrified little toddler that was currently in the process of pissing in her diaper… He was going to be more crotchety than normal in a matter of minutes.
'I wonder if she's opened her legs for him. Maybe just trying something a little more exotic. Her parents were pathetically poor before the business took off, so maybe it's just that peasant blood in her. She needs to whore herself out for dark-skinned vermin.'
It was official. Cobra was going to murder the hell out of someone. It was one thing for the guy to think about Lucy the way he was - Cobra really didn't care all that much. It was something else entirely to look down on him because of the color of his skin. Or his scar. Or the evil as shit look in his eye. Or whatever the hell else the bastard was thinking about.
Hopefully the kid they were supposed to watch wouldn't be a spoiled little brat, and Lucy would take over this whole ordeal of handling the girl. He didn't know the first thing about kids, and he really didn't want to.
'She's never choosing a job again…' he thought sourly. 'Ever!'
An hour later, Cobra was walking into the room he would be sleeping in for the night. Well, it was the room they expected him to sleep in, but he already knew that shit just wasn't fucking happening.
He didn't sleep in new places, and considering the fact that Lucy was just as determined to not fucking sleep in the mansion as him, Cobra was sure that he would be sitting up the whole night with the blonde. Granted, Lucy was planning on staying up simply because she just didn't trust this place. The last thing the blonde wanted was to wake up tied up to a bed with the Duke on top of her.
The fact that she was in the process of running to the bathroom in her own room, just next to his, to throw up after picturing it had the Poison Slayer shuddering. Her imagination was terrifying.
He set his bag down on the bed and barely took in his surroundings. There wasn't a point, and he really didn't give a shit just how expensive anything was. All he had to do was wait for Lucy to finish her sudden puke-fest, then find the little brat they were supposed to watch. Until the following morning.
"Cobra, I'm so fucking sorry…"
He let out a heavy sigh and made his way to her room, opening the door just as he heard her washing her mouth out.
'God, why did I agree to do this?'
As soon as she appeared in the doorway, looking just a little too pale, he rolled his eye and went to sit down on her bed.
"This was a mistake," Lucy whispered sheepishly.
"Whatever," he sighed. "We do it, stay the night, and leave tomorrow after some breakfast. Piece of cake."
'Unless Dickface tries to get me to-'
"Stop right there," he sneered.
Lucy froze and stared at the Poison Slayer with widened eyes. "Huh?"
He stood then, closing the distance between them until he was standing only a foot from the blonde. "I'll only say this once, and I want you to fucking listen."
Lucy shivered slightly at the sharper quality to his voice, but nodded all the same.
"The only reason he put out the request was to get you here."
Really, that didn't make her feel any better. She should have known that was the case as soon as she'd seen the name on the request.
"But, you're with me," Cobra continued, his eye glinting with malice. "Remember what I told you at the guild?"
Lucy bit her lip and stared down at her boots, ignoring the plush rug they were standing on. She nodded again. Of course she remembered that Cobra was more than willing to threaten someone, namely their employer, but it would also put him in a boatload of shit after the fact.
"So, no matter what that bastard has in mind, I'll hear it well before he can do anything," he whispered, watching as she slowly looked into his eye again. "You've got bad blood between the two of you. I get that. But I'll tell you right now… The shit you're worrying about is unwarranted."
"Why?" she winced. "He's just trying to-"
"That might be the case, but you're not interested. I'm a downright asshole, but I'll gladly go right back to prison for maiming a handsy son of a bitch with a silver spoon in his mouth."
Lucy knew she shouldn't be laughing, but she just couldn't help it. Not when she pictured Cobra taking an actual silver spoon and slowly torturing the Duke with it.
"You…" Cobra chuckled softly as he turned and stood next to her, the pair of mages making their way out of her room. "That's not what I had in mind but… You need to let that shit out more."
"No way," Lucy giggled. Just a few words from the usually intimidating Slayer had her feeling loads better, like an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Really, she knew that she didn't have anything to worry about. No matter how creepy the Duke was, he was also a wimp. He wouldn't have the balls to really try making a move on her.
Still, it was nice knowing that Cobra would be keeping an ear out for trouble, and that he'd have her back in the event something was about to happen. The Duke had always given her the creeps, and she knew that she should have seen the request for what it really was. But her need for money had overridden everything else.
"Stop worrying," Cobra said softly. "I'm serious. We're partners, so the last thing that'll happen is me letting you get fucking molested." The shit he and the other members of the Seis had gone through was enough of a reason for Cobra to make sure Lucy didn't have to as well. Hell, he was still a little shaken up from the nightmare just that morning. And the fact that the Duke had even remotely considered taking Lucy against her will had the Poison Slayer so ready to kill the cheeky bastard.
"You really should watch your mouth," she hissed, still smirking.
"Probably," he shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, he's already gone."
That actually made the blonde visibly relax. Thankfully, the little girl, Priscilla, they were supposed to be watching was taking a nap right then, so Lucy and Cobra had been given a tour of the places they were allowed to take her. Along with the basic rundown from the staff of her daily routine.
Lucy couldn't remember her younger years ever having been so structured. Granted, after her mother had died, everything was laid out in a minute-to-minute schedule at her father's insistence, but really… Priscilla was just three.
"That schedule can suck my asshole," Cobra muttered.
Lucy glanced at him out of the corner of one honey eye. "What do you suggest we do, then?"
"Hell if I know," he shrugged. "But kids are supposed to play and shit."
"Yes," she laughed. "They do tend to shit."
"Asshole," he chuckled. "I just mean, I've heard plenty of parents over the years. Nothing tires a kid out more than playing all fucking day."
"Your magic is going to be really helpful, you realize that?"
He smirked then, lightly knocking her shoulder with his. "You wish. I'm not gonna be your little toddler alarm."
"Think about it this way," Lucy said as they rounded a corner and walked toward the little girl's room. It was apparently time for her to wake up, if she wasn't already, and it now fell to Lucy and Cobra to wake her up and get lunch in her. She paused just outside of the bedroom and sent the deeply tanned mage a sly grin. "If you stop her from crying before she gets started, you won't have to hear it."
Cobra's smirk faltered as Lucy turned back toward the room, and he simply leaned against the jamb while she walked inside to get Priscilla. He knew all too well just what his Soul Listening magic could do where babies were concerned. Back when he'd been in the Tower, it had helped a good portion of the other slaves there to keep their kids quiet well before they even made a peep.
Granted, no one had known why he knew the little ones were about to cry, and he made sure to keep his involvement in the babies' lives to a minimum otherwise. Still, there had been a handful of times when the little slave boy Erik had been the only one who was able to make a baby stop crying.
"Aw," Lucy crooned with a gentle smile. "Your bed got a little messy?"
And suddenly, he was realizing just how horrible this job was going to be.
"It's okay," Lucy said softly, picking up Priscilla and holding her at arm's length while making her way to the changing table. Apparently, no one had been trying to get the girl potty-trained, which meant that she was still in full use of diapers. That just killed her inside.
The last thing either of the mages wanted to deal with were diapers, but Lucy wasn't going to make a fuss over it. If she did that, then it could just set the girl back when it was time for her to start learning.
Cobra blinked slowly as the blonde started pulling down Priscilla's wet sleep pants. "There's no way I'm touching a baby's dick," he sneered.
Lucy paused in removing the little girl's diaper to frown at the Poison Slayer. "Priscilla is a girl, Cobra."
"Even worse." He pointed to himself and said, "I'm a criminal. I go anywhere near an itty bitty baby snatch, and the Rune Knights will climb out of the damn woodwork and lock my ass up. Lahar's butt-buddy is the pedo, not me."
"Doranbolt isn't a pedophile," she said with a roll of her eyes. She went back to removing the girl's diaper, then bit her lips in amusement when she heard her companion gag from several feet away. "Aw, we've got some poops here, huh?" she crooned to the little girl.
"Th-That…" Cobra gagged again as the acrid stench crawled up into his sinuses.
Priscilla giggled as Lucy placed a cool baby wipe over her.
"This looks like a pretty good poop," Lucy laughed. "Were you saving this just for me?"
"I wanna see the poops on the baby wipe!"
"Why the fuck are you smiling!" Cobra choked out. "That's disgusting."
"Cobra, go into the other room if you can't stand the smell. Don't make her feel bad about this."
Really, he didn't need to be told twice. Instead, he simply shut the door and walked down the hall, then crouched down and placed his head between his knees. He could eat fucking carrion if he really had to (or if Midnight bet him to), but the smell of human shit, and how fucking potent that was, was just vile. How Lucy could smile and look as though it hadn't fazed her in the slightest was beyond him. He could hear just how gross she thought it was, so why was he the only one that was about to upchuck?
"So, Miss Priscilla, what would you like to play with Miss Lucy and Mister Cobra today?"
"... Play?"
His head lifted slowly and he turned with a saddened eye at the confusion in the little girl's voice. And when he dipped into her soul, it only got worse.
'What's play? I want Mommy. She sings so pretty. I miss Mommy… Is play like Mommy's song? What's hide-see? Miss Lucy smiles a lot. No one smiles with me…'
Hell, Cobra had very little in the way of knowledge where playing with kids was concerned. The most he knew was what he'd seen little Asuka doing at the guild, but she was so focused on being a sharpshooter that most of her games revolved around cowboys and guns.
But the echoes of loneliness in the little girl's soul were harmonizing with Lucy's memories of her own childhood, and it was actually making him feel sick. For a good portion of his life, he'd envied people like this. Once he'd gotten out of the Tower, and after several more years of being isolated from the rest of the world, he'd seen rich people for the first time. And he'd wanted what they had so badly, he'd considered killing one just to take it for himself.
But now, he was getting a more in-depth look at just how their lives really worked. And he hated it. Children's souls were a secret pleasure of his. They were innocent, and while he loved ripping that away from others and bringing pain and misery to their pathetic lives, he couldn't listen to this.
What he'd told Makarov before hadn't been a lie. There had been times where he'd killed children, or hadn't saved them from dying when he was more than capable of it. But he didn't go out of his way to rip a child's innocence away from them. He loved hearing how their souls would trill so sweetly, the way he would catch splashes of joy no matter how horrible their lives were.
But this little girl - and Lucy, he was realizing - didn't have any of that joy in a giant mansion like this. They had loneliness, fear, pain, and sadness. So fucking much of it that he wasn't sure if he could stomach it. He was supposed to enjoy those darker parts of a soul, but he just couldn't. Not right then.
The door to the bedroom opened, and Lucy was gently holding Priscilla's hand as they walked out, looking for Cobra. Hearing their footsteps well before they could see him, Cobra stood up and buried his emotions beneath a blank mask again.
"Cobra, we're gonna get some lunch," Lucy said as she came to stand by her companion. "Are you coming?"
He nodded and looked down at the little girl, whose bright green eyes were wide as she stared at him.
'He gots a scary face.'
"That's 'He has a scary face'," Cobra whispered. "And yes, I do."
"It's not that scary," Lucy snorted. When he glared at her, she simply raised an amused brow at him. "Nope. Not even that."
'No face he makes will be as scary as this morning… It was like he couldn't see me…'
Cobra turned his head sharply as her vibrant memory of that morning streaked through her soul. "C'mon. Let's get some grub."
Lucy sighed and smiled down at Priscilla. "So, what do we want for lunch?"
"Pancakes!"
"I don't think pancakes are on the menu, but… We'll see what we can do."
Cobra rolled his eye and lagged behind the two, watching Lucy walking comfortably with the little girl at her side, their hands clasped between them. There had been plenty of times where he'd seen a woman walking with her child, holding hands just like the blonde was with the little girl.
'Miss Lucy so pretty. Her smile my favorite!'
But Lucy wasn't the little girl's mom, and she still looked more than comfortable. She was a natural at this, and he was suddenly left wondering just what it would have been like if he'd had a mother while growing up. If, even though he'd been a slave, things would have been different had his mother actually survived giving birth to him in the rat-infested cell.
What would it have been like if he'd had arms to wrap around him, no matter how thin and frail they would have been? How would her soul have sounded while they tried to keep each other warm? Would she have cried with him and kissed away his tears after he'd been whipped by the guards?
No one had remembered who the woman was that had given birth to him. He didn't even have a face to put to his imagined memories of her. Hell, he didn't know if he even looked a thing like her, or if he looked more like his father. Or even who his own father was. Cobra didn't even know who fucking named him in the first place.
Lucy turned to look at Cobra over her shoulder, her smile fading when she saw the way his brows were pushed together and how his shoulders were just a little more hunched. How he wasn't looking anywhere but at the ground. 'What's up with him?'
The biggest thing that Cobra wondered, though, was whether he really would have had the shit hand he'd been dealt if there had been just one person to really love him. Maybe his mother would have kept him safe from Brain, and then… Maybe they could have escaped.
He wouldn't have cared if they lived under a goddamn bridge, or in a cottage, or an apartment. Anything was better than where he'd been born and where he'd ended up afterwards.
Lucy sent Priscilla on ahead as one of the maids came out of the dining room, nodding for the woman to get her seated like she normally was and letting her know that the girl had asked for pancakes. Cobra was, however, lost in his own little world.
And for the first time since getting the Poison Slayer out of prison, Lucy thought he looked… sad.
She just wasn't sure what to do about it, if anything. Because if he was a downright monster while having a nightmare and getting woken up, then he could just as easily attack her if he wasn't really aware of his surroundings.
Still, the blonde stopped right in front of him and placed her knuckles on his shoulder to stop him from walking into her.
"Cobra… Are you alright?"
He jolted at the sound of his name, lifting his head to look into Lucy's wide brown eyes. "Huh?"
"I asked if you're alright," she said softly. "You look…"
"Fine," he sneered, taking a quick step back.
"Y'know, if you want, you can-" Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes when he roughly brushed past her to stalk into the dining room. He could talk to her, not that she expected him to. Still, she just wanted the guy to know that, if he was so inclined, she was willing to listen to him.
Cobra plopped down into a chair next to the little brown-haired girl, raising a brow at the two pancakes that had been set in front of her. "Pancakes for lunch?" he asked softly.
She glanced at him quickly, then looked back at the pancakes, her lower lip quivering.
Cobra sighed as a plate was set in front of him, piled high with pancakes. It wouldn't be nearly enough to really fill him up, but that wasn't his concern. "What's wrong with the pancakes?" he asked the little girl.
'Too big…'
His head turned slowly, his single eye never leaving her plate even as Lucy walked into the room and sat down on her other side. "Need someone to cut those?"
Priscilla nodded, looking down at her fork as it sat on the table.
Lucy was just about to ask one of the servants for a knife to cut the little girl's pancakes when she paused to stare at Cobra.
He turned in his chair and lifted Priscilla's fork, then handed it to her. "You don't need to depend on anyone else to cut some pancakes. These are easy," he whispered. He lightly grabbed her tiny hand, positioning the plastic fork sideways, then brought it to the plate. "What kind of shapes do we want?"
'Triangles are my favorite.'
"Triangles, then," he chuckled. She turned to look at him with wide eyes, instantly wondering how he'd known what shape she wanted.
Lucy had to stifle a laugh as Cobra's sharpened canines bit down on his lower lip in mock concentration while he made Priscilla's hand cut a section of the pancake.
"That's not triangle," the little girl laughed.
"What?" Cobra frowned at the square piece of pancake. "That looks like a triangle to me…"
"No. Tha's four sides. Not three!"
"Silly Mister Cobra," Lucy teased. "That's a square!"
"Huh," he sighed. "Well, then you'll just have to eat a square piece. I don't know how to make a triangle."
"Like dis…" Priscilla turned the fork to run diagonally across the pancake. She pushed it down as Cobra's hand drifted back to his own cutlery, grinning when there were two triangles on her plate. "See?"
"Oh, that's a triangle," he mused. "I bet you can't make the rest look like those, though."
Lucy smiled while pouring a little syrup on her own pancakes, stealing a quick glance at the Poison Slayer. His eye locked onto hers, and she rolled her eyes at the playful wink he gave her. And here she'd thought he didn't know a thing about kids. Apparently, if Cobra wasn't going to be threatening people or cursing or killing anyone… He was a damn natural.
Now, if only her poor panties hadn't caught wind of the hormones rushing through her body. The slip of lace would never be the same… And she was sure her spare sets in her bag, back in her room, were already drenched by proxy.
After finishing lunch, Lucy had taken Priscilla and Cobra to where the library was at. They spent a few short minutes attempting to stick to the schedule that had been laid out, by reading to the little girl. Lucy had, however, rolled her eyes at the stacks of books that were set out.
Really, there was no point in trying to get the little girl to understand railways. Not at the age of three. Maybe, if there had been pictures in the book, Lucy would have attempted it. But it was just long, boring blocks of text that made her cringe. Mostly because she remembered her own tutors forcing her to memorize passages from it that she still dreamt about occasionally.
So, the blonde took Priscilla into the stacks and found a couple books that they wouldn't be bored reading. Duke Junelle's library was nowhere near as extensive as her own had been, but Lucy already knew that the man just didn't enjoy reading. It was one more point of disinterest for her concerning the old marriage arrangement.
They only got a few pages into the first book before Priscilla got bored. Cobra had a book in his hands and was sitting on an overstuffed armchair, fully engrossed in the pages of text. He didn't say a word, and Lucy had fought with the little girl for a solid ten minutes, trying to get her to settle down and at least finish the book.
The Poison Slayer, for all he'd looked as though he wasn't paying attention, was listening and watching the blonde in his peripherals. Lucy had a temper, and while he didn't think she would hit the little girl, the fact that Priscilla was actually scared it might escalate to that had him ready to intervene.
But, for all the fuming in the blonde's head about how she was never going to have children, Lucy didn't outwardly lose her cool. She was still gentle with the little girl, even as Priscilla smacked her in the face.
He slowly turned a page, not paying attention to what was actually written in the book, and listened as Priscilla punched Lucy in the throat, then kicked the blonde in the stomach while trying to get away from her.
"Priscilla, honey," Lucy said, her jaw clenching momentarily as she dodged a hand that was sailing toward her face. "If you don't want to read, then what should we do?"
"You made me mad!" Priscilla shrieked.
Cobra let out a slow breath. "You're not mad, Priscilla. You're scared."
Lucy blinked and looked at the maroon-haired mage. "Scared? Of what?"
"That you'll smack her for acting up." He lightly scratched his chin and shifted in his chair, never taking his eye from the book. "She wants attention."
"Priscilla," Lucy sighed. "We're reading together. You don't need to act up to - Ooph!"
Cobra snickered when the toddler ran away from Lucy after kicking her in the crotch. "Enjoy that."
She vaulted from the floor and started chasing after the little girl, but he could see Lucy smiling as they rounded a corner. And he could tell that she was obviously running much slower than she was really capable of. The blonde's legs, even though they were covered in jeans for a change, were pretty damn powerful.
"I'm gonna get you," Lucy laughed. Priscilla turned to look over her shoulder, and Lucy stretched out her hands, feigning a grab for the little girl. "And when I do, I'll gobble you up!"
"No!"
"Yes!" Lucy shouted. "Unless you hide, I'll catch you."
Cobra closed his book and watched Priscilla scramble halfway under the table at his side, still fully visible.
Lucy came to a screeching halt, furrowing her brow and placing her hands on her hips. She took a step toward where the girl's frilly skirt was peeking out from the table. "Where did she go?" she asked. "I just saw her a second ago."
"It's magic," Cobra shrugged, returning to his book. "I have no idea where she went."
"You can't hear her either?" Lucy gasped.
"Nope," he smirked. "Not a peep. She vanished into thin air."
"Priscilla is great at hiding then." Lucy walked one way then another, smiling when she heard the small giggles coming from under the table. "Hmm… Is she… under the couch?"
"No…" Priscilla laughed.
Lucy got onto her hands and knees and crawled across the floor. "Is she…" She carefully grabbed Cobra's shoe and lifted it from the floor. "Under Mister Cobra's foot?!"
"No…" Priscilla giggled.
"On the ceiling!" Lucy shouted while looking above them.
"No…"
"Hmm…" Her movements were exaggerated as she crawled and pretended to search for the little girl. Finally, after looking everywhere else, Lucy sat back on her heels right next to the table that was Priscilla's haven, and let out a dramatic sigh. "Priscilla, where are you hiding?"
"Here I am!" the little girl shouted happily. She crawled out from under the table, a wide smile on her face as Lucy laughed and wrapped her in a gentle hug.
"Miss Lucy should hide now," Cobra said, turning to the next page. "That way you can find her."
The blonde smirked at the bored expression on her partner's face. "Okay, you count to five, Priscilla. Close your eyes."
The girl did as she was told, then instantly started counting.
Cobra paused in his farce of actually reading to watch as Lucy ran across the small space they were in, and hid behind a floor lamp. It was just sad, seeing her crouched down with her hands over her eyes and acting as though it was the best hiding place in existence. Then again, he knew she was doing it for the little girl's benefit.
"Five!" Priscilla opened her eyes and looked around, smiling while she ran over to the couch. "Miss Lucy… under da couch?"
"No…" Lucy crooned.
"Miss Lucy…" Priscilla looked up at Cobra. "In Mister Cobra mouth?"
The Poison Slayer opened his mouth wide, letting her peer inside. "Not here," he chuckled.
She pouted and turned to look at the room, her little brow furrowing in concentration.
Lucy snickered while peeking through her fingers. "You can't find me…" She let out a squeal as Priscilla came rushing over to her, jumping up and running away from the girl. "Bet you can't catch me!"
"I gonna get you!"
Cobra found himself putting the book down entirely as the little girl chased Lucy around the coffee table for a solid five minutes. Again, the blonde was keeping her pace slower than she was capable of for the little brunette's benefit.
Another few minutes went by and he automatically lifted his arms as Lucy jumped onto the couch and sprawled across his lap.
"Can I help you?"
"Sanctuary!" Lucy laughed. "There's a monster after me!"
"I'm a monster!"
'Oh my god, Cobra smells amazing…'
Cobra blinked slowly, then shoved Lucy off the couch with a smirk. "No can do. The monster paid me to let it eat you."
"No!" Lucy shouted as Priscilla descended on her. She quickly upended the girl and started tickling her. "Tickle tickle tickle!"
"That tickles!"
Cobra shook his head and returned to the beginning of the book as Lucy and Priscilla continued playing. Really, he wasn't needed for this part of the job. He was only there because he had to be, what with the blonde being his pseudo-parole officer. If they were in Magnolia, she didn't really need to keep as close an eye on him. But if she was leaving town, he had to accompany her.
So, he would let her handle the kid. While they were playing, he could keep an ear out for anything amiss. The souls of the staff. Anyone who was there and wasn't supposed to be. Even though the Duke had made the request as a ploy to get into Lucy's pants, Cobra wasn't going to let his guard down. Just in case there really was something else going on.
There were plenty of things Cobra had seen in his lifetime, most of them not at all pleasant as far as normal people were concerned. And really, he prided himself on his ability to not be surprised. But just before he and Lucy were about to take Priscilla inside to get cleaned up for dinner, something had caught all of them by surprise.
Nearly a foot long, Cobra found his jaw hanging open at the sight of a pure white snake with gleaming red eyes whose tail was pinched between Lucy's fingers. And instead of being scared in the slightest, even as it curled up and started winding itself around her arm, the blonde was frowning at the thing.
"Now, that's not very nice, little snake," Lucy said sternly. She was sure that spending the day with a toddler had forced her mind to permanently reside in 'mother mode'. Normally, snakes scared the everloving shit out of her. "If you want to play with us, then you don't just started trying to suffocate people's arms. Do you understand me?"
"Uh…" Cobra muttered. He got up from his place under a tree nearly ten feet from the blonde, and made his way over to her. "What are you doing?"
"I swear, you'd better not be poisonous," Lucy hissed under her breath.
"It's not," Cobra said. The snake writhed angrily when Lucy showed no sign of letting its tail go, and his hand shot forward just as it tried to strike the blonde. With his fingers pinched just behind its head, forcing the snake's jaw to remain open, Cobra sighed and glared at the blonde. "Do me a favor."
Lucy blinked down at where the snake's mouth was perched just above her wrist, nodding slowly.
"Don't grab any fucking snake by its tail," Cobra frowned. "It's like me picking you up by your toes."
She nodded again, biting her lips as the snake coiled around her arm and started to tighten its grip on her. "C-Can you get it off of me?"
He crouched down and looked at the snake, reaching out slowly with his other hand to let its tongue flick over the tips of his fingers. His grip on the snake's head loosened, and he gently ran his thumb over the scales surrounding its snout. "Come here, little guy," he whispered.
"Get rid of it, Cobra," Lucy said as she pulled Priscilla into her lap once the snake was no longer on her. She was just going to bury the fact that it was creepy as hell feeling its scales sliding on her arm. And she was definitely going to be scrubbing her hands and arms with a brillo pad just to get the germs off. "That thing could bite her."
He frowned as he peered down at the snake. "It's not poisonous," he said again. "Reticulated pythons are constrictors."
"A snake is a snake," she huffed. "And it tried to bite me. What kind of damage do you think it would do to a little kid?"
"Oh, this thing would tear her to pieces," Cobra sighed. "But, he's just scared. And you grabbing his tail like that didn't make the situation any better."
"I'm serious. Get rid of it."
His brow furrowed while the snake's head lifted, its bright red eyes peering at him with curiosity. He was just as curious about it though, because these snakes weren't from that part of the country. And it was an albino, insanely rare. "You wanna come with me?" he whispered to the reptile as it started squeezing his fingers. "We'll go find you some yummy rats to eat."
A soft hiss escaped the snake, and Lucy watched as Cobra chuckled and let the snake's tongue flutter over his cheek. "Wow…"
His eye cut over to the blonde while he tucked the snake into his coat - because it was way too damn cold for the little thing to be out and about - and his small smile fell into a scowl. "What?"
"You really like snakes."
"I do," he nodded. "Cobra is my name for a reason, y'know."
She wanted to crack a joke about just how much he liked snakes, but she bit her tongue. For the first time since meeting him, Lucy had seen a much softer side to the Poison Dragon Slayer. And with how quickly it seemed the snake had warmed up to him, Lucy was left wondering if he could understand the snake by hearing its soul.
He bit his lip and looked down as the snake's head popped out of his coat, running a finger over the pale scales on the top of its head. "I can," he said to the blonde. "Not like a human, but… I understand it."
And that was how he just knew that the snake he'd already decided was his, was nothing more than a snake. It had memories of hatching and slithering around with its siblings before leaving the den and going off on its own. Animal souls were all colors and emotions. There were no words to muddy everything up. Well, there were a few animals he'd encountered that were intelligent enough to really communicate with their souls, especially domesticated ones - hell, he was sure there had been several house cats that had actually used words. This little one had so few memories though that Cobra realized just how young it was.
"I'll take good care of you, little guy," Cobra whispered. His thumb brushed over its snout then down the length of its throat.
Lucy bit her lip and looked back toward the manor. "Just keep it hidden while we're here, alright?"
"That's easy," Cobra said distractedly. "I kept Cubellios hidden in my clothes in the Tower all the time. I've got more clothes on me now, so…"
With a furrowed brow, the blonde looked back at Cobra. It was so easy to forget that he'd been born a slave, and she more often than not did forget until he happened to mention something about his own childhood. But the look in his eye was one of adoration as he gazed down at the snake.
Maybe it was pointless to try and get the Poison Dragon Slayer to let go of the snake, when she thought about it. She already knew that he'd cared a great deal about his other snake, even if she still had no idea what happened to it during the seven years that Cobra was locked in prison. He loved the thing like Lucy loved her spirits.
So, maybe this little snake that was nestled in his coat and running its face along the fur-lined edges, whose little tongue kept flicking out to test the air and coming in contact with Cobra's fingers or hand, was what the maroon-haired mage really needed. And the fact that she was thinking Cobra just needed a pet was, in and of itself, weird.
But he just looked so content, so happy. Relaxed, even. And Lucy was sure that it was all from the little reptile that shifted and started running its snout over his jaw. Cobra's soft laughter was only more proof of that fact.
Lucy wondered, though. What were the odds that the Poison Dragon Slayer would want to keep a snake that wasn't poisonous in the slightest?
Lucy flopped down on the lounge that was in her room, a heavy sigh spilling past her lips as Cobra took a seat next to her. Priscilla was an absolute terror when it came time for dinner. Food had been flying everywhere, and it had fallen to Lucy to try and contain her.
It was obvious that the staff hadn't been prepared to find the little girl sobbing in a corner while Lucy and Cobra continued eating, but the blonde was damn well going to show her that someone was boss, and that it most definitely was not the three-year-old. Her nose had to touch the corner, her back had to be straight, with her hands at her sides and her feet pushed together.
"I still can't believe you put her ass in the corner," Cobra chuckled wearily. His head fell back on the cushion, and he turned slowly to look at the exhausted blonde.
"She deserved it," Lucy sighed. "That'll teach her to throw spaghetti sauce at my tits."
"Well, you got a bath afterwards," he smirked. That had been hilarious to listen to from another room. Apparently, Priscilla was just extremely tired by the time she'd finished her dinner and she wanted her mother to tuck her in. Cobra already knew that the girl's mother never tucked her in, but he was sure it was just that she missed the woman.
But the shrieks from Lucy about the amount of water that had been thrown at her during Priscilla's bath were hilarious. By the time the blonde had emerged, she was soaked from head to toe and looked ready to punch something right in the dick. He'd wisely stayed away from her and found a maid to get the little girl dressed while Lucy dried herself off and changed.
"You weren't much help," Lucy huffed.
"Sure I was," he answered as she looked at him with a lifted brow. "I told you what she wanted you to sing to her."
And Cobra was pleasantly surprised to find that Lucy had a beautiful singing voice. It was much lower than he'd thought, considering just how high-pitched the woman could get while yelling at someone. Her voice was throaty and soft, and he'd been able to hear the slight tremors in it that came from her being embarrassed that he was watching her.
"You made me do everything though," she pouted. Lucy wasn't even thinking about just what she was doing as she shifted to rest her head on his shoulder.
Cobra tensed and frowned down at the top of her head. This was much more than he wanted in the way of the blonde touching him, and she knew that he liked having his own personal bubble not invaded. "Don't fall asleep on me."
"I'm not," she whispered. "We're staying up together, right?"
"Well, I'm sure as hell not fucking sleeping in this place," he sighed, resting his head on the back of the couch again. "I told you. Someone might try something."
"I think you're just being paranoid," she said.
"Maybe. Better safe than sorry though."
Lucy smiled and shifted her gaze to the lapel of his coat. She couldn't see the snake that he'd taken in earlier that afternoon, but it seemed that the little reptile was keen on staying in one part of Cobra's clothing.
"There's a pocket that he's in right now," Cobra said. "It's right next to my heart, and it keeps him calm."
"Mama Cobra is just precious," Lucy teased.
"Fuck you, asshole," he growled, shifting to push the blonde off of his shoulder.
"Okay, okay," she laughed. Lucy tilted her head slightly to look up at the line of his jaw. "Mama Cobra isn't precious."
"Goddamn right," he scowled. "I'm nobody's 'Mama'."
"Papa Cobra, then?"
"Just Cobra, you fucking twat," he chuckled. He wasn't going to tell Lucy that the snake felt safe because it was warm and listening to the steady beating of his heart. She had figured it out, but that didn't mean he needed to confirm it. Or that she was right in a sense over calling him the thing's 'mother'. It was only a few months old from what he could tell, so it still remembered the safety of being with its siblings, of hearing and feeling their collective heartbeats and warmth.
"Are you gonna name him?" Lucy frowned for a moment. "Wait, are you sure it's a boy?"
"I checked while you were getting the kid bathed," he said. "He doesn't have any spurs, but his tail is thinner and longer than a female's."
"What the hell are spurs?"
"Testicles. They literally look like little sandspurs."
"How do you even know what a female's tail would look like in comparison?"
"Well, I wasn't entirely sure," he smirked. "So I asked if he had a dick."
"You…" Lucy found herself giggling quietly at the image in her head of the big, bad Poison Dragon Slayer asking a snake about it's little snaky bits. "What did he tell you?"
"He got a tiny snake boner," Cobra deadpanned.
"Oh my god…"
"I'm joking, you ass," he laughed. "I just felt his belly, and popped him for a second."
"P-Popped?"
"You push on where the dick is, and it pops out from between its scales," he answered. "It's not the safest way to check, and you can really hurt a snake if you do it wrong, but he's wild. No point in taking him to a vet right now."
"You need to take him to one, Cobra," she frowned. "What if he's sick or something?"
"I'd hear it," he countered.
"Of course," Lucy sighed. "And you're sure it's not poisonous?" Not that it would make much of a difference to Cobra if the thing bit him, since he couldn't be hurt by it.
"I'm sure. Reticulated pythons only bite to hold their prey in place, then they squeeze the life out of them."
Lucy was finding herself a little more intrigued by just how much Cobra knew about the snake he'd collected. He'd mentioned before, while she was filling out his paperwork for the guild, that he liked reading about biology. Apparently that also included snakes. And really, it made sense, considering he'd had a giant snake years ago. He would have needed to learn how to care for it properly.
"So," Lucy yawned, "It was trying to bite me earlier to try and eat me?"
"Not really," he laughed. "He was scared. He's just a baby, so he's constantly defensive."
"Doesn't seem that way with you."
"Because I know how to handle him," Cobra said, giving a small shrug that jostled the blonde just enough to keep her awake. The way her soul was winding down let him know that she really was on the verge of passing out, and the last thing he wanted was to be used as a fucking pillow.
"Are you gonna name him?" Lucy asked again.
"Yep."
"What's his name?"
With a sly smirk, the Poison Slayer whispered, "Monty."
"Monty the Python," Lucy nodded. It took her much longer than normal to open her eyes and look up at Cobra, a wry smile pulling at her lips. "Really? Monty Python…"
"There was a marathon last week," he chuckled. "Seems appropriate."
"Should we get a shrubbery?"
"Ni."
"Oh my god," Lucy laughed.
"That shit is addicting," he said softly. "Kept me up all night, and I nearly pissed myself with the parrot sketch."
"Parrot sketch?"
"Yeah. You know… 'It's not pining, it's passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies! It's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot!'"
Lucy's smile was wide as Cobra reenacted the scene from one of her favorite Monty Python sketches. Finally, someone that understood the dry, utterly silly humor that she loved. Levy, someone she'd thought would really get into it, actually thought it was just ridiculous. Not even the tongue twisters and wordy, winding monologues intrigued the bookworm.
"You're ridiculous," Lucy sighed.
"I've been known to be a tad ridiculous on occasion," Cobra nodded sagely. "But there aren't many people that live to tell the tale."
"Why did I just picture some maniacal cackling?"
"Because I was doing it in my head," he chuckled. That wasn't true in the slightest. He didn't cackle.
"So, is Monty going to be paper-trained, or are you planning on letting him shit all over your apartment?"
"I'll send him to your place," Cobra smirked. "Especially when he sheds. Right in your bed, I think."
"I now understand why people say you're evil," she shuddered, her eyes closing in a long blink.
"That's what clued you in? Not the whole, 'let's take over the world' shit? Or maybe the hundreds of people I've murdered?"
Lucy shrugged and smiled gently. "You've got your very own minion now," she yawned. "Perfect for world domination. One bed at a time."
"You're fucking crazy, you realize that?"
"Probably," Lucy whispered.
He glared down at her hair when he realized that the blonde had fallen asleep completely. It was more than tempting to toss her ass on the ground and wake her up, but he knew just how fucking tired she was. He'd been able to hear it all day, that she was really getting worn down by playing with their charge, but that hadn't stopped him from sticking to the sidelines. This was the blonde's job, and he really was only there because he had to be.
And as soon as they'd found Monty, he'd been more than preoccupied with getting the wild little python accustomed to being handled by him. It was easy, as far as he was concerned, but that was mainly because he wasn't afraid of being bitten.
While the little albino snake wasn't poisonous, there were still germs in its mouth that could cause an infection if not properly handled. Cobra, however, already knew that it wouldn't affect him. And if he did get bitten, then it was on him for not listening closely enough and anticipating what the snake's soul was trying to tell him.
His thoughts were interrupted when Lucy let out a soft snore and slid down his chest, with her head landing right in his lap. Face to the dick.
"Well, I'm definitely not sleeping now," he grumbled. He could feel her breaths soaking into the fabric of his pants, warming his loins and causing a part of his anatomy to wake up when it really needed to stay the fuck asleep.
And all the while, Lucy was blissfully unaware of just what she was doing to the Poison Slayer.
Or the fact that he couldn't stop himself from picturing what it would be like to just unzip his pants and rub his arousal over her lips.
'Want Mommy! Scared… Scary shadow!'
Cobra rolled his eye at the frantic thoughts coming from Priscilla's room. The little girl was still asleep, but he was sure that she would be waking up any second with a scream breaking past her tiny rose petal lips.
"Damnit," Cobra groaned. He nudged the blonde in his lap, roughly shaking her shoulder. "Wake up, Tiggle Bitties. She's having a nightmare."
A sleepy whine vibrated into the fabric of his pants, making the Poison Slayer harshly bite his lower lip to suppress a groan.
"Cobra, c'mon," Lucy mumbled. "I'll do anything you want… Lemme sleep…"
She was still mostly asleep. And she had no fucking clue just what she was doing to him. "Gimme a fucking blowjob, and we'll call it even."
He hadn't been expecting the blonde to turn her head and nuzzle his crotch while descending further into dreamland. The soft, rumbling snore thrummed across his arousal, making it twitch against her lips.
"Fuck…" The last thing he needed was this shit. It was bad enough that he wanted the blonde and couldn't have her. Even worse was when he realized that fucking Eros was taking over her dreams.
Lucy propped herself up on her knees, her hands bound with a soft red silk scarf. Cobra's hand tightened around her wrists and lifted her higher, his other hand sinking into her hair and slowly pulling her closer. Her mouth watered as she felt the tip of his manhood circling her lips. His hips snapped forward and she moaned until her voice was cut off by him hitting her throat.
"Take it," Cobra growled. "Fuck… Take it all."
Lucy's head bobbed quickly until he pulled her back for air. His eye gleamed brightly with desire in the darkened room. "Cobra… I-" His hips snapped again, burying himself to the hilt in her mouth.
The Poison Slayer's eye opened wide, and he stared down at the blonde to find his hand on top of her head, lightly gripping the blonde strands. The blonde shifted slightly, her thighs rubbing together, and he inhaled sharply at the scent of darkened roses that marked her arousal.
"Cobra…" Lucy moaned as the Poison Slayer threw her, face-down, onto a crimson Persian rug with gold detailing. Lying on her stomach, her bound arms outstretched, the blonde lifted her hips in the air and shivered as his sweat-slicked flesh glided over hers. She felt his hips pressing insistently against her, and arched her back to sink onto his straining arousal.
"Fucking shit," Cobra hissed. He shifted slightly to try and get Lucy's lips away from him, biting back a groan at the small bit of friction. The blonde's imagination was too fucking vivid. Sure, he'd heard her dreams from his apartment before when he listened in, and he already knew for a fact that she'd spent several too-long baths pleasuring herself with thoughts of him.
But it had never been this intense. And he was never fucking there to smell her increasing arousal. He only caught small whiffs of it from time to time when he was at her apartment, most often while they were watching horror movies. And really, the fact that Lucy would get even remotely turned on during a horrific murder scene was only making his current predicament that much fucking worse.
His sharpened canines came down onto Lucy's throat, digging into the tender flesh and drawing blood. Instead of shying away from the pain, she leaned into it, basking in the fire that burned in her veins. His hips pistoned at a relentless pace. Her moans were cut off by two fingers plunging into her mouth. Her tongue swirled around the digits, roughly sucking them further in before he wrenched her jaw open.
"Scream for me," he growled.
Cobra took a shaky breath, his resolve to push the blonde away dwindling the longer he listened to her. He was more than ready to finally just fulfill one of his fantasies where she was concerned. To just unzip his pants and let the Celestial mage do as she pleased in her sleep.
His hand tightened in her hair, and his hips rocked slightly without him realizing it. Cobra couldn't suppress the small shiver that ran through him as one of Lucy's hands slid across his thigh. "Shit," he hissed. "Lucy, wake the hell-"
"Cobra! Oh, Cobra!" She cried out as the Poison Slayer flipped her onto her back and drove into her sex without a moment's hesitation. His teeth scraped over her skin, and the blonde's eyes widened when his head lifted, revealing his bloodstained lips.
He was thrumming with energy, his single eye burning brighter than before as his tongue swiped across his lips. Her hands lifted from the ground to force his head down to her. A loud moan accompanied her teeth sinking into the flesh of his lower lip. Cobra became frantic and wild, then. His hands bruising her hips and thighs as his tongue lashed out to curl around hers.
Thankfully, a sharp cry from down the hall broke the Poison Slayer out of his spiralling thoughts, dragging him away from Lucy's soul. Priscilla sobbed while sitting up in her bed, and he let out a shuddering sigh as he stood up.
Lucy's head was left hanging off the edge of the lounge, but he didn't really care. Hell, she was lucky that the little girl had woken up from her nightmare when she did. Because, even though he knew it was beyond fucking wrong to take advantage of Lucy's unconscious state, regardless of what was going on in her soul, there was only so much he could stand. Another few seconds, and those fantasies of hers would have become a reality, he was sure.
While walking toward the door, he winced and adjusted his member within his pants. The last thing he needed was to have a damn erection while walking into a little girl's room. Just the thought had him softening, thank fucking god. Really, it was only a matter of time before a fucking Rune Knight popped out and cuffed him for something.
Cobra silently opened the door and made his way over to the too-large bed that Priscilla was sitting up in. Her room was too damn big. Everything was oversized, surely as a sign of her family's wealth. But it was just a waste.
"What?" he growled. When she simply cried louder, he groaned and rubbed a hand down his face.
Lucy had been the one to get Priscilla to sleep earlier that night, not him, and while he knew what the blonde had done, Cobra really wasn't all that keen on singing to the little girl. He would be the first person to admit that he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, even if the thing was superglued shut and his hands were amputated so the bloody fucking stumps of his forearms could be grafted to the metal. He would still find a way to drop the damn thing, that's how bad he was at singing.
Granted, no one had ever heard him doing it, except for Cubellios. He just knew that he wasn't good at it. Hell, he'd probably scare Priscilla even more than she already was if he attempted it.
So, with that being a non-option, he had to think of something else. With a grimace, he sniffed the air. 'I remember doing shit like this when I was a kid, changing diapers is... It's easy… Just… Oh thank you, it's dry. There is a god!' He was more than happy that his enhanced senses allowed him to smell whether or not her diaper had gotten soiled. No way in hell were his hands going anywhere near that fucking thing.
With a heavy sigh, Cobra grabbed the girl under her arms and carefully laid her back down. "Time to shut up," he whispered.
Priscilla sniffled loudly. "S-Sing song?"
"What stupid fu-" The Poison Slayer groaned and closed his eye for a moment. "What song?"
"Spider song."
The problem with that was that he had no clue what song the little girl wanted. Dipping into her soul didn't give him a hint in the slightest. Really, how hard was it to start humming a song in your head when it was the one you were fucking asking for?!
"No," he sighed while taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "No way, kiddo. How about a story?"
Cobra was sure he could think of a story that would be appropriate for the little girl to hear. Something with unicorns and fucking rainbows, where everyone's happy and there's fucking world peace at the end. Yeah, that would work.
She frowned, and his teeth ground together when he heard the beginnings of a tantrum building in her pea-sized brain.
"I will fucking kill you so goddamn fast if you scream," he growled under his breath. Maybe no one would notice if he let Monty just strangle her until she passed out from a lack of oxygen. "Can you sing it to me?" Cobra finally asked. "I don't know that song."
"D'issy bissy spider," the child sang tunelessly. "Uppa water spout…"
'Really?' Of course that wasn't helpful. He dug deeper though and finally caught a memory in her bubblegum pink soul of one of her nannies singing it to her, along with a little dance that had made the girl smile and fall asleep in minutes.
He couldn't believe he was about to do this, but Cobra cleared his throat and just bit the bullet.
The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout.
All Cobra could hope while he started singing softly, twisting his hands one way then another to make his pinkies meet with his thumbs, was that the kid would go back to sleep.
Down came the rain and washed the spider out.
Priscilla smiled as Cobra's fingers wiggled to mimic rain, her eyes gliding closed before snapping open again to watch the next part.
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain.
And the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.
Lucy rubbed her eyes while leaning against the doorjamb, a gentle smile on her lips as she watched Cobra finish the song. Really, she'd never considered switching the key for it to a minor one, but it made the normally cheery tune so much more like a lullaby that she was going to put that in her own babysitting arsenal.
Within moments, Priscilla was well on her way to sleep and the Poison Dragon Slayer stood silently. Monty's head peeked out of the lapel of his coat - and he was secretly enjoying just how uncomfortable it had made the staff that he refused to take it off inside - and Cobra looked down to whisper, "Women are fucking insane."
As he reached the doorway, Cobra looked at the sleepy blonde and gave her a small smirk. 'Fuck, her lips were all over my dick… If only…' From what he could tell, she'd woken up by falling off of the couch, right on her head, just when her dream was getting to the best part.
He loved and hated that he could still smell how aroused she'd been.
Lucy bit her lip as Cobra closed the door to Priscilla's room and they started walking back toward her own room. "Sorry for passing out, by the way."
He shrugged. Really, he didn't blame her. The blonde wasn't accustomed to sleep deprivation. Besides, he'd actually almost fallen asleep on her while they were on the train, so they were even. "Don't make it a common occurrence, and I won't poison you."
Really, he wanted to bring up the blowjob thing. The problem was that Lucy didn't remember the dream she'd been having in the slightest, or that he'd been the one to goad Eros into going insane. Thankfully, that also meant the blonde wasn't aware of the near-fucking-assault. That shit actually made him cringe inside.
When he thought about it, Cobra had been on the verge of making a very huge mistake all because he'd let himself get lost in the Celestial mage's soul and his own testosterone. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.
No, instead, Cobra was putting his dick on lockdown. He was the king one-eyed motherfucker, and his cock and balls could just deal with it. There was no point in fantasizing about Lucy, because that shit was never going to happen. And clearly, he couldn't handle being around her if he could hear her deeper desire.
Cobra already knew what it was that she wanted though. The only reason he was the object of her fantasies was because she liked bad boys. He was as bad as they came, and it was his shady past that had the blonde tied up in knots. She wasn't acting on anything, so he wouldn't either.
Lucy sighed as she took a seat next to Cobra on the lounge, looking over to the Poison Slayer only to find him glaring at the ground. "So…"
He blinked slowly and shifted his gaze to the blonde. "So…"
Lucy laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear, pulling her feet up onto the lounge. "Any ideas on movies you want to watch when we get back?"
"We can look around when I go to get a player," he shrugged. After a moment, he leaned back on the couch. "You're tired."
It was Lucy's turn to shrug. There was no way she would let herself fall asleep again that night. The blonde was determined to stay up, and that was that. Except, then she was finding Cobra's hand lifting from where it was on his lap and settling on the side of her neck. "Uh…"
Cobra gave the blonde a small smirk and pulled her head onto his shoulder. Her lips were nowhere near his neck, thank the gods. "Get some sleep," he whispered. "You've had a pretty long day."
Lucy bit her lip and looked up at the line of his jaw without moving her head. "I-I can just, um… Lay on the arm, or something."
His smirk widened into a grin while he pulled Monty from his coat. Cobra watched the snake coiling around his hand as he said, "You are laying on an arm. And I'd wager that my arm is more comfortable than a damn prissy ass couch."
"It is," Lucy said softly.
"Smells better, too," he chuckled.
"Not the point. You don't like people in your bubble."
"Well, you encroached on my bubble earlier and you're still alive. Take what you can get, Jiggles."
Lucy sighed and shifted until she was a little more comfortable. It wasn't by much though, but she wasn't going to be picky.
"Here," Cobra whispered. He carefully pushed the blonde away while kicking off his shoes and removing his coat, then turned so his back was against the arm of the lounge. One leg moved behind her, and he finally stilled once they were in the same position that the two usually found themselves in while watching movies together. With Lucy sitting between his legs and Cobra perfectly comfortable.
Lucy frowned and looked over to the Poison Dragon Slayer. "What am I doing?"
"Lean back and get comfortable," Cobra sighed. It was purely a precaution, as far as he was concerned. With the shit that pudgy little Duke had been trying to scheme earlier, Cobra wasn't going to take any chances. On the off chance that he actually fell asleep, it would been ten times harder for someone to sneak up on them with Lucy so close, not without the Slayer hearing them coming.
Lucy's frown deepened as Cobra moved the hand that Monty had commandeered away from himself, then she slowly turned and laid back against him. If she was facing him, it would be way too close to cuddling, and that was the last thing she needed to be doing with the maroon-haired mage. His coat was easily tossed down onto their legs. Her head almost instantly found the most perfect little hollow next to his shoulder, just under his collarbone. 'Should this ever happen again, this will forever be my fucking nook… God, this is comfy!'
Cobra reached up with his free hand and carefully moved Lucy's hair off to one side just when she lifted her head to do it herself. Once the blonde was settled, he found himself in just a bit of a pickle. Specifically, where the hell he was supposed to put his hands. One was easy, since Monty had taken control of the appendage and was slithering up his arm. The other… Well, Cobra resigned himself to lifting and tucking it behind his own head.
Lucy frowned and absently reached up to grab Cobra's hand, then pulled his arm down and rested it on her stomach. "Don't take away my nook," she yawned.
"It's my fucking body, asshole," he grumbled.
"Except this part," Lucy whispered, smiling while shaking her head slightly. "I dub this 'Lucy's Nook'. No trespassing signs will be posted within a fortnight."
"Just go to sleep already, so I can send Monty on a scouting mission down your pants."
Lucy's eyes shot open and she shot up, trying to scramble away from the suddenly laughing Poison Slayer. His arm around her, however, tightened and pulled her right back down while the hand that held the albino snake moved into her line of sight. "C-Cobra, that's not funny! Let me go!"
"Shh," he whispered. "You'll wake the kid."
"Good! You-" She gasped in horror when one of his fingers hooked into the belt loop on her pants and lifted the denim from her hips. The snake's head turned toward her jeans. "C-Cobra, come on. This isn't f-funny."
"It'll be fine," he smirked. "Go on, Monty. Check it out and tell me what you find."
"Cobra, I-I'm serious," she whimpered. The blonde couldn't find the wherewithal to move, though. She was frozen in place, her heart hammering beneath her breast as she stared at Cobra's tanned fingers. How the room was dark enough that she couldn't see the dark green silk thong she had on. She shuddered when Monty's tongue flicked out across the sliver of her stomach that was bared from her shirt riding up.
"I'm just fucking with you," he chuckled, pulling Monty away from the Celestial mage. He let go of her pants and fixed her shirt, then settled his free hand on her stomach again. "So calm the hell down and get back in your nook."
She eyed the snake warily as its tongue flicked out to test the air, cringing when its red eyes seemed to lock onto her in interest. "You're such a dick, Cobra."
Cobra pulled Monty further away from the blonde when he started leaning toward her. "He just thinks you smell good."
"Because he wants to eat me," she scowled.
"No, because you do smell good. He's not thinking about food right now. And even if he was, you're way too big for him to eat."
Lucy frowned up at Cobra. "Did you just…" He thought she smelled good? That was... odd.
"Nothing of the sort," he smirked. "You sleep, and I'll keep watch. But I expect full reign of your lap on the train ride back."
"Not between my legs this time," the blonde sighed.
"No promises on that one." He leaned down slightly and whispered into her ear, "You're always getting between my legs..."
She rolled her eyes, but found herself smiling slightly while she got just a little more comfortable. And really, Lucy found it rather surprising that Cobra's shoulder, and consequently his whole damn torso, was so comfy. She'd never considered it before, but the Poison Dragon Slayer had a great body for snuggling. Not that they were doing that. Oh, no. Definitely not.
"Pull up my coat," Cobra sighed. "It makes a good blanket."
"Ah," Lucy giggled while reaching down to adjust the fur-lined coat over both of them, "Your multipurpose coat of wonder." And once she was fully surrounded and just a little cozier than before, Lucy took a deep breath to find her sinuses filled with nothing but Cobra. She didn't care that he'd moved his hand to rest on her stomach over the coat. And as she slowly drifted off to sleep, the blonde had no clue that both of Cobra's hands were resting on her stomach, with his arms winding around her, or that the little albino python was moving from one of his hands to the other.
Cobra, however, was more than aware of the shit that was going on. And he had to keep reminding himself that it was just a necessary precaution. While he was sure he wouldn't fall asleep, because he'd gone longer without it, he was much warmer than normal. And Lucy smelled amazing. He could easily fall asleep like this, he figured. Listening to her soft breaths, feeling her hair brushing against his cheek. Oddly enough, even the weight of Lucy using him as a pillow was a comfort he hadn't expected. It was confining in a way he'd only ever really felt with Cubellios, when she used to coil around him so they could share his body heat.
Morning dew and roses filled his every breath. It was going to be torture, being this close to the blonde all night when just a little while before he'd been on the verge of making a huge fucking mistake. But Cobra would just have to deal with it. The last thing he wanted was for some shit to go wrong while they were on a job together - especially his first job without Team Natsu watching his every move. But he could do this.
He'd spent enough time staying awake for days on end, forcing himself past the point of exhaustion because there was just no other option. And he would have Monty to keep him company, at least. Those long nights were always easier when he was able to talk to Cubellios, and now he had a new snake to get better acquainted with.
"Monty, if I fall asleep, I want you to bite anyone that comes in here," Cobra chuckled.
He sat in silence for several long minutes, then looked down at Monty once Lucy was completely asleep, listening to her (and thanking whatever god was out there) perfectly normal dreams of riding on top of a train car to the moon.
"You're a rare one," he whispered to the snake, smiling when it turned to look at him. "But I'll take good care of you, alright?"
Monty's soul quieted slightly, causing Cobra to let out another soft chuckle.
"I can hear you, Monty. I don't know if you can understand me, but I can hear your soul. I…" He paused and sighed while the snake tightened around his forearm. "I had a friend once. She wasn't really a snake though. But, I think you'll like Kinana. And things will be easier now. I couldn't hear her soul back then, but we were best friends… She kept me safe and…"
Cobra lifted one hand to look into the snake's red eyes. "And she's the reason I'm even alive today. But I can hear you, and I know… If you decide to stay with me… I just know you'll be happy. And you'll make me happy, too."
A soft hiss sounded from the snake.
"So… Please," Cobra pleaded sadly. "Please stick with me, okay?"
And, much to the Poison Dragon Slayer's surprise, the python slowly nodded while he heard the barest whisper in its soul. Something that made a childlike grin stretch over his lips as he pulled Monty closer to his cheek.
"... Monty... Happy..."
And that's it for chapter 10! I hope you guys enjoyed this. I know I sure as hell did while writing it, in case that wasn't obvious.
I will say that Priscilla is based quite a bit on my own son, who's also three. Those games of hide-and-seek are too cute sometimes. Okay, that's enough gushing about the precious little hellspawn.
Also, as a very important note: You should never "pop" a snake to determine its sex unless you really know what you're doing, and there is a much safer method for finding a snake's gender than this. Only a professional - i.e. a veterinarian or a reptile specialist - should check for a snake's gender. As we all know, this is fiction, and Cobra has been shown to really love his snakes. So, for the purposes of storytelling, he's a well-informed guy on the subject.
For anyone who's interested, I made a recording of The Itsy Bitsy Spider in a minor key, so you can hear the difference between that and what we all know the original to be. My son actually prefers hearing my version (in minor) to the original, so… I just had to use it lol.
chirb. it/JG6vdf
So, Review, Follow, Favorite! I love you, guys!
~~GemNika