Day 5: Answers
Part 1
"Answers" by Steve Vai
(March)
The Halloween masquerade ball had not had the desired effect on calming the strife amongst the houses. Granted, the "strife" was really only between two houses in particular who couldn't quite keep their prank war as covert as they wanted, with an additional two adding to the chaos only incidentally. Still, the faculty at Fiore University decided that it was worth trying again during Greek Week. Normally, houses were allowed to choose their own partners for the week's events and competition. This year, they were assigned partners.
Lucy tried to cover her ears as her sisters bemoaned their fate. Everyone had been looking forward to another week of complete domination in the games with Sabertooth as their partner house. Instead, they were sure to face defeat now that they were forced to work with Crime Sorciere. Of course, while her hands were trying to muffle the sounds of screaming, crying, and general over-exaggerated complaining, she was mentally fist pumping. Yukino got to spend time with Macbeth. Erza got to spend time with Jellal. And best of all, Lucy got to spend time with Erik.
Crime Sorciere was experiencing a similar scene, but of a far more celebratory nature. Erik winced as Macbeth whooped for the fifth time since Jellal brought them the news five minutes prior. He got that his best friend was pumped to hang out with his girlfriend, but did he have to sound like a high school girl at a homecoming game?
"We have to win," Jellal said as he tried to calm everyone down. "This will be the final battle with Sabertooth. If we can defeat them in the games with their sister house as our partner…"
"We'll be top freakin' dog!" Macbeth finished for him.
"Don't get your hopes up," Erik muttered.
Rogue was the only one who acknowledged his statement. Erik had been increasingly happy with his decision to bring the metalhead around to joining the frat. Rogue fit in perfectly with the group, but he fit with Erik in particular. He had quickly become Erik's closest friend next to Macbeth, who had been rather absent since dating Yukino. Unlike Macbeth, Rogue didn't give him any shit. The kid had also taken Macbeth's place as Erik's training helper and prank instigator in the mostly covert war with Sabertooth that sparked the assigned partners rule.
"It's not going to be easy, and even if we do win, Sabertooth won't just roll over," Rogue said. "Not sure I want to be the top frat on campus, anyway."
It was a weird sentiment, but it was one that Erik shared. Sabertooth was the top frat because of the type of members they recruited: honors students, jocks, and future business leaders all in a tidy package. They partied hard, but not hard enough to be "the" party house. They got good grades, but grades didn't necessarily come before sports. Erik wasn't interested in that lifestyle. He liked his nerds and outcasts, and he didn't want them to change. He just wanted the kitties to leave them the fuck alone. Also, dating his almost-girlfriend in public would be nice.
"Alright, I think it's best if Macbeth and I make first contact," Jellal said.
"Eh, you, yes. Macbeth, no," Erik interrupted. "Sure he's openly dating Yuki, but her sisters still aren't happy about it."
"They don't give her any shit," Macbeth protested, but Erik cut him off.
"To her face. Trust me. They still fucking hate you," Erik said. He hated the way Macbeth's face fell before he ducked his head to hide his expression. Erik didn't want to pop the bubble of happiness, but he felt that he had to.
"But how do you know?" Lahar asked.
"Lucy," Erik said shortly. There was a general hum of understanding. Not everyone knew the extent of his relationship with the blonde, but everyone in the frat knew that something was going on with the two VPs. Erik just hoped his brothers knew to keep that on the down low.
"Fine, then you come with me," Jellal said.
"Why me?"
"Because you train at the same gym as the Sabers. The women may not like you, but they respect you, and they don't openly hate you. At least, not anymore than the rest of us," Jellal said. Erik groaned, but he couldn't fault the logic. Granted, he would probably be a bigger pariah than Macbeth if anyone knew he was secretly dating their VP. Still, he followed Jellal down the street to Fairy Tail without further audible complaint.
COLU*COLU*COLU
All of the Greeks on campus gathered in the plaza on the first day of Greek Week. The theme was superheroes; some of the groups were more into it than others. Predictably, Crime Sorciere was the most hardcore with their costumes, though the Fairy Tail ladies had managed to get them to tone it down a bit. The guys wore a hodgepodge of capes and masks to go with the shirts the girls had ordered. Marvel for Fairy Tail. DC for Crime Sorciere. The colors and poses of the images matched, only the specific superheroes on each shirt were different. It had been Lucy's idea, and Erik had seconded the plan with gusto.
"Alright, everyone. Welcome to the 68th Annual Greek Week at Fiore U. My name is Mato, and I'll be your host for these events," the dean of the university hopped around excitedly as he introduced himself. "Today, we're going to start off with an event that utilizes all members of your houses: the scavenger hunt! Presidents, please come up to collect the lists of items. There are ten riddles to find the location of the items. Use your noodles! Only three of the items actually count for points. You'll know which they are when you find them! Five points for each of the three qualifying items your houses find within the two hour time limit and an extra five points to whichever house finds all three first!"
"I swear these games get more complicated every year," Lucy muttered.
Erza and Jellal collected stacks of the riddles and began handing them out to the house members.
"Everybody set? Go!"
"Let's split into pairs," Erza said. "Everyone pick a partner."
There was a general shuffling, and Lucy found herself glancing around as Erik carefully positioned himself near her. Erza gestured at a group of pairs and told them to look for number one, and then she did the same for each of the ten items. Erik casually hooked a finger into Lucy's jacket pocket and started tugging her away from the group.
"Okay, group two," Lucy muttered as she read over the riddles. "A pile of words away from the birds; take a quick look in the place of the books. The first: dog's mortal foe, to begin. Then: the end of begin and again. To finish and to have won: the middle of 'it is done.'"
Lucy stopped suddenly, and one shoulder of her jacket fell off as Erik's finger got stuck in the fabric. He turned back with a raised eyebrow to find her grinning.
"We need to find The Hunger Games," she said. She took off running for the library with Erik only having to jog to keep up. It sounded like gibberish to him, but he was more than a little turned on by the fact that she had figured it out so quickly. Plus her jacket was still hanging off her bare shoulder, and that little bit of skin between the jacket and her tank top was killing him. They'd been so busy organizing for Greek Week that there hadn't been any time for other adult activities in far too long for his liking.
"Out of curiosity, how do you know?" Erik asked as they hurried to the stairs leading up to the fiction section.
"Well, the first part about words and books obviously referred to the library. But for the book itself: dog's mortal foe is a cat; the last letter of begin and again is 'n'; and 'is' is the middle of 'it is done'. Ergo, Katniss, the main character of The Hunger Games."
"I thought the theme was superheroes?"
"I mean, she's kind of a superhero," Lucy said. She quickly found the only section of Young Adult books. "Now what the hell was that author's name?"
"Suzanne Collins."
"Oh, right," Lucy said. She tried to cover her surprise, but Erik caught it anyway. He just grinned at her impishly as she trailed a finger along the Cs until she found the one she wanted. She lifted the book triumphantly from the shelf and a stack of envelopes with house names printed on the sides fell to the floor from where they had been wedged between the books.
"I think we got one of the three!" Lucy exclaimed as she tore into one of the envelopes. She started jumping up and down in place and waved it around. "Yes! We did!"
Erik watched her in amusement as her chest bounced around with her happy dance. Unable to stand the sight any longer, he reached out and pulled her flush against him. His arms wrapped around her back and his lips covered hers in a needy kiss. She wound her fingers in his hair while her other hand still clutched the envelope tightly. He backed her up until she hit the bookshelf and she moaned against his mouth. His hands slid down to grasp under her thighs so he could lift her up as her legs wrapped around him.
"Jesus, get a room," a voice said behind Erik. They broke apart in shock to find Macbeth and Yukino watching them. Yukino blushed, but she couldn't hide the small grin that was a mere echo of the look of glee on Macbeth's face.
"We already found the thing," Erik said with a scowl. Lucy wiggled to be let down, though her movement made him really just want to hold her there even more.
"Cool, then we can team up to find one of the others before we head back to the plaza," Macbeth said.
"You guys figured out the second riddle, too?" Lucy asked as she finally managed to drop her feet to the floor and push away from Erik.
"We figured out the library part. Then we heard some… noises… and followed the sound," Yukino said as her face reddened again. Lucy's cheeks held an answering blush, but Erik just smirked at her until she slapped him in the chest and pointed out that he had bright pink lipstick all over his mouth. He pulled her in for another (although far more chaste) kiss before scrubbing at the lipstick and asking what the next clue was. Lucy tucked the book and the envelopes back onto the shelf before they headed out of the library.
The foursome found three more envelopes, though their houses' envelopes had already been picked up. A glance inside showed that none of the three held a gold ticket like the one Lucy and Erik had found. An hour had passed at this point, so they decided to head back to the plaza. A few of their sisters sent Lucy weird looks when she walked up with Erik, but she hoped they would chalk it up to her wanting to keep an eye on Yukino.
"We've got one of the three!" Lucy said as she approached Erza.
"Well done. That's the last one. I'll take it up to Mato."
Lucy plopped down on the grass. She reached up to pull Yukino down with her. The boys followed suit. Sorano stormed over to them with a scowl.
"What the hell, Lucy?"
"What?"
"Why are you encouraging this kind of behavior?" Sorano asked. Lucy could tell that Sorano wanted to yell, but she didn't want to draw attention to herself.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Sorano," Lucy said with perhaps too much sweetness. "I'm just hanging out with our teammates. Greek Week is about fostering friendship among the houses. So that's what I'm doing."
Sorano bent down with her face just a few inches from Lucy.
"Are you sure, Heartfilia? Because you seem pretty cozy with the criminals. Something you want to share with the group?"
Lucy maintained eye contact with Sorano. She wanted to glance at Erik for his reaction, but she couldn't afford that luxury. Lucy smiled at her current least favorite sister and leaned in even closer.
"I know how to play the game, Sorano," Lucy whispered. "Mato is watching."
Sorano yanked back and glanced around. As it happened, Mato was looking in their direction. Sorano plastered a fake smile on her face and strolled back to a cluster of the sisters who were avoiding the Crime Sorciere members as much as possible. Lucy turned when she heard Erik chuckle beside her.
"Imagine if she had walked in on us instead of Yukino," Erik murmured.
"Is it bad that I half-wish she had?" Lucy said. Erik's eye widened slightly, and she winked at him. She leaned back on her hands and looked up at the few clouds drifting across the sky. "At least for this week, I want to be close to you in front of people. For this one week, they can't say anything."
Erik regarded her silently. A few months ago the statement would have pissed him off, but after seeing Macbeth and Yukino, he figured Lucy might be right to keep their relationship hidden. Yukino dealt with it well, but her sisters were bitches sometimes. The worst part was the way Yukino's actual sister reacted. He and Lucy had to hide, but at least they weren't being hounded all the time. Now that he had stopped taking the secrecy personally, Erik thought it actually added a bit of fun to their time together.
A loud buzzer sounded.
"That's it, folks! Let's tally up the points. In last place with just five points, Raven Tail and Lamia Scale. In third place with ten points, Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel. In second place with fifteen points, Crime Sorciere and Fairy Tail. And in first place with twenty points, Sabertooth and Grimoire Heart!"
"Guess we should've just brought the one from the library straight back after all," Lucy grumbled.
"Don't sweat it, Emma. They're only up by five. It's still anybody's week."
The next day started out the same with everyone gathered in the plaza, though this time, there were four podiums on the previously empty stage. Mato hopped around in front of the podiums as he announced the Jeopardy-style game to be played by the E-Boards of each house, starting with the presidents. Erza and Jellal took the far podium while Ultear and Laxus took the one next to them. Kagura of Mermaid Heel stood with Hibiki of Blue Pegasus, and Sherry of Lamia Scale reluctantly stood next to Bacchus of Raven Tail.
"Three categories: Pop culture, history, and our theme, superheroes. Each category has five questions worth one point each. Let's go!"
Lucy stood between Cana and Yukino. She cheered when Jellal and Erza swept the first few questions, but then she found her attention waning. She was vaguely aware of Erik standing behind her, but her attention was more focused on her brother. He was uncharacteristically fidgety as he stood next to Ultear. As she watched more closely, Lucy thought she saw her brother's arm brushing against his teammate from time to time. Ultear also seemed flustered, though that could have been from constantly miss-timing the buzzer as Erza and Jellal swept the first round.
"Okay, time to switch it up," Mato announced. "VPs to the stage, please!"
A hand on her back guided Lucy to the stage after the surprise announcement. Erik's hand left once she started moving on her own, and Lucy was tempted to stop again just to have him put it back. But then, they were on the stage taking Jellal and Erza's place. She smiled at Gray as he nervously stood next to Minerva who was scowling at him as she muttered that he better not screw this up.
"Since Crime Sorciere and Fairy Tail swept the first round, they get to pick the first category."
"Superheroes," Erik said automatically.
"My power is charging items with kinetic energy. My trademark is playing cards."
Lucy and Erik both reached for the buzzer at the same time and slammed it down together. Erik smirked at her as she called out, "Who is Gambit?"
"Correct! Next category?"
They finished off the superhero questions and lost the next two history questions as a very frightened Gray suddenly recalled everything he'd ever learned from watching documentaries on the History channel. He practically collapsed with relief when the VPs were replaced by the secretaries after the fifth question and Gajeel took his place.
"Final tally: Fourth place, still Raven Tail and Lamia Scale with five points. In third, Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel with 13 points. Crime Sorciere and Fairy Tail stay in second place with 23 points. And Sabertooth and Grimoire Heart hold onto first place with 24 points. We'll see everyone tomorrow for the karaoke contest, so rest up those vocals!"
Lucy snuck away from the house as quickly as she could that evening and ducked behind the trees as she ran down the lane behind the Greek houses. Erik was waiting for her at the foot of the treehouse. She launched herself at him and pushed him against the tree. Somehow they made it up the ladder and into the treehouse before losing their clothes.
Erik played with a lock of her hair as she lay naked across his chest. They were both too tired to move even if they'd wanted to get out of the bed. The tips of her fingers trailed lazily over his chest as she listened to his heartbeat. She had almost fallen asleep when Erik finally spoke.
"What are we?"
"Hmm?" Lucy raised her head in an attempt to look at him, but she gave up and flopped back down on his chest as she snuggled closer to him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, what am I to you? If you had to label me."
Lucy stilled before resuming her exploration of his chest. Her heart pounded violently in her chest, and she swallowed before sitting up so she could look down at him. The violent pounding stopped for a moment as her heart stuttered at the look on his face: hope, adoration, but also wariness. Lucy reached out to gently run her fingers over his scars. His eye patch lay discarded on the floor by the bed with his boxers. He leaned into her touch for a moment before grabbing her hand and gently kissing the pads of her fingers.
"Well?" He whispered against her skin as he moved to kiss her palm. Lucy pulled her hand away.
"I can't think when you do that," she said. She was slightly embarrassed by the breathy quality of her voice, but he just had that effect on her. She put her hands in her lap and twisted her fingers together. "I… I want…"
Erik sat up slowly and rested his hands on her thighs. Lucy shuddered at the touch even through the sheets twisted around their lower halves. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"Tell me what you want."
"I want you," she said simply as she finally met his eyes. "Nobody but you."
Erik's smile at her statement was worth any discomfort she felt in admitting it. He didn't smile often anyway, but this particular smile was rarer still. Pure happiness shone from the slight upturn of his lips and the minute crinkles at the edge of his eye. Lucy found an answering smile on her own lips as she studied him. He pulled her in for a quick kiss before drawing back enough to speak.
"So, secret girlfriend?"
"Sounds like a plan," she said. They both silently added, For now.
