Chapter 25 – Noticing the Obvious

Sting POV

After the discussions with Rogue I left Natsu and him alone, taking Yukino out with me. As we walked the halls we discussed matters. "He's claiming to be better but he's not fooling anyone" I commented as we rounded the corner and began heading towards the main section of the guild. Yukino nodded.

"Yeah, he says that he remembers the nightmares, but acts as if it's all hazy" she concurred.

"And now we've got to deal with finding out that Phantasm guy's magic just so we can lift the curse. It's obvious Wendy can't but I wonder if… I'll need to speak to Makarov at some point" I stated. Yukino gave me a confused glance but nodded in understanding regardless.

"Okay, he's currently out at the post office, sending a letter out to Fairy Tail. He wants to keep them up on what's going on" she stated. We turned another corner and began heading towards my office. We stopped as I collided with Rufus.

"Oh… Sorry" I mumbled, getting up off of the floor. Rufus dusted himself off as Yukino offered him his hat back.

"Thank you… I was just coming to talk to you Sting" Rufus said with a smirk. I cocked my head.

"What did you need to talk about?" I inquired pseudo-patiently. He might have some information on Phantasm… but it's unlikely I thought.

Rufus tapped his temples. "I recorded the whole fight with the dark wizard to memory, every detail is recorded perfectly" he said proudly, "But I wanted to check something with you". This made me even more interested.

I gestured to the hallway. "Talk as we go to my office" I said. Rufus curtly nodded.

"Certainly. I've been going over what you've told us about your encounters with the dark wizard and comparing it to what I witnessed" he explained, "And I noticed something". Yukino frowned.

"You noticed something?" she stated. I was equally as perplexed. We reached my office door and I stopped, standing in front of it.

"I would like to replay the memory if you would" he said. I knew what he meant and opened the door to the office, ushering the pair inside before closing and locking the door again. Rufus' magic allows him to memorise spells, but also project their memories. I knew he could project around us what he saw, however if anyone walked in they could be seriously injured by the huge bubble of magic that would be storing the projection so we took steps to prevent anything bad happening whenever he did this. "Go on Rufus" I stated once I was ready. Rufus complied, taking his usual stance.

"Memory Make; The Great Battle of Sabertooth" he called out eloquently. I rolled my eyes and sighed, of course he'd have some grandiose title for such a little event I commented. Yukino smiled at my actions. Rufus didn't seem to notice since he was focusing so intently on his projection. After a few moments a haze wrapped around us and warped the room; the desk, stacks of paperwork and the chairs, even the carpet we stood on all changed, becoming the very scene of earlier.

I watched as the events played out before my eyes.

Everyone was muttering, sitting and drinking, all unsuspecting. The memory seemed to be from Rufus' perspective sitting at a table with a few other guild members. Suddenly the doors to the guild burst open and Phantasm materialized in the air. He bowed. "Good day Sabertooth" he said with a mockingly low bow, "I'm here to speak with the good Master and his lizard sidekick". Makarov seemed to appear from a corridor.

"You!" he shouted, "Get away from here!". Phantasm just smirked, shaking his head.

"You're not the Master I'm after" he laughed. All the guild was on its feet now, preparing to fight him. A few lunged in a preemptive strike, however they easily phased through his form, making him laugh.

"Oh… that actually TICKLED" he roared out, before clicking his fingers. The two servants appeared at each side of him. Rufus and Orga moved in.

"You're the one who injured Sting" Orga said, "You ain't anything strong". Phantasm waved at the Lightning God Slayer.

"Be quiet sparkplug, your nothing but a wanna be God… but you're looking at the real thing. Go play with some thunder clouds" Phantasm sneered. Memory-Rufus chuckled.

"I don't ever remember Sting getting so badly injured, and to think it was by the likes of you" he said. Phantasm cocked his head, a huge grin on his face.

"You want to try and harm me… go ahead" he taunted. Rufus and Orga needed no other offer. Immediately Rufus began conjuring up spell after spell, as Orga charged and fired his black God Slayer lightning. Phantasm laughed harder as his servants threw up a shield, easily deflecting the attacks. Once Rufus and Orga saw their attacks failing they stopped. Phantasm grinned and threw out a wave of sickly green energy, knocking them each back a few steps.

Makarov stepped forward and threw up his defensive light barrier. Phantasm seemed amused by this and his servants each called up multiple orbs of the same sickly green energy which were completely negated by Makarov's shield, being thrown around the room instead. The guild wizards dodged as Phantasm and his servants launched more spheres, throwing them at both Makarov and the guild in general. Phantasm chuckled. "I wonder how long you can keep that up" he mused, "and I would so like to play, however I did come here to do something" he added. Rufus and Orga began their assault again as Phantasm's minions resumed the defensive shield. "Master Sting! Natsu Dragneel! Your friends are starting to bore me. Come out or I shall turn this place to rubble and find your corpses" he shouted, obviously using his magic to amplify his voice. At that the memory faded.

"And that was when you came in" Rufus concluded. He maintained a rigid composure, putting his hands behind his back as he normally did. I nodded.

"I think I see what you're getting at…" I stated. Yukino looked at me skeptically.

"You do?" she inquired. I nodded at Rufus, he was smirking, although clearly fatigued by the huge amount of magical energy he just used up in that projection.

"When Phantasm attacked Fairy Tail he was able to single handedly freeze the whole guild in its tracks without even batting an eye, so why would he go to the trouble of taking all those attacks?" I asked. Rufus nodded.

"Indeed. I remembered you telling me that and it got me thinking. I also noted that during that whole fight he only even seemed to use magic twice in offense. Once to fire those orbs, and that one attack he launched at me and Orga" Rufus analysed.

"I wonder why?" I questioned aloud, before shrugging, "Maybe he just wanted to play around… but maybe… I'll discuss this with Makarov later" I stated. Rufus bowed.

"Glad that I was able to use that memory" he stated, before going to leave. Yukino helped him out. He would never admit it, but those projections always took a load out of him.

Once he was gone Yukino looked at me from my position now at my desk chair. "You really think something was up with that fight?" she inquired. Again I shrugged, a small smile on my lips.

"There might have been, I'll ask Orga if he noticed anything, and Natsu too" I stated. Yukino smiled at me and bowed her head before going to leave. I outstretched my hand to get her attention. "Before you go could you do something for me?" I asked suddenly.

"Sure" she said uncertainly, "What do you need Sting?" I momentarily smirked before trying to fight down the small blush that escaped onto my cheeks.

"Umm… with everything going on at the minute I hadn't had time to go pick something up from a store in town… would you… um… pick it up for me" I said unsurely. She smirked at me.

"Is it something you don't want me to see?" she said with a sly wink, "Maybe something to do with the hot headed Dragon Slayer not that far away from us?" I nodded, glad that she seemed to understand.

"It should be a small box, but could you not look inside" I asked. She smiled even wider, her eyes glinting with mischief, however she agreed. "It's at this place" I handed her a piece of paper with the receipt of purchase attached so she could collect it on my behalf. She took the items and quickly scanned over the contents.

"Yes, I won't peek. Do you want it now or later?" she said, I shrugged.

"Whenever you've got time" With that she left, grinning too wickedly for my liking. She's not going to do anything… but could she be any more obvious I commented as I reached out for yet another meaningless piece of paperwork the Magic Council wanted me to fill in. I hope Natsu likes it…

/

Natsu POV that evening

Sting had left a while ago and after his departure the only people to come in here was Lector and Frosch. They popped their heads in, and upon seeing Rogue awake they promptly darted into the room and enveloped him in a hug. After about an hour of questions from them they left Rogue alone, Lector having to practically drag Frosch out with him. Once they were gone Rogue began watching me. After Sting had left I lay back into my bed and just lay there, allowing my thoughts to go where they pleased. I noticed Rogue observing me, however I ignored him for a time, just deciding that he was obviously bored and as I was the only other thing of note in here he would watch me. Once Lector and Frosch entered he had been distracted and I just sat and watched them as the two exceeds maintained an unrelenting barrage of questions at their guildmate and partner.

It made me smile watching them and my thoughts jumped to my own blue buddy back home. I wonder what he'd have said about all those fears I was having I thought, musing over the thought of Happy giving advice. Eventually, after the exceeds had departed I noticed Rogue half-observing me again through fleeting glances. I sighed.

"What is it Rogue? I know you've been watching me" I said, "You didn't fall in love with me too, did you?" I added, my tone and grin a little cocky.

He scowled. "No, I was just wondering about what goes on in that head of yours. You seemed to be deep in thought earlier and I wondered… w-well, if it was about Sting" the Shadow Dragon Slayer said. I smirked at the fact he couldn't just ask if I was thinking about my boyfriend.

I smiled at him amusedly as I answered "I wasn't really thinking about anything in particular, I was just thinking. I mean, my mind did think about Sting at some point because well… I love him and he's such a big part of my life now, but… I was just thinking" I said, throwing my legs over the side of the bed to sit opposing the other Dragon Slayer. Rogue for his part sat up in his bed, turning his body to face me. He hadn't gotten up at all yet and I was starting to think he couldn't, although he did move quite stiffly I noticed. We looked each other up and down for a moment before continuing talking. "So you just think?" Rogue asked after a few moments.

I nodded. "Yeah… I know it sound's weird but I just had to… there's been something bugging me but I just can't figure out what it is" I admitted. Rogue looked at me intently.

"Is it about Sting?" he asked, reiterating his earlier question. I shook my head.

"No… it's about that dark wizard guy" I said. "It's just…" the idea hit me suddenly.

"It's just what?" Rogue asked, obviously aware I was trying to think this over.

"I've got it, that's what's been bugging me. His smell" I said, this seemed to confuse Rogue more. I went to explain further; however, I was interrupted by the door opening. I quickly scented the air and then relaxed. Sting entered with a big smile.

"Hey you two," he greeted upon entering, "how are you doing? Oh Rogue… you're up" he stopped and added upon seeing the black haired wizard in his sitting position.

"Sting, it's good that you're here, Natsu was just having some sort of revelation about the dark wizard" Rogue stated flatly.

"Huh, really" Sting commented, looking at me. He smirked. "That's good since I wanted to ask you if you noticed anything in our fight with him earlier" he said, taking a seat next to me.

I blushed as he interlocked our fingers and I could feel Rogue's gaze on us. "Remember I'm here" he stated, obviously fearful of us forgetting.

"I know" Sting said, "I won't forget, and we're not so desperate that we would do anything in the guild" he added.

I blushed deeper because of his and Rogue's tones. When Sting's gaze fell on me I began to repeat what I had just said to Rogue. "R-right… anyways, as I was saying before I noticed that something was up but only just realised what… it's that guy's smell" I stated. Sting furrowed his brows.

"His smell?" he repeated. I nodded in confirmation.

"When we first interacted with him, in the castle… did you notice anything weird about him? Like he couldn't be sensed or smelled?" I asked. Sting seemed to give it some thought before he answered.

"Yeah… it was kinda weird, he just seemed to appear like he does every time" he said. I nodded again.

"And then when he was at Fairy Tail, you noticed that he was really strong, and he smelled like death" I said. Sting didn't speak, just nodded, obviously trying to follow my train of thought. "Well, what did he smell like earlier?" I asked. Sting narrowed his gaze, eyes becoming clouded in deep thought.

"There was hardly any smell at all" he said at last. I smiled broadly hearing this, so I'm not the only one I thought, glad my theory had shown some evidence.

"I thought that too, but I was wondering why? What was different?" I asked. Sting smirked at me.

"The mystery grows" he said. I furrowed my brows and cocked my head to the side, Sting chuckled and pinched my cheek lightly. "That's adorable Natsu… but anyways, Rufus came by earlier and showed me memories of the fight. He came up with the same idea too, looks like you both might be onto something. I want to speak with Makarov about this though, I've got a request… and I might need you for that too, but just wait for now" Sting said. I went to asked him what he meant, however he put his hand over my mouth. "No questions, please" he said, "You'll get to see later… but I think for now you deserve a reward for all your hard work" he said, leaning close and whispering in my ear. A lustful shiver ran down my spine as Sting wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. He was about to do something more, however a grunt was heard from next to us.

"And you said you wouldn't forget and that you wouldn't do anything in the guild" Rogue stated wearily. "Don't worry though" he added, "Just do it somewhere else". I grinned at Sting, who stuck his tongue out a Rogue.

I leaned in close to his ear. "You could be doing better things with that than insulting Rogue… just do what he said and go to another room" I whispered lustfully. Sting looked down at me and a lewd grin formed on his features.

"My office can be locked" he stated before standing up and motioning eagerly for me to follow. Rogue groaned as Sting marched off.

"Did you really just say that? The office is a place for work" he said with obvious disapproval of the office's misuse. We didn't care though, we only thought about one thing right now. And it wasn't Phantasm or Sabertooth.

Sting turned to his partner one last time before leaving. "You gotta get the balance right, work and play" he stated with a wide grin.

/

We reached Sting's office with undeniable grins on our faces. Yukino passed us in the hall and almost stopped Sting to talk, however she quickly noted our faces and decided it could wait. Sting opened the door and ushered me inside hurriedly. He swiftly closed the door and immediately threw me up against it, back pressed to the wood. "Well…" he said before smashing our lips together. I couldn't help but moan into the kiss. Sting onehandedly took out his office key and locked the door before replacing it back in his pocket. Once he had done that we could begin properly. He reached down with both hands and caressed my lower back, descending further and further until he reached my ass. He groped each cheek as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and neck, pulling him even closer to me. Soon the need to breathe forced us apart, strings of saliva still connected us as we broke only a small distance away.

"Well… I know we haven't done it in a while, but are we really so desperate?" Sting said cockily. I just nodded vigorously.

"I am" I said heatedly. Being apart for any length of time is hard on couples, but it's especially bad on Dragon Slayer couples, let alone horny Dragon Slayer couples.

Sting grouped Natsu's cheeks again, firmly. "You really want it that bad do you?" he questioned. I nodded again.

"Yes… please can we just do it now" I pleaded. Sting shook his head.

"Not in the guild… you know, if you had accepted my offer before we could have fucked tonight… but you decided to sleep in the guild to take care of Rogue instead sooooo… it's kind of your fault" he said with a grin. I wanted to punch him but my arms were kind of busy. I kissed along his jawline instead.

"I… We… could still… do it… tonight… just I'll have… to come back to the… guild afterwards" I said in between kisses. Sting took one hand away from my ass and instead held my cheek.

"We could do that I suppose…" he said, "But I'll have to bring you back, I'm not having anyone wandering around at night that might be a target for Phantasm". I tightened my grip around Sting, replacing my arms around his waist.

"Okay, you can protect your little dragon" I gave in. Normally I would kick up a storm if anyone suggested protecting me, but from Sting it just felt right.

"Fine. But I've got a reward to give you right now still" he said, before once more attacking my lips. I opened my mouth and allowed his tongue inside. I pretended to resist, but really I just wanted to lie down and beg for it right now. Sting maintained dominance as he explored my mouth, play-fighting against my tongues resistances. He continued groping my ass with one hand, causing me to moan into the kiss. With his free hand he trailed it over the muscles of my abdomen, stopping when he neared my groin. We broke apart once more. "Just going to relieve you a bit Natsu, nothing more" Sting said, moving his hand down to palm my semi-hard cock.

"Nghn, come on, we could do more than that" I said, fighting back a gasp as Sting continued his hand motions.

"No." he stated flatly, his eyes full of mischief and his smirk showing he was having fun tormenting me. He stopped his palming, causing me to grunt in annoyance.

"Why'd you stop?" I whined, he grinned wider.

"Because I wanted to do this" he said, before undoing my belt and sending his hand diving into my pants. He went into my underwear and grabbed ahold of my cock. I bit back a moan as the action jostled it around in my trousers somewhat. "You like that" Sting said, beginning to make stroking motions along my cock.

"Ngn… yes…" I held back another moan, this time less successfully.

"Don't hold them back, my little dragon, moan all you want… there's no one nearby and the room is designed so that no one can eavesdrop on the Guild master's important meetings" Sting said, giving a few harsher tugs at my cock to emphasize. I gave in and let the building moan come out.

"Ngnn…" I tried to speak but couldn't. A grinning Sting leaned in closer, so that our groins were pressed together.

"Enjoying your reward" he said, hand falling into a steady rhythm. He removed the hand from my ass and instead trailed in down my front, like he had done with the other. He kissed me once more, our tongues sliding over one another as another moan from my throat reverberated around our mouths.

My hands began to trail down Sting's abdomen, however he stopped me from doing anything by pressing them tightly between our bodies.

"No, it's just for you right now, you were the clever dragon who figured out that scent thing, you get the reward" Sting said. I smirked at him, enjoying the attention, before giving into another moan. Sting increased the pace of his hand rhythm, causing me to moan that little bit louder, my head rolling back to rest on the wooden door. "So good" I said in a ragged breath. Sting's free hand trailed up my body, stopping at my chest.

"I've still got something else to do first" he said, as he trailed his fingers over to my nipple, stroking the hardening bud, before giving it a tweak,

"F-f… fuck…" I moaned out as the tweaks gave me a jolt of pleasure around my body. Sting grinned evilly.

"You like that a lot" he commented, doing it even more, and reveling in the noises I was making. He briefly stopped to use his hand to unravel my scarf from around my neck as tightly, before resuming his stroking and tweaking. I watched through now half-lidded eyes as he lowered his mouth to my neck. "Just one last thing" he whispered lustfully. My hand gripped around him tightly as he delved into my neck sucking hard and nipping at the skin.

"W-wait… your… marking me?" I breathed out. Sting made a few muffled noises, which I deciphered as 'do you not want me to mark you'. "No I-I do… ngn…" I said, as Sting trailed a few more kisses along my neck, before sucking on another part. After that he repeated it once more and then pulled away again, a triumphant look on his face.

"You're going to have to keep that scarf in place around other people" Sting said. I wanted to see the marks he had left; however, my mind was preoccupied by the growing heat in my pants.

"St-Sting… I'm ge-getting close" I said as I felt myself nearing orgasm in Sting's hand. This caused a wicked look to fill Sting's eyes. He tightly gripped my cock, increasing his pace even more as he trailed hurried kisses down my chest. He stopped at my nipple again, however he just flicked his tongue over the bud. He quickly sucked hard, leaving yet another hickey. I moaned hard, a few more strokes and I would be finished. Sting registered the neediness in my moans and lowered himself even further down, until he was kneeling in front of me. He pulled down my loose pants, allowing my hard member to spring free. I gasped at the feeling of freedom, before Sting's mouth engulfed my cock.

"Fuck… Sting… I'm gonna come" I warned. Sting flicked the slit with his tongue, looking at me with a devilish look in his eyes. That look and that last action was enough. I came in his mouth, a flow of hot white seed which he swallowed readily.

Once I was done with my overly loud moaning, and my cock spent, Sting raised himself off and helped me pull my trousers up. I was leaning quite heavily against the door, the feeling of an orgasm after nearly a week was too much for me. "You like your treat" Sting said cockily.

"Yeah" I replied breathlessly. Sting smirked before kissing me lightly. I could taste myself on his intruding tongue and I loved it. After a few minutes we broke apart and Sting redid my belt, gesturing for me to sit in the chair in front of my desk. Shakily I removed myself from the door and slumped into the chair. Sting leaned against the desk in front of me.

"Did you really leave marks?" I asked, looking down to see the big purple mark on my nipple. Looks like I'll be wearing a closed waistcoat for a few days I thought glumly, although I did feel sort of good at having marks left on me by Sting.

"Yeah, I left three marks along your neck, I wanted to mark you before, but I waited until now… I'm sorry if you didn't want them" he looked genuinely sorry. I reached out for him to take my hand and I interlocked our fingers.

"Don't be sorry, I like them, maybe I'll leave some on you too" I said with a reassuring smile. Sting returned it, obviously happy.

"You will?" he asked a little excitedly. I nodded, amused by his excitement, he ran a hand through my hair before lightly pecking a kiss on my lips.

"Yeah I will… although I'm going to have to wear a closed shirt or waistcoat for a while" I commented. Sting looked smug.

"Or you could show them" he mused. I shook my head.

"Not unless you want to explain to the whole guild why they're there" I said, cutting into Sting's amusement swiftly.

Sting chuckled. "Fine. If you want I can go and pick you up a waistcoat or whatever from the inn so you don't have to try to wander around town covering yourself up" he offered, "It is my fault you can't wear what you're wearing now after all?" I nodded, accepting his offer.

"Thanks, you're a good boyfriend, could you pick me up some underwear too?" I asked in reply. Sting nodded and pulled out something from one of his desk drawers.

"Sure. Here, if you want you can look at the marks" he said, offering me the mirror he kept handy. I took it and observed my neck as he went to the door. "If you want to you can stay in here, no one'll come in if I'm not here, except maybe Yukino, or you can try to sneak back to Rogue's room, whatever you want" he offered. I shrugged.

"I'll sneak down later, if you're going now you'll need this" I said, throwing him the inn room keys. He took them and then left the room, giving me a sweet goodbye kiss before he left. I checked out the marks on my neck.

"Damn, it's going to be hard to keep all of these hidden" I commented when I was alone.

/

A while later

I snuck discretely back down to Rogue's room after about ten minutes in Sting's office. I could smell his scent everywhere and it was driving me crazy, especially right after the activity we had just done with my hormones everywhere. Yukino had wandered in after about five minutes and noticed me sitting in Sting's chair. She was momentarily taken aback as she had not expected anyone to be in there, however she soon noticed my marks and I had to quite quickly explain at least some of what had happened in here. Just like Rogue she had seemed disapproving of Sting's behavior, yet she never blamed me, thankfully. She assisted me in subtly moving back down to the room, and upon entering I was met with a glaring Rogue.

"You really did it in the office" he stated flatly, scenting the air. "Yep, I can smell it one you" he sighed. I looked sheepishly.

"Not as much as what you think, just me… and Sting's hand" I added, watching with amusement as Rogue upturned his nose.

"That's too much information Natsu" he said slightly disgustedly. I chuckled as I lay down on the bed again. "And I'm going to have to put up with that smell" Rogue commented with an annoyed tone. Yukino had left the room with a blush as I had mentioned the activity in the office.

"Don't worry" I started, "Sting's gone to my room in the inn to pick up some spare clothing". Rogue seemed a bit more contented hearing this.

"That's better, but it would be best if you could take a shower" Rogue replied. I nodded in agreement.

"I know, but there isn't one available so…" I drifted off. My eyes were feeling a bit heavy and I knew I would end up falling asleep soon. Rogue looked with a smirk.

"Hmm… looks like you have the same problem as Sting, you feel tired as soon as you fuck, right?" Rogue said. My eyes shot wide hearing the Shadow Dragon Slayer making such private statements.

"How do you know that?" I asked. He laughed lightly.

"Sting likes to think he's discrete when he masturbates but he really isn't" Rogue explained. I smiled, it was amusing to hear this from Rogue.

"He's not that good at being quiet" I agreed. Rogue snorted in amusement. Eventually a companionable silence filled the air. I fell asleep with thoughts of Sting lulling me into a deep, and pleasant, slumber.

/

Rogue POV

Natsu fell asleep not long after our conversation about Sting. I watched him for a few moments, wondering if he was faking or if he really did fall asleep. He murmured and tossed a little, but otherwise was clearly sound asleep.

I smirked. "He's pretty cute I'd admit, but really… sleeping with your idol Sting" I mused aloud, although not much louder than a whisper. It was nice to have a quiet and less irritating Natsu around. I too allowed my thoughts to wander, however this did not have the same relaxing effect that it did on Natsu as every time I closed my eyes those damned nightmares showed up. It appears I don't even need to be asleep for them to torment me I thought grimly. Sting had informed me earlier that Phantasm warned him about me 'becoming consumed by them' and I was now beginning to wonder what that meant. Will I become like the Future me? I questioned fearfully. Ever since the Games and the subsequent battle against those dragons I had strived to become a 'better man' in order to avoid the darkness, and to prevent me from ever hurting Sting as my future version had done.

My thoughts were dark enough, without having to be reminded of that evil version of my own being. Before I could think on it any longer the door opened. Sting marched in, obviously expecting to be greeted by Natsu. "Hey Na-" he said before stopping. I smirked at him, amused by the disappointed look on his face. He wandered over to me.

"Hey Sting" I greeted.

"Hey Rogue, how're ya doing?" he said pleasantly. I sat up.

"Fine" I lied, pushing the dark thoughts to the side for a period. "Natsu sleeps quiet peacefully so nothing has happened" I commented. Sting looked over at the pinkette for a moment. In his eyes I could see a fine light burning, filling his gaze with love and care that I had never seen him have before. "He came in before, he got help from Yukino to sneak by the guild, and then we chatted for about ten fifteen minutes, before he went out like a light" I recounted. Sting focused his gaze back on me.

"Oh, right… I was just bringing him some extra clothes… did he say why he needed to sneak in?" Sting asked slyly. I rolled my eyes.

"No, and I don't want to know. Natsu already traumatized my imagination enough with a few choice words about what you did when I, admittedly, pressed the topic a little" I said, laying back down.

Sting's face became clearly mischievous. "So you don't know much then" he asked. I shook my head.

"No." I stated flatly.

Sting nodded. "Good… good… I was wondering if I could ask you something?" he began. I looked at him, my face altering to a mildly confused, so that he would continue. "Right… I had Yukino collect something I bought a while ago… and I was wondering if you could keep ahold of the box of stuff for now, you don't need to look in it… but I'm worried Natsu would find it if I kept ahold of it" I smirked, glancing over to the Fire Dragon, he was still asleep.

"Yeah, I can keep ahold, however it looks like Natsu wants to hold something too" I commented. Sting turned around to face Natsu, who was asleep, but facing Sting's direction.

"S-Sting…" he murmured peacefully. Sting smiled warmly and wandered over to Natsu's bedside, taking a hold of his mate's hand and interlocking their fingers. He stroked Natsu's cheek gently with his other hand's thumb, before planting a kiss there. I felt like a bit of an intruder in this loving moment between the two, however I kept my mouth shut. Sting then quickly left Natsu's side again, returning to me. Natsu murmured another unheard thing at the loss, but aside from that remained passive.

"I've got to go now, I'm going to speak with Makarov about something, could you keep an eye on him for now?" Sting asked. I nodded. "And look after yourself, I know you're not right Rogue, you don't need to hide it if you're suffering". I frowned at that, but Sting just smirked and left.

I could hear him as he walked away. "I need to ask about Mavis…" he said aloud, obviously unaware that anyone could hear him.

Mavis? I thought confusedly.

End of Chapter 25