Sting was just about to suck the white out of a random milk carton he found laying around when a loud screech broke the silence between the two mages. He let out a low growl as the two of them both crumbled onto their knees, holding their heads in pain as the painstakingly horrible sound continued on.

In the back of his mind, Sting guessed it was Lilian who made the scream- she was always a screamer after all.

The loud manly shriek of her name as the scream stopped abruptly just as it reached its climax only confirmed his thoughts.

His head was still throbbing when he glimpsed a pair of boots running past him to where he thought ex bunny girl was. By the way things played out, he guessed it was her old mentor who stopped her from screeching any longer. What was his name again? Alec? Zander? Alexander?

A low rumble made its way up his throat as he picked himself up to his feet; Sting wasn't quite sure just what he was doing here actually. He only meant to visit Lilian to break the masquerade going on between them and rekindle their friendship. He hadn't meant for his own facade to break.

He shut his eyes tight and tried to tone out the haunting cry of a voice calling out his name as his head gave a final whirl.

Fighting with Krued somehow got his mind off things... better than talking to Lilian did at least. Rogue wasn't really an emotional support pole and Lilian? Sting knew she meant well, and that she tried her best to cheer him up and he did appreciate that but it just wasn't what he needed.

What he needed was something impulsive.

Like a punch in the face. Which was probably the first thing Krued did when they met- though Sting did have a faint recollection of watching Rufus throw the silverette into a circus tent while he was masquerading as him to get to Lilian.

After all, the white dragon slayer wanted anything but to remember. He wanted to lose himself to adrenaline, to be so out of his mind that he forgot all about who he was, he wanted a good fight. A fight that he couldn't get earlier during the games when misery weighed him down.

Sting was still standing with his eyes closed shut when his ears started to ring. What was he doing? Maybe he did manage to lose himself after all...

He completely forgot about the problem at hand.

"Hey... you-" the blond opened his eyes only to see the face of Auguston Krued staring at him curiously. He made an almost horrified face before throwing a punch into the unsuspecting mage's stomach and watched him curl onto the ground in pain all over again.

"No homo," Sting muttered almost jokingly as he towered over the acting lieutenant colonel's downed form.

If anything, Krued was the epitome of awkward- at least to him anyways. Some of his mannerisms were just plain weird and really, he didn't get just how he got his job with the way he was naturally. Sting really just couldn't take him seriously.

Then again... he had a hard time taking Lilian- or Lily- or Lils, seriously too.

Ignoring the fact that the master could've seen him punch out his baby (honestly, he was beginning to see where the newly blond Bunny Girl got her weird from), he made his way to the circle forming around what he guessed was whatever shit Bunny Girl got herself into.

Sting honestly didn't know how he felt about Lilian. She seemed to always get herself into all kinds of trouble; it was like she was a magnet for bad luck. Sometimes he wondered if that was her thing; he heard of mages having a true 'element' but never being able to unlock it unless they went on a magical pilgrimage or whatever. Maybe that was her's- Bunny Girl, the mage of bad luck and misfortune.

Now, that would be hilarious.

After a lot of pushing and shoving, Sting found himself as a bystander in a fight circle between Lilian and the guy who managed to detach her from him earlier by just throwing himself at them. He felt his stomach churn sickly as he examined the scene before him. Though the reason why he felt so sick was beyond him.

He saw Bunny girl as a lot of things- as a sister, as a best friend, as a five year old who constantly needed to be supervised... He saw her laugh till her sides hurt, saw her ugly crying like a baby, saw her embarrassed beyond belief, saw her shy away from him in certain situations, and saw her scream at a guy for touching her apple juice.

And though he saw her go through a lot of things these past few years, Sting had never seen Lilian as angry as she was now.

Man, the girl was practically glowering. Well actually she looked slightly constipated as she sat on her spot of the grass across from the brunette, pinned into the ground like the gravity had multiplied by a thousand around her as Alexander towered over her and lectured her like how one lectured a pet.

Honestly, in a way Sting was reminded of an angry five year old as he watched her pout and glare at the guy pinned beside her. His eyebrow quirked in interest as he watched her lips move quickly and a misty outline of a giant chicken form beside her. It dissipated almost immediately though when her mentor caught her trying to summon... whatever and slapped her over the head with a giant tree branch.

He was surprised the two of them weren't viciously trying to bite off each other's heads when he realized that Alexander must've magicked their mouths shut. He frowned as he watched Lilian glare up at her old mentor, almost childishly as he dropped the branch and sighed.

As long as she wasn't getting hurt right?

Sting stayed in his spot as he watched his old team mate get scolded and reprimanded by the redheaded male. By this time, she had dropped her glare and was now sulking down at the dirt as Alexander moved on to scold the brunette.

The crowd was slowly starting disperse, having lost interest since there was no fight taking place and Sting took this as a chance to approach his old team mate.

The blond slayer inwardly groaned as he crouched beside Lilian, it was times like this that he wished Fro was around. But he knew she was with Rogue and Rogue was god knows where with that other female dragon slayer.

"Hey," he started and watched as her shoulders stiffened as she turned her head to look at him. He almost laughed at the look of horror that struck her face upon seeing him, "what? Not glad to see me?"

"No. No... I just," she shook her head and had to stop to let the dizziness ware off. She forgot she was still under a heavier gravity than the one Sting was in, "this is embarrassing."

He just had to smirk at that, all the things she could've said and she decides to comment on how embarrassing this was? He looked up at her old mentor and wasn't that surprised that the two of them- Alexander and the brunette were staring back at them with a look of curiosity etched on their faces. Sting was too caught up trying to decipher whatever evil things the brunette was probably thinking of through his face that he almost missed Alexander flick his wrist. The magic power lifted almost immediately off of Lilian- he saw how her body relaxed as the gravity returned back to normal around her but she made no move to get up. Stupid girl must have not realized it yet.

"Is your old guild always this..." his eyes scanned around the clearing as he tried to look for the right words to describe L'arc Sibyl, "rowdy?"

"It's not as rowdy as Fairy Tail, I hear." Came his immediate answer and he only stared at her unimpressed as she nervously laughed from her spot on the ground, "it's more like a disorganized foster home if you ask me..."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..." her voice dropped to a low whisper now, her eyes downcast and he watched as her shaky arms made its way to cover her face.

Lilian was weird, Sting reminded himself. She was a weird girl. Had always been ever since she started claiming to be ill a few years ago when they started traveling together. He just didn't really pay much mind to it as he watched her start to sniffle and sob before him.

How he wished Fro was there with him.

And Lector.

"Sting... I'm so sorry," she croaked in between sobs, letting her hair pool around her face as her shoulders shook with each whimper. Sting only sighed and dragged the girl onto her feet, brushing the dirt off her vest and hair as her mentor and the other dude stared at him.

He forgot she said Alexander was like a brother to her. That would explain just why he was seething as he held the same tree branch he hit Lilian with hover over the brunette's head.

Sting didn't say anything as Bunny Girl continued to whimper and sob about god knows what- something about being a bother and being in no place to be sad when compared to him or something. He wasn't listening. He had toned her out the moment he got her to stand properly and saw her blistered feet that just barely filled his shoes. He didn't whether to curse himself for actually making her go through that dare or slap her over the head for actually doing it.

She really was high maintenance, he said to himself as he slapped his hands over both of her cheeks and pulled. He ignored the small whine she gave as he stared at her nonchalantly; wiping her eyes free of any tears with his free fingers, "stop."

Lilian only stared at him with eyes that reminded him of Fro's as he sighed and gathered her into his arms, skillfully getting his shoes off her feet and on his.

It was obvious people were going to gossip as he carried her out of the park, he left in a sea of murmurs and gasps after all. But he was Sting Eucliffe- the fame that Sabertooth granted him shaped him in such a way that he was used to leaving in hushed whispers. He learnt to tune it out. He shut his senses and in turn closed himself off from the rest of the world.

But Lilian was a living thing- a human. She was his friend and he really still hadn't figured just what to think of her.

"Sting, where are we going?" She asked him a little while later, her sobs having long passed. Now, her voice was just dry and extremely unattractive.

"Ms Greeney's." He answered and patted her back softly when she gave a small hiccup.

She was his best friend- or something akin to it but she wasn't Lector.

That much he was sure of.