Jellal woke up to the early rise of dawn. The sun was barely rising, judging from the small amount of light coming through the shabby curtains of the room at the inn. As usual, Erza was already sitting on the edge of the bed getting dressed. How she always found the energy to get up so easily in the morning was a mystery to him. It had been their first night together this month. Working in separate teams to gather intel on Avatar wasn't easy on their relationship. These nights, these sparse moments of time of just the two of them, he wished they could last forever.
''Good morning,'' he murmured.
''Good morning, '' she said, looking over her shoulder, '''don't you have to leave soon too?''
The gentle smile he gave her in exchange made her feel all fuzzy inside. ''I'd rather stay here,'' he replied.
She quickly turned her head back to hide her blush, but he knew very well how flustered she was. Erza let her hands run through her thick locks of hair, letting the rising sun peek through its strands.
He looked at it in silence, reminiscing days of the past. Scarlet.
He lifted himself up and reached over to the nightstand on her side, grabbing the hairbrush.
She laughed. ''Do you really think you can tame your bedhead with that?''
He kneeled behind her, letting his hands bring her hair together from her face to her neck. Her neck hairs stood up straight as she suddenly felt his fingertips lightly touch her skin. He leaned in to let his face rest just next to her ear. ''Maybe I can tame yours,'' he whispered.
Part of her wanted to make clear to him that they were going to be late, but the shivers that now ran down her spine kept her from doing so. Relaxing her shoulders, she just gave in to him.
Gently he brushed her hair, strand by strand. Occasionally stopping to leave a kiss in her neck. Her thought drifted off to last night. How much she had longed for them to finally have a moment to themselves in these stressful times. She closed her eyes, giving in to the warmth in her neck and her hair gently being taken care off.
''Shit,'' he suddenly let out and took a step back, ''I'm sorry.''
''What's wrong?' Erza she asked in bewilderment, half disappointed he had broken the moment.
''You'll have to see for yourself,'' he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.
She walked up to the mirror on the wall. ''Oh no,'' she softly said as she let her fingers trail over the dark spot in her neck. Erza turned to him. Her face almost rivaled her hair in colour. ''Gray is gonna tease the hell out of me now, what do I do?''
''I have a spare cape with me, don't worry, " Jellal said as he got out of bed and started searching through his bag of clothes. Carefully he draped it over her shoulders.
" Great, now I have to dress like a criminal for days."
He smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead. "As your favorite criminal."