A/N Thank you to the reviewers and readers leaving me PMs and reviews for this and my other stories. I am gradually reworking a lot of them and getting them back up here and eventually on AO3 as well, once I catch up with all of these, new works will start going up as well. To the RP and Story workshop discord group I am part of? You guys keep me going. Sara, Thera, Starry, Puppet, Nikki, Awesome, and all the others, Vamp, Sassy, our lurkers who just come there to read as all of us pound out story ideas and work on dialogue and action scene writing (which I swear is like pulling teeth to write) Thank you. Sara for making Hestor yours and something other than just a 2D villain, you're amazing. To my readers here? I will not stop writing, I will keep doing this especially with so many of you writing to me even through the dry spells when I was taking weeks to fight my way through the rewrite of a single chapter. I heard someone say they wanted to see more of Evergreen...

Desna

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Evergreen pursed her lips, shifting a little and trying to keep herself steady. Presca moved

"Go ahead and lean into me more Ever, Laxus said it would be tomorrow before they could reach us and you're exhausted. I can hold you up, just get as comfortable as you can." The energy mage whispered.

They were hiding, in a massive underground sweatshop they had stumbled into. Presca had managed to find this small closet off a hallway and sealed it, hiding them by dampening their magic and energy signatures and making anyone who came near them exhausted and dizzy enough they went to sit down elsewhere.

It had been an interesting mission, they'd had to recover a batch of custom woven fabrics that had been stolen from the Elluris warehouse in Pelerno. Elluris held the patent on their fireproof mageweave and several other magically enhanced fabrics and that was what the thieves had taken, bolts of fabric freshly enchanted and ready to be dyed, patterned and made into clothes.

It was the first time Evergreen had ever worked a job where rival clothing companies had been at each others throats, but the small company from Fiore, Kavasil, and she herself owned some of their clothes, had been behind it. Their own mageweaves weren't selling as well, and had some issues with consistency, so...one of their executives, to help his department boost sales, had hired some dark mages to steal the fabrics.

What should have taken a week had taken almost two and Presca wasn't entirely happy being late to go to the Island to get Vander.

"He's been to where I grew up..even been to my wife and daughters graves with me a few times, I owe him this." He'd said quietly as they had been trying to puzzle together where the hell the fabrics had been taken.

They had finally tracked them, thanks to Presca being able to hone in on the faint magic signature of the fireproof material, something nobody Evergreen had ever worked with could have done, maybe Laxus could have sniffed it out? But honestly, the lightning slayers nose, while good, wasn't as well developed as say Gajeels, that man was a bloodhound.

She'd petrified the two guards outside the little unassuming dress shop in the small village just across the Fioran border, and they'd had to fight their way from there into a huge underground...sweatshop.

They'd not just found the fabrics Elluris was missing, they had turned up the illegal sweatshop where slaves were being hidden after capture before distribution. Evergreen would admit...they had ended up in over their heads, and had needed to call for help, Now...they were going to spend the night in a little closet while Laxus rushed to help them, he and Fairy Tail closer than White Sea.

"What about you? You need rest...and...you're hurt." She whispered back, her hand sliding to his shoulder where a gash was cut by a guard before Presca had drained the man to nothing and left him slumped on the floor.

"Yeah...probably should bandage it, think you can do it? Don't want blood running under the door." He observed calmly. Evergreen nodded and there was a soft swirl of magic, Presca reaching into re-quip space and pulling out a medical kit that looked like it had seen a LOT of use.

With just a small light she activated with her magic Evergreen pulled out some of the supplies then frowned, looking at the brown leather in her way.

"Out of the shirt." She said, pressing herself against the wall trying to give him space. To his credit, he was silent even when he had to pull the snug leather from his injured shoulder. He wisely shoved the clothing into re-quip space then shifted so Evergreen had a good angle.

She focused on her task, she had bandaged good looking well built men for years, seen Laxus, Bickslow and Freed in all manner of undress, she would not be affected by the expanse of smooth deeply tanned skin over very well defined muscle that was on display...nor did the sharp steel colored eyes watching her bother her, no...she was immune to those things.

Immune...Gods he had such full soft looking lips too, and the tattoos...Mountain lions...she liked cats. His soft brown hair was pushed over his other shoulder, had the most attractive curls and wave to it and even in the dim light it shined. She cleaned the wound, impressed honestly, no wince, no sound, he held completely still, steel eyes watching her intently, no expression on his handsome face.

She tied off the bandage and he put the kit back in requip. They had at least ten hours before Laxus and Fairy Tail could reach them, but at least Presca had been able to give him precise coordinates for where they were, the Bloodhunter was...amazing in his skills as a tracker, Evergreen hadn't seen anything near his skill before.

"Ok, I think if we do this right, we can settle in this space and get...sort of...comfortable, at least enough to sleep." Presca told her and Evergreen nodded. She was exhausted, low on magic, and eager to turn out the light she'd made with her magic, if she kept staring at Presca she was going to...be too...distracted...to sleep.

He shifted, and she sucked in a breath when his arms came around her, pulling her into him.

"I'm going to kneel, sit back on my heels, too fucking tall to wedge myself but this way, you can settle in my lap and if I lean back against the wall...well...close as we're going to get to relaxed positions." He said.

Evergreen raised an eyebrow "You and Vander have done this haven't you?" She asked and he rolled his eyes.

"Maybe...once or twice...him on the bottom because I know better than to get myself pinned under his ass." He said with a faint smile as he sank down.

Once he was situated Evergreen tried hard not to blush as she straddled him and settled. He was right though, once his arms were around her and he leaned back against the wall, she wriggled a bit, getting her head set in a nice spot on his uninjured shoulder and she was actually, pretty comfortable.

It was though...a very very intimate position, she could feel the warm leather of his pants, her dress hiked up so she could spread her thighs and set them on either side of his hips, and...she could feel other things under that soft leather.

She felt him relax under her, the taut muscle of his belly easing, though it remained firm, he was so warm, smelled wonderfully masculine and...unlike Elfman, he fit so nicely against her, she could get her hands all over his back...his ass...his shoulders...if she wanted to...which of course she didn't because she wasn't interested in that right now, of course not, she and Presca were….friends…

She liked him, he was easy to get along with, quiet, polite, opened doors for her, held chairs for her...he even noticed when she had redone her nails in a new shade of pink...something nobody hardly ever noticed...but he had, when they'd left on this mision he'd sat across from her on the small train they were taking into Fiore to the village.

"You changed your nails, darker now, they look nice." He'd said and she'd smiled, blushing a little, far too delighted he'd noticed but she couldn't help it.

"Yes well, one of them chipped, I hate chipped polish." She said and cringed at how bitchy she sounded. Presca though was unaffected by her tone, leaning forward and taking her hand, looking over her fingers thoughtfully.

"They look good, it's nice you take such good care of them, a lot of women don't bother with the little details of how they look, yet you take pride in all of your features, put effort into it all, make an already beautiful woman even more so, kind of like polishing a gemstone. Still beautiful raw, but cut and polished...stunning." He'd said, sitting back again.

"Mo...most men don't notice you know...my team mates...they say I'd be pretty without all the effort." she said.

Presca shrugged "You would be, you're beautiful, but there's nothing wrong at all with enjoying being more so, nothing wrong with a man taking the time to notice either. Van's always saying that, he doesn't care what a person looks like at all, and I agree, to a point, I just admire the effort, the pride you show when you do it." Presca said lightly and the little bit of pink on those cheeks...Gods he'd never looked so good but she'd been so embarrassed herself she'd hidden behind her fan.

"Sorry if I embarrassed you Ever, I didn't mean to." He said and she had waved her hand.

"No not at all? Why would I be embarrassed by that?!" She'd said but...her voice was too high, and her face too red, and Presca had smiled, pulling out his L-tablet and reviewing their information on their mission.

Now, here she was laying in the mans arms, legs around his hips, head tucked under his jaw, his bare chest under her fingers and she was struggling not to run those fingers around the smooth skin, press more against the hard body...see those steel eyes lock with hers…

She finally...gratefully...drifted off, exhaustion winning over nerves…

Presca kept his breathing steady, feeling Evergreen slowly relax and finally fall asleep. It had been a tense little while there, and he'd struggled to stay still and calm, Gods knew his body wanted to react to her, her fingers tightening on his skin, sliding little bits, her little shifts of her hips that made her soft heated center rub over his and the leather of his pants was way too thin and way to pliant to protect him.

There were times he envied Vanders ability to adjust his clothing at will...but then, if Vander had been there Evergreen wouldn't be sleeping quietly she'd likely be panting under the Shadowquip the way Presca...honestly...wished she were for him right then. Gods what he'd give at this point to kiss those pouty pink lips, slid his hands over that round perfect rump…

Yeah he was not helping himself settle down…

Taking a slow deep breath he forced his mind on other things. The light had gone out when she'd gone to sleep, it was a little chilly in the closet but with the woman laying on him he wasn't cold even without a shirt on. She'd done an amazing job with his shoulder too, given the tight space it felt pretty good. His other was almost ingling, and the feel of her soft breath on his neck and hair…

He was such a romantic, Vander teased him about it all the time, he vehemently denied it every time too, but it was true, he just...wanted to be in love again, wanted to feel that connection, that security. Van had no idea what it felt like, he'd never been in a serious relationship, let alone married with a child. Presca had...and he wanted it again.

He doubted Evergreen would be interested in that much depth though. He was odd for a Boscan, sex for him was intimate, close, he loved the connection with the other person almost more than the pleasure. He'd kept that to himself, Vander was always trying to wheedle out if he was seeing someone, interested in anyone and Presca remained stoic and kept his dating habits to himself.

Truth was, he did get out there, did try, but most Boscan women saw him and were more than willing to jump right into bed with him, relationships? Not so much. He'd even tried a few guys, it was love he wanted, that didn't have to necessarily come from a woman. But those had been worse, other men definitely just wanted sex and while he'd enjoyed it, he really wanted more.

Evergreen had caught his eye because of her mannerisms at first, then he'd caught on to just how sharp she was, the woman was smart, observant, and very much wanting pampering even though she never said so directly.

He'd be thrilled to do it, and had been, opening doors, holding chairs, all things he'd done for his adoptive mother and his wife, he'd been raised to be polite, a gentleman, and like all Boscan males to sort of revere women and all they had to offer.

He just hadn't been very successful finding someone, for a while he admittedly hadn't been looking simply missing his murdered wife too much, but in time, he'd realized he had a long life ahead of him and he really didn't want to live it alone. He had a beautiful home on the same block Farron lived on near the consulate and a short walk from the market district that he took pride in.

It was maybe a bit big for a single man, but he'd not been able to pass it up when the realtor had shown it to him and it's large back yard with multiple garden boxes was where he spent a lot of his time. He loved cooking, and with Rowans help had put together a nice vegetable and herb garden, even kept some flowers pretty well, well enough Rowan, on his last visit, hadn't needed to fix anything and Presca had smirked smugly at Vander who'd just had to have his whole terrace replanted because he'd killed everything on it.

"Great in a different kind of bed is all." Vander had said with a shrug.

"Don't...don't say it...I'm just going to enjoy knowing I'm better at something and you're going to fucking let me." He'd snapped when Vander had started to say something else and his friend...being his friend, had just chuckled, shrugged and strolled back into the house after plucking a few snap peas from the vine and popping them into his mouth.

He looked upwards, he missed Vander, wanted to know his friend was ok. Seeing him like he'd been after those demons had done all they had...it had torn him up. Vander was so full of life, so confident and happy and damn it, Presca wanted that shited, sighing in his arms and he bit his lip realizing he'd unintentionally tightened his arms around her while worrying about Vander.

She was so beautiful… he smiled faintly at her relaxed face. He needed to fucking sleep...not moon over Evergreen. He was a fool, he knew it, wore his heart on his damned sleeve though nobody knew he did. He'd had his heart broken a few times now since his wife had died, all because he just...gave it over too easily, hoped for too much.

It just seemed all anyone wanted from him was sex. Vander of course had no issues with that, but...Presca did.

He'd resigned himself to being an odd Boscan, tried to stick to bath houses for his pleasures and side stepped the advances of his friends sisters and most of his guildmates. Once in a while...he did let himself get talked into privacy booths, but...he tried not to.

He let himself relax more, his magic reaching out to settle in a perimeter, if anyone came into it he'd wake up, but they had found this closet in an abandoned section of the complex, Presca had even hidden their tracks, leaving the coat of dust on the floor looking untouched and they were well hidden in the closet.

He let his head fall back and finally, sleep took him.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Arman looked around in amazement, listening as Vander described getting first Meala, then Searsha, smiling when the black serpent wrapped around him and nose bumped his chin affectionately.

They both seemed to acknowledge him as Vanders father, like they had gone to each of his siblings, carefully examining them. Meala still hissed at the King, but Searsha seemed alright with him, resting his head on Cidas shoulder to peer at the monarch. Nuryev, to his credit, held his ground, even though one nip from the glaring black serpent would end the man in less than 3 minutes.

He stood, watching his son kneel down and touch the scorched spot by the fountain, saw the wine colored eyes unfocus with painful memories and smiled as Meala slid around him, humming her soft sounds until Vander smiled faintly and stroked her side.

"I want to restore it...the island...Beck says with some work the Havati can come back as a species and I want that Dad, just protecting the island isn't enough, they...need people. I'm not sure how it would work, I know they've been tied to the bloodlines of the Husen clan for a really long time but there have to be other mages out there that could...appreciate them, be compatible." He sighed, sitting on the edge of the fountain.

Arman put a hand on his shoulder, watching as Beck crooned softly to a deep blue serpent that was watching him with interest. The beastmaster had, not surprisingly, taken to the serpents, and vice versa, the moment he'd set foot on the island and had been just about giddy about the prospect of helping with them in any way he could.

The blue serpent slid in closer and Beck grinned at her but a hiss from Meala had the blue wide eyed pulling back looking sheepish and Beck giving Vander a crushed look that had him looking sharply at Meala then back at Beck apologetically.

"Beck, she was going to bite you, she likes you, dude...you don't have any immunity you would DIE." Vander said and Beck frowned, looking up at the serpent.

"She's such a sweet thing...doesn't want to hurt me...maybe a dry bite would be ok?" He asked and Vander and Arman both stared at him incredulously.

"Seriously?" Vander said.

Beck shrugged, a tint on pink on his cheeks "Well...it's how they show affection...they give little bites...you said it didn't hurt…" He said, shuffling his feet a little and looking longingly up at the blue serpent.

Vander rolled his eyes "And I've been ingesting their venom since I was in the womb Beck."

Beck shrugged "Immunity can be built, I'd like to try." He said firmly and Vander looked to his Dad for back up but Arman was looking too calculating.

"I've had chocolates made from a recipe Mr. Elan developed working with one of the Husen clan elders years ago, they'll make you pretty sick for a couple of weeks Beck, and you should use them with Cristoff around but I think you're right, it can be done." Arman said and Vander stared in surprise at his father. Arman moved his calm jade eyes to meet his sons.

"You want the Havati saved, want them exposed to compatible mages because they need people, I agree with you, Beck can be the first we try it with. I'll talk with the Citadel and the Palace about permissions and such, you'll be signing a lot of forms Vander, paperwork...but, I'll help you, Farron will, and Kaleb will know who among his mages might be a good candidate…" His father said.

Vander drew a breath, watching the again smiling Beck looking up at the serpents circling over the courtyard. Cida was talking with Nuryev...Searsha weaving around her...the woman was like serpent-nip for the big red male and Vander was non-plused as to what to do about that, if he even wanted to do anything, Searsha was happy, which he'd learned meant the serpent was more cooperative in training, and that made his own life easier.

"I have some mages I could send here, we'd have to work out a system to see about compatibility, right now, you and Beck are all there is for insight into how the Havati are perceiving people, so really Van? It would fall on you, you're the last Husen, the government will want you directly involved." Kaleb said as he came over, dropping down to sit on the other side of Vander from their father.

Vander sighed, the responsibility wasn't exactly high on his list of things he usually reached for, quite the opposite actually, but he couldn't bear the thought of these creatures going extinct, and if something didn't happen soon, they would.

"I can work with Xally about a resistance development protocol with the venom, like Dad said, Mr. Elan has been making those chocolates since you were a kid Van, we already know how to handle the stuff." Cristoff added from where he stood not far from Beck, dark eyes on the serpents overhead.

Lucy was standing a little ways from fountain by Bickslow having come out of the house to see what everyone was doing and she smiled listening to the discussion.

"I think Cobra would just...love this. He's a poison slayer back in Fiore, his best friend in the world growing up was a woman cursed to be a Havati serpent, he thrived with her...I bet he'd just…" She shook her head, since they had arrived she'd been looking at all the beautiful jewel toned flying serpents and thinking of how much Cobra would have loved to have been there.

Bickslow was smiling faintly, he and Cobra were pretty close...and he agreed with Lucy.

"I think we should call him babe, Van? His background is unknown ya know? His mother gave birth at the tower to him, no clue what guard got her pregnant, but I can say, he'll be fucking crazy about these guys and if one chose him?" He shook his head smiling thinking about it.

Vander nodded "Yeah...call him. Lets see about getting him on the list for the first ones we'll bring here. Takes about 3 weeks honestly, WITH resistance to the venom, no clue how long resistance will take to build." He said looking at Cris who pursed his lips a little.

"Bout a year, maybe longer. For your friend Bix? The Poison slayer? He could probably come right out after I try him on the chocolates for a week to be sure he can process the venom ok." Cristoff said after a few minutes.

Vander smiled faintly as his family talked, even Nuryev entered the conversation, he was a master at aiding in developing immunities and resistances in people with all the work he'd done in his mothers labs through his life, and he had a vested interest, hoping to get some people from his own country considered. Havati were dragon kin, any Sevenese citizen would be deeply honored to interact with them.

He'd have all the help with this he needed, he knew that, and across his shoulders Meala was humming softly in his head, affection and happiness rolling off the serpent and through him, keeping the whole thing from kicking up what usually would have spurred anxiety for him, the thought of all the work and responsibility involved in this, but...he strongly felt it had to be done, to honor his lost people...his parents...the sacrifice they all made to save these creatures.

He couldn't necessarily recreate the bloodline of the Husen...unless he himself got pretty damned busy with some woman and started making babies...and he really...was NOT ready to face that idea, even though the moment it crossed his mind Mealas hums and purrs were joined by Searshas and encouragement and excitement tingled all through him.

He narrowed his eyes on Meala and whispered "No...just...let's not go there."

"Go where?" Arman asked far too innocently and Vander glowered at Meala who just purred. His fathers magic caught the idea in his youngest son, and how the singing of his serpents wrapped around it, it frankly shocked the Ambassador that it had even come to Vanders mind at all, but...this was Vander after demons had torn him apart...and Serpents had put him back together…

"Nothing...so, if we make this village into a sort of trial and training center for people, to see if the serpents respond to them…" Vander changed the subject and Arman and Kaleb both smirked, knowing exactly why….

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

She'd always wanted to feel just...worshipped. Maybe it was vain, selfish...she didn't care, she'd wanted that. Her childhood had been so lonely, and her only retreat from the other children in the orphanage had been her magic and books, she'd read about fairies, loved them, her magic emulated theirs and...protected her from a lot of the cruelty that happened in state housing for magically gifted children.

Elfman had been the first man to endure her waspish tongue...but he'd left her too...men just didn't...want her.

She'd drown her sorrows, lose herself...she loved Boscan bath houses for that. Handsome men with wonderful bodies and so so many delicious skills in sex, she'd done it every time they came to Bosco, gone to the Bath House and lost herself in the arms of a man who would give her everything for a while, let her touch him anywhere, bury his head between her legs and give her all she asked for without hesitation or complaint and she'd leave near boneless, sated if not emotionally satisfied, at least her body knew fulfillment.

Her hands moved over the hard muscle, tracing well cut lines, loving hos smooth and hard this one was. Most were decent, they took care of themselves, but this one, he was hard under his smooth skin, there were little hints of scars here and there as if he'd seen real combat though she knew few of the attendants had ever done anything but study pleasures, give them.

It was a delicious change of pace, how she imagined a sexy mage would feel, someone like Laxus, Bickslow, the kinds of men she respected but had never managed to really make anything lasting with.

There had been a time she'd had crushes on all of her team mates, they were all three handsome, strong, intelligent, she was a woman after all, shed noticed. But they were too close, and their friendships mattered far too much, o she'd looked elsewhere.

Working mages were just...hard in Fiore, few had much in the way of education outside their studied magic, fewer still cared about clothing, finer pretty things and those that did, like Rufus Lore...very much prefered men...like her...she actually competed with men like Rufus and Freed for the kinds of men she liked...and they...unlike her...had masculine power to offer..mage relationships were often pretty open if no mating or magical needs for hard commitment were there, and a lot of mages were bi or pansexual.

Evergreen wasn't as pretty as Mira, Lucy...Erza...fucking Erza, Titania who didn't even appreciate that she'd been given a nickname Evergreen would have killed to be tagged with. To hell with them...she needed this body she was running her hands over...he felt so good…

He smelled like stardust and the Grass Sea, that fruity spiced scent, with a masculine musky note to it that made her blood boil, the faint hint of warm leather...her hands trailed over a firm ass encased in leather and she purred. How had she lucked into an attendant that wore leather? They were usually in silks.

He growled, moving under her hands and she smiled, placing hot kisses on a warm neck, running her tongue over a strong jaw.

His breathing deepened, hand moving on her back, pressing her into him better and she followed the jaw to capture soft warm lips, her hands sliding down the hard well defined chest to start opening his pants, Gods she wanted him, needed this, she shouldn't have waited so long but with everything that had been happening with Vander and…

Her head caught up with the rest of her then but the lips moving against hers still drew a soft mewl from her before she pulled back, afraid in the dark closet to activate a light because...she didn't want to see Prescas expression.

"Nicest wake up I've had in awhile." The energy mage mumbled sleepily and Evergreen huffed blushing crimson she was sure and now certain she would not be sparking a light for them.

"Mmm, happy dream I'm guessing?" He asked, humor in his voice and Evergreen bit her lip.

"Something like that...I...I'm sorry." She managed and his fingers turned her face back towards him.

"No...nothing to be sorry about...I thoroughly enjoyed that." He admitted, and he had, waking up to Evergreen kissing him and running her hands over his body? Damn nice way to wake up, though he was pretty certain it probably wouldn't happen again...