A/N: I've gotta give a shout-out to Fieta and Bratist on AO3 for their amazing comments that helped to inspire the progression of this chapter. Also, shout-out to VampireQueen99 on AO3 for nudging me toward updating this story. I hope this meets your needs, m'lady!

What Happens if You're Honest?

Team Natsu had been gone for three days already, and Gajeel had realized that he'd signed up for some serious bullshit. After the first day with Kinana accompanying him to check on Cobra, she'd told him that she couldn't take more time off from working at the guild to watch over the guy, even though she wanted to be there for him. Which meant Gajeel was going to have to go over to Cobra's every single day to check on him, get him out of bed, and find some way of forcing him to at least get his ass out to the couch. On the second day, Gajeel turned his whole body into iron just to avoid that fucker's poison soaking into his skin when he flipped the mattress over to get Cobra up.

It had been effective, of course. Cobra had stormed out to the living room - fuming and yelling about Gajeel being a fucking prick - only to shut the fuck up entirely when he saw that coffee was already made, and there was breakfast on the table. And dirty dishes in his sink.

Whatever this mopey bullshit was with the Poison Dragon Slayer, Gajeel was tired of it. He wasn't a babysitter. He cooked meals only for himself - and for Pantherlily, but that was beside the point - and yet, here he was, having cooked breakfast for Cobra because he wasn't taking care of himself. He was in a funk, and Gajeel didn't know what the hell else he was supposed to do. Was he expected to just make sure Cobra didn't go on a killing spree? If that was the case, then leaving him in his bed was the best choice. But if he was supposed to spend time with Cobra…

Gajeel sighed while unlocking Cobra's front door, adjusting the bag in his hand so he could get inside. The lights were off - as usual - and it was obvious that no one had been into the living room since the day before when Gajeel had left. He'd gotten bored watching Cobra lay on the couch and stare at the wall, so he'd said his goodbyes and walked out.

With a shake of his head, Gajeel set the bag down by the couch, then went to make some coffee. It was already past ten in the morning, and he'd heard from Lucy that Cobra woke up stupidly early to start his day. He wasn't going to be cooking the bastard breakfast every day, so once the coffee was ready, he went to Cobra's room and found him lying in bed, staring at the wall.

"What the fuck, man?" Gajeel sighed. "If yer awake, get out of bed."

"I did," Cobra said. His voice was flat, with no venom whatsoever. It was just a simple statement of fact. "I went to the bathroom, then got back in bed."

"I made coffee." He was about to walk into the bedroom, then paused when Cobra sighed and pulled the blanket away. Good. He was going to get his own ass up and moving around for a change. Instead, Gajeel turned and made his way to the kitchen, and poured two cups of black coffee. The apartment was painfully quiet, even as he listened to Cobra sit up in his bedroom, set his feet on the floor, and groan while standing. How the hell was his apartment so quiet?

Gajeel lived out in the middle of nowhere because trying to find an apartment in town had been a fucking nightmare when he'd come to Magnolia. Every place he'd looked at had shitty neighbors. Kids were too loud, babies screamed at all hours of the night, or they had a fucking cat and never cleaned the litterbox so he was able to smell ammonia leaking through the walls. But Gajeel couldn't even hear Cobra's neighbors.

"They're there," Cobra said as he walked into the kitchen. "Upstairs is deaf, so they bang pots and pans when they cook. The bitch next door blares fucking Enya at odd hours. Across the hall is a dude who smokes so much pot, I question whether my acceptance of this bullshit situation I'm in is just residual THC seeping through the air vents."

Cobra grabbed a vial of snake venom from his refrigerator, then added two drops to his coffee. He took a sip, added another drop of venom, took another sip, then sighed in relief. That was the good stuff. He returned the venom to the refrigerator, then slid past Gajeel to sit down on the couch. Again.

"You planning on starin' at the wall all day again?"

Cobra blinked slowly and kept his gaze on Gajeel while leaning forward to grab a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table. He lit it, took a full drag, and leaned back on the couch. A double dose of poison first thing in the morning was doing the trick, for sure. "Not sure," he said, smirking while smoke billowed out from between his lips. "Depends on how well you entertain me."

"It ain't my job to keep you entertained, asshole." Gajeel sneered and took a seat beside him on the couch. They both took a sip of coffee in silence. The smoke from Cobra's clove cigarette was seriously fucking with his nose, but Gajeel figured it was a small price to pay if he was going to act like a mildly normal fucking human being for a change.

"You know, if I'm like this, you really don't have to watch over me," Cobra said. He took another full drag and held his breath to let the poison soak further into his lungs.

"I told Bunny Girl and Master I'd do it," Gajeel said. He sneered and waved away the smoke cloud Cobra blew toward him. "Asshole."

"What, big bad Black Steel can't handle a little smoke?" Cobra chuckled. When all he received in return was a vicious red-eyed glare, Cobra relented. Gajeel wasn't really all that bad, truth be told. He was much quieter than most other people in that bullshit guild, assuming he wasn't in one of his petty little contests with Natsu. "Tell me something, though."

Gajeel sipped his coffee again and grunted.

Cobra grabbed the ashtray from his end table, ashed his cigarette, then used the dim cherry to push around the ashes. He could hear a good portion of Gajeel's soul with relative ease, but there were two things that the Iron Slayer kept under a tight lock and key. Cobra wasn't in the mood to push with his magic, and he already knew what Gajeel's deepest darkest secret was. But he was curious about that other piece of information. More specifically, why Gajeel kept it hidden. "You and Lucy have some weird sibling shit going on," he said slowly.

Gajeel's eyes narrowed in an instant.

"What the fuck?" Cobra asked flatly. He turned to Gajeel fully then. "Considering what you did-"

"Why do you wanna fuckin' know?" he asked. Great. He was suddenly defensive, and Cobra really didn't have the energy to get into an argument. He was just curious, and it was easier to ask to sate his curiosity. Besides, it would give them something to talk about. Even if Cobra didn't want Gajeel there, he understood that there was no getting out of it.

"Humor me," Cobra said. He lifted the cigarette to his lips again, then smirked at Gajeel. "Better than me sitting and staring at the wall in silence, right?"

"Tit for tat, asshole," Gajeel said, leaning back on the couch.

"Fair enough," Cobra said. "I reserve the right to refuse answering your nosy fucking questions." He wouldn't admit that he was surprised to hear Gajeel laugh with that weird Gihi sound he made. All because he found it funny that Cobra would be able to refuse, but he could also just listen to Gajeel's soul to get the answers he wanted. It wasn't fair in the slightest, but that's how Cobra liked it. "But, in favor of levelling the playing field, I'm curious how you fucked up so badly that she got you wrapped around her finger."

"I didn't fuck up," Gajeel chuckled. "In fact, I actively tried to fuckin' ignore her."

"We both see that failed miserably," Cobra snorted. "Where did you go wrong, man?"

Gajeel sighed in relief when Cobra took one last drag of his cigarette and put it out, setting the ashtray on the table again. "She fuckin' cornered me," he said.

That didn't bode well for Cobra then, he realized. Lucy had done the same damn thing with him when they'd met up in the prison. When they'd talked, she'd cornered him… even though Lucy had been the one standing in a corner, he'd felt as though she'd held all the fucking cards. And she'd gotten him to admit the truth.

Did that mean she had some weird superpower shit that made men putty in her hands?

"Don't look at me like that," Gajeel laughed. Apparently Cobra's horrified expression over realizing that Lucy had done something similar to Gajeel was being taken as horrified that someone so small and unassuming had been able to corner the Iron Slayer. Cobra was fine with him thinking that way. "I'd been in the guild for about a month, tryin' to ignore everyone since I didn't really fuckin' belong here anyway."

God, he really held tightly to the shit he did in Phantom Lord.

"Bitch popped up outta nowhere on my way home. Made me nearly shit my fuckin' pants when I realized I was gonna punch her in the face." He smiled some soft, reminiscent smile that made Cobra want to hurl Gajeel over a damn cliff.

"What the actual fuck?!" Gajeel roared, pulling his clenched fist back to his side as he glared down at the smiling blonde he'd been trying to avoid.

"Hey, Gajeel," she laughed. "Walking home?"

He was more than ready for some bullshit to go down. For Natsu or Erza or someone else to pop out and beat his ass. If she'd heard from Levy what had happened with Laxus in the park - and he was sure she had, since those two were nearly always sitting together and reading - then maybe she came for her pound of flesh from him.

Lucy waited patiently for him to answer, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Yeah," he said.

"Mind if I walk with you?" she asked, turning to face the same direction as him.

Confused as hell, Gajeel stared down at her with his pierced brows furrowed, but he still took a slow step forward. Then another. And Lucy walked beside him, seemingly without a care in the world. They made it half a block before she spoke again.

"I noticed you seemed kinda upset today," she said, never taking her gaze from the path in front of them. "Everything okay at the guild?"

Gajeel nearly stumbled in his step, eying her warily. "Yeah," he said. "Guild's fine."

Lucy frowned up at him. "No one's giving you a hard time, right?" she asked softly. "Because me and Levy already forgave you. So if anyone's still holding a grudge, I'll go talk to them."

He knew for a fact that Lucy didn't back down when she was pinned against a wall. He knew firsthand that she would go through with it. But to hear right then that she was willing to stand up for him? When he'd brutalized her worse than the blue-haired Shrimp he was still trying to figure out how to apologize to?

Lucy stepped in front of him, and he froze in his step. They were alone on the street as she stared up at him, her thin brows pushed together in concern. "Gajeel, you do know we forgave you, right?"

He couldn't speak, so he nodded instead. He didn't believe it, though. Not one bit.

"I'm serious," she said, placing her slender fingers on his forearm. When he felt her tender touch sliding down until she held his slack hand in her grasp, the same fingers that had wrapped around her throat and choked her, Gajeel sucked in a whisper of a breath. "Everyone makes mistakes, Gajeel. And joining Fairy Tail takes a lot of courage after what happened before."

"It doesn't," he breathed. He didn't mean to speak. He wasn't sure what the hell had possessed him at that moment, but he kept talking. "I came to do the right thing. To fix what I fucked up. That's not courage."

She smiled at him then. "What do you call it?"

He didn't have an answer for her, but the longer he looked into her soft, chocolate-colored eyes, the more at ease he felt. She really didn't hold it against him. He could see the sincerity in her eyes, could feel it in how she held his hand without fear. "Not sure," he said, finally breaking away from her gaze. "But I didn't wanna keep livin' the way I was in Phantom. This seemed like my best shot to turn things around."

She leaned down and met his gaze again, her smile wider than before. "You wanna come over and hang out for a bit?" she asked.

He couldn't hide his shock. There was no way for him to keep it to himself, not when she had every right to be terrified of him hurting her again. "Are you fuckin' crazy?" he breathed. "I hurt you, Bunny Girl."

Lucy laughed and rolled her eyes, then stood up to her full height and pulled on his hand to keep them moving down the sidewalk. When she looked at him over her shoulder, Gajeel was more baffled than before. "Maybe I am crazy," she said. "But I think you could use a friend."

He wasn't sure what to say to that.

"And honestly, I'm a walking disaster," she continued, tightening her grip on his hand just slightly. "So, if anything, you're more likely to keep me from just keeling over in the street."

Gajeel didn't slow his steps while yanking her to the side, away from the corner of a building she was about to walk into. "Watch where yer goin'," he laughed.

"See?" she laughed along with him. "Already saving my life!"

"It was a building," he said, shaking his head. "Worst you would've gotten was a bump on the head."

"I could've died!"

"Bunny Girl, that's a bit dramatic."

"You want drama?" she asked with a sly grin. "Oh, fairest Gajeel, with thine eyes of crimson and magic of great steel-"

"What the fuck?" he cackled. "Shut the fuck up with that!" Without realizing it, he'd diverted his direct path home to follow Lucy to her apartment. He'd been too caught up in their conversation, her strange antics, and odd sense of humor to put much thought into where his feet took him. They stopped outside her apartment building, and he watched her pull out her key. That was when it hit him that he hadn't turned four blocks back when he should have.

"I was serious about hanging out," she said, still smiling up at him. "But if you're not in the mood tonight, I get it. We can always rain check."

She had some serious fucking balls to just assume they were already friends. And somehow, Gajeel didn't quite mind it. Instead, he smirked down at her, all sharp teeth that glinted in the nearby lacrima lamplight. "I'm free now," he said. When Lucy punched the air in victory, he couldn't stop himself from laughing as he followed her inside.

"She's perceptive as hell," Gajeel said. "She saw something was wrong, and she went out of her way to talk to me."

"That is some of the pansiest shit I've ever heard," Cobra said, rolling his eye as Gajeel finished telling him the story of how Lucy had wheedled her way into being a friend.

"Fuck you," Gajeel laughed. He set his coffee cup on the table and stood, pulling something from the bag Cobra hadn't noticed he'd brought over.

"What's that?"

Gajeel glanced at him, then walked over to his television and started plugging cords into the back. "I didn't know if you were gonna be fuckin' comatose again. Didn't feel like bein' bored."

Cobra raised a brow when Gajeel held up two strangely shaped controllers. "What the fuck is it?"

"Video games." When Cobra didn't say anything, when he was positive that his confusion showed on his face, Gajeel's pierced brows lifted in surprise. "Are you fuckin' kidding me?! What, yer world domination shit was too taxing for a break to play a damn game?"

Cobra's brows lowered at that. Tension rose between his shoulders when he saw Gajeel pause for only a moment before a devious grin spread across his face. Gajeel stood and made his way back to the couch, tossing a controller at Cobra while sitting down again.

"Tit for tat," he said. "I told you how Bunny got under my fuckin' skin. You tell me why you've never played a damn video game."

Cobra looked down at the grey controller, noting the symbols on the little blue buttons as he carefully gripped what he assumed were handles? Grips? He didn't know what they were called. He looked at the television when Gajeel turned it on, watching the screen shift to play some sort of introductory video that showed twenty people in varying degrees of undress, standing in fighting stances as they stood in a colosseum.

Gajeel tapped several buttons with his thumb, switching through one menu after another, and Cobra glanced over to see how he held the controller to begin with. So he used his thumbs for this…

"There. Pick someone to be yer character."

Cobra frowned at the screen. He listened to Gajeel's muscles moving in his left hand on the joystick. So that was how he could move it. Slowly, he looked at the pictures that appeared. A white-haired woman in a string bikini made of gold. A fucking skeleton pirate. A samurai rooster. He wasn't sure what any of these characters did, so he moved down to the question mark at the bottom that said random, and pressed the selection button. After Gajeel pointed to it.

"Now the goal is to kick my ass. You just hit the buttons to make them do different shit, and try not to die," Gajeel said as the stage loaded. Cobra spent the first three rounds figuring out how to move and punch before he heard Gajeel thinking of button combinations. "I'm still waitin'."

Cobra scowled at the screen and pressed buttons at random. There was no way he could figure out the combinations that Gajeel was using, and they seemed to only work half the time. Maybe that meant he wasn't that good at this game. Still, they'd made an agreement. "Brain said we had to stay focused on our goal," he said.

Gajeel scoffed. "So you couldn't blow off some steam?"

"We weren't even allowed to watch movies," he said. "Just training."

"Fuck, how'd you do that?!" Gajeel shouted, staring at his dead character. When they returned to the character selection screen, he frowned at Cobra. "That sounds like some freaky child soldier shit."

"Pretty much," Cobra said. He chose the skeleton pirate and Gajeel picked some weird centaur. "If we weren't up to the task, he forced us to train harder. Rain or snow or whatever the fuck. That's just how it goes, though. You wanna be in some Balam Alliance shit, you've gotta be stronger than everyone else. No time for breaks."

'Like hell is that how it goes…'

Cobra leaned forward slightly and focused more on the weird attack combinations the skeleton had. "My turn," he said.

"Shoot."

"You said you became friends, but you didn't explain how you went from that to… the weird shit you two do now."

"We don't do weird shit," Gajeel chuckled. "Fuck you, bitch!"

Cobra sighed when his character died. Again. He chose the same character and looked at Gajeel. "You two literally put on bathing suits and take baths together."

"It's not that weird."

"You got a bigger bathtub specifically for that," Cobra said, turning his attention back to the game when the next round started. "And you added a shelf for different bubble bath bottles, depending on the level of shittiness your day has reached."

"You ever take a bath with Bunny, and you'll understand," Gajeel laughed. "Shit's relaxing as fuck." They went through another round with both winning one match, and Cobra finally overtaking him on the final match. "Fuckin' cunt."

"You're stalling."

Gajeel sighed and chose another character, then went over how he and Lucy went from the beginning of their friendship, with a few highlights of their slow trek over several months to becoming as close as siblings. Apparently, the bullshit after the Grand Magic Games with the dragons had pulled them even closer together. Because she hadn't been able to talk to Natsu about seeing her future self die, since he'd been torn up about it and really wasn't ready to talk. But she'd needed to talk to someone, and she'd turned to Gajeel.

"That makes sense," Cobra said after they spent several minutes in silence. "Seeing some future evil version of someone you just met come and kill your future version would fuck you up."

"She was a fuckin' mess," Gajeel sighed. "So, tell me how you fucked up and pissed her off this time."

"I didn't."

"Don't lie," Gajeel said, biting his lip while he hit the buttons faster than before. "She came in ranting over yer bullshit, talkin' about temper tantrums and shit. What'd you do?"

"I told her not to touch me," Cobra said. "And she didn't listen. We got into an argument. It got blown out of proportion, and she kicked me in the fucking nuts over it."

"Over her touchin' you," Gajeel said slowly. He didn't look over at Cobra, too focused on the game in front of them. It meant that Gajeel missed the discomfort showing plainly on Cobra's face. "That's fuckin' stupid."

"I told her I don't like it, and she fucking did it anyway," he said. "She should've already figured out why I don't like it, so she's being dense on purpose."

"How would she've figured it out?"

Cobra sighed when he died again. "You said it yourself. She's perceptive. And she puts pieces together way to fucking quickly. She knew how I felt about it."

"So you gave her some slanted ass hints and expected her to just… what? Understand that you don't like being touched?"

Cobra looked down at the controller in his hands as he thought about what Gajeel said. She knew he was born in the Tower of Heaven. She knew that he was a slave, he was positive of that. She'd seen the scars on his back, something he wished she hadn't done. But how could she miss the signs that connected everything? How could she possibly not understand that it was partly because he'd grown up as a slave, had been beaten nearly every day and night of his childhood until Brain took him and the others away from the Tower, that he didn't want to be touched?

Lucy wasn't stupid. She was dangerously smart, in fact. Smart enough to put two and two together.

"I told her enough for her to get the picture," he said, looking back to the screen.

"And didja ever consider the mixed signals she might've gotten about that from sleepin' on ya during that job you two took?"

Cobra hesitated long enough that his character died. He turned to glare at Gajeel's smarmy fucking grin and nearly reached over to punch him right in the dick.

"Yeah, she told me about it," he said, finally meeting Cobra's burning gaze. "And she didn't tell me that you two fucked, but it's fuckin' obvious."

"I-"

Gajeel rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh. "Who Bunny fucks is none of my business, as long as she's careful." He paused to level Cobra with a heavy glare. "But you should think about what kinda message yer givin' off with that flirty touching shit and then pullin' back because she tried to reciprocate. Just because she picks up on a lot, doesn't mean she's a mind-reader. There's plenty she misses, simply because Bunny tries to be respectful of people's boundaries. It's fucked, man."

And even though Cobra hated to admit it, he knew that Gajeel had a point. He'd been trying to get Lucy to be the one to finally break, to come to him desperate for a good fuck. And he'd teased her with touches and long kisses that had her a whimpering mess who lost track of time. She'd gotten used to those small touches, and Lucy was someone who thrived on being physically connected to the people around her.

"No one wants that kinda headache, and she's too fuckin' loud when she starts yelling."

Cobra chuckled after that. "You don't have to tell me," he muttered. They both turned back to the game and Gajeel showed him how to add handicaps to the characters. They both increased their characters' health to 200 percent. "So, those dragons during the Games… You were really raised by some shit like that?"

"Hell yeah, I was," Gajeel said. "Big fuckin' gecko bastard."

"What was that like?" Cobra didn't want to admit it, but he was curious about what it was like to be raised by someone who gave a shit about you. Even a little. Thankfully, Gajeel didn't comment on the timid undertone in his voice, and instead went on a rant about how he'd been taken in by a metal dragon that laughed about eating him every day.

Cobra was so invested in hearing about the dragon, and playing the game, that he didn't notice Gajeel glancing over at him with a small smile when he realized that for the first time since joining the guild, Cobra seemed to have relaxed. And for the first time since Gajeel had come over to be his keeper, the Poison Slayer had a little bit more light in his single eye.

Team Natsu returned to the guild later that day with a full reward for once. Lucy couldn't even be mad about her strained ankle that had her limping carefully from the train station. They'd actually gotten all the money they were supposed to, and she could finally start building up a little savings account.

She did feel bad that Gray broke his arm, though. He'd pushed her out of the way of some huge rock that was sliding down the side of the mountain, and it hit his arm, fracturing the bone. She was sure, if he hadn't seen it coming - hadn't encased his arm in ice just before impact - it would've been a lot worse.

"I've gotta go get the key to Cobra's apartment from Gajeel," she said once they neared the guild.

"He might be inside," Erza said, tightening her hold on Lucy's waist just slightly. She smiled down at the blonde. "Let's get you both checked out by Wendy before you go searching for him."

Lucy smiled back up at her. "I'll be fine, Erza," she said. "Gray needs the help more than me, and I don't want to tax Wendy's magic too much."

"When are you guys gonna understand that Wendy's a Dragon Slayer?" Natsu laughed. "She's got plenty of magic to heal you both."

Lucy sighed and shook her head at that. That wasn't the point. It just didn't seem fair to go overboard during a mission and expect to come back to the guild and have Wendy at their beck and call. "Still, I just rolled my ankle a bit. Gray's the one who needs medical attention."

Gray chuckled as Happy flew in front of them and opened the doors to the guild. "You should at least wrap your ankle, Lucy."

"I can do that myself," she said. They slowly made their way inside, and she found Wendy frowning over at the poor excuse for a splint on Gray's forearm. She allowed Erza to steer her toward a nearby table and took a seat, watching the Requip mage take their completed mission over to the bar for Mira to sign off. Natsu was already there ordering food, mouth watering and eyes wide with joy.

"Lucy," Kinana said from just behind her. Lucy turned and her smile stayed in place as Kinana took a seat. "How was the mission?"

"Pretty good," she said, then winced. "We got a little roughed up, but we got the full reward!"

Kinana laughed and shook her head, holding up an ace bandage that Wendy had given her. "Mind if I help?"

Lucy rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm a big girl," she teased, but still carefully pulled off her boot and set it on the floor. She pulled her injured ankle up onto the bench between them. "I can wrap my own ankle."

"I was hoping I could talk to you about Erik," Kinana said carefully as she placed the end of the bandage on top of Lucy's foot. She didn't miss the way Lucy's shoulders dropped, or how her smile fell just a little. "I know you two didn't leave off on good terms before your mission."

"He was being a brat," Lucy huffed. "I get him not wanting Monty out in the cold, but still."

"There's more to it than that," Kinana said. She started gently wrapping Lucy's ankle, trying to find the words to say in such a public place that would help the blonde see that Erik's behavior was something to keep an eye out for. That he couldn't be left alone when he got like that. That, whether he wanted to admit it or not, he needed someone there for him, just to remind him that things would turn around again.

"Kinana, I know you're his friend," Lucy said. She reached forward and placed a staying hand on Kinana's wrist, offering a soft smile when bright jade eyes lifted to look at her. "I appreciate that you're trying to help, but Cobra started this mess. So whatever needs to be said, should really come from him."

Kinana sighed and nodded, then went back to work on wrapping Lucy's ankle. "He's not the best with expressing himself," she said.

"You don't have to tell me," Lucy muttered, then shook her head. "But, if we can just have a normal conversation about it, then we'll work it out."

Granted, Lucy wasn't confident that their conversation would be normal in the slightest. She wanted to give Cobra the benefit of the doubt, but she was still a bit peeved over what he'd done at her apartment. She wasn't planning on storming over to his place, busting down his door, and demanding answers, but if he'd just stop playing his little mind games for a minute and talk to her, then they could go back to being… well, she supposed friends wasn't the right word. Cordial, maybe? Teammates, for sure.

"Make sure you rest your ankle, okay?"

"I will," Lucy said. "Thanks, Kinana."

"Are you… gonna go see him now?"

Anyone else might have thought there was a hint of jealousy in Kinana's voice, but Lucy had a feeling it was more of a concern borne from the connection she had with Cobra as Cubellios. It might not be a bad idea to get some insider information from Kinana, when she thought about it. But she was also sure that going behind his back to find out what his problem was, would only aggravate Cobra more. No, it was best to talk it out with him.

"Yeah," Lucy said. She frowned and looked around the guild for Gajeel. "Once I find Gajeel… He's got my key."

"Oh, he's probably over there already," Kinana laughed. "He usually doesn't come to the guild until around dinner time, since he's keeping an eye on Erik."

"Well, I guess I'll head that way, then," Lucy said with a smile. She carefully slid her boot back on and laced it up looser than normal to compensate for the bandage around her ankle. Summoning a spirit to help her limp her ass over to Cobra's probably wouldn't be too bad of an idea.

As soon as the thought occurred to her, Loke appeared in a brilliant show of glittering light. "Does my beautiful princess need a lion to ride?"

Lucy snorted when she saw the deep flush on Kinana's face from the innuendo. "Oh my god, Loke…"

He grinned and held out a hand for her, then carefully pulled Lucy to her feet. "Would you allow me to carry you?"

"I can walk," Lucy laughed. "But if you can keep your paws to yourself, then I'll lean on you, how about that?"

The fact that hearts appeared in his eyes was a little disconcerting. "Anything for you, Lucy." She looped her arm through his, offered Kinana a small smile and a wave, and they slowly made their way out of the guild toward Cobra's apartment. He waited until they were halfway there, nearly at Lucy's apartment, to bring up what had been on his mind. "Princess, I'm not sure you being around Cobra is a good idea."

Her head dropped slightly. She'd been wondering how long Loke would wait to tell her this. He did the same thing when he'd realized she was sleeping with Bickslow. Granted, he'd also admitted that he never really liked the Seith mage, so he was biased on the matter. And she was sure Loke was going to bring up Cobra being on parole for being in a dark guild, and his murder of most of the remaining Celestial mages during the Infinity incident, and his very real attempt on her life while she was being sucked into the Infinity Clock, as a few of many reasons she shouldn't pursue anything past platonic friendship with the Poison Slayer.

"Putting his sordid past aside," he said instead, surprising her. "Don't you think he's a bit too… aggressive… with you?"

She frowned up at him, her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw the light flush to his cheeks. "I thought I told you not to spy on me when I was having sex."

His blush reached further down his cheeks until his whole face was red. "I-I didn't mean to see anything," he said quickly, and Lucy dropped her head to his shoulder in defeat. "I promise, Princess."

She let out a helpless laugh and shook her head. "So, you're saying that he's too rough during sex, and I should be with someone who treats me like glass?"

"If I'm being perfectly honest, that's exactly how I would've ravished you," Loke said. He slowed his steps slightly after they passed her apartment, and brought his free hand up to lightly caress her fingers where they wrapped around his arm. "Torn stockings and all."

"Loke, we both know a relationship like that is inappropriate."

"I know," he chuckled. "With my contract, any intimacy between us would feel like coercion for you."

She was more than happy that he understood that. After hearing from Aries that it wasn't uncommon for Celestial mages to be intimate with their spirits, using the contract as a guarantee for subservience, Lucy had told the Ram spirit in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't do that. And then she'd called out Loke, her most perverted spirit, and told him the same thing. He'd been shocked that she brought it up at all, of course, but the last thing Lucy wanted was for him to get the wrong idea about being required to flirt with her or, stars forbid, sleep with her.

He'd been so sad when he thought she was telling him that he couldn't compliment her at all. So she'd had to explain the boundaries. If Loke wanted, and only if he wanted to do it, he could kiss her cheek, her forehead, or her hand. He could hug her as long as he didn't touch her intimately. And he could still be an unabashed flirt, as long as he kept in mind that she would never accept his advances.

"But I meant otherwise," he said, looking down at her as they kept walking. "That wasn't the first time he's attacked you, Lucy."

"He wasn't exactly in control the first time," she said. It wasn't much of an excuse, but if Cobra had been having a nightmare, then she could understand not quite knowing what was happening when he woke up.

He sighed and scowled as Cobra's apartment building came into view. "You're a grown woman, and you can make your own decisions, so please don't think I'm trying to control what you do with your body," he said carefully.

She nodded. "I know that, Loke," she said.

"I think it's wonderful that you own your sexuality, in fact," Loke said. "Just… promise you'll be careful, okay?"

"Well, not having a condom was a bit of a slip," she said with a wince. "But, yeah, I'll be careful."

"I mean…" He sighed and gripped her hand a little more tightly, then shook his head. "Nevermind. As long as you're careful, Princess, then I'll support you. And if he attacks you again, I won't stop myself from opening my gate like last time."

Lucy couldn't stop herself from smiling while hugging his arm just a little tighter. She appreciated that he wanted to let her handle the issue on her own before, and that he was just a bit overprotective. "I seriously love you, Loke," she said. "Thanks for that."

They stopped in front of Cobra's building and she laughed when she saw Gajeel walking out with the key in his hand, already held out to her. "Shift change, Bunny," he laughed. "Loke."

"Nice to see you, Gajeel," Loke said with a nod. He turned to look at Lucy. "Want me to walk you up?"

"Nah, I can manage some stairs." She turned to Gajeel and took a small, limping step forward. "You heading to the guild?"

"Yep. I haven't had any metal since breakfast, and I'm fuckin' starving." He paused and frowned. "You good?"

"My beautiful princess rolled her ankle," Loke sighed. "And I wasn't fast enough to save her."

"Why don't you and Loke head back to the guild, then?" she asked Gajeel. There was no point in playing into Loke's drama. She had something to do. She glanced at her lion spirit over her shoulder. "It's been a bit since you hung out with Gray."

And if he was with Gray, then he wouldn't be in the Spirit realm, watching her conversation with Cobra. She wondered if Cobra was even aware that spirits did that with their keyholders. If he knew that it was likely at least one of her spirits was watching what she did when they spent time together. They couldn't hear what people talked about, from what she was told, but they could watch everything unfold like a silent movie, read facial expressions and body language. That was how Virgo had figured out how to be the best maid spirit she could be. By memorizing the subtle cues her keyholder gave off to signal what they might need.

Loke grinned and blew her a kiss, then turned with Gajeel and walked back the way he'd just come. And Lucy took another slow step up the stairs, and another. By the time she'd reached Cobra's door, she was ready to give up and start crawling from the throbbing that started radiating to her toes. Before she could lift the key to the lock, the door opened. Lucy blinked in surprise when she found herself staring at Cobra's sweatpants, and slowly looked up to find him staring down at her.

"Come here," he sighed, reaching out a hand and opening the door wider.

She wasn't sure what he was planning, but she still took his calloused hand in hers, then squeaked when Cobra stepped forward quickly and lifted her into his arms. Then hefted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You shouldn't be walking so much," he said while carrying her inside. He closed the door and locked it, took her to the couch, and surprised her again with how gently he sat her down. And again when he knelt right away and pulled her boots off, being overly careful with removing the loosely tied boot that hid her bandaged ankle. And again when he used the blanket that Monty had curled up in on Christmas night to create a makeshift pillow for her, and gently put her injured foot on top of it.

He walked off without another word to her, and Lucy found herself completely lost over his 180 in behavior when he brought her a glass of water and sat on the opposite end of the couch.

"I heard what Cu was trying to tell you," he said. Her mouth snapped shut when she realized that he meant Kinana. He'd heard their conversation at the guild from his apartment? Cobra nodded in answer to her silent question. "I get that she was trying to help. And it probably would've been less of a shitshow the last time we were around each other, if you fucking knew."

He wasn't looking at her, but at some spot in the distance that would probably quiver in fear over the intensity of his stare… if it had sentience.

"I mean, I guess. But it's not her place to explain things to me," she told him. "If you want me to know, then you should be the one to tell me."

Cobra reached out to pull her uninjured foot into his lap while Lucy took a sip of water. She had to fight back a relieved sigh when he started to massage the arch. Maybe it was time to get a new pair of boots if her feet were starting to hurt after a single mission. Still, him touching her reminded her pretty quickly about what he'd said the last time she saw him. She'd kept touching him when he didn't want to be touched, and he wasn't comfortable with it. If that was a boundary of his, then she needed to respect it, not put her foot on him like this.

Just when she started to pull her leg back, he held it in place. "My back," he said, slowly meeting her curious gaze. "You saw the scars I've got."

Oh, she definitely remembered the marks she'd seen when she walked into his room and found him standing in front of his dresser with only a towel on. And she remembered the shock on his face when he turned around and saw her looking at him.

"It's from being beaten," he said. Any small semblance of arousal she might've had from that memory planting itself right behind her eyelids, shriveled up at the mention of him being beaten. How was that even possible? "I can hear a person's soul, so I know when someone's going to hit me. And I avoid it most times."

She'd seen him do that with ease countless times since she got him from the prison.

"Those scars are from when I wasn't able to avoid it." The admission floored her. To think there was a time when he couldn't avoid something like being hit? With how agile he was? And when she thought about how many scars there were… "Some are from where I was born," he continued. "In the Tower of Heaven."

What kind of place had it been, really? She knew Erza had been there before coming to Fairy Tail. But Lucy had seen Erza naked, and she didn't have any scars like his. She'd technically lost an eye, but Porlyusica replaced it with a prosthetic imbued with magic that allowed Erza to see out of it as though it was real.

"Some are from Brain," he said. "That's what I meant before, about you putting the pieces together."

She wanted to ask how much of what had happened to him was a result of the sick bastard that had led the Oracion Seis. How much had he been subjected to before he was taken under Brain's wing? But that was far too personal, and she knew that Cobra was a private person. He didn't want anyone knowing about where he was born when she was filling out his paperwork for the guild. Why would he tell her this now? "Cobra, you don't-"

"I've been informed that, just because you're smart, doesn't mean I can assume you'll pick up every slanted-ass hint I throw at you." He took a slow breath in through his nose and released it in a heavy sigh as he turned and leaned his head on the back of the couch. He started rubbing her foot again, his touch still gentle, even though she could see pain sitting plainly on his face. "That's where my issue comes from. With being touched, I mean. Most physical contact I've had with anyone that's not a snake, has been… unpleasant."

Which meant that the way she'd been acting at her apartment with him… Reaching into his jacket to look for Monty and poking him when he was showing very clear signs, in retrospect, that she was invading his personal space… "You were trying to tell me to stop. I remember. But I didn't listen." It wasn't until that moment, looking into his eye and thinking back to when he'd snapped at her, that Lucy realized she'd placed the blame on the wrong person. Cobra hadn't started anything. It was her fault that he'd gotten upset. "Cobra, I'm so sorry. I didn't know…"

He shrugged and gave her a sad little half smile. "You don't have issues being all touchy-feely with people," he said. "I know it didn't even cross your mind that I was being serious."

That didn't excuse it in the slightest. She should've paid attention to what he was trying to tell her, regardless of being comfortable around him.

He looked down at her bandaged ankle, then back at her remorseful expression. "But I'm sorry, too," he said, "for treating you the way I did."

Lucy jolted. "Y-You…" Had he really apologized to her? She couldn't recall a time she'd heard him apologize for anything. Granted, she didn't know everything about him, and they'd only been around one another for a couple months. Still, he hadn't apologized for anything in that time, even when he should have. She sat there, frozen, as he pulled his legs up onto the couch and curled up just slightly. Her uninjured foot slid from his grasp as she sat up more fully. She wanted to reach out to him so badly right then, but she stopped herself. He didn't want physical contact. She had to be more aware of that. He shifted just slightly, and a small smile curled Lucy's lips when she saw his hands moving closer to her, his palms toward the ceiling. Slowly, she set her hands in his, rubbed her thumbs across his cold knuckles.

"There's no excusing it, even if I was feeling…" He winced and glanced at their hands instead. "Off." When she gently squeezed, he looked into her eyes again. "I realized it that night, too. After you kicked me. And I was trying to apologize but…"

"Your nuts were tucked up your ass, and you couldn't decide if you wanted to murder me instead?" she laughed.

"Pretty much," he chuckled. Cobra leaned forward as he lifted her hands, pausing when his breath brushed over her guild mark. "I deserved it - the nut-check and you chewing my ass out - but I hope you'll forgive me."

The warmth of his lips barely brushing against her knuckles was so at odds the the chill in his fingers, but Lucy blushed the longer she looked into his eye. "You're really sorry?" she asked softly. There was a lot she could forgive, but only if he was being sincere. "Cobra, it really pissed me off, and I wasn't joking when I told you that stuff."

"I know," he said. "And I am. I don't apologize unless I really feel like I fucked up. You can ask Cu about that."

She sucked in a shaky breath when he leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her guild mark. She still had no clue what had gotten into him when she came to take him on the mission, why he'd been curled up in his bed and ignored her the way he had. Was he feeling guilty over what he'd done the morning after? Had he been sulking, and not ready to talk about it? Maybe her leaving him to his thoughts had been for the best, then. That way he could have some time to think things through without her in his face trying to fix things.

Just when Lucy's lips parted to speak, she saw Monty poke his head up from behind Cobra's shoulder. His little mouth opened in what she'd learned was his own version of a smile and he lunged forward to land on their joined hands. Monty wasted no time in coiling around her and Cobra's wrists, locking them in place while his tongue flicked out over Lucy's skin.

Cobra breathed out a short, huffing laugh, drawing her attention to his face once again. "He missed his Mommy."

It melted her heart to think that this little snake that still gave her the heebie jeebies on occasion would think of her as its mother. Even though she and Cobra were nothing like a pair of parents, it was still a fun little inside joke they shared. She leaned forward and pulled their joined hands and the little albino snake closer to her. "I missed you too, Monty," she whispered. Lucy kept her gaze trained solely on Cobra's face while giving Monty's head a soft, barely there kiss.

"Is that what someone gets if they missed you?"

"Yep," she giggled.

"What if they're really fucking sorry for being a cunt and, as penance, they'll make you hot cocoa from the cookbook you gave them?" he asked.

"I'll forgive you, if you forgive me." Lucy's flushed cheeks burned brighter while she lifted their joined hands, and Monty, over her head and leaned back on the couch. She laughed when Cobra sat up on his knees and crawled forward until he was pinning her to the couch, kneeling between her spread legs.

"I think I can do that," he whispered as his lips hovered over hers. She soaked in the warmth radiating from his chest as he knelt above her. It was probably a stupid idea to get herself any more entangled with him than she was already. They'd kissed and they'd had sex, and while he'd been one hell of a good lay, he was a bit too unpredictable for anything serious to come out of it.

"Did you miss me, Cobra?"

"Maybe," he said as she leaned up and brushed her nose against his. God, she was an idiot. But this look in his eye had her libido screaming at her to take what she could get. "Just a little bit." She felt Monty slither across her wrist so one of her hands was free, the other still held tightly in the little python's grip. Cobra inched closer and lightly nipped at her lips, and she smiled when she felt him moving her hand down to the back of his neck.

As long as they were on the same page about this, then it wouldn't be so bad, right? Just a nice release of built up tension, a quickie when the mood struck. She'd done that with Bickslow for months before she backed out of it because she wanted to try and find a steady boyfriend. Except that hadn't gone so well, and she'd been stuck without anyone to bang out her frustrations with.

Unfortunately, Bickslow was a you backed out, so I've moved on kind of guy… for the most part. Halloween really was just a drunken hook-up, after all.

"Neck up, and don't touch my ears."

Lucy's fingers sifted through his hair, pulling him the last millimeter to finally feel his lips against hers. There was no carnal heat in his kiss, just a tender caress. She was fine with this sort of compromise. And even though she'd told him on Christmas Eve that them having sex was a one-time thing, and she'd been adamant before about not doing anything else with him if he was going to be a raging asshole to her… It had been a big misunderstanding. She wasn't planning on getting naked right there on his couch.

Cobra hummed and slipped his tongue between her lips when her thumb brushed against the shell of his ear on accident, and she was a goner. She became just a little more conscious of it at just that small touch. If Cobra set a boundary on touching, then she was going to be sure she didn't push the matter. Luckily, he moved his hand down to lightly trail over her waist, from just beneath her breast to her hip.

As she laid on Cobra's couch with him kneeling between her legs, and Monty slowly tightening around their joined hands on the couch-arm above her head, Lucy decided she was okay with this little arrangement of theirs. Cobra knew where he'd fucked up, and she did too. And all they really needed to do was come to an agreement on what the hell they were doing in the first place - she was fine with being fuck buddies, after all.

Cobra's kiss intensified and he ground himself against her when Lucy's thumb touched the tip of his ear. "Do that again, and I'll end up ripping your pants off," he groaned, drawing back to look into her half-lidded eyes.

"Sorry," she laughed. Lucy moved her hand back down to the nape of his neck. Clearly it wasn't safe to touch his hair. She lost track of what she was actually touching too easily when he was kissing her like that. "I'll be good."

He chuckled when she leaned up to kiss him again. "And I can agree to fuck-buddies." She kissed him harder. "After your ankle's better."

"Oh my god, shut up," she laughed. When Cobra growled and sealed his lips over hers again, she was lost to everything around them, willingly drowning in the imaginary poison that seeped into her from his lips and tongue. And as the minutes passed and her hand unconsciously drifted down just a little lower onto his shoulders, Cobra didn't pull away from her. Without her realizing it, he reveled in the gentle, feather-light brush of her fingers against his scarred skin.

A/N: Don't forget, I'll be completely migrating over to AO3 at the start of the new year. I won't be deleting my stories here on FFnet, but the first new chapter to be posted on AO3 exclusively (for each of my ongoing stories) will get an update here on FFnet to let you know where to find the rest of the story. I hope you'll join me!