I don't own FT or the Pradesh family.

Lucy woke up as the sun was peeking into the windows. It took a few minutes for her to blink the sleep out of her eyes. She was clinging to Cristoff's side and she could feel every indent of his muscles. Something foreign made her want to bask in the coolness of his presence.

Instead, she wiggled slightly to see if he was awake. When all he made was a grumbling protest to her movement, she tried to get out of her bed.

"Women that actually share my bed don't usually try to sneak off in the morning," Cristoff commented. He'd awakened earlier. Had called to have breakfast delivered to his apartment. A large one since he'd noticed that Draco's tattoo was still around her neck. That fed into his assumption that she could hold onto that magic indefinitely.

He'd let her rise because he'd wanted to see her in the light of the sunrise. His dragon purred but still hadn't screamed mate. It was enjoying the view as well as Lucy's blushing perusal of his body.

"Last night was weird."

"Again, not usually something that happens in the morning." She gave him a sardonic look. "Okay, yeah. It was a bit weird. I've never-" he hesitated "-liked being dominated. It usually bothers my dragon."

She moved to settle between his legs. Despite her nudity, he could tell that the move wasn't meant to be seductive though he struggled to keep his eyes from her breasts. Her eyes as she studied his face were filled with concern. "Did it bother you this time?"

"No. I actually wondered if you wouldn't mind summoning Draco."

"Sure." She paused and bit her lip. "How much time do you think we have before Gajeel and Levy are up?"

"Nope," he said, picking her up and plopping her on the other side of the bed. "Get dressed."

Lucy gave him a sulking look but grudgingly picked up the rest of her clothes. Even that small move sent pleasurable tingles down her spine.

"Open, gate of the dragon, Draco."

While she knew that he had a human form, it was the first time she'd seen it. Draco was tall and lean with long, dark blue hair and shimmering red-white eyes. There was something still vaguely reptilian in his angular features. Like Loke, he was dressed in a suit that was decorated in stars.

What surprised her even more was the woman that walked out of his gate as well. She was stunning with silver hair and dark grey eyes. The dark blue dress that she wore contrasted nicely against her fair skin.

Draco flopped onto the couch in the living room with a pout on his face. On the other hand, the woman looked smug.

"Mother?" Cristoff said, walking out in pants.

"Hello, Moonbeam," Nurem said, kissing both of his cheeks while Lucy gawked. "I can't stay long."

"Are you here about what happened last night?" Cristoff asked.

"Yes," both dragons said. Draco's tone was annoyed while Nurem's was self-satisfied.

"I told you so," Nurem sang as Draco stood.

"She has history with Igneel's boy."

"But Cristoff is my son. They were always going to be intricately tied."

"That may be true but there was no way to know that my slayer would be queen."

"Yes. The fact that she had the early makings was a surprise. But she's a sensible woman. Of course, she'd bed my Moonbeam."

Lucy gave Cristoff a confused look. She had a feeling that her summoning had interrupted this argument.

"She was intimate with the other one too."

"What woman in their right mind would choose a hot-headed fire dragon slayer over my Cristoff?"

"What are you talking about?" Lucy demanded.

"She's gloating that she won the bet," Draco grumbled.

"As I'm sure my brilliant son has already deduced, you are shaping up to be Queen. And well, every Queen needs a knight. And Draco thought it would never be my son."

"Well Emzadi and Cristoff are already kin. How was I supposed to know they'd react to the fact that she is claimed by three dragons?"

"Emzadi was the only other potential. Wendy is too young. And Rhiannon says everything has its time and-"

"Who's Rhiannon?" Lucy and Cristoff asked.

Nurem blanched. "I should go. If you don't mind, Draco."

Draco sighed and made a sweeping motion with his hand. She pecked Cristoff on the cheek before disappearing in a shower of golden sparks like a celestial spirit.

"Before you ask, I can't tell you. She made me promise," he told Lucy when she opened her mouth. She gave him a pouting look but didn't argue.

"Draco, as her knight, will I still have a mate?" Cristoff asked. Lucy looked sharply at him. She could hear the concern in his voice.

"Yes. Though, for your sake, I hope she's Boscan. You will always be her protector, but sometimes, until you both find mates, you'll be lovers. Since Lucy is a naturally touchy person, I'm willing to bet she'll always be a bit handsy with you." He paused as if listening to something int the distance. "I should go before she plunders my hoard."

Lucy walked over to hug Draco. "What did bet her?"

"A bottle of liquor that Centaurus made. It's next to impossible to force him to part from his liquor," he said, sighing heavily. "Oh, the knighthood bond hasn't settled yet, so if you choose not to take the responsibility, you can. Just don't have sex again. Or be intimate in general."

"Why is it always sex?" Lucy asked. Her eyes raked over Cristoff's body with a wicked little smile. "Not that I'm complaining but seriously."

"Because a male dragon slayer is always dominate. In sex, they can allow their queen to be dominate. They can show their prowess without potentially harming her." Draco nuzzled her cheek softly before disappearing.

Lucy let herself fall back onto the couch and stare at the ceiling. Before Cristoff had a chance to comment, the doorbell rang announcing the arrival of food and a change of clothes that he'd thought to buy her. Levy had mentioned plans to go to Cellis and knew that there wouldn't be time for her to head back to the house.

"There's enough for you. I'm sure your starving."

Lucy bounced up, almost surprised with herself how hungry she was. Since she couldn't see it, she hadn't realized that she was still in dragon slayer mode. Cristoff had chosen not to say anything to her since her magic levels were holding steady.

"Who do you think Rhiannon is?" Lucy asked as they started eating.

"I'm guessing a dragon slayer. Second generation, maybe."

"Hm…"

They ate in silence. Both were trying to come up with how to broach the subject of him being her knight. Cristoff had learned that a high carb and high protein diet proved to be the most beneficial so that he wasn't constantly feeling the need to eat. He waited for Lucy to comment on the stacks of whole wheat pancakes and the equally large amount of bacon and sausage.

"Are you going to ask me to be your knight?" he asked, deciding to go with the direct approach as she filled her third plate.

She sighed and stopped. "No. I don't want to ask that of you. If I do, you'll say yes. I know you will. But what if your mate can't deal with that?"

"Draco mentioned Igneel's boy. I'm guessing that's Natsu?" Lucy nodded. "Will you ask him?"

"A year ago, yeah. Now? No. Whatever partnership we had, he broke it." She sighed and Cristoff worried she might cry. "I miss a lot of things about him but there's also a lot that I don't. He's reckless, destructive, has no concept of boundaries. Expecting maturity from him is like waiting for a shooting star. It happens, but you shouldn't hold your breath." She shook her head. "No. I refuse to look backwards."

"That's a good policy."

"I think I will resist having a knight. Besides, I can do badass on my own."

"Oh, I'm sure." His tone was skeptical but there was a playful glint in his eyes.

Under the table, Lucy kicked him. Cristoff surged from the table, scooped her out of her seat, and started tickling her. Bickslow heard a crash through the door and burst into his brother's apartment. He found Lucy trying to thrash her way out from underneath Cristoff's fingers.

"You know, somehow I was imagining less clothing."

"If you'd been here a couple of hours ago, there would have been," Cristoff said as he released Lucy.

"I hate you both," she said breathlessly.

"Be nice. I got you clothes. You should shower."

"Thank you." She stopped herself from kissing his lips and kissed his cheek instead.

Bickslow's brow furrowed as she watched the interaction. It was the first time since they'd been together in Bosco that she'd hesitated in the Boscan gesture to kiss on the lips. "What happened there?"

Cristoff told him what had happened the night before, ignoring Bickslow's questions about how she was in bed. Then, he told him what Nurem and Draco had said that morning.

"Do you want to be her knight because it almost sounds as if you're annoyed that she doesn't want you? I mean, I get where Lucy's coming from. She's always been all hugs and kisses. I can only imagine the intimacy that comes from the two of you being bound to one another. A mate that's more prone to jealousy might not be okay with that."

"Honestly, I don't know how I feel. I spend so much time fending off women that it's weird to have one say no to being in my bed."

"Kaleb let it slip that she shot him down, too. That was after them getting into that blowout over him listening to her thoughts. I ran into him at the bathhouse."

"Are you still talking about me?" Lucy asked, walking out in shorts and bra and still towel drying her hair.

"Yup."

"I'm gonna shower. Do you mind me joining you today? I want to check in with the group I was helping when we met," Cristoff said.

"I don't mind."

"You've done an impressive job of knocking my brothers off-kilter," Bickslow said when he heard the shower start.

"I don't mean to," she replied as she sat down on the arm of the couch.

"I know."

"There's too many unknown variables. I don't like it."

"Life is an unknown variable."

"That sounds like something Kaleb would say."

"You're a good judge of character. It is something Kaleb said."

"Letting him be my knight means that I'd be staying here. That I might as well join the guild 'cause I couldn't imagine separating him from White Sea."

"And if my dad successfully makes you his daughter-in-law?"

"Then I'll have made a life here. I'm just not sure that I'm ready for that currently."

He nodded and ruffled her wet hair. "I think you're staying."

"What make you so sure of that?"

"Who else is gonna protect you when Natsu tries to drag you back to Magnolia?"

"I'm a dragon slayer. I don't need someone to protect me."

"You were knocked out cold."

"Shudup," Lucy said, letting herself slide onto the couch so her back was turned.

Bickslow gave her a quick kiss on her temple. "I'm gonna go check on Levy and Gajeel."

"And Cobra?"

"Hm… Remind me to make sure Cris inducts him before you leave," he said absently, leaving Lucy staring at the dragon that had wrapped itself around her wrist.