A/N: After the dark chapter from yesterday, and the CoLu BrOTP-ness of it (sort of? I don't know), I hope you guys enjoy something a little more… not like that. I had some questions about how yesterday's story fit with the prompt. It didn't. Not on the surface. Sometimes, I prefer to just use the word as a jumping off point and see where the thing takes me. I mean, the original thought was that the bloody fingerprints on the letter looked like flower blossoms, but then by the time I finished writing it, I didn't like having the prompt word there... so I took it out.
But enough about that! Today, you can have a modern AU thing. I may one day decide to write more to expand on this universe. I'm not entirely sure, but the different things that came to mind while writing made me curious to see what else there is in my brain for it.
(Which is why there's gonna be another chapter for this tomorrow…)
Also, there's a special note at the end concerning the version of Lucy in this. I'd put it here, but I want you to just read it for yourselves without getting any spoilers from me.
And super huge thanks to Apriiil for reading through this and reassuring me that I wasn't fucking it all up. And another super huge thanks to LittlePrincessNana for teaching me a metric fuckton about biker gangs. Seriously. Both of you fucking rock.
2017 - Pool
Ace of Hearts, Part 1
Lucy pulled the grey fuzzy blanket from between her sofa cushions and wrapped it around her shoulders, then set about cleaning up the dark living room. Soda cans were tossed into her empty popcorn bowl along with a Pop Tart wrapper and the cookie container she'd finished off earlier during her Netflix binging. Before she could lift the bowl, a heavy thud sounded from the kitchen window.
She jolted and whirled in place, peering through the darkness with wide eyes. She couldn't see a thing. Normally that wasn't a problem for her, considering she'd lived in that house for the past six years, but when the window behind the couch started rattling, she got just a little freaked out. It was a bit of a bad habit of hers to leave that one unlocked. No one knew about that, as far as she knew. She couldn't find it in herself to move when the latch unhooked and the window started sliding open. Those self defense classes she'd taken at Laxus' request were a bunch of bullshit if she couldn't even muster up the will to do something.
She could think about it, but her legs just wouldn't move. Slam the window down on the shadow climbing into her house. Grab a poker from her fireplace and knock them out. Grab her phone from where it had most likely sandwiched itself beneath the couch cushions and call the police, then wait for Laxus to come barreling down the road in his police cruiser and pull a Big Brother Beatdown on whoever was breaking into her house.
None of that happened though. Not even when the person's foot caught on the drapes and they tumbled inside with a low groan.
"Motherfucker."
Lucy frowned. She would know that voice anywhere. She reached down and switched on the light for the ceiling fan only to find a head of wet maroon hair slowly rising from the floor. "Really, Erik?"
"Shut up and close the damn window," he hissed. Was he shivering? It sure sounded like his voice was a little on the shaky side. "Hurry."
Lucy shook her head and rushed around the couch. Her hands slipped between the drapes to find bitter winter winds gusting past and heavy flurries of snow pouring down onto the already pristinely white ground. She'd forgotten the forecast said there would be some snowfall that night. She slammed the window shut and locked it, then turned around to find Erik kneeling on the floor with his hands moving quickly over his arms to warm himself. "What the hell were you doing out there?"
He shook his head and forced himself to stand, and she followed closely behind while he stumbled toward her bathroom. He was stubborn as always, but that didn't stop her from following him right into the bathroom. Lucy simply stood there, waiting for a response, as he pulled his soaked black thermal shirt off and tossed it to the floor. While admiring the large snake tattoo that coiled its way up his spine, she heard his belt buckle clink. She'd been with him the day he got it done. All twelve hours of tattooing just for the outline and some of the color. Then a month later, when he'd gone back to have it finished, she'd been the only one to see him crying when it really hurt the most.
He shifted, bent slightly, and his pants and the grey and gold boxers beneath were gone. He kicked the black denim off to the corner and ripped his socks off. When had he removed his boots? She didn't remember seeing them come off. Then again, it was a little distracting, watching his deeply tanned skin shift over his muscles as he disrobed. She'd always loved how dark his skin was.
Erik opened the glass shower door, turned on the taps and hopped right in, not even waiting for the water to warm. If he'd been trudging through the snow, she really couldn't blame him for it. Her cold water was probably a whole lot more comfortable than what he'd been walking through.
The question was… Why the hell had he been out there in the first place? Why hadn't she heard his motorcycle roaring through her neighborhood? And why didn't he just come to her front door like a civilized human being?
"Are you going to talk to me?" she asked.
"... Maybe." Well, that was something, at least. In her experience a maybe was whole leagues ahead of no response, or even him cursing. "Fuck, I'm f-freezing. Come warm m-me up."
"If you'd waited for the water to get hot-"
"T-Too cold."
Lucy rolled her eyes and let the blanket around her shoulders drop to the floor. There was no getting around it, and she knew that. Erik was the weirdest friend she'd ever had, with fewer personal boundaries than even Natsu. At least, he'd always been that way with her. Macbeth had known him since they were kids, and even he got a solid backhand from Erik on more than one occasion for getting too close to touching him.
She removed her flannel pajamas and pulled out two towels, along with the towel warmer Laxus had given her for her birthday earlier that year. Once they were heating up, he pushed the door open and all but dragged her inside the shower. His hands were freezing where they ghosted over her lower back, forcing her away from them and closer to his very naked body. His nose was like ice where it pressed against her pulse.
Because of the dropping temperatures, it took longer than usual for her water to warm. Lucy's arms wound around his shivering body and he hummed quietly in response. "Erik, you're like a big ice cube."
"Don't walk in the s-snow when you're already w-wet," he muttered. "Shit, you're so warm."
"What were you doing?" she asked. She didn't even mind the way his hands slid over her back until she was flush against him. One hand sifted through his hair, pulling bits of ice out of the maroon strands.
"Fucking bullshit," he said. "Gajeel threw me in a goddamn pool."
"He what?!"
Erik nodded and let out a shuddering breath. "Club meeting with all the guys," he said. "Gajeel threw me into the pool. My phone's fucked up, and I wasn't gonna walk around naked where we were at, so…"
"So you decided to come all the way over here to get a warm shower?"
He nodded again.
"Where were you?"
"Slayer Lounge."
She knew that place very well. It was where she'd met Erik in the first place. Laxus had taken her down there on one of his nights off nearly a decade ago, and there Erik was. Dark and mysterious, trading barbs with Gajeel between shots of whisky that didn't seem to affect him at all. While everyone else got hammered, Erik was just the same as when the night had started.
The fact that she'd witnessed him making out with Macbeth, Laxus' boyfriend at the time, let her know later on that he was actually completely trashed the night they'd. He just didn't seem like it. At all. Granted, that tonsil hockey session had also been cause for a fist-fight between him and Laxus that ended with her older brother having a broken nose and Erik getting sent to the hospital with a fractured jaw. Laxus had broken up with Macbeth, only for them to get back together on and off for another three months before fully calling it quits.
Those were the days before her brother had become a police officer, when he'd still been a very active member of the biker gang. According to anyone who didn't know them, they were hooligans. Except they mostly just rode around on motorcycles back then, and then they started raising money for different charities. No one really knew about the good side of The Slayers. Most likely because Acnologia had been convicted of murder just before the gang broke up.
They still hung out at the Lounge. But everyone had gotten real jobs. Now it was just a place where they spent time together and bitched about being adults. They still went on their rides, and there were still a lot of things very much alive about the gang, but it was so much quieter now that Acnologia and Serena were gone.
"Erik, that's ten miles away!"
"I'm aware."
"Where's your bike?"
"L-Lounge. Needs new anti-freeze mix for the s-snow." Her hands moved faster over his skin to help warm him a little quicker. The water was nearing scalding - the way Lucy usually preferred her showers anyway - so she pushed him further under the spray and went right along with him when he refused to let her go.
"Why did Gajeel throw you in the pool?" She always forgot Serena had installed a pool in the basement before getting killed by Acnologia. She still wasn't clear on the details of that, but Laxus said she really didn't want to know. When Erik told her the same thing, she'd decided not to question it.
"Doesn't matter." Of course he would say that. She should have known he wasn't going to delve into any of his business without her bribing him first. She could probably get it out of Laxus, but her focus was solely on Erik right then.
Lucy pulled back and grabbed her shampoo from the rack, then poured some directly onto the top of his head. She giggled when he sent her a single-eyed glare. He'd always hated getting shampoo right on the head instead of slowly worked into his hair. It was why she did it every time he was in the shower with her. Which, if she was being perfectly honest, was most likely far too often since they were only friends. His eye closed when she tipped his head back to rinse the suds away, and he let out a soft hum of approval.
"That's amazing," he sighed. Lucy shifted slightly when he grimaced and spit down the drain. Just like every other time they showered together. He was always spitting soap out. She still wasn't sure how Erik even managed to get it in his mouth in the first place.
"I'm amazing," she said. Her playful smirk was answered with one of his own, and they stayed silent as she went about washing him. The only time there was any space between their bodies was when she washed his chest and stomach.
"Did you already shower?"
"Earlier. It was Netflix binge night." She smiled when his fingers drifted over her waist and around her breasts, up to her jaw. She knew what was coming though. The same thing that happened every other time they were naked around one another. Her head tilted back and she melted into him once his lips met with hers. Erik's kisses were always soft, so gentle as his lips molded to hers. His calloused fingers threaded through her hair, drawing her closer, until she wasn't sure where his breath ended and hers began.
"Can I crash here?"
"Of course." He could always stay at her house. Erik knew that, but she found it endearing that he asked every time instead of just inviting himself over.
"Be my alibi?"
Lucy frowned and pulled back just enough to glare at him. "What did you do?"
"Nothing serious," he said, following her and dropped his mouth to her throat. Delicate nips trailed from her collar to her ear, then back down. "Acnologia broke out. Guys are saying I helped him."
"Did you?" Erik didn't answer. He let out a quiet groan while guiding her to lean back against the tile wall, kissing his way down her chest and pausing at her navel. Lucy gripped his hair and pulled him back, glaring down at him. "Tell me the truth, Erik. You never lie to me. Don't start now."
"Not knowing is better," he said. "Don't get involved."
"Too late."
"He's innocent." He wanted to keep her protected from the truth, and Lucy understood that most times, but she could be just as stubborn as him when she wanted to be.
"Tell me, Erik," she said, slicking back his hair. "You know I'll always keep your secrets."
"I helped him when he busted out, and took him to the others. Gajeel was pissed that I brought him to the Lounge, saying the cops would look there first. That I put Laxus' job on the force in danger because he's still one of us. Ryos took him downtown to Wendy's. He's laying low there."
"But if Acnologia's innocent…" Lucy frowned when he tenderly pulled her hands away and brought his lips to a two-inch scar on her hip that she didn't know the origin of. She shivered when he lightly sucked on the thinner flesh, her gaze never leaving his.
"We did it to protect you," he said, kissing his way to her other hip. "Acnologia never did a thing to Serena. I did."
"You…" Lucy's eyes closed when she felt his fingers inching higher on her thigh, closer to her center, slowing down to tease her even though he knew it wouldn't work, before finally gliding over her sex. "You killed Serena?"
"For you," he said. His fingers pushed into her slowly when her eyes snapped open again, wide and horrified and so confused. His slow strokes pulled no reaction from her. There were no breathy mewls or whimpers of his name. Her eyes didn't roll back, but stayed locked on his face, waiting for him to speak again. She didn't go weak in the knees when his thumb barely touched her clit.
The only way to tell that Lucy enjoyed what he was doing was her body's natural reaction to the increased stimulation. The moisture collecting between her legs, how he could feel her core tighten around his fingers when his thumb brushed across the slowly engorging bundle of nerves with more pressure than he would have used if she'd been anyone else. But her face looked as though nothing was happening, like he was just down on his knees to paint her damn toenails.
"Explain it," Lucy said as he gently kissed the golden curls above her sex. She pushed his hand away and lightly pulled his hair to let him know it was time to get off his knees. He understood it though. She didn't always want his face between her legs. More often than not, Lucy didn't want foreplay at all. Most times, she was much more willing to give him pleasure than to take any for herself.
Once he was standing, his focus was drawn to the light flush on her cheeks when she kissed him again. It took a critical eye to determine whether she was actually enjoying what they did, until he was inside her and ripping pleasured cries from her kiss-swollen lips.
"Be my alibi," he said. "I'll tell you the truth, but if someone comes asking-"
"You were with me all night," she said, smiling with understanding. "We watched The Bullock trifecta."
"28 Days, Demolition Man, and The Proposal," he said with a smirk. She nodded and his arms wrapped around her waist. He gasped when her hand closed around his cock and started slowly stroking him. "Fuck… You don't play fair."
Lucy stretched out her neck and her smile widened as his shaky breaths fanned over her flesh. His hips curled slightly, pushing further into her hand. "I never do," she giggled. "Now, tell me the truth."
Erik groaned as her hand twisted, stroked down to the base and back up. It had surprised him the first time they'd done anything like this, that Lucy knew how to touch him and make him quiver. She wasn't like him, or most other people they knew. She didn't crave a primal, physical connection with another person. He wasn't a sex addict by any stretch of the imagination, but where he would look across a crowded room and think a woman was fuckable, that just didn't happen for the blonde who was in the process of nibbling on his ear and turning his legs to jelly.
"What was the question?" Erik rasped. His forehead knocked against the tile just above her shoulder, and he pressed himself closer to her.
"You said he's innocent." She gently kissed his small golden earring. "Why would you kill Serena?"
Erik's hand slipped down and his fingers brushed over the scar on her hip. She grasped his chin and forced him to look at her, but he couldn't stop the soft groan from slipping out when they kissed again. She wanted to know the truth, and he'd said he would tell her. It wasn't something he liked to think about, and it was definitely something that he knew Lucy had forgotten. The human mind was a weird fucking thing. But if he could get away with it, Erik was going to do as little as possible to remind her of what had happened to her.
Thinking about it would kill the mood, that was for sure.
"He hurt someone I care about," he rasped against her lips. His breath caught when she stroked him with more purpose. "He betrayed the gang's trust." He wasn't going to say that Serena had hurt her. He wasn't going to remind Lucy of being drugged by Acnologia's best friend, one of the founders of The Slayers, and locked in a fucking basement. "God, your fucking hand… Shit, baby…"
He definitely wasn't going to tell Lucy that the reason she had nerve damage between her legs was because of the shit Serena did to her. They'd never seen it coming from the guy. He just didn't seem like the type to go off the fucking deep end like that. If anything, Acnologia or Erik were the most likely of candidates from The Slayers to go batshit crazy.
Erik hated thinking about it at all. He hated the knowledge that he hadn't tortured that bastard for hurting the person who was, as far as they were all concerned, the gang's baby sister. As far as Erik was concerned, she was the love of his life. He had cared about her, loved her, since only a few months after they'd met. Serena deserved much worse than the pummeling and broken neck he'd gotten.
Erik pulled her leg up onto his hip, grinning as her hand slipped away so he could press his hips flush against her center. With each slow thrust, he focused on how it felt to have her lower lips slipping around his rigid cock. Her tongue curled around his as her hands sifted through his hair, leaving no space between them. If she liked having her breasts teased, he would have already been touching them. But after years of being with one another like this, he knew what Lucy liked and didn't like. He especially knew what she was indifferent toward.
Instead, he reached between them and carefully lined himself up, then looked into her half-opened eyes. "Slow tonight?"
Lucy nodded, smiling while watching his single eye drift close as he pushed into her. Was she aroused? Probably, physically. She really couldn't be too sure most times. It was just something she still didn't understand about her body, but she didn't mind it all that much. She cared so much more about watching Erik, feeling his arms around her and his quiet moans vibrating through his chest and clamped lips. She wanted to feel close to him, closer than they were while just sitting on the couch. He wasn't like her, but she did this for him.
And that was something she was perfectly fine with.
"Fuck… You feel amazing!" He could never get enough of kissing her when they were like this. Her neck, shoulders, chin and cheeks and pretty much her whole damn face. Whatever he could reach was his for the taking. His hips angled, and he grinned against her throat when she let out a soft whimper. "Is that it?"
Lucy gasped when he pulled back and slowly, so perfectly slowly, brushed against some spot deep within her that had her fingers tingling. "Yes."
He did it again, and she couldn't stop her hands from grasping at his back, her nails from dragging over his beautiful snake tattoo.
"Right there?" he chuckled, nipping at her flesh.
"God, yes." She'd spent a good portion of her life thinking something like this was pointless. More often than not, sex just didn't matter in the slightest. But that didn't mean Lucy couldn't enjoy the tightening in her belly or how it felt when Erik's hips ground against hers. "That's the spot, Erik."
"If you move like..." A low groan barreled through him when she rolled her hips. "Shit, Lucy…" She'd always been quiet during sex, but he didn't mind it. After almost six years of being together, only feeling her sex spasming around him, her nails digging into his back and arms, her lips brushing across his cheek while she whispered his name so reverently… He knew there wasn't anyone else that could compare. "Just like that," he gasped. "Fuck, I want you so bad!"
She squeaked when he paused to put both arms beneath her legs, spreading them wide as he lifted her higher on the shower wall.
"Dreyar, you shouldn't be here." Mest slammed the door to his police cruiser and stormed across the snow-covered driveway, past Laxus' motorcycle.
Laxus pushed off from the front door and kept his arms crossed, meeting Mest at the stairs leading to the front porch. "If you're planning on questioning my little sister about Acnologia, then I'm gonna fucking be here, Gryder."
"How do you even know about it?" Mest wasn't quiet while stomping up the steps and kicking the snow from his shoes. "You're off duty, and-"
"And I got a call from the Chief. He said Acnologia slipped outta prison, wanted to know if I knew anything about it."
"I'm not convinced you don't."
Laxus smirked. He really couldn't help it. Having a good bit of height on most members on the police force made him more intimidating. Forcing Mest to look up while trying to talk down to him was even better. Ever since his partner Lahar died, he'd been more of a hardass. And since Laxus knew that he wasn't exactly the nicest during simple questioning procedures - Mest treated them all though he was interrogating a serial killer - there was no way in hell he was letting the bastard near Lucy. Not alone. Not without someone there to make him back the fuck off.
Because she didn't know a damn thing about Acnologia getting out, or most of the shit surrounding why he was locked up. She didn't know that Cobra had been the one to kill Serena for drugging, kidnapping, and then torturing her for a week. She'd been a virgin before that had happened (and thankfully, she was still one after), so Lucy didn't know that the nerve damage she'd suffered from was just… not normal. Even for people like her.
Laxus was just a little glad that she'd never been interested in sex. She didn't have to know that something had happened to her.
When he'd asked her psychologist about it - because Laxus had made sure he was with her for the five or so sessions she actually went to - the guy had said that she was blocking it out. Repressing the horrific memory. Maybe it was something in the drug she'd been given (Laxus hadn't told him who the person was to hurt her, since Erik had killed Serena the night they found Lucy), or just the experience that had made her block it out. The doctor has said it would be in her best interest to leave it in the past, and to bring her back to him if she started remembering anything on her own.
Either way, Mest could very well bring up something that might trigger a memory of some sort for her, and that was the last thing Laxus or any of the other Slayers wanted. It was the last thing Acnologia would want, considering he'd willingly taken the blame for Serena's murder to protect Cobra. Acnologia had enough reasons he could make up for the murder, and a reputation that supported it from his time in that outlaw gang up north. Cobra, while probably a little detached from his sanity sometimes, just didn't have the rap sheet like their last leader did.
"Well, if you're questioning my little sister," Laxus said again, "I'm sure as hell gonna be here. You do it by the book. No photos from murder scenes. No bullying her. You ask the questions you need to about Acnologia breaking outta prison, and leave it at that. And if you have reasonable cause to bring her down to the station for more questioning, you run it by the Chief and get a subpoena. It's a high enough profile case, so he'll probably take lead on anything happening in the precinct."
"She's not untouchable just because she's the Chief's granddaughter," Mest said with a scowl.
"I never said she was untouchable," Laxus replied. The two of them being Makarov's grandchildren had nothing to do with this. The old man was a stickler about nepotism.
"You and that whole gang of morons are suspects in this, Dreyar. She's been seen around town wearing a Slayer vest, and everyone knows she's part of it, whether she rides or not."
"I've told you once, and I'll tell you again," Laxus sighed. "Lucy was never initiated. She falls under the gang's protection, but that's it. If something happens that's related to the Slayers, she's not involved in it."
"I still can't believe you're part of that group and a cop."
Laxus couldn't help but chuckle over that. "Nothing in the law says a cop can't be part of a motorcycle club. And since we're not a one-percent club, I'm definitely in the clear. But c'mon. It's cold as hell out here, and she's probably got cocoa, assuming she's not pissed about being woken up." He turned and motioned for Mest to move to the door first. Mest knocked and waited. When there was no answer, he knocked louder. Before Laxus could tell him to come back at a decent hour, the sound of some sort of glass breaking beyond the door had their full attention. At nearly two in the morning, Lucy should have been in bed. She was asleep at one like clockwork.
A low thud was the next sound to slip out, like a table or chair hitting the floor.
"Laxus-"
He shoved Mest to the side and pulled out his keys, flicking through them quickly until he found the one for Lucy's house. Another thud made him jump and scrape the metal along the deadbolt, and Laxus nearly broke the door down before he finally got it into the lock. With a swift turn of the key, he unlatched the handle and pushed the door open with a bang. He didn't care that Mest was on his heels while rushing into the entryway, around the corner and down the short hall that led to Lucy's living room.
"Fuck, baby… That's it. Ride me like a - God, yes!"
Mest stepped around Laxus where he'd frozen in place, following his wide cerulean gaze into the living room. A vase was broken on the wooden floor with an overturned end table lying partially behind the couch. By the time he looked up at the occupants on the couch, with Erik holding Lucy by the hips and shifting to pin her, face down, while rocking against her ass, Laxus choked.
"Harder," Lucy moaned softly, turning to meet Erik's lips over her shoulder with her eyes clenched shut. "Erik, I'm almost… Mm!"
"Damn, that's what I wanna hear," Erik groaned, his hips snapping quickly against her and his hands kneading her thighs. "So sexy like this! Fuck, you're squeezing me so fucking tight now! I… shit... I love you!" Lucy buried her face into the couch cushions, and her back arched erotically. "Oh, I love you, baby... Sexy little - ngh, yes!"
Mest shook his head and turned back to Laxus. Before he could get a word out, Laxus grabbed him by the face, and dragged him right back out of Lucy's home.
Laxus took a deep breath once the door was closed behind them and the biting wind in the air chilled his burning face. He stared at the snowy footprints on the porch, and only remembered that he was holding Mest's face - and that he couldn't breathe with a palm smooshing his nose - when a sharp kick to the shin broke him out of his daze.
He glared at Mest, and loosened his grip just a little. "Did you see her?"
"Hm? Mm mm-mmph mm mm-mm-mmph!"
"Yes or no, Gryder. Did you see her naked?"
Mest quickly shook his head, his eyes widening as Laxus loomed over him. "Mm-mm!" he mumbled with as much emphasis as possible, gasping once Laxus let him go. He took a deep breath and carefully pinched his nose to make sure it wasn't broken or crooked from the vice grip his face had been caught in. "Dick move, man."
Laxus didn't respond, instead pulling out his phone and looking at his texts. Nothing from the guys, but they probably knew better than to message him right then with Acnologia's whereabouts. They would most likely wait until he went down to the Lounge to tell him in person. Nothing from Lucy either. Definitely nothing from Cobra saying that he would be there balls deep in Laxus' little sister.
It took everything in him not to storm back inside and rip Cobra off of her and beat him into the ground. No one touched Lucy. She didn't want people touching her, and he'd sworn to keep her dignity intact. When she'd told him the truth, when she'd "come out," in a sense, Laxus had promised that he'd do whatever was necessary to make sure she was happy. And if that meant fending off assholes who were only trying to sleep with her when she clearly didn't want to, then so be it.
He'd been under the impression that she just… couldn't do it. Even before Serena had done a thing to her. And afterward, well Laxus had simply considered it a win-win situation. She wouldn't question the nerve damage if she couldn't get turned on in the first place, right? And if she never had sex, then she wouldn't know it wasn't normal to feel… a whole lot of nothing, he'd thought. Apparently, he'd been wrong on that. Because the look on her face in there had been anything but unaffected by Cobra fucking her.
"So, your sister is-"
"You finish that thought, or any other thoughts about her, and I'll punch you in the asshole," Laxus spat. He sent a quick text to Cobra, and an identical one to Lucy, letting them know that he was outside with Mest. And if they would please hurry up, because it was cold as hell outside.
It unnerved him more and more that he could hear Cobra's groans increasing in volume as the minutes ticked by. At least Lucy wasn't a screamer, he guessed.
"I mean, I did see a little side-boob, but-" Mest groaned and dropped to his knees when Laxus' fist connected with his stomach.
Lucy smiled at Laxus and gave him a short wave once his headlights were on and he'd started backing his motorcycle out of her driveway. Her other hand had a deathly grip on the lapel of her fluffy lime green robe, holding it shut so no one could get even a glimpse of her cleavage. She closed the door and set the deadbolt, then leaned into the familiar chest that pressed in behind her.
"Sorry," Erik sighed into her hair as his arms wrapped around her. "I didn't know anyone came in."
"Me neither," she said, blushing slightly. "But it's time to finish our talk." She could admit that he was definitely good at distracting her from time to time, and Officer Gryder stopping by to ask a few questions about Acnologia's escape really hadn't been all that helpful.
No, she didn't know where Acnologia was at.
No, she hadn't known he'd gotten out of prison at all. She wasn't sure how long he'd been locked up for in the first place, but hadn't it been about six or seven years?
No, she was positive that her brother and The Slayers wouldn't be stupid enough to break Acnologia out of prison. If anything, they'd probably turn him in if he showed up on their doorsteps.
Yes, she knew he was convicted of murder.
Yes, she knew that lying to protect whoever broke Acnologia out would get her arrested.
Yes, she was still sure of all the answers she'd given Officer Gryder.
Yes, Erik had been with her all night. They watched Sandra Bullock movies. Erik doesn't particularly like them, but he humors her desire for funny chick flicks.
Then the same questions, plus a few more, had been tossed Erik's way. Lucy had tuned out when he'd been talking though, because she'd been just a little uncomfortable with the way Laxus was staring at her and Erik. That he knew what they'd been up to. But once the questions were finished, they really didn't have any reason to stick around. And Erik, the lovable goober that he was, blatantly said that Mest and Laxus could get the fuck out so he and Lucy could go to bed.
"Bed first," he said. "I need to get under a blanket and get you in my arms again."
Her small smile widened and a laugh bubbled up within her in an instant. "I'm already in your arms."
"Not horizontally."
"Pervert."
He grinned when she turned to face him fully, pressing her carefully against the door while her pruny fingers glided up and over his bare shoulders. "You know what I mean."
"You mean you're a needy little asshole who loves cuddling, but refuses to let anyone else know that?" she asked with a cheeky grin.
"Maybe, but I'm your needy asshole," he chuckled. He didn't mind admitting that. He was hers and there wasn't a damn thing in the world that could change it. Lucy knew how he felt, and even though she didn't really see it that way, they'd gotten through that clusterfuck of miscommunication a few years back in one piece.
It had taken a lot of talking - which really hadn't been his strong suit at the time - to figure out that she just didn't care what it was called between them. Lucy considered them friends with some really wonderful fucking benefits. He felt like it was the two of them against the whole damn world. But she loved him, that much he knew. And in the end, they'd agreed that it didn't matter what it was called, because at the end of the day they were still best friends before anything else. They felt the same about one another, and that was all that mattered.
"Come to bed with me."
She rolled her eyes when he gently pulled on her hands, leading her through the living room and down the hall to her bedroom. She hadn't realized until she looked down that he was still naked. And with that, she couldn't help but laugh. Because that definitely explained why Officer Gryder looked so uncomfortable when Erik said he'd walk everyone to the door. He may not have liked anyone but her in his personal bubble, but Lucy had forgotten just how little Erik cared about his dick being seen by other guys. If there had been another woman there, he would have been fully clothed though. According to him, she was the only woman allowed to see him naked. That was just how he was. She definitely didn't mind that.
Once they reached the bedroom, Erik turned and pulled off her robe. His hands slid over her bare hips and waist, then clasped at the small of her back. "Much better."
"I still don't understand this obsession with nudity," she giggled. A squeal, part laughter and part surprise, slipped past her lips when he lifted her and toppled onto the bed so they were lying beside each other.
"You have nice skin," he said with a shrug. They shifted on the bed until they were both lying on the pillows, snuggling beneath the thick blanket and between flannel sheets. "Now, what do you want to know?"
Her eyes closed as he started toying with the mostly dried ends of her hair. "I won't make you go into details," she said softly. She knew that Erik was secretive about a lot of things, and for good reason. He never directly lied to her, but there was a big difference between keeping things from her for her safety, and Lucy asking about those things. If she asked, he'd tell her. But Lucy didn't want to know all the gritty details. She just wanted to understand what had been kept from her concerning Acnologia's arrest.
She already understood that there was a lot about the Slayers that he would never tell her unless she was fully initiated and started riding her own bike. Being a rider didn't interest her in the slightest.
"Good, because I really don't want to," he muttered.
"I know you guys are close though," she said. Her honey eyes drifted open to look at him in the darkened room. She could barely make out his face in the dim orange glow from her nightlight by the door. "No one's ever really told me how the gang started."
"That's not a story for tonight," he said. She pouted, and he chuckled while brushing his nose against hers. "I'll tell you some other time, just not tonight."
"Fine," she sighed. "Can you at least tell me why he would take the fall for you?"
"Because he didn't want me to go to prison."
"But, if you're guilty, then…"
"I've got a clean slate," he said. "He didn't want me or any of the others to get into trouble and ruin our chances of making something of ourselves. That's why he said he was guilty, and that none of us knew about it, to keep the gang as a whole out of the papers over the whole thing."
"Well, Laxus always wanted to be a cop, because of Gramps," she mused.
"And if he'd gotten mixed up in the Serena thing, if it had been anyone but Acnologia that had gotten convicted, Laxus' name would have been dragged through the fucking mud," he said. "He never would've become a cop."
"And all the guys know that he didn't do it?"
Erik nodded. "They all know it was me. None of them would have done something like that to Serena for what he did. Acnologia even tried to stop me."
"Do I want to know why?"
"... No."
A sad smile lifted her lips while her fingers brushed across the stubble on his jaw. "Alright," she said. He was getting tense, which meant the things she was asking were making him uncomfortable. Knowing Erik, that meant she didn't have many questions left before he asked her to drop the whole thing.
"He would've taken the blame for any of us," Erik said. "He already had a record from when he was a teenager. It wasn't anything like murder, but… Well, arson and burglary… Some grand theft and assault. Murder's not that far of a stretch with his record."
"That makes sense, I guess. But he got fifteen years. He threw that away to protect you, Erik."
"He technically only threw away seven years."
"That's not the point, and you know it," she said with a frown. "He cares about you guys, sure, but that's a lot of time…" She cringed when he let out a long breath through his nose. Maybe she'd gotten a little too pushy there. It wasn't her intent to make him feel guilty about the whole thing though.
"You mean to say," he said slowly, "That you don't get why he'd give up his freedom for so long?"
"Well…" Lucy looked into his eye. His hand trailed down from her hair to her back, and the slow, soothing circles he drew along her spine with the tips of his fingers helped to put her at ease. His own way of letting her know that he was making sure he understood what she was asking. "Yeah," she finally said. "I don't get it."
"He's my dad, Lucy."
"Huh?"
"Acnologia's my dad. And I don't mean in the sense that Gajeel and Natsu and the others all called him Pops, or how he was like a Slayer Dad or some shit. I mean, he's my biological father."
"You…" That was not what she'd been expecting to hear.
Erik chuckled. He was more tense than before. "He gave my mom the boot when I was about a year old. He found out she was popping pills and not taking care of me, so he raised me on his own. Serena helped a bit though. He was always Aunt Serena." She could hear him smiling as he spoke. "Pissed him off so fucking much when I started calling him that. But Acnologia just laughed it off."
"You don't call him dad."
"You're right," Erik said. "Because when he and Serena made The Slayers, there were a few others around at the time. I don't remember their real names. He called them shit like Igneel and Skiadrum. There was even this beautiful woman he called Grandine. Sweet as could be, but she had one hell of a right hook when anyone assumed she was only able to ride bitch. Everyone always called him Acnologia. I was maybe five at the time, hanging out at the Lounge and drawing or something stupid. I heard it so often that I just started calling him that."
"I'm guessing he didn't mind it," she giggled. They'd known each other since she was barely old enough to drink, and not once had he told her any of this. It made her wonder what else she didn't know about Erik.
"Nah, he thought it was pretty funny," he said. "But when I told him I wanted to join, he said I didn't even need to ask. I was part of the group from the start, he told me. All I needed was a nickname."
Lucy snuggled into his embrace, and pressed a gentle kiss to his chest. "Ah, that would be where the Cobra thing came from."
"Damn straight."
"So, because he wanted to take care of his son…"
"My dad took the blame for what I did, and got himself locked in prison," Erik nodded.
"And then you…"
"Did what I had to. Took over for my dad, kept the gang going with a low profile like he asked me to. He told me a couple months back that Igneel and the others had their own chapter started up further south, but I had to keep Natsu and everyone here..."
He honestly did expect Lucy to think this was all too much, to finally pull away from him and say that she couldn't take the partially shady lifestyle he still lived. Even though he'd been raised by Acnologia, had seen the rise and fall of The Slayers, Erik still held it all close to his heart. His old man had never tried to keep his own past hidden. They actually had a shitty little scrapbook with his mugshots and police reports in it that he'd showed Erik on several occasions.
But no matter how many horrible things his father had done before having a kid, Acnologia cleaned his act up. He'd made a biker bar and a biker gang, of sorts. But they didn't go around breaking into places or tearing shit up like some did. That was the life he'd left behind, when he retired from that outlaw gang up north. With a son on the way, Acnologia had found a way to get permission to start his own motorcycle club outside of their territory, but only because he'd sworn it wouldn't be a one-percent club. Only because he'd done something unspeakable to get the hell out while he still could.
Erik didn't want to know what it was his father had done to get away from that old gang. Especially because he just couldn't imagine not being a Slayer. Even with Acnologia gone, he'd kept them going as strong as possible. But things were going to change. Now that he was out of prison, things were going to go back to how they were. Just as soon as they figured out how to keep him out of prison for good.
What it all boiled down to, in his opinion, was that they were good people. The original seven members had their hearts in the right places. And when they'd all had families within a few years of each other, the next generation came about. Except for Serena. He'd never had kids, and said he never wanted them. He'd always said that helping out with Erik was enough for him.
And then that bastard had broken his trust, all of their trust, and hurt Lucy. Natsu and Gajeel had brought in an outsider, and Laxus had fit right in even though he'd been an awkward fucking teenager. The blond had been the first to join outside of the original seven and their kids, and he'd waited a few years before bringing Lucy around even though it was common for members to bring a guest along. Gajeel most often brought his fucking cat just because he could and Pantherlily was the chillest cat in existence. It threw everyone for a loop when they saw the little black kitten sitting comfortably on Gajeel's bike. Erik had brought Macbeth over to the bar the first day they'd met back in kindergarten. Some people brought girlfriends, a friend here and there, whoever they trusted.
Apparently, Serena had taken one look at Lucy and decided she had to… suffer, maybe. It had been hard to tell what he was saying when Erik's hand was around his throat and the others were behind him, trying to pull him off of Serena and yelling at him, and at Serena, and Lucy was mumbling from where she lay in Laxus' arms, still in his line of sight and looking so dazed that it broke his heart to think of what she must have gone through.
If it hadn't been for Erik acting like a moron and throwing Serena's body in the damn river, the cops never would have found out about it. If Acnologia had just used some of his old one-percent contacts to get the job done instead, there never would have been an issue. But Erik hadn't been able to stop himself. Not after he saw her lying in that that cage on the cold basement floor with blue lips, and how she didn't even react when he fell to his hands and knees and crawled like a fucking dog to get to her. Not after he screamed her name, just trying to get her attention, to get her to look at him even once and actually see him. He hadn't been able to stop himself from hurting Serena when his damn eye had been gouged out by that asshole for bothering Baby Lucy.
No one called her shit like that. She was a Slayer Baby Girl. A little sister. Someone they all cared about. Not some twisted fucking torture subject.
Lucy's thumb touched the scar running over his empty socket, and Erik gasped as he was ripped from memories of the past. "Fuck…"
She smiled and moved so she was higher on the pillow and her arm was beneath his head, then pulled him closer. "It's okay, Erik." Her toes dragged over the hair on his leg in slow, random patterns. She didn't even mind it when he crushed her to him, not when she could feel him trembling or his shaky, uneven breaths on the tops of her breasts. "It's okay."
"Do you hate me yet?"
"Never." She kissed the top of his head. "You've got a dad who loves you enough to do that."
"I wanna go see him," Erik said. "Would you-"
"I'll come," she said. "We'll work it out in the morning on how to get down there."
"You have work though…"
"Fuck work," she laughed. "Pops is back. I'm sure he's in desperate need of some Grade-A Lucy snuggles."
"You're gonna make me fucking jealous." Cobra laughed quietly and kissed her bare flesh, pulling the blanket higher over his shoulders so Lucy was covered a little more. "And he might have gotten lots of cuddles in prison."
"He does seem like the type to get a bitch or two." She paused to simply gaze down at what little of his face she could see. "And you're the only one who gets the Grade-X Lucy snuggles."
"You mean the post-fucking naked ones?"
"Precisely."
Erik hummed in contentment while he cuddled closer. He could accept that. "I love you, baby," he said. He usually didn't say it unless they were having sex, and he was sure he'd mumbled it at some point that night already. Maybe multiple times. But Erik just really fucking needed her to know how he felt right then. How he'd felt for way too long before he'd asked her to go see some shitty B-rated horror movie with him the night before Laxus' graduation from the police academy. "So damn much…"
"I love you too, hun."
In moments like that, he knew for a fact she meant it the same way he did. She told everyone she loved them, usually with a bright smile and a little laugh that let everyone know it was purely platonic.
But when he heard it, the sincerity, the depth of emotion from just a few little words, Erik knew she loved him just as much. He'd been planning on coming to visit her that night anyway, just a whole lot more dry and not frozen to the bone from being thrown in the pool. But none of that mattered when they laid in bed together, holding one another. He could take the whole universe head-on with Lucy by his side.
.To Be Continued.
A couple notes. And by a couple, I mean six...
1. Lucy is asexual. I went into this knowing that I wanted to make her asexual. She's somewhere on the spectrum, and I'm fine with not trying to define it fully. I'm pretty sure there are enough hints throughout without blatantly labelling her as asexual, because that's something that I really try to avoid in my writing. Unless it's crucial to say "Character X is gay/ace/demi/whatever," you'd better believe I'll avoid telling you that's what they are. I'd rather show you through the actions and narration, if that makes sense. And if you don't view Lucy as ace from what's in this story, then fine. My intention was to write about an ace character in a relationship, but different strokes for different folks.
2. Lucy is not aromantic, unless you want her to be. I posted some questions about this story on tumblr with the aspect of Lucy's asexuality to make sure I was representing the ace-community to the best of my ability. I got a couple questions from the information I provided there about whether she's also aromantic because of her refusal to say she and Cobra are dating. I don't see it that way, but you're welcome to see it like that if it's accurate and that's your own interpretation on her character. I see it as more of her just not caring a whole lot about them being labelled as an official couple. I didn't want to get into the whole aromantic thing with this story, because I haven't done enough research on it to really understand it. I have a very basic understanding, but that's not nearly enough for me to write a character who's aromantic and say with any certainty that it was my intention.
3. This story may become a longer thing. I thought about it, and I really like this AU. Part of it is inspired by the "Papalogia" AU by Eien (aka papalogia as her FFnet/tumblr name), where the Slayer kids are raised by Acnologia in canon-present Earthland and so on. My AU has obviously diverged from that, considering he only raised Cobra and this is a modern AU, but that was the starting place for my inspiration with this story. Credit where it's due, and all that.
4. I totally HC Cobra being Acnologia's biological son now. I don't know where it came from, but their darker skin just made me like, "Why not?" I know God Serena's hair is "orange" and fan art sometimes shows it as something closer to Cobra's, but whatever. He's Acno's baby boy now. I also HC Gajeel being Acnologia's son in other AUs in my brain… so keep that in mind. Gajeel isn't Acnologia's son in this AU though.
5. The trauma Lucy went through has nothing to do with her asexuality. I just wanted to make that extra clear. She identified as asexual before Serena got hold of her. The trauma just left her with some memory loss (maybe blocking it out, who knows…) and desensitized lady bits. She hasn't lost all feeling there, it's just diminished. If I do expand this at some point, I wanted to leave it vague enough that I could really get into the details at some other point, instead of in this story. I just wanted to make it super clear that her trauma is not the cause of her asexuality. I'm not getting into whether asexuality is a result of trauma in other cases (not touching that with a ten-foot pole, guys), because for the purposes of this story that does not apply. At all.
6. Laxus totally misunderstands her asexuality. It happens. His heart's in the right place, but he doesn't understand what being ace is like (as most people are when it comes to a sexuality that isn't their own), so he obviously misunderstands some aspects about Lucy's sexuality. Sorry, I didn't go into the whole "Laxus finding out his sister's sexually active and he can't process it" thing. Maybe if I continue it, I'll do that. Who knows…
I think that's all. I hope you enjoyed this story. I really had fun writing it, even though I was struggling with the smut in the middle.
Just to remind you, tomorrow's CoLu Week prompt will also be part of this story. I was going to put them in their own story, but I'll leave them here in the CoLu Week entry for now. If I ever decide to expand on this universe past a second chapter, then they'll get pulled and placed in their own story on my profile to make them easier to read as a whole.