AN: You reviewers are seriously too cute! Like wow and the last chapter got 22 of them o.O and they were all super cute *big hugs for you and also this big chapter!*
I'm thinking about incorporating some of the cute headcanons from the jerza blog (scarlet-tattoo) that me and my friend run into this story XD And when i say 'thinking about' i mean...i snuck three into this chapter XD
Chapter 4-
It was around midnight when Jellal woke up. The reason for his early return to the land of wakefulness was, of course, the beautiful mage, Erza Scarlet. She was right up against his back, her arm around his waist and her face pressed into his shoulder.
I'm being spooned, Jellal thought in amazement, that's a first.
He then became aware of the way her breasts were flush against him and how close her hand was to his crotch.
I have to get out of her, I mean, here, he inwardly winced, his body flooding with heat and embarrassment.
He pulled at her wrist, trying to loosen her hold on him, he sighed in relief when it was surprisingly easy to do so.
Jellal used slow, painstaking movements to inch away from Erza and then he sat on the edge of the bed, dragging in deep breaths like he had just run a marathon. He hesitantly got to his feet and was about to step away when Erza flung her arm out, caught his hand and yanked him back onto the bed, or more correctly, onto her.
His eyes flew open wide as he registered that his cheek was against her cleavage and that she had her arms and legs wrapped tightly around him. His pulse rattled sporadically in his ears as fire ran along his skin and he tried vainly to clear his mind. He quickly placed his hands on the bed either side of her and pressed down, trying to put some distance between them.
Erza clung onto him however and he groaned her name quietly when her body rubbed against him rather intimately. He managed to make it to his knees with her claiming him like that, though she shuffled down and nuzzled into his neck, causing a wash of white heat to roll over him.
Keep calm, he mentally chanted, keep calm.
He awkwardly gripped her legs and tried to pry them off his torso, blushing madly as he did so. His fingers then grazed just above her hips and she made an odd sound. Curious, he brushed over the same point. Erza giggled in her sleep and squirmed.
A slightly evil grin crept onto his face at his discovery of her ticklish spot and he filed the information away for future reference. It was of no use to him at the moment however, as her instinct was to hug closer to him. He swiftly moved his hands up to her arms and removed them from himself, gently lowering her back onto the mattress.
He sighed as he straightened back up and stared down at her sleeping form. Then he frowned, he had always imagined Erza to be a light sleeper, someone who would wake up at the slightest movement or sound, even though that wasn't the case when they were younger.
It's creepy that I've imagined her sleeping, isn't it? Shit…
He ran a hand through his blue hair, ruffling it further before he carefully climbed over the bed and headed into the bathroom. The shirt he was wearing itched his heated skin and so he unbuttoned it. Jellal then hesitated, wondering if it was okay for him to take it off completely.
He exhaled heavily and shook his head as he reached out for the sink and found the tap, twisting the knobbly handle. Chilled water rushed down and he covered his hands with it, cupping and filling them. He splashed and scrubbed his face, hoping he could cool himself down and wash away the thoughts he was not supposed to have.
After he shut off the water and uncurled himself to his full height, he heard Erza suddenly swear loudly. He quickly moved into the doorway, peering worriedly over at her as she sat on the faintly illuminated bed.
She had switched on the bedside lamp and moved so she was cross legged in the centre of the mattress as she pressed her knuckles into her forehead.
"Are you alright, Erza?" Jellal asked, bracing himself by gripping the doorframe.
She sighed and looked up at him. Her expression melted from annoyance to surprise, and then to something else, though he didn't understand why.
Erza's dark eyes were glued to the enticing, well defined muscles peeking out at her through his open shirt. Her fingers twitched and she dug her nails into her palms, willing her gaze to move to a more socially acceptable location and telling herself that she shouldn't be affected by him anyway. Her eyes followed the trail left by several water droplets back up to his dampened face.
"Erza?" he prompted.
She screwed up her face and smacked her forehead as she recalled the reason she had woken up, well, what she thought was the reason anyway.
"I made an error," she said, smoothing out her features and taking a breath, "I thought I paid the train employees…but I've just remembered that I didn't."
As his intense eyes stared at her, Erza felt the familiar thrill spark down her spine; she looked away.
"I guess I'll just have to pay double on the way back…" she trailed off, feeling stupid for talking about something so unimportant, she changed the subject, "What woke you up?"
She noted interestedly the way his fingers dug into the wood frame of the door and the way his fidgeting shifted the toned muscles beneath his skin.
"Did you get too hot?" she asked, referencing the slight redness in his face.
"Something like that," he mumbled dryly under his breath as he rubbed a hand over his head.
"It is quite warm," Erza commented, her eyes flicking back to his abs for a second.
She then pulled at her PJ top and frowned, forgetting her earlier decision, "Maybe I should change into one of my nightgowns…"
"No!" said Jellal suddenly.
Crossing her arms, Erza tilted her curiously as she demanded, "What did you say?"
He swallowed loudly and couldn't meet her gaze as he spluttered, "I-I m-mean, uh, I don't think, that would, um, be such a good idea."
Jellal…spluttering, Erza never thought she would ever see that. Her heart warmed at the sight and then she abruptly remembered which nightgowns she had with her…She turned away and used the excuse of getting back under the blankets so she could keep her blushing face averted so he wouldn't see.
"We'd better try getting back to sleep," she told him firmly, "We'll have to be up in a few hours."
He nodded and slowly made his way back around the bed. She lay there stiffly as he slid beneath the covers with her, keeping as much of a distance between them as he could. She reached over and turned off the lamp, allowing darkness to flood into the room once more.
After a few moments, she realised that, despite her earlier comment, she was now a tad cold. She looked over at Jellal, only just able to make out his profile, and wondered if he would notice if she inched closer to him.
She could almost feel the heat radiating off him and she felt as though it called to her. She bit her lip and debated about how much she could get away with.
I could just shuffle over a bit…or I could roll over a couple of times…he just looks so cuddly!
Her eyes widened and then she smirked and snorted mentally as it crossed her mind that not many people would ever associate the word 'cuddly' with Jellal Fernandes.
I wonder if anyone has though…her expression darkened possessively at the thought and she propelled herself into action, scooting over until there were only a few inches separating them. Jellal showed no indication the he had registered her movement, but she didn't want to push her luck or make him uncomfortable.
So she restrained herself and forced herself to be content with being as close as she was to him. A memory flashed through her mind, of the cold, damp floor of the partially constructed Tower of Heaven.
Back then she wouldn't have hesitated to press against him for heat and he would've put his arms around her too…though of course Millianna, Wally and the rest would've been huddled with them as well. Erza brought her arms up and hugged herself, hoping for a bit of warmth and hoping that the lonely ache in her heart would be soothed one day.
She got her wish for heat, in fact, she was burning up. She pried her tired eyes open found that she was lying on top on Jellal, her face was pressed into his neck and her hands were resting on his shoulders. He was caging her against his chest, his arms tight around her waist.
He was holding onto her like he was terrified something was going to try and take her away, even his legs were trapping her to him. As she realised that it was now morning, she wondered how long Jellal had been embracing her like that. She blushed and remembered that, when they were younger, when he was tired or half asleep, he would cling to her.
She just hoped that was something he only did around her…she cursed her wishful thinking and decided it was about time they started preparing for the day.
"Jellal," she whispered, lifting her head and frowning at him, "It's time to get up now."
His hold on her tightened and, as he rolled them over, she could've sworn he muttered something about how he was 'already up.'
Heat swamped her when his hands slipped out from under her back and grabbed her hips. He nuzzled into her neck and then sighed, his warm breath tickling her. She groaned, only because he was crushing her of course, and then pushed against his shoulders to create some distance.
She fidgeted and managed to move her torso partway out from under him. Unfortunately (or not, depending how you want to look at it), he twisted half onto his side and wrapped his arms around her waist again, pressing his face against her chest, returning the blush to her cheeks.
"Jellal," she sighed, trying to sound disapproving and failing.
"Erza," he mumbled.
She narrowed her eyes, wondering if there was a possibility that he was awake and aware of what he was doing. She brushed some of his blue locks from his face gently and then, not so gently, pulled open his eyes. She let out a 'humph' of annoyance when she decided he really was asleep.
Of course, she thought annoyed more at herself now, Jellal would never take advantage of the situation, he might've been cheekier when we were younger but not now…
Before she could become too melancholy, Erza forced herself into action and once again extracted herself from his arms. She sat up and then dug under the blankets to untangle their legs.
Once she was free, she managed to slide a little away from him, but her freedom didn't last long because he threw his arm out and caught her around her waist, pulling her back along his side. Her back was half on him and he was almost curved around her, his hands on her stomach. She turned her head up to glare pointlessly at him.
Her expression changed to shock however as one of his hands began creeping upwards. She was so surprised that she didn't react in time to stop him from groping her breasts. Sure that her face was ablaze, Erza went to grab his hand, but she paused as she noticed the slight frown on Jellal's tattooed face.
"Wasn't…there before…" he mumbled in confusion, still lightly squeezing her flesh. She let out a squeak, "Jellal!"
He made a sleepy sound of complaint and snuggled up closer to her.
"No," she scolded, "Bad, Jellal!"
Stop being so cute! She mentally added.
He grumbled again and she knew she had to escape his hold before he tried to trap her in a more difficult to get out of position. She, rather roughly, gripped his wrists and yanked them away from her body, then she threw herself away from him, rolled and landed lightly on the floor, staring back over at him with flushed cheeks.
His shirt was flung open wide and she glared at him…until she noticed his hair.
Erza giggled and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand to try and stop herself. Another thing she remembered from their childhood was that Jellal's hair in the mornings was always a big mess, the blue strands spiking up in all directions.
He used to always be so self-conscious about it and tried to hide it from everyone. She couldn't help but smile as she turned away from him and headed into the bathroom. After she did her thing, requipped into her regular armour and then returned to the room, she found that Jellal had woken up.
His had gotten dressed as well and now had his back to her. She smirked as she watched him furiously trying to flatten his hair.
At least some things never change…
Jellal turned around then and froze upon seeing her, his hands slipping away from his head.
"Erza," he awkwardly greeted, clearly hoping she hadn't been standing there long.
"Good morning, Jellal," she said in a warm tone, "Did you sleep well?"
He looked away, shoved his hands into his pockets and hesitated before answering, "Yes."
"Good," she nodded, "So did I."
Uncomfortable silence settled in between them as they both remembered certain parts of the night. Erza coughed and then found her eyes straying to a piece of paper that was resting atop a small chest of drawers by the door. She headed over to it and found it was an information sheet about the various amenities provided by the inn.
The sheet told her that a breakfast of bacon and eggs would be served in the dining room in fifteen minutes, so she began to assemble a plan of how the day would go, knowing that they needed to meet with the person who submitted the mission request at nine-thirty, in two hours.
Erza nodded to herself, placed the paper back where it was and then strode over to her luggage, Jellal's curious gaze following her. She unzipped a small, orange bag that was jammed in between two yellow ones and she wriggled her fingers into it.
Once she had grasped the vial she sought, she withdrew her hand and stepped over to her mission partner. He stared impassively at her, waiting for her to explain.
"This potion," she said, holding it up so he could see the dark liquid, "can disguise you for short periods of time, that way, we both won't have to worry about your identity being discovered while we investigate."
"Is that so?" he asked softly and with interest.
"Yes and the best thing about it is that if I take a sip of it too, after you, I'll be able to see you as you are, while everyone else sees your disguised appearance."
"That's good," he responded thoughtfully, "We wouldn't want you to get confused about who I am, that could be disastrous."
And this way, she thought a little deviously, I get to be the only one who can see your handsome face.
"It should work for about four hours," she remarked coolly as she pulled out the stopper, "Take a sip."
She held it up to his mouth, telling herself it was just to make sure he didn't drink too much of the potion. His eyes grew wide and he stepped back a little, causing her to look sternly at him and put her hand on his neck.
"You need to drink a bit of this," she reminded him, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach that awakened due to their close proximity.
Jellal glanced away from her for a moment and then met her eyes. A dash of fire shot down her spine at the look in his green eyes. She almost felt the need to hold her breath in anticipation as she slowly stepped forward and raised the vial to his lips once more.
She watched attentively while she tilted the potion into his mouth, but she nearly forgot she wasn't supposed to make him drink all of it. She pulled back the vial and focused on him as he swallowed; wondering if he could feel the heat that enveloped her body.
She slowly took a sip of the potion herself, but she looked away from him and missed the way his eyes darkened with desire at seeing her drink from the same spot that he had.
The potion was like a sweet raspberry sauce and yet it burned slightly as it went down.
Erza cleared her throat and then gestured towards the bathroom as she said, "We'd better see if that worked."
His gaze lingered on her for a moment, then he nodded and crossed the room. The reflection that stared out at him from the rectangular mirror was Jellal and also…not.
Erza followed him into the little room and they both studied his image, noting how the reflected version had dark purple hair and no tattoo on his face. Those were the only two differences but they were enough to stop him being recognisable as Jellal Fernandes.
He reached up and touched his right cheek, where his tattoo was, and his eyebrows drew together.
"I've always wondered…" he muttered to himself.
She stared up at him, placing a hand on his shoulder as she smiled softly.
"I still stand by what I told those bullies all those years ago," she said quietly, "And I know you heard me say it, I remember you couldn't look at me for two whole days without blushing. Your tattoo is beautiful."
"Erza," he groaned, his face heating up.
"Just like that," she chuckled, "Now come on, let's head to breakfast."
She slipped away into the bedroom, leaving him to shake his head at himself.
I've blushed more in the past day than I have my whole life, I'm sure of it, he thought with a trace of amazement and annoyance.
After an awkward (no surprises there) breakfast, Jellal and Erza decided that it would be best if they started to head towards the client's meeting place, just in case it was somewhere far away.
As the two strode through the streets of the large town, Jellal continually clenched and unclenched his fists; he didn't like being so out in the open, even after knowing no-one would recognise him. He knew that it would only make him appear more suspicious, so he fought the urge to pull up the hood of his cloak.
"The client is the Mayor, isn't it?" he asked Erza to keep him mind occupied.
"That's right," she confirmed, "That should be his house up on that hill over there."
She pointed and Jellal held back a sigh at seeing the large market place she was clearly intent on walking through to get to the Mayor's house. He could feel his insides tightening and twisting nervously as they approached the crowded town centre; he kept his head down and just tried to focus on moving through the people.
Erza surprised him by grabbing his forearm and he supposed it was a good idea on her part; it wouldn't be the best if they became separated at this point.
The marketplace was a huge octagon whose sides were lined with shops and stalls. People of every shape and size jostled past each other, laden with their stuffed bags and possessions and some of the shoppers rested by the massive fountain in the middle. It depicted a tall man with a protruding belly and an insane moustache. He held a watering can pompously and the water flowed into the stone bowl he stood in. Jellal had a sinking feeling that the statue was, in fact, the likeness of the Azolla Town Mayor.
His brow furrowed as people brushed past him and occasionally bumped him. Erza's grip on his arm tightened and she pulled him along, weaving around an arguing couple and a whining child. He almost lost sight of her for a second, but then she stopped abruptly and he nearly crashed into her.
"Someone touched my butt," she said through gritted teeth.
Anger flashed through Jellal, narrowing his eyes and darkening his expression.
"Are you sure?" he demanded, trying to calm himself, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal to him, "It was probably just an accident."
Yeah, he thought in reassurance, probably just an accident…
Erza turned to face him full on, quirking her eyebrow and acting out of pure annoyance.
"Does this feel like an 'accident'?" she questioned, reaching around him and grabbing his ass.
"Erza!"
He jerked and she let go of him, spinning around and stomping off.
I can't believe I just did that! she mentally exclaimed, her adrenaline squeezing her heart and reddening her face. She could only blame her actions on her outrage at the audacity off the stranger and the fact that Jellal had doubted her claim. She rubbed her palm as she stalked through the crowd, still able to feel him.
Stupid Jellal.
The man who was unknowingly being insulted, blinked and then swiftly followed behind her, his own face tinted pink too. Unsure of her mood, he didn't say anything once he caught up to her.
Minutes later, they finally made it through the market centre and Jellal let out a quiet sigh of relief even though the silence between them became painfully obvious.
When they were at the base of the hill the Mayor's house sat atop, Jellal couldn't hold back anymore.
"I'm sorry, Erza."
She glanced over at him, her forehead creasing slightly, "Why are you apologising?"
He hesitated and looked straight ahead, feeling a little sheepish.
"I don't know…for not believing you?"
"It's alright," she said dismissively, her irritation had faded several minutes earlier when she realised that she now had the rare privilege of being someone who could say, (not that she would) that she'd groped Jellal.
Take the good with the bad I always say, she thought, fighting off a smirk.
He still seemed uneasy so she distracted him by gesturing to the wide road that sloped up the hill and led to the rather gaudy house.
"We'd best not keep the client waiting," she said.
He nodded and they started up the hill, Jellal studying the layout of the huge town from their viewpoint as they went. The Mayor's house was made of marble and its large oak doors were guarded by two fluted columns that supported the small balcony jutting out above.
Before they had even reached the front steps, the double doors were opened by the Mayor himself. Jellal had been right about that fountain and he wished that he wasn't.
"Hello! Hello!" called the Mayor, stroking his velvet vest covered potbelly, "Come in! Come in!"
As a rule, Jellal tried not to judge people too quickly; however, the Mayor simply struck him as being a pervert. The tall, well-dressed man spun around and strode into his large entrance hall, beckoning Jellal and Erza to follow him. The Mayor led them into another room that branched off to the left, then he sat in a high backed chair in front of the unlit fireplace and gestured for them to stand before him.
His bright eyes raked over them both, making them fight to make sure they didn't show the way he made their skin crawl. With only a few feet separating them from him, Jellal could see every straw like bit of hair sticking out of the Mayor's head, it wasn't a view he appreciated particularly and so he stared at the top of the chair instead.
The sitting man made a low sound of approval and then said, "I didn't realise the mages being sent would be so easy on the eyes, this is certainly a nice surprise."
Jellal hid his fisted hands behind his back and attempted to stop himself from thinking about the Mayor's lecherous eyes all over Erza.
"What can you tell us about this dark mage we're going to be after?" Erza asked.
"Ooh, getting straight to business are we?" the Mayor chuckled, "And what about you? Don't you want to have a bit of fun first? You look like you'd be a lot of fun."
There was silence for a moment and Jellal wondered why Erza hadn't responded to that infuriating, loaded question. He glanced over to her and felt his stomach sink as he found she was staring at him with wide eyes. His own startled eyes then fell onto the pompous man who was very much checking him out.
"W-what?"
The Mayor smirked at him, his gaze filled with heat as he said, "I hope your magical ability matches the level of your attractiveness, if it does, well, I think I'll be in good hands with this mission, don't you think?"
Jellal blinked incredulously, was this man hitting on him? He looked back over to Erza for help but found that she was nodding in agreement.
The Mayor spoke again, this time with false embarrassment, "I'm so sorry, I just can't help myself when I'm around such a…a fine male specimen."
The man really was hitting on him, no doubt about it.
"U-unbelievable," breathed Jellal, heat creeping up his neck.
AN: Oh, Jellal, its not really that unbelievable, you're adorable!
Also, I'm not sure exactly how KindaPervy!Erza ended up in this chapter lol but i hope you liked it anyway and i'll try be quicker with the next chapter!