Lucy was a little more than ashamed to admit that she had yelped, dropped her lacrimal, and had promptly fell down. She could hear Erik on the lacrima shouting.
"Woah, blondie, you okay there? Still tense from battle?" His voice contained little amusement, but rather more of concern. Somehow, as strange as that would seem to others, it would have seemed unnatural, but for Lucy it was somehow what she pictured under that hard exterior.
"Yeah, I'm ok," she said as picked herself up. "Wait, where's Erza?!"
"Chill out, she's right here." He turned the lacrima to focus it on a blushing Erza talking to Jellal, and smiled.
"Anyway, what are you doing here? Is it safe for you?" Lucy asked, her voice taking a concerned tone this time.
"Yeah, it's fine for us to be here. Especially, since this is our job." He said, a large amount of emphasis on our.
"Your job? We took this, the employers acknowledged us as the recipients, what do you mean?"
"Crime Sorciere was notified about a rogue dark guild causing havoc in the town, and then receding to the forest. We're here to stop it." That was it, short. To the point. She liked that she could get a straight answer out of him, unlike the rest of her guild members.
"Oh. Well, I have a few over here, you can come pick them up." He looked back to Jellal and Erza who were currently sitting and shamelessly cuddling on a large tree trunk. The end of the trunk had a suspiciously clean cut, probably from a sword. Lucy chuckled and sweat dropped as Cobra walked slightly closer to the base of the tree trunk. He sighed and turned back to her.
"Yea, considering they clearly aren't going anywhere. Just look for the fallen tree right?" She nodded.
"Yup. If you get lost, call again, I'll send you a signal." He nodded, and the lacrima beeped off once again. Lucy stuck it back in her pocket, and looked around for the second tallest tree, as the first was now the barrier for a forest vulcan. Climbing up, she sat down, and soon found herself asleep.
Lucy awoke to another rustling sound. Not fully awake, she stumbled slightly as she tried to stand. However, it seemed that her sleep induced motion had triggered a tilting sensation. She had a strange feeling of deja vu, before the second tallest tree in the clearing fell, without crushing a vulcan or any other forest inhabitant. Landing flat on her back, she pushed up to where she was sitting to to see the cause of the fall. Registering the deep baritone chuckling, she rolled her eyes before laying back down and staring up to the sky.
"Sorry blondie, couldn't resist. You should've been more aware considering the vulcan catastrophe."
"Haha very funny. So, how's life Er-Cobra?" Lucy asked, as she grabbed his extended hand to pull herself up. Now standing face to face with him, he looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Call me Erik," he said, avoiding her gaze. Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't that what your friends call you? So I'm your friend now?" Lucy said with an amused smirk, clearly teasing him.
"Shut up, call me Cobra or Erik, I don't care. Do what you want," he mumbled, blushing slightly at her light chuckles.
"Anyway, do you want the mages? It's been almost a few days since our employers met us, I think they're getting annoyed. We should send them back," Lucy said, her voice taking on a tone of business. Cobra nodded.
"Yeah, I'll take them back, and have them send the cheque to Fairy Tai," he said before looking around. "Umm, where are the mages?" Lucy took a couple steps back before putting her hands on her keys. Eyes widening in realization, he took a couple more steps back, unaware of how big the spirit she was about to summon was.
"Open, Gate of the Bull, Taurus!" A familiar glow enveloped the mage, and then there was a giant bull, holding a large group of mages in one arm and a massive axe in the other. He let out and all mighty cry before bellowing,
"Miss Lucy's boooooooddyy is ammaaaaazig! Here you goo!" Taurus promptly dropped the captured mages on the floor before poofing away. Lucy looked at Erik, only to find him smirking lecherously.
"Hehe, your spirit is sure is perverted huh?"
"Yup, he may even be worse than you," Lucy said with a challenging smirk.
"Oh, hell no. Nobody's more perverted than me, blondie, trust me," Cobra said smirking, exposing his sharp canines. Lucy rolled her eyes.
"Maybe Laxus?" Lucy suggested, her playful smile growing wider.
"Look, what part if 'I am the alpha,' do you not understand? It's my job to be better than everyone," he said, frowning playfully.
"By better at everything, do you also mean more perverted than everyone? Because I really hope you're not pitting that into a competition too, or us females may need to always wear long sleeves," Lucy said with a small shake of her head and a smile.
"What do you mean?" Erik asked, genuinely confused.
"I mean, considering how seriously dragon slayers take a challenge, I wont be surprised if ever female in Fiore has to file a sexual assault complaint," Lucy said, cocking her hip. Cobra merely raised an amused eyebrow.
"Do you really want to know blondie? Because then I will be perverted," he said, his smirk growing wider. She rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, what do you want to do with these mages? I'd help you take them back, but Erza told me not to move," Lucy said while glancing down at the mages.
"Can you send them back with your spirit again? I can take you to Erza, considering she and Jellal clearly don't have any intention of moving. Then, we can wait for the rest of your team and hand them in. You get your full reward directly, no cheque," he suggested, to which Lucy readily agreed. The two set off, chatting along the way.