Disclaimer: I own nothing but OC's! So, here I am again with another chapter. I just got done screaming my lungs out at my dad for being a jerk, so I have plenty of time in my room to work on another chapter. Yay? Oh well, I much prefer writing to being around people with nothing better to do than harass people on the weekend. Another note, this is mostly filler because I felt as if Lucy's new attitude wasn't accurately portrayed in the last chapter, but I didn't want to combine these chapters. Enjoy!

Lucy stared out her inn window, watching the smoke billow up out of the forge. Even though it was already dark, Hatsuharu was working. Didn't he have something better to do? Oh well, she supposed she should be grateful that he was working to expedite her journey, whether he knew it or not. With a sigh, she returned to her bed preparations. Carefully removing the rest of her armor, she cleaned and stacked it in the corner. Lucy examined the red body suit she wore under the armor, recalling exactly why she'd picked such a loud color when people always said she had a blue personality. After recovering from the train incident, she had decided that she would need protection, and wanted to keep something her partner would like close to her. Red was his color, so red it was. The only other reminder she kept of him was his scarf she stored in her backpack. It was too recognizable, but she had to have it. It still smelled like him.

After she had completely stripped, a shower relaxed her tense muscles and stiff scars she had accumulated over the years. They were ugly, but so was she. Who would care about a zombie, a ghost of a girl that was once happy? Even she did not care about herself. She used the hot water to slowly peel the bandage from her eye. This damn eye. It had caused her nothing but grief. Every time she went to a new town, the damn thing would burn and itch like the devil. Levy had determined that it was reacting to magical curses and that it was probably a side effect of the magical blast on the train. It had just about killed her when she met the blacksmith. The poor man was cursed, whether he knew it or not. It truly was a shame though; he was very nice and attractive to boot. If she was looking for love, she might have looked in Hatsuharu. A knock at the door interrupted her shower; without a second thought, she threw on her long glove to hide her keys and guild mark and a nearly-see-through lace black nightie. She opened the door, fixing the young girl there with a glare that would make hell freeze over.

"You need to come quickly, there's been some sort of magical explosion down at the forge and I think Haru might need help! Come on!"

The girl grabbed her hand, dragging her down the stairs. At the bottom, Lucy shook the girl off and used one of the key tattoos on her arm to summon a gate to the forge. Stepping through, she realized this was a big deal. The forge was oozing magic, enough to suffocate even her. Lucy mentally asked her celestial spirits for help, to which they complied. She used her suddenly-large magical store to absorb the offending energy. Hatsuharu was unconscious on the floor, his hammer melting out of his hand. She grabbed him, threw him over her shoulder, and gated out.

"Wake up, Nashi."

She siphoned the magical energy off his figure, silently praying that she wasn't too late. The poor man didn't deserve to die because her chest piece had residue. He took in a quick breath that resulted in a coughing fit. Lucy noticed a burning sensation on her hand that had touched his skin, and let go of his arm. His skin had burned her arm. That must be his curse. He burned everyone his bare skin touched.

"Are you okay, Nashi?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Did you pull me out of that place?"

"Yes."

"What the hell are you wearing?"

He had noticed her attire, then. His face turned bright red, hands shaking slightly.

"I am wearing my night wear. Don't get excited; the inn girl interrupted my shower and this was the first thing I had."

"I think you look pretty."

The words had slipped out before he could put them away in a corner of his mind. She did look beautiful. Her beauty wasn't the only thing he had noticed. Her eye that had been covered earlier was now visible, and he could understand why she hid it. The iris was not brown like her other one, but red with golden veins coursing through it. She had a cursed eye, much like his body was cursed. They had something in common after all. She shook her hair out of her face.

"You are cursed, Nashi. My eye tells me so, as does the fact that my uncovered hand now has significant blisters. You will explain when we get back to my room. Come."

She again lifted him onto her shoulder, careful not to touch his skin. She brought him to her room, the girl at the counter watching with wide eyes. Lucy carefully set him on her bed.

"You will explain your curse before you fall asleep."

"I'm not sleeping here!"

"Yes, you are. You need to be watched carefully so as to make sure there are no side effects of the explosion."

"Do you know how bad it would look if I slept here?! WITH YOU?!"

Lucy looked on. She could not understand why this was such a big deal. Natsu had shared her bed before with no consequences. Why did this boy care so much? It's not like she wanted to have sex with him.

"I am not a whore, despite what you may think, Nashi. No one will judge a cursed, injured man, so shut up and explain why you are cursed. Should anyone give you problems over this night, I will kindly enlighten them as to the real happenings. Now, talk."

So, all of a sudden, I got concerned about how this appears when you guys read it. Do the paragraphs look right? Do the quotations fall on separate lines? Please let me know! How many people think Lucy's attitude is awkward? I do, but I did that on purpose so I don't count. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you guys!