She can't stop thinking about him.

Arrogant, self-centered, power-hungry jerk who… smells like sandalwood…

Nor his electrifying touch.

Her mind still tingled with the residue of her dream the previous night and its heavy implication. She had done her best to brush it off as nothing more than an unusually vivid nightmare. After all, Lucy wasn't known for her premonitions.

Still…

"You belong to me. In this life and all others."

His voice reverberates in her mind. The intimacy of his words ...She swallows uncomfortably and desperately tries to clear her head.

The dream was nothing. It meant nothing.

That didn't explain why she was currently hovering near Sabertooth's residence trying desperately to not draw attention to herself.

It's not like she had purposely come this way. It was supposed to be a morning walk, to clear her head.

She was doing a lot of those recently. She kept hoping they would work, but her brain seemed fuller than ever.

Her intent was to wander aimlessly for a bit and head home to prep for the games. And then, she just… sort of ended up here. At Sabertooth's hotel.

She takes a deep steadying breath and turns around. Okay, just… go. You're not supposed to be here. Walk away before anyone sees you and -

A gentle cough sounds from behind her, someone politely clearing their throat. Nearly jumping out of her skin, she whips around. Her hands flying to her keys, her heart racing and adrenaline pumping furiously, gearing up for a fight.

Rogue Cheney is standing behind her, his cloak still flowing with his movement. He must have just exited his guild and saw her. His black hair is drawn up in a ponytail, though long bangs still covered half his face. The corners of his lips quirk upwards, clearly amused at her fight-or-flight reaction. She has a distinct feeling this type of entrance was something very normal for him, as if he liked the element of catching his prey off-guard.

"I believe that the sign clearly says, 'No Solicitors'" He gives a slight nod towards a hanging sign outside that said exactly that. His tone is conversational but detached. No angry outburst, and so far, no signs that he was looking for a fight.

Lucy is bewildered.

She didn't know Rogue. She had only ever seen him with Sting, and even then, Sting was very obviously the alpha of the two. Rogue had always stood apart, hovering, seemingly content to blend in with the background, and always acting - for lack of a better description - like Sting's shadow. He was, as far as she could tell, a man of few words and even fewer feelings.

So, his attempt at a rather humorous conversation starter was throwing her for a loop. She opens her mouth, but finds the surprise has left her unable to defend herself or even retort back. "Uh…"

His left eyebrow raises in a perfect arch, and the quirk of his lips extends. "And here I thought that you were the most eloquent of the rabble. Aren't you writing a book?"

A beat of more stunned silence as she tries desperately to collect her scattered thoughts.

Is he always like this?

"How do you know that?" She manages, internally wincing when her voice comes out pitched with her obvious discomfort and confusion.

He gives her a meaningful look, as if she should already know the answer to her own question.

The gears of her mind finally rolling once more, as the initial shock wears off. She recalls Sting's brief words to her two nights ago.

"Shadows talk." She supplies after a minute.

He gives a nod of confirmation, looking quite pleased that she had remembered, before his look turns solemn. "You know, it's not safe to be loitering around here, even if it's daylight."

"I'm not loitering!" She defends, color rising quickly to her cheeks. "I was just… um… " She trails off, her gaze slipping past Rogue as she stares at their guild. The hope that he might walk out at any second is crushing, combatted with an equally intense hatred and guilt that she's feeling such a hope in the first place. It was wrong (and emotionally taxing).

Her throat is painfully dry all of a sudden, and she can scarcely get her next words out. "Is he around?"

"Considering this is his guild, yes, I'd say so." He speaks matter-of-factly, and the lack of emotion makes his words lack any of their superiority if anyone else had said them.

"Can I, can I talk to him?"

His red eyes narrow and flick across her face in calculation, as if he was scanning her for something. He apparently didn't find anything, and his expression relaxes slightly, though he was still regarding her with wariness. "You engaging in a relationship with Sting is dangerous. For both of you."

Lucy recoils in surprise, overcome with discomfort. "I'm not – That is –" The defenses came tumbling out over each other, and she flushes again, looking away from his penetrating stare. Rogue's bluntness was starting to severely unsettle her.

It takes her several moments to be able to speak. "We're not in any kind of relationship."

It was true. They weren't in any kind of relationship. The extent of their 'relationship' had been him saving her twice, and a horribly confusing conversation. That certainly didn't equate to a relationship by any means.

"I just wanted to thank him." She says. Maybe then I will finally get some peace.

"Then I'll pass along your gratitude myself. You can be sure that it'll get back to him."

She recognizes this as her dismissal. She weighs her options carefully, chewing on her bottom lip as she thinks; she could turn and leave and never think about any of this absurd situation again, having properly thanked Sting. It would be officially over.

She doubts she will ever forget this or him.

You are using this as an excuse to see him. You WANT to see him.

…Is that so bad?

She meets Rogue's eyes steadily and speaks slowly. "In person." She clarifies. "It feels… insincere to do it any other way."

He frowns, clearly unhappy with her answer. "Lucy." His warns, his tone harshening.

"Please?" She hesitates for a second, knowing that she's playing a dangerous game here, manipulating Rogue, but she plows forward nonetheless. "Doesn't he want to see me?"

His eyes widened in surprise, his whole body tensing up. Lucy immediately feels panic beginning to crawl up her throat, wondering if she had assumed too much and pushed too hard. Her hand drifts back ever so slowly, inching towards her keys, preparing for a threat.

Rogue closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, expelling a large breath of air. "Fine." He relents. "I'll go get him. Stay here and try not to be seen."

She breathes a sigh of relief.

"Lucy." He starts, recapturing her attention. "This path is dangerous, for both of you. I know you're starting to see him differently, but he's not like you or your guild. He's not your knight in shining armor, he doesn't have your moral compass, and he would break you in a heartbeat if it meant opportunity for him. Don't delude yourself in thinking he is something he's not." With that, he disappears back into the wall's shadows.

A few minutes later, Sting emerges from the front doors, his eyes quickly scanning the area before they meet hers. His long legs allow him long strides that cover the distance between them rapidly.

"Lucy," He purrs enthusiastically, as he closes the last three feet between them. "What a lovely surprise." She's getting better at reading him, looking for far more subtle signs of emotion from his mask of usual indifference. His blue eyes shine with the barest hint of excitement. He's genuinely happy she is here.

"I um…" She couldn't concentrate, the sound of his voice bringing her back to her dream.

"I love you."

Her heart rate rapidly increases, and she stares transfixed at his face. She hadn't ever gotten a good, close look at him that day he'd saved her, with all the chaos in the labyrinth. In the shadows of last night, his facial features were mostly obscured by darkness. But right now, in broad daylight, he practically glowed in the sun. Shaggy blonde hair (she briefly wondered if it felt as soft as it looked), sharp, aristocratic features interrupted only by the scar that intersected his right eyebrow.

He is beautiful. Almost unfairly so. And judging by his wicked smile he was sporting that revealed his canines, he had noticed her studying him.

She tears her eyes away from him, dropping them to the floor, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. She watches as he comes to a halt, his boots standing only a couple inches apart from her shoes.

Inhaling his earthy scent, she mumbles, slowly - desperately - trying to ignore the butterflies causing a storm in her stomach. "I wanted to thank you. For uh, saving my life. Twice." She was sure her heart was going to positively jump out of her chest, judging by the way it was thunderously pounding in her ears.

"Had to do it in person, did you?" He speaks softly, but his tone is playfully sharp.

She refuses to meet his eyes, so she can't see his expression. Her breath was coming in short pants now, and her palms feel clammy. "Better to do it in person."

A pregnant pause.

"Lucy look at me."

Almost trembling, she raises her gaze to look at him. He looks amused, his usual smirk firmly in place. His hand reaches up, slowly brushing a strand of her blonde hair out of her face, lingering for far too long. His touch sends that familiar electricity down her body, and she shivers uncontrollably, goosebumps rising on her arms.

"I uh," She coughs slightly, trying to clear her very dry throat, as she pulls away from his hand. "I owe you. So just, if you ever need something…" She trails off, unsure how to finish.

"You're my girl." He offers, completing her sentence.

"Yeah, I'm your girl." She nods. The words just spill from her mouth, and she winces slightly at the double meaning and innuendo behind them.

His grins at her, mischief gleaming in his eyes. "You could be."

She freezes, completely caught off guard by his words. She swallows uncomfortably, then forces a weak laugh. "Ha ha, very funny."

"I was being serious." He says, cocking his head.

"Our guilds are rivals." A thin excuse. And he sees right through it.

He rolls his eyes, heaving a bored sigh as he shoves his hands into his pockets. "I don't care that you're from Fairy Tail."

"Well, you should."

"Well, I don't." He counters, taking a step to once again close the distance she had somehow managed to put between them.

"You don't even know me." She protests, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring up at him.

"Give me a chance. I'm a quick learner."

"You're being absolutely ridiculous."

"Have dinner with me."

Her eyebrows fly up in surprise, and the pure shock of it all leaves her gaping like a fish for a couple of seconds. "No way! I'm not interested." She vehemently shakes her head.

"Why not?" He looks genuinely curious, though his mouth has twisted into a slight frown, as if he was becoming annoyed with her continued arguing.

"Be-because!" She replies hotly, almost enraged at how calm he was being. Did he not understand what he was asking of her? What he was asking of both of them? Rogue's warning echoes in her ears.

He snorts, a sound that should have been ugly and unflattering, yet he made seem almost regal. "You're going to have to come up with a better reason than that if you want to deter me."

Lucy can feel her temper continuing to rise. "Is this all some kind of game to you?" That's what it had to be, right? Some twisted game he was playing to try and manipulate her -

"You are not a game to me, little fairy." He says, all traces of amusement and his usual smugness vanishing from his face. He looked… uncharacteristically uncertain, his eyes flickering all across her face. She blinks at the abrupt realization: he was trying to read her just as much as she was trying to read him.

She swallows, just as he exhales heavily, breaking his gaze away from her for the first time today. He rakes a hand through his hair. "I don't know what you are yet. I told myself I was going to stay away from you after last night. And then you show up here. Extremely reckless of you I might add, don't you even dare think about doing this again." His stare hardens to ice and Lucy flinches from the harsh bite in his tone. "How many times do I have to tell you it's not safe here. Anyone could've walked out of that door - you're damn lucky it was Rogue."

"I can take care of myself." Lucy says, irritated. "Just because you've saved me twice doesn't mean I am incapable. I am a wizard, just like you."

"I am a dragon slayer. We are not anywhere near the same." Sting growls, his eyes flashing white for a moment. "And as far as I've seen, those keys you carry are purely decorational." He sneers.

Lucy's fist clench. How dare he insult her spirits or her magic. "You are such an ass." She hisses through gritted teeth.

"And you, as we have already covered, are a reckless, emotional idiot -" He abruptly cuts off, pinching the bridge of his nose - in a similar manner to Rogue actually - as he takes a step away from her again, inhaling deeply. "For fuck's sake woman." He exhales just as deeply, as if trying to calm himself. "I did not come out here to argue with you about your apparently inherent inability to care for yourself or my apparent inherent inability to stop caring." His tactics don't seem to be working, as his volume increases with every word.

Lucy opens her mouth, ready to cut Sting a piece of her mind when his head suddenly snaps up, and he turns to look beside him, staring intently at the brick wall beside them. Wait… not at the brick wall itself, but the shadows curling at its base.

"You need to go. The Salamander and his cat are looking for you. You've been gone for too long." He turns to look at her, and the fire she'd ignited by challenging him is gone, replaced with his usual cold indifference. Funnily enough, she liked him better angry.

"Natsu can wait. I'm about to -"

"You and I both know that Natsu has the patience of a toddler." Sting interrupts, shaking his head, the barest hint of a smile curling at his lips. "He will not wait, and I don't particularly want a fight forced upon me this early in the morning. He needs you. Go to him." He jerks his chin in the direction Lucy had come from, his blonde hair falling in front of his eyes from the motion.

She absolutely hates that he is correct. About everything really - about Natsu, about her. "This conversation isn't over." She says, scowling at him.

"Of course it isn't - I still haven't gotten you to agree to dinner. I told you I'm determined." He has the audacity to wink at her.

How can he be blatantly insulting and belittling her one moment, then be flirting openly with her the next? She couldn't wrap her mind around it, much less keep up with his whiplash of emotions.

"And I told you that I'm not interested. No way. Keep dreaming Sting." She says firmly, narrowing her eyes at him.

He full on smiles at her. "Oh sweetheart, trust me - in my dreams, we are doing so much more."

When Natsu finds her fifteen minutes later, Lucy's face is still so red he asks her if she had a sunburn.