Sorryyy for missing my imaginary deadline - I was so caught up in coming up with the advancing plot that I struggle a little with that I forgot to upload what I had already finished ':D

Anyway, thank you so much for your reviews, guys! I loved reading them! (Also, non-native English speaker question: what does it mean to 'be a mood'...? I think I've read it twice in the reviews.)

Hope you enjoy!

"I can't believe it actually worked," Lucy raved as they went back to the guild. "To think we'd actually find that guy through food,"

"And gravy of all things," Gray said, throwing a glance at the bag Erza was carrying. It was packed full with tiny jars and pots, each containing a sample of gravy from the restaurants they had been to.

Since it would have been too obvious to ask for one – the possibility of the man behind the wanted poster being there somewhere still present – they had eaten themselves through several locations in Magnolia that served a dish that included the sauce.

Like the coffee stains on her own reward sheet, Levy had worked tirelessly to find traces of the ingredients for gravy sauce on the wanted poster. It did not guarantee that the mysterious man owned a restaurant, but at least his presence in one. And gravy was by far easier to distinguish than coffee, seeing as the components varied more from cook to cook.

"I'm not complaining," Natsu grinned, patting his round stomach. Erza felt as bloated as him, glad for her armour to conceal it. She had started to feel sick after the first few meals, thinking how she could very well pass on gravy for the next weeks. Even smelling if from someone else's plate was enough to give her guts a tiny lurch. Her comrades seemed to share the feeling – all but Natsu –, so they had divided their investigation up to span over the course of a few days.

Now, with only a handful of places left in their hometown, they made their way towards the guild to hand in the samples for Levy to analyse them.

Erza noticed a small vibration on her leg. She shoved the bag aside, reaching into the pocket of her skirt. Meredy's name had appeared on the screen. Erza swiped to unlock the device, opening the messages she had received. She noticed how her guildmates exchanged glances and wiggling brows, most likely suspecting someone else to be the origin of her distraction.

hi erza

can yu do me a facour

?

Erza frowned, replying with a 'yes'. Natsu peered over her shoulder, shrugging uninterestedly with his hands behind his head when spotting Meredy's name.

can sou help kellal? i wanted to go but im tied up here

Unfamiliar with typing on the small keyboard, as well as combining it with walking, Erza unconsciously rolled her lips inwards.

"I have to go," Erza said, stopping. Writing and walking at the same time really put her before a challenge.

"Is everything okay?" Wendy asked. Erza nodded, smiling reassuringly.

"Of course," she said. She handed the bag to her guildmate, giving one last smile and wave before heading back down the street. She overheard Gray's comment but Natsu corrected him and they speculated about her sudden departure at least until she was out of earshot.

sorrx I cant come

richard is pourig out his heartand I cant just leave

Erza asked where Jellal was, having to halt to do so. When receiving the town's name, she informed about being headed there, a grateful heart appearing on her screen shortly after.

It took her less than an hour to reach the settlement of Meredy's and Jellal's mission. At least she hoped it to be a mission. At some point during her drive there, it had come to Erza's mind that Meredy had not once mentioned a job. Only 'help' to be needed.

Either way, she was concerned as to whether he had waited up or started on his own without any backup. She prayed for him not to have gotten hurt, though she doubted that he would have sat around for an hour. He should really have a portable communication lacrima himself, she thought.

The wheels squeaked when Erza stopped the Magical Vehicle. She freed her arm from the SE-plug, equipping her gauntlet back on. Her head buzzed slightly from the strong sunshine she had been exposed to the entire time. Ignoring the dizzying feeling from the drive and warm autumn day, she made her way down a paved path.

It was unusually quiet for a village that size but at least there were no suspicious or dangerous activities audible.

Walking through the streets, she spotted a few citizens, acting rather normal. A few seemed excited and she listened more closely when they talked about a band of thugs. There had apparently been hostages in a bank and way too many criminals for the police to handle. In spite of that, no one seemed scared.

Finally, Erza found her way towards the town's centre. People streamed from the plaza with its imposing fountain and back, chatting animatedly, more and more talk of the robbery reaching Erza's ears. She pushed her way through the crowd, frozen for a moment when seeing what all the seemingly positive fuss was about.

She walked up to the town square. No one went as near as her so she had all the space she wanted while crossing over. He looked up when her armour clinked, recognising her without having to turn around. He lifted his chin out of his hand, having rested it on the elbow that was still propped up on his knee out of boredom.

"Erza," Jellal said with surprise. His eyes lit up and she felt a warm rush down her back at that.

"I see you don't require any assistance," she remarked. She had to tilt her head backwards to return his gaze. Jellal got up, hopping down from the heap of stacked delinquents he had obviously caught by himself and, judging by the previous look on his face, a while ago. One of them groaned but hardly anyone else seemed conscious.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, noting the slight frown on her head. She was not sure whether it was still her headache or the mild nausea from all the gravy. Perhaps a combination of both.

"Meredy said you'd be here," she explained, ignoring her headache but he did not forget. "She couldn't come so she asked me," she said. A smile spread across her face when Jellal gently kissed her forehead where it throbbed, if only a little.

"Headache?" He guessed correctly. An armoured hand wandered up to her temple, the cool metal pleasant against her skin.

"Hardly," she said, not objecting when he gently pressed his lips where her fingers had been. She glanced aside, innocently. "My lips hurt, too," she said and he chuckled. It must have been the anonymity of the unknown people around, but Jellal was unbothered by the attention of any onlookers, pecking the bridge of her nose, the tip of it and then her lips. Erza found her heart aflutter by how placid he was with showing affection in public.

"I have to get them to the police station," he said, "I didn't want to risk anyone making a run for it while I nick the others," he added. Erza agreed, grabbing a wrist of whomever she could reach first, heaving the man over one shoulder. Then she repeated the procedure with another one.

Jellal copied her, throwing one of the criminals over his shoulders. Then he bent down, taking one ankle in each hand and dragged the remaining two men behind him as he led the way. Erza shook her head to herself, unable to resist a strong exhale of amusement.
"Isn't that a little mean?"

"That's none of my concern," Jellal said. He could not shrug with the weight on his shoulders so he threw her a grin. She beamed back at it. She knew she was very lucky to be able to see him smile so often. Only a few months ago, she would not have thought it to be possible, but with her he smiled daily. And it suited him better the more often he did it.

He received his payment at the police station. Erza wondered why the officers had not come to help with catching the thugs or at least bringing them back where they could lock them up. It was on the tip of her tongue to make an accusing remark but she decided against it when Jellal turned to leave.

She watched as he held the doors open for her, reward money in his hand but no contract. Again, she restrained from making a scene, only speaking up after they had turned a corner. Jellal was confused, rather content with his payment and lack of paperwork.

"You should take it as proof," she insisted.

"Why?"

"Because right now, they could accuse you of property damage, since you cannot prove their request being linked to it," she illuminated. There had not been any wrecked buildings like when Fairy Tail went on missions but a few cracked stones or a broken lantern must have been here and there. And the robbed bank itself.

"Hm," Jellal made a thoughtful face. He seemed to be thoughtful in general, his mind perhaps too occupied with other things to have realised to have kissed her in public, she pondered. It still excited her – she had eagerly scanned the few clusters of people around the plaza, though none of the faces had struck her as familiar.

"I didn't think you'd be this inattentive," she said.

"I suppose I never thought about it like that – an escaped convict is an escaped convict, whether he commits crimes afterwards or not," Jellal retorted indifferently. She gave a sigh.

"We really have to get that mindset out of you,"

"We?"

"Of course," Erza turned her head to look at him, "I'm right there with you, every step of the way." She smiled and he gratefully smiled back. Her heart skipped a beat when he took her armoured hand in his. She unequipped the gauntlet, properly interlacing her fingers with his as they headed for the Magical Vehicle, leaving the settlement behind them.

"I'm afraid rather long; a couple of days at least," Erza said unenthusiastically. She had her arms crossed, leaning against the counter. Next to it, Jellal was finishing up with cleaning the cutting board. He grabbed a kitchen towel to dry it.

"And you really think you can find him with… gravy?" He asked, not very convinced by the strategy.

"It's our only clue," she reminded. She knew herself that finding the matching sauce would not automatically lead to the person they were looking for but it was a first. And from there on, she hoped for something to give the man away – or a Dragon Slayer's nose to pick something up.

She was not too fond of having to be apart from Jellal for so long but she knew it was necessary. She wanted to support her team and protect them if she had to. And she wanted to get rid of the lingering insecurity of being spied on or hunted just as much as everybody else and it was even more important to her since she was not the sole target. They had to take every hint they could get.

"Mmh," she inhaled deeply, "it smells like…" Erza closed her eyes, focusing on the amazing scent the oven fogged the kitchen with. She knew it from somewhere. "Hm, did you make it before?"

"No," Jellal smiled to himself, "well, yes, but you didn't try it," he disclosed. She frowned. "Just wait and taste," he said. With a pouty huff, Erza went to fill her glass and sat down at the table. She could feel his eyes on her, dubiously watching. It was ridiculous but she simply could not bring herself to throw the glass away, chipped or not. It reminded her of his love confession so she wanted to keep it forever.

Jellal opened the oven door and the kitchen flooded with the delicious smell of their dinner. He took out the baking dish. He looked adorable in the heart-printed gloves she had brought from her apartment. He had probably already used them more often in a few weeks than she had in all her years of owning them.

He placed down the steaming food onto a folded towel on the table. She found her eyes going wide, being sure to know the scent as well as the look of what he had created.

Jellal sat down opposite of her. He handed her two big spoons and she helped herself to a hearty portion.

"Do let me know what you think," Jellal said, choosing slightly less for himself.

"Oh! It's from…" she furrowed her brows, "mmh, it's just like what I ordered in that restaurant – when we went to the festival,"

"Our first date," Jellal supplied. Her shoulders fell, face melting like the cheese on her plate.

"You remembered that until now?" She asked, feeling strangely teary. He was just too sweet.

Jellal smiled, almost shily, glancing down onto his plate. He shoved a few noodles from side to side.

"You liked it so much, so I tried to recreate it – the first attempts were nothing close to it," he grinned sheepishly and her smile widened. She reached her hand across the table to put it over his. Soon, though, she retracted it again, too busy with shovelling more and more forks of his noodle-cheese casserole into her mouth.

"You know who I met on my way to the last job?" Jellal asked when turning off the drain from soaking the plates after they had finished.

"Who? Ichiya?" Erza almost snorted with laughter. She wanted to experience that encounter for herself. Mean as it was, she could not imagine how a conversation could be quite as awkward as she pictured it to be when the Blue Pegasus Mage would attempt a man-to-man talk or equally unfitting things.

"No," Jellal turned, drying a knife. "A demon." He interrupted her thoughts. "Said he knew you; that you 'destroyed the moon', so I immediately believed him that he was talking about you,"

"Hey," Erza nagged, giving him a look at the boyish grin.

"What did you do to the poor guy?" He asked, putting the cleaned cutlery away. Erza picked up their glasses, placing them in the sink as well.

"Oh, we did destroy the moon back then," she said matter-of-factly. The sly expression on his face vanished into utter puzzlement. She could practically see him doubting her sanity, so she continued. "We shot my spear at it," she elaborated.

Jellal blinked twice. Somehow, that had not persuaded him to suspend his disbelief. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

"Cuddle and chat?" Erza proposed. It was too early to sleep in her opinion, even if she had to leave for her mission the next morning. He nodded, obviously still on their previous topic.

"How did I miss- where was I when you did all that?" He asked quietly, breathing out laughter through his nose. Erza pondered for a moment. The Council came to her mind, Siegrain – in other words a possessed, or rather obsessed Jellal – and the Tower of Heaven forming in her head like thick clouds of an approaching thunderstorm.

She swallowed her words, seeing with regret that they were not needed, anyway. Jellal had sunken down on the bed, his hands hanging between his legs, head low in shame. He knew.

"You're here now," Erza softly said, nearing him. He sighed.

"I always cause you so much trouble…"

"Oh, no," Erza's tone picked up urgency, "no," she shook her head, "wrong mode," she tapped his shoulder, then his cheek. He frowned as she knelt down in front of him, continuing to poke his face. "How do I switch the channel…?" She muttered, as if to herself but still for him to hear. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth at that, just when she playfully plucked at his earlobes. He breathed out strongly in laughter and she grinned triumphantly.

"A-ha!"

"You're a clown," he retreated from his sulking position to wrap her up in his arms. Erza smiled widely.

"I'm your clown."