Chapter Five

She stepped in front of him immediately despite his growling.

"Lucy…"

"He saved me, so drop the sword."

"You saved him. We saw that."

"He saved me the night I left. I was about to be dragonoid food and he saved me. He's been looking after me. So put, the sword, down." She explained calmly. Levy looked at her around the two women in front of her and then at the male.

"What is he? He obviously isn't human."

"I don't know. But no matter what, he's not a dragonoid and he's not a raider or a militant. So please, put the sword down."

"Erza, set it down."

"But…"

"Erza, please. I don't want him to do anything to that sword after I nearly died finding it to bring it back." Lucy said and the older girl sighed and dropped her arm at her side. Cana wrapped her arm around Erza and led her to the armchair in the center of the room. Lucy turned and patted the male's arm and leaned over to pull down the metal bars, locked them in place, and shut the window.

"Where is my backpack. I need to get something out of it."

"It's right here." Levy handed it over and she dug out the mesh bag. She took out a bar and threw it at Levy.

"Hand those out yeah?"

"Chocolate?!" Levy's cry had all the girls stampeding into the room. The male watched, his mouth falling open as they all came in from the doorway. Lucy tapped his arm and lead him over to a small table. She sat on it and opened the bar and held it out to him. He took a bite and smiled at her. She chuckled and unwrapped more and held it out. He bit it and rocked a little bit.

"Why are you feeding him?" Cana asked and Lucy didn't look away.

"He's too hot blooded. The first one he held melted almost instantly."

"Oh…uh…okay." Cana shrugged and she looked at the other girls. They stayed on the other half of the room than Lucy and the male. Levy slowly walked over and the male looked at her cautiously as he took another bite of the candy bar. She waved slowly and he mimicked the motion.

"He seems nice."

"He has his moments." Lucy said and shook her head. She looked over at the others. "One of those duffles has non-food items I'm sure everyone is going to be happy to see."

"What?" Kinana unzipped one to find food and moved to the other. She opened it and squealed. The male jerked back but Lucy wrapped an arm around his waist and anchored him and held the bar up. He calmed down and took another bite. Lucy turned, and watched as the girls threw boxes of tampons and packages of pads around.

"Thank the lord." Bisca shook her head and and held a box to her chest in gratitude.

"How did you carry all this here?"

"He helped. He carried the duffles and I had my backpack."

"He helped? Why?" Erza asked and Lucy shrugged. She held up the last of the bar and he finished it and sat on the table and wrapped his arm around her. Erza's eyes narrowed and Levy blushed. Lucy took a breath and looked at the other girls. They'd fallen quiet.

"There's more at the market. This was all I felt comfortable bringing back."

"There's a militia in that area, they'll notice the open door and raid it."

"No they won't." Lucy chuckled and tapped the male's chin and looked back at her friend. "This guy welded the door shut."

"Nice." Cana said and then looked away when Erza scowled up at her.

"He can stay tonight but then he'll need to leave."

"Erza…"

"He's not human Lucy."

"But isn't the enemy of my enemy my friend?"

"Don't quote Churchill at me."

"Then don't be a bitch." Lucy said and Erza struggled to stand up.

"We have rules!"

"That need to change with the situation." Lucy argued. "Those dragonoids nearly got in. All of you would have been sitting ducks if they had. He risked his life to distract them. To save all of you."

Growlll…growklk….

He started growling and she nodded and patted his thigh and he looked down at her confused.

"None of us speak growling alien." He huffed and she twisted her lips.

"Does he understand us?" Levy asked and Lucy shrugged.

"Sometimes I think he understands me and sometimes I don't think he has a clue."

"Let's test him."

"He's not a lab rat Levy."

"I know that." Levy said and brushed her blue hair out of her eyes. "But if he does and we can find out, maybe we can make a rudimentary language to speak with him."

"Fine. What do you want to do?"

"Item identification."

"What now?" Cana asked and Levy disappeared for a few minutes. Lucy shook her head and sighed. Erza was scowling at her and she hated it. She hadn't wanted to fight with the older girl, but she also knew that whoever and whatever this male was—he was a decent being. And even if he could burst into flames and fight dragonoids, she didn't want him finding himself surrounded by the dragonoids who had been alerted by the fighting. Levy slid back into the room.

"I grabbed some things I think should be…universal. I'll hold it up and say a word and see if he understands."

"Okay." Lucy said and her friend held up a glass. The male looked at her in confusion. Lucy looked up at him.

"Do you know what that is?" Silence.

"A glass." Levy said slowly and held it out. He slowly took it and looked at it. He handed it to Lucy who shook her head. He frowned and looked at it and then at Levy. He held it back out. She huffed and put it in the box. She held up pen.

"What about this?" She uncapped it and he shifted and looked at it. She held it out but he didn't take it. Lucy did and showed it to him. She put it against her hand and drew it along. When a blue streak appeared, the male made a soft growling sound and frowned. He grabbed her hand and sniffed, wrinkling his nose. Lucy giggled and then gasped as he licked at her hand.

"Don't lick me." He kept licking until the mark was gone and growled at her.

"You are worse than my parents saying it's gonna poison me." She shook her head and wiped the back of her hand on the suit. Levy giggled as she took the pen back. Cana and Bisca were also giggling. Erza looked even more murderous.

Levy took the next item out and the male perked up. In Levy's hand was a figurine of a cat. He growled and grinned. "A cat."

Growlkky.

"Yes, kitty." Levy nodded and the male mimed petting a small animal in his arms.

"So wherever he's from they have something like a cat." Kinana murmured. Lucy pulled out another item. He nodded with excitement. It was a baseball. Lucy raised an eyebrow trying to figure out where Levy had found that.

"A ball."

Grolll.

"How is this learning if he understands us?" Erza grounded out. Levy rolled her eyes and put the ball back in the box. She looked at the male. He looked at her.

"Do you want to see the ball?" He tilted his head.

"Levy…"

"Want to see the kitty?" He nodded and held his hand out. Levy looked over at Erza and stuck her tongue out and then handed him the ball. He looked at it and shook his head.

Growlkky.

Levy grinned and took the ball back and then handed him the miniature of the kitty. He held it up and looked at it. It was a pretty accurate little figurine. Lucy watched as he stroked his fingers over it. He handed it back. He looked down at her and smiled.

"He has fangs!" One of the girls gasped and instantly the smile faded and he pulled away from Lucy. She didn't think, but wrapped her arm around his waist again held her hand out at the girls who had taken a step back.

"Calm down."

"He could eat us!" One of the girls cried in fear and the male's eyes lowered to look at the floor and Lucy heard him sniffing softly but it wasn't like sniffling sniffing. But like he was smelling something.

"Calm down!" She shouted and everyone got quiet. She patted his shoulder until he looked at her. "Can you…smell their fear?"

He looked at her and she bit her lip. She waved her hand around her head and then towards the others. "Can you…scent? Their unease?"

He shifted awkwardly and she huffed an annoyed breath. She looked at them and rolled her eyes. She grabbed his hands and smiled at him. Sure it was a little stiff. He motioned to the window and she shook her head. She could still hear the dragonoids outside. He motioned again and growled softly.

"There are too many out there right now."

He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't act like you're invincible."

"He might be. You don't know." Levy said and Lucy rolled her eyes. She pointed to a scar on his ribcage. It was a large crude x.

"That doesn't look invincible to me." She said and the bluenette nodded slowly. That made some sense. The male looked down at his side and to their surprise, he blushed. "Are you embarrassed?"

He growled and looked out the window. Lucy giggled and shook her head. His cheeks were a duskier tan and his eyes were softer. She tilted her head and leaned in. He turned and looked at her quizzically.

"Oh wow." She murmured and stood on tip toe to get closer. "Your eyes are actually green. I thought they were black."

"They're green?" Levy asked and leaned forward and he looked from her to Lucy and back to her. "Oh, they are."

"Why does his eye color matter?" Erza asked and Lucy looked over at her.

"Because I like details." She turned back and looked at him.

"Could you look for the details a little further away from him? You're about to climb him like a koala on a eucalyptus tree." Erza muttered and Lucy leaned away slowly. She was invading his bubble a lot.

"His eyes look nicer now that I realize they aren't black." Levy said softly.

"Well it's not like he's too intimidating with his pink hair." Lucy said and he growled loudly and flames jumped off of his shoulders. They both flailed backwards and stared with open mouths. Everyone gasped and Erza started to grab for her sword.

Growln grr groklwy.

"Are you…are you upset i said pink?" Lucy asked and he gnashed his teeth.

"He understands the color pink." Levy said that out loud and giggled. The male looked at her and snuffed, smoke coming out of his nose. Lucy giggled and covered her mouth with his hand.

"I'm sorry." She choked out as he glared at her. "But that smoke thing…you looked…like an angry old dragon."

He perked up at the word, his entire appearance softening and he thumped his chest. Growling excitedly. He smiled at her and nodded and thumped his chest again. Levy looked at him and then Lucy and back to him.

"Are you," His eyes swung to her, "…a dragon?"

He shook his head no and she growled and thumped his chest.

"Are you..the child of a dragon?" Lucy asked and he nodded.

"He's the child of one of those things outside?" Bisca asked and he looked over, horror in his expression and he shook his head wildly.

"Do you…hunt those things?" Lucy asked, an idea popping into her head. He looked back at her and nodded.

"I can't believe he's understanding us." Cana murmured. Lucy looked at him.

"How are you understanding us?" He growled and waved his hands around and smiled.

"I need a growl to English dictionary." Lucy sighed and rubbed her eyes. Levy patted her back and then looked at her hand. Lucy looked at her friend.

"What is it Levy?"

"That material…it feels…weird."

"How is it secured?" Bisca asked and Lucy blushed.

"Lucy?" Erza asked and Lucy tilted her head backwards. "Lucy?"

"Its…self…securing…"

"Self…securing?" Cana asked and Lucy nodded.

"How do you un…secure it?"

"I don't know." Lucy said and wrinkled her nose.

"How have you used the restroom in it?" The blonde fidgeted.

"I've been putting off trying."

"Lucy!" Levy, Cana and Kinana laughed. The blonde flipped them off and looked at the male who was calm. She looked at Erza.

"Do you promise not to kill him if I go to the bathroom and try and get this thing off?"

"As long as he behaves."

"Fair enough." Lucy said and patted the male's arm. "You stay here, and don't piss her off. Even injured, she's dangerous."

She started to walk away but before she got too far away she heard the girls gasp and suddenly felt him wrap himself around her. She tilted her head back and he looked down at her, concern on his face. She patted his arms and waited a minute. She hugged a breath. "Let me go. Please."

He dropped his arms and she pointed at the table. He looked at it and then looked back at her. He growled. "You sit there, and I'll be back."

He growled again and started to follow her. She stopped and screwed up her face. "I have to use the restroom."

A blank look. "Relieve myself."

Another blank look. "Peeing."

Another blank look. He growled and gripped her wrists as she steepled her hands in front of her. He growled softly and touched her shoulder and waved his hands around the room.

"Okay…okay. Come on…creeper." She said and started to lead him out of the room even though he held onto her wrists.

"Lucy what are you doing?" Erza sounded scandalized.

"Trying to go to the restroom. Like I said earlier, he seems to understand some things but not everything. That or he's a pervert. Either way, I have to try and go."

"But…"

"We're all adults here Erza…I just don't care." Lucy walked out of the room and headed for the bathroom part way down the hall. Lucy heard several of the girls gather at the door and watch. She looked at the swinging door and then looked at the male. He was still holding her wrists and she gave him a stiff smile. He just stared at her.

"Gonna let go? Otherwise this might get messy." He tilted his head and she stepped backwards and the door opened. He walked in, looked around, and once again he blushed. She giggled a little at that. He looked down at her.

"I have to go." He released her hands and stepped towards the door. She stopped him with a hand on his arm. He looked at it to her. "How do I…?"

She touched the material of the suit and mimed pulling it down. He blushed harder, his ears turning a darker shade of tan. He growled and lifted her hands and touched them to the collar and she felt something rise up from it. He moved her fingers to pinch the material and then started to lower it. She left the cool air on her throat and she nodded. He kept pulling and then watched as his eyes bore into hers. When the cool air touched the top of her chest she jerked back a bit.

"I got it. Thanks." She spun on her heel and jumped into a stall. She heard the door swing and flap as he exited the bathroom.