Chapter 3
Three and a half hours after the big slugfest party had begun, Erza, Gray, Logan, Lucy, Wendy, Natsu, Carla, and Happy all exited out of the front doors of the guild hall. True to their word, no one in the guild had forced Logan to throw another punch the whole time, and he was glad of that. He and Wendy had spent the whole time just watching the rest of them go at it.
The sun had fully set an hour earlier, and the cool night air greeted them all like a pleasant embrace.
Looking at his teammates, Logan had to admit to himself that he was impressed with their resilience. They'd spent almost four hours downing copious amounts of liquor and walloping on each other like their lives depended on it, but there was nothing worse than a black eye or a swollen lip among them. Lucy's outfit was a little torn in a couple places, and one of her pigtails had come undone, but she looked no worse for ware. Erza, he noted, looked exactly the same as when it had started. There wasn't a mark on her and her posture was ramrod straight.
"She must really be both incredibly skilled and incredibly tough to have come through that without even getting hit." He thought to himself.
"Alright, I think that's quite enough fun for one night." Carla said, adding a disapproving tone to the word 'fun.' "I think we should all go home and get some rest now."
"Yeah, I'm really beat! I'm just go home, soak in my tub for a while, and then climb into my nice, warm bed." Lucy said.
"That actually doesn't sound too bad. Might do that myself. Luckily, Elfman's still going at it in there and Warren's out on a job, so maybe I can get the room to myself for tonight." Gray said.
"We've all done very well over the past few days. I'd say we've definitely earned a nice rest." Erza said. "Goodnight, all."
They all started to separate and Logan knew if he was going to ask the question he needed to, he should do it now.
"Uh... hey, everyone?" He spoke up a bit timidly.
"What's up, pal?" Natsu asked.
"Well, I hate to ask this since you've all done a lot for me already today, but... uh, could you tell me a good place to spend the night?"
"Oh, that's right. This is your first night in Magnolia, so you don't have anywhere to stay." Erza said.
"There are plenty of inns in town. Maybe you could get a room at one of those." Wendy suggested.
"They probably won't let a stranger check in this late in the evening, child." Carla said.
"That's a good point."
"I'd say maybe he could get a room at the guy's dorm, but I saw Master passed out under a table and he's the only one with the keys." Gray said.
"You know what, guys? It's okay, really. I'll just find a nice bench or something to sleep on. Not the first time I've had to sleep outside." Logan said.
"Absolutely not. I will not allow any member of our guild or this team to sleep outdoors like a poor vagabond." Erza said.
"Why don't you just bunk up with Lucy for tonight?" Natsu suggested. "She's got more than enough room in her place for you to sleep there."
"What?!" Lucy barked quickly. "Uh uh! He is not coming home with me!"
"So, then what are we going to do about this?" Wendy asked.
"I agree that it would be inappropriate for Logan to spend the night at Lucy's alone with her." Erza said.
"Thank you!" Lucy shouted like her point had been made.
"It's out of the question. Therefore, we'll all have to spend the night at Lucy's together!" Erza declared.
"I'm sorry, what?" Logan asked.
"A slumber party!" She said with a wide, open mouthed smile.
Erza had said it with a tremendous joy and a sparkle in her eyes like Logan had not yet seen from her. He was aware of a what a slumber party generally was, but failed to see why Erza should be so excited by the idea.
"Um, Erza, I'm really not sure if there's enough room in my place for all eight of us to-"
Lucy stopped talking when Erza suddenly wrapped her arm around the other's girl throat and pulled her in close, as if trying to choke her.
"It's decided! A slumber party it is, then! Forward to Lucy's!"
With that, she turned towards Magnolia proper and practically dragged Lucy along with her like she was a hostage.
"Are... are we supposed to follow her?" Logan asked the others.
"We probably should. When Erza gets like this, it's best to just give her what she wants." Gray said.
"You're coming, aren't you?!" Erza called back over her shoulder from a small distance away.
"She can get pretty scary if she doesn't get her way."
Logan saw that Natsu was almost cowering as he set off walking, even though Erza was a good hundred feet away from them already.
"Cheer up, Natsu! This means we'll get to go through Lucy's stuff and see what she's been up to lately!" Happy said.
The change in Natsu's demeanor was instant. "Hey, yeah! Good thinking, little buddy!"
"Huh!" Carla groaned. "Wendy, I suppose we should go as well, child; to keep those petty larcenists in line if nothing else."
The two of them set off as well. Logan was the last one to start walking, taking a moment to think over if he wanted to go with them at this stage or not.
"Well, it's been an eighteen hour day, they spent three of those hours boozing and brawling, and I smell like something dead was thrown up on me, so I really need a shower. Guess I'll go too. How much more could they have in them?"
OOO
Half an hour's walking from the guild hall took them to Lucy's building. It was a three story structure on a road marked "Strawberry Street," nestled snugly between buildings on either side, and facing one of the canals. On the approach, Lucy had told Logan that it was very near to Magnolia's town shopping center.
Inside, on the second floor, Logan was surprised by how spacious her apartment was. She had a large bed against one wall, a desk, a dining table, and many other pieces of furniture. Logan thought it looked nice.
"Alright, since we're gonna be doing a slumber party, we should probably have some snacks. Gray, there's a store on the corner that should still be open. Why don't you go get us some stuff?" Lucy suggested.
"Yeah, sure. Anybody got any requests?"
"Cheese crunchies!" Natsu declared instantly.
"Fishie!" Happy followed right after.
"Yeah, sure. Wendy, how bout you?" Gray asked.
"Well, if you wouldn't mind, I'd really like some chocolate cupcakes."
Gray smirked. "No problem, kiddo. Erza, you want anything?"
"They have a vanilla pound cake there that's simply exquisite."
"Got it. Hey Logan, your pick?"
"Huh?"
Logan had been over by the window, looking out at what he could see of Magnolia.
"Sorry, what'd you say?"
"Do you want anything from the store?" Gray asked.
"No way. I'm still stuffed from Mira's dinner. I couldn't eat anything else." Logan said.
"Sure, man."
"I'm actually hungry for real, so could you get me one of those boxed salads they have?" Lucy asked.
"Yep. Alright, now everyone fork over your jewel. I'm not springing for this." Gray said.
Everyone gave him a few cash notes and he made for the door.
"Be back in just a few."
"Wendy, let's go into the bathroom to change. I have a shirt you can wear to sleep in that should cover you completely." Lucy said while gathering some bundles from her dresser drawers.
"Thanks, Lucy."
The two of them went into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Uh, Erza, don't you need to do that as well?" Logan asked.
"That won't be necessary." She replied.
Before Logan could ask what she meant, Erza barked out, "Requip!"
With a flash of light, she was standing there in a set of lavender colored pajamas with dark purple crosses all over them that matched the one that had been on her armor.
"So, what do you think?" She asked.
"Well, uh, I think that's a pretty useful kind of magic you have there." Logan said a little hesitantly.
"Thank you. I work hard at it and to keep my requip speed as swift as possible."
Happy then started to snicker through his lips.
"I don't think that's what she was asking about." He said teasingly.
Erza shot happy a venomous glare, and the small Exceed darted over to Natsu. Logan had been about to sit down somewhere, but by following Happy with his eyes, he saw that Natsu was rifling through Lucy's desk and he took a couple of steps closer to them.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?"
Natsu didn't answer him, but instead pulled a large stack of papers out of one drawer and held them victoriously over his head.
"Here it is, Happy! And looks like Lucy's been working on it. Let's see what she's added." He chuckled with a kind of devilish smile.
Just then, the bathroom door opened and the two girls came walking back out. Lucy was in a pair of pj's similar to Erza's, except that they were just pink all over and had longer sleeves, and Wendy was dressed in a long, plain white t-shirt that reached all the way to her knees.
Lucy said, "Okay, if anyone needs to use the bathro-!"
She froze for an instant when she saw what Natsu was holding. Her state of shock was only momentary and then she darted across the room in an instant.
"Lucy Kick!" She shouted.
Her bare foot collided right into Natsu's spleen and she grabbed the papers out of his hands at the same time before he face-planted into the floor ten feet away.
"Natsu! You've been here all of five minutes and you instantly start rummaging for my manuscript?!" She hollered.
Logan had seen Lucy annoyed at Natsu a few times already, but he thought this one was a little different. She was blushing with frustration, her face an almost glowing crimson. Natsu sat himself up with a grunt, and Logan couldn't blame him. That kick had looked savage.
"You know Lucy, some friends would want to share their book with their other friends and let them read it." Natsu said.
"No way! Not until it's finished!" She countered before shooting her head to the side. "And you, Logan! Don't you go trying to read it either. I mean it, okay?! My book is mine."
Logan blinked and stared back at her blankly for a beat.
With a flat, neutral tone, he said, "I wasn't gonna try to read your book. I was just going to ask Natsu what he was doing before. If you don't want me to touch it, that's fine, I won't. I don't have any intention of invading your privacy."
Logan then sat down in one of her dining chairs and slumped his shoulders in relaxation.
"Wait. You mean, you're actually not gonna try to read it? Or ask me about it?" Lucy asked in a stunned manner.
Disinterest further saturating his voice, Logan said, "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but I never thought you'd actually abide by it!" Lucy thought to herself. "No one, not Natsu, Gray, Erza, or anyone else from the guild who's come here have ever not hounded me about wanting to read my book. Logan, do you really have no interest? Not even in learning a little something about me? I know we just met today, but we are friends, aren't we?"
In a way, Lucy couldn't help feeling a little hurt. She actually would have liked for Logan to ask her about her book. Even if he turned out not to be a literary kind of person, Lucy would have enjoyed to tell him a little about her plot, her characters, and how much work she was putting into it. She didn't know what to make of his seemingly total apathy.
"I guess I'll just put it back, then." Lucy thought and replaced her manuscript into it's usual home. She then said aloud, "Anyway, like I was trying to say before, if either of you guys want to go into the bathroom to change, you can now."
"Why would I need to go in there?" Natsu asked.
He then peeled off his vest and scarf, flung them into the corner and kicked off his sandals.
"See? All done!"
"Whatever. Logan?" Lucy asked.
"No, I don't need to either."
"Come on, you must want to get all nice and comfy." Wendy said to him.
"I don't have anything else to wear." Logan said after a brief pause.
Everyone just looked at him for a second.
"I can understand that." Erza said. "I suppose as a freelancer, you spent a lot of time on the road and traveled light to be able to move quickly."
"Yeah... that's it."
Logan said the words, but his eyes retained that furtive look they did so often, like there was more to it that he just wasn't telling.
"I'd been planning to use the money from the Damien job to get a new shirt and pants and then scrap these, but I didn't really get the chance today." He added.
Lucy then smiled happily. "Well, then are you in luck that you came here. I've got something you can sleep in."
In a way that couldn't be misconstrued as lascivious, Logan gave Lucy a quick look up and down.
"Uh, Lucy, no offense, but I doubt you have anything that would fit me or that I'd really want to wear."
"You sure about that, man?" Natsu asked through stifled giggles. "Might be kind of funny to see you in matching pink pj's."
"I'm not talking about giving him my clothes!" Lucy snapped.
She walked back over to her dresser again, knelt down and opened up the bottom drawer. A moment later, she returned to Logan holding a dark red t-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants.
"Here. These are some of Gray's clothes that he managed to lose in here and I found and washed. I just haven't gotten around to giving them back to him, but you can wear them for tonight."
"Oh, uh, thanks, Lucy. I... appreciate that."
"It's no problem." She said sweetly.
He got up and went into the bathroom to change. It took Logan so much longer to get changed than it had for Lucy and Wendy, a good ten minutes, that Gray came back with all their snacks while he was still in there.
"Okay, got just what everybody asked for." He said. "Cheese crunchies for Natsu, a fish under cellophane for Happy, chocolate cupcakes for Wendy, pound cake for Erza, salad for Lucy, and even though he didn't ask for it, I got a chocolate milkshake drink for Logan in case he wants it."
Gray then took a scan around the room. "Wait, where is Logan?"
"He's in my bathroom, changing into sleep clothes." Lucy answered.
"He's been in there a while though." Wendy said.
"Better crack a window, Lucy." Happy chuckled.
"Happy! That's disgusting!" Carla chastised him.
"Armor such as his can be tedious to remove without the power to requip. I'm sure he'll be out shortly."
Just as Erza said, Logan came out of the bathroom a minute later in the clothes Lucy had given him, carrying his previous outfit and weapons under one arm.
"Thanks, Lucy. These feel nice."
Logan's tone was appreciative, but all the others couldn't fail to notice that he said it without smiling. They hadn't seen him smile once yet.
"Hey, Logan, here man."
Gray tossed the drink to him and Logan caught it deftly with one hand.
"I got you that in case- wait a minute. Are those my clothes?"
"Well, yeah. Lucy said she just had them, but... uh... do you want them back?" Logan asked.
"Nah man, you go ahead and keep 'em. I'll probably just lose them again anyway. Think I'll go in there to get changed now too."
Unbidden and without a word, Gray then went over to Lucy's dresser, opened it, and took it out yet another set of clothes that looked to be his size and looked like they would serve to sleep in. He went straight into the bathroom to change.
"Wait, does he keep clothes here? How many clothes does he have in there?" Logan couldn't help but think to himself. He then looked back and forth between Lucy and the bathroom door. "If he keeps clothes here, does that mean that they're-?"
"So, now that we're all here, what should we do?" Wendy asked.
"We should play some slumber party games!" Erza enthused.
"Aah, really?" Grumbled Natsu very loudly. "It's been kind of a long day and I don't really feel like playing some party game."
"Actually, I think that sounds kind of fun." Added Lucy. "I don't think any of us still have the energy to pull an all-nighter or anything, but we could at least do a little instead of going right to sleep."
"You could play 'T or D Spin.' That's fairly low energy and simple enough." Carla suggested.
"That sounds good, except we'd need a bottle to spin and I don't think I have any empties right now." Lucy said.
"That's easily remedied."
To accentuate her sentence, Erza used her Requip magic and with a flash of light, she had a glimmering dagger in hand.
"Alright, well that solves that." Lucy said.
Gray then came out of her bathroom. "I heard some talking. So, what are we doing?"
"We're playing T or D Spin before we take our baths." Erza said.
"Really? Man, we haven't done that in a long time." Gray said with a smile. "I think the last time was so long ago, Mira was still scowling all the time."
"Alright, I'm in. I guess it could be fun." Natsu said.
"Everyone knows how to play right?" Lucy asked.
"Uh, actually, I don't." Logan said.
"Really? You've never played T or D Spin?" Wendy asked.
"I've never been to a slumber party before, so..."
"Ah, don't worry about it, man!" Natsu exclaimed with a dismissing wave of his wand. "It's real simple."
Without being prompted, he and Gray then stepped over, each took a side of Lucy's dining table, and moved it to one wall so it'd be out of the way. Observing how everyone else was doing it, Logan followed suit and sat down on the floor with them in a loose circle.
Wendy started, "So, T or D Spin is really easy. Someone spins the bottle, or the dagger in this case, and then the person who spun it gets to ask 'truth or dare' to whomever it points to. The person it points to picks one of them and then the person who spun it either dares them to do something or asks them a question they have to answer truthfully."
"Sounds simple enough." Logan said.
"Since you're the new guy, I say you should get to go first." Gray said.
The others all murmured their agreement.
"Okay."
Logan leaned forward, lifted up the dagger minutely and gave it a good twirl. It spun around and around for several moments before coming to point at Natsu.
"Okay, Natsu, truth or dare?" Logan asked.
"Think I'll take a dare."
"Okay, um..." Logan searched his brain for something to say. Having never done anything like this before, it took him a second to think of something. "Do an impression of someone here."
"Huh. That's an interesting challenge. Gimme a sec."
The look on Natsu's face told of how hard he was considering it.
"Here goes."
He took a deep breath and plastered this big, goofy grin on his face along with clasping his hands together and placing them against his cheek.
"Hi! I'm Lucy!" Natsu said in a falsetto voice. He then furrowed his brow angrily. "Don't touch my stuff! If you touch my stuff than you're gonna get a Lucy Kick!"
Natsu went on by mock crying in his Lucy voice. "Waah! Eh heh heh heh! I don't have any money for my rent or food! Natsu get out of my apartment! Eek! I'm naked again! Natsu, deal with those bad guys so I can get some clothes!"
Everyone except Logan and Lucy burst out laughing. Logan because he just didn't know if this was an accurate depiction of the blonde girl and meanwhile, Lucy was so visibly fuming with anger it almost looked like there was smoke coming out of her ears.
"Alright, that's mine done." Natsu said with a triumphant tone. "Guess that makes it my turn to spin."
He sat back down in his spot and just as Logan had done before, he gave the dagger a good, strong whirl. This time, it came to rest on Gray.
"Alright Gray, truth or dare?"
"Think I'll go with truth. Don't want to look like an idiot like you did."
"Okay then, tell the truth on this. Who do you think is the best fighter on our team?" Natsu asked.
The glint in his eyes had a speck of smugness to it. Logan could clearly tell that Natsu was expecting Gray to say that it was him. On his face, it was clear that Gray knew what his answer was but was really reluctant to make it public knowledge. Logan found himself somewhat interested to hear what it was and he wasn't the only one, either. All the others were leaning closer to him by varying degrees. After an interminable pause, Gray turned his head away from the group, not wanting to look anyone in the eye.
"As much as I'd like to say it's me, I can't do that. The truth is that I think Erza's the best fighter we've got." He said.
"WHAT?!" Natsu hollered at the top of his lungs and jumped to his feet. "Oh, come on, Gray! You know that I'm the best fighter on our team! I took out Zancrow, Hades, that Zero guy, and a whole bunch of others all by myself!"
Gray fired back, "You were hardly by yourself for any of those or did you conveniently forget that we all fought Hades at the same time?! You just got the last shot in! And besides the point is that even with all of that, you've still never beaten Erza!"
"I could! I could beat Erza any time I want to! I just need her to fight me again!"
"I'm ready to spar any time that you are Natsu." Erza said with an almost wanton look in her eye.
Natsu then suddenly cooled his jets out of nowhere, sitting back down on his haunches with a nondescript cough.
"Well, ergh, maybe not right now. Just that it is kind of late now."
"Okay, so that means now it's my turn to spin." Gray said more loudly than he needed to, his burst of anger not yet worn off.
He spun the dagger, and when it stopped, the blade's tip was pointing at Wendy.
"Truth or dare, Wendy?"
"Hmm. I think I'll do a dare."
"Alright. I don't really want to embarrass you, so I dare you to give everyone here a hug."
Wendy gave a big, bright smile. "I can do that."
She stood up and immediately turned to her left, facing Erza. With an equally friendly and inviting expression across her face, Erza opened her arms wide and Wendy hugged her gladly. The affection the two young women had for each other was plain for all to see. After Erza, Wendy hugged Happy just the same and then Lucy as well.
"Ah, I love Wendy hugs!" Lucy exclaimed.
After Lucy was Gray. As she hugged him, he said, "Hope I'm not too cold for you."
"Nah. You feel plenty warm to me." She responded.
The next one up was Wendy's own Exceed best friend, Carla. The little cat made a show like she was reluctant to accept the gesture from Wendy, but Logan got the feeling that it was more some kind of pretense than anything else, although, he wasn't sure why she would need to make one.
It then came to be Natsu's turn. As Wendy approached to give him his hug, Natsu sprang forth. He grabbed Wendy up into a hug of his own, holding her close, tickling her stomach with one hand while he pretended to give her a noogie with the other and making monster noises. Wendy squealed and cried loudly with laughter. It went on for about twenty seconds and the two obviously had a great time.
"Natsu, you goof!" Wendy said when they were done and he let her go.
Wendy then moved on to the last person left to fulfill her dare with: Logan. Logan had been considering over the past couple minutes whether he would let her do this or not. He didn't dislike Wendy in any way, and in fact completely the opposite, but even still, the hug looked a little bit intimate to him. His musings must have reflected in his face, because he saw Wendy hesitate as well.
"It's alright if you don't want one, Logan. There's already been a whole lot for you today." She said awkwardly.
Looking into Wendy's face, Logan felt his uncomfortable anxiety for it evaporate away a touch. She'd clearly enjoyed hugging everyone else, and even though he was still wary of it, Logan didn't want to be the reason for Wendy feeling any unease.
"No, you can do it." He said.
She smiled brightly and flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly. It felt better than Logan had expected. The warmth of her body was comforting and the simple action seemed to give him something of a sense of well-being like he wasn't used to. After a second, he lifted his arms and gently hugged her back.
"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Wendy asked after they'd separated.
"Yeah. Not so bad." He replied in an aloof tone.
"Okay, so I guess that makes it my turn to spin." Wendy said.
She sat back down in her previous spot, but before she could take hold of the dagger, they all heard a key in the lock of Lucy's front door. It opened with such a flourish that it nearly collided into the wall on the opposite side. Lucy's landlady stood there, not furious, but far from calm and plain for all to see.
"What is going on in here?! What is with all the noise?!" The older woman demanded.
Lucy instantly stood up and walked around to face her landlady.
"I'm so sorry Mrs. Cloude. I didn't realize we were being so loud. I can explain. See, this is our new friend, Logan." She sidestepped to grant Mrs. Cloude a view and indicated Logan. "He just joined our guild today and he's brand new in town so he doesn't have any place to stay and none of the inns would take him this late at night so we thought maybe he could stay here for tonight. Obviously it wouldn't be appropriate for a young lady such as myself to let a strange man sleep here, so we all decided we'd do this slumber party thing to make it okay. Again, I'm so sorry, Mrs. Cloude. I promise we'll keep it down for the rest of the night. I think we're all going to sleep soon anyway."
The landlady stared hard into Lucy's face. Logan guessed she must have accepted the explanation because she seemed to relent almost at once.
"Alright, fine. Just for tonight. And you there, with the silver hair." Mrs. Cloude said, pointing at Logan.
"Uh, yes?"
"You need a place to live, do you?"
"Uh, yes, ma'am."
"You have money?"
"Yes."
Mrs. Cloude then looked at Lucy again. "Do you vouch for him?"
Lucy was taken aback for a moment.
"Well, I guess. We just met him today but he's a really good person so far, so yeah, I'll vouch for him. But why?"
"There's an opening here in the building. I had to evict the guy on the first floor a couple days ago because he wasn't paying his rent. I was going to put an ad in the paper, but if your friend can afford the place, he can have it."
"Oh my gosh, really?!" Lucy half-shouted with unbridled joy. "Did you hear that, Logan? You can live in the building and we can be neighbors!"
Logan was so abashed by this development it took him a few seconds to respond.
"Wow. Th-thank you. That sounds great."
"Just come around my door tomorrow with Lucy and the rent money and I'll have you sign the lease. It's seventy-five thousand jewel a month for the apartment."
Lucy then froze in place.
"Seventy-five thousand?! But that's five thousand less a month than I have to pay!" She yelled in her mind but did not say out loud.
"So, just keep it down for the rest of tonight and welcome to town."
Without another word, Mrs. Cloude retreated the way she had come, shutting Lucy's door tightly behind her.
"Good for you, man! You got your own place now!" Gray congratulated him.
"And we'll be sure to help you break the new place in." Natsu grinned.
Logan didn't know what it was, but he didn't like the look in his eye as Natsu said that.
"So, it was my turn to spin now." Wendy said as they all returned to the game.
She spun the dagger around and this time it pointed at Logan once stopped.
"Truth or dare?"
Logan thought it over for a second, but his choice was clear to him. As much as he wouldn't like to answer any questions, he knew he'd be less comfortable with any dares that might come up.
"Truth." He said.
Wendy smiled and without hesitation she asked, "Did you enjoy your first day with us?"
The question caught him a little off guard because he had been expecting something more prying. Logan then couldn't help but wonder if Wendy had deliberately asked him something with an easy answer to give him a break.
While his face remained unchanged, Logan answered, "Yeah, I did. It was a nice day."
After that, they continued to play for about another half an hour until a few of them started to yawn loudly.
"I think it's almost bedtime. Anybody want to take a bath before we hit the hay? I sure could use one to get nice and loose before getting in bed. And there are a few others in here who could stand to freshen up." Lucy said.
"I'd like to go first if no one minds." Erza said.
Without waiting for anyone to respond, she stood up and moved towards the bathroom. Halfway there, she suddenly turned back around to face the group.
"Oh, I know, Natsu and Gray, why don't we all take a bath together like when were children?"
The stunned jolt which passed through the room hit everyone like lightning, causing an almost simultaneous jaw dropping.
"Uh, you know, I'm actually kind of hungry still, so I think I'm gonna go see if that convenience store's still open." Gray stuttered before high-tailing it out the door.
"Yeah, and uh, I should walk Happy before we go to bed too!"
Natsu grabbed Happy up into his arms and chased after Gray. Unfazed, Erza turned her glance to the rest of the group.
Lucy instantly let out a high pitched squeak of fright and said, "I should probably go pay Mrs. Cloude my rent while she's still up."
She ran out as well.
"Well, Logan, would you care to join me?" Erza asked.
At that moment, Logan felt like he might choke and die on the lump in his throat. In a flash, all of his earlier anxieties and questions about just what kind of people he'd joined up with came flooding back to him. A gripping panic stronger than anything he'd felt throughout the day took hold of him and it was all he could do not to dive through the nearest window.
"N-n-no. No thanks, Erza. I think I'll just wait. Y-you enjoy yourself."
"Very well, then." She said, then took the final steps into the bathroom and shut the door.
"Erza! She's so silly. But she sure did put it over on the other guys, huh?" Wendy said with a little giggle.
"Wait, you mean, that was a prank?" Logan asked.
"I think so. Erza can be really direct sometimes, but I don't think she'd invite someone she just met into her bath unless it was for a joke."
That lifted about a ten ton weight from Logan's mind.
"But now she's in the bath and Lucy's gone, and I really was hoping someone could help me brush my hair."
"Lucy will probably be back shortly. This is her home, after all." Carla said.
"Well, if you wanted, I could do it for you." Logan offered.
"Really? I wouldn't mind, but are you sure? I don't want to make you do anything you'd be uncomfortable with." Wendy said.
"Yeah, I don't mind. I'd kind of like to do something, you know, kind of as a 'thank you' for today."
Wendy smiled sweetly. "Okay then, that'd be great!"
She stood up from her spot on the floor and went over to Lucy's vanity next to her bed where she retrieved a brush. After handing it off to Logan, she sat herself down with her back to him.
"So, just slow, even strokes and try not to pull it."
He did as she said, running the bristles of the brush gently through her royal blue hair. It was an easy procedure of going into the hair, down softly, being careful not to snag anything, and repeat. Logan found this a strangely enjoyable activity. There was something soothingly familiar about the action. Something about it caused a feeling of tranquility and closeness, but he couldn't explain it even to himself or identify where the sensation came from. It almost felt like he'd done it before.
"Hey! You're really good at that." Wendy said, cocking her head to the side to look at him in her periphery.
"I am?"
"Yeah, really. You have a very gentle touch."
"Thanks, Wendy."
They continued like that for another five minutes until Wendy said she was satisfied.
"Thanks so much, Logan! My hair feels really good after that. I think you got all the tangles out."
"Well, uh, any time."
OOO
Logan awakened the next morning even before opening his eyes, feeling pretty good. This was the first time in he wasn't sure how log that he was waking up knowing he was in the company of people he liked, even people he actually knew. The norm for him would have been to awaken next the remains of a campfire or some seedy inn somewhere.
He wouldn't say everything was ideal. He liked these guys a whole lot, but they were still a lot to take and he knew it'd be a while until he was used to them, but that didn't seem like such a daunting prospect.
The morning sunlight warmed his face in a reassuring manner, like it was trying to reinforce that he could make it through another day. He felt good, but he felt odd. The realization came to him suddenly.
Logan thought to himself, "What is this? Why is there some kind of pressure against my chest, and... is that a hand on my back?"
He opened his eyes for the first time that day and found himself staring into the sleeping countenance of Erza. Their faces were only inches apart, her body and his were completely intertwined, and her breasts were pressing hard into his chest.
In that instant, Logan sussed out that she must have moved in her sleep to get there. They had been sleeping next to each other from four feet apart, but he couldn't believe this had happened. It doubly baffled him because he found that he was just as much holding her as she was him.
A small sweat broke on his forehead and Logan felt like going into a full-blown panic attack, but he stamped down those feelings as best he could. It was far more important to try to get himself untangled from Erza before she woke up to avoid any additional awkwardness.
The first thing to do was to try and get his right arm out from under her body. As delicately as he possibly could, Logan slowly tugged his arm towards freedom, feeling it brushing against Erza's side constantly while also inching his whole body further away from her.
He'd just cleared his elbow when Erza suddenly grumbled something and shifted herself in her sleep, closing the distance he'd just made and bringing their faces close than ever.
"Come on, Erza! Work with me!" Logan pleaded in his head.
Logan could feel her warm breath on his face and the aroma of jasmine from her hair invaded his nostrils. At that moment, he heard what sounded like a very small snickering and looked around as much as his limited range of motion would allow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Happy floating a foot above them.
Logan turned his head as best he could towards the cat and silently mouthed, "Help me."
Happy did nothing. He just continued to hover and kept himself from unleashing what would have been a raucous guffaw.
Logan tried again, mouthing, "Come on! Do something!"
The Exceed did nothing but laugh at his predicament.
Through continued giggles, Happy crooned, "So, you liiiiiiiiiike Erza, huh?"
"Stupid cat." Logan couldn't help but think.
Erza then somehow managed to press herself even harder into Logan's body, snuggling him all the tighter.
OOO
A/N: Hello to everyone reading the story. I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter and how it's going so far. This is probably going to be a long one to finish, but I'm quite enjoying writing the Fairy Tail crew, so I'm going to stick to it. I'm always trying to improve my writing, so any and all constructive criticism would be most welcome and thanks again for reading.