Chapter 86

Crow, when left to his own devices and able to sleep properly, was not an early riser. Granted, he usually kipped on a couch these days, but he was also up fairly early, not this morning. This morning, he slept in way past any decent hour and he unconsciously made her stay with him. Every time Melyssa moved, whether awake or asleep, his arms would tighten around her and drag her back against him, eventually trapping her with his thigh draped over her legs.

"Okay, fine…" He growled when she finally informed him nature called, smirking as he cracked one eye open. "Morning…or afternoon?"

Melyssa giggled softly, turning her head to look back at him and then at the clock, her eyes widening. "Oh wow, it's definitely afternoon." Two o'clock, to be precise.

She couldn't remember the last time she slept in so late and groaned when her bladder threatened to relieve with or without her consent. Pecking his lips quickly, since they both had morning -or was it afternoon in this case?- breath, Melyssa made a beeline for the bathroom and had to bite back a groan at how good it felt to relieve her bladder. She washed her hands and decided to brush her teeth while she was in here, really not wanting Crow to smell her stank breath when she properly kissed him good morning. Once she was done with that, still naked, she laughed when she opened the door and it was Crow's turn to make a beeline for the toilet.

"You know, if you needed to pee, all you had to do was tell me and, I don't know, let me go for two seconds, silly." Her stomach gurgled and she groaned again, knowing neither of them had much sustenance at that party the previous night.

"No, I am the master of my bladder." He informed her from the bathroom, the door not shut all the way. Crow finished his business and brushed his own teeth, reaching down to scratch his abs as he walked back out, not bothered in the slightest by his nudity. "Want to go down to the coffee shop? It's the place that has those pastries that you love." He was even willing to put on pants, moving to search his dresser for a pair and shrugged, tugging on a pair of black sweats. Crow was feeling chill as anything today and had no real desire to do anything except getting back in that bed.

Getting back in that bed would put them in another round of delicious sex and, as much as she wanted it to happen, they needed to eat first. And talk, maybe. Maybe not. There was no pressure with them and she smiled at his thoughtfulness, leaning up to brush her lips softly against his. That felt amazing to be able to do, without any repercussions or fear of rejection.

"Sure, I could use a walk and we really need coffee." He nodded in agreement and she grabbed her bag, setting it on the bed while Crow finished getting ready.

Pulling out a pair of red slacks and a black and red long sleeved top, Melyssa quickly dressed, throwing her bra and panties on first. She had just finished putting her socks on when Crow came up from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her bare neck. Her hair was in shambles up on top of her head, some of the curls having come undone from their activity. Turning, she captured his lips in a full, proper kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling him pull her flush against him.

"Mmm, now we can go, if you're ready." Shoes, she needed shoes and out of this room before they didn't leave it.

Crow had no intention of staying in the bedroom for another round of sex. Unlike Ash, he didn't feel the need to constantly fuck someone, no matter how delicious the sex had been. He slid on a pair of leather boots, wearing a black long sleeved shirt and his hair had actually been combed, some deodorant and he was good to go. Lacing his fingers through hers, he snagged his keys and wallet before leading the way out, his eyes instantly moving to take in both ends of the hallway out of habit.

She did the same thing. They couldn't be too careful and couldn't get too wrapped up in the euphoria of being together. That was when the enemy would strike and they both knew it. Walking out of the apartment building, hand in hand, felt different, but in a good way. There was nothing bad about how she felt toward Crow and there probably never would be. Melyssa could not wipe the smile off her face if her life depended on it, even if McBurn were to show up…okay, no, she wouldn't be smiling, even with Crow here, but still, ALMOST nothing could wipe her smile away. She felt at ease and content with her life for the first time in…ever.

Of course, McBurn seen them, he had gotten himself a comfortable little hidey hole under an alias and paid with money outright, leaving no paper trail, just for the sole purpose of keeping tabs on his little Orange Flame. Who was no longer with Mr. Carbide but Mr. Armbrust. It seemed she was fucking her way through her former Class VII classmates, one cock at a time. She had never pulled that with Ouroboros, but then again, she had also been under duress. Perhaps she would have found those two years beneath ground more tolerable if she had explored her slut tendencies then. He snorted, pulling away from the window and resumed his late lunch, making a note of the time.

"Mmm, oh my Goddess, no matter how many times I eat here, the food NEVER disappoints!" Melyssa groaned in delight, taking a bite out of her blackberry pastry puff and sipped her cappuccino with vigor. She had also gotten a donut and two other different flavored pastries…at Crow's insistence. Melyssa smiled at him across the small table they sat at, not reaching for his hand or anything because he was too busy stuffing his own face. "Thank you for suggesting we come here. I take it you love this place too?"

"I don't know about love, I know it's convenient and I like it." Crow remarked, after licking his fingers clean, a coffee black before him and a box filled with a lot of deliciousness he was planning on burning off later. Keeping his body looking this good came with some hard work and dedication. "There is a delicatessen a few blocks from here, I LOVE them, they make this sandwich… I'd live on it, but I'm pretty sure I'd die from overeating." He considered the next pastry, grinning slightly. "Though, to be fair, I've never tried anything here except the sweets…"

Crow took a hefty bite out of that pastry he grabbed and there was cream filling in it, so he got a big dab of it on the corner of his mouth. She laughed and leaned over since the table was so small, swiping the bit of cream away with her tongue and lips. "Mmm, that's actually really good." He did the same thing to her, swiping away a bit of blackberry from the corner of her mouth and it made her shiver. She took a sip of her cappuccino and they proceeded to eat, both just enjoying being together without any hidden agendas or plans. It was nice to just be able to do something like this together. I love you. Melyssa had learned her lesson and she would NOT prematurely say those words again like she had with Ash.

Spell or no spell, that had been a huge mistake on her part.

"You got an interesting look on your face, Lyssa." Crow commented after a while, having been watching her while he sipped his coffee, just enjoying the moment. It seemed lately Machias and work occupied his mind, the situation with the sewers and then McBurn adding himself to the long list Crow just didn't want to deal with. This was nice, sitting down in a café, enjoying a very late breakfast and coffee with her. "What's on your mind?" He held up a hand, grinning slightly. "Wait, if it's anything office related, I don't want to know."

"The office is the LAST thing on my mind, Crow, I assure you." Melyssa didn't realize she had been gazing at him lovingly for the past 5 minutes until he spoke up. "And there's really nothing on my mind. I'm…happy and content. I haven't felt like this in such a long time." He nodded in agreement, feeling the same way and she finally reached for his hand to hold, smiling when he laced their fingers together. "So, I pose the same question to you: What's on YOUR mind?"

"The office." He deadpanned, though there was mirth in his red eyes, a smile spreading across his lips when Melyssa snorted and gave him a look. "No, honestly, I'm just enjoying this moment. Feels like it's been ages since I've had proper downtime, or at least used it for shit other than work or training." Crow used to have a life and he was realizing now, as he got older, that was… vanishing and he was becoming singularly focused and overly tense. "This is nice, being here like this, with you." He gently squeezed her hand.

"Yeah, it is."

Melyssa decided she had to do something in order to show him last night wasn't just a onetime thing. That might've been what was on his mind as well. Scooting closer, she leaned forward to softly kiss him, wanting no doubts between them anymore. It was gentle, no urgency, no hunger, just a simple, soft kiss to let him know silently they were no longer friends – they were something more. It was up to him, the ball was in his court and she smiled against his lips when his arm wrapped around her waist to press their chests together, deepening the kiss ever so slightly. The message was received loud and clear – they were together and, if she had it her way, nobody would tear them apart, not now – not ever.

"How about we go for a walk to burn some of this off? There's a park down a ways from here that I visit frequently and at least the sun is out, so it shouldn't be too cold."

"Burn it off?" He teased, already reaching for his wallet to get money to pay for their rather rich and unhealthy meal. So worth it, it had been delicious and filling. "I think we're actually at a deficit with calories right now after last night."

Crow was rewarded with roses blooming her cheeks and his grin broadened. Nobody would ever accuse him of being a constant gentleman, that was for sure. Though, he was done with the flirting and fooling around with other women. Even if this didn't last between them or nothing except sex came of it, as long as he was with Melyssa in any capacity, it would be ONLY her.

As much as Melyssa WANTED to order him not to see other women, she knew it had to be ultimately his decision. If all he wanted was sex from her, it would break her heart and she wouldn't be able to do it. Hard as it would be, she would walk away and leave him to do whatever he wanted. It was a risk to be with the man who had been her best friend since childhood. They practically grew up together and now they made love and, no matter how much they didn't want things to change, they'd have to.

Together, they left the shop and headed toward the park, enjoying the cold walk while talking and laughing, mostly at Crow's jokes. Crow was regaling her with his time at Thors before her arrival. He had taken to teaching kids how to gamble, how to play Blade, it hadn't exactly endeared him to a lot of parents, but… he would be the first to admit he was never going to win any popularity contests.

"You know, Lyssa, it just occurred to me that we know about each other's childhoods," Since they had grown up together that was obvious. "And everything after you joined Thors, but there's that gap…" The time between him leaving Jurai and her coming to the Academy. She had sort of filled in the blanks, but it had been about a paragraph of information.

"Oh, you mean the dark years?" Melyssa chuckled at his raised brow down at her and she shrugged in response, looking away from him to stare straight ahead while they continued walking. "That's what I refer to them as. The dark years because they were dark without you in my life. There's really not much to tell, honestly. Shortly after you left, I started training, against my parents' wishes, but my grandfather was the one who encouraged me to continue doing it. I told him the reason and he said it was a noble reason. To follow you, to follow the way of the sword in hopes that it would lead me to you. And then…I found out you died…" She shut her eyes briefly, painfully, recalling the day she found out and let out a shuddering breath. "I cried for days. I wouldn't get out of bed. My grandfather is the one who knocked some sense into me, literally, by sparring with me on the fifth day, dragging me out of bed by my upper arm and shoved the Cutlass in my hand. 'You're not doing anybody favors staying up there, moping and crying yourself sick! You gotta get back up, Crow wouldn't want this for you! Stand up and FIGHT!'" She mimicked her grandfather's words as best she could, smiling sadly because she missed him dearly. "He was the only one who stood by my side and respected what I wanted to do with my life. He's the main reason why I continued the way of the sword after I found out about your death because, honestly, I wanted to give up. I just wanted to give up everything because my whole goal in training was to one day meet up with you, to show you I could do what you did…to be your equal. And to be your partner and help you bring down that horrible Chancellor that took everything away from you. I hated him as much as you did, Crow, believe it or not…and I wanted him to suffer for causing you and your grandfather pain."

To anyone else, that would sound desperate and pathetic, crazy, and obsessive, but Crow knew better than anyone just how grief could twist a person. He was a prime example of it, though if he were honest, he was glad that fate had intervened and swept her off that path. Crow did not want to be responsible for being the reason she had lived her life for everyone but herself, for him… that was a terribly heavy weight and her choices since that last time in Jurai had been… he pushed it all out of mind, refusing to dwell on the past.

"He'd be proud of you." He stopped to reach out and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "You do know that, don't you?"

Maybe it was obsessive and desperate of her, but at the time, Melyssa didn't care and only had one goal in mind. Reuniting with her best friend, the one who made her world better by being around him. Her world sucked without him in it and it had for years, especially the ones she thought he was dead.

"I don't think he would be." Melyssa shook her head, disagreeing with her love and heaved a sigh. "Willingly going with Ouroboros and willingly agreeing to become an Enforcer…No. He would've shamed me and asked me what in Gehenna I thought I was doing. I just hope after we've finally dealt with them, with McBurn especially, he'll forgive me for everything else I've done these past few years like the rest of you have."