A strange feeling of unease from Lucy washed over Cobra. Even without his Soul Reading ability, it was clear something else was up with Lucy's statement.
"Everyone around you skips town so now you want to take it easy? Shouldn't you be partying it up then, while you still can?"
This response received a flinch, followed by a glare from Lucy. A little more intensely than he expected (although, after being at Fairy Tail for any amount of time, perfecting a "back off" glare was absolutely considered a necessary tool to have at one's disposal). "What's wrong with wanting to relax and take it easy? It isn't every day that we're short this many people. I'll have you know I've done enough relaxing to make up for at least three perilous missions with Natsu at this point." She took a rather annoyed slurp of her drink.
Yeah, you sure look it. Cobra's thoughts echoed inside of his own head. He bit his tongue back from saying the words out loud. A part of him desperately, almost greedily, wanted to pry open the obvious contrast in her words and attitude, but a rare form of self-control kept him back. Or maybe it was in the thinking of dragging this conclusion out a bit more...
"With the whole rent thing...I was hoping I'd be able to do some columns for Sorcerer Weekly as a commission but…"
"Oh ho, going to become a tabloid writer for a week? Well, I suppose when the times are tough." He leaned in a bit, his body language adding to the sarcasm. "What, is the column titled 'Top Ten Ways Not to Die in a Guildhall'?"
A memory hit Cobra with the intensity of a Fire Dragon yell. A sudden, violent slamming. Documents flying everywhere, a voice calling out. The same voice, comforting. Waiting until it was gone to cry, no, sob pitifully only to be woken up a few hours later. A powerful, terrible feeling of–
Cobra gave a quick snort and pulled away from Lucy. What was that? His head was foggy from the memories flooding into it. He tried to quickly gauge from Lucy's face but saw that she was no longer looking at him. The images became suppressed like she was shutting them inside a deep, dark box he could no longer see into.
"Lu-"
Before he could say anything in response, a glass slammed down on the table.