"Well good for you then," Cobra responded, his mind racing for any kind of excuse that would leave him out entirely. After a moment's consideration, he realized a single, fatal flaw in her plan and had to stop himself from grinning. "Unfortunately I don't think we'll be around long enough for this whole scheme of yours to take effect. You know how my boss usually is; can't stay in one place too long or else we'll end up attracting the wrong kind of attention."
Of course, usually, this was true. As it turned out, this time Jellal arranged for them to be there for over a week, claiming that he had reason to believe something unnatural was around the town. Cobra chalked it up to roughly twenty percent actual worry and eighty percent realization that security had become so lax they could probably walk into the middle of town square unhooded and no one would bat an eye. Add to that a healthy dose of scarlet red and they were going to be there for a while.
Cobra hoped that she would buy the excuse for long enough for Lucy to get settled into the job (perhaps with someone else filling in for him) and then by the time she found out the truth, he'd be far, far away from it all. If he needed to hide for a week, he would. He was no stranger to hiding from others, after all.
"Oh? Then why did Erza tell me this morning she was looking forward to seeing everyone all week? Or...is there something you're not telling me?"
Despite the fact that he probably should have been able to tell that this would fail; Cobra still ended surprised that everything fell apart in an instance.