When the light from the bright afternoon sun glared off the fresh blanket of snow to hit the little blondes eyelids through the glass of her floor to ceiling windows, she made the mistake of opening her eyes, effectively blinding her and pulling a loud string of swear words from her pouty lips as she tried to rub the brightness from her eyes, "Mavis fucking Vermillion's toes, I think I've completely lost my sight."

A deep rumble sounded from beneath her and triggered the events of last night to came back to her like a montage from her favorite old movies until his words actually processed, "If only you'd have lost your voice..."

"Aww, is the Black Dragon King of Chaos not a morning person?" Her voice was teasing but gentle as she absently traced the the markings over his eyes before his arm tightened around her lower back and she felt his thumb running over the dip of her spine. They had spent the night tangled up each other and it was really only the faint beginnings of the sun cresting through the windows at the other side of her house that triggered her need to sleep. Without a doubt, it was the most amazing night of her life. Acnologia was a very unique brand of lover that suited her perfectly. He knew what wanted from her and had no issues making it known to her which only gave her the confidence to do the same. The fact that they could have dialogue, real dialogue during sex was kind of unknowingly sexy to her. The night was used for the sole purpose of getting to know the other's body, what drove the other into blissful oblivion, how she would moan when his fangs just barely grazed over her skin, how he would growl if she took too long teasing the short-fused dragon, and there wasn't a part of their bodies the other didn't know. She was a little fuzzy as to how they had gotten from the plush fur rug in front of the fireplace to the nest of blankets over-looking the water on the second floor though.

His sleep-addled state only made his already deep voice hit rumbling bass levels and it was definitely a happy awakening for the coil in her belly as his rough words came through evenly, "I have no affliction to the time of day, woman. It's the volume of your words that I take issue with."

She couldn't help but giggle at the surly man, her voice lilting as she pressed kisses over the hard muscle just beneath his collarbone, "Am I speaking too loud for your sensitive, old, dragon ears? Would you prefer it if I whispered you awake tomorrow morning-hey!"

Before she could have stopped to movement, he was hovering over her with her back to the floor and the mussed silk of his dark blue hair in a curtain around them, his voice was low and dangerous but the faint quirk of a grin on his lips as he lowered his face to run his nose up hers in a show of pure affection that was more dragon than human gave his play away, "I would prefer it if you stopped talking."

As much as she wanted to snap out her own bite of a response just for the sole purpose of defying the powerful man above her, her words were stalled in her throat when the he gave her collarbone a playful nip to quiet her. Not wanting him to get smug, she tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him up to meet her hungry lips in a heated kiss. The Celestial Mage didn't think the softness of his lips would ever stop surprising her as she bit down on his lower lip and pulled a toe-curling growl from the dragon. One of her hands withdrew their hold on his hair to rake over the bulk of the well-kept muscle of his back as her hips ground up into his member before he pulled away with a hiss, "There are dragons approaching your door, beloved."

Leaning her back to hit the floor with her eyes closed, the little blonde cursed under her breath, "It's like they can sense that I'm about to have sex and came to ruin my Christmas...'Merry Christmas, sister. I hope you were about to have the time of your life because surprise, I'm here to ruin it like a right proper boob of a brother'...," before pressing a quick kiss to his lips and propping up on the palm of her hand. Her voice was it's usual even tone as she looked into his wizened deep eyes, "How do you want to go about this? I know it's going to kill your dragon pride here but I'm thinking it best if you just, you know, hang out behind me. Keep me between you and them. I really like my little house and I don't want it to be reduced to a rubble heap because the men of my life are barbaric lizards who can't control themselves." She was pushing his chest back so she could get out from underneath his body which was proving far more difficult than she would like. As in, she was pushing and he wasn't moving at all which pulled a laugh of a sigh from her lips. "Lo, I need you to get your ass into some pants before-"

Three very loud knocks sounded from her front door and her eyes widened before smacking the side of the smirking dragon's head, her voice a low rushed whisper, "You didn't say they were already at my door."

With a careless shrug, he finally stood, making sure to pull her up with him before cradling the side of her face and giving her a kiss that made her melt. Gods this man should come with some serious warnings. Maybe her brothers would just go away and give her the most fantastic gift of all; leaving her alone to ride her stud of a mate until she saw stars again. Another three knocks sounded from her door and this time they were harder and accompanied by a rough baritone, "I know you're in there Blondie and I know you're not alone so open this damn door."

Leaning her forehead on his chest to get her thoughts and hormones in order, she mumbled, "Fuck. I had kind of hoped it would be Erik or Sting and Rogue. Get dressed before he takes my damn door down," before the brown-eyed beauty opened her dresser to pull on a pair of low slung, silky charcoal pants with elastic around the ankles and a red strappy sports bra and made her way towards the door, yelling towards her door as she went, "Fucking hell, Sparky, give my door a break. I am right here."

Acnologia had never been in the predicament he currently found himself in. The fact that the Lightning and Poison Dragon Slayers were both about to be in his presence wasn't even giving him enough care to worry about him or them doing something brash. No, it was the fact that the one single article of clothing he wore aside from his cloak was down in a forgotten heap in front of Lucy's fireplace. He had no problems with walking down and retrieving them, but he had serious doubts that it would go over well with his Celestial Mage. He also really didn't have any other options and she did tell him to get dressed.

When her door swung open at a velocity that had the old hinges groaning to take in the sight of one very irritated Laxus Dreyar accompanied by a very smug looking, maroon-headed Cobra, she couldn't help but forget her previous ire as she practically tackled the smaller dragon, her voice bright as he easily caught her, "Erik! I'm so happy to see you," turning to find Laxus already ducking to get inside her little cottage before looping her arm under Cobra's and pulling him inside and out of the cold, "If I would have known you were coming I would have picked something up at the store for you. I only have some bleach and drain cleaner. I think maybe I have some peach pits saved from summer too."

He gave the little blonde a peck to her temple before smoothly replying, "Don't worry about it, lambchop. You've been incredibly busy since the last I saw you."

Not knowing the implication of his easy words, she lead him to the dining room table before narrowing her eyes at Laxus' broad frame, her voice leaving no room for argument from the hulking blonde, "Get over here and quit snooping around my home. We've got a lot to talk about and Lo should be down...any...moment." As if on cue, the towering, broad, well-built dragon himself came down her steps in all his naked glory to silently cross straight through her dining room to get to the still messy living room to pull his pants on, intentionally brushing shoulders with the sparking Lightning Mage on his way.

Nonplussed, Cobra looked up at the floundering Celestial Mage from his seat at her table and requested easily, "I'd like some coffee to go with this train wreck en route. Maybe cinnamon buns, too."

Shooting the Poison Slayer an 'are you serious right now?' look before crossing the room and pulling Laxus' huge frame from where he had started to stalk towards the blunette dragon that had even a few inches on his own towering height to force him into the seat at Cobra's left before glaring at her completely relaxed mate, "Sit. Now." She couldn't handle the conflicting territorial, male temperaments and just needed them to sit and be quiet. Acnologia's presence in her home at all would look suspect but the blatant show of nudity would be a very sharp point of tension for the Lightning Slayer.

The Black Dragon was thoroughly amused with the easy aggression of the larger Dragon Slayer and even more so by the complete lack of acknowledgment by the Poison Slayer. He was less than amused with the fact that he could see his mates obviously overwhelmed state and because the little woman couldn't really do much about it, he crossed the room to instead make his way into her little kitchen. Rolling her eyes at his not so surprising rebellion against her demands, she ran her hands through her hair before sighing out, "I will be explaining the severity of my next statement after I have caffeine in my system but until then, no one touches that half-naked man in my kitchen except me. Understood?"

Cobra of course already knew the gravity of the situation between his little sister and the ancient dragon through their thoughts and souls and was more than content to have silence until she came back with delicious, fresh-brewed coffee. He loved visiting Lucy out in her little sanctuary away from everyone and every thing. Between her soothing soul song and the sound of the water, it was one of the few places he slept peacefully enough to dream. Not to mention he simply loved the Celestial Mage. She kept up with him jab for jab, she knew how to cook his favorite foods, knew the value of peace and quiet and had the best selection of classic books he's ever seen. The fact that she had somehow lured the Dragon of Chaos into her grasp and mated with him was probably going to be the least shocking to him out of all the dragons. He was more logically inclined than emotionally motivated unlike the rest of the slayers so the turmoil of the Lightning Dragon next to him was simply an added bonus to the bizarre Christmas he was having. He gave the tired woman a small nod of acknowledgment before her gaze turned to the seething man next to him.

Laxus' arms were crossed over his chest as he gave barely a grunt to say he at least heard her words as he tried to puzzle through just how the fuck he landed himself in his baby sister's home on Christmas Day after she had obviously spent the night with the dragon who wiped Tenrou off the map and admittedly wanted to murder every single one of her dragon kin. He was trying to keep his magic under control at the rage building within his body. The deadly addition of confusion and a need to protect her only made it worse. Laxus had never been as upset with Lucy as he was right now before and he didn't know what to do with his emotions as he watched her leave to turn the corner into her kitchen. He kept his senses focused on the small blonde and the four hundred year old dragon sharing the house with them.

The first thing she did when she came around the corner was attempt to put on the kettle of water for her Minstrellan press which was quickly halted when the strong, tanned arm of her mate wound around her hip to press her body back into his. His lips pressed a sweet kiss to the top of her head as he spoke low and soothingly, "It will be fine, beloved. There is no force strong enough to fight me and there is nothing I wouldn't do for you."

Leaning back into his embrace, she took in another deep breath before putting her water on, her voice easy, "Yeah, I'm not really too concerned about one of them hurting you, sweets. And before you start your schpeal about kin again, I also know that you aren't going to hurt any of them. I just don't want to have to choose between you and them. I want them to be happy for me because what we have is incredible. I could have done without the nude walkabout through my home but I also know I forgot your pants came off downstairs last night so that was my bad, but you could have said something to me. I would have gotten them for you."

He leaned back against the counter as he watched her move. He had thought he had lost the ability to really see the beauty in things in his relentless search for the Dragon Slayer children and after four hundred years of nothing but single-minded revenge, he spent the time now watching the way her body flexed as she moved around him, finding new things he found he liked about his little mate. One of his favorite and most frustrating things was her complete lack of regard for the power he possessed within his body as she gave his arm a smack to move him from in front of the shelf with her mugs, his voice like velvet as he refrained from rolling his eyes at her continued manhandling, "I spent most of my time here on Earthland without clothes, one walk through your small house isn't so bad. I should think you would have liked the show, woman."

She gave him a droll look, "Just because I like seeing you naked doesn't mean my brothers do. I mean, some of them might if you know, you weren't you because you are cut but that's not the point. Try to keep the nudity to a minimum unless...well, when we are alone it's okay," before pouring her water into the press. She left the coffee to percolate as she ran her hands over his chest before running them through his hair to ease the knots and tangles from their night together, her voice back to its usual easy lilt, "I know where Gildarts gets his prosthetics from and we could probably see about getting you one made for your arm. I think you, uh, might have...eaten the originals actually...," pausing to sort through her thoughts as her brows furrowed a bit before shaking her head and giving him a small smile, "but it wouldn't take any time at all. The town the shop is located in isn't too far."

He gave his left shoulder a testing roll before he spoke tentatively, "It would make my life easier."

She had noticed he had a tendency to shy away from using his left arm completely but was always painfully aware of it and she could only assume it was from the fact that the untouchable Dragon King lost something as necessary as his arm in battle. He was ultimately the victor of the particular altercation that ended in Igneel's death, but she would imagine it was something he didn't like to acknowledge. Running her hand over the still defined muscle, she tried to soothe them as best she could with a smile on her face, her voice gentle but light, "We can wait to go too, love. Whenever you want, it doesn't have to be right away."

Cobra's bored voice drawled from the dining room, "If you make Sparkler wait any long, you're going to have a lot more than Doom and Gloom's fucked up arm to worry about."

Closing her eyes to take a steadying breath, she called back to the dragon around her mate's hulking frame, "Very tactful, Erik. Thank you for that."

"I aim to please, lambchop." She could see the shitty little sarcastic salute he gave her in her mind without any mind-tapping magic necessary.

Lucy turned her attention back to the now frowning Adonis before putting a hand on his cheek to guide him down to her face to press her lips in a kiss that meant to reassure the tattooed behemoth. She really didn't know if it worked but when she pulled back and just that hint of a smirk curling his lips had her feeling better. Her voice was a loud, sort-of, half whisper in a show at being dramatic, "Well, I'll grab the mugs and you grab the coffee, Darth Dragonlord." She watched his brows furrow deeply in confusion before giving his chest a kiss then pointing to the press, "That's the coffee and I'll doll yours up real nice if you want. Also, we seriously need to have a movie marathon to catch you up, old man."

"Old man? Couldn't I just have hot chocolate? This smells...odd." The bored tone of his words made her smile as she turned the corner. She took the press from her mate while she explained her philosophy about not having a valid opinion on something without trying it and went through the motions to do up both Cobra and Laxus' cups just the way they liked it before grabbing the last two mugs, shooting the two oldest dragons in the room looks that said 'behave, please' and disappearing back in the kitchen.

Laxus glared daggers at the blunette who was smirking at the younger man with a kind of blatant 'I'm better than you' confidence that only added fuel to Laxus' hate fires and the two were being completely ignored by the Poison Slayer as he took a sip of his divine cup of coffee. He savored the taste for a minute before calling lazily to the Celestial Mage, "I hear your thoughts and I say yes. You practically offered and now you must. With the magical bleach icing you make."

The melodic chuckles that sounded from the kitchen had an easy smile forming on the maroon-haired dragon's face while Acnologia stretched his neck to hide the shiver that ran down his spine and Laxus' steely eyes shot to the corner his little sister was currently humming around. Of all the things that she would attract, why did it have to be him? For some reason, Laxus' dragon wasn't nearly as mad as he was and that thoroughly unnerved him. His dragon should be just as, if not more, freaked out than he was in the Dragon of Chaos' company. The dragon wanted to murder pretty much anyone and everyone that got in his way to get to himself and the other slayers and here his dragon was, rolling over and wagging its tail like a puppy just being around Lucy again. What the hell was going on?

That's how the next four and half minutes went by. Laxus glaring around the room but mostly at the tattooed man, the tattooed dragon smirking at no one and debating with himself about joining his mate in her kitchen and Cobra sipping his cup of divinity, giving eye rolls at the thoughts he was picking up from the idiot dragons around him.

Lucy came back around the corner, her hair pulled back and being held by a pair of wooden chopsticks and coated in a considerable amount of flour, her voice lilting as she wiped her hands on the dish towel she picked up, "Okay, cinnamon buns are in the oven and we are ready to have a serious conversation-...I forgot the drinks. One more minute," the blonde gave her brothers a winning smile before turning around to grab the mochas with marshmallows and making her way back into the dead silent dining room and handing her mate his cup, "This isn't hot chocolate but I tried to make yours creamier than mine. If you don't like it, just let me know and I'll make you real hot chocolate."

She gave him a brilliant, hopeful smile and he could almost forget about the fact that there were two dragons watching him very closely as he took the black mug from her and tried a sip. The sight of the Black Dragon of Chaos sipping sweetened coffee from one of her favorite Darth Vader mugs was already enough to make her squeal but the way his tongue darted out to get the foam from his melty marshmallows off his lip had her checking her mouth for drool. His voice was even after he pressed a kiss to her forehead, "I prefer the candy stick to the spoon but this isn't bad."

She was all gooey until the words 'but this isn't bad' replayed in her head a few times on repeat before she gave a shrug, "I guess that's better than you throwing the mug because you hate it so, I'm glad it is drinkable."

Laxus' baritone cut in and she was surprised to see him with his brow furrowed in confusion and mild agitation than anger, "Listen Blondie, I hate being the last person to know something and it seems like everyone here except me knows something I don't, my dragon included and I am not enjoying my Christmas."

The recluse inside her wanted to yell at the idiot blonde about not being invited here for Christmas anyway but instead took the chair across from Laxus and the oldest dragon sat next to her, across from Cobra's bored faced. She took a very deep drink from her half-downed caffeinated drink and took a breath that had her chest rising and falling in a slow pull before starting, "So, Laxus, Cobra, I would like to formally introduce you to my mate, Acnologia. Lo, this is Laxus and Cobra, my oldest brothers. Welcome him to the family wonderful kin of mine."

The Lightning Slayer immediately started firing questions at the little woman, "When the fuck did this happen? What the fuck does this even mean? How could this have even fucking happened ever? Why didn't you tell us? How in the fuck are you going to tell Natsu that the dragon that killed his dad is your mate? Do you have any idea what this will do to him?"

If there was ever a moment Lucy wanted to yell, scream her lungs out, at the blonde behemoth, it was now. How dare he bring Natsu into this when the Fire Slayer left her here alone in the first place. What was she even supposed to do about it even if it would bother her? They were mated, bonded and that meant they shared something that was set in stone by forces out of their hands centuries ago. No, she needed to breathe and try to be a level-headed shining pillar of patience and acceptance if she was going to ask for that from them. So she took another deep breath and reached out to take Laxus hand in hers, her voice light as she looked up into his eyes rimmed in confusion, "Not even twenty-four hours ago. It means that everyone here is untouchable and family according to draconian law. You know how mates work, Laxus; it's left to the fates and I didn't tell you because see answer A, it just happened. I'm going to tell Natsu in a field very far away from any people or towns or buildings and yes, actually I do. He's still my best friend and he'll always be my nakama so of course I thought about what this will do to him but there isn't a damn thing I can do about it so I'm going to do what I do best and hope for the best. Until the time comes, I'm choosing to spend my time appreciating the fact that my life wouldn't have been as full of life and love if even one thing changed in the past." She paused a moment before adding, "Not to mention, I have officially reached master level seduction super spy for thwarting our baddest baddie with my womanly ways."

Lucy was quite happy with herself and her calm explanation as she happily sipped her remaining coffee before the timer went off in the kitchen. Her eyes brightened as she smiled and whispered to no one, "The cinnamon buns are almost done," and disappeared into her kitchen.

"So you're the asshole that fucked a lot of shit up for a lot of us and now you're mated to the most treasured little chicken wing in Earthland, how does it feel to know that you wasted four centuries of your life just to meet the descendant of your least favorite Celestial Mage in existence and have your plans stalled into nothing by her magical fated vagina?" Cobra's words were as cordial as he gets for everyone except his sisters as he eyed the man with his narrowed amethyst orb over his coffee.

The oldest Dragon Slayer took the direct question with a roll of his shoulder, "I should think you would be grateful considering it's her and our bond that keeps breath in your dragon lungs, brother. My mating with her binds my hands, not my past. Dragons were responsible for the utter destruction of my home and my family. I've been waiting to watch the last breath leave your bodies for hundreds of years and one thing that could prevent that from happening was your kin mating with me. It's fucking aggravating but unchanging and I'll not waste the rare gift to have a woman suited to me perfectly in my reach. She is more important than four centuries of years alone with my murderous pursuit and hatred."

He was granted a small smirk before the Poison Slayer's words slithered out deviously, "Good answer, oldilocks. You might just make the cut."

"The real test will be Igneel's boy. I will not hesitate to protect what's mine and you will have no choice but to defend your kin. You would have to choose between the Fire Slayer and the little Heartfilia if he took up arms against me. She without I would be a death sentence and I without she would yield the same sentence." His voice grew dark and deadly as he added, "I will not hesitate to kill the boy the moment he challenges me."

Laxus and Cobra shared a brief look of genuine unknowing worry. They couldn't have any idea how the pink-haired wild torrent of emotions would react to the news but the two did know they didn't owe a dragon for anything they have and they certainly didn't owe their father's anything and Lucy had been more than a guildmate or a friend to both of them. She was family, Cobra's first real family since Cubellios and there was no way that Loud and Proud was going to hurt his little sister if he could do anything about it. Their relationship had always been a thorn deep in his side with the way Natsu treated her, consciously done or not. Laxus knew more accurately that Lucy wouldn't want to see Natsu and Acnologia fight or anyone of her family to fight the other. Her wishes he could respect and his dragon's instincts he could trust so he gave the tattooed blunette a grunt of approval before his eyes narrowed and his voice dropped to threatening dangerous tones, "You had sex with my little sister and I want you to think about all the ways I can make your life hell without upsetting Blondie in there." His eyes narrowed further as he leaned his frame towards the deeply tanned made, "Kids will do a way better job at cockblocking than I ever could. You just think about that, grandfather fossil."

Cobra looked between the two dragons before grabbing the press to pour himself more coffee, "Yes please, let's talk about how weird it must be weird that your younger sister is basically married to a murderous assassin from the past who is older than your own grandfather. I've been dying to kick this bucket around." His amethyst eye rolled as he leaned back to lounge on his chair more comfortably to see what he could stir up between the two easily riled men.

Lucy's sweet voice sounded from just around the corner as she carried a large pan of regular cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing hearing the end of their conversation, "It's kind of funny that I've always had this weird attraction to older men. Who knew the age gap between Gildarts and I wouldn't be weird at any point in my life." She quickly placed the hot pan on an oven mitt before heading back into the kitchen to grab Cobra's special buns.

Before she returned, Laxus leaned on his elbows toward the Poison Slayer to ask incredulously, "Did she just say Gildarts? As in, Gildarts from Fairy Tail Gildarts and herself."

He leaned back to take a peak at her self-proclaimed new book stack to pull a worn but first-edition of Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince and other tales, his voice bored as he flipped through the pages, "It used to be the height of my time at Fairy Tail, getting flashes of her x-rated imagination when the Crash Mage would return."

The little blonde returned with a cheery smile on her face as she joked more for her own humor than theirs, "So I just want to remind everyone that Erik's cinnamon buns of death with kill you if you eat them so don't," her smile faltered at the odd look Laxus was giving her and the fire in her mate's deep green eyes. Her eyes narrowed as she put Cobra's glass pan of buns next to him and her voice grew questioning, "What's going on here?"

The maroon-haired slayer greedily dug into his pan of breakfast baked goods with a fork from her lazy-susan at the center of her table, his words tight with anticipation, "We were discussing your adorable crush on the guild's resident granpappy destructo in your younger years."

Her eyes went owlish before she flicked the slayer's pointed ear harshly, his hand immediately shooting up to cradle the sensitive appendage as she burst out, "You fucking knew?! It was only bad for that one summer and I've gotten over it. He is an attractive man and I refuse to say anything but the truth about that but it was a passing delusional crush."

Acnologia's voice was testing and deep as he made a show of stretching his shoulders, "This is the man whose appendages I took?"

She gave him a quick nod of her head as she rolled her eyes at his question and his eyes shined with the obvious approval of his previous actions. Lucy gave her forehead a smack with the palm of her hand when he let out a quiet 'good' before she huffed under her breath, "For the love of the stars, he's Cana's father. As in even if I wouldn't be mated and I was sexually revved by the old ginger, that would make me Cana's stepmom and that's weird. That is a weird thing that would never happen."

"I still get PTSD flashbacks when I see the mage. All I hear is 'yes, daddy, I've been a good girl' and then I start to feel my chest tighten as my lifeless dead heart tries to strangle itself to death again. If you consider in that his train of thought is almost just as bad if not worse all the time, it really doesn't bust my balls to avoid him altogether. You still owe me though, Tink."

"Okay no. I did not sign up for my whole Christmas to be ruined so shut the fuck up," the older blonde was rubbing his temples with his thumb and index fingers as he all but pleaded to his kin.

Lucy poked a forkful of warm dough straight from the pan towards the hulking man as she teased with her brow raised, "I didn't sign up for my all night holiday sexfest to be ruined either so how about we all adjust course and deal with it," before popping the bite into her mouth and raising her brows with a saccharine smile on her lips.

Why did she have to be so good at rolling with the punches? Was it all her time with that destructive, honest to Mavis train wreck of team? Just about everyone from Fairy Tail had a complete lack of regard for personal boundaries or respecting the private lives of guildmates so her straight forward, no-bullshit approach didn't surprise him after knowing her for this long but he hated that it meant he had to follow suit or he would be the immature, hot-head, Natsu of the scenario and he refused to let that happen at any point in his life. He took in a deep breath before rolling his eyes and scooping out a generous amount of cinnamon buns, his voice a barely audible grumble, "Merry Christmas, Blondie. Your fossil friend will be tolerated from here on out."

Her voice was full of false cheer as her eyes widened sarcastically, "Excellent, now we are all friends. Why'd you come to my house on Christmas, brother dearest?" Cobra she kind of expected a visit from soon since they were rounding up on their two week apart limit but Laxus almost never came out to her house. She always visited him at Blue Pegasus. Sure he's come to the house maybe once or twice but he didn't 'pop in'. Laxus Dreyar wasn't the type even on Christmas Day.

His eyes narrowed as the faint shadows of a smirk quirked his lips, his voice serious and even as he drawled, "I see how it is, Lucy. Erik gets a bear of a hug and coffee and special cinnamon buns but my motives get questioned. Where's your holiday spirit?"

"I was assaulted just minutes ago, Zippy," the maroon-haired dragon offered as he took a massive bite of his poisoned breakfast treat before continuing, "No amount of cinnamon deliciousness can make up for that."

Lucy gave the Poison Slayer a skeptical look with her brow raised as she tried to poke him with her fork, "Well if that's the case, let me take these from you and eat them myself since the flick to your ear has ruined our relationship so." She made a pass at picking up his pan of buns but he quickly smacked the back of her hand with his fork and she retreated with a smug smile on her face. She finally pulled her attention from her family to glance over at the big bad dragon of silence and brooding eyes and her heart warmed to see he was unrolling the swirls of dough slowly and eating it as he went. His face was set in it's usual serious almost scowl as he went. It was endearingly angry if that made any sense, the way his brows drew together as he ate the sweet glob of dough.

"You are staring, beloved." His voice was even and deep but she had an inkling he wasn't too upset by her ogling.

~This isn't the chapter I wanted to write *coughDragonIncidentscoughcough* but SURPRISE MY BABES, I did a thing and expanded on the AcnoLu and now the thing has more to it. Yay, things! It was a blast to write and I hope y'all like it.

Thoughts and opinions always welcome and appreciated dearests!~