This is a prompt-challenge from Eien ni Touko. Sorry it took me so long to finish! Doc X was a little bitch about it - and kept deleting everything I wrote...

Prompt: "Things you said after you kissed me."

I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

It had been an accident. Really. One of Fairy Tail proportions, of course, but could aught else be expected when the infamous guild was involved?

In particular, it was Natsu's fault. As most things... generally were. When it came to Lucy's life, at any rate.

This time, however, the fuck-up was spectacular.

As in - Lucy was now a spectacle within the guild.

And her co-star?

A man who not only tried to kill her friends on numerous occasions, but one that had also attempted to sacrifice her to a gargantuan, floating fish/castle/clock/giant-metal-Happy-food/thing. An individual that Lucy had not actually spoken to directly. Ever.

Now, it wasn't as if Lucy didn't like the guy. Though that would normally be the assumption, given their tangential history. However, life was not that simple. Or at least, not Lucy's life specifically. Lucy didn't hate Cobra - or Erik, as he now went by - at all. Granted, she'd never approached the reformed villain. She may have only nodded once or twice in his general direction when he stopped by the guild to visit his old friend Kinana. Still, she'd forgiven him his trespasses just as she had with the rest of his group. He was, after all, a much different person than he had been back then - they all were, and honestly so was she. By his answering nods, Lucy was able to determine that the feeling of polite non-dislike was mutual.

There were no hard feelings between the two. Not for Cobra's past transgressions, and not for Lucy's role in tearing down all his and his comrades' carefully laid plans (not just the once, but on two separate occasions). Silent accord had been reached between the pair in those simple acknowledgements. A mute agreement to let bygones be bygones, and to move forward with their lives without bothering the other. The past... well, that had just been business. Business that had since concluded, and the parties were now free to go about their separate ways.

It was a perfectly wonderful, solid plan.

But if there was one thing Natsu Dragneel was exceptionally talented at (aside from whole-scale property destruction), it would be fucking up carefully laid plans (bonus points if it also involved property destruction).

Which led to Lucy to her current predicament, and present position. Fully laid out on top of Cobra, pretty much her entire form was in very close contact with the Poison Dragon Slayer. Including that of her lips, which were pressed firmly into his.

Cobra, to his credit, was just as shocked and alarmed by this as she was. His single, indigo eye was as wide as it could physically go - his already thin, vertical pupil narrowed to the point where it could it could reasonably pass for a straight line.

A few minutes previous, they hadn't been in this incredibly awkward position on the floor of the Fairy Tail Guildhall. But that had been pre-Natsu.

Earlier in the day, Vijeeter had gotten it into his mind somehow (also courtesy of Natsu it would later be discovered) that Lucy wanted to learn some of his dances. So he did what could understandably be expected of him - he attempted to teach her. Unable to refuse his earnestness (and for someone who rarely smiled, he was very talented at laying on the puppy-dog eyes and Sparkles), Lucy found herself on top of a table trying to do poses she really shouldn't be performing in a mini-skirt. Though thankfully, she'd thought to wear leggings today.

Cobra happened to be seated on a barstool near that particular table, watching with obvious amusement while she did her best to explain to Vijeeter the concept that the normal human skeletal system wasn't built for half of the moves he he was trying to impart to her.

Then Natsu, in the midst of a brawl with Gray, had decided to throw a chair, knocking both Vijeeter and Lucy off of the table. Since Vijeeter had reflexes a cat would envy, he was able to recover before hitting the ground with little effort. Lucy, on the other hand, was not nearly so graceful in her landing. As she started to fall, though, Cobra had decided to be a decent person and attempt to catch her (mostly because it was inevitable that she would crash into him anyway).

Which had led to them both sprawled out on the floor in a very compromising position in a lip smash (not a kiss).

She was going to beat the pink-haired little bugger-all within an inch of his life and possibly strangle him with his goddamn, scaly scarf.

Just as soon as motor-function returned to her. And air. Because at some point, she'd stopped breathing.

It seemed that Cobra was just as frozen as she was, too.

"Luce! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..." Natsu's apology cut off with a squawk as he saw his best friend locking lips with the Poison Dragon Slayer. "Luce! Snakeface! What why what how this... WHY ARE YOU KISSING?!"

The sound of her partner's voice broke the strange paralysis Lucy had been under, and she raised her head from Cobra's. Scorching heat suffused her skin, turning it an almost virulent cherry red. "I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, utterly mortified. "Are... are you okay?"

"Would be better," Cobra muttered with a wince, "if you removed your knee from my groin."

Lucy choked, and then scrambled off the maroon-haired man as fast as she could. "I'm so sorry!" she repeated, desiring nothing more than to melt into a puddle.

Cobra sat up, and glanced at her where she was kneeling beside him. "Not your fault." Reaching behind himself with his arm, he rubbed the back of his head. With a groan, he then cracked his neck.

Extremely embarrassed still, Lucy looked away from the Poison Dragon Slayer and noticed the entire guild staring at them. Natsu was, at the moment, being muffled and restrained by Mirajane. A creepy smile was spreading across her face. That couldn't be good. Though Lucy's main focus was Mirajane's squirming captive, who seemed about ready to set himself on fire.

"Natsu," Lucy growled. "You're going to pay for this."

Natsu's flailing ceased with an abruptness that nearly freed him from Mirajane's clutches. Terror passed over his face as he observed the dark look on his best friend.

"What the fuck are you all staring at?!" Cobra snarled at the rest from beside her. Rising to his feet, he offered Lucy a hand up, while he glared around the guild. The majority of the members present flinched and returned to their seats, though conversation remained subdued.

Lucy took his hand, noting that the limb was warm and calloused - just as his lips had felt warm and rough. His hand almost felt right in hers. She hurriedly shook off that notion, though, hoping that Cobra had somehow missed hearing those stray, traitorous thoughts.

Once she was back on her feet, she dropped the man's hand as if it burned (she wasn't entirely certain it didn't). "Thanks," she said.

Cobra nodded at her and gestured vaguely in Natsu's direction. "You can have first crack at him." Then Cobra righted his stool, and sat upon it. Propping his head up with his hand, he watched with an amused smirk as Natsu outright blanched at the sickly sweet smile on Lucy's face.

"Mirajane?" Lucy asked cheerfully. "Do you think I might borrow Natsu for a bit?"

Natsu clung to the demoness' arm like his life depended upon it. It did. But Mirajane wasn't going to play along, and she dropped the Fire Dragon Slayer on his rear end. "Sure thing, Lucy!" she trilled, returning to her position behind the bar in order to interrogate the Poison Dragon Slayer about the possibility of babies in his and Lucy's futures.

To which he snorted, and replied, "That was our very first conversation, Demon. Try back later."

A gleam in her eyes, Mirajane agreed. "So you're saying there will be a later? I will be sure to ask again in the future." Moments later, she was called away by other patrons but Cobra could hear that she had no plans to drop the subject anytime soon.

"I'M SORRY LUCY!" Natsu screamed, then, as Lucy stalked over to him.

Cobra winced as the woman dragged the Fire Dragon Slayer off by his scarf.

Returning his focus to his immediate surroundings, he stared malevolently at the sudden crowd of Dragon Slayers and Exceeds around him. Correction - Dragon Slayers, Exceeds, and one very intimidating Erza Scarlet. The only reason a naked Ice Mage hadn't joined them was due to Gray taking one look at the appearance of Scary Lucy, and promptly skedaddling before she could inflict her wrath upon him for his contribution to this situation as well.

"What do you want?" Cobra growled, disliking this invasion of his personal space. Then he groaned as their thoughts rushed over him. "Are you kidding me?! Look, it wasn't on purpose and if you want someone to blame go challenge Heartfilia for the right to kick the shit out of Salamander." Wincing again, he added, "If there's enough left of him, that is."

The other Dragon Slayers also looked a little ill at the prospect of taking on the Celestial mage when she was in a mood. Even Erza allowed a flash of trepidation to cross her face. Besides which, the sounds emanating from outside the guild while Natsu learned the error of his ways were rather horrifying.

Titania cleared her throat. "It is a valid concern, Cobra. What are your intentions towards Lucy? If they are less than honorable, I may need to rectify the situation."

Cobra couldn't believe that the psychotic redhead was this invested in her teammate's life. Let alone the fact that anyone with eyes could see that the kiss had been an accident which neither party had intended to happen. Hell, even the perpetrator hadn't meant for that result.

But she was just so... serious about it, Cobra couldn't help sneering, "Titania, so long as she consents, it's none of your fucking business what goes on between us."

Erza bristled. "So I was correct then, and -"

With a roll of his eye, Cobra hissed, "Look. I've never even spoken to her before now. And all it was, was her apologizing and me asking her to get off my groin." Then he paused. "Okay, that last one taken out of context is a bit..." He shook his head, dismissing an awkward thought that had popped into his head. "Still, the point remains. I have no designs, nefarious or otherwise, on your teammate. And I'm not about to drag her off somewhere to fuck her blind. For fuck's sake, we've just been ignoring each other all this time! And on that note it's been two years since I faced off against all of you! Besides which half of you have been her enemies at some point or another, too!"

At the last second, he added, "Oh, I almost forgot. Before you start in on policing your friend's love life, perhaps you should just dredge up the courage to confess to Jellal yourself. Because quite frankly, you'll be waiting on the moron for decades." Cobra's lip curled in derision. "See? I'm being helpful already. Now all of you fuck off." He glanced at Wendy. "Except you, Sky Maiden. Wait until you're older."

The bluenette teenager and her cat made identical, strangled screeches. Wendy turning an alarming shade of crimson as the full meaning of what Cobra said sank in.

"You foul-mouthed -"

"Shut it, cat. Or are you saying that she should do the opposite?"

Carla could only gape at the smug Dragon Slayer.

"That's what I thought. Kitty. Cat."

"I will scratch your eyes out, Cobra."

"Ooooh. That would be far scarier if I wasn't already missing one. So bring it on, Kitty Cat."

Laxus groaned in exasperation as the argument between Cobra and Carla started to really heat up. "Stop stalling, Cobra. You know why we're really here."

Cobra narrowed his eye at his fellow Second Generation Slayer. "Oh? Do enlighten me."

"Seriously?" Gajeel grumbled. "You're going to make us say it?"

Of course Cobra was. He did know full well what the group was really trying to do here but he was going to stubbornly deny it until the end if at all possible. Also, if he had to be uncomfortable, then he was going to make damn sure they were, too.

When he didn't respond, Laxus shifted in place. This topic really wasn't his forte, and he wasn't entirely certain why he was so concerned. "Well... you clearly... uh... I mean..."

Gajeel attempted to finish for the struggling Lightening Dragon Slayer as he trailed off. "You and Bunny Girl. You... uh... and... well..."

"You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike her!" Happy suddenly purred, swooping around Cobra's face. He let out a squeak as Cobra snatched him out of the air.

Glaring at the Exceed, and bringing him very close to his face, Cobra warned, "Repeat that, and I will end all nine of your lives on the spot, fuzzball."

"Joke's on you," Happy wheezed, unable to stop himself. "I've only got like four left." When Cobra squeezed him a little tighter, he yelped, "Aye, sir!"

Cobra released him, and Happy shot up to the rafters and out of the Poison Dragon Slayer's immediate reach. He wasn't truly afraid of the man, for he knew that if Cobra had actually intended to cause him real harm there would have been no warning at all. He wouldn't have bothered. In any case, Cobra wasn't nearly stupid enough to try anything in the middle of Fairy Tail, anyway. Still, though... Happy wasn't going to take any more chances. Cobra and Lucy had strangely (and frighteningly) similar reactions to his teasing. Which in Happy's mind only validated his claim, but it did have the side effect of putting his life in significant danger.

"Happy's right," Laxus admitted, drawing the furious Dragon Slayer's attention to himself. He felt up his hands in a defensive gesture. "You can't really have expected to keep it from the Dragon Slayers forever, right? I mean... it was pretty damn obvious that you liked someone, we just didn't figure out who until now. Actually, I thought it was Kinana, but now I know it's not." When Cobra sat there in silence, Laxus prompted, "Every once in a while, your heart rate would pick up for no reason and your breath would become shallower."

"Not to mention," Gajeel interjected, "that fucking awful stench of lust you put off whenever Bunny Girl gets near you. Just now was the worst."

"It's pretty powerful," Pantherlily spoke up for the first time, "if we can smell it through the alcohol here."

Cobra didn't respond to this either, even though he had a decent rebuttal. Pretty much every male in the guild hall would feel much the same if Lucy had fallen on them instead, with her cleavage pressing into their bodies. But Cobra couldn't point that out because it would involve admitting that yes, he had been affected by Lucy. Which these morons would take as proof for their wild conjectures.

Erza and Wendy exchanged a glance. "We've also... seen the way you look at her sometimes," Wendy admitted.

"It's longing," Erza said gently. She was all too aware of what that looked like, having seen it in the mirror many times before. Despite her ingrained need to protect Lucy, Erza did consider Cobra a dear friend. He hadn't really opened up to anyone over the year that he'd been visiting the guild, but he had definitely changed from how he was previously. Erza could see that he'd even made friends with people other than Kinana in the guild - Natsu and Wendy chief among them. Cobra had never really forgiven Erza for the giant hammer incident, but he seemed to get along just fine with her as well. It had always perplexed Erza, however, that he'd never approached Lucy. Not once in the entire year had he sought her out, and she had likewise left him alone.

Cobra's gaze turned flat and cold. His voice mimicking his expression, he stated bluntly, "You're all mistaken. I can hear thoughts, remember? Amazing how often you all forget that I can hear and therefore react to a lot more things than the rest of you. First of all, the heart rate and shallow breathing? Laughter. The lust? There are a ton of perverts in this guild with very vivid imaginations. I can't remain unaffected all the time. I swear the drunkard is the worst of them all, though."

"Cana? Or Gildarts?" Laxus ventured, genuinely curious.

"They're both equally horrible," Cobra muttered.

"What about the longing?" inquired Wendy.

The Poison Dragon Slayer regarded her coolly for a minute before responding, "You were at least partially correct on that one. But it's not what you think. I just want to apologize to her, is all. For the clock."

That shut them up right quick.

For all of five seconds, at least.

"What?!" barked Erza. "That's all? Just an apology?"

"Why the hell didn't you just... go up to her and say it?" Laxus asked, more than a little incredulous.

"It's not that difficult." Gajeel shook his head. "Took Sparky and I a while to do it ourselves but we still somehow managed."

Cobra scowled at them. "Right. So say the men that technically took eight years to accomplish that."

While the other two Dragon Slayers began to look defensive, Wendy sighed. "Cobra-san," she said quietly. When he glanced at her, she continued, "Why didn't you approach Lucy-san at all? It's just... you didn't have any problems coming to me about Nirvana. Or at least, none that I noticed."

"She didn't want me to."

The others drew back slightly, mouths agape. "But... that doesn't sound like Lucy-san at all," Pantherlily stated, greatly confused.

"It's what she decided, so it doesn't matter what you all think of it," Cobra bluntly informed them. "Heartfilia wanted to put the past behind her. So if she didn't want me to approach her, then I wasn't going to. I let that serve as my apology, instead. And it's worked fairly well." They also seemed to have difficulty processing this. "I do understand the concept of privacy," he bit out. "I can't help my magic."

"Then the longing -"

"Doesn't mean I don't still want to give her a verbal one, Titania." Cobra cracked his neck again, a little sore from the tumble earlier. "But that's not up to me."

"That sounds like you're running away from it."

Cobra stared in mild surprise, for the statement had come from Wendy. He tapped one finger on the bar's counter, thinking. "I really don't care what is seems or sounds like," he concluded. "It is what it is."

"Don't lie to us, Cobra-san!" the diminutive Dragon Slayer demanded. "I can smell it! You're not okay with it!"

"Then leave," he ordered. "Or I will. I may be forced to hear all of you, but I don't have to listen to this shit."

Gajeel and Laxus gave up with nearly identical snarls of frustration. As far as they were concerned, until Cobra was ready to listen, they weren't going to get anywhere with the stubborn Dragon Slayer. Pantherlily left with his partner, shaking his head. Why were all Dragon Slayers so incredibly obtuse? It made little sense to the Exceed, but it was best to wait and try again later if they wanted to reach him. Cobra's walls were up and the former dark mage had spent two decades perfecting them - there was no way through right now.

Erza, too, made to leave, but not before clapping a gauntleted hand on Cobra's shoulder. He allowed the contact, though he said nothing.

Wendy and Carla remained, taking up the barstool beside Cobra. Above them, Happy observed from the rafters, his blue tail swishing.

"And you're still here... why, exactly?" Cobra grumbled, wishing that Kinana would interrupt or something but his best friend had been preoccupied with taking inventory all afternoon. She hadn't even witnessed the earlier kerfuffle. Then again, she would have joined in with the others on the interrogation. On that note, it was a relief that the rest of his guild wasn't present today - if Meredy had seen that there would have been no relief from the torture the pink-haired woman would put him through.

"There's no need to be so rude to her!" Carla snapped at the Dragon Slayer.

Cobra curled his lip in a snarl at the snowy feline. "Was referring to you, Kitty Cat."

"Carla! Cobra-san! Please calm down!" Wendy attempted to placate the pair before scratching commenced.

They did so, Cobra's face returning to it's earlier flatness. "So what did you two want?"

"Um... well, I..." Wendy fiddled with the hem of her dress. "I wanted know if... if that was all. If the only thing you wanted was to apologize to Lucy-san."

Instead of dismissing her, Cobra contemplated the question with the same seriousness that Wendy had meant it. Unlike the others, Wendy wasn't being nosy - she was trying to understand. Cobra appreciated the difference.

So what did he want?

He wanted to apologize for what happened with the Infinity Clock - because he did regret how he and his comrades had used her for their own goals when the truth was that all they'd needed was someone on their side. The others had already gotten to apologize to her. Cobra was the only one who hadn't yet. As time passed, it only became harder to take that step. He was reluctant to go up to her and demand that she forgive him. He wanted that forgiveness, but he couldn't just try to extract it from someone who might not be willing to give it. It wouldn't be genuine, which is what he truly craved.

But that was far from all Cobra wanted in regards to Lucy Heartfilia.

Cobra wanted to approach her freely. At anytime he wanted to (which, the Dragon Slayer acknowledged, would be often). He wanted to know who she was beyond the snippets he overheard from her soul. And he wanted her to know him in return. Which frightened him most of all.

Though it didn't end there - his desires contained quite a number of physical elements as well. He wanted to touch her the same way a child wanted to reach out to a pretty painting - to see if it was real or only an illusion in their heads created by careful brush strokes and splashes of colour. The rest of Cobra's thoughts in regards to Lucy Heartfilia, however, were decidedly less innocent in nature. It unnerved him just how much he noticed her.

Her body? Definitely. Hard not to with those outfits she was so fond of.

Her mind? Of course. His magic revealed her thoughts as simultaneously more organized, and yet so confusingly layered that it was nigh impossible to get an accurate accounting of her true thoughts.

Her soul? There were no words by which Cobra could describe the way her soul sounded to him. Over two million words in the Fioran language, and not a single combination of them could accurately portray the resounding ripples that emanated from it. They simply did not exist - but he never wanted to stop listening to that sound.

The true question Wendy should have asked was, what didn't Cobra covet?

He wanted to beat Natsu into the ground for giving him a literal taste of something he could not have. Even if it had been an accident.

Wendy was still waiting for an answer, though.

So Cobra gave her the only one he could.

"I want," he stated slowly, feeling the weight of the words keenly as they left his throat. He swallowed, and started again, "I want a great many things, Maiden of the Sky. But that doesn't mean I get to have them. Or that I even deserve them."

The Sky Dragon Slayer furrowed her brow, trying to wrap her head around what Cobra had told her. "I... I don't understand," she whispered. "Why?"

Because Cobra was fairly certain that, if Lucy ever came to understand the depths of his obsession with her, she would run in the opposite direction as fast as her feet would take her. And she would be justified, and even wise, for doing so. "I am a monster, Wendy," Cobra told her, using her given name for once. "Even if I weren't, I can't change all the things I've done in the past." Jellal and Cobra had that much in common, at least. Then he snorted. "If I could change the past, I still wouldn't. We've all seen what happens when you try to do that."

Flinching at that statement, Wendy looked at her hands sitting idle in her lap. After a moment, she met Cobra's gaze again, firm resolve in her hazel eyes. "Promise me, that if Lucy changes her mind, you will talk to her. Alright? You will become her friend if the two of you just... give it a chance. I know you two will be inseparable. I just know it."

Cobra raised his eyebrow at the younger Slayer. "I'm not opposed, though I was under the impression it was the Kitty Cat that possessed the gift of clairvoyance."

Wendy's chin lifted as she defiantly stared the Poison Dragon Slayer down. "Anyone could see this. You're trying to protect her, aren't you? You both try to protect everyone, even if it hurts you."

"I don't protect people, Wendy."

"That's what you think. I know what happened when you broke out of prison. Mest-san and Jellal-san told me. You broke your friends out of prison, too. Then you killed Brain to truly free them."

"Wendy..."

"Promise me, Cobra-san!" Wendy demanded. "Promise me that if you're given the chance you'll take it!"

Sighing, Cobra agreed. "Fine. I promise." His purple orb narrowed dangerously. "Though I may need to have a talk with Jellal and Mest about this gossip habit of theirs."

The teenager giggled. "Don't be too hard on them, okay?" Cobra didn't respond. "Cobra-san?" Wendy asked. "You're not going to be too harsh on them... right?" The Poison Dragon Slayer looked away. "Cobra-san!"

"They'll be... fine," he said.

'Too vague!' Wendy thought, worried.

Cobra smirked and looked at Wendy again. "I'm kidding, Sky Maiden." She heaved a sigh of relief. "They'll survive. Mostly intact."

Wendy hung her head, tears beginning to brim in her eyes. "I'm even more worried now..."

Agitated, Carla waved a paw at the older Dragon Slayer. "How dare you tease Wendy and make her cry you lowlife -"

"C-calm down, Carla!" Wendy pleaded. "Uh... um... m-maybe we sh-should make sure Lucy-san didn't hurt Natsu-san? Much? Let's go!" With that, the bluenette grabbed her Exceed partner, hopped off the stool, and dashed off in the same direction Lucy was returning from.

Faintly, Cobra heard the cat whisper, "You did good, child."

"Thanks, Carla," the young Dragon Slayer returned. "Lucy-san!" she said, a little more loudly.

The blonde Celestial mage smiled. "Wendy!"

"Is Natsu-san okay?"

Lucy waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, he's fine. All I damaged was his ego, a bit."

Now that was a dirty rotten lie. Cobra was impressed.

Wendy could smell the deception, but she shrugged it off. "I think I'll check on him anyway... oh! Before I forget, I think Cobra-san wanted to speak to you?"

Cobra's eye widened. That sneaky brat! She was going to force a confrontation! One she had just come up with on the sly! That girl was going places; he approved. But in a general sense. Not so much when it was directed against him.

He swiftly turned his head to the front towards the bar, hoping to avoid meeting Lucy's gaze as she glanced in his direction. Cobra didn't want it to seem like he'd been watching them, after all. Even though he had been.

Lucy's eyes bored into the side of his head. "He does?" she asked Wendy.

"Yes! He's been waiting. For quite a while, actually."

That child should be keep away from dark guilds at all costs. Instead of taking them down, she'd take them over and then they'd have a second Zeref on their hands.

"Oh!" Lucy exclaimed. "I guess I... did take a while.

'Longer than you realize,' Wendy thought.

"I'll go talk to him now."

"Okay! Um... I think I hear Natsu-san crying. See you later, Lucy-san!"

"Bye Wendy!" Cobra heard Lucy say, before her footsteps started his way. He kept his eye trained forward, as he listened to her slide onto the stool Wendy had vacated. "Hey, Cobra," she said after a moment's pause. It felt a little odd to her, that it felt strange to talk to him now when before it was so... easy.

The dark skinned man met her gaze. "Heartfilia," he greeted, with a slight nod.

Lucy swallowed thickly. "Um... you can just call me Lucy, Cobra," she informed him. "No need for formalities." With a soft, nervous laugh, she added, "After all, I'm pretty sure you've overheard all my darkest secrets by now."

Cobra regarded her stoically for a moment, before saying, quietly, "I've been meaning to say this for a while but... I'm sorry for your loss. All four of them."

Puzzled, Lucy tried to figure out he meant by that. When the answer struck her, her face fell and tears welled within her eyes. She bit her lip, hard enough that the tang of her blood filled her mouth. Ready to snap at him, she hesitated upon seeing the defeated, remorseful cast to his eye. Understanding washed through her, as she realized that he truly meant his words. Cobra was being sincere, not taunting her.

Slowly, she nodded at him. "Thank you," she whispered.

Uncertain as to what one was normally supposed to do in response to this, Cobra looked away in discomfort.

"I miss them," she suddenly stated, as if he had, in fact, managed a coherent reply. "Dad. Michelle. Other me. And... and... her." Her first spirit. Her mother's spirit. Her very first friend in the world. Gone. Out of her reach forever. Alive, unlike the others - for which she was beyond grateful. But... so far from her grasp. "Look at me. This is pathetic!" Lucy laughed, though it sounded more like a sob to Cobra. 'I can't even say her name, or talk about her out loud.'

The Dragon Slayer met Lucy's gaze once again, his purple eye steady and intense. "You don't have to. I'll still hear."

Floored by what Cobra was offering her, Lucy gaped at him for several moments. Then, once it had completely sunk in, Lucy bestowed upon him a smile as indescribably beautiful as her soul. It did what Cobra could not - it showed the world what lay within her soul, and embodied all that she was. Warmth and gratitude, unending kindness and fierce, fierce love. "Thank you, Cobra."

"I think you've earned the right to call me Erik," he said, his insides twisting and coiling as if he had swallowed a nest of serpents.

Overwhelmed by emotion, Lucy's soul ached with the need to launch herself from her stool and give Cobra a hug. Why had she waited so long to speak to him? She could no longer comprehend her earlier reasons. Though she held herself back, not wanting to invade upon the touchy Dragon Slayer's personal space without his permission.

Cobra was sorely tempted to allow her the liberty - and if he said that having her, however briefly, within his arms wouldn't fulfill his most desperate wish, he'd be the worst liar in Earthland's history. But his own caution, ingrained into his very being by the circumstances of his life, and his unease with something so unfamiliar interfered with his ability to accept the gesture of friendship and gratitude.

So he gave her a minute shake of his head. "Thank you for asking," he told her. "One... step at a time."

Instead of taking offense at the rejection, Lucy continued to regard him with that effervescent expression, with a brightness that echoed even within her eyes. "I understand."

A smile of his own threatened to break out upon Cobra's face. Finally, finally they were moving forward. Where that would take them, he wasn't certain. It didn't really matter. And although he technically still hadn't apologized for the thing that he'd meant to (where the fuck had the other words even come from? That hadn't been what he'd intended to say at all when he'd opened his mouth), he still would. Someday.

Around them, Cobra could hear the other Dragon Slayers mulling over the parts they'd unabashedly eavesdropped upon. But that hardly mattered, either.

Even the blue cat, plotting upon his rafter above their heads, could not affect how he felt in this moment.

Gray, however, was more than capable of doing so. Via being thrown, this time courtesy of Elfman, into Lucy's stool. Her perch suddenly no longer supporting her, Lucy shrieked and flailed as gravity exerted itself, once again, upon her form.

Cobra then, once again, attempted to catch her or at the very least break the blonde's fall.

Resulting in the pair, once again, sprawled out upon the floor in a compromising position.

Once again, in a lip lock neither of whom had initiated.

"SNAKEFACE AND LUCE ARE KISSING AGAIN?!" wailed Natsu.

"Oh crap, sorry Lucy!" Gray scrambled to his feet.

Lucy promptly broke away from Cobra, flushing just virulently as she had the first time.

"KNEE. GROIN," Cobra hissed through clenched teeth.

Once Lucy had removed herself from his person, both parties rounded on Gray and Elfman.

Later, the pair would come to decided between them to never acknowledge the accidental kisses again. A conclusion they forced the rest of the guild to adopt as well (though one Exceed in particular had fought fiercely for the right to tease them mercilessly).

'Just as well, really,' Cobra thought, leaving the raucous guild behind and heading back to his own.

Lucy waved him farewell at his departure, a gesture he returned.

If he and Lucy ever shared another kiss, it was going to be a proper one.

One where the first thing out of their mouths would not contain the words, "sorry," "knee," or "groin."

Cobra knew exactly what he would say.

I love you.

Holy crap that ended up far longer than I expected.

Hope you all liked this. I had a lot of fun with it.