Wow, it's been so long since I've touched this story, I had half of this chapter written over a year ago, but never got to finish it. Honestly, life got in the way (I'm in my 4th year of a BA in Anthropology and History, so yeah, lots of distractions from writing right there), other stories got in the way, and I just never got into the mood I needed to start writing this again. But lately, I've been feeling the pull again, I've been feeling the need to dive back into Fairy Tail. So that's exactly what I'm going to do now that the month from hell is over. Seriously, it was nothing short of a train wreck most days.

I remember way back that I offered to do a lemon, but I've opted not to, since there wasn't really sufficient interest in it. Plus, I'm still polishing my smut skills. Though I promise that I'm getting better at it! So I'll just have a nice warm dragon cuddle for now. Prepare for the fluff and some sweet-sexy stuff!

In any case, I'm going to pick back up right where I left off, and I'll let you guys fill in the blanks with everything that your imaginations can conjure up. The Tartaros arc will be coming very soon, give me a chapter or two and we'll be diving right into it.

Ciara's P.O.V.

The first step I take into my house is a silent one as I remain acutely aware of Rogue's presence just behind me. Frosch hops along by my side, racing into the house the moment the door opens. "So this is Cia's home?"

"That's right, Frosch. This is where I live." It's not too much, really, a modest three story house. But I suppose that most wizards don't typically have homes this large anyway. In that respect, I consider myself lucky to have stumbled across this gem of a home when I was younger. "Make yourselves at home. The kitchen is down here on the first floor, if you're hungry. The library is down here as well. My bedroom, the bathroom, and the study are on the second floor. The emergency room is on the top floor." Not that either of them will have need of that tonight."

"It's beautiful." Rogue steps in behind us and politely closes the door. But I can feel his gaze on my back more than on my house. My cheeks warm with the implication. "Are you sure that this is alright?"

I huff softly and stride forward towards the stairs. "Of course it is. I'm the one who asked you to be here, after all." And I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't sure that I wanted him here. I look over my shoulder and smile warmly in welcome. "I'm happy that you're here, Rogue."

Finally, it elicits a smile in return. Not a wide grin, of course, but that slightly smug, mostly amused half smile that Rogue makes so incredibly attractive. "Me too." It feels almost like the reservations he had before are melting away. It's nice, it feels more harmonious.

And I have to admit, I really like the smell of him permeating my home. The scent of cedar and shadow and cinnamon, even if it hasn't been here for long, is already starting to settle in the air, mingling with mine.

Silently, I turn on heel and ascend the stairs. And I remain acutely aware of Rogue moving to explore, or maybe to retrieve Frosch from where he scurried off into the kitchen. That's fine, I'm happy to have him exploring my house while I get ready for bed. The more at home here that he and Frosch feel, the happier I'll be.

I retrieve my toothbrush from the bathroom and stick it between my teeth, letting it rock back and forth with magic as I pull on a soft, fluttering blue nightgown. To be fair, it's not the warmest in my collection, but it's pretty and short. And my lips curve slightly as the scent of Rogue drifts into my bedroom, growing a little thicker as I turn around to face him.

There's no question that his gaze flicks over me, focusing in on everything that I want him to, before finally rising to my face and staying fixed there. A hint of embarrassment wafts from him as he shifts slightly. "Ciara, where do you…"

"Here." I have no doubt in my mind as to the nature of the question on the tip of his tongue. I pat my bad slowly. "It's more than big enough for two." Then I turn about and glide into the bathroom to rinse out my mouth and put my toothbrush away. I glance back at him in the mirror as he moves towards the door of the adjoined bathroom. "After all, you won't be much of a nightmare deterrent if you're not even in the same room as me, right?"

A smirk tugs at his lips and he steps into the bathroom behind me and slides an arm around my waist. "So you're using me as a magical stuffed animal for repelling nightmares, is that it?"

"Maybe?" I laugh at the teasing undertone in his voice. "Is that a problem? Or should I just steal Frosch like you offered?"

His grip tightens and he presses a kiss to the back of my neck. "No, it's not a problem at all."

"Good." I reach back and stroke my fingers through his soft black hair. "Then don't keep me waiting too long."

"Hmph." He snorts softly and his breath skirts warmly over my skin. "I won't."

I smile and slip out of his grasp, first placing a kiss on his cheek before stepping through the bathroom door. I spy Frosch twisting himself happily into the covers of my bed, so I approach and gently pull the blankets apart ad extract him from within them. "And now what are you doing, you silly little kitten?"

"Fro is waiting for Ro and Cia!" He waves his little paws happily towards my face. "Time to sleep?"

"Just about." I laugh and settle him back down on the covers and sit down net to him. My fingers work easily and quickly to undo my ribbons, letting my hair cascade over the side of the bed. "Are you ready to sleep, little guy?"

"You bet!" Frosch rolls over and starts playing with a few locks of my hair, fascinated by…something. "Fro likes sleepovers! But Fro always sleeps with Lector."

"Is that so?" I can easily imagine the two little kittens all snuggled up together. They've probably been doing it for years. "Are you ready for bed?"

"Uh-huh!" Frosch wiggles his way into my lap as I pulls the covers back. "Where's Ro?"

"He'll be here soon. He's just in the bathroom." I wave my hand and the spell controlling the lights weakens and they start to dim. I slip under the covers and settle them carefully so that Frosch can breathe easily. "Tonight, you get to sleep with both of us. That'll be nice, won't it?"

"Fro thinks so too…" The little guy blinks sleepily, then nuzzles his face against my chest. "Fro likes Cia…"

"And I like you too." I kiss his little head and wrap him in a warm cuddle. It's funny, though. He's like the most well-behaved toddler I've ever seen. "So sleep well, sweetheart."

"You need to sleep as well." A heavy weight settles in the bed behind me and the scent of cedar and cinnamon and shadow envelops me as Rogue slides an arm around my waist.

Carefully, I turn over slightly, looking over my shoulder only to feel his lips pressing against mine. It's a sweet, soft kiss that invites butterflies to take up residence in my stomach. But there's just a hint of something darker in it, a promise. And I have to say that I like it.

…Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm in love.

Rogue's P.O.V.

I'm not sure what time it is when the light wakes me up, but I smell something really good in the air. And there's something soft poking my cheek. Though I guess that's a familiar enough feeling that there's no need for me to even guess what it is. Or who it is. "Frosch…it's not time to get up yet…" I'm not a morning person and I never have been, no matter how much I might force myself to deal with Sting's habits of rising with the sun.

"But Ro, breakfast is ready!" His little voice squeaks right next to my ear, but it's way too loud for this early in the morning.

"Then tell Yukino to hit Sting and save me some." She's the one who usually cooks breakfast for most of the guild, if she's around. Now that we've all relaxed around each other, anyway. If Jiemma were still here, no way would we be having rowdy communal breakfasts.

"Fro won't eat without Rogue. Cia is making all sorts of yummy food for us!" He pokes me again, more insistently this time. "So wake up, silly."

"Cia…?" I open my eyes slowly, registering a few rays of light coming from behind the mostly drawn curtains. Curtains that are most definitely not the blackout curtains that I hang in my own bedroom. "Frosch, what are you-" The it hits me, and I roll onto my back, sitting up with a start. "We're not at the guild." That's right…we slept over at Ciara's house last night.

"Ro, Fro sees something in the bed…" He pokes at the covers, and a shudder races through me. "What is it?"

My face burns like a volcano as I lift Frosch up and away from the…problem. "It's nothing Frosch, it just means that I'm happy this morning." If it were only that simple…

"Oh." My little buddy smiles widely when he really, really shouldn't. "Fro thinks so too!" Not helping… Honestly, I want to just forget this part of the morning ever happened. At least she wasn't here to witness it.

I look around at the room, having last seen it when it was dimly lit. There's books scattered around the room, and a door to the bathroom in one corner. The walls are a light blue, trimmed with white, and the bed has darker blue covers, definitely not the drabber colors of my own room. It's…nice.

And the bed smells potently of Ciara, which…would explain my current problem. "Frosch, why don't you go back downstairs and get started on eating breakfast? I'll be down after I take a shower." A very cold one.

"Okay! Fro will get a plate of food ready!" He hops obediently off the bed and scurries out the door, leaving me to tend to my…situation by myself.

I pull the covers back and eye my pajamas sourly. Of course this had to happen in her house. There's no way she's not going to smell that later. Of course, it'll be even more obvious if I do something about it. It's better just to make it go away. A cold shower it is.

I slip into the bathroom and lock it behind me, then I sigh as I step into the freezing cold spray. Today is going to be hard.

Ciara's P.O.V.

As I finish plating the food, I can hear the shower going. I'm a dragon slayer, not deaf, meaning that I heard the entire conversation upstairs. Which…is why I'm fighting back a blush of my own as Frosch comes hopping back into the kitchen, carrying in the thick scent of Rogue. "Ro is taking a shower!"

"Alright." Considering the smell, I can understand why. It's the same smell that surrounded me last night when he had his arms around me. Should I be impressed or disappointed that he didn't act on it? I don't know, and that unsettles me.

Glancing at the small stack of presents from last night, I eye one of the smaller ones, a box with a necklace in it, courtesy of Mira and Erza. A silver necklace with two entwined hearts on it. Sounds like the kind of present you'd get your lover, right? Well…the two of them claimed to be worried about me, and got that necklace for me at the last minute while I was napping. Mira put in the order, and Erza went to pick it up. The charm on it is good for a year, according to the merchant they got it from. A whole year's worth of less innocent sleepovers.

Still, it's probably a good idea to wear it, even if the charm isn't doing anything yet. Better safe than sorry. So I reach for the box with the necklace in it and open it to see the two delicate hearts hanging from the silver chain. Two hearts entwined, how poetic.

I debate the issue for several long minutes, before pulling out the necklace and clasping it in place around my neck. "There we go, a little protection charm, just for me." Judging by the smell permeating my house and Rogue's gently reserved behaviour last night, I can't predict exactly when I'll start needing it.

"A protection charm?" I hadn't even noticed Rogue walking into the kitchen. I must have been pretty caught up in my thoughts. His gaze finds the necklace. "An enchanted necklace?"

I glance back and barely stop myself from snickering at the slightly disheveled state of him fresh out of the shower. "Erza and Mira gave it to me for my birthday. They thought that it might be useful."

He tilts his head like a curious puppy, reaching for the necklace and rubbing it between his fingers. "What kind of protection is it? Is it like a barrier spell?"

"Ah…sort of." Now, how do I explain this present without giving him…ideas? "But it's not for battle. The charm is meant for women."

"Enchantments can be gender-specific?" He releases the necklace, letting it settle back against my skin. "What does it do?"

Great…so much for trying to be subtle about it. "It's…a contraceptive charm. Ironic…since it came from the one always daydreaming about half the guild having babies." And now, I can smell the scent of shadows strengthening, his scent thickening. And it smells…so damn good.

"I see, so that's it…" His arms slide around my waist, and he buries his nose in my hair, inhaling deeply. "Sounds useful…" His lips move towards my neck, his sharp canines scraping gently along my skin.

Resisting the urge to smack him with a spatula, or one of the other strange things that I've seen Erza and Mira do, I laugh and place a finger to his nose. "Yes, and I've made breakfast." Since obviously, Rogue isn't a morning person unless he's feeling frisky. "So sit down and try not to jump me."

I can feel him sighing against my neck. "Okay. I'm sure that the food will be delicious." And I can almost hear the unspoken dirty joke in there. Or maybe just a perverted comment that, for now, lives only as a thought inside Rogue's mind. Well, that, and he still smells really good.

And…THOSE are teeth! I shiver a little as Rogue leaves what I'm sure is a glaring red mark on my neck. "Dammit, Rogue! Everyone's going to see that!" And then they'd think we did more than just make out before bed.

"They're supposed to." I can just hear the smug smirk on his face. "But alright, I could do with some food."

"Good." Maybe now he'll stop trying to give me a heart attack. "Then sit down. Frosch has been waiting for you to come down for almost half an hour."

He chuckles, before releasing me to sit down with his little buddy, ruby eyes softening as he glances back up at me. "Did you sleep better last night?"

Right. That was something of an afterthought, but now that he brings it up, I remember just how good I feel this morning. "Yes, I did." Though, how could I not, snuggled up to his warm scent all night. "Not a single bad dream."

Two little pink-clad paws wave through the air. "Fro thinks so too!"

The little one's antics make me laugh. "That's very good, Frosch. I'm glad that you slept well."

As he shoves a few berries into his mouth, picked from one of the berry bushes behind my house, he smiles up at me. "Will Fro sleep with Ro and Cia from now on?"

Oh…boy… "Ah, well…" I glance at Rogue, who suddenly looks very interested in his pancakes. Great, going to leave me to answer YOUR exceed, huh? "I…live here, Frosch. And the two of you live at Sabertooth. So we're not both going to be sleeping with you every night. But I suppose that we could arrange a few sleepovers. Does that sound good?" I don't want to burst his bubble, since the little guy has a habit of looking absolutely heartbroken when he's sad.

I do note, though, that Rogue's cheeks look a little pink. Hm…so he's smug and a bit cocky when he has the upper hand, but as soon as I take it from him, he's easily embarrassed. Interesting… And something that I probably shouldn't let the rest of my guild find out, considering that they'll give him a hard time about it.

"Okay!" Frosch grins widely, seemingly satisfied with my answer. Lucky for us that he thinks like a little kid. They're usually easily placated or distracted. And there's a few questions that he could ask that could make everything very awkward.

With that potential disaster averted, I join them at the table, picking food from the large plate right in the middle. I didn't really see a point in putting out a bunch of smaller plates. After all, if Rogue can make out with me for an hour and a half before bed, we can share a plate of food no problem. As for Frosch, well, who wouldn't let their Exceed pick off their plate? Happy's done it to me a few hundred times since he hatched and his wings still have all their feathers.

Though, as I watch the two of them eat, I have to admit that what Frosch asked isn't an unreasonable question. And honestly…I'm going to miss the two of them when the party ends. I mean, I suppose that we could visit each other between jobs and such, and maybe if there's a few inter-guild jobs, we could snag them. But…now I'm starting to wonder how Ren and Sherry manage to pull off being engaged while in different guilds, let alone…dating? Tentatively seeing each other? I'm not quite sure what label to put on us. Do we even qualify for regular human labels? Whatever, I'll let him help decide that later.

"Cia?" Frosch hops across the table to plop himself right down in my lap. "You got all quiet. Are you sad?"

I smile softly and pat his little head. "No, of course not. I was just thinking a bit, that's all. I'm very happy right now. I've got two very special visitors, after all. And we still have until some time to play together before all of you go home."

"But Fro will miss Cia." Tiny little tears start to well up in his big, innocent eyes. "Do you promise to come play with Fro?"

I glance up at Rogue, whose ruby eyes are watching me with badly concealed amusement. Then I look back down and lift Frosch up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Of course I'll come to play with you. I take a lot of jobs, remember? I'll probably pass by Sabertooth on a few of them, so I can drop in for a visit. I think that would be a lot of fun."

Little pink paws wave happily in the air as the speckling tears vanish entirely. "Fro thinks so too!"

And I think that the ruby gaze fixed on the two of us would agree.

The moment that I step into the guild, a teeny tiny part of me regrets having Rogue sleep over last night. Mostly the part where I slept snuggled up in his arms. As nice as it was to not have nightmares, this is the part that I definitely wasn't looking forward to.

There's no less than two dozen pairs of eyes on us, but it's five noses that I'm worried about more than the eyes.

I look back at Rogue, walking in through the door to the guild just behind me, and I frown slightly. "There's a chance that if you act like nothing happened, they might not bother you about it." I know very well how my family can act about stuff like this. They'll go over the top in every way possible, and I don't want to subject Rogue to that if at all possible. I know how uncomfortable he is when dealing with people.

"No." He steps towards me and glides his hand up my neck to my chin and tilts it up, then presses a kiss to my lips. It takes less than two seconds for whispers to break out across the whole guild hall. When the pressure fades, his breath is only a whisper against my lips. "I don't care what they have to say about it. They can gossip all they like."

The words put a smirk firmly on my face. "That's a good philosophy around my family. They definitely don't know what it means to keep their noses out of everyone else's business." In fact, one could even say that they relish the challenge of ferreting out all of the personal business in the guild. Trying to keep a secret is like waving a red flag in front of a bull with the challenge.

"Yeah, I've noticed." He snorts softly and lets his hand fall away. But even without his touch, his presence still hangs thickly around me.

"Cia!" Frosch tugs on my pants and holds up his little arms in a now very familiar gesture. "Can Fro ride with you?"

"Of course you can." As if I could ever deny this cute little creature anything. I actually anticipated that he would want to ride around, so I pick him up with one hand and fluff the hood of my vest out with the other. I picked my padded red vest today for just this purpose. "In you go." I settle him in the lowered hood just behind my head, where he can hold onto my hair if he feels like he's going to fall at all.

A single look at Rogue tells me that he's torn between amusement at my preparedness for the request, approval that the two of us are getting along so well, and I think jealousy that Frosch is paying me so much attention when usually Rogue gets all of it. It's cute, and I'm sure that it's going to be an expression that I see regularly from now on.

Then I notice out of the corner of my eye that Sting is staring very intently at Rogue. And judging by the smug smirk playing about his lips, I have a feeling that I know what it is that he's going to grill Rogue about. "Come on, Frosch, let's go see what's on the menu today. I think that Rogue has something he needs to do, so let's pick something out for lunch." Knowing how many people there are that are getting their food here, it's best to order a few hours in advance, otherwise Mira is never going to have enough time to prepare it all.

"Food!" Frosch waves one of my ponytails around until it falls forward over my shoulder. "Cake!"

"Yes, I'm sure that they'll still have some cake left over from the party." Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if we have cake kicking around for the next week, despite Erza's ability to eat five times her weight in it.

But the moment I reach the bar, the guild matchmaker descends like a predator scenting fresh meat. Or just Mira scenting new gossip. "So? How did it go last night? Will we be seeing little black-haired babies running around the guild hall soon?"

"Mira…" I huff and roll my eyes. "It's a little soon for that, don't you think?" I definitely think so, especially with the both of us still getting to know each other. Though I'm definitely enjoying that process immensely.

"Maybe, but you didn't deny it!" Mira squeals and her eyes light up with excitement. "So tell me, is it official? He challenged Natsu for you, so that has to mean it's official, right?"

"He didn't challenge Natsu, Mira…" At least, that's not how I would have put what went down between those two. "Natsu got overprotective and Rogue decided that he wasn't taking Natsu shit. And if you hadn't noticed, I did the same thing with his nosy partner." Just with different motivation.

Frosch wiggles over my shoulder and falls right into my arms as he beams brightly at Mira. "Fro loves Cia! Ro does too!"

Well, shit. So much for trying to keep Mira from prying.

As expected, Mira squeals loudly and hops over the bar, only to sit me down between her and the solid wooden counter. Her eyes glitter I ways that should send anyone with a shred of self-preservation running for the hills. At least if they want to keep their questionable sanity intact. "Tell me everything."

There's no way that I'll ever be able to extricate myself from this mess, so I wave the white flag and set Frosch down on the counter beside me. "Alright, but first, I'd like a piece of cake for Frosch. Then I'll tell you whatever you want to know." And maybe, just…maybe, it won't end up being the latest in guild gossip.

Ha, as if hoping for that would actually work. Maybe I should have been more worried about the eyes on the two of us, after all, instead of the noses smelling the fact that our scents are still all twisted up together.

…Fine, let the gossip train begin.

"I'm starting to believe that I was lucky to have your brother, Sting, and Gajeel interrogating me." A pale hand places down a much-needed mug of alcohol net to me as I lay down on the couch. Rogue's smiles twitches with amusement as he sits down beside me. "The She-Devil's interrogation looked painful."

"It was." Honestly, with her interrogation techniques, I think that Mira should be taking jobs that involve espionage and magical fraud, not monster-hunting. "…They're going to assume that we're 'official' now." At least, they will if Mira has anything to say about it. And Mira always has something to say about it.

Rogue is quiet for a minute, then he twirls a lock of my hair through his fingers. "Does that bother you?" He doesn't sound upset at all, merely…curious? And almost hopeful, though I might just be projecting or something.

I don't want to scare him off, but I don't want to lie, either. "It's been a long time since I was last 'officially' dating someone. I've avoided it like the plague for a while and chosen to just focus on taking jobs and excelling at what I do. Before the dragon attack, I hadn't really thought about what I would do if I found someone worth trying again with."

"And now?" There's no judgment in his voice, but I can now clearly hear the seeds of hope beginning to grow.

"And now…I can imagine it. But I don't want you to feel uncomfortable if Mira starts spreading those sorts of rumors about us." I don't want him scared off if it's moving faster than he wants it to.

But despite my minor reservations, he leans down and kisses me with a smile playing about his lips. "Then let her spread whatever rumors she wants, because I don't plan on letting you go."

The quiet yet purposeful declaration sends shivers down my spine as I open my eyes and look up into a warm ruby gaze. Warm and…possessive. A smirk tugs at my lips. "You aren't going to let me go, huh?"

An answering smirk curves his lips in turn. "Definitely not." They're bold words, filled with promises that I hadn't expected to hear. Not now, not yet. But there's not hint of falsehood anywhere to be seen.

I sit up and sidle into his lap, then wrap my arms around his neck. "Alright, then we let the gossip spread however it likes." A weight lifts from my shoulders as his arms wrap around me.

When he kisses me again, my mug goes completely forgotten.