Celestial Heart (A Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Chapter 17: Team Zodiac

Loke's POV

Candor was settling in surprisingly well, despite the initial distrust he garnered among the mages. But with Winter backing him up, Master decided it wouldn't cause any harm to give him a trial run as a mage of Fairy Tail. I couldn't say I was particularly pleased to have him with us (he did try to have Winter kill me, after all) but I knew how much it meant to Winter to allow Candor another chance at a good life, and I wouldn't  want to take that away from her.

Speaking of, Winter was out of commission for a while after our job in Somnia (for which we were payed very little, much to our chagrin). It wasn't that her wounds were that severe, but she'd drained herself of magic to a dangerous extent, and Master said if she didn't rest for a minimum of a week, she would only worsen her condition, to the point where she might not be able to take on any more jobs. 

We were entering day thirteen of her "imprisonment" when I walked up to her (and Lucy's) front door. A few days ago, Lucy, Gray, Natsu and Erza had gone on another job, something that just irked Winter to no end. Once again, she was forbidden from accompanying her favorite mage on a job while her sister (who didn't even understand how badass and freaking awesome Erza Scarlet was) went in her stead.

In any case, Lucy had asked me to check up on Winter every once in a while, to make sure she was properly resting and the like. And so here I was, fumbling for the spare key Lucy had given me (winking as she did so...) and trying to open the sisters' door as quietly as possible. The lights were off, as per usual, as Winter had taken to sleeping away the majority of the day while on bedrest and didn't much like the artificial sun getting in her way.

I shut the door behind me, wincing at the sharp click of the lock resetting, and began threading my way through the perpetual mess that blanketed the girls' carpet. Winter told me it was completely Lucy's fault, that she in no way contributed to turning their apartment into a labyrinth of toppled boxes and forgotten books.

I told her she needed to work on her lying skills.

I knocked lightly on the door to Winter's room; no response. She was a ridiculously deep sleeper, so I wasn't surprised. This is how she'd greeted me every time I'd checked in. So, unperturbed, I turned the handle and pushed open the door, a soft greeting already on my lips:

"Hey, Winter..."

Only, it wasn't just Winter I was greeting today.

There she was, curled up rather adorably in her tangle of blankets, a few pillows tossed to the floor, the only remaining one held greedily to her chest. And then there was Gray, lying beside her, one arm looped around her waist, face buried in her mane of hair.

Shirtless.

(Alright, that part wasn't surprising, but it made a muscle in my jaw tick uncontrollably nonetheless)

I must have shifted my weight unconsciously (probably trying to keep my balance so I refrained from tipping over in shock) because a creak rippled through the air, and Winter blinked open her eyes. She - realizing she was trapped in the Ice-Make Mage's arms - sighed, dislodging the bangs that had fallen over her eyes, and gently elbowed his side, causing him to stir. "Dude, off, now," she grumbled, uselessly kicking backwards in hopes of shoving him away from her. 

The only thing I could do was blink.

"Oh, it's morning." Gray sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes, trying to stifle a yawn that dropped his jaw and stretched the muscles across his bare chest taut. 

"No shit, Ice Prince," Winter sighed. "Now go home. I still have a few hours of sleep before Loke comes-- Oh. Hey Loke." She smiled, just like usual, catching sight of me, frozen in the doorway. Even exhausted and bathed in incredulity, her smile made my heart ache.