The Dragon's Vessel

The following day after Elizabeth's kidnapping the Weyr household seemed eerily quiet. Natsu was out in the backyard working out, Wendy was at Sherria's. Gajeel had yet to be seen this morning and Kimi wouldn't be waking up for a long time.

Erik plated some toast, eggs and bacon onto a tray and headed upstairs, knocking on Kimi's door where Masumi was resting.

“Come in,” Masumi said quietly, trying not to disturb the peace of the house.

Erik pushed the door open and bought the tray over to her. "I made breakfast, it's not as good as Kimi's cooking but she's going to be asleep for a while," Erik informed Masumi.

“Thank you,” Masumi sat up a little straighter. “You’re not who I was expecting. Kimi said you like to be in solitude so you don’t get overwhelmed. I feel the same, now.”

"Sorry if I disappointed you," Erik unintentionally joked. "People have a lot of thoughts, one on one is fine but if there's a large amount of people it feels like I have a thousand screaming people inside my head," Erik explained, not something he was used to since no one really ever spoke to him about his powers.

Masumi nodded, pretending to understand as she poked at the food on her plate. “I’m not disappointed. Just relieved it’s not somebody... loud.” Masumi turned her face away so Erik couldn’t see how upset she was.

Erik let Masumi turn away, even though he could read her emotions. He decided to push out a feeling of calmness, he didn't usually resort to manipulating someone's feelings but this kind of tiredness he felt from Masumi wasn't one that could be solved with sleep. "You've been through a lot. It's okay to not be okay." He stated softly.

Masumi let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, a sense of serenity washing over her. “I have to get back to my life, but how?”

Erik took a moment to reply, "I would salvage what I could and move somewhere discreet," Gray hadn't been found yet so it was still dangerous for Masumi to be out and about, they needed to find him and sort him out soon. "But focus on getting better first, not just physically but..." Erik let his voice trail off.

“Fat chance of that happening,” Masumi stabbed vehemently at her food, showing more spirit in that one moment than the last week total.

"Humans are pretty resilient creatures, but it's their willpower that makes them that way." He said thoughtfully, some memories surfaced but bringing them up wouldn't do much good for Masumi, not now anyway.

“Yeah, well,” Masumi trailed off, having lost her point. Or had she had a point in the first place?

Erik looked over to the breakfast he had made for Masumi, "I didn't realize my food had been that bad," he joked awkwardly.

“Oh, no, it’s fine! I just...food isn’t a high priority right now,” she tried to explain, embarrassed she’d made Erik think that.

"Right sorry, I was joking. I've been told I'm not funny though so I shouldn't have tried," he gave an awkward laugh.

Masumi put some food in her mouth and smiled gingerly. “S’good,” she praised, sitting back and pushing her plate away. “So, any word on Kimi?”

"Do you remember Kimi mentioning that she sleeps a lot?" Erik asked but didn't really need an answer. "Kimi probably won't be awake for a while... maybe a few days, maybe a bit longer, it's more like a coma but she doesn't like us using that word." He explained.

Masumi’s emotions got the better of her again at his statement, her eyes tearing up at the sentiment. “I think I’d like to rest now, if that’s okay.”

Erik nodded, "yeah, of course." He moved away from the wall he had been leaning on and headed for the door.

“Thank you,” Masumi added quietly as he left.



The sputtering of a small moped pulled up to the front of weyr house. Elizabeth kicked out the kickstand before hopping off her bike. She was dressed in a nice yellow flowery dress with visible bandages that could be seen on her arms, neck and the odd bandage on her face. She breathed out a sigh as she then pulled her bag out from the side bag of the moped. "Here goes nothing. I just hope he's home today." She walked up and gingerly knocked on the door.

Hearing someone at the door a shirtless Gajeel got up from his bed and left his room. "I feel like I drew the short end of the straw being right above the door." He grumbled, looking to see Elizabeth. "Yo?" He yawned into his hand.

Elizabeth was taken aback surprised, "is uh... Natsu home? I've come by to give him something," she asked sheepishly.

Gajeel gave Elizabeth an odd look but moved aside to let her in without actually knowing if Natsu was home or not.

Elizabeth took a few steps inside the house as if her body was on autopilot. "Where can I usually find Natsu?" She asked again as she was giving off a sense of nervousness.

Gajeel shrugged, "his room, fridge, lounge or backyard." He listed before heading upstairs and leaving her alone in their house.

"Oh," Elizabeth muttered as Gajeel left her to her own devices. She decided to wander around the ground floor of the house, "Natsu?" She called, "I brought you some treats?"

Natsu was just heading inside when he was being called. "Elizabeth?" He asked, spotting her in the lounge, "I know Wendy healed you last night but are you sure you should be walking around?" He questioned.

Elizabeth let out a soft laugh. "Ben gave me a few extra painkillers this morning. I'm fine for now," she then sighed. "He doesn't actually know I'm out of the house," she admitted.

Natsu gasped teasingly. "You snuck out? Badass." He stated, beginning to remove his sweaty shirt. "But why'd you sneak out?" He asked, confused at why she was here. He would have snuck out to go eat at an all you can eat buffet.

Elizabeth stuck her tongue at Natsu's teasing reply "I just wanted to bring you some things as a thanks for saving my life last night " She replied glancing away as Natsu took his shirt off. "Just some stuff from the diner I thought you and the other’s might enjoy."



The thunderous sound of a roaring engine approached the house as a sliver Harley drove up the house and parked right next to the moped, someone hopped off and took a piece of paper out of their pockets read it and looked back at the house, "hopefully this is the right place," they removed their helmet allowing their long pink hair to flow in the wind. She shook it out to not get helmet hair and approached the front door.

Gajeel had just gotten to his bedroom door when he heard a new engine and approaching footsteps. "Yeah cool. I guess I'll be the fucking porter today." He growled as he stomped back downstairs and opened the door before the person had even knocked. It took him a moment to register who she was. "You? What do you want?" He snapped, it was the chick that had caused trouble with Elizabeth at the diner. Gajeel wondered if she was here to cause more shit for them.

"Thought I smelt something off," she teased, "I'm here to see Kimi, is she in?" She sounded annoyed that she had to talk to Gajeel but he caught her eyeing him up.



Natsu grinned, "for real? I was just thinking about how starving I am." He patted his toned stomach. "I better wash up first though, I just finished my work out so I'm a bit gross." He stated, heading into the hallway and pausing to stare at the woman at the door, hearing her request. "What do you want with Kimi?!" Natsu's expression quickly twisted into territorial aggression, after all, it was this chick's fault they were ambushed.

Gajeel tensed at Natsu's attitude change, "Kimi won't be around for a while, she's recuperating from three feds. Where's your vessel?" He asked curiously, trying to keep things civil.

Elizabeth rested her bag on the counter before peeking her head out from the kitchen, wondering what all the commotion was about. She caught a glimpse of the customer who had hassled her before ducking back into the kitchen not wanting to get involved.