ADL OLD CHAPTERS

59. Stormy Nights

Hey all! First of all, I want to thank you for your patience, I know I've been pretty slow getting these chapters out. I love the story I've got and where I'm taking it but gosh sometimes I just wish it'd write itself.

You may be thinking, "hey, didn't you already publish this chapter?".

Yes, yes I did. But I couldn't make the start of the next chapter work so I went back and reworked this chapter's ending. Hope you all like it!

if you could maybe possibly leave some comments that'd be great. I love reading them even if it's just a reaction to something. It gives me an idea of what y'all want.

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Dinner that was palatable at best. Seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper, it was exceedingly bland and textured like mush. Cold as soon as it was plated and colder still as it rested like lead in their stomachs.

The small gap in the ever-present storm clouds had darkened considerably. Now a black expanse littered with glimmering stars. Dark clouds drifted slowly in the night breeze. The moon, but a waning sliver, the only source of light in the otherwise shadowed town.

The temperature had sunk along with the sun and despite the fire that crackled in the hearth, the cabin in which the Fairy Tail wizards resides was frigid. Drafty and dank, the wind whistled through minute cracks in the windowpane and holes in the walls.

Bickslow, upon realizing that she could produce heat as well as flames, had latched onto y/n like a koala in his search for warmth. And although tensed due to the proximity of one of his hands to her throat and the movements of her own restricted as she lay in his arms, she allowed him to pull her to the ratty couch and cuddle into her for warmth.

His head rested on her shoulder, chin tucked into the crook of her neck as he pulled her close so that her back rested firmly against his chest. Vermillion eyes scanned the pages of the book she held propped on her thighs with little interest. His focus shifted to her hands instead.

Both were scarred from years of fighting, both with weapons and with magic. One of them, uneven and rough, ran across the knuckles of her left hand. It looked relatively new, likely from the Grand Magic Games, though from what specifically he couldn't say. Other scars looked far older, most probably dating back too long before she'd joined Fairy Tail. They varied greatly in size and shape, the colours ranging from a fresh red to a faded near indistinguishable hue.

He noted a scar that ran from the back of her hand between her thumb and index finger to her palm as she turned the page. He caught her hand and traced it absently. She let him do so, fingers of her other hand tapping rhythmically against the book's spine and running down the edge of the pages she had yet to read.

"What's this from?" Bickslow asked in a low voice, as he gently traced the scar.

She glanced at the mark for a split second before returning her gaze to the text. "When I first got my dagger."

He hummed, the sound vibrating through him as he pressed himself closer to her.

The cabin was quiet. Long since accustomed to the din of the guildhall, none of its inhabitants quite used to the silence, but they were enjoying it nonetheless. It was nice to be able to hear oneself think.

Evergreen had claimed the bedroom upstairs as her own and intended to use the neighbouring room to store her bags. However, the room turned out to be worth far more than storage.

The small home library admittedly didn't hold much. The oak desk, buckled under the stack of books placed upon it. The shelves that lined two walls were crooked. The books, albeit old and decrepit, could certainly prove useful.