"Meeeeerrrrrrrllllllliiiiiiinnnnnn~"

Your voice rang out happily as you hopped into her 'wizard-ing hut,' as you had aptly named it. Meliodas, Diane, and, obviously, Merlin all turned to look in your direction. Three eyebrows were raised, one belonging to the Gluttonous Sin, the other two belonging to your- now small- giantess friend. Meliodas chuckled to himself.

"Woah, what happened in here?" You asked, looking at all of the magical items, spilled potions, and open books that lay strewn across the floor. It seemed as though a whirlwind had appeared in the room, then left without a trace.

"Merlin got excited," Meliodas said, without any context and a wide grin. Upon seeing your surprised expression, the woman scoffed, rolling her eyes. With a wave of her hand, the witch reorganized and cleaned everything on the floor as if nothing had happened. The items all returned to their designated places, and it seemed almost cleaner than it usually was.

"That's one way to word it..." she huffed to herself, then turned back to you. "Shouldn't you be resting? You were quite worked up earlier."

"Nope! I'm all good now!" You beamed, earning doubtful glances from both of the girls. You rolled your eyes and smiled, much more genuinely and reassuring, "Seriously. I'm good. I was taken by surprise, but I'm back to myself again."

After a few moments of silence, where both the women were staring at her with piercing daggers, Diane let out comical tears, running toward you with her arms open wide. Your eyes got wider, but before you could dodge out of the way, she engulfed you in her arms, lifting you off the ground and cracking a few of your ribs.

"You're so stronggggggg," she cried, squeezing tighter. You coughed lightly, blood spurting out and over the brunette. "I love you (y/nnnnnnnn), never leave meeeeeeeee!"

"Yeah, yeah," you wheezed, but Diane hardly noticed it. She was immensely proud and ridiculously impressed at how fast you could pick yourself up. Just- what- maybe forty minutes ago, you were crying your eyes out and trying to be strong as you went through your heart wrenching past. Her best friend truly was the best. Keep in mind, Diane has a tendency to... blow certain things out of proportion. "Can you lemme go now? I'm dyin' over here..."

"Oh, yeah! Sorry..." she exclaimed, letting you go and backing away sheepishly. A demon marking appeared around your eye, the small swirl, which latched onto your eyebrow, landing in a star-like symbol at the corner of your eye. It almost seemed part of your skin, latching onto where your broken bones were and healing them, small cracks echoing from your form.

Everyone watched intently as you healed yourself, but they could find no traces of discomfort- no chink in your revived armor or positivity. You sighed when all your bones cracked back into place, the uncomfortable (and ever-so-slightly painful) sensation of shattered and misplaced bones now gone. It was strange- to all of them: how you could go from so sad to your normal, carefree, positive self in a matter of a couple hours.

"So, anyway," you began, looking over to Merlin. "I need a quick fa-"

"Before you do that!" Meliodas piped up, interrupting you. "You and I need to talk."

You raised an eyebrow at the short man, Merlin mimicking your gaze. Diane looked curiously over at the man. He grinned cheekily.

"Aww, cmon guys, it's only weird if you make it weird!"

He walked towards you, pulling you alongside him as he made his way out of Merlin's magical storehouse. The woman eyed the door as the two of you exited, knowing that the Captain was going to be asking the questions they so desperately wanted the answers to- namely the ones concerning your mental state and it's drastic changes.

When you were a good distance away from the building, Meliodas stopped, looking up at you, now much more serious than before. For a while, he just stared at you, eyebrows slightly furrowed and lips in a tight, yet still somehow loose, line. A nervous bead of sweat formed on the back of your neck as you avoided his gaze.

"Did'ya need something, or...?" You asked, unsure of what the man's intentions were. There was a moment of silence, which felt more like an eternity of discomfort, before he spoke.

"You know this isn't normal."

"What, needing a favor, or sweating because your captain is staring you down?" You joked nervously, but his gaze didn't falter and his demeanor didn't shift. The air around the two of you was still thick and heavy with seriousness, something you really didn't want.

After all the shit that's happened today, can I please just have a couple minutes of happy-time? You thought, exasperated with the serious aura of everything in your life. You needed a drink. Possibly a couple cakes too.

"Don't joke around this, you know what I mean," he responded, still staring, eyes boring into your very soul (or lack thereof) it seemed.

"I told you, I'm fine," you insisted, letting the fake, nervous smile fade. It was replaced by a tired, pleading frown.

"How can you be fine? I'm not fine," he pressed.

"I've given up!" You blurted, finally done with all this questioning bullshit as you threw your hands up in defeat. "I tried to care, I really did... but all that did was make life worse! So I've decided I'm giving up! I don't care anymore! I don't care about Ban, I don't care about the stupid Commandments, I don't care anymore." You sighed loudly, your voice lowering, "I just want to be happy, man..."

There was a silence, where Meliodas just stared at you, his expression not changing in the slightest while his bright green irises plunged into your mind.

Finally, you decided to speak again, not wanting to deal with his silence.

"You're right, Meli, I'm not fine- but I'm trying. How can anyone be fine after everything I- no, we- have been through? But I'm trying so, so, so hard to be happy," you offered him a wide smile, "I know there's judgment, but this is the only way I can do that. I'll be there when I'm needed, don't worry. I'll still fight and everything."

Meliodas broke into a wide, unexpected, and unusually genuine smile, reaching up and ruffling your hair. You pouted playfully, smacking his hand away and trying to fix the (already irritating) mess that you call hair.

"I just needed to make sure," he grinned cheekily, "Can't have my best fighter out on 'not-caring leave'!"

"Asshole," you grinned back, flicking him in the forehead. He darted forward, wrapping his arm around your upper torso and legs around your thighs, face shoved straight into you chest.

"Besides! I'd miss looking at these!" His voice was muffled by your chest, but you could still understand him all the same.

A loud grow escaped your throat as you knees him upward, then punched him all the way back to where Merlin's stateroom was. Huffing quietly, you brushed a small strand of blonde hair from your chest, mumbling 'pervert' to yourself, among some other, more explicit names.

As you stomped back to where the others were, Diane helped Meliodas from the rubble of the brick wall. He brushed himself off and beamed at the two woman, one of which was giving him an imposing, almost threatening state, demanding information as though it would keep her alive.

Meliodas chuckled and flashed Merlin a thumbs up, "She's good. Trust me."

Merlin sighed in relief, smiling a small, genuine smile (more to herself than anyone else) as she watched you walk over the rubble and into the room. You shot a glare over at the Captain, who simply grinned in response, before looking back at Merlin with a smile.

"Now, if I won't be interrupted again," you mumbled, the spoke louder. "I need you to do me a small favor, Merlin." When she nodded in response, you continued.

"Can you teleport me to Ravens real quick?"

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