Chapter 2

"Who?" Gray mumbled, still feeling groggy despite the nearly blinding light that had flooded his bedroom.

And on that note. "Can you close the curtains?"

"Hello, I am Dragion, your personal healthcare companion." The voice repeated, making no move to do as Gray had asked. "I look forward to working with you, Gray Fullbuster."

"Hey," Gray offered a half wave in greeting.

Personal healthcare companion? Really? Who talked like that? Although it had a familiar ring to it.

Great, Erza must have found another home care company money-starved enough to send out personnel. But nurses usually met his requests with a quick response. He peered at the man who had introduced himself as Dragion with some curiosity, keen to analyze this newest challenge.

Now that his eyes could focus properly, Gray could see that Dragion had a slender build, with broad shoulders that reminded him of the swimmers he'd once trained with. He had a head of pink hair that jutted out in messy spikes, and green eyes that seemed overly bright, which struck Gray as odd. His skin looked unnaturally smooth for a man who, come to think of it, looked much too young to work as a nurse. Gray shifted his evaluation to his clothes, a pair of black pants and a red button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up at his elbows rather than the scrubs and uniforms that Gray had become accustomed to.

It all left him unsettled, like he was missing something important. He frowned, not liking this feeling of uncertainty and adding a tone of authority to his voice he ordered, "I said you should close the curtains."

Dragion shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest. "I heard you the first time. If you want them closed so much, I suggest you get up and do it yourself."

That answer was enough for Gray to get up alright, but certainly not to close any damn curtains. He pulled off the covers and stood up, struggling to stay upright as his knees protested the sudden weight he'd placed on them. Once he felt sure they wouldn't fail him, he limped over to Dragion, not caring for the moment that he was completely naked.

Dragion didn't seem bothered by his nudity. In fact, the slight arch of one of his eyebrows made him look downright amused. For the first time Gray could remember, he actually felt self-conscious by the scrutiny of another.

Dragion's eyes glowed, and before Gray could ask what that was about he heard:

"Scan complete. Log entry - January 8, 2018 - 9:05 am - Morning Scan."

Gray blinked. What? That was, uhm, different.

Dragion recited a long list of readings, of which Gray only caught the most basic: temperature, pulse, blood pressure and weight. He wasn't pleased to hear he'd gained twenty pounds since his accident, although he couldn't say he was all that surprised.

Dragion droned on as Gray puzzled over how he'd gotten all that information. He hadn't even touched him, and Gray hadn't noticed him using any device. Who was this guy?

"Results analyzed, baseline acquired," Dragion said, the glow in his eyes dimming.

He peered at Gray with a frown. "The levels of anti-rejection and anti-infection medications in your system are too low. You need to eat so you can take your medicines and boost your levels back to within normal range."

With no warning, he picked Gray up in his arms and walked out of the bedroom.

"Hey, what are you doing? Put me down!"

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there's a problem!" Gray snapped. "I'm naked. I can't just walk around the house like that!"

"Oh? Apologies, I was told that was what you preferred." Dragion set Gray down gently, keeping an arm on him to help him stay balanced.

Though his tone was indeed apologetic, Gray could have sworn he saw a slight curving up at the corner of his mouth. And as much as he wanted to protest, he knew he'd used that gambit too many times to deny it now.

So Dragion thought he'd gotten the best of him, did he? Gray thought as he reentered his bedroom. Well, he'd show him. He might have lost this battle, but Gray would most definitely win the war. He always did.

But first, he needed to talk to Erza to find out more about his "personal healthcare companion."

"Do you require assistance getting dressed?"

"No, I can handle it myself," Gray huffed, moving toward his dresser with great care. It was frustrating how much effort it still took him to get around, but he wasn't about to give Dragion the satisfaction of asking for his help.

Ten minutes later, they were on their way to the kitchen, with Gray insisting on walking on his own so he could show Dragion he didn't need him.

A decision he soon regretted. For all his bluster about being able to take care of himself, Gray had put in more time and effort into chasing away his caregivers than he had into his rehabilitation.

While he took all of his considerable medications, he wasn't all that consistent about when he did it. Physical therapy was something else he'd skimped on, even though he knew he should do it daily. For that reason, he hadn't built up any stamina and the pain in his knees from walking the considerable distance from his room to the kitchen was making him break out in a cold sweat.

"Use these," Dragion said, offering him a pair of crutches that had been in his room.

Gray stared at them, feeling conflicted. He didn't want to show any weakness, but he couldn't deny he was nearing his limit.

"I could also carry you again," Dragion suggested, causing Gray to reach out for the crutches.

There was no way in hell he was about to let Loke see him getting carried around like some kind of princess. He'd never hear the end of it.

Dragion followed him to the kitchen, and though he remained silent, Gray could almost feel the weight of his scrutiny as he hobbled along on his crutches. The kitchen still seemed so far away, but he trudged on, fueled by the fumes of his remaining stubbornness.

He heaved a sigh of relief as he finally entered the kitchen and leaned back against the cool wall tiles for a moment's rest. Loke was already there, and he walked towards him with a smile, holding a stack of dishes he'd removed from the dishwasher.

"Oh, hey Gray, you're up ear-"

That was as far as he got before dropping all the plates in his hands, resulting in a loud crash that resonated in the otherwise quiet room.

"The hell, man?" Gray grumbled, before noting that Loke was staring past him, his mouth agape in a way that made him look like he'd seen a ghost.

"Dragion?"

"Oh. It's you." Dragion said, stopping to study Loke briefly and dismissing him just as quickly. "You should clean that up."

"H-how are you here?" Loke stammered. He hurried to the cabinets, returning with a broom and dustpan. He set about sweeping up the pieces of broken stoneware, his eyes never straying from the floor.

Dragion didn't answer. Instead, he grabbed the crutches out of Gray's hands, setting them against the wall and maneuvering him around the shards of stoneware to a chair in the breakfast nook. Gray was still too tired to put in more than a token of protest.

"I take it you two know each other?" Gray asked, curious to know what had made Loke react that way to seeing Dragion.

Erza rushed into the kitchen before either man could respond to his question. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine. I just dropped a few plates, I'll be happy to replace them."

"Don't be ridiculous, we have plenty more," Erza waved him away and upon seeing Gray in the kitchen turned to Dragion with a beaming smile. "You've got him up and dressed already? Wonderful!"

Dragion nodded, moving to the refrigerator and peering inside while Erza poured herself some coffee and sat across from Gray.

"Will you stop making it sound like I'm a toddler?" Gray groused. "I could have gotten up on my own if I'd wanted to."

"Yes, but you don't want to," Erza replied, peering into his eyes with an expression that made him look away.

What did she want from him? Of course, he didn't want to get up. Why should he? His best friend was dead. He could no longer do the one thing he loved most, and everything hurt. What the hell did he have to look forward to? But that wasn't the type of thing he should ever say to her. Not if he wanted her to go home to Mira.

He struggled to come up with a response, wishing he could just ask her about Dragion now that she was here, but he couldn't just do that in front of the guy. Could he?

Dragion had collected various items from the refrigerator, placing them on the kitchen island and glancing over at Loke, who was still sweeping up the mess he'd made.

"Leonard, can you make Gray-," Dragion said as soon as Loke had put away the broom, but he never got to finish his request.

"Don't call me that!"

"It's your name, isn't it?"

Leonard?

Gray exchanged an amused look with his sister and he filed the information away for later.

"I don't care, call me anything but that."

"Fine." Dragion crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Then how about Cheating Bastard?"

Cheating Bastard? This was getting more interesting by the second.

"Seriously?" Loke glared at Dragion, "You know, it's bad enough he made you look like him. Did he have to make you sound like him too?"

"Who are you talking about? Did you date this guy before Lyon?" Gray blurted, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Why the hell would I date a bucket of bolts?" Loke's voice held nothing but contempt for Dragion, but the man looked completely unfazed by the put down.

Dragion turned to Erza. "I was going to ask the Cheating Bastard to prepare some food for Gray, but that seems unlikely. Could I bother you to make something with these?"

"You know damn well I go by Loke," Loke fumed, but Dragion ignored him, waiting for Erza's response to his request.

"Oh, yes, of course!" Erza joined Dragion at the kitchen island and they quickly became immersed in meal planning.

"You know what? I need to make a phone call," Loke said before storming out of the room.

Well, that was intense.

What the heck did Loke mean by calling Dragion a bucket of bolts? And why had he gotten so upset? Gray couldn't remember Loke ever not getting along with someone. He was pretty much the definition of easygoing. He had to admit that as curious as he was about the whole thing; he was also a little glad. That exchange with Dragion was the most worked up Loke had been since Lyon's death. That was probably a good thing.

Even though Loke was a year ahead of him and Lyon in school, he'd been in the same dorm as them, and he'd hit it off with Lyon fairly quickly. But Gray vaguely remembered there had been some glitch when they'd started dating. He didn't know any of the details, though. Between keeping his grades up and staying on top of his game, most things happening around him had been just noise. But now he wondered if Dragion had been a part of that.

Regardless, if Dragion couldn't get along with Loke, maybe he had nothing to worry about after all.

"Any idea what that was about?" Gray asked his sister as she set a plate with an omelet, toast and cut up fruits in front of him and sat down to watch him eat.

"No, but Dragion is the creation of an engineering student from MIT, perhaps Loke knew him?"

"Creation?" Gray puzzled, "I don't follow."

"Oh, didn't Dragion tell you? He's an Android, part of an experimental program to develop personal healthcare companions. Sounds like that movie, doesn't it? What was it called? We watched it in the media room." Erza tapped her temple with her finger, trying to come up with the name of the movie.

"Big Hero 6," Gray groaned, realizing now why Dragion's introduction had sounded familiar. "He might have mentioned it."

"Isn't it fantastic?" Erza's smile was incredibly smug as she added, "We were so lucky to get him."

"How is that lucky, exactly?" Gray grumbled, starting at Dragion with fresh eyes.

"Oh, I meant for me." Erza winked, ruffling his hair like she had when they were little and making him even more irritated, if that was possible.

Dragion chose that moment to bring over a glass of milk and another with water. He placed them on the table and pushed a button on his arm. A section of his arm opened up, revealing a compartment that was filled with what looked to be all of Gray's meds. Dragion selected several pills before closing it again.

"Here you go," Dragion put the pills next to the water cup and looked down at Gray with a smile that was even more self satisfied than Erza's had been. "Now eat up, Princess. We have a full day ahead of us, starting with the rehabilitation exercises you've obviously been neglecting."

Did he just call me Princess? Oh, hell no! I'm with Loke, this bucket of bolts has to go.

Gray shoveled the omelet into his mouth, paying no attention to the taste, his mind already working away at this new turn of events.