I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters. However, I do own the eccentric brain that spawns some of these crazy ideas.
Gajeel watched with barely contained excitement as Gray and Natsu argued once again over Mavis-knew-what. It was common knowledge that if the two so much as breathed on one another that a brawl would break out. It was just a matter of time before Gajeel was dragged into it.
It was one of the things he loved about this crazy ass guild. They could all be bashing chairs over the others' heads and still feel that soul-deep bond of friendship.
"Speak of the devil…" Gajeel muttered to himself with a chuckle and a head shake.
A chair flew across the room from the force of one of Natsu's kicks. It rocketed overhead in a great arc before crashing into Elfman's huge upper back. The big man stilled before yelling something about "Real men fight face-to-face" or some crazy rant similar to such. Activating his beast arm, he rushed into the flurry with a manly battle cry.
Wakaba and Macao, not to be outdone by the youthful stallions of the guild, lurched into combat, their clumsy entrance rocking a table on which a profound Vijeeter was gracefully dancing. He tumbled to the floor not a moment later. After a body smashed through her sake barrel, Cana, surprisingly, joined the fight.
Now, Gajeel didn't join a fight unless it started with him and Natsu or if he somehow got dragged into it. He didn't want people to think that -
"Hey, bolts-for-brains!" The pink-haired chimney dweller shouted after he went sailing off Elfman's back, towards Gajeel, and saw that the Iron Dragon Slayer had not yet contributed to the mayhem.
Gajeel didn't even have time to duck before a fiery fist collided with his cheek. They both crashed into the table behind him, sending wooden splinters flying as the poor piece of furniture was smashed to bits. A menacing growl rumbled up from Gajeel's chest as he shoved a smirking Natsu off him. He pounced up from the debris, latched onto the signature scarf, and slammed the pink-haired kid right into a wall.
Natsu, of course, recovered like a champ and fended off an incoming guild member with a flurry of punches and ducks.
Seeing that Gajeel was now fair game to any and all who wished to brawl, a couple others began to advance onto the Iron Dragon Slayer.
With all of the punching and kicking, lunging and ducking, tossing and being tossed, Gajeel was transported, slowly but surely, into the epicenter of the commotion. Gray was adjacent to him, and they leveled one another with an evaluating glance. They both spotted the other's approaching assailant and dove to each other's aid. Now they found themselves back-to-back.
Gajeel could feel the cold draft emanating from the man behind him. They moved in time with one another in a small circle so both could view in full the havoc being wreaked around them.
Gajeel turned his head to see Natsu rushing towards them and noticed Gray doing the same.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," the half-naked man said lowly, nudging the mage behind him with an elbow.
A chuckle scraped past Gajeel's lips, which were turning up into a toothy, wolfish grin. "Agreed, Frosty."
In tandem, they lunged toward the oncoming Fire Dragon Slayer. Natsu blocked Gray's kick, only to be struck by Gajeel's steely uppercut. He reeled backwards before baring his teeth in a sneer and engulfing his fists with flames. The solo fighter sprung upon the forward most opponent, Gajeel, in hopes of boxing him in the cheek once again.
The iron-studded one ducked, and just as the angry exhaust pipe's fist flew over his head - nearly singeing his hair, by the way - Gajeel rammed into his stomach with a firm shoulder. On a ragged exhale, Natsu's body went limp, and he slumped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Gajeel and Gray gave a brief fistbump before another boisterous set of their guildmates bore down upon them. Much to the surprise of others - and themselves - they became an excellent duo, fighting in a smooth gestalt that decimated their opponents, even if this was mostly just tussling for fun.
Alas, the horseplay could not last forever, as Erza stepped into the guild hall with a menacing aura and a mighty, blank expression.
Everyone stilled, even Natsu, who had dragged himself from the ground and was now mid-punch.
"I leave for a moment, and THIS is what I come back to?!" her voice was firmed with her fury, the fury of Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Since Makarov and others had appellated her so, why would she be designated with babysitting duty? A vast majority of her guildmates were adults, for the love of all that was righteous and holy! She had enough to deal with without this being added to her plate as well.
Still as statues, everyone sweated with trepidation. They all sensed the building tension in the scarlet-haired woman, and those guilty of brawling weren't the only ones feeling the apprehension: the people that sat in the untouched portions of the guild hall were shaking like dry leaves hanging onto dead branches.
Gajeel barely held back the need to grind his teeth nervously. It was a bad habit of his, one that he was trying to cut back on, but moments like these made it difficult to keep himself in check. He was scared as hell; he knew what the Requip mage was capable of, and it made him tremble in horror at the thought of all that power unleashed upon him.
Just as that thought entered his consciousness, a flash of light blinded all who stood in the guild hall.
We're fucked.
For once, Fairy Tail was nearly silent. In terms of speaking, that is. A large amount of people were working in silence in the guild hall to repair the damages made to furniture and walls. Every single sliver of wood had to be returned to its corresponding table or chair, by decree of Erza Scarlet.
The people who were not involved in the fight were punished as well; they were first reprimanded for allowing a brawl of such size to occur, and then told to serve food or drink to those who were cleaning.
Gajeel found himself glaring jealously, yet gratefully, at Laki. While she had not taken part in the commotion, she was quick to aid her friends in the repairs of the wooden furniture. The others then piled what they believed to be debris from chairs or tables in their respective sections, and the Wood-Make mage stopped by to patch things all together.
Gajeel bit back his groan and wished that there was a table left to bash his head on. If there was one thing Gajeel hated most of all, it would be cleaning. Not that he isn't a neat guy. Hell, his house was one of the most immaculate places one could ever encounter. He just made sure things were put in the right place the very first time.
Despite his internal views on the matter, he obediently swept the little slivers of furniture into a pokey pile.
A hiss of pain, one used to keep a louder reaction hidden from the world, emitted from behind him, and he curiously glanced over his shoulder. Gray, clad in only his signature black boxers - Gajeel genuinely wondered how many pairs of them the younger man had in his possession - had his nose wrinkled as he lifted up his foot to inspect the sole of it. The coppery, bittersweet scent of blood was unmistakable to the Dragon Slayer's sensitive nose.
Broom in hand, the burlier man ventured closer. He found himself resisting a wince when the ice mage yanked a shard of wood from the dripping sore. A quietly seethed curse drifted up to his pierced ears.
"Y'know, Frosty, if you actually wore some damn shoes, crap like this wouldn't happen to ya," he teased with a chortle.
Gray's midnight blue eyes rolled. "Tell that to my fucking foot."
The taller of the two snorted to himself as the other flopped to the ground to magic an icy bandage for his injured appendage. "Don't tell me you're out of commission now."
The dark eyes peered at the mages bustling about the guild, "Not with Erza around." The pierced one turned to glance at the scarlet warrioress as well. "She's been crazy tense lately, and she hasn't been willing to tell us what's going on."
"I'd be pretty damn tense if I had that psychopath on my team, too," Gajeel admitted, leveling a glare to the rivaling Dragon Slayer.
"While I agree entirely, that isn't exactly the problem." Gray chuckled before standing. "By the way, teaming up with you was a brilliant idea. I don't know why we haven't thought of it sooner. No one quite annoys Natsu like the two of us," the ice mage joked as he extended a hand (the one not streaked with blood) for a shake.
The other gladly accepted with a grin. It may not seem so, but Gajeel really enjoyed finding people he could actually interact with. It was a side of him that was suffocated in Phantom Lord, and then was able to roam more freely when the members of Fairy Tail began to trust him. In no way, shape or form was he a social butterfly, but he wasn't a total introvert, either. As most humans are, Gajeel was complicated when it came to interactions.
"C'mon, we both know it's all his fault for this whole thing, anyways," he quipped with a mischievous glint in his ruby irises.
"Totally." A sly smirk curved Gray's lips. "If it wasn't for him…" He pointedly looked down at his injured foot.
"Fuck'n soot sniffer," Gajeel growled.
They shared a conspiratory, scheming look as the mental cogs began to tick in synchronization.
"Boys! Get back to work!" Both jumped at the shout directed towards them, and rushed back to cleaning.
Seems like they've both found a new prank buddy!
No romance… yet.
