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A fierce morning sun shone down on the harsh earth. It glared just over the horizon, at the right angle that blinded anyone unfortunate enough to be charged with looking in that direction. Chirping of birds was yet to be heard at this morning hour, most living creatures choosing this time for a few last moments of dozing.
A pallid raven slipped into the day, soundlessly slithering around a door and into the open world. The door clicked back into frame behind him, his hands still on the knob with white knuckles. He leaned his back against the smooth wood, dropping his head back. Sunlight reached the contours of his exposed neck. His vivid eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell steadily. His shoulders tensed on a deep breath. He could fell his legs threatening to give in and his head spun. His back slid down the door, his feet scraping across gravel as he collapsed in place. He rested his head on his knee trying to regain his shredded composure. He could feel his face flush in shame and humiliation as he tried to force out thoughts of what he'd done.
He felt disgusting.
Moments passed and he was left feeling void of reason. He pushed himself up, hearing the gravel underfoot once more. More birds had arisen to the day now, but not enough to wake the sleeping dragon from its den. The raven kept his head down as he sauntered away, least he have to bare the weight of facing the day.
…
"Near noon and the guild is still empty,"
Lucy sighed as she dropped her cheek into her hand. Her chocolate eyes roamed over the knocked over tables and scattered chairs thrown about the guild. The potent smell of alcohol wafted through the air, making her scrunch her nose in distaste.
"The guild was always filled with heavy drinkers."
The celestial mage slid her eyes over to the white haired barmaid. Even following senseless merriment long into the night the model was still present bright and early the next day. She stood behind the well-used bar, cleaning out a mug with a ratty cloth that had seen better days.
"Heavy drinkers or not I still have rent to pay." The blonde groaned and dropped her head in her arms. "That loudmouth always complains when I go on missions without him but hasn't even bothered to show up yet!"
Mira chuckled at the female mage before turning her attention back to a set of glasses. Her eyes flickered up briefly from a smudge on the surface to the heavy set of double doors in the front before dropping back down. There was a clanking of metal and the doors closed.
A statuesque scarlet glided into the room. Lucy perked up at seeing one of her team members enter. The blonde gave a cheery wave as an indicator for the knight to head over. Erza stood among the other females, surveying the scene.
"Where are Natsu and Gray?"
"They haven't shown up yet." Lucy replied nonchalantly. She wasn't in the mood to protect those two from Titania anymore. "At this rate we'll never get the job done."
Erza slid into the bench across from the celestial mage. The scarlet let her eyes narrow on the guild door. Clear impatience was etched on her fine features as she waited for it to swing open. "If those two are late for a last minute fight I'll have their hides."
"I think those two were going at it last night." The scarlet and blonde turned their head towards the barmaid. Mira was thoughtfully tapping her finger against her lips. "I think it started with Gray deciding to have a drinking rematch with Cana after all this time…then Natsu joined to try to beat him. Of course Cana won hands down and those two ended up…well let's just say tipsy was and understatement. Then they stumbled off somewhere, I think for a fist fight." Blank stares met the white haired she-devil as she finished her story. Lucy's eyebrow twitched when she wondered why the barmaid didn't tell her earlier. Mira gave a lighthearted smile. "But I'm sure they were just acting like friends the whole night."
Erza let her fist slam on the table. Lucy shivered as she heard a low growl come from the knight. It was one thing to keep Erza waiting; it was another to disregard her orders. The blonde felt a dash of pity for the two males and the beginnings of a wish that she would have picked a different job that didn't require them to leave so early.
Lucy breathed out a sigh of relief when she caught a blob of pink outside the front windows. By the time the dragon slayer made his entrance the blonde was already waving, her peppiness countering the fuming knight. The fire mage grinned back, revealing a row of pointy teeth. The holder mage could see hints of dark circles under his eyes (the most distinct sign she'd ever seen of a hangover on him). His hair was still messy from bed but otherwise he was just as cheerful.
Erza disregarded all of this. The fire mage stopped in his tracks at seeing the redhead glaring daggers at him, realization slowly dawning on his face. If dragons could be skinned, Natsu would be a trophy right now.
"You're late."
Those two words were enough for the tanned mage to slip into a pale form. The guild was silent minus the sound of a rag squeaking against glass as the two stared at each other. Finally the scarlet turned away from him, turning back to her regular composure. Natsu breathed in relief and relaxed. Lucy scooted over on the bench, letting Natsu slide in next to her.
"You can spend a day polishing my armor for this stunt."
Natsu slammed his forehead against the table. There was never such a thing as easy punishment with Erza.
"One down, one to go," Lucy muttered. She casually drummed her fingers against the wooden surface of the table. She wasn't one for being prompt but even the damn cat wasn't here yet (she couldn't picture why he wasn't with the dragon slayer to begin with). Not to mention the job description included more than they thought there originally was. This was the last time she'll let Natsu accept a job without first reading the description. One whole week of working, at least two of those days would be on train roundtrip, some payback towards the fire mage. "Where the heck is he?"
Natsu stiffened beside her, still keeping his head down where his face couldn't be seen. The action didn't go unnoticed by the knight. Erza's warm eyes became tightened into slits directed at the fire mage. "Natsu, if you knocked him out in a fight…"
The dragon slayer remained silent. The blonde's eyes widened at the thought. "You didn't, did you? Geez, and you just left him there? Where the hell is-"
"I don't know where he is!"
Lucy was more than taken aback. Natsu's voice was more than a sudden yell, unexpected didn't begin to cover it. The fire in his usually playful eyes had turned onto the verge of menacing. The scarlet slammed her hands on the table and poised in an offensive stance. Mira stopped her cleaning to bluntly stare at him. It wasn't often they'd seen the dragon layer turn the tables without warning, and never on them.
Natsu slowly moved back from them, his intimidating aura didn't leave though. There pairs of eyes watched him as he stood up and moved away, heading towards the door. Lucy couldn't help note that the dark around his eyes made him look more tired than before.
"I'm going to look for Happy."
The three female mages continued watching his turned back as he left.
…
Gray ran his fingers through his wet hair. Water droplets fell from the ends of the strands and splashed onto his cheeks, trailing down to his neck. Occasionally his fingers would get tangled and he'd have to pull at the knots for a while. He stared at his reflection in the foggy bathroom mirror. His dark eyes didn't hold any energy in them, instead they showed off a dullness he never really knew he had. His mouth was a small line, neither smile nor frown. Just void of emotion.
He felt sluggish and unresponsive and he couldn't snap out of it fast enough. Most of the previous night was a fast blur streaked across his mind. Not enough of it though. His throat was raw from throwing up all morning from the alcohol and his skin had become red under him practically tearing it off in efforts to get rid of miscellaneous smells.
He numbly made his way to his closet and pulled on the first thing he saw. He buttoned up his shirt to his neck. He didn't feel like having his clothes fly from his body anymore. He pulled the rest of his attire on, letting his white trench coat hang off of his body like a curtain. He ignored his growling stomach as he passed by his kitchen; he didn't think he could handle anything right now.
He stepped out into the noon sun. A bell went off in the back of his head as he realized the time. He didn't feel the need to hurry, though, he didn't care to. He could feel the heat of spring teetering on the edge of summer. The sun began drying his dark hair, evaporating the cold drops into nothingness.
He really hated the heat.
…
Natsu stared down at the blue feline contently munching on the recently caught fish. Happy's sharp incisors sliced into the scales before forming mouthfuls into smiles between bites. The dragon slayer huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Even following all his attempts to cool his emotions early were flops. It seems every being in the damn world was happy today except for him.
The blonde and scarlet hadn't moved from the spot he'd left them at. They had large smiles on their faces and high-pitched laughs often rung from their direction. More guild members had filed in since this morning. Most were milling about; others were in groups chatting aimlessly. His eyes narrowed when another member walked in. Their raven hair spiked down and held a shine to it. Pale skin looked whiter than normal. They uncharacteristically kept their head down. Natsu was tempted to rolls his eyes at that. Like he wouldn't notice when he got here.
"It's about damn time you've showed up."
Gray glanced at him out of the corner of his navy eyes then acted like the pinkette never spoke. Natsu felt his mouth twitch in irritation and he subconsciously tightened his fist. The ice mage didn't respond, he just moved over to where to rest of their team was. Natsu growled deep in his throat, so this was how the ice mage wanted to play it.
Erza glanced over at the raven. "Train leaves in twenty minutes."
Gray muttered an apology under his breath for being late and didn't say more. Lucy looked up at him. It wasn't every day the ice mage was this reticent. She was expecting clever word play to get out of what the knight had in store for him.
The two females pushed themselves up, brushing their skirts down as they stood. They grazed past the two males, annoyance still on their visages. Natsu glared at the raven following after them, not so much as sparing a flicker of acknowledgment towards him. The pinkette flipped the end of his scarf around his neck, the rim of the fabric worked to hide the livid expression spreading across his face. The blue Exceed flew after the rest of the group. The feline folded his wings and came to a landing on Gray's shoulders. The raven lifted a hand and ruffled the soft fur affectionately. Natsu's coal eyes sharpened into choleric orbs. Tender gestures always came from the ice mage naturally like that and were given to everyone, everyone but him.
He really hated that cold personality.
So this is the beginnings of a brand new storyline, because obviously I wasn't slow enough on updating that adding another work to update just seemed like a swell idea. Obviously from the description one of the subject matters is going to be more than a little weird but I figured why not. Plus, who doesn't love having a cute family.
