Yet another prompt request from momusponosandmoros!

Prompt: 'I found you on the roof of my house passed out with a black eye holding a fire extinguisher' AU.

Decided to make it "generic holiday with fireworks" instead of any specific one. Because there's actually a good number of them.

Gotta thank nerdfightersunshine for helping me out with this one!

FOLKS I ENDED UP REDOING THIS CHAPTER. It's more or less the same, I just changed a couple of things. I did this because I remembered some things from my ROTC days, and in anticipation of making this multi-chaptered.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.


Mard Geer rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. Sky alighting with brilliant colour again, Mard then gripped his steering wheel and braced for impact. He was not disappointed, for a second later the booms of exploding pyrotechnics buffeted his car, and set off other cars' alarms down the street.

Normally, he was all for people celebrating holidays. He didn't bother to for the most part, but he wasn't going to begrudge other people their fun. …Actually, no. He did. But there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Especially with the obnoxious creation that was fireworks. Mard hated them with a passion he rarely bestowed upon anything else. He couldn't understand why Jackal adored them so much. Fireworks were technically not illegal. However, the whole point of holidays was to celebrate the day of. Why the hell were people being so gung-ho about this when the specified day wasn't even until tomorrow?!

Meaning he was going to have to suffer through at least one more night of this.

Also, it wasn't even completely dark out yet. Why the fuck were they setting them off so fucking early?

Joy.

Spotting his driveway, he pulled up and parked his car. Reverberating sound from the fireworks was visibly rattling his windows. Resigning himself to a couple of sleepless nights – thankfully he was off of work for the holiday – Mard turned off his vehicle. Maybe he could take something to make him pass out? He considered the option, rubbing his forehead to ease his headache. Climbing out of his car, he slammed the door (with more force than strictly necessary) and locked it.

"Sir! Excuse me!"

Mard paused, certain that he'd heard a voice. It was hard to tell over the sound of the pyrotechnics going off, though. He shrugged. It was probably just one of his neighbors celebrating.

"Excuse me, sir!" it came again, a little more clearly.

Glancing around, Mard tried to discern where the voice had come from, but he saw no one.

"Up here!"

Dread settled in his stomach, as the only 'up' was the roof of his house. 'Oh, no. NO. Just… no. This had better not be Jackal's idea of a joke.' Despite his internal protests, he tilted his head to peer up at the person calling to him in the twilight.

A white-haired woman was sitting on his roof. Holding a fire extinguisher, and grinning weakly at him. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "I know this looks really weird, and you probably have a ton of questions… which I'll answer, I swear! But… can you help me get down from here? My… my ladder fell…"

Mard just stood there for a long moment, staring in incredulity.

"Um… hello?" the woman asked, concerned that the man wasn't moving. "Help? Sir? Please?"

Another firework burst above their heads, and the woman flinched violently.

Snapping out of his stupor, Mard cleared his throat. "Where is your ladder, ma'am?"

"That way!" she pointed, trying to cover her ears and retain her grip on the fire extinguisher at the same time.

Heading to the side of his house, Mard located the ladder and brought it around to the front so she wouldn't have to scramble around on his rooftop more than necessary. Setting it up, he waved for her to come down.

"Hold on a minute," she pled, holding out the fire extinguisher. "Can you catch this first?"

Mard wondered how she'd managed to ascend the ladder in the first place with the bulky object within her possession, but he shrugged it off. A concern that could be addressed after she was off of his roof. "Certainly."

Catching it once she dropped it, Mard placed it on the ground and took up position at the bottom of the ladder. "I'll steady it for you," he explained.

Grateful, she began to climb down. Politely, Mard looked away while she descended.

Hopping off once she reached solid ground again, she wobbled. Mard threw out his arm, gripping her shoulder to steady her.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he replied, releasing her. "Now… care to explain why you were on my roof? With a fire extinguisher?" Then his eyes narrowed, noticing something that had escaped him earlier with the distance and dim light. "…You have a black eye. Why." It was not a question.

"I t-tripped with the fire extinguisher," she explained hurriedly, her face visibly flushing even with the darkening sky, "and gave it to myself!"

He didn't… quite believe that. Mard stared at her for a long moment. "And why were you upon my roof with said object in the first place?"

"I-I saw one of the fireworks land up there, and… I thought I'd put it out!"

Again, he didn't entirely buy that.

Light blossomed above their heads, multi-coloured sparks cascading towards the ground. A moment later, a wall of sound rolled into them.

Car alarms again went off down the street, but it was the terror that shone in the woman's eyes, her great flinch, and trembling form that set off alarms in Mard's mind.

"Come inside, and I'll get you some ice for that eye," he offered. "Then I'll give you some earplugs, and hot tea. After which, you can explain to me the real reason you were up on the roof."

Biting her lip, she shakily nodded. "Okay, sir. I'm Strauss, by the way. …Mirajane." She raised her hand and pressed her palm to her forehead, frowning. "Mirajane Strauss," she introduced herself, dropping her hand and following Mard up the short stairs to his front door.

"Mard Geer."


They spent the long, long night in the kitchen, talking. But not aloud, through writing upon a pad of paper and passing it back and forth. The earplugs and chamomile tea had worked wonders on Mirajane's nerves. She did not end up leaving Mard's house until the sun had already begun to rise.

"Mirajane," Mard stopped her before she could leave. "Are you certain you don't want me to drive you back?"

She shook her head. "I recognize this street – I'm not too far from home, actually. It would be a waste to drive me. And besides…" Sheepish, Mirajane's eyes flicked away. "I don't… I'm not… I'm not good with cars, anymore. They're too… confined."

Mard nodded, understanding. Holding out a slip of paper, he gestured for her to take it. "Here; this is my number. Call anytime you need anything." He looked her straight in the eye. "And I do mean anything."

She took the offered not with a small smile. "Is it… Is it alright if I come back sometime, sir?"

Raising an eyebrow, Mard nodded.

"Like… tonight, maybe?"

"Of course you may," he replied smoothly.

Stepping forward, in a move he completely did not expect, she wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, again. For everything. I really, really appreciate it."

He gave her an awkward pat on the back. "You are welcome."

Once she released him, she stood back. Schooling her features into a serene mask, she then gave him a brief salute that he returned.

Mard watched as she cut the salute and pivoted smartly. Her footsteps were rhythmic as she walked away, a specific cadence that Mard had heard before. A stiffness to her spine was clear, as she held herself upright, with her chin lifted.

Oh yes, he was familiar with all of this.

He hadn't always been an English professor, after all.


Friendly reminder that fireworks can set off PTSD.

Respect, people. Respect.

Making this multi-chaptered, now!

Let me know what you think of this revised first chapter.