Gajeel took another gulp from his beer as Cana walked past him, tripping over nothing and stumbling to the floor. It was late in the guildhall, only the two of them and Mira left working the bar, and when the demon barmaid looked at him he sighed, finishing his drink and going to pick up the card mage. She mumbled her thanks as he hoisted her up, wrapped her arm around his shoulder and started to make his way out of the guild.
"Come on, Drunkard. Time to go home."
Cana giggled to herself as she stumbled against him, and Gajeel sighed. This was not how he expected to be ending the evening. He wrapped his coat around her shoulders, he didn't want to be responsible for her freezing to death, and walked out into the December air. Why this woman thought that a bra and trousers was suitable winter attire he would never know. She screamed as she stepped outside of the guildhall, and Gajeel looked down to see she had lost her shoes at some point in the night. Sighing to himself again, he picked her up and put her on his back in a piggy back before setting off towards Fairy Hills.
"How the fuck do you lose your shoes, Drunkard?"
She laughed again, resting her cheek against the top of his head. She was so much taller than Levy it was throwing his balance off, but he still managed to distribute both of their weight enough that he could keep moving forward.
"Where's baby blue?"
Her voice slurred against his hair, and Gajeel waved goodbye to his thoughts of a quiet walk home. He jumped her further up his body, and told her what she wanted to know. There was no point in arguing with Cana when she was this drunk, unless you wanted her to start crying on you.
"She's out on a last minute job with her two lapdogs. Hoping to be back tomorrow."
Cana made an odd noise which almost sounded like a sob, and threw both of her arms around his neck. Gajeel stopped for a second as she sobbed again, before groaning that he had been forced to deal with this.
"What now?"
Cana sniffed, and Gajeel hoped that she wasn't getting snot all over his hair. If someone had told a younger him that he would be taking a drunk guildmember home, and asking why she had started to cry, he would have punched that person in the face.
"What if she doesn't make it home for Christmas? What will you do?"
Her voice started to crack, and he could feel tears soaking through his hair and down to his scalp. Great, now he would need a shower when he got home before he could stumble into bed.
"She'll be back. It's only a translation job in the next town over. Why are you so upset about that anyway? What are you planning to do over Christmas?"
If Gajeel had been able to ignore his crying before, that question had been the last straw before the floodgates opened. Boy, she was going to regret this in the morning if she had got to the emotional drunk stages of her drinking.
"I'm going to be drinking, alone. Bacchus is still out on the S Class quest and you know about Gildarts. So, I'm going to be sat in my room drowning my sorrows like I do every year."
Gajeel sighed, finally putting Cana down at the entrance to Fairy Hills. From here on in she was on her own. Even with the excuse of trying to get her home safely, Erza did not allow any men into Fairy Hills and Gajeel was not going to spend the entirety of Christmas in the hospital. Cana's eyes were puffy with tears, and she stumbled against the door frame as Gajeel punched Erza's number into the lacrima in order to get her to come and pick up the card mage. The Requip mage sounded like she had just woken up but assured him she would be down in a few minutes, leaving Gajeel to entertain Cana for a little while longer.
"You know, you can always come over to mine. I'm cooking and I'm sure Levy wouldn't complain."
Cana looked up at him with big, purple eyes and a pout to rival Juvia's. Tears had left stains down her cheeks and she stumbled to sit on one of the chairs in the foyer.
"Are you sure? But you're going to be having a nice romantic Christmas and then there will be me and I'll ruin it and…"
Her sentence was cut off by more sobs as she broke down into tears again, and Gajeel had to use the soft voice he had reserved for Juvia and Levy in the few instances she got stupidly drunk.
"Jet and Droy will be with us anyway. If anything you'll be doing me a favour and keeping me sane."
Cana stopped crying, and Gajeel stumbled back as she slammed into the front of his torso, pulling him into a hug. The Dragon Slayer awkwardly wrapped his arms around her back and patted it. He thanked Erza immensely when she appeared to peel the drunk girl off him, before turning around and heading for home. He had another person to plan for, it seemed.
A/N - This fic is dedicated solely to my wonderful Beta Gajeelswoman. She's wonderful and grand and never gets annoyed with me spamming her for ideas.
Yes, I realise this is a day late. That's because I don't know when the 12 days of Christmas starts.