Birds of a Feather
If Cana was being honest, it'd been coming for a long time. From the initial shock of it, the teasing, the jokes, the booze. A lot of booze.
Maybe the whole thing had started that night after the Grand Magic Games. Bacchus had just swaggered in and challenged her to a drinking competition.
And she'd lost.
Or perhaps it was later.
Frowning, Cana glared into the barrel of ale that she had clenched in her arms. Despite her massive intake of the beverage, she barely felt it as she tried to think back to when the first signs had started to appear.
The bar door slammed open as an angry brunette stormed in. "I want a rematch!"
"Eh?" The man she addressed, lazily turned. It took a second for him to comprehend the scantily clad Fairy in front of him. The alcohol in his system didn't help. "Rematch?"
Cana ground her teeth. The idiot was acting as if he hadn't drunk her under the table and then relieved her of her...pride. "Yeah! I want another drinking match. I was already drunk last time."
The Drunk Falcon's face split into a huge boisterous grin and soon several large barrels of ale were placed by his table and Cana sat fuming across from him. "So what do I get when I win this time?"
Cana tightened her grip on the mug. She whipped a long strand of hair behind her ear and simply raised the drink to her lips, easily downing it. It didn't take long for her to feel its effects. "Whatever you want, I'm not going to lose again."
"Well, in that case how about. . . ?" Bacchus mirrored her action and then leaned across the table, whispering something in her ear.
Cana wasn't one to react easily but a heavy blush lit up her face from his muttered words and he sat back with a lecherous smile. The female Mage quickly regained her composure though, soon slamming two large tankards to the top of the table. "Bring it."
"We have a challenge then." Bachus laughed as he matched the two tankards.
It was quiet for the following few minutes as the other bar goers watched in shocked awe. Then the bets started, the onlookers arguing over who would remain after the massive intake of beverages.
Then the banter began.
"What...can't handle your booze, little puppy?" A slight spur accompanied Cana's words.
"I'm just...warming up, pixie." The Drunk Falcon seemed to had lived up to the 'Drunk' part of his title by this point.
Then came the inebriated induced flirting.
"You can *hic* sure...sure hold your booze. Normally, *hic* pretty girls can't drink...like that..." Barrels lay littered around Bavhus and he swayed in his seat. "You're *hic* wild..."
Cana was leaning on another liquid less barrel at the other side of the table, struggling a bit to stay conscious. "Riiiiiight back at ya, muscles. Hehe."
"Hahahhahaha, I got it. Muscles." Bacchus descended into raucous laughter, not sure why he found it so funny.
"Do you?" Cana slurred, pausing in her next slurp. Her eyelids fluttered, as if not sure he really got it. "Muscles...cuz you've got a lot oooof really hot muscles. . .maybe you should wear a shirt." She frowned. No. Then that'd hide his muscles. Then who'd get the cute nickname?
"Hehe, maybe you shoooould wear more too?" Bacchus countered, sloshing drink everywhere. Some part of him realized that he (nor Cana) had been this drunk in a long time. And both their intellects seemed to have taken a beating from it.
Not that they seemed to care.
"Waaaaait," Bacchus continued, thinking hard. "If I'm Muscles then shouldn't you be...?"
What Cana should be called was never spoken as Bacchus collapsed, out cold on the floor before finishing. The Card Magic Mage threw her arms up in victory, made a victorious yell (that came out a slightly manic giggle) and then collapsed as well.
The few onlookers that remained (most had lost interest or left earlier when the contest proved to be a lengthy endeavor) roared their approval and collected their money from one another.
As the bar closed an hour later, the owner carefully set them outside on the street. They would be safe, he figured, in the well patrolled street until the awoke.
However, the place Cana awoke was not the street. Or her apartment. Nor the guild hall.
She shot up on the couch she was on, immediately regretting it as she felt a pain shoot through her head. Backlash from the alcohol last night.
Last night...
Cana frowned, attempting to recreate the events of the previous night. Then blushed. Then scowled. Then smirked. Then panicked once more wondering where she was.
She quickly fumbled for her purse, drawing a card. The door to the small living room she was in opened and she prepared to launch it at-
Bacchus?
What the heck was he doing here?
The Cuatro Cereberus Mage barely gave the card a glance as he handed Cana a steaming mug. "Here, drink this. It'll help with the hangover."
"Where...?" Was all she managed, accepting the beverage. She was to stunned and disoriented to do anything else. So she just drank the beverage. It tasted oddly of oranges and chocolate, yet still pleasant.
"We're in my arpartment. You were still out cold when I woke so I thought it'd be better if you slept on a couch opposed to the street." Bacchus shrugged, sitting next to Cana and nursing an identical beverage.
"Oh. Nothing else...?"
"Nope."
"Oh."
"Sooo...how do you feel?" Bacchus asked awkwardly, trying to break the ice.
"Like I got his by a MagiMobile," Cana grumbled, holing her head with one hand and holding her drink with the other. As she drank Bacchus' beverage, her eyes widened. "Hey, that actually helps."
"Hehe, yeah. You can't be the Drunk Falcon and put up with hangovers every morning," Bacchus laughed, leaning against the couch. The action caused Cana to realize for the first time that Bacchus was in a plain shirt and pants, opposed to his usual getup.
He looked a bit uncomfortable when she pointed it out.
"Well, I'm not sure why actually. I remember starting the drinking contest and all but I can't remember all of last night. But for some reason, I had the insatiable urge to wear a shirt this morning..."
Cana giggled, remembering that piece of last night. Then stopped herself. She didn't giggle(ITAL), dang it!
"What?" The normally rowdy Mage looked befuddled. "What's funny."
"Nothing, nothing." She manages, still grinning though. She had to change the topic and fast. "Seriously though, Bacchus, thanks for the save."
"I guess you owe me one now, he?" A suggestive wink.
"No." Cana deadpanned.
"I was just gonna ask ya to be a drinking buddy, jeez." Bacchus put his hands in the air, like he'd been wronged. His smile gave away his guilt though. "I don't think anyone's been able to match me before."
"Ditto, though I'm not sure you can keep up." Cana grinned, offering a handshake to the Mage sitting next to her.
"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," He grinned, shaking on it.
"Oh, and I believe you have something of mine?" She added lightly.
"Heheheheheh..."
"I want it back." Cana grinned, an evil glint shining in her eyes.
And that was how it began. And it was a scene that would be repeated many times in the future.
They would meet in the evening, drink through the night, and then Cana would wake up at Bacchus' apartment where they'd suffer through hangovers together. Then they'd laugh and part ways, both heading to their guilds.
Soon, the ritual became as natural as breathing.
Soon, both seemed to look forward to the meeting nights. Though neither ever would admit that it could possibly be because of the company, not the booze.
Eventually, it became two nights a week instead of just one.
Cana walked into the guild hall, a whistle on her lips. Despite her fading headache, she was unnaturally chipper.
"Good morning, Cana." Mirajane greeted her happily as she plopped down at her spot at the bar. "You seem happy this morning. You want the usual?"
"Actually, could I just have some juice?"
One could have heard a quill drop in the Guild Hall.
"You want juice?" Even Mira was thrown off and Cana looked around the guild.
Her glare was enough to dissuade the guild and they all descended into an awkward shuffle of their previous activities.
"Yes, Mira, I would like some juice," She sighed, her good mood rapidly dissipating.
"No problem," Mira said, recovering and setting a glass in front of Cana. She gratefully accepted, taking a sip.
"Are you okay?" Mira asked, concerned. Lucy had also made her way over, probably having sensing Cana's mood swing, and taken the seat next to her.
"I'm fine," The brunette grumbled, downing the juice and slamming it down, as if challenging Mirajane to refill it. "What gave you any other idea?"
"Well, you've been acting strangely lately. . ." Mira pointed out sweetly.
"Like how?" She'd been fine lately. Nothing odd going on. Certainly nothing worthy of concern. If anything, she'd been in a better mood lately. Though she wasn't sure why, honestly.
"Well, you've been up and disappearing lately. You vanish for an entire nights and don't show up until late the next day," Lucy pointed out, shrugging as if maybe that wasn't cause for concern. "And then you've been cutting back a little on booze. Which is good but..."
"I get it, I get it," Cana sighed in defeat, wishing the stool had a back so she could slump in her chair. "You guys are concerned I'm getting into something bad. I'm not, promise."
"That's all you can say after making us all worry?" Lucy huffed. "You should've seen Gildarts. I thought he was going to accidentally blow up the guild."
Cana winced involuntarily. Gildarts was so overprotective that it was almost humorous. But she hasn't meant to worry him. She blew out, deflating as she sighed. "I've just been meeting up to drink with a friend. Hardly anything to worry over."
Mirajane's posture changed instantly. She propped her head on her hands and stared at Caba with puppy dog eyes. "Ooooooh, is it a guy friend?"
"Cana, have you been holding out on us?" Lucy teased before a thought occurred to her. "Wait, it isn't-"
"Bacchus?!" Mira and Lucy nearly shouted in unison from surprise.
"It's not like that," The Card Mage snapped, knowing those twos thought processes. "He's just a drinking buddy. Cuz no one else can keep pace and all."
"But he took your-!" Mirajane sputtered. After Elman's fight with the Drunk Falcon, she didnt exactly feel fondly about him.
"I got it back," Cana flushed. Bacchus had actually blushed when she'd asked. When he was sober, he was surprisingly more courteous and a bit less wild.
"Totally a thing," Lucy nodded, as Mira simply looked a mixture of about to embrace her matchmaking habits and half mortified. The former seemed to be winning.
"Not a thing." Cana sighed, really tempting changing from juice to booze at this point. Then she remembered something. Bacchus had asked if they could meet up sooner tonight. He said that he wanted to apologize over dinner. She swore. Violently. She'd meant to ask to borrow one of Lucy's dresses but now she couldn't do that without cementing their (wrong) ideas.
"Uh, Earthland to Cana? You still in there?"
"Crap," She planted her face in the crook of her elbows on the bar top. "Lucy, can I ask a favor?"
The night started well enough. They were both sober. Both excited for the date. Not that either admitted that it was. Bacchus had dressed up in a suit that seemed to be several sizes to small and several sizes to wide. Cana suspected that he lacked the formal wear so he had stolen a guildmates.
Not that she had room to talk.
"-And then the lacrima blew up and turned everything in a mile radius bright pink!" Bacchus laughed hysterically as he finished his story. Though, perhaps a bit to loud for the 'fancy' establishment they were in was used to.
Cana laughed lightly, half at the story and half from the glare of the pother tenants. "I can't believe that Eve is a prankster."
"Oh, he denies but the entire guild knows it was him," Bacchus shook his head. The fact that he was still sober still astounding the both of them.
Though then he instinctively took a swig of his flask and from that point, it wasn't long till they were drunk. And had to move to a pub.
"Next rounds on me!"
"Freakin' S-class Mage, rubbing how much you get for jobs into others faces."
"And what a pretty face it is."
They were both used to the blatant casual flirting by now.
"I know, I'm the full package, right?" Cana snorted sarcastically.
"I might settle for you," Bacchus commented, throwing back his drink and barely wincing when Cana slugged him. "Ah, that was a compliment."
"That was not a compliment. It barely qualified as a drunken pass," Came the retort, it's speaker not even looking up from her drink.
"Oh." Another drunken laugh. "What about this?"
Cana looked up as Bacchus' lips collided briefly with her own before leaving. She blinked slowly before cutting off his laugh by reuniting their lips in another searing kiss.
Then her brain kicked in. Her stool was launched backwards by her standing rapidly. The bar resounded loudly as her hand collided with Bacchus' face, knocking him over.
Promptly storming out of the bar, emotions bubbling inside her.
And that was how she got to this point. It'd been almost two weeks since that incident. She was honestly not sure why she had reacted so violently. Probably because he had just up and kissed her.
Definitely not because she actually liked him and that for whatever reason the drunken kiss stirred emotions she didn't want to admit to.
"Gah," She grumbled, hair splaying out as she rested her head on the bar counter. "I hate my life."
"Do you ever shut up? You're starting to tick me off more than Natsu's fighting me every second," Laxus grumbled next to her. "What happened to the quiet drunk Cana?"
"Laxus. Be polite." Mira threatened lightly. "Cana, what's wrong?"
"Yeah. You've not been very manly lately!" Elfman chipped in.
"Is this supposed to help?" Cana grumbled. "Because it's not. I just want quiet drinking time." Though, she hadn't actually touched a drink today.
"With Bacchus?" Mira added.
"With Bacchus." Cana agreed before sitting strait up. "No, not with Bacchus! I don't want anything to do with that man! I just want to be left alone. I swear, if I get one more 'apology booze package' in the mail from him, I'll-"
"Then do something."
"What?"
"If it bothers you that much," Laxus sighed, as if the entire situation was beneath him. "Stop moping and do something about it."
"Oh? Maybe I will!" Cana stated, storming out of the guild hall. That sounded like a good plan. Go to the idiot, slap him again for good measure and tell him to screw off.
"Cana?"
"What do you want?!" The angry drunk snapped instinctively before looking at the speaker. "What the heck are you doing in Magnolia, Bacchus?!"
"I actually came to apologize," The Drunk Falcon said, unusually cowed. She'd never seen him seem so defeated before. No stench of booze, no cacophony of laughter, no rude comments. "I was drunk and, well, you know how I am when I'm drunk."
"You're apologizing again?" Cana stared. Jeez, he really lived up to the puppy name. He was like a lost puppy in that moment. Dang it, she was supposed to be mad.
"Yeah. We cool?" His cocky smile returned hesitantly.
"I'll expect a lot of booze."
"Hehe, that's my Cana."
"Your Cana?" Her anger seemed to dissipate completely at hearing that. She crossed her arms and sighed dramatically though. A perfect plan popped into her mind at that moment accompanied by an evil smile.
"Well, if that's case, you're going to have to meet my father."
Author's Note; So here's my Valentine's Day one shot. It's a day late but, hey, whatever. National Singles Awareness Day. Anyway, it was so originally going to be a crack one but I got the suggestion for this pairing and went with it. So, thanks to my Beta for reading this through fist before I was posting it. I hope you enjoyed this, Baldore out!