Pairing: Jellal Fernandes x Erza Scarlet
Rating: E for Everyone
Words: 2366
Erza Scarlet had what one may call a "poker face." In most situations, she held a straight, blank countenance, so that, even if her mind was filled with anything from bloody memories to thoughts of sweet strawberry cakes, no one could tell the difference. Even in her peeks of anger, her expression barely changed, though it may have grown darker.
However, that did not make the requip mage emotionless. What it did cause, was for her emotional outbursts to be something of a spectacle for her friends and teammates.
So when the red head came storming into the guild first thing in the morning, and dashed directly towards Lucy, who sat slumped over on the bar, everyone's head turned. Lucy could hear the feet stomping towards her, and at first assumed it was Natsu, about to scream about the next mission he had picked out. She was too tired for his antics so early in the morning.
But, when the steps closed in, she could hear the tap of thick-heeled boots, and not the brush of sandals scraping against the ground.
The blonde had barely sat up, when Erza slid into the seat next to her, and held up a flier in front of Lucy's face. The red haired woman didn't say a word, but her smile was wide, stretching from cheek to cheek, and her eyes were filled with hopeful stars.
Lucy leapt a bit, surprised by her friend's sudden appearance, but softly took the paper from Erza and gave it a better look. It was a cream colored flier, with images of sweet looking crepes printed all over it. In the center were the words "Grand Opening! Kimi's Crepes! 50% off first weekend only!"
"It opens today." Erza said in a flat voice that did not match the excitement that her expression gave off. She leaned towards Lucy, closing in on her friend with her exuberant visage.
Lucy squinted, barely able to handle how bright Erza was, and gave a soft gulp, before sighing. "I'm sorry, Erza."
Erza's brows dropped, and the stars seemed to fall out of her eyes.
"I spent the rest of the Jewel to cover the inn Natsu and I stayed in on our last mission… more specifically the damages to the inn." She sighed again and ran her hand through her hair, "I need to go on another mission asap so I can afford rent. Maybe next time. Sorry."
The celestial mage handed the flier back to her friend, who shook her head with a soft smile. "No, it's alright, Lucy. I should have asked earlier this week."
Erza turned from Lucy, and watched Natsu dash past her and surprise the blonde himself, before jabbering on about their mission despite Lucy's groaning. Erza gave out a nearly soundless chuckle, before returning to her blank expression, and giving a look around the guild. Going to the grand opening alone was out of the question. She would have no excuse to buy four of them on her own, and if she had someone with her, they could try each other's crepes. She absolutely had to find a partner.
A pair of blue haired heads caught Erza's attention, and with a boost of confidence, Erza strutted over to the table where Juvia and Levy sat across from each other. The solid script mage was leaning forward against the table, staring at her guild mate with an excited expression, and the water mage held her knees up on the seat, holding a clip board in place, where she doodled something with the pencil in her hand.
"Three on each side, right?" Juvia asked an unclear question to Levy. The smaller bluenette gave a nod, before Erza's shadow crawled over the table, and Levy turned her head up to the requip mage. "Oh, hi Erza. What's up?" Little Levy shot a smile at her.
Juvia pulled her clipboard towards her chest and turned her attention to the new arrival with a puzzled smile.
"Hello, you two. I was wondering if you two might be… hungry?" Erza slowly pulled up her flier to the girls' eye level as the sparkle returned to her eyes and she gave a catty smile.
Levy gave a labored chuckle at Erza's expression. "Actually, Juvia is um… making me something. It might take all day. I told her I'd help so…"
Erza tried not to show her disappointment, so instead she turned to curiosity. "Making you something?"
Without hesitation, Juvia turned her clipboard around to show a doodle of a little Gajeel, with notes scribbled all around it. "It is a little Gajeel dolly. Like all of Juvia's Grays."
"N-no! Don't show her!" Levy squealed red cheeks and threw her hands over the drawing. "I just, I thought it would-Juvia's really good at them and I—" Levy stammered words about, trying to find a proper excuse other then shouting 'I'm super in love with Gajeel and miss him when he's not right next to me!'
Erza laughed softly, and folded her flier into one hand, and patted Levy's head with the other. "You two have fun."
The small bluenette looked at her with a flustered expression, and then glared at Juvia, who just giggled and went back to work on her sketch.
Erza continued her exploration of the guild, looking for a companion or her crepe escapade, but found that everyone had plans of his or her own. Mirajane was tied down to the bar for the day because Lisanna had apparently scored a date. Cana was not even present in the guild do to drinking herself stupid in a contest against Bacchus the night before. Gray had no interest in sweets, and Evergreen had plans she was not willing to share the details of but she was "definitely not going anywhere with Elfman, if that's what you're thinking" as she had put it.
Erza pouted, and walked towards the exit of the guild. Maybe she would have to go on her own after all. That didn't seem like a very interesting outing, but she didn't want to miss out on the sale, and she absolutely wanted to try these new sweets.
The red head let out a sigh as she stepped out of the guild's door, before a voice surprised her.
"What could bring the great Titania to sigh in such a way?"
Erza's eyes came flying up from her feet to the masked face of Jellal Fernandes, in disguise as Mytsogan. Erza's cheeks instantly grew rosy at the color of his gold eyes, and her chocolate orbs gave a sparkle like no other. There were so many things she wanted to say, she wanted to berate him for disappearing for so long. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and thank him for returning, but most of all…
"Grand… opening?" Jellal read the flier that was suddenly blocking his view of Erza's sweet face.
Erza pulled the flier down just enough to nod her head a little and shoot her excited gaze at him.
Jellal sighed with a smile. "I see you haven't changed at all." Erza kept her eyes upon him, waiting for a straight answer. He shook his head in defeat. "So where is this place?"
The red head clapped her hands together excitedly, "In Town Square! Let's go!" She wrapped one arm around Jellal's, and dragged the man away from her towards her destination. Jellal tripped over his own feet at first, but met her pace and ran next to the woman as she lead him towards the center of town.
Erza's pace slowed as they made their way through town, and she walked next to Jellal, her hand occasionally brushing against his, but holding herself back from entwining fingers with him. They were both well-known mages, and Jellal being in tabloids over rumors about the two of them would be problematic with his fugitive status.
"It's been so long since you visited." She spoke as they strolled next to each other. "Lisanna has a boyfriend now, but she won't tell us who it is. Elfman and Evergreen are dating, but nobody knows that." By which she meant everyone knew it. "Natsu burned his house down and is living with Lucy, but she doesn't want to talk about it. The cakery across from Fairy Hills moved to another town…" She pouted, and then looked to Jellal when he let out a chuckle. Erza raise an eyebrow at him. "What is so funny?
"It's nothing." He told her, "I just haven't heard you talk this much in a long time. You keep that straight face on all the time. I didn't think you would grow out of it."
"What?" Erza yipped, her cheeks red, "I-I am still steel willed! I'm only talking this much because you're here with…" Her face began to become a shade that rivaled that of her hair. "…with me."
Erza didn't know when she had stopped walking. She didn't remember when she turned on her heels to face Jellal. She couldn't remember the last time she'd found herself staring straight into those golden brown irises, which always looked down at her like she was a fragile angel, and not the steely, unstoppable force she considered herself. But that was the position she found herself in, people walking past, giving them no mind what-so-ever.
Erza's pulse raced when she felt Jellal's fingers graze her cheek. "So, this Erza is only for me?"
Her mind was muddled, she couldn't think of anything to say. She could only imagine her crimsom cheeks, her wide eyes, her wordless expression. This was no good. No good at all! She had to say something.
"Crepes." The word escaped her lips, and Jellal was taken aback. Erza pulled her gaze from the man's eyes and grabbed his hand. "We should hurry, they might close."
Erza reset her blank expression as Jellal stumbled behind her.
Jellal didn't know what to say, as Erza stood in front of the crepe stand that they had ventured out for. It was painted bright pink, with white trim. Its sign was painted in a dark magenta color "Kimi's Crepes", and hung from a white chain in the middle of the stand. But the wooden door was shut over the service window, with a piece of paper taped onto it, reading, "Sold out!"
The red head held her blank countenance, but didn't move. She had made it before they closed, but still didn't make it in time. It was okay. She could still go tomorrow. It wasn't as if she was waiting all week for this day. It wasn't as if her favorite cake shop had shut down he day before her birthday. It wasn't as if this flier showing up at her door the following day was a gift within itself.
No. It was fine. This sort of thing happened. She kept mentally telling herself that, her brown eyes didn't hold a single sparkle as she clenched her fist, and turned around to her companion. "Oh well, I guess there's always… tomorrow." Erza's words trailed off as she found she was alone in Town Square.
Erza fist shook, as her anger began to rise. Oh yeah, real suave Jellal. Run away from the angry girl. She turned back around to the crepe stand that had ignited her fury and glared. "This is your fault! For not having enough crepes! Of course you're going to be busy on opening day!" She shouted, ready to throw blame on anyone other than herself. Heads began to turn to the red head, but she gave no reaction. Instead, she requipped a sword that was nearly as long as she was tall, and raised with a roar. "Why didn't you save some for me?!"
"Erza!" Jellal's voice called from behind her.
"What?!" Erza spun around, and the man ducked, the sword barely shedding a few hairs off the top of his head. He then stepped toe to toe with Erza, and pressed something sweet against her lips.
Erza's grip on her sword loosened, and it disappeared right before it hit the ground. Her eyes lit up as she instinctively bit into the confection he offered her. Jellal laughed a bit, though still sweating from his close call with her sword, and then turned the second half of the treat into his own mouth.
Erza covered her lips with her hands and her brown eyes seemed to glow. "What is this?" She asked.
"There was a cupcake bakery giving out free samples." He pointed to their right to a brightly dressed teenaged girl, holding a plate of mini-cupcakes. "She said that one was strawberry."
Erza leaned in towards the man, their noses almost touching, and stared into his eyes with determination. Jellal could feel his cheeks warm up as her eyes fell to his lips. Erza slowly ran a finger under his lip, and he gulped audibly.
The woman leapt back and licked icing off her finger. "Absolutely delicious." She stated. Jellal blinked, taking a moment to figure out just what had happened.
"Let's go!" She wrapped her hands around one of the blue haired man's. He looked at her with bewilderment, but didn't argue as she began to drag him towards the cupcakery.
Jellal sighed and smiled again. "You really haven't changed, Erza Scarlet."
End
I literally had to stop myself from making that last sentence "This kills the man." I'm sorry and you're welcome.
