A/N: Hey guys! I cannot explain how excited and thankful I am that you all are reading my story! I forgot to mention with the first chapter that this is my first fanfiction, so please be gentle. *nervous laughter*
I apologize if it seems like things are moving kind of slow with this story, I just have a lot planned with it so I really wanted to capture the blossoming of everyone's relationships. Please let me know if there is anything I need to fix or if you have any suggestions!
Chapter 2
Lucy took her time walking to the guild from her apartment. Though she had thought about her lunch with Sting the entire trip home and well into the night, she still couldn't shake the feeling that maybe there was more to lunch than just… lunch. She felt giddy, like someone had just given her a million jewel. Well, Sting had technically been responsible for her being given the 500,000-jewel reward for the job, so that was close enough, wasn't it? After all, she had just finished paying off the next 6 months' worth of rent to her landlady. She rolled her eyes at herself as she approached the new Fairy Tail guild hall. She needed to pull herself together. Lucy took one more deep breath as she composed herself and pushed the oversized wooden doors open before her.
"Welcome back, Lucy!" Mirajane called across the large room from the bar. Everyone turned to look her way and shout their greetings before going back to their own business. Lucy waved back and walked over to the bar to sit with Wendy.
"How did your job go?" Wendy turned in her seat to look at Lucy. Her brown eyes widened a little as she noticed the scratches all over Lucy's arms. "Your arms are all messed up! Let me heal them for you!"
"Yeah, how was your job? For being so scratched up, you look like someone just gave you a million jewel!" Mira chuckled.
Damn it. There was no point in hiding details if Mirajane was involved. "Oh, it's nothing!" Lucy stated nonchalantly. "Yesterday just had an unexpected twist to it while I was in Crocus." She shifted back into her seat as Wendy finished healing her arms.
"Ooh! Please tell us about it!" Mira's eyes were sparkling with curiosity. She handed Lucy a plate of the pancakes being served for breakfast that morning before she grabbed two more plates for her and Wendy and dragged the blonde celestial wizard over to the nearest table. Gajeel and Levy were seated on the other end of the table, but seemed preoccupied as Gajeel was heard groaning profanities.
Lucy told them all about her day, from how she had left before the sun had even come up that morning to Sting helping her with her client. They kept getting interrupted by Gajeel yelling at Levy about something being too detailed, but she made sure not to leave out any important details. Mira even told Lucy all about how the Mamiko family was actually extremely wealthy for owning such a small restaurant. Their daughter, Haruka, was supposed to be married off to a wealthy nobleman, which was why the reward for the job was so high.
Lucy had been skeptical at first to share her story with anybody, but when the two girls sitting in front of her began squealing, she realized that it was a huge relief to get the story off her chest.
Just as she finished telling Mira and Wendy that she had invited Sting to lunch with her, Gajeel's eyebrows shot up. This is the perfect opportunity. "Ya don't say, bunny girl?" He interrupted Levy mid-sentence and scooted over toward Lucy. "So, ya went and had yourself a little lunch date with Sting Eucliffe, did ya?"
Upon hearing this, Levy's head snapped in their direction, her mouth hung open. "No way, Lu!" She stood up, abandoning the papers that were strewn in front of her to come sit with them.
Lucy looked at Gajeel, bewildered. Since when had he ever cared about this kind of stuff? But when she noticed the pleading look in his eyes as he looked from her back to Levy, she understood. Word had it from Mira that Levy had been experimenting with a new hobby lately: writing erotic novels. And since Jet and Droy quite literally couldn't handle it without their noses bleeding, Gajeel was the one stuck with having to help her out. Lucky for her, Levy had said she wouldn't let Lucy read any of her work until she perfected it.
Feeling bad for the iron dragon slayer, Lucy repeated her story, to which Gajeel looked as though he had been granted salvation from the depths of hell. She knew he didn't actually care, but the poor man had bags under his eyes as if he had been sleep deprived for days. Levy's stories must really be haunting him. Just as she finished this thought, Lucy noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Juvia was picking up Levy's papers from the table. Gajeel must have noticed too, because his eyes became so wide that they looked as if they were going to pop out of their sockets.
"Oh… Oh my." Juvia's face turned such a deep, new shade of red that everyone stopped what they were doing and sat in silence as they waited for her reaction. They got more than they bargained for, however, when Gray walked up next to Juvia and took the papers out of her hand, reading them as he asked what she was so embarrassed about.
Everyone was biting their nails in anticipation as Gray continued to read the crumpled papers. He hadn't turned any shade of red yet, but what was even better was that he was sweating. Gray Fullbuster, the perpetually cold ice-make mage of Fairy Tail, was sweating. This was golden.
But the moment was ruined as soon as Natsu and Happy burst through the doors of the guild hall. "Yo, Luce! You're back!"
As Natsu hurried over to the table where everyone was gathered, he too noticed one sweating Gray Fullbuster as well as a… scarlet? No, maybe cherry?-colored Juvia. Recognizing the source of the awkward atmosphere as the papers clutched in Gray's hands, Natsu snatched them away.
"What in the hell is this?!" He yelled at the ice wizard. "I always knew you were a perv, but this is pushing it, Gray!"
As soon as Natsu had started yelling, everyone at the table groaned and immediately stood up to leave. The moment was over.
"You really are a flame brain!" Gray shot back, butting his head against Natsu's.
Lucy closed her eyes and sighed as the fire dragon slayer threw the first fist. Once her nerves had calmed, she looked over to the young blue-haired girl standing to her side. "Well, now's as good a time as ever. You ready to go?"
Wendy's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Of course, let's do this!"
"Why were we the ones that ended up having to do the traveling? Why couldn't Fairy Tail have come to us?" Rogue grumbled, kicking a loose pebble as they walked. "Frosch is still recovering."
Sting groaned as he slowly dragged his hands down his face for dramatic effect. "From what exactly? Frosch just lost a damn frog suit, it's not like she was attacked by a dog."
"Dogs only attack cats." Frosch whispered into the dark robes of the shadow dragon slayer.
"You are a cat." Sting stated offhandedly.
"Oh god, why?" Lector cried out as he fell on his knees and whimpered.
"I… I'm… I'm a cat?" Frosch lifted her head to look up at Rogue before she buried her head back into his chest and started crying.
Rogue Cheney was livid. "It was a traumatic emotional experience!" He spat out, magic energy radiating off of him in waves. He tightened his hold on Frosch, rubbing his hand consolingly across the back of her pink frog suit.
Sting inwardly cursed himself as he used his fingers to pinch between the corners of his eyes. They were almost there. He wouldn't have to deal with Rogue's constant mood swings when they arrived. Relief coursed through his body at the thought.
As soon as his eyes caught sight of the Fairy Tail guild hall, Sting was skipping with excitement until they reached the wooden doors of the strongest guild in Fiore. As he threw the doors open, he caught himself looking for Lucy.
Rogue noticed how the blonde dragon slayer's shoulders slumped in disappointment as he scanned the crowd. Does he even realize his behavior? Rogue was snapped out of his thought's as the Fairies' guild master spoke.
"Boys! Come, sit. I'm afraid that I cannot brief you all until Erza, Lucy, and Wendy return for the evening. Until then, make yourself at home!" Makarov shouted, taking a swig out of his stein.
Rogue put Frosch down and sighed, patting Sting on the back and looking around for Natsu and Gajeel.
"Well if it isn't the two Sabertooth pretty boys." Gajeel chimed.
Sting and Rogue stood there and blinked a few times before they looked from Gajeel to each other. "Does he look a little different to you?" Sting whispered to Rogue.
"Yeah, he seems to have bags under his eyes." Rogue whispered back. "If I were to guess, I would say that he is suffering from sleep deprivation."
"Quit your yapping over there and come keep Levy company while I go grab us drinks." Gajeel snapped as he got up from the table he was sitting at.
The two Sabertooth dragon slayers nodded in acknowledgement. Rogue took the seat adjacent to the small blue-haired mage with the glasses while Sting ran off as soon as he located a familiar head of pink hair.
"Here, I could actually use another opinion!" Levy squealed as she stuck a piece of paper in front of Rogue's face.
Confused, he carefully took the paper from her hands and cleared his throat before he read.
"Now, I know what you're thinking. It needs more detail, right?" Levy asked, laying her hand on his shoulder. He flinched upon the contact, which Levy took as a sign to continue. "Gajeel has read every one I have written, and each time he says that it's way too detailed. So I had to cut out so much and now it feels too short." She took the paper back from him as she sat back down and rested her chin on her fist as if in thought. "But anyways, what'd you think?" She finally asked, not noticing that Rogue had stopped breathing and sat in shock upon reading the first sentence.
"Yo Salamander! Go snap shadow-boy out of his trance!" Gajeel yelled from across the room, his voice holding a tinge of worry.
Natsu stopped mid-sentence in his conversation with Sting. He was confused until he looked over to see Rogue, who looked as if his soul had floated out of his body. "Ah man," Natsu sighed. He motioned for Sting to follow him.
"Damn, Levy. How many guys are you planning on taking out with that stuff?" Natsu asked as they approached the blue solid script mage.
"What do you mean 'taking out'?" She asked, her eyes revealing her insecurity.
NO, no, no. Gajeel thought as he slammed the tray of drinks down onto the able. Dammit, what was I thinking sending Salamander of all people?! He's too dense for this kind of stuff.
"What Salamander means is that your writing is so good, it might give guys the wrong idea." Gajeel rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously as he prayed that this would work.
"What?" Natsu looked at the iron slayer incredulously. "No that's not what I meant at all, you know I meant—"
"Lulu!" Levy wailed as three figures entered the guild hall.
As Sting was tending to Rogue's limp body, he took note of the condition the three girls were in. Lucy and Erza looked as though they had gotten pretty roughed up, but the little sky dragon slayer was unscathed. He attempted to wonder more on the subject, until he felt an aura of pure anger approaching. Erza, Wendy, and Lucy were stalking over to the table where Levy was crying. Lucy looked murderous.
"What in the hell is going on here?!" Lucy shouted, grabbing Natsu and Gajeel by the collar.
"Lucy-kick their asses!" Levy shouted, wiping her tears.
It didn't take Lucy long to put two and two together. As she observed the scene more closely, she noticed the Sabertooth guild master trying to awaken an unconscious Rogue. On the table where Rogue had been sitting was a piece of paper with Levy's handwriting. It was obvious that Levy had shown the Sabertooth mage her newest work, and that Natsu said something he shouldn't have. Lucy released Gajeel, but pulled the fire dragon slayer closer.
"You idiot, Natsu!" Lucy glared at him. "Do you know how hard it is to be a writer and show people your new work for the first time? If you don't like it, there's plenty of ways for you to say it without making them cry! It's called constructive criticism!" She shouted.
Natsu gulped as he saw hellfire ignite in Lucy's normally peaceful golden eyes. He was about to get Lucy-kicked. He exhaled a short prayer as he accepted his fate.
"Enough, my children!" Makarov shouted from the top of the bar. Seriously, when would they learn? "We have guests, let us show them manners, dammit!"
Lucy released Natsu and looked over to Sting and a now-conscious Rogue cowering behind Gajeel who was in turn hiding behind Levy. "Hmph." She said as she walked over to give Levy a hug.
"Gather 'round: Natsu, Happy, Erza, Gray, Lucy, Lily, Gajeel, Levy, and Sabertooth mages. I must discuss a job with you." Makarov situated himself more comfortably atop the bar as the summoned wizards grouped around him. "We have gotten a request from the Mayor of Gallowstown."
"The coastal town out west?" Erza asked. "What do they want from us?" Her interest was piqued as she thought of sun tanning.
"They have had problems with a large serpent monster wreaking havoc on their town." Makarov explained. "Their local guild has fought endlessly to defeat it, but to no avail. They have requested all of our dragon slayers as well as any others we might know." He nodded his head in the direction of Sting and Rogue, indicating why they were there. "Wendy and Carla had already accepted another job by the time I had gotten this request so they will be unable to join you." He added.
The group of mages bowed their heads in acknowledgement as Makarov finished.
"We shall leave immediately." Erza stepped forward. "The people of Gallowstown need not be waiting any longer. I shall go fetch us two carriages."
"Sting!" Lector shouted as he jumped into the light dragon slayer's arms. "A job with Fairy Tail's finest! This is going to be a blast!" He shouted, grinning madly and throwing a thumbs up.
"Yeah, it is. Fairy Tail's finest indeed." Sting agreed, smirking as his blue eyes wandered to a certain celestial wizard.
It's me again. I just wanted to say thanks again for sticking with me, everybody! I promise to update as soon as I am able. Classes are really starting to pick up with the end of the semester, but I will try my best to get Chapter 3 out within the next week and a half! :3