Title: The Nakodo's apprentice.
Summary: Keepin' it legal. Sort of.
Notes: My take on a stereotypical plot. I don't really like this one, but who knows? You might. So...tired.../yawns/
Disclaimer: Not mine, except for storyline. Plagiarize and die.
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"So," Lucy slides her glass across the bar to Mirajane, who immediately refills it and pushes it back. "I haven't talked to you in a while, Mira."
Mirajane nods as she hums softly, wiping cups with a worn rag. "Yes, it's been a while, hasn't it?" she agrees. "How have you been, Lucy?"
"Pretty good, actually." Lucy's voice is unusually hoarse. Startled, Mirajane looks up from her polishing and into Lucy's haggard face. She frowns slightly, noting the dark circles under her eyes and the sickly pallor her face has taken on.
"Liar." Erza parks herself on the stool next to Lucy, who turns away with a childish pout on her face. Erza nods to Mirajane, who passes her a mug of her own.
"I am not a liar," mutters Lucy sullenly. "My landlord's just being an-argh!"
Mira presses her slim fingers to her lips, attempting to hold back a smile.
Erza raises her eyebrows as she surveys the younger girl. "What do you mean by that?"
Lucy looks ominously close to tears as she inhales deeply, and begins to ramble. "I get home yesterday, and there's a piece of paper freaking taped to the door. Do you know how un-classy that is? Who does that? Anyway, I have, like, one week to get out, because I didn't have enough money for rent. And I have nowhere to go, because who the hell knows how long scraping together 70,000 jewels is gonna take?"
Silence, during which Lucy sniffs miserably and stares down into her drink, feeling more alone than she has in a while.
So she jumps when she feels a hand clenched on her shoulder, and looks up into the serious face of Erza.
"Lucy, this is what a guild is for," the older girl says firmly. "We help each other out because we'e nakama-practically a family, right?"
Lucy gives a watery chuckle. "Thanks, Erza."
Above her, Mirajane lets out a small gasp, as if she's having an epiphany.
Erza gives Mirajane a curious look. "What is it, Mira?"
But Mirjane shakes her head, because she's been struck with the most brilliant idea ever and oh God why didn't she think of this sooner?
Mirajane is wearing one of the strangest expressions Lucy's seen-a mix of glee and thoughtfulness, laced with an uncharacteristic mischeviousness she's never seen before.
"Natsu!"
Lucy is making desperate eyes at her, and she can't help up let out a gleeful giggle. "Just wait."
The fire mage looks up from his meal, halfway down the bar. "Eh?" Mirajane waves him over, and he's there in less than a second, Happy trailing behind him.
"What is it, Mira?"
Mirajane's smile disappears alarmingly quickly. "Natsu," she booms in a tone she never knew she possessed, "Have you been neglecting your teammate?"
Natsu's terrified whimper is made even funnier by a roll of Happy's eyes. Because that damn cat knows exactly what she's planning.
"What is this I hear," at this point she jerks Lucy into Natsu's face, "about Lucy not being able to pay her rent?"
"How is this his responsibility?" Lucy whisper-pleads, but Mirajane just ignores her.
"His destructive tendencies do cost us most of the reward money on missions," Erza offers helpfully, and Lucy squeaks her protest. There's no winning with these people.
Natsu is still shaking slightly, but there's no terror etched on his face, and where's the fun in that? "I-I'm really sorry, Lucy," he falters. "We can do another mission-?"
"No. Natsu, then the cycle repeats. There's no use in that," Erza says, just as assertively as Mirajane.
Mirajane props her head on her fisted hand, elbow supported by the bar. "You know what? Never mind. Can you just take her in for a little?" Her voice has changed back to her normal one, sweet and subtley persuasive. There's a sunny smile where it should be, becasue too much terror was always a bad thing.
The fire mage looks rather relieved, she decides, before she pushes a protesting Lucy into his chest. She does an internal victory dance at her steadily reddening face.
"Come on, Luce! Let me show you where..." his vocie fades away as he drags a loudly objecting Lucy out of the guild, probably to his apartment. Happy shadows him out, stopping at the door to give Mirajane a look that says he knows everything.
She sighs contentedly, another job well done, before going back to wiping mugs.
"Poor Lucy," Erza mutters sympathetically.
Mirajane nods, happy.
"How do you know these things?" Erza asks, mildly impressed. Because it seems impossible, doesn't it? Guessing at another's feelings. Knowing exactly what was going on inside someone's head.
"What do you mean?" Mirajane asks, innocent as usual. "Lucy just needed a place to stay-"
"-and she could've stayed with me in the girls' dorm," Erza finishes, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
Mirajane simply shrugs. "I guess I didn't think of that."
Erza nods, because she doesn't do feelings and couple-y things and matchmaking-
That's when cold realization washes over her, chilling her like frosty winter breezes.
"That's what you were trying to do."
The corners of her friend's mouth turns down. "What do you mean?" she asks again.
"Lucy likes Natsu as more than a friend. You were matchamking."
"And you could be next," Mirajane says sweetly, patting her arm in what she takes to be a reassuring manner. But she feels strangely nauseous, looking up into Mirajane's glinting eyes.
She wants to tell her don't you dare, but she knows there's no point in trying to stop her. Becasue that girl is a freaking force of nature when she wants to be.
Erza briefly wonders if she had something on Lucy, some sort of blackmail that would force her to just go with it.
She supposes she'll never know.
This doesn't help her dread, and she slowly edges away from Mirajane's bright smile. This guild does things to people, she thinks, before sliding her mug to Mirajane and walking away from the bar at as normal a pace as possible.
Behind her, Mirajane taps her chin thoughtfully, and begins planning.
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