PLAN A: ALCOHOL
"Mira, I really don't think this is a good idea," Lucy piped doubtfully, watching from afar with the white haired barmaid.
Mira giggled. "There's nothing to worry about Lucy. Everything will work out fine in the end," she tried reassuring with a small smile.
The blonde was still not convinced. "But alcohol?" She asked skeptically, eyeing the spiked drinks in Mira's hands warily.
"It's the only way you'll get them to confess. Knowing Gray, whenever he gets drunk he starts spurting out his deepest secrets," Cana added, chugging down another barrel of beer.
The brunette had decided to join the both of them in their quest of matchmaking Gray and Erza – though Lucy was still reluctant in doing so – mainly because she was sick of seeing Gray act like a whiny, depressed loser. It turned out that Lucy wasn't the only one Gray went to mope to, with Cana being the person who was forced to give him advice. She wanted to get him with Erza already so that she could have some more drinking time since he always made it a habit of interrupting.
"But doesn't Erza become rather scary when she gets drunk?" Lucy retorted, remembering that one time when Erza had just one drop of liquor before turning into a bull that had seen red, threatening everyone she saw with a sword and throwing bottles at their heads for rebelling.
A suspicious looking smirk made its way onto Cana's face, causing the blonde to eye the girl rather warily, assuming that whatever she said next would not be something good. And she happened to be right when the card mage added, "I put a calming potion in her drink instead of alcohol, so don't worry your pretty little face."
"A calming potion?" She almost exclaimed out loud before Cana clamped a palm over the girl's mouth.
Letting go, she placed a finger on her lips. "Shh, there's no need to be so loud. I don't get why you're reacting so much. The calming potion isn't going to do any harm to her. It's just going to calm her down so that Gray can drunkenly confess to her and she won't overreact. You think I don't know how scary Erza can be when she's drunk?" Cana explained, Mira nodding along in agreement.
"You see Lucy, it's already part of the plan," she added, showing Lucy the Plan A file. Written inside with a neat scrawl, the words 'alcohol' and 'calming potion' stood out to her. Lucy handed back the file with an eyebrow raised.
"You mean, you actually planned all this and it wasn't just some last minute thing? How long ago did you even make these?" She questioned with bubbling curiosity. To think that Mira would be able to create all these with all the happenings going on lately in the guild. It was preposterous to think she would even have the time.
Mira flashed her a brilliant smile. "I made them the day Cana told me Gray's fortune when Erza walked into the guild."
Her brows furrowed. "And how long ago was that?"
When Mira started silently counting with her fingers, she just knew she was going to say something that would make her possibly collapse in disbelief. "Hmm, about eight to nine years ago, including the seven years we lost on Tenrou Island," she answered, bright smile still in tact.
"But, I started thinking about getting them together around eleven years ago, as revenge on Erza. I wanted to put her with someone she disliked but then a few years later, I began to realise how cute they actually looked together and so I started creating these matchmaking plans," Mira added.
Lucy's jaw dropped in disbelief as she felt her legs suddenly grow weak. Eleven years? Without the seven years lost, it would've meant four years ago which even so, was just as bad. "Seriously Mira? You've already had them planned even before I joined the guild?"
She nodded, not sensing the problem. "You joining the guild seemed to strengthen my plans when you four started teaming up."
As she was about to make another incredulous comment, Cana intervened by pointing to the direction of the entrance. Erza and Gray had taken a mission together with Wendy and Carla and had returned just in time for the plan to finally begin. "They're here. You better get back to the bar Mira," the card mage advised.
Mira nodded before bringing the two drinks with her to the bar, hiding them with the other glasses on the shelf. She plastered another saccharine smile on her face as she saw the ice mage and the requip mage head into her direction. After knowing them for so long, she already knew of their habits. Each time the two returned from a mission, they would always head straight for the bar where she would immediately serve them their specific drinks. Erza would always be served a slice of strawberry cheesecake and a milkshake to suit her sweet tooth whilst Gray would be satisfied with a cold drink, most preferably lemonade or an iced coffee. Having used these details to her advantage, Mira was able to dissolve the transparent alcohol and calming potions within their specified drinks, successfully hiding any suspicious behaviour.
As expected, Gray and Erza were already seated at the bar counter, expectant looks on their faces. Without even asking, Mira took the two drinks and handed the pair their respective orders as she pretended to clean some already dry glasses whilst keeping a close watch on the two. The barmaid had to restrain herself from letting out a squeal of some sort when she noticed the two picking up their glasses. Come on you two, just a little closer, she urged silently whilst Cana and Lucy watched from afar. Cana was looking impatient since the two were wrapped up in an unknown conversation while Lucy looked downright terrified. What if something bad happened? Her novelist mind had already created some sort of out of this world plot twist that she couldn't help but believe in.
"What do iced coffees taste like Gray?" The scarlet haired mage asked before Gray took a sip.
Gray paused as he removed the cup from his lips, causing Mira to silently groan. He turned to Erza with a pensive look as he held up the cup in front of him. "Why don't you try it for yourself?" He suggested, offering her the drink. Erza took it without question, holding the cup to her lips and taking a sip. Mira and Lucy watched in slight horror whilst Cana kept her impassive face.
Erza removed the glass from her lips as she looked at the drink with a calculative stare, trying to organise her thoughts on the drink. The ice mage beside her watched her expectantly as she turned to him with an unreadable expression. "It's sweet," she finally concluded.
He raised an eyebrow. "How sweet?"
She shrugged. "I don't know exactly. Are iced coffees supposed to taste this sweet?"
Gray's brows furrowed as he digested her response. His iced coffees were always a little sweet, though the way Erza had responded worried him quite a bit. "Let me try then," he proposed as the scarlet haired mage handed him the drink.
He took a light sip of the iced coffee, his taste buds tingling with a very sweet and fruity yet strangely familiar taste. "It tastes kinda different to be honest. My iced coffees aren't usually fruity," he replied to the mage who had been watching him with an anticipative expression.
"Can I have it then?" She suddenly asked, with the ice mage blankly handing over the glass. Without haste, Erza was able to instantaneously down the whole drink, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips. Even though it tasted insanely sweet, she found the taste to be quite addictive and she couldn't help but want more of it.
As Erza was about to comment on the drink once more, she suddenly felt quite dizzy, her head spinning out of control. Her eyes began to haze as she let out a loud burp, startling the ice mage beside her who had been watching in slight surprise. Gray raised an eyebrow when he watched the girl suddenly place her head on the bar counter as if she were feeling ill. Worried for the girl, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to which she instantaneously responded with a sharp whack.
He retreated his hand in pain as he glared at the girl in anger. "What the hell was that for Erza?" He asked, keeping his voice steady as he massaged the now reddened hand.
This seemed to have caused Erza to snap as she suddenly stood up, almost flinging the stool she was sitting on away. She slammed two palms on the counter before she whipped her head into Gray's direction, her face furiously red. Gray watched uneasily as she continued to glare lethally at him, her glares almost piercing through him. "Give me more iced coffee!" She roared before throwing the empty glass into his direction.
He managed to dodge the incoming glass, watching it crash onto the floor and break into a million pieces. Gray inwardly cursed to himself before turning back to face the angered requip mage in slight bewilderment. "I don't have any more," he replied calmly, hoping that this wouldn't anger her even more.
"Then get more!" She barked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Not knowing what to do in this situation, Gray began to perspire. What the hell was he supposed to do now? Mira was clearly not at the bar counter for some reason, which meant that he had to either distract her, make her iced coffee or buy her one from outside. "Don't you want strawberry cheesecake instead?"
He offered the girl the half eaten cake slice, hoping this would calm her. However instead of accepting the cake in a normal Erza like fashion, she threw the plate away, the cake splattering on the ground and the plate breaking into a million pieces. Gray stood speechlessly as he stared at the ruined cake blankly. Did Erza just do that?
"I want iced coffee!" She hollered, throwing a glass at him. He managed to dodge for a second time, catching the bottle so that it wouldn't break. This small action seemed to have spurred on her blazing anger as the entire guild felt the smouldering aura emanate from the scarlet haired mage in flames. She was beyond angry now as her glare directed at Gray intensified tenfold.
"How dare you catch the glass!" She yelled before beginning to throw an array of glasses at him, Gray looking onward in terror. Unable to think of anything else, he froze the glasses in midair, successfully stopping the raid. Erza seethed, requipping a sword in fury.
She sliced through the ice furiously as if it were an evil monster before pointing her sword at Gray's throat in a threatening manner. He gulped as more perspiration began building up on his forehead. He was at a loss as to how he should overcome his problematic situation. Getting a sword pointed at you by Erza was never a good thing, especially when you knew that she could actually carry out her threats. "Give me an iced coffee," she growled lowly, once again demanding for her cold drink.
"Ask Natsu. He should have one," he blurted out without thinking when he felt the cold tip of her magic sword press into the skin of his throat. Erza retracted her sword almost immediately as she whipped her head around to face the rest of the guild who had been watching in complete silence. When they had heard all the commotion going on at the bar, it was only natural that they would watch.
Her hazel eyes scanned the area before they landed on a languid iron dragon slayer who had been watching the entire scene in boredom. Finding who she was looking for, Erza made haste as she quickly marched toward where Gajeel was sitting with his black Exceed. Gajeel looked up at her in confusion as she stared down at him with her sword still in tow. "Natsu, give me an iced coffee," she demanded authoritatively before Gajeel narrowed his eyes at her.
"I don't have your damned iced coffee. And I'm not that pink haired flame idiot you're looking for," he replied gruffly, crossing his arms. She clenched her jaw as her eyes blazed once more in ire.
"Give me my iced coffee Natsu!" She insisted, ignoring his reply. Gajeel grumbled in irritation at the stubborn mage, inwardly cursing to himself. How could she mix him up with the flaming idiot? She must've drunk quite a bit of alcohol.
Gajeel leaned to his side, looking past Erza who was blocking his vision, in order to get a better view of the ice mage who had brought such a calamity onto him. Gray was watching in silent amusement, relieved that he had managed to live a day longer. "Oi ice bastard! Get your girlfriend away from me!"
A tinge of pink flushed Gray's cheeks as he adamantly replied, "She's not my girlfriend!" Mira squealed silently to herself when she noticed the boy blushing.
The dragon slayer rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just get her away from me."
Gray shook his head before smirking at him. "She's your problem now Gajeel."
He growled, "You're going to pay for this stripper."
Erza watched the entire exchange blankly before coming back to her senses. She pointed her sword at Gajeel's throat, glaring menacingly at him. "I said to give me an iced coffee!"
He sighed in annoyance. "For the last time, I don't have your damned iced coffee!"
At his words, Erza's head snapped back into the direction of a now sweating Gray and she gave him a hard stare. "You liar! Where are you keeping all the iced coffees? Tell me!"
Next thing the whole guild knew, a bruised and battered Gray lay on the ground as a persistent Erza raided the bar, searching for her beloved iced coffees. Lucy turned her head to face a pouting Mirajane.
"I told you this wasn't a good idea." Lucy remarked but Mira shook her head.
"There's always Plan B!" She announced cheerfully.
Lucy slapped a hand to her forehead.
PLAN A: FAILURE