Disclaimer: I don't own shit!

Chapter 4: Salutations, a late Christmas special!

Been awhile eh? Well, that's laziness and college for you! By the way, this is the first ever chapter I'm making with my new laptop my mom got me. It's funny really; when I first told her a month ago that my original laptop now had no working USB ports she was quick to tell me that I wasn't getting a new one, but when I came home for break with a part of my laptop duct taped she decided that maybe I did need a new laptop.

It's so fancy and new, so I apologize if weird shit is happening in the story because I'm trying to adjust to this.

Everyone in the household could feel the Christmas spirit sneaking around the small town and infecting all the inhabitants. It was even affecting Jellal and the crew; the blue haired mage watched as Angel danced about the Christmas tree with Meredy while adding different colored ornaments of every shape and size. His black eyes focused on the star Meredy had in her hand as she tried to stand on her tiptoes and place it on the top of the tree. Personally, Jellal didn't care much for decorating the tree, but that may have something to do with him being allergic to pine needles. Who knows?

"Try this," a voice to his right said before thrusting a small piece of cake in his face.

The blue haired mage glanced at the decadent piece of pastry and immediately felt his mouth begin to water. If there was one thing Midnight was good at it was baking. An odd skill for him to have in Jellal's opinion, but no way was he going to complain when the dual-haired man got into one of his baking urges. The current urge was probably due to Christmas being right around the corner, and everyone in the house was enjoying the holidays.

Jellal grabbed the tiny slice (it was pretty tiny) and stuffed it into his mouth. Instantly he felt delicious flavors basking his tongue with sweet goodness, and he couldn't' help the moan of delight escape his mouth.

"I said try it not make sex noises while eating it," said Midnight, a slightly teasing look on his face.

The little cretin knew he was a cake genius and that everybody loved his cakes, but this was Midnight we're talking about. He'll tease everybody no matter the circumstances.

Cobra, who was sitting at the island in the kitchen, decided to chime in, "Give'em a break, Midnight. It's probably the most action he's had all year. Oh wait, I completely forgot that you face planted into Erza's boobs," he smirked as Jellal blushed and tried not to choke on his cake.

"Shut up! My love affairs are none of your concern!"

"And who was trying to figure out who I was dating last I remember?"

The blue haired mage scoffed and kept his mouth shut, a blush evident on his cheeks. He ignored Cobra in favor of more pressing matters at hand, like what the hell was he going to get Erza for Christmas? He couldn't really think of anything except-

"Midnight, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, Cobra and I had sex last night."

"That wasn't-"the blush deepened until Jellal's face was a bright red tomato and Midnight was blatantly laughing, "… Please just listen to what I have to say."

"Alright alright, what is it?"

Jellal knew he was going to get teased for this, but he had no choice since his cooking skills left a bit to be desired, "Can you bake me a strawberry cake?"

Red eyes danced with amusement, "Is this perhaps for a certain red haired woman whose name starts with an E?"

Dammit.

Jellal nodded and braced himself for the other to laugh, but it never came. Instead, Midnight sighed and promised he'll whip up a killer cake before the day was over. Jellal was delighted, but he still had the task of finding Erza something for Christmas that was actually from him. His next best bet was to ask Cobra.

"If you really want know; Erza seems to like reading books of the… risqué sorts," was the poison dragon slayers response when Jellal asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"It's best if you find out yourself. Swords and Shields is her favorite from what I heard."

~! #$%^

With that in mind, Jellal quickly ran to the bookstore down the street to check for the latest chapter of the series Erza supposedly liked. He entered the decrepit store and walked into the romance section as Cobra instructed him when Jellal asked where he would find the book. Sure enough, the book stuck out like a sore thumb with its gold lining and spine. He grabbed a copy and went to the front desk to purchase the book. The clerk, a girl who looked at most fourteen what with her childish face and short stature, shifted her bored gaze from the book she was reading to Jellal.

Awkwardly, the man handed over the book and rummaged through his pockets for his wallet while the clerk rung him up. After finally finding his bag of jewels he glanced up to see the clerk's bored gaze was replaced with a wicked grin. "Like this kind of stuff do ya?" she asked.

"It's for my friend," he replied stiffly.

"Riiiight. Trying to spice things up between you two?"

"I guess you could say that?"

She smiled before handing him the book, "I prefer gay porn myself," she stated before she waved goodbye and went into the back room.

Too shocked beyond words, the blue haired mage's mind fumbled for a reason as to why she told him she reads gay porn. Deciding that he'd had enough weirdness for the day, he hurried his little ass cheeks home to grab the strawberry cake from Midnight before he set off for Magnolia. It took him awhile to get there, but it was well worth it when he saw Erza standing in front of the guild talking with Lucy.

"Erza!" he called to catch her attention while he strategically hid the cake and present behind him.

The red haired woman waved to Lucy as she walked over to Jellal, "What is it, Jellal?" she asked, curiosity poking through her sentence.

He fumbled nervously for a second before holding out the delicious strawberry cake (thank god Midnight made it a small size) toward her. Erza's eyes glittered as she grabbed the cake out of his hands, "Is this strawberry?" she asked, her cheeks slightly tinged with pink.

"Of course," said Jellal.

She took a small bite and her expression changed to delight as the heavenly pastry graced her tongue. She closed her eyes for a couple seconds before exclaiming, "This is amazing! Where did you get this?!"

"A… "friend" helped me out."

Erza smiled, a simple action that made his heart skip a beat. Her smile warmed his insides and reminded him of everything good in the world, and that through this all she's believed he's a good person despite the odds. It made him feel he was even less deserving of her at this point. He did terrible things he has yet to repent for, and a part of him thinks he may never be able to do such a thing.

"Jellal."

Her voice snapped him out of his reverie. Penetrated the thick fog of his mind and rid his self-doubt for the moment, "Yes?" he finally mumbled after a few moments.

"I have a present for you as well," she was looking off to the side, her face burning, "Close your eyes."

He stared wide-eyed at her for a little bit before he complied and closed his eyes. He became acutely aware of the sounds around him. The most prominent one being Erza scuffling her feet and scratching her arm nervously. He was about to open his mouth to ask what was wrong when he suddenly felt warm, soft lips capture his own. His body immediately stiffened from the foreign feeling until he realized Erza was kissing him.

HIM.

Does not compute.

Erza stopped kissing him and ducked her head nervously, using her bangs to hide her face.

"That was a great Christmas present," smiled Jellal, whose whole body felt like jelly at this point.

Erza smiled.

The end

I imagine Erza being nervous when it comes to stuff like this because she's inexperienced and stuff.

I hoped you all enjoyed this! I'm sorry it took over 2 months, but at least I got it up eh? I was too busy with gun calibrations (hopefully someone gets this reference) and shite.

Hope you all had a fun Christmas! I got some pretty fantastic shit I must say. I didn't get a lot of stuff, but what I got some cool stuff and hey, I at least got SOMETHING right? I got a pretty rad dress too~

Hasta la vista, my readers!