A.N.: I'm so sorry it's taken this long to update! Seizures have left me weak and more tired than normal. I'll try to be more consistent, but I thank you for being patient.
"Damn you Bickslow! I didn't want to get into the damn tub with you! You drunk shit!" came the shrill shriek of the blonde bombshell. She knew it'd probably happen, but she was too kind to make her friend bathe alone and risk drowning himself like the idiot he pretended to be. "Was it really necessary for you to pull me in? You see me wet all the time!" Lucy stopped, thanking Mavis that Bicks was drunk and likely wouldn't remember her slip of perverse sounding words. She focused on her task at hand, washing away the stench of whisky and dirt. Lucy frowned when she came across his old scars. She knew he wore such heavy armor because he didn't want anyone to risk seeing the strange mark on his hip. It was obviously a branding from when he was first captured. However it looked incomplete. It seemed meant to say demon, given the hatred that came with his magic, but if you added a few lines it'd change to savior. Lucy thought about bringing up the possibility of having a tattoo over it to finish to the proper word to describe her friend, but he didn't even know she had seen it. She only ever saw it when he was too drunk to take care of himself, and couldn't handle asking him what it was from. She knew he had a dark past, much like his siblings that she had yet to meet.
She finished rinsing him off as much as she could while still keeping him mostly decent. Not that her mind didn't try to imagine what the rest of him looked like, against her will. Her mind was quickly turning into a wet dreams playground. Even worse was she knew the dragon slayers could smell it! Gajeel had told her as much when she'd gone over to help Levy set up the crib for the new baby and Levy had tried to crack the mystery man her friend had liked. With no luck at all. Lucy had imagined him waking up, groggy and likely just wearing his underwear, all ready for her virgin ass to get moving...when the ass that was made of steel started laughing and excused himself saying, "I don't want to ruin Bunny's day dream that's got her ready and waiting,". Lucy had kicked him out the door for that, blushing like crazy and trying to dodge the next round of questions from the blue haired water balloon.
Lucy shook her head, now was not the time to remember how much the good man in her arms got to her. She could never let him know how she felt. She felt she wasn't good enough for him. Once she held herself much higher than him, only to realize that he was better than anyone in the guild. Yet he went by unnoticed, ignored, or told he was trash. Simply because he was raised so different. Most of his funds went to donations to help children or families recently saved from the slave trade surrounding Bosco. He spent his free time playing with children or teaching an acrobatic class to help others feel more useful. He was kind and free from restraint. While that got him into frequent trouble, he was always sincere when he told a woman, or man, how much he liked their bodies.
Bickslow grunted as she hefted his body onto his large bed and covered him with the warm blanket. No, Lucy would never be good enough for the man that Bickslow really was. So she'd just cheer him on from the sidelines as his closest friend and hope he'd find his happiness with someone who was worth him. Unnoticed by the blonde staring wistfully at the good man she had come to love, a hulking blonde stood in the doorway smiling. He quietly left and hid in the bathroom, waiting for his sister to leave so he could hopefully wake his friend and knock some sense into him. Honestly, Laxus never thought he'd see the day he would need to play matchmaker.
The next morning was surprisingly peaceful as Lucy woke up in the infirmary to Wendy checking her wounds. Then Lucy remembered that today was the day she had decided to talk to the guild. She was done hiding her best friend from the people meant to call him family. She went downstairs to find Mira cooking and a few early risers looking ready to kill if someone spoke to them. She walked over to the Master, hoping he hadn't started his daily drinking. "Master? I need you to do me a favor today. When everyone gets here around lunch I need to address a serious grievance that must be fixed. " Lucy for once looked confident can determined while asking for this. Makarov was pleasantly surprised. He never knew the kind girl to have such fire in her unless pushed to the end of her rope. This was either very good, or very bad. He had a sinking suspicion that the latter was more correct.
"Sure thing Blondie, I'll make sure everyone stays quiet while you speak to them." Lucy whipped around only to whack straight into Laxus. She heard a deep chuckle as she clung to him to steady herself.
"Thank you Laxus. And come up with something more original, you're blonde too!" Lucy walked away to get her shake. While she waited Freed sat down by her, lacking any subtlety as he looked her over. Looking for any wounds that needed tending no doubt. Lucy began to feel uncomfortable as Freed narrowed his eyes. Who knew what went through the man's head? He was raised by nobles like herself, yet he was so strong and simply intelligent.
"Lucy, I want to apologize." Lucy looked shocked with her jaw just about hitting the floor. Same with everyone else who was in the guild. Freed continued on, ignoring the guild. "I have heard you complain about money for years. I've heard you complain about your teammates treatment of you for year. Yet I always disregarded it all because I took you for a girl who was just used to the finer things in life and had a hard time adjusting to guild life. I now see that while you always had new clothes, it was out of necessity and not greed or vanity. You were always shopping, because of your teammates blatant disrespect for your home and belongings. I see how you have been rather abused by those we all trusted with your care. I should have given your word more value and payed attention to the fact that you were abused and used. I cannot say how sorry I am for my disrespect to your character. Even though you gave me no reason to doubt anything you said." With that Freed stood and bowed to her. While glaring at Evergreen and Laxus they bowed as well. Then the whole of the guild in front of her bpwed. Disgust with themselves plain on their faces. None of them had given her complaints a second thought, and now her injuries and loss of home was on them all. Lucy teared up and without a second thought ran to hug Freed. Startling him as he stood ridgid, not knowing if he should embrace her or not.
Makarov cleared his throat, shame obvious on his face. "Lucy has something she'd like to say to us all." Everyone froze, wondering if they were about to get the verbal lashing they deserved from the light of their guild.
"Thank you Master. I wish to discuss not my mistreatment, but another guild member who has been treated just as horribly if not worse." The crowd looked shocked and the mutters started. Who else had they mistreated? "Shut the fuck up would you?!" Silence. No one had ever heard the gentle blonde use such language. She was beyond furious. "You have all hurt Bickslow. You have called him awful names while helping awful rumors circulate about him. I'm sick of it. For the past several months Bickslow and I have been constant and quick friends. I've learned more about him than any of you know. Tell me, who can say where Bickslow was born and raised? Excluding his team!" Lucy looked over as Evergreen went to shout out. The self-proclaimed "real fairy" pouted. She wanted to look smart for once. Everyone else just looked around, waiting for someone to answer. When no one did, Lucy sighed. "He was born and raised in Bosco. The country known for open sexual relations and some of the kindest people in our world-" Lucy was cut off by startled shouts from all around. "It seems you all assumed he was an awful pervert, when he was in fact more respectful of any of our other perverts. Bickslow was just raised to speak when he finds anyone attractive. Not his fault we are all ignorant idiots." came the snarky reply from the now irate blonde. If no one but his team knew something so basic about the man, how would they know anything at all? Why would they dare judge him so harshly? Lucy now realized that this would be a very, very long lecture to them all. She would set everything right, and then she'd go pack for Bosco to take a long break from the lovely ignorant hell she'd been stuck in for far too long.