Chapter 7-Friend to Friend

The next day, Erza brought Natsu, Lucy, and Gray to a scenic location outside the town in order to meet Jellal.

"I can't believe Erza is making us work in Jellal's film project." Natsu commented.

"Come on, it will be fun." Lucy replied "Besides, you know how much Erza has done for us and we need to do something for her in return. It's called paying your dues."

"What do you know about paying dues for anything?" Natsu asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy asked back.

Natsu and Lucy suddenly became silent for a moment, because they didn't want to mention anything that would make the other uncomfortable. Suddenly, the silence was about to be broken as Natsu's exceed friend Happy flew towards him to greet him.

"How are you doing, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"It's so nice to see you feeling better, Happy." Natsu answered "I hate how I couldn't see you because you had contagious worms."

"Natsu, you didn't have to say the disease out loud." Lucy commented after exclaiming in disgust.

"Hey, it's a real thing." Happy commented back "It made me really itchy and contagious."

"Hey, don't blame Happy." Natsu replied "He got it from Carla, and it was really difficult not to be able to see him for weeks. By the way, did you remember to put your cream on this morning, Happy?"

"Yes, I did, Natsu." Happy answered.

At that moment, Gray walked towards them, not knowing that he was in his underwear.

"Seriously, Gray, it's our first day and you're already putting yourself in sexual exploitation or sexploitation?" Lucy asked.

"What are you talking about?" Gray asked.

"Are you going to put your clothes on?" Lucy asked back.

Gray then looked downward and was shocked to find out he was only wearing his underwear.

"Damn, that guy has no manners." Natsu commented.

At that moment, Gray reacted in anger and began to have a face-off with Natsu with their heads facing each other and really close.

"If there's someone who doesn't have manners, it's you!" Gray argued.

"How would you know?" Natsu argued back.

"Listen, boys, save that manly compassion for when you're onscreen." Jellal commented as he approached them "Also, this isn't the set for 'Brokeback Mountain'."

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked "Natsu and Gray don't like each other."

"Oh, come on." Jellal answered "That anger is probably just a façade to mask their harbouring feelings for each other."

"Obviously no one has told you that I'm now Natsu's girlfriend." Lucy corrected.

"So, Gray is actually Natsu's bitch on the side." Jellal commented "Now if you excuse me, I have to get the equipment ready."

As Jellal walked away, Natsu walked toward Lucy to talk to her.

"What was that about?" Natsu asked.

"Jellal thinks that you have a homosexual crush on Gray." Lucy answered.

"What? Why would he think that?" Natsu continued asking.

"Come on, look at yourself." Gray answered as he walked over "Natsu, you wear a scarf, sandals, and you have pink hair."

"For your information, I go both ways, Iceman." Natsu answered back.

"Nice comeback there, Human Torch." Gray replied.

As Natsu and Gray begun to stare at each other angrily, Lucy walked over to Erza to talk to her.

"How's it going, Lucy?" Erza asked.

"Is there a reason why Jellal had to bring us out here?" Lucy asked back.

"Jellal wants to convey certain ideas through certain settings such as this place." Erza answered "Which is actually a good concept if you think about it. Now, come on, we need to get started."

At another place, Levy was at her house walking into the backyard carrying a bunch of books when suddenly she saw Gajeel who was shirtless at that moment.

"Gajeel, what are you doing here?" Levy asked.

"Your father paid me some money to do some work in your backyard." Gajeel answered.

"Anyways, I'm going to go do some reading." Levy replied.

However, as Levy was walking over to her gazebo, she slipped on nearby wet ground causing her to fall down and drop all the books she was carrying. Gajeel immediately run over to her as she saw that her fall caused a large cut on her right knee.

"Levy, are you okay?" Gajeel asked.

"I'm fine…I guess I'll have to head inside to put on a bandage." Levy answered.

At that moment, Gajeel started to carry Levy back inside her house.

"Gajeel, I don't need you to carry me." Levy mentioned.

"No, I just want to." Gajeel replied.

Once they were inside, Gajeel sat down on a couch with Levy sitting on her lap and she placed a bandage on the cut on her right knee. At that moment, Gajeel pulled Levy closer to him causing her face to touch his chest. Levy placed her hands on Gajeel's shoulders as he proceeded to kiss her.

"What is it about me that you're so drawn to?" Levy curiously asked.

"Come on, I think you're awesome." Gajeel answered.

As Levy suddenly placed her hands on Gajeel's upper arms as he also placed his hands on her upper arms, they continued to talk.

"You know, we still haven't gone on an actual date yet." Levy mentioned "Why don't we head somewhere tonight?"

"I'd love that." Gajeel answered.

Levy then got off of Gajeel's lap as he walked out to continue working. Levy laid down on the couch for a moment, contemplating how she liked touching Gajeel's body.

Elsewhere, Cana and Laxus were walking together in the town courtyard. Along the way, Laxus' friend Fried Justine came across them who immediately made conversation with the both of them.

"Hey, Laxus, how are you doing?" Fried asked.

"I'm doing fine." Laxus answered.

"What are you doing here with Cana?" Fried continued asking.

"We're going on a date." Cana answered.

"Laxus, I thought you were going out with Mirajane." Fried commented.

"We broke up." Laxus explained "I'm dating Cana now."

"Laxus, I'm going to go get some ice cream." Cana informed.

As Cana walked off, Laxus and Fried talked to each other alone.

"So, Cana seems great, doesn't she?" Laxus asked.

"I guess so." Fried answered.

Laxus suddenly glanced at Cana as she was walking off and tapped at Fried's shoulder to make him look in his direction.

"Look at those curves." Laxus commented "Elegant…isn't she?"

"Okay, I know you've gotten over your break up with Mirajane." Fried replied tensely "How long do I have to listen to you tell me how you find her unacceptable."

"Whoa, you don't have to be so uptight about it." Laxus replied back tensely.

"I'm sorry…it's just that you've moved on to another girl so suddenly." Fried commented.

"Come on…is it wrong that I want to go out with Cana?" Laxus asked.

"No, but I just hope it's not for the wrong reasons." Fried answered.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt her." Laxus assured "Besides, she's totally awesome."

"Really…how is that so?" Fried asked.

"There's a bunch of reasons." Laxus answered "For example, she knows a lot of stuff about cars."

Laxus then recalled an earlier time when Cana was next door from his house and he noticed her fixing a partially broken car.

"I see what the problem is here." Cana said "The distributor cable is a little loose."

Laxus suddenly stared at Cana as he saw her reach her hand out and lean forward while fixing the car in her driveway. As Laxus moved his eyes, Cana suddenly caught him eyeing her.

"Quit looking at my ass, Laxus!" Cana demanded.

"Sorry about that." Laxus replied.

Laxus continued talking with Fried after recalling that moment.

"If you say so, then I'll just be going now." Fried replied as he walked off.