Rufus' House, Crocus.

Rufus had woken up to great many things since he'd moved in with Orga, the most common being his insufferable and yet constant singing voice (but Rufus being the gentleman he was only told his green haired friend to 'be quiet' past noon.) but one thing that Rufus hadn't woken up to was the smell of home cooked food. Not since he lived on the Heartfilia estate of course.

Rufus' curiosity was what drew him downstairs, forgetting his mask and hat on his dresser and forgoing his red and gold vest, he was more curious to see who had risen before him and the sun, knowing that it was definitely not his sister.

In making it to the kitchen though Rufus was suddenly halted by a person-more specifically a certain ex-fairy humming. It was light and entirely too pleasant for this time of the morning and yet Rufus didn't mind it all that much.

Mirajane Strauss, otherwise known as 'The Demon' was wearing his almost new red apron and flitting round the kitchen, checking on a multitude of food that Rufus was sure that he didn't have in his kitchen the last time he checked. At this thought Rufus ran a hand slowly through his hair, knowing that he'd become a little lazy in having his meals at the guild or skipping them entirely more often then not.

He noticed that she was already wide awake, an early-riser it seemed and for a few moments didn't look his way. But knowing her, she probably already knew he was there.

As if reading his thoughts the transformation mage looked his way and seemed to stop mid task, a surprised expression flitting across her face. Rufus looked away, slightly embarrassed, he probably looked different from his usual standard of dress, more casual then he'd meant to be.

"Good morning Rufus..I hope you don't mind me using your kitchen! I wanted to make us all some breakfast but you didn't have anything I could use in so I found my way to the market and-Oh!" She said suddenly, looking sheepish. "I didn't wake you did I?" She asked.

Rufus found himself smiling for a reason he did not know and made a note in his head that this was the first time something like this had happened to him.

"No, I just tend to rise quite early, like yourself it seems." he said, straightening slightly into his normal relaxed pose, one hand finding it's way behind him as he lent back against the doorway. He offered a smile towards the woman, whom in turn smiled back at him. "I must admit I'm inexplicably ashamed of myself." He said, though his relaxed cool exterior did not shift.

Mira seemed troubled by this and turned down the heat on a pan she'd been surveying until this point, giving him her full attention. An oddly satisfying gesture- Rufus noted.

"Why?" She asked in a worried and hushed tone. Rufus realised at that moment what his sister meant when he said that Mira was the kindest person that she knew. Mira seemed to worry about those she didn't even know. After all her and Rufus were practically strangers and she still seemed to care enough about him to listen to him.

"I cannot forgive myself for letting you cook so early in the morning after you have just arrived. I am a terrible host. Please forgive me." He said, bowing his head in apology. Such an expectation was deplorable on his part- especially since they were Lucy's friends and-

"Oh gosh you had me worried then. Don't worry I'm always like this. If you really feel the need to apologise just help me out finishing off okay?" Mira's voice and tinkering laugh brought him out of his own stupor and he blinked at the take-over mage, confused and yet intrigued. There seemed to be far more to Mirajane Staruss then just what the public or even other guilds saw. And Rufus couldn't wait to find out more.

Rufus felt himself nod at Mira's expectant look and walked further into the kitchen, accepting the kitchen knife from Mira and beginning to slice pieces of fruit for later on for them. He heard Mira muttering to herself and almost smiled at the nonsensical things she muttered about. It was oddly fascinating for him to hear.

"Fish for five..hm..strawberries and grapes done...plate up...toast down."

Most of it was food related and Rufus finished with the mango and banana slices. As he turned away to wash said slices he distinctly heard another muttering.

"...what a lovely shade of green.."

Outside of the Fairy Tail Guild, Magnolia.

Still too early for the passed out patrons of Fairy Tail to be awakened, the streets of Magnolia were safe for perhaps another hour or two before the rambunctious guild began waking up. Normally only a select few of the guild were awake by now, such as Mirajane, but due to her absence there were more then a few awake right now.

One of these guild members was Gray Fullbuster. He didn't mind being awake so early but it bothered him that the reason was because two of his closest friends and teammates had been kicked out of their home by their family whilst he'd been away on a mission. Oh, and none of them remembered that of course. Gray sighed, feeling himself deflate slightly. He couldn't get angry about it. He'd just get himself worked up for no reason at this rate.

He was (impatiently) waiting on his apparent partner for tracking down the girls, Laxus Dreyer who seemed to be taking forever to get to the guild this morning. Gray was quite early but Laxus should have anticipated Gray's impatience. He knew how close he was to Lucy and Wendy, treating them as if they were his own siblings.

So you could say that Gray was more then moderately annoyed when Laxus did show up, on the dot, at their agreed meeting time. But Gray couldn't fault him.

"Ready to go?" Laxus said, skipping the pleasantries. He could sense the tense aura from Gray and decided not to test out the ice make mages limits today. They had a job to do after all.

"Let's get going.." he muttered quietly, tossing his bag over his shoulder and already setting off walking. Laxus' hand on his shoulder stopped him, making Gray look back at the dragon slayer, eyebrow raised in slight irk. "What?"

"Let the one that can smell their scents lead. Yeah?" He asked, walking forward and overtaking Gray. The smaller man watched and grit his teeth slightly before he followed close behind.

"Hang in there a little longer guys."

Sabertooth Guild, Crocus.

It was late morning by time the group of ex-fairies and Rufus rolled up to the Sabertooth Guild. Less people stared at them as they entered this time but there was more whispering. Wendy especially seemed to be effected by it as she squirmed a little under the gazes of the tigers, something Levy seemed to be miffed about.

"Y'know it's as if they've never seen a group of girls before..." She said, purposely raising her voice so that the whispering groups could hear her. They did- as they stopped their conversations to stare at her in surprise. Levy stared back and then smiled politely and waved, again catching the Sabertooth members off guard as they awkwardly flailed whilst trying to wave back.

Rufus sat at his usual table and saw that this time not only Orga was sat in his normal place but Yukino was sat besides him, staring off to the side in a daze. At the groups arrival though she brightened up considerably.

"Lucy! Your here again.." she pointed out, surprised and yet seemingly relieved at the appearance of her friend. Yukino stood and gave Lucy a hug, smiling as Lucy returned it wholeheartedly.

"It's good to see you again Yukino. The guild better of been treating you well." Lucy said, a small smile on her face. Yukino and Lucy had developed a special bond since they'd first met in the GMG. Being celestial mages had only brought them closer. Yukino chuckled at this and then nodded her head.

"I'd say a lot of the guild members go out of their way to make me happy now. It's quite amusing." She said and pulled back from the embrace, looking from Lucy to the small group of fairies behind her to Rufus, who was sat quietly off to the side, nose already deep in a book. "Umm...so I meant to ask yesterday but...you guys looked busy...but.." she paused, as if finding the right words. "H-How do you know Rufus..?" she asked, a confused pout on her face that made Lucy coo.

"Well...you see..the story goes like-"

"Lucy and I are family." Rufus said, loud enough to be heard from his place and stopped Lucy from her stuttering.

"Thank you, Brother dearest." Lucy muttered sarcastically as the whole guild dropped into silence.

"Your welcome, Sister dear."