"Oh, Lucy, this is a nice surprise. Come on in." Lucy followed her in, and Evergreen shut the door behind her. As Lucy caught her breath, Evergreen caught sight of something in the blonde's hand. "Ooh, is that the newest issue of Sorceror Weekly? Let me see, I want to take a look at the interview." Lucy shot up and practically shoved the magazine at her.
"That's just it! Look at this!" Evergreen took the magazine and flipped to the page the cover said their interview would be on. As she did so, she heard Lucy babbling and going on. Something about a triangle and articles and a coffee stain in her carpet. Evergreen skimmed through and glazed over the headings, until the came to the one that Lucy had obviously been freaking out over. She adjusted her glasses as she ran her eyes down the lines of text. Finally, with Lucy in much apprehension, Evergreen shrugged and tossed the magazine aside.
"What? You're worried about a little something like that? That's just magazine trash, trying to draw in more readers and give more attention to the mage. It's meant to be a win-win." Evergreen shrugged and let herself back down in a chair. "Anyways, I don't see exactly why you're so freaked out about it, I would have thought that someone cute like you would have already experienced dozens of guys wanting you." Lucy could feel the sweat dripping down the back of her neck as she turned her head away.
"Eh... not really," she mumbled. Evergreen shrugged and grinned mischievously.
"Well then, if there's one thing that this interview will do for you, it will certainly attract the men to you now. Guys will go crazy over a girl they think is being fought over. Works every time."
–
Bixlow allowed his tongue to loll out of his mouth as he reclined in one of Freed's chairs, his feet up and resting on the footstool. He glanced around one of his 'babies' as the green-haired man himself flipped through the pages of a particularly thick volume.
"Hey, watcha' been doin' over there, Freed? You've been flipping through and tossing aside books for over an hour." He jabbed a thumb over at the steadily-growing pile of books that Freed had tossed aside. With a shrug, Freed slapped the book in his hands shut and let it drop to join its' fellows on the floor.
"Well, it's just something I've been thinking, Bix. You know how all three of us have some sort of magic that relates to our eyes?" Bixlow nodded, acknowledging his 'figure eyes' and the abilities of two of his other teammates. "Well, I suppose you could say that ocular magic has sort of become our signature. So, I thought it would be a good idea to find something that Lucy could use, considering she's part of our team now. However," he motioned towards the pile on the floor, "I've been having some trouble finding a kind that would suit her."
"You don't say," Bixlow intoned, with his 'babies' echoing 'don't say' over and over behind him. Even as he watched, Freed plucked another spell book out of his overflowing shelves and flipped through it, mumbling to himself. "Hey, toss me one of those. Maybe I could find something. Anyways, two pairs of eyes are better than one." Freed shrugged and tossed a book towards him. Bixlow flopped it open and skimmed over the pages. "Ooh! How about this one? X-ray eyes! I'd sure like to have those." Freed wrinkled his nose, but did not look away from his book.
"Kindly keep your personal preferences to yourself, Bix. Maybe someone like you would want that kind of magic, but I doubt Lucy would really care for that." Bixlow grunted and looked through again.
"Hm... then how about mind control? Puts people under your control if they look you in the eyes." Freed rubbed his chin as he thought it over.
"Perhaps. I think she might like something that would allow her to fight without getting too close. And that sounds like it might be something good for her. Put a bookmark in that one." Saying this, he plucked mark from his pocket and tossed it carelessly to Bixlow. The other man caught it and stuck it between the pages before looking on.
"Hm, this one looks good. Precognition. Allows the user to see events a short time before they happen, allowing these events to be changed or prevented if necessary. Might be good if forced into a hand-to-hand combat situation. Or perhaps a sort of eye-linked levitation magic. One of these three might be good. Alright, let's put these down somewhere and put the rest of these back on the shelves." Bixlow looked around the floor at all of the books that had piled up during Freed's earlier searches.
"Great," he droned, copied by his 'babies'. With a grunt, he pushed himself up and out of the chair and began helping Freed gather up the volumes on the wooden boards. Suddenly, just as they were nearly done, Freed's front door slammed open. Said green-haired man dropped the books in his arms out of shock, sending them back to the ground thanks to gravity. In his doorway stood Natsu, with an odd look on his face.
"I could have sworn that that door was locked," he muttered. Regaining his composure quickly, he looked the fire-dragon slayer in the face. "Can I help you with something, Natsu?" Natsu took long strides into the room and jabbed a finger into Freed's face.
"Freed, my team challenges your team for Lucy!"