Walking Cliché 14
Triangles
Makarov's eyes widened as adrenaline pumped in his veins, and like countless times before, was already yelling in rage before he'd fully gathered his thoughts together.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" The Guild Master yelled, his blue eyes locking with the martial artist. On his arm was Claire, who grinned giddily at him, and on the other side of her was a paramedic, who was also helping keep her upright. "You said it was a simple job and she wouldn't get hurt!"
"Relax, she's going to be fine. A couple days of bed rest and she'll be right as rain." Bacchus assured him, and after Claire pointed to a chair she wanted to sit at, started guiding her to it. Clad in her pants and sports bra, the latter having a gapping hole in it, the majority of her body was covered in bandages that were singed in a few places.
"Are you the Guild Master?" The paramedic asked, turning to the older man.
"Yes, I am."
"Bacchus said that you have a resident healer. Claire should be monitored for the next few days in case her condition worsens. She should be fine, but given the serious of her injury, should have someone nearby in case that changes."
"I was harpooooneded." Claire said nearby, smiling at the old man. The chair she sat at was the same she'd situated herself in the previous day when Bacchus found her, and she propped her legs up on a nearby chair, just as before. "Harpoon. Ha."
"What kind of injury?" Makarov asked, turning back to the medic.
"I got hit by a magic harpoon." Claire giggled.
"She was hit by a harpoon, which missed her heart by only a centimeter. She's lucky to be alive." The medic spoke, ignoring her. "The bleeding has stopped and there's not too much internal damage, so with enough bed rest, she should be fine. She shouldn't eat solids for another 12 hours, and she should stay awake for at least another 6. I gave her a stimulant that cancels out her magic and dulls the pain."
"Dude, are there narwhals here?" The fire woman asked her brother, who was now sitting in front of her and across from the Guild Master.
"A side effect of the drug is-"
"Utter and complete happiness!" Claire interrupted, giggling again.
"I'll ask my healer to come here immediately." The Guild Master stated. "When I get back, you are going to tell me what happened." He glared at the young mage, who nodded and watched him walk away, hiding his nervousness of the guild master.
"Did you know that narwhals are like the unicorns of the sea? Dude, are there unicorns on this world?" Claire asked the medic, who took a seat next to her.
"What's wrong with Claire?" Michael asked, looking up at her brother.
"She was hurt, so this wonderful medic gave her some happy pills to dull the pain. She'll be a bit loopy for the next day or so." He explained, trying to smile for the kid, but instead making his eyes water up at the sight. Unlike his sister he wasn't good with kids. "She's not going to die. Stop crying."
"Michaaaaael Meyers! Did you make any more cool stuff today?" Claire asked the boy, and as he looked up at her, he smiled and nodded. "Why don't you show them to me?"
Again he nodded, turning to a nearby table and picking up a basket.
"Is he her kid?" The medic asked Bacchus, and he shook his head.
"Nah, he's her boyfriend's nephew, I think. She and their Guild Master have been watching over him the past few days." He explained, recalling the conversation with his sister. As he watched the woman look through the various dolls and fabric capes, his gaze lingered on the hole in her sports bra and bloodied bandages, where she'd been hit with the harpoon. It was still covered in her blood, and despite his earlier assurance that she was okay, knew that she'd come dangerously close to dying.
1 centimeter and he'd have lost the only family he had left. Technically he had Kelsey and Carl, but they were off killing people for dark guilds, so he didn't really count them.
"You made this?" The checker woman asked incredulously, admiring every stitch and cut and completely enamored by it. She was currently holding one of the many sparkly capes.
Michael smiled and nodded, and as she looked through the colorful objects in her high state, the boy started animatedly explaining each handmade object.
The Guild Master returned rather quickly, his harsh gaze locking with the S-Class mage. "What happened?"
"Everything went according to plan. Claire went in first in her fire form, and then the rest of us went in and took out the guild. Afterwards, when we were cleaning up and about to leave, she turned back to her human form. Apparently we'd missed one of the mages who used invisibility magic to hide, and attacked her with the magic harpoon."
"You didn't check for invisible mages?" Makarov asked, trying to keep his temper in check.
"We did, but he was using a kind that we hadn't seen before."
"Why did Claire get hit instead of the others?"
"Dumb luck, probably. He may have thought she was the strongest out the group, since her magic is more flashy that the rest of us. Claire immediately melted the harpoon so that he couldn't cause further damage than the initial hit, and grabbed the chain connecting it, using it to locate him and take him out with her fire magic."
"If she hadn't melted the harpoon so soon after it hit her, she'd be dead right now." The medic added.
"I got practice from my sister." Claire added, smiling at the medic.
"Kelsey?" Bacchus asked, and she nodded, but then was distracted again by Michael, who was holding up an odd red object to her. The group, minus the child and drugged fire mage, looked up when a man approached them.
Clad in his usual hat and red collar, the older man greeted the group with a sympathetic smile. "I came as fast as I could when I heard. How is Claire doing?" Goldmine asked, looking over at the giggling woman.
"On happy pills." Bacchus told him.
"I brought chocolate." Goldmine said, holding up a particularly large red box.
"She can't eat for another 12 hours." The medic told him, and he nodded, setting the box on a nearby table out of her sight.
"I shouldn't have let her go." Makarov sighed, looking back over at the injured woman.
"She's a good mage, Makarov. I wouldn't have recommended her if she wasn't." Goldmine stated, and grabbed a nearby chair, sitting at the end of the table next to Bacchus and the Fairy Tail Guild Master. "Try not to beat yourself up over it. From what Bacchus told me, it could have happened to any of the mages, and she helped save a lot of lives. Not to mention the Magic Council is giving her an award and extra bonus for the injury, which is good for your guild." He added, referring to the fact that not only did Fairy Tail get a percentage of each mage's job earnings, but awards from the government usually boosted their popularity with the Magic Council, which they so desperately needed.
"But she was already injured before she left, and she told me how long she's been using magic the other day…." Makarov spoke, looking back at Claire, who was drugged out of her mind. "I let my pride get the better of me."
"What about her magic?" Goldmine asked.
"She's only been using magic for a few months." He said, and Goldmine's eyes widened, turning to look at Bacchus.
"What?" He absolutely seethed, narrowing his eyes at the purple sleeved man. "Exactly how long was she using magic before you two started working together?"
"Well, I don't know exactly…" Bacchus said, looking up at the rafters to avoid his Guild Master's gaze.
"A couple of months. She's been on this world for less than half a year, and magic didn't even exist on their home world." Makarov informed the fellow Guild Master, watching the all too familiar anger bubble within his old friend's face.
"You took your little sister on S-Ranked missions when she'd been using magic for a couple of MONTHS?!" Goldmine yelled at the man, slamming his fist on the table. "On jobs that I sent you on and approved of, nonetheless? What the hell is the matter with you!" He yelled, and slapped him upside the head.
"Ow! It's not like you ever asked how long she'd been using magic! I told you she was a powerful mage, which is true, and I made sure that she wasn't in any real danger."
"They're S-Ranked missions you dope! Of course she was in danger! It's a miracle she's not dead yet. Oh god, and I recommended her to help you take down the Blood Guild of all things. What the hell is wrong with you?!"
"What about the Blood Guild?" Makarov interjected.
"That's the dark guild they took out last night. Didn't Bacchus tell you?" Goldmine asked, and with that one sentence, Bacchus had both Guild Masters staring at him like they were about to rip him to pieces.
Uh-oh. He thought, and reached for a drink from his pouch. "Well, I couldn't disclose too many facts, since it was top secret and all…"
"She's her Guild Master, you idiot!"
"You said it was a small dark guild, not one of the strongest Dark Guilds in the continent!" Makarov yelled.
When the yelling had started, Michael had started tearing up again, so Claire set the basket of dolls to the side and pulled him on her lap, hugging him close.
"Hey medic, can I have some more happy pills? My chest is starting to hurt." Claire asked the medic, and upon checking first to make sure the boy wasn't irritating the wound, nodded and reached for her pouch. Still significantly below the amount she should be taking, since she had an extremely low tolerance for it, the medic got her some water and handed her the pills.
"As of this moment, you're stripped of your 'S-Rank' title." Goldmine told him, watching the man's face drop in disbelief.
"You can't be serious. Who the hell is going to do all of the S-Rank jobs at the guild? You need me."
"There are plenty of other guilds they can go to. I can't trust your judgment anymore."
"Oh come on. I taught her tons of stuff on those missions, and turned her into an awesome mage. Just ask her. Claire?" Bacchus spoke, turning back to his sister.
"You…" She said with a grin, and touched her cheek. "Have triangles on your face."
1.
Bickslow hid from view of the lacrima, watching his leader closely.
"Stop staring at me like that." Laxus ordered, glaring at the seith mage that hid on the other side of his cot.
"I can't help it. The Guild Master will be more open with you than me." He explained, and as the lacrima lit up, finally making a connection with the one at Fairy Tail, he went back to staring at Laxus.
"Laxus." Makarov stated, not too kindly.
"What's up your ass, old man?" The blond asked, ignoring the face palm from his friend.
"I just got done dealing with Bacchus and his Guild Master, Goldmine. Let's just say that that little mutt will be in the doghouse for a while."
"Bacchus or Goldmine?"
"Bacchus. That little…" He grumbled, looking away and muttering to himself.
"What did he do? Does it have to do with Claire?"
"He lied to his Guild Master in order to get Claire to do S-Ranked missions with him, so when Goldmine found out, he stripped Bacchus of his S-Rank title." He explained. At this information Laxus's eyebrows raised, and he could see his friend making a surprised and oddly delighted face from his hiding spot.
"I wondered how she managed to get those missions, considering how green she is. She's got a lot of potential."
"I agree, especially if she's able to help take down the Blood Guild."
"The Blood Guild?" Laxus asked, recognizing the name. "Didn't they take the place of Grimoire Heart after we took them out at Tenrou Island?"
"Yes, and from what I've heard, they had some extremely powerful and lethal players. The Magic Council requested some of the S-Ranked mages from a select few wizard guilds, and given Claire's experience working with Bacchus, Goldmine recommended that she go with him. Of course when Bacchus asked for my permission he failed to mention exactly which dark guild they were taking down, the little brat."
"If they were looking for S-Ranked mages, why wasn't I contacted?"
"There was a time limit." He said simply, and Laxus nodded. "You've been thinking of adding her to your team, haven't you?"
"Yeah. Training for the games would have been the perfect opportunity to test out her abilities." Laxus said pointedly, and the old man merely chuckled. "Who else did she work with to take down the Blood Guild?"
"Uh, let's see… Bacchus, obviously. Jura, and a woman from Mermaid Heel named Kagura."
"Only a four man team? Seriously?"
"Yes, and they had militia standing by for backup and to take the guild members into custody afterwards. The team that took them down are all getting awards from the Magic Council."
"That should boost our guild's credibility." Laxus commented, and the old man nodded.
"Why did you call, again?" Makarov suddenly asked.
"Bicks wanted me to call and see if Claire was okay." He said, smirking at the glare he received from the seith mage.
"Claire is fine. How is training going?"
"Good."
2.
Two days later, Claire was still recovering, but she'd switched to medications that didn't cancel out her magic and make her high as a kite.
Her chest wound hurt on occasion, but for the most part it went unnoticed, as she spent most of her time hanging out in the Guild Hall and resting. She'd gotten a stern lecturing from Makarov when she was coherent enough about how she 'shouldn't have let her brother take her on such dangerous missions', but she could tell that he was more angry at Bacchus than her. It's hard to be mad at someone that got harpooned in the chest.
Of course, Claire argued that she was glad Bacchus took her on those jobs, but the Guild Master scoffed and grumbled that she was too young and reckless.
Officially banned from doing any jobs until Porlyusica gave her a clean bill of health, she truly was stuck at the Guild Hall sitting on her ass. Some of their comrades visited on occasion to see how she was doing, and brought her food and various 'get well' gifts. Claire continued looking after Michael and Sky, although since she was injured, Makarov did most of the work taking care of Michael.
Both Makarov and Claire agreed that Bickslow should remain in the dark about her injuries until he returned.
3.
It had been a full week since she was attacked, and she was sitting around reading as she usually did while Michael ran rampant around the almost empty Guild Hall. She was surprised that his grandmother hadn't picked him up yet, but didn't have enough energy to go clear across town to take the kid back, so she figured she would wait until she showed up asking for him.
The familiar sound of heels tapping the ground caused her to look up, locking eyes with the woman in question. A man she recognized as Bickslow's father was not far behind, along with a woman Claire wasn't familiar with.
"Hello." The checker woman greeted, looking up at them with a polite smile. "We didn't make it clear when you would pick up Mike, or if I was supposed to drop him off, so I'm sorry if that has caused any trouble."
"Not at all." The blue-haired woman stated. "Do you mind if we take a seat?"
"Go right ahead, Mr. and Mrs. Yoshino. I'm sorry, what's your name?" Claire asked, turning to the brunette she didn't recognize. Like Mrs. Yoshino, she was dressed in a blazer and skirt, as if she'd just come out of the office. They all sat across from the fire mage.
"My name is Samantha, I'm here to oversee the proceedings of today."
"… proceedings? What's going on?" Claire asked, looking between the three adults.
"We don't want Michael. Either we're sending him to a military training camp, or you can take custody. If you take custody and change your mind, you can send him to the camp later on. We have the brochures and information with us." Mrs. Yoshino informed her, pulling out several papers and brochures from her briefcase.
"Whoa, what? Custody? Are you keeping Sam and Nathan?"
"Yes."
"Is this a money thing, then? If you talk to Bickslow, I'm sure-"
"We're financially fine." Mr. Yoshino stated, his harsh and steady gaze locking on hers for a moment. He looked absolutely nothing like Bickslow, neither in appearance or personality, with his military cut hair and intimidating presence.
"So why don't you want Michael?" She asked, turning back to his wife.
"He's a monster. I can't go through that hell again."
"Because he can see souls?" Claire clarified, and the woman nodded.
"It's disgraceful."
"What's the situation with his mom?"
"She is incarcerated, and will be in prison for at least 5 years. Custody automatically went to us, and now we're passing it to you."
"Why aren't you talking to your son about this? It's his nephew." She asked, trying to keep her heart rate low and temper down.
"Michael likes you. You seem like a responsible young woman. I would rather deal with you than my… offspring."
"I… can't we make some kind of other arrangement? Are you going to completely cut yourself out of Michael's life, just because of something he can't control?"
"Yes. Now either sign the paperwork," Mrs. Yoshino stated as Samantha pulled out some papers from her briefcase, along with a pen, and sliding them in front of Claire. "Or he'll be out of all of our lives, including yours." Mr. Yoshino pulled out something from his pocket and set it on the table. When she looked closer, Claire realized that it was a substantial check.
"This check is either going to you or the military camp that takes him." He stated.
"Can I at least have some time to think about this?"
"You have two minutes." He replied.
Claire took a deep breath, looking down at the paperwork in front of her, and realized dimly that Michael had stopped running around the Guild Hall. She couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, but she could hear his breathing nearby, hiding just out of sight.
Glancing at the adults in front of her again, she reached for the pen and signed the papers.
"We brought the rest of his belongings. They're by the door." Mrs. Yoshino told her as her husband filled out the final details of the check.
Within 5 minutes the paperwork was finalized, and Claire couldn't help but feel utterly terrified. What the hell just happened?
Once they had gone, after giving her a copy of the papers she signed, Mike came out of hiding and hugged her.
What the hell just happened? She asked herself again, and without thinking, went to the Guild Masters office, hearing the voice of Laxus within. Knocking numbly, she got the attention of the Guild Master, who looked up at her in surprise. "You're talking to Laxus, right?"
"Yes, is there something I can help you with?"
"Bickslow needs to come home."
"… why?"
"His parents just gave me custody over Michael… I'm his legal guardian now."
4.
Being transported to an alien planet, she could handle.
Being ostracized for her magic, she could handle.
Stab wounds and almost dying, she could handle… with enough drugs.
Being the legal guardian of a kid?
Could. Not. Handle.
"She's just been sitting there for almost an hour, not saying anything." Makarov spoke to the men. "You're a single dad. Maybe you can talk to her or something?"
"I can try…" Macao said, and after another drink of his beer, walked towards the young woman. As he took a seat across from her at the table, she took a sip of her mixed drink, not looking at him. She looked completely out of it, not entirely unlike when she was on the 'happy pills', minus the giggling. "So, uh… how's it going?"
Her steel blue eyes looked over at him, and a shiver ran down his spine. "Peachy." Her voice was devoid of emotion, and she took another drink.
"Makarov filled me in on what happened… so you're Michael's legal parent now, right?"
"Yep."
"He's your boyfriend's nephew, right?"
"Yep."
"So, if you don't mind me asking, why'd you sign the papers?" He asked, and she took another drink.
"They would send him to a military camp, otherwise." She said, and after setting her drink back down, lifted one of the brochures from the side of the table and handed it to him. Macao picked it up, skimming through the shiny paper.
"I've heard of this place. It's more like a prison camp."
"I guessed as much." She said, her voice still low and even, staring at the wall across the room with a vacant expression.
"Have you talked to your boyfriend about it?"
"He's on his way here."
"How long have you two been dating?"
"Almost 5 months."
"Ya know, I had only been married for two months when I heard that Sier was pregnant. I was pretty terrified at the time, and it took me a while to accept it. But you're not his parent. You don't have to stay and take care of Mike, you're technically not his family. I mean, he's your boyfriend's nephew, not yours." The mage spoke, and when he saw Michael bounding towards them with a huge grin on his face, paused in his little 'pep talk'.
Claire looked down at the boy, a small smile on her face that didn't quite meet her eyes.
"What's up? What do you have there?" She asked, and Michael held up a drawing he had made for her, squirming in his spot. After handing it to her he ran back over to Romeo across the room, who was still working on his drawing.
After staring at it blankly for a moment she handed the drawing to Macao, who smiled awkwardly.
It was a stick figure drawing of Claire, Bickslow, Michael, and all of Bickslow's babies, which looked like weird brown circles. For each person was a label for them. 'Mommy', 'Daddy', 'side kicks'. As he looked at the drawing, Claire took another sip of her drink.
"What happened to his real parents?"
"His mom's a druggie, and was recently incarcerated. No idea who his dad is. Could be her dealer, for all I know."
"… good luck." He offered after a moment, unsure what to say. "Whatever you and your boyfriend decide, you've got friends at Fairy Tail. We're like family to each other, and if you decide to keep him, we'll help. I'd be happy to babysit, and I'm sure that Romeo will be happy to have a new friend."
"Thanks."
"How old are you?"
"23." She said, and took another drink.
"Does he have any other family? Maybe grandparents on his dad's side, or any other aunts or uncles?"
"Not to my knowledge. His grandparents gave him to me because they couldn't handle his ability to see dead people, so even if we did find his other grandparents, there's a chance they'll be just as close-minded."
"That's why they gave him to you?" He asked, and she nodded. "Romeo had mentioned that he had an imaginary friend…"
"Not imaginary. Just… dead."
"Wow, this place is a ghost town." A new voice announced, causing them to turn and look towards the entrance of the room. The Thunder Legion strode into the Guild Hall, as they tended to do when they arrived as a group, looking as if they owned the place. Upon landing his eyes on Claire, Bickslow walked slightly faster than the others to reach her, taking a seat on a nearby chair and turning it so that the back faced her.
"You are looking lovely today as usual. New haircut?" He asked with a grin, and his team followed close behind, taking seats around the table. Laxus stayed standing and walked over to the Guild Master at the bar.
"Wait, is he your boyfriend?" Macao asked, looking between Claire and Bickslow.
"Yep. Can't you tell by the picture?" She replied, holding up the picture that Michael had made for her. "He's the one labeled as 'daddy'. He's even got the visor and everything."
"Let me see." Ever said quickly, grabbing the piece of paper and grinning. "Aaaw, that's so cute."
"Daddy Bickslow!" Michael yelled, running towards the seith mage and giving him a hug.
"… I prefer 'Uncle'." Bickslow said awkwardly, glad that he'd decided to unbind his souls for the time being. They would make things so much worse. "That's a pretty cool drawing you made."
"Thanks."
"Why don't you make me a drawing of something? We've got to do some grown-up talking." He said, and the little boy nodded before running off again to rejoin Romeo.
"Is he one of the kids that the police questioned us about that one time?" Macao asked, recalling the incident.
"Why didn't he draw the rest of us?" Evergreen asked with a frown, still staring at the drawing. Fried was looking over it as well, but he was smiling and admiring the young boy's art.
"Yep." Bickslow told the fellow blue-haired mage, trying not to hold it against him for bringing up a rather touchy subject for him. Looking back at Claire, he noticed that she was finishing a tall glass of whatever she'd been drinking, and was tempted to go get his own.
"Should you be drinking so much after what happened?" Macao asked the checker woman.
"Since I react weird to medications, Porlyusica suggested I drink alcohol to dull the pain instead of taking more meds. It's a bit counter intuitive, but you know… whatever works."
"What pain?" Bickslow asked.
"You didn't tell him?" Macao asked.
"I was going to after we got the Michael thing figured out."
"Does he not like us or something?" Evergreen asked, still obsessing over the picture.
"Tell me what?" Bickslow asked, looking at his girlfriend. "Claire."
"I'm recovering from a near lethal injury. I got harpooned." She said, smiling at the word 'harpoon'.
"How 'near lethal'?"
"Pretty near lethal. Barely missed my heart by a centimeter, and I'm going have a cool scar."
"Claire, why aren't we in this picture?" Evergreen asked, waving the crayon drawing in her face.
"Will you shut up about the picture?" Bickslow snapped. "Claire almost died and my nephew thinks I'm his new dad. We have a little more important things to discuss than why you're not in an 8 year-old's drawing."
"Someone's grumpy." Evergreen said, and stuck her tongue out at him. As much as Claire wanted to be mad at the brunette for being so immature, she didn't doubt that Bickslow would do the exact same thing if their roles were reversed.
Bickslow sighed, folding his arms to rest on the back of his chair and take a deep breath. "Could you guys give us a minute?"
"Mom and dad have a lot to talk about." Fried said, and before Bickslow could throw something at him, the group got up and left to go join Michael and Romeo. Once he was satisfied that everyone was far enough away, he scooted his chair closer to the fire woman.
"So let me get this straight. My parents gave you sole custody of my nephew… actually, why, exactly? You were vague as fuck over the communication lacrima."
"Because they're your sister's parents, and lower your voice, Bixy." She said, and watched him take another deep breath and rest his forehead on his folded arms. "People suck."
"Can we talk about something non-serious for a minute?"
"Totally. What do you want to talk about?"
"I don't know."
"How about you tell me about your training?"
"You would have loved it. We did strength training, stealth, agility, meditation, reading… I hated most of it, but you would have loved it."
"Sorry I missed it."
"My babies missed you."
"I missed them, too. Speaking of babies, when do you want to meet Sky?"
"The dead kid next to you?"
"Yeah! He's been keeping me company since you've been gone."
"I was planning to talk to him when we weren't in the Guild Hall. Kind of gives people the wrong impression to talk to thin air. No offense kid, we'll talk business later." He said the last part to the soul, who was hugging Claire's side. "How often does he hug you like that?"
"He comes and goes. He gets a little more clingy when people are around me." She answered with a shrug, and he nodded, likely looking at the soul from beneath his visor.
"Sounds like he's been watching out for you. I like him." He said with a grin, and now that he felt a little better, went back to Claire, who seemed way too comfortable with the situation. Then again she'd admitted her 'medication' was alcohol, which he was sorely missing for such an important topic. "So how'd my parents talk you into taking Mike?"
"Threatening to put him in a military camp if I didn't."
"Oh, the familiar 'do as we say or you're going to military camp' schpeal. That's the main reason I left home."
"Regarding what to do with Mike… we don't have to decide anything right now. Ultimately he's your nephew, so it's your decision what to do."
Bickslow groaned, resting his forehead back on his forearms.
5.
He liked sleeping with Claire that night.
That was nice.
But then Michael burst into the room in tears, mumbling and stuttering about a bad dream, and apparently Claire let him sleep with her when he was gone. Not having the heart to turn him away, he grumbled and waved him over. The boy clumsily climbed over his legs and got between the pair, hugging the man and instantly falling asleep.
Since her chest injury, Claire had to sleep on her back to avoid pain. Sexy times was out of the question for multiple reasons, including that. Laying on his side, Bickslow stared at her sleeping face, admiring her cute nose and high cheek bones. She always looked so relaxed when she slept.
And then there was the wet-faced kid rubbing his snot and tears on his chest because he had a bad dream.
He wasn't nearly as cute as his babies, but the boy did have his charm.
6.
"Who are you?" Porlyusica asked, narrowing her eyes at the young man.
"Her boyfriend." He answered, trying to hold his own against her intense stare. In all his years as a mage he'd never needed her services as a healer, and he'd heard stories about her intimidating demeanor, but he'd never been so glad to be wearing his visor before now in his life. Ironically he wondered if she could control his own soul just by looking into his eyes, as her glare could rival the devil himself.
"Do you mind if he stays? He'll be quiet." Claire asked, tilting her head slightly with a cute smile.
"Why haven't I seen you until now? Are you a Fairy Tail mage?" The cold woman asked, glaring at Bickslow.
"I am a Fairy Tail mage, but I've never been injured enough to need your services as a healer." He explained.
"I mean why didn't I see you when she was first injured?"
"I didn't tell him about it until yesterday." Claire answered for him, seemingly unfazed by the woman's narrowed eyes that moved to her. "I told him the details of my injury but he wants to hear it from you. Can he stay during the check up?"
After a brief pause, the old woman's stare returned to Bickslow, making him jump. "… As long as he stays quiet and out of my way."
"Y-yes ma'am." He stuttered.
"Take your shirt off." Porlyusica told the young woman, and turned to get her supplies. Claire did as instructed, also taking her bra off, and then took Bickslow's hand in hers. Squeezing it gently, it brought his gaze back to her beautiful smile.
He didn't remember when he told her, but at some point in their relationship, he'd told her that he would kill anyone that tried to harm her. At that moment he wanted nothing more to fulfill that promise, as the pink-haired mage started unwrapping her wound and revealed a blood stain on the white cloth.
"Have you been doing everything I instructed?" Porlyusica asked Claire, who grinned sheepishly.
"To the best of my abilities."
"I told you, this isn't just a bruise you can walk off. You need to heal and the only way you're going to do that is by doing what I say."
"I've been sitting around doing nothing but drinking for the past week, and taking my meds on time, as per instructed."
"Have you also been avoiding stress? Lay down." Porlyusica instructed once they were down to the last bandage, and carefully lowered her onto her back, so as to not irritate the wound. "Have you?"
"… yes?"
"No." Bickslow spoke for her, glaring at the injured woman. How are you going to get better when you lie to your doctor, idiot?
As Porlyusica carefully pulled back the bandage to look directly at the injury, Bickslow peered over at it, keeping a straight face while doing so. Claire awkwardly looked up at the ceiling and wished she were somewhere else. It wasn't exactly painful to have the woman poking and prodding, since she used numbing equipment to dull the pain, but it was still unnerving to have someone staring at her insides.
"You opened up the medic's stitching, and your bone isn't healing as quickly as I'd hoped. I'm guessing that the harpoon you were hit with had anti-healing magic qualities to hinder the healing process."
"What does that mean? Will she be okay?" Bickslow blurted, forgetting her 'no talking' rule.
"It just means that I'll need to try and remove the anti-magic sections, otherwise it would take years for her to heal properly. I'll also have to fix the stitches next to her heart, which probably opened up due to unnecessary stress." Porlyuisca said, glaring at the injured woman for the last part.
"Ya know, glaring at me like that when you have a knife next to my heart isn't exactly stress relieving." Claire spoke, still staring at the ceiling and trying to take deep breaths.
"Will you be taking care of her?" Porlyusica asked, turning back to the seith mage.
"Yes."
"But you have training to do." Claire argued, glancing at the tense man.
"They can train without me, and besides, I have to deal with Michael so I'll be in town anyway. So stop stressing out." He said, and stuck his tongue out at her, showing off his Fairy Tail emblem. "Also, I'm going to bind Sky so that he doesn't drain your magic when you two hang out. No doubt his drain on your magic hasn't been helping."
"Who's been draining her magic?" Porlyusica asked him.
"A wandering soul got attached to Claire when I was gone, so he's been unintentionally draining some of her magic. If I had known she was injured, I would have told him to leave her alone until I got back."
"Hn." The pink-haired mage grunted, and went back to her work.
7.
"Sorry for causing so much trouble, guys. You should probably train without me." Bickslow told his team that night, finding them at the Guild Hall. While he and Claire had gone to do doctor stuff, his team had volunteered to watch Michael in his absence.
Evergreen had taken his nephew shopping for the day, and he had no doubt she tried to bribe him one way or another to include her in his 'family portrait' drawings. Shopping bags were littered around the table they had been situated at, and the seith mage was scared to ask how much she had spent.
"We're a team, Bickslow. We're not going to leave when you need us most." Fried told him, trying to give a reassuring smile to the taller man.
"Thanks, but you really should be helping Laxus train for the games. Fairy Tail needs to win." Bickslow stated, and looked up as Laxus walked over to the group, taking a seat at the end of the table next to him.
"How'd the doc appointment go?" He asked simply, drink in hand.
"Not great." The blue-haired man replied, sighing and slouching slightly. His dark green eyes drifted to Michael next to him, who was busy playing with a toy train he'd gotten sometime in his absence. "She broke some of her stitches next to her heart, and Porlyusica thinks there was some anti-healing magic stuff on the harpoon she got hit with."
"Sounds pretty serious." Laxus commented.
"Assuming she can get through this month without stressing out too much, Porlyusica said she should be back in the field by two months, maybe less. Once she gets past some of the more delicate parts of recovery, Wendy will be able to repair most of the damage with her dragonslaying mage."
"That's good." Ever commented.
"Asking Claire to 'not get stressed out' is like asking her to eat a bowl of nails." Bickslow said, and turned back to Laxus. "I'm going to be staying in town to take care of her and Michael for at least another month. I was telling the others that you guys-"
"I heard. And I agree with them." The blond stated, and with that the seith mage shrugged in defeat. "I'll also be replacing Claire in guarding the Guild Hall until she's better. The old man is feeling pretty bad about what happened to her."
"He should. It's his fault."
"Don't be so harsh on the Guild Master. If it's anyone's fault, it's Bacchus's." Ever defended.
"The Guild Master is the one that approved the S-Ranked mission knowing that she was still injured from Death Forest, not to mention the mission that went south with Amir… which, I'm sorry about, by the way. I know you guys used to be good friends." He added at the end, turning back to Laxus. The large man merely shrugged, seeming indifferent to the man's death.
"Where's Claire now?" Fried asked curiously.
"Outside on the hammock. Can you guys keep an eye on Michael and Claire for a few hours?"
"Why? Where are you going?" Ever asked.
"I'm going to try and track down Michael's dad while there's still some daylight." He explained, and when Michael looked up at him with wide eyes, the seith mage chuckled. "Don't worry, everything's going to work out."
8.
'If you stress out you'll die.' Was the summary of her visit with Porlyusica.
Her visits with the old hag were always so relaxing… not.
Claire took a deep breath nonetheless, letting her body sway slightly from side to side with the breeze. Relaxing on the hammock had been her idea, and she had to admit, it was a pretty good one. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and there were a few white clouds drifting across the sky that looked like a horse.
She was alone for the first time in what felt like years. No kids, no ghosts, no ghost kids, and no boyfriend. It was a nice change in pace, but she still missed all of them. Even though they were a pain sometimes, she liked having people that cheered whenever she walked into the room or were excited for days about an offhanded comment she made. "We're adorable!"
The sound of someone's footsteps on the grass met her ears, and she peered over at the rickety building to see the stoic dragonslayer walking towards her, drinks in hand. He handed one of them to her, to which she gladly accepted, and recognized it as a mojito.
"How'd you know this is my favorite drink?" She asked as he took a seat nearby, leaning back on the reclining chair and crossing his legs comfortably.
"Fried told me."
"… how did he know?"
"I dunno." He shrugged, and she took a sip of her drink, squeezing her eyes shut at the unexpected taste.
"… my mistake. I thought by the mint leaves it was a mojito."
"… it is."
"This tastes like straight tequila with a few mint leaves."
"Isn't that what a mojito is?" He asked, and she laughed at his serious expression.
"No, but I'll still drink it. I might get hammered pretty quick, though."
"Hey, doctor's orders, right?" He asked with a smirk, and again she laughed, nodding.
"Good point."
As she sipped at her tequila, he sipped his whiskey, and they fell into a comfortable silence for a while. Leaning back and stretching on the hammock, it again swayed with the breeze and her movement, and she found herself glad that the lightning mage had come out to join her. "So, you've known Bickslow longer than I have. If Michael's dad doesn't want him, what do you think Bixy will do?" She asked curiously, glancing over at the calm man.
"I honestly can't see him raising Michael. Although, I couldn't see him being in a long term relationship with a living girl before, either." He replied, and she chuckled. "What do you hope he'll do?"
"'Hope'?" She asked, intrigued by his choice in wording.
"Yeah. I mean, do you really want to play a mom role?"
"God, no. I don't mind when Bickslow's babies call me it, but I nearly had a heart attack when Michael started calling me 'mom'. Killing people and almost dying barely fazed me, but the idea of being a parent scared the hell out of me."
"Bicks told me about your injury. That's gotta be pretty rough."
"Yeah, it sucks. The job itself was pretty awesome until the whole harpoon thing. I got to fight with some really powerful wizards." She said with a grin, recalling the event. "Jura and Kagura? Like, holy shit could they kick ass. I felt like such a newbie fighting with them."
"You're pretty lucky to get that experience. Bicks and the others were jealous when they heard about it."
"They were?" She asked, and he nodded.
"They've only done S-Ranked jobs as a group with me. It was irresponsible of Bacchus to take you on those jobs, but it definitely gave you an edge against the other wizards at Fairy Tail. Natsu would freak if he found out." He said, chuckling to himself at the thought. Natsu would probably destroy half the town if he found out that a newbie fire mage had been allowed to go on those jobs and he wasn't, when he'd been itching to go ever since he learned what they were. Even Gajeel had been given top secret, S-Ranked jobs.
"Last I saw him, he was pretty happy about me burning his clothes. I'm surprised he doesn't challenge me to more fights, honestly."
"Consider yourself lucky." He muttered, and took another drink. "That kid can be annoying as fuck."
"Entertaining on TV, though." She chuckled, and upon the confused look, she looked away awkwardly. "Never mind, it's uh… home world joke."
He didn't say anything, shrugging off the strange response. "What do you think of the Thunder Legion?"
"It's a fun group."
"Are you saying that just because you're dating Bicks?"
She smiled, closing her eyes and resting the bottom of the glass on her stomach, enjoying the warm feeling spreading through her. "The bickering can get annoying at times, but I like you guys. I'm also not really sure where I stand with Evergreen and it's a little difficult to adjust to your guys' style of working, but I'm guessing the latter is just my inexperience as a mage."
"What's your beef with Ever?"
"She claimed that we were 'best friends' on the job, and then when we got back, she told Makarov that she was 'concerned' about how I dealt with someone dying. She could have at least given me a heads up or talked to me about it."
"Ever's not the best at communicating. I doubt she meant anything mean by it." He said, and rested his head against the back of the chair, enjoying the nice weather.
"Women on this world are so weird."
"Amen to that." Laxus replied, and a comfortable silence fell over them for a while. After a while he glanced over at her, wondering if she was asleep, only to find her staring absently at the clouds above them. "What was your dynamic like when you worked with Bacchus?"
"My little brother comes off as a drunk, but he's actually a genius. Well… when he wants to be. He made me do most of the work so I'd learn from it, and most of my learning was trial and error. Most of the time we'd run headlong into battle, and somehow it always worked out."
"On our last mission, Fried said you were pretty impulsive with the seith mage, just running after her at the first sight."
"I did put a little thought into it, I just didn't account for Fried being so physically weak. Which isn't an insult, he's brilliant, I just thought he was more… durable. When I first saw the seith mage she tried to use 'figure eyes' on me, and given how easy it was to break, figured she would be easy to take down."
"So you know how to break 'soul possession' spells?" He asked curiously, and she snickered, giggling to herself.
"After Bickslow used it on me the first time, I did my homework on it. He's strong enough that I doubt I could fight him off, but weaker seith mages I can."
"Does Bicks know that?"
"I don't think it ever came up in conversation. He knows I've been researching his magic."
"Why have you been doing that, if you don't mind me asking? Are you thinking of becoming a seith mage, too?"
"I considered it for a while, but pretty much every source says that only people already possessing the ability to see ghosts should learn it. Otherwise it's a death wish."
"Seith mages are pretty rare. That's one of the reasons I chose Bicks for my team."
"He thinks the world of you. They all do, actually." She commented, and took another sip of her tequila.
"What do you think of me?" He asked curiously, smirking at the young woman.
"Uh… I dunno. I don't really have a strong opinion of you one way or another. You seem like a good guy, and you're crazy strong. I was terrified of you when I first met you."
"Terrified?"
"You're an S-Class mage with crazy amounts of magic. I've gotten used to it now, but it's still intimidating sometimes."
"If you were terrified of me, why didn't you say anything?"
"It would be pretty hypocritical to avoid you for your magic, when people do it to me all the time." She told him, and he nodded, accepting her answer. "What do you think of me?" She countered, remembering in her tipsy state that it was only fair to ask the same question.
"You're weird." He said bluntly, and she laughed. Once her laughter had calmed down, he continued. "But you have a lot of potential, and Fairy Tail is full of weirdos, so it works out."
9.
"You guys are still out here?" Bickslow asked as he approached the pair. It was getting close to midnight, and according to his team, they'd been out there for close to 7 hours with only a brief bathroom/food break. Claire was drunkenly giggling at his arrival, and Laxus wore a similar grin on his face, both of them completely shit faced.
"We're bonding." Claire giggled.
"Why do you wear such weird clothes?" Laxus asked, also giggling. Bickslow couldn't recall a time he'd ever heard his leader 'giggle', even when he was too drunk to stand.
"Did you just giggle?" The seith mage asked, and then noticed that there were two bottles on the ground, both of which were nearly empty.
"Of course not." The man stated, but then giggled again. "I'm a man."
"Laxus likes to giggle~!" Claire teased.
"He does?" Bickslow's babies asked, hovering behind the seith mage.
"Babies!" Claire cheered, and almost fell out of her hammock. The small totems all zoomed over to her, nuzzling and tickling her as she drunkenly giggled and squirmed, simultaneously keeping her from falling out of the hammock.
"Be gentle with her, guys. She's still recovering and shouldn't move around too much." Bickslow reminded, smiling at them. It had been a beautiful day for them to hang out like they had, and even now the sky was clear and full stars. The night air was the perfect temperature, not too hot and not too cold, and fireflies were drifting in and out of the trees.
"We missed Claire." His babies said in unison, and found various places on her to rest and hum, calming her down and keeping the hammock rocking slightly.
"How was the thing with the thing?" The fire woman asked, looking over at him.
"Great, actually. Found Michael's dad and he seems like a great guy. Mike will be staying one more night with us while he prepares the spare room for him, and I'll be taking him over tomorrow." He explained, knowing full well that she wouldn't remember the conversation tomorrow. "Why'd you guys get so drunk?"
"Cuz why not?" Laxus said with a grin, and reached for the bottle at his side, finishing off the last of his rum.
"Laxus is a teddy bear." Claire said.
"Am not. You are a pyro psycho." He countered.
"Mind if I join you guys?" Bickslow asked, and they both grinned, Laxus handing him the bottle of tequila that was only a quarter full. Careful not to knock his girlfriend off the hammock, climbed in with her, using his babies to help steady him on the awkward ropes. Once he got situated she shifted so that she was cuddling into his side, his arm around her shoulders, and could still stare up at the stars. With his free hand he took a sip of the tequila, making a face at the less than pleasant taste.
"Is this a party?" Evergreen asked, approaching them with a chair in tow and Fried close behind.
"Who's watching Michael?" Bickslow asked, silently wishing that they'd go away. Neither of them could hold their liquor and got quite rowdy when they drank.
"He's sleeping upstairs. We told Makarov to call if he needed anything." Fried explained as they sat down. "Should we have brought alcohol?"
"I have a feeling these two are going to be done pretty soon, so it's your choice." He shrugged, referring to the giggly duo who were unusually quiet now.
"Oi, why'd you pryo rat?" Laxus suddenly asked, pointing at Ever and glaring at her.
"What?" Evergreen asked, surprised by the sudden question, if it was one.
"Don't coyote." He slurred.
"Laxus, you need to let up on drinking. No one can understand you." Bickslow informed him, to which the blonde shrugged and leaned back in his chair again, looking up at the starry night.
"Fuckers." He mumbled, to which the others exchanged an amused look, having never seen him act so weird while intoxicated.
"What have you guys been talking about out here?" Ever asked curiously, looking between the fire and lightning mages. "You've been out here for almost 7 hours."
"Claire's asleep." Bickslow informed her, both glad that she was resting but also wondering how he was going to get her home. For a hammock it was remarkably comfortable, especially with the cuddling factor, so he was tempted to just sleep here for the night. Of course he couldn't, because of the sleeping boy in the Guild Hall, but it was a tempting thought.
Evergreen and Fried looked to their leader, waiting for an answer, but he simply ignored them.
"What did you and Claire talk about?" Fried asked. Both of them had been occasionally eyeing the mages all afternoon, guessing and wondering what they were laughing and chatting about.
"Stuff." The blonde shrugged.
10.
"Sup blondie." Claire greeted, taking a seat across from Laxus. He merely grunted, quietly nursing his warm cup of tea and keeping his eyes closed. It was close to 10:00 AM and both of them had bags under their eyes, suffering the consequences of their excessive drinking the night before. On either side of the dragonslayer were Fried and Evergreen, who were leaning in close with wide and curious eyes.
"Laxus won't tell us what you talked about yesterday." Ever pouted to the woman, who merely smiled in response. "Tell uuuuuuuus."
"Was it inappropriate?" Bickslow asked with a grin, looking between the hung over pair.
"Why do you guys want to know so bad?" Claire asked, tempted to get her own cup of tea as she eyed the one Laxus was drinking. Her body felt sore and stiff from the previous night, since she'd fallen asleep with Bickslow on the hammock. Michael was still sleeping upstairs with Pippi watching over him.
"You guys were out there for 7 hours, and I've never seen Laxus so… drunk." Fried answered.
Laxus glared at the checker woman, and she grinned.
"You're so gullible when you're drunk." Claire stated, utterly amused by his seething stare and ignoring the fuzzy terrible feeling in her gut.
"You're a fucking bitch when you're drunk."
"I think the word you're looking for is 'awesome'." She corrected, and moved to stand up and get her own cup of tea.
"… that was a little harsh, don't you think?" Bickslow asked, unsure how to go about the situation. On one hand, he just called his girlfriend a bitch. On the other hand, it was Laxus, and picking a fight with him in this state would mean certain death.
"Have you never seen her drunk before?" He asked with a smirk.
"Yes?" Bickslow answered, more like a question, since he could never recall a time where Claire turned into a 'bitch' when she drank. The more he thought about it, he had seen her tipsy plenty of times, but last night was the most intoxicated he had ever seen her.
"Let's just say Bacchus isn't the only one that turns into a monster when he drinks."
"I warned you that would happen." Claire said as she returned to the table, a cup of cold water with a teabag inside. Heating it up with her hands and her breath, she brought it up to her face, hiding her smile.
"That what would happen?" Bickslow asked, utterly confused and looking between the two.
"When I drink too much, I get mean. A little past tipsy is the best place for me, but passed that into drunk territory and I make people cry. I'm sorry about your mom, by the way." She apologized, looking back to Laxus.
"You're a mean drunk?" Bickslow asked her.
"It's okay, I was asking for it." The blond said, tilting his mug to take another sip.
"You weren't too nice either, if I recall correctly." She said, still smiling.
"Wait, so, you guys were insulting each other the entire time?" Evergreen asked, and they mentally deliberated her summary for a moment before nodding.
"Pretty much." Claire answered, and then turned to her boyfriend, who was sitting next to her with his arm around her waist. "So you're taking Mike to his dad's today? What's he like?" She asked, effectively changing the conversation. A morning person she was not, and having so much attention on her furthered her oncoming headache.
"He seems like a pretty descent guy. He's got his own house, a bit of a bachelor, but when I told him about Mike he was actually really excited about it. I'm going to drop him off at 3 this afternoon."
"Did you tell him about Mike's 'gift'?" Claire asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah, he was a little weirded out, but I told him that I would work with them on it. He said he's willing to at least try the whole dad thing."
"Why wasn't he in his life before?" Evergreen asked curiously.
"My sister never told him about Mike."
"Good morning, Fairy Tail wizards." Makarov greeted cheerily as he approached them, with a grin that set everyone on edge. He had that look of mischief in his eye, and everyone knew to dread it. "Claire, can I speak to you in my office?"
"… did I do something wrong?"
"Not at all. I just need to speak to you for a moment. Alone."
"… alright…"