FINALLY GOT THIS FINISHED. God, this chapter just did not want to come out!
AND, you know, I made six cosplays (including Mavis, Zera & Frosch!) and went to two conventions since I started it...so,yeah...well, that didn't help. My bad.
I've got another quick con coming up this weekend and two more in April, so no promises (*insert hysterical laughter from everyone who remembers I used to update once a week*), but I'll try to squeeze out another one before I leave for my first one in April before I go.
I changed my profile pic again to my new Mavis cosplay and the Zera I made for my friend for the last con for those who want to see. Or, if you're really intrigued by all of the things I talk about making and want to follow my work in that too (if only to see what I'm doing instead of writing PAPI…) then follow my page on Facebook: Quite-A-Riot Cosplay and Couture.
ALSO, 2,000 reviews! I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You guys are the best! And, as a reward, I do believe I promised at least one extra one shot if it hit 2000 reviews, so keep an eye out on the companion posting for this one (A Colorful Collection of Passive Aggressive One-Shots) for a couple of side stories! I'm going to write them RIGHT NOW. I PROMISE.
Ok, ridiculously long A/N done. Enjoy! And then flood me with demands, questions and comments in the reviews! I promise I'll even try to get them answered this time!
"Okay, I know I said I needed to go to the gym...but why the hell did we have to get up before the freaking sun to do it!?" Lucy whined, dragging her feet and pulling her weight away from Natsu as he stubbornly hauled her unwilling body down the sidewalk to the gym. I'm still so sleeeeeepyyyyyy!
"Because you were the one who wanted chocolate croissants so badly last night that you said to, and I quote: 'drag me to the gym super fucking early so that I can eat as many pastries as I want and still get back before Levy wakes up,' Natsu replied, rolling his eyes and heaving her unwilling body forward with minimal effort. Besides, you're so heavy! You definitely need a day at the gym...well...a day at the gym actually working out… His brain supplied a very vivid image of the time they'd spent the day before in their new favorite private workout room...not working out.
Lucy stumbled as he remembered just what it had felt like, her knees threatening to turn into butter.
Hey! You said you wouldn't do that anymore! It's hard enough to walk in a straight line after yesterday without having your pervy memories shoved onto me! You're just… Lucy gasped as lust rolled off of him in waves...evil. Pure sadistic evil. You sex demon.
"Oh look! We're here! Let's go have a great workout, okay Luce?" he professed suddenly with over-enthusiastic, candy cane sweetness, completely ignoring her thoughts.
You suck.
He just grinned back at her as he held open the door for her. I mean, if we're talking about sucking, you're really more of the expert there...
Godsdammit Natsu! Can't you get your mind out of the gutter!?
But it's so much fun to see how far I can go before your knees get all wobbly… he pouted into her head. Plus it's not like you're really resisting all that amazing, knee-weakening sex...
"But it's making me so soooooore!" she whined aloud into the empty gym just to emphasize her point. Or rather, what she thought was an empty gym.
"What's making you so sore?" Erza's voice echoed out of nowhere like an informant waiting for someone to snitch to in a darkened parking garage as she strode forward to greet them.
Lucy inhaled her own spit in alarm and coughed violently as a result.
"Oh, hey Erza. I was just working Lucy really hard at the gym yesterday, so she's a little worn out," Natsu replied smoothly as he dropped their gym bag (That's right world, I'm part of a couple that shares a gym bag now! he thought proudly to himself as Lucy fought not to choke further on her sudden laughter). "What's up with you?"
Your ability to lie on demand is fucking creepy. You clingy nerd.
What? I was totally telling the truth! You think I'd lie to Erza?! I worked you hard all over the gym yesterday…in the closet, in the workout room, behind the stairs...
Lucy's coughing got worse.
"Good work, Natsu. She needs to be worked hard," Erza replied with approval..
Which is when Natsu succumbed to a coughing fit of his own.
"Do you need help stretching out?" Erza asked with a twinkle in her eye that did not bode well for Lucy, if Natsu's immediate reaction of pure terror was any indication. She could feel the anticipation and excitement Erza was practically vibrating with just standing near her. It almost overwhelmed the Horny-Natsu-in-the-Morning vibes she'd been fending off since he'd woken up at three in the morning and, somehow, fucked her in his sleep. As in, didn't actually wake up the entire time.
Hell, they were halfway into it before she even realized what was happening. Maybe they were having a little too much fun lately...after all, serious things had been happening. They needed to stop going at it like Playboy bunnies and be responsible adults.
But at the same time, she also hoped it went on forever. Afterall, he was REALLY good in bed. Or anywhere really. Didn't matter where, the man was fucking talented. And all hers.
Natsu's pride suddenly overwhelmed every other feeling in the room.
Shut up. It's not like it's news to you, horndog.
"Yeah...I think I can probably stretch on my own, but thanks anyw-" Lucy's polite refusal was cut off as Erza took matters into her own hands, literally, by grabbing the hand Natsu wasn't holding on to in order to drag the protesting blonde to the mats.
Only she never got the chance. Because the minute Erza's hand came into contact with Lucy's, her unwilling victim was flooded with an overwhelming number of emotions.
From everyone. Everywhere.
Or what sure as hell felt like it.
She could feel the darkness in Levy's mind as her friend dreamt, she could feel Gajeel's anger and anguish, Erik's disbelief, Mystogan's frustration, and even a smug self-satisfaction that felt like it came from Mystogan...but if Mystogan were an asshole (so, Jellal, she assumed). She could even pick out Gray, happy in a warm fuzzy kind of way as he dreamed about something pleasant. And dozens more from people she couldn't immediately identify: glee, loneliness, boredom, a zeal bordering on insanity that almost leaked out of her in a crazed giggle just by association...
But mostly, she got metaphorically buffeted like a flag in the wind by Erza and Natsu's feelings, including complicated nuances she had never noticed before: the subtle change in Natsu's happiness when he looked at Lucy as opposed to what he felt seeing Erza, the feeling of inadequacy simmering deep below Erza's unabashed pride, and the miniscule differences in the flavor of their almost equal concern for her own well-being.
Lucy could only stand being an emotional sounding board for so long, jerking her hand roughly out of Erza's and shaking it as though she had been shocked by a particularly nasty light switch in the dry season. She felt almost numb, like she was deprived of her natural senses after such overstimulation. She opened her mouth to ask what the hell had happened but was beaten to it by Natsu.
"Holy crap Erza! I don't know what you did, but whatever it was, Lucy's emotion sensing thing was so powerful even I could feel 'em! It was crazy! Is that what your power is?" He squeezed Lucy's hand, silently comforting her, even as he questioned Erza in excitement. She could barely feel his hand, but it still made her heartbeat slow by a few beats per minute.
"I did what now?" Erza replied, taken aback.
"When you touched me just now…" Lucy started. "It...amplified my power. I could feel everyone. I mean, everyone bonded, I guess. Levy, Gajeel, Mystogan, Jellal...EVERYONE. It was like my power on crack! What did you do?!"
"I just touched you!" Erza looked down at her hand with the beginnings of a wonderstruck, but satisfied smile. "I guess we just figured out what I can do…"
Natsu grinned. "That's fucking awesome Erz. If you can amplify our powers, I wonder what would happen if you touch me! Maybe I could switch bodies with anyone!" He reached forward only to have both girls leap into action: Lucy, to restrain him and Erza to keep the hell away from him.
Dammit Natsu! The last thing we need right now is you going on a rampage in Erza's body! And do you REALLY want to be that intimate with someone who's basically your sister?
Thankfully, that thought gave Natsu pause long enough to keep him from doing something stupid (since there was no way Lucy could really hold him back from something he was determined to do), but he pouted about it anyway while Erza and Lucy shared a loaded look.
Apparently, it was time to wake up Levy.
The sun was just thinking about rising when Wendy awoke, her well-trained body responding automatically to the rigorous demands of her hospital schedule; sleeping-in was a pipe-dream she had given up after starting clinicals in med school. But, having forsaken a college student's sacred fulfillment of a good morning's sleep, she had wholehearted converted to the worship of caffeine. Just the thought of it perked her up. Surely there was a coffee maker and a halfway decent brew waiting for her to discover it in the kitchen. Now she just had to figure out where the hell that was.
Careful not to wake Levy (or Gray, in his nest of blankets and discarded clothing on the floor), Wendy climbed down from her borrowed loft bed and tiptoed out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. A little thrill of adrenaline ran up her spine.
Despite Gray's assurances, she was still pretty sure women weren't allowed to sleep over in the frat, and the chance of getting caught (however slim at 5am) did more to wake up her brain than the self-promised coffee would. Getting into the notion, she flipped her long hair over her shoulder and flattened her back against the wall. Wendy had always had an unexpected thirst for adventure.
The air in the hall was cool where her t-shirt and pajama shorts exposed her limbs, but it felt refreshing against her heated skin. She came to a corner and peeked around it, seeing the main staircase at the end of the hall. If there was anywhere she was going to run into anyone, it would be there, right?
Steeling herself, she ducked low and sprinted to the stairs, scanning the steps and the entryway below before taking them two by two. She didn't stop until she'd exited the entry, choosing the larger archway off to the right under the assumption that it led to the other community rooms in the house and flattening herself around the corner again. Catching her breath a little she had a look around.
Her assumption proved correct, a large, empty dining area full of beat up round tables and matching chairs greeting her as she surveyed her surroundings. Well, she wasn't called a prodigy for nothing. It did seem odd that the room featured not one, but two bars on opposite sides of the room...however, it being a fraternity dining hall, she assumed it was just a college 'bro thing' and dismissed it.
Besides, she was more interested in the door next to the far bar...the one that screamed 'KITCHEN THIS WAY' to her complaining stomach and fatigued brain. Without further ado, she skipped her way across the room, letting down her guard as she wove through the tables and swung herself through the doorway, her waist-length hair fanning out behind her with a lovely swishing noise tha she encouraged with a twitch of her neck.
Which was the sight that met Romeo as he turned around, a plate of cold cuts in one hand and a protein bar sticking out of his mouth. Well, it started in his mouth. Before Wendy's hair could finishing swinging around her body (and straight into her face), his after workout power boost had hit the floor.
And he couldn't care less.
Romeo had always laughed when movies portrayed a meeting of two people in slow motion. That kind of shit didn't happen in real life, so seeing it in a film always felt ridiculous. But now…
It wasn't so much that time slowed down as it froze, like a particularly controversial Super Bowl recap video, locked into one second as someone drew circles outlining all the important parts of the moment. He never would have thought any woman could have that kind of impact on him.
But the woman caught mid-hair-flip in front of him was more than just gorgeous. From her sweet smile and flushed cheeks to her modestly curvy figure and bright-green-sock-bedecked feet he instantly loved everything about her. His heart, just settling down from the cardio he'd put it through, came to attention, thumping away in his chest like the tail of an excited puppy. And he just knew: one day, she would be his. The last time he'd been so sure of anything, he'd seen Natsu do his Fire Dragon Roar. He'd signed up to rush for Fairy Tail Frat within the hour, and had yet to regret it.
And, just as suddenly as that frozen moment of clarity hit, it was gone, the girl's gleeful expression shifting to one of surprise, her hair continuing its path to smack her securely in the face, and her eye-smarting socks skidding to a stop on the smooth kitchen floor just as his protein bar skidding across the floor to land in front of her.
"Oh shit!"
Romeo's eyebrows shot up as the mysterious girl squeaked out the profanity, immediately turning tail to run. He automatically followed after her, setting his plate on the counter as he went.
Wendy slipped and slid on the linoleum before she could get traction, but that didn't stop her from retreating with a vengeance. Natsu and Lucy's warnings about not showing herself easily echoed in her head, overriding both her common sense and her coordination. It didn't help matters that she could feel the unexpected witness to her secret mission hot on her heels!
So it really wasn't all that surprising that her not-so-graceful exit got even less so, her feet sliding out from under her as she embarrassingly reverted to her clumsy, pre-teen self, scrunching closed her eyes and throwing out her arms in anticipation of her impending faceplant.
But, instead of the once all-too-familiar feeling of her nose meeting hard, cold floor, a strong arm wrapped her around the waist, lifting her slippery feet off the ground as easily as if she was that beanpole of an eleven-year-old clutz again. The impact knocked out her breath as she felt herself jerked backward against a warm body, a shock that felt like white-hot lightning running out from her back, where they touched, to her scalp and toes. Her vision went white for half a second, leaving after-images behind she tried to blink away. The whole experience left her skin tingly and crawling, making a shiver go convulsively through her body and into her rescuers, his grip tightening in response.
"Whoa…" breathed a rather hoarse voice next to her ear. "That was...uh…" He cleared his throat and Wendy turned her head toward him automatically coming nose to nose with her rescuer. "Are you...o...kay?"
Romeo couldn't believe how big her eyes were. And such a deep brown they were almost purple. He was immediately lost. His overactive puppy of a heart went from tail wagging to leaping into the air. What had he been saying again?
Declarations of his love? A proposal? Sure...that sounded right...they could get married right after the spring semester was over and live happily ever...
"Um…" the love of his life whispered, her breath ghosting over his lips, "I'm really grateful that you caught me and all...but could you maybe put me down?" She kicked her heels gently into his bare shins to illustrate the fact that he was still holding her a good foot off the floor.
Romeo blinked, trying to clear his muddled thoughts long enough to concentrate on what she was saying. "Huh?"
"PLEASE PUT ME DOWN!" Her words were harsh, but polite, all delivered at an ear splitting decibel inches away from his ear.
The amount of sound coming out of such a tiny person surprised him enough that he immediately let go, dropping the girl of his dreams unceremoniously back on the floor where she promptly slipped again and fell back against him. But, before he could wrap his arms around her again, she was up on her own, sliding to the nearest chair and plopping into it with a massive blush across her cheeks.
"Um, thank you. For keeping me from falling, I mean." Her voice was back to the quiet tone she'd used before, and she glanced around nervously. "If it's not too much trouble, could you maybe not tell anyone that I was here? I'm...visiting someone here and they made it pretty clear that girls aren't allowed to spend the night. I just really needed some coffee…" Finally her eyes found Romeo's again and she was surprised to see disappointment obvious in his eyes. "Uh...is it really that big a deal? I just spent the night in one of the rooms upstairs…"
As Romeo's mind ran from one alarming conclusion to the next, his brow furrowed. So, she was visiting someone. AND had spent the night upstairs...which meant his future wife was dating an upperclassman. His overexcited heart whined in pain at the thought and a knot formed in his stomach. He tried to figure out which of the seniors still living in the frat it could be as he answered her.
"Well, technically we're not supposed to have girls sleepover in our rooms…" Mystogan? Naw, he was with Erza now…no way he'd cheat on her. That would mean sudden and painful death. Everyone knew that. "But guys do it all the time." Laxus? Had he finally given up on Mira? This girl didn't really seem like his type, but who wouldn't want her? "Granted, they know better than to come to the kitchen early in the morning…" Bacchus maybe? But he was so hung up on Cana lately…speaking of which… "We've got a new housemo-uh, I mean, Master of Fairy Tail though, and she's pretty chill, so I'm sure it will be fine as long as not many people see you." Who the hell was this girl seeing? Could it be one of the ex-quattro puppies? Or Reedus?! Was he about to lose the love of his life to REEDUS OF ALL PEOPLE?! Why had he wasted all those years waking up to work out if the love of his life was going to get stolen by a CHUBBY ARTIST?!
The more Romeo thought about it, the more frantic his expression became. Wendy was starting to get concerned.
"Hey...are you okay? You look like you're about to have a panic attack or something." On reflex, she stood up and grabbed his wrist, checking his pulse. "Are you having any difficulty breathing or chest pains?" She steered him to a chair next to hers and compared the beats she was feeling to the second hand of her beat-up Hello Kitty wristwatch. It was childish, but the only thing she still had from her birth mom, so she never took it off.
Romeo tried desperately to keep his heart from speeding up even more as she leaned closer to him, her hair brushing against his bare knees where his workout shorts had ridden up.
Gods, she has such long pretty hair, he thought. He wanted to run his hand through it so badly. But he was damn sure that was going too far onto the side of creepy, even if she was single, instead of dating one of his bros. His mouth pulled down into a frown again. His experience with girls was definitely...lacking, but some things were obvious. He gripped his chair with the hand she wasn't holding to keep from doing something he'd regret and frantically searched for something to say. "I think I'm...fine?...hey, are you a med student or something?"
"I'm a surgeon in my first year of residency actually," Wendy replied wearily. She was no stranger to explaining her age, but it had gotten old years before. "I'm just not as young as I look. I just turned 25."
Romeo stared at her in surprise. "Seriously? You're six years older than me? No fucking way." His heart sank further, trying it's best to become one with the floor as it howled a forlorn song of lost chances. Definitely dating a senior then. Or maybe a super senior. I bet it's Mest. That jackass only dates older women...and she's just his type… Romeo could picture all too well the things Mest would be compelled to investigate on a petite thing like her.
Now it was Wendy's turn to look surprised. "Wait, you're only 19? You look..." Her well-trained eyes took a good look at him for the first time, lingering on the pronounced biceps exposed by his sleeveless tank against her will. His velvety black hair was sticking up all directions, half bedhead and half sweaty from his early morning workout, but in a roguishly adorable kind of way. It offset his solid, cleancut All-American-athlete jawline in a way that made her body feel warm with more than embarrassment. She could feel the blush flaring across her cheeks again and she ducked her head.
Romeo leaned forward a bit trying to see her face better under her curtain of fringe, a self-conscious smile lurking at the corner of his mouth. "A lot older than 19?" he asked almost playfully, with more hope than he intended. Flirting wasn't his strong suit, but he'd be damned if she didn't want to make him try anyway. His thumb moved ever so slightly, brushing against the underside of her forearm where she still held his wrist. It was sinfully soft.
Wendy reacted to his minute movement like he'd hit her with a defibrillator charged to 200, jerking back violently and falling into her chair, scooting it several inches back with her momentum. "Um...definitely not 19," she squeaked, belatedly finishing her earlier sentence. "And…"She cleared her throat, adopting the doctor-knows-best voice she'd worked so hard on over the years. "In my professional medical opinion, you seem ok. Your heart rate is probably just high from your recent workout, but it's strong and steady." Abruptly, she stood up. "Anyway, I have to get going before someone sees me, right? So if you'll just show me to the coffee I will be on my way back to my patient…"
"Patient? So…" Romeo's heart rolled over, perked up and cocked its figurative head, hanging on her every word. "You're here professionally? You aren't dating someone in the house?"
Wendy gawked at him for a second before snorting. "No! Of course not! I was asked to keep an eye on someone due to a medical incident that happened yesterday. Since the patient in question refused to go to the hospital, and needed a quiet place to rest, Natsu said it would be ok to monitor her in your fraternity house. If I had known there was an adult in charge, I would have cleared it with this Master person first."
Well, Cana's not really what I would call an 'adult'... Romeo thought wryly as a grin busted onto his face. He could barely process anything she'd said after she'd denied dating any of his brothers. His heart was back to tail wagging, with intermittent excited barks. He still had a chance. Hopefully. Just because she wasn't dating a fraternity member didn't mean she was single. Or looking.
But some indefinable feeling in his gut told him she wasn't. He just needed an opening. And, he realized, she'd given him one. He sprang to his feet with more energy than his cooling muscles wanted to give and gestured over his shoulder at the kitchen.
"Well, that's totally different! Let me get you a cup of coffee and walk you back to the room you're staying in. We can talk to Cana after that. I'm Romeo by the way. Do you want anything else to eat? I mean...I make a borderline edible piece of toast if you're interested…" He grinned at her, practically bouncing on his toes with happiness.
It was infectious. Despite her discomfort at her sudden awareness that she was still wearing her pajamas, Wendy couldn't help but grin back.
"You don't think I'll get caught if we wait long enough for toast?" A tiny spark of the impish feeling she'd been enjoying on her quest to the kitchen resurfaced, giving her a matching bounce in her step.
Romeo just waved her into the kitchen before him, made a show of scanning the dining hall and closed the door behind him, shutting them into the kitchen together.
"Not if we take the back stairs..." He gestured to a door she hadn't noticed in her brief glance at the industrial styled kitchen earlier.
"Oh.." she mused as her rescuer confidently moved around the kitchen, popping bread into a toaster and taking out instant coffee grounds. "That's super handy."
"Yeah, it is. Years ago, back when the cook was live-in instead of a part-time position, their room was upstairs, so it was easier to reach the kitchen to start breakfast without waking anyone up. Our frat's been around for a long time...dating back generations. My dad was even a member!" Romeo couldn't resist puffing out his chest at that. Sure, when he'd starting looking at fraternities, he had been dead set against Fairy Tail because of that, but that had long since changed. If anything, it had brought him and his dad closer together than they'd been in years.
They chatted about Fairy Tail and what being a doctor was like as Romeo made toast, microwaved up some bacon and got himself a new power bar. Wendy watched him open up to her in fascination. For the most part, she found guys-particularly buff, attractive guys-to be self-centered and more than a little scary. But Romeo felt like an old friend. Or maybe… she mused as he leaned over the counter toward her a little and her heart fluttered, more like an old crush.
"You know, Doc, I still don't know your nam-" Romeo cut himself off as a noise outside the closed door behind her caught both of their attentions. Putting a finger to his lips to indicate she should be quiet, Romeo grabbed the two plates of food he'd made. Wendy grabbed their mugs, trying desperately not to spill any as they raced through the back door and took the stairs as fast as they could. Wendy splashed a little bit of hot coffee on her wrist as it sloshed in the cups, but could barely feel it through the adrenaline and glee flooding her system. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun just hanging out with someone. She felt like she was in high school again.
When they got to the top of the staircase, Romeo balanced both plates on one arm expertly and eased open the door, looking around the hall before opening it wider and gesturing her out. Wendy sidled past him, unable to resist grinning up at him as she passed.
Their eyes locked as his grin mirrored hers.
Then the weirdness started.
For just a moment, Wendy could see nothing but blinding white. It was not even long enough to create an afterimage before a whole new scene blossomed before her.
A much younger Romeo held one of her hands, dragging her behind him, his broad smile the essence of light itself. She herself was young, her wrist and hand even smaller than his and twice as dainty, but that didn't stop her from keeping a strong hold and racing after him. Even though she was breathing hard and her new boots pinched her toes, she refused to be left behind.
After all, he had promised he wouldn't leave without her.
Beside them, on the tracks they raced next to, a locomotive had just begun to move, the connecting rods of the driven wheels squealing in protest as if being forcibly woken from a long nap. Dark smoke coughed out of the engine chimney, funneled through the smokebox from the firebox as the boiler was heated enough to get the steam pressure needed to power the massive machine. She knew everything there was to know about steam engines. She'd been gleaning every bit and piece she could get her hands on since she'd found out her father was a conductor. And now she was finally going to find him!
But she wouldn't have had the courage to even find out that much if it wasn't for Casey.
"Come on Clara! We can't miss it!" Casey/Romeo yelled back at her, gesturing to the slightly open car door ahead of them. To her four-feet-four-and-a-quarter-inches it seemed like an insurmountable height.
"How...how are we supposed to get up there?!" she exclaimed, breathing hard from their run. The car was inching along already by the time they got there, but her companion easily levered himself up, having a good foot on her in height, and reached down to grab both her arms.
Within moments her feet were swept from under her and for one glorious, terrifying instant she flew through the air, surrounded by nothing but air as she fluttered from his solid grip.
And then she was flung into the hay of the car, landing hard on her arm as the door slammed shut behind her-
Wendy blinked rapidly, staggering back into the doorframe as she sought to orient herself.
A plate of toast, cold cuts and bacon hit the carpeted floor of the hallway with a small thump, scattering its contents amid a shower of crumbs. Startled, Wendy looked up at Romeo to see him staring, bewildered, back at her.
When their eyes met again, somehow, they both knew what the other had just seen.
"What the HELL was that?!" Romeo spoke first, ignoring the mess he'd made in favor of searching Wendy's face for answers.
Wendy just shook her head, swallowed hard, and turned away to flee back to her temporary lodgings. It felt a lot like running away.
She seriously needed to call Porly.
She was in way over her head.
And she was starting to think this thing was contagious!
Levy awoke to the sound of Gray mumbling things in his sleep.
Which, overall, wasn't a terrible way to wake up. Now, if she had just not dreamed about the bloody terror that was her past life-where she had killed the past incarnation of her soulmate and then got murdered by one of her best friends-she might have even called it a decent night's sleep. Unfortunately, it looked like she wouldn't be having one of those for a while.
Gray had mentioned how long his nightmares had haunted him. She definitely wasn't looking forward to a similar timeline.
Gingerly, she peeled the blanket from her terror-sweat-soaked skin and sat up, trying to get her bearings in the unfamiliar room. Memories of her current life slowly caught up to her. She was at Fairy Tail. Gray was sleeping on the floor just beneath her dangling feet, which backed up what her hazy caffeine-deprived brain remembered of the night before. But hadn't there been someone else there? A woman?
Conveniently, Wendy and Romeo chose this moment to burst through the door.
And all glory and praise to Jesus, Buddha, and God Serena, they were carrying coffee! The blue-haired doctor she immediately remembered from the night before stopped long enough to take a big swig from one of the two cups she was holding before searching for an appropriate surface to unload her double-fisted treasures.
Levy knew she'd liked Wendy from the moment she'd met her. Even before the sun came up she had...spunk. And a glint in her eye.
"Pass one of those over here, would you?" she gestured, reaching for one of the cups.
Meanwhile, Gray - awoken by the abrupt sound of two people busting in on his sleep at an hour too ungodly to mention - tried to get his bearings...and figure out where all of his clothes had disappeared to. Then, finding his watch under his shirt (which was serving as a pillow), he realized what time it actually was.
And promptly curled back up in his warm, sleep-encouraging nest.
"Shit...why the hell is everyone awake? Go away."
And then he went back to sleep.
Or tried to.
Because that's when Levy's phone rang with Lucy's special ringtone.
Which was apparently the Mission Impossible theme song, for reasons he did not understand.
And things got even more complicated.
Erik almost hadn't come into work.
Honestly, after the evening Gajeel had had, he was shocked the place was open at all. But, open it was. Granted, its owner was more likely to scare off any new customers with his death glare than convincing them to get some ink, but he had to give the big guy some credit for crawling out of bed and rejoining the daily grind. It made him really glad that he hadn't skipped out on work himself, despite the temptation. Sure, he'd had a pretty shitty night himself, but at least he knew what was going on.
As far as he knew, Levy still hadn't told Gajeel anything. Which made him feel even shittier, because he wasn't jumping to have that conversation either.
Fuck, he still hadn't come to terms with what she'd told him about his own past life. But then, how did anyone come to terms with learning he had brutally murdered numerous people in his past life? It wasn't like he was some kind of saint when he was younger anyway, but at least the people he'd sent to the hospital had chosen to fight him, however unwisely.
And he'd never killed anyone. It was one line he'd never had an interest in crossing, even when he'd gone by Cobra.
Erik cleared his throat firmly again, forcing the now familiar lump that had formed in his throat the night before back into submission. He had shit to do. This was not the time to continue his previous-sleepless-night's overthinking. Work was work, and he was lucky to have
"Mmph." Gajeel's guttural, equally sleepless grunt pulled his attention away from the dark twisty tunnel his thoughts had been wandering towards again. With an answering grunt, the redhead took the appointment book his boss was offering him and flipped it open to the right date.
It looked like they had a full day ahead of them. Starting with an appointment right off the bat.
"You want me to take the first appointment? You don't look like you're up for it…" Erik tried to make it sound like a joke, but only mustered a glimmer of his usual charm. Gajeel snorted with derision anyway.
"Not like you look any better. But yeah, you might as well take it. Some friend of Mira's decided she wants a tat. Or Mira decided she needs one. Either way, she'll end up getting one."
Erik shivered. He'd been a freshman gangbanger in high school when Mira 'Demon Soul' Strauss was a senior, but he'd known even then that you didn't defy her will. Not unless you wanted your life to be a living hell. "Poor girl. Here's hoping it was her idea."
Gajeel grunted in agreement and downed an energy shot, crushing the tiny plastic bottle in his fist before chucking it at the trash can. Erik stared after it longingly. Why hadn't he thought to bring any caffeine in with him that morning?
His forlorn thought was cut short by the now-familiar sound of the guitar riff ushering in their first client. He glanced at the clock and stifled a groan. Their early first client.
"Hello? Anyone here?" The light feminine voice was accompanied by a chorus of equally feminine giggles.
Arranging his tired face in some semblance of a courteous smile, he dragged his weary body off his wheelie stool and pushed through the chain curtain.
He was met by the grinning faces of four girls. One of which made his blood turn cold.
"Hey Mira!" he barked with forced cheer. "How's it going?"
The platinum blonde clearly presiding over the ditzy clique narrowed her eyes in a moment of confusion as she gave him the once over before a smile lit them up again.
"Cobra?! What the hell?! I haven't seen you in ages! I had no idea you worked here!" Though her words were cheerful, her smile turned less pure as she swiveled on her heel and gently pushed a petite, purple-haired woman in jeans and a halter top forward. "This is Kinana! She needs a tattoo and the Body Shot Bitches are footing the bill, so get this girl whatever she wants!"
Her words were accompanied by a cheer that made Erik want to grab the crowbar off the wall and knock himself out with it. Luckily, the client seemed to be the only one abstaining from the excessive noise, though she was smiling quite widely through her blush. It gave her an indescribably sweet look that almost made his teeth ache to see.
She was cute. It was too bad he wasn't into the sweet types. Granted, whatever the 'Body Shot Bitches' was didn't sound all that sweet to him either. The poor girl probably got roped into it all by Mira. Oh well, not his problem.
"Hi, I'm Erik. Do you have some idea of what you want?" He spoke directly to the client. Maybe if he just ignored the rest of them they'd calm the fuck down. "Or where you want it? If you need suggestions, I can grab some of our work for you to look over…" He gestured to the binders still sitting out from someone looking them over the night before. He and Gajeel hadn't really spent a lot of time cleaning up, what with the Levy-related shit that went down. And the wallowing after that.
Looking over the girl in front of him, he tried to guess what she'd go for.
A flower of some kind probably? Fuck, I hope it's not another fucking mariposa. ¿Por qué estas chicas nunca pueden pensar en algo original?
He was definitely not expecting the violet-haired princess in front of him to smirk at him as though she could hear his thoughts. And understand them. In that split second, he came to the swift realization that he had grossly misjudged her. Her vibe had gone from sweet milk chocolate to bitter dark in an instant.
"I do actually. I want a snake. More graphic than realistic. On my ribs right here." She lifted the hem of her lime-green halter top to reveal the pale, smooth skin of her abdomen...framed by what were clearly the edges of several other tattoos, one disappearing into her jeans and another just poking out from where she held up her shirt. Erik fought not to show his surprise. She traced a finger over her ribs and around her navel. "I'd like it to be sort of tangled over here and for the tail to wrap around to my belly button."
Oh yeah, he'd definitely underestimated her. He could feel a glimmer of interest spark. This wouldn't be another boring sorority girl, but a true enthusiast. His morning suddenly seemed a lot brighter.
"I think we can definitely help you out." He gave her a grin and motioned for her to grab a seat on one of the couches while he pulled one of the binders from under the counter. Kinana and the two other girls he didn't know took up one couch, leaving Mira to share a seat with him. He handed over the binder and sat back, intentionally not looking at the secretly hellish ex-model beside him. It was best not to engage with her unless absolutely necessary, or he'd find himself with a random blind date or some part of him black and blue.
"These are amazing...did you do these?" Kinana was looking up at him in interest, the book open to the pages he knew she would be most interested in.
"Actually, no. Those pieces were done by the owner. He's got a thing for reptiles, and tribal symbols. Usually he ends up doing dragons the most, but he's done some amazing work with snakes too. If you like what you see there I can grab him quick to chat with you before his first appointment comes in."
"So he has done snakes too then?" She flipped through the pages of graphic, patterned dragons and then went back through them again. "Do you have any pictures of those? I don't see any…"
Erik shrugged. "I don't think he's got them in a book at the moment, but he did one for me I can show you, if you want."
Every woman in the room was suddenly very interested in their conversation, the lavender-haired woman and the ginger with the cat-eye makeup sitting up in anticipation. Kinana turned bright red, though she kept her composure pretty well otherwise. "If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate it. I don't want to waste the owner's time if he can't do what I'm wanting."
With another shrug, Erik stood up and pulled off his t-shirt, turning around so they could see his back. "He did it for me a while ago when he was just learning his trade, but it's still my favorite ink."
Kinana stood up and walked over to look closer as though she were being drawn in by some unknown power. "Wow…" she sighed. "That's incredible."
Erik had to agree. He'd spent more than a little time just looking at it in the mirror over the years and every time he saw something different to admire in it. The tattoo in question took up the upper left corner of his back, the two ornate snakes tangled together in a complicated knot spilling over onto his shoulder and under his arm. One was white, a delicate lacy structure of Indian henna-tattoo inspired swirls and lines stretching down its length, in stark contrast to his burnished Puerto Rican skin. The other was made up of bold black tribal symbols reminiscent of ancient Central America. It was also a high-contrast design, but in a completely different way than the white was.
At first glance, the two snakes appeared to be in battle with one another, their lower halves tightly entwined, but on closer inspection, their upper coils were loose and free, neither of their fangs bared. The black snake seemed indifferent, its head squarely centered on the back of his neck, facing the sky, while the white snake's head turned back near his ribs to look upwards at its darker partner. There was almost something forlorn about it.
Erik had never told anyone before, but he liked to think of those two snakes as the two sides of himself, the darker side always in the lead while the good he rarely showed fought to keep that part of him from taking over, sometimes...well, often, failing.
"It's somehow...sad, isn't it?" Kinana faintly whispered. Erik twisted around to look at her, just as she reached out a finger to trace the white ink spiraling over his skin. A white-hot shock followed her finger, causing him to jump reflexively and the violet-haired girl to jump back away, rubbing her finger. "Holy gods, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have touched you like that without asking!"
Erik turned and shook his head with a good-natured smile even as he rolled his shoulders to cover up the uncontrollable twitching of the muscles in his arms and back. "It's fine. I'm used to it. Just wasn't expecting the shock…"
He trailed off as he realized all of their clients' eyes were locked on his torso. While he had numerous tattoos there too, he already knew that wasn't what had grabbed their attention; his scars far outnumbered them. The ones from the bullet wound in his right shoulder and the stab wound on his left side stood out the most, but they were joined by dozens of smaller scars from the many scraps he'd gotten into over the years. His abdomen told a violent story to anyone who saw it.
Mira was the first to meet his eye. "What? Did you go to war in between now and high school or something?"
He grabbed his shirt and pulled it back on over his head to hide his face when he answered. "Something like that." He wasn't new to the stares, and honestly couldn't give a shit about them most of the time, but he found himself avoiding his new client's eyes as he settled back on the couch.
At least, until she spoke up again.
"Can I see your work?"
He looked up in surprise, one eyebrow already cocked. "Sure, but from what you were describing, I think Gajeel's stuff is probably better suited."
She smiled back at him. "You might be right...but I hate to choose without examining all my options."
"Sure. Let me grab my sketchbook. I actually did a snake drawing the other day, though I tend to be more into realism than what it sounds like you're looking for." He stepped behind the front counter and grabbed his worn sketchpad, offering it to her.
"You know," she replied with a confused look. "For a tattoo artist, you're not very good at promoting yourself. Don't you work on commissions?" She quickly opened the book, but took her time flipping through the pages, getting about five pages in before she starting lingering more over each drawing. The girls on either side of her leaned in to look at first, but seemed to get bored easily, one of them pulling out her phone, lucky cat, Hello Kitty, and every other imaginable cat-themed charm hanging off of it like a gaudy tail.
That girl seriously liked cats.
"Naw. I'm a friend of Gajeel's that was hired on to help with the rush, but I ended up sticking around. I do admin stuff sometimes too, so he pays me hourly for the time being, which works fine for me at the moment."
"Well, you should definitely convince him to pay you on commissions. If your work on skin is as good as your stuff on paper, then you could be making a lot more." She barely seemed to be attending to the conversation, stuck on the drawing he had already known she'd like the best, a deep purple and gold coiled snake with soulful eyes and just the hint of a smile staring straight out of the page. Currently, it was his favorite too.
"There are extenuating circumstances...but thanks for the vote of confidence. See something you like?" He grinned as she took her tracing fingers away from the page as though she were guilty of some crime.
"Oh! Uh, yeah. This is really...I don't know. It kind of...makes me feel...warm… It's really beautifully done." She fell into silence for a moment before she seemed to come to a decision. "Can I buy this drawing from you?"
Erik was starting to think his eyebrows would get stuck in surprise mode. "You don't want it as a tattoo?"
"Well...I really love this drawing...but the other style goes better with my others...see?" She stood up again, lifting her shirt up further than before to show off the tribal scorpion that sat half hidden by her bra and pulling her waistband down an inch on the side to reveal the head and elongated neck of a bird.
"Is that a crane?" Erik leaned forward, interested in spite himself. The tiny white and gray swirls that made up the bird's feathers were something he'd never seen done on skin before.
"A heron actually. I'm kind of a fan of Aesop's Fables. I got that one when I was accepted to transfer into Magnolia University." Her lips curled into a wry version of her usual smile that he didn't quite understand. He made a mental note to ask Levy for a copy of Aesop's Fables. He was 100% sure she had one. It sounded right up her alley.
"Well, this is beautiful work. And I see what you mean. Gajeel's stuff would go better with your other ink, if you're worried about that kind of thing." He sat back in his chair and made a split decision. "If you really want it that much, you can buy the drawing off of me once I come up with a fair price for it. I'd like to get a scan of it for my portfolio first, but you can take it home when you come back to get your snake done. Deal?"
Kinana favored him with a broad smile and held out her hand. "Deal."
Gingerly, almost half expecting to get shocked again, Erik shook it. Thankfully, nothing unusual happened. Other than him noticing just how tiny her hand was. "Alright then. I'll go grab Gajeel and you can talk over what you want."
Erik walked back through the chain curtain again feeling lighter than he had all morning. He wondered what Levy would think of their newest client. He bet she'd like her.
Unfortunately, thinking about Levy reminded him just why he'd been in a bad mood in the first place, dropping an unseen weight back on his shoulders.
"Gajeel, you've got a client that wants to work with you. I'm heading out to get some caffeine. I'll be back in a bit."
Erik didn't wait to hear Gajeel's response. He just pushed out the back door and started walking.
He didn't get far before he regretted forgetting his sunglasses. The glaring light blinded him for a moment, making him blink in a world of white.
"On your feet soldier! Superior officer on deck!"
Half asleep, he was slumbling to his feet and saluting before he heard the guffaws of his bunkmates and realized the cicadas were still humming in the pitch black of night outside their windows.
When he did, he tackled the nearest one. The little pink-haired shit he'd recognized as the joker of the group when they'd met that afternoon went down hard still laughing, but gave as good as he got. Pretty soon they were both backing out of the skuffle, grins on their faces and the exhaustion of their first week at basic coming back to them.
The pink-haired kid stuck out his hand. "Name's Sterling Moss. Nice to know I've got a decent fighter to watch my back."
Erik took it. "I'm Gordon Dunn. Wait! Sterling Moss? The racer?!"
"Yeah, that's me. Or at least it was. Closest engine I get to manhandle now is driving the Tilly to go for supplies."
"Well, if I see the old girl peeling out, at least I'll know who's driving!" Erik/Gordon joked, getting to his feet with the help of his new friend. A faded photograph fluttered down from its precarious placement on the edge of his undershirt front pocket. It was actually more surprising it hadn't fallen out sooner during their fight. Futilely, he made a catch for it and missed, Sterling scooping it up off the floor before he could adjust and go for it again.
He whistled sharply. "Well, take a look at this gents! Looks like our new surly companion has a beauty waiting for him at home!" He held up the picture so the group could see, most of them gathering around to get a look at the violet-haired woman in the photo.
"Nice!"
"Oh yeah, I wouldn't mind coming home to that!"
"Who knew you had it in you?!"
"Does she have a sister?"
Erik/Gordon rolled his eyes and snatched the picture back, his gaze lingering on her face before tucking the worn paper safely back into his pocket. "She's an only child, and head over heels in love with me, so you're all out of luck chaps!" He gave them a joking glare, accompanied by a sharky smirk and a shake of his fist.
A ruckus of hoots and catcalls met his good-natured response as they passed him a smuggled-in beer to make up for waking him up for his initiation into the group and they all settled down to sleep. His eyes closed to welcome oblivion, the image of his sweetheart engraved on his eyelids…
Erik came-to with a gasp, throwing out a hand to steady himself against the back wall of the building as the disorienting experience of returning to full daylight shocked his senses. Once he'd regained his balance, it took him less than another ten seconds to take a guess at what had happened.
Cursing, he dug his phone out his pocket to call Levy.
"Hey! Droy, wait up!" Lisanna puffed as she tried to catch up to the chubby figure several yards ahead of her. He might be a big guy, but he could really move when he wanted to. Luckily, he was also nice enough to wait for her.
"What's up Lis? Did I forget my notebook or something?" Droy replied, immediately searching his bag. They had just come from a meeting about the research trip they were both going on over winter break. Only Droy had had to leave early.
"No. But you did miss something important. Professor Azuma said they're looking for a great linguistics student who might want to come on the trip to Tenrou. Apparently, they're looking at Levy! You're really good friends with her right? Apparently they've been trying to get a hold of her for a week or so, but she's been out sick or something. Do you know where she lives? The deadline for the trip is super soon, so they wanted to know if any of us knew a way to get a hold of her." Lisanna put her hands on her knees and gasped for air, not really sure how she had made it through everything she had to say after sprinting across campus. "I told them you were a friend. Could you maybe let her know to talk to Azuma?"
"Yeah. I can get a hold of her somehow. I'm sure she'll be psyched to go. But why do they need a linguist on the Tenrou trip? Isn't it a bio and zoology trip? I mean we're going to study the indigenous wildlife, so what would she even do?"
"You don't know? There used to be some kind of civilization there, so there are ruins and some ancient glyphs that no one has been able to translate yet. We learned about it last semester for the trip...maybe you were gone that day or something...anyway, it's like this huge deal to the language community right now, since they only discovered it like a decade ago. I'm sure it's got something to do with that."
Droy grinned. "Oh yeah, that's got Levy written all over it. When's the deadline for the trip enrollment again?"
"Like...Tuesday I think? Sometime next week for sure, so she's got a couple days for sure, but not much more than that."
"Gotcha. Well, thanks for running after me and everything, I'll let her know." Droy suddenly remembered why he'd had to leave early in the first place. "Shit! I've got to go. My class is probably already starting! See ya later Lis!"
Lisanna watched him haul ass at an impressive speed for a few seconds before remembering she also had someplace to be and heading back across campus.
By the time Levy made it back to her apartment at two o'clock in the afternoon, it wasn't even a surprise to find Erik, Porlyusica, Lucy, Natsu, and Erza waiting for her. And that wasn't even addressing Gray, Wendy and Romeo who had simply followed her home.
"Oh meus deuses ... sério?", she whispered not-so-quietly under her breath, letting the sarcasm drip from her next words like the tired and testy wordsmith she was. "What, no Mystogan? What a shame. Oh shoot, Jellal's probably feeling left out now too, huh? I mean the gang's all here, right?"
Erza didn't pick up on her sarcasm. Apparently.
"No, Mystogan was unavailable as he has a follow-up appointment with Dr. Sky right now."
"Oh, well good. Wouldn't want to think we'd left anyone out," she muttered grumpily. She needed a nap. If only she wasn't scared as shit to close her eyes.
"Except Gajeel." Erik matched her severe tone with just enough accusation to make Levy feel guilt take another little nip out of her heart. Her spine stiffened and she froze in place.
Lucy smacked the back of his head before Levy could figure out what to say to that. "Like she doesn't feel bad enough, you ass. Don't take out your fear and frustration on her!"
"Get out of my head, Blondie!" Erik barked back.
"Trust me, if I could, I would," she fired back, taking a step in his direction. Natsu immediately wrapped his arms securely around her and sighed. Then suddenly she was turning on him. "I don't care if he was in a gang in high school! That was fucking uncalled for."
Everyone else looked on in less-than-surprise as the two glared at each other and fell into silence, clearly having another conversation in their heads instead of aloud. And honestly, that was probably best for everyone.
Fed up with it all, Levy pushed past the crowd of people in her apartment toward her bedroom. She seriously needed a shower. And a change of clothes. And maybe a year's worth of therapy.
Gray took the opportunity to question the crowd. "So, I know why we're here, but what's going on with all of you?"
They all began speaking at once, but were almost immediately cut off by Levy's scream of fury.
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY WALL?!"
Erik, the only one who had any idea what she was talking about cursed under his breath.
"Shit."
Which pretty much summed up the meeting that followed.
Ok, so things are heating up now! We've got two new bonded pairs, Erza's power has revealed itself and I FINALLY got to introduce the Tenrou Island Trip! I have literally had that planned since chapter 10. CHAPTER FUCKING TEN. I'm so freaking happy to get that ball rolling, you guys have no idea. And, it will only get crazier from here!
Before you ask, YES, Juvia is coming. There, I confirmed it. Happy now? GOOD.
Now here's some things you might not know yet…:
Mariposa-Spanish for butterfly...because SO MANY BUTTERFLY TATTOOS. I guess I could have used treble clefs here instead...because also, SO MANY TREBLE CLEF TATTOOS!
¿Por qué estas chicas nunca pueden pensar en algo original?-Spanish for Why can't these girls ever think of anything original?
"A heron actually. I'm kind of a fan of Aesop's Fables. I got that one when I was accepted into Magnolia University." Her lips curled into a wry version of her usual smile that he didn't quite understand. He made a mental note to ask Levy for a copy of Aesop's Fables to read.-For those of you familiar with Aesop's Fables (a collection of ancient stories credited to a Greek slave and storyteller named Aesop used to teach children life lessons), you might already know the story of the Heron which passed over many fish as not large or grand enough for him to eat until the fish were swept out to sea and he was grateful to find but a single snail to eat instead. The moral of that particular story cautions against being too hard to please, lest you be left with the worst options left or none at all. The implication is that her transfer into MU was a saving grace from the school she went to before, which she ended up with because she missed the deadline to apply to most other schools due to her picky taste. I like to think she's a character that works hard to learn from her mistakes and never repeat them.
Now, how many of you, who've read the Fables, are wondering what circumstance prompted her to tattoo the Scorpion on? I bet it's an interesting story...maybe I'll write it in later...hehe.
On this note, I know I've gone a little OOC with her, giving her a sort of saucy side, but I'm sort of interpreting her snake form side, that spits poison and works side-by-side with Cobra when he's evil, as a hidden personality that most people don't see in her. It especially comes out when she gets drunk, which is why the BSBU (Body Shot Bitches Union for those who can't remember all the way back to the Moon Drip arc…) likes her so much. They've seen her wilder side and accept it.
Gordon Dunn-G.G. Dunn was a captain in the British Army in the Durham Light Infantry Unit, he died in 1940 in the line of duty. I found him on one of those ancestry sites, and didn't want to pay for a subscription, so I'm not sure if this was his first name or not, but it was one of the top hundred male G names for 1924 when he could have been born. In my head, I know I could just make up these tie ins, but I really like the idea that the characters could use the internet and find traces of them the way I did. So...Gordon Dunn! In this timeline, he and past Natsu, Sterling Moss, both die at Dunkirk, but because fast friends before that, often talking about their respective girls who they'll never again have the chance to meet.
Tilly-an abbreviation for utility, it was the name of a type of car produced in Britain for use as a military utility vehicle. Look it up, they're actually pretty cool. Way classier than our Jeeps in the US at the time. But then it's the UK, so classier goes without saying.
Oh meus deuses ... sério?-Portuguese for "Oh my gods...really?" At least according to Google translate (EDIT: changed to reflect better conversational Portuguese with a big thank you to Ano Aoi Sora). Since this chapter took so long to get out as it is, I didn't consult my usual translators for corrections on the two little foreign language moments. But, if one or both of them are incorrect in some way, just let me know what it should be and I'll fix it later!
