Chapter 52: A Little Girl
Vannessa let out a deep sigh as she leaned back and wiped her moist brow. The nineteen-year-old inspected her work, her eyes travelling every inch of the glass pane of the window. Her sharp ears could detect sounds and loud protesting grumbles from the bathroom, where Micaiah, in her Wraith form was 'helping' her clean up the mess. The Dark Dragon Slayer smiled and continued to work on the window. The three of mages had already spent most of the afternoon at the nearest shopping mall, choosing and buying some random furniture and curtains to make Vannessa's apartment more 'homey'.
"Remind me again why do I, the great Gespenst of the Devil's Staff have to do such menial work?" Micaiah complained. "Cleaning toilets is a job beneath me!"
"Because it's dirty, Micaiah!" Vannessa called back over her shoulder, grinning. "I'll come help you once I'm done here!"
"Why didn't you let them help you out instead?" she continued.
Vannessa wiped at a stubborn spot. "I didn't want to trouble them with my apartment cleaning, that's why!"
There was a pause after that but Micaiah's grumbling continued soon after. Vannessa smiled fondly but kept mum as she continued working on the window. Simple lacy white curtains hung and framed the now spotless glass window. The Dragon Slayer the focused her attention on the bed; the mattress needed to be aired out…who knows how long it must have been there. She hated to think about who was sleeping on it…much less even know what that person did on it. Wrinkling her nose, she picked it up. Sweeping, dusting and mopping were her subsequent chores before she laid the huge, brown carpet on the floor.
By the time the pair was done with the 'spring-cleaning', it was already late evening. Both Vannessa and Micaiah (now in her wolfy form) stepped back to survey their handiwork. The white wolf was equally excited to show Vannessa what she was up to in the bathroom all this while. It was sparkling clean! All of a sudden, their tummies started their rumblings.
"All that toiling made me hungry," Micaiah remarked as she sat up on her hind legs and rubbed a paw on her exposed belly.
"Yeah me too," Vannessa agreed, smiling sheepishly. "We can go see what Fairy Tail has got to offer."
Before Micaiah could answer, the front door opened and both Lucy and Levy spilled in, holding goodies.
"We brought food!" Levy's voice rang out sweetly.
"That's the tastiest thing I've ever heard today!" Micaiah whispered to Vannessa before she slyly bounded over to the blue-haired mage and rubbed her body against her leg. Her blue eyes looked up adoringly into Levy's eyes, begging for her share of the meal.
"Aww Micaiah," Levy scratched her behind the ears as the Wraith basked in the attention. "Aren't you just the cutest thing!" she cooed.
Micaiah yipped at her in response and began doing a weird dance around her.
"Traitor!" Vannessa muttered under her breath as she smiled affectionately at her best friend before going over to tuck in to the food, the other two mages brought.
"I'm stuffed!" Lucy announced as she leaned back against Vannessa's bed, massaging her stomach, looking satisfied.
"Me too," Levy groaned as she lay flat on her back with Micaiah beside her.
"Yeah," Vannessa groaned, rubbing her own belly. "Thanks for the jelly doughnuts too."
Just then, there a sharp rap on the door and everyone turned to look. Reluctantly, Vannessa got up and dragged herself over to the door. However before she could turn the knob, the door itself was flung wide open. The nineteen-year-old mage jerked herself backwards in time before it could come into contact with her face. Vannessa stared wide-eyed at the woman before her. "E-Erza…?" she stammered.
Without waiting for an invitation, Erza stepped inside Vannessa's apartment and folded her arms. "I knocked but nobody came to the door," she said snootily.
It wouldn't hurt to at least wait for three seconds…
"Well, I was…at least about to do that," Vannessa replied pointedly as to which the twenty-year-old duly ignored. She began scrutinizing the apartment and the four of them watched her, pacing up and down. "Well, what do you think of Vannessa's apartment?" Lucy spoke up finally after a long silence.
"Not bad," Erza answered as she began to pull open the drawers. "What are you doing?" Vannessa demanded, walking up to her.
Erza held something up for everyone to see and almost instantly, Vannessa squawked and leapt at her and snatched it away, stuffing it back into the drawer. Her face was red as she whirled around to face Erza. "What –"
"Your underwear isn't sexy enough Vannessa, compared to Lucy's. It's just simple white panties."
Vannessa's face grew a darker shade of red. "Should we even be talking about this?" she hissed with mortification.
"Why are you bringing up my underwear for?" Lucy protested.
Erza shrugged her shoulders, already losing interest and plunked herself down on Vannessa's bed with her arms folded across her chest. "I came to see how you are doing," she continued as if nothing had just happened before. "Else you might want to come to Fairy Hills."
Vannessa smiled nervously at her and shook her head hastily. "No, I think I will be fine here, thank you."
Before Erza could answer, there was another loud knock on the door which turned into a ruckus of fists pounding on the thick wood. Vannessa ran over to open it but again, she had to yank her body back as the door swung open without warning to reveal the rest of the gang. Natsu, Happy, Gray, Juvia, Mirajane, Evergreen and Fried tumbled in. Vannessa almost fainted; the number of people was increasing and her apartment could hardly hold the four of them as it was. "Hi Sa-chan!" they chorused before each of them indulged themselves in their own activities.
"Hi…?" the Dark Dragon Slayer trailed off uncertainly as she watched them with a baffled look.
Almost instantly, both Natsu and Happy took up residence on Vannessa's bed.
"NATSU, THIS ISN'T THE PLACE AND TIME TO TAKE A DRAGON NAP!" Lucy started nagging.
"A dragon needs his daily night nap, Luce," Natsu answered.
Gray, Erza and Juvia were engaged in card warfare at Vannessa's small desk cum dining table (how they got the cards was unknown).
"Why can't you just play cards at the guild instead?" Lucy shouted.
Mirajane, Levy and Fried were involved in a serious, animated conversation.
"Is a conversation so urgent that it needs to take place at Vannessa's apartment?" Lucy screamed.
No one answered her and continued with whatever they were doing. The eighteen-year-old blond sighed in defeat and went over to join the rest in chatter.
Meanwhile, Evergreen was dissecting Vannessa's face carefully, taking in every inch of her skin. Vannessa smiled nervously and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I-Is something the matter, Evergreen?" she asked.
"I still am wondering why Laxus have taken a sudden liking to a girl like you of all people," Evergreen answered.
Almost immediately, Vannessa grew defensive. "Why not; I mean we're friends after all," she argued.
"But you?" Evergreen's eyes narrowed.
"Why can't it be me?" the Dark Dragon Slayer shot back.
"You're just like…just like…like –"
"Like what?" she demanded sharply.
"Like a little girl!" Evergreen screeched, finishing her sentence.
Vannessa's eyes widened and her mouth open and closed in shock. "I-I am NOT a little girl!"
"Yes you are; the way you look and dress proves every bit the innocent child you are!" Evergreen declared.
"NO!" Vannessa answered fiercely, the apples of her cheeks turning a tad red from anger.
"See, you're even blushing!" Evergreen said pointedly. "You are just a child!"
"I'm nineteen!" Vannessa protested.
"Haven't you ever heard of 'kid adult' before?"
Vannessa folded her arms and shook her head stubbornly. "No, I haven't."
"Well, now you do, don't you?"
"Did you come all the way out here just to argue with me?" Vannessa shot back. "Cause' I really don't need it."
Evergreen's eyes flashed and she glared at the younger mage who was standing before her, looking ready to strangle her. Evergreen rolled her eyes at her and walked off, joining Lucy and the others.
Vannessa was still pretty annoyed even by the time everyone left her apartment. It was close to midnight and she was getting crabbier by the minute; even Micaiah stayed away from her. The argument between Evergreen and her had left her with a bad taste in her mouth and it stayed ever since, leaving her in a foul mood. What she really needed right now, was sleep and peaceful silence to recover her magic after that last quest she took.
"I am not a kid adult," she muttered under her breath for the umpteenth time as she dressed herself for bed. She yanked at her nightdress (nightdress printed with fluffy white sheep, by the way) angrily over her tummy and flipped her long pink hair over her shoulders. Then, she slid underneath the white sheets and was followed by Micaiah, cuddling against her. The pink-haired girl was about to lean over to flip the night light switch, off when there was yet another knock on the door.
"Good thing I locked the door," Vannessa mumbled and lay back down with Micaiah. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the sounds of the knocks which were getting insistent and louder by the minute.
"I'M NOT GOING TO OPEN THE DOOR FOR ANYONE ANYMORE!" the Dragon Slayer yelled out furiously. "YOU GUYS CAN STAY OUTSIDE FOR ALL I CARE!"
In response, the stranger started hammering on the door.
"No way, am I going to open that freaking door even if I live to a hundred years!" Vannessa hissed and shifted her position on the bed to make herself more comfortable.
"I think we should open it and see who it is; the neighbors will start getting angry you know," Micaiah advised.
"It should be any one of them," Vannessa protested. "Don't worry, it will cease in a minute."
As soon as those words left her mouth, the pounding stopped. Both Micaiah and Vannessa shared a look between themselves.
"I didn't think it would be that quick," Vannessa added nervously. She sat up and stared straight at the door, her ears strained for any movement. Micaiah's ears were pricked up and listening.
"That person's still there," the Dragon Slayer whispered, her heart starting to beat rapidly in her chest. Indeed, Micaiah could sense it as well; there was awkward and slow movements outside and then a sound of a key being inserted into the lock. Vannessa's eyes widened and she stared at Micaiah. "I didn't know other people had keys to my apartment too!" she hissed, jumping out of bed.
"It could be a thief!" Micaiah suggested, her lips pulled back in a feral snarl.
The mage's eyes narrowed at this. "I've had enough of them ever since that last train ride to Magnolia Town," she remarked, shivering at the memory of it. "Besides, thieves don't make so much noise when they want to break into their victim's house."
"Perhaps this one is different," Micaiah answered promptly. "Maybe he likes making a commotion when he wants to steal."
Hardly any words passed from Vannessa's lips when the door swung open. The Dark Dragon Slayer's mouth dropped open; even Micaiah was frozen in place. There was only silence as the pair stared at the person who stood before them.
"Jesus, what the hell are you two doing in my apartment?"
"LAXUS?" Vannessa squealed out, breathlessly.
A/N: Omg, what smart readers I have...*Sighs* Oh well, I thought I could at least surprise you all with it... . Anyways, this here is a little early update for you all because I just finished my exams and I came straight back home to finish this especially for you all! Thank you! :) Oh, and do review!
