Lucy stood in front of the guild, trying not to roll her eyes at the man by her side. He was obviously nervous, trying to hide his fidgeting and remain composed.
In all honesty, he was failing miserably.
"Lahar, what did I tell you? They will welcome you."
Lahar snorted and muttered something under his breath, but otherwise didn't acknowledge her existence.
She sighed, growing impatient. Master and Wendy were already inside, and based off of the 'Listen up, brats' she had heard him bellow fifteen minutes prior, she could confidently guess that he had already informed every one of the situation. She'd already tried reasoning with him that since they already knew he was coming and there weren't any fits thrown, everything would be just fine. She'd also tried, bribing, begging, pleading, and ordering, but the man refused to take another step forward.
With no other alternative, force would have to be used.
Squaring her shoulders, Lucy gripped his arm with both hands and tugged him forward.
"Get your hands off of me!" He demanded, but his words and harsh tone fell on deaf ears.
It took more strength than she would like to admit, especially when he started fighting back. He didn't fight her very hard, she noted. At least she knew he would never lay a hand on her.
The second Lucy entered the guild pulling the struggling man with her, the entire building went silent.
Well, almost.
"Shit, Luce! Watch out!"
In hindsight, entering a guild notorious for welcoming it's mages with flying furniture with her back turned wasn't the wisest choice.
What happened next was a blur. One moment, her eyes were closing in preparation for impact, and the next she was laying on her back, a heavy weight bearing down on her body.
Lucy opened her eyes to find herself staring into the most beautiful shade of violet she had ever seen. Heat rose to her cheeks when she realized the position they were in. He was laying on top of her, arms bracing himself on either side of her head. One knee was wedged rather tightly against the apex of her thighs, while the other was stretched out to the side, keeping his balance.
Pink was dusting his cheeks as well, she noted, and he was staring at her rather intensely, as if he was pondering something.
After what felt like an eternity, when she knew it had to have only been less than a minute, the familiar sound of bickering snapped them out of their odd trance.
"Look what you did, Flame Dick!"
"Me? You were the one who threw a table at me first, you perverted popsicle!"
The sound of two foreheads smacking together in preparation for a fight reached her ears. Really, it was sad how often this happened for her to know this sound without even having to look.
"You wanna go, Ashtray?"
"It's fucking on, slush-for-brains!"
There was a loud smack, followed by two groans of pain.
"That's enough!"
Lahar leapt off of her as though his life depended on it, hauling her with him roughly by the arm, and letting go as if her skin burned to the touch.
He really knew how to woo a woman. Either way, she gave him a small smile and a quiet thanks, before focusing her attention on her friends.
Erza stood before a cowering Natsu and Gray with a terrifying scowl, which brightened to a friendly smile the moment their eyes met.
"Lucy! Welcome back!"
Lucy strode to her friend and stepped into her warm embrace. "It's good to be here."
She pulled away and they grinned at each other before focusing on the tiny guild master, who was standing on top of the bar.
"Welcome home, Lucy." He smiled at her and she smiled back. He shifted his gaze to the figure still standing by the doors, and she turned to face him as well.
"Well, Lahar. Since you are to be joining our guild I just have a few things to go over with you, if you will follow me to my office."
Lahar nodded and trailed behind him up the stairs and into his office, not looking at any of the mages who were watching him like a hawk.
Lucy sighed, it was so nice to be back home.
Home. She looked around at her nakama and the reality of the bet they had made hit her hard. If she lost this bet, she would have to leave her home.
Her thoughts were broken as an overly heated arm wrapped around her shoulders and steered her over to the bar.
"Hey Natsu!" She beamed at him, but her smile slowly faded as she took in the uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. "What…?"
"I knew I should've never let you go off without me!" He practically growled, and she felt her irritation spike.
"Natsu! I'm fine! Everything is just fine. I don't need you to always jump in and rescue me all of the time!"
His onyx eyes narrowed. "Fine? Dammit, Luce! You were injured and arrested!"
Lucy's anger simmered down into guilt. "Yeah…but..." Her voice was timid and weak. She hated this. Why could she never accomplish anything on her own? Why couldn't she be more like the others on her team? Stronger. Just…better.
Natsu's expression softened immediately at the sound of her voice. He didn't mean to make her feel bad, he had just been so worried about her!
"Luce, stop what you're thinking right now. You still got the job done. Yeah, you got arrested, but you got out of it. And you managed to save Captain Stick-Ass's job. If it would've been anyone else, they would've let him get fired." He said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.
She knew she would most likely regret asking, but she couldn't help it.
"Captain Stick-Ass?"
Natsu grinned, looking at her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Yeah! 'Cause he walks around like he's got a big stick shoved up is ass!"
Despite the assessment being crude, she couldn't help but see the truth, and ended up curled into the Dragon Slayer's side laughing uproariously.
He smiled widely at her mirth, truly happy to have made her feel better after unintentionally making her question her own abilities.
After she had calmed down, Natsu left to go pick a fight with Gray, and she looked up to find Mira standing in front of her behind the bar.
She reared back in surprise. "Gah! Mira, you scared me!"
Mira giggled, the sparkle in her bright blue eyes were unnerving and wholly familiar. "I'm sorry, Lucy. Strawberry smoothie?"
Before she could even nod, a smoothie was placed in front of her. Even though she knew what was coming, she dove right in, almost moaning aloud as she sucked some of the pink frothy liquid from the straw.
"So, you and Natsu, huh?"
Lucy blanched and choked on the beverage. "Mavis, no! How many times do I have to tell you we are just friends!"
The silver-haired barmaid pouted in disappointment for less than a minute before looking back at the blonde with a knowing grin.
She leaned over the bar, resting her chin in one of her dainty hands, and Lucy cringed.
"Hmm, ok. But don't think I didn't see the way Captain Yummy protected you without even thinking about it. And then the way you two stared dreamily into each other's eyes."
The blonde arched a brow. "Captain Yummy?"
Mira ignored her, staring wistfully at the ceiling with hearts in her eyes. "Delicate heart shaped face, violet eyes, and bright blonde hair. Or his longer more masculine face with dark green hair, and big dark brown eyes!"
Lucy groaned, slamming her face into the bar, and once more for good measure.
Just what had she gotten herself in to!
I'm not sure if I've mentioned Lahar's hair color yet, and if I have I'm sorry. I just looked it up again, and read that it is a dark green when I thought it was black. Oops. Oh well, I actually like the thought of dark green hair and purple eyes better.
Until next time!