I'm back!
Now that the madness that was Laxus and Lucy Ship Week is over, and everything that has made my life chaotic has calmed down temporarily, I actually had time to sit down and write with a clear head.
I've updated my Bio with some information, and will be updating it again after this is posted. It's somewhat important info, regarding how often I will be updating my stories for the next few months, so if you want to know – go check it out.
I apologize for the lengthy absence and the short chapter. While short, it'll help to get me back into the swing of writing.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)
Lucy strode confidently to the table her temporary partner was sitting at in a far corner of the guild drinking his tea, a paper in her hands.
It had been a week since she'd arrived back to the guild, Lahar in tow, and she was tired of sitting around doing nothing.
She had already told her team that she would be taking a few missions alone with the ex-Rune Knight before taking him with them as a full team. Lucy knew that if they did that right off the bat, it would be disastrous. Erza had taken it upon herself to 'condition' Gray and Natsu into causing less damage on jobs after Lucy had sat her down and explained everything she had learned from Mest. The Requip mage had a similar reaction to what she did in her prison cell, and the determination that had flared in her eyes made Lucy gulp.
She did not envy the male members of her team right now.
Living with the man had been…awkward on its best days. They constantly got in each other's way, annoyed one another somehow, or ended up in instresting situations.
Like last Thursday, when she had woken up earlier than normal and walked into the bathroom… completely forgetting she no longer lived alone. He had been naked as the day he was born, about to start the shower, and they had gaped at each other in stunned silence for a full minute, before she turned tail and booked it. She'd spent the next two hours hiding in mortification under her covers, even though he'd taken a relatively short shower…and she'd still needed to pee.
Snapping out of her thoughts as she neared the table, the blonde slapped the mission request down in front of Lahar.
With an exasperated sigh, he turned in his seat to face her, looking decidedly unamused.
"Is there something you need, Miss Heartfilia?" He asked flatly.
Rolling her eyes, she sat down in the seat next to him with a huff.
"We, are going on a mission." She chirped brightly.
Violet eyes widened marginally and she snickered internally.
"Already? I do not think that it would be wise without knowing how I will change the dynamic of the team." He said matter-of-factly, sliding his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. In actuality, he was certain he wouldn't be able to contain himself when seeing the destruction Team Natsu caused as they were causing it.
Lucy smiled, relaxing back in her seat and crossing her arms under her bust. "Already taken care of."
Lahar studied her features with a perfectly blank expression, something he'd had to learn in the line of work he was –had been- in.
"How so?" He asked.
Lucy fiddled with one of the edges of the mission request. "I talked to my team, and they've agreed that it would be best for you and I to pair up on jobs for now."
He studied her for a moment, slowly mulling it over before nodding. "If that is the case, than I guess it is the more tolerable option." He took a small sip of his herbal tea, internally sighing in relief, before glancing at the paper in front of them. "What is that?"
Lucy pushed down the urge to roll her eyes and slid the paper so that it was directly in front of him. "It's a job from the board. I figured something like this would be interesting, and not be as difficult for your first mission as a part of a guild."
Lahar plucked the paper from the table and adjusted his glasses, eyes roving over the words.
The Mountain Village Historical Research Facility humbly requests assistance in locating an ancient temple. We have reason to believe it holds something we desperately need to conclude an ancient text that was missing over half of its pages.
45,000 Jewel rewarded for locating the temple.
And added 10,000 Jewel will be rewarded if the temple is explored to alert us of any traps and/or other complications our team would have when they gather information at a later date.
Please meet us at the Facility and speak to Dr. Faron for more information.
He had to admit that a historical finding sounded beyond intriguing. History, especially ancient history, had always fascinated him. Thinking back, he honestly couldn't remember the last time he had done something in prevalence to his personal interests. This was concerning, and the fact that he'd had to remember that this was something that he loved was deeply concerning.
Had his work really taken over his life that severely?
Closing his eyes, he took a discrete moment to school his features before he slid the request back over to his blonde temporary partner.
"I accept this request. When will we be departing, and for how long?"
Lucy blinked, surprised at how easily he'd accepted. For a moment there she'd thought he would decline the offer and demand to pick a job out himself. And she'd really been hoping he would accept, because she'd had her eye on this request for quite a while. It wasn't the type of job she would bring her team along on, especially not her hotheaded partner. But she wasn't quite ready for another solo job after her last experience, so when she noticed that Team Shadow Gear had surprisingly not taken it yet, she jumped at the chance to snatch it up.
"I'll speak to Mira so she can write us down for the job and call the requester to let them know we are coming. Mountain Village is a three hour train ride, and then a three hour walk. So it would be best to catch a train first thing in the morning if we want to make it there at a reasonable time. From there, we can get a hotel and then get to searching for the temple the next morning. I'm not sure how long it will take, so pack for a week just in case."
Smothering the slight giddiness bubbling in his gut, he nodded his agreement and watched as Lucy rose from her chair and skipped to the bar.
His mind immediately started making a list of things he would pack, including things he should bring for their travels on foot in case of emergency.
This was a stark difference to his life working as a Rune Knight, and he was honestly excited for it. Which shocked him, actually. Lahar didn't think anything about being in this disgrace of a guild would excite him like this.
He almost didn't know how to process the information.
One thing was for sure.
Even if he despised Fairy Tail, he would take advantage of this. At least he was getting something out of being stuck here.