Thank you for the amazing reviews Cia-Scarlett, tory72 and graystripemkc! I absolutely loved them and I'm happy to hear that I have succeeded in portraying the characters and the interaction between them. (And graystripemkc my cheeks are on fire. You're prizing me way too much, but thank you so much!)
I hope this chapter will be to your liking. It's a bit longer, but I just couldn't find a good spot to split it in two.
Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail and I'm just playing with the characters.
Laxus watched Lucy brows slightly furrowed. Ever since they had arrived to Bickslow's house, the girl had been following the man very closely. She was literally walking behind him from room to room. It looked like the guy had picked up a stray puppy. Laxus furrow deepened. Just what kind of bonding had they done after being left alone. Well, soon enough the girl would realize she had picked possible the worst one out of all of them to bond. Bickslow might seem like the easiest one to get along with, but his twisted sense of humor wasn't something anyone could handle. There weren't that many people who could and Laxus seriously doubted that the princess was one of them.
The sight of the pair walking out the kitchen made Laxus shake his head disapproving. This just reminded him of the talk he was going to keep to his team. They should stop unnecessary meddling with Lucy. She wasn't their friend, not even nodding acquaintance. She was a client. After the mission she would run back to her life and continue living it in wealth and riches. After a month she wouldn't even remember all this had happened.
"And here comes the drinks!" Bickslow announced with a grin. He handed one for each of her team mates as Lucy already had hers. With a 'tss' the can in his hand was opened, before he took a swing from it. "Aah! That hit the spot!" He exclaimed and slumped down on his sofa.
Lucy looked at her frosty can, thinking was she really allowed to drink it. Maybe tasting it wouldn't hurt. This though in mind Lucy sat down on the sofa on Bickslow's right side. She stared the can a second longer then place it on the coffee table in front of the sofa. She would do the tasting later. "So," Lucy started a bit awkward while shifting to sit closer to the sofa's edge. She glanced at Laxus, who sat on the left side of Bickslow on a big armchair he filled completely, then her eyes slide to Evergreen, who sat on the coffee table's other side in a beanbag and finally her eyes landed on Freed, who was sitting on her right side in a same kind of a armchair as Laxus, but with the size difference between the men, it was like they were sitting in completely different chairs. Clearing her throat Lucy continued. "Is Fairy Tail a nice guild?" She though that beginning with a question, which she could direct to all of them and which wasn't too personal could help the conversation to start flowing.
But once again she seemed to have pushed a button she shouldn't have. Laxus' expression darkened and his eyes narrowed to the point where Lucy feared they could actually gash her. The blood escaped her face with a flinch and she ended up hiding behind Bickslow. What on Earth had she done now? In panic she tried to come up with a better question, which could help them move away from her previous one. "H-how... How about your favorite food then? Anything special you like?" The moment the last word rolled from her tongue, Lucy ended up squeezing her eyes shut with embarrassment. Out of all things she could have said...What was she? A kindergartener trying to get know the other kids? Cheeks turning pink, her head started to sink slowly between her shoulders.
Lucy felt a hand land on her shoulder, followed by a whisper. "Nice save- Bruh!" Not able to contain it any longer, Bickslow burst into open laugh. In the rhythm of his laugh, the guy started smack Lucy's back and with every smack she jerked forward, face twisting with mild pain.
Laxus stared the pair with cold eyes and took a sip from his drink. Bickslow's overly friendly attitude with the girl was seriously starting to piss him off, but what was getting even more on his nerves at the moment was that fucking annoying and loud laugh of his. Reaching his limit, Laxus gathered a tiny bit of his magic, concentrating it toward the clown. Not even a second later Bickslows laugh halted, replaced by a yelp. They guy shot him a look, but then went quiet without a protest when he saw the glare he was receiving. Lucy peeked behind Bickslow with confused eyes. She stared the guy a moment, then moved her eyes to Laxus. He saw that the embarrassment from just a moment before had been completely forgotten and she was about to ask what happened.
But before the girl could even open her mouth, Laxus nearly slammed his can on the table, silencing the girl with a start. "Let's make couple things clear." He started, his glare pinning the girl on the spot. "You won't ask me about the guild. Nor my family. And I will choose myself whatever I answer your questions or not. Are we clear?"
Lucy nodded her rapidly. It was sad she couldn't ask about Fairy Tail, but she rather took that than angering the bear of a man anymore than this. She didn't even want to imagine what he would do to her if she did. She just hoped she wouldn't accidentally slip out any questions about Fairy Tail. While exited, she had the bad tendency to just say or ask whatever comes to her mind without thinking. The other two demands would be easy to follow. It wasn't like she could force Laxus to answer any of her questions anyway. And regarding his family... She wasn't really keen on sticking her nose in other peoples' family businesses, as it was something she didn't want others to do to her. "Then could I ask you not to ask about my family either." She peeped fearing that her words would be taken as some kind of a petty counter attack toward Laxus. Luckily that didn't happen.
"Fair enough." Laxus nodded his temper calming down, then moved his eyes away releasing the girl. The second he moved his gaze, Lucy's body went slack. She disappeared behind Bickslow again ans Laxus could hear a relieved sigh as her body sunk into the sofa. He fight back the urge to roll his eyes to the girl's dramatic act. Even without requesting it, he would not have asked about her family. He had zero interest toward it. And toward the girl herself. In fact, his plan was to just let the princess tell about herself on her own space. However, if she wanted to be asked questions, he could always ask back the same ones she had asked him. Unfortunately, if the level of the questions stayed on 'Whats's your favorite food?', he would forced to ask some things. He didn't really have any experience or knowledge how to act in high society's events. Laxus picked his beer up and took a mouthful from it. Well, luckily the week was still young. "Meat." He stated suddenly.
Lucy's brows were drawn together by confusion. What did meat have to do with anything? She thought it a bit longer and went it came to her, her lips formed a beautiful 'O'. Nearly jumping up to sit, Lucy flashed Laxus a joyous smile. "I'm not sure does 'meat' actually count as food, but in that case. My favorite are strawberries." She laughed, making Laxus rise a eyebrow. "How about you guys? Any favorite foods?" Lucy turned her attention to the rest of the group, focusing her eyes to Evergreen.
The brunette blinked her eyes slightly baffled. She hadn't been prepared for this. "Jam bred?" Evergreen answered the first thing that came to her mind.
Then Lucy's eyes moved to Freed. The man took his chin between his thump and forefinger, pointed his gaze downward and then gave his answer. "Medium steak with hot sauce and mashed potatoes." The seriousness of his voice made Lucy giggle a bit.
Lastly was Bickslow's turn, who proudly stated his favorite "food". "Beer!" He exclaimed and took a celebration swing from his can. Lucy stared him and then giggled some more. That was something you definitely couldn't count as food, but she let it pass this time, because she had a feeling that to Bickslow it might have been more like food than drink.
Lucy smiled contently as she run her eyes over the group. She was happy to get to know them, they all seemed like good people, but the person she should focus right now was Laxus. That in mind she stooped her eyes on the man, who gave her a questioning lift of a eyebrow, but didn't say anything. He took a sip from his beer and moved his gaze off of her. Lucy in turn only stared the guy more intensely, trying to come up with a good question - and hopefully better than her first two ones - to ask him. She studied his clothes, his posture, his hair, his face. The big scar splitting the right side of his face made her especially curious. What could have caused such a scar? It's shape reminded her of a lightning...
The though of lightning made her remember the static feeling she had felt when Bickslow had suddenly stopped laughing at her stupid second question. She couldn't be absolutely sure, but she had a feeling that Laxus had done something to silence the other man back then. She hadn't seen anything, so the only explanation was magic. She still wasn't completely sure was it rude or not, but she still decided to ask. "Can I ask what kind of magic you use?"
Laxus turned his eyes back to Lucy and he had to fight back the urge to blink them bemusing amused. The girl had read all those trash magazines, but had missed what his magic was. Usually the first thing you see when reading an article about him is one of the many nicknames the journalist has granted him over the years. Such as 'the notorious Lightning mage of Fairy Tail' or the most commonly used 'Thunder God'. Doesn't take a genius to guess what kind of a magic he used. And there for a second he had thought that the princess had hired a private detective to dick up the dirt of her personal life. What a joke, Laxus huffed. "I'm a Lightning mage." He stated simply, not seeing a reason to tell the girl every magic trick he could do.
"Oh, that's right!" Lucy patted a fist against her open palm. "I did read it in those magazines... What was it... Ah! Laxus Dreyar, the Thunder God. Right?" She verified, earning a drained 'right' from the Thunder God. Actually she felt pretty stupid for forgetting something like that, because it wasn't just one or two articles she had found about the man but too many for even her to read them all. Laxus, after all, was a S-class mage and was observed very closely by the press thanks to that. "Didn't your team have a name too?" Lucy asked as she started to remember more and more about the articles she had read. Most of them had featured his team too.
Freed cleared his throat aggressively. "The team is called the Thunder God Tribe, and we, Laxus' bodyguards, are the members." His voice sounded bit irritated, when he spoke. Freed wanted to make it clear to the girl that Laxus wasn't part of the team, as the team's main duty was to secure Laxus's safety. Of course, everyone knew that Laxus was strong enough to keep himself safe and there wasn't really need for bodyguards. Because of that the team was mainly in charge of getting rid of small fries not even worth Laxus time when on missions. Still, each one of them were always ready to sacrifice themselves for Laxus, if for any reason he would end up needing their protection.
Laxus rolled his eyes. He definitely didn't need bodyguards. And the way the four of them always went on missions together, finishes the mission together and split the reward equally made them practically a team. However, Freed insisted that their team was solely dedicated to him. Laxus had lost the energy to argue with the man a long time ago about the matter. If Freed and the rest wanted to call themselves his bodyguard, so be it.
"I see..." Lucy said, little surprised by the passion the quiet man had suddenly shown. The team must have been something very precious to him. But that Laxus wasn't part of was a bit shocking. Didn't that mean he was technically a sole mage? It was somewhat...sad. Moving her eyes to Evergreen and Freed, Lucy decided it was better to move on from the matter before she accidentally ends up making a thoughtless remark and causing someone's emotions to heat up again. "How about you? What kind of magic you use?" She asked both of them, before quickly adding. "If I may ask."
A board, proud, if not a bit arrogant, smile spread on Evergreen's lips. She tipped her nose toward the ceiling, threw her hair over her shoulder and then gave Lucy a quick sideways glance. "I'm a Fairy mage. Isn't it obvious?" She proclaimed smugly. "And the title Fairy Queen should belong to me." She added with bitterly mumbling. Lucy couldn't hear it, but Laxus, who heard it loud and clear, rolled his eyes.
"I'm a Rune mage." Stated Freed, who was now back to his cool self, in very much same manner as Laxus had. Neutral and disinterested.
"Hee..." Lucy hummed with respect. She wasn't that familiar with Fairy magic, but Rune magic was something that had piqued her interest long time ago. It wasn't that rare of a magic, still actual Rune mages were rare as the process of writing runes was hard and time consuming. You needed some serious skills and knowledge to use it as your main magic. Lucy blinked couple of times, then drew her brows together puzzled. "Um... Miss Evergreen, was that apartment we visited yours?" She shifted her attention back to the brunette.
"Drop the miss, it's awkward. And no. It was Freed's place."
Lucy's eyes flied open. She knew it! Evergreen didn't seem to be the type to be into books. Rune mage on the other hand would more than likely spend most of his life nose buried in books. Then the realization hit Lucy, tinting her cheeks pink. She had used a man's shower! And man's shampoo! And man's soap! And man's towel! No wonder the scent of the products had been so mild and there hadn't been any beauty products, which most of the ladies usually used.
Laxus took a long sip from his can. That explains why the girl had smelled like Freed. Watching her reaction he guessed Evergreen must have made her use the shower without telling who it belonged to, and according to Freed's expression and the quiet 'I knew it', the man hadn't been informed about the matter either. That still left the question why had the girl needed to use Freed's shower. Couldn't she have used one in her hotel or something? Somewhat annoyed Laxus wanted to move the conversation on and ended up doing something he didn't plan to do. Ask a question from the girl himself. "So, what makes you so interest in our magics?"
Happy to move her thoughts somewhere else, Lucy turned toward Laxus. She scratched the back of her head a bit sheepishly as she answered. "I think it's because I'm a mage myself."
This revelation surprised the whole group. While Laxus face stayed neutral, Bickslow erected up to sit from his slack position. "Seriously?!" He exclaimed awfully exited. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"You didn't ask..?" She suggested. It really wasn't something she had intentionally kept from them. There just hadn't been reason to tell them.
"So, Miss Lucy? You know our magics. Wouldn't it be fair to share yours with us too?" Freed pointed out. His words might have been sounded a bit rude, but Lucy couldn't sense any ill will from him. Seemed like Freed was just very factual person.
"Of course." She nodded with a smile, then placed a hand on her chest. "I'm a Celestial mage." The pride she hold for her magic was something that could easily be heard in her voice. There wasn't really need to cover it. She, after all, was very proud of it. Was there really a mage who wouldn't be proud of their magic?
Bickslow gave his cheek a quick scratch with a finger.. "And... It's what? You use star energy or what?"
Lucy let out a giggle. "It's nothing that grand." She waved a hand in front of her face. "But in away, I guess you're correct. I summon Celestial Spirits." She explained and grabbed something from the little pocket on her belt showing it then to the group. It was a metal ring holding six keys, three silver and three golden. Everyone, expect Laxus, leaned a bit closer intrigued.
Freed placed his chin between his thump and forefinger again. "I have read of the magic somewhere. If I don't remember completely wrong... Didn't the color of the key represent its' power somehow?"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah. Silver keys are weaker than the golden once. The strength of the summoned spirit is also affected by the strength of its' summoner. Of course there is also individual differences between the keys of same color. For example, there is many silver key spirits that aren't meant for fighting at all. Crux here is a good example." She separated one of the silver keys from the rest. Then let go of it and took the three golden keys in her fingers. "Within golden keys the individual strength differences are smaller as they are all combat spirits. Actually, the number of keys for one spirit can also tells something about it's power. Usually the more keys one spirit have, the weaker it is. And each golden key spirit only has one key and there is only twelve of them. They are extremely rare and that's why hard to obtain. The Celestial mages with many golden keys are usually the most experienced and the strongest ones." Lucy explained, eyes shining. She had been staring her keys so tightly that only when she lifted her gaze, she notice that she was stared by the whole group. Blushing lightly she realized that her answered had grown a bit long. Embarrassed she lowered her eyes. This was first time in a long time she had a chance to talk about her magic and spirits, so she got a bit exited.
"Nice!" Bickslow was the first one to speak. "So aren't the golden ones like super rare? And you have three? Doesn't that mean you have like...third of them?"
"That's fourth of them." Evergreen rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Lear how to count, idiot. And go get me an other!" She ordered while shaking her empty beer can toward the man, who in turn told her two get her own beer, but still ended up getting up and fetching the drink from the kitchen. Before going, he turned to ask if anyone else wanted a second one. Lucy and Freed declined politely and Laxus lifted a lazy hand up. Evergreen watched over her shoulder as the back of her team mate vanished into the kitchen, then she turned her attention to Lucy. "But still, fourth is pretty much. So you are pretty skilled then?" She stared the girl with evaluating eyes.
Lucy shook her head and her hand in front of her face. "Nothing like that! I haven't collect any of my keys myself. They were all handed down to me by my mother. Mama... She was the amazing one." Lucy's voice changed wistful and her eyes dropped on the keys. With a sad smile on, she stroked the cool surface of them.
Laxus lifted an eyebrow. "Was?" It was just something that came out of his mouth automatically, his interest piqued just a bit by the choice of tense. He didn't even realize he had broken their agreement not to ask about families first. He didn't even think it would be possible as he wasn't supposed to be interested of the girl the slightest.
Lucy's face twisted as her mistake was pointed out. She didn't meant to tell them, at least not before she knew she could trust them completely. "...I guess I have to tell you since I brought it up... Mama, my mother, she passed away when I was still very young..." The way she spoke of the woman that had given birth to her made it clear that she treasured her a lot. Even if the woman had been gone for years now.
Well, look at that. Death mother and a dick of a father, Laxus snorted internally. The princess's situation didn't differ that much from his. Of course, his father hadn't tried to sell him off, but what that bastard had done... It wasn't any better. And who knows, if somebody had given his father the idea of selling his cute little baby face to some rich pervert, he might have actually done it. Furrowing Laxus found his mood dropping. Nothing good ever came out of thinking those he was supposed to call his family.
"Drinks on the house!" Bickslow shouted as he jumped from the kitchen three beers in hands. He waited a second for a reaction, but when he didn't get any he walked to the coffee table. "Get it? We are in my house and I brought the drink so- What did I miss?" He tried to explain his poor joke, then finally noticed the heavy mood surrounding the group.
Lucy shot her face up, a beaming smile on her lips. "Nothing." She assured. Her happiness was well faked, because if Laxus, Freed and Evergreen hadn't seen her face just now, they would have been completely fooled. Such as Bickslow was.
"Okay." The man shrugged accepting Lucy's answer. He handed Evergeen her drink and Laxus his on the way back to sit on his own spot. He slumped down on the sofa, swung down the remains of his old beer and then immediately open his new one. The big gulp he took from the can was followed by a content 'Aah!'.
Lucy watched the guy, especially that satisfied expression he showed. Maybe she could finally take a taste of her own drink. She picked up the can from the table and opened it. A second later the can had let out the 'tss' sound, Lucy smelled something. Curious of what it was, she brought the can to her nose and sniffed gently. The strong smell made her nose wrinkle. How could anyone drink something so bad smelling voluntarily?
Laxus let out a quiet chuckle as he saw the horrified expression of the girl. "Not much of a drinker?" He asked, but then furrowed slightly confused, slightly annoyed. What was going on with him today? He had now technically asked more questions than the girl had.
"Not really." Lucy glanced toward him, before trying the smell the drink a second time. This time too her nose wrinkled, but the reaction wasn't quite as strong as she knew what to expect. Then she tilted the can a bit and dipped her tongue just tiny bit into the can. Laxus watched the act, an image of a kitten appearing in his mind. He found it a bit funny and a bit cute. And in some very distant way it might have also been a little, little bit sexy. But the teeny-weeny bit of sexy that might have been there was gone on the same second, when the girl turned her head to the side and gagged lightly. Like licking the air, she started to stick her tongue between her lips as she tried to get rid off the horrible taste on it. "Is this even legal? Giving me a drink, I mean. I still am a minor."
"Better not to tell anyone then." Bickslow lifted a finger over his mouth, but then started to cackle.
Lucy huffed amused, then turned her attention back to her can. She gave it an intense stare. "Here goes nothing!" She exclaimed, before turning the can bottom-ups and taking a pull on the beer. Her eyes flied open and she had to cover her mouth with a hand. It was that close that she didn't spit the beer out. Swallowing the horrible liquid, Lucy's whole body shook and face twisted with disgust. "Gods! That was horrible!"
"Better learn how to drink or you can't call yourself a mage!" Bickslow laughed even stronger. "By the way, are you in a guild?"
Lucy shook her head as she stared the beer in her hand like her worst enemy. "No. But I would love to join one." She said without really concentrating on her words. She tried to decide what to do with the rest of her drink. Should she force it down? Or could she just leave it? For the time being she decided to put it back on the table.
"Nice! Wouldn't you want to j- Auch!" Bickslow jumped a little as he felt a zap on his arm. Rubbing the spot, he turned his confused eyes to Laxus, who slowly shook his head, eyes narrowed. Bickslow cleared his throat. "I mean... Wouldn't you want to join one one day?"
Lucy stared the man little weirdly, but then let it go. "Yeah. One day. I actually have a guild in mind already." Lucy smiled at the though of joining Fairy Tail one day. She didn't know how Laxus and the other would react, especially Laxus, if she told she wanted to join Fairy Tail. For some reason she knew that Laxus wouldn't take it nicely, so it was best to just keep quiet.
Bickslow took a sip from his drink. "This remind me of the time before I joined Fairy Tail. I met these guys when they were on a mission. You see, I was the last one to join." He pointed at himself and then continued his story. Her interest piqued Lucy switched her position a little, turning herself more toward Bickslow. "So, yeah. Boss-man, Freed and Ever were on this one mission and they passed trough the village I was living then. They were the first mages from an official guild I had seen - those ones from dark guilds were more common than mosquitoes in the area at the time. For a reason or another I ended up following them. And boy! Seeing these guys, especially Laxus, fighting against this huge ass monster, I was hooked. I just knew I had to get in their little group." Bickslow giggled at the memory. "Before I knew it I had followed them back to Magnolia. I started to hang around the guild and every time I saw them leave for a mission I followed. I'm still not sure did Laxus found me annoying or amusing or something else, but one day when they were leaving for another mission, he waited me behind a corner. Me, who thought I had been sneaking pretty skillfully, got the shit scared out of me. I actually fell to the ground from the start. Laxus didn't even flinch an eyebrow to this and just said 'If you want to keep following us, you could make yourself useful'. And then he left. And you can probably guess what I did next." Lucy nodded. "Yeah, I went and joined Fairy Tail. And then I officially tacked along on their next mission."
"In short, Bickslow has been weirdo from the start." Evergreen added. "You can only guess how creepy it was when suddenly some random dude comes around and acts as if you had known for years." She huffed, remembering the time. It truly had been unsettling. "But that first mission was something else. I tell you..."
Laxus listened as Evergreen started to tell the tale of their first mission as a whole group. He considered stopping her - he had considered doing so with Bickslow too - but in the end he didn't do it. They could end up spilling out something they shouldn't, still as long as they only kept talking about their team the chances were relatively low. And if he had to admit, he had enjoyed Bickslow's story too. It was funny to hear how the guy had experienced those couple of months. From the very beginning, he had noticed that someone was tailing them. He didn't seem to have any bad intentions in mind so he let him be. There was something about the guy and his flying dolls that made him curious. After couple weeks Laxus had thought that the guy would join Fairy Tail and officially tag along to their missions, but then the weeks changes into months and the guy hadn't even lifted a finger to join the guild. Frustrated by the matter, Laxus ended up indirectly inviting him to join the guild. What he didn't expect was that when they returned to the guild from that mission, Bickslow was there already waiting for them a brand new Fairy Tail mark on his tongue. Laxus shook his head a little amused. Bickslow had truly been such a weirdo already back then.