A/N: hey guys, I have a soft spot for this story. I'm hoping to show them growing closer over a long period of time thus the day counter. Of course by the time 175 days come around, they should be together. I hope you like the banter, this chapter and the next few are kinda pushing them together through Cana having a problem which changes her perspective a lot and shows the limits of her personality more clearly to Laxus. Anyways, as always read review and enjoy!
Disclaimer- I do not own fairy tail
Day 8
Cana sat slumped at the bar, slowly sipping her standard concoction as misery exuded from every pore. Laxus tried focussing on his primary job, but it was a slow night with only a handful of outsiders, most of which seemed to be content with having a good time and so his eyes kept wandering back to her exposed back and thick chocolate brown hair hiding her face. His gaze met Mira's worried one several times but no gestures of recognition were shared.
Laxus wondered to himself whether this was a natural phenomenon. He'd only known her for about a week and in that time she was always unnaturally energetic, maybe this was just her come down- Clive had mentioned her weakness to drugs… but if that was the case why would Mira be so worried? No, something was wrong. He couldn't go and ask, and none of her friends had shown up tonight so there was no chance of her demeanour improving. Maybe he should ask Mira? No, that would send the wrong messages, besides if Cana thought he was worried about her who knows how she would react? That was a lie, he knew exactly how she would react- infuriating unending taunts.
Mira gestured for him to come over to where Cana was slumped in front of her. Laxus paused, but Mira just waved at him more aggressively until he finally gave in and reluctantly wandered towards them, hoping Mira would change her mind but her determined stare refused to free him. Laxus stood next to Cana in his standard black tight fitting clothing, while Cana wore an uncharacteristic thin white blouse and tight navy slacks, which Laxus realised must be her work attire that she hadn't bothered to change out of. Laxus remembered her saying that her partner left a lot of paper work to her and something about inspectors. Surely paper work wasn't the cause of her slump? How bad could it have been? Cana didn't even bother to look up, he found himself missing her attention in the way you miss a rival, the world always seems that much less interesting.
"I thought I should let you know that things are about to get a little bit wild." Mira said over the music which caused Cana to freeze and look up from her drink for the first time all night.
"Please tell me you didn't call them…" She demanded, rage colouring her tone as her slump turned into a tense bundle of shock.
"I didn't call… I texted them." Mira defended, smiling at her own joke. Laxus waited for an explanation but realised he was never going to get one and may well soon be preoccupied breaking up a fight between Mira and Cana.
"Did I ask you to do that?" Cana snapped, trying to glare Mira down but she was just as stubborn.
"I am responsible for my patrons having a good time and to be honest you're being a major buzz kill!" Mira snapped back, handing a drink to a nearby party goer and completely ignoring Laxus' shocked expression.
"Well sorry for ruining the mood! I'll just go somewhere else and drink my sorrows away!" Cana snapped, getting to her feet but Mira grasped her arm.
"Cana! They'll all be here soon- are you seriously just going to leave when they've all come to cheer you up!" Mira reasoned, in what Laxus thought was an appeal but soon realised she was just stalling as Lucy tackle hugged Cana, forcing her to take a step back and nearly knocking Laxus into a bunch of glitter clad young women.
"Cana!" called a bunch of people, most of which he didn't recognise but he knew a large quantity of them weren't in her usual group of friends. Cana let out a gargantuan sigh as she was passed around the group, getting jumped on, her back thumped, hair ruffled and hand clasped. Laxus quickly made his way back to his designated (safe) corner and took in the group of approximately thirty people of what appeared to be all walks of life, all wanting a piece of Cana. Lucy and another short blue haired woman ushered Cana into the bathroom and when she emerged, her slacks were cut into slightly uneven mini shorts, blouse rolled and knotted to expose nearly everything it had covered before, the frilly black lace of her bra framing her cleavage. Her makeup was obviously a lot more rushed then her usual almost professional look but the bright red lipstick and thick mascara were framed nicely by her thick brunet locks.
He had little time to appreciate the sight of Cana contemptuously glaring at Mira as her friends dragged her out into the mosh pit, a bunch people grinding around her because just as Mira had warned, things began to get wild fast- there was punch ups, cat fights, at one point Fullbuster's girlfriend punched Dragneel in the face because Dragneel was shoved by some large white haired man causing him to headbutt Fullbister's nose, splattering it across his face, blood leaking on the floor which Erza slipped on, which she thought was Dragneel pushing her… all of it was just one huge confused mess but everything was dismissed with a change of song, ready for the next disaster.
After the third catastrophe Laxus joined Cana in glaring at Mira who had brought this onslaught of stupidity down upon him. But when he looked out to find Cana before the club began shutting down, he saw her grinning like usual as she danced without inhibitions, hips swaying and hair whipping out like tendrils around her. A moment passed and suddenly Cana was being reluctantly dragged towards the bar which seemed strange until she was forced up onto the bar and the music suddenly stopped, the silence odd compared to the buzz in the club.
"Now we have a special request from our lovely server Mira for the last song of the night- I hope you fellas and ladies out there pay close attention to the gorgeous ladies of FAIRY TAIL CLUB!" the DJ announced as Cana, Mira and five other women all stood on the bar, waiting for a familiar song to ring out. As soon as it started they all began what must have been a rehearsed routine, though the alcohol in their system made sure they were always slightly out of sync. When time came to point out their 'favourite man' Cana pointed to Laxus, giving him a playful wink while continuing their dance, the entire club entranced with the seven beauties. When the song finally came to an end, each of the women panting, sweat pouring off them, the club was filled with hollers and cat calls. Each of the girls were helped down by men assumed to be their boyfriends, leaving Mira and Cana atop the bar, hugging and laughing as people began to file out of the club. When the coast was clear Freed reached out a hand to Mira which she accepted, leaving Laxus to brace himself as Cana drunkenly jumped off the bar onto him, grabbing her just in time while struggling to keep balance. Cana continued to laugh as Laxus carefully set her down. When Cana finally calmed herself she reached out and gave Mira a quick hug.
"Thanks, Mira. Sorry I was being such a bitch earlier…" Cana said, the cheer draining out of her voice as she pulled back to peck Mira on the cheek. Mira rolled her eyes, returning the kiss on the cheek.
"Don't worry about it, I figure I owe you one, or two…" Mira said with a shrug. "But don't get any ideas! I expect you at full throttle tomorrow! If I have to call in the gang tomorrow Gildarts might actually fire me this time." She said with a worried look.
"As if I'd let him!" Cana declared, diving in for one last hug, reaching behind Mira to grab a half empty Vodka bottle and quickly making her way to the door, not bothering to check if Laxus was behind her or if Mira would make a vain attempt to get the bottle back.
OOO
Cana walked a lot slower than her usual saunter as she gulped down the vodka, the bottle blocking her view of the path. Laxus felt slightly awkward as Cana usually filled the silence with jokes, flirting, anecdotes or endless questions- silence seemed wrong. He was surprised how easily he had gotten used to her- everything. He wanted to ask a question to alleviate the tension, which she obviously didn't feel as she continued to chug. But, talking wasn't his thing, never had been, never would be…
"You're friends are pretty intense." Laxus offered, annoyed at her lack of any kind of response. "I haven't seen most of them around before." He continued, irritated that he had been forced into her role.
"They're more like family." She replied surprisingly, her words slightly slurred as she tossed her empty bottle on to the grass. Laxus didn't bother chastising her, he was more concerned with Clive's warning to stay away from her family.
"What did Mira mean by her owing you one?" Laxus asked, changing the subject. Cana looked up at him, surprised he had caught the exchange.
"Well, I got Guildy to hire her, and I gave her brother and sister jobs at my firm. They were there tonight- the big guy with the white hair and the cute girl that looks like Mira except with a bigger rack." Cana said seriously, causing Laxus to give a brief chuckle of shock at her comment. "I'm serious! Those things are massive!" she said, clutching her own chest for effect. Laxus looked away, knowing the trap of looking at her chest, at least when she was paying attention.
"He seems a bit out of place for a stock broker." Laxus commented, glad her hands were now swinging by her side.
"Mmm, he used to work at the local gym but it got closed for renovations after the big storm last year and he had nowhere to go so we took him on as an assistant. He's actually pretty good with people and he decided to stay after the gym reopened. His sister Lisanna is an intern though, she's pretty talented." Cana said thoughtfully, "Bacchus and I would love to hire her after her internship but it would be better for her to go over to Hibiki's firm, he'd be a fool not to take her." She concluded, looking up for a sign of understanding from Laxus.
"Who's Bacchus?" Laxus asked, the first time she'd mentioned him.
"Oh, Bacchus is my business partner. We own the firm 50/50. He's the asshole who's on holiday and has left me to handle this whole mess with the inspectors and…" Cana said, her countenance picking up steam as she spoke about him.
"Is that…" Laxus began to ask but stopped himself. Cana filled in the blanks and considered the question for a few moments.
"Yes and no… we had an inspection to make sure all our finances were in check. They are scheduled for the same time each year so Bacchus pissed off so he wouldn't have to deal with it." She said, venom in her voice. "Usually there's some discrepancy, we have a lot of money going in and coming out and there is always some margin of error, and the inspectors act as a second pair of eyes to go over everything, and as long as you're within the acceptable limits and the major problems can be fixed then it's ok." Cana explained. "Usually we do pretty well, Bacchus takes care of the clients and I do most of the brokering and the rest of the staff handles most of the paperwork which is all looked over by both of us each week. It's a pretty good system." Cana said, slight traces of pride breaking through her disappointed tone.
"So what happened?" Laxus asked, pressing for an answer as he knew they were nearing her apartment.
"There was a massive discrepancy, $8450 had gone missing." Cana said, her hands clenching and unclenching. "The investigators didn't say anything until they found the culprit which was easy because of our documentation system and that it had only been going on for a few months." Cana said, shocking Laxus into silence, noticing how she had memorised the exact number.
"Shit." Laxus exclaimed, slowing his pace to draw out their talk.
"Yeah, shit is right." Cana replied, "They arrested her right in the office in front of everyone." She said, taking a deep breath as if to sigh but keeping it in her lungs for a moment, like a support structure.
"Why'd she do it?" Laxus asked, considering putting a comforting arm around her shoulders but he knew he wouldn't be able to pull it off- would it be awkward? Would she shrug him off? Why was he even thinking about it?
"Apparently her father had gambling debts," she answered, a crease forming between her brows in concentration "but what I don't understand is why she didn't just ask for help. We've given advance pay and set up accounts for friends when they were in trouble before. If she had just asked for help she wouldn't be in this position right now. And now I have to organise for a lawyer for her and Bacchus says he can't come back until his holiday is over in pretty much a month…." Cana rambled, more to herself than Laxus. "And tomorrow I have to meet with Hibiki to try and work this whole thing out…" Cana said, stopping outside her building but staying next to Laxus, too absorbed in her own thoughts.
"Why do you have to get her a lawyer?" Laxus asked, not totally understanding the situation.
"Because she's my responsibility." Cana said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"What, like legally? I'm pretty sure when someone embezzles over eight grand from you're company they stop being you're responsibility." Laxus replied, matching her tone.
"She's a friend who did something desperate because she was in an impossible situation and now she needs my help, so yes she's my responsibility." Cana replied icily. Laxus considered arguing but it hit him that this wasn't any of his business, and so he relaxed his expression and took a deep breath before taking a small step back.
"I suppose you could see it that way… Goodnight Cana, I'll see you tomorrow." Laxus said with a dismissive nod before walking away back towards the club where he'd parked his car.
Cana did something she hadn't done before, she stood outside her building, watching as he walked away.
He always seemed to be like a stationary constant, in his corner at the club, right beside her on the walk home. To see him walking away seemed unnatural.
She shook her head, hoping to clear it but the stresses of the days to come overtook her.
OOO
She showered, dressed in her most comfortable pyjamas, had a soothing cup of tea but no matter what she did her mind kept buzzing until finally she reached for her phone, scrolling through her contacts until finally she landed on the one she had been obsessing over. Reluctantly she pushed call and held the phone to her ear.
"What…" a sleepy male voice asked.
"Bacchus… this whole thing is freaking me out, are you sure you can't come back early?" she asked, her voice quieter than she would have asked.
"Doll, I told ya, I can't just come back. It'll be fine, Hibiki and Jenny will help you out…" he replied in his typical drunken droll. She heard a female voice questioning him in the background which wasn't surprising. "If you're so worried about it, take Elfman over there." Bacchus said with a chuckle.
"Oh yes, this is so funny- it's only our professional reputation and a friends life on the line." Cana snapped which woke Bacchus up.
"Look, she was smart enough to take from the company account instead of a client so we should be fine on that front and she didn't take that much, with a good lawyer she'll probably only get a few months in goal. She's a big girl who made her own choices." Bacchus reasoned in a pragmatic tone which he usually only used on clients who was unsure about a purchase. When she didn't reply after a few moments of ragged breathing he continued. "Look doll, I'll keep my phone on me all day, call me after you've met with Hibiki and we can work something out together." He said, hoping to calm her down enough that he'd be able to hang up and get back to sleep without waking to angry voice mails.
"Ok…. Thanks Bacchus." Cana said quietly, hanging up and putting her phone on her bedside table, hoping to get a couple hours of rest before her meeting.
