Dragon Family Values
Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail
Summary: Sting tries to prove to Rogue that he doesn't need the shadow dragon-slayer with him all the time.
Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.
Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T for TEEN.
Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.
Break Away (Rated T)
When Sting told Rogue that he wanted to break away from him a little bit, the shadow dragon-slayer raised an eyebrow.
According to Rogue, to break away meant to escape from someone's hold, which he swore that wasn't the case between them. If anything, Rogue believed his constant presence around the light dragon-slayer kept him from doing stupid things, things which would surely either land him in prison or worse.
So when Sting announced to Rogue that he was going to go grocery shopping on his own—like a regular human being—he couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Come on, Rogue. It'll be fine!" Sting insisted, bouncing up and down with a giddy expression on his face.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea."
"You never let me do anything on my own! You're always there!"
"That's probably why you're still alive right now," Rogue mumbled under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing," Rogue sighed. "I understand your need to…break away, as you put it, but do you really think shopping for our groceries is the best way to start? Why not walk around the town first?"
"It's just shopping! What could possibly go wrong?" Sting asked. When Rogue's expression didn't change, he decided on a compromise. "Tell you what. You can give me a list. Make it simple. I'll go to the store, just get what's on your list, and come home. That should suffice, right?"
Rogue hummed in thought. Maybe…that wouldn't be too bad. He'd already thought of the meals he'd make for the week, meaning he had a grocery list written up already. But he couldn't shake his uneasy feeling. "You promise that's all you'll do? You'll go to the store, get the things on the list, and come straight home?"
Sting nodded eagerly, his hands clasped together in excitement. If he'd been a dog, his tail surely would have been wagging.
Rogue took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm his nerves. He just knew he was going to regret this. "Fine."
"Yes! Thanks, Rogue! I won't let you down!"
Sting entered the grocery store happily, list clenched in his right hand. This was so exciting! His first trip to the grocery store by himself! He didn't know why Rogue never let him out of his sight. It's not like grocery shopping was that hard. He'd watched Rogue do it plenty of times.
Grabbing a shopping cart, he excitedly read the first item of Rogue's list. "A handful of bananas," he muttered. That was over in the fruit!
Swinging his cart to the left, he immediately struck the display of apples. Sting cringed as he waited for them to fall. They didn't. He sighed in relief. That was a close call.
Carefully maneuvering the cart this time, he made for the bananas. When he got there, he paused. "Dammit, Rogue. How much is a handful?" He stared at the bananas for a full three minutes before grabbing twenty of them. Hey, he ate a lot and really liked bananas.
"Okay, next thing on the list. Two avocados." Avocados? Those green things Rogue made him eat? Those were disgusting! No matter how many times Rogue told him they were an acquired taste, he still couldn't manage them.
Sting stared at the avocados in the aisle and weighed his options. He could tell Rogue the store didn't have any, but then he'd probably just go to the store himself and discover he'd lied. Groaning, Sting grabbed two large ones and put them in his shopping cart. Just because he got them didn't mean he'd eat them.
Now it was onto the vegetables. "Asparagus. What the hell is asparagus?" Was it some kind of mushroom or something?
Heading over to the vegetables, he carefully scanned the tiny signs that indicated what was what. Finally, he found the asparagus. "Ew, what is this?" he snarled, lifting the bunch of green spear-like objects. They looked like something from the bottom of the ocean. He wasn't eating this! Reluctantly, however, he put it in the cart.
"Carrots." Now that was something he could get behind. That shouldn't be so hard.
At least, that's what he initially thought until he saw the various kinds. There were carrots that were loose, carrots in bags, carrots in bunches with tops, carrots in bunches with no tops, and something called baby carrots. How was he supposed to choose? He didn't know what Rogue wanted!
"Hell, I'll just get them all. He can't be mad at me for that." Satisfied with his decision, he loaded his cart with each set of carrots and moved onto the next item on the list.
"Feta cheese." Huh. He'd never heard of this cheese before. Making his way over to the dairy section, Sting rummaged through the cheeses until he came across a small container with said cheese. Why the hell was it crumbled? Who wanted crumbled cheese? Had it gone bad? "Whatever." If Rogue wanted Feta, he was getting Feta.
"Okay, now I've got the get Greek yogurt." Again, it was something he was unfamiliar with. Yogurt was yogurt, wasn't it?
When Sting finally found the Greek yogurt, his curiosity got the better of him. Picking up one of the small containers, he peeled off the lid, stuck his finger inside, brought his finger to his lips, and licked off the yogurt.
He immediately gagged. "Ugh! Why is it so sour?!"
"Sir!"
Sting head snapped to his right, where a peeved employee stood. "Uh, yes?"
"You can't eat the merchandise before paying for it!"
"But how am I supposed to know if I like it or not?"
The employee pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sir, it goes against store policy. There is no sampling here."
"Well, then maybe you should change your policy."
"Sir, keep it up and I'll have to ask you to leave," stated the employee.
Sting held his tongue. He didn't want that, otherwise Rogue would be saying 'I told you so' for the rest of his days. "I'm…sorry."
The employee grunted. "I'll let you slide this time, but you'll have to pay for the yogurt when you check out. Understood?"
Sting nodded. The employee seemed satisfied with his answer and walked away, leaving the light dragon-slayer to stare at the Greek yogurt in his hand. He set it neatly in the cart and grabbed a couple more. He hoped Rogue would be pleased, because he sure as well wasn't.
"All right, now I've got to get eggs." Finally, something he liked. Sting proceeded to the eggs. Since Rogue never indicated how many he wanted, the light dragon-slayer settled on five dozen. That should be enough. He had to eat something; there was no way in hell he was eating avocados, asparagus, and Greek yogurt.
"Next up, granola." That shouldn't be too hard. Once Sting found the aisle with the granola, his jaw dropped. Why were there so many kinds?!
Sting firmly believed he spent half an hour staring at the granola, debating which kind and flavor to get. What did Rogue like, anyway? Finally, after much deliberation, he settled on a crunchy vanilla granola.
"Now that that's done, I have to get quinoa. What the hell is quinoa?" What was with Rogue and these weird foods?!
"Um, excuse me?" Sting asked once he found an available employee. "Can you help me out?"
To the employee's dismay, it was the yogurt thief. "What do you need?"
"I need…quinoa. And to be honest, I have no idea what it is. My friend made the list."
The employee raised his eyebrow. "Off shopping by yourself, are you?" Sting nodded. "Hm, this way."
Sting followed the man to an area with large dispensers, each of them containing a different item.
"Here's the quinoa," he said.
Sting stared at the dispenser. What was he supposed to do? Grab the whole thing?
Noticing the customer's hesitation, the employee explained what to do. "You grab a bag, open it, place it beneath the opening of the dispenser, and slide the lever. It'll release the quinoa. When you get the amount you want, slide the lever back, close the bag, and tie it off with a tie."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Sting did as the man had instructed. He watched in fascination as the bag began filling with quinoa. Figuring he had enough, he slid the lever bad to stop the flow of quinoa.
The lever snapped.
The bag kept filling.
"Shit!" shouted Sting. "It won't stop!"
The employee burst into action. Shoving Sting out of the way, he shoved a handful of bags into the dispenser to temporarily stop it from releasing the quinoa. He growled in agitation. This customer was going to kill him.
"I'm…sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Of course, you didn't," he replied. "How much is left on your list?"
Sting glanced down at the paper in his hands. "Um, just two more things. Why?"
"I'm going to help you finish your shopping," he said. Before anything else goes wrong.
"O…kay? Well, I need a rotisserie chicken."
The employee grabbed Sting's cart and took them to the deli. "Pick one."
"Wait. It's an already cooked chicken?"
The employee resisted the urge to slam his head against the cart. "Yes. Now pick one."
Sting got closer to the chickens and stared at them. They all looked so good and smelled so tasty. Grabbing the biggest one he could find, he put it in the cart."
"What else?"
"Now I need two fillets of fresh salmon," said Sting.
"Right. This way."
When they reached the seafood, Sting couldn't help but say, "They're not cooked."
"What did you think fresh meant?!"
The light dragon-slayer shrugged and stared at the fish. "Which one's the salmon?"
The employee groaned. He'd never, in all his life, come across someone who didn't know food. Why the hell was this person even shopping by himself? "You know what? I'll just get it for you."
Sting grinned. "Thanks!"
Rogue didn't know what to expect when Sting finally came home. He'd been gone for two hours. It wasn't like the grocery store was that far away.
"Why do you have so many bags?" asked Rogue, eyeing the four grocery bags warily as Sting set them on the counter, a huge grin on his face.
"Hey, I did this all by myself, so don't complain," said Sting.
Rogue sighed and moved to the first bag, which was completely filled with bananas. "Why did you get so many?"
"I like bananas. And you didn't actually tell me how many to get."
Rogue rolled his eyes and moved onto the second bag and saw an assortment of carrots. "What are we supposed to do with all of these?!"
"Eat them?"
"You bought nearly twenty pounds of carrots!" Rogue shouted before moving onto the third bag. This one seemed much better save for one thing. "Sting?"
"Yes, Rogue?"
"Why is there a chicken carcass in here?"
Sting had the decency to look bashful. "I…kinda got hungry on the way home," he said. "Hey! Don't look at me like that! It smelled so good! How could I not eat it?"
Finally, Rogue moved onto the fourth and final bag. Well, at least Sting had gotten everything on the list. But it seemed they'd be living off of carrots and bananas for awhile. He'd have to get really creative in the kitchen.
Rogue reached down into the bag and pulled out the receipt. Well, it wasn't too bad. Huh? What's this?
The shadow dragon-slayer turned the receipt over to find a handwritten message.
To Whom It May Concern,
Never let this person go shopping on his own again! He is lucky he wasn't forcibly removed from the store. Furthermore, you will be receiving a bill for damages pertaining to a quinoa dispenser. Have a nice day.
Sincerely,
A Disgruntled Employee
"So, did I do well, Rogue?"
Rogue pocketed the receipt. "You did as I expected you would."
Author's Note – I wasn't quite sure what to do for this theme. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please review!
*Next Theme – Dream*