Hello all! Here is the next chapter! Hope it pleases!
Review Response: Dear Dutchess-of-Dirt, hello there! Glad you enjoyed it! Writing the quirky violent-prone antics of the guild was fun, I'm glad it made you laugh!
Dear Wandering Mage011, hi! Don't they always with Fairy Tail? Like that time in the anime when it started with Natsu yelling insults at Gajeel and ended with Erza attacking everyone with her swords because of her ruined strawberry cake. I was always a bit disappointed that we never got to see more examples of Shadow Magic after Kageyama's appearance. Like you said, it has enormous potential. As for Bickslow's and Wren's acrobatic capabilities, we'll be seeing more of it as time goes on. Bickslow is naturally flexible and Wren's past on Earth facilitates a similar capability. Plus, acrobatics are surprisingly useful for stealth maneuvers. Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapter. As for more brother/sister fluff, it's bound to turn up again, they spend a lot of time together after all. I find it funny though that Bickslow really does fit the little brother role so well when everyone else in the Guild would think of him as the big brother because he's physically older than Wren. Oh well.
Dear Apple Of Eris, greetings! Fairy Tail will be Fairy Tail, and if at all possible, that will entail hilarity, awesomeness, or property damage. Or all three. Hope you enjoy the newest chapter!
Author's Note: Huh ... not much to say, honestly. This chapter doesn't have much in the way of things needing explanations. Kudos to anyone who spots the Naruto reference hidden in this chapter though!
Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs and the plot.
Chapter Six: First Mission
Bickslow stared up at the request board, trying to figure out which job he should take. It would be his first experience having a job after all, he wanted it to be a good one. A mission to fight some kind of monster caught his eye, but he quickly dismissed it when he remembered Wren standing patiently next to him, waiting for him to pick a mission for the two of them.
Wren, sensing his gaze, looked away from the request board to meet his eyes, raising an eyebrow questioningly and motioning to the board in a "well? Aren't you going to pick something?" kind of way. Bickslow shrugged helplessly, "I don't know what to pick."
Wren frowned slightly and returned her gaze to the request board, standing on her toes to get a better look at the requests higher up on the board. Finally, she pointed at one and raised her eyebrow at Bickslow questioningly. Bickslow shifted closer to the board to look at the poster she had pointed to and snorted, "Finding someone's runaway cat? Really, imōto? Boring." Who names a house cat "Tora" anyway? That's just asking for it to go wild. Biting his lip faintly, Bickslow ran his eyes over the requests again, trying to find one that didn't sound too boring, but also didn't sound too dangerous for Wren either.
Doubt was beginning to creep up on Bickslow on whether there was any job that met his narrow criteria and whether they'd get in trouble if they didn't take a job as soon as possible when his dolls chattered faintly, alerting him to someone approaching from behind, "Trying to pick a first job?"
Bickslow glanced over his shoulder at Mest, not sure if he was relieved or angry at the mage's appearance. On one hand, he didn't trust Mest and didn't trust how friendly he acted. On the other hand, Mest was the reason they were out of Aternum and off the streets now. Plus, Wren seemed to like him. Grudgingly, Bickslow withheld a scathing demand for the older mage to leave them alone and grunted instead, "Yeah. Maybe."
Wren blinked at Bickslow once before turning to Mest and lightly tugging on his sleeve. Mest looked down at Wren immediately, "Yes, Wren-chan?"
Wren made a sweeping gesture at the request board and then shrugged, head cocking questioningly. Mest smiled at her warmly and Bickslow fought down a flash of an ugly and unfamiliar emotion. He wasn't sure why, but he really, really didn't like how everyone in the guild seemed to be going out of their way to befriend his little sister. He also didn't like it that Wren seemed perfectly happy to put up with their presences. Especially the annoying card-girl Cana and the currently present Mest.
He told himself that it was because he didn't trust anyone in the guild yet, and possibly never would, and that was partially the reason. But that didn't feel like all of the reason and that confused Bickslow. Seemingly ignorant of the moody looks Bickslow was shooting him, Mest idly placed a hand lightly on Wren's head as he examined the request board, "You want a suggestion on which one to pick, huh? Hmmm…" After several moments of contemplation and Bickslow toying with the increasingly appealing idea of having Pappa zap Mest's hand to get it off of Wren's head, Mest reached out and pulled down a poster from the request board, "How about this one?"
He passed it down to Bickslow, who scowled at it as he slowly deciphered the kanji and english mix on the cheerfully illustrated poster. Wren huddled closer by his side to get a better look at the poster as Bickslow glanced incredulously up at Mest, "Helping out at a restaurant? Really? How's that a job for a mage?"
Mest shrugged, "It's a good job for your first time. The owner is a retired Fairy Tail member. He lets young mages try to use their magic to complete everyday tasks and, if their magic can't be used that way, he still pays very well for simple, honest work. He's friendly, fairly easygoing, and doesn't mind Fairy Tail's more … destructive habits. Plus, he'll probably have the cooks make you a free lunch if you're around when it's the lunch hour."
Bickslow pursed his lips and glared thoughtfully down at the poster, insides squirming at the thought of meeting yet another stranger who would no doubt stare at his facial tattoo. Or worse, know what it meant and curse him for it. But on the other hand, the reward was thirty-thousand jewels. That was more jewels than Bickslow had ever even seen all at once, let alone ever held. Also, despite his private suspicions about Mest, the teen didn't seem to be out to get them and if he seemed so certain that the owner would be nice to them…
He looked down at Wren and raised both eyebrows in a questioning gesture. Wren examined the poster again, her expression utterly serious. Finally, she nodded and tapped the poster approvingly, making the paper bob and rustle under her touch. Bickslow worried his lip a little bit more, his dolls sensing his worry and flittering around just a touch faster than normal before settling down. He nodded as well and covered his unease with a wide tongue-grin down at Wren, "Yoshi! Let's do this, imōto!"
Mest made his presence known again by chuckling and patting Bickslow lightly on the shoulder, apparently oblivious to Bickslow's automatic flinch as he spoke blithely, "Alright then, if you've decided on a job, just go up and tell Ricard, he manages the request board and keeps a record of who is currently out on missions or not. I'd come with you, but I don't want to take any of your reward. Besides, helping out at a restaurant is a little below my capabilities now, Aengus-san would think I'm trying to freeload off of his cooks again."
Bickslow hummed neutrally, not sure what to say about that or the beaming smile Wren graced Mest with before leading the way to the bar where Ricard the bartender was currently serving tankards to the annoying duo Macao and Wakaba. The two looked up from their tankards as Bickslow and Wren approached, Macao spotting the poster in Bickslow's hand and flashing that strange smile everyone was always giving his sister and him, "Off to take your first job, hmm? You sure Porlyusica won't get mad about it?"
Bickslow didn't really see how the cranky old healer would know about his taking a mission when she wasn't even there, but decided it was a moot point as he shook his head and replied stubbornly, "It's been four days. I'm fine." Wakaba scoffed something about the recuperative powers of the young but Bickslow ignored him in favor of waving the poster at Ricard, "Oi, we're going out on this job. That a problem?"
Ricard leaned over the bar to get a proper look at which poster Bickslow was holding, then nodded easily and straightened up, "That's fine. Good luck on your first job, kids!" Ricard flashed that strange smile at them and turned back to Wakaba and Macao, getting into some kind of friendly debate about something while Bickslow and Wren made their way to the guild entrance. Bickslow shifted a bit uncomfortably as more and more semi-strangers called out well wishes and encouragements to them as they passed.
He didn't understand how they could all be so … friendly to him. He had a brand on his face that should have inspired fear and disgust wherever he went and, up until four days ago, it always had. But now he was surrounded by adults that didn't scorn or hit, was fed absolutely huge amounts of food whenever he was hungry, and was smiled at for no apparent reason. Bickslow was tempted to think that all of the people in the Fairy Tail guild were trying to trick him into lowering his guard.
That or they were all crazy. Which might be more likely when he considered their honest colors with his eye magic and witnessed the spontaneous brawls that happened at least once a day.
Still, crazy or not, the sheer boundlessness of their cheer and the open friendliness they displayed threw Bickslow off and made him feel wary and defensive. Wren seemed to handle it much better despite being younger than him, but that might have been because she hadn't been on the streets for as long as him and probably didn't even remember how she had become mute anymore.
Sunlight hit his face and a spring breeze ruffled his hair, drawing him out of his thoughts and to the busy, open streets of a foreign city. Bickslow stopped in the entrance of the Fairy Tail building, trying to get his bearings in the beautiful yet unknown city of Magnolia. Magnolia wasn't built like Aternum. While Aternum was comprised of crowded, winding streets and crooked buildings leaning over the head of passing pedestrians, Magnolia was spacious, neat, and orderly.
The cobblestone streets were broad, easily double that of a normal Aternum street, and the buildings were spaced in planned, straight rows with walls that didn't lean or loom over the street. People walked to and fro, calling hellos or pausing to exchange gossip in the street without inconveniencing anyone else. Here and there in little stretches of raised dirt, trees rustled their leaves in the breeze and gave shade to passersby.
Bickslow took a slow, bracing breath and stepped out onto the road, "Right, let's go and…" his voice trailed off for a moment as he looked up and down the unfamiliar street. It occurred to him suddenly that he had never actually been anywhere in Magnolia aside from the Fairy Tail guild building. At least, not while conscious. Thus, he had absolutely no clue on where to go. I can't turn around and go back in … they'll laugh or call me stupid or something. But … I don't know where to go.
Sensing Wren watching him curiously, Bickslow straightened his shoulders and picked a direction at random, hoping that heading down the road to his right would eventually lead him to where he wanted to go.
It didn't.
Rihanna sighed as she sat down on a nearby bench conveniently placed near the street under a shady tree. Of course Bickslow had gotten them lost. Why hadn't it occurred to her that he would have no idea where to go? Probably because she'd assumed that somewhere in amid the unintelligible kanji scrawled on the poster were instructions on how to actually get to the restaurant they were supposed to help at.
Sitting down next to her with a distinctly sheepish look, Bickslow mumbled, "Gomen, imōto. I didn't mean to get us lost." Of course you didn't. You're only twelve. I should have thought this through beforehand.
Rihanna idly patted Bickslow's arm to comfort him as she pondered over what to do now. She had no real idea on how to get back to the guild building, and was reluctant to return without having even found the location of the job Bickslow had picked. Rihanna tried to apply logic to the problem. She assumed from the picture of rows of tables and the big words "help wanted" in english that the job was to help out at a café or restaurant or some kind. Plus, Mest had advised it and mentioned free food. Therefore, the place was probably in or near Magnolia's Market District.
Which would be an enormously helpful piece of knowledge if I had any idea where the Market District was in relation to our current location. Rihanna noticed that Bickslow was making distressed grunts at the poster and his babies were beginning to do loop-de-loops and sighed again. Oh forget it, we'll do this the old fashioned way and forget paranoia for a second.
Reaching out, Rihanna snatched the poster from Bickslow's lax grip and hopped off of the bench with Bickslow's surprised yelp in her ears, "Wren? What are you-?" Picking a woman who had a child Bickslow's age with her, Rihanna marched up to them and got their attention with a wave of her hand.
The woman and child stopped, blinking at Rihanna in surprise and then at Bickslow when he came running frantically up behind Rihanna, Pappa and Pippi squeaking "nani-nani?" rather hysterically. Ignoring Bickslow, Pappa and Pippi, and the young boy gaping at the floating toys, Rihanna unrolled the slightly crumpled poster and held it up for the woman's inspection, tapping the picture with a finger and then shrugging at her surroundings to indicate that Rihanna had no idea where to go.
The woman frowned, "I'm not sure I understand…" Rihanna rolled her eyes, oh how I miss my underrated ability to speak. Rihanna summoned up her patience and gestured to the picture and then her surroundings again.
The woman continued to look baffled for another few seconds before understanding dawned, "Oh! Of course! You must be new to Magnolia! You're looking for the restaurant that posted this job, correct?" Rihanna nodded, happy to be getting somewhere. The woman smiled down at her a bit, "Let's see, The Secret Ingredient is … that way." She pointed down a street at the nearby intersection, "Just go down that street for four blocks, then turn left. Cross the bridge, turn right and keep going until you reach the Restaurant District. The Secret Ingredient is the one with a patio that overlooks the canals, so as long as you stay on the main roads, you can't miss it." Rihanna nodded again and bowed low in thanks before dragging Bickslow away from his glaring contest with the other boy and toward their destination at last.
Once they were away from the woman and the boy, Bickslow hissed, "Why'd you do that, Wren? They could have tried to hurt you."
Rihanna gave Bickslow a sad look at his words and the reasons she knew were behind them. Oh Bickslow. If only I could tell you that there are so many people in the world that are kinder than Aternum's were. If only I could tell you how to trust strangers just a little bit and not expect them to curse you and drive you off. But, unfortunately, she didn't have a voice and even if she did, Rihanna doubted that words could undo the damage Aternum had done to Bickslow emotionally.
Unable to express any of those thoughts, Rihanna simply took Bickslow's hand and squeezed it gently before giving in to her inner child and skipping down the street toward her first job as a mage. Bickslow walked next to her, a puzzled expression on his face as he watched her skip, his eyes flickering briefly to green before he looked away and studied their surroundings instead. Idly, Rihanna wondered what Bickslow saw whenever he glanced at her with his dōjutsu. It seemed to be his way of judging things that were not obvious to the naked eye, but what exactly he was judging or looking for during those times, she still didn't know.
The distance to their destination steadily grew shorter as Rihanna admired her surroundings for the hundredth time that day, her good mood mostly restored. Magnolia was truly a beautiful place, absolutely nothing like Chicago or even Aternum. While Aternum was architecturally similar to Magnolia, Magnolia had a much more open and cheerful air to it. Though perhaps Rihanna only thought that because she hadn't had to live three years of constant running, sneaking, and stealing in the pretty Fiorean city.
Some people smiled at the two as they went by, others who spotted Pappa and Pippi floating by Bickslow's shoulders chuckled knowingly and commented on how Fairy Tail seemed to be growing every day. One woman shook her head before commenting to an older woman just on the edge of Rihanna's hearing, "Honestly, sometimes I think that place takes in more kids than the orphanage."
The older woman chuckled and waved a hand to dismiss the first woman's statement, "Now, now, there's nothing wrong with our guild getting a unique collection of members. It's what makes the guild so renowned." Rihanna shook her head at the overheard conversation, even though she couldn't help but agree with both of the women. If the anime, and her own current circumstances, were to be believed, Fairy Tail really did have a tendency to take in strays that then grew up powerful and loyal to the guild that had given them a home and family.
That would actually be a really scary thought if the guild in question wasn't so freedom-loving. If a bad guy figured out how to do that … I don't even want to think about it. Bickslow's voice interrupted Rihanna's thoughts, "Hey, isn't that the place we're supposed to go to?" Rihanna looked up in surprise to see a restaurant with a patio and a sign that had the name The Secret Ingredient proudly displayed on it. Have we really been walking long enough to find it? Though I suppose I shouldn't think that after how long we were lost.
Rihanna passed the poster back to Bickslow so that he could double-check for himself. After giving the poster a long, scrutinizing look, Bickslow nodded to himself, "Yeah … this is the place." He looked at the front door as they came closer and closer to the building with reluctance, "So I guess we just … head in?"
Rihanna shrugged, she had no more idea how magic jobs worked than he did. Pity life doesn't come with tutorials. Even ones in an anime world. Still, she supposed that all they had to do was go in, find the owner of the restaurant, and show him the poster. That would explain everything, right? After exchanging one last uneasy look, the two entered the restaurant called The Secret Ingredient. It's just helping out at a restaurant, what could possibly happen?
Rihanna scurried from table to table as fast as her legs could carry her, a headache slowly developing behind her eyes as she used her Shadow Magic to form a tray on which to carry orders. I really need to break the habit of thinking that before it comes back to seriously bite me in the butt, don't I? Easy job my right leg!
In hindsight, Rihanna really should have known better than to think it would be easy or boring. Mest had said that Aengus-san was "friendly and easygoing" but he had also said that Aengus-san was a former Fairy Tail member. When you placed those three descriptors in the same sentence about the same person, they came to mean something very different from the layman's version of "friendly and easygoing".
Aengus was cheerful in a booming way that made her ears hurt, with a smile a mile wide and a welcome-to-Fairy-Tail hug that could have winded a bear. He also, somehow, appeared to be the Earthland version of a Scot, complete with a kilt and brogue accent. Though how he managed a brogue accent while speaking Japanese was beyond Rihanna.
Also, after welcoming the two new mages with a bone-crushing hug and booming laugh, he had quickly proven to have no idea that two children did not have needed the endurance levels to reach his high standard of hard work. He had wanted them to do several ridiculous tasks that made Rihanna cringe at the thought of before his much more sensible restaurant manager had stepped in and taken over giving them jobs to do.
Bickslow and Rihanna had promptly been set to serving tables and taking orders as several of Aengus's waiters had called in sick a few days ago. This proved to be a problem when it was rapidly revealed that Bickslow was the only one of the two who could read or write kanji while Rihanna was the only one who had the temperament to ask nicely what they wanted, which was hard to do anyway given her mute status. After the seventh instance of Bickslow insulting the intelligence of a customer and threatening to hit someone for cooing at Rihanna, Bickslow had been banished to helping in the kitchen with the aid of his tiki dolls while Rihanna had been granted the "honor" of being the adorable assistant to one of the regular waitresses, a girl named Mimi.
At the moment, she was following Mimi to deliver a hefty order of food and drinks to a group of travelers who had come in just at the height of lunch hour and managed to snag a booth. Mimi was carrying a tray with several plates of food on it while Rihanna followed behind with the remaining two plates and the assorted drinks. She would have used a regular tray, except Aengus had made it very clear that they were only going to get paid if they used their magic as much as possible to complete the job, something about teaching the younger generation of mages how to be creative with their abilities.
At least she'd learned a new skill and was getting better at maintaining the duration of her Shadow Magic. Mimi blithely interrupted her musings when the two arrived at the table and the pretty young waitress chirped, "Thank you for waiting, here are your orders!" Mimi started dishing out the orders as she rattled off what went to whom, "Now, the daily special for Haibara-sama, Kavanagh-sama, and Fujimoto-sama. Grilled fish for Hisakawa-sama, onigiri for Ito-sama…"
Mimi tucked her now empty tray under her arm and turned to Rihanna, "Can you remember the other orders, Wren-chan?"
Rihanna inched closer to the table and coaxed her shadow tray to hover higher, eliciting gasps of awe and amazement as she inched the tray upward until it was just above the lip of the table. Rihanna bit her lip in intense concentration, she had to make sure the tray remained flat and with the same density throughout its surface or risk spilling everything.
She shot a hooded look at Mimi for just standing there smiling expectantly before slowly inching her hands out from under the shadow tray, forcing several shadows from the booth table to uncoil and form a little stand for her tray while she used her hands to pick up the plate nearest her on the tray.
It was an onigiri platter. Rihanna cast her mind back to the order, attempting to remember who had ordered what. Her headache grew a little worse from the multitasking and her adult pride was stung at the chorus of awes her struggles to reach far enough across the table to hand a grinning Boyle-san his order elicited. Curse my child height! Just … a little … farther! Rihanna didn't dare stand on her tiptoes as she feared the attention division between her hands and the shadow tray would become too uneven and cancel her spell. Thankfully, Boyle-san finally took pity upon her plight and reached out to take the plate from her hands.
Rihanna sighed with relief before turning a weary eye to the plates left on the tray. Now I have to do it again. Lovely. This kind of job was so much easier when I was twenty … and could speak … and write in a language everyone else could understand … and wasn't so darn short. At least the others are closer.
Mimi cheered Rihanna on as she passed out the other plates, gratified that the last two customers were nice enough to take the plate from her once it was within easy reach for them. After that, she served the drinks, once again requiring aid in passing out the ones that belonged to people on the far edge of the long booth. Only once that was finally done did she let her shadow tray temporarily dissolve to ease the strain on her mind.
As Rihanna followed Mimi to check on the other tables and then back to the kitchens, she mused to herself with a slight pout. I don't remember being so short at this age … then again, I don't really remember being six all that well. Am I short for my physical age? That would be just my luck wouldn't it? To get a stunted growth the second time around because of living on the streets for three years.
It didn't help her self-esteem much that people kept calling her "kawaii" whenever she was spotted helping out Mimi. True, the people saying it meant well, but it was more than a little degrading for someone who remembered being a woman to be squealed over like some kind of fluffy kitten.
A muffled boom from the depths of the kitchen just as they were entering, accompanied by a large cloud of smoke, shook her out of her thoughts, what the-? Several voices, presumably the cooks, cursed loudly and the unmistakable hiss of a fire-extinguisher rose in the air while Mimi frantically waved the smoke away and Rihanna coughed silently. The smoke cleared rapidly, indicating that its source had already gone out, and Rihanna peeked cautiously into the depths of the kitchen to see a sooty Bickslow blinking sheepishly at the exasperated head cook. Pappa and Pippi hovered near one of the large grills, Pappa looking particularly sooty and spinning in little dizzy loops while Pippi chanted softly, "Oops-a-daisy, oops-a-daisy…"
Rihanna stared first at the foam-coated grill, then at the sooty Bickslow and his tiki dolls, and promptly reintroduced her palm to her face. Someone tell me that what I think happened, didn't actually happen. The head cook shook his head exasperatedly at Bickslow as he stowed away the fire extinguisher and signaled another cook to start cleaning up the mess, "I said 'turn the heat up' as in 'use the dial on the grill'. Not 'shoot the coals with lasers from your tikis'. Honestly … what is it with Fairy Tail kids and explosions?" It did.
Bickslow swallowed and hunched his shoulders in expectation for a violent reprisal, "Sorry! I-I didn't think it would blow up like that!"
The head cook didn't even look angry at the sudden non-functionality of one of the grills during lunch hour, just oddly resigned, "It's fine. I know you didn't mean any harm. This kind of thing happens every time the boss sends a job request to Fairy Tail. At least you didn't accidentally teleport a booth full of guests into the middle of the canal like that other kid did a couple years ago…"
Rihanna sniggered silently, shoulders shaking with unheard mirth despite herself as she immediately realized who must have made that mistake. I wonder how Mest managed to do that? It doesn't seem like something one could do by accident. Then again, teleportation is probably very different from Shadow Magic.
Bickslow appeared both baffled and relieved that his mistake had earned nothing more than sighs and a gentle reprimand. Cautiously, he glanced from the bustling cooks to Rihanna, his expression unsure. Rihanna smiled and shrugged at him, hoping to convey that everything was fine and there was nothing he could do but keep working. Before she could think of anything else to do that might put Bickslow at ease, she was whisked away by Mimi to resume tending tables.
The next hour blurred by in a flurry of orders, deliveries of said orders, and an ever-present headache from using her magic so often. When the majority of the lunch rush had finally settled down or left, Rihanna heaved a deep sigh of relief, trying not to think on how poor Bickslow was managing in the hot kitchens surrounded by loud, semi-bossy adults.
A hand gently patted her head as Mimi said sympathetically, "Hard work isn't it? Especially for someone your age. Poor thing. You did a splendid job, Wren-chan. Truly splendid. Come on, I'm sure Aengus-san has already ordered the cooks to set something aside for your brother and you." Rihanna followed Mimi numbly, not even bothering to be insulted at being patted on the head like a puppy who had learned to fetch properly. The promise of sitting down and having food was just too wonderful.
Mimi led Rihanna to the breakroom, herding her to a chair next to the already seated Bickslow. Bickslow paused in slurping water from his glass to look Rihanna over critically, "You look exhausted, imōto, are you okay?"
Rihanna nodded absently as she grabbed her own glass and started greedily drinking the cool water within, I don't remember waitressing being so exhausting. Then again, I am physically six. Smaller body, smaller battery I- food! Mimi giggled at Rihanna's eager look as the waitress set the plate of onigiri down in front of her, "There you go, a little side reward for all of your hard work. When you're done, Aengus-san will want to see you, so make sure you two report to his office, alright? Good."
As Mimi walked away, Rihanna eagerly set about demolishing the food on her plate, her pace only outdone by Bickslow, who had already caused half of his plate to be magically clear of sustenance. By the time Rihanna was halfway through her own meal, Bickslow had already finished his and was staring thoughtfully at the doorway through which Mimi had disappeared, "Ne, Wren."
Wren looked up from tentatively nibbling on seaweed and, seeing that he had her attention, Bickslow continued, "The people here in Magnolia are really … different from Aternum, aren't they? First the Old Man and his guild and now these … strangers. None of them…" His hand idly reached up and fingered the brand on his face, "Their colors are so clean when they look at me. Like I'm just another kid and not…" not a demon, the end of the sentence hovered tensely in the air between them.
Bickslow looked pensive while Rihanna took a moment to stare hard at her seaweed and rein in the urge to plot revenge on Aternum for everything its people had done to Bickslow and her over the years. Being treated with courtesy and kindness should not be a foreign concept to a boy his age. Or ever. It just shouldn't.
Pushing her desire to harm something deep down until it no longer ran the risk of showing on her face or activating her dōjutsu by accident, Rihanna looked back up at Bickslow and whistled three quiet, ascending notes before making a broad motion with her hands to signify all of their surroundings. Bickslow blinked at her once, then smiled, "Yeah, everything around here is extra nice. Even the people … especially the people…"
Rihanna looked down at her nibbled seaweed again, sad to hear a young boy marveling over the concept of being treated with kindness. With a faint sigh, she abandoned the seaweed strand and ate the rice portion of one more rice ball before pushing the plate away and moving to stand. Bickslow frowned at her in concern, "Aren't you going to finish, Wren?"
Rihanna shook her head. She wasn't sure how Bickslow had miraculously avoided the effect, but three years of little food had limited her ability to eat a full meal. She could eat a good portion of a normal sized meal, but many times she found herself unable to finish it without risking a terrible stomach ache or vomiting.
Besides, the seaweed tasted very odd to her distinctly american taste buds. Her time on Aternum's streets had effectively killed her gag reflex and any picky habits she may have possessed, but that didn't mean she didn't have preferences of taste. Seaweed definitely fell into the "meh" section of those preferences and, coupled with her shrunken appetite and the previous conversation, killed her desire to attempt forcing the rest of the meal down her throat.
Still frowning worriedly, Bickslow got up as well, absently snatching her leftover onigiri and pocketing them for later as he followed her out of the breakroom. He sped up briefly so as to walk alongside her as they made their way through the restaurant to Aengus-san's office. Rihanna shot him a faint smile and idly linked her fingers with his, finding comfort in the touch just as much as Bickslow did.
Reaching Aengus-san's office, Rihanna barely managed to stop Bickslow from simply walking in. She shot him an exasperated look before pointedly knocking on the door to demonstrate what Bickslow should have done. Bickslow rolled his eyes at her, clearly not caring about the concept of manners anymore than a cat cared about whether or not it shed on the carpet. Their silent eye-based conversation was interrupted by a loud, boisterous voice calling from within the office, "Well? Don't stand out there all day! Come on inside already!"
Bickslow jumped slightly at the volume, eyes flickering green before they settled and he obediently opened the door and led the way inside. Aengus-san looked up from the surprisingly high pile of paperwork on his desk and beamed at them, "There ye are! I was beginnin' ta wonder when ye'd show up! How d'ye like working in a restaurant so far?"
Rihanna started to give a smile and a nod to convey appreciation for the job, no matter how it tired her six-year-old frame, when Bickslow spoke up petulantly, "It's loud, the kitchen is hot, the customers are wimps, and your chief cook is boss- ite-e!" Rihanna lifted her foot off of Bickslow's boot, glaring at him menacingly for being so rude. Bickslow glared right back at her, "I wasn't done talking yet, Wren. Sheesh." Looking back up at Aengus-san, who had an eyebrow raised expectantly, Bickslow continued, "Like I was saying, your chief cook is bossy. But … it's okay I guess. It's better than a lot of other things I can think of anyway…"
Rihanna did her utmost not to be mortified and failed miserably. Did Bickslow have no sense? You don't insult your employer and his establishment like that! Not unless you want to be fired, probably without pay if the filler episodes with Team Natsu are correct! Rihanna watched in trepidation as Aengus-san stood up very slowly from behind his desk and stomped around it to stand directly in front of them, his massive shoulders casting a surprisingly long shadow in the light as he loomed. Rihanna lightly hiccuped air as Bickslow suddenly pulled her behind him, Pappa and Pippi swirling protectively around her head as he obviously prepared to run from the large adult.
The tension in the air built rapidly, so much so that Rihanna was fairly certain she could actually see anime lightning bolts darting between Aengus-san's and Bickslow's eyes. The tension hit a crescendo…
Then fell miserably flat as Aengus-san burst out laughing, one large hand slapping his knee as he bent double from his booming guffaws, "An honest opinion and no mistake! I like ye lad, that I do! Ha!"
Rihanna felt her eyes widen in surprise at the sudden turn of mood then droop into a deadpan expression, he did that just to mess with us, didn't he? Bickslow straightened up slowly from his defensive position, head cocking to one side in puzzlement at Aengus-san's reaction. Aengus-san slowly got control over his laughter and stood up, a huge smile splitting his face from underneath his wooly red mustache, "Ye'r Fairy Tail recruits a'right! No mistaking one o' Makarov's brood! Though, that was probably a given the moment I heard all the yelling at the customers an' the explosion in the kitchen."
Bickslow's face must have held a sheepish expression because Aengus-san winked at him, "Aye, I heard all o' that. But I ain't gonna dock your pay. Causing a ruckus is a trademark o' the guild. Ye should be proud ye'r livin' up ta the reputation already! Oi, Margaret!"
The door opened and Margaret-san, the restaurant manager who had saved them from ridiculously arduous tasks earlier that day, stepped inside, "Yes, Aengus-san?"
Aengus-san motioned to the two children with a finger and wink, "I think we can manage the dinner rush when it comes. Give these two kids their pay an' let 'em go."
Margaret-san nodded and pulled an envelope out of her pocket, proving that she must have already guessed what Aengus-san was going to say. Leaning down, she held out the envelope to a clearly baffled Rihanna, "Here, Wren-chan. You carry this and make sure that reckless brother of yours doesn't lose it before he even gets back to the guild, ne?"
Bickslow bristled, "Hey! Are you calling me stupid?" Pappa and Pippi bobbed indignantly in the air, chorusing the last word of the sentence accusingly.
Margaret-san started to answer when Aengus-san beat her to it, "She means no offense, laddie. Margaret here just knows that in every group o' Fairies that come in here, one of them is the one who still has a touch of sense. That one, despite her age, would be your little sister in this case."
Bickslow looked like he was going to question what Aengus-san meant, or maybe protest, but then shut his mouth without a word and nodded grudgingly instead. Rihanna raised an eyebrow slightly as she accepted the envelope and held it close to her chest, not sure what to make of Aengus-san's words either despite guessing them to be true.
Aengus-san and Margaret-san bid them goodbye and very soon Bickslow and she were on their way back to the guild building, Bickslow holding a map drawn on the back of their job poster and Rihanna clutching their pay. The sun was well past its noon position, but there was still many hours in the day left by Rihanna's estimation as they walked, the canal water lapping gently in its stone banks and people calling cheerful greetings to the two newest members of Fairy Tail.
Bickslow stayed very quiet the entire walk back to the guild, not even conveying anything through Pappa and Pippi. Rihanna had no way to break the silence, and no real idea what she would do if she could. It was clear that Bickslow was trying to absorb the enormous differences between the people of Magnolia and the people of Aternum, but she didn't know how to help him with that. He would just have to see that people were not all the same on his own.
With the map Margaret-san had kindly drawn for them, it didn't take them anywhere near as long to get back to the guild as it had to get to the restaurant. The moment they walked in through the doors, they were essentially mobbed by a bouncing Cana and other members who wanted to know how their first job had gone. Bickslow shooed them off with mutters that it was fine and, in Cana's case, a rowdy insult match that would have ended in pulled hair and flying magic cards if Macao hadn't managed to separate them in time.
Bickslow slumped down next to Rihanna in a corner of the guild hall, idly chewing on one of the onigiri he'd pocketed earlier as he used one hand to carefully divide their pay into two equal parts with only minimal help from Rihanna and another nearby member. Rihanna was vaguely impressed that Bickslow knew arithmetic and then wondered briefly what age he'd been when he'd first unlocked his eye magic and been kicked out onto the streets. Old enough to have started school surely.
Pushing one pile of jewels, which despite their name were neither shiny nor made of stone, over to Rihanna, Bickslow said, "Here you go." Rihanna accepted the pile of bills eagerly, happy to finally have a way of buying food or other necessities at last. Carefully, she folded the bills and tucked them in one of the cargo pockets on her pants, smiling the entire time. Bickslow noticed her smile and gave one of his own, "Good first job?"
Rihanna nodded emphatically. Despite the strain of it, it had been a good job. There had been no irreparable disasters, they now had money to buy the things they needed instead of resorting to stealing or asking Makarov, and Bickslow had gotten a good taste of what people who weren't passively trying to kill him were like. Plus, her headache from using her magic so much had worn off. All in all, it had been a good job and a worthwhile day so far.
Seeing her nod, Bickslow shifted to watch the other guild members, most of whom were now spontaneously brawling over who had won the latest arm-wrestling match, his smile still hovering on his lips. Pappa and Pippi settled near his shoulders and, though he never spoke, Rihanna was sure she knew what he was thinking.
He was thinking that maybe joining Fairy Tail really was good thing after all.
Japanese Translation: "Gomen, imōto" = "Sorry, little sister"
"nani-nani?" = "What-what?" As in "what are you doing?"