I own nothing.
"Are we out of elderberry?" Lucy asked Levy as she stared into the cabinet.
"Didn't you use the last of it for Happy's cough syrup?"
"Crap. I forgot about that. Damn cat should've just gone to the vet. All right. I'm headed to Whitman's. Do you need anything?"
"Not from there, but can you grab me a tea from Mira's?"
Lucy cringed. As much as she liked Mira, she wasn't sure that she was in the mood for her needling on her nonexistent love life.
"Yeah," she said, waving away Levy's offered jewel.
She stopped at Whitman's first and almost turned back when she saw that it was Whitman in the apothecary. He was judgmental and it frustrated her. To hide what she was planning, she also bought ginger and honey as if she was making more elderberry cough syrup. As he rung her up, she watched as he calculated the possible potions that she intended on making.
At the tea shop, Mira was surprisingly uninterested in her potential love life. After placing the orders for hers and Levy's teas, she turned and saw what had most of Mira's attention.
Sitting at one of the back tables was Bickslow and a group of men that looked like something out of a wet dream. Recognizing Kaleb and Cristoff, she realized that these must be the rest of the Pradesh men. She hoped to get out of the shop before Bickslow noticed her, but she barely lasted a minute hovering away from them.
"Cosplayer!"
She sighed and walked over. "Why do you insist on that awful nickname?"
"Why do you answer to it?" he teased.
"You're right. I'm going to ignore you now," she said, turning her back on them.
"Ah. Come on, Lucy."
She rolled her eyes and turned back.
"Besides, aren't you the least bit interested in my brothers?"
She arched an eyebrow and pretended that their eyes on her wasn't flushing her cheeks. "Nope," she replied, popping the 'p'. "You know I have no patience for techs."
"Ouch," the one with black and red hair said.
"Play nice. Kaleb, Farron, and Zen are grad students," Bickslow said, gesturing to each one.
Lucy studied Zen then shifted away slightly. She hadn't met him yet but knew him and his magic by reputation.
"Cris, you probably know from around the department. And Vander. He's a junior. Guys, this is Lucy Heartfilia, sophomore. She's Laxus's kin."
"I know that name. Your family raises-" Cristoff started to say.
"Dragon slayers. Yeah. We have for four hundred years. It's how I'm kin to all of the other slayers. Your dad didn't call about you and your sister until after my mom had passed."
"I'm sorry. Will you continue the tradition?"
"Probably."
"How is it that your family raises dragon slayers?" Farron asked. He'd known that his father thought it would be good for Cristoff and Emzadi to spend time with other slayers.
"We're celestial mages-"
"That explains the dislike of tech," Kaleb muttered.
"I like technology. I'm not a luddite. Just because something's old, doesn't make it broken. Magic can be improved upon without your gadgets."
"Lucy?" Mira called. She walked over and grabbed her teas.
As she walked out, she stuck her tongue out with a sneer at Kaleb.