"Alright, it's time to plan our schedule for the next month."
There's a collective groan from almost everyone in the meeting room. The only exceptions are Erza, who was the one that spoke, Freed, Mirajane, and Kinana. Natsu holds his head in his hands at the horrifying thought of planning. He knows that being such a successful channel comes with baggage like this, but he prefers to leave the planning to the others, like Erza and Mira, who actually know what they're doing. He would rather just show up, record, then go off and have some fun.
"C'mon, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can leave," Laxus grumbles. "What do we need to plan? Just Fairy Family Friday? What else?"
"Fairy Family Friday for the next month at least," Erza starts, sitting in her chair at the head of the table. "And the gaming channel is going to need someone to fill in for a bit since Alzack and Bisca have appointments most days next week."
Bisca rests her hands on her swollen belly as Alzack says, "I will know if any of you touch anything on my desk. And that includes people already part of the gaming channel." He sends Bickslow a look, but the man in question feigns ignorance, whistling to complete the look until Evergreen nudges him in the side.
"I'll do it!" Cana volunteers, and if Erza hadn't confiscated her alcohol at the start of the meeting, she'd likely raise it like a toast. "I live with these idiots," she gestures to Natsu and Gray, "so I know what I'm doing. Get ready for some Grand Theft Drunk Driving!"
For the first time since the meeting started, Natsu grins. "Hell yeah! You sure you don't wanna practice at home? I'm gonna kick your ass, you know."
Cana whacks him in the head. "Don't be stupid, I'm great at games. Who dominates Rainbow Road back at the apartment? Hmm?"
Natsu bows his head. "You do."
"Exactly."
Natsu starts to retort, but Mirajane interrupts before he can. "Sorry, changing the subject! Can I propose a guest for Fairy Family Friday?"
Erza seems surprised by the sudden change of topic, but seems to welcome it. "Go ahead."
"Well, you know Lucy, the girl Levy did that collab with? She, Lisanna, and I have all been fans of her for so long, and we'd love to have her on, please, please please?" Mira bats her eyelashes, even though she knows it won't work on Erza. It's just Mirajane being Mirajane. "She's already met a couple of us, so it's not like she's a total stranger. Levy even has her number!"
When Levy smiles and raises her phone, Erza nods. "Alright, why not? I don't know which night you want to invite her to, but if she's anything like you guys, then perhaps Singstar or Just Dance?"
"Why not both?" Lisanna suggests, and the gleam in her and Mira's eyes are not to be trusted. There are many things that go over Natsu's head on a daily basis, but everyone in Fairy Tail knows never to trust the Strauss sisters when they're up to something. Is it Lucy? What did she ever do to them? Though if Levy's in on it, it can't be all bad. If he can't trust the sisters, he'll have to put his faith in Levy.
Erza also looks suspicious, but she has no reason not to let Lucy come both days, so she says, "Sure, I trust Levy will be able to get in touch with Lucy and fill her in?"
"Yep, leave it to me!" Levy says, and that's the end of that, but the meeting continues.
Fairy Family Fridays are always filmed exactly one week in advance. It's the only day of the week where everyone is free to participate, and so when Fridays roll around, everyone sets the lounges up on set as well as the game or activity they're doing. This week is Just Dance, and Natsu is pumped up. It's not his area of expertise by any means, but he's confident that he can beat Gray, at the very least. And that's all he needs.
He's helping Elfman connect the PS4 to the TV when he hears an unfamiliar voice from the entrance (he's memorised everyone's voices, it's kind of his thing) and looks up. There's Lucy, looking slightly overwhelmed as Mira welcomes her inside, and he vaguely remembers Levy mentioning that she films at her house, not a studio. It might even be her first time at an actual studio, and he can understand how she feels. He was the same when he was first introduced to the building he calls his home away from home.
They start soon enough, all of them sitting down in the spacious set, some on the floor and others on the actual chairs. Lucy is instructed to hide behind the sofas until she's introduced and she laughs, but complies as Warren does the countdown until they start.
Three, two, one.
"Hellooooooo, Fairies!" Mira says. She's considered the face of the channel, considering her modelling contract and unwavering charisma. "We're back with Fairy Family Friday, and today we have a very special guest with us! Drum roll, please!"
The rest of the group slams their hands and feet against anything they can touch until Mira signals for them to stop. "The one and only, Lucy Heartfilia!"
Lucy pops up from behind the couch and the group applauds, Cana even drunkenly cheering for her. Natsu notices just how composed she is in front of the camera. Despite filming in front of so many people with no real script to work on, she's doing fantastically. But it's early days. Perhaps she's just a really good actress.
Mira waits until Lucy squishes between Evergreen and Lisanna before continuing. "Today we'll be playing Just Dance, since all of you love watching us make fools of ourselves so much that you requested it nonstop! We'll be participating in teams of four, and the team that scores the most points wins!"
"We had to kick Vijeeter out 'cause otherwise he'd kick our asses," Gray calls out, and everyone laughs as Vijeeter pretends to be offended from behind Reedus' lighting panel.
"I've already decided your teams for maximum entertainment," Mira says, and there are a few protests, but she doesn't let up. That's Mira for you. "As much as I would love to separate the Raijinshu, I also can't wait to see them dance together, because we all know that's disastrous, so they're team one. Team two is Elfman, Lisanna, Kinana, and Laki. Team three is Levy, Jet, Droy, and Alzack. Team four is Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy, and team five is Cana, Nab, Max, and myself!"
Natsu whines. "No, don't put me on the same team as the ice princess!"
"The fuck did you say, flame brain?!" Gray shouts from the opposite couch, but Cana uses her high heels to stab him into sitting back down. He yelps and Natsu laughs in satisfaction.
Erza swivels around to face both of them. "Are you two going to fight? I won't have any fighting in my team."
Natsu and Gray both squeak and sit up straight. Some of the other suppress giggles, including Lucy, whose eyes are flickering between the three of them in amusement. At least she's not finding them to be weird. He supposes that would make her just as weird, wouldn't it?
"Alright, team one is up first!"
Erza's intimidation is forgotten for the moment as Laxus and his team rise to the challenge. Everyone knows that Laxus has never been fond of Just Dance, mainly because he thinks he looks like an idiot (which he does) and because he's the worst one out of his team. Bickslow is enthusiastic, but he doesn't have the best coordination, and he happens to make up random moves as he goes along. Evergreen is decent enough, but her heels probably aren't helping. It's Freed that's the most graceful, though, and at least three quarters of their score is thanks to him.
"Seriously, dude, how do you do that?" Bickslow asks as they return to their couch. Freed just smirks and shrugs.
Elfman, Lisanna, Kinana, and Laki take centre-stage next. Elfman is hopeless when it comes to Just Dance, so it's really up to the other three to carry them through. Lisanna is light on her feet, though she sometimes moves too far to the side, bumping into people as she goes along. Kinana is a bit too slow, quickly getting confused with the dance moves and rushing to start the next one when she takes too long. Laki is probably the best of the team, but only by a little. They quickly overtake the Raijinshu, much to Bickslow's complaints.
Next is team three, and Natsu knows how this one plays out before it even starts. Jet is going to be too fast, Droy is going to be too slow, and Levy is going to be just right, providing the PS4 doesn't have an issue with her height. It happens sometimes, and he knows she hates it. Alzack does his moves half-heartedly until Bisca shouts from beside Vijeeter to put more effort into it, and he actually becomes a reasonable player. They still take last place.
"Avenge me, Lu-chan!" Levy cries dramatically, flopping into Lucy's arms, and Natsu has to wonder how they managed to become such good friends in such a short amount of time.
Lucy promises to do as Levy wishes, and soon she and Natsu are joining Erza and Gray in front of the screen. Erza insists on having Gray on one end and Natsu on the other, which Natsu takes as an insult to his self-control, but he doesn't dare defy Erza. No one defies Erza.
"Our guest gets to pick the song," Erza says, allowing Lucy to have free reign.
Lucy decides on a girl group song that Natsu only vaguely recognises, but he has no time to dwell on it. He starts dancing, his expression one of complete concentration, and he's only somewhat aware of those around him. He knows that Gray is most likely being lazy with all his moves for the sake of his cool and collected image and that Erza is giving it her all. Sometimes she even shouts for them all to step it up. Lucy, who is right next to him, doesn't seem focused, but only because she doesn't need to be. She's grinning and having a good time, getting perfect scores. She's doing better than all of them.
"Go, Lucy!" Levy cheers from behind them, and that only seems to encourage Lucy more.
When the song ends, they bump themselves up to first place and Natsu lets out a big whoop, high-fiving Lucy. "Nice, you carried us through!" He looks over at Erza. "Can we keep her?"
Lucy bursts out laughing, her face flushed from what Natsu assumes is embarrassment as she rushes over to Levy and gives her a hug.
"Celebrate while you can, buddy," Cana says, stepping forward. She hasn't taken her shoes off, nor has she put her flask down. She only lets it go when Mira snatches it out of her hands. "Our team has myself and Mira. We're gonna kick your ass. And so are the boys, as long as Nab gets off his lazy butt and stops just staring at the screen." She lightly kicks Nab in the back.
Natsu doesn't want to admit it, but Cana and Mira are good. Max isn't half bad either. Nab needs work, but he's better than he was last time they played, so Natsu can't help but be slightly proud. If only they weren't about to completely destroy their score.
Team five takes first place and both Natsu and Gray groan in unison, only to glare at each other afterwards. It's lucky - for everyone else, anyway - that Erza's between them to stop them from starting an all-out brawl. And he's sure that Cana wouldn't want anyone stealing the limelight of her victory away, either. She can be petty like that.
"Winneeeeerrrrrrs!" Cana says, sliding onto her knees and playing the air guitar. She then turns to Gray and Natsu with a sly grin. "I'm the winner, so you have to do all my chores this weekend."
They groan again.
Once filming is officially over, everyone usually pitches in to get some dinner, which is exactly what they do tonight. Subway sandwiches are on the menu, and since they were in last place during the game, it becomes team three's job to write down all their orders and carry them all back to the studio. This leaves Lucy without anyone she really knows, so Natsu decides to take the initiative and sit beside her as they wait for their meals. It's the least he can do when she worked so hard for their team.
"That was fun, right?" he says, practically falling on the couch beside her.
She's startled for a moment before she turns, and she laughs lightly. "It was! Other than the collab with Levy, I'd never filmed with anyone before. And definitely not with so many people. It was fun."
He looks at her, surprised. "Wait, really? I just sorta assumed you were hella popular with all these collabs and stuff since you're a natural on camera. And Levy, Mira, and Lisanna are always talking about your videos, so I thought you were used to it. Do you do YouTube full time?"
The smile she gives him is regretful. "I wish, but no. I haven't been able to find another place in my area that allows pets, or that I'll be able to afford if I quit my current job. It's either one or the other."
"Does it have to be in that area?" Natsu asks, tilting his head. "I mean, Levy said you were, like, an hour away or something, right? Wouldn't it be easier to move closer to here?"
Lucy looks at him, blinking, and it takes him a moment to realise where he went wrong. She may be here today, but she's not actually part of Fairy Tail. She doesn't have any reason to live in the area. She just blended in so well with everyone else that he, once again, made an assumption. He can almost hear Gray's voice in his head calling him an idiot.
But before he can rectify his mistake, Lucy just shrugs and looks straight ahead, out the window. There's not much to see, just the car park. "Well, there's nothing in particular tying me to where I am now, I guess. I could pretty much up and move anywhere if I had to."
"So, why not live around here?"
Both of them look up at Mirajane as she sits beside Lucy, a smile on her face as she continues. "We'd love to have you here. You fit right in with us! And it's always nice to have another makeup and fashion girl with us."
Lucy looks like a fish, her mouth opening and closing, and Natsu can just imagine the little bubbles and beady little eyes. "Wait - wait, would that be okay? To be one of you, to be here - I wouldn't want to disturb - I mean - you all just met me -"
Natsu decides to take the initiative just as team three walks in the door. "Hey, guys! How do you feel about Lucy joining us as a member of Fairy Tail?!"
There's a chorus of cheers and Natsu laughs as he watches Lucy's eyes grow even wider. Alzack drops her sandwich into her lap, but she barely notices. Natsu laughs as she tries to find something, anything, to focus on, but ends up looking like a lost child at a carnival. Mira seems to take pity on her, patting her back and readjusting her sandwich so it won't fall off her legs.
"Just think about it, alright?" she says. "We're a pretty relaxed group around here."
Lucy lets out a shaky laugh, but her eyes are lit up like fireworks. "No kidding."