"You what?!"

Natsu sympathises with Jet's plight. He doesn't particularly want Gajeel (or Juvia, he supposes, but mostly Gajeel) to join the team, but Erza seems adamant. It doesn't help that she has Makarov on her side, and the smaller man stands next to her with his arms folded, a stern look on his face. Many of the other channel members seem just as uneasy. Some seem unaffected, like Mira, who is as accepting as always. Jet and Droy are livid, and Levy is frowning at the carpet below.

"Did you even consider that maybe this chick is lying to you?" Laxus asks. He appears calm, but Natsu knows better than to trust the gleam in his eyes.

"I don't think so. The boyfriend story holds up, at least," Gray says. He lost his shirt the moment they returned to the studio and now sits half-naked on his desk. "We all saw it happen. The guy really didn't give a shit if she was run over by that car."

"If we were to have a problem, I doubt Juvia would be the cause of it," Erza says, and if this were anyone else, Natsu would quip that 'Oh, so now you're admitting that there may, in fact, be a problem', but he doesn't because Erza is terrifying. "I trust Juvia to keep Gajeel in line, but in the chance she is unable to, we'll deal with him then. One man can only do so much about the many of us."

When Jet and Droy still look ready to fight the decision, Makarov takes things upon himself. "I'm not asking you to trust him immediately, but if what Juvia says is true, the two of them are being taken advantage of and we have the opportunity to help them. I'm not about to take that away from them without even giving them a chance. Understood?"

Silence engulfs the room and Natsu shifts uncomfortably. He's always hated silence. In the end, it's Levy who breaks the silence.

"If the master thinks it's what's best, then - then I think they should join us."

Natsu is shocked, but not more so than Jet and Droy, who wear matching wide-eyed expressions. Levy doesn't look at either of them. Instead, she's looking at Makarov. She knows he won't judge her, most likely. "They might have hacked into our channel, but if they didn't have a choice, we should give them one. Part of Fairy Tail's goal is to give people opportunities, right? We might be the only people who can give them an out."

Jet and Droy are disgruntled, but appear more placated than before. If anyone can get them to change their minds, it would be Levy, and Natsu has faith that they'll give Gajeel a decent shot before kicking him out to the curb. Natsu supposes that he can try his best if Levy and the boys can. He won't like it, but he'll try.

"Fantastic!" Makarov is wearing a smile now. "They'll start on Monday. Erza, Mira, and myself will be contacting them. Carry on like normal until then."

The meeting dismissed, Natsu immediately heads to where Lucy is sitting. Happy has taken residence on her lap and she's stroking his fur with one hand while the other holds her pen. She seems to be working on the short film's notes despite the emotional morning she's had. At first, he thinks it's as though she never went at all, but when she turns around and smiles at him, he knows better. She's more relaxed than she was. Her smile is bigger, more genuine, like a burden has been lifted off of her shoulders. It probably has.

"Hey," he says, wheeling the nearest seat beside hers. "How's it goin'? You sure you're alright?"

Lucy doesn't look up from her notes, finishing a bullet point as she smiles. "I'm sure. I feel better than alright, actually. I'd be alright if we just forgot it ever happened, it's all over now. And even if I was upset, I have Happy here with me, don't I?" The last two words are directed at Happy, who gives a short meow of agreement.

Natsu is silent for a few seconds, leaning his elbow on her desk. "So, you're okay with all this? I mean, Levy, Jet, and Droy were Gajeel's main victims, but he and Juvia were hired by your father, y'know?"

"I'm fine, Natsu, I promise," Lucy says, patting his elbow. "And Juvia turned out to be a really nice person, so who's to say that Gajeel won't be the same?"

Natsu thinks that Lucy is far more positive than he is, and he's reminded of the hacker's ridiculous song. It was only short, but he doesn't think anything good will come from a person like that. "If you say so."

It turns out that Gajeel definitely isn't the same.

Monday rolls around and he and Juvia are speaking to Makarov and Erza by the entrance. Juvia is looking around excitedly, taking in everything there is to see, while Gajeel stands with his arms crossed and his shoulders slumped forward. He clearly doesn't want to be here, and Natsu is tempted to go up to him and tell him to scat. He isn't the only one, either. Laxus is glaring from across the room and Levy is warning Jet and Droy not to do anything they might regret. Natsu doubts they'll be able to, though, since Gajeel is large and muscular. He could probably take both of them out in one sweep.

Once everyone's arrived in the office, Makarov heads to the place in the room he usually makes his announcements from, the two newcomers at his heels. The early morning chatter dies down and everyone turns, waiting expectantly. Erza takes advantage of the silence to send everyone a quick warning look right before Makarov starts.

"Alright, listen up, ya brats! These are the new brats, Juvia and Gajeel." Juvia waves when her name is spoken, but Gajeel just glares at the floor. "You know the deal and why they're here, so all of you better be nice." Makarov points to his eyes, then at everyone else in the room. "I'm watching you."

And with that, he disappears out the door, most likely to go to work, leaving Juvia and Gajeel in their care. Natsu expects it to be awkward at first, but Mira is up and ready to roll. She quickly pulls Juvia aside and starts talking to her, Lisanna joining the conversation a moment later, and Natsu assumed they're talking about DIY projects they can do for the channel. He quickly loses interest once Jet and Droy approach Gajeel, Levy a few paces behind.

"Gajeel, right?" Jet starts, as though he doesn't know already. "You owe us."

Gajeel is expressionless even when he opens his mouth and says, "Who are you?"

This causes Jet and Droy to shout in indignation, Levy quickly gesturing this way and that to try and calm them down. It doesn't work, if Droy's shout of, "We're the people whose videos you took down, you ass!"

"Oh." Gajeel actually looks at them properly, as if seeing them for the first time. "I didn't know. Didn't really check whose videos I was takin' down before I did it. I just did my job."

"Alright, then get them back," Jet says. He's moving his feet across the carpet, a sign that he's either nervous or frustrated. Probably both, in this case.

Gajeel gestures to the computer, as if that would help him any. "Already did this morning."

The other three just stare at him for a moment before Levy fishes her phone out of her pocket and starts tapping around. Natsu assumes she's checking their channel, and he's proven right when she looks back up with a stunned expression and a, "He actually did."

"'Course I did, Shrimp, I got no reason to keep 'em down, do I?" Gajeel says, ignoring Levy's protests at the nickname. "Besides, Juvia would've had a fit if I didn't."

Jet and Droy share a look - Levy is still staring at Gajeel like she doesn't quite understand that he can do something decent - before shifting uncomfortably. They definitely weren't expecting this, and neither was Natsu. He even brings up the webpage on his own phone just so he can confirm it for himself. It's true.

"Well, alright, but we're not saying thanks, since you're the one who took them down in the first place," Jet says, Droy nodding as he speaks.

Gajeel shrugs. "Fine by me."

Before either party can say anything else, Laxus saunters over with a mop and bucket, shoving them in Gajeel's face as soon as he's close enough. "Alright, cadet, time for the toilet to be cleaned. Down the hall, second door on the left."

If Natsu didn't know any better, he could have sworn Gajeel growls. "Like hell I'm gonna scrub your fuckin' shit."

Laxus just waves the mop around. "Of course you are. It's the job of all newbies."

Natsu knows that definitely isn't the case, but he isn't about to saunter in there and save Gajeel. This is fantastic. No one else speaks up, either, at least not for a few seconds. Then Levy takes pity on him and steps between him and the mop, though only the bottom touches her. The perks of being short.

"Laxus, come on, there has to be other things that Gajeel can do," she says, but nothing seems to get through.

"Do you wanna be stuck with toilet duty, too?" he says, and while Natsu doesn't think he really means it, Gajeel interrupts by grabbing the mop.

"Fine, fine, whatever," he mumbles, grabbing the bucket so forcefully that some of it spills out onto the floor, but he doesn't bother going back to clean it up. He just turns the corner towards the bathroom. Natsu hears the door shut.

Laxus wipes away the few drops of water that stain his hands. "Now that that's done, can I get everyone's attention!" The second half of the sentence is louder than the first, and it gains the attention of everyone in the room. "We'll have a meeting about the short film after the workday is over. Mira, Lisanna, fill Juvia in. Or get Erza to do it if you have to film something. We need to figure out where we're going to shoot and what the costumes are going to look like, I know you've all been working on it over the weekend. That's all I have to say."

As Laxus heads off, Gray clamps his hand over Natsu's shoulder and starts dragging him in the opposite direction. "C'mon, flame brain, it's time to game."

At the end of the day, Natsu is exhausted. The gaming squad ended up experiencing some technical difficulties. Not that it had mattered anyway, because it was a shooting game, and Alzack and Bisca always win the shooting games. One would think Bisca would have a more difficult time while pregnant, but she's even more ruthless than usual. He usually isn't this tired at the end of the work day, and when he is, he has Happy to look forward to, but this time he doesn't. He's lying on Lucy's lap again, and he wonders if the blue furball even moved since this morning.

"Are you kidnapping my cat?" he teases, dropping into the seat beside her that Freed only just vacated.

Lucy almost jumps out of her seat, and when she moves her hands, he can see why. She's really focused on the short film's script. There are pages of printed lines, but Lucy's swirly handwriting is everywhere, making notes of small adjustments and changes to dialogue. She's in her element.

"Natsu, don't scare me like that!"

He just laughs, reaching out to pat Happy. "I didn't mean to. The day's over, y'know. You can stop working."

Lucy gives him one of her exasperated looks. He's getting used to them now. "I'm not stopping until I'm satisfied. This script needs to be perfect, and I'm not the only one writing it. This is just the part I'm in charge of."

Natsu traces the edge of the paper. "What do you mean?"

"Freed's in charge of the beginning, I'm in charge of the middle with the battles and all, and Levy's in charge of the end. Of course, we have to look over each other's work because when we write, we all have different writing voices and we need to make sure everything runs smoothly in terms of setting and especially character development -" She stops rambling and, while he doesn't understand exactly what she means, he wishes she wouldn't. He doesn't know the first thing about writing, but she's passionate and loves talking about it. That's enough for him.

"Is the dragon king as badass as ever?" Natsu asks with a grin.

Lucy rolls her eyes. "Yes, Natsu, he's probably the most badass character there is. Aside from the celestial princess, of course."

"You're biased!"

"So are you!"

Natsu scoffs, though his smile lessens its effect. "How is a princess more badass than a dragon that controls fire?"

Lucy folds her arms on the desk and leans closer, clearly ready to take the challenge. "The celestial princess can not only control the stars, but she is the stars. She could bend an entire solar system to her will, she can make constellations. And she's not just badass in terms of physical ability, either. She has a strong sense of resolve, and she's always determined to do something when she puts her mind to it. She knows there are people out there stronger than her, but she's not about to give up because of that."

For a moment, Natsu just stares. He was expecting a sentence or two, not an essay-level response, but he isn't complaining. He knows when he's been defeated (though the other gamers would say otherwise, but what do they know?). He raises his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, she's badass."

Lucy leans back with a satisfied smirk. "Told ya."

Natsu is about to call her a sore winner when Laxus claps to gain everyone's attention. His claps sound like thunder sometimes. "Alright, listen up! Today I was thinking of where to go to shoot this damn film, then the old man called. Apparently one of his co-workers has a friend who owns this really fancy resort. He sent me some pictures and the area it's located in has a bunch of landmarks that would be perfect for filming. I'm gonna book us all in for a month starting a week or so from now."

Cana cheers. "A fuckin' holiday! About time!"

"No." Laxus glares, but Cana isn't perturbed. "This is a work trip. We'll do plenty of other stuff for the channel while we're there. It'll all be the same, but with a change of scenery, and a bunch of shooting for this short film to boot, so there'll be more work."

This doesn't seem to deter anyone, though. Everyone starts whispering excitedly, making plans, discussing what to bring. Evergreen is going over how many bathing suits she wants to bring, and Mira and Lisanna are plotting something in the corner, if their cheeky expressions are anything to go by. Juvia is tugging on Gajeel's arm in some sort of futile attempt to get him excited. Erza is reprimanding Cana, telling her she can't bring any alcohol, but Natsu doubts she'll listen.

"I'm definitely bringing Happy," he says to Lucy. "I'm not leaving him for a month. And the holidays are starting, so Wendy can come with us. She'll bring Carla! It'll be a family trip."

Lucy hums, and Natsu takes it as a form of agreement. "I wonder if I can bring Plue."

"Why not!" Natsu says. "The more the merrier! If I'm bringing Happy, then you can bring Plue."

Lucy appears reassured by this, but both of them are distracted by Laxus's voice from across the room.

"You're not bringing any of your weird dolls, Bickslow!"

As Bickslow whines, Lucy laughs lightly. "Well, even if it's technically not a vacation, it's still going to be interesting, right?"

Natsu can't agree more.

hi hello i just got back from a wedding and i'm tired af so i'm gonna chuck this chapter at you all.