Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome to Chapter Five of Lucky Star, and a Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Well, unless you're not American in which case... you're a COMMUNIST!
No, it just means happy Thursday. Seriously, though, I release chapters with my American audience in mind. I'm not discriminating or anything, it's just easier for me.
Anyway, things get rolling in this chapter, so let's just get right to it!
I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters. I do, however, own my OC, Ruby.
The couple was seated in a secluded corner of the restaurant. To the unassuming customer, it was just another table, but Jellal had a pretty good idea as to why he and Lucy were seated here of all places, considering the fact that there were quite a few open tables in the middle of the dining floor. Whatever, he decided. He would just grin and bear it until he could find an opportunity to report it to someone who could carry on the message.
They took their seats, and the hostess introduced herself. "Good evening to both of you. My name is Ruby, and I'll be your waitress tonight. Can I start you two off with a drink?"
"Well, I suppose a nice Merlot would be good to start off," said Jellal. "And you, Lucy?"
Lucy was about to order the same as Jellal, but years of her father's parties and what not had trained her to recognize facial cues. A quick glance at Ruby's face told her everything she needed to know about. "I'll just start with seltzer water," she said. Hearing this, Ruby wrinkled her nose, but left to fetch the drinks.
In an attempt to ignore Ruby's... attitude... Jellal decided to strike up a conversation. "So, how long have you been part of Fairy Tail?" he asked.
"Since last summer, actually," Lucy replied. "I arrived in Hargeon and was wandering around for a while when I bumped into... Natsu and Happy. We had a bite to eat, and later, Natsu saved me from a dark mage, and the rest is history."
"Sounds like he's very special to you," said Jellal.
"He is," replied Lucy brightly. "He was my first real friend, and thanks to him, I have more friends now than I ever did growing up. In fact, I even thought I... loved him.
"But then the... Tower... happened, and not long after that, Nirvana, and in the aftermath... I saw him and Erza... kissing. The first thing I did when I got home... I laid on my bed and cried.
"And in those tears, I realized that it was kind of a blessing in disguise for me to not have admitted my feelings. I mean, like I said, Natsu was my first friend, and he... actually Erza and Gray, too... are my best friends. I quickly figured out that, if something happened, and we couldn't be together, I didn't know how I'd survive losing that."
At that moment, Ruby came back with the drinks. She placed Lucy's in front of her first, and handed Jellal's to him... a little too quickly. The result was a large, red stain on his jacket.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" said Ruby in a tone that sounded innocent, though Jellal knew better. However, he brushed it off by saying, "Oh well, I'm sure it'll come out."
"I'm sure it will," said Ruby. "So are you ready to order?"
"I'll just get whatever Jellal's getting," said Lucy. "I'm not picky."
"I guess it's down to me, then," chuckled Jellal. "I'll have the swordfish and spaghetti with citrus pesto."
"Excellent choice, sir," said Ruby. "I'll have everything ready for you in a jiffy." She left to relay the order to the chef.
"Jiffy?" repeated Lucy incredulously. "Who says 'jiffy' anymore?'
"Apparently, Ruby does," replied Jellal.
The unlikely couple passed the time talking about their lives, sharing stories about Erza and their other guildmates, and even the kinds of magic they used. Through this, Lucy realized that she and Jellal were compatible in the same way Juvia considered herself compatible with Gray. Gray used ice, which was simply frozen water, and while Jellal controlled heavenly bodies, she commanded Celestial Spirits. They were, in the most literal sense, a match made in heaven.
But did that necessarily mean they were compatible in terms of pursuing a relationship? That was still up for debate, despite what she had told herself before the night started. In fact, the more Jellal talked, the more Lucy listened. He was surprisingly witty for a guy with amnesia, and she imagined this to be why Jellal, as Siegrain, had been on the "Mage You'd Like to Have As Your Boyfriend" list.
Of course, Loke was there, too, so she assumed it was a subjective list.
Over at the bar, Loke was sharing drinks with a brunette woman, when suddenly, he sneezed. "Ah, my Princess is thinking about me," he thought with a grin. Suddenly, the woman splashed her drink on him and left.
Apparently, he'd said that out loud.
Back with Lucy and Jellal, Ruby had come back with their meals. Or at least one of them. She placed the plate in front of Lucy and left without a word.
"Wait!" Lucy called after her. "You forgot his order!" No reply. "Hello? Miss?"
"I think she's ignoring you, Lucy," said Jellal.
"God, it's like she's going out of her way to piss us off!" said Lucy indignantly. She stood up. "I'm going to find a manager!"
"Lucy, just calm down!" said Jellal.
"No, I will not calm down! I want to punch that bitch in the face!" seethed Lucy. "How dare she ruin our evening like that!"
"Lucy!" shouted Jellal. That got the Celestial mage's attention.
"If we react negatively to Ruby's mistreatment, we're only giving her what she wants," explained the ex-Wizard Saint calmly. "It's like a game of chess: who cracks first? Who lets their guard down, allowing the other to move in for checkmate? Trust me, if we overreact, she'll make up some excuse as to why she did the things she did, and we'll look like the bad guy. Not that I'm not used to it." He gave a dry laugh at his own joke.
"For now, let's just eat. We'll talk to the manager on the way out, just when she thinks she's won. We'll blindside her and leave her with nowhere to run. Okay?"
As much as Lucy hated to admit it, What Jellal was saying made sense. "Okay," said Lucy. She pushed the plate to the middle of the table and said, "Let's eat."
"Let's," agreed Jellal.
Fortunately, the food looked normal enough. It was a plate of spaghetti with chunks of grilled swordfish mixed in, covered with a creamy pesto sauce.
The couple dined, with nothing more that needed saying for the moment. Eventually, Lucy took some spaghetti to her fork, unaware that Jellal was doing the same. Neither noticed they had picked up the same noodle.
Both parties slurped the noodle, their faces inching ever closer. Only when their noses were centimeters apart did Lucy notice anything wrong and spit the noodle out.
"The biggest damn cliche in the book," said the Celestial mage.
"Only we could be so lucky," said Jellal. With that, they went back to eating, neither daring to speak for the rest of the meal.
Yeah, really awkward place to stop, huh? Well, it seemed all right a couple days ago when I wrote this. I'm hoping to upload the next chapter later today, at say, two, three-ish? Depends on whether we get company at that time.
And like I said, that spaghetti thing is THE biggest damn cliche in the book. Now that I think about it, that does seem to break the fourth wall. But remember, Lucy is a writer.
Anyway, I think that's enough for now. So until later today, peace and love from Nightlingbolt.