A/N: I know the beginning may seem boring, but bear with me because this chapter sets up entire relationships. *There will soon be a time skip and naughtiness will ensue. Not this chapter, though.

Fey and I returned to Magnolia with a sack of cash and decided to go on a shopping spree. We hid all the money we wouldn't be needing in the woods and then set off to the market. Fey purchased a black bowtie because bowties are cool *;) and I bought black kapris with a purple tee that had white hems. And of course, I kept the necklace with a crescent shaped crystal that Shintag had given me. My old clothes were tossed to the garbage as we made our way back to the guild.

Everyone was having a party for some reason unbeknownst to me, but I stuck around anyway to get to know people. A fight broke out that I ended up joining because someone spilt my drink, but even when others whipped out their magic I held mine in reserve. I tended not to use it unless I needed it. This place was a riot.

Over the next few weeks I would do a job, get paid, come back to the guild and eat, and set out again. I wanted to buy a house, and would soon have enough money to do so. One day Fey and I returned home from a job and as we were examining the request board heard Nav complain, "Oi, oi, Dio. You keep taking all the good jobs."

The blue haired, tan skinned Macao yelled at him, "It's not like you're taking them! You haven't taken a job in weeks!" Nav grumbled but shut up, and I took a request at random before running out the door with Fey.

After that job I was chowing down at one of the tables in the guild when Gray Fullbuster walked up to me. "You should really slow down on jobs." he advised, "You're gonna hurt yourself pretty soon."

I took a drink before smiling at him, "I bought a house. That's why I went out on all those jobs. I've got my own house now."

"N-no kidding?" he inquired, "Where is it?"

I sighed, "You're clothes, Gray." He looked down at himself with a cry of surprise and quickly replaced his clothes. Once he had I spoke again, "It's on the northwest side of town. Less than a mile away from the water."

He pulled his fist into his chest in a 'yes' sort of way and promised, "I'll be there!" Then he yelled, "Kana, Lisanna, Mira, Elfman, Jet, Droy, Levy, Erza, flame brain! House warming at Dio's tonight! They pumped their fists into the air and yelled, "We'll be there!"

A look of panic crossed my face and I objected, "W-w-wait! I don't even have anything in the house, yet!" This didn't faze any of them.

Erza called, "You buy and set up the stuff today and then HOUSEWARMING AT YOUR PLACE!" They all yelled in agreement and I sat gaping in shock. Fey grabbed me on her way as she flew out of the guild and took off full speed towards the market. We bought all the necessities and by around four we had all the stuff we needed and were frantically putting the house together. Natsu had yelled out the door that everyone would plan to arrive at eight. Fey and I had just collapsed wearily on the still plastic covered couch when the door burst open and everyone arrived bearing food and gifts.

Everyone danced and partied until the wee hours of the morning when they all tiredly filed out the door. By the time they did Fey was already passed out on the couch. I left my pants on the stairs and drifted up to the bedroom for the new twin mattress that was waiting for me. Once I entered my bedroom I took a running leap onto the bed and was surprised to hear an, 'oof' as I landed on someone. Confused, I pulled back the covers to find Gray.

"What are you still doing here?!" I demanded.

He mumbled groggily, "What're'oo doin' in ma houz?" (What are you doing in my house?)

I growled at him, "This is MY house!" he mumbled something unintelligible and went back to sleep. My teeth grit together and I yelled at him, "GET OUT!" Again he mumbled and slipped further into slumber. I sighed and wedged myself between him and the wall with my feet near his head and my head near his feet, and went to sleep. Little did I know, this would become a nightly occurrence and soon Gray and I were roommates. (Think Natsu and Lucy, only 10x worse.)

A couple days after that I was fighting with Gray and Natsu in the guild when my precious necklace went flying. "My scale!" I cried as I dove after it. A foot hit my middle and I heard someone thump to the ground as I caught my treasured medallion. I immediately turned to apologize, "I'm so-…rry." I trailed off at the owner of the glare I was receiving. I'd seen this guy around before, but never really took time to acknowledge him. He had spiky blonde hair and a lightning bolt shaped scar running down the right side of his face and his eye. He'd stood the instant he touched the ground and I could just barely catch the light hue of pink that colored his cheeks. "Watch where you're going!" he barked, then grumbled to himself, "Tch. All these stupid kids gramps keeps around. Even lets some of them in before they can use magic, what kind of a mage guild is that?"

I'd noticed his glance at Kana who'd joined the guild with less than an elementary understanding of magic, and became upset. With my feet braced on the teen's abdomen, and my fists bunched up in his collar, I growled at him, "What makes you think you can badmouth my friends?" I felt a couple sets of eyes on the scene and the blonde's appall stung my tongue like a coin's metallic taste. (This isn't figurative. Dio can taste emotions and I'll explain that later.)

He ordered while trying to wipe me off, "Get off of me, pipsqueak!"

Wakaba intruded and teased, "You lettin' the munchkins bully you, Laxus?" Lightning crackled around the guy I was standing on at the words.

Macao said in quieter tones to his friend, "Don't get him riled up. You know he's got a temper."

My fists shook this "Laxus" character by the collar to return his attention to me, "Hey! Answer my question, Sparky!" I heard someone unrelated question, "Sparky?"

Sparky exasperatedly explained, "I don't have to explain myself to a runt like you."

I grit my teeth, "Can I at least have assurance that it won't happen again?"

"I say what I want, about who I want. Especially about parasite kids always getting in my way." That was it. My fist drew back and even started to glitter as he watched me amusedly.

I stopped myself, and my magic sparkled out. A sigh escaped my throat as I told the guy, "So long as they're just words. What do they mean? It's your actions that matter." With that, I released him and was immediately tackled by a crying Natsu, Gray, and Happy.

"Thank god you're alive!" Gray spouted.

"I thought you were a goner for sure!" Happy insisted.

I froze and twitched. A dark aura flowed off of me as I muttered, "Right when I do something nice for you guys you have to go and PISS ME OFF!" I drop-kicked the three of them to the ceiling and the sudden uproar of laughter told me I'd kept the attention of most of the room for the majority of the scene. Again, I sighed and left to go sit with Kana.

"Thanks." she said. I just eyed her, and she continued, "I appreciate the gesture, but you really shouldn't provoke Laxus like that."

One of my eyebrows rose, "Why not? What's so special about him?"

She explained, "He's crazy powerful with a temper and the master's grandson."

I stole a drink from her juice before telling her, "I don't care whose grandson he is. Power level don't matter either."

"But – he's the master's."

"So? Everyone is their own person until proven otherwise. That guy hasn't proven otherwise. So, to me, that guy's just – what was his name?"

"Laxus."

"He's Laxus, a guy who pissed me off and called my friends parasites. That's what matters, not bloodline. Hopefully I'm not getting redundant?" She shrugged and I chugged more of her drink.

*Laxus POV: I listened to the runt with the weird hair talk to her friend. How could she just threaten me like that? Didn't she know who I was? There was a quiet part in my music and her voice floated in clearer, "… Everyone is their own person until proven otherwise. That guy hasn't proven otherwise." The song got loud again and I turned it down a bit so I could hear. There she was again "…what matters, not bloodline." So that counted one person who didn't see me as Makarov's grandson. But what did a runt that talked like gramps matter? "I'll prove to everyone I'm not just someone's grandson." I muttered to myself.

*Back to Dio: My extra sensitive ears picked up what Sparky said to himself. "Tch." I griped to myself, "One down, probably not everyone else to go." His head perked up and he turned to me with a look of surprise. My eyes bored holes into his and when he noticed me looking returned my glare and angrily turned back to stare at the far wall.