So I wasn't going to publish this for a couple more days but I'll be busy so I figured I'd just update now otherwise I'd forget. Anyways, hope you enjoy it.

Second Save:

She glanced down from her position on the ladder to her fire breathing partner, his body slumped over, face pressed into the bar, looking more depressed than anyone had ever seen come from the man. A small smirk made its way onto her face as she turned her focus back to cleaning the cabinet. It served the little shit right for chasing her around with a damned snake a few weeks ago at the beach. Completely ruining her relaxing day and of course to make matters worse she had accidentally crashed into the seith mage.

Glancing in the man's direction she felt her face burn at the thought of his face buried in her chest. Tormenting her best friend by banishment from her apartment and ensuring they went on long traveling by train jobs was not enough to get over that embarrassment. Although, she wasn't going to lie and say enjoying every second of his misery wasn't making things a bit better.

Clearing her head she focused on the task at hand, finishing up with the cabinet she replaced the items that had been previously there before she had emptied it. Mira had decided the guild needed a major scrub down and seeing it as another perfect opportunity to bring suffering to the pinkette she agreed to it.

Stepping down from the ladder the blonde called to Natsu having him move the ladder down to the next cabinet for her to clean, carefully climbing it once more she began emptying the cabinet, not even sure about some of the jars due to their faded labels and questioning contents. Once empty she began scrubbing at it, repulsed by how disgusting these things were. A scrub down wasn't even close to what this guild really needed.

Finishing up with the next set a few moments later she had Natsu move the ladder down once again.

"Luce." The fire dragon slayer whined. "How much longer are we going to be doing this?"

"That better not be a whine I hear coming from you." She seethed, sending a glare down at her partner.

"But Luce – "He began again and she made sure to cut him off quickly.

"Natsu, we agreed to help Mira clean the guild." She reached the top and steadied herself. "And until the entire place is spotless I don't want to hear another peep from you, mister. Got it?" She watched as he sighed and agreed reluctantly, taking his seat once more at the bar.

The sight of the man sitting there looking utterly dejected made her realize why Mira had such a hard time when he looked like that. She laughed softly as she continued cleaning, Natsu really was adorable. Finishing the section of the cabinets she climbed down and he stood. Letting out an annoyed sigh, she crossed her arms, waiting patiently for Natsu to finish moving the ladder, rolling her eyes as she decided she would relent.

"After you move the ladder you can go." He looked at her confused.

"I thought –"

She huffed. "Shut up and go. I hate seeing you look so depressed." The look on his face made her smile and she waved him off. "Go on, I've got cleaning to do."

He grinned at her before heading off, starting a fight with Gajeel. Of course that would be the first thing the moron would go do. Start a guild brawl. Shaking her head she focused on her task once more, distracted by the sound of a soft giggle.

"I was wondering how long it'd be before you let him go." The celestial mage gave a roll of her eyes.

"Don't get me started. I can't stand seeing him look like that and besides just because I let him have fun now doesn't mean he's off the hook for chasing me with that snake the other week."

"Oh, Lucy, hasn't he suffered enough already? It's been three weeks." The blonde blinked, looking over toward her best friend and back at the demon barmaid. She let out a sigh.

"Well, not really but I suppose I could let off a little bit." At the look she received from Mira she rolled her eyes. "Oh, alright. He's off the hook for now." Mira giggled and she shook her head.

"After you get done cleaning the cabinets, if you don't mind, could you help me with the cellar?" Her nose wrinkled in disgust a shiver running down her spine. She had ventured down there once to get some alcohol and after swore she'd never go down into that place again.

Suppressing the urge to shudder again she gave the woman a nod. "Yeah, I can help, but can we maybe bring Laxus or somebody down with us? You know just in case something jumps out and tries to attack us?" Mira let out a laugh.

"Don't worry Lucy, nothing like that will happen." Lucy sighed in relief, turning back to continue cleaning. "Laxus already took care of that for me yesterday – I think." The blonde stiffened, her eyes widening and watched as Mira made her way into the kitchen.

Letting out a depressed sigh the blonde returned to cleaning the cabinet, hoping with all her might that Laxus really had taken care of anything that might be down there. Glancing back at her best friend she wondered if maybe she should drag him along just in case. Burning everything would definitely ensure nothing would come out to attack her. Then again it could lead to a disaster. Shaking her head the blonde once more focused on her task, scrubbing the cabinet in front of her.

~x~

Moving the ladder down to the end of the section the blonde climbed it once more and began the process one final time, smiling at the thought of being almost done with this job. A soft sigh escaped her as she put the last item in place, feeling satisfied with her work.

Gathering her cleaning supplies she removed her gloves when she felt the ladder suddenly give way, her eyes widening in horror as gravity began taking its toll, pulling her to crash into the ground. Her eyes instantly closed, not entirely prepared for the impact nor the pain she knew would come with it. Mentally preparing for the worst as much as she could, she found herself surprised to feel what seemed to be a pair of strong arms holding her protectively rather than the impact of the hard floor she had been expecting.

"You okay, cosplayer?" Blinking her eyes open the blonde peered up at the mostly covered face of the seith mage, a strong sense of gratitude overwhelming her.

"Bickslow." She smiled at the man, nodding her head. "I'm okay. Tha –"

"Good, but just for future reference, cheerleader." He began and dread filled her the second his tongue lolled out of his mouth, showing her his guild mark. "If you're going to be on a ladder you really shouldn't wear skirts, but I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy seeing your sexy red lacy panties." In that instant the blonde felt her face burn and her ire rise. Without too sure on how she managed to do it the stellar gave him one of her Lucy kicks, sending him across the guild, and crashing into a table.

"Pervert!" She yelled out, before huffing in irritation. Turning on her heel and marching into the kitchen she called out to the barmaid, making plans to continue her torment on her best friend for starting a brawl and sending a table crashing into the ladder.