Despite the unexpected reception – and following consequence of the event – Lucy was having a blast.
Yes, she was very, very, very curious as to what might be happening in the Master's office but it was her party and she was pretty happy with everything her guildmates had done for the celebration.
So, Lucy chatted with people, placed her gifts in an ever-growing pile – and there were quite a few that she knew were books and she couldn't wait to read them! – got dragged to the dancefloor and, in-between everything, still had the time for some well-deserved snacks.
She was just leaving the dancefloor, fanning herself because the temperature had been spiking, when she pumped into Erza. She and the red-haired mage exchanged a look, there was a pause between them, just for a beat, before they started giggling.
The two giggling mages headed to the tables on the corner, still laden with food and drink, dodging the odd individual mage or small clusters of people that had stopped to eat and talk among themselves.
The girls grabbed some food and drink and headed towards a quieter corner, where there were some tables with some mages sitting, watching the festivities.
"You guys really outdid yourselves." Lucy said as soon as they were sitting. She looked around, at the decorations, at her happy friends. A smile of contentment fluttered on her lips.
"You know how we do things here." Erza replied, giving Lucy a wink.
"Oh, I do know." Lucy let out a laugh. "But this party is bigger than, well, the last one we had."
"The bigger the party, the better." Erza said while dabbing primly at her lips. "Oh, Cana's overdoing it…"
"She's going to drink all of those?" Lucy said in a half-choked voice, as she tapped on her sternum.
"You know how they say, the more, the merrier."
At that moment there was a wave of noise that surrounded them, as if it had started at the other side of the room and broken around them.
And that was when Lucy noticed the new arrivals.
"Hey, look!" She elbowed Erza on the side. "They're back!"
"And Natsu's with them. Don't tell me that he eavesdropped them." The red headed mage frowned lightly.
"I wouldn't be surprised." The blonde mage shrugged. "He was… curious. We all are curious but Natsu seems to have grown sort of attached?"
"Why do you say that?" Erza asked, surprised.
"I don't know." The celestial mage shrugged. "It was just a feeling I got, I think…"
"Do you think it's going to influence the thing?" Erza said tensely, bringing her cup to her lips and sipping slowly.
"Oh, most definitely. It'll probably destroy the thing." Lucy started to say, looking sharply to her side when she heard the noise.
It was Erza putting down her cup – with such a force that it cracked in her hand.
"Damn it." Erza growled. "After all the work…"
"Yeah. It sucks." Lucy agreed gravely. "Unless…"
"Unless…?"
"Unless we go ahead with it, get some back-up and make things right again."
"Pffft." Erza scoffed. "With the amount of stubbornness, we'll have our hands full."
"We can take it!" Lucy promised, raising her glass.
"Okay. We'll try to." Erza nodded and clinked her cup with Lucy's.
