29th: Pride

Summary: Pride meant arrogance and being overconfident and hell, she was both but he found out that he didn't care about this.

It was common knowledge inside the whole guild that Evergreen was incredibly proud – too proud for her own damn good, as Porlyusica had said after the Thundergod Tribe had been forced to hand their sole female member over to her after Evergreen had overworked herself during a job they had done. Evergreen couldn't tolerate being the second best – at anything and so she had tried to outmatch both her teammates which had failed miserably. And so she was currently recovering from her injuries that had led to her 'hospitalisation' in her room up at Fairy Hills where a constantly worried Lisanna was basically camping in front of her door while her older sister was temporarily filling in for Evergreen on her team because the jobs they usually took required three mages.

"I hate this," the brunette muttered as she glared at the ceiling. "How long did Laxus' granny tell me to rest completely, Lisanna?"

"At least another week," the takeover mage replied as she put down a cup of tea. "Look, I know that you aren't happy about being confined to your bed but you really need to recover, Evergreen. You overworked yourself … Porlyusica-san said that you might end up damaging your body permanently when you would return to early."

"But I feel pretty good and I am dying from boredom," she complained.

"The solution for the boredom is close," Erza announced from the doorway before she pushed Elfman into the room. "I know that usually, men aren't allowed up here but with Laxus sneaking around Cana's door seven days a week and Gajeel serenading Levy all night long, I allowed Elfman to come for a visit. Lisanna, Lucy and I were going shopping. Would you like to join us?"

"Um, of course," the white-haired girl said with a smirk. "Sorry, Evergreen, I will be in town for a few hours but I will be back with a few new books and candy later on."

Meanwhile, Elfman showed more interest in the floor than Evergreen could appreciate so she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Elfman, sit down," she ordered harshly. "I am getting a sore neck from staring up to you all the time."

"Happy Birthday, by the way," he replied before he obeyed. "I was on my way to get you flowers since you said that you like them when Erza caught me and dragged me here."

"Y…you haven't forgotten about my birthday?" she asked as she forced herself to stay calm. It was no big deal that Elfman was the only freaking member of the whole damned guild who was capable to remembering the most important date of the year – her birthday. In her – completely unbiased - opinion, this was more important than the S-class exam.

"Of course not," he shrugged. "When we were still partners, you once said that you were going to celebrate your next birthday with the whole guild – well, the injury made that impossible, huh? And even Fried and the others are gone…"

"Fried is too busy celebrating that he scored a date with your sister to remember that it's my birthday today," she said darkly as she tried to sit up which failed.

"Wait," he said as he helped her to sit up and to lean against the headboard. "It's better like this, isn't it? And wait a moment – Mira-nee is dating Fried?"

"Well, I guess that I wasn't supposed to say that," she grinned devilishly as she winked at him. "Yes, they are dating – that's the only reason why he asked her to replace me."

"It hurts, doesn't it? To be injured and to be confined to your bed while everyone else is able to roam around, taking jobs and going shopping…" he muttered. "And that you were temporarily replaced probably hurt your pride pretty bad, huh?"

"My pride … Erza and the others all said that it was because of my pride that I ended up here in first place…" she muttered. "Look, I don't feel all that bad right now. Sure, I know that I got into this situation because I overestimated myself but … I am okay with this."

"You aren't," he disagreed. "You are putting up a brave façade while you want to scream and to hit everyone who gets too close to you but you can't and so you try to act stoically."

"When did you start to understand people?" she asked. "And when did you stop to yell 'man' in every second sentence you utter?"

He sighed. "I am not good with people's emotions – but I am good with Ever's emotions © and so I can figure out how you are feeling quite well," he said. "And I guess that you wouldn't appreciate if I would scream 'man' all the time because you have a headache."

She sighed deeply before she nodded and suddenly, her calm and collected façade fell apart. "It hurts so badly," she whispered. "The shattered pride … being replaced … that everyone but you forgot about my birthday … I hate this … I fucking hate it…"

"Tsk, since when did you start to curse, Ever?" he asked amused. "You don't seem to be used to this – even Lisanna-nee can do better."

"Lisanna? C'mon, you got to be kidding me."

"She learned them all from Mira … and you remember how my sister used to be."

"I remember and I shudder inside – that was the only good consequence of Lisanna's so-called death: Mira stopped terrorised everyone who made the mistake of existing."

For a moment, the Beast Takeover mage tried to resist the urge to chuckle but when he snorted because he couldn't suppress the urge completely, he gave in. "She wasn't all that bad," he tried to defend his sister. "Sure, she was strong-willed and a bully but … what am I even saying – of course you are right," he admitted. "But you were no angel either … you were proud and kept doing whatever you wanted without caring for anyone else."

"Thinking back, I guess that you and Cana were the only children who weren't completely psychopathic," she grinned. "Gray always had that annoying stripping habit, Natsu accidentally set things aflame and Lisanna helped him to pull pranks on Macao and anyone else who didn't give her cookies – even Levy got mad when someone dirtied her books and Erza … don't get me even started on her."

And while Evergreen had good chances to be chosen as the proudest woman of the guild, Elfman was one of the humblest men. He was kind and it was rare for him to be harsh. He was 'a huge, cuddly teddy bear' as Lisanna had said once and supposedly, he disliked people who were too high and mighty because they had a little power. (Those with the ability to think properly had easily found out that this wasn't correct because in her youth, Mirajane had been the proudest mage of the guild and Elfman had usually gotten along with her.) He was used to headstrong women – if he wasn't, he would be in the wrong guild anyway – and so he could deal with Evergreen's antics. And so he held her hand as he watched how the slightly arrogant expression on her face faded away as she fell asleep.

She was arrogant and proud but he found out that he didn't care a bit because though they were so different, they somehow fitted together and he was happy that she was there because her attention-demanding attitude often kept him from thinking about things he better didn't think about all the time – like his sister and Fried dating.