46th: Third Wheel

Summary: They had been the third wheel for too long and it was only natural that they got to know each other better.

Saturday meant date night for Evergreen, Elfman, Mirajane and Fried – and hours of horror and dread for Lisanna and Bixslow because when their siblings/teammates went out, they were basically forced to join them – and neither of them actually appreciated to watch the shameless flirting and cooing the others did. Usually, Bixslow got drunk as fast as possible because this would be the only valid reason why he would be allowed to leave earlier but this time they were in a restaurant where the alcohol was out. The male mage swore that he would question Laxus where he and Cana had been the day before and if the restaurants were the same, he would kill the Lightening Mage's girlfriend.

Lisanna on the other side of the table groaned as Mira kept gazing dreamily at her boyfriend because this was disgusting. She hadn't mind being stuck with her siblings all the time at the beginning because after the Edolas-issue, she was more than happy that she was able to spend time with them at all – but this was a little bit too much for her. Mira's dreamy gaze and Elfman's attempts on being a gentleman were a little bit too much for her and she really wondered which kind of alien had kidnapped her siblings to turn them into nearly brainless creatures as soon as they were close to their respective partners.

Fortunately, Mira heard the soft noise and looked at her sister for a moment. "Oh dear, Lisanna, are you feeling alright? You look all pale and … unwell…"

Lisanna was too smart to miss the permission to leave when she heard it and tried to look even paler. "Well, the cake this afternoon might have been a little bit too much," she said as she tried to give a perfect impression of suffering.

"Elfman…" Mira looked at their brother as she bit her lower lip. "You should escort her home. It's late at night and … well, we never know what kind of person is out there…"

But just like Lisanna, Bixslow was also too willed to get away to miss the chance. "I can bring her home," he offered smoothly. "You shouldn't interrupt your date."

"Yes, he is right," Lisanna said quickly as doubt crossed her sister's face. "Bixslow will escort me home and you can go on with your date. I prefer it this way. Elfman just came back from a hard job, Mira-nee, let him enjoy is night out, yes?"

"Yeah, be nice to him," Bixslow said as he waved. "I will take care of the younger Miss Strauss – I promise, Mirajane."

"When he promises something, he will keep it at any cost," Evergreen stated calmly. "Even if someone would manage to kidnap Lisanna after defeating him, he would get her back in mere minutes. He is that kind of man, you see?"

"See you tomorrow, Mira-nee, Elf-nii," the youngest sibling said quickly as she took her jacket and smiled at them before she nodded at Bixslow. "Let's go," she said quickly.

They left the restaurant and walked in silence until he broke the spell.

"You aren't really sick, are you?" he asked.

"I was getting sick with that sickly sweet atmosphere," she corrected. "I was merely avoiding a situation that would have made me really, really sick."

"Yeah, and that was really cheeky of you, Miss Strauss," he said amused. "I was thinking about ways to get out as well but without any alcohol available it was nearly impossible until you decided to be a real genius."

She chuckled as she looked back at him. "Since we ditched them … we could go and pull a prank on Gray," she suggested with a gleeful sparkle in her eyes. "I owe him one for getting bubblegum in my hairs when I was trying to grow it out."

"While I think that you look pretty nice with your short hair, I am in for the prank," he replied as they headed for the Strauss' siblings house. "Do you already have a plan, Lisanna?"

"Well, he hasn't really made a move on Juvia, huh? I think that a faked love letter to our favourite water mage from a certain silver-haired ice mage might just do the trick – and I get to laugh at his expense."

"It's true what they say about you and Levy … you may seem innocent and cute but you really have your mean moments if someone hits a nerve."

Gray was hanging out at the guildhall with Gajeel, drowning his misery in alcohol and feeling utterly terrible as Lisanna entered, dragging an unhappy Bixslow along. Little did he know that his misery would increase in the next few minutes.

"Listen, Gray," Lisanna said seriously as she bit her lower lip. "Did you see Juvia? I got a love letter which is directed at her today and well, I wanted to make sure that she gets it."

"A love letter for Juvia?" Gajeel snickered. "That's hilarious."

"Yeah, and I really thought that you'd be capable of getting the right address, Fullbuster," Bixslow added with a smirk. "You were the one who wrote the love letter, right?"

"Uhm, no?" the Ice Mage muttered, clearly unable to think properly because of the alcohol he had consumed so far. "Why do you think so?"

"Cause you love her, man! Everyone with eyes can see that – it's about as obvious as your fire-friendly friend and the Queen of Cosplay," the older mage said amused. "Or Iron Brain and the Bookworm. It's simply obvious."

Lisanna nodded. "Yes," she said. "I also thought that you wrote that letter. Who else should be brave enough to write Juvia a love letter? The last one who tried to court her had a run-in with Gajeel after all…"

"Hey, I am not to blame for that one! The Stripper did quite a lot too!"

"Give me that letter," Gray ordered and grabbed it before he frowned. "Lyon…"

Bixslow suddenly started to admire Lisanna's abilities at forging handwritings.

"Oh really?" the Takeover Mage said innocently.

"I go and look for her," Gray muttered before he hurried away.

"…that was far better than watching them flirt," Bixslow decided as they sat on a bench by the river, the babies flying over their heads and randomly repeating their words.

"Agreed," the white-haired woman said amused as she inhaled the fresh air. "And I got the best payback on Gray as well while I helped a friend. I think that it was a rather productive day – and I think that I am a better matchmaker than Mira too."

"Maybe we should keep matchmaking instead of attending the dates…"

"Yeah, would be smarter, I guess."

"Next Saturday we should take care of Gajeel and Levy. It's annoying me that they aren't together yet … and Romeo and Wendy should get together too…"

"We really should keep matchmaking," she said amused. "But what about us?"

"Well, I don't think that we need a matchmaker."