A/N: Real quick I wanted to answer guest Gin's question before we get to the good stuff! The average word count of each chapter is 6.3k, and I plan around having Blonde Day be somewhere around 120k-180k. So about... hrngh... 28-ish chapters? Anyways, I'll definitely run out of the alphabet letters to begin my alliteration chapter titles with, so I'll likely just be reusing some letters at some point.
Chapter Seven: Ding Dong Ditched
'if the way to the heart is closed, you should knock on the kidneys'
.
The sun was setting over the outline of Magnolia, casting a warm glow over the streets and shops as the noisy citizens of the town walked home or to the bars. One of these shops situated in Magnolia was the Strawberry Street Café, a fine establishment that was not only known for their absolutely delightful chocolate pastries, but also for their eight month maternity and paternity leave for their employees. This café's exterior walls were painted such a soft pink that it wasn't really the color pink anymore, and constantly got good reviews in the city's local papers.
As the sun began its descent in the sky, the last wave of customers inside the cozy café were beginning the end of their conversations and were drifting out at their own, leisurely pace. Though the café would not close until eight o'clock at night, the establishment usually found itself being emptied around six.
This usually was the case, but today was a little different. The restaurant had one straggler left, and this straggler was tucked away in the corner with no intentions of leaving until someone dragged her out by the back of her neck and threw her out the doors as she kicked and screamed insults. This type of resilient stubbornness, non surprisingly, came from a mage of Fairy Tail.
Lucy's fingers twitched forwards from where they had been previously being wrung together underneath the tabletop to readjust the position of the napkin holder. After she was satisfied, Lucy resumed her anxious hand wringing as she peered about the nearly empty café, blatantly ignoring the pitying looks the staff kept shooting her while they whispered to one another.
They knew why she was there, and they knew why she was still there, waiting. It was almost embarrassing, really. At first she'd been furious at the pitiful looks they sent her because if she hated anything, it was pity. But after stewing in anger for over an hour and having every somber shake of an employee's head feel like a blow to her self-esteem, Lucy had taken a deep breath and calmed herself down. The wait staff at the Strawberry Street Café meant no offense, and the stellar mage was tired of being angry with them, it just wasn't in her nature.
The soft light of the fading sun filtered in through the café's wide windows, and Lucy hated it with a boiling passion because it meant the day was ending. She wished she could march straight up to the sun and push it back up into the sky, consequences be damned.
And all of this was because Laxus Dreyar hadn't shown up to Blonde Day.
The Celestial Spirit mage gulped and started tapping her foot against the wooden floor in an anxious rythm. It was only a few hours past three, so Laxus could still show up, right? And, okay, maybe it was more than just 'a few hours' past three. It was more like three and a half hours, but there was still a chance! Maybe he just forgot, and he's rushing over right now! Lucy reassured herself, even though her instinct told her otherwise.
She had been here, sitting in one place, for nearly four miserable hours. Even though she knew that Laxus wasn't coming, Lucy just couldn't get herself to leave.
When Laxus hadn't come punctually waltzing through those doors like he owned the place at exactly three o'clock sharp, Lucy had been stupefied. Though she was well aware that the dragon slayer wasn't exactly having the time of his life during these Blonde Days, she hadn't actually believed he wouldn't show up. He didn't even have the guts to admit to her face that he was fed up with her and her 'crazy ideas', he just upped and ditched her.
And it wasn't like Laxus had blatantly stated he was done with Blonde Day. He hadn't said 'no' last Thursday when she asked if he would come again, he had tsked! When the hell did a tsk become to mean 'no'? Tsks didn't mean 'no', they meant 'I don't like this, but I'm going to begrudgingly do it anyways'!
Lucy's drooping eyes somberly gazed over the stacked piles of brown, cardboard boxes filled with food that decorated the table. Like usual, she had spent all the money in her pockets on food for the Lightning Dragon Slayer, and there it sat in front of the blonde, mocking her. When an hour had passed and Laxus hadn't showed up, the employees had decided to kindly box it up for her. The refrigerated food was probably spoiled by now, but Lucy didn't care. She just wanted to know how in the world she was going to carry it back home without throwing out her back like an elderly lady.
The worst part of it all was that Lucy couldn't blame this whole situation on anyone or anything other than herself. It would have been nice if the blonde could have taken solace in the illusion that Laxus couldn't have possibly come by because of that job he took, but that sadly wasn't the case. No, he had returned, and Mira had called her the moment they showed up at the guild to report it. The dragon slayer was back in Magnolia, and he had purposely abandoned Blonde Day.
The times they spent together on Thursdays were the only thing she had. She hadn't even been able to find a job for them after a week's desperate search. Nothing needed both a Celestial Spirit and Lightning mage. And to be realistic, even Lucy herself couldn't think up a job that would need those two specific magics.
Lucy was snapped out of her circling thoughts when she felt a hand tap her shoulder, and she jumped. The Celestial Spirit mage turned her head and blinked owlishly up at the young man that had touched her.
A smartly dressed waiter with gelled back hair was fidgeting with his hands as he gazed mournfully down at her. Though he was nervous to deliver his surely upsetting news to the Fairy, he couldn't help but feel bad at the same time. The blonde had been seated in their corner for hours for someone even complete strangers knew wouldn't arrive.
"Miss?" he asked tentatively, his voice coming out a tad higher than he would have liked. At the woman's piercing stare, he waiter took a moment to clear his throat before trying again. "Miss, we just wanted to let you know that we're closing in an hour."
Wincing, Lucy nodded. She knew that really meant that they were closing in thirty minutes, and she really didn't want to be the customer that didn't leave until the last five seconds. "Okay," she breathed out with a sad smile. "If you don't mind," she started, suddenly diverting her attention to her table and tracing small shapes into it with her finger, "but I would like to stay for just a little while longer, it that's all right with you."
Heartstrings not only tugged but completely ripped out from his chest, the waiter fervently nodded and promptly stumbled over his words in a sloppy response, "Oh no, that's fine! I just wanted to -I mean, I thought you'd like a warning before… yeah."
Lucy nodded politely and tried to smile again, and the waiter stiffly turned on his heel and walked back to the kitchens, his coworkers teasing him about how he completely butchered that as soon as he opened the swinging doors. They too probably would have been silenced in mortification if they knew that the blonde in question could hear every single word. Lucy didn't have enhanced hearing like the dragon slayers', but they weren't being exactly quiet either.
Letting out a long sigh, Lucy placed the palms of her hands on her thighs and ducked her head, the cascade of blonde hair covering up her facial features from the entire café. Her fingers tightly clenched and scrunched up the material of her skirt, and Lucy sniffled loudly as she willed the tears not to form in her eyes. She would not cry over Laxus Dreyar, she would rather relive the entire Naval Battle than sob over a guy ditching her.
It took a while to compose herself, but when she did Lucy snapped her back straight and flipped her hair over her shoulder. After another collective moment, her eyes were once again drawn to the doors. Sniffling and crying wouldn't help her now, Lucy needed to get stubborn and determined. After tonight, she wouldn't run away like Laxus had, she wouldn't avoid the lightning mage because she was humiliated at what had happened.
No, she wouldn't run like a coward. The celestial mage would stomp right up to her target tomorrow at the guild and demand to know why he didn't show. Until then, Lucy would wait it out, give the artificial dragon slayer another hour.
Lucy got folded her hands together, took a deep breath, and got comfortable. She'd wait for one hour longer.
Laxus never showed up.
When the wait staff walked up to her table to inform her that it was closing time and she had to leave, they did it with sympathetic expressions on their faces and a few lights pats to her slumping back. Two of them even murmured phrases like 'better luck next time' and 'that bastard doesn't deserve you' as they showered her with the promise of discounts the next time she came, to which she weakly smiled at. They were trying to rally her spirits, and though it wasn't working, she really did appreciate it.
Lucy was escorted out of the restaurant, and by the time the door of the Strawberry Street Café shut behind her, she had still had seven bags filled to the brim with takeout containers surrounding her feet and nineteen 'buy one latte, get a pastry 50% off' coupons.
The guildmates around near her table all swallowed roughly when they felt the raw, furious energy pouring out of Lucy's every pore, sending glances at each other as they did. Jet, Droy, and Reedus had already moved an entire table down from her, and Elfman had gotten himself out of there as soon as Lucy started walked his way. The Take-Over mage was currently hiding behind his concerned older sister at the bar.
If Lucy wasn't feeling the rage of a thousand suns, she would have found it funny how the largest mage in Fairy Tail had run out of there with his tail tucked between his legs and muttering something about how too much manly power was seeping off of her. From what Lucy could see from her position in the far back of the guild, it seemed like Mirajane was trying to console her brother, and she balanced worried looks between Elfman and Lucy herself.
If Gajeel was at the guild today instead of wandering around Magnolia's dark alleys and feeding stray cats with Levy and Asuka, he would have said something like 'Bunny Girl's furious over Laxus' lackadaisical behavior for Blonde Day'. Well, if he was here and he was aware of her plan to befriend Laxus.
Eyes narrowing, Lucy folded her arms on her table and locked onto her target. Laxus Dreyar was only five tables down from her, back in his usual corner of the guild and determinedly not even glancing in her direction. He wasn't wearing his usual fur-trimmed coat today, and Lucy idly wondered if that was because he had been afraid she'd try pulling at it again as she begged him to return to the Strawberry Street Café next Thursday.
Laxus' arms were crossed over his large chest and the headphones of his SoundPod were over each of his ears. His orange eyes were firmly watching the bar with the intensity of a hunting hound, and there was a tick in his jaw. Lucy was even too livid to appreciate the fact that without his blocky coat, she could now see the way the man's purple shirt stretched over his torso.
Around him sat Bickslow and Evergreen intensely listening to Freed explaining just how exactly water gets inside a coconut, and they seemed completely oblivious to Lucy's glowering. So, the dragon slayer had even had the gall to surround himself with the Raijinshū as a defense strategy, most definitely thinking that his cheer squad would dissuade her from approaching him and chewing him out.
That's what Laxus thought anyways. Lucy wouldn't let the three mages' presence stop her. No, Laxus could surround himself with anyone he wanted, and Lucy would not shy away. Lucy would be 'discussing' with him about what he pulled on her yesterday, and if there were someone around then so be it.
Plus, Laxus didn't understand that out of the two blondes, it was him who wouldn't want an audience. The Celestial Spirit mage would be demanding, very loudly, an answer for why he callously ditched her yesterday, and no matter how someone looked at it, Laxus would be in the wrong. Her guildmates would then avenge her, after badgering Laxus about why they were meeting up in the first place, that is.
As she stared at him, the celestial mage felt a twisted sense of satisfaction because she knew that the Lightning Dragon Slayer was picking up on her unwavering disdain. Usually Laxus was a pro at withholding his emotions from others, but this time it was his team that betrayed him. Freed kept turning towards the S-Class mage and asking if he was alright, and Evergreen repeatedly informed him, as if the lightning mage wasn't aware, that he was sweating too much.
Laxus was nervous.
Lucy pushed back her chair, causing it to scrape nastily against the floor, and stood up from her table, her eyes never leaving the Lightning Dragon Slayer. As soon as she was up on her two feet, she smacked her hands down onto the tabletop in a dramatic way that she'd once read about in a book. Lucy's lips twisted up in a smirk when she could make out the smallest of jerks in Laxus' form at the noise. So, he must be listening in to her movements as well.
Before she started making her way over to his table, the stellar mage peered around the guild's building, searching for any other dragon slayers in their midst that could listen in on the two blondes. Though Lucy would spout out the Blonde Day secret to everyone if that was the only way to get Laxus to speak with her, she would like to keep the secret a… well, secret. Her promise to become Laxus' friend would only get that much harder and complicated if a guild member was teasing her and Laxus about it at every step.
Brown eyes scanned the rambunctious space, and couldn't find any other mage with enhanced senses that could possibly tap into their conversation. She already had known Gajeel was out and Wendy was still out on her dual mission with Chelia, but it was Natsu she was worried about. That morning he had, quite literally, ran into her as she was walking to the guild and had cheerfully informed her that he was going fishing with Happy, Gildarts, and (an extremely reluctant) Cana. He invited her as well, but the blonde mage had turned it down so she could confront Laxus.
Natsu had said he was going fishing, but the rosette had always had this unsavory tendency to pop out of nowhere and overhear every single important conversation in his teammates' lives. Like an accidental eavesdropper… Or was it really accidental? It was almost uncanny, the way he always 'just happened' to be in the area…
Shaking her head, Lucy refocused on her objective. She could be suspicious about Natsu's highly convenient overhearing later, but now she had to focus on the mage that had humiliated her last night by leaving her hanging. After a deep breath and brushing off some nonexistent dust from her mini skirt, Lucy was ready.
The Celestial Spirit mage steadied her shoulders, breathed in, and walked towards a tensing lightning mage. Every step that took her closer to Laxus made the man's shoulders stiffen until Lucy was almost worried that he was about to pull something.
Lucy had set her face into her 'angry look', but she almost broke when she overheard the arguing Raijinshū fight over who had the right to the extra plate of french fries. She nearly had to walk away and go collect herself when Freed sniffed, "Fries starts with an 'f', and as does 'Freed', so they rightfully belong to me." Before just snatching up a handful.
When Lucy finally strolled up to his table, lips twitching and desperately struggling back the grin that threatened to spill, the Raijinshū all froze and blinked up at her with varying degrees of surprise, their previous argument about the french fries coming to a screeching halt at her appearance. For the second time, Lucy almost cracked and burst into a fit of laughter when Freed jumped a foot into the air after he realized that he had squashed the fries in his hand in shock, and currently had a handful of smashed potato in his stamped hand.
Evergreen had paused in mid action, her hand -opened fan in its clutches- still raised in the air where it had been gaining momentum to smack Freed for his theft. Clearing her throat almost daintily, Evergreen composed herself first. The Fairy slowly, ever so slowly, lowered her hand while Freed madly rummaged through the mess on their table in search for a napkin to wipe his hands, Bickslow jubilantly cackling at his flustered teammate as he did.
"Hello, Lucy," Ever snapped over her fan closed and greeted her, adjusting her body slightly forwards so Freed could hide behind her figure as he frenziedly cleaned off the fries. "Do you need me and my wing's help getting Juvia's most recent cooking experiment off the guild's ceilings again?" She purred before she shook her head and tutted sadly. "The poor woman will never nab Gray with those horrendous disasters."
Lucy's answering smile was one of those smiles that appeared sweet and innocent, but the longer someone stared at it, the more menacing it became. "Not this time, Evergreen. However…" The smaller blonde clasped her hands and started rocking on her heels. "… Believe it or not, I actually need to talk to Laxus again." She turned to the mage in question, smile still steady and beaming.
The Raijinshū didn't have a chance to react. There was a crackle in the air and a contained flash of lightning briefly illuminated everyone's faces and caused Evergreen's glasses to flash. Laxus' jaw clenched, and he, astonishingly enough, turned his head to meet her eyes. Lucy had been thinking that he'd divert his own gaze for at least another six minutes, maybe ten.
"What do you want," the lightning mage growled it out as he took off his spiked headphones, and there he went not adding question marks to his questions again.
He sounded furious, but Lucy wasn't scared. During the two Blonde Days, the smaller blonde had spent a total of six hours staring at his cross, disgruntled face, and right now, the Lightning Dragon Slayer did not appear angry. His orange eyes weren't narrowing in that nasty glare that could make a grown dragon wet itself, and the vein in his forehead wasn't popping out. If anything, the blonde mage kind of looked guilty.
While the other three mages moved away from their leader, Lucy didn't even flinch as she stood her ground. "I needed to talk to you about yesterday," the celestial mage said pleasantly and aimed a, not so subtle, glance towards the Raijinshū. "In private, maybe?" She suggested sweetly.
Laxus shared glances with his teammates, who were beginning to appear awfully curious. This was the second time the Celestial Spirit mage had approached them and asked for their leader, and Freed and Evergreen were already getting suspicious while Bickslow… well, Bickslow was just trying to decide what he'd make for dinner that night. When things didn't concern his family's safety -well, to put it simply, he sometimes just didn't give a flying shit.
Laxus eyed her and searched her face, probably trying to find clues that would reveal if she was bluffing her not. Sitting up straighter, Laxus scoffed and declared, "If you have anything to say to me, you can say it in front of them." It was a desperate last attempt to discourage Lucy, and they both knew it.
Lucy shrugged. It was his call. "Okay," she chirped simply. Sending the lightning mage a sly look, she continued, "I wanted to ask you why you didn't come to Blon-"
"Stop." It was more of a snarl than a word, but Lucy understood and shut her mouth with a click. Laxus had held up one hand, palm towards her, as he used his other to pinch the bridge of his nose. He took a moment to breath, and then the Lightning Dragon Slayer dropped his arms and shot her a resentful glower. "Fine."
He was frowning at her, but there was no real heat behind it. It was almost as if he was - Lucy's entire thought process came to a screeching halt and she blinked at the slayer. Was… Was this Laxus' version of pouting? Was the S-Class mage pouting because he didn't get his way? He was, he totally was!
Lucy almost clapped her hands together and squealed because that was absolutely precious. Laxus Dreyar, guild master in training and Grand Magic Games winner, was pouting with his little glare. If the much larger man knew where Lucy's train of thought had taken her, he would probably be pulling a hissy fit. And wasn't that thought even more adorable.
Completely unaware of what was going on in the celestial mage's head, Laxus turned towards the Raijinshū and bluntly told them, "Wait outside for me, I'll be out there with you in a few minutes." He even jerked his thumb towards the guild's massive doors for emphasis.
Freed was peering back and forth between the two blonde mages, slightly overwhelmed and confused, and at his leader's words the Rune mage frowned. "But Laxus-" he started, but was interrupted by the man himself.
"Please," Laxus added, and Lucy watched in fascination as the vein in Laxus' head started popping out again (he should really get that looked at, was that normal?).
Freed was just about to open his mouth and protest more, but was silenced when Evergreen's elbow connected with his side. The green-haired mage barely flinched, more offended than hurt really, but Lucy still winced in sympathy, her mind suddenly taken back to the massive sleepover the girls (and Gray) had a few days ago. Juvia's scarily quick and pointy elbows still haunted her dreams.
The two exchanged meaningful, and complicated, head and hand gestures, and Lucy could only watch as they came to a conclusion. Ever and Freed both reached over and slapped Bickslow's shoulders and told him they had to leave. The Seith mage merely shrugged and unnecessarily relayed the information to his 'babies'.
As the Raijinshū warily got up from the table and filed out of the guild's headquarters, Evergreen muttered something that Lucy couldn't hear into Freed's ear. Laxus heard it though, and the dragon slayer grimaced at whatever he had overheard.
Laxus didn't speak until after the doors had shut behind the three with a soft latching noise, and only then did he grumpily prop his elbow up on the table and place his chin on his palm. He seemed strangely resigned when he muttered, "What do you want, Blondie?"
Taking that as an invitation to join him at his table, Lucy slid into the chair that Bickslow had occupied and lightly placed her hands on the tabletop. She let her face show just how upset and wounded she was. She was more sad than angry now for some reason. Perhaps seeing the Raijinshū just enjoying each other's company and messing around with each other had calmed her ire.
After blowing some hair out of her face, Lucy leaned forwards and asked seriously, "Why did you not come to Blonde Day? Why did you ditch me?"
The slayer's shoulder lifted up in one of those one-shouldered shrugs, the lightning mage apparently now too lazy to even shrug properly with both shoulders. "I didn't want to go," he said it simply, without any a hint regret or that earlier guilt. The slayer's gaze was cool and collected, the exact opposite to how the other blonde felt.
Inside, she was a mess of different emotions. Lucy's mouth dropped into a little 'o' at the confession. She hadn't expected Laxus to just say it. She… She thought he would at least feel a little bad about it. "Excuse me?" She gasped, when she actually digested his words. "What do you mean you didn't want to go?"
The fellow blonde sighed. "What else do you want from me, Blondie, do you want me to say it again?" He asked tiredly. "I didn't want to go."
She flinched like she'd been hit. "But why?"
"I don't need a reason why, much less tell you why," he muttered it more to himself than he did to her. "But if you just must know, I went out to each with Ever, Freed, and Bicks. Okay? Happy now?"
"Wha… What? So you forgot about Blonde Day?" Lucy whispered tentatively, but she didn't even let herself hope. No way anyone would forget a smaller female clutching their clothing and making a fool of themselves by begging them to come back. No, he hadn't forgot.
He gave her a dry, flat look that caused her hunch in on herself in shame. She knew what he was going to say next, but she wasn't so sure she was prepared for it. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut as Laxus deadpanned, "What do you think? We just got back from an S-Class mission and they wanted to go to that new restaurant on Blackberry Pine Street." She had heard wind of that new restaurant. She'd also heard that it was fantastic. "I had the choice between picking hanging out with my friends and Blonde Day, which one do you think I chose?"
She opened her eyes and her face fell.
Laxus grimaced and he snapped his fingers in front of her face, just like he had done during the first Blonde Day. "Oi, don't give me that look," he barked. "Just drop it, okay?"
It was worryingly how much she wanted to reach over and shake the man, but Lucy was smart enough to recognize a death wish when she saw one. Plus, she was particularly proud of her hair today, and she wasn't in the mood to be electrocuted and have it ruined. And, wait, he wanted her to just forget everything that had ever happened and never speak of it again? Yeah, right, like that would happen. She hadn't spent the past three weeks obsessing over trying to become his friend to just 'drop it'.
"Drop it?" Lucy said blandly, not liking the words on her tongue at all.
"Now you're just repeating me." Laxus wiped his hands on his pants and stood up from his chair. He shook his head at her like she was some sort of misbehaving child as he put his headphones back over his ears.
Lucy blinked up at the other blonde who suddenly towered over her and was practically swallowing her up in his shadow. Her mind was furiously trying to keep up with what was happening, and she just couldn't grasp a single coherent thought. He was getting up? Why was Laxus getting up? Was he leaving? Something in her finally snapped into action and she shot upwards.
She stumbled over her own words and took a step around the table. "What -Wait!" And because life hated her, her foot slammed into the table's legs and she lurched forwards, hands flailed out and gripped the table to stop her fall. She had caught herself, but her cheeks heated up in embarrassment at the possibility at what could have happened.
Laxus was unamused and he raised that damn eyebrow at her again while the Celestial Spirit mage righted herself. Taking another step forwards, Lucy fisted her hands at her side, but she wasn't angry. She was scared. Her voice faltered when she squeaked out, "Wha… What are you doing?"
He snorted and spread his hands. "What does it look like I'm doing? I told my team that'd I'd be right with them." The look he gave her was disinterested and lacked all warmth, and it made Lucy freeze in her tracks. Maybe it even stopped her from reaching out and grabbing onto him like she promised she wouldn't this time.
And without further ado, the dragon slayer unceremoniously turned around and walked towards the doors without a single glance over his shoulder. It was probably a good thing too, or else he would have seen the stellar mage furiously rubbing her arm across her eyes to wipe away the gathering tears there. Lucy silently yelled at herself for the mess she had created and her lack of planning.
She'd been so confident too as she marched straight up to him. She had played her cards right and even achieved Laxus sending away the posse, so what had gone wrong? Where did it all fall apart for her? Was it his abrupt confession? Did that one, horribly rude, statement throw her off that much?
Lucy's eyes glazed over, unfocused, the second the wooden doors slammed closed and the din in the guild -which had momentarily ceased when they had heard the telltale sign of Laxus' lightning cracking- resumed with cheerful shouting and the dull thud of a few thrown punches. No one seemed to notice the small blonde in the corner, not even Mirajane who was too busy scolding Romeo for trying to find a potion that would increase his muscle mass so he could actually knock out Elfman. Mira was reminding him of the risks of mysterious potion sellers and the Parfum Accident. The young mage instantly paled.
Though today had been a massive failure, she wasn't going to give up. She didn't know what she was going to do for the next Blonde Day -because, obviously, the chance she would be able to get Laxus to return to the Strawberry Street Cafe was lower than low- but she had to switch it up a bit. How, she hadn't figured out that part yet, but she'll get there. The job idea was out though, she had completely given up on that.
Staring down sadly at her fingers, Lucy wiggled the digits. She could sense Laxus slipping through her fingers, and there was nothing she could do about it if she didn't think of another plan to get Laxus to return to Blonde Day.
The worst part was that Lucy had promised to Natsu, Happy and herself that'd she would befriend Laxus Dreyar, so she just couldn't throw her hands up in the air, wave a white flag, and surrender. She still somehow had to get the lightning mage to actually prefer her company, and not look like he was suffering whenever she got within a five foot radius of him.
Her determination to will back her waterworks wasn't helping the mage, so she hung her head in her hands to at least shield the tears from the public's view. The blonde slowly sank down into her chair a fit of depression until her back was touching the actual seat and her legs were ungainly spread apart underneath the table.
Lucy lifted her head up from her hands, and studied them like she was searching the creases and fingerprints for hidden clues. Yeah, Laxus had no doubt slipped through her fingers as easily as room temperature butter, and she wasn't so confident that he was coming back. What she needed was the Raijinshū's fingers, those three already were Laxus' best friends, they had that bastard locked up tight in their hands... the thought trailed away, and something more important took its place.
"Wait a second," she accidentally murmured out loud as she pulled herself back up from her slouching position. A small piece of her and Laxus' conversation replayed through her head and she analyzed it. Hadn't the slayer said that he had abandoned her at the cafe because Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow had wanted to go to a new restaurant? That he would obviously choose his friends over her?
Ouch, that had stung, but… Evergreen, Freed, and Bickslow were Laxus' actual, close companions. Present tense, as in right now currently.
The new idea hit her like a sack of bricks, and Lucy felt like she should have been knocked straight off her chair. It was a mind-numbing realization that Lucy couldn't process at first. Quickly, the blonde scrubbed away at her eyes to make sure there was no more straggling tears in them, and she wildly searched the mess on the table, pushing gross tableware this way and that, for a (ideally, unused) napkin to write on.
The answer to all her problems was the ever loyal Raijinshū, how could she have not realized that sooner? The three mages were important to Laxus. They were so vital to him that he easily chose them over her. They were special. And Lucy… if she was going to get Laxus to like her, then she would need to know what was so compelling in the three mages that attracted the friendship and love of a grouchy Lightning Dragon Slayer.
This was perfect. Lucy had always wanted to talk to them more and not just in a life-endangering situation. Freed would fit perfectly in with her and Levy's 'bookclub', she had always looked up to Evergreen, and she really wanted to casually talk with Bickslow about the similarities and differences between Celestial Spirit magic and Seith magic. Lucy would love to be their close friends too, and she wanted to see that uniqueness in them like Laxus did.
When her search for a clean napkin came up empty, the blonde let out a frustrated, close-mouthed scream and jerkily pushed away the dirty plates and gave up. All the napkins had stupid streaks of smushed potato on them because of Freed. She'd just have to remember this new idea then.
Lucy turned her head towards the bar, where the ever shining Mirajane stood wiping down the counter and chatting excitedly with Laki, Kinana, and Romeo. As she watched the mages smile and laugh, her brown eyes hardened with determination. No, she wouldn't cry about Laxus dumping her now either. She had more imperative things to do.
It was at this moment where she wished she was capable of high five-ing herself without looking like she'd gone crazy. She had to tell the eldest Strauss sibling that another agenda has been added to her plans to befriend Laxus Dreyar.
She was going to befriend the Raijinshū too.
A/N: I will NOT be posting next week, as it will be spring break for me and I'll be up in Dallas petting my cousins' cats. However, to make up for that fact, some point soon I will post two chapters in one week. See you in fourteen days!
[And for those who might have gotten worried, a job for the blondes is still definitely coming]