Much to her delight and relief, when Lucy returned to Magnolia she found that she didn't have to take a job immediately. Master Makarov had apparently figured that the Everlue mission would be a bust and offered to reimburse her some of the money. He'd only given her 25,000 Jewel; an eighth of the original reward but it was still enough to put her mind at ease. At least for the moment. He'd given her a wink when he'd handed her the money, saying that he'd had a small contingency set up so that even if a mage couldn't get their reward, for whatever reason, they wouldn't go without money.

"Of course," He'd continued, "If you lost the reward paying for damages you caused on your mission, then it's your own damn fault."

"Th-that makes sense." She agreed supremely thankful that, for whatever reason, Everlue hadn't billed Fairy Tail for the damages done to his mansion when he recovered.

Makarov's response was to smile at her. "Glad you at least understand. Unlike some." He looked pointedly at Natsu. The fire dragon slayer didn't notice, he was too busy trying to see how many drumsticks he could stuff in his mouth at once. Lucy didn't want to know why. Her guild master probably didn't either; he quickly turned back to her and cleared his throat. "Well, regardless, even if you couldn't collect the reward for the Everlue job, from what I've heard you went above and beyond the requirements of the mission." He smiled up at her, "well done."

It was only two little words, but Lucy still found herself blushing brightly. His praise felt like Miss Layla's. The sudden reminder made her feel warm while at the same time brining about the ache that occurred whenever she thought about the older woman. It was confusing though strangely not unpleasant.

Lucy also wasn't sure how to respond to that remark. Miss Layla had only ever needed a smile to know that the praise had been accepted and that Lucy would continue to not disappoint. Master Makarov wasn't Miss Layla though, and if there was one thing she'd learned in the eight or so months outside the Heartfilia manor it was that people thought differently than herself and the others.

So, still red faced, she shyly thanked him. The master only laughed and shooed her off to get something to eat. Mirajane giggled from behind the bar and only winked as she handed Lucy her food. The bartender's actions did nothing to diminish her blush.

She somehow managed to find an empty table and quickly began devouring her meal. However, it wasn't long before someone joined her. Another young woman settled herself into the seat next to the newest member of Fairy Tail. She was small and cute with bright blue hair held back by a brighter orange hair tie. She was followed by two men; one in a fuzzy hat and coat while the other had a strange bandolier and his hair in an odd style.

"Hi!" she chirped, "you're Lucy, right? You and Natsu just went on that Everlue mission, didn't you?"

Lucy quickly swallowed the mouthful she'd just taken. "Yeah, we didn't actually complete the mission though." At least not in the way the client had intended.

The other girl pouted, "still, I'm kind of jealous. I was eyeing that mission for a while, but my partners didn't want to go with me." She gave a rueful smile, "by the time I convinced them otherwise, Natsu had already snagged it."

"Levy!" The guy with the weird hair cried.

"It's cause he was a pervert!" The other added.

The girl, Levy, huffed and turned to face the two of them. "And I can take care of myself! I had an outfit prepared and everything!"

"Sneaking in like that wouldn't have worked anyway." Lucy added. "His definition of beauty was a bit…off." She shrugged before continuing, "we didn't actually try to get in by pretending to be a maid regardless."

"Really? Why not?" Lucy found herself pinned under the other woman's inquisitive brown eyes.

She huffed, "if you'd seen the 'wig' Natsu had gotten, you would have refused too."

"Eh? That bad?"

"You have no idea."

The bluenette giggled. "I think I can guess. Anyway, my name's Levy and these are my partners, Jet," she gestured to the guy in the fuzzy hat, "and Dory." The other one nodded. "Together we're team Shadow Gear."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy…but, uh, I guess you knew that already." She ended sheepishly.

Levy laughed again. "Yeah, it's rare to have people join, especially after seeing one of our brawls."

"Those happen often?"

"Nearly daily." Jet replied as he had Dory sat down on the other side of the table from the two girls.

Dory chuckled as he too joined in the conversation. "Most of us grew up at the guild, so stuff like that's completely normal. It was really weird the first time someone got scared off by how 'intense' we were."

"I can see why they would be," Lucy admitted, "but at the same time, it does seem fun." Not that she'd be joining any brawls in the near future.

The three of them brightened at the second half of her comment, but it was Levy who spoke up. "It is! Especially since it's rarely ever serious."

"What happens if it is?"

"Then they take it outside and don't involve anyone else." Dory replied, as if it was obvious.

"Anyway," Levy scooted closer to Lucy, "can you tell us about the rest of the mission? Since books are involved, I really want to know about it!"

"Eh? Alright." With one last fortifying bite of her meal, Lucy launched into the details about what happened on the mission, starting with how Natsu got her to team up with him and Happy. It was strange, telling people about what happened. Lucy was so used to writing down the details about what happened that the descriptive words she'd usually use felt foreign on her tongue. Thankfully she'd already had a mental draft in her head, so she wasn't stumbling over words or going back to reiterate the things she'd already said.

It was also a bit refreshing to find that someone enjoyed and loved books as much as she did. By the time Lucy had made it to part about the library, Levy was completely enthralled. At least up until the part where Natsu tried to complete their mission.

"Natsu Dragneel! How dare you try to burn a book! Especially a Kemu Zelon work!" Lucy squeaked and quickly grabbed the bluenett's arm to keep her from going after the dragon slayer. "You and me! Outside! Now!"

Natsu blanched. "You know about that? Lucy you traitor!"

"How am I a traitor? It's not like you asked for it to be a secret!"

"Yeah, don't you dare blame Lu! You know better!"

"Levy, he didn't actually burn it." Lucy tried to placate the petit girl. "Don't you want to hear the rest?"

Her new friend settled down with a huff. "Fine, but first, Mira!" She called out, "Natsu's the one who broke the mop and stole all the mustard!"

"He what!?" The silver haired barmaid cried. Natsu squawked at the words and quickly left the hall, Mirajane's disproving glare following. He left Happy behind as the cat was laughing too much to follow.

"So it really was a mustard covered mop." Lucy muttered, somewhat disgusted and incredibly glad she didn't put it on her head. Happy soon recovered from his hysterics and joined the four of them.

"Aye, I told him it was a bad idea."

Jet snorted but it was Dory who responded with a sarcastic, "I'm sure you did."

"Really! I did!" However Happy failed to convince anyone and it didn't take him very long to go after Natsu, crying about how mean everyone one. Lucy could only stare in shock and worry at that. However Jet assured her that he'd be fine.

Levy simply had a self-satisfied smile on her face the entire time. After the cat had left she turned back to Lucy. "So? What happened next?"

"Oh, well, we heard some weird laughter before the duke came up from the floor…" This time there were no interruptions, even though she could see Levy holding herself back from asking about the code in Kemu Zelon's book. Lucy didn't elaborate on what the true story was, that part was still something only Mr. Melon could share.

By the time she'd got to the end, Levy was in tears and Dory wasn't that far behind.

Jet, though his eyes were dry, was scowling at the table. "Damn, that duke. What an awful man." He grumbled.

"Yeah," Levy agreed, sniffing and whipping at her eyes. "I'm really glad they arrested him?"

That was news to Lucy. "Wait, what? When?"

Levy blinked at her in surprise. "Last night? You were just there so I thought you knew."

"No, we left right away." That did explain why Fairy Tail wasn't being sued for damages to the mansion. Though if the duke was arrested, what happened to Virgo? "But how did they arrest him so quickly? Mr. Melon would have just gotten the book."

"Oh right, Everlue was being secretly investigated by the knights for a while now." Levy smiled as she explained. "They were pretty sure he was guilty of several crimes. That's why the counsel allowed Mr. Melon's request to go through. It would allow for Mr. Melon to get revenge on Everlue for past crimes while at the same time distracting the duke from the investigations."

"Really?" Lucy frowned. "Do they often secretly investigate someone?"

"Only on rare occasions." Dory took over. "The duke was rich enough to stop an investigation before proof could be found, so they waited until they had the proof before going public with it."

"That's often why you can find semi-legal and illegal jobs on the board." Jet gestured to the job board by the bar. "Anything that's less than legal, short of assassination, is something we can do, provided it's sanctioned by the magic counsel, of course."

"Not that it helps," Dory laughed, "considering how often we get into trouble with them."

They shared a laugh over that, though Lucy's tinged with nervousness. Would Lord Heartfilia get secretly investigated? What would happen to Lucy and the others should they do that?

Their laughter ended and Levy turned thoughtful. "Kemu Zelon was a really great mage though, wasn't he?"

Lucy was quick to smile and agree. "Yeah, to think his magic would still be here from 30 years ago." The two of them sighed in appreciation.

"Oi, Levy," Jet started, sounding strangely annoyed, "the guy's been dead for 30 years. Quit sighing over him."

Dory roughly elbowed his teammate. "He's dead, let her sigh over him." He hissed, though not very quietly. "Or do you want her to sigh over some living hot-shot writer?"

"I really want her to sigh over me!"

"No way!"

Levy ignored the fight her two teammates were getting into and turned more fully to Lucy. "He was once in a guild, wasn't he? Isn't it amazing how he went on to write about his adventures?"

Lucy decided to follow her lead and ignore the bickering duo across from them. "It is! Reading his books always makes me feel inspired."

"Heh, really? Does that mean you're a writer too, Lu?"

She nearly choked, though she wasn't eating anything. "Eh! Well maybe?" Was it that obvious to figure out?

"You really are?" Levy scooted closer and her eyes were sparkling with excitement. "Are you working on a novel?" At Lucy's embarrassed nod she continued. "I really love to read, but I can't write anything good. Well," she amended, "I can write down research and magical theories, but nothing that most people will want to read." She stuck out her tongue, "every time I try it turns out too dry and too technical to be enjoyable." Levy then shook her head. "Anyway, could I read it sometime? If you don't mind?"

"I-well," She'd never had anyone who actually wanted to read her writings. "It's not something that I can show people yet…"

"What're you talking about?" Jet piped up, apparently he'd finished his little fight with Dory. "there's no point to a book if no one gets to read it."

"Yeah," Dory agreed, "it's like showing your butt in public."

That got him odd looks from everyone at the table save for Jet, who nodded in agreement. Levy rolled her eyes before smiling sportively at Lucy. "It won't improve unless you show people, so please, can I read it?"

"It-it's nowhere near done yet. I haven't even finished the first chapter." Even if it was, what Lucy had written was done in code and she'd have to translate it.

"Then when it's done, could I be the first to see it?"

"O-okay."

Even though her response was hesitant, it still earned a bright, beaming smile from Levy. "Is it a promise then?"

Lucy could only smile back, the sheer joy that Levy emitted was infectious and Lucy felt like she could write a dozen chapters powered from the bluenett's enthusiasm alone. "I'll do my best!"

Levy clasped her hands, "I know you will Lu!"

"You can count on me, Lev."

"Woah! Is that the time?" Dory suddenly cried out as he scrambled out of his seat.

Jet abruptly appeared behind Levi and pulled her to her feet. "We'll have to get going, or we'll miss our train."

"Oh right," she gasped, "we have a mission. Do you want to come with us, Lu?"

Jet and Dory looked mildly panicked though Lucy couldn't figure out why. She did want to agree, if only to continue being able to talk with Levy. However she regretfully shook her head. "Sorry, I have to take care of some things at my apartment, maybe next time?"

Levy barely got an agreement out before the other members of her team ushered her out the door. Lucy would swear one of them was grumbling something about a hot-shot writer, but they were too far away for her to be sure. Whatever they were talking about, Levy smacked them both on the arms before turning around and waving goodbye to Lucy. She waved back before returning to her now cold meal.

It wasn't noon yet however Lucy found that her day was now quite full. She now had some money so there was no reason to put off buying things like groceries and various other little things that she needed.

Then she'd have to write down everything that'd happened into her journal. She'd just barely managed to write out the events of Mt. Hakobe before she'd gone to sleep right after buying her apartment. That had only been about two days ago, yet it felt like forever to Lucy. There were now so many details that needed to be written down, she could only hope to remember it all.

Lucy would also have to work on Plue's contract or at least make a rough draft of it. While she would have to go on a mission tomorrow for more money and Plue wasn't the sort of spirit who was good at things like that; it would make Lucy feel better if she had the contact done sooner rather than later.

Now she would also have to translate the fictional stuff she'd had written into standard Fiorian. Not that she minded, Levy had seemed so excited to read her work that Lucy didn't want to disappoint her.

Still, Plue's contract alone would likely take up most of the day, what with all the legal jargon that went into creating a solid and equal contract. As much as she'd hate to admit it, writing for Levy would have to come last.