Episode 6: In which they adopt a smol.
For some ungodly reason, the university decided to run an overnight stay for newly accepted students the week before finals. And of course, Levy had to volunteer herself to host one of these future freshmen. Maybe it was Lucy's fault for agreeing to Levy's idea, but on the morning of their guest's arrival, all she wanted to was shut herself in their room and sleep for days. Unfortunately, they had some last-minute cleaning to do.
"Hurry up! She'll be here any minute," Erza bellowed, every inch of her in Titania Mode, as their group liked to call it. Powerful and deadly as a dread queen.
"There's only one more left," Lucy shouted back, fumbling with the throw pillow she was supposed to be putting the cover back on. Erza had insisted they wash everything that could be washed, and the throw pillows on the couch were no exception.
Lucy spared a glance over at Erza in the kitchen, scrubbing down the stove for what was probably the fourth time.
"Erza, it's already spotless. Calm down before the prospie gets here; we don't want to intimidate her."
"How am I intimidating?" Erza said, glowering.
Lucy ignored the shiver running down her spine under Erza's gaze. "Your brow is furrowed and you're sweating a little from all the running around we've been doing." So was Lucy, for different reasons.
Erza did a quick armpit check. "Oh. You're right."
"The stove's fine, so go freshen up. She shouldn't be here for another ten minutes. I'll finish up out here."
Erza acquiesced, much to Lucy's relief. "But it better still be spotless, got it?"
"Relax, Erza. I'm not like Natsu."
"This is true," Erza said. Her face darkened again. "That reminds me, I'd better get the boys to do their cleaning too in case circumstances have us visiting their apartment with our guest. I can't have her witnessing such a pigsty."
"Save that for another time," Lucy said.
"You're right. I'll be right back."
When Erza returned, they sat together waiting impatiently for Levy to come back with their guest. Erza was stiff, but Lucy could tell she was itching to get up and pace. But, ever calm and collected, she sat still next to Lucy.
There was the telltale sound of a key in the lock, and Lucy sat up straight. A moment later, Levy apparently discovered that they'd left the door unlocked for her because it swung open and she stepped inside with the prospective student nervously behind her.
This girl was small and looked much younger than your usual high school senior. Her incredibly long, straight hair was pulled up in two high pigtails and she had wide brown eyes that drew straight to Lucy and Erza, smiling nervously. Lucy immediately liked her.
"These are my roommates, Erza and Lucy," Levy introduced. "As you both know, this is Wendy."
"Hi," Wendy said quietly.
"Hello," Lucy said. "You'll be staying with me and Levy. We're glad to have you."
"It looks spotless in here," Levy said, looking around. "Did Erza make you clean, Lu?"
Lucy snorted a laugh. "That's an understatement."
"We cannot allow a guest to deal with our squalor," Erza said.
"What squalor? We're all neat freaks, so our apartment is actually pretty clean," Levy said to Wendy. "But this level of perfection is unusual. It hardly looks lived in," Levy added, glancing at Erza with a bemused smile.
"I clean when I'm nervous," Erza mumbled, averting her eyes.
Levy laughed. "Aww, don't get shy! Wendy, come this way and you can put down your stuff. They gave us some spare time before your activities start, so why don't we go get lunch with everyone? Is that okay? I don't want to overwhelm you."
"That sounds great," Wendy said enthusiastically.
"Great!" Levy said. "We'll take you out, our treat." She simply winked in response to Wendy's protests as they walked back to Levy and Lucy's room. Wendy put down her duffel bag by the mattress they'd laid out for her on the floor, and they all went out together to lunch at a nearby café.
Turns out Wendy was paired with Levy because they were both interested in an art field, although Wendy's was quite different: music. She was accepted to the program and was at the university to determine if she really wanted to pursue it. Playing in an orchestra was her dream, but the fact that she had more theater experience made her feel obligated to lean in that direction.
"I think you should go for music," Levy said. "If you want to play an instrument, then do just that."
"But I don't have the experience," Wendy said. "Those spots are limited at a school like this. It should go to someone who deserves it more than I do. I've mostly done theater, so it feels wrong for me to jump ahead of people who have been dedicated to band since the beginning."
"But you're here and you passed the auditions. The school obviously thinks you deserve it."
"I'm just uncertain," Wendy said.
Lucy didn't know what to say to all this; she'd been set in her path since the beginning. Well, that wasn't entirely true — she did consider studying literature or psychology, and even business — but once she let herself follow her heart, painting had become an easy choice.
Levy seemed pensive, but ultimately didn't prod Wendy any further. After lunch, Levy took Wendy to the prospective student activities, and Lucy didn't meet up with them again until they ran into each other in the art building.
"Oh, hi!" Lucy said when the elevator doors opened to reveal her friend and their guest. She, Natsu, and Erza scooted over to make room for two additional bodies.
"I'm giving her a tour of the arts building real quick," Levy said, pushing the "close doors" button.
"It's a good time to be here, too. They're setting up the senior art show," Lucy said. In fact, Lucy was helping Erza carry her senior project prints right now, the ones from the photoshoot she had Natsu and Lucy appear in. Huge ones. Giant poster-sized prints.
"Levy, how is your project going?" Erza asked, seeming oblivious to the way their guest was turning a bright shade of red.
"It's going well," Levy said, looking between Wendy and the photographs. "Um, Erza, you might want to turn your images the other way."
"What do you mean?"
"I think you're making Wendy uncomfortable," Lucy said.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Erza shifted the photographs so they were facing the front of the elevator rather than toward Wendy.
"Are…are you the ones in the photographs?" Wendy asked shyly, looking at Lucy and Natsu.
"Aye," Natsu said, grinning. "We look good, huh?"
"Natsu," Lucy scolded, elbowing his arm.
"What? I think they turned out great."
"Yeah, and we're also practically naked in them. You can't just ask her if we 'look good.'"
"You're all terrible," Levy said, wrapping her arms around Wendy and pulling her close. "You're ruining her innocence."
"I really don't mind," Wendy said quietly. "I do think they're great photographs. It's just…strange to see them next to the subjects."
Now Lucy was turning red as well. "Erza's shoot was about vulnerability," she explained. "Nudity was an obvious choice, but the poses themselves are actually really ingenious. Erza's a really gifted photographer."
The elevator doors opened and Erza stepped out first, maneuvering the huge prints through the doors. They helped Erza get the prints to her little corner of the senior art show, and Erza launched into an explanation of her works for Wendy while Levy took Lucy aside to talk about dinner plans. The school said that hosts would take their young charges out to dinner (preferably at the school cafeteria, but it was too expensive for Levy to entertain that idea), and originally Levy was going to take Wendy out for a casual dinner, but now she was suggesting that they have a pasta party at the girls' apartment.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lucy said. "I thought we didn't want to overwhelm her."
"It's fine," Levy said. "I need her to meet Gajeel and he won't do it unless I disguise it as a larger gathering."
"Why do you want her to meet Gajeel?"
"You'll see."
"It better not be some weird reason," Lucy said.
"Don't you trust me?"
"Only sometimes."
They had dinner at the girls' apartment as Levy planned, all eight people crammed into the living room while Juvia and Levy figured out the cooking.
They went around in turn, each of them stating their name. Lucy seriously doubted Wendy would be able to remember all their names after hearing them once, but they could always tell her again later.
"…and that's the whole gang," Lucy concluded, hands on her hips.
"The only one missing is Jellal," Erza said.
"Jellal?"
"Erza's imaginary friend," Natsu told Wendy.
"He's not imaginary," Erza said.
"But he's never around so he might as well be," Natsu said, earning himself a harsh glare from Erza. He wisely shut his mouth. They'd managed to cure Erza of her habit of using physical force when agitated, but she was still a force to be reckoned with. Mess with Erza and she would mess you up.
"He was Gajeel's roommate, but right now he's abroad. You won't be meeting him," Erza said.
"One less name to remember, huh?" Lucy said, giving Wendy a wink. She laughed in response.
"Wendy," Levy called from the kitchen, "why don't you tell them what you were telling us at lunch?"
Wendy hesitated, trying to remember what Levy was referring to.
Levy left the cooking up to Juvia for a moment and sat down on the arm of the couch next to Gajeel. "I mean, your concerns about taking the music acceptance here as opposed to doing theater."
Wendy nodded. "Oh, that," she said. She repeated her story while the larger group listened.
The second time around, Wendy seemed to have a better idea of how to word things, because Lucy was starting to understand Wendy's hesitation. For Lucy, going into painting hadn't been a difficult choice because she knew her main hobby — writing — wasn't something she wanted to do as a career. But Wendy didn't have that certainty, so her two passions were conflicting with each other.
"If your dream has changed, that's okay," Erza said slowly, "but I wouldn't hesitate to take an acceptance just because you weren't in band in high school. Like Levy said earlier today, the music professors obviously thought you deserved it when they accepted you."
Wendy nodded. "Yeah," she said simply.
"Gajeel, why don't you say something?" Levy said, nudging his shoulder.
"Why should I have to?" Gajeel grumbled.
"Come on, I can tell you're itching to say something."
Gajeel scowled and crossed his arms.
Levy turned to Wendy with a conspiring expression. "You know," she said quietly, "Gajeel was almost a music major."
Gajeel turned to her in protest as everyone else shouted out in shock. This was new information. Lucy knew he liked jazz, but that was about the extent of his involvement in music. Or, so she thought.
Natsu said what all of them were thinking: "Gajeel? A music major?" His nose wrinkled in a mixture of confusion and disgust.
Levy giggled. "He didn't pass the auditions," she said, meeting Gajeel's glare with a cheeky grin.
"Shut it, Shrimp. I didn't tell you that so you could spread it around," he said.
"So? What instrument do you play?" Erza said.
"Guitar," Natsu said. "Definitely guitar."
"Does he play it at home?" Lucy asked. It was her first time hearing about it.
"Yeah, and sings. He only does it when he thinks no one's there."
"Is Gajeel a good singer?" Juvia asked.
"I'm decent," Gajeel said at the same time as Natsu said, "He's awful." They glared at each other.
"Is that why you transferred here?" Lucy said, continuing the conversation quickly before they started fighting.
"Nah, that was before I entered my old school. Sculpture was my second choice because I like making stuff with metal but I ain't got the patience to fix things like a mechanic, so when I got rejected, I made my major that instead. I ended up switching here 'cause there's a metalworking program and they let me use their shop."
"So everything worked out in the end," Lucy concluded.
Gajeel turned to Wendy. "Listen, kid, you already got the acceptance, so you better do it, ya hear? No chickening out. You've earned it."
"Got it," Wendy said, nodding firmly. There was still some hesitation in her eyes, but her smile was confident.
"We'll take good care of you," Gray said, habitually placing a hand on Wendy's head. "If there's anything you want to know about this school, just ask. We've been here long enough that we should know most things, or at least know where to look for the answers."
"Be careful, Wendy," Juvia said, arriving in the living room with a full pot of pasta and a stack of plates.
Seeing the food finished, Levy jumped up to fetch the rest.
"It seems like Wendy is being adopted into the group," Juvia continued. "Once she is adopted, there is no escape. Juvia learned that the hard way."
"Hey, it's not all bad, is it?" Gray said.
Juvia smiled. "Of course not. Juvia is simply warning her in case she wishes to avoid it."
"I-I don't mind," Wendy said. "I'm thankful for the help."
"We can be a little overbearing when we're all together like this," Lucy said. "Feel free to say 'no' anytime."
"Hey, she can replace Erza," Natsu said. "Erza's not gonna be in school anymore next year, and Wendy's coming in."
Wendy giggled. "I don't think I could replace someone like Erza," she said.
"She learns fast," Erza said. "You trying to replace me, Natsu?"
"No, ma'am," Natsu said quickly.
Food out and plates distributed, they all began serving themselves (some took more generous portions than the rest) and continued their chatter over the sound of forks clinking against plates and Gajeel fighting with Natsu over the last helping of pasta.
In only a week, Erza would be graduating. By the time next semester rolled around, the rest of the gang would all be seniors, and their young guest would likely be their underclassman. Time was flying by.
For some reason, though, Lucy wasn't afraid of all the changes to come. It was thanks to her friends that she was able to live such a bright and colorful life amidst the struggles of young adulthood. She'd become a family with these Fairy Tail friends of hers, and no matter where their lives took them, family they would remain. Of that she was certain.