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A thirteen-year-old Natsu lies curled up, napping, next to Igneel as he waits for Anna to get back from town. She had said she was going to be picking something up for him as a surprise, so for the first hour or two he ran around, spewing fire everywhere before he wore himself out. Igneel's wing was tucked protectively around him as he sat watching the fields around them, in quiet conversation with the other dragons.
In the distance, he can see the form of who he believes is Anna. She is making her way towards them, but he notices that there is someone next to her. On instinct, he wraps his wing tighter around Natsu while also trying not to rouse the boy. The two forms continue to move closer to the collection of dragons. Slowly as they get closer he begins to take in the details of the figure next to Anna that, when he looks closer, seems to be a child.
The child had three piercings on each area where the eyebrows should be, they also had two more under their lip. They had shaggy black hair that was about shoulder length. Finally, they were shoeless, wearing tattered clothes. Whoever the child was, he was not impressed by their looks.
Finally, Anna stops in front of their semi-circle, setting down her bag of stuff from the town. The child stands next to her definitely, arms crossed in front of their chest. All conversation between the dragons stops as they look down at their companion and the new person. Their friend gives them a minute to look over the child before she begins speaking, "Everyone, this is Gajeel, I found him on the streets when I was visiting the town."
When she gets nothing in response she then turns towards Gajeel, she introduces each of the dragons before pointing to the sleeping Natsu. "And now Gajeel, this is one of the other people who will be training with you, his name is Natsu." Igneel doesn't overlook the fact that she must have already told him about their plans for him. But for now, he focuses his attention on this kid that she calls Gajeel, he doesn't exactly like how closed off and standoffish he seems.
If he focuses a bit more though he can hear that the child has a nervous heart which shows his true feelings. He is taken out of his thoughts when Metalicana steps forward and the boy's eyes are dragged up to his imposing form. Igneel can't help but snort a bit when he sees awe in the boy's eyes at the Iron Dragon's appearance.
As Metalicana speaks it is a deep grinding noise, a sound made by the deep iron in his lungs. "You, child, shall be working with me." There was some argument from Weisslogia and Skiadrum but they backed down after they got a look from the great Sky Dragoness. After the two stood down she decided to speak, though it was a tease targeted at the Iron Dragon, "It makes sense, he has your spunk."
The other shot her a dirty look before looking back down at the boy below him who seemed to have a permanent scowl set on his face. He returned the scowl down at the boy, the iron of his scales creaking as he did. "Now go boy, Anna will help you to settle in." Igneel expects them to head straight towards the cabin but Anna comes closer to him first. He is confused at first before realizing she is probably attempting to get to Natsu.
He lifts his wing so that she can go under to wake him. Natsu takes a second to wake but once he is up he jumps to his feet before grabbing Anna in a tight hug. The boy might still be young but he recently hit puberty so he shot up like a tree, now being taller than the celestial mage. He had also been working to grow his hair out so it's in a small ponytail at the base of his neck.
Anna laughs as she pats him on the back before breaking away from the hug, "Come on Natsu, I have someone I need to introduce you to." She leads him over to where Gajeel is standing, still not having moved from his original spot. "Natsu, this is Gajeel, he is going to train to be the Iron Dragon Slayer." Gajeel is staring up at Natsu as he looks back down at him, the two seemingly locked in a staring contest.
Anna sighed and clapped her hands, picking up the bag that she had set on the ground earlier. "Ok boys, let's go." She turns towards the direction of the cabin, Natsu quickly spins on his heel to follow after her with an excited "Ok Ms Anna." Igneel can't help but chuckle at his friend's response, "How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Anna." He keeps a small smile on his face as he watches the group make their way towards the cabin.
Natsu runs ahead towards the cabin bursting through the doors so they smack against the wall, he jumps in as he takes a deep breath of the air. The sun was still pretty high in the sky so there wasn't much of a need to light any candles, there were plenty of windows. Anna follows after him, she sighs when she can hear the resounding noise when the door hits against the wall. "Please do not break the door Natsu, it is very hard to get a new one."
The boy at least had the decency to look sheepish "Sorry." She lets out a quiet laugh as she moves farther into the cabin, setting the bag of stuff onto the counter, "It's ok but please be careful next time." She looks back to see that Gajeel is sort of just hovering in the doorway of the cabin as if he isn't sure he is allowed inside. "Come on Gajeel, it's ok, this is now your home as well."
He walks fully inside as he closes the door behind him, she flashes him a grateful smile. "So, I do not have any new clothes that I can give you, but I have some of Natsu's old clothes that he recently grew out of that I can give to you." She moves towards an area in the cabin that they use to store some excess things, she pulls out a basket, pulling out some old clothes. She grabs a shirt and a pair of pants that look like they would fit him.
She walks back over to the boy and hands him the clothes with a small smile on her face, her smile grows wider when he finally speaks up with a quiet "Thank you." He had talked to her a few times when they had still been in the town but that had been about it, she got the basics, like his name, Gajeel Redfox, his age, seven (at least that's what he thinks), and his living status, homeless. She gives him a soft smile in return, "You're welcome, now, Natsu can show you to the bathroom so you can wash up a bit, and once you're out I will hopefully have some food ready."
She quietly watches as Natsu leads Gajeel farther into the house, she then turns back to the bags on the counter. She slowly began to unpack the stuff that she had gotten from town, putting each thing where it belonged. She hears when Natsu comes back out, he situates himself in the normal chair that he sits in at the table. She continues to put things away, and once everything is away though she begins working on a meal.
Since she had just gone shopping it meant she could make something a bit more intricate than a basic stew like she had when Natsu had first joined them. She flits around the kitchen grabbing ingredients that she would need as well as the utensils. She grabbed Natsu for assistance in lighting the stove as it was more convenient at the moment. Once she had gotten the stove lit she shooed him back to his seat, cause if she kept him too close while cooking somehow the food would burn.
Once all of that was done she focused on her cooking, she busied herself around the kitchen. She chopped up some vegetables before throwing them into an old pan that looked like it was beginning to rust. As those sauteed, she turned to another area where she sliced up some beef into thin strips. She then transferred the vegetables into a bowl, setting them off to the side, before turning back to the beef.
She took a few strips of beef off the counter, then she turned to lay them into the pan. She smiles at the satisfying sizzle that begins to come from the pan as the beef cooks. She needed to make sure she made enough because Natsu had a pitless appetite and she doesn't know the last time that Gajeel may have had a proper meal. As the meat is cooking she pulls out a loaf of bread that had cost her a pretty penny, but it was better to use it now, before it went bad.
She hums as she slices the loaf up, once she finishes cutting up the bread she spins around the kitchen, grabbing 3 plates. She couldn't say that it was exactly something fancy, but it was better than the stew she had made for Natsu's arrival. She lays the plates out on the counter, she puts a slice of bread on each. She then grabs a fork using it to pull the strips of meat off of the pan and lay them onto the bread.
She finishes laying the meat out, then puts another piece of bread on top of each to make a simple sandwich. Finally, she picks up the bowl of vegetables, giving a bit more to the boys than she gave to herself since both of them are still growing. Once she finishes preparing the plates she turns around to set them on the table, she jumps when she sees Gajeel sitting there, he had slipped in without her knowing.
She gives him a small smile as she sets a plate in front of him, she then sets one in front of Natsu before turning back to the counter to grab her own. She grabs her plate, turns back to the table, and takes her seat. Gajeel had already begun to dig into his food with vigor, she smiled glad to see that he liked the food. Natsu is eating his food a bit slower, the whole time he eats his eyes are trained on the younger boy.
Anna eats her food in silence, watching the two boys with a close eye, hoping to gain a bit more insight into how their interactions may go in the future. She takes a second to let her eyes linger on Gajeel, his hair was still wet from washing up, it seemed like it needed to be brushed. Natsu's old clothes were a bit baggy, but that could be because the boy was a bit thin, she just needed to get some meat onto his bones.
But logically she knows that she needs to ease him into higher amounts of food. She will start with some lighter meals like this, with some better ingestible foods that are good for building nutrients. Later she can start to give him heavier meals, one that will fit well for the amount of energy he will be using in his training. That also makes her think, that she may need to stock up on Iron, if Metalicana is gonna be training the boy then he is gonna gain an appetite in the future.
She shakes her head a bit with a quiet sigh as her brain flicks through a checklist of things that she is going to need to do. She also still needs to find Slayers for the other three dragons, which means she will need to expand the cabin a bit. It has three official bedrooms and one small office kind of area that she had been using for storage. So that means she will need to use the boys to help her make three extension bedrooms, and possibly one more washroom, she is not living in a house with five children and sharing one washroom.
She tunes back into the world around her, ignoring her thoughts that are still running a mile a minute as she looks over the boys. Gajeel had finished his food and was silently staring at Natsu, while the other boy was finishing up with the last of his vegetables. The older boy was doing his best to ignore the eyes on him but she could the constant attention was putting him on edge.
Once Natsu finished eating his vegetables he turned to stare back at Gajeel with a raised eyebrow. His voice was a bit apprehensive as he spoke "Can I, help you?" The younger boy just continued to stare with a slight inquisitive look, seeming to study Natsu. He seemed to have gotten the answer he wanted as he gave a slight nod before turning back towards Anna.
She smiled with a slight huff of exasperation as she began to get a true feel of how life with these two was going to be. Anna stands, slowly gathering up the empty dishes and bringing them to sit on the counter, she would worry about cleaning them later. She then turned back to the boys, Natsu now staring at Gajeel as the other ignored him.
As she watched them her lips curled into a bit of a frown at the state of Gajeels hair, noting the way that it was matted in a few areas, she would need to fix that. She walked a bit closer kneeling next to the younger boy, he turned to look at her. "Gajeel, hun, is it ok if I brush your hair, it's a bit of a mess, and I want to make you comfortable." She offered him a soft smile that grew a bit when he gave a small nod.
She went to the washroom to grab the hairbrush before making her way back out to the dining room. She stood behind Gajeel, slowly working the knots out of his air, a quiet hum slipping from her. The light tune stretched on for a bit before Natsu got antsy as he began to talk about the day's training with Igneel.
She leans into Natsu's voice as she works the knots out of Gajeels's hair, feeling the boy relax under her touch. She relaxes into the atmosphere; this is something that she can get used to.
