Fairies, Misfits & Little Brats .2

2. Gajeel Gets a Phone Call

4th June 2012

The sound of screaming startles Natsu awake.

"What the hell...?" He lifts his head up, bleary-eyed and stiff-necked. He's laying on the tatty leather sofa in Gajeel's apartment, his head in a soft lap, his lower legs and feet dangling off the edge. The screaming seems to be coming from right under his ear; the boy leans up with one hand, looking up to be met with Erza's dry expression. She arches an eyebrow.

"You fell asleep on me," she deadpans.

"Your ass is screaming," he mumbles back, running a hand through his spiky pink hair and yawning as she rolls her eyes. Her long scarlet hair spills over her shoulder as she stands up, bumping him off her lap in the process; she then fishes in the back pocket of her tight jeans for the vibrating cell-phone.

"Ooh iyit?" Natsu asks through a yawn, raising his arms in a stretch.

The red-head ignores him, glancing at the phone in her hand. "He sure has a unique taste in ringtones," she murmurs more to herself than the sleepy teenager, examining the device with a speculative expression as it continues to buzz, shrieking like a banshee.

Natsu snorts, standing up and leaning over her shoulder to check the caller ID. "Romeo probably changed it while Gajeel wasn't looking. Where is he, anyway?" He glances around and realise there's only him and Erza.

The tiny apartment is surprisingly clean for a teenage boy who lives alone; were it not for the empty beer cans and food packets strewn across the kitchen table, the interwoven wires of a game console under the tv, and the books laying open on the floor – a telltale sign of a high-schooler – you wouldn't really be able to tell that he lived here at all.

Erza flips the phone open, stares at the number impassively for a second, and quickly hangs up without answering. "I'm hungry so he went to find cake for me," she tells Natsu in a matter-of-fact way, tossing Gajeel's mobile back on the sofa.

The pink-haired boy nods, not even bothering to mention that she's just as capable of cake-hunting as he is, and sits back down on the sofa. The worn cushion gives under his weight, squishing down into the frame. Kicking off his shoes, Natsu curls up again with his head on the arm-rest and grins up at the red-head. "What's up?"

Erza throws her friend a weary look. "You are ridiculously lazy." She then delicately steps over the textbooks on the floor and walks to the kitchen, electing to sit on one of the four tall stools by the table rather than fight for her spot on the sofa.

They settle into a comfortable silence.

One of the great things about Erza is that she manages to make the air around her comfortable. When she's around, it's easy to relax, and it doesn't surprise Natsu that he feels himself drifting again. Yawning, he snuggles into the soft material of the couch.

All he hears is the ticking of the clock, and their steady breathing. Just one more quick nap, then he'll go home. He'll only close my eyes for a bit...

Another scream in his ear makes him jump, fall off the sofa and land right on his ass.

"Jesus Christ!" the boy yells at the phone angrily. "Shut up!"

He scowls at the thing as it continues to light up. Erza giggles from her perch on the stool at the sight of him scrambling off the floor and making a grab for the phone. Natsu's just about ready to throw it to the ground and stamp on the thing when the front door clicks open and in walks Gajeel.

"Natsu, don't break my phone, you idiot," he says, half-exasperated, half-amused as he kicks the door shut behind him.

The salmon-haired teenager glares at the newcomer. "Romeo changed your ringtone again. Keep a closer eye on your phone!"

"Hey, he's your brother," Gajeel defends himself, shuffling towards the kitchen. He's laden with boxes, both big and small, and a sweet smell drifts towards Natsu. He sniffs, recognises the scent, and grins. "Nice choice," Erza compliments with a gleeful glint in her eye, already taking the box at the very top of the pile and opening it with a fork.

As Gajeel dumps the rest on the already crowded kitchen table, Natsu reaches out for a box of his own. From the smell, he can tell it's something with strawberry in it – strawberry and whipped cream and toffee and chocolate and banana and fudge and rainbow sprink-

"Quit drooling on my floor," Gajeel snaps at him, breaking him out of his temporary dessert-induced coma. The new arrival is standing in front of him, holding out an expectant leather-clad hand. "Phone."

Natsu would be lying if he said that Gajeel looked normal; the guy's got piercings running up both ears, eyebrows, even down the sides of his nose. But somehow, he manages to pull that off– that, as well as the foot-long mane of black hair that he sports so proudly. His appearance, coupled with his offensive attitude and easy insults, don't make him the most approachable of the pink-haired teen's friends.

But Natsu could totally take him.

However, a second glance at the Gajeel tells him he's too busy grinning at an over-excited Erza flitting between boxes of cakes and tarts to pay any attention to being sized up. Natsu hands it to him and side-steps so he can get the sweet-smelling heaven of pastries on the table.

"Who was it?"

"Dunno. Some number."

"Wow, thanks," the dark-haired boy says sarcastically, rolling his eyes and turning to walk into his room, presumably to call back.

"Here to help!" Natsu calls behind him with a chuckle, and turns to choose from the buffet of deliciousness lying on the table in front of him. Just as he reaches for the box closest to him – it smells like a hearty banoffee pie - Erza mercilessly slaps his hand away.

"Hey!" He holds his hand to his chest, nursing the stinging flesh. She doesn't even look up at the remark. "Erza?"

She pauses in her chewing; her hair falls over one eye as she throws the boy a glower so threatening it stops him in his tracks. She's one of his best friends but damn, the girl's scary. "Mine," she pretty much snarls.

Natsu stays still, staring wide-eyed as she gets back to work on her fifth helping, a soft yellow sponge with icing almost as red as her hair. The dark aura around her has almost dissipated when his stomach growls loud and clear. The sugary smell is making his mouth water, and he reaches forward again hesitantly.

"Natsu," she says warningly, watching her friend with narrowed eyes.

"Bu-But..." He pouts. "Food..."

"Go back to sleep, you're annoying me."

"Erza! You're so mean!"

"Mine."

He whines, "Erza!"

"No. My cake." She looks delighted as she inelegantly speaks through a big mouthful of lemon meringue pie. "Mine."

"You're kidding, right?" She ignores him. "Erza, you're so greedy - so mean! How can you deny me food? I'm a growing boy, I need sustenance! Look," he insists, lifting up the hem of his shirt to reveal a six-pack, "I'm withering away to nothing!"

She doesn't hesitate to hit him.

Doubling over, Natsu wheezes as she happily returns to her plate. "Do-Doesn't hurt a bit," he chokes out, clutching at what has to be a bruise. And then, for some unfathomable reason she slaps the back of his head; he face-plants the linoleum tiles.

"Natsu, what the hell are you doing?" Gajeel's snide voice brings his attention back to the situation at hand. Natsu needs cake.

"Gajeel!" he yells triumphantly into the floor, pain forgotten – he still can't get up, though. "Help me get food! You hold her, I'll eat! We can take her, you and me! Teamwork's the way to go!"

To Natsu's dismay, all he gets in reply is a "Shut up," and another giggle from Erza.

"Gajeel, you traitor," the teenager mumbles weakly, wincing as he gets up on his knees. "Erza, I think you broke my stomach muscle."

"You can't break stomach muscle, Natsu."

"Well, you wouldn't know, would you?"

"What?"

"Nothing!" Natsu leaps up and brushes himself off. "Nothing at all! Did I say something, because I don't think I said something, did I say something, Gaje-"

The pierced teen cuts him off without even sparing him a glance, having taken a seat at the far end of the table and now pulling the smallest of the boxes towards himself. "Natsu, go back to sleep, you're too loud."

The rose-haired youth gapes at his 'friend'. He looks back at him innocently – or as innocently as someone like Gajeel can – and chews on what appears to be a rye loaf.

"You're surrounded by all this and that's what you choose?" He knew it, Gajeel's not human.

"Geehee." Ignoring Erza's little outcry of "Mine!" he takes a big bite out of the tough bread. "S'got lotsh" – he pauses, swallowing – "of iron. Good for building muscle, good for fighting disease." He bites another huge chunk out of the loaf. "Tashtes great, choo."

Natsu stares at him, open-mouthed. "You're disgusting."

"Gajeel, did you call back?"

"Huh?" The youngest boy looks confused by Erza's question and Natsu snorts back his laughter; with his mouth full like that, Gajeel looks like some demented biker-bunny. Twisting into the seat beside him, the hungry teen cautiously reaches for a box. Erza isn't looking, so he's sure he can just-

"Natsu."

"Aye!" he yelps, dropping hishand under the table. She stares at him and he cowers under her gaze – so scary – but her face unexpectedly breaks into a fond smile, and she goes back to questioning Gajeel about the call.

Natsu lets out a little sigh of relief before ripping the box open. He hopes it's a banana muffin, or wait, no, maybe a slice of toffee cake, or wait, maybe a banoffee pie! He eagerly grabs his prize out of the box and he's about to take a bite of the delicious sweet pastry when – wait, what?

Gajeel casually reaches forward and takes the rye loaf out of Natsu's limp hand. "Yeah, I called back just now. Why?"

"I recognised the number from somewhere. Who was it?" Natsu lifts his head from the table to glance at her in surprise. Erza's tone is oddly serious.

Gajeel looks surprised. "You know it? It was some kid from Metalicana asking fo-"

"What the hell's Metalicana?" Natsu interrupts, confused. Erza shoots him an irritated look as Gajeel shakes his head.

"How you manage to be so stupid, I don't know," he remarks in bewilderment.

"This coming from the guy who believes in ghosts?" the pink-haired boy shoots back.

"Only a fool wouldn't believe in phantoms," Gajeel says in an offhand way, brushing the comment aside. "My Dad's garage, you idiot. You were there just a week ago!"

Natsu shrugs, not remembering a thing.

"You tried to set fire to the lubricating oil."

Realisation dawns on him. "Oh, yeah... Heh, that was grea-" He snaps his mouth shut when he catches sight of Erza's impatient expression, and waves a hand in dismissal. "Nevermind, go on."

Gajeel smirks. "Yeah, Shrimp wanted help with something." He shakes his head, looking exasperated. "I've never met someone so annoying." He glances at Natsu and seems to think that over. "Well, maybe one other person..."

Erza interrupts his thoughts anticipatorily. "Shrimp?" she asks, looking oddly hopeful.

Gajeel frowns in confusion. "Why so interested?"

"I'm not."

He shrugs. "Okay, then."

Natsu glances in confusion from Gajeel, who looks bored, to Erza, who's pensively staring at the table like it holds the answer to all of life's questions. An awkward pause settles in the room until she breaks it again. "What colour is their hair?"

"Huh?" the dark-haired teen says lamely.

She sighs impatiently. "Hair," she repeats, holding some of her own scarlet locks in her fingers and brandishing it towards a sceptical Gajeel. "What colour is Shrimp's hair?"

"Uh..." He stares at her, looking a bit apprehensive. "Blue?"

Her eyes widen and she takes a sharp intake of breath.

"Erza, everything okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be? Everything's fine. It's fine, Gajeel, it's fine."

"Uh... That's... good?" He doesn't pursue it, seemingly decided that it's best to leave her to her thoughts, and is about to take another bite out of the bread when Erza starts again.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Who is it?" she asks eagerly. "This 'Shrimp' guy, who is he? What's he like? What does he look like? What's his name?"

Gajeel blinks at her. "It's a girl."

In any other situation, Natsu would have cracked up at the fiery-haired girl's flabbergasted expression, but right now, it doesn't really feel appropriate.

"W-what?"

"Yeah, Lenny or something. Blue hair, half my size, loud voice, annoying as fuck? She can't handle metal to save her life and has her face glued to a notepad half the ti-..." He trails off as Erza visibly deflates at his description. There's a painful silence as Natsu's charcoal eyes flit between the bewildered boy and the undeniably depressed girl.

"What did she want?" he asks suddenly, hating the new lost look in Erza's eyes. She'd clearly been expecting someone else and Natsu almost doesn't want to ask who; she doesn't talk about her past often, and it's not hard to guess why.

"Uh..." Gajeel hesitates, staring at Erza's unusually bleak expression. "Her car broke down or something. Thought I could help."

"Can you?"

He shrugs. "Probably. Don't mean I will, though."

The three youngsters sit uncomfortably in the silence that follows, the boys not knowing where to look, Erza staring at nothing with an absent look on her face – she looks scared, like she's reliving some painful memory.

Natsu doesn't know what to do but he knows he needs to do something because Erza is not supposed to look that vulnerable. She's supposed to be strong and happy and frustratingly possessive over strawberry cake, not so disappointed, not so sad-

She abruptly stands up and he breathes in sharply.

She blinks once, and shakes her head a little to clear her mind. It causes her hair falls over her eye again and she brushes it away impatiently before alternating a stare between the raven- and rose-haired boys. "Let's go."

They simultaneously say, "Huh?"

She's still got a hint of that broken expression left in her eye, but over-shadowing it is a dauntless determination that Natsu feels instantly weary of. And he can't help the guilt that blooms in his stomach, despite not knowing why it's there.

"We're going to help your friend. There's no honour in ignoring the cries of those in trouble. Come on," she says matter-of-factly, standing up and pushing away her plate (which is empty save the breadcrumbs). "We will give them all we have to offer. Don't argue, Gajeel – this is the right thing to do." She wanders away from the table with a strong stride, her righteous words sounding very Erza-like and almost quelling Natsu's anxiety – almost. "Let's go, get ready. Where are my shoes?"

"I-..." Gajeel says stupidly, still a bit befuddled by Erza's mood swings. "I... would hardly call her my friend."

Natsu can't help his smirk. "You'd hardly call us your friends." He jumps off the stool with recovered enthusiasm – as long as Erza's fine, everything's fine. He raps his knuckles on his buddy's head teasingly. "Skull so thick, nothing gets through. S'all the iron you eat, your bones are turning to steel."

Gajeel throws his friend a dirty look. "You're not really one to talk, hothead. Didn't you try to eat fire once?"

"The way I remember it, I didn't just try-"

"Boys!" Erza snaps. "Let's go! Gajeel, stop wasting time."

Natsu smirks as the rebellious boy scrambles off the stool and starts stuffing his feet into his shoes. It's nice to see that even Gajeel can be bossed around a bit. Said teen catches Natsu's eye, and scowls. "Something funny?"

"I don't know, Gajeel. Is something fu-"

"Natsu, hurry up!"

He yelps, "Aye!" and tries his best to ignore Gajeel's cackling.

"Real smooth, hothead," he sneers, leaning down to fix one of the lace-ups.

Natsu shrugs on his soot leather jacket, unaffected. "What? Erza's scary."

Gajeel scoffs. "She's just a gi-"

"Boys!" They whip round and stare at the impressive figure standing in the doorway; Erza's got her purse in hand, hand on hip, boots laced, coat zipped, and scarlet hair back in her face. She blows her bangs out of her eyes absent-mindedly, eyeing Gajeel fiercely before turning and prancing out the door.

"- ...definitely terrifying. Whole different species," Gajeel amends, hurriedly ensuing Erza out of his apartment.

Snickering, Natsu grabs the keys he left on the table in his haste, and follows suit.

* ~ [FMLB] ~ *

"Erza, did you really have to bring the cake?"

"This," she remarks, holding up the small box she's eating out of, "is strawberry cake." Her tone suggests that it's crazy to ask such a stupid question, and that it's perfectly reasonable to have six boxes piled up on her lap. Natsu watch dubiously as she pries the first one open and prepares to eat.

"Why'd you have to bring it though? Just the smell of food while we're travelling is making me..." He presses a hand to his stomach, grimacing. "Nauseous."

She rolls her eyes, piercing a slice with her fork. "It could have gone soggy."

"That's what fridges were made for," he mumbles dejectedly, stomach churning.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Right." She lifts a forkful of dessert to her mouth, effectively halting the conversation.

"Erza," Gajeel calls from the driver's seat, "I swear to God if you get some on the seat..." She ignores him, looking blissful with her face stuffed full. "Erza, seriously. This car isn't even mine – don't forget my dad doesn't know I'm using it. So for God's sake," he insists, starting up the engine as he scrutinises her through the rear-view mirror, "be careful."

"Gajeel, you do know where we're going, right?" the salmon-haired boy asks, shuddering as the car pulls out onto the quiet road of downtown Magnolia.

"Yeah, Shrimp gave me a couple directions before I hung up on her."

"And you think you can get her car going?"

"Are you kidding?" he exclaims, patting the case of tools on the passenger's seat almost reverently. "With these babies, there ain't nothing I can't fix."

"Right," Natsu grins uneasily. "Although, I wish you'd let us walk instead of- ah!" The car suddenly swerves, and something somersaults in the nauseated boy's stomach.

"Natsu..." Gajeel growls warningly, watching the older boy keel over onto the empty seat beside him in the rear-view mirror. "Don't you fucking dare."

Natsu groans quietly, feeling hopelessly queasy. "The cake smells really..."

"Natsu..."

He can feel the vehicle rumbling through the seat and it causes a whole new lurching in the pits of his belly. He groans again, louder, and squeezes his eyes shut. "Gajeel, can't you go a bit slower, please..."

"We're going at fifteen an hour." Natsu can almost hear the driver rolling his eyes. "You fucking embarrassment."

"He lasted for almost a minute before the sickness this time," Erza notes speculatively, having already emptied every box and now playing with the plastic fork thoughtfully. "It's a record."

The car shudders again under Natsu's cheek and he moans shamelessly. "Gajeel! Slower..." The constant motion has the teenager keening like a dying animal. "Please..."

"You're absolutely pathetic."

Natsu can't even muster the energy to snap something back at him anymore, and instead elects for a very disgruntled whine.

* ~ [FMLB] ~ *

"Wooh!" The rose-haired youth stretches his arms above his head, his unusually sharp canines giving a wolfish quality to his wide grin. "Sure feels good to be on solid ground again. That was torturous! I wish I was a caveman, they didn't have to deal with this stuff."

"Moron," Gajeel mutters from behind him. Natsu turns to see his friend dragging his toolbox out of the car. "We were on the road for less than ten minutes."

"That's ten minutes too long."

"Or maybe you just need to grow a backbone."

"What was that, stupid?!"

"Who you callin' stupid, hothead?!"

"Oi, knock it off!" Erza butts in, shutting them up effectively. Gajeel kneels and checks all of his tools are in place as she steps out of the car and takes in their surroundings with a frown. "Where are your friends, Gajeel?"

"They ain't my friends," the black-haired boy mutters grumpily. Her frown deepens – a fact that doesn't go unnoticed by him. "She said they were right outside Magnolia Cake Shop, Erza," he sighs. "Maybe Shrimp finally got the car working or something, I don't know." He chuckles under his breath. "Though I doubt it very much."

"Well, it's right there," Natsu pipes up, gesturing with an arm to the shop window behind the scarlet-haired girl.

"So where are they?" Sounding less than impressed, Erza turns and they both look around sceptically. "W-wait..." She suddenly freezes, her eyes wide.

"What?" Natsu blink.

"C... Cake shop?"

His eyes widen. "Erza..."

"I-..." She seems conflicted. "I... I'm going to go to the cake shop."

"You just had six slices of strawberry cake!" He exclaims, outraged. "Besides, you can't abandon the mission halfway through!"

"What mission?" Gajeel mumbles, still kneeling on the ground.

"Look, I'll only be a couple minutes!" Erza insists, ignoring Gajeel completely. "Besides," she adds on guiltily. "I don't really need to be there, right? They don't know me."

"You're a giver-uper!" Natsu scolds her. "I can't believe you."

"I am not!" she cries, incensed. "I'll only get one slice anyway. Just look for them while I'm-"

"-being a giver-uper."

"Natsu, stop calling me that!"

"Giver-uper, giver-uper, giver-uper, giv- OW!" He rubs his stinging forehead with gentle fingers. "You're so mean, Erza..."

She rolls her eyes, looking like she's had enough. "Deal with it." She spins round and makes her way to the door of the store behind her. "Gajeel, don't let Natsu do something stup- umm..." She trails off, glancing at her pink-haired friend. He sticks his tongue out at her grumpily. "Stupider than usual," she finishes lamely.

"At least I'm going on the mission," Natsu whines as Gajeel loudly groans, "Erza, I can't believe you're leaving me with him!"

"Hey!" Natsu glares at the younger boy indignantly. "I'm a great teammate, you jerk!"

"Shut up and act your age."

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"Shut up. Come on."

"Gajeel, you're meaner than Erza."

('The day a reckless pink-haired idiot gives Lucy a concussion is the day her life changes forever; before she knows it, she's thrust into a world full of charismatic friends and villains alike. Welcome to the cosy insanity of Fairy Tail, home of outsiders. And you know what? For the first time in her life, Lucy feels like she actually belongs, misfit and all.')

www.fanfiction.net/s/9464601/2/Fairies-Misfits-Little-Brats