6. Tales Around the Kitchen Table
5th June 2012
I tug at the t-shirt I'm wearing right now, courtesy of Erza's wardrobe – turns out she really does live right next door. She'd been kind enough to lend me a shirt to change into after I'd washed up a bit.
"Hey, Levy?" Jellal shifts on his stool so that he's facing his sister.
"Yeah?" Levy turns to her left and sends her brother a questioning look. To her right Erza eats her food quietly; to Erza's right sits Natsu, and beside him is me, followed by Gray, Juvia, Jellal, and back to Levy. Gajeel seems to have disappeared after last night but I've yet to ask about him.
A secret smile hides behind Erza's twitching lips and I get the feeling she knows exactly what Jellal's going to ask; I smirk and bring an elbow up to rest on the table, thinking along the same lines as her.
And like a good little boy, Jellal doesn't disappoint. "What was my first kiss like?" he asks Levy, his hazel eyes innocent and curious.
I hear Gray cough from my left as he chokes on his food. "What the hell?" he asks, his eyebrow cocked at Jellal.
"Apparently it was at the hospital," the older boy shrugs. "I want to know."
Natsu chuckles from beside me, a wide grin on his face as he runs a hand through his drying pink hair. "What's this first kiss crap about?"
"We were talking about the events of last night," Levy supplies for Natsu, a wicked grin on her lips as she sends the salmon-haired boy a suggestive look. "And somehow the conversation went from first kisses to Jellal's first kiss, and brought to light the fact that he doesn't actually remember said kiss."
"Sure, sure," Natsu brushes aside, completely dismissing her joke at his expense. Or maybe he just didn't notice – I wouldn't put it past him. "But what's this stuff about a hospital?" he continues, shooting the blue-haired boy a questioning look.
Jellal scrutinises Natsu for a second before taking a deep breath, looking like he's preparing to explain something he has to talk about way too often. He begins, "A couple years ago-"
"How many?" Erza cuts in before he can get five words into the story. I glance at her; her eyes are guarded, narrowed and scrutinising Jellal.
The cobalt-haired teen sends her a weird look. "I dunno, six?"
Juvia shakes her head. "It was nearly nine years ago. Juvia remembers Wendy's fifth birthday in the hospital."
I stare at Jellal, eyes accusatory. "You'd think you'd remember something like that, Jellal!"
He shoots me a sarcastic look. "Ha. Funny."
"I wasn't making an amnesia joke, idiot."
"Guys," Natsu whines. "Hello? Hospital?"
"Sorry, Natsu," Levy cuts over us quickly. "Anyway, nine years ago, Jellal got into this accident and-"
"What accident?" Erza butts in again. When Jellal frowns at Erza's continued interruptions, she blinks innocently and lifts a forkful of fruit to her mouth. Her question hangs in the air.
"Housefire," he says shortly, sounding dismissive. "Killed our parents."
Natsu lean back in his seat as a sudden hush settles in the kitchen. "Shit," he says lowly, his tone apologetic. "We probably shouldn't have asked-"
Juvia shakes her head, her curls bouncing. "It's okay," she insists, smiling happily at Natsu. "It was a long time ago."
I purse my lips and look down at my cereal. Even if the Loxars don't mind talking about their parents' death, I do; I can tell Gray feels the same by the way his shoulders slump and his eyebrows draw together.
Levy clears her throat, trying to dispel the tense atmosphere. "Wendy was four at the time. She was caught in the fire, but-" she pauses and starts to grin "-Mr. Hero here-" she pats her brother on the back, surprising him "-saved her."
Jellal glances up at the sudden contact and his gaze catches Natsu's, a painfully modest smile sneaking its way onto his face. "Juvia would have if she could, but the firemen caught her before she could re-enter the building." I don't miss Juvia's slight flinch, but before I can react to it, her facial expression smoothes over again. I bite my lip, frowning.
They're not completely unaffected, after all. I guess incidents like the fire always leave scars, even if they're not visible to the human eye. No matter how well someone covers them up, there will always be at least one mark – one change to their character that they can't affect, no matter how hard they try.
"But," Jellal continues, snapping me out of my thoughts. He touches the tattoo that runs across his cheek, his words unknowingly adding insult to injury as he says, "I got scars all along this side of my face – this tattoo is to hide them. Anyway," he casually changes the subject, "while I was in the hospital I accidentally got hold of some drugs that messed up my head, and-"
"That made him lose his memory," Levy interrupts, rolling her eyes. "Why he insists he has brain damage, I don't know."
I laugh along with everyone else, but as I do my gaze comes to rest on Erza. She doesn't join in with the rest of us, instead examining the sliced strawberry on her fork with an unreadable expression, lost in thought. Natsu pipes up before I have the chance to call her out on it; "But then how d'ya know you kissed some girl while you were in there? If you lost your memory, I mean."
Juvia giggles as Levy deadpans, "Because Juvia, Wendy and I walked in on it."
"What?" This is news to Jellal. He gives his older sister a flustered glance, his hazel eyes incredulous. "All three of you!?"
"And Grandine," Juvia corrects. "You weren't very discreet," she confesses to him. "Juvia didn't really have a choice; you were standing in the very middle of an empty room, Jellal."
"Wait, wait, wait," Natsu interrupts as Jellal grimaces; the pink-haired boy has a wide smirk on his face and for the third time, I notice how unusually sharp his canines are. It makes his already boyish grin look adorable, or impish even. "Start from the beginning," he insists to Levy, inadvertently deeming her the storyteller.
I smile at his enthusiasm and rest my chin on my hand, winking at my best friend. "And leave nothing out."
The petite blunette smiles back at me gleefully. "I won't, Lu-chan." Without a moment's hesitation, she launches straight into the tale; "The four of us were visiting for Wendy's birthday – it was..." She trails off, screwing her face up as she tries to remember. "Two weeks?" She looks questioningly at Jellal, who gives her a look as if to say 'you're asking me?' She shrugs and continues, "Two or so weeks after the fire."
I interrupt before Levy can continue. "The fire was on the 30th of November 2002, Levy. Do the math."
She purses her lips. "Well, Wendy was born on the 11th of December, so that's-"
"Twelve days," I interrupt again, frowning slightly. She should know this.
"Thanks, Lu-chan!" Levy beams at me, not at all affected. Gray scoffs under his breath, so quietly that only I hear. Neither of us understands the carefree attitude all the Loxars have when it comes to the death of their parents. I know when our mother-
No, Lucy. Not now.
"Jellal was in the kids room – you know the one they keep exclusively for sick children?" Levy continues happily. "It was the one for the in-and-out cases, so it was pretty much empty at the time." Levy pauses and laughs as Jellal raises his hand like he would in a classroom. "Yes, Mr Loxar?" she says teasingly
"How do you remember all this?" he asks her, his expression somewhere between surprised and impressed. "You couldn't have been more than eight years old."
"Six," she corrects him. "I have a good memory."
"Makes up for yours, eh?" Natsu chuckles, managing to reach behind both Erza and Levy to pat the blue-haired boy on the back.
Jellal shoots him a withering look. "Ha freaking ha."
"Natsu!" Levy emphasises, "Shush. Let me tell the story!" I giggle despite myself when he playfully sticks his tongue out at the blunette. She smiles at him and continues, "So anyway, the three of us walked into the room with Grandine, right? And the ward was completely deserted except for Jellal and this one other girl-"
"What did she look like?"
"Erza!" Natsu growls before Jellal can get a word in. "Let her tell the story already!" I laugh when I realise that he's just repeated exactly what Levy said to him. So does Erza; she holds her hands up in apology, a small smile on her lips.
"No, it's okay," Levy insists. "I can't really remember, if I'm honest, Erza... I think she had blonde hair?"
Juvia nods from beside her. "Juvia remembers! Bleached blonde, with dark red roots. Juvia wondered why she'd changed it; it seemed to be such a lovely colour before..." She shakes her head as if trying to bring her attention back to the present. "Light skin, hospital gown – that's all that comes to mind. Juvia only saw her back, but she is certain the girl was Jellal's age."
If I hadn't been watching so carefully, I'd have missed the way Erza's eyes clouded over at the description. However, within a split second, they clear again and she smiles at Juvia. "Thank you, Juvia. Sorry, Levy, you continue."
Levy's hair-band slips down her forehead as she shakes her head at Erza's apology, releasing some of the messy blue strands that just don't seem to be able to lie flat. "I'm sure Jellal was wondering the same thing."
"I wondered whether she was hot or not, but hearing she was eight years old is kind of a turn off," Jellal admits. The girls around the table all scoff as Gray and Natsu both smirk and seem to share a 'guy moment' with Jellal. I roll my eyes at their wolfish grins. Idiots.
"Back to topic," Gray insists, failing to keep a straight face. "What happened then?"
"Is it PG?" Natsu chuckles.
"Shut it," Jellal shoots at them despite the smirk still on his lips. "Go on, Levy. So you walk in and this girl and me are in the middle of the room, and...?"
"And?" she asks innocently. "Well, it looked like you were leaning down in all your hospital gowned glory and giving her a little smooch-" she giggles at the word "-and when we walked in, she jumped away from you, glanced back at us and then she-" She starts laughing again, harder this time. "And Jellal's just standing there, stooped down, bright red, eyes screwed shut and-"
When Levy starts cackling, Juvia sighs and takes over the story-telling, pretending that there isn't a wicked smile on her face as well. "The girl lifted her hand like she was going to stroke his face or something, and Juvia thinks this is what Jellal thought as well, but then all of a sudden she-"
"Bam!" Levy slams her hand on the table, her eyes screwed up as she giggles uncontrollably. "Punches Jellal right in the face!" She leans back in her stool, overcome with the force of her laughter as Jellal's stare moves from Juvia – who's also laughing though not quite as hard as her sister – to Levy, who practically has tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks.
I can't help but giggle as well, but whether it's at Jellal's misfortune or at Levy and Juvia, I don't know. From beside me, I hear Natsu hoot with laughter and Gray trying and failing to hide his amusement behind a cough.
Jellal – too shocked to be embarrassed – looks over each and every one of us laughing at him; it's only when his gaze comes to rest on Erza, who throughout the story had demurely been eating her fruit, does the blush begin to rise to his face. Erza's hiding her face with her hand, although by the shaking of her shoulders, I can tell she's laughing almost as hard as Levy is, albeit silently for Jellal's sake.
His cheeks get pinker and pinker; when Levy starts to clutch at her side, a single tear escaping her eye, my giggling intensifies to the point where it's painful. The story isn't even that funny, but just seeing the Loxar sisters lose control like this is too freaking hilarious.
"K-kiss and run," Juvia cackles, poking the hapless Jellal in the arm. "Just as well you don't remember that, Jellal!" She pauses for a shaking breath, wiping her eye with a finger. "Wooh! Juvia would die if that had been her first kiss," she pokes him again mercilessly, her grin wide and teasing.
Jellal sighs as he shuts his eyes. My own laughter dies down to a wide smirk because no matter how hard he tries to keep his composure, we all know that his male pride and dignity are not going to stay intact quite so easily. "I..." he starts, struggling with something to say. Giving up, he rests his head in his hands. "I don't quite know what to say," he mumbles eventually.
Natsu leans forward and pats Jellal's bowed head with a wry grin. "You'll get over it, buddy... Shouldn't be too hard," he adds on, "considering you've already forgotten about it." He proceeds to cackle at his crappy joke, and to my surprise, Gray joins in. So they can get along about something, at least...
"You know my memory's not permanently gone," Jellal whines grumpily. "You can stop with the amnesia jokes."
Pity it's only over making fun of Jellal.
"We only just started!" Natsu defends himself. "That's not fair; these guys have had years, I only met you today."
"Yesterday," Gray corrects.
"Shut up," Natsu retorts.
Gray and Natsu start to bicker behind me; I lean forward so as not to interrupt, already feeling used to it for some reason. The rest of us tuck back into our cereal, fruit and toast, wide grins on everyone but Jellal's face – his cheeks are still rather red.
Aw, the poor guy. I bet he didn't expect to be so mortified when he first asked Levy to tell him about it. I smile into my food; she was unusually cruel in the telling of it, too. Well, unusually cruel for Levy. We are talking about the girl who gets upset when someone folds the corner of a page instead of using a bookmark. She's the sweetest girl I know most of the time.
The thought sparks a chain reaction in my mind, and I find myself turning to ask Erza, "Where's Gajeel, by the way?"
"Oh, he's downstairs," she elaborates for me, her scarlet bangs falling over an eye as she looks up. "Left as soon as he woke up. Something about wanting to start work on a truck as soon as possible?"
"Pantherlily," I confirm. "I kind of remember it breaking down." I shake my head at the fuzzy memory. "I'm not surprised; it breaks down every other day, stupid thing."
"If there's anyone who can fix it, it's Gajeel," she smiles at me reassuringly, brushing the hair from her face. "He's been in the garage all morning."
"Garage?" I raise an eyebrow and look around the kitchen/living-room as if the walls might hold some clues. "Hey, Erza... Where exactly are we?"
She gives me a weird look. "Natsu's apartment...?"
"Yeah, no, I know," I backtrack, "I mean, where is this?" I gesture around me with flailing arms. "Like, are we still in Magnolia, or...?" I blink at her, clueless. "I was unconscious when you got here, remember?"
Understanding dawns on her. "Oh, of course! Sorry. Yes. This," she says in a grand voice, "is Fairy Tail."
She goes back to her food as if this explains everything. "I-... Uh..." I glance around hopefully; maybe someone else can explain. "Gray," I interrupt the two boys' bickering; my brother gives me a questioning look. "Where are we?"
"I, uh... Fairy Tail?" he supplies uselessly.
"Yeah, that tells me nothing," I deadpan.
He shrugs happily. "Then I dunno."
I blink at him. How am I related to this idiot? "In all the time you've been here, it didn't occur to you once to ask someone where we were!?"
Gray raises an eyebrow. "No. Does it matter?"
"Yes!"
"More importantly," Gray insists, completely dismissing what I was saying, "how do you feel?"
"What?" I tilt my head, confused at the random question. I roll my eyes when he raises his hand to rest on his chest over his heart with a concerned expression, realising what he's referring to. "I'm fine, Gray."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Stop asking."
"I only asked once!"
"Twice."
"No, I di-"
"Yes, you did. In Natsu's room."
His voice takes on an exasperated tone. "Is it so bad that I'm worried about my sister?"
"It's bad that you're worrying over something so stupid. I'm not so sick that I'm about to drop to the floor and – I don't know – have a heart atta-" I cut off when I realise from his expression that I've just voiced his thoughts. My temper spikes and I take a deep breath to reign it in. "I'm fine, Gray. Drop it already."
He just scowls lightly and looks down at his empty plate. I roll my eyes with a sigh, also returning my gaze to my half-finished food. Leave it to Gray to worry unnecessarily. I mean, one little bump on the head and he thinks I'll have a seizure or something. How the hell would a head injury affect my heart? And I'm not even that sick anymore anyway, for crying out loud! I pout, stirring the spoon in the soggy cereal dejectedly. Stupid over-protective idiot.
"What's wrong with you?"
I start out my thoughts and look up; Natsu's eyeing me, eyebrows drawn together in a frown. I immediately bristle; "I'm fine! Will people stop fussing over me!?"
My voice is too loud, and the rest of the teenagers in the kitchen glance at me before resuming their conversations. I bite my lip and grin uneasily to Natsu. "Sorry. Sore head."
He shakes his head as if it's a non-issue, unperturbed. "Whatever. You just looked like you were thinking about something."
"Sorr-"
"Why do you keep apologising?" The pink-haired boy gives shoots me an easy grin. "Quit it already."
His smile is infectious. "Sor-" My eyes widen and I cover my mouth with a hand. He chuckles when I do. "Force of habit, I guess..." I mumble.
He looks at me for a second with an unreadable expression and I try not to squirm uncomfortably; those damn charcoal eyes are unnerving. Finally, he remarks, "You're weird."
How am I supposed to respond to that? As I'm scrambling for an answer, inspiration hits me. "Hey, you must know where we are!" I sit up straight, suddenly eager. "What the hell is Fairy Tail?" He gives me a look akin to the one Erza gave me when I asked her, and I grumble, "As far as I know, it's another name for a bedtime story, Natsu."
His answering laugh causes me to scowl at him. It just makes his grin wider. "All of this," he explains, his slanted charcoal eyes darting around the walls of the kitchen/living room, "is Fairy Tail. We're in the apartment complex of Fairy Tail – well, I say complex, it's really just two buildings; this one, and another one across the road called Fairy Hills, and that one's only for like, housing and stuff-"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait," I interrupt as I try to process the new information. "Then what's this one for?"
"Oh, yeah! I forgot you were doing that whole Sleeping Beauty act when we got here-"
"Act?" I growl, frustrated. "For your information, I was unconscious!"
"Whatever you say, princess," he brushes it aside. I sigh but don't interrupt as he continues, "There's a- a bar, I guess, beneath us on the ground floor. We're on the first floor; Erza's apartment is just across the hall and yeah, on and on, but anyway-"
He pauses as he gulps his orange juice; I rest my chin in my hand again, crossing my legs to sit more comfortably. Natsu's got this way of talking that kind of... addictive, I guess? It's like he's really passionate about what he's talking about, and it's so nice to see someone talk as openly as he is. At home, no-one ever sounds like they care so much about... about anything, really. That's why Gray and I are so often accused of apathy; we were raised to show restraint.
I can't help the smile on my face as he sets the empty glass and looks back at me enthusiastically, ready to resume his explanation; he runs a hand through his unusual hair as he continues, "Anyway, the bar. Okay, so Fairy Tail's what you see when you first come in, right? You saw all that, but there's also-..." A confused smile finds its way to his mouth, amusement in his eyes. "Why are you shaking your head?"
"I was passed out, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, of course!" He gently taps his forehead with his palm. "Sorry, keep forgetting. Fairy Tail's the name of- well, basically it's a bar where you can drink and hang out and stuff. Well, no, not basically, that's actually what it is-" he laughs openly "-and Makarov's hired a bunch of people who take work and-"
"Natsu!" I interrupt, smiling despite myself just at the abundance of energy he exudes. "Who's Makarov?"
"Master?" Natsu ruffles his spiky hair again. "He owns Fairy Tail. Well, co-owns but really, he's the owner- Actually, he does still own Fairy Tail, I guess-"
"Get to the point, Natsu," I smirk, already used to his scattered way of talking.
"Right, sorry," he beams. Does this guy ever stop smiling? I kind of hope he doesn't; his grin is so endearing (and cute but let's not mention that). "In all rights and stuff, Master is the owner but a couple months ago – seven, I think? – we had some trouble with, uh..." He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Basically, Macao got fired and he needed a job, so Master offered him co-ownership of the bar-"
"Wait, wait, wait a second!" I interrupt for the umpteenth time. "Who's Macao?"
"Oh, he's my adoptive dad." He says it so offhandedly that I have to look twice to make sure I heard him right. Natsu's adopted?
"O-okay?" I don't have the chance to say anything further; the boy's off again, rambling on and on at a hundred miles an minute. I take a sip of water as he complains about the newest worker 'Master' Makarov has hired for the bar, his fiery words emphasised with (adorably) exaggerated facial expressions.
For the first time in a long time, I can't stop smiling; Natsu's enthusiasm is catching, and God knows a little more positive energy in my life couldn't go amiss.
"But it's okay," he continues, barely stopping for breath as he catches my wide gaze with his own, "because Mira'll kick the new kid into shape one way or another. Either that or it's sayonara, Fairy Tail." He chuckles to himself. "To be honest, I feel sorry for 'em. Mirajane's really sweet but damn, she can be terrifying if she wants to be. I'm not kidding, she..." He pauses, looking like he's reliving a memory. Suddenly, he shivers, and throws me an alarmed look. "She's a demon in disguise, I'm telling you. You know, this one time some dude was gonna perform – you know, sing and stuff – and Mira-"
Natsu stops mid-sentence, his mouth snapping shut as his eyes widen comically, resembling saucers; he stares at something behind me and before I can turn around, a furious voice snaps, "What are you doing here!?"
The conversation in the kitchen silences instantly; I turn around with everyone else to see two new figures standing in the doorway, one of whom is glaring at us so fiercely that terror settles in the room like a blanket.
My stomach drops and I gulp. Just when things were going well...
('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/9464601/6/Fairies-Misfits-Little-Brats
