Laxus hates dealing with the guild kids. Specially his peers’ children, and their equally young friends. He’s not made to deal with lovesick rants, teenage spats, tea parties, or broken crayons.
5 Times Laxus Tries to Deal with Children (& the One Time He Gives Up)
Chapter 2
Best Girl Is Tired Of Your Shit
Summary:
“That’d be awkward, Team Marygold without Marygold..”
Chapter Notes:
This time, we meet some girls. Teenage girls.
Good luck, guild master Dreyaaaaar!
Quick age note that I’ll prolly put in every beginning of the chapters for quick reference: Team Natsu and company are around 38 to 39. Older members like Laxus, Mira and others around 41-42. Romeo is 34, Wendy is 32. The little spawns’ (aka kids), as well as new OC guild members’ ages will be revealed as we go along in the story.
Again, more notes and stuff after the chapter.
The guild master sat boredly by the bar while beside him, Fleur was humming happily as she made parfait for Neve and settled a bottle of hot sauce beside Igneel’s pancakes (Laxus doesn’t get how Dragneel tastebuds work; Fleur, like her Aunt Mira, simply pretends that she does). As soon as the boys came over, the treats were ready, and they thanked the young barmaid. Fleur smiled the kind smile she picked up from her aunts before walking towards the other end of the bar to assist another group of Fairy Tail mages.
Laxus asked, “What’s up, Icepick Junior?”
“I’m really sorry for flooding the guild.” Neve said, face sincerely apologetic. Very polite, much like his mother.
Igneel was more cheerful. “We’re good now! Got a job out of town, just guardin’ some rich ol’ guy for a day.”
“No bringing girlfriends or fangirls this time, that clear?” Laxus said.
The two answered dutifully “Yes, Master!”
“Do you need a third person?” They all looked up at the newcomer’s voice.
The fifteen year-old takeover mage took after her mother, from Evergreen’s flowing brown hair to her need for glasses. But, Marygold had a gentler face that somewhat resembled her aunt Lisanna’s.
“Hey, Marygold.” Igneel greeted with a smile, while Neve nodded. “’Sup? Not with Brooke or Layla?”
The girl didn’t say anything and just shook her head, then asked if she could sit with them. Igneel picked his plate up and move to the seat beside his so that Marygold can take the chair between him and Neve. “Hey, Uncle Laxus.” the girl greeted with a smile. Among the kids, only Marygold addressed him as ‘uncle’. Additionally, she was the guild master’s goddaughter.
“What’re you havin’, kid?” Laxus asked, knowing that Fleur was preoccupied.
“Water, please.” Marygold answered politely with a demure smile.
This time Laxus made sure to serve water, not beer. After that, he poured himself some coffee because he knew that there was something up. He knew Marygold well. Marygold was his girl.
Between the men in Raijinshuu, they drew lots to decide which of them would be godfather to each of Ever’s kids. To say that the three took being godfathers seriously was an understatement. It was a well-known fact that the three men regularly debated on which girl was the best. Of course Bixlow bragged that Fleur was the prettiest and the kindest, Laxus firmly stated that Marygold was the prettiest and the strongest, and Freed argued that Ellette was the prettiest and the smartest. Mostly, the girls think their uncles were just silly — but all of Fairy Tail knew that the men were whipped and would spoil any kid of Evergreen rotten.
Laxus prepared herself for the worst, anticipating a complaint. Because that’s what these teenagers always do, right? Or maybe thid tiiime… “Another flood, people turning to stone, getting hollered by some kinda beast takeover…
“I’m giving up on your sisters.” was what the girl said.
Neve and Igneel looked at her.
“Your little sister,” she started, addressing Igneel. ‘Will trip on flat ground and burn a whole building down if I so much as take an eye off her. Your big sister,’ this time she turned to Neve, “doesn’t have an ounce of subtlety in her being. So in every job, it’s either we end up flooding the town, or almost burning our client. Or both.”
They still just looked at her.
Laxus asked, “That’s supposed to be news?”
Everyone knew that the Layla-Brooke-Marygold trio was the new Team Natsu, in a sense that they’d probably burn down a whole town in a quest to catch a single thief.
“No.” Marygold said haughtily, taking after her mother. “The news is that I’m done with it. I’m not going with them today. The self-righteousness and the stripping, I can take. But me constantly being in the warpath, no.”
The boys looked uncertainly at each other before shrugging. Igneel smiled uneasily. He had never worked with a Takeover mage before, but they had known Marygold since forever, so why not? “Well, the flyer says two to three mages needed, so I guess you’re welcome to join us.”
Laxus saw them off with a simple take-care-and-good-luck. He returned Marygold’s hug as always before watching her casually cling to both her companions’ arms. They were talking happily as they left. Laxus was sure they’d go home in one piece and with news of success. If Marygold had kept Layla and Brooke in check, then she could sure as hell deal with Igneel and Neve.
Why are fifteen year-old girls SO LOUD?
“Master! Have you seen Mary? She dropped by today yet?” Layla asked. Looking eerily like her father with her dark-eyed pout and pixie-cut blonde hair. The pretty face she got from her mother was no doubt one of the reasons behind her long string of suitors despite her boyish look.
While to contrast her, Brooke had long, flowing, straight raven hair. Laxus had only ever seen Ultear once or twice, and from what little he remembered, he had to admit that the resemblance was indeed uncanny. Jellal and Meredy were fond of the girl because of it. Right now though, she was standing beside her teammate and also complaining very very ungracefully. “We went to their house but no one was home!”
“Fleur said she went off with Ig and Neve? You gotta be kiddin’ me!”
“What?! Why would she? Those guys never pick the fun jobs!”
“D’you think it’s ’cause she got mad at us?”
“Master, is she mad at us? Do you know?”
“Come on, waterslide. How would he know?”
“He’s runnin’ the bar with Fleur, Neve always gets parfait before jobs. Mary might’ve talked to him, they’re close. I thought you were a genius, Layla.”
“What’s your problem?”
“No, what’s YOUR problem?!”
“Wanna go?!”
“You think you can beat me?!”
At that, Laxus decided that he has had enough. So very aptly, he said, “Enough.”
The two girls looked at him.
“Sit down, both of you.” he ordered. He looked around. Great. Fleur went out with one of the part-timers to buy some… whatever stuff she said she needed in the kitchen. It was up to him now. He looked at them with a frown. “Marygold went on a job with your brothers—”
“WHAT, WHY?!” the two exclaimed in perfect unison.
“—she told me she’s done with you—”
There was a simultaneous outburst of “See? She’s mad at YOU—” between the two.
“—WILL YOU LET ME FINISH?!”
That effectively shut them up again.
Laxus sighed. “She said she’s tired of both of you trying to burn or freeze an entire town everytime you go on jobs, and I guess she also got sick of you guys tryin’ to kill each other all the time. Had to give it to her, lastin’ this long. What, 3 years?”
The girls looked at him, at a loss of what to say.
Laxus gave a noncommittal shrug before picking up a copy of the Daily Sorcerer that someone left in the bar and flipping to a random page.
But gods, the girls were insistent.
“You mean… she… quit? Like, really quit?”
“Quit the team? She can’t do that — maybe it’s a one-time thing. It is, right, Master?”
“Yeah, yeah? She can’t quit the team! I mean, we’re Team Marygold.”
“Exactly, that’d be awkward, Team Marygold without Marygold.”
“M’sure she’ll go back after she calms down! Sure, she got a bit mad at Layla—”
“—hell no, I treat Mary right! If she’ll get mad at someone, it’ll be YOU, with your strippin’ all over the place and shit.”
“Can’t blame me for that, and she’s used to it, and I put my clothes on as soon as she tells me to!”
“What if she finally got fed up?!”
“Why’s it my fault, for all we know, Mary got tired of YOU bein’ a nerd!”
“Can’t help that I’m SMART now, can I?!”
“Oh, ohhh, I know! She got fed up of your pervert cow spirit always hittin’ on her!”
“Hey, Taurus is just complimentin’ her now! I straightened ’im out. Now he just says she’s pretty and he never tries to point out her boobs anymore!”
“Oh, like spirit, like owner. ’YA KNOW HOW PRUDE SHE IS!”
“I KNOW, THAT’S WHY I ALSO KNOW THAT IT’S YOUR STRIPPING HABIT THAT PROLLY SET HER OFF!”
Laxus slammed the magazine on the bar again, stopping the two before they resorted to water and flame. “BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP.”
“BUT MASTER—”
He gave them a glare that immediately shut both girls up. He stared them down for five seconds before he spoke again. “Look, both of you. You’re lucky that out of the sisters, you got Marygold. You’re lucky that out of EVERYONE your age in the guild, you got Marygold. ‘Cause she’s the patient one, yeah? She’s the only one kind enough to bear with your burning or flooding or stripping or… or whatever your cow spirit does, yeah? If it was Fleur, she would’ve kicked yours annoying asses already. So you’re lucky that it’s MY girl tryin’ to deal with you.”
Rainjinshuu guys take being godfathers very very seriously.
“Y-Yeah…” Layla looked down. “But we never forget that! That’s why we spoil her!”
“We never let anyone lay a finger on Mary, she’s like our head girl!”
“…although I did accidentally burn one of the love letters someone sent her… I thought that was Brooke’s shopping list. Why did the guy send her poetry, anyway?”
“…a-and I didn’t mean to splash water on her that one time she was goin’ back from the salon. I was aimin’ for Layla.”
Laxus sighed again. “SHE’S QUITTING. What’re you doin’? Pointing fingers at each other?”
They seemed to only realize that then. “…Y-Yeah? ’Cause it’s NOT MY FAULT.”
“Alright, SIT BACK DOWN and lemme tell you a story about her mom.”
The girls hesitantly sat back on their seats and tried their best not to kill each other.
“One time, I was being a big stuck-up jerk being angry at the world, and Freed’s being pissy on everyone goin’ about humidity and his hair being fluffy or something I forget, just PMS. Okay. And Bixlow’s… Bixlow. Then Ever straight up walked in and said that she’s quitting, and then walked out. Ya wanna know why?”
“Why?”
“Told us she feels like a decor or a token girl or somethin’, that I’m always mad at Bixlow and Bixlow’s always annoying Freed and Freed’s also mad at Bixlow and that the three of us are so busy fightin’ between ourselves that we forget she’s there. And one time we even spilled choco on her favorite dress while trying to strangle each other. And I accidentally toasted her salad while trying to fry Bix alive. And ‘nother time she ran out of shampoo because Freed went through the whole bottle, he thought he was messin’ with Bix. And Bixlow’s babies ate her favorite shoe, told us that it was a plan for the babies to eat MY COAT, I dunno how they confused her shoes for my coat don’t ask me how that happened. Sounds familiar?”
They stared.
“Ever got fed up of getting caught in the crossfire.”
They kept staring.
Laxus groaned. For such talented young mages, these girls were quite slow. “Basically, Marygold’s gettin’ real tired of your shit.”
“O-Oh…”
“How did you get Evergreen-san back then?”
At that, Laxus hesitated, picking up the magazine again to avoid the girls’ curious looks and clearing his throat before saying in a low voice, “We serenaded her.”
“…What?”
“Serenaded as in the singing thing?”
He tried to keep up composure as he shrugged. “Uh, it was actually a song-and-dance thing.”
“SONG.”
“AND DANCE.”
“…just outside her window in Fairy Hills so yeah, the other girls saw too.” Laxus grudgingly admitted.
The water mage and the fire dragon slayer both burst out laughing at the thought of the Raijinshuu, THE FEARSOME LEGENDARY GOD-TIER S-CLASS TEAM RAIJINSHUU, serenading their only female member.
“Why didn’t you just buy her the dress and shampoo and shoes? Made her new salad?” Layla asked stifling her giggles, while beside her, Brooke was covering her mouth to keep herself from laughing any harder.
Laxus defended himself. “D’you think we didn’t try that first? She was so angry she accepted the stuff but didn’t wanna go back to the team!”
“B-B-But a song and dance number! HAHAHA!” Brooke laughed.
“We were desperate! And it worked, alright?! THE END! STOP LAUGHING!”
Both girls tried to keep the laughter in as their guild master tried his best to glare at them without melting into a puddle of embarrassment. God, the things he does for these children.
“So d’you get what I’m tryin’ to say here?”
Layla had stopped laughing enough to say, “A surprise song and dance number can fix everything?”
“No, shit.” Laxus sighed, shaking his head in resignation. “What I’m tryin’ to say here is that when shit like that goes down, I mean shit like your teammate’s quitting because the rest of the team is at each other’s throats, the best thing you can do is—”
Brooke interrupted, “Please, no! We’ll give her space. Maybe she’ll calm down!”
“We tried that too, nope she’s not gonna sleep it out and wake up cheerful again. Trust me, I think it actually made things worse.”
“But—”
“I’M NOT GONNA SUGGEST THAT YOU SING AND DANCE TOO, CALM DOWN.” Laxus said firmly, now rubbing his temples. These two were really a handful. “My point is that, if you really think your teammate’s important — if you want her back that much, you have to stop blamin’ each other. That’ll get you nowhere. What y’have to focus on is settin’ aside your differences for a while and think of how to get her back. Not sayin’ you hafta go all gross friendly, but at least act CIVIL enough to think together about HER feelings. ‘Cause your finger-pointing is actually YOU guys just thinkin’ about YOURSELVES.
“You think you care about her that’s why you’re tryin’ to find out whose fault it all is? Nah, you’re just tryin’ not to feel guilty. So SHUT UP ABOUT EACH OTHER and THINK ABOUT YOUR OTHER TEAMMATE FOR A MINUTE. ‘Cause otherwise you’re wastin’ your time and by the time she gets back and sees that you two are still goin’ on about killin’ each other, believe me, she’ll be even more DONE with your shit.”
The girls looked down guiltily.
“Basically, if someone’s important enough, no amount of pride or shame or bullshit rivalry should stop you from getting them back.”
They nodded.
Laxus sighed in relief. Finally. “Is that clear now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now fuck off and fix this shit, I don’t want an upset goddaughter tomorrow. AM I CLEAR?”
“SIR YES SIR!”
Chapter Notes:
The guild master sat boredly by the bar while beside him, Fleur was humming happily as she made parfait for Neve and settled a bottle of hot sauce beside Igneel’s pancakes (Laxus doesn’t get how Dragneel tastebuds work; Fleur, like her Aunt Mira, simply pretends that she does). As soon as the boys came over, the treats were ready, and they thanked the young barmaid. Fleur smiled the kind smile she picked up from her aunts before walking towards the other end of the bar to assist another group of Fairy Tail mages.
Laxus asked, “What’s up, Icepick Junior?”
“I’m really sorry for flooding the guild.” Neve said, face sincerely apologetic. Very polite, much like his mother.
Igneel was more cheerful. “We’re good now! Got a job out of town, just guardin’ some rich ol’ guy for a day.”
“No bringing girlfriends or fangirls this time, that clear?” Laxus said.
The two answered dutifully “Yes, Master!”
“Do you need a third person?” They all looked up at the newcomer’s voice.
The fifteen year-old takeover mage took after her mother, from Evergreen’s flowing brown hair to her need for glasses. But, Marygold had a gentler face that somewhat resembled her aunt Lisanna’s.
“Hey, Marygold.” Igneel greeted with a smile, while Neve nodded. “’Sup? Not with Brooke or Layla?”
The girl didn’t say anything and just shook her head, then asked if she could sit with them. Igneel picked his plate up and move to the seat beside his so that Marygold can take the chair between him and Neve. “Hey, Uncle Laxus.” the girl greeted with a smile. Among the kids, only Marygold addressed him as ‘uncle’. Additionally, she was the guild master’s goddaughter.
“What’re you havin’, kid?” Laxus asked, knowing that Fleur was preoccupied.
“Water, please.” Marygold answered politely with a demure smile.
This time Laxus made sure to serve water, not beer. After that, he poured himself some coffee because he knew that there was something up. He knew Marygold well. Marygold was his girl.
Between the men in Raijinshuu, they drew lots to decide which of them would be godfather to each of Ever’s kids. To say that the three took being godfathers seriously was an understatement. It was a well-known fact that the three men regularly debated on which girl was the best. Of course Bixlow bragged that Fleur was the prettiest and the kindest, Laxus firmly stated that Marygold was the prettiest and the strongest, and Freed argued that Ellette was the prettiest and the smartest. Mostly, the girls think their uncles were just silly — but all of Fairy Tail knew that the men were whipped and would spoil any kid of Evergreen rotten.
Laxus prepared herself for the worst, anticipating a complaint. Because that’s what these teenagers always do, right? Or maybe thid tiiime… “Another flood, people turning to stone, getting hollered by some kinda beast takeover…
“I’m giving up on your sisters.” was what the girl said.
Neve and Igneel looked at her.
“Your little sister,” she started, addressing Igneel. ‘Will trip on flat ground and burn a whole building down if I so much as take an eye off her. Your big sister,’ this time she turned to Neve, “doesn’t have an ounce of subtlety in her being. So in every job, it’s either we end up flooding the town, or almost burning our client. Or both.”
They still just looked at her.
Laxus asked, “That’s supposed to be news?”
Everyone knew that the Layla-Brooke-Marygold trio was the new Team Natsu, in a sense that they’d probably burn down a whole town in a quest to catch a single thief.
“No.” Marygold said haughtily, taking after her mother. “The news is that I’m done with it. I’m not going with them today. The self-righteousness and the stripping, I can take. But me constantly being in the warpath, no.”
The boys looked uncertainly at each other before shrugging. Igneel smiled uneasily. He had never worked with a Takeover mage before, but they had known Marygold since forever, so why not? “Well, the flyer says two to three mages needed, so I guess you’re welcome to join us.”
Laxus saw them off with a simple take-care-and-good-luck. He returned Marygold’s hug as always before watching her casually cling to both her companions’ arms. They were talking happily as they left. Laxus was sure they’d go home in one piece and with news of success. If Marygold had kept Layla and Brooke in check, then she could sure as hell deal with Igneel and Neve.
Why are fifteen year-old girls SO LOUD?
“Master! Have you seen Mary? She dropped by today yet?” Layla asked. Looking eerily like her father with her dark-eyed pout and pixie-cut blonde hair. The pretty face she got from her mother was no doubt one of the reasons behind her long string of suitors despite her boyish look.
While to contrast her, Brooke had long, flowing, straight raven hair. Laxus had only ever seen Ultear once or twice, and from what little he remembered, he had to admit that the resemblance was indeed uncanny. Jellal and Meredy were fond of the girl because of it. Right now though, she was standing beside her teammate and also complaining very very ungracefully. “We went to their house but no one was home!”
“Fleur said she went off with Ig and Neve? You gotta be kiddin’ me!”
“What?! Why would she? Those guys never pick the fun jobs!”
“D’you think it’s ’cause she got mad at us?”
“Master, is she mad at us? Do you know?”
“Come on, waterslide. How would he know?”
“He’s runnin’ the bar with Fleur, Neve always gets parfait before jobs. Mary might’ve talked to him, they’re close. I thought you were a genius, Layla.”
“What’s your problem?”
“No, what’s YOUR problem?!”
“Wanna go?!”
“You think you can beat me?!”
At that, Laxus decided that he has had enough. So very aptly, he said, “Enough.”
The two girls looked at him.
“Sit down, both of you.” he ordered. He looked around. Great. Fleur went out with one of the part-timers to buy some… whatever stuff she said she needed in the kitchen. It was up to him now. He looked at them with a frown. “Marygold went on a job with your brothers—”
“WHAT, WHY?!” the two exclaimed in perfect unison.
“—she told me she’s done with you—”
There was a simultaneous outburst of “See? She’s mad at YOU—” between the two.
“—WILL YOU LET ME FINISH?!”
That effectively shut them up again.
Laxus sighed. “She said she’s tired of both of you trying to burn or freeze an entire town everytime you go on jobs, and I guess she also got sick of you guys tryin’ to kill each other all the time. Had to give it to her, lastin’ this long. What, 3 years?”
The girls looked at him, at a loss of what to say.
Laxus gave a noncommittal shrug before picking up a copy of the Daily Sorcerer that someone left in the bar and flipping to a random page.
But gods, the girls were insistent.
“You mean… she… quit? Like, really quit?”
“Quit the team? She can’t do that — maybe it’s a one-time thing. It is, right, Master?”
“Yeah, yeah? She can’t quit the team! I mean, we’re Team Marygold.”
“Exactly, that’d be awkward, Team Marygold without Marygold.”
“M’sure she’ll go back after she calms down! Sure, she got a bit mad at Layla—”
“—hell no, I treat Mary right! If she’ll get mad at someone, it’ll be YOU, with your strippin’ all over the place and shit.”
“Can’t blame me for that, and she’s used to it, and I put my clothes on as soon as she tells me to!”
“What if she finally got fed up?!”
“Why’s it my fault, for all we know, Mary got tired of YOU bein’ a nerd!”
“Can’t help that I’m SMART now, can I?!”
“Oh, ohhh, I know! She got fed up of your pervert cow spirit always hittin’ on her!”
“Hey, Taurus is just complimentin’ her now! I straightened ’im out. Now he just says she’s pretty and he never tries to point out her boobs anymore!”
“Oh, like spirit, like owner. ’YA KNOW HOW PRUDE SHE IS!”
“I KNOW, THAT’S WHY I ALSO KNOW THAT IT’S YOUR STRIPPING HABIT THAT PROLLY SET HER OFF!”
Laxus slammed the magazine on the bar again, stopping the two before they resorted to water and flame. “BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP.”
“BUT MASTER—”
He gave them a glare that immediately shut both girls up. He stared them down for five seconds before he spoke again. “Look, both of you. You’re lucky that out of the sisters, you got Marygold. You’re lucky that out of EVERYONE your age in the guild, you got Marygold. ‘Cause she’s the patient one, yeah? She’s the only one kind enough to bear with your burning or flooding or stripping or… or whatever your cow spirit does, yeah? If it was Fleur, she would’ve kicked yours annoying asses already. So you’re lucky that it’s MY girl tryin’ to deal with you.”
Rainjinshuu guys take being godfathers very very seriously.
“Y-Yeah…” Layla looked down. “But we never forget that! That’s why we spoil her!”
“We never let anyone lay a finger on Mary, she’s like our head girl!”
“…although I did accidentally burn one of the love letters someone sent her… I thought that was Brooke’s shopping list. Why did the guy send her poetry, anyway?”
“…a-and I didn’t mean to splash water on her that one time she was goin’ back from the salon. I was aimin’ for Layla.”
Laxus sighed again. “SHE’S QUITTING. What’re you doin’? Pointing fingers at each other?”
They seemed to only realize that then. “…Y-Yeah? ’Cause it’s NOT MY FAULT.”
“Alright, SIT BACK DOWN and lemme tell you a story about her mom.”
The girls hesitantly sat back on their seats and tried their best not to kill each other.
“One time, I was being a big stuck-up jerk being angry at the world, and Freed’s being pissy on everyone goin’ about humidity and his hair being fluffy or something I forget, just PMS. Okay. And Bixlow’s… Bixlow. Then Ever straight up walked in and said that she’s quitting, and then walked out. Ya wanna know why?”
“Why?”
“Told us she feels like a decor or a token girl or somethin’, that I’m always mad at Bixlow and Bixlow’s always annoying Freed and Freed’s also mad at Bixlow and that the three of us are so busy fightin’ between ourselves that we forget she’s there. And one time we even spilled choco on her favorite dress while trying to strangle each other. And I accidentally toasted her salad while trying to fry Bix alive. And ‘nother time she ran out of shampoo because Freed went through the whole bottle, he thought he was messin’ with Bix. And Bixlow’s babies ate her favorite shoe, told us that it was a plan for the babies to eat MY COAT, I dunno how they confused her shoes for my coat don’t ask me how that happened. Sounds familiar?”
They stared.
“Ever got fed up of getting caught in the crossfire.”
They kept staring.
Laxus groaned. For such talented young mages, these girls were quite slow. “Basically, Marygold’s gettin’ real tired of your shit.”
“O-Oh…”
“How did you get Evergreen-san back then?”
At that, Laxus hesitated, picking up the magazine again to avoid the girls’ curious looks and clearing his throat before saying in a low voice, “We serenaded her.”
“…What?”
“Serenaded as in the singing thing?”
He tried to keep up composure as he shrugged. “Uh, it was actually a song-and-dance thing.”
“SONG.”
“AND DANCE.”
“…just outside her window in Fairy Hills so yeah, the other girls saw too.” Laxus grudgingly admitted.
The water mage and the fire dragon slayer both burst out laughing at the thought of the Raijinshuu, THE FEARSOME LEGENDARY GOD-TIER S-CLASS TEAM RAIJINSHUU, serenading their only female member.
“Why didn’t you just buy her the dress and shampoo and shoes? Made her new salad?” Layla asked stifling her giggles, while beside her, Brooke was covering her mouth to keep herself from laughing any harder.
Laxus defended himself. “D’you think we didn’t try that first? She was so angry she accepted the stuff but didn’t wanna go back to the team!”
“B-B-But a song and dance number! HAHAHA!” Brooke laughed.
“We were desperate! And it worked, alright?! THE END! STOP LAUGHING!”
Both girls tried to keep the laughter in as their guild master tried his best to glare at them without melting into a puddle of embarrassment. God, the things he does for these children.
“So d’you get what I’m tryin’ to say here?”
Layla had stopped laughing enough to say, “A surprise song and dance number can fix everything?”
“No, shit.” Laxus sighed, shaking his head in resignation. “What I’m tryin’ to say here is that when shit like that goes down, I mean shit like your teammate’s quitting because the rest of the team is at each other’s throats, the best thing you can do is—”
Brooke interrupted, “Please, no! We’ll give her space. Maybe she’ll calm down!”
“We tried that too, nope she’s not gonna sleep it out and wake up cheerful again. Trust me, I think it actually made things worse.”
“But—”
“I’M NOT GONNA SUGGEST THAT YOU SING AND DANCE TOO, CALM DOWN.” Laxus said firmly, now rubbing his temples. These two were really a handful. “My point is that, if you really think your teammate’s important — if you want her back that much, you have to stop blamin’ each other. That’ll get you nowhere. What y’have to focus on is settin’ aside your differences for a while and think of how to get her back. Not sayin’ you hafta go all gross friendly, but at least act CIVIL enough to think together about HER feelings. ‘Cause your finger-pointing is actually YOU guys just thinkin’ about YOURSELVES.
“You think you care about her that’s why you’re tryin’ to find out whose fault it all is? Nah, you’re just tryin’ not to feel guilty. So SHUT UP ABOUT EACH OTHER and THINK ABOUT YOUR OTHER TEAMMATE FOR A MINUTE. ‘Cause otherwise you’re wastin’ your time and by the time she gets back and sees that you two are still goin’ on about killin’ each other, believe me, she’ll be even more DONE with your shit.”
The girls looked down guiltily.
“Basically, if someone’s important enough, no amount of pride or shame or bullshit rivalry should stop you from getting them back.”
They nodded.
Laxus sighed in relief. Finally. “Is that clear now?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now fuck off and fix this shit, I don’t want an upset goddaughter tomorrow. AM I CLEAR?”
“SIR YES SIR!”
— Marygold (15) is the Lucy to Brooke-and-Layla’s Gray-and-Natsu tandem. Her magic is just as destructive as her two teammates (beast takeover yo) so she usually prefers the sidelines or long range. But if she gets mad, well… yeah.
— Brooke (15) is a stunner. Imagine Ultear’s confidence wow. She often clashes with her brother. Because Neve insists that ’whater is the element of calm and slow change and stuff…
— Layla (15) is a bookworm and always works with Freed, Levy or Lucy on book-related jobs. But she can also kick your ass.
— All three of them want to recruit the new guy that Layla brought to the guild last time. They could use a healer in the team.