Triad

Cana looked up when three people sat across her on the table.

Beside her, Evergreen looked up shortly before going back to typing on her laptop.

On her other side was Lucy, who quickly greeted, “Hey, you guys.” before also burying her head in her book.

Then Cana burst out laughing – only for a second though, she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth because she remembered that they were in the library. A sacred place. Some people were sleeping.

Freed, Laxus and Mirajane also looked like they went there to sleep. But there was evidence that that was not the case. They looked at Cana in a mix of confusion and curiosity.

“What?” Laxus asked.

“Do you guys know how you look like right now?” Cana asked.

They all groaned, but had different answers for her anyway.

“I know, I look like I need to catch up on like a fucking week’s worth of sleep.” was Laxus’s answer. He was right, Cana had to admit. There were bags on his eyes and even his thick-framed nerd glasses couldn’t cover that up. He was chugging coffee from a floral-patterned thermos much like how Cana chugged beer. His blonde hair was in disarray.

“I probably look like hell.” came from Mira. She was paler than usual, and also looked like she hasn’t slept for a week. The only makeup she managed for the day was some chapstick, if that counts. Her long silver hair was piled up in the messiest messy bun anyone has ever seen. It wasn’t even for aesthetic. It was just chaos. Besides the colorful scrunchie, there were also countless bobby pins in her hair to hold them away from her face. And if Laxus was chugging coffee, she was on Red Bull. Yep. Red. Bull. On a stylish mason jar mug. She would make the hipsters cry.

“I don’t even think I look human anymore. I’m the walking dead.” said Freed. He was in much the same state as the other two. Only he was wearing sunglasses. Because like hell will you catch Freed with eyebags. To his credit, he managed to messily braid his long hair back behind his head, whatever disarray his bangs were in was mostly hidden under a cute knitted beanie. Only it was a bit distracting because it had cat ears. He was drinking coffee from a mug, and had the whole coffee pot in his other hand. Maybe Laxus didn’t want to share his thermos.

“What happened to you guys?” Lucy asked. Those statements had made her look up and voice out her concern, because she was Lucy. She was a nice person.

“College.” the three chorused miserably.

Cana laughed again. “No seriously, you three look like you got drunk, high and wasted, then you banged each other, then you had to wake up 10 minutes before your first class.”

“No one got drunk. Or high.” Freed grumbled.

“Wasted, maybe.” Mira followed. “Wasted on papers and finals projects and student debts and part-time jobs.”

Laxus took a chug from his thermos before providing backup. “And just ’cause we live in one tiny closet of an apartment, it doesn’t mean we’re banging each other.”

“We know, we know.” Evergreen reassured them. “It’s just-… Do you guys share your closet too?”

“We have a closet?” Mira asked.

“I have a closet.” Freed said.

“There was never a closet, Freed. We always knew you were gay.” Laxus said.

Freed set his coffee pot down to focus on sending the blonde a death glare. “I mean literally. I have a closet. It’s like this box, you see. On the wall. Where I put my clothes.”

“I thought that was my closet.” Laxus said.

Freed looked like he had an epiphany. “So that’s why you always wear my shirts even if they’re too small for you.”

Laxus frowned. “So that’s why those shirts are so tight.”

“It’s okay, you look sexy.”

“It’s not okay, Freed. I keep thinking I should go back to the gym, to maintain my six-pack-”

Mira snorted. “Psh. You don’t have a six-pack.”

“-yes, I do, you stare at it everytime after I shower-”

Mira fell silent.

“Both of you.” Laxus added.

“Right. That’s fair.” Freed said, taking a sip from his mug.

Having won, Laxus continued his rant: “-but coffee and ramen are slowly killing my six-pack. And if my six-pack dies, I won’t look good in the shirts anymore. I’ll have to buy new shirts-”

“-or maybe just wear your OWN shirts-”

“-but I have no time for the fucking gym. Because of college. Fuck.”

“Oh my God.” Mira whispered then, and they looked at her. “So whose hoodie am I wearing? I got this from the closet. Freed, please tell me this is yours, so I at least know it’s been washed.”

They looked at Mira, who was wearing a hoodie too big for her it was practically a mini-dress. That, and sneakers. On her best days, she wore classy blouses, skirts and strappy heels. Today was not one of those days.

“Mine.” Laxus answered. “What are you wearing under that?”

Mira looked back at him. “My underwear?”

“Does that mean I can’t take it from you now?”

“Why would you want to take it? You’re already wearing my jacket.” Freed pointed out. He sounded annoyed.

“This is your jacket? I thought it’s mine. It’s got fur in it.”

“That jacket’s from Paris.”

“So?”

“It’s my jacket.” Freed sighed. “It’s too big for me, yes, but not everything with fur in it is yours, Laxus.”

“That’s right.” Mira agreed. “Stop wearing my fluffy slippers with your giant feet.”

By this time, Cana, Lucy and Evergreen were already trying their best not to crack up in laughter.

“Am I the only one here who wears my own clothes?” Freed demanded.

They stared at him.

“That’s my beanie.” Mira said. She was looking for it. She didn’t notice that the person right beside her was wearing it.

“That’s my shirt.” Laxus followed, and for revenge, he added, “I know it looks better on you, but not everything that looks better on you is yours, Freed.”

“W-Well, it was in MY closet.” Freed glared as he held on to the oversized button-up that he was wearing in tandem with a pair of galaxy-print leggings. He had no excuse for the beanie.

“And Laxus, buy your own thermos.” Mira continued.

“Okay, but stop taking my Red Bull.” Laxus argued.

This time, Cana piped up. “At least tell us you guys don’t share a toothbrush.”

They glared at her.

“So really, you’re all wearing each other’s clothes ’cause you have a communal closet? Not ’cause you all woke up naked together and have to rush to class?”

Laxus rubbed his aching temples. “Look, if any form of sex happens in that studio-sized hell, we’ll probably break it. It sucks that much.”

“And there would be a noise complaint.” Freed said. “The walls are thin.”

Mira blinked. “There had been a noise complaint, actually.”

“THAT WAS ONE TIME.” the other two claimed.

“Right.” Mira sighed. “We don’t talk about it.”

“Oh my God, so it happened?” Lucy asked.

This time, all three of them answered: “Once.”

“We’ll never get drunk while playing strip poker again.” Laxus provided helpfully.

“LAXUS.” Freed and Mira scolded, looking at the blonde in exasperation.

“They might as well know.” he grumbled. “And it’s not like we don’t know about Lucy’s two boyfriends, or Ever’s extensive leather collection.”

Lucy rolled her eyes, while Evergreen blushed bright red and glared at him. Mira buried her face on her hands. She didn’t want the mental image of her brother and his girlfriend with the leather collection that her roommate just mentioned.

“We love you guys.” Cana said, holding back her tears and laughter. “Yes. Even you, Laxus.”

Meanwhile, Freed just poured himself a fresh mug of coffee.

Yep. College.

.