Rush Hour Moments [C] (Read 479 times)

[Electra]

Explanations. They were most certainly needed right now. A certain blonde mage had gotten lost on the road, AGAIN, and found herself in the middle of a busy, packed-out town. She was thrown this way and that by the numerous members of the crowd, earning frustrated glares, quizzical glances and shouts of irritation. “Oi, watch where you’re going!” “God, girlie, get a move on!” “You’re too slow!” To each person, she apologised and went on her way once more, keeping her head down and hoping that this ordeal would be over soon. Nowhere could remain busy all day, right? Now that she was here, in a place called Magnolia Town, she might as well stay, even if it was unbelievably crowded. There were, however, only a certain amount of apologies a girl could make, especially a girl like Ellie. She started to become extremely irritable, until she stopped apologising altogether and instead made the other person apologise, even if wasn’t their fault. She muttered numerous curses under her breath, magenta eyes narrowing at those people that milled around her. It wasn’t like they could actually stop her; all of these people were basic civilians. And she was a mage. A powerful one (in her dreams, more like). They had better watch out if they wanted to stay on her good side… and nobody wanted to see her when she did eventually lose her temper.

So how did she end up in Magnolia Town in the first place? It was quite common for Ellie to literally look at a map and jab a finger at a place she wanted to visit. She had no discipline in her life, nobody to tell her otherwise and no reason not to do what she wanted. That was how she liked it, or rather, that was what she knew. Anything else that might have been different in the past had long since been disregarded, locked away in the deepest confines of her mind. Electrace was history; she was Ellie now, and she was different to her. She was actually strong, independent and confident, being able to do what she wanted when she wanted. She was truly free. Although she did often just wander around, occasionally she made solid plans for visits to specific places. It was rare, but it happened. Ellie had been set on visiting the port town of Hargeon, because she had never been anywhere near such a place before and it intrigued her tremendously. Somehow, she had managed to get lost on the way, and ended up here in Magnolia. Not that it particularly bothered her, per say. This place had some special features that went with it too, from her knowledge. There was the infamous Fairy Tail guild, and its rival Raven Tail in close proximity of one another. Both guilds were extremely strong, with mages of great skill levels and diverse magic backgrounds. That was something about guilds that fascinated the young Destruction mage. There were so many people, all different in some way, all utilising unique magic. It was a shame that she didn’t ‘do’ commitment, otherwise she would have joined a guild when she left ‘home’ years ago.

Thus far, her opinion of Magnolia was well down the drain. She liked busy places, but this was bordering on ridiculous. And the civilians were becoming much ruder in the way they addressed her, looked down at her and demanded apologies from her when it was THEIR fault for walking into her. She felt her eyebrow twitching insanely, unable to do anything to stop this outward vision of her building anger. God forbid if she exploded into a temper in such a confined space; she had to get out of here, and fast. She barged through the great crowds, biting her lip so hard that she could taste blood as she tried to stop herself from becoming irrational. ‘Come on, Ellie… chill…’ Finally, after much pushing and shoving, she found herself stumbling out of the crowded town square. She rose to her full height with a deep sigh of relief, surveying the current area she found herself in. It was literally just a side street, but a welcome respite from the busy town square, that was for sure.

She stretched her arms up above her head and rubbed a hand through her long blonde locks, ruffling them and enjoying the liberating feeling as her body relaxed once more. She gazed at the passing crowds like a child watching something go whizzing past, and eventually shook her head to snap her out of that stupor. Aside from the terribly busy streets, she was rather liking this place. She could stay here for a bit, relax in a small hotel somewhere, go shopping, spend some time at one of the guilds in town, or perhaps both. Raven Tail seemed a bit too cold, dark and dank for her tastes, however, so Fairy Tail seemed like a more logical choice for someone like her. No commitments. No ties. No nothing. Just casual conversations, good company and magic. Those were the things in life that pleased her the most. She turned on her heel with a deep exhaling of breath, her eyes closing blissfully as she made as if to start walking again… until she felt her body impact with something or somebody blocking her path. How had she not seen that coming?! Oh yeah… she hadn’t been paying attention. She landed hard on her backside on the cobbled street, yelping out a “Kya!” sound as she did so. Groaning and looking at the injured area with a small pout on her lips, she snapped her neck round to glare up at whatever or whoever it was that caused her to take such a spectacular, stylish trip. The figure that loomed above her was tall, and the sunlight glared at her eyes so much that she had to raise a hand to shield her pink orbs from the blinding light.

“Oi, you! Watch where you’re going!” She snapped irritably at the stranger, hastily picking herself up with a long string of curse words leaving her lips. She placed a hand on her sore rump, rubbing it to try and make it feel better. With a questioning, accusing look, she awaited a response or an apology from the young man that had appeared just at the wrong time in terms of her taking a walk.

[Kai]

The sheer number of people that lived in Magnolia was always astounding to Kai, it was far larger than plenty of other towns, and the fact that it was a trading hub brought in more people than ever before. But that didn't discourage Kai from going into town during rush hour, especially if it meant completing a mission, like it did this time. He had headed out of the Fairy Tail guild a few hours earlier, just so that he was early to his mission. At first he didn't go to the financial district, where the mission was, but instead went to the central district, where the weapons shop was. It was a shop where Kai visited frequently to buy weapons and armor, in fact it was where he had bought his compass rose sets, each of which he was still learning to master, but was getting closer to it. In any case, he had spent about an hour in the shop, and was now heading back through the central district. Here people gathered, and while it was busy at this time of day, there were plenty of ways around it, but Kai had the time, so he simply pressed through the crowd. Sure enough, people were trying to push him out of the way and when he didn't budge, they simply swore at him, or gave recommendations as to where he should stick his head. But when they saw the bright amber tattoo on his left shoulder, they backed off quickly enough.

It was hard to get through such tight crowds with the sword that was at his hip, but he never went anywhere without it, after all, you couldn't let your guard down when your arch-enemies resided in the same town. That was true enough for Kai and all of Fairy Tail, as Raven Tail, although considered as a legal guild, resided in Magnolia as well, and their goal was often to crush the Fairy Tail mages. As such, Kai never put his half-moon blade into his pocket dimension. He was a quick enough draw with it to counter attacks that came at him, even at the last second, and it had saved him a few times before during his searches for Mizuki.

Even as he walked and people continued to bump into him he let out no reaction except a cold stare with his light blue eyes. It was an icy stare, one that showed his indifference as to how the people around him spoke about him, as well as his hardened state of mind that would not tolerate them if they sought to fight him. Businessmen continued to walk past and Kai continued to walk, watching for the street that headed to the business district.

There were numerous side streets and shortcuts around Magnolia, and Kai knew quite a few of them, and the one that he was looking for was rather well hidden, but he could spot it from a good distance away. And, as he approached it, he began to feel relief, there was the way to the Financial District, and his mission. It was a simple mission, he was supposed to go and pick up a large number of products from a local merchant and move them across town in his pocket dimension. It was a job only he could really do, and that was why he had taken the job. Because it was a specialty job he was getting paid far more than a regular mission, which was why he was in such a good mood, even if it wasn't visible.

Now he took the side road, getting away from all the crowds. He was alone now, and that let him come loose a bit. The stoic look that normally crossed his face disappeared, letting the typical look that he had held as a kid, one that showed he was quite enjoying this. He stuck his hands in his pockets and sped up, his scarf billowing behind him. This road led straight to the building he needed to go to, and it was far shorter than the alternate route through the main square.

It was a five minute walk to get to the trading center, and once he got there it took about two more to store everything inside his dimension. At this point he had to constantly focus, as it took all his focus to hold this many items in a subspace. The Business District was still crowded, far more so than he had thought it would be, so in short, this journey across town would be difficult. He had discovered, upon looking at the mission briefing at the trading center, that his destination was his own guild, and that the items were supplies for the party to be held there. So, knowing his guild, if he let all of this fall out of subspace, he would be in for a world of hurt. He started off slow, walking carefully between people, and still not saying anything when people bumped him. There was a moment when he almost lost control, but he recovered quickly by stopping and collecting himself. As concentrated as he was he missed the shortcut, instead taking the long route around and watching for anything that could bump him.

For awhile this worked, he managed to avoid losing control of the dimension, and was all the way back in the central district when it happened. From the end of the shortcut that he had entered when heading to the trade center someone emerged, too fast for him to react to, and with a forceful bump, he was pushed back, only barely holding on to the dimension. Before he could see what hit him a voice, a feminine voice, shouted at him. Looking down, he saw a girl. A...very attractive girl. He could feel the magic slipping. The girl stood up, cursing under her breath and began to rub her backside where she had fallen. Then, she stared at him, glared really, and seemed to be waiting for him to apologize. Yet, he was speechless. She was beautiful, that was what he was noticing now, and his concentration slipped. Around them, seemingly out of nowhere, things began to appear, kegs of ale and spirits, platters of food, decorations, all began to land around them, a few of them broke, yet Kai didn't notice. He could feel the heat rising in his face, the plain expression completely replaced by one that was a mixture of shock and disbelief. Yet, even with the attraction he felt, his voice was completely level and appropriately apologetic. "I was watching where I was going, though, I do apologize for running into you." He looked around at the cargo which he had dropped and his face flushed, "Dammit...no one will let this go if they find out back at the guild..." He was simply speaking to himself, but it did let him vent a little. And yet, he couldn't stop thinking of the girl. He ended up looking back to her quickly, a blush rising in his face. "If there's anything I could do to make up for it, you could come back to Fairy Tail with me, by the way...I'm Kai." He grinned sheepishly, and it was completely different from his normal cold self, but this girl...he wanted to make it up to her, even though it wasn't his fault. And he wanted to know who she was. He would have recognized a girl like that if he had seen her before, and he definitely did not remember her.

[Electra]

Letting off that pent-up steam from her journey around the rest of Magnolia had helped the blonde considerably. Although she was still irritated for being knocked down, she felt much better. And in these moments of better clarity, she actually took notice of the young man she had bumped into (of course, it wasn’t HER fault…). He was tall; she had noticed that much about him when she was on her backside looking up, but the sunlight had been glaring at her then and she didn’t see much else about him. He had a head of shocking white hair, spiked and unruly which was something unusual, but strangely… it worked rather well on this young man. The main thing she was drawn to, however, were those eyes of his. Large, turquoise eyes that captivated her. In spite of the youth’s blush of embarrassment, she didn’t notice anything as she studied him with a scrutinising eye. He had to be at least… seven or eight inches taller than her. She placed her hands on her hips, looking up and down to get a gauge on how big the height difference actually was. Well, he really was tall, and that was something she took a liking to.

Suddenly, the longer the two of them simply stood there staring at one another, crashes and bangs of things falling shocked Ellie out of her stupor. Cat-like reflexes made her pivot and turn on the spot, hands clenched into strong fists as she expected somebody to jump out and attack them. Nothing of the sort happened, and it became obvious that nobody was here apart from the two of them. What had caught her attention was the sheer number of falling inanimate objects, including barrels of alcohol, plates of pre-wrapped food and other such things that somebody would find at a good party. Her bright pink eyes widened considerably as she dropped her fighting stance, and after a few seconds of letting this sink in, she burst into boisterous laughter. “Well, the weather forecast didn’t say anything about being cloudy with a chance of party showers.” She joked with a wide, playful grin directed at her current companion. The white-haired stranger actually apologised to her in a whole-hearted manner, something that caught her unaware. She was expecting a reaction like the ones she had seen in the rest of the town, possibly being shouted at for being such a klutz that didn’t watch where she was going. As such, her expression was suitably surprised. She raised a hand to rub the back of her head in an embarrassed manner, laughing sheepishly and waving her other hand in a placating kind of gesture that basically said ‘Don’t worry about it’. She lowered her hands back down to her sides and offered the male a small smile. “I’m sorry for shouting at you. The rush hour here drove me to the point of distraction, and well… you just kinda happened to get the worst end of my pissed off mood.” She found herself explaining, not like her at all. She would have slapped herself for being so nice, but it actually felt pretty… good. Instead, she shook her head like she had been thinking about something that wasn’t important and pivoted back on her heels lazily, hands clasping together behind her back.

When she next looked at the stranger, she did notice the blush touching his cheeks while he looked at her. She blinked wide-eyed, completely innocently, wondering why he was so embarrassed. Had she managed to undress herself with her earlier fall? Due to the nature of her outfit, sometimes things came loose without her noticing. She looked down at her body, smoothing the short skirt she wore and pulling at the cropped shirt, realising that nothing was out of place. Putting all of that aside for now, she instead focused on what the male had said aloud to himself. The guild? He was part of a guild in town? Ohohoho, she had managed to find a way in without managing to creep people out by her sudden appearance!

She was wondering what guild he was talking about, when he said that he could make things up to her by taking her back to Fairy Tail. Even better! She wouldn’t be keeping company with creepy bad guys, which made her very happy indeed. He introduced himself as Kai before grinning at her in a sheepish manner, and she returned the grin with a bright smile. “Alright then Kai! I’ll guess that all this interesting stuff is your property as opposed to a strange rainfall… hehe…” She laughed at her own joke, turning and placing her hands on her hips as she surveyed the amount of stuff that had fallen from nowhere. She rubbed her hands together and stretched slightly before grabbing two large casks of ale, one under each arm, without so much as an un-ladylike grunt. Although she was a mage, the nature of her magic allowed her some nice little perks, namely her above-average strength; especially for a girl of her size. It surprised most people she met. “Oh, my name’s Ellie by the way!” She introduced herself quickly with a huge grin, her pink eyes sparkling with excitement at the prospect of going to a guild. Hell, she may stay longer than just the one night in this town, it seemed like a fun place. She looked around once more at the things that hadn’t been broken beyond repair and used her foot to kick a barrel of sake in the air, catching it with the other two barrels of ale she was holding in front of her like a tower of sorts. A tower of booze… probably the best thing ever.

“Onward!” She claimed, using one foot to point in the direction she assumed they would be walking in a dramatic manner, turning around and locking her gaze with Kai, giving him a flirtatious wink as if to say ‘Get a move on, big boy’ in wordless language. Ah, her age-old habit was returning with a vengeance… and she honestly didn’t realise she was doing it. Everything was moving so fast and things were so different right now then how she had known them in the past. Whether it was the place or the person she was unsure, but… the moment she realised how she was feeling at present would be the moment she had a stern word with herself.

[Kai]

Contrary to the original reaction of the girl whom he had bumped into, or rather, who had bumped into him, Kai was calm about the matter, albeit flustered at the nature of the girl. With everything that had fallen out around them he knew that it would take a little while to gather it all up again. Yet, the girl seemed to find the fact that everything had suddenly dropped around them hilarious, as she had broken out into laughter after realizing what had happened. She seemed preoccupied with the things that had fallen around them, so he snuck a quick glance up and down her, confirming what he had thought before, she had a stunning figure.

He looked up as she turned to face him, and as she smiled at his own grin, he found himself be a bit more at ease now. She was acting more warmly than she had earlier, though this was to be expected. At her quip about the kegs and food belonging to him he game a small nod, gazing around for whatever wasn't broken or unusable. And even as he looked around, she turned again to survey the scene, and with surprising strength and dexterity, she picked up two of the larger kegs under each arm. Kai's eyes widened for a moment, returning to normal when she looked over and introduced herself, her eyes seeming to sparkle in the setting sun. Ellie...he rather liked that name, very...well he couldn't place it really, but the name appealed to him. As he considered this he was surprised even further, when Ellie kicked a barrel of sake into the air in front of her and caught it between the kegs under her arms. Who was this entrancing girl? And where had she come from? But, before he could ask any sort of identifying questions, Ellie had jubilantly signaled that they be off and began to walk, but not without looking back and giving Kai a wink that made the heat rise again, was she flirting with him? For once, was he not the one who initiated the flirting? These thoughts plagued him as he called out to her, "Just a sec, I need to pick all this up again." Concentrating, Kai walked to the nearest item, a large box of iron tankards, and put his hand on the side of it. With a surge of magic to his hand and a flash of white light, the box and its contents disappeared, though Kai felt their presence in his subspace once more. He continued to walk around the items, gingerly stepping to not break anything else, and considering each item for a few moments to decide whether or not he should take it. It took a good minute before he had everything usable packed in his dimension, the last item taking up a third of that time just so he could find a place for it. And, with everything packed away again, he started a casual walk beside Ellie, answering a question she must have, "I'm a requip mage, if you were wondering what I did back there." Of course, the items he left behind would likely be cleaned up by morning so he didn't worry much about them. And now that he was carrying fewer items he didn't need to concentrate nearly as much, and was able to walk alongside Ellie, sneaking glances at her periodically.

As they walked, Kai checked the streets they passed, not wanting to miss their turnoff for the guild, as they, or he, was already late enough with everything. He was silent for that time as well, thinking and listening to whatever Ellie had to say, and it was only when they reached the street they needed to turn at that he spoke, addressing questions he had been mulling over. "So, Ellie, what brings you to Magnolia?" This was the main thing that had been on his mind, she was definitely not from town, and since that was the case, why was she in Magnolia? She didn't seem the trading type, nor did she have a guild tattoo from what he could see, in fact, she didn't show any signs of being a mage at all. With this new thought in mind, Kai added on to his question, "Also, might you happen to be a mage? And...if so, what sort of magic are you proficient in?" That was sort of how Kai worked with new people, he listened for a while, and then asked questions as they occurred to him.

Their walking was bringing them close to the guild now, he could see lights coming from the ground and upper floors, oh how he hoped no one had trashed his room while he was gone. No doubt they were waiting for his delivery of alcohol and food, but they also knew he was in charge of it, and when they were kept waiting...well, it didn't typically turn out well. Perhaps they would assume he had been out with Ellie, which was why he was late. Yeah, he hoped they came to that conclusion, because the other was that he had simply been late, which was unacceptable when it involved booze deliveries. "By the way, when we get inside," he began, pointing to the guild hall, which towered over the surrounding buildings, "make sure you don't tell them too much. I don't want them to realize I trashed some of the stuff I was supposed to bring back. Oh, and also, stay away from Icaria, she's a bit insane. She's the short black-haired one, you'll know her when you see her." These were simply things he felt he needed to tell Ellie for her to be prepared to mingle with the guild mates of Fairy Tail, simply because if people didn't know what to expect, they would more often than not get pulled into some wild bar fight without wanting to be in it. True, it could happen anyway, but best he warn the girl he was now determined to get on good terms with about what to expect.

Once they got to the doors he would take the lead and push open the door for Ellie, locking eyes with her and grinning before heading in behind her, unless they lingered outside the guild, in which case, he would simply listen to her and whatever she had to say, trying to be as attractive as possible.

[Electra]

The blonde halted literally as soon as she had started walking when she heard Kai telling her to wait. She turned on the spot and faced him curiously, wondering how on earth he was going to carry everything. She had managed to take on a good brunt of the heavy kegs, but… there were a lot left that hadn’t broken, and plenty of food to boot. Party decorations; they couldn’t be discounted either. As she watched, it became obvious what the white-haired youth would do, even if she didn’t understand it. He was making all of the items disappear, just like that. She could feel magic being used on the objects, which would explain why flashes of white light appeared whenever Kai placed a hand on something that then vanished into thin air. After everything usable had disappeared in the same fashion, he casually walked up beside Ellie and stated that he was a Re-Quip mage, whatever that was. Her mouth was slightly agape, she realised, and she quickly shut it to stop herself looking so vacant and idiotic. She cleared her throat out of embarrassment at finding herself so amazed by the magic, and by the male himself, and averted her gaze slightly to the ground. “That’s a neat little trick you’ve got there.” She commented cheekily, her earlier grin returning as she turned to face him once more. When she was joking/ flirting, she could easily shake off any embarrassment she felt.

They started walking together, headed for Fairy Tail. Because Ellie was obviously a tourist in town, she allowed her companion to make all the steps first because she didn’t want to wander off and get lost. After they reached a side-street that Kai chose to head down, he turned to her and asked why she was in Magnolia Town. She thought about the question, wondering whether or not she should be truthful, which might make her sound a bit haphazard and stupid, or to spice up the truth a little bit with a few white lies. Making sure not to spend too long thinking about it, she turned and flashed the white-haired youth a smile. “I’ve been travelling all over Fiore, and this place was next on my bucket list, y’see. What with Fairy Tail and its size compared to other towns… I just had to get to Magnolia eventually!” She claimed in that over-the-top manner of hers, smiling from ear to ear as she focused her attention to where she was walking. There was no way she was going to trip up and embarrass herself again.

Having answered that question, Kai fired another one straight at her, asking if she was a mage, and if she was, what magic she practised. Oh, and here comes the confidence train. Ellie smirked as she tilted her head back, trying to give the impression that she was taller, higher and mightier. “Why yes, I am indeed a mage, Kai. As to what magic I use… it might be described as a form of magic whose destructive power is far too great for anybody to ever wield. And yet here I am, a practitioner in the arts of Destruction magic.” She had a habit of bigging herself up a whole lot, and now that she had somebody to impress, well… it was only going to get worse too. In so many ways, she had a lot of manly traits, what with her need to impress people she met, especially those she felt an attraction to (even if she would never admit it to herself), and the confidence she emitted that could easily turn into arrogance at any given moment.

By this point, they were fast approaching the guild. Due to the growing late hour, lights flickered inside the guild; visible from quite a way back down the street. As they reached the guild itself, they paused outside for Kai to give her some advice. He said that she shouldn’t mention too much about the incident earlier to avoid the guild members knowing that there was more to come (that had been broken in the pair’s chance meeting earlier), and he warned her against coming into contact with a girl called Icaria. Nodding to show she understood, a huge grin formed on her face as she eagerly awaited heading into the famous guild in front of them. Her white-haired companion led the way by opening the doors for her like a true gentleman, grinning at her as she passed. She returned that grin with yet another cheeky wink, and was immediately met with… chaos. Sweet, sweet chaos. Her eyes lit up with happiness and delight as she saw all the guild members laughing, singing out of tune, dancing and already brawling in some places across the guild hall. Men and women alike drunk at the bar. It seemed like everybody knew one another, and even though this place was amazing for such a chaos addict that Ellie was, she felt a little out of place as she stood there without the guild insignia marking her body.

That being said, the guild was quick to accept new people and they didn’t care for affiliation as long as a person was fun and enjoyed their company. The pair of them were greeted with boisterous cheers and a few wolf whistles from the men in the crowds, something that made Ellie laugh. She wasn’t like most girls; she wasn’t embarrassed all that easily, and she was used to male banter. Hence why she simply went along with it, grinning and laughing and enjoying the attention. “So!” She claimed, setting down the kegs she had been carrying with almighty thumps. “I heard you guys liked booze!” Her voice was loud and matched the tone of the whole place. Shouts went up in the crowd, shouts of appreciation as people rushed forward to seize the kegs and get them to the bar for everybody to enjoy. She turned on the spot and grinned at Kai, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She moved closer to him, standing by his side as she watched the chaos continue to escalate. “How long have you been a member here?” She had to raise her voice to be heard in amongst the crazy shouting.

[Kai]

Okay...so the girl had been traveling around Fiore for awhile then? And from the sound of it she had been alone this entire time, so that meant that Kai had a chance with her. Inside he could feel a small knot of tension release, he didn't have competition, or at least, didn't have any at present. Her voice was excited as she spoke to him, it seemed that she was thrilled the be in Magnolia, and the guild hall for that matter. And it was just Kai's pleasure that he happened to be the one to bump into her in town.

Her answer to the second question was both welcome and a bit unexpected. The fact that she was also a mage raised Kai's spirits, he had hoped as much, but it was the nature of her magic that was surprising to him. Typically, when he thought of Destruction magic, he pictured a large man with fists that when they connected, delivered force comparable to a lacrima car moving at high speed. Yet, here was a petite hottie who wielded such a magic. As she walked with him he had to look away and give a grin at how she had answered the question. Her high thinking of her magic was oh so similar to how another mage viewed herself as a goddess among men. Yet, Ellie seemed more down to earth than that.

She entered the guild before him, winking once more as he held the door, this time he managed to keep from having that fluttery feeling in his stomach, and once she was inside, he followed, throwing his regular icy expression back on. His guild mates would expect him to be like this, and since Ellie already knew he could be aloof, he felt safe enough returning to looking colder than the northern kingdoms.

Already it seemed as though the guild had drunken enough to leave several of its members with day long hangovers, and yet, as Kai looked around he saw not a single tankard on the tables, a few were at the bar, yes, but everyone else seemed sober for the time being. As the door slammed behind Ellie and himself, numerous people looked over, and when they saw who it was a loud welcome boomed before them. Or rather, it was more a welcome of fresh food and spirits. Everyone who wasn't at the bar or in the middle of a fight came rushing over to meet them, though a few did give Ellie and odd stare before Kai returned them with his characteristic glare. All around everyone waited expectantly, and knowing exactly what they were waiting for, he brought his hand up in the air. Once by one, white flashes appeared in the crowd before them, dropping barrels and kegs and tankards and bottles into the arms of the crowd, each running off to open them before others got to it. Then there was the food, platters clanged onto tables, plates fell into place around them, and the food sat, still steaming, at every table.

The kegs that Ellie had been carrying and had set down were quickly carried off, just as quickly as the ones Kai had summoned had been, and still Kai kept a stoic look, as people were still sneaking glances at him as Ellie stood at his side, bright and shining as opposed his currently cold demeanor. Like fire burning next to ice.

He was surveying the crowd when Ellie's question reached his ears, and knowing that if he were to look at her right now he wouldn't be able to keep on his present appearance, he quickly put a hand around her waist, attempting to walk her to a place he knew was private, his 'room', otherwise known as the basement. As the noise continued to rise around them he could hear the cackles form a few others around him, no doubt they thought he was taking her to his room for other reasons, but really, it was just so they could talk without interruption and without giving away that side of him.

There was a small bar downstairs, one that was used in case the ground floor wasn't usable, and this was where he hoped to talk to her. Once there, he brought forth the last things he had stored in his pocket dimension; a smaller barrel of alcohol that had smelled particularly good to him when he was packing, a couple of glasses, and a platter that held a full dinner and dessert tray. Upon it were all sorts of sweet things, including Dorayaki, and Tiramasu, and other desserts aside. All of this appeared on the counter as Kai walked around and pulled up a chair for himself, leaving the one he found most comfortable on the other side for Ellie.

It was only now that he dared look at Ellie again, now that they were away from the others, and sure enough, the fluttering began again as he looked her in the eye and nodded to the seat, implying she sit down. His typical frozen demeanor was gone again, something that hadn't happened since his sister had been kidnapped seven years before. This girl made him happy, he found, and since she was a mage, perhaps she was just the person he needed to work with to try and find Mizuki. But of course, he also wanted to see if he could win her heart. Before he could stop himself he found the words rolling off his tongue, "Why don't you take a seat, beautiful, and eat up, this one can be just for us." Immediately he regretted saying it this way, what if she was taken? What if she found it too...up front and was just repelled by what he had said? Immediately the blush flared up again, but he didn't take his eyes of hers, he wasn't one to be embarrassed into looking away. He searched for a sign of repulsion or, hopefully attraction, perhaps she liked that sort of up front behavior? The girls in town didn't, but she was of a different sort. Not being from Magnolia himself, Kai knew little of the local customs, even after being there for some time. "And also..." he managed through a stifled smile, "I've been here for three years. And feel free to ask whatever might cross your mind." His heart thudded in his chest now, he would be surprised if Ellie couldn't hear it from where she stood, and his attempts to slow it seemed stymied by the growing feeling of nervousness in his stomach.

[Electra]

It seemed that the guild were absolutely delighted by their appearance here, namely because Kai had all the stuff they wanted for a great party. The guild members were completely and utterly occupied by the alcohol, food and decorations, even if a few of them had come running to say their hellos and the like. She had noticed that her white-haired companion seemed… rather chilly and icy since entering the guild. Because she didn’t yet know him well enough to really comment or ask what was the matter, she let it slide for now but made a mental note to ask him at some other time, when they were so hemmed in by hundreds of other people. After she had asked how long he had been a member of Fairy Tail, he didn’t so much as look at her before he snaked a hand around her waist and directed her to move elsewhere. In spite of the numerous questioning looks she gave him, he didn’t give her an explanation or even look at her whatsoever.

What on earth was going on?

He led her to a set of stairs that went down to a basement, she assumed, since that seemed to be the only logical explanation of why they were there. Ellie had taken note of the fact that people had laughed when seeing Kai lead her in this direction, and the jeers/ encouragement that basically spoke of ulterior motives aside from ‘talking’ and the like. She kept on edge a little, her body becoming tense as she walked down the stairs into the room below the guild. A small bar was present in the room, probably a back-up if the main one wasn’t in operation. She was busy admiring the room when her companion brought out a whole dinner just for themselves, and as such when she returned her attention to the bar, she was rather surprised to say the least. A smaller keg of alcohol had been set apart from the rest, a pair of glasses and two trays; one containing main course items, and the other containing dessert items.

After all of that, she turned back to her companion only to see that his gaze was searching for hers. She felt a small blush creeping up to her cheeks at this eye-contact, and could have slapped herself for being so… typically embarrassed. With a deep breath and focus on the blush disappearing, she was able to look at Kai again with more dignity. He nodded at the comfier-looking chair, obviously offering for her to sit down, and continued to vocalise his offer, calling her ‘beautiful’ and mentioning that this meal was ‘just for them’. From what had happened earlier, when he had suddenly seemed so cold, to now when he had opened up again, Ellie was unsure about whether he actually felt an attraction to her, or he was just trying to win her over for a quick one-night stand. As such, she told herself to be careful. In her youth, she hung around with boys more than girls, and that had taught her to be especially cautious of them. In fact, most of her old friends had, at one stage or another, tried to ‘make a move’ on her, which only added to her suspicions. There was that, and… well… she had long since closed her heart off to any relations with anybody past friendship.

Realising now how already felt an attraction to this young man, she knew that she had to remain calm, composed and ready to push back any advances if they went too far. She could easily give in to her emotions, but she would end up being crushed to pieces once more. And it was hard enough to pick herself back up the first time. Instead of flipping out about her companion’s comment, she smiled and took the seat offered to her. “What a gentleman.” She commented with a playful giggle. It was easier said than done for her to stop flirting, to stop giving people false hope. Strangely enough, it was a natural reaction for her to do as such.

Now that she was seated, she took note of what was on the dessert tray. Her eyes widened to almost impossible levels as she locked eyes on the most delicious-looking dorayaki she had seen in a while, and after a glance at Kai for approval, she pounced on it, hand snatching the sweet treat. She laughed delightedly, already chowing down on the ice cream filled pancake with small nibbles in order to savour it. The ice cream was strawberry flavoured, which made the treat even better. “Mmmmm…” She muttered with delight, truly enjoying her favourite food with a real vengeance. She returned her attention to her companion when he mentioned that he had been a member of the guild for three years, and invited her to ask whatever questions she might have about him or just in general. “Wow, three years, that’s a long-ass time.” She pointed out with a small nod, devouring more of the sweet dorayaki in her hand. Before long, that piece was gone and she moved onto another, this one flavoured with chocolate mint ice cream.

“The longest time I’ve stayed in one place for…” She pondered aloud, placing her index finger to her chin while she considered her current train of thought. Her lips pouted slightly and her eyebrows furrowed a little, giving her a kind of thoughtful look as well as a cute one. “Probably something like half a year. Yeah! About six months. We were always moving around.” She claimed casually, nibbling on the piece of dorayaki in her hand with a delighted smile touching her lips. After a brief mention of what her past had been like, however, she immediately became a lot frostier, shaking her head to herself. Usually, she never told ANYONE what happened in her childhood, and there she had admitted something to Kai like it was typical, normal conversation. He was making her bend her usual rules, and she knew that it was because of one huge reason that she didn’t want to ever admit to herself.

She felt something for this young man.

A spark, but it was there, in spite of them only knowing each other for less than an hour at most. From now on, she had to be harsher, brisker, colder instead so that the male would get the picture that she didn’t want a relationship or any form of relations beyond friendship with him. She decided to steer the conversation away from any more personal ground, clearing her throat and averting her gaze elsewhere in the room. “I can’t say that I’ve heard of Re-Quip magic before, Kai. What does it focus around?” It was true. In terms of magic, she wasn’t very well-versed in it. Her own magic was all she had ever really known and understood, and even then her fighting style was almost entirely improvised.

[Kai]

Kai felt a stronger thud in his chest at the obvious delight Ellie displayed at the food offered, specifically the dorayaki. She had gone through several of them before Kai had decided what he wanted to each. Finally he pulled off a small selection of sushi from the dinner platter, and a chocolate pudding from the dessert tray, digging in as she commented on his time there. In truth, three years was really nothing, not compared to the four he had spent training with the old crone, or the six he had spent with his sister and their dragon, but he didn't say anything, those were secrets he wasn't divulging yet. Even to a girl like Ellie.

He continued to listen as Ellie told of her past, little as she revealed. Though he had caught something odd. Ellie said she traveled by herself, yet she said that 'we' were always moving around. That meant there was someone else she didn't want to acknowledge, but had accidentally mentioned. Though she shook her head, as though heading off the question Kai was about to ask, and before he could recover and ask it, she was speaking again.

She looked away as she cleared her throat, but Kai wasn't too concerned with it, as the question that followed was one that he often liked to answer. She didn't know what requip was apparently, and explaining his magic was one of the topics he enjoyed explaining. Putting a fourth piece of sushi in his mouth and pretending to chew thoughtfully (He had an answer already prepared) he leaned back in his chair and looked at Ellie.

”Well, let me start with the basics, since you’re unfamiliar with magic of my sort. There are two types of magic, Caster Magic, such as your destruction magic or my sister’s magic, where the mage changes their body or channels magic through their body, and holder magic, where the mage channels their magic through items or uses items innate abilities to use magic. My magic falls under this second category.” he took a moment to fill his cup and take a long swallow from it, the iced liquid that he now recognized as wine slid easily down his dry throat. Thus satiated, he continued his explanation.

”Now, requip in and of itself is not holder magic. You know how everything that is physical takes up space? Well, every requip mage is trained to take advantage of and manipulate this to their advantage. Each of us has a ‘pocket dimension’, a small, undetectable space that we can access using our magic power. In that space is where we store our power. Weapons, armor, anything we want to, we can store in the pocket dimension, which was why I was the one bringing all the party goods back this evening, because I can carry far more than anyone else in the guild. However, to carry that much stuff takes a lot of concentration, which was why I ‘dropped’ it when I ran into you.” Or when we ran into eachother he thought to himself. ”Most of the time however, my pocket dimension is only partly filled, with things such as this.” He held his hand up, and in a yellow flash, a pair of twin swords were in the palm of his hand, flickering with electricity, and with another flash they disappeared as quickly as they had come.

”We requip mages are well suited to adapt in fights, I myself have five sets of armor at present, each of which has a different set of magic bound to it. This way, no matter who I fight, I can find something that works.” He popped another piece of sushi into his mouth and refilled his plate with some corned beef that was present. After some chewing and a quick swallow, Kai finished his explanation, ”In short, Requip magic center’s around arming the user with all the items and weapons needed to fight, or the items that are needed to complete a task, I carry a bunch of stuff with me that I don’t fight with, but would use to solve a problem if I needed it.” With that, he rocked his chair back to being flat on the floor, however, at this he noticed something, some that caught his attention quite a lot. While Ellie was looking away, he chest was pushed out a good amount, and her breasts were resting on the counter, though she didn’t seem to notice.

As much as he tried to, Kai couldn’t pull his eyes away, and the corned beef flopped form his fork back onto his plate, forgotten. He did have the tact to keep his mouth closed where most of have dropped, but he still watched the pair, which now he realized was quite an impressive pair to say the least. He had only recently recovered from his blush after speaking to Ellie as though they were a couple, and now a new bloodrush was rising in his face. Ellie was still looking away, so he felt somewhat safe with this look, but if she suddenly looked back, he would have no time to avert his gaze before she caught him.

He was going to say something more, a question or something, but now his mind was a little fuzzy, both from the strong wine and this further stimulation of his senses. Absentmindedly he picked up his glass again taking another sip and glancing up to see if Ellie was looking. Even though he knew he would be busted if she spotted him, he couldn’t fight not looking down when they were so prominently displayed, even if Ellie didn’t realize it. His heart was managing to slow a bit, the wine was taking effect and his brain felt even fuzzier, but, he was sharp and could easily hold off the liquor as he chatted with her. If there was one thing that made him a definite member of Fairy Tail, it was that he could hold down all but the strongest of liquors without much change in his personality.

[Electra]

She was grateful that her companion didn’t press her about the past as she mentioned it in passing, and a weight seemed to lift off her chest. Ever the optimist, she always talked about focusing on the future and not what happened in the past, but in all honesty she only said as much to avoid herself thinking back to the terrible times she remembered while growing up.

It seemed that she had done the right thing to ask about Kai’s magic, because he looked rather happy and eager to talk about it. She kept her body facing the counter, but turned her head to look at her companion as a sure sign that she was paying attention and listening to everything he said. He spoke about the two types of magic, and the fact that something other than Caster magic (or ‘boom boom bang bang’ magic as she used to call it as a child) existed surprised her. Bright magenta orbs widened to show her surprise, but she quickly pushed her surprise out of mind to make it seem as if she knew more than she actually let on… although in truth, she wasn’t particularly clever, and it wouldn’t be hard to see that. Re-Quip magic was famous throughout Fiore, and the fact that she hadn’t heard of it spoke volumes about one of two things; her lack of intelligence, or her lack of knowledge in general.

She was fascinated by the description given to her, about a pocket dimension that every Re-Quip mage had at their disposal. So that was what Kai had done earlier when he made everything disappear! To carry large amounts of stuff meant that it was hard to keep up, which was why he had dropped things when they bumped into one another. He brought out a pair of lightning blades as an example of things he usually kept in this pocket dimension of his, and she truly did feel in awe of such wonderful magic power.

Re-Quip magic sounded very versatile, especially considering that not only weapons could be carried around, but other items that might prove useful on a mage’s journey. When her white-haired companion had finished speaking, Ellie faced the wall and nodded her head slowly, making sense of it all in her mind. She took a while to process it, and to eat more dorayaki among other, more savoury foods, and eventually smiled a little when she looked back at Kai. “That sounds really amazing.” She breathed, eyes shining as she leant an elbow forward onto the counter, propping her chin up in the palm of her outstretched hand. Her head tilted to the side while she looked at the young man at her side, her blonde locks tumbling down her back and slightly covering on eye due to the jaunty angle her head was currently tilted to.

Realising what the young man had been doing while she was looking away, however, took her a bit of time. No more than a few seconds of pulling this ‘dreamy’ kind of pose, the penny seemed to drop when she tried to meet his gaze only to see that he was staring intently at her chest. Now… this could be rather fun. Should she react like herself, or like a typical female in this situation? In all honesty, she didn’t care when she was ogled at by men, so the fact that Kai had his eyes glued to her breasts didn’t bother her in the slightest.

But it might be fun to play up and react to this in a different way to see if his intentions were truly honourable or not… eh, she might as well give it a go.

A scowl touched her lips where a smile had been painted only seconds earlier, and she shot bolt up-right, using her arms to cover her sizeable extras with a little shriek of disgust. Her scowl soon turned into a pout, and she lowered her gaze to the counter at her half-eaten toffee dorayaki. “Y-You pervert!” She even managed the embarrassed stutter in her voice, for which she awarded herself extra points. It was mean, most probably, but she had her reasons for doing so. Heck, she had to check if he was actually into her, or her hot rack.

[Kai]

It had taken a few moments for it to sink in, but when it did, Kai felt his stomach drop. He was caught, and immediately his gaze shot back up to meet Ellie's eyes. Just a moment ago she had been resting on her arm and watching him, almost dreamily, and now, well now she knew he had been looking at her boobs.

Her smile had vanished as quickly as the dorayaki had and she scowled at him, shoving away from the counter and standing, covering her chest (though completely unexposed) with her thin arms. She quickly began to pout, and it was obvious that Kai had little he could do. But he was trying to explain when she uttered that word, the word which Kai found to be one of those he dreaded hearing.

A pervert, she had called him a pervert! He found that he was standing now, and reeling back a little from her exclamation. "Per...pervert?! What did you call me?!" a shade of irritation was in the words, but was far outclassed by the shock and embarrassment. He had never been called a pervert before, sure, he had been denounced, threatened, shoved off, and even sworn at by girls, but never had he been called a pervert, he was classier than that. Except for now it seemed.

Breathing slowly to let the blush flush out of his cheeks, Kai sat back down on his stool, looking at Ellie, making sure to keep eye contact with her. "Listen, please calm down, and sit. There are two reasons why I was looking at your uh...breasts. One. You were resting them on the counter. And two...well...you're quite appealing to me." Throughout all this Kai's stomach churned, feeling as though hundreds of winged insects fluttered inside him, sure, he had felt attraction before to some of the girls in town, but now like this. Ellie was special, he could feel it, and he needed to let her know that.

He reached out to try and take her hand, with which he would attempt to bring her back to her seat, or even better, onto his lap. But, the whole time he would make sure he wasn't trapping her or appearing to trap her. He wanted to get to know her, and if he scared her off now, there was no way he would get another chance.

"Please understand," he continued "I am no pervert. I like attractiveness, yes, but you are on a whole different level of hot than any of the girls I've met. You have it. I don't know what it is really, but you have it. He was going out on a limb now, what with all these statements of how hot she was. "Listen, I understand if you aren't interested in me, but please don't judge me for this little hiccup."

Now he would bring his arms back down to his sides and let her do as she wanted, if she wanted to leave, fine, if she wanted to stay, that was excellent, but now he had said what he needed to say, and it was her choice as to how to proceed.

[Electra]

Hm… maybe her joke had gone a little too far… Kai was taking this completely serious, and he seemed hurt by her words. That being said, it would hurt any man to be called a pervert, but this was a different kind of hurt. She actually felt bad for doing this to such a nice guy, as he was proving to be. She noticed the blush on his cheeks and the way he faded, slowly, while he tried to regain his composure from his earlier exclamation. He gave two perfectly good reasons as to why he had been looking at her breasts. One was the fact that she had, well… presented them rather well to be stared at. The other was what caught her ENTIRELY off-guard, however, when he literally told her that she was attractive to him.

He reached out to her in an attempt to take her hand, and she did so after a little huff to try and keep her act going from before. The joke was mean, but still not yet at its punch-line. Instead of going for her seat, however, she went and sat straight in his lap, keeping a kind of cute defeated expression on her face, averting her gaze, puffing her cheeks out; the whole shebang. Kai continued to say that alongside her attractiveness, she had something special, something he called it. That was a phrase she had heard being used before; something about a person that made them different to everybody else, something unexplainable. After he had finished, asking her not to judge him for his little mistake earlier, she turned her head to look at him, keeping the same pout and cute little down-trodden expression… at least for a little while.

Before long she cracked, and a huge grin took over her face as boisterous laughter escaped her lips. “AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, KAI-KUN, HOW SWEET!~” She exclaimed in a kind of coo, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly in a friendly kind of embrace. She pulled back slightly, managing to keep her cheeks flaring up red by acting doubly cheeky. The grin on her face grew to near impossible levels, ignoring the fact that they were so close.

Well… she didn’t have much respect for personal space…

“I was only joking.” She waved a hand like it was nothing, giving a small shrug of her shoulders before deciding to explain herself. If she left it at that, he would probably demand for her to leave. “So many guys in the past have just acted nice to me to try and be friends, or more. Just had to check that you were different from them. And congrats, you are!” She clapped her hands together in a miniature applause, reaching back to the counter and retrieving her half-eaten dorayaki treat, munching on it hungrily with her magenta eyes wide with delight. She was still sat on his lap, and was feeling rather comfortable… eh, she may move, or she may not. It depended on what her devious mind told her to do next.

It was almost like she had completely disregarded his earlier comments about him being attracted to her, even if those words had made her insides do back-flips out of sheer delight. Her head took precedence over her heart, however, and told her to stop holding her heart out on her sleeve as a possible item to be trampled all over, like it had been in the past. She finished off that piece of dorayaki and sprang up from her seat on Kai, clapping her hands together and moving to pour herself a large glass of the alcoholic beverage that had been provided for their little meal alone. And, quite surprisingly, she threw it all back in a matter of gulps, placing the glass back down with a sigh of satisfaction. “That’s some good stuff.” She complimented the white-haired young man’s choice in alcohol with a firm nod. In spite of her rough-and-ready kind of attitude, Ellie was… rather bad when it came to holding alcohol, as poor Kai would soon find out.

And this alcohol was strong, she knew that much from its intoxicating smell and lip-puckering sharpness. She poured another glass, draining its contents quickly once again. To pad out her choice, she picked up the final piece of dorayaki, enjoying its sweet taste of raspberry ripple ice cream and pancake rolled into one. She would go to any lengths to make sure her attraction for her current companion was masked, and that included getting drunk. At least this way, any kinds of advances or flirtatiousness could be put down to the influence of alcohol. “Hey Kai.” She spoke to him, her voice already a little slurry when compared to normal. “D’we have any music down here? Those guys up there get a party, and so should we!” She claimed, wishing to dance around like there was no tomorrow. Heck, she was going to have fun and regret her actions the next day, just like she always did.

Anything else would be alien to her.

[Kai]

Little could be said about how Kai was feeling now. Desperate? No. Angry? Not even. Embarrassed? Indeed. Ellie was sitting on his lap, and that might be a good sign, but she had still wounded him and his pride, and her response could either embarrass him further or possibly turn him around completely. Though she didn't seem to be turning around at all, even when she looked at him her pout was firm on her face. He thought he had failed, at least until she burst out smiling.

Kai's expression went from shocked to puzzled as Ellie gave a laugh that would suit the most boisterous members of Fairy Tail. It was as though bells were ringing with joy at their own sound. The laugh eased some of the stress that had built up in the past minute, but it was still partially present due to the fact that this could be a farce. But, all doubt was wiped away when Ellie stopped laughing and cooed at him in an excited voice, and, surprising Kai, she threw her arms around him and pulled him in tightly, inadvertently pushing his face between her cleavage. Kai made sure not to give off any reaction in case it sent her off again, yet, she seemed to be too into holding him to notice.

It was a good thing that Kai wasn't too big on personal space when it came to girls. And the fact that she had been joking was what put him completely back to normal. She had freed him a little from the hug and now he could breath and see once again, the corners of his mouth twitching at the hint of a smile. As she explained the grin spread, so she had been testing him? Well, at least she was cautious and not easily offended as he had feared. Still sitting on his lap she picked up the dorayaki she had left forgotten on the platter, locking eyes with him in a way that showed just how happy she was.

And yet, it seemed that as quickly as she had come to sit on his lap she had jumped up to get herself a glass of wine, and the bliss that had filled his heart slowly gave way to the shadow that had been present for seven years, even though Ellie was there. To answer her comment on the wine he simply nodded and leaned against the counter. He watched as she downed two glasses of the stuff, one right after the other, and immediately he knew that she was no Fairy. As she turned towards him he saw her foot just about misstep, and when she spoke again her speech was already slurring, perhaps he should pull the alcohol back into his pocket dimension...

Kai wasn't grinning anymore, he knew just how dangerous a drunk person could be, and Ellie seemed to be one of the least suitable people to be drinking. "Ellie, you're uh, drunk I think." he said, standing and taking her hands. "And no, I don't have music down here, though who needs music to dance really?" Even if Ellie was drunk he could easily hold her, and if she wanted to dance with him he wouldn't say no. Letting go of her hand for a moment he grabbed himself another glass and drunk it in a few gulps, now he was pleasantly intoxicated and ready to dance. "So, shall we dance, m'lady?" he held his hand out, his smile returning now.

He felt the confidence that came with drunkenness starting to rise in him, though he wasn't really drunk, not yet. It would take a lot more to knock him off his feet, Ellie however, seemed a different sort. He had already decided that Ellie would need to stay the night, there was no way he was letting her back out into the streets like this. She could have his bed and he would sleep on the spare sleep pad behind the counter. In any case, now was the time to dance, later they would decide what to do with Ellies arrangements.

[Electra]

Ellie decided that she liked it better when her companion was smiling, and she smiled in return while she was eating her dorayaki still seated comfortably in his lap. She may or may not have meant to shove Kai’s face right in her cleavage, and she wasn’t about to disclose that information either. She didn’t seem the slightest bit embarrassed by that development, so she either didn’t notice or she honestly didn’t care. What was so special about breasts anyway? They were just hunks of flesh, bigger on some women than others. If anything she saw them as a hindrance while fighting, and as such bound them in tight bandages most of the time underneath her cropped shirt. Today was no difference, and the bandages managed to hold them better than if they were otherwise left to their own devices.

It seemed that right after she had helped herself to the alcohol offered, her companion’s demeanour changed rather drastically. He seemed concerned or anticipating something bad to happen, which she couldn’t exactly blame him for. After all, drunk people could be dangerous to new levels, especially if they were particularly violent while intoxicated. In spite of her rather violent nature, she wasn’t particularly violent while drunk, and was rather the opposite instead. She took ‘happy’ to new levels, she always enjoyed to dance a lot, she was much more prone to flirting (gender didn’t seem to matter too much after alcohol had entered her system) and she became much, much wilder; if that was humanly possible.

The white-haired Re-Quip mage grabbed hold of her hands, forcing her to look up and focus on him, or namely those wonderful eyes of his. When he stated that she was drunk, she laughed it off with a cheerful smile on her lips. “I’m not drunk!” She protested in a purr of a voice, squeezing his hands tightly and blinking in surprise when Kai said that they didn’t need any music to dance to. They didn’t? But music made it possible to dance, surely? He seemed to steel himself with more alcohol before offering that they dance together, something that made her face light up to new levels of delight. Well, he had called her ‘m’lady’, after all. She giggled softly and immediately shifted one of his hands to rest at her waist, while she held the other up in a classical kind of waltz hold.

Originally, she had wished to dance like a madman, chucking out some funky shapes in all directions with some great music playing. But hey, he had been all gentlemanly with her and she should comply, right?

Her waltzing skills weren’t bad, but they weren’t stunningly good either. In this instance, she didn’t have to worry about leading, however, because that was the man’s job. She simply gave him a little prompt in the right direction. In spite of her intoxication and large, clumsy boots, she stepped with grace as she moved backwards, pulling Kai with her before turning gracefully on the spot, her feet moving all the time to keep up with her body’s movements. The smile on her face had been replaced by a look of sheer concentration, her brows slightly knitted together with her cheeks slightly puffed out. She did not stick her tongue out like others did when they were concentrating, and instead took on a look of almost fierce determination. In the past, the look had been called ‘sweet’ or ‘adorable’, and as such she didn’t seem to concentrate very much.

But she was drunk now, and all other rules she had set for herself were thrown out of the window. As she set the pace for the slow dance, she raised her head from her feet and looked at Kai properly, eyes bright as a small smile touched her lips again. “Since you asked for this dance, which is much slower than I anticipated, tell me about yourself.” She laughed softly, her brain still clouded with alcohol and its effect over her. It left her feeling warm and fuzzy inside, but she couldn’t quite determine whether that was the alcohol, or whether those were her feelings for the young man currently holding her.

She realised now that she couldn’t stay long in this town; she would end up getting hurt if she did, what with her silly emotions being all over the place. She had never felt this way about anybody else before, and that was why she knew it was all the important for her to leave as soon as possible. Her heart had been broken and left in that state for far too long; she didn’t think it could stand more punishment.

[Kai]

His partner, while somewhat tipsy, took Kai's hand quite gracefully to his pleasant surprise, and, contrary to what sort of dancing she might do, pulled him close in for what was undeniably a waltzing stance. She twirled as he held his arm up, coming to rest once again, facing him, with one of his hands on her waist and the other holding her lead hand. It had been years since he had taken waltzing lessons at home (his and his twin's parents thought that waltzing was a necessary skill for anyone who sought to be classy) but he remembered all the basic steps, the lift, as well as various twirls he could do with the girl. So, bringing up a song with a 3/4 beat in his head, he began to lead them in their dance.

Ellie seemed overly concentrated upon her feet, and when she did look up he could see a look that was both funny and cute to see. Her cheeks were slightly puffed out and her brow was furrowed, giving her the appearance of an ill-tempered cat, trying to fend off a larger opponent. But, given a bit of time, she slowed them to a waltz that was more adagio than allegro, but he didn't mine, after all she was looking at him with the coy grin of hers. With her eyes locked on his and the comforting feel of her touch and her hand in his, he couldn't help but return the smile, though when she asked about him, it faltered. No doubt she was wondering about who he was, and that wasn't information he really gave out...then again, she was visibly drunk and likely wouldn't remember half the things he said now in the morning.

Remaining silent for a few moments to lift Ellie by her hips and bring her back down, Kai pulled her back in close and continued to dance. "Well, I suppose I should tell you that I'm not originally from Fiore. I was born and raised in Veronica, which is a small country to the north. My parents were traders, mages both, which was how I first learned my Requip magic, from my father." He spun Ellie lithely and continued, getting very close to the counter before waltzing away. "I have a twin sister, her name is Mizuki. We lost our parents thirteen years ago, but were found by new ones and were raised by them until they disappeared seven years ago." They spun on the spot slowly before coming to a pause. "I lost my sister then as well, but I know she's still around." He led them across the room, towards the large bed he had moved there when he joined Fairy Tail. "And three years ago I came here, to try and find a way to find my sister." In a final, grand spin, Kai threw himself backwards onto his bed, pulling Ellie up beside him and released her hand. "And that's kinda it. I've been here ever since."

The lightheaded feeling of the wine was wearing off a bit in the shadow of remembering the loss of his sister. She had been taken from him by slavers, back when he could do little magic, and on the same day that their 'parents' had disappeared. It had nearly broken him, losing all of that, and that was what made him cold and closed nowadays. He hadn't given up though, slaves could break free or be rescued, it was just a matter of finding her, but it couldn't hurt for him to have some happiness in the midst of all his gloom. So, he would indulge himself in the pleasure that Ellie's company was, and if she sought his company as he hers, then that would ease his stormy mind for now.

"So, Ellie, as you are by all standards sloshed out of your mind, I will give you my bed for the night, and if you need it at any time while you stay here. As I said, I find you quite attractive and likable, and will do what I can to make you comfortable. Any questions?"

[Electra]

In her drunken state, Ellie hadn’t quite acknowledged that it wasn’t only her that had a haunted past. When she asked her companion to tell her about himself, the smile he had been wearing up until that point faltered, if only slightly, but she was able to notice the change due to them being so close. He hesitated somewhat before deciding to speak, which was something she could respect as she did this often when bringing up her past… at least, around other people, that is. It seemed that while she was with Kai words just tumbled out of her mouth.

She gasped in surprise when the white-haired youth picked her up by the hips and then placed her back down, something that made her giggle and blush, if only slightly. It could also be the effects of alcohol rushing to her head as she continued to feel happier and happier by the second. Although she was intoxicated by the strong wine, she listened intently to every word her companion had to say. He had chosen to be open with her, and she respected that, even if she couldn’t bring herself to be open in return. She hoped upon hope that Kai wouldn’t ask about her after he had spoken about himself, but in the meantime listened carefully. He told her that he wasn’t originally from Fiore, and was born in a small country called Veronica, which was north of this country. He also said that his magic was something his father passed down to him, a fact that Ellie couldn’t quite comprehend. Both of her parents hadn’t been magical; in fact, it was a strange phenomenon as to why she was able to practise magic in the first place.

He talked about how he had lost his parents and twin sister, a girl he called Mizuki, seven years ago. The twins had been through two sets of parents in their lifetime, it seemed, something that made the blonde feel a pang of guilt in her chest. Kai explained that he was here now because he wanted to find his sister, which was something Ellie could completely respect, even if she had no siblings of her own. In fact, she despised all of her family and the ideas of having family, but to her companion, family was important. She could respect that much.

Silence enveloped the pair of them while the drunk Ellie processed all of the information in her mind, a look of concentration still plastered on her face. The smile she wore earlier had disappeared, leaving only a small trace of it behind. While she concentrated on the silent waltz, she was happy that Kai hadn’t pried into her life like she thought he would. A sigh of relief left her lips, and she was surprised to hear him speak to her again. It was odd hearing someone talk from above her, but such was the difference in height between them that it seemed that way. She lifted her head from her booted feet to look at Kai with wide, curious eyes, taking in everything he told her.

It took her a few seconds to actually realise what he had said, but when it dawned on her, she pouted to show her distaste. “I am not that drunk…” She muttered, more to herself than her companion. To contradict as much, however, she collapsed onto the bed offered to her, smiling to herself as she curled up to get comfortable. Then, her brow furrowed again as she remembered that if Kai didn’t have his bed, where would be sleep? “You should have your own bed, I’ll crash on the floor.” She told him, lifting her head from where she had laid it on the bed, arms wrapping around her knees that had been pulled up to her chest. Now that she was laid down, however, she was feeling very tired, and the world was spinning whenever she closed her eyes. That wasn’t a good sign… she knew that much.

“Nya…” She mumbled under her breath, shutting her eyes tight and burrowing her head into the quilt. “Damn… everything’s spinning…” She voiced her earlier thought aloud, slowly opening her eyes again and fixing her gaze on Kai instead. At least when she had her eyes open, things didn’t spin.