brains and brawn | sting eucliffe

⁸ꜱᴛᴀʀɪɴɢ ɪꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴠᴇʀʏ ᴘᴏʟɪᴛᴇ

Gears.. was not expecting this.

"So, what do you say?"

Master Makarov had been calling people into his office all day as people went in and out of the guild, each packing up their things for Crocus. A city that Gears knew well. Her grandfather had taken her there for flower festivals, where she would help him sell the many themed music boxes that they made for the occasion. Lily actually bordered Crocus on the east side.

But, she honestly didn't expect this out of everything that spun in her head.

"I- uhh.." She stuttered, eyes still wide from the news. "I-If you want then sure, but why me?"

The older man shrugged, twisting his mustache. "Well, it seems I've loaded the second team with a lot of strong people, and I forgot about someone smart to balance it out. In the first team I have Lucy and Erza- in the second team, I would like you to participate."

Gears nodded. She understood why, but it honestly confused her. She was just.. plain old Gears. And she was being put on the other team for the guild. It was unheard of. Wild. But a part of her said that she would enjoy it.. very much.

She shut her eyes, letting her head fall. "I- well, okay. I'll do it."

The master grinned as she met his eyes sheepishly. "Well then. I look forward to seeing you out on the field."

--

Walking through Crocus gave her chills.

It had been a long, long time since she'd been there last. And now that she was participating in a group, she felt like it shone a completely different light on her. A brighter one. One with more force than she was used to, and her stomach twisted into knots at the feeling.

The girl stood behind Amaya as they scampered along the roads, having split from the group after being given the rules- ones which Gears was not planning on breaking. Besides, it was only around nine, they wanted everyone back by twelve.

So, she watched Amaya struggle to contain herself at the sights of all the flowers. One thing you should know about Maya. She loved flowers. Way too much.

"Okay, okay-" Gears tried, "Calm down please. We have all night, let's at least get something to eat before you destroy the whole town."

Turning around for five seconds after that turned out to be a huge mistake, however.

It wasn't until an hour later and a whole lot of panic that the orangette was able to find her friend again, a bouquet of perfectly arranged flowers in her arms. The teen glared at her friend as they made eye contact.

"In my defense, I was left unsupervised."

Gears inhaled slowly before directing her friend away from all the flowers. "How about getting something to eat? Or do you want to eat the flowers in your hand instead?"

Maya grumbled at the girl before walking forwards, the flowers in her hands still held close to her chest.

"Oh dear god." Gears muttered to herself as she watched the bluenette walk away, following behind her with a grimace. "You're gonna be the death of me."

Not too long afterwards, the two had gotten something to eat. The engineer wasn't too hungry, so she got an overpriced quesadilla with ranch. Amaya got the breakfast burrito without salmon.. for some reason. Surprise, surprise, the ocean dragon slayer hated seafood.

Afterwards, the two decided to head back to the guild, having around an hour to get there before curfew.

Well, they tried to get there, but a few shouts from a ways away claimed their attention. They barely had to talk to each other before they leaped to check it out.