dinner with the dragneels

Ⅳ

"okay, first off, we aren't technically cousins, just family friends whose family's really close, and second of all, you just showed up out of fucking nowhere-"

"language," wendy nudged natsu.

laxus narrowed his eyes at wendy and a shiver ran up her spine. "oh. the brat."

"now, now, laxus, is that any way to treat your cousin?" wendy retorted.

laxus arched an eyebrow. "touché. well, the old man wanted to drop by and say hello, or something. didn't really ask the details. thought i could tag along and see how you lot are doing."

"well, we have things to be doing, so," wendy crossed her arms.

"scheming?" laxus hummed, hopping down from the counter and tossing the lime peels out. "i want in."

"we aren't up to anything-"

laxus nodded to the door. "course not. let's just catch up somewhere else and leave the kitchen staff to work, yeah?"

natsu narrowed his eyes. laxus clearly wanted to know more, but he was smart enough to know that if they were sneaking around, they wouldn't talk about it in front of the staff. the three of them headed outside. laxus leaned against a wall. "talk."

"we're sneaking out, no biggie," natsu shrugged.

"oh, that's boring," laxus yawned. "i'll help you with the sneaking out bit, but there's no way i'm going to be seen with you losers."

"might help your reputation to be seen with people who have an actual net worth, but whatever," wendy snarked, studying her nails. "if you're so eager to help, you can take my place scrounging up leftovers. i'll see if i can convince levy to finish up faster so i can sneak out with you guys. maybe she'll be in on it."

"didn't expect all of that from you, kid," laxus studied her. "you're the mastermind?"

"absolutely," natsu nodded. "it was all her plan."

"damn," laxus breathed. "what's your name again?"

"wendy. remember it this time."

"didn't take you as the type to have this kind of nerve."

"runs in the family."

"no sister of mine is going to be a sniveling loser," natsu added, throwing an arm around wendy.

laxus shrugged. "if you say so. so you're sneaking out for the meteor shower, i'm assuming? who're you taking?"

"fullbuster," wendy said. "and scarlet, probably. and another girl's bringing the pillows and blankets."

"scarlet," laxus echoed. "you're in good hands, then. fullbuster's okay too, i guess."

"damn, laxus, you're scared of her?" natsu snorted.

"that woman terrifies me," laxus admitted. "but if you tell her that, i'll rip your head off."

"reminds me of you and the oldest strauss," wendy hummed. "aren't you afraid of her too?"

"okay, look, she's got a pretty face and all-" laxus began. 

"you just called mira pretty!" wendy singsonged with a knowing smile on her face.

"she's literally a model, that's an objective statement."

"beauty is never objective."

laxus sighed. "if i do your stupid errand, will you drop it?"

"there's definitely a higher chance, but no promises!" wendy grinned. "you know, mira and i are on amazing terms-"

"you're on amazing terms with most people," natsu interrupted.

"so i could either get you her number or drop it entirely," wendy finished. "so it's a win-win! you're going to help us now, right?"

"oh, damn it," laxus sighed. "yeah, sure, fine."

"i'll distract, then," wendy clapped. "laxus, grab leftovers! natsu, cake for erza! go team!"

"go team," laxus and natsu said unenthusiastically.

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

lucy tapped her foot, one hand gripping the handle of the cart. "where the hell are they?"

wendy burst through the door. "language," she said tiredly. natsu and another boy she didn't recognize stumbled in.

"that was- awful," natsu sighed.

"never again," the blonde agreed. 

but, in the blonde's hands were their leftovers, neatly packaged in a tupperware box, and in natsu's hands was a single slice of strawberry cake with a see-through lid, sealed shut. 

"what happened?" 

"why do they keep guard dogs near the damn cool room?" natsu adjusted his scarf after setting the cake down on a nearby table. 

"to appease scarlet, i'm guessing," the blonde hummed.

"to think even my parents are terrified of her," natsu gasped.

"okay, anyways," wendy wiped sweat from her brow. "introductions! lucy, this is laxus, our cousin. laxus, this is lucy, my future sister-in-law."

"ignore that last bit," lucy advised. she squinted. "wait, you're a blonde. why hasn't sting invited you to the blonde club?"

"oh, he has, i just ignored him a lot," laxus nodded solemnly. "i will not be caught dead in a blonde club."

"we are going to have the coolest t-shirts, just you wait," natsu swore.

"wait but he's not-"

"honorary member," wendy and lucy chorused, as if this explained everything.

laxus nodded slowly. "yeah, okay."

wendy produced a folded up cardboard box and a duffel bag. "this should do, right?"

"you just- have this stuff laying around?" laxus asked, baffled.

"the library is like my little hangout," wendy hummed, packing the snacks, the leftovers, and the cake into the box. "people rarely come here, and there are plenty of places to hide secrets. oh, uh, speaking of which- you should probably change out of that." wendy looked lucy up and down.

wendy pulled open a drawer and handed lucy her clothes. lucy ducked behind a shelf, changed quickly, and handed the uniform back to wendy. "there. much better." lucy sighed, grateful for the looser fitting clothes.

"oh, it was a disguise? you just- have those lying around?" 

"i have everything lying around, like-" wendy opened a drawer and produced a brand new phone. "in case i need a spare. for prank calls and stuff."

"you are- terrifyingly prepared," laxus decided.

"agreed."

"that's my little sister," natsu puffed his chest out proudly.

wendy dug the pillows and blankets up, and then folded them into the duffel bag. "alright, all set! now we hide this stuff and find fullbuster. laxus, could you return this cart?"

"why me?"

"um, well- gray tends to get rather... violent at times. and your attitude doesn't help with that." the girl said matter-of-factly. "i've got tutoring in a bit, so i'll stay back to stash our stuff. natsu, lucy, you're on driver duty. go. shoo." she made a shooing gesture, and lucy and natsu took off to find gray.

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

wc ;; 1,662
a/n ;; team natsu finally gets together :D this chapter was kind of boring tbh but the next ones will be more exciting i promise <3 make sure to vote if you enjoyed