Mirajane and Erza are making gingerbread houses when their old rivalry reignites.
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On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Cheerful Christmas music drifted through the Guild Hall's kitchen. Everything in the space radiated warmth and love, the glowing coals beneath the oven, the counters dusted in white powder, the shelves lined with various spices and ingredients. It was the dream of anyone who enjoyed food.
And no one enjoyed the fine art of food more than Erza Scarlet, especially those on the sweet side.
Erza reached for the bowl of candy and Mirajane smacked her hand away. "Quit eating all the gingerbread house ingredients!" Her blue eyes fell upon Erza's stained lips and teeth. "How much have you eaten, anyways?"
Erza licked the leftover sugar from her lips. "Nothing."
"Uh-huh." Mirajane went back to constructing her gingerbread house. She picked up the bag of icing and squeezed the paste along the side of the gingerbread square, her tongue poked out in concentration.
"Don't bite your tongue off." Erza teased, and Mira gave her the finger. That only made the redhead snicker.
"You could help, ya know."
"If I helped I'd end up eating all the ingredients."
"You're already doing that."
Then the music playing over the lacrima switched, the beats slowing into the music of the most famous Christmas duet of all time- 'Baby It's Cold Outside.' The corners of Erza's lips turned up. "It's our song."
"Well technically it's not ours." Mirajane supplied, and Erza shot her a look, Mira extended her hand. "But I guess I could humble you one dance."
"Humble me, hmm?" Erza asked, as she grabbed Mirajane's hands and pulled her in close.
"Just dance with me."
"As you wish."
They slow danced for a bit in the quiet before Mirajane started to sing along to the lyrics, her voice soft at first but getting bolder with each word. "I simply must go."
"But baby, it's cold outside." Erza's voice was nowhere near as good as Mirajane's, but she could hold a tune.
"The answer is no." Mirajane turned her head to the side and pretended to shun her, playing along with the ballad.
Erza followed her lead, holding her wrists in place and swaying, her face the picture of concern. "But baby, it's cold outside."
"Your welcome has been."
"How lucky that you dropped in."
"So nice and warm."
"Look out the window at this dawn." Erza dipped her so that her head fell back facing the window, the lights of dusk starting to flutter through the airy curtains.
A light gasp escaped Mirajane's throat, her heart fluttering in her chest. Warm blood rushed to her head, but maybe that was just from the position they were in. "My sister will be suspicious."
"Gosh your lips look delicious." Erza licked her own lips, brown eyes clouded over as she leaned in close.
"My brother will be there at the door." Mirajane's voice was barely a breath, the close proximity making her focus slip.
"Waves upon the tropical shore." Erza finished the line, and closed the gap between their lips. They shared a kiss, long enough to make Mirajane miss her line, but not long enough for Erza to miss hers. "Gosh your lips are delicious."
Mirajane was so distracted by the romance that she didn't notice what Erza's other hand was doing, the redhead was strong enough to hold Mirajane's weight with only one.
There was a resounding crunch as Erza bit into a candy cane, and Mirajane's head shot up. "Erza Scarlet!"
"What? You want some? Because I can share."
Mirajane twisted out of Erza's grip, standing up to her full height, blue eyes furious as she yanked the candy cane out of Erza's mouth. "Do you know how hard I was working? No! Because you were to busy gorging yourself on my ingredients!"
Erza opened her mouth to say something but Mirajane pushed on, a violent purple glow was starting to emit from her, the first signs of her satan soul. "You were rude! And selfish! And taking advantage of the candy I bought with my money!"
"I can pay for it..." Erza doubted it would be very pricy, it was just wrapped candy.
"That's not the point!" Mirajane raged, her hair starting to float, and a crack appearing over her eye, she jabbed a clawed finger at Erza's chest. "My point is that your eating what I built! I slave away being a waitress, cooking treats and mixing drinks all day! You couldn't even build a gingerbread house if you tried!"
Erza's eyebrows flicked up at the challenge, their old rivalry starting to tug at her. "I don't see the point in making gingerbread houses since you're just gonna eat the anyways, but I do know that I could make a way better gingerbread house then you."
"Prove it." Mirajane grabbed an apron, smacking it into Erza's hand. "I doubt you'll have enough self control not to eat it all."
"I have plenty of self control." Erza lifted the apron up, and tied the strings around her neck.
"Well if you say so." Mirajane smacked another set of ingredients down onto the table, squares of gingerbread, packages of icing, another bowl full of all kinds of candies, gumdrops, M&Ms, candy canes, and peppermints galore!
Erza was salivating just from looking at the sweets. She quickly shook the glutinous thoughts from her mind. She had to focus. She had to win. "You'll be eating your words, Strauss." Erza promised, unable to resist falling back into her old habits, was this how Gray and Natsu felt everyone they fought?
"Just like you'll be eating your ingredients, Scarlet." Mirajane taunted, her demonic glow had faded from everywhere but her eyes, those orbs burning with blue fire.
Mirajane grabbed a wind-up timer, twisting the knob around. "One hour to build, and we will let the Master decide who's is better. Agreed?"
"Agreed." Erza replied, neither of them bothered to shake hands, getting straight to work on their gingerbread constructions.
Despite what Mirajane claimed about Erza's self control, the sweet lover had only put one ingredient in her mouth, a candy cane. She sucked on it continuously, letting the cool minty flavor sharpen her senses. Erza has been doing it for so long that the end of peppermint rod had been whittled down into a sharp point, like a knife. Perfect for stabbing all those who got in her way, and if anyone questioned her she could just eat the evidence. It was a win-win.
The wind-up alarm buzzed at the hour mark. The women dropped what they were holding, icing bags, candy, etc, the last ten minutes had just been finishing touches.
They looked over at each other's houses, eager for a look at the competition. Their houses layouts were about the same, but while Mirajane had gone for a quaint elegance, Erza had gone big and loud, something the Fairy Tail guild knew all too well.
Gingerbread houses completed, they went up the the second floor and presented their creations to the Master.
Erza went on a long drawl about their competition and about the expert craftsmanship skills it took to build something as complicated as a gingerbread house. Before Erza could go on even further Mirajane cut in. "So which one do you think is better?" Everyone knew where her priorities were. The shining light in her eyes spoke volumes. She wanted to win, badly.
The Master yawned, and leaned back on bus elbows. "I don't care what they look like. What really matters is how they taste."
Erza shot Mirajane a smug look.
The Master cracked his knuckles, a movement that was bizarre when associated with the physique of an elderly man. "Let's get to tasting." He exclaimed, then proceeded to eat both their gingerbread houses. Fairy Tail was a guild, full of children (and grandpas) that were constantly hungry, so it shouldn't have been a surprise their Master reflected that trait.
"Ah." The Master finished off the last of Erza's gingerbread house, smacking his chops. "Now that was some good eating."
They looked at him expectantly, waiting for his ruling, but the elderly man was too busy licking the remaining icing off his fingers.
"So? Who's was better?" Mirajane tapped her foot against the ground impatiently, and Erza was inclined to do the same. The Master was taking his sweet time.
"Who's was who's again?" The Master asked and laughed uproariously at the way the his top two female wizards faces fell. "You know what? I can't ever remember the difference, but they were both delicious so good job girls. Perfecto!" He kissed his fingers, his hand making the symbol in the air.
Erza's eye twitched, and her lip curled. She looked over at Mirajane, who's expression was just as outraged. Mirajane and Erza locked gazes, and nodded. They understood each other.
The two women took a running leaping, screaming battle cries at the top of their lungs, as they tackled the Master off his seat and proceeded to give him the longest lecture of his life about respecting women's hard work... and their food.