"Uh... when will Gildarts come back?"
It's X772, and Eir comes home to a strange sight. A little girl, couldn't be any older than five or six years old, was talking to Macao and Wakaba at the bar.
Wow. Dangerous.
"What are you pedophiles doing?" he asked, setting his bag on the desk.
"Who're you calling a pedophile?" Macao snapped back, "who even taught you that word, anyway?"
"Oh Eir, you're back!" Wakaba laughed, unaffected by Eir's remarks at this point, "this little one wants to meet Gildarts, but he just left."
"Hehh."
Eir crouched down. The girl was small-- really tiny. She held a leash for a white puppy, and had a small sack on her back. From the mud on her shoes and grime on her features, she had probably been travelling for a while now.
Such a small child, travelling alone? Eir softened.
"Hi there, what's your name?" he asked, and all people around him collectively released a dramatic gasp.
"I-" the girl stutterd out, a flush in her cheeks, "I'm Cana."
"Oh, that's a cute name," Eir responded with a smile, ignoring the idiots staring at them, "my name Eir. It's spelled with an E, but it's pronounced 'Air', weird, right?"
He chuckled a little, and Cana giggled.
"That's a really weird name," she agreed.
In the crowd, people were pinching each other and shaking each other desperately, pointing exaggerated fingers at the scene.
"You are seeing this, right?" Macao hissed at Wakaba, "that devil of a brat is smiling! This isn't a dream? I'm not hallucinating?? He's making a very soft and gentle voice but that's my imagination too, right?!"
Eir felt irked at that, face darkening in that direction.
"Your puppy's really well behaved," Eir smiled again, rubbing an affectionate hand on the little white puppy, "does he have a name?"
"Uhn!" Cana was a little excited for some reason, "his name is Dart!"
Eir couldn't help but fawn at that. She was adorable. Her hair was dark brown, slightly curled-- just like his little sisters from his past life.
"Then, little Cana, are you going to wait for Gildarts to come back?" he asked, and when she nodded, he continued, "it'll take a while... do you have anywhere to stay?"
Cana looked crestfallen. She didn't.
Eir blinked.
"Well, let's bring you to Fairy Hills for now and get you washed up, then," he said, easily winding an arm around the girl's frame and picking her up, along with her dog. "I'm sure Granny Hilda would be willing to spare a room."
Setting the quest completion scroll on the counter next to the Master, Eir walked out of the guild with the little girl in his arms... leaving a whole trail of gaping faces behind him.
"Okay," Enno finally spoke up, "now we know it's not just with Laxus."
"He a lolicon?" someone else asked. "Or a shotacon?"
"But he's a shota too right now, though?"
"I've never seen him so happy before. We should've taken pictures."
"Gildarts would never believe us. Gildarts would never believe us!"
-
"Quit being a mage."
"Hello to you too, Granny Hilda."
The old matron of Fairy Hills was an unsavory woman with an unhealthy hatred of mages, but Eir was numb to it by now.
Eir had honestly never been here aside from small-scale deliveries. (And since he was now thirteen, he was no longer considered a child and was now disallowed from entering the girls' dorm, as every male was.)
"Granny Hilda, could you take care of little Cana here? She'll need a room and a shower, and if you have spares from what Enno left behind, could you get here some fresh clothing? I'll take her shopping later."
Granny Hilda stared at him, arms crossed. Her eyes fixed on the girl in his arms.
"You'll be paying?" she asked after a moment.
"Of course," Eir said.
There's a pause as they both stared at each other, meaningful glare to solemn composure. Cana sat stiff in his arms, wondering how she ended up in the middle of such a cold war.
"Come with me," Granny Hilda said, turning back toward the dorms.
Eir set Cana on the ground, and urged her to go on.
"Don't worry, she's pretty mean, but she's a nice old lady deep down," Eir assured her, pointing at the old lady, "that's the girls' dorms, and you can stay here as long as you need while you're in Magnolia. Go get washed up, then let's go tour the town, okay?"
Little Cana nodded, dog still in her arms.
"Can you hold onto Dart for me?" she asked, thrusting the puppy in his direction.
Eir blinked. A sudden sign of trust from a child? He's flattered.
"Of course I can."
"Thank you!"
When she rushed in after Granny Hilda, there was a smile on her face as she gawked around Fairy Hills, admiring the courtyard and everything about it.
Well, that was an accomplishment.
-
"So that's why you came all this way to find Gildarts..." Eir bit on the wooden ice cream spoon, "well, if he really doesn't know you... I'll punch him for you!"
"Eeeek," Cana squeaked, almost crushing the ice cream cup in her hands, "it-- it's okay, you don't have to... punch him..."
Frankly, Eir was at the verge of his self control. He had choked on his soda when Cana told him who her father was, and he hadn't had the courage to try drinking it again.
First things first, what the fuck, Gildarts.
Second of all, how the hell did this adorable little angel come from a screwup like Gildarts?
Thirdly-- is that why the dog's name is Dart?
He didn't know how to ask without sounding insensitive about it. This was a girl that recently lost her mother, after all. And if his past life taught him something, you don't ask for what children like these don't give. They probably won't like it.
"Well, I'll wait with you," he put a hand on Cana's head, "since you're Gildart's kid, you're kinda like my little sister now!"
Cana swirled around, surprised.
Eir grinned. "I haven't had a sister yet. Do you have a big brother?"
Cana shook her head, stunned by the sudden suggestion.
"Then it's decided! I'm your new big brother from now on," he chuckled. "Oh, I'll need to introduce you to Laxus later... he's also older than you, so I guess he'll be your big brother too? Oh well, you can't have too many big brothers in your life."
Eir leaned in closer, wrapping her in a gentle, shoulder hug. Cana flushed slightly-- but didn't pull away. It was warm, in a different way from her mother's hugs.
She didn't hate it at all.
So she smiled, she laughed-- and just a little, she realized that she would be able to enjoy herself here in Magnolia, even without her father.
-
Cana and Laxus were hate at first sight.
"Eir promised to train with me today!"
"No, he said he was going to show me around the East Forest!"
Well you see sweeties, Eir is absolutely fucking exhausted and it's eight in the goddamn morning, where the fuck are your daddies could you go pester them instead?
Ah, right. Ivan ran the fuck away to the dark side and Gildarts is an old coot that sticks his dick everywhere he can find. Just great.
With Laxus clinging to one arm and Cana all over the other, Eir wanted to toss them over the edge of the mountain to be rid of them. But Dart was glaring at him, so maybe not.
Eir yawned. How did they even get into his room? Onto his bed? Why are they fussing over him before he even woke up like that's supposed to be a normal thing?
This was absolutely not an ideal way to greet the morning.
"Eir, tell her you're busy today!" Laxus whirled on him, finally turning the argument to the boy who, in his just-awakened glory, was still groggy.
"No, Eir and I have a date!" Cana was already on the bed, sprawled in his lap, arms hugging his arm like it was a lifeline. Who taught her what a date was? She sounded more like she was claiming possession of a servant than a boyfriend.
Eir, for one, did not remember agreeing to either of those plans.
"Training!"
"Forest!"
"Training!"
"Forest!"
Dart barked at them, as if adding in his own argument for their plans for today.
Eir was this close to throwing all of them out of the room, and seeing as this is text and you can't see the fingers, I'm taking the liberty of telling you that his fingers are touching.
"Eir is my big brother!"
"No, he's mine!"
Eir got up and tossed them out the door.
He wanted at least another hour before dealing with this bullshit.