The Elemental Sorceress

Chapter Eight

CHAPTER — EIGHT

Friends

Nova swipes at the sweat forming on her forehead– she spent most of the morning helping Gajeel find things for his room. They just finished painting the room, because apparently the yellow it originally was, did not please the man. "I didn't realize how damn tiring painting was." She says placing her hands on her hips.

Gajeel rolls his eyes, "That yellow was disgusting."

She purses her lips as she stares at the walls. "It's better than dull gray." She gestures at the drying paint, he refused all the colors she had pointed out. Honestly, even bright red would've been better than gray.

"Whatever, Princess. Ya got anything to eat? All that damn shopping made me hungry." He was slowly getting a bit more relaxed around her, over the course of the day she got him to be a little less closed off.

She nods motioning for him to follow her downstairs. "I'll make something for us while we wait for the paint to dry." He expects her to head into the kitchen, but instead, she grabs a small basket and goes towards the back door.

Gajeel trails behind her awkwardly, not sure if he was supposed to wait in the kitchen or not. "Jesus it's like a damn jungle out here." He looks at the assortments of exotic flowers and plant life.

Nova laughs and heads toward a small vegetable patch. "I have a thing for plants and flowers." She tells him as she begins picking some tomatoes. "Could you pick some oranges and grapes? They're over to the left."

He does as he's told and starts picking the fruit from their spots. After a few minutes, she stands up holding her basket of various vegetables. "That should be good, thank you." She smiles taking the fruit from his hands and setting it in her pile.

They head back to the kitchen, he watches as she washes all her pickings and begins making food. "I'm going to make us some sandwiches, with fruit on the side." He grunts in approval as she works.

She heads over to the fridge and pulls out a pitcher of lemonade. "Do you want some? I made it myself, it's fresh." He eyes it curiously and nods.

Nova grins setting a glass in front of him. She places the pitcher in the center of the table before heading back into the kitchen. It doesn't take long for her to finish preparing their lunch. "Dig in!"

Gajeel takes a bite of his sandwich and is pleasantly surprised. It shows on his face making Nova laugh. "I think everything tastes better when you grow it yourself, I'll have to make you a smoothie sometime."

They continue eating in silence until Gajeel looks up at her. "Why're ya being so nice to me?" He seems to be genuinely confused.

"Gramps let you in the guild, so I know you must be a decent person. And you've shown me that today too, sometimes people make mistakes and that's okay. What matters is you grow from it." She tells him with a shrug.

He stays quiet after that, she smiles at him softly. "Don't worry about the others, they'll warm up to you eventually. Until they do though you're stuck with me."

Gajeel looks at her trying to comprehend everything she told him. He opens his mouth but falters– he takes a deep breath in. "Thank you."

It's so quiet she almost thought she imagined it. "Huh?" She looks at him furrowing her eyebrows.

He scowls looking away. "I said thanks, don't expect me to say it again."

Nova laughs at his expression. "You're welcome, now help me with the dishes and we can go start putting your room together."