Dawn of Adventure {Book One of The Paths We've Traveled}

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Off Again

"Gray! Get your ass up here!" The wizard in question looked over to the stairs and found Laxus there, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. Gray untangled himself from Juvia's tight grasp, pulling away before the children could latch onto him in her place.

The Ice Make wizard trudged up the stairs, following behind the ninth Master as Laxus turned and walked back to his office, coat fluttering behind him as he moved. Together the two wizards entered the office, and Gray was surprised to find the rest of the team already waiting.

"Took ya long enough," Natsu grumbled, legs stretched out in front of him with Happy laying across his lap. Carla and Wendy were on his other side, the Exceed in her human form. Lucy and Erza sat on the opposite side of the room, both young women rolling their eyes at the Dragon Slayer.

"Natsu, the only reason you're here early is because I dragged you up here before you could start something with Elfman."

"He was asking for it."

"He was holding his son," Erza said, voice sharp and leaving no room for arguments. "That often infers that a person does not want to be tackled by a crazed lunatic at nine in the morning."

"Hey!"

"Can we get to business?" Laxus's voice cut through the conversation. Wendy shifted, giving the Lightning Dragon Slayer her full attention. Laxus sighed, sitting behind his desk and grabbing the sheath of papers demanding his attention. Natsu leaned forward, complaints lost as he waited for whatever the man had to say. Gray found his own seat, just as intrigued as the pink haired man.

And yet Laxus seemed intent to make them wait. "Gray, how'd the honeymoon go?"

Gray blinked, the only sign of surprise he showed. "Uh, great, I guess. Only a few days cause of the kids, ya know."

Laxus nodded, shuffling the papers around. "Natsu, you found a house yet?"

"Uh, no? Well, maybe, but we haven't bought anything." Natsu huffed, shaking his hands to rid them of the fire longing to creep across his knuckles. "What the hell, Lightning Head? You didn't get us all up here to make small talk."

"Yeah, what's up?" Gray asked with a jerk of his chin, arms crossing across his bare chest. Wendy sighed as the man didn't seem to notice the shirt that now lay discarded on the floor.

Laxus huffed out a breath, his moment of fun over. There was nothing quite like riling the boys up; they'd only become easier to annoy in the years that they'd known each other. He turned to Erza and Lucy, finding them the most reasonable. "I got a job for you."

Erza raised an eyebrow as Lucy's spine straightened. "Oh?"

Laxus snorted. "Come on, Scarlet. I know you're interested."

"Perhaps," Erza acknowledged with a tilt of her head. "What's most intriguing is that you're giving this job to us yourself, alone up here in your office."

"Yeah, that never happens." Natsu shifted, grabbing Gray's shirt and chucking it at the Ice Make wizard's head. Gray flinched as the fabric nailed him in the cheek, and he glared at the Dragon Slayer.

"Not now," Wendy begged, effectively ending the fight before it began.

Carla snorted, crossing her legs and leaning back in her chair. "I'll admit, it is curious."

"Normally, it just gets thrown at us downstairs before we get pushed out the door," Lucy said.

"And it's usually Mira who does it, not the Master of the guild," Happy added, floating from Natsu's lap to Lucy's. The blonde wrapped her arms around the Exceed, keeping him close. Natsu frowned before he reached out and slipped his fingers through Lucy's. She smiled at him, squeezing his hand as she returned her attention to Laxus.