Fairy Tail - Eyes of Ice

Chapter 21 - Nirvana Pt. 1

The tiny tavern that Kai and Gray wandered into, with Iggy floating just behind them, gave way to dozens of amazing scents and quite a few grumbly voices. Gray stuffed his hands in his jacket pocket while Kai shifted his back so the sword on his back remained hidden. Iggy, upon entering the establishment, dropped straight to the ground so as to stay hidden.

"The place is pretty nice," Gray said. "All things considered."

"What sort of things are you considering?" Kai asked.

"Location, mostly, I guess," Gray said, and gestured at a table.

Kai followed, keeping his eyes locked on the table across the room where Ricky the Richest sat, flanked by three wizards from the Dark Guild Naked Mummy, as well as one of their pet dogs, who slept but who Iggy had her eyes locked on.

Gray waved to the tavernkeep who acknowledged them. As they sat, Kai gestured out the window toward the restaurant across the street.

"Lucy recommended that place to me after we met," Kai said. "That's where she and Natsu met."

"Neat," Gray said and took his seat. They both sighed. Kai had his back turned to the tycoon but only so Gray could see him. Kai could practically smell the money oozing off the man.

It'd been tough enough to get access to the tavern. It wasn't in the nicest place of Hargeon, as Gray mentioned, and had one hell of a waiting list just to get through the door. Luckily, the two Fairy Tail wizards had a bit of pull with one celebrity Mirajane Strauss, who told the tavern owner that her cousins would be coming by, and they would present a silver coin.

Naturally, they just had Gray create the coin and Reedus painted over it to seal it silver, and voila, they were in.

The owner personally approached and greeted them. Both were careful to hide their guild emblems—for now—since Fairy Tail wasn't the most favored guild in Hargeon after what Natsu and Lucy pulled against that one creep a while ago that almost burned down the town. Gray kept him distracted with conversation while Kai and Iggy kept their perception peeled to the door.

The owner left and a barmaid brought them a couple of drinks, prompting Gray to flip her a coin, but with a bit of hesitation.

"What?" Kai asked.

"Nothing," Gray said.

"You look like you just had a violent flashback to something."

Gray's eyes widened behind the mug. "Usually when a woman approaches me alone is when Juvia appears right the hell out of nowhere."

"What, you think she followed you now?"

A man strode through the door, wearing a nice suit, trousers, and hat. He had a silver bangle around his wrist and a particular gleam in his eye. An expectant one. Kai tapped Iggy on the butt with his foot and she scrambled toward the table with Ricky the Richest.

"Probably," Gray said. "She could be anywhere, man, this chick can turn into water."

"I mean, she sees something in you that nobody else has," Kai said with a shrug. Gray didn't even bother arguing that. "Try talking to her about it. She seems fairly articulate. She didn't become an S-Class level wizard for nothing."

"Dude, Laxus is S-Class."

"And so is Mirajane, and she's a bit kooky as well. Right?"

Before Kai could get another word, Iggy hopped atop his head and pawed at his forehead.

"Things are about to get a lot more interesting."

"Good," Gray said, setting the mug down. "I didn't like this drink that much, anyway."