Mating Season (Mostly Chendy, Erlu, Canajane)

Chapter Twenty-One

Wendy felt Chelia's hand tighten on her own and she glanced at her, giving her a thankful smile. "This is so weird. Why am I the only one reacting so intensely?" Wendy asked, sighed slightly. Mirajane looked up. "Well, the more protective one normally is, the more likely they are to become more effected by the symptoms." She said. Wendy blinked and looked at her. Chelia suddenly gained a smirk. "Really?" She asked. Mirajane nodded. "That doesn't make sense. I'm not possessive." The blue-haired girl said. "I didn't say possessive. I said protective." The Take-Over Mage said in response. Chelia couldn't help but smirk at her girlfriend. "You're going to be protective of me, WenWen?" She asked with a wide smile. Wendy blushed just a little. "I don't think I'm that protective..." Wendy trailed off as Carla looked at her. "Wendy." She said simply. Everyone turned to her. "You know you're protective." Wendy frowned, giving her friend a confused look. "Like when you thought someone had hurt me and you threw them off a cliff?" Wendy blushed. "I wasn't even hurt." Chelia had a wide grin and she moved closer to her girlfriend. "Awww." She said. "That's why Ezra's reacting more than Mirajane," Lucy suddenly said, turning everyone's attention from Wendy and Carla to Lucy. "Does that mean that people that are more clingy during Mating Season are more clingy usually?" Erza suddenly asked. Lucy immediately blushed and looked to Mirajane. She was nodding and Erza smirked at the answer. Mirajane was also smirking. Cana rolled her eyes and growled, snuggling up closer to her girlfriend despite the words. "Hey! We still don't know who's the alpha with me and Gray!" Natsu cried. Wendy glanced at Chelia and both the girls started giggling. "What?!" Natsu asked loudly. "Natsu, it's pretty clear you're the omega between you and Gray." The white-haired Mage said, keeping her composure while everyone else dissolved into laughter. "WHAT?!" Natsu cried... although the did not have much room to argue as he was holding onto Gray's arm as he sat there. Natsu sighed and grumbled incoherently as he snuggled up against Gray, making the black-haired Mage laugh. Natsu shot him a glare, but he didn't stop what he was doing. Everyone ended up laughing at that, even Mirajane who had been holding it in the ever since the pair had gotten there. "Why isn't Erza being affected that much?" Lucy suddenly asked, making everyone look up at her. "What do you mean?" Erza asked. "Well... it seems like Wendy's being affected the most out of all the alphas... but I excepted it to be you..." Everyone else seemed interested in the conversation as well. "Maybe it's because Wendy and Chelia got together before you?" Gajeel asked. Levy smacked his arm. "Of course they didn't! They got together about an hour after Erza and Lucy did. Do you not pay attention?" Levy asked with an eye roll. Gajeel huffed and crossed his arms. "Whatever." He muttered. "Maybe Wendy's just more protective." Chelia had said it as if it was the simple answer. Everyone looked at her and Wendy looked confused. "What? Erza's always the one saving everybody." She responded. "Saving someone when they're in trouble is protective... but there are other types." Chelia was looking at Wendy really intensely. Wendy shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe." She said softly. Chelia looked a little smug as she snuggled closer to Wendy. "Aww. Wendy is so cute when she's confused." She said with a wry grin. Wendy rolled her eyes at the comment. "I'm sure it just hasn't hit everyone else yet. That's all." She said. Chelia rolled her eyes sufferingly, but she smirked as she moved closer to Wendy. She didn't know Wendy could be so protective... it was... nice, comforting even. She was happy to see that side of her Mate. She could definitely get used to it alright. And then someone asked the fateful question. The question that had been haunting most people since they had heard about it. "What's the marking stage?" And of course it was Freed. Of course he asked the question that had been plaguing him with anxiety since he learned about Mating Season and its stages. Mirajane looked around, suddenly seeming uncomfortable. "Well... I'm not quite sure." She said. Cana gave her a long look. "Just because I know more than everyone else about this doesn't mean I know everything." She said with an eye roll. Cana rolled her eyes as well and set her head on Mirajane's shoulder as her girlfriend tried to remember if she had read about it. "I'll check it out later tonight and get to you tomorrow." She said. Chelia glanced at Wendy and found her girlfriend was just as worried as she was. It seemed like it was going to be a very intense step... and the two of them were so young... Carla gave the pair a look as well, worried. "I'm sure it's nothing bad!" Mirajane comforted with a warm smile. She really was good at that. Making people calm down seemed to be one of her strengths. There was an awkward silence from everyone for a while before Chelia decided there had been far too much of that. "Hey, WenWen, how about we do something fun? Like a board game!" Wendy loved Chelia, with all her heart, but she really wished she hadn't just said that. Everyone perked their heads up and the blue-haired Dragon Slayer sighed. Everyone seemed happy with the idea of a board game. Of course they did. It wasn't their apartment they were in, after all. What did it matter if they just destroyed, annihilated, and deconstructed Wendy's apartment? She tried not to look upset. "Alright! But... what game has enough for twelve people?" She asked, trying to find a way out of the hole her girlfriend had unwittingly dug for her. "How about we play cards?" Chelia suggested. Wendy tried not to sigh. Chelia gave her a confused look and she met it with a slightly forced one of her own. "That's a great idea!" Lucy said excitedly. Of course she wasn't thinking of the carnage that would ensue if they started playing either. Lucy would need to start thinking about that now that Erza was her girlfriend. She would need to get used to knowing just how... intense her girlfriend could get over the simplest things. Strawberry cake was one of the first things that came to mind upon that statement. Wendy stood and walked to the bookshelf where she kept her games. She picked onto of the only games that could allow twelve people to play. Uno. She almost shivered as she opened the box. "We should stagger where everyone is sitting so there's no cheating." Of course Freed said it. Of course the one who was just starting to feel the affects of Mating Season said it. And nobody objected. It was logical, after all, and nobody wanted to be the person to say that they shouldn't. "Alright," Wendy agreed. All the omegas in the room held in a sigh at the words. Everyone moved so that couples all had a person between them. This was going to be a fun game of Uno.

•••

Everything was fun and cheery. That is until Gray used a skip card. Then things became intense. Happy Chelia didn't seem to mind getting skipped and just continued playing, not even thinking of it. But someone else noticed. Oh yeah, somebody noticed. Wendy noticed and the flames of hell seemed to die down for a moment as she looked at Gray. The ice-maker Mage didn't notice as he watched the gameplay, planning his next move as he did so. Wendy didn't care, however. She didn't worry about winning at the moment. It didn't matter what Natsu played. He played a red six and she placed down a card with a smirk. Plus four change color. Not a single one had been played all game. Wendy tried to remember what she had heard a few moments earlier. Why does it have to be green! She heard Chelia saying it in her head, recalling it from memory. "Blue." She said, glancing at her cards. She smirked. She had a really good hand. Gray didn't play and Chelia put down a blue two happily, not knowing what was happening. The cards came around again and Natsu played a red one on top of the blue one Erza had played. Wendy wasn't fazed. She placed down a regular change color and followed it with a plus two blue. This earned her a glance from Gray as he picked up two cards. Normally Wendy didn't like placing down such cards, finding it far too rude to enjoy. Now she found herself trying not to smirk as   places down another blue card. Gray had played a skip on Chelia. She needed revenge. He'd know not to even think of touching her Chelia ever again. Not once. The pattern continue for another two turns before Chelia looked at her. She looked a bit worried and she placed a reverse card down. Wendy saw Gray looking at her. He hadn't played for the past four turns and he placed down a blue five. Wendy let out a small sigh. Gray wasn't playing to Chelia anymore... but that meant that Wendy couldn't keep getting her revenge. Chelia suddenly leaned backwards and set a hand on Wendy's leg. Wendy suddenly realized just how ridiculous this was. Of course it didn't matter that Gray had played a single skip. It was fine. She let out a breath and saw Chelia give her an adorable smile.

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Erza glanced at Lucy and saw the girl looking at her cards disdainfully. She chuckled and glanced at her own... perhaps it wouldn't be too bad for her to change the color... maybe Lucy would have the color.

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Gray glanced at Wendy and saw Chelia's hand on her leg, seeming to calm her from... well, whatever had happened to Wendy to make her so upset at Gray... he realized it must have been when he had played that skip. For some reason it made him a bit wistful. I wonder if me and Natsu will ever act like that... I don't want us to change just because we're in a relationship, but I also don't want it to stay the same... we were always fighting and arguing... I wonder what he thinks about all this... Knowing him he probably isn't thinking about anything this serious... but that's part of why I like him so much. He's just always so chipper and optimistic. I could never find it in myself to act quite that happy all the time. Maybe that's a good thing though. Maybe having faults in yourself is part of what helps you choose who you want to be with. Maybe wanting to achieve equilibrium is why opposites attract in such a way. Gray shook his head. These were far too intense thoughts to be having during a simple game of Uno. He saw Natsu cheering as he called "UNO!" Gray shook his head fondly at his new boyfriend. He was so excited to have gotten to one card, even if Chelia, Cana, and Freed has reached it before him... maybe those thoughts had been right. Maybe he hadn't been crazy.

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Laxus rolled his eyes as Chelia went out. Of course Chelia had gotten out first after how Wendy has attacked Gray. Freed got out second and Laxus smirked. Of course Freed had gotten out second. He was smart and strategic, probably already knowing which card he would play last when he had set down his first. Laxus would expect nothing less. That was what he loved about Freed. He was so slow and strategic about what he did, making sure that there were no greater choices than the one he made. Laxus had never been good at that. He hoped that Freed would help him with his impulsivity... but that wasn't all that a relationship was. A relationship was finding hat you loved a person unconditionally despite their faults. You didn't love someone for what they could do for you, but for what they did in general.