Exhilarate || Sting Eucliffe x Reader

A Welcome Home Cake (1)

A day has passed since Twlight Ogre left Fairy Tail in shambles. With some cleaning, done by Laki and Kinana, the guild was somewhat presentable once again. However, the cleanliness seemed to add to the empty feeling the Fairies had.

The young teens, Romeo and (Y/n), sit on two of the few remaining chairs. They read books about spells, each about their respective magic powers. A peaceful silence is kept between the guild, until the whirring sound of an aircraft is heard.

"That better not be those damn ogres again." Romeo curses under his breath. He shares a look with (Y/n) before they rush outside to deal with the commontion. The other members follow the two out.

(Y/n) looks up at the Blue Pegasus airship through squinted eyes. Her face pales in color as she sees Ichiya emerge from the port.

A frantic, "Oh, ew," is all she can muster as he nosedives off the ship. (Y/n) is quick to cower behind Romeo to avoid the creepy munchkin and his three flirty henchmen.

A loud crashing sound and breaking of concrete is heard. "Men~" Is Ichiya's weak cry as he sniffs in pain.

"Sir, there were better ways to get down from the ship rather than jumping."

"You've forgotten that I have air manipulating magic, boss."

Hibiki, Ren, and Eve levitate to ground level with an air bubble. The three gravitate to the other two ladies of Fairy Tail and flirt shamelessly. They haven't changed much in seven years.

Now recovered, Ichiya spots (Y/n) and takes her hand. "The lovely, (Y/n), the pleasure is mine as always." He goes to sniff her 'parfume', but she snatches her hand back. This is always so uncomfortable for her. (Y/n) remembers when Erza was in the same position as she. How was Erza able to stand this creep?

Romeo pushes Ichiya away gently. As Hibiki, Ren, and Eve make their way toward (Y/n). With an eye roll, and the folding of her arms, she shoos them away from her.

"What business to you have here, other than trying to woo us girls with your sparkles?" (Y/n) quips, irked that her studying was interrupted by the likes of them.

"You're as impatient as you are beautiful, (Y/n)-chan." Hibiki winks, "With some research and some archive magic, we've come to the conclusion that Tenrou Island wasn't destroyed."

(Y/n)'s eyes are widened ever so slightly. With a nod, she urges him to continue.

"We seem to be reading large amounts of ethernano being emitted in its last known coordinates. It wouldn't make sense to be something other than Tenrou itself." Hibiki briefly explains.

(Y/n) feels a sense of hope once again. It had to be them, the island! In a spur of excitement, she shakes Eve by the shoulders and thanks the Trimen for the information. "Oh! Thank you so much you guys! We need to send out a search party again! This-"

"Now, don't get your hopes up just yet." Ren says. There's a chance that the Tenrou group is dead, and eveyone hopes that (Y/n) realizes that.

"Haha, right, sorry..." Her eyes are downcast and she moves her hair back into place out of embarassement. (Y/n) can't believe that she thought so irrationally, but she couldn't help feeling happy.

_______________________

"Macao, what do you mean I can't go with them!?" (Y/n) and Romeo feel like children again as everyone is adamant on keeping them from searching Tenrou Island. It isn't fair to (Y/n), she is seventeen years old afterall! All she wants is closure, or better yet, to see all of them alive and well. She could take it! Promise! "Let me go! I want to be the first to see them!"

"(Y/n), you can't go because- because-" Macao's eyes dart around the guild for assistance, he isn't very good at confronting the girl. Everyone knows that the situation is the worst for her. He didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

"(Y/n)-chan, I have a very important request for you." Kinana pipes in. "I need you to buy Erza's favorite strawberry cake from the baker in the town's square. It wouldn't be too grand of a welcome home for without it." She gestures around to the half-torn up guild hall. Her kind, motherly smile is able to tame (Y/n)'s aggravated state ever so slightly.

(Y/n) lets out an angry stammer of protests, but is sent away with some money from Kinana. Knowing she couldn't win, the young mage stomps off to the local bakery. Her is mind filled with both anticipation and anxiety for the search group's return.

"Natsu... everyone... I hope we'll be back together soon," (Y/n) thinks to herself as she enters the bakery with a solemn look on her usually cheery, smiling face.

At the sight of her, the baker welcomes the girl, as she had become a regular at his shop, "Why, hello, (Y/n)-chan!"

She can only manage a nod of acknowledgement and a very forced-looking smile to her greeter, who didn't seem to notice her moodiness as he helped a familiar looking blonde customer. (Y/n), however, didn't seem to care to know the familiar man's identity at the moment. She, instead, busied herself by repeatedly tapping her foot on the carpeted floor.

He, on the other hand, seemed quite interested to see just who was this "(Y/n)-chan" behind him. He turned to her, looking her figure up and down before addressing her.

"(Y/n) Dragneel-chan." The blonde stranger says tauntingly, with his signature smirk. She is pulled away from her thoughts upon recognizing his voice.

(Y/n) straightens up into a more intimidating posture. She meets his gaze with narrowed eyes, seething at the sight of him.

"Sting Eucliffe."