feral | sting eucliffe

LIII | TB

Episode 53: The Ball!

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"IS JEWELRY REALLY NECESSARY?" Y/n tugged at the crystal necklace that hung around her neck. Oddly enough, she felt that this was what leashed dogs felt like. Her recently curled hair was set into a neat bun, two strands pulled out to frame her face in a beautifying manner. She looked back down at her attire, two white gloves another accessory to the outfit.

Erza came up behind her, fixing one of her gold earrings. "Of course. It makes you more beautiful than you already are." She commented, managing to hook it through her earlobe. The scarlet-haired mage wore a tight blue dress that flowed to the ground in a mermaid style. Her hair was also pinned up, her bangs naturally curling around her face.

Mirajane nodded from the corner of the room, setting her previous clothes down as she fixed the magenta dress that she was wearing. "I totally agree with Erza. Not saying that you aren't already pretty, but it does make you stand out more!" She chirped, pulling out the hairband that kept her bangs tied up above her forehead. 

Carla swished her tail, letting out a hum as she watched Wendy stumble out of the dressing room. The girl nearly tripped in her one-and-a-half-inch wedges, close to hitting the ground when Lisanna swiftly caught her. She giggled, "Be more careful, okay?" She went into the dressing room next, her golden dress slung over her right arm.

Wendy let out a grateful sigh, looking up at Carla as the exceed gave a disapproving shake of her head. Lucy tilted her head, "You don't have to be that hard on her, y'know? It's her first time actually wearing these things." Carla glanced at her, crossing her paws. "Still, a proper lady should know how to walk in these types of shoes appropriately."

Lucy didn't bother, knowing that she couldn't change Carla's perspective on the minor matter. "Aside from that, what are you doing here, Y/n? I thought you'd change with Sabertooth." She said, blinking. She wore a stunning mint-colored dress with slight ruffles from the ends up to her waist. The middle of her bust had ruffles as well, leading up to a bow set in the middle of her collar.

Y/n fidgeted nervously, fixing the sleeves of her gown. "I-I don't know. I just missed Fairy Tail, I guess? That and I wanted to check up on Nikos since I talked with the others through the communication lacrima, but for what he described it as, he had the worst of the reactions." Erza dipped her head at the statement.

"Yes, it was pretty bad. I left a slight bruise on the top of his head after knocking him out." She let out a sigh, feeling guilty. Y/n looked over to her, blinking a few times before smiling lightly. "Don't feel guilty. You did what was necessary." The door swung open to reveal a slightly tired Levy, it was clear that something had stopped her from getting to the room earlier.

Her hair was slightly messier than before and her gown was a bit wrinkled but other than that, she was fine. She sat herself down as Lucy and Lisanna immediately got to work on fixing up the blue-haired girl's hair and dress, mumbling between one another. "What happened?" Wendy blinked innocently, scooping Carla into her arms.

Mirajane giggled, covering her mouth. "I guess Gajeel needed more help than just his tie." Levy instantly turned red, flinching. Y/n's cheeks pinked at the sudden statement as steam shot out of both of Wendy's ears at the sudden information. "I-It's not like that!" Levy stammered, but her attempts were fruitless since it was obvious that Mira had hit it spot on.

She chimed, spinning around to look at a mirror and fix her bangs. "Deny it all you want, Levy, but we know the truth. Don't we, girls?" No one dared to defy Mira's outrageous, but accurate statement. The ladies quickly nodded their heads, some being mature enough to get over it while the sheepish ones still stood there with pink cheeks.

Mirajane tilted her head with a smile, "Good, now I'm going to go check on the boys and let them know that they only have another ten minutes." Y/n swallowed at the time check, knowing that they were supposed to make appearances by gender. After all, they were the rightful guests. The Kyuuseishu were going to be given a standing ovation in the middle of the ball as well.

Lucy—as if sensing her anxiety—set a hand on her shoulder with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. It'll be over before you know it and you can see your boyfriend. Ah, imagine the great food too! Rich people's food always tastes different!" She seemed to have lost herself in her own guilty pleasures as Erza chuckled, glancing over at the blonde.

"It seems that Natsu has rubbed off on you a little too much, Lucy." She teased, blinking at the celestial mage. Lucy turned red, spinning her head over to Erza. In fact, she looked a lot like Levy after Mirajane stated her actions with Gajeel. "Th-That's not it at all! It's just that the last banquet had really tasty food and it was really good." 

Erza rolled her eyes at the poor excuse, not bothering to make a comeback of any sort. Lucy huffed, fixing one of her earrings as her cheeks warmed up a bit. Y/n smiled at their antics, shaking her head and fixing one of the ruffles of her dress before pulling up the sleeves of her white silk gloves. 

The door opened up again, Mira beaming. "The boys are finally decent, so we can finally make our appearance! If I'm right our cue is in about thirty seconds—"

"—now for the deadly and gorgeous females that tend to not only clean up after the males but take care of most of their problems!" The King of Fiore announced, Mira giving a sheepish smile with a slight giggle in her words. "I guess I spoke too late," She smiled, tilting her head as the girls properly lined up, ready for their entrance.

Lucy still felt Y/n's nervous vibe, tapping her shoulder with a smile. "Hey, as I said before, it'll be alright."

Y/n let out a sigh, dropping her head. "I sure hope so."