#itsajoshyboy

Chelia had plans for the day with Wendy, but that wasn’t until the evening as Wendy was on a mission for spending money and wouldn’t come back until then. That gave her the perfect window to play Cupid while she spent the morning and afternoon in Magnolia. She got off of the train at around ten in the morning, and she hit the streets of Magnolia and walked around for a while, spotting all the happy couples passing by. This brought a large smile to Chelia’s face and it put a skip to her step, and she sauntered down the street blissfully. Along the way, she spotted a woman who looked to be a little confused at a flower stand, and being the love aficionado she was, Chelia slid right up to her to try and figure out what was wrong.

“Someone looks a little confused…” Chelia said in a sing-song voice, tilting her head, “What’s up?”

The woman pursed her lips, staring at the flowers in front of her, “I wanna get something special for my girlfriend for Valentine’s Day, but I don’t know what… I’m not really the romantic one in the relationship, so I thought I’d surprise her today…”

Chelia nodded intently, placing her finger to her chin. A thousand thoughts and plans rushed through her head, “I see, I see… Well, you could get her violets! I’m sure she’d get that message… And you certainly can’t go wrong with candy! What’s her favorite candy?”

“She loves lollipops… Yeah, I think I’ll go get some! Say, you’re pretty good at this.”

Chelia grinned at that, “What can I say? I love love.~” She waved, starting to walk off, “Have a nice Valentine’s Day! I hope everything works out!”

“Thank you!”

Focusing back on the walk to Fairy Tail, Chelia just smiled proudly to herself. Playing Cupid was so her style.

The first thing she noticed upon walking into Fairy Tail was that Lisanna and Lucy had went into the kitchen together, and Chelia was instantly intrigued. She had heard from Wendy that they were close, but Chelia didn’t know how close. Curious, Chelia walked into the kitchen behind them, using her wind magic to silently jump up on top of one of the cabinets. She sat down, crossing her legs and resting her elbow on her knee, with her chin in her hand. From there she watched, trying to get a scope of things from her position out of view.

“Lucy, how’s the candy coming along?” Lisanna asked sweetly, putting together her ingredients for a cake. “Fantastic!” Lucy beamed as she stirred the sugary mix in the pan over the stove, “This is gonna be so good! I think everyone’s gonna love this!”

Chelia tilted her head. It seemed as if they were making sweets for everyone in the guild for Valentine’s Day. It brought a smile to her lips, and she simply continued to watch.

Lisanna grinned softly, moving to focus back on her baking. “Oh, drat… Hey, Lucy? Can you pass me some of the sugar? I forgot that the recipe called for tablespoons, not teaspoons.”

“Sure thing!” Setting down her stirring spoon, Lucy went to grab the handy bag of sugar and she walked over briskly to pass it over. As she did so, their fingers brushed and fumbled slightly from the hastiness behind Lucy’s movements, causing Lucy to blink a few times in surprise, “Uh, there…!” She ended up stammering, but luckily Lisanna didn’t pay it much heed. Chelia, on the other hand...

Chelia let out a quiet snicker. That move alone was enough to tell her that perhaps Lucy and Lisanna were bordering on something different than friendship, which was Cupid’s invitation to play. She leaned forward more, a devious look on her face while she continued to gauge things from her little perch. Of course, Chelia wouldn’t risk meddling with those two while they were baking for the guild, Chelia wouldn’t want to jeopardize that, so she waited for a moment where things died down a bit. Soon enough, Lucy had brought the sugar mixture to a medium simmer and it had finished cooking, so she took it off the burner and started to mix in the flavoring and coloring, pouring it into a tray to cool and harden into shape. Lisanna had finished with the cake batter, and she set it in the oven to bake. This gave Chelia the perfect window of opportunity, with nothing to lose..

Lisanna exhaled an accomplished sigh, dusting off her whitened hands. She then put her hands on her hips, looking over at Lucy, “Ah.. Finally, a bit of a break… We’ve been baking all morning!”

Lucy nodded to that, leaning against the counter, “You’re telling me… But, I think it’s gonna pay off. This way we can get everyone involved in the holiday spirit, even if they don’t have dates! You know, kind of like us!”

There was a hint of a sour note to Lisanna’s expression at that, downtrodden at the truth behind the fact she was single for the holiday, but she recovered impressively quick, “Yeah… You’re right. I’d hate to be all alone for Valentine’s Day. That just sounds awful. Now everyone can celebrate together!”

Chelia made a mental note of all that. She could use this to spread some holiday cheer at Lamia Scale in the following years… Candy and sweets were bound to bring people together.

Pushing herself off of the counter, Lucy walked over towards the oven, finding herself next to Lisanna. She leaned over, trying to glance in on the cake, “How’s it look?”

Lisanna joined Lucy in checking in on the cake’s progress, “It’s getting there. I’d say a few more minutes until it hits that golden spot.”

“Man… Just looking at it makes me look starving…” Lucy glanced over at Lisanna, “Think I could steal a slice before tonight?” She asked with a nervous grin.

Lisanna laughed at that, shaking her head as she stood up straight, “No, Lucy. You could probably try a bit of the candy first though. No one will notice a few pieces of candy missing, but they sure will notice a gaping hole in a cake.”

“Alright…” Lucy laughed too, straightening herself out as well, “I can settle for that, barely.”

In that moment, Lisanna noticed the sugary smell of the cooling candy over on the other side of the kitchen, and she decided to go look at how the candy was turning out. Now seemed like the ideal time to meddle. Flicking her wrist from right to left, Chelia caused a brief, harmless little gust of wind to rush into Lisanna’s back, blowing her forward and knocking her off balance. She ended up falling right into Lucy, who only barely managed to catch her and save her from hitting the floor.

Uneasily trying to regain her footing, Lisanna tried to push off of Lucy, a flustered and apologetic look on her face, “S-Sorry! I think I tripped…”

Lucy tried to brush it off, closing her eyes and flashing a nervous smile. There was a hint of red to her cheeks too. “No worries…! I’m a bit clutzy sometimes too… Hah.” She loosened her tight grip on Lisanna’s arms, helping her get steady on her feet again with a flustered cough.

It was absolutely perfect. Chelia could already sense her gentle persuasion beginning to work. The ripe, flustered tension was unmistakable in the air, and at this point Chelia certainly unearthed the dormant feelings the two had for each other. She was sure that the two of them were beginning to pick up on it too, so all that was left was to watch everything run its course.

Once that little trip-up was behind her, Lisanna walked over to the candy without any more interference, and she looked at the colorful orbs in the trays. She poked one of them, feeling that it was solid and cool. Popping it into her mouth, Lisanna tried out the taste of it, “Mmm… These are real good, Lucy!” Lisanna said, voice a bit obstructed by the sucker in her mouth. She waved Lucy to come join her before grabbing another candy off the tray, “Try some!”

Lucy nodded, returning to a fairly calm and not-flustered state, and she walked over to Lisanna’s side. Lisanna held up the red candy, waiting for Lucy to open her mouth. She fed the candy towards her, perhaps a tad too slow to be normal, glancing down at Lucy’s lips all the while. It took everything Lucy had to not choke on the candy right then and there. Chelia didn’t even have to meddle for them to have an awkward moment that time.

“Oh my god, you’re right! They came out well!” Lucy managed to say after that little moment they shared.

Lisanna nodded, smiling, and around then the oven beeped, signalling that the cake they made was done. She went to the oven, grabbing the mitts to pull the cake out of the heat and on top of the counter.

“That smells so good…” Lucy said with a spellbound grin.

“I know, right? All we have to do is wait for it to cool before adding the frosting, and I think we’re done! It can join all the other cakes and sweets we made.” Lisanna said cheerfully, looking towards the completed cakes and candies that they had made earlier in the morning.

“Mhm…” Lucy ended up letting out another cough to regain her composure, and she hesitantly continued from there, “So, uh… After this thing at the guild in the afternoon, do you want to maybe do something with me tonight? Like… dinner, or a movie, or just the two of us hanging out…”

Lisanna blinked a few times, surprised at the offer, but not in a bad way, “Oh, um… Yeah…! We could do that! I don’t think we could use my place, though… How about yours?”

Lucy nearly snorted at that, “Hah, no. Everyone likes breaking into my house. I feel like tonight would be no different.”

“Dinner it is.” Lisanna decided, smiling with a dash of red on her cheeks.

“Haha, yeah! It’s a date!”

Ah… Success. With minimal interference on Chelia’s end, too. Chelia wondered if this was bound to happen anyways without her meddling, but she probably quickened the whole process. A win for love was still a win, however, so she was content. She pushed herself off the cabinet and back onto the ground, beginning to walk off, a blissful smile on her face.

“...Chelia? Is that you?” Lucy asked, tilting her head.

Chelia looked over towards Lucy, slightly frozen from being spotted.

“When did you get here?” Lisanna joined in.

“Oh, I just walked in a few seconds ago!” Chelia lied straight through her teeth, putting on a cheery front to seem more believable, “You’ll have to forgive me! I smelled something absolutely divine and I had to check it out for myself!” Luckily, it appeared as if the two of them bought it.

“Hey, no peeking!” Lisanna pouted, sticking out her tongue.

“Yeah, this is for later!” Lucy couldn’t suppress a smile when she said that, however, “Are you waiting for Wendy? She’ll be back in a few hours. Maybe you could join us in this little party that’s going on in a bit! I know you love Valentine’s Day!”

“I know. I thought I’d kill some time here at the guild until then.” Chelia sighed contently, “And I think I will! It sounds amazing! And if the food is anything as good as it smells, it’ll be so worth it!”

“Nice! I’ll see you then!” Lucy grinned, “And no more peeking!”

Chelia threw her hands up in surrender, leaving from the kitchen at that point. She was doing well so far in the day. She wondered who else she could help as the day went by…

Chelia spent a bit of time after that simply hanging out around the guild, scoping out everyone’s plans for the night. She ended up sitting at the bar, drinking some soda, and she looked out of the corner her eye to check on Cana. Cana was drinking alone, as per usual, and it made Chelia a bit bummed out to see Cana so downtrodden and lonely on this day meant to be filled with love. She was comforted by the fact that Mirajane checked up on Cana a lot and made conversation with her, but then Chelia started to watch their interactions more and grow intrigued.

“Cana… If you’re going to mope all night about being single on Valentine’s Day, at least pace yourself for the rest of the evening.” Mirajane flashed a brief grin, concerned for the other, “It’s only 3 in the afternoon.”

Cana let out a groan at that, averting her gaze off to the side.

“Besides…” Mira perked up a bit and leaned against the bar, “You won’t be alone tonight. There’s still the guild celebration to look forward to!”

“Yeah, I guess…” Cana muttered, throwing back more of her beer, “I don’t know, Mira… I just thought that once I got older, I’d stop being single for Valentine’s Day. Kinda bums me out.”

Mira nodded at that, “I understand. Let me know if you need anything else.” She said before walking off to other patrons at the bar.

Chelia caught a glance of Cana’s gaze lingering on Mira as she walked away, causing Chelia to raise an eyebrow curiously. Maybe she just found her next project… With a flick of her wrist, Chelia used her wind magic to knock over a stack of napkins onto the floor, making a mess. Mirajane noticed it, and she went to clean it up, bending over to grab all of the napkins. Cana bit her lip, gaze still following Mirajane with every move. Chelia grinned a bit. Yeah, this certainly was her next mission.

Once Mira finished cleaning everything up, she placed the dirty napkins in the trash, noticing Cana’s improved mood. “What’s got you so happy?” Mira asked with a smile, not at all complaining about this change.

Cana drummed her fingers on the counter, tilting her head, “I got an idea… You free after the little party tonight?”

Mira nodded, “Mhm. I don’t have a Valentine either, y’know.”

“Since we’re both free and without dates… Why don’t we make a night of it?” Cana grinned, gaze appraising Mira’s figure for a moment.

Quirking an eyebrow, Mira grinned slightly, “Sounds good to me!” She snagged the beer bottle out of Cana’s hand, “But I’m cutting you off. We’re gonna have fun and you’re gonna be sober for it, at least at the beginning.”

Cana pouted at that, watching Mira walk away with her beer, “Come on… At least give me a soda to make up for it!”

Chelia was more than impressed with her work. She couldn’t believe how easily this has been for her, but she chalked it up to love finding its way. She just loved to see it bloom.

Later in the evening, after their dinner date, Lisanna and Lucy were walking home. Lucy’s place was the closest, so they headed there first. They had an incredibly good time at dinner, and that showed in their absolutely radiant smiles on the walk home. They were close and huddled near each other for warmth in the cool, winter air, hands and fingers brushing against each other and fumbling with every step, but Lisanna and Lucy were laughing the entire time, still riding on the euphoric high after such a good night.

“I still can’t believe it…” Lucy said between giggles, unable to contain her laughter, “Mirajane was really like that when she was younger? Wow, I can’t even imagine her raising her voice…”

Lisanna nodded, “Yeah! She was wild back then! She had a terrible temper. She picked fights with Erza all the time!”

Lucy’s face went blank for a moment, “Oh god… Her and Erza fighting… How did the guild still stand after all those brawls?” Her expression was skewed with horror.

“Uh… Magic?” Lisanna nervously laughed, shrugging her shoulders.

“Hah, probably!” Lucy still was laughing at that, but she eventually let out a long sigh to calm herself, “That’s too funny. I can’t even picture it. I can’t believe it actually happened.”

“I’m pretty sure no one can believe it either, even though we’ve lived through it. It was a unique experience.” Lisanna shrugged again, grinning.

They reached the door to Lucy’s place right around then, and Lucy drew in a sharp inhale. Goodbyes were always awkward for her.

“Tonight was fun!” She said, grinning her way through it all, “I’m glad it gave me something to do other than binge on chocolate and sweets.”

Lisanna smiled at that, letting out a soft laugh, “Yeah, I had fun too.” She was visibly nervous, but she managed to gather up the courage to stand on the tips of her toes and plant a kiss on Lucy’s cheek.

Lucy looked taken aback by that, and she blinked a few times as her face reddened considerably. Nonetheless, she still smiled, trying to not let her fluster take over her, “We should… We should do this again sometime.”

“Yeah…” Lisanna nodded, a sweet grin on her lips, “I’d like that…”

Elsewhere, Cana was sprawled out across Mirajane’s couch, nursing a glass of wine in her hand. Mirajane soon joined her, placing a bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table before picking up Cana’s legs to sit on the couch cushion beneath them. She picked up the remote, surfing through a few channels to find something good for them to watch. “You know what we should do?” Cana smirked, snickering under her breath, “We should find a movie that is objectively terrible, and then make fun of it all night.”

Mirajane grinned a bit at that, “I couldn’t do that…”

“You could at least listen to me make fun of it.” Cana raised her eyebrows, trying to get Mirajane to catch on.

Scrolling through a movie list, Mirajane eventually found one that stood out to her, “Ooo! How about this one?”

Cana scoffed, “Some cheesy romcom? I don’t think I could suffer through it…” When Mirajane pouted at that, Cana threw back the rest of her wine, setting the glass down on the table, “But I can now though!”

Mirajane shook her head fondly with a smile as she pressed play on the movie, “You’re silly.”

Cana shrugged with a smug grin, crossing her arms behind her head and getting herself situated for the movie.

The movie went swimmingly, but near the middle of the movie where the unfortunate drama kicked in, someone started to get a little teary-eyed. Cana could hear the soft sniffles coming from Mirajane, and she had to stop herself from letting out a laugh.

“Really?” Cana teased, far too amused for her own good, “Come on, we both know they’re gonna get together by the end.”

“But… But it’s so sad…” Mira sniffed, wiping at her eyes.

Rolling her eyes, Cana held out her arms, and waving for Mira to lie down next to her, “Okay, crybaby. Come here.”

Mirajane settled in next to Cana, still sniffling from the tears that were forming because of the movie. Cana just wrapped her arms around her to console Mira as best as she could. However, a few moments later, Mirajane started to feel Cana’s breathing grow sharper and she started to feel Cana tremble beneath her. Curious, Mira looked up at Cana, only to see that Cana’s eyes were glossy as well.

“And you gave me a hard time for crying…” Mirajane couldn’t help but smile.

“Come on, man…” Cana tried really hard to hide the crack in her voice, “That confession was heartbreaking…”

“Aww…” Mira giggled, “You’re such a sap.”

“S-Shut up!” Wiping at her eyes, Cana did her best to seem unbothered.

Mira snuggled up closer to Cana’s side, resting her head on Cana’s chest, “If it’s any consolation… I think it’s adorable.~”

Cana looked down at Mirajane and pursed her lips, but eventually she just rested her head against Mira’s, glancing back at the lacrima screen, “...I’m just…” She stammered, a blush rising to her features, “...gonna pretend that you did not say that, and also that she didn’t just reject him like that…!” Her voice cracked and tears welled in her eyes; the movie was really getting an emotional response out of her.

Instead of teasing Cana for it, Mirajane was crying too, “I know…!”

The next morning, Chelia and Wendy were hanging out at Fairy Tail before Chelia would be taking the train back to Lamia Scale, and as they were talking, Wendy noticed Lisanna and Lucy walking inside, arm-in-arm, talking to one another and laughing. Wendy raised an eyebrow, mouth falling slightly agape, and she looked around at the other members of the guild. She was seeing pairs that she hadn’t noticed before, and aside from Lucy and Lisanna most notably, she saw Cana reach over the bar and grab onto the front of Mirajane’s close to pull her in for a kiss. Wendy just blinked a few times in shock.

“I-I missed a lot…” Wendy said in a stunted voice, “I wasn’t even gone that long, too…”

“Hmm?” Chelia turned her head towards Wendy, curious, “What’d you miss?”

“Everyone is together now…! It’s strange, because they weren’t like this when I left.”

Chelia grinned at that, glancing off to the side with a quirked eyebrow, “...Aha, yeah. I guess Cupid struck while you were gone.”

“Apparently…” Wendy scratched her cheek. Suddenly everything started to register for her, and she looked back at Chelia and gasped, “W-Wait! You don’t mean that you did this, do you?!”

Shrugging, Chelia just let out a nervous laugh and grinned widely.