[Fairy Tail] Headquarters

[Bloodedge]

"Yes you did. Yes you have," Axel said passively to Iris as he retrieved another cigarette. He had no idea what had happened to the last one, but it was likely he'd merely dropped it during the middle of the fight. Whatever the case, he lit the next one and set his gaze upon Iris as she found out that the woman in front of her was the cat Takara. His expression toward her during this time was one that implied strange thoughts surrounding the Crystal Mage. "Told you, you forget friends. So, we're going on that S-Class job, yeah? I've got one in mind for us."

[Apollymi]

"I didn't forget. I didn't know she could turn into people... how is that my fault?" questioned the raven haired girl. She seemed to be a bit pouty after but Takara could only chuckle. "Aww, Axel... you're gonna upset her if you keep it up. What if she cries?" teased the cat woman who seemed to take her recognition as an excuse to change forms. When she did, she'd become a small cat like creature black in color with a large mane and tuft of fur right at the end of her bottom. Her tail tipped by a star and the Fairy Tail Guild Mark across her back in a deep blue color. After this happened the cat would jump onto Axel relaxing her body across his shoulders in the place she was normally seen.

These actions would cause all the recognition to flow into Iris as she realized that the transformation in addition to lightning magic was probably why a cat had been allowed to take the S-class trials and move on to become S-class. Still there was the matter of Axel, claiming he had the perfect S-class mission for the pair of them to go on. "Eh? I don't think I actually agreed to that." said the young woman who was looking off into space. "And anyway, didn't you say you weren't interested in any of the missions up there."

Meanwhile, approaching the outside of the Guild was the Guild Master, and likely in her company her companion of the day. This woman took a deep breath right outside the place and gave a small warning to the man she was with. "They can get a little crazy from time to time..." she said as she took a step inside to find several around who hadn't been before as well as a large hole in the side of the building which caused her to palm her face as she reasoned it was likely Axel who had done it.

[Bloodedge]

"Not my fault if she does," Axel said while simultaneously exhaling smoke. He was quite revved up now, as it were, thanks to the electric meal he'd been offered, and a few unspoken things had gotten him particularly exited to take one of the jobs from the S-Class request board. Iris didn't seem so thrilled to take part, but Axel had his own reasons for wanting this one, specifically with her along. "It's not that I'm actually not interested. It's... something else entirely. Don't worry about that, though. Get your things together; we'll head out now."

En route to the Guild, Uriel accompanied the Master, Aine with a pipe still hanging from his mouth, and his arms tucked into his sleeves. As they approached the building, Uriel took note of Aine's most recent words, which were to be applied immediately when he noticed the hole in the front wall. Axel was standing with his gaze on Aine and a hand rubbing the back of his head, but the two men briefly greeted each other with a nod, as mutual smokers often did in an unspoken ritual of acknowledgement. "Oi, Aine~. We're taking the Galuna job after all."

[Apollymi]

Iris was left looking a bit dumbfounded. "But seriously I didn't agree to this, I can't..." she started to say, only to have Aine enter, and Axel go on to exclaim that they were taking a mission on Galuna Island. This would only further cause confusion to cross Iris' face. "Oi, Sis, tell him I can't go." she said nearly demanding that the older woman back her up on her apparent need not to go.

"Hi Aine, how are you today? Where'd you run off to?" said the Guild Master about herself. "What happened to normal greetings around here?" she questioned not backing up anyone. It would be then that, the cat draped around the neck of the Lightning Dragon Slayer would look towards the woman, jumping from his neck and standing before the woman running herself between her legs. "Oi, feeling left out. I am too... my mission went fine by the way." said Takara as she eyed the blue haired woman seriously. "Takara~ I didn't know you were back and from an SS-misson. Sugoi~" Aine said with a smile. This was a rather interesting collection of people right now. To Axel she had something very specific to say. "Galuna? You and Iris?" she said as if thinking about it. "Well that will be fine, just be careful. Takara... you should go too." she said to the man, much to Iris' shock and surprise. "But but but Sis." she started which only made the woman wave her off. "What? Of course you can go, and don't worry about your friends over at the circus, I'll look after them while you're gone~" mentioned the older woman which only caused the other girl's eyes to widen. Takara returned soon to her perch atop the shoulders of the Lightning Dragon Slayer. "I intended to go whether I was invited or not. I get bored when I stay here by myself, and if he's going to an island he's going to be useless for a while, it'd be a shame to leave Iris to handle that all alone. Even if she had no idea who I was when I showed up here."

While this was being spoken on, the general cacophony of the guild could be heard in the background. And it was only above this humming noise that Iris finally spoke again. She was thinking that she wanted to go on a mission with Axel, she supposed she could go, knowing someone would be looking after her other friends. "Fine, fine. I guess there is no harm in going then~" she said shrugging it off but seemingly excited about the prospect. "Hai, but you guys have to leave after Camus' welcome party~" said Aine, as if this wasn't option. Right on cue, numerous bakery workers began showing up, carrying various cakes and pastries that Aine had commissioned from the shop when she'd first returned to Magnolia.

[Bloodedge]

"Alright, let's hurry up and get this ov-" Axel took an abrupt pause. When Aine gave Iris the go-ahead on the job, and it was confirmed that Takara would be going along as well, Axel was more than prepared to go. However, the mention of a party which would hold up progress from the job was quite the annoyance. "Mendokuse! I finally get hyped up for a job, and you decide it's time for a party? This is why I can't be bothered with anything," the man said as he walked back into the building.

[Apollymi]

Aine stepped forward to Axel and smiled at him for just a second bringing her finger to her lips and shushing him. "Quiet, you'll get cake and be pleased about it yeah? Galuna isn't going anywhere, hell that mission has been sitting here almost half a year already. What's a few extra minutes?" mentioned the Guild Master who would subsequently excuse herself to float on the air up to the main banister above the bar to make an announcement. "Oi, we got a new member today~ I want everyone to welcome Camus and make him feel at home. Also, I didn't know what kind of sweets you like so I had a whole bunch sent here~" mentioned the Guild Master in her normal lighthearted way. A few seconds later and even more sweets would be flooding the area with every random member more than happy to take their fill. Casks of liquor were opening and everyone started shouting their welcomes to their newest member happily celebrating.

And with that done, music began and a huge party started taking place at the Fairy Tail Guild Headquarters. After Aine would descend picking a particular kind of cake for herself before going back to her new friend. "You are taking this much better than I thought you would. Most would have run from the noise alone~" she mentioned of her overly rambunctious guild. "YAY! CAKE!" these words were from Iris.

[Bloodedge]

"Tch!" Axel swatted at the Guild Master's hand when it was brought to his mouth. Afterwards, he proceeded to the second floor of the building. A boat would be required to reach Galuna Island after this apparent party, and being the tier of Dragon Slayer that he was, Axel knew it would be pointless to do something like consume cake beforehand. As such, this entire shindig was already wasted on the teal-haired man. "Fuckin' pointless. I'm all for welcoming the new guy and all, but there's no point having any of that cake if we're just gonna follow it up with... transportation." As his sentence came to an end, Axel shivered where he stood. The mere thought of taking a boat trip with a stomach full of cake was nearly enough to make him queasy at present.

Meanwhile, Uriel was keeping pace with Aine, following the woman up to he point of her announcement to the Guild. When she spoke to him directly thereafter, he put his pipe away and exhaled his last cloud of smoke for the time being. "The noise is no bother. It's actually quite comforting. One could get used to a more natural atmosphere like this..."

[Apollymi]

Iris seemed exceedingly pleased, though Axel went on upstairs, she didn't seem to mind as she grabbed several slices of cake contentedly stuffing her face. "Oi, do you want a slice?" she asked of the cat who smiled and nodded sprouting angelic wings she floated down to the first floor and grabbed a piece from the younger raven haired girl and ascended once more with only a nod of thanks. "So, what exactly is your interest in this mission? It's a lot more travel than you normally go for, and on a boat no less." the cat mentioned as she sat across from him on top of the table pawing the icing and then licking it off as if amused.

Meanwhile, Aine couldn't help but feel at home among all the noise and the start of this particular party. It seemed her guest was also quite pleased with the atmosphere and had no problem with the craziness that was her guild. "Hm, I guess that is true." she said gesturing about to the random pastries. "Eh, if you are going to get cake, you may want to get it before the kids take it all. Looks like Iris found her appetite again~" the woman mentioned as she watched the young Crystal Mage devouring several slices of cake back to back, while she apparently went to greet Camus. Generally there was a lot of merry making going on, but Aine was just trying to figure out what was so dangerous about the man with her and she'd yet to come up with anything substantial.

[Bloodedge]

Axel was approximately halfway through his cigarette when Takara returned to the second floor with cake. The female cat asked about his interest in this job, but when she did, he shook his head. Frankly, he had no interest in the job whatsoever. But... he was interested in what could come from it. "A Dragon Slayer becomes more like a Dragon when they use Dragon Force. Our noses become even more accurate," he said. And, with that, he took another slow drag from his cigarette. When he exhaled this one, he had more to say. "That Iris. She's got the scent of a Dragon on her."

When warned how quickly the cake would disappear, Uriel decided he would indeed go for a slice. He scanned the area, plate in hand, for a very specific flavor: strawberry shortcake. When he finally located it, he picked up the last remaining slice and placed it upon his plate. However, he turned to see a very peculiar and very slim blonde boy, who could barely be considered a teen, judging by his looks. The boy also had a plate at the ready, and when Uriel was no longer in the way of the lad's sight, it became apparent that said sights were set on the strawberry shortcake which no longer resided on the table. Looking at this youth, Uriel held out his own plate to offer the final slice. "Here," he said while, without giving the boy a chance to reject his offer, putting his plate atop the empty one carried by the young blonde. With that done, he kept moving toward Aine's location. The youngster could only stare at the slice of cake with wide, golden eyes, then back to the man as he walked away. "A-... Arigatou gozaimasu!"

[Apollymi]

As Takara kept eating her paw eventually stopped moving as Axel revealed his apparent interest in this mission he was taking with the young Crystal Mage, Iris. "Sou ka." mentioned. "Are you sure? In all her time here, she's never given any indication of being anything other than a little urchin street performer. Her magic isn't bad, but she doesn't seem like a Slayer." said the cat. Sure the young woman currently stuffing her face with cake was an odd one, but she didn't seem anything like either of the other Dragon Slayers Takara had come into contact with.

Meanwhile on the lower floor, Aine watched as this man went to go claim himself some cake. And watched the young blonde boy approach and not get what he was looking for immediately. She started to say something to the pair of people about the last slice of strawberry short cake, but as she watched this interaction she noted that this man had no problem giving away the cake to the young man. As he returned to her, she seemed to grin even wider. "That is the third nice thing I've seen you do today..." mentioned Aine as she continued eating her own cake.

Meanwhile the boy who got his cake was in front of Iris. "Oi, I haven't seen you in ages, how are you?" she asked of the boy amongst the rabble as she devoured the last of her pieces of cake which was a fudge ripple kind of cake. While this happened she looked around. "Do you know that guy with Sis? He gave you his cake."

[Bloodedge]

"The smell of a Dragon is pretty hard to mistake. I'm not saying she's a Dragon Slayer, but she's definitely been around Dragons before. I wanna find out why."

When Uriel returned to Aine's location, she once again decided to address something he'd done recently. In this particular case, the man shrugged while looking out into the crowd of Fairy Tail Mages. "It would have been rude to keep it. That child probably didn't have it in him to push through the crowd when it first hit. I could only wonder how one that young would react when they finally reached something, only to have it immediately taken away from them. The world is too harsh as it is to let something so trivial pile on top of other stresses in a child's mind, isn't it?"

Meanwhile, the very same child Aine and Uriel spoke of was eating the slice of cake he'd been offered when he was addressed by none other than the Crystal Mage Iris. Taking a moment to wipe icing off the corner of his mouth and taste it, he looked toward the man Iris drew attention to. "I've never seen him. I just figured he was here to join, but who cares; he gave me the last slice of the best cake!" the boy said with a large, sparkling grin before cramming more of said cake into his face. With the swollen cheeks that came with this large bite, he returned his attention to Iris and spoke to her directly. "I'm fine, by the way. I figured you would have taken a job by now."

[Apollymi]

"Hm..." Takara said only to finish licking the last bits of cake from her paws and take a gander from the second floor down to the first where Iris could currently be seen speaking to another young mage. "And you thought the best way to converse with her about her potential involvement with dragons was to take her on a mission. Instead of, oh I don't know, just asking her?" Takara concluded. It seemed a bit invasive to try to get the information out of the girl without being a bit more direct about it. Then again, perhaps he was looking to gather more evidence one way or the other and a mission was a good way to determine this.

A smile crossed Aine's face as she both understood the reasoning and knew that it likely would have been crushing for the particular young one not to get what he wanted out of that particular trip up to the sweets. Still it was very odd that a random adult would take any care at all about the well-fare of a random child they didn't know. And this man had done so twice. Regardless of what he was or wasn't he was at the very least had a kind heart and this was something Aine appreciated in all of her friends. "Well, yes, that is true. And I figured he wouldn't make it up there in time. So, I saved him a piece too." Aine mentioned sliding the piece of strawberry shortcake over to Uriel with a smile on her face. "So, accept. And have some cake with the rest of us." she mentioned while breaking to dig into her own favorite which was a triple fudge cake with whipped cream on top. "Ya' know, despite the utter suspicion surrounding you when you arrived here today, you're pretty cool, Uriel~" she went on to say.

Meanwhile Iris was busy talking to the young boy with his so recently acquired cake as she finished up the last of her own. "Hai hai, actually Axel asked me to go on a mission with him." she said about her lack of mission taking. "I was going to refuse, but Sis, thinks I should go and said she'd look after the circus while I am gone so I guess I will." she said having a glance up at the second floor. "It's weird though, Axel is cool and all, but I didn't figure he'd want to go on a mission with me."

[Bloodedge]

"It's not that simple. Iris isn't the kind of person who'd know about Dragons, but not say anything knowing there are Dragon Slayers in this Guild looking for the ones that raised them. If she's had contact with Dragons, then even she doesn't know about it. This job might be a reminder, if I'm right." This was all Axel had to say about the matter. With that, he put out the cigarette he'd been smoking since he returned from outside, and hopped onto the railing of the second floor balcony to look down and guess at how long it would be before he could leave.

Not long after moving past the ordeal of giving a child his slice of cake, Uriel was informed that Aine foresaw this occurring, and had a slice of that very same cake reserved for the boy. A grin spread across the Wizard Saint's face as he was handed this additional slice. "I should have known someone like you would have taken such precautions. Arigatou," he said when he took the cake. "Like I said earlier: people always find me suspicious, but it's always because my entrances are... well, never what I want them to be, to put it lightly. For example, my arrival through the ceiling of a women's bathroom."

"Axel?" the boy questioned prior to swallowing the large amount of cake held in his mouth. "But he only takes S-class and higher jobs. Sugoi! I'm jealous!"

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka." the cat said while stretching just a bit and also hopping onto the railing Axel was now occupying. She had a look down below and that stern expression of hers remained. "Well, that seems a bit more reasonable... but I wonder what could have made her forget such a thing?" she said. She fully agreed though, people like Iris generally wanted to help, and knowing that other Dragon Slayers were looking for their foster parents would have made the Crystal Mage share all. If she hadn't then it only made sense that she didn't know she knew something. But that was odd in and of itself. No matter though it seemed that they would soon get their answers.

Meanwhile the Wizard Saint Uriel fully accepted his slice of cake and seemed to think that he should have guessed that Aine would have planned ahead for the boy's potential lack of cake attainment. Uriel then pushed off is suspicious nature on the fact that he never arrived in a way that was okay. Mention of his earlier arrival into the women's bathroom at Fairy Hills was enough to make the blue haired woman chuckle. "Yeah. We are actually used to stuff breaking around here, but that landing was enough to make Ko-chan suspicious... still you were nice about it~" she said as she continued eating. "If that happens a lot I would suggest a different form of travel, you shouldn't have people mistaking you for a creepy character when you are so nice."

Iris on the other hand was laughing at the young boy with her shaking her head from left to right. "You would be jealous of this Hana." she said rolling her eyes just a little in a joking manner. But to be honest she was still feeling a bit odd, more than that she wanted to understand that feeling she'd managed to have before while engaged in battle with Axel. "You know you could just ask to go along on S-class missions if you wanted~" she mentioned to the boy with a smile.

[Bloodedge]

"Dunno. Let's go find out," Axel said as he hopped off the rails. He landed amidst the crowd, and began a casual stroll toward Iris during the progression of her discussion with the blonde lad.

While eating his cake, Uriel considered the circumstances of his entry to many locations on his first visit. "To be perfectly honest, I've tried. It only made things more... complicated, so to speak. It never ends well, no matter what I do, but I usually have my Wizard Saint badge to smooth things over. Things turn out fine in the end."

"I could!?" exclaimed the boy deemed 'Hana' when told how easily he could gain permission to take an S-class job. "Can I go with you two on this one then?" he asked. When he did, Axel reached the pair's location and placed a hand upon the young boy's shoulder. "I was just about to ask if you would. Get it together; we're going now."