Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
December, x777.
After Elicia finished showing Cana, Ur, Gray, and Ultear around the house, they found their way to the open dining room. When they did, Alfonzo had finished cooking and setting the table. Seeing a silver pitcher, a platter with six glasses on top of it, and six plates with steak, a fully loaded baked potato, and a salad on the table they could not help but gulp their quickly accumulating saliva.
"I know today is special, but seriously?" Ur asked as she walked toward the table, staring at one of the plates all the while. "This is a Searing Bull steak, right?"
"That's right." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Today is a day worth splurging. Besides, this isn't just any steak, it's a ribeye."
While the kinds were not sure what made the steak from a Searing Bull so special, Ur widened her eyes when she heard that it was the ribeye cut. Immediately after that, she took a seat as quickly as she could before trying to pick up the fork and knife beside the plate.
However, before she could lay a hand on them, they began to float away from her.
"What the hell are you doing, Kid?" Ur asked in an irritated tone.
"Seriously, Ur?" Alfonzo asked with shock on his face. "You can't even wait until everyone else sits down??"
After Alfonzo spoke, Ur froze for a moment. Then, she sheepishly looked at the other people in the room, who were all staring at her in surprise.
"*Cough* You all should sit down." Ur said with an embarrassed flush on her face. "We wouldn't want Alfonzo's hard work to go to waste, would we?"
Hearing that, Elicia, Cana, and Ultear giggled while Gray wanted to as well, but he knew that Ultear would make him pay for it later. A moment later, they all took their seats, with Elicia and Cana sitting on Alfonzo's left and right, respectively.
However, Alfonzo did not sit with the rest of them. Instead, he floated a platter, with six glasses on it, in front of him using his magic. Then, he picked up the pitcher and began filling the six glasses. To everyone's surprise, what came out of the pitcher was a brown beverage with peach slices floating in it.
Then, after filling each of the glasses, Alfonzo made the platter float around the table, allowing each person to take one of the glasses.
"What kind of drink is this, Alfonzo?" Ultear asked in curiosity.
"It's peach iced tea." Alfonzo replied. Before picking up the last glass on the platter and raising it above his head. "Now, a toast to all of you for coming to visit Lici and I in our new home."
"Yeah, thanks for coming." Elicia said with a happy smile on her face as she, too, raised her glass.
Smiling at the gesture, Cana, Gray, and Ultear also raised their glasses with smiles on their faces. And although Ur raised her glass as well, she was pouting instead of smiling.
"Toasts are supposed to be done with alcohol." Ur muttered.
"Yeah, a couple of twelve year olds can buy alcohol whenever they want." Alfonzo replied while rolling his eyes.
Once again, Ur flushed in embarrassment. Considering how mature Alfonzo usually acted, she forgot hat he was only twelve years old.
"Anyway." Alfonzo said, smiling at the guests. "Thanks for coming. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" x 5
Then, they all took a sip of their drinks. And when they did, Cana, Ur, Gray, and Ultear opened their eyes wide. None of them had ever considered putting fruit into their iced tea before. But now, it was as if they had seen the door to a new world opening.
After that, they all chatted, ate, and drank happily. Then, after dinner, they put their dishes in the magic dishwasher and headed down to the basement, more specifically, the game room. There, they played all the games that were present, causing time to feel as though it passed rather quickly.
Eventually, when Ur realized how late it was, she announced that she, Gray, and Ultear would be leaving soon.
"Aww… Do you have to go?" Elicia asked with puppy eyes. "We were having so much fun."
"Yeah, we all just got back from quests today." Ur said with a smile. "We need to get some rest, after all. But don't worry, it's not like you're all that far away. We'll definitely come to visit again."
"*Sigh* Fine~." Elicia said with a pout.
Seeing Elicia pout, Cana hugged her.
"I don't wanna go home either." Cana said while still hugging Elicia. However, she continuously stole glances at Alfonzo. "Can I spend the night here"
Hearing that question, Elicia's eyes lit up.
"That's right, we have a lot of guest rooms." Elicia said as if she had forgotten that fact. "You all can sleep here tonight."
Hearing that, Gray and Ultear, who were also having fun looked at Ur with anticipaton in their eyes. Unfortunately, they were destined to be disappointed.
"Maybe some other time." Ur said with a wry smile after seeing Gray and Ultear's expressions. "We still have to go back to the guild and grab our luggage, we haven't even been home since we got back."
Eventually, even with Elicia pestering them the whole time, Ur, Gray, and Ultear bid the trio farewell. However, as they were walking away from the front gate, Ur turned back with a smile on er face.
"From what I heard, there's a chance that Gildarts will be coming back tomorrow." Ur said with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Are you sure you want to stay here tonight, Cana?"
Hearing Ur mention her father, Cana was a bit concerned, and it showed on her face. Gildarts had a habit of trying to bully Alfonzo whenever she was together with him and Elicia. A moment later, however, she remembered that there was a barrier around both the gate and the house. Then, she began to giggle at the thought of Gildarts being flung away when he inevitably tried to walk through one of the walls.
"Yeah, *Giggle* I think I'll stay here tonight." Cana said.
"Alright." Ur replied with a nod. "We'll see you at the guild tomorrow. You three better not skip training."
"Hmph!" Alfonzo snorted at the thought. "As if. Besides, I've got a shift in the kitchen tomorrow morning."
"Considering how much money you're making with those patents, I'm surprised you still cook at the guild." Ur said with a smile.
"Well, if I didn't, those barbarians in the guild would storm my house demanding that I come back to cook."
"Yeah, they definitely would." Ur replied with a giggle.
After that, the two groups finally said their farewells. Then, while Ur, Gray, and Ultear started walking home, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana returned to the house. A few moments later, the three of them were standing at the foot of the stairs leading to the second floor.
"Fonzie, I'm gonna sleep with Cana tonight." Elicia said with a smile. "We don't get a lot of time to just stay up and talk ever since we all started taking quests."
Hearing that, Cana smiled happily while Alfonzo just shrugged his shoulders.
"Fine by me." Alfonzo said before turning toward the master bedroom, waving his right hand as he walked away. "Good night, you two. I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night!" x 2
After the three bid each other good night, Elicia pulled Cana up the stares with a smile on her face. Then, they both entered the bedroom closest to the stairs. Deciding to take a bath before bed, Elicia realized that neither of them had a change of clothes. So, she started filling the bathtub, then she turned around and ran out of the room.
"Don't let the bathtub overflow!" Elicia said as she ran away. "I'll come back with something we can sleep in."
"Okay!" Cana replied.
A little while later, just as the bath was full, Elicia returned carrying night gowns, panties, towels, and wash cloths for both of them.
"Did you just make those?" Cana asked while pointing at the night gowns and panties after turning off the faucet.
"I just made these." Elicia said, holding up a white night gown and a pair of white panties before laying them down on the bed. Then, she held up a baby pink night gown and a pair of baby blue panties. "But I already had these."
"I see." Cana said, not surprised that Elicia had made a simple piece of clothing so quickly. "Anyway, let's get in the bath."
"Okay~!" Elicia said happily as she started taking off her clothes.
Cana took off her clothes as well. Then, they took turns showering, with Cana going first. When Cana was done, she got in the bath and Elicia began to wash herself. Not long later, Elicia joined Cana in the bath.
"Ahh! Taking a bath after a long day feels great." Cana said, seeming as if she would melt into the hot water.
"Yeah, This feels amazing." Elicia said, smiling happily.
Although the baths in the guest rooms were not particularly big, they were more than enough for a pair of twelve year old girls to fit comfortably.
Sitting in comfortable silence, the tranquility of the moment was eventually broken by Elicia.
"Hey, Cana, can I ask you a question.?" Elicia asked nonchalantly.
"Sure." Cana replied, clearly relaxed due to the bath.
"Do you wanna share Fonzie with me?" Elicia asked in the same tone she would ask someone if they wanted to get some ice cream.
Naturally, Elicia's completely out of the blue question caught Cana off guard, causing her to sit up straight and open her eyes wide, to a comical degree. A moment later, she closed her eyes. Then, she began massaging her temples with her left hand.
"Wow, rushing that quest must have tired me out more than I thought." Cana said, gently shaking her head. "It sounded like you said something really weird just now. Could you say that again?"
"I asked if you wanted to share Fonzie with me, Cana." Elicia said, still not losing her smile.
Once again, Cana's eyes opened wide. This time, however, she did not think that she had misheard Elicia. That, on the other hand, made the whole situation even more weird.
"What are you talking about?" Cana asked, sure that Elicia could not possibly be suggesting what she was thinking.
"What I mean is.." Elicia said, momentarily pausing for dramatic effect. "When we get older, we can both be Fonzie's girlfriends."
'Shit! She did mean what I thought she meant!' Cana exclaimed internally.
"Did you hit your head or something, Lici?" Cana asked, closing the distance between herself and Elicia before touching all over Elicia's head, searching for lumps.
"Of course not." Elicia said, swatting Cana's hands away.
"Then, why would you suggest something like that?" Cana asked, thoroughly confused.
"Well, because me and Fonzie really like you." Elicia said, her tone a bit more serious than before. "But at the rate things are going, we could end up drifting apart."
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Cana said, turning her head away, unwilling to make eye contact with Elicia.
"Whatever." Elicia said, rolling her eyes at Cana's weak denial. "Both me and Fonzie can tell that you like him."
Cana gasped at Elicia's declaration.
"Of-of course I like him." Cana said, blushing up to her ears. "He's my friend. You two are my best friends, so it would make sense that I like him. Just like I like you."
Once again, Elicia rolled her eyes.
"You're not fooling anyone, Cana." Elicia said. "Besides, Fonzie said he was okay with it."
"Pervert." Cana said, sounding a bit disappointed that Alfonzo had agreed with this.
"Actually, it took some convincing." Elicia said with a triumphant smile on her face. "But I eventually wore him down."
That statement caused Cana to look at Elicia as if she were crazy.
"Why would you convince him to do that?" Cana asked, completely incapable of understanding Elicia's thought process.
"Well, that's simple." Elicia said as she wrapped Cana in a hug. "If Fonzie chose either you or me, then the other one would be sad. And they would probably feel awkward being around the other two, right?"
"Uh… I guess." Cana replied, starting to understand where Elicia was coming from.
"And if that happened, we probably wouldn't be as good friends as we are now, right?"
"Probably not." Cana said, agreeing with that thought.
"So, I thought, if we both became Fonzie's girlfriends, we wouldn't have to worry about that."
Although Cana understood why Elicia would suggest something like this by now, she still felt as if something was wrong. Unfortunately, she was only eleven. So, she could not figure out what it was.
Meanwhile, while Cana stared into Elicia's eyes with a skeptical expression on her face, Elicia continued to smile. However, she could feel her smile starting to cramp the longer Cana stared at her with quiet skepticism.
'I know I'm not good at lying.' Elicia thought to herself. 'But there's no way I could tell her that I was a weeb in my past life and thought that she and a lot of the girls in the Fairy Tail anime were hot, and asked Fonzie to make a harem because of that, right? Besides, I practiced this speech so hard for over a year. So, why is she looking at me like that?'
Eventually, after a few more moments, Cana finally broke eye contact and dropped her head.
"*Sigh* I don't know which one of us is crazier, Lici." Cana said, sounding much more tired than before. "You, for coming up with such a crazy idea. Or me, for thinking that it doesn't sound so bad."
Immediately after Cana finished speaking, Elicia's eyes lit up.
"Does that mean you agree?" Elicia asked as she grabbed Cana's hands.
"Kinda…" Cana replied.
"Kinda?" Elicia parroted.
"What will my dad think if I was dating Fonzie with you?" Cana asked, feeling a headache from just thinking about Gildarts' reaction.
Hearing that, Elicia froze. She had never considered Gildarts' reaction to all this. A moment later, however, she simply shrugged her shoulders.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Elicia said with an unbothered smile on her face. "I'm sure Fonzie will come up with something. And if he can't, I'll just punch Gildarts in the nuts again."
While Cana could not help but giggle at Elicia's declaration, she felt a little bad for her father. Just a little, though. Not enough that she would reconsider sharing Alfonzo with Elicia, anyway.