dinner with the dragneels

Ⅳ

lucy took off in the direction of the guest quarters. according to wendy, there was an entire wing dedicated to rooms just like hers, and at the end was a laundry room. 

"no one will miss a few blankets from there," wendy had said. 

plus, natsu and wendy had recently eaten lunch in the gardens, so there should've been a picnic blanket somewhere in the pile. lucy was to fill a cart with as many assorted bedclothes as possible to hide the picnic blanket at the bottom. then, she was to stop by an empty guest room and grab some pillows. 

lucy adjusted her headpiece and sighed. acting had never been her strong suit. she stepped into the laundry room and smiled uneasily. "hello? i'm uh-"

before she could recite the excuse that wendy had fed her, a pretty brunette in a crumpled outfit shoved a cart into her hands. "get this over with so we can go on break," she slurred, waving around an empty bottle of vodka. was she drunk?

lucy nodded slowly before the girl came to her senses. she made her way over to the racks of laundry, and hanging to her side was the picnic blanket. bingo. she patted it down at the bottom and covered it up with other blankets like she was told. 

"just pretend you belong," natsu had said. 

easier said than done, lucy thought, gripping the handle of the cart and taking slow strides towards the guest room to her left. she had successfully completed the first part of this mission; grab the blankets. now all she had to do was grab the pillows and she was good to go.

a maid stopped her on her way there. "uh, hello, do i know you?" lucy squinted. she didn't think so. 

"er, wendy-sama has requested i bring her pillows and blankets for her tutoring session," lucy recited. "she says they help her study."

"odd," the girl hummed. "i don't remember her ever requesting something like this before."

"er- it's a new discovery," lucy lied.

the girl shrugged. "if you say so," she strolled off with her cart in tow.

lucy breathed a sigh of relief and approached the guest room. she set the cart behind her and opened the door. to her horror, she saw someone inside with a familiar pink pixie cut. she drew in a breath. virgo. one of the only people who would've recognized her.

virgo glanced behind her and arched an eyebrow. "princess? what are you doing in that outfit?"

lucy pressed her finger to her lips, pushed the cart inside, and shut the door behind her. "long story."

lucy reluctantly explained the whole situation to virgo, and she nodded slowly. "i'll keep my silence, then. have fun, princess." virgo walked over to the cart, pillow in hand, and buried it beneath lucy's pile of blankets. "there. consider that to be my contribution."

lucy grinned. "thank you, virgo."

virgo nodded. "my pleasure. i'm good at keeping secrets."

lucy pushed the cart out of the room, humming softly under her breath as she made her way back to the library. she glanced around her, making sure she wasn't followed. i wonder how natsu and wendy are doing.

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

natsu and wendy jogged up to the kitchen and natsu tugged the door open. his breath caught in his throat. sitting atop one of the counters was a blonde with a lightning-shaped scar over one eye, eating a lime like it was an orange.

"laxus? what the hell are you-"

laxus hopped off the counter and ran his fingers through his hair. "now, now, natsu, is that any way to treat your cousin?"