"Master ! I'm taking this job with Y/N. We'll leave tomorrow after sunset. I hope you don't mind that."

"Rare for you to take someone along." Master expressed, before looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Yeah, I guess," agreed Gildarts scratching his neck.

"It doesn't seem too hard for her. Take this seriously for me, alright ?" Forewarned Makarov.

"I'm an adult. I don't intend on entertaining her, don't worry." Gildarts reassured.

"I'm just making sure. You tend to not focus when... women are involved."

The S-class Mage sighed. It was understandable to doubt his involvement in this job. But he really was going to be careful.

"I see where you're coming from but I promise none of that will happen." He stood with a calm expression, "At least, nothing of the unusual."

Makarov sighed before giving him a pat on the shoulder.

°

"I'm back ! Why the long face ?" He asked confused.

"How could you possibly think I'd say no..."

"Y/N. Believe it or not you're extremely unpredictable." He grinned before putting his arm around your shoulder.

"Really ? I wasn't aware of that."

"It's a good thing you're not aware of it. It just adds another special quirk to your personality."

He mentioned, grinning widely making you chuckle a bit.

"Glad that made you laugh. Pack up alright ?" He smiled tenderly at you before letting you go and started walking away.

"We're meeting up tomorrow at 5pm. Try not to be late, 'kay ?"

°

T

H E N E X T D A Y

That morning, you looked at yourself in the mirror before concluding that you looked good.

When you left your apartment complex, you waved goodbye to your landlord and walked out.

While you strolled around you came across the neighborhood stray cat.

It was reportedly assumed that whenever someone came across the white cat on the street, they would get extremely lucky for the day.

"Thank you for gracing me with your presence today !" You said out loud, petting the cat.

He licked your hand and rubbed his face on your hand.

'I guess I'll get extremely lucky today !' You pumped your fist up in the air while it mewled.

"I'll see you in 2 days, alright ?" You waved him goodbye before walking away.

After bidding the neighborhood cat farewell, you made your way to the train station.

You assumed that you had arrived first since you hadn't seen Gildarts. You decided to take a book out to pass time.

That is until he ran up to you a minute later.

"Sorry, I'm so late. I'm not used to having someone wait for me.."

"It's fine. I didn't wait too long."

"I barely made it on time though. You're way too nice Y/N. You should be scolding me right now."

"It happens sometimes to arrive late. I-I'm not going to scold you for it."

"Come on, we should get inside. I don't want us to wait too long."

°

You both sat down in a nearby booth. You took off your coat and left your duffle bag between your body and the window.

Gildarts sat across from you and opened his bag to get a map out. He was reading it very attentively.

Seeing him like this made you smile so brightly. It was funny how even though his personality was very laid back, he always took jobs seriously.

Anything he did at to be done in complete seriousness, according to him.

You looked out the window and listened as the railroad tracks began to rattle.

"So, what's the job anyway ?" You asked him, leaning towards the map.

"There's a mystery going on in a small village near Aster City. A maze has appeared for a while now, and they need mages to figure out what's going on."

"It's been awhile since I've heard of Aster City. Let alone about it's village..."

"Ha, you're right. But guess what ? The prize is 200,000 jewels. They must be pretty loaded." He smirked before putting the map back in his bag.

You watched him do that before continuing to view the scenery.

°

You and Gildarts walked around the town.

It was deserted for the most part. Full of ruins and seemingly of old age, but a nice scent engulfed the entire place.

And simply decorated with flowers of different colors. It was almost hard to believe that the village required assistance.

As you approached the core of the village, an old man's back whose back was turned, was sitting on a bench.

"Excuse me sir ? We're the Fairy Tail mages you requested." Gildarts claimed, tapping his shoulder.

The man looked at you both and smiled brightly. But his face soon turned into a sad one almost weeping.

He stood up and walked towards a low building. "Thank you so much for coming all this way just to help our poor village."

"You don't have to worry about it sir, it's what we do."

"Our village has been cursed for many years now. But it's only now that this curse has taken physical effect. If you follow this path you'll find the maze that appeared a week ago. I hope you find something inside !"

"No one has been inside yet ?" You questioned him.

"No. No one. We've... been too scared to enter it."

"We'll handle it, sir ! You can count on us !"

You started walking towards the path looking left and right to make sure that you weren't missing anything. It went on for a good hour, until you found the place from a far.

The maze looked small but still gave out a chilly feeling. Luckily you had found a small shrine to rest in before going exploring.

"How about we settle down inside ? We'll start looking around tomorrow." Gildarts said looking at you smiling widely.

"Sounds good?"

You smiled back but then ran inside. He looked around and walked towards you.

"Shit. It really is small..." He said looking up.

You walked around the temple and found two empty rooms. One whom which looked like a closet.

He advanced near one and opened the door. "Let's get in this one ! It's a little cramped but it'll do the trick."

"We're sleeping together ?" You questioned.

You felt your body get warmer at the thought of it. He wasn't looking at you fortunately. Who knows what your brain would have thought if he had been looking.

"Do you a problem with it ? If so I can take the small one..."

"I mean, I personally don't mind sleeping together. I'm just wondering if you're okay with it ?"

"I know what you mean. But it has nothing to do with this. Master told me to protect you at any cost and I'm just gonna do that. What if something happened while we were asleep. I really wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you on my watch, Y/N."

"Let's get dressed, okay ?"

°

You and Gildarts sharing a bed ? Together ? You really didn't expect that to happen anytime soon. But you really were excited about it.

You just wished you had packed cuter sleeping wear. When you were done changing, you looked inside the portable mirror you always carried around and checked yourself.

You thanked the gods for making you experience this. You left the room you were in to go find him. But before you took a stroll outside. It really was beautiful out there. Luckily, the air was really fresh and you needed all the air you could have to survive tonight.

"Alright, time to go back..." You stretched before heading back inside.

As you were about to get to the closet to fix up the clothes you had left there, you passed by the bigger room's door and saw the most wonderful sight.

In front of you, Gildarts was changing unaware of your presence. It seemed he was done changing his bottoms, because that would've been another story. You took a good look at him.

He had the kind of face that stopped you in your tracks. You had found about that the moment you met him. His strong hands, slightly rough from working too hard, held his spare shirt, while he sighed softly.

A prominent jaw curved gracefully around and the strength of his neck showed in the twining lines of muscle that shaped his entire body; strong arms, bold thighs and calves, a firm chest and abdomen.

You couldn't help but be embarrassed.

He really was a nice sight to see. His muscled back was bare and filled with battle scars. You couldn't see his chest. Part of you wished you could.

You approached silently trying to make no sound desperately desiring his touch.

But unfortunately for you, he turned around the moment you stepped a foot in the room.

"Couldn't hold back peeping on me, huh?" He spoke, smirking.

Slowly, he walked towards you before stopping 3 inches from your body. He caressed your arm tenderly before leaning near your ear.

"Y/N... You can't be acting this way towards a grown man. " He took a deep breath in between, "Or else, I'll lose it."

˚˚