A day on the town!

Nessa was strolling along contemplating her time in fairy tail so far. She swung her bag back and forth, her new exceed pal, Sebastian sitting happily on her shoulder. Upon joining Fairy tail, she had made so many new friends and gone on so many adventures already; her life had changed drastically. From fighting men twice her size, to performing for young children to saving little exceed kittys. She looked over at Sebastian and gave him a content smile.

"Nessy, why are you pulling that face? It's creepy." Her smile immediately faded, and she stopped.

"My face is not creepy!" She barked, Sebastian snickered at her reaction, waving his paw at her to calm down.

"I kid of course, but seriously why are you randomly smiling at me." She sighed, rolling her eyes, she had soon discovered that Sebastian had an odd sense of humour. He liked to joke and play pranks, sometimes he was even a little mean. But deep down he meant well, even if he was harsh at times.


"I was just thinking your wounds have healed nicely,"
Sebastian twirled on her shoulder doing a little body inspection of himself,

"Yep, your pops did a pretty good job, even without any means of numbing the pain, I mean the dude was practically stabbing me repeatedly. I could have at least got some rum first," Nessa scowled,

"As if you could handle rum with your little body,"

"I can drink a barrel of rum and not feel it," He said convincingly.

"Yeah, yeah, Lying is really not good for you ya know," She told him, looking forward, she stopped. Spotting a figure on a park fence, it was Aven. Her smiled returned, as she suddenly began running towards him. Sebastian barely managing to stay on her shoulder as she did so. She skipped round the bench.

"Hi Aven, what are you doing here?" She asked perkily, before realising that Aven looked a little melancholy. She slid over to him, Sebastian who had fallen off her shoulder at this point, was hidden underneath her hair. "What's wrong? Is everything ok?"

Nessa watched as Aven greeted her, waiting for him during his pause, she was surprised by his explanation. Was he lying to her? Of course he wouldn't, it was Aven. They were friends and friends didn't like to each other, But Nessa tried to consider this, another thought crossed her mind. Then again maybe he was sad but just didn't want to talk about it, not with me at least. Nessa couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the prospect Aven may not be willing to share things with her. If he was sad, she wanted to help in any way she could. But she couldn't do that if he didn't want to open up to her, she just had to accept it.


She plastered on a friendly smile, if this is what Aven wanted, she would just have to deliver as best as she could, "I'm good just out for a stroll with...erm…" She turned her neck to look at Sebastian only he wasn't there anymore. Nor was he clinging to her back as he had been only moments ago. She looked around frantically, where has he got to? She wandered.


Then as she looked back at Aven, she spotted him. As silent as a mouse, the exceed so happened to be sneaking up behind Aven. A devilishly expression on his feline face. Before she could warn him, the cat jumped out, "BOO!" He yelled suddenly, causing Nessa's face to flood with embarrassment.

"Sebastian!" She called scolding, before checking in to see Aven's reaction."I'm so sorry, he gets carried away."

Nessa watched, her eyes narrowed as Sebastian had successfully managed to scare Aven. She was not amused, not in the slightest. Sebastian on the other hand was rolling about laughter, his paws pressed against his ribs and legs kicking in enjoyment.

"Oh man, your face, that was brilliant," He said snickering away, before sitting up. "Nice to meetcha sport." He said casually tilting his head at Aven. Nessa rolled her eyes at the cat, before looking back at Aven. There it was again, that melancholy expression. She knew it, something had to be wrong, So he was lying before... She thought. Her eyes widened when he said her name that way, to hear it say her name like that, his voice so...broken. She was going to give Sebastian a real talking to later, although the likelihood was this actually had very little to do with him at all. Then upon hearing his statement, her jaw dropped. Even Sebastian stopped smiling, his ears pricking up.

"My bad bro, I was only playing, you don't have to quit being a wizard-" Nessa swatted the feline away, indicting him to stop talking. The cat had no sense of tact, even in a moment like this. Sebastian shot her a look, and slunk away under the bench.

"Why would you want to leave? I thought you enjoyed being in the guild, you were so excited the day you joined." Her thoughts flickered back to that day, it seemed like yesterday she was walking along with him on their way to get him initiated. She couldn't understand why he would suddenly feel this way, he was getting stronger, just like her. So what had changed?

Nessa watched unsure of what to expect when Aven began undoing his clothes, something had happened to him, something bad. To shake him up this much. When he finally revealed his wounds, Nessa couldn't hold back her gasp. Deep lacerations all around his body, she shook her head in disbelief. They looked excruciating, the edges tinged from their intensity. 

She reached forward, touching one of them soft with her hand she traced it along with her finger. "Oh Aven," She rasped tears already springing to her eyes, "Who did this to you?" She asked her voice shaking. She knew there were bad people out their, heck her mother had treated a fair few of them. But there were good people, good people like Aven. Who didn't deserve this. Not one bit. 

"My family have a lot of connections in the medical field, maybe we can get you further treatment. I know a doctor that specialises in skin grafts, maybe they'd be able to cover the wounds somehow." She told him, desperate to find a way to ease his suffering. Sebastian had peeked out for a look, and even he had no jokes for this moment. He climbed back up onto the bench, pawing over to Aven, the Exceed placed a paw on his leg.

"Are you going to let this defeat you?" The cat asked, Nessa went to protest, but Sebastian shot her a look that stopped her in her tracks, Before returning his gaze to Aven. "Nessa's told me about you, you're a good guy, with good magic. But at the minute, there are wizards out their stronger than you, bad wizards. One of them got you early. But if you quit then what can you do in the future, who can you protect. Will you watch while others face the same fate? Or will you get up and fight." Nessa stared in surprise, his words weren't exactly gentle, but they weren't wrong either. She looked at Aven's face to see how he was feeling.

Grim Heresy, a dark guild, it was a name she would remember. She knew what Dark guilds were, they were evil. Heck one had even taken her mother from her. But the depths of their evil was becoming even clearer to her. These scars, Aven didn't deserve these scars. As Aven shed tears, Nessa couldn't help it, tears began to floor her cheeks. She barely managed to stop herself from falling to pieces completely. She couldn't do that, she could cry for him but that was it.

Somehow Sebastians words struck a cord with Aven, he seemed to compose himself. Which was more that Nessa could do, still crying she listened to him speak. Pride swelling within her. Sebastian patted Aven's knee.

"That's more like it, and you know, from what I hear the ladies love a man with a good scar, supposed to be sexy apparently, battle scars and all that." Sebastian said lightheartedly trying to make Aven smile. Nessa wiped her face and took a big sniff,

"Let's get stronger together Aven, and show Grim Heresy that they messed with the wrong guild!" She told him, her resolve strengthening. There would be a time when they would have to face the dark guild, but they would be ready. Because Nessa was determined to become sronger than ever, so she could protect Aven and all of her friends from evil scum like this.

Nessa saw Aven become flustered, and moved back an inch to give him room. She wasn't embarrassed by the ordeal because of the reason Aven had unbuttoned his shirt in the first place. But she understood revealing yourself in public could be embarrassing. Aven suggestion to practice against each other made Nessa pause to think.

"I'd love to practice with you, It would be a great way to get stronger together, plus we'll work better as a team them. As for fighting each other, I mean I'm not that confident at sparring. It's hard to control my magic but I can do my best, my aunties and my dad trained me so maybe we could do a training session with them too. Their pretty strong but they know how to control themselves better than I can. " Sebastian began doing a boxing gesture with his bores, 

"I'll take you on my friend, you better watch out though, my ice paws of fury can do some real harm. I'll try not to kill ya, but I make no promises." He said, Nessa couldn't help it she began to laugh, he was just so comical, plus it didn't help that as far of Exceeds went he was still pretty weak.

Nessa's slowed slowly eased off, she sighed feeling better now that Aven was laughing with her. In her heart she still feel the ache of knowing he had suffered that way. But if she could somehow make him smile and help him overcome it, then that would truly make her happy.

"Yeah, I think that would be a good goal to have. Plus after ranking up, I recently learned a lot of new spells, I need to get the hang of. So it'll be a good means of practicing them before we take them on a job." She stood up, taking a step away from the bench and looking over her shoulder at Aven.


"Not actually that far from here, We could go now. I don't need permission to bring a guest. Plus my aunty should be home from work by now. Maybe we could talk to her about arranging some training days. Plus I will need to get dinner on soon, you're more than welcome to stay for tea if you like. I have to warn you though, my family can be pretty lively." She told him, unsure how he would take his loud aunty, and needy cousin. Her Dad was almost normal, although he did like to play mind games sometimes, especially with Nessa's friend. A test of their character, he called it. .

As Nessa watched Aven completely his spell, she did a little applause. Pleased to see his spirits had lifted already, as the two of them walked. Sebastian trotted along between them on his hind legs.

"I went shopping recently, so they'll be plenty of food! Do you have any preferences? Everyone takes turns to cook in our family so I'm pretty well versed in culinary skills." It was a nice little rule, there was a chore rota of sorts to keep the household running smooth. Slightly easier takes for Edward, as he was still a bit young to be trusted with the stove alone. But generally it was fair.


As Aven directly his question as Sebastian, the cat smirked skipping ahead. He turned and began telling an elaborate tale. "You ask an excellent question, you see it was a cold stormy night, I was back into a corner against a huge pack of wolves-"

"It was three dogs and there was no storm." Nessa muttered rolling her eyes at cats exaggeration,

"I had no weapons, just these two paws, I punched and I scratched, defeating them one after the other but alas the wolves got the better of me." He continued, ignoring Nessa's comment, he made punching and kicking gestures. "Then just as they were about to finish me off. A beacon of light came running through the darkness, driving them away."


"I really didn't, I found him mewing on the way home, he was pretty roughed up. So I took him home, we called a doctor and here he is." Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest, turning to face forward.

"My versions much more interesting,"

"Anyway, now he's kind of like a companion." Nessa told Aven with a smile, she had to admit, she'd enjoyed having Sebastian around. He was a nuisance at times, but he made her laugh, and he was good company.

After listening to the meats he liked Nessa smiled, he sounded like Edward, who was always demanding meat at home. "Well in that case, maybe we could do a barbecue, That way we can grill all sorts of meats." Her Dad had been talking about doing a barbeque for a while now, it would be a nice way to enjoy the evening. They'd not long had garden heaters installed so they could enjoy the garden at night more. Nessa bringing more money to the home meant they had started making more renovations, no great changes, just little things to make it more comfortable. She had yet to arrange for the extension to be done yet, her family didn't know her plans about that yet. 

"It's up to you, we could see if they have any bits we could put on the grill, like corn on the cob, or different cheeses for burgers." Boy was the family going to be excited when they learned what dinner would be tonight. She hoped they didn't get too rowdy, sometimes that happened, and the neighbours weren't shy about their complaints. Nessa created a little mental list of what they needed as they headed to the market .

As they perused the market together, they collected various bits for the barbeque. Nessa specifies had spotted some juicy belly pork and barely contained her drool at the thought of it sizzling on the barbeque. They treat Sebastian to a fish as he had been whinging the whole time about how food should be raw and not barbeque. Subsequently some fresh haddock had shut him up for a reasonably amount of time.

"I know, I like to get up early and get everything when it's really fresh. It makes everything so much tastier when you eat it."


Aven's offer to help was nice enough, she wasn't sure if it was polite to allow a guest to cook. But it was Aven, they were good friends, "We'll do it together, everything gets done quicker with teamwork." She decided, and they had a few mouths to feed. She had also snuck away from Aven to a cake stand where to had sneakily bought a selection of desserts for them all to try. She couldn't wait to show them later. The three of them began to make their way to her home, bags of groceries swinging between them.

Nessa wasn't sure what it was, but there was a feeling in the air as they walked. A sense of peace, strange how they day how gone from so tragic to so pleasant. "Mm, It is a bit breezy." She replied, trying to get a feel for the moment.


They came up to Nessa's home, it was a humble building. Wooden walls, flower beds outside the front. As they stepped up to the door, Nessa took the lead, opening the door she called in. "I'm home," She called out, she peeked around the door, Sebastian darting in front of her. She could hear footsteps making their way down the stairs.

"Welcome home pettle," She heard her aunty she, Nessa moved forward allowing Aven to step inside to.

"Oh Antoinette, Nessy brought a boy home," Sebastian called out loudly in a playful tone, receiving a sharp look from Nessa. As her aunty appeared at the foot of the staircase, her eyes were quick to spot Aven. Lighting up with intrigued.

"Aunty Ann, this is my friend Aven, he's a member of Fairy Tail too." She introduced, Antoinette stalked across the room. As far as looks went, she was a lot like an older version of Nessa. Long flowing white hair, creamy skin, the key difference were her eyes. Which unlike Nessa was coal black and very intimidating. They had a tendency to bore into you. She was a pretty woman, and looked significantly younger than she actually was. She had an air of confidence and power about her. She came right over to Aven, invading his personal space significant.

"My my, a fairy tail mage eh?" She seemed to do a optical inspection of Aven, Nessa felt her embarrassment begin to creep him. After a moment of cold silence, Antoinette's face lit up into a dazzling smile. "Well aren't you dashing, do come in. Would you like a drink?" Her tone silky and alluring. She immediately turned on the charm. Nessa could help but turned from embarrassed to amused. Her Aunty was very much single, and not afraid to review any prospects for her future. Despite the fact she was much older than Aven, she felt no shame in acting a little... cougarish.

Nessa laughed at his reference to her nickname, she didn't mind it, it was quite a sweet alias. Her aunty had referred her than way for as long as she could remember. Upon her aunty forward behaviour, she moved around them. Watching as Aven became very shy, she could hear Sebastian snickering from the bottom step and couldn't resist a smile. It was pretty amusing. 

Antoinette stood up straight, her eyebrow raised. She let out a little chuckle herself, before turning away from Aven, moving away so her finally had some space. "What's your beverage, beer? ale? or are you more of a soda guy? We have juice if you want to be really tame. I myself am a G and T kinda girl." She said looking over her shoulder and giving him a wink. 

They made their way into the kitchen, it was a very cosy home. Filled with books, ornaments and trinkets. It had a nice feminine tough thanks to her aunty keeping a control on her father odd artefacts. Nessa began to unload the bags onto the counter, they sure had produce a good haul. 

"I'll get started on a salad spread, if you want something to do you can start buttering the bread for the burgers. " She said to Aven, she didn't really want him to do anything as a guest. But she knew he wouldn't take no for an answer. He was too kind.