The Magic of Maid Dresses
Summary: one-shot. The Fairy Tail women agree to do a maid cafe and Natsu will be damned if he let random strangers steal Lucy’s attention.
Notes: Takes place after the one year but in an AU where they don’t fight Zeref just yet.
(According to a court of law, I own no rights to the Fairy Tail franchise…and sadly it’s true)
THANK YOU @nalufever for editing this story. She’s amazing ^^
She was going to kill them. Their death, of course, would be slow and painful. She’d start off with a ‘Lucy-kick’ before using the current Stardress she was wearing (her Virgo one) to knock their teeth out. She considered it a good start.
The woman sighed. She knew she was overacting and should probably be listening to her customers’ complicated orders. It’s not like those two idiots would dare to-
“LUCY!” The dragon slayer and his blue Exceed chanted.
-piss her off any further. The blonde clenched her teeth and without bothering to dismiss herself from her guests, she marched over to her partners’ table.
“WHAT IS IT NOW?!” She snapped.
Natsu and Happy have been driving her insane the entire day and she couldn’t understand why they would want to sabotage her in the first place.
Today was the day of the Fairy Tail fundraiser. Having managed to create a new building on their own, Makarov still wanted to have some money saved in case of an emergency. It was decided (by all the perverts in the guild) that the best way to draw attention was to have all the women do a maid-themed restaurant (because a maid cafe sounded too girly.)
To ensure that the men weren’t going to be beaten half to death, Makarov promised the girls 15% of the total profits and that they could keep all the tips they earned. The women were on board with the idea afterwards.
And as much as Lucy loved the Strauss siblings, she was happy that they volunteered to work in the kitchen then the lobby. After all, how was she supposed earn any tips with both Erza AND Mirajane as servers. At least now she had a chance.
Unfortunately, Natsu and Happy decided that their entertainment was more important than her rent money. They were constantly interrupted her time with other patrons, demanding that they get more food or simply asking the stupidest questions.
It was no wonder she was ready to end them.
“Tsk, tsk. That’s not very nice Lucy.” The salmon-colored haired teen stated as he shook his head.
“Aye. We’re your guests and you should be nice to us.” Happy added.
“I’ll start treating you like our customers when I know you actually plan on paying.” She answered with her arms crossed.
“Typical Lucy, being all greedy.”
“SHUT IT CAT! Are you going to pay for your meal or not?!” The celestial mage inquired again.
The fire mage shot her a confident smirk. “Relax will yea? This time no one stole our safe so we have plenty of money!”
Lucy puffed her cheeks. “Fine. But I better get a nice tip.”
“I can give you a tip Lucy!” The cat said proudly. He placed his paw by his mouth before clearing his throat. Then he gave her a cheerful smile. “Cut down on your sweets and you won’t be so heavy anymore!”
“YOU STUPID CAT! YOU’RE DEAD!”
—————————————————————————————
Fortunately for Natsu, Makarov can to investigate the commotion. A fistful of jewels was enough to prove he was a customer and the guild master decided that he could stay as long as he didn’t cause Lucy anymore trouble. To ensure he would stay on his best behavior, the old man promised to stick Erza on him if he misbehaved.
The male grumbled as he watched his female partner. She was currently assisting a group of older men. His fists clenched as he saw them leering over her exposed chest.
Seriously? This is why him and Happy started ‘Operation: Protect Lucy from Perverts’ in the first place; to watch over their partner as she served all these creeps! But how were they supposed to make their mission a success if Erza was going to kick their asses for trying to help?
“Gajeel! Let me go!” He turned and spotted Iron head forcing Levy to sit on his lap. She was blushing and thrashing around as the other dragon slayer chuckled at her antics. Lily sat next to them and looked incredibly disappointed in his partner’s behavior.
As much as he hated to admit it, that looked like a good idea. Putting Lucy on his lap would definitely prevent her from dealing with those perverts and seeing her worked up is also fun. Maybe he should try it to when she passed by.
Natsu looked around the room to see what the other guys were doing. Laxus was helping Elfman behind the bar with Mira and Lisanna working in the kitcken. However, Elfman was yelling out ‘a true man doesn’t let his eyes wonder’ whenever he saw someone eyeing Evergreen and she repaid his gesture with yelling back at him.
Loke (never one to miss a pretty girl wear a skirt) was currently flirting with Laki and Kinana. Cana hung out with a different group of men (more like drank with them) and they didn’t seem to care if they were going to eat or not.
He didn’t have to worry about Wendy and Erza cause Wendy and Carla were ‘hostess’ and therefore safe from the clutches of lewd customers. And Erza was, well, Erza.
Gray, the lucky bastard, didn’t have to try as hard since Juvia was literally throwing herself onto him, shouting out things like ‘Juvia will only serve Gray-sama!’
Why couldn’t he have it that easy?
His eyes wondered back to the table Lucy was serving. She came back with their food and it looked like they were keeping their nasty comments to themselves. However, the moment Lucy ducked down to place their plates on the table, he noticed the deep blushes that came across the mens’ faces. He quickly figured out that their attention was on her breasts.
Anger flared through him like a lit match dropped on oil. Happy could tease him all he wanted later for what he was about to do but there was no way he was going to let them eye Lucy like she was a piece of delicious meat.
The moment her back turned and he means THE moment her back turned, he released a giant fire ball at them.
When the damage was done he felt sort of bad. Not because he burned them until the point they passed out but because all the food Mira worked hard on went to waste.
However, he didn’t have time to grieve. He noticed Lucy’s cold glare and he was slightly intimated but what really freaked him out was the deadly aura behind him. Happy was already sweating which meant there could only be one person behind him.
Natsu looked over his shoulder and smiled nervously. “H-hey Erza…”
The redhead showed him no mercy when she punched him out of the guild (and yes it was painful).
—————————————————————————————
“I didn’t even get to finish my meal.” Happy whined as he and his human partner waited in long line to get back into the guild.
“Don’t worry buddy! We’re going to get back in just you wait!” The dragon slayer promised his friend. After all, he wasn’t planning on letting Lucy hang out with perverts for too long.
“But how?! This is going to take forever! They’ll be out of fish by the time we get there.”
“Because I have an idea!” He whispered into Happy’s fluffy ear and soon the cat was smiling mischievously as well. They both grinned and gave each other a high-five before they set their plan into gear.
—————————————————————————————
So creeping in like ninjas didn’t work. Sure they were always successful when breaking and entering Lucy’s home but who knew that Freed would have already created runes to prevent others from sneaking in?
The two grumbled as they walked back to the end of the line.
However, the Exceed and pink haired teen were taken back when they spotted Gajeel and Lily in line. The iron dragon had a bright red cheek, indicating that he had been punched. When Natsu added the pieces together and figured out that Gajeel was kicked out, he laughed outload.
This caused the larger male to instantly yell, “SHUT IT SALAMENDER!! YOU WERE KICKED OUT FIRST!!!”
“YEAH WELL AT LEAST MY CHEEK DON’T LOOK LIKE A GIANT PIMPLE!”
The two growled at each other before exchanging blows, not caring that they were scaring away the potential customers in line.
“Do they really need to fight here?” Lily questioned.
“Aye!” Happy said. “They wouldn’t be them if they didn’t.”
“Man you two are pathetic.” A new voice spoke behind the two Exceeds.
The dragon slayers glared at the ice mage who decided to make his appearance.
“You got something to say droopy-eyes?!” The pink haired male called out.
“Yeah that you’re both idiots!” Gray narrowed his eyes. “It’s pathetic that you guys are trying to get back in line. I get that your worried but that’s what’s making you idiots in the first! The girls are fine. They’re Fairy Tail mages; they can protect themselves from any pervert that comes in through those doors. Have more faith in them will ya?”
Natsu and Gajeel looked down with a grunt, refusing to openly acknowledge that their rival might have a point.
“I’m heading home and if you trust the girls to handle themselves you’d do the same.” The calmer member commented before walking past them.
The previous brawlers grimaced; their guilt started to resurface. They snuck a peek at the male walking away before they spotted something on his behind. There was a footprint imprinted below his back pocket; the shape resembled one of the shoes the girls were wearing. Instantly, their guilt converted into anger.
“YA BASTARD!” They both shouted as they attacked the ice wizard from behind. “You didn’t leave on your own! You were kicked out the like rest of us!!”
Gray glared as he blasted them with his magic. “Get off me will ya?!”
The three immediately began one of their infamous fights; they showed little concern to where missed their attacks ended up.
“Should we tell them that they scared away the line?” The blue feline inquired.
“They probably wouldn’t listen to us anyways.” Lily commented as they watched the humans unknowingly get closer to their guild.
—————————————————————————————
Lucy winced as another rude customer referred to her as ‘sweetheart’ than her actual name. Most of her customers were fine but it was the perverted ones that were really driving her patience thin. It was a miracle she hadn’t ‘Lucy-kicked’ one of them to the ceiling already. She knew being a model had its benefits but she never thought building a higher tolerance for sexist men would be one of them.
Once she delivered her ticket to Elfman, she paused and let her brown eyes wonder around the hectic room.
Mira, on her lunch break, was by bar talking to Laxus and Master. Cana was still chugging a barrel of alcohol as her guests laid wasted on the table. Evergreen had turned three of her customers to stone; most likely for saying something offensive but with the brunette she was never certain. Laki scared away another customer with her strange comments and Bisca left early to join her family for lunch. Juvia was moping that Gray was kicked out and wasn’t taking any orders from her tables. Erza, who had charmed her clients into buying everything on the menu, threatened them when she discovered they didn’t have the proper funds to pay for their meal. When they offered to buy her a strawberry cake, they were forgiven and now she was happily munching on her favorite dessert, oblivious to the failing restaurant.
It looked like Kinana and Lucy were Fairy Tail’s last hope; she would include Levy but the bookworm just finished knocking out an old man that mocked her for looking adorable.
The blonde sighed as she waited for the food to be ready. She considered summoning Virgo and asking her if she would cover her while she went on her break. However, she remembered her spirit’s tendency to ask for punishment and her biggest fear was that someone would actually take her offer.
“Order up!” Elfman called out. Lucy grabbed her plates and placed them on a tray.
As she walked with the food, she wondered how Natsu and Happy were doing. Yes, they irritated her but she would rather deal with their behavior than some of the ‘valued customers’ in this building. At least they looked at her with decency and genuine smiles; everyone else was either staring at certain body parts or talking to her like she was a servant.
Their teasing wasn’t new and despite frustrating her to no end, some of their actions were actually thoughtful. They weren’t picky about the food and were understanding when she couldn’t carry it all at once. At some point, the dragon slayer and cat ordered her favorite food and asked her to sit with them and eat (she had harshly declined with she insisted she needed to go back to work though.)
The celestial wizard stopped at her customers’ table and placed the meals in front of them. “Excuse me!” One of the women snapped from the group. “This isn’t what I ordered.”
Lucy twitched. ‘But you did. I even repeated the order and you said okay.’ “I’m sorry mam. What is it that you actually ordered?”
“I said I wanted the steak cooked to med-well and this is well done! And I wanted a soup and salad, not a side of mash potatoes! Not I have to wait while everyone else eats-”
At this point she tuned her out.
‘Natsu and Happy wouldn’t have lied about what they ordered….and they wouldn’t have complained if it was different either…’
Lucy suppressed her anger as best as she could. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll go remake your meal and bring you the correct order.”
As she walked away, she heard the woman make a snippy remark. “Honestly, I didn’t think members of this guild were so stupid.”
The girl stopped and sent the customer a nasty glare. ‘You can treat me like a dirt but you don’t insult my family.’
The front doors disintegrated. The blonde used the tray as a shield against the debris. Much to her horror, it was Natsu, Gray and Gajeel that broke into the building.
That stopped the men and they realized where they were. Luckily for them it appeared that Makarov and Laxus had slipped into the office awhile back but they would be out any minute because of the noise.
He ignored her angered look and greeted her with a smile. “Oh hey Lucy!”
Forgetting about his fight with his rivals, the fire dragon slayer approached his friend. The woman tried to kick him for being an idiot but he merely blocked her attack. He shifted her foot so she lost her balance and instantly the pink haired male placed her into his arms.
“Come on! I’m hungry! And you have to serve me!” He grinned as he carried her to a table.
“Like hell! And let go of me! Help! Somebody!”
She heard similar cries from Levy and she could only assume Gajeel got his hands on her again; Juvia cried out ‘Gray-sama’ and she didn’t have to see to know she had him in a hug.
Natsu sat down and placed her on her lap as he told her all the dishes he wanted. She knew there was no use in arguing, especially since food was concerned, so she grumpily complied.
Eventually the Master and his grandson came back into guild hall and it didn’t take a genius to know who caused the damage. The miscreants were forced to repair what they destroyed, all under the watchful eye of Erza.
Lucy would have considered it a victory if it weren’t for the fact that the trio had scared their future customers away.
Once they were finished with the repairs, they were practically their only guests and Lucy had no choice but to serve Natsu.
He was pleased, she wasn’t, no matter what Mira said.
—————————————————————————————
Lucy had her head down as a depressing aura surrounded her; it was clear to the rest of the members that she was upset.
“What’s wrong with Lucy?” Happy asked his adopted father. The human shrugged but his gaze reflected the concern he had for his other partner.
“We just received our share of the profits,” Mira stated from behind and the two of them turned to see her wiping down a table. “We didn’t get as much as we expected, mostly because we lost a lot of customers at the end.”
The blue feline shot Natsu a dirty look and the dragon slayer rubbed the back of his neck in shame.
“It’s not your fault.” She smiled before it dimmed. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy and some of us did try our best.” The silver haired beauty rolled her shoulder and the boys realized that their actions also affected other members of the family.
“But what’s done is done. Lucy did take of care you today didn’t she? Maybe you can do something for her to cheer her up don’t you think?”
The boys pondered for a moment before Natsu got an idea. He whispered it to Happy and the cat looked at him strangely before he agreed.
They grinned and rushed out the doors.
—————————————————————————————
The door opened and a moping blonde entered her apartment. She had been hoping she would have had enough to cover her rent, that way any future mission funds could have been used to buy other necessities. And much to her annoyance, she would have to double her missions to survive for this month.
She turned on the lights and nearly had a heart attack.
“WELCOME HOME!!!” Happy and Natsu cheered.
Normally she would have screamed at them to get out but at the moment she was distracted by their outfits. Both boys were wearing a maid uniform and they looked ridiculous.
Lucy laughed, “W-why? Why are you wearing those?”
“Well you took care of us today at the guild so we figured now we’d return the favor!” Natsu dragged the celestial mage to the table and sat her down. He pushed a quickly scribbled menu into her hands as the two stood on her side.
“What would you like to eat Master?” They inquired at the same time.
The former heiress burst into another round of giggles, causing her partners to look hurt.
She stopped laughing but smiled none the less. “I’m sorry. It’s just,” The girl stared at them with a beautiful expression. “Thank you. This was a nice surprise.”
“Always the weirdo isn’t she?” The fire mage muttered.
Her eyebrow twitched but she held back on her irritation. “How about this?” She pushed the chair back and stood up. “Let’s leave the cooking to the professionals and go to an actual restaurant instead.”
It only took Natsu and Happy two minutes to get ready and less than one to be out the door. Once their feet were on the pavement, the dragon slayer ducked and lifted the blonde into the air.
“NATSU!” The girl squealed before placing her hands on his shoulders to balance herself. “Put me down!” She smacked him for good measure.
“Ouch! Cut that out. I’m just trying to thank you! Besides, aren’t you tired?”
The girl pouted, refusing to acknowledge that her feet were killing her. “Well, just thank me by paying for the meal. You guys never did leave a tip.”
“I got another one for you!” Happy cut in.
“I don’t want to hear anything from you, you shit-”
“-Don’t wear a maid outfit around Natsu cause it turns him into a pervert!”
Both humans blushed after that and Natsu placed Lucy down in favor of them chasing the small feline. Happy only continued to chant ‘he likes her’ and ‘she likes him’ as he flew through the sky and his human partners could only response with curses.
An eventful day like this couldn’t be possible without the magic of a maid dress.
