You Did This to You

As far as Vandrad was concerned, this was a day off. Though that still required him to fill out paperwork for Fairy Tail, that was hardly a chore to the ace. Paperwork didn’t bother him like it bothered other people; he found it relaxing. And since he didn’t have Mercury constantly chirping in his ear about one thing or another, he could focus up and get his work done in a timely fashion. After that, he could return to his crafting station and continue development on some of his projects.

It was as such that the former prince also didn’t really register anyone passing by. Plenty of Fairy Tail members made their way past the staff door and a few of them even greeted him as they went. They were all met with grunts of recognition but nothing more. The armor-clad ace was fully focused and had no intention of being distracted by mere passing conversations. Luckily, most people understood that about him now and didn’t make a big deal out of it.

Then there was the likes of Saffron. He, once again, didn’t pay her much mind, sensing her signature magical aura as it went on its way. He imagined that she was going out on a job or out with someone else or whatever -- the blonde was always going out and about when she wasn’t training with him or so he believed. Despite their newly crowned friendship, Vandrad didn’t claim to know everything about her or her activities during the day. But unlike everyone else, Saffron did not continue onward when she realized he was there. No, unsurprisingly, she felt the need to put on the brakes and turn to face him in the doorway, albeit in a comical manner as her head popped around the corner. A single eye rose from the document he was working on to look in her direction even before she greeted him and wondered what he was doing there. She theorized that he had been ‘ditched’ by the aliens.

Mercury was going with Hosrius and Grubar to meet up with a contact of the mercenaries. Apparently he had a connection to Maker and was determined to aid in their hunt for him. "No, I was invited along, as Maker attacked my family and, as such, it is considered a personal matter. But Mercury is more than sufficient enough to get the intel from their source. Besides, they alo spoke of actually attending the festival and I have no desire to do anything like that.” He’d been to one too many festivals as far as he was concerned, positive that he would be dragged to another one by Mercury sometime in the future. The opportunity to skip one mattered more to him than meeting a man from the cosmos to learn what little more they could about Maker and his schemes.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that another equally as demanding force would take up the reigns where they had fallen lax. Saffron announced, most likely without having really listened to anything he said, that it was the loss of Mercury, Grubar and Hosrius and that they would be going out. As she put it, she had no desire to remain stagnant and ‘bored’ when she could go and be active and mingle with the people of Magnolia. With that decision apparently made, she patted the door aggressively and went off. Vandrad scoffed in mock amusement. "Bold of you to assume that you have any means of making me go anywhere,” he muttered.

But of course, he’d forgotten that he had given her ammo, the fool he was. She hadn’t even made it fully down the hall before she called out and informed him that if he opted against coming, she would tell Mercury about their freshly minted friendship. His hand froze mid-stroke of his pen and he closed his eyes and groaned. It was a conundrum; on the one hand, it didn’t really matter whether she told Mercury or not. It would come out eventually; some flagrant use of free ammunition to benefit herself in amusement, no doubt.

Yet at the same time, he could only imagine the kind of torture Mercury would put him through now. And between dealing with it in the present or far in the future, all he could do was say a little prayer for his future self. Sighing indignantly, he finished his sentence on the paperwork and  closed the folder. It was annoying and he would have to come up with a suitable punishment for her after the fact. But with a groan he got to his feet and closed the door to the office. As he walked after her, he scoffed again as he spoke up to her. "Sooner or later you’re going to misfire on that particular piece of information and then you won’t have your advantage anymore.”

Vandrad, unfortunately, always seemed to underestimate the women in his life. He had started to wonder lately if he attracted a sort-of type to himself; surrounding himself in women that were strong, independent and arguably as insufferable as any that could exist. He’d met plenty of prissy, easy-to-please-or-dismiss ladies over the years -- usually introduced as his would-be brides by his mother, in all her amusement -- but none of them seemed to stick around. No, the ones that remained were always and intentionally pains in his ass and Saffron was no different. As he remarked about her eventually losing her advantage due to an ill-timed reveal of her information, she grinned back at him and insisted that she was perfectly capable of keeping a secret. In fact, she was more than sure that her abilities in discipline and self control gave her an advantage, especially when it came to keeping the fact that the two of them had attended a festival a secret. "You don’t need to play coy, Saffron. I’ve learned your machinations well enough to know that being a ‘great buddy’ as you put it is just a barely disguised brag about having yet another piece of blackmail to add to your list.”

After all, simply informing him that he was scot-free in terms of getting reamed out for going to this celebration with Saffron and not Mercury was a double-edged sword. He was more than practiced in recognizing advantages that he was, unfortunately, giving the women around him. Nonetheless, he had given his word, however reluctantly and he followed her out through the main doors of Fairy Tail and to the streets of Magnolia. It was pleasantly surprising to find that Saffron wasn’t entirely determined on jumping into every event and activity they came across. No, it seemed she really just enjoyed being part of the atmosphere of flourishing celebration. While not Vandrad’s first pick for locale or enjoyment, he could, at least, take joy in the fact that he wasn’t stopping at every single vendor, charlatan and boisterous extrovert that had taken up residence on the streets. But right around the time he was beginning to enjoy himself, being separated from the main attractions, was when Saffron found something she ruled they were doing. Vandrad barely had time to look at the rules before she was demanding he follow her to the track.

From the looks of things, it was meant to be a relay race of some sort. Though they explicitly stated that the competitors couldn’t use magic, it still seemed wildly unfair. Both Vandrad and Saffron were in peak physical condition and even without the interference of unearthly power, they were most likely the true specimens among the other runners. That would have been enough to intrigue him but his interest came to a swift and abrupt halt when he realized that the relay part of the race was determined by who dressed in a ridiculous costume the fastest before undressing and passing it on to the partner. He scoffed and scowled as he was led to the end of the track, the last person in the final stretch of the race.

There he stood, arms crossed, frowning as the race began. He watched as Saffron swiftly dressed herself in the costume, right alongside the other competitors, seemingly in sync. But the moment she was dressed and running, her superiority was showcased. Her sizable lead gave her plenty of time to undress like a woman on fire as she approached the next runner. Surprisingly, the next-in-line for their team seemed to be just as athletic as she was, dressing himself and taking off with near-equal speed and enthusiasm. Even more remarkably was the fact that when he approached the woman that was third in line, she matched the energy in both dressing herself and rushing towards Vandrad.

But there was where the momentum came to a standstill. She was ripping off the hat and tossing it his way before she’d even come to a full stop. The flimsy costume piece crashed into his torso, rolled over his folded arms and fell to the ground uselessly. The woman was so focused on getting undressed that she didn’t realize that Vandrad wasn’t doing his part until she was throwing the rest of the costume his way. “Hey man, what are you doing?”

"I refuse to partake in a stupid dress up contest,” he said sternly, barely paying her any mind.

“Come on! We’re so far ahead, you could practically walk to the finish line and win. It’s just a silly costume!” She insisted

"I don’t care. Racing is one thing but having to dress like a clown provides no advantage. If anything, it makes us look even more foolish,” Vandrad said with a sneer.

The woman was flabbergasted and as she whirled around to see where the other competitors were, she was shocked to find that their large lead was disappearing very quickly. “Seriously?!” she yelled. As the runner up came up to their partner and began passing off the costume, she turned back to Vandrad. “Dude, don’t be a pussy. It’s just a stupid costume. No one even cares; everyone is putting it on!”

As if that made the matter any better, having to share the same garments that three other people had sweat in. Vandrad sneered at the woman and then down at the costume. But as the second-place team now took first place and the third place claimed second, their victory snatched from them by the former prince’s obstinate attitude, something switched. A moment later, Vandrad reached down with each hand, grabbing the lower costume piece and pulling it on in one smooth motion that most people wouldn’t be able to accomplish. As he tossed the hat on, he turned around, bent slightly forward and then exploded out of his spot. His speed was unparalleled on the track, even without the use of magic, and he came to an abrupt halt over the finish line mere seconds after he’d left his former position.

Disgusted, he ripped the hat and costume off and tossed them away. He’d secured their victory but he refused to spend any more time in the outrageous outfit than he already had.