“But I want to talk to him more!” Natsu cried out as Taunie pulled Ansel away from the praying dragon slayers.

Taunie shot him a dark glare that caused shrink in size. “When I’m done you can talk to him all you want.” As she pulled Ansel away Natsu began shouting something about a dragon and if he had seen any. “Sorry about them.” She muttered under her breathe as she pulled the earth dragon slayer further into the guild. “They are always showing interest in the new guild members but you being a dragon slayer as well it’s no surprise that it would draw their attention more than the other new members.” She gave a small shrug as they arrived at the bar.

Upon the bar sat a little man with a mug of beer the size of his head. A stripped orange and blue hat on his head with an orange jacket on his shoulders, and a white shirt with the Fairy Tail emblem, “Welcome back Taunie.” The old man’s voice echoed with a grin to it, “Did you find the spirit?”

Taunie rolled her eyes as she made a jester towards Ansel, “Here’s your spirit, I’ll be over getting some grub and a drink.” At that she gave him a polite nod before she turned to Ansel, “When you’re done come have a seat and pick yourself something to eat.” She then turned her attention to Valier, “You too Valier; the least I can do is get you something for putting up with the fact that you had to do a journey like this.” She gave the cat a soft smile before venturing further down the bar.

Mirajane was the person to approach her from behind the bar. “Welcome back Taunie, a beer and a burger like normal?” Taunie gave her a nod and a smile before taking a good long drink of the beer before letting out a long sigh. Her blue gaze moved from the beer to the master and the young man, her eyebrow cocked up slightly. He was an interesting character, there was no doubt about that, but where would this interesting character end up was even more interesting.

Finally Ansel could get to what he had come for. As Taunie quickly ushered him towards the bar in the back. There sat a man that could have been mistaken for a dwarf had they existed. A very small body, and quite a moustache as well. Plus his choice of clothes didn't help either. Taunie introduced him, and soon after was gone towards a different second of the bar. Which left Ansel in the awkward position of not having a clue about what to say. It was the small older man that spoke first though.

"As I suspected, ghosts don't exist." At least not in the supernatural sense. "What's your name, boy?" He continued, a slight, but friendly smile on his lips. "Huh? Oh, It's Ansel. Ansel Horazon. A dragon slayer." Luckily the other two dragon slayers were too loud themselves, and far away enough, to not hear what Ansel just said. "A dragon slayer huh? Our guild seems to be attracting them lately. But no matter. I'm Makarov, the guild leader of Fairy Tail. I've heard stories about you coming from the north-west. A wandering dragon slayer, looking for something as he goes." "What about it...?" Ansel asked, feeling a bit defensive about this old man knowing so much about him already. "I was just thinking-" Makarov answered. "-Is that being your life really okay? Sounds quite lonely to me." "Eh, I'm used to it." Ansel spoke with a shrug. "Then you won't even consider joining our guild? We welcome pretty much anyone with open arms. It would get you plenty of income. Plus the guild's resources in aiding what you're searching for. We even have living quarters that you can rent." Ansel sighed, moving his left arm up to rub the back of his neck. "Sounds pretty troublesome...plus it's like it's never quiet here." "Trust me, they grow on you." Makarov replied. Ansel then shrugged, figuring he wasn't going anywhere fast in the next day or two anyway. So he had a suggestion on what to do.

"Well, I haven't had a good night's rest in a while, so I could at least use a place to stay for two days..." Makarov grinned. It was a start at least. He himself had planned to offer the boy a place to stay for a week, and see what the guild was like. But he wasn't going to force Ansel either. "I can allow you to stay for free for at most a week. Though you're welcome to leave whenever you want of course. And if you do want to join the guild you can come back any time." "Heh, thanks old man. I guess I owe you one." Ansel replied with a grin. "Now and eat. You look like you're hungry." The guild master finished, grinning widely and already thinking of how to get the dragon slayer to join their guild. The more strong members they had, the more famous their guild would become after all. Plus, even if he didn't say so, the boy looked like he could use a place to call home again.

Ansel joined up with Taunie again, sighing in slight annoyance and confusion. "Even your guild master's trying to convince me to join the guild. What's up with that? What's so important about me joining your guild?" He asked, wondering if Taunie could give him any insight. At the same time his eyes scanned over the menu hanging from the wall behind the bar before lingering on on Taunie was eating. "I'll have what she's having." He spoke plainly, not having been taught much in terms of manners. The white-haired woman behind the bar didn't seem to mind though, and replied with a "Coming right up~" before heading through the door leading to the kitchen to inform the cook.

Taunie got quiet as he sat down next to her. Did she know why the guild wanted him so desperately? Did she understand why he was so special? Could she honestly tell him no? Could she truly tell him that she had ‘no idea’ of why the guild would want him so badly? It was unfair to leave him in the dark but at the same time… if she was honest with him, would he actually join or would her beloved guild just seem like the evil villains, the dark guilds he had been running from.

“I have some theories…” She said as she scooped up her burger in her hands. The burger was stacked high with two thick paddies and a mound of mushrooms, lettuce and pickles. The barbeque sauce nearly falling off the sides and onto the French fries that sat along on the plate; it was pure deliciousness in her small hands and licking her lips said she was going to enjoy it. Opening her mouth wide she took a large bite of the food making ‘mmmm’ noises as she did. After swallowing she turned her blue gaze back to him.

“I think the master is looking into the disappearance of your dragons more intensely than anyone else. He doesn’t share this information with many people or really anything he finds because it sounds like he’s ran into a lot of dead ends. Natsu and Gajaal wouldn’t let him live it down if he started telling them each path he was looking down. I don’t know any details so don’t ask me. But if you want to have extra help your quest to find your dragon, being here would be the best bet. Because when the master finds solid evidence he will share it, I’m sure of it.” She took another bit of the burger, this one smaller so she could chew, swallow and continue without much of a delay.

“Another theory is that you’re as lost as the rest of us. Here, we’re all dealing with some sort of bullshit-backstory problems that make us all hate the outside world. The difference between living alone and living with the guild is that even though you’re looking for answers, you’re never looking alone and you always have a family here. Some of those who have discovered their families realize… well they’re better off here.” Her eyes darted around to a few people in the room before looking back down at her burger.

This time she took a bigger bite to keep herself from talking anymore. There was one other reason, one other situation that comes to her mind that the guild would need this dragon slayer but, she couldn’t get herself to tell him, at least not yet. It is too important for him to say yes that she didn’t want to push him away and she choose to make herself silent by stuffing her face with her burger.

Ansel did listen to what Taunie had to say, though his main focus was on something else. The large burger looked delicious. And he was a bit annoyed that hers had arrived first, even though that was to be expected. He couldn't wait to be able to eat as well. Valier had taken the seat beside him, and was eyeing the delicious looking food all the same. The both of them had lived on fish, nuts and berries for a few days now after all.

Once she was done Ansel scratched his head, not being too sure what to think of it all. Though one thing did surprise him. That not only him, but the two other dragon slayers were also looking for their dragons. "Wait...so let me get this straight." He started, turning to face her a little bit more. "You already know I'm looking for my dragon, and what's more the other two over there are also looking for theirs? Sounds suspicious...why would so many dragons disappear at once..." The man trailed off into his thoughts for a little bit. Though he quickly snapped out of it when he heard the sound of a plate being put on the counter next to him. "Ah well that's something for later! Time to eat!" He spoke with a grin. First the man cut off a smaller part of his food, handing that to Valier next to him. He couldn't let his closest friend go hungry after all. But then he greedily dug in, taking bites as large as would fit into his mouth. "Mmmhh! I missed stuff like this! Nothing better than a proper meal!" "Ahw ftiww pmfer fsshh!" (I still prefer fish!) Valier commented, though his mouth was too full to talk properly.

In a matter of minutes the burger quickly disappeared, making it seem like Ansel was inhaling his food rather than eating it. And once he was done he reached for the tankard of beer, gulping down about half of it, and finally sighing in satisfaction. "Ahh, that was great. Time for dessert!" He exclaimed, getting the attention of the white haired lady behind the counter and making another order. "I'd like a plate of...uh...something with meat and potatoes!" He decided, being quite the fan of meat just like the other two dragon slayers. "And a fish!" Valier added, deciding that he really did prefer the taste of fish over a burger.

As he waited again, the man turned back to Taunie. As there was something else to talk about. "So, as you were saying. Two other dragon slayers also looking for dragons, and even the guild master trying to find stuff out. If I like it here, I might even give being in a guild a try. Searching on my own feels kind of slow anyway." He had been at it for quite a few years now, and still no luck. So maybe the search might go faster with other dragon slayers around. That, and though he wanted to hide it, Taunie's other theory sounded appealing as well. Especially since Taunie implied that all of them were outcasts and misfits. A place where he might fit in without problems.

“To be clear.” Taunie corrected him between the huge bites of her burger. “I didn’t know about your dragon. But I know two other dragon slayers who are hunting for theirs, so I assumed it was a common thing dragon slayers raised by dragons are dealing with. Good to know my assumption was right. That being said I think that any information the Master has might be useful for you.” Leaving the topic at that the girl continued to devour her meal with joy; a good burger always made a good day.

Surprisingly enough the Dragon Slayer and her finished their plates at the same time despite her being half way through hers when his arrived. Then he asked for dessert and before she could argue with him Mirajane had put down the plate that he had requested along with cat. “Hey!” She said in a defensive tone as Mirajane gave her a pleasant smile and took her plate. “Come now Taunie.” The white haired woman said to her, “It’s for your new friend.” This made Taunie shut her mouth. The idea of a friend, a friend who wasn’t just a guild member she could talk to, would… would be nice.

BANG the door flew open and two men came dashing in, running straight to the master. The chitter-chatter between the three men drew Taunie’s blue gaze to them as she decided not to have a dessert. After a moment or two of three talking she rose from her seat. “I’ll be back.” With that she left Ansel and Valier to their food to join the three men. “What happened?”

“They’re getting more people to join.” One guy said breathing heavily. “We were nearly caught scouting them out.”

“We don’t have enough information at this time to know what they are planning and if they’re going to go head straight in or if they’re going to try to sneak in. We need more information…” The Master said with a sigh as he took a drink of his beer.

“So we need someone who can get in undetected and get out without causing a problem?” One guy popped off with. And the other followed suite with, “We need a ghost.”

Taunie’s chin rested upon a balled up fist as her brow pushed together in thought but the statement of needing a ghost caused her eyes to expand and her head turned to look over her shoulder, “A ghost huh…” Her head jerked forward looking back over at the two men who had just returned, “Their camp is still based in the woods correct?”

“Yeah…” One of the guys responded looking confused.

Her attention moved directly to the master. “How much?” He gave her a price for how much she would get paid. “Be right back.” With that she turned at left the group walking back to the eating dragon slayer. “Hey, wanna get a job with me? Pays 60,000 jewels and we’ll split it three ways.”

"This is the first time I find out it's a common thing. Seems like all the dragons disappeared around the same time or something." Ansel mused just before his second plate of food arrived. He didn't know when the other dragons disappeared. But considering how he and the other two looked to be of similar age, it was safe to assume their dragons disappeared around the same time as well. Ansel quickly started eating again, though this time at a normal pace. Before he was really hungry. Now he was just filling his stomach to give him some energy.

Then suddenly a door flew open. Ansel didn't pause what he was doing, but his ears did focus in the direction of the commotion. It didn't take long for Taunie to see what was going on instead. So Ansel decided to focus on his food again. Once he was finished he could worry about other stuff. Right now eating was more important.

Though a minute or so later the man was once again interrupted. Taunie had come back, and without explaining anything wanted him to join her on a job. He sighed, pausing just long enough to say "geez, can't I even eat my food in peace in this place?". He continued chewing, only speaking again once he had swallowed. "Fine whatever. But I'm still eating while you talk, so a job...how about you explain what this job is about first before I say anything? Like I said earlier today I'm still focusing on recovering. So don't expect me to fight a wyvern or something just yet." Even at full capacity a wyvern would probably give him problems. He hadn't tested his strength against such a beast yet. But he knew from stories that they weren't anything to joke about.

Taunie crossed her arms under her chest as she raised an eyebrow down at the earth dragon slayer. “Really?” She said with a sarcastic tone to her voice, “You’re worried about me talking to you while you’re eating. Then you’re not going to survive every long here buddy. Best learn to move your plate in a quick motion or else it will be thrown around due to the amount of fights that happen in this guild. On a pretty regular basis we’re rebuilding tables and chairs.” Her eyes darted towards the other members of the guild. They were laughing and joking and having a good time but they were all reckless in one form or another So it should never really be surprise that they would get into fights from time to time.

“Actually it’s simple. Sneak in, get information, sneak out. You’re good and remaining invisible and…” Her attention moved to Valier, “And with your ability to fly it could come in real handie. Which is why I’d be willing to split the amount three ways evenly. It’s only right for two potential members of the guild to be treated fairly.” She said with a nod before turning her gaze back to Ansel, “We’d leave at dusk tomorrow so you’d have a full day to recover without being bothered. Plus I’m only buying tonight, you’d probably enjoy having a full meal tomorrow as well and money gets you that.”

“Besides…” She said with a chuckle as she gestured towards the guild members. “You’re drawing a lot of attention to yourself, and for once it’s positive… and female.” At her words, a lot of female heads turned away as if she had called them out on their staring. “Don’t be afraid, they don’t bite, but they do always find a keen interest in the new guys. So don’t be surprised if you get approached one way or another.” Her voice was filled with laughter as she leaned against the bar top looking at the two. “Well, what do you say?”

Ansel made a mental note to take his food outside in the future. As apparently having a quiet meal was pretty much impossible in the guild hall. Though he didn't say anything about it. Eating outside wasn't that bad after all. It was something he already did quite often anyway.

Taunie started on explaining the mission. Though it still didn't give much detail. Even so her words were quite funny to him. He chuckled softly, looking at her as if she was crazy. "Me being good at hiding? I cause earthquakes and throw earth and rock around. And you expect me to be good at stealth? Besides, Valier...well, he can't fly for very long. So we wouldn't be able to rely on flying that much." The forest was an entirely different matter. He didn't hide, he scared people away so they wouldn't find him. "Look, it sounds like this job could be interesting. And I'm willing to help for the reward. But I really wouldn't expect much from me when it comes to stealth."

Ansel quickly continued eating, not wanting his plate to be thrown to the ground before he could finish his meal. He started stuffing his face as fast as he could swallow again, wanting to actually finish eating before more distractions came his way. Like the other two dragonslayers that had shown interest before, and hadn't come back to get answers yet.

A shrug rose and fell Taunie’s shoulders. “It’s a get in, grab some stuff and leave. I’m sure his flight span will be fine and if you can make a hiding spot out of earth than we’re set.” She nodded and clapped her hands together. “Great so, tomorrow we’ll meet here, 7pm sharp because we’ll need to track them at night.” With that she turned and walked away from him… that was until she heard the cough from her master and her gaze turned to the old man. They locked eyes for a moment before his brow dropped.

Sighing as if she was defeated without a word she walked back and fell down in the seat next to him, propping her elbow up on the bar top she placed her chin in her hand. Her fingers drummed against her face, “When you’re done, we’ll go.” Her statement was as if it was already decided and not by her.

Natsu approached the eating Dragon Slayer with Gajaal on his tail. “You smell familiar. You were raised by a dragon too. Do you know where yours is? I have some questions for it.” Gajaal stood next to Natsu, his large arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at the other Dragon Slayer. Well this was an interesting turn of events with how many Dragon Slayers ended up at Fairy Tail.

Valier sighed, shaking his head a little as he watched Ansel being indecisive while he was eating. "You know we could use the money, Ansel. Be a man and just do the job. Maybe we'll actually be able to afford our own food then next time." Ansel appeared to be ignoring his friend. Though this was only so he could finally finish his food. Once he was done eating he turned to Taunie. "I guess Valier has a point. Fine, I'll go with you. If it's just a get in, grab some stuff and get out it should be fine, considering I can first rest up a bit more." He fully expected for things to get out of hand and for them to have to fight their way out. That's usually how it ended up for him. But at least he would pretty much be at full capacity again by that time. So he wouldn't have any problems fighting.

However apparently the guild master had other plans. Ansel frowned, glancing towards Makarov before turning his gaze towards Taunie again. "What? First it's tomorrow and now you want to leave right away? Why can't we just go tomorrow?" Though before she could answer the other two dragonslayers finally decided to butt in. Right away they started asking about dragons. But he was just as clueless as them. "Seems we're in the same boat, Natsu, Gajeel. My dragon disappeared just like yours. And I've been looking for him ever since. So can't help you with that right now..."

Someone else in the guild overheard the three this time. Mostly because Natsu was always rather loud. "Whaaat?! You're a dragonslayer too?! We're going to have three dragonslayers in the guild? Everyone! The new guy is a dragonslayer just like Natsu and Gajeel!" Suddenly everyone turned their attention to Ansel. A lot of people got up, all of them heading to the bar to get a closer look. And comments started coming from every direction as well. "Woa, another draonslayer!" "We're totally going to be Fiore's number one guild without question now!" "He does kinda look like the other two." Ansel wanted to protest. He wanted to tell them that he wasn't a guild member. Or at least not yet. But he was drowned out by the energetic crowd forming around him. "Argh, so noisy..." He grumbled, wishing they would calm down already. To him, being a dragonslayer wasn't all that special after all.

“No, we’ll still go in the morning it’s just…” Her voice was caught off by the loud dragon slayers and the blonde let out a defeated sigh. Folding her arms across the bar top she buried her face into them with a groan. They were loud, there was no doubt about that but it wasn’t the only thing on her mind.

Her visit to pick up the dragon slayer came with more than just clearing out a ghost. The words of the master echoed through her mind, “If we are going to make it out of the impending situation, we need another mage. A dragon slayer would be preferred but another earth make mage would be very useful.” The words echoed in her mind, the guild had a large amount of people; all exceptional wizards with a large amount of talent. Why would they even have an issue? At the same time, what would one more person make a difference? “It’s very important.” was the extend of the reasoning she received.

It wasn’t until the guild began to speak up and both men and women found their way to the new guy. Her head rose out of her arms slowly, a look of annoyance on her face when she realized u just how many guild members had arrived to him. Sighing she rose from her seat and grabbed Ansel by the hand. “Let’s go.” With that she lead the way through the group pushing through everyone despite the protest. Once outside she let go of his hand and gestured in a direction. “Let’s go.” The direction was away from the train station and she began to walk. “After this you’ll have enough to rent a place of your own but tonight you’ll stay with me.”

Ansel's worries were quickly dismissed when Taunie said they'd still be leaving the next day. The way she trailed off made him wonder what else she wanted to say, but he decided it couldn't be anything bad. After all, a bad person wouldn't treat a stranger to good food and a potential place to stay right?

Once the crowd had gathered Ansel already wanted to leave on his own. He didn't feel like dealing with such a loud and energetic bunch today. Though it was Taunie that made the first move when she grabbed him and pulled him along. "Yea, I'm the Earth Dragon Slayer! If you want to talk come one at a time though, I hate crowds!" He called back to everyone in the guild as he was pulled along. Answering some questions or talking was fine. It was the large amount at the same time that was the problem.

Once outside Taunie apparently wanted to lead him somewhere. He wanted to ask, but once again she beat him to it. She was quite the pro-active woman to say the least. Quite the opposite of him most of the time, who'd rather do as little as possible most of the time. It was a bit of a surprise that she invited him to her place though. He was pretty clueless about women, but from what he had read a woman usually suggested she wanted to be more intimate. Not that he expected anything like that to happen. Not with someone like him at least. And he wasn't terribly interested in such things either at the moment. He still had his stepfather to find after all. Even so, he couldn't help but try to tease his new, if temporary, companion with it a little.

"Your place huh? Aren't you bold, inviting a guy you just met to your house? I read it was usually the guy making the first move~" He spoke with a slight grin, wondering if she would fall for it.

Tauine’s hands had slid behind her head and laced in with one another as they walked in the direction of her house. Really Master? He’s been living outside for who knows who long? What difference does it make that he’ll sleep in a bed? And why my house!? Why can’t he just stay with one of the other dragon slayers? As she argued in her mind, she could already hear the Master’s response. Everyone deserves a good night’s rest and since you’re the one he knows it would only make sense that he stays with you. Sigh… she couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else had this issue with the Master. Probably, he has a way of getting into the heads of his guild members.

His question shot her blue gaze in his direction. “Really?” She responded, sounding almost intrigued. At that she stopped walking and turned to face him completely. “You find it bold of me? Do you also find it daring?” She took a step closer, “Interesting…” Another step, “Fascinating…” Soon her steps had her only inches away from him. Her body leaned up, brushing gently against him as her finger tips traveled gently up his chest and to his shoulders as she spoke. “Exciting…?” The sharp blue gaze of the chain magic mage stared down the dragon slayer that stood before her as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “Welcome to Fairy Tail.”

With that she stepped back from him, letting go, giving them a comfortable distance again and looked at him, observing his expression before letting out a heartfelt laugh, “Claim down. I’m not that type of girl. In fact I’m more of a tomboy than a girl so if you want to do fun stuff with a girl; you can have your pick of the litter back at the guild but it’s not going to be with me.” She laced her fingers behind her head once again and started to walk. “I’m sure you’d appreciate sleeping in a bed instead of on the ground for a night. Come on, I don’t live far away.”

To Ansel's slight shock, his attempted teasing had the exact opposite effect of what he expected. She got closer and closer while looking more interested than embarrassed. And when her hand trailed up his chest he was the one feeling uncomfortable rather than her. Though once she implied that he was after doing 'fun stuff' with a girl he quickly got his bearings back. "I'm not interested anyway... Was trying to tease you but clearly that won't work. You're no fun~" Well, he did wonder what this whole relationship thing was about every now and then. But not enough to indulge in his curiosity.

A bed did sound nice though. Sure, he was used to sleeping on the ground. In fact, it was relatively comfortable to him as an earth dragon slayer. But nothing could beat a proper bed in the end. He wondered if that meant Taunie had two beds, or if she was actually going to give her bed up to him for the night though.

“Excuse me?” Taunie began sounding playfully offended as her blue eyes shot over to look at him. “I am very fun.” Rolling her eyes she continued to lead the dragon slayer and his talking cat through the city and to a small house on one of the neighborhood streets.

“We’re here.” She said with a bright smile as she stepped to the front door and pulled out a key. Sticking it inside the door, she unlocked it and pushed the door open. The entrance led directly into a living room with a small tv, a couch and a few lounge chairs. Walking inside she stretched out her arms with a long sigh. “It’s nice to be home. Come on in guys.” With that she lead the way in. Heading down the small hallway, “This is the kitchen.” She said gesturing to the first entrance available in the hall. “Here’s the bathroom.” She opened the door showing the bathroom then gestured to the two doors down at the end of the hall. “The bedroom on the right is the guest room, feel free to use it tonight. And the one of the left is mine.”

She then pushed passed him and went into the kitchen, a cracking sound could be heard as she opened a beer. “If I were you, I’d get into the shower or a hot bath.” With that she went into the living room and fell down into one of the chairs with a huff. What a day!

Taunie could say she was fun all she wanted, but at least when it came to teasing she wasn't. He wouldn't say so, but that meant he wouldn't be teasing her in the future. There was sure to be someone else he could do it to that provided more fun. They arrived at her apartment soon after. And it was basically everything he had expected. The rooms didn't really look girlish, just neat, cementing the fact that she was more tomboyish. Though there was clearly the scent of a woman about this place. Somehow he could always tell the difference, even if he couldn't explain exactly why.

After a quick tour Ansel followed Taunie into the kitchen, deciding to grab a beer as well. It didn't really occur to him to ask for one first though. Having a beer while taking a relaxing bath was great in his opinion, so why not combine the two? "Then I'll be taking a bath. Been a while since I could take a warm one." He spoke, heading to the bathroom. Valier of course followed. He didn't like cold water much, but warm water was pretty awesome. It took him about 15 minutes before he came out again. And it only took him more than 10 minutes because he also had his beer to drink.

Being oblivious as he was about appropriate behaviour though he came out in just his pants, his hair still clinging to and drooping down his head. A towel was hung around his shoulders to catch the water droplets coming from his hair as he preferred to let it air-dry rather than using the towel for it. It would be dry enough in about half an hour anyway. It was now all the more clear that he indeed wasn't fully recovered yet though. partially healed bruises, some burn marks and almost healed cuts were visible all over his body. "Yo Taunie, I'm done! Your turn!" He called to her as he walked towards the living room.

“You’re welcome for the beer.” Taunie shouted after him in a snarky tone as he walked towards the bathroom. “Man, was he raised in a damn barn.” She muttered under her breath as she laid back on the couch waiting for her guest to finish up his bath. Her body finally relaxed after a long day as she downed half of her beer. The stories echoed through her head from the master of why this guy, this dragon slayer, the earth dragon slayer, was so important.

“Taunie, we will need his help when everything happens.”, “You were the first to show up from the guild, you need to make a good impression.”, “Use your feminine charm! Charm huh… what does that mean? Her brow flared as she thought about that. They were going to be in a lot of trouble if she scared him away but he has the manners of a barn animal and the attitude to boot. Not to mention the rude attitude of his damn cat. If the master wanted to have a woman with charm go after him to win him over, why didn’t he send someone else? Well… she may not have the woman charm thing down but she had a good idea of how to keep Ansel from feeling overwhelmed.

His call brought her attention as she sat up from her couch and look towards the hallway. Her whole being froze in mid-motion as he walked towards her. Well this was unexpected. There was a long pause of silence before she let out a scream of fright and grabbed the blanket from off the edge of the couch and threw it at him. Her throw was spot on as the blanket unraveled itself and lay over his wet head and covered his chest, making the top half of him disappear under the dark blue fabric. “Have you no shame!?” She shouted at him springing to her feet now that he was covered. “You can’t walk around half naked!! That’s insane!” Running passed him while he was covered she ducked into her room, with the door open she shouted. “I’m going to bed good night.” With that she slammed the door and rested her back against it. Her heart pounding in her chest. Does he really not have manners?

[Feel free to spring forward to the morning or send them on the train to where they need to go. –beams-]

Ansel just stood there a little dumbfounded at the sudden shouting. He had no idea what was so bad about walking around topless. Heck, that other dragon slayer Natsu was almost topless all the time. He sighed once the door slammed closed, wondering what to do. Though after a few moments he shrugged his shoulders and decided to just forget about it. "What was that all about, huh Valier?" He mused. At which Valier answered "You've never understood girls, no point in starting now."

Unlike Taunie however, Ansel wasn't going to bed yet. He had his usual evening routine to do. "We'll deal with whatever tomorrow. Time to train." The man dried the rest of his hair as best as he could and got dressed again. He saw where Taunie had dropped the house key a bit earlier, so he grabbed that before going outside. Now it was time for training. First, a few laps of jogging around the block to warm up. Then 50 sit-ups and 50 handstand push-ups. And finally he would find something not too heavy to lift for another 15 minutes. It usually took him around an hour to do all this. Galzra had a habit of staying up late and sleeping in. On top of that the dragon always kept on training Ansel well into the evening. As a result he had gotten so used to it that, these days, he couldn't get to sleep unless he tired himself out in the evening through some 'light' training.

After he was done Ansel still didn't feel too tired. Even so he decided to go to bed anyway. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to sleep in tomorrow morning, so it was best to at least try to go to sleep right now.

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The next morning Ansel was still sound asleep by the time Taunie woke up. He had laid awake for another hour after going to bed. Valier was laying on top of Ansel's stomach, snoring softly. If it was up to them, they'd stay in bed for at least another hour. Though that would probably be hard while being a guest in someone else's home...

The next morning came too soon for Taunie as she rolled out of bed. After a quick bath she was standing in the hallway staring at the door to her guest room. A long sigh left her as she rose up a hand and knocked. “Ansel, Ansel we leave in 10. We can’t waste any time.” With that she turned from the door and ventured into the living room. She began to stuff a bag full of supplies before he finally came out.

At that, the two left the house and arrived at the train station. Paying for three tickets, the three of them climbed onto the train and got into their cabin. She stored the bag overhead and fell back into the seat. The master was rather set on getting Ansel to join the guild but… why her? Wouldn’t he be more likely to bound with the other dragon slayers than the chain-welding mage? Her blue gaze flicked back to the quiet dragon slayer across from her. It was surprising to see that he wasn’t loud like the others. Maybe it had something to do with the ‘earth’ dragon versus the ‘fire’ and ‘iron’ dragons.

“So,” She began, getting a bit tired of sitting in silence though fully aware it was most likely her fault. “Natsu and Gajeel talk about their dragons a lot, what was your dragon like? How did you end up in the care of a dragon?” A few simple questions couldn’t hurt right…?

Ansel jerked awake at Taunie's voice. He had dozed off to sleep a bit longer, but she had other plans. He grumbled a little, turning around and letting out a long yawn. "Why'z it godda be zo ea'ly..." He mumbled through the door, though there was no answer. Taunie had probably already started preparing for their trip. It took the man the full ten minutes to even leave his room. The first five were spent still in bed, then another two sitting on the edge, and finally the last three getting dressed and making sure his hair was still nice and spiky. Bed hair, for him, meant it would stick flat against his head. Valier on the other hand didn't need any time to prepare. So he stayed in bed for the full 10 minutes before stretching, jumping off and putting on his vest.

Soon the two were sitting in the train. Ansel didn't like it, but not because of anything like car sickness. He just didn't like the atmosphere in trains. It made him a little jittery. So to try to keep his mind off he looked out the window. For a while they stayed like that, though then Taunie spoke up. A question about his dragon parent. Something he wasn't used to. Most people just went 'dragon slayer means powerful destructive magic!' never wanting to know more about the subject.

"Hm? Oh...well, most people don't ask so I didn't think of talking about Galzra." He began. "But I don't mind talking about him. He was great you know." A small smile apeared on Ansel's lips as his thoughts went back to the time with his stepfather. "He was strict and unyielding. Yet at the same time he could be very aloof and lazy. For instance, one of his motto's was that mornings were for sleeping and eating, and nothing more. So he only trained me in the afternoon and evening, and we always slept until 10 or 11 am before even thinking about breakfast." He grinned widely. "I guess I still have problems with mornings because of that." Returning to a normal smile he continued, his eyes turning to the window again to look at the scenery. "As for how we met, well...I was four years old I believe. And my parents were attacked by something or other while travelling between towns. Apparently they were traders. But I don't remember anything of the attack or much of what happened before that. I just have some vague memories of my original parents left. Anyway Galzra found me and raised me like his own son from that time on."

The man sighed, still smiling a little at the memories he had from his time with the dragon. "Well, I tend not to dwell on my original parents. I think they were great people, but in the end I barely knew them. I kinda see Galzra more as my parent than them."