Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Lupinus Town.

May 9, x776.

A night has passed since Alfonzo and Elicia left to take their first B-Class quest. After arriving in Lupinus Town late last night, they found a hotel, booked a room for the next few days, and then fell asleep after washing up.

The next morning, after eating breakfast in the hotel's dining room, they headed out to the hotel's courtyard to do their usual morning workout. Naturally, their workout this morning would be shorter and much less intense since they are currently on a quest and need to be in their best shape.

So, after depleting their magic power once, they began doing physical exercises like they usually do. And today, their physical training attracted a group of curious onlookers who were all normal humans who could not use magic.

Currently, Alfonzo was performing a set of handstand push-ups. However, there were a few differences with the normal variety. For example, Alfonzo was only supporting himself with the index finger of each hand, instead of his entire palm.

Yet another difference was that Alfonzo's legs were spread one hundred eighty degrees. On top of that, there was a dense metal plank, twice as long as the distance between Alfonzo's feet, resting on his legs.

In most cases, doing push-ups like that in a public place would be more than enough to draw a crowd of curious onlookers. However, there was more to this display than just some strange looking push-ups.

On top of the metal plank was Elicia performing all kinds of gymnastic maneuvers, flipping and rolling from one side of the plank to the other. All the while, the plank remained level, even if Elicia focused all her wait on one end.

While the onlookers watched the duo in amazement, Elicia smiled brightly, putting on a show for them. Alfonzo, on the other hand, was thinking back to the conversation he had with Elicia during their train ride to Lupinus Town while mechanically raising and lowering his body and tensing the muscles in his legs whenever he noticed a shift in pressure on the plank he was holding.

===Flashback===

Shortly after sunset, three hours later than they had initially planned to leave, Elicia finished Evergreen's dress. After delivering the finished product to Evergreen's room, Alfonzo dragged Elicia to the train station before Elicia and Evergreen could get too wrapped up in a conversation about fashion.

Then, after buying their tickets, they were able to board the train to Lupinus Town a few minutes later. After taking their seats, Alfonzo sat with his arms crossed and stared out the window. Meanwhile, Elicia could not help but giggle at the pout he was trying, and failing, to hide by doing so.

"Come on, Fonzie, don't be mad." Elicia said as she wrapped her arms around Alfonzo. "I didn't mean to make us late. But you know I hate leaving work unfinished."

"Yeah, I know." Alfonzo said, still not turning his head toward Elicia. "But you knew we had a quest today. And we discussed what time we would be leaving."

"Fonzie, I said I'm sorry~" Elicia said in a cutesy tone.

"And will saying sorry make up for the hours we lost while you were working on the dress?" Alfonzo asked.

"Oh, come on, Fonzie." Elicia said while tightening her hug. At the same time, she began to rock Alfonzo back and forth with a smile on her face. "I promise to be more careful with my time management. So, please, forgive me… Okay~~~!"

Knowing that he was not strong enough, mentally, to stay mad at Elicia, Alfonzo eventually sighed in defeat. A moment later, he turned his head in Elicia's direction, seeing the bright smile that he loved so much. Naturally, that smile caused him to smile involuntarily, as well.

"Are we good now, Fonzie?" Elicia asked with an even wider smile on her face after she saw Alfonzo's smile.

"Yeah, but I'm gonna hold you to your word about managing your time better." Alfonzo said with a nod. "Next time something like this happens, I'm gonna give you a spanking."

Leaning in and kissing Alfonzo on the cheek after receiving confirmation that Alfonzo had forgiven her, Elicia could not help but smile once again after hearing his threat.

"Don't threaten me with a good time, Fonzie." Elicia replied, whispering into Alfonzo's ear.

In response, Alfonzo chuckled a little while shaking his head. Then, he put on a devious smile and made another threat.

"Fine, I won't 'threaten you with a good time,' as you put it." Alfonzo said with a sadistic smile on his face. "Instead, I won't cook for you for an entire week next time this happens."

Immediately, Elicia's smile froze while her face grew pale. Then, tears began to form in her eyes. A moment later, she stood up with explosive force and saluted in Alfonzo's direction with the most serious expression Alfonzo had seen on her face in the last five years.

"Sir, yes sir." Elicia said vigorously. "I promise, should we ever be late for a departure, it will never again be because I started a project the day we were scheduled to leave!"

Immediately after Elicia's declaration, Alfonzo burst out in hardy, full-bellied laughter from the bottom of his soul. Then, he grabbed Elicia by the hand and pulled her into his lap. Once she was seated, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm glad I got my point across." Alfonzo said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Elicia could only pout.

'It's so unfair that he uses his cooking to threaten me.' Elicia thought to herself. 'The worst part of those threats is that he is completely serious when he makes them. Like that one time he didn't cook for me for a month because I spoiled the ending to Persona 5.'

After that little exchange, Alfonzo and Elicia sat in silence for a while. During that time, Elicia's pout had turned into a satisfied smile while she enjoyed the intimacy. Eventually, however, Alfonzo knew that he needed to breach the topic he planned to bring up on the train ride.

"*Sigh* Lici, what do you think about Cana's jealousy?" Alfonzo asked.

"I think it's cute." Elicia said with a smile.

"Cute?" Alfonzo asked curiously.

"Yup, cute." Elicia replied with a nod. "I mean, she wants to steal your attention from me. But I'm completely fine with sharing it."

"So, you really do want me to start a harem, huh?" Alfonzo asked with a wry smile on his face. "You do remember what I was like in high school, right?"

"Of course, I do." Elicia replied with a nod.

"You're not afraid that having two of the most beautiful girls in Fiore as my girlfriends will give me a big head?" Alfonzo asked, not very confident that he won't turn into the insufferable prick he was in his past life.

Hearing that question, Elicia balled her fists and began throwing punches into the air.

"Oh, you don't' have to worry about that." Elicia said with a smile. "If you get outta hand, I'll knock some sense into you."

Alfonzo could only smile wryly in response.

"Just don't punch me like you did Gildarts, okay?" Alfonzo said in a quivering tone.

Laughing loudly, Elicia shifted in Alfonzo's lap. Then, she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes while pressing her forehead against his.

"Don't worry, I want to have kids in the future. So, I can't damage any of the essential parts." Elicia said quietly with a smile on her face. "As for Cana, let me talk to her. I don't think it would go well if you asked her to share you."

"Yeah, neither do I." Alfonzo said with a chuckle.

===Flashback End===

While thinking about last night's conversation, Alfonzo reached the end of his set. Then, after pushing himself up to a full handstand, he held the position.

"Alright, Lici, I'm done." Alfonzo called out.

"Okay~~~!" Elicia said happily.

A moment later, Elicia positioned herself at one end of the plank. Then, she performed a round off and a back handspring before performing a triple backward somersault. A moment later, she landed on the ground with er arms raised, prompting the onlookers to start a round of applause.

At the same time Elicia was flipping through the air, Alfonzo pushed off the ground and closed his legs, folding the metal plank into a wedge shape. Then, he flipped himself over, resulting in the wedge hitting the ground first. An instant later, Alfonzo landed on the pointy end of the wedge with his arms crossed.

"Okay, Lici, let's get washed up." Alfonzo said with a smile. "After that, we should head to the mayor's office."

"Okay~" Elicia said with a smile as she skipped toward Alfonzo.

After allowing the folded metal plank to dispel, Alfonzo and Elicia returned to their room. After they each took a shower and got dressed, they left the hotel and made their way toward the Town Hall in the town center.

When they walked into the town hall, they noticed that there were not very many people in the lobby. All they could see was a middle-aged man flirting with the beautiful receptionist, who was clearly tired of it, and a few people they assumed worked in the different departments, rushing back and forth with documents in their hands.

"Excuse me." Elicia said energetically as she and Alfonzo approached the reception desk. "We're wizards from the Fairy Tail guild in Magnolia. We'd like to see the mayor to discuss the quest he commissioned."

While the receptionist gave Elicia a grateful nod, the middle-aged man clicked his tongue in annoyance after being interrupted. However, when he looked back and saw Elicia, the one who interrupted him, he wore a lecherous smile.

'In a few years, that little girl will be quite the beauty.' The middle-aged man thought. 'I should find a way to make her mine. Then, I'll have one of the most beautiful girls in Fiore as my mistress.'

Before the middle-aged man could think any further, however, a wave of magical pressure descended on him, causing his breathing to hitch while he began dripping cold sweat from his forehead and back, immediately.

"If you keep looking at her like that, I'll pull your eyes out." Alfonzo said in a low, threatening tone.

Having just now realize that Elicia was not alone, the middle-aged man wet himself when he met eyes with Alfonzo, who was staring at him as if he did not mind making his threat into a reality in the slightest.

"I-I just remembered that I was supposed to pick up something for my wife." The middle-aged man said as he rushed out of the town hall.

"Fonzie, I think you overreacted a little bit." Elicia said with a worried smile on her face.

"No, pedophiles like that need to be dealt with swiftly." Alfonzo said with a solemn expression on his face. "I mean, it was written all over his face, he clearly planned to lewd the loli."

In response, Elicia simply rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. Then, she turned her attention back to the receptionist.

"So, can we meet the mayor?" Elicia asked innocently.

"Yes, right away." The receptionist replied. "Please, follow me."

A few moments later, Alfonzo, Elicia, and the receptionist were standing outside of a beautifully carved, wooden door.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

"Excuse me, Mr. Fox." The receptionist said after knocking on the door. "Two wizards claiming to be from Fairy Tail have come to speak with you."

"Send them in." A male voice ordered from the other side of the door.

Immediately, the receptionist grasped the doorknob and opened the door. Then, she stood to the side and gestured for Alfonzo and Elicia to enter.

Nodding at the receptionist, Alfonzo and Elicia wasted no time entering the mayor's office before the door was pulled closed behind them.

Upon entering the office, the first thing they noticed was the man who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties sitting behind an exquisitely carved desk while reading a document. With his dark blue hair slicked back and gold framed glasses covering his light purple eyes, it was clear the mayor of this town, Reno Fox, took his job seriously.

"Please, give me a second." Reno said without looking up from the document. "I'll be right with you after I finish reading this. Feel free to take a seat while you wait."

After Reno spoke, Alfonzo and Elicia took a moment to scan the room. The office was relatively simple. On either side of the room, there was a book shelf that held a number of books and documents. Then, in the middle of the room was a coffee table. And on either side of the coffee table was a leather couch. Oon the other side of the room, opposite the door, was Reno's desk, which sat in front of a floor to ceiling window that allowed the mayor to look over part of the town.

Taking a seat on one of the couches, Alfonzo and Elicia waited patiently. Luckily, it only took a few minutes before Reno was done with the document in his hands. As soon as he placed the document on his desk, he looked at the couch where Alfonzo and Elicia sat.

"Well, you're both much younger than I expected." Reno said while adjusting his glasses. A moment later, he stood from behind his desk and made his way over to the unoccupied couch. "I assume you have a stamp of approval from Master Makarov, correct?"

Though he understood where the mayor's doubts were coming from, Alfonzo was still irritated at having his capabilities doubted. On the other hand, he knew that seeing a couple of kids were here to complete a B-Class quest was a bit out of the ordinary.

"Yes, we do>" Elicia said energetically before pulling out the stamped quest sheet.

Seeing the skepticism vanish as soon as he saw the stamp, Alfonzo realized that he had overthought the situation. Apparently, Reno was only skeptical that they were Fairy Tail wizards as they had claimed.

"Damn it, I already had enough trouble controlling my anger when I was just a kid." Alfonzo muttered to himself in annoyance. "And now puberty is trying to fuck me over, too."