The evening of August 24th

[mira_strauss]

Who: Mirajane Strauss and Erza Scarlet
What: Friendly drinks leading to a drunken barmaid and confessions.
Where: Fairy Haven guild hall (Fayren)
Warnings: Alcohol, Drunkenness, will update if necessary (But I don't expect too much)

Mirajane was closing up early today because she was planning for a get together with arguably the closest friend she had here in Genessia. Mavis was still more of a parental figure or idol to Mirajane, and Zeref was still a bit of a... well their relationship was complicated. Everyone else she'd only known for a short time, and Erza? Erza she's known since her early childhood years in the Fairy Tail guild. There was so much for the two of them to catch up on with Erza from a point in time during the war, and Mirajane from nearly a year later. Yet even beyond that, the two of them rarely got to sit down and talk because Erza was constantly going on adventures with Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy, along with Wendy and Charle too. Mirajane had mostly given up her lifestyle as a mage taking on quests for a quieter life, and one more close to the pulse of the guild so she could be there when she was needed most.

It was perhaps this very difference in their lifestyles that Mirajane had been working up her courage to talk to Erza about for quite some time now. So many what if questions kept getting in the way, so many doubts, so many worries, but perhaps it was time to let them go and focus on the future. Time was ticking away for all of them, and in a completely different world without her team to go on adventures with... perhaps it was time Mirajane did sit down and discuss ideas with her.

So there Mirajane was, humming to herself as she put bar stools on top of tables, and began to sweep the floors. She knew Erza was going to be coming by anytime now, but she had one solitary table prepared for the two of them, a bottle of malt whisky at the ready. Very few people had ever seen Mirajane drink... but tonight she felt like she'd need it.

Comments

[redhairedknight]

Not too long after Mirajane starts to clean up, Erza arrives, dressed casually. Seeing as Mirajane was the one who requested this meeting, she doesn't know what to expect - a whole year separated them, and a lot could happen in that timeframe. Still, whatever Mira wanted to talk about must be important, so she wasn't going to miss this for anything.

She spies the table that's still set up, clearly intended for the two of them, but her focus is on Mira for now. No point in starting until they're both ready, after all.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She's a little anxious to get started, to be honest. Whatever Mirajane wanted to meet with her about, it must have been something that she couldn't tell Erza about earlier, despite everything that they had already discussed. This could be very good or very bad, and all sorts of options were running through Erza's head as to what it could be.

[mira_strauss]

Mira lit up when Erza announced her presence by offering to help, shaking her head with a mirthful laugh. "That's alright! I'll be done in a bit!"

Erza might not have realized it but... the whisky bottle was already slightly empty thanks to Mirajane helping herself to some of its contents before Erza ever got there. Mirajane was surprisingly good at handling her liquor though, which probably had to do with the fact that she used demon magic. Demons were notorious for devouring poisons after all, and liquor was a form of poison. Perhaps if she had a nose as sharp as a dragon slayer, Erza would be able to smell the booze on Mirajane.

"Have a seat, I'll be with you in just a second!" Lalala, cleaning, cleaning... okay that's enough cleaning. Mirajane sat backwards in a chair and poured her and Erza each a shot of the whisky. "It's been some time since we've met one on one, even in a years time back in Fiore you're still the kind of woman who's out and about while I do the housecleaning."

... Did she just compare them to an old couple? Eh... whatever.

[redhairedknight]

"All right." Erza takes her seat, not finding anything odd with that comparison; a lot of people thought of them as older sisters or moms for the rest of the guild, even if they had two very different ways of handling that kind of responsibility.

Erza may not have a Dragon Slayer's nose, but she does notice that the bottle has been drank out of. As long as Mirajane wasn't reaching Cana levels of drinking, it wasn't a huge concern, but still worth noting.

Once Mira sits down, the redhead downs the shot. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Erza... isn't much for formalities, to say the least; she prefers to get straight to the point, as many people who she's interrogated can testify.

[mira_strauss]

It was certainly true that Mirajane had adopted a bit of a motherly role, one that started with her siblings and eventually spread to the rest of the guild when... well she wasn't going to get into that just now, but that was something she had prepared the liquor for.

"Heh, you've always been pretty straight to the point! Well..." How did she exactly go about explaining what it was she wanted? She sighed... took a shot of whisky, and explained herself.

"Erza? How much do you remember about when I stopped taking S class missions?"

[redhairedknight]

Erza takes a moment to think about that time - it had only happened a few years ago, but with everything that's happened since then, it feels like so much longer.

"...I remember why it happened, of course." No point in going into further detail on that one, even if it's no longer an issue. "You just seemed to lose your drive, your confidence. I remember thinking, at the time, that you didn't seem like yourself." She pauses to pour herself another shot before continuing. "Why do you ask?"

[mira_strauss]

"I..." She knew Erza was trying to spare her feelings but... she had to finally talk about it.

"I did lose my confidence Erza. I was so confident, and so sure of myself because I was able to take on an S class quest, and I was going to show you how much stronger my family was as a team than you with Natsu and Gray. I was so... so competitive, that I was worried I'd let it get to my head and... I blamed myself for what happened to Lisanna for the longest time. I went in over my head and I failed to protect what was most important to me." She swallowed rather audibly, tears in her eyes.

"I know now... that there were more powers at play than what we originally knew of, and it wasn't entirely my fault but... the whole event shook me to my core. I thought my ego had gotten my beloved sister killed and that's... that's when I vowed that it was time for me to swallow my pride and stop trying to compete with you. I changed... I changed as drastically as I could that day because I thought that if I didn't, I'd lose everything that was important to me because of it. I don't think I ever told you because... I didn't want you to feel as if our competition drove me into something I wasn't prepared for."

She downed another shot, and tried her best to not cry. "I... I always cherished how much you helped me to become stronger Erza. I wouldn't take back those days of us competing against each other for anything."

[redhairedknight]

"You..." When Mira finishes, she swallows hard, unsure about what to say. All this time, she hadn't been aware of the extent that Mirajane had blamed herself for what happened to Lisanna. She kicks herself for not seeing it sooner, but for now, she needs to help her with this.

"I feel the same way. I always wanted to become strong enough to protect the people I cared about, and it helped to have someone there to push me that little bit farther. I didn't realize..." She shakes her head, trying to get her thoughts in order.

"I can't even imagine what it would have been like to be in your place, if something like that had happened to Natsu or Gray, but even when that happened, you pushed yourself to help everyone else. It didn't matter what kinds of missions you went on after that - you still had the spirit of a Fairy Tail mage."

[mira_strauss]

"Erza..." She... she was happy that Erza at least could understand a bit of the pain she'd been holding onto for so long, and respected the choice she made for the good of the guild. There were a great deal many reasons she held so much respect for Erza and it was moments like these when it really mattered most that exemplified it.

"I did... I did try my best to continue on in a different way, but when my confidence had been shaken like that it had made me lose heart and that's why I couldn't use my magic the way I used to at that time. I know that I fell several years behind you so perhaps you were still stronger than me but... when Lisanna returned I always... I always wanted to try again with you." There it was... an admission she'd always been too scared, or too proud, or too embarrassed to say.

"Erza... times have changed, worlds have changed, but most importantly I changed. I know I'm not the same head strong teenager I was back then, and I've become quite a bit more humble than I once was but... how do you feel about us training one another? We've pursued different paths, so while I still think you are the stronger of the two of us now, there are certain ways that I have mastered magic more than you have." Erza did usually use brute strength quite a bit more than most mages, while Mirajane's power was almost entirely magical based.

"Just... think about it. I'm not saying I'm going to be your rival again... certainly not overnight... but what if the two of us worked and pushed to make each other stronger like the old days? We might be able to protect Fairy Tail so much better than we ever could by working together as a new team than trying to always compete with one another." It was still hard for Mirajane to ask, because it was hard for her to admit half the things she'd admitted this evening.

[redhairedknight]

Erza had come into this expecting to hear an admission about what had happened back home, so this was a bit of a surprise, but certainly a welcome one. "You don't have to try to convince me, you know." Her mind was made up pretty quickly, and Mira's comment about being more effective about protecting the guild helped to confirm her stance on this.

"Of course I'll train with you. It seems like the best way for us to improve, and of the people who I know here, you're easily the closest to me in terms of strength." She's fought alongside a few people when hunting bounties, but it's hard to get a feel based on that short of a time frame. Meanwhile, neither Mavis or Zeref's magics were well-suited for sparring. "Any time you want to, you only have to ask."