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[crash_mage]

[When Gildarts woke up in the bay, he'd just chalked it up to a night of heavy drinking. After all, he could hold his liquor better than anyone in the guild. ...Except maybe Cana. Still, he decided that it was probably best to just return to the guild hall and see if Mira would fix him something for his hang over. He began wandering aimlessly before finding himself in Fayren, leaving man-sized holes in several buildings as he wandered. Eventually though, he did find himself walking through one of the guild hall's walls, stopping when FINALLY something familiar snapped him to his senses.]

...This looks like the place but...

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[explodewiththerage]

[Luckily he caught the scent right before the explosion of the wall so he had just enough time to tackle Regina and Justyne to the ground and out of the way.]

As soon as he hears Gildarts though he quickly gets up with a big smile on his face.]

Gildarts!

[crash_mage]

Natsu!

[Well that's a good way to get the old guy smiling.]

At least I know I'm in the right place! How ya been?

[explodewiththerage]

[Well same goes for Natsu since he's sorta like a second father figure after Igneel.]

Been working on jobs and building this place up. Though that's only since coming here.

[crash_mage]

What do you mean 'coming here'? This isn't Magnolia? I just figured someone was asleep at the switch with the town shift.

[That's when he glanced around.]

...Who're the kids?

[explodewiththerage]

[He's not surprised in the least. Gildarts while freakishly powerful was a bit of a "in his own world" kind of guy.]

No it ain't. Remember that mess with Edolas that we told you about?

[He turns to the two girls one definitely older than the other and helps them up.]

They're Justyne and Regina. We saved them from a witch during one of the jobs so we took them in. There's Neveren too but I think he's upstairs in his room right now.

[crash_mage]

Yeah, the one where I was supposedly so awesome and powerful I'd gone off in a search for the ultimate enemy to fight with my bare hands, so you guys didn't run into me?

[Yeah, he's kind of in denial that he was probably some farmer in that world. Though once Natsu introduces the kids, his face changes from shit-eating grin, to a genuinely warm smile, kneeling down to get on eye level.]

Nice to meet you two. Don't let Natsu's looks fool ya. He may look scary and mean, but there's not a softer marshmallow around.

Threadjack! (Natsu-mun has gone to bed for the night :) )

[celestial_wizard]

[ O-oi Regina's a grown woman. Although she is shortish. She does think he kneels down to get on eye level with Justyne though, the smaller girl staring wide-eyed at Gildarts because he took out a WHOLE WALL. By Walking through it. Regina pats Justyne on the head, smiling meekly. ]

Oh no, we don't fear Mr. Natsu - I owe him my life - and I am indebted to him for it for saving my charges as well. I don't know what I would do were they devoured as was threatened for me.

[ At this point the small conversation is interrupted by a dynamic entrying dog! In that Herb, having heard the fuss, comes barrelling down the stairs, barking. Hot on his heels is a smaller boy intent on seeing what Herb is barking about. Hot on THEIR heels is Lucy. ]

Hey, Nev, hold on don't go rushing off you two, i- [ ...WHOAH. She stops short in surprise. ] Gildarts?

[ She glances at the girls and Natsu as in disbelief. Is she seeing things? Because if she is, then apparently so is everyone else! ]

No worries~! :D

[crash_mage]

[Gildarts reaches out and pats Justyne on the head with his metal arm before standing and grinning.]

That sounds like Natsu alright. Let me guess, he even refused to take payment?

[Of course that's when he heard more people coming in. Compared to the parties he's always walking in on, the guild hall seemed almost too quiet, and it was nice to see more familiar faces.]

Oh hey, Lucy! Kinda figured that if Natsu were hanging 'round here, you wouldn't be too far off.

So much later... Sometime after the sun sets?

[frostheartedrose]

[Bridget drifted towards the guild hall with her mind on other things and annoyance clear in her pale eyes. She'd been looking forward to having a nice breakfast after a long, hot bath maybe followed by a bit of beast-hunting. Not to mention some potential side jobs that had come up.

But no, she'd barely managed to throw on a skirt, tunic, and corset before heading out to deal with a trail of destruction. Each place she stopped at had a wall or two that had simply been crushed. Nobody had been harmed, but there was a very clear description of a large man with a rather absent-minded expression. Bridget had raised an eyebrow at some of the women's dreamy sighs.

So here she was at the end of the trail at last. There was a cup of steaming tea in one hand and a stack of bills in the other as she stepped through the last hole-in-the-wall and glanced around the guild's main room. It really wasn't a surprise to her that the trail ended here.]

[explodewiththerage]

[Gildarts had always been a bit of a father figure in the guild even though it took him years to realize his true daughter was right under his nose. Still Natsu loves showing off to him be it in strength or in deeds]

What else? Even more I beat up the employer since she was the bad guy.

Sounds good. :D

[crash_mage]

[By that time, Gildarts had settled in, and was having himself a nice large mug of beer. It wasn't the same as the guild back in Earth Land, but it wasn't bad. All the kids were lively enough to keep things entertaining, and the people Natsu and Lucy had saved were good people too. When he heard someone coming through the hole he'd left - and had promised to repair tomorrow - he turned to see who it was. Once he saw the lady standing there, he put on his best smoldering look and swayed over to her, the affects of the booze making themselves apparent.]

To what do we owe the honor of being graced by such a vision of lovliness~?

Yay!

[frostheartedrose]

[Yup, all five feet of her all in black. She took a sip of her tea and waved off Regina's hesitant greeting. Pale blue cat-eyes watched as the man she was looking for started coming over with a flirty look and a tankard of beer. Probably not his first of the evening but he didn't seem more than pleasantly blurred.]

Two things, actually. The sun set and you have collected a nice stack of bills during what's probably your first day here.

[Yup, she's willing to put the stack of repair estimates right in front of his face to redirect that focus for now. So what if she's floating to do so? Another sip of tea and Bridget lowered them so she could see his eyes. He did have nice eyes at least even if beer-breath wasn't as enchanting as he might think.]

I managed to convince the worst tempers into just giving you the repair bills as long as you go apologize tomorrow. And there are five women and two men of various ages who wanted to add their names and addresses on the side.

[crash_mage]

[He grins and ruffles Natsu's hair.]

That's our Natsu for ya. I swear, you do more jobs for free than you actually get paid for these days.

Now, what's this all got to do with Edolas?

[crash_mage]

[He may have been attempting to read the estimates through bleary and blurred eyes, leaning in when she pulled them away, throwing him slightly off balance. It took a long moment, but he finally put two and two together, looking out past the hole in the wall that Bridget had come through, face contorting into a combination of fear and apology.]

Crap, I walked through some buildings again didn't I? Crap... I keep forgetting Magnolia's the only place with a Gildarts shift... I'm so sorry, I'll do what I can to put things right!

[celestial_wizard]

[ And Lucy sighs -heavily- at that observation, true as it is, her shoulders slouching. ]

Not entirely by choice. [ Sob. This only gets giggles from the kids, and a pat on the shoulder from Regina. She completely misses his little comment about her not being far from Natsu, focusing on the latter. ]

Edolas? Ah, he was probably trying to explain that this place is like Edolas. An entirely different planet, and ... as far as we know, not really any way to go back. Not intentionally anyway.

[tenkuunomiko]

A-Ah Gildarts-san!

[ Wendy picked up his scent when he got closer to their current Guild Location. The girl was surprised to see more of her companions here, but equally happy. She was outside somewhat sweeping up some of the dirt lying around the area. It was a bit lonely without Charle to talk to, but she was doing her best.

Those poor buildings though. ]

[crash_mage]

I see... well, at least we can use our magic here. Found that one out by accident though.

How long you guys been here?

[crash_mage]

Well hey there Wendy. Good to see we have someone that can help Lucy keep Natsu from burning the place down.

[Have a pat on the head.]

[explodewiththerage]

[He's being treated like a kid but Gildarts is the only person who is going to get nothing more than a grumble of protest rather than an all out outburst.]

It's been a few months now. Though with all the fiddly time stuff I doubt anything's moved back in Earthland.

[crash_mage]

[Well, considering Gildarts is just a kid in an adult body, he has no room to talk. He'll just be flopping down in a chair at the bar, turning to face the others.]

Augh... more time crap? Why does everything have to affect time anymore?

[celestial_wizard]

Well, isn't that better that way? If time doesn't move back home, then people won't worry about us going missing.

[ And they won't feel too guilty about being pulled away from Seriously Bad Times(tm) back home. ]

[explodewiththerage]

It's a pain yeah but Lucy has a point. I mean in the last place we were in, I was there for about a year. Missing for that long while tartaros and those bastards are rampaging about? I don't think so.

[fairytails]

[ Aaand when he arrives at the guild, there's the First Master, sitting on a counter because chairs are for chumps. She's beaming at his entrance. ]

Gildarts!

[ Did he ever officially meet her? Doesn't matter, she recognizes him from the island. ]

[crash_mage]

[He sighs a bit.]

Just... the last thing I remember is writing Makarov that letter to bring Laxus back into the guild and then making him master again... I'm already missing seven years and... wait...

Natsu, did you say Tartaros was making a move?

[crash_mage]

[He'll just beam right back, make his way over, take a seat and...]

...Do I know you? Usually I don't forget someone with a face as cute as yours.

[Yup. Definitely thinks you're one of the new kids to join the guild during that 7 year gap...]