I: banana pancakes

Characters: Cana, Lucy, Levy, Gildarts, [brief mentions of] Mira, Erza and Gajeel

AN: Enjoy! Hopefully this one - shot collection will go better than trip, fall, twist... c:

"OMIGOSH, TODAY has just been moving sooooo slow, I swear," complained a pretty blonde leaning over the front counter of Erza's Bakery.

"It has," agreed another voice. It was a lazier - sounding voice than that of the previous girl's.

"C'mon, guys, don't relax just yet." A third voice chimed in, prompting them to keep working. "We still have a half - an- hour 'till closing time, you know."

"Aw, Levy! You weren't supposed to remind us!" said the blonde. The second voice, which belonged to a curvy, almond - eyed brunette, sighed. "She's right though, Lucy. We have work to get done."

"Shut up, Cana."

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"Who's telling my daughter to shut up?" demanded a loud, booming voice. All three women turned to face a tall, dark - haired man. "Gildarts!" they exclaimed all at once.

"What are you doing here, old man?" Cana asked in a lazily curious voice. "Have you come to hit on my friends, eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe, maybe not." They all laughed at his antics. "Actually, I'm here to pick up a cake for a friend of mine."

"Who?" questioned Lucy, twirling a pigtail.

"Ah, I think it was Macao. His son, Romeo - he's a freshman at your high school, come to think of it - it's his birthday. But Macao's feeling a bit under the weather, so I told him I'd pick it up on my way home from work." Lucy nodded, then turned on her heel. "It's back in the freezer. I'll get it," she promised.

Levy wiped a rag across the counter. "Where's Erza?" Gildarts inquired.

"She went to cater a party for a friend. She left Mira in charge, but Mira's on a date with Freed, so technically, for the moment, Levy here is in charge."

Levy blushed. "I - I'm not really in charge, just...keeping an eye on things. And stuff." Gildarts chuckled. "Always been more responsible than my Cana, ain't you?"

Lucy swept back into the room with a flourish. "She's been more responsible than me, Cana and Mira combined for years. Only person who might be more responsible than Levy is Erza."

Gildarts chortled in agreement. "That's true." He sighed, pushing himself off of the counter. "Should get back to Macao with this cake, or he'll have my hide," he said, scooping the cake up in his arms. "See ya, Pops," Cana muttered. He ruffled her wavy hair. "See ya, kiddo." He pushed the bakery door open and strolled outside. "And stay outta the bar!" she hollered at his retreating figure.

Lucy giggled as Levy threw her cleaning rag into the sink. They bantered for a few moments, pushing and shoving each other playfully. Once their laughter died down, they realized that it was almost time to close up.

"Suppose we should lock up, eh?"

"Yeah, we should sweep, too. Make it look like we've actually done something today." All three of them snorted.

All of a sudden, the cafe door opened. The little bell that Mira had received through the mail had yet to be installed, so as a result, they didn't notice that someone was standing in the doorway, dripping with rainwater. (The weather had significantly worsened after Gildarts had left.)

So they continued laughing and picking up garbage obliviously until the visitor cleared his throat.

Levy whirled, eyes wide. "Ah! Guys!" Cana and Lucy turned around and sucked in a breath. "Oh, my gosh!" they exclaimed at the same time. Levy swallowed. "Ah, I'm really sorry, but the cafe's closed right now, sir." The guy grunted and stepped forward, pulling his hood down. By doing this, he released an abundance of dark, wavy hair that looked like it had taken years to grow. Piercings decorated his otherwise normal face.

"That's fine. I just thought - well, I saw - you guys have a 'help wanted' sign in the window, so…" he trailed off, eyes unreadable. Levy placed a hand on her hip. "Can I ask for a resume?" He handed her a folded sheet of paper that had water sploshes on it as a result of the rain. She grabbed onto it firmly, flipping it open.

Her large, dark eyes scanned the paper; eyebrows furrowing above her red - rimmed glasses.

"You've worked in a lot of famous pastry places," she commented.

"Yeah."

"Well." She re - folded it and handed it to Lucy. "I'll talk to my boss and see what she says, but I'm fairly confident that you already have the job. She'll be extremely impressed."

His lips twitched. "Yer pretty wordy fer a waitress, ya know." A brilliant plume of red unfurled across her cheeks. "I am still educated, however small this town may be." He gave a light chuckle. "I wouldn't call Magnolia Charter a source o' education, Blue."

Her tiny hands curled into fists. "Pleasure meeting you, Mr…?"

"For the moment, you can call me...Kurogane."

And then, he was gone.

Lucy was the first to comment. "That guy was weird."

"True that," Cana muttered.

Levy's balled fists relaxed. "Kurogane, huh. Kind of familiar - sounding." Cana shrugged. "Whatever. Maybe he's a super - popular baker that's undercover from the paparazzi?" suggested Lucy.

They all snickered. "Yeah, right, Luce…"

Levy hoped Erza would give him the job.

For reasons of her own.

AN: Fufufufufu!

**Note: All chapter titles for this story are taken from albums by Jack Johnson. No copyright intended. (I've always wanted to say that c:)