Max locked himself inside the broom closet. No matter how many apologies were shouted through the door, right now he refused to socialize with his guild mates. Maybe later he could laugh and agree it had been a jolly misunderstanding, but not yet. The pain was too fresh. He hadn't been physically hurt, but the events of this morning were etched in his mind. If he was lucky, he'd only start drinking, a little more.

He knew he wasn't the strongest mage, but he wasn't the weakest. Max had lots of friends and people genuinely liked him. He wasn't the smartest pumpkin in the patch, but he was smart enough; this one unlucky eight hour shift had challenged his mental stability. Max whimpered a little as he remembered the highlight of his first hour on the job today.

"For the last time Max, I didn't move your figurines around!" Mira was still smiling sweetly, but her left eye was beginning to twitch. "I know how particular about having the merchandise set out, 'just so'. Maybe the last customer put all of Evergreen's models there."

Max began rearranging his display, sorting out the Evergreen figures and setting them back onto the 'Raijinshuu' labelled shelf. "Thanks for watching the stall for me and opening it on time, I had some extra sweeping to do this morning."

Somewhat satisfied, Mira grinned toothily at the sand mage. "You're welcome, don't forget there's going to be a large crowd visiting the guild later. Master said to make sure everything was stocked up and in perfect order."

Lisanna called out to her sister and Mira flounced away, leaving Max staring thoughtfully at his display. He went into the back of the stall and rummaged in his cleaning supplies. Once out front again, he used his feather duster on the highest shelf. Wasn't this full a minute ago? Max took a step back and turned around, running his eyes over the scattered tables and assorted mages.

"Natsu? How long have you and Gray been playing checkers at that table?"

The slayer responded without looking up, "It feels like forever."

"No, I mean, did you see anyone walk past my store just now?"

"I gotta watch the board or Gray cheats." That inflammatory statement earned Natsu a punch to the head.

"You wanna go Flame Breath?" Gray didn't wait for an answer and threw another fist.

"Oh, I will kick your ass, Ice Princess!" Natsu flipped the board and the two mages began brawling in earnest.

Max shrugged and refilled the topmost shelf with fresh 'Evergreen' figurines. He waved 'hello' to the Connell family. Alzack and Bisca were swinging Asuka between them. The little girl giggled and begged her parents to bring her to the merchandise stall.

"Is there something special you want to see?" Max asked the little girl.

"Do you have fairies? Mommy says if I'm good I'm certain to see fairies."

"Sorry, no we don't. We can't be certain if they exist or have tails either."

"You have room for them, don't you? Maybe they just need a place to be!" Asuka bounced up on the tip of her toes and smiled so sweetly, Max just had to do something for the little girl.

"I'll empty a spot on one of my shelves and label it for 'fairies', just for you! Maybe one will show up."

"I'm gonna be so good your shelf will be full of fairies!" Asuka clapped her hands and dimpled.

Bisca picked up Asuka and settled her on her hip. "That's so nice of you, you're going to be a great dad one day."

He blushed and waved goodbye to the Connells. Beginning to whistle, he cleared out a spot for potential fairies and even attached a sign. Pleased with his efforts, he jumped over the counter and rooted underneath for some red scraps of wall paper he'd used for some old art project.

Max trimmed the paper and went to place it on the shelf, only to find it full of Erza's figures. He rubbed his eyes and checked where the Erza statues were supposed to be, only to see that location empty

"Ha, ha! Funny guys! You can stop it any time now!" Max glared at Jet and Droy who were strolling past the storefront.

The duo from the Shadow Gear Team turned to face the somewhat angry sand mage. Droy spoke, "What do you mean, 'stop it any time'? We'll never stop loving Levy!"

"Our love isn't funny!" Jet huffed, "You have some nerve. Our conversation was private, we don't tell you who to love and you don't get to tell us that either."

"S-sorry, I thought you had... I mean there's no one else close, and... uh, just, sorry." Max trailed away with his inept explanation. "Carry on." Feeling the start of a headache, Max rubbed his temples and continued to stock up his merchandise.

His whole shift had followed that pattern. It seemed that as soon as his back was turned, his merchandise would begin to travel. On his lunch break he'd closed up the stall for a half hour and returned to find fully half of his stock returned to storage. One bathroom break after that, he'd found all of his dragon slayer figures missing their exceed partners. Each time his attention strayed, his beloved merchandise paid the price.

From inside the closet, Max felt another twinge squeeze his brain. He massaged his forehead, trying to soothe the ruckus inside his skull. Several of his guild mates were trying to apologize at once - the disharmony of voices was deepening his pain. One voice rose above the others, becoming comprehensible.

"It is man to apologize. I'm sorry I took the Evergreen merchandise to print 'Fairy of the Guild' on the bases without asking." Now in front of the supply closet where Max was seeking refuge, Elfman stood resolute. His head slightly lowered and his hands clenched at his sides, "It was the gesture of a caring man, that's all I can say." Elfman moved away and the next mage stood in front of the door.

"I apologize Max!" Lucy laced her fingers tightly together, "I accidently knocked over the Erza figures and put them back in the first spot that looked like there was enough room." She blushed and vacated the spot in front of the door.

Levy prodded Gajeel. He twisted his surly features into less of a sulk. "I'm sorry you didn't have enough of me'n'Lily figures." He started to walk away, but a savage pinch stayed him. "I mean, I'm sorry I was messing with your merchandise all day because I was jealous." Gajeel turned a delicate shade of pink to see Levy's approval, stomping away to cover his embarrassment.

Mira pushed her way to the front of the queue. She was smiling brightly, holding the sullen Laxus' ear captive. Her savage hold tightened, prompting Laxus to speak, "I only kept moving the Mavis statues back into the fairy location because she was crying about it. Gramps told me to keep her happy - "

Laxus broke off his half-assed apology to listen to Mirajane hissing something into his ear. He flushed, swallowed heavily and continued, "I'm really very sorry that you feel so bad." Laxus sighed in relief as the demon barmaid released his ear to grab his hand and lead him away.

Max began to calm down; the voices on the other side of the door were quieter and far less rowdy, allowing him to think clearly. It had only seemed like someone was trying to drive him crazy. Now that he had more information, it was really a case of his nakama being themselves.

They hadn't been trying to make him lose his sanity by rearranging his merchandise - they'd been trying to make each other happy and clean up after themselves. Gajeel, well, at least he'd only moved things around and hadn't destroyed anything. That's an improvement of sorts. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Max relaxed further. "Thanks for the apologies, I still need some alone time."

"Come on out now Mr. Max! 'Member what I said about being good?" The childish voice of Asuka piped, "There's a real fairy I want to show you!"

Bisca and Alzack shared a smile. They stood behind Asuka as she knocked on the broom closet door and continued to address Max. "She's so pretty! You're gonna love it!"

All of the adult's blandishments plus the little girl's encouragement had Max wavering whether or not to exit the closet. Asuka's last words softened his heart the rest of the way. Max unlocked the door and slowly stepped out. "Asuka, you say there's a fairy for me to see?"

Asuka nodded happily and took one of Max's hands, leading him to the merchandise stall. It had been cleaned and arranged into perfect order. Every figure was arrayed in military precision. In the middle of the 'fairy' labelled shelf stood a beautiful blonde doll. It had two sets of gossamer wings that shimmered in the light. Her dress was a deep green, with a scoop neckline and short tiered skirt. She had a serene look on her face and held a thick wooden wand.

Asuka pointed to it and smiled at Max, "We musta both been good! She's a really, really pretty fairy!"

Max smiled to hear the heartfelt belief in the little girl's words. "You're right, we both must've been good, that has to be the most beautiful fairy I've ever seen!" He reached out and lifted the figure. Turning it, he realised the wand was in fact a broom and had been recently glued into place.

"Don't be upset any more Max!" Asuka waved goodbye as her parents led her away. Outside of the guild, Alzack swung his little girl into his arms. She threw her arms around his neck and addressed both of her parents, "I hope Mr. Max takes good care of Dolly. He cheered right up when he saw her, didn't he?"

Max kept the fairy doll on display with a big 'not for sale' sign next to it. Many customers asked what a fairy was doing with a broom in its hand, but he only ever smiled and said it was also a mystery if it had a tail or not.