*slides update in and sneaks out*

Disclaimer: I do no own Fairy Tail or its characters. Which is lucky for you, otherwise you wouldn't get regular updates.

Natsu's business of selling secrets was highly successful. With the money he earned, he had built a house. He rarely went hungry. Even when Gajeel joined in, he still had a steady side income. So when Wendy joined the guild, he was happy to approach her about joining their venture.

"So, you eavesdrop on other people?" Wendy said dubiously. "And then sell what you hear?"

"Only if someone asks for certain information," Natsu reassured her. "And only as long as the information is harmless. Gramps knows all about it and he's fine with it, as long as we're responsible."

"I'm still not sure." Wendy fidgeted in her seat.

"I should think not!" Carla said indignantly. "Listening in on other people's conversations, selling information? How improper!"

"It's not all bad," Gajeel said. "We help people figure out what to get each other for their birthdays or sh-" He broke off at Carla's glare. "Stuff like that."

"That sounds nice," Wendy said. "See Carla, I'd really be helping people!"

"I suppose I can't stop you, child, if you've got your mind set on it. But don't say I didn't warn you when this all goes wrong!"

And so Wendy joined the business.

Word got around the guild that the youngest dragonslayer was making her debut as an entrepreneur (under the strict condition from Carla that she only help people) and people soon started approaching her with business. However, people soon realized that as well-meaning as she was, Wendy was very bad at eavesdropping.

Her first assignment was from Gildarts, of all people. He wanted to know more about Cana, but she wouldn't sit down and talk to him. So he asked Wendy. She was more than happy to do so, as she looked up to the older mage. Carla was less enthusiastic, especially after Cana offered Wendy a beer.

However, no one had taken into account that Wendy, the sky dragonslayer, frequently ate air.

She didn't even realize she did it, but every so often she would inhale a deeper breath, keeping herself fully powered and ready to go. And the air around the pretty brunette was saturated with alcohol. After an hour or so in Cana's presence, she started to feel different. She was giggly and had trouble keeping her balance. Then her vision got sort of fuzzy.

Cana caught her as she fell off her stool.

"You ok, squirt?" Cana asked, propping her up.

"I feel funny," Wendy slurred before leaning over and throwing up.

Needless to say, the guild was shocked to see that Wendy could get secondhand drunk and Carla was enraged. Gildarts immediately withdrew his request as Carla alternately yelled at him and Cana, who just found the whole thing hilarious.

After downing a few potions to help with her first hangover, Wendy was determined to succeed. She happily traded Natsu jobs and proceeded to find out for Makarov what Laxus wanted for his birthday.

Having learned her lesson the first time, she picked a seat a few tables away from Laxus, Evergreen, Freed, and Bixlow and tried not to appear as though she was listening to them. After listening to Evergreen and Bixlow bicker for an hour, she started getting impatient. She stared more openly at her target, not even noticing when Freed and Evergreen left the table.

She did notice two shadows fall over her as Evergreen and Freed blocked her view, scowling.

Wendy gulped. "Hi," she said softly.

"May we ask what you're doing?" Freed asked tightly.

"A job," she stammered. "Master wants to know what to get Laxus for his birthday."

Evergreen slammed her hands on the table, making Wendy jump. "Perhaps Natsu forgot to inform you," she said darkly, glaring at the fire dragonslayer. "But if you want information about Laxus, you do not spy or eavesdrop on him."

"Then how do I get it?" Wendy asked.

"You may ask us. We know all there is to know about him," Freed said.

Two minutes later, a shaken Wendy handed Makarov a list of possible birthday presents for his grandson. Gajeel punched Natsu for forgetting to give her all the information, starting a guild-wide brawl.

The next day, Wendy tried again. She accepted a job from Loke. The lion spirit wanted to know if he was still eligible to become an S-class wizard, but didn't have time to find out, as the Celestial Spirit King needed his help to restore order after the Eclipse debacle. He offered to bottle some air from the spirit world for her. Wendy was excited to try the air, wondering if it would affect her magic at all. When they visited before, she didn't have a chance to find out.

Wendy decided to use her first approach (minus the secondhand drunkenness) and simply talk to him. She went to his office and the kindly master was more than happy, if a little confused, to spend some time just talking to her. Over the next half hour, he asked how she was adjusting to Fairy Tail, how she was getting along with the other guild members, and if she was making enough money to get by.

Frustrated, Wendy decided to be a little more blunt. "I was wondering about the S-class trials this year."

Makarov looked surprised. "I'm glad you're interested, my dear, but I'm sure it will be a few more years before you're eligible for the trials. You did very well when you were Mest's partner, but S-class jobs are serious business. We don't send wizards on such dangerous jobs until they have more experience. Keep working hard and you'll get there eventually."

"No, that's not what I meant," Wendy protested. "I was just curious about the trials this year."

Makarov frowned. "The trials are a secret for a reason. I know you've joined Natsu's business, but everyone in the guild should know better than to try and get information about the trials beforehand."

Wendy huffed in frustration. "No, that's not it either! I was just trying to find out what makes a person eligible and whether a certain person might be considered." She sighed. "I'm not very good at this, am I?"

He chuckled. "The business of selling secrets isn't for everyone," he said gently, "and that's perfectly fine. It means you prefer to be honest with your friends and don't like to deceive them, even for good reasons. You're not obligated to join Natsu's business."

Wendy nodded. "It was nice to think about helping people, but I don't think I'm cut out for it," she admitted. "I think for now I should just focus on doing regular jobs."

Makarov's eyes twinkled. "Now, which certain person wants to know about the S-class trials?"

"Loke," she said. "He didn't know if being a spirit put him out of the running and he's so busy right now he didn't have the time to come ask you himself."

"Well if that's all," the master said with a laugh, "you can tell him that he's still being considered, just like all the other guild members."

Loke was ecstatic to hear that he could still be an S-class someday, giving her a tight hug and the promised spirit world air.

"Um, Natsu," Wendy said, approaching the older dragonslayer.

"What's up?"

"I'm not going to join your business."

"Aw, really?"

"Yeah. I don't think I can do it."

"Alright then. If you ever change your mind, just let me know!"

"I don't think I will," Wendy said. "It's just not for me."

"I should think not," Carla sniffed. "I told you, it's not proper behavior. I'm sure there are plenty of other things for you to spend your time doing."

"Yeah!" Natsu encouraged, ignoring the insult. "Like this fun job I was telling Lucy about! It's super dangerous and we'll get to beat up all sorts of monsters and criminals! They're hiding in the sewers under Hargeon. Wanna come with us?"

As Carla started arguing with Natsu about his definition of the word "fun", Wendy laughed. Maybe she wasn't a good fit for the business, but she was definitely a good fit for Fairy Tail.

Sooo...it's been a while. I've got a lot of stuff in the works, I promise. I might even publish another one-shot this week if I can get it done.

Anyway, thank star-eye for beta-reading and pushing me to actually finish this and make progress on my other fics.

I really will do my best to post again soon. I just have so many ideas and works in progress that I have a hard time concentrating on just one sometimes.

Catch ya later, lovelies!

-FD