Romeo doesn't consider himself the most attentive person in the universe, or even in the guild, but he can definitely sense when people are acting out of the ordinary, especially when the behaviour continues for so long. It helps that he and his current target are close in age (even though they're not actually supposed to be, and he's technically even older than her now, but he just can't stop adding nee to the end of her name because it's what he's always done).

A few hours pass and he decides that enough is enough. He's going to see what's wrong with Wendy Marvell.

"Hey, Wendy-nee," he says, sliding into the seat in front of her. He half expects Carla to give him one of those looks, but all of her focus is on Happy, and not for the first time, Romeo finds himself thanking the exceed. "You look kinda down. What's up?"

Wendy sits up straight, eyes wide. Her fingers remain on her drink's straw. "Oh, no, I'm fine! I didn't mean to worry you."

Romeo channels his inner Carla and sends her a look. Wendy has never been much of a liar, and when she does lie, it's only because she doesn't want anyone to worry about her. He doesn't know whether it's a strength or a weakness. "You're a horrible liar, you know that?"

For a moment, he thinks she's about to protest, but instead she sighs so harshly that she actually deflates. She slumps in her seat. "It's not really a problem. I'm just overthinking things, that's all. It's hard to explain."

"Try me," is his immediate response, because that sounds like a challenge, even though the logical side of him knows that Wendy is likely the last person to issue him one. "I've got time."

Wendy looks around as though she's worried someone might overhear. Carla has been dragged away by Happy and is now lecturing Natsu about something, Lucy standing there with a thinly-veiled smile. The Strauss siblings are all by the bar, as are Erza, Macao, and Wakaba. Gray and Juvia are talking in hushed voices by the doors, and Romeo is sure the Raijinshuu are off on a mission. Even if they were all sitting nearby, they wouldn't be able to hear a thing over Gajeel's basic guitar playing and horrible shooby doo bop vocals. Levy has her work cut out for her.

Another sigh leaves Wendy, this one sounding even more defeated than the last. "I didn't want to go to any of the others about this since they'll all start asking questions, and Carla only knows because she guessed." She pauses. "You know how I go and visit Lamia Scale?"

"To see Chelia-san, right?" Romeo says, because it's common knowledge that the two girls are best friends.

Rather than simply agreeing, Wendy seems surprised that he knows what she's talking about. Her face burns red and suddenly everything makes sense.

"Oh." Romeo's surprise turns into smugness. "Oh."

Wendy starts stuttering, holding her blushing face in her hands. "P-Please don't say anything! Please! Like I said, I'm - I'm probably overthinking things. It's nothing to worry about!"

"I guess it depends on what you're overthinking, doesn't it?" Romeo says, the smug smile starting to fade now that he knows just how much grief this is causing her. "She could feel the same way."

He says this to encourage her, make her feel better, but all she does is lean against the table with a dejected expression. "I don't think so. She likes Lyon-san, and I'm nothing like him."

Romeo wants to joke that he hopes she isn't like Lyon, because Gray doesn't need another person to fight with. Instead, he says, "She's probably moved on by now, you know? The last I remember seeing anything like that was during the Grand Magic Games the year you guys returned, and that was years ago now."

Wendy's frown flattens out just a little, but Romeo will take what he can get. "I suppose you're right. And - And Lyon-san is getting married this year."

"See? There you go," he says, just as the familiar tune of a compact lacrima phone starts ringing. Wendy fumbles around with her lacrima, eyes widening when she sees the name on the small screen. "Is it Chelia? Answer it!"

She doesn't need to be told twice. Romeo waits patiently as she greets her friend, watching her fiddle with the collar of her dress. A nervous tick of hers, he guesses, but he has no more time to dwell on it as she says, "Hold on, let me see if I have anything else going on today."

Romeo raises an eyebrow at that, because Wendy usually agrees immediately whenever spending time with Chelia is involved. Rather than looking for Mirajane or Erza to ask, however, she turns to him. "Chelia's babysitting Sherry and Ren's new baby and asked if I want to go over and help - which I do - but did you want to come with me? So you - you can see what I mean. You don't have to, though! If you're busy, I don't want to interrupt you -"

"Sure," he says with a shrug. "Let's do it."

Wendy visibly breathes a sigh of relief and continues her conversation with Chelia, confirming that she will, indeed, be there.

It takes longer than it should for him and Wendy to convince Carla that they'll be fine on their own, but Carla knows better than anyone that Wendy can take care of herself, and Romeo hasn't done anything to land himself in Carla's bad books yet, so she has no reason not to trust him. As soon as Wendy mentions that they're going to be helping Chelia, Romeo grins from behind her and Carla seems to get the message that he's here to help the cause, not to hinder it. They have to promise to be back before it gets too dark or they have to stay at Chelia's. That's fine with Romeo, though Wendy blushes and mutters to herself.

When they arrive at Chelia's, they can hear the baby's screams from behind the door, so Romeo can only assume that Sherry has already left her son in Chelia's hands. Wendy knocks lightly and it takes a few seconds, but they're soon greeted to Chelia's smiling face.

"Wendy! Thank goodness you're here!" She spots Romeo and blinks, surprised. Her smile fades the slightest bit, and while Romeo would usually be a little insulted by this, he takes this as a good sign for Wendy. "Um, hi, you're Romeo-kun, right?"

"That's me," he says. "I didn't have much to do, so Wendy-nee invited me to come along."

"Is that okay?" Wendy asks quickly. "I know I didn't mention it, and I should have, but Romeo's not a bad guy, I promise!"

Chelia recovers quickly. She opens the door wider and smiles. "Of course. Any friend of Wendy's is a friend of mine. Make yourself at home, I'll calm Vesper down."

Romeo and Wendy head to the couch while Chelia disappears down the hall, into one of the bedrooms, Romeo suspects. The crying stops fairly quickly and he can't help but wonder if Chelia needed help at all. Perhaps this is just an excuse to see Wendy. He hopes so, for Wendy's sake.

When Chelia returns, she seems to hesitate before opting to sit on the floor in front of them, crossing her legs. "He's a cute kid, but he can be a bit of a handful. I think he's been hanging out with the Trimens too much. Maybe that's why Sherry wanted me to babysit tonight."

Wendy giggles into her hand. Chelia may be the cause of her troubles, but she's definitely in a better mood than before. "Don't say that, I'm sure the Trimens are just enthusiastic. You know they love Vesper."

The conversation continues, though Romeo doesn't contribute much. He doesn't mind, considering the whole reason he came was to see if Wendy was right about Chelia, and right now, he thinks he's on the right track to proving her wrong. Chelia isn't intentionally ignoring him, by any means. She always makes sure to include him. Yet her eyes are always drawn to Wendy, especially when she smiles or laughs, and sometimes she'll zone out of the conversation completely when she's staring. It's not so major that just anyone would pick up on it, but Romeo's looking for hints like these. He can't help but feel satisfied.

As the two girls are talking about the preparations for Lyon's wedding, a harsh cry is heard from the hallway and they all stop talking at once. It's Wendy that springs to action first.

"I'll take care of it this time!" she says, and she quickly rushes down the hallway. Romeo notes that she knows exactly where she's going and smiles to himself.

Chelia doesn't say anything at first, fidgeting with the ends of her hair, then her ribbons. Once she's convinced that they're tied properly, she says, "So, um, can I ask, why do you call Wendy 'Wendy-nee'? You just look a little older, so I was curious."

It's not the first time he's been asked this, and he's sure it won't be the last. He just grins and shrugs. "I met Wendy before she went to Tenrou Island, and at the time I was just six while she was twelve. I called her Wendy-nee back then, and for the entire time she and the others were gone, I referred to her like an older sister. It feels weird calling her anything else now. She is like a sister to me."

He makes sure to emphasise that point, and whether Chelia realises that or not, she visibly relaxes by the information. Her tone even sounds more vibrant when she says, "Oh, that makes sense. I just didn't know how close you were, so I was wondering." She pauses, eyes widening as she realises what she's saying. Romeo assumes that's the case, anyway. He never has been good at reading girls' thoughts.

Taking a chance (and hoping this doesn't embarrass Wendy too much, but at the same time, she wanted him here to find out answers, so), he leans forward with a smile that's probably a little too cheeky and says, "Were you worried that the two of us had a different relationship?"

Chelia blushes. Bingo.

"It's not that, I mean, it's not my business who Wendy's dating, though I guess it would be weird for her not to tell me since we're best friends and everything -" She cuts herself off and holds her head in her hands.

Romeo leans back into the couch. "Just ask her out. Trust me."

Chelia looks up at him, ready to question him, but Wendy chooses that moment to walk back into the room. Judging by her eased expression, she hasn't heard a single word they've said. Romeo thinks that's probably for the best. The seed has been planted in Chelia's head, and now he just has to hope that she lets it grow.

An hour and a half later, and they've moved on from casual conversation, now playing a card game that Cana taught everyone else in the guild a long time ago. Wendy must have taught Chelia, because she's a natural. Romeo can't seem to win, and so when Vesper's cries once again ring out throughout the room, he takes the opportunity and tells the girls he'll take care of it this time.

Once he's in the hallway, he simply follows the sound of crying until he finds the right door, then lets himself inside. Vesper lies inside a mobile cot, screaming his little lungs out. Romeo hasn't heard crying this bad since Asuka was a newborn.

"C'mon, little guy," Romeo says, hesitantly picking the little boy up. "Let's calm you down so I can hear what the girls are talking about, yeah?"

As though he can actually understand what Romeo is saying, Vesper doesn't take long to calm down. All he needs is a few pats on the back and he's fine. He still seems a bit restless, so Romeo uses that as an excuse to stay in the room and loiter by the door, poking his head out to try and hear what's going on. He can only just hear the girls' voices, but it's enough.

"Hey, Wendy, you know how I talk about love and stuff all the time, right?"

"Of course, I think it's wonderful. Why do you ask?"

A pause. "Well, I was wondering if - if you've ever been in love. There have been times where I've thought I've been, but…"

"But…?" Romeo notes that Wendy hasn't answered the question, but he can't exactly blame her. He'd probably do the same.

"Well… I think I might be in love. W-Well, I think that maybe I could be, maybe I'm being a bit hasty, because I do love this person, but I don't know if I'm in love with them yet, you know what I mean? But I'm on my way there. Maybe. I just wanted your input."

Romeo can almost see Wendy's blush. "I… I think I do love someone," she says quietly, almost too low for him to hear. "But I'm the same! I - I don't think I'm in love with her yet, either, but…"

"Her?"

Wendy attempts to string a sentence together, but all her words come out jumbled at first. In the end, she just mutters, "Yes, her," in a meek voice.

'Come on, Wendy,' Romeo thinks to himself. 'You defeated Acnologia, for Mavis' sake, you can tell the girl you like her!'

Someone takes a deep breath, but he doesn't know it's Wendy until he hears her voice. "I really like you, Chelia. I really like you."

Her voice is squeaky from embarrassment, but Chelia doesn't seem to mind, as she laughs and says in a loud voice, "Oh, thank the skies, 'cause I was talking about you, too."

There's more laughter, then the sound of someone falling to the floor. One person hugging another, perhaps? Romeo can't be sure, but he considers this a success, even if he doesn't think he did much to push the two together. He's sure they would have gotten there eventually without his help. They're both smart girls.

He turns to Vesper, whose eyes are slowly closing, and says, "They've got it under control. Let's put you back to bed, shall we?"

In compliance to the promise they made Carla, Wendy and Romeo leave before it gets too dark. They offer to stay the night, but Chelia insists that she'll be fine on her own, that she's done this before and that she doesn't want to keep them away from the guild for too long. She gives Romeo a high-five and Wendy a hug that goes on for a little too long to be considered platonic before saying goodbye.

"Thanks for everything, you two," she says. "I'll call you later, Wendy! And thanks for everything, Romeo-kun!"

Romeo and Wendy leave after that, heading towards the train station. They've only walked a few metres before Wendy speaks up with, "Um, Romeo-kun, did you say anything to Chelia? About what I told you earlier today, I mean."

He actually has to consider his response. "Well, not in so many words. It just sorta came up. I didn't tell her anything you told me. I just said she should ask you out, since it was pretty obvious that she likes you. And it looks like she took my advice, huh?"

Wendy's face is so red that she could double for Erza's hair. "Y-Yes… Thank you for doing that, Romeo-kun."

"Don't mention it. We're friends, aren't we?" he says. "I'm your wingman. Wingman Romeo, I should start up a business."

Wendy laughs, previous embarrassment forgotten. "Wingman Romeo. I think it has a nice ring to it."

i've always loved chendy, and i also love the idea of a romeo and wendy brotp, so wingman romeo? um yES.