Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia. 

November, x788. 

"We're finally home." Marin said as she stepped out of the elevator in the Mansion on the Lake. "This isn't the longest I've ever been away from home, but it sure is the farthest I've ever gone." 

"Well, it's not every day you get quests in other countries." Alfonzo replied. "Hell, this is even my first one." 

"Master Alfonzo, Madam Marin, welcome back." Grayfia, who on a rare occasion was not there to open the door when the owner of the house returned due to cleaning another part of the mansion, said, extending her greeting to her employer. "I trust the quest went smoothly." 

"Hey, Grayfia." Alfonzo said casually while holding his luggage forward to Grayfia, who was waiting to take care of it. "Yeah, it went fine. I'm not a fan of war, though." 

"Understandable." Grayfia replied while accepting Alfonzo and Marin's luggage. 

"Oh, Shizuka's luggage is in the car." Alfonzo said, pointing over his shoulder. 

Though they all returned to Magnolia together, the quartet of Alfonzo, Laxus, Marin, and Shizuka first stopped at the guild to give their report to Ur. Then, after staying to chat with their guild mates for a while, Alfonzo and Marin decided to return home. 

Laxus, on the other hand, left with Chico and Saya to make up for the time when Laxus was away on the quest while Shizuka stayed to chat with Ren, Rika, and her other friends at the guild. 

As for Alfonzo and Marin, they decided to return to the mansion on their own. While Marin wanted to get back quickly to read her newest novel, something that Erza picked up for her, Alfonzo wanted to get back to work on his airship. 

"*Yawn* Anyway, I'm gonna take a quick nap." Alfonzo said as he pulled Marin into a hug. "I wanted to work on the airship, but I'm more tired than I expected." 

"Well, you did stay up the whole way back from Caelum." Marin said as she wrapped her arms around Alfonzo in return. "So, it makes sense that you're, like, uber-tired." 

"I guess." Alfonzo replied. 

As Marin said, after leaving the Village Hidden in the Mist on Ao's ship, Alfonzo stayed awake for the entire voyage. And there were a couple of reasons for that. Firstly, he was wary of running into another Leviathan, even though the chances of that were astronomically low. And second, he did not want to be ambushed by any of Yagura's forces who wanted revenge. 

Luckily, those worries were for nothing. Even so, Alfonzo stayed on alert for the entire voyage. 

Then when the ship docked at Akane Beach, Alfonzo decided that he just wanted to go home right away. So, he forced everyone into the S 600 as soon as they returned to the villa and hurried back to Magnolia. 

"Anyway, I'll come with you." Marin said with a smile. "Just let me get my new book. I'll sit with you while you take your nap." 

"If you want to." Alfonzo said with a shrug before kissing Marin on the top of her head. "I'll see you in my room, then." 

Hopping up to return the kiss, pecking Alfonzo on the cheek, Marin then pulled him into the elevator before pressing the button for their floor. Then, once they stepped off the elevator, Marin sprinted away to her room 

"Hmm... Should I start creating computers and video game consoles to introduce eroge for Marin?" Alfonzo asked himself while he walked leisurely towards his bedroom. "I can think about that after I finish the airship." 

By the time Alfonzo walked past Marin's bedroom, she was just stepping out of it with a new novel in her hands and a big, excited smile on her face. 

"Alright, let's go." Marin said cheerfully while grabbing Alfonzo's hand as if she were expecting him to be passing her door when she came out. She then started dragging him to his bedroom as she continued. "You need your nap, young man." 

Chuckling to himself, Alfonzo shook his head while allowing himself to be dragged along. 

A few moments later, Alfonzo and Marin were standing in front of the bed in Alfonzo's bedroom. Then, before Alfonzo could climb into bed, Marin climbed into the bed, positioned all the pillows and cushions on one side of the bed, and leaned against them with her legs spread across the head of the bed. 

*Clap* *Clap* 

"Okay, you can lay down here." Marin said while patting her thighs. "Your living pillow with human body temperature is ready for use." 

Smiling at his wife's antics, Alfonzo stripped out of his shirt and pants, leaving only a tank top and boxers on his body. Then, he climbed into the bed and laid his head on Marin's thighs. 

"If it gets uncomfortable, wake me up, okay?" Alfonzo asked while looking up at Marin. 

"don't worry, I think I can handle it." Marin said as she opened her book. "Just go to sleep." 

Knowing that Marin probably would not wake him up even if her legs fell asleep, Alfonzo decided to just let her have her way. So, he closed his eyes and made himself as comfortable as he could. 

Meanwhile, Marin turned the pages of her book until she reached the beginning of the novel. Then, with the book in one hand, she lowered her other hand and started combing her fingers through Alfonzo's dread, gently rubbing his scalp as she did so, only stopping long enough to change pages before going back to it. 

Thanks to Marin's gentle caresses, Alfonzo fell asleep quickly. 

"Clap* *Clap* 

Two hours later, Alfonzo was awaken when he felt a light impact on his cheeks. On top of that, he felt a very familiar weight pressing on his chest. Add to that, the joyful laughter of a toddler, and he knew exactly who was responsible for waking him up. 

"Well... Well... Well... Look whose finally home." Alfonzo said, his voice a little more hoarse than usual thanks to just waking up. "I missed you, Kid." 

Speaking the last word, Alfonzo reached up, catching Amar'e, the culprit behind the end of his nap, under his arms and lifted him off his chest. Then he sat up, raising his son over his head. 

Meanwhile, Amar'e laughed happily while reaching his little arms up high in excitement. 

"We're here, too, Fonzie." Cana said, her head also resting on Marin's thigh. 

"Indeed." Erza added while reading Marin's book with her from over Marin's shoulder. 

"I know." Alfonzo said while making funny faces at Amar'e. "I missed you three, too." 

"Give him a break, Cana." Elicia, who was sitting next to Alfonzo and watching him play with Amar'e with a smile on her face, said. "He did just get woken up from a nap. And we all know how you get when someone wakes you up." 

"Whatever, I'm not that bad." Cana said while turning her head away. 

"As long as you weren't drinking before you went to bed." Marin said as she turned a page. 

"So, basically all the time." Erza added while continuing to read along with Marin. She then pointed over Marin's shoulder before continuing. "Oh, this is my favorite part so far." 

"Oh, I can see why." Marin replied. "Something you wanna try with Fonzie, perhaps." 

"Perhaps." Erza replied without shame. 

"*Sigh* You two and your dirty books." Cana said, a little indignant that no one was taking her side in the argument. "Just don't corrupt Mare' or the one Mira has on the way... Especially the one Mira has on the way.... I don't even wanna think about the hell the She-Devil will bring down on you for that." 

Erza, who was around when Mirajane was at her worst, which would be amplified when she was worried about Elfman and Lisanna, shivered. Marin, on the other hand, had been around long enough to know how scary Mirajane could be, though not to the same extent, stopped reading for a moment to imagine what Mirajane would do if they corrupted her child with their culture. 

"Yeah, no thank you." Marin said before returning to read the page she was on. "Although I wouldn't call it corruption, I don't wanna deal with Mira if she were to find out her child was indulging this kind of art before they were old enough." 

"Anyway, where were you three?" Alfonzo asked as he sat Amar'e back on his chest. 

"We went to bring some supplies to the orphanage in Hargeon." Elicia replied. "And since the ladies at the orphanage love Mar'e almost as much as they loved you all those years ago, we brought him with us." 

"They'd probably love him even more if he could cook, too." Cana teased. 

"Probably." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "I mean, they met him before he could talk. They had to deal with me after I already learned how to talk and be a smart a--- *Cough* *Cough* smart mouth." 

"Wow!" Elicia exclaimed in shock. "You stopped yourself before I could even glare at you. Fonzie, are you feeling, okay?" 

With that, Elicia reached over and put her hand on Alfonzo's forehead to check if he had a fever. 

"I only stopped because I didn't want you to glare at me." Alfonzo said while sweeping Elicia's hand off his forehead. "I don't even mind if Amar'e swears like me. Mom didn't have a problem with it, either." 

"Yeah, but your dad looked like he was gonna have a heart attack every time you said a cuss word in front of other people." Elicia said with a giggle. "And my mom was just happy that I didn't pick up the same habit." 

*Growl!* 

Before the conversation could continue, the sound of a hungry tummy interrupted. 

"My tummy is telling me that it's time to eat." Marin said while patting her belly. 

Looking up at the clock on the wall, Alfonzo realized it was around the time that he or the maids would usually start cooking dinner. 

"Well then, I guess I'll start dinner." Alfonzo said as he sat up while making sure that Amar'e did not fall. "Any requests for dinner?" 

The course of dinner requests, that were all different, followed immediately after Alfonzo's question. 

"Well, I'll do my best to meet all your demands." Alfonzo said while shaking his head and passing Amar'e to Elicia. "Why don't you go get the others. We'll have a family dinner tonight." 

"Sure." Cana said as she pulled a card from her deck. 

*Poof!* 

"Luckily, no one is out on a quest today." Cana continued while taking a bottle of liquor out of her [Storage Card]. "*Gulp* *Gulp* *Gulp* *Burp* Ah! That hit the spot." 

"Good, then I'll get started." Alfonzo said with a smile. 

With that, everyone started to move. While Alfonzo made his way downstairs to the kitchen to take over the cooking duties from Grayfia and Maria, Elicia, with Amar'e in her arms, Cana, Erza, and Marin followed along, the latter three on their lPhones to let the other ladies to come to the mansion for dinner. 

After receiving the word that Alfonzo would be cooking dinner, everyone hurried back. There were even some uninvited guests who followed the people they were hanging out with back to the mansion. For example, Brandish came with Lucy. Heine and Juliet came with Irene, Sun was followed by Gozaburo, Ren, and masa and Mirajane brought Evergreen, Natsu, Elfman and Lisanna with her. 

"Good thing I was expecting something like this." Alfonzo said when he noticed how many extra people followed everyone home. "There should be more than enough for everyone." 

"Even if there isn't, Grayfia and I can always make more, Master Alfonzo." Maria said with a sweet smile. "Unfortunately, it won't be as good as your cooking, though." 

"In fact, you should probably get started on making more." Alfonzo said while turning off the heat on the stove. "Oh, and make sure to put aside some of what I cooked for you and the other four." 

"Thank you, Master Alfonzo, you're too kind." Grayfia said as she picked up a salad bowl to bring out to the table. "I'll make sure to do so." 

When she and the others were first hired, due to her professionalism, Grayfia would have declined an offer like the one Alfonzo just made. However, after tasting his cooking over the last two years, or so, her professional attitude has weakened considerably when it comes to getting Alfonzo's cooking, something that Ikaruga, Mey-Rin, Maria, Ai, and Miyuki have been very pleased about. 

About two hours later, dinner ended with everyone pleased. And while the maids cleaned up, almost everyone else took the chance to enjoy the entertainment facilities in the mansion. Alfonzo, on the other hand, went down to the hangar to start working on his airship. 

However, when he turned on the lights in the hangar, he was shocked to see a chunk of metal sitting in the middle of the hangar. 

"*Sigh* Looks like they forgot to tell me about this." Alfonzo said while shaking his head. "I'm almost certain who's in there. But if it's not them, I'm gonna have a body to quietly dispose of. Actually, now that I think about it, I need to get Obito out of the trunk, too. I hope he didn't scare Grayfia when she went to get Shizuka's luggage."