Holy fajitas! I can't believe that I'm posting my first story in over five years! I feel so disoriented, haha! I'm sure I'm rusty as an old bike chain, but I couldn't shake this little nugget, and though it took me awhile, I finally finished it. *phew* And so, I unleash my crazy, 2am mind-blabber on you all, hope you enjoy!

Fairy Tail is generally a cheerful, boisterous guild. Its members love noise and excitement, and even when they are bickering and brawling amongst themselves, there are never any hard feelings. Even the grouchiest members, as Levy and Mira can attest, have given in to the carefree, relaxed atmosphere despite trying their hardest to play it cool.

Just not today.

There is, of course, the usual conversation and bustle, but smiles and laughter are strained and uneasy. There is a menacing, dangerous aura permeating the hall, and it has everyone on edge. There are four pairs of narrowed eyes set in faces of unflinching stone, and they are all set on one trembling, terrified figure.

Had anyone been brave enough, they would have scolded the quartet for intentionally intimidating a young boy, but the only ones who could keep them under control were nowhere to be found, and they all valued their own lives too much to try to rescue the sweating, quaking kid.

Kinana, bringing Freed and Evergreen a pot of tea, glanced around cautiously before whispering, "Why are they so mad at Romeo-kun?"

Fighting a grin, the green-haired rune mage urged her closer with a crook of his slender fingers. "Romeo asked Wendy out on a date," he whispered back, but of course, three sets of Dragon Slayer ears picked up the exchange. The resulting growls made the dark-haired boy jump, and his face lost even more color, though it was ashen already. Four identical smirks appeared at the frightened motion, and finally, one of the intimidators spoke.

"Maa, that's right, Romeo asked Wendy out on a date." Gray's voice was deceptively light and conversational, and Natsu's responding hum held the same noncommittal tone, but their steely expressions remained.

Leaning forward, Natsu beckoned the quailing boy in. "Wendy-chan sure is cute, ne?" he asked, continuing the light-hearted charade. Too terrified to move, Romeo gave no response.

"What," Gray inquired, closing in on the young fire mage as well. "Don't you think she's cute?"

"Y-yes!" came the squeaking reply.

"And she's really kind, too, ne? Like, really, really nice!" Natsu went on airily, but before Romeo could answer, Laxus cocked a scarred eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Girls like that are easy to take advantage of," he put in, and Natsu's demeanor went from flinty to downright terrifying as the air around him grew uncomfortably warm.

"You aren't planning on taking advantage of Wendy-chan, are you, Romeo?" he growled dangerously.

The boy in question was now shaking so hard his teeth chattered. "N-no!" he replied frantically. His mouth tried to form more words, but he found he could not produce any sound.

Gray nodded and hummed authoritatively. "Wendy is very precious. It would be a shame if anything bad happened to her."

Gajeel's eyes glowed almost demonically. "You wouldn't let anything bad happen to L'il Bit, now, would you, kid?"

"No!" he exclaimed forcefully, and four pairs of eyebrows rose in perfect sync at his sudden firmness. The foursome exchanged surreptitious glances as the boy clenched his fists. "I really like Wendy, and I'd never hurt her! I'm gonna get stronger and protect her from bad stuff, and make her really happy!"

The four older mages shared a pleased glance, but a new voice broke into their conversation.

"That's good to hear, Romeo-kun!" Mirajane said in her blithe, smiling way, and just behind her they could see Lucy, Erza, Cana, Levy, Lisanna, and Wendy herself crowding in the door way. The petite Dragon Slayer was pink from her hairline to the tips of her ears and back down, while the other girls merely grinned in an almost cheeky fashion. The five men could see that they had put all their joint efforts into dressing the young bluenette up, and she looked adorable, and the four older men wore satisfied expressions at the awed, almost worshipful look on the face of the young boy in front of them.

"Hey there, Romeo-kun," Lucy greeted him cheerfully, waving him over. They each passed him in turn, nudging and patting him on the shoulder as they went, and stood with the sitting foursome as he and Wendy fiddled and fidgeted nervously in the guild's entrance.

Mirajane pinched Laxus and leveled a stern glance at him. "What on earth were you all doing to that poor boy?" She demanded, and Lucy gave both Natsu and Gray's ears a little tug.

"It isn't nice to bully little kids, you know," she admonished, hiding a smile.

None of them, however, seemed the least bit apologetic.

"Hey, we had to make sure the kid was gonna treat her right," the Iron Dragon Slayer grunted, not at all abashed.

Natsu nodded eagerly in agreement. "We were just giving him some friendly advice! Fairy Tail men take their relationships very seriously!"

Levy slanted a deadpanned stare at Lisanna and Lucy and rolled her eyes so hard she was sure her retinas had detached themselves.

"Well, if that's the case," the grey-haired barmaid said buoyantly, turning to the young couple still bumbling timidly in the foyer. "Romeo-kun," she called, giving a lively little wave. "Don't forget your anniversary!"

Laxus blanched and gave an audible gulp.

Gray and Natsu snickered at the blonde-haired man's discomfiture, and Lucy gave them both another sharp yank.

"Or Valentine's Day, Romeo, don't forget Valentine's Day!" Lucy called innocently as they nursed their smarting ear lobes. Now it was Gray's turn to sweat.

"Or her birthday," Levy echoed as Lisanna added, "And don't insult her cooking!"

The two young mages made their goodbyes to the group, and the girls seemed pleased to see that the dark-haired boy looked appropriately meek as he nodded dutifully to all of their advice. Amused onlookers noted that his expression was not that different from the four cowed males at the center of all the hullabaloo.

As the guild watched them leave, Erza placed an ominous hand on her sword's hilt. "Seven o'clock, Romeo, no later. Levy put a timer around the dorm, so we'll know," she called warningly, and with a gulp, the boy scuttled out of the hall, pulling a startled and confused Wendy with him.

"Hey!" Natsu complained. "How come Erza gets to—OW!" Lucy and Lisanna grinned at each other over his head as he rubbed his throbbing ears. "Crazy, violent women," he swore, and his three companions sent him mental farewells as Cancer's scissors and Lisanna's Tigress claws flashed threateningly.

"Ah, good, the guild's back to normal," Freed said, sipping his tea and watching the ensuing brawl with mild interest.

"Fools," Evergreen sniffed. "At least that oaf isn't—"

"THAT'S A MAN!"

"Oh for the love of—" she rolled her eyes. "Fairy Tail men, indeed."

God that was fun. I just wanted to see big, protective, big brother Gajeel, and it spawned into this. I giggled writing it, and I hope you giggled reading it.

But seriously, is there no better source of funny inspiration than Gajeel? Honestly.

Thanks for reading! 3