Fairy Therapy

While often considered fun, admirable, and interesting - being a Guild Mage came with it's fair share of stress. Especially when dealing with fellow mages...

"What the hell man? That was completely unnecessary!" Gray shouted, as he clamored back to his feet, clutching his stomach.

"You deserved that punch! I can't believe you'd say that about Lucy!" Natsu answered in a huff

"You can't believe I'd tell her she looked refreshed after her day off?!"

"Yeah. It implies that she didn't looked refreshed before."

"BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T! We all looked like crap after that last job! And that was YOUR fault!"

The two boys slammed their heads together, glaring at one another as the arguing continued.

Lucy sat at a table nearby with her head in her hands.

"Well... I definitely don't FEEL refreshed anymore" she sighed

"Ah come on Lu! Don't let these idiots get you down!" Levy chirped, setting her book down and giving Lucy a smile.

"Nah. She's right. The constant fighting really puts a damper on things." Cana added, taking a gulp of her beer.

"It's not that bad." Mira interjected

"Besides. Don't act like you don't cause a lot of the fighting to begin with!" Levy scolded

"Hey! It's fun when *I* fight!" Cana retorted

"Yeah! For *you*!"

"And the guys who get to see you bouncing around all half naked" Bisca added

"Oh like you have room to talk!"

Lucy slammed her forehead into the table as the bickering continued, then felt a hand on her back.

"Don't let all this get to you." Erza said, trying to calm her.

"Uhn... There's just a lot going on." Lucy whined in reply.

"Don't worry. Mira and I have been planning something."

Lucy gave her a curious look as she stepped up onto the table.

"EVERYONE QUIET DOWN!" She boomed over everyone. The room instantly fell silent.

"Juvia is always impressed by that" Juvia quipped to herself.

"Now. As I'm sure you all know, many recent events have left some of our guild members feeling a particular bit of stress" Erza began "and we would like to alleviate that. So, after some lengthy discussions with Makarov and Mirajane, we have come to a decision. We will be hiring a sort of stress councilor to help our guild members."

Murmurs began to circle the room.

"A councilor?"

"We don't need that"

"I dunno. I've been asking for this for a while"

"Will this really help anyone?"

"Okay!" Erza boomed again "I understand the trepidation some of you may have. And this is not required by any means... But we strongly recommend it for a few of you."

She looked around the room. People anxiously waiting for her to continue, not wanting to be the people who are "heavily suggested" to go.

"Lucy. I know things have been rough on you recently. It may be prudent for you to attend."

Lucy let out a sigh. She knew Erza was right, but she could barely bring herself to move. Let alone respond.

"Cana. Your drinking has gone more out of control than before. Contractors have complained."

"What? C-come on Erza! You can't expect me to just... Not drink!"

"And... I will be going as well" she sighed. Practically everyone in the room stopped dead and looked at her. SHE was getting therapy?

"Well I suppose if Erza's going..."

"Yeah. it might be good to go."

"I can't believe she's doing it"

"Enough!" She boomed, stopping them all once again. "I want to use this time to introduce the councilor who will be helping us."

She gestured to the Guild Hall doors, and a man entered.

He was a young man, likely in his mind twenties, with lengthy black hair, a warm, well trimmed beard, cool and calm blue eyes, wearing a black suit... With a Fairy Tail guild mark on his hand.

"Oh. Man... Him?" Bisca asked

"Do you guys know him?" Lucy replied

"Yeah. He's a guild member. Sort of unofficially now. He joined a few years ago but had some issues on a job. We thought he'd never recover but..." Levy began, before blushing and adopting a lewd expression "he looks good. Used to be fun to be around too. He was kind of a trouble maker"

"Troublemaker like you? Or like Natsu?" Lucy asked

"Hey! I'm not a troublemaker! .......but no. Definitely not like Natsu. He just liked the occasional magical prank"

"Gotcha. So like you." Bisca jabbed. Levy simply puffed her cheeks in a pout and crossed her arms.

The man stepped forward and smiled warmly

"I'm sure many of you know me, but for those who don't, my name is Ignazio Maldero. I was... Or I suppose am a member of the guild. But I have been away for a long time. And I'm unfortunately unable to fight like I could before. However, I can still offer services to the Guild" he stated "during my absence, I have been brushing up on my particular skill set, and will be using it to provide counciling to those who need it. I will have an office in this very hall, so please feel free to stop by."

He gave a bow, as Erza began covering the details.

---

Ignazio sat in his new office a few hours after his introduction by Erza. He hadn't had any clients come in yet; but it was only a matter of time. He just had to hope that when clients do show up, they end up being the ladies of the guild.

Ignazio was fairly well known as a bit of a prankster during his guild days. But his time off made his personality shift. He still enjoyed a lot of debauchery and fun - but his main means of getting it these days...

Was hypnosis.

As he contemplated what to do, he heard a knock at his door. His eyes lit up.

"Come in!" He called, as his first client entered