Maël took a deep breath of fresh air. Inhale, exhale. Ahhhh. He had spent so much time in that floating guild hall that he had almost forgotten the sweet, intangible taste of the outdoors - ground level outdoors, anyways. How long was he in there? Months? Years? No, it was months. He stretched his legs on the park bench, letting out a satisfied little groan as he did so. Placing his arms behind his head and crossing his leg over his shoulder, Maël smiled to himself as he closed his eyes, letting himself take a nice and peaceful res-

"Hey mister!" A child's voice called out to him. Maël's eyes shot open, showing about a second's worth of annoyance before returning to their usual cool and collected state. "Hey kid." He'd reply back, fixing up his posture in an attempt to appear more respectable in front of the little guy. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, figuring that would be one of the few reasons this boy would be bothering a stranger on a bench rather than playing in the park.

"It's my dog, mister... I don't know where he is!" The child's eyes appeared worried, yet he was holding together pretty well. Maël straightened up even more. He always did have a fondness for dogs, even if he was slightly more of a cat person in his heart. Memories flood back of Dexter, a childhood dog his father tended after. "Tell me his name and I'll do all I can." It was somewhat rare for Maël to so suddenly be responsible and, well, decent - but the cause was great enough for him to cast aside his lesser qualities... for not. "Her name, mister! It's Eri." Maël nodded his head, taking note of the pronunciation. Eri. Easy to call out. Maël's hand pushed upon his knees as he stood up, towering over the child now that he was off that bench. "Alright then, let's go find your Eri. I'll take the west trail of the park, you take the east. We meet back here in an hour. Sound good?" Maël asked, the young boy nodding and hurriedly making his way towards the trees that littered the east end of the park.

Maël felt a little nostalgic doing this. When he was a child a cat of his would often go missing. This felt just like searching for her. Maël walked down the trail that led west, past an area of the park full of flowers and puffy bushes, though some trees littered the edges still. There were minimal people around... it was embarrassing, but Maël figured he might as well call out the dog's name. He was sure the passerbys would get it. "Eri!" He called out in a half-yell, still a little unsure on if he should make anymore noise. He aimed one shout towards the right side of the trail, the other towards the left... with no luck yet, Maël continued on through the park, occasionally blurting out the dog's name when he had traveled far enough. Oh, he hoped he didn't look like a fool...

The rough bark beneath her legs, the soft rustling of the leaves, and the peaking sunlight through the branches made the young elf feel like she was back at home. She had only been in Magnolia for a few days and she had already found a quiet place to help soothe her inner anxiety and nervousness. Her brown arms stretched out and a small yawn escaped her lips. Her teal and cream dress waved gently in the wind as she shuffled to make herself comfortable again. Her eyes slowly closed as she settled back down, but then she heard a voice.

"Eri!" The voice was clear as day as it echoed across her ears. Her muscles tensed and instinctively held her breath. Quickly, she hopped to her feet and a few leaves, from the branches she was sitting on, fell to the ground beneath her. The branch beneath her feet groaned from the shifting of weight, but held firmly. Using the base of the tree to hide her presence, the young woman quietly peered from behind the branches to see a tall man walking down the path in her general direction.

Eteri heard him call out again. For a second, she was confused. It sounded similar to her name, but she didn't know anyone in Magnolia. "Maybe he's looking for someone else.." The sorcerer muttered to herself. Nervousness filled her chest as she realized the opportunity in front of her. 'C'mon Eteri.. You can't shy away from people. Think of it like quest.'

As the man walked closer to her, about 50 feet away, she gathered courage and spoke out with a soft yet clear voice. "Excuse me! Are you looking for someone?" As she spoke, she stepped forward, no longer hiding behind the tree's large base and stood at the base of one of the lower branches. She tucked her gently ruffled, creamy hair behind her pointed ears and waiting for his response.

Maël's eyes were quickly drawn to wherever his ears led him, in this case following a woman's voice towards the edge of a nearby tree. The girl in question, who was asking about what he was doing, immediately caught his eye. She was petite, cute, but thankfully still had s- wait. This wasn't the time for those kind of thoughts to be running through his head. Focus, Maël, focus! This dog was counting on him. Stepping forward with a smile, Maël decided to enlist this girl into helping him - after all, she had already shown some interest in it, and he had no doubt that he could persuade her even if she initially refused. "Yes, I am." He nodded, a warm expression on his face, one he had spent years practicing - a background in science made one really master the ways of begging for funding. "Eri's small, cute, adventurous, loved by all..." Maël had closed the gap considerably now, his long legs making short work of the 50 feet that stood between them - now only 6 feet remained.

"Her owner most of all. Wouldn't want to separate some poor kid from his dog, right?" He asked, crossing his arms and looking down at the girl. She was even shorter when viewed from up close. "I had agreed to help find a child's pet - a cute little dog named Eri. Think you could help out? I'm sure the child would be very grateful." He politely asked, before eventually extending his hand towards the woman, gesturing for a friendly handshake. "The name's Maël, by the way. Member of the guild Collective Mind - you may have heard of us, maybe not. And might I ask your name..?" As he looked (down) towards the woman, Maël noted a rather elvish look to her appearance. Interesting. He had never met any elves in his lifetime, his former interactions being limited to mere passing-bys. Perhaps he'd have to chat her up after Eri was found. Purely for the purposes of enlightening himself about other cultures, of course...

Eteri heard him reply and watched him close the distance between them. He was tall. Taller than she expected. Crouching downward, she moved into a sitting position with her legs dangling off the branch. She listened intently as it seemed this young man was trying to convince her to help in the search for a child's dog. "Sure, I wouldn't mind helping search. I don't have any plans." The young elf said as she slipped off the branch and landed lightly on the ground. Then She tilted her head upward to look the man's green eyes as she spoke directly to him."I haven't heard of the guild, but it's nice to meet you Mael. You can call me Eteri." Her calloused, petite hand reached out to shake his hand as she finished her sentence. "So, what do we know about this dog?" The young woman inquired as she pulled her hand back and fixed her ruffled dress.

Although, she had planned on a relaxing day, as a Fairy Tail member, she couldn't ignore the pleas of a child. As for Mael, she didn't know if she trusted him yet. He seemingly come out of nowhere, claimed to be from a guild she didn't know, and requested her help right away. "I can provide eyes from the trees if you'd like. I've been climbing them every since I was a little girl." Eteri offered up as she knew she could cover more grounds while running through the trees. She pulled a tie off her wrist and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. A look of determination was painted across her face as she began to turn and walk towards the direction of the trail.