#YES THIS IS ABOUT MIDNIGHT AT THE MAGNOLIA SHUT UP

[fromzeepewithlife]

i HATE THIS netflix is NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE GENUINELY GOOD MOVIES

#YES THIS IS ABOUT MIDNIGHT AT THE MAGNOLIA SHUT UP #Netflix #mine #midnight at the magnolia #I WASNT EXPECTING A GOOD AND BELIEVABLE AND WHOLESOME FRIENDSHIP #AND ACTUAL JUST. THEM. I LOVE THEM #THEY SEEMED LIKE??? REAL PEOPLE????? #AND JACK WAS ADORABLE AND GENUINE AND THEY WERE BOTH SO GENUINE #HOW DARE THEY DO THAT #AND THE WRITING WAS EXCELLENT #THE CINNAMON TOPOGRAPHY ALSO. OFF THE CHARTS #HOLIDAY MOVIES ARENT SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD #OR MAKE ME LIKE ACTUALLY. REALLY FEEL THINGS #i mean yeah it wasn’t PERFECT like jack wasn’t written suuuuuper consistently but like #STILL #anyway i’m just. agghhhhh #stupid TEARS #goodnight #ill be back on my stormlight archive crap tomorrow don’t worry #(unless my brain decides this is what it wants to think about) #(let’s hope not)

[magnoliasinbloom]

Moodboard Challenge

A huge thank you to @outlanderlush​ and @iamnottrisha​ for organizing this. The moodboard belongs to @outlanderlush​, the story belongs to you all. Hope you enjoy.

AO3 / Magnolias In Bloom Master Fanfic List

Mayfair

This was not his sort of scene at all.

James Fraser stepped silently behind his colleagues into the smoky darkness of The Mayfair Club. The boys had insisted, to celebrate their law firm's latest contract. The pulsating beat spilled out onto Dover street and Piccadilly, as the hour grew close to midnight.

He'd heard of this place. He'd never had reason to visit it, though. He found his thrills elsewhere: in the courtroom, in a swimming pool, and a few years ago, in Afghanistan.

He imagined he could feel the scar tissue on his back prickling in apprehension as scantily clad serving staff paraded by, balancing loaded trays. It was Friday night and Mayfair was jumping.

Raucous calls greeted the group, as the manager slapped Dougal’s back and set the men up at a prime table in the middle of the club, from where they could monitor all the action. The décor was lush and elegant, as befitted one of the most exclusive gentlemen’s clubs in London. They were immediately plied with champagne in silver buckets; one word from the manager, and Jamie found the group surrounded by swatches of bare skin. Women danced all around them, lively with the prospect of huge tips.

John Grey, an Englishman in the midst of Scots who did not care overmuch for the attentions of women, sat back and laughed at Charlie Stewart and Dougal MacKenzie’s exploits. For once mindful and respectful of the club’s rules, they kept their hands to themselves, but that did not stem their lewd comments and lascivious stares. All of it made Jamie feel slightly ill.

He took a seat next to John, shaking his head politely at a blonde girl who offered to dance for him. Instead, he ordered a whisky neat, crossed his legs, pulled out his phone, and settled in for a long night.

And then he saw her.

He had thought to drown himself in drink, but instead he found himself foundering in her whisky eyes.

She was taller than most, towering even higher on ten-inch stilettos. Her brown curls were nestled under a black bowler hat; her hair reminded him of the different hues of water in a burn, when it ruffled over the rocks. In his native Scotland, he would call her mo nighean donn, his brown-haired lass.

All of this flashed through his mind in a second. She hadn’t noticed him, of course. Her own gaze was focused on the horizon; a horizon that held a gilt-edged mirror, random patrons, and flashing lights. She leaned casually against the bar, seemingly bored.

Dougal caught Jamie’s gaze and smirked. “Interested, are ye, lad?”

Jamie sat up straight and looked at Dougal. “No, Uncle, ‘tis alright. Just tired.”

“Och, Jamie my boy, there’s no need to be shy. I’ll buy ye a lap dance.” Dougal gestured towards the women at the bar, until he caught someone’s attention. A thin blonde waif sauntered over. Jamie could feel heat crawling up his neck as she approached; it spread to his face until he was sure it matched his red hair.

“Uncle, really, I dinna want—”

“Lass, I’d like ye to take care of my nephew here.” Dougal waved a thick wad of notes while Jamie felt he would die of shame.

The woman glanced at Jamie, who refused to glance up from his lap; her eyes gleamed, and spoke to his uncle.

“Perhaps a private room would be better, if you insist on spending that much.” She batted her eyelashes at Dougal and smiled. She called the manager over and whispered in his ear. He nodded and took the money from Dougal.

“This way please, sir.” The last thing Jamie wanted was a lap dance, but he figured it would be better in a private room; he would simply tell the lass he didn’t want her to perform. She could sit and rest for a while, or go do something else. The dance was paid for anyway, and he’d avoid further comments from Dougal. After that, he would leave, no matter what—he was tired and the thumping music was giving him a headache.

Jamie was led down a short hallway to a secluded area lined with small rooms. They had no doors; instead, satin curtains dropped from the doorframes. There was a low-lying table in front of a plush banquette seat; everything was lit in purple tones and soft electric candelabra. The music volume was not as earsplitting here. Jamie took a seat, defeated. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, taking deep breaths. He heard the manager greet someone and he opened his eyes again.

It was the brown-haired beauty from the bar.

Jamie swallowed hard. This was not who he was expecting. Now she would think he had requested her for a lap dance! He felt his face burn, hot with embarrassment. He tried not to look at her; she had changed her outfit into some sort of dancer’s leotard—except he’d never seen a dancer wear a leotard that was practically see-through, lacy, and black. The hat was still perched on her head.

“Make sure he’s well taken care of, eh, love? He’s a VIP client, mind. Show the lad ‘ere a good time.” The manager—Stephen, his tag read—touched the woman ever so slightly on the small of her bare back. Jamie could see her visibly shudder; she had a glass face that did nothing to hide her distaste. He felt like punching the living daylights out of Stephen, but before he could react, the woman waved the manager away and drew the satin curtains shut.

“Miss, I’m sorry, I dinna want—no offense, but ye dinna have to dance for me, truly—”

She turned to him with a mysterious smile; it stopped the words coming out of his mouth. She pointed discreetly at a CCTV camera tucked in the corner of the room and shrugged; she had a job to do, regardless of his wishes. Sultry, upbeat music burst out of hidden speakers, different from what was playing in the club. This seemed to be a cue for her; she stepped forward and climbed expertly onto the table.

He hadn’t wanted this, it was true; but to say he didn’t find her beautiful and sensual would be a lie. Jamie watched, helpless, when she began to dance.

As the lass moved, Jamie forgot about everything else. Her outfit hugged every curve, so no further removal of clothing was necessary. The high, black patent-leather heels clicked almost inaudibly on the tabletop. Her hands were everywhere: trailing down her neck, tracing the contour of her breasts, tracking the outline of her hips. When she turned, the shape of her derriere made a perfect inverted heart shape, covered in the lacy material.

The woman swayed in time to the music, occasionally twirling and dropping the lower half of her body, only to rise up in a fluid motion that reminded him of ocean waves. Her whisky eyes never met his, preferring to keep her gaze on her feet. Her scent—sweet jasmine—enveloped him. Jamie was completely mesmerized, almost forgetting his previous objections to this moment.

Almost.  

The vibrating beat changed, now pounding out a staccato bass. Jamie felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him, skin tingling. A hole opened up in his chest, sucking the air from his lungs. He could feel his heart sprinting along, trying to pump enough blood to keep him from fainting. The music, pounding like gunfire, triggered the familiar wave of memories from the battlefield six years ago.

James Fraser curled his hands into fists; head between his hands, willing himself to remain conscious, he called out to the dancing woman with beseeching urgency. He thought he was screaming, but it was barely above a whisper.

“Please. Stop.”

- - -

Claire thought he was dying.

She had heard stories about men who suffered heart attacks and collapsed in the club. Fortunately, it had never happened during her performances—until now, it seemed.

She heard him calling in spite of the music. She heard the word stop.

She halted mid-step, arms raised above her head; she watched him for a second, disoriented and sweating rivers, before Claire Beauchamp, nurse, sprang into action. Clambering off the dance table, she landed gracefully on her stilettos. She was at his side, ready to assess and aid the red-headed man before she remembered.

No touching or contact exchange between performers and patrons.

Claire hesitated for a second before recalling Geillis’s trick when she wanted to flout the rules a bit. She pulled the bowler hat off and stepping carefully onto the banquette, draped it over the CCTV camera. It would buy her at least ten minutes, she thought.

The red-headed man was keening softly, rocking back and forth in an attempt to get himself under control. This was some sort of panic attack. His tightly fisted hands trembled as they rested on his knees. Perspiration stood out on his forehead, red curls sticking to his skin. She sat next to him, as close as possible without actually touching him. She wasn’t sure how he might react to her attempts to help.  

“Breathe.” Claire’s voice cut through the music. His back and forth motions slowed, as he registered her words. “Just breathe.” She stretched her hand towards him carefully, so he would be aware of her actions. He gulped for air as she gently loosened his tie and opened a few buttons on his shirt.

“What’s your name?” she asked kindly, her hand on his shoulder as he inhaled and exhaled slowly.

“J-J-James.” Pause. “Jamie.” Another pause. “Fraser.”

“Alright, Jamie. I’d like you to tell me five things you can see around you.” Claire’s hand remained on his shoulder, the touch feeling as forbidden as it actually was.

“Five. Things. I…” Jamie took another deep breath, panic his eyes. “I see the table. The curtains, the lights. The seat. You.” She was surprised at the soft Scottish burr of this tone. His eyes blinked slowly and met hers in a calmer gaze, an intense blue she only remembered having seen in nature. The Cornish coast, perhaps.

“Well done. Tell me four things you can touch.”

Jamie glanced at her hand, and Claire quickly pulled it back.

“I’m sorry, Jamie, we’re not actually supposed to—”

“No, it’s fine, lass.” His voice was still stilted; he was still trying to pull the reins of his control. “It was yer touch that helped, at first.” He smiled shakily. “And yer voice, of course.”

The panic seemed to subside. They sat still for a few minutes, until Jamie broke the silence. “Will it cost yer job? I’d be happy to speak to the manager, if ye like.”

“No, I—don’t worry. I took care of it.” She gestured at the CCTV camera once more, and Jamie chuckled at her improvisation.

“Would it help to talk about it?” Claire asked softly,

“I dinna ken.” Jamie hesitated. “I dinna ken if I… can.”

“Was it something I did? If so, I apologize.”

“No, lass, it wasn’t anything ye did. Nothing ye could ever do. It was the song, it brought back… memories.”

Claire nodded encouragingly. Jamie was quiet for a minute before launching into his story.

It was 2013. Lance Corporal Gavin Hayes playing this song on his phone as they cruised through Kandahar.

The convoy in front of them, exploding into clouds of fire and smoke.

His own tank, turned on its side from the blast of a land mine.

The searing pain on his back, the screams of his fellow soldiers, the endless rat-a-tat of shots ringing in his ears. Cries of “Major Fraser!” all around.

“I graduated from law school and I served in the military. My da died from a stroke while I was on active duty. I flew back for a few days from Afghanistan, to attend the funeral, but I had to return. Then the attack happened.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Jamie. About your father and your men.” Claire wanted to touch him again, squeeze his hand, his shoulder, anything to show her sympathy. Noise from the hallway had her jumping up hastily, climbing back up on the table to place the hat back on her head. She began to dance again, her hips swaying in time to the beat. Jamie—James—fixed his stare on his lap, refusing to look up at her.

Claire felt strangely gratified; she was used to men ogling her, to their vulgar comments, and occasionally, men trying to touch her despite club rules. It inspired her next words.

“I’m a nurse.”

Jamie did look up at that, shock on his face. Claire smiled, continuing her sinuous motions.

“I do have a day job, you know. I applied as a dare, but the money is good. I’m used to being up at night, so I pick up shifts here and there.”

“I didna think—that is to say, I wasna—”

“Men would be surprised to know, that’s all. But I don’t think you’re like most men, anyway.” Claire turned, looking over her shoulder at him. “I’m booked for a full hour. What do you want, Jamie?”

Jamie swallowed visibly. “To talk. For ye to come with me, away from this place. And one more thing.”

“What’s that?” Claire touched the brim of her hat, with a glance at the camera that was always watching. Jamie stood.

“Tell me yer name.”

Claire paused, regarding him seriously. She always gave a fake name appropriate to men’s fantasies. She considered the usual (Eliza, Lizzie, Candy, Clara…). She thought about walking out, taking him with her, just to talk. Responding to instinct, she smiled.

“I’m Claire. Claire Beauchamp.”

“Well then, Claire.” James Fraser reached out, their hands entwining as he helped her off the table. “It’s a pleasure to meet ye.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” Claire gripped the lapel of the coat Jamie had draped over her. He buttoned it up to the neck; the sleeves were too long on her so he folded them over her wrists. He gestured for her to go through the curtains first; he followed her down the hall, pushing the emergency exit door out into the cold night.

Jamie and Claire, hand in hand, left The Mayfair Club together and didn’t look back.

- - -

Claire’s first dance Gavin Hayes’ song Claire’s last dance

#outlander #outlander fanfic #outlander au #jamie and claire #mayfair #moodboard challenge

[i-write-fanfics-to-procrastinate]

Fictober 17: “I’m Not Scared, are you?”

For LAXUI

A Dare

              It was a holiday celebration at the Magnolia Police Department, and he had invited her. She had never been to a holiday party before—outside of the ones she had celebrated in the castle. She had been practically dancing with excitement when he pulled up to the curb and rolled down the window—“Hop in.” She had picked out a pretty white and gold dress just for the occasion. Laxus was in a suit—which looked so out of place in his patrol car. His tie was gold, his hair as tame as it could be, which wasn’t very. He smiled when she dropped into the passenger seat.

              The party, though, was rowdier than she had expected. Some officers were drinking what was definitely spiked punch in one corner. They were daring each other to do crazy things, someone was whispering something about a barrel race out back, and Officer Fullbuster—of course—had already stripped once or twice. But it was fun. And it was amid all the craziness, after everyone had at least several drinks, that someone suggested with a laugh: “We should play truth or dare!”

              She had never played the game before and had asked what it was. Freed was happy to explain matter-of-factly: “Truth or dare is a game in which players are asked to choose ‘Truth’ or ‘Dare.’ Whichever they choose they are then asked to answer a truth, or complete a dare.”

              She had foolishly decided it would be a fun game to play. But even as the game began she was starting to realize that the rowdy police officers were willing to ask people to answer deeper truths and dare people to do scarier things than Hisui was really willing to take part in.

              They hadn’t even gone around the circle once yet. So far someone had been dared to chug several mugs of ale—Cana had made the dare of course. Someone else had been asked to share their greatest secret. Another person was asked if they ever fell asleep on the job. And with each answer—with each dare—the crowd literally went wild. Hisui was almost dreading the moment when they reached her and said her name. Truth or dare.

              Laxus was first—he was sitting right beside her. He laughed every so often at his coworkers’ shenanigans, but mostly he was his stoic self. He had only been enticed into playing the game upon hearing that Hisui would be participating. Now, finally reaching his turn, he looked less-than-pleased.

              “Laxus,” Lucy said, crossing her arms. “Truth or dare?”

              “Truth,” he said.

              “Laxus!” Natsu groaned. “Pick Dare!”

              Laxus scoffed, “No thanks.”

              “Truth…” Lucy pondered. She leaned over and whispered something in Levy’s ear. The young woman nodded enthusiastically. “Laxus,” Lucy said, a mischievous smile touching her lips, “Do you have feelings for someone?”

              Hisui’s head snapped up, glancing between Lucy and Laxus. Everyone was talking all at once.

              “BO-RING!” Bickslow groaned.

              “No, no! Shut up! Shut up!” Evergreen hissed, as if she already knew the answer to the question. Laxus’s face had flushed bright red. His steel-gray eyes widened. He took in a breath. And then shrugged his shoulders.

              “Yes.” The station exploded with noise—everyone talking all at once again. Hisui bit her lip, glancing away from him. Who? Her heart was hammering against her ribs, her stomach twisted in knots. Who does he have feelings for? The way he had said it so nonchalantly…

              “Shut up!” Evergreen said, her voice raising above everyone else’s. “Who?” she demanded, gesturing at Laxus with an eager expression, “Who is it?!”

              Laxus smirked, “I answered my question. It’s Hisui’s turn.”

              “Aw, C’mon!” Cana jeered. “You can’t just leave us like that Laxus!!”

              “Who is it?” Bickslow smirked knowingly.

              “No, he’s right, guys,” Lucy sighed. “He did answer the question.” There was a collective groan of dissent before Evergreen turned to Hisui with a glint in her eyes.

              “Princess… truth or dare?”

              No way was she going to answer an embarrassing question like Laxus had to. She bit her lip again, playing with the gold hem of her skirt. “Dare.” Laxus stiffened next to her. Everyone else let out a breath of surprise. Evergreen’s lips turned up in mischievous, knowing smile, and Hisui instantly regretted her decision.

              “I dare you to kiss Laxus.”

              She felt her cheeks grow hot, her heart practically stopped beating. What…?! No… Did I hear her right? Beside her Laxus was so red—his flush was spreading to his neck and ears. How many times had she considered kissing him? It was times when he was like this, flustered—his cheeks flushed, or when he smiled genuinely. Last week she had taken his hand and pulled him into a spontaneous dance in the middle of the sidewalk. He had laughed, and oh god how she had wanted to kiss him then. Why didn’t I?! Now, their eyes met, steel-gray and forest-green.

              “Come on, kiss already,” Gajeel chuckled, “Unless you’re scared.” A sudden look of determination crossed over Laxus’s face. He narrowed his eyes at Gajeel.

              “Not scared. Are you, Princess?” He asked Hisui. She blinked, still so flustered she wasn’t sure how to answer. Then Laxus leaned in closer, a smirk touching his lips, “What’s the matter? I don’t bite…” his voice dropped to a whisper, “Unless you want me to.” There were several giggles and some snickering. I want to kiss you. Her heart hammered in her ribs—it was almost all she could hear. I want to kiss you, Laxus, but— Not here. Not in front of all these people, and… the way he had said all that…

              “You’re drunk,” she scoffed, pushing him away lightly.

              “Aw! Hisui!” Evergreen groaned. “You’re not going to do it?!”

              “I’m out!” Hisui smiled a little, her hands were shaking. Laxus blinked, and his smile dropped away. Besides… he has feelings for someone…

***

The game continued past midnight. Hisui tried to pay attention to some, but past 1 a.m. exhaustion starting pulling her down. Laxus stood up, one of the five who was still in the game. “I’m out.”

“You haven’t even failed yet, Laxus,” Erza frowned.

“I have to take the Princess home,” he said, grabbing his coat. Then he nodded to the Princess, his cheeks flushed a little. “Are you ready?”

Hisui nodded, trying not to feel too awkward. I dare you to kiss Laxus. The thought made her heart race. She grabbed her hat, and followed him to the door. It was snowing outside when they stepped out onto the street. He had parked a couple blocks away. They walked side-by-side, for a bit, in awkward silence, the snow gently dusting Laxus’s shoulders, and Hisui’s hat, before Laxus spun around to face her suddenly.

“I wasn’t drunk.”

“W-what?” She frowned.

“I wasn’t drunk. In fact,” he said, “I didn’t have anything to drink. I meant what I said.”

I don’t bite, unless you want me to. She stared up at him, “Wh…wha…? But…” she was trying to wrap her head around it. “But Lucy asked…”

“Lucy asked me if I had feelings for someone,” Laxus breathed, his voice hoarse, “I do. It’s you, Hisui.” She blinked, still not sure what to say, her heart was racing. Feelings for me? Feelings… Before she could even process she was blurting out:

“I wanted to kiss you.” N-no, that wasn’t right! She reached out and grabbed his arm, “I m-mean! I h-have… I have feelings for you!”

His eyes widened, “You…” His expression melted away into one of those genuine smiles that made her weak. “You wanted to kiss me, huh?”

She smiled, “I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it once or twice.”

He leaned closer, cupping her cheek. His hand was warm. “…may I…?”

She let out a breath, “Yes.”  

#laxui #starsobafictober #fictober #laxus x hisui #hisui x laxus #laxus and hisui #hisui and laxus #ft #fairy tail #city hero #ft city hero #laxus dreyar #hisui fiore #princess hisui #myfic #iwritefanfictiontoprocrastinate

[kiliinstinct]

A Nalu’s Eve - Request

@caandleworks && @lovelyluce

The Drabble request that ended up longer than it should have- here you are! ~ Pairing: Nalu Obvious Rating: T but Borderline for Adult Innuendo and Obvious Nudity

The water was cool that night- enough to bring a light shiver up Lucy’s spine as she slid her body into the depths of the clear pond.  Most ponds looked murky, full of mud, algae and moss, but not this one- even in the night the moon and stars reflected off its surface in a brilliant cascade of colors.  Relaxing, if not for the mild embarrassment she was currently feeling.

“You didn’t look, did you?” She asked, gaze tilting back towards the bank, catching a glimpse of Natsu off by the shore. Her partner snorted, turning his body around to face her, eyebrows raised in that peculiar way she knew so well. He was thinking her weird.

“Tch, I didn’t look, but I still don’t think it matters.” He griped, prized scarf and shirt being tossed into a pile (next to her own discard clothes) while he rushed to join her. Despite the confused tone, amusement curled his lips, fangs glinting in the low-light. “It’s not like I haven’t seen ya’ naked plenty of times before!”

She shrieked when his pants joined the rest of his clothes- full proof of him going commando hanging out for her to see. Face turning a dark red, the Celestial Mage quickly covered her face and whined. “Natsu- I don’t care how many times we’ve seen each other naked, it’s still embarrassing for you to just-” a brief pause and, “-just WATCH me skinny dip!”

That was the bare bones of it. Lucy had never considered herself the type to even try such a thing- considering it much more frugal to keep her clothes (or at least a swimsuit) on while in the presence of a public area. (However public you could consider the middle of the woods. It was still out in the open, as far as she was concerned!)  It was a mystery to her still that he had even managed to convince her to try it. The fact it was just the two of them made the decision easier, but it did nothing to answer Lucy’s inner curiosity.

Natsu was somehow very persuasive that night. Either by the way his mouth and fangs had felt on her neck when he whispered the idea into her ear, or the fact she let her own inner fantasies get the best of her, the Dragonslayer had got what he wanted. Lucy could hear his laughter as he dove into the water - a cannon ball if the waves were any judge. Another shriek followed when cold water struck her arms and face, but she refused to lower her fingers.

“Come on, Lucy~” He drawled, voice slowing coming closer, suffused with mischief and a hint of something dark and sultry. It made her toes curl under the water while her stomach churned in apprehension.  “You can look, I don’t mind.”

“I- I do!” She hissed, flinching when his voice came nearer, but from the side? Was he circling her?

The answer came to her very quickly- as the water shifted with his smooth movements and her body felt a change in temperature from behind. Natsu’s heat. She’d recognize it anywhere, but obstinance forced her to keep her eyes firmly shut. Why was she still so shy? Natsu had spoken the truth; they had gotten to see each other intimately enough so many times, it should hardly matter. And still she felt even her neck and chest redden the moment his broad, tan arms circled about her waist, fingers enclosing about her stomach while his chin was placed upon her shoulder.

Lucy could feel the fringe of his hair tickling the sides of her face and couldn’t fight off the giggle that was pulled from her.

Hot breath fanned against her ear and the slayer chuckled once again, “You can definitely look, weirdo~” the hands on her stomach rose from beneath the water, trailing chilled droplets from his warm fingers up her torso- teasingly pulling forth a shudder. Near to touching the swell of her breasts, Natsu’s hands moved from her and he laughed at the way she gasped in mild disappointment. “Hah, naughty, naughty- it’s not time for THAT yet, y’know.”

“Oh shut it-” She snapped, though her words held more heat than bite, arms finally lowering to free her view when his calloused hands pulled them down, gently, carefully- entwining their fingers as he placed them back along her toned stomach.

“Nah,” Natsu replied, tilting his head just enough for her to feel the nip of his fangs against her ear. “Too much fun messin’ with ya.” His embrace tightened and all her reservations slowly began to fade away, a contented smile and pleased flush replacing the Lucy’s earlier mortification.  Relaxing against him, back flush against his warm chest, the celestial mage hardly felt the chill of the air or the water. This was perfect. She had to admit and her eyes fluttered shut while her thumb gently glided across the ring that he never took off from his finger. Natsu’s own hand traced along her matching one and in that brief, beautiful moment, their hearts were in sync with the other. A princess and her dragon- naked in the cool waters near their camp, hearts beating simultaneously while the moon continued it’s climb across the sky.

“You know…” Natsu began, voice suddenly breaking through the air, sounding nervous- quite different from his earlier outburst. Lucy hummed her acknowledgment, waiting for him to continue, but no words followed. Only when the seconds ticked by, nearing a minute, did she finally open her eyes, ready to press him to continue-

Yet a sudden burst of color, off into the distance and over the treeline caught her attention, fireworks lighting up the sky in a distant town: possibly Magnolia. They had been heading home- she liked to think their town would be over the top enough to light up the skies brighter than anything and Lucy’s heart pounded into her ears. Fireworks- … why was there- Oh!

“We missed the countdown-” She stated, voice far off- but eyes glittering at the conjoined starbursts of flames and embers, dancing along with flickering stars.

“Yeah-” His voice matched the distance, face nuzzling against her own while his eyes reflected the night sky. The two had only been gone for a week, but they missed home and the loud party that was keeping Magnolia up that night. “I could make better ones.”

A sniff of amusement followed, “Fireworks?” Natsu snickered, arms tightening just a bit and Lucy could feel his feral grin against her neck. “Well yeah! Wanna see?” She wasn’t so sure him making ‘fireworks’ in the middle of a Forest was such a great idea, but considering the amount of water they were currently standing in… “You know what? Go for it.” “Yes!” His excitement was ridiculous and adorable, but Natsu’s following action took her by surprise. Lucy expected his usual shooting of fire from his lips, forming the Fireworks he had created many times before in the past- instead, he pulled her back, closer towards the outlying rocks of the bank, settling themselves in comfortable with her body nestled safely between his legs. One hand left their joined ones to ignite small, dancing flames across his fingertips and the Slayer let out a small whoop-  and a strong burst of heated air shot from his mouth- struck the different flames and sent them straight into the sky. The eruption of five bursts, all shattering into brilliant colors of different reds made Lucy’s eyes widen as the entire waterside lit up, reflecting the blasts.

With the embers falling down like lazy fireflies, Lucy’s awe was apparent on her face. Eyes widen, mouth open and a low breath of air escaped her- “You always find new ways to make fire beautiful…”

Suddenly, she couldn’t remember why she was so embarrassed anymore. Leaning back against his naked form, languidly running her own hand along his arm to grasp against his lit up hand- she focused her magic and spoke quietly. “Want to try something new?” Natsu’s returning answer, didn’t even surprise her. “Hell yeah, I do.”  Another burst of flame and her own concentrated magic against his fingers- and the following shots that covered the air looked more akin to shooting stars, sparkling across the sky. They both watched, smiles so wide their cheeks hurt, but while the glittering mass of flame and starlight bounced from the sky and to the waters- they enjoyed their on, private, celebration.

Minds synced together, Lucy looked to Natsu and Natsu looked to Lucy- their eyes met and the world faded away. Their first year of being more than just teammates, more than just friends- more than lovers and awkward courting. They were together, bonded, their lips found each others in the span of seconds, soft and heated, molding and slanting like puzzle pieces falling into place. The water may have shot up a few more degrees in temperature. Lucy didn’t care- and Natsu certainly didn’t either. They parted only when the light of their magic dimmed and heat of a different kind glittered in Natsu’s eyes. His other hand flexed, still across her stomach- suddenly lowered, just a little, to brush heated fingertips over her lower abdomen- voice caressing her like a heated blanket.

“Wanna know my New Year's Revolution?” He asked. Lucy giggled. “Resolution.” She corrected. Natsu nipped her, laughing when she pouted, but they were all smiles. “Whatever, don’t ruin the moment by bein’ weird.”  She didn’t bother with apologizing, he knew the tease was all in good fun- but fingers moved to tickle along her sides anyway and the Celestial Mage squirmed against him, laughing all the while until he caged her against him once more- mouths devouring the other in an attempt to claim victory in some small ways. Perhaps, they were both winning. “Go ahead, tell me.” She whispered, in between heated kisses until Natsu, unwilling to part from her for too long, trailed his kisses down her jaw and nipped the skin of her neck. He relished the sounds of her sudden gasps - so sensitive she was-  and a powering tug of her hips against his, made Lucy realize their midnight dip was turning towards a far more steamier conclusion.

“A family.” The words stole her breath as he pulled back, cheeks flushed, eyes narrowed, determined: serious. HIs hands once used to tickle her, grasped her fingers once more, moved them together towards her belly- he’d been making an awful habit of it that night- and the true intentions flared through her “I want to start a family.”

Married for a year. Away from home- and Lucy’s eyes were cascading with emotions she couldn’t place into words. Not at that moment. Pressing his fingers firmer against her, their foreheads touched in a silent message they would always know the message to. “.... Happy New Years, Natsu.” She said, before a roll of her hips became her answer. A surprised groan escaped the man and soon, their soft touches turned to frantic while the final crescendo of distant fireworks, echoed off into the distance.

Yes was an answer that needed no voice.

#nalu fanfiction #nalu #natsu x lucy #ft fanfiction #Mira's Fanfiction #Fairy Tail Fanfiction #caandleworks #lovelyluce #i said i'd do a drabble #WHY DID IT GET SO LONG #i'm so mad #i hate it #i love it #but i also hate it #uuuugh #PLEASE ENJOY

[fallen029]

A Dragon’s Love.5: Paternal

Previous Chapter

Orion spent the first few weeks after the trials doing nothing. He was rather depressed. Though no one actually came away with the S-Class title at the trials, it didn't make him feel any better. That meant that it had been fair game. And he'd missed it.

His mother could tell that he was down about his leg though and tried to spend a lot of time with him. Which, sure, he appreciated, but he was starting to get too old to hang out with her all the time. It just wasn't fun for him any longer.

Mirajane could tell too that he wasn't that interested in spend all day with her. Before he started taking jobs, they used to spend all of her off days together. Even when he had to train, he'd want her to go watch. Recently though, he didn't even want her around. Not at the guild, not at home. Elf told her that he was just becoming a man and to leave him be.

It was so hard though. It just made Mira so…sad. Since he was born, it had been the two of them. She almost felt like he was trying to ditch her too, just like Laxus.

Not that Mira wanted to, like, hold him back or anything. She knew that he had to become more dependant. He was getting older. Eventually, he would leave her. Even though she didn't like to think about it, he'd made it more than clear that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in Magnolia. He didn't even seem to like most of the people in the guild, really. Her years with him were numbered, she knew, and they were being wasted on him trying to prove himself to a man that would give up the world for him.

Sadness didn't even begin to explain what she was feeling.

Her son didn't notice, given he wasn't hanging around much anyways, but others did. Lisanna kept telling her that she just had to start doing things for herself again, but she didn't want to. Orion was her main focus and had been for years. To know that he was just blocking her out then didn't make her feel very good.

Someone else took notice too though that, honestly, she wanted to stay away from. And she had been. Very well, actually, the past few months. But as always, it only took one moment of weakness to wash that all away.

"What's up with you, Mira?"

"Hmmm?" She glanced up from the money she was counting out. "What, Master?"

Laxus just stood there though, frowning at her. "You've counted that same stack of jewels, like, five times."

"I just keep losing count," she said with a slight smile. "What? Are you watching me?"

He had been sitting off by himself, drinking a beer. The guild had already been closed up though and it was only the two of them. She thought that he was waiting for her to finish closing so that he could be alone, but apparently, he was just waiting to corner her.

"No," he said as he rested his palms against the bar. "I just… I know that we haven't been on good terms for awhile now-"

"What are you talking about? You're the Master and I'm the worker. What more could you want?"

"Demon."

"Well?"

"I was just talking to Ever or whatever and she said that, you know, you're feeling all down and shit," he said as he continued to stare across the bar at her. "I mean, even I noticed it, really. I just thought you were mad at me about something. But if something's wrong-"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Evergreen said it was about Orion-"

"Nothing that concerns you."

"Mira-"

"It doesn't affect my work," she told him. "Therefore-"

"I'm not asking as your boss or your master or whatever." He gave her his best concerned look. She wasn't buying it. "I'm asking as your friend. Aren't we friends?"

"Laxus-"

"Has he done something? I mean, I can talk to him. He listens to me, I think. He thinks I'm the greatest thing ever."

"Yeah, I know. Just boosts your ego even more, doesn't it?"

"Mira, I'm not trying to make this about me. At all. I just know that you're feeling all down about Orion and-"

"I just miss him, alright?"

"Where is he?" Laxus frowned. 'I could have sworn I just saw him a few days-"

"I'm not saying that I haven't seen him, Laxus," she complained as, once more, she lost count of the money. With a sigh, she sat it down on the bar before looking up t him. "He just… I guess it's not cool to him anymore, to go places with me and do things together and-"

"Mira." Laxus frowned at her. "He's a boy. He's, what? Fifteen now? Of course that's not fun anymore. He's growing up. He-"

"I'm not stupid," she told him with a glare. "I know that. Just because I know why he's doing something though doesn't make me feel any worse about it."

"Why would you feel bad about it?" he asked. "Huh? There's nothing you can do. You should want him to grow up. It'll give you a chance to get your life back, anyhow. Surely there's something that you want to do, now that he's so busy."

"I don't really see how that involves you, at all."

For a moment, he just stared at her. Then, with a shake of his head, he pushed away from the bar.

"Alright, Mira," he said with a sigh. "You win. I won't care about how you're doing if you don't want me to. That's fine. Whatever. You think that you're the focus of my life? Hardly. Be miserable."

It would have been so easy too, to just let him walk out. Better too. For the both of them. But Mira, though she could be mad at him at anytime, never rightly liked the idea of him feeling the same way towards her.

"Laxus, wait," she called out, staring after him. He only glanced over his shoulder though. "Let's just… Do you want a drink? Here. Sit down and you can drink while I finish closing up. Will that be okay?"

He grunted. "My own damn hall, I drink when I want. Don't just sit around waiting for you to ask me for one."

"Laxus, please. I don't want to fight."

That got him to relax some as he turned around to look at her. "And you think that I do? Mirajane, you know how I feel about you. If it wasn't for the kid, demon, it'd still be me and you. You know that. It still is me and you. Just not openly."

For once, she didn't fight him on that. Only went to pour him his favorite drink and set it in front of a stool. Slowly, Laxus came to sit down, taking a drink first before looking at her.

"What?" he asked at the fact she wouldn't look at him again. "Mira? What did I-"

"Just me and you? Huh?"

"Well, sure. Me and you. It always-"

"That's funny, Lax, considering you're always out with those other women."

"Mira-"

"I'm just saying."

"And I'm just saying that I'm tired of talking about this. What? You want me to stop sleeping with other people?"

"I didn't say that."

"Would you like that?"

"Well, yeah, Laxus, I would."

"So that what? I can wait around for the one time a year, if that, that you and I are together? I'm not doing that, Mira."

"Then why did you bring it up?"

"You brought it up!"

Shaking her head, she went back to counting out the money. "Why do you care then, Master?"

"Don't start with that."

"That's what you are. Master."

"That's not what I am and you know it. I love you, demon."

"You have a horrible way of showing it."

"You sleep with other people too, you know."

"Oh, yes, Laxus, all those lucrative relationships I've had over the years. Just so many men, in and out of the house that I share with my son. Let's see, um, none?"

"Just because you don't take them home doesn't mean you're not fucking them."

That got him a heavy glare then. "You know what, Laxus? Never mind. Let's just not talk."

"I didn't mean it like that," he groaned. "Honest."

"How else could you mean it? You said that I was-"

"I'm just…upset, alright? I don't like having these conversations."

"Oh? And what else could the two of us possibly talk about together? Huh? Since, apparently, having Orion ruined everything-"

"I never said that."

"You just did! Not less than a minute ago. You said if it wasn't for him-"

"Yeah, and if it wasn't, we would still be something, Mira. But he is here. And I ain't hated that fact for a damn second. I've watched over him too, alright? I'm the one that had Bickslow and Ever look out for him. Me. I did that. 'cause I care about him. And I care about you. I'm protecting you."

"I don't need your protection, Laxus! I never even wanted it. And I still don't. You just use that as an excuse to live selfish lifestyle where you just throw money and me and Orion to make yourself feel better as you go out and sleep with half the town."

It was his turn to give an icy glare, which he did then, staring her down from across the bar.

"I'm so sorry, Mira, that I give a damn about you."

"Oh, shut up."

For a minute or two, neither spoke. Mira finally got the money counted and went to put it away, leaving Laxus alone with his drink.

Why couldn't they ever just get along? For longer than five minutes?

"Hey, demon?" he called out while she was still off, putting the jewels away in the safe. "Can you hear me? I'm sorry, alright? And I…I'm just gonna go. I'll see you tomorrow or whatever. I know that I have to just start leaving you alone, but I can't, alright? Maybe things aren't working out, with you being around so much. I'll figure something out, okay? And not bother you as much? Just…have a good night, huh?"

When he didn't get a response, he only sighed and reached into his pocket to pull out some tip (extra) money for her. He was busy counting out a nice wad when she showed back up.

"You are not leaving me all of that."

"And why not?" He didn't look up at her. "Mirajane?"

"Because, Laxus, I don't want-"

"You're gonna take it. Get over it."

"Laxus-"

"Are you finished up here? Or what?" He glanced around. "You still don't have things to do, do you?"

"There's dishes to be washed, the floors need to be swept, and the bathroom-"

"Lisanna works tomorrow, huh? In the morning? Leave it for her."

"What? No. Laxus-"

"I'm walking you home. It's late." He gave her a look. "And that's an order. Get your coat. Don't leave the Master waiting, huh?"

She didn't want to, he could tell, but at the same time she needed to. Just glancing at a clock, he found it to be some time after midnight. He knew she was fine, of course, by herself, that she was safe, but still. Her being all alone in the guildhall that had been destroyed, oh, a billion times over the year by their enemies? No thanks. He'd gladly walk his demon home than have her in there when that happened.

"I haven't been to your house in a long time."

"You're not coming to my house," she told him simply. "You're just walking me home. Not coming in or anything like that."

With a frown, he glanced down at her. "Just for that, demon, I'm coming in."

"You are not."

"Gonna make myself all comfy on the couch. Put my feet up. Remember how it felt to have you wait on me there."

"Laxus-"

"The boy isn't even home," he pointed out. "And he won't be for a few days, huh? Where'd he go on his job?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "He hardly goes through me for them. I think he feels like I baby him or something."

"Well, he is your baby," he was quick to tell her. "And if he's being a little ass to you about it, I'll set him straight."

"And why, Laxus, would you do that? Huh?"

"Because I'm the Master." He flexed. "I can do anything I want."

When they got to her place, he could tell that she was apprehensive about letting him in, but Orion really wasn't around. And she honestly was dead tired. Fighting with him more wouldn't help alleviate that any.

"I'll go put on some tea and-"

"Don't do that, demon." Laxus went immediately to sit down on the couch, stretching out. "Just c'mere. I was real mean, yellin' at you before, huh? Let me-"

"We are not sleeping together." She said it just like that. Flat, as if bored with the idea as well as annoyed with it. "So if that's your endgame, you can get out right now."

"Mira, stop it with this resistance stuff, huh?" He shut his eyes. "If you didn't want to sleep together, you wouldn't have invited me in."

"I didn't invite you! And if you're going to be like this, just get out."

"I'm comfortable." He peeked an eye open. "And calm down. Just come sit with me. What? You think I'd screw you on this couch? I mean, if you're offering-"

"Laxus-"

"We won't do anything. Just come sit. He's not here, he's not going to know. So why are you fighting it so hard?"

"Because, Laxus, we can't keep doing this."

"Doing what? Huh? Being happy? Even if it's just for a little while?"

"Toying with this," she said with a frown. "You didn't want me and Orion and now you don't have us. So why-"

"Hey." He sat up then, opening both eyes as he glared at her. "I did want you. Both of you. But I couldn't have you. So I had to keep you-"

"We already did this once tonight. No more." Turning, she headed out of the room. "Lock up when you leave."

Great. He'd blown it. There was no point in following her then. And, with a groan, Laxus got to his feet to head out of the house.

Only he could manage that. Only him.

That was what Orion was feeling too, when he got back into town a few days later. Only him. Only he was the one that Laxus wanted. He knew it then. For certain. That the man saw something in him.

It had to be clear to everyone else by that point. In front of them all, Laxus had asked him.

"Hey, kid, you gonna mope around here all day? If not, you should come with us. You want to?"

Orion had been sitting up at the bar, listening to his mother tell him about all the things around the guildhall she needed his help with (his aunt had gone off on a job, which left a lot of work to be done), when the Master just came walking up to him. He had his big coat on and looked ready to head out to somewhere, Freed and Bickslow flanking him on either side. The seith gave Orion a thumbs up for some reason while Freed just glanced at Mirajane.

"Master Laxus is being rude," the other man said. "Mira was speaking, I believe. And she seems to be instructing him to-"

"You need someone to help you around the hall, you should have asked me," Laxus grumbled, glancing at the woman too. At first, she'd taken a moment to process what the guy was saying to her son, but she was starting to catch on. And she didn't like it. Not one bit. "I'll get you some help. Kinana and you do need someone else, I suppose, when Lisanna's not around. We're so busy these days. I'll get one of the lowly losers to help out, huh? And come on, Orion. If you're coming, I mean."

If? If? Was there even a need to add that? Really?

"O-Of course!" He popped right up. "Master. I-"

"Laxus," Mira hissed from across the bar, suspicion lacing her tone. "What are you doing? He's not going out with the three of you. You're grown men and he's just-"

"I'm sorry, do barmaids question the Master now and get away with it? Perhaps you've confused me with my grandfather."

"Laxus," Freed whispered under his breath. "Perhaps you have misjudged the situation-"

"Oy, kid." Bickslow hadn't read it well either. He didn't know that Laxus was doing it all just to get back at Mirajane. Not at all. He thought that the man was just going to spend some time with his boy. Sounded great to him. Going to toss an arm around the teen's shoulders, he said, "Your aunt's on a job, huh?"

Orion was too keyed in on his mother then to respond. Turning to look at her (and shove Bickslow off), he said, "What are you doing? Master just asked me to go somewhere with him. Why would you try and ruin that?"

"I'm not," she said, not glancing at the boy. "But you shouldn't be going out with-"

"You can't tell me what to do. If I want to go with the Master then-"

"Hey." Laxus popped him in the back of the head that time, making the boy glare over at him. It was one thing for Laxus to stand against Mira, but to hear their son act that way towards her ticked him off. "That's your mother. You think I outrank her with you then you've got another thing coming. Now apologize."

Mira could tell too, glancing at her son that he was embarrassed. Laxus had just called him out in front of the others. That was probably a thousand times worse than her trying to veto him going.

"Sorry," he mumbled to which Mira just glanced back at Laxus.

"Why would you want him to go anyways?" she asked, though she knew. Of course she knew. He wouldn't be doing it if she didn't at least have some inkling. She'd made a big deal out of him not wanting the boy and, well, now he was going to spend time with him and it was going to be great for both of them. Other than the fact that one knew he was the father of the other while the latter was left in the dark for no conceivable reason other than a curse that made little to no sense in the first place. Other than that, though, they would have a grand ol' time.

Sigh.

"Where are we going?" Orion got out as they left the guildhall finally. Laxus had assigned someone to help Mira out behind the bar before they walked out though. "Master?"

He just grunted and, well, Freed and Bickslow were so busy arguing them over whether or not the latter could actually scale a wall (the seith was insistent that he could, with no help whatsoever) that they didn't answer either. Not that Orion was, like, nervous or anything. So the man that he'd idolized since he was a child just decided to take him out for the day. What? Was he supposed to be, like, intimidated? Or fearful? Or something? Because he wasn't. It was meant to be. Clearly, Laxus had seen how mature he'd become and was finally taking him into his inner circle.

It was bound to happen eventually.

They went to the man's apartment after getting some takeout food which, since he was the low man on the totem pole, they made him carry.

"I used to have to carry it too," Bickslow sighed as he followed along. "They'd say that I was the least valuable person around. Ha! Jokes on them. My babies thing I'm the most important one."

"Important," they cried following along. "Papa."

At Laxus' place they headed into the living room where he already had a card table set out.

"Set the food down here, boy," Laxus grumbled as he slipped his coat off and tossed it onto the couch. "And Freed, go get some drinks, huh?"

"Of course, Laxus," the man said, rushing off to the kitchen to do so.

'Oy, boss," Bickslow complained as he claimed a seat. "Is Elfman not going to be coming around? Ever usually says that we gotta invite him to stuff."

"What do you think the boy's for?" the man grumbled, taking a seat. "He's our fourth now. Elfman can go rot somewhere for all I care."

Slowly, Orion moved to take a seat as well, still uncertain. Bickslow seemed more relaxed though, at the mention of Elfman not showing up, and even snickered.

"You should have asked me, boss," he told Laxus then. "If you wanted a fourth, I couldda got us one real easy."

"Your freaky friends? In my apartment? No thanks. Rather that never comes to fruition."

"Your loss."

"I'll eat it, believe me."

Freed was back then, with the beers, which he sat in front of each of the men. When he got to Orion though, he paused.

"Uh, I do not-"

"The demon let you drink?" Laxus asked as he took a sip from the already popped bottle cap (Freed thought of everything, constantly). "Kid?"

"N-No," Orion said with a shake of his head. "She says-"

"Well the demon ain't here." Laxus winked at him. "Just don't get tellin' on me, huh?"

"Only if you want," Freed was quick to say, as if as a precaution. "Because-"

"I want to," he said quickly. As if there was anything thought to it. Laxus Dreyar, his idol since, like, forever, had just offered him a beer. Of course he'd drink it! All of it. And, when after a sip he found that he hated it, it didn't matter. He'd be drinking it to the last drop. And anything else that was placed in front of him.

It was all great too, being with all those guys. He usually would be nervous, being around Laxus, but the alcohol put him as ease quickly and, well, it was hard to feel anything, but loose around Bickslow. The seith was just so goofy. And Laxus and Freed weren't so bad either. They didn't rebuke him when he didn't completely understand the rules to the card game and neither seemed too annoyed with teaching him. Mostly he just sat there and listened to them talk, trying his hardest not to seem childish or to be a bother.

The men talked about a plethora of things, ranging from their most recent jobs to different women in their lives. They seemed more content with their conversations than actually paying attention to the game at hand. Orion was just glad that he'd recently gone out on a job and had some jewels in his pocket to play with. It would have been completely mortifying if he hadn't.

Eventually, Laxus sent Freed off to get his box of cigars for him.

"You smoke, kid?"

"No," he told Laxus with a shake of his head, just watching as the man lit up. Was he going to…offer him one? Because then yes, Orion definitely did.

"Good." Laxus didn't even glance at him. "You ain't startin' on my account."

"Oy, boss," Bickslow muttered. "You got his hopes up."

"What?" That time, Orion got a glance. "You thought I was givin' you one of these?"

"N-No, I just-"

"Beer, I can explain away to Mirajane. Getting you hooked on these fancy cigars? Not likely."

Freed just bowed his head. "She does not like them, as it were."

"What do you mean?" Orion asked, glancing at the man. "People smoke in the guild all the time."

"Yes, but Laxus' cigars bother her for some-"

"Hey, Freed. Another beer, yeah?" Laxus grumbled, shooting him a glare. "Quickly."

"Me too," Bickslow said with a nod. "And the kid also, boss?"

He glanced at Orion again before shrugging. "One more won't hurt."

Oh, but it would. Orion, for someone who spent so much time around a bar, had never had so much alcohol in him before. And in such a short time span. He hardly could keep his wits about him. And the room was all smoky because, well, Laxus could never have just one cigar. It stunk too, but there was no way that Orion was going to make any complaints. He had to be one of the guys, after all. It might be his only chance.

And all because they didn't like his Uncle Elf. Huh. It was rather shocking, really, considering he did very much so. But hey, to each their own.

The night just drug on too. And, even though Laxus said he was only supposed to have one more, he let the boy try some whiskey too, when that was brought out, though that turned out to be a bad idea.

"You shouldn't have ever given him alcohol," Freed told Laxus after the boy lost nearly everything in his stomach in the bathroom, vomiting up dinner and liquor alike. When he was finished with that, he was so embarrassed that, well, he tried to leave, but Laxus and the other two guys forced him to sit on the couch for a bit and calm down. After that, Bickslow took off, not wanting to get put on puke duty, while Freed took to cleaning up. "You cannot take him home in this condition."

"I ain't takin' him home," Laxus grumbled, nodding over to where the boy was passed out on the couch in that short amount of time. "Demon would have my head. No. You're gonna go down to the hall, tell her that he's sleeping over here, and be done with it."

"Why though, Laxus?"

"Eh?"

"Why would he sleep over here?"

"Because I want him to. What more of a reason could she possibly need? Huh? Now hurry up and clean up." Laxus was heading off to the kitchen then, to get another beer. He'd need it. "Boy's got me all screwed up in the head."

After Freed left, Laxus sat around in the kitchen for awhile, to avoid messing with Orion. Now he'd gotten the kid sick. Great. Mira would never let him take him out again.

The whole point was to show her that yes, he could have been a father. He just wasn't allowed to have the chance, in an attempt to save her. Not to completely screw up and show her that it was a good thing he had never been a real father.

Sigh.

"Hey, kid," he found himself grumbling eventually as he went back into the living room. "Orion. You there, kid? Don't, like, die or something. Completely ruin my life."

Reaching down, he gently patted the boy on the shoulder, making the teen groan slightly.

"Sleepin'," he slurred against the couch pillow. "Stomach hurts."

"Alright, kid. You just try and not, like, die out here and I think we'll be good. Don't try and leave either. Not till mornin' when I think of some good excuse to tell your mother, huh?"

Orion mumbled something else before he conked out again. Which, honestly, was better than him throwing up. A lot better, actually.

Laxus started out of the room, but it wasn't to his own bedroom. No. It was to the kitchen to get a chair and drag it into the living room. With a groan, he sat it by the couch before hunching over to watch the boy.

It would be a long night.

He wondered, at times, during those next few hours, if that was how Mira felt since, oh, Orion had been born. All the times that she had to sit up with him when he was a baby or when he was sick as a child. Making sure that he was still breathing, that he didn't need anything. Probably a lot more than Laxus was doing, really, but he felt like the night was taking a lot out of him.

"You'd probably be dead by now too, kid," Laxus sighed, staring at the sleeping boy. "If Mira had…died. And left me with you. I had you one night and look; I got you drunk and sick and… It wouldn't have worked, you see? Mira had to live. Not just 'cause I love her or whatever. Because I love you. Get it? She had to be around to take care of you. There was no way that I could have. It just… I'm sorry, kid. There was no other way."

When the sun finally came up, Orion hated it with a vengeance. Laxus was going around the apartment, getting ready for the day as he only tried to fight off the pounding in his head.

It wouldn't go away.

"Where am I?" he groaned as he sat up slowly at one point, only to fall back down. "Mmmm."

"You're at my apartment, kid. Don't you remember?"

That sounded like Master, but it seemed very far away. It was actually just from the kitchen, where the slayer was eating breakfast.

No. He didn't remember that. Or anything. Just groaned some more.

"You came over with Bickslow and Freed and ended up getting a little bit too tipsy. Now you're hungover."

"I just wanna sleep."

"Yeah, well, I need to get you outta here and fast. Back over to your mother's. She's gonna flip if I don't. She's probably already worried. And if she comes over here, well-"

"Master?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop talkin'. Please."

It took awhile to get the boy at least some what decent. And then Laxus walked him most of the way home, having to help him along. At the end of the boy's street though, he set him on his way. No need to have a blow up fight with the demon in front of him. No, they could save that for later. Hopefully much later. Like, say, never sounded good for him.

"What happened?" Mira asked the second the boy came stumbling through the backdoor. "Orion?"

She was at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee, and apparently waiting on him. Honestly, she'd expect Laxus to at least face her, but just seeing Orion was enough for her at the moment.

They'd already spoke though, he and Laxus, and, well, the boy knew his one line.

"Late night. With Master. Hung out. Gonna go to bed."

"Orion," she complained as he just disappeared into the house, making off to his bedroom where, after closing the blinds, he hoped to sleep for the rest of eternity.

Or at least until his hangover wore off.

Whichever came first.

And Laxus just sat up at the guild, knowing what was coming. The demon was going to kill him. She really was. And he couldn't even fight her on it. How could he? He'd gotten her son blackout drunk practically for no reason other than he was trying to prove a point to her…that kinda got extremely muddled along the way, but it had been a point, at one time or another.

When Mira did show up, she had quite a few words for him. A lot, actually. And he took them too, back there in his office, away from prying ears. She unleashed on him in as soft a voice as she could pull off, about that was quite the stunt he'd pulled and how irresponsible he was.

He decided not to bring up what age they all started drinking or that fact that he boy came and went as he pleased; Laxus might have been the first to get him that way, but he surely wouldn't be the last. He might not have been an adult, but she treated him like one. Sometimes that meant that bad things happened. It just came with the territory.

But he kept quiet on all that. Just let the demon vent. And when she was done, she didn't talk to him for a week. At least. He didn't try to start any conversations with her either. Just had to let her cool down, was all.

The next time that he went to head out with Freed and Bickslow again though, one weekend night when the guild was pretty much dead, he first went over to Orion, who was busy behind the counter, wiping down the bar and the bottles on the shelf behind it.

Mira, who was behind it as well, eyed Laxus suspiciously, but it was to the boy that he spoke.

"You busy here, boy?" he asked him. "Or can you go out with us?"

Orion about dropped the bottle he was polishing off. Then he looked to Mirajane.

"Can I?" he asked. When he found her dark gaze, he bowed his head. "I mean…I won't stay out all night this time. I promise."

Mirajane didn't want to. Laxus could tell. But, after she gave him a long stare, she just turned to go back to talking to her sister, who was in front of the bar, telling Orion all he needed to. The kid seemed so excited to be with them that Laxus was glad he'd risked it with the demon by asking.

Even if the first time was a disaster.

And that time, none of them drank (much to the displeasure of Bickslow, who cut out early because of it, grumbling about how he had better things to do anyways). Laxus didn't care though about how any of them felt.

It wasn't about Mira not trusting him or him not being there for Orion. It was about the fact that he'd screwed up the first time. And he wouldn't again.

He couldn't be a father, he knew that, but he could be a mentor to the kid. He was finally ready. And damn if he didn't want to be a good one.

Next Chapter

Fanfic

Archive 

#Miraxus #Mirajane #Mira #Mirajane Strauss #Mira Strauss #Laxus #Laxus Dreyar #5 of 10 #Fanfiction #Fairy Tail

[shockcity]

Bagginshield #12 - dancing

Rating: M Summary: for the 30 Day OTP Challenge. One dance in Paris. Alternate Universe - World War II 

Note: idk why but here’s a ww2 au. Thorin and Bilbo are also secret agents because why the fuck not. And lol you guys want some music?

April began with the bright-eyed arrival of daffodils in the Palais Royal.

A stubborn chill was all that remained of winter as the hidden colors of Paris unveiled itself all at once. Vivre, thought Bilbo, standing beneath a raining magnolia tree. He listened to the susurrus of a sweet breeze and the chatter of life in the distance. It wasn’t boring. He loved this place in spring.

The gardens attracted more foreigners than Parisians, and they circled Bilbo in pairs as he waited. It was almost time, but he was impatient; he had been waiting since Rome.

To:

B. BAGGINS 00185 PIAZZALE ALDO MORO ROMA, ITALY

………………….

MAY FIRST, A BIENTÔT À PARIS. ALL MY LOVE,

- T.D.

………………….

And now here he was. Joie de vivre.

“Danser avec moi?”

Bilbo smiled at the ground. Pink magnolias stirred at his feet. He turned.

“Your French is horrible,” he said.

Thorin gazed at him fondly. “Your German is worse.”

“Let’s not talk then.”

They wasted no time at all. 

There are silk sheets and apéro and champagne (Thorin lived the life of a king outside of the simple world of a Jewish soldier).

And Bilbo. English in Italy and so literally lost in translation: Professor, what is ‘I love you’ in English?

“I love you,” he whispered as Thorin moved inside of him. They are sweat-slick and breathing hard, and Bilbo is coming apart one touch at a time.

Thorin’s hands wrap around his wrists as he hitches his legs up higher, making enough noise that he would not be surprised if they heard him in the street. Thorin seemed to have the same thought because he suddenly laughed. He leaned down and kissed Bilbo deeply, not having to say aloud that the window would remain open. It was too nice a day to shut the doors.

“Do you ever grow tired of being something you’re not?” Bilbo asked him, twining his arms around Thorin’s neck. They swayed from side to side to the music on the radio.

Dis-moi pourquoi les plus beaux jours sans toi sont tristes. Pourquoi sans toi la vie n’a plus d’attrait pour moi! †

Thorin hummed thoughtfully. “Do you?” he asked.

“Whatever do you mean? I’m an academic, and nothing else at all.” Bilbo grinned up at him cheekily.

Aucun espoir. De bonheur. Quand tu me quittes j’ai peur, tout me chagrine et tout m’ennuie….

He rested his head on Thorin’s chest, shivering as a sudden wind tossed the pale blue curtains from side to side. “Do you think there’ll be a war?” he murmured.

Thorin pulled Bilbo a little closer, huffing. “We’re dancing, Bilbo.”

“Are we?” He sighed. “Let’s just do that, then.”

Dis-moi pourquoi les plus beaux jours sans toi sont tristes. Pourquoi sans toi la vie n’a plus d’attrait pour moi!

“I’m staying in Paris,” Bilbo told him, half laying on top of him with one leg tossed over his own. Bilbo stared at him intently. “Things are not good in Italy.”

“They’re not good anywhere.”

“Yes. Ha!” Bilbo tumbles onto his back, arms spread. “And look, Paris goes about its business being Paris. We can make love and drink champagne here. I’m staying.”

Thorin frowns at him, brushing his curls away from his face. “I wish you were farther away.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s Paris. Death doesn’t exist here. Only champagne, I told you. Joie de vivre!”

They sat beside the Canal Saint Martin at midnight and held hands. It was dark enough to hide them, but light enough to see by, so Thorin looked at Bilbo for a long, long time.

Bilbo looked back.

“Farewell,” Thorin told him, his hands on either side of Bilbo’s face. “Perhaps the next time we meet, the world will be a merrier place.”

He kissed Bilbo soft and slow. The day had reached its peak, and it had come and gone without a care for those it left behind.

“We’ll have more days like this, and more time to dance,” said Bilbo, kissing his hand. “I know it.”

Thorin craned his neck and pressed their foreheads together, closing his eyes tightly, before sighing and letting go. “I could never doubt you, Master Baggins. Until next year, then.”

I love you.

“A bientôt à Paris,” Bilbo whispered, watching Thorin walk away. “Farewell.”

DISPATCH

FROM: GRYH RECEIVED BY: BLETCHLEY 4

TO: CAPT. THORIN DURIN

ACTION: IMMEDIATELY PROCEED TO WARSZAWA 000277 TO AWAIT ORDERS FOR DEPLOYMENT

+ PLAC ZAMKOWY WARSZAWA, POLAND

ACKNOWLEDGED:

25 AUGUST, 1939

Notes:

^Hitler invades Poland on the 1st of September, 1939 ^Paris falls to Nazi Occupation a little over a year later on the 14th of June, 1940

†Dis-moi Pourquoi - Lys Gauty

*A bientôt à Paris means: see you in Paris

#30 day otp challenge #bagginshield #hobbit fic #umm not sure what this is #flowery probably

[i-write-fanfics-to-procrastinate]

the dream-soulmate au. gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme

D: I loved this idea so much i hope it turned out ahhh I hope you like it, dear!!!

Laxui: Dragon in the Eye of the Storm

        The last stroke of a paintbrush completed her painting. She paused and her father saw her pause. He stood, bright and eager smile on his face. “Is it done?!” She had meant to be painting the throne room—for the records. The bright colors of Fiore’s banners… the three thrones: one her father’s, one her own, and the final one a place of memory for her mother. But the moment she began painting it was as if she had entered a feverish state. Her hand led her, she was unfocused… Her thoughts drowned out by the memory of thunder and the roaring wind.

        Now, staring down at her painting, she realized she had painted her dream, from memory. “What’s this?” Her father whispered, staring up at her easel—her canvas still damp. Hisui set down her brush with shaking hands. The eye of a storm, dark clouds pulsing with lightning… And the figure standing on the hill, tall grass around his knees, orange eyes glowing in the dim light of twilight. Orange like the embers in a fire. A dragon. He was a dragon within the storm, and she longed to go to him.

        “Hisui? What’s this?” Her father asked again.

        “M-my dream…” she whispered, fingers shaking.

        Toma narrowed his eyes, staring at the painting, “This man is your soulmate?”

        She wanted to answer, but her father’s expression worried her. Outside she could see the hills she saw him on every night in her dreams—just beyond Crocus’s walls. Yes, he was the man she saw in her dreams—in the eye of the storm. She had this tug in her heart. If I go to those hills… maybe I will find him there. But she knew she was never allowed outside of the palace without Arcadios.

        “I’m sorry… father… I’m not feeling well…” She turned away from her easel… away from those burning orange eyes… away from her soulmate.

***

        The night was clear. So maybe tonight isn’t the best night. Her soulmate dream always had a storm, but it seemed to rise up out of him… like he was the storm or the eye of the storm. She leaned out of her window into the chill of the autumn air. The stars were out, thousands upon thousands of them twinkling in the midnight sky. The guards will be changing watch soon… And then she could escape… She closed her eyes. She could see him in her dream—blond hair sparking with electricity from the storm, broad shoulders… and those orange eyes…

        She leaned back into her room, carefully shutting her window, and turning to slip into her boots. Her father was asleep on the other side of the palace, and Arcadios was at the front gates organizing the switch of the watch. She would take the kitchen exit, towards the smaller gate that the staff used to get in and out of the palace.

        Outside it was even colder—the stars were beginning to be hidden by dark clouds. The wind was picking up. She hurried through the courtyard, to the old staff entrance, the two guards were on their way out, and the others—she knew—were just around the corner. Before they could appear she slipped out, slippers padding on the cobblestone streets of Crocus. Freedom was in sight.

        She moved straight for the main gates of the city—the way she had traversed with Arcadios so many times before. It felt strange to be alone. That tug in her heart urging her on. My soulmate… my soulmate waits beyond those gates. It was beginning to rain, heavy drops beginning to pound on the stones as she exited the city and climbed up into the grass hills beyond the gates. The rain was coming down harder now, soaking her slippers, dampening her hair. Above her a bolt of lightning lit up the clouds.

        “Are you here?” She whispered, hands balling into fists as she made it to the top of the hill. The rain was freezing, and she shivered, letting out a breath. From where she stood, she could see for miles, fields and fields of grass, and farmlands… There was no one else here. The city behind her and the storm above her and the wilderness beyond. She was alone.

        Maybe I was wrong… Everyone had soulmate dreams sometime after they became adults. The dreams were supposed to tell you who your soulmate was. They were recurring dreams, dreams that would lead you to your soulmate—lead you to your future. She had this one more times than she could count… but maybe she had been wrong about it. Maybe it was just a recurring dream… a dream about a dragon… No! That can’t be right. She dropped down to her knees in the pouring rain, another flash of lightning lighting up the grass around her and the roar of thunder bringing tears to her eyes.

        How long would it be before she could escape the palace again? She bit her lip. Shaking in the cold rain. I’ll try again tomorrow. I’ll—

        “Are you alright?” The soft, deep voice was followed with another crack of thunder. She let out a breath and turned to see a tall figure standing behind her. The man from her dream. The moment she turned to face him, his eyes widened. Orange eyes.

        “Dragon.” She whispered.

        “It’s you…” he murmured, “You’ve been in my dreams.”

        Her heart skipped a beat. The rain was coming down harder now, soaking through her hair and her clothes. This man in front of her. He was tall, handsome, with a jagged scar cutting through the left side of his face. Just like in her dream. He held out his hand and she reached out to take it. He was warm. He gently puled her to her feet.

        “I saw you leave the city,” he whispered.

        “You were in Crocus?!” She laughed. “All this time?” His cheeks flushed, and he laughed.

        “Actually, I’m from Magnolia. I took a job in Crocus. Lucky, because… I’ve been dreaming about you a lot more recently…” then he frowned, “W-what did you call me? Before?”

        Hisui felt her face go hot. “Dragon.” She murmured. “I called you dragon. Your eyes… they’re like a dragon’s. In my dream you were like a dragon in the storm…”

        “My name is Laxus.” He whispered. She realized she was still holding his hand and she entwined their fingers together. He flushed again. “I guess…”

        “You’re my soulmate.” A warmth filled her, despite the cold rain. She felt giddy, reaching up with a shaking hand to touch his jaw, then cupped his cheek. “You’re my soulmate.”

        He let out a breath, leaning forward and resting his forehead to hers. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

        “Can we sit down and talk?” She breathed, their noses brushing. He nodded once.

        “But let’s go back to the city, okay? You need to dry off or you’ll get sick.” Gentle fingers brushed a loose strand of wet hair behind her ear. A warm palm cupped her cheek. The gentleness of this man… she hadn’t been expecting that. She felt her heart skip a beat. He was so close. She had several hours before the guard would switch again—several hours to learn more about him. He gently wrapped his coat over her shoulders. In the distance thunder shook the sky again, but she felt safe.

        I found you. Fate led me to you. I found you.

#laxui #ft #fairy tail #laxus dreyar #hisui fiore #laxus x hisui #hisui x laxus #laxus and hisui #hisui and laxus #fairytail #myfic #iwritefanfictiontoprocrastinate

[fallen029]

Accidents and Incidents.14: Ultimatum

Previous Chapter

That night was rather awkward for Laxus. He wanted to go ahead and kick the others out so that he and Mirajane could go about their usual bedtime ritual, but that just wasn't an option it seemed. Not to mention, with Mirajane heading back to Magnolia the next day, he was going to have to get used to Bickslow again.

"The floor sure is cold down here."

"Good," he grumbled as the seith made due with the blanket Mirajane gave him. "Better than the ground, ain't it?"

"Ground?"

"Outside. You wanna go sleep out there?"

"Not really." Then, with a snicker, he said, "Maybe we can find a better deal here, huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Think about it, boss," he insisted. "There's two of us and two of the and tow beds. Use your head. I just gotta trick one of them into sleepin' out here with you, yeah? Then I slip into that bed in there and, ha! We strike again."

"We can't strike again if we haven't ever done that the first time."

"We've sorta done that."

"No, we haven't."

"Sorta.'

"How, Bickslow? How have we ever-"

"Well, sometimes I date the women that you finish with. That's sorta the same."

"No, it isn't."

"Kinda."

"No."

"Well, then tomorrow we can switch and then it'll be again, huh?" Snicker. "I'll even let you chose which you-"

"Don't," Laxus growled, glaring over at where the seith was curled up on the floor, his babies gathered around him, "talk anymore. Got it?"

"Touchy, touchy. What? You want them both for yourself or something?"

"Shut up, Bickslow."

Shifting, he only mumbled, "Sorry, boss. I's just joking."

"It's not funny."

"Sorry."

They were quiet then, enough so that they could hear Mirajane and Lisanna in the other room, talking and giggling about something.

At least they were having fun.

And they were. Lisanna was detailing to her older sister all of the bull that she'd had to put up with since she'd been gone, as well as the big annoyance that Bickslow added to her life since they'd taken the trip a day ago out to find her.

"-tells me that he doesn't even know where you guys are," she went on as Mira could hardly contain her laughter. "And I'm mad, you know? Because he could have just told me the town then and I wouldn't have to have wasted jewels on his train ticket-"

"But then," Mira grinned as she stared over at her younger sister, "you guys wouldn't have had this great day together."

"Oh yeah, so great. And he keeps making weird sex jokes at me."

Mirajane only cuddled into the bed. "I think he's just trying to be funny."

"Well, he's failing, so-"

Mirajane only shifted on the bed with a yawn. "I just think that Bickslow's funny. That's all."

"You've never traveled with him," Lisanna pointed out. "One-on-one. And with his babies? Unbearable."

"You're being dramatic."

"Mira, I put up with Natsu and Happy on a nearly daily basis." Lisanna gave her a cold stare. "I think I would be the expert on unbearable."

She kind of had a point.

Still, her sister just snuggled deeper into the bed before saying, "Just wait until the morning. You'll be rid of him then."

"And leave him here?" Lisanna prompted. "Mirajane?"

"Lisanna-"

"You could leave him here to care for Laxus and we'll go back home and-"

"Just," her sister cut her off, "go to sleep for now. Laxus and I talked and we already have a plan. So don't worry about it, alright?"

"Is Laxus going to come back to Magnolia?"

Shutting her eyes then, Mira said, "Eventually."

"Mira-"

"Let's just go to sleep." Rolling over that time, Mirajane gave her back to her sister. "Today was very...busy. For both of us. And tomorrow won't be any better. Let's sleep while we can. Alright?"

And they did. For a bit, anyways. But they went to bed so early that Mirajane woke up around three in the morning to Lisanna snoozing silently and no sound to be heard throughout the apartment. With a little yawn, she shifted to slip out of the bed slowly, as not to awaken her baby sister. Padding across the cool floor, she headed swiftly out of the bedroom, planning on heading to the bathroom.

She didn't make it though as, for some reason, Bickslow had left his stupid little dolls just littering the floor and Mirajane happened to stumble over one, nearly falling flat on her face. Luckily she managed to keep her balance, but it wasn't without some noise.

"Who's there?" she heard Laxus boom, almost automatically. Glancing over at the couch, she found him there on the pullout as well as Bickslow who the man must have finally caved and allowed to sleep up there with him. "Who-"

"It's me, Lax," Mira got out, though her heart was still beating rather quickly, just from the adrenaline that had formed over the possibility of falling. "I just tripped. It's alright."

He was on high alert then though, having been woken from such a deep sleep so suddenly, and only took to looking around. At the sight of Bickslow next to him, he frowned before saying, "He got cold."

"Of course."

A beat of silence passed between them then and, slowly, Mirajane whispered, "Do you need anything?"

Laying there for a moment, Laxus slowly said, "Water. A glass of water."

"Give me a sec, huh?"

He heard her walk on then, but not to the kitchen area, but rather the bathroom. Definitely didn't want to hear that. Waiting, he settled back into the bed and refused to glance over at Bickslow, as the last thing he wanted to be reminded of in that moment was that he was sharing a bed with him.

Mirajane was coming out of the bathroom rather quickly and headed immediately into the kitchen to get him his drink. Laxus let out a soft breath, watching her in the dim moonlight as she came over to him with the cup.

"Here," she whispered softly, as not to awaken the sleeping seith. "Dragon."

It felt good to hear her call him that for some reason and made Laxus grin. As he took the glass though, Mirajane only moved to help him sit up some, so that he didn't spill it.

"Thanks," he breathed after taking a sip. Mirajane was just standing there, staring at him, and he felt rather awkward. "Demon."

"Are you doing okay?" she asked. "Do you need anything else? To go to the bathroom or something to eat?"

"Something to eat?" he mocked. "What? You think that I eat that much these days?"

"Everyone can stand a midnight snack from time to time, dragon."

"I'm good," he said simply before taking another sip. After it, he said, "I could use you though."

"Laxus." And her voice wasn't as light then. "Honestly."

"Bickslow breathes funny."

"Bickslow is funny."

"Not in a humorous way."

"Not at all."

And they were grinning at one another then, there in the darkness, as if they knew something that the others didn't know. And they did, of course. To an extent.

Poor Bickslow, who honestly had been asleep for nearly the entirety of their miniature moment, did catch Mira calling him dragon as well as the cute little tone they were speaking with. And, sure, it could all be explained away. Even Laxus saying that he could use Mirajane. He did and had for the past month, honestly, and maybe Bickslow was just hearing things.

Yes. That was it. That was all. He was hearing things. Imagining things. Inflection. He was pretty sure that was the right word. He was imagining the inflection in their tones to be something...more than friendly. That was all. And he just needed to keep laying there, breathing gently, and not letting on that he was awake. Eventually, he did manage to drift back off and, in the morning, when he awoke, he was able to reason his late night eavesdropping off as a complete misunderstanding. A bleary hallucination. Twist of words.

Clearly.

It seemed as such too, as he was awoken around eight that morning to the sounds of Lisanna grumbling that, apparently, Mirajane and Laxus didn't have a coffee pot.

"-believe that you never just bought one. You've been here a month!"

"Well, for one," Mira sighed as the two sisters stood in the kitchen, her starting on breakfast, "we never planned on being here this long. And Laxus doesn't drink coffee and neither do I, so-"

"So?"

"Lisanna."

"I'm going to die," she said simply as Bickslow sat up on the pull out with a yawn.

Boss was nowhere to be seen, but he could hear the shower running and figured the man was washing off. He wondered for a moment how he got into the shower and if Mirajane was the one that helped him into that too.

"You are not."

"Am too," Lisanna rebuked her sister. "I have to go out and get a cup. From anywhere."

"Seriously, Lisanna, just-"

"Have to." The younger woman was passing the couch then and gave Bickslow a half wave as she headed back into the bedroom, quickly returning with her shoes. "Do you need anything, Mira?"

"No," she sighed. "But really, you don't have to go out and get-"

"I really do."

"Alright," she sang, though it was clear she was slightly annoyed. "But breakfast was going to be done soon and-"

"I'll get a doughnut or something with my coffee."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

"Wait," Bickslow said suddenly, tumbling out of the bed. It was a snap decision too, as he'd planned to stick around to wait for the boss to finish his shower, but an idea suddenly occurred to him. "I'm coming too."

"Uh, no you're not."

"Kinda am, kid."

"Totally not."

And she was rushing then, but Bickslow was quick on his feet, He'd slept in his clothes and, stumbling back into his shoes, he rushed after her, leaving his visor behind. Not his babies though, whose bodies suddenly came to life just in time to rush out the door after him, barely managing to avoid getting shut inside.

"Why can't you just go bother someone else?" Lisanna groaned as he followed right along her. "Huh?"

Bickslow only snickered, still a bit tired, but totally revved up for the day.

"Sorry, baby, but I ain't concerned with you, really."

"Don't call me-"

He was just as quickly rushing passed her, his true babies trailing along behind, making their usual annoying nonsensical noises.

"Gotta go out and buy the boss somethin' nice, yeah?" he called over his shoulder to Lisanna. "Something to make him feel better."

"Like what?"

"I dunno yet." He turned around then, still jogging backwards to stare back at her. "But it's gotta be something big. Something great. Something-"

"Free."

"Eh?"

"It has to be something free," she told him simply, walking at a normal pace and not seeming even remotely interested in their conversation. "You're broke. You couldn't even afford to get down here. Or lunch yesterday. Remember?"

Bickslow stopped so suddenly that if he hadn't been so far in front of her that she might have ran into him. In fact, one or two of his babies did hit his chest with a soft thud.

"Oh yeah." The seith's usual grin fell. "I don't have any jewels, do I? Err...this might be a problem."

"It just might."

"Huh." He was still standing there too as she walked passed, as if thinking. Just like that, a switch flipped, as they typically did with him, and Bickslow was heading after her once more.

"I have an idea," he told her.

"Idea," the babies sang, all still trailing along behind them. "Idea."

"I don't care," was all Lisanna said, continuing to walk on. Bickslow only grinned at her though, tongue wagging.

"I'll find boss something to do instead of buying him something."

Lisanna thought for a moment before glancing at him. Okay. He won. She was interested.

"Like what?"

"I dunno yet," the seith said with a shrug. "Maybe just go out to a bar, huh? He'd like that. I'll find a real nice one."

"And Laxus will just pay for the drinks?"

"Sure. He always does."

Why did she keep giving off the persona that she cared? Huh? Why couldn't she just ditch him? Why did she have to keep encouraging him?

Honestly, she didn't know. But she did, so, with a sigh, she said, "That doesn't really sound like a good ide-"

"Great. So you'll be willing to loan me a few jewels to buy the boss-"

"What? No! I-"

"Lisanna," he said solemnly then. "I don't think you understand. I'm not wearing my visor. If I wanted to, I could force you to fork over all your jewels right now. Go to a bank and withdrawal everything."

And it was Lisanna that stopped that time, nearly out of the building, just to glare at him. "Try it, you freak and I-"

"You missed what I said," he told her, tossing up his hands as he came to a stop as well. "I said if I wanted. Instead, I'm comin' to you as what you might like to think of as an investment deal."

Lisanna narrowed her eyes. "You're psychotic."

"I pay steep interest rates."

"For what?"

"Loans, kid, loans! I need money and stat. To take the boss out or buy him something or-"

"No way. I would never give you-"

"Not give. Loan."

"No." She was continuing on then, out the door of the apartment building, and he took off after her.

"Lisanna-"

"Why would I help you?"

"Uh, because it's called the good of the human heart. And did I mention interest rates?"

"I don't even think you know what those are."

"I got a basic idea-"

"You-"

"Kid, we're part of the same guild. We're practically family."

"Oh, we're family now?"

"Sure."

"And what sorts of family like things have you done for me?"

"Uh, I did mention not using my magic on you, didn't I?"

"Bickslow-"

"Just a few jewels, huh? I buy the boss a few rounds, maybe a few women's drinks-"

"You're-"

"For boss! To get them to pay attention to us. You know, boost his ego and all."

"I'm not going to be a part of that."

"So basically you're saying you don't care about Laxus or his situation at all?"

"I care about getting him help."

"I think that's exactly what I was talking about."

"And that's part of the problem."

Heh.

Quickening his pace when she did, he only said, "Tell you what; you can even come with me and the boss."

"Why would I-"

"Not your sister though," he said, shaking his head. "She's too hot. She'd scare the other women away and that would be- Ow! What?"

"So you're implying that I'm not?"

"Well, I thought it was obvious, but- Stop hitting me, woman. Sheesh. What is your problem?"

"You."

"That hurts." Still, he kept following her. "Say, think you can spot me a few for some coffee too?"

"Yeah, like I would give you something with caffeine in it."

"Great! I take mine black. With tons of cream and sugar."

"Then it wouldn't be black, you-"

"Largest one they have, yeah? And I like my doughnut plain. With tons of frosting and sprinkles."

"At this point I know you're just trying to bug me."

Well duh.

Patting at her shoulder (or at least around as she hit him the second he got even close to touching her), he took off in the opposite direction, down the street, babies trailing behind.

"I'mma go look around town, yeah? Only this time, I won't look for boss. I'll find a super cool bar or something for me and you to treat him to."

"That's not hap-"

"Bye, kid. Say bye, babies."

"Bye, babies," they sang, either misunderstanding or purposely being annoying in the same way he was. Each was quite possible, Lisanna figured.

Not that Laxus and Mirajane were doing so hot back at the apartment. Because they weren't. It was actually rather tense, mostly stemming from the fact that, after his shower and during breakfast, Mirajane sprung something on him.

"You want me to what?"

Mira only picked at the plate of eggs in front of her, staring not at him, but rather absently at the jigsaw that he'd been working on before his shower. It was of a birdbath with two cardinals in it, a snow setting surrounding the rest. It would be quite beautiful when it was done.

"Get help, Laxus," she said. "I-"

"I am getting help," he growled. "You said you'd go and talk to him and come back. Not that-"

"And I will. I'm going to go talk to Master Makarov," she insisted. "And I'm going to get him to see things our way. Then I'll come back. Tonight. Tomorrow by the latest. I promise."

"Then-"

"But I also want you to promise me something," she said. "I want you to go to a doctor and honestly get checked out."

"I was, Mira," he hissed. "Do you not remember where we came from? Huh? To get here?"

"Dragon-"

"That's right," Laxus said with a definite tone. "The hospital. Where there were doctors. Who didn't do anything for me. Just gave me an outrageous bill for hooking me up to some damn IVs and telling me that, hey, your spines screwed up. Like I didn't already know that."

Sighing, Mira said, "There has to be pills and physical therapy and even regular therapy that you need to-"

"I'm not in pain, I get around just fine, and I'm not crazy. Next topic."

"Laxus-"

"Next," he growled, "topic."

"No. Either you do this or..."

"Or what, Mira? Huh? I don't need doctors or pills or anything else. I'm fine."

"No," she said with a shake of her head "You're not. And even if I get Master to give us a year, it won't fix anything. You'll just want more time. And if you want to keep it from the hall that you're going through this, then fine, we can stay here. We can get all of that done here. Together even, if you want. But I'm not going to come back here if that's not part of the deal. I'm not going to watch you refusing to fix the prob-"

"I can't fix the problem, Mira! God. The problem is that I can't walk! What don't you get about?"

"And what don't you get about that it won't get any better if you don't even try? Huh?"

"Try what? Letting them get me all drugged up for no reason? Sitting around and talking about my feelings? You know what I feel, Mira? Huh? Angry. I feel fucking angry and disappointed and just so...frustrated with all of this! What the hell could they do with that? Huh? They can't fix that. No one can. It's hopeless."

"It is not."

"It is too."

"Laxus-"

"I'm not doing it. Any of it. I-"

"Then I'll leave, Laxus. I'll-"

"What? You think that you have some sort of hold on me? Huh? Go then. Just fucking leave right now. I don't need you." Snorting, he looked off. "I thought that we were friends, Mira, but-"

That, finally, got her eyes up. They were heavy on his too. "We are. Why else do you think I would be so worked up about all this? You're my friend. You're more than that. I care so much about you and your health and getting you home. Don't you want that, Laxus? Huh? Because I want it for you."

It was his turn finally to look off, not able to meet her eyes. Swallowing, he said, "I'm not helpless."

"I know. And doing any of those things, even just one of them or all of them, wouldn't mean that. Believe me, Laxus, you have the capability to do so much more than just hang around with me all day. And I want you to get back to being able to do that. And if you won't at least see a therapist, I want to go to a doctor's visit."

"Mira-"

"One," she cut him off, "doctor's visit. And I have to go."

"What? No. That's private. That's-"

"And I'm going to ask the doctor all about you and your condition and we're going to get together a game plan."

"No."

But she had him then and she must have known it because she went back to eating normally. Laxus was able to glare at her again, but it was to no avail. The fight was over. The demon had won.

For the time being. She knew that after getting back from Magnolia, she'd have to act quickly. If she gave him enough time, Laxus would figure out a way around her demands and, well, they just couldn't have that. Not if they were ever going to get him out of the situation he was stuck in currently.

They were still eating when Lisanna arrived back, coffee in hand, but doughnut-less.

"Where's Bickslow?" Mirajane asked at the sight of her sister alone. That meant that they wouldn't be able to leave until he showed back up. "Lisanna?"

"Mmmm." she hummed as she took a sip from her cup before saying, "ditch him."

"What?"

Laxus, who was still at the table though he was then working once more on his puzzle, only grunted. "Good call."

Frowning, the younger Strauss woman headed his way then. Mira was in the kitchen, doing dishes from the looks of it, and she wanted none of that. Instead she focused on the slayer, staring down at his puzzle with interest.

"Here," she said, reaching out to move a piece from one of the neat piles he'd made over to another one. "These mat-"

"Did I ask," he grumbled, "for your help?"

"I was just-"

"Don't take it out on my sister, Laxus," Mira warned from the kitchen. "Because that will get you knocked right out of that chair."

Heh.

"Fine," he grunted. "Help if you want. But don't mess anything up!"

"Yeah, like I really want to help a grown man put a jigsaw together."

As it turned out, she must have. Or, maybe, a better explanation would be that there literally was nothing to do in that house. So, for a bit, Lisanna sat in Mirajane's usual chair, trying to assist the man in putting together the puzzle. It went well for a bit until, finally enraged by the darn thing (and a lot of other stuff that he didn't want to talk about), Laxus growled out to her that he was done with the jigsaw and so was she! Then he rolled off in his chair, over to where he kept his weights, and began lifting.

Lisanna only sat there for a moment, shocked, before glancing over at her sister. Mira, long done with the dishes, was over at the couch, reading over a book. At the feeling of her sister's eyes, she only shrugged. There was nothing either of them could do; it was just how the dragon dealt with his rage. He had to much of it those days.

Getting up from her chair, Lisanna went to join her sister on the couch. Softly, she spoke to her.

"He's not gonna, like, topple out of his wheelchair, is he?" she asked softly. "Those weights are pretty heavy and-"

"He's fine," Mirajane told her. Glancing over at him, she added, "He's just...at a breaking point."

"Then what's the plan?"

"Hmmm?"

"What," Lisanna asked as her sister looked back to her, "is the plan? You told me there was one."

"Oh." Mira smiled then. "Me and you are catching the first train back to Magnolia as soon as Bickslow arrives. Then I'm going to go talk to Master and-"

"What are you going to tell him?"

"Exactly what's going on," Mira said with a nod. "And then I'm coming back and sending Bickslow home so that Laxus and I can get back to-"

"To what? This?"

"Well…plus some doctor visits or-"

"Mirajane-"

"No, Lisanna, you-"

"Master," her sister cut her off, "is never going to agree to this. Never."

"He will. He has no choice, but to."

"When he hears that Laxus is-"

"Master trusts me," Mira said with an affirmative nod. "So when I explain to him that-"

"Master loves you," Lisanna agreed. "But Laxus is his grandson. And his life is, like, forever damaged. Whatever Master feels about you will go out the window like that."

Sitting up straighter at that, Mirajane thought for a moment before saying simply, "We'll see."

Lisanna, who more than knew exactly how it would all go down, just shrugged. She knew that Laxus would be coming home, to Magnolia, regardless of what Mira did, or else face the wrath of Master Makarov. That was just the end of it.

Bickslow was gone for what felt like forever. Long enough that reading got boring for Mira and interesting to her sister. The elder Strauss set to work cleaning up the apartment a bit as Lisanna only took her discarded book and gave it a try. And Laxus, well, once working out proved boring, gave his try at the jigsaw once more. He didn't have long enough to grow irritated with it once more before his bodyguard returned with his dolls in tow, clearly excited.

"Boss," he called out as he came just waltzing into the apartment, loud enough for even Mirajane, who was in the bathroom scrubbing at the sink absently, to hear. "Do I have a night planned for you."

"Do you?" Lisanna asked, not glancing up from her book.

"Uh, huh?" She'd distracted the seith, who glanced over at the couch.

"You asked a question, so I asked it back. Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"You said-"

"What is it," Laxus grumbled, "that you want, Bickslow?"

Getting his swagger back, he came further into the apartment, grinning over at Laxus. "I's walkin' around the town, yeah? Lookin' for the swankiest bar to take you to. You know, to raise your spirits."

"My spirits are fine."

"But yours aren't," Lisanna complained, speaking of the man's dolls who'd floated over to her and took to hovering around her head. "So-"

"While I was out walkin'," Bickslow went on without concern, "I stumbled upon this place, yeah? And it ain't opened yet, but I knew what it was, just lookin' at the sign and-"

"Get to the point," Laxus ordered.

He was thoroughly pleased with himself, the man was, and even let out a signature cackle, sticking his tongue out to let his guild mark wag.

"It's your chair, boss," he said, pointing at it. "I was feeling bad for you and thinking I needed to help you feel better about it, but we're looking at this totally wrong. This is such a sympathy ploy! So I was thinkin' that we would go to a, eh, gentleman's club, yeah? And they'd see your chair, hear the story, they'll be all over us! Maybe you could even get them to-"

"I take back everything I said before," Lisanna said, finally glancing up from her book. "I have to go now."

"Ew, what?" Bickslow glared over at her. "Why would we take you-"

"I have to see how big a shot your ego's going to take when even the women you pay to be around you can't stomach you."

"They stomach me just fine, thank you very much," he grumbled. "And you can't come with me and boss. You're a… No. We can't have women all over us with you sittin' there."

"You can't what?"

And there was Mirajane, who had come out of the bathroom at the completely wrong time, glancing from Bickslow to Laxus. He only growled those.

"You idiot," Laxus complained at his bodyguard. "Shut the hell up. What's wrong with you? We're in front of women. Ladies. Behave. I don't know what being around Lisanna has done to you, but get it out of your system and fast."

As if the moment wasn't awkward enough without Laxus breaking Bickslow's spirits (and very awesome ploy to maybe get a sympathy lay; for the boss, of course), Mira seemed upset for some reason. Lisanna though was thoroughly enjoying Laxus snapping at the seith and the way his babies went to comfort him. He'd been a jerk the entire time they were together and, well, it was some form of revenge at least.

"Lisanna and I need to go," Mira said, turning to head into the bedroom for something. "Bickslow, you and Laxus can do whatever you want-"

"Mira," the slayer complained. "You don't have to go right now. You can-"

"Yeah, we do. If I'm going to get back before nightfall we do. Not to mention I have to find the Master," she called back to him. "And Bickslow, all I need you to do is watch Laxus for the rest of the day, alright? There's food in the fridge and you can help him go to the bathroom, right? Other than that-"

"I'm not a damn dog, Mira," Laxus said, his tone giving off his anger then. "So stop making it sound that way."

"Don't," she replied simply, as she came back out of the room to stare at him, a coat and her shoes on, "curse at me. I mean it, Laxus."

And that, finally, took all the fun out of the air. Even Lisanna felt awkward then and was kinda glad that, after that, Mirajane just headed to the door, calling out for her sister to follow. Not glancing at either the slayer nor seith, she quickly headed after the woman.

Once it was only the two of them, Bickslow, rubbing at his Mohawk, slowly heading over to the man.

"Sorry, boss," he said softly. "If I embarrassed you or somethin' in front of Mira and her sister, I didn't-"

"I don't need your help, alright?" the man grumbled, going back to his jigsaw. "Getting women or whatever it was you were doing for me. I've been doing just fine."

"O-Of course. I didn't-"

"And this is only temporary," he repeated, something he had felt the need to begin restating recently. For awhile there, it became a non-issue between he and Mirajane, but Bickslow clearly needed to understand that. "I'm still me, anyhow. You think that you get the Thunder God laid now or something?"

"N-No. I was just trying to-"

"Well knock it off. When Mira gets back, your headed back home."

"What? Boss-"

"You are," the man ordered with half a snarl. "And you're going to keep your mouth shut about me. Alright? Until I can walk again and head home, you're not going to tell anyone."

"I wouldn't gossip about you anyways, boss." And he wouldn't. Not even to Ever or Freed. "You know that."

Honestly, it wasn't Bickslow that Laxus was so worried about. It was Mirajane's sister. Lisanna was nice enough and he'd never truly had a problem with her, but just how trustworthy was she? And, more importantly, how was Mira going to convince Gramps that everything was fine where they were and to stop worrying?

It wasn't anything the slayer could worry about though and, to keep his mind off it, he had Bickslow light him a cigar and help him with the damn puzzle. Mira said it'd take her at least a day to get back from Magnolia. From that point forth, all Laxus could do was sit and wait.

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[fallen029]

Clandestine

They were hardly dating.

Which was the point, of course. For it to seem that way. They weren't, like, hiding anything (considering who she was, it would kinda be impossible; she'd even gossip on herself at times). Rather, they just didn't...act like a couple. At all.

Laxus was always rather reserved. Even in his younger days. Not with his opinions, of course, if they were disparaging towards others, but his true emotions and feelings were typically guarded and buried deep within himself.

Then there was Mirajane who, of course, was the polar opposite. Externally, at least. The truth was, rather, that she shared the shallow tidbits of her deeply personal problems, easily putting up a facade of complete sincerity. And her relationship with Laxus was not shallow.

But...they had to seem that way. Because relationships complicate things. Especially deep, significant ones. Not just around the guildhall (though it would there as well) either. Whenever Fairy Tail was in trouble, they both were frequently involved in the melees and the last thing they ever needed was more people tacked onto the list of ones that could be used against them. Laxus had his Thunder Legion and Mirajane had her siblings; but secretly, honestly, they were both on each others list.

No one would ever know though. Even their guild friends, at best, knew them as occasional dates. Sometimes Laxus would offer to take her to see a band play at some bar or Mirajane would beg him to go to see a play with him. All played out in front of the others, of course, with Mirajane blabbing about anything and everything they didn't see.

Weeks, if not over a month, could pass between the next one. And sometimes even then they had to cancel. Mira had work or something came up for Laxus and it was practically platonic, other than the few times (that the others knew of) they went home together. Which Mirajane would immediately go on and on about the next day to any of the women that would listen and Laxus would just mostly grunt if anyone brought it up in his presence.

To most everyone, they were nothing more than friends with very limited benefits.

Behind closed doors, however, it was something much greater.

That was part of the fun, probably, in the beginning, for Mirajane. The sneaking around. Laxus truly didn't care much for it, but she seemed to get a thrill out of meeting in other towns and at hotels and, oh, did the demon just love it when he'd be in the hall and she was ignoring him and there were just these occasional...knowing glances between them.

Mmmm. Yes, that was definitely one of the best parts.

As time went on, of course, this got rather stale and boring, but was made up for in other ways. Laxus thoroughly enjoyed the few times Mira would take a few days off from work and meet up with him in some far off location just so they could spend a weekend completely unencumbered. They'd have nice dinners every night and he'd buy her things, all sorts of things (as considering she was on vacation, she could tell the others when she got back that she bought it for herself), from jewelry to new clothes. For him, that was one of the great things; watching her wear something he bought for her. Even if no one else knew, he did. And that was all that mattered.

Mira, rather, learned to find comfort in the attachment they grew for one another. As months turned into a year and a year rolled into two, Laxus was more or less completely enamored with her. Even if they couldn't be together often, when she did wind up at his apartment or in some hotel, he loved to just sit and talk with her. About everything.

And not just the way that Mirajane talked to everyone. It wasn't...gossip or who would look so cute together or anything even close. Laxus was the only person who honestly talked to her. About real things. Like what was going on in the world, just in general. They could have a conversation on the Kingdom or even just one on the horrible slave trade in Bosco.

Not a single other person took Mirajane's opinions seriously. And definitely not a guy that she was sleeping with. Which, of course, was partially by design. She was the one that, following Lisanna's presumed death, shut herself off and then dumbed herself down. It was what she wanted. And still, in many ways, did.

It just made what she and Laxus had so much better. The way they could sit around his apartment with beers and just chat. No snide remarks about her intelligence or her ditzy tendencies.

He took her seriously. He took their relationship (as hidden and not well-known it was) very seriously. There was nothing he seemed to enjoy more those days than when they met up somewhere and he was just able to toss an arm around her shoulders or press a kiss to her head.

"I love you," was started sometime around the year and a half mark.

By Laxus first, naturally, as Mira would never be foolish enough to ever let something like that slip out before a man. Especially one that only existed when they were alone.

It happened for the first time, once, when she was leaving his place. They'd gone out on a date that night, an actual one (though they just had a nice dinner in), and she'd told Lisanna she'd be home before midnight (she and Elf were leaving the next day on a job and wanted her help figuring out a map or something; she couldn't recall what). Laxus didn't want her to go though because he'd been out on jobs quite frequently, but she only wiggled her way out of his grasp and blew him a kiss as she went to slip back into her dress.

"Screw Lisanna. Stay with me."

"Awe."

"If you leave," he grumbled about then, "I have to make breakfast for myself in the morning."

"Less awe." He got a wink from over her shoulder, just as she was leaving the bedroom. "Bye, Laxus. I-"

"I don't even get a kiss goodbye? What kinda racket is this then, Mira? That you get to come in here, eat my fancy food-"

"The fancy food that you had me make?"

"-roll around in my fresh sheets-"

"The sheets that are only fresh because I cleaned them?"

"-and let you have your way with me-"

"I'll give you that one."

"All so that you could just leave? Without so much as a kiss goodbye?"

And then she turned, because he was being such a baby about it, and came to do just that. Only when she leaned over, Laxus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her right back down into the bed, laughing as she fought him over this as he only rolled, moving to pin her down once more.

"Laxus-"

"Mmmm. Stay with me."

"Why are you being like this?"

Because he'd missed her. A lot. More than usual. It hadn't been an easy job. He'd already told her all about it, but left out that the big fight he'd described to her was a lot less one-sided than he made out and he thought, at one point, that he might actually die out there.

And it got him to thinking. A lot. About things. Mostly things that didn't involve her that one or two that did and well, he just didn't see why Lisanna was so much more important than him.

Err, well, he did, in some ways, but given that the situation wasn't dire, but rather just Mira choosing between the two in very useless ways, he didn't understand why she'd pick her sister to spend the next few hours with.

But she was insistent, even as she giggled and halfheartedly attempted to fight him off. Eventually, with his head buried in her neck, he mumbled something against it.

"You can go." But he didn't let her up. "If you wanna."

"I do."

"Fine." And, finally, with a groan he fell off to the side, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. "You can go."

"I wasn't asking permission, you know."

"I know."

Pushing up, Mirajane stared down at him for a moment before saying, "You could come home with me. You-"

"That would look… If you left here and I followed you, it would just seem… So no. I can't."

"Mmmm." He got a kiss to the cheek. "It's for the best anyways. Lisanna and Elf are going on a super long job without, well, me, so we'll probably spend the rest of the morning planning-"

"It's not even one in the morning yet. How much planning could this possibly be going into this?"

"They're leaving rather early too."

"Still. I almost feel like you just wanna ditch me. Not to mention, shouldn't they sleep before their job? Or-"

"Who does that?"

"Normal people, Mira."

"No, you stay up the entire night with jitters."

He blinked. Then he glanced at her. "You still get...jitters?"

"Mmmhmm."

"One of the most powerful mages in Magnolia-"

"Well, that's a bit presumptuous."

"-still gets jitters."

"About many things."

"You're so silly." And he reached out to gently pat her cheek. "Man, I love you."

It kinda just slipped out of there somehow. In his defense, however, she was grinning at him and he was still feeling all good just from being home (and being with her) and they'd drank a bit, over dinner and...and...and…

"Oh, Lax." That one got him a kiss to the lips. Then, "I love you too."

But he was all rigid then, equal parts shocked as he was fearful of just what that little slip up meant, and Mirajane was able to get out of there without a problem. Laxus, however, felt like he had a pretty big one.

He was...in love.

Shudder.

Mirajane was very patient with him about it. Even when he avoided her after that, for a few weeks, on the pretense of training. And when they were together again, she made no mention of it at all. Just gave him his chance to, after a month or so, loosen his tongue enough for it to slip out again. That time got a giggle and kiss to, as well as a mummer of the words back.

It took a bit, but slowly, that worked into their regular routine. He had no problem with it, nuzzling his face down into her neck and whispering those three words there. Or when she was leaving him for the night, to head back home (or in the afternoon, to head into work; whatever), saying it out loud, though just between the two of them, as they kissed goodbye.

Honestly, that wasn't even the biggest step for them. That, rather, came around the two year mark when Laxus took her to meet his mother.

"I never knew that she was buried so far away from Magnolia," Mirajane whispered to Laxus as they stood over her grave one day in the fall. She was bent over, resting a bouquet of white lilies atop the headstone after glancing over it. "Dragon."

"Mmmm. She was from this town, so we buried her back here when she passed." He only stood above her, watching as the woman gently stroked the engraved dove in the corner of the grave. "You're the only person I've ever taken here."

Getting to her feet once more, Mirajane glanced back at him before smiling, softly. "It's calming, huh? That's the way I felt about Lisanna. When I would go and see her grave back when we… It just brought such a sense of relief."

Laxus glanced down at the stove himself then. "I don't come here very often. I used to. When I was a kid. And would come home from a job. These days though…I'm so busy-"

"I could come." And that time when Mirajane leaned down, it was to pull a weed that was growing close to the gravestone. "And look after it for you."

"Look after it?" He frowned. "What could you possibly look after?"

"I dunno. I think your mother at least deserves some nice flowers every week. If I could...go back to my village and visit my mother...I would. And bring her flowers. And just talk to her. My father too."

With a blink and then a rub to the back of his neck, the man only said, "I mean...I don't think it would make a difference. I've never done this. Bring her flowers." He nodded at the ones she'd laid over the grave. "I'm not really… I mean, she's not here. Err, well, her bones are, but-"

"I think she's here." Mira smiled then, down at the grave. "I think she's with you always, but I think she's definitely here, right now." But, with a slight shrug, she said, "If it makes you uncomfortable, Lax, then never mind. I just thought it would be a nice thing to do. This graveyard is so beautiful too. Well, for a cemetery, at least."

More blinking. Then, dropping his arms, Laxus glanced up at the sky. It was a rather clear day and, for a moment, he watched a single cloud drift. Finally, girinning, just a bit, he said, "I don't think I was ever too good a son."

"W-What?"

"I was pretty selfish."

"Weren't you, like, eight when she died?"

Laxus nodded. "Selfish."

"Normal."

"Normally selfish."

"Lax-"

"I'm still selfish." He kicked at the ground. "I used to come here, when I was young, like I told you, but not to see my mother. Not to talk to her or anything. Just...just to make sure."

Mira swallowed. "Make sure of what?"

"That she was still dead."

"Dragon-"

"I never did any of that. What you just said." He glanced at the woman. "Brought her flowers. Talked to her. Ever. Didn't think about it. What she might want. Because, you know, she's dead."

"Yeah, she is. But-"

"Then I hear you over here, talking about how you would love to have what I have, to have the chance to be this close to your mother and father-"

"Laxus, I wasn't saying that as a slight to you. I-"

"-and it just makes me realize what I took for granted." He looked at Mirajane full on then. "And… If you wanna come here sometimes, demon, to do that… I would love that." Then he let out a slight breath. "I bet my mother would too."

Mirajane took it very seriously. She couldn't get away every week (it would be too suspicious), but no more than a week and a half would go by before fresh flowers were placed on the grave of the late Mrs. Dreyar.

Not soon after that, Laxus proposed to her the idea of her being the current.

"W-What? You're drunk."

"No." Well… "Okay, so yeah, I am, but I'm serious."

Mirajane, at that moment, was seated on his kitchen counter where she had been waiting to be stripped and fucked, but for some reason, the man felt the need to go all romantic on her.

Heh.

Laxus, who was standing in front of her, had his head buried where it always was. In the crook of her neck. He felt safest there.

"We can't get married." Mirajane frowned. "We're not even truly dating."

"We are too."

"Not...publicly. Seriously."

"Hmmm." Laxus lifted his head. His hands, with had been running up her thighs to, what Mira had hoped, tug down her panties, came up suddenly and, with a sigh, she moved to interlace her fingers with his. "Then let's get married and just not say anything."

"What good would that do?"

But drunk Laxus was far less likely to answer questions and much more likely to just blabber on all he wanted.

"And we could buy a house and live there together on, like, the outside of town," he slurred right along excitedly. "And we can have a yard and a place for your stupid stray dog and a garden and I'll have a pool too-"

"How much do you think the two of us would have saved away for a house?"

"Oh! And we can finally have a kid." And then Laxus was shaking his hands free of hers before moving to cup her cheeks in his palms. Mira leaned into this with a giggle as he said, "So, huh? What do you want?"

"Lax-"

"You have to make a choice."

"I really don't think I do."

In Laxus intoxicated view, she really did. "What's the fun in it if you don't?"

"I never really thought of you as the type to feel that way," was all she said as he stroked her cheek gently. "Like, at all. In the past two years, I don't think that has ever come up between us."

Which was odd. Mirajane, with nearly every other boyfriend she'd had, was already planning the names of their children by the fifth date.

With Laxus, however, everything was always on such an edge. They were hidden. And, yes, deep down, committed, but also not openly exclusive.

Or...maybe...somewhere deep down, Mirajane didn't feel the need to rush things with Laxus. To project onto him what their lives would be. Because she was having such a great time with what they are and confident that, while it might not end in bliss, whatever did become of hem would be for the best.

And she'd have had a great time the entire time.

Mira wasn't sure what that meant, if it meant anything, but it sure sounded promising.

"Really?" Laxus dropped her face then, though it was just to reach over on the counter next to her and pick up a beer. "You sure?"

"Very."

"Hmmm." He took a chug of his beer before saying, "Figured we would have. Sounds like something you'd be into."

"Are you?"

"Am I wha'?" Finished with that bottle, he went to toss it in the trash before retrieving two out of the icebox. Then he popped both caps before handing one to Mirajane who was realizing that all that alcohol, apparently, had taken Laxus out of the mood (though at least she'd found out before they got too far).

"Into...you know, thinking about having kids. And being married."

"I kinda just proposed to you, I thought."

"You thought wrong."

Heh.

"You sure? Because-"

"If that was your idea of a proposal, getting drunk and just saying it, with no thought behind it or even a ring-"

"Fine. I didn't propose. Whatever." Another chug. Then, "Since you'd apparently say no anyways-"

"I would not."

"Sure seems like it."

"Then you're not very good at reasoning."

"Well, I am drunk."

"Mmmm."

And they just stood there then, in his kitchen, both taking sips at their beers, but not really knowing where to go next. Laxus had kinda put it all out there (albeit quite foolishly) and Mira just wasn't helping. At all.

Until, you know, she was.

"I would say yes," she told him then as, slowly, she jumped down off the counter. Laxus just stared.

"Oh yeah?"

"Of course." Setting her drink down on the counter behind her, the woman said, "But it wouldn't do any good, Lax. For us to get married. We're still not… Nothing's changed, at the hall. It would still just complicate things and it's been better, really, just the way we have it now and I...I want a real wedding. I always have. So-"

"You deserve," he told her with a sigh, "a real wedding."

"I do wish though that we could," she offered with a slight smile. "I just..."

"Would it mean something to you?" he asked then after another sip of his drink. "If we did? Get married? Something more than a big ceremony and everyone knowing about it and fawning over you? Would it mean more that we were together, forever, than it would-"

"Of course," Mirajane said with a frown. "Us being...married would mean so much more than just-"

"Then why does a big affair matter?"

"It doesn't."

"Then-"

"But I want it." She sounded rather final on that. "I always have. I want a beautiful gown and my sister and brother and all our friends there and I want a huge cake and"

"Then what, Mira? Huh? Either...either we just tell everyone about how serious we are or-"

"That's sorta out of the question now, don't you think?" She cocked her head at him. "All these years, it'd seem fake now."

"I don't care. You think I care what people think? That's not why I ever hid this, you know." He was feeling indignant then. "It was so that the waters didn't get muddied. And that no one in the hall tried to break us up. Or accidentally did. Or made a whole ordeal about it. Not because I cared though, what they thought. I love you."

"I know." She gave him a soft smile then. "I love you too."

Laxus let out a short breath then, almost a huff, before nodding. Tossing back the rest of his beer, he went to toss it and, instead of getting another, just went to lift Mirajane up by the waist.

"D-Dragon-"

"C'mon." He carried her off, over his shoulder. "I'm done talking about this."

"Then what do you want to do? Dragon?"

"Mmmm." Carting her off to his bedroom, he dropped her gently on the bed when he got to it. "To be close to you. As close as you'll let me."

"You're in luck."

"Hmmm?"

When he fell into the bed with her, she wrapped her arms right around him. "Because that's right where I want you too."

Things stayed settled for a bit. Laxus actually took a lot of jobs. Frequently. And Mira worked, like usual. It was actually another month before she was able to get off around the same time as him and take a vacation.

"You sure do get off enough now," Lisanna grumbled when she found out that she was going to have to cover her sister's shifts. "Sis."

"I like traveling," was her only response. "A lot."

"Are you actually going somewhere nice this time?" Kinana asked as she helped them clean up the bar that night. "Instead of just to the beach?"

"The beach is nice," was her only correction to which Lisanna rolled her eyes.

"I think," her younger sister accused, "that you're not really going out to see these mysterious guys you're always talking about."

"Oh, yeah?"

Nodding, Lisanna said, "I bet there's no guys at all! It wouldn't be that big of a deal if it was. You have to be doing something else. Something...darker."

"Ooh."

"Oh, I know." Kinana giggled. "I bet your a smuggler, Mirajane. Of drugs or...something. Something devious. Is that it?"

"Maybe," was all she sang as Lisanna continued to give her the stink eye and Kinana giggled.

Kinana was right though. At least about something. Namely, she didn't take advantage of her surroundings at all. Rather, she and Laxus spent that weekend holed up in some hotel, only leaving for food and, even then, just when they were half starved.

Their last night before he left back to take a job and she went back home to work some more, Laxus was very interested in going to the market, to pick up some more cigars, he claimed, and Mirajane wanted to search for a gift for Elfman's upcoming birthday.

It was while they were walking around, hand in hand, and Laxus was grumbling about 'his cigar guy' not being around that day and he knew he should have gone earlier (although he'd rather enjoyed his earlier activity of getting as tangled up in the demon as was humanly, or subhumanly, possible), while Mirajane held off on what she wanted to tell him which was, basically, to just get over it; the cigars that guy sold couldn't be that great.

But they were. And, honestly, she'd probably make a note of it and come back to buy him some while he was away.

"I think," she told Laxus as he took to muttering under his breath rather than out loud, "that I'll buy Elf a chain for his birthday."

"Think Ever has you beat on that one."

"No, dragon," she giggled, tugging on his hand to make him walk faster and stop sulking. "I mean a nice chain necklace. Or, oh! A ring!"

"A ring?"

"Or earrings!"

"Does your brother even have his ears-"

"Or maybe I just want to go look at jewelry."

He had to give a slight grin at that, shaking his head as he glanced down at his girlfriend. "Or maybe just that."

Which is what it started as. Laxus was more than ready to buy Mira whatever bracelet or necklace she wanted. Even told her as much. Then he walked around the tiny jewelry shop for a bit himself and looked at some stuff.

And...neither was for sure how it happened, but somehow they both wound up at the front counter with the clerk, overlooking the engagement rings and it just sorta...happened. Somewhere along the line, Mirajane had given up on her big proposal surprise and Laxus had long resounded to the fact that he was just going to be with Mirajane forever, one way or another.

It just felt...right.

"Think you can convince Lisanna to cover for you?" Laxus mumbled to her much later that night after they went out and had a very nice dinner where they got very drunk and stumbled over one another to get back to the hotel, celebrating their engagement the entire way. "Get her on the lacrima and tell her you need a few more days?"

"Maybe," Mira yawned as she rested against his side. "But your job-"

"Can wait. I'm celebrating."

Heck yeah they were.

And, that morning, Laxus was ready for them to celebrate a whole new thing.

"W-What? Laxus-"

"Yes. Please. Today." He proposed that idea after their shower as she was toweling off and he was mostly watching her towel off. "Marry me today, Mirajane. You brought that nice dress with you."

"For when we went out to eat. I don't-"

"And I have a decent shirt."

"You have that stupid purple button up shirt you've had since you were-"

"And some dark jeans."

"You can't-"

"And I have a lot of love for you."

That got him a look, but he only gave her a grin cheesy enough to match his statement.

"One day," he added as Mira only stared, as if in contemplation, "whenever you want to tell the others about...us, then we can go back and have a real wedding. The whole shebang."

"Shebang? I really hope that's not what it sounds-"

"But for now," he said as he finally got tired of dripping everywhere and went to grab a towel of his own. "Let's just, you know, do it. Get married. I want it, you want it-"

"Why are you so serious about this?" Mira turned to slip something on. "Laxus? I mean, are you that into getting married?"

"To you? Yes. Definitely."

"Lax-"

"Then what's the plan, Mirajane? Huh? When are you going to be ready? To tell the others about?"

"Oh, now it's all on me?" That got him a heavy glare that time. "Last time I checked, you-"

"I didn't want people to know, Mira. No. I just went through that. But I'm confident in use now. In what we are. And that it wouldn't matter if some asshole trying to destroy Fairy Tail knew about us or not; I'd be saving your lfie above everyone else's anyways."

"L-Laxus, you can't-"

"But I am." And his eyes were heavy as well. "No one buys that family lines end at the door bull, Mira. You think Gramps wouldn't have given up everything if he knew he could fix Ivan through doing it?"

"You don't have to talk about-"

"And you think the damn Salamander wouldn't save your sister and his cat over anyone else? Either them or Lucy? Huh? And Elfman would kill us all before he let something happen to you or Lisanna. The Thunder Legion's more loyal to me. Macao would save his boy, Wendy would save her cat-"

"Stop it. You-"

"No." Huffing, just a bit, he said, "I love you. More than I love anything else. And you can't tell me that you don't care more for your siblings that you do the others. It just the same. For me, anyways. Is it not for you?"

"W-Well-"

"Look, I get it, alright? You're scared or something and-"

"No, Laxus, you don't get it.. You can't. Because you're talking out of both sides of your mouth."

"Uh, yeah, Mira, I think that's how talking works."

"It's an expression, dragon."

He blinked. Then he went over to where he'd left his pile of clothes. "Oh. Didn't know that one. Huh."

With an eye roll, Mirajane explained. "It means that you're arguing both sides of something. And you are. You're saying that you want to get married and hide it, but you're also telling me all about how we should just tell everyone about us. Which is it?"

"Both. I don't care." He even shrugged. "I want you, Mirajane, to be my wife. If it has to be a secret, fine. If it doesn't, even better. Both sides of my mouth are heading to the same end goal; to be married to you. And yeah, okay, so maybe I'm not thinking it through and am, like, romanticizing things-"

"Depending on the definition of that word, sure, you probably are."

"-but this is just something that I see us as heading to. And I really, honestly thought you did too. That it was what you wanted."

"But I do, Lax. I just don't know if-"

"Hey." And even though he'd only pulled on some jeans, he went over to press a kiss to her head. Walking out of the bathroom then, he said, "It's alright. Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. I get to be with you; that's all I care about. Let's just put this behind us, huh? Now get dressed; we're going out for breakfast. You wanna show off that nice ring while you can, huh?"

Definitely. And she did too, staring fondly down at the diamond many times as they walked around the town, not doing much shopping (he had just dropped some serious jewels on her, after all), but mostly just soaking up all the time they had left to be around one another.

And, when that got boring, Laxus skulked off to the hotel room, taking a less enthused Mirajane along, claiming he needed a nap.

"How old are you again?"

"Ha." Laxus wasn't sure if that was an old joke or if she was calling him immature. "But I need one. So-"

"I guess you did stay up awfully late last night," she remarked with some eye batting because, well.

"Awfully," was his reply, "isn't a word I would use, but sure."

He fell asleep almost as soon as they were in the bed. Laxus always seemed just as comfortable in random hotels as he was at home. Given the few stretches of times that he was in Magnolia, staying in his apartment, it was kind of self-explanatory.

Mira, however, took some time to drift on. Plus, she was still more than a bit keyed up about the whole proposal thing.

And thoughts of what was going to happen next…

"Hey, Lax? Laxus? Are you awake?"

No. Still, he grunted just a bit.

"Oh." Shifting closer to him, Mira laid on her side as she stared down once more at her brand new ring. "I just kinda wanted to talk. Is that okay?"

When didn't she? But, once more, he only gave out a slight grunt.

"I just don't want you to think that I'm not as in love with you as you are with me. Because I am. Believe me. I love you so much. You're, honestly, the only person that I'd ever take this step with. I mean, I've considered it before, like, a lot, but not seriously. Just childishly. But with you...since you brought it up before… It's stuck with me. And that means something. Right? That I've been more serious about it with you than I have been with anyone else? Literally ever?"

Grunt.

"And I can see us, you know, in the future. Being happy. And with...with a family. And we can have that, can't we? A family? Together?"

Grunt.

"But it's just… I've been thinking since...since this morning about us, you know, just doing it. And just telling everyone. And just getting it over with. About what would change if we did and… Honestly, Lax, I'm afraid that it's less that we feel like we can't tell the others for all those reasons you said earlier, but that we've become so comfortable in not telling them. And hiding things. And life just being about the two of us, together, without having to factor in the others. I think that it's scary, you know, knowing that we're going to have to factor them in now, that our relationship's about to take a big step. Not just in marriage, but in being outed. My siblings will be involved and your friends and…"

That time he didn't grunt. Instead, still lying there on his back, he slowly opened both his eyes before breathing out softly, "Mirajane-"

"I'm not trying to, like, discredit what we have," she said quickly, shifting closer to him still. "I'm trying to tell you that I think… We should just do it. Go for it."

"Heh? What-"

"I want to get married. Like...right now, I think."

"Mira, you're-"

"Not thinking? Coming from the man that's asked me on two separate, point blank, to just run off, get married, and live some sort of secret double life?"

"Not double life. Just half lives at separate times."

"Laxus-"

"I could have jobs and you could work and then, when I come back into town, it would be to some far out house that you would come to too where we have, like, a nanny or something raising our children."

"That sounds very much like a double life. And unfair to our kids."

"Meh."

"And how would I ever hide that I was pregnant?"

"Mmmm...baggy clothes."

"Lax-"

"I'm joking." Turning his head to the side to stare at her, he said, "I'm more on the wagon to just tell everyone, honestly. Aren't you?"

"Eventually," she sighed softly before leaning forwards to press a kiss to his lips gently. "But right now...I think I can handle not having my big wedding."

That startled him, just a bit. "You mean, like, right now? Right, right now?"

Nodding, Mira said, "Can we? Right now?"

"Well, yeah, but if you want, we can just go home, tell the others, and then have a grand ceremony. Make a whole event of it, yeah? Like you want? I mean, I'm not made of money, but-"

"And that's the thing that's been bothering me too." Mira glanced down at her nice, shiny ring before back at him. "I have all these fantasies about what my wedding will be like, I always have, but… When I think about you, I never think about those sorts of things."

"You're taking out of both sides of your nose here, demon."

"It was mouth, dragon, but you're not understanding. I'm saying that yes, I want to marry you, but no, I don't see us in some fancy church with a frilly clothing-"

"Uh, for the record, I was never wearing anything frilly to begin with, so-"

Giving him a look, Mira took a moment before saying, finally, "I just see you and me, when I picture us getting married. No one else. No games. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's what I honestly want."

"But if you've always dreamed of having a big wedding," he argued with a slight frown, "then I'm not going to let you just throw that away. I-"

"I can plan Elf's wedding. Or Lisanna's. Or anyone else's that I feel like." Smiling enough for the both of them, she said, "I don't want ours to be marred with drama or expenses or us fighting or anything silly like that. I've been with you for so long and now I really want to be with you. Don't punk out on me now, Dreyar."

He blinked. Then he smiled a bit as well. "Definitely not planning on it, babe."

But when he moved to roll onto his back once more, Mirajane took to tugging at his arm.

"Wha-"

"Come on. Get up! If we hurry, we might make it to the courthouse before-"

"Can't we tomorrow?" As in love with Mirajane he was, he honestly was still tired. And if he was going to be going back out on a job when their little vacation was over, then he would need all the sleep he could get. "Or-"

"Com on. Get dressed again. We have to hurry."

"How do you even get married?" he grumbled. "Do I need a passport?"

"Why would you need-"

"I don't have my passport if that's what I need."

"We're literally not leaving Fiore, at all, so-"

"Well, they better not ask me for my passport."

"Would you shut up about your stupid-"

"I'm just saying, if they do at, like, the very end of things and then we don't get married and I just sat through all of that, I'm going to be pissed. Might strike down the whole building."

"I said no drama, dragon. I know you can't help it-"

"I don't bring drama, woman. I bring pain."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Well, whatever you bring, do it quickly. I want to get there-"

"I know, I know. Before the courthouse closes." Stumbling out of bed, he said, "Maybe I can look into getting a new passport while I'm there. Mine's been missing since-"

"Laxus, be serious!"

When pestering her was oh so fun? Not a chance.

Needless to say, Laxus and Mirajane were both all jitters the whole time. It was all worth it, however, when it was all said and done, leaving Laxus the very proud owner of his very own wife.

Mira didn't think that joke was very funny though and, after the demonic glare he got, he decided never to make it again.

"It's that easy to get married?" he asked at one point. "Damn. I'm shocked I never screwed up when I was drunk and did it then. I mean, if you don't even need a passport-"

"Don't make me strangle you on our wedding day."

Eyes glinting, he only grinned as he said, "Wouldn't think of it."

It had to end eventually though. And, three days passed when it was meant to, Laxus spent a lazy morning in the hotel bed, begging Mirajane to just stay with him, while she only prodded him to get up and get going; he had a job.

Still, he walked her to the train station, where she'd be departing (he hated trains and would be walking to his destination), and they had to kiss goodbye. Around Mirajane's neck then was a chain, just long enough that it plunged beneath the low cut of her dress, hiding a set of rings from it. Laxus, however, wore his new wedding ring with no fear, considering he wouldn't be going back home, and it felt cool against her flesh when he stroked her cheek.

"I'll see you when I get home," was all he whispered against her forehead. "Alright?"

Nodding with a giggle, she added, "And then we can figure out how to tell everyone?"

"Break the news, you mean, to those douches that I scored the hottest woman in the guild and they might as well go ahead and kill themselves?"

That didn't get a nod. Just a stare. Then a sigh.

'You're bad," she finally told him with a shake of her head and a kiss to the cheek. "But I have to go. And so do you."

Letting his hands fall, Laxus finally just gave her one last grin. "Love you."

Mira grinned once more. "I love you too."

When she returned home it was to nonstop questions from Lisanna and Lucy about what sort of mysterious getaway she'd gone off on that time. Kinana, ever loyal to her own ideals, only suggested once more that she was some sort of drug smuggler.

"Blink twice if you are," the other barmaid quipped.

Mirajane just played up her ditzy angle to the fullest degree, not out right denying anything they said, but certainly not agreeing to it, her rings dangling, the entire time, just out of their sight.

That was all good and well for, oh, three days. In those three days, nothing truly interesting happened in Lisanna nor Lucy's lives (this hinged, mainly, on the fact Natsu was off on solo jobs (plus Happy) in an attempt to impress for S-Class), leaving them with nothing to talk about, really, other than Mirajane's imagined perfect man.

"I bet," Lucy teased one day as she and Lisanna sat up at the bar, bothering Mirajane. She wasn't busy, what with it being S-Class time, and was mostly wiping down the bar and the bottles on display behind it, "That he's not a mage. Is that it? That he's not a mage so that's why you're embarrassed?"

"Or no!" Lisanna couldn't let herself be outdone. "I beet he's, like, super ugly. Huh, Mirajane? And you don't want us to know that you're with this hideous guy? Way to be shallow, sis."

"Still think it's drugs," Kinana called as she passed by while she was sweeping up.

Mira, for her part, just sighed a bit. "You guys are really uneventful these days. Why does it have to be either of those? Why can't I have just wanted to get away? On my own? And spent some time thinking and contemplating life?"

Lisanna leaned forwards, elbows resting on the bar top. "Because you're you."

"I have deep, honest contemplations about deep contemplative things," Mira argued with a bit of a grin. "There's tons of things that I contemplate about. Contemplation. Mmmm."

"Name one."

"Huh?"

"One of your deep contemplations," Lisanna insisted. "Name one."

"Mmmm… Nope. Private."

"Oh, whatever."

"What if we're looking at this all wrong?" Lucy suggested then. "I mean, we're trying to figure out why Mira wouldn't want us to know about this mystery guy. But what if it's the opposite? What if he doesn't want anyone to know about Mirajane?"

"You're with a man that won't even let you tell others that the two of you are together?" Lisanna tsked. "Way to have low self-esteem, sis."

"He isn't married, is he?" Lucy seemed most interested in that. "Come on, tell us; we won't tell anyone. Promise. Is he? Do we know him?" Then she gasped. "Or worse; do we know her?"

"You two are too much," was all Mira said, shaking her head. "You know that?"

"We try," Lisanna agreed as Lucy only giggled.

They didn't let up after that, of course. Rather, now that they had a knew favorite theory, they hammered that one home, asking Mirajane if the man had a family and if he told her that he was going to leave his wife and, the most important question, was he loaded and could he possibly think about sliding some their way, you know, so they'd keep their mouths shut?

Kinana, who heard the end of that, frowned. "Hush money? Then you are dealing drugs, Mirajane?'

And it wasn't so much that they were annoying her. Not at all. They were actually giving her something to do as with the hall so empty. At the same time, however, the more they spoke on it, as they had in days past, the more Mirajane kinda sorta just wanted to tell on herself.

It wasn't as if Lisanna hadn't pestered her sister before about her frequent clandestine trips. She had. Frequently. But it used to be fun, keeping the secret. And when that faded, it turned more into Mirajane wanted to keep Laxus all to herself and their relationship safe from the hands of anyone that might use it to either their own advantage or just muck it up on accident.

Knowing then though that she was going to be telling them about it, all of them, eventually, made it more of a gossip think than a guardian of her own secret thing. She knew something that they didn't know and inevitably would, so how could she possibly mange to keep it quite?

Honestly, what was Laxus expecting?

It was when Lisanna and Lucy started contemplating if not only was Mira seeing a married man, but also smuggling drugs for him (though Kinana was the one to suggest that as, once more, she passed by), that Mirajane, finished with tidying up, dropped her rag onto the bar before speaking.

"Do you honestly want to know what I was doing?" she asked, trying hard to keep the excitement and nerves out of her voice as she spoke. Lisanna and Lucy, who were enjoying delving into their never ending and equally as idiotic ideas of what Mirajane could be doing, only shrugged a bit.

What could it hurt?

When they nodded, Mirajane took a breath, thought, and then said, "I got married."

Her sister frowned. "How? I mean, if he's already married-"

"Lisanna-"

"Funny, Mira." Lucy gave her a grin. "You got married. Sure."

"I did. To..."

"To?" her sister prompted.

"To...Laxus."

At first, it was just a giggle. Then full on laughter.

"It's not funny. I-"

"Laxus?" Lucy got out around her giggles. "Laxus Dreyar?"

"Well, it's not a popular name, so-"

"Okay, sis, you got us," Lisanna giggled. "We were being mean and now you've gotten us back."

"It's not a joke," Mira kept insisting. "I got married this weekend to Laxus Dreyar. Honestly! We-"

"What? Did you just get drunk or something and run into one another?" It was suddenly becoming a lot less funny to Lisanna as, reading the expression on her sister's face, she didn't appear to be lying. "Mira?"

"No." Then, standing up straighter, Mira said with a straight face, "We've been dating for years."

"Yeah, I know. You guys, like, go out sometimes," Lisanna continued as Lucy was starting to get concerned as well. "But to get married-"

"We've been much more serious than that," Mirajane told her. "We-"

"You're not..." Lucy blushed then, not having any fun at all then as she looked off. "Uh, Mira-"

"What?"

"To get married so suddenly… You're not...You and Laxus aren't...Did you-"

"Are you pregnant?" Kinana was the one, it seemed, that was able to just come out and say it. Cocking her head to the side, she seemed to study Mirajane, as if checking for the signs. "Is that it?"

"W-What?" Mira stifled then. "Of course not. I-"

"That's literally the only explanation for why you'd marry a guy that you hardly ever even go out with," Lisanna carped and Lucy nodded. "Literally."

"Not literally." Then Mira frowned. "And I just told you, we were seeing a lot more of one another than-"

"I still don't believe you." Lisanna even crossed her arms. "At all. This is-"

"Here." Mirajane reached then for the chain dangling around her neck before showing off the rings. "Look. We got engaged and then a few days later I got this wedding band-"

"Oh my God." Lisanna snatched at the chain, jerking her sister forwards as she did so. "You are serious. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I just did."

Putting her hands up to her mouth, Lucy bounced, just a bit. "You really are married?"

"Yes! I keep telling you guys that-"

"And you're not all knocked up?" Lisanna let go of the rings then to stare at her sister, gaze harsh. "Mira?"

"No." Making a face, she said, "I'm not…knocked up. Honest. Laxus and I have been talking about this for a long time-"

"How could you do this?" More than anything, Lisanna was a bit hurt. "I mean, you've been seeing him seriously for how long and haven't told me? And then not onlyl do you get engaged to him, but you also marry him? This is, like, a major violation of trust, Mira. If I pulled some crap like this-"

"It just happened, okay? We were out and he'd been wanting it-"

"I'm calling your bluff," Lucy said then. "I mean, Laxus wanted to get married?"

Mira shook her head. "He's a lot different with me than he is with anyone else. He- Oh, Kinana."

That time, Mira's shock came from the fact that the other woman had jumped to hug her, wrapping her arms tightly around her. Unlike the other two, the hangups on why Mira might have gotten married so suddenly didn't matter; she was just happy for her because Mirajane was happy.

"This is so great!" the purple haired woman exclaimed. "That you and Laxus both found one another."

"Well, it wasn't hard," Lisanna remarked, still a bit put out. "They have known one another since-"

"Don't be sour just because I did it without you knowing." Mira, after hugging Kinana, looked at her sister once more. "You guys are the first people I told, you know. That has to mean something."

Lucy forced a grin, but kept up by saying, "This is still a tad unbelievable. Although...you and Laxus both do some impulsive things-"

"I'm not impulsive." Then Mira paused. "Or, well, maybe."

"Once you get married on a whim, you more or less lose the maybe," Lucy reaffirmed to which Mira only giggled.

"I guess so."

Lisanna wasn't biting just yet and, crossing her arms over her chest, said, "I won't believe it until I see Laxus and he says that it's true."

"Here you are, Mirajane. That set of new glasses you ordered."

And they were joined then by Erza, who came over carrying a box of some sort, which set down on the bar top before nodding at Mirajane.

"Oh, thanks, Master." Mirajane moved to take the box then as Erza, even a year out, still had trouble adjusting to that monicker. Especially coming from Mirajane. "I really needed-"

"Did you know about Laxus and Mirajane?" Lisanna was the type to cut right to the chase. The swordswoman glanced at her before shrugging.

"What about them?"

"Noth-" Mira tried, but her sister wouldn't let her.

"That the two of them got married," Lisanna specified. "Did you-"

"W-What?' Erza blushed even more deeply then. Glancing at Mira, she just as quickly looked off. "Why would I know anything about that. And Mirajane, please tell me that you...that you have not-"

"Well, Laxus and I both talked it over-"

"You're not pregnant are you?"

That made Mira glare at her though she only went on, carrying that box of glasses off to the storage room. "Why is everyone asking that? Honestly."

Mira didn't realize at the time (though being the queen of gossip, she definitely should have), that being pregnant wasn't even the worst rumor that would sprout it's head. By the time she left the hall that night, she'd had more than one person come up to the bar and ask if Laxus really was paying her to be his wife as well as if it was true that she was a drug smuggler and had married Laxus after a drug deal gone bad and, to keep him from murdering her, she had to surrender her life to him (although Mira more or less knew how had no doubt started that one and figured she'd either praise Kinana for an imagination that rivaled her own or put her on toilet scrubbing duty for the rest of the week).

On the way home, she thought it was all funny.

Lisanna? Not so much.

"I don't understand why you're being like this."

"You don't understand, even a little bit, why I might be upset that you were hiding something this huge from me? That you and Laxus were…. That you got married with out even consulting me? You don't get why I might be put out by that?"

Groaning as they walked into the house, Mira said, "What do you want me to tell you?"

"Uh, try everything. From the beginning."

Which was a very easy thing to do then, as Mirajane, coming off the high of that magical trip with the man, just wanted to gust out all of her love of him to, hopefully, an interested ear.

And Lisanna was very interested.

Elfman was out that night, off on a solo job, prepping for S-Class as well, leaving the two sisters alone. They only went to Mirajane's bedroom where they both fell into the bed and the elder delved into her relationship while the younger listened intently, much how they had spent many late nights in the past, as Mira went over different boyfriends and dates while Lisanna absorbed her sister's tales, as the only ones she had anywhere close in her life involved awkwardly attempting to flirt with Natsu while he just as awkwardly ignored it.

Mira had so many different stories and tales to regal Lisanna with about Laxus and how they fell in love and how they decided to hide it, but they just couldn't anymore. She embellished, at some points, and left out the others where they'd fought and that once where they serious considered completely breaking things off. After all, she was attempting to convince Lisanna of how great they were together.

"We're just...meant to be. And I've never felt that way before. About a man. I've forced it or dreamed of it or hoped for it, but when I'm with Laxus, I just feel it. There's nothing else to it."

Lisanna wasn't sold yet, but Mira wasn't expecting her to be. She was, however, a tad more understanding and, when they called it a night, she agreed that, maybe, Laxus was the perfect match for her sister.

Mr. Right, however, was not very happy with his blushing bride when he arrived back home a few days later.

"Why," he grumbled as he showed up on her doorstep early one morning, "do I have the stupid Thunder Legion bothering me on the lacrima while I'm out on a job, worried about whether or not I'm married to you? And also possibly smuggling drugs, which, babe, I love you, you're my demon, but I can't do hard time. And especially not when I can make you just as rich by taking S-Class jobs."

Mira, how had been getting ready for work, only blinked out at him. "Um...which do I answer first? Because, honestly, I don't think I'd be a good smuggler either, so-"

"Mirajane-"

"I just wanted to tell my sister," she argued as she took a step back to let him in. "And Lucy. And Kinana. And then Erza found out, but-"

"Demon-"

"We were gonna tell people anyways, weren't we?"

Laxus let out a breath then, glanced around before slowly moved to take a step into the house. "Yeah, Mira, we were."

"You bombard me with too many secrets and I have to blow up eventually."

"Mmmm." He only reached out, cupping her face in his hands like he always enjoyed doing, before saying, "So everyone knows?"

Nodding, Mira said, "Everyone knows."

Another deep breath before, slowly, he moved to kiss her head. Against it, he whispered, "Good. Then you can come home with me now. Right?"

Oh, she'd more than enough time to figure all of that out. Nodding at him, she said, "Or maybe you could move in with-"

"I ain't livin' with Elfman."

And that was that.

Laxus went back to resting his lips against Mirajane's forehead and she was contemplating how to break it to Elfman, who was still out and had no idea that she was married, that not only was she moving out, but also that she was moving in with Laxus.

Depending on how she played up Laxus' friendship with Evergreen, it might actually go well.

Maybe…

"So not only do you think that you can just marry my sister without asking, but now you think you can fraternize in front of me too? Unbelievable."

And Lisanna was up. Great.

Laxus and Mirajane separated at the sound of her coming into the living room, her sister staring in shock at her, given that Lisanna, when she didn't have work, could very easily sleep till noon.

But she did have work. She had to work on Laxus. Or at least figure him and his intentions out.

Because no one messed with her and Elf's older sister. And if her brother wasn't around to (attempt) to beat out of Laxus just what he was doing, running away with their big sister, then Lisanna would just have to step up to the plate.

"Fraternize?" Laxus held Mirajane to him as she turned to face her sister. Resting his head atop the woman's, he only stared at Lisanna. "What is she to you? A prisoner?"

Lisanna leveled her gaze right back. "Maybe."

"Hmmm." Slowly, he let go of Mirajane before walking over to Lisanna. Swallowing, the youngest Strauss only stared up at him. With an unusual grin, Laxus raised a hand to her and...patted her on the head.

"You know, kid," he began as he left his hand atop her head, "this is new for me too. This whole...dealing with you thing. And probably your brother too. Then I gotta adjust to being a husband too? That's too much. So whatever it is you want to do to me, get it over with today, yeah? I don't want to fight with you, Lisanna. I love your sister. A lot. And I get that you Strausses are close. And you can still have Mirajane Strauss. But Mirajane Dreyar's mine. Yeah?"

Still, Lisanna only stared. "That doesn't even make sense."

"After you see Mirajane Dreyar, kid," he said with one last pat to her head. "You'll be beggin' to ditch Strauss too, yeah? And don't worry; I'll let you be my little sister instead of Elfman. If you beg."

And Lisanna shoved his hand off that time, but Laxus only laughed as Mirajane gave him a look. Before she had a chance to explain to him that bullying of her brother would never be allowed, he was rushing back over to her to wrap an arm around her once more.

"C'mon." He nuzzled his head against hers. "I wanna spend some time with my wife. I just got home and all. Isn't that how this is going to work?"

"I have work, dragon." Then Mirajane glanced at her sister. "Unless-"

"No." And Lisanna whined that. "This isn't fair. I was gonna go hang out with-"

"Just for the morning shift? Please?" Mira gave her the best sad look she could muster. "For the newly weds?"

"If this is how it's always going to be-"

"It ain't." And Laxus gave Lisanna this...look. Mirajane couldn't quite explain it, but whatever it was it made Lisanna look to the ground. "Mira'll be in at two sharp."

Lisanna only kicked at the ground. Then, "Yeah, whatever."

"And maybe," Laxus offered as he started to lead a shocked Mirajane out the door, "we can go out to lunch or something after, huh? And get this all settled?"

But he was tugging Mirajane out the door before he heard Lisanna's answer. It was just as well, as she wasn't too ready to give him one just yet.

"What was that?" Mira complained as she elbowed Laxus in the ribs. He only tightened his arm around her though.

"What?"

"You know what. You bossing around Lisanna."

"I didn't boss her around. I just told her what was going to happen. I'm a natural born leader, you know."

"Uh-huh."

"Besides." He gave a half shrug. "Me and Lisanna...we're cool. She's just all pissy about...whatever stupid Strauss sibling shit is going on. And from what I can tell, only children make the best in-laws."

"What would give you that idea?"

"Because we wanna be left the eff alone, so we'll leave them the eff alone. Win-win."

"Oh, dragon."

He was solemn then as he softly said, "I like your sister, Mira. So don't worry about it, huh? You got more important things."

"Such as?"

She got a kiss to the head. Then, "We got a marital bed to break in."

"You're so nasty!"

But she was giggling and he was grinning, just a bit, and it was done. The big thing that had been looming overhead. All of it.

Well, most of it. Laxus still had to contend with one Elfman Strauss (and one Evergreen who would no doubt be secretly seething that Laxus had locked down a Strauss before her) as well as the guild (thoguh, considering he didn't acknowledge most of them in any way on a daily basis, that was nothing).

And then, finally, he had to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Namely, being married to Mirajane Strauss.

Nee, Mirajane Dreyar.

Mmmm.

Oh, and then there was Makarov who was none too pleased to know that not only had Laxus, as he put it, 'tarnished Mirajane', but also...kinda...done exactly what the man had always dreamed of.

Heh.

But it was worth it. All of it. Just for those moments when Laxus could walk around Magnolia with his demon and not have to worry about it in the slightest.

So maybe they hadn't been dating. And Mira wasn't knocked up (yet, anyhow). And they definitely weren't smuggling drugs.

But...they were married. And, for the most part, Laxus had to say pretty happily.

What more could he ask for than that?

#Miraxus #Mirajane #Mira #Mirajane Strauss #Mira Strauss #Laxus #Laxus Dreyar #Fairy Tail #Fanfiction