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eryiss · 3 months

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[Fraxus] Multifaceted - Part 1

Or: The 5 Times Laxus Learned of a New Skill Freed Possessed, & The 1 Time He Fell Victim To Them

Summary: For the rest of the world, it had been seven years. For the members of Fairy Tail it had all been in the blink of an eye. But, for Laxus, that was more than enough time for his closest friend to seem like an entirely new person. This self assured, competent Freed was something new to Laxus, and he found himself enjoying it. Perhaps a little too much… Note: I’m back, probably only for this and then I’ll slink away again. It should have a new chapter every other day. Hope you enjoy. Links: Ao3, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

1: Cooking

Laxus was practically a dead man walking as he approached his apartment building, and wanted nothing more than to collapse onto a bed and sleep for the rest of the week. He couldn't, of course. When he and Freed had been forced to move into an apartment with only enough space for one bed, they'd decided they'd alternate each night on who got to use it, and who had to make do with the armchair. Freed was generous, but he wasn't so generous to give up the bed for a whole week.

God, Laxus missed having a bedroom to himself.

But when you're wiped off the face of the planet for seven years, and your bank decides your dead and absorbs your assets, you don't get to be picky. The jobs coming into the new, barely surviving Fairy Tail were not good. Whereas previously its members had been comfortable financially, they now all had to scrimp and save. Hence, sharing a tiny apartment with Freed.

It could have been worse; a lot worse. He and Freed had always gotten along well, and after a long talk on the boat back to Magnolia's shores, they had an understanding. Things had changed a little between them; Laxus had been humbled after the harvest festival, and Freed had come into his own. He seemed comfortable in his skin in a way Laxus hadn't seen before. He'd always been in control and able to dominate the room the moment he walked in, but now he made it look effortless. Like he was walking with his head held high not because he felt the need to, but because he felt no need not to.

Living together was going well, that was all. Laxus did wish they could afford a better place, and as he trundled up the stairs, he wished they'd found a place on a lower floor.

He forced the door open - it was stiff on its hinges - and it took a second for the scent to hit him. Rich and indulgent meat, thick and butter ladened potatoes, a cluster of vegetables all with the char of a grill, and the slightest whiff of red wine filled the room. After a month of eating bread and the occasional piece of fruit on his mission, the hit of flavour could have made Laxus weep.

"Ah, you're here," said Freed, looking over his shoulder from where he stood at the kitchenette, stirring a pot of something. "I was hoping you'd be back soon. I was a little preemptive with the vegetables."

"You cooked?" Laxus asked, dumping his duffel bag on the floor.

"It seems so, yes," Freed nodded, raising a ladle of cabbage to prove it. "How did it go? Did you get paid this time?"

"I did," Laxus shoved the door closed, half tempted to collapse into the armchair. He stank, though, and if he remembered correctly it was Freed's turn to sleep in the chair. It'd be a dick move to make it reek before Freed had to deal with it. "The guy tried to negotiate the price down after it was over, but I think I scared him."

"Wonderful," Freed hummed slightly. "I can see why no other guild will take them."

The only worthwhile jobs that Fairy Tail had gotten recently were S-Class and A-Class jobs that the bigger guilds would not post. They saw Fairy Tail as desperate and willing to overlook certain issues, some of which consisted of underpayments from the job poster. They clearly had forgotten how Fairy Tail functioned; the guild had always been paid in full, even if they needed to throw a few punches to get it.

"Yeah, it's ridiculous," Laxus agreed, deciding to take a seat at the tiny, rickety dining room table that had come with the apartment. The chair was uncomfortable on a good day, but not being on his feet was too heavenly for him to care. He took a moment to sink into his chair, and watched as Freed opened the oven, taking a steaming dish out. God, the smell! "You seriously cooked?"

"Yes," Freed said as he placed the dish onto the counter. He looked at Laxus with amusement in his eyes. He was so much more open with his emotions now, it was nice. "Why does that shock you?"

"I never knew you could. You used to make Bix do all the cooking on missions."

"Yes, well," he reached for a spatula and broke the surface of whatever was in the dish. "I had always wanted to cook, but for some time I didn't allow myself to learn. I saw it as a frivolity, or something… indulgent. I had other things to deal with."

Other things being Laxus' stupid ego trip, no doubt. "You mean the harvest festival?"

"Among other things," Freed waved off. "When you were gone, I had time to spare, and eventually picked up a cookbook. I got rather good at it, I must say. Though admittedly I had a more generous budget then. But, I've quite enjoyed the challenge of stretching myself. Hence: cottage pie."

He scooped a large pile of meat, veg and potatoes onto a plate. The rich scent that filled the room was drool inducing. "It smells amazing. Don't know what exactly it is though."

"Minced beef, onion, carrots, peas, a few herbs, salt, pepper, a sauce which for the life of me I cannot pronounce the name of - don't you dare tell Bix or Ever, they'll be insufferable - and a dash of red wine. And mashed potatoes on top, obviously," Freed filled two plates with the food, bringing them both to the table. A bowl of mixed vegetables quickly followed, and the already opened bottle of red wine - the cheapest Laxus has ever seen Freed purchase - was placed between them before Freed sat down. "Enjoy."

"I will," Laxus promised, and it wouldn't be a difficult one to keep.

He forked a generous amount of the food and bit into it, a groan of pleasure slipping out before he could halt it. It was simple food, and would have been easy to turn your nose up at if you were a pretentious dick, but it was amazing. The flavours felt exaggerated and brought to life, thick and heavy and so rich.

Freed's eyes were clearly on him, waiting for a verbal confirmation as to the quality. Laxus felt like his partial moan should have told him, and as such didn't rush to swallow. It had been months since he'd had a good meal, and he intended to savour it.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Freed huffed when Laxus immediately went to take another bite. Laxus grinned.

"What?"

"You very well know what," Freed snapped, watching the forkful of food, daring Laxus to try and bite into it. Laxus didn't say anything, but cocked up a brow to prompt Freed. Freed complied. "Validate my ego, you tedious man."

"Hm," Laxus hummed. "I don't know if I've had enough of it yet to come to a fair judgement. Hold on."

As Laxus took a very performative mouthful of food, Freed watched him with a decidedly unimpressed expression. He took a bite of his own food, which he finished significantly quicker than Laxus had. He watched silently as Laxus finally swallowed his second forkful of food.

"Maybe one more bite."

"I think I might actually stab you."

Laxus laughed, slowly placed his fork down and leant back in his chair. Freed faux glared at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Honestly, it's amazing," Laxus said, dropping the joking tone. "I genuinely don't think I've eaten anything this good since I was kicked out of the guild."

"There's no need to exaggerate."

"I'm not, this is amazing," Laxus assured him, watching as Freed started to eat his own food properly. "I'm not gonna pretend that I ate well for any of that time, but this is still so much better. Honestly, after the last couple weeks, this feels like the best meal I've ever had."

"Well then," Freed sniffed slightly. "Don't let it go cold."

Laxus complied, and the two ate their dinner in silence. The food really was amazing, and as cheap as the wine was, it felt like a luxury. All thoughts of collapsing into bed when he got home had been forgotten; this food was a much greater indulgence. That was why Laxus had no qualms about running his finger over the plate, licking it clean.

Freed must have seen that, because he wordlessly took the plate off Laxus and walked back to the counter. As he piled another serving on, Laxus complained that he could have done that.

"As if I'm letting you near my cookware," Freed huffed. "It's the only thing worth a damn in this place."

"What about our friendship?" Laxus teased, leaning on his hand with a smirk.

"Oh don't be tedious," Freed rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

In that moment, with Freed standing at the counter, serving the fruits of his labour, with a small smile on his face, with his sleeves rolled up and his hair tied back, Laxus realised something. Something he'd never considered before, but in that moment felt entirely obvious. Freed was a very handsome man.

Huh. That was something to think about.

But not at that moment. He had a second helping to devour, and he wasn't going to waste it on the weird fluttery feeling in his chest.

#fraxus #Freed Justine #Laxus Dreyar #Fairy Tail #fanfiction #Writing #Multichapter #canon compliant #Word Count: 1.6k

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whumpsday · 10 months

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Pin and Needle

Whump writing masterlist | G/t writing tag

g/t sideblog here! @smallsday

content: g/t, whump, tiny whump, borrowers, animal attack, caretaking, needles/stitches, hurt/comfort, fear, past child neglect, probable medical inaccuracies, found family

Whumpmas in July Day 3: Stitches & Bandages GT July Day 3: Impulsive Two Weeks of Whump Day 2: Needles

of my 10 Whumpmas in July entries, 3 of them will be combos with GT July! here's the first of those! i will never get tired of writing borrower whump. i should write a borrower whump series someday. for any non-g/t people unfamiliar, borrowers are a species of tiny people who secretly live in humans' houses, like fairies without wings. if you've ever seen anything labeled "tiny whump", this is that.

Pin had been a dad for five years now, and he liked to think he was getting pretty good at it.

The kid was already seven and self-sufficient enough to not die on her own for who knows how long when he found her, so he didn't have to deal with any of that baby crap. Now she was twelve, and she was better at some stuff than he was.

Pin decided to go borrowing while the kid slept in today, with the human off at school. It was perfect, because then he could take his time looking for a surprise. Today was the five-year anniversary, and he wanted to make it special. There was a lot he'd missed in Chime's life, and from what the kid had said about her old parents, they weren't exactly in the habit of celebrating her.

He had to make it special.

Pin had already gathered all the food and supplies he needed to grab, so all that was left was the present. He'd been looking around every time he went out, but he couldn't see anything. The human lived by himself- mostly, aside from that damn cat he'd brought home last month- and was a starkly healthy eater. Not a lot of little bits and bobs he could use to make toys for her, either.

It had been easier to get treats for the kid with the family who used to live in the apartment, who always kept sweets around, but food was food. It was better for the kid this way in the long run, anyway. But he really wished he could get her a treat, just this once.

He didn't really go into the human's room. He was of the opinion that a man needed his privacy, and food was supposed to be kept in the kitchen, so why would he need to? Most of all, the cat liked to hang out in there, and that was a risk he didn't need to take. Apparently the human was just watching it for a friend, which was the only reason he hadn't taken the kid and moved. But maybe the guy was hiding some snacks in there. From all the studying he seemed to do in there, it was likely, right?

Just this once.

Pin approached the bedroom. He could probably have squeezed himself through the gap under the door if he needed to, but the door was open a crack. He peeked in.

The cat snoozed happily on the chair left messily pulled out from the desk. Perfect, it was asleep. All he had to do was not make noise and-

It didn't take long for Pin to find his prize. There, right on the desk, a bag of marshmallows. Bingo. The bag even proclaimed them "mini", like they were made for borrowers. He could probably fit two or three in his rucksack to surprise the kid with when she wakes up.

Even with the chair pulled away, it was a little too close to the cat for comfort. He really should turn around and just try and make the kid another toy.

Ah, fuck it.

Pin could take a little risk. The cat was asleep. He readied his sticky hand- a human children's toy, a little less reliable than a grappling hook but much quieter- and climbed his way up the desk.

No issues. He was in the clear. He ripped a small hole in the bag and stuffed three marshmallows in his pack.

When he turned around, the cat was not asleep.

It stared straight at him with huge, yellow eyes, pupils constricted and tail flickering back and forth.

"Oh, shit. Hey, kitty," Pin whispered, backing away slowly.

The cat hunkered down, its hindquarters wiggling slightly, like-

Heart pounding, Pin dropped the pack and ran. But he was too slow, of course he was too slow, he was five inches tall. Borrowers weren't made to be fast, they were made to be sneaky, and he'd done the one thing a borrower was never supposed to do: he'd been found.

The cat was on the desk in an instant and its paws pinned him to its surface in another, their fuzzy exteriors giving way to claws stabbing through his clothes, through his skin. He screamed, trying to squirm away, but that only made the agony intensify, the claws dragging through flesh as blood stained his ruined clothes.

"No! Stop!" he cried uselessly, gasping with pain, but the cat didn't listen. Its head drew closer, mouth opening to reveal a maw full of sharp teeth that could easily crush bones.

Pin wailed in despair. He was going to die a violent, bloody death before he even hit forty. It wasn't supposed to end like this!

He kicked wildly, and by some stroke of luck, he managed to land a hit on the cat's snout, causing it to rear back a little.

That was all he needed. Pin tore away from the paws, letting out another shriek as they popped through his skin, and ran toward the front of the desk as fast as he could, dropping blood behind him.

The cat spun, tail flickering and ears forward with excitement.

"Fuck off!" Pin shouted. He shoved the desk drawer open just enough to slide in, landing on the bottom with a grunt.

The cat's paw dove in after, reaching for him. He scrambled to the back of the drawer, trembling in terror.

"Calm- calm down," he told himself, trying to get his quick breathing under control. The drawer was too small: even if the cat got it open, it wouldn't be able to fit all the way in the back. He wrapped his arms around himself, quickly becoming soaked in blood as his midsection throbbed with pain.

It was so dark, the only light coming from the sliver where the cat's paw batted around, searching for him. Pin grabbed at the piece of paper he found himself sitting on, tearing off a piece with shaking hands and wrapping it over himself like a bandage. He pressed it there tightly, even as it became soaked with blood, too.

Pin always tried to be strong for the kid. But Chime wasn't here right now, so he let himself cry. It was the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life, and he might still die. What would happen to him? How was he going to get back home? What if he didn't stop bleeding and he died here in the dark?

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when the front door clicked open, making him startle in his frazzled state. The human wasn't supposed to be home yet, was he? Or had he just been sitting here that long?

"This is why I need to check my emails, Yarny!" the human called. Right, the beast that might have caused his slow, painful death was named Yarny.

The cat's paw retreated and it hopped off the desk, exiting the room with a loud, insistent meow.

"Yarny!" the human gasped. "Is that blood!? What happened? Are you hurt?"

Oh no. The human was going to find him if he didn't move. Pin stood up: now that the cat was gone, he needed to get out of here.

He took one step, stumbled, and sat right back down as his vision spun.

"Oh, thank god," the human said distantly. "What, then, did you catch a mouse? Please tell me it's not still running around my apartment."

The human was going to kill him.

He would die without even getting to say goodbye to Chime. She was going to be abandoned again, this time by him. No kid should have to go through that. He was supposed to be getting her a present. How had this all gone so wrong? He didn't want to die.

But the footsteps drew closer, and he didn't have a choice. He scooted back into the corner of the drawer, clutching the paper around himself like he would even have the time to bleed out. He sobbed, hoping it would at least be quick.

The door creaked as the human swung it open, pattering over to the desk. Pin's whole world rumbled around him as the human slid the drawer open, revealing him trembling in the corner.

"H-hi," Pin said weakly.

The human stared, eyes wide with disbelief. Pin had never been so close to a human before. He was even bigger up close. He looked like he might have been, well, a scrawny nerd, maybe a little more than half Pin's age if he had to guess, but things like that didn't matter at his size. A human baby could crush him, let alone a young man.

"What are you?" the human asked, incredulous.

The last thing Pin was going to do was put his species at risk. He shrugged. "Dying," he squeaked, unable to keep casual.

"Oh, oh no." The human seemed to snap out of his incredulous stupor, enormous hands reaching toward him. Pin cringed back, but the human scooped him up anyway.

Pin squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, trying not to whimper, but no death came for him. The human's hands were gentle, carrying him out of the drawer.

"Yarny, no," the human chastised, closing the bedroom door behind him as he walked out to the kitchen. He turned his attention to Pin. "I'm so sorry, I don't even know what you are. Yarny hurt you?"

"Yeah." He slowly opened his eyes, staring up at the giant. His trembling started up again. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"What? No!" The human seemed to realize he was making Pin uncomfortable and set him down carefully on the counter. "I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm- well, I'm not a doctor yet, I'm just a med student- are you still bleeding?"

Pin let out a shaky sigh of relief. His heart still raced with terror, but if the human was able to help him- well, he'd already been found.

He pulled the paper away from his injuries, getting a good look for the first time. Several bloody marks raked down his left side where the cat had sunk its claws into him. Blood oozed from them, warm and red.

"Look, uh," Pin didn't know the human's name. He almost never had company over, and no one just says their own name to themself. "Human guy. I know you don't know me but, you gotta help me, okay? I have a kid waiting up for me." It was risky revealing Chime's existence, but he never said he lived here, and since the human knew nothing about him, he'd have no way of knowing. His voice shook a little as he pled his case. "Single dad. She's got no one else. I can't die here, alright? C'mon. It- it hurts."

"Of course I'll help you!" the human exclaimed. He wrung his hands nervously. "It's just- I'm really not qualified, yet, is the thing. I could drive you to the emergency room? Or maybe, um, given your size, a small animal vet?"

"I'm not an animal!" Pin insisted, offended. "No, no, kid, listen. You can do this, alright? I've seen those books you keep in the living room. You got all the diagrams and shit. I can't be going to an emergency room and showing myself off to everybody. Just fix me and I'll be out of your hair."

"I haven't even done residency yet!" the human protested. "I've done a suture practice kit, but that's for normal-sized wounds, and it's just for practice, and I can't even determine that you need stitches because I'm not a doctor!" After a moment, he added, "And my name's Kendry."

"Pin," he introduced himself. "Practice kit's better than nothing. Just do that." He couldn't have this human take him out to get prodded at by a bunch of other humans, it sounded like his worst nightmare. "And I'm rushing you, 'cause I'm getting dizzy here."

Kendry looked alarmed at that. "Oh- okay!" he agreed, obviously still anxious. "Can you take off your shirt so I can examine you?"

"You got it." Pin removed the tatters that were once his shirt, wincing as the movement ignited more pain in his side.

Kendry peered closer. "I- yeah, I'm going to give you stitches. I would really like to take longer, but you can't have that much blood in you... I'm not a vet..." he trailed off.

"Good, 'cause I'm not a mouse," Pin grumbled, but the repeated broaching of the topic made him nervous. If Kendry saw him as a fellow person, he would probably be okay. But if the human saw him as an animal... who knows what he would do to him? The fact that his life laid entirely in this giant stranger's hands was terrifying.

"I'll be right back." Kendry dashed out of the kitchen, returning with a black fabric case. He unzipped it to reveal a cut-up silicone pad with all the cuts neatly sewn closed, curved needles of various sizes, thread, a bunch of different tweezers, and a few sets of scissors as tall as Pin.

Oh, he didn't like that last part at all.

But Kendry reached for the smallest curved needle, which still looked pretty damn big. "This is the practice kit. I did pretty well with the suture pad, but you're so small..." he fretted. He threaded the needle, pulled a packet from a drawer, ripped it open, and wiped the needle, thread, and one tweezer down with the tissue inside. He opened another one and held it hesitantly in front of Pin.

"I need to sanitize you first. Cats' claws can carry germs, I don't want you to get infected. It's going to sting," he warned. "I'm sorry, I can't give you anything for the pain, I'm worried you might even overdose on ibuprofen at your size..."

Pin maneuvered himself onto his other side, letting his injury face up toward Kendry, way too vulnerable. "It already stings, and I don't know what ibuprofen is. Just do it."

"Okay. Here goes." Kendry swiped the wipe over Pin's side, and he had to bite his cheek to keep from shrieking. It hurt, the fluid inside seeping into his open wounds.

"Are you okay?" Kendry asked.

"I will be once this thing stops bleeding," Pin said, voice strained.

"Alright, I just need you to hold still. Is it okay if I...?" Kendry brought his other hand to hover around him.

Pin hated the idea of being held in place, unable to move, but he nodded anyway. Whatever the doc-in-training had to do. "Go for it."

Kendry rested a finger on his back and a thumb on his chest, holding him gently but firmly in place despite Pin's continued trembling. "Just try and stay still. I'm sorry if it hurts. I'll do my best," he promised.

The needle entered his skin, dipping in and out as Pin fought the urge to squirm away. He couldn't hold back this time, sobbing harder every time the needle re-entered him. There were no more check-ups from Kendry: Pin could see, through tear-blurred eyes, all his focus was on the wound.

After way too long, Kendry released his hold, allowing Pin freedom of movement again. He didn't take advantage of it, exhausted by blood loss and his ordeal.

"Don't move," Kendry told him anyway. He grabbed one of the scissors.

Pin put his hands up, adrenaline flooding him. "I won't! What are you doing with that!?"

"Easy." Kendry wiped that down with the stinging wipe, too. "You still have the thread attached. I won't hurt you." He glanced down at the scissors, then back at Pin. "I know it must seem frightening to someone your size, but I'm just going to cut the thread. Honest."

"Right. Right, yeah." Pin forced himself to relax, lowering his hands back down as Kendry snipped the thread, leaving several wounds in his side stitched up relatively neatly.

Kendry grabbed a band-aid, one of the few medical tools Pin liked to take to keep around under the floorboards, and peeled the plastic away. He dropped some clear-ish gel from a tube onto the center. "I'm going to add some Neosporin on it just to be safe. An infection would wreak havoc on you."

"Sounds good to me," Pin agreed, sitting up. Kendry wrapped the band-aid around his body, the stitches hidden underneath. Good. He didn't want the kid to freak out about it.

"There. That went... pretty well, I think," Kendry said, almost stunned. "Where can I... discharge you to?"

"Thanks. The floor," Pin instructed. He could just get back home when Kendry wasn't looking. He'd have to find a new place after that, now that the human knew. Even if he was friendly enough to help, there was no way he'd want them to stay. "I'll be out soon as I can move around right."

Kendry tilted his head, the situation finally clicking. "Were you... living here?"

"Uh, yeah," Pin admitted. "Since before you moved in, actually."

"Oh! Well, um, I'm not going to kick you out after you just got attacked. You're... my patient. That wouldn't do," Kendry decided. "Does your daughter live here, too?"

The jig was pretty much up at this point. If Kendry wanted to hurt him, he already would have. "Yeah. Which is why I'm not telling you exactly where. I'm thankful and all, but... you get it."

"Oh, of course," Kendry agreed quickly. "You're just being a good dad."

Pin smiled at that, despite the pain. He wiped the tears from his face. "Thanks. I try, you know? She's not even my kid by blood, she actually lived here before either of us. I was scouting for a new place when I found her here all on her own. Seven years old, could you believe that?"

"What!? That's crazy!" Kendry pulled up a chair and sat, transfixed. "Seven years old, four inches tall?"

"Three tall. She was little. Apparently her parents had too many kids, so they just started kicking 'em out as soon as they were old enough. I don't think seven's old enough, but hey, what do I know?" Pin shook his head. "Today's the five-year anniversary of when we met. Usually stay out of your room, you gotta have your privacy, but I wanted to get the kid something special. Could I still get a few of those marshmallows?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course!" Kendry ran off toward the room, returning with a handful of mini-marshmallows as well as Pin's rucksack and sticky hand. "I figure these are yours?"

"Yeah. Thanks for being cool about everything." This was going so much better than he'd expected. "We'll move out soon. Probably should have the day you brought the cat."

"Um, you could stay if you want." Kendry offered, hope flashing in his eyes. "You were here first, after all."

This guy was obviously ridiculously lonely. But he mentioned having a friend? "I mean, yeah, that'd be great, if it's really alright. You okay?"

"Yeah! It's just- I lost my parents a few years ago," Kendry admitted. "You seem like... a really good dad. I don't want to make things harder for you. I don't mind having roommates."

Ah, so that was it. Pin reached out and patted Kendry's hand. He wouldn't mind having another pseudo-kid. "Me neither."

here's some more borrower whump i wrote if you like this! and be on the lookout for a Tiny Kane AU on thursday :)

feel free to ask to be on any of my taglists, btw!

everything taglist:

@lilac-and-lemon-whumps

@t0rture-me

@whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump

@dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night

@whumpshaped

one-shots taglist:

@icyheart-and-friends

@kira-the-whump-enthusiast

@lilac-and-lemon-whumps

@whuarri

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g/t whump taglist:

@whumpinthepot

@cupcakes-and-pain

just this one

@a-crumb-of-whump

event: @whumpmasinjuly @gianttol @promptsforyourwhumpfic

#gtjuly #gtjuly2023 #twow #twoweeksofwhump #g/t #whump #whumpmasinjuly2023 #wij23day3 #my writing #borrowers #tiny whump #caretaking #needles #hurt/comfort #medical whump #stitches and bandages #impulsive #whump writing

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aurora567 · 5 months

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When Sparks Fly

Warnings: graphic smut, cream pie, NSFW, minors do not interact.

Summary: Just a completely filthy Laxus Dreyar one-shot with an OC. NSFW so minors beware this story contains heavy 18 content. If you do not like OC or third person stories then you may not like this one.

Word count: 6,477

Seven years, that was how long it had been since they got the dreaded news, the news that Tenrou Island and all that had gone there were gone. The guild had nearly fallen apart, with the master gone and all the s-class wizards with it jobs became rare, new members stopped coming and many even left unable to survive in the dying guild. But still it was hanging on by the slightest slivers of effort by those who remained. Twilight Ogre came in and took over being the top guild. Yet those who remained never gave up a slight sliver of hope that their missing guild mates would one day return.

The brunette was standing among the old guild hall helping Romeo and Kinana along with a few others who remained while others went looking for something that Blue Pegasus had mentioned. It was a slim hope, one that left a heavy weight on the shoulders of the guild members who stayed behind and waited. Romeo was reading some story, while the few others laundered around the small hall. Kinana was walking a plate of food over for the brunette when the door of the guild burst open and the small group of Twilight Ogre thugs walked in, only having been over the day before to trash the place and demand payment on the interest the guild owed them. It really should not have surprised anyone when the thugs showed back up but still Macao was quick to tell them that they had promised the guild another month to come up with the money.

Bullies the lot of them, that's all they were. And Romeo seemed in an extra sour mood as the young boy stood his ground appearing ready to try and take on the thugs. But the kid was still learning his magic untrained and against an adult stood no chance. And apparently the leader of the group saw no issues with beating up a kid. The man was raising the large spiked club in his hands prepared to bring it down on the boy before anyone could intervene.

Before he could swing it down, the man's body was suddenly being propelled up into the air, a strong kick from behind him sending him flying forwards into the guild hall where he hit the wall.

And in the blink of an eye the rest of the little gang were laid out on the floor, as the dust settled a large group of all too familiar faces was revealed. It was a sight no one would have truly believed even as an all too familiar voice range out.

"Look who's back," It was like hearing the voice of a ghost.

"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long," Happy called out standing beside the guild's fire dragon slayer.

To say the current guild members were shocked was probably an understatement. While seven years had passed every face that had been gone for that long had remained unchanged, everyone seemed the exact same as the day they parted from the guild to go hold the s-class trials. The same could not be said for those who had not been stuck on Tenrou Island.

Riza stood back staring wide eyed at the group, people who were once older than her still held their youthful looks. Natsu still looked like a teen rather than a man who should have been pushing his mid twenties. The same could be said for most of the younger members of Fairy Tail who had left. It almost felt odd looking at Erza and Mirajane who had once been a good few years older than her now looked younger. It was odd to remember that the last time she saw the group the young woman had only been fifteen was now at twenty two making her older than some of her friends. It was an odd concept to wrap one's head around. And she was not the only one surprised as she could hear her guild mates all questioning one another about what had happened before the story of Acnologia and how the guild had been able to use one of the three Fairy Law spells to keep themselves safe but the spell took seven years to wear off.

As people recalled the story of what happened, some branched out friends quickly got back together, Jet and Troy were all over poor Levy. Friends rejoiced to see each other and were quick to fall to tears before food and drink was quickly being passed around. And before long the guild felt like it had before. Noise filled the quiet hall, and once again life seemed to flow within the building's old walls.

The brunette's honey coloured eyes moved over the large filled room taking in all the warm faces. Though she was surprised to spot a face she did not expect to see among the group. Laxus had stood back a little watching the guild, one he had been kicked out of for his bad behavior all those years ago. It was hard to forget how he had nearly blown up Foire in an attempt to hold a coup d'etat and for Makarov to hand over his guild master title to Laxus. She had been a part of the Battle of Fairy Tale while trying to find Laxus. But the woman had never been the biggest fighter, she had always been too passive or she had been as a kid. But life has gotten hard over the last few years. She still was not exactly as brash as Erza and she did not go looking for a fight like Natsu always did, but she still stood back unable to help that shy past of herself. Even now as everyone mingled and chatted catching up she sat at a table along the edge of the rowdy crowd content to listen rather than engage. Natsu and Romeo were happily chatting off to one side with Panther Lily and Gajeel. It was easy to hear that loud mouth from across the small guild hall.

At some point a few of Lamia Scale members had stopped in to visit, seeing how the gossip about the return of the missing Fairy Tail members seemed to have quickly spread. It was nice to see the old comrades come to pay a visit but it held no interest to the young woman. Having ditched her seat she was standing up originally planning to go say hello to the members of Lamia Scale before a lanky arm draped over her shoulders.

"Well what do we have here? Is this little Riza?" The voice in her ear was one she knew well and hated.

"Bixlow. Can't say I have missed your tormenting," She growled as she looked over to glare at the man who was bending over her a little, his tall frame still towering over her even though she was taller since the last time he saw her.

"Awe don't say that. I was not that bad," The man said, that oddly long tongue of his rolling out of his mouth as he gave her a sheepish grin before his attention turned to his friends. "Freed, Laxus, look who's all grown up now?"

Oh great the last thing she wanted was the man who was now the same age as her to be calling attention to her. But the arm around her shoulders made it hard to just walk away from him. Even as she tried to pull away from him she could feel the arm locking her in place. So instead she was glaring at the man who prevented her from being allowed to run off.

"Bixlow I think you are making her uncomfortable," Freed said softly which earned him a thankful look from the woman. But still that did not let her get away from Bixlow.

"Awe I'm sure she's okay. Our little Riza is all grown up now. I am sure she can handle herself," It was hard to tell if Bixlow was teasing or taunting her.

"I see you're the same pain in my ass as always Bixlow," She growled at the man.

"Awe come on baby," The man said pouting as his puppets floating around him repeated the words baby. She could feel an eye twitch at the man's use of the nickname he always seemed to call woman.

"Don't call me that. Sounds weird from a guy that should be almost thirty," she said, batting his arm off of her shoulder finally. Though a seven year age gap was large it wasn't like it was exactly horrible. Still it felt odd somehow looking at a man who she knew was older than he looked but then again did those seven years truly count? For those on Tenrou Island life had paused. So in a sense she was roughly the same age as Bixlow, Freed, Laxus and Evergreen were. That also now made her older than Natus, Lucy, Grey and Erza. People who used to be older than her.

"To be fair nothing about us has aged. We are still physically the same age as the day we left for Tenrou," Freed was the one to remind her of that.

"And mentally," she mumbled, adding it on to Freed's comment. Though what may have surprised her the most was the fact that Laxus was being rather quiet during the entire ordeal just standing back watching and listening. Golden honey-colored eyes could not help but glance over at him and it felt like that was a great mistake as her eyes met his. He was staring at her with his lips firmly pressed together. He was not down right glaring or scowling but still with his arms pressed over his broad chest it still made him look intimidating. Yet she could not just force her eyes away. It wasn't till she noticed Bixlow laughing at her comment that she had finally forced her eyes away from the lightning dragon slayer.

"It's not that funny Bixlow," she mumbled simply as she watched the man laughing as Freed glared at him softly.

"I think that sharp tongue of yours is entertaining. You used to be such a meek kid. It's hard to believe you're that same kid," the taller man said once his laughter had died down some.

"A lot has changed in seven years. I am no longer a child so stop treating me like one," She scolded the taller man who quickly tossed his hands up into the air as if surrendering as he mumbled a simple half hearted apology.

"Whatever. I'm out of here. Some of us still have work to do tomorrow," Really it was just an excuse for her to run off. She wished to return to her dorm room and hide from the group. She had more than enough of people, and the need to get some fresh air drove her to quickly walk away from the men who had felt the need to torment her. The second she was out the front doors of the guild she could not help but take a deep breath. She always did struggle with crowds and that had not changed.

"I see you're still only a hair away from a panic attack," the voice that filled her ears had her suddenly jump physically into the air and turn on the man who had followed her out of the guild.

"Fuck Laxus," she hissed at the man as she tried to calm her racing heart. She watched the corner of his lips twitch before he simply crossed his arms over his chest and just stood there looking at her.

"What the hell do you want?" She asked him with as hard of a glare as she could master under his hard gaze.

"Chasing after you to make sure you were okay gave me a good reason to get away myself," the blonde said with a shrug of his shoulders as if he did not have any real cares.

Honestly she wasn't even sure why the man was sticking around. He had been kicked from the guild, there was nothing stopping him from leaving if he wanted to.

"Well I am fine so you can leave now," she snapped at him, not entirely sure where that bravery to speak to him like that came from. She watched his lips curl up slowly into a grin as he unfolded his arms and proceeded to take a few steps towards her. Which in turn had her backing away from him trying to maintain the distance between them. She backed away till she hit a tree trunk stopping her from being able to put any more distance between them.

"Well aren't we getting brave," he hummed teasingly as he loomed over her barely a foot of space between them. She was pretty sure she noticed his nostrils flare when he took a deep breath now that there was little space between them. She still had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes even after having the last seven years to grow more. But she had not really gained much more height since she was a young teen.

She may not have grown much in height but she had gained some new curves in the years he had been gone. She no longer had the body of a child. Sure she was not as lucky as say Lucy or Cana. But still her breasts were not tiny, her stomach flat as her hips seemed wider than he remembered. A fair bit of her had changed from what Laxus could remember of the shy and quiet girl. Then again she used to hide behind overly large and baggy clothes. Maybe she always had such a nice body. But still the last few years seemed to do her good.

She felt the bark of the tree digging into her arms as she pressed back against it. She did not like the way those grey eyes of his were roaming over her. Why did it suddenly feel like he could see through her clothes? She could not help as her left arm moved up to try and cover her chest as if she was standing there naked in front of him. That action seemed to entertain him as she watched the corner of his mouth twitch up.

"Yeah well you are not all that scary. Even if you're the lightning dragon slayer. I will not stand back and let you throw your weight around," she said, trying to keep her knees from growing weak under his hard gaze.

"Oh? So are you saying you're not scared of me?" He asked with an arch of a blonde eyebrow at her. If she said no she would be lying. But fear alone was not the only feeling coursing through her making her heart race in her chest. She did not recall the blonde being as attractive as he was now as he stood over her.

"No," she tried to make her voice sound strong but really it had barely been more than a squeak as she looked up at him looking more like a deer stuck in headlights. It was all she could do just to force the single word from her lips as she stood there pinned between the tree and him.

With that she felt his body lean in towards her. She could feel the heat from his body against hers. She tried desperately to glare at the man but the lump in her throat and the shaking of her knees made it hard to stand her ground. The sound of her racing heartbeat was filling her ears, nearly washing out all other noise. She did not even have to guess that he could hear her heart racing just as easily as she could. Dragon slayers all seemed to share heightened senses, she could remember Natsu being able to identify people based on their scent. It would not be hard to imagine that Laxus could hold similar abilities even if he was not a first generation dragon slayer.

"Do you want to try and say that again?" He asked, his voice dropping an octave as he looked down at her. She could not even bring herself to say a word scared about what other noise may be made as she looked up at the blonde man who was leaning into her body. Laxus had always been a good looking guy, hard not to be when he was tall, strong and well she always had a soft spot for blondes. The age gap before had always been enough for her to keep such thoughts mild and subdued. But now that they appeared the same age those thoughts reared its head and were very quick to have her cheeks growing warm.

All she could do was shake her head simply at the man's question. Unable to force herself to try and say anything. Her hands were digging into the bark of the tree as if she could somehow hold herself up with just the strength in her hands. Whether it was the setting sun or something else in his eyes but he almost looked entertained as he loomed over her. It was in a way exciting and terrifying knowing she did not have the power to compete with the man if he so much as wanted to harm her in some way. All she could do was stand as tall as her shaking legs would allow as she looked up at him even as a large hand raised up and she could do nothing more but watch as some of her long brown hair was pushed back behind her ear. The feeling of his skin against her cheek sent a shock through her body.

Was that his doing with his magic or just her body's own sudden reaction to the strange touch. Either way she could not help but jerk away and take a sharp inhale through her teeth as she watched him softly start to chuckle to himself. Whether it was his laughter or the little shock he gave her but she was finally able to snap out of her little shocked panic stricken pose. She moved to smack his hand away from her face only for his hand to grip her wrist with ease.

"Don't you have someone else you can go and torment?" She hissed softly at him as he smirked down at her as she glared up at him.

"Oh but you're so fun to torment," He said, smirking down at her as she glared up at him. She struggled not to shiver under his gaze. Her lips parted but she could not force her brain to work properly and so instead of looking like a fish out of water she quickly darted her tongue out to run it over her bottom lip before sticking the plump lip between her teeth. That quickly drew Laxus' gaze down to watch her chew at her own bottom lip.

The action seemed to almost hypnotize the blonde as she felt his eyes seem to be locked on her lips. Even once she had quickly let go of her lip his eyes still seemed enticed not to leave her lips. She felt like a bunny staring up at the mouth of a hungry dragon, his gaze seemed almost hungry. She contemplated running, her body struggling between the basic survival instincts on if she should run or fight, but she was not stupid enough to fight. No, she was stuck between being frozen in place and wanting to flee. Her body was tense, she was a bunny tense and ready to run for it. She felt wound up tighter than a spring and yet her body refused to move.

Then again it looked like it may be a good thing her body would not move as Laxus looked ready to strike if she was to move at all. Still she felt her left hand twitch her fingers digging harder into the bark of the tree behind her and that seemed to be more than enough to snap the blonde from his own stupor. He moved quickly almost like a striking snake. A large hand entangled among the hair at the nape of her neck as another grabbed a hip. She was pinned between the large body and the tree. His lips crashed against hers as he swallowed the squeak of surprise by the sudden action from her. Her hands shot out from their grip at the tree to grab at the shirt he was wearing, unsure if she wanted to try and push him away from her or pull him in closer towards her. Her hands held at his shirt as if she may crash to the ground if she were to let go.

Her brain seemed to just short circuit as she found herself returning the kiss. She knew better or should have. Kissing him was a bad idea, she should have pushed him away. But instead she found herself pulling him towards her as she melted into his wide chest. His tongue ran across her bottom lip and she did not even hesitate to let him in as her lips parted and his tongue wasted no time in exploring her mouth.

It felt far too fast that her body was screaming for more air than she was taking in thanks to her brain not working and her completely forgetting that she could have been breathing in through her nose. She gasped for air as their lips parted ever so slightly though that did not stop the blonde man from taking her bottom lip between his teeth tugging at her lip slightly before letting go.

She should have taken that moment to push him back, to tell him to stop, to do something other than allow this to continue. But she did not want to stop, she did not even care if they were simply just outside the guild hall where anyone could see them. She did not care one bit. No instead she was reaching up stretching up onto the tips of her toes to make herself tall enough so she could be the one to start the kiss this time.

This drew a low growl from deep within Laxus' chest. It was an almost animalistic sound and damn did it do things to her. Instantly her body reacted as her thighs clenched together as if that would suddenly help the near ache of her body. She had never felt so needy all of a sudden. She was ready to start stripping them both down when suddenly it was Laxus that pulled away, breaking the kiss this time. And she did not even try to stop or hide her whine and protest.

"So impatient. But not here," he said, taking a step back from her, putting a small bit of space between them.

"You're still in the dorms right?" He asked, waiting for her to nod before he suddenly scooped her up as if she weighed nothing and tossed her over his shoulders like some cave man taking his conquest back to his cave.

"Laxus," she cried out in surprise at the sudden movement that she had not been prepared for as she laid over his wide shoulder as he wasted no time in walking around the guild hall to head towards the dorm building where members could choose to live. His wide and fast stride made it quick for him to reach the dorms as she just let herself hang off of his shoulder with a slight pout and a little grumbling to himself about being handled like a bag of potatoes.

Which in term had earned her a sudden hand against her ass. The sudden assault on one of her clothed ass cheeks was a surprise. She could not help the strangled yelp that escaped her as she jerked on his shoulder.

"Laxus!" She hissed at him which just earned her a low chuckle from the man.

"Oh don't get your panties in a twist. You like it just admit it princess," he said as he walked through the dorm building before reaching the room number she had told him to head to. Though he didn't really need her to tell him the number if he had just followed his nose. It was easy to tell which room was giving off her scent of fresh air after a spring shower.

He did not even hesitate to just open the door and stroll on into the small single room barely even pausing in his step to kick his shoes off as his long legs carried him across the room before he was rather literally throwing her onto her bed. She had cried out in protest at the rough treatment but before she could say anything about his treatment she found his large body quickly crawling up her bed and across her.

"Laxus," she had cried out when tossed onto the bed as she started her protest. She was quickly pinned between the large blonde and her bed as her protest died quickly in her throat. His pupils were blown wide, nearly taking over the grey of his eyes. He looked almost more like a predator looming over his prey as he crawled across her pinning her to the bed. She watched the corner of his lips curling up as he looked down at her watching as she was stuck wordless as she looked up at him with her big wide eyes before his lips were on hers.

The kiss was a bit sloppy this time as there were a bit too many teeth and tongue but it seemed never cared enough to slow down and steady out the kiss more. Hands were now roaming one another. She could feel his large hands on her hips but they did not stay there long. Her own hands had started on his shoulders and had run down his chest to find the edge of his shirt and she was quick to start tugging the shirt up his chest. Not wasting any time in attempting to get the shirt off of him. Once his shirt was hitting her bedroom floor his own hands were now pulling at her own t-shirt as she lifted her hands up and let him pull the shirt up and over her head.

His lips found the edge of her jaw before leaving light kisses over her skin as he started to kiss along her neck. Feeling his lips against her neck had her moaning softly as her head rolled back as if to give him more skin to kiss. She could feel his teeth nibble playfully at the skin from time to time which only pulled louder moans from her. His fingers effortlessly unclipped her bra with what she could only assume was a practiced ease. But she did not think about that as she felt the material on her chest falling away from her to join their shirts on the floor.

Laxus had let go of her neck to lean back just far enough to take in the sight of her upper half exposed. Laxus had not recalled the woman beneath him being so well endowed when she was younger. But seven years had given her lots of time to mature and mature she had. Sure she may not have been as shapely as Lucy or Mirajane but the woman's body still had a lovely shape to it. His hands were already working to remove the jeans she had been wearing wanting to feel her soft thighs under his hands.

In a matter of seconds she was down to just her basic black panties. She watched his eyes rack over her body taking in the sight as her chest heaved trying to take the moment to catch her breath as if she had just run through Fiore. She had watched his eyes linger for a moment on her chest before they quickly started to take in the rest of her. The look in his eyes hungry as he seemed to almost be eating up the sight of her beneath him.

Feeling oddly brave, her right hand reached out and she smirked softly as she lightly slipped her hand between them to run her hand along the tent in his pants. She watched his eyes dart up to look into hers as she ran her hand along his hardened cock. She tried to keep the surprise hidden as she realized he felt bigger than she expected. Though it seemed she had not kept her surprise to herself as well as she thought as she heard him chuckle.

"Surprised are you?" He had nearly purred at her which just had her melting into her bed. A blush sprinkled her cheeks as she looked away not meeting his gaze even though her hand had not stopped palming him through his pants.

"Not at all," she said, simply struggling to not squeak out the words. But that only seemed to please him more. She watched him lean in towards her, his lips brushing her ear before he spoke again.

"You're a horrible liar," he said, giving his hips a buck into her hand as his teeth nipped at her ear gently.

She could not even help the little whimper that escaped her lips. She didn't even know what to say to that. It was true for one, and for two she did not want to argue with him about it. Though she was not going to admit it either. Her fingers moved as she pulled her palm off of him and started to work at undoing his pants, wanting the blonde man as naked as she was. Though surely the view could not get much better than that wide, broad chest of his bare for her to admire. Gods she wanted to run her tongue along every muscle and ridge. But maybe another time. She was growing too impatient as she started to push his pants down.

Though she was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with the sight of the man going commando. Seemed someone did not enjoy wearing boxers or anything. Watching him push his pants off of the bed like every other article of clothing it was now her turn to hungrily take in the view before her. And she could not even help it as her eyes lingered and paused on the sight of his cock sitting hard and tall. Well she never would have imagined that Laxus was hung like a horse. It was a very pleasant surprise.

But the moment did not last long as Laxus leaned down to engulf her body with his as his lips latched onto her left nipple. This brought a number of moans from her lips as her back arched off of the bed in pleasure as her fingers started to slip through his quickly growing wild blonde hair. His lips attacked one nipple, while his fingers of one hand started to tease the other. His spare hand had wasted no time in traveling down her stomach to slip under her pants.

She squirmed and wiggled her hips as she felt a rough finger run along her damp folds. He was teasing her and it had an audible whine escape her as her hips tried to move against the finger to get it where she wanted it. But all that earned her was a deep chuckle from the man above her.

"So impatient," was the hum that accompanied the chuckle from the blonde. Which just had her whine again as he teased her with both his body and words.

"Ass," She growled at him but still he only looked entertained as he smirked down at her as he slipped a finger into her body. The action had her back arch off of the bed as her head rolled back into the bed and she let out a loud moan. That was what she had wanted, though still his finger was not nearly as good as what she knew she could have. But voicing her desire at that exact moment was not possible as her mind seemed to just focus on the feeling of his finger slipping in and out of her. Her hips moved in time with his fingers as her hands gripped at the bedsheets that were beneath her. But just as the knot in her stomach started to form her pleasure was ripped from her as the finger pulled out of her. She did not even try to stop the audible whine that escaped her.

She felt her panties being nearly ripped off of her. She could hear the material stretching and protesting the rough treatment. But this time she did not complain. She had felt about ready to rip them off herself. She quickly moved her legs once the panties were off her angles as she wrapped her legs around Laxus' waist pulling their bodies closer together. Her hands had let go of the bed sheets she had not even noticed she had grabbed to grab a large bicep in her left hand and grip at the back of his neck with her right as she dragged him down to meet her as she smashed her lips against him. Laxus let her do as she pleased, allowing him to be pulled down as he just as happy met her eager and impatient kiss. Seemed he was not the only one feeling a little pent up and impatient.

His hands had moved to grab at the flesh of her hips as he teasingly shifted to run the length of his cock against her damp folds as he swallowed the mixture of whines and moans that came from the woman at his teasing action. She was already whining into the kiss almost inaudible words though he was pretty sure she was now begging him for more. Although he wanted to drag out this fun a little longer she was not the only one growing desperate as he felt her hips try to struggle against his grip so they could move.

Shifting his own hips ever so slightly was all it took to allow himself to slip past her folds as he slowly entered her. Her head ripped away from the sloppy kiss so that she could throw her head back and let out a completely sinful sounding cry of pleasure. Her nails digging into his skin as she felt Laxus slowly working his hips till finally his hips met hers as he was fully buried within her. Pausing for a second they both took the moment to try and catch their breaths. By the time Riza moved to look up at the blonde he was already moving again. His hips were fast to find their pace and rhythm as his hands held her hips exactly where he wanted them. She could do nothing but moan happily as her back arched off the bed and she clung to him.

The ball of her feet digging into the back of his wide upper thighs as if she could somehow force him closer to her with the action. They both knew he was by far much stronger than she was but still that did not stop her body from moving on its own as it clung to him. She tried to move her hips in time with his but his large hands seemed reluctant to allow her to move her own body. He had complete control over her body that laid beneath him. And a part of her loved it as she let him not even going to complain that she could not move her hips on her own.

In that moment nothing mattered any more other than the complete pleasure she felt with each thrust. She felt so pleasantly full and stretched as his cock worked along her tight walls. She could hear him hiss any time she tightened around him. His lips had started trailing kisses along her neck but she almost did not notice them. Not till the sudden feeling of his teeth digging into the flesh of one breast did she yelp softly more so out of surprise than pain. She tried to glare at him but she was pretty sure her face was too busy to show off the pleasure she felt rather than the mild annoyance.

The teeth did not last long before his lips were wrapped around a perky nipple instead. His tongue flicked at the little bud in his mouth and she could do nothing but cry out as the sensation. It was all so much. She could quickly feel that growing sensation, a knot starting to form in her stomach. Her body was quickly growing tense beneath him and Laxus did not need to be told why. His own pace was becoming quicker, chasing his own pleasure as she did hers.

She could not last much longer as she could not contain the loud moans, she was almost happy everyone was out in the guild hall and could not hear the noises that were coming from her at that moment. She could feel the vibration against her skin as Laxus groaned and moaned against her skin as he trailed kisses from one breast to the other trying to show them both some love before his brain no longer found the ability to be able to focus on anything but his own pleasure.

It felt like she had suddenly fallen off a cliff. Her body shook softly, her eyes seemed to roll into the back of her head. Her body felt weightless and numb as her pleasure pulsed through her as she cried out. Laxus let go of the skin of her breast he had been softly sucking on to lean back and watch Riza's reaction as her climax washed over her. His pace had never slowed, if anything it became more erratic as Laxus was now free to chase his own finish. A few more thrusts was all the blonde needed before his own body tenses and stilled and he let out a deep low moan of his before he nearly collapsed on top of her. His right arm moved to rest beside Riza as the two bodies tried to catch their breath before Laxus slowly rolled off of her to take up the rest of her small bed. Which in turn earned him a slap to the chest with the back of her hand.

"Move over you big lug you're pushing me off of the bed," She growled at him which just earned her a chuckle from the man as he told her to just deal with it.

#fairytail #laxus dreyar #laxus x oc #laxus smut #oneshot #fairytail smut

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icedroplove · 8 months

Text

Chapter 3

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It was already morning, Gray felt well rested and ready to start the day. The mages were at the lobby waiting for Natsu to join them since he hadn’t left the room yet.

“Do you guys want me to go check if everything’s okay?”

“Please, Lucy.” Erza answered.

As Lucy went upstairs, Wendy sank on the puffy chair she was sitting on and sighed, petting her friend ecxeed who rested on her lap. Erza kept her firm, yet impatient posture. Gray leaned against the column and watched from the corner of his eye as Juvia played with her necklace. She looked so absorbed by it and he noticed how her lips were curved in a slight smile.

Gray looked away and crossed his arms, trying to hide the little blush on his cheeks from his friends. It was not that any of them were looking at him, though.

Suddenly, they all heard someone yelling. It was Lucy, raging because Natsu had fallen asleep again after changing his clothes. They looked at each other and chuckled (except Erza who looked even more irritated with the delay). Ten minutes later, everyone was set to go.

First thing to do was visit their client, whose house was by the wealthier part of the village. Octavius, a short old man with a taste for vintage clothing, welcomed them into his place with a big smile. He ushered them to sit and served them hot tea. The team was getting impatient with making small talk about how the trip was and if the inn was amiable, but they waited. After a bit, Octavius calmly put his cup down, cleaned his round glasses which got blurry from the smoke and looked at them.

“I deeply apologize for holding you so long in this conversation. I just wanted to certify myself that you were a qualified group for my request. Even though I’ve perceived that some of you lack proper manners…” He glanced quickly at Natsu, who was on his third teacup. The fire mage gulped it down at once without even waiting for it to cool down. ”...I’ve considered that this fine team of Fairy Tail mages has the virtues I was pursuing. Now. allow me to explain what is that I need from you mages. ” Octavius acted like he was a character in a period drama story, which made sense considering the aesthetics of his clothes and house.

“I indulged myself for seven years to the work of a novel which I was convinced would become the newest classic on the market. It was a beautiful and completely original story about royalty, duties, forbidden love and a happy ending. I even ventured myself into including more… passion… on some interactions between the main couple. Of course, only because I consider that a younger audience would further appreciate the narrative with the inclusion of such scenes.”

Gray noticed how Lucy, Erza and Juvia looked at each other. Natsu and Wendy, on the other hand, just continued listening without any further thoughts. The increase of the girls' attention on what Octavius was saying confirmed his hypothesis on what those scenes were.

“What I’ve been meaning to tell is, I sent the final draft to my editor a few months ago and got no response from her. I concluded she hadn’t received it, but a week ago I heard that this unknown author had just published a book with the exact same premise as my draft and it’s a success. I bought the novel, and Upon reading, I’m certain that it's a full copy of my work. However, I don’t have any concrete proof that Ludovic plagiarized me, that’s what I need from you mages.

”It has come to my knowledge that he’ll be attending a party tonight at his place. I can get tickets for all of you.” Octavius eyed the group, his gaze stopped at Wendy. “I wouldn’t advise the little girl’s entrance, though. It is a more adult party.”

Wendy shrugged, but didn’t look much disappointed.

“Don’t worry, she can stay at the inn. Speaking of which, it was very kind of you to pay for our accommodation, mister. We appreciate the gesture.”

Lucy spoke, easily adapting to Octavius’ weird kind of speech. This seemed to make him happy, since the man got up and kissed Lucy’s hand.

“I see that my choice of mages for this mission has been the most fortunate.”

Natsu gulped his fourth cup of tea and threw his fist in the air.

“Okay, I’m all fired up! Let’s kick some ass!”

Erza elbowed him. Octavius did not show any reaction besides eye Natsu. Apparently, the gentleman wasn't one to be rude. He reached for his pocket and handed Lucy a paper.

“If you may, please write your names here so I can get you on the guest list for tonight.” He wrote on another paper and gave it to Wendy. “This is the address of my publisher. It is possible that she has some information on what happened, she was the only person who read my draft.”

After talking a bit longer, they returned to the inn. Erza ordered Natsu and Gray to wear their best outfits since they didn’t know how fancy that party would be. The boys got ready in thirty minutes, but the girls were still inside the bedroom. Natsu huffed loudly.

“I’ll go hurry them up.”

“Don’t.”

“But they’re taking too long!”

Gray rolled his eyes, sure that if any of them walked in they’d definitely get Lucy-kicked. After convincing his friend that it wasn’t worth it, they sat in the lounge ready to wait a good while.

-x-

“I’m lucky I brought an evening dress by precaution.” Lucy looked at herself in the mirror, examining her outfit. What heels do I wear? The red ones or black ones?”

Juvia looked away from her open suitcase to give her opinion. The red shoes were pretty, but too fancy for an event that they didn’t know how the other guests would be dressed at. The black ones were more versatile and matched the maroon dress Lucy was wearing. The girls agreed that the black heels were better.

Wendy came to Juvia, who was still looking at her suitcase. She asked her what happened.

“Juvia didn’t bring any fancy dresses…” The girls turned to her, confused.

“Why didn’t you say anything? You can wear one of mine!” Erza said.

“Oh...” Juvia felt embarrassed, she still felt weird asking for things like this. Even though now she had friends she could count on, she’d been used to being alone for so long that keeping things to herself was a normal thing. “Thank you, Erza-san.”

The redhead smiled and gave her a navy blue dress. “Go on, try it!”

Juvia wasn’t used to wearing revealing clothing like this in her day-to-day life. She liked it, though. The color looked good on her. She adjusted the thin straps to better support her breasts and took another look in the mirror.

“Juvia-san, you look so pretty!” Wendy said.

Lucy looked at her from head to toe and winked. “Oh my, you’ll end up killing Gray like this.”

Juvia squealed and covered her head with her hands, blushing hard. Erza made her sit on the bed and started working on her makeup. While she rambled about which winged eyeliner would match best her eyes, she let her mind wonder about what Lucy had said. Would Gray like her look?

“And… done!” Erza took a step back to look at her work and gave Juvia a hand mirror. She liked her look. It was sexy, but not too different from her own style. She put on her heels and gathered her purse.

“Okay, everything’s set?”

Suddenly, Natsu opened the door.

“Yo, you’ve been here for an hour! Let’s go!!!” To no one’s surprise, he got Lucy-kicked in the face.

After assuring that Wendy and Carla would be okay at the inn, they all left the inn.

-x-

They were lost. The instructions Octavius gave them weren’t enough to find the venue. After walking in circles for a while, they stopped at the main square as Erza went to ask for directions.

Gray crossed his arms and stole another glance at Juvia. She looked… different. Her normal attire was so chaste that he was awlays caught by surprise when she wore more revealing clothes. Of course he already knew that she was sexy, but having her wear a dress that flattered her body was… different.

He looked away before his eyes lingered for too long on the dress' neckline pushing up her breasts. Gray didn’t want to stare at them, nor at the slit on her skirt that showed a bit of her toned thighs. Shit. It was becoming hard for him, even harder when she walked to his side as they waited for Erza’s return.

“Is everything okay, Gray-sama?”

He nodded, crossing his arms. Juvia looked at the square, toying with the necklace he gave her the night before. His chest warmed upon noticing that she enjoyed the gift that much. It assured him that he was off to a good start.

However, Gray was unsure what move he should make next. He was nervous to just ask her out. His plan was taking small steps. He wanted to make Juvia happy, but rushing wouldn’t be of any good. After all, romance was still an unknown matter for Gray Fullbuster.

“I’ve never seen you wearing this dress.” Was everything he managed to say.

“Erza-san lend me. Juvia’s not used to this…” She gestured to her outfit “But it’s not a problem.”

Gray hummed. He saw Erza walking back to them.

“You look good.”

He smiled lightly at her. Juvia blushed. While they followed Erza to the venue, Gray walked by her side.

#gruvia #fairy tail #juvia lockser #gray fullbuster #fanfiction #ft #writing

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resolvebound · 1 month

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His Cabin. Part 1.

In his main verse, Gray lives in a cabin in the northern Fiorean mountains. As mentioned a while ago in passing, this cabin was actually a reward that he received after completing a request several years ago. The quest had been of the monster-hunter variety, as a great beast had been plaguing the area for some time. The requester, an older woman who had lost her family to the monster, originally only offered jewels as a reward (not all that many either, yet Gray took the job mostly because the woman’s story reminded him of his own past). Once the monster was killed, the woman decided she could no longer live in the cabin, and she passed ownership to Gray.

The cabin itself was not in the best of condition, as the woman and her family had suffered in the recent times and couldn’t afford to maintain the place as much as they wanted or needed to. After Lisanna’s ‘death’, which was not too long after he completed the quest, Gray spent some time fixing up the cabin, finding the project helpful in escaping working through the tragedy. Every couple of months, he would make the trip to the cabin to work on it, often with the help of Loke and/or Cana when they would take jobs in the area with him.

Of course, during the seven lost years, the cabin once again fell into a state of disrepair. The sight of it looking so worn and neglected after all the effort he’d put into it was quite the punch in the gut. With the Grand Magic Games and the focus on rebuilding Fairy Tail and his own strength, there was not as much time as he’d liked to work on the cabin again (and he did consider letting it go or knocking it down). After the success of the Games, he was able to find time to return to the mountains for a short time and begin the restoration of the cabin once again over coming months. Through his efforts, by the time of Fairy Tail’s disbandment after the events of Tartaros, the place was liveable again.

This was where he (and Juvia in most cases, verse/portrayal dependent) spent most of the year. Time was spent further restoring, replacing, and renovating the cabin to bring it up to standard, in between training of course. When he left for the Avatar job, he made sure the cabin would be maintained and cared for in his absence (by Juvia, or someone from the nearby village). Now, as the war is over and he is no longer a mage of Fairy Tail, the cabin is his primary house, his base of operations, his home.

Some little facts:

When the cabin was first built, many years ago, it was a simple one room layout. As the years went on and the occupying family grew, extra rooms and conveniences (such as in inside bathroom and proper plumbing) were added.

Most of the original parts have been replaced over the years, yet the fireplace has never changed and remains in good working order. Gray is fond of the rustic style of it.

The only people who know about the cabin (unless plotted otherwise) are Loke, Cana, Erza (he invited her back there during their team-up for the Avatar job), Juvia, Lucy (via Loke) and Lyon.

The village closest to the cabin is about a good 8 or 10 minutes away and the path that leads to his cabin is narrow and not all that well worn, as it is only himself and his dogs that take said path.

The village is called Winterweed and has a sister village called Fireweed on the other side of the mountain (where it is indeed warmer). Due to the unappealing name, the villagers tend to just refer to their village as Winter. They have a small general store, a healer’s clinic, a butcher, and a shabby little post office. Gray doesn’t interact with the people in the village very often, they have mixed feelings about him in any case, but he does try help them out when they need it.

#ive been meaning to write this for like over a year now oops #❰ ❄ ― headcanon. gray. ❱

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halphcs · 1 month

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FAIRY TAIL'S NEW GUILD MASTER: MIRAJANE 'SHE-DEVIL' STRAUSS

After years of being overlooked for the position of guild master, she had finally convinced Makarov to allow her to take over after the disbandment of Fairy tail. WIth Laxus and Erza having no intentions of taking over, Mirajane worked on rebuilding the guild during the year that everyone was out and about. The Strauss siblings helping their sibling rebuild and rebrand what was Fairy tail.

Everything would mostly stay the same but she would work on making a more stable place for the guild's orphans a warm place to sleep and eat. A few guild members would be told of what she was planning on doing such as ; Gray, Cana, Laxus, siblings, Freed, Lucy, Gajeel etc. And word would get around but Mirajane would want to make sure that all of Fairy tail had a place to come home too.

It would take over seven months for her to finish the building and repairs of what was once their home. Even if Fairy tail didn't feel like home forever, Mirajane has always been there to welcome people home when they were ready to come home. Over the next few months, people would slowly start to tickle back in. Ranks would be restored, a new s-class test would be created due to what happened during the last one and Cana would be one who she would take advise from when she feels overwhelmed.

Mirajane no longer works at the bar tending or serving. She has always thought her talents aligned with running the guild as she did before but more as the face of fairy tail. Mirajane would have great relationships with other guilds and make it a point to be on good terms with them as well. Mirajane hosting dinners or parties to unit the guilds once in a while to make sure everyone knew they had an ally in Fairy tail.

As they grow these relationships between young guild masters who are starting to take up the mantle of Guild master, Mirajane wants to make sure that what bonds were shared before continue on. Mirajane gets along with Master Sting, Master Lyon and later, Kagura who may or may not take up the title of Guild Master.

The main parts of the guild wouldn't change but Mirajane would want to make sure that Fairy Tail was known more for what they can do not the destruction they have been known for.

#٠☽ tales of her nightmares ❛ headcanons ❜#٠☽ v. under candle light. the paperwork is endless ❛ FT Guildmaster ❜

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harufallinwonderland · 4 months

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My twst x precure brainrot

(note this is kinda my first tumblr post so far from fancy or good and this was not proof read at all more of just A info dump then A full on fic) Ok SO I’ve seen A grand total of 3 posts about twst x precure today and I have been coming up with twst x precure stuff for months so i had motivation to post stuff today thank you shinysparklessapphires for the motivation to post this (to nervous to @ someone tbh)

Today topic is the start of my dumb idea for A twst x precure au i came up with when bored in school it's mostly how the prologue would be changed

In this au it’s A modern au where Yuu is A foreign exchange student to night raven collage which is A school in Sage town (following the precure trend of made up towns) although there seemed to have been A mistake as they weren’t meant to be the one exchange and crowley like the idiot he is sent over the wrong file of the students meant for the exchange program and now yuu is nations away from home and it would ruin his rep if he sent them back with A simple “oopsie” so he keeps them here which lead to them eventually meeting A cat fairy named Grim and some misadventures leading to becoming friends with Ace and Deuce and becoming A precure and learning of the big threat of the precure and that there far from the only precures in this city no less school

The events of the prologue are edited heavily to fit this modern setting I’ll give u the notes of what happens -it starts with Yuu finding the dorm (after learning of the whole mistake and the first taste of Crowley not being fit for his job) they are meant to stay in which was for some reason away from the normal dorms which they find A smaller dorm clearly not that kept up with repairs but not enough that Yuu can report Crowley for A crime where they walk into the dorm and get hit on the head by A cat with flames in it ears and tail who had apparently been living here alone for some years and something about leaving wands around the school for precures but Yuu was to stunned to process it all

-once Yuu calms down Crowley pops in to make sure the dorm didn’t collapse with yuu in it then he explains that he have let this cat live here for the past few years with no explanation to it and “asks” you to take care of him for your stay here then promptly and yuu would refuse but being the good/decent/not bad person they are to leave this cat alone they decide to take care of them (for the yuus with cat allergies for some reason Grim doesn’t activate them for some reason)

-the next day when getting ready for school Grim asks to come along and by now Yuu can tell he will just follow you no matter what so you stick him in your bag and head to the school where the whole “who the great seven” explanation from Ace comes in but instead of the god like figures they are instead there the just the 7 founders of the school although one that interests Yuu the most is Miss maleficent who is said to have no known origin homeplace and disappeared one day but then Cue Ace being rude to yuu because somehow yuu not meant to be here spread to the school which got Grim angry and jumped out of the bag and attacked Ace which lead to them damaging the queen of heart’s statue.

-events after this are pretty similar for A while Crowley places you three of window cleaning duty,Ace ditches,multiple chases start too i won’t go into detail but things change when Deuce and Ace break the chandelier now Crowley puts up the ultimatum but instead of A cave it’s A the other side of town which is far but things go back to the normal plot (just you three hitching A ride on Deuces bike) but everything changes once you get near the store.

-when they got into the area the surroundings change around you to strangely A wide open plain filled with all types of plants and A huge flower monster in the distance which quickly attacks when they catch A glance at Grim separating the 3 humans from the cat leaving the monster alone to be able to attack the cat but surprisingly Yuu was able to get in front of Grim just in time to save him but taking A hit that leaves them near death with Deuce and Ace on the bike planning to try to ram into the large creature which leaves them slapped away in the same critical state, Grim stares at the 3 humans in disbelief of what they were doing then A light shines over the whole plain and the Adeuce duo suddenly have magic pens in there hand and Grim puts his paw over Yuu’s hand and like they been doing it for years they say “Precure Transformation!”

“To cultivate the dreams of the kids who watch in Awe” said Yuu

“Give them A way to express there true selves” said Ace

“to teach them how to be adults worthy of being looked up too” said Deuce

“I’m cure Spade”

“I’m cure Ace”

“And I’m cure Royal!”

“We are the dreaming precure!”

-cue normal procure initial confusion and fight scene (i don’t trust myself to write A good fight scene) and at the end of the fight A staff embroiled in golds on A red pole and A mouse shaped tip Yuu said “Precure dream REAWAKENING” making the staff send out A blast of life surrounding the flower making it disappear little by little revealing A nice old lady inside the monster she is laid on the ground gently and Yuu leaves off with “may all your dreams come true”

-after initial confusion the 4 realize they have to go get the lights to replace the chandelier which they quickly do and everything is basically the same again besides the fact the three didn’t mention all the weird stuff that happened but it’s clear that Crowley knew something although what was unknown leaving them to ponder to what was going on and Grim somehow also confused because he never knew THAT was the precure and leaving all of the 4 absolutely confused.

(I'm sorry for this being far from the best this is my first time writing something not just for myself,since this wasn't A full on fic I couldn't expand on much so I would gladly take suggestions and criticism on how to improve this thank you for reading if u did)

#twisted wonderland #pretty cure #precure #kinda bad #thank you for reading

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thoughtfulfangirling · 1 year

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2023 Reads

A new year means a new book list! I don't think I can top my 2022 count, but that's okay! I'm not totally sure what my reading goals this year will actually be, but I guess I'll sort it out on the way! XD For future reads, here's my 2024 list!

Four Treasures of the Sky - Jenny Tinghui Zhang

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass+

The Bear and the Nightengale - of the Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

The Secrets We Keep - Mia Hayes

Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal - Patty Loew+

The First Sister - Linden A. Lewis^

The House of the Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury~

Fin Mac Cool - Morgan Llewlyn^

How Long 'til Black Future Month by N. K. Jemisin

Lavinia - Ursula K Le Guin^

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin*

Black Cowboys of the Old West: True, Sensational, and Littke-Known Stories form History - Tricia Martineau Wagner+

The Mysteries of Thorn Manor - Margaret Roberson%

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space - Amanda Leduc+

Her Majesty's Royal Coven - Juno Dawson^

She Who Became the Sun~ - Shelley Parker-Chan*

The Witch King - H.E. Edgmon^

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree*

Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin^

The Adventures of Amina El-Serafi - S.A. Chakraborty

Humankind: A Hopeful History - Rutger Bregman+

The Folk Keeper - Frannie Billingsly*%

Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens - (Suzy) Eddie Izzard+

Juniper & Thorn - Ava Reid

Upright Women Wanted - Sarah Gailey%

I Await the Devil's Coming - Mary MacLane+

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut~

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers' Rights - Molly Smith & Juno Mac+

The Woman in White - Wilke Collins^

King of Battle and Blood - Scarlett St. Clair

Sarah - J.T. LeRoy^

The City Beautiful - Aden Polydoros^

Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi

Always the Almost - Edward Underhill

All Systems Red - Martha Wells%

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

Nevada - Imogen Binnie

A Dowry of Blood - S. T. Gibson

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

The Second Rebel - Linden A Lewis

Get a Life Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert

The Hero and the Crown* - Robin McKinley

What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing - Bruce D Perry & Oprah Winfrey+^

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorne

The Eye of the Heron - Ursula K Leguin

Artificial Condition -Martha Wells%

The Kraken's Sacrifice - Katee Robert%

Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith*

Rogue Protocol - Martha Wells%

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self Involved Parents - Lindsay C Gibson+

Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Woman Bandit - John Boessenecker+

The History of Wales - History Nerds+%

Ander & Santi Were Here - Jonny Garza Villa

The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls^

Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire^

The Gilda Stories - Jewelle Gomez

Irish Fairy and Folk Tails - Various+

The Dead and the Dark - Courtney Gould

Haunted Wisconsin - Michael Norman and Beth Scott+

The Other Black Girl - Zakiya Dalila Harris

The Ruins - Scott Smith

He Who Drowned the World - Shelley Parker-Chan

Fledgling - Octavia Butler

Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend - Mark Collins Jenkins+

The Vampyre - John Polidori%

This is Halloween - James A Moore

Sorrowland - Rivers Soloman

The Lamb will Slaughter the Lion - Margaret Killjoy%

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Love Her or Lose Her - Tessa Bailey^

One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston*

The Last Hero - Linden A. Lewis

Lovelight Farms - B. K. Borison

Reindeer Falls Collection: Volume One - Jana Aston

Currently reading: One Last Stop (Audiobook to help me sleep XD)

Nonfiction is annotated by + A Re-read is annotated by * A book completed from the list below is annotated by ^ A Read with Empty will be annotated by ~ A Novella %

My current, loose and not that interesting goal for this year is to really work on the books I have current access to right now... at the start of this year. Because it's a lot XD This means books currently favorite in Scribd, on my StoryGraph 'to read' pile, or a book I currently own on my shelves. Main goal is at least one of these a month.

For my own personal reference, I'm putting a list of such books below to hold myself accountable.

Edit: Now the end of 2023, and here's a breakdown of my goal to read books I already had access to at the start of 2023:

I didn't read one a month per se, but I got more than 12 done, so I call this a win. These books are:

-Can't Spell Treason Without Tea - Rebecca Thorn -The City Beautiful - Aden Polydoros -Finn Mac Cool - Morgan Llewlyn -The First Sister by Linden A Lewis (proceeded by the other two in the series) -Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Talia Hibbert -The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls -Haunted Wisconsin - Michael Norman & Beth Scott -Her Majesty's Royal Coven - Juno Dawson -I Await the Devil's Coming - Mary McClane -The Kraken's Sacrifice - Katee Robert -Lavinia - Ursula K Le Guin -Love Her or Lose Her - Tessa Bailey -Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin -Nevada - Imogen Binnie -The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli -Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire -The Ruins - Scott Smith -The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller -Sarah - J.T. LeRoy -Vampire Forensics - Mark Collins Jenkins -What Happened to You? - Oprah Winfrey -The Witch King - H. E. Edgmon -The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

The books I did not get around to reading from this list are as follows: Black Water Sister by Zen Cho; Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye (o); The Book of M by Peng Shepard (o); Charity and Sylvia by Rachel Hope Cleves (o); The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (a); The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (s); Fallen by Lauren Kate (o); Fanny Hill by John Cleland (o); Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (s); The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea (s); The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith (o); Helping Her Get Free by Susan Brewster (o); The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang (s); Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (o); The Merry Spinster by Daniel Lavery (o); On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (o); The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang (s); Radiance by Grace Draven (a); Watching the Tree by Adeline Yen Mah (o); The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (s); Wings of Fire (o); Witches Steeped in Gold by Clannon Smart (o); The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid (s)

23/46 Whoa! That's exactly 50% of the books I had on my list! That's pretty cool! All in all, I consider this 2023 goal successfully done!

#tf reads #2023 reads #books #yearly lists #long post #well it will be ok even without the readmore eventually #reading #my reading index

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teleiapotami · 10 months

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Excerpt from "A Lion's Love"

Ship: Loke/Lucy Heartfilia

When Fairy Tail disbands, Lucy is left alone with her grief. Without anyone to help her, she sinks into a depression. Loke is asked to bring her back to herself, and he vows to do anything he can to help his wizard heal.

Inspired by Text Prompt: What part of "we can't be doing these things together" do you not understand?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When Lucy came back out of her closet in a clean set of pajamas, she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her feet. She was ashamed. I never should have let things get this bad….she thought to herself. Loke came out of the kitchen and leaned against the door frame. “There’s no food really, so I am going to go pick up something for you. Will you be all right until I get back?” She nodded and he vanished in a flash of light.

While he was gone, Lucy stared out the window blankly. She couldn’t remember how long it had been now. She hadn’t been eating well, and her sleep was haunted by nightmares of battles, death, and loss. All this added up, creating a weakness in her that scared her. Her muscles were atrophied, and when she reached for her magic she was startled to find that it felt weaker than she had ever felt it. A thump against the door startled her and she struggled out of the bed to open it. She found Loke standing with an armload of bags. He had changed out of his suit and wore a plain black shirt and jeans. His lion’s mane was gone, replaced with the shaggy look he maintained when he was exiled.

“Sorry that I took so long. I had to stop in on a friend who owed me a favor. But I got you some groceries to tide you over until you can manage on your own.” He stepped into the apartment and unloaded the bags. Lucy stared after him, her eyes welling up with tears. I’ve been so selfish…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once they had eaten and cleaned up the mess, Loke sat beside Lucy on her bed. “Well, now that the necessities are handled, would you like to talk about it?” Lucy could only shake her head, looking down at her lap. Loke nodded, leaning back on his hands. “Well, I won’t force you. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but even so. It’s not an excuse to give up Lucy.” He cut his eyes to the side to study her and was distressed to find that her shoulders were shaking.

“Aww man, I didn’t mean to make you cry! Please don’t! What can I do?!” He waved his hands in front of himself, panicking. Lucy sniffled and a choked sound came out of her that was not quite a laugh.

“Just stay. Please? I don’t think I can stand to be alone for one more second without going completely insane.” He swallowed and nodded, rubbing her back and shoulder.

“Of course I will. I’ll stay until you tell me to go.”

The first few nights, he watched over her from the couch. Several times in the night he had to wake her from a nightmare, and each time she was more reluctant to let him go, even after she fell asleep. By the third night, she asked him to just stay, so he sat against her headboard and watched her sleep against his side. At some point during the fifth night, he slid down the bed to lay beside her and closed his own eyes. He woke the next morning before she did, and found her curled against him, with her head on his chest and her leg draped across his hip.

That day, she finally opened up to him, breaking down on the couch. She told him how empty she felt after losing the seven years on Tenrou, and then coming home to find that she had only missed her father by one stupid month. She told him about her childhood with Aquarius and sobbed openly against his chest as he held her when she tried to express the pain of breaking the key. That night she asked him to hold her. “Just until I fall asleep…please?” she had pleaded with him. He had agreed, of course. How could he not? She was getting better, and he would do anything to make sure she continued to improve.

Even so, he was acutely aware of the way their relationship was shifting. Some lines had always been thickly drawn by his wizard, and they were blurring, slowly but surely. On the seventh day, she finished her story, unloading all of her grief over the guild’s disbanding, and then revealing the deepest hurt was the betrayal and hurt she felt over Natsu leaving without a word. She felt like his abandonment was a sign that he didn’t respect her or that she meant nothing to him. No matter how much Loke tried to console her and convince her that that could never be what Natsu meant by it, this was one wound Natsu would need to heal on his own.

-Find this complete story and more of my works on AO3!

#archive of our own #creative writing #fairy tail #ao3 #lucy heartfilia #ao3 fanfic #fairy tail fanfic #loke x lucy #loke fairy tail #hurt/comfort #grief

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isabellafoster13 · 1 year

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This was requested on AO3 by ccnchas.

It's about time I get a LoLu request! I have been dying to write something for these two! I love LoLu! ZerLu may be the ship that led to me getting into Fairy Tail, but LoLu was my first ship since watching the show. It's no longer my OTP, but I still love it nonetheless. I love their Princess x Knight dynamic! There are not enough LoLu fics and I would be more than happy to provide some. A romance between the two of them would likely be forbidden, but they would still make a really good couple, I think. I love this ship a lot!

I hope you enjoy!

A Lion's Pride (Loke x Lucy)

"Iris! Eros! Come to eat your sandwiches!"

Loke stood in the shade of a tree, his arms crossed over his chest and leaning against the trunk of the tree. A fond smile stretched across his face as he watched his wife sit on a picnic blanket with a basket next to her. A pair of seven-year-old twins, both auburn-haired and brown-eyed, ran to their mother. One twin, a boy, had Plue in his arms while the other twin, a girl, had a doll clutched in his grip. The two children sat in front of their mother and began eating the food that had been packed for them, resting before they resumed their play in the surprisingly empty park.

A silent sigh escaped Loke as he watched his family, his pride. He remembered the day he married Lucy like it was yesterday. The journey to that point wasn't short. He chuckled internally when he recalled how long it had taken him to get Lucy to agree to date him. Loads of flowers, mountains of chocolate-covered strawberries, hundreds of love letters, and countless promises to never flirt with another woman again. For three years he pursued his wizard, but it was all worth it, in his opinion, because Lucy had finally agreed to a date. And it was an amazing date.

They dated for a few years, trying to survive Mira. They watched as Natsu married Lisanna, Gray married Juvia, Erza married Jellal, and Gajeel married Levy. It made Loke yearn for the same thing. He had spent several months watching Lucy closely every time the prospect of marriage, wondering if that was something she wanted. Eventually, he finally decided that he would ask her. When Lucy told him that she had dreamed of getting married since she was a child, the first thing he did was get the biggest diamond ring that he could find.

The sound of Lucy screaming "yes" was the best sound he would ever hear. Tears trickled down both of their faces as they kissed, hugged, and professed their love for each other multiple times. Their wedding had followed just a few months later, courtesy of Mira, with Natsu as Loke's best man, Levy as Lucy's maid of honor, Aquarius walking Lucy down the aisle, and Makarov officiating the couple's marriage.

Two years later, the best day of both of their lives arrived. After fifty hours of painful labor and crushing worry, as well as a nearly broken hand on Loke's side, a pair of twins were born as the sun rose above the horizon. First, a girl. Twenty minutes later, a boy. The names of their children weren't difficult to pick. There were only two names that could fit the small angels they were gazing down at lovingly.

Iris and Eros.

As time went by, Loke spent as much time as he possibly could with his family, to the point that he was in Earth Land more than he was in the Celestial Spirit World. He didn't mind this, though. All he wanted to do was spend time with his wife and children.

Loke pushed off of the tree he was leaning against and walked toward the picnic spot, calling out as he got closer, "I'm here!"

Iris and Eros whipped their heads up to look at him before they threw their sandwiches onto a couple of plates and ran to the celestial spirit, yelling joyfully in unison, "Papa!"

Loke laughed and kneeled on one knee as he opened his arms wide to accept a hug from his twins. Iris and Eros soon pulled away and pulled their father over to the picnic blanket, both telling him about what they had been doing all day. Their chatter came to a stop when Lucy spoke, "Iris. Eros. Finish eating and then you can play with Papa." The twins obeyed, diving back into their food.

Once finished, they jumped up and ran off, wanting to continue playing as they urged their father to join them. Loke chuckled and answered the pair, "give me a moment. I want to talk to Mamma."

When the twins ran off, he turned to his wife and leaned forward to kiss her a few times. Lucy placed a hand on his chest and gently pushed him away, muttering when their lips were now only an inch away, "you're late."

Loke smiled, pecking another kiss to her lips before he responded, "sorry, I got into a fight with Aquarius."

Lucy chuckled at that. The couple kissed a few more times. When they pulled away, the celestial wizard leaned into Loke's embrace, giving a contented sigh as her husband wrapped an arm around her. Loke reached his other hand toward her, rubbing gentle circles on the small, but noticeable bump in her belly.

He asked with a hushed voice, "do we know the gender yet?"

Lucy answered, her voice just as low as his, "I was hoping we could wait until the baby is born."

Loke nodded, telling her that he was perfectly fine with that. He then questioned, "any name ideas?"

Lucy snuggled closer to her husband, answering, "I was thinking Medea if it's a girl."

Loke thought about the name, quickly deciding that he loved it. He then looked back down at his expecting wife to question, "and if it's a boy?"

Lucy shrugged, responding, "I was thinking you could pick one."

Loke gave a slight chuckle before he took a few moments to think of a boy's name that he liked. It didn't take him long to come up with something. "How about Damon?"

Lucy nodded as she mumbled, "I love that name."

Loke tightened his hold on Lucy, just slightly, as he looked back at his other two children playing with Aries, who had been summoned by one of the twins. The soft smile on his face got bigger as he soaked in the peaceful moment.

This was all he needed. A day at the park with his pride. He couldn't think of a more perfect way to have family time.

#fairy tail #lucy heartfilia #loke #leo #loke x lucy #lolu #fluff #ocs #mentions of other characters #marriage #pregnancy #post canon #picnic

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cheesydelphox · 4 months

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i have been thinking abt laharbolt and how i would describe their relationship dynamic in a romantic context and i think i would describe it like "both equally flustered to be doing this despite having very different histories when it comes to dating"

so i present to you: the ultimate laharbolt dynamic compendium as according to CheesyDelphox, formerly GOOGLE CERTIFIED ceo of laharbolt back when i still used twitter

this do be a bit of long one. under the cut, ok?

• lahar has never done this "dating" thing before. he's always been too sheltered (part of that is willingly, part of that is upbringing, part of it is the autism) and was invested in his council work more than he was relationships for a while (before he realized he had feelings for doranbolt.) he passively knew he was gay growing up but didn't put much thought into it, never really seeing a relationship with a man, much less a man he works with, as an achievable goal while in a high-profile role on the council. he is therefore not quite sure how to handle himself while in a romantic setting, but he can see how much doranbolt needs him and is trying to be the cool and confident one for him.

• doranbolt, on the other hand, HAS dated people before. he dated a few people (of various gender identities) during the 7-year time skip, both as a coping mechanism for helping himself forget about fairy tail, but also to help him forget how he just kinda left lahar (who he had passive feelings for at this point) on the council without ever really telling him how he felt. none of these relationships never really came to anything more than a quick thing, though, and they were never felt as real as his feelings for lahar did. lahar, to him, is infinitely more stunning than anyone he dated during that time period. he's perfectly cool and confident, but manages to balance that with humanity others don't feel comfortable around doranbolt to show him. lahar is so infinitely supportive of him, it makes doranbolt feel happier than he ever had. he's also fucking gorgeous, so much more so than anyone else. doranbolt, therefore, doesn't really know what to do with himself around someone so incredible, so he gets really flustered, expecially when lahar steps up to the plate and says something confident. (even when lahar is just trying to keep a brave face)

• doranbolt eventually does break out of his shell when their relationship isn't as new, and realizes that lahar will forgive him if he messes something up. doranbolt also realizes that as incredible as he is, lahar still doesn't know what he's doing at all. he starts to be more confident, knowing that. lahar also starts telling himself to take it slow, figure out what he himself is comfortable and with expressing, and realizing that doranbolt will make moves and advocate for himself. he's not in the same place he was during those seven years, after all. eventually they fall into relatively even roles in their relationship, having playful banter with each other that everybody around them recognizes as flirting.

• they moved into lahar's apartment after a few months of dating, since doranbolt usually ended up there most days anyway. when they find the time to be alone together, after most work days, it's very sweet and intimate. lahar's always been iffy about letting other people touch his hair, (being uncomfortable with hairdressers is how it got so long. he tried to cut it himself at one point and had to violate council dress code and wear a hat to work for a few months) but he'll let only doranbolt take it down from its but and run his fingers through it. doranbolt knows how special this is and is aware of the signals lahar will drop, and will back away if needed. massaging scars can help them heal smoother and generally look better, so one day lahar cupped doranbolt's face and started gently doing that. doranbolt was initially confused, but found it very comforting after a while. he doesn't remember where he got the scar, and he's scared to think about what could have done this to him, but he lets himself get lost in lahar's touch and forget about that. they fall into a routine. hair, scar, cuddle. hair, scar, cuddle.

• they do manage to go on dates occasionally, but it's hard because they don't want people to see them out together. lahar's nervous that dating someone at his workplace will ruin his reputation, doranbolt's nervous for... subconscious reasons. (he doesn't realize it, but he doesn't want to disappoint makarov. little does he know that makarov won't give a singular shit.) whenever they do, one of them usually has to save up to book a private reservation at a restaurant to have a room for just the two of them. doranbolt usually wants to teleport home, but lahar likes to take a scenic route and usually drags doranbolt to the nicest places in the city, just to have the prettiest kiss they'll have all month.

• all the rune knights have a vague idea that something's going on between lahar and doranbolt, but they don't know the details. some have it right and think they're in love, but other think they secretly hate each other, or are rivals constantly trying to secretly one-up each other. lahar and doranbolt both think this is hilarious and sometimes say out-of-character things to each other when things at work aren't serious just to keep the rumors afloat.

i'll probably think of more stuff to add to this, so when i do that, i'll reblog this with those additions. PLEASE ADD MORE STUFF ON IF YOU WANT TO!!!

#i love them so much i don't even know #i can't even describe how much they've helped me with all the shit in my life #sighs they're so cute #i could say so much about them it's kinda all trapped in my head and idk how to get it OUT!!! THEY ARE TRAPPED!!#I NEED THE WORDS TO SAY IT!!! I DON'T HAVE THEM!!! HELP!!! /lh #fairy tail #anime #lahar fairy tail #laharbolt #mest fairy tail #mest gryder

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eryiss · 2 months

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[Fraxus] Multifaceted - Part 6

Or: The 5 Times Laxus Learned of a New Skill Freed Possessed, & The 1 Time He Fell Victim To Them

Summary: For the rest of the world, it had been seven years. For the members of Fairy Tail it had all been in the blink of an eye. But, for Laxus, that was more than enough time for his closest friend to seem like an entirely new person. This self assured, competent Freed was something new to Laxus, and he found himself enjoying it. Perhaps a little too much… Note: The last chapter. There’s seduction, there’s kissing, there’s mentions of misusing chocolate. It’s got it all. Hope you all enjoy. Links: Ao3, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

+1: Seduction

Laxus had gone through all possible ways that asking Freed out could go wrong. He could say no. He could laugh. He could be injured. He could reveal that he'd been seeing a man in secret for months now; he had been spending many of his evenings out of the apartment and wouldn't tell Laxus why. Laxus could end up making a complete fool of himself, and he'd never be able to think back without cringing to the point of screaming.

But not once had he anticipated this!

Who could have guessed that their apartment would have been robbed before he got the chance to do it!

That had to be what happened. He'd come back from a weeklong mission, resolute that he would stop bottling these feelings up and do something about it, and yet had unlocked the door to an empty apartment. The armchair was gone, the scattering of books that Freed had slowly been collecting were nowhere to be seen, and the kitchen was entirely devoid of anything at all. He stormed into the bedroom, to see that the bed was gone. After poking his head into the bathroom, even the shower products had been taken. The only thing left was the dining room table and chair, which had been the only thing not to belong to either Laxus or Freed.

There were no signs of a fight, so Freed couldn't have been there when it happened. But, well, if Freed had been there Laxus very much doubted the robbers would have managed to leave with all of their limbs attached, let alone the damn bed! Fuck: they didn't need this. Sure, Fairy Tail was getting more and more jobs, and they were starting to pay better, but there still wasn't enough to go around. Even with the money Freed made with his infrequent roles in the Ballet Society, they didn't have enough to cover the losses.

Groaning, he spun to look around the room. HIs gaze caught on something; a little hook on the back of the front door had something soft and colourful looking hanging off it. As he approached, he saw what looked to be a crocheted log cabin, with an envelope tucked behind it. He removed both, toying with the yarn creation as he opened the letter.

Map coordinates, written in Freed's handwriting.

Okay, so they likely hadn't been robbed if Freed had done this; unless of course Freed had lost his mind and been the person who had robbed them. Not entirely impossible, he could be eccentric when he wished to be. Laxus walked into the hallway, locked the door as if there were anything left to take, and started on walking to where the coordinates stated. That was one perk of being a mage; you had maps embedded in your memory. Freed was calling for him to go to one of the wooded areas outside of the town, about twenty minutes' walk away from the new Guildhall.

As he travelled, Laxus found himself absently playing with the yarn house. Its intricacies were well crafted, and Laxus wondered if maybe Freed had gotten better at crochet over the last few months, or if maybe this house just was his way of showing off. He pulled out the lightning bolt from his pocket - Freed had casted a rune on it that gave it a protective shield, and it was never off Laxus' person anymore - and compared the two. He preferred the lightning bolt. That was his and his alone. He had no idea what this little cabin meant.

When he arrived at the coordinates, he understood. Because, tucked in a halo of trees, was a large, lavish looking log cabin almost identical to the one Freed had made. Laxus gaped at it, then at Freed, who was sitting at a small patio table, whittling. Freed apparently whittled now, too.

"Freed," Laxus said cautiously, eyes flicking back to the cabin and not leaving it. "What the fuck is happening now?"

"Well, we're standing in the woods, there's a gentle breeze-"

"Freed!"

"I was sick of our living arrangements, and as such I've amended them," he gestured back to the cabin.

Laxus looked it all over again. It was two stories high, and pretty damn big. It had more space than anywhere Laxus had ever lived, with a balcony on the second floor. It was picturesque and idyllic and amazing. And it was also seemingly made entirely out of wood. Laxus couldn't help but think back to the few times he'd seen Freed doing any kind of DIY, and he always favoured using wood to fix whatever problem they were facing. He had even made his snappy little innuendo about being masterful at handling thick, hard wood. Or something to that meaning anyway; every time Laxus thought back to it he multiplied how filthy it had been, so the original phrasing was lost.

"If you're about to tell me," Laxus began slowly, walking towards Freed, "that you have built a house, then I'm not only gonna call bullshit on that, but I'm also gonna call bullshit on each and every one of these skills you've been showing off. Every one of them."

"Including the two examples of it that you're currently holding?" Freed mused. Laxus huffed, shoved his lightning bolt into his pocket and threw the yarn cottage at Freed's face. Freed caught it with a laugh. "No, Laxus. I did not build this house."

"Then... what the fuck?" He waved a hand at the building.

"I renovated a nearly dilapidated structure into something liveable," Freed pulled out some documents from his own coat pocket and placed them on the outside table. Laxus looked down at them - they were land and property ownership details - and gaped at the image. It was the same building before him, but covered in plants, with broken glass and large holes in the wall. Laxus might have got caught up on the difference between the picture and the reality of the building, but then he caught sight of how much the rundown cabin had cost.

"How the hell did you afford this?"

"I've placed myself into a sort of debt," Freed explained, and Laxus frowned. That didn't sound good. "Oh, nothing to worry about. The Ballet Society has plans for a new show, The Sleeping Beauty. There's a role in it - Prince Florimund - who is notoriously difficult to do. Their regular male lead isn't confident he can do six shows a week without burnout, so I've agreed to perform twice a week in exchange for them paying the costs for the house."

"You..." Laxus gaped at him, words failing. "You..."

"They've been very good about it. It doesn't need to be strictly twice a week, but instead average out into two sevenths of the shows, so I can still go on missions without trouble," Freed continued. "And it looks to be a fun role, rather challenging."

"You made this," Laxus pointed to the picture of the rundown cabin. "Into that?" He gestured to the luxury looking cabin. "On your own? Single handedly? Without anyone knowing, while also going on missions and dancing whenever they call you. You did that?"

"I tend to get restless," Freed shrugged, then turned and walked towards the open front door of the cabin.

Laxus followed, eyes flicking over the front of the building as it got closer.

Once inside, Laxus had to halt. He'd walked into a large living room with a spiral staircase leading up to the higher floor. It was only partially furnished, with two sofas - the frame made out of wood, but with large cushions for comfort - facing one another, with the media Lacrima between them. The coffee table that Freed had made for their apartment had been duplicated, so there was one next to either sofa. There was also a shoe holder, coat stand, and key holder beside the door. Laxus gaped as he looked around, his shoes clunking against the hardwood floors.

"I do like materials other than wood, I swear," Freed promised as he hooked a key on the hanger. "When we have the buying power, I anticipate we'll buy a lot of rugs and furniture that doesn't come from trees, but I'm best at woodwork and had more than enough wood left over after I cut some of the encroaching trees down."

"You cut them down?" Laxus gaped. "You know how to do that, too?"

Freed shrugged. "I can't begin to detail how bored I can get when I'm not working," he walked towards the staircase, and Laxus dutifully followed him. It was a sturdy thing, and Laxus assumed that Freed had made it. He might as well assume Freed had made anything and everything Laxus would see for the rest of his life, given how proficient Freed seemed to be. "There's five bedrooms, each with their own bathrooms. Only one has access to the balcony, and I've decided that I deserve it, so that's not up for debate."

"Seems fair," Laxus shrugged. "I assume you put in the bathrooms yourself after taking night classes for plumbing, right?"

"I was tempted," Freed laughed, showing Laxus to the hallway of six doors, with a large window at the end of it. "But, believe it or not, I accessed outside help. There's a tradesperson's school opened in town, and I contacted a teacher. I allowed five of their students full control over the bathrooms as practice, and they agreed to cover the costs. Juvia helped, too. Held back any wayward water when they made mistakes."

"It must have really hurt your pride having to let someone take control," Laxus teased, reaching for the closest door and opening it. A large, vacant room was shown, with a further door which must have led to the bathroom. "Five bedrooms?"

"And a closet," Freed nodded to one of the doors. "It used to be a vacation rental, before the owner let it go to hell. That's why there's bathrooms for each bedroom, I think. It works well for us, though. One room for each of the team, and a spare room. I thought either a guest room, or perhaps a gym when we can afford the equipment. But by that point, I expect the house will be more communal and I won't have unquestioning authority. I'll miss it."

"So, Bix and Ever are moving in too?" Asked Laxus, and Freed nodded. Laxus would like that. He'd miss having his own space with Freed, though. "Well, show me your special bedroom then, don't wanna walk in by mistake and have you pissed off at me."

Freed laughed, walked to the door on the far left and opened it, motioning for Laxus to walk in. It, like the living room, was barely furnished. The bed they'd been sharing was resting against the wall, facing the large wall of glass that led to the balcony. The only other thing was the armchair, which looked ugly and out of place in the modern room, and yet Laxus wouldn't want it removed nor improved. It felt as though Freed wanted a reminder of their time together and had decided his room would be a reflection of their apartment.

Or maybe Laxus was overthinking things. That was possible. Likely, even. That's why Laxus said what he did next. "Wait, you get the bed and the chair? Where the hell do I sleep tonight?"

"I've heard the floor is wonderful for posture correction, and you do tend to slouch," mused Freed as he looked around. Laxus knocked him on the shoulder, and Freed smiled to himself. "I've planned for that. Follow me."

Laxus did, though was surprised when Freed didn't open any of the doors to the bedrooms. They went back downstairs, and only when they were back on the floor and at the same level did Laxus see that Freed was fiddling with the palm of his hand. His fingers were twitching and playing around, scratching against each other in small, purposefully subtle movements. Laxus had seen Freed do that a few times throughout their time living together: the morning of his first rehearsal with the dance troupe, the day when Freed had first cooked for the guild, and the moment when they realised when their best hope of living anywhere was sharing a crappy apartment. It was a nervous tick. What did he have to be nervous about?

Freed went to push open one of the doors off the living room but stopped himself and turned to look at Laxus. Laxus halted, concern clearly filling his features. Freed was such a steadfast person, it took a lot to rattle him. He looked scared.

"There are a few things I need to say before I-" he cut himself off, took a breath, and met Laxus' eyes. "This house is unconditional. You live here no matter what. I need you to know that first," the intense look on his face made Laxus nod. "Good, please believe that. Next, there are no expectations of you. Not a single one. Whatever happens-"

"Freed, you've gotta tell me what you're panicking about."

"Right, yes," Freed nodded slightly, placed his hand on the door again. "Dammit, I had this planned out to be much more romantic, but, well, we can only go onwards I suppose."

Laxus' brain snagged on the word 'romantic' and stuck there, but as Freed opened the door, all thoughts died away. It was an open plan kitchen and dining room, with an open fireplace. The fireplace was lit, crackling and warm as it brought orange glow to the room. The small dining room table was lit only by two large, red candles that flickered gently. The table was decorated with a white vase filled with a range of yellow, orange and red flowers. Two cloches were placed either side of the table, and the smell of rich, wonderful food permeated.

Slowly, Laxus walked into the room. Romantic? That's what Freed had said. Right after Freed had assured Laxus he would always have a place to live there, unconditionally, Freed had mentioned romance. Now, he had walked into a candle lit dinner, which Freed had prepared himself.

That was another situation that Laxus hadn't planned for: Freed beating him to the punch.

Wordlessly, he turned to Freed, who was standing half way through the door, looking more unsure than Laxus had ever seen him.

Unacceptable.

Laxus felt a burning passion, exhilaration and need rush through him with a fury he'd never experienced before.

He was walking towards Freed before he could stop himself and brought his hand up. He wrapped it around the back of Freed's neck, clasping it firmly as he got in Freed's space. Their chests butted slightly - Laxus had misjudged how far Freed was - but he didn't care. He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and gave Freed the kiss he'd been wanting for all those months.

Fuck.

Oh gods.

Laxus was actually weak at the knees. The feeling of Freed's lips against his own, his tongue against his own, was breathtaking. Laxus pulled Freed close, feeling the man against him in a way he'd never had before. There was a closeness, an intimacy he'd never thought he'd know. Freed was strong and firm and practical and caring. He kissed with authority, and Laxus would always happily defer to it. He wanted to collapse into Freed, to be consumed by him. By the kiss. By the man he loved.

When they pulled away, their foreheads pressed together. Laxus smiled, a dopey and silly smile, as he whispered, "You're good at that, too."

Freed snorted a shaky laugh, and oh damn did Laxus love that moment of inelegance. "You're rather good yourself."

They laughed into another kiss, and Laxus found his hands lacing their way through Freed's hair so he could better cup the back of his head. Freed's own hands had found rest at Laxus' waist, and Laxus could have groaned at how they anchored him. This kiss was shorter, gentler, but no less passionate. Laxus found himself scratching at the back of Freed's head, and all but beamed when Freed leant into it.

Energy was buzzing through Laxus, and as hypnotising as the scent of the food, or the lure of Freed's lips were, Laxus felt the need to move. To move, but not without Freed. He'd fight the damn gods themselves if anything tried to get Freed out of his arms. It was only then that he realised there was soft, trilling music playing through the room. Laxus smiled, ran a hand down Freed's side and ended up taking Freed's hand in his own. They intertwined their hands without questioning nor discussion, and Laxus was in awe at the gentle friction between their skin.

"Dance with me," he demanded in a whisper.

"Really?" Freed asked.

"Yeah." Laxus smiled. "But go easy on me. No lifts."

Freed laughed, and then they danced. It was nothing to be impressed by - nothing more than swaying in each other's arms - but Laxus felt this meant more to him than any performance could mean to any professional. The ability to stand with Freed in this way was a privilege and yet a natural state of being for them both. They were so close. Their hands were intertwined, their waists pushed together, and at one point Freed rested his head against Laxus' chest and Laxus all but cried.

They stayed like that for a while. Freed's head moved to the crook of Laxus' neck, and they swayed in each other's arms. They had time to think, and Laxus was consumed by how entirely right this felt. It wasn't odd. It wasn't uncomfortable. It wasn't anything other than the logical next step.

"You wanna eat?" Laxus eventually asked. "Don't want your hard work going to waste."

"Certainly not," Freed agreed, though neither moved to detach from the other for at least two minutes.

When they eventually did, they sat either side of the table, which was narrow enough for their feet to knock against each other. Made silly by the rush he was feeling, Laxus made an effort to nudge and play with Freed's feet with his own. He caught Freed's barely hidden smile; which was so honest, just a little shy, and was accented with the nicest little blush. Freed really was lovely.

They removed the cloches, and Laxus beamed at what had been served. Barbecue ribs and nearly a bucket's worth of fries covered in cheese and bacon sauce. This was the meal Laxus always had when he was too injured to work for a while; indulgent, against his diet, and delicious.

And, decidedly not a typical first date meal.

"Not a salad," Laxus teased, "so you can show off how elegant and sophisticated you are."

"You already know how sophisticated and elegant I am," Freed hummed, taking one of his own cheese covered fries and eating it.

"I also know how much of a deranged animal you can be with certain foods," Laxus grinned.

Freed huffed, "I dispute that whole heartedly."

"Roast chicken."

Slamming a rib down on the plate, Freed stared down Laxus' grin. "I had been captured and tortured, I had not eaten in four days, and I was hungry. That was four years ago, let it go."

"You nearly choked on it," Laxus beamed. "That was so sexy of you. Really a turn on."

"Hush."

"I think that's when I first noticed you were a man, not just some brat, Y'know."

"Oh be quiet," Freed huffed. "And we both know that, when presented with a certain brand of Black Forest gateau, you make Erza's sweet tooth look positively rational. I wonder how she'd react if I told her. She's never been one to stand for such a flagrant display of hypocrisy."

"Truce?" Laxus asked, and Freed smiled at him. Laxus grinned, took a bite of the ribs, then groaned. He caught Freed's grin. "So, speaking of dessert, is that gateau part of your seduction methods? Because it'll work if it is."

"I considered it," Freed mused. "But I thought stripping naked, dripping melted chocolate over my body, and having you lick it off might serve my purposes better. Thought?"

Laxus choked on his food, coughing out a "Fuck!"

"And now the truce can begin," Freed beamed at him, and Laxus couldn't help but match it; once he'd finished coughing, obviously. "And I hope you notice that, when you choke on food, I don't claim that it's sexy, a turn on, or that this is the first time I see you as a man. It takes very little effort not to say those things."

"Ah dammit, you're cocky in a relationship too," Laxus playfully groaned. "And here I thought I'd turn you into a mewling little kitten of a man."

"I may be, if I'm in the right position," Freed purred, running the toe of his shoe up Laxus' leg.

"You evil bastard," Laxus laughed. "Serve up my favourite food and then give me something even better to look forward to." The glare Laxus sent Freed's way was filled with heat, but certainly not anger. Freed matched it with a flirty little smile, his foot not stopping its teasing drag. Laxus felt his trousers tighten a little at the crotch, then remembered something. "You said you'd sorted out where I'd sleep. Then you took me down here to seduce me. Are those two things connected maybe?"

"Are you trying to imply that I'm so arrogant that I believe all I'd need is some dinner to get you into bed?"

"Yeah, I think you're exactly that sure of yourself."

"Hm," Freed hummed. "Well, all I'll say is this: you've witnessed my proficiency in varied skills over the last few months, yes? My talents in bed make everything else I do look sloppy to a near Neanderthal level. I'm that good." He retracted his foot; Laxus missed the touch almost too much. "Eat your food, dear. You'll need the energy."

"Cocky mother fucker," Laxus growled.

He stood, leant over the table, and pulled Freed into a deep kiss filled with promise. Promises that Laxus knew Freed could keep.

#fraxus #freed justine #laxus dreyar #fairy tail #fanfic #writing #multichapter #canon compliant #Word count: 3.7k

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