Sleepover
"I love you."
Mirajane giggled as Laxus nuzzled his head against her neck. "I love you too, Lax."
"And I love this," he whispered as they lounged on her living room couch together.
"This?" she breathed softly while he pressed a kiss where he'd nuzzled before.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "This."
"What's this?"
"You know." He moved back some then so that they could stare one another in the eyes. "Being together."
"Oh." She giggled. "I love this too."
"Alone," he added as that was probably his favorite part. That finally, he and his demon were completely alone and they were going to have a nice, quiet evening closed in her house with none of her ditzy siblings or his bothersome lackeys. No. Just him and her and some wine and maybe she'd play around on her guitar and he'd put on the charm and there'd be some snugglin' and some lovin' and he'd just-
"Alone?"
He paused his fantasizing for a moment. "Yeah. Alone."
"Dragon." Mirajane shifted away from him. "We're not alone."
"What are you talkin' about? There ain't no one here, is there?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Alright then. We're alone."
"Yeah, but not for long," she said as he just stared at her.
"What," he grumbled, "are you talking about, woman?"
"You said that we were having a sleepover," she said with a giggle and a bright smile. "So I invited-"
"Mirajane," he groaned. "I was making a euphemism!"
"A what now?"
"I said let's have a sleepover," he said, "but not do any sleeping."
"Right. I don't-"
"What did you think I meant?"
"Well, duh, Lax, you never sleep at a sleepover," she told him with a bat at his shoulder. "You stay up and play fun games and talk and-"
"Who did you invite?" he groaned as he fell back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. Defeated. And so easily too. "Mira?"
"Well, I thought about Natsu and Lucy-"
"You what?"
"But I didn't think you would like that much."
Grunt. Good thinking.
"Then I thought about Erza-"
"You can't be serious."
"-but she was busy."
"Thankfully."
"So I decided that I should just stick with our core."
He frowned. "Our core?"
"Uh-huh." She nodded. "I had Elf and Lisanna go out and get Ever and Bickslow-"
"You didn't."
"-and told Freed to stop by, oh-" The doorbell rang then. "-now."
"Demon," he growled as she got to her feet. "What were you thinking? What didn't you get about what I said?"
"Well-"
"I mean, were you even listening?"
"Yes!"
"Oh really?" When she nodded, turning around to glare at him just to do so, he only retorted, "Then what did I say?"
"You said we should we should have a sleepover. Then you winked and added that we wouldn't be doing much sleeping though and that I could be in charge of the itinerary. Then you winked again." The doorbell rang again and, with a sigh, Mira headed back to go answer it. "See? Perfect memory."
"Demon, what aren't you grasping about innuendoes? I mean, honestly?"
It was Freed at the door, of course, as neither of the other pairs would have knocked. He had with him a pan of something which Mira took immediately.
"Ooh, Laxus. Freed brought brownies."
"Unless they got cyanide in them, I ain't interested."
"C-Come again?" Freed stepped into the house. "Is there something that I am missing?"
"Yeah," Laxus growled. "An invite."
"W-What? I thought that you said, Mira, that I-"
"Oh, hush, Laxus. And you're fine, Freed. Come in. Make yourself comfortable. It'll be a long night."
Laxus was not happy. And it showed. As Freed came closer, he almost hesitated to take a seat next to the man on the couch, but, well, how could he ever pass up on a chance like that? Hmmm?
"I was not sure what to bring," Freed called out to Mirajane as she took the brownies into the kitchen. "But that seemed as good a choice as any."
"They're fine, Freed."
"I'm not the first to arrive, am I?"
"Well, Bickslow and Lisanna were going to go out to eat first and Elfman and Ever are…well, them, so they'll probably be a bit late."
"So yes," he reasoned with a sigh. "I am."
Laxus just continued to glare at him. Softly, as so the demon wouldn't overhear, he said, "I hate you."
"W-What?"
But Mirajane was back then, coming to join the two of them on the couch. Laxus was in the center, like usual, with the two of them flanking him. He didn't know why Mira was always just so willing to allow Freed so close to him, but it always kinda bothered him. Like she was either extremely oblivious to the other man and his attraction or she just didn't care.
Knowing Mira, there was a good chance it was either.
"So," she said as she bounced slightly at her own words. "What did you two wanna do?"
"You know what I wanted to do," Laxus grumbled. "Or at least you should have."
"Dragon."
"I for one," Freed spoke up, "would enjoy if we listened to you list all of your accomplishments in order, Laxus."
He blinked. Then he frowned.
"I hate you."
"W-Why do you keep saying that?"
Mirajane only sighed though. "But it's not Dragon Appreciation Day, Freed."
"D-Dragon what now?"
"Shut up, Mira," Laxus growled.
"Although," she went on. "Maybe we could let it slide because that's when I list all of his accomplishments. Still though, it would kind of ruin-"
'When is this Dragon Appreciation Day," Freed breathed, "and how do I get an invitation?"
"Well-"
"You don't," Laxus hissed. "Now both of you stop talking about it. I mean it."
"Dragon just gets a bit embarrassed at times," Mira assured Freed. "His tone means nothing."
Freed, excited before at the idea of such a day set aside for such an important thing, stifled somewhat at Mira's words. Glaring over Laxus at her, he said, "I think I am aware, Mira, of his attitude shifts a tad bit more than you are."
"And why would you think that?"
"He and I are-"
'What part don't you guys get about being quiet?" the man they were about to fight over (or at least Freed was; Mira'd long won him) asked. "Huh?"
"What do you want, dragon?" Mira asked. "For us all to just sit here in silence?"
"I want to be alone with you."
"That's not happening."
"Yeah, well-"
"I feel as if I have disturbed something," Freed said slowly. "Perhaps-"
"No, stay." Mira, not aware that Freed had been ready to chew her head off a moment ago, leaned over Laxus' lap to grab a hold of the man's arm. "You stay right there. "The three of us can find something to do until the others arrive."
"This is awkward." Laxus shoved Mirajane back to her own side of the couch. "What are you implying, demon?"
"What?"
"Don't you what me," he hissed. "You're the one touchin' on Freed and talking about the three of us-"
"Playing a game. Like charades or-"
"That better be what you're talking about."
"What else could you possibly… Ew! Laxus!"
She hit him too. Rather hard. Freed only blinked in surprise partially from Laxus' intimation as well as Mira's assault on the man he so admired.
But mostly from the implication. Because that was just...a thought that had never occurred to him. At all.
It clearly had been bothering Laxus for awhile though.
"We can play whatever you want," Laxus grumbled as Mira looked ready to hit him again. "But you stay on this side of the couch. Got it?"
That got him another hit as well as a huff, but there wasn't much time to focus on them any longer as the front door was opening once more.
"The best part of the night has arrived," Bickslow yelled out loudly as he entered, his Strauss giggling as she followed. "By which I totally mean Lissy."
"You better," she said, her arms filled with his babies. When she was around they were rare to settle anywhere other than on her. "And we brought snacks!"
"You guys literally are holding one milkshake," Laxus grumbled as Mira grinned at the sight of them, putting her mind off her boyfriend and his filthy mind. "Where the hell else are the other snacks?"
"Well, we had to eat on the way here," Lisanna complained. "Sheesh. Can you believe him, Bicks?"
"I cannot, Lissy. You know, most people would be happy about a milkshake, but this bunch-"
"It's melted."
"Obtuse observation, Freed," his teammate congratulated.
"What?" Mira asked, glancing at her boyfriend for help. He only sighed.
"He means astute," he told her as the seith in question came to bring them the milkshake. "And it's half drank, you dope!"
"Words hurt, boss," he said as Lisanna went to claim them a spot on the loveseat. Quick to join her, he added, "Oy. What's on the agenda then? Huh? For this sorta thing?"
"Yes," Freed agreed slowly. "When you first invited me to…spend the night with everyone, Mira, I was quite thrown as well. We're quite old for…sleepovers, don't you think?"
"No," she said with a shake of her head. "Besides, it was dragon's-"
"I wanted," he growled, "for you and I to have a night alone. Not have a sleepover with these idiots!"
"Gross," Lisanna complained.
"Grosser," Bickslow agreed.
"Grossest," she challenged to which the seith only nodded.
Freed, for his bit, just groaned. It was times like that that was he most glad that there had not been a fourth Strauss for him.
"Laxus," Mira whined then, looking to him. "We don't do cute things like that."
"Like what?"
"Like what they just did. That gross thing. It's their thing."
"That? That's not cute! That's annoying. And really, really weird."
"I wanna be cute."
"You are."
"Together! I wanna be cute together!"
"Yeah, well, you have to learn some time that you can't get everything you want."
"Dragon-"
"No."
Freed only sighed some more. The only thing missing was-
"We're always late to things, Elfman."
Oh no.
"We are not," the man growled while they came through the front door, him slamming it behind them. "Because men are never late!"
"Yay!" Mirajane cheered, distracted from her bickering (flirting) with her boyfriend by her brother and his girlfriend's entrance. "We're all here! Now we can start the-"
"Men might never be late, Elfman," Ever hissed as the two came further into the room, him going to toss a bag of chips down on the table, no doubt their contribution, before turning around to face his girlfriend once more. "But then again, I don't see how that has anything to do with y-"
"You take that back!"
Freed hung his head. "Why do I keep getting dragged into these things?"
"Ever!" Bickslow shouted. "How dare you? Yelling at him? Enraged behavior? In front of our babies?"
Lisanna held them close to her chest. "They're too young for such things."
"Do you know no bounds?" Bickslow kept up.
"Are you a monster?" Lisanna added.
Ever only glanced passed Elfman and over at them. "I was under the impression that this was, I dunno, an adult function? Why are you two here?"
"I am an adult," Lisanna said, though that was directed more at all of them in general, as they typically ignored that fact. "And Bickslow can vouch for that."
"At least I hope she is," he said as he glanced at the woman. "Else I'm in some mighty big trouble."
Laxus though just said, "Mirajane? Go get me a beer."
"Beer?" Bickslow perked up. "There's beer? I wanna beer."
"There is beer," Laxus agreed. "For me."
"Laxus also bought wine," Mira said, nodding at where the bottle sat on the coffee table before getting to her feet. "So-"
"That was for us, demon," he hissed. "You know, when I thought that you understood what I meant when I said let's have a-"
"How many times can we go over this before it just becomes overkill?"
"Don't," Laxus growled as Lisanna jumped up to take the bottle, "touch that. It is expensive and way too nice to be mucked up by you chumps. The only one possibly refined enough for it is Freed."
"Thank you," the letter mage said, holding his head up higher.
"But you can't have none either," Laxus added. "It's for the demon and the dragon. Do any of you look like the demon? Or the dragon? No. Because you're not good enough. So leave our wine al-"
"Laxus, what are you doing?"
Mira was back. And, with that, Lisanna snatched the wine right up before bringing it over Bickslow and her's seats.
"He's being a bully," the younger woman said as her sister just glared at the man.
"Am not," he grumbled. "And don't you two dopes pop the cork on that! I mean it! It's-"
"For the sleepover," Mirajane told him simply as she reclaimed her own seat. "There's a wine opener in the kitchen, Bickslow."
"Alright, Lissy!" He jumped up. "Let's go drink some wine!"
"Or pour it all down the sink just to piss off Laxus."
"That sounds great."
"I hate this place," Laxus grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "So much."
Elfman and Ever had gotten right back into arguing though then it was more about how he was upset that Laxus was speaking to his sister in such a way and she was annoyed that he had the audacity to growl at her fearless leader.
Essentially, the two of them were behaving just as expected. Actually, everyone was, from Freed's point of view. Mira was oblivious, Elfman and Evergreen were arguing, Laxus was pissed, he was disappointed, and Bickslow and Lisanna, well-
Pop!
Crash!
"Uh, boss? Somehow we might have accidentally-"
"Totally not on purpose."
"-got excited when the cork popped out and well-"
"Does red wine stain a shirt? Because if so, Laxus, you owe Bickslow some new dreads."
"Lissy! I was gonna tell that to him later."
"Better early than later. Right?"
Laxus couldn't take it anymore. With a loud growl and a howl of how he was going to strangle the two of them, the Thunder God jumped to his feet and headed in there to straighten the dopes out. Mirajane was quick to follow as Freed, after giving another glance at the fighting Elfman and Evergreen, only sighed and went after them.
From there a great struggle ensued. Laxus was trying to murder Bickslow, Lisanna was trying to stop Laxus, Mirajane was actually attacking Laxus, claiming he was ruining her party, causing, of course, Freed to attack her which made Laxus forget about the seith and move onto his other male follower.
It was just a big mess for, really, no reason other than Laxus had yet to realize that innuendos do not and never would work on Mirajane Strauss.
She just didn't understand them.
Eventually one would think that he'd come to realize that.
Then, of course, Elfman had to come in there and somehow manage to slip and fall onto the broken shards of glass leftover from Laxus' wine bottle that dumb and dumber shattered, which made Mirajane blame Laxus for ever even buying something with glass when he knew that Bickslow as so clumsy.
"I didn't buy it for Bickslow, you big idiot! I bought it for you!"
And then Mirajane had a good cry because, well, Laxus called her an idiot. It made sense to Lisanna who, in turn, tried to forcibly remove Laxus from the house (it didn't go so well) while Ever at first tended to Elfman's wounds though that quickly turned into her berating him because, well, when didn't it?
Freed took to trying to comfort Mirajane not soon after that as Bickslow tried to keep his girlfriend from being murdered by his hero (but damn if it wouldn't have made one hell of a dark back-story). The letter mage's luck proved false as, when Laxus noticed this, in his rage he flashed back to the other man and his girlfriend…touching before on the couch and the implications that he had put on it and, well, what did they want Laxus to do? Huh?
Huh?
Not tackle Freed, apparently, but what could you do?
"You always do this, Laxus! You always ruin my parties!"
"It wasn't supposed to be a party, Mira! It was supposed to be me and you alone and-"
"Ew, gross."
"Grosser."
"Grossest."
"I don't want to be here any longer." Freed, who was still very much so pinned to the ground by Laxus, was quick to add, "I mean, I rather like this position, but this house-"
Growling, Laxus shoved up before going to glare at his girlfriend as Bickslow and Lisanna just hid a few giggles into their palms and Elfman, all bandaged up, went to help the other man to his feet as well.
"You were supposed to have sex with me tonight!" Laxus was huffing then, in his anger, and was just unleashing it all. "And then you started hitting on Freed-"
"I never hit on Freed." Mira made a face. "Gross."
"Grosser," Lisanna said.
"Gross-"
"Please," Ever cut off Bickslow with a sigh. "Not again."
"While I resent the implication and wish that you would stop bringing it out into the light," Freed said as he dusted himself off, "I do not appreciate the idea of me and you being together making you have such a visceral reaction, Mirajane."
Elfman blinked. "Sis, I try not to get involved in your personal life, I mean, I ever let you be with Laxus-"
"You didn't let her do shit, you dumbass," the man in question hissed.
"-but this is too weird," the man finished. "And just…wrong. I really don't think that you should sleep with Freed. If I get a vote."
"Are we voting?" Lisanna was back into it then. "Let's see, um-"
"Lissy, no. Don't vote on that," Bickslow hissed.
"Lissy, no," the dolls sang. "Don't vote."
"How come?"
"I think…I think we were invited here for an orgy."
"Ew gross!"
"Grosser."
"Gross-"
"I can't deal with the two of them," Ever told them all. "At all. Please, would someone-"
Mira was a deep shade of red then as she told them all, "I assure you, that was not… Laxus, why do you always ruin things for me?"
"I didn't ruin shit. But if I see him lay a hand on you again, I'll-"
"I was comforting her," Freed told him simply with a glare. "And Mirajane and I have no sexual tension between us at all. Perhaps in your twisted mind we do-"
"Oh, hey, look." Bickslow elbowed Lisanna before pointing to the counter. "Brownies!"
"Yeah, this whole…thing is really weird. And just not the scene for us," Lisanna said as they both just moved to pick up the pan before heading to the backdoor. "We'll just be taking these with us. You can keep the milkshake though."
The seith snickered as he walked out. "Or what's left of it."
"Have fun with your orgy," Lisanna added.
"But use protection."
Freed blinked as the backdoor shut. Then he looked to Evergreen. "You're right. The two of them are horrible."
"See?"
A hush fell over them all then as, truly, finally, only the mature ones were left.
"Men don't just take brownies and leave."
Err, well, mostly the mature ones were left.
"Would you," Ever hissed, frowning over at her boyfriend, "shut up?"
"Me shut up? What about you, woman? I'm in my own damn house! A man's house! You're lucky I even let you come in here!"
"Oh? You want me to leave them? I'll leave."
"I didn't say that."
"Yes, you did!"
"No, I didn't!"
And as they took that into the living room, Freed followed, thinking that Mira and Laxus would do the same. Instead, the two just stood there in the kitchen, staring at one another.
Sniffling, Mirajane looked down at the shattered wine bottle. "I really wanted to try a brownie."
Even though he was still full of volatile rage that had not properly been expelled (and still a little disturbed by Bickslow and Lisanna though, really, that was usual for any interaction with the two of them), Mirajane's words made Laxus blink. Then he did again. And, on the third time, it was accompanied by bemused grin.
"You," he grumbled as he came closer though Mira only backed up, "are somethin' else, woman."
"I did," she insisted as, when she hit the counter, Laxus only moved to lift her onto it and let her sit. "They smelled so nice."
"Mmmm."
"And, Laxus, I am not…interested in Freed," she added softly, as not to be overheard in the living room. It would have been hard as Elfman and Ever were practically screaming their lungs out at one another. Again, not that unusual for one of their get-togethers. "He and I are just close. That's all."
"Yeah, well, I don't like-"
"I don't care what you don't like. Freed's my friend. That's all. That's it. There's literally nothing more that could ever happen between us or with…the three of us." She couldn't help the blush again. Looking off, she asked, "Did you seriously think that I was trying to-"
"Yeah, well, I had a few beers back at the bar before I got here."
She only stared into his eyes then, rather deeply, before saying, "I'm not interested in something like that. Not with Freed, not with anyone."
Bowing his head, he nuzzled it against hers. "Good."
"Mmmm?"
"Mmmm." When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he only moved to whisper in her ear, "'cause I don't wanna share you with nobody."
"Something tells me," she sighed as he pressed a kiss to her neck, "that if it was the three of us, it'd be more of me sharing you with Freed."
That got him to pull his head back and give her a look. Mira only returned it with a raised eyebrow. Shaking his head then, Laxus said, "Yeah, well."
Giggling then, finally, Mira said, "I'm sorry I ruined our date night. I thought that you wanted to spend the time with our friends."
"It's alright," he sighed, taking the fall for her, like always. "It's my fault. I should be more clear."
"You really should."
With a nod, Laxus said, "And I'm sorry that I ruined your sleepover. I was all pissy because I didn't get what I wanted and ruined the time for you."
"You really did, Lax." Still, she grinned before before saying, "But…I forgive you."
Grinning, he took a step back as she moved to jump off the counter. "Well, your sister and her freak are gone."
"They are."
"And I sorta tackled Freed, so he'll probably be pissed at us for the rest of the night."
"Maybe. Sometimes he just forgives you when you're a jerk."
Try every time. But that fact didn't help Laxus with his lead in, so he just ignored it.
"Then your brother and Evergreen-"
"We really gotta find a couple to fill their spot," Mira agreed. "They just ruin everything."
Actually, Laxus could put up with their bickering. It was Bickslow and Lisanna that he had the problem with. But for the sake of the discussion…
"Sure."
"I'm thinking…Gajeel and Levy."
"Multiple problems with that."
"Gray and Juvia?"
"Less problems, but a big one that hinges on I don't think that exists anywhere other than Juvia's head."
"Oh, I know. Natsu and Lu-"
"Now you're just trying to piss me off."
Still, Mirajane only reached for his hand before saying, "Your apartment?"
"Hell yeah."
And, in their mad dash through the living room, the duo barely got out where they were going, but Laxus did manage to grumble out, "And leave us the fuck alone for the night!"
Or at least something to that effect. It was hard to catch in that blur of a moment.
"Well," Freed sighed when he was left only with the still arguing couple. "I guess I'll be leave-"
"Oh, great, Elfman, you ran everyone off. Thanks a lot."
"Me? I didn't do anything! You're the one that's always-"
"Always what? Huh? Huh? I never do anything."
"Well that's a bald-face lie!"
"It's bold-face, you couple an utter imbecile!"
"It is not! You idiot!"
"What did you just-"
"I'll see myself out," Freed sighed, taking to walking around the two of them and to the front door. "Excuse me."
Elfman and Ever kept it up too, for a good minute or so, just in case Freed was still in hearing distance. Then, when they were sure he was gone, she only sighed and Elfman, mid-shout, practically deflated in exhaustion.
"Arguing like that is tiring," he told Ever as he went to snatch the bag of chips. "Can't we just tell them next time that we'd rather not hang out with them?"
"Of course not," she told him as they went into the kitchen. "I live at the dormitory, remember? If we want to be alone, we need this house. And to get this house, we have to run the others out of it. Fighting's the only way."
Popping the chips open, he said, "Well, you want me to make you something to eat or- Oh great."
"What?" She had gone to take a seat at the kitchen table, fanning herself with her hand fan already. "What is it?"
"This wine and glass is all over the floor still," he explained, gesturing to it. In their rush to drive the others out, they forgot to get one of them to clean up Bickslow and Lisanna's mess first. "Now one of us is going to have to clean it."
Ever kept fanning herself.
"I said," he repeated, "one of us is going to have to-"
"Well, it's not going to be me."
"What? Why not?"
"For one, it was your dorky sister who-"
"It was your idiot friend and you know it!"
"Not to mention it's whose house? Oh, right, yours."
"Damn it, Ever, men don't clean!"
"Well, while I find that extremely sexist-"
"I don't care!"
"-I don't see a man around here anyways, so-"
"Woman, you are on-"
"Don't you woman me."
"Then get over here and clean this up!"
"No!"
"Ever-"
"Elfman-"
"I hate you."
"You better watch who you're talking to before there's stone pieces of a little boy down there with that glass and wine."
"Considering I'm not a boy, I don't care!"
Because as manufactured as their fighting could be, the only reason they ever got good at faking it was because they were so great at hashing it out for real. And with something like cleaning being the issue at hand, they could be at it for hours.
Then again, who ever sleeps at a sleepover anyhow?
More Laxus and Mira's lives being ruined by her siblings and his followers because, really, what is the foundation of their relationship if not that? I mean, honestly?
