Bar Tops and Choice Hops
As the current Master of the Fairy Tail guild, Laxus tried to bring a certain...essence to the hall. Out with the old openness and freedom that Makarov had tarnished it with and in with a more authoritative, deadly, and vicious Fairy Tail. One to restore it to it's old grander. So that when others heard even the word fairy alone spoken were stricken with a deep burning respect.
"Daddy, you don't wipe the counter right."
Err, rather, Laxus had wished to do that. And, if it wasn't for the fact that Mirajane had used some sort of demon/Strauss charm on him that forced him into falling in love with, marrying, and eventually having kids with her, things would have gone that way. Only all of that did happen, leaving him with two daughters, a hall that he could hardly do what he wanted with because he had a wife that forced all of her thoughts and opinions on things down his throat before he had a chance to form his own, and, most importantly, all hope of him ever living the life he'd always envisioned was gone, just like that, with no hope of returning.
"Marin, I know how to wipe down-"
"That's not how Mommy does it."
"Marin-"
"It's not."
Sigh.
Glancing across the bar then, at where his youngest daughter sat on one of the stools, he only said, "How does Mommy do it then?"
"A lot better."
"Marin-"
"She does!"
The two were at an impasse then, Laxus staring heavily down at her as Marin didn't budge for once, glaring right back at him like it was nothing. He wasn't sure what to attribute this to. Her gaining a lacrima? Taking after her (extremely) bratty older sister? Those two stupid boys that Erza had taken in and were probably corrupting his little baby? Any of them would do.
He decided to blame Haven, her sister, that day just for the hell of it.
She took the heat for most things anyhow. Then again, she typically was at the root of all things, so…
"Here then." Laxus moved to reach across the bar and grab Marin's arm, tossing the rag in his other hand away. "What if I wash it like this?"
He was holding her hand over the bar, palm down, as if waiting for something. Marin just stared though.
"Go on then," he ordered. "Water the bar for me."
"Daddy-"
"Now."
She stared up at him for a moment before, slowly, allowing water to flow from her hand, shaking slightly as well. Though she'd taken the lacrima from her father a few months back, she was still rather fearful of the power that it gave her and hardly ever used it. The whole thing had just been a way to get her to stop being so sick all the time. That was all.
"See? More pressure," he ordered, moving her hand around. "And c'mere."
Laxus reached fully across the bar that time, snatching his daughter up in his arms, before having her hold both hands out. He had her giggling then, because it was just so silly, that they were doing that. It was also extremely messy, but what the hell? Mirajane had woken up sick as a dog that morning and, unable to reach anyone else, she attempted to go in.
"Just to open," she insisted to him that morning as he literally began thinking in his head where the nearest rope was and if it would be able to contain the she-devil as he tied her to the bed. He was going with probably not when he had a better idea.
"I," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder while staring into her cloudy, blue eyes and blatantly ignoring the little bit of snot running down her nose, "will go in. And you will go back to bed."
"You open? Laxus-"
"It's my damn guild. I'll do whatever the hell I want."
"You don't know how to-"
"I know everything."
"Lax-"
That time, he didn't cut her off. No, she literally started heaving and, with a sigh, he quickly helped her to the bathroom. His poor sick demon. She just didn't know when to give up.
It took a lot of promising and agreement that he would actually, at least, attempt to open and not just screw it all to hell.
Honestly, being married to him for so long, Mira felt that was a strong possibility.
But she also felt her dinner from the night before creeping back up and, well, what was she supposed to do?
So the dragon set out, daughters flanking him, with the mission to get the hall all set up and clean before the early birds of the guild showed up, expecting food and drinks and jobs and bleh.
Bleh!
The dragon always did for his demon though. It was kinda their thing.
Upon arrival at the hall, he sent Haven, all bratty and annoying, off to retrieve the money from the safe and fill the registers (Mirajane had shown her how before and he'd check to be certain she got it right after) as he and Marin took to getting the front of the place ready. Mira had mentioned cleaning the bathrooms and pool area and all this other junk that sounded horrible, so Laxus figured he'd skip those.
Like she was expecting, anyhow. His woman knew him well.
Hn.
"What are doing to the bar? And Marin?"
And Haven was back to fill the register, frowning at the sight of her father holding her sister in the air, allowing her to spew water everywhere. And by spew, Haven literally meant spew, as now they were no longer using her hands, but rather her mouth, and Laxus wasn't just standing there. No, he was walking up and down the bar, soaking every inch (and the floor surrounding).
"What's it look like?" Laxus grumbled over his shoulder. "We're cleanin'."
"That is not cleaning," the girl said with a frown. The last thing she liked to do was see her father have fun with someone else. Especially Marin. She also didn't like Marin enjoying herself with anyone else. Again, especially their father. Haven wasn't really that complex. Just...odd. Very odd. "And you know it. You're making a mess."
"Life is a mess, Have. When you're older, you'll understand."
"Laxus-"
"Shut up," he groaned, finally sparing her a glance, still mostly focused on swinging Marin around. Done with the bar, he moved onto the floor. They could use a good mopping….up the water that's covering them. "And just have fun, brat."
"I'm not a brat."
Ignoring her, Laxus grinned as Marin stopped spilling water from her mouth and turned her head to look up at him. "You got anymore in ya, kid?" When she nodded, he said, "Good. Maybe now you can replace the water pump in the pool, huh? The whole damn guild even! No more water bills. And gosh, where were you when we had that drought three years ago? Oh yeah, being cute as hell, but mostly useless. Look at you now, kid. Look at you now."
"Don't," was all Haven growled as Marin and Laxus had their disgusting bonding moment or whatever the heck they were doing, "get water on me. Else I'll electrocute you. Both of you."
It was a pretty viable threat towards Marin, but Laxus, for obvious reasons, would probably benefit from his daughter's shocks. He usually did. They were so weak. Not to mention he'd taught them to her.
Laxus didn't get a chance to reprimand her though, not even send her off to take care of the bathrooms. Nope. Because the guildhall doors were opening and playtime was more than over.
"What have you done?"
They all had to do a double take as there she was, Mirajane, rushing in. She looked just as horrible as she had back at the house, her skin somehow even more pale in color, eyes not nearly as vibrant, and smelled remarkably a lot like some sort of medicine that she must have sucked down in an attempt to keep herself from toppling over the second that she walked out of their home.
"Demon." Laxus was still holding Marin there, in the air, as Haven used the time to rush and go get that register filled. If Laxus was going down, fine. It didn't mean that she was going too. For someone that forced everyone to go down with her ship, Haven abandoned all others at the first sight of rocky water. "You're, uh, here."
"What are you doing, Laxus?" And she was coming closer. Great. "Why is there water everywhere? And put Marin down."
"Actually, I kinda like holding her like this- And you're not playing. Your stare has not an ounce of joy in it. Alright, down you go, kid."
"Mommy." Mirajane couldn't see Marin over the bar, but still frowned at the sound of her voice. It was rare for her youngest to cause her any trouble, but apparently, she'd just been saving all that time up for right then and there.
Sigh.
"Why would you guys do this?" the woman asked. "Huh?"
"I didn't," Haven was sure to get out, shooting her father and sister a look. Show them to have a good time with one another instead of steering clear of each other until she deemed them fit to spend time with. "They did."
"Thank you, Haven," Mira said which, really, kinda made her think that she was dreaming for a moment. That Marin was the one in trouble and Haven was being, apparently, the little angel, diligently getting the hall prepped was….disturbing to say the least. Then she recalled that it was Laxus that was leading her youngest astray and, well, it made some sense, at least. "You two, however-"
"Mira, I was getting the floor all wet. To mop. That's all," Laxus said, moving from behind the bar to go lay a hand on her shoulder. First though, he pressed one to her head with a frown. "And demon, you're burning up."
"Am not."
"Yes, you are. Go home. What are you doing-"
"I came to work."
"Mirajane-"
"I knew," she continued on, "that you wouldn't get anything done, Laxus, and that I had to come and open. I never once thought, however, that you'd completely flood the place-"
"Not completely."
"Because I stopped you."
Meh. She had a point.
"Mira-"
"No, Laxus. Now I have to mop and I have to-" Take a pause as she reached out to hold a hand against his arm, steadying herself. Laxus only leaned his head down, nuzzling it against hers.
"You're going home. And maybe a doctor later."
"No," she told him lowly, though that was more because he was pretty certain she was trying to keep her stomach from letting go of it's last remnants. "Laxus, I have to open-"
More nuzzles. Then, glancing back over at the bar, where Marin was still hidden behind it and Haven, finished with the money, was just leaning against it and glaring over at them. "Girls, Daddy'll be right back. He has to take care of something. Err, someone."
"Okay," Marin giggled.
Haven however only frowned. "Gross. And I've never called you that."
Meh. Again, that one had a point too.
"You ever been lightning, demon?" Laxus asked, wrapping his arms around her then.
"What? Laxus, I don't-"
"Try and keep your puke to yourself, huh?"
And then, with that, there was a huge crack of what sounded like thunder, somewhere off in the distance and their parents dissipated, leaving behind a jittery bolt of lightning, which was quickly moving across the hall before out the crack in an open window.
Haven, unimpressed with her father's lightning body magic, only frowned even more.
"I hope," she said loudly, "that he doesn't think that I'm cleaning up any of this."
Marin only glanced up at her sister. "Can we play with Ravan and Kai today? Please?"
Haven only shrugged before saying, "Why not now?"
That made the younger of the two Dreyar girls giggle. "We gotta open up."
"All Laxus was going to do was wipe down the bar."
"No." Marin refused to believe that their father would promise their mother that he would do so much more when all he was intending to do was run a rag over a bar top. No way. No stinking… Well, there was the time that they said they'd clean the house and just vacuumed a little bit of the living room floor. Or the time he promised to cut the grass and really just went over some of the more weedy spots with the mower. Or… No, yeah, her father probably was going to do exactly what her sister said.
Huh. You'd think that Haven knew the man better than her or something.
More like had a better realization for the type of person he was most likely.
"Yes." Haven glared down at the young girl until she looked off. "And here. Go get me a rag, okay? You idiots soaked this one."
Rushing off to do the other girl's bidding (without Laxus or Mirajane there to protect her, it was best not to tempt the beast), Marin found a rag to use and, giving it to her older sister, watch Haven diligently wipe it down. While she did that, Marin found a sheet of paper and, in the best handwriting she could muster (it was leaps and bounds above Kai's, but still barely legible at times), wrote her father a note that really said nothing more than that they were going to Erza's.
Recently, the ban on where and what the girls could do had been lifted a bit. Marin still had to very much so be in the company of the older children to even think about leaving the hall or the house, but Haven was allowed to roam the city (and a few of the surrounding ones; Laxus' dragon senses allowed from extreme tracking and, well, that was about as far as he'd be able to follow her scent if something happened), so long as she got permission first. Which they were clearly lacking then, but Haven was so insistent that...well… Some time had passed since the Ivan incident and…. Marin was a sucker for Haven. Or, rather, a punching bag and just had to go with her.
"Come on," Haven insisted as Marin carefully set the note on the bar top when her sister was finished wiping it down. "We have to stop by Locke's first or else he'll act like baby again and say that we''re excluding him or something stupid like that."
It actually wasn't stupid. A few days prior, there had been a pretty good job that Ravan got his hands on and, with Navi out with her father Natsu and Happy on her own job, the commission would only be split three ways.
"Or," Haven had said when Ravan suggested this, grinning at him. "Only two ways."
Which, of course, didn't go over well with Locke when he found out that they definitely knew he was at home with nothing to do, but just didn't wanna split the jewels with him. They were either a team or they weren't a team.
They weren't, as Ravan put it and Haven didn't say either way. Just called him a baby and accused him of trying to hog the money, which made no sense, as it was more the feeling of exclusion that he was upset with and less the jewels.
Whatever. Locke was always whining about something, the way Haven saw it (mainly because she was always doing something to him) and sometimes it was just easier to give into him.
Also, she and Navi had sorta kinda taken jobs before behind both boys'' backs and, well, sometimes she felt bad. A little. Maybe.
Laxus, however, did not feel bad when he arrived back at the hall. He felt worried. About his wife. And, upon yelling out for her girls and getting no response, about them too. Until he found the note.
Daddy,
We went to play with Kai and Ravan. Haven says we gotta. And that we'll be home for lanch.
Love, Me.
Laxus only frowned. "The hell is a lanch? And when did these brats think they could just go where ever they want? And hey! We still have to clean up!"
Rather, he did. And when Kinana was late for the first shift, he had to tend bar. And Lisanna just didn't show up until that night, so he got stuck with the afternoon too. When he finally got home, he was too tired to punish the girls, who never came by the guild for lanch, but rather dinner and not rightly explained themselves then either. At home, they were equally as tired from their day of, apparently, playing and not helping their poor father out, and went to bed as well.
Laxus collapsed into his own where a still very ill, but also very cuddly demon was.
"We're raising monsters," he told her softly as she snuggled into his chest, still sniffling a bit. "You know that?"
"You're raising yourself, Lax. And a good child too, to balance out. But with Haven? You're just raising you."
"Mmmm," he groaned, nuzzling his head against Mira's. "I'm starting to get why my father left."
"Hey-"
"It's alright when I say it," he assured her with a grin. Mira only shook her head though. Then, thinking, he whispered, "I think I just love her too much."
"Maybe."
Then how was it that he always felt that it wasn't enough?
"Oh, and Mira…"
"Hmmm?"
"What's a...lanch?"
"A ranch?"
"Lanch. Marin wrote she'd be home for- And I get it now. Never mind."
"No. What?"
"Nothing."
"Laxus-"
"You'll call me stupid."
"Never."
"Or an idiot."
"Me? Call you names? Do you honestly think you need to say something like that?"
"She meant lunch-"
"You're an idiot."
"Hey-"
"It's okay when I say it," she reasoned, glancing up at him with a grin. "Isn't it?"
"Maybe." He let out a long sigh. They had no idea, his girls and woman didn't, how much he had to drink, just to keep his sanity. No idea. It was a good thing he was a guild Master, else they'd be mighty broke, buying all that liquor. Always testing him. Always. "My demon."
I've actually been a tad surprised with how many of you've asked about this series recently. I didn't think it was that interesting to anyone other than me, but it's definitely not dead. I've just been focused on other stuff is all. I really have a lot of ideas for it and, with my most recent Parenthood story in that series coming to an end, maybe I can work on one in this series.