Petals And Thorns

Happy birthday semegal! I hope you have a great day! Sorry, but this actually isn't the original gift, I've lost the files for the first one I did, so I tried to get this one up instead and I hope it's okay…

Freed flopped down on the sofa, completely exhausted; it had been an incredibly busy day at work. He appreciated all the business he'd had, but going to three different estates after he'd just woken up and another six after lunch time drained the life out of him. But he loved his job dearly, so no matter how tough things were, Freed never truly had the heart to complain.

After being in the gardening business for so many years, knowing plants was second nature to him; Freed would tell you exactly what needed fixing up in your garden and could easily describe which flower was a weed and what wasn't, painting a picture in the customer's head about what their perfect garden could look like, taking the time he needed to make that a reality and bring in more money to last him a while. Things were good that way, client's always enjoyed results and he was happy to produce them… but today's final job was a killer.

At first, it had been described as a smile job; go to the estate, clean things up, make everything look nice, get paid and go home. Easy. Except the estate in question was home to thirteen acres of shrubbery… just terrific. He'd barely made a difference to that place, only getting a small part of it done and being expected to go back again through the week until his 'masterpiece' was completed… words would never express just how much he was looking forward to it, oh yay…

*/*\*

After a good night's sleep and a shower, things were looking better about his situation and Freed could focus on the good points more. On the bright side to this week's 'mission' he'd be paid more than if he was doing a regular job, they were providing any tools he needed so Freed wouldn't have to lug his around and they were offering assistance in some more troublesome areas if he needed it. Things were looking good!

Until the moment he got there and any good mood he had dropped in an instant; the place was an untameable jungle, a complete monstrosity, he'd never survive.

The guy that came to greet him was a perk though; blonde hair, grey eyes, large build – and might he say deyamn – and a strange looking scar on his handsome face; it gave him more of a rugged look and from where Freed was standing, the sun rising behind that other man, shining and shadowing all the right places as he introduced himself.

"My name's Laxus, thanks for coming over to help deal with this mess, my grandfather and I really let this get out of hand." Understatement of the century; that. Freed could use far too many strong words that described the 'garden' better that. "Your name's Freed isn't it? It's nice to meet you." His tone was casual, kind of bored and deep – yes, things were definitely looking up that day.

"Yes that's me, it's nice to meet you too, Laxus." Smirking, the blonde turned his back on him and began walking to the house gesturing for Freed to follow; Freed, who was perfectly happy to comply.

…

He was invited in for a drink first and shown where the tool shed was before they set out into the wilderness. Maybe that was a small over exaggeration, but Freed doubted it.

When armed with shears, a lawnmower and a sturdy rake, going into the 'warzone' seemed a little less intimidating; the job wasn't too bad…

An hour later, Freed was lying on his back, panting, eyes closed to shield them from the sun as he tried regaining his grasp on sanity; he was wrong, this job was awful! It was midday, the sun was rising higher in the sky and he would've fought for the energy to roll over and away from the glare if the heat he felt from behind his eyes didn't cool. Squinting to see what it was, he saw Laxus standing over him with a smirk, offering a hand to help him up.

"Yeah, I get that it's a big job, so I got a couple of friends to come over and help out." With the heat diminishing in Laxus' shadow, Freed got to his knees, supporting himself on his hands to look past the blonde man's body. There was a beautiful brunette with glasses and a summery green dress and a tall man with wild blue hair and his tongue constantly lolling out. After introducing themselves as Evergreen and Bickslow, Freed stood up to shake their hands, a small smile on his face because of how relieved he was.

"Man Laxus! You really did let this place go out of control! How did you expect Freed here to do this all by himself?" He liked Bickslow; that's what he decided, though the slight frown on Laxus' face could have been a little worrying.

"I didn't, that's why you're here." The smirk was back and things definitely looked better.

"Now Laxus, as much as I like you, it doesn't mean I'm doing all this with just Bickslow by my side, he'll probably make more of a mess for both Freed and I." Evergreen might've had a point; the craziest looking man's appearance fit his personality so far… "If we're doing this, you have to help us out."

"Why do you think I'm out here in the first place? We offered him assistance when he took the job, we're not about to start building a reputation as liars."

Freed changed his mind again, things were looking good.

*/*\*

Bickslow disagreed. Though to be fair, his complaints were valid and he had been working for six hours straight like the rest of them; together they'd tamed back a few rose bushes, wrestled with the hedge, cut the grass down to size and compared all their other tasks to scenes from an action movie, Bickslow had ever grabbed a rake and pointed it at them, pretending it was a gun; Laxus had photos on his phone.

It was after coming back from a break that things got better; they were refreshed, rested and sort of ready to go back into the fray! Drinks had been served and they sipped through these really strange 'crazy straws' that Bickslow had a lot of fun with. After bursting into fits of laughter at his friend's antics Laxus had decided to "stuff it, it'd be better to do this anyway." When he decided against drinking his water and pouring it over his head instead – an act that earned him no short amount of appreciative whistles from his old friends – Freed thought he might melt; until recently, he'd thought it impossible that such a person would exist… and he had a sudden desire to start training at the local gym where Laxus had offhandedly said he went…

A lot of his thoughts made him want to disappear.

"Come on, we should probably get back to work, the more we do today the less we have to do later." Bickslow complained, Laxus huffed but Freed personally thought Evergreen should get a medal… she seemed perfectly sane for someone who had 'dealt' with those two for so long. "Now get moving or I'm going to get my fan out and start beating you with it." Well… almost perfectly sane.

"Alright, alright… but I guess I shouldn't have poured water on myself, my shirt's sticking to me too much now."

"Honestly Laxus, I could have told you that!" Freed had never really been this quiet, but he didn't feel much need to participate; standing back and just watching them interact was nice enough… and Bickslow's comments certainly made things amusing.

He may have had a content smile on his face until a wet shirt smacked into him; removing it from his skin was half a mistake, half a miracle.

Men as hot as Laxus should not be allowed to take their shirts off that way, it should have been a rule… but so long as it wasn't he supposed there was nothing wrong with enjoying the view…

The next parts they worked on were more tiring, there was a maze out of fencing and honeysuckle, which, while beautiful, took up too much room and was overgrowing, so cutting it back was necessary… Freed just wished it didn't take up so much space, cutting it back was a problem.

The four of them gave up on it after an hour when it started getting dark, the sun was setting, a cool evening breeze was blowing in and they were all tired, Bickslow suggested having a water fight, which he threatened them with anyway seeing as he was in possession of the hose, but nobody was really into the idea much. Gathering up their things, Evergreen, Bickslow and Freed left the Dreyar's estate with a polite farewell and expressing how they'd 'see each other tomorrow'.

Freed was looking forward to it.

*/*\*

The week went on similarly like that, Bickslow got his water fight, and Evergreen hit them with her fan… Laxus stripped shirtless again when it was particularly hot, Freed did his work and admired the view. And he may have been just the slightest bit upset when the garden looked perfect and not a blade of grass was out of place; it was stunning but he almost wished there was one mess to clean up, just one more, so he'd be able to stay with those amazing people a little bit longer. But he'd been in the gardening business for years and damn it he did his job well.

Though there was one thing he could try.

"Well, here's my business card if you ever need anything in the future, feel free to call me about any problems you have if this gets out of hand again." Each three of them took one, Bickslow promising to call anyway so they could 'hang out sometime.' Evergreen gave her number too, in case he ever wanted help with a job – he'd tried telling her some jobs would make her regret saying that; she flicked his forehead.

Laxus was quite hesitant about taking the card, which was unusual for him as he'd normally parade around with a smirk on his lips and seem to be plotting something; you'd always tell by the look in his eyes…

"Wait here a sec. obviously I've got to pay you." True; that suffering should be rewarded. "And there's something else…" Crud, he was already heading back to the house, way to leave him hanging in suspense. Bickslow tried pulling little pranks on both Freed and Evergreen while they waited… he was unsuccessful and punished by the 'lovely lady' of the group, but he didn't seem to regret it… especially when he just kept at it until Laxus came back a minute later.

"Hey Freed, I've got your number, so I think it's only fair to give you mine." …If his life had been like one in a manga he might have had a fierce blush on his face and sparkles in his eyes when he took the card, he hoped he managed to keep and 'dramatic' effects about that to a minimum… "And here's everything you earnt this past week; thanks for that by the way."

"No problem." Everyone was smiling, it was a peaceful moment and they all appeared to be content with everything, absolutely nothing could ruin this for them, absolutely nothing but… rain. Terrific. Laxus' house was declared as refuge when the thunderstorm hit, after five minutes of his minor complaining wind and rain battering the windows and Evergreen's fan beatings, he didn't have a problem with it.

Until the next day when the storm was over, they'd all been asleep for hours and they stepped outside to see the results of the previous night.

It was horrible, and he felt like constant tears were running down his face as fast as a waterfall. The hedge was a mess, soil from the flowerbeds was scattered over the ground and flower petals had fallen into place on the grass like a mini tornado.

"Uh, Freed?"

"What is it Laxus?"

They were all a little deadpan – or perhaps just dead inside – as they looked on at the carnage the storm had brought, and the acres of back killing work they were about to do.

"I don't suppose you'd mind staying a little bit to help us with this mess would you?"

Thirteen acres of garden, a complete catastrophe for anyone to see and he was sure his soul might have fallen away from him a little. This was a complete and utter monstrosity, more so than it had been before the job had started; he'd never survive.

I am s lost the other oneshot, I'll try and dig it out for you later I promise and I'll tell you when I find it! I kinda meant for this to be funny though I'm not sure I succeeded but I hope you have a great day and Raijinshuu times are ok for now!