Not Giving Up
Waking up in a bed that he wasn't used to once meant one of two things. He was out on a job and had opted for a hotel or, more than likely, he'd gotten way too drunk and forgotten to make his exit before falling asleep. The former wasn't bad at all, but the latter? It could be brutal. Because then the chick(s) might wake up and be all annoying, so that meant he had to be quiet. Unless he wanted to take her (them) out to breakfast or something, which to be honest, yeah, he could afford, but no, he was not up for.
Ever.
In the more recent months though, it only meant the first one. That he was out on a job. Because if he wasn't and he woke up in a bed that didn't belong to him, he knew immediately whose it was. There was only one other choice, after all.
"You're on my arm, demon."
Mirajane only groaned though, not moving in the slightest. "But I'm comfy, Laxus."
He tugged then, pulling his arm out from under her. "Well, I ain't."
"You're so annoying," she grumbled as she finally shifted though that was only to snuggle lower, so her head was resting against his abs. "But comfy."
Laxus only took to glancing around the room he was in, Mira's room, before closing his eyes again. It wasn't even two in the morning yet. Which, before, would have meant he was still out drinking, hanging around Bickslow and Freed, all while finding new women to toy around with. Not anymore. Even when he didn't sleep over at Mira's, he had to be in his own home by midnight. She'd know if he wasn't.
He didn't know how, but really, she did.
"Mmmm," Mira was moaning then as she skewed her own eyes shut. "I have, like, this pounding headache."
He leaned down to kiss her head. "You want me to go get you something?"
"Aspirin. I don't have any in my bathroom, but in the guest one? In the medicine cabinet? There's-"
"Sure, demon." He gave her one more kiss before slipping out of her grasp. "Back in a sec."
It wasn't lost on him in the slightest that there was not another woman in the world, not another being on the entire planet, on any planet ever, that he would be doing such a thing for. Getting up in the middle of the effing night? Not even to get himself a snack or nothing? Yeah right.
The guest bathroom was down the hall from her room in the tiny house she shared with her siblings. It was theirs, really, Elfman and Lisanna, as Mira had her own connecting one to her room, so Laxus really spent very little time in there. Honestly, he was just glad neither of them seemed to be around as he stood in there, looking for some freaking aspirin in the dark.
Stupid demon.
Still, he was a little worried about her. She'd been complaining of a headache for the past few days and-
Oh no. He was even more in tune with her than he thought. Worrying about her? Worrying? About a damn woman?
He was losing his mind.
"Here you go," he sighed as he got back to the bedroom to find Mira sitting up, waiting for him. "I got you-"
"Laxus," she complained as he dropped two pills in his open palm. "You didn't get me a glass of water or something?"
"What?"
"I need something to drink. To take the pills? You know, so-"
He only stood there, in only a pair of sleep pants, growling slightly.
"You didn't say that, Mira. You only said-"
"I assumed, Laxus, that it was implied."
He narrowed his eyes at her before turning to walk away, grumbling over his shoulder, "Be right back."
Fumbling around in the dark then, he headed that time for the kitchen. It was while he was in there, getting Mira a glass of water, that the back door opened.
"You're home late."
Lisanna about died then as a voice in the darkness hit her. Then she recognized it and the shape of the person standing over at the sink.
"You scared me," she told Laxus who only shrugged. "What are you doing?"
"What were you doing? Sneaking back into the house?"
She sent him a look. He could feel it, even in the darkness.
"I'm not 'sneaking' anywhere," she told him, air quotes and all. "I'm just coming back from a…party."
"A party."
"Yes, a party."
"What sort of a party?"
"Well-"
"I can smell his scent, Lisanna." Laxus turned off the faucet then, turning to take Mira's glass to her. "And quite frankly, I find it disgusting."
"Oh, who asked you?"
Snort. "At least I'm not doing a walk of shame from the house of a guy that plays with wooden dolls."
Sneer. "I'm not the one like a whipped little boy bringing a glass of water to his mommy."
Growling then, he said, "This is for me. I'm thirsty. Thank you very-"
"Laxus!" they heard Mira call then from the other room. "Are you coming? My head really hurts. And my neck. Can you rub my back?"
Lisanna took to snickering as Laxus only growled some more before heading off. Stupid demon.
"I'm here," he sighed as he made it back to Mira's bedroom. "With the water. Just like you wanted."
"Mmmm. Thanks you." She was sitting up then, rubbing at her neck with the hand that wasn't cupping the pills. "My back?"
"C'mere, demon," he groaned as he slowly got back into bed. "I got you."
Mirajane only giggled as, after downing her pills and glass of water, she moved to sit between his legs. "Thank you, Laxus."
He only took to squeezing her shoulders. "Just relax, huh?"
How low he had sunk, it wasn't even funny. Honestly. If anyone could see him then, he'd die. Even stupid Freed or Evergreen. It'd be the death of him.
"Something wrong, Laxus?"
"Hmmm?"
"You haven't even messed with your headphones all night."
He glanced over at her nightstand where they were sitting. It was true. Since arriving at her place after walking her home from work, he'd just left them there.
"Not much for them tonight, I guess."
"You?"
"Mira-"
"I'm just kidding." She rolled her shoulders when he got a tad too rough. "Mmmm. You're not sleepy, are you?"
He leaned forwards slightly to rest his head against her hair. Taking in a deep breath, he let it out slowly.
"No."
"Me neither. My head-"
"You think you're sick or something?"
"Or something," she sighed. "I just haven't been sleeping enough, I guess. Well, I mean. You know that."
"You do wake up during the night a lot," he admitted. "You worried about something, demon?"
"Not a thing," she told him. "That's what's funny."
"Maybe that's why."
"Hmmm?"
He kissed the back of her head that time. "Maybe that's why you can't sleep. Maybe worry helps lull you off."
"It'd make sense," she said. "With nothing to worry about, I guess I don't tire myself out during the day."
She got another kiss. "I ever tell you that you look real pretty with your hair down? And your bangs?"
"Laxus-"
"You do."
"I know," she sighed. 'You do tell me. Every night."
"Something about you," he told her. "Can't help, but tell the truth."
"Mmmm. Not so rough."
That time, he leaned down even further, pressing the kiss to her bare shoulder. "Sorry."
She only giggled. "You gonna get up in the morning and walk me to the guild?"
Grunt.
"It's supposed to rain," she told him. "You don't want me to get wet, do you? I can't carry an umbrella."
"Why not?"
"When I say can't, Laxus, I mean I don't want to."
"Right. But I'm not exactly the umbrella type."
"You're whatever I tell you that you are, remember?"
Her other shoulder blade got a kiss. "Now I do."
Eventually, he got Mira reposed enough to lay down with him, snuggled up on his chest then, one of his arms wrapped around her.
"Mmmm." She was across from his tattoo and took the time out to trace it with her finger, following it to his guild marking beneath. "You don't really gotta get up with me in the morning if you don't want to, Lax. It's fine. I know you're probably tired."
"We'll see in the morning," he mumbled as his eyes slipped shut. "'kay? If it's raining, I'll take you, huh?"
"I dunno," she said slowly. "I wouldn't wanna be shocked by lightening or something. You're a conductor, huh?"
"Mira-"
"Going to sleep," she sighed. "Right now."
She did too, as did he. For half an hour. Then Mira was up and shifting around. It awoke Laxus who only laid there as she moved a few times from facing him to shifting away to actually getting out of bed and going into the bathroom for awhile. When she returned, he was ready for her.
"You need some sleeping pills or something, babe," he sighed as she got back into bed. "Seriously."
"Did I wake you up?"
"Yeah," he sighed as she settled back against him. "You did."
"I'm sorry, Laxus. I'm just-"
"Shhh." He took to rubbing his hand up and down her back as she tried hard to fall back asleep. Oh, she felt so comfortable against his chest. "You're fine."
"I'm, like, the worst girlfriend ever," she mumbled as she took to stroking his chest. "Aren't I?"
"What makes you say that?"
"I keep you up all night every night," she mumbled.
"You're fine," he assured her. "If you weren't, you think I'd be here right now? Hell, Mirajane, I kick bitches out of my bed left and right. I-"
"I don't like that word. Don't use it again."
He blinked. "Bed? Me neither. I preferred the word-"
"Laxus."
Sighing, he said, "My point is, Mirajane, that I don't stay somewhere that I don't wanna be."
"You say that," she yawned, "but I know that you really miss it. Don't you."
"Miss what?"
"You think I don't know, Laxus? Of all the great Thunder God's conquests? All the stories you would tell up at the guild? The women that would hang off you?" She giggled softly. "I'm not stupid. I know that you don't do that stuff anymore and-"
"Of course not. I'm with you. I told you that I-"
"It must bother you, huh? At least sometimes?"
"Mirajane-"
"I'm just saying. Unless you were all talk?"
"No," he grumbled. It was one thing to convince her of something, it was another to deny something that would kill his pride. He liked Mira, he loved her, but his past was still something that gave him some form of self-importance. "I've been with so many-"
"That's what I'm saying. You're giving that up for me," she told him. "I don't do…all that weird stuff you were into. Like…" She literally blushed, she was so cute, as she whispered the word threesomes. "Or any of those things. I just don't."
He laid there for a moment. "I was once with four girls at once. They were all hot too. Except for one. She was a little-"
"Laxus-"
"Well, if we were getting it all out there, I just thought-"
"You're so stupid."
He sighed before shifting on the bed so that they could face one another. She only stared at him though.
"I'm not giving anything up, demon," he told her as he tapped her nose with one of his fingers. "At all."
"But-"
"Because giving it up would mean that I was sacrificing it. That I still wanted it. That I was choosing between you and that. How I was." He shook his head. "There is no choice, Mirajane. There's no reason to choose. There is no battle, no thought process. It's you. Just you. Always."
She was grinning then as he only kissed her head. Nuzzling her then, he said, "But if you wanna discuss this whole threesome thing in full, I am open to-"
"Goodnight, Laxus." It was her turn to turn s she gave him her back. That was okay though, as he only took to pulling her closer, so her back rested against her chest. "For real this time."
But it wasn't. He knew it wasn't. She'd be up again at least one more time. That was okay though, as he only held her closer, mumbling a goodnight, once more, to her as well. He knew too that, raining or not, he'd be up before sunrise to walk her down to the guild.
Because he was her boyfriend. A real boyfriend. He cared about her. A lot. And he wasn't giving up that right for anything in the world.