Laxus swore he was going mad. No, scratch that, he was definitely going mad, because he could have sworn that he'd left his trademark jacket on the bar under the protective custody of Mira. Only it wasn't there anymore, and a quick scan of the main floor of the guild revealed that no one had taken it hostage or was using it for nefarious purposes, which was strange. Hell, the only reason he'd taken it off in the first place was because he was having a meeting with his grandfather, and he claimed that the microscopic furs that fell from it irritated his nose.
Laxus thought he was full of shit, but he wasn't about to tell him that.
All that was beside the point however, the point was that it was freezing, his jacket was missing, and he was damned if was about to let his reputation be ruined because he started shivering.
Contrary to popular belief, Laxus didn't wear his jacket so that as soon as someone saw it tail flicking by they'd know it was him, or just because it looked good on him (even though he'd be the first to admit that it did), no, the reason he wore it was because he got really cold really easily. Anything less than a warm summer's day and he could feel the goose bumps start to rise on his forearms.
And right now it was the middle of winter.
And his jacket was missing.
Laxus swore he was going to kill the person who'd taken it from him.
In fact, he was about to start interrogating people – he'd start with Natsu, because there was no way it wasn't him, the fucker – when Bickslow called out to him, gesturing for him to come up stairs with leaning over the railing of the second floor with a shit eating grin on his face.
Laxus rethought who he was going to interrogate first, there was no way that the Seith mage wasn't involved with his missing jacket with a smile like that.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Laxus schooled his face into a neutral expression. It wouldn't do him any good if Bickslow noticed that he was annoyed, he'd probably only use it as an excuse to rile him up more, and Laxus didn't want that. He wasn't sure the Guild Hall would survive that.
When he reached the second floor, he made a beeline for Bickslow, who was still leaning on the railing, his babies floating around his head, one even coming up to him and nudging his face in what he assumed was a greeting. Laxus scowled and flicked it away, and he could see the amusement written on Bickslow's face. Laxus narrowed his eyes and was only just able to resist to urge to growl at the laugh the Seith mage, who simply laughed at his reaction.
Laxus did growl at that. "What the hell's so funny?"
"Nothing," Bickslow smirked, "well, nothing much. You haven't noticed yet it though. Thought you of all people would have seen it straight away."
"Noticed what? Never mind. Have you seen my…" Bickslow cut him off by pointing his finger to the back corner – the corner the Raijinshuu usually sat in, he noted – and Laxus followed the line with his eyes until he got to what Bickslow was smirking about. His eyes widened and…
"…Oh."
There, in the corner, sleeping peacefully was Freed, with his head buried in the lining of Laxus' jacket and the rest pulled around him like a cocoon. If it wasn't for the green hair that was poking out from underneath it, it would almost look like the jacket had simply been left up there.
But Laxus knew better, and couldn't help the small smile that found its way onto his face.
He really should have known it would have been Freed.
Laxus made his way over to the table, caring not to disturb his boyfriend as he sat down next to him. Wrapping his arms around carefully around the rune mage, he rested his head on Freed's shoulder, chuckling as the younger man mumbled something in his sleep, before pulling himself closer to the warmth that was Freed before closing his eyes.
Maybe he was alright with his reputation suffering a bit after all.
