AN: Hello! This whole fic is just various pointless, self-indulgent fluff about the dragon slayers, because I love them. That said, I hope you like it! First chap takes place post-Tenroujima, and pre-GMG.
Natsu had always been a cuddler.
It came from having a dragon as a parent; clambering and climbing and cuddling were all part and parcel of having your dad be bigger than most buildings (and also the world's best personal heater). His upbringing, plus his tactile personality, well. The combination was enough to give Natsu no sense of personal space, and a penchant for sudden bursts of physical affection.
Everybody in Fairy Tail knew this. They'd all been on the receiving end of it many times in the past, whether through brawls, casual one-armed hugs, or surprisingly adorable cuddle sessions. However, nothing could have prepared any of them for the sight of Laxus Dreyar sauntering casually into the guild hall, with one sleepy Fire Dragon Slayer dangling on his back.
Literally everyone was gaping.
Lucy, who had barely seen the adorable side of Natsu's tactile nature (but more than enough of the rough, energetic side), couldn't believe her eyes. It had to be a dream; or at least a mass hallucination, going by the rest of the guild members' faces. For one thing (entirely disregarding Natsu's pliant state, and the way he was cuddling into Laxus' neck), there was the fact that Laxus himself was tolerating it.
From behind her, where she was seated at the bar, Lucy could hear Mirajane cooing softly. "Ne, Mira-san," she spoke quietly, hoping to avoid Laxus' sharp gaze. "Has Natsu always been like this with Laxus?"
Twin giggles answered her. Twisting slightly, Lucy saw that Lisanna had crept up to the barstool next to her and joined the eldest Strauss sibling in her cooing.
"Never," Lisanna was the one to reply. "Natsu's always been very physically affectionate, but he tends to brawl as a way to get it out of his system with the guys. And I've never even seen Laxus hug anybody, right, Mira-nee?"
"He does let the Raijinshū hang all over him though." Mirajane pointed out, smiling.
As if on cue, the three mages who loyally followed the master's grandson all crept closer to where Laxus had paused in the middle of the hall, meeting everybody's gobsmacked faces with his own unimpressed expression. The blond man raised an eyebrow at his (ehh, Lucy actually still wasn't sure whether the Raijinshū were his friends, minions, or a mixture of both) people. "What the hell're you all staring at?"
Natsu mumbled something, pressing further into the Lightning Dragon Slayer. Lucy's heart just about exploded with warmth and she hastily repressed the urge to squeal; she didn't want to interrupt this.
"Yo, Laxus, what's up with Natsu?" Bickslow poked curiously at the younger boy. "Why's he sleeping on you like that?"
Laxus shrugged, the boy on his back shifting smoothly with the movement. "Hell if I know. The brat just came up behind me and had the cat dump him on my back. I almost threw him before I realised he was just doing the thing."
The cat? Oh, the cat. Where was the furry blue annoyance anyway?
"That wasn't very nice, Lucy."
Lucy yelped, almost toppling off her stool in surprise. Happy was floating behind her at face level, peering at her with false-hurt on his face. She growled, restraining her urge to smack the feline out of the air; Natsu certainly wouldn't appreciate it if she killed his partner.
"Oh, shut up, you," she snapped at him. "And what does Laxus mean, 'the thing'? What thing?"
Happy side-eyed her like it should have been obvious. "The thing, Lucy," he waved a paw in Laxus' general direction. "The cuddling thing!"
Oh. Yeah, that was pretty obvious, now that she thought about it.
Lisanna giggled, tugging Happy out of the air and into her lap. The cat purred, resting against Lisanna's stomach. "Natsu hasn't done this," she waved a hand at the two dragon slayers. "Very often. But I guess after everything, Natsu just needs the reassurance that Laxus really is back for good."
"He used to do it sometimes when we were brats," Grey said, popping up out of nowhere, sans shirt. Lucy rolled her eyes, wondering when exactly she'd gotten used to the Ice Mage's weird stripping habit. "Whenever Erza or any of the older kids came back from a mission that took longer than expected. He was super clingy for years after he first came here. Now he does it mostly by fighting."
That made a lot of sense, actually.
Lucy hummed, watching as Laxus approached the bar with the Raijinshū trailing behind him. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the extra weight curled around him, moving with his usual smooth grace, but Lucy thought that something about him seemed a little more gentle than usual.
Cana, sitting a few stools down, apparently agreed. She tipped her glass at Laxus, grinning lazily. "You look very cute, Laxus," she told him solemnly. "I didn't think you had it in you."
He scowled and flicked a few sparks of lightning at her. Cana just laughed, throwing back what was left of her beer. "Ne, Mira! Another for me, and one for our adorable sleeping post over here." She winked at him and he rolled his eyes.
"Here you go!" Mirajane placed two full tankards on the bar and slid them to their respective owners. "Cana, your tab's getting up there again, you might want to pay a little off." She smiled sweetly.
Cana gulped. "Sure, Mira."
Laxus laughed, taking a swig of his beer. He had moved aside several stools, leaning against the bar instead of sitting down. Lucy, who hadn't been aware that she even held any kind of grudge against the S-class mage for his actions against Fairy Tail (against Natsu), felt the last vestiges of it melt away. The blond man acted careless, but he was being so mindful of the younger mage snuggled against him that it warmed Lucy's heart to see.
She ducked her head, so he couldn't see the way she was smiling; with her luck, Laxus would definitely take offence. But she couldn't help it; even months after joining, Fairy Tail still felt more and more like home every day.
AN: Let me know what you thought! And, who's your favourite dragon slayer? Mine's Natsu, mostly because I have a main character fixation (yes, I know the protag is actually Lucy). But after him, everybody is pretty much equal lmao. Will update whenever inspiration strikes!
- Kelly