Smart

Caramelized

When Laxus asked Mirajane to sit down and have a drink with him, he didn't actually expect her to do so… not right away at least. He watched her pull out another glass, top it off, and then down it one go. He raised his eyebrows. "I meant when you were on break or something. You're still working, aren't you?"

Her eyes crinkled when she smiled at him and teased, "Treat myself, right?"

He smirked as she reached over and took a swig from his mug. "Yeah. By all means. Treat yourself."

She sat with him for all of five minutes until her sister called for her behind the bar. "Mira? Where'd you go? I need help back here!"

"I'll be there in a minute, Lisanna!" Exhaling through her nose, Mirajane reached for his glass again and finished the rest of the beer before heading off to find her sister. She turned back to face Laxus, winking as she filled his mug again. "Don't finish until I get back."

He snorted. "Sure thing."

Mirajane disappeared to the backroom and he nursed his beer slowly, as promised. Turns out, he had help. Every time she passed him to serve the other patrons of the guild, she would sneak sips of his drink, gradually finishing it off, fill it to the brim, then sneak sips again. This continued on until all the regular guests left the guild hall and Mira began wiping down the tables.

By official closing time, Laxus still sat at the bar, swirling his nearly empty mug of beer when she slid into the stool next to him, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. She glanced briefly at the glass he swirled in his hand and pouted. "You finished it."

He scoffed, "No, Demon. You finished it. Five times. Not including the first glass of your own."

She slumped forward and rested her flushed skin against the cool wood of the bar. "Laxus," she whined as she kicked her feet.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you drunk?"

"Mmmmmm, no. What makes you think that?"

"You seem a little dopier than usual."

She pouted again and stared him down. Sitting up again, Mira slid closer to him. Close enough for his dragon nose to wrinkle at the smell of alcohol lingering in her hair and clothes from working the bar all day. Laxus stiffened when she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, inclining her head toward his neck.

"Mira—" He faltered when he felt her press a kiss to his throat, fingers twisting in his shirt. She leaned heavily against him and mumbled against the shell of his ear, "I could beat the shit out of you."

Laxus released some of the tension in his body and sighed, "I know."

He felt her smile against his skin.

"Smart dragon."

A/N: ...Hi

So I've been MIA for about half a year. A lot has happened. I took the MCAT. I picked my grades up, started making smarter choices to make myself happier.

I also took two creative writing classes: one for fiction, one for nonfiction. While the style of my writing hasn't changed much, I'd like to believe that content and plot and other stylistic choices concerning characters have. During this time period, I started and finished an entire original short story that while final product I'm about 75 percent satisfied with, I'm 100 percent satisfied with my original character development. Hopefully, I'll be able to apply this experience to my next/ongoing projects.

I have my main story open on my laptop, and the next chapter is currently being written now that I have some time on my hands. I definitely can't promise any consistent updates, only sporadic ones, especially since my future past graduation is still unclear.

Nonetheless, whoever still reads my stories-

Thank you.