Love Him

The sound of meat sizzling and a man softly singing could be heard from inside the house as the teen approached the backdoor. It was the only key to the house that he could find, when he was digging through his stuff upon arriving in Magnolia, so he figured he'd go through there. It happened to lead into the kitchen, where he could see a light on and, if he knew the voice like he thought he did, was where Laxus Dreyar was cooking dinner.

He jumped too, Laxus did, at the sound of the back door's lock being messed with though upon taking a deep whiff, he knew immediately who it was. The only person it could be.

Neither of the guys knew what to say to one another, really, as Orion just stood there for a moment, staring in at his father, who was over by the stove. Atop his shoulders was Orion's younger sister, Snow, looked over at first in surprise, but then joy.

"Ori!" She wiggled then, Laxus luckily having reached up to grab her little feet, as she reached out for Orion to come take her.

He didn't.

Laxus watched him for a moment before saying, "Orion. I wasn't expecting you. That job you took… You finished it first, right?"

Slowly, he nodded.

"Come in then." Laxus moved to lift Snow up and set her down on the ground gently before turning back to the stove. "You're letting all the cold in."

Orion moved to shut the door as Snow, who was very excited by the sight of her older brother, ran over to him. That was a new development as the last time he was home, over a month ago, she could walk, but would still topple over if she went too fast. Kneeling on one knee, he allowed her to snuggle up to him as he set his bag down before rooting around in it with one hand.

"Here." He produced a little stuffed animal before waving it around her. "You want this?"

Most definitely. Hugging him was great and everything, but compared to a new toy?

She snatched the doll from him before beginning to snuggle it. Grinning softly, Orion reached out to gently stroke her similar white locks before getting back to his feet. Then he had to look back at their father who was still at the stove, purposely not glancing at him.

They hadn't left things on good terms, the last time they'd spoken. In the year and a half since his mother's passing, Orion's relationship with Laxus had gone under a serious overhaul. There were times when they could be fine and they could live under the same roof and there were others when it all came back to Orion, just a simple word or joke, and it would all come crashing back down.

It had been much the same a month or so ago. He'd gotten home from a long job and actually managed to live under the same roof as Laxus for all of a week. Then the man made some sort of passing grumble about how the teen had left a wet towel on the bathroom floor and all hell broke lose. Because that was Orion's house first and it had been for years. Just him and Mirajane's. Then Laxus had to come along, fuck it all up, and thought that he could boss him around? In the house he'd grew up in?

A battle of territories, his Aunt Evergreen called it. Every time the two of them got into it, she'd say that they were just going to have to spend some time apart, to reset their boundaries. It wasn't easy. Laxus had tried, even when Mira was alive, letting Orion do his own thing. Didn't work. Then he tried the authority road, right after her death. Trouble was, the boy was too old for a father and Laxus had wasted the years away that he could have been one to him. It only seemed to drive them further apart when he acted as such, which was the last thing he wanted.

Things were hard. Very hard. Laxus had promised Mirajane before she passed on that he'd fix things with Orion, but nearly two years out and they still weren't stable. He just wanted Orion to like him, how he did back before he knew he was his father. Laxus, of course, understood Orion's hesitance towards him, but it didn't make it any less disheartening.

"I was making dinner," Laxus said after a few moments. "For me. But I could make you-"

"I just came to see my sister," was Orion's response as he picked back up his bag. "I'm going to stay with Aunt Lisanna."

"No, Orion, you're not."

That got him a glare. "You don't tell me what to do."

"You're already home," the man said with a shrug. "Just… It's late. And your aunt is working up at the hall. Don't bother her. And hell, it's snowing out and your walking around in that? You don't even have a heavy coat on. Just stay for the night. We can figure the rest out in the morning."

He stood there for a moment, the snow that had collected on him melting and pooling around his boots before slowly walking off, tracking it right through the house. Laxus knew what he was doing. Trying to make him yell at him. Give him a reason to be pissed at him. And let Orion go right back out that door without remorse.

But he didn't. Laxus only let him walk off before sighing and shaking his head.

"Daddy."

And then Snow was back, standing at his feet while snuggling her new toy and looking up at him with Mirajane's eyes. With a slow withdrawal of breath, he moved to reach down and lift her up before setting her once more on his shoulders so that she could watch him cook.

At least she loved him. Always.

Snow had already eaten her dinner and, after getting his meal into the oven, he carried her off to start bedtime. He had to pass Orion's closed bedroom door to get to the baby's room, but he just pretended like he wasn't home. It hurt, but it was easier sometimes that way. Just to ignore Orion until he was ready for Laxus to pay him some attention.

She was down relatively easy that night. Just a short story time and some snuggles before she settled out with her new stuffed animal before drifting off. Which was perfect. Just having Orion around put Laxus on high alert, leaving no space for fussiness or whining.

From his bedroom, Orion listened to the man walk around the house, not sure if he was feeling sulky or loathey, but knowing that no matter what, he was not happy with Laxus. That was all that mattered, really.

Lying in bed, he thought about getting up to take a shower, but he'd already stripped down to his boxers and burrowed under some blankets, so there was no way that he was getting up. Not for anything. Nope. Nothing. Never. Just gonna be like a bear and hibernate for a few hours. Or years. At least until it stopped being so damn cold.

Somewhere between contemplating whether or not he was pissed at Laxus still for...some reason (he couldn't recall what) and if he should brave a hot shower, but then risk freezing to death on the way, he passed out. He must have been out for some time too because the next time he awoke, there was no light shining under his door, meaning all the ones in the house were out, and things were still.

Except for one thing.

It wasn't a cry, really. Just more of a whining. It confused him for a moment, as did why he was wrapped up in so many blankets when he should be out in the forest, making his trek back home, until the drowsiness wore off and he recalled that he'd already made it. He was home. And that was Snow, sobbing, from across the hall.

"Ugh," he groaned, rubbing at his head as he tried to untangle himself from the mess of quilts. He was still rather tired and wanted to just fall back into his warm, cozy bed, but not with Snow upset. Though he'd resisted her at the beginning, it hadn't taken long for the little girl to win him over.

She just reminded him so much of his mother, who he missed terribly and unvaryingly. Just hearing her chop his name the way that she did brought back memories of the woman. And sometimes, if he closed his eyes and held her, she kinda smelled like her. He knew it was in his mind, but it truly felt that way.

The house was pitch black as Orion stumbled to his feet and out of his bedroom. Glancing down the hall at his mother's old room (he refused to acknowledge that it was Laxus' and had been for some time), but as far as he could tell, there was no movement in there. The man probably was passed out. Even with his dragon hearing, if he was in a deep sleep, there was no way he'd hear Snow then, she was whining that softly.

He felt cold as he walked into Snow's room, quickly crossing over to her tiny bed that she was apparently sleeping in then (it had been a crib a month ago, but she was getting bigger he supposed), gingerly lifting her into his arms.

"What happened?" he whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head there. "Huh?"

She didn't feel like explaining how she had a bad dream (mainly because she didn't know how), but did know that she didn't really want her brother right then. She wanted her father. But he wasn't coming apparently, so she'd have to just deal.

It felt nice to hold her and, moving to sit on the edge of her bed, Orion shifted her to his lap so that they could stare at one another in the darkness.

"You're alright," he assured her. "I'm here."

Yeah, she knew. And, after one more glance at the bedroom door, she gave into the fact that Laxus wasn't coming and only took to resting against Orion.

Nothing ever felt right to him. Not taking jobs or avoiding them or even just sitting up at the hall. He always felt himself looking for his mother or doing something and immediately thinking about how he'd get to tell her about it later. But he wouldn't. Because she wasn't there. The only one that always had been, just wasn't. And there was nothing he could do about it either.

Just deal.

"Ori." Reaching up, she patted at his face. "Ori."

"What?" He leaned down then, to nuzzle his head against hers, before whispering, "You gotta go back to sleep. It's the middle of the night."

But she didn't wanna alone. When Laxus came to get her after a nightmare, he'd take her right back to bed with him to sleep where it was safe and there was no chance of monsters coming out from under the bed or closet to get her. What didn't Orion get about that? Huh?

Nothing. At all. They only sat there on her bed for sometime, him holding her while trying hard not to yawn too much as he stroked the back of her head gently, mumbling stuff about how if she went to sleep, things would be better in the morning. He knew it was a lie, it always would be, but she usually fell for those.

It went with the age.

Eventually he got so tired that, in an attempt to not just pass out and fall on top of her, Orion stretched out on the bed and shut his eyes. Snow was very interested in this as her daddy was far too big to lay down in bed with her. But Orion wasn't as bulky and fit just right.

"Ori?" She patted at his face.

"Sleep, Snow," he told her softly as she continued to pat him. "Please."

She still wasn't totally certain how safe it was, but figured that if a monster did show up, well, it'd just eat Orion first. And he was much bigger than her. Much. So it'd probably be full and, well, then would just leave her alone.

Not as secure a plan as crawling into bed with Laxus, but it would do in a pinch.

Settling out on the tiny mattress, she laid right next to her big brother's head, her face even with his. She was breathing on him, which was totally annoying and he kinda wanted to just get up then and leave her there, but he couldn't, no way. Leaving her just wasn't an option.

She loved him. He'd never do that to her.

Although she did kinda wanna leave him a few times. Orion snored that night. A lot. And it was annoying. She didn't know, of course, that it had more to do with the fact he was catching a cold and had a clogged up nose, but honestly, she wouldn't have cared either way. It was still bothersome.

That was how Laxus found them though the next morning. Orion's feet were hanging off the bed and poor Snow looked as if she were being smooshed a bit, but they were both still fast asleep. He could only stare in at them for a bit, taking note almost immediately of how horribly stopped up Orion sounded and figuring it had something to do with his refusal to ever dress appropriately for winter weather (he only ever did when he was a kid because his mother made him). Sighing, the man headed off to go boil some tea for the boy and start on breakfast.

Pancakes sounded good. He honestly had to get to work and get Snow ready for the day as well as over to one of her aunts house so they could watch her. The guildhall needed him. He had paperwork and requests and all sorts of other things to sort through.

It could wait though. His kids came first. Always.

Even when Orion woke up and was still distant towards him for, really, at that point, no discernible reason, and refused to wear the heavy coat that Laxus had gone and drug up for him from the closet to take with him if he left the house. But Laxus held his tongue. Didn't say anything as Orion stomped back to his bedroom without eating a single pancake or even trying his tea. Only told him he was tired because he was sick and that he needed to take some medicine, which got him a swift door shut in his face.

But that was okay. Laxus was used to it by then. Orion didn't need a father. That's what he always had to remind himself. That wouldn't stop him from taking care of him though. From loving him. And not just because he'd promised the demon, no, but because he truly did. Love him.

Laxus loved Orion. And he knew that somewhere deep down, past all the lies and betrayal and resentment, there was still that little boy in him that loved his Master back. He just didn't know how to coax it back out.

He'd keep trying though. Forever.

"Lucky me," Laxus said as he watched Snow happily eat her breakfast, "I got you here to keep bring him back. You're so good at that, aren't you?"

Actually, at the moment, all Snow was good at was getting super sticky from the little bit of syrup Laxus had put on her half pancake, but hey; she could multitask.

For Laxus anyways. And Ori. Because she loved them both.

They were kinda her favorite people ever.

Them and her Aunt Lisanna. But definitely the two of them thrown in there too.

Some Orion and Laxus stuff because they deserve attention too. Slowly, but surely working on their relationship. Not quite there yet, but eventually, right? It felt weird, writing about Laxus without Mirajane. Heh.