LaLu Week 2017

Day 1 Masquerade

They all wore masks. Every single member of Fairy Tail, every single day. All of them were broken and hurt in some way. Most because of the deaths of their families when they were young. Some were worse than that.

Erza, for example, was an orphan stolen from her village, forced into a horrible labour camp, watching as many people, both who she knew and who she didn't, were taken only to never be seen again. She managed to escape, but the cost was her friends. Erza put on a mask that she was strong and sure, when in reality she is terrified that she isn't strong enough, that she will make a mistake that will cost her or her newfound family greatly.

Walking through the guild was like walking around a masquerade ball, you only saw what the members wanted you to see, all the while knowing that there was something more behind the mask, more to be known, more to be seen.

Many members tended to confide in other members they were close with, or even who they believed would listen. Erza spoke to her team, Cana went to Lucy about Gildarts, Gray went to Juvia over certain matters, Levy whispered to Jet and Droy on bad nights, and even turned to Gajeel on occasion, and most of the dragonslayers had their exceeds. Lucy and Laxus had part of their past practically thrown in the guild's faces, but usually preferred to keep to themselves.

Eventually, though, the two of them had to break.

For Lucy, she broke often and usually in the middle of the night and couldn't handle the stuffiness her apartment made her feel during those times, so she left and walked along the cobblestone roads that shone under the light of the moon. She'd done this an innumerable amount of times since arriving in Magnolia, but never once had she come across anyone else on her walks. She had always made sure to walk the quiet market roads because there wasn't a possibility of coming across a mage returning home as the residential area was in the other direction.

But one night, lost in thought and her eyes blurry from unshed tears, she crossed into residential area, she was seen by another team from the guild.

"Lucy, what are you doing here?" Lucy cursed her luck at the sound of Evergreen's confused voice as she looked at them, wiping discreetly, she hoped, at her eyes.

"I was just heading home." She lied smoothly, despite the fact that she was clearly wearing baggy sweats and a large sweater, showing that she had obviously not been out on a job like they had been and that she had already been home earlier that night, her throat sounding clogged as she spoke.

She could see the doubt in the team's eyes, other than Bixlow's, though he did frown slightly, but none said anything. "Walk with us for a bit, then." Evergreen stated instead. Lucy didn't want to, she might let her worries spill out from her with other people around her, but she had no reason to decline.

They soon came to the cross roads where they would all separate, Evergreen, Bixlow and Freid all going straight in the direction of the dormitories, Laxus would be going right, heading out into the forest in that direction where his dragon senses won't pick up the rest of Magnolia. It was the same reason Natsu and Gajeel lived out of town. Wendy's senses aren't as strong yet, and the dormitories are far enough out of the way that she doesn't get bothered by Magnolia or the other members in the dormitory, but she'll probably move out of town in the next couple years. Lucy would be, well, should be, heading left in the direction of the river. She knew that once the others were gone she'd start aimlessly walking again, she hadn't felt like going home yet.

Once Evergreen, Freid, and Bixlow were a ways up the road, Laxus spoke.

"I know you aren't going home, Girly." Lucy opened her mouth to retort, only to have Laxus begin again, "Come to my place if you won't go home. You shouldn't be walking around at night without your keys."

Lucy scrunched her eyebrows as she looked down to her hips, only to realize that she had, in fact, been walking around these last hours without her pain form of defense. She didn't believe that anything would happen, but she had been proven wrong dozens of times before in her life.

Lucy looked back up to see Laxus begin to walk away from her. She stared for a few moments, still debating, before she hopped into a jog to catch up to Laxus' long strides. She noticed that Laxus slowed his pace slightly once she was beside him, not enough to be obvious, but enough that it was easier to keep up with him.

Within ten minutes, Lucy was sitting in Laxus' dimly lit living room while she listened to Laxus himself move about in the kitchen. Lucy heard the familiar clank of cups being placed on the counter and the rush of a faucet running. She sat for another few minutes, quietly taking in her surroundings. Laxus seemed to like brown for his furniture, and had very few decorative objects. Lucy was wondering if it was that way for the entire house or if he only kept his decorating to areas he frequented when a steaming mug came into her line of sight and a sweet smell wafted to her nose.

"Thank you," Lucy whispered, her voice refusing to break the peaceful silence of the house, as she reached for the mug still in Laxus' hand.

Laxus sat at the other side of the small couch, enough space to fit a small person, but close enough that, if Lucy wanted, she could reach out to him. They sat in silence, the only sounds being the groans of the couch when one of them moved, or the occasional sip of their tea.

Lucy wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not, but Laxus had been a great comfort to her that night. Lucy didn't like to be alone, not after all her years of neglect from her father, but sometimes she needed silence, which she couldn't get from a lot of people. Many people would question her and try to help, which wasn't what she wanted or needed. She had long since accepted what had happened in her past, and was coming to accept the more recent death of her father, sometimes all she needed was to mourn for her father, and what her life might have been. She just needed the comfort of someone's presence, and the quiet to think.

Making her way to Laxus' house out in the forest in the middle of the night became a not-quite-uncommon occurrence on the nights she broke.

Laxus, on the other hand, has only broken once, to Lucy's knowledge.

It was just after the Grand Magic Games. Laxus and Lucy had gotten closer over the short time that she had begun randomly showing up at his house at all hours of the night. Lucy was walking the now familiar path to Laxus' home, she wasn't upset, she just wanted to check on him. Coming up to the door, just as she raised her loosely closed fist to knock, she heard a crash. Forgoing the knocking, all she felt was worry as she rushed through the door.

In the living room, where she had felt so much comfort in recent weeks, crouched the reason for her comfort. Laxus had his back to the door, his head bent towards the ground and his hands at the sides of his head, fingertips pressing into his hair. Lucy stood quietly for a moment, believing that he might not know she was there, before remembering that he was a dragonslayer, second generation or not. Even if he hadn't noticed her approaching his house due to his mind distracting him, he would have noticed her barrelling into the house. Lucy surveyed the room as she carefully closed the door. The crash she heard seemed to be one of the taller side tables Laxus kept near the chairs that were too far from the coffee table to use it.

Lucy slowly made her way into the room, prepared to back off, even leave, if Laxus did so much as hint towards that. But he did nothing, so Lucy continued walking towards him. The closer she got, the more she noticed about him. His limbs seemed to shake every so often, like he was stuck in his mind and trying to get away; he seemed intent on keeping his breathing even, the breaths coming deep and slow. Once she was right beside him she saw that his eyes we screwed so tightly shut that it honestly looked painful to her.

Lucy knelt down, being sure to make enough noise that Laxus knew for sure that she was there. From there, Lucy wasn't sure what she should do. She didn't know what Laxus would find comforting, or what would make him draw further into himself. She bit her lip as she thought about the first time she had been to his house, and everytime since then. The only things that were the same everytime were the living room, and that tea that Laxus always made for her, as well as Laxus himself.

Lucy made her way into the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards until she found the mugs, and three different containers filled with the tea leaves, in the same cupboard she found a clear glass teapot and steeper. She put the kettle, which was on the counter, on the stove to boil then went back to the tea leaves to try and figure out which was the one to use. Several leaf, sugar and honey, which she found behind the sugar when she took it out, mixtures later, she got the tea the closest she could. Not too sweet, but nothing close to bitter, not an overly potent scent, and the colour to a semi-clear reddish-brown.

When Lucy finally re-entered the living room, the first thing she notices was that Laxus had made his way to his usual spot on the couch. Lucy felt a bit of relief before she got closer and saw that his eyes were glazed over and that he didn't even seem to notice her approach and quickly felt that bit of worry return. She made her way around the coffee table and placed her tea onto its surface before moving and sitting a little closer to Laxus. Lucy hesitantly placed her still warm fingers against his arm, him blinking out of his daze at the contact.

When Laxus' eyes made contact with Lucy's own, she gave him a small smile and lifted the cup of tea in front of her, "I tried to make the tea you make for me. It isn't quite right, but I think it's close."

The corners of Laxus' lips seemed to quirk up for a moment before accepting the tea from Lucy. She went to move to the spot at the other end of the couch but Laxus' sudden and loose grip on her elbow silently told her that he wanted her to stay where she was. When she met his eyes and nodded as she settle back into the seat he let his hand fall loose to his lap.

They both sat in silence as they drank their tea, Lucy fully willing to do the same that Laxus has done for her in past weeks, understanding that he wanted silence and, if need be, will let him talk as she listens, or whatever else he may need. He has let her lean into him and she quietly wept, or rubbed slow, calming circles as she loudly cried her heart out, stayed quiet as she ranted about every little detail in her life.

When Laxus finished his tea, they continued to sit in silence as his hands fidgeted. Lucy finished her tea soon after, which usually meant that she would leave unless it was a particularily bad night where she did feel the need to cry or rant or talk. Lucy wasn't sure what she should do, should she leave or stay, she didn't know what Laxus wanted her to do. After another few seconds, she took Laxus' fidgeting to mean that he wanted her leave, so she stood and turned around to wave and give what she hoped was an encouraging smile then turned again for the door.

Her first step, however, was interrupted as she was suddenly pulled back. It was strange, she felt like she was falling, but slowly. The feeling ended quickly enough as she was back onto the cushion of the couch. Lucy shook her head slightly to get her mind to catch up with her body. Her mind had just barely caught up when Lucy felt arms wrap around her and pull her close as Laxus buried his face in the space between her neck and shoulder. Lucy was tense for a few second before she relaxed back onto Laxus' chest and his arms seemed to tighten. Lucy smiled and bent her arms to brush her hands along Laxus' arms. She'd stay as long as he needed her.

Somehow, even though the two barely knew eachother only a few months prior, they both seemed to be exactly what the other needed to let down their masks.

Yes, these are really late, and to be completely honest, I thought about LaLu Week back in November or December, but nothing was up, and then it completely slipped my mind until about a month or so ago. Hopefully, I'll have all the chapters for this done and up within the next month.

But, My Muses, let me know what you thought, and if you have any suggestions, tell me about it and be my inspiration.