Worry and Welcoming
If there was anything that was entertaining to the four year old, it was making noises.
And coloring. Coloring was tons of fun.
But noises were even better. Mainly because you didn't need color crayons to do it. She could make noises whenever she wanted and however she wanted. Loud noises. Soft noises. Long noises. Short noises.
What was the same then between all the noises?
"Lana, knock it off."
They were all annoying.
"I'm singin'." She looked up at the man who'd spoken to her. "Daddy."
"That's not singing," Laxus said as she only snuggled up to him as they sat on the front porch step. He was in a rather sour mood that day, but Lana wasn't worried. He never got upset with her. "It's just making sounds."
Well, duh. What else was singing, but making noises? What was talking, but noises that other people recognized? Huh?
But Lana couldn't figure out how to get that all across to her father, so she only said, "Na-ah."
"Lana."
"Daddy!" She snuggled closer, climbing into his lap then. "Hold me."
Laxus only grunted though as he allowed her to do as she pleased (he rarely did anything but) while he continued to stare out at the road in front of the house, waiting. Lana couldn't remember what they were waiting for, but she felt like they'd been out there for awhile.
The doggies were outside with them, Raijin and Tenjin, chasing one another around the front lawn as they waited too. They were Lana's big brothers. She loved them. Most the time.
Laxus? Not so much.
"Damn mutts," he'd always grumble whenever he had to have some sort of dealing with them. "Ruinin' my life."
He said that about them a lot, but Lana didn't quite get it. She thought that, if anything, the doggies enhanced their lives. They were fun to play with, would eat all those yucky vegetables her mother tried to shove down her throat, and, most importantly, would snuggle with her when she went to bed.
The dogs weren't ruining their lives. They were making them!
Along with ice cream. Ice cream made every day. Even when she didn't have it, the thought alone of eating it made her trudge on.
Even Laxus would have to agree with that, she was sure.
"Daddy?" At the moment, she was concerned with him more than the dogs though. Not more than if she would be getting ice cream later, but what could you do? "Sad?"
"I'm not sad, Lana," he sighed, though he still didn't look down at her. "I'm just waiting."
"You're sad." She leaned up in his lap then to pat at his cheek. "All day."
"I have not been sad all day." That made him glance down at her. "Why would you think that?"
Because when they got up that morning to find that they were alone, he didn't sing to her and they didn't make the special pancakes with chocolate chips in them, just ate the regular type which, fine, were okay, she got just as messy eating them, but they weren't the same.
They just weren't the same.
Then, even though it was tea party day, Laxus refused to have one with her.
"I can't, Lana," he told her simply when she asked. "I'll get it all set up for you, but I just don't wanna today. Maybe tomorrow, huh?"
"No." She didn't take it well when he didn't want to play the same things as her. What was Laxus, but there for her amusement? "Daddy! Play!"
"Lana, I don't wanna-"
"Yes! Yes! Tea!"
But he wouldn't have one with her for, like, the first time ever. Lana didn't even wanna have one without the man.
They just sat around in the living room, her playing with her toys as he sat in a chair, reading over a novel while sighing and randomly grumbling under his breath.
And at naptime, he made her go sleep in her room instead of in his bed which, honestly, just wasn't like him. At all. It was clear that something was wrong. Even the doggies noticed as they didn't even try to follow him out of her bedroom when he left her in there, instead staying with her.
There was clearly something wrong with Laxus.
After naptime, they ate a lunch of sandwiches in which Laxus didn't even grin and pretend to scold her when she reached over with giggles and stole chips from him. Didn't say anything when she fed half her sandwich to the doggies. And only sighed when she demanded they go outside to play, taking up a residence on the front steps the second they got out there.
He wouldn't even play tag. The nerve.
"Huh?" Laxus was insisting then as he continued to stare down at the child. "Why would you think that I was sad? I'm not sad. At all. What? Just 'cause I didn't wanna have tea today? Is that it?"
"No." Mostly. Because, seriously, who didn't want to have a tea party? Huh? "Look sad."
"I don't look sad," he grumbled though the heavy lines in his forehead and the downturn of his lips said otherwise. "I just don't get why you would think that, Lana. I'm very happy. We're having a great, fun day. Aren't we? I let you play outside-"
"Tag. I wanna play tag."
"-I made you pancakes-"
"No chocolate in 'em!"
"-and I even made you your favorite lunch."
She had no fight in that. Peanut butter and jelly were her favorite. Hands down.
"Just because I'm not in the mood to do silly, childish little things with you today doesn't mean that I'm sad." He leaned down then to nuzzle his head against hers, eliciting a giggle. Leaving his face buried in her white locks, he whispered, "Silly. Of course I'm happy. I get to spend the day with you, huh?"
Sounded about right to Lana.
After all, who wouldn't be happy about something like that?
"I'm just worried, I guess, hatchling," he went on as she nuzzled back against him. "That's all."
"'bout wha'?"
Lifting his head, he moved to press a kiss against her forehead before sighing again and looking back out at the yard. "I- Hey! You stupid dogs! Don't chew on the tree! I just planted that!"
Lana really liked the new tree. Laxus told her that it would grow really slowly and probably be huge by the time she was huge. She didn't want the doggies to mess it up.
They were busy scolding the dogs (Laxus was, at least), when he suddenly shot his head up and looked around.
Finally, what he'd been waiting for.
"Demon." He couldn't help the grin that broke out on his face about then. "You're home."
She was giggling as she walked down the road to the house. Lana, at the sight of her, immediately ran over to her, holding her arms out. The dogs, not caring much for the scolding they were getting, booked it her way too. It was only Laxus who stood there, waiting for her to come to him. And, after lifting her four year old into her arms and giving each of her dogs a pat, the demon did just that.
"Hi, dragon," she greeted as she came his way. He was standing there, by the new tree, arms crossed over his chest as he tried to fight his smile. "Did you miss-"
"You're late."
"Late? Laxus, I was out on a job."
Grunt. "Late all the same."
"Laxus-"
"You said," he grumbled, "that you would be home either yesterday or the day before."
"I got caught up."
"You didn't contact me on the communication lacrima."
"About that." She bounced Lana in her arms as the child wrapped her arms around the woman's neck. "I kinda broke it."
"You broke it?" That got a growl from the man. "How could you break-"
"Oh, Lana." Mirajane was distracted then as the child patted at her face. "What's wrong? Did you miss me?"
"Yes." Horribly. Sorta. She'd enjoyed having Laxus home with her every day, of course, but her mother had been gone a week. The first few days were stuffed with chocolate filled pancakes, tea parties, and snuggle fests (those were the best). Not to mention all the singing.
But…she had missed Mirajane. A lot. She loved her mother, after all. And with the way that Laxus had been acting that day in particular, she figured he was missing her too.
Not that Laxus would ever admit that. Or that he was worried. The woman was the she-demon. She was one of the strongest mages in the entire guild.
So why should he be worried?
Because she was so ditzy. And she didn't go out on jobs much anymore, so what did she know? Nothing. He fretted the whole time about how she didn't take anyone with her. That she wanted to take an S-Class job all alone and, well, he just didn't think that was safe. For anyone.
Other than him. Or Erza. Or any other S-Class mage that wasn't Mirajane.
So there.
The demon was…special. Not just 'cause she was his wife though! It was more than that. She had a kind heart. And that could get her into a lot of trouble at times. He would just rather that she sat around at home or up at the bar, bringing him beers either way.
It was just the way it should be.
What didn't she get about that?
A lot. Mira didn't see things from his point of view. At all. She didn't see it as him being a protector. She saw it as him being more of a dictator than anything else. He always tried to tell her how much she should work, when she should work, that taking jobs wouldn't be beneficial for any of them.
"You have to stay home with Lana," he'd grumble whenever she mentioned it. "You're the only one that I trust with her besides, well, myself."
Which just wasn't fair. Or made any sense. If he had to train and she had to work, then they'd ship the girl off to be with her great-grandfather or one of her aunts (Ever counted) or uncles (so did Bickslow and Freed). Not to mention all of Mira's friends in the guild. From Lucy and Levy to Laki and Cana, Lana had been babysat by them all before.
So the idea of her being her only caretaker outside of him was just ludicrous. Lana was comfortable around all their friends. And it wasn't like Mirajane was planning on going on a sabbatical or something. Just take a few jobs here or there. She knew that deep down the only reason Laxus had a problem was it was that he didn't like her being gone.
Not that he didn't like her strength. He'd always loved her strength. He'd always complimented her on it. Even before they were together. And even more so after. So that definitely wasn't it.
In fact, back when they were just dating or even when they first got married, he used to always want her to go off on jobs. He'd brag her up to everyone else, about how tough she was, about all the demons she had inside of her, and of all the complex jobs she could go on. He liked to show her off to the others. Say that his woman was just as strong as he was. The demon and the dragon were at the top of their game and everyone else had better just get used to it.
Slowly though, things seemed to have shifted in his mind. When she first got pregnant with Lana, Mira wasn't taking a lot of jobs to begin with. The guild was at capacity membership wise and she was busy up at the bar so much that she couldn't get away. Then, with her pregnancy, there was no chance for her to. And, well, after having Lana, she didn't want to go anywhere for a long time. She wanted to be around the baby constantly. She thought that that was what the child needed.
And that had worked. For two years. During that time, Laxus seemed to have got rather complacent in the idea of Mira staying in Magnolia at all times. She knew that having Lana had changed him, if only because it made him more…soft. Completely soft, really. He'd found something in Lana that Mirajane was more than happy to have given to him.
The only problem was that along with him dropping some of his rugged exterior, he also seemed to gain a couple of new protective instincts.
Not that Laxus hadn't always protected her. Because he had. Mirajane could be as strong as she wanted to be. He'd let her. But ultimately, he came out on top when it came down to the two of them. She would tease him sometimes that it was otherwise and, if he was feeling submissive, he might agree, but it just wasn't true. Laxus was without a doubt the head of the relationship and their family and, as such, he seemed, at times, to think that he could make all the decisions.
Which he could. Mira hardly had to fight him on things. Instead, she usually just tricked him into doing the things that she wanted anyways. Like with the house. And the dogs. He thought that he got those things as presents to her, to keep her happy. Not because she'd forced him into it and given him no other choice, but to do what she wanted.
Things just worked better that way.
For some reason though, she'd been unable to trick him into loving her taking jobs again. It was impossible. She'd tried many times. Taunted him with the fact that Natsu's girlfriend, Lucy, went on jobs all the time.
"And?" he'd snort. "Two bumbling idiots tripping over one another's feet. Who cares?"
Or that if she didn't take enough jobs, Makarov might revoke her S-Class status.
"You didn't take jobs for two damn years when your sister was dead," he'd argue. "He didn't care. And you could still smoke anyone in that damn hall. Besides, Gramps wouldn't dare."
And about how she was bored at home, just working up at the bar and taking care of Lana. Did he want her to be bored?
"I bought you a damn house, let you have two dogs, and a baby. What more could someone possibly want?"
A lot. And, when it became clear that she wasn't breaking in on him and going to trick him into seeing things her way, Mirajane decided to just bypass him. And, right before Lana's third birthday, she took her first job in years.
Laxus was livid. He'd been out training when she left, as she knew he wouldn't be for it if he was around, and came home to find that she'd give Lana to Lisanna to watch. Man if she didn't get one of his Thought Project then. If ever there was a power he had that Mirajane hated, it was that one. If only she'd gotten father before he found out…
When she got back home, he was still upset. Even though even Freed had come to her defense and told him how foolish he was being, Laxus was just pure pissed. He'd told Mira that he didn't want her going on serious jobs, yet she just went out and took an S-Class one without even telling him? Never mind that he took them all the time. That was different. He was him. And she was her.
Why didn't she get that?
Because it didn't make sense. Not to her. Or to anyone, Mira was pretty certain. Just him. He was the only one that believed in his twisted logic. Maybe the Thunder Legion at times, but mostly just him. It wasn't fair for him to keep her boxed into Magnolia, raising his child, and doing nothing for herself.
But he wasn't doing that. And Laxus would argue that even to that day, as he stood there, repurposing his worry over her being gone into anger over the broken lacrima, no matter what. Mirajane didn't need to go out on jobs. He did that. For the both of him. She was allowed to be just as powerful as she wanted. Train as much as she wanted. Keep the whole guildhall in check if someone showed up causing trouble.
But she just wasn't supposed to go out on jobs by herself, put herself into danger, when he sat at home fussing the whole time, fearful of anything and everything that might be happening to her. Mirajane needed Laxus. She was just so simple and trusting and…and…she was a mother! With a baby! One that needed her. And though clearly Lana loved him the most (duh, it was just a give), she still liked Mira too. She loved her. And…and…that was it! That was all he had. But it was enough. It was more than enough.
Mira didn't need to go out on jobs. And every singe one she did take only served to tick him off more. She was a mage, fine, but she didn't need to be. Didn't have to be.
So why did she want to be?
"I missed you too," Mirajane was saying then to her daughter, nuzzling her head against the four year old's, getting more giggles in return. "But I'm sure that the dragon took good care of you, huh?"
"Mmmm…no."
"Lana," Laxus complained. "I'm the dragon. And I took good care of you. Tell her."
"No."
"Lana-"
"He's sad," she told her mother, though she hid her face in the woman's neck. "Today."
"Oh? Is he?"
"Not yes'erday," Lana agreed. "Today he's sad."
"I'm not sad," Laxus huffed. "So stop telling her that. Come here."
"No!" Now that her mother was there, she was realizing just how much she had missed the woman, which, for the record, had been a lot.
Mirajane only snuggled her daughter closer. "Were you sad today, Lax?"
"No. I-"
"Yes."
"Knock it off, Lana."
Mira only giggled though before turning to walk off. "Come on, baby. Let's go inside, huh? I'm a little bit sleepy. And I have a present for you in my stuff."
"Really?"
Damn Mira. Now she would have Lana on her side for the night.
"Come on, you worthless mutts," Laxus growled out to the dogs as he set off after his wife and daughter. "Your mother's home."
Mirajane took Lana into the kitchen for some reason. Laxus figured that she was probably hungry. He was like that a lot when he first got home from a job. In his rush to get home in its completion, he usually didn't stop to get a bite to eat. No doubt she suffered the same over eagerness.
"Daddy!" Lana, who Mira'd sat on the floor, rushed to him the second that he came into the kitchen, tossing her arms around him. "Still sad?"
"Lana, I am not sad," he grumbled, frowning down at her. But she only stared up at him with such worried eyes that, well, he had to lean down and snuggle her some.
You know, just so she didn't think that he was angry with her or something silly like that. Him? Angry at Lana? Never.
"Are you hungry, Lax?" Mira asked as she went to pull some things out of the fridge. "Did the two of you already eat lunch?"
"I don't want to talk about lunch, Mira," he grumbled. "I wanna talk about-"
"Are you hungry, Lana? Huh?"
"Mira, stop talking over me," Laxus growled. "Your broke the lacrima and-"
"And I'll buy a new one."
Scoff. Double scoff. "But a new one? You'll just buy a new one?"
"That's what you do when you break something, Lax."
"Yeah or you could just not break things anymore."
"That too," Mira agreed. "Good idea."
"Mirajane-"
"Ooh, Lana, I don't think you were right," Mira said, smiling over at their daughter then who was still clinging to her father. "He's not sad at all."
"Thank-"
"He's grumpy."
Laxus growled then, glaring over at her. As always, the noise made Lana giggle. It was such a cute noise, after all. One only her daddy could pull off effectively.
"I am not," Laxus grumbled. "And don't tell her that I am. What have I done, huh? Been upset that you broke something expensive-"
"Coming from the guy who punched a hole through the wall in the guestroom-"
"I didn't punch a hole through anything! I got too pumped during workout. That's all."
That wasn't all. He kept his weights in there and, in his excitement from achieving a new rep count, might have sort of jumped around in excitement and slipped and ended up with a hole in the drywall.
Maybe.
It was debatable.
(No it wasn't.)
"Uh-huh, well, anyhow," Mira sighed as she pulled out some stuff for sandwiches. "I'll just buy a new one. An innocent mistake, Lax."
"Sure."
"It was. What? You think that I did it on purpose?"
"I don't know what you did," he grumbled. "All I know is that I couldn't get in contact with you and that it was very irresponsible of you."
"Awe, dragon. Were you worried?"
Snort. "No."
"Was that why you were sad?"
"I just said I wasn't."
"That's so cute."
"It is not. And I wasn't, so-"
"I hardly ever worry about you, Lax. 'cause, you know, I have faith in you."
"I wasn't worried."
"But the thought of you sitting around, waiting for me anxiously-"
"I wasn't worried!"
"-just makes me-" Mira stopped herself from speaking as she shivered in delight. "It's really cute."
"It is not. Because I'm not worried." Was he? "So just stop saying that."
"It's really attractive too."
"Yeah, well… What?"
"Mmmhmm. That you're so worried for me." She winked over at him. "Way hotter than when you're stewing and yelling about how I should be a mother first and a mage second."
"You should."
"Not helping anything, Lax."
"Well."
"And I am." She went back to fixing her lunch. "And you know that. You just get possessive and annoying about the stupidest of things."
With a snort, Laxus glanced down then at Lana who was still staring up at him, waiting to be acknowledged again.
Patting her on the head, Laxus said, "Go find out what the dogs are doin', Lana. Huh? I don't hear them scramblin' around. I'll be there in a minute."
After she ran off, Laxus only headed closer over to his wife, standing behind her at the counter.
"Aren't you even going to ask me how my job went?" Mira prompted, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Dragon? It's rude not to."
"How," he asked in a deadpan manner, "was your job?"
"Well," Mira began, not caring about his apparent disinterest. "It was kinda odd, you know, being back out there again. I haven't in a few months, you know."
"Yeah," he grumbled. "I know."
"But it was nice, I guess. Fun. And I got everything taken care of, of course."
"Of course."
"In a timely manner."
"You were late."
"Oh, Lax."
"You were! You told me yesterday by the latest."
"You sound crazy. You know as well as I do that that was just a rough estimate. There's no way of knowing for sure-"
"Then you shouldn't promise."
"Laxus."
He could only huff. "I just don't like you not being where I can get to you. And then the lacrima wouldn't work because, apparently, you broke it-"
"I said sorry."
"-and I was here with Lana and I had to pretend like it was okay, even though I was worried sick-"
"Ha!" She turned then, dropping the knife in her hand that she was using to cut lettuce as she wagged a finger in his face. "You said it."
"I said nothing."
"You said you were worried, you said you were worried, you said-"
"Stop…doing that!" He looked up then, at the ceiling, before taking a big breath and exhaling it slowly. "Fine. I get worried about you sometimes. There. Is that what you want?"
"Awe." She threw her hands over her mouth as she wiggled a little bit, trying to hold back a giggle. "You're so sweet, dragon."
"Shush."
"But you know," she said as she dropped her hands and, for the first time that day, gave him an honest stare, "I can take care of myself. Just like I always have been able to."
"Yeah." He still didn't want to meet her eyes. "I know."
"You treat me like I'm different. Like I'm weaker or something now. You used to get so exicted, Lax, when I used to go out and pull off a really hard job. Now you scold me for being reckless. It's not right."
Shaking his head, he finally looked down at her. "Well, what do you want from me, Mira? Huh? I'm not going to be happy that your off by yourself, doing dangerous jobs. And no, I wouldn't be happy if dorky and dinky tagged along. I-"
"Okay, are you talking about Lisanna and Elfman? Because if so, that's a really cute big brother way of saying you love them."
That brought out some more growling from the dragon. "Would you just be quiet for once, woman? I swear, I like it a lot better when you're not around."
Mirajane only grinned at him though. "No, you don't. You worry about me."
"Demon-"
"You do. You said so."
"Yeah, well-"
"Daddy, are you coming?" Lana, apparently, wasn't into him rekindling with his demon. Not. At. All. He'd been moody all day. It was finally time for them to get a chance to really play. "Come on."
"I'm coming," he growled back at wherever she was yelling at him from. "Just give me a minute, huh?"
"Have tea party?"
"Lana-"
"Please?"
Ugh.
"Fine. But now I get two minutes."
That seemed to appease her, as she didn't call out to them again. And Mirajane only smiled at his words.
"What, dragon," she asked as she rested a hand over his chest, "do you plan to do with two minutes?"
"Get a beer to sneak into my tea cup, for one."
"Laxus-"
"I wanna spend the rest of it though with you." And, finally, his face lost some of its tension as he smiled at her, if only a little. "I don't like being alone, demon."
"I know." She left her hand there too, resting on the fabric of his dark purple shirt as she stared up into his eyes. "Dragon."
"And I did worry about you back then," he added, mumbling it almost. "When we were younger. I just didn't do it so…explicitly. I didn't let it affect me. Now though, it just… I think about what would happen, if you were somewhere and I couldn't get to you and then you died and I was alone with Lana and…the dogs, I guess, them too, but mostly just Lana and how I'd deal with that and what I would do and-"
"Oh, dragon," she cooed as she moved then to hug him. "I worry about that too. Although…"
"What?"
"You kind of sound like a woman right now."
"Mira-"
"No, no, it's okay." She left her head resting against his chest for awhile. It always would feel nice, but always best after they were separated for a few days. "It's endearing."
Ugh.
"Daddy," he heard yelled again, along with the barking of one of the dogs. "Are you coming?"
Double ugh.
"I have to go," Laxus grumbled as he backed away from Mirajane. "She always wants something from me. You know that?"
"And you love it," she accused. He didn't deny it. Only turned to go to work on fixing their tea party tray, equipped with their usual snack of apples as well as some juice in the tea pot. They'd tried tea numerous times over the years, but it just never stuck. Lana far preferred juice and, well, Laxus really didn't care either way.
"Hey," she called out when he started out of the room, tray in hand. "Don't forget that you owe me."
That got him to stop. "Owe you?"
"Yeah. You know," she hummed as she glanced over at him and, once more, winked. "That thing that you get when you go out on a super long mission."
Blinking, he turned around to look at her. "Oh?"
"Yeah."
"That's what you want? That same thing?"
"The very same."
It was his turn to hum as he turned on his heel to go get that tea party taken care of.
"I gotta go, demon."
"Really? I could have sworn we still had another minute-"
"There's no time, demon! I only have a few more hours to tire her out, you know," he said. "After all, we're going to need all of tonight to ourselves. Celebrating a hard job and all."
"Mmmm. I wouldn't say all-"
"Don't tempt me, woman."
Mirajane giggled though, as he left, knowing that they were back to normal. All was forgiven. Or at least forgotten. For the moment. They'd have another argument, she was sure on her next job, but that felt so long away then that she decided not to focus on it.
Besides, she did have a sandwich to eat, dogs to play with, a tea party to spy on (Laxus got all embarrassed if she was in the room), as well as a 'whole night' to get ready for.
All in all, being home from her job didn't relieve much busyness for Mirajane, but still was a thousand times better than being anywhere else.
Although knowing that the dragon got so worried while she was gone made her kind of want to stay out even more. Maybe, if she was being honest, it was even what drove her to go out on jobs to begin with.
That and he was just so dang cute when he growled in anger at her over it.
Extremely.