Disclaimers: I don't own Fairy Tail
Laxus was nervous, that morning. And, even worse, he also was starting to feel annoyed. Not only did he have to ride on that damn train to get to Crocus, but that lady a few seats ahead had been complaining for the past ten minutes, all too loudly for his sensitive dragon ears.
His eyebrow twitched for the millionth time and, fighting the urge to throw up everything he had had for breakfast, he got up from his seat to approach that loud lady and try to somehow stop her blabbing. The distance between them seemed almost unbridgeable to motion-sick Laxus, but he managed to take the five steps that separated him from the lady, mentally cursing her and wishing her the most painful death ever.
"It's totally unacceptable!" She screamed. Her high-pitched voice painfully reached Laxus' ears. The mage noted that the lady, a short woman in her fifties, was quarrelling with the train conductor over someone who, apparently, was in her compartment. "We can't seat next to her! Me and my husband are respectable people!" The girl, whom Laxus couldn't see, as he was behind her, calmly stated "This is my seat, I've paid for it and I'm not moving." The train conductor seemed sorry, but he couldn't do anything "Ma'am, this lady here is right. She has paid for her seat. I can't send her away... You'll have to stay here. Unfortunately, the train is all booked." He was right, all other seats were already occupied. Well, apart from Laxus' compartment. He hated sharing it with other people, as he did not want others to see what motion sickness could do to him; he always booked the whole compartment for himself. However, he thought that his motion sickness could only get worse, had he listened to that woman's bitching any longer.
"Ma'am, I'll switch my seats with you, but please cut it out." His ears detected a light giggle, which was immediately covered by the loud complaints of the woman in front of him, who was now indignantly looking at Laxus. "How dare you say to me 'cut it out'? Boy, weren't you taught how to talk politely to elders?" Laxus sighed, desperately trying to suppress his rage (and another retch). "I was. But you're the one being rude, here. I don't think that the people here want to listen to your annoying voice anymore. So, quit your babbling and go seat over there, and just let the other passengers travel quietly." The woman just gaped. Finally, her husband managed to shove her to the now free compartment. Before leaving, though, the woman spat on the girl, who was still quietly sitting. "You filthy bitch." She called her, but received no reaction whatsoever. So, she just headed towards her new seat, pushing Laxus with her shoulder. The train conductor looked at the young man and mouthed a silent 'Thank you' in his direction, then turned and left.
Laxus plopped on the seat, his strength drained by the motion sickness. He glanced at the girl in front of him, who was trying to clean with a tissue the spot on her skirt where the old woman's spit was. He then closed his eyes, trying to put himself together. "Thanks." The young man reluctantly opened his eyes when he heard that, and looked at the girl in front of him. Now, that was a beauty. Emerald-green eyes, full, red lips smiling and showing two lines of white teeth, and dark brown curls tied up in a loose ponytail, with some free locks framing her oval face. She was wearing a white boat-neckline blouse, tucked inside a high-waist yellow skirt. She wasn't showing much flesh, but Laxus guessed that her body was as stunning as her face, judging by the curves he could see. He shrugged, closing his eyes once again. "I just couldn't stand that bitch's blabbering." He heard her giggle.
The blonde mage tried to suppress yet another retch, praying that torture would end soon. He knew it would take quite a long time to get to Crocus, though. He just hoped that, when he arrived, he would feel good enough to participate in the Daimato Enbou with his fellows. The seven-years gap after what had happened in Tenrou Island had made Fairy Tail sink to the last place of the most powerful guilds. Now it was actually the weakest guild, and it was Laxus' job to make it the strongest. He owed that to the guildmates who had stayed behind, never giving up their hopes and maintaining the guild through all its hardships.
At that moment, though, Laxus' problem was of a different entity. He had to make it to Crocus without spilling whatever was in his stomach on the floor. He opened his eyes once again, when he felt a slight pat on his thigh, and stared into the girl's eyes. "What?" He asked, visibly annoyed. The girl smiled lightly, but seemed a little worried. "Are you ok?" She asked. "You look kind of… greenish." Laxus remembered why he always booked a whole compartment for himself. "Just a little motion sick." He managed to answer. The girl looked at him preoccupied, then grabbed her purse and started rummaging through it. The mage looked at her while she did that. She was beautiful, indeed, and if he hadn't been in that sorry state, he would have quite surely tried to hit on her. He noticed she had a tattoo on her left hand, a sun missing one ray; he wondered if she was a wizard, too, but he had never seen that symbol. Well, during the past seven years many guilds had been created, so she could easily have belonged to one of them.
The girl finally found what she was looking for. She held a plastic bag and extracted what seemed like a candy, offering it to Laxus. "Eat this. You'll feel better." The young man looked at the candy he was offered. 'Never take candy from a stranger', his mind told him. Well, but strangers have the best candies, they say. "Come on, take it! It's helping me, too. I also suffer from motion sickness, and I had an herbalist prepare these for me." Laxus looked at the candy, then at the girl, and then another retch hit him. He decided to accept the sweet. He unwrapped it and put it in his mouth. As soon as it came in contact with his tongue, the strong taste of herbs filled his mouth and seemed to relax him. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Thank you", he told the girl. After a few moments, he felt so relaxed that he began to doze off (something he rarely managed to). Had she doped him? How could that medicine have such a quick effect? "What did you give me, woman? I'm feeling drowsy." She giggled. "Don't worry, it's the immediate effect. It contains valerian, linden flowers and chamomile, which help you relax… I have no bad intentions. I promise you will wake up with all your money and your organs." She joked. Laxus grunted lightly, then crossed his arms and rested his head against the seat, closing his eyes and finally giving in to sleep. She smiled, watching him falling asleep, then opened the red carrier on the seat next to her, setting her cat free. It wouldn't have roamed around the train, she knew. Quietly, the animal looked around itself for a while, then curled up on the girl's lap. She leaned on the window, while petting her cat's head gently and drifted off to sleep, too, the purring from her animal filling her ears.
When she woke up, she found a strange-looking Laxus staring at her direction. "How are you feeling? A little better?" She asked, looking out the window to see where the train was now, trying to understand how long she had slept. He didn't bother to answer, and instead asked "What's that?" pointing at the animal on her lap. The girl started petting it once again, receiving a loud purr in response. "This is my cat, Silk. They say it's a rare breed." 'A rare breed my ass', Laxus thought. That cat was an exceed. He couldn't be mistaken: that huge head was a total giveaway. That particular exceed though was very cute, it looked like a miniature tiger, with its black-striped orange fur and big yellow eyes. "She was a gift. A very appreciated one. Do you mind if I let her stay out of the carrier?" The girl asked. She probably had no idea that was not a typical cat. Laxus shook his head in response, earning a bright smile from the girl.
"So, how come you were insulted by that lovely lady?" He asked, sarcastically. Now that he was feeling better, he was growing more and more interested in the beauty in front of him. She gave him a 'I thought you'd know that' look and showed him her hand tattoo.
"I'm a hetaira."
Laxus' mouth didn't close. Now it was clear. A hetaira, meaning a high-class prostitute. That symbol on her hand must have indicated her brothel. "Does that bother you? I'm afraid there aren't any other seats available…" Laxus just shrugged, shaking his head. After all, prostitution was legal in Fiore, and he knew for sure that Macao and other Fairy Tail members had, more often than not, been a client of Magnolia's red-light district. But he was not one to judge people by their job. He used to judge them by their strength, but that was some time ago. He wasn't sure it was still like that. "I just thought you were a wizard, too. I must have misread your tattoo." She laughed softly. "Nope. No magical power, no wizard. Just your ordinary concubine. Not respectable at all, according to our common friend", she joked, "but I bet that her husband has visited us quite a few times. His face is somewhat familiar." Laxus sniggered. She talked about her profession in a carefree way, and Laxus liked that, it meant she was not ashamed of what she did.
"And who would you be, my saviour?" The girl asked, petting her exceed, which was still sleeping on her lap. "Just your ordinary wizard", he replied, mimicking her previous answer. "Oh, then I guess you're going to Crocus for the tournament?" she asked. Laxus simply nodded. The tournament would start the next day. He was so ready. "Are you going to Crocus, too?" The blonde man asked. "Yes, we were called there by… well, you know… business." She replied. "We?" Laxus asked, raising an eyebrow. She smiled. "Yes, I was kind of left behind. My friends preferred to go by plane. But I hate those, so I took the train all by myself, and here I am talking to some handsome prince who saved me from an old dragon." Laxus chuckled. He was indeed a dragon slayer, then. "Well, I guess that was your lucky day", he joked. She giggled. "For you, too. Look at how better you are feeling, thanks to me." Yes, he had to admit that.
He was a handsome man, indeed. She did not really like that fur coat, but she had to admit that it suited him. She wondered how had he gotten that scar on his face and managed not to lose his eye, but she felt it was too personal a question. She leaned against the window, still looking at the man in front of her. "Do you mind if I sleep for a while? The journey will take a little more, and I'm pretty tired. I've actually had three candies. Very bad motion sickness, you know." The blonde wizard shrugged, then took the headphones that surrounded his neck and placed them on his ears. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
After an hour, the train conductor announced that they were approaching Crocus. They would arrive in about thirty minutes. Laxus stretched his legs and arms, and glanced at the lady in front of him. For the past hour, she had desperately fought in her sleep to keep her mouth closed, but her jaw always ended up falling. She would wake with a start, look around her as if to check that anybody had seen her, smile lightly at him and go back to sleep. He had quite enjoyed this past hour, spent listening to music and watching that funny girl. "I think you'd better wake up", he told her when she her jaw fell for the nth time, "We are almost there." She blinked a few times, nodded and smiled at him, then looked out of the window. It was possible to make out the skyline of the city from there. She had been to Crocus every year for the past five years, now, in occasion of the Grand Magic Tournament. It was so crowded that all the hetairai in Fiore were called, to offer the best service they could. Indeed, many rich people would happily pay the equivalent of a worker's year salary just to enjoy the company of one of them. Not only sexual company, though. Hetairai were raised in the most educated and refined manners, to be able to entertain their guests in different ways: music, dance, dialectics and much more.
"I'm Laxus, by the way." She heard him say. She looked at him, studying his facial features. He was not looking at her; instead, he was interested in Silk, which, while she was asleep, had jumped on the wizard's lap and was now lying on its back, blissfully having its belly rubbed. "Zoe. Nice to meet you, Laxus. And I'm sorry for my cat's behaviour. She seems to like you, though." Laxus shrugged. He liked animals, even though he did not own any. He kept on petting the tiger exceed. It was so soft, and its purring made him feel relaxed. "So, Laxus. Is this your first time in the Tournament? I don't recall ever seeing your face." He nodded. "Yes, but I assure you I will win. I will make my guild number one." She chuckled. "You seem pretty strong, and motivated, which is definitely a plus. But there are many strong and motivated wizards out there, you know?" She teased. Laxus looked at her intently. "I don't care. I know that my guild will win." He was so resolute, she really liked that. "What about making a bet, then?" She asked. "Let's see… If you fail in the preliminary round, you will have to shave your head in repentance." Laxus grinned; he didn't know there would be a preliminary round, but who cared? He was there to win. "What if I pass?" He asked, wanting to know the rest of the bet. "If you pass, I will root for your guild. Isn't that enough?" She joked. Laxus raised an eyebrow, so she continued, her finger on her chin, as if thinking. "Mmm… If you make it to the tournament, but you don't win, then you will have to kneel before the winning guild and acknowledge its strength." The blonde wizard snorted. "As if I would lose… Then, what if I win? It's your turn to do something, don't you agree?" He asked, smirking. "It wouldn't be a fair bet, after all. Until now, I'll have to shave my hair and kneel before the winner, so I expect a big reward if I win." Zoe smirked. She liked his impudence. "Ok. If you win, I'll give you a ride. For free." She said, raising her eyebrow and looking at him in the eye. "It this fair, according to you?"
For a second, Laxus was taken aback: he gulped and his eyes widened with surprise. He would have been a liar if he said that he had not thought about that possibility, but he wasn't expecting that she would actually propose to have sex with him. He immediately composed himself and snickered. "I think that's fair enough, indeed. Don't you want to know the name of my guild?" She shook her head. "Let it be a surprise."
They had finally entered Crocus, and the train was about to reach the station. Silk had gone back to Zoe, who had put the cat back in the carrier. The girl then stood up to grab her suitcase from the rack above her seat. It was a big suitcase, and Laxus offered to help her. "No, thanks. I'm used to it." She replied, but then the train came to a halt, making Zoe lose her balance. She was falling back and her suitcase was about to fall on her. Just as she thought how fool she had been, she felt a presence behind her. Laxus had grabbed the suitcase with his left hand and was holding Zoe with his right arm, preventing her from falling. The girl blushed. "Sorry, I'm so clumsy." She stuttered. "Nevermind." He noted that Zoe was rather tall, and with his arm around her waist, he could feel how proportioned her curved were. He looked at her face and noted the perfectly applied eyeliner on her eyes, enhancing their green colour. She was looking at him, too, and he felt himself blush slightly. She suddenly placed her hand on his cheek and leant closer, gently kissing him on the corner of his mouth.
Laxus' heart skipped a beat. He would have never expected that. Zoe pulled away shortly after, and smiled at him. "Consider that as a thank-you gift, and a motivation to win the Tournament, Laxus. Good luck, see you." She waved at him and headed to the exit of the train. Laxus smiled. "You can count on it. As Natsu would say, 'I'm all fired up'." He then grabbed his bags and got off the train, too.