He remembers when Bookworm was only a few years old. She'd always been obsessed with books, and he'd scoffed a lot at her for it.

And then she'd make this annoyed pout and he'd pat her head like a pet, which made her huff and blow up her cheeks in frustration. She was an interesting edition to the family (and not an idiot, either, which was always a plus).

She had a beloved stuffed animal – a teddy bear, was it? – that she'd named after a book character, and she reserved a corner for herself in the rowdy guild to read with it, which was such a dorky thing to do that Laxus was embarrassed for her.

Sometimes, she'd go on and on to him about her favorite book at the moment, and he'd nod without really listening because he had his headphones in.

And, of course, she was a giant scaredy cat, which he wasn't used to at all. All the other girls were made of steel, even Drunkard (who back then had not indulged in alcohol and was actually the pansiest (read: sweetest) person there).

Back before Bookworm moved off to Fairy Hills, Gramps offered to let her stay at the guild for awhile, where Laxus and a few others lived as well.

She'd get nightmares about before, or be scared of phantom noises or thunder or shit, and crawl into his room with small sobs.

Because, contrary to popular belief, Laxus was not a total dick, he'd surrender his bed and headphones to her and resign himself to pulling out the sleeping bag lodged in his closet that he hadn't touched for years before Bookworm came.

And now she had herself a shadow.

Laxus frowned to himself, pushing his headphones down (for the first time in months) and letting them hang around his neck.

He'd noticed Bushy-Hair-and-Piercings hanging around Bookworm a lot recently, perving on her from the corners of his fucking weird red eyes and chomping away on some chunk of metal.

Please. The guy had nearly no sense of decency. Laxus certainly didn't go around eating lightning; consuming elements in a public area was obviously impolite. Nobody saw Sky Girl hanging around the guild sucking in air, did they?

Pink Pyro always ate fire around the place, but that was different. Pyro had no manners whatsoever. (Laxus would have to talk to him about that, again, sooner or later.)

Not that Laxus had ever tried eating lightning before, but what-fucking-ever. Details, details.

So Laxus had noticed Hair-and-Piercings lurking and sulking away in shadowy corners, eyeing Bookworm like a stalker, and occasionally plopping himself down next to her, which always surprised her (and made her smile, but Laxus always dismissed that part).

One day, he saw Hair-and-Piercings grunt to his small bear-looking pet (Small Flying Bear? Deep-voiced Bear? Birdbear? Bearbird?) and begin heading towards Bookworm.

Face impassive, Laxus nodded to the Raijinshuu to let them know he was going on a short self-mission and walked off, carefully planning his route and pace to intercept Hair-and-Piercings just-so at an angle where no one could be alerted of potential danger.

"Hey," Laxus said as greeting, voice stoic and impassive. He narrowed his eyes at the startled-and-failing-at-hiding-it emo-goth-punk-rock pierced intruder before him.

Hair-and-Piercings finally managed to get his shock under control and scowled back, hands clenching into fists. "What's it?"

Laxus glared for a moment longer, for added effect and flair. Then… "Touch her and you die."

"Who?" asked Hair-and-Piercings. Laxus snorted. As if the guy thought he could wiggle his way out of this. As if.

"Touch her and you die," repeated Laxus, before turning on his heel with a flutter of his fur jacket and dramatically returning to the table where the Raijinshuu were seated. He didn't bother to look back at Hair-and-Piercings; he knew he'd gotten the job done.

Later, when Hair-and-Piercings seated with Bookworm, Laxus saw him nearly reach out to brush a few strands hair out of Bookworm's face while she read some book, only to jerk back quickly and glance around, nervous.

Perfect. Laxus had successfully instilled fear into Hair-and-Piercings's heart. This would ensure Bookworm was safe and sheltered from potential heartbreak (for the moment, at least).

Pride swelling, Laxus smirked to himself and turned up his headphones.