Boyfriends

The guild hall was rather obnoxious that day. At least for Laxus. Mira could tell that he was annoyed by all the other members, if only because he thought that they were too immature for him. The only people his tolerated were out that day, except for Evergreen. The two of them sat in at a table in one of the corners, not even speaking to one another. Mira could tell though that that was mostly because Ever was too busy trying to slyly make eyes at Elfman who was openly ogling her. The sight made Mirajane giggle into her palm.

"What are you laughing at, Mira?" Lucy, who she was seated at a table with, glanced behind her. "Not Natsu, I hope. Please. I just wish you'd all stop encouraging him."

Mira did glance over at the Salamander then. He was making quite the commotion as usual, dancing around and acting foolish. That made Mira giggle as well.

"No," she told Lucy with a sigh. "I wasn't even paying attention to him."

"Good. I wish everyone else would do the same," she said, shooting her boyfriend a glance of her own. "We haven't been on a job in a week. He thinks that he's entertaining someone."

"I think that he's very funny," Lisanna said as she passed by, refilling drinks as she went. She was filling in for Mira while she was on her break.

"You're the only one," Lucy sighed while Mira giggled again.

Still, her gaze fell back onto Laxus. He was listening to his music like always, arms crossed over his chest, as he glared at anyone that walked passed. When Lisanna made it over to his table to refill his drink though, he made sure not to be rude to her. Mira had made it very clear to him in the past that their relationship hinged mostly on how well he acted towards her siblings. They were all she had for the longest time, after all, and he in no way would ever replace them.

"What are you so happy about anyhow if it's not Natsu?" Lucy looked around then before her eyes fell on Laxus. Then she went back to reading her magazine with a sigh. "Oh. Him. Honestly, Mira, I don't get it."

"Get what?" She looked away from her boyfriend then and back to Lucy.

"Laxus is, like, so mean to all of us. Constantly. Why would you ever want to be with him?"

"Laxus isn't mean."

She got a look for that. Giggling, she clarified.

"He's just…rough."

"Right." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Rough."

Mira only smiled at her though, cocking her head to the side. "Where are Erza and Gray today then? I do not believe that I have seen either of them."

"Erza's around. But Gray and Juvia are off together, doing something, I think. Or at least that's what Juvia told me when she threatened me when I got here this morning."

That brought down Mira's grin slightly. "What did she say?"

"The usual," Lucy said with a shake of her head. "That I better stay away from him, that we're friends, but if she ever caught me near her Gray, she'd harm me. Something to that effect. At this point, I kind of just ignore her."

Mira made a slight noise at that before shaking her head. "I suppose I could understand getting jealous over a boyfriend. Maybe."

Lucy shrugged. "There's being jealous and then there's being crazy."

Smiling, Mira said, "You don't ever get jealous when Natsu's with someone else?"

"Natsu?" Lucy snorted. "Natsu is hardly even interested in me for the most part. So no, I have nothing to be jealous over."

"Mmmm. That's nice." Mira was making eyes at Laxus again who was actively ignoring her. He always tried to act so hard around everyone else and she never called him out on it. "That you don't have to worry about that sort of thing. And I guess he never really gets jealous of guys being around you either, does he?"

"No, now that you mention it, he doesn't."

"That's sweet, Lucy," Mira assured her. "That you to don't have to worry about that sort of thing."

"That's one word for it," she remarked with a sigh. Then, glancing over at Laxus again, Lucy asked softly, "So you don't ever get jealous then?"

"Of Natsu?" She frowned. "Why would I?"

"No, Mira. Of, like, how much time Laxus spends with other women." Lucy made a face at her. "I mean, he is around a lot of them."

"You think so?" Mira sounded as if she had never thought of that. "Hmmm."

"Well, yeah. And he's alone with Evergreen all the time."

"Oh, no, they're just friends," Mira said, laughing slightly. "In fact, I think that she and Elfman-"

"I dunno," Lucy went on, not even letting her finish. It was probably for the better. Mira figured Elfman wouldn't like her telling anyone about that. "Evergreen always seems to, like, thrive off Laxus noticing her and complimenting her. I mean, I'd be jealous of her if I was dating him. Just look at her."

Mira cocked her head to the side. "Well, I like Ever, so-"

"Mira," Lucy groaned. "You like everyone."

"That's true."

"I mean, look at who you're dating."

That got a giggle. "You just don't know Laxus, Lucy."

"And I'm thankful for that, truly."

Another giggle. "Besides, I don't think that Laxus would ever cheat on me. So why be jealous? It would only annoy him."

"He sure gets jealous of you enough."

They both looked up then as Levy sat down next to Lucy, setting a stack of books down as well. Lucy only smiled at her before going back to her magazine.

"What do you mean?" Mira asked, putting a finger to her lips as she thought. Nope. She couldn't remember Laxus ever-

"Uh, Mira? You're kidding, right?" Lucy gave her a look. "Every time some other guy so much as looks at you, Laxus flips out."

"You think so?"

Levy giggled. "You haven't noticed?"

"I guess not."

"Don't act so high and mighty either, Levy," Lucy told her with a frown. "Gajeel practically-"

"What does he have to do with anything?"

Mira did her head cock again. "You mean that the two of you aren't-"

"Where would you get a silly idea like that?" Levy, who had been ready to get down to reading some old, lengthy book suddenly stood up. "I mean, that's just crazy, Mira."

"Really? I honestly thought-"

"Why? Did you see us together or something? At some point?" Levy looked to Lucy then who only shrugged. "Because…because we're just not… I have to go. I'm sure Droy and Jet are looking for me."

"Bye," Lucy said, grinning slightly. Mira only frowned though.

"I don't know why she's so illusive to the idea," Mira said with a shrug. "I think most everyone assumes at this point, do they not?"

"I don't blame her," Lucy said. "I mean, would you claim him?"

"Well-"

"Oh, right. You're with Laxus."

That made Mira give Lucy a look before nodding over at Natsu. "And you claim that."

When Lucy turned, she saw that Natsu was doing a hand stand, attempting to walk around on his hands in that position. He of course fell almost immediately, but quickly went back to doing it.

"Natsu, be careful," Lucy called over to him. "You're going to run into something or someone."

"Whatever you say, Luce," he called back to her though he, of course, continued to do as he had been. Sigh. Why did she ever bother?

Not a moment later though, Natsu ran into Erza, causing her to spill a drink on some sort of new costume that she was wearing, showing it off to some of the other guild members. At this transgression, she immediately took to giving Natsu two knots on his head, putting an end to his comedy routine.

"See?" Mira said through a giggle. When Lucy looked at her again, she gestured over to Natsu, who was being tended to by Happy. "You're not jealous of Erza are you?"

"What? No, of course not."

"But she and Natsu are closer than any other pair I know. Not that they would ever let you see it, but they would kill themselves for the other, as she would with Gray," Mira said. "But you do not feel an animosity towards her, do you?"

"Well, no, but-"

"It's the same with Ever and Laxus. They just worked well together in the past."

Mira smiled over at Laxus who finally returned her look. When she saw this, she took to waving at him real big. To Lucy's surprise, though he did not do so very noticeably, Laxus did give her a half sort of wave. Way more than he would anyone else.

Giggling into her palm, she added, "But we work together better in the present. And that's all that matters."

That made Lucy smile slightly before going back to her magazine. "If you say so."

"Hey, Lucy, you better go get your boyfriend," someone called out then. "He and Erza are about to go at it."

Lucy groaned, finally getting to her feet to head over there. "Natsu!"

More giggling. Then, slowly, Mira got to her feet as well, though she only headed over to her own boyfriend's table.

"Your break over yet?" Laxus mumbled as he pulled her into his lap. Evergreen glanced up at his words, but quickly went back to not staring at Elfman.

"I have a few more minutes," she told him as she got comfortable. He only wrapped his arms tightly around her, bowing his head slightly to kiss her shoulder.

"Good."

Smiling, she leaned back against him. He might be rough most of the time, but that didn't mean he always was. It was that part of him that she liked, after all. And she liked it very much.