Clandestine

by Fallen Ark Angel

Mirajane and Laxus are not dating. And she's not pregnant. Oh, and they're certainly not smuggling drugs. But...somehow...they do wind up married. And, for what it's worth, pretty happily. - One-shot

They were hardly dating.

Which was the point, of course. For it to seem that way. They weren't, like, hiding anything (considering who she was, it would kinda be impossible; she'd even gossip on herself at times). Rather, they just didn't...act like a couple. At all.

Laxus was always rather reserved. Even in his younger days. Not with his opinions, of course, if they were disparaging towards others, but his true emotions and feelings were typically guarded and buried deep within himself.

Then there was Mirajane who, of course, was the polar opposite. Externally, at least. The truth was, rather, that she shared the shallow tidbits of her deeply personal problems, easily putting up a facade of complete sincerity. And her relationship with Laxus was not shallow.

But...they had to seem that way. Because relationships complicate things. Especially deep, significant ones. Not just around the guildhall (though it would there as well) either. Whenever Fairy Tail was in trouble, they both were frequently involved in the melees and the last thing they ever needed was more people tacked onto the list of ones that could be used against them. Laxus had his Thunder Legion and Mirajane had her siblings; but secretly, honestly, they were both on each others list.

No one would ever know though. Even their guild friends, at best, knew them as occasional dates. Sometimes Laxus would offer to take her to see a band play at some bar or Mirajane would beg him to go to see a play with him. All played out in front of the others, of course, with Mirajane blabbing about anything and everything they didn't see.

Weeks, if not over a month, could pass between the next one. And sometimes even then they had to cancel. Mira had work or something came up for Laxus and it was practically platonic, other than the few times (that the others knew of) they went home together. Which Mirajane would immediately go on and on about the next day to any of the women that would listen and Laxus would just mostly grunt if anyone brought it up in his presence.

To most everyone, they were nothing more than friends with very limited benefits.

Behind closed doors, however, it was something much greater.

That was part of the fun, probably, in the beginning, for Mirajane. The sneaking around. Laxus truly didn't care much for it, but she seemed to get a thrill out of meeting in other towns and at hotels and, oh, did the demon just love it when he'd be in the hall and she was ignoring him and there were just these occasional...knowing glances between them.

Mmmm. Yes, that was definitely one of the best parts.

As time went on, of course, this got rather stale and boring, but was made up for in other ways. Laxus thoroughly enjoyed the few times Mira would take a few days off from work and meet up with him in some far off location just so they could spend a weekend completely unencumbered. They'd have nice dinners every night and he'd buy her things, all sorts of things (as considering she was on vacation, she could tell the others when she got back that she bought it for herself), from jewelry to new clothes. For him, that was one of the great things; watching her wear something he bought for her. Even if no one else knew, he did. And that was all that mattered.

Mira, rather, learned to find comfort in the attachment they grew for one another. As months turned into a year and a year rolled into two, Laxus was more or less completely enamored with her. Even if they couldn't be together often, when she did wind up at his apartment or in some hotel, he loved to just sit and talk with her. About everything.

And not just the way that Mirajane talked to everyone. It wasn't...gossip or who would look so cute together or anything even close. Laxus was the only person who honestly talked to her. About real things. Like what was going on in the world, just in general. They could have a conversation on the Kingdom or even just one on the horrible slave trade in Bosco.

Not a single other person took Mirajane's opinions seriously. And definitely not a guy that she was sleeping with. Which, of course, was partially by design. She was the one that, following Lisanna's presumed death, shut herself off and then dumbed herself down. It was what she wanted. And still, in many ways, did.

It just made what she and Laxus had so much better. The way they could sit around his apartment with beers and just chat. No snide remarks about her intelligence or her ditzy tendencies.

He took her seriously. He took their relationship (as hidden and not well-known it was) very seriously. There was nothing he seemed to enjoy more those days than when they met up somewhere and he was just able to toss an arm around her shoulders or press a kiss to her head.

"I love you," was started sometime around the year and a half mark.

By Laxus first, naturally, as Mira would never be foolish enough to ever let something like that slip out before a man. Especially one that only existed when they were alone.

It happened for the first time, once, when she was leaving his place. They'd gone out on a date that night, an actual one (though they just had a nice dinner in), and she'd told Lisanna she'd be home before midnight (she and Elf were leaving the next day on a job and wanted her help figuring out a map or something; she couldn't recall what). Laxus didn't want her to go though because he'd been out on jobs quite frequently, but she only wiggled her way out of his grasp and blew him a kiss as she went to slip back into her dress.

"Screw Lisanna. Stay with me."

"Awe."

"If you leave," he grumbled about then, "I have to make breakfast for myself in the morning."

"Less awe." He got a wink from over her shoulder, just as she was leaving the bedroom. "Bye, Laxus. I-"

"I don't even get a kiss goodbye? What kinda racket is this then, Mira? That you get to come in here, eat my fancy food-"

"The fancy food that you had me make?"

"-roll around in my fresh sheets-"

"The sheets that are only fresh because I cleaned them?"

"-and let you have your way with me-"

"I'll give you that one."

"All so that you could just leave? Without so much as a kiss goodbye?"

And then she turned, because he was being such a baby about it, and came to do just that. Only when she leaned over, Laxus wrapped his arms around her and pulled her right back down into the bed, laughing as she fought him over this as he only rolled, moving to pin her down once more.

"Laxus-"

"Mmmm. Stay with me."

"Why are you being like this?"

Because he'd missed her. A lot. More than usual. It hadn't been an easy job. He'd already told her all about it, but left out that the big fight he'd described to her was a lot less one-sided than he made out and he thought, at one point, that he might actually die out there.

And it got him to thinking. A lot. About things. Mostly things that didn't involve her that one or two that did and well, he just didn't see why Lisanna was so much more important than him.

Err, well, he did, in some ways, but given that the situation wasn't dire, but rather just Mira choosing between the two in very useless ways, he didn't understand why she'd pick her sister to spend the next few hours with.

But she was insistent, even as she giggled and halfheartedly attempted to fight him off. Eventually, with his head buried in her neck, he mumbled something against it.

"You can go." But he didn't let her up. "If you wanna."

"I do."

"Fine." And, finally, with a groan he fell off to the side, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. "You can go."

"I wasn't asking permission, you know."

"I know."

Pushing up, Mirajane stared down at him for a moment before saying, "You could come home with me. You-"

"That would look… If you left here and I followed you, it would just seem… So no. I can't."

"Mmmm." He got a kiss to the cheek. "It's for the best anyways. Lisanna and Elf are going on a super long job without, well, me, so we'll probably spend the rest of the morning planning-"

"It's not even one in the morning yet. How much planning could this possibly be going into this?"

"They're leaving rather early too."

"Still. I almost feel like you just wanna ditch me. Not to mention, shouldn't they sleep before their job? Or-"

"Who does that?"

"Normal people, Mira."

"No, you stay up the entire night with jitters."

He blinked. Then he glanced at her. "You still get...jitters?"

"Mmmhmm."

"One of the most powerful mages in Magnolia-"

"Well, that's a bit presumptuous."

"-still gets jitters."

"About many things."

"You're so silly." And he reached out to gently pat her cheek. "Man, I love you."

It kinda just slipped out of there somehow. In his defense, however, she was grinning at him and he was still feeling all good just from being home (and being with her) and they'd drank a bit, over dinner and...and...and…

"Oh, Lax." That one got him a kiss to the lips. Then, "I love you too."

But he was all rigid then, equal parts shocked as he was fearful of just what that little slip up meant, and Mirajane was able to get out of there without a problem. Laxus, however, felt like he had a pretty big one.

He was...in love.

Shudder.

Mirajane was very patient with him about it. Even when he avoided her after that, for a few weeks, on the pretense of training. And when they were together again, she made no mention of it at all. Just gave him his chance to, after a month or so, loosen his tongue enough for it to slip out again. That time got a giggle and kiss to, as well as a mummer of the words back.

It took a bit, but slowly, that worked into their regular routine. He had no problem with it, nuzzling his face down into her neck and whispering those three words there. Or when she was leaving him for the night, to head back home (or in the afternoon, to head into work; whatever), saying it out loud, though just between the two of them, as they kissed goodbye.

Honestly, that wasn't even the biggest step for them. That, rather, came around the two year mark when Laxus took her to meet his mother.

"I never knew that she was buried so far away from Magnolia," Mirajane whispered to Laxus as they stood over her grave one day in the fall. She was bent over, resting a bouquet of white lilies atop the headstone after glancing over it. "Dragon."

"Mmmm. She was from this town, so we buried her back here when she passed." He only stood above her, watching as the woman gently stroked the engraved dove in the corner of the grave. "You're the only person I've ever taken here."

Getting to her feet once more, Mirajane glanced back at him before smiling, softly. "It's calming, huh? That's the way I felt about Lisanna. When I would go and see her grave back when we… It just brought such a sense of relief."

Laxus glanced down at the stove himself then. "I don't come here very often. I used to. When I was a kid. And would come home from a job. These days though…I'm so busy-"

"I could come." And that time when Mirajane leaned down, it was to pull a weed that was growing close to the gravestone. "And look after it for you."

"Look after it?" He frowned. "What could you possibly look after?"

"I dunno. I think your mother at least deserves some nice flowers every week. If I could...go back to my village and visit my mother...I would. And bring her flowers. And just talk to her. My father too."

With a blink and then a rub to the back of his neck, the man only said, "I mean...I don't think it would make a difference. I've never done this. Bring her flowers." He nodded at the ones she'd laid over the grave. "I'm not really… I mean, she's not here. Err, well, her bones are, but-"

"I think she's here." Mira smiled then, down at the grave. "I think she's with you always, but I think she's definitely here, right now." But, with a slight shrug, she said, "If it makes you uncomfortable, Lax, then never mind. I just thought it would be a nice thing to do. This graveyard is so beautiful too. Well, for a cemetery, at least."

More blinking. Then, dropping his arms, Laxus glanced up at the sky. It was a rather clear day and, for a moment, he watched a single cloud drift. Finally, girinning, just a bit, he said, "I don't think I was ever too good a son."

"W-What?"

"I was pretty selfish."

"Weren't you, like, eight when she died?"

Laxus nodded. "Selfish."

"Normal."

"Normally selfish."

"Lax-"

"I'm still selfish." He kicked at the ground. "I used to come here, when I was young, like I told you, but not to see my mother. Not to talk to her or anything. Just...just to make sure."

Mira swallowed. "Make sure of what?"

"That she was still dead."

"Dragon-"

"I never did any of that. What you just said." He glanced at the woman. "Brought her flowers. Talked to her. Ever. Didn't think about it. What she might want. Because, you know, she's dead."

"Yeah, she is. But-"

"Then I hear you over here, talking about how you would love to have what I have, to have the chance to be this close to your mother and father-"

"Laxus, I wasn't saying that as a slight to you. I-"

"-and it just makes me realize what I took for granted." He looked at Mirajane full on then. "And… If you wanna come here sometimes, demon, to do that… I would love that." Then he let out a slight breath. "I bet my mother would too."

Mirajane took it very seriously. She couldn't get away every week (it would be too suspicious), but no more than a week and a half would go by before fresh flowers were placed on the grave of the late Mrs. Dreyar.

Not soon after that, Laxus proposed to her the idea of her being the current.

"W-What? You're drunk."

"No." Well… "Okay, so yeah, I am, but I'm serious."

Mirajane, at that moment, was seated on his kitchen counter where she had been waiting to be stripped and fucked, but for some reason, the man felt the need to go all romantic on her.

Heh.

Laxus, who was standing in front of her, had his head buried where it always was. In the crook of her neck. He felt safest there.

"We can't get married." Mirajane frowned. "We're not even truly dating."

"We are too."

"Not...publicly. Seriously."

"Hmmm." Laxus lifted his head. His hands, with had been running up her thighs to, what Mira had hoped, tug down her panties, came up suddenly and, with a sigh, she moved to interlace her fingers with his. "Then let's get married and just not say anything."

"What good would that do?"

But drunk Laxus was far less likely to answer questions and much more likely to just blabber on all he wanted.

"And we could buy a house and live there together on, like, the outside of town," he slurred right along excitedly. "And we can have a yard and a place for your stupid stray dog and a garden and I'll have a pool too-"

"How much do you think the two of us would have saved away for a house?"

"Oh! And we can finally have a kid." And then Laxus was shaking his hands free of hers before moving to cup her cheeks in his palms. Mira leaned into this with a giggle as he said, "So, huh? What do you want?"

"Lax-"

"You have to make a choice."

"I really don't think I do."

In Laxus intoxicated view, she really did. "What's the fun in it if you don't?"

"I never really thought of you as the type to feel that way," was all she said as he stroked her cheek gently. "Like, at all. In the past two years, I don't think that has ever come up between us."

Which was odd. Mirajane, with nearly every other boyfriend she'd had, was already planning the names of their children by the fifth date.

With Laxus, however, everything was always on such an edge. They were hidden. And, yes, deep down, committed, but also not openly exclusive.

Or...maybe...somewhere deep down, Mirajane didn't feel the need to rush things with Laxus. To project onto him what their lives would be. Because she was having such a great time with what they are and confident that, while it might not end in bliss, whatever did become of hem would be for the best.

And she'd have had a great time the entire time.

Mira wasn't sure what that meant, if it meant anything, but it sure sounded promising.

"Really?" Laxus dropped her face then, though it was just to reach over on the counter next to her and pick up a beer. "You sure?"

"Very."

"Hmmm." He took a chug of his beer before saying, "Figured we would have. Sounds like something you'd be into."

"Are you?"

"Am I wha'?" Finished with that bottle, he went to toss it in the trash before retrieving two out of the icebox. Then he popped both caps before handing one to Mirajane who was realizing that all that alcohol, apparently, had taken Laxus out of the mood (though at least she'd found out before they got too far).

"Into...you know, thinking about having kids. And being married."

"I kinda just proposed to you, I thought."

"You thought wrong."

Heh.

"You sure? Because-"

"If that was your idea of a proposal, getting drunk and just saying it, with no thought behind it or even a ring-"

"Fine. I didn't propose. Whatever." Another chug. Then, "Since you'd apparently say no anyways-"

"I would not."

"Sure seems like it."

"Then you're not very good at reasoning."

"Well, I am drunk."

"Mmmm."

And they just stood there then, in his kitchen, both taking sips at their beers, but not really knowing where to go next. Laxus had kinda put it all out there (albeit quite foolishly) and Mira just wasn't helping. At all.

Until, you know, she was.

"I would say yes," she told him then as, slowly, she jumped down off the counter. Laxus just stared.

"Oh yeah?"

"Of course." Setting her drink down on the counter behind her, the woman said, "But it wouldn't do any good, Lax. For us to get married. We're still not… Nothing's changed, at the hall. It would still just complicate things and it's been better, really, just the way we have it now and I...I want a real wedding. I always have. So-"

"You deserve," he told her with a sigh, "a real wedding."

"I do wish though that we could," she offered with a slight smile. "I just..."

"Would it mean something to you?" he asked then after another sip of his drink. "If we did? Get married? Something more than a big ceremony and everyone knowing about it and fawning over you? Would it mean more that we were together, forever, than it would-"

"Of course," Mirajane said with a frown. "Us being...married would mean so much more than just-"

"Then why does a big affair matter?"

"It doesn't."

"Then-"

"But I want it." She sounded rather final on that. "I always have. I want a beautiful gown and my sister and brother and all our friends there and I want a huge cake and"

"Then what, Mira? Huh? Either...either we just tell everyone about how serious we are or-"

"That's sorta out of the question now, don't you think?" She cocked her head at him. "All these years, it'd seem fake now."

"I don't care. You think I care what people think? That's not why I ever hid this, you know." He was feeling indignant then. "It was so that the waters didn't get muddied. And that no one in the hall tried to break us up. Or accidentally did. Or made a whole ordeal about it. Not because I cared though, what they thought. I love you."

"I know." She gave him a soft smile then. "I love you too."

Laxus let out a short breath then, almost a huff, before nodding. Tossing back the rest of his beer, he went to toss it and, instead of getting another, just went to lift Mirajane up by the waist.

"D-Dragon-"

"C'mon." He carried her off, over his shoulder. "I'm done talking about this."

"Then what do you want to do? Dragon?"

"Mmmm." Carting her off to his bedroom, he dropped her gently on the bed when he got to it. "To be close to you. As close as you'll let me."

"You're in luck."

"Hmmm?"

When he fell into the bed with her, she wrapped her arms right around him. "Because that's right where I want you too."

Things stayed settled for a bit. Laxus actually took a lot of jobs. Frequently. And Mira worked, like usual. It was actually another month before she was able to get off around the same time as him and take a vacation.

"You sure do get off enough now," Lisanna grumbled when she found out that she was going to have to cover her sister's shifts. "Sis."

"I like traveling," was her only response. "A lot."

"Are you actually going somewhere nice this time?" Kinana asked as she helped them clean up the bar that night. "Instead of just to the beach?"

"The beach is nice," was her only correction to which Lisanna rolled her eyes.

"I think," her younger sister accused, "that you're not really going out to see these mysterious guys you're always talking about."

"Oh, yeah?"

Nodding, Lisanna said, "I bet there's no guys at all! It wouldn't be that big of a deal if it was. You have to be doing something else. Something...darker."

"Ooh."

"Oh, I know." Kinana giggled. "I bet your a smuggler, Mirajane. Of drugs or...something. Something devious. Is that it?"

"Maybe," was all she sang as Lisanna continued to give her the stink eye and Kinana giggled.

Kinana was right though. At least about something. Namely, she didn't take advantage of her surroundings at all. Rather, she and Laxus spent that weekend holed up in some hotel, only leaving for food and, even then, just when they were half starved.

Their last night before he left back to take a job and she went back home to work some more, Laxus was very interested in going to the market, to pick up some more cigars, he claimed, and Mirajane wanted to search for a gift for Elfman's upcoming birthday.

It was while they were walking around, hand in hand, and Laxus was grumbling about 'his cigar guy' not being around that day and he knew he should have gone earlier (although he'd rather enjoyed his earlier activity of getting as tangled up in the demon as was humanly, or subhumanly, possible), while Mirajane held off on what she wanted to tell him which was, basically, to just get over it; the cigars that guy sold couldn't be that great.

But they were. And, honestly, she'd probably make a note of it and come back to buy him some while he was away.

"I think," she told Laxus as he took to muttering under his breath rather than out loud, "that I'll buy Elf a chain for his birthday."

"Think Ever has you beat on that one."

"No, dragon," she giggled, tugging on his hand to make him walk faster and stop sulking. "I mean a nice chain necklace. Or, oh! A ring!"

"A ring?"

"Or earrings!"

"Does your brother even have his ears-"

"Or maybe I just want to go look at jewelry."

He had to give a slight grin at that, shaking his head as he glanced down at his girlfriend. "Or maybe just that."

Which is what it started as. Laxus was more than ready to buy Mira whatever bracelet or necklace she wanted. Even told her as much. Then he walked around the tiny jewelry shop for a bit himself and looked at some stuff.

And...neither was for sure how it happened, but somehow they both wound up at the front counter with the clerk, overlooking the engagement rings and it just sorta...happened. Somewhere along the line, Mirajane had given up on her big proposal surprise and Laxus had long resounded to the fact that he was just going to be with Mirajane forever, one way or another.

It just felt...right.

"Think you can convince Lisanna to cover for you?" Laxus mumbled to her much later that night after they went out and had a very nice dinner where they got very drunk and stumbled over one another to get back to the hotel, celebrating their engagement the entire way. "Get her on the lacrima and tell her you need a few more days?"

"Maybe," Mira yawned as she rested against his side. "But your job-"

"Can wait. I'm celebrating."

Heck yeah they were.

And, that morning, Laxus was ready for them to celebrate a whole new thing.

"W-What? Laxus-"

"Yes. Please. Today." He proposed that idea after their shower as she was toweling off and he was mostly watching her towel off. "Marry me today, Mirajane. You brought that nice dress with you."

"For when we went out to eat. I don't-"

"And I have a decent shirt."

"You have that stupid purple button up shirt you've had since you were-"

"And some dark jeans."

"You can't-"

"And I have a lot of love for you."

That got him a look, but he only gave her a grin cheesy enough to match his statement.

"One day," he added as Mira only stared, as if in contemplation, "whenever you want to tell the others about...us, then we can go back and have a real wedding. The whole shebang."

"Shebang? I really hope that's not what it sounds-"

"But for now," he said as he finally got tired of dripping everywhere and went to grab a towel of his own. "Let's just, you know, do it. Get married. I want it, you want it-"

"Why are you so serious about this?" Mira turned to slip something on. "Laxus? I mean, are you that into getting married?"

"To you? Yes. Definitely."

"Lax-"

"Then what's the plan, Mirajane? Huh? When are you going to be ready? To tell the others about?"

"Oh, now it's all on me?" That got him a heavy glare that time. "Last time I checked, you-"

"I didn't want people to know, Mira. No. I just went through that. But I'm confident in use now. In what we are. And that it wouldn't matter if some asshole trying to destroy Fairy Tail knew about us or not; I'd be saving your lfie above everyone else's anyways."

"L-Laxus, you can't-"

"But I am." And his eyes were heavy as well. "No one buys that family lines end at the door bull, Mira. You think Gramps wouldn't have given up everything if he knew he could fix Ivan through doing it?"

"You don't have to talk about-"

"And you think the damn Salamander wouldn't save your sister and his cat over anyone else? Either them or Lucy? Huh? And Elfman would kill us all before he let something happen to you or Lisanna. The Thunder Legion's more loyal to me. Macao would save his boy, Wendy would save her cat-"

"Stop it. You-"

"No." Huffing, just a bit, he said, "I love you. More than I love anything else. And you can't tell me that you don't care more for your siblings that you do the others. It just the same. For me, anyways. Is it not for you?"

"W-Well-"

"Look, I get it, alright? You're scared or something and-"

"No, Laxus, you don't get it.. You can't. Because you're talking out of both sides of your mouth."

"Uh, yeah, Mira, I think that's how talking works."

"It's an expression, dragon."

He blinked. Then he went over to where he'd left his pile of clothes. "Oh. Didn't know that one. Huh."

With an eye roll, Mirajane explained. "It means that you're arguing both sides of something. And you are. You're saying that you want to get married and hide it, but you're also telling me all about how we should just tell everyone about us. Which is it?"

"Both. I don't care." He even shrugged. "I want you, Mirajane, to be my wife. If it has to be a secret, fine. If it doesn't, even better. Both sides of my mouth are heading to the same end goal; to be married to you. And yeah, okay, so maybe I'm not thinking it through and am, like, romanticizing things-"

"Depending on the definition of that word, sure, you probably are."

"-but this is just something that I see us as heading to. And I really, honestly thought you did too. That it was what you wanted."

"But I do, Lax. I just don't know if-"

"Hey." And even though he'd only pulled on some jeans, he went over to press a kiss to her head. Walking out of the bathroom then, he said, "It's alright. Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. I get to be with you; that's all I care about. Let's just put this behind us, huh? Now get dressed; we're going out for breakfast. You wanna show off that nice ring while you can, huh?"

Definitely. And she did too, staring fondly down at the diamond many times as they walked around the town, not doing much shopping (he had just dropped some serious jewels on her, after all), but mostly just soaking up all the time they had left to be around one another.

And, when that got boring, Laxus skulked off to the hotel room, taking a less enthused Mirajane along, claiming he needed a nap.

"How old are you again?"

"Ha." Laxus wasn't sure if that was an old joke or if she was calling him immature. "But I need one. So-"

"I guess you did stay up awfully late last night," she remarked with some eye batting because, well.

"Awfully," was his reply, "isn't a word I would use, but sure."

He fell asleep almost as soon as they were in the bed. Laxus always seemed just as comfortable in random hotels as he was at home. Given the few stretches of times that he was in Magnolia, staying in his apartment, it was kind of self-explanatory.

Mira, however, took some time to drift on. Plus, she was still more than a bit keyed up about the whole proposal thing.

And thoughts of what was going to happen next…

"Hey, Lax? Laxus? Are you awake?"

No. Still, he grunted just a bit.

"Oh." Shifting closer to him, Mira laid on her side as she stared down once more at her brand new ring. "I just kinda wanted to talk. Is that okay?"

When didn't she? But, once more, he only gave out a slight grunt.

"I just don't want you to think that I'm not as in love with you as you are with me. Because I am. Believe me. I love you so much. You're, honestly, the only person that I'd ever take this step with. I mean, I've considered it before, like, a lot, but not seriously. Just childishly. But with you...since you brought it up before… It's stuck with me. And that means something. Right? That I've been more serious about it with you than I have been with anyone else? Literally ever?"

Grunt.

"And I can see us, you know, in the future. Being happy. And with...with a family. And we can have that, can't we? A family? Together?"

Grunt.

"But it's just… I've been thinking since...since this morning about us, you know, just doing it. And just telling everyone. And just getting it over with. About what would change if we did and… Honestly, Lax, I'm afraid that it's less that we feel like we can't tell the others for all those reasons you said earlier, but that we've become so comfortable in not telling them. And hiding things. And life just being about the two of us, together, without having to factor in the others. I think that it's scary, you know, knowing that we're going to have to factor them in now, that our relationship's about to take a big step. Not just in marriage, but in being outed. My siblings will be involved and your friends and…"

That time he didn't grunt. Instead, still lying there on his back, he slowly opened both his eyes before breathing out softly, "Mirajane-"

"I'm not trying to, like, discredit what we have," she said quickly, shifting closer to him still. "I'm trying to tell you that I think… We should just do it. Go for it."

"Heh? What-"

"I want to get married. Like...right now, I think."

"Mira, you're-"

"Not thinking? Coming from the man that's asked me on two separate, point blank, to just run off, get married, and live some sort of secret double life?"

"Not double life. Just half lives at separate times."

"Laxus-"

"I could have jobs and you could work and then, when I come back into town, it would be to some far out house that you would come to too where we have, like, a nanny or something raising our children."

"That sounds very much like a double life. And unfair to our kids."

"Meh."

"And how would I ever hide that I was pregnant?"

"Mmmm...baggy clothes."

"Lax-"

"I'm joking." Turning his head to the side to stare at her, he said, "I'm more on the wagon to just tell everyone, honestly. Aren't you?"

"Eventually," she sighed softly before leaning forwards to press a kiss to his lips gently. "But right now...I think I can handle not having my big wedding."

That startled him, just a bit. "You mean, like, right now? Right, right now?"

Nodding, Mira said, "Can we? Right now?"

"Well, yeah, but if you want, we can just go home, tell the others, and then have a grand ceremony. Make a whole event of it, yeah? Like you want? I mean, I'm not made of money, but-"

"And that's the thing that's been bothering me too." Mira glanced down at her nice, shiny ring before back at him. "I have all these fantasies about what my wedding will be like, I always have, but… When I think about you, I never think about those sorts of things."

"You're taking out of both sides of your nose here, demon."

"It was mouth, dragon, but you're not understanding. I'm saying that yes, I want to marry you, but no, I don't see us in some fancy church with a frilly clothing-"

"Uh, for the record, I was never wearing anything frilly to begin with, so-"

Giving him a look, Mira took a moment before saying, finally, "I just see you and me, when I picture us getting married. No one else. No games. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's what I honestly want."

"But if you've always dreamed of having a big wedding," he argued with a slight frown, "then I'm not going to let you just throw that away. I-"

"I can plan Elf's wedding. Or Lisanna's. Or anyone else's that I feel like." Smiling enough for the both of them, she said, "I don't want ours to be marred with drama or expenses or us fighting or anything silly like that. I've been with you for so long and now I really want to be with you. Don't punk out on me now, Dreyar."

He blinked. Then he smiled a bit as well. "Definitely not planning on it, babe."

But when he moved to roll onto his back once more, Mirajane took to tugging at his arm.

"Wha-"

"Come on. Get up! If we hurry, we might make it to the courthouse before-"

"Can't we tomorrow?" As in love with Mirajane he was, he honestly was still tired. And if he was going to be going back out on a job when their little vacation was over, then he would need all the sleep he could get. "Or-"

"Com on. Get dressed again. We have to hurry."

"How do you even get married?" he grumbled. "Do I need a passport?"

"Why would you need-"

"I don't have my passport if that's what I need."

"We're literally not leaving Fiore, at all, so-"

"Well, they better not ask me for my passport."

"Would you shut up about your stupid-"

"I'm just saying, if they do at, like, the very end of things and then we don't get married and I just sat through all of that, I'm going to be pissed. Might strike down the whole building."

"I said no drama, dragon. I know you can't help it-"

"I don't bring drama, woman. I bring pain."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Well, whatever you bring, do it quickly. I want to get there-"

"I know, I know. Before the courthouse closes." Stumbling out of bed, he said, "Maybe I can look into getting a new passport while I'm there. Mine's been missing since-"

"Laxus, be serious!"

When pestering her was oh so fun? Not a chance.

Needless to say, Laxus and Mirajane were both all jitters the whole time. It was all worth it, however, when it was all said and done, leaving Laxus the very proud owner of his very own wife.

Mira didn't think that joke was very funny though and, after the demonic glare he got, he decided never to make it again.

"It's that easy to get married?" he asked at one point. "Damn. I'm shocked I never screwed up when I was drunk and did it then. I mean, if you don't even need a passport-"

"Don't make me strangle you on our wedding day."

Eyes glinting, he only grinned as he said, "Wouldn't think of it."

It had to end eventually though. And, three days passed when it was meant to, Laxus spent a lazy morning in the hotel bed, begging Mirajane to just stay with him, while she only prodded him to get up and get going; he had a job.

Still, he walked her to the train station, where she'd be departing (he hated trains and would be walking to his destination), and they had to kiss goodbye. Around Mirajane's neck then was a chain, just long enough that it plunged beneath the low cut of her dress, hiding a set of rings from it. Laxus, however, wore his new wedding ring with no fear, considering he wouldn't be going back home, and it felt cool against her flesh when he stroked her cheek.

"I'll see you when I get home," was all he whispered against her forehead. "Alright?"

Nodding with a giggle, she added, "And then we can figure out how to tell everyone?"

"Break the news, you mean, to those douches that I scored the hottest woman in the guild and they might as well go ahead and kill themselves?"

That didn't get a nod. Just a stare. Then a sigh.

'You're bad," she finally told him with a shake of her head and a kiss to the cheek. "But I have to go. And so do you."

Letting his hands fall, Laxus finally just gave her one last grin. "Love you."

Mira grinned once more. "I love you too."

When she returned home it was to nonstop questions from Lisanna and Lucy about what sort of mysterious getaway she'd gone off on that time. Kinana, ever loyal to her own ideals, only suggested once more that she was some sort of drug smuggler.

"Blink twice if you are," the other barmaid quipped.

Mirajane just played up her ditzy angle to the fullest degree, not out right denying anything they said, but certainly not agreeing to it, her rings dangling, the entire time, just out of their sight.

That was all good and well for, oh, three days. In those three days, nothing truly interesting happened in Lisanna nor Lucy's lives (this hinged, mainly, on the fact Natsu was off on solo jobs (plus Happy) in an attempt to impress for S-Class), leaving them with nothing to talk about, really, other than Mirajane's imagined perfect man.

"I bet," Lucy teased one day as she and Lisanna sat up at the bar, bothering Mirajane. She wasn't busy, what with it being S-Class time, and was mostly wiping down the bar and the bottles on display behind it, "That he's not a mage. Is that it? That he's not a mage so that's why you're embarrassed?"

"Or no!" Lisanna couldn't let herself be outdone. "I beet he's, like, super ugly. Huh, Mirajane? And you don't want us to know that you're with this hideous guy? Way to be shallow, sis."

"Still think it's drugs," Kinana called as she passed by while she was sweeping up.

Mira, for her part, just sighed a bit. "You guys are really uneventful these days. Why does it have to be either of those? Why can't I have just wanted to get away? On my own? And spent some time thinking and contemplating life?"

Lisanna leaned forwards, elbows resting on the bar top. "Because you're you."

"I have deep, honest contemplations about deep contemplative things," Mira argued with a bit of a grin. "There's tons of things that I contemplate about. Contemplation. Mmmm."

"Name one."

"Huh?"

"One of your deep contemplations," Lisanna insisted. "Name one."

"Mmmm… Nope. Private."

"Oh, whatever."

"What if we're looking at this all wrong?" Lucy suggested then. "I mean, we're trying to figure out why Mira wouldn't want us to know about this mystery guy. But what if it's the opposite? What if he doesn't want anyone to know about Mirajane?"

"You're with a man that won't even let you tell others that the two of you are together?" Lisanna tsked. "Way to have low self-esteem, sis."

"He isn't married, is he?" Lucy seemed most interested in that. "Come on, tell us; we won't tell anyone. Promise. Is he? Do we know him?" Then she gasped. "Or worse; do we know her?"

"You two are too much," was all Mira said, shaking her head. "You know that?"

"We try," Lisanna agreed as Lucy only giggled.

They didn't let up after that, of course. Rather, now that they had a knew favorite theory, they hammered that one home, asking Mirajane if the man had a family and if he told her that he was going to leave his wife and, the most important question, was he loaded and could he possibly think about sliding some their way, you know, so they'd keep their mouths shut?

Kinana, who heard the end of that, frowned. "Hush money? Then you are dealing drugs, Mirajane?'

And it wasn't so much that they were annoying her. Not at all. They were actually giving her something to do as with the hall so empty. At the same time, however, the more they spoke on it, as they had in days past, the more Mirajane kinda sorta just wanted to tell on herself.

It wasn't as if Lisanna hadn't pestered her sister before about her frequent clandestine trips. She had. Frequently. But it used to be fun, keeping the secret. And when that faded, it turned more into Mirajane wanted to keep Laxus all to herself and their relationship safe from the hands of anyone that might use it to either their own advantage or just muck it up on accident.

Knowing then though that she was going to be telling them about it, all of them, eventually, made it more of a gossip think than a guardian of her own secret thing. She knew something that they didn't know and inevitably would, so how could she possibly mange to keep it quite?

Honestly, what was Laxus expecting?

It was when Lisanna and Lucy started contemplating if not only was Mira seeing a married man, but also smuggling drugs for him (though Kinana was the one to suggest that as, once more, she passed by), that Mirajane, finished with tidying up, dropped her rag onto the bar before speaking.

"Do you honestly want to know what I was doing?" she asked, trying hard to keep the excitement and nerves out of her voice as she spoke. Lisanna and Lucy, who were enjoying delving into their never ending and equally as idiotic ideas of what Mirajane could be doing, only shrugged a bit.

What could it hurt?

When they nodded, Mirajane took a breath, thought, and then said, "I got married."

Her sister frowned. "How? I mean, if he's already married-"

"Lisanna-"

"Funny, Mira." Lucy gave her a grin. "You got married. Sure."

"I did. To..."

"To?" her sister prompted.

"To...Laxus."

At first, it was just a giggle. Then full on laughter.

"It's not funny. I-"

"Laxus?" Lucy got out around her giggles. "Laxus Dreyar?"

"Well, it's not a popular name, so-"

"Okay, sis, you got us," Lisanna giggled. "We were being mean and now you've gotten us back."

"It's not a joke," Mira kept insisting. "I got married this weekend to Laxus Dreyar. Honestly! We-"

"What? Did you just get drunk or something and run into one another?" It was suddenly becoming a lot less funny to Lisanna as, reading the expression on her sister's face, she didn't appear to be lying. "Mira?"

"No." Then, standing up straighter, Mira said with a straight face, "We've been dating for years."

"Yeah, I know. You guys, like, go out sometimes," Lisanna continued as Lucy was starting to get concerned as well. "But to get married-"

"We've been much more serious than that," Mirajane told her. "We-"

"You're not..." Lucy blushed then, not having any fun at all then as she looked off. "Uh, Mira-"

"What?"

"To get married so suddenly… You're not...You and Laxus aren't...Did you-"

"Are you pregnant?" Kinana was the one, it seemed, that was able to just come out and say it. Cocking her head to the side, she seemed to study Mirajane, as if checking for the signs. "Is that it?"

"W-What?" Mira stifled then. "Of course not. I-"

"That's literally the only explanation for why you'd marry a guy that you hardly ever even go out with," Lisanna carped and Lucy nodded. "Literally."

"Not literally." Then Mira frowned. "And I just told you, we were seeing a lot more of one another than-"

"I still don't believe you." Lisanna even crossed her arms. "At all. This is-"

"Here." Mirajane reached then for the chain dangling around her neck before showing off the rings. "Look. We got engaged and then a few days later I got this wedding band-"

"Oh my God." Lisanna snatched at the chain, jerking her sister forwards as she did so. "You are serious. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I just did."

Putting her hands up to her mouth, Lucy bounced, just a bit. "You really are married?"

"Yes! I keep telling you guys that-"

"And you're not all knocked up?" Lisanna let go of the rings then to stare at her sister, gaze harsh. "Mira?"

"No." Making a face, she said, "I'm not…knocked up. Honest. Laxus and I have been talking about this for a long time-"

"How could you do this?" More than anything, Lisanna was a bit hurt. "I mean, you've been seeing him seriously for how long and haven't told me? And then not onlyl do you get engaged to him, but you also marry him? This is, like, a major violation of trust, Mira. If I pulled some crap like this-"

"It just happened, okay? We were out and he'd been wanting it-"

"I'm calling your bluff," Lucy said then. "I mean, Laxus wanted to get married?"

Mira shook her head. "He's a lot different with me than he is with anyone else. He- Oh, Kinana."

That time, Mira's shock came from the fact that the other woman had jumped to hug her, wrapping her arms tightly around her. Unlike the other two, the hangups on why Mira might have gotten married so suddenly didn't matter; she was just happy for her because Mirajane was happy.

"This is so great!" the purple haired woman exclaimed. "That you and Laxus both found one another."

"Well, it wasn't hard," Lisanna remarked, still a bit put out. "They have known one another since-"

"Don't be sour just because I did it without you knowing." Mira, after hugging Kinana, looked at her sister once more. "You guys are the first people I told, you know. That has to mean something."

Lucy forced a grin, but kept up by saying, "This is still a tad unbelievable. Although...you and Laxus both do some impulsive things-"

"I'm not impulsive." Then Mira paused. "Or, well, maybe."

"Once you get married on a whim, you more or less lose the maybe," Lucy reaffirmed to which Mira only giggled.

"I guess so."

Lisanna wasn't biting just yet and, crossing her arms over her chest, said, "I won't believe it until I see Laxus and he says that it's true."

"Here you are, Mirajane. That set of new glasses you ordered."

And they were joined then by Erza, who came over carrying a box of some sort, which set down on the bar top before nodding at Mirajane.

"Oh, thanks, Master." Mirajane moved to take the box then as Erza, even a year out, still had trouble adjusting to that monicker. Especially coming from Mirajane. "I really needed-"

"Did you know about Laxus and Mirajane?" Lisanna was the type to cut right to the chase. The swordswoman glanced at her before shrugging.

"What about them?"

"Noth-" Mira tried, but her sister wouldn't let her.

"That the two of them got married," Lisanna specified. "Did you-"

"W-What?' Erza blushed even more deeply then. Glancing at Mira, she just as quickly looked off. "Why would I know anything about that. And Mirajane, please tell me that you...that you have not-"

"Well, Laxus and I both talked it over-"

"You're not pregnant are you?"

That made Mira glare at her though she only went on, carrying that box of glasses off to the storage room. "Why is everyone asking that? Honestly."

Mira didn't realize at the time (though being the queen of gossip, she definitely should have), that being pregnant wasn't even the worst rumor that would sprout it's head. By the time she left the hall that night, she'd had more than one person come up to the bar and ask if Laxus really was paying her to be his wife as well as if it was true that she was a drug smuggler and had married Laxus after a drug deal gone bad and, to keep him from murdering her, she had to surrender her life to him (although Mira more or less knew how had no doubt started that one and figured she'd either praise Kinana for an imagination that rivaled her own or put her on toilet scrubbing duty for the rest of the week).

On the way home, she thought it was all funny.

Lisanna? Not so much.

"I don't understand why you're being like this."

"You don't understand, even a little bit, why I might be upset that you were hiding something this huge from me? That you and Laxus were…. That you got married with out even consulting me? You don't get why I might be put out by that?"

Groaning as they walked into the house, Mira said, "What do you want me to tell you?"

"Uh, try everything. From the beginning."

Which was a very easy thing to do then, as Mirajane, coming off the high of that magical trip with the man, just wanted to gust out all of her love of him to, hopefully, an interested ear.

And Lisanna was very interested.

Elfman was out that night, off on a solo job, prepping for S-Class as well, leaving the two sisters alone. They only went to Mirajane's bedroom where they both fell into the bed and the elder delved into her relationship while the younger listened intently, much how they had spent many late nights in the past, as Mira went over different boyfriends and dates while Lisanna absorbed her sister's tales, as the only ones she had anywhere close in her life involved awkwardly attempting to flirt with Natsu while he just as awkwardly ignored it.

Mira had so many different stories and tales to regal Lisanna with about Laxus and how they fell in love and how they decided to hide it, but they just couldn't anymore. She embellished, at some points, and left out the others where they'd fought and that once where they serious considered completely breaking things off. After all, she was attempting to convince Lisanna of how great they were together.

"We're just...meant to be. And I've never felt that way before. About a man. I've forced it or dreamed of it or hoped for it, but when I'm with Laxus, I just feel it. There's nothing else to it."

Lisanna wasn't sold yet, but Mira wasn't expecting her to be. She was, however, a tad more understanding and, when they called it a night, she agreed that, maybe, Laxus was the perfect match for her sister.

Mr. Right, however, was not very happy with his blushing bride when he arrived back home a few days later.

"Why," he grumbled as he showed up on her doorstep early one morning, "do I have the stupid Thunder Legion bothering me on the lacrima while I'm out on a job, worried about whether or not I'm married to you? And also possibly smuggling drugs, which, babe, I love you, you're my demon, but I can't do hard time. And especially not when I can make you just as rich by taking S-Class jobs."

Mira, how had been getting ready for work, only blinked out at him. "Um...which do I answer first? Because, honestly, I don't think I'd be a good smuggler either, so-"

"Mirajane-"

"I just wanted to tell my sister," she argued as she took a step back to let him in. "And Lucy. And Kinana. And then Erza found out, but-"

"Demon-"

"We were gonna tell people anyways, weren't we?"

Laxus let out a breath then, glanced around before slowly moved to take a step into the house. "Yeah, Mira, we were."

"You bombard me with too many secrets and I have to blow up eventually."

"Mmmm." He only reached out, cupping her face in his hands like he always enjoyed doing, before saying, "So everyone knows?"

Nodding, Mira said, "Everyone knows."

Another deep breath before, slowly, he moved to kiss her head. Against it, he whispered, "Good. Then you can come home with me now. Right?"

Oh, she'd more than enough time to figure all of that out. Nodding at him, she said, "Or maybe you could move in with-"

"I ain't livin' with Elfman."

And that was that.

Laxus went back to resting his lips against Mirajane's forehead and she was contemplating how to break it to Elfman, who was still out and had no idea that she was married, that not only was she moving out, but also that she was moving in with Laxus.

Depending on how she played up Laxus' friendship with Evergreen, it might actually go well.

Maybe…

"So not only do you think that you can just marry my sister without asking, but now you think you can fraternize in front of me too? Unbelievable."

And Lisanna was up. Great.

Laxus and Mirajane separated at the sound of her coming into the living room, her sister staring in shock at her, given that Lisanna, when she didn't have work, could very easily sleep till noon.

But she did have work. She had to work on Laxus. Or at least figure him and his intentions out.

Because no one messed with her and Elf's older sister. And if her brother wasn't around to (attempt) to beat out of Laxus just what he was doing, running away with their big sister, then Lisanna would just have to step up to the plate.

"Fraternize?" Laxus held Mirajane to him as she turned to face her sister. Resting his head atop the woman's, he only stared at Lisanna. "What is she to you? A prisoner?"

Lisanna leveled her gaze right back. "Maybe."

"Hmmm." Slowly, he let go of Mirajane before walking over to Lisanna. Swallowing, the youngest Strauss only stared up at him. With an unusual grin, Laxus raised a hand to her and...patted her on the head.

"You know, kid," he began as he left his hand atop her head, "this is new for me too. This whole...dealing with you thing. And probably your brother too. Then I gotta adjust to being a husband too? That's too much. So whatever it is you want to do to me, get it over with today, yeah? I don't want to fight with you, Lisanna. I love your sister. A lot. And I get that you Strausses are close. And you can still have Mirajane Strauss. But Mirajane Dreyar's mine. Yeah?"

Still, Lisanna only stared. "That doesn't even make sense."

"After you see Mirajane Dreyar, kid," he said with one last pat to her head. "You'll be beggin' to ditch Strauss too, yeah? And don't worry; I'll let you be my little sister instead of Elfman. If you beg."

And Lisanna shoved his hand off that time, but Laxus only laughed as Mirajane gave him a look. Before she had a chance to explain to him that bullying of her brother would never be allowed, he was rushing back over to her to wrap an arm around her once more.

"C'mon." He nuzzled his head against hers. "I wanna spend some time with my wife. I just got home and all. Isn't that how this is going to work?"

"I have work, dragon." Then Mirajane glanced at her sister. "Unless-"

"No." And Lisanna whined that. "This isn't fair. I was gonna go hang out with-"

"Just for the morning shift? Please?" Mira gave her the best sad look she could muster. "For the newly weds?"

"If this is how it's always going to be-"

"It ain't." And Laxus gave Lisanna this...look. Mirajane couldn't quite explain it, but whatever it was it made Lisanna look to the ground. "Mira'll be in at two sharp."

Lisanna only kicked at the ground. Then, "Yeah, whatever."

"And maybe," Laxus offered as he started to lead a shocked Mirajane out the door, "we can go out to lunch or something after, huh? And get this all settled?"

But he was tugging Mirajane out the door before he heard Lisanna's answer. It was just as well, as she wasn't too ready to give him one just yet.

"What was that?" Mira complained as she elbowed Laxus in the ribs. He only tightened his arm around her though.

"What?"

"You know what. You bossing around Lisanna."

"I didn't boss her around. I just told her what was going to happen. I'm a natural born leader, you know."

"Uh-huh."

"Besides." He gave a half shrug. "Me and Lisanna...we're cool. She's just all pissy about...whatever stupid Strauss sibling shit is going on. And from what I can tell, only children make the best in-laws."

"What would give you that idea?"

"Because we wanna be left the eff alone, so we'll leave them the eff alone. Win-win."

"Oh, dragon."

He was solemn then as he softly said, "I like your sister, Mira. So don't worry about it, huh? You got more important things."

"Such as?"

She got a kiss to the head. Then, "We got a marital bed to break in."

"You're so nasty!"

But she was giggling and he was grinning, just a bit, and it was done. The big thing that had been looming overhead. All of it.

Well, most of it. Laxus still had to contend with one Elfman Strauss (and one Evergreen who would no doubt be secretly seething that Laxus had locked down a Strauss before her) as well as the guild (thoguh, considering he didn't acknowledge most of them in any way on a daily basis, that was nothing).

And then, finally, he had to deal with the consequences of his actions.

Namely, being married to Mirajane Strauss.

Nee, Mirajane Dreyar.

Mmmm.

Oh, and then there was Makarov who was none too pleased to know that not only had Laxus, as he put it, 'tarnished Mirajane', but also...kinda...done exactly what the man had always dreamed of.

Heh.

But it was worth it. All of it. Just for those moments when Laxus could walk around Magnolia with his demon and not have to worry about it in the slightest.

So maybe they hadn't been dating. And Mira wasn't knocked up (yet, anyhow). And they definitely weren't smuggling drugs.

But...they were married. And, for the most part, Laxus had to say pretty happily.

What more could he ask for than that?

---

I started this out of boredom because I was too lazy to start on the next chapter of Accidents and Incidents, like, nearly two weeks ago and it was supposed to be a short one-shot (I was actually worried it wouldn't meet the length that I like to hit before I post something), but somewhere along the way it just got away from me and now here we are.

Not my best, but not my worst. Accidents and Incidents up next, hopefully, although something for the Parenthood series should be coming up pretty soon too.