Lorik wasted no time standing and sauntering over to Mirajane at the Bar. He leaned on the counter happily and she gave him a kind smile.

"An Ale please and also a mug of whatever Laxus likes to drink!" He ordered cheerfully and she raised an eyebrow but nodded, turning to retrieve his order. Lorik turned around to look at his 'target' while he waited. Laxus sat alone in the far end of the guild hall, he had his feet up on the table as he sat back in his chair and was currently reading what looked like a letter of sorts; his face was in a concentrated scowl (it was different from his normal, annoyed at everything scowl...kinda). The sandy haired mage considered his fellow Guild mate. Laxus wasn't bad looking at all, his scar and his spiky blond hair helped add to his scary, bad boy vibe- he could dig it, in fact, he kind of did. He was so arrogant and disgruntled with his abilities, personality and status as an S Ranked Wizard, while Lorik was a friendly, spiritual pacifist.

An interesting combination for sure, he wondered who would top...?

"What are you planning?"

Mirajane's voice cut through his thoughts and he turned back to her with his most charming and friendly smile.

"Not a thing, my lovely Mira." He replied with a guilty shrug as she placed his drinks down for him. She raised an eyebrow and looked between the two. Lorik just grinned and took the drinks, turning away.

"Befriending Laxus will be hard." She finally sang as he retreated further from her and made his way to the far end of the guild.

"Not for someone like me!" He sang back over his shoulder .

It was true, for him making friends was as easy as breathing. Lorik was a sensory Wizard, he could warp another's emotions, nerves and 5 sensors in battle, making a target see, feel, hear, smell and taste what he desired; changing their reality around them if he wanted to. But his power didn't stop their, along with being able to control or destroy a persons nervous system completely beyond repair, he also had the ability to mess with emotions. He could make an enemy, surrender, a sad friend happy again, a stressed man relax. He tried not to most of the time, and if he did he did it subtly so people wouldn't notice him holding the puppet stings above. He WAS an S Ranked Wizard after all, and it was because of his staggering power that he always gave off an uncontrollable aura of his current emotion to surrounding guild mates; just like he felt their emotions strongly.

And he was always a friendly dude, so friendship was easy.

"Hey Laxus." He greeted happily on arrival, the Dragon Slayer looked up at him and quickly folding up his current reading material and placed it in his coat pocket.

"Hey." He grunted back causally. He knew Lorik as a fellow S Class wizard, he could be polite...for now.

Lorik placed the drink down in front of him and took a sip of his own. "Here, you look like you need a drink." Subtlety, he used his magic to active the endorphins in the other mans nervous system, this should make him feel happier and relaxed, more responsive in a way Lorik liked.

Hey, it didn't hurt to soften up the prey a bit, and it's not like he was cheating; Gray didn't say anything about not using magic. Laxus took the drink without a word and took a long sip.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Lorik asked with a smile.

"Sure." Laxus replied almost instantly, he even found himself fighting back a returning...friendly smile? Wait...what?! He never smiled like that to anyone EVER, he wasn't about to start for the handsome hippie of Fairy Tail.

Wait, handsome? That's weird, he was another dude, how random.

Lorik pulled out a chair and took a seat, he could feel Natsu and Gray's eyes burning into his back as they watched, real subtle guys.

"I thought you left on a job with your team this morning." The sensory mage stated, leaning back in his chair, not breaking eye contact.

"We did, but I got a letter and had to return to see the The Old Man." He replied, his face stoic as he took another drink. "My Thunder God Tribe will finish the job and be back in like 3 days."

"3 days huh, what a coincidence..." He smirked into his drink.

Laxus raised a questioning eyebrow at the other man from behind his mug.

"Oh it's nothing, hey, care to tell me some of your adventures while in exile, I'm dying to hear some stories."

Normally, Laxus didn't like to talk about his exile from Fairy Tail, people that know him know not to bring it up. He expected to feel the same wave of annoyance he usually did, but it never came; instead he felt a wave of excitement rush through him. What a bold request from the other man.

Swinging his legs off the table top, the Lighting mage leaned in and with shrug he began. "Why not...let me tell you about this Village I visited half drunk..."

...

"I think he might really pull this off." Gray stated in disbelief as he watch the couple from across the room. A flush on his cheeks because now he was in visioning the two quite intimately- stupid booze.

"Psshhhh, as if. Laxus wouldn't fall for anything that hippie tries." Natsu stated fiercely, taking a large bite of more recently required food.

"You fell for it once, Flame Brain." Gray stated, thinking back to when Lorik had put the moves on Natsu for fun and succeeded, mostly in causing a sexuality crises in the Fire Mage.

"Shut up, Ice Queen, that was different!"

"What did you call me Fla-

Spirited laughter cut Gray off mid-insult and both him and Natsu turned towards it. Their eyes both went wide at the sight of Laxus...laughing!? Lorik was howling and slapping the table in response to whatever had been said. Oh course he was using his powers to his advantage.

"We're doomed."

...

He was laughing, truly laughing; when was the last time this happened? What had gotten into him, he was enjoying this Sensory Wizards' company a lot more then he had initially intended. They now sat on their 5th round of drinks, the sky outside had now become dark and littered with bright stars. Mira had shut the doors in order to keep out the night chill as the Guild quickly began to fill up with energetic Wizards ready to party their night away.

Honestly, Laxus was too caught up in the drinking to notice he was drawing curious glances from around the Hall.

"Why haven't I ever fought you!?" He asked, truly baffled as he took a sip of his drink.

Little did he know that Lorik had been steadily activating the endorphins in the others body as the night wore on, adding hints of adrenalin mixed with other various natural chemicals to create a cocktail of emotion in the other man. He could feel its effects, Laxus currently felt very relaxed, happy and just a little bit of lust- not much, but enough for him to noticed the way Lorik's eyes looked away and his cheeks flushed slightly when he laughed drunkly. It was a steady process, but one that Laxus looked like he needed. A reputation can be a hard thing when you can't express yourself- personally, Lorik though that a good fuck might lessen him up; he was doing the guy a favour.

"Because I don't fight man, I don't need to, I make people surrender or loss their will at a glance." He replied and the Dragon Slayer huffed, annoyed.

"But can't you like, control or destroy nerves or some shit? I remember you did that on that SS class job with me and Guildarts." He persisted, standing slightly.

"Yeah, I don't like to, I do it as a last resort, or as self defence." He admitted with a yawn, watching Laxus ball his hands into fists. God he was as bad a Natsu sometimes...

"How do you control people, I can attack you if you need it you be in self defence." He offered seriously, pulling his coat off from around his shoulders and draping it over the back of his chair.

"I don't want to."

"Too bad."

"I'm not an expert."

"I wanna see."

"It will hurt...probably a lot."

"I don't care." Laxus was now standing up and looking down at him, his expression drunkenly serious.

Lorik sighed heavily and stood slowly, his chair screeching across the wood. "Fine, just...throw a punch or some-

He didn't finish his sentence before the Dragon Slayer's huge closed fist was now flying towards him at full speed. Just as it was about to make contact with his cheek, Lorik gracefully flicked his index and middle fingers towards the other's and arm. And like that, Laxus didn't make contact, in fact he couldn't move his arm at all before white hot pain cut through him like a knife. It felt like his arm was on fire...no wait, not fire- he knew this agonising feeling.

He grunted as Lorik guided his arm away from his face and made his fist uncurl and do a peace sign before laughing and finally letting go of control.

"Sorry about the pain, I'm not an expert yet."

Laxus rubbed his arm, the nerves and muscles were still spasming under his skin, making it feel tingly. "I know that feeling." He stated as they retook their seats.

"I hope not, I control the electrical current of the nerves to do it, that's why it hurts."

Taking his drink once more, the lighting mage nodded. "I figured, it felt familiar, like how I used to feel before I got a handle on my own lighting."

Lorik nodded. "Yeah, I need to learn to control it better, get a better grip of the electrical signals, but I don't want to, you know?" He questioned. "I mean, I hate using it even as a self defence tactic. I think I'll just stick to my martial arts and holds." He laughed, drinking deeply. "What are you doing tomorrow?" He added casually.

"Nothing, maybe a job." The dragon slayer replied absently.

'This is perfect.' Lorik though with a smirk into his mug. He sent a wave of adrenalin and excitement mixed with lust over to the other man. "How about you teach me some stuff? I can practise conducting your lighting as practice." He offered with a charming smile.

"Sure, I even have some fighting moves you can learn." Laxus offered almost immediately, much to his own shock. Why would he say that? Laxus Dreyar did NOT train with people, he was the best and that's all that mattered. So...what on earth made him agree so quickly?!

"Awesome, I'll meet you outside the Guild tomorrow, late morning ok?."

Laxus absently rubbed his arm and nodded, swallowing absently.

"Hey, you hungry, wanna order some dinner from Mira?"

"Sure"

As Lorik stood and began walking to the bar, he winked over at Natsu and Gray who were now in a heated insult match, they grinned back at him knowingly.

The first day of their bet was a short one, but already, he felt like he had made enough progress to be proud of. Tomorrow, he would raise the bar to a whole new level.

This Dragon Slayer better watch his back because it will be laying on a mattress soon enough.

And at this rate, Natsu and Gray should just start renovating his house right now...