Playing By The Pool

"Holy shit."

Towel slung over his left shoulder, Laxus let out an impressed whistle as he walked onto the sky deck of the cruise he was on. The boat was still docked in Hargeon port but that wasn't going to stop the blonde from lounging around the pool in the hot summer sun. He had a week on this cruise and he planned to use his time effectively.

Freed walked beside him, also carrying a white towel. He looked over the pool, impressed with the lavishness of the expansive deck. The pool was incredibly large, bordered by two bars and more than one hundred sun loungers. It was basically empty, as the couple had been granted early boarding.

"The guild certainly didn't set a strict budget, it seemed." Freed commented as they walked beside the pool. "I feel slightly guilty."

"Don't. We both knew they'd get us something big. Just be glad they didn't hire the ship out just the two of us for the whole week. Then they might have been pushing it."

The cruise was Freed and Laxus' honeymoon and wedding gift from Fairy Tail. Their actual wedding had been over a month ago, however they had to wait this long as The Raijinshuu had been specially requested to go on a mission. The couple had discussed the issue and, after Makarov assured them they could easily rearrange the time of their honeymoon without wasting money, they came to the conclusion that the mission should hold a higher priority. Evergreen and Bickslow had made it fun anyway, pretending it was a rehearsal honeymoon and refusing to let them pay for anything the month they were away.

But the mission had been a tough one, so the relaxing break was more than appreciated by them both. Now they could enjoy each other's company and push back the stress that came with their career.

Deciding to settle under the sun and beside the bar, they both placed their towels on some cushioned sun loungers. Laxus walked towards the bar and leant on it, looking over the menu. The bartender allowed him some time to think, Laxus turning around to see Freed sitting on his lounger with his sunglasses on. He was reading some book that Laxus knew he was excited to get to the end of.

"Hey." He raised his voice slightly to get Freed's attention. "What d'you want."

Freed thought for a moment. "Just water, please."

Laxus rolled his eyes and turned back to the barman. "Just a second."

The blonde walked to his new husband and looked down on him, waiting for him to react. Freed looked up when a large shadow was cast over him, removing his sunglasses to look at Laxus. The two stared at each other, waiting for the other man to speak. Laxus' patience wasn't as large as Freed's was.

He took the book out of Freed's hands and placed it on the other lounger. As Freed frowned and leaned over to pick up his book, Laxus took the opportunity and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, picking him up and trapping him there. He walked to the poolside, keeping Freed's feet just above the decking as he squirmed and glared at him. He stopped beside the pool, holding Freed just above the water with a grin on his face.

"We're on vacation, you aint allowed to be healthy on a vacation." Laxus spoke bluntly, as if he wasn't holding his fully dressed husband above the water. "So order a drink that you actually wanna have, or you might end up drinking some nice, chlorine filled pool water."

"You wouldn't dare." Freed playfully glared, looking over his shoulder.

"Y'know. It's really hot here. Might be getting delirious." Laxus spoke in a mockingly wistful voice. "My arms feel weak. My grip's slipping. Oh no."

Laxus released his grip on Freed for a moment, grasping him around his chest. Freed's feet and ankles were submerged in the warm water, thankfully he was wearing swimming shorts. But he was still wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt and he wouldn't enjoy being submerged in the water wearing that, it would cling to him completely.

Freed had squeaked when Laxus dropped him slightly, glaring directly into Laxus' smug, grinning face. He sighed when he realised that Laxus wasn't going to give up on this, so sent his husband a small grin.

"I'll get you back for this." He smirked. "But, if I must, I'll have a non-alcoholic cocktail. You can choose it."

"Good choice."

Laxus released his grip completely. He turned around as Freed was dropped into the warm water of the pool, chuckling at the sound of Freed's shocked squeak. He looked over his shoulder to see Freed's head shoot up from under the water, moving his hair from his face and pulling at his wet, white shirt.

Deciding it would be better to leave Freed to his fun in the pool, Laxus turned back to the bar and ordered them both non-alcoholic cocktails; they didn't want to drink in the morning after all. He took the drinks from the barman, who was smiling slightly.

He walked back to his lounger, placing Freed's drink on the wooden decking beside Freed's chair. He made sure to exaggerate his comfort as he sat on his own chair, watching Freed climb out of the pool. The rune mage didn't stop glaring at him as he left the pool and stood at the end of Laxus' lounger. The crossed arms and glare made Laxus snigger loudly into his drink. He went to put his glass on the decking so he could properly react, but Freed interrupted him.

"The second you put that down, you're going in the water." He threatened as he took of his clinging shirt.

"See, you're threatenin' me but you're also taking off your shirt. Mixed signals, really." Laxus grinned, lifting his glass up again and ceremoniously drinking it. "Guess I'll just never put this down then."

Freed glared at Laxus, walking to the small bag his towel and book had been stored in, taking a small hairband and tying his hair up at the top so his hair wouldn't become too big of a mess. Seeing as he was already wet and had been acclimatised to the heat of the water, he slipped back into the pool, this time by his own request.

Laxus watched this from behind his own sunglasses with a smile. It was obvious that Freed wasn't actually annoyed at him, Laxus knew him well enough to know his husband was just playing with him. Although, Laxus was sure that Freed would definitely carry out the threat he had made without a second thought.

The rune mage was swimming elegantly across the water, the pool was practically empty beside him. The cruise had two pools on the sky deck and this was the smaller, but less used one. Laxus watched as his husband happily swam the length of the water multiple times. When he learnt that Freed was relaxed by swimming he was shocked, but it became obvious that he loved swimming with how much time he actually spent in the water when he had the time.

After watching his husband for a short while, Laxus leant back on the lounger and closed his eyes behind his sunglasses. He wasn't the type to sunbathe normally, but after the month-long mission he was more than happy to relax in the sun. He let out a loud yawn, feeling the need to sleep grow.

But before he could sleep, he was splattered with water.

He shot up immediately and removed his sunglasses, looking down to see his husband leaning on the poolside with a challenging raised eyebrow aimed directly at him. Laxus laughed in shock, looking down at his now wet shorts and t-shirt. His eyes narrowed at his husband as he removed his own shirt.

"The boat lurched." Freed blatantly lied. "But only in a way that made you wet."

"I'd play along." Laxus said as he placed his sunglasses down on the deck. "But I wanna hear you say that you splashed me."

"Why?" Freed chuckled.

"Because I wanna hear you say that you did something as immature as Natsu and his cat." Laxus grinned. "Actually, I want it to be in Fairy Tail's history. Everyone needs to know that Freed Justine is an immature, splashing little brat."

"Well, you're not entirely wrong." Freed smiled. "But you made one little mistake."

Laxus frowned when Freed gestured for him to come closer. He crouched down beside Freed, who had leant forward. Freed wordlessly placed their lips together and kissed his husband slowly, running his hands through the soft blonde hair. He stopped before it got heated, remembering that they were in a public place.

"My name's Justine-Dreyar now." Freed whispered tenderly.

It took a moment, but Laxus' small grin broke into a large, happy smile. He reinitiated the kiss between them both, running his hands through Freed's trapped, soaking wet hair. They rested their foreheads together, Freed panting gently after his small-time swimming and the kiss. They stared at each other's eyes for a moment, enjoying the sight of each other in the calmness of the cruise sky deck.

Eventually they pulled apart from each other, Laxus returning to his lounger and Freed treading water, enjoying the warm water covering his body. The rune mage noticed something that made him smirk. He swam back to the end of the pool again, waiting for Laxus to notice him.

"You put your glass down."

Laxus' eyes widened and he managed to get out a small curse as his hands quickly began to dissolve into Freed's runes. He managed to send a glare at his husband just before the teleportation spell his husband had cast on him took full effect. A second later, Laxus found himself one-meter above the water.

He cringed when he was dropped into the water from the air, a large splash cutting through the quietness of the deck. It took a moment for Laux to emerge from the surface of the pool, hair wet and face glaring at his husband.

"Dirty trick." Laxus grumbled, slowly walking towards Freed. "So, you better run."

"I'd rather swim. It's much more efficient in the water." Freed leant against the wall, looking ready to swim. "But by all means, you can run."

Freed kicked off from the wall, swimming at a fast speed away from his husband. Laxus grumbled as he began to swim after Freed, not as fast as the other man. He pouted slightly, seeing it unfair that Freed could use his magic completely but Laxus couldn't do anything without the chance of electrocuting someone else who was in the pool. But thankfully, Laxus had one advantage. Freed was getting cocky.

As the rune mage grew more confident in Laxus' inability to get to him, he began to taunt Laxus by swimming past him closer. His eyes widened when a hand grasped his ankle, stopping him in his tracks. He looked back to see Laxus grinning at him.

"Damn." Freed mumbled.

Laxus dragged him back across the water and grasped Freed's head with both hands, forcing the other man under the surface of the water with a cackle. He left Freed under there for only a few seconds, knowing he could handle it, before he removed his hands and let his husband out so he could start to glare at him.

"It's your own fault for bein' a cocky shit." Laxus grinned.

The blonde watched Freed as he clearly plotted his next move. It took significantly less time than Laxus expected, because Freed practically tackled him and held him under the water in exactly the same way he had just undergone.

Laxus wrapped his arms around Freed's waists again and, with some difficulty because of the water, lifted him up. Freed squeaked when he was somehow lifted over Laxus' shoulder, wondering how the blonde had managed to turn this on him so quickly. Having a husband with that much muscle had significantly annoying moments.

Holding Freed above his shoulder like a trophy of some kind, Laxus began to walk around the pool casually. He ignored the threats coming from the other man, glad that most of them contained a lot of playful insults and laughing from his rune mage. The blonde chuckled when Freed punched him against the chest, reaching up and kissing him on the nose. Freed blushed at that, deciding not to follow up with another punch. He would let Laxus tire himself out.

"There's only one way to get down." Laxus grinned. "And it aint squirming."

"Oh, just tell me before the pool gets too crowded." Freed mumbled.

"Why, you gonna get embarrassed?" Laxus teased.

"No. But if you keep swinging me around in here I'll end up kicking someone. So, tell me what I need to do." Freed rolled his eyes. "Quickly please."

Laxus put his spare hand on his chin, humming as if he was in thought. Freed waited for Laxus to go through his little melodrama, deciding that he probably wouldn't do this for too long and get he'd get bored by this soon.

"To get out, you need to confess your undying love for your thunder god." Laxus grinned.

"I'm not going to call you that."

"Well I hope you like the view then. Or maybe you'd like to see the water from a closer angle."

With a large laugh, Laxus began to slowly lower Freed downwards towards the water again, face first. He took his time, not actually intending to submerge Freed in the water. How would he manage to admit his undying love for the thunder god if his mouth was filled with water? It was impossible!

Freed was intending to see how far Laxus was willing to go. His hair was almost completely floating across the water by the time be chose to give into Laxus' desires. He sighed and looked towards Laxus, groaning at his smug smile.

"Fine. I greatly love my… thunder god and I will do until the day I die. And after that, I'm sure that my soul will harbour the exact same feelings for an eternity."

"Laying it on a bit thick, but I guess I'm so loveable it's hard not to." Laxus grinned. "Well, you earned this."

Yet again, Laxus dropped Freed into the pool. The rune mage looked towards his husband with an amused glare.

"You are dead, Dreyar."

"Dreyar-Justine. Get it right."