.
When the two walked outside the air was hot, thick, and humid. Cana sometimes noted the changes in the weather. She didn't speculate on what the stickiness meant for her future. The woman knew that people had a higher chance of acting stupid. That would give an excuse or Laxus' idiocy and her boyfriend's' moody behavior, right? It had to be the heat just getting to their heads. Cana and Laxus walked into the guild around ten o'clock. She sat him down at an empty table and went over to the bar counter. Cana saw Mira wiping down the polished wood.
"Yo, Mirajane! I ain't here for drinks. I need info." She called out.
"Oooh!" The young bartender eagerly shot her stare up. Info meant gossip, and gossip was Mira's key to an interesting evening. "Yes, Cana?"
"Where is Makarov? He needs to talk to his grandson about something."
"Master Makarov is having a meeting with the other guild masters. He should be done in a few minutes."
"Can you call me once he's done?"
"That's it? Well, yeah, sure thing."
Cana subtlely smacked her hand on the counter and flashed a thumbs up. "Thanks." She started to walk off back to Laxus.
"Oh!" Mira exclaimed, getting the woman's attention. "Cana, before I forget, Laxus paid off your tab this morning. He said he owed you a favor."
"Woah, woah, woah! Wait... He paid off the tab, or just what was from last night?"
"The whole thing. It was about the size of Lucy's rent. Even though he's been in a slump, he has been a lot sweeter and thoughtful. Don't you think?"
Cana blushed "Y-Yeah! Um… he really has sweetened up, huh?" Cana looked nervously down at the floor and started muttering to herself. "I really hope he doesn't expect me to give anything in return... God, and I'm going to have to explain to Bacchus why I have an extra 70,000 jewels."
"You shouldn't have to worry." Mirajane smiled keenly. "Too bad you have Bacchus; Laxus would make a wonderful husband for you."
Cana glared back up, noticing that look and knowing perfectly well what it meant. She sighed in hopes that it would relieve the tension on her chest. "Mira, please don't start that."
"What?! He would. He paid the whole tab!" The bartender went on, trying to prove her point. "In successful relationships, you gratefully give and receive something, whether it be affection, time, service, encouragement or material things. What has Bacchus done for you?"
"What has Bacchus done for you?" A voice from above questioned.
Cana turned around and looked up. "What the fuck are you doing up there?" she scolded.
Bixlow was hanging from the top of a high banister listening to the conversation between Cana and Mirajane. "Oh, nothing much." The weirdo jumped down. "Just finding out what is goin' on as far as the Laxana project."
"The what project?" Cana asked. Her concerns were growing now that Bixlow was in the picture.
"It's the relationship between you and Laxus." Mira answered gleefully.
"Laxus plus Cana equals Laxana!" Bixlow added.
"Laxana! Laxana! Laxana!" Bixlow's babies chanted.
Cana smeared her hands against her face and massaged her temples. Her phone started to ring. The tone was all too familiar. It had to be her boyfriend. "Hello?" She answered the phone.
"Where are you? You bailed on Rocker when I went to the bathroom."
"I'm in my guild. Rocker said he was going to tell you where I was going!"
"Well, he didn't. He kept blabbing on about some dead horse and getting arrested. I'm on my way over there."
"Why-" Cana couldn't finish her sentence before Bacchus hung up. Cana put her phone away and shook her head while releasing yet another sigh.
"You're awfully stressed, aren't you?" Bixlow commented. He kept a careful note on her reactions and movements.
She ignored him and walked back over Laxus to see how he was. Cana tried to hide how overwhelmed she really was. If the closest people in her life kept this up, she was going to lose what sanity she still managed to hold. The spotlight was on her now, and she had no one's shadow to hide under. Then again, there was an intoxicated Laxus to tend to. She switched the tracks for her train of thought. Cana wasn't even sure anymore if he was truly drunk or not. The dragon Slayer was tipsy when she walked him over but Laxus wasn't laughing his ass off. In fact, Laxus seemed bummed out or even depressed. It was like he couldn't do something he really wanted to. Considering what had happened this morning, Cana wondered if he might be trying to manipulate her away from Bacchus. Laxus was blankly staring at the table. She tapped him on his muscular shoulder. "Your grandfather will be with you in a few minutes. Something about a meeting."
Laxus nodded his head but kept on staring mindlessly at the table.
"Hey, what did you do this morning after I left with Bacchus?"
The man shrugged. "Um… talked to Bixlow, went home, took a nap-"
"Mira said you paid my bar tab." Cana interrupted. She took the seat from the right to Laxus.
"Oh yeah. I paid your tab too. That was… after I had a talk with Bix." He acted like it wasn't a big deal and went on with his dreary state.
"Why? I could understand you buying me a beer or two but my tab was thirty to forty kegs."
"Well, I broke into your apartment, took a nap on your couch while waiting for you to get there. Then you gave me a tarot card reading. Then you stitched my hand and, last night I spooned you without your permission. Your…" The man made another disgusted expression. "boyfriend seemed pissed about that."
"Well…" Cana got an urge to do something but was very resistant to follow. "It was extremely nice of you to pay my tab. Thanks." Cana leaned closer and softly kissed the right side of Laxus' face, giving into a sudden surge of compulsiveness, right over his scar. He was stunned that Cana had kissed him on his scar. Laxus was stunned that she had even kissed him. The grown adult could feel his face get hot again. He panicked a little on the inside. He never blushed, but he didn't know what else would make his face this hot.
Bixlow was swiftly clapping his hands together while making an absurd squealing sound, but he stopped suddenly. "Auh fuck no…" Laxus heard him mutter out.
"So, you are cheating on me!"
Cana looked away from Laxus and was dumbstruck when she saw Bacchus in front of her at the wrong time.
"What the hell Cana?! You ditched me to see this dumb ass!" He quickly rushed over to the woman and got up in her face.
"Excuse me?" Laxus softly interrupted.
Bixlow stood up and watched Bacchus walk over to Laxus. The young man seemed ready to pounce if Bacchus dared to make a move on either one of the people in his new OTP.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Bacchus yelled at Cana. At least he wasn't ignoring her now.
She didn't flinch. She just stared at him, unafraid of anything he could possibly do. She got up from her seat. "It's not what it looks like. I-" Cana tried to explain calmly.
"I just saw you kiss him! What the fuck?! Quit lying to me!"
Laxus saw an image from his memories of his father saying "Quit lying to me".
"What fuck about you!? You knew she was mine you worthless piece of shit!" Bacchus said directing his attention to Laxus since he couldn't get a desirable reaction from Cana. Laxus had another image of his father calling him worthless. His face was emotionless. He heard the insults and compressed his anger and waited for an appropriate chance to strike.
"Answer me before I fuck up the other side of your face!"
Laxus glared at Bacchus. "What did you say?"
Bixlow took a step closer to his target.
Cana backed away from the two men. Bixlow walked up behind her, his fists clenched.
"Answer. Me. Before. I. Fuck up. The. Other. Side. Of. Your. Face." Bacchus repeated.
Bixlow started slowly creeping closer, but Laxus raised his hand as a way to tell him to stop. Bix listened and watched with anticipation, ready to start throwing punches. He'd get his ass kicked, but at least Bacchus wouldn't be hitting Laxus.
Laxus stood up from the bench. "Is there something wrong with my face?"
Cana realized how much taller Laxus was compared to Bacchus. She remembered that Laxus had the same expression from when he was at her apartment. Only this time, it didn't go away. The young woman hoped that Bacchus wasn't going to be an idiot with Laxus' emotions. The tension was tightening in the room.
Bacchus smirked in a prideful manner, like he was going to say something smart. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize your daddy made you blind too."
A huge gasp went through the room.
For the first time in years, Laxus publicly showed a critical emotion. Fear. His eyes got wide and panicked.
Cana's face said she had a mix of anger and shock. "Ah fuck no."The woman quietly spat, her teeth practically glued shut. She quickly rushed up to Bacchus to do something. She was just going to pull him away. Tell him how much of an ass he was being. Yell at him to stop. However, that's not what the girlfriend did. Her right hand mangled into a fist, and her arm retracted, storing more tension with every step she took.
"Huh?" Bacchus turned just in time for Cana sucker punched her boyfriend in the jaw. He stumbled for a moment, staggered with shock that Cana would even raise a hand to him.
Terrified, Cana took another sock, but this time she bashed Bacchus' nose. Hitting him before he had time to get upset and strike her 10 times harder seemed like the best option. He still stood, but for only a second. He reached up to his face and as his hand was greeted by a fountain of blood, his body went limp and dropped to the floor. Laxus didn't do shit to catch him. Bacchus landed on his back but smacked his head against the hard wooden floor, causing a concussion. The world quickly escaped his grasp as he lost consciousness.
"OOOH!" echoed the surrounding guildmates, astonished by Cana's feats. Elfman looked like he was going to cry.
Bix quickly rushed over to measure how much damage Cana had done. The man hovered the back of his hand over Bacchus' mouth. His warm breath continuously met up with Bixlow's skin. "He's still breathing!" The young man announced.
"He's Breathing! He's Breathing! He's Breathing!" His dolls squealed. Popo and Papa quickly rushed down and started ramming themselves into the limp body a few times before realizing that he was supposed to be breathing.
The room started to fill with fond whispers and hysterical laughter.
Bix got back up and rotated to she how Cana was doing. "I thought I was going to punch him first. If he charges you with assault, I'm fine with helping you out with bail." Her dear drinking friend admitted, but there was no response back to him.
Cana stared with wide eyes at Bacchus. She didn't move. She didn't blink. She didn't even wipe the blood off her right hand.
Bixlow slowly turned back to Laxus. "Um, well, she isn't okay... How are you?" Again, Bix was ignored.
Laxus felt like every eye in the room was staring him. Little did he know that people were laughing at their own memories of Cana's roughness, and not at him. He didn't like the sense of every person having a better idea about how he got his scar. Laxus felt like his trust with Cana was broken. She couldn't have kept her promise with him. She must have told Bacchus. Not knowing how to react or cope with all his rising emotions, Laxus decided that maybe it was time to leave. This was going to start a whole new feud with gramps. Laxus hardly knew if he was angry, upset or if he was going to snap. The man just stood there, silently reliving all the excruciatingly painful memories. He could vividly hear his father screaming at him.
Bix looked back to see that Mira was going to take no part in the aftermath. He glared back and forth at the two left and then began to stare at Bacchus. "Might as well join the bandwagon..." Bixlow whispered to himself. He threw up his hands, but no one noticed. "I don't know what to do. I haven't been in this predicament in ages. I might end up doing more harm than help..." He waited for one of them to react. People started to go back to their business, while Laxus, Cana, and Bixlow quietly stood in front of a knocked out bitch.
Laxus shook his head after noticing how caught up he was in his tortured mind. The blond took his eyes off the ex-love rival and directed them to the front guild doors. Cana was in the way of the shortest path. "Move." He scornfully blurbed out.
His voice echoed sourly into the woman's ears, but she refused to do anything.
Bix forcefully pulled her body a step back. He could sense that something godawfully horrifying within Laxus was being obsessively mangled.
Laxus slowly started to move, but quickly picked up the pace. The yelling quickly started up again. It was as if Ivan was behind him, ready to begin senselessly beating the shit out of his only son. Laxus' legs started to run after a few steps out of the entrance. His movement shifted to auto pilot while his mind wandered deeper into the depths of his home-grown hell. He kept on aimlessly rushing through the town of Magnolia, not having a clue on where to go. The hollering began to get distorted. Laxus tried to cover his ears to soften the vicious wailing, but that didn't do a damn thing. The grown man tried rationalizing that the tormenting sound wasn't real, but the more he did, the louder it got. His head felt like it was being split open from the inside. His clothes began to stick to his body, restricting his movement. His breathing got heavier. The screaming got even more intense. Horrified and dazed, he stopped running and leaned against a small tree planted on the sidewalk. No one was around. None of the buildings looked familiar. The screeching in his head prevented him from being able to focus on any street signs. This nostalgic and eerie feeling was almost unfathomable. Something like this hadn't happened since he was 16. Laxus was so much older now. How could a grown adult feel this lost in the town he grew up in?
