-Tiny rewrite 02.04.2018-
***Note: The first section of this chapter was the previous last section of Chapter 25 :) ***
I changed the order after reading some reviews :) And Natsu does create havoc...
Thanks again to my amazing reviewers (MizBlueSage and DD-Returns101) - it's so encouraging :)
Chapter 26.
The sun had barely risen in the sky, bathing Akane Beach in a warm glow, while the air still held the nights chill.
Lucy shivered slightly as she walked down to the beach, following the path she'd seen Amalie take. She almost regretted not stealing the long white coat Erik was so fond of.
She'd been comfortably snuggled up with a very shirtless Erik, and it was only sheer determination to get stronger that had dragged her from the cozy covers. The larger slayer had been curled around behind her, face buried in her hair and arm wrapped around her waist. She was quietly proud of herself for controlling her reflexes and not Lucy kicking him from the bed when she'd first woken up. He wasn't as smotheringly hot as Natsu, so being his little spoon had definitely been a more pleasant experience. And she thought his relaxed sleeping face was positively adorable, but that was something she'd try and keep from him. Erik wasn't adorable - he was fierce and strong and sarcastic as hell.
"You followed me."
"Oh, Mavis! You scared me!" Lucy started and gave a small scream at the other girl's voice, her hand flying up to press her chest like she could stop her heart from thundering out from the fright she'd just gotten.
"I've been standing here waiting for you to catch up," the princess replied blandly, raising an eyebrow as she regarded the blonde. "Hot night with Cobra?"
"What?! No!" the Celestial mage squeaked, her cheeks colouring to an impressing red. She'd honestly been so caught up in her Slayer that she'd lost all awareness of her surroundings. "I was hoping... I mean, maybe I could train with you?"
A smile lit Amalie's face. "Course. Anything in particular? Knives? Swords? Archery? Maybe some hand-to-hand combat?"
Ok, I really didn't think this through, Lucy gulped."I just... I want to be physically stronger."
The pinkette nodded silently, her green eyes assessing Lucy's figure. The blonde shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.
"What's your endurance like?"
"As in running?" Lucy questioned, before blushing. "Not good. Terrible, actually."
"Being able to run no matter what is essential to survival," Amalie's voice was low, as if she were reciting something that had been drummed into her from a young age.
We're not too different, I suppose, Lucy realised. Born into entitlement but hated what that entailed.
"There's a lighthouse at the end of the beach," the other girl told her. Her lips curling up into a childish grin. "Race you!"
.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.
It was a little after nine when Lucy and Amalie got back to the resort; out of breath, soaking wet and laughing hysterically.
They were met by a very unimpressed lightning dragon slayer, who had only arrived at the resort a few minutes earlier but had heard them approaching from the beach.
"Fuck..." Lucy cursed under her breath as soon as he stepped out in front of them from where he'd been hiding behind one of the lobby columns. Her brown eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth when she realised the word she'd just used.
Laxus almost smirked at her language and was decidedly amused by her shocked reaction to what she'd said. He'd never heard the Celestial mage swear before, but knowing who her usual teammates were, he was actually a little surprised her language wasn't more colourful.
"No shit," the pinkette beside her murmured, causing them both to glance at each other and break out in another fit of giggles.
Laxus was sorely tempted to shock the two women but his lightning rarely had any affect on Amalie and only getting one of them kind of defeated the purpose. Instead, he just growled at them both.
He still felt pretty shitty from the motion sickness he'd suffered on the ridiculously early train, despite using his Lightning Body magic to get to Akane as soon as he was within a decent range. He'd left the Raijinshuu to continue on to Hargeon to meet with Doranbolt about the job.
"Where the hell have you two been?" he demanded, not bothering with pleasantries. "I tried calling your lacrima and imagine my surprise when the stripper fucking answered. Naked."
Green eyes met his own, her look a direct challenge. Sometimes, Laxus wished the smaller woman actually possessed some fear of him. Her defiance drove him mad.
"I don't see how that would be all that surprising, Zappy," she replied with a shrug. "I am with him, you know."
"We were training," the Celestial mage added defensively.
Little Blondie's got balls today, he noted with mild surprise as he leered down at her. She crossed her arms under her abundant chest and glared back at him.
And really nice tits, he added. Her wet white shirt was see through and thanks to his Dragon sight, the rosy nipples under her sodden white lacy bra were clearly visible, too.
"For a wet t-shirt competition?" he enquired innocently.
Lucy's face changed to one of confusion before she looked down and squealed. The high pitched noise only added to the Slayer's pounding headache. Her face turned a furious shade of red.
"Mavis, Blondie," Laxus whined. "Keep it down a few octaves before you fucking deafen me."
"You're such a pervert," Amalie laughed, reaching up to ruffle his hair. He batted her hand away halfheartedly as he always did. "Did you bring my sword?"
"Left it with Freed in Hargeon," he replied, nearly smiling when her face lit up like a kid at Christmas. "Where's Bleach Breath? Blondie stinks of him."
The Celestial mage made an indignant noise and Laxus met her glare with as innocent a look as he could muster. "What? You do."
"We didn't do anything!" Lucy snapped defensively.
He smiled at her knowingly, deciding to stir the pot. At least she couldn't poison him. "Nothing wrong with getting laid, Blondie."
Her already red face was positively glowing. He couldn't help but laugh.
"No tact, Zappy," Amalie chided, poking her finger at his chest. "You really need to work on that."
"Pot calling the kettle black, kitten," he retorted with a sneer, shoving her back and then catching her arm to stop her falling when his push nearly floored her.
He couldn't help but notice that she was looking better. The ever present dark smudges under her eyes weren't as glaringly obvious and she seemed slightly relaxed.
Guess that's what happens when the hunted becomes the Hunter, he thought to himself with a chuckle. Both girls looked up at him with raised eyebrows, before looking at each other and shrugging.
"Wanna come meet in our apartment after you have a shower?" Amalie asked Lucy as they led the way to the lifts. "Room 414."
The blonde nodded and wandered off down the hall, leaving Laxus and the pinkette to catch the lift up to the fourth floor.
"What happened to your hand?" The bandage hadn't escaped the blonde's notice. He could smell stale blood but nothing serious.
"I had to get magic suppressing handcuffs off," Amalie replied with a careless shrug, unfazed and brutally honest as ever. "Healer straightened the break but gotta keep it bandaged so it stays set."
"The fuck, Am?!" Anger rose in the Slayer's chest. Sure, he'd seen her with worse injuries but it still pissed him off that she disregarded her own well being like that. It pissed him off even more that he was being an overprotective ass about it. He blamed the dragon soul that had been forced into him through the lacrima; it was shitty like that with the way it ran rampant on his carefully guarded emotions.
He followed her in silence as she led the way from the lift to the apartment. He hoped the fucking ice stripper was dressed. It was too early for him to see his dark haired guild mate naked again. Actually, if he ever saw him naked again, it would still be too soon.
She unlocked the door and poked her head through.
"Gray?" she called sweetly. "Are you decent? My cousin is here."
.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.
Getting to Hargeon was a small piece of hell. But then again, so was any transportation that wasn't via Exceed.
Natsu reflected on this as he lay sprawled in the dirt, waiting for the nausea to pass so he could move and track the Raijinshuu.
"Natsu? Are you alive?" Happy poked the groaning Slayer. They were just outside of the harbour town, the little blue Exceed having pulled the pinkette from the train before it pulled into the station.
At least Laxus hadn't smelled him. That was the one saving grace of the train trip. It still sucked, but it would all be worth it if it brought him to Lucy. He was determined to see her, to explain the issue about needing Lisanna but wanting the blonde. He was sure there had to be a way to bypass the Dragon magic, but he needed Lucy to find out how. She was smarter than him and knew how the library worked.
He'd broken into her apartment and slept there the previous night. It had stunk of Cobra but her sheets smelled solely of her.
Finally gaining back his senses from the dreaded motion sickness, Natsu dragged himself to his feet and carefully sniffed the air, locating Bickslow's woody scent and Evergreen's floral perfume.
Freed smells kinda like Levy, he decided as he caught the Dark Écriture mage's books-and-ink smell. Laxus wasn't with them, which was great news. It meant he had more of a chance of finding them before the Lightning Slayer found him and kicked his ass back to Magnolia.
"Right, Happy. Let's go find Luce!"
"Aye sir!" the little blue cat cheered, flying after Natsu as he sprinted in the direction of his nakama.