Thunder & Lightning
Chapter 44: Dark Friendship
It was mid-afternoon when Bickslow stumbled across the man sleeping by the side of the road. His first thought was that he wished he had some lipstick so as to decorate the man and his second was that the flying carpet he was on was totally awesome. Now Bickslow wasn't a complete fool and had, in fact, learned the identities of everyone in a dark guild, including the former members of Oracion Seis and so it only took him a few moments to realize that the sleeping man was none other than Midnight, the strongest of the group.
Bickslow cocked his head to one side and considered his options then grinned.
"Bad idea," Peppe informed him.
"So what? At least it'll give me something to do until the others find us," Bickslow said.
"We told you to keep up with them," Pappa sniffed.
"But this'll be fun," Puppu defended Bickslow.
"Fun," Pippi and Poppo echoed.
Bickslow simply ignored the souls and focused on Midnight's soul. His eyes glowed briefly then returned to their normal color even as Midnight awoke with a shout.
"What the hell?" Midnight looked around wildly in an attempt to figure out who had woken him up. He could feel his power just begging to be set free on the interloper. Once his eyes fell on the man sitting in front of him, however, he felt a slight chill run down his spine. The Thunder Legion was notorious among the dark guilds and even the strongest of them did their best to avoid attracting their attention. Now Midnight was not the type to cower in fear but he did know the value of not picking a fight with everyone that he came across. Besides, rumor had it Bickslow was insane and was more likely to let him escape with his life.
"Hi," the seith mage grinned, sticking out his tongue.
"Hi yourself," Midnight retorted. "What did you wake me up for?"
Bickslow shrugged. "I was bored," he admitted. "And I thought you might be fun to hang out with until Laxus finds me."
Laxus Dreyar was here as well? Oh wonderful. He could just imagine what would happen if Laxus and Cobra ran into each other. That would so not be pretty.
"So did you dye your hair?"
Midnight blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Your hair," Bickslow repeated. "Did you dye it or is it natural?"
"Natural," Midnight sniffed, offended at the mere thought of doing anything to his perfect hair.
"Everyone thinks I dye my hair too," Bickslow pulled off his visor.
"The blue and black look very nice together," Midnight told him, relaxing just a little bit.
"Thanks," Bickslow grinned.
"Thanks," the flying totems repeated as they flew around their master's head.
"Fascinating little things," Midnight reached up and tapped one with a perfectly manicured nail.
"Most people say creepy but I like fascinating better," Bickslow also tapped one of the totems.
"Most people also call us creepy," Midnight pointed out.
"True," Bickslow looked melancholy for a moment then brightened. "But it's okay cuz I usually have the babies haunt them or else I play pranks on them."
"Pranks are quite fun, aren't they?"
The two men grinned at each other, an instant bond of comradery springing up between them.
Meanwhile, several miles away two different groups of mages both stopped, each swearing that they had just felt a chill.
"I don't care about any chill," Laxus insisted. "I just want to find that idiot Bickslow so we can go home."
"I just have a bad feeling about this," Freed groaned.
"So do I," Evergreen frowned, crossing her arms.
"Will the two of you just shut up?" Laxus snapped as he continued sniffing the air. "I got his scent," he announced.
"Finally," Ever rolled her eyes.
"Have you found him yet, Cobra?" Racer asked.
"It would go a lot faster if people would stop interrupting me or not wear strong perfume!" Cobra snapped.
"I said I was sorry," Angel tossed her hair.
Cobra's snake, Cubellios, hissed at the female mage even as she laid her tail comfortingly over her master's shoulders.
"Perhaps if we sang a song he would hear us," Hot Eye suggested.
"No more songs," Cobra groaned. "Besides, I can smell him and someone else. That way," he pointed.
"I must say, you really are rather good at braids," Bickslow said as he admired the new additions to his hair.
"Well it was a bit difficult, especially since your hair isn't very long but I did manage to get it done," Midnight smiled proudly. "Besides, you're much better at painting toenails than I am."
Indeed, the mages had long since taken off their boots and, using some black nail polish Bickslow had hidden in his clothes, were taking turns painting each other's toenails.
"My sister pitches a big fit if her nails aren't done properly," Bickslow rolled his eyes. "Plus it helps me focus if I'm having trouble concentrating."
"None of the others will let me paint their nails," Midnight said wistfully. "Well Angel did once but I kind of got it all over her clothes so she wouldn't let me do it again."
"Sometimes Freed'll let me do his but only if he's not going out in public or I'm super bored."
"Freed's the gay one, right?"
"Right," Bickslow confirmed. "Laxus claims he likes only girls but I've seen him make out with a few guys before when he's really drunk and Ever had a huge crush on Erza when she was younger but she got over that pretty quickly."
"I'll bet," Midnight snickered. Evergreen's hatred of Erza was legendary, even among the other guilds. "And she's dating Elfman Strauss right now if I'm not mistaken."
"Yep," Bickslow returned the nail polish to its hiding place. "And the Strauss's are staying with us for right now since their apartment building burned down."
"That's terrible," Midnight shook his head. "I don't suppose Natsu did it?" he sounded hopeful.
"Not that we know of," Bickslow shrugged. "Mira even asked him about it and he denied doing it."
"I doubt even he's stupid enough to lie to the She-Devil," Midnight agreed.
"Bickslow!"
"Midnight!"
Just then their teams both stepped into view.
"Uh-oh," Bickslow hastily began putting his boots back on.
"Hi," Midnight waved weakly to his comrades as he too grabbed his boots.
"What the hell are you two maniacs doing?" Laxus roared.
"Hey you can't call my teammate a maniac; only I get to do that," Cobra bared his fangs.
"Oh dear," Freed placed a hand over his face.
"Oh really? And who's going to stop me?" Laxus's grin was a bit menacing, even as lightning began to spark in the air around him.
"Bickslow, would you hurry it up?" Evergreen stormed over.
"Move it, Macbeth," Angel ordered as she too came to collect her teammate.
"I'm coming," Bickslow sprang to his feet, still holding a boot.
"Put it on later," Evergreen ordered.
"Don't forget your visor," Midnight handed it back over. "Hopefully I'll get to see you again, sometime. It was rather fun."
"Thanks. Don't worry; I know how to find your new guild," Bickslow grinned. "By the way you might want to tell that Cobra dude that his snake has a human soul. It isn't a real animal."
"Really?" Midnight blinked. "Well that's certainly interesting to know. I'll pass the message along then and…ow! Angel, that's my ear!"
"Then move it!" the Celestial mage retorted as she stalked off, pulling him with her.
"Don't make me grab your ear," Ever folded her arms.
"I'm good," Bickslow yelped as he sprinted over to where Freed and Laxus were.
"Laxus, we have Bickslow back why don't we just go home?" Freed pleaded.
"Cobra, we need to go," Racer said. "We found Midnight plus it's getting dark out here."
"Fine," Cobra growled. "We're leaving."
"So are we," Laxus glowered.
The two Dragon Slayers stared at each other even as their teammates began pulling them away from the scene.
"Did you at least have fun?" Freed asked once they had managed to escape without starting a fight.
"Oh yes," Bickslow nodded. "Lots. I can't wait to do it again!"
"Next time we're leaving him at home," Ever pointed at their leader.
"It's a territory thing," Laxus protested.
Freed just sighed and shook his head.
A/N: Hope you guys liked! Sorry it's so late but between moving and spraining something I've been a bit busy. Not sure when the next chapter will be but it should be next week. Thanks for all the reviews! Please read and review!
