I may or may not have tortured Laxus a bit in this one. Also, this is the final of a three chapter upload so if you got to this one just by hitting the newest chapter button, you'll wanna go back to chapter 20.
Laxus POV
A week passed, with Blondie's team going on various bullshit missions. Mostly blowing all of their reward money on repair expenses every time. I kept trying to build up the courage to go apologize to Blondie… but fuck it was hard. I don't apologize. It's not my thing. So I stubbornly avoided her. At least as far as she knew.
I had told my own team I needed some time alone, and they accepted it with a lot less fight then I expected. The weird, knowing glint in Evergreen's eye made me pause, but then I realized I didn't fucking care. I'm not proud of what I did next.
I followed Team Natsu from a good distance - never allowing myself to get too close. Why oh why did she have to get in a team with one of the few fucking Dragonslayers in existence? I can't get within a thousand feet without that idiot sensing me. So I resign myself to watching over them from a distance, hating myself every second. The thought of being away from her for too long made me want to rip my own flesh from my bones in agony. So I just followed in the shadows.
Oddly enough, apparently the group had another stalker. Some weird blue haired woman with a funny hat. She knows about my presence - since I confronted her immediately the first time I noticed her.
"Why are you following Lucy?" I growled lowly, appearing behind her. She jumped and her body rippled oddly like water before whipping around.
"Juvia isn't following Lucy. Juvia only cares about Gray!" she squeaked. My eyebrow raised at her odd manner of speaking. I regarded her curiously, but couldn't detect any malice. She did the same, her eyes narrowing.
"What are you doing following my beloved Gray?" she accused, pointing at me and magic power welling up around her. A pretty fuckin decent amount, too - Practically S-Class, if I had to take a guess. My own power flared as well in response.
"I don't give a fuck about that stripper," I growled back.
"What's wrong Erza?"
We both froze and immediately sucked our power back in at the sound of Natsu's voice, dropping down into crouches and holding our breath. Through the leaves of the bushes I watched the Redhead continue to look around with hawk-like eyes for a moment, the other three (four if you count that stupid cat) watched her. She shrugged.
"Nothing. Thought I sensed something," she grumbled, and they continued on their way.
Both me and the water girl let out our breath in a whoosh.
"Fine. I only care about Lucy, you only care about Gray. Let's just agree to ignore each other," I offer in annoyance. "But if you ever hurt Lucy I will rip your spine out through your neck," I add on calmly. The water girl - I would assume 'Juvia', didn't even flinch.
"And Juvia will fill your lungs with water and watch you die slowly if you lay a finger on Gray," she responded back. I snorted, but nodded, retreating back into the woods so I could follow from farther away. She kinda creeped me out, not gonna lie.
Humiliated beyond belief, the only thing keeping me rooted to the spot was the never-ending need to keep her safe.
I managed to restrain myself, begrudgingly trusting her team to come through when times hit their worst. And they did. But I gnashed my teeth in the shadows, body poised to strike. The thing at the front of my mind, that kept me tethered so fucking hard, was the body-swapping incident that happened, like, a month ago. My brain wandered back to that time.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" I heard from outside as I approached the guild hall. I jolted and sniffed the air, but all of the scents were recognized so I relaxed a bit. When I teleported to the second floor, however, I found that things, were very, VERY much not alright.
"It's too HOT!" Lucy shrieked, grabbing at her top and making to lift it over her head. Gray launched himself at her and grabbed her arms desperately, shrieking in an odd way.
"STOP THAT!" he shrieked in panic, and I did a double take. I sniffed the air delicately and recoiled.
There was something extremely off about their scents.
"STOP TRYING TO STRIP MY BODY YOU ASS!" Gray shrieked again against a struggling Lucy, and I hesitated. Everything in me should be screaming to protect her… why isn't it.
"IT'S SO HOT, LUCY! HOW DO YOU STAND THESE CLOTHES!" Lucy - no, Lucy's body - shrieked. I tried to calm myself but my heckles were rising.
"JUST DEAL WITH IT, GRAY!" Gray yelled. And that was when I realized that something weird was happening. My heart sunk and I stared at the ice mage.
Oh god, I'm attracted to Gray right now.
I closed my eyes and concentrated, and sure enough, my being was now pulling me mostly towards Gray's frantic, yet unusually fully clothed person, with only a bit of pull towards Lucy's oddly voyeuristic body.
"Why is everything so blurry and weird?" Loke groused, and I grit my teeth.
The dumb bitch got body swapped.
Pain lanced through me at the insult, but my aggravation out-weighed it. I had to think fast - so I took a deep breath. Okay, this is a weird curse type magic. It appears to be writing based.
I gotta go find Levy.
It didn't take long to locate the Solid Script Mage, as she was already on her way back. But I teleported the entire Shadowgear team nonetheless. Levy nodded at me discretely, dodging the questions of her teammates and focusing on righting the situation at hand. I returned to the second floor to watch helplessly, praying I wouldn't have to learn how to fuck Gray's body.
My heart almost stopped when Gray (in Lucy's body) started to say after making eye contact with me:
"Lucy, why do I feel an undeniable urge to fuck L-"
"GRAY! SHUT UP!" Lucy (in Gray's body) shrieked, slapping a hand violently over his/her own mouth. Unfortunately, she misjudged the physical strength of Gray's body and pretty much cold-clocked her own body, knocking herself (Gray?) out cold.
That was the point I forced myself to turn away and slink out the back door, seething with a flurry of emotions. It was a situation I had no power over whatsoever, and it drove me nuts to place her safety in someone else's hands.
I shook my head of the memory, growling lowly. I must be really fuckin bored to spend that much time reminiscing. I was hunched in a bush like a fucking stalker, fuming, dutifully ignoring the odd look a passerby cast my way, and their muttering.
"Why is that bush so angry?"
My snort was barely muffled but the passerby continued on their way with only a few backward glances, apparently deciding there were more important things to do than investigate a bush radiating a palpable rage.
I caught a familiar scent on the wind - a strange one that always seemed oddly stale in a way I've never encountered in anyone else. Loke must be in town… fuckin playboy. The gentle breeze switched directions and the scent faded, my attention drawing back to the hotel room I could see into. There was a scuffle happening inside and I narrowed my eyes at the sight of a pillow fight erupting. Considering who all is in there, this is not going to end well. I noticed Juvia crouching behind a rock and watching as well. I wish I could call her out on her shit, but I'm no better.
Sure enough, it didn't take too long for the dumbasses to break the fucking room. Of course it had to be Lucy that got sent flying through the wall. She sat up in a daze amongst the debris and shook her head cutely (shut up she's not cute), eyeing the chaos that continued inside. She groaned in frustration and stood up, wiping off the dust from her… robe.
A robe that was far too revealing to be in public. My blood heated up and I grit my teeth, watching her like a hawk as she stomped away, arms crossed. She pulls out one of her keys and the weird little snowman-dog-thing popped out, wobbling along side of her as she walked. She mumbles something about needing a drink and off she goes. I decide to move to the rooftops and quietly jump up high, landing with far more grace than normal. I jump again until i'm on the tallest roof nearby, a three story apartment complex, and lie down at the edge, peeking over. An owl lands next to me and glares at me, hooting at me accusingly. I glare back, but scoot a few feet away regardless. No need to upset the noisy fucker. It seems to accept this and goes to sit along the edge, head swiveling at me curiously. I ignore it.
My vantage point lets me watch her walk for a good couple blocks before I need to move to a new one, this time ending up near a bird nest. I catch the scent of booze, malice, and lust and my eyes flick around until I spot two men approaching her from behind, stepping out from an alley. Their jeers reach me and my grip tightens on the gutter, cracking it slightly. I hear a flutter of feathers and sure enough, that fucking bird lands near me. The owl hoots at me again and I growl at it in warning. It fluffs up and flaps its wings at me.
"Fuckin dumbass bird… piss off!" I whisper towards it hotly. It hoots again and starts stalking towards me. I aim my finger at it and let a couple sparks fly threateningly. "Go away! Get!" I whisper harshly. But the bird hoots again and rears up, taking flight a few feet. I hear a skirmish start down on the street and look for Lucy only to see one of the men grab her around the waist, pinning her arms. My nostrils flare and I start to get up as the second one starts to cast a spell over her, something with luminous chains wrapping around her. And then my vision was interrupted by feathers and claws and screeching.
I was so caught off guard that even though I zapped the the feathery ball of rage attacking me, I lost my balance and tumbled off the roof, falling down into a tree and smacking my head on a few limbs before stopping, bent over a branch on my stomach. The still sparking being of hatred fell onto my back, and while it didn't weigh too much, it made me grunt in pain and the branch made a threatening cracking sound. My head spun as it tried to catch up to what was happening… and by the time I had gathered my wits enough to look towards Lucy…
Loke burst from the shadows and sucker-punched the one casting the spell. As soon as it released, Lucy dropped her weight down and landed a solid elbow jab right in the man's kidney, the playboy finishing the job with another magic-fueled punch. My eyebrow ticked. Loke stood up straight and wiped his hands dramatically.
"There we go! Been chasing these assholes for a little while now. Sorry I didn't get here sooner," he explained, grinning. Lucy stood up and brushed herself off, smiling bashfully.
"Hey not a problem, thanks for the save!" she chirped, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. She makes a thoughtful face while Loke ties up the two thugs. "Say, why don't you let me buy you a drink?" she asks cheerfully, acting nonchalante, but there was a slight quiver of nerves in her voice. I grit my teeth and a growl started in my chest. Loke stood up and hesitated, his face uncharacteristically unsure.
"I'd love to, but it really wasn't a problem-" he starts nervously, blushing a little. Wait… that perv is blushing?!
"Nonsense! Here, I can help carry these two to the Police Station, and then we can go hit up that little bar down the road," she offered, fiddling with her robe a little. I could see the opening slip just enough to flash a bit of cleavage and sure enough Loke's eyes immediately zeroed in on her chest. My sight started to tinge red and my blood was boiling. "Please?" she added quietly. Loke smiled and nodded, and the two started dragging the thugs down the street by the magical ropes, the little snowman thing coming out from a bush to totter alongside them as if nothing happened. I shifted when my growling got louder - and then another cracking sound made me freeze.
"Oh for fuck sakes-"
My complaint was cut off as the tree limb broke under my weight, sending me plummeting the remaining ten feet to land on the ground with a heavy thud. And to add insult to injury, that damn owl landed on my back AGAIN.
I laid there for a few minutes, trying to get my bearings and stop my head from spinning - I should probably get checked for a concussion after this. The damn bird was the first of us to rouse, and it rolled off my back with a pitiful squawk and began staggering around almost drunkenly. Watching it for a moment, I started to try and pull myself up, only to immediately lean back against the tree trunk as a wave of dizziness hit me. I felt warmth on my face and touched my forehead delicately, wincing at the sharp sting and pulling my hand back to see blood. I groaned loudly and let my head fall back, eyes closed. God, talk about embarrassing. I just got my ass kicked by an owl and a fucking tree. I grit my teeth and opened my eyes, glaring daggers at the still wobbling owl, who stopped to stare at me with giant eyes.
"Fuck. You." I hissed, pointing at it. "I'm gonna fuckin kill ya," I threatened darkly, sparks rising off my body. The owl ruffled its feathers before flying away with a parting hoot, apparently none the worse-for-wear. Makes sense, since it used me as a fucking cushion.
I took another few minutes to lean against the tree, letting my dragon healing factor kick in. Shaking my head, I stood up and dusted myself off. I'll need to grab a snack on my way back later tonight, but I can sense a thunderstorm on its way so that shouldn't be an issue. Now… where the hell did Blondie go?
By the time I tracked her down, they had finished their drinks. Glancing in the window, I could barely make out their words through the din of the bar. With a grumble, I fished in my pocket for my pack of cigarettes - my newly acquired vice. Admittedly I hardly even actually smoked them - They just made a good enough cover for hanging around outside places. Also worked decently to deter a certain fire dragon slayer's sense of smell - as long as I kept switching pack types, that is. With a grunt, I slipped one between my lips, and using a small arc of electricity, lit the tip. I leaned back against the wall, casually aiming my gaze and ears inside. I still couldn't quite make out what they were saying… and then…
And then he hugged her. He wrapped his shitty arms around her and held her close. Tenderly, even!
My jaw snapped closed so quickly and violently that I bit off the filter on the freshly lit cigarette, the still burning stick falling down my front. I watched heatedly as she awkwardly returned the hug before they slowly pulled back, a look of confusion and concern on her face. Then the perv made a smirking face and said something… which led to my girl slapping him across the face angrily. My stomach started to feel a stinging burn and I looked down to see the ember had caught on my shirt and was burning a hole in it. I pawed at it to brush it off with an annoyed hiss, distracted. I looked up just in time to see her storming out and barely managed to slip around the corner into the alley to hide. She stalked past, grumbling to herself, and I ignored the almost overpowering urge to go comfort her. Sneaking a look around the corner, I could tell she was heading straight back to the hotel.
"Laxus?"
I tensed and whipped around to see Loke. We stared at each other for a moment, the playboy (with a fresh red handprint on his cheek) eyeing me up and down.
"You look like you had a shit night," he surmised, cocking an eyebrow. I snorted.
"You have no fuckin' idea," I grumbled, looking back over my shoulder automatically to check on Lucy again. I heard him chuckle and snapped my head back to glare at him. His eyes widened briefly behind those stupid sunglasses of his before he held up his hands in surrender, a strangely sad smile on his face. "What?" I barked at him.
"Nothing," he offered, turning to leave. He gave one last sad glance towards Lucy, some weird emotions on his face that didn't fit with the persona I knew him as, and I started to growl. "Take care of her, will ya? She's special," he says quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking away quickly. I grunted angrily, absent-mindedly trying to massage my sore torso. I turned again to see Lucy walk into the hotel, and groaned lowly. My whole being was trying to pull me to her, the dragon gnashing its teeth with need to claim her. Especially since that playboy asshat put his arms around her. Fuck, I can't decide which I want to do more - go fuck her silly, or rip his arms off.
"Shut up," I hissed at my own thoughts, massaging my throbbing temple. "You can't just go up to her right now, and you absolutely can't maim a guildmate," I grumble to myself out loud. Best to just… go home.
After checking in one last time to find her curled up in a slightly angry burrito of blankets, safe and surrounded by her dumbass-yet-powerful teammates, I shot into the sky and started to head home, stopping for a snack as I passed through the thunderstorm.
Poor Laxus. Dude's unraveling at the damn seams.
Okay so here's hoping the next update isn't delayed ridiculously this time. Reviews would be pretty neato.