Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima. And I'm just playing with the characters.
As English isn't my native language, I apologize for any grammar and other mistakes.
Hope you like this!
Lucy rang the door bell for the fifth time already, and her grip on the plastic bag was getting tighter and tighter with every passing silent moment. She was pondering between two options: A) She would call Taurus out to wreck the door down, or B) She would call Loke out to get Wendy from the guild.
A one more moment of silence passed…
Screw it! She was going to do both, the A and the B plan.
Lucy grabbed the two golden keys from her belt and was just second away from summoning them, when she heard something. She halted to listen. Steps! They were steps, steps that were coming down stairs. Thank god!
Her moment of relief was caught short, her heart jumping almost out of her chest, as the slow steps turned into fast and loud series of thumps, which were followed by silence. Lucy pressed her ear against the door, her teeth sinking in her lower lip. She listened, fearing even to breath, waiting for some kind of a sound to indicate that the person inside the house hadn't died while probably falling down the stairs.
Big and long sigh of relief exited her lungs, when she heard a groan inside the house. Groan that she could have thought to belong to a bear of sort, if she hadn't known the fact that she very much standing in front of a human house.
The steps begin again, but this time directly toward the door. Well, not directly, quite far from it actually, as the step wobbled from side to side. Nonetheless they were making their way toward the door, soon reaching it.
The lock on the door let out a sound and the door itself swung open, and Lucy had to hold back a gasp at the sight of the notorious Lightning Dragon Slayer. His hair – spiky as ever – was a mess and in serious need of a wash. On the other side of his head his hair were sticking in every possible direction, while the other side was pressed down like ironed. There was no guessing which side had been laid against the pillow for the past four day…
For clothing the man had chosen a upside down dressed collar shirt with buttons only half done, wrongly on top of that. It was clear that hadn't really concentrated when dressing up. This suspicion was only fueled when Lucy's eyes dropped a little bit too low. The man had clearly forgotten that pants where a crucial part of normal human attire, and not only a skin tight, black boxers.
Embarrassed Lucy lifted her gaze up rapidly, feeling an uncomfortable heat rising on her cheeks. She had waited a pair of stormy blue eyes to stare down at her, hint of amusement in them, and a smug grin on the man's lips before the word 'perv' would have slipped past them. But to her surprise the man was staring somewhere over her head, his eyes unfocused. The frown of irritation had started to appear and like lightning had hit her, Lucy understood.
"Down here." She called out gently and immediately the man dropped his cloudy eyes on her. What happened next, was something Lucy hadn't expected.
"Lucy!" Laxus said her name with hoarse voice happily, if not delighted, a soft smile spreading on his lips. His eyes where still very much unfocused, but because of that he seemed looking at her with extra care and passion. The intense stare was something Lucy had never received from the man before and she couldn't keep herself from tearing her own eyes away, a seed of warmth growing on her chest.
"May I?" She asked when her eyes landed on the man's side, gazing past him into the house. It took moment longer than normally for him to understand what she meant, but when he did he stepped aside, making room for her to come in.
"Of course!" came the raspy answer.
With quiet 'excuse me', Lucy stepped in. She slipped out of her shoes and headed deeper, admiring the restrained decorations – as she did with every visit. The three main colors where black, white and grey with a little touch of green from the plants. About material could be said that anything that wasn't wood or glass was leather. All in all it was very Laxus, and Lucy liked it.
Her admiration was interrupted by a loud bang and she turned to see what happened. Apparently Laxus had tried to enter the kitchen but misfired slightly, so instead of slipping trough the doorway he had hit the sharp edge of its' frames. "What are you doing?!" Lucy cried out, hurrying to the man's side. He had the utter look of shock on his face, but still seemed to try and glare the edge down like it was his worst enemy.
For long moment the man stayed silent and Lucy could only watch as his bruised forehead started to swell. "I just thought that… I should make tea or something for you." Laxus finally mumbled.
Lucy had to blink once, no, twice. "You just thought… What?! Laxus you never offer tea for me, or to anyone…" She couldn't mask the almost horrified bewilderment in her voice, but it was the truth. The man had never offered her anything when she has visited, just told her to get something from the kitchen if she wanted.
"I don't…?" He sounded sincerely bemused.
"No, you don't… Just how bad your fever is?" Lucy reached her hand out placing it over his abused forehead, and had to hold back not to withdraw it like from a hot pan. "Gods! You're burning!" She shrieked, earning disapproving groan from the man. But she couldn't care less about his sensitive ears right then! "That's it! I'm going to get Loke to fetch Wendy and then we will head to the hospital!"
She grabbed the key of her most loyal spirit for the second time today and again she was prevented from using it, this time by a hand wrapping around her wrist. Lucy followed the hand up the arm and finally to the face of its' owner. A pair of begging eyes stared down at her.
"No hospital." Laxus said firmly, if not threatening, but Lucy could hear the plea trough it even without the barely heard 'please' he added to it. Lucy opened her mouth to argue back, but no words came out as she felt the grip on her wrist tighten, not in the you-don't-listen-and-I-will-hurt-you way but more like in a way child seeks safety from his parent in front of his greatest fear.
"Alright." Lucy couldn't but give in. Those eyes he looked at her were too much – and it's not like she could drag him to the hospital without him wanting to go. Sadly though, she just remembered that the blue haired young healer of their guild was out and about, doing some mission with Carla. One reason why Mira had asked her instead of Wendy to come check on the sick Dragon Slayer. So, it was up to her to nurse the man alone.
Lucy wasn't any kind of a healer, she didn't even know could she give proper CPR, so she wasn't going to get any chances with the man. "But with one condition." Lucy lifted her finger up, waiting that the man was listening before continuing. "You will do exactly, and I mean exactly, as I say. Or we will be out of that door and half way to the hospital. Understood?"
Laxus winced at the word hospital, but still nodded before a small, soft smile tugged he corners of his mouth up. "Thanks Lucy." His voice matched his soft expression, and Lucy couldn't keep her eyes from widening a little. The man was truly acting out of character, not only had he been polite like tanking her just now but he had also used her real name, twice already. Usually it was just 'Blondie' or 'Princess' – Lucy cursed the day Loke had used the said title in front of the man, who had found it absolutely hilarious and started using it too – or in rare cases the mix of the two 'Princess Blondie'.
"Now then," Lucy said fixing her attention back to the feverish man in front of her. "you will go back to bed and rest some more, while I will get something for you to eat." Laxus stared at her for a moment, unreadable expression visiting his facial features at the words 'something to eat', but it vanished so fast that Lucy could have easily imagined the whole thing. But when the man bend down a little, closer to her eye level, she knew she hadn't.
"What if I want to eat something else?" He practically purred with husky voice, which Lucy knew was supposed to be the seducing but really wasn't. However, that wasn't something in her mind. Actually there was nothing there at the moment. The shock from the man's words had made it go blank.
Lucy had to step back to take better look at the man, because she had hard time believing that it was really Laxus standing in front of her. But no matter how many times she blinked, the Dragon Slayer stayed were he stood, expression that could be almost described as coy on his face. It didn't fit with his image at all. But that wasn't the issue here! Did Laxus, the Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail, just try to flirt with her?!
Once again Lucy started to seriously consider delivering the man to the hospital, because never, and when she says never she means NEVER, has the guy shown any kind of a interest toward her, or any other girl in the guild. Of course he would go along with Cana's flirting from time to time, but otherwise he stayed cleared from the girls of the guild in that manner. He kinda reminded her of those keep-work-and-love-life-separated kind of guys. So, to receive such a rare treat made her actually happy.
Lucy pinched the bridge between her eyes, giving her head a clearing- Had to get these thoughts out of her head. Thinking that this man would have even slightest interest toward her felt tempting, but the fever was clearly just messing up his brain's thinking capacity, because after all there was no way that Laxus would have any eye for her.
Letting out a sigh of disappointment and amusement at the moment, Lucy slipped behind the man and gave his back a gentle push. "That's your problem then. You can decide: food or the hospital. They are your two options. Now, back to bed!"
The man seemed to shudder at the word hospital, making victorious smile visited Lucy's lips. Without more resistance Laxus obeyed and departed from her hands, heading toward the stairs. Satisfied she nodded after the man, before slipping in to the kitchen herself.
She placed the plastic bag on the table and started to take out the things she had bought. She had heard stories from Ever that the man's fridge was almost always as empty as Lucy's wallet after a rent payday. She wasn't sure did she approve the metaphor the Fairy mage used, but that in mind she had made sure to visit the grocery – as well as the drug store – on her way to here.
A familiar series of thumps interrupted her and made her jumps a little startled. Lucy was about to rush out of the kitchen to see that the man hadn't broken his neck on the stairs, but muffled 'I'm okey, I'm okey...' stopped her.
Shaking her head Lucy returned to her previous task while letting out a sigh at the same. The day had hardly even begin and she was already tired. This was going to be one long, loooong day.
Lucy would never had guessed that the notorious Lightning Dragon Slayer of their guild could be cute, but damn! She had to fight back the urge to let out a long 'Aww!' as she stepped in to the man's bedroom. He had a blanked pulled up to his ears, only his spiky blonde hair in sight. His head resting on the same side again. Soft, almost non-existing snore filled the silent room, and the expression he had whens he peeked under the blanket…Uu! Laxus had looked like a young boy, so peaceful and so fragile. Everything he wasn't in truth.
Now, however, Lucy's opinion was changing radically. The man was everything but cute!
She couldn't help her brow from twisting out of annoyance, her hand starting to get tired from holding a plate up so long. She could tolerate the man's refusal to go to the hospital - who knows what the reason was - but now he was refusing to eat the bread she had made and was offering to him. It was simple toast with some strawberry jam spread on it.
"Come on, Laxus." Lucy said tired and pushed the plate a little closer to his face. The man's response was to turn his head even more to the side and further away from the toast. He looked irritated and almost offended to be offered such food. "Seriously!" Lucy finally snapped having enough of the man's, no, brat's attitude. Because no grown man would act like this! She had been okay with him not wanting to go to the hospital - which was ridiculous - but now he was also wrinkling his nose, disgusted by the toast she had made for him. That was something Lucy wasn't going to tolerate. "It's either this toast or the hospital! Neither of them is gonna kill you, so, it's your choise."
Once again Laxus grimaced at the word hospital. After a short moment he took the plate, hesitating. He stared the toast and the sticky red jam on it like approaching, unavoidable death, completely devastated. He glanced up at Lucy, but then turned his eyes away looking almost betrayed. Lowering the plate on his lap, Laxus mumbled something.
"What?" Lucy leaned a little closer to the man and annoyed cupped a hand behind her ear to show she didn't hear him.
Laxus gritted his teeth, but then mumbled again, this time a little louder. And was that blush she was seeing on his cheeks. "What if it does?"
Lucy straightened her back and crossed her arm confused. "What does what?"
"Kill me. The strawberries. I'm... allergic..." The way he said it, all hangdog, made it seem like he was talking about some embarrassing, shameful weakness of his. Lucy's jaw dropped and she had to blink her eyes couple of times. All that commotion... Just because he is allergic to strawberries? No doubt there, this was Laxus alright. No matter how out of character he might have acted before, he's still the same old Laxus, their own walking and talking embodiment of pride.
Sighing overly exhausted Lucy took the plate back from the man, who in turn stared her as she walked to the door. By the door she turned around and with a small smile spoke. "Next time just tell me straight if you can't eat something. Even if you are a jerk sometimes...I still don't want to poison you alive." At her words Laxus just averted his eyes, cheeks pink again, if she wasn't completely seeing things. "Now I'm going to make you something else, so is porridge alright?" Not like she had anything else to offer. Still not looking at her Laxus nodded. "Good. Take the medicine I put on your nightstand and rest some more while I will go make that porridge."
After Laxus had eaten the porridge and taken his medicine he had continued to sleep. Lucy had considered leaving as she had already done what Mira had asked her, she had checked that the Lightning Dragon Slayer was still alive and fed him some food and drugs. But knowing how bad his fever was, she didn't want to leave him alone. Not yet at least. On top of that she didn't what to leave without informing Laxus about her departure first.
So as she had nothing else to do at the moment Lucy had taken some liberties to explore the house. She knew Laxus wouldn't like it, but it wasn't like there was anyone here to tell him about it. And as she wasn't going to get anything else out of this little "job" you could consider it as her reward. Plus she was bored.
First Lucy had headed downstairs. The living room and the kitchen were the ones she had seen before, so that left her six doors to check, four of them were located on a short corridor and the rest two where on the opposite side of the living room. She checked those two first and to her disappointment the other was a small bathroom (rather nice one however) and the other was just a closet filled with different kind of necessities, such as a vacuum for example. Then she moved to the corridor.
Behind the first door was a simple, almost empty room. It looked like it was waiting for its' life purpose.
The second room was a bedroom, clean and neat. Lucy might have mistaking it as a simple guestroom if it hadn't been for the long row of picture frames on a desk next to the bed. Frames that each had a different picture of Laxus in them. One might have had a half Bickslow in it, if she had seen correctly. Freed... Lucy shook her head amused. Not even Laxus was that conceited.
The third room was... to put it simple, dirty. There was clothes thrown everywhere, the bed undone and trash were piled in one of the corners. And was that... Oh god! Lucy slammed the door close, face burning red. Only Bickslow would be dirty enough to bring a girl in this kind of a room, and in SOMEONE ELSE HOUSE! And then leave the proof of their acts in the middle of the room!
Shivers of disgust still running down her spine, Lucy moved to the last door. She already guessed who was the regular guest of this room. But as she stepped inside it was confirmed. Evergreen had taken the liberty and changed the room in to a exhibition of stone statues. Lucy could feel her cheeks heat up as all she could see was naked muscular men. Stone or not, they looked real enough for her.
Slowly Lucy stepped out of the room and headed back to upstairs. She peeked inside Laxus's room to see if he was still sleeping and a small smile curved on her lips as she saw the blonde hair sticking under the blanket once again. Quietly she closed the door, then turning to study her options. There was two doors left. After a fast eeny, meeny, miny, moe Lucy opened the door opposite to Laxus' room.
What waited her behind the wooden gate was a office with a desk and a chair, the usual baggage, but what made her jaw drop was the shelves covering the walls, or more like the things placed on the shelves. Every corner of them were filled with CDs and vinyl records. It must have been the biggest music collection Lucy has ever seen. "Wow..." She couldn't hide her amazement. The collection was marvelous.
Finger trailing along the edge of one shelf, Lucy walked forward, reading quietly the names of the CDs. It would take a long time to read all of them and a forever to listen them all, but Lucy didn't doubt a second that Laxus wouldn't have listened every single one of them. Because if she knew something about Laxus was that he liked, no, loved music. Rock especially. She ones asked him something about the music he was listening and it has been the only time she has run out of things to say before the stoic man.
Smiling at the memory, Lucy, half unconsciously, reached her hand about to take one of the vinyls for closer inspection. However before her finger that much as touched the record a deep voice startled her almost out of her skin, making her jump half meters back at the same.
"Haven't you been thought that going trough other people stuffs without permission is impolite?" The man stood in the door frame, casually leaning on it.
"Oh god! Laxus! Don't scare me like that!"
As all Laxus gave her was a blank stare, Lucy coughed a little embarrassed, blush creeping on her cheeks. "I wasn't really..." Yes she was. "Anyway! Are you feeling better?" To this the man shrugged. Sighing, and the embarrassment forgotten, Lucy walked to him and placed her hand on his forehead. The man closed his eyes and leaned in to her cool touch. Lucy might have blushed, if it hadn't been for the fact that his forehead was still burning. "Laxus, your fever hasn't gone down one bit yet. You should stay in the bed. If you need something you can just call me."
The notorious Dragon Slayer opened his eyes a little. For a moment he just stared her right in the eyes, his breathing slightly labored. "...bathroom..." He mumbled and withdraw his head from her hand, seemingly looking for something.
"Bathroom? Umm... Right!" Lucy took the liberty to dive under the man's arm to give him support. "And the bathroom is... there?" She followed Laxus's unfocused eyes, which were looking at the direction of the last door upstairs.
The blonde pair made their way there and as Lucy opened the door her eyeballs almost rolled out off their sockets. The room was indeed a bathroom, but easily the most amazing Lucy has ever seen. It was clear that the man had spend a fortune on it (maybe they now had a second topic to discuss about). Mouth drooling Lucy stepped inside, practically dragging Laxus with her.
The room itself was probably bigger than her apartment and most of the space was taken by a bathtub, no, a Jacuzzi. A freaking Jacuzzi! Okay, it was official now! She was moving here! Not even her family mansion had a Jacuzzi. Wiping her drool, Lucy walked closer to the bath to admire it. But before she reached the edge of it a sound of water hitting water, stopped her.
Confused Lucy turned to see where the sound was coming, only to get her whole body explode in flames. "Laxus!" She screamed and spun around face ten times darker red than Erza's hair. She wasn't sure when his arm had left her shoulders, but now he stood there, boxers down, his not-so-little friend in hand, doing his businesses. "Couldn't you have waited that I was outside?!"
Silently Lucy prayed that the moment would be over soon and that Laxus wouldn't remember it when he finally comes back to his senses, which hopefully happens soon! She was feeling already so embarrassed, awkward and uncomfortable, and she would probably never forget this moment, so if Laxus would remember all this they would probably never talk again and she would have to bury herself alive out of shame. If she got lucky Laxus would do the grave digging for her and all that was left for her would be jumping in it. Covering her face with her hands, Lucy let out a silent scream. She was never able to look at Laxus the same again!
Well, if she wanted to find something good out of this... At least it was only number one he was taking.
Hearing the toilet being washed, Lucy peeked over her shoulder and between her fingers. She let out a long sigh of relief as she saw the man standing there his skin tight boxers back on. Her face heated up again as she saw the bulk in the black fabric. That thing truly was a monster...
"Lucy...?" Laxus hoarse voice hold a questioning tone in it as he said her name. It was like he only now noticed that she was here. A soft smile spread on his lips, the kind which would have made Lucy's cheeks turn red if they hadn't already been. He tried to take a step toward her, but instead started to fall forward. Not even given the time to think, Lucy dived under him and was almost crushed under his weight, only barely avoiding such thing from happening.
Laxus had his eyes closed and his breath come out in sharp, whistling pants. Cursing silently, Lucy forced her way out of the bathroom and into the neighbor room, all the time supporting most of Laxus's weight. In his room she more than fell down on the bed with the man. She gave herself a moment to catch her breath before getting up to sit on the edge of the bed.
Lucy placed her hand on Laxus forehead and frowned. His fever had risen. She grabbed Loke's key and summoned him. The spirit of Leo appeared with a bright light, bowing his head.
"In you service, Princess." He gave her his usual flirty smile, but as soon as he realized her worry filled face his smile faded.
"Loke, I want you to go to the guild and ask Mira to contact Wendy. Tell her that Laxus is in a bad shape. Thank you."
"Anything for you, Princess." Loke said with a assuring smile. And then he disappeared.
Lucy turned her attention back to Laxus. She touched his red cheek with the back of her palm. Even his cheeks were burning hot. Moving a strand hair from his forehead, she whispered. "We should really go to the hospital. We don't know when Wendy will return. Even you can't stand this kind of a fever long."
"...not... hospital..." The man mumbled between pants. This made Lucy frown even deeper. She knew very well that Laxus was in tire need of proper medical treatment, but she still didn't know what to do. It would be easy to make Taurus to carry him in this state, but... She had made a promise with him, and a Celestial mage never breaks their promises.
A quiet peeping made Lucy glance toward the night stand next to the bed. She opened the first drawer, finding a communication lacrima in there. Concentrating a small amount of magic in it, she answered it and Mira's face appeared.
"Lucy? Good, you found Laxus com-lacrima. I already contacted Wendy and she's on her way back as we speak, but it will take five to six." Mira talked with unusually serious voice, her expression mirroring her tone. "I have also contacted the Thunder God Tribe and they should be back in couple of hours. Can you stay there until then? If you want I can also-"
"It's okay, Mira. I can stay." Lucy was surprised by her fast answer, not completely knowing were it came from, but she wanted to stay with Laxus that was the truth. Mira's eyes widened a little at the strong answer, but then she broke into knowing smile, and for some reason Lucy didn't like that look.
"Okay. Wendy told me a couple of things we should do as 'first aid'." Lucy nodded telling Mira that she was all ears. "First you need to put something cold on his forehead, wet towel for example."
"Wet towel, got it!" Lucy said and stood up right away. As she returned back to the bathroom, the barmaid continued. "Then you should change him off the sweated clothes."
"O-okay..." Not sounding so confident anymore, her cheeks warmed up at the certain memory from not so long ago, which the thought of undressed Laxus brought to her mind. Trying to get her thoughts away Lucy roamed trough the closet in the room, finding a simple white towel in one of closet and a bucket for the water under the sink. She took the bucket and placed it under a faucet, opening it at the same. As the water started to fill the plastic container, Lucy turned to the lacrima again. "And then what?"
"Then you have to make sure he stays hydrated. ... If he can't drink himself, then you have to give the water to him mouth-to-mouth-" The last words made Lucy loose her hold on the orb and without mercy it dropped on the hard floor, breaking down to pieces. With wide eyes she stared at the destroyed communication device, her thoughts, however, somewhere else.
She had to give Laxus water... mouth-to-mouth...? As the image of her taking a sip from a glass and then slowly leaning closer to Laxus to seal their lips entered her head, Lucy's head exploded. There was no way she could do it! Just no way! Her kissing Laxus... It was impossible... It just... It was , well, actually it didn't sound so bad. But! She couldn't possible do it to Laxus...conscious Laxus... But this one wasn't... Lucy swallowed thickly. Maybe just a fast mouth-to-mouth wouldn't hurt anyone...
Her thoughts where interrupted by her own shriek as the water spilled over the buckets edge and splashed on her feet. She immediately slammed the faucet shut. Mentally slapping herself, she lifted the bucket up, first pouring the extra water off it. Grabbing the towel to her free hand, Lucy headed back to the bedroom. There she placed the container on the floor next to the bed and sat down on the edge of the bed herself.
Lucy dropped the towel in the water and then turned to the Dragon Slayer. His brows where furrowed out of discomfort and a droplets of sweat shined on his forehead. Lucy reached down and picked up the now wet towel. She squeezed the extra water off and then folded it before placing it on Laxus's forehead. She might have imagined it, but it looked like the frown on his face immediately eased up a little.
Now that that was done, the next thing Mira said was to change his clothes. Lucy glanced down his torso and blushed. Maybe it would be enough if she just changed the shirt. She wasn't quite sure was she still ready to see that little brother of the Dragon Slayer again so soon. Trying to erase the image that once more entered her mind, Lucy got up from the bed and headed to a cabinet were she assumed the man stored his clothes. And right she was.
In the closet side by side hanged were shirts of different color and style. For a long moment Lucy pondered which one to take, finally deciding on the least expensive looking simple white collar shirt. She returned to the bed and immediately started to unbutton the shirt on Laxus. And of course Laxus just had to regain his consciousness then.
"You know..." He started, startling Lucy a little. "You should have just asked."
"Ask what?" Lucy kept her eyes glued to the buttons and continued unbuttoning them. She tried to play it cool, but inside she was dying out of embarrassment. "If you wanted to see me naked that bad, I could have stripped myself, and you at the same."
To this Lucy couldn't but stop what she was doing and glance at his face disbelieving. This was the second time already! Laxus was trying to flirt with her! He was giving her a seductive smile - or at least it tried to be one - and eyes that, even unfocused, seemed to stare right trough her. "Please, Laxus, just... Go back to sleep. The fever is messing your head big time." Lucy begged and returned to the unbuttoning.
Slightly nodding his head, Laxus closed his eyes, but instead of sleeping he spoke again, or more like mumbled. "You're the one messing my head." Lucy froze and a red hue returned to her cheeks. This man was going to be the dead of her! Picking up her pace, Lucy practically yanked the last button open and then with some kind of a miracle got the shirt off and the new one on.
A gentle snore started to emit from Laxus as she got the clean shirt buttoned closed. Tenderly she straightened couple of wrinkles on the fabric, then pulled the blanked over him. A small smile turned the corners of Lucy's lips up as the man fixed his position a little, burying himself deeper under the cover. Now she only had to make sure that Laxus drank something while waiting for the Thunder God Tribe and Wendy to arrive.
But mouth-to-mouth... Should she really do it...? Could she do it?
Thanks for reading!
This was the first chapter out of three and I hope you liked it!
And as always reviews are more than welcome!