Day Twenty-Four – Air (Of a Late Evening)

The coolness of the evening air hitting his face was a welcome release, and Laxus leant against the metal railing of the balcony. The room that he had just been in, despite its seemingly endless size, had felt stuffy and suffocating. It was a lot nicer out here in the garden, with a gentle wind hitting his face and no annoying women surrounding him.

To think that one of those women was to be his wife.

Of course nobody would say it, but that was what this whole party was for. Makarov had a large amount of land and, recently, it had been discovered that the land contains a large amount of copper. Nearly every mining company in the local area wanted to buy the land for the mining rights, and the party had been organised for the prospective buyers to meet the Dreyar's in a social situation. Essentially, every mining family had brought their daughters as some kind of bargaining chip, and one of them would be wed to Laxus to affirm the future relationship between their family and the Dreyar's.

Makarov had assured him that wasn't going to happen, but Laxus knew that Ivan had been the one to organise this party. And while Makarov wasn't going to marry off his grandson for business, Ivan would. Laxus just had to accept it. Even if the idea made him feel nauseous.

"Do you smoke?" A voice came from behind Laxus, making him turn around.

It was a man with long green hair, the representative of the Justine family; Freed Justine. He had escorted his sister – who might soon by Laxus' wife – and was the businessman for the family. He was a well put together man of a higher social status, and rather handsome too. He had a small cigar case outstretched, with one in his lips.

"Thanks," Laxus nodded, taking a cigar and a match.

"You looked rather miserable in there, I must say," The man chuckled, leaning against the railing alongside Laxus. "Not the typical reaction for a man with beautiful women fawning over him."

"They ain't exactly what I'm lookin' for in a partner," Laxus mumbled.

The blonde looked over the large land owned by his father, an expansive garden of beautiful grass and well-formed flower beds. He had been purposely vague about what he was looking for, as being honest about such things could often end up with one in trouble. No matter how beautiful a woman was, nor how thrilling their personality may be, that wouldn't be what Laxus was looking for. Certainly not the type of women that had come to this party.

Ironically, the only person who had piqued his interest was now standing beside him.

"I thought as much," The man smiled, and Laxus felt frozen under his gaze. "This must be rather horrid for you, then. If you don't have any interest in these women."

"I can deal with it," Laxus muttered.

"You probably can. It's a shame that you have to, though," Freed had a charming look on his face as he gazed over Laxus. "Rather a waste, you could say."

Laxus shot his eyes forward, reddening slightly and feeling almost pinned by the charming smile of the gentleman beside him. Freed really was a handsome man, and there was a slight air of contained mischief behind his smile. Laxus didn't know how he would have reacted if he maintained eye contact with a man who could make such an expression.

"If it eases your troubles, it wouldn't be a necessity for you to marry my sister, if you were to go into business with my family," Freed continued, smiling.

"Why'd she come, then?"

"Your father seemed to think it was a requirement, and my father wished to cover all bases," Freed explained. "But in all honesty, all we need is an assurance that our relationship will be," Laxus felt Freed's arm rest softy against his. "Close."

"Oh," Laxus said, reddening further.

He was almost definitely misunderstanding what was happening. The charming smile and the piercing eyes were just the eyes of someone who knew to get what he wanted, and the light presence of the man's strong body against his own wasn't anything but an accident. There was no way that the man was flirting with him. Even if the eldest Justine son was known for being a rather eccentric and non-conforming man.

But maybe he was flirting. It wasn't completely impossible. The richer the man, the less fear he held about being prosecuted. Perhaps Mr Justine was so confident in himself that he was open about his… persuasion. Laxus just needed to see further.

Maybe to indulge himself, too. He deserved it, after the night he was having.

"How would you say we make sure our family's bond is close?" Laxus asked, avoiding the man's eyes.

"Many different ways. Anything from a well-crafted contract to keep us both in line, to something more…" He thought for a moment, and Laxus could feel the man's eyes on him. "Liberal."

"Liberal?" Laxus echoed. "Sounds interesting."

"I thought you'd say that," Freed chuckled. "Perhaps you and I should thrash it out at some time. If you're willing to, of course."

Laxus' eyes widened, there was no chance of the phrasing being accidental. Nobody referred to a business meeting as 'thrashing it out' without the double meaning of it being intentional. Apparently Laxus' suggestion that he would be interested in something liberal had meant that Freed no longer seemed to be subtle. Laxus was glad for the bracing wind that would cool his heating skin.

If he hadn't needed some air before, he did now.

"I'll do what I can," Laxus said, stumbling over his words slightly.

"I'm glad to hear it. I should leave you now, give you some time to think. I understand that you don't want to go into something this large without thinking," Freed patted Laxus' shoulder, and it sent shivers down his spine. "I should make it known that I don't mix business with pleasure."

Ridiculously, it felt like a punch to the gut. Had he been taken for a fool?

"Luckily," Freed continued, amusement on his face when he saw Laxus' reaction. "I don't have much to do with my family's business. So I expect I can focus on the pleasure. Good day, sir."

Freed walked back inside, and Laxus was left with no doubt as to what Freed wanted. Nor with what he wanted with Freed, if he was honest.

Thank god he had come out for air.