*Summary*

Kitten and Laxus ponder their next move, while Laxus makes a pretty big discovery about his feisty companion.

*Nor*

The night Laxus and I discussed his guild mates was the first night we slept together in the same bed. We'd talked for hours about his guild – he'd told me more about Team Natsu (and boy, did Natsu sound like a piece of goddamn work). Go big or go home had never been my style – I was more a fined-tuned detail kinda girl. Having to keep my head down had taught me a lot about how to stick to the shadows, and I'd become really good at it.

But that's neither here nor there. Laxus had answered all my questions about his guild, even the ones he didn't really want to answer (namely – Lucy, which I still found curious). Who cared if he thought someone else was hot stuff? That seemed like a waste of time, to me. So, he'd filled me in on all the members of Team Natsu, and Team ShadowGear, and the various other major players at the Guild. I was excited to meet Mirajane, and Lucy. Laxus even said that the three other Dragon Slayers had TALKING CATS. WILD. And apparently, there are MORE!

Laxus had a lot to say about his grandfather, but didn't mention his father once. So, I guess that's a thing that happened. His grandfather (Gramps, he called him) sounds like a trip and a half. He also sounded like kind of a lecherous creep, but I think I'll keep that opinion to myself.

He'd also mentioned that the guildhall has been rebuilt like 4-ish times in the past ten years. Because it'd been destroyed. I just. I'd asked if other guilds had such a bad time with needing renovations, and he said no, it just seemed like Fairy Tail was always on the losing end of someone's battle. That's…a lot of bad luck. I'd also asked him if the town of Magnolia had considered just moving itself and using the OLD Magnolia (where the Guildhall would still be) as a decoy because the amount of disaster insurance those people need sounds astronomical. Laxus gave me a look like I'd just invented cheese when I mentioned it. I honestly can't imagine why anyone would actually want to LIVE in Magnolia if they weren't in the guild.

All in all, it sounds like Fairy Tail is barely organized chaos 100% of the time. That's…gonna take time to get used to.

Just like sleeping in a bed with another human being will. It was Laxus' idea, although I can't deny I was thinking it, too. Because I was. Touching him was like nothing else I'd ever experienced before in my life. It wasn't just the lack of pain from the tattoos – it felt comforting. I can't remember the last time I felt comforted. My hand to the Maker, it felt like his arms had been created to hold me, alone. He'd had his arm around me while we were discussing the rest of the guild; his hand drew random patterns on my side as he spoke, and it was…such a delicious feeling.

I must have dozed off at some point, because I remember Laxus gently shaking me awake, and suggesting I move to his other side, so we could 'spoon'. He said that was when two people laid side by side and held one another. He said I could be the 'big spoon', meaning I was on the outside, so I could control where I wanted to touch him. I know I must have looked like a deer caught eating greens in a garden, because he immediately said he'd sleep on the floor, but I stopped him.

So we spooned. It felt so strange, but at the same time, it didn't. Laxus is much bigger than I am, so I couldn't very well put an arm around him – I tried, and I was essentially resting my hand on his side, my whole arm outstretched, which hurt after a while. So, I just pressed up against him. At some point before I fell asleep, I started absently drawing on his back; I hadn't even realized I was doing it until a deep rumble started in his chest, and I swear to all the Gods it was a purr. My Dragon Slayer was purring. His purring lulled me to sleep.

Waking up, now that was…not the same as we went to sleep. Looking back on it, I guess I do tend to sleep face down, because I woke up essentially laying on Laxus, who was laying on his back. Most of me was laying on Laxus. Like half of me. My left arm was flung out over his chest, and my head was kind of nestled into the crook of his armpit. His left arm was supporting my head.

He was awake when I finally woke up, and he was watching me with a smirk on his face. I must have turned a delightful shade of pink, because he chuckled.

"I was wondering when you were gonna wake up, Kitten,"

"Should I just start using you as a mattress from now on?" I asked, smiling.

"Yes." Was his only reply. That made me blush even more, which made him chuckle harder. "How'd you sleep?" He asked, nonchalantly.

I took a moment and really thought about it. "I slept well. You?"

"Really well."

I turned so I was pressed into his side. I felt his arm come around me, now that I wasn't holding it hostage with my face. I looked up at him. "Is that different than normal?"

"It is."

I guess there was something to this whole mate bond thing after all.

We dawdled in bed for a little while; I don't think either of us was in a hurry to move, but eventually my bladder demanded attention, so I had to get out of bed. I hurried through my morning routine, looking longingly at the bathtub, not knowing when I might see my newfound friend again.

Laxus was lounging in bed when I got out, and used the bathroom after me. I took that opportunity to undress to change underwear, re-dressing quickly, and pack my bag. Nimbus was already outside, he'd gone out the night before, tired of being cooped up. Laxus didn't take long doing his thing and shortly we were downstairs eating breakfast before heading out.

Over breakfast, I watched him pull out the map he'd been staring at the past couple days, and hand it to me. I raised my eyebrows. "Do you…want me to hold it?" I asked him, confused.

"No, I want to know if you can figure out a better way for us to get back into Fiore."

"How would I do that?" I was still confused.

"Kitten, by reading the map, that's how!" he said and he sounded frustrated.

"Laxus, I can't read." I said, simply. It was true. Reading was not an in-demand skill for a slave to have. Quite the opposite. I'd gotten pieces here and there, some from my father, and some from my mistress, but not enough to be able to call myself literate.

"You…can't-" he seemed to be having a hard time coming to terms with it.

"No, Laxus, I can't read."

*Laxus*

Well, shit. Now I feel like an asshole for having just assumed she knew how to read in the first place. I guess it makes sense though, having illiterate slaves would most likely help keep order in place; after all, knowledge is power.

New mission – teach Kitten how to read. No one would ever call me the world's best teacher (I'm sure the thought alone would send the Thunder Legion into laughing hysterics), but I felt compelled to help her. Like, as her mate, this falls to me as my responsibility, along with mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash.

I took the map back, folding it up and putting it back into my pack. I guess our first order of business would be to get a book, and probably some paper to teach her how to write.

"Hey, Big Guy," Kitten put her hand on my arm to get my attention. I noticed she did not take her hand back. I zoned back in and looked at her. "Talk to me about your problem with the map. I can still help, if you describe it."

I just looked at her. Right to the point, this one. I smiled and shook my head. "Right you are, Kitten. Well. As I see it, there are two ways we can go. One is shorter, but more dangerous. The second is longer, and a little less dangerous."

"Ok, imagine I weren't here – what were you gonna do to get home before you met me?"

Trying to imagine she wasn't with me was quite literally making me physically ill. Pushing that awful thought from my mind, I answered.

"Truthfully, probably the longer way."

"Is there a benefit to the shorter way? Other than faster death?"

I laughed. "Other than faster death, no, not really."

"Are we in a hurry?" She asked, cocking her head to the side as she waited for me to answer.

"No. No we are not."

"Well, slower death it is!" she cheered, making me laugh. "Which direction are we going to be heading?" she asked, out of the blue.

"Kind of southwest."

"Pardon me, won't you?" I watched her walk up to the bar and grab the bartender's attention. I noticed something, as she spoke to him – she was acting. It was like watching theater curtains open, or in this case, close. She'd replaced her adorably awkward smile with a mask of – nothing. Her face was impassive – it showed nothing; other than polite interest. The ease with which she switched was staggering. I imagine this impassive mask was something she'd grown used to wearing all the time, before; and the adorably awkward smile I'd grown so fond of was a fairly recent development.

She spoke with the bartender for several minutes, even getting him to sketch something on a napkin, which she brought back to me.

"Whatcha got there, Kitten?"

"I asked for directions to the next town to the south, and he said it was about a three days journey. He even drew me a map!" She chirped happily, handing it to me. I stared at her. I would not have thought to do that. I took the napkin-map, and pulled out the actual map, and compared them. The town the bartender had pointed us to was not in the direction I was planning to go, but it went through less rough terrain than I was originally planning on, so that's a win.

And again, we weren't in any hurry.