Chapter 8
Next thing Lucy knew Laxus lips were pressed against hers. The second his lips touched Lucy's she wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his head. When he began to purr, she moaned into his mouth. Lucy's noise made Laxus go feral and push her body into the closest wall. Lucy broke away from the kiss; she said breathlessly, "Point proven Lightning Rod. The Thunder God Tribe will be waiting for us, unless you want them to find us like this. At that point Evergreen and Mira will plan our future wedding; while Erza puts us in front of an altar at sword point."
Laxus let Lucy slide out of his arms slowly. Lucy noticed that Laxus was definitely blushing. "Oh, are your cheeks red?" Laxus would not look the celestial mage in the face, "I am sorry Lucy. I should not have pushed myself on you like that." Lucy looked at the lightning mage in shock, "You called me by my name and not Blondie… You did not push yourself on me Laxus. Do not feel bad. Although telling anyone you stole my first kiss would be bad for your health probably." At Lucy's statement Laxus looked up with a grin on his face, "First kiss Blondie? That kiss I gave you will be hard to beat by anybody else but me."
At Laxus' cocky attitude Lucy rolled her eyes and lied, "Please Laxus, I said you shouldn't feel bad. I did not say that it rocked my world." At this Laxus wrapped his arms back around Lucy's waist, "Maybe I should improve your experience. I would hate to leave you with a poor memory of your first kiss, even though I can tell you are lying." Lucy blushed and began to panic, looking for a way out of the situation. Just when Laxus was about to kiss the celestial mage, they both heard a bang on the back porch. Lucy screamed in surprise and Laxus covered his ears and yelled over her, "Blondie calm down! Damn you have some lungs on you. It is just my dog."
Lucy looked at Laxus in shock, "I didn't peg you to be the kind of person to own a pet. Is he ok? Who takes care of him when you are gone?" Laxus shook his head at Lucy, "I am not the kind of person to own a pet, but I was not going to let it starve. She is fine just caught a squirrel and Mira watches her when I am gone. Now come here, it is time to meet the others and if we are late they will come looking for us." After Laxus said this he picked up his bags and then hugged the celestial mage. Lucy looked at the dragon slayer in confusion and gasped when lightning surrounded them. Next thing Lucy knew she was outside a beautiful two story house and she was extremely dizzy.
Laxus smelt Lucy's sudden disorientation and picked her up in his arms bridal style. Lucy held on to Laxus fearing she may drop him while he was also holding on to his pack. She mumbled to Laxus, "What was that? Where are we?" Laxus chuckled softly, "We are at Freed's house. I kind of teleported us here with my powers. Being a little out of sorts after the first ride is normal, but I have to admit that I like you in this docile state. I don't have to worry about you 'Lucy Kicking' me in the face." Laxus walked into the house with Lucy still in his arms, by now Lucy was feeling better, and Laxus could smell it.
When Lucy walked into the living room the Thunder God Tribe stood up and Freed asked, "What happened to Miss Lucy?" Laxus waved away their concern and replied, "I teleported us from my house; she is just dizzy from her first ride on a lightning bolt." Lucy squeaked at the suggestive comment and stated, "You can put me down now, I feel better." Laxus carefully put the celestial mage down making sure she was truly recovered. Bickslow smiled with his signature of sticking his tongue out, "What is wrong Cosplayer? Don't like the true princess treatment, as your spirits call you?" Lucy responded with bite in her voice, "I actually request that they don't call me that because unlike you I am not a pervert. I bet you get all your girls to call you master as you ride their ass…"
Everyone in the room dropped their jaws at the celestial mage's comments. After Bickslow got over the shock he said, "Damn Cosplayer, you know me so well. Why don't you be my next slave? I bet you would enjoy a nice ass riding." Laxus did not like Bickslow's offer at all, but Lucy fell to the floor laughing, "I always knew you were a huge pervert Bicksy. Now I have proof that I am right." The rest of the group smiled that Lucy was beginning to relax around them. Evergreen decided to change the subject, "Lucy, where is your luggage? I will show you where we will be sleeping" Lucy grinned at the brunette and called out Virgo.
Virgo bowed to her key holder and asked, "Punishment time Princess?" At this Bickslow began to laugh hysterically and said, "Who is the pervert now Cosplayer?" Lucy screamed at Bickslow, "She just says that. I do not ever punish my spirits. It is just her personality." After she got done yelling at Bickslow she turned back to Virgo and said, "I would like my bags now, if it is no trouble Virgo." Virgo bowed to Lucy before disappearing; she was only gone a minute before she came back with a couple of suitcases. Virgo asked, "Will that be all Hime?" Lucy nodded at the pink haired mage and thanked her before she went back to the celestial world.
The two-girls made their way up the stairs to the second floor. When they got to the top and entered a hallway that had two doors on each side and one at the very end. Evergreen started giving Lucy a rundown of the top floor, "The first door on the right is Laxus', the second is Bickslow's. The first door on the left is the bathroom. The door at the very end of the hall belongs to Freed. Our room will be the second on the left." Evergreen walked down the hall and opened the door to the room where they would both be staying.
Lucy followed the other woman into the room and gasped. The room was decorated in greens and blues. Everything in the room seemed to fit perfectly with Evergreen's personality. The brunette grinned at Lucy's reaction, "Freed let us decorate our own rooms when he bought this place. The best part of this room is that, other than Freed's, ours is the only other one with a private bath. So, can I ask a question while you unpack your things into the dresser?" Lucy nodded at the brunette as she began to organize her clothing. "I have never seen Laxus act like he does with you around anyone else. What is going on between the two of you?"
Lucy stopped messing with her clothes and looked at Evergreen, "Honestly Evergreen I don't know Laxus well enough to know what his normal behavior is. Unlike the Thunder God Tribe, I never got to know Laxus after Fantasia. Not out of fear, he is just hard to approach. As far as I know he is just being friendly. So, my honest answer is nothing." Evergreen laid back onto her bed and questions Lucy some more, "So Lucy you got something going with Natsu or anyone else for that matter?" Lucy shook her head no as she put the last of her stuff away, "No Ever I am single unlike most of the rest of the guild. How are you and Elfman doing these days?" Evergreen could detect a slight hint of bitterness in the blonde's voice. She responded to Lucy saying, "We are doing fine, and do not apologize about causing us separation. You cannot help you were targeted and he is guarding his own charge. Now I think it is time to go back down before the boys decide what to eat without us and order something disgusting."
Lucy and Ever joked on the way back to the rest of their group. When they saw the others, Lucy walked over to Freed and said, "Your home is gorgeous. Thank you for letting me stay while I cannot go home." Freed turned to Lucy and smiled, "Thank you. I will give you a tour of the rest of the house later. You are always welcome here Lucy, emergency or not." Lucy hugged the green haired mage; which made Freed blush. Laxus realized he did not like seeing the celestial mage in anyone else's arms; not just Natsu. Laxus growled out, "Let's decide on some food, everyone here is getting hungry. Take out or who is cooking? I cooked last time so someone else's turn."
Bickslow chimed out with pizza with his babies mimicking him. Evergreen wanted to eat something a little less greasy. Freed suggested Italian, while Laxus said to order ramen. Lucy watched them argue over food for a while before she began to giggle. Everyone stopped to look at the celestial mage. Freed stepped forward and asked, "Miss Lucy why are you laughing all of a sudden?" Lucy stopped and replied, "Sorry guys. I did not mean to offend anyone. It is just that is what I always thought what it might be like for siblings to argue. I thought it was kind of adorable, but if it was ok with you I will volunteer to cook."
The others were kind of surprised, Evergreen stepped forward and asked, "You are willing to cook for five people?" Lucy nodded and replied, "I always cook and clean up after dinner when my team is out. Erza makes things too sweet, Natsu burns everything, and Gray does not heat anything up to the proper temperature. That just leaves me to cook. The three always get into fights over who will clean, so I just offer too to keep the peace. Anybody allergic to anything or absolutely can't stand something?" The only one who responded was Bickslow, "Please no leeks, they make me sick just to smell them." Lucy nodded her understanding and looked to Freed, "Show me the kitchen if you don't mind. I will need to see what you have before I can start." Freed escorted Lucy to the kitchen as the Evergreen, Bickslow, and Laxus stayed in the living room.
Bickslow shook his head, "It is a wonder Lucy has survived her team this long. I figured Erza at least would get Natsu and Gray to help clean." Laxus spoke up, "If they get in fights she probably hits them so hard that they are not awake to clean up later." Evergreen spoke up then and said, "Bickslow and I will clean up after Lucy's done. We shouldn't take advantage of her kindness like her team does." After they completed their conversation the followed Freed and Lucy into the kitchen. Lucy already had their dinner started, and she was working at a fast pace. The celestial mage moved from one task to another like a professional chef. Bickslow was impressed, "Hey Cosplayer where did you learn to cook like that?
Lucy never looked up even once from chopping vegetables, "When I was a kid I had to entertain myself for the most part. I convinced the estate chef to teach me on the sly. Of course, when my father found out about my secret lessons he forbade me from going into the kitchen again. He said it was not proper for a young lady of my station to work as a servant does. Also, he threatened to fire the chef if he ever tried to tutor me again. Shortly after that my already budding obsession with books came into full bloom. They were an escape of sorts."
Freed politely changed the subject from Lucy's childhood; knowing her pain personally. The whole group chatted and joked with each other until Lucy announced, "Dinner is ready." There were no complaints at the table about Lucy's cooking. When everyone was done, Lucy had begun to clean but was quickly evicted from the kitchen with the help of Bickslow's babies. Freed offered to complete Lucy's tour of the house. The green haired mage showed Lucy a downstairs bath, laundry area. Lucy's favorite area was the library/office, which Freed promise Lucy full access to his collection.
The last thing she was showed was the lap pool in the back yard. This is where Freed explained the rules to the rune barrier. "Miss Lucy I have a large ruin barrier around my property, which rejects everyone but guild members. Laxus still has asked that if you want to be in the yard to take someone with you; my ruins are not unbreakable unfortunately." Lucy nodded in understanding and stated, "I have adopted a new exercise routine after my trip. I get up fairly early, is their anyone else who also gets up early? I would hate to be a burden on someone's sleep schedule."
At this point the rest of the group had caught up with Lucy and Freed. "I will come out here with you Cosplayer. I have an exercise routine myself, maybe we can teach each other some new tricks.", Bickslow said with his signature grin. Lucy agreed that while on their mission they would start exercising together. It was already getting late and they were going to leave early for their mission. So, everyone went their separate ways to get some rest before morning.