A/N: here's a short but sweet chapter. I hope you read, review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own fairy tail.
Day 20
Laxus stood in his corner in anticipation. He had very stealthily managed to avoid Mira on his way in but he knew that Cana would arrive soon which would draw her out, and even if it didn't he knew some kind of meeting was inevitable. As if on que Cana entered but without her usual swagger, in its place was a very average slow walk- ah she was sober.
"Hey." She said, her eyebrows raised in question, waiting for his response.
"Hey?" he asked, not sure what she was expecting but rather than answering she dismissed him with a role of her eyes. She walked away only to return a moment later with the Cana stool which she plopped down on. Looking up at him she slowly began to smirk then chuckle leaving Laxus no choice but to cock an eyebrow at her.
"Don't worry about Mira, I set her straight." She said, trying to maintain an earnest expression but ended up in laughter.
"God, what did you say now?" he groaned, running a tired hand through his hand. "She doesn't really think we're getting married does she?" he asked, his serious expression juxtaposing her grin comically.
"You're getting married?!" Ever screeched through the radio, her confusion due to the many gaps in Laxus' recount to the tribe on the night before. Laxus grasped the radio to his mouth, ignoring Bixlow and Freed's similar outbursts.
"No I'm not bloody getting married! Stop listening in on me and get back to your jobs." He ordered before double checking that the radio was no longer transmitting their conversation. Cana put a soothing hand on his shoulder but he ended up feeling much more patronised than soothed.
"I just told her that you crashed on my couch because you were worried I'd do something stupid." Cana said with a shrug. "Whether she believed me or not is totally up to interpretation." She said, bursting into another round of giggles, Laxus' glare doing little to sober her. "You know, this whole time she's been shoving you down my throat and when there is a chance of that being a literal reality she loses her shit- some people are just so confusing." Cana said with mock sincerity. Ignoring Laxus' look of horror she bounded off the stool and headed over to the bar.
"Please tell me you didn't say something stupid." Laxus said, following after her which was something she hadn't anticipated as he usually never abandoned his post no matter how much she baited him- once she even threatened to take off her top if he didn't come dance with her and he didn't even bat an eyelid.
"I didn't say anything bad," Cana said with an infuriating grin. But before they could continue to bicker Mira came around the corner, froze, looked between them, flushed deeply and walked back around the corner in a flustered hurry.
"Cana!? What the fuck was that?" Laxus snapped, slamming his hand down on the bar, glaring into her surprised eyes. She studied his face for a few moments, calculating the possible reasons behind his response before getting to her feet and stepping forward, their chests touching.
"That was a joke, and you need to calm your shit. I wouldn't say anything to fuck up your job or your position ogling Mira's ass so I suggest you chill out or you'll end up blowing your shot with her better than anything I could've said." She said seriously in a hushed tone, continuing to stare at his eyes even when he looked way, irritated at being called out on his fascination with Mira. But strangely it wasn't that Mira was under some misconception about him that made him so frustrated, it was that he thought he and Cana had actually become friends, or something close, and she just made him into a joke. Was he really feeling the burn of rejection? Surely it was just anger at being mocked or… But she cut his half formed rebuttal down with a fake grin and another patronising tap on the arm. "Ok, muscle man?" she asked rhetorically. As far as Laxus was concerned she had made her position clear- they weren't friends, he was her joke.
Well, he wasn't going to be pulled in again.
"Ok, Miss Alberona."
OOO
"What's wrong with Laxus?" Mira asked, leaning over the bar to whisper in Cana's ear. She grimaced, not wanting to recount their conversation for fear of one of Mira's infamous speeches. Since their confrontation Laxus had stayed in his corner, which wasn't strange other than the way his face was set in a constant glower. His team must have sensed his anger because she could see them glance worriedly out in his direction, hoping for a glimpse of him as they carried out their jobs. Cana even bought him his favourite non-alcoholic drink on the menu, braved his ignoring and angry silence to offer it to him only to be told
"Sorry, I can't drink on the job, that would be unprofessional." In a monotone. She didn't bother to insist as she would have usually done, but slunk back to the bar in a fog of depression, sipping her non-alcoholic drinks. Cana had no idea Laxus could be such a drama queen, but the justification that he was over reacting did little to quell her growing spiral of guilt and anxiety.
"I kinda pissed him off… maybe." Cana replied, giving in to the need to confide in Mira. Mira gave her a reprimanding look but was pulled away by a customer looking for a vodka shot. When she returned Cana expected the usual interrogation and then run down of how exactly she was going to fix the mess she'd created but Mira surprised her.
"Do you know how you're going to fix it?" She asked, unable to look up from the drinks she was mixing before handing them to a clubber and moving on to the next one. Cana, sat, stunned and actually thought, hard, and somewhere in the jumbled mess that was her mind came to a conclusion.
"Yeah… but I don't have to like it."
OOO
Cana waved Laxus towards the door and ignored his irritated glare as she walked out into the streets. He walked a few metres behind her, never speaking or altering his pace, that was until Cana forced him to a stop, turning to face him and keeping their eyes locked she began the speech she had been rehearsing in her head all night.
"I'm sorry, I'm an asshole." Cana said, which got her from a glare to a brief look of approval before his jaw reclenched.
"Look, when you left, Mira kept pushing pushing pushing about what happened, and I was tired… but mostly I just wanted it to be our thing rather than having to share it with everyone else so I implied…" Cana said, this time looking away so she didn't notice Laxus' surprise.
"I implied that Isawyourmorningwoodwhileyouweresleepingonthecouch." She said so fast that all her words slurred together, but he could work out enough that a flush went through his cheeks.
"Which distracted her enough to make her forget all about it." She said, chancing a look up but Laxus had a hand covering his face which was never a good sign. "I'm sorry I was such a bitch and I used you to get Mira off my back." She said, desperation seeping into her voice. "Can we just go back to being friends, because I meant what I said, I really like being friends with you…" she said, her anxiety growing as Laxus didn't remove his hand, blocking her view of face.
"Fine, but only if you shout me pizza." He said with a smirk, walking past her down the street. Cana stood, watching him walk away for a moment before she snapped out of it and jogged after him.
"Fine, but you have to order it, you're orders are always too confusing for me." She said, making no efforts to hide her grin as she walked with him side by side, their arms brushing against each other.
"I always get cheese pizza." He argued, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but it has five types of cheese on it, and when they ask I never know what to say, and remember that time I got the wrong one and you couldn't eat it and it ended up sitting in my fridge for ages!" She reasoned just as forcefully.
"Alright Alright, I'll order it."
