Chapter Seven - Resting

Day Six: Saturday

Metalicana had often talked to Gajeel about the culture of Dragons. He has explained folklore, rites of passage, and the day to day lives of people of the time. One such aspect of his culture which had always stayed with Gajeel was the Draconic perception of a soulmate.

Minn Maðr. My Person.

Gajeel had been told that every person had a specific group of people who they were destined for. A group of people linked to them by fate. Unlike other interpretations of soulmates, the Draconic culture didn't limit their relevance to a romantic partner. They could be a lover, a friend, or an enemy. Their influence on the person's life was only rivalled by the passion they would feel for each other. A Minn Maðr was someone who brought your emotions to a boil, and made your mind explode.

Everything about Freed had brought out the intensity inside of Gajeel. First, it had been rage. Then, something new. Something unfamiliar. Something that made Gajeel take note of Freed's smile, that made him worry about the demon living in his soul, that made him able to perform a fucking unison raid!

Maybe Metalicana was right? Maybe Freed was a Minn Maðr.

But they'd only really know each other for a week. Half of that week, they'd both been unwittingly influenced by a demon that was meant to make their moods shitty. He couldn't be sure of his own feelings. He couldn't be sure of anything when it came to Freed.

He really should listen to his own damn advice and not think too much about this.

Like that was easy! His magic had merged with a stranger, and left Freed covered in piercings. Gajeel hadn't exaggerated when he said he wouldn't be able to remove them; they looked like they were merged with his skin. Sure, Freed claimed he had a weird sense of excitement at what had happened and Gajeel felt the same way at the runes now on his body, but he couldn't know how Freed was actually reacting. Unless he was pushed to his limits, Freed was a pretty closed book.

Fuck, this wasn't helping. It was three in the morning, Gajeel was thrumming with energy even after doing sit-ups and push-ups for nearly an hour, and his mind was a mess. He jumped up from the floor, rolled his shoulders back and walked to the standing mirror and assessed his new look. He couldn't help but smile.

Did the runes mean anything? Did it matter?

Metalicana had also told Gajeel about his inner dragon. It wasn't a literal thing, like Freed's demon, but it did exist. It was like a voice in his head, or a gut instinct. Gajeel had learnt that he should listen to the dragon, and right then the dragon was preening with delight at the runes. Every time he looked at the runes, it felt like he'd been wrapped up in a blanket and given a mug of tea, but also like he'd had the best, roughest fuck of his life. It wrecked his body in an indescribably amazing way.

Standing naked, he wondered what it would be like if his whole body was covered in runes. It would be like Freed's magic was coiling around him, sending an undeniable message that he and Freed were linked. That thought was too damn appealing, and he would look hot as hell.

Maybe Freed would do it. Maybe he'd let Gajeel cover him in more piercings. Gods, the thought of getting more of his iron in the man made his cock pulse with excitement.

Fuck! How the hell were his feelings for Freed such a mess so suddenly?

Sleep would solve it all. He was tired, on a magic high, and it was messing with his mind. It didn't help that he hadn't jerked off in over a week, which was probably why his thoughts were so fucking horny. He just had to sleep, get himself off in the shower tomorrow morning, and deal with the issues as they came. That's what they said they would do, and if a guy like Freed - who Gajeel expected would overthink everything - could do that, then so could he.

As he patted his slightly sweating body down with a towel and slipped on his briefs, he looked to the overflowing bookcases that occupied his room. Freed really must have a lot of books, because he definitely had a study full of them and still had wall to ceiling shelves in his spare room, and Gajeel decided at least one of them would lull him to sleep.

One book, well worn and without dust, caught his eye.

It was a gay romance novel, and Gajeel smirked a little. Not only did it basically confirm Gajeel's suspicions that Freed liked men, it also told Gajeel that Freed was into the cheesy, cliche page-turning crap that was at odds with Freed's persona. That would be fun to piss him off about; just because they might be soulmates didn't mean Freed didn't need to be knocked on his ass from time to time.

He'd look fucking cute blushing. Gajeel wanted to make him blush. Make him squirm just a little. Then kiss him and make it all better.

That was a train of thought he couldn't explore, so he walked to his bed, got under the covers and started reading the well-worn book. He tried not to think too hard about the man gently snoring on the other side of the wall, and allowed the story printed before him to fill his mind and distract him from everything happening.

When Gajeel eventually woke, it was to three sharp raps on his bedroom door.

It took him a moment to remember where he was, and why. The comfortable mattress and pleasant natural light slipping in from the closed curtains certainly didn't belong in his dingy, back-alley apartment. He pushed himself off the too-comfortable pillow and looked around, the smell of bacon, eggs and coffee filling his senses and making his stomach grumble a little. He blinked away the sleep and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, then walked to the door when he remembered someone had knocked on it.

When he had gotten to sleep, it had been filled with dreams about Freed. Maybe reading a romance novel before bed, because his mind had been swimming with romantic cliches that his sleeping mind put Freed and him into. He'd dreamt about going to dinner together, dancing together, living together.

He'd been given a glimpse of what a life with Freed might be like, and it seemed great.

Not all of the dreams had been good, though. In one - nestled between the good dreams - he had been trapped in Freed's runes, unable to escape. Magnolia was nothing but rubble, with the bodies of his guild-mates scattered around in the destroyed buildings. Only a handful of the wizards remained, and they were all attacking Freed, trying to kill him.

Freed had been taken over by his demon. He had no control, and Gajeel couldn't help. He was trapped, forced to watch as the demon killed and destroyed. The remaining Fairy Tail mages were doing what they could, but they couldn't stop Freed.

Gajeel knew he should have been helping, but couldn't.

He wanted to break down the damn runes, smash through them and help Freed, because he was still in there dammit! He was trapped in his demon and scared and trying to fight back and if he could just get to him then Gajeel knew he could help. But he was trapped and forced to watch, unable to do anything no matter how much he was trying to destroy the walls around him.

Just before the dream had ended, the demon looked right at him. It smiled a sadistic smile, blood dripping down it's body, Freed's clothes torn off his body. They were all that remained of Freed, and it made Gajeel sick to watch.

"He's mine," The demon growled. "And I will have him."

Before Gajeel had been able to say anything - to tell the demon that there was no way in hell he or anyone in Fairy Tail would let it take Freed's body and use it for destruction - the dream ended. There was a moment, unknowable in length, where Gajeel still slept but didn't dream, and felt as though he was going to hurl. The darkness of his subconscious felt all consuming, and was suddenly replaced by a dream of him and Freed cooking side by side. The emotional whiplash would have fucked Gajeel up, but he was so desperate to forget the horrors of his dream that he buried himself fully in the dream and Freed's charming comments as they cooked.

Rather than allowing himself to drown in the implications of all those dreams, Gajeel shook his head awake and gently patted himself in the face. It was probably Freed on the other side of the door, and he couldn't see how messed up Gajeel was. More awake now, he opened the door.

Freed was crouched down, placing a plate of food and a mug of coffee on the floor. When he looked up, he was eye level with Gajeel's crotch, and Gajeel quickly realised he was wearing briefs and nothing else. If Freed's blush was anything to go by, he had noticed it too.

The blush was cute.

Fucking emotional whiplash. How the hell was he supposed to deal with this shit?

"Shit," Freed whispered, standing up again with the food still in his hands. He really did look good with a blush. Especially with the piercings. "Sorry. I didn't mean to- I made you breakfast."

"Thanks," Gajeel said, taking the food offered. "We ain't eatin' in the kitchen again?"

"I assumed you wanted some time alone," Freed's voice was intentionally calm, but his cheeks still tinged red. "Since you've been awake before me all week, I thought that you needed some time to yourself. I didn't want to intrude so I was going to leave it here but, well, you opened the door and so… well, you saw what happened, didn't you?"

Gajeel wanted to tease him, but instead said, "I ain't avoiding you. Just slept in."

"Oh, right," Freed said, voice a little quiet. "Perhaps I should have guessed, given-"

He cut himself off, and the way his eyes quickly roamed over Gajeel's sleep worn and half naked body made the dragon slayer smirk. It was clear he'd just gotten out of bed with how much of a mess he looked, and that was the point Freed probably wanted to make, but it was much for entertaining to imagine Freed had gotten distracted by his body.

Well, maybe he had, because his eyes were lingering on the arm with his runes on it. Gajeel couldn't pass up the chance to have a little fun, so flexed his arm as he ran his hand through his hair. Freed followed the movement, and turned red again when he noticed Gajeel smirking at him.

Oh yeah, he was gonna be making Freed a lot from now on.

If they spoke after the week ended. Gajeel hadn't considered the possibility that they wouldn't.

"Well, I should leave you to your morning routine," Freed spoke up again, gazing at the door frame rather than on Gajeel. He was biting his lip, and Gajeel grinned. "I'd recommend eating before you have a shower, I don't expect it would taste good cold. Although, don't feel the need to rush, we've pushed ourselves a lot this week and we will again tomorrow, so I thought today could be a rest day."

"Sounds good," Gajeel nodded a little. "If we ain't in a rush, I can eat with ya. You ain't eaten yet, right?"

"No, I haven't," Freed answered.

Gajeel reached for one of the robes hung on the back of the door and wrapped it around him, tying it tight around his waist. He made sure not to cover too much of his chest, just in case Freed wanted to sneak a peek at any point. He pulled a hair tie from his dresser and wrapped his mane up in a high ponytail, and stepped out of the bedroom, holding his plate of food again. Freed seemed a little shocked by Gajeel's actions - hopefully by his lack of clothes, too - but quickly recovered.

They started walking down the hallway, and Gajeel was given an unhindered view of Freed's ass. He filled his pants out excellently, and Gajeel couldn't help but keep looking back. He wondered what it looked like out of the clothes. Perfect, Gajeel was sure of that.

He really should have jerked off last night.

Still, it was too late to change things now, and given that it was right in front of him, he allowed himself to indulge. It was slightly humiliating when he was too engrossed by checking Freed out that he shoulder-barged a wall because he wasn't concentrating. It was even worse when he looked at Freed to see the man smirking at him, clearly amused. Had he caught him out?

That thought made Gajeel blush a little. He couldn't find the energy to be bothered by that.

They walked to Freed's kitchen, where another portion of eggs and bacon was sitting on the small table beside a mug of coffee. Gajeel placed his own meal at the seat opposite and sat down, his inner dragon almost purring at the intimacy of Freed sitting across from him. This really was a pretty sweet situation. Freed was a damn good cook, too.

As he ate, he kept glancing towards Freed. The man was fighting back yawns in an annoyingly cute way, while eating and sipping his coffee with a straight back and perfect posture. Perhaps Freed was showing manners because he had a guest, but Gajeel hoped that was how he always ate; Gajeel liked a man with quirks,

The overhead lights glinted on Freed's piercings, and Gajeel smiled. This was a pretty nice end to a week that had started off so shittily. Breakfast with a handsome man who was decorated with his iron, with the two of them just existing together.

He could get used to this.

"You wanna tell me where yer taking me," Gajeel asked, with a towel over his shoulder.

The afternoon was turning to evening, and Freed was guiding Gajeel through his back yard. They were going further than they had when fighting the mimic, and towards the mountains that the property backed on to. Gajeel had no idea where he was being taken, nor did he know why he needed a towel. Freed had been oddly evasive about what was happening.

All Gajeel had wanted was a bath. He didn't have one in his en-suite, so had asked Freed if he had one in the main bathroom. Freed had told him to follow him, and Gajeel had trusted him. Now, he was simply confused as to what was happening.

"You'll see soon enough," Freed said, still not answering the question.

He didn't push the subject, and frowned a little when Freed climbed some of the rocks, and squeezed himself between two boulders. Gajeel followed him, grunting a little as he pushed the two rocks aside and followed Freed through a small passage in the rocks, which was illuminated by the runes plastered onto the walls. He saw Freed ahead, and decided to remain quiet.

Before a minute had passed, they reached a clearing in the cave, and Gajeel halted a little in shock. The cave was as large as Freed's expansive yard, and most of it was submerged in water. Crystals decorated the walls, and when he looked up Gajeel could see through the mountain to the sky. It was an underground lake, but it felt almost ethereal in nature. Gajeel looked around in wonderment, taking steps forward.

"It's not exactly a bath," Freed said, and his eyes glowed. Runes that were planted around the lake came to life, and the water began to warm. "But it's close."

"You own this?" Gajeel asked, looking around still.

"Not technically, no," Freed laughed, and the gentle sound echoed through the cave. "But the only way in is part of my property, so I see it as mine."

"Fuck," Gajeel chuckled, which also bounced around in an echo. "Yer team are idiots," Freed frowned at that, and Gajeel grinned. "Yer house is amazing, you've got a space to train, and you've basically got a hot spring in yer back yard, and they didn't wanna live here? If I were them, I'd be beggin' ya to let me stay."

Freed smiled an honest smile, if only for a second. "They don't actually know about it."

"Really?"

"I quite enjoyed having the place to myself," Freed shrugged. "If they knew about it, they'd always be here. No doubt I'd always find them sneaking around my yard trying to come here without me knowing. Or maybe they would insist on being here when I wanted some time alone."

"Why d'ya show me then?" Gajeel frowned.

"I don't know," Freed thought for a moment. "Perhaps I'm a hypocrite."

"Maybe you are, but I ain't gonna complain," Gajeel grinned.

"I'll leave you to it," Freed said, apparently feeling like he had been dismissed. Gajeel didn't like that.

"I wouldn't mind some company," Gajeel shrugged. "If you ain't planning on doing something."

Freed considered. "I would enjoy that."

"Great," Gajeel grinned.

"I should get a towel, then," Freed shrugged. "It shouldn't take long, if you'll excuse me."

Freed walked towards the corridors, and once he had turned a corner a light purple lit up the space. Gajeel was pretty sure Freed had teleported back into the house, and grinned a little. Maybe he was wrong, but he was pretty sure that Freed was enthusiastic about this. Gajeel was too.

He removed his clothes pretty quickly, placing them on a dry stone before walking to the lake. He placed a foot in - the temperature was incredible - then climbed in entirely. There seemed to be natural seating carved into the stone, and he sat with his chest under the water.

Fuck, this was good. He was gonna have to convince Freed to let him do this again.

A minute or two after Gajeel had climbed into the water, Freed returned with a towel. He was still wearing his full outfit - coat included - and Gajeel pouted a little. The pout went away when Freed unbuckled the belt of the coat and removed it. Good, he hadn't changed his mind then.

As much as he wanted to watch the man strip, he wasn't going to be that much of a creep. He kept his eyes on the rocks opposite him, even if the sound of rustling fabric was torture. His resolve didn't last long, and he glanced towards Freed only for a second.

One mystery was solved. Freed's naked ass was fucking indescribable.

He looked away before Freed turned, and kept his gaze away from the very naked man as he climbed into the water. When he let out a satisfied groan, Gajeel had to clench his fists to stop himself from reacting. Freed naked, groaning and about ten feet away from him was too much temptation for any man. Gods, he had wanted a bath to relax. This was making him more tense, and he needed to distract himself from the naked man of his desires.

"Why d'ya dress like that?" He said before his better sense told him not to. Great, he'd insulted the man. Before Freed could get pissed at him, he continued speaking. "It ain't a bad look, you pull it off. Just meant it seems kinda restrictive for fighting," What a shitty excuse. "Sorry, I didn't wanna insult ya. It's just-"

"I'm not insulted, and you're not the first person to ask," Freed chuckled, and Gajeel turned to see the man looked quite amused.

And naked. Fuck, his muscle definition was to die for. Gajeel wanted to lick it all over.

"As for why I dress like I do, the simple answer is that I like it," Freed shrugged a little, lowering himself in the water so his shoulders were covered. "You can probably guess I grew up in aristocratic circles. I didn't particularly like my life when I was part of the elite, but I did enjoy the clothes. For a while, after I ran away, I dressed more conventionally. I saw it as rebellion, you see. But eventually I decided that I liked formalwear - that the clothes I left home with were some of my most prized possessions - and that I wouldn't allow my parents to take something else from me because I wanted to spite them."

"Makes sense," Gajeel agreed. He was quiet for a moment, but spoke again. "You don't sound like yer fond of yer parents."

"I detest them," Freed said with feeling. "They're bad people, and have done many bad things," He was quiet, before looking to the surface of the water. When he spoke again, he sounded sad. "They're the reason I was possessed."

"They possessed you?" Gajeel exclaimed, shocked.

"Not intentionally. Honestly, it's rather a funny story," Freed chuckled, and Gajeel looked at him as if he had grown another head. "Perhaps funny isn't the correct term. But it was a farce."

Gajeel wasn't sure how to react, so he stayed quiet.

"When I was fifteen, I met a boy. Charming fellow, a little rough around the edges at the time, but I fell head over heels for him," Freed chuckled, looking into the middle distance. "He would sneak into my house whenever he could. We started to date, you see. I suppose we were one-another's first loves, so we couldn't get enough of each other. We tried to keep our relationship a secret, but we got sloppy about it. My parents walked in on us kissing in my bedroom, and they weren't best pleased."

"Shit," Gajeel whispered. He couldn't exactly sympathise; Metalicana had stated often that a connection mattered more than a gender when it came to finding someone to love.

"They were religious, to an extreme degree," Freed explained, still looking away. "We had a chapel in the home, so the Gods would be present with us always. Well, they saw their only son with a man and saw it as an atrocity. They were cliche, almost. They spoke to our town's priest, who convinced them I had been possessed by a demon, and that I needed an exorcism."

"And he was right?" Gajeel asked.

"No. It was all bullshit. But this is where the farce comes," Freed laughed spitefully. "You see, an exorcism is like opening a door. If a demon lives in your soul, you open the door to shove it out. The issue is that, if a demon isn't living in your soul, you've opened the door for no reason. And that open door can allow something to slip in."

"So, they tried to exorcise you, and they let yer demon get inside you?" Gajeel summarised, and Freed nodded. "Fuckers."

"I suppose they didn't know what they were doing," Freed smiled ruefully. "Not with the demon, anyway. They seemed all too happy to bind me, cut me and burn me in the name of their faith," Gajeel gaped at him, and he laughed. "Exorcisms are rather brutal."

"Bastards," Gajeel growled.

"They are," Freed agreed. "The demon seemed to think so too, if it's any consolation. It took control immediately, you see, and attacked. It killed the priest, paralysed my father from the waist down, and blinded my mother in the right eye. It would have been a lot worse if it knew how to turn my body more demonic, as it was unfamiliar with how to control a human."

"Shame it couldn't kill 'em all," Gajeel grunted, but regretted it. He shouldn't have said that, but Freed didn't seem too bothered by the words. "You fight back against it?"

"I tried, but had no idea what to do," Freed sighed.

"So it took yer body on a rampage?"

"It would have, but it was stopped," Freed explained, absently playing with the water. "At this point, I should tell you that the boy I was seeing was Laxus. He had come to my town on a mission, we had met by chance and he visited most weekends. When my parents walked in on us, he refused to leave the town because he saw their reactions. He sensed the influx of magic so ran to my house to see if I was okay. He saw the demon and I suppose his instincts took over. As I said, the demon wasn't able to control a human body very well, so Laxus managed to defeat it before it could hurt anybody else."

"Were you okay?" Gajeel asked. "After it happened, I mean?"

"It was unusual. I was completely drained of magic so I didn't wake up for weeks. Laxus brought me to Fairy Tail, so Porlyusica was tending to me. She realised that the demon needed to feed off my energy, so stripped me of all the energy I didn't need. Essentially I was kept on the brink of death for a week," Freed looked a little sad. "They considered performing another exorcism, but with the lack of energy it might have killed me. And it was an untested treatment that could make things worse, so they didn't know what to do.

"Eventually they turned to the Wizard Saints, who said runic magic might help. The rune army came, wished to take me away but Makarov wouldn't let them. They wrote runes on my soul meant to suppress the demon. Eventually I was allowed to wake up, and the demon couldn't break free of the runes. Tentatively I was allowed more of my energy, and the demon still couldn't break out. When I was allowed to use magic again, I decided to learn runes so I wouldn't have to meet with the army weekly to replenish the spell. Slowly, I got used to it, and it became part of my life. My parents found me at some point, paid me to disown me and buy my silence, and I began life at Fairy Tail. Eventually, it became normal."

"Fuck," Gajeel breathed, not sure of what else to say. That was a lot of information Freed had trusted him with. He needed to be tactful, but that wasn't his expertise. "Must've been rough."

"It was, but then it got better," Freed shrugged, skin shimmering in the moonlight. "Sorry, I've rather brought down the mood, haven't I?"

"Ain't a problem," Gajeel assured him on instinct, because Freed was hurting and he didn't like that. Freed was still looking at the surface of the water, sad. He couldn't accept that, so spoke again with forced teasing. "So, you and Sparky were together, huh? You still screwing?"

"Gods no," Freed laughed at that, and it seemed genuine. "No. When I was recovering we didn't think it wise to be anything intimate. When I was at a place where I could try something, we had created a friendship we both cherished. We're better platonic than romantic," Freed glanced to Gajeel, smiling a little. "He wasn't my type, anyway."

"What's yer type?"

"Strong willed, principled, powerful. Essentially, I want a man more exciting than my job," Freed shrugged, then looked back to Gajeel for a moment. "A man who's able to set my world on fire."

"You ever found a guy like that?" Gajeel asked, voice a little hopeful.

"I could hardly tell you, where's the fun in that?" Freed laughed, spreading his arms against the edge of the lake. He didn't look away from Gajeel this time, and he was pretty sure Freed was checking him out. "What's your type?"

"Smart, capable, a guy with a great ass wouldn't hurt," Gajeel looked shamelessly at Freed, eyeing his abs through the rippling water. If Freed wanted to drop all pretence of not finding him hot, then he'd do the same. "Maybe a man who knows how to keep me in line when I'm being a dick. But I don't want a square."

"That's rather a contradiction," Freed smirked a little, and his tongue poked out for a moment. Gajeel decided he was going to pierce that tongue one day. "It'd be awfully hard to find a man like that."

"They're rare," Gajeel agreed.

"Have you ever found a man worth your time?"

"I ain't telling you if you ain't telling me," Gajeel laughed, crossing his arms and flexing his biceps.

Freed seemed to think for a moment, and Gajeel grinned. The energy between them had changed yet again, this time charged with a sexual edge. Maybe the change from the seriousness of their conversation to this was drastic, but it was also perfect. Gajeel was sure that Freed didn't tell people about his life if he didn't trust them, so him explaining his past was an expression of their relationship. It was Freed taking Gajeel's advice, accepting the unconventional nature of their relationship rather than thinking things through. He trusted Gajeel for no real reason, but the trust was there no matter what.

This was how the week was destined to end, Gajeel realised. The tension between them at the start of the week hadn't left, it had just changed. Their antagonist side had been replaced with desire. Desire for more, for something intimate and primal.

"What if I showed you?" Freed offered.

"Showed me?" Gajeel quirked an eyebrow. "How d'ya plan on doing that."

Freed didn't speak, but he stood up. Gajeel swallowed, breathless as he looked up at Freed's naked body. He was illuminated by the moonlight, looking beautiful in his nudity. His muscles rippled, hair clinging to his back and he slowly walked towards Gajeel. He was transfixed by the man, unable to look away from the ethereal draw the man had on him.

With slow, teasing movements, Freed lowered himself again. Gajeel let out a shuddering breath when Freed straddled him, cupping his jaw gently. They stared at each other for a moment, wonderstruck.

"You sure this is what you want?" Gajeel whispered.

"Yes," Freed whispered in return, smiling so beautifully that Gajeel couldn't look away. "So very sure."

They moved towards one another at the same time. Their heads tilted and their lips pressed together in a slow, perfect kiss. Freed's lips were rougher than they looked, and the way he melted into Gajeel was incredible. His movements were slow and addictive, and Gajeel wanted more.

His inner dragon was practically purring in delight, and Gajeel could feel his magic running through the runes on his arm. This was right. This was natural. This was inevitable.

His hands laced into Freed's hair, grinning when a little tug got Freed to moan. Their bodies were pressed tight, and Gajeel felt Freed's hand on his lower back, pushing him closer. They leaned further into the kiss, as close to a single being two men could be. Gajeel's eyes had closed in pleasure as he ran a hand down Freed's spine, and cupped his bare ass.

"Gods," Freed gasped when they pulled apart. "That was… Gods."

"Fuck I wanted to do that since the moment I saw ya," Gajeel said, and he wasn't lying. He hadn't realised it was what he'd always wanted to do, but it was obvious now. "Fuck yer amazin'."

"You're beautiful," Freed responded, still breathless.

They looked at each other for a moment, grinning at one another. Freed felt just as explosively alive as Gajeel did, the dragon-slayer was sure of that. This was how they belonged, and all of the fighting and posturing and self-doubting was just a bullshit distraction because they didn't know how to deal with the overwhelming need for each other.

Freed was his Minn Maðr. His person.

"If you'd like, I bet I can teleport us both to my room without breaking a kiss," Freed offered with a mischievous smile that sent Gajeel's blood alight. Gods, this man!

"Fuck yeah!" Gajeel said, unashamedly grinning.

As runes covered their naked bodies, Gajeel felt an overwhelming sense of rightness. As they hit the mattress, he let out a small 'Gihi.'