Few quick things: pretend Marvel and DC exist in the Fairy Tail world. I do not own neither Marvel nor DC comics, however.
Another disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, nor will I ever own it.
The two girls froze, staring at him with wide eyes. We just met him, how could he have figured out my magic type? Lyla thought frantically. Her magic was a close kept secret, knowing many would come to see, challenge, or kill her if anyone knew she practiced a lost magic. She didn't know if she could trust Laxus yet!
Lyla paused, then backtracked. Wait. There were two more dragon slayers? Her world seemed to flip in front of her eyes.
The three sat (or stood, in Lyla's case) in silence as everyone digested the situation. Laxus was calmly awaiting an answer, astonished that this calm girl in front of him was a notorious dragon slayer, nearly the opposite in personality to Gajeel and Natsu. Opposed to his inner thoughts swirling at the same pace as a hurricane, he had a tranquil look on his face. Artemis was trying to figure out how Laxus knew Lyla was a dragon slayer while simultaneously plotting ways to get them together and wallowing in self pity- why couldn't she be a mage, too? They had all of the fun and action. Lyla was stumped, unsure of how to tackle the situation that had left her mind reeling. Her train of thought wasn't on the fast track; it had come to a screeching halt, leaving her bewildered. All of them had varying degrees of inner turmoil.
Laxus was the one to finally break the silence. "So are you?"
Lyla was struggling to get a hold on the situation, so she thought it was perfectly normal to ask "Am I what?"
Artemis, obviously, did not think it was perfectly normal, as she slammed her face into her palm. "A dragon slayer, moron." Lyla made a face at the redhead, who didn't see it as she was presently trying to figure out how this would all work out. And how she could manipulate this to work in her -sorry, their- favor.
"A-ah, yes, I am a dragon slayer." Lyla's voice got quieter with each word. "Don't tell anyone, please." Artemis glared at Laxus, as if daring him to put her best friend, her non-biological sister, in danger.
His blue-grey eyes bore into Lyla's with a sudden intensity, but they quickly softened as he spoke. "I would never tell on a fellow dragon slayer."
"What?!" Artemis fell off the counter. Lyla stumbled backwards into a stool, toppling it and herself onto the floor with her red haired friend. Laxus let out a quick, small laugh at the girls' priceless reactions.
"You're a dragon slayer?" Artemis popped her head above the counter, narrowing her eyes at the blonde. "Of what, big muscles and beer?" Laxus stared at her, unsure if she was serious or not.
"I'm a lightning dragon slayer," He said slowly, trying not to offend her with his condescending tone.
"Obviously, we figured that out from your drunken states from your previous visits." Artemis rolled her eyes, noting to tone down the sarcasm when around the blonde. "If I were a dragon slayer, then I would be the beer dragon slayer. Or the alcohol dragon slayer." Laxus instantly thought of Cana and how well they would get along. He was sure that she had said that as well, at some point in time.
"I'm sure you would be." Lyla righted herself, rubbing at her eyes. Actually, only her left eye. "Crap, my eye burns." She kept rubbing at it, trying to get rid of the burning sensation.
"Move," Artemis ordered, moving the singer's hands away from her irritated eye and examining it. She proceeded to reach delicately into Lyla's eye and gingerly grab something, pulling it out gently.
"Ah, thanks," Lyla said gratefully, rubbing her eye one last time. Laxus simply couldn't understand the two, especially after he saw how casual they were with each other, blatantly obvious after that situation passed. They were more like sisters than friends, though they looked nothing alike.
"Why do you even wear these?" Artemis waved the tiny, translucent object in her hands.
"I told you, people freak out when they see my eyes."
"Your what?" Laxus asked, becoming more confused by the second.
"Hmm?" Lyla turned to the lightning mage, and he was startled to see one blue eye and one silver one staring back at him. "Oh!" She covered up her silver eye. "Sorry." Usually people didn't react well to her odd eyes, though she had no idea why, since there were much stranger features she'd seen on some customers.
"What for?" Laxus quickly got over his initial shock. Silver eyes were the least strange of the things he'd seen on mages, especially in Fairy Tail. Such as Natsu's ridiculously colored hair.
"You would think she was born with them, but she got a magical disease at a young age and got permanently affected by it." Artemis snickered to herself, remembering the reactions of the other kids at the orphanage when Lyla walked out of the infirmary with newly colored eyes. Priceless.
"Huh." Laxus looked like he wanted to say more, but he was interrupted by the bell signaling a customer. He let out a long breath, trying not to make his irritation obvious.
"Whoop! Gotta run, lunch rush." Artemis bolted to the back to prepare some of the more popular mixes and quickly organize the clutter from her late night clean-up. Curse you past self, she thought when she saw the mess in her alcohol pantry.
"Talk to you later!" Lyla followed the redhead at a much calmer gait, soon coming back out to figure out what the newcomer wanted with a name tag on.
The hours passed by, and Laxus just stayed in the bar, as he had nothing better to do. At least, that's what he told himself. Whenever the business got slow the two girls would talk with him, bantering back and forth in a way that mildly reminded Laxus of Grey and Natsu. Exhibit A:
"Listen, silver-eyes, you don't pour the gin in like that, you do it like this."
"Oh, why thank you so much, this has changed the entirety of my existence."
"It wasn't supposed to!"
"Then it doesn't matter, does it, flare hair?"
"You don't make a shot about the hair!"
"The hair? What about my eyes, insensitive much?"
"Hair is more important that eyes!"
"Shall we test that theory?"
Yup, he nodded to himself. Natsu and Grey, kind version. He was enjoying their company, and returned the next day only for the girls to drag him outdoors by both his wrists. He allowed himself to be taken outside the bar before he planted his feet. "Okay, where are you two going?"
"It's our day off!" Lyla grinned.
"We're going to the movies, and you're coming with us!" Artemis told him, pulling on his wrist. "Well, I guess if you don't want to I can't force- WAIT, Lyla can force you! There is no escape," She said the last part with a deep voice, grinning creepily.
"Shut up, Art. Laxus, want to go to the movies with us? It's always been just us two and we thought it would be fun with another person. You don't have to go if you don't want to." Lyla let go of his wrist and stared up at his face, smiling. He was one of the few people she had to literally look up to, as she was taller than average.
"Well actually I think Lyla- ouch!" Artemis glared at her friend, rubbing her side where Lyla had elbowed her without missing a beat, still awaiting Laxus's answer.
"Well, I'm not doing anything today…" He pretended to think about it. He really was just wandering around, and it wouldn't hurt to spend some time at the movies with these two. They were sort of fun to hang out with, and it reminded him of hanging out at the guild. Not that he would ever get caught dead telling them that.
"Great! Come on, muscle man." Artemis started dragging him away. Well, she tried to, anyway. She didn't get far. Lyla walked up and "accidentally" bumped into the link her friends had made, separating their hands. Artemis earned herself a death glare when she coughed out "Jealous."
Laxus simply shook his head and started walking, following them to the movie theater.
"Hey, which movie do you guys want to watch?" Lyla asked when they reached the theater, flickering her gaze between the two standing in front of her.
"The newest Superman," Artemis said instantly, pushing open the doors as if that was that. Lyla, however, wrinkled her nose as she walked after Artemis into the theater, Laxus right behind her.
"No, we should watch Spiderman. Or the most recent Captain America." Lyla's face lit up at the mere thought of it.
"Well, if you already had an idea, then why ask?" Artemis made a face directed at the singer.
"I didn't think you would have such bad taste," Lyla shot back.
"Bad taste? Says the girl who takes Peter Parker over Clark Kent."
"Peter Parker is way better than Clark Kent! Clark is a loser!"
"Oh, you did not just say that-"
"Let's watch Fantastic Four," Laxus announced, throwing his arms on the arguing girl's shoulders and leading them to the kiosk. They exchanged a glance and shrugged, both okay with his decision. Laxus knew then that it was going to be an interesting two hours, to say in the least.
"He has better taste than you," Lyla whispered, as if Laxus couldn't hear her.
"You're only in it for the cute actors."
"I cannot believe you just- mmph!" A warm hand pressed against Lyla's lips, preventing her from speaking.
"Yes, we would like three tickets to Fantastic Four," Laxus pronounced calmly, hands covering Artemis and Lyla's mouths to stop them from talking. The guy manning the kiosk glanced at the girls uncertainly before handing Laxus the tickets, taking the money slowly. The redhead and white-blonde stared at the man giving Laxus tickets, trying to tell him with their eyes to hurry up. They weren't going to let silence get in the way of their movie!
"I got the popcorn!" Lyla announced after they walked away from the kiosk, ducking under Laxus's arm to escape his hold. "I want some pop!" Artemis yelled after her.
"It's called soda!" Lyla called over her shoulder. Laxus shook his head in exasperation. "Are you two always like this?"
"Not always." Artemis frowned. "Usually she ignores me, and we don't go back and forth. She seems to be more playful whenever you're around." Unaware of the effect her words had on the lightning mage, she started strolling towards where the movie was showing. He slowly walked after her figure, thinking on her words. More playful?
The two settled in the seats in the darkening theater, a comfortable silence surrounding them. Well, Laxus thought it was comfortable, anyway.
"Do you like us?" Artemis pretended like she didn't speak, staring at the screen of the theater as if the blank screen was the most interesting thing in the world.
"What?"
"Do you find us annoying? We won't drag you around if you aren't enjoying yourself; basically…" She gasped, a sudden, mischievous thought coming to her mind. "Do you want to be our friend?" She glanced his way for a second after her short speech, then turning back to stare a hole in the front of the theater. Laxus contemplated his answer, knowing this was a rare moment of seriousness from the girl (with a hint of mischief, he'd have to watch himself). At that thought, he realized with a start that he had already been around Artemis to understand her personality- to a certain point, anyway.
"I have recently had a… falling out, you could say," Laxus started, not sure himself why he was opening up to the redhead he had meet mere days before. "I'm starting over." She thought on his words for a moment, contemplating what to say a few moments the words left her lips, a rare moment indeed.
"Look, I know we seem young to be your friends, since you're like twenty-two, and we're only seventeen. But… age doesn't really matter, does it? Lyla likes you, and I think you're cool. But you didn't answer the question: do you want to be friends?"
There was silence for a few seconds, then: "Aren't we already?"
At those words, Artemis broke out into a large grin, and not at her silver-eyed friend who was struggling to carry a large bag of popcorn and two sodas. She also inwardly snickered, doing a mental happy dance that her trick worked.
"We can all share the popcorn, and I don't really want soda, I hope you wanted soda, Laxus, because Artemis would get sick drinking all this, but I don't want to force you," She bubbled out, oblivious to Artemis leaning over to Laxus and whispering, "See, she likes you. She rambles when she's nervous." A tiny grin stretched across his face. Artemis then proceeded to -seemingly randomly- drape herself over the seat neighboring hers.
"Um," Lyla stuttered to a stop, noticing her eccentric friend leaning far over into the empty seat next to her. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, this seat's taken. You'll have to sit somewhere else," Artemis said innocently. Lyla snorted, imagining a halo and a golden glow around the girl. Laxus raised an eyebrow at the girl's not-so-subtle matchmaking, reminding him of Mirajane. Besides, there was no way he was getting involved with a girl in that way, especially one that was five years younger than him.
While he was musing and reminiscing, he missed the death glare Lyla sent to Artemis and the white-blonde sitting down next to him. They placed the popcorn in Laxus's lap, much to his dismay, and started flicking popcorn at each other. Artemis was, of course, the instigator, but she was shocked when Lyla retaliated instantly. Artemis was fully prepared to take advantage of Laxus's effect on Lyla. Laxus, however, groaned when he realized they would sooner run out of popcorn before either girl backed down.
"Stop," He ordered, stilling the two's hands with his own.
"This is war," Artemis insisted, Lyla nodding in agreement.
"Do you want to eat it or throw it?" He promptly asked them. The singer and barmaid stared at each other before simultaneously throwing popcorn at each other's mouths. Laxus smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, groaning inwardly. What am I going to do with these two? he thought in despair, subconsciously happy for the environment. It was so much like the Thunder God tribe; Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen argued all the time, too…
"Oh, Lyla, guess what?" The two had stopped their antics and were passing time before the movie, ignoring the ads playing on the big screen.
"What groundbreaking discovery have you made now, Art?"
"It's not a discovery, it's a claiming!"
"What in the world is a claiming?" Lyla stared at her friend, truly worried for her health.
"Dangit Lyla, don't you remember?" Artemis widened her eyes slightly. "The rules… the code… three a.m. conversations…" She prodded her friend. Lyla had a lightbulb moment before her eyes darkened.
"Don't you dare tell me you-"
"Yup!" Artemis threw some popcorn in her mouth.
"Please tell me you explained-"
"Nope!" Artemis's eyes were gleaming in wicked excitement. Laxus was starting to get used to their back-and-forth banter, but the topic of the conversation was getting him slightly worried. After making that realization he berated himself: he was Laxus Dreyar, lightning dragon slayer. Two teenage girls didn't scare him. Little did he know, a few minutes later would he be taking back that statement.
"Laxus, please, please, please tell me you didn't agree to whatever she said?" Lyla grabbed his arm in exasperation.
"He's going through initiation, then he'll be one of us!" Artemis cackled gleefully. Lyla groaned and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyelids.
Laxus sighed. They obviously weren't going to enlighten him on their own. "What is it that you two are going on about?"
"We created this code, rule thing one day at around three in the morning," Lyla let out a long breath, dropping her hands from her face. "Whenever we meet someone else and we both agree their worthy, we ask them if they want to be our friend and if they agree to the terms." At this Lyla glared at Artemis, who angelically slurped from her soda.
"We called it 'staking our claim'," Artemis continued. "If they agreed, then they have to hang out with us every day for seven days. If they're still sane, we entrust them with a secret each. Although, your secret's already out, being a dragon slayer and all." She crossed her arms at this, glaring at Lyla, who innocently smiled at the redhead. Laxus took this all in silently, but it seemed like they were done with the explanation.
"And you tricked me into this?" He asked Artemis calmly.
"I did no such thing, I merely forgot to tell you the fine print." She grinned cheekily at him. Then her eyes went wide and she started shushing the other two, though they weren't speaking anyway, and turned her gaze to the screen where the movie was starting. Laxus and Lyla exchanged glances before turning to watch the movies themselves. While the two girls were enraptured with the screen, Laxus was thinking about what was going to come about in the next seven days. His life truly had taken a quick turn around. He inwardly groaned.
What have I gotten myself into?
Idk... should I do more fluff or jump right into the story? Because I have some great fluff ideas involving a certain thing called Shark Week...
Oh, and if your confused as to who to ship with Laxus, you'll figure it out pretty quick next chap. It all works out, but sorry if you were rooting for the other girl. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Please review and/or favorite!
-Leaf