"Laxus! My man, my main man! Wassup!" Artemis was exceptionally cheery when Laxus found the girl's limping away from the building that was, definitely, another abandoned warehouse. Honestly, that man had to be the most pitiful villain to ever walk the earth.
"Er…" Laxus blinked, his fury starting to drain into confusion when he saw the two girls free and alive.
"We're great! That was great! Kinda painful, and I think Lyla died for a few minutes, but she's alright now!" Laxus stiffened noticeably at Artemis's claim.
"I was unconscious, moron." Lyla muttered, leaning heavily on Artemis for support. Laxus narrowed his eyes, examining the two for lethal injuries. Lyla had lost the victorious glint in her eyes and was now understandably quite cranky.
"Yeah, okay. Laxus, you should've seen Lyla! She was so powerful! It was amazing!" Artemis moved on quickly, her eyes shining in excitement. They stopped walking once they were directly in front of the bemused dragon slayer.
"I don't feel amaz- ow! Artemis, watch it!" Lyla snapped, pulling away from her exuberant friend. She stumbled without the shoulder to lean on and Laxus reached out instinctively with one arm to steady her. Lyla growled in frustration, angry that she couldn't feel her calf and that her other foot still pulsed. She was tired, in pain, and annoyed. Why is Artemis so cheerful right now? she grumbled to herself. She could barely stand up on her own anymore.
"We need to get you two checked out." Laxus started to draw away. Lyla gritted her teeth and took a determined step forward, only to stumble and have Laxus catch her again. He stared at her silently, question in his gaze.
"It's only because I can't feel my damn foot," Lyla muttered, leaning heavily on his arm as she righted herself. "And that shot took everything out of me."
Laxus stiffened, then turned his gaze to the warehouse. "Did you leave him in there?" Anger tinged his words.
"Yeah. He's out cold. But-" Artemis started, only to stare as Laxus disappeared in a flash of lightning. Lyla stumbled to the ground without her leaning post and narrowed her eyes. Her temper was on a short fuse from the former events, and the fact that it seemed like Laxus had forgotten about them in his fury towards the man didn't sit well.
However, Laxus reappeared with a crack. He threw the man to the ground, who was waking up slowly after the vicious hit from Artemis's frying pan (which was still clenched protectively in her hands). The man groaned and brought his hand to his forehead, but yelped in terror when he caught sight of the angered lightning mage in front of him. He slowly turned and saw a ticked off dragon slayer lying on the ground and a determined redhead with a frying pan held tightly between her hands.
"Mercy!" He squeaked. Laxus scowled, but Lyla wasn't, for once, angry with her kidnapper.
"Laxus Dreyar, if you don't take him to the jail and come back in less than one minute, so help me, I will personally be the cause of your sudden lack of hearing," She glowered at the large mage. Though she was still lying propped up on the solid earth, Lyla was still terrifying while furious. And nobody wants to mess with an angry dragon slayer. And though Laxus would never admit it, he was inwardly recoiling at the sight of the infuriated mage.
Instead, he carefully placed an indifferent expression on his face and shrugged. "Fine. But that doesn't mean he's off the hook."
"Fine, whatever, just- just don't beat him up here. I've seen enough pain to last me a lifetime." Lyla suddenly deflated, pressing a hand to her face and letting out a deep sigh. This was more than she was expecting out of life. Her emotions weren't sure how to keep up, and the dragon in her wanted to give in to fury and fighting while the rest of her wanted to stay on the more peaceful side.
"Lyla?"
She gazed upwards tiredly. "Yeah, Art?"
"Are you okay?"
Lyla stared into her friend's eyes. They showed concern and worry, and her frying pan was dangling at her side instead of clutched tightly in her hands. Lyla knew this was a rare moment of seriousness.
She thought about the question. Was she okay? She hurt everywhere, still couldn't feel her leg passed her knee, and was out of magic power. She could barely stand on her own, let alone walk. And yet…
"I'm fine." She smiled softly at her friend, pushing aside all of her annoyances. They were safe, and the threat was gone.
Everything was going to be okay.
It took more than few days to recover. Magic helped the feeling come back to Lyla's leg, and everyone's wounds were stitched up. The man was in jail with quite a few more bruises than Lyla or Artemis remembered, and he was suspiciously spotted with electric burns. They never asked Laxus if he did punish the man personally for kidnapping the two and attempting to kill them.
Artemis was more than happy to regale Laxus with the tales of their adventure, while Lyla just wanted to rest. However, it was only a matter of time before she got caught up in Artemis's excitement and was relaying the best moments of the fight. He humored them and listened to the story time and time again, each retelling a little different. He realized that it didn't matter what really happened, and all that mattered was that they got out safely and with their cheery personalities in tact.
"I have decided to take a backpack of instruments everywhere I go," Lyla announced one evening, stalking into the living room with a pack in hand. Laxus glanced up from his hand of cards. Artemis was determined to win against the older mage, and had yet to succeed.
"That's an awesome idea, Ly. Don't forget that flute of yours." Artemis bit her lip in concentration and carefully laid out her play. Laxus held back a smirk as he lay his hand down, winning the game.
"FRICK!" Artemis shouted, falling backwards onto the ground. "It's freaking impossible to win! What the even…? Where did you learn these freaky skills, man?" Laxus allowed a laugh to escape his lips as he cleaned up the cards, having flashbacks of the intense Fairy tournaments. They never did anything halfway.
"You playin' again?" He asked with a level voice.
"Hell yeah. I'll beat you eventually, sparky. Statistics say I have to win at one point!" She popped upright again, then seemed to consider something. "...but I'm getting a beer first."
Lyla laughed and placed the last instrument in her bag. She experimentally swung it on her shoulder and nodded to herself. Everything had gone back to normal. She and Art were already back to work, though the owner- Charlie Berkley- mercifully said they could ease their way back in after their ordeal.
Her gaze swept the room. Laxus was shuffling the cards an excessive amount of times while waiting for Artemis, who was in the kitchen pouring drinks for everyone. Lyla smiled to herself. Laxus was basically part of the family now. They had even started calling the office his room, since there was a stationary spring mattress in there with all of his things. She felt her heart swell. Her family had grown, and she had never been so happy.
Three more card games later, Artemis gave up and threw the cards everywhere in frustration. Lyla and Laxus alike laughed at the redhead's exasperation, who glared at them equally, claiming they were the worst friends in the world, to which Lyla told her teasing was a requirement in sisterhood. The deadpan look given to the singer caused her to crack up once again before collecting herself and travelling to the kitchen to make dinner.
"Laxus, I'm bored." Artemis proclaimed loudly, picking up the cards she had strewn across the living room.
"How unfortunate." He commented dryly, SoundPod plugged in and settled on his ears.
"I expect you to entertain me, sparky." She placed the cards on the coffee table with a snapping sound.
"You expect incorrectly."
"Okay okay, I got a really good knock knock joke: you start." Artemis stared at the lightning mage to see if he got the joke. She received a raised eyebrow for her troubles.
"Fine, party pooper. But I actually have a good knock knock joke. Ready? Okay, so knock knock."
"Come in." Laxus smirked to himself while Artemis huffed in frustration, glaring at the blonde. "Fine, who's there?" She lit up with a grin, and continued dramatically.
"What's up wit?"
"What's up wit who?"
"Nothin' much, what's up wit'cho?" She cackled as the joke registered in Laxus's mind. An outsider would not have noticed the change in Laxus's demeanor, but Artemis noticed the inexplicable twitch of the side of his mouth and him suppressing the small grin and settle on a dry look. She didn't care if all he did was sarcastically glare at her, she had gotten the almost-smile she had been looking for. Lyla walked back into the room, food cooking in the kitchen.
"Hey Art, have you finished the paint- mph!" Lyla widened her eyes when Artemis clamped her hand over the singer's mouth, giving her a warning glare.
"I told you not to say anything!"
Lyla gave her a deadpan stare. "You told me, word for word: 'It doesn't matter, it's not that good anyway.' Sound familiar?"
"Well, yeah, but I followed that up with enacting code orange!"
"Code orange? That has to do with food claiming, not whatever-happens-in-this-room-stays-there! That's code purple!"
"Oh, really?" A thoughtful expression settled on Artemis's features. "I always get those two mixed up."
"How?" Lyla threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "Orange and purple are as far apart as you can get!"
"Yellow and purple, actually." Laxus couldn't help but add, finding their argument to be amusing. Lyla shot him a look that screamed Not helping.
"See? Laxus has my back. Yellow and purple are opposites, you uncultured swine." Artemis swung an arm around Laxus's shoulders which was shrugged off pretty quickly. Undaunted, Artemis threw her arm around Lyla's neck, who let out a sigh. A sudden small smile tugged at her lips, but before the other two could question it, she announced that the food was ready and the arguments about colors were forgotten.
Yikes! Time really flies, it seemed only yesterday that I updated last, but then I check the dates and it's been six days!
Have a little recovery and life in the Lyla/Artemis/Laxus household. Larxus?
As always, don't forget to follow/favorite/review. Thank you to all of you who have and still review, I love reading them all! It really lights up my day and encourages me to update/write (not-so-subtle-hint).
Until next time (which won't be that long),
-Leaf