A/N: Oh, boy. It has been literally one thousand years since my first foray into writing fanfic. I had such an overwhelming response to Hear Me, despite it being an overall weird concept and so-so writing. Even through that time, however, I have always loved the idea of Laxus and Lucy together. I am always intrigued as a writer when there are characters that have hidden depths or when there is an opportunity where I can maybe add a more realistic edge to how a character would behave. That is definitely what inspired this story. Too often, Laxus gets written off as this macho asshole guy, which he definitely is, but he is also so much more than that. I have always viewed he and Lucy as two sides of the same coin. Laxus as having coped through his situation by shutting down and Lucy having coped by reaching out. I believe that that shared background would have easily led these two into a profound friendship if they had ever been given the chance. This is that story.
Part I: Siting
In the year that Lucy Heartfilia had spent with Fairy Tail, she couldn't remember ever witnessing a party this large. Or this loud. The music pounded through the sound lacrima levitating in the corners of the main hall so loudly she could scarcely hear herself think, much less talk. She'd arrived fashionably late, but the party was already in full swing, packed wall to wall with her tipsy, ecstatic guild mates.
Not that it wasn't warranted. The Grand Magic Games had been a roller coaster for everyone, and the fact that they'd managed to pull off a win after their terrible start—that she was still bitter about—was amazing. Saving Earthland from a dragon invasion was also nothing to sneeze at. Therefore, she navigated through the bodies swaying to the beat on the cleared main floor to the bar with a smile on her face.
Mira was busy at work, buzzing from one end of the bar to the other as she catered to the orders of the regulars, their guests, and the many new recruits. Kinana hovered close by, laden with drink glasses of varying sizes and shapes. Not wanting to disturb them, she smiled and waved as she clambered onto a stool at the end of the bar. As she waited for Mira to be free, she scanned the guild hall, trying to find her friends in the dimly lit, crowded room.
Natsu wasn't hard to find. His ostentatious pink hair stood out even in the hazy light, but that wasn't what drew her eye. Witnessing his strange, gesticulating dance style, it was no surprise that his fellow partygoers gave him a wide birth. She winced, imagining being hit full force with a flailing arm. It'd happened far too often for her to want to approach him any time soon.
Erza was next, and when Lucy's eyes landed on her friend, she laughed out loud. Despite the heavy bass of the music, Erza was busy twirling a dark-haired dance partner in a corner in an overexcited parody of the tango. Lucy pitied her captive, and when the man came to a brief stop, she burst out laughing again, realizing that it was a very nauseous-looking Gray.
Shaking her head, she moved on. Better Gray than her. She spotted Wendy at the tables, which had been pushed to the far edges of the room to make more room for dancing. Surrounded by the Exceeds, Wendy sat eating some of the snack foods laid in large glass bowls, though at least two of them had already been smashed.
To Lucy's surprise, she found Levy dancing with Gajeel, the two pressed so closely together that she didn't think a piece of parchment would fit between them. She blushed as she watched them move to the beat of the music, not sure if this was something she should be witnessing or not. When Gajeel leaned down to mouth at Levy's neck, she squeaked and turned around. She loved Levy, but what she did on her own time—with Gajeel, no less—wasn't something she wanted to think about.
She shut her eyes and shook herself, trying to get the disturbing images that train of thought inspired.
"What's got your panties in a bunch?" A slurred voice from behind her yelled over the music.
Whipping around, Lucy smiled.
"Hey, Cana," she answered back. "Nothing, just saw something just now." The screaming would get old after a while, Lucy thought. She cleared her throat, hoping that she wouldn't lose her voice come morning.
"Poor Lucy," Cana laughed. "You've got to be corrupted someday. No time like the present."
Lucy scoffed.
"Who's going to corrupt Lucy?"
Lucy smiled as she turned to look at Mira.
"Hey Mira! What's up?"
Mira shrugged and smiled, then walked around the employee entrance to sit on the empty stool next to Lucy. "Not much. Kina just agreed to cover me for a few minutes so I could catch a break. I've been on my feet all day. But I'm more interested in how Lucy is getting corrupted, but don't let Erza hear that," she said, giggling behind her hand.
"No one's getting corrupted." Lucy held up her hands. "Cana's just being herself."
Cana sighed, dramatically clapping a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "I just worry about you. You're what, 18? And the closest thing you've ever had to a real boyfriend is that," she pointed to Natsu in his seizure-like glory and winced, "crawling into your bed and eating your food."
Lucy hung her head as Mira laughed from beside her. "While that may be true," she said, "that doesn't mean I should go and 'corrupt myself'. Whatever that means."
"It means you should go get some di—" Cana began before Mira leaned over and clamped a hand over her mouth.
"What Cana means is that we just want you to enjoy yourself. You won't be young forever. Take it from someone who wasted her youth behind the bar," she nodded sagely, closing her eyes in a serene smile.
Lucy's mouth dropped open, a shrill laugh escaping. "You are so full of it! You're only two years older than me. And you could have your pick of any man here."
"Shh," Mira said, her eyes still closed. "Heed the advice of your elders."
Lucy could only stare incredulously at her, the deafening music punctuating the lull in conversation. After several seconds, Mira's façade cracked, and she dissolved into a fit of giggled once more, dropping her hand from Cana's mouth as the other woman began laughing as well.
"We just want you to be happy," Mira continued after she got a hold of herself. "And you're always so together. That's a good thing, but just don't forget to have fun, too."
Lucy smiled, touched. "Thanks, guys, but I have plenty of fun. I love it here, and I love going on jobs and feeling like I'm actually doing something worthwhile with my life. I don't feel like I'm missing anything," she said. "But if I ever do, you guys will be the first to know."
"Awh, Lucy!" Cana shouted. "Come here." Lucy had to brace herself as she was pulled into her friend's tipsy embrace. Even still, Cana pulled her halfway out of her seat, and the two swayed precariously as they hugged.
"Gettin' real cozy with my girl there, Cosplayer," a taunting voice said over the music.
"Shut up, Bickslow," Lucy mumbled from Cana's embrace.
Struggling out of the hold, she scrambled back onto her perch. Cana stumbled backwards, only to be caught by a grinning Bickslow.
"Hey, babe!" She called, as if she hadn't heard him approach. He just smiled wider, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He'd forgone the helmet for the occasion, and he looked at Cana with intense red eyes.
"We were just telling Lucy that she should loosen up," Cana said, leaning further into Bickslow. He slung an arm around her shoulders, his hand idly tangling in her long, brown hair.
"Sounds like the Boss Man," he sniggered, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Couldn't get him to come down and mingle to save my life. Such a buzzkill. I had to come down to get some air."
Cana elbowed him. "And see you, of course," he amended.
"Is Laxus being a hermit again?" Mira asked.
Bickslow nodded. "Big time. Barely said two words all night. Well, actually he said exactly two. I got a pretty firm 'fuck you' when I told him he could unclench and slide the stick out of his ass."
Lucy gasped, not able to imagine anyone talking to Laxus that way and still being able to eat solid food afterwards.
"Point is, Lucy," he said, and she was struck by his use of her proper name, "don't be like him. Cut loose, yeah? It's party time." He punctuated the thought by sticking his tongue out and winking.
"And on that note, I'm gonna take my hot date for a spin on the dance floor," he said, smiling down at Cana. "What do you say, babe?"
She grinned back, sliding out of his hold and pulling him toward the crowd.
"Don't wait up, girls!" She cackled, disappearing into the mass of bodies. Only Bickslow's head remained visible, his blue mohawk standing above the crowd.
Lucy shook her head, smiling. It was nice to see Cana happy, even if it was with someone as strange as Bickslow. Though, if she thought about it, his particular mix of crudeness and spontaneity suited her just fine. In any case, her friend deserved it.
"Do you think we'll see her again tonight?" Mira asked.
"Not a chance," Lucy laughed.
"Poor Laxus. He'll probably be up there all alone the rest of the night."
Lucy dragged her eyes from the crowd—a table had just flown through the air, and frankly, she didn't want to witness the inevitable no-holds-barred bar fight that would inevitably ensue. "
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Mira rubbed her palms on the long fabric of her dress. "Not that it probably bothers him much, but Evergreen is spending the night with Elfman. He wouldn't stop grumbling about it all day. And I saw Freed leave about ten minutes before you got here. I think the crowd was too much for him," she said, grimacing.
Lucy nodded, looking out once more. Against her will, her eyes drifted to the railing of the second floor. Just as Bickslow said, Laxus was there, leaning against the railing, looking down on the crowd. Pursing her lips, she wondered what his problem was. He didn't seem angry, and his face held no hint of the sneer she remembered from her early days at the guild, when Laxus had a habit of playing the would-be Boy King, leering out over the guild with scowl on his face.
"He looks bored," she said. "Why doesn't he just come down?"
Mira shrugged. "My best guess is that he wouldn't know what to do even if he did."
Lucy's face screwed up in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I wasn't here for this, so I don't know if it's entirely true," Mira began. She paused, however, after she glanced up at Laxus. She leaned closer, as if the blaring music wouldn't be enough to mask her words from his heightened senses. "Master used to say that when Laxus was a kid, he was painfully shy and bad with people. I figured he grew out of that, all things considered. But since Gildarts reinstated him, I'm not so sure."
"So you're saying that Laxus," she said, her own voice dropping against her will, "Mr. I-can-take-out-whole-guilds-by-myself, the same guy that fought Jura Neekis and won, is socially awkward?" She couldn't reconcile that theory with her own memories of Laxus, both before and after his exile. Sure, he'd seemed a lot more even-keeled since returning, but she couldn't imagine that the reason for his aloofness was his inability to interact with other people.
"Like I said, it's just something I remember Master saying, but Master says a lot of things," she laughed. "But it does make a little bit of sense. He doesn't have many close friends. The Thunder Legion are really the only people he's ever spent any sort of time with. Most people are too intimidated to approach him, so I guess I do feel a little bad for him. It must get lonely at the top."
Before Lucy could respond, Kinana called from the other end of the bar.
Mira smiled apologetically. "That's my cue. I'll talk to you later, alright?" And with that, she was gone in a blur of pale hair, rushing back into the never-ending rotation of drink orders and too-friendly customers.
That left Lucy alone once more, but instead of joining the fray on the dance floor or hunting down some more conversation partners, she could only sneak glances of the second floor out of the corner of her eye and ruminate over what Mira had said.
She never imagined that she would ever relate to Laxus, of all people, but the thought wouldn't leave her head. Now that she thought about it, it was sad. Not that she wasn't thankful for Laxus's change in behavior, but it reminded her a little too much of her own childhood for comfort. She knew the pain of being isolated from the world around you by circumstances you couldn't control. It still hurt to think about her father from the old days, and how he kept her confined to the Konzern, away from the rest of the world. She'd have given anything for a friend, and if it hadn't been for Aquarius and Cancer, she might have turned out just as bitter and angry as Laxus had.
He must've been so lonely. First, he'd drowned in the shadow of a Wizard Saint grandfather, mocked by his father for his weakness. It didn't seem like strength had brought him any peace, though.
A pit curled its way into her stomach. She refused to pity him. The looks on her friend's faces when she came clean about her past would always be burned in her memory, and she wouldn't insult him by doing that. But still. As she looked at him, blankly observing the celebration, no hint of a smile on his face, she couldn't help but feel like she understood in that moment.
She drew in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of spilled alcohol and sweat that wafted through the air. The logical part of her brain was already scolding her for what she was about to do, for sticking her nose where it obviously didn't belong, but she was Lucy Heartfilia. She couldn't let this go in good conscience.
Almost without her permission, her legs carried her from her stool at the bar and across the dance floor, ignoring how moving arms and legs jostled her. Undeterred, she made her way to the foot of the staircase and, one by one, she climbed. It wasn't until she stood at the top that she realized that she had no idea what to do.
He hadn't moved since she last saw him. He leaned on the railing, elbows resting on the bannister. One of his hands propped up his head, and he looked just as impassive as she'd ever seen. The moonlight shining in from the windows highlighted the sharp planes of his face and leeched the color from his hair, and all thoughts of talking to him left her head as she stood speechless before him. It occurred to her that she'd never been this close to Laxus before, not counting the time Evergreen had turned her to stone. She'd only heard about that afterwards, and since she couldn't actually remember, she figured it didn't count. The thought of being any closer to him made her heart rattle against her ribcage.
At this point, she weighed her odds of sneaking back down the stairs unnoticed, but those plans went up in smoke when he turned to face her, and she gasped in surprise.
"Hey, Blondie," he murmured in a low voice, the bass of his voice cutting through the music seeping from downstairs. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard only confusion in his tone. She'd really rather not get fried.
Realizing that she hadn't responded to his greeting, she gathered herself.
"Hey," she said. Internally, she kicked herself. What was she thinking, coming up here without anything to actually say? She was the planner, the strategist. She was better than this, damn it.
Laxus straightened then, shuffling his weight from side to side as she continued to stare at him.
"Was there something you needed?" he asked, running a hand through his hair. "Ever and Bicks are downstairs and Freed already left."
She clasped her hands in front of her, feeling just as awkward as he looked in that moment. Mira was becoming more right every second, she thought idly. Though, to be fair, this was just as much her fault. More, even.
"Um, no, I didn't exactly need anything." Heat rose up her neck as she spoke, and she was happy for the low light. Maybe he wouldn't see the ugly splotches of red creeping up her face. He raised an eyebrow, and she kicked herself again. This wasn't going how she'd planned—or hadn't planned, rather.
"I actually wanted to see if…" she trailed off, wringing her fingers together, trying not to seem like a complete bobblehead. Frantically, her eyes scanned the room, trying to find a halfway acceptable excuse to be here. Taking in the writhing crowd, the song having changed to a slower, more methodic number, an idea barreled into her head. "To see if you wanted to dance." The words tumbled out before she had the chance to process them. To cover up her uncertainty, she plastered on her brightest smile.
He just looked at her, or rather through her. She tried her best to remain confident, but trying to keep Mira's words about his lack of social skills fresh in her mind. It was difficult, though, to bear the weight of his stare. Once again she was struck by the cognitive dissonance of such a powerful man being at all shy. After all, there was a reason people feared the name of Fairy Tail's most powerful dragon slayer. She remembered as well as anyone how easily he'd taken on Raven Tail. Something else about that niggled at her, but she let it go in favor of trying not to shrink under his gaze. His hulking frame didn't help her efforts to not be intimidated.
When Lucy feared she wouldn't be able to take the silence anymore, he frowned and broke eye contact, turning again to the crowd.
"Not sure Ash-for-Brains would be cool with that, and I don't feel like punching him through any walls tonight."
She looked at him, cocking her head to the side, wondering if he'd meant that as a joke.
"Huh? What does Natsu have to do with anything?"
He did that shuffling thing again, like he wasn't sure how to make his body fill the space given to it. Looking at her from the corner of a blue-gray eye, he shrugged his broad shoulders.
"Aren't you and him…" he gestured with his hands in front of him, the vague movements just confusing her more. "I don't know. A thing, or something?"
A flash of anger stabbed through her, unbidden. She tried to stamp down the annoyance and rolled her eyes instead.
"No, we're not a thing," she told him, making air quotes with her fingers before settling her hands on her hips, her earlier trepidation gone. "And even if we were, that doesn't give anyone a right to tell me who I can and can't dance with."
He held his hands up in surrender. "My bad."
She relaxed her posture. She supposed she couldn't blame him for assuming what most people did about her and Natsu, especially since he seemed to take her lecture with some semblance of grace. That gave her confidence and she smirked at him.
"So are you going to answer me or not?" she asked him, raised a golden eyebrow of her own.
"Answer you?"
"About that dance. Are you game?" she inclined her head, looking down the bride of her nose at him.
He laughed, a short, barking sound. "I don't really dance, Blondie."
Her eyes narrowed. It looked like she was going to have to pull out the big guns. Ignoring the little voice that questioned why she suddenly cared so much about dancing with a man she barely knew, she stepped closer. She hoped there was still enough competitive spirit left in him for her next move to work.
"What's the matter?" she asked, looking up at him from under her lashes. Sure, that move had never worked before, but there was no time like the present. "Is the great Laxus Dreyar scared?"
She smiled wider when she saw a vein in his neck twitch, but didn't say anything. For one wild moment, she wondered if he'd zap her like he so often did to Natsu. Her heart beat faster, but she pushed on.
"I thought you'd be up for a challenge," she said, coming to a stop a foot away from his frame. She hoped her taunting would be enough.
The quicksilver flashing of his eyes did not disappoint.
"Always," he grunted, pushing off the railing to lean over her.
Her surety faltered once again when she had to tilt her head back to look him in the face. He was huge. Even huger up close. She gulped, trying to do the mental gymnastics required to figure out just how they were supposed to dance together.
As her eyes widened in thought, Laxus chuckled and shrugged off his coat, throwing it so that it folded over the railing. With the majority of his muscular arms bared, she gulped.
"What's wrong, Blondie? Chickening out finally? I thought you'd be up to the challenge?" he teased, using her own words against her.
She clenched her fists.
"Always," she said to him in an even voice, and tried to ignore the fluttering of her heart when his stormy eyes widened.
Throwing caution to the wind, she grabbed one of his wrists and led him down the stairs to the crowded floor below.
It was amazing, Lucy thought, how the crowd seemed to part for Laxus. Rather than having to shuffle between bodies in a weird half-dance like she usually did, Lucy let him act as a human battering ram. She was so fascinated about how everyone automatically created a bubble of personal space for him that she didn't hear the beat of the music change. Instead of the even, thudding beat that had trickled upstairs, it was a slower, heavier bass that shook her bones. She flushed when she realized everyone around her was pairing off in groups, bodies pressing close together. Swallowing, she looked back to Laxus, who looked as uncomfortable as she felt.
After several seconds of letting the people around them move to the music, Lucy sighed and rocked back on her heels. "Um, sorry about this, I just—"
"Tch," he grunted, interrupting her incoming apology, "I thought you were the one that wanted to dance." He didn't wait for her reply, stepping closer and resting his hands on her hips, gently pulling her forward. She stumbled, but his grip steadied her. "So let's dance."
She gasped when he began to move, taking the lead as he moved them together to the beat. For such a large man, he moved fluidly, though she wasn't sure why she was surprised. After taking a second to recover from her shock, she moved with him.
They moved together, and soon her fears of their size difference being an obstacle evaporated. He kept his grip gentle, but firm, guiding her to the beat, something she hadn't expected.
"You're actually pretty good at this, Laxus," she said, smiling up at him while trying to distract herself from the warmth of his hands on her.
"Don't sound so surprised. I'm good at a lot of things," he grumbled. The sound vibrated through his chest and into hers as she pressed against him. She tried to stop the blush and failed miserably. She drew in a breath, maintaining her rhythm.
"That's true, but dancing? I thought I'd have you beat on that front, at least," she laughed, though her voice sounded breathy to her own ears.
"Dancing's not so much different then fighting." He shrugged as they moved.
"I guess I never thought about it that way before."
Just then, the music slowed even further, the bass hitting heavy and sensual. She cursed her terrible timing, willing the earth to swallow her up. She looked up, already wincing, expecting him to break away after his brief bout of humoring her. However, he just looked down at her apprehensive face and winked. His grip tightened, and he spun her around so that her back was against his chest. She gasped, and then was thankful he couldn't see how she was sweating through the tomato-like flush on her face. It was all she could do to follow his lead and not turn into a puddle of blonde goo on the floor. This was so not what she'd planned, but somehow, despite how embarrassed she was to be dancing this way with Laxus, she couldn't find it in her to stop. There were definitely worse ways to spend her time, she thought with a small smile.
"I didn't think princesses danced like this," his voice rumbled next to her ear, and she breathed in again, her eyes widening. She could feel his breath in her ear, and she willed her heart to slow down, sure he could probably feel it from this distance.
"I'm not a princess," she argued, somehow managing to maintain her tone of earlier sassiness.
He chuckled, leaning further down as he moved their hips together. "Tell that to your freaky maid spirit."
Lucy stiffened in his grip, turning her head to face him. Briefly stunned by how close he was and how his eyes were actually light blue instead of gray, she pushed down her reaction in favor of indulging her curiosity.
"How'd you know that Virgo calls me that?"
He shrugged and leaned back, electing to pull her closer instead of elaborating. She let him.
"In any case," she continued, "Cana didn't let me get away without knowing how to dance her way. Apparently the waltz isn't a suitable dance style for guild parties."
Laxus laughed, but the sound was throaty and full, filling the room and causing a good number of their fellow dancers' attention to drift to them. She turned around in his arms, and she took in his expression. His smile lit up his whole face, and as he laughed, she couldn't help but join in. He looked younger when he smiled. It smoothed out the hard lines of his face, and for a brief moment, she saw a bit of the boy he must've been, all bright eyes and white teeth.
All too soon, the song shifted again, the upbeat thumping dispersing the close-knit groups from before. Laxus' smile slid from his face, and he dropped his hands with a cough, running a hand through already disheveled hair. She shivered at the change in temperature, not having realized how warm it'd been in such close contact with him.
They looked at each other for a long moment, surrounded on all sides by their dancing guild mates. His expression was impassive, and Lucy wondered what she'd done to bring back the Laxus from before—the one that might as well been carved from stone.
"Thanks for the dance," she said lamely, just for something to break the silence.
He only nodded, breaking their gaze to stare two inches above her forehead.
She guessed that was the best she was going to get. He seemed to be waiting for something, so she offered him a small smile.
"I guess I'll see you around, then," she said, her face heating up again.
Another nod. Without another word, he turned to go, the crowd parting around him as he passed. Lucy hung her head, sighing heavily amongst the rapidly closing wave of people. She wanted to call out to him, to ask him all the question buzzing around her head, but she bit the urge back.
Why would he agree to dance with her when his own team couldn't even budge him? Why the sudden coolness when he'd been perfectly friendly two minutes before? She'd been having a good time. She wouldn't have said no to spending more time with him.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Cana making her way toward her with a huge smile on her face. Bickslow followed on her heels.
"Damn, girl. When I said you should lighten up, I didn't think you'd go straight for the top. Respect earned."
"I didn't do anything! It was a few dances, that's all," Lucy defended.
Cana was unconvinced. "You looked pretty cozy to me," she teased, wiggling her eyebrows. Lucy palmed her forehead.
"Stop reading into it! I thought he looked lonely, so I asked him to dance. We did. End of story," she explained. "Plus, it couldn't have been that great if he took off without a word," she mumbled, more to herself than anything.
"Cheer up, Cosplayer," Bickslow said, slapping Lucy on the shoulder with the hand that wasn't around Cana's waist. His face was a mirror to his girlfriend's, eyebrows waggling, the expression made all the lewder by this exposed tongue.
"I just wish you'd teach me whatever trick you used to get him down here. I'd be insulted if I didn't know him so well," he laughed, his eyes scrunching around the corners.
She glared at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
He shook his head, waving his free hand. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Her scowl intensified, and his goofy expression lost some of its bite.
"I can't say much without breaking Bro Code," she rolled her eyes, but he shushed her. "Shut up. The Bro Code exists, and it's sacred. But anyway, I can say that what you just did is a pretty big deal. Let's leave it at that."
With that, Bickslow pulled Cana away, who only waved and stumbled after him.
Lucy once against found herself in the thick of the crowd, just as confused as ever and feeling decidedly out of the loop.
The rest of the night, she tried to put her strange encounter out of her mind. Between wrangling a trigger-happy Natsu and Gray, who got more eager to brawl the more they drank, and trying to stop Erza from unleashing hellish retribution upon them for destroying guild property, it wasn't difficult. However, every now and then, her eyes would drift against her will to the second floor, where Laxus stood sentinel above the party, not a hint of the boyish smile from earlier on his face. He remained apart from it all, and it made her sad, wishing he'd stayed with her for a little while longer, if only so she could see him smile again.
Eventually, she looked up and found him gone, and with a sigh, she knew he'd left. After that, it was hard to focus on anything else. Her friends noticed her distraction, but she pawned it off as a headache, and she left soon afterwards, citing the need the rest.
That night, she slept fitfully, her dreams full of shining blue eyes and warm smiles always just out of reach.