After they got back to Magnolia, Laxus went on a job with his team, and when he came back, Lucy was on a job, so he stuck around for a few days before being called back by the Council for another 'disaster.'

For six weeks, they kept missing one another.

So when Lucy came in late with her team, Makarov welcomed them back and then said, "For the love of God, please go by Laxus' house and let him see your face. I can't stand him like that anymore."

The blonde wanted to see him just as badly. God, she'd missed him. They'd had the most magical time in Crocus, and then life had pulled them apart, although she knew it might be better. She and Laxus had gotten a little too hot a little too early, but who even knew what was going to happen when they saw each other after so long.

"Where does Laxus live?"

Natsu said, "Laxus lives next door to me. You can walk with us!"

Lucy blanked out for a moment. "You...and Laxus...are neighbors."

"Not just Laxus. Bixlow and Freed live there too!" Happy exclaimed.

Lucy blinked in confusion. "How does that work? How have you not burned his house down?"

She watched his eyebrow twitch at a memory as he explained, "It happened once. When Laxus got done with me, I'd been hit so many times by lightning my fingernails turned black and feel off. There are runes around his yard now."

Happy's eyes watered in sheer terror. "Don't make me remember, Natsu! I was so fluffy and twitchy! I didn't do it, I'm just a cat!"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You and Natsu have shared guilt in everything. Anyway, I'm going home to shower and change. I think I know the way, but thanks."

After she got back to her house, she found the window unlocked and a little pink summer dress hanging on a hook by the door. There was a little heart drawn on the tag, and Lucy grinned. Did I score a guy that likes to buy me clothes? And actually has good taste?

"Jackpot," she whispered as she undressed and got into the shower.

A little eyeshadow, a little lip gloss, a little perfume...

Lucy took a nice little stroll down Broom St., then turned down a familiar path. When she passed Natsu and Happy, she could see the lights on in the house and she smiled. There wasn't anything in the world she'd trade her team for.

A little wooded patch separated Laxus-land from Natsu-land, and there was a tall iron fence around the perimeter of where her boyfriend lived with two of his teammates. The yard was well-kept, and there was a stone path that led to the front door.

Lucy followed the path and rang the doorbell, feeling a little apprehensive. She was a little nervous about showing up like this, without Laxus knowing, without being invited, and at his house no less.

The person who opened the door was Freed, who had on an apron. The scent of pot roast hit her like a wave, and he very nearly burst into tears upon seeing her. "Lucy! Welcome! Come in," he said as he gestured for her to enter this, the father of all Man Caves. "Laxus is in the shower, but he'll be down in a minute."

The house was actually pretty big and judging from the open layout, she assumed many a party had been had there.

Bixlow was laid out in the middle of the floor without his helmet reading a book with his head resting on what she initially mistook for a large stuffed animal. But when she came closer to greet Bixlow, she stepped on the tail of this enormous stuffed animal, and a lot of things happened at one time.

As Lucy screamed at the absolute top of her lungs, a claw intentionally missed her and a roar reverberated through the house. On her second scream, she realized she didn't know why she hadn't seen it coming.

Laxus appeared at the top of the stairs when he heard the scream, dripping wet and barely covering himself with a towel.

The blonde pointed her finger and shouted, "LAXUS DREYAR WHY IS THERE A TIGER IN YOUR HOUSE?!"

The room became dead silent for a moment.

Freed was holding a spoon in mid-air that he had been stirring the gravy with. Bixlow was frozen in place with his 'book,' which was actually a magazine full of naked women. Laxus stood at the top of the stairs, dripping with with his mouth agape, Lucy stood glaring at him, and the tiger yawned and laid back down on the floor.

Laxus finally said...

"Hey."

Realizing the tiger was actually not going to hurt her, she took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down. "You have...a pet tiger."

His eyes narrowed. "I think I told you."

Lucy pointed at him. "You said you had a big orange cat."

"Which part of that is false?" he asked.

She huffed, and he smirked. "Get up here, Lucy. I have a bone to pick with you."

Bixlow's dolls levitated and chanted, "He has a bone! He has a bone!"

Laxus zapped them out of the air with his lightning, and made a 'come hither' motion with one finger.

"I'm not coming up those stairs until you put your clothes on."

He sighed and realized maybe starting their reunion nearly naked was a bad idea. "Fine."

When he disappeared to dress, Freed and Bixlow resumed their prior activities.

Lucy sat down on the sofa and stared at the tiger, who was pretty happy to be Bixlow's personal pillow. "How did you guys end up with a tiger?"

Freed looked up from the stove. "On our first mission as a team, we were supposed to catch some poachers. When we caught up to them, they had skinned Raijin's mother and she was a tiny baby. None of the other cubs lived. But we didn't want her to die even though she was really sick. Laxus especially, he has a thing for animals. But bottle-feeding her was hard work, so we all moved in together. It was like tasking care of a real baby. Evergreen helped too, but Master wouldn't let her stay here with us. We have been a team since then. Raijin is very weak because she was a sick baby so it's good for her to be here rather than the wild or a zoo."

The green-haired mage pointed to a photograph on the wall of a teenage Laxus cradling the baby tiger as it drank from a bottle. It was more cute than Lucy was angry.

"What happened when you were on Tenrou Island?"

Bixlow answered, "She stayed with Macao and Romeo."

She knelt down and cautiously reached out to scratch the tiger.

Laxus came down the stairs in a pair of black pants and a green tank top. "You got over it already? So I have a pet tiger. You don't give Natsu shit over Happy."

Lucy gave him a look of distinct disapproval. "Don't compare Happy to an eight hundred pound tiger. Happy probably won't ever eat a person."

"Raijin will never tell you that you need to lose weight," he casually argued.

Freed and Bixlow watched in fascination at this exchange. Laxus had practically been pining for this girl, and here she was, in their house, and they were steady standing there pissing each other off.

Laxus looked extremely agitated as the conversation went on and he abruptly grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to his room. As soon as the door was shut, he pinned her against it. They practically clawed at each other when his lips crashed against hers. After that long, even an inch of space between them seemed like far too much.

"Don't you ever...leave me that long..." he warned.

He chuckled a little roughly against the kiss and let his hands wander down to the curvature of her derriere. With one smooth motion, he lifted her up and on instinct, she wrapped her legs around his waist. "You better be careful. You get me any more riled up and I swear to Mavis I will pound you into oblivion."

Lucy put her hands on his shoulders as he held her there. "What if we go a little bit further, but not too much?"

"How far?" he curiously asked.

She rested her her forehead against his, "Let's see...how about...underwear?"

Laxus reached across her and locked his door. "I'll play, but we have to stay off the bed, you have to keep your legs closed, and no touching anything that's still covered. If you break any of the rules...oblivion."

"What do you mean I have to keep my..." Lucy stopped dead in the middle of her sentence when she realized she once again had her legs wide open and wrapped around him.

He let her down and she took a look around his room. There was a big window with a chair in front of it and an ottoman near some bookcases. Then closer to the door was the bed and a writing desk. The furniture was black wood, and the only really colorful pop in the room was his red comforter.

His bed looked so soft, but the rules...

He let her control what was going on, because this was her exploration of her own sexuality as well as her first encounter with male sexuality. At five years her senior, he knew better than to get her swept up and lost in a moment and then have her like that. Laxus wanted her sassy and confident; he could never take that from her.

"Sit," she finally said, pointing to the chair near the window.

With a grin, he did as he was told and she sat sideways on his lap. They embraced and started kissing, during which Lucy knew she was falling back into the void where time seemed to stand still. The kiss deepened and on this occasion, she initiated the action with her tongue, causing him to smile against the kiss.

The smirk vanished when he felt her little fingers slide under the hem of his tank and pull upward. Laxus put his arms up as she pulled the shirt over his head, exposing his bare chest. Her fingertips ghosted over the outline of his guild mark and tattoos, and then explored him curiously.

When she stood up from his lap, she met his eyes. "Do you want to undress me, Laxus?"

"Fuck," he growled under his breath, "only ask me that if you want me to tear that dress to pieces."

The blonde realized she'd hit some kind of nerve with him and decided to tease him a little. "Please, Laxus? Unless...do you want me to strip for you, Laxus?"

The sound that he emitted almost sounded like a whine. "Lucy..."

"Ask me nicely," she teased.

Laxus gritted his teeth and shifted to get a little more comfortable. "Strip for me, Lucy."

"Say please..."

"No." He lightning dragon slayer moved so fast the next thing Lucy knew, her brand new dress was falling to the floor in small pieces and she stood there in her matching peach-colored lace bra and panty set.

He grabbed her by the hips, his hands making contact with her bare skin. His eyes wandered over her, from the curve of her neck down to her perky breasts, creamy skin, and the curve of her hips and butt.

Lucy blushed a little under his stare, but not because she was embarrassed. From the beginning, he'd made it clear that he found her body wonderful, and he looked upon it as if nothing else in the whole world existed.

"Look at me," he commanded in a deep, quiet voice. When she looked up, he pulled her body flush against his and whispered. "You are so beautiful and you are fucking mine, you got that, little girl?"

Lucy grabbed his belt suddenly and unfastened it. "Who is a little girl?"

A dark little laugh erupted from him as she pulled the belt and tossed it aside.

The blonde swallowed hard and popped the button loose on the pants, then pulled the zipper down. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and pulled down only to have some imbalance of a catastrophe where she fell as she pulled the pants down and kind of go hit in the middle of the forehead with the tent of his boxers.

She ended up on her knees on the floor looking a little blank. "Clumsy...Did that just happen?"

He burst out laughing and pulled her to her feet. "Come here, little girl. You're not ready to be on your knees."

He claimed her in a kiss and felt her hands exploring his back and sides. Laxus sat back in the chair and she sat across his lap, snuggling into his bare embrace as they kissed.

Lucy felt like they kissed forever, and the makeout session reached a climax where they either had to take the rest of their clothes off or calm down, so the kisses slowed and then she pulled away and rested her head on his shoulder.

"So you don't like being teased."

Laxus combed his fingers through her hair. "I enjoy it, but I won't tolerate it long."

She cupped his face affectionately and nestled her head under his. "Did you think about this while I was gone."

"All the time."

She felt a little relieved. "I think we're falling in love, Laxus."

"You just noticed?"

Freed yelled something about dinner, and Laxus said, "We might as well. We can have half-naked snuggles after. Let's get dressed."

Lucy shook her head. "...says the guy who destroyed my clothes."

"Oops."

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