We are going to imagine general club type music during the applicable parts of this chapter. If I have a specific song I imagine as being played I will prompt it to start like so: (song,artist). I happen to be a music lover. In fact my characters have their own playlists on my phone to help me channel them when I write.
Lucy's playlist includes (but is definitely not limited to) Shatter me by Lindsey Stirling, Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez, Can't Help Falling In Love performed by Haley Reinhart, How Far I'll Go from the movie Moana, Try Everything from the movie Zootopia, You'll Be In My Heart from the movie Tarzan, and I See The Light from the movie Tangled.
Bickslow's list has Shell Shocked from the TMNT movie, Whatevar It Takes by Imagine Dragons, Can't Stop The Feeling and True Colors from the Trolls movie, I'm Still Standing and Shake It Off as heard on the movie Sing, A Girl Worth Fighting For from the movie Mulan, and the Cupid Shuffle. The songs mentioned in this chapter are also on his list unless otherwise noted.
Littlepurplething. Awe! Thanks. Honestly I started reading my first BixLu story with loads of skepticism.
rmadhumita378. The biggest inspiration for my Laxus and Lucy interaction is me and my kid sister. Lol. I'm so glad my steamy moments are coming through true!
RosesMcKellar. Me too. Though whether Laxus is the one who comes up with his costume or Mira and Cobra get to deal with him I still haven't figured out.
crystalinowl. Thanksies! (I know that isn't a word.)
dlynncherry. Lol. You didn't have to wait long. Tada!
Stargazer013. Now that you are officially real I officially welcome you. It is an honor to be the recipiant of your first real official review. Thank you so much! Yes Bix is trying so very hard and Lucy is not being nice. I have a couple Laxus costume ideas but nothing perfect yet.
KJacket. Sorry I tease. I try not to leave cliff like endings very often.
Hiro Mashima created Fairy Tail. This is just a dream.
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The first thing Lucy observed when she entered the club was that it was loud. Like really loud. Not to loud for her, because, let's face it, having Natsu as a partner did a number on one's hearing, but still really loud. They weren't even in the club proper yet, just an entry way with a coat rack and a bench where they found Evergreen and Elfman waiting.
"Laxus? How are you slayers able to handle all this noise?" She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. "Not to mention the smell and all the lights." She and Meredy accepted hugs from Evergreen.
"Freed." He tipped his head to the side and tapped his neck, where Lucy could now see a patch of purple runes. "He drafted these for me years ago. Basically they dull all our senses. It would make any of you useless, but it allows us to relax in places like this. He wrote a version with extra punch so Cobra could come tonight." The very enthusiastic music that had been playing suddenly cut off midword. Evergreen rolled her eyes.
(Animals, Maroon 5) (AN: Laxus's playlist)
"Every single stinking time."
"Er, Cosplayer, I might have forgotten to mention..."
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Came over the extra loud speaker. "Partiers of all flavors! We are in for a treat tonight! The Bossman is in the house! Everybody scream for the Thunder God!" They literally screamed and Laxus, in his lightning form, threw himself into the middle of a rapidly clearing dance floor with a loud thunderclap.
"Well," Lucy just blinked. "Is that called drama or ego?"
"Yeah, that thing I forgot to mention... Laxus owns the place. It's kinda a big deal when he visits these days, especially after the Grand Magic Games." Meredy was impressed. Lucy just rolled her eyes.
"All right kids," Laxus didn't even need a mic to be heard. "Fairy Tail is bringing the party tonight. You can't handle it get the hell out." People were absolutely fangirling all over the place now as Bickslow and Evergreen led their little party into the room and follower Laxus to a humongous circular table with sectional bench seating that sat in the corner on a raised platform.
Lucy mentally shrugged and just went with it. She was going to need a drink pretty soon though. Right after that got one for Meredy, who looked like she was two degrees shy of having a meltdown from all the eyes on them at the moment. What she was beginning to think was Laxus's theme sang faded out and was replaced with more audio enthusiasm.
(Candy Shop, 50 Cent)
Lucy could feel herself blushing when the words of the song finally made it to her brain. It sounded like the pervy version of her boyfriend had collaborated with a horny Cana and a drunk Plue. It had a catchy enough beat her body had started dancing to it untill she started thinking about the words. Now she really needed a drink.
She tried to play it cool, but judging by Bickslow's poorly suppressed chuckle she was failing. Cana strait up laughed at her discomfort when she, Cobra, Kinana, and Laki emerged from the sea of humans to join them. With their arrival the table became crowded with various bottles of liquors and poisons. Some of the bottles had literal poison in them and were marked with black and red death symbols. Apparently regular alcohol didn't cut it for Cobra or his angel of a girlfriend.
Bickslow banned her from so much as touching the bottles, or anything else Cana offered her. All her fluid intake was to be regulated by him so she could actually have fun and remember it tomorrow. In theory her head wouldn't try so hard to kill her come morning either. He dissapeared off toward the bar to fetch some less potent concoctions for 'the lightweights' in the group. Mainly her. Meredy trailed after him to 'help' sending a wink at Evergreen as she left.
They came back with a serving tray each. Bickslow's was filled with glasses in a wide array of shapes filled with a rainbow of colors. Meredy had snacks. She was handed a finger sandwich and a frothy red drink in what she knew to be a champagne glass with a strawberry perched on the rim. Bickslow stopped her when she went to taste it.
"Nu-uh, Cosplayer." He grinned. "You wanna make tonight last you need food on your stomach first. And only take sips." It looked really tasty so she shoved the sandwich in her mouth. The sandwich was good too.
"Awe, come on! You already watered down her booze. What's the fun in sipping it like tea?" Cana sounded genuinely upset at the idea.
"You remember a couple weeks ago when she beat you in that dance off?"
"Wait, I what!" That was news to her. He told her she danced but not that she won some sort of competition.
"See. She doesn't remember, because you poured hard stuff down her throat. Let me take care of my girlfriend so when she out dances every girl in the club tonight she can remember it this time."
(Fireball, Pitbull)
"Yeah! Let my boyfriend take care of me, Cana." Her friend rolled her eyes and wondered off toward the dance floor mumbling about Bickslow making Lucy boring. Which of course cracked up everyone who heard it because that was a pretty ridiculous idea. Lucy was finally able to take a sip of her drink and released a tiny squeal of delight. "Bixy what is this? It's amazing!" He laughed at her.
"Glad you approve, Cosplayer. Basically it's a strawberry milkshake with champagne instead of milk. I think there is a twist of lime in it too." She took another sip. She glanced in the direction Cana had gone and nearly spit it back out again.
"Umm... Bixy, I think this might be way stronger than you thought. Or somebody put something from Cobra's collection in it." He yanked her drink away with wide, panicked eyes. She just pointed. "I'm hallucinating Natsu actually dancing successfully." She really had to be drugged or something because she had seen her best friend dance before and it had been so sad it was scary. This... wasn't.
"Huh," He handed her drink back. "In that case the air is spiked, because I haven't had anything yet and I see it too." They sat and stared. Bickslow started in on his drink as though it would make the mass hallucination dissapear. Lucy knew her friend was attractive, but she hadn't seen the sexiness his girlfriend talked about occasionally till now. "Think it's the fire in the song or Lisanna's dress that inspired him?"
"I don't know, but if he was hiding that all this time and she knew it's no wonder she attacked him." Laxus grunted in agreement and Kinana giggled.
"I vote dress." Meredy said.
"I was oblivious to his design to engage in our twilight exertions."
"Yeah, like Laki said. What's he doing here? Lisanna said she was coming, but she didn't say he would be here." Laxus grunted again. The look on his face said he was watching his club go up in smoke in his mind's eye.
"You're here, Cosplayer. Just because he accepts us being together doesn't mean he is really ready to trust me to keep you safe." She scowled and took an angry sip of her magical strawberry... alcohol shake. It wasn't at all right that Natsu was doing that if it was true. Not only was Bickslow absolutely trustworthy, but she could keep her own self safe damn it!
"Don't take it so rough, Tits. He's a dragon. You are his partner. Keeping you safe is part of his identity at this point."
"I thought Freed wrote you runes that shut your dumb, nosey ears down for the night."
"I don't have to hear you to see that you're pissed off. Besides I can still hear whatever I want to if I just focus."
"Oh." She shrugged. Maybe she should just let it go for now.
"Lucy!" Gray and Juvia slid into the bench Cana had abandoned. "Here I thought Juvs was spinning tales when she said you would be here tonight. What's up?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. Juvs? Apparently those two had been, what did Cana call it, pregaming. Gray would never be that relaxed and comfortable around his stalking non-girlfriend if he were sober.
"Natsu is dancing." They both looked shocked and turned toward the dance floor. Juvia had a longing look on her face. Lucy figured she might as well help the girl out. "You going to let him out dance you, Gray? I bet Juvia can take Lisanna on. Get your butts down there!" She didn't have to say it twice. Juvia grinned at her as Gray pulled her along in his wake.
Kinana and Meredy recognized the competitive glint in their antisocial slayer's eyes and got them out on to the dance floor. They knew as well as Lucy did that Cobra and Laxus wouldn't be suggesting it. Evergreen, aggressive as always, used her fan to herd her now official boyfriend to join them. Laki stuck around while Lucy sipped at her strawberry alcohol shake and tried to work up the courage to let her only slightly vibrating boyfriend take her dancing. In her opinion the hyperactive man was being remarkably patient.
When the tone of the music changed again Laki abandoned the table. Loke showed up at some point under his own power and was dancing. When Levy and Gajeel arrived to fill the expected quota of Fairies for the evening they didn't even make it to the bar before Levy was dancing all over her slayer. The poor man was quite obviously overwhelmed, which inspired all sorts of comments from her boyfriend and giggles from her.
"Really? You picked out her dress?"
"Yep. We usually each pick an item or two for each girl shopping with us and then pick our favorites from there. I was lucky to find that early in the day."
"So who picked yours? Which I do very much like by the way." Lucy held perfectly still. He had a look in his eye very much like right before he had pounced on her earlier and there was a faint green glow in the air.
"Umm... me actually. I was picky and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted going in." His grin was wicked as he leaned into her space. Close proximity had become normal between them since Mira first sent ually. I was picky and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted going in." His grin was wicked as he leaned into her space. Close proximity had become normal between them since Mira first sent had become normal between them since Mira first sent since Mira first sent them ghost hinting, but this was different. She would never be afraid of Bickslow now that she knew him. She was feeling rather... hunted though. It was exciting. The intro to a song Bickslow obviously recognized distracted him from whatever delicious thoughts had been going through his mind. He lit up and started tugging on her arm.
(Thrift Shop, Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis)
"Please, Cosplayer. Just relax and play with me." She rolled her eyes and followed him to the dance floor. "Just feel. No thinking. You aren't supposed to think to this stuff." He rested his hands on her hips to guild their movement. She focused on feeling the music. Once she let her body dance he hardly needed to guild her.
She blamed the alcohol in her system for her reaction to the song's words. She should have been mortified. Instead she laughed. It was just so Bickslow. Pervy, and goofy. Fun and just entirely inappropriate. She could see why he had wanted to dance to it. She decided she may as well follow his lead and let her silly out. If she was sexy too than even better.
They stayed on the dance floor for a couple more songs before the Fairies wondered back to their table for more sandwiches and cheese cubes. Bickslow and Cana freshened drinks and replaced empty bottles. Lucy's boyfriend had been right when he said she would have fun. She wasn't relaxed enough to dance in the blatantly sexual way some of her friends were, but the night was young and the drink Bickslow had introduced her to was fantabulistic.
(Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke)
When Cana headed back to into the human sea Lucy tossed back tje last of her drink and dragged a laughing out of their bench by the front of his shirt. She kept both hands in his shirt as they started dancing because, she would even admit it out loud at this point if asked, touching Bickslow was preferable to not touching him, especially if she had a good excuse.
She loved seeing the heat in his eyes as she let her hips and shoulders feel the music. His hands slid up from her hips to her waist. He ran his fingers over the skin of her back before curling them under the sides of her dress. He gave her an ornery sexy grin as he pulled lightly. She gasped and leaned her body into him as they danced. She was pretty sure he wouldn't really have done it in public, but she felt like he had just threatened to tear her dress off. She liked it.
The way his perfectly muscled body was twisting and flexing against her was doing terrible things to her self control. The functioning part of her brain reminded her that the alcohol wasn't helping. Her hands let loose of his shirt only to start wandering over his chest. She felt his breath catch when one hand dipped under the open collar or his shirt to find skin. It only took the twist of a finger to loose the next button on his shirt. When his eyes started glowing she grinned and pressed herself against him.
(Come With Me Now, Kongos) (AN: Cobra's playlist)
Cobra popped up suddenly and stole her right out of her boyfriend's arms, spinning Juvia into them. At the sight of the water mage Lucy glanced around to see that all the Fairy Tail couples had or were swapping partners. Juvia was giggling even though Evergreen was pressed up against her precious Gray.
"I'm stealing your girl, Echo." Cobra spun her a couple times till she fell with her back against him.
"Awe come on! We were having a moment." Bickslow was doing a pretty good puppy dog pout but his eyes were smiling so Lucy just went with the flow.
"Your moment would have ended with Tits' tits on display if you kept going." Cobra's evil was contagious. She winked at Bickslow before tipping her head back to smirk at her repeat kidnapper.
"Pretty sure nobody would have complained. Unless it would have burned your poor little eye Coby-woby." She stuck her tongue out and imitated the seith mage's I'm-mentally-unstable cackle. Cobra raised a single eyebrow.
"Had enough to drink yet, Tits?"
"Nope. I think I need one more strawberry alcohol shake before I'm ready to challenge Cana to a dance off."
"That's your goal for the night huh?"
"Cosplayer is crazy competative, man. She doesn't remember the last one so, duh, of course she wants to whoop sexy ass again. Right babe?"
"At's right, Doc."
"After this song Natsu wants a dance. Then your boyfriend can help you finish prepping to dance the panties off the walking brewary."
"Aye sir!"
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To be continued