"I'm just saying be careful Bix." Laxus frowned, not an uncommon expression for him, especially throughout his latest conversation with Bickslow.
"You don't need to worry Boss man, I got this." Bix grinned, sitting back in the overstuffed chair in Laxus' livingroom.
"Yeah that's what you said last time and it took you two months to get your shit straight after that girl went back to her fucking boyfriend." He reminded the Seith whos grin only faltered a little.
"That did suck, but she figured shit out, you know they invited me to the wedding." He waved a hand and his totems wove around it giggling.
Laxus' frown darkened "You've gotta be shitting me…"
The last woman Bix had been with for any amount of time had been a plain looking musician, violinist to be exact, who had run away from her home, family and fiancé the day before her wedding, run into Bickslow at a bar where she was sobbing and didn't have a jewel to even buy a drink.
Bickslow took her in, bought her clothes because she'd run away and left everything. She'd monopolized the Seiths time, used him for everything from shelter, food and money to sex and an emotional dumping ground, He'd bought her a violin, encouraged her to play, even taken her to Crocus for assessments and gotten her accepted to the Music school there had his father help grease some wheels, paid for her first year and almost before the jewel had been handed over, she'd left him.
He'd come home from a mission with the team to find her and her things and a good bit of his own possessions (Most anything worth good jewel that wasn't too big to carry out in a hurry) gone, a short note thanking him for all of his help and telling him she was going back to her fiancé.
Bickslow had been crushed, and the bitch had the gaul to invite him to her fucking wedding? If he weren't in the position he was, and it wouldn't potentially cause more problems than it could ever solve, he'd make sure the bitch paid Bickslow back every fucking jewel he'd spent on her.
The man deserved better. While Laxus was sure Lucy was right and Erza wouldn't deliberately hurt Bickslow, he also knew the woman was a walking train wreck of emotional turmoil and her incessant devotion to Jellal in spite of the mans endless denials of her was every bit as unhealthy as Juvias obsession with Gray.
He wasn't concerned about Gary and Cana, he had a feeling that would work out fine whichever way it went, dealing with a weepy Juvia wasn't fun, he'd had to send her on a mission with Natsu, Lissana and Elfman so she didn't rain out the Harvest Festival in her misery over Gray Marrying Cana.
That would all sort itself out, but he'd be damned if he'd stand by and let his best friend turn into an emotional crutch for Erza.
"I'm just teaching her to dance Laxus, relax, I know the score, she's in obsession with tat-face, closed for business, I got it, doesn't mean we can't have fun, get to know each other better, we're guildmates, fucking Nakama right? Might as well enjoy the next 6 months of having a built in dinner date." The man grinned again and Laxus rolled his eyes.
"Ok, but if you need some space, you come here, KNOCK first, I have a mate now, but you're always welcome." He said. Bickslow nodded.
He knew why his friend was worried, hell he'd be worried too if he were Laxus. He had a heel of a bad track record with women. He'd had two semi-long term (as in more than just 1-2 fuckfests) relationships and both women had honestly used him to get back on their feet emotionally then left him once they were.
Both had the same reason too, neither wanted to be with a Seith mage. He got it, was used to it. He'd really had no ambitions toward any of the women in the guild. He'd been mildly interested in Lucy but once he'd learned about how Laxus felt about her that had been gone fast and he'd been rooting for his friend.
He was happy as hell for them too, Laxus needed a bright, beautiful sexy ray of sunshine in his life and now he had her. The man hadn't fucked around either, when that opportunity had come, Laxus had shown just how deep that lightning speed ran.
It helped that they were meant for each other. He kind of envied Dragon Slayers their mates. Knowing someone out there was perfect for them, and once that magic kicked in, that was it, both parties fell for each other hard and the bond deepened more throughout their lives.
As a Seith he had that level of bonding to offer a woman, it wouldn't activate itself, no instinct involved, just love, he had to love her, she had to love him, deep and strong, then he could lace their souls together, form his magics own special type of union with the woman he would devote his life to, his whole existence once that merge was done.
But while his magic offered that, it was as terrifying at it was deep and powerful, and the council had spread hatred toward Seiths for enough decades that they were as feared as they were illegal.
So women became afraid when he told them why he wore his visor. He was too honest not to, and the visor wasn't exactly something he could hide, any better than he could hide the mark of his magic or the way his eyes looked.
Once they knew, most women just kind of took the sex and ran. He was good enough in bed they rarely left until after they'd had a few rounds with him. At least he could take some small modicum of pride in that.
He couldn't resent Laxus or even get mad at him for being the protective friend he was being. Asshole was a Dragon Slayer, he was protective of everything he cared about.
Rising the Seith left Laxus to his work and went downstairs, babies trailing behind him while He crossed the Guild Hall and headed outside to get to the haunted house.
He'd done a lot of the work renovating his own home, so was comfortable working on the haunted house. That and he was really looking forward to scaring the piss out of people when it opened.
Erza looked up when Bickslow crossed the hall, returning her eyes quickly to the cake in front of her. She didn't know what to think of it all. Bickslow was a competent warrior, better than competent really. He was an honest loyal man. His skills ran deeper than she'd ever realized too. Living in his home with him she had discovered many things about him. He could cook, incredibly in fact.
He was fun to be around, made her laugh more than anyone she'd ever known. She loved his home, she'd never lived anywhere so nice before. When she'd gotten up in the mornings now her walk to her favorite bakery took her less than 10 minutes because the house was so close to the market district. It was so close she'd taken to having breakfast there most mornings.
But rising earlier she'd discovered more. Hearing some noises out back she'd walked across the hall from her room into the room at the back looking out the window over the large back yard and had her breathe taken away.
Bickslow was outside, he had various equipment out there and was in the middle of a workout. He was incredibly agile, flips, hand springs, tumbling, and the power of his body… he'd been wearing nothing but a snug fitting pair of running shorts in spite of the cool temperature of the fall morning.
She hadn't been able to tear her eyes away. Watched him until he finished, he'd snatched a towel up from where it was draped over his uneven bars, paused to wipe his face and take a long drink from a water bottle then gone into the house beneath her.
She'd learned he did the same thing every morning regardless of the weather, though on rainy days he went to a nearby gym and she didn't get to watch him. She had to admit, in nothing but those running shorts…Bickslow had an incredible body.
In truth she hadn't slept, eaten or in general lived better than she had since she had moved in with him. She felt safe in the large house and the fireplace in her room was soothing, almost as much as the large tub she believed was even better than the one Lucy had at her old apartment.
She was startled from her reverie by hands on her shoulders.
"That one still no good huh?" Looking up she met Lucys warm brown eyes and smiled faintly.
"No, it is sub standard." She admitted. Levy grabbed her hand and Lucy grabbed the other, dragging the requip mage to her feet. "Come on Erza, we have to go pick out my wedding cake."
Walking into the Rosegarden Bakery again this time with a wicked smile on her face Erza met the narrowed eyes of one of the employees.
This time, she was armed with a damn bride and Lucy had promised that whether or not she wanted that strawberry divinity cake for her wedding or not, they had an appointment for a taste testing and if that cake was what Erza had heard it was, Lucy was ordering one.
Erza could only sigh as the woman helping them took them to the tasting room, a beautifully appointed dining area, and waited for her to return with all of the samples of hat the bakery had to offer, including the Strawberry Divinity cake.
Had she just waited and not acted so single mindedly, she would not have drug Bickslow into the situation she had put him in. Lucy would have come back to the guild and had a pleasant evening celebrating her engagement to Laxus instead of cleaning up after her…again.
Glancing at her friends she almost winced realizing how many times she had caused the sweet young woman real disruptions to her life. She couldn't keep letting her narrow minded fixations on goals keep doing this.
It made her suffer and it caused suffering to everyone she cared about.
"Thank you Lucy." She said quietly, interrupting the two women seated with her who had been discussing all of the different cake designs in the book they had been given to look through while they waited.
Lucy and Levy both looked up at her in surprise. "No need to thank me, I should be thanking you for agreeing to come! I wanted you along Erza, I think I trust your opinion where cakes are concerned better than my own." The blonde and the bluenette both laughed and Erza grinned…it was true…she did know her cakes.
"I'm still grateful you would involve me after I ruined what should have been a special day for you at the guild, I mean with the whole mess concerning the marriages and all." She said.
Lucy shrugged "No sweat really. The six months will be up in no time and you can all get back to life as normal again, you'll see."
Erza nodded "I am sure Bickslow will be happy to be rid of me and I will be glad to return to my own apartment."
The woman came in followed by two assistants and trays bearing cakes slices and Erzas eyes glazed over at the wondrous bounty spread out before them.
The lead woman bore a golden tray, on it Erza saw the holy grail of cakes, on one side sat three slices of the Rum Spice cake the chef was also famous for, and three slices of the coveted Strawberry cake.
Lucy and Levy exchanged glances and watched as the woman set the Strawberry cake slices before them and then drizzled the strawberry sauce over each slice before stepping back.
"This is of course the cake you expressed the interest in Miss Heartfillia, our specialty, Strawberry Divinity Cake. The cake is a secret recipe I of course can not go into covered in a special Strawberry infused buttercream and a unique sauce we only make for this cake usually kept on the side for your guests to use as they will. Please enjoy." The woman placed gold plated forks down for each of them and Erza picked hers up.
She could already smell it, the aroma was as divine as the name and she could see bits of strawberry in the cake itself though the cake was a rich vanilla color not pinkened by having the strawberries mixed into the batter, that indicated care in preparation.
Pressing her fork into the cake she carefully paid attention to how much resistance she met, too much meant it was dry or dense, too little meant it lacked richness.
She was too engrossed in her experience to notice Lucy and Levy both sitting holding their forks watching her with wide worried eyes.
Her fork passed through perfectly and she scooped up the piece and noted how it separated from the rest, the way the frosting clung and finally separated, how much of the cake crumbled after the piece was removed, all clues as to the quality.
Putting it in her mouth she let her lips press down to pull the piece from the fork and drop it onto her waiting tongue and closed her eyes so she could devote all of her focus to a single sense.
She had shamed herself, drug Bickslow into a phony marriage, disrupted her best friends important day, gotten Gray and Cana both landed in the same situation she'd put herself and Bickslow into and embarrassed the guild.
As the cake melted over her tongue her eyes rolled back in her head…. Well, now she knew it had all been worth it.
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A/N short chapter, no apologies, Erzas motivation deserved its spotlight...DESNA