Chapter Eight:
"Dragon slayers usually pick a mate. Since you never had a dragon, I doubt you were taught about it, but wanting to protect someone without reason means they're probably your mate. Do you think…. I'm your mate?" I saw his eyes squint at me.
"The hell… a mate… I've done it with plenty of girls, why would I suddenly want to mate with you?" he raked his eyes up and down my body, and I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling my irritation spike. I continued to try and keep my face emotionless.
"You don't choose your mate. It just happens. It's dangerous to not bond with your mate once you've found them, but if they aren't really your mate it can harm both people." I explained.
"That sounds stupid, what the hell's the point of a mate?!"
"Part of the dragon genes we have." I shrugged.
"Ugh! Let's just get all your shit packed." he turned so swiftly away from me that his jacket snapped like a cape behind him. He started walking, his powerful legs propelling him quickly through the town. I trailed slightly behind him, making sure to keep up. I didn't understand why he was so upset about having a mate. I knew from a young age that I would have one, but female dragonslayers were more complicated than males. I would find out who my mate was in the spring, which would be in a few months. It was something about dragons reproducing in the spring. I was young when my dragon Aqua explained it, so I did not remember everything she had said on the subject.
The crowds thinned as we neared the residential area of Magnolia. I could see the gate of Fairy Hills as we approached.
"Laxus, I'm not sure you are allowed in the girls dorms." I called ahead to the blonde dragonslayer. His shoulders hunched and his steps faltered for a split second before he answered.
"I'm the master's grandson, I'm allowed inside during a crisis like this." his words were true, during a crisis I'm sure males were allowed. But this hardly was one.
"This isn't a crisis, Laxus." I walked faster so I wouldn't have to call out to him.
"Says who?" He whirled around and stopped in front of the gate. The world seemed to stop as a flash of lightning zapped the sign above the gate. "I'm looking out for your life. We have no idea what those people are capable of, or what their numbers are. They could be part of a dark guild for all we know! This wouldn't be the first time. I know what I'm doing, so you just need to go along with it." the scowl never left his face the entire time he talked.
"I can take care of myself, you know."
"Well, it makes me feel better to be in control." The look in Laxus' eyes softened, and I felt a warmth fill my body at the kindness I saw in his face. "This is me repenting for all the bad that I have done. Please, just let me." his voice melted my defiance. I don't know how he did it to me, but now even if I wanted to say no, I couldn't. He was not a bad person, I could tell that from the short time I knew him. I wanted to know more about him, and maybe this short "trip" would be as good a time as any.
"Alright." my answer was not nearly as sure as his words were, but I think that he got that I meant it.
"Good. Now shut up about all this mating crap, alright? I do not mate." he turned back around and stalked inside the building. I followed him up to my room. Wait, how did he…?
"How do you know which room is mine?" I asked as he opened the door to it. His hand hesitated on the doorknob for a moment.
"I can smell your scent." he avoided looking at me as he stepped inside. Solid sounding footsteps thudded down on my floor as he walked to the middle of my room. He pointed at my dresser. "Pack a lot, I don't know how long we'll be out for. But you might as well bring a bunch of stuff just in case." he shrugged. I huffed, a bit miffed as I picked up my little charm bag and began to put shirts in. I packed a few different interchangeable pairs of shirts and pants, and an extra pair of shoes. I glanced over at the lightning dragonslayer. He was looking around on top of my nightstand, and he picked up a few hairbands before flicking them back down onto the surface. He lightly traced his fingers over the embossed letters on a book before he jerked open the drawer.
"What are you looking for?" I called from the other side of the room. He jumped a bit, and quickly shut the drawer.
"Nothing. Just snooping." he turned away again. He crossed his arms and stared out the window. I watched him for a few more seconds, then decided to finish packing. I went into the bathroom to grab toiletries, then I went back and got some socks and underwear. I patted the small bag softly before strapping it around my leg. It felt warm from all the use.
"I'm done." I approached Laxus from behind.
"Good. Now I need to go grab some clothes from my place. Would you wanna come with?" he spun to face me.
"I didn't think you would let me out of your sight." I felt one of my pale eyebrows arch up at his question.
"It was rhetorical." he waved away my statement before he walked back over to the door. His black boots made more loud footsteps. I kind of liked the sound. "Come on, shorty." Laxus waved me over.
"Did you just call me shorty?" both my eyebrows raised this time.
"Maybe." I could hear the smirk in his voice. He turned back to me for a quick second before he opened the door and walked out. I stood there for a minute or two, but then I realized he had actually left me behind.
"Wait!" I called as I jogged out the door. I turned and saw him leaning against the wall, the smirk still present. He had a nice smile. "Oh. I thought you had left me here."
"Nope. Was waiting for your ass the whole time." he shrugged again. He did that a lot.
"Then, let's go."
"Lead the way, shorty."
"It's your house…"
"Oh. Right."
….
Laxus' home was extremely nice. It was a two story townhouse, the outside all gray stone. A tile paved walkway led from the black wrought iron fence to the deep gray door. The yard was neatly trimmed, and cone-shaped hedges framed the corners. All of the windows had white curtains, preventing any snooping eyes from seeing in. Laxus strode purposefully through the gate, and gently swung it shut behind me. He led me to the front door before producing a key from his pocket. He opened the door, but motioned for me to go inside first. I hesitantly stepped into a modern foyer, almost a hallway but too grand to be called one. Smooth white paint had no trace of photo frames or any decorations. Two black end tables sat next to two open doorways, one to the left and one to the right. The hall opened in the back to reveal a room with glass sliding doors leading to the outside. Laxus stepped past me and headed for the room with the glass doors. I followed him, and noticed that the sliding doors led to a patio as we went into a living room. A black leather couch and armchair sat in front of a fireplace, and on the opposite wall from that was a spiral staircase.
"You can wait here, I'll just be upstairs." he gestured to the armchair before turning swiftly, flicking his jacket off. It fluttered over a coat rack before the blonde disappeared up the stairs. I turned away from the staircase and focused on the room again. The walls kept the solid white hue from the hallway, but there were a few frames on the walls in here. They were all flyers from jobs that Laxus's team must have excelled at. I decided to skip reading them and continued my perusal. Along the back of the leather couch was a long table, holding a small dish filled with random trinkets, and there was a coffee mug and sorcerer magazine that looked new. Maybe he got them delivered. I walked past that and saw an expensive looking lacrima attached to the wall. It must have been a television. Underneath it was a bookshelf that held a lot of old books, leather-bound and nearly falling apart. I scanned the titles, and almost all of them had to do with dragon lore. I recognized a few titles, having read them when I began to search for my dragon. Next to the bookshelf was the glass sliding doors, and on the other side of those I was back to the staircase. I sighed and sat down in the armchair, hearing a clock ticking somewhere in the house. The faint sounds of Laxus packing could also be heard, but other than that the entire house was silent. Outside, the sun was high and bright. My stomach growled softly, and I realized it must have been almost lunchtime. It was around ten minutes before Laxus came down the stairs again, a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Without his coat on, it was easy to see his muscular arms, straining slightly from the weight of the bag.
"Should we eat before we leave?" I asked him as he came to stand in front of me. I stood in an attempt match his height, but my plan failed. A groan erupted from my stomach, and I felt my face get warm.
"Well, if you're hungry." he cracked a grin at me. "I know a good, fast place. It's just down the street. After that, I want to go shopping to get some food for the trip." he leaned over to grab his jacket, not moving from in front of me.
"That's fine with me." I said.
"Alright, let's go." he turned and pulled me by my wrist towards the door.
"Laxus." I stopped him again.
"Yes? What is it?" His eyes searched mine.
"Are you sure you're okay with all this? I mean, doing this for me?" I asked, looking down at my feet. I couldn't bear to see if there was any hesitance in his eyes. I was stuck to him before I knew it.
"Absolutely. Now, let's fill you up before we leave. Can't have my little shorty starving to death."
"We need to have a talk about that nickname." I all but growled at him.
"It's cute and it suits you. There, we talked about it."
"Note to self: make up a stupid nickname for Laxus." I said dryly. Laxus barked out a laugh.
"Finally, she shows a sense of humor! Come on, princess." he all but dragged me out the door.
"Princess?"
"If the shoe fits."
