Yup.
Chapter 8 "The Marking, Pt II (or, Laxus Gets All Emotional and Lucy Hits Him With a Pillow; or, Laxus Sticks His Foot in His Mouth Repeatedly)
Lucy POV
I groan in pain as I slowly open my eyes. The room is mostly dark, aside from a cordless light lacrima in the corner shining an amber glow over the room. I start to move my arm and groan again.
"Did I get fucked on a train, then thrown out and run over by it?" I moan out loud. There's an amused grunt from next to me and I turn my head to see Laxus spread-eagled on top of the covers. Oh, and completely naked as well. I sigh and close my eyes, finding that when I don't move, all I can feel is an immense satisfaction. A heady, pleasurable buzzing radiates from my limbs as well as the apex of my thighs. I purr and without thought start to roll over towards Laxus. Bad idea.
"Owwwww…." I whine pitifully. Laxus barely nods his head, his eyes still closed.
"Lie still and don't move. It hurts less that way." He groans helpfully.
"But I wanna touch you," I whine, managing a slow wiggle closer. He chuckles and groans as he wiggles close enough for our arms and shoulders to touch, linking our hands together. I let myself fall on my back and stare at the ceiling. My eyes focus on the light fixture.
"uh, Laxus? Your lights are burnt out. Like, there's scorch marks," I say slowly. Laxus grunts.
"Along with all the other electrical things in the room," he says, a hint of a smile forming on his lips. I sigh and close my eyes.
"I just wanted to say – that that was the most ridiculous, incredible, amazing, almost scary sex ever," I praise managing swing my head to the side and press a small kiss to his shoulder. He laughs only to transition into a groan when his back started to hunch. He flops his head over to look at me.
"I agree, completely." He says. His eyes narrow and examine my face. I, however, am busy staring at his face and the bruised, slightly cut bottom lip. He swallows hard and closes his eyes. "I'm almost afraid to look at our bodies. Judging by your lower lip and jawbone, we have a few battle scars."
"I was thinking the same. Your lip is cut, by the way," I add. He grunts.
"Okay. I'm gonna do it, Blondie. I'm gonna sit up," he snnounces. With a mildly hilarious noise of strain he pulls himself up to a sitting position, dropping into a slouch. He slowly lifts his arms with a wince and tries to tenderly stretch his muscles. He looks down at me and inhales sharply, eyes widening. "Oh my God, Lucy. I'm… I'm so sorry! Are you okay right now?" he breathes fearfully, his wide eyes raking over my body in concern. I nod.
"Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing I look pretty scary. Okay. We can do this. We can stand up." I say with determination.
"Alright, but let me stand first and help you, okay?" he pleads. I want to protest and say something about how I can stand up myself, but as I start to sit up, I decide to let him be chivalrous. It takes him a whole minute to stand up, and I gasp when I fully see the scratch marks across his back. He grunts and turns around, making me gasp again at even more scratchmarks, combined with various lovebites, hickeys, and bruises. He even has a bruise around his pelvic area, although luckily his shaft appears unharmed.
"Oh shit, Laxus. You should see yourself!" I gasp, guilt washing over me. He just grunts.
"Same to you, babe," he mutters, his eyes full of guilt. He reaches out a hand and I slowly take it, gritting my teeth through the pain as I work with him to pull me to my feet where I wobble unsteadily before grabbing onto his arm for balance. "Ready to look in the mirror?" he asks drily. I nod and we both turn to see our reflections in the full length mirror.
"Holy shit!" I gasp while he sucks a breath in through his teeth. We were definitely battered. I slowly took stock of my injuries – bruises that look exactly like his fingers were around my waist, on my upper arms, and on my lower leg. Bite marks with dried flakes of blood adorned my neck, chest, and even one on my lower stomach. I had hickeys all over my neck, collarbones, and breasts, as well as a few on my inner thighs and just above my pubic area. My lips were slightly swollen, the bottom a bit extra puffy with a pair of cuts shaped like teeth. We look like we had the roughest sex ever – which I guess we kind of did.
I'm choosing to ignore the remnants of all of our releases.
I catch Laxus' guilty, ashamed eyes and I frowned. "Laxus, I'm only going to say this once, because I shouldn't have to say it more than once. Don't you dare feel guilty about these marks. Yes, were a little more banged up than normal, but you know what? Absolutely fucking worth it," I scold. His lips curl a little into the beginnings of a smile. "Seriously. Last night? Or… a day ago… whatever, we can figure out what day it is later. Anyways – it was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced in my life. Yea, I'm feeling sore and probably can't walk on my own right now, but again – it was worth it. Besides, if you feel guilty for these marks? That means I'm just as guilty for your marks. So if one of us is guilty, the other is too. And I don't really feel all that guilty, so you must not be either. Enough said," I finish with vigor. He turns us to face each other and leans down to press a chaste, soft kiss to my lips.
"Alright. Since my celestial princess should never, ever feel guilt, I guess I'm not allowed to feel guilty this time," he breathes, smiling warmly. His eyes hold my gaze, and suddenly I feel more loved than I've ever felt in my life. His eyes are so warm, so unbelievably full of passion and love, I feel my heart swell. In the back of my mind I knew…
I was in love with Laxus Dreyer.
I grab his face and for a passionate kiss that ends quickly with a pained groan from each of us. He gently strokes my cheek and chuckles. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think we need to avoid anything sexual for a little while. A day, at the very least," he smirks, pulling an expression of exaggerated disappointment, making me giggle. He leans forward and gently kisses my forhead. "Alright Blondie, I don't know about you, but I think a hot bath sounds wonderful."
I sigh dreamily at his suggestion, nodding happily. I try to take a step and my legs give out – but his arms shoot out to catch me. He grits his teeth but succeeds in taking me into his arms to carry me, bridal style. The position makes me blush and my lips curl upwards. He walks towards the Master bathroom, grimacing with each step, and I try not to laugh. He sets me down on the bathroom counter and puts a hand against his back. I snort a little.
"Okay, so I apologize for that. That is definitely not the facial expression I wanted to make when I finally had a chance to carry you like that. Pretty sure whatever my face is doing right now is something I would never normally do in your presence, to be honest," he laughs before pecking a quick kiss to the end of my nose. When he turns around to stoop over and fiddle with the faucet, I frown.
"After this, we really need to take care of some of those scratches I gave you. Like, they're pretty deep," I mutter embarrassed. Laxus just gives a chuckle and stands up to let the now hot water fill up the wonderfully large, Jacuzzi-style tub. I take his hand and pull it to my face, kissing each knuckle while holding his gaze. He steps between my thighs, and wraps his arms around me tenderly, tucking my head under his chin. I feel desire start to heat my blood and my thighs automatically tighten around his hips. He groans out loud and I feel his member twitch.
"Ah shit! Don't get hard now you stupid thing!" he moans in exasperation. I giggle and just tighten my arms.
"As crazy as it sounds, I'm actually getting wet right now. So you're not alone, babe." At this he makes a whimper sound and takes a deep breath. "Ugh. Is it even possible for us to not be turned on by each other? Like, seriously, I wanna fuck you every time we get close to each other," I mumble. I feel Laxus freeze and tense. Before I can look up to see what's wrong, he relaxes himself and I can't help but wonder if I even felt him freeze in the first place. We hold each other until the bath fills.
He steps away to turn off the water before coming back to help me down off the counter. I let him carry me and we slide into the tub with mutual moans of satisfaction. He leans back against the side of the tub, holding my back to his chest and letting my body nestle between his legs. I exhale deeply and let the hot water sooth my sore muscles. He lazily lets his hand caress my chest and shoulders, his touch light. He squirts a bit of soap into his palm and starts massaging it upon every place he trails his fingers, gently cleaning the blood and various other bodily fluids from my skin. I moan at the feeling. He kisses my shoulder. "Lean forward so I can get your back, Blondie," he purrs. I follow his instruction. Suddenly, he tenses up completely.
"Oh shit," he breathes from behind me. I turn back to look at him curiously only to see him white-faced. I try to twist to see my back, but my muscles protest.
"What? What's wrong?" I ask. "Is everything alright?"
His mouth opens and closes before settling into an awkward fake grin. He gently moves me forward, his movements jerky, before scrambling out of the tub. I squawk in protest of being jostled so and look at him curiously. His eyes are terrified, his face white. He makes a horribly unconvincing smile that I'm guessing was meant to be reassuring, but really just ended up being uncomfortable.
"Uh, yea babe! Um, I uh, hold on. I'll be right back. I just gotta go do something quick. I swear, it'll just take a second!" he stammers, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist as he bolts/limps out of the room, trailing puddles of water behind him.
"Laxus? What the hell? Where are you going?" I call after him angrily. What the fuck is wrong with him? I try to pull myself back up out of the tub but hiss as my muscles protest. I slump back into the water testily and surrender. That asshole better be back soon.
Laxus POV
I leaned my head against the wall, staring at the communication lacrima in my hand. Oh god… what have I done…
Gajeel's words echoed on constant repeat. I had hoped, oh so hoped, that what I saw wasn't as big a deal as it was, but I was wrong.
Sounds like you gave her the final mark, Sparkplug.
Oh no… I've taken her life away from her forever…
Huh? What mark? Describe it.
Shit sparky. Have you even told her she's your mate yet?
I tremble and clench my fists.
Get your ass in there and tell bunnygirl. You can't wait any longer, man. She's already bound to you for life. Look… I'm sorry, alright? I know you were hoping for a different answer, but it's the truth. Yes, the mating process involves steps or checkpoints or whatever you wanna call it, but if she has that mark? It means you've gone through them all.
Will she hate me? She would have every right to. Her eyes were so trusting… god, her eyes were actually filled with love. This is the best thing that's ever happened to me and I've fucked it up.
I wanted to try and ease her into the whole mate thing. I wanted to get her to fall in love with me first. Hell, ideally I would have kept it from her until I married her. I wanted to make sure being with me was something she truly wanted, since I have no doubt her agonizingly noble personality would have agreed immediately once told of the ramifications. Even if she had no feelings for me at all, she would stay with me once she heard the consequences I would have to endure. And I don't want that! I can't take her life from her! I want… no I need her to choose me on her own.
But now I've taken any choice she may have had.
I take a deep breath and mechanically walk back into my room, tossing the communication lacrima on the bedside table, next to the shattered lamp.
Get your ass in there and tell bunnygirl!
I hesitate on my way back to the bathroom. I try to force my face to relax, try to force my body to exude calm. I take one last deep breath, trying in vain to steady my nerves. I come around the corner.
"What the hell, LAxus?" she pouts at me immediately. I blink and can't help but bark out a laugh at the sight. She was just… so cute. She looked like an angry kitten who got its tail pulled. She glared at me and I could tell she was about to change from cute-angry lucy to scary-lucy if I didn't move fast.
"Sorry, sorry, just had to do something." I stammer, sliding back into the tub. Luckily, she allowed me to before she turned herself around and sat on my stomach. She crossed her arms and huffed. I gulped nervously. Although, mostly because she was currently putting her cleavage on display, as well as pressing her core against my bare stomach. My cock twitches and I groan.
"Oh god, Lucy. You're making me hard again," I groan, throwing a hand over my eyes. She snorts and wiggles her hips, getting me completely hard. I hiss and remove my hand to look at her pleadingly, only to find her with a stubborn scowl.
"Good. It'll be a fine punishment for you," she chirped. I raised an eyebrow. "Now, tell me whats wrong, mister stoic!" she demands, poking my cheek. I look to the side in shame, the heavy weight in my chest immediately returning. Can I do it now? Should I do it now?
I mustve been quiet for too long because she reached behind herself and gave my hard member a single, languid stroke, making me release a strangled, surprised groan. MY eyes snapped back to her and she crossed her arms again. "My god, woman! You're diabolical!" Her eyes glinted dangerously and she swiveled her hips to make her point. "Please stop, Lucy. I – I'll tell you, alright!" I begged. She stared at me intently, waiting.
I can't get my mouth to work. My heart is beating far too fast, and I can tell I'm trembling. I keep opening and closing my mouth, failing each time to make a sound.
This is it. As soon as I say it, she'll be gone forever.
Wait, what's that sound? Is she hyperventilating? Did I say it already? I open my eyes to see her looking at me with deep concern, but her chest his rising and falling normally. Wait… is that sound coming from me?
I'm suffocating. I'm suffocating. I'm suffo-
"LAXUS!"
I open my eyes to find Lucy leaning over me and holding my face tenderly. Her eyes a almost crazed with worry, and her thumbs brush away something from my cheek. Wait, am I crying?
"Laxus, you're alright! Just breathe!" she soothes. I take a few deep breaths to try and calm myself but I can hardly get the air into my lungs. Her voice sounds so far away, but I can see her lips moving. Is this even real?
"Laxus, please! You're alright!" her voice is so beautiful… "Laxus. Laxus Dreyer. Tell me what's wrong!"
I'm about to break you. I fucking love you, but I'm about to destroy you. Oh god what have I done.
"I love you, Laxus!"
I freeze, my eyes snap open and I stare at her wildly, grabbing her waist and sitting up straight. She grabs onto my shoulders with a squeak and looks at me with slight terror and a blush. I can only blink.
"What did you say?" I ask. It can't have been real. It was my mind playing tricks on me. She blushed and look away, embarrassed, and fiddles with the ends of her hair. I grab each side of her face and look deep into her startled eyes. "Please, Lucy. What did you say?" I beg. She swallows thickly and mumbles something. I strain my ears to hear, and while it kind of sounds like "I love you", I can hardly make it out. "Please. Louder. I need… Please say it again." She takes a deep breath and seems to steel herself, puffing out her chest and looking at me defiantly.
"I love you, Laxus Dreyer," she says plainly, her voice only quavering a little. I blink. My brain shorts out and I think I might be grinning but I can't really feel my face right now.
"This is real, right? I'm not dreaming?" I ask out loud. Lucy raises an eyebrow and smirks.
"You dream about me in the bathtub often?" she shakily says, her eyes guarded. I shake my head.
"I mean, sometimes, yea. I meant the you telling me you love me part," I say. Her eyes lose some og the guardedness. I know I'm grinning now, I can feel it. My heart actually feels like it's soaring. "Say it again!" I ask giddily.
"Not until you say it back, Sparky. Kinda feelin this is one way here," she says drily. Oh shit, have I not said it yet? I pull her face close to mine, and pour as much love and passion as I can into my gaze.
"Lucy Heartfilia. I love you, too. I love you more than anything I've ever loved in my life. And I mean that with all of my soul," I declare. Her eyes brighten and she throws herself forward to hug me tightly. "Now say it again, please!" I ask excitedly.
"I love you!"
I purr and nuzzle her face. "I love you too, my celestial princess." She giggled, apparently just as giddy as I am.
"My beloved Lightning Dragon," she purrs back. I kiss her, hard, but awkwardly have to pull away with a groan.
"Dammit. Why couldn't this happen when we weren't too bruised to kiss?" I mumbled. She starts laughing and I join her.
Now, I'm not a romantic man. I find sappy romance to be disgusting in most cases. But I'm not even ashamed to admit that what followed was an entire half hour of us holding each other and saying "I love you" back and forth. When the water became luke warm, I helped us stand, keeping our now pruned fingers intertwined, and we tenderly dried each other off, planting soft kisses across each other's bodies. She still wobbled a bit as she walked, but the hot bath seemed to help both of us a lot – although it could also have something to do with the mild healing tonic I mixed with the water. She turned to lead us back into the bedroom and I froze again, seeing the distinctive mark between her shoulder blades. It was almost rune-like and fluid, very similar to the marking Gajeel gave Levy, only with a slightly more electric look. As I look at it, I see it spark lightly. She noticed my stopped form and looked at me with wide eyes.
"Are you okay, Laxus?" she asks softly. I grit my teeth and suck in a deep breath. Okay, maybe it'll be okay after all. She just said I love you. She said it first, even. Maybe… maybe she'll be fine with the choice.
"I've been trying to tell you something since we first… uh, not to ruin the mood or anything, but since we first fucked," I started slowly. I nodded towards the bedroom. "Let's go sit down."
She complied, trying to hold back her curiosity. I took another deep breath to try and sooth the weight of dread crushing my chest, but still couldn't quite find the words. She waited patiently for an entire minute of silence, before she sighed.
"Damn Laxus, just blurt it out. Stop overthinking how you're going to say whatever it is," she suggests. I twitch. She huffs. "Seriously, just say-"
"I WANT TO FUCK YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!"
I wanted to slap myself. Goddammit, how the hell is that what came out of my mouth. Lucy looked at me funny. Ok let me try again.
"Uh, I mean, CARRY MY BABIES!"
"Laxus, what the fuck dude?"
Oh my god kill me now. What is wrong with me?! I slap myself.
"I WILL KILL ANY OTHER MAN THAT TOUCHES YOU!"
Lucy smacked her own face this time. "Jesus, Laxus! What the hell?"
I cringe and take a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I just can't seem to say the right words!" I argue. Lucy gives me a look. Okay. I can do this. It's three fucking words.
"YOU'RE MY MATE!" I manage to yell. I grin madly in triumph and turn to Lucy in happiness. She just sat there with her eyes wide and completely frozen. My expression turns to terror with each passing second of silence.
"That. Uh. That explains a lot," She offers, and I can practically hear her brain trying to work through this new information. I nod slowly.
"You can, um, take your time," I offer awkwardly, making myself more comfortable on the bed. She continues to sit, frozen. My heart pounds against my ribcage. I close my eyes to try and calm my breathing.
The first step is done. Now all I can do is wait for her to react. God I hate waiting.
I try to meditate until I manage to reach a relative calm. I wait patiently. Finally, after – I kid you not – an entire hour, Lucy shifts to look at me.
"Okay. Sure. Let's do it," she says simply. I open one eye to peek at her. She turns fully and smiles at me.
"Wait… what?"
"Let's do it. I love you and you love me, we make a great match, let's do it. I mean, I know you don't really have a choice and stuff, but my decision is yes. Don't we like have to do steps or something?" she continues. I open both eyes and stare at her in astonishment.
"Wait… you… want to be my mate? You… want to be with me for… y'know… life?"
She shrugs. "I know it probably sounds weird, but I'm surprisingly excited about the concept. I don't know why, but I've always felt a tiny pull towards you. And even though up until now our relationship has really only been sex, I've been getting these feelings that there is much more between us. I'm more than willing to give it a shot. After all, I do love you, ya big oaf," she playfully nudges me. I have a feeling my face resembles that of a child who just got told they've been given an entire toystore. I scramble up to my knees and hold her face between my hands.
"You really mean it?" I ask, just to make sure. She flicks me on the forhead.
"I'm a celestial mage, babe. We mean what we say," she says flatly. I kiss her as hard as I can without hurting either of us. When I pull away she cocks her head.
"So I don't remember all of it, but I think there's some kind of marking thing we gotta do?" she says. I laugh awkwardly and sit back, sweatdropping.
"So… uh…. Funny story actually…" I begin. Funny story? The fuck? Why am I starting this with that intro? Lucy's eyes narrowed.
"You totally marked me already, didn't you," she deadpans. I hang my head in shame, nodding. She sighs, but is still calm. "Well, there's like more than one marking we gotta do, right?"
I hung my head still. Sweat formed at my temples. I could feel her staring at me. "Laxus…." She says warningly. I straighten up.
"Okay so don't get mad, but-"
"LAXUS!" she shrieks angrily. "DID YOU SERIOUSLY MARK ME FULLY BEFORE EVEN TELLING ME IM YOUR MATE?!" she screams.
"I…uh… maybe…" I mutter, shrinking further back into the bed. She grabs a pillow and starts smacking me with it.
"YOU DUMMY! WHAT THE HELL!" she bawls.
"I'm sorry! It was an accident!"
"THAT'S EVEN WORSE! THAT'S LIKE SAYING YOU 'ACCIDENTALLY' MARRIED ME!"
"I wasn't thinking!" I cry out.
"STOP MAKING IT WORSE YOU IDIOT!"
Quite a while later, once Lucy tired herself out from smacking me around with a pillow (which actually was starting to hurt somehow), she huffed and curled up under the covers, facing away from me. I hesitate and sigh, making to take my own pillow in order to go take my place on the couch. She grabs my arm firmly, but keeps her face turned away.
"You will go get me food and bring it to me. You will then get under these covers and cuddle the fuck outta me. Do you understand?" she demands calmly but firmly. I stare at her in disbelief before squeaking (something I will never admit to) out a "Yes, Ma'am!" and hustling to the dresser and putting on pants as I leave the room.
An hour later, with bellies full of scrambled eggs and toast, I curled myself around my mate and inhaled her scent happily, eyelids drooping.
"You're an idiot. You know that, right?" I hear. I nod. "I'm also not letting you completely off the hook. I'm too tired right now to think of a punishment, and as much as I loathe to say it, ill be too horny to think of it once I get enough sleep. So next week. Next week I will think of a punishment for your stupid face," she continues, ending with a yawn. I nod again.
"Perfectly understandable. And I plan on doing anything I can to make it up to you," I breath, drifting off to sleep.
"Idiot" she mutters under her breath.
I just smile.
I don't really have anything witty to say. *Shrugs*