Present

Sorry for the late conclusion, we were up in the mountains for Christmas and didn't have wifi or data, then didn't have internet at all when we got back home due to the weather... Snow and ice. Thank you all for sticking with me through my first LaLu week. It has been such a pleasure to write my own and read everyone's stories. Much love to you all!

Sitting at her desk, using her recent personal relationship failures as fodder, Lucy was writing with reckless abandon. She was trying to meld her recent bad experiences into the form of a strong male antagonist for her new story. No matter how angry she was or hard she tried, he kept morphing into Laxus and looking like a protagonist instead. She couldn't get past him being the "bad boy with a heart if gold" her room was littered with crumpled pages trying to turn him into a villain but kept turning into erotic smut that made her blush and relive their one night together. Frustrated she grabbed her trash bin and started picking up the crumpled pages and tossing them forcefully into the receptacle. She noticed one of the paper balls had slipped under the bed. As she bent down to pick it up she noticed a crisp, folded piece of paper caught under a leg of the bed. She knew this wasn't one if her previously failed drafts so she carefully unfolded it and recognized the beautiful cursive of her guild master.

Her heart sank and began to fly all at once when she read the words written:

Blondie,

Sorry for not being there when you wake. Freed called with an emergency request from the Magic Council so I have to go. The storm is getting pretty bad so stay warm. I'll stop by your house when the we complete the request, there are a few things we need to talk about and I have something for you.

Last night was mind blowing and I cannot wait for a repeat when we are a bit more sober to enjoy it fully.

Love Always,

Sparky

The sobbing that the celestial mage produced could be heard all the way to Crocus. "I was so stupid! Laxus, why didn't you wake me?"She wasn't as foolish as she thought and was now mad at herself fir thinking such horrible things about the lightning slayer. Just then she heard a loud thump against her door followed by something sliding down it. She ran to investigate.

Laxus was laying in the hallway, comatose and freezing. Thinking quickly, Lucy grabbed her keys and called out Virgo and Taurus. She sent her trusty maid spirit to draw a lukewarm bath to help warm him up and ward off frostbite and hypothermia. She instructed Taurus to pick up the massive slayer and take him to her bathroom. Once in the bathroom the pervy bull held Laxus up while Lucy stripped him of his garments. He then lowered the nude slayer into the tub. She thanked her spirits for coming to her aid and sent them back to their realm.

Laxus slowly felt himself and his extremities coming back to life. The warm scent of his little buxom mate wafted through his nostrils and he knew he had made it home. Yes, home was the right word. Not mater the place, as long as she was beside him, he was home. He then smelled the aroma of chicken soup and felt the warm spoon touch his lips. He slowly opened his eyes. The light was pretty bright so it took them a moment to adjust to the room. He was treated to most beautiful sight he had ever seen. His blonde angel, his Polaris, was sitting on the edge of the tub holding a bowl of soup in one hand and a spoon of warm, sustaining bone broth in the other. He opened his mouth and let the hot liquid pass his chapped lips and swallowed. He could now feel the warmth spreading internally. He smiled and sighed. "I made it back, Polaris." He croaked out, in a voice that didn't quite sound like his own. "There is something for you in my coat pocket."

"Laxus, keep still and finish this soup. You are not moving from this tub until I know you are out of danger. Talking and gifts can wait."

Laxus sighed again and obediently accepted another mouthful of the warm, tasty broth his mate fed him." He finished the bowl and started mumbling as sleep took him again.

"You are my perfect mate. I couldn't ask for anyone better, more beautiful, more compassionate, or more strong willed. There is no one that could ever compare... My beautiful Polaris... "and he was out again.

Lucy sat on the edge of the tub, frozen in place, staring at the naked slayer in her bathtub.

"Did he just... am I his... What in Mavis's name? Mmmmmate?"

The appearance of Virgo snapped Lucy out of her babbling trance.

"I have prepared warm, dry clothes for your paramour, Hime. Would you like to call the bull out to aid in getting your dragon dry, into the fresh clothes, then to bed?"

"Yes Virgo, that would be perfect."

The trio righted the lightning dragon slayer and dried him off. Lucy then dressed him in fleecy black pajamas with little lightning bolts all over them, and Taurus carried him to bed. Lucy covered him with blankets and then went to stoke the fire to warm her apartment up more than it already was. She then took out her lacrima comm. and called the guild to let them know what had happened to Laxus. Thankfully Bixlow was the one who picked up the comm.

Lucy then grabbed a book and snuggled down next to the recovering slayer. Her eyelids grew heavy after one chapter and she began fealling asleep next to her mate. As she drifted off she whispered to her dragon "Laxus, you are the best present anyone could ever ask for, and you are all mine."

Bixlow hung up the comm and smiled to himself. "I guess Bossman finally manned up and did it."

Chuckling he headed down to the bar to grab a beer and spread the word, and he knew just how to do it.

"Hey Mira! Lucy's ship has finally sailed, and the Master is her first mate!"

The demon barmaid promptly let loose a squeal that broke at least three champagne flutes and a whole row of glass beer steins, then fainted.