Chapter Twenty
It's been two days since Laxus came back, and I don't know why but I feel embarrassed about welcoming him back. I'd understand being embarrassed about snuggling into him, but saying welcome back? That just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. So, needless to say, I've been pouring myself into training, avoiding Laxus and the nonsense embarrassment.
I've almost reached the full ten seconds that Laxus demanded. As it would turn out, it takes more than ten bolts since the next bolt has to be created in the last milliseconds of the one that has already been created or it won't count as a continuous stream. I'm able to make ten bolts now and it reaches just under nine seconds. I think just two more bolts.
I just start creating the eleventh bolt when my magic exhausts. I look out to where the sun is and realize that it's still early morning, possibly only about six. While waiting for my magic to replenish, which we found out takes about a quarter the usual amount of time because of 'Link', I decide to go in and eat.
I walk in the house just in time to see Laxus coming down the stairs, hair still dripping from his bath, black pants and a long sleeve dark red silk shirt. Oh gosh! His shirt is unbuttoned! I realize after a few moments that I had been staring when Laxus coughed lightly. Dammit, he noticed me looking, now he's gonna have that smirk on his face. I clear my throat and look away, blushing like a madwoman.
"What's the next stage in training?" I say as a way to bring attention to something else.
"Can you keep the lightning out for ten full seconds?"
"No, bu-"
"Then you don't need to know." Laxus says with a shrug of one shoulder as he walks past me into the kitchen.
"But, I'm really close, I just need maybe two more bolts then it will make the ten seconds," I begin, following him into the kitchen, sounding like a petulant child that's saying that their room is almost done, so they should be allowed to have some ice cream, "and you look like you're leaving and I only have three more days until Master is sending me out on the mission, so I can't wait for you to come back if I complete this step of the training." My face is no longer red from embarrassment, but from lack of breath, my voice sounded panicked as I tried to explain why I should at least know the next phase, now leaving me breathing hard.
"You're coming with me." Laxus stated as he put his, now empty, glass on the counter by the sink. My mind spared a moment to wonder when he even grabbed, or drank, whatever was in the glass, until it clicked that he said I'd be leaving the safety of a barrier with no people other than the one person who it isn't like can be hurt by me.
I had to stop my deep breathing to stare at Laxus as if he were wearing a frilly pink tutu and dancing to The Nutcracker.
"Huh?" Was my smart response.
"We're going to your apartment. You can't keep wearing Ever's clothes and using Freid's shampoo and Bix's body wash." I give a look that said 'why the hell not?' and he continued on, "Flamebrain and Metalbreath can't catch your scent when they come by here anymore so they keep attacking me when I go to the guild." He grabbed my shoulders from behind and started directing up the stairs.
"Gajeel?" I ask and my voice held a whispered shock to it. We arrived in front of my room, well, the room I had been staying in, and he lightly pushed me inside as a way to tell me to get dressed and shut the door behind me. Slowly making my way to the closet, I searched for some clothes to wear.
"Ya, him and that smart girl, Levy, I think her name is, come by here wanting to see you everyday. Apparently before I came back, that day that Flamebrain and the others came here it was because Metalbreath said he couldn't smell you here that morning. Only he could, but your scent was so faint it was almost like you had left." His voice was slightly muffled from the other side of the door.
"So, um, they came here because they thought I left without telling them?" Evergreen owns way too much green, and too much fairy-like clothes. It's a miracle I've been able to find anything to wear for the last week.
"Ya, and since I'd rather them not come and try to break down the barrier again, we're going to get some of your stuff. I personally don't like being barraged by questions that come along with fire, ice, and swords everytime I go to the guild now." I couldn't help but giggle slightly, despite my worries over going into town.
"Are you sure that I'll be okay in town?" I emerged wearing some dark green pants, a light green shirt, with white shoes, belt and jacket. I looked to my right and saw Laxus push off the wall he was leaning against and begin walking with a nod of his head signalling me to follow.
"You'll be fine. I mean, you were in town constantly the first couple days. The only reason you haven't gone is 'cause you know what kind of damage you could do now, but, believe it or not, you have better control now with just those two steps of your training." I nod my head, though I know he can't see it, and hum in appreciation.
The walk to my apartment was uneventful, though the nervousness of being in town slowly subsided the longer I was there. It was still fairly early in the day, so there weren't many people out and about yet, so that helped calm my nerves. Once at my apartment, I was happy to see no one was there, and nothing had been destroyed in my absence. I let out a happy sigh at being surrounded by my own things again, and spin lightly to look back at Laxus.
"How much can I bring?"
"However much you can carry."
I gave a grateful smile to know that I wasn't actually limited to clothes and other essentials, nodded, and set off to work.
I grabbed the large travel bag I use for jobs that could take a week or more and stuffed it with as much clothes as possible. Grabbing a slightly smaller bag I wrapped my washroom essentials in a towel and put them to the side to be put in later as I filled up the rest of the bag, then proceeded to put books that I want to read in the bag and finished with the novel I was writing on top, along with my favorite pens. With two large bags I knew I couldn't carry any more, but I just needed an empty bag and my letters. I shoved the empty bag in with my clothes and clutched the box of letters in my hand with no where safe to put them. I bit my lip, debating leaving them behind, but I couldn't bring myself to put them back on the shelf.
Laxus was sitting in a chair in the living room that could see into my room. I know he was watching my dilemma, but I also knew he wouldn't intervene unless asked, even over just a little box. Deciding to trust him with the most important possession I own, I slowly slid along the floor until I was in front of him. I lifted the small wooden box in front of my face, blocking the deep blush on my cheeks and nose from his view.
"Would you carry it? It's really special to me and I don't want to leave it behind." I glued my eyes to the floor, I heard him move and felt the box leave my hands.
I looked up to him and smiled at the light blush on his face, though it did confuse me and immediately made me think of the confusion over my embarrassment about saying welcome back. I quickly stood and rushed back to my room to get the bags.
As I lifted the bag with the books, I was instantly thankful that I splurged and bought magical bags instead of normal ones. The magic on these bags made them no heavier than half the original weight, no matter how much was in them. Though, even with the magic, the books were heavy.
The walk back to Laxus' house was quiet, but a comforting kind of quiet, not an awkward kind. I noticed he carried my letters with utmost care, it wasn't just tucked under his arm or just holding it like a book at his side, like I know Natsu or Gray would have if they hadn't known what was in it.
We walked in the front door and smelt something amazing. I looked to the kitchen just in time to see green hair swish as the owner moved at the sound of a door closing. I also heard the footsteps of two other people coming down the stairs at the same time. All three jumped, completely in sync with eachother.
Hello, my muses, I thought I had updated chapter nineteen on the 27th so I was going to wait a little longer before I uploaded this, but then I was like 'oh, wow, it's already been two over two weeks' so I thought I should give you guys this. And lucky lucky you, over 1500 words.
Quick thing, I thought of something I want to use later in the story so I'm getting that down before I forget it, so all the chapters that are in between this one and whenever that one will be are probably going to take a little longer to update than usual, so I'm sorry for that.
Send lots and lots of inspiration and I'll be back as quickly as I can. Tell me everything you liked and didn't, along with anything that may have confused you so far and I'll try to include more or less of it all, along with answers, in later chapters.