~This is just a short and sweet little blurb that happened when I tried to write some Laxus/Kaleb and had to restart a million and half times.
I'm sorry it's such a tease of a oneshot though. I wanted it to be longer but just couldn't get it out *shrugs* the other days will be longer.~
Concede- Laxus/Kaleb Scene from the Steps Universe
Laxus Dreyar had been guildmaster of Fairy Tail for less than a year and with Lucy's continued efforts in taming the pink-headed ticking time bomb that was the Fire Dragon, Erza's own unique brand of crazy and while he held no real issue with Gray, the Devil Slayer had a tendency to get caught up in Natsu's destructive warpath, Fairy Tail had started building a name for themselves based around there reliability and variety of high quality mages instead of their destructive nature and tendency to attract the wrong kind of attention. Granted, the original Team Natsu rarely went on missions just the four (five if you counted Happy which Laxus did not) of them now that they all pretty much bounced around from team to team, guildmate to guildmate depending on the job. He was adamant when he took over as Master they start working with a variety of magics to keep improving and work on broadening their compatibility with other mages no matter how unlikely they seemed to work together. He wanted adaptability and flexibility in Fairy Tail so that no matter who was where, they could get the job done.
He was proud to watch his little sister take the empty spot of S-Class mage and Dragon Slayer in his own team when he couldn't get out of master bullshit he had to get done. It was a process when they returned from Joya for the rest of their nakama to accept that Lucy was the Celestial Dragon Slayer, already mated to Bickslow and well on the way to becoming permanently star-married or what the fuck ever was going between she and Zen but Magnolia as a whole has become numb to all the weird goings on inside his guild and quite frankly those two dorks were annoyingly made for eachother. Between Bickslow's incurable, aggressive sense of humor and the creativity and intelligence Lucy brought to the table, there was never a moment where the laughter died down around them. Even he couldn't deny how happy they made each other.
From where he was sitting in the private cabin on the overnight train to Crocus across from all three of them, it was so sickeningly sweet his stomach started turning all over again even though Wendy's flawless troia prevented all the motion sickness from the side effects of both he and Lucy's Dragon Slaying magic. Zen must have gotten a pass from Draco for the train ride since there wouldn't be any real risk of him having to deal with the public and the admittedly massive Archangel Mage was taking advantage of it by acting as one end of a Lucy sandwich with her tucked sideways beneath his arm using the bulked appendage as a cuddle-toy and his bicep specifically as a pillow while his hand shamelessly dipped just below the waistband of her favorite pair of wide legged cotton pants. The other half her matching Pradesh set had long-since fallen asleep on Zen's shoulder just above Lucy's mess of blonde hair with her legs curled in his lap as his arm wrapped around her to keep her from falling off his lap and his babies were scattered and tucked into random crevices here and there. It stirred his dragon with the simplicity of their relationship despite it being the most convoluted thing ever.
Letting out a low groan at the redundancy of his dragon's near constant barrage about mating, his fingernails raked across his scalp out of frustration with it all. As a person, he never really had desire for a wife and kids, he didn't want to settle down behind a white picket fence and he definitely didn't want to put anything more on his plate than he was already in the midst of handling. The whole reason he and Lucy were even on this train was to answer an emergency summons from the Magic Council while the two blondes were in the midst of trying to get Gramps' lumpy brick of a couch out of Laxus' new office through a doorway that was definitely not wide enough to promote their success in . He really didn't know how he got saddled with Bickslow and Zen.
His ire must have been just loud enough to wake his little sister from her slumber as she let out a yawn and called to him sleepily, "You okay, Sparkles?"
The corner of his grimace broke as it lifted into a smirk with the concern she had for him even half-conscious and smashed into what looked like the most uncomfortable mangle of body parts he's seen in a while. "Just fine, Blondie. Go back to sleep."
Her head turned back to rub her cheek back into her makeshift pillow to get comfortable before she let out a huff and tried her best to turn herself towards him but only managed to twist her torso free as she half-glared at him from below her heavy eyelids.
Laxus stared at her expectantly with his arms crossed over his chest since she undoubtedly had something she wanted to say by the slight furrow in her brow and tight-lipped expression currently boring into him like she could glare the words into his brain and he would just magically know why she was upset with him this time.
Right as he was about concede to the little blondes ridiculously childish antics, she let out a tired sigh to mark her own concession before a small smile pulled at her lips and it made him bristle at the unreadable emotion behind it. Her voice was soft as her eyes dropped to where she had mindlessly started playing with Bickslow's fingers, "It's not so bad, you know, being mated. It wouldn't kill you to at least think about it as a possibility."
He evidently needed to spend a little less time with Lucy if he was becoming this easy for her to read. It wasn't that he was opposed to having a mate or didn't want to be mated, he just didn't know what the fuck to do about the fact that every time someone said the word within earshot of him, his brain flashed with images of white blonde hair and lavender eyes, strings of random nothings in the soothing rich tone of his voice and flashes of the now unrepressed memories of the night stuck in the effects of Cristoff's moon bullshit except every body he happened to be inside of that night somehow became Kaleb's thanks to the reflex of his brain.
The whole thing was almost like watching a movie except he was living out the role of sexfiend predator with tunnel-vision that ended up with him inside a multitude of people both female and male. Something that wouldn't really bother him if it hadn't been for the fact that one of those people happened to have a build similar to Kaleb's bulky frame and now his brain had all the tools it needed to vividly imagine realistic sex with his fellow guildmaster. Every single time someone mentioned mating. Not only that but he had absolutely no reaction to any other soul as far as arousal went which meant he was going on months without so much as a twitch from his dick until his rated-x daydreams came into the mix.
He was getting really tired of being held at the whims of his own passing thoughts.
Taking in a breath that raised his chest enough to force him to readjust his shoulders before letting it go in a huff, he made his own reluctant concession as he leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees and rub his face in his hands with a tired drawl to his words, "I have no goddamned clue how to do this." 'This' being initiating an honest to gods relationship with romantic entanglements to someone like Kaleb.
He missed the way her eyes widened at the crack of an opening into his feelings and ready to seize the rare opportunity to weasel her way in like she always did when these fleeting moments came but he knew there was no going back with the way her voice seemed suddenly very alert and holding none of her previous drowsiness. "I think you should probably start by telling him you're a dense moron whose bad at being a real boy with real feelings."
Rolling his steely eyes as his back straightened and stretched as if to say he was so uncomfortable talking about this that he physically felt the awkwardness like a weight on his body and he needed to shake it from him in order to continue, he missed the masculine pronoun use on her part because unbeknownst to him, everyone that went to Joya had bets on how long it would take him to realize that Kaleb was absolutely perfect for him and they would finally be the power couple dream team they all (mostly Lucy and Vander) knew them to be. He was far too caught up in the fact that he would have to make a thing of the whole scene to notice as he gruffed out under his breath, "You aren't being very helpful right now."
She had to bite back her giggles before soothing his nerves with her easy lilting voice and reassuring words, "You won't be nearly as bad as you think you'll be, brother dearest. Why don't you think about how you feel when you're with him first? How is it different from everyone else?" Lucy was a little worried her words were come across as condescending to the testy Lightning Slayer but knew that even before she got her dragon soul, being with Bickslow was effortless and special. Unless she had been dazed for every single encounter between the two men, Laxus had the same type of connection to the White Sea's Guildmaster without him having to think about it.
For the first time since the urge to obsess over the Mindbender started Laxus gave into the pull the beautiful blond unknowingly had on his thoughts and let go of his vice like control on bottling it up instead of dealing with it. The instant he dropped his guard and let himself have time to process his feelings, he felt an unwelcome wave of uncertainty spread through the entirety of his being before it settled completely and he was left to the stark realization that he was in pretty deep already and this was after months of absolutely no contact with the older Pradesh.
"I already hate this." It was mumbled and filled with exhaustion and while his words were accurate, they weren't true in the way it initially came off the Celestial Slayer. No, Laxus without a doubt hated the fact that he was mated to Kaleb solely for the reason that both he and the Wizard Saint of a whole other country lived very hectic and very busy lives thousands of miles apart and it would make their relationship ten times harder than he would already make it. He couldn't just have an easily accessible mate like Lucy.
"You have plenty of time to get used to the idea. It's not like you visit Bosco every other day to run into him out of the blue," was all she offered with a light chuckle as her attention was pulled away from him by the smallest of Bickslow's babies and by far the most attached to the Celestial Slayer.
It wasn't the idea he needed time to get used to, it was the fact that finer details of their relationship would be pain in his ass but her reasoning was sound so he took the last few hours of the train ride to let the fact he had a mate and that mate was the same man he used to hit the bars with in his time away from Fairy Tail in the hopes of finding someone to spend the night with.
The older blond thought it irritatingly convenient how that all worked out.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Upon landing in the capital, Laxus couldn't shake the looming feeling of dread growing darker the closer they moved towards the castle but he was swiftly swept up in the conversation Lucy and Bickslow were currently hashing out about the problem couch of a thorn in her side still managing to worm its way further into his sister's sanity.
"I don't see why you can't just take it out the window if it doesn't fit through the door, I mean, he had to get the thing in the room somehow, right." The Seith Mages words were casual as his hands braced the back of his visor-covered head while he kept his measured gate on pace with his mates smaller legs.
Opening her mouth to counter the ridiculous idea, Laxus watched in amusement as her face twisted into deep thought to run the scenario in her head before giving a firm nod of her head, her voice distracted as the thoughts kept stringing along behind her discerning eyes, "That could actually work if you use the one beside those bookshelves."
Nodding his head along with their insane plan, he offered the two offhandedly, "And neither of you are worried about the thirty foot drop from my office to the ground?"
Clapping his back with jovial force, the Seith wrapped his arm around his best friends shoulders to answer with mirthful ease, "That's why we have you and the other muscle heads. You guys can just catch it on the way down. It'll be a team building exercise for you Slayers."
"Ah, right. How could I have forgotten that shining prime example of a good idea," was all the gruff slayer spoke as he shook his head of the mental image of that ancient horrible excuse of a couch just bursting into pieces upon impact from a drop of that height. His mood drastically improving as the two pulled hearty chuckles out of him from their usual playful antics.
XxXxXxX
He knew before they stepped foot into the Council's meeting hall that the reason he had been dragging his feet to come here were because the odds of him running into the Mindbender out of blue were astronomically small and yet here the scene was playing out like the Celestial Slayer had somehow picked up some of the Oracle's Divinity magic in her downtime.
Lagging behind just a fraction to look up and send silent threats to whoever was listening, hoping they were happy fucking with him up where they were safe and unseen. Laxus cracked his neck to brace himself for the disaster he was about to handle at seeing Kaleb for the first time after so long without being around the incredibly good-looking, attractive mage with his own social ineptitude hindering the usually easy relationship they had now that he decidedly wanted to see the powerful Wizard Saint on his knees with his cock down his throat.
Or at least that's what he thought would happen when he turned the corner to come literally chest to chest with man all his thoughts seemed to circle back to and he looked really fucking good in the impressive set of heavy black and gold armor framing his broad body. No, instead he was left frozen when the Boscan wrapped a hand around the back of his neck while the other braced his elbow, both acting together to pull him towards the smiling Mindbender to bring their foreheads together as his eyes closed and the hand on the back of his head massaged every ounce of tension from his body.
"I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to come around."
It was simple and hushed but it somehow told the Lightning Slayer that he knew; he understood everything he was going through, what he was putting himself through and Laxus let the spark of hope that they could make it work somehow grow into a wildfire of confidence he was most at ease in.
As a crooked smirk lifted the Lightning Mage's lips, he found himself mirroring Kaleb's surprisingly forward greeting with a light-hearted response that had both Lucy and Bickslow's brows hit their hairlines at eating the public scene of affection up like addicts getting the sweet release of their drug of choice after too long without.
"Yeah, sorry about that," the hand resting on the back of Kaleb's elbow moved lower to get whatever purchase he could with the way his armor was layered over his hips to bring their bodies close before tilting his chin enough to force the grinning platinum blond to move his chin and line their lips up a hair's breadth away from each other, "I probably should have called."
They ignored the fangirlish squeal from Bickslow as Lucy hooted and yelled, "Fucking get some, bro!" Just like they had been ignoring the room full of people trying to have a serious meeting about a Dark Guild that recently made its way to the Fioran side of the border it shared with Bosco as Kaleb felt the last of Laxus' self-made defenses fall and waited for him to make the move he had apparently been thinking about doing a lot more often than he let off.
And he was glad he did. Gone was the reluctant, barely cooperative man in denial from when they parted ways in Joya, replaced by the near arrogant smug bastard whose presence demanded attention and respect that had him trying to resist his own urge to just close what seemed like an ocean of space between.
He never got the chance to as Laxus' tangled grip in his hair tightened and brought their lips together in a hard kiss that really tested the waters for the Lightning Slayer.
It would probably take some getting used to and feeling out but the way Kaleb's long hair felt wrapped around his hand and how good his soft lips felt moving against his own left little room for any worry to sprout from him.
Being a Dragon Slayer had never been something he built his life or reputation around so he and his dragon lived in mutual neutrality until the sudden urge to shack up and mate took hold and he had do deal with fighting for control every waking moment of the day but from the moment the Mindbender touched his skin, it was like his dragon was finally at ease and he could take a breath without having to fight tooth and nail for it. Something he would forever be thankful for.
The jarring sound of a throaty exaggerated throat clear from the Head of the Magic Council pulled the two behemoth blonds apart as Laxus responded with an instinctual low growl of annoyance from between his clenched fanged teeth that made the wiry man jump back before Kaleb's easy voice was placating the room while simultaneously leading the group of Fairies to their seats, "And now we have the last of us here and we can finally begin solving the real problem," to effortlessly lead the focus of the room back to the Dark Guild running from Boscan authority to seek refuge in Fiore and come up with a mutually agreed upon way of dispatching them while Lucy and Bickslow tried and failed at containing their giggles over every stray touch between the two guildmasters.
XxXxXxXxXxX
After finally agreeing that Kaleb and his men with the company of Laxus, Lucy and Bickslow, would see to apprehending the guild and getting them back into Bosco for them to take care of how they saw fit, Lucy left Bickslow and Laxus to Kaleb's company while she gate-hopped back to Magnolia to get what little they would need for the week long job and to tell both Erza and Mira what was going on.
Unfortunately for Lucy, the moment she opened her gate to some back Natsu had timed a jump perfectly to latch onto her as she fell through to land in a toppled heap in the middle of Kaleb's suite in the castle, her irritation coming off her in waves as she started smacking random parts of the pinkette's body, whatever parts available as he tried to keep his laughter in check, "What in the actual blue blazes do you think you're doing, you baka! I could have cut you in half! Do you know how traumatizing that would be for me?!"
The Fire Slayer's rich whine sounded from behind his arms where he was trying to protect his face from her onslaught, "But Luuuuuce, I'm bored and you promised the next mission you went on would be with me."
Freezing mid-swing at the realization that she had in fact promised him they would be together for the next mission, her mood instantly flipped as she brushed off the loose material of her pants after standing to offer her best friend a hand up with a bright smile on her face, "It has been a while since went on a job together and we can keep count of how many dark mages we take out to see which of us is better."
Laxus watched with horror as Natsu's fist pumped in the air before lazily throwing his arm around her shoulders with an excited gleam in his eyes, "Hah! I'll kick your newbie dragon butt before you even get one."
The two continued their good-natured banter as Laxus rubbed his palm across his lips before grumbling from his place next to Kaleb as Bickslow, Cristoff and Zen watched the exchange with varying expressions of amusement at the pair of scuffling dragons. "Fantastic, now I'll have to worry about keeping him out of trouble in Bosco."
Giving the Lightning Slayer's shoulder a squeeze after trailing his hand along the hard planes of his back, the smooth timbre of his mates voice pulled the first of his involuntary purrs from deep in his chest to draw looks of surprise from every one save Kaleb who just let smug victory take hold in his chiseled angelic features. "I've missed your blinding pessimism, Laxus."
Now that he had taken off the layers of his heavy armor to leave him in a tight black sleeveless top and matching legging-like underguards, the plates of black and gold from his thighs down still on, the Lightning Mage gave into the urge to snake his arm around his mates waist and let a cocky grin take hold on his face aimed directly at the seasoned Boscan, "You've never spent time with Natsu if you think that was me being pessimistic about him tagging along."
With his hands laced together on the back of his head of unruly hair now that Lucy had managed to wrestle him down and get at least some of the pair's endless pools of energy worked out, Natsu's voice was casual as his attention moved to finding something to eat in Kaleb's room, "Too bad for you, Laxus. Luce made a promise so if she's on the mission, I'm on the mission."
His guildmaster just gave him a deadpanned unreadable look before his hard gaze found his little sister's and he spoke plainly with little room for argument in his stance, "Easy enough then. Blondie, go the fuck home and take Flamebrain with you," before turning back to the map laid out in front of them and missing the dumbfounded look of shock etched into Lucy's face from where she had been innocently playing with the babies.
Cristoff choked back his own laughter before teasing, "Don't you think that's a little harsh there, Sparkles?"
Unfazed by the Lunar Slayer's words, he kept his steel-blue eyes on the trailing lines of roads as his fingers dug into the hard muscle covering Kaleb's hip, "No, I think I'm saving myself a week of headaches and a shit ton of paperwork."
A beat of silence echoed through the mages before Bickslow let out a yawn and gave Cristoff's cheek a few grandmotherly pats, his voice it's usual playful baritone, "Well, it was nice seeing you, little bro. Take care of yourself and tell dad I love him and miss him and don't work yourself too hard."
In a flash, there was a small blonde woman between them before she wrapped her arms around Cris' midsection to get her bear hug in before she had to leave. "Be safe out there, Charming," was all she got out before his huge arms lifted her up in her favorite type of hug from the Lunar Slayer; the barely able to breathe cuddly love hug that made you feel like the most important person on the planet.
The raven-haired Pradesh's genuine words were lost in her hair, "Just for you, Princess," before he put her down and gave her a shove towards his waiting older brother, a wide smile on his face at seeing them still so in love after everything they've been through.
Not long after Natsu, Bickslow and Lucy departed from Crocus via her gate-hopping Cristoff realized that he was about to be the third wheel on a week-long mission on the road with Laxus and Kaleb, newly established mated pair bound to be sexually charged and eager to get it on. He was just glad he could put the two to sleep like he had when he was on cockblock babysitting duty with Bix and Lucy as he watched the blond couple come together in a strikingly different way than he watched his draconian-sibling embrace the wild ride that was being a Dragon Slayer and having a mating process.
The attitude and general aura about the Lightning Mage now as he relaxed into natural conversation about the finer details of traveling together with a grin quirking his lips up and a strand of Kaleb's unnaturally platinum hair twisting around his hand was in drastic contrast to the stoic, serious leader-role he had to play in Joya.
The relief that his family was growing and his brothers were slowly earning their happy endings gave him incredible amounts of faith that he would find his as well. If Laxus can get over his own idiocy and accept Kaleb enough to makeout with him in the middle of diplomatic meeting then surely the fates would give him his soon enough.