Laxus had woken up when he'd heard footsteps approaching, realizing immediately that it must be sunrise because his eyelids were red and candescent. He did manage to blink into the unforgiving morning to see Gajeel's bare feet padding across the grass. The sun had crested over the treetops and saturated the landscape with its rose and blood orange paint. He was spread out in the middle of an oil painting, the world transformed as it was by the warm dawn, and even the circle of mushrooms looked like they were blushing with it. It all felt a little surreal, like he was still wrapped warmly in a dream. He could make out the indented and tousled grass from their previous night, marred from where he'd dug in his heels and Gajeel had clutched at clovers. The smell of it still gripped stubbornly to their bedrolls even though splaying out his fingers into his fabric proved the iron dragon had vacated the space long enough ago that it was cold.

The fire was stirred and Laxus heard the tell-tale plunk of fresh wood being added. It chewed and popped hungrily at his feet, strong enough now to stave off the morning chill. He sighed and stretched and felt his joints pop, and thought about how much he really didn't want to get up. He heard Gajeel approaching again, his footsteps more and more muted as he got closer as he tried to keep from waking him, and Laxus could hear him settling down on the other side of the fire. Satisfied that Gajeel was close and not yet willing to face another day on the back of a horse, Laxus rolled onto his stomach and nuzzled into the crook of his arm to blot out the sun and fall back asleep. That was, until he heard an extremely unsettling and wet sawing noise.

"Good morning," he wrinkled his nose. He'd forgotten they'd laid out snares the evening before, and apparently they must have caught something, because the wires were rolled tightly and set to the side. Laxus could make out round, furred feet peeking out from the other side of the fire.

"Mornin'," Gajeel muttered without a glance to him, scales inching their way up his biceps and dotting his bare chest, "How'd ya sleep?"

"Fine… you?"

"Like death,"

Laxus heard the sound of flesh tearing. He finally got up and his stomach twisted as Gajeel made his last cuts into the animal and he pulled back the layer of fur. Amber eyes and black tipped ears peeked out at him; it was a lynx. He found himself unable to stifle a grimace as he walked over to the raven's side. He crossed his arms and watched with clear disgust the task Gajeel did swiftly and apathetically. He'd seen him butcher rabbits before, back when they'd gone with Team Shadow Gear to the library. He'd had a knife, though, and hadn't used his bare hands. He looked like a terror hunched over his kill, with droplets of blood decorating his arms and chest like a vibrant and macabre modern art.

Laxus couldn't understand how he did it so easily. He looked natural, like this was something he was used to. Laxus shouldn't have been surprised, all things considered. The man had been raised by a dragon, as close to wild as a child could be. What did he care about butchering animals?

Gajeel paused after a moment and looked up at him, immediately noticing his discomfort. He shot him a meek smile, "Sorry, Sparky. I thought I'd be done before ya woke up."

"Hm? It's fine."

Gajeel shot him a critical look before shifting his eyes back to his work. He reached over to where his shirt had been discarded the night prior and threw it over at Laxus.

"There's some mushrooms out that way… ya know the honeycomb-lookin' ones?" Laxus furrowed his brow, trying to think of what he meant. Gajeel shrugged, "some onions too, if ya wanna grab some."

Laxus cast his eyes to the treeline. One thing the blonde definitely was not, was a forager. He knew sort of what things were and where he could probably find them, but actuallyfinding them was a different story. He knew most mushrooms tended to like the edge of forested areas and preferred moist soil, and he knew they liked certain trees (dead ones?), but that didn't mean he would have any less trouble finding any or even if they were good to eat. And onions… where on Earthland was he supposed to find wild onions?

Laxus was going to tell Gajeel he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but it was at about that moment that he realized Gajeel hadn't resumed his work. Blood still speckling his hands and arms, he seemed to be waiting patiently for Laxus to leave, using the back of his wrist to brush away some hair that had strayed into his face. There was a sort of uncomfortable look set across his face, something close to bashful, like he'd just realized he'd been doing something he wasn't supposed to. Suddenly Laxus realized that Gajeel's point had been less to send him on a mission to get more food and more to send him on a wild goose chase so he wouldn't be around to witness the raven up to his elbows in a dead animal.

Laxus crossed his arms, immediately annoyed. After everything, was he still trying to hide who he was? Hadn't Laxus proven yet that he didn't need to maintain appearances to him? He wasn't going to just label him some feral barbarian? Although, he supposed he had been visibly disgusted, hadn't he? Gajeel was so attentive, it wasn't like he wouldn't have noticed the stiff way Laxus had walked over, the way he curled his lip and snarled.

It wasn't really his fault. He just wasn't used to… this sort of thing. Apologizing for the reaction wouldn't really do much, would it? Aside from possibly make Gajeel even more self-aware. As it stood, the iron dragon already looked ready to sink into the ground. He was batting at his long hair again, trying to get it out of his face without smearing blood into it.

Laxus sighed and watched his love stiffen, "Long hair is a hassle, isn't it?"

Gajeel hesitated, "Not really."

Laxus put his hands on his hips, glancing to their packs laying on the ground. He paced over and dug into it, pulling out some spare line they had and twisting it around his fingers so he could snap a decent piece off of it. Gajeel hadn't moved an inch even as he walked back over and settled behind him. He watched every muscle on his back coil and pull straight until his spine was a rod and his shoulders square, every piece Laxus could witness parading for the blonde what he was thinking. What are you doing?

"I don't know how to forage…" he began by running his fingers through Gajeel's tangles, tugging them gently to roll down his back. Gajeel's shoulders pulled back, like he could have arched his spine, the muscles shifting beneath scales and making them ripple. The glint of the sun speckled across the ground and Laxus's own chest. Laxus smiled softly at him. Of course. he wouldn't be used to this kind of touch, "…you'll have to show me what I'm looking for."

"Oh," it was as quiet as an exhale. He shivered.

"Do you mind?" Laxus purred, running his fingers along the smooth, tawny amber of his jawline to capture any strands he could have missed. He felt Gajeel swallow, watched the way his ribcage expanded and as he breathed in the scent of his fingers so near and out of reach. Gajeel couldn't stop him, of course, not without smearing carnelian across his wrists. So, he didn't.

Gajeel was so perceptive and keen when it came to people, or maybe just when it came to Laxus. While Laxus hummed quietly, Gajeel resumed his work pulling meat from bone and laying strips to back over a stone by the fire.

"Black is the color of my true love's hair,

His face so soft and wondrous fair,

The purest eyes

And the strongest hands…

I love the ground on where he stands.

I love the ground on where he stands…"

Laxus practiced wrapping long strands of black hair around his fingers, of combing through and pulling loose tangles. His hair was thick and coarse and heavy with the impurities of the river's water. It shimmered in the climbing sun's light and yielded to being delicately moved into order.

"Oh I love my lover,

And where he goes

Yes, I love the ground on where he goes

And I still hope

That the time will come

When he and I will be as one.

When he and I will be as one…"

The easy part, when the dozens of segments came together to form three strands. One strand into another, over and under, the way Mirajane had shown him when he was younger and she'd been unable to braid her own hair from a mission that left her arms too sore and heavy to lift. He was slow but Gajeel didn't seem to mind.

"So black is the color of my true love's hair

Black is the color of my true love's hair.

Black is the color of my true love's hair…"

He tied the cord into a sloppy knot halfway down the braid and realized Gajeel had stopped moving. Instead, his head was tilted back and gaze distant. He slipped his hands around his bare, hazel fay stomach, running them up over the dips and curves of him. Gajeel sighed and relaxed into his arms, resting his head against his shoulder, and looking up at him with the sort of depth he'd read about before but always thought was an author's exaggeration. Slitted pupils, feral and wild in their own right, looked as calm as a panther's as it lays out in the sun. He slipped his hand around Gajeel's, pretending for a moment that he didn't mind the blood.

"What's going on in your head, hm?" Laxus asked. A smile tugged at his lips and he chuckled a little bit, his eyes lighting up with it, almost aglow, "What's so funny?"

"You," he smiled kindly, "Ya know, I told ya once that I hated it when you called me Redfox, and ya stopped… last night, I told ya not to keep askin' me if I was ok, and now yer askin' what's goin' on in my head."

"Is that… ok?" Laxus quirked an eyebrow at him, a little confused.

Gajeel laughed again, and brought his hand up to his lips and placed a feather-light kiss against his knuckles before drawing carnelian eyes back up to his. Laxus's heart jumped a little in his chest.

"I adore you,"

For a moment, Laxus forgot how to breathe.

Their lazy road eventually found them in the small village of Scotchbroom, a name Laxus recognized but only seemed to remember as being quite a bit south of Magnolia. It didn't have much, and even the stable they found was lack-luster in condition given the scarcity of travel through the quiet place. But it was cheap, and as they wondered through the humble streets the two contemplated how much they wanted to spend another night on the ground.

"Don't see what's so bad 'bout sleeping in tha woods," Gajeel muttered, slipping his hand into Laxus's as they walked.

"Not as nice as a bed, is it?" Laxus smiled wistfully to the sky, "or a hot bath."

"Didn't like bathin' in the river?"

"It's alright… just not what I'm used to."

Gajeel glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, "I bet not."

Laxus bumped into his shoulder playfully, "Oi, what's that supposed to mean? You trying to say I'm pampered?"

"I'm sayin' ye can tell ya make a lotta money on yer missions."

"Ohh... I'm high class."

Gajeel was showing his teeth as he laughed, "Expensive, more like."

"Am I more than you bargained for?" Laxus leaned into him, a sly smile creeping across his face, "It's alright if you can't afford me. I can afford myself,"

"Good thing, 'cuz I ain't made a' gold."

Laxus sighed, "Yeah… I really ain't either at the moment."

"Is that right?" he asked, his smile fading slightly.

"Well, I haven't been taking jobs. I've been a little preoccupied."

"Oh," Gajeel got quiet and Laxus shoved him gently.

"Get the sour look off your face. It's fine."

"I can pay you back."

"You don't need to pay me back," Laxus chuckled, "I'll take a couple missions when we get back. Some higher priced ones and I'll be back on my feet."

"Laxus, I can pay ya back," Gajeel insisted, his brow furrowing, "I have the money."

Laxus blinked at that, studying him, "How do you have the money? You've been in prison for… five months?"

Gajeel hesitated, "I have some I saved… ya know… just in case…"

Laxus cocked an eyebrow at him, noticing that he was steadily dropping his voice. He hadn't really been paying attention to the street or where they were going, sort of relaxed and open and content to be carefree for the moment. He didn't notice that from the group of men they were passing, one was decidedly walking in their way. What he noticed was the tense set of Gajeel's shoulders as they got closer and the way his eyes here trained sharply at the walkway ahead. Laxus had sort of assumed it was because of the talk of money, until the guy that crossed their path barged his shoulder into Gajeel's.

Gajeel stumbled and swore. Laxus snapped his head around and caught the wicked look in the offender's eyes as he whirred around.

"What where you're going!" he spat.

The air charged with Laxus's annoyance, but before he could turn and reply or strike – he hadn't decided which yet – a firm arm clamped around his and Gajeel pulled him along.

"Don't," he cautioned sternly.

Laxus was suddenly disarmed. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, "Since when were you so passive, hm?"

"I'm not," his voice held an edge to it and when Laxus caught his eye, he saw him fighting not to smile, "Just keep walkin'… this way."

He tugged Laxus after him into an alley, picking up his pace. Laxus was at his heels, confused at the way Gajeel seemed suddenly in a rush to get away.

"Gajeel… what the hell…?"

"Just hurry up," he grinned, pulling him out into a different street before dropping his pace again. He glanced around before chuckling to himself and pulling his free hand from his pocket. Laxus's eyes widened.

"Did you… did you steal his wallet?" he hissed and Gajeel smirked.

"No…" he defended, as he opened it to reveal the jewels inside, "…just sorta… borrowed it."

"Gajeel, you can't steal people's wallets,"

"I'm not stealing his wallet… just the money inside," he casually dropped it as he counted, before glancing up to the blonde, "Wanna get something to eat?"

"Gajeel, no."

"The guy was an asshole. It was sorta obvious why he ran inta me," he continued smoothly, "T's just a little bit of us gettin' even, isn't it?

"Us getting even would be me punching him in the face," he muttered and Gajeel feigned shock.

"So, you think violence is better?" when Laxus's only response was to wrinkle is nose, Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Well, I'm gonna take his just deserves and buy me a hot lunch. Yer welcome ta tag along."

With that, he turned to the entrance of a small diner, stopping with hand on the door to glance back at Laxus over his shoulder as if to say "Coming?". Laxus stood for a second, sort of warring with himself. He didn't steal and even though it was true he was sick of roughly butchered meat and foraged greens, he still had a hard time bringing himself to actually follow Gajeel. It wouldn't have been a huge jump to assume the guy had targeted Gajeel because they'd been holding hands – especially in a small rural town where backward mindsets like Phantom Lord's were more accepted – it wasn't like Laxus was actually paying enough attention to be sure. He supposed it didn't matter though, at any rate, he'd been an ass… and Laxus would have punched him in the face which really wouldn't have been that much better. It wasn't like they'd just made out with his life savings, probably just enough for a decent meal.

At long last, he let out a sigh of defeat, although he couldn't quite drive away the guilt gnawing at his innards, and Gajeel smiled triumphantly as he led the way into the small diner. The waitress gave them a critical look up and down before she seated them in the farthest corner of the place, and Laxus's guilt eased slightly. Looking around casually, he noticed a few patrons stared like they were some pair of novel curios, and they'd school their prying whenever he'd make eye contact. He rolled his eyes. It was so easy to forget these places still existed. Gajeel, at least, seemed completely unperturbed as he sat across from him, splaying his legs out enough to cross their ankles against each other, turning their legs into a pile of spilled yarn beneath the table. To Laxus, his point was clear. Let them stare.

"You deal with this so well," he managed quietly, flipping open his menu.

"I've always been stared at. It ain't new."

"So you've said," Laxus smiled, "Not gonna lie, still not used to it."

"Thought you'd dated guys b'fore…?"

"Magnolia cares less… and I was younger, I guess, and didn't give a shit."

Gajeel crossed his arms on the table and studied him, not hiding his curiosity in the slightest, "How many people have you dated? Anyone I know? Besides Mirajane, of course."

"Don't tell me you're jealous," Laxus grinned keenly and Gajeel just shrugged.

"Just curious what your tastes are… were."

"Were?"

"I ain't exactly seen anyone like me around Magnolia," he laughed, tugging at his fingerless gloves, "Sort of… ya know…"

"A rogue?"

The corner of his lip curled his mouth into a lopsided smile, "I was gonna say rare."

Laxus snorted, "Nice."

"So does that mean you were inta bad boys?" Gajeel continued, his eyes sparking playfully, "I can see ya dating some guy with tattoos just to piss off Makarov."

"I have a tattoo. And anyway, I only told pops I was bi recently, remember?" he laughed, "You don't know him. We went to school together and we kept things quiet. Mira only knows because, well, she's Mira."

"Just one?"

"Just one," Laxus smirked, "and he looked nothing like you. Brown hair and eyes, and he liked to use big words just so he could tell me what they meant."

"Sounds pretentious."

"He was alright. His dad was a lawyer. They all picked up and moved to the capital before I dropped out. We said we'd stay in touch but, eh, ya know how that goes."

"Happens," Gajeel shrugged, his smile never dulling.

It was sort of refreshing, the way Gajeel reacted. Laxus was used to Mirajane and her latent jealousy which only ever manifested when she was angry. It always used to start an argument when he'd talk about exes with her. It wasn't so much that Mira lacked confidence as it was that she was competitive and only those closest to her got to see past her charitable façade to the demon underneath – a privilege in its own right, he supposed. She wasn't toxic by any means, or maybe, Laxus just tended to bring out the toxic in her. It wasn't like he'd been balanced when they dated; he'd had his own list of issues he hadn't yet come to terms with.

Still, Laxus was sort of surprised at how calm Gajeel was about it. He'd had concerns about Mirajane but only on rare occasion said something about it, and at Laxus's assurance he'd drop it rather quickly. Even now, Gajeel just watched him with playful curiosity. It was nice, simple, and a little suspicious.

"But I was the first guy you actually slept with," he stated, drumming his finger on the table.

"That title is all yours," Laxus hummed, "What about you?"

"Hm?"

"What about-?"

"What can I get you?" the waitress interrupted. Laxus started and Gajeel's smile vanished. They ordered and she left without another word. Gajeel rolled his eyes as she walked away.

"That's annoying," he muttered, "Everyone 'round here rude as hell?"

"Small towns," Laxus murmured and Gajeel huffed his assent, "Anyway…"

"Hm?"

Laxus shot him a wry smile, "You've never dated another guy before."

"No."

"What about Natsu? Didn't you guys have a…" he waived his hand back and forth dismissively, "A thing?"

Gajeel seemed stunned for a moment, blinking rapidly like Laxus had just told him the sky was actually fuchsia pink instead of blue, before he finally collected himself, "It wasn't a thing. It was him bein' a dumbass and me… stopping him."

"But... more than once," Laxus smirked, "It's ok, I'm not mad."

"Twice. The first time was me bein' nice. The second… I didn't exactly care," he itched at his throat nervously, "He was goin' ta Bunny Girl's because he felt weird. He didn't get what was goin' on, that he was going inta heat. The second time was… well I guess it was what happened with you. I was goin' inta heat and he got… confused."

"Confused?" Laxus's smile wavered, "That doesn't sound good."

"We didn't fuck, if that's what you're worried about. I wouldn't let him touch me," he was eyeing his hands now, although he didn't seem guilty, "after that he got with Lucy and I didn't have to worry about it anymore."

For some reason, Laxus found himself letting out a sigh of relief. He covered it with a chuckle, "What about Phantom Lord? Date anyone there?"

Gajeel hesitated, "What do ya mean, date? We talkin' like, take them out more than once or like… one night stands?"

Laxus narrowed his eyes, growing more suspicious by the second, "Alright, I'll bite, just how many people have you slept with?"

"Well… a handful, ya know… like, more than ten," red was creeping up his neck. He set his lips into a firm line, avoiding Laxus's eyes as he spoke, "It sounds like I'm bragging."

Laxus crossed his arms and leaned forward, "Give me a number."

"I don't… know. I mean… yeah, I don't know," scarlet tinted his ears and Laxus gave him an incredulous look.

"What do you mean you don't know? How do you not know?"

"I didn't keep track," he shrugged, showing his teeth in an anxious grin, "I drank a lot, smoked a lot, had a lot of vices, went to a lotta sleazy places. I made real good money so it was kinda easy to convince a girl ta come back with me. Hell, half the time I don' even think they wanted to sleep with me, they just wanted whatever I had. But that was sorta how I wanted it. No strings, and all..." when Laxus didn't have anything to say he babbled on, turning a deeper shade of red, "I was a real asshole, yanno? Took advantage of people. Just sorta treated relationships like an ice cream factory: eatin' everything I could and then throwin' it back up and runnin' away. Guess that last habit sorta died hard, huh? I ran from you for the longest time, didn't I? But I sorta got a thrill outta proving I wasn't the kinda guy people wanted to be around which worked because it kept people away. Hated bein' vulnerable, ya know? Anytime anyone got too close they used it against me… 'cept Juvia. She didn't really give me a choice… she ended up hurt instead…

"I think the longest I ever dated a girl was just because she wouldn't leave. She was real pushy like that, but redheads are that way, anyway… we didn't even like each other," he stopped as if finally realizing that he'd been talking non-stop, and somehow flushed a deeper shade of red, "Anyway, no real relationships. Just a lot of stupid decisions."

The humor left Laxus as he watched Gajeel flounder to get his embarrassment under control, "How old were you?"

"Eh… what do you mean? How old was I for what?" he was itching at his neck again, adding to the scarlet.

"When you lost your virginity?"

"Well… um… normal age, I s'pose," he shrugged.

"Normal age?" Laxus asked skeptically, "So… sixteen, seventeen?"

"Is that when you did? Sixteen?" he grinned impishly.

"I was sixteen, and it was Mira," Laxus humored him, but he knew Gajeel was trying to switch the subject back to him.

"Of course it was Mira. You two dated for a while then or-?"

"Were you young?" Laxus asked and Gajeel's smile wavered, "Was it… bad?"

"I mean, it wasn't bad it just wasn't anything special. Yeah, I was young, I guess, but I didn't know it cuz the people I ran with lost theirs 'round then too. I was thirteen… probably," he wrinkled his nose as he tried to remember, "It was summer, I think, and her name was Iveanna but we called her Ivy. She was dating a buddy of mine at the time and I can't remember why but I was layin' low at her house… anyway, she talked me into it."

"She… talked you into it," Laxus said flatly.

Gajeel shrugged, "She was my friend's girl. I felt bad."

"What a homewrecker," Laxus simpered, "Every young kid's dream."

"You asked," Gajeel pointed out, tapping his fingers on the table, "What about you? Sixteen with Mirajane? Whose idea was that?"

"We both decided, I think… well I didn't ask, anyway. Gramps was gone for some reason and I invited her over. It just sort of happened," Laxus found himself smiling as he remembered , slightly embarrassed but he guessed it didn't really matter, "Damn, we were such kids. I was so nervous I kept asking if I hurt her."

Gajeel's smile was strangely kind, "Some things don't change."

"I suppose they don't," Laxus felt warm, sort of like his chest was oozing with sunlight. Questions, he wanted to ask questions. He found himself inquisitive not so much because he needed an answer, but more just he wanted to learn as much as he could about the man in front of him. He wanted to know about Gajeel's childhood, about living in the streets and growing up to be a mercenary. How is a man like Gajeel made? How does he grow and thrive? What are things that make his eyes glint like stones caught in the fire's light? Did he remember being innocent? Did he remember when it first changed? Were there good times shuffled amidst the bad or was everything colored in black and crimson? What were things he never told anyone else? It tumbled from his mouth before he had a chance to really think the question through, "What was growing up like? In Phantom?"

Gajeel didn't seem alarmed, just stared into his bowl like it held some of the story there between his palms. He pursed his lips when he thought, "Sorta like walking through a dig site. Everythin' seems fine but when you swallow, you get the grains stuck in yer teeth. You feel it whenever you bite down. Tastes like dust and smells like sweat and stolen cigarettes. We all thought we ran that town… until we didn't. But that's what growin' up does, I guess, shows ya what real life is like. When you thought you were uncoverin' some lost treasure, turns out it was just some old dagger and chains," he seemed thoughtful for a moment before he pulled his eyes up to Laxus, that same curiosity reflecting in his that Laxus felt burning in his throat, "What about you? What's school like?"

"You'd hate it. You spend hours sitting at desks learning things that don't matter. I had to memorize time tables and write book reports. Gramps used to pack me a lunch until I told him it was too childish. It's where I met Freed."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah… and of course Gramps had me doing all sorts of stuff to try and find something I liked. He wanted me to be good at something. When he found out I liked old music, he bought me the record player. Tried to get me into an instrument, dance, composition… it was all a waste, though. Nothing ever really stuck. It was all just a waste of my summers… I didn't do anythin' fun. Nothing like Erza or Mirajane at the time."

"You weren't out breakin' shit, ya mean?" Gajeel grinned, his eyes dancing across the diner. His smile turned a little anxious.

"Nothing you'd be interested in, delinquent," he assured.

He was so caught up in the tender intimacy of the moment, he didn't even mind the way the waitress dropped their plates to the table, although Gajeel shot her a look.

As Laxus picked at his noodles, his mind turned over the strangeness of the two of them. He and Gajeel were from two very different worlds and yet here they were, sitting a couple short feet apart and sharing a meal. If Phantom Lord had never disbanded, he wondered if they'd ever met on different terms. Maybe in a fight? He still remembered the first time he'd met him, confronted him in front of the large tree after he'd already taken a round from Jet and Droy. Laxus had been convinced he'd kill him and yet Gajeel didn't hold a grudge, almost as if the memory had been wiped away the moment he'd returned to the guild… well, maybe not wiped away completely. There was their meeting in the forest when Gajeel had regarded him with more than a small amount of trepidation. It was interesting how things changed.

"Why ya starin' so hard at yer noodles, Sparky?" Gajeel was taking a sip of soup and staring at him over the lip of his bowl, a quiet, knowing look in his eye.

"I just think fate is strange," Laxus admitted.

"Fate ain't got nothin' ta do with it," Gajeel scoffed mildly.

"You don't believe in true love, then?" he asked.

Gajeel's eyes turned thoughtful. He studied the contents of his bowl for a moment before taking in an even breath, "Guess I can't say I know. Until recently, I barely believed love was real… much less that I could find it."

Laxus felt something in his chest flutter, "Oh no…"

"What?"

"That went straight to my head," he grinned and Gajeel rolled his eyes playfully.

Gajeel's studded brow rose sharply and his eyes trained at something over Laxus's shoulder. He assumed at first that maybe someone was staring again, so he brushed his knee against his under the table, but Gajeel didn't seem quieted. Actually, he was starting to look antsy.

"So… you were a good kid? Didn't steal or say…" he dropped his voice a little as he spoke, "…dine and dash?"

Laxus's smile vanished, "What?"

"There's a back entrance, ya know… we could just…" he nodded towards a door that Laxus thought led to the kitchen. He widened his eyes.

"We can't dine and dash," he dropped his voice to a hiss, "The waitress was rude but she wasn't that rude."

"I dunno Sparky…" he was sitting up now, almost as if he were ready to bolt at a moment's notice, "She was kind of a biii-…" Laxus shot him a glare, "Jerk. 'Sides, we ain't gonna do any real harm. It'll be fun."

"We'll get caught."

"We won't get caught."

"Gajeel we are not-!"

The bell to the diner rang and Laxus felt a thrill rush down his spine. He snapped his head around to see the group of guys they'd run into earlier. The man who'd run into Gajeel was in the lead and his brown eyes trained on the two, his lips set in a snarl.

"There they are!"

"Fuck... looks like we ain't gotta choice," Gajeel swore, but his eyes with brimming with mischief. He slammed the money he had on the table and was up on his feet in an instant, "Sparky, c'mon! Run!"

He gripped onto Laxus's shirt and nearly hauled him from the seat. The group was rushing through tables as Gajeel pulled him after him, dashing for a door that Laxus thought led to the kitchen only to be spilled out into the street. He stumbled a couple of steps, disorientated, until Gajeel laced his fingers into his.

"Gajeel!" he gasped, but excitement was turning into delight.

Gajeel was all devious teeth, whisking him through the streets to the sounds of outrage at their heels. He felt transported back in time, to when they were running from Enforcement and the stakes were higher. Instead of pain and worry, this time Gajeel looked like he was ready to jump into the sky. They sprinted down alleys and bolted up side streets and Laxus ran until he thought his lungs would scream. He could hear Gajeel laughing, glee flittering off of him like the sweat dotting his face. It was incredible and ridiculous and irresponsible and fun. Exhilaration melted into recklessness. Laxus felt untouchable. They didn't stop running until they made it to the stable. When they took off through the town, it was with blazing speed. They didn't stop until they were miles away and the fading light made it too dangerous for their horses to keep running.

The skies were cloudless and the type of blue you only see in watercolor paintings when Gajeel had tilted his head up to the wind, taken in a deep breath, and told him they needed to find shelter. There was a summer storm coming. Laxus hadn't believed him but made no objection when he'd been steered to a quiet path alongside limestone hills and buffs, while Gajeel eyed the trees and the stone and sniffed at the air. He'd been looking for a cave and had found it tucked neatly away in a divot where the white rock gave way to a sloping stone gateway. The receding darkness had at first inspired an uneasiness to simmer in Laxus's gut, but he had quickly pushed it down.

Laxus was surprised, though, when after a couple of hours he felt the temperature shift and tumble. The wind picked up, filling the hollow of the cavern with is howl and scattering sparks from their small fire. He could smell the rain, the restlessness making the atmosphere teem. Then the lighting bathed the sky in its harsh yellow light; he felt the way the thunder cracked deep in his bones, like so many firecrackers scattered into the heavens, the harsh staccato like snare drums. Heat lightning. It hadn't touched the ground, he would have felt it if it had – a disturbance in the atmosphere, a pressure, a call. His eye ached.

Gajeel was watching him, he could feel those red eyes piercing into his throat. When he chanced a look at him, he saw a mystified interest set across his face. The corner of his lips tugged up and flashed a row of teeth at him. He looked devilish under the influence of the fire's light, his studs glittering like precious coins. The thunder rolled this time, vibrating the stone around them as if it were stampeding somewhere over the bluffs. Laxus could feel it in his chest.

"Edgy?" Gajeel asked, a cloying seduction making his voice warm like velvet, and nearly as opacous, "Hungry?"

"No," Laxus chuckled, "Thunderstorms just make me feel… stifled, I guess."

"Stifled?" he arched a brow.

"Full of energy, I guess, like when you drop a soda bottle," he shrugged, "I can feel the energy of the storm. I feel… charged."

"Sounds uncomfortable," Gajeel's smile was cunning, "Need ta blow off some steam?"

"I'm not going to eat lightning."

"Why not?" his smile faded, the mischief falling from his tone.

"I don't need to, for starters," Laxus replied curtly, although he wasn't quite sure why, "For another… I just… I don't particularly want to."

Gajeel studied him for a moment, his lips pursing slightly. He tilted his head to the side, "Yer not curious?"

Laxus wanted to snap back at him. Of course he wasn't curious. Why would anyone be curious about eating lightning? Except… maybe he was a little curious, just by the tiniest amount. That little, quiet voice in the back of his head asked the question insistently ever since he'd seen Natsu in action when he was younger. What would happen if I ate lightning?

The cave flooded with light. In an instant, everything was turned black and yellow and flashing like a threat. Gajeel's figure was stark and wraithlike, half of his face shadow and the other as pale as the moon, giving the man the look of a tenebrist painting with his front aglow from the fire. His eyes glimmered like embers, his face sharp and stoic. Thunder growled down the open maw of the cave, sinking claws into the rock and making Laxus's hair stand on end. He could feel every vibration, unhinged and raw and fighting. He nearly cringed.

What was more uncontrollable than lightning? What was more unpredictable and feral and unyielding? Raw power, unfiltered and rapacious lightning. The things a competent wizard can do with lightning is both awe-inspiring and frightening. That wasn't to say Laxus was afraid. He certainly wasn't afraid. He'd lived with it his entire life, after all. The choice had never even been his to make. As soon as the lacrima had been placed inside of him, his relationship with his magic power had been decided. He was a lightning mage, a dragon slayer, and he was terrifying and strong.

Laxus felt the lightning before he saw the flash. His atoms buzzed, his flesh skittered. Something in his stomach coiled and surged. He winced as his eye throbbed and he found himself massaging his scar. Was this worse than usual? Or had a winter's reprieve made him soft to the strange siren song of a summer storm? Still, he felt Gajeel's stare, his slitted, fox eyes waiting to see what the mouse would do in the field before it would pounce. Perceptive and patient and steady and everything Laxus felt he wasn't in that moment. The fire popped and he jumped, his muscles wound as tightly as a watch's spring. His heart was beating faster.

"There's no need to be nervous," Gajeel said gently, "It's your element. It's what your body is made for."

"My body cheated. It wasn't made for-," this time, when the thunder rampaged through the forest, bringing with it the sound of rain blanketing the forest, Laxus felt his flesh prickle and some desperate need prying at his throat.

This wasworse, way, way worse than usual. The rain was pounding now, filling the cave with its cacophonous percussion and drowning out what little thought remained in his scattered mind. The horses whinnied nervously and pawed at the ground. Laxus felt his magic stirring and rushing, his veins ecstatic and dangerous. He felt frenetic, like he could bolt or maybe explode. He needed to move, to make his body a rush, to expend and consume and-

"I'm not a real Dragon Slayer," he snarled. His eye felt hot, the knot, the sphere he was familiar with, hummed with energy, with a need. He took a deep, steadying breath and tried to push it down, to close his eyes, and relax. He couldn't let himself be swept away. He couldn't lose control.

He hadn't heard Gajeel move, but now he was in front of him. The glint of a predator's eyes in the darkness hovering above him with a depth and empathy Laxus knew but had never really understood, somehow they enticed him to stand. Sparks danced where their fingers touched, where Gajeel's hand wrapped around his and pulled him to his feet. When had his grip on his own magic become so loose? Why was it that Gajeel did this to him? Because this was Gajeel, wasn't it? The unpredictable moon was telling him to come and he followed, knowing his own fear of chaos and yet unable to stop himself even still, until they were at the mouth of the cave. Lightning feathered the sky like a great dragon in the clouds, cutting the night with radiant energy and filling his marrow with its unbridled passion.

"This is a bad idea," he stated flatly, "I hate the rain."

"Why?" Gajeel asked, running his thumb against Laxus's palm.

"It always makes it so hard to control."

"Not everything's about control," Gajeel hummed at his side, "Sometimes it's about getting lost."

Lightning hit the ground off in the distance and Laxus gasped, feeling the energy like a tidal wave surge through the air. He shivered, apprehensive and alarmed but ultimately he realized this was a battle he wasn't going to win, "Stay in here… please."

"Course."

He stepped out into the torrential rain, consumed by the smell of the earth and the grass and the tress all open to the heaven's outpouring. He was soaked through to the bone in seconds and felt the skies tumult overhead, the clouds roll, the ebb and flow above. The cycle, the circuit, the energy that built and built like a damn filling with water. The sort of energy that rearranges the properties of things, that turns sand to glass sculptures and centuries of history into ash. Metal to magnets, one thing into another, untapped potential into actualization.

It was, of course, all base instinct. What about being a dragon wasn't, he found himself wondering. As the energy surged in the atmosphere, he could feel it. Every raucous atom, every seething note, bouncing off of the raindrops as if he'd summoned it there in the first place and tumbling from the clouds in a blazing dawn. He raised his arm and was struck. Blinding light ate him alive and he staggered at the excess of power that glutted every part of his being. He couldn't see, he couldn't breathe, replete in a way that was unknown to him.

Magic, power, energy; his body effervesced with it, overfilled and quaked, trying to find a way to take it all in, to break it apart, to store and keep it. His eye burned. He felt the searing heat stabbing into his skull, tendrils of it bleeding in to his mind, down his face, his throat, piercing with deep teeth and filling his molars with the taste of silver. He gasped and shuddered in the pouring rain and felt his entire body thum, pulse, simmer. That deep stabbing pain eased to something hot and concentrated, something he recognized. His magic rolled like a massive gyre around him. He felt invigorated, energized like he never had before. He felt like he'd just woken up after a very long sleep, and in waking and opening his eyes, he blinked into a world quite different from what it had been before.

There, around everything he could see, was a field that he recognized immediately. He'd tried to do this with little effect down in the caves with Davian, his attempt to see the electrical life energy that circulated in every living thing. It wasn't dim like in the cave, no, it was vibrant. The entire forest was steeped in color; blues, purples, reds, colors he'd never seen in lightning. And not just in the trees, in the grass and ferns at his feet, but he could see pulses of light huddled in the dim hues of the foliage. Vibrant balls of light dotting the trees and hunched in the earth and prowling in the distant. Field mice, song birds, foxes and weasels, maybe, all taking shelter from the storm. And the storm, at casting his eyes up to the sky, the atmosphere danced and writhed like a see made from the Northern Lights, growing strong in places until it manifested in brilliant bolts and roaring thunder, and each time he saw that bunch of energy his body sang with its rhythm.

Laxus hadn't felt the pull of magic, only when iron struck the ground just a few feet away. His own electrical energy rocked and leaned into it, an arc of lightning jumping from him to the pillar, and then another landed at his other side. His energy surged again, leaving him, and the world flickered and dimmed. He reeled around and saw Gajeel from where he stood a few meters away, but the body wasn't what his eyes focused on. He honed in on the vibrant light of his spine, how it moved as he moved, the arching of his field and how far out it extended, and how it was getting closer. Laxus's overwhelmed mind slowly began to parse together that it was approaching, Gajeel was approaching him, through the drenching rain and with purposeful lightning dancing overhead and daring to be grounded once again. He realized that this was dangerous, and Gajeel shouldn't be anywhere close to him, not when he was like this.

But articulation seemed impossible. His mind couldn't quite remember how to wrap itself around language, just energy and power and lightning. He could feel the pitch of the atmosphere, the sky's mounting ire, and on reflex he raised his arm to direct the strike to him and braced for the impact. The rush made his mind go blank and he stared wide-eyed at the sky. Energy he hardly noticed anymore raced out of him but it was so trivial, arching strikes like a tesla coil into the ground and the iron pillars surrounding him. Where were more? He didn't feel it any more than the ocean feels the light patter of rain. It was too inconsequential, small and unnoticeable.

He felt Gajeel step into his field, a ripple in the still pond that flowed seamlessly into his own. He turned his eyes back to him, to the electricity that flowed around him and how it shuttered and danced in such close proximity to his own, absorbed and encapsulated, and exposing again the glowing core inside. The iron dragon reached out to him slowly and Laxus snapped his hand forward to stop him, grabbing his wrist, and Gajeel's center surged and spluttered. Laxus was enraptured by it, by the tiny strikes and gushes and simmering down. He could hear Gajeel breathing but could hardly see his chest, and watched his heart shift into a faster pace.

You couldn't ask him why he reached forward, because he honestly didn't know. He just knew that the way Gajeel's light danced was new and strange and he wanted to know why. And that movement, too, was so natural because he'd done it before. He placed his hand there at the base of Gajeel's skull, that place that Gajeel had shown him just days ago, and slipped into that flow. He gasped when he felt it; blinding and hot and feeling like a thousand cockroaches beneath his skin. On top of it all, his wrists bound tightly. There was darkness and voices and screaming. It was visceral and terrifying and real, it was real, until a hand clutched onto his own and dragged his curling fingers away. Up, up, until the swarming energy softened and subsided. Laxus felt something different, a presence protective and demanding. Yellow eyes that pinned him in place, a scar, and strong arms.

Memories. Laxus was seeing memories. Gajeel's memories. Flashes of them. Laxus could hardly process what that meant, or what he should do, because Gajeel was curling his fingers into the fragile blonde hair at the nape of his neck and pulling him close. Laxus couldn't tell him they shouldn't do this, because something else was suddenly racing through his mind: falling to his knees and the feeling of his skin burning, collapsing in the wake of fire that was suddenly gone in a world-shattering flash. The shape of him descending, arms and tendrils of lightning following his form, and collapsing into the visage of a man. To be seen that way, everything that Laxus had known about himself that made him formidable and intimidating reflected back at him as something loved and adored and even desired.

"Laxus…" he saw an image of himself standing in the pouring rain, of lighting striking him and the way his body arched and swelled to the power he had absorbed. He could feel a memory much foggier edging in the background, of tasting iron for the first time and feeling that same rush of power, how it was so hard to control and consume, and Laxus had done it with so much more grace and marked precision. But Laxus didn't feel like he'd done anything well, he felt overawed and combersome, like he was just feeling his way along blindly. Gajeel was speaking into his mouth, "…you're beautiful."

Speech still wasn't a concept Laxus was able to bring into fruition. But with magic, there was abundance. Emotion sometimes means so much more than words, and to impress on Gajeel the unfiltered passion he felt in that instant was the only thing left on his mind. They were drowning in the rain and thunder and lighting, everything a strange sort of tangle as Laxus became completely ensared in every possible piece of his lover. Lost in memories, in feeling, in the rage and desire and love and grief and every strong emotion he'd ever felt in his entire life, it was all a net that tangled the both of them until up and down meant nothing and finding a way out was impossible. Dive in and be swept away. Laxus wanted to drown.

He found a new respect for summer storms.

"I feel like a witch…" Laxus huffed, shivering as he leaned each of his arms against two iron pillars, one on either side of Gajeel's shoulders. The rain, for the most part, had passed and the man beneath him still arching with legs around his hips, bent sickles pressing toes into the muddied earth, "This is what witches do, right? Sex magic?"

"Sex magic," Gajeel sighed, rolling his hips as he relaxed and rested his arms above his head, his body splayed out like he'd been thrown to the ground that way. Laxus rolled his shoulders, enjoying quietly the gentle burn the raven's insatiable nails had left, "This ain't sex magic. This is interrupting magic with sex. Different."

"Oh? So explain sex magic to me, then," Laxus grinned down at him.

"Wait… I remember this one…" he hummed, lolling his eyes to the side as he tried to recall something, "Sex magic is sex as a ritual or spiritual… thing. It's is a force that's harnessed to go past your normal reality. Like… using arousal or orgasm when ya visualize what you want. Sex is the magic, it's not just somethin' yer doin' when you happen ta use magic."

"That right?"

"That and there's a thing about how ya need a superior woman ta do it. Can't sleep around, ya know. And the same goes for bad, impure, passion-driven, apologies for men," he dropped his voice as he spoke the last bit, a playfully derisive tone to his voice. Laxus chuckled, "I bet ya can guess why we don't qualify."

"You dated a witch, then," Laxus concluded and Gajeel smirked.

"I've slept with a lotta women. And maybe I'd call a few of 'em witches… it ain't just witches that practice sex magic, though."

"What wisdom," Laxus purred glibly, "So you've done sex magic, then?"

"I'll never say," he flashed his teeth devilishly, "but I can say I can mark 'have sex in a thunderstorm' off the list, now."

"Glad to be of service," Laxus rumbled. Lightning flashed in the heavens as if in response and a low growl of thunder pervaded the quiet pattering of gentle rain growing more and more soft, "You're turning me into a heathen."

"First a witch, now a heathen. Ya know, if I remember right, you pulled me inta the mud like some sorta sex-crazed-ahh…"

Laxus rocked his hips against the raven, grinding their dicks together, although they wouldn't be doing much more for a while, "You knew exactly what you were doing, showing me shit like that while I was… eh…"

"Caught up in things?" Gajeel finished with a flick of his eyebrow, "Didn't really expect all that but I'm not complainin'."

"Sorry," Laxus smiled sheepishly.

"Don't be," he reassured, letting his fingers wander up his pale stomach, "it was fun."

Laxus caught his fingers, "That tickles."

Gajeel snorted and constricted his knees around his waist. His red eyes were gentle as he mapped out a path of the curves of Laxus's chest, thumbs racing up his diaphragm, over his heart. His black hair was soaked and muddied, so were the backs of his arms and his heels. Laxus stopped him as he brushed at the blonde hair at his temple and place a kiss on his dirty palm. He stared down at him, wondering when he should offer to help him up, wondered about their soiled clothes and how they were going to get them dry and clean, marveled at the strange contentment that had settled inside of him. Heat lightning raced overhead.

"Run away with me."

"Hm?" Laxus smirked.

"Run away with me," his lip quivered just slightly as he spoke, his voice was shivering.

Laxus blinked, confused, "Run away with you? Where?"

"Anywhere," he sounded earnest, his chest swelled with a hasty breath, "An-anywhere. We could go anywhere."

"Anywhere?" Laxus hummed, "and well just, what? Elope? Send a letter to Gramps? Don't look for me, pops, I've run away with my new love."

"Don't have to elope, unless ya wanted to…" Gajeel fidgeted beneath him, his smile not humorous in the slightest.

Laxus felt something twist in his chest, "You… you're serious?"

"I have money, like I said, saved… just in case, ya know…" he spoke hesitantly, his hands holding onto him like he was afraid to squeeze too tightly, "Enough ta go wherever we want. Could settle down, ya know, out where no one could find us. Build us a cabin, maybe, or a nice house… it could be like this. Just us…"

"I… Gajeel…" Laxus's heart was beating faster, especially at seeing the dejected look in those red eyes Gajeel was desperately trying to hide, "What about Fairy Tail? Lily and Juvia and Levy? You'd leave them all behind? Without a word? I thought you wanted to go home?"

His lips were set in a weak smile. Laxus knew what it meant.

"They miss you… they'd all miss you if you never came back…"

"I'm sorry," he said it quietly and Laxus felt his heart stop, "That wasn't fair of me, was it?"

"I… it was fine…"

"Fairy Tail is yer home, hm?" he was rubbing circles into Laxus's arms with his thumbs, his touch gentle, his hands soft, "Freed, Bix, Evergreen… they'd all hunt ya down, wouldn't they? And Mira, she'd be beside herself… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's fine if it's how you feel," Laxus lowered himself over him, pressed his hands into the sofe wet earth at his shoulders, "Running away with you sounds like a dream."

"It does?"

"Of course," Laxus smiled, placing a kiss on his forehead, "anywhere with you sounds amazing…" he made his way down his brow, pressing gentle seeds of affection down his rigid cheek, on his chin, beside his mouth, "If you still want to run away in a few weeks, tell me. We'll run away."

"Really?" Gajeel whispered, nuzzling against the side of his face, "You'd go with me?"

"I'll let you pick the road and we'll go, the two of us. Find a place that's good for us, and pretend we'll never go back until you're sick of running and we can come home again. And every time you feel the need, we'll go again."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise," Laxus pressed it into his mouth, "but for now, we need to go home."

He breathed in like Laxus was his air, his mouth open and warm against his, "Alright… for now."

Gajeel had made it clear that he wanted to spend their first night in Magnolia alone together. He didn't want fanfare, he didn't want a raucous, he didn't want a party. Actually, he ddin't even want to go to Fairy Tail. Not yet.

"It's a lot of people, Sparky," he'd been leaning against his horse's shoulders, his arms crossed over the horn of his saddle as they stared at the city from a distance. He seemed more tired than when they'd set out that morning, like somehow the day's traven had more vexing than usual even though the going had been easier, "The last time I was in a big group of people, half of 'em were ready to kill me."

Damn, he really couldn't argue with that. The problem was, Mirajane had already gotten wind of their approach. His lacrima had gone off earlier that morning while Gajeel had been tending to the horses and he'd let her know they'd be home that evening. Of course, she'd been delighted and Laxus would have been a fool to think she didn't have something in the works for Gajeel's return home. He was sort of banking on the chance that she wouldn't know the time they arrived. Maybe at least then Gajeel could get accustomed to the city for a short while before being accosted by his overly-excited extended family.

As fate would have it, he was not so lucky.

They couldn't keep the horses at their house as they didn't have a barn and most certainly no supplies. There were stables, though, dotting the city for those that came in from extensive travel. Laxus hardly ever used them, preffering to walk or take a train. It was while they were leading their horses in that he caught sight of a blue tail and heard mischievous laughter so familiar he'd be dumb not to recognize it. He'd been too late, though, to stop the pinkette as he raced down the street. Gajeel hadn't seemed to notice, thankfully. Laxus took a little reprieve in that, at least. Since the raven had no intentions of going to the guild, he was sure nothing would come of it. It did sort of nag at him, though, the way Gajeel seemed a bit more downtrodden than before, and tense.

"You really miss the forest already?" Laxus asked timidly as they walked through the emptying streets. Darkness was falling and the first of the stars were making themselves visible.

"Honestly?" Gajeel sighed, "Yeah, I do."

"Why?" Laxus asked, watching the way the raven would tense whenever they passed someone on the street, "Is it just the memories of your dad?"

"Dunno, really... I guess… I guess it's 'cause nothing ever hurt me there," he muttered at last, eyes darting to the sidewalk, refusing to look at him, "Simpleminded creatures don't hunt fer sport. Even wolves're forced ta set themselves to the balance of nature. Food chains and dominance over them always seemed like a manmade thing ta me. Everythin' else in the world just wants to live… I miss bein' simple like that."

"Guess being raised in the woods doesn't really prepare you for… anything," Laxus conceded, "Men are cruel."

"When did you become cynical, Laxus?" Gajeel smirked at him, "You're starting to sound like me."

"Can't have that, can we?" Laxus grinned in return, taking a hand and ruffling his tangled hair. He'd taken out the braid when they'd gotten close to town so now his hair was in loose waves and tangles. Gajeel seemed surprised by the contact but he didn't shy away.

"Laxus, I had a question for ya," he sounded anxious as they marched up the steps of their porch.

Laxus fidgeded with his keys before finding the right one and forcing it into the lock, "What's that?"

"I was just wonderin'… are we…?"

The door opened and they both froze. There, packed into their living room, every space was filled with a familiar face. The entirety of the guild seemed to be waiting there for their arrival, all turning as soon as the door opened with excitement in their eyes. There was a beat of silence broken only by the heavy drop of Gajeel's pack as it slipped from his shoulder and fell to his feet. A smile broke across Pantherlily's face.

"Gajeel's home!" he rushed from where he'd been perched into Gajeel's arms. Suddenly, Juvia was there as well, and Levy, and Mirajane, and Natsu… friends rushed forward to throw their arms around him and Gajeel just stood transfixed like stone. Laxus watched him clench his jaw, his eyes flood with red, his arms begin to shake.

Gramps smiled from where he sat, a grin so wide hit pulled back his mustache and revealed his teeth, "Welcome home, my boy."

Gajeel's lips trembled. A stray tear rushed down his face, "I'm home."