Love Sick

Chapter Seven: Racing Lightning

Laxus slowly got more coherent as he woke up. It broke Freed's heart that he had to help the other wizard drink water. How weak he had become in just a short few days. "Would you stay beside me like this if I wasn't going to die?" Laxus asked, his voice much raspier than it usually was.

"Would you let me?" Freed responded. The dragon slayer smiled like he had been caught. "I promised you a long time ago that I would always be by your side if you wish it. I have no intention of taking away that promise." He said. He would promise it again in a heartbeat. 

"I'm sure that I'm taking up too much of your time, Bickslow and Ever are probably just being too kind to drag me out of here." He said with a sad little laugh.  Freed I-" the lightning wizard protested. "What do you want for dinner, I'll make anything you want" Freed interrupted. 

...

The rune mage nodded passively to his fellow guildmates before slipping out. He needed to go to the market to fetch a couple of ingredients. 

"Oh Freed! Hey man" Greeted a very enthusiastic Natsu. He was clearly only at the market to buy fish for Happy. Freed nodded at him. 

"What are you doing here? Lucy says you usually do your shopping during the morning like her" The fire dragon-slayer said. "Usually I do but I had to do some last minute shopping for Laxus" he admitted.  

"Speaking about Laxus, I've been thinking" "Nothing good happens from that" Happy interjected as he joined. "Hey! But I've been seriously thinking about some things. Look, Laxus clearly wants to be with his soulmate but he's just too prideful to get himself out of his situation. But I got some ideas. I mean, you guys are close so you'd think he would tell you about potentially asking someone out- unless you're particularly close to that person" Natsu said.

Freed shrugged at that. He wasn't sure that there was anyone that Laxus wouldn't feel comfortable talking about. Unless he had realized Freed's feelings for him and was being kind by not bragging about his love life.

Not that he gave himself much time to think about it as trying to secretly figure out who Laxus' soulmate is behind his back would be a betrayal of his trust.

...

Freed returned to the guild in order to utilize the guild's kitchen. At some point while he was cooking he was joined by Master Makarov. "How can I help you Master?" The rune mage asked. He was met by a moment of silence.

"Master?"

"You spend a lot of time with Laxus, yes?" He asked. Freed flushed, wondering if he was going to be called out for his feelings. He dipped his head, pretending to be focused on his cooking. "I do" he admitted. "Notice anything odd lately? Anyone outside of the guild that he talks to regularly while you two are out, does he seem to orbit anyone in particular or avoid someone with seemingly no reason?" Makarov asked.

Freed stopped everything he was doing, he was just in shock. He didn't realize it but he was shaking slightly. "Freed, my boy?" The old man asked with a concerned lilt to his voice. The green-haired man was silent as he assembled the meal he had made and grabbed the tray he placed it on. Before he left the kitchen he gave one last meaningful glare and a parting statement.

"I understand this is hard for you, it's hard for me too. We both care for Laxus very deeply. But I care for him enough to trust his decision making and not try to undermine him behind his back" he said.

He swiftly left the roam and made his way to the infirmary. Laxus was alone, propped up with pillows so he could sit up as much as he could. It looked like he haf been waiting for him. His orange eyes turned concerned and his expression softened as soon as he saw the rune mage.

"You're shaking- are you okay?" He lightning wizard asked. "Fine. Just fine. I simply just spoke with your grandfather. And Natsu earlier today-" "I understand how headache inducing thay can be" Laxus agreed. 

"I know they care but I'm just tired. I don't want to be the bad guy" Freed said. "Why would you be the bad guy?" The blond man asked. "They've been talking to me about you and your... condition. They think that I'm the most likely person to find out who your soulmate is" he admitted.

"And you haven't been helping them?"

"Of course not! You said you didn't want to contact your soulmate. You asked everyone, including me, to just drop it. It's my duty as your captain to obey your oders and trust your judgment." Freed said adamantly. 

"Thank you" Laxus said.

"Huh?"

"I want to thank you for believing in me. It can't be easy from where you stand but you're still thinking about my point of view. " Laxus said. They shared a soft look before orange eyes gained a dangeroud glint. "And I'll talk to them tomorrow. They should know better than to make you feel like that" the blond growled.

...

"Laxus? Can I ask you something?". The man in question looked up from his meal and nodded. "Your soulmate. I promised you I would leave it alone but I just have to ask. How long did you know before you approached them?" Freed asked.

"Not sure. I was drawn to them the moment I met them but I didn't know why. I resented the connection for a while. It wasn't until after Gajeel and Natsu started talking about what it felt like to have a soulmate that I started suspecting" Laxus admitted. 

"And your suspicions weren't confirmed until Porlyusica revealed you had mate sickness" Freed realized. The dragon slayer nodded. 

"I don't like being dependant on anyone else" he added. "Hm. Neither do I. But I can recognize that I'm stronger when paired with a team, doesn't mean I'm not strong by myself" the green-haired man said. 

"Maybe that's true... But you're much stronger a man than I am" he said. 'And I don't want to weigh you down' was left unsaid.