Love Sick

Chapter Twelve: We're In The Ozone Now.

They stayed like that for a while. Eventually falling asleep while being cradled by the other. Freed woke up first. Immediately he thought that the earlier events were nothing but his hopeful dreams until he felt movement. He blinked his eyes open slowly and looked up at the sleeping Laxus. 

Freed had moved slightly open waking, even before he had opened his eyes and that caused the blond to subconciously hold him a bit tighter.

In these quiet moments he had taken the oppurtunity to watch Laxus. He was a lot softer looking in his sleep, relaxed even. His blond hair fell around him, sharp orange eyes were closed- his eyes always made him look like a predatory animal-, and it was hard to see him as a fearsome warrior as he slumbered with bags under his eyes and no sign of walking. The dragon slayer had always been a heavy sleeper.

When Freed saw the time he saw that it was getting close to dinner time. They had been asleep almost all day. Freed didn't know if Laxus had breakfast or not but he didn't and neither of them had lunch. 

Obviously he should make dinner for the two of them. Trying to extrapolate himself from the larger man without too much fuss he ended up taking a misstep and fell further into Laxus. "Hm?" Laxus hummed Lazily. The green-haired man looked up to see half open eyes looking down at him.

"You're up? Usually you sleep so soundly" Freed asked. "Usually I'm healthy" he responded. The rune mage felt a little bad. "So where were you hurrying off to?" Laxus asked. "Ah. Just to the kitchen. It's getting late and I should make some food for the both of us" he admitted. 

"Okay" he hummed.

...

When Freed stood up Laxus took his opportunity to look his fill. He figured he was allowed to. 

The shorts he wore revealed long and lean milky legs. They were unblemished no scars or any current bruises- the ones left from their last job must have faded by now-. And the purple T-shirt. Freed was of average height and while slimmer than most of Fairy Tail's male wizards he still had lean muscles but the large shirt made him look so small. The way it would sleep down his shoulders to reveal pale skin was inviting. 

He could imagine leaving a couple bite marks or hickeys in that space.

Laxus made a mental note to provide many more of his shirts and jackets during the course of their relationship.

...

Freed was cutting up vegetables when he felt arms wrap around his midsection. He jumped but managed to not cut anything. Laxus lowered down his head, resting his nose in the crook of his neck and his words became mumbled into the skin.

"Laxus?"

"Instincts"

"What?"

"My instincts are going crazy. Don't like being too far from you right now. The dragon side of me is insecure I guess. Sorry" Laxus explained. Freed felt like someone just poured a bucket of cold water over him. That explanation. That word. 

Instincts. 

It wasn't real. None of this was real. Laxus could be as sweet and doting as he could imagine but none of it would be real. He wasn't doing it because he wanted to butbecause he was under the compulsion that he had to. Laxus was trapped. 

Freed forced himself to remember that fact and promised himself that he would never give in to his fantasy and forget that this wasn't a relationship. 

He was being tested by temptation.

"We should speak to Porlyusica soon. See how the recovery process is supposed to go" Laxus mumbled. "That's really smart Laxus. We'll talk to her tomorrow morning. She would hate being bothered this late for somethingthat isn't urgent. Er. I mean. If she isn't in the infirmary when we have to drop you off" Freed responded.

"Infirmary?" The blond asked. "Yeah. You'll have to sleep there one last time. I'm so sorry. I mean you'll have to go to guild to tell them anyway and clear your stuff out and if you tell them tonight they'll bother you all night. It will also give me time to write up a statement" Freed explained. 

"Angel of mine" he said. His tone was half between being amused and disappointed. 

Angel. It was a nickname Evergreen came up with years ago. She had decided that if Laxus was a God that made the Thunder Legion angels. 

"I couldn't sit in a different room of the same building long enough for you to make dinner. I think I lasted eight minutes. What makes you think I'll be able to stay in the infirmary all night?" Laxus asked.

Freed's eyes snapped open. "Oh" he whispered. That was a lapse of judgement. He hoped Laxus didn't think that he was stupid. "I'll think of something by the time we finish eating" he promised. He felt Laxus nod. 

"Oh um. Ah-" "yes?" Laxus interrupted. "Are we going to have to sleep in the same bed?" He asked, his face in fire. "We've slept in the same bed before" the blond said. "Sure. Out of necessity. On missions" the green-haired man countered.

"Yeah, I get it. It's different now. But probably. That doesn't mean that it's going to be any different. Just sleeping" the dragon slayer admitted. Freed nodded, flustered. 

...

After dinner they walked to the guild together. Laxus told Freed to go gather his things and that he would go speak with his grandfather. Freed was a bit worried that the conversation might lead to violence but he had to have faith in the other man.

Porlyusica had already gone home.

Laxus walked into the master's office.

"Laxus my boy! Where have you been? Not like you to be out all day, I thought you'd want to spend your limited time to the fullest" Makarov said. "Lets just say more sand got loaded into the hourglass" Laxus said.

"What?"

"I've come to an understanding with my soulmate. I'm leaving the infirmary and will schedule an appointment with Porlyusica to talk about my mate sickness tomorrow. I'm not telling you who they are yet and I expect you not to snoop" the younger Dreyar explained.

"But I just want whats best for you" his grandfather said.

"I know. And this privacy is what's best for me. There's already a lot of pressure on this very new relationship" He explained.

The master nodded solemnly. "I won't butt into this" he promised.