Love Sick

Chapter Thirteen: Striking Revelations

They decided to stay at Laxus' for at least the night but imagined that they would stay until there was no longera need for content. Freed thought it was only fair as it had been quite a while since Laxus was able to sleep in his owm bed. 

It was also more practical. Being a loner his place was closer to the countryside. Still in town and close enough to the guild but far away enough that it wasn't a popular path and no one would see them together. It was also bigger than Freed's place and he could use the spare bedroom to store his belongings. 

Freed liked Laxus' apartment.

The large plush couch that had an assortment of mismatched pillows. The overstuffed leather armchair that he had 'inherited' or more accurately stole from his father after he had been forced to leave Magnolia. The sleek glass coffee table that was one of the only contribution to the common spaces that Laxus himself made. 

Laxus liked sleek modern minimalism personally but that aesthetic could rub people the wrong way. Freed had once made a comment about how it felt cold and hostile and that he never felt really comfortable while sitting in Laxus' house. Shortly after that things started changing.

Maybe that should have been a sign. 

"A lot cleaner than I expected. Thought I was going to have to evict an entire village of spiders" Laxus said. "I've been cleaning. The cobwebs probably all exist in yoir bedroom" Freed admitted. "You cleaned?" The blond asked. He nodded. "But you didn't clean my room?" He asked.

The rune mage felt embarrassed. He ducked his head to hide his oncoming brush and nodded again. "It felt too personal. I didn't want to intrude" he admitted.

...

The bedroom was not in fact a nightmare. There was a thin layer of dust coating some of the furniture but it wasn't a lot. And it was quick work cleaning before it was acceptable. 

They agreed to stand on opposite sides of the bed and face away from each other as they changed. Freed did get dressed for there outing however brief it may have been after all.

Getting into bed felt a bit awkward. How far away was uncomfortable? How close could they be and it still be acceptable? It all felt odd.

...

Waking up alone was a depressing reality that both men were accustomed to. So of couse when Laxus woke up with a still sleeping Freed besidehim he believed he was still dreaming. 

Freed had been facing him, the pale morning light dancing on his face, green hair spread out like a halo. And one hand outstretched as if it were reaching for him. 

Lazily he reached out and took the hand. Gently he lifted it and placed a tender kiss to the other man's palm. He was ecstatic at the prospect of being able to spend every morning like this. And while he had no problem stealing this quiet morning, he wished he could go make breakfast to make for both of them. He made a mental note to do that in the future when he could.

...

Waking up alone was a depressing reality that both men were accustomed to. So of couse when Freed woke up he was immediately concerned. From the dip in the mattress and the sound of breathing that wasn't his own, he could tell that he wasn't alone even before he was fully awake.

His eyes fluttered open and he saw Laxus. He was sitting up in bed and reading a book. The lightning wizard couldn't be seperated from his soulmate and had to do soemthing to occupy his time while he waited. And the lack of affection - even after the blond realized he was awake- confirmed to him that this was just an arrangement. Not a relationship.

"Look conflicted. What's wrong?" Freed asked sleepily. 

"I um. I just." Laxus was not usually the type of guy to get flustered like this. "Hmm?" Freed's face was still half hidden in the pillow. "I should shower" he admitted. This confused him. "So why don't you?" The green-haired man asked. 

"Have you already forgotten? I don't like distance right now" Laxus admitted. There was a light dusting of pink on his features. "Well I should probably shower too anyway. We've bathed together before. Even outside of missions. It doesn't need to be sexual or an act of intimacy" Freed reasoned. Bathing together... that felt normal. The only normal thing about their strange circumstance. Making that feel odd because of ... developments would hurt.

 "I think I still have some of your bathing products" Laxus said casually. "Good. Otherwise we would be taking a walk to replace it. I refuse to use that shady caveman product that you use for your hair" Freed joked back.

...

After showering and dressing the boys had an awkward simple breakfast and then they headed out. Porlyusica. They needed to speak with her.

They did their best to stick to side roads and not got a lot of unwanted attention. But it made them feel like they were doing something shady, something wrong. It made Freed think that Laxus was embarrassed and that he didn't want to be seen with him.

...

Porlyusica was sweeping outside her house when rhey arrived. "What are you two doing lurking arohnd like some suspicion charactes?!" She scolded. Laxus nearly growled at her.

"I apologize for disturbing you miss but we wanted to speak to you about the changing situation of Laxus' mate sickness" Freed said. Her expression changed drastically. They had her attention now. "The situation changed?" She asked. They both nodded. "Then come in" Porlyusica said. She ushered them into her home where they could continue the discussion.

"So?" She prompted.

"I found my soulmate and... we came to an agreement. He accepted me. Now we'removing forward and I'm incredibly clingy. My instincts keep forcing me to be incredibly close to him and I don't know what to do or how to properly recover from the illness" he explained.

Freed hated how cold and technical his Thunder God sounded. Made it so much more real that this was an arrangement.

In reality, Laxus was speaking so distantly because Porlyusica was almost like a grandmother to him and he didn't want to speak about the details of his relationship to somekme like that.

"Alright then" She said.