Love Sick

Chapter Twenty-One: Charged Intentions

When Laxus walked back downstairs Freed was still waiting for him. He was propped up against the counter and holding a water bottle. There was a second bottle on the counter beside him. 

"Ready?" Freed asked as he stretched out. "Not really but you'll drag me out" Laxus grumbled. Freed's answering giggle was absolutely magical to him. He could die a happy man. The rune mage walked up into the taller man's space and pressed the second bottle to the other's chest. 

"I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not exactly in a position to drag you" he said cheekily. He was much smaller than the dragon slayer after all. "And I don't know if you've noticed but you are" the blond said. Laxus would always let Freed drag him around and pull or push him.

Freed flushed.

"I think we should get going. I don't want to waste daylight" the green-haired man said as he took a couple steps back. Laxus dutifully followed him to the door but paused at the threshold as he sniffed at the air. "What?" The pale man asked as he stood on the front steps. "It smells like it's going to rain he admitted. "Seriously?" Freed asked.

He walked into the middle of the empty street and through his hands in the air as if to say 'look around'. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. "It's beautiful out. No way is it going to rain!"

And as if nature's only goal was prove him wrong, it started pouring. Absolutely drenching Freed in less than a minute. As an upset Freed made eye contact with his Thunder God, lightning appeared in the distance.

"That wasn't me" Laxus immediately said.

Freed growled and marched back inside the apartment. "Go shower and change into fresh clothes. I'll brew that tea you like" The dragon slayer said. He nodded and then disappeared upstairs.

...

"And you swear you didn't cause a storm just to get out of jogging?" Freed said as he accepted the mug from his soulmate. The lightning wizard just smiled and took a sip of his own drink, coffee of course. "I did not cause this storm" he said. It was still pretty bad outside, the rain pounding on the windows. 

...

They snuggled up on the couch together with a thick blanket thrown over their laps, both drinking their warm drinks. Freed was pressed up against the dragon slayer while the blond threw his arm over the smaller man. Freed was reading an old book with yellowing pages. 

More accurately he was staring at the words blankly as he was too distracted to read. There were too many thoughts in his head. "I'm sure the guild's really worried about you. Being told that you're fine, that you don't need to be the infirmary and that they don't need to worry about it." Freed spoke up. 

Laxus looked up from his journal. "Maybe it's good to have boundaries" he countered. "I mean I guess. But I can't imagine how frustrating that must be" Freed responded. If he had been looking at the broader man than he would have seen the way his jaw tensed like it always did when he was upset.

"Let them be frustrated then. None of them have the right to just peek into my life whenever they want!" The youngest Dreyar argued. Freed looked up at that. A part of him wanted to stand down and comfort his Thunder God but that was not the part that won. "So this is just your life is it? What about me or my life? My autonomy? Or did I sign that away to become some pretty bauble for you" Freed argued back.

"I have been under a microscope for the public eye since I was born Justine" the use of his last name stung. "So excuse me if I wanted to enjoy something in private for once, just for a little while before it gets picked apart by vultures" He was still angry but he had deflated a little, like he was tired of fighting. 

"But the guild..." he wanted to say that they weren't like that but his words turned to ash in his mouth. Laxus looked so defeated and so world weary.

It scared him a little bit.

"We should get prepared to sleep down here tonight. Storm's gonna get worse and it won't be safe upstairs" Laxus said and he removed himself from his soulmate and stood up. He was clearly very upset from the arguement. The exchange had hurt the two men. 

Freed nodded absently but still didn't move to act for a couple more minutes.

...

They had protected all the windows and double checked that the kitchen was well stocked despitethe act being pointless. It wasn't like they could currently go outand buy things with the weather as it was.

And then they had moved their mattress downstairs alongside an assortment of pillows and blankets. It almost resembled a nest. 

The 'nest' was close to the kitchen and nestled up against the stairs as it was fair enough from the windows in case of broken glass.

As Laxus finished up some preparations Freed wondered if the storm really was natural. He no longer suspected Laxus but that didn't mea  that the current weather wasn't caused by magical means. The blond filled numerous containers with tap water in case they lost access to water during the storm. 

Obviously they were well prepared as survivalists because of their profession. "I wonder how the rest of Magnolia is handling this" the green-haired man said idly. He had mostl speaking to himself so he hadn't expected an answer. "Fairy Tail's taking care of them. Either offering them shelter in the Guild Hall or ferrying them out of the storm" Laxus said with absolute certainty. That comforted the rune mage. 

The storm would pass, they would get through it.