A pack of dragons among the fairies

Chapter 6

Natsu looked at the dragon slayer in front of him, he was older and bigger than him. Smiling Natsu sited next to him, if he didn't growl at him for trespassing on his territory then it must be okay to stay.

"Yes! You're the first dragon slayer I met! Thanks for the thing!" Natsu said pointing to the headphones.

Laxus looked at Natsu a little surprised by the child's happy attitude, not really used to it. Even if he hung out with the other kids sometimes, the way children could act or be was weird for him. They were so happy and innocent all the time.

"Yeah, you're welcome just be careful with it." The lighting wizard warned seeing how dynamic the kid was. "Uh, you're the first dragon slayer I met too," he added.

"Of course!" Natsu said after he carefully put the headphones next to him.

Now that he was close to the other dragon slayer Natsu could tell that he had no dragon's smell on him. But the kid was sure of him, the blond was a dragon slayer just like him. Perhaps his dragon left for too long and the smell faded away.

"Where is your dad? Did he disappear too?" Natsu asked innocently not noticing how strained the other wizard was.

Laxus tensed when he heard Natsu's question. Why would the kid ask that? Whatever the reason was it seemed that he understood that it was a bad idea to ask, seeing the younger's face.

"Gone after giving me Dragon slayer magic."

The lighting wizard sighed after pushing away the thoughts about his old man, thinking about that was useless. The kid didn't need to know more about this story, he was too young and Laxus didn't want to talk about Ivan at all.

"Igneel disappeared too but it's not like him to be gone like that...I'm looking for him but I can't find him...It's like he vanished in the air, he's nowhere..."

Laxus looked at the boy in front of him with empathy, now he understood why Makarov recruited Natsu. He was just a kid searching for his parent. All alone in nature how could he survive?

"How does your dad look like? Maybe I can look for him in my missions."

Natsu's face was all Laxus needed to smile a little, the kid looked so happy when he said that. As he started to describe his father Laxus was getting more and more confused, clearly Natsu wasn't talking about a human.

"Natsu what kind of species is your father from?"

"Oh, dad is a dragon! Isn't your's too?" Natsu asked like it was a normal thing people could ask.

"No!"

Natsu frowned as he didn't understand how Laxus got his magic if his dad wasn't a dragon, perhaps there was another way. He vaguely remembered his dad speaking about special rocks that could give you dragon's magic, but wasn't it dangerous?

"I learned alone how to use this magic, nobody teaches me, especially not my father. I got it from a special lacrima not from a dragon, like you." Laxus clarified.

Natsu looked at the other a little worried, Igneel told him those rocks were dangerous and unpredictable. Laxus must be really strong to keep one in him like that! The little dragon slayer was also amazed that he managed to learn and master his magic alone, even with Igneel's help Natsu was still struggling.

"Wow, you must be really strong then!"

The two dragon slayers talked until dusk, this day. Natsu explained what he learned to Laxus while the other was mainly listening, not speaking a lot. But that seemed to be more than enough for Natsu who climbed on the lightning wizard for a hug. Natsu laughed at Laxus's face, clearly, the older wizard didn't know how to react to this kind of affection and it was funny for the little dragon slayer.

As the day was going, Laxus felt the emptiness that was devouring him disappeared. He didn't understand why Natsu was the one able to ease his pain but he didn't really care. All that mattered to him was that the crazy feeling was gone.

Natsu was as happy as he could, Igneel may had disappear for now but he wasn't alone anymore. He found someone to start a new pack and he was strong. He could teach him more about his magic!
Clinging on Laxus's shoulders Natsu was quietly falling asleep while the blond was taking him back to the guild since it was getting dark and the young wizard didn't know the neighborhood. Laxus was smiling too like the emptiness was gone he was feeling a lot better.

*****

A few months had passed since Natsu joined Fairy Tail. He was now adapted to the guild ambiance and didn't need Laxus's headphones anymore.
In fact, he was one the loudest member with his constant fights with Gray. The two of them were driving Erza crazy with their fights. Sometimes Laxus found them worst than Mirajane and Erza who were already something to handle when they were fighting.

Makarov was glad that the kid was fully adapted to life at Fairy Tail. He and Polyussica were afraid that he might not be able to do so since he lived all his life in the wild, before. But curiously the kid was doing and going well. No violent behavior, no problem with the potential territory since he had been raised as a dragon, and no problem with his behavior with people. Natsu was a bit clingy and cuddly but nothing more.

What Makarov and the other wizards of the guild didn't notice was that Natsu was doing better thanks to Laxus's help. Dragons and dragon slayers needed the presence and affection of a pack to stay sane. Even if he didn't know anything about this Laxus was one of the biggest factors in Natsu's new behavior.

Natsu helped Laxus too, thanks to him the older dragon slayer was more present at the guild and more peaceful. His teammates noticed that and were happy for their friend, he wasn't good with human relationships but that was just how he was. At least now he was feeling better.

Both of the dragon slayers had their own team. Laxus worked with the thunder tribe while Natsu usually go on missions with Lisanna or Macao sometimes. Even if he liked Natsu's company, Laxus liked how things were with his team. Babysit Natsu all day wasn't something the dragon slayer wanted.

Usually, after their missions, the two of them were meeting at the lake where Laxus used to spend his time alone. Natsu was always cuddlier after a mission and Laxus appeared to be his favorite "cuddles buddy" as Bixlow said.

The thunder tribe apparently found Natsu's behavior funny, especially since it was impacting Laxus's. Without anyone understanding anything Laxus became very protective of the young dragon slayer. Freed supposed it was because of the dragon instinct, the oldest taking care of the youngest.

At first, Laxus tried to fight it but he eventually gave up when he noticed it was pointless. Once when Natsu fell sick, he took him to his home and took care of the young boy as much as he could. Bixlow and Evergreen found it pretty funny and took pleasure to take pictures of him trying to help Natsu while Freed was helping his friend to take care of the kid. Clearly, Laxus had no idea how to take care of a sick person.
Erza came three days after to take Natsu back to the guild and their lives went back to how they were.

Natsu was a hopelessly overjoyed kid, always finding troubles or weird things to do and bringing the other kids into it. Like when he found a freaking dragon egg! Laxus almost choked on himself when he brought it to the guild. Just how in the hell did he find an egg of a dead species? This idiot wanted to burn it to make it hatch faster.

Then he lost the egg.

He came back almost crying to Laxus with Lisana on his side. Both of the kids were really upset and worried about the damn egg. Honestly, Laxus didn't believe for one second it was a dragon egg or even cared about it, but seeing Natsu's face he helped them.

In the end, Elfman was the egg thief and after Natsu's little burst of anger, the white-haired kid explain he just wanted to take care of it as well. Laxus sighed as he was surrounded by idiots. It also turned out that the egg wasn't a dragon egg but a winged blue cat one. Weird.
Natsu named it Happy and the cat became his best friend and mission partner.

Times went fast and after a few years, Natsu and Happy became a good team, even if they destroyed and caused a lot of mess. But even if he had grown up Natsu still liked spending time alone with Laxus at the lake. The S class wizard was spending less time at the guild but they kept their little meeting like when they were kids.