Hear me

6

Laxus paced his apartment, bored and anxious. He'd finally been released from the infirmary with a clean bill of health, save for the burn scabs on his forearms. The one perk about dragon slayer magic was that he never had to worry about broken bones or torn muscles for more than a week, and his ribs had only been bruised, luckily.

Not that he felt any better. Physically, he was as solid as ever, but the memory of Natsumi's face as she stormed out of the infirmary claiming he didn't know anything about love stuck with him, taunted him. He hadn't wanted to tell her about his feelings at all, and he'd known she probably wouldn't react well, but the actuality of it was still jarring and it fucking hurt. She didn't believe him or didn't want to, and he couldn't think of many other things that sucked more.

A knock at the door interrupted his pacing. He wanted to ignore it, not wanting to bother with anyone today, but it persisted.

"We know you're in there, Laxus. Open the door, please," Freed's muffled voice called through the door.

When he still made no move to answer, Freed sighed. "I guess we'll have to take this job request to Oak Town on our own. More than a week tracking a dark guild convoy through the quiet, secluded mountains."

Laxus glared at the door as Bickslow's dolls chanted about mountains.

"Oh well. We tried," Freed continued, his voice light. "Evergreen, when did Natsumi's job request say she'd be due back?"

Those bastards. He knew what they were trying to do, and it was pissing him off. What was worse, it was actually a good idea, but hell if he'd tell them that.

"Why, Freed, she should be back any day now," Evergreen said, sounding like she was trying to hold in her laugher. "She's only left to Hargeon yesterday, so odds are she won't take more than a few days. I wouldn't be surprised if she came barging into the guild this afternoon."

"That's nice to hear. Perhaps we should all stay and welcome her back?"

Laxus threw open the door and snatched the job request from Freed's already outstretched hands. He chose to ignore the Thunder Legion's collectively smug look as he skimmed the flyer. Sure enough, Freed was right. It paid well and it would guarantee to put them on the opposite side of the country from Natsumi for at least a week. Maybe by then, he'd have his shit figured out.

"Fine. Let me pack." He slammed the door in their faces. After that stunt, he'd be damned if he let them in his house. They could stay in the hall and giggle like schoolgirls for all he cared. All he could think about was how he'd managed an escape from dealing with Natsumi for a little while longer.

An hour later, he was on the train, miserably sitting between Evergreen and the window and trying to ignore Bickslow's attempts to get him to talk through his nausea.

"This is what it's all about, guys. Just us, the open road, and the imminent ass kicking we're going to give those bastards," the knight chattered, leaning back in his seat across from Laxus.

"Bastards!" his dolls screeched from his lap, and Laxus felt his head pound with his rising temper.

"Put those fucking things away before I make you," he growled, scrunching his eyes up to combat his growing nausea.

The seith mage wasn't impressed. "No need to take your shitty mood out on the babies. It's not their fault you got rejec-"

"Bickslow!" Evergreen barked with an evil look at Bickslow.

Laxus would've punched him for a crack like that if he felt better. Instead, he just slid his sound pods on and cranked up the volume of his music to a deafening level. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive the ride if they were going to harp on him like this. Even if he felt like talking, it's not like he'd have anything to say for himself. Mira and Lucy were right about everything they'd said. He'd screwed up.