Green Envy in Blue Pegasus

Chapter 1

A/N: With the new gaiden, "Great Flash of Lightning," and some prompting from the Tumblr community, I decided to write this.

For people unfamiliar with English, we have the saying "to be green with envy." That's what the title refers to, as well as a reference to Freed's green hair.

Inspiration: wildrhov.tumblr.com/post/144401771904/this-is-what-i-want

It was easier in Fairy Tail. People only approached Laxus to either scold him or fight him. Flirting was rare in the guild, besides Juvia chasing after Gray. Certainly, no one flirted with Laxus Dreyar. When a newcomer did flirt, his cold demeanor usually convinced them to give up. Once when a girl became persistent, he simply gathered up the Raijinshuu and left on a mission for two months. By the time he returned, the girl had given up and had a boyfriend.

It was easier to hide the fact that he was gay.

It was not that he felt he needed to hide it, certainly not out of shame. Still, his grandfather expected great-grandchildren, and Laxus sometimes felt bad hearing him talk about it. He was not about to sleep with a girl just to perpetuate the Dreyar family line. It would end with him, he was fine with that—the family seemed to curse any women who married into it, anyway—but he felt bad for Makarov. It was probably better to let the old geezer die still hopeful and come out afterward, rather than have him die disappointed. The one thing Laxus always wanted was his family's approval.

So he hid that men attracted him, he teased about the idea of taking women—he had even once promised to help Fairy Tail with Phantom Lord if Lucy would be his woman, knowing full well that was something that would piss off Mira; two birds with one stone—and he focused on training, getting stronger, rather than being distracted with love.

Or so he told himself.

What he really wanted was to train with Freed.

Shit, Freed! The day that boy walked into the guild, Laxus lost his heart. He had already decided by that age that he should not let Makarov know about his lack of interest in women, so he played it cool. He watched from afar, staring at the gleam of his green hair, the shyness, how awkward he was around women...

He began to hope that maybe Freed was the same as him.

He tried to talk to Freed. He supposed that rare bit of interest was noticeable, and that was why Makarov asked Freed to watch over Laxus. He was soon joined by some old friends, Evergreen and Bickslow. Laxus was amiable around all of them, but Freed was his biggest interest.

Damn, he was perfection! The way he moved, the way he fought, his clothes, his hair, even the way he cooked and how he ate. Freed did not talk about his past much, but Laxus guessed he had to be rich, maybe a minor noble.

Laxus had still been trying to figure out how to approach the subject of sexual orientation when the guild had a visitor from Blue Pegasus named Eve, some sort of exchange program they attempted every few years. The man was young, insanely gorgeous, and he flirted with anyone, regardless of gender. Rumors began to fly in just two days. Gray said the man propositioned him, and Cana admitted she slept with him.

Then Laxus saw the gigolo flirting with Freed. Worse, Freed seemed to be flirting back.

It stung. To see Freed giving those eyes to another man burned at Laxus' heart. He could not fight the exchange student, so he did the next best thing. Same as always, he gathered the Raijinshuu and left on a mission. He yanked Freed away from that man's clutches out of pure jealousy.

Freed noticed that time too.

"What is it?" he asked Laxus late at night, two days into their mission, long after Bickslow and Evergreen were asleep and it was just the two of them sipping wine as they watched the moon. "You sometimes leave so hurriedly, and none of us can figure out why. Was it a fight with Makarov?"

"No," he muttered.

"I figured not, although that was Bickslow's guess. Evergreen says it's usually a girl. I think it's different. Maybe girls are part of the problem, but I think your problem is another gender."

Laxus stiffened, and his eyes raised sharply. He knew!

Freed had a mild smile. "You're like me, aren't you?"

Laxus had no idea if he should answer or not. His heart was racing faster than it ever had in his life.

"Gender doesn't matter, but sometimes one is a bit more of a preference over the other."

That wasn't quite it, but he supposed with how much he boasted falsely about women, anyone would get that impression.

"So," Laxus said hesitantly. "You ... you're bi?"

"I consider myself pansexual, but slightly more homoromantic. Women typically want romance, and I'm not good with that, not around them at least. I've never had a girlfriend."

"Any boyfriends?" Laxus asked gruffly, feeling slight jealousy again.

"A few in the past," Freed admitted with a shrug. "Nothing serious. You?"

Laxus blushed and shook his head. "Never dated."

"At all? Not even girls?"

"I'm not interested in girls."

"You're not?" Freed cried out. "But you often—"

"I lie, okay," he snapped. "I lie so the old geezer doesn't find out his only grandson is gay."

"Rather convincingly," Freed muttered with a pout. "I thought I had you figured out. Guess not."

Laxus jolted in a panic. "I ... I didn't mean to lie to you guys."

"It's not really lying," Freed said with a shrug. "It's a subject that simply never came up. Relationships and sex should never interfere with our team. That's one of the rules."

"Rules?" asked Laxus. He knew Freed was strict about rules.

"We have a few among ourselves," Freed explained, sipping his wine. "Don't pry into one another's past without invitation, don't flirt with each other, the team comes before boyfriends and girlfriends..."

"Don't flirt?" Laxus questioned.

Freed had a slight smile. "I guess you didn't realize how much Evergreen was flirting with you in the beginning."

Laxus thought back to when their team first formed. All three of them had been enthusiastic about being on his team, but he did not recall any flirting.

"It was distracting her focus. She was so obsessed with watching you fight, she ended up not seeing an enemy and got injured. We realized that romance within the team was disastrous, so we made that a rule. No flirting, and no relationships between team members. That also means you can't flirt with her ... although I guess that's not a problem."

"What about with you?"

It blurted out before he could even think, and instantly Laxus regretted it. His fists clenched to hold back internal screaming that he actually came out and said it.

Freed arched a cautious eyebrow at him. "Obviously, it applies to all members."

"Of course it does," he said loudly. "Just making sure. So, you and Bickslow can't flirt with me. Good to know that."

"Bickslow's straight, in case you're curious," Freed mumbled, still staring suspiciously. "Laxus ... are you—"

Laxus suddenly stood up. "I've drunk a lot of wine. Gotta take a leak." He stomped off, leaving Freed to eye his back.

If these were some of Freed's rules, they were absolute. He knew how strict Freed was about these things. It meant that, so long as the team existed, the two of them could not be together.

That absolute rule made Laxus clench his teeth and want to cry.