Broken Mage

The Truth

Laxus woke up with a jolt, sleepy eyes looked around the darkroom. The sun had set a long time ago. Laxus rubbed his face tiredly, he was only going to take a short nap, but he woke up at night time instead. He was planning on visiting Lucy's apartment in the afternoon, to get his coat and to have a little chat, but it was night time already. Had she fallen asleep? He wondered.

Well, since he was going to the guild anyway, might as well just try and knock on her door, he thought, standing up from the bed to get changed. Laxus trudged to the bathroom and washed the sleep away from his face. He felt shitty like he had risen from the dead. Taking naps too long was never a good idea for him. He needed booze.

It was a cold night. Unusually colder. Seeing as he didn't have his go-to coat at the moment, Laxus rummaged through his wardrobe and found a green bomber jacket that he never used. He put it over his shirt and went out. Laxus breathed in his clasped hands and stuffed them to his pockets as he was strolling on the streets of Magnolia, heading to Lucy's apartment.

When he got in front of Lucy's place, the street was quiet, it was nearly midnight, Laxus was worried about bothering her this late. He looked up at her window, the room was already dark. She might be tired after her mission, he would be a bother if he came just because of his coat, at least that was what he thought if he was in her place. Laxus hated being disturbed, especially when he was tired.

With one look at her window, Laxus turned and took off. He didn't want to bother her. Kicking the pebbles in the way, the blonde dragon slayer walked towards the direction of the guild. As he was nearing the guild, Laxus caught a distinct sweet scent. He walked up to the guild and opened the door straight away, only to be greeted by the sight of Lucy being half-conscious, arms slung over Mira's neck, obviously drunk.

Mira saw Laxus at the door and got an idea. She skillfully posed to be struggling at carrying Lucy, hunched over, as if she couldn't handle Lucy's weight. Mira smiled mischievously before looking up at Laxus, eyes pleading.

'Laxus, could you--?' Mira purposely cut off her sentence to false struggling carrying Lucy again, which made Laxus came up to her in a flash, shifting most of Lucy's weight to him.

Mira smirked. Success, now phase two.

'Get her home, will you? I've still got chores.' She smiled sweetly and bolted out to the kitchen in a flash, leaving Laxus who was holding the half-conscious blonde mage to his chest, agape.

Well this is just great. Why did he have to deal with Drunk Lucy again? Laxus was baffled, he didn't want to stick being the drunksitter. It was a pain, remembering how handful Lucy was the last time. This was his second time seeing the blonde celestial mage wasted like this. It also looked like she was drunker than the first time, seeing as she didn't act hyperactive like before. Was drinking actually her thing? But he hadn't seen her at the bar before. True, he always goes on long missions but when he was at Magnolia he always at the bar.

Could it have something to do with her crying a couple of days ago? His memories flashed back to when he saw that vulnerable, pain-stricken eyes. Truth be told, he was a little worried about her. It seemed that her friends didn't know about her state, too. That meant she has been going through it alone. Laxus stared at the blonde leaning on his chest, her face was scrunched like something bothered her deeply.

Laxus was about to call Mira when a soft snore caught his attention. Lucy had fallen asleep, her face loosened though she still looked bothered. Staring at her limp body leaning against him, he noticed Lucy's slight shiver. There she goes again not wearing warm clothes. Laxus sighed, it seemed he was going to lose his jacket, yet again. He gently shrugged off his jacket, shifting Lucy from one arm to the other and put it around her. Then, he picked her up carefully so that he didn't wake her. Lucy shifted when he brought her up to his arms, instinctively snuggled closer as if wanted more of his warmth.