Phoenix

Mission: Failed

"Can I go see downstairs now? I'm feeling a lot better."

"You can't even walk down the hallway without falling."

"I have an idea!"

"What would that be--"

Laxus was cut off by Emi jumping onto his back. She hooked her legs around his waist and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck.

"You can carry me!"

"No. Get off."

"No! I wanna see downstairs!"

Sting chuckled as he watched her unmatched energy and happiness. He looked over to her and saw that she was laughing at herself as well.

"Listen brat, I'm not going to--"

"Please? I feel so trapped up here. I just wanna see it. Then I promise I'll come back up and stay here until I feel better."

Laxus sighed before steadying her legs and walking towards the stairs, causing Emi to start cheering. He rolled his eyes as he made his way to the main level. He walked into the kitchen and motioned in front of him.

"See? This is the kitchen. It has a fridge and stove, as well as a sink."

Emi giggled at his bluntness.

"That's a big table," Emi observed.

"Yeah, it kinda came with the house, so I took it. This way we didn't have to buy another one."

"It's great! It means that we can have a bunch of people over."

"Anyway," Laxus said as he didn't acknowledge her statement, "that's all there is to the kitchen."

Emi nodded and continued to scan the room. She heard a small hum, so she leaned her head down next to Laxus's.

"You wanna see the living room?"

Emi enthusiastically nodded before wrapping her arms back around his neck as he started to move. They entered a room with a couple of couches and rocking chairs. There was a wooden coffee table and a beige rug. Emi spotted something in the corner.

"Hey, what's that?"

Laxus turned her around and started to walk out of the living room and showed her the lower level bathroom. Emi kept pushing for Laxus to go back, but he kept walking towards the stairs.

"No! I wanna see what it was," she whined.

"It's for later."

Emi let out a soft "huh?" before she started to squirm. Laxus had a firm grasp on her legs, so she didn't really accomplish anything.

"Fine," Laxus eventually grunted before turning back around and setting her down in front of the large box. "This was supposed to be a housewarming gift or whatever. I figured we could put it in your room."

Emi scanned the box for an indication as to what it was. She found a diagram on the side of the box and gasped.

"A bookcase?!"

Laxus rolled his eyes before explaining that there was a bookstore in town and that she would need somewhere to put all her books because she, as Laxus said before, "lived in books."

"This is the best present ever! Can we build it now?" Emi excitedly questioned.

"You're still ill. Maybe later."

Emi sighed and stood up before walking back over to Laxus. She gave the lightning mage a tight hug, making Laxus flinch slightly. She thanked him before walking over to the stairs. He met her there and leaned down so she could jump on his back again. Once they were back upstairs, Emi walked back into her room. Laxus let out a breath and went to go to the bathroom. When he exited the bathroom, he saw a flash of someone running past him holding a blanket and pillow running towards his room. He heard the door shut.

"Hey! Get back to your room!" Laxus yelled as he stomped over to his bedroom.

He went to turn the knob, but he found that the door was locked.

"Get out of my room, brat!"

"No!" Emi yelled from inside. "I like this room better. I'm moving in here."

Laxus's eyes twitched before he continued to bang on the door.

"Fine, I'll let you in," Emi sighed, "but you have to allow me to sleep in here sometimes."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because it's only fair. You have the biggest bedroom, so you should share."

"That makes no sense."

"Yeah it really doesn't," Cana slurred.

Lector waved his paw in the air and stated, "It makes perfect sense, yes."

"Of course you would agree with her," Lucy muttered. "You have the same logic."

"Then I guess it's all mine!" Emi exclaimed before she started to laugh maniacally.

Laxus rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. He made fake steps away from the door so that it would sound like he was walking away. He could hear Emi giggling from inside before she jumped off the bed and cracked the door open to see where he went. As soon as the door opened, Laxus slid his hand into the crack and pushed it open all the way, Emi weakly pushing back to try to close the door. Laxus had successfully opened it all the way and crossed his arms as he stood in the doorway.

"That's so not fair," Emi whined. "You played dirty."

Laxus smirked before commenting, "So did you when you sprinted into my room while I wasn't looking."

Emi pouted before stepping back over to the bed and hopping on it. She pulled her blanket over her and placed her head on the pillow she brought.

"That doesn't mean you can stay here," Laxus irritably stated.

Emi turned around so that she was facing him and smiled weakly before shyly replying, "Well you see, the thing is that I used up a lot of energy to get here and now I can't really move that well..."

"Unbelievable."

"But if you let me stay here, you can cuddle me!" Emi happily chimed in.

Laxus stayed silent before walking over to the bed. Emi cheered to herself.

Sting looked towards Laxus with a deadly look. Laxus just looked at him with a bored expression.

Suddenly, Emi felt herself being lifted off the bed. Laxus carried her out of the room and placed her down on her bed.

"What--"

Laxus gave her a smug look before grabbing her blanket and pillow from his room and dropping them next to her on the bed.

"That's so unfair!"