Phoenix

Flynn and Ryder

Emi wandered into the living room and gently kicked Laxus's foot, waking him from his nap on the couch.

"What?" Laxus groggily asked.

"I need your help reaching the glass dish to make the meatloaf."

The dragon slayer yawned and followed Emi to the kitchen. He stood in front of the oven and reached to open the cabinet. After seeing that the pan was on the top shelf of the cabinet he scoffed.

"Why do we keep putting it up there?"

Emi shrugged and laughed as she watched Laxus standing on his toes trying to reach the pan. He sighed when he realized he couldn't reach it and turned towards Emi and bent down. She crawled on his back and Laxus stood up straight. She shifted so that she was sitting on one of his shoulders with her legs hanging off towards his chest. She leaned up and grabbed the glass dish before giving Laxus the thumbs up.

"Got it!"

Laxus hummed and caught her as she jumped from his shoulder into his arms and then hopped onto the floor.

"We need to remember to not put it up there."

Emi laughed before pushing Laxus out of the way of the oven. She called Laxus in once she finished cooking and brought the meatloaf over to the table. He stared at it intently for a few moments before sighing and taking a small bite. He glared at her when his throat started to burn.

"Oops."

He rolled his eyes and reached above the fridge for some bread. He tossed her a piece and sat back down.

"You're unbelievable."

"I swear I don't know why I do it. Or how."

-------------------------------------------------

"So I've been reading up on that curse you have," Emi informed.

"Uh, you know that there's not really a curse like that, don't you?"

"Actually, there is. It's called the Juliet Curse. It's not the exact same this as whatever shit you made up, but it's pretty close. A book I found said that someone with the curse would be eternally tortured if they kissed another's true love three times."

"That's what I said it was," Laxus defended.

Emi rolled her eyes and tossed the book into his lap.

"So that means that if you actually kept your story straight," Emi cheekily stated, "I might've actually believed you."

Laxus blushed lightly before asking, "So this is like an actual, real thing?"

Emi giggled and said that history books don't lie. Laxus started at the pages and flipped through them quickly.

"How do you know if you're cursed?"

"You would've been told directly," Emi explained as she sat down next to him. "It happens when a malevolent witch feels betrayed by the head of a family. They put the curse on their children and then try to tempt them to give into the curse throughout their lives."

"Interesting."

"So unless your dad or grandfather pissed off some evil wizard, I think you're fine," she teased.

——————————

"What's that?"

"Weather lacrima."