Work Text:
The posters were already up, large and garish, plastered in bright colours that usually would make Laxus flinch. But not with this. Not now. Pride was special, because Laxus had gone through so much pain and confusion just to accept who he was. It got harder when he met Freed, easier when he fell in love with him, and then they had started a family; now he was a father, a husband, but most of all Laxus was happy . That wasn’t something that he had expected as a teen.
Laxus watched as his son laughed, arm thrown haphazardly around his boyfriend, and wondered for a moment how different his life would have been if he felt able to be this openly out at the age of seventeen. Still, Laxus didn’t regret anything; it made him who he was, brought him and Freed together and allowed them to build a life, no matter how imperfect. It was perfect for them.
“Laxus, I’m off on a job. Should be gone around three days.”
A white slip of paper was thrust in his face, and Laxus blinked slowly in surprise.
“Okay, I’ll tell Freed when I get home.” He took the job information from Freya’s hand, flicking her playfully between the eyes. “And that’s ‘dad’ to you, young lady.”
Freya rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “Whatever, old man.”
She turned to walk away, but paused, giving him a quick hug before joining Morgan, one of her two teammates. The other, Earnest, was sat staring at the pride poster that Laxus had been contemplating. He was relatively new to the guild, only eighteen months now compared to most of this generation who had grown up here. Earnest had lived through more darkness than most, and it showed in moments like this; he looked at the word ‘pride’ bitterly, with an underlining agony that Laxus remembered all too well.
Slowly, he moved to stand behind Earnest.
“You thinking about going?” He tried to make it sound nonchalant, keep his demeanour kind and welcoming, but Laxus wasn’t a fool; he knew that he was intimidating, no matter how hard he tried not to be. Earnest turned sharply, eyes narrowed.
“No. Why would I?”
Laxus sighed.
“Calm down kid.” He ruffled Earnest’s hair, ignoring how he squirmed and wriggled and swore. “I was just asking.”
“Whatever. Just get off.” Earnest huffed, and that should have been that. Laxus should have walked away, left him to figure things out on his own, but he had never been the smartest.
“Being yourself can be difficult, kid, but I’m speaking from experience when I say that it’s always the best thing to do.”
“It’s a good job that I am being myself then.” Earnest snapped, but his eyes were wider, more panicked. He was afraid, but Laxus knew that his family would accept him, and his friends too. Erik was a bastard, but he was a good dad, and Freya herself was gay, even if Morgan wasn’t. It wasn’t like when Laxus was growing up, when nobody was out and even fewer were proud.
“I don’t doubt that,” Laxus tried, “But if you ever need to talk-”
“Why would I wanna speak to an old homo like you?”
Earnest tried to walk away but Laxus grabbed his wrist, eyes flashing a dangerous lightning.
“Careful” He warned, but Earnest was unphased. He had been a member of a dark guild before being forced to join Fairy Tail by his parents; he could hold his own.
With a groan, Laxus let him go.
“You should come to Pride this year.” When Earnest went to argue, Laxus raised his hand to silence him. “Not to participate, to support Freya and Morgan.”
That seemed to work. Earnest swallowed thickly, nodded, and then stalked away. If his gaze landed a little too intensely on another boy in the guild - Akatsuski, two years his elder - then Laxus didn’t comment.
“You’re not as heartless as you pretend to be.” A musical laugh, a smile long and sly and exactly how Laxus remembered from his youth.
“I’ve never been heartless, Mira.”
She laughed again, genuinely this time, and it showed the creases around her eyes more clearly than usual. Still, she was beautiful; even Laxus could appreciate that.
“Nope, you’re just getting soft in old age.” She teased, and Laxus shoved her shoulder.
“Who are ya callin old?”
Her smile softened, and Mirajane placed her hand gently on his arm. “We both are now.”
It was true, but Laxus didn’t mind; the next generation were doing well, and where they struggled the adults were ready to help in any way that they could.
“I think you’d better watch that kid with your boy.” He whispered, and Mirajane’s large blue eyes sparkled.
“Oh I know.” She said. “I think we should watch Akatsuki with him, too.”
Young love. Laxus knew it well, still felt it thrum in his heart whenever he looked at Freed, even after all of these years. He knew that Mirajane had found the same happiness with Erza, and that fact comforted Laxus. All of his friends were content, and that meant that he could be too.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Laxus asked, and Mirajane hummed, low in her throat.
“Probably…” She thought aloud. “And if they’re not, we’ll be there for them.”
“We will.”
Laxus looked at Tosya, laughing with his boyfriend; Freya talking to her friends; Harmony choosing a job. His children, the proof of a life lived and loved. Of course he would be there for them, no matter what.