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He always needed a few moments to adjust when he entered the building. From the outside it was a weird but appealing mixture of classy and shady. Or perhaps it was just his own odd taste that classified the look of the building as ‘appealing’. Then again, attendances and the overall success of this place entirely spoke for themselves.
The 'Demon’s Cove’ was a damn popular destination for various night-life activities.
Right after setting foot in the main hall there was an influx of effects. He was right there by the dance floor, neon lights of different colors tinting the area and moving along of the beat of the music. It was loud and drumming on his ears and he knew it would only be a matter of time until his hearing would be duller. The music that the DJ was playing right now wasn’t his favorite genre, but it wasn’t horrible either. And really, he didn’t come here for the music or dancing in the first place.
If he thought about it, it was odd enough that a place with so many people and such a boisterous energy had become one of his favorite places to distract himself at and, occasionally, even relax. Huh.
Laxus didn’t linger in the main dancing area for long and instead began to slither through the crowd of people. It wasn’t exactly an easy task for a man of broad stature and with people crowded even on the sidelines, but he was kind of used to it by now and could manage. It still wasn’t comfortable and he didn’t like doing it, but he could handle it better by now. The accidental random touches, dancing bodies, loud and chaotic people.
Yea… it was really odd that he would choose such a place for his free time, voluntarily.
Sweat and alcohol wafted off the people near him and he crinkled his nose at the invasive scent. He would get used to it while being and staying here, and he also fully planned on having the one or other drink for himself.
Once he reached the bar, he immediately spotted the familiar faces that he had come here for. Working here meant busy shifts, a high stress level and exhausting people. And damaged ears, probably, honestly. It meant little free time. That’s why he would often come here on Friday or Saturday evening; to visit some of his friends and catch up on some stuff that happened, have the one or other conversation or just listen while he had his drinks. He was really more of a listener than a talker, really.
“Hey, man!” A tall girl with wavy brown hair strutted towards him, a wide grin on her face.
“Cana, what’s up,” he greeted back casually, lips barely giving away the hint of a grin in return. Cana Alberona. She had been one of his longest friends and they still had a good bond with one another. They had also been through some shitty stuff together… Her alcohol problem had been one thing. She had made quite some progress and usually, logically one might argue that she absolutely shouldn’t be working at a place like this if she wanted to see progress with her addiction. Oddly enough though, working here gave her less time to drink and helped her get a more healthy connection to alcohol. Huh.
Thinking about this kinda stuff gave Laxus the feeling that this night club was some special place for real.
“Been pretty busy.” She handed two shot glasses over to two guys who were laughing loudly before she walked away from behind the bar and towards him instead. They shared a fist-bump and then she brushed some stray strands of thick hair out of her face. Pearls of sweat were on her forehead. “You missed Bixlow, he stopped by here for an hour or so. Said he had some shit to finish until tomorrow so he couldn’t stay long.”
Ah, right. “Yea, told me somethin’ like that, too. I think it was something for his theater performance.”
“Sounds about right,” Cana agreed with a small nod.”Will you go see it?”
“The play?” Laxus raised a brow.
“No, his stripping performance,” she retorted and then elbowed him in a friendly manner when Laxus gave a gruff huff. “Of course I mean the play.”
“I guess.” He would. He just felt like, for some stupid reason, he couldn’t seem all too excited about it. Display of feelings had never been his strong suite anyway.
“He did invite all of us, huh? Anyway, bet it’s gonna be awesome. Should be good entertainment. Bix has a fun taste.”
She definitely had a point. Knowing Bixlow, this wouldn’t be some boring, old-fashioned play. Theater wasn’t exactly his thing but Laxus truly didn’t believe that it was gonna be all too horrible to experience.
Cana’s eyes darted around the hall, then back to the bar and then to Laxus again. Apparently there was more to take care of. “Say hi to Mira, I bet she’s happy to see and talk to you. She’s on the other side of the bar.”
With a bump to his shoulder she left his side to pursue her work.
He didn’t really know the other three bartenders he spotted on this side of the bar and they seemed distracted anyway. He kept walking around the large, round bar until he spotted the familiar head of white hair.
Much like Cana predicted, Mira’s face lit up the second she spotted him. “Laxus,” she practically beamed and waved him over to her after handing two freshly mixed cocktails to a girl and a guy. “I didn’t expect you here tonight.”
She was clearly happy to see him, though, and sometimes Laxus wondered how he had even managed to make solid acquaintances or even friends, and such great ones, too. “Yea, had some stuff to take care of,” he explained curtly once he stood in front of her with the bar counter between the two of them. He didn’t have to shout here at least, and the neon lights didn’t reach this area as strongly. All in all the bar was definitely the more complacent area.
“I see,” she replied and the smile didn’t leave her face. “So, what can I get you to drink?”
“I take the usual.”
“The usual it is. And it’s good to see you,” Mira added swiftly and then proceeded to prepare his drink.
Mirajane Strauss. She was a romantic and a dreamer… and an aspiring singer. Her voice really was something. But the rational part of her had made sure that she had a secure income, so she finished an education first and had now been working at the Demon’s Cove for a year.
Somewhere in the crowd he saw Cana slithering through the people with a tray in her hand and it was so much more skillful than what he would ever be able to do in that regard. Hibiki as well as Eve and Ren and Jenny seemed to be off duty today. And…
“Loke not here today or is he turning innocent people’s heads again?”
Loke was probably the biggest flirt he knew and for a long time he just hadn’t been able to become comfortable with the ginger. Laxus had learned that he was actually a genuinely good guy, but they would never become best friends, he didn’t think.
Mira seemingly hadn’t heard him and when he turned his head back towards her she was talking to another customer. His drink was almost ready, though.
Then the next moment happened and if Laxus was to give that very moment a title, then it would get the title 'doom’. How very fitting, wasn’t it? He was in the Demon’s Cove, after all.
A new guy walked into the picture and his presence immediately caught Laxus’ attention. Not very subtly, too. For this entire moment, he found himself unable to rip his orange gaze off this other man. His brain turned off, all noise disappeared into the background. He had never been a fan of clichés and sappy shit… and he had never thought that he of all people would become victim of such a cliché moment. Him. Laxus Dreyar. Staring like some teenage boy.
The moment was over and Laxus blinked once before his expression instantly turned into a frown. Thick but defined eyebrows drew together and he looked over towards Mirajane who was thankfully handing him the drink now. He noticed that he wanted to catch another glimpse of the other bartender again.
He thought he was in full control of himself again and absolutely didn’t notice Mira’s sneaky, knowing smile.
“So…,” Laxus began, making his best effort to sound as disinterested and casual as possible. “Who’s your new Incubus, huh?”
Mira chuckled at that and he really didn’t understand what was so funny now. Deciding that she had a moment, she rested her elbows on the counter and leaned in a bit so Laxus could hear her better. “Oh? Do you mean him?”
She nodded towards the man and he just knew that she wanted him to look at him again. Thus, he just grumbled and made a vague, annoyed gesture with his hand. “Yea, Yea. Him.”
“That’s Freed.” At least she was really answering now, without more teasing. “Loke will be busy with some traveling for two weeks, so Freed will help us out during that time. He has worked at a bar before and,” She paused. For a split-second there was a spark in her blue eyes. “He’s quite popular among our customers.”
“Uh-huh.”
Laxus wasn’t sure what else to answer. He wasn’t dumb and not oblivious (most of the time) but he had now noticed the little change in Mirajane’s behavior and he knew exactly what she was doing.
The thing is, she was right to do so. Because apparently he was already feeling some kind of interest towards that guy, Freed, without even knowing him.
And when he dared to look over a second time, just a quick once-over, he noticed the group of three women practically hanging on his every word. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about and he couldn’t be sure if that absolutely charming, smirky-like smile on the man’s face was real or fake, but… Damn.
It made him feel things and he didn’t exactly like it.
Before he could think twice he had already downed half of his drink. It was great but his mind was suddenly too occupied to really enjoy its taste.
“Do you want me to introduce you to him?” Mira rested her chin on her folded hands.
He absolutely didn’t like her look and his frown only deepened. He knew he would have to be careful what to say if he didn’t want to catapult himself deeper into this situation and Mirajane’s possible teasing, so all he did was to glare at her.
Of course it didn’t faze her. At all. But he still felt good doing it.
It quickly turned out that 'doom’ had been a fitting title for that moment, though, and Laxus was… conflicted. Because suddenly, Freed was near by.
When had he left the bar? When had he walked towards him? Shit, he’d been too occupied with Mira and now she got what she wanted anyway.
Or maybe he wanted this too?
Fuck.
Either way, it didn’t look like Freed actually wanted to walk towards him. He was just about to walk past him when Mira beckoned him to stop.
“Freed, wait a second!”
The addressed man turned his head towards Mira’s shouting voice and blinked once. Then his gaze landed on Laxus for a brief moment and he demonstratively looked away and grabbed his drink.
Wow, very mature.
“That’s Laxus, a good friend of mine,” Mira started to introduce and smiled. Laxus wanted to curse her right then.
Freed’s attention was back on him again and he stubbornly took another sip of his drink. It didn’t seem to unnerve the bartender.
“Laxus? Well then, it’s nice to meet you. Mirajane has told me a lot about you.” His voice was deep and smooth. It was nice to listen to and Laxus almost hadn’t heard the second part. Almost.
He threw a small glare at his friend. Told him about him? Did she now?
But much as expected, Mira only smiled.
And Freed was still waiting for a response.
“Uh, yea. Nice to meet you, too.”
He was half tempted to ask what Mira had told him but then decided that he probably didn’t really want to know.
Freed was just acknowledging that with a nod and a smile and apparently he was ready to pursue his work again when suddenly somebody bumped into Laxus from behind. The impact was so hard that he stumbled forward against Freed and… spilled the rest of his drink on his white dress shirt.
“What the hell?!” Mira’s eyes had gone wide and Freed jumped back in surprise. There was a lot going on in that scene. Somebody was frantically apologizing and then disappearing into the crowd, Freed was cursing under his breath for a moment and Laxus was cursing as well. With his voice. In his mind. He wanted to curse everything. “Fuck!” He shouted and then looked over at the bartender.
After Freed had released his own quick series of cuss words, he was seeming very calm and actually not bothered so much. Perhaps this kind of thing happened often. It didn’t make Laxus feel better for spilling his own fucking drink on the man that worked here, was an acquaintance of Mira and the man he was apparently interested in.
He hadn’t dared to look before, but now he kind of had an excuse. The white-dress shirt was hugging Freed’s body very nicely. The sleeves were rolled up exposing his forearms, he could see arm muscles play under the fabric and overall he looked like a fit and healthy guy. Two buttons were loose. His long, striking hair was tied up into a ponytail and it suited him perfectly. Bangs covered one of his eyes, the other had an intense, light-blue color. There was a mole under it, as well. He was attractive.
That man was hot.
And Laxus probably owed him an apology now. Or did he? Before he even got the chance to say something, Freed was already waving him off.
“It’s fine, don’t worry. It’s not the first time that this happened, after all.” He gave a soft huff as he tugged at his drained shirt but when he looked up there was an assertive, reassuring look in his eye that made Laxus believe that it was fine.
Mira mumbled agreement and Laxus handed over the now empty glass. What a waste.
“I’ll go to the bathroom to wash some of it out and then I’ll be back as fast as possible,” Freed announced and Mirajane didn’t hesitate to give her agreement. He gave both Laxus and Mirajane a nod before already turning around and making his way through the laughing, discussing, drinking, dancing people.
Well, if that wasn’t absolutely shitty.
Doom.
Perhaps he should just go home again.
To Laxus’ surprise there was a small frown on Mira’s face now and he felt a comforting touch of her small hand against his shoulder. “It’s like he said, this happens all the time and it wasn’t your fault.”
With a snort, he was quick to retort and avoid her gaze, “Don’t be ridiculous, I don’t care.”
Mira removed her hand and was suddenly out of his sight. He couldn’t hear her rustle over all the other, much louder sounds so he was more than a little surprised when she popped back up in front of the counter and had a navy blue dress shirt in her hand. She practically forced the clothing into his hand and gave him a firm squeeze. “I have to keep working. Bring this over to the staff bathroom so he can change.”
He looked at the fabric in his hand, then back up. He really wasn’t sure about this. Narrowing his eyes, he studied her face. “You want me to give the shirt to Freed?”
“Yes. It will be more comfortable for him to wear a clean shirt rather than the ruined one, don’t you think?”
Clearly, he couldn’t argue with that logic. Was it coincidence that they had a spare shirt behind the bar? Did they have multiple ones and Freed just didn’t know about it?
One way or another, Laxus knew that he wasn’t going to decline. With a remaining spark of undefined resentment he shifted and was about to make his way to the staff bathroom where Freed would be. Fortunately, he had been there once before so he knew exactly where to go. And his known presence wouldn’t raise any questions as to why he was entering it. Having friends here did have its perks.
Before he was out of earshot, however, Mira threw a couple of final words at him.
“Oh, and he likes guys, by the way.”
Laxus stopped in his movement abruptly. He hadn’t wanted to because that meant Mira would know that he had heard him. Clearly. He refused to turn around, refused to look at her.
But these words undeniably did something to him.
He likes guys…
So entertaining the group of women with his charming smirk had only been part of his job, too, right?
And Mira had introduced him to one another.
He had spilled his drink on the man’s shirt and he was now going to supply him with a dry shirt to change into.
His thoughts were a mess but he was moving again. Hopefully, none of those thoughts would show on his face when he entered.
Admittedly, not much of that hope was left when he joined Freed in the bathroom, explained why he was here and handed the new shirt to him.
Because not only did Freed seem much more content with that solution and thanked him for the piece of clothing, but he also started unbuttoning the wet shirt immediately and slipped out of it, revealing his bare torso, and Laxus discovered that he had been correct about the earlier impression that this man seemed quite fit.
He was doomed.