Archive of Our Own ^beta

And those words, immediately, brought the atypical lifting of the man's lips back down as his face turned more into a scowl and the man found himself asking, "What do you mean? 'Like that'?"

"I mean," Mirajane said with a bright grin as she lingered for a moment before the man's table, a tray of empty mugs balanced on one hand while the other reached out to ghost just over his scarred eye,"that I like how soft and genuine it looks. When you smile like that?"

Snorting, Laxus remarked, "What's there to smile about? Huh? Sitting in this dusty old place?"

"Well, I dunno," Mira remarked, glancing around the hall in question, fighting herself to not take offense to the implication that building she worked so hard to maintain might be viewed as dusty. Still, eyes alight, she insisted, "Must be something."

"Hardly," he retorted and, as she continued on with a bit of a shrug, the man only took to hunching up his own shoulders and glared down, instead, into his beer.

Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow, who'd been uncomfortably observing this interaction as they sat at the table in silent contemplation. It wasn't exactly unknown, the fact the demon and slayer was something of friends, but it was odd, to say the least, to see the two of them do more than trade general conversation. The slight grin on the man's face hadn't been lost of them either, Bickslow having assumed it was for the humorous aside he was conveying so well while Freed thought it was due to the adventure the trio had just returned from, framing the story the seith was relaying.

Evergreen however was hardly as slow on the uptake as her male counterparts.

She'd followed Laxus' gaze more than once in the past few months and found it, frequently, glued to the head barmaid. This was hardly anything new for most of the male (and some female) populous of the guild. Though it might pain her to admit it, Evergreen was aware of just how attractive the other woman was and the certain hold she had over others. Surely, there were many beauties in Fairy Tail, but in certain ways, Mirajane seemed to reign supreme.

She checked all the boxes for most of the miscreants that found themselves sporting them emblem desired. She was cute, overly kind, served them cold beer and warm food all while plastering a smile on her face that fooled them just enough into opening their wallets perhaps a bit too much.

Evergreen could dislike the woman in some regards while still admitting her game was nearly flawless.

But Laxus was hardly one of the men to be fooled into the fantastical beginnings of a relationship with the barmaid. He respected her, fine, and seemed to view her as a more worthy ally. And fine, yes, men could be stupid at times, fanciful in ways comparable to women, with ideas of relationships or, well, at least relations.

Men could be stupid.

Most of the time.

She felt something had changed though, recently, and it wasn't readily visible to those who didn't know the man as well as she. Because she did know him well, Laxus. In a way, perhaps, only the two other members of the Thunder Legion could counter.

Evergreen was far from in love with Laxus, at least in the way that mattered most (he wasn't nearly...muscular enough for her, as it were), but she did spend a considerable amount of time hanging on the man's every word and this had more than given her an insight into his psyche.

As the slayer glared down into his ale, she only eyed the woman, across the bar now, refilling mugs and chatting with her sister, seemingly nonchalant over the interaction that had just taken place. Laxus seemed uninterested himself, in mentioning it again that evening, merely finishing one more beer for taking off for the night.

But he'd be back, the next day, something that in times past wouldn't be the case. Laxus was known to hang around the hall very infrequently, just long enough to drink for a night and grab a job to last him for the next few. He was hardly a barfly and mostly seemed to see his presence in the hall as, while more pleasant than in years past, hardly a common occurrence.

He'd changed in that regard as well, the last month or two, and the Thunder Legion was right there with him, drinking and goofing off some, on Bickslow's end at least, as he creeped on some of the women in the guild. All in good fun, he assured Freed, who frequently sighed and buried his head in his hands, when his best friend crossed the line more than once. Ever, however, had split intentions that day, spending the majority of it needling Elfman Strauss into all sorts of knots as he attempted to navigate the impossible conversations she was throwing down, but also keeping an eye out for the man's oldest sister.

Or, at least, as she related to Laxus.

It happened much the same as the other day. Very minimal conversation between the two of them, the demon and slayer, with her delivering him booze the same as she would any other and him replying in well enough satisfaction with the action. It was boring shit, to be honest, and after a few drinks herself, Ever was far more interested in her own romantic entanglements and, through listening to Elfman's droning on about something stupid, she just about missed it, when Laxus and Mira's interaction altered a bit.

"There it is. Back again."

Mirajane was leaning over the table this time, her face nearly in the slayers, and it seemed that this moment was beyond most everyone else, who were distracted by a loud argument Natsu and Gray were getting into on the other side of the bar, but Evergreen caught the woman's words over the commotion.

Laxus was grinning into the barmaid's eyes, his head resting in one of his palms as he seemed unconcerned with the finger the woman was sticking out now, no longer ghosting, but truly tracing over his scarred eye. He shut it, instinctively, and she pressed down harder, zigging and zagging over his flesh.

"When you smile like that," Mira offered as she lifted her finger and he blinked into her own grin, "it almost looks like you're winking at me."

"What do I gotta smile about?" he asked, much as he had the previous day. "Huh?'

Mira wasn't given a chance to answer. At the exact moment she was forming her mouth to, there was a stray, empty mug tossed at her head, thrown by the just drunk enough to miss Gray by a mile Natsu. There was a pause after this, as everyone glanced Mira's way and, though it had been a shock to be hit and would no doubt leave something a lump, the panic that ran through her was more related to all the gazes she and the slayer had in that moment. There had always been something fun about it, flaunting in front of the others something that they didn't know, but now, so close to being outted, Mira looked just as stricken as the rising lump on her head.

Tensing, Laxus was less concerned with that and felt something close to possessiveness as, while Mira more than could hold her own, even against the fucking Salamander, the woman he was not so clearly involved with had just been slighted and he was rather inclined to defend her. But that too felt as if it would be a blatant step in the direction of revealing more than they were willing and as he stood, glaring over at Natsu, it was hard a hard debate, whether or not he should pummel the man into the ground.

Though it seemed to last many, the moment was in fact fleeting and, as Laxus and Mira seemed stuck on what to do next, Evergreen decided, on a whim, to help them out.

"Elfman!" And she slapped at his arm. "Natsu just hurt your sister. What are you going to do about it?"

A lot.

And as the now enraged oaf turned his heavy gaze away from Mira and Laxus and instead onto the guild's favorite fire mage who bucked up immediately at the chance of tangling with his best friend's older brother.

The whole guild joined into the fight, quickly, as Elfman tossed more than a few others out of his way to get at the Salamander and it was all good fun, or at least would be, when the day was looked back on, but it was a full-blown brawl that night. Which was a good thing, for the demon and slayer, the former quickly attempting to calm the tensions in the bar while the latter made his escape, tossing some jewels on the table before leaving quickly through the thick front doors, mostly undetected. Even Bickslow and Freed were caught up, at least momentarily, in scuffles of their own, and Evergreen might have taken time out to either participate or judge, but instead she found herself quickly heading after her idol, only calling out to him only once they were both safely off the Fairy tail grounds, outside the guild's wrought iron gates.

"Yeah?" he grumbled a bit at the sound of his name, turning merely because the voice it belonged to was one of his closest friends. Still, his tone was less than friendly and his cheeks even looked a bit tinted, perhaps rosy from the freezing temps outside (or maybe something else entirely), as he griped, "What do you want?"

Evergreen felt her own cheeks heating up and couldn't quite meet the man's eyes as she wasn't really sure what she wanted to say to him. What had happened back in the bar felt like the final confirmation she needed as to the hidden relationship's actuality. Still, to confront Laxus with it, the man who she so admired and revered, felt odd.

In what was was there any shame in it? Being with the oldest Strauss sibling? Evergreen could think of a few reasons, personally, but she doubted most others would agree with them, and it felt odd to call him out on something that he so clearly wanted to keep private.

And yet…

It was a hard fought thing between the trio of the Thunder Legion, as they attempted to not only win the favor of the man, but also be more in the know about all of the secrecy by which the slayer shielded himself. To know something that the other two didn't, even if she was the only one aware of her insider info, well…

Well…

"A thanks," Evergreen decided to remark, "would be nice."

"A thanks?" Laxus snorted. "What are you talking about?"

"You know…"

"I know what?"

And the man was never known for making things easy on others.

"Just that…I get it." Ever sighed and she was able, finally, to meet the man's eyes as, on some level, she felt they were equals, at least in this very specific thing. "The Strausses are...weird, but… There's something special about them too, I guess. Don't you think?"

At her last word, the woman took to winking, quite heavily and obviously, quite pleased with herself it seemed...until she noticed how strangely Laxus began staring at her.

"Uh," he began, taking a bit of a step back, "do you have something in your eye? Or something?"

"N-No!" Frowning then, she took a step back as she defended, "I was winking. At you. Laxus."

"Why?"

"Because…" And she couldn't tell if it was put on or not, the man's confusion. If he was truly spending time with the eldest Strauss, then it stood to reason he might pick up on her skills at coyness. "I just meant… When you smile a certain way, it kinda looks like you're winking. You can see your whole scar. The lightning. It's nice."

He didn't wink for her. Or smile. Only narrowed his eyes some before taking a step towards the woman and saying, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, Ever. And neither do you. So go back to sniffing around Elfman's drunken ass and I'll forget this ever happened. Alright?"

She wanted to turn back then. Head into the guildhall and do as he said. Drink with the others and pretend all of this had never happened. Save face. Go back to observing, if even that, from afar.

Stop Laxus from potentially being angry with her.

But there was something inside of her that felt like this was an important moment. One that if she let slip away now would never found itself coming back around again. The idea that she had something socially in common with the man, something neither Bickslow nor Freed could boast, yet Laxus was denying her the right to claim it…

"I'm not going to tell anyone, Laxus," she assured the man softly, staring up into his eyes while her own remained round. "At all."

And he was challenged then, at least somewhat, as the woman stood her ground. Usually this would be met with some blowing of his top, but perhaps the demon was having some sort of affect on the man as, after a deep breath, he didn't choose to further argue, but instead be the one to take a step back.

Huffing, Laxus said simply, "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. And I'm headed outta town, so tell the other two that I won't be around for training in the morning. Got that?"

She nodded, Ever did, softly and somewhat sadly as he was forcing it to pass, the moment, whether she consented or not. The slayer turned his back and went to walk on, fluffy coat fluttering in the wind. That would be the end of it, the woman of stone was certain, but just as she reached up tot toy with her glasses and collect herself once more, Laxus did pause.

But just like the scene back inside the bar, it was only for a moment.

With a glance over his shoulder, he did manage to grumble out, "Thank you. Evergreen."

Her chest swelled and she saw stars, but this unfortunately caused her to miss her opportunity to remark anything back to him. By the time she regained the ability, it seemed to have passed her by, with Laxus too far down the street to call out to, headed around a corner now, and maybe it was for the best.

She shouldn't press her luck.

Back inside the bar, the brawl was calming down and while the more injured were looked over by the less, Evergreen found Elfman over by the bar, helping Mirajane ice a growing knot atop her head.

"He got you one good, sis," Elfman grumbled softly, as if he spoke too loudly, surely the fighting would all recommence, "but I sure socked him one just as good."

"Mmm," Mira sighed, distracted it seemed, as she held a baggie of ice to her head, more focused on scanning around the guildhall than anything else. Looking for someone. But he was long gone by now. "I'm sure Natsu didn't mean to, you know, Elfman."

"A real man," her brother retorted, "only does exactly what he means."

"I'm not sure what that means," Mira admitted, but Elfman only nodded at this.

"Well," he assured her, "you're not a man, so-"

"Nice going, Elfman," Evergreen intervened, seemingly tired of listening to the two bumbling siblings speak. As the pair glanced at her, she only narrowed her eyes at the younger, remarking, "You scared off Laxus."

He frowned at the woman for her complaint before shrugging and muttering, "Good."

But as Ever was ready to rebuke him for this, Mira took to sighing loudly, cutting off the other woman's reply.

"He left?" she asked with a frown.

"Skipped out on his bill, I'd bet," Elfman kept up because Ever had snapped at him, multiple times that day, and that meant that he had to hit her where it hurt the most; insult Laxus.

But she didn't seem too concerned with the man's antics that day, instead focusing an odd amount of energy on his sister, watching the woman silent for a minute before something odd settled in her stomach. Something that Evergreen wasn't quite used to.

Was this pity?

Or something more?

It was rare that she felt exceptionally close to other women (it was difficult for her, most of the time, to even interact with them), but something about the slight look of disappointment on Mirajane's face, stemming from a supposed love, really made it difficult for the typical woman of stone not to crack, if only slightly.

She'd been there before.

Not with Elfman. He was rather easy to drag around without any threat of self-harm. But she'd been with other men, not unlike Laxus. Ones who would leave you in the dust over the smallest of things, running off to find new adventures in the wake of any little argument.

You weren't important to them.

And Evergreen, while she knew Laxus treated women much the same, was slightly unnerved to find out that even the highly coveted Mirajane Strauss wasn't enough to tie the man down.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," she offered softly and Mirajane turned her gaze to the other woman then, smiling sweetly as she could only shrug.

"Oh, I'm not worried," she assured Ever. "I'm sure he left enough jewels for his tab. And if not, I'll catch him next time."

Ever only continued to stare though, hard, as if hoping to catch the woman breaking. But it didn't occur. And soon enough, Freed and Bickslow were done with their standard back and forths and now needed her to add in her own sentiments. Plus, Elfman would not be ignored for long.

Not to mention, it was about time for more wine.

So it was easy for her to forget all about Mira and Laxus' supposed romance; for the moment. It would all come back to her, of course, the next morning and days following, as she considered if she'd truly observed what she thought and if it meant more, even, than she surmised, or if she was wildly off base and only fueling unfounded delusions.

But Mirajane didn't have to wait weeks for the slayer to return to find out exactly what had gone on. Rather, it was that exact night, well after closing, once the head barmaid had sent her younger sister and Kinana home, leaving herself to clean up all alone.

She was hardly alone for long however.

The hour was late when the guildhall doors creaked open softly. Mirajane, busy counting out the register for the night, didn't even glance up, call out to come back tomorrow. No. Mira knew exactly who it was that was slinking in that night and she didn't hide it as well now, all alone, just the two of them, as a smile spread across her face.

Laxus had sobered up the past few hours it seemed and his eyes felt more concentrated, as they smoldered on the woman. As he strode into the bar, his coat hung loosely from his arms, and he felt much the same as the woman, even if he was still, even alone, hiding it.

"Place was a mad house this morning," he finally spoke as he didn't come over to her at the bar, but rather, went to examine the job board. "Bunch'a nobodies doin' nothing to make themselves somebodies."

Looking back down at her last bit of jewels to count out, Mira replied simply, "You shouldn't speak so ill of your fellow members, you know. Laxus."

"I'll speak however I want." Still, he did roll his shoulders a bit, as if expecting some sort of rebuke for this. "Mira."

One didn't come though. Instead, only silence. And, after glancing over the last job, he finally glanced towards the woman, not shocked to find her done with the counting it seemed and instead heading over to him.

At his side, she didn't comment on his snarky comments and instead only reached out to snag one of the two S-Class jobs hanging before them before, with a sigh, handing it over to him. Laxus, having already read over them, knew the distance this would put between them and only nodded, softly and solemnly, before pocketing it.

Sighing some, Mira offered him, "You must be pretty important, getting to come in here after hours and all. Take whatever job you want. Boarders on expulsion levels, I would think."

"I've done worse."

"You have."

"And I am important," he reminded her simply. "I'm Laxus Dreyar."

Mira nodded before adding, "Yeah. But that's not why you're important."

He broke.

Finally.

Turning slightly, he caught the woman's eyes and as she blinked up at him, he only smiled, fully and uncharacteristically, bowing his head some to nuzzle it against the top of hers.

"Won't be long," he assured her though, as the one to file the job, she for certain knew this to be a lie. "Demon."

"it never is," she agreed though he was very aware, every second he spent away, just how lengthy each and every job was. "Dragon."

A moment had more than come in went, perhaps quite a few of them, before he retreated some, shrugging as he remarked, "If I head out now, I can make a few towns before the sunrise. Catch a train and snooze for awhile."

She nodded some, remarking absently, "I'm sure you won't get much sleep. On a train and all."

Briefly, he thought of the queasy feeling he could get at times, from the slightest of motions, and had to fully shake his head to free his mind of the thoughts.

"You'll wait for me, won't you?" he questioned then, having taken another step back, but still just staring at her, expectantly. "Mira?"

She pretended to think momentarily, tilting her head back as she brought a finger up to her lip, tapping it against the pink flesh before nodding her head, "I guess so. Laxus. What else can I do?"

A lot, he knew, and it frightened him every time.

Still, he only remarked, "Not much," before winking at her, just slightly, now no one to be caught by, but the gesture brief all the same. As she grinned, he assured her, "I love you, you know."

"Yeah." Mira could still only nod though, slowly, her vision went back to the now empty spot, where an S-Class job once hung, now barren and leaving the other alone. "I know."