Radiance Kills Angels (Laxus/Natsu)

Chapter 10: A Warm Gaze

"You know you snore really loud when you're asleep?" It obviously does not matter to me if I do or not, I could shake the room with my raptuious snoring and I would not care, but the fact that he points it out with such a smug express and obvious teasing has the palm of my hand smacking into his chin. Before I sit up and realize, with apprehension that I am actually laying on top of my boyfriend- still in my clothes, luckily, and I had been sleeping on his bare chest, face snuggled into his pectorials- which while embarrassing to the point of not wanting to contemplate, is not why I am pouting, I had been cuddling into him- his chest, and he would mock me, or tease more accurately, about that fact for ages. That makes me glare at him as he sits up- his figure almost insultingly tall in its towering over me, I know I'm still pouting because really I am still annoyed, but my eyes go to his bare figure and very prominent muscles, and as he stands the flexing they do as he stretches upwards. A dry throat is not uncommon for me after I let out a roar, but my mouth suddenly going dry after simply gazing at a sexy man's back shoots an unexpected thrill down my spine and a light tingle upwards of my upper thigh, definitely warm.

I force my eyes away, its an entrancing sight, but to notice it I can at least acknowledge that he would be uncomfortable with the idea of sex as it stands- being as he only recently accepted his sexuality at all. Therein, I am basically a virgin, besides one time after a job in Oaktown where I know I had gone behind a random building with some tall, broad shaped man -close to my prickly standards- and sucked him off, I can still feel the ache in my jaw on occasion, it had been my first experience and I had not been prepared for the reality of it at all. The scrape of metal on my tongue and the roof of my mouth had not been easy to ignore, oddly exotic though for my first blowjob to be with a guy who had a pierced dick- and there my mind ground to a halt, answering a question I did not want answered. I could feel my body freezing up in comprehension for that fact, a strange revelation, and though I caught Laxus casting me a questioning look, I choose not to say anything as I stand up. He grunts at my lack of answer and moves towards his kitchen.

"I'll make breakfast." Comes the baritone grumble, but it has no hidden irritation behind it, making me smile because I have the inclination to believe that he really does like to cook; he had when we had dinner, and it had been great! I can't say I've eaten many refined meals, normally those kinds of foods are only served at snotty restaurants with too many people with their chins too high up to see their feet and words too poisoned by their own egos. Some of them would talk in whispers, leaning into each other and coiling their lips in slimy smirks that curdled their faces, others would pay some jewel to their partner of the night and take a bundle of a mystery package. Those places reak of overly sweet perfumes and deep scented colognes that picked at my nose, but it was the atmosphere that bugged me most, it was always stifling, because though I had been to that type of place a few times before no one had ever borne a smile, at least not one I had seen- they were surrounded by rich food and overpriced drinks while lounging in sparkling gowns and tight fit suits, but no one smiled, unless a smirk counted. With Laxus though, there had been no stifled feeling, it had been warming, easy, and I could see him smiling while cooking, he had looked so comfortable I had found myself grinning too.

I giggled slightly with the fond thought and the tingling sensation it brought along. "You like to cook?" I ask because I want to have it confirmed, but I think the answer is pretty obvious in his relaxed features as he grabs eggs. Which is probably why I flinch as he freezes, his expression turns suddenly stoic, macho, while his muscles are so plain it cannot be ignored. My mouth snaps shut, and already I can feel nerves coming forth to shake me, I don't know if I've said something wrong, I'm not good with words after all. Its quiet and he is only staring at the pan he has on the stove arms poised to crack a shell while it seems as if he isn't breathing but I can hear the rasps of his lungs from where I stand, and him holding his breath makes no sense. My legs have no want to move and I cannot bring myself to cast my eyes away, even if only to give him a modicum of privacy for whatever thoughts appear to be racing through his head.

The silence keeps stretching on, and in truth the still stance is making my legs ache, so I manage to shuffle my one, then the other, foot into the flooring, and with the unease I have the want to burn a hole through the wood. I'm not good with silences, and the length of time is making me twinge with discomfort, his shift in demenour is unsettling too, while Laxus is a man who rarely displays himself for others to see and commonly maintains a mask of stoicism and even -perhaps- discontent, recently, though mildly, he was shifting away from that. At least with me, I've seen him smile, even grin, and then; there was that night, it was night and everything surrounding was dark, the moon didn't show me much, but I could see the flicker of refraction that his tears made in its soft glow, I hadn't expected to see him cry. It had been beautiful though, to see him release emotion, though it had been without a grand declaration of feelings or sobbing, but the way he had cried by some method reflected him perfectly, it had been subtle and restrained, yet meaningful in its own way. I cannot see that man at the moment, the one whom I knew had been slowly coming to -if not open up to me, then maybe trust me minorly with the man he could be outside the shell.

Finally, he lets out a heavy sigh and the force of it shakes his arm holding the eggs at the cusp of the pan, but its untightens the knot in my stomach to see him untense. Something small crests over his lips, yet I cannot call the ghost over his expression a smile. "Yes I do." His tone is quiet, still his dull voice makes me believe that it is not a topic I should press on, which peaks my curiosity, and I push that intrusive thought away as he cracks the egg over the pan. "What you want?" The question is far removed from his previous tone, his voice regaining its deepened structure and there is once more a slight of caricature in the sound rather then a placid nothing. Alleviated from the pressure of the moment though, I don't know what he means, and the cast of a warm glower my way makes bumps under my skin in the obvious silent message that I should. "Your eggs like." Again I grin, because something warm starts flourishing on my tattoo when he says something considerate.

"Runny!" A smirk graces his lips, even as he so plainly rolled his eyes.

"Not burnt?" The grind of my teeth gritting together is hard to miss.

"Just because I'm a fire mage doesn't mean I like everything black and gross!" Then he chuckles, and despite the annoyance at his stereotyping, it does make me squirm again with fluff in my abdomen to hear it.

"What? Like when you almost burnt down the guild?"

"I don't eat embers or ash! And that was one time!"

"You did it six times in one year Natsu." Oh, right.

"Shut up lightning head!" Then theres a scoff, and then an actual laugh, from where I had turnt my head away in some embarrassment I can actually spot that he threw his head back and in looking with full attention- his eyes are closed, they crinkle at the edges when he's laughing.

"Lightning head? Really?" He flicks his gaze to me, and once again I am met with the same expression as the one he had been staring at me with when waking. The same softened look, reminiscent of honey and tea, sweet and comforting. I can feel my blush crawl back up my cheeks once more.

I want to say something back, but my throat feels so tight I can barely manage to mutter: "Well your hair is all spikey..." I guess he was no slouch in hearing though because he laughs again, though not as bellowing, and despite my own minor irritation at the sound, I know I'm grinning.