Hear me

17

"They might know something, but that doesn't mean they took the amulet. You said it yourself that the place was clean." She'd combed every inch of the guild hall for the scent of the intruder, but had come up empty. No one that matched that scent had been in the guild hall for several weeks, from what her nose could tell.

It didn't make sense. If it hadn't been Eagle Eye, then they were back to square one. With no leads and no suspects, their chances of finding the thief were dwindling by the hour. As it was, the job felt like a vacation more than anything. The amount of time they'd spent in bed was proof enough of that. However, even with the copious amounts of sex, both of them were frustrated at their lack of success.

"I say we go back there and make them tell us. That old guy looked spooked already. It wouldn't be hard to make him talk!" she growled as flames crackled at her fingertips.

"As much as I'd enjoy that, I'm not explaining to Gramps about why I let you burn down their guild hall. Plus, I'm not paying for that shit, so cool it. Literally." He put a hand on her head, ruffling her hair as she huffed, but relented.

"But I know that there's something up with them! They might know who did it even if they didn't. There has to be a way to way to get them to talk..."

As she talked, an idea struck Laxus, and he smiled at her. "There is a way. We stake out Eagle Eye and we tail their Master. I agree that he was too jittery for comfort. If we follow him, maybe he'll lead us somewhere useful."

Natsumi whooped, springing up to hug the tall blonde.

"No matter what people say, you're pretty smart Laxus! Let's do it."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

She grabbed his wrist and took off running, heedless of his reaction to her inadvertent insult. "Nothing! Just follow me. I've got the perfect idea!"

Natsumi's 'perfect idea' saw both of them peering out from behind the florist's shop across the street from Eagle Eye's guild hall that night, draped in black cloaks over their street clothes. Laxus looked down at Natsumi, who'd insisted on winding her scarf around her head like a ninja. He grumbled to himself about her antics, glad that the rest of the Thunder Legion wasn't around to see him bend to her will like this. He'd tried to tell her that he wasn't about to dress like some cat burglar when he was Laxus Dreyar and he had some goddamn dignity—and he'd spent a lot of money on that coat and wanted to get his money's worth—but the she just smiled and before he knew it, he was agreeing to wear the damn thing.
Regardless, they were waiting for Eagle Eye's master to leave for the night.

"This is so boring," Natsumi complained, pulling her scarf down from where she'd wound it over her mouth.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Of course it is. That's kind of the point."

"Still," she continued on, "I thought being a ninja was going to be more exciting. Jumping from rooftops and taking out bad guys in the dark. Stuff like that."

"We're following an old guy who doesn't even have magic. Something tells me we're not going to get anywhere close to that kind of action." Sadly, he thought. But he wasn't about to tell her that. Keeping with their luck, rain drops began to fall, soon gathering into a steady downpour and soaking them both through the fabric of their cloaks.

However, they didn't have to wait much longer. The lights in the guild hall went off, and shortly after that, the master emerged, ambling down the steps and setting off down the street, umbrella overhead. Natsumi started after him, but Laxus yanked her back by the neck of her cloak. She wasn't stealthy on the best of days, and he wasn't about to let her go charging after that guy. It was ironic, he thought, how he was twice her size and probably moved with more grace than she did.