Natsumi had stopped crying shortly after Laxus had carried her out of the guild, feeling too awkward to ask to be put down. Plus, she had no idea where he was taking her. Peeking out from where she had stayed buried in Laxus's shirt, she noticed they were heading toward the tree line of the forest.
She sighed, "Hey, you can set me down now." Her head was a jumbled mess from what had happened at the guild, but for the first time in weeks, she felt neither anger nor sadness, so she counted that as a good thing. She wasn't sure what was going to happen now, but she felt like everything had changed. They'd misunderstood each other the whole time, and she'd felt way too shocked to think about what that meant other than a sense of relief so overwhelming that she'd fallen apart, sobbing into his arms. She hadn't given it any additional thought; she'd only collapsed against him, wanting comfort from the only person who could give it to her. He'd freely given it, too, she thought with a sense of detached wonderment.
"You sure you're not going to bolt the second I put you down?" He shocked her back to Earth with his question, though he didn't look at her when he asked.
"I promise. Just put me down. I can walk on my own."
She was a little surprised that he did what she asked with no further protests, though to be fair, he knew he was on thin ice at best, so maybe it wasn't so surprising after all.
"Where are we going?" she asked, falling into step beside him as they walked beyond the forest boundary and started on a path.
Laxus had shoved his hands into his pockets, and she noticed that he hadn't bothered to pick up his coat when they left. He looked almost bare without it, since he never seemed to take it off in public except to fight. She figured Freed or Evergreen would probably have taken care of it, though.
"I thought we'd go to the bluffs. Figured it'd be quiet enough to sort through this bullshit without interruptions."
She nodded, stretching her arms above her head and resting them on the back of her neck, massaging the sore muscles there.
Noticing her actions, his expression darkened further. "Are you okay?"
Natsumi scoffed, "I've faced Hades and managed okay. No offense, but I'm pretty sure I'd have to give up my guild mark if I was hurt after that pathetic excuse for a fight." It felt comforting to slip back into banter. Easy. She was surprised once more to realize that it didn't feel like the act she'd put on the past few days, either. It felt nice to just be plain, uncomplicated Natsumi again, even if she was still confused about what was happening.
"Excuse me for caring, Short Stack. And plus, it didn't seem pathetic when you were shaking and everything."
"Don't call me that! I'm taller than Levy, so you don't get to do that. Plus, stop stealing Gajeel's nicknames. At least be creative."
He huffed, but didn't comment any further.
"Plus," she continued, "I was mostly angry. I wasn't legitimately fired up like I get in actual battles or sparring matches. I don't fight well when I get upset and it's not for anyone, you know? I was fighting for myself, and so I was sloppy." And sad. And guilty. And hurt. But she didn't tell him that. It's not like it mattered now, since he'd finally told her the truth behind everything he'd done.
He raised his eyebrows a fraction, looking over at her as they made their way up the gradually increasing incline of the path. "I thought sloppy was your style."
"Unpredictable is my style, asshole."
They managed to keep up the banter most of the way up to the bluffs, only falling silent as the path narrowed to only accommodate one person. For more reasons than one, Natsumi felt the playful attitude drop as their elevation increased. Despite this, when the path opened up onto the bluffs, Natsumi was once again struck by the beauty that was the view, no matter how often she had seen it throughout her childhood. Before her lay the entirety of Magnolia, surrounded by the forests and the Hakabe mountain range in the distance. She wasn't often one to appreciate pretty things, but Natsumi had always loved the beauty of nature in a way that wasn't totally due to being raised by Igneel in the wilderness.
The sound of Laxus moving past her snapped her away from the view. He made his way further down, carefully moving along the craggy edges of the cliff face to get to the best spot: a flat outcropping that jutting out slightly from the rest. She was struck by the grace with which he moved in a way that she had hardly bothered to notice before. Someone of his size and breadth wouldn't be expected to be at all elegant in movement, especially outside of a fight, but somehow he managed to pull it off. Shaking her head, she followed him down, coming to sit down beside him on the ledge, hanging her feet off the side.
"You're going to fall if you keep doing that, you know," he quipped as she scooted closer the edge.
"No, I'm not. I've been doing this since I first came here as a kid. It's not like it's a sheer drop anyway. It can't be more than twenty or so feet to the trees, and I've fallen from much higher before. I'm pretty durable," she argued.
"Tch, whatever," he replied, sounding grumpy.
She glared at him, annoyed. "It's not like we came here to talk about how far I can fall without breaking my neck, anyway."
He grunted in agreement.
She just stared at him, waiting for him to say something. After several long moments, he tore his gaze from the view and glanced at her before looking back away.
"I remember when I first came here," he began, "I was ten or eleven, probably, and Gramps took me up here. The old man was braver than I was, jumping from rock to rock, not a care in the world, telling me I better keep up or he'd throw me over. I knew he was kidding, but I still followed him 'cause I didn't want to lose to the old bastard," he smiled at the memory. "Ever since then, I'd come up here on my own, just to get away. First it was from my dad, and then it was from everyone at the guild."
"Erza told me where this was, almost right after I joined," Natsumi offered, not sure why she was volunteering the information, but felt the need to anyway. "It was before I found Happy's egg, and I hadn't made many friends yet. I remember feeling like nothing would ever be alright again. I wasn't sure if Igneel was ever going to find me, since I hadn't found him. I'm not sure coming up here helped, but when I was actually by myself up here, it made me feel a little less lonely for some reason," she smiled, closing her eyes against the sun, already high in the sky despite being barely midday.
"Yeah," he said, "I guess I never really solved anything coming up here, but the noise in my head seemed a little less loud when it wasn't being pitted up against the noise around me."
She looked over at him then, his hair and skin glowing golden in the noonday sun, the scar marring his right eyebrow. Then, without warning, she burst out, "Why do you love me?" She immediately went red, wondering why she was born a person with the inability to not say what they were thinking immediately upon thinking it.
He was visibly startled, jerking his head to lock eyes with her, taking in her rapidly coloring face. Clearing his throat, he brought a hand to scratch at the back of his neck, squinting back into the sunlight.
"Well it's certainly not looks. You do realize you have something literally sticking the ends of your hair together, right?" he mumbled.
She glared. "It's syrup. And before you came strutting into the guild, I was eating probably the best pancakes Mira's ever made. She even gave me two free ones because she felt sorry for me! Excuse me if I was excited about it," she pouted.
"Normal people don't use their breakfast toppings as shampoo, no matter how excited they are," he laughed.
She gaped at him, stunned. "It's just on the ends, moron! Don't exaggerate! And you never answered my question, since it's 'not my looks,'" she grumbled, offended.
"I mean, what do you want me to say? I just sort of do, alright? Look, I'm not exactly the best at explaining these sorts of things. I was hoping you'd understand since you're basically romantically disabled."
"I am not! Take that back!" She moved to hit him, but he intercepted the punch, sliding his hand from her hand to her wrist, keeping hold.
He gave her a skeptical look. "It's true. I mean, I wasn't even sure you even liked me until Lucy told me right before I left-"
"She told you WHAT?! That balloon-chested sneak! I'll kill her! I didn't even know I liked you until a few days ago! Why would she do that?!"
He tugged on her wrist, stopping her rant. "That proves my point. You don't know how you feel before everyone else does, or if you do, you don't admit it. It's not like I'm being unfair when I say you're bad with stuff like this. It'd be funny if I hadn't spent the last few weeks being depressed about it."
"Yeah, okay, laugh it up. In return, I get to push you off the cliff," she groused. "When did this turn into Natsumi insult hour, anyway? First you call me ugly and then say I'm emotionally stupid. Are you going to insult my fashion sense next?"
"No," he said, shaking his head and dropping her hand. "You'd have to actually have a fashion sense for me to do that. You don't even wear a real shirt. I don't know how you don't get kicked out of public places for wearing essentially a bra everywhere."
"I'm definitely pushing you off now!" she yelled, leaning back so she could push him off the side with her feet. To his credit, he let her almost knock him off before righting himself, even if he was laughing the whole time.
"Whatever. I guess it doesn't matter. Though I guess I just have to believe that you do actually love me, since you basically confessed in front of most of the guild," she said slyly, and evil spark in her eye.
He groaned, falling onto his back with arm slung over his eyes to block out the sun. "Don't remind me. That was easily the most stupid, mushy shit I've ever done in my life. No one is ever going to let me live it down."
She laughed, "I hope someone caught it on recording lacrima."
He cursed at her, only making her laugh harder.
They lapsed into silence after that, and she went back to watching the view in front of her, enjoying the play of colors between the green of the trees and the whitewashed buildings of the town that had become her home. She leaned her head back, inhaling. She always liked the smell of trees. She loved the town, but she'd prefer the clean, fresh air of the forest any day.
Natsumi slowly opened her eyes, squinting into the sunlight. Looking over her left shoulder, she was startled to find Laxus watching her, eyes shielded in the shadow of his elbow. He blinked owlishly up at her.
"I think I love you because you're emotionally stupid."
Wow. What an asshole.
"I'm not really sure, but I don't think that counts as a reason?" she said slowly, not sure whether to be confused or offended, or both.
"It's totally true, now that I think about it," he went on, covering his eyes again, "For as loud and obnoxious and hyperactive as you are, you're not hard to understand, this whole situation excluded," he gave her an unimpressed look, to which she responded by sticking out her tongue.
"You don't read into things and you're straightforward, and you don't ever think things through before you do them. There's not any excess to you, really. It's just all out there, and you don't apologize for it, not that you seem to be aware of how you are anyway. Point is, that even though you aren't easygoing, it's easy to be around you. In a way that almost everyone I know isn't.
"So...I'm low maintenance?" she questioned, trying to figure out if that was a good thing. It certainly didn't sound very good from how he put it.
"Well yeah, but also weirdly peaceful. I don't just want to be around you because it's easy and don't have to put in a lot of effort, even though those things are true. You're kind of a...grounding presence, I guess. No matter what I did, you never took it personally. You just kept telling me how much I pushed you to get better," he laughed when she tried to push him again. "And when we were kids I really needed that, even if we didn't talk overly much. That spirit... how you did everything on your terms and felt everything so intensely. I wanted to protect you, and then as we both got older, I guess it sort of changed. At first I felt like a total creep when the age difference really started to matter. I stopped wanting to protect you so much as I just wanted... to be around you."
She felt her face heat up at his words, not expecting him to say something like that. "Heh," she giggled, "You're actually kind of a loser, right?"
It was his turn to push her, and she laughed as she flopped onto her side, uncaring of the awkward angle she fell in and opting to stay there, idly giggling.
"A loser with a pretty good view of your ass right now," he stated blandly from behind her.
She laughed harder. "I doubt it. I don't wear baggy pants for no reason, jackass. Plus, I thought you weren't interested in my looks. You just want me for my calming presence."
She heard him scoff over her shoulder. "I didn't say I wasn't interested, just that I didn't love you for them. The looks are a bonus. And don't act like you're surprised. You have to know the affect you have on people, syrupy hair notwithstanding-though that is really gross, by the way. You probably don't get kicked out of restaurants and shit because they're too busy staring at your tits to ban you."
"That's not true!" she argued, turning over on her other side and straightening out so that she lay next to him. He didn't seem to have moved since he pushed her, arms still over his eyes, looking for all the world like the picture of relaxation. Jerk.
"It totally is."
"You're acting like I walk around naked. My chest bindings cover everything! Plus it's not like there's much to cover in the first place," she gesture toward her small chest. "With that, my scarf, and my vest, I'm plenty covered! It's your fault for being a creepy perv," she stuck her tongue out at him, though the effect was lost since he still wasn't looking at her.
"Please, if you were more aware, you'd know that people definitely appreciate the view. I've even heard Fullbuster make a few cracks," he said, smirking.
"That's just 'cause Gray's a sarcastic bastard. He thinks it'll annoy me, even though I don't really understand it, besides the fact that he's the one saying it. Boobs are boobs are boobs, you know? There's not really anything to get worked up about," she shrugged.
"Do you actually believe that?" he asked.
"Believe what?"
"That all boobs are created equal, because they aren't, or that there isn't anything to get worked up about?"
"Uh, both, I guess? Does it matter? I guess I just never really got what the fuss was about people being naked. Maybe it's a 'raised by dragons' thing, but still."
He laughed, "No wonder you didn't freak out that time I accidentally walked in on you in the bath house that one time. Or that you didn't mind that Happy was there."
"You freaked out ten times more than I did," she laughed at the memory of a stammering Laxus. "Should I have freaked out?" She asked, puzzled.
He shrugged. "Most girls would, I guess. It's not better or worse. But it's pretty weird to know that you don't care about it, in any case. Not," he smiled, "that that doesn't have its benefits."
"Perv."
"Whatever. Point is, I'm a fan, Pinky. You're probably going to have to learn to deal with it, assuming you're not actually planning on murdering me here after all."
She sighed, "Some people are probably going to be disappointed that I'm not. You scared a lot of them today. I'm not sure what Gramps is going to say when he finds out."
"Yeah, I know. I did mean what I said when I told them that I'd deserve whatever they decided to do when I got back. But I wanted to make sure you were alright. In hindsight, I was being really embarrassing about the whole thing, but I'll take what I reap. I don't think I'll get thrown out again, but that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to whatever happens."
Natsumi winced, knowing it'd probably be pretty harsh. They'd destroyed a lot of tables and chairs, as well as a good bit of the floor in the fight, and he'd be responsible for that, too. Not that he didn't deserve it, but still.
"You're going to have to apologize personally to Lucy and Happy, though. Especially Happy," she said.
The blonde actually took his arm of his face in surprise to look up at her, cringing at the brightness. "Why do I have to apologize to a talking cat?"
"Because, stupid, you scared the daylights out of him when you threatened him. And he's my best friend and you were an asshole to him. Also, you owe him. He was actually pulling for you last night. Even tried to talk to me about your side of the story, which turned out to be right. It's only fair. If you want me to forgive you, you have to tell him you're sorry." There wasn't any compromise to be had in her voice. He would apologize.
Laxus heaved another sigh. His pride was already pretty wounded, and now he owed a favor to a cat, as well as an apology.
"Okay, fine. I'll apologize to the cat."
"His name is Happy."
"I'll apologize to Happy, happy?"
"Getting there," she said.
"Then what else do I have to do?" he grumbled, already hating the direction this was going. If she didn't know him, Natsumi would have bet money that Laxus would be actually pouting any second now.
She thought about it, rubbing her chin with one hand.
"Well," she began, "First you should say you're sorry to Happy, and Lucy, too. Then you should probably apologize to the guild for threatening them...and being really embarrassing," she laughed at the expression on his face, but he didn't argue. "And you should probably be my slave for at least a day, probably."
"What? Hell no, I'm not doing that. I'll do everything else, but I'm not being anyone's slave, even if I do love you." He shook his head adamantly, eyes closed.
She pouted. He was being stupid again.
"How are you supposed to make it up to me, then? You'll have apologized to everyone in the guild but me."
"Oh, I'm sorry," he turned to face her fully, a sour look on his face, "did you happen to miss the part where I was on my fucking knees in the middle of the fucking guild like some kind of jackass?"
Her face heated at that. Thinking quickly, she argued. "You said you were sorry, but it was so quiet that even I barely heard you. How is anyone else going to know that you've apologized?"
Laxus gaped in exasperation. Was this girl for real? "I don't know, you tell them? Even if you didn't, I'm pretty they got the picture when you put me on my knees in front of you and I actually let you live."
"But people like us prefer actions!" she yelled, smiling brightly at the man in front of her, who felt an increasing sense of foreboding. This fucking girl was going to ruin his reputation more than he'd already managed to ruin it himself.
"So," she continued on, oblivious to the wary look on his face, "it's better to show how sorry you are! And the others would probably forgive you a lot sooner if they saw you being nice to me!"
"You act like I wasn't planning on being nice to you," Laxus quipped.
"Well, you are kind of a dick."
"Whatever. I'm nice to you."
"But doing what I want for a week or two. I bet they'd forgive you after that!" she smiled.
"You're fucking crazy if you think I'd ever agree to a week," he glared.
Pouting, Natsumi scrunched up her face, looking at him in challenge.
"Six days."
"Half a day. A morning."
"That's not even worth it, you jackass! Five days, then."
"One day. And make it after noon."
"That's the same thing as half a day!"
"You're fucking lucky I'm even letting you have that!"
"Oh yeah? Well you're lucky I'm even letting you near me!" She glared at him.
"I'm pretty sure that's blackmail," he raised an eyebrow at her.
"What's blackmail?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion, made difficult in that she was already lying horizontally.
The blonde rolled his eyes, not sure why he was even surprised. "It doesn't even matter. Pretty sure relationships don't begin with forcing someone to wait on you hand and foot. One day and that's final"
Her eyes widened, then narrowed in suspicion. "Watch it, buddy! Since when were we in a relationship?"
"Are you fucking kidding me right now? Like, are you actually for real?" He propped himself up on an elbow to look down at her, his face scowling in disbelief. "'Cause I thought it was a pretty foregone conclusion when you basically collapsed on me in front of everyone."
She averted her eyes. "Well, I...I guess I didn't really think about it? I mean, I've never done this before. Hey, you know that I'm not good at this stuff! That's not fair to just assume things like that. I mean...I mean..." she floundered, unsure of how to articulate the jumbled feelings she'd been sorting through for the past few days, especially the flushed, borderline nausea-inducing lightheadedness she'd experienced as he'd looked her dead in the eye and told her he'd loved her. Heat bloomed in her face at the memory.
She heard a sigh above her, and she looked back up, her view unhindered as he blocked out the sun. Surprised at the patient look on his face, one that she couldn't remember often being there. She cocked her head in silent question.
"Look, Nat," he began, "I didn't mean to freak you out or anything, I guess I just didn't think. Like...shit. I guess you never really told me how you feel about the whole thing."
Her heart beat faster as he continued looking at her from his position, the same intense look he'd used not an hour earlier. She didn't doubt how he felt, but she wasn't sure what to make of the tingly, liquid feeling inside her brain, something she'd managed to avoid thinking about when they'd been squabbling. When she didn't say anything, he gave her a prompting look, still managing to retain the intensity of his stare.
"Well," she swallowed, looking away to gather what little thoughts she could manage on the subject, "I...don't really know how I feel? This is...really new for me. I felt some things before, but I don't know how to fit them all together, and I feel so weird now."
"Explain to me, then," he suggested, "And maybe I can help. If you don't actually like me, I won't lie to you or some shit like that, although it would suck ass if you didn't," he said, trailing off with a frown.
In a grumbling voice, she explained the flushed, stomach-less feeling she got when he looked at her. She knew that she probably liked him, but to what extent, she didn't know. She remembered feeling like she hadn't had the choice in the matter when she had fallen into him at the guild as he'd kneeled before her, how it felt as if she suddenly weighed three times her size, and her shaking limbs could no longer support her as the blood rushed through her head. It had felt comfortable to be pulled close to him, and he had smelled good, a heady mixture of sandalwood, soap, and some unidentifiable musky scent that clouded her nose and made her dizzier than she already was. She idly wondered why she was only belatedly recognizing these things, when at the time, she'd only been able to focus on how suddenly and uncharacteristically overcome with emotion she'd been. As she relayed this, she felt her face heat up, the image of him sitting golden in the sun flashing unbidden into her mind's eye. His face, initially guarded when he'd asked her to explain how she'd felt, grew gradually more smug until he was leaning back further on elbow with a huge grin plastered on his face.
"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"You're attracted to me, Pinky," he said, suddenly cheeky. "Like, a lot. I mean, a lot, a lot."
"What?" she spluttered, shocked and thrown that he seemed to be so confident about the strength of her feelings. "You don't know that!"
"Yeah, I do," he laughed. "You just said it all. That's what it feels like, at least for me. But even if you hadn't told me, I'd have known. It's all over your face," he smiled, then. It managed to make his face light up, stunning in the harsh light of day. She couldn't remember him every smiling so genuinely before, without any hints of mockery, but if the way her heart stuttered and then picked up double time, it was probably a good thing he didn't do it often.
He laughed again at her expression. "See? You get this dazed look on your face, and when you realize it, you get all red. It's cute."
She glared, looking at the rock slab she was lying on. "Yeah, sure. So I like you. Big deal."
"It's a start, at least. Though it's not surprising that you're attracted to me. A lot of people are."
"Shut up! Then it's not a big deal! And don't act like such an expert! It's freaking me out."
He chuckled again. "Alright. But it's not like I've ever loved anyone before, so it's sort of the same, even if it's not exactly. Though I'm pretty sure it'll end up being the same before long."
"Ughhhhhhh," Groaning, she turned over on her stomach, head resting on her folded arms, burying her face.
"What?" he asked, still laughing.
"My brain hurts. I need to fight something so my head can fix itself."
"There's nothing wrong with your head. Well, at least nothing more than the usual, probably."
"Whatever. You made me think about this so I'd forget that you owe me five days of slavitude."
"It's servitude, stupid. And I said one. Deal with it."
"Three."
"I said one and I meant one. I'm not bargaining with you anymore," he said, his voice taking on the commanding edge he used with his team members. Natsumi bristled, but took a breath. She wasn't letting him get away with only one day. Sure, she didn't really care about the scene at the guild. She didn't get embarrassed easily by showing off in public, but Laxus did, for some weird reason, and she wanted to see how much she could get away with. It wasn't every day Laxus Dreyar agreed to serve anyone.
He had said he felt like she did. So that meant that his brain got fuzzy and his blood pumped too quickly sometimes, too. It was worth a shot.
Rolling over toward him, she flipped onto her back, looking at him. She didn't really know what she was doing, but she remembered the look he gave her on his knees at the guild, and again as he looked down at her, illuminated by the sun behind him. Instead of getting lost in the memory, however, she tried to emulate how his gaze dropped, tried to look as if she was looking into him rather than at him. She opened her eyes, trailing them up from his knees to his hands in front of him, up his arms and to his face, looking him dead in the eye through half-lidded eyes. For a long second she just looked at him, then reached out to touch his nearest arm, touching her fingers gently to his hand and skimming over his skin to catch his wrist, like he'd done with her earlier. She heard him inhale a soft breath through his nose, imperceptible if she'd not been listening for any changes. Looking back up at him, she felt her own face heat up as she saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. Taking a lip between her lips to gather her thoughts, she caught his gaze again.
"Laxus," she said, fingers on his wrist beginning to move up and down in a gentle, soft motion.
"Yeah?" His voice half a hair lower than before.
"Will you do it for three days?" she asked him sweetly, blinking slowly as she scooted closer to his outstretched arm. He blankly stared down at the wiggling girl before him, wondering what the holy hell just happened to turn her stammering, naïve confusion into what basically amounted to blatant seduction. Did she even realize what she was doing? Probably not, but fuck. He was floored enough to barely process her question, and though he knew she was doing in on purpose, at least in some measure, it still made him weak enough to want to bend to her will, at least just a little. It was stupid and it was pathetic, to be turned on by a girl with syrup in her hair that barely touched your arm, but here he was, so he might as well just get on with this new level of hell he'd discovered.
"Two days. And fucking be grateful that I even bothered to consider more than one," he said with finality, breaking her loose grip on his wrist and taking in a deep breath.
She beamed up at him, eyes almost closing, and hell if that didn't feel like she'd run him through with one of her fists. He really was screwed.