Freed looked around while they helped Roxanne to buy what she needed. They also stopped at one of the book stores so Freed had a change to go through some books while Roxanne talked with the owner.
"This sucks", Laxus groaned leaning against the wall again. "Why does she have to talk with those others anyway?"
"Who knows, but it is not our business", Freed said flipping pages. "Are you busy to go doing something else?" he asked amused looking at the blond, who huffed.
"No, but this is just boring", he said.
"Sometimes things are boring, honeycomb. Get used to it."
"You are not gonna start using that nickname", Laxus growled, making Freed chuckle. "Can't we just go? We can take all the groceries, Roxanne can walk home when she's ready."
"You can go", Freed promised looking at the books.
"What? Why won't you come?"
"Don't you remember who you're talking with? I happen to enjoy my time here", Freed said looking at Laxus. "Why is it that much of a surprise for you? We are at the book store."
"But there's nothing but books here."
"That's why it is called a book store", Freed chuckled.
"I know some books can be really good and it is nice to read sometimes but can they really be that interesting?" Laxus grumbled looking at the pile of books Freed had found already. "Are you planning to buy those all?"
"I just make a list what I might buy when we leave the town", Freed smiled writing another book on his list. "I'll then pick the most interesting books and buy them."
"You're not gonna buy that much books", Laxus forbid. "You can't even carry them home."
"You can carry them for me?" Freed smirked and Laxus sighed.
"Fine, just don't buy every fucking book you find slightly interesting", he grumbled. "We don't have that much space in my house."
They both slightly tensed up. They haven't even talked about their living situation. Would Freed move in with Laxus? Did they have enough space for the three of them?
"Um... I guess you're right", the rune mage sighed silently, putting books back in the bookshelf. "Of course. We need a whole room for Felix and his items, probably even more. It might be that I need to pack some of my books and put them at the attic."
"We'll figure something out", Laxus promised touching Freed's cheek softly. "We can get a bigger house, you know?" he suggested.
"But you have lived in that house for so long", Freed said surprised. "Wouldn't it be sad to leave it?"
"Sure, but that's not a reason good enough to stay if it's not convenient for us. I know you don't want to just pack your books in boxes and put them in the attic, you wanna see them in shelves. So let's just find a new home where we have enough space for all of us", Laxus smiled pulling Freed closer.
"I like that idea", Freed smiled brushing Laxus' cheek with his fingers. "Maybe Bicks and Ever would like to rent your place? It's big enough for them, we could find something near it."
"Whatever you want, babe", Laxus smirked kissing Freed.
They waited for a while more, until Roxanne was ready and they stepped back on the street. They shopped some more food groceries and similar from the market.
"You kids wait here, I'll be right back", Roxanne said when they stopped in front of one of the buildings. "I would take you with me but my friend here doesn't really like strangers."
"We can wait here", Freed nodded. "There is no need to rush."
"Just don't take all day", Laxus murmured.
"Grab some snacks from the booth if you get hungry", Roxanne just said and she stepped in the house.
"Might as well buy some nuts", Laxus muttered stomping over to the booth, scaring the poor man who was selling the roasted nuts.
Freed let his gaze wander around the marketplace. It wasn't like in Magnolia here. There were lots of people walking around but the feeling was different. There was no rush. Well, Magnolia was very much different than Naava town, so it was no wonder. Freed smiled when he saw kids playing in snow, building forts and then starting snow fights. He remembered how they used to do that too before Laxus... Well, he was glad that stage was over.
Painfully familiar noises snapped Freed back from his thoughts and he looked towards Laxus. Jealousy lifted it's ugly head inside him when he saw how there were girls swarming around Laxus when one of them had recognized him from the Sorcerer Weekly. The rune mage smiled slightly when Laxus only seemed annoyed because of the girls who were standing on his way. If things went bad, of course he would go and safe his Thunder God.
"Hey."
Freed turned around surprised when someone was talking to him.
"Yes?" he said looking at the man with a long white, fur-lined coat and dark long hair. "How can I help?"
"I just noticed your friend is in a quite a pinch", the man chuckled looking at Laxus.
"Well, he is rather famous and to be honest, why wouldn't anyone like him?" Freed smiled proudly, crossing his arms. "So sometimes things like these are bound to happen, they will leave him alone soon."
"Really? For me it seems like he is secretly enjoying their attention."
"Laxus? No, trust me. He's pissed if anything. Where ever we go, there are always some girls who admire him and want to date him, but he has no interest in them."
"Is that so?" man with the long coat said. "My name is Ketkel. I believe I know you, since you're with famous Laxus Dreyar", he grinned. "You must be Freed Justine, am I right?"
"Yes", Freed said and of course he felt a slight amount of pride, since he was recognized too.
"I knew it. I was really surprised when I saw you, what are you guys doing in a town like this?" Ketkel asked curious. "I believe the whole Thunder Legion is here?"
"Yes", Freed nodded. "We have a mission here. Well, Bickslow and Evergreen have, me and Laxus are here just in case something happens."
"Really? Doesn't the Thunder Legion always work together?"
"We usually do, but the situation right now is what it is so it's not possible. So Bicks and Ever will do the job while me and Laxus stay aside."
"It must be annoying, I can believe a mage like you is used to do jobs and not just stand aside", Ketkel smirked.
"Sometimes the situation calls for it", Freed said.
He chuckled when looking at Laxus who said something to the girls and he looked ready to storm off.
"So... If you're not in a job right now, are you perhaps free tonight?" Ketkel asked looking at Freed who's eyes widened slightly.
"Eh?" he said blinking, looking at the raven haired man.
"I would like to ask you on a date, Freed Justine", Ketkel smirked.
"Oh..." Freed mumbled. "I'm sorry, but I have to refuse. I already have someone who I'm dating", he explained. "But I'm flattered that you asked me."
"So who is this someone?" Ketkel asked surprised. "Sure there should have been some kind of a mention in a Sorcerer Magazine?"
"I'm not that famous and I don't share my personal life in magazines", Freed said shaking his head.
He hadn't even thought about this. Of course at some point Sorcerer Weekly would get interested about Laxus' personal life if they heard about rumours of him becoming a father. They would dig up who Laxus was having a child with. Right then, Freed was so glad he was wearing a big dark coat that mostly covered his belly that wasn't too big yet. Anyone could simply think that he was wearing more clothes under his coat so he wouldn't get cold. Or at least they would still shrug it off just thinking that Freed was just someone with extra weight.
But soon... Really soon that wouldn't work anymore, he was sure of it. People would start staring at him, they would whisper, maybe even avoid him and think he was... Odd. How could he blame them? This was ridiculous even for him to understand!
Thinking all of that, it felt like everything in his head started to spin and he felt nauseous. He had started to get used for getting way too emotional over things and overthinking everything but it was still hard and he couldn't stop that from happening.
He didn't notice orange eyes that had snapped to stare at him the moment he had started to feel uncomfortable.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ketkel asked looking at Freed who seemed pale.
"Yes", the rune mage assured. "I'm sorry, I really don't feel comfortable continuing this conversation anymore."
"Alright", Ketkel nodded. "I'm not one to force anyone. Do you need to sit down? You look a little bit sick", he said and lifted his hand to touch Freed's shoulder.
Freed looked at Ketkel, whose worried expression in his face turned into a horrified stare over Freed's head. The rune mage was just about to turn, when he felt strong arms around him and dark coat wrapped around him, covering his sight.
The whole street was rumbling because of the thundering snarl, as Laxus stared at Ketkel who fell because of the sheer power of that warning voice that made the snow dusting around them. Sparks of lightning crackled in the air, making people quickly take their distance from them.
"Laxus?" Freed said surprised and a little bit frightened by that sudden appearing.
"I got you, love. You're safe, don't worry", Laxus grumbled silently, still staring at the dark haired man who was shivering like a bundle of jelly, looking at the big Thunder God.
"I'm not worried", Freed said moving the coat enough so he could see Laxus' face.
"You were getting nervous, I could smell it. That dumbass did it?" Laxus snarled his orange eyes still locked towards the man, who couldn't seem to get on to his feet or even make a peep come out of his mouth.
"It was nothing serious, Laxus", Freed huffed. "Calm down. You're letting your dragon side take control and that is not a good thing."
"What's the ruckus here?!" they heard a loud voice.
People moved aside when three kilibuks arrived with their riders. All three covered with leather and fur uniforms that told they were the town's guards. All of them had visors to cover their jaw, mouth and noses and long spears in their hands, pointing at Laxus what made the lightning dragon slayer to just get more defensive.
"How are we ever going to explain this", Freed sighed and Laxus just growled something, narrowing his sparking eyes dangerously and not letting him go. "Laxus, control yourself", Freed said slightly worried, but it seemed like his words had very little effect.
Kilibuks stopped in front of them and finally Ketkel was able to stand up, stumbling farther from Laxus.
"What's the situation here?" the first one of the guards asked looking at blond haired man who now stared at them, still on guard and emitting sparks all around his body.
"We are really sorry about this", Freed said and the guard's eyes widened slightly when he realised there was another man under the bigger man's coat, face just barely showing under his chin.
"O-okay..." the guard said blinking at them.
"Nothing bad has happened", Freed assured. "Please stop pointing us with those spears, Laxus won't harm anyone, I promise", he said.
"Was he about to attack someone?" other guard asked, lifting his spear closer to Laxus.
That made the Thunder God get even more angry and small lightning hit the ground, scaring the kilibuks who let out a frightened baas and almost dropped their riders.
"No, he wasn't, he is just a little bit protective right now", Freed said quickly. "Please understand. Don't do anything that might be considered as a threat."
"To me, it seems like he is a danger to our town", other guard said. "We can't let him stay if he is about to cause something."
"He won't. He just needs a moment to calm down."
"We kindly suggest that you follow us, if you don't we have to chain you."
"No, things can go really bad if you come closer", Freed said and Laxus growled again wrinkling his nose, showing his canine teeth.
"You stop pointing with those sticks right now!" another voice commanded loudly, almost startling the kilibuks just as bad as Laxus' lightning.
Freed looked at Roxanne, who stepped closer with her cane.
"There's nothing to worry about, I'll take these two back home with me", the old lady said. "So you go back to your own jobs."
"But Madam -" the first guard started.
"I told you to go back doing your job, son! There's nothing bad going on here", Roxanne said. "They are my guests and staying with me. If you want to know more about them, come see us when your work hours are over", she huffed and started to walk towards her house.
Freed touched Laxus' cheek getting his attention from the guards.
"Let's go", Freed smiled softly, taking the lightning dragon slayer's hand and was finally let free from under his coat.
The guards didn't know what to do, looking at each other and when Laxus gave them one last growl, the kilibuks jumped slightly. That seemed to make Laxus satisfyed, making Freed chuckle.
"Thank you, Madam", the rune mage said when they were walking on a different street. "I'm really sorry of what happened."
"It's alright, sugar. Your dragon just wanted to make sure you're okay", Roxanne cackled. "But how did you end up against them?"
"Umm... Laxus just misunderstood something", Freed said looking at Laxus who just growled something. "He thought that there was someone who was about to do something bad."
"You were getting nervous and anxious", Laxus muttered.
"I was, yes, but not because of him", Freed huffed. "It's alright, the most important thing is that nothing bad happened after all. Did you know those guards, Madam?"
"It was my grandson with his work buddies", Roxanne said.
"Really?" Freed asked surprised. They were all wearing those visors that covered most of their faces so he couldn't see if one of them had same traits as Roxanne. And he happened to be occupied making sure Laxus wouldn't cause anything so he had no time to notice those things. "I hope you're not in trouble now because of us."
"I'm not, don't sweat it", Roxanne cackled waving her hand. "Those kids know better than start a fight with Madam Roxanne!"
"I'm glad to hear that", Freed chuckled.
They arrived back in the house and slowly Laxus was finally starting to get a hold of himself again.
"I'm not even sorry that I scared the living shit out of that fucker", he grumbled when he heard what really happened between Freed and Ketkel.
"He didn't know I was dating someone", Freed smiled peeling the carrots for the dinner. "And he wasn't pressuring me into anything."
"Don't care, he's still a dumbass."
"Should have guessed", Freed said amused.
"If you feel like you still have energy to be mad, go chop some wood", Roxanne said to Laxus. "That should help and we need more wood to make dinner and keep the house warm whole night."
The Thunder God muttered something and stomped outside.
"He'll be fine, sugar", Roxanne assured when Freed looked so worried. "He'll forget this soon."
"I hope so", Freed said. "No, I know he will. He wouldn't think that I would cheat on him, right?"
"Of course he wouldn't, don't you worry about that. Let's just now prepare the dinner so we can make sure your friends can do their jobs during the night."
It was starting to get dark outside when Ever and Bickslow woke up. Freed and Roxanne had prepared the dinner and snacks for the night, and Laxus had finally calmed down. After chopping enough wood for the rest of the year, Kvestor mentioned.
They ate and Bicks and Ever started to get ready to move to the book store, when the door was knocked in the kitchen.
"What he thinks this place is? Why can't he just walk in like a normal grandson would do when coming home", Roxanne muttered when she went to open the door.
Freed looked at the door curiously as he heard Roxanne talking with someone in the kitchen. Then finally she appeared back in the living room, this time with one of the guards they saw earlier. He was still wearing his uniform and helmet that covered bottom half of his face. But they could clearly see dark red eyes that studied them all.
"Everyone, this is my grandson Roscoe. Roscoe, this is Cutie, Sugar, Cookie and Dumb Honeycomb", the old lady introduced them.
"It is nice to meet you", Freed smiled before Laxus opened his mouth. "Our real names -"
"I know who you are", Roscoe said. He had a deep, very strong voice, without being threatening still. "It is an honour to meet you all. But why are you here?"
"We came because Madam needed help, baby", Bickslow grinned.
"What?" Roscoe asked looking at his tiny grandmother. "Is that true?"
"Yes, dear. Kvestor mentioned that I should ask mages from the mage guild to come over and help me with the burglars", Roxanne nodded and she sat down.
"Burglars? There has been burglars and you haven't even mentioned it to me?"
"Relax, dear. Nothing bad has happened yet. Cutie and Cookie will guard the store this night."
"I could have done that, you know it."
"You have your own job. It's alright, dear. Now take off your helmet, there is food for you in the kitchen", Roxanne commanded, pointing at the kitchen with her cane.
Roscoe sighed and took off his helmet. That made Freed and the others almost fall off from the couch.
"What?" Roscoe asked confused and slightly suspiciously narrowing his red eyes.
Bickslow grinned and stood up, walking beside the man who was maybe few inches smaller - making him still a very tall man - but obviously older than him.
"Ohh, look at that! Like looking at the mirror!" Bicks cackled to Freed and the others.
"Impostor! Intruder alert!" 'babies' chanted circling around Roscoe. "Arrest this faker!"
"What the hell?" he said angrily looking at the dolls. "Who are you calling an impostor?"
"They just got confused", Bicks smiled.
"Humbug!" 'babies' scolded, thumping against Roscoe's shoulders.
"I don't understand this hassle", Roscoe grumbled, shooing the Tiki dolls off.
Bicks grinned and took off his visor that covered the top half of his face. He had obviously way more wilder black and blue hair, while Roscoe had neatly cut short hair and a chin beard. Of course he also didn't have a tattoo like Bickslow.
"Man, we could be brothers!" Bickslow cackled.
"What?" Roscoe asked.
"The resemblance is... Amazing", Ever said surprised and they all nodded. It really was almost unbelievable!
"Would you look at that", Roxanne said blinking. "I didn't even notice it before."
"How is that possible?" Laxus muttered, looking at the two men who studied each other.
"This is awesome", Bicks grinned. "Maybe we are related?" he grinned and swung his arm around Roscoe's shoulders.
"Would you please just keep your distance?" Roscoe snarled trying to shake the taller man's arm off, but it wasn't that easy. It was never easy to shake Bicks off when he decided to hug you.
"Are you allergic to peanuts too?" Bicks asked.
"What?"
"Do you like apples? I like apples."
"Bicks, let him go", Freed chuckled. "You're scaring the poor man."
Finally Bickslow let go of Roscoe and there were silence in the living room. Both blue and black haired men were staring at each other, Bickslow with his wide grin, Roscoe with a frown.
"I'll come see you again tomorrow", the guard finally grumbled to Roxanne and grabbed his helmet from the table where he had put it on earlier.
"Roscoe", Roxanne huffed, but Roscoe was already at the door, closing it after him.
"Why did he leave?" Bicks asked confused.
"We were just having fun", 'babies' sighed. "Did we do bad?"
"No, I believe he just got confused", Roxanne said leaning against the back of her chair.
"I wanna see him again", Bicks decided.
"Who knows, maybe they actually could be brothers?" Freed suggested, finally saying out loud the thing they all had been thinking from the moment Roscoe took his helmet off. "Bicks doesn't know his family."
"Yeah! I don't have any memories of my parents. It would be cool to find a brother!" Bickslow cackled.
"Let's find him!" 'babies' chirped. "Let's talk with the impostor!"
"Hold your horses", Roxanne said before Bickslow stormed out of the house. "You got a job, remember?"
"Oh, right..." Bicks said, a lot less excited now.
"You do what you promised, cookie. Roscoe said he would come back tomorrow so he will come back."
"So wait, wait", Ever said. "If it really is true and Roscoe and Bicks are brothers, wouldn't Madam Roxanne be his grandmother?" she asked.
"Let's not get too excited yet", Roxanne said. "Of course it would be a good thing, but we still don't know the facts."
"And what are the chances that we just happen to come here and find Bicks' family members?" Laxus said.
"That does sound unbelievable", Freed nodded.
"I guess I just got lucky", Bicks grinned.
"We're lucky! We're good!" the Tiki dolls giggled.
"Alright! Let's go do that job so we can meet Roscoe again tomorrow!" Bickslow cackled and Ever followed after him, as Kvestor went to show them the way and the shop.
"That was... Something I still find hard to believe it really happened", Freed said slowly and Laxus nodded.
"Well, life is a mystery, ain't it?" Roxanne giggled. "I have seen things even more impossible."
"Hard to think any just like that", Laxus grumbled.
"Really, now? That's a lot of crap coming from a man who managed to knock up his boyfriend", the old lady snickered and Freed blushed. "Alright, let's go to bed, kids", Roxanne smiled and they stood up. "There is food in the kitchen if you get hungry during the night."
"We'll remember that", Freed nodded. "Good night, Madam."
"Good night, kids", Roxanne smiled as they headed towards the stairs.