AN: The next chapter is the last of X775, and then we'll be moving on to another arc!
-
They made it to Hosenka in about a ten minute full sprint for freedom.
It was running into the evening, so Eir got them a room at the inn and ushered the children to the bathhouse.
"C'mon Bickslow, stop crying," Laxus tugged the teenager away with him. "Gray hurry up alr-- don't strip here!"
"My babies..."
"Yeah, yeah!" Gray scampered after him, carrying a stack of the provided kimono in his arms, kicking off his jeans and shrugging off his jacket, leaving his boxers on, why are you stripping, "Eir, you coming?"
"In a second," Eir gestured for them to go on ahead of him. He turned to the two girls, "Cana, be the big sister and take care of Levy, okay?"
"I will!" And Cana beams up at him, her hand still in Levy's.
Levy nodded shyly, setting her book down carefully at the side and out of the way. She gave a hasty bow of thanks before Cana dragged her off.
And now, all that was left in the room was Eir and their little thieving orphan boy.
"I already apologized!" the little angry dark-haired child snapped for about the hundredth time, "enough of this nonsense and let me go!"
"Stop whining already," Eir jabbed the boy in the head. "It's a free bath and place to sleep for the night. Just enjoy it."
Eir didn't want to put him down. He might just run off and they'll have to chase him again.
"You from the local orphanage?" he prompted instead.
And the boy stiffened. He turned away with a huff, "no."
Well, that's obviously a lie. Eir set down the pouch of cookies to the side, somewhere high. He unclasped his sword from his belt and set it by the door.
"Well, me too," Eir offered obscurely. "My name's Eir. You?"
"None of your business."
"Alright," he hummed. "You use air magic? I do too."
"Shut up."
Eir found this rather nostalgic. Children were always little shits-- it's surprising how little trouble he's had with the others. So this kid is a nice breath of fresh air, no pun intended.
"Well, you're pretty strong. Have you been scouted for a guild yet?"
And this made the kid do a double take. "What?"
"Like the other kids you saw," Eir smiled at him. "They're all part of my guild. We're learning magic, earning our own money, and doing honest work now."
He tutted. "Honest work my ass--"
Eir let him escape, landing with a crouch on the ground. He stood up confrontationally, glare set on his features.
"Enough of this dumb family game!" he snapped. "I gave your things back! That's enough, right? I'm gonna go."
And he marched away with a huff.
"No." Eir snagged him by the scruff, and the boy tripped over his own feet. He got paid to get this kid off the streets. He ain't letting the kid go back, that's bad work culture.
"What the hell do you want?!" he shrieked this time, absolutely ruffled, evidently at the end of his patience. They're indoors, which is probably why he wasn't shooting magic power around yet.
Eir blinked at him.
"Well..." he leaned down a little, contemplatively. "I just thought that... maybe you'd look good in a suit."
"HUH?!"
-
Laxus made it back to the room with a contented sigh.
He's tired already. Time to call Gramps and tell him they were staying outside for the night... wait.
Sitting on the counter, defenseless and exposed to the world-- were Eir pouch of cookies.
He picked them up, hiding them in his sleeve.
"We have new guys over, so he should know better than to leave these out... wait."
He looked around. His sword was here, as well as Eir's katana... but the person himself wasn't here. They didn't pass him on the way back from the baths either.
"...Where did they go?"
He surveyed the area for traces of wind damage-- none. Which meant that Eir willingly walked the kid out to somewhere.
He sighed. Well, guess that's one second of peace and--
"Laxus, Bickslow found another doll! Stop him!"
--he spoke too soon.
"Baby, babies!" a blue figure flitted past the door, dashing like an absolute menace with a shit-eating grin on his face. A rubber ducky floated after him, and Gray was screaming in chase, his yukata still half on.
Oh, damn it.
"Bicks! GET BACK HERE!"
-
"Yes! Eir-kun, one step to the left-- Oh, yes! Ren-kun, look to the side for a second. AHhh! I have been blessed. I have been blessed!"
The photographer-- Monsieur Johnny-- would probably get a heart attack soon.
They were in the Vandalay clothing store, Hosenka branch. They were long past closing hours, but one doorbell ring and one polite request later, the parlor is open for them.
It didn't matter if there was a scheduled shoot that day, the ecstatic owner of the shop just wanted photos whenever he could, every day. Free material for the next issue, after all.
(Eir only willingly walked in here because, hey, an hour of suffering for free clothes.)
And it wasn't exactly bad suffering either. It's like going to a beauty salon and getting a session, and it's all free after you let them take some pictures.
"AHhh I love it!" Monsieur clasped his hands together and all but squeals in delight, "the stunning contrast of black and white, tan and pale! Two cool beauties on opposite ends of the spectrum! I HAVE to tell Master Bob about this!"
Eir sighed. He's going to hyperventilate soon, so he should probably stop...
Eir caught sight of Ren-- Akatsuki Ren, the boy had given out his name in a startled impulse when Monsieur prompted-- and he was staring at himself in an almost fascinated way.
He felt the crease of his perfectly ironed clothing-- it's a little warm and crisp, and he'd probably never worn clothes as new as this before.
(And Eir completely understood that feeling.)
They'd scrubbed off the grime and styled his hair, did his makeup and fit him in a tailored suit. Eir's eyes weren't deceiving him-- the boy looked like total eye candy once you cleaned him up and pulled that grimace out of his face.
And most surprising of all, once they got him prepped and ready, it only took him two shots to get into the flow of their photoshoot.
They struck poses like second nature, coordinating comfortably in their individually offish manner. And Ren was a complete natural at it, if Eir could say so himself.
Ren flinched when he realized Eir was staring at him.
Quickly, he turned away. "D- Don't misunderstand! These clothes are nice, but they're uncomfortable, okay? I'm gonna take them off once we're done!"
("Oh, so you're keeping them on for now." Eir doesn't say.)
Eir thought his ears, which were flushed red in contrast to his vehement denial, were absolutely adorable.
"Okay, next pose!"
And Ren immediately straightened to attention, hand held out before him, eyes sharpened cooly. Eir simply turned to the camera with a smile he couldn't quite suppress.
Monsieur exploded with glee again, and Ren jolted, as if he'd just realized what he'd done.
He immediately exploded, "Wait," he's blushing full on now. "D- Don't get it wrong! It's not like I'm doing this because I think it's kinda cool, okay? I'm not!"
(Eir felt an arrow shoot through his heart, but he kept his straight face on.)
"That's a relief," he says, reaching over to pat the boy on the head, ignoring the camera flash. "You're so in your element here, I think you'll fit right in with Blue Pegasus."
"I just SAID I don't-- HANDS OFF!"
"Hey Monsieur, can I bring my other kids over tomorrow morning for a makeover too?"
"Of course!"
-
-
Laxus finally managed to nab Bickslow by the scruff and sit him down in the room in all his crybaby glory again.
Gray had gone to return the rubber ducky, and the girls weren't back yet.
"You don't get it, if I don't get him a vessel, he won't shut up!" he whined, hands over his ears and eyes squeezed shut.
That made Laxus raise an eyebrow.
"Wait, what is your magic?" he asked, because suddenly that seemed much more important than before.
And Bickslow went quiet.
"I... don't know, really," he admitted, looking away. "I only got it a while ago."
Ah, shucks. "From the antique store or before that?" Laxus prompted instead, knowing exactly where this was going. He'd faced it firsthand, after all.
"Before that. I went to the store because of it," Bickslow told him.
"Lacrima?"
"Runes."
(Oh, he didn't know that was possible.)
Laxus rested his arm over the window, leaning his chin into his hand with a sigh. "And? What does it do?" he asked.
When Bickslow gave him a surprised look, he returned it with a neutral side glance. The younger boy settled against the wall, looking at the ground.
"Well I... hear things," he said, almost nervously. "And see things."
He spoke in a tone that expected some sort of backlash. Like claims of hallucinations or mental illness of some sort.
But Laxus knew better than that.
"Do they try to hurt you?" he asked. "The things."
"Huh?" Bickslow looked up, taken aback. "Uh.. not really. They're just... really annoying. But only the few that cling to me."
"They cling to you? Why?" Laxus turned around, "are more going to come? How many are there now?"
"Oh, uh-- I accidentally talk to one sometimes. And then they don't go away," Bickslow tells him. "There's only one-- oh, another one just showed up. Two, now."
"And they're noisy."
"They keep crying."
Laxus eyed Bickslow, wondering if that was why he kept crying too. Because the spirits weren't just talking to him, they were empathizing with him, pouring their hearts into his psyche, and it was affecting him more than just mentally.
(Magic of spite is often stronger when the caster is dead.)
(Spirits, that are magical in form, must work the same way.)
Laxus sighed.
"I'm back. Huh? Where's Eir?" Gray entered the room with an extra pillow under his arm. He saw them in a corner and flinched. "Uhm. Am I interrupting something?"
"No, no," Laxus gets up from his spot. "Could you stay with him? I need to drop by the reception for a sec."
Gray gaped. "Wait, I don't wanna!"
And Laxus walked out, closing the door behind him.
-
Gray turned around and met Bickslow in the eyes.
They gleaned green for half a second before they synchronously recoiled in surprise.
"Why did they glow!?"
"Don't look into my eyes!"
-
Laxus came back into Bickslow and Gray having ice around their heads, wrapped like eye masks.
They were seated face to face, and Bickslow was in the process of emulating some angry beast when Laxus returned.
"Uhm, isn't that cold?" Laxus asked, referring to the ice bandannas they were so naturally wearing. Is it okay for people to freeze their eyes like that? Why aren't either of them screaming their heads off from frostbite?
"Bickslow has this weird eye magic that lets him possess people, and I can't talk to people without looking at their eyes, so we compromised," is Gray's very matter-of-fact answer.
"One hell of a compromise there," Laxus closed the door behind him. "Are the girls not back yet?"
"They went to the reading area downstairs," Bickslow informed.
Laxus hummed at that. So Eir wasn't back yet either. He tossed four objects at the younger boys in the room, who raised their arms to catch two each.
Gray's first to study them. "Are these totems?" he noticed, looking for differences in the two wooden dolls in his hand, comparing them to Bickslow's. "I remember seeing some of these in Isvan."
Bickslow stared at them with interest. "They're small and cute."
"And very portable," Laxus added. "They're from the souvenir shop. You can use them as your dolls, right? They 're not as pretty as the ones you've chosen thus far but--"
Laxus trailed off when he saw how genuinely enamored Bickslow looked.
He squealed at the sight of them, arranging them like a child would play with blocks.
Gray removed the ice mask from his eyes and immediately, two totems begin to glow slightly green, floating off and dancing, drawing pictures in the air.
"WOoooah!" Gray was apparently not as creeped out when they were in that little wooden form. "It's like telekinesis! That's so cool!"
"Cute! Cute!" the dolls chanted, dancing in circles around them. "Cool! Cool!"
Laxus couldn't tear his eyes away from the adorable joy that was emanating from the boy. He had on the happiest grin in the world.
"My babies!" Bickslow cheered, "they're perfect! I love them, Laxus. Thanks!"
Laxus just sighed contentedly, unable to keep off the slight smile that perked at the edges of his lips. Crossing his arms and leaning against the door, he chuckled.
"I think I'm starting to understand how Eir feels."