Dragon Season [COMPLETED]

Chp.8

"I'm so bored..." I stretched my back against the hard, wooden chair and glanced around the guild. It was late at night, so it was totally deserted (except for Cana, who had drunk one barrel too many and was passed out at a nearby table). "Where is Laxus? I hope he didn't forget..."

As if on cue, the doors to the guild swung open and smashed into the walls with a loud thud. I glanced at Cana to see if the noise had affected her, but all she did was let out a loud snort, mutter something unintelligible, and turn her head. An anime sweat-drop slid down your forehead. "Man, she's really out of it..."

"Daichi!" I turned my head towards the person who had spoken, but flinched when I saw how close they were. As I had expected, it was Laxus. His eyes were wide and a little wild, and his breathing was somewhat rapid. I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet.

"Laxus! What the heck?!" I dug my heels into the hardwood, but they merely made a harsh skidding sound. Once again, I looked at Cana, but she was just as unaware of the situation as ever. "YOU'RE USELESS, YOU KNOW THAT?!"

Laxus didn't stop dragging me until I was outside in the streets, and that was only because I had grabbed ahold of a nearby lamppost with my free hand and refused to let go. I thought he was going to rip my arm off!

"What is going on?!" I rolled my shoulder and growled lowly at the mage. He seemed a little annoyed at my attitude, but that only served to make me even more disagreeable. "You can't just grab me like that and-"

"I need your help," Laxus muttered. His eyes drifted downward as he spoke in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. I could see a slight blush creeping across his cheeks.

"O...kay?" I cocked my head curiously and let my shoulders slump. I had never seen Laxus act so...shy. "What is it?"

Laxus opened his mouth, then closed it. With a slight snort, he turned on his heel and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Just forget it."

My jaw dropped as I let my entire torso slump. "What?! No way! You can't do that!"

I ran up beside the blonde and synchronized my footsteps with his. I hadn't noticed before, but there were grass stains all over his pants. He looked like he had been crawling around on his knees for some reason, but you couldn't fathom why.

"Laxus," I groaned as I grabbed hold of his hand. It was much larger than mine and felt heavy when I gripped it. Laxus flinched a bit, but didn't pull away from my touch. "Let me help you. C'mon, what's this all about?"

Laxus glanced at me sidelong and sighed. He swallowed hard before speaking. "I lost something. It was a present for someone, and now it's gone. I must have dropped it, but I searched everywhere and couldn't find it."

"Well that explains the grass stains..." I muttered. "I don't know how much help I'll be, though. It's pretty dark out here. How long have you been searching for it?"

"Since noon," Laxus admitted grudgingly. He scratched his neck awkwardly. "I was training in the park, and when I checked to see if it was still in my pocket, it was gone."

"Oh, wow. That was a long time ago. Well, I can tell it must be really important to you, so I'll help you look." I nodded once as if confirming it to myself, then smiled brightly. "I know you don't want to wait 'til morning, otherwise you wouldn't have dragged me out of the guild like you did. By the way, I'm still looking for an apology..."

"Sorry..." Laxus rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. I gave him a flat look.

"Laaaaaame."

"I'm sorry, okay? Let's just get on with this." Laxus pressed ahead, shoving his hands into his pockets again and muttering something about women. I stuck my tongue out at him before rushing to his side once more.

"And this is why you don't carry important things in your pocket..." I grumbled as I continued running my hands across the grass. I could barely see, and the thought of grabbing hold of some nocturnal creature didn't thrill me any, so I was just about to give up when my fingers came across something hard and rectangular. "Hey! I think I found it!"

Laxus snapped his head in my direction and grew a bit pale. I grinned slightly and began tracing the edges of the item. "It feels like-" I stopped as I felt something scaly on one side of it. A loud hiss followed by a hyper rattling sent chills running down my spine. I was just about to look at the creature when a bolt of lightning snapped past me, causing the hairs on my arm to stand on end. I caught a small glimpse of the snake's long fangs before it was disintegrated.

"Are you alright?" Laxus rushed over to me and knelt beside me. I nodded once, but frowned as my fingers curled around the ashes of the item I had been searching for.

"Yeah...but your gift...it's totally destroyed." I held up my hand and let the ashes run through my fingers. Laxus sighed.

"I don't care about that. I'm just glad you're safe."

Something about what he had said made me blush furiously. I tried to hide it, but to no avail. Laxus opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted him. "What was it?"

"A box," Laxus shrugged. He stood, and offered me his hand. I rolled my eyes and snorted slightly as I took it.

"I figured that much out. What was inside the box?"

Laxus hesitated, his hand still wrapped loosely around mind. He didn't seem to be aware that we were holding hands; he was too busy trying to avoid my question.

"It was..." Laxus frowned slightly. I arched an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes?"

"It was a necklace," Laxus sighed. "I bought it for you while I was away...to kinda make up for leaving for so long. I also wanted to say thanks...for putting up with me...I know I can be..."

"A jerk? A mule? A royal pain in the-"

"I was going to say difficult," Laxus glared at me, but his expression softened a bit after he saw my amused expression. "But...yes."

I shook my head slowly and before Laxus had time to respond, I gave his cheek a quick kiss. He turned at least three different shades of red before his mind had time to register what had happened.

"Buy me dinner tomorrow night," I linked my arm with his and grinned. "That's thanks enough."

Laxus' expression turned flat as the two of us began walking back toward the guild. He sighed loudly. "I'm going to be broke before the dessert..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing at all."

My grin changed to a satisfied smirk. "That's what I thought."

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IT'D BE AMAZING IF YOU GUYS COULD READ MY OTHER STORY!

It's a Gray fanfic, and I had to rename it "I mean, I guess" because of the amount of other stories called "Fire & Ice". SO PLEASE READ IT!! It's finished and I just gotta edit it C: