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fairiesherefairiesthere · 5 years ago

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(Fraxus) The Duel-ity of man

Title’s a pun, not a misspelling :D

This was a request by @useless-slytherclaw, who requested Laxus realising he’s in love with Freed! Thank you for the request! Fic under the cut

Maybe, just maybe, the reason Laxus hasn't thought of Freed as dating material up till now because the man gives him so much more to think about, although he's never able to dwell upon those thoughts for very long because the man is a whirlwind of brilliant activity. If Laxus' thought were a neat pile of papers (a very hypothetical situation), then Freed is a cheeky spring breeze, luring those papers outside, scattering them in every direction that man wants them to go.

Perhaps Freed is more like a matchstick, inconspicuously landing on those imaginary papers and setting them ablaze without being conscious of the furnace he's created. One of the things Laxus is sure of, is that he's no good at neither analogies nor poetry and that he should stop trying to encapsulate the essence of his best friend in one image, because no image he could possibly conjure could live up to the man himself.

Said man is currently distracting him from trying to form coherent thoughts. Nothing new there and as the truly wise people say, thinking is overrated anyway. "What's got you thinking so hard?" Freed asks, tone teasing as he places himself on Laxus' desk, legs crossed. Effortlessly, he paints a picture of elegance that Laxus would never dare to attempt to try himself. "I don't think", he answers.

Dignity. A gift that isn't bestowed upon any member of the Dreyar family, but Laxus hopes that at least his pokerface can save him from selfinflicted embarrassment.

His pokerface doesn't stand a chance against Freed's ages of knowing and the other man raises a brow in retalation. Granting him some mercy, Freed shakes his head with a little smile. "Apparently so", he grins and Laxus thinks about throwing him off his desk. It wouldn't be that hard, Freed isn't that heavy. He knows because he's carried him before, which was all in all a nice experience.

"You're really out of it today, what's up?" There's no escaping Freed's perceptiveness and knowing this like no other, Laxus doesn't even attempt to. "I am having thoughts." Seeing the grin reappear on Freed's face, Laxus throws a paper ball in his direction. "Asshole", he mutters and the bastard has the nerve to shoot him a wink. "I'm having a crisis, but I don't know about what. Not yet, really."

Freed hums at that and gives Laxus a once over, lingering at his eyes. As they wordlessly gaze at each other, Laxus swallows dryly. He thinks he can take this tension, until Freed reaches out and tilts his chin up. Involuntarily, he shivers and his eyes quickly flits from Freed eyes to his lips and back.

Just when he's about to ask what Freed is doing, the man lets go and jumps from his desk. "Being cooped up in here isn't going to help you methinks. Darling, will you join me for a walk? Or are you gonna stay in this musty ass place, bitch?"

The difference in tone and wordchoice kicks Laxus in the teeth and damn it, he doesn't like to be on the receiving end of Freed's verbal whiplashes. "Yeah, I'm coming", he says and follows the man outside.

Freed is first and foremost, a trickster. A conman, if he must, a charming piece of man only following his own rules. Without a doubt, Laxus can say that he knows no one quite as wellspoken as Freed Justine. Without a doubt, he also knows that no one can even try to compare to Freed when it comes to cursing someone to hell and back. The man is a master of language and applies it however he wishes, pulling people in with pretty words or provoking them with vicious insults.

Whatever he wants, he will get and Laxus finds it a fascinating process to watch. (Or sometimes, plain disturbing. Once, Bickslow had been showcasing the language of the youth these days he learned while getting kidnapped by a travelling circus and Freed and him had talked in this foreign language for three whole weeks. It was awful.)

Most of the time, Laxus is merely a witness of Freed's sharptongued, quickwitted vocal charm. Whenever he's subjected to it, it leaves him a bit stumped. It probably paints him as a dim fool in Freed's mind. Sure, he isn't the brightest mind around here (how can he be when Freed's walking right next to him), but he'd like to be a tad bit better than that. He resolves to not let himself be played with that easily next time.

"Here." With a careful gesture, Freed hands him an icecream. "You're spacing off again and since you didn't answer when I oh so considerately asked you if you wanted some icecream, I took it upon myself to get you some anyway."

"Oh. Thanks." Awkwardly Laxus takes it. "Strawberry, because you have the taste of a first grader on a schooltrip", Freed smirks, sticking his tongue out like an actual first grader. "Put that tongue back or I'll give you something to do with it."

"Oh yeah?" Freed asks, voice teasing with a hint of breathlessness, lips slightly parted. Unceremoniously, Laxus shoves Freed's own icecream into the man's mouth. As the man sputters and coughs, Laxus pats him on the back.

After the coughing fit, Laxus, feeling a bit bad, finds them a scenic place in the park to sit. The trees grand them some relief from the sweltering sun and Freed ignores the perfectly fine bench to spread his jacket underneath him and lay down on the grass. His long green hair is arranges itself like a halo around his head and Laxus twirls a few strands of it between his fingers as he sits down next to him. Looking at Freed, he gives the other man a barely there smile (he's been told he's not that good at smiling).

"Camouflage", he jokes and Freed rolls his eyes. "Whatever", he says and puts a few strands of gras between his lips, like some sort of really white cowboy. "Cannibalism", Laxus whispers obnoxiously close to his ears. Freed's brows twitch in irritation and the man opens his mouth. Nothing comes out and he purses his lips together instead. With a huff, he lays his head down in Laxus' lap and closes his eyes. "I'm not acknowledging that, I'm going to take a nap instead."

"You do that captain", Laxus snorts and moves Freed's a bit, so it's more comfortable for both of them. Although he's using the title mostly jokingly in the moment, Laxus truly respects the work Freed does for their little ragtag group of friends. All of them are powerhouses in their own right, but Freed's the mastermind behind their teamwork. Laxus doesn't think that anybody in the whole world could juggle their personalities and abilities as well as he can.

For someone who looks so unassuming, Freed is a beast of a man. Most of the time, he puts his effort in making sure their team works efficiently together, disappearing in the background. It's whatever Freed in the shadows that makes them able to pull through. But on the few occassions that Laxus has seen him showcasing his strength, he's been left astounded.

Freed's an allrounder in more ways than one. On the battlefield, he's their biggest defense player, one of the best closerangers and he can take care of longer ranges too. Often he doesn't need to, because his strategic mind allows him and his team to win battles without too much trouble. He's a menace and often more brutal than Laxus dares to be.

Off the battlefield, he's the only reason none of them have died of food poisoning. Basically, Freed's what keeps them going.

With soft gestures, Laxus takes it upon himself to decorate Freed's hair with nearby flowers. As he places white and pink flowers in green tresses, he can't help but note how handsome the man in his lap is. The serenity of his expression brings out his youthfullness and as Laxus stares at this accumulation of grace, strength, beauty, competence, brilliance and so much more, Laxus finds his mind to be completely peaceful.

Although they both are men of action, Laxus wishes that moments like these wouls occur more often. A flash of Freed in a fight, deadly power contained in a smirking man, is always enjoyable but such moments are too short to truly relish in. Right now, he can breathe peacefully and stare at Freed as long as he wants. The man's not doing anything special right now and yet Laxus still feels a thrilling admiration when he looks at him. All Freed's competences and abilities are neat, but they are not the core of his being, not the exact thing Laxus is attracted to.

"Hey Freed?" he murmurs, as he feels like speaking in a louder tone will shatter this picture perfect moment. "What would you do if you liked someone?" Without opening his eyes, Freed answers, a dramatic tone colouring his voice.

"Why my dear Laxus, I would challenge them to a duel. They would accept the challenge, but little do they know, it's not a fight in an arena. Nay, we fight in the streets of the city that has seen us grow together and as we give each other little nicks with our knives, we come to the conclusion that we are deeply and madly in love. We will elope and become pirates and as the sun sets above our ship, we kiss, because we waited untill marriage for any kind of physical contact."

His gorgeous blue eyes snap open and Laxus feels pinned into place. "Then the kraken will drag our ship down and eat us alive. Reverse sannakji."

"That's awful."

"Thanks, it was pure improvisation."

Laxus sighs a bit disappointedly and Freed closes his eyes again. "I don't know. Probably ask him out for icecream." There's no misunderstanding his smile and Laxus rushes to get the words out. "I love you", he nearly spits out and Freed smiles a little wider. "I know", he says and the calm, warm tone settles any restlessness that might've still been in Laxus' body. Softly, he presses a kiss to the back of Laxus' hand. "I love you too."

He says the words like they're the easiest in the world. Laxus can't wait till he can say them that naturally as well. For now, he puts a few more flowers in his lover's hair, hoping that actions speak louder than clumsy words, although he's got a feeling that Freed will get the message nonetheless.

#fraxus #Freed Justine #Laxus Dreyar #freedxlaxus #fairy tail #TheFairyWrites #i love these geebers

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