Author's Note- To echo the words of the author whose fic first got me started thinking about these two as a romantic couple... I swear to god this was just a brotp. I was perfectly happy in Fraxus-land, and now look where we are. Dammit.

Anyway, this is cheesy and pointless and contains a bit of speculation for the manga finale/post-finale (as well as allusion to a few of my headcanons about celestial magic, which I'll probably explore further in a couple of other fics I've got planned). Many thanks to Howl and to Scarl, who looked this thing over for any egregious errors, both of spelling and of judgment!

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Superficial

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Laxus doesn't even know why he still bothers to pay attention to new members. It's not like they're relevant. Maybe once one of the brats downstairs manages to make it up to the second floor he'll find it in him to give a shit. But, for reasons he doesn't know, he still finds himself watching, taking note of new faces in the hall. Who knows, maybe eventually there'll actually be someone who makes it worth the time to look?

The girl who shows up at the beginning of July definitely makes it worth the time. She's a bombshell by anyone's standards, that's why he takes notice. Blonde, gorgeous, body to die for, damn. He has no idea what kind of magic she uses, but the whip she carries with her everywhere is… intriguing. She hangs out with Natsu all the time, though, so he figures she's probably brain-damaged. Then again, she's smart enough to get the hell out of the way when all the noisy idiots are brawling like fucking usual, so maybe not.

Either way, his eyes are drawn to her if they happen to be in the guild at the same time. He's attracted to her. Very attracted to her. Fuck, he doesn't even know her name.

Maybe five years ago he would've gone downstairs and asked her name. Probably would've made it awkward, because he's not always the smoothest— a fact that Bix never lets him forget, damn him— and completely struck out. But this isn't five years ago and he isn't a fumbling teenager anymore, he's a goddamn S-Class wizard, strongest in Fairy Tail, and women come to him, not the other way around.

But she doesn't look up, doesn't even glance at the second floor.

Her name, he eventually finds out, is Lucy Heartfilia, and she's the reason Phantom Lord comes and busts up his guild. She sure as shit looks at him when he calls her out on all the trouble she's caused, but he's decided he doesn't really give a damn whether she looks after all. She might use one hell of a rare magic type, but she's not that special.

Not special at all.

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Strong

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The next time he actually stops and pays attention to Lucy Heartfilia is during the opening bout of the Grand Magic Games. Well, unless he's counting the spontaneous hug she gave him after they all woke up on Tenrou Island, but she was going around hugging everyone and he was still pretty out of it at the time.

No, the next time he takes real notice of her is when she's fighting that shady redhead from his shithead dad's guild. And he has to admit… he's impressed.

He's never seen her fight before, at least not when he had time to watch her. Her magic doesn't lend itself naturally to direct combat, but she goes in fierce anyway. She starts with a double summoning (which, if the commentary is accurate, is apparently pretty difficult), and then dives into the fight personally with some kind of magical whip. She's not really built for fighting, but she can hold her own surprisingly well.

But then, she does hang out with Natsu, doesn't she?

Her fumbling halfway through the match, as if she's somehow forgotten not just how to fight but how to move at all, is strange, and when he learns later just what a filthy trick that ginger snake was pulling, he's not really surprised. When he thinks about it later, that tells him a lot about her. The fact that she was willing to let herself be brutalized and publicly humiliated to protect Asca… it's admirable. Fucking stupid, but admirable.

What he remembers most from the match, though, isn't any of that. When he thinks about that fight later, what he remembers is that last spell that she had cast.

Laxus considers himself to be a pretty good judge of magical power. He doesn't spend his life analyzing the hell out of everybody the way some people (by which he means Freed) do, but he has a strong magical sense. And when she turns that spell loose and fills the stadium with light too bright even for him to look at directly…

He had no idea she had that kind of power.

Sure, he already knew that celestial magic took up a lot more strength to do even simple things than most ability-type magic (he does actually listen when Freed talks), so he figured Lucy could probably keep up with her team alright, but actually tuning in to her magic at that moment gives him a very different picture of her as a wizard. Even without the light, watching her power build is like looking at the sun, and he realizes that if she specialized in some other type of magic, she'd be considered one of the guild's strongest. She's S-Class material.

He doesn't know whether he's more impressed by the fact that she has this much raw power or by the fact that she's actually holding back. "Restraint" usually isn't in a Fairy Tail wizard's vocabulary, but apparently there's still one member of the guild who understands the difference between a competition and a life or death battle; she uses her Gemini spirit as both an amplifier and a limiter at the same time, from what little he's able to see before the light gets too bright, and it's impressive as hell.

Not that the redhead deserves that much consideration. He's not even that surprised when the spell is choked off. He was expecting exactly this kind of cheap trick from his dad's guild, especially after what happened to Wendy and the cat.

He makes a point to find her that night, after everything's all over and they're celebrating their abysmal first-day showing back at the Sun Bar. He doesn't feel responsible or anything just because he's Ivan's son. A man's gotta take responsibility for his own actions, Laxus believes that firmly, and what happened at the match today was his old man's doing, not his. He's got nothing to do with it.

But still… she was humiliated today, and half of Fiore thinks she can't work a spell properly. If it was him, he wouldn't be able to stand it.

And so he finds her, chatting with Lisanna like she doesn't have a care in the world (but she does, she has to), and says, "That was real shit luck, what happened in the match today."

She looks at him in surprise, perhaps because they haven't spoken much and it's weird for him to approach her out of the blue, but gives a rueful smile and says, "Guess I can't really call myself Lucky Lucy, anymore, can I?"

"Tell ya what," he says, "if I end up going against anybody from my shitty pops' guild this week, I'll kick their ass for ya."

She blinks those big brown eyes once, twice, as she processes what he just said, and then a smile glowing bright as her magic power rises on her face. "I'll be sure to cheer you on if you do!" she says.

Cheer him on, huh?

It's something he thinks about for a good long while afterward.

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Smart

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She's part of Freed's Smart Club.

It's not actually a club and if it were they probably wouldn't call it that because they're a bunch of geniuses and they'd come up with something better, but that's how Laxus refers to them in his head. They tend to gravitate to each other on slow days in the guild hall. Play chess, probably have a damn book club, not that he's asked. Freed and Levy and Nab (who, despite being the laziest sonofabitch on Earthland, is actually pretty intelligent) and Lisanna… and her.

Lucy.

He's sitting in a corner with Ever and Elfman, and he's glad it's them he's with at the moment because they're both so busy proving how hard they're ignoring each other that there's literally no chance they're going to pick up on anything going on with him. Which is good for him, because what's going on with him is a whole lot of staring at Lucy Heartfilia.

He keeps thinking he's got her figured out. He thought he could write her off as some debutante bimbo skating by on her looks but then she kicked Bixlow's ass. He thought she was a fairly standard wizard and then he got to see her actually show off her power. And once again, he was just starting to think he'd gotten her pinned down after the Grand Magic Games, but now he's been thrown for a loop again.

Because she's smart. Shit, she's smart.

There are plenty of smart people in Fairy Tail, but he honestly did not expect her to be one of them. In retrospect, he's not sure why. Stereotypes, maybe. She's blonde and bubbly, so maybe he just assumed. But no, there she is, giving Freed a run for his money at chess. Freed's going to win of course, but the game's been going on far longer than any game he's ever seen Freed play, so she must be good.

This whole thing where he's constantly being caught off-guard by Lucy Heartfilia is getting really goddamn unsettling. He's used to being able to pigeonhole people, and being able to do so quickly. And it's not just that he's known half the people in this guild for a decade or more— the other newcomers are easy to figure out.

Or maybe it's that he's not paying close enough attention? He's been trying to get better about getting to know the other guild members since Tenrou, because he really does understand just how much he fucked up before and why, and so he's been making an effort, at least to observe people.

Either way, the implications are unsettling. Whether he's fascinated by her because he's discovered so many different sides to her, or whether he's discovered so many different sides because he's fascinated, the fact remains… he has a hard time looking away.

"—don't you agree, Laxus?"

Shit, Evergreen is talking to him. "Mm?"

She and Elfman are both watching him curiously, and Ever looks suspicious on top of it. "What are you looking at?" she asks.

Shit.

"Freed's takin' his sweet time finishing up his game," Laxus says, nodding in the direction of the table across the hall where Lucy is puzzling over her next move. He may not be about to admit to— whatever it is that he's thinking about the guild's sweetheart— but he's also not going to lie about shit. Let Ever think what she wants.

Ever, unfortunately, is too perceptive for her own good. She doesn't say anything (this time), but he can see those devious little wheels turning in her head.

"Looks like Lucy is giving him a hard time," she remarks, watching him.

He shrugs, a calculated neutral. "Freed'll win," he says. "Even Levy's only beat him a few times, Blondie doesn't stand a chance."

Freed does not win. Lucy plays him to a deadlocked stalemate.

.

Sweet

.

Six months since Tartaros. Six months since the only home he's ever known was shattered on impact and dispersed with a wave from an old man's hand. Six months since he learned, with terrifying certainty, that for all his power, he's not even strong enough to protect what he loves.

Blue Pegasus isn't a bad guild. They're lively, like Fairy Tail, but in some ways that only makes it worse, because they're the wrong kind of lively. But they welcomed him and his friends with open arms, and he's grateful for that. They're also popular enough to get plenty of bigger job requests, so he can keep himself away from the guild hall for decent chunks of time, which is a blessing. Ichiya has declared him his "pet project," and as much respect as he has for the man as a wizard, this hospitality crap is so far outside Laxus's skillset, it shouldn't even be a consideration.

And then comes the day that she walks into the lounge.

He's standing around awkwardly in exactly the way Ichiya has told him repeatedly not to do, because it makes him unapproachable. Which is sort of his goal. He knows if he sits down with a client he might just get a job that will take him out of town for a day or week (or longer, if he's lucky), but a group of wealthy-looking middle aged women have walked in the door. Two of them are regular clients, women he knows bring trivial jobs to Pegasus for the express purpose of spending time with the attractive wizards of the guild, and like hell is setting himself up for that again. There are only so many times a man can stand to have his thighs groped in public by a woman almost three times his age.

(If he could go back in time, he would find his eighteen-year-old self and smack the hell out of him for whistling at girls on the street, because if that felt even remotely as uncomfortable for them as being molested by housewives does for him— and back before the guild disbanded, he recalls Mirajane assuring him, repeatedly, that it's actually much worse— then he was even worse of a scumbag than he thought. Not that that's news to him.)

But just as he's in the process of trying to make himself look as surly and unpleasant as possible, Lucy Heartfilia steps through the door behind the group of clients, and his focus is immediately all on her.

It's not like it's the first time he's seen her face since the guild disbanded. She's been doing modeling for Weekly Sorcerer. But there's a big difference between seeing a static, airbrushed image and having the living, breathing woman in the same room with him.

"Lucy!" He couldn't stop himself from calling out to her even if she wanted to.

She whirls at the sound of his voice, hand clutching the strap of her little pink purse. She looks wild, desperate for the tiniest moment, and then her eyes land on him. Her grin when she sees him is thin. Sincere, but she looks so tired.

He knows the feeling.

"Laxus," she greets, and her voice is warm even if she can't get that warmth into the smile. She changes course to meet him where he's standing (hiding) by the wall. "I didn't expect to see you today!"

He nods, unsure what to say because he's struggling with a sudden desire to hug her. It's not just his infatuation with her talking, either. He hasn't seen any of his old guild mates— aside from Ever and the guys— in months, so running into anybody would be kind of a punch to the gut.

It's awkward. He's hyperaware of her guildmark, that Fairy Tail insignia stamped on the hand that's clenched over her purse, and equally aware of his own mark. Both of his marks— he hasn't been able to bring himself to erase the Fairy Tail crest either.

"Is Master Bob here?" she asks, and he's grateful she broke the weird silence.

He shrugs. "Not sure. Haven't seen him today. Think Ichiya said somethin' about him meeting with Goldmine, but I dunno."

"Well then, do you think it would be alright if I wait here until he gets back?"

He stares over her shoulder— the pack of ladies is still on the loose, and one of them is watching him talking to Lucy with a hunter's gaze— and says, "Sure, let's go sit down."

She looks surprised at his implication that he's joining her, but then she follows his glance behind her for a moment, and when she looks back at him her smile's more genuine. "Feeling a little hunted?"

"Taking down Jura during the Games made me pretty popular, I guess," he says dryly, heading for one of the booths tucked further from the main floor.

Lucy lets out a breath of laughter, but says nothing in direct response to that. Instead, she asks, "Are the others here today?"

He doesn't need to ask which others she means. "Nah. Out working. How'd you know we're here, anyway?"

Her eyes are an odd, empty kind of devastated. "I've been… uh, I mean, like you said, you're a pretty popular wizard. It's easy to keep track of rumors, especially when you work at a magazine."

Which he takes to mean that she's been keeping tabs on him. Probably on all of them. It makes him ache, because their home was smashed to bits and he couldn't protect it. But if he's reading her right (and he's pretty sure he is), then maybe she's protecting it in his place. Keeping the flame burning.

When the fuck did he get so sentimental, anyway?

He forces his attention back to the conversation. "Working at the magazine, huh? So you're doing something for Sorcerer besides posing half-naked, then."

She gives him a very unexpected kick under the table and a glare he's seen her level at Gray and Natsu a thousand times. "I had to pay my rent somehow," she says tartly. "And anyway, the modeling was only for a few issues. I've been writing articles for months."

"Yeah? Didn't know you could write."

Lucy nods. "After I ran away from home I started working on a book. Writing nonfiction is a whole lot easier."

That's right, he'd forgotten she was a runaway. Her family life must have been fucked, too. He never bothered to ask. Never bothered with a lot of things because even after his brief exile helped set his head on straight about some stuff, he still thought he could connect with his guildmates by observation. Thought he'd have all the time in the world to get to know Lucy— and all the other friends he'd neglected— on his own terms.

Shows what an arrogant fucking prick he really is, doesn't it? He thought he'd already learned that lesson about don't know what you've got until it's gone, but clearly there was more to learn than he thought.

But now isn't the time for self-deprecating bullshit. Now's the time for talking to Lucy. Lucy who isn't gone off somewhere like the rest of the guild, but right here in front of him. He can't keep spacing out like this.

"Is that why you're here, then?" he asks. "For an article?"

She nods. "I'm working on an exposé on the recent rise in crime nationwide. My theory is that with the final collapse of the Baram Alliance, lower-level mages from dark guilds that were absorbed by Tartaros have come out of whatever holes they crawled into and are getting up to mischief. Since several of Blue Pegasus's wizards have been involved in skirmishes with dark guilds recently, I thought talking to Master Bob would help me get a better idea of the situation."

"Damn. Serious journalism."

Her half-smile is rueful. "If I want to be treated like an adult by my editor instead of a set of walking breasts, serious is the only kind of journalism I can do."

"Oh. Can't say I've ever had that problem."

She gives him a quick once over. "No, I imagine you haven't," she says with a small chuckle. "But it comes with the territory. The modeling got my foot in the door and now I can do something a little more important with my time."

"Mm."

"So that's pretty much my life. Just, you know, work work work!" It's said too brightly, and he can see she's putting effort into looking like she's just fine. He gets it. He's not fine either. Unlike her, though, he doesn't have to work so hard at it because he constantly looks pissed off all the time anyway.

But maybe she can tell, because she leans forward and asks, "How have you been? Are things… you know… are you…?"

He shrugs. "The work's good. Ichiya's a weirdo but that's not news. No sign of the old man."

She slumps visibly in her seat. "I was afraid of that," she says, and after a moment during which he wonders whether he should have mentioned the elephant in the room at all, she takes a deep breath and continues, "I'm glad you're enjoying it here, though."

"S'not the same, but it's like you said, right? Gotta pay the bills somehow."

That gets another tiny giggle out of her, and he feels accomplished.

"You know, I think this might be the longest conversation we've ever had," she remarks.

She is possibly right and that definitely sucks. When Bob comes in forty-five minutes later and she leaves his side, it feels like a tiny echo of losing the guild all over again. But she brushes her hand across his shoulder as she leaves the booth, giving him a watered-down smile, and the warmth of her skin through his shirt lingers.

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Savior

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Laxus doesn't see her again until they're fleeing Alvarez on Christina. There's a fleeting moment of eye contact here and there, but everything is joyful chaos because they've got Gramps back. And then with Zeref— fucking Zeref, of course, because who the hell else would it be?— breathing down their necks, everything is a weird combination of reunion celebration and battle strategy. He catches flashes of her during both party and planning, knocking back shots with Cana one minute and offering the First input the next, but everything's hectic and he doesn't get around to doing more than send a quick nod her way.

So really, the next time Lucy comes on his radar is the exact moment that she saves the entire continent's collective ass. Hard to miss, really.

He learns the details later. A centuries-long family legacy, bound up in Zeref's scheming and dedicated exclusively to defeating Acnologia. A deep understanding of the root of all magic, taught by her mother, that allowed her to safely harness the power of Lumen Histoire, all that stuff. But at the moment that it happens, all he sees is what everyone else sees: Lucy Heartfilia, alight like the stars, rising to defend her family when no one else has strength left to stand.

She's incredible.

But he knew that already. And just like everyone else, all he can do is sit back and watch in awe as she works a last-minute miracle.

Natsu tells him later that she defeated August, as well. The strongest wizard alive, possibly the most powerful in history, and Lucy took him down. Sure, it might be a fluke. Might be the fact that she was a specialist in the one kind of magic the Mage King didn't have complete mastery of. Lucky Lucy, indeed.

But half the time that's what shit like that comes down to— even the slightest edge over your opponent can be exploited, and clearly Lucy pulled it off. Luck might've given her an advantage nobody else would've had… but luck doesn't mean shit if you waste the opportunities it gives you.

It occurs to him that he's lucky to know her.

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Soft

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Time slips through his fingers faster than he expects, and before he knows it, it's been a year since the defeat of Acnologia and Zeref. Fiore has, for the most part, recovered from the chaos and destruction of Zeref's war. Fairy Tail is in high spirits, as always. And Lucy… Lucy is the Ninth Master.

Laxus was half-afraid, when the subject of the new master came up after Gramps's funeral, they were going to offer him the job. He gave up the right to the position of guildmaster— not that he ever had any right to begin with, but still— a long time ago, and even though he knows his grandfather still considered him a successor of sorts… he doesn't want it, not anymore. And even if he did, he knows now that he's not right for it. He's infinitely grateful that Natsu nominated Lucy, instead, because she's much better for the job.

She's admittedly pretty young, but so was Sting when he took over Sabertooth— in fact he was younger than Lucy at the time. Still, though she's plenty capable, she seems to lack confidence… and that's where he comes in.

Lucy asked him for advice once, because she was second-guessing a decision she'd made and stressing herself out about it, and apparently whatever he said was helpful, because after that she kept seeking him out.

And so now here they are, sitting in the Master's office in the back of the guild hall. It's late as hell, and they're probably the last people in the building. She's saying something about something to do with the Council that he stopped listening to five minutes ago because watching the way her eyes spark when she's annoyed (and the way her current posture displays certain assets— honestly, he might be a reformed asshole but it's very difficult not to take notice) is much more interesting.

He's been meaning to say something to her, to bring up the possibility of them, but hasn't quite gotten around to it yet. Immediately after everything was all over, he was too overwhelmed by the grief of losing his grandfather— everyone was, really— and then the timing never seemed right. He's not really the romantic type, not by a long shot, but Lucy is and he'd like to at least try to do things right. Or what she'd consider right. Whatever. He supposes just about anything would be better than his long-ago attempt at blackmailing her into dating and/or sleeping with him, but that's not saying a whole lot. Damn, he wants to go back in time and kick his past self's ass for being such a dickhea—

"Laxus?"

It is, he realizes as he processes the last ten seconds again, the second time she's said his name. He keeps spacing out around her and it's getting embarrassing.

"Yeah?" he responds warily.

There's a knowing little smile on her face that he's long since learned means trouble. "You haven't heard a word I've said for the last five minutes, have you?"

There is no good way to answer that question, so he just grunts.

Lucy lets out an inelegant little snort, clearly amused by his attempts at avoidance. "You stare at me like that a lot, you know," she says bluntly.

"I guess." This feels like dangerous waters.

"Why?"

Definitely dangerous waters. Still… he's been meaning to bring this up, right? This isn't how he planned on doing it— not that he actually had a plan— but since it's up for discussion… ah, what the hell.

"You're nice to look at," he says with a shrug.

She laughs. "Obviously."

"Thought I was the one with the ego in this room," he replies, amused despite himself.

"It's a big room, I think we can both squeeze our pride in somehow," she says, and he can't get enough of the bright spark in her eye as she teases him. Maybe flirts with him. Sometimes their conversations seem to turn flirtatious and he's really not sure where the line is.

"Guess you're right," he says awkwardly. Shit, he's bad at this.

Her lips are still tilted up, but her eyes go thoughtful and quiet. "Laxus…" She trails off.

"Yeah?" he prompts, when she seems to be struggling for words.

After a moment more of wrestling with herself, she says, "Laxus, sometimes I put off doing request paperwork until nights I know you're going to be here, because I know if I'm stuck here late, you'll stay with me."

He blinks. Processes that statement. Blinks again. What?

"Huh?"

She's blushing a million shades of red and flops face-down on her desk, letting out a frustrated little whine. "Ugh, this is so hard," she informs the desktop.

"What's hard?" he asks, and he's still kinda confused, but that pink in her cheeks is intriguing… and possibly enlightening.

"This." She lifts her head like it weighs more than her whole body, eyes a little bit wild, and raises a hand to gesture back and forth between the two of them. "I just really like spending time with you and I want to spend more time with you and you're always staring at me so it seems like maybe you feel the same way but—"

She doesn't get the chance to finish her statement, because he's leaned across the desk and claimed her lips in a demanding kiss. The angle's awkward as hell and he can tell he caught her completely by surprise, but her lips are so damn soft. He knew they would be, she's always got sparkly glossy crap on her mouth and he can taste it, like strawberries and Lucy.

It doesn't last more than ten seconds, not nearly long enough, but he figures that's enough to shut her up and get his point across.

Her eyes are wide when he leans back— not too far, not quite out of her personal space, but he gives her a couple inches to breathe— and for as short as it was, she's delightfully breathless.

"Screw the paperwork," he says. "Let's go get somethin' to eat."

An amazing smile blooms on her lips— those soft, soft lips that he's going to enjoy getting more familiar with— and she nods. "That sounds great," she says, and gets to her feet. As she turns off the lights and locks up the office for the night, he watches her move, watches the smile she can't keep hidden at all, and realizes that he's smiling, too.

And he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.

A/N2- Do I think Lucy is going to be fighting Mage King August in the very near future? You bet your ass I do. In fact, given the setup in the most recent chapter, and the focus on her when Makarov first talked about August, I'll be astonished if she doesn't. Do I think Lucy is going to be the one to save the world from either Zeref or Acnologia? I think she should be, all things considered, but I don't know if I trust Mashima enough to let her actually live up to the potential he keeps giving her and then snatching away at the last second. Do I think Lucy is going to be the ninth master of Fairy Tail? Well, like I said. I won't trust Mashima until it's all over.

Another chapter of Lucy & the Dragon Slayers should be in the pipeline soonish, but I had to get this out of my system first. Thank you for reading!