#gajeed

But he could understand why Mirajane wanted him. He was nearby, sober, and strong enough to get two barrels at once. He pushed himself off the stool he was sitting at and walked to the hatch, which Mirajane opened for him. Without rushing he walked into the kitchen, meandering towards the back wall where the barrels of booze were stored.

With two of them tucked under his arms, he went to walk back to the bar. He halted a little as he saw a figure approaching the door, and hung back to let whoever it was through. When he saw that it was Freed, he averted his eyes.

He'd looked Freed in the eyes three times.

Every time, he'd blushed.

It was a stupid fucking crush, and he wanted it gone. Freed wasn't his type! He didn't know exactly what his type was, but surely it couldn't be Freed Justine! Not only was the guy a smug bastard, but he was all elegant and proper and shit. Gajeel didn't fuck around with people like that, Gajeel was a rough around the edges, take no bullshit and speak your mind kind of guy. Freed was a pretty-boy who used words like weapons, and everything he said could hold a double meaning. So why the hell could Gajeel not even look at him?

He couldn't even just say it was a physical thing, either! Fairy Tail was filled with sexy guys of all types. Laxus, Loke, Gray, even fucking Natsu. They were all ripped, handsome and Gajeel wouldn't kick any of them out of bed because of their looks. Their personalities were the turn-offs. So why the hell wasn't Freed the same?

Gajeel couldn't answer those questions, so he had taken to avoiding the man.

Freed walked into the kitchen, holding an empty tray that had once housed food. Gajeel kept his gaze on the floor like a damn coward, and let Freed pass. He knew Freed was looking at him, but didn't care. Almost the moment Freed was through the door, Gajeel made to go through it and get away from the man who set his nerves on end.

As he stepped through the door frame, a rush of magic hit him. He dropped the barrels on instinct, looking up to see runes blocking his way. He tensed, turned on his heel in angry confusion, and saw Freed with an expression of genuine overwhelmed shock.

He wasn't looking at Gajeel. He was looking above him.

Following his gaze, Gajeel saw a bundle of mistletoe hanging above the door that he hadn't previously noticed. He looked at it with confusion, before seeing glowing runes written on the leaves. It didn't take a genius to know what had happened; Mirajane had finally worn Freed down after years of begging and made him set up rune traps for whenever two people had walked under the mistletoe. The implication of that sent a cold shock down Gajeel's spine.

He knew exactly what he needed to do to get out of the spell, and that just couldn't happen. His feelings were confused enough. Knowing what Freed's lips felt like, what it was like to have the man pressed against him, would be too much. He knew that the sound of his breathing, the scent of the man up close, and the feeling of a kiss with him would be too much. And it would be taken away from him, because they would only kiss to get out of the runes and nothing more. Not for Freed, anyway.

Suddenly, Gajeel could understand the runes, and his body tensed further. Written on them was a simple instruction: To Escape The Runes, Engage In A Kiss. Gajeel would rather punch his way through them, but knew from experience that it didn't work.

But Freed could get out of them without following the rules. They were his runes.

"Break 'em," Gajeel demanded, voice firm. He couldn't show his fear of the situation, he needed to be angry. "I ain't dealing with this- the hell is wrong with you?"

Freed looked paler than normal, and now he was looking directly at Gajeel. His eyes were fluttering all over his face, and Gajeel was hit by the regular scents and sounds of another man's adrenaline. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with Freed?

"What do you think these runes do, Gajeel?" Freed asked, voice deadly calm.

"Trap people in a box until they kiss, obviously," Gajeel grunted, looking away. Why was Freed looking at him so intently? "Fucking inapropriate, really."

"I agree, which is why I added a clause to them," Freed was still speaking without any emotion in his voice. Gajeel could sense the man was suddenly overwhelmed, and he was trying to hold it back. "They only activate if both people in the runes wish to kiss one another, and if there's a possibility that the two people have a good chance at a successful relationship."

What?

"What!" Gajeel demanded. "The hell does that mean?"

"It means one of two things," Freed said, voice tight. "Either I have failed in creating a rune that is well below my skill level, or we both wish to kiss each other and that if we were to do that, the forces of magic believe we might make something of a good couple," Freed swallowed, and Gajeel watched the bobbing of his throat. "And I know that my runes are perfect."

Shit. Fuck. Shit.

It would be easy to freak out, but Gajeel felt calm. He should be freaking out, but he saw everything with a sudden, forceful clarity. Whether Freed was his type or not did not matter, because Freed was his man. Freed had been his man ever since the bastard had trapped him in the cathedral, and the intense display of magic had spoken to something deep and primal inside of him.

Freed was his man.

All the years of confusion had been a distraction. Gajeel had never worried about what his type was, or about their compatibility. Not really. Having a type was stupid, and just because Freed dressed like a weird cosplayer and spoke with fancy ass words, it didn't mean they weren't alike. They both had strong hearts, were passionate, had a dark side and could be a dick when called upon. Fucking dammit, Freed could probably understand a hell of a lot of things about Gajeel that nobody else could. He knew how it was to betray trust, and how to be forgiven. How to find yourself in a new life. How to fight through the urge to give up. The sudden realisation that he and Freed were perfect for each other - even if not in a conventional way - nearly knocked Gajeel on his ass.

Instead, he strode forward.

All his doubts had been about rejection. But fuck that, because his man wanted to kiss him as much as he wanted to kiss his man. He grabbed the man by the back of the neck, wrapped an arm around his waist and pushed their hips together. With a tilt of the head, he moved to kiss Freed, and Freed moved to meet him.

It was intense. Incredible. Brilliant.

Freed and him slotted together, lips moving with shocking synchronicity, There was a chemistry that Gajeel had never felt with another man, a biological sense of rightness. Freed was his man. He was Freed's man. It was perfect.

Under the mask

Gajeel landed in the attic of the Heartfilia house, honestly surprised by the ease with which he had entered that villa. He had thought that rich people like them would have better security systems, but a device the size of his hand was enough and the alarm went haywire. At least that asshole José Porla made his job easier.

Gajeel went down the stairs and walked down the corridor, trying to figure out where the room of little Heartfilia might be. It didn’t have to be hard to recognize, and catching and kidnapping her would be pretty easy, as the girl was probably asleep. And if she wasn’t sleeping Gajeel would have shut her mouth somehow. José had given him some chloroform, maybe he could use that. Gajeel had no idea why the boss wanted that girl, he just thought it was something to do with debts that Jude Heartfilia hadn’t paid. In any case, he didn’t care. All he had to do was get his job done, maybe meet one of those superhero bastards and tear him apart, and then go home to eat and sleep.

His life with José was a bit disgusting, the boss was an asshole and could not bear delays or unforeseen events, more than once Gajeel had been punished for not having completed his task perfectly. Nonetheless, it was the best he could have, as he had nowhere else to live since his father died.

Ever since those superhero assholes let him die.

Gajeel gritted his teeth not to think about it, and began to open various doors to find little Heartfilia. It wasn’t difficult, after a few attempts he reached her room and found the girl asleep on the bed. Gajeel took handkerchief soaked in chloroform and let her breathe it, then put her on his shoulder and opened the window. It had been pretty simple. In fact, it had been too simple. Gajeel had hoped to fight one of those assholes, so as to vent his anger and destroy them with his own hands. He wanted to fight that asshole Alexei, or the guy he pretended to be Thor. He would have been satisfied with Albion too, to tell the truth, he just wanted to beat one of those stupid superheroes who really didn’t do anything heroic.

As if fate had read his mind, he felt a dark wave whipping against him and Gajeel promptly moved aside, letting the magical attack hit the wall of the room, creating a small crack. Gajeel grinned and turned to the window, out of which Albion was flying. The usual green hair, the red and black jumpsuit, and that mask that made him look like some kind of demon and that covered his entire face except for the purple eyes.

“I thought it was too simple” Gajeel grinned, ready to have some fun. He would still have preferred that asshole Alexei, but Albion was fine anyway, he was still one of the so-called superheroes, acclaimed by the inhabitants of Magnolia for no real reason.

“You’re always in my way, Black Steel,” Albion said in his usual cold tone. “Drop the girl”.

“I don’t think I will,” Gajeel grinned. Instead, he reached out, intending to punch Albion in the stomach. As expected, the superhero moved in time and Gajeel took the opportunity to charge his real attack, a roar made of steel and iron, which hit the superhero, making him lose control of his wings and making him fall down.

Gajeel looked out the window only for a moment, and then decided to throw himself down too, just clinging to the window with one hand and extending his arm which covered itself in metal. Within seconds he was in the mansion garden, with Albion already standing sword in hand and ancient runes spreading from his weapon.

Gajeel had already experienced once how much pain those stupid writings could cause, so he hurried to deflect the blow only to be hit by another dark lash that made him stagger. Damn, that stupid superhero was fast and the fact that Gajeel had to keep that girl on his shoulder made things difficult for him. It was also an advantage though, as that meant Albion wouldn’t use powerful attacks.

Albion lunged at him, attacking him with his sword and Gajeel could only raise his steel-coated arm to defend himself. It wasn’t a big move, as the runes flew from the superhero’s sword to his arm, sending pangs of pain all over his body. He gritted his teeth and tried to coat his body with even more steel, but a punch hit him in the face and his grip on the girl loosened.

Albion immediately took advantage of it, grabbing Lucy Heartfilia and raising the sword again in front of him, other runes shot from the blade, hitting Gajeel in the chest and causing him to grunt in pain.

“Bastard,” he growled as his body became more and more covered with dragon scales and metal. He only needed a few seconds and he would have overcome that pain, as he had already managed to do in the past. Albion, however, was writing on the ground at an impressive speed. Writing that were spreading out in the grass in a circle that would have surrounded him. Gajeel knew what was going to happen. Albion would have trapped him and at that point anything would have been useless. To his advantage, however, he had speed. He ignored the pain he felt and opened his mouth again, launching another roar at the superhero, who was forced to interrupt the spell to protect himself and the girl.

At that point Gajeel came out of the incomplete circle and with his arm stretched out in a metal stick struck Albion, who fell to the ground taking Lucy Heartfilia with him. Gajeel still felt pain in his chest, although to a lesser extent than before. The problem was that he could already hear police sirens approaching: he had little time. Either he fought against the hero and tore him to pieces, or he took the girl. Gajeel would have preferred to go with the first option, but he knew José would be pissed off.

So, he reached out to take the blonde but when he did, a purple barrier prevented him from doing so.

“Shit”. He turned to Albion, who still sat on the ground had sparkling eyes and was drawing more runes on the ground. Again, he wanted to trap him. Gajeel punched him but Albion parried with the sword, and at the same time continued to draw those cursed writings. Hell, that guy was multitasking.

The sirens were approaching. Gajeel attacked the barrier that protected Lucy Heartfilia but couldn’t make a crack, if it worked like that damn superhero’s traps then he knew he had no chance. Unless he defeated Albion.

The police had arrived, and so was Albion’s bunch of friends. Fuck. Gajeel launched a final attack on Albion, hitting him in the head and breaking a piece of his mask. At least he would have had a little satisfaction. Then he walked away before Albion’s superhero friends caught up with him, running off into the night thinking about how he would explain that failure to José. He just hoped the boss didn’t get too angry.

-The day after-

Gajeel yawned loudly walking down the college corridor with Juvia, who was talking about the last lesson he had missed the day before. He had lost it only because he had fallen asleep, forgetting that the professor had changed his schedule. Not that he was so worried about it, Juvia would pass him all the notes, and if she didn’t, Gajeel would ask the rich boy.

Rather, he was more concerned about the job he had failed the night before. José had reprimanded him, also because now the superheroes knew of their goal at Villa Heartfilia. Gajeel didn’t see where the problem was, José had so much business with so many families that he could make him attack other people. The Fiore family also had some debt to the man, which would probably have been the next target. Gajeel had no idea, he was still bothered by the fact that he was defeated by that stupid superhero.

Defeated wasn’t the right word, but he’d failed the mission anyway.

“Look, there’s Freed,” Juvia said, nudging him. Bored Gajeel looked up and noticed the boy standing in front of a vending machine. As usual, his long green hair was flowing down his back, he was wearing a light shirt and shoes too elegant for a college boy. Usually, Gajeel would find such a guy annoying.

Usually. In reality, however, he had talked to Freed enough to understand that he wasn’t at all like those stupid spoiled boys pampered by their rich father. Freed was actually quite nice too. And handsome. And, well, he seemed to have a crush on him. Gajeel wasn’t sure, and he certainly didn’t want to delude himself, but sometimes he noticed the pretty boy staring at him and blushing a little. But then those thoughts went away when Freed made a joke at Gajeel’s expense.

It didn’t matter anyway, Gajeel didn’t have time for that bullshit.

“You could ask him out,” Juvia said.

“Mh, in fact I could take him to bed” Gajeel considered, glancing at his body. Eh, that boy was handsome. Juvia gave him a small punch on his arm.

“Don’t be vulgar, you can go out on a date.”

“I don’t have time for this bullshit,” Gajeel cut short.

“But you like him,” Juvia insisted. “If you don’t, Juvia will go and tell Freed you have a crush on him.”

Gajeel looked at his friend in shock. He had no doubts that she would. Juvia tended to be pretty and sweet, but she had weird behaviors when it came to romance. She certainly wasn’t ashamed to admit her feelings. Or those of her friends, in that case. Gajeel for a moment considered the idea of punching her, but he immediately chased the thought away. Juvia was one of the few bearable people he knew.

“I hate you,” he said. Juvia smiled satisfied, as Gajeel approached the vending machine and Freed, who was holding back yawns badly. When he got close enough Gajeel noticed the deep dark circles and a bruise on his forehead.

“You’re a mess,” Gajeel commented with a raised eyebrow. “The hell did you do to your face?” Freed barely held back another yawn and Gajeel smiled faintly. He was pretty. “Let me guess, you bumped into a shelf because you were half asleep.”

“More or less,” Freed muttered as he get the coffee.

“You didn’t sleep at all, did you?” Gajeel asked.

“I could say the same about you,” Freed replied, probably trying to regain some dignity. If he had been less tired, he probably would have succeeded, but it was clear that the only thing he wanted to do was go back to bed to sleep.

“Yeah, but while I was awake having fun in a club, I bet you were studying locked in your room” Gajeel replied inserting some coins to get a coffee. He needed it too, though he probably would have fallen asleep during class.

“Exams don’t study alone,” was Freed’s response. Gajeel smiled a little.

“You should go out and have some fun, rich boy”.

“Maybe I will, when someone invites me to do something interesting,” Freed replied. He gave a small smile, and stared intently at Gajeel, who looked down at the coffee filling the plastic cup. Was it aimed at him? Ah, damn, why did he feel his cheeks warm? “I’m going to class, Professor Yura has arrived”.

“Keep a seat for me,” Gajeel grunted.

“Sure,” Freed smiled as he walked away.

Gajeel waited for the coffee to be ready, then lowered himself and took it, but as soon as he did Juvia came over.

“You really don’t know how to flirt,” she scolded him.

“The hell do you want?”

“Help you. If you keep insulting him and calling him ‘rich boy’, you won’t be able to go out with him”.

“I don’t wanna go out with him,” Gajeel retorted.

Juvia raised an eyebrow. “You always look at him.”

“Well, maybe I want to sleep with him,” Gajeel agreed, not being able to lie so much. “That doesn’t mean I wanna go out with him for romantic bullshit like you think.” Juvia continued to stare at him in silence and Gajeel got nervous, because he knew his friend was right. Freed had a strange effect on him for a while now. Like hell he’d admit he had a crush on him, first because he wasn’t a fucking teenager, second because he was Black Steel. Magnolia’s supervillain certainly wouldn’t fall in love with a rich guy who spent his nights studying.

“Juvia recommends paying some compliments instead of commenting on the dark circles of the guy you like. You could also give him some gifts”.

“For God’s sake” blurted Gajeel. Juvia’s advice was the last he needed, especially if it included giving some silly heart-shaped cookies. Because yes, Gajeel knew that was what Juvia did with the people she liked.

So, he ignored her and walked into the classroom, quickly finding a seat next to Freed, who kept yawning behind his hand. Gajeel smiled a little while he hid behind the figure of Elfman -thank goodness that man was tall and muscular- and rested his head on the table, without bothering to pay attention to the lesson.

“Wake me up in half an hour,” he told Freed, who smiled faintly.

“I don’t understand why you come to class if you have to sleep.”

“The first half hour everyone sleeps, there are those who do it standing up like you, and those who do it well like me. In fact, you need it too, at least then you’d be awake,” Gajeel replied. Freed just smiled without saying anything and Gajeel closed his eyes, thinking back to the boy’s sweet smile and the adorable way he hid his tiredness.

-Two weeks later-

Freed was outside the Heartfilia house, wearing the Albion mask and suit. He had been returning there for nights, under the orders of Laxus, anticipating another attack from Black Steel. In those last months, the villain kept slipping out of his hand and Freed was starting to be extremely annoyed. He was bothered by everything about that supervillain, from the metallic laugh to the way he behaved. Moreover, it was his fault that Freed no longer slept, forced to stay awake to prevent other attacks, especially in that period that seemed to have increased.

Freed sighed in frustration, wondering if he could ever have a normal student life. He hadn’t even attended a party since he’d started college, unless he counted the one Bickslow dragged him to and Freed had to leave at midnight when Laxus had called him.

Gajeel had made fun of him by calling him ‘Cinderella’ and Freed hadn’t been able to do anything but give him the middle finger. Freed looked from the Heartfilia House to the street. If he thought back to Gajeel he just felt terribly agitated as if he had his first crush. The man had a strange effect on him, probably because he embodied exactly the ideal type of him and probably because every time he saw him, Freed was too tired to be able to pretend not to feel anything for him. Fortunately, the first half hour of class Gajeel was always asleep, so Freed could enjoy that moment by gazing at his features and his piercings.

He smiled a little at the memory of that morning, when Gajeel had offered him coffee after Freed had forgotten his wallet at home. It had been a bit embarrassing to tell the truth, but Gajeel was cuter than what he was showing. Maybe he should have asked him out.

The idea was definitely bad. Freed didn’t have time to go out. He barely had time to study, or sleep. He didn’t even have breakfast anymore, always waking up late. At least at night he was always active, his rhythms had undergone an incredible change since he worked for Laxus Dreyar.

He felt the phone vibrate and Freed picked it up, noticing it was Laxus. He answered immediately.

“Laxus”.

“Go to Villa Fiore, Black Steel is there. As soon as I can, I’ll join you”. Freed immediately stood up and in an instant his wings had already appeared on his back.

“I’m holding Black Steel in a trap until you get there.” Soon after the call closed and Freed was already flying to the mansion of one of the wealthiest families in Magnolia. Damn, why had Black Steel started attacking wealthy families? Freed just couldn’t figure out what the hell was going through his head. Before that supervillain he had dealt with several robbers or drug dealers, but Black Steel didn’t seem to need the money.

A few minutes later he was inside the atrium of Villa Fiore, and as soon as he saw the unconscious bodies of Mr. Fiore and his daughter Hisui, Freed threw himself towards them. But they were alive, they were just passed out. Freed growled, wondering once again what the hell was wrong with Black Steel. Was he angry with the rich in general?

He had no way of answering himself that he felt a lash of steel against him, he barely had time to raise a barrier to protect himself but above all the two innocents. He looked up and saw Black Steel in front of him, his skin covered entirely with metal scales and sharp teeth, the usual black jumpsuit and the usual annoying grin.

“See you again, Albion. Too bad you’re late,” Black Steel said. Freed narrowed his gaze and looked around. He had to get people out of harm’s way and frame the man, or at least keep him busy until Laxus arrived. He pulled out his sword while with his left hand he continued to write protective runes around Mr. Fiore and his daughter, in order to increase the barrier.

“Multitasking” Black Steel commented ironically throwing himself at him. Doing two things at the same time was difficult, but Freed still raised his sword to defend himself against the enemy’s steel blade. However, he was unable to attack him and just parried the blows, at least until the barrier around Mr. Fiore and his daughter was completed.

Then Black Steel threw a roar at him and Freed found himself being slammed violently into a mirror, which shattered into a thousand pieces, knocking over an atrium closet. The grip on the sword loosened and Black Steel took advantage of it reaching him and smashing a violent punch in the face. Freed gritted his teeth and pushing himself with his left hand, he got up and planted a kick against the man’s stomach, grabbed the sword and summoned the magic, casting a pain spell on the enemy’s body, who doubled over and snarled from the ache. Things were finally starting to turn in his favor. Freed shook his hand on the weapon, recalling other runes.

“Pain,” he hissed as the magic hit Black Steel in the chest. And that was the second. Black Steel was covering himself with metal to overcome the sensation but it would take him some time. Enough time to crash a dark energy bomb in his back, knocking him to the ground.

Black Steel gasped at the attack and Freed crashed on top of him, seeing an opportunity to finally frame him. With his free hand he squeezed the villain’s neck to weaken him, while with the sword he drew the runes on the ground in order to trap him. It sounded too good to be true but it worked. The circle was complete before Black Steel managed to break free, throwing Freed into his own barrier where they were both wedged.

Freed stood up with a satisfied smile. Finally, he had managed to get it, now he just had to wait for Laxus to arrive.

“Bastard,” Black Steel spat.

Freed with a smirk leaned his back to the runic barrier, remaining alert for other attacks.

“Ain’t you gonna kill me?” Black Steel growled in his usual metallic voice. At least he had lost all the fun, now he just seemed pissed off. Judging by the way he moved his eyes, he was also looking for a way to escape. Too bad for him there wasn’t.

“It’s not in my interests. I don’t act like you,” Freed replied calmly, trying to control his breathing after the blow the bastard had dealt him. He still felt pain in his ribs but it was better if Black Steel didn’t notice, or he would take advantage of it. Freed could still move his sword, but he would be slow and it would lead to excruciating pain across his chest.

“Ah, right, you’re the good ones.”

At the ironic tone Freed raised an eyebrow. “Exactly,” he said firmly.

Black Steel gave a half laugh. “You really think you’re on the good side, don’t you? Heroes who protect the city” he continued derisively.

Freed narrowed his gaze. Was it a way to distract him? It wouldn’t work.

“If you’re on the good side, why the hell are you just protecting rich families like the Heartfilia or these two assholes, instead of worrying about the people who really need help?” the man growled.

Freed stared at him without any emotion. “If you want to distract me, it doesn’t work. I protect everyone equally”.

“No, you don’t,” Black Steel retorted. “You follow the orders of an asshole who only wanna protect those who’re most convenient for him.”

Freed stared hard at him. “Don’t you dare talk about Thunder when it’s obvious you don’t know anything.”

“Thunder?” Black Steel laughed. “I’m not talking about your friend pretending to be Thor, I’m talking about Alexei.”

Freed paused for a moment. Why was he talking about Ivan Dreyar? Was he the reason Black Steel was so pissed at them? And was that why he attacked rich people? Freed knew that Ivan had had some questionable behavior in the past, so it was likely that Black Steel harbored a hatred for him and consequently for all superheroes. But he couldn’t understand why he should attack innocent people. Unless he did it to get to them. It still didn’t make sense.

Freed became aware of the Black Steel attack too late, and mentally scolded himself for bad timing. A violent barrage of steel and iron hit him and Freed was forced to knock down the runes in order to deflect the blow. It was a mistake because Black Steel immediately took advantage of it to jump out the window and run away. And for the umpteenth time the asshole escaped from under his hands.

-One week later-

Freed couldn’t help but think about the argument he had had with Laxus. After what Black Steel had told him, Freed had talked with Laxus, and Laxus had told him that Ivan had let several innocent people die in the past. He had also ignored some requests for help. Freed hoped that way to figure out who Black Steel really was but it didn’t work. There were just too many people that Ivan had taken advantage of, hiding behind the facade of the superhero.

“Coffee is ready, rich boy,” Gajeel said, awakening him from his thoughts. Freed returned to reality and reached down to get coffee. He had spent another sleepless night, at least this time it was the fault of a gang of robbers, and not Black Steel. Freed couldn’t hold back a yawn and blushed slightly when he noticed the boy was looking at him.

“Tonight, I’m playing at the Blue Pegasus,” Gajeel said. Freed looked at him in surprise and hoped the way Gajeel avoided his gaze meant something. Damn, he really had to do something about that crush. “Wanna come?”

“You play?” Freed asked in surprise instead of answering. On the one hand he wanted to go, if that meant spending time with the man he was attracted to, then he didn’t want to waste such an opportunity. On the other hand, he had to be on alert in case Black Steel attacked. It had been a while now that the villain hadn’t shown up, probably he had another attack in mind soon, if they had studied his movements well.

“Yeah, I play the guitar. And I sing. Juvia put me in a stupid contest, but it’ll be fun. We can have a drink when I’m done with the performance,” Gajeel grunted. He was a little uncomfortable, and it could really be a date. Freed couldn’t refuse.

“I’ll be there,” he said without even thinking. It was a bad idea, the stupidest idea he had ever had. Laxus would have scolded him, but Gajeel’s smile made him forget everything again.

“Great, see you tonight then,” he greeted him. Freed couldn’t help but smile as he watched him walk away. He still wasn’t sure it was a date, but at least he was going out with Gajeel.

Freed jumped when he felt a pat on his shoulder. “The rude hot guy finally will serenade you” Bickslow teased him. Freed couldn’t help but smile, jokingly pushing his friend in part.

“Idiot” was the only thing he managed to mumble. But if Gajeel had really dedicated a song to him, he would have been the luckiest man in the world.

-That evening-

Freed was sitting at the table of the Blue Pegasus Club and with the phone under his eye he listened and watched different musicians play. He couldn’t totally relax, as he waited for a call from Laxus at any moment, but he paid attention in case Gajeel came out to sing. When it came to his turn Freed managed to get more distracted from his worries and holding the phone in his pocket so he could feel the vibration, he turned to the stage.

Gajeel was even hotter than usual with a guitar in his hand and that cheeky smile. His hair was down as usual, but he was wearing a hat and Freed smiled at that. Even dressed like this he managed to be handsome. Otherwise, he was more or less dressed as usual, in dark jeans and a pair of brown boots. Unlike the usual t-shirt or sweatshirt, however, he wore a shirt with the sleeves rolled up at the elbows and a pair of leather gloves on his hands.

Gajeel introduced himself and then sat down on a stool. Freed smiled when he heard cheering from what must have been his friends, Juvia and another guy with half white, half black hair. Then silence fell and Gajeel began to play and sing. It wasn’t bad at all, in fact, it was mesmerizing, but Freed probably would have liked Gajeel whatever he did.

When the performance was over Freed applauded and noticed that Gajeel had found him with his eyes, winked and Freed found himself blushing slightly and giggling. Maybe this was really a date.

He had no way of thinking that a few seconds later Gajeel was already standing next to him, with two drinks in his hand and the guitar on his back.

“So?” he asked sitting next to Freed.

“You’re not bad,” Freed said.

“You’re not bad? Is this what you will say?” Gajeel laughed pushing a drink towards him.

“What’s that?”.

“Just drink and don’t ignore the question,” Gajeel retorted, resting his chin on his fist and smiling cheekily. “So? Don’t you wanna admit that I’m the best here?”.

Freed took a sip and smiled a little. “You’re too presumptuous”.

“I wouldn’t say, they’re all lightweights, nothing to do with me” Gajeel retorted confidently.

“Well, there’s Orga...” Freed began with the intention of teasing him a bit. Orga had sucked, even though many cheered. Either he was famous or people had clogged ears.

Gajeel frowned immediately. “You’re joking, right? You can’t compare me to that gorilla who didn’t get two notes right,” he snapped. Freed remained silent, struggling not to let an amused smile escape him. “You’re fucking kidding,” Gajeel repeated. Maybe he had offended him a little too much.

Freed at that point let out a laugh and Gajeel relaxed his shoulders. “Bastard,” he muttered.

“It’s fun to tease you,” Freed retorted.

“Bastard,” Gajeel repeated.

“If it consoles you, you are definitely the best singer tonight. The only one I’ll remember,” Freed said with a sweet smile. Gajeel’s face broke into a euphoric smile, and Freed felt his heart racing a little at that. Gajeel didn’t smile often, not so sincerely at least, at most he grinned, but that smile made him gorgeous.

“I fucking knew it,” Gajeel said taking a long sip from the glass. “So, do you really spend every night awake studying or there’s something else you do?” he asked. Freed tensed a little at the question, remembering that he had to be on the lookout in case Laxus called him. In the meantime, however, he could at least have some fun. And if that asshole Black Steel had ruined his date with the most attractive man he knew, then Freed would have really beaten him up.

He thus began to speak, and was pleased when the conversation with Gajeel came out simple and spontaneous. As usual, the man was arrogant and conceited, and perhaps a little rude, but that was also a thing that Freed liked.

The night was fun, and when Mirajane was elected best competitor Freed made sure to repeat to Gajeel that he had been the best for him. Although perhaps the man didn’t need to hear it, he was already quite presumptuous like that. Nonetheless, Freed didn’t regret it. They drank several drinks until they decided to go out and go home. Freed didn’t want to admit it but he felt tired, with all the sleepless nights he’d spent he would rather be under the covers, but Gajeel’s company was all too pleasant.

They walked silently up the sidewalk to the parking lot, their arms brushing from how close they were. It was nice to be able to have that closeness with the boy, and Freed was happy to have accepted that date. Surprisingly it had also gone well, as Laxus had never called him.

“Have you finally found the man who invites you to do something interesting, then?” Gajeel asked when they got to the car. Freed turned to him and found himself staring into those intense red eyes.

“I’d say yes,” he said without question.

Gajeel smiled. “Good”.

For a moment they stood looking at each other. Freed didn’t know whether to push forward or not, and Gajeel seemed to have the same doubts. Maybe it was stupid, but Freed didn’t feel so sure of himself when he was around the man. But Gajeel had invited him out. And he had clearly made it clear that this was a date. And he was looking at him like he wanted to do what Freed wanted to do.

Freed decided to take courage and to push himself towards the man, but before he could Gajeel had already grabbed him by the hips, pressing his lips against his in an intense and fantastic kiss that completely overwhelmed Freed.

He felt Gajeel’s arms holding him firm against his strong body, and the man’s chapped lips against his, moving as if asking for more. And Freed wanted to give him everything Gajeel wanted. For one night he wanted to be a regular college boy with a crush on a hot guy and have a wonderful, carefree night.

“Would you like to come to my apartment?” Gajeel asked hoarsely as he parted from his lips. Freed didn’t even think about it for a second. He quickly accepted, then was again swept away by Gajeel’s arms and lips, which made his heart do incredible things.

-A month later-

Gajeel couldn’t believe he had succeeded. He didn’t even know how he had done it, but he had made it and that was the important thing. He had finally caught that asshole Albion, so he could take it to José and use it as bait for the two assholes who deserved worse: Alexei and the fake Thor.

Gajeel was tired after the battle, it had been honestly exhausting and the bastard had ripped off his suit and inflicted a deep wound in his side, which made it harder for Gajeel to walk, even though he tried to cover it with metal so as not to lose too much blood. He had also taken a blow to the head and tasted blood in his mouth as well. Albion hadn’t gone easy on him that time.

Nonetheless, Gajeel had managed to win and that was the important thing. Finally, he would have some revenge against those damned bastards who had ruined his life. He didn’t care much about Albion, even if the asshole had thwarted his plans too many times and Gajeel would surely have enjoyed seeing him trapped and helpless. But what interested him most was Alexei. In any case he would see him shortly if that fake superhero wanted to see Albion alive.

He dragged Albion to José’s villa and threw him into a cell. He was about to call the boss but curiosity got the better of him and he decided to find out who was under the mask. However, he doubted that José would be angry about that.

So Gajeel knelt next to the unconscious man and took off his black mask. The face he saw beneath it made him freeze.

It wasn’t possible.

It wasn’t fucking possible.

It was a joke, it had to be. It couldn’t be Freed.

No, fuck no. It was an illusion, a stupid spell from Albion because Gajeel couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t accept that Albion was Freed.

Everyone but not him. Not the only boy he had fallen in love with in the last few months. Not the boy who fell asleep on his shoulder the first time they slept together. Not the boy who drank three coffees every morning and woke him up after half an hour of class. Not the guy who made him laugh heartily and warmed his stomach every time he smiled.

Fuck. Fuck! Now it all made sense.

That was why Freed was always tired. That was why he rarely went out in the evening. It wasn’t to study, it was to fight him. His boyfriend had a fucking double life and fought him at night and then crawled into his bed during the day. That was why he fell asleep easily. That was why he always had that damn phone attached to him. How the fuck hadn’t Gajeel realized it until then?

Shit.

He couldn’t let José take it. Gajeel had no idea what the man would do with Freed, but if there was even the slightest chance that the boss would hurt him, he wouldn’t have allowed it. He didn’t give a shit if he was his enemy, or if José was pissed off, he had to get Freed out of there right away.

Without thinking for a second more Gajeel loaded Freed on his shoulders, forgetting to take Albion’s mask, and carried him out of the villa. He ran under the street lamps until he saw some stairs and climbed to the roof of a building, when he was at the top, he felt Freed move against him. Gajeel placed him on the ground and waited for him to wake up.

Freed’s face wrinkled a little, but as soon as he woke up Freed put his hand to the sword, and when he noticed that it wasn’t there, he raised his hand and his eyes shone. Fuck, seeing him use magic without a mask was even better. Between the green hair that fluttered in the moonlight and the purple eyes Gajeel couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe because he didn’t know what the fuck to do. That was Albion, fucking hell, but it was Freed too!

Freed looked around inquiringly.

“Where we are?” he asked hoarsely, frowning. Gajeel didn’t even answer him, too shocked by what he had discovered. What the hell was he supposed to do? Just let him go? Reveal his identity? Freed would hate him, he was a supervillain kidnapping people and robbing homes. There was no way that Gajeel would tell him, he didn’t want to lose him. Not him.

Why the fuck did he have to be Freed?

“Where did you... my mask” Freed finally noted with a surprised and a little scared voice.

“I won’t tell anyone who you are,” Gajeel growled after a while. “You better run away before someone sees you.”

“What?” Freed asked surprised as he stood up. His body was tense in a position ready to fight, his eyes still purple ready to use magic, but he was bleeding from his temple and Gajeel knew he was exhausted. Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to fight him. In fact, he was sure he didn’t want to.

“Just run away,” Gajeel growled.

“Why would you let me escape?” Freed asked with a slight frown. His eyes traveled the roof of the building from one side to the other. It was evident that he was evaluating the situation, maybe trying to both take time and understand what was happening.

However, Gajeel could not tell him who he was. He couldn’t absolutely explain why he had saved him.

“Do you know why I hate superheroes?” Gajeel blurted at that point.

“Because Alexei treated you like shit,” Freed replied immediately. Gajeel fell silent for a moment.

“You know me?” he asked with a hint of panic. There was no way that Freed knew.

“No,” Freed said. “You made it clear, and I know that Alexei has treated a lot of people badly. That’s why he’s no longer in charge of Fairy Tail, and now Thunder has taken his place.”

Gajeel was silent for a moment, but he had no intention of ending the explanation there.

“Fourteen years ago, my father was the victim of a spell, he was transforming into a dragon, his lungs were bursting and he could no longer control the magic,” Gajeel said in a voice that was shaking with anger. Freed looked at him with a slightly confused expression, but he ignored it and went on. “He asked for help from superheroes, from Alexei. And do you know what he did?”.

Freed was silent but a compassionate light passed through his eyes, which returned to their normal color. The blue color that Gajeel had fallen in love with.

“He killed him, thinking he was dangerous to Magnolia. But my father would never hurt anyone,” Gajeel snapped. “They killed him without even giving him a chance, and they left me, a nine-year-old boy, on the street, with no home or penny,” he spat, shortness of breath and tears stinging his eyes. His temples throbbed and he just felt a great desire to break something.

Freed lowered his hand and relaxed his shoulders, undoing any kind of magic that until a few seconds before was sizzling from his fingers.

“The only man who took me with him was that asshole of... the boss of Phantom Lord, he raised me. That’s why I hate you, that’s why I hate fucking superheroes who really only care about fucking rich” he threw out.

“I’m sorry,” Freed said sincerely after a few seconds. His voice was calm and Gajeel noticed at that moment that it wasn’t modified like Albion’s. Freed spoke cautiously again. “I know the past will not change, but now Fairy Tail has changed. Thunder is doing everything to keep the whole city safe, he no longer has business with the wealthiest families and tries to protect everyone equally”.

Gajeel didn’t answer, still trembling with rage. He wouldn’t believe Albion, but he believed Freed. He knew that Freed would never do anything wrong, he knew that the man had solid principles and he knew that he was a good person.

“Why did you tell me?” Freed asked.

Gajeel jumped slightly. “Because you’re the only person I don’t wanna lose,” he admitted in a low voice.

“What?” Freed asked confused. “Wait, do we know each other?”

Gajeel said nothing, just took off his mask and pulled the scales and metal from his body. Freed’s eyes widened as soon as he saw him.

“Gajeel?” he asked breathlessly.

Gajeel said nothing, thinking that the action would speak for itself. He didn’t know what the boy was thinking. Freed looked shocked, and of course he had every reason for it. He probably would hate him, Gajeel deserved it. He deserved worse with everything he had done.

For long minutes the two boys they remained silent just looking at each other, with the cold night air on their skin and only the moon illuminating their faces. Gajeel knew he should run away, leave, but the last person he wanted to run away from was Freed. Hell, he was pathetic. Had finding out that Albion was Freed upset him to such an extent?

After what seemed like an eternity Freed walked over to him and took his hand. Gajeel jumped a bit and looked at him confused.

“Come with me”.

“What?”.

“Leave Phantom Lord and come with me,” Freed repeated in a firm, gentle voice. “Whoever Phantom Lord’s leader is, he used you for his purposes, leave him. Fairy Tail is ready to welcome you, if you want it, it’s no longer what it used to be. If you don’t want it or if Thunder doesn’t want to take you, then we will run away together”.

“What?” repeated Gajeel in shock.

“I’m serious. I know you hate the organization of Fairy Tail and have every reason to, but don’t let that turn you into a cruel man. You’re much better than this, Gajeel. You’re more than a pawn to your boss. And I know you’re a good person,” Freed said.

“You... would you really run away with me?” Gajeel asked. “After what I did?”

“You were a child and you were alone and the only person who welcomed you is clearly a cruel person who used you for your powers. And if you don’t want to be part of Fairy Tail I understand that, so yeah, I’d run away with you,” Freed said.

It was disconcerting, absurd and reassuring. Freed really would have run away with him.

Gajeel managed a small smile. “You’re crazy”.

“Never as much as you who saved your archenemy,” Freed retorted running a thumb on Gajeel’s cheek. Gajeel spread his smile and took Freed’s face in his hands.

He almost hadn't mentioned it to Freed and Laxus. He still saw himself as the new guy; Freed and Laxus had been together for over a year before Gajeel had been anything more than a guildmate to them. It was hard to shake the feeling of being the one who didn't deserve his place in the relationship. Even when Laxus and Freed had asked multiple times if he had any ideas on how they should celebrate the holiday, he had held his tongue.

Apparently he hadn't been as subtle with his hesitancy as he thought, because Freed and Laxus had sat him down and told him they loved him with as much passion and fervor that they held for each other, and they hoped he felt the same. When he said he did, Laxus told him he needed to grow some balls and act like he was their equal because that's what he was.

Then, they'd gone to bed, and under the focus of his boyfriends', Gajeel had seen stars.

And now, as the sun of Christmas Day rose over them, he felt like a fucking idiot for doubting himself. They had accepted his request that they all sleep in the fields of the house's land without a second thought, and in fact had managed to improve on it considerably.

The blankets and cushions helped with the comfort, and the runes around them to keep the chill off was wondrous. But the fact he woke up between his boyfriends, with Laxus wrapping him up in his arms while Freed buried his face in the crook of his neck, was a better sensation than he could ever dream of. These two men were so open with their love, both accepting him into their relationship and being so relentlessly kind, and Gajeel loved it.

It was nice being… special.

"You awake?" Laxus murmured, and his breath hit Gajeel's face.

"Yeah," Gajeel mumbled, voice a little groggy as he turned to Laxus. "You been awake long?"

"Bout twenty minutes," Laxus grumbled, pulling Gajeel closer to him with a tired smile. "Just a warnin', Freed sleeps in on Christmas morning, and he sleeps deep. So we're gonna be here for a while."

"Ain't a bad thing," Gajeel shrugged.

He wasn't lying. The sight of Laxus, tired and sleep ruffled was something Gajeel had long since fallen in love with, and having the massive man holding him was just incredible. To prove the truthfulness of his words, Gajeel leant up a little, doing his best not to move Freed, and planted a soft kiss on Laxus' lips. The blonde hummed in appreciation, and Gajeel smiled. He was smiling a lot over the last year.

"Well, hope you mean that, because we're here for a couple hours," Laxus chuckled, resting his chin on Gajeel's head. "Happy Christmas, Metalhead."

"Happy Christmas, Lightning Dick."

When Laxus lessened his grasp a little, Gajeel shifted and looked down at Freed, who was dead to the world with how asleep he was. Gajeel let out a little chuckle and pecked Freed on the top of his head. Freed got pissy when Gajeel said it, but he was cute as hell. Especially when he cuddled up to Gajeel's side, a hand resting on his stomach.

"Happy Christmas, Nerd," He whispered, and Freed let a little snore out in response. Cute.

Yeah. Christmas under the stars was good, but Christmas with his boyfriends was even better.

——

Laxus

Cooking had never been something that Laxus had cared about before. He could cook, he'd be a pretty shitty mage if he needed to rely on other people making his food for him, but he had never seen it as some kind of art form. People like Freed could perform miracles with flavours and spices; Laxus was not like Freed.

So, when people found out Laxus cooked their Christmas meal, there were usually a lot of raised eyebrows.

It had started when he was exiled from the guild, and traveling the country. He hadn't taken many things from his home when he'd left Magnolia, but he had made sure to keep his mother's recipe book. It was one of the few things he was sentimental about, and he wasn't going to let it leave his sight, no matter how deep in his darkest thoughts he had fallen. There was a limit to his delusions of grandeur, and that limit was his mother's legacy.

One night, he had been running low on money and supplies, and it was deep in the winter. He needed something cheap, filling, and warm, and had found something called a Peasants Stew. It had been the only thing that fit his needs, and so he'd located a market and spent the rest of his money on ingredients.

The woman working in the market wished him a Merry Christmas. He hadn't known the day until it was nearly over.

He'd spent that night thinking, and eating the food his mother had gifted him. That had been the first time the reality of his actions had occurred to him; what he'd thrown away and how stupid he had been for doing it. He had alienated everyone he loved, and the only thing he had left was a list of recipes from a dead woman. His grandfather, his team, had celebrated without him, and it had all been his own fault. It was the first time he really considered returning to the guild.

When he'd returned, he'd confessed to Freed how that Christmas had been. Freed had been the one to suggest he made the stew, and it had become a tradition of theirs. And now, Gajeel was involved too.

"Hope you like it," Laxus mumbled, placing the stew on the table with a large label.

"I will," Gajeel said firmly, as if there was no chance for anything else.

"You haven't tried it yet," Laxus scoffed.

"I'll like it," Gajeel repeated, and as he had multiple times this year, Laxus realised just how much he loved Gajeel. He and Freed had been a perfect couple, but Gajeel somehow made everything even better. It was hard to explain.

They all sat at their dining room table, which was small enough for their legs to bump against each other as they sat. Laxus liked that, and it was the main reason that he'd fought against getting a new table when Gajeel had moved in with them. He still sometimes struggles with instigating intimacy, a nasty habit his father was to blame for, so being able to just feel his lovers' against him in such a casual way was something he would let himself be without.

The stew was placed into the bowls, and wordlessly they began to eat. Laxus held back, eyes flittering to Gajeel. He knew Freed liked his stew, but Gajeel had never had it before. He should have cooked something else, just in case.

Gajeel scarfed down the first bowl before Laxus could blink, and Freed chuckled.

"You're an animal," the rune mage commented, picking up another ladle's worth of stew and replenishing his bowl.

"Don't act like you don't like it," Gajeel sent a manic grin to Freed, before looking back at Laxus with a more real smile. "You been able to cook like this the whole time? Because we've been cooking for months and you ain't been helping, seems kinda selfish,"

He liked it. That was good.

"You know you both like cooking for me," Laxus grinned, taking a spoonful of his stew. "Don't act like you don't."

"Bastard," Gajeel grinned.

Laxus smiled. This really was perfect.

——

Freed

It wasn't a tradition as such. Really, it was just something that kept happening. Year after year, as evening turned to night on Christmas Day, Laxus would crash and fall asleep in the middle of the guildhall. The holidays were the only time Laxus really allowed himself to go all out in drinking and enjoying himself, and so he usually tired himself out to the point of sleep. Every year, Freed would teleport him to bed. It wasn't anything big, but Freed enjoyed doing it.

And with Gajeel, now Freed had another unconscious man to contend with.

His partners were wrapped up together, sleeping and snoring on one of the guildhall's benches, as close as two men could be. It was rather cute, and Freed couldn't keep his eyes off them. He was far too lucky to have them both as his own.

But it was getting late, and Mirajane was gently trying to get people to leave. Freed paid their tab and walked to his sleeping lovers. With a gentle hand, he wrapped them both up in runes and teleported them home, making sure they would both land on the large bed they shared. He then cast the same spell, leaving him standing at the foot of the bed.

Wordlessly, he stripped them men of their clothes and covered them with the luxurious duvet. Without knowing, the two men started to cuddle into one another, and Freed smiled. Too cute.

He should probably clean up downstairs. It would save them the hassle tomorrow…

"Don't even fuckin think about it," Laxus' groggy voice cut through the silence. "We'll do it tomorrow."

"It makes more sense to-"

"Get in the bed, Pretty Boy," Gajeel demanded.

"Are neither of you asleep?" Freed chuckled. "And you didn't undress yourselves, why?"

"Like it when you do it," Gajeel shrugged, yawning.

"And we like it when you're in bed," Laxus mumbled. "So get in the fucking bed, dipshit."

Freed chuckled, and wordlessly began to undress himself. He rolled his eyes a little when he saw his boyfriends watching him strip - he had a good mind to rune them for their little sleeping ruse - but the draw of a warm bed with the two men he loved was too overwhelming. Once in his boxers, he decided he had earned the centre place in the bed, and slotted himself between his boyfriends, and was wrapped up immediately.

Notes: It's nothing special but I hope you enjoyed it.

The worst idea

“Fuck” Freed swore panting on the grass. He was muddy, naked, the rain kept beating on him, the wind was blowing hard and he didn't give a damn. He was still lost in pleasure after having perhaps the most incredible sex of his life. He turned his head wearily to Gajeel and smiled to see him in the same condition. The boy was sweating, dirty and with rain-soaked hair. His torso was full of marks and scratches Freed had left, and his chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.

“Fuck it was great,” Gajeel said turning his face to Freed. He smiled blissfully and kissed him. They were both exhausted, so the kiss was sloppy and only lasted a few seconds. Also because now they were both starting to feel cold given the states they were in in the midst of the storm.

“I think we should go home before we get sick,” Freed said, forcing himself to sit up and Gajeel did the same. They looked at each other for a moment as thunder rumbled above them and the rain poured down. Neither of them bothered to get dressed, also because half of the clothes had ended up torn and the other half was lost in the storm.

Gajeel tilted his head to the side and grinned.

“This was the best idea I've ever had.” Freed had nothing to argue.

***

That had been the worst idea Gajeel had ever had. Freed knew this. He had known it from the moment the boy had proposed it. He had also said it: having sex in the middle of a storm was a crazy idea. A crazy idea that only that beast of his boyfriend could have. Yet Freed had accepted.

He had been an idiot, because Gajeel had instigated him on purpose by saying that a little-prince like him wouldn’t have taken the blow. Freed hadn't been able to help himself at that point. He knew it was a clear instigation and he knew he would regret it. At that moment, however, he had wanted to prove to Gajeel that he wasn’t a fucking little-prince.

And ok, maybe he had also given up because Gajeel was hot at that moment. Very hot. God, if only Freed thought back to what his boyfriend had looked like with his soaked hair and wet tank top attached to his body, he could get hard again. Especially if he thought about how it ended later, rolling in the grass tearing each other's clothes off.

He had been stupid. Only Gajeel could drag him to do something like that. And now Freed obviously had a fever.

Fuck.

If Gajeel had found out he’d have teased Freed to no end, repeating that he was weak as a little-prince. Freed wanted to avoid that situation at all costs.

That's why he hadn't told anyone he was sick, not even Bickslow or Evergreen. He had shut himself up in the house and filled himself with healing herbs. Luckily, he had a lot of them in stock. He just hoped that no one would ask questions and that it would pass quickly. In any case, he could have said that he had been busy with some ancient and complex translation.

Freed thus spent three days barely standing. He ate little, slept most of the time, and stuffed himself with healing herbs. When Evergreen came to his house to find out why he was no longer in the guild, Freed managed to calm her down by saying that he’d had stressful days. It was a lie, but for a good purpose. Neither he nor Gajeel wanted to go public with their relationship yet, they were both very reserved. Besides, he certainly couldn't tell her that he had caught a fever after having sex in the storm. The girl would look at him as if he had gone mad. Maybe he really was since he had started dating Gajeel.

In any case, the three days passed and Freed began to feel better again. So, even though he hadn't fully recovered, he returned to the guild, hoping he hadn't raised any doubts in that beast of his boyfriend.

But when he arrived in the guild, Gajeel wasn’t there. At first, he thought he was in the library with Levy or doing some stupid challenge with Natsu. But the two wizards were there, while there wasn’t even a shadow of Gajeel. And he couldn't even have taken a mission, since Panther Lily was there too. In fact, it was strange that the Exceed was there without the Dragon Slayer.

Freed tried not to think about it and spent the afternoon with Bickslow and Evergreen, until curiosity got the better of him and he approached Panther Lily, finding him in a moment that he was alone.

“It's weird not seeing you with Gajeel,” he said pretending indifference. The Exceed looked up at him and smiled slightly.

“He's home with a fever,” he explained. Freed was surprised for a moment and Panther Lily widened his smile becoming amused. “From one night he came home soaked and scratched. He must have had an intense fight with a demon,” he added derisively. Freed remained silent again, hoping that the warmth he felt in his cheeks wouldn’t turn into an intense blush. So Panther Lily knew. It wasn't even that strange, he lived with Gajeel and he wasn't stupid.

“I understand,” he said.

“Well, I'm going fishing with Happy today. Hope someone will take care of Gajeel” said that, Panther Lily stood up and walked away towards the blue cat. Freed stood for a moment motionless. Had he just told him to go look after Gajeel? He hadn't been with him for a long time yet, they didn't have all that confidence, and proud as he was probably Gajeel would have kicked his ass out saying that he didn't need any help.

Freed smiled. It would have been fun.

***

When he got to Gajeel's apartment, Freed had to knock three times before the boy came to open the door. As soon as the Dragon Slayer saw that it was him, he was obviously surprised. Freed hadn't gone to his house often, and they usually went together when they knew Panther Lily wasn't there.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Gajeel asked in a snarl. Freed looked at him, he wasn't in his best status, but since he continued to be arrogant, he didn't even have to be that bad. At that point he didn't feel the slightest guilt about making fun of him.

“Panther Lily told me that a little-prince lost a fight to a demon and got sick,” he replied with a provocative smile. Gajeel grunted.

“I'm not in the mood,” he growled. “And you didn't win any fucking fights, you bastard,” he added and started to close the door. Freed put his arm on top of it to keep him from slamming it in his face and was surprised to feel that Gajeel wasn’t pushing as hard as he was. Maybe he was worse off than he showed.

“I haven't won any fight, but in the end you’re the sick one. Come on, I’m here to take care of you,” he said.

“I don't need help,” Gajeel grunted. Freed at that point raised the bag he was holding in his hands and gave a small smile to calm him down a bit.

“I’ve a soup with a mixture of metals that you might like,” he said. That seemed to be the trump card because Gajeel, after sniffing a bit, gave up.

“Good,” he grunted and turned and headed for the kitchen. Freed, finally satisfied, entered his apartment and after closing the door behind him, followed Gajeel. The Dragon Slayer took out a saucepan and placed it on the stove, then took the container from Freed's hands and spilled the contents inside.

“I'll do it, you go lay down,” Freed said.

“I only let you in to eat and for some company,” Gajeel clarified grumpily. “I don't need any help,” he repeated. Freed raised an eyebrow. It was evident that Gajeel wasn’t in the best condition, probably his head was spinning and he just wanted to sleep. He knew the boy was proud, but he really wanted to help him.

“Well, unfortunately for you mine isn't a request, it's an order. Go sit down and don't complain. I cooked this and I bet you don't even know how much you’ve to heat it, with the amount of metal I put in it, you could make a disaster” he said categorically. Gajeel started to reply, but then, maybe out of weariness, maybe because he didn't want to argue, he turned around and without saying anything went back into the living room.

Freed then heated the contents, mixed a little and poked around in Gajeel's cabinets, adding some spice that the Dragon Slayer would have liked and that wouldn’t have made the soup too heavy. Once it was ready, he went back into the living room and noticed that the boy was sitting with his head leaning against a pillow and a grimace on his face. He was paler than before and Freed decided to drop the jokes on the tip of his tongue.

“Here,” he said, sitting next to him and handing him the soup.

“Mpf, hope it's good,” Gajeel muttered taking the plate and Freed snorted lightly.

“A thank you is enough,” he muttered but he knew from experience that Gajeel wouldn’t thank him. Gajeel began to eat and Freed smiled slightly as the Dragon Slayer muttered that it wasn't bad.

“I didn't know you told Panther Lily about us,” he said after a while.

“I didn’t. That damn cat found out for himself,” explained Gajeel. “And he saw me when I came home naked that night. I told him I had fought a monster, but he didn't believe me,” he added. Freed chuckled slightly.

“He really told me you fought a demon,” he said. Gajeel pursed his lips in a grin.

“Well, at least now we can kick him out of the house whenever we want,” he said and walked over to him, running an arm around his waist and pulling him over him. Freed didn't object but turned his head when Gajeel tried to kiss him, so that his lips rested on his cheek. “Don't tell me you're afraid of getting a fever, little-prince,” the Dragon Slayer derisively commented.

“Yes, and here the little-prince is you, since apparently you’re the sick one,” Freed retorted, giving him a light tap on the head. Gajeel snorted.

“Tsk. Shut up”.

Freed widened his smirk.

“Weren't you the one who said only a spoiled little-prince could get a stupid flu having sex in the middle of a storm?” he teased him by repeating the exact words Gajeel had said to him four days earlier.

“Oh, fuck you,” Gajeel snapped and Freed laughed at his pout.

“You expected me to be the sick one, tell the truth,” he said. Gajeel gave him a dirty look.

“Well, you’ve a bit of a cold or am I wrong?” he retorted. Freed frowned slightly, but shrugged.

“Are you comparing a mild cold to horse fever? There’s no story” he said and got up from the sofa to take the thermometer. He tried to take his temperature but Gajeel pushed him badly away.

“I don't need that stuff, I'm fine already,” he said dryly. Freed rolled his eyes.

“Good heavens, stand still and measure your fever. I need to know how high it’s”.

“It's practically over already,” Gajeel grunted.

“God, I don't think I've ever known anyone more stubborn than you,” Freed snapped and forced the thermometer under his armpit, sitting astride him to hold him still and blocking his arm with the hand. Luckily for him Gajeel looked really tired, because he didn't object too much. He knew that if he did, they would start fighting and never finish.

Gajeel scowled at him for a while and Freed challenged him to rebel, knowing full well that in his current states he wouldn’t be able to. After a while, however, Gajeel grinned.

“Well, this position isn’t bad,” he said amused.

“I won't do anything with you sick,” Freed clarified coldly.

“Asshole”.

“Stubborn”.

The thermometer rang and Freed pulled it back and observed that the temperature was quite high. More than 38 and a half degrees, and that idiot was still pretending to be fine. He shook his head in resignation and pulled himself off the couch.

“To bed,” he ordered.

“The fuck, I told you I don't need to sleep,” Gajeel grunted. “And you certainly didn't come here to sleep.”

“I already told you I came here to take care of you. Now shut your mouth and go to bed,” Freed snapped in exasperation. Gajeel grunted but got up a bit shaky and Freed was immediately beside him. Luckily, he didn't refuse his help and luckily in a few seconds he took him to his room. Gajeel stretched out on the bed and snorted, then clapped his hand on the mattress.

Freed took a few seconds to realize it was a way to ask him to lie down next to him, and he obliged. He lay down beside him and pulled the blankets up to cover them both.

“Do you want another blanket?” he asked noticing that Gajeel occasionally had some thrills.

“I want you to stop being so annoying,” was the grumpy reply.

“Why do you have to complicate things like this,” Freed muttered. If he was an asshole, Gajeel was offended, if he was nice, he was offended just the same. He loved his boyfriend, but sometimes he was really unbearable. Gajeel didn't answer and Freed assumed he had fallen asleep. At least he was resting now, it was for the best.

Freed smiled slightly as he listened to his heavy breathing and ran a hand through his hair. There were few sweet moments between them, Gajeel was certainly not a man who loved fuss. And Freed didn't make things easier. They spent their time mainly making fun of themselves, practicing or otherwise always had something to do. But he found himself loving those few moments of peace, before falling asleep with him or after sex. Unless the sex was the wild one they'd had a few days earlier in the middle of a storm.

He smiled in amusement at the memory as he gently ran his hand across Gajeel's arm. He had to admit that ever since he started dating Gajeel, he had really started doing things he never dreamed of doing. He had once let Gajeel drag him to a music festival and, even though it wasn't his kind of man, he’d had a lot of fun.

“No one has ever taken care of me,” Gajeel said suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. Freed frowned a little, surprised both by the fact that the boy wasn’t sleeping, and by that sudden statement.

“What do you mean?” he asked in a low voice.

“I was raised by a dragon. Not just any dragon, Metallicana. And when he left, I spent my whole life alone. I'm not used to… someone like you. I'm an independent man,” he explained briefly.

Freed remained silent, not quite sure what to say. He understood what Gajeel meant, even Freed had experienced loneliness for a period of his life. While he had met Evergreen, Bickslow and Laxus, however, Gajeel was left alone until he entered Fairy Tail.

He continued to run his fingers through Gajeel's hair in a calming gesture.

“The fact that I take care of you doesn't mean that you aren’t independent or that you’re weak. You’re a strong, proud and skilled man and I know it. That's why I like you. Moments of weakness happen to everyone and precisely because I love you, I want to take care of you when they happen” he said calmly, while a blush filled his face. Gajeel smiled slightly at admission. “And that doesn't make you a little-prince, even if you fell ill in my place,” Freed added in a slightly amused tone, popping him a kiss on the lips.

“Love you too, even if you're an asshole,” Gajeel murmured. Freed just smiled without saying anything, completely in love with the man in front of him and that strangely sweet situation between them. He liked knowing that they could share moments like that too, and that Gajeel felt comfortable enough to talk to him about things he had never told anyone.

“You got a fever too, right?” Gajeel grumbled after a while and Freed frowned slightly.

“Are you delirious?” he asked.

“No” Gajeel smiled without opening his eyes. “But you came here after four days. Knowing your bullshit, you would’ve been here after two hours not seeing me in the guild, just to fool me for as long as possible,” he explained. Freed laughed softly.

“What if it were?” he asked him.

“You remain the little-prince,” Gajeel replied tightening his grip on him. Freed would have liked to argue that at least he was healed after three days, not like Gajeel who was still in bed. Eventually, however, he decided to let it go and curled up against his chest.

Freed was by no means a virgin. He'd had his fair share of partners, but he preferred to sleep with a man he cared for, meaning it had been some time since his last time with a man. Gajeel had been, by quite a considerate margin, the most passionate, all-consuming lover that Freed had been with. He somehow managed to balance a rough, domineering energy with shocking tenderness and the lightest of touches. The press of his strong body against Freed contrasted incredibly with the soft kisses and grazing knuckles.

It had been a night of body-shuddering, sheets-clenching, mind-melting sex.

"Hm," Gajeel purred a little. "Thinkin' about last night?"

"What makes you think that?" Freed spoke, voice sleepworn and croaky.

"'Cause yer naked, wrapped up real tight against me, and if it ain't yer dick pokin' my thigh then I'm real curious about what it is," Gajeel taunted, still scratching at Freed's hair and giving it a little tug. It gave him a flashed memory of being on all fours, Gajeel fucking him while yanking at his hair with cruel strength. "Yeah, yer thinkin' about last night. That good huh?"

"You certainly know how to treat a man," Freed chuckled; he didn't care to lie. Gajeel was jaw-droppingly good in bed. He ran a hand down Gajeel's strong body, grazing his dick. It was just as hard as Freed's. "As do I, it seems."

"Fuck yeah ya do," Gajeel was unashamedly grinning, and Freed chuckled. Gajeel looked down on him, grinning without repentance. "Want another round?"

"You think you can take it?" Freed quirked an eyebrow, smirking. "You were rather energetic last night, I wouldn't blame you if you're needing some time to let your muscles recover."

"You sayin' you think I've pushed myself," Gajeel cackled. "Pretty-boy, I was holdin' back."

Oh, that was a thought. If that were true then what would Gajeel be like when he let himself go? He would be an animal, and Gods would Freed like to witness it.

After glancing at the clock to see they had more than enough time before they would need to leave for the tournament, Freed pushed himself up. The movements shifted the sheets to the side, revealing both of their naked bodies, and Freed swallowed at the sight of the man below him. Muscles rippled, piercings gleamed, and hair spread across the sheets. Gajeel was grinning up at him, horny and expectant.

Straddling the dragon slayer, Freed leant down so their bodies were gliding together. Their dicks rubbed hard, and the cool steel of the rivet piercings that decorated Gajeel's shaft made Freed sigh. This man was made of metal, and it was intoxicating. Freed was addicted.

"You gonna ride me, Pretty-Boy?" Gajeel rasped. "Gonna ride my cock?"

"Ride you?" Freed chuckled. "Perhaps if you'd given me everything you had, I'd treat you. But as you were holding back, I don't think you've earned it," Gajeel whined in protest, and Freed laughed. "You'll enjoy what I have planned, my dear, I'm quite sure of that."

Before Gajeel could complain or question him, Freed pressed their lips together, rolled his hips, and pressed Gajeel into the mattress by the shoulders. Gajeel groaned through their kiss, and Freed felt him shudder under him as he ran his hands over Gajeel's stomach and chest. He grinned a little, pushed himself off of Gajeel and relished the groan of annoyance. He began to slowly pepper kisses down the man's body, starting at his chest, going lower to his abs, then to his naval. Gajeel sucked in a breath and Freed relished it.

How had things changed so much in so little time?

When his lips hovered above Gajeel's dick, he looked up at Gajeel with the most devilish smirk that he could muster. Gajeel looked at him as if breathless, and Freed slowly lowered his head down and licked the tip of Gajeel's aching cock.

"Holy shit," Gajeel gasped. "Y' don't have to. I know the metal ain't for everyone-"

Freed plunged Gajeel's dick deep into his mouth, deepthroating him in a single movement. The feeling of the fat, long dick, filled with cold, harsh metal, filling him was incredible, and he gagged a little around the fullness. He took every inch of the man's dick, forcing Gajeel to maintain eye contact with him. Gajeel let a small 'oh shit' slip out and fuck did it make Freed's dick twitch. He was very reactive to praise.

Swallowing the man's length, Freed began to raise and lower his head, and Gajeel moaned. The sound spurred Freed on, and he began to bob faster and faster, choking and moaning over the man's hard dick.

The taste of metal drove him wild.

Gajeel suddenly froze, let out a spew of curses, and his hands forced Freed's head down on his cock. Freed choked, and a moment later the brilliant sensation of hot cum filling his mouth overthrew everything. Gods it tastes so good.

Freed came without warning, spurting his own cum onto the sheets. His eyes shot open, and he continued thrusting Gajeel's dick deep into his throat. His thighs were trembling with the effort of remaining on his knees while he milked all of Gajeel's cum into his mouth. When he looked up, Gajeel was staring at him lust-struck and seemingly amazed. Freed smirked over the fat cock in his mouth, gave it a final teasing lick, and pushed himself up.

"A suitable replacement for a ride?" He teased, voice hoarse from the throat fucking.

"You just came?" Gajeel gasped, seemingly wonderstruck. "I didn't even touch ya - you didn't even touch yerself - and you came real fucking hard. Just because you were sucking me off?"

"It seems so," Freed smirked.

"Oh Pretty-Boy," Gajeel's tone held mischief and seduction. "I'm gonna fuckin' ruin you."

"Will you?" Freed asked. "Well, we've an hour before we need to shower, so perhaps you should start now."

Gajeel had launched himself onto Freed before he had finished speaking.

——

"Gods dammit," Laxus grunted the moment he saw Freed. "You too, huh?"

Freed had walked into the guild, wanting to speak with his teammates after a week without contact. Evergreen had been at the bar, Bickslow was nowhere in sight, and as such Freed had walked to Laxus at their regular table. He had intended to ask as to how Laxus' week with Loke had been - the natural flirt wasn't an obvious easy pairing with someone as socially… complicated as Laxus - but the blonde had looked at him with an expression that was immediately annoyed. Freed didn't know why.

"Me too?" Freed asked, sitting opposite Laxus at their table. "Care to elaborate."

"You hooked up with your teammate too, didn't you," Laxus grunted, seemingly not pleased with the outcome.

Freed immediately stilled. His and Gajeel's night together was something that they hadn't spoken about with any seriousness, but they both had decided to keep it private. They didn't leave marks in places where they could be seen, they had tried not to look as though the dynamic of their relationship had been turned on its head when they had gotten into the guild, and Freed had even gone so far as to apply a pain-killing rune on his ass. He hadn't wanted people asking why he had a slight limp.

There was the issue of the piercings Freed now had, and the runic tattoo over Gajeel's exposed arm, but they could lie about that. It could have been passed off as a trust exercise or bonding experience. Fairy Tail was known for doing things with more intensity than required, their body modification could be seen as that happening again.

"What makes you think that?" Freed asked, cagey.

"You stink of iron and his cologne. Bet he stinks of you, too," Laxus huffed a little, and Freed frowned. He should have considered that... "You couldn't've at least showered after you did it, huh?"

"We did," He said firmly.

"Together or apart?" Laxus demanded. When Freed didn't answer, Laxus knew and rolled his eyes. "If it's gonna be a regular thing then you're going to need some stronger soap. Don't want to know every time he's been in bed with you."

"I suppose not," Freed chuckled. It was then when he remembered what Laxus had said in greeting, and frowned again. "You said 'me too' when you realised me and Gajeel had slept together. Have you and Loke started something?"

"What the fuck! No," Laxus exclaimed, before grunting. "I could've had him, but I didn't want him. No. Bicks and Gray are fucking as well."

"Really?" Freed frowned, looking over the banister. He scanned the room and his eyes settled on Gray, who was sitting on one of the many benches with Bickslow's arm around his shoulders, arguing with Natsu. Bickslow and his babies were offering words of support in the argument, and Bickslow was grinning widely. "How did that happen?"

"You remember when Bicks said he'd take his clothes off every time Gray did?" Laxus asked, and Freed nodded, vaguely remembering something of the sort. "He did it, apparently Gray was into it, and they started banging on the second night," Freed looked back at Laxus, who was frowning at him. "Dunno why that's a surprise considering what you and Gajeel did. Thought you didn't like each other. You aint the type to hate-fuck."

Freed thought for a moment. The shift from seething hatred, to tentative friendship, to what had happened the night before didn't exactly make sense to him. The piercings, runes, unison raids and demonic influence didn't make things easier to understand.

"We challenged our preconceived notions of one another, and found kinship," Freed said in explanation. "I would like to know why you seem a little huffy about it."

"Because I know you're not gonna fall into bed with a guy who's hot just because you wanna sleep with him. You're a guy who sleeps with someone they care about, probably only with a guy you could see yourself being with for a long time," Laxus shrugged. Freed didn't disagree, but didn't see how this was relevant. "If he's gonna be around you for a long time then he's gonna be around me for a long fucking time too. I'm gonna have to talk to him, get to know him, all that crap. Gonna have to do it with fucking Gray as well. I don't need that shit. Got enough friends."

"So your aversion to our relationships is because you dislike people?" Freed chuckled, and Laxus nodded. "So, not because you're still madly in love with me then?"

"Fuck you," Laxus gurnted, but grinned.

"I expect that you might say that if you were still interested in me," Freed teased, and Laxus rolled his eyes. "Though I expect if we were still together and you said that, you would be begging for it rather than demanding it. You were awfully needy, I recall."

"You know what, I'm glad you found him. You can piss him off rather than me," Laxus muttered, and Freed chuckled. Laxus' expression shifted to something more sinceer. "He good for you?"

"I think so," Freed nodded, smiling a little. "Unusual, I'll admit. But good."

"And yer demon ain't been fucking around?" Laxus looked serious now, and Freed understood why. The blonde did sometimes have a tendency to blame himself for the demon, even though Freed felt all the fault lay in his parent's actions. "It ain't done anything today. It gets bad today, right?"

"There was an incident in the week, but it was sorted before anything could come of it," Freed said, not wanting to go into details.

"You sure?"

"I am," Freed gave an honest response, and Laxus nodded a little.

For a moment, they both sat at their table. Laxus was drinking a tankard of beer while Freed polished his sword in preparation for the tournament. Freed had to admit that, although he had intended for his and Gajeel's relationship - whatever it was going to be - to be a secret, he felt warmed both by how Laxus hadn't questioned his closeness to Gajeel with anything more than curiosity, and how he had accepted the fact that Gajeel might be a part of their lives that was going to stay.

That felt nice too. The idea that Gajeel would be a mainstay in his life, and in the lives of their team. He wondered how Gajeel might interact with his team. He wondered what it would be like to return home with Gajeel after a night at the guildhall, drunk and cheerful. They might stumble into bed, and just laugh as they fall asleep side by side.

Freed would enjoy that.

"I'm sorry, I've ignored it long enough," Laxus suddenly said, and Freed looked towards him. "What the hell is with the piercings? You lost a bet to him or something?"

Freed just laughed, and decided he would tell Laxus the story.

——

"And for the final fight of the day, the one you've all been waiting for, the battle for the championship," Makarov was yelling into a microphone, his voice echoing around the clearing behind Fairy Tail's guildhall. "On the left, we have Bickslow and Gray! On the right, we have Gajeel and Freed! Two teams that have proven themselves to be incredibly powerful over the day, crushing all competition before them. Are you both ready!"

Fuck yeah Gajeel was ready!

Today was his day. He'd woken up with the memory of fucking Freed hard all the damn night, only to have Freed wake up in his arms ready for a morning of more. When they'd gotten to the guild, he'd heard stories about teams that just hadn't worked out because they let their arguments get in the way, and it made him realise how fucking close he and Freed had been to ending up as another disaster. And throughout the tournament, the natural comradery that he and Freed had quickly developed had burst out and they had seemingly decimated their opponents in every match.

Now, all they had to do to win the prize was to beat up the Puppeteer and the Stripper. It was going to be easy, and Gajeel was already planning on what he would do with the prize. After seeing how Freed lived, Gajeel knew he couldn't stay, so the money was going towards a new place.

And then, they'd also get to make a forfeit for the overall losers. He hoped it would be Natsu. He was gonna make the flamebrain loudmouth his personal fucking footrest for a month. Maybe he'd even get a throne, just to piss him off more.

Freed would look good sitting in a throne.

He'd look better sitting in a throne naked.

But he couldn't think about this now. He nodded that he was ready, as did Freed, Gray and Bickslow. He needed to be in the zone to get the victory. He shouldn't underestimate Gray and Bickslow, who seemed to be almost as in tune as he and Freed were being. Maybe having sex with your teammate made you work well together? Who knew?

"And begin!" Makarov yelled.

As they had with each fight, Gajeel ran forward while Freed started casting runes. Gajeel allowed iron to replace his skin, and he extended an arm to land a punch at Gray. Gray blocked it with a shield of ice, which shattered and made him stumble. Gajeel pounced on the misstep and rammed his iron fist into Gray's stomach, knocking him into the dirt.

Before he noticed, Bickslow's dolls were above him and circling quickly. A beam of magic struck down on him, searing pain that he couldn't identify. It felt like fire and ice and lighting all at once. Gajeel hadn't fought against Bickslow before, so the burn of his magic was unfamiliar, and all Gajeel could think to do was cover himself as best he could with his iron arms and wait for the spell to end. It was hurting like fuck, but he was trapped in the spell.

Suddenly, it broke. Looking up, he saw runed implanted on the dolls. He grinned.

Freed was now fighting with his sword, with Gray using a weapon made of ice to parry the blows. They seemed well matched, so Gajeel turned to Bickslow who was looking at him with a manic expression. Bickslow raised a hand and made a beckoning motion, and Gajeel grinned. This would be fun.

He launched forward, going to punch Bickslow. The other man jumped back a few times, and Gajeel grunted with each missed hit. He had heard BIckslow was an acrobat, and he was dancing rings around Gajeel. His physical attacks anyway.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!" He yelled, and a beam of dragon slayer magic spurted from him.

Bickslow dodged it, of course, but Gajeel had wanted that. As Bickslow made some comment that got drowned out in the fighting, he had allowed Gajeel to target him. Thrusting his fist forward, he punched Bickslow in the jaw and made him stumble back. Gajeel didn't miss the opportunity he'd created, and lurched forward to pummel more punches into the man, only some of which his dolls managed to deflect.

Suddenly, a hammer made of ice slammed into Gajeel's head.

He stumbled back, wishing he had fully covered himself in iron. He looked to see Gray standing over Bickslow protectively, with a few spurts of blood from where Freed must have hit him. He could also see a small glow from one of Freed's runes on Gray's arm. He didn't know what the effect was, but he felt a swelling of pride. That was probably kinda stupid, but fuck it. His boyfriend was a badass and he was gonna be proud of it.

Was Freed his boyfriend? They didn't speak about it. Gajeel wanted to be Freed's boyfriend.

Before the thoughts could spiral, Gajeel felt Freed's hand on his shoulder. The fight had broken for a moment so they could all catch their breath and Bickslow could stand again, and Gajeel felt a fizzing on his arm, where Freed was touching him.

"It's immunity," Freed murmured, but was smirking. "Be prepared. This will be intense."

"Come on baby!" Bickslow yelled across the space. He was grinning with his tongue hanging out. "This ain't the time to be whispering sweet nothings into his ear."

"You're right," Freed smirked, and magic seemed to flow out from him. "Let's make this fun, shall we."

Walls of runes shot up around them, and the new rune on Gajeel's arm glowed and pulsed. Suddenly, Gray and Bickslow were being pushed into the ground in the same way Gajeel had been earlier in the week, and Gajeel grinned at the sight. They were taking this seriously, and Freed wasn't afraid to pull out some nasty tricks. Good.

In tandem, Freed and Gajeel began their assault. Freed started to cover their opponents in different types of pain runes, and Gajeel began slamming his fist into their bodies over and over, loving the feeling of the punches connecting.

Fuck this felt good! Brutal and unrepentant and-

This was all too violent. This was meant to be a friendly match, why was he enjoying this so much?

Realisation struck him, and Gajeel turned to look at Freed again. The man's demonic eye was glowing and a mist of magic was forming around it. Again, the demon had been influencing them both and making them more cruel than normal. Adrenaline was still running through Gajeel and there was a loud voice in his mind screaming at him to keep going, keep hitting, make them bleed and bruise and burn! But that was the demon, and who knew how bad it was for Freed.

Gajeel looked up, and saw that the full moon was parting the sky. It beat down on them, unimpeded by the clouds and hitting Freed directly. He quickly remembered that today was the shortest day of the year and fuck Freed was losing control.

He needed to stop this.

Suddenly, a dome of ice covered Freed, clearly from Gray. Gajeel didn't spare him a glance, because Freed was a priority, but he saw the walls of runes falling down. He felt the new rune on his shoulder suddenly disappear, and his gut started to flip. Was that Gray's magic cutting him off from the runes, or something more.

The fog from Freed's eye was getting thicker, and covering more space. The dome was quickly filled with mist, and Gajeel couldn't even see Freed inside of it. What the hell was happening? Was the ice making it worse? Magnifying the moon's effect somehow? Was that how it worked?

"Stop!" Gajeel yelled when he saw Gray running at him. "Fuckin st-"

The ice exploded.

Freed wasn't standing there anymore. The demon was.

Power exploded, knocking every mage watching the fight to the floor. Gajeel scrambled and failed to keep himself upright, and he was flung to the dirt. Dread filled him, because even though he had only seen Freed's demonic form standing there for a second, he knew that Freed wasn't in control.

"Gajeel Redfox," A voice like Freed's, but warped and mutated and cruel echoed through the courtyard. Everyone was watching, but Gajeel was transfixed by the demon. "Did you like the little dream I sent you? The one where I told you what would happen if you attempted to claim what belonged to me. The one that made it very clear that this body is mine to play with. The one that you ignored."

What the fuck. What the fuck!

The dream had been from the demon. The dream where everyone was dead or nearly dead and they were trying to kill Freed and Gajeel couldn't do anything. The one he had so desperately been trying to ignore. The dream was from the demon!

"The message was ignored, so perhaps I should be clear," The demon walked towards Gajeel, slowly. "You should learn to leave well enough alone. Because this body is mine to toy with. And as you've disrupted that, I intend to fix the issue."

A tendril of black magic - the same black magic that had hit him in his fight against Freed - shot out from the demon's claw. It coiled around Gajeel, who could only scream as a pain like nothing he could imagine filled him. It was every aspect of agony condensed into a single feeling which was designed to explode on his skin. The pain was overwhelming, and Gajeel only barely recognised that he was being lifted off the ground, the coil of darkness wrapping tight around his neck.

"You should have left him alone," The demon snarled at Gajeel, dragging him closer. Gajeel could see the fangs, the scales, the cruelty. "He's so much more fun when he's alone. And he will be again, soon enough."

The coiling darkness tightened. It was going to kill him.

He was struggling to breath now, and the demon forced him to maintain eye contact as his life was sapped away from him. He tried to struggle but there was nothing he could do.

"Freed, if yer in there I want you to-"

"He won't be able to do anything," The demon chuckled, and Gajeel was thrust forward so his nose grazed the demon's. "He's as good as dead. The only difference is, he's still conscious enough to watch what's about to happen."

Gajeel had never wanted to kill something before. He did now.

Before he could retort, a flurry of manic lightning shot from the sidelines and slammed into the demon. It winced, turning towards where Laxus was standing, now covered in lightning and with fury on his face. Gajeel struggled, hoping that the distraction would be enough for him to escape the coiling darkness, but the grasp of magic seemed to get tighter. He gagged a little, and his vision started to turn black, but he kept on fighting.

Lightning shot towards the demon again, but this time the vivid yellow turned to jet black, and the demon seemed to consume it rather than being hit by it. The demon started to walk towards Laxus, and Gajeel felt the binds tightening around him even more. Fuck, he was going to get crushed to death.

"You all wish to fight, it seems," The demon said, looking around at the array of mages ready to pounce. His eyes settled on Gajeel, and it grinned. "Let's make your dreams come true, shall we."

Fuck. Shit!

The magic coiling around Gajeel suddenly disappeared, and Gajeel was dropped into the dirt again. His muscles ached and his heartbeat was hammering. He did his best to get back to his feet so he could do something to help Freed, but his body had been sapped of energy and he could barely get to his knees. When he looked up - panting, bleeding and arms shaking with effort - the demon was looking at him with sadistic glee. Runes shot up around Gajeel, a cylindrical prison identical to the one that he had been trapped in in his dream.

Gods, it couldn't be happening. His dream had been awful and it was going to come true if he couldn't do something. But what the hell could he do?

The members of Fairy Tail started trying to attack the demon, with Laxus, Evergreen and Bickslow taking the lead. Natsu was soon on his feet, as were Mirajane, Gray and Elfman. Whether they knew what was happening or not, Gajeel couldn't be sure, but something innate inside of him wanted to scream at them to stop. Attacking the demon wasn't going to get Freed back, it was probably going to get them killed, and dammit this wasn't how to get rid of the demon. It was a blight on Freed's soul, not on his body!

Magic welled up around the runic prison, and Gajeel stumbled to his feet. Fire, lighting, dust, ice, water, and pure magical chaos all flew towards the demon, and yet with a wave of it's hand, the demon dismissed it and countered them all with ease. They needed to stop; this wasn't how to save Freed!

Gajeel's runes started to glow.

Energy suddenly coursed through him, unnatural and unfamiliar. As chaos unfolded around him, Gajeel found himself transfixed by the glowing lettering on his arm. Magic - runic magic, not Dragon Slayer - was filling him now. It was powerful, addictive, and something new.

With a punch, the force of which was stronger than Gajeel had ever managed before, he managed to shatter the runes keeping him in place. The demon turned to him, face without emotion but a snarl ripped through it's throat. Gajeel felt adrenaline coursing through him like he never had before, and he raised the arm covered in runes, purple magic flickering from the exposed skin. For only a second, the demon flickered back to Freed, who was clearly trying to fight.

Freed was still in there. He had a chance.

That's what these runes were for. Not just marking. Not just a coincidence. They were Freed's magic, anchoring them together so Gajeel could pull Freed back from the edge.

"What was that?" The demon snarled when it took over. "What did you do?"

"I just figured some shit out," Gajeel grinned, walking towards the demon and covering his body in Iron. The runes still glowed. "Me and him, y'see, we're soulmates. I know, he knows it, and our magic fuckin' knows it. And yer a sadistic motherfucker who's been eating away at him for far too fucking long now. Not anymore. So I think it's up to me to cleanse his soul."

The magic erupted inside of him, and scales of iron covered him. His teeth grew sharper and his magic roiled inside of him. His dragon force was taking over, more powerful than it had ever been before. Runes covered every inch of his body. He glowed with the minging of his magic and Freed's, and felt more powerful than he could have ever imagined.

At that moment, he was a monstrous force of nature. Nothing could stop him.

With every step he took towards the demon, it's grasp on Freed seemed to lessen. Even being in Gajeel's overwhelming presence seemed to make it's dominance over Freed flicker back and forth. Freed was fighting the demon's control, and his body mutated back and forth between monster and man.

His eyes met Gajeel's, and a look of wonderment and relief filled his expression. Freed grit his teeth and managed to hold onto control, if only for a moment. That was all the time Gajeel needed.

"Let's sort this shit out right now," Gajeel proclaimed as he stalked towards Freed. "I'm yours and yer mine," He was chest-to-chest with Freed now, and wrapped a hand around the back of Freed's head, holding and anchoring him. "And as long as I'm still standin', that demon ain't got a fuckin claim on you. You understand me. Yer fucking mine!"

"Your damn right I am," Freed whispered, and had the smallest of grins.

Gajeel pulled Freed to him, and kissed the hell out of him.

Magic of cataclysmic power exploded around them, pushing everyone but the two of them to the ground. Gajeel dragged Freed as close as he could to him, his draconic body melding with Freed. The runes painted onto Gajeel were burning with the most addictive power that he had ever felt, and it was as if the feeling Gajeel had been unknowingly hunting for his life had suddenly been bestowed upon him. This moment was something he was destined to do.

The darkness that the demon had forced on Freed seemed to be burning away. Even Gajeel could feel the force of something wrong leaving Freed, and he pulled the man closer to him as the spirit seeped from Freed's soul.

As they kissed, a cloud of sentient shadows rose up around them. They pulled apart with the overwhelming force of evil looking down at them, searching for another soul to take over. Without needing to speak, both men turned to the demon's smokey form and raised their intertwined hands. Magic shot fourth without effort nor complication, and Freed's runes entrapped the demon while Gajeel's iron destroyed it.

Another unison raid, which came to them like second nature now.

"It's gone," Freed whispered, pulling away. "It's actually gone."

"Yeah it is," Gajeel agreed, pressing his forehead against Freed's. "It ain't ever hurtin' you again, y'hear me. Never."

"I know," He grinned, elated. "Gajeel, I lo-"

It had been contractions, half a month earlier than they should have. Freed told them to take her to the nearest hospital. This meant that the houses only carriage was occupied, and he was forced to walk back in the deep and unforgiving fog that had covered the moors. It wasn't going well.

He knew these roads well, and hoped that he was going to the right place. His cottage wasn't in the town, meaning there were no lamplights nor any landmarks other than trees for him to guide himself back. It was a wholly unpleasant experience, and Freed was fairly sure that he should be near his house now. If he could see further than five feet, then maybe he'd be sure.

Honestly, he should have been a lawman. Much less hassle.

Just as he passed a large oak tree which he could swore that he knew, he watched his lantern light flicker slightly. The oil wouldn't last long, so he would need to walk fast. He picked up the pace as a biting gust of wind cut through him.

It was difficult not to become hopeless in situations like this. No matter how strong his resolve, he couldn't fully shut out the voice telling him that he had taken a wrong turn and was wandering aimlessly in the woods, only thinking he recognised trees and fences as not to panic. The voice told him how bad a situation that was, and what could happen if true. Maybe he would fall and hurt himself, maybe he wouldn't be able to find his way back, maybe he'd trespass on a farmers land and find himself on the receiving end of a shotgun and an accusation of cattle rustling.

What would Gajeel think if that happened?

That was a horrid thought, and Freed tried to shut it down immediately. It didn't work.

Death and injury were commonplace in Freed's lifestyle, and he had long since lost the ability to cube squeamish about mortality. But then Gajeel had come into his life, taking the previously vacant place of someone who could miss him when he was gone. Tripping, breaking his leg, and hobbling home for days would be unwanted but manageable; doing so while knowing Gajeel was panicking was not.

"Freed!" A gruff, gravely voice cut through the fog. Gajeel's voice. "Freed!"

"Gajeel!" Freed yelled into the fog, looking towards where the voice was coming from. He couldn't see him, but walked forward. "Gajeel are you there?"

"Freed," Gajeel shouted again. "Where the hell have you been?"

Freed breathed a sigh of relief, walking towards Gajeel's voice, which felt closer than it had before. As he walked, he saw Gajeel wrapped up in a large coat with a thunderous expression on his face. Freed was too happy in seeing Gajeel to be bothered by the look of anger on his face. He wrapped his arms around Gajeel's shoulders in a tight hug. Gajeel seemed to be shocked by it, and hugged him back on instinct.

"Sorry," Freed whispered into Gajeel's shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you worry. That wasn't fair."

"I don't care, just wanted to knew her safe," Gajeel murmured, though his tone still wasn't happy. "They said they'd drive you back. The hell is wrong with them, thinking they can send you out in this. Should go there and give the lord and piece of my mind. Or a fuckin' punch."

"The daughter is in labour, she needed to go to the hospital," Freed explained, still clinging to his lover. "They only have one carriage, and I didn't wish to spend a night there. This was the only option."

"Why didn't you have someone call the house so I could come and help you back," Gajeel growled, but deflated at his own words. "That ain't he point. Come on, let's get you home okay. Started boiling water for you to have a bath when you got in."

"Thank you," Freed whispered. "You can be angry at me tomorrow."

"I fuckin' will be. Cretin," Gajeel grunted.

He guided Freed back to their shared cottage, and Freed's mood was slightly improved when he realised he had been where he thought he was. Very soon he could see the large cottage that he and Gajeel lived in, under the guise of a lodger and his landlord. It was a quaint and spacious place, with enough room to house two platonic men without question. Needless to say, with their arrangement, only one bedroom was in use.

When they got inside, the tin bath was placed in front of the fireplace, with a large kettle filled with water above it. Wordless, Gajeel got to filling the bath while Freed stripped off his clothing. One he was naked and the bath was appropriately filled, Freed climbed inside and relaxed into the warmth, submerging his head and cutting off the chill.

"Thank you, my love," He whispered, and Gajeel grunted. The man was more thoughtful than he allowed people to think.

"It's just decent," He dismissed, and Freed laughed.

"Brush my hair?" Freed requested, and Gajeel nodded.

Without words, Gajeel pulled a hairbrush from a bookshelf and began to tend to Freed's soaking hair while the man bathed. It was cozy, comfortable and loving; something Freed had never expected his life to be when growing up in the gutter of London. Even when he had moved to the countryside he had been secluded and only called upon in people's worst moments.

Then, he had stumbled upon the local blacksmith, who had entranced him and seduced him in a single afternoon. He was enticing, rough around the edges, and sweating with the effort of his work. He knew of Freed's attraction immediately, and they ended up in his locked back room sans clothing nor dignity.

And now that same blacksmith was brushing his hair with such care that it was hard to paint the brute who had light his world aflame. Gajeel was still that man, and Freed loved it, but there was simply more to him now.

Freed wanted all of it.

"Gajeel," Freed said, somewhat tentatively. "If we could, would you marry me?"

Gajeel's movements halted. "What?"

"We're the laws not so restrictive, and the feeling we hold for were held in the same esteem as others, would you accept a proposal from me," Freed couldn't look away from the spot on the wall he had fixated on. "Because, being truthful with you Gajeel, I couldn't think of a greater boast nor achievement in my life for you to be my husband."

"I'd accept it without a seconds thought," Gajeel said almost instantly. "I'd make sure everyone knew you were mine, if we could."

"Then marry me, Gajeel," Freed asked, turning to look at Gajeel. "While I know legally we cannot be one another's, we can belong to each other in the eyes of those important to us. I would be your husband with great glee, I would honour you like every husband should, and would remain honest and true to you like no other man ever could."

"Fuck," Gajeel's voice cracked. "I ain't good with words so I can't say that, but I fuckin' love you. So yeah, I'll marry you."

Gajeel leant forward and took Freed's face in his hands, kissing him slowly. Freed melted into it, relaxing into the hold and indulging in the man who would be his husband.

Another return he was looking forward to was his winter job.

Ever since he had been fifteen, he had worked at Fairy Tail Tree Suppliers, who were the main source of Christmas trees in the town. Originally he'd worked at the front of house, but when they realised his people skills were less than ideal, they had moved him to the felling station, cutting the trees down and netting them when needed. It was good, tactile work, and Gajeel loved it.

As he approached the hut, he saw an unfamiliar car parking. It was a hell of a lot nicer than any cars the members of staff owned, so clearly it was a customer. The place wasn't open yet, but it wasn't Gajeel's job to tell them to leave so he'd let the idiot wait. He walked into the hut, rubbing his hands to warm them as Levy passed him a paper cup of coffee.

"Some guy's already here," He informed her. "Nice car, so probably a dick. Tell me if you need me to kick him out."

"Sure," Levy said, but seemed unsure. She leant forward and looked out of the window towards the car. "Oh, that's just Freed. He's working here now."

"Freed?" Gajeel frowned. "Who the hell is that?"

"He's new," Levy shrugged. "Started two weeks ago. He's nice," She sat back behind the counter. "You'll be working with him, so be nice."

"The hell's a guy with a car like that doin' working here?" Gajeel mumbled under his breath, not expecting Levy to hear him.

"Why don't you ask him," She said patiently.

Gajeel didn't answer, and watched as the man climbed out of the shining, brand new sports car. He was about their age, wore clearly designer and expensive clothing, and had his hair done in a way that looked like he'd just walked out of a fashion show. He was clearly from the more affluent side of town, and in Gajeel's experience that meant he was an entitled and obnoxious dickhead. How someone with designer jeans and a car - that worked as well in the winter as it did in the summer - thought he'd fit in here, Gajeel couldn't guess.

But still, he wasn't bad looking. Awful pretty. The kind of face that would look real handsome while pissed off. Red and angry, realising he couldn't keep up with a man like Gajeel. Maybe it could be fun.

He'd teach this spoiled new guy that he didn't know what he was doing, taunt him into frustration, and then maybe push him against a tree and get down and dirty with him.

First things first, however. He needed to show 'Freed' how it was done.

----

It was harder to put Freed in his place when it seemed he was a damn good lumberjack. Even with a slightly blunt axe - they had only one chainsaw and Gajeel had taken that for himself today - he knew how to cut the trees down and how to move them onto the back of the truck. Hell, he even looked pretty fucking elegant when he was doing it. It pissed Gajeel off.

"So," Gajeel began, rather than introducing himself. Freed turned with a start, apparently not having noticed Gajeel's presence. "Your parents threaten to cut you off if you don't get a job. That what this is?"

Not a best first impression, but Gajeel cared about this company and wouldn't have some smug dick leave them before the early December rush.

"Excuse me?" Freed replied, voice smoother than Gajeel would have liked.

"You heard what I said," Gajeel crossed his arms. "Daddy gonna take away the car if you don't make enough to cover the gas?"

"You must be Gajeel," Freed said with a smirk, resting the axe and turning to face Gajeel fully. It pissed him off that Freed knew his name; who had been talking about him? "Unless this place has more than one man who is 'pierced, brash and rude without realising it' That seems unlikely, though."

"Answer the question, pretty boy," Gajeel demanded. He flushed a little when he realised what he had said.

"Pretty boy?" Freed chuckled. "And you're wrong. It's rather the opposite. It was given to me by my parents as a bribe to stop me from coming to a place like this. Clearly it didn't work."

"Yer parents got you a luxury car to stop you from getting a job?" Gajeel scoffed. "I ain't gullible."

"Actually, they got me a car to stop me from dropping out of college," Freed mused, not rising to the angry tone Gajeel was using. "But once the car was mine, and they could no longer hold it over me, I removed myself from college and started looking for jobs. This was a good mixture of a hometown business and manual labor, which was perfect for what I wanted and would open doors for me. Hence, here I am."

"Sure," Gajeel grunted. He didn't believe him. "Why'd you keep the car if you dropped out then?"

"They thought me so shallow that a car would keep me from doing what I wanted in life and forging my own path," Freed shrugged, picking his axe again. "I found that insulting, and thought scamming them out of seventy thousand dollars was appropriate revenge."

Gajeel went to say something, because no car should be that much fucking money and no man should be flippant about spending that much, but Freed began to cut the nearest tree down. His designer clothes were tight, and Gajeel could see the strong arms flexing with the movement of the swing. His thighs strained against the denim of his jeans, and Gajeel had to look away as the man's firm, plump ass faced him unashamedly. His clothes were way too expensive, but fuck they flattered him well.

Distracted, Gajeel didn't notice the sound of the tree cracking. He blinked when he realised he was standing in its path, and winced as he expected for it to land on him. It didn't, and when he opened his eyes he saw Freed holding it with his right hand - arm flexing hard - and with a smirk on his face.

"I was told you were the expert on felling trees, Gajeel," Freed taunted, a voice cocky and self-assured. Two very hot traits. "I hope I haven't been misled."

"You ain't," Gajeel argued immediately. "And I'm a hell of a lot faster than you, so you better not fuck with my productivity. I ain't gonna deal with dead weight."

"I'm sure I can keep up," Freed stated as if it weren't a problem at all. He then slowly looked Gajeel up and down with an unhindered expression of interest which sent a jolt of something throughout Gajeel. "Though, if I were to affect your productivity, I'm sure you could think of a way for me to make it up to you."

Gajeel swallowed. That was a pretty damn clear come-on. He liked it.

"I'm a pretty physical man," Gajeel grunted. "Sure you can handle me?"

"I can take anything you're willing to give, Gajeel," Freed smirked tauntingly. "And I'll gladly do so."

Oh.

Fuck yeah he would. This was going to be a hell of a lot more fun than pissing off a pretty rich boy. Not that he could say that, so instead he said. "You want a coffee?"

"I'd appreciate that," Freed smiled, "Black, no sugar."

"Comin' up," Gajeel nodded. "Now get back to work, Slacker."