Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome to my contribution for Fraxus Week, which I like to call "Rules of Lightning."

Honestly, this is my first real attempt at BL since Fear of a Name. God, that was such a long time ago. But that's irrelevant. What is relevant is that I've decided to take part in Fraxus Week, even though I have no idea why this gets a week but Natza doesn't. I'm not bitter!

Seriously, though. I do ship Fraxus. And I don't really ship a lot of malexmale pairings. I mean, I do ship a couple (KomaTo, NaruShika), but those are fandoms I'm not really active in anymore, so... yeah. Oh, and Aquabird (Kaldur x Robin/Nightwing (don't judge me!)). Even before Fried was outed, I always felt MiraFried was somehow shallow. But after seeing a couple fics, I really can't picture Fried with anyone else.

Yeah, I guess I'd better get to the actual fic.

I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does.

Laxus waited outside Fried's apartment, dressed in the purple shirt and black pants he wore during his attempted takeover of the guild. Not known for being a patient man, he contemplated blasting open the door with his magic and seeing just what the hell was taking the rune mage so long.

He immediately dismissed the thought. Sure, he was just as impatient as his fellow Dragon Slayers, but he grew up around actual humans, and therefore had a sense of restraint. Busting down Fried's door would only serve to humiliate the poor bastard.

Suddenly, he heard Fried's voice give an anguished moan. Perhaps he should let him know he was there. He knocked twice and said, "Fried? You all right, man?"

"I'm fine! Don't come in!" said Fried hastily.

Laxus could tell from the tone of Fried's voice, along with the years he'd known the younger man, that he was anything but fine. "No you're not," said Laxus sharply. "Let me in."

"No!" exclaimed Fried.

Laxus frowned. Fried never said no to him, not even when he had stupidly ordered him to kill other guild members. "Fried, I'm giving you till three, or I'm busting down the door!" If Fried had hurt himself, then screw restraint! "One... two..." he charged his fist with lightning, feeling his canines lengthening as he prepared to use his Dragon Slayer powers.

"THREE!" exclaimed Laxus. "Lightning Dragon's Breakdown-!"

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Fried in a fancy periwinkle waistcoat and trousers and a white frilled shirt. His hair was styled in its usual ponytail, though much shorter than normal.

Laxus cancelled his spell and glared at his date for the evening. "Fried..." he growled. However, upon seeing Fried's nervous reaction, he calmed down considerably. "Now, what was so terrible that I couldn't come in?"

"My cufflinks," said Fried. "I can't find my cufflinks!"

"...Cufflinks," Laxus repeated angrily. "You need cufflinks for a burger dive. Dare I ask why?"

"...I wanted to look presentable for our first date," said Fried.

"Well, I ain't getting a burger with my date looking like he belongs in one of those cheesy period dramas," said Laxus. "Now put on something more casual so we can get out of here."

"...Of... of course, Laxus," said Fried. "Just give me a minute." He closed the door, leaving Laxus waiting yet again.

Laxus sighed. Fried always went to extremes just to please him. He would have to spend this first date establishing that just being with him was enough.

Offhandedly, Laxus wondered when he got so damn sappy.

And there you go!

You know, ever since I've embraced shorter word counts, I feel like a new writer. I mean, it's almost gotten to the point where I'd rather write than play video games. Almost. Of course, now that I have a new battery for my laptop, I don't feel confined to my bedroom. I'm not sure what one has to do with the other, but... Never mind! I'm not here to ramble!

I got another entry written up. It'll be coming almost as soon as I publish this. So I will see you in a bit!