Caring for a Dragon

Chapter 1

It was always different for Mirajane, when Laxus slept over. It meant, in short, in the mornings that she had to be a lot quieter. Or at least she tried to be. Still, she couldn't help humming at times or accidentally calling out to him to remind him of what he needed to get done during the day.

That morning though, as she went around her bedroom getting dressed and leaving at times to head into the bathroom, she noticed something…odd. Or wrong. About Laxus. Usually when she'd call out to him, he'd grunt or complain about her keeping him up. That or he'd put his headphones on and completely ignore her.

He did none of those things that time, however. Even when she forgot he was there and turned the bedroom light on, he didn't make a sound.

Concerned, she eventually found herself going over to his side of the bed and reaching out to touch him.

He was warm. Burning up. And when she finally did awaken him, she saw that he left a trail of sweat behind on the bed sheets.

How had she missed that when they were sleeping next to each other the whole night?

"Mira, I feel bad," was the first thing he groaned out to her. Sniffling, he said, "I think I'm dyin'."

"Laxus-"

'My lacrima must've, like, dissipated inside me. Or leaked something into me. I've been poisoned. This is it. I-"

"Be quiet." She was resting a palm against his forehead then, just to be sure. "You have a fever. Does your stomach hurt?"

"I feel like I gotta vomit, yeah."

"Do you need to?" She moved to take his hands then and help him up. He only lurched forwards slightly before jerking away from her and rushing away, into the adjoining bathroom. He made it in record time, luckily, to the toilet which her marvelous dinner from the night before found its way into.

"Oh, Laxus," she groaned, going in there. He only stood there though, hunched over, staring down at the toilet for a moment before glancing at her. "I have to get to work. Come here. Are you done?"

He only nodded, his eyes bloodshot and his skin nearly as pale as hers.

"You're gonna leave me?" he asked pitifully as she got busy running a wet washcloth over his face before down his bare chest, as if to cool him off some. "I wouldn't leave you, if you were sick."

"Just…" Mirajane was defeated then, staring at him. He was even pouting slightly. Groaning then, she grabbed one of his hands before dragging him back into the bedroom.

"Lay down and I'll be right back."

"Are you leav-"

"Just lay down. I'm going to get you some pills and a glass of water."

"But my stomach-"

"I will be back, Laxus. Honestly, if you're this bad sick, I understand why they shoved a lacrima in you to shut you up."

That wasn't a good thing to say to him though, as they both knew the real reason it was placed there, but it did get him to lay down once more. She only stroked his cheek gently before turning to head off.

It was a shot in the dark, she knew, as she headed down the hall to his sister's room. Since she'd begun dating Bickslow, it was rather rare that she'd be home at night. Or ever, really. They were practically living together already, just without the label.

"Lisanna? Are you home?"

She was for once, bundled up under blankets in the darkness. The sun had yet to come up and though the sky was beginning to lose some of its dark shades in favor of lighter ones, her room was pitch black.

"Mirajane?" she groaned as her sister came over to her bed, gently shaking her shoulder. "What's up?"

"I need you to go in for me."

"Huh?"

"Lisanna, hurry. Get up. You have to-"

"Something wrong?" She blinked in the darkness before moving to sit up some. "Or-"

"Laxus has a fever and threw up. I think he has the stomach flu or something. Can you just go in for-"

"Mirajane," she groaned. "I got home at two last night and practically just fell asleep. I-"

"If you don't go in for me, then you have to take care of Laxus. Can you do that?"

"He's puking? Ew, no. Gross."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "You have got to help me out here, Lisanna. One or the other. Just pick one. Please?"

"Mira, I'm sleepy and-"

"I would do anything for you. Anything. I-"

"Fine," she groaned, moving to shove her covers off then. "I'll go in for you. But I can't do all three shifts. Bickslow and I were going to-"

"That's fine. Perfect even. I'll have someone else stay with him in the afternoon. So all you have to worry about is the morning shift. Alright?"

"If I have to," she groaned, heading over to her closet to find something to wear. "He's really that sick, huh?"

"Yeah, he is."

"And he wants you around?"

Mira was heading to the door then, but paused, glancing over her shoulder at her words. "What do you mean?"

"You know," she said with a shrug. "A big guy like Laxus? Someone could break all his bones and still defeat any opponent you sat in front of him? I figure that he wouldn't like you hanging around when he's in pain. Or that he would try to feign like he wasn't sick."

"Lisanna, you'll learn soon enough with Bickslow that when men are sick, there's nothing they want more than for you to baby them."

Rolling her eyes, she said, "Have fun with that."

She only giggled as she headed out of the room and back to her own.

"Oh trust me, I will."

Upon returning to her boyfriend, Mirajane had gotten him, as promised, some water and a few pills. Not to mention some crackers.

"For your tummy," she explained as he swallowed the pills. "When you feel a little better, you can snack on some, huh?"

"Can't eat nothing. My stomach hurts."

"I know, silly," she sighed, moving to join him in bed. Gently patting his stomach once, she immediately began to stroke it. "But if you don't, then your tummy will feel worse empty. So in a few minutes, if you can keep your medicine down, you'll munch on some of those, huh?"

"No."

"Oh, Laxus." She kissed his cheek as he settled back into bed. "Are you going to be this big of a baby all day?"

"I'm not a baby." He sniffled making Mirajane frown before pushing up out of the bed. Leaving the room for a moment, she returned with a box of tissues from the living room.

"Here you go." She held out the box to him, but he only turned his head. "Laxus-"

"No." More sniffles. "Blowing your nose is, like, for idiots. I'm fine."

"Your nose is all clogged up."

"Mira-"

"What is your objection to a simple tissue, Laxus? I mean, seriously?"

"They're for women. No man actually uses-"

"I'm sorry," she said then with a shake of her head. "Am I talking to my boyfriend or my brother?"

"Stupid Elfman didn't invent being a man," he grumbled as he crossed his arms and looked at her. Sniffling again, he said, "I don't feel good. Come rub my stomach and stop arguing with- Mirajane."

She only stood there in front of him, having taken one of the tissues out and held it against his nose. Keeping her eyes locked with his, she made a simple command.

"Blow."

"This is demeaning," Laxus grumbled though not a second later, he followed her instructions. "Very demeaning."

"Good boy." She patted his head with her other hand before heading off to go drop the dirty tissue in the trashcan in the bathroom before returning to him. Slipping back into bed, she said, "That wasn't so bad, huh?"

"That was very bad."

"Oh, shush," she sighed, taking to rubbing his stomach some more. "Just lay here and try to sleep, huh? And if your tummy gets upset again, don't worry. Just try to make it to the bathroom, huh? You know that I'm here to take care of you. Don't you?"

"All day?"

She hesitated before leaning up to give his cheek another kiss. "Just rest, Laxus. We'll deal with that later, huh?"

"No, Mira." He needed to sniffle again, but held off as there was no way he wanted her trying to help him blow his nose again. His woman loved him, fine, but some times she was just downright gross. If not a little overbearing. "I want you here with me. All day. Alright?"

Another kiss. "Just sleep. Let's hope this is just a twenty-four hour bug, huh?"

Twenty-four hours? The way he was feeling, he didn't know if he could handle another one!

But…Mira's hand did feel rather nice against his stomach, rubbing slightly. And the way she was breathing softly against him helped ease some of his pain. He was still burning up though and that wasn't any good. But all things given, it wasn't hard to fall back asleep.

For awhile anyways. Eventually he found himself huddled over the toilet, losing everything inside of him. Even his guts, it felt like.

Mira only stood there though, gently rubbing his back and telling him it was alright. Yeah, Mira, he got it. It was okay that he was sick.

Sheesh, sometimes she treated him like such a little boy.

When that was all over, she made him go lay down again, that time on his side, as she went to make him some soap. Not before rubbing him down with a damp cloth again. It felt good at the time, but not soon after she left, he felt unbelievably cold.

"You're fever broke," Mira told him simply as when she came back into the room, she found him huddled under the blankets. "That's all."

"No. I'm dying. Get the old woman in here!"

"I am not going to get Porlyusica, Laxus, for a cold. Or flu."

"See? You don't even know what I got. I need a professional."

"Right. And this is coming from the man that won't even let anyone wash his wounds or change his gauze after a battle?"

"That's different, Mirajane," he hissed at her though his body wasn't much up for it. "Those are battle wounds. War wounds. If I die from those, I welcome it. I want to go out this way. But huddled up in bed with my girlfriend helping me blow my nose and rubbing my stomach? No freaking thank you."

"Oh, Laxus," she sighed, just staring at him then as he sniffled some more. "What am I going to do with you?"

Another sniffle. "Get me a damn doctor or-"

"You need to blow your nose again?"

"Mira-"

"Here." She went to grab a tissue and, once more, Laxus learned what it meant to truly be a spineless, worthless human being. If that was what being loved was like, he'd rather go his whole life hated.

He was going his whole life hated, before the damn demon decided to claim him.

…Though she wasn't squeamish about nothing. His vomit or snot. That was a good quality in a woman. A lovely one. And after she fed him some soup, she only wrapped him up in a blanket and helped him fall back asleep, even singing softly to him.

Maybe all that pampering stuff wasn't so bad.

Maybe.

"You look stressed."

"Not stressed," Mirajane said as she wiped down the bar, hardly glancing up as Lucy and Erza sat down at it. "Just worried."

"About?" Lucy continued to press, just staring at her.

"Lax-"

"Please," Natsu groaned as he too came to take a seat. "No more talking about Laxus. Not unless I can fight him! All the other stuff you guys talk about is boring."

Mirajane giggled as Erza only shushed him.

"You can't fight him today anyways, Natsu," Mira told him as she went to get them all something to drink and Happy, who was atop his best friend's head, a fish. "He's sick."

"Laxus?" Erza seemed shocked and only stared at her former rival with wide eyes. "I didn't know that was possible."

"Don't be silly."

"No, I'm with Erza," Lucy said a Happy nodded his head.

"What's wrong with him?" the Exceed asked. "Is he dying?"

"No," she told them with another giggle. "He's just got the flu, I think. I stayed with him most of the morning, but had to come relieve Lisanna from her shift, so-"

"He's all alone? Alright!" Natsu fist pumped. "I'm gonna go over there then. He at your house?"

"Yes, but-"

"I can definitely take him now!"

"You would fight a sick man, flame breath?" Gray, who was over at a table close by, snorted as he unconsciously began stripping off his clothes. "Wow, some morals you got."

"What'd you say to me, Gray?"

"I said-"

"I'll make you eat those words!"

And, after Happy jumped off his head, Natsu went about his usual antics of fighting with his own rival. Mira only looked at her previous one.

"You're not going to break them up?"

"No," she sighed, shaking her head slightly. "I figure it will be a good way to get them, as Natsu would say, fired up."

"Fired up for what?" Lucy asked slowly.

"For the job that I am going to be taking you all on in the coming hour."

"What? I don't-"

"Do you not want to go, Lucy?"

"Well-"

Mira only giggled again as she went to give Happy his fish. The cat was very thankful and dug in almost immediately.

"Who's with Laxus right now, Mira?" the cat asked. "I know when I get sick, I like for Natsu to take care of me. Err, well, Lisanna, but it's nice to have him there too."

"I left when he was sleeping," she said with a shrug. "He won't even know that I'm gone for another hour or so, I bet."

"Then he's alone?"

"Oh, no," she said, smiling as she went back to wiping down the bar. "I would never do that to him. I found someone to take care of him. Someone to take good care of him."

This is another five chapter story to replace Bells and Tales, which I should finish tomorrow, in case anyone's wondering.