Mirajane Strauss, honestly, didn't know a lot about Laxus Dreyar. Not on a personal level, at least. She knew that his father left the guild, that his grandfather was the Master of it. That his mother was dead and he had no siblings. She knew the Thunder God Tribe loved him. She was smart enough to realize that, on some level, he had to love them back. He was a Dragon Slayer, which she was well aware of, and one of the strongest ones she knew. One of the strongest mages she'd ever met.

Oh, and he had quite the rotten attitude.

But other than all that, she knew next to nothing about the man. For the longest time, at least. Recently, however, in what felt at times like a rather factitious relationship, she'd begun to learn more. She learned that he liked his steak plain and his burgers with tons of ketchup. He preferred her with her bangs down and in her black dress over any other. He shined his boots weekly and smoked at least one cigar every other day. His heavy coat was washed frequently, as to stay clean and nice smelling, while he was for some reason fine with wearing a pair of socks for days at a time. He owned the newest and most expensive lacrimas in his very tasteful and pricy apartment, yet kept the same old headphones that he'd had since he was a boy.

There was, however, one thing that Mirajane hadn't found out about just yet in their relationship that consisted of infrequent dates and her occasionally being allowed to stay over at his apartment.

Laxus, a slayer very much so effected by motion sickness, owned a motorcycle.

She found this out one morning when she awoke rather late after an equally as late night out with said slayer, at some concert of some band that she suffered through because they hadn't been on a date in what felt like a month (three weeks and four days, actually) and she was actually had the night off, for once. Plus, if she didn't, she was fearful that he'd ask one of his other dates and, well, Mira just wasn't risking it.

So it was with a headache from both lack of sleep and drinking that she got up with that day, lazily walking around Laxus' seemingly empty apartment, not looking for him. He always got out of there by six in the morning to go training. Always. It was part of his ritual.

Which, on days she worked, was just as well, seeing as she had to be at the guildhall around the same time, so they'd usually leave together. On days when he knew she wouldn't have to open the bar (she'd traded shifts with Lisanna in preparation for her late night out) however, he usually just mumbled something to her before they went to bed about how she needed to lock up before she left.

Not before taking a shower, of course, and perusing his fridge. He'd never given the go ahead on either of those, of course, but Mirajane did them regardless and, so far, hadn't received a complaint.

It was after she got her shower in and was heading to the kitchen, however, when it happened; someone knocked on Laxus' front door.

For a moment, Mirajane froze. She knew the man didn't have many associates and, of course, he wouldn't be knocking at his own door. The first place her mind went to was that it was another one of the women that Laxus frequently saw and that was just too awkward to deal with.

She'd accidentally forced Laxus into the same position once before, when they were out together and ran into one of the men she occasionally took to functions and, well, needless to say no one involved was very comfortable. Mirajane especially. Laxus made a big deal about it, after the guy was gone, about how she forced the introduction between the two men and that she'd enjoyed it (which she definitely hadn't), and she wouldn't have been surprised if he was getting her back for that.

Which is why Mirajane decided, at first, not to open the door. That only lasted about a minute as, after one more knock, the handle shook a bit before a key was shoved in the lock and turned.

Mira was completely embarrassed then. If he was giving another woman a key, clearly she belonged there far more than Mirajane did. She was busy mustering up some maturity for the situation when, suddenly, the door opened and it wasn't a woman at all.

Rather, it was just Freed.

"Oh. Mirajane." He hardly seemed shocked to see her as he strolled into the apartment. "I suppose Laxus is out?"

"Uh, yeah, he's training," she said as she stood there awkwardly, rubbing at her arm as she stood in the middle of the living room. "Did you...need something? Or-"

"Just dropping these off." He held up a keyring with only two keys on it. "For Laxus."

"What is it to?" Mira asked, slightly curious as the man came over to set it on the coffee table. "Freed?"

"Hmmm?" The rune mage glanced up at her before shaking his head a bit. "Oh, nothing special. Just Laxus' motorcycle."

Mirajane blinked. "Laxus' what?"

"Motorcycle." Freed cocked his head at her. "Have you not seen it?"

"N-No. What were you doing with it?" Curious, Mirajane came to stare down at the key.

"Well, someone has to start it, occasionally," the man explained. "Drive it around."

"But if it belongs to Laxus-"

"He bought it, I think, more for the image than for anything else, honestly. It makes him more than a tad nauseous to ride it." Freed shrugged a bit. "He'll only take it out when he's in the mood, so it's my job to keep up the maintenance and such on it. I-"

"Can you… Do you think you could show it to me?"

"W-Well, I'm really only supposed to drive it around town for a night and then bring it back-"

"I just wanna see it, Freed. Please?" Mirajane wasn't sure why this little tidbit of Laxus' life was so intriguing to her, but it definitely was. She'd tried very hard the past few months not to pry too hard into his life (she'd even managed not to go through all of his drawers in his bedroom when he wasn't around; note all), but something about finding out he owned a motorcycle just excited her. "Just a quick peek?"

And she used that dumbed down tone that, shockingly, made Freed cough just a bit and look off. She'd thought that such a thing wouldn't work on the man, but whatever worked.

He led her down to the basement area of Laxus' apartment building, which mostly housed SE-plug vehicles, but also a few fuel based ones for non-mages. That's what Laxus' motorcycle seemed to run on fuel as well as, when Freed led Mirajane over to it, she saw no plug.

"Wow," she remarked, reaching out to gently ghost a hand over the dark black tank cover of the motorcycle with a blue dragon etched into it. "This looks really-"

"Please." Freed reached out to grab her hand. "No smudges. I just wiped it down before I came up to the apartment."

Giving him a slight grin there, in the dark and mostly empty underground garage, Mirajane said, "If Laxus never rides it, then-"

"He comes down here sometimes," Freed said as he let go of her hand to toss his own in the air. "You know, to show it off to dates and such."

"Yeah." Mira nodded. Dates. Other than her. "Sure."

Continuing right along, Freed said simply, "I would let you...ride it, I suppose, but it's not mine to-"

"Oh, no. I get it. Really. I just wanted to look. Honest. I… You know. I have one too."

Freed blinked. Then he frowned. "You have one too what?"

"You know. A motorcycle."

"R-Really?"

Bemused, the woman said, "Of course. I mean, it's not as nice as this. And it sort of doesn't run… I had a boyfriend, once, that had one and he left it in the shed in my backyard. He was going to fix it up or something and then we broke up and he never came back for it. I've always thought about just selling it for parts, but then I also like the idea of rebuilding it and...I dunno. Maybe one day. For either. But… You were really busy, weren't you?" Mirajane giggled then and Freed coughed into his hand again.

"Yes, well, I did have other things to do today, sure," the man agreed. "But-"

"Then you can get to it." Mira even giggled again. "I have to get down to the hall anyways. Thanks, Freed."

He even bowed his head at her. "Of course."

Mirajane didn't see Laxus again for a few days after that. He didn't come up to the hall and she didn't call on him. It wasn't until she had the afternoon off about a week later and she was out to lunch with Lisanna when they accidentally stumbled upon him.

He was walking into the restaurant and spotted where they were sitting almost immediately and headed right over.

"You sure have been in town for awhile, Laxus," Lisanna commented as Mirajane coerced him into sitting down with them. "Aren't you leaving again?"

"I've been a bit busy," he remarked simply. "Gramps, for some reason, decided to buy a whole new set of furniture, so I've been busy moving his old furniture out and the new furniture in and now he wants a new bedroom set too, which I don't get, because he's, like, so old and won't really get any use out of it-"

"Laxus," Mira complained as Lisanna only giggled. Still, the man sat there, on the same side of the booth as Mirajane, void as ever.

"Like I said," he told the grinning Lisanna. "I've had a lot going on."

"I just posted some new S-Class jobs for Mirajane," the youngest Strauss kept up. "There was this one about these, like, ghosts that are haunting this entire town and it looks really cool. I'd snatch it up, if I were you, before someone else does. Or, ooh, sis, maybe you could take it and you and I could go on it and-"

"I actually want to spend some time doing something else," Mirajane offered up as Laxus looked around for a waitress to take his order. "And it's kinda funny that you showed up, Lax, because it sorta has to do with you."

"Oh yeah?" He finally caught a waitress attention and she only waved at him, as if to say it'd be a moment, before walking off to the kitchen. It was for the best, honestly, as he was in the middle of listening to Mirajane. Glancing then down at the woman, he asked, "What is it? You wanna go somewhere or somethin'? I was thinkin' about heading up to this cabin I go to sometimes and taking someone with me. If you-"

"No," she cut him off. Then, frowning, she said, "I mean, yes, to that, but that's not what I mean."

"Then what?"

"Well," Mirajane began, reaching out to her glass of soda and playing with the straw just a bit, as if bashful. Lisanna was staring just as curiously at her.

"What is it? Sis?"

Glancing up at Laxus, she said, "Freed came over to your apartment as I was leaving the other day and had the...keys to your motorcycle and he took me down to see it when I asked and… Are you honestly into motorcycles?"

Laxus blinked. Then he frowned. "Why did he show you-"

"Are you?" Mira kept up. "Or do you just own one? Because Freed made it seem like he's the one that deals with it and-"

"It's my bike," the man grumbled. "Of course I...can...tune it up...err whatever you call it. I'm very mechanically inclined, Mirajane."

Which he wasn't. At all. And he didn't really know why he was telling her that other than the same reason that he bought the motorcycle in the first place; image. Pure and simple.

"Oh, great!" And she bounced, just a bit, clapping her hands. "Then you can help me."

"Help you?" Laxus frowned. "Help you with what?"

"Well, I have a bike too," Mirajane said, sitting up straight as she stared up at him. "Or, well, one of my boyfriends did, but he, like, left the bike at my house all the way back before we even got trapped in Tenrou, so I'm pretty sure he's not coming back. I've been trying to fix it up forever, but I can't get it running and then, while we were gone, it rusted and stuff and… And it's been so hard! I don't know what else to do with it. I've been thinking about selling it for parts-"

"You should," Lisanna remarked as she went back to her plate of food. "Seriously, Laxus, it's just a piece of junk. It-"

"To us," Mirajane agreed. "But to Laxus, who clearly knows about motorcycles and all their intricacies, I bet it'd be a snap! Right, Laxus?"

Shit. Was this why they always said you weren't supposed to lie to people? Shit. Laxus didn't know what to say. How to save himself. Only muttered something to Mirajane about how he'd come over in a few days to check it out and see if anything could be done for the bike.

"That'll be great, Lax!" Mirajane kissed his cheek. "I have a toolbox full of wrenches and screwdrivers and a bunch of other stuff I don't really know how to use. Oh, and I own a hammer."

"Mira," Lisanna chided. "Laxus just said he's into mechanical stuff. I'm sure he has his own toolbox full of wrenches and has his own hammer."

Trying hard not to bang his head on the table, Laxus told them both, "I really don't think I'll be needing a hammer, guys."

"Really?" Mirajane giggled. "I bet you have the best hammer ever. Thor's hammer."

That time, he groaned. "We're not Norse, Mirajane. I'm Raijin! Not Thor. Use your head."

"Before you hammer us?" Lisanna added and then they were basically just making fun of him and, well, hell, he didn't have to stand for that. Or sit for it. So, without even ordering anything, he took off.

The jerks.

Besides, Laxus had something more important to deal with than the giggling Strauss sisters. Namely, he had to figure out how to get out of fixing up Mirajane's bike.

Oh, and he had to beat the heck outta Freed for causing the problem to begin with.

"Perhaps," Freed suggested later that day as he sat on Laxus' couch after the man berated him for, at least, ten minutes, "you should just tell Mirajane that you do not understand how to fix her motorcycle and-"

"And what, Freed? Look like a chump? A poser?"

"Many people drive cars, Laxus, and yet do not understand how to chance their own oil."

"Wh- Are you stoned? What are you-"

"It doesn't make them posers," he pointed out. "Just tell her the truth; you do not really enjoy the mechanical aspect of the bike. Rather, you think that you look cool on it."

"I don't think that." Laxus was stalking back and forth in front of the couch. "I do. I look great on it!"

"I agree."

Ugh.

"There's only one real option in all of this," Laxus decided as he came to a stop in front of the rune mage.

"And that is?" he prompted.

"I have to take a crash course in anything and everything relating to motorcycles. I'll need...books. On that kinda shit." Nodding at Freed, Laxus said, "What are you still doin' here? Get me books! Tons of books! On anything and everything mechanical. Oh, and buy me a toolbox."

"A-A toolbox, Laxus?"

"Yeah. Full of whatever kinda shit I need to...to… At the very least, pretend like I know what I'm doing."

Freed only sighed before getting to his feet. "Of course, Laxus."

And then all was left was for Laxus to learn. He was quick at that. Learning. Hell, he was the most powerful mage in all of Fiore, if not Earth Land (or at the very least in his own mind). He could do anything he gave his all too.

Which is what he kept repeating to himself one afternoon as Mirajane Strauss led him through the back gate of her yard and over to a rundown wooden shed back there. There were two big double doors on it, locked shut with a thick metal chain, a single lock danging from it.

"Keepin' somethin' nefarious out here, woman?" he asked as she summoned a key magically before unlocking the shed.

"Just this bike," she said. "I'm really proud of it."

"Yeah," he remarked as the chains just disappeared into oblivion, seemingly, when Mirajane keyed into the lock, "well, if it's not even runnin'-"

"I just love him is all." Then she frowned, but didn't glance back at him. "It. I love the bike."

And Laxus drew nothing from that because he honestly wasn't paying attention. And, besides, he would have assumed if Mirajane was keeping a piece of junk out in a shed that some ex never came back for all those years later, that there was definitely some sort of baggage there.

He didn't have time for that mess though. At the moment, he had to focus in on one thing and one thing only; fixing Mirajane's motorcycle.

It wasn't anything special, he found, when Mira opened the old wooden doors and revealed the bike. It was old and ugly and clearly was just a standard bike. Nothing special. Nothing expensive. Nothing worth fixing.

He was just getting ready to tell this to Mirajane when she took the heavy toolbox he had dangling from one hand and went to set it on one of the tables in the corner of the shed.

"So what do you need?" she asked, going to flip on the single, dangling bulb in the shed. "From me? I've messed around with it a lot. Could show you what I think is-"

"It's probably best if I just look at it on my own," he told her with a sigh. "Fresh eyes and all."

"Oh, of course." Mirajane clapped her hands together. "I'll go make you something for lunch, okay? Just call me if you need me."

"I think I'll just be out here for a bit," he sighed as she pressed a kiss to his cheek before running off. "So just leave me to it, huh? I'll...I'll work on this." When she was gone, leaving him alone in the shed, he added, "And try not to look like a complete idiot while I'm at it."

That was what Laxus did for four straight afternoons. Try hard not to look completely and utterly stupid. He took things off the bike, flipped through the books he brought with him (and hid from Mirajane), tried anything and everything to get the dang thing working. Even spent his own jewels on different parts that he thought might be what the bike needed, but just couldn't figure it all out.

Not that Mirajane minded. She seemed thrilled that Laxus was taking such an interest in helping her out and, even on days when she had work, would always stop by the house to bring him food while he was working on it. Kept a supply of beers in her fridge just for him.

Even on days when Laxus didn't go over there, all he thought about was that motorcycle and just what could be wrong with it. What he was missing. What he'd (possibly) messed up. It was the most important thing in his life at that moment.

By the third week of going over there, at least, every other day, Laxus realized he was becoming obsessive. Which was his inclination with most things. It's what helped him become the great mage he was. If he wanted to learn a spell, he'd spend day and night practicing it into perfection. He wanted a guildhall of his very own, then hell, he'd spend days plotting and planning behind his grandfather's back just how to get it.

Now he wanted to prove that he wasn't just some loser trying to pretend like he was hardcore. Laxus wanted them all to know just how hardcore he was. So hardcore, in fact, that he actually learned a craft such as mechanical know how and studied hard to become quite proficient at it.

And yes. That was a hardcore thing to do. So don't question him about it!

Laxus frequently had run ins with Lisanna while he was there, at which times he'd try and show off his (unreal) prowess and have her help him out in...really...doing...nothing. But she didn't know that. She honestly thought that she was helping. And she was totally impressed with him for the most part while he was mostly just glad she was nearly as gullible as her sister.

Elfman was also someone that Laxus saw a lot of. And, as with all of the men that Mirajane...saw, Elfman tried his hardest to be neutral around him, but it wasn't easy. Laxus and he, obviously, had some amount of history together, being from the same guild. And knowing that that guy was...with Mirajane made him wanna gag. A lot.

Then there was the fact that Laxus was very close to Evergreen who Elfman tried to be very close to as well and.. It was just complicated, alright? And the man didn't make it any easier, walking around in skintight undershirts and jeans, complaining about the heat as Mirajane sat around and made him food and served him beers which, considering her job description, wasn't too odd, but in their own house? As Laxus sat at their kitchen table? And worked out in their shed? And then took a shower in their bathroom? Only to go out and do heaven knows what with other women?

It was madness! And unmanly!

"Now, Elf," Lisanna trounced on more than one occasion when he expressed these feelings. "We all put up with your weird dates."

"I don't have weird dates."

"You have Evergreen over. Multiple times."

"Ever's not-"

"And I don't know anyone weirder than her."

"You-"

"And besides, if Mirajane's not bothered by any of it, why should you?" Then Lisanna grinned. "And think about it; what's more manly than restoring an old motorcycle?"

Absolutely nothing.

Which, actually, is why when Mirajane broke up with that jerk all those years ago, Elfman bought the bike off him. Mirajane was rather torn up about the breakup and, one day when the guy came to the door, wanting to roll off with it (it didn't run back then either), Elfman didn't go get his sister from her room. Just forked over all the jewels he had, shook hands with the man (even though he wanted to strangle him) and then pretended to Mirajane like it never happened.

Then came the manly part! Elfman worked on the bike for a long time. Honest. He just never quite got it to run, was all. Mira either.

It was getting to the point that Elfman just wanted his jewels back, or at least some of them, and was willing to sell the thing to anyone. Now that Laxus was sticking around, messing with it, however, Mirajane seemed to be further from that idea than ever.

So Elfman bit his tongue, as he did with most things when it came to his sisters, and put up with Laxus and his annoying persona. Even offered to help out on the bike once or twice which, if Mira was around, got a no thanks from the slayer and, if she wasn't, a growl of he had his chance; now it was Laxus' turn.

Which it was for over a month. Laxus seemed to be milking his turn, in fact, it was taking so long. Even Lisanna started to question his knowledge on motorcycles, but Laxus just shut down concerns with his claim that the bike was pretty messed up.

And it was.

From his tinkering.

Heh.

He took jobs still, of course, in between working on the bike. Went out. Did other things. He and Mirajane even went out a few times together, rather than just spending time with one another in her musty old shed.

They did a lot of that as well though. When he finally started letting her into the shed to help him out some, she seemed thrilled. She'd sit atop one of the tables out there, rattling on about random garbage. He learned about how, when she became S-Class, the first thing she did was save for the house. And how the shed had had most of the junk he saw in it then in there when they moved in and she'd never actually gotten around to clearing it out. He learned about how Lisanna was seeing some guy that Mirajane didn't know and wasn't sure about. How Kinana had been slacking, just a bit, at work, and Mira wasn't certain if she should mention it to her.

He even, one day as he was staring down at what he thought was, maybe, the engine, met Mira's stray dog who was very aggressive towards the man and about got a ball full of lightning for it. Stupid mutt. Mira, of course, was the one to save him and just told Laxus that he was more than a tad possessive over her.

"Yeah, well, if he comes at me-"

"He won't." And Mira had a strong hold on the scruff of fur around the dog's neck. "Promise."

Mirajane never questioned Laxus either about just how much time he was wasting in the shed every other day he wasn't out on a job. Not even at the two and a half month mark. In the back of her mind, fine, she did find it a bit odd that it was taking him so long to get the bike working if he really knew what he was doing (which at times she was beginning to doubt), but at the same time…

She kinda liked having Laxus over constantly. She hadn't had a real boyfriend in quite some time and sorta missed waking up with someone and making them meals rather than just meeting up somewhere. She liked watching Laxus work on the bike and loved the idea of someone who cared about her being around to listen (or at least pretend to) to all of her complaints and comments.

And yeah, she knew that it wasn't really a relationship. Not really. She and Laxus were friends, honestly, that occasionally went home together, but other than that, nothing more. Yeah, he was helping her out with her bike, but at the same time, he was no doubt seeing other women and wasn't at all committed to her.

So why did she feel so good when he spent hours over at her place, tinkering in the shed?

Laxus, for his part, was slowly beginning to lose his interest in the bike. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that not only did Mirajane have no faith in his ability to ever fix the motorcycle, but also that he truly just wasn't going to. He'd taken off parts and then taken them apart with no idea how to get them put back together, he'd lost nuts and bolts and was just completely out of his league.

Maybe if Mirajane had asked him to fix, like, a malfunctioning movie lacrima or something, he'd have been able to pull it off. But a vehicle? Oh, no. It just wasn't going to happen.

But...Laxus had slowly learned to enjoy the time that he was spending over at the Strauss household. Was even able to hold a conversation with Elfman. Given it was about Evergreen's upcoming birthday and just an insurance neither was getting her the same thing, but still, a conversation all the same.

And Lisanna was great. Laxus enjoyed her spending time with him out in the shed more and more as time went on. She enjoyed his rather dry sense of humor and talked his head off nonstop about this guy that she'd met (stories in which he'd hear a very different take from Mirajane later). He felt as if he and her were becoming...friends of sort.

Then, of course, getting to be around Mirajane more often was also a plus. She was working, a lot, when he was over messing with the motorcycle, but when she'd get home, it would always either be with him food or with the intention of making him something.

Oh, and sex. Lots of sex. She seemed really appreciative towards him or something. Either that or just deprived.

Rather moot, really.

Still though, it was getting to the point of ridiculousness that Laxus could honestly still be doing anything at all to the bike and, well, even though he was enjoying himself on the personal level, it was beginning to get horribly tedious, constantly forcing himself to pretend to be tinkering.

Not to mention unfair to Mirajane. In his mind, the reason that she was so in love with the idea of the motorcycle getting fixed up (and by proxy him being there) was rather simple.

She'd more or less spilled it to him late one night as she brought him some dinner.

"I was about to leave," he told her as he sat on one of the stools in the shed, balancing the plate of sandwiches in his lap. Lifting half of one up to his mouth with oil stained fingers, he added, "Have something to do tonight."

"Oh." Mira knew what that meant, but didn't move from where she'd taken to sitting up on one of the wooden tables across the shed. She only kicked her feet a bit before saying, "Well, you are here rather late tonight."

"Lisanna was in here bothering me all day."

"Is that where she was?" Mira frowned a bit. "She was supposed to be up at work. She-"

"We lost track of time."

"Mmmm."

"She's not much help," he said around the ham and bread, "but don't' tell her that."

There was something off with Mirajane that night. Laxus could tell that, even as he sat there, eating. Her whole demeanor was down as she glanced around at the parts strewn across the shed. With a soft sigh, she spoke.

"He really loved his bike, you know," she told Laxus and, realizing who she was talking about, he focused in on his food. "A lot. I used to help him work on it. I don't think he was any better at getting it all together than you or I have been."

"Apparently not," Laxus mumbled under his breath.

"He didn't have a lot of jewels though." Then, with a bit of a grin, she said, "He didn't really have a job. He just picked up work where it found him. He was, you know, pretty unreliable about showing up and all."

"Lazy."

"Not lazy." That got him a look. "Just...different."

Grunt. "Lazy."

"Oh, shut up, Laxus." Huffing, she went on. "He just had so many dreams. Like with his bike. He was going to fix it up and ride around Fiore and- And I was going to go with him. It was before, you know, Lisanna came back, so I didn't know about...leaving Elf, but it sounded like lots of fun. And he thought that my guitar playing was really good. I used to play to him as he fell asleep and… I dunno. I just liked the idea. The dream. Of me and him traveling around and I would play at bars and I just..."

It was silent then, out there in that shed, an Laxus wasn't so hungry anymore. Mirajane was looking off, away from him, and only took deep breath.

"I was stupid," she told him. "To think that. I was completely interchangeable in his plans, if not a complete hindrance. I mean, he loved his bike and didn't even come back for it. And me-"

'I'm sure he loved you plenty, Mira."

"No, he didn't." She swung her feet gently. "I loved him though. And… I'm sorry, Laxus, for making you work on this stupid, worthless bike for so long. I guess I thought… I dunno. That if it started working again that… It's dumb. I'm so stupid. He's never coming back and, you know, it's probably what they say, right? That the longer something's gone, the more you want it? He was a jerk. He cheated on me, you know. A lot. And we were only together for about a year. And he hated that I worked up at Fairy Tail as a barmaid and he was really mean to Elfman, I think and I'm just such an idiot, aren't I? I- Laxus-"

He'd set his plate down, on one of the many tables, before heading over to where she was seated. Staring hard down at her, he said simply, "I'll fix up your bike, Mirajane. Honest. And you're not an idiot. Alright?"

"But I am. I- Mmmm."

Leaning down, Laxus had pressed a deep kiss to her lips, only pulling away when she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I thought," she mumbled as he started on her neck, "that you had a date?"

Against her flesh, he breathed, "I never said that."

But only by a technicality.

"It was implied."

"Only if you feel like implying it."

"You-"

"Just shut up." He went back to kissing her neck. "Mira. Let's go up to the bedroom, huh?"

Mira sighed as she pushed him off to get up. "Only if you're quiet. I think Elf's home."

"I'm always quiet, babe."

Laxus was reinvigorated to the idea then, of fixing up Mirajane's motorcycle and tried his hardest to be more serious about it. She, however, was becoming more and more hung up on the idea of Laxus being around as much as possible and, because of that, felt a stronger and stronger urge to shove him away.

They were both dealing with their own internal issues one day as he openly consulted a book in front of her about carburetors and she sat around, watching and listening to the lacrima playing that godawful rock music he was so in love with, when Mira got to absently talking about this or that and somehow arrived at a topic that, over the course of their (semi) relationship they'd managed to avoid.

"Laxus?"

"What?"

He had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, even though he hated them (cigars were his thing), but Mira had found a pack lying around in the house and thought they might belong to Lisanna's boyfriend (who she was, apparently, sneaking in and out of the house). Regardless, neither she nor Elfman smoked and Lisanna wouldn't cop to them, so she sorta just gave them to Laxus and, well, he thought it went with his mechanic persona, so he took them.

Mirajane thought he looked cute with it dangling from his lips.

"Are you...staying for dinner?"

"I dunno." He went back to the book, absently flipping a page. "I'mma train at some point today. Probably gonna take a job in the next two."

"Oh." She still only stared over at him. "Have you…"

"Have I what?"

"Uh… What job are you taking?"

"Don't know yet."

"Oh."

"Mirajane, is there something you wanna ask me?" He glanced over at her. "Or something?"

"Well...sort of."

"What is it?" Done with the book, he went over to his toolbox, glanced through it before retrieving what he wanted. "Huh?"

"Just… How often do you have sex with other people?"

Laxus paused on his way over to the motorcycle before slowly continuing on. Getting on his knees beside it to look at something or other, he said, "The hell kinda question is that?"

"I just want to know. I'm not, like, trying to sound-"

"What difference does it make? We're not-"

"I know."

"Then-"

"I just want to know, Laxus."

"Well...I dunno. Pretty often, I guess. Whenever I feel like it." He scratched at the back of his neck. "I mean… Mira-"

"I just-"

"Like once a week. Or twice. Or something. It depends on what else I have going on."

"Oh."

"So-"

"How...often do you go on dates? Or-"

"Mira-"

"I'm just curious. I-"

"Like every few weeks or-"

"How does that work, Laxus?"

"How do you think it works?" That got her a glance back. "You're fucking lucky. You think everyone gets dinners and plays and walks through the park first? You're high class, woman."

Blushing a bit, she lowered her head before saying, "You're really a jerk."

"But not to you." He went back to what he was doing. "And isn't that all that matters?"

"I don't… I've really liked having you around so much, Laxus."

"Oh yeah?" He puffed some smoke.

"Yeah." Nodding just a bit, Mirajane whispered, "And...I don't want to do this anymore."

That got him to truly stare back at her. Frowning, he moved to get back to his feet. "Do what? Mira-"

"I mean, I do want to do this. But with someone that's serious. Someone that's committed to me and that's here every day and that I don't have to check with before we make plans because he might be going out with another woman and I just… I want a boyfriend, Laxus. This was fun, it was great, actually, but it wasn't something that, like, was going to go on forever. And thank you for all that you did with my...motorcycle and I'm not, like, mad at you and I know you're not at me, so let's just do whatever we need to so that we can go back to normal and-"

"You want a boyfriend?" He let the cigarette fall from his mouth and onto the concrete floor, smushing it under the heel of his boot. "Huh?"

"Laxus, it's not-"

"Is that what you want?" And his fingers were stained black with something as he approached her, coming to cup her cheeks in his hands, leaving smudges of the stuff behind. Mira only stared up at him with a slight grin as she nodded.

"This was nice," she agreed softly as he kissed her head. "But eventually you have to grow up."

"There ain't nothin' more grown than being able to have sex with someone and be upfront with them that you're sleeping with other people too and they don't care."

"Yeah, Lax, there is," she whispered as he moved to tug at her shirt. Whenever she was 'helping' him out in the shed, she always wore this stupid, old ragged shirt, but made up for it with the jeans she wore that were so tight that Laxus could hardly concentrate on anything other than her ass when she bent over to get him a tool. "It's called mahogany."

"Mmmm," he groaned against her forehead. "I think you mean monogamy."

"Whatever," she giggled as he pulled her shirt at. "Laxus."

"I'm grown," he told her simply as his hands drifted down her belly and to the front of her jeans. "With or without it."

"But I'm not."

"Is this one of those stupid women things where one of your friends is pregnant or getting married or something stupid like that so you start taking stock of your own life and realize you deserve more?" His dark eyes stared down into hers. "Or something?"

"Or something," Mirajane moaned, wiggling around as he pulled her jeans down. Knowing Elfman was on a job and Lisanna was putting in a shift at the bar (or ditching out on it with mystery boyfriend), she didn't even attempt to fight him on the location. "Lax."

And when it was all said and done and he got those smudges on nearly all of her pale flesh and he was busy pulling back up his jeans, nothing was so funny anymore.

Just rather depressing.

"I'm not good at that shit," he told her simply as Mirajane slowly gathered up her clothing. "Being with one woman."

"I know," she whispered. "I suck at it too."

Looking back over at the motorcycle, he let out a slow breath before saying, "It's just not something I ever thought I'd be into."

"I figured."

"But…I never thought I'd spend months pretending to work on a motorcycle just to keep up an image with a woman that really doesn't care one way or another, much less continue doing it just to keep her from feeling like shit."

"Laxus?"

He only let out a loud groan, standing there in the shed, as he reached up to roughly run both hands through his already messy blond locks. "You can't just do this to someone, Mirajane. Pull the rug out from under them like this."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Huffing, he took to looking at her once more before saying, "I don't know how good I'll be at it. You know, just...being with one person. The last time I seriously tried that I was, like, nineteen, so-"

"What are you saying?"

Shrugging his shoulders, the man said, "What do you think? I want to be your boyfriend." Then he frowned. "Assuming you'll have me, I guess. Because if not, then this never happened."

"Laxus, are you serious?"

"I wanna be." He gave her the best grin he could muster. "You've been my number one for awhile now. Months. I mean, if it had to be someone, I'd choose you. I...I really do care a lot about you, Mirajane. I don't know if it'll transfer well into a real relationship or not, but if you wanna give it a go, then fine. So do I."

When she went to hug him, only having succeeded in pulling up her panties, Mirajane giggled a bit into his chest. Breathing against him, she said, "You really should think about this more than just a minute."

Oh, he would. He'd think about it a lot.

Truth be told, he'd actually already thought about it a lot. Just not in the sense that it would ever occur anywhere outside of his own head.

"I will," he told her softly. "But for now, I think I'm kinda into it. I've liked you cooking me dinners and washing my clothes when I leave them over here-"

"That last one is just you being a little butt and leaving your stuff in my bedroom."

"With," he added, "the intention of you washing it."

"I did it once out of courtesy and you-"

"Because I enjoyed it so much, yes, I furthered it."

Ugh.

There was a moment or two of peace in which Mirajane went to finish getting dressed once more while Laxus found that pack of smokes and lit up once more. Then he glanced back at the motorcycle before back at Mirajane.

Taking a deep breath, he decided if she could admit something, then so could he.

"Uh...you know, now that we're being all honest and shit-"

"I know you can't fix the motorcycle, Laxus. I mean, come on. You haven't even been able to put everything back into the frame in-"

"I think I'm missing a spark plug." Then he frowned. "I also am not sure what a spark plug is, so-"

"It's just," she whispered softly, "a stupid motorcycle anyways. If anything, you're more put out than me. You've bought all these parts that- Why did you buy parts again if you never knew what was-"

"To keep up the rouse, Mirajane."

Grinning slightly, she said, "You are into me, aren't you?"

Grunt. Then, "I'd say that I'd get someone to look into fixin' it up for you, but at this point-"

"Yeah, I know. It's just scraps."

Nodding, he added, "It'd cost more to ever get it put back together than-"

"It's fine. I just...I really loved that bike."

Laxus gave her his own, soft grin, cigarette dangling from his lips. "Yeah, Mirajane. I know."

She stared at all of it, the motorcycle itself as well as the surrounding parts, before whispering, "It was stupid anyways. I-"

"I'mma buy you a bike."

"W-What? Laxus-"

"I am." And he had his determined face on so she knew he meant business. "I mean, I'm going to give you some jewels, huh? For one? Then you sell what you can of this one and use it to buy you an actually working one. You deserve it."

"You don't have to do that. You-"

"Yes, I do." Staring over at her, he said, "Because I want to. And I always do what I want, Mirajane."

It was just a given fact.

Things weren't, in any regards, set from there. At all. And wouldn't be for awhile. They seemed to be just in a tentative truce in which neither messed with a person of the opposite sex until they figured out just what their new relationship meant and how it was going to all work out.

Then, as promised, Laxus left on a job.

Which was probably for the best. You know, get the big test out of the way first. Laxus usually did all his sleeping around when he was out of Magnolia. And it was with a rather queasy feeling that both he and Mirajane said goodbye, but neither commented on it.

Whatever happened, after all, happened.

It wasn't like Mirajane wasn't busy in Laxus' absent either. Like when she found out that Lisanna's boyfriend was very much so someone she knew and also someone she very much so didn't want her younger sister involved with.

Namely, Bickslow.

That, however, as well as the selling of the bike (for an extremely low price to some guy who just basically took all of the junk Laxus had made out of it off her hands) was all taken care of when Laxus arrived back two weeks later.

Or, at the very least, she'd sort of gotten passed the first one by the idea that her and Laxus could double with Lisanna and Bickslow.

Maybe. If she could stop from gagging over the fact that her sister and the seith had totally ruined the couples she'd made up in her mind for both of them for very different people.

Laxus seemed rather happy to see her, which Mirajane chalked up as a good thing. She first greeted him up at the bar as she was working a shift and he claimed to be tired after his job and planning to head home.

"You could come see me," he enticed. "After work."

Shaking her head, she only said, "I get off at seven. It's only, what? Noon now? You should meet me out in the shed around eight, huh? At my house? Surely you'll have enough rest by then."

He only nodded his head. "Surely."

And he was, actually, more than rejuvenated when eight rolled around. He'd spent the previous hour showering and trimming up the beard he was trying to grow and was more than ready to see the woman. He was thinking that they'd go out to get a nice dinner and then, hopefully, wind up back at his place.

Or just skip dinner.

Pick something up on the way.

Maybe even have her just make him a sandwich back at his place later.

"Mirajane," he called out as he came into her backyard, nearly tripping over the rubber hose and attached sprinkler in the dark. He was mostly concerned about her demonic stray dog lurking around in the darkness. "Are you in the shed, babe? Because I really don't wanna look at that damn bike again. Ever. Bleh. Let's just skip that, huh?"

He could see from the opened wooden doors that the light was on out in the shed and, heading over, he found the woman there.

Also, he found that the old bike he'd been working (messing around) on was gone, along with all the random parts that went along with it. In it's place was, while not nearly as expensive or nice as his own, a rather sleek looking gray motorcycle.

Oh, and most importantly, a very sexy Mirajane who was wearing some kinda leather outfit with a big zipper down the front, stopping just beneath her boobs and, damn, fuck dinner or his place; Laxus wanted to take her right then and there.

"Surprise!" Mirajane, having no doubt heard him coming, had gotten onto the motorcycle backwards, as if posing for him. "Do you like it?"

Laxus swallowed. "The bike? Or what you got on?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her innocuous tone played up to the maximum. "This is my bike riding gear."

"What are you? Erza?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"No," he said, quite definitely, slightly fearful that the woman would transform into the swordswoman and completely ruin the mood. "I don't."

Giggling, Mirajane shifted on the bike, leaning forwards so that her hands were rested on the fender. He was almost fearful (read hopeful) that her breasts would pop out of the tight garment when she did so, but no such luck.

"You got your bangs down," he said as he came closer, Mirajane grinning up at him.

"That's how you like them? Right?"

"Mmmm." Laxus stopped in front of her. "This is your bike, huh? Didn't take you long to shop around."

"Well, I did consult Freed-"

"You what?"

"-and he helped me out."

"Why would you do that? You shouldda waited for me to get back! I'dda got you one just like mine. I-"

"Overly expensive, you mean? No thanks."

"Mirajane-"

"Your jewels are over there." She nodded at where she'd sat the stack he handed her before taking off. It was meant for her to use on her motorcycle. "I didn't need them."

"Of course you did."

"No. I told you when you gave them to me that I wanted to buy it for myself."

Laxus didn't move to go pick them up. Only said, "You gonna go change then? For dinner? I figured I'd see if we could get into-"

"Oh, no, dragon." Mirajane got to her feet then. "We're going riding."

"What did you just call- And what are you talking about?"

"Riding." She nodded at her bike. "Hop on. We'll head over to your place and get your motorcycle and then we can ride together." Then she bounced a bit, no doubt just to get his eyes to drift back down to her breasts. As if they'd ever left them. Ha. "Unless you like being my, what is it? Bitch?"

Ugh. Just ugh.

Giggling at his expression, Mirajane grabbed his hand before pulling him over. "Come on. I've gotten really good at driving it. And I won't go too fast. Promise."

Laxus didn't want to. For multiple reasons. And he definitely didn't want to, as Mirajane put it, be her bitch, but when she was in front of him and he wrapped his arms around her middle and, gosh, could she feel as turned on he was? Or…

"Here, Lax." Mirajane reached down and grabbed the helmet that she'd sat to the side of the bike before handing it to him. When he just stared, she said, "If something happened, bitch, I would die if your skull cracked open and not m-"

"Just put on the damn helmet, woman." He shoved it over her head. "And come on."

Riding was, just as Laxus thought it would be, was horrible. Mirajane drove far too fast and took way sharper turns than needed to be taken. He about vomited all over at her at more than one time. He could hear her giggle too, even over the sound of whipping wind and bike when he tightened his hold around her stomach and buried his head in her shoulder.

Laxus could hardly stand when they finally pulled into his apartment building's garage and alongside his bike.

"Hurry up, Lax. Go get your keys." Mirajane flipped up the face visor on her helmet. "And try not to puke on the way, huh?"

Clearly, the bike gave Mirajane the allusion of power.

No wonder that love of her life guy left her…

Err…

Mirajane, for some reason, thought the best thing for them to do on their bikes together was race. Race where? Who knew. Through the city? Out of the city? Were they abiding speed limits? Was she even noticing that he was definitely lagging behind and close to barfing?

When they finally pulled back up at Mirajane's place that night, Laxus thought he was dying. He felt intoxicated with nausea.

And you know what? Maybe he didn't need to be with Mirajane. If that was her idea of fun (and he had a sinking feeling that it was going to become so) then clearly they were just different people. If it was the motorcycle that was such a turn on to her, then hey, he knew plenty of guys, powerful mages, who would be just as turned on by that. But not him.

Laxus would admit it; he was a poser. A big, fat poser. Plain and simple.

Until...you know, Mirajane got off her bike too and took him into the house, leading him right to her bedroom where she thought that the best cure for motion sickness was a blowjob and, hey, maybe it wasn't, but Laxus wasn't complaining.

Mmmm. Maybe he could put up with motorcycles. If that was where they ended him up.

"Lax?"

Grunt. He was stretched out in the center of her bed and refused to open his eyes for fear of the ceiling spinning above him if he did so.

"Did you… While you were gone, did you sleep with anyone else?"

Groan. "Mirajane-"

"I'm not mad," she told him softly and she hardly sounded interested. "But, I mean, if you already have, then we need to just go ahead and realize that this isn't going to work and-"

"I didn't do anything, Mira," he breathed. "Other than my job. And then I came home."

"Oh." She was nuzzled up under his arm and only whispered, "Then you...wanna give this a try? Really? Have you thought about it?"

Nodding, just a bit, he said, "I really do like you, Mira. And being with you. Hell, woman, I just rode around for hours on a damn bike and about died just to keep you entertained." He grinned then, if not a tad morosely, before saying, "I don't know how good of a boyfriend I'll be, when it counts, but I wanna try for you."

Mirajane giggled before kissing his side. "I really don't think I could ask for anything else."

And later that night, after his stomach quelled a bit, enough for some dinner, and they'd taken the fact Mirajane had her own, separate bathroom from her siblings to their advantage by showering together, Laxus didn't really know how he felt about the whole thing. Not even as Mirajane curled up with her back to him and he only snuggled right up to her, one arm stretched over her as he gently stroked her fingers with his own.

He didn't want to hurt Mirajane. Ever. At all. But he felt like, inevitably, he would. He'd miss dates or flake on events and then, eventually, he'd be drunk one night and a woman would be all over him and he would just…

It was impossible, practically, for him not to wind up hurting her. So why shouldn't he do it just then? As they were lying there? Before feelings got too invested either way? What would be wrong with that?

Because, selfish as it may be, Laxus just didn't want to. He wanted to keep Mirajane around. And if he had to be her...boyfriend for that, then so be it. He would feign the role for as long as she let him and, when it did inevitably go south, what could be said other than at least he tried?

Laxus didn't know, of course, that in about two years, that finger of hers he was stroking so softly as she drifted off would house a nice little diamond that he spent forever picking out or that, eventually, he wouldn't just be tossing around money on frivolous things like motorcycles just to make himself look cool. He'd have a mortgage, with Mirajane. And he certainly didn't know about the three sons they'd have in the coming decade, much less that eventually it would be Mirajane who tirelessly nursed him back to health when, in about twenty years, he would catch a rather nasty virus and nearly lose his life.

And really, it was probably for the best he didn't know any of that. If he did, he'd have probably gotten up, right then and there, and ran. Never looked back. But he didn't know, so he didn't run, and, well, when Mirajane asked him the next morning if he wanted to take their bikes out for a spin ("just a quick one, dragon"; he still didn't know where she got off calling him that), it was with a slight smile that he agreed.

He wasn't certain if he could be her boyfriend back then. But...he could stomach a ride or two. A couple of test drives. Just to check it all out.

Obviously, this comes from the mixture of the drawing Hiro posted on his twitter of Laxus riding around on his motorcycle (with a caption of a barfing face) and the ending art of one of the episodes where Mirajane's posing on the back of a motorcycle. I randomly will mention in one-shots or stories that Laxus has a motorcycle (which he frequently claims to not ride often for an assortment or reasons; though we all know the real one), but I've never really given it a full fledged story. But I was re-watching the second half of the series recently (the newest set of the dubs that got released) and saw Mira's ending artwork and, well, I couldn't resist.

Something about Mirajane calling Laxus her bitch and him not putting up much of a protest just warrants a story, if only to work that into it.