A/N: It didn't start out as a songfic, but it kind of turned into one. I was listening to "Heart of Nowhere" by Noah and the Whale while writing, and I realised how perfectly it fit, so that happened. This is a birthday present for my lovely Tawny, the Mirajane to my Levy, the girl who's been with me through literally every hard time I've ever had. This is a pale substitute for actually getting to see her, but it's the best I could do under the circumstances.

Enjoy the sex.

Hearts of Nowhere

if I don't belong by you, I don't belong anywhere
do you know I'd follow you to the heart of nowhere?
it's just two kinds of people
god-fearing and the god-less
cowards and the faithless
and I will stand by you.

Mirajane held court in the back corner of the bar, the young ladies of Fairy Tail gathered around her, giggling and gossiping.

"A little flying cat told me," Lucy smirked with a twinkle in her eye, "That someone had a very close encounter with a certain blue-haired outlaw before the Daimatou Enbu?"

Erza blushed as red as her hair. "Lies. It was nothing like that."

"Oh really?" Levy chimed in, grinning, "Because Meredy told me the same thing."

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Erza sputtered. Mirajane smiled sweetly at her, chiding, "There's no reason to hide it, Erza. You've been in love with him since you were a kid, right?"

Erza leapt up, requipping into her Heaven's Wheel Armour. "One more word out of any of you, and you won't live to see the sunrise!"

"Oh, hush," Mirajane told the redhead. Fuming, Erza sat back on the bar stool, still in her winged battle gear. "Please stop requipping in the guild hall, you keep getting dents and scratches in the woodwork."

Deciding it was best to leave Erza be for the moment, so as not to risk more damage to the newly refurbished guild interior, Mirajane turned to Levy. The bookworm must have seen the dormant mischief in Mirajane's eyes, however, and quickly directed the conversation to her blonde best friend.

"So Lucy, how's your pyromaniac treating you?"

"He's not a pyromaniac! Well, not all the time…"

Mirajane saw Natsu himself walk through the open doors, returning from a mission. She caught his eye and beckoned him over, placing a finger to her lips so he knew to stay quiet.

"So you don't deny that he's yours?" Erza grinned, turning Lucy's words against her.

"I – I, uhh – "

"Aw, come on, Luce," Natsu drawled, appearing suddenly at Lucy's side and wrapping an arm around her waist. "Set 'em straight. You know, it's really the other way round," he told the ladies, "Lucy," he paused and kissed her full on the mouth, "belongs to me."

Levy rolled her eyes, Mirajane beamed, and Erza's stern expression was approving nonetheless.

"Natsu, I am going to kill you – " Lucy grumbled.

"Come on, let's go find another job," he said, dragging her off towards the board.

"But you just got back!"

"Dragons are known for their possessiveness," Erza commented dryly. Mirajane pounced on the opportunity, and Levy's apprehension was plain as day on her face.

"Hmmm, Levy, do you happen to know anything about that?" Mirajane teased.

"N-no…Why would I know?"

"Well, a certain Iron Dragon came looking for you earlier today. He wouldn't admit to it, of course, said he needed help finding a book…"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier! I mean…it's just, what if he – er, needs the book…urgently," Levy finished lamely.

"Oh, go on," Erza urged Levy. Her cheeks pink, she scurried off, giving Mira and Erza a little wave before disappearing out the door.

Erza faced Mira, and Mirajane, knowing what was about to come, blanched. "Speaking of dragonslayers," Erza started, beginning her interrogation.

"What about them?" Mira asked, feigning nonchalance. She kept her eyes trained on the rag she was using to polish glasses, deliberately avoiding Erza's penetrating stare.

"This guild seems to have quite an infestation of them today. As a matter of fact, another one just got back."

"Wendy?"

"Laxus."

"…Oh."

Mirajane heard his heavy footsteps approaching the bar. Unable to resist the urge to look, she flicked her eyes up to find Laxus directly in front of her.

"Hey, Mira, can you get me a drink?"

"Of course," she answered, flashing a quick smile and pouring him a shot of scotch. Laxus leaned with one arm on the bar. Erza had disappeared.

"That was quite a little crowd you had going there," Laxus commented, downing his drink. Mirajane nodded.

"They like to keep me company while I work."

"From what I heard, you were setting up couples again," he smirked. "It's because of you Natsu and Lucy finally got their act together, and Levy and Gajeel owe you a thank you as well."

"I just like to see my friends happy, that's all," she replied, returning to her furious task of cleaning glasses.

"What about seeing yourself happy? Ever thought about that?"

"I am happy," she protested, blushing furiously.

"You know what I mean, Mira."

"I don't – " Laxus gently grabbed her chin and lifted her face up. She reluctantly met his eyes; she'd tried hard to avoid them, because every time they met hers she found herself unable to look away.

"Yeah, you do."

An electric shock ran through Mirajane, and she didn't know if it was Laxus's lighting or just the kind of thrill she always got in proximity to him.

"Laxus…" she breathed, not knowing whether to be afraid or elated. Perhaps both.

"Why is it," he asked, "That you've managed to play matchmaker for everyone in Fairy Tail, besides me? Somehow, I find it hard to believe that you care about me that little."

Mirajane was lost for words. His amber eyes were hypnotic, and her attempts to return to her senses were thwarted by his smell, like cologne mixed with pavement in the rain.

"There are two kinds of people, Mirajane. People like me, and people like you. People like me take what they want without asking. We ruin things with our carelessness, and try to forget our regrets. People like you, well, you never ask because you never take, and never have anything to regret at all. I still can't figure out which one it's better to be."

"Maybe somewhere in between."

"It isn't that easy. Believe me, I've tried. I'm tired of destroying everything I touch," he caressed her cheek, then drew his hand away, shaking his head. Mirajane inched her fingers towards where his lay splayed on the counter, then decided against it. Oh, how right Laxus was. But not completely. Mirajane did harbour one regret, deep in the recesses of her silver heart.

"I'm tired, too. Of not touching anything."

Change takes bravery. She closed the distance between their hands, curling her fingers around his.

"How long is it we've been dancing around each other now? Four years? Five?" he asked.

"Six and a half."

"And honestly, Mirajane, I'm a little sick of it. So I'm going to kiss you."

And he did. Leaning over the bar, the faint taste of alcohol on his mouth, he cupped the back of her head with his hand pressed his lips firmly to hers. It only lasted a moment, unnoticed by the crown, stolen between the sunbeams and dust motes.

Mirajane let out a little sigh of contentment. Then her eyes went wide at the realisation of the circumstances. Laxus grinned in that arrogant way of his, and it charmed her as it always had. She returned the smile, looking up at him from under long black lashes. "I think, perhaps, we should continue this somewhere else," she said lightly.

"Anything you want," he replied.

He clasped his hand around hers, pulling her out from behind the bar and around the hallway corner, out of sight of their guildmates. Between his body and the wall, her hands lost in the grip of his larger ones, Mirajane's knees turned to jelly.

Laxus drew close, breath tickling her ear as he whispered, "Happy now?"

"Mmmm…" she moaned, unable to form a coherent response with Laxus pressed up against her.

He ran his fingers up and down her arms, and she shivered at his touch. He'd made his conquest. He was a dragon just like the rest, and just as possessive. Kissing from her neck, just below her ear, across the line of her jaw, and up to her mouth, he bit gently on her bottom lip and Mirajane moaned again. He seized the chance to thrust his tongue inside her mouth, and the kind of kissing Mirajane had only dreamed of ensued.

"Broom closet," she managed to stutter out when they paused for breath. Leading him by the hand down to the end of the hallway, she drew out a key from her pocket and unlocked the tiny room. A tiny window let in enough sunshine to dimly light the shelves and piles of cleaning supplies inside. Laxus grabbed her by the waist and dragged her inside, pushing her up against the door as it slammed closed.

He reached up behind her neck to undo the bow that held up her dress. The ribbons went slack and her dress slipped to the floor, leaving her clad only in white lace underclothes.

"Not fair," she said breathlessly as Laxus kissed across her chest, nipping light on her collarbone and then down to the space in between her breasts.

"What's not?"

"You're still dressed."

"I can fix that," he said, that omnipresent grin ghosting across his face as he pulled off his shirt and pressed up against her again. The warmth of his muscled chest against her skin was nearly enough to make Mirajane crazy, and she lifted up on her tiptoes to continue their kiss so rudely disrupted by the need for privacy. His hands on her lower back held her close, and she wound hers in his golden hair. His touch ghosted up her spine to deftly undo the clasp of her bra. She slipped her arms through the straps, leaving her chest bare. Laxus trailed his kisses down to the peaks of her breasts, sucking gently, then harder, on the peak of one while massaging the other. Mirajane threw her head back, gasping with pleasure.

He paused. "More, please," she whispered, and he obliged, switching his attention to the other side, suckling and nipping. She reached down and struggled with his belt buckle, coordination severely compromised by his ministrations. Eventually she undid the buckle and tugged down his trousers. He kicked them off, and she could see his hardness through his boxers. Laxus moved from her chest to dominate her mouth, kissing her strong and desperate. He ground his hips into her, hardness rubbing against her aching clit. She thrust back instinctively, unable to control her movements, giving in to instinct.

Laxus tugged her underwear down her hips and then slipped out of his own boxers. He paused for a moment, looking at Mirajane. She felt herself falling, inevitably, into his electric eyes, and she smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm not something you can destroy."

He nodded, and placed his hand on the back of her thigh, lifting her leg around his hips. After a tiny pause, he thrust up hard into her. Mirajane cried out at the synthesis of pleasure and pain, burying her face the crook of his neck.

He stopped, placing a kiss to the top of her head and wrapping an arm around her waist, then he began to move. Slowly, gently, he pulled out then thrust back in, again and again. The pain gradually dissipated, and she found herself rocking back and forth, moving in a rhythm along with him. She whimpered as he plunged into her centre, filling her completely. Their speed increased, as did the force of his thrusts, until he was veritably pounding into her. The intensity of the sensation rendered Mirajane weak as a newborn kitten, until Laxus's arms and the support of the wall were all that held her up. It was too much, as his mouth claimed hers, it was too much, as his tongue swept between her lips, it was too much, as he breathed in her ear, "Come for me, Mira," and she couldn't help but obey.

Her pleasure heightened to an unbearable level as her muscles clenched around him in waves, again and again. Her breath hitched and she let out a mewling cry, clinging tight to Laxus. He kept thrusting, prolonging the sensations she wished would stop or last forever; she couldn't decide which. He gave one final thrust and released inside her. They stood like that for a moment, stock still, heaving heavy breaths, coming to their senses.

Leaning his forehead against hers, breathing heavily, Laxus gave a wicked smirk.

Mirajane knew what he was thinking. She irrevocably belonged to him, and he wouldn't let her forget it. He couldn't ruin her, and she couldn't regret him, and together they found some kind of in between.