Laxus escorted Rory into his small house. He groaned inwardly when he thought of the mess located beyond the door but he didn't see much use in worrying about that now.

Once he opened the door and ushered her in she didn't really seem to know what to do with herself. She found herself shifting from one foot to the other. She looked around the room and immediately thought disorganized chaos but it was more clutter then anything else. At least he didn't have trash everywhere other then the trash can itself. While she was standing there poring over the clutter Laxus went and grabbed her some clothes.

Laxus tossed the bundle to Rory while she was unawares. Somehow she still managed to catch the clothing before it fell to the floor at her feet. She looked up at him questioningly. "You are going to catch a cold like that, and honestly you may not realize it but that top is practically see through right now." She gasped aloud as she noticed he was right.

He could have used that knowledge to his advantage and continued ogling her. She found it rather curious that he was acting more gentlemanly about it. If he had pulled the neanderthal move and ogled at her she would have pummeled him over the head with something blunt. See that she knew how to react to. This? This kindness was unnerving and confusing to her. He pointed to a door down the hall. "Bathroom is there feel free to shower and change if you like. No worries I won't lay a finger on ya while you are here."

Warmth coursed through her stomach as a stray thought occurred to her in passing. 'What if I want you to though?' She visibly shook her head and rushed to the bathroom before she said something moronically stupid.

While Rory was in the bathroom showering and changing Laxus was contemplating ramming his head over and over again into a wall. Preferably something sturdy and hard that would inflict a great amount of pain. He had to already have head trauma with the way his mind kept thinking of the redhead over and over again. The amount of will power it took to keep himself from ogling at her visible chest was boundless in measure. The rain had matted her hair to her head. Her untamed locks were trying to wily curl tightly about her face.

Laxus clenched and unclenched his fists while he tried his damnedest to get the woman out of his mind. Truth be told this was becoming a pattern. Since meeting the woman he would come home and try hard to not think of her. But what happened is he went through a full course of sensations that commemorated her features.

The first thing he would attempt to not remember was what she looked like. He would try not to recall her emerald jewel like eyes. How they would glint with annoyance and sometimes shine with humor. He pushed back the thoughts of her curvy body and how it would fit perfectly against his. He breasts were average in size and would fit his hand perfectly. Her ass was shaped like a perfect upside down heart symbol. Or at least that is what he would compare it too. While her hair tended to be pulled back in a braid he would constantly try not to imagine it fanned about her on his pillow. She had freckles that dotted her cheeks and arms, and he attempted to not think of the other hidden places those freckles may be.

Then he had to try not to remember what she smelled like. Her scent was tantalizing, and he could never quite put a pinpoint on what it was. It reminded him of a crisp fall day with layers of cinnamon and apples strew in. He imagined her playing in big piles of leaves on one such fall day. The thought seemed ludicrous but actually was quite amusing and made him laugh out loud.

He of course did not know what she tasted like and it was a steep slippery slope to even begin to think of the possibilities. But he did. He thought of the underlying scents of apple and cinnamon that permeated from her body and wondered if she tasted the same. He wondered if sampling her would be like sampling some homemade dessert.

Touch, he tried his hardest to not touch her. Because when he even mildly brushed against her arm in passing he felt like his magic was rebelling against him. Like his own Raging Bolt would shock him with a fierce amount of voltage behind it. Like he was touching a broken live wire with nothing to ground the electricity. He could not imagine the force of the voltage if he were to touch her on purpose. But he was honestly excited at the prospect.

A tug at his pant leg had him smiling down. He reached for the pile of fluff and held it against him.

Rory looked at herself in the mirror once she entered the bathroom. Her hair was a matted mess and the unruly curls were going to be a pain in the ass to take care of if she didn't wash it. She was originally going to just change and come back out but she figured taking a shower might give her more time away from the neanderthal on the other side of the door.

Perhaps she should stop mentally referring to him as a neanderthal. He was huge but not as big as that Elfman guy. Rory cringed at the thought. That guy was scary in size.

Still Laxus was no teddy bear. He was an amalgamation of contradictions. He was aloof and silent at times. But then he was forceful and arrogant at others. He also seemed to have a soft spot for the young dragon slayer Wendy. In fact he reminded her of a protective older brother when it came to the girl. Rory sighed. Unfortunately, she could not deny the attractiveness of that.

Rory didn't tend to be attracted to muscled bound lunkheads. She tended to like the more adorable guys that wore their hearts on their sleeves. Hence why his seemingly uncharacteristically kind moments were irritating the crap out of her. Because those moments softened her feelings toward him. They rationalized her attraction to him and she really didn't need a rationalization for something she wanted to have nothing to do with.

She had more important things to worry about. Her brother. She had to find her brother. She had to save her brother. She needed the guild to get their asses in gear to help her.

Rory took a deep breath as she soaped and lathered her hair. His shampoo reminded her a forest rainfall. Another irritating aspect. She loved the smell of rain. If she hadn't been running off in a huff and soaked to the bone she would have just relished in the rain.

The man had no conditioner but she wasn't really surprised at that. At least she was able to wash her hair. She washed it another time for extra measure and grabbed one of the towels from the towel rack. The thing could have wrapped around two of her. But it was so soft it had her smiling in comfort.

She took a deep breath as she got dressed. So he seemed to have a kind heart. His blonde disheveled locks and piercing steel eyes were also admittedly appealing. These were not reasons to get sidetracked with any type of infatuation. She reminder herself that excess muscles were not attractive to her. She told herself any attractive aspect would not get her derailed off her mission.

She smiled at herself in the mirror and opened the door. On the other side she found Laxus playing with a cute kitten. "You have a cat?"

"Not exactly, she's a stray. I found her a couple of days ago wet and hungry so I took her in. Unfortunately I don't have the time needed to take care of a pet so I plan on trying to find a home for her."

Rory found herself adding another tally in her mind to the side of Laxus that had a kind heart. 'Well shit, I'm so screwed.'  

Just a quick note.  I have been posting the chapters to this particular story on Mondays and Fridays.  I may throw in Wednesday to the mix also.  Since this story is already finished I just have to tweak the chapters before posting.  Plus once I am finished I can concentrate on my other stories easier.  It won't happen this week though because tomorrow is my birthday.  :)