Prompt: 10) I know it’s a little expensive, but…
For the Nalu one-thing-a-day event!
Vacation
Lucy had tried not to make a big deal about it. After all, it was just a bucket list - okay, wish list - kind of item. Nothing they could afford right away. Probably. Anyway, it was unlikely that Natsu had picked up on her off-hand comments and occasional longing glances. Not his fault.
“Lucy? Hey, earth to Lucy!”
“Yes? I mean, yes - I can hear you just fine, Natsu, no need to yell... sheesh.”
Natsu cocked his head at her, the smirk on his lips pronounced. If Lucy had been looking more closely, she would have seen that the teasing smile hid an undercurrent of nervousness, but she missed it.
“So, for our vacation next week, I was thinking we could sign up for the battle tournament the King is holding in Crocus?”
“No.” Not that she didn’t enjoy the thrill of a good fight, standing back-to-back with Natsu against the odds. But they’d been working a lot lately and she wanted a break.
“Ha! I knew you’d say that, so how about a five-day white-water rafting trip that includes a portage through -”
“No.” Really?
Natsu sighed dramatically. “Okay...” he licked his lips, smile plastered firmly in place.
“The All-You-Can-Eat-and-Explore Adventure? I have a brochure -”
“And still no. You and Happy will eat until you pass out at every location, and I’ll end up seeing the sights on my own. Our scrapbook would be full of captions like ‘Day 4. Nature: glorious!; Natsu: snoring.”
Natsu poked her. “I like cool scenery and you know it!”
“Mm-hm.” To be fair, he did enjoy nature, and appreciated spectacular views.
“Okay, well, I guess that means that World’s End is out, right?”
“Right. ... No, wait a minute, did you say World’s End?!” Lucy felt her eyes going wide. He wasn’t serious, was he?
Natsu took her hands. “Um, yeah. You’ve wanted to go ever since they opened two years ago, right? Five-star hotel, natural hot springs, and a fully-equipped star-gazing platform. I know it’s a little expensive, but I’ve got it saved up. So? What do you think?”
For answer, Lucy threw her arms around Natsu, eyes shining as brightly as any star. “Thank you!! Oh my gosh - thank you, Natsu!”
For @nalufever who continues to inspire me to keep writing
The companion one-shot to “The End.” In this one, Natsu had selected the dragon seed instead of the demon seed, and is slowly transforming into a dragon permanently. Where in the last one, he was the full demon E.N.D. You don’t have to read the first one to get this one, as these are two separate story lines. Hope you enjoy!
FF.net links: “The End” and “The Beginning”
Rated: T (violence)
Words: 3395
Natsu had stilled, body tensed. The path they followed, cutting through the mountain, was long and vacant.
“What is it?” Lucy asked. Her fingers found the soft leather of her whip snug to her hip. Another attack on this mission wouldn’t be unexpected. Natsu scented the air audibly ahead of her. When Lucy saw him casually adjust the backpack over his shoulders, her body relaxed.
“Rain is coming. We should find somewhere for the night,” he said. Lucy didn’t like the thought of another night without a shower. They had to camp plenty of times on this mission. Either they were in the middle of nowhere, or someone would recognize Natsu and refuse their patronage.
“If it’s just a little rain, we could keep going for a while,” she said. Lucy hoped there would be a town nearby with an inn for them to sleep. She was sure they wouldn’t recognize Natsu in the countryside. Locations near busy hubs frequently did and turned them away. Signs reading, “no dragon slayers” were a more common occurrence in cities. When she recalled them, her chest tightened.
Natsu shook his head and rounded the corner to peek past the tree line. The forest around them had plunged into shadow without her notice. The elevated rocks and trees around them covered in lush green moss and brush appeared deep green in the darkening day. There was hardly any blue between the vast amount of gray clouds across the sky. “A massive storm is coming, and I’d rather we not get stuck in it,” he said, “I thought I smelt some water up that way.” He pointed up at dense trees. “Probably a cave for us to stay.”
“Off the trail?” she asked. Lucy was nervous about them going off the planned route, but she trusted Natsu. He laughed at her question, and his expression soft and reassuring.
“Not too far off.” Natsu began the slow assent up the rocks. Lucy followed each foot hold he found to pull himself up. He held out a hand every so often to help her over a trickier area. They continued until the cave came into view. The mouth was wide and overgrown with hanging moss and foliage. The scent of the coming rain had become strong enough for Lucy to smell. Natsu stepped into the cave and scented the air. Lucy couldn’t feel the presence of anyone inside, at least no magic users, and he nodded for her to follow. The cave itself wasn’t deep but was a suitable enough shelter in the storm. Some water trickled down the wall and larger rocks protruded from the floor. They pulled their backpacks from behind them and slid them to the floor. Lucy rolled out her sleeping bag and laid it out for her to sit on. Natsu didn’t seem to mind the dirt and sat down across from her leaning his head back against the rock wall.
The storm started as a soft patter against the trees surrounding them. The moss tossed back and forth at the mouth. Lucy pulled her knees against her body and rested her cheek against one. The wind whipped the trees up, and she could hear the cicadas calling out amid it all. Natsu hadn’t spoken to her much that day. They had stayed with a couple in a trade town. The woman was warm and inviting, but the man kept a watchful eye on Natsu, as if he would explode inside their home. Lucy awakened in the middle of the night, when Natsu came through the door to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was late for him to be just shuffling to bed. She turned over and found him battered and bloodied. His eyes shut willing himself to sleep. She had asked him what happened in a soft sleepy voice and sat up to find her handkerchief to clean his wounds. Natsu remained quiet and refused to answer her questions. His silence was unusual, and her heart ached at the sight of him. She knew without words what had happened to him. She didn’t want to press further; although, she wished he found comfort in her ear, and could only imagine the struggle he went through to not harm a human. Through their journey he had spoken about the monster they thought he was. Feared the beast so much he softened to their blows and flinched away from their words. Would lashing out at them really make him evil? Make him a monster?
His eyes did not stray from the entrance of the cave, and while his posture was casual, she could see the distance in his gaze.
“Where are you?” she said. Whatever was on Natsu’s mind, his thoughts far away, vanished by her words. There was enough light to illuminate the healing cut on his lip and bruise on his cheek. They would fade soon enough, but she knew they would leave scars no one could see.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been deep in thought all day.” Natsu lifted his hand to examine it in the fading light. “Is it because of last night?” she asked. She wanted to know about the man who hurt him.
“What if we can’t find a way to stop this?” he said. Lucy shifted so she could sit beside him in the dirt and lean her head against his shoulder. Thunder rumbled from outside shaking the cave walls like his trembling palms.
“We will find a way.” Somehow, Lucy truly believed they would. There were others searching alongside them. Each dragon slayer was off in pairs hunting for a way to reverse the transformations. The patter of rain became a downpour, and the shadows continued to convulse on the walls with each lightning strike.
“What if I turned into a dragon again and never turn back, Lucy?”
“It wouldn’t matter what you looked like,” she said, “You’re you in every form you take.” If only for a while, Lucy hoped her words would reassure him. The sound of the rain splashing against the damp stone pulled at her eyes, but it was Natsu’s warmth against her skin that lulled her to sleep.
The waves of heat and power her first clue something was wrong. Lucy had no idea how long she had been sleeping and lifted her head to find Natsu standing in front of her. Flames licked at his skin and wrapped around his body as if they always belonged there, open and seen. He stood ready to fight whatever stood in his way. Her eyes adjusted to the light from the mouth of the cave, some of it blocked by two forms. Lucy could sense they were mages, and most likely looters.
“Fire mage, huh,” one figure said, “I’ll take that one.” Their palm lit up in flame, and she could make out his sharp features in the flickering light. The other figured stepped forward, as if uninterested in Natsu, toward her place on the ground. Natsu shifted his stance to block her from both men. Lucy reached for the keys at her side.
“Natsu, I can take one,” she said, eyes focused on the second man. Natsu turned slightly to acknowledge her, but it was enough for the men to find an opening. The fire mage lurched forward and landed a hit to the side of Natsu’s face. His body crashed against the rocky back walls of the cave. Debris and rubble trickled down from the ceiling, and a cloud of dirt and rock engulfed Natsu’s form. Lucy moved to help him, but the other mage was already stalking toward her. She pulled out Leo’s key out of habit and opened the door without a word. Leo emerged from smoke without time to acknowledge her, since the man lifted his hand toward him. Leo flew into the air and collided into the rock ceiling and became pinned. His features twisted and jaw tensed with strain. Debris rained down around them with the pressure. Lucy felt a pull in her stomach and her body began pressing into the ground. An invisible weight trapped her between it and the cave floor. She opened her mouth and loudly labored to catch her breath. She could see Leo trying desperately to do the same, his eyes fixed on her. From the pull, she had dropped her keys, her fingers just out of reach of the key ring. Her heart hammered in her ears as she fought against the invisible weight.
“We forget about gravity even though it presses down on us all the time. I wonder sometimes, what it would be like at the center of the earth,” the second man said above her. His eyes widened, a grin spread across his face, and a child-like excitement crept through his laugh. He pointed his palm toward the ground and slowly pressed. Her body felt the effect immediately. She had to do something, lest crush to death by this mage. Her eyes fixed on her key ring and her fingers could do little to wiggle free of the pressure. The blood rushed to her head and her lips opened to catch what little breath she could. Lucy was going to die.
“Natsu!” Leo called in a strained voice. Lucy could tell, from his voice, it took all his strength to emit the sound. The air around her swirled in waves of heat, and spots of light flashed in her vision. Her fingers stretched as far as they could to no avail. Like opening a tight lid, the pressure released. Lucy took a deep breath as she grasped her keys in her hand. The sound of cracking earth and waves of dust kicked up around her. She coughed searching for Leo, who was no longer stuck to the ceiling.
“Loke?” she said. The dust was clearing, and she could hear a great struggle going on outside. From the raised voices, she could tell Natsu had pulled the gravity mage away from them. She reached out through the dust and grasped Loke’s wrist. He was unconscious but breathing fine. Her stomach tightened at the sight of him. “I’m sorry,” she said and grasped his key. With its ridges and curves so familiar to her fingertips, she sent him back to the celestial realm. On unsteady feet, she pulled herself up and leaned against the cave wall. With the pressure against her released, her body felt as though it would float up to the ceiling.
The cave rocked, and earth trembled beneath her. The clash between the mages had migrated south. Lucy stumbled outside where the light rain dampened her skin. The power she felt crackling in the air sent a chill down her spine. Natsu. She turned toward the noise and began down the hill, scraping her legs against rocks and shrubs. A man’s voice rose above the sounds of rain. Lucy held tightly to her keys and followed the noises deeper into the forest. A large tree teetered and fell with a deafening crack. She turned at a large trunk and collided with another figure. His arm barreled into her, and her body plowed into a tree. She righted herself to see the gravity mage. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape. Blood trickled down his cut lip and a burn had emerged below his right eye. He did not stop to speak with her, as she thought he would, and ran frantically in the opposite direction without looking back. She could hear his labored breaths until he was out of sight. Her arm throbbed and blood beaded at her scraped skin. A scream reverberated through the trees from the direction the mage had come. It took a moment for a wall of heat to press her against the trunk. Lucy sprinted toward the cloud of smoke that followed.
When the fire mage came into view, he held his arm and his breath labored. “Fucking animal,” he said. His shoulder darkened and peeled from a burn that left the arm useless. It took her a moment to realize he was looking up. Above him was Natsu, but his appearance had changed. His eyes were fierce slits and burned gold. His arms outstretched curled into dark claws, and his body kept airborne by massive red scaled wings. Most of his face and hands covered in the same scales. This was not the first time she had seen it, but she found herself in a familiar sense of awe. Each scale iridescent in the drizzly day sun, brows set in concentration, his mouth slightly agape to reveal tiny fangs, and the physique of a god. Lucy could barely take her eyes off Natsu in this form. This was what the humans feared in the cities, in the countryside, and along their way to find a reversal for these transformations. The dragon slayers were all beginning to feel it, the pull of the dragon within them, of the dragon that they once called a parent. They all knew one day; they would lose themselves in this transformation and become a dragon permanently. Yet, there was always something about Natsu, even now. Even staring up into his eyes she could not see the animal this mage had called him. He would always be Natsu no matter his form.
The wounded mage lifted his hand for, what felt like, his last attack. She could see the swirl of power ripple from his palm where fire began to burn. Her fear rose up in her throat, not for Natsu’s safety, but for the mage who was about to attack him. She had to do something. Natsu had not noticed her yet and she did not know how to stop him if he chose to kill this man. He would hate himself for it and she couldn’t let that happen. He was already tearing himself apart. Lucy shoved her keys into her holster and grabbed her celestial whip. She allowed the leather to slide through her hand and extend to the ground. Natsu tensed in the air with his eyes zeroed in on his target. The man’s flame grew until it was half his size. For a common thief, Lucy thought he had quite a lot of power, but he would not last. Not with fire against Natsu, and the man seemed to be on his last limbs. With a roar, he launched the ball toward Natsu. The dragon slayer lunged toward the blazing ball and inhaled the flames until it vanished. The fire mage paled at his failed attempt. He tried to back away, but his legs wobbled. Natsu’s face flushed with the heat of fire he just consumed, and his body continued toward his target. Lucy thought he would have at least hesitated before attacking the terrified man, but he hadn’t. She cracked the whip in her hand and swung it toward the man’s leg. With a snap, the whip wrapped around his ankle. She pulled his leg hard enough for him to lose balance and fall to his back. With no hesitation, Natsu extended flaming claws toward his target. Lucy pulled with all her might to slide the man’s body toward her. Perspiration trickled down her back and dotted her upper lip with nerves and the heat from Natsu’s flames. She had to pull the mage out of his trajectory before it was too late. He was too weak to move away, his eyes transfixed on Natsu’s scaled body, and lay there in the mud.
“Move,” Lucy begged and pulled the whip harder. She felt her heels dig into the damp earth, and his body finally began to budge. As if in realization of his escape, the man clawed his way toward her. She made her last hard tug just as Natsu hit the ground. There was a burst of heat that picked up in the heavy gust of wind. Lucy blocked some of the debris with her arms, hair whipping around her face, and her heart sank when she felt the whip go lax in her hand. She coughed into her arm and, for a moment, felt too afraid to see the aftermath. The dust cleared as she pulled her whip toward her. The humid air went still and quiet permeated the mountain. Natsu stood in front of a crater in the earth. The man sat a few feet away, his body shook, and his face an ashen white. “With whatever strength you have left,” she said, hoisting him up, “Leave.” Once he was on his feet, he ran on shaky legs. She heard him fall a few times on his way out of the forest. She was too busy meeting Natsu’s gaze to watch the man flee. His chest rose and fell with labored breaths and shaking fists. His jaw clenched and relaxed with restraint to finish his job. She could tell he wanted to run after the man, but he kept his gaze on hers like an anchor. He squeezed his eyes shut and started to resemble the Natsu from that early afternoon. His wings closed back into his body, and his claws shrank into human fingernails. He raised his hands up to watch them change. The scales were still slightly visible, but his eyes were the same fierce dragon’s gaze. His brows furrowed and sweat glistened off his skin. As the transformations continued, they became more painful. He once told her he thought his body wanted him to stay a dragon, and the pain was just punishment for changing back.
“Thank you, Lucy.” His voice was husky and low.
“Of course,” she said. Lucy rolled up her whip and tucked it against her hip.
“I wanted to kill him.” His eyes snapped toward the forest where the mage had fled. His fists still tightening and relaxing at his side. His brows came together in a painful way, and she knew he had to be warring inside himself. “Can’t leave this unfinished.” He didn’t sound like himself. More side effects of the dragon that lived inside his head.
“You won’t kill anybody, Natsu.” Natsu’s golden dragon eyes locked onto her lips, where her words lingered.
“If you hadn’t been there—”
“Like I said, you wouldn’t kill anybody.”
“I could have.” His voice shook like a plea.
“You didn’t.”
“Lucy, I’m a monster.”
“No, you aren’t.” Lucy shook her head, stood before him, and took his hands into her own. She ran her thumb across the places where scales had jutted from his tan skin. They shook in her grip and were warm in her grasp. “You saved me. You were just protecting me.” Natsu didn’t respond to this and watched her stroke his skin.
“Then, what am I?” He looked up at her with the eyes of a dragon, but behind them was a well of sadness. She could feel her heart tighten at the desperation in his voice.
“You’re Natsu, always.” She could already feel the prickle of fresh tears. “You’re a protector and a friend. You are loved and you love with all you’ve got.”
“I’m losing myself.”
“No matter what form you take, I will follow you wherever you go,” she said, gripping his hands a little tighter. She meant it. They would go on this journey for as long as it took. Natsu eyed their hands closed together.
“I shouldn’t have taken this power.” The shadow of the dragon seed had lingered in his thoughts since he had made his choice.
“It’s a gift to protect you and those around you.” Lucy leaned in to press her forehead against his. “Thank you.” His eyes widened and a pool of green stared back at her. His thoughts were no longer far away but carried in his stare.
“For what?”
“For protecting me.” They stood there for some time as the day turned to the drowsy colors of evening. They went back to the cave, gathered their things, and followed the trail down the mountain.
Nalu "I've never felt this way before, and I'm terrified to be honest"? For prompt?
“I’ve never felt this way before, and I’m terrified to be honest.” for NaLu
Together Forever
He was sitting at the bar, his eyes following his best friend. A year after the war with the Alvarez Empire, Lucy had finally finished and published her novel. It was a dream of hers that she’d had for a long time and tonight she, her guildmates, and all manner of individuals were gathered to congratulate the celestial mage on receiving an award for the book.
Naturally, he’d read it because it was something Lucy had written and he wanted to support her. “The Adventure of Iris” was a retelling of all that Lucy had experienced thus far at her time in Fairy Tail and he remembered each and every one of them. Starting from the day they met and ending with their latest trial that had ended only a year prior. Reading it had shown him just all that they’d been through in only a handful of years.
Their adventure wasn’t over yet however. While she’d been working on her novel, he hadn’t just been sitting idly waiting for her to finish. The fire slayer had been taking care of something rather important for his team and was more than ready for this night to be over. But this night was about Lucy, so he’d mingle and enjoy himself until she passed out from drinking too much, when he’d take her home.
As he shifted his weight to stand, Natsu felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over at Gildarts who’d taken the seat beside him.
“You’ve been staring all evening,” he teased. Natsu looked away from the aged man, blushing and mumbled something about old men minding their own business. “So what’re you gonna do?”
“Huh? About what?”
“A girl with a heart as big as her’s is rare,” he stated. “Not to mention her body-”
“Oh, come on,” Natsu groaned, rolling his eyes. The man just laughed.
He knew that Lucy was beautiful; he’d seen wearing next to nothing plenty of times. Hell, he’d seen wearing nothing on more than one occasion also and didn’t need to be told that she was gorgeous. He didn’t care about all that though. He cared about the girl that had been through every adventure with him. She saved him just as much as he had her to make sure that they always returned home together.
“I care about Luce and I want to be with her forever.”
“Then stay with her.” He looked at Gildarts as the man threw back his drink.
“What am I supposed to say? I’ve never felt this way before, and I’m terrified to be honest,” the fire slayer confessed.
“Who says you have to say anything, Natsu? If you want to be with her forever, then be with her.”
He thought about the older man said and looked at the celestial mage who was standing with Erza. The blonde looked his way and waved, smiling gleefully. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he wanted to be with her always, but would she understand if he said it that way?
He didn’t know and didn’t think about it again as spent the rest of the evening enjoying the revelries until it was time to take Lucy home. He carried her home, where she promptly stripped and climbed into bed, cuddling Happy. He had to pry the exceed from her grip just to get her to change and after doing so she clung to him and he was forced to lay with her until she’d fallen asleep.
The following morning he had his opportunity to tell her but as he looked down into her glistening brown eyes, he realized that Gildarts had been right. There was no need to define what he felt for Lucy, just as long as they could stay together forever.
Thank you for the request dearie!! I hope it was to your liking!
31, 37, or 60 for nalu? (From the new Drabble prompt)❤️
31: “You may be an idiot, but you’re my idiot.”37: “I tried my best to not feel anything for you. Guess what? I failed.”60: “You are my sunshine.”
I couldn’t pick one so I picked all of them. :’) (prompt from here)
They are eating takeout on their couch the day everything changes. He’s got his feet propped up on the table, shoveling bites of chow mein so quickly that she gives up trying to count. Lucy flicks a piece of her chicken at him, garnering a smirk when he catches it in his mouth without missing a beat. It’s nothing unusual, most weekends are spent watching crappy movies and hanging out in her apartment, pretending that they don’t have a bunch of tests the following week.
Or at least, that’s what she thinks till Natsu sets his unfinished fortune cookie aside and drops his feet onto the floor, bending one leg underneath himself to watch her. She chokes on her chicken, pounding her chest to dislodge the food as her cheeks heat up in embarrassment, but he doesn’t flinch. Which is good because she had once seen him choke on a chip and had to punch his back for a good five minutes so he can hardly lecture her on things like manners. But she’s still blushing because his eyes are a dark green now, far more so than they have ever been, and he’s watching her far more closely than usual.
She sets her food aside as well, fixing him with a look. “What? Do I have something on my face?” With a napkin, she brushes off her face, trying to feel for crumbs or smeared sauce, but it comes back blank save for the remnants of her lip gloss. She stares blankly at him, waiting, and he doesn’t fail to lean in close, their noses nearly brushing, and she tries not to go cross-eyed or let her breath falter with minimal success.
“Lucy, you’re a weirdo.” She sighs, leaning back and lightly flicking his nose. Natsu scrunches his face at her before a grin settles on his face and he continues without complaint, “But you’re my weirdo.” His words end on a soft note, one that is as uncharacteristic as it is serious.
She stares at him with an open mouth, trying to decipher the meaning, because he doesn’t say things out of the blue. Not ones whose meanings could be something entirely different. She knows where they stand usually, there’s a line in the sand that she drew a while back when his lips became fascinating and his touches drew shivers and she vowed never to cross it for fear of what would change.
He was Natsu. She was Lucy. There wasn’t a them in that sense.
“You’re weirdo,” she affirms because she’s pretty sure he means his weirdo, his friend and not his weirdo, his Lucy. He doesn’t need to know how she feels, she can’t stand the thought of earnest, honest Natsu having to let her down.
She expects him to nod and continue with his food, the same thing he always does when questions about their friendship surface. She blames some of their friends for planting that doubt in his head with their jokes.
But he doesn’t. He huffs instead, sitting cross-legged on her pink sofa. “No, I mean.” Natsu wrinkles his nose, fighting for words and she tilts her head, brushing hair behind her ear in a movement that he follows with his darkening eyes.
“What do you mean then?” She asks softly, hardly daring to breath. Hardly daring to hope.
“You know how Gray disappears with Juvia for a few days to visit family and then they came back all lovey-dovey with that stupid grin on their face? She practically had an umbrella saying ‘engaged’ when she came back,” he says suddenly, tapping his fingers on his knee. His head tilts back, eyes on the ceiling as though it would help him find the words and she tries not to make it obvious that she wants to kiss his throat even though it’s painfully obvious. She blinks, nodding slowly, heart stuttering at the build up. It’s unlike Natsu to beat around the bush and she holds her breath, waiting for it. “I want something like that. Just don’t tell the Stripper that, he’d be more annoying than usual.”
“Okay,” she says faintly, now frowning and a little cold. The hope is dwindling, dying by the second, and she tries not to show confusion on her face because that will lead to questions and confessions and words that can’t ever be taken back. He wants advice, she thinks, preparing herself because she wants Natsu happy, even if it’s not with her, and she knows how to mend a broken heart. She’s done it before, after all, even if this Natsu shaped one seems insurmountable.
“Thing is, I want that with somebody and I want that somebody to be you.”
Her head jerks up to face him, but he’s still looking at the ceiling, a tinge on his cheeks that she’s never seen before. It’s oddly endearing, she thinks, her heart stopping then threatening to beat straight out of her chest and into his hands.
Silly heart, trying to go somewhere it had always been.
He doesn’t notice the way her face changes as he talks, from the uncertain hope to the certain heartbreak to the unabashed happiness, and he keeps going, like the words had built up and he’s finally given up on holding them back. And she wonders, for the first time, if maybe she’s been a little blind. “I tried really hard not to feel anything for you.” How rude, she thinks, lips twitching because she had done the same. “But guess what? I failed. Probably the best failure of my life, really. Except maybe that time I failed making those cupcakes and made the exploding lava cakes, because those are–”
“Natsu?” She cuts him off, leaning closer to him.
Finally he looks at her; there’s no blush on his face, just pure relief and she figures he’s stronger than she thinks when it comes to feelings. He throws himself into the storm without hesitation, taking the consequences of them alongside the victories, and she’s definitely never been more in love with him than when he looks at her with eyes dark with love. “Yeah?”
“Shut up.” She kisses him, surprised to find that their roles have spun. She’s generally the one with words and he’s the one with actions, yet here they are, facing something different. Her hands hold his face, stroking over his jaw and his cheeks and every bit of him she can touch without disconnecting their lips. She’s got fire dancing beneath her skin with every brush of his chapped lips and his hands are squeezing her waist, trying to hold her in place. It’s sloppy, messy, and a beautiful first. The beginning of many, she knows.
She draws back for air, heart racing worse than ever, but steadying and when he shifts back, she already misses the contact. He fixes it instantly, dragging her with him to the other end of the sofa, propping his feet up on the table once more while she sits sideways in his lap, her back supported by the arm rest and one of his hands holding hers.
It’s not so different than usual, except that she can cuddle closer to his warmth and she drops her cheek on his shoulder, content.
“What brought this up?”
“Fortune cookie,” he replies, playing with her fingers.
“… Fortune cookie?” He points and she reaches for a broken cookie, a thin piece of paper fluttering into their lap. She reads aloud: “’Someone is your sunshine, let them know.’ You confessed to me because a fortune cookie told you to? That’s so lame.”
Then – he stares at her and she stares at him – both of them laugh.
Summary: When Lucy breaks away from the control of 'Salamader's' very illegal charm magic, she doesn't let him walk away.
Lucy's heart thumped and a strange heat raced through her body, clouding her thoughts as she reached for the tattooed mage. The blue-haired mage, Salamander, beckoned her forward with his dark eyes, never looking away from her.
“Igneel!” a male voice yelled.
Salamander turned away from her till she was staring straight at dark blue hair.
Like she'd been woken from a dream, Lucy paused mid-step, her mind and body confused.
Surrounded by a ring of women, Salamander talked to a pink-haired boy. Unlike the pink-haired boy, the besotted women hung on Salamander's every word and action. And when the pink-haired boy tried to leave, they stopped him with angry faces and violent hands.
“Apologize to the great Salamander,” one of the girls said, her eyes narrowed and her teeth barred.
Another girl nodded, her hand curled in the boy's white scarf as she pulled him back.
“That's enough girls,” Salamander said, his voice soft but his eyes shone with amusement. “He didn't mean anything by it.”
Lucy reeled back in disgust, grabbing the handle of her whip, at the cold disdain in his eyes. How could she have missed that before?
The crowd's anger twisted into simpering delight. They lapped up his words with adoring looks, their eyes glazed and their faces flushed at Salamander's attention.
Salamander turned to the boy and said, “I'll give you my signature.” He signed a large card from beneath his cloak, prompting dreamy sighs from the watching female crowd.
Lucy grit her teeth, her suspicions of the blue-haired mage growing.
The pink haired boy grimaced at Salamander's autograph. “I don't want it.”
Salamander's face twitched, a dark emotion flickered in his eyes for an instant before a cold indifference blanketed his face.
Every single female honed in on the pink haired boy with identical unnatural rage.
The quick and hive-minded shift in emotions confirmed Lucy's suspicions. Salamander was influencing and maybe even controlling the women with magic. Illegal magic.
Salamander smirked as the screeching girls attacked the unresisting pink haired boy.
Taking advantage of the mob's distraction, Lucy snapped her whip forward.
Her whip coiled around Salamander's neck and locked in a tight loop. Eight, Lucy mentally counted down as she pulled the startled mage towards her, her muscles straining from the exertion. Seven.
The instant the cloaked mage landed at her feet, Lucy slammed a boot down on top of the locked whip around his neck. Six.
“I don't care for your reasons,” Lucy said, unable to hide her anger as she pressed her boot down. Five. “Charm magic is illegal. Using such despicable magic to control people, there's no way I'll let you continue.” Four.
Three. Ahead of her, the women stopped their attack on the pink-haired boy and murmured in confusion as Salamander's Charm magic on them weakened. Lucy tightened her grip, watching with great satisfaction as the mage's face paled and his struggles weakened. Two.
One. Right at the end of her mental countdown, Salamander's eyes rolled back in unconsciousness.
The confusion grew into worry and panic as all traces of Salamander's Charm magic disappeared.
Lucy pitched her voice to the group, “One of you, call the knights.”
“Uh, that, he's from Fairy Tail,” one of the women said with a hesitant voice, looking at Lucy with open worry. “You'll get in trouble for attacking a Guild Mage.”
“He used illegal magic to control you,” Lucy said. “He's the one in big trouble.”
The pink-haired boy spoke, looking completely unhurt from the ladies' violent attack. “A Fairy Tail mage? No way. I don't recognize him.”
“He's definitely not from Fairy Tail,” a blue cat said, jumping down from the pink-haired boy's protective grip. “We haven't had any new members in the last few months.”
“We?” Lucy asked.
The cat turned, moving his small backpack to the side so that an emblem on his back was visible. The emblem of the Fairy Tail guild. The pink-haired boy showed a matching mark on his arm.
“So then, who is this?” Lucy asked in confusion, looking down at the unconscious mage.
If I were to do a livestream of the movie for everyone to freak out/interact together, would you want to hear each other's voices or just be able to type your messages? I'm just looking up ways to livestream it because I think that would be really cool
Canuck vs Canuck: Episode 2 Part III, Warm Apple Spy
Okay, so my response is late. Very, very late. But such is life.
Plan is to keep the installments shorter! @nalufever
Links: Episode 1: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI
Episode 2: Part I | Part II
Suddenly shy - had she really told him to ‘strut his stuff’? - Lucy took a long sip from her fabulous mock strawberry coffee shake. Her mind veered to the assistant manager at CJ’s - Erza - who was supposed to be a connoisseur of strawberries in all forms. She might like this. Then Lucy peeked up at Natsu, unable to distract herself further.
There was a hint of a smirk on Natsu’s lips when he glanced up from his - fourth? fifth? - sandwich at Lucy. There was also a flush on his cheeks. So maybe he didn’t mind her pushing a little? Maybe she was right about his interest? Or maybe she was crazy to be considering any kind of romance with a spy - or ninja - or whatever the heck his family was into. His brother Zeref was definitely spy material and oh-so-not-safe.
“...Are we still talking about tea, Lucy?” His dark grey-green eyes gleamed at little, she thought.
“Probably - I mean - yes!” Damn. She’d chickened out. Before Natsu could comment again, she added: “But you never know.”
He watched her thoughtfully as he ate the last sandwich, and Lucy finished her drink and the last of her ham and cheese. She tried not to worry about being dragged back into her family’s past, but she’d been trying so hard to stay away from it all...
“Time to go check out the tea-room!” Natsu suddenly bounced up, gathered up the detritus of lunch, and zipped out to the kitchen with it. Lucy could only gape at his deft waitering skills and speed.
“I - uh - sure.” Very good, very coherent. Way to impress the cute guy - my work colleague - the maybe-spy-assassin-surprisingly-good-in-a-fight barista. “I’m ready for tea.” And to think she’d once had nerves of steel.
They accessed the tea-room by way of a private elevator. Lucy was very pleased that they didn’t have to go out to the regular elevators, since there’d been some hopefully-just-unconscious bad guys out there just forty-five minutes ago.
For some reason, Natsu was standing very close to her; the private elevator was small, but not that small. Then she felt his strong, warm fingers twine in hers. She tensed - unobtrusively, she thought - but didn’t twitch or make any embarrassing eek noise.
“I’m sorry you had to watch us deal with stuff, Miss Lucy Smith.” The elevator slowed. “But I’m honestly more into CJ’s and less into the, uh, other part of the family business. My brother will tell you that a spy’s a spy, except when they’re an assassin, but that’s so not my style. “ He gently tugged her out into what was clearly a work area. The air was fragrant with - well, tea, obviously, but Lucy could catch hints of a whole range of herbs, spices, and even fruit.
“That’s not my style, either,” she said quietly. “I’m hoping to be a kick-ass barista, though.”
“Yeah? That’s good.” Natsu smiled, and Lucy had that same ‘the sun just came out feeling’ that she’d noticed before. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”
“I’m in your hands.” Lucy had intended the words semi-seriously, but then she thought about it and wondered if her brain was intentionally sabotaging her.
“I may be looking forward to that, too.”
Lucy’s eyes widened, but even as she started to frame a response, Natsu handed her a white coverall and a hair net. Not exactly the stuff of romance, usually. So why did she feel sparks?
“Okay, let’s go look at tea!” Natsu sounded entirely his usual self, and totally un-self-conscious about what he might have just said. Lucy decided to go with it, and tried to shelve her romantic confusion for later. Tea it was.
Fictober 5-Sentence Challenge: Day 19, Black Cat [Gajevy]
by Impracticaldemon
Fandom: Fairy Tail
Day 19, Black cats
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Levy told her scowling spouse, as he tramped over to the door for the fourth time that half-hour.
“I’m not worried, of course he’s okay, and even if he has run into trouble I’m sure he can deal with it,” Gajeel snapped back, eyes searching the darkness beyond the street lamps for his black Exceed.
Not long after, Levy and Gajeel found themselves staring across Magnolia’s main street at the missing Pantherlily, who appeared to be watching the Magnolia Halloween Parade with a resigned expression on his usually stern countenance.
“They wouldn’t let me across,” he explained to his friends once the parade was over, shaking his head at the eccentricities of humans. “They claimed that I would bring them bad luck, even in the air!”
