Hiding the Obvious
"We're home!" Lucy cheered as she saw the edges of Magnolia come into sight from in between the trees, and what a welcoming sight it was. She let out a sigh of relief as she slouched in her carriage seat. After what felt like ages, she couldn't wait to get home. The job Natsu had chosen went on longer than she would have thought. It was a simple monster hunt but had been proven to be a little more complicated. This particular vulcan was smarter than the average idiot. Not only that, but because of the destruction her partner had caused the reward was forfeited in turn. Apparently burning down the surrounding trees was forbidden, especially if they were extremely rare and sacred.
Lucy was just glad they hadn't been arrested.
Her cheer must have been noticeable because Natsu, in his miserable state, commented. "Can you try and not be so happy hic?" Natus interrupted her fantasies of lying in her own bed and relaxing. He rolled onto the floor of the carriage and moaned rather dramatically. As she watched him, Lucy felt no sympathy whatsoever. If not for him and his complete lack of self control, they would be sitting at the guild, 50,000 jewels richer. "I feel like puking my guts o-out." He managed to sputter. It was truly pathetic to see the great Natsu Dragneel, destroyer of the Balam Alliance roll around like a baby.
Lucy chose to scowl at him. "Of course I can't! We haven't been home in days and I need some personal space from you, no offense." Her bathtub was first in her head, relaxing under all those bubbles sounded just like what the doctor ordered. The warm water would erase the trauma of losing money.
Natsu clutched his stomach and moaned again. "None taken." The carriage slowed down a bit and she knew they had arrived. Lucy handed over some coins to the driver before she grabbed her bags and jumped off the carriage, Happy was right behind her but he had his paws full with dragging a still green Natsu by the collar.
"Lushee, I'm gonna take Natsu home. I think the ride back really affected him." The blue cat, looking slightly concerned for his partner said. Lucy offered Happy a comforting smile and nodded.
"No worries, I was going to head home anyways. Don't worry too much about Natsu, a little stomach ache isn't enough to take him down." She reached over and ruffled Happy's fur before turning to grab her luggage. Lucy looked back, waved, and called out, "I'll meet you at the guild later."
The door to her apartment swung open and Lucy entered carrying her bag and balancing a small lacrima. The little magical item had rung as she was climbing the stairs and had to juggle precariously to avoid dropping everything. She carefully set her bag down on the floor of her home to prevent any damage from coming to the lacrima. "Hold on, I just got home… yeah it's always great to see you, I wish you would come around more often." Lucy smiled into the lacrima she held in her hand. "Visit me when you're in Magnolia, we could get together." She had a much larger lacrima in her living room but she was so eager to see him that she couldn't wait to even redirect the call to the larger item.
"Like in get together?" There was a definite leer in the way the phrase was uttered. Lucy narrowed her eyes at Sabertooth's guild master. Way to kill the mood... Sting's smirk widened as Lucy remained silent. "I'm not hearing a no." Why was I even excited to see him? Ugh guys are all the same. Pigs...
"There's no yes either." Lucy muttered as she finally sat down on her couch and let out a sigh of contentment. After just finishing a job and getting home midday, she was feeling pretty worn out. Kicking off her shoes left her feeling so relaxed. She closed her eyes to take in the small moment of peace.
Sting's smirk faded into a gentle smile, his eyes full of fondness. It was positively heart-melting and she felt a rush of emotion flood her chest. "I can tell you're tired, so I'm going to let you go so you can rest. I'll visit soon, I promise. Miss you." Before she could try and protest, the lacrima went blank, turning that sheer shade of blue.
Lucy practically melted into her seat, why did he have to be so sweet?
Sting Eucliffe wasn't a man she truly thought about being with. They had minimal interaction during the Grand Magic Games, where he had just taunted her and Fairy Tail. It was more about how he was after. During their arrest in Mercurio, Yukino had told Lucy stories about Sting and how kind he truly was and how his arrogance was just a cover for the insecurity he felt. It was sweet, how Yukino had described him.
It was sweet how concerned he was for Frosch.
The Inter-guild transfer only solidified Lucy's opinion of the Sabertooth.
Somewhere after Zeref's attack on Fiore, it had happened. Lucy didn't know when or how exactly, but one moment she was in the Sabertooth library, waiting for Yukino to arrive so they could search for some obscure celestial spell, and the next she was being pinned to the bookshelves by Sting Eucliffe, his lips on hers and his hands leaving burning trails as they traveled all over her body.
It was a thing, kind of. Lucy knew they weren't official because they had never discussed what they were. All she knew was that every time they saw each other, about once a month, they would have the best sex of her life. While that was good and jolly, Lucy wanted more than that. She wanted Sting in a possessive way, where she could call him hers and her his.
Her eyes fluttered shut and Lucy could feel sleep creeping over her.
The door rang twice and was followed by loud banging. Who could that be!? Seriously, I just got here! Lucy couldn't help but feel whiny. "Lucy, open up! I know you're in here! Natsu stopped by the guild!" Cana? Why was she even knocking? Cana on more than one occasion had simply let herself in to bathe, without Lucy's knowledge. As if she had read her mind through the door, "I'm trying this new thing where I'm more 'considerate' of others or whatever. Gildarts and I are doing a thing. You know how he is. Now are you gonna let me in or not?"
Groaning loudly, Lucy pushed off the couch and unlocked the door. She was tackled by an armful of brown and blue. "Lucy! I missed you, we need to catch up, let's go drinking!" Cana let go of the celestial mage and took a step back.
"Cana, I just got home, like a few minutes ago, I'm tired…" Lucy pouted, nothing Cana could do or say would make her go get drunk. On a weekday, no less. She wanted to mope about her feelings in a healthy manner, by binge eating and watching cheesy romances full of sorrow.
"I'll pick up Levy too." That got her attention.
"Okay, let's go."
Lucy only slightly dragged her feet as she followed behind Cana and into the guild. How dare Cana pick at my weak spot. She knows how much I love Levy! Her eyes scanned the guild, looking at it like never before. Fairy Tail is rather busy this afternoon, both Mira and Kinana are being pulled table to table. Lucy noticed as she sat down on the barstool. No one seemed to be on a job or in a rush, laughs and chatter made for a very loud guild hall. She could see Natsu provoking Gray over by the corner. Lucy made a note to tell Erza about that sooner rather than later. The last thing anyone wants on a day this hot is to start a brawl, better put out any fires before they start…
"Hey Mira! When you can, me and the girls are participating in a little drinking, so bring 'em around." Cana hollered as she joined Lucy at the bar, dragging a reading Levy behind her. "So ladies, as you should know, I am newly single." The brunette raised her hands and pretended to fan herself. "Bacchus and I called it quits and in my honor we shall drink!"
Lucy quirked an eyebrow and exchanged looks with Levy. Cana played it up, but she in now way was actually saddened by this. Her relationship with the Quatro Cerberus mage was a strange one-they couldn't seem to stay away from each other but couldn't stay together either. To Lucy, it seemed Cana and Bacchus were happiest when they weren't together.
Cana just wanted a reason to drink.
"Here you go ladies, drink up!" Mira cheered and placed the eighteen tall drinks of various colors in front of Lucy. Levy and Cana had similar ones in front of them. "Not sure what you're celebrating but have fun!" She smiled again and opened her mouth, "Lucy, th- never mind!" before being flagged down by Macao.
"I wonder what Mira wanted to say." Lucy murmured.
"Who cares? I dedicate round one to freedom! Right Lucy?" Cana shook Lucy mirthfully. Lucy eyed the drinks nervously as they bubbled and slowly nodded. They looked so, so dangerous. Why had she let Cana talk her into this? At least with Levy here, it wouldn't be so bad, there would be way less of a chance to make an ass of herself, not that she had anything to hide, absolutely not. It was just that Levy was her most responsible friend.
"Freedom? From what?" Levy asked also looking apprehensive, finally putting her huge book down and adjusting her gale glasses.
Cana snorted loudly. "Freedom from men, of course, men are the worst." Cana tilted her head back and drank a glass in one gulp.
Levy leaned forward and sipped from a glass before recoiling quickly, her face puckered. "Um, what's in these, also did you forget I'm not single?" Cana rolled her eyes before winking at Lucy.
"Duh! Of course I didn't, everyone and their mother have seen you and metalhead makes eyes at each other. Like get a room!" Cana cackled at Levy's reddened face. "Oh please, don't get embarrassed, be still my beating heart." Lucy couldn't help but let a chuckle or two escape. It was kind of funny seeing Levy squirm. "I mean Gajeel is pretty kick-ass he so gets a pass, but that's the only exception. Besides boyfriends are lame."
Lucy's curiosity got the better of her and she took a large sip of her drink. To her surprise, it had a sweet sort of taste that was pleasant to her.. Hey it's not so bad, I could drink more of this. Before she knew it, Lucy had finished the first drink and was on her second one.
Levy cleaned her glasses before squinting at the drink in her hand in contemplation. "What about Lucy's boy-" Lucy spit out her drink and turned so swiftly she knocked the glass out of Levy's hand and onto the floor, her heart pounding. "Hey!"
"Yeah Lu, what's your deal?" Cana rolled her eyes and turned back to her liquor.
"Sorry Levy, it was an accident!" Lucy smiled and tried not to wince at the pitchiness of her voice. Tipsy Levy couldn't keep a secret if she tried. Lucy had no reason to let the guild know about a guy who wasn't her boyfriend.
"I think I'm going to go to the bathroom, better now then having to go when I can no longer walk straight." Lucy said abruptly. She didn't really need to use the bathroom, it was more of needing a small break from the air around the bar, before she said something she would regret.
Cana slightly pouted but nodded nonetheless. "Makes sense to me! Go girl, do your thing."
"Okay, I'll be right back! Don't get too drunk without me!" Lucy said to Cana as she scooted out of the barstool and on to her feet. The brunette still sitting, snorted loudly.
"As if I could ever get too drunk, no such thing! But no worries Lu," Cana snickered as she ruffled Lucy's hair, "I'll make sure to leave you the good stuff."
"Don't take too long alright, Lu?" Lucy waved back reassuringly at Levy, who was now studiously reading a giant tome, ignoring Cana's loud protests. The book was easily much bigger than Levy, the top of her head not even visible.
Lucy rolled her eyes warmly at her friends and their antics as she traveled down the halls, not noticing the hand that reached out of one of the numerous closets the guild had to grab her. In an act of pure instinct she let out a yell and sharply kicked her leg back into the offender as hard as she could. Her eyes reactively squeezed shut at the sound of a low groan of pain.
Serves them right. Now, who is this jerk? I swear to Mavis, if this is Natsu's idea of a joke, I'm going to kill him myself and feed the cat to Plue- The kick wasn't as potent as she had hoped. The creep grabbed her from behind, around the waist and her vision went black.
And….She was in a storage closet. The light was off around her. Well that explains the momentary blindness. A mop pressed uncomfortably against her back and there was a strong smell of citrus cleaner of some sorts. She felt movement around her and the sound of a bucket getting kicked confirmed her theory of being jammed in a janitorial closet.
"Why," she hissed, "am I in a supply closet? And who the hell are you?" When she heard no answer, Lucy lifted her leg and she readied herself to attack again.
Before she could, a hand covered her mouth. Lucy was getting annoyed now. She was going to bite this hand off. Lucy was done humoring this weirdo.
"Shh, talk quieter." Her eyes widened, she knew that voice! But that didn't make sense…Lucy licked the hand over her mouth and smiled a bit at his yelp of disgust. His hand lifted from her mouth immediately. "Oh, gross." Her suspicions were correct and Lucy relaxed.
"Sting?" Her eyes adjusted a bit in the dark and sure enough, she could see Sting's trademark smirk and earrings. He would never admit this, but Lucy knew for a fact that the dragon slayer well, glowed a bit at night. Not obnoxiously so, more like a gentle night light. Probably a side effect of his particular brand of dragon slayer magic. Her heart swelled thinking of them together. She really did like him. Lucy took a moment to observe him, his unfairly attractive face was smiling back at her.
"Hey hot stuff." That was him all right, just as cheesy as always. Now she was curious, what was her not-quite boyfriend doing here? This was Fairy Tail after all, not Sabertooth. Didn't he have a guild to run? More importantly, she had just talked to him, why hadn't he told her he was in town?
"What are you doing here?" Lucy whispered. She felt him move closer to her and allowed him to wrap his arms around her. His embrace was familiar and relaxing as always. Lucy felt almost serene in Sting's arms, he gave excellent hugs. "And why aren't you doing your job? If I hear from Rufus one more time about how you're pushing your work off on poor Yukino, I'll sick Aries on you." She mentioned Aries for a reason. Somehow, though he wouldn't explain why, Sting was terrified of her wooly celestial spirit. Just the mention of her name could get him to cooperate with Lucy. It was hilarious to her the oh-so-mighty-Sabertooth master cower in fear at her sweet Aries.
He pouted, "you know I really hate how great you and Rufus get along. I swear between you two, there's nothing in Fiore you don't know about." Lucy snickered at his downcast expression.
"You're just mad he told on you."
"You always side with him. And you two always hang out. And you laugh at his lame jokes. He's not even funny!" Aww is he jealous?
"That's because he's usually right and he is funny."
"I don't like my sometimes girlfriend laughing at some dumb jokes, you never laugh at mine."
Lucy smiled teasingly. "Okay, I won't laugh at Rufus's jokes, I'll only chuckle. That better?"
"No giggles."
"No giggles. Now what reason did you have to shirk your duties?"
"Oh, how you wound me, actually as Sabertooth's master I had to pass on very important guildmaster stuff to your guildmaster." It sounded like a load of bullshit. Perfect, Lucy thought. She was going to mess with him. Afterall, she didn't get to see him that often.
Lucy hummed against him and ran her fingers delicately along his exposed collar bone; leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. Her touch so light, barely there. Even so, Sting's arms tightened around her waist. "Lucy, what are you up to?" His voice was already a bit husky, Lucy smiled at her success. She had already made him flustered. He didn't show it, but Sting was a very shy person. She basically had to coax him into pursuing her in the first place.
Her tone changed to something more seductive. Her fingers trailed down, dropping from his collarbone to his chest. "Shame you're here on duty. You should visit me more. I get lonely. Maybe next time you could come down here for pleasure." Lucy purposely put emphasize on 'pleasure' if only to tease him.
Twin blushes were on his cheeks, trailing to his ears. "Wait!" Sting let his hands drop down from where they were on her hips, down to her backside. His hands squeezed her gently. "I can do both." Hook. Line. And sinker.
Sting brought his lips to hers and Lucy wondered if she could even call it a victory if her mind went blank as soon as his tongue swiped her bottom lip.
"This isn't working." Lucy said, admitting defeat as she adjusted her underwear back in place. They tried their best, multiple positions later, it all had the same result.
His voice was a bit muffled as his shirt was stuck over half his body. "Not with that attitude!" Sting was trying to stay optimistic, she could tell. Lucy smiled fondly, you had to admire his perseverance. It didn't change things.
The closet was simply too small.
When Sting's hands squeezed her, it was all frenzied kisses and heated touches. They had to be fast, if they took too long someone was bound to go looking for them and that was not something Lucy wanted to go through at this moment in time. She had told Levy she was coming back soon, it had already been fifteen minutes.
The mop handle dug into her back but she didn't care as she was too busy wrapping her legs around Sting's slim waist. Lucy rocked her wet core against his hardness fervently. There was no time for sweet embraces and whispers of adoration, this time. She really had missed him. She also really missed his penis. Sting unbuttoned her shirt and nearly ripped it off her shoulders.
Her hands grasped his hair, pulling tightly when Sting left her lips in favor of her chest- or he tried to anyways. Sting had to jostle Lucy higher to gain access to her cleavage and in doing so caused her to hit her head on a shelf.
It was painful.
"Oh shit, you alright babe?" Not really, but Lucy's urges and Sting's hot body really switched up her priorities.
"Shut up, I'll be fine." She roughly unbuckled his belt and pulled down just enough to release him. She ignored his slight protest before shoving her underwear aside and sinking down on his erection.
He got the hint and wasted no time fucking her. He pulled all the way out before slamming himself back inside. Lucy bit her lip, it had been weeks since she managed to see him in person.
It seemed like it was going to work.
The longer he pounded into her, the more uncomfortable she felt.
"Hold on, Sting stop." He was mid-rock and gave her a concerned look. "Nothing bad! The angle is all wrong, can we just readjust?"
He gave her a dazzling smile. "Anything for you Lucy." He shifted his hold on her, pulling her closer and more level to him. Slowly, he pulled out before sliding in again. "Better?"
Lucy nodded. "Much." They continued the rough pace they had previously set. Their lips sloppily met again as Sting slammed his hips against hers. The kissing served as a cover-up for her moans. Lucy grabbed the bottom on Sting's shirt and tried to lift it over his head.
The momentary blindness prevented him from noticing a bucket next to him, Sting knocked into it, spilled the soapy water, and slipped down, taking Lucy with him.
"Ah!" There wasn't enough room for anyone to lie down so his legs were cramped uncomfortably.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Okay." Sting looked at Lucy expectantly. At her bemused face he gestured between them. He was still inside her. "Are we going to finish or?"
Lucy glared at him, "ugh no, the mood is gone" she lifted her hips up, removing him from her and attempted to stand up.
Which led them to where they were now.
Smoothing down the last of her clothing, Lucy stepped right underneath the dragon slayer. She placed a sweet kiss on his lips. "Thanks for trying. Better luck next time huh?"
Unfortunately, she wasn't sure when that was going to be. His guildmaster duties kept him busy so he rarely had time to relax much less visit her. Lucy frowned. They weren't official or anything, she had no claim over him and therefore he had no obligation to please her. It wasn't like she didn't want to be his girlfriend, but how do you tell the guy you occasionally have sex with that you actually kind of love him?
"Hey Lucy." The mood shifted and she looked up bashfully, (which was almost hilarious given how not five minutes ago she was riding him.) Sting had an unreadable expression on his face.
"Yes?" He was making her nervous with his intense look.
"Go out with me."
The closet somehow felt smaller. "Like on a date?"
He rolled his eyes. "Duh."
She was so confused. "But why?"
His eyes were wide and he looked at her unbelieving. "Are you serious? We were just fucking!" She stared blankly and it took all of him not to facepalm. "I want you to be my girlfriend silly. My real girlfriend, not just a sometimes girlfriend. I really really like you."
Well when he put it that way.
"Okay then." She smiled brightly. "I'll be your girlfriend."
His smile was just as dazzling, maybe more so. They stared into each other's eyes, feeling smug, victorious, and just a bit lovey-dovey.
It was beautiful.
Sting hugged her tightly. "Are you down for a quickie?"
"Sure why not." Cana and Levy could wait.
Meanwhile, Levy sipped at the margarita. "Hmm, that's really good." Cana slapped the drink out of the bluenette's hand.
"Levy. Lucy's not coming back is she?
"Cana! You made me spill my drink. Lucy'll come back when she does, give her some time, she missed him."
"I know that! I just think its funny that she thinks no one knows about her thing with Sting. Like they're so obvious it disgusting." Levy pouted at the little puddle of the spilled drink on the floor.
"Eh, who cares, it's cute."
Cana tapped Levy's shoulder. Levy looked up and smiled when Cana handed her a new mug of foaming beer. She eagerly drank and Cana rolled her eyes. "I just hope they're quiet this time. There's kids here."
Just a short little oneshot I did to inspire my brain to continue Paper Moon. I like Sting and needed a Sting/Lucy fluff piece. There's not a lot out there and i like Crackships especially with Lucy. I feel like NaLu is endgame ya know?