Lucy's mind whirred.
This sweltering summer had reached a new high, a record breaking high, that had sparked more than a couple of heat-induced brawls in the guild's dining hall. Just yesterday, Cana had knocked some random potential guild member unconscious because his, "sweat had dripped the wrong way."
So yes, tensions were high as well but guild members fighting amongst one another had become such a norm that she didn't even feel the need to worry. No, now she needed to focus on her novel.
The blonde stared at the blank page before her. She guessed she could chronicle the sweaty events that had occurred the past couple of days as a warm-up activity but she figured it wouldn't be as interesting considering each event resulted in what might as well be a dick measuring contest.
She sighed, looked up at the white ceiling, and closed her eyes. A million thoughts raced through her head, yet not one of them drew any sort of inspiration. Lucy inhaled sharply. Fire, she though. Fires always made for interesting conflict, be it a house burning down, or a burnt grilled cheese. Something always came from fire. But where had THAT idea come from?
Lucy exhaled slowly. Wait a second…
"FIRE!" the blonde shrieked. She raced to the kitchen, and grabbed the gingham cereal bowl she had eaten from a couple hours prior, filled it with water from the kitchen sink, and sprinted back into her room, expecting the whole apartment to have been burnt to a crisp. What she got instead was a pink-haired boy howling with laughter on the floor by her desk.
"NATSU!"
"Luce, ya should've seen yer face," he cackled, sitting up from underneath her wooden chair, and clasping his sides for support. He only stopped laughing to pantomime what she assumed was a poor recreation of her reaction to the prank: wide eyes, arms up in the air, and an exaggerated flailing of limbs.
Enraged by her teammate's childishness, Lucy threw the contents of the bowl at the dragon-slayer's face. That ought to shut him up.
Natsu paused for a second, trying to comprehend his current state, but then laughed again as he realized he was soaking wet. Lucy groaned before returning to her desk: "NATSU! YOU BURNED A HOLE THROUGH MY CHAIR!"
The boy stopped to look at her and then proceeded to crawl back to the scene of the crime. "Oh yeah," he spoke, kneeling beside the scorched chair, and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "would ya look at that."
"Natsu! What am I supposed to sit on when I want to work?!"
He glanced around the room, "well, what's wrong with yer bed?"
"I can't work on my bed!"
"Why not?"
Lucy didn't have an answer. She could very well work on her bed - she always had when her tutors assigned her homework back at the estate - but it wasn't so much that she was opposed to the idea; she just didn't like not having the option to work at her desk. The blonde groaned again before flopping onto her bed, face down. "Why do I even bother?" she asked her pillow.
"Lucy, are ya mad?"
His voice was as innocent as ever. She sighed, and flipped onto her back, "no."
"Good," Natsu cheered, " 'cause I got something to ask ya and you'd say no if I had made ya mad."
Lucy's eyes narrowed at his childish grin. She couldn't stay angry at him, no matter what he did. Natsu was entirely too adorable, too innocuous. Everything he did, he did without malice. The boy wanted nothing more than a good time. "What is it?" she inquired.
"I'm glad ya asked, Lu!"
Much to Lucy's surprise, Natsu sprung onto the bed, and straddled her. She blushed at the compromising position, thinking of anyone's immediate reaction were they to walk in at this time. "N-natsu.."
"Today we are going kite racing!"
"Kite… racing?"
"Yup! It'll be you, me, Erza, and Gray! I even brought you a kite!"
The pink-haired boy leapt off the bed, and reached underneath it to reveal a bright pink swan made of the finest cloth Lucy had seen in a while. "N-natsu," she stuttered. It was gorgeous.
"D'ya like it? I made it a swan 'cause ya said ya loved 'em back when we were at that spa in Hosenka an' I made it pink 'cause Happy tol' me yer favorite color's pink!"
She couldn't help but smile. Of course she remembered the exact moment she announced she loved swans but it was such a minor detail, she was surprised Natsu remembered. Pink was her favorite color, too, though she didn't remember mentioning such to the blue cat. She made a note to ask about it later.
Lucy rose to feel the kite - it was light as air. "Natsu, it's absolutely beautiful," she admired. His smile grew even more upon her approval. "Great! So you'll come along?"
His voice was tentative, almost as if he was afraid she'd turn him down. Lucy nodded eagerly. She hadn't been kite racing before.