Lucy woke to the feeling of her pillow vibrating.
She half-heartedly fished her phone out from under it, squinting at the bright screen as she swiped to turn her alarm off. She groaned, rolling to her right and swinging her legs off the bed, her feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. She could smell the faint scent of her coffee being made as her machine kicked on, and she could feel the bass of the neighbor's music below her feet.
She smiled to herself and stood, stretching her arms above her head and standing on her tip-toes, stretching her legs with them. She worked her way to her kitchen, putting some toast in the toaster and humming incoherently to herself as she made a b-line for the bathroom.
She took in the damage that sleep had given her face the night before, sighing and wiping off the mascara stains along the rims of her eyes. She brushed her hair and then her teeth, smiling at herself in the mirror before nodding her head in satisfaction. This would do nicely for the day.
She got dressed in her work uniform and headed back to the kitchen, grabbing her toast and a cup of coffee before heading out the door of her apartment. She walked through the lobby, waving at the building's security guard as she made her way out onto the street. She made a right, heading in the direction of the book store she worked at.
Lucy scrolled through her text messages as she walked, a piece of toast in her mouth and coffee cup in her hand. She was responding to a text from her friend Levy when she ran straight into a wall, dropping her toast and spilling her coffee, watching it fall to the floor with a devastated expression.
She gasped and stumbled backwards. Her head whipped up, ready to demolish whatever wall stood in her way-
But it wasn't a wall.
It was a man.
A man with… Pink hair? And a look of complete and utter shock as he scrambled toward Lucy, his arms flailing in every direction as his mouth moving a mile a minute.
Lucy stepped back, her frown turning to a look of concern, as she had no idea what this man was saying. He spoke so fast she couldn't understand him, and she held her arms out to signal for him to stop talking. He did, and she sighed with relief. At least now he was quiet.
He looked at her worriedly, taking another step forward. This time, Lucy didn't step back, and instead focused on his lips as they moved.
"Are you okay? I'm really sorry about that. Do you want me to buy you another coffee? Or a new shirt, if you really want… I mean, I can at least pay you back…"
Lucy shook her head, smiling softly. He motioned behind him, the worried look never leaving his face.
"Oh… Okay. Well, I'm really sorry again. Let me at least buy you a coffee. I insist, really. There's a shop right down the street, I think."
She considered for a moment, and looked at her watch. She still had time before her shift started. And she did want another coffee. She nodded, shrugging her shoulders.
The man's face lit up, and he nodded excitedly as he turned to leave. She hurried to catch up, making sure to walk at a pace where she could still see his face.
"Great! Okay. Cool! Uh… I'm Natsu, by the way. What's your name?"
She thought for a moment before responding. When she did, she simply held up her purse, which had the name Lucy embroidered across the bottom right corner. She and Levy had matching work bags; she'd taken larger measures to tell which was hers after the 18th accidental bag-switching-situation. Sometimes it did come in handy to have her name on display like this, though.
"That's a nice name," he responded after inspecting her bag for a moment. He smiled again, and she couldn't help but smile back. "I can't say enough how sorry I am. I was waiting for a cab and totally wasn't paying attention. It was all my fault. Were you on your way to work?"
Lucy nodded once, and he nodded back, continuing.
"I figured. You looked like you were. I hope I didn't make you late. Oh man, you won't get in trouble, right?"
She shook her head, and he sighed with what seemed to be relief.
"Oh, good. Because that would really suck if-"
He turned his head in the opposite direction, and Lucy frowned as he cut himself off from her. She couldn't pick up the rest of his sentence, but when he turned back he was smiling again, so Lucy did the polite thing and smiled back.
She could feel the subway run beneath her feet, and smell the hotdog cart on the corner. She watched as the owner handed a woman a hot dog, smiling while taking her money. The woman turned to her daughter, dropping the hotdog into the stroller she was pushing. She watched as the little girl smiled up at her mother, stuffing her face with her food. Her mouth watered, and she was suddenly very sad about losing her toast.
They made it to the café, and he held the door open to her as she entered. She was hit by a wave of mocha and pastries, and she waved at the white-haired girl behind the counter.
"Lucy! What are you doing here? Aren't you on your way to work?"
Lucy nodded her head in the direction of Natsu, who was making his way towards them. The barista raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Is this a date?"
Lucy shook her head quickly, her face flushing as she held up her empty coffee cup, motioning between herself and Natsu. The girl smiled, giving Lucy a knowing look.
"Ah, so it's the old 'he bumped into me and spilled coffee on my shirt' troupe, huh? Well, at least he's cute!"
Lucy rolled her eyes at the woman in front of her. She felt Natsu's hand on her shoulder as he made his way next to her, and realized that he'd come up as she and the barista were talking.
"Hey, Lucy, you're familiar with the workers here?"
Lucy nodded, and the barista spoke up across from them, leaning across the counter and sticking out her hand for Natsu to shake. He complied, a grin spreading across his face.
"Hi, I'm Mirajane! Lucy is a regular here. She comes in a lot," she looked at Lucy, and raised her eyebrows. "The usual?"
Lucy nodded, smiling as Mirajane wrote her order on her cup and passed it to the employee behind her, who had already begun mixing Lucy's drink for her.
After Natsu had given his order and they received their drinks, Lucy waved goodbye to Mirajane as they left the shop. As they exited, Lucy made a sharp right, heading back towards the bookshop. She couldn't be too late or Levy would get upset. She had just begun to walk when she felt a hand grab her shoulder, and she turned to see Natsu behind her, his face screwed up in confusion.
"Where are you going?"
Lucy pointed in the direction of the bookstore a couple of blocks away. Natsu's face turned into that of understanding. "Oh. Work?"
She nodded again, and he joined her in the action.
"Can I walk you?" He asked, and a small smile crept to her face. She nodded once, and he looked at her excitedly. "Great!"
They walked together without Natsu speaking to her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, expecting him to say something, but he never did.
Lucy turned on her heel as they arrived in front of the bookstore. She grinned up at him, waving quickly as she backed into the door, opening it. She turned to walk inside, but once again felt a hand on her shoulder. She faced Natsu questioningly.
"Is it the hair?"
Lucy tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed, and he continued.
"Is it the hair? Because that sometimes puts people off. The color, I mean," he grabbed at his bangs, pulling them down and inspecting them cross-eyed. Lucy stifled a laugh and shook her head.
"Then is it my clothes? Or my appearance?" He grabbed at his t-shirt now, pulling at the black fabric. It had a logo with a dragon in the corner, with "I.D. TATTOO" circling the red insignia. He wore ripped jeans and sported four piercings in his right ear and a half-sleeve on his upper left forearm. Lucy bit her lip subconsciously and shook her head again.
"Then what is it? Why won't you talk to me? Do you not like me? I'll stop bugging you if you do, really."
Lucy's eyes widened with realization… and then she began to laugh. Through her laughter she noticed his face become more and more concerned, and after a few moments he turned to leave. Lucy grabbed at his arm and he stopped, looking back at her. She pointed to her ear, and moved her finger to her mouth quickly. She smiled apologetically, and he turned to face her, still somewhat confused. She rolled her eyes and tried again. This time, though, she pointed at her right ear, shaking her head and then pointing to her mouth, shaking her head at that too. Natsu's eyes widened with realization.
"You're... Oh. You're deaf!"
A/N: I've had this AU idea floating around in the back of my mind for a while now, so I thought I'd try writing it out. So here it is, I hope it's written well enough!