Chapter 1 - Distracted
She wasn't sure when it started.
For all she knows, she only noticed that her best friend was actually a looker was when the Edolas version showed up with so much flare in his vehicle. She ignored the feeling then for the sake of the situation but now, there was nothing to keep her distracted.
Since their return, she's been sneaking peeks at the Salamander's toned chest with glazed eyes for as long as she remembered.
Not to mention that the vest he supposedly wore to modestly cover what it should was not doing its job. Oh, if she could just catch a glimpse of that-
"Lucy?"
-collar bone.
The sound of her name immediately sent her choking on her shake, coughing violently as Mirajane leaned over the counter to pat her back helpfully.
"Mavis, Lucy. Are you okay?" Mira asked as she watched the blonde sputter to regain her composure.
Muttering her apologies, Lucy returned her attention to the barmaid, pointedly ignoring the gaze she received from the boy she was previous ogling.
"Sorry, Mira." She said, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment.
Mirajane only stared at her, her gaze trailing to spot Lucy's eyes were previously locked on before a smile crept to her lips with understanding. Grabbing a piece of cloth from under the counter, she began to wipe the mess Lucy made.
"Well, aren't you worked up?" Mira mused playfully as she ignored the celestial mage's offer to clean up after herself.
"N-Nothing. I was just a little distracted, that's all." Lucy laughed half-heartedly as she tucked a blonde lock behind her ear.
Mavis, she was so transparent.
Mira's glanced at the dragon slayer once more and grinned from ear to ear. Feeling a bit giddy from her discovery, she looked at the blonde with a knowing smile. She knew Lucy would come around one of these days.
Oh, Cana so owed her 5000 Jewels.
"Well, I would understand why you're so distracted though. The boy grew up to be quite a man." She giggled. Lucy's cheeks only flushed a deeper shade of red.
"However… shouldn't you be used to Natsu's body by now? From what I've heard, the both of you have broken all sorts of boundaries." Mirajane teased.
"Especially in the evenings." She added with a wink.
"Please let me invalidate whatever you just heard because nothing happened and it was mostly non-consensus." Lucy said promptly, her arms making the 'x' gesture as she kept her eyes close in desperate attempt to stop any more blood from rushing to her cheeks.
"Sure." Mirajane chuckled, rolling her eyes as she put the piece of cloth away.
"And my hair's not naturally white."
"Trust me, nothing happened." Lucy sighed, "Well, nothing of that sort anyway." She added a little dejectedly.
"Is it just me or do you sound disappointed?"
Lucy groaned as she laid her head on the counter, glaring slightly at her drink.
"He's too much of a child to do anything. It's annoying, to be honest. He breaks into my house, eats all of my food, and sleeps on my bed."
"With you in it? Oh dear!"
"Fully clothed, Mira." The woman only laughed when Lucy shot her a half-hearted glare.
"Well, if I didn't know better, I'd say you might actually want him to do something." She said.
"Mm, maybe." Lucy replied distractedly, her eyes already trailed to the pink-haired dragon slayer who was about to break out into another brawl with the guild's ice mage.
Mavis, this was getting way out of hand.
Snap out of it, Lucy! This is Natsu we're talking about. The same Natsu who laughed at Happy farting like it was the funniest thing on Earthland. The same guy who woudn't know dense unless he found himself in love with a rock!
Lucy shook her head in distaste. She needed a distraction and needed one fast.
"Speaking of which, do you really have no slots available in there? I'm sure I'll do a great job at bartending." Lucy asked, sitting up properly as she took a sip from her drink.
Mirajane raised a brow at this.
"Didn't you just have a job with Natsu the other week?" She asked.
Mira then backtracked, recalling that they only returned from the parallel world two weeks ago. Not that she remembers much of it since she was made into Lacryma, sharing the majority of the guild's demise.
"Before the whole thing happened, I mean."
Lucy remained quiet for a while, mentally computing the amount of money she currently has before sighing.
"I don't have enough, to be honest. I mean, I have enough to pay my rent, but I won't be eating for weeks if that's the case."
Mira stared at Lucy thoughtfully as she released yet another sigh.
"Well, I'm not sure if I have a job open. Since Lisanna's return, I haven't needed much help in the bar or waitressing at that matter."
The blonde only sighed woefully in reply.
"You know, you can ask Natsu to take another mission with you if you really need the money. Mavis knows he can't say no to some action." Mirajane winked suggestively but blinked when Lucy didn't respond.
Usually, the girl wouldn't hesitate go on a mission with the dragon slayer to scrape a few jewels. Was there something happening that she wasn't aware about?
She watched carefully as Lucy's brows furrowed slightly.
"Or is there something I should know about?"
Lucy squirmed under Mira's gaze. In all honesty, she and Natsu haven't really been alone together since they returned from Edolas. While she enjoyed the peace and quiet, some part of her actually missed the pink-haired idiot… while another part lusted shamefully, of course.
Her eyes easily musked with want as she leered at her partner, watching him with obvious desire as beads of sweat rolled off his neck.
Oh, I'll give him some action alright. She thought as she took another sip from her drink.
"Lucy." Lucy jumped at the sound a new voice calling her name.
"Y-Yes, Erza?" She barely managed to stutter out in fear for her life as she turned to the red-haired girl who demanded her attention.
If Erza, of all people, caught her ogling at Natsu, she was going to hole up in her room for three weeks. Her rent be damned.
"I apologize for interrupting your conversation with Mirajane, but I could not help but overhear the last bit." Erza said as picked at her strawberry cake with a fork.
To say that Lucy was relieved was an understatement.
"Well, I was planning to take Gray and Natsu out for another mission two days from now." She continued.
"That's great! I was just about to ask Natsu if he wanted to go on a mission–" Lucy started excitedly before the redhead interrupted.
"And I plan to take Lisanna with me."
Lucy stared at Erza, confused. She waited for her to get to point of the storybut the ex-quip mage didn't look like she was going to say any further than that.
"I don't have a problem with that. The more the merrier, right?" Lucy asked, not entirely grasping the situation.
So what if Lisanna came with them? It's not like she hated the girl or anything. She was actually really sweet.
"You don't seem to understand, Lucy. You're not coming with us." What the – why?
"Why not?" The words rolled off Lucy's tongue before she could even stop herself, "Is it because I drag the group down? Is that it?"
"That's not it at all, Lucy." Erza began, giving the devastated blonde her full attention. Her eyes were surprisingly soft and didn't hold the amount of hardness that made even Gajeel flinch in fear.
"Fairy Tail teams are not to exceed more than five guild members. Any more than that would be a crowd and the number would only inconvenience the mission."
Lucy could only stare at Erza in disbelief. Frozen solid in her seat, she began to make a list of all of the teams in Fairy Tail and the amount of members.
To her dismay, Erza was right. The teams usually had two or three people, four if they were pushing it.
"But… I don't understand. You said five members, but there's only four of you. Who's the fifth member?" Lucy asked the redhead.
"Happy, of course"
"Happy is a cat!" Lucy exclaimed in exasperation.
"Happy is an exceed and a guild member nonetheless." Erza stated firmly, staring down at the blonde with a hard look in her eyes.
"That's ridiculous. This is ridiculous."
At this point, Lucy had probably forgotten that she was talking to Erza as she became lost in her thoughts.
The red-haired warrior then returned her attention to her cake, deciding to ignore Lucy's reaction. Watching the whole scene unfold, Mira couldn't bear the role of being the bystander.
"Erza, you do know that it's not exactly a guild rule and that the member limit is only advised, right?" Mira asked, hushing her tone to almost a whisper.
"Yes, I am aware." Erza replied, watching the barmaid carefully while she chewed her food.
"However, the mission does not require me to ignore such advice."
"Well, why don't you just let up for now? She did say her rent was due soon, and it's not like you'll be breaking any rules." Mira proposed.
"But you'll be giving her that barmaid job you were supposed to pin up before Lisanna's arrival, am I right?" Erza raised an eyebrow for confirmation.
"That's the thing, it was before Lisanna's arrival–"
"And like I said, Lisanna will be accompanying us instead of Lucy. You will be giving her that job, right?"
Mira hesitated, unable to reply immediately while she tried to find another loophole.
Knowing Erza, it was damn near impossible to change her mind once it's set into motion. From all she knows, she hasn't even asked any of the three about it.
But knowing them, they'd agree in a heartbeat without putting any thought into it.
As much as she wanted to help Lucy, there was nothing in her cards that could help the blonde.
Looking at the celestial mage who had gone silent in their conversation, Mirajane sighed.
"… Right."
Erza nodded, satisfied with her response.
"But couldn't there be some other way? All of you matter so much to Lucy. I mean, look at her. She's obviously not taking this very well." Mira waved to Lucy in emphasis as Erza's gaze followed suit.
Noticing the red brows that furrowed slightly, Mirajane did all she could to stop the triumphant smirk from creeping to her lips.
Erza only sighed.
"Rules are rules, Mirajane. You, of all people, should know that better than anyone."
At this, Mira's face fell. However, the Titania wasn't finished.
"As much as I want to bring Lucy with us, it would only tarnish my judgment as well as Fairy Tail's name. Bringing along a sixth member would only make the individuals participating seem like they are inadequate for the job. And as the guild's supposed 'Strongest Team'… I can't allow that now, can I?" Erza asked Mirajane with a soft smile graced on her lips.
As much as Mira didn't want to admit it, Erza was right.
"Well, now that's settled. Thank you for the meal." Erza said with a smile on her face as she rose from her seat, completely oblivious to the tension between the three of them.
"I hope you won't take this to heart, Lucy. You are our comrade, but rules are rules. I assure you that this mission will be over before you know it." She told the blonde while giving her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.
Lucy couldn't help but smile at the gesture.
"It's fine. I overreacted. It's a huge bummer but I totally get it." Lucy told her as she stood up to give the armor-clad woman some sort of hug that didn't prove to be uncomfortable to the celestial mage.
"Good luck on your trip."
"Thank you for understanding, Lucy. I'll make sure to bring you a souvenir when we get back."
"You don't have to. Really." She assured Erza with a laugh before watching the mage walk to the brawling idiots with a sad smile etched on her face.
To be fair, she did ask the fates for a distraction. At least now she wouldn't have to worry about sabotaging the mission because she couldn't keep her hormones together. You know what they say, beggars can't be choosy.
Feeling Mirajane's sympathetic stare boring into her back, she returned her attention to the barmaid with the biggest grin she could muster.
"So, when do I start?"
And that's the first chapter of Talking Body! Honestly, the idea came over while I was scourging through the site for some good NaLu fanfictions and I noticed that the whole 'Lisanna replaces Lucy in the team' was the most popular concept yet (next to HighschoolAU and modernAU). And while I was reading those, I couldn't help but wonder why Lucy has to be replaced specifically and why she just accepted her fate graciously, then would leave her guild soon after.
So with Lucy's history with the guild in mind (they went to war with Phantom Lord for her jfc) and the thought of how irrational it would be if they just kicked her out (they could just 'add' Lisanna without kicking anybody out), I decided to have my take at the concept. Yeahhhh, that's pretty much how it went. Not that I'm bashing those fics, they are really good. I just wanted to probe the concept as well without the drama and all. Haha.
Also, I finished writing this at like 3AM so you will find me going through the chapter, editing it, adding a few scenes and what not like the indecisive person I really am. Please feel free to point out any 'glitches' if you notice them and constructive criticisms are greatly appreciated!
Well, there you go. So much for an Author's Note. I'd probably be more comfortable with this in the proceeding chapters since I'm not really used to adding these notes. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!