Do not pass go, do not collect your reward.

When there was a crashing sound followed by a gust of wind and the thud of feet hitting her bedroom floor, she didn't even look up from the book she was reading. She had long given up trying to teach her teammate proper entering-a-house-like-a-normal-human-being skills.

"Hi Natsu."

The addressed boy flashed her his usual grin before jumping around her enthusiastically while babbling some unidentifiable words, making it impossible for her to find out if Jean-Jaque L'Amour would ever satisfy his all-encompassing need to crash his lips against those of his long lost lover Lola de l'Ardeur. Erza wanted the book back today. Sighing, she put it onto the desk in front of her and stood up.

"What is it, Natsu? How was the mission?"

"Well-" He paused to pout his lips. "I would have liked it better if you had come with me, you know, 'cause that's what teammates do…" A slightly accusing look hit her, but immediately disappeared as he seemed to remember something important. "But it doesn't matter, because I got all fired up anyway and defeated them instantly! And I got this as a reward!" He pulled out something that looked not at all like money, which made Lucy not at all happy.

"Are you telling me this is ALL you got? You were supposed to repay your debts for eating all my food I had bought for the week yesterday!" Her face turned a dangerous colour and the temperature in the room dropped by at least 10°C.

"But Lucy…This is a great game! At least I'm pretty sure it is, I have never played it before..hehe."

A…board game. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Then she did it again. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes. Well knowing that she had lost, no matter what she said next, she decided to just accept his weird gift. There just was no possible way to stay mad at Natsu for long, not when he looked at you with those big happy eyes, like a dog waiting for a treat it was sure to get, no matter how many times it brought home the neighbour's garbage bags.

Lifting her hands in defeat, she proceeded to take the package from him to unwrap it. The board game inside was slightly dusty, so she had to brush off some of it with her hand to be able to read the letters decorating the cover. "Mo-no..poly…? I've never heard that before…"

Both of them dropped to the ground and started unpacking it hastily. Lucy had already forgotten that she was supposed to be angry; curiosity and excitement had gripped her and she couldn't wait to learn more about the game. Still, she decided she would repay him by winning, by wiping that smug grin out of his face and crushing his hopes and dreams with that cute little figurine she had just discovered and was now holding in her hands.

"So, let's see, how do you play this…?"

The sun rose slowly, lazily dipping the rooftops in a nice yellow hue. Birds were waking up and started to trill their first songs, waking up even the most determined sleepyheads. All signs were pointing towards a beautiful day, and it surely would be one for most people. The city slowly came to life as lights were turned on in houses, the first shops opened and early morning people started stepping onto the streets. However, there was one house in which the light had never been turned off.

A victorious cry sounded through the air.

"I WIN!" – Don't be ridiculous! I can still turn this around! It's not over!"- "Oh yeah? And just HOW do you wanna do that? All the hotels have been conquered by my mighty dragon!" – "That's NOT how you play the game!" –"It is now!"

Crazy laughter resounded through the room, but was promptly stifled by a big pillow. The raging blonde already held the next one in her hand, ready to smack the boy who had made himself a cape out of her favourite dress. "You won't get away with this! And give me back my ca- I mean dress!"

She started chasing him across the room, but he easily evaded her attacks, laughing and accidentally setting the curtains on fire. "Lord Dragneel is now the mighty tycoon who holds all the guilds in his iron grip! Pay your taxes, peasant! You still are standing on my grounds!"

"They are not your grounds if you steal them from me! Also I control the cash box so you're not getting anything! HA!"

Neither of them noticed how they had scattered the game all around the room, making guilds and houses fly in all directions. Then, Lucy's eyes found the little dragon statue Natsu had used for playing, and with a devilish, slightly crazy grin, she threw it out of the window.

"What are you gonna do now, oh mighty drag-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a human fireball launched himself at her, throwing both of them to the ground, where they continued their brawl without hesitation. It was only when Natsu pinned Lucy to the ground, straddling her hips and holding her hands over her head, that they temporarily gained back some sense. Lucy stared up at her friend, terror in her eyes. "What have we become? We're supposed to be friends. This is not us." She whispered dramatically.

Natsu's eyes widened, and without changing their position, they both turned their heads to get a look of the room and its contents - or what was left of them. Smoldering curtains, thrown over chairs and vases, scattered plastic guild replicas…"How did this happen?"

Two pairs of sleep-ridden, dark-circled eyes fixed themselves on the board game lying on the ground a few feet away.

"Let's burn it."

"Natsu, don't be silly. We cannot just burn it. …we should cut it into pieces first, and then bring the ashes to Mira to have them exorcised. There must be a horrible curse lying on this game." After saying those words out loud, she realized how crazy they sounded. "Or…we might just have gotten a little caught up in it."

Their gazes met, and for a second they just froze, realizing just how carried away they had gotten, and, more importantly, realizing in what position they were in now. They blushed, but before anything awkward could happen, Natsu started snorting with laughter, and soon Lucy joined, laughing until her head hurt and she thought she would suffocate. Then Natsu collapsed on top of her, and she truly thought she would suffocate. "Natsu.." She tried to manage some words inbetween her laughter. "Please get off or you'll squeeze me to death." He obeyed, and rolled onto his back beside her. For a few moments, they just lay there, panting and giggling, trying to calm themselves down. After a while, Natsu spoke.

"Hey Lucy, we should definitely play that again sometime soon!"

Lucy did not answer. She was fast asleep, mouth open and head hanging to the side, letting out content little sighs and snores from time to time, as the midday sun fell through what was left of the curtains and illuminated her hair. She looks like a princess.

He looked at her fondly as sleep began to overcome him aswell, and before he lost consciousness completely, he draped an arm over her to pull her closer. She would kill him for this tomorrow, but he could live with that.

It had been worth it.