A/N: From my tumblr, for the Non-Sexual acts of Intimacy prompts. Prompt was Nalu/Patching up a wound.
"Gah-!"
"Sorry!" Natsu nearly dropped the cloth in his hand as Lucy hissed through her teeth.
"No, it's okay." Lucy tried to reassure him. "It just stings a bit."
Natsu frowned. He dipped the cloth into the warm water and took more caution pressing it against her back. He knew he couldn't be too gentle though or else he wouldn't be able to get the cuts clean.
Lucy's shoulders tensed up, her hands forming fits in the towel she held to her chest. He was pretty sure he heard her teeth snap together.
During their last job, Lucy had been thrown from a blast and slid across the rough ground. Her back had been badly cut up from as a result.
"You need to be more careful."
"I don't need to hear that from you of all people!" Lucy turned to glare at him over her shoulder. "Besides, if I hadn't done that we wouldn't of been able to stop it."
"True…" Natsu muttered begrudgingly. She had a point. While him and the others were being held up with their fights, Lucy was the only one able to actually stop the weird thing. He had to admit, it was impressive she accomplished it at all alone considering she was almost out of magic from her own fight.
He paused, taking in all the cuts. Most were done bleeding, though there were a couple that were pretty deep. Those would probably scar in the end.
Scars. Battle scars. That was kind of a funny thought. When he first met her, Natsu never would of thought of her as the type to actually have anything to do with heavy fighting, let alone gaining scars as proof of it.
"What are you laughing about?" Lucy's suspicious (and slightly defensive) tone broke him from his thoughts. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against one of the marks.
"Nothing really. Just thinking how cool you are now." Natsu grinned up at her. He watched as her face went from pink to red in an instant.
"What do you mean 'now'?!"