Lucy yawned.
She had pulled an all-nighter writing, and it was starting to take its toll.
She yawned once more. While stretching, she got up to go get herself ready for work. She worked in a flower shop in Fiore.
It was an okay job, but her real passion was writing. As soon as her first book took off, she would be outta there.
Today, she decided on a short black skirt, black flats, and a pink spaghetti tank top. It usually got hot in the stuffy shop, since there were more than a few tropical plants.
She grabbed her wallet and her phone and stepped out onto the landing before remembering her keys.
She groaned and walked back inside to grab them off the counter. On her way back out again, she grabbed a bagel and locked her door. She heard someone else's door lock behind them and turned around.
Since the hallways were quite tiny, she ended up nose to nose with a cute pink headed guy her age.
"Sorry!" he said, smiling. It made butterflies flutter in her stomach.
"Oh no, it's okay." She tried to take a step back and realized that her door was closed behind her.
He tried moving around her, only to trip and fall on his face.
She tried not to laugh out loud as he tried to get back up. She failed.
He was chuckling too. "Hey, that's not funny! That hurt!"
She just shook her head. "I can see that."
They stood there for a few seconds in awkward silence, before he stuck out his hand.
"I'm Natsu."
She was startled, but shook his hand anyways. "Lucy."
"Nice name." he said. He smiled again. "Well, I'm off. I hav'ta go to work now."
She nodded. "Yup, me too." After he left, Lucy remembered that she had left her purse inside her apartment, and groaned loudly.
Twenty minutes later, Lucy finally arrived at work and began working the counter. She became bored, and pulled out a little travel-sized notebook she kept in her purse. She grabbed a pen and began thinking.
What do I write?
She then got an idea, and began jotting it down as fast as possible.
She didn't stop writing until her hand hurt. As she was stretching out her fingers, she heard a loud voice coming progressively louder as they walked towards the shop.
She immediately put away her notebook and put back the pen.
She heard a loud crash and then arguing, followed by cursing.
She stayed behind the counter, not wanting to give any signs that they were open.
Maybe the bandits are back? She thought.
She tried to lean over the counter to look through the window to see who it was. She caught sight of pink hair and she started panicking.
Is he a part of the bandits? Is he dangerous? Oh my god I shook his hand. Now he knows where I live!
Suddenly the door busted open and Natsu was standing there, fighting with a raven-haired guy who had no shirt.
They were rough-housing, and Natsu tried to give the other guy a noogie. Guy #2 punched Natsu.
She ran out from behind the counter. "Hey! This isn't a bar, you know! Either buy something or leave!"
Guy #2 shook his head at Natsu. "Sorry Miss. I meant to come here alone, but this loser followed me here."
"Frost-Breath, you asked me to come!"
"Flame-brain, I asked you to keep Juvia from following me!"
Lucy was trying to follow the conversation and was still confused.
"So, wait, hang on-" they both looked at her. "He's trying to pick up flowers for his girlfriend, and Natsu here followed him?" she turned to Raven-hair.
He nodded. "That's about right. I was wondering if you have any blue Orchids? They're her favorite."
Lucy nodded, and picked a pot that had orchids that were dark blue with deep violet in the petals. She handed them to him as he was pulling out his wallet.
"How much?" he asked.
She looked at the tag at the bottom. "It's on sale, so 1,000 jewel."
He looked relieved as he pulled out the money and handed it to her. She gave him a care package to go with it and he left, not once looking back at Natsu, who was looking through the Primroses and Tulips.
As soon as the other guy left, Natsu zoomed up to the front where Lucy was now, putting away the money.
He leaned over the counter. He whispered, "How do you send a bouquet of flowers that says 'I hate you'?"
She leaned back and frowned. "Who's it for? The guy that just left?"
He nodded.
She frowned deeper. "But wouldn't it be weird to send him flowers? I mean, he is a guy. Plus, his girlfriend might get the wrong idea."
Natsu hit his head on the counter. "God, you're right, I'm so stupid. How would I do that without making it weird?"
"Are you for real?"
He nodded. "I want to play a prank on him, but I don't have any-" he got a crazed look on his face.
"Actually, I just thought of something-"
"Oh no no no. No."
"What?"
"I don't want any part in this."
"Oh come on, you would just be bait!"
"The crazed lunatic who busted down the door thinks that just 'being bait' is a great idea! Like heck it is!"
He frowned. "I thought you wanted to help."
"I never said that."
It suddenly became a stand off.
"What do you think I should do then?"
"I don't know, but if it will make him angry, you probably shouldn't do it at all!"
He sighed and looked at the ceiling. "You're right. I should probably just give up."
"Somehow, I don't exactly believe you."
He frowned and noticed a pen on the table from earlier when Lucy had been writing with earlier.
He picked it up and grinned. "I have an even better idea."
"Somehow I think it's even worse than earlier."
He smiled even bigger. "Wanna help?"
Lucy was suspicious. On one hand, she had no friends seeing as she was new, and didn't know how this could get worse. On the other hand, she had no friends because she was new, and they might not take it out on her and label it as poor judgement.
She groaned. "Fine, but I have a better idea."
He perked up immediately. "What is it?"
"Tomorrow on his chair, put a burning coal. But use that as a back up plan. The first prank should be a water bucket on the door. Then, after those, put roses on his porch to make his girlfriend jealous, or vice versa." He was nodding and taking notes throughout her ideas.
"Or, you could just tell him you got a tattoo or a girlfriend or something."
Natsu grinned. "Thanks, Luigi!"
"It's Lucy."
"Whatever. Later!" he took off and Lucy was left once more to herself.
She sighed. He was quite the handful. she felt bad for the raven-haired boy who was about to have the worst day ever tomorrow.