notes— apparently when i'm feeling kinda :/ i write fluffy nalus. which is absolutely fine by me.
a night of fire and frost
;;
Her breath frosts in front of her face, little puffs of white-grey disappearing in the dark. Cheeks stinging with the cold, she scrunches up her nose. "It's freezing."
"Are you shivering?" She can hear the grin even when his voice is muffled by his scarf. She turns to glare at him. His hands are stuffed in his pockets, and the white-chequered fabric covering his mouth and nose certainly doesn't give the impression that he's toasty warm himself.
"It's freezing, Natsu," she sniffs, lengthening her strides. He easily keeps up with her, snickering. "Literally, it's probably zero degrees right now. It's normal to shiver—"
"Then I'm extraordinary?"
"You're abnormal."
"That's what someone who wasn't extraordinary would say."
It's her turn to laugh, but the air she breathes in is jarringly cold and it stops her short with the quietest whine. "I really hate this weather."
She doesn't look at him when he releases a sigh.
But there's suddenly something warm and soft around her face, and all she knows for a fleeting moment is his scent. "Nn!?" Her hat has slid down over her eyes with the force of his action. As she raises a mitten-gloved hand to push it away, she realises that, having draped it around her, Natsu is still holding onto the edges of his scarf.
"Better?"
She can see him now in all his bashful, boyish glory. "N-Natsu? Won't you get cold?"
He doesn't meet her gaze, staring at the ground to her right, his hands still fisted in the fabric. He doesn't step back. "Nah."
His gaze flickers up for a second, tentative but eager. Catching his eye, Lucy gently burrows back into the warmth of his scarf, flustered.
"Hey—" He reaches a hand out; cradles her cheek as he ducks his head down and her eyes flutter closed on their own accord because she knows what's coming now, knows what the warmth of his breath on her lips means—
A heavy bang startles them both apart. When her eyes blink open, heart racing and cheeks flushing pink, she sees Natsu's profile against a lit-up sky, a deep glow of red and gold reflected on his skin and illuminating his eyes in flashes of light. The sight makes her breath catch in her throat.
"Looks like it's started," he murmurs, eyes darting across the sky at the firework show.
But Lucy does not look — she is focused on a sight far more breathtaking. Starlight suits him, she thinks, and the thought makes her smile a quiet and private grin. Figures.