This was a commission from someone on tumblr (yes, I opened commissions, since I officially lost all of my income as of a few weeks ago). I haven't written LeLu before, so it was kind of fun. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated.
"It's been six years," Erza murmured, smiling down at the small chest filled with shining stones and pieces of fancy jewellery. Warm tears rolled down her cheek, landing and drying in amongst the contents. "You've been watching us this whole time, haven't you?"
Lucy couldn't help but sniffle, lifting a hand with the paw-glove to wipe her own tears away. It wasn't very often that Erza cried, but almost every time she had, Lucy hadn't been able to help but cry with her. Hearing her talk about the dorm mother had just warmed her heart.
"We should share these with everyone," Erza said, rising to her feet and dusting the dirt from her pants with one hand.
Lucy nodded. It seemed rather fitting to share them, just like Hilda had when all the girls in the dorm had been little. "That sounds great," Lucy whispered.
Erza dug around in the chest for a moment before she pulled out a small amethyst, and placed it in Lucy's palm. "Here's your share."
"What? No, I… I don't need it, I promise! I can't take this! It wouldn't be right!"
Erza shook her head and she laughed quietly for a moment. "Of course you can. You're the cat princess bringing the jewels," she said.
Well, when she puts it that way… Lucy knew she had no choice but to accept it. She didn't think she deserved it - they hadn't been left for her, and all she'd needed to do was find them - but she wasn't going to argue about it. So she accepted it begrudgingly, closing her hand around the jewel and giving a small nod. When she looked down briefly, the request in her other hand caught her attention, and her eyes went wide as she followed the sparkling trail that was leading up towards the darkened sky. "Erza… Look! The request is disappearing!"
Erza's eyes followed the golden trailer, from the slowly disappearing paper to the fading particles high up in the sky. "Maybe it was a request from heaven," Erza whispered.
Lucy decided she liked that. Just being part of it felt like enough of a reward, knowing that she'd been able to help her friend get a little bit of closure. All of it just made Lucy all the more sure that love really was the most powerful magic of them all.
When the request had all but disappeared, just a few glowing particles remaining, Erza looked back down with a gentle sigh. That was when she saw more of the same golden light, but it was coming from Lucy's quickly fading clothes instead. "Lucy… Uh… Your clothes are disappearing, too," Erza stammered.
"What?" Lucy quickly looked down at herself, raising her arms, and seeing the last of her cat suit disappear into the air, she screamed. "No!" She quickly turned around and crouched down, wrapping her arms around her knees and trying to keep at least her front covered.
"I guess the clothes were from heaven, too…" Erza couldn't help but chuckle quietly to herself, only making Lucy wail.
"I knew something like this would happen!" That was what she got for taking a mysterious request with no reward. If she'd thought it had been worth it before, she certainly didn't anymore. She'd been stripped in broad daylight, spent the whole day looking in every conceivable hiding placing she could, crawled through a dusty, spider-filled attic, and now been stripped again. And all she had to show for it was a tiny stone that she'd no doubt just toss in her desk drawer and never see again.
Erza eventually took pity on her friend, stepping forward and holding out her hand to help Lucy off the ground. "I'm sure I'll have something that fits you in my room."
Lucy shook her head and stayed crouched down, arms wrapped around herself. "No no, it's fine," Lucy quickly assured her. While Erza's clothes would fit, Lucy didn't exactly want to run through the dorm naked. "I'm sure my other clothes are around here somewhere."
"Are you sure? It's not a—"
"Positive!"
Erza nodded, pursing her lips. "Very well," she said. She looked down to the closed chest under her arm before beginning to turn, glancing back to Lucy still cowering on the ground in embarrassment. "It's late, so I best head inside to get some rest."
"Of course, yes! Good night!" Lucy said quickly, only just lifting an arm to wave her off. The sooner Erza was gone, the sooner she could go find some clothes and hope no one else saw her in her birthday suit. Surprisingly, she'd rather be in the hideous cat suit right then.
She was right outside Erza's window still, so glancing up a few moments later, Lucy saw the light in her room come on. It didn't occur to Lucy until then that some of the other girls inside might see her, so she scurried behind the tree for another moment and kept an eye on the lights on the second floor. When Erza's light finally went off leaving the rest of the floor in darkness again, Lucy let out a breath and waited for just a few more seconds before finally coming out from behind the tree.
If only she had her keys. She wouldn't be having to creep around under the cover of darkness to find her clothes then - she could just summon Loke or Virgo to bring her some. If anything, Lucy was more surprised that neither of them had forced their gates open yet (or again, in Virgo's case). Virgo should've been out asking her for punishment by that point, and Loke should've been out the second her clothes had started disappearing, wrapping her up in his jacket and protecting her from prying eyes - not that Erza was prying eyes or anything, but still.
"Where are you now, huh?" Lucy paused to look up to the sky with a scowl. "You're not going to force your gate open to help me?" Of course not, you stupid lion. That would just be too easy if Loke came out to help her. And now that she thought about, Lucy wasn't sure she wanted Loke to force his gate open to help her. He'd probably stare more than he helped.
So Lucy went back to searching for her clothes the old fashioned way. The only thing helping her right then was the lack of light. Even then, she moved as quickly as she could, doing her best to stick to the side of the building in the shadows and looking around for lurkers every chance she got. She'd be absolutely mortified if anyone caught her out there.
After searching almost everywhere that she could think of, Lucy came to the conclusion that her clothes were gone. There was a chance they were inside, but really, Lucy doubted they would be. For all she knew, her real clothes could have disappeared up to heaven as well, and considering the day she'd just had, Lucy wouldn't even be surprised if that was the case.
"Damn it, damn it!" She couldn't help but stomp her feet and ball her fists up at her sides. "This isn't fair!" she wailed. Erza was no doubt asleep by that point since she had an uncanny ability to be out like a light in minutes. What did she do to deserve that? She was a good person! She helped people! Was that how the universe had decided to repay her? By making her clothes disappear and forcing her to have to walk home naked?
It just wasn't fair.
At least her day couldn't get any worse, though.
"Lu? Is that you?"
Lucy yelped, turning around quickly and attempted to cover herself with her hands again. "L-Levy?" She looked up to the open window on the second floor to see Levy peeking her head out.
"What are you doing down there?" Levy called down to her. "And where are your clothes?" She hadn't even known Lucy was still at the dorms until she'd heard her complaining just before. She thought Lucy had left hours ago, but apparently not.
"I… I don't know where they are," Lucy replied miserably. "It doesn't matter. I'm just going to go home." She might've waved had her hands not needed to be somewhere else.
"What? Come on, you can't go home like that!" Levy laughed. Lucy would be the laughing stock of the town, and Levy couldn't let that happen to her friend. "Wait right there. I'll come get you!"
Lucy didn't get a chance to protest before Levy pulled her window closed and she disappeared back inside. Part of her wished she could just get home as soon as possible to end her apparent torture, but… Levy catching her right then was probably for the best. She didn't want to walk home naked. Granted, she didn't quite know what Levy would do to help - maybe she'd quickly rush over to Lucy's apartment to grab some clothes for her - but it was still probably better than nothing.
Levy came out the front doors a moment later and ran towards her. "Come on, I'll find something for you to wear."
Lucy nodded and let the smaller woman usher her back into the dorms. "Thank you, Levy," she whispered. "Really. I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."
"Oh, it's fine. I wouldn't be a very good friend if I let you go home like that. What were you even doing here anyway? You've never visited the dorms before, right?"
"Not before today, no…" She followed Levy back into her room, standing between two stacks of books with her hands still attempting to cover what she could. "And… It's a long and stupid story…"
"I have time," Levy said with a gentle smile, trying her best to keep her eyes from wandering too much.
Lucy's eyes were uncertain as she glanced up to her for a moment, feeling far too awkward to make eye contact for the most part, and then she let out a small sigh before she followed Levy further into the room, navigating the precariously stacked books in every free space. Now that Lucy knew Hilda was really a ghost, she supposed there wasn't any harm in telling Levy what she'd been doing there. She'd find out about the treasure from Erza at some point anyway. "Well, I was here for a job," Lucy admitted, looking for a place to sit in amongst the mess before settling on Levy's bed which was miraculously free of books. She still had one arm covering her chest and her other hiding her crotch, but sitting down, she didn't feel quite so exposed. "The request came up in the guild this morning, I guess."
"A job? Really? Who made the request?"
"Would you believe me if I said it was a ghost?"
"A ghost? Lu, that's impossible."
Lucy shrugged. "Well, it was. It was an old lady named Hilda."
"Hilda?" Levy murmured. "But… But she died years ago!"
"I know that, but I'm telling you, it was definitely her," Lucy insisted. She was sure she'd remember exactly who stripped her out of her clothes and forced her into a cat suit. At Levy's disbelieving expression, she continued, "Anyway, it was to help find a lost item, but when I got her, she made me put on that stupid… cat suit."
"Oh, so that's why you were wearing it!" Levy remembered seeing Lucy in it earlier, but she hadn't really thought much of it. Granted, it didn't make much sense for her lost dorm mother to have forced her into it, but still. "So, uh… How'd you end up, you know, naked?"
"I'll get to that," Lucy mumbled. She didn't notice Levy's gaze flicking downwards for a moment or the tinge of pink dusting her cheeks as she made a point of turning to preoccupy herself for a moment. "Hilda - well, ghost Hilda - said I couldn't tell any of you why I was here, so I couldn't really get on with the job until you'd all left. But, it didn't really matter anyway because I didn't even find a clue to it until you'd all gotten back from the lake."
"Uh-huh…"
"So, at some point, I ended up in the attic, and there was this hole in the floorboards right above the bath, so I thought the treasure I was supposed to be finding was really just some perverted joke, since, well… I kind of saw you all in there, and Hilda said it was a shiny treasure…"
Levy turned back around quickly. "Wait, you mean… You were spying on us?" she asked, feeling her cheeks grow a little warmer. Now she really was having a hard time keeping her eyes up, at least knowing that Lucy had been watching them all in the bath at some point. It wasn't as if none of them hadn't seen each other naked before, because they had plenty of times from the baths at the back of the guild, but still, it was a little strange. Not bad, though, just strange.
"Only for like a minute. And I wouldn't say it was really spying, anyway," Lucy murmured, looking back down. "It wasn't my proudest moment, okay… I just didn't really know what to think."
"Well, it's not like it matters anyway," Levy said, making Lucy glance back up to her again, and she smiled. "I mean, we're all girls anyway. We've all bathed together plenty of times."
"R-Right…"
"So was that the treasure, though? The peep-hole in the attic?"
"Oh, no." Lucy shook her head, somewhat thankful for the slight subject change. "There was a map in the attic, and the light from the bath showed where the treasure was. It was a chest of jewellery and gemstones. Erza has it."
Levy smiled softly to herself for a moment. Trust Hilda to leave buried treasure somewhere. She still remembered the day all of the girls in the dorm had gotten a piece of plastic jewellery from the old woman. Still, buried treasure didn't explain Lucy's present lack of clothing, not that Levy was minding all that much, unless minding included the fact that Levy couldn't help but glance back to the blonde sitting on her bed every now and then, purposefully looking away again whenever Lucy's eyes wandered back towards her. "So… Your clothes then? How does that fit into all of this?"
"The job was a request from heaven, apparently, and so were the clothes," Lucy sighed, her own cheeks heating up as she became all too aware of her lack of clothing again. How she'd even started to forget, she didn't know. She supposed it was because it was just Levy, and Levy had seen her like that plenty of times before. "So when the job flyer disappeared, so did the clothes that Hilda made me put on… And now my other clothes have disappeared too…"
"I see…"
"Yeah…"
Levy really just thought it was weird. A request and clothes from heaven? That just didn't make sense. But… She was just going to believe Lucy anyway, because Lucy was her friend and she wasn't exactly known for spinning the truth anyway. Still, the weirdest thing to Levy was how difficult it seemingly was to not just stare at Lucy right then. Usually, she didn't have much trouble with it, always being respectful and always doing her best to avoid making Lucy - or anyone for that matter - uncomfortable just by looking at them for perhaps a few seconds too long when they were in the bath at the guild together. But, sometimes, like right then, it was frustrating having a crush on her best friend, because sometimes, it really was difficult not to stare for just a few seconds too long and get a little too caught up in her daydreams. Lucy being naked in her room was just a little different to being in the baths together.
Lucy was all too aware of Levy's eyes on her. Ordinarily, she didn't mind it - because she'd definitely noticed it before - but with her day having been horrible, all Lucy wanted to do go home and curl up in a ball and hide. She felt just a little too exposed for her liking. Had it been any other day, then… She probably wouldn't have cared about her friend's wandering gaze. Any over day, she kind of liked it - at least someone was looking at her.
"So, uh… Do you maybe have anything I can borrow?" Lucy asked nervously, breaking the awkward silence - or at least Lucy thought it was awkward, and she wasn't really used to that when it came to Levy. But still, that was why she was there, wasn't it?
"Oh! Right, yes, of course!" Levy squeaked, cheeks blazing hot. She'd completely forgotten about offering to find Lucy something to wear. It was utterly embarrassing. She turned away, partly to hide the ever present blush that was spreading to the tips of her ears, and partly to remember just where the hell her dresser was. Glancing around the mess that was her room, she spied a basket of folded laundry behind a stack of outdated encyclopaedias, and she stepped around a small pile of books to make her way over there and begin searching for something for Lucy to wear.
Lucy honestly doubted that Levy would find anything just because of their clear size difference, but she'd honestly be happy with a pillow case with a few more holes at that point. Still, she could only hope that Levy owned something that was stretchy enough for her to fit in to.
She didn't really want to sit there in silence either, and she hated that she was feeling awkward around Levy at all. Granted, it had happened a few times in the past, happening more frequently lately, but she still hated it. Levy was first and foremost her best friend, and she had no reason to feel awkward around her. Well, mostly. So she looked around Levy's messy room filled with books in every possible space and tried to think of something to talk about. "So, uh…" she began, clearing her throat slightly and relaxing her arm across her bust a little. "What did you get up to today?"
"Oh, um… Well, I went to the lake with some of the girls today," Levy answered, digging through the drawers and looking for something suitable. She knew she had something that Lucy would fit into, because she'd bought it specifically for Lucy, but Levy didn't really want to give that to her just yet. She was waiting for the perfect moment, and right then was definitely not a perfect moment.
Lucy remembered Erza mentioning that to her earlier. "Oh yeah. That was for Wendy, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, to help her get settled in. We do it every couple of months, though. Well, you know, if it's not raining or anything. It's kind of just a day for us all to relax and unwind and complain about all the boys in the guild…"
"God, that sounds like heaven." She could complain about Natsu and Gray for days. She could probably complain about Erza, too, but that would probably be a little difficult since Erza would be there as well.
"You should come the next time we go!" Levy suggested, glancing over her shoulder with a smile.
"But… I don't live in the dorms…"
"So? You're still in Fairy Tail. You don't have to live in the dorms to come swimming with us, Lu."
Lucy smiled back at her friend for a moment. "Then I'd love to come next time you all go out." She didn't really spend time with any of the people outside of the guild, other than Levy, at least. Even then, they only occasionally had sleepovers at her place, and those had never been that frequent since her team tended to break in and ruin everything every chance they got.
Levy turned, carrying her old orange dress and a pair of underwear she'd fished out from the bottom of a drawer. "Now, I'm not really sure if either of these will fit," she said, biting her lip and furrowing her brow. "The dress is a little loose and stretched out now, and… And I figured you'd prefer to wear some kind of underwear. They're not pretty or lacy like yours, but… But they're a little bigger than mine and they're clean, so…"
Lucy nodded and accepted the clothes graciously, finally dropping her arms from where they'd been just barely shielding her privates. She didn't really care wearing pretty clothes at that point - just clothes would be fine. Levy stepped back and gave her room to change, looking away out of respect and running her finger over the spines of the books on the nearest shelf.
Lucy didn't really mind changing in front of Levy, even as awkward as she felt. She set the dress down to put on the panties first, wincing as the elastic around the legs dug in a little once she'd got them past her thighs - they were definitely far too small, and she'd no doubt have a painful red mark all around her crotch and her hips if she didn't get them off soon. Lucy didn't have much time to think about that before she heard and felt a quiet snap, and soon the cotton fabric began rolling back down her hips slowly. Great. Already ruining Levy's clothes. Just what I needed. "I, uh… I think the elastic just snapped…" she mumbled.
"Oh. Do you want me to try and find another pair for you?" Levy asked, glancing back to Lucy for a moment.
She shook her head. "No, no… I'm sure they'll do for now… I'm sorry, though."
"It's fine. They're old and I wasn't wearing them anyway."
Trying the dress next, Lucy recognised the burnt orange colour and the halter neckline instantly. She hadn't seen Levy wear that dress in years. She'd always thought it had suited her, but her new one with the white straps was honestly just adorable and suited her even better. Still, tugging the dress on over her head and squeezing her head through the hole, and as forgiving as the fabric was, it only just stretched over her chest, and it refused to budge past her hips. "Uh… I don't think this is going to work, Levy…"
Levy looked back, and she couldn't help but giggle a little at Lucy's embarrassed smile. "Oh dear…" It was unfortunate, but… Honestly, it was kind of funny. Neither one had really expected anything less than disaster. Lucy was trying to fit her curvaceous form into clothes that really just weren't made for her. "Okay, I'll try and find something else for you," she said, rushing back to her dresser to find something more suitable.
Lucy only sighed and went about getting herself out of the too-small clothes, folding them neatly and sitting back down on Levy's bed. "Anyway. What else did you get up to today then?" she decided to ask, folding her arms and crossing her leg over her knee. Surely Levy had done something other than swim. Although even if she had, it was still a whole lot better than what Lucy had spent her day doing.
"Uh, well… Nothing, really," Levy admitted. "I just cleaned up a little after you stopped by this morning, and then after I got back from the lake… Oh! That reminds me! I found a few books that I think you'll like."
"Oh, really? What genre are they?"
"Romance, of course. Although, five of them are fantasy adventures without annoying love interests, thank god, and I found a crime one in my collection that you will actually love."
"Those sound great," Lucy said enthusiastically. Levy always had the best book recommendations. That was probably what she missed most about their lack of sleepovers lately - they would always stay up all night talking about their favourite books and the best plot holes. "You'll have to remind me to come get them."
"Of course!" Levy responded. Humming in thought, she closed a drawer with her hip and pulled open the one above it. She tossed clothes behind her, looking for anything that would be close to suitable, until she came across a pair of crinkled beige shorts. Those might work… "Here, try these on." She held them out to Lucy after quickly crossing the room, and then returned to her drawers to find a top of some sort and then went and handed the small vest to Lucy as well.
Except, those were a complete bust, too. She could only just get the knee-length shorts up her thighs, so they didn't come anything close to being done up, and she had bikini tops that covered more than the navy vest Levy had given her. She couldn't even get the two sides of the vest to meet in the middle of her chest anyway. "This is just going to be a waste of time, isn't it?" Lucy mumbled dejectedly, shrugging off the tiny vest and chucking it down behind her.
"No! Nope." Levy shook her head quickly. Nope, she wasn't going to accept defeat. She said she'd help Lucy, and help she would. "I'll find something. I promise." So she dug around in her clothes some more, eventually finding an old pair of leggings that she just used for pyjamas, and a too-big shirt that had come from the guild's merchandise store. Leggings were forgiving, and the shirt was too big on her anyway, so those would surely fit Lucy.
Taking them from Levy, Lucy tried the leggings and the guild shirt. She was sure she heard some of the stitching break when she pulled the leggings on, wiggling into them a little and trying to get them up high enough. The material was so stretched that she could see her skin tone peaking through the fibres on her thighs, so she knew the back would be even worse. And while the shirt mostly fit, it was still tight around her chest and her hips, and it was just a little short on her, but… For the most part, the shirt and the leggings seemed to be holding. "I think… I think this will work," she said hopefully, stretching her legs out to test the movement and see if the leggings would continue to hold or burst open at the seams.
"I told you I'd find something," Levy said triumphantly. Granted, it wasn't the best alternative, but it was far better than nothing.
Lucy walked back and forth in the narrow space next to the bed. So far so good. She wished she had a jumper or something to tie around her waist and hide her ass that would definitely be visible through the leggings, but it was still dark outside, and if she walked quickly and kept to the side alleys, hopefully only a few people would see her.
She looked back up to Levy with a brilliant smile. "Thank you so much, Levy. I don't know what I'd do without you, honestly. You're a life-saver."
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. I know you'd do the same for me if it was reversed anyway."
"I'll owe you, I promise."
"Lucy, it's fine, really," Levy assured her. "You don't need to do anything."
Lucy nodded but pursed her lips, turning to finally make her way back to the door to Levy's room. She really did think she needed to repay Levy somehow, but perhaps it would be best to leave it until another day. For the time being, going home seemed like the best idea. "Well, still… Thank you," she said. "I think I better get home before—" She barely made it to the door before the stitching gave up and burst at the seams, splitting open on the insides of her thighs before the seam at the very back did the same. "No! No no no, why?!" Lucy wailed, hands flying back to try and cover herself again.
It was ridiculous, but she really should've expected something like that to happen. Of course it wouldn't have worked out; Levy was smaller than her so of course she wouldn't have clothes that could actually fit her. And now she really was ruining all of Levy's clothes.
She hung her head as she turned back around and kicked the leggings bag off, tugging her shirt off as well and tossing it behind her. "This is stupid," she muttered, crossing her arms with a huff and sniffling a little. "Can't even wear stupid leggings without them breaking and telling me I'm too fat for them. And now I've ruined your clothes, too, and you must really wish you had just let me walk home naked now."
Levy couldn't stop herself from stepping forward to wrap her arms around the blonde, pulling her into a tight hug without caring that she was without clothes again. "Come on, you know that's not true," she said softly, hearing Lucy sniffle again. Levy didn't really care about the clothes that Lucy had accidentally ruined. Even then, there'd really only been two things. She cared more about making her friend happy, and she just really didn't like seeing Lucy get upset over something as trivial as clothes that were clearly too small for her not fitting. "And there's no need to get upset over some stupid pants not fitting. It's fine, really."
"But nothing ever fits. I hate it. Either my boobs are too big, or my butt is too fat, or my hips are too wide… Why can't I just be normal sized like you?" At least clothes would fit her properly then. It was far more difficult to find clothes that she could somewhat pull off than she cared to admit. If they did fit her, then they were probably ridiculously tight, or several sizes too big. As much as she'd love to be able to wear comfy clothes that weren't skin tight, she much prefered clothes that somewhat fit her over clothes that were just glorified bedsheets on her.
Normal sized? Levy almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Lucy, come on, that's absurd," Levy said, leaning back and placing her hands just below Lucy's shoulders. "You're perfect just the way you are. So many people who look at you think the exact same thing." Levy knew she sure did. "You're just… You're perfect, and you make being beautiful seem so easy. Do you how much I would give to look like you? Anything." Lucy felt her cheeks warm up as she glanced up to Levy in front of her. She'd never really been called perfect before. "And… And, really, look at me; I still have people mistaking me for a child," Levy continued.
"That's… That's not true," Lucy mumbled.
"It is true. And no one in their right mind find that attractive. But you… Everyone is always looking at you, because everything about you is perfect and gorgeous and I care way too much about you to let you sit there and say that you hate the way you look, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with any part of you." Levy didn't think about it when she quickly leant in and pressed her lips to Lucy's for a second, but as soon as she felt Lucy's warm lips on hers, she realised just what she'd done. "Oh… Oh my god… I… I shouldn't have—I'm sorry, I didn't…" How could she have been so stupid? She'd never really wanted Lucy to know that she saw her as more than a friend because she hadn't wanted their friendship to be ruined, but now she'd gone and done it anyway.
But… Lucy hadn't really minded it. Or at least she didn't think she'd minded it. She knew she should probably be freaking out a little because her best friend had just kissed her, but she just really wasn't. And her blush was in full force as she admitted that to Levy. "N-No, it's… It's okay. I… I kind of liked it…" she murmured. She'd had her suspicions that Levy maybe liked her a little, or had at least been curious, at least by how often Lucy had caught her glancing in her direction. Perhaps Levy really did like her. "And… And thank you."
"What on earth are you thanking me for?" Levy squeaked. She was certain Lucy wasn't thanking her for kissing her. Although if she is… She did say she liked it…
"For saying what you said." She didn't think everyone was looking at her (although even if they were, she certainly didn't care) or that she was perfect, but she still appreciated Levy saying it. "It was really nice."
Levy stepped back, looking away in embarrassment and rubbing her arm. "W-Well, you know, you're my, uh… You're my friend, so I meant it…"
Lucy's lips tugged up into a small smile as she unfolded her arms slowly and reached for Levy's hands. They were friends after all, so it was only fair Lucy cheered Levy up as well. "For the record though…" she began, hoping to meet Levy's gaze though she was still making a point of looking away. "Anyone who thinks you're a child is just a blind fool."
"Lucy, you don't need to say anything… It's fine…"
"But I want to," Lucy insisted. If she thought about it, Levy probably didn't have many people to tell her how amazing she actually was, so it was about time someone said it to her. "Because you're the most amazing woman I know, and I don't think I would've had half as much fun in Fairy Tail if I hadn't met you when I joined."
"You can't mean that…" Levy said softly.
"Come on, of course I do! And… While you say you would give anything to look like me, I would so prefer to have the kind of body that you do." At least everything was proportional. The constant backaches that she dealt with was something Lucy would gladly sacrifice; being curvy wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "You don't have anything to be ashamed about either, and I know that you are, because you're best friend and I know almost everything there is to know about you," she said softly.
Levy couldn't help but return the smile. She hadn't really wanted Lucy to say anything, but Levy was kind of glad that she had. "Thanks, Lucy," she whispered.
"I, um…" Lucy was already standing up, her hands still holding Levy's, and she had a hard time looking straight all of a sudden. She knew it probably wasn't that appropriate, but… She kind of wanted to kiss Levy then, and she wasn't quite sure why. She supposed it was because she'd like it when Levy had kissed her, as surprising as it had been, and because she was kind of curious, too. "I liked it when we, um… You know… kissed…" she mumbled, glancing up just in time to see Levy's eyes go slightly wide and her blush spread up to the tips of her ears. "And, um… If you wanted to… If it was okay, I mean—"
Levy pulled her hands free to cup Lucy's face and gently kiss her again, cutting her off mid-sentence. It felt a little strange to be kissing her best friend like that, but it was a feeling that was quickly fading as Levy knew she wasn't going to be ruining her friendship with the woman by doing so.
The kiss was timid, lips barely moving, but it was enough to leave Lucy with pleasant smile on her lips until she remembered that she still didn't have any clothes that had actually fit. She wasn't feeling quite so uncomfortable or exposed all of a sudden, but clothes were still definitely a necessity. "Levy?" she said softly, eyes flicking up to meet Levy's as their foreheads touched. "I'm still naked…"
Levy's brow furrowed for a moment until she stepped back and made an obvious glance down, one that Lucy almost minded. She'd forgotten about Lucy's dilemma once again. Her head was definitely in the clouds right then. But, still, Levy wasn't entirely sure how to solve Lucy's clothing problem. It was clear nothing of hers would fit. Unless I give her that… She still had Lucy's present tucked away in a cupboard, and while she would really prefer to hold onto it for a little while longer, Levy knew that it would be for the best if she gave it to Lucy then. She didn't really have any options left anyway.
Pulling away without a word, Levy disappeared into the next room to fetch the large white box from the bottom of her cupboard and returned a moment later. Lucy raised her eyebrows at her, looking between her and box, and Levy went and sat down on the bed and placed the box next to her. "I was planning on giving this to you for your birthday or Christmas or something, because I wanted it to be a proper present, but… But I guess it makes sense to give it to you now since you need clothes and all…" she said nervously, lifting the lid off the box and setting it aside and revealing the contents to Lucy. She really wasn't sure why she'd decided buying Lucy an outfit was a good idea, because in hindsight, it was ridiculously stupid. "I just, um… I saw it in a window when I was out on a job a couple months back, and I thought it would suit you really well and I know you usually like these kind of clothes, so, I… Well, I bought it for you and decided to hold onto it until it was the right time. It's stupid, I know…"
Lucy continued to smile as she gently took the folded clothes from the box, examining the short grey skirt and the then holding up the blue and white crop top with the gold embellishments in front of her. She was sure there were even some matching sleeves in the box. "Levy, this is adorable!" she beamed, quickly stepping into the skirt to try it on; and it fit her perfectly. "This isn't stupid at all!" It was probably one of the most thoughtful gifts she'd received, if she was honest. Most people just bought her books because they knew she liked to read and write when she had the time, but Levy had bought her the outfit because she'd thought of her when she'd seen it. There was a difference between thinking of someone when you see a particular item, and seeing an item and thinking that someone would maybe like it just because they liked those kind of things. Or at least Lucy thought so. Levy had put effort into her gift.
"Do you mean that?"
"Of course!" Lucy really did love it, though, and getting the top on and tying the ribbons on the sleeves, she did a little twirl in front of Levy. "How do I look?" she asked.
"Wonderful," Levy said softly, her cheeks still tinged with pink.
After borrowing some boots from Levy, Lucy was all ready to finally leave and was standing at the door between the stacks of books with Levy just behind her. "Thank you again, Levy," Lucy said kindly. "For helping me, and for the clothes… Just, thank you."
Levy nodded. "It was my pleasure."
"Well, it really is late now, so it's probably time I actually head home now…" She was starving, now that she thought about it. She hadn't eaten a thing all day. But, looking back to the door, Lucy almost didn't want to leave. She just wanted to stay for some reason, but she didn't really want to ask Levy if that would be okay; she didn't want to push any boundaries, now that she wasn't sure if she liked Levy as just her best friend.
Levy found that she didn't want Lucy to leave either, and she knew she was probably pushing things a little, but as soon as Lucy reached out for the metal door knob, she took a step forward and quickly said, "You could stay though, if you want…" Lucy looked back at her with eyebrows raised, and Levy folded her hands together as she looked to the shelf next to her. "I-I mean… It is late, and… And we haven't had a sleepover for ages, and you've never stayed at the dorms before…" Of course, while a sleepover would be fun, Levy couldn't deny that she was kind of hoping to talk to Lucy a little bit, maybe figure out what they were now. She didn't want to think Lucy kissing her back was just curiosity getting the better of her.
"I'd really love to," Lucy whispered then, turning away from the door. She knew that Levy's sleepover suggestion was just a cover, but that was more than okay with her. "As long as we get to do this some more," she added softly, fingers gently brushing against Levy's cheek as she pressed their lips together gently.