Too hot under the Scarf

by Moon Prynces

In which Lucy, with all her feminine wiles, is the one oblivious and Natsu can't stop himself from heating up at everything she does. Natsu's slow, and at first reluctant, descent into more perverse thoughts...

9-8-12

1:18am

Summary–In which Lucy, with all her feminine wiles, is the one oblivious and Natsu can't stop himself from heating up at everything she does. Natsu's slow, and at first reluctant, descent into more perverse thoughts...

Disclaimer–I do not own Fairy Tail, which belongs to its respective owner(s) and is only being used in a fan-made, fictional story.

xoxo

Title–Too hot under the Scarf

By–Moon Prynces

xoxo

His head jerked to the side suddenly with a deep frown and serious eyes.

It was in that one moment that something changed. Something that no one could have foreseen.

His ears twitched just barely in the way that only someone with weirdly fine-tuned hearing could, trying to– Well, hoping to catch it again. He couldn't help wanting to hear i–

There it was!

Natsu's head – which had slowly gone back to focus on Happy – swiveled once more in the same direction.

And so he found himself getting up, drifting over to the bar counter where Lucy had her head down with eyes closed while Mirajane laughed good-naturedly at the poor girl's meager distress.

It was in the few meters he walked that the sound was made again.

Natsu stopped altogether, though no one noticed, and looked on with wide eyes.

It was so strange. Of all the times for it to happen... Of all the people it could have been... Of all the stupid, random quirks he'd noticed and made fun of... Of all the things she did, or could have done, that would arouse this...whatever it was.

The whines of frustration, moans of exasperation, grunts of determination, squeals of delight – the girl practically had a book of reactions for every emotion and situation. He thought he'd heard them all by now since she could go through ten different, completely unrelated feelings in ten minutes (helped along by Happy's prodding).

But it was one particular sound she made on this ordinary afternoon that crashed into his ears, flipped a switch in him, and made him stare with a new, unreadable expression while his blood pumped faster and an unfamiliar instinct was awakened.

It happened so fast, and ended so abruptly when she got up with the intention of trudging home, that the feeling disappeared quickly as well.

Right as she passed by his still form, the blonde had the gall to ask with an innocent tilt of the head, "Natsu? Are you okay?"

Things would never be the same.

xoxo

Days later and he was still trying to process the short event that had transpired.

Not that the small time frame mattered. He could remember it running through his veins, feeling energized and restless: a door opened that couldn't be closed.

All he knew was that Lucy had started it. She had done something! Whether it was intentional or not remained to be seen, but he didn't think she had knowingly set him in this way. She wasn't that cruel.

Well...

Wait, he hadn't done anything lately!

Anyway, Natsu wasn't the type to overanalyze every little thing. When he wanted to know something he just asked. Even if it was the enemy while in the middle of battle.

So he tried to approach this the same way.

"Oi, Lucy!" he tripped his way through her open window, sans Happy.

It was right into the line of fire, er– her glare.

"What are you doing!" she shouted rhetorically, clutching the cotton towel tightly with eyes closed comically as if that would control his vision as well.

Natsu paused and stared in confusion a moment. Realization dawned with a flabbergasted expression, mouth dropping open.

Oh shi–

She had just been in the middle of changing!

For the first time ever...he colored at the transgression.

"I, uh, just wanted to–" he sputtered stupidly while she glared fiercely.

"Well then, by all means," she swept a hand towards the room sarcastically, not bothering to let him finish. "Let me just get on some clothes." Insert exasperated eye-roll.

Here, the color which had subsided a little came back. Then, all of a sudden, he was sufficiently put in his place when the bathroom door slammed shut behind her, being forced to grab her clothes and leave him alone for the moment.

Why was he so surprised at the action? It was all totally Lucy.

Stupid, he berated himself in frustration. Did you think she was gonna change in front of you?

Instead of answering that question (even to himself) he just rolled onto her bed and sat up.

He wasn't there to– to... Well, he was there to ask something (anything!) to try and understand what had happened to him the other day.

Unfortunately, his already incoherent train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Lucy's bathroom cabinet closing a little more loudly than she'd like, followed by the girl swearing at her mistake.

With arms and legs already crossed contemplatively, the pink-haired teen found his gaze on the door that stood between him and one of his best friends.

And for some reason, it couldn't be moved.

She was putting on clothes just a few meters away. Which meant that first she'd have to remove that slip of a towel. And for that brief interlude...there was nothing.

What did it– What did she– What was...?

What was he thinking?

Even with a tiny frown and trying to hold his brows together gravely, he could feel his skin flush with some kind of uncomfortable heat. And that was strange seeing as he ate fire as a meal on a regular basis.

Still, his thoughts delved on.

Well, okay, sure... He'd seen her in as little clothing as possible before, even a towel like just a moment ago, but that didn't mean he'd seen it all. What was so wrong with curiosity?

He wasn't completely naïve. He had probably seen a naked woman once or twice in his life, though nothing really memorable. But somehow, now, he couldn't help wondering what was really under the clothes. More specifically, under Lucy's clothes.

His teeth clenched, body tensing at what he was thinking of.

He'd never wondered about such things before. And yet here he was, with the recognition that there was more to see than a bit of leg and cleavage, which were things he was immune to even before meeting her. There was more to it, those important parts that all women tried to keep covered.

And it was all so carelessly hidden beneath–

The bathroom door swung open, the sound of its hinges grating on his ears.

It made him look up. And then his eyes bugged out once more, face taking on a surprised yet pained expression with the same uncharacteristic blush.

Lucy didn't notice any of this as she walked out in her usual barely-covering-a-thing skirt and how-does-it-even-hold-anything tube top. And since she was still upset that he had once again barged into her house without so much as knocking, she opted for pointedly ignoring him (humph!) while tidying up some corner of the room.

There was no stopping him...h-his mind from procuring more completely inappropriate thoughts.

So when the blonde finally decided she'd "punished" Natsu with unearthly peace and quiet, she turned around to find him tinged with discoloration and unable to clear away the idea of how easy it would be to slip that pathetic piece of cloth on her chest down just a few more inches...

"So what is it?" she addressed, hands going to her hips and forgetting her anger.

Holy shi– Was I just fantasizing about Lucy– Lucy's clothes? he questioned himself, head spinning and not hearing a word she said.

She watched as he made some overly-dramatic horrified expression, and only raised a brow at the odd behavior.

It wasn't until his brain was too fried to function and he fell off her bed that she rushed over to ask worriedly, "Natsu? Natsu! Are you okay? What happened?"

From his vantage point there was too much in the way for him to reach sanity again. (Her chest was blocking any attempt, putting further color on his face as he tried to look away.)

When it was all over (she had gotten up to find last night's leftovers to hover beneath his nose like a smelling salt) he left as quickly as possible, trying to reason his strange, new thoughts.

He just wanted to see... To, uh, to see what the big deal was! What was underneath all the cloth? Not that she wore much anyway, but...well... It wasn't like there was more to it! Just curiosity!

It had nothing to do with Lucy in particular. She was just the closest female friend he had. They spent a lot of time together, so of course he'd be fanta– uh, curious about her first. Right?

Right?

xoxo

"Hey, what're you eating?" Levy popped over after having gotten back from a job.

Natsu watched on a little ways down the table and let out an audible gulp of discomfort. Lucy obliviously glanced up at her friend while still biting down on whatevertheheckitwas.

Then he cringed when she ducked forward and put the other hand under her chin to catch the accidental spillage.

What the hell was she doing? he questioned himself heatedly.

His elbow rested on the table, chin in palm, and he was pretending to glance around tiredly (which was already unusual, if he wasn't too dense to realize). But in actuality, the droopy lids tried to hide the fact that he could hardly peel his eyes from the blonde sitting a few feet away.

It seemed that nothing could break his concentration. A plate of fire food sat in front of him, largely untouched. He'd waved off Happy, who pouted and flew off to bother Charle. Not even Gray mocking him about something-or-other could pull his attention away.

It was at that moment that Lucy nodded to something Levy was saying and then bit down on another piece of–

"What is that, anyway?" the script mage questioned, back to her original inquiry after a quick distraction.

Lucy barely had time to chew and swallow while trying to answer. And Natsu couldn't help his eyes widening and breath stopping in that short moment. There was even some crazy hot flash that ripped up his back and neck.

It all faded when she did swallow, with him staring at the motion of her throat.

"Oh, I went on this job yesterday! All I had to do was help this really nice ojii-san with his garden. He was trying to create some hybrid fruit and needed..."

Blah blah, yeah yeah. Natsu scoffed to himself while tuning out the story, as he'd already heard it.

"...and since we did such a good job–"

"Don't you mean Virgo and Aquarius did a good job?" Happy interrupted with a ridiculously innocent face that clashed with his slightly insulting words.

The blonde smacked him away with such force that he hit the table and slid down just a little past Natsu's seat, all while maintaining the cheerful expression she presented Levy.

"So he gave me a box of the different types to try out. These are the best so far."

The tiny blue-haired girl examined the bowl of red and purple fruit. Lucy herself picked up another, smaller one with just the two necessary fingers.

"You should try them!" And then–

Then, she popped it into her mouth with this grin that made Natsu's head spin.

To his credit, he didn't collapse or anything. Though his thoughts were far from innocent.

His unwarranted agitation had him crazily asking, Where has her mouth been?

Instead of this coming off as distractingly offensive, it made him stare at her mouth while other crude thoughts rolled forth. That question didn't even make sense; she wasn't an object to be so easily dirtied!

Dirty, hm? his mind went.

He knew what the word meant when...applied to people.

But Lucy? Dirty?

Somehow, from the corners of his subconscious, images were brought forth that complied with that definition and there was no stopping his brain from combining them with his friend who sat no more than five feet away.

Lucy– She wouldn't do any of those things! he fought internally.

Unlike the last time he was attacked with such, uh, dirty thoughts, the only indication that something screwy was going on in his head was the deep frown and pulled together brows, creating a scarily lost-in-thought expression. There was no blush present.

It was like he was in a battle. Well, that was kind of true.

And look at him! he berated himself madly. He'd totally skipped over the most basic action and went straight into–

What about kissing? Had she kissed anyone? Like for real?

Seriously, he concluded. Where had her mouth been?

Was...was she good at it?

Because–! He really wouldn't know if you could be good at it. He thought it was just something people did. He'd never cared to try it or anything. But Lucy seemed like the type...

Natsu watched as she nodded to Levy and took a bite of a larger fruit. Watched the weird way her lips puckered, teeth scissoring off a piece. Watched her pull away the remainder of it between two fingers to lick her lips carelessly, still chewing and listening intently. Watched her finish of the second piece and stick one finger after another in her mouth briefly in an attempt to clean them off.

He stared, longing for his previous reaction of overheating and falling over. At least then his head had been conked decently enough for him to think straight and get the hell away from the awkward situations he was creating for himself.

Now he couldn't even look at the girl while she was eating!

"What's wrong, Natsu?" Happy asked after having gotten up and walked down table to him. The little cat's head nodded down to look at the plate of food in front of his best friend before he leapt into the air, wings springing out to keep him there. "You never leave behind food!" he cried out, garnering attention. "Where's your appetite?"

Natsu grumbled incoherently while glancing away.

Why'd he have to point it out? The Salamander already felt bad about it! But he just didn't...

Yeah right, he thought while putting up an annoyed front. Food isn't really the thing I'm hungry for right now.

Miraculously, he didn't change color at the private admission. In fact, he only just twitched restlessly, obviously wanting to make a move to satisfy his growing appetite.

Happy was still busy cajoling him to realize he wasn't listening.

And the pink-haired teen took the moment to reflect that that was quite an accurate way of putting it.

Appetite, he thought while Lucy's mouth came to mind. Well, not like that! he added hastily, fighting off indecent thoughts. He just wanted to know something. He wanted to know...where– ah, who she had– well, was it–

He just wanted to know. There was nothing more to it. Just curious.

And okay, this one was more Lucy-centric. But she was his friend! His partner! He had a right to ask, at least!

It's not like he wanted Lucy-kisses or someth–

"Hey, Natsu!" a voice broke in.

His face yanked to where Lucy was holding out the bowl to him with one hand as the other held one of the fruits to her lips.

Just before she took a bite, she asked (with an alarmingly sinless smile), "Do you want some?"

Finally, his calm (though slightly irritated) demeanor fell apart. Quite a few people watched as his eyes grew big and he shook his head quickly once before jumping up to dash out of the guild.

xoxo

There was no going back to being ignorant. He had to get a grip. Sure, the thoughts would come – hey, he was growing up! – but he didn't have to freak out at it every single time.

His usually over-exuberant, everyday behavior was noticeably toned down for the past few weeks. He didn't even try to deny this when Gray commented, instead telling the ice mage to, "Grow up."

"All done!" she announced while walking into the room, a towel around her shoulders and long, white robe covering everything (for once).

Natsu jumped up from the couch he'd been sitting on. "Finally!" he rolled his eyes.

Lucy glared. "I didn't take that long."

"You took so long that Erza, Gray and Happy decided to find dinner while waiting!" he argued impudently.

She huffed, threatening to go back and finish her usual routine. Natsu brushed past her without another word, because really: what if the others got back and he lost his opportunity?

The moment was going good. If it wasn't already apparent, Team Natsu was on another job. One that forced them to find somewhere to stay for the night. It was luck they got the last suite this large; containing a bathroom, two bedrooms, and a simple common room. This was where he'd been waiting.

But anyway, was being the key word. As he made his way to take a quick shower there was that quick, accidental grazing of his arm with her robe that sent a jolt of heat up his spine, starting from the area of contact.

It made him falter in his footsteps and glance over his shoulder to watch Lucy disappear into the designated girl's bedroom. He sighed and continued on his way.

Maybe it was just payback that he was now getting frazzled when she got out of the shower. Usually it was her walking out to find him waiting (irritatingly) on her bed with a cheerful grin, and then having a fit over it.

As he pulled off his clothes and waited for the water to heat up, he took a long look at the hand that he pulled back from the task.

Hm...

The robe, while long, hadn't been thick enough for him to not feel her warm skin beneath it.

And, he remembered, from the few times they'd had physical contact (usually in battle or when he'd been saving her from some trouble and vice versa) it was always so smooth and soft.

He stepped through the steam and into the spray, not bothering to put a cap on his thoughts.

How'd she even maintain that with all the scrapes they'd gotten? Seriously, the girl never seemed to scar! What was up with that?

A mental catalogue of all their adventures began flipping through his head, bringing out the instances he could recall having her skin under his fingertips. He'd never burned up at the touch before.

Maybe it was because there was usually too much going on at the time for him to notice (and appreciate) it. Maybe he was basically immune to it or something. Maybe it was all in his head and he couldn't stop thinking about it because this one time it wasn't so completely accessible, only having been felt through a barrier.

Not that he wanted access or something.

Well...

His head tilted back, eyes closing tightly under the waterfall.

There were also the many times he'd stumbled into her apartment as she was getting out of the shower, or just about to change. Though, of course, he hadn't been paying attention to such things at the time. He hadn't always been some closet pervert...

Natsu sighed and ended his shower abruptly.

It was too much to ask that he went one week, at least, without having such outrageous (and sometimes completely lewd) ideas about the girl.

So he stumbled his way out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and hoping to make it to–

Oh, no, of course not.

He watched as Lucy was crouched down near a suitcase that hadn't been placed in her room.

"What're you doing?" he asked, much calmer than he should have been. "Wait, that's not even yours!" he accused.

"Sorry," the girl smiled with a glance. "I forgot to bring sleepwear. You don't mind if I borrow a shirt, right?" And she didn't bother waiting for permission, still going through the three options he'd brought along at her insistence.

Her robe was still on, though now hastily tied. She'd probably taken it off before realizing her fail, and slipped it back on to come out and search through his things.

"What about Erza?" he questioned, slightly distracted.

Now, he could see the cleavage she was known for, and her legs had slipped out from between the front part.

"She basically Requips into clothes," she replied. Then muttered, "So I don't get why she brings all the luggage everywhere when it's not even useful..."

A part of him wanted to head over to his tiny (in comparison to hers or Erza's) suitcase, snatch up some clothes and head into his room without incident. But that might put him in too close proximity, and he knew better by now.

So he watched her out of the corner of his eyes, pretending to readjust the towel so it didn't fall off, and waited casually for her to leave. So, he noticed the curves of her chest, partly exposed (as usual), with hair in a damp mess on her head so that drops slid down the back of her neck and into her robe.

If it had been last week, he would have hated himself for noticing this at all – might've had a stroke and everything.

However, right then all he could do was let his eyes wander away from her form while steam seemed to come off his body. It was a good thing she didn't turn around to see the phenomenon, as he basically dried himself off without the use of a towel.

The other part of him... Well, there was this thought – an impulse – to swipe away the stray water inching down her skin. That it would be so easy, and quick, yet somehow satisfying.

Natsu stared as she took her sweet ass time examining his few clothes, even shrieking when she accidentally came across his undergarments. His gaze turned dark and unblinking, expression nearing predatory.

His hand not clutching the towel (a precaution) twitched a tiny bit.

He wanted to feel that skin again. He wanted to slide his hand over every possible inch and engrave it in his brain for every time he wondered this in the future. He wanted to feel it without any goddamn clothes in the way. And, because of the current situation, he even thought about what it would feel like under the rain of a shower head...while hands crawled all over and not giving her a chance to catch her breath, only drown in the–

What the fuck was he thinking?

"Natsu?" he was suddenly questioned.

A glance up showed his teammate and friend holding one of his shirts against her chest and looking at him worriedly.

Silence as he took a breath and tucked away the thoughts, no longer surprised or disgusted at them and himself.

"Yeah?" he shrugged while walking forth to his suitcase and grabbing whatever he could.

"Uh, nevermind."

They went their separate ways, doors closing almost simultaneously.

Should he have been more worried about the fact that his attention had turned from a weak (though unexpected) fascination into vying for actual physical...stuff? Or, that he was getting so used to the thoughts that he no longer worried over them the way he had in the beginning, even though they just kept...maturing?

Internally, he shrugged.

It's not like there was anything he could do about it now. The idea was there, the thoughts came, he dwelled a little, and moved on.

It wasn't all that bad. Things could still seem normal.

As long as no one knew what went on in his head.

xoxo

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, don't lie!" she said angrily. "We've all noticed something different in him!"

Gray, Erza, Happy, and anyone within the vicinity that heard the statement looked up at the blonde.

"Well..." Gray started thoughtfully.

"Now that I think about it..." Erza added.

"He ignored a plate of food!" Happy said, jumping into the air and looking...happy that he'd contributed.

Everyone flinched, and Lucy forged on.

"See! That's so not Natsu! He's been acting weird lately." Her voice dropped at the observation, though the boy in question wasn't in the guild yet.

Gray put fingers to his chin in that famous contemplative pose. "And he hasn't been battling me as much as–"

He stopped abruptly at the threatening aura that appeared.

"I thought you two were getting along fine," Erza questioned dangerously.

"Y-yeah! Of course we are!"

Lucy ignored this while thinking deeply on the issue. "Maybe he found out something about Igneel. Or maybe he's given up on it."

Happy shook his head with folded cat arms. "No way. Natsu would never give up on Igneel! And if he found out something I'd be the first to know!"

"We'd all be the first to know. He doesn't have an indoor voice," Gray leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes.

"Where did your clothes go?" Happy replied, causing the ice mage to look down and commence freaking out.

Erza, who was also giving serious thought to all this, finally said, "Well, I'm sure whatever it is, he'll tell us when he's ready."

"That's just it! It's been weeks like this! And this is Natsu. He can't keep something to himself for that long. If he was going to tell us, then he would have done it already." She bit her lip, forehead creasing, and glanced around.

"So? Maybe it's something he just doesn't want us to know. We've all got things like that," Gray spoke up, fully clothed again.

There was a pause, and Happy watched on with a head tilt as the three humans drifted off into their own worlds to reminisce their own issues that had been brought to light without them wanting it.

Would it have been better if all their secrets were kept hidden from friends and comrades?

"I can't accept that!" Lucy said a little too loudly, accompanied by her standing up and slamming a hand on the table. "He's always been there to help each of us. And now that something's going on with him, we just ignore it?" Her hands came up in front of her with determined fists clenched. "I'm going to find out what's wrong and see if there's something I can do!"

There was dust in her wake from the quicker-than-necessary exit.

Happy put a thoughtful paw to the corner of his mouth. "I have a bad feeling about this."

xoxo

She had just come out of the bathroom (following her nightly beauty ritual) dressed in her favorite pink pajamas. The room was already dark, with shadows due to the street lamps outside. Her bed was waiting with its ultra-comfy blanket, and the day had been long, so sleep would be immediate. In fact, her lids were so heavy she almost walked into the tables in her path, making a vague mental note to possibly rearrange furniture soon.

It was probably why she didn't notice him sitting in one of those dark corners, watching her intently. Her desk was his perch, one knee in the air with arm resting on it.

He silently watched the way she climbed into bed, unsuspecting. Watched her yawn so widely, as if mocking him for his waiting around. Watched her pull back the covers, as if sending an invitation. Watched her stretch her right arm into the air, as if beckoning him to join her already.

But he could only stare while the shadows of her room hid his carefully expressionless face.

He waited until she was soundly tucked in, eyes having been closed for most of her activity since exiting the bathroom. Then he bit down, jaw muscles tense.

It was that damned bed this time! Always something with her!

Then again, it was his own fault for being there in the first place.

Well, it was this or spend the night being consumed by that unnatural (to him, anyway) heat and feeling antsy no matter what he did. Naturally he wanted to get to the source of his problem and do something about it.

It was getting to be unbearable.

xoxo

Her nose wrinkled at the ticklish feeling, wanting to reach up and get rid of the itch.

Only she was too tired and her hand was so heavy, so she could only make a displeased expression and turn her head to the side.

And, oh was her blanket warm. Warmer than she remembered, in fact.

Why was she even awake? Something woke her up...

Lucy shook her head tiredly and fought to open her eyes.

It wasn't until she felt a puff of warm air on her face and a finger tracing down the side of her neck from jaw to a little below the– the now partly open pajama shirt she was wearing! What the–

"Natsu?" her voice questioned upon opening her eyes to find him on all fours above her. "What's going on?" His finger was still below her collar bone, on the spot that usually had a bra strap in the way except right then there wasn't a bra. "Wh-what're you doing?"

She tried to sit up, of course, in vain. He just hummed and pushed her back with a hand flat on her chest...er, above the goods anyway.

And he wasn't even looking at her! Just her...lips? Huh?

Whatever! Now was not the time to ponder on every little thing. First she needed to–

"Natsu," she started in a calm, stern voice that was actually quite far from what she was feeling in that moment. "You need to get off me. Whatever is going on, I can hel–"

"That's exactly what you're doing," he interrupted, with an eerily intelligible voice considering his actions. Was he drugged or something?

Lucy stared up at his face carefully for any signs of– of something. But his gaze had already moved downward. Not to mention his hand was–

She shrieked suddenly when the third button on her shirt was popped open, and immediately pushed her hands up against his chest in an effort to remove his presence from being anywhere near her.

It didn't really work though, seeing as he was still there, so she stopped the futile attempt to grasp at his jacket.

"Natsu! Wake up! Something's wrong here and–" She abruptly stopped to shudder and let out a squeak from the back of her throat as she felt him...feeling her up. Just a little. Her hands on his clothes tightened, though shaking, while his own hand moved from outside her clothes to inside them.

Still, all things considered, it was pretty tame. He only slid his hand up her side from the bottom of her shirt and didn't go too far.

"Wh-what's going on? What are you doing?" Her frantic voice becoming louder until she finally tried to shake him in her grasp. "Answer me!"

It did jostle him a bit, enough that his eyes flicked back up at hers uncaringly. After a few moments, his expression went from dark and vacant to upset.

"Don't act so naïve! This is all your fault! You started it!" he complained, sounding closer to the Natsu she knew.

Cautiously, she dared to ask, "What...what did I do?"

He looked on in disbelief, pushing himself up higher though keeping her trapped. "You– You were– And I was all tortured forever! There was nothing I cou– You–!" His words circled back to the first incomplete thought.

Lucy watched curiously, a brow lifting and head slanting to one side just barely. Watched as his eyes became fixed on some goal once again. Watched as his head dipped back into her personal space (as if he'd even left it!). Watched that one spot on her ceiling that she would never forget as he mumbled something with his mouth so close to her ear that it tickled and made her wince into closing both eyes.

Then–!

Then he licked her ear! Just a tiny flick and she couldn't stop herself from letting out some gaspy kind of breath...which followed a weird, low sound that neither could tack down.

Natsu stopped himself from the path he was going to take to her mouth after hearing it. His eyes widened to stare at the pillow with girl trembling nearby. There was this...this warmth– no, this heat coming from her entire being. How could he even tell when he was a fir– Okay that question was becoming dumber every time he wondered.

He pulled back to see her eyes shut tightly and hands (that had fallen away from his person) curled into loose fists on her chest.

But what really made him reel back – what made him smile so uncontrollably big – was the deep flush of color across her face.

Here he was, in her bed, having resisted (somewhat) the urge to peel back at all her clothes and stare down every inch of skin he could, coming so close to figuring out how well she really could use that mouth of hers...when she suddenly gave him that– that sound that had first started this whole thing.

And amazingly, the instincts that had kicked in were right. It was totally bedroom noise.

Somehow, he was okay. He wasn't burning up anymore. His mind wasn't completely focused on it.

He was– Okay, well not cured (or satisfied, really), but not...

There was a quick glance to the girl still under him, unable to even peek open her eyes.

...not so reigned by his body to take advantage of his friend.

Actually, maybe this was all he needed!

The Dragon Slayer blinked and extracted himself from Lucy's bed.

There was no need to worry. He wasn't going to do anything he'd regret. In fact, all he'd done was... was transfer his problem onto someone else! And hadn't he overheard that she wanted to do something for him? So technically, she had.

He let out a low, content hum, feeling so much more relieved.

"Thanks Lucy. You really helped me out!" he said while opening her window, not glancing back.

He had considered giving her a grateful hug, but it might be too cruel...in her current state.

A sly grin pulled across his face as he jumped out.

He wouldn't take advantage of his...friend. Unless she wanted him to.

xoxo

She laid there for what felt like ages after he'd left.

Even when she found the energy to sit up shakily, then head to the bathroom to splash water on her face, there was something off. Even when she climbed back into bed, moving as far away from that now overly-warm spot, she couldn't fall back asleep.

She could still feel his breath on her skin, hear his words echoing in her head, and then remember her own thoughts on the matter that she couldn't shake off.

"You got me all hot," he'd said in a voice both childishly innocent and much more...mature than she'd ever thought Natsu to be.

His voice... How could she explain that part of her wanted to hear him speak to her that way again?

And then her face would turn so red she could feel heat coming off it.

Things would never be the same.

xo end xo

9-13-12

4:58pm

Finally. Finally! I spent the past five days writing this, and took a break from watching the show completely because I knew it'd distract me. Now I can finally get back to it and start on season 3!

Anyway, I don't know what came over me. I gotta stop these thoughts of writing fanfiction and just enjoy what I'm watching/reading. The first summary line came to me and a few days later I decided to tackle it between seasons.

After all the episodes I've watched, I still feel like I don't know these characters well enough. It was just hard to get a handle on who they actually are, and then twist that into some kind of growth or change to make a decent plot and have the story flow. Also, I had notes that kept coming to me as I was writing so there was more to include. Not to mention I wasn't quite sure how it would end... I think I did alright. Maybe...? I hope Natsu's...change flowed well – kept you reading and intrigued.

There's also another idea I had for a completely different pairing...but I'm gonna watch the show a bit more before writing that one.

The story title is from a similar phrase: hot under the collar, which means to be very angry. So I changed it around to fit and mean something else entirely... And in case you wondered about the spelling of one of the names (Charle), I watched the subtitled anime so I actually hear the original voices and so I go by what the subs tell me. Shrug. I didn't want to be tainted by how even the names are changed in dubs. It irks me now for some reason.

Thanks for reading and tell me what you think! Did you like the pace? The ending? Are you hoping for a sequel? Because that's a no-no. Were you hoping for more romance and feelings and stuff? Sorry about that! This is what happened when I wrote.

11:13pm