She was tired. She was aching. All Lucy wanted to do was take a nice, hot bath and go to bed. The team had just gotten back from a job and she'd been thrown around quite a bit. She'd taken every hit with gritted teeth and a determination to take the beast down. She never gave up. She had been the one to deliver the final blow.
Natsu had rewarded her with loads of praise, recalling in great detail every hit that she'd landed on the beast. She wondered how he managed to fight effectively all while keeping a close eye on her. Maybe she'd ask him one day.
She carefully washed up, wincing whenever she brushed across a cut or bruise. She was practically covered in them. There was a particularly nasty one on the top of her left thigh and she pressed a finger against it, testing how tender it was. She hissed. Yeah, that one hurt, alright.
She pulled the plug and got dressed, humming to herself as she climbed into bed. There was just something about crawling in between the sheets after being freshly clean. She lay flat on her back and drew the covers up and over her head. She was going to get some well needed rest. She might even sleep in.
Something teased across her leg, so light of a touch she barely noticed it. Lucy opened her eyes and peered down, covers still over her head.
There were a pair of eyes staring back at her.
"Boo!"
She screamed, lashing out with her feet while simultaneously rolling off the bed. She snatched up her whip from the bedside table, quickly snapping it around the figure that was desperately trying to remove her pink blanket from their head.
Her whip looped around, once, twice, three times and she pulled it tight. They weren't getting away.
"Damnit, Luce! It's me!"
She knew that voice. What had been fear was slowly replaced with anger. She pulled her whip away and yanked the covers off of his head.
Natsu.
"What the hell are you doing?" Her fist swung around and hit him in the side of the head. She was breathing heavily, pulse pounding all throughout her body.
Natsu rubbed at the spot, almost pouting.
"What? I'm not allowed to come see my girlfriend?" He said it as if nothing had happened.
"Not if you're going to scare me like that!"
He latched his arms around her waist, pressing his face against her stomach. She almost ran her fingers through his hair before remembering that she was mad at him.
"It was too good to pass up. I'm sorry!" His voice was muffled by the red fabric of her shirt.
She tried to push him of, to no avail. Finally, she gave up and settled for crossing her arms instead. He did sound sorry, for what it was worth. She supposed she could let it slide.
"You're going to have to make it up to me now, y'know." She was teasing, for the most part. Until he grinned up at her.
He pulled her into the bed and she didn't protest as much as she should have.
"I know just the way."