I Like Having You Around

After an exciting day of shopping in Magnolia Town, Lucy couldn't wait to take a nice, long bath and try on all of her new clothes. Usually during their missions, Natsu would destroy half the town and they'd have to use their reward money to pay off the damages. Lately, though, Natsu had been oddly composed and, well, un-Natsu-like. A few days ago they were able to cleanly round-up a gang of thugs and come home with four hundred thousand jewels. She felt as though she should be more concerned about her teammate's recent change in attitude, but she wasn't going to complain if she could pay her rent for once and go shopping!

Lucy could hear a loud commotion as she turned onto Strawberry Street and immediately knew what she was in for.

I guess my bath will have to wait. . . she thought as Gray, Fairy Tail's ice mage, came crashing through her window with a gust of smoke and flames. She felt as though she should be angry, but she was still in high spirits from her shopping adventure. . . and she sort of anticipated this type of behavior from her guild mates.

She opened the door of her apartment with a sigh, and joined the impromptu dinner party taking place in her apartment (okay, so it was really a breaking and entering and burglary of every item of food in her kitchen). She looked around and saw Erza eating a piece of strawberry cake while perusing through the manuscript of Lucy's latest novel, Happy sitting on her table munching on a fish, and Natsu with his head inside her refrigerator maniacally forcing every bit of food into his mouth.

Lucy smiled weakly and made her way to the kitchen. Maybe their behavior was expected, but that didn't mean it was really welcome.

"Well, it's good to see you acting more like yourself. . . I think. Did you save me anything?"

"Looshey!" Natsu exclaimed while still stuffing his face. "Hew you go! We made oo shom noodles!" Lucy looked at the unappetizing slop and tried not to cringe. Aside from Mira, Fairy Tail's barmaid, her nakama weren't really known for their cooking abilities.

"Uh, thanks. . . I think I'll go take a bath first. . ."

"Oi, flame-brain! The hell was that for!?" Gray yelled as he burst through Lucy's front door.

"That's for trying to eat Lucy's noodles, Underwear Pervert!" Natsu retorted.

Gray looked down to see that he was, in fact, only wearing his underwear. A furious aura radiated from the pair of rivals. Lucy cringed as she worried about what they might break this time.

"ENOUGH!" Erza bellowed. "Can't you see that you two are bothering Lucy?! Gray, go home and put some clothes on!"

Gray shrunk away from Erza and slithered out the door. Natsu hid behind Lucy, hoping that Erza wouldn't throw him out, too.

"I must be going now. Thank you for letting me read your novel, Lucy. It was... enticing." Erza said with a smirk. She left Lucy's apartment, her armor noisily clanking.

It's not like I gave you permission. . . Lucy thought to herself as her face became hot with embarrassment.

"Oi, Happy! What does 'enticing' mean?" Natsu asked his exceed companion.

"I think it means delicious." Happy inanely replied.

"Oh. . . how is a book delicious? You can't eat it, can you?" Natsu asked. The pair suddenly became pensive, undoubtedly wondering whether or not they should try eating Lucy's new manuscript.

"Okay, well, I have some things to do, so I'll see you guys at the guild hall tomorrow!" Lucy said with a large, artificial smile as she furiously waved and backed into the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and locked it for good measure. Then, she collapsed in front of the door with a sigh. Well, that could have been a lot worse.

She slowly undressed and eased herself into her tub, letting the lavender-scented bubbles wash away her vexation.

Meanwhile and unbeknownst to Lucy, Natsu and Happy sat on the bed waiting for her to emerge from the bathroom. Natsu was so consumed by his thoughts that even Happy, oblivious as he usually was, became concerned.

"What's wrong, Natsu? You look constipated or something." Happy remarked.

"It's not that. I just can't stop thinking about what happened with the Rogue from the future. When Lucy. . . you know. . ." Natsu placed his face in his hands. It was hard enough to think about it, never mind put it into words.

"But she didn't die! She's in the bathroom right now!"

"I know. . . It's just. . . I wasn't able to save her. What if something like that happens again?"

"That's really unlikely, Natsu. I mean, who would use that kind of plot device twice?!"

"I guess you're right. I feel like I should do something to let her know that I. . ." Natsu abruptly stopped talking, trying to think of the right words. "That I like having her around and all. . ."

Happy covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. "You liiiiiike her!" he exclaimed, giggling.

Natsu jumped up and covered the exceed's mouth. "Shhh! Shut up! It's not like that, stupid!" He removed his hand and slumped cross-armed on Lucy's bed, looking agitated.

Happy, still laughing, decided to try to help the dragon slayer. "Well, I always give Carla some fish to let her know I care about her."

Natsu perked up at this idea. "Happy, you're a genius!"

"I know! But I don't think that Lucy really likes fish. . ."

"No, idiot! I can get her a present or something! That'll show her!"

Natsu barged into Lucy's bathroom, breaking the door off of its hinges. "Bye, Luce! Happy and I have some things to do!"

Lucy, completely startled, hurriedly tried to cover herself up while simultaneously hurling a bar of soap at the dragon slayer. "I thought you had already left! Get out of here, idiot!"

Natsu laughed and jumped out of the bedroom window with Happy flying after him. The pair headed towards Magnolia's shopping district, eager to find the perfect gift for Lucy.