Update2k17: Just like some of my other stories, this oneshot got an overhaul. Since I wrote this around the time of the GMG arc, Sting is very much (or mostly) a jerk in this. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

Riddles and Strawberries

Feeling bored, I pushed the rusty shopping trolley in front of me, its small plastic wheels squeaking on the blue linoleum floor with which the small supermarket was covered. Shelves were crammed to the brim with various goods and the assistants had a difficult time placing the new items into them.

If only it wasn't so hot outside, then this very fun experience wouldn't bug me so much. Thanks to my friends' bottomless stomaches, I had the pleasure to go shopping rather than bask in the sun at the guilds' pool. What made it even more enjoyable was that the air-conditioning system of the supermarket seemed to be malfunctioning, transforming the place into a sauna from hell.

To distract myself from dying of heatstroke, I leaned forward to observe the contents of my half-filled shopping cart. I didn't buy anything special... just my vanilla shampoo, razors, super glue (because someone kindly broke my table in half), frozen fish (so Happy wouldn't be able to eat it right away), chips, vegetables, fruit, washing powder, a bit of paper, bread and strawberries.

I smiled at the thought of my current favorite food. Maybe my day wasn't entirely bad. Strawberries with cream and melted chocolate sounded downright heavenly. Just thinking about it made my mouth water.

Trapped in my daydream of a delicious dessert, I looked around to find the last two things I needed: whipped cream and chocolate. At that time, I didn't notice that I was already being pursued.

I was just about to grab the last bottle of spray cream when someone suddenly slapped my ass. Rude much? What the hell? It was too long to be an accident, but too fast for me to react immediately. Whoever it was, they will pay for it! What has the world come to, if people just randomly slap a woman's behind.

"Pervert!"

Abruptly, I turned around and threw the can of spray cream into the direction where I assumed my pursuer was. Instead of having the satisfaction of catching the offender off-guard, the culprit simply dodged my attack. I was greeted by shocking blue eyes looking deep into mine. The mischievous glint in them made me twitch inwardly, but nothing was as bad as the crooked grin on his face.

Sting Eucliffe.

This just had to be a joke. Even if it was and the universe just wanted to annoy me, this was a particular cruel thing to do. I felt blind rage surge through my entire body and clenched my fists. How dare he ruin my already bad day. Groping a defenseless woman was simply creepy.

I raised my fists in preparation, just in case he tried anything else that forced me to punch him with my mighty right hook. Performing a Lucy Kick right in his face wasn't such a bad idea either.

"Touch my ass again and I will make sure that you won't be able to have children."

"Well, well, well~ if it isn't a little fairy," Sting said in a dangerously husky voice. His mischievous eyes roamed my body from top to bottom, lingering on the very part he previously touched. His warm breath was tickling my face, and his nose was almost touching mine. The dragonslayer was way too close for comfort. "What a coincidence to meet you here."

"Y-yeah, it's really surprising to see you here." Stalker alert. Damn, why do I always attract those people? His face was only getting closer to mine and he raised an eyebrow as if to tease me. "Though I'd be great if you could leave me alone. Not to be rude, but I want to shop in peace for once."

"Aw~ you don't mean that. I know you missed me," Sting proclaimed confidently, running a hand through his soft blonde hair.

"I didn't miss you, you jerk." My cheeks flushed red and I prayed to every deity I know that he didn't see it. Considering the way he suddenly chuckled, I came to the conclusion that he did see my blush and someone up there really had it out for me today. Of course, even my own body had to betray my with its stupidly ill-timed reactions to handsome jerks.

"Don't even try to deny it. I can hear your heart racing." Sting snickered and pointed to his ears, emphazising that he had sensitive hearing just like every dragonslayer. A warm hand that cupped my chin and brought my face closer to his shook me out of my thoughts. My heart started to beat so wildly, that I thought it would jump out of my chest. "Am I really that irresistable?"

"N-not at all," I stuttered nervously and shook my head. Okay, I had to admit he was bad looking, quite the opposite actually. Sting could be a model with his wild blond hair, the well contoured face and those icy-blue eyes which could bore through your skull. Not to mention those sun-kissed abs that were visible through his shirt which regularly made girls drool. He didn't have to be a jerk about it though.

I'd rather die than tell him and inflate his already enourmous ego.

"Then why are you stuttering?" Screw him and his observant nature. He was doing this on purpose to rile her up, yet I couldn't help myself.

"Fine, Sting, you don't look too bad." I barely managed to force the sentence from my lips, hoping that the admission would finally make him leave me alone.

"I know." He smirked teasingly, but I could see that he was holding back laughter when he saw me pouting. "I just wanted you to admit it."

"Wow, great. Now go away. Bye!" I huffed and scrunched up my face in annoyance. Instead of wasting any more of my precious time with the arrogant jerk from Saber Tooth, I grabbed the spray cream bottle from his hands (he caught it earlier) and tried to continue my little shopping trip. Before he could say anything else, I dashed into the direction of the candy section to collect my final item. He seemed to get the message because I didn't hear him follow.

I performed a little victory dance in my head. Yes, I successfully ditched Sting. However, things never seem to go the way I wanted them to so I forced myself to remain wary of my surroundings.

When I finished my shopping trip, I took the strawberries, the melted chocolate and the whipped cream and searched for a nice place for a tanning session. Soon, I found a nice meadow that was covered with wild flowers which smelled incredible. It was lined by a row of cherry blossom trees which rained their remaining petals onto the grass. The lack of wind made the heat from the glaring sun almost unbearable, but I didn't mind. All that mattered that I finally had some peace and quiet.

Minutes went by and I didn't really know how long I lay there, refueling on sunlight and eating fresh strawberries. Everything was perfect, until a certain somebody had to hog all the sunlight and thought it was normal to steal someone's strawberry out of their hands. I knew it was too good to be true.

"I really wanted to eat that, you know?" I pouted, watching how the thief smirked and ate the strawberry extra slowly just to aggravate me further. Then, he lay down next to me and closed his eyes in contentment, already reaching for the next strawberry. I barely supressed the urge to slap his hand away from my precious fruits.

"Stop complaining, Lucy." Sting yawned and opened one eye sleepily. "I just took one and besides, you should've protected them better."

"I would have, but you just came out of nowhere." I really didn't want him to win this argument. Stealing other peoples' stuff – especially mine – needs to be punished in some way. Especially, when the thief had no manners at all.

"Excuses, excuses. " Sting grinned challengingly and I rolled my eyes in response. We sat in silence for a while, before he had to break it of course. "Why aren't you at your guild?"

The question caught me by surprise. Actually, I wanted to go there after my shopping trip, but I changed my mind after I met Sting. Heat rose in my cheels yet again. No, it wasn't because of him, it was because he annoyed me so much that my tolerance for loud people for the day had already reached its limit.

"What? Did you forget how to speak?" Sting raised an eyebrow and stole another strawberry, making my eyebrows twitch in irritation.

"I just needed a day off." I sighed and brushed some cherry petals from my blue summer dress. "I love Fairy Tail, but sometimes I want a little time for myself." I shot a hopeful glance at him. Maybe just maybe, he got the message. Wanting time for myself meant time alone and not with an annoying dragonslayer who steals your strawberries.

"Hmmm, I can get behind wanting some peace." Obviously not, or you would leave me alone. As if he read my thoughts, Sting started to chuckle and bumped his arm against mine in a teasing manner.

"How about we make a little bet?" Sting looked directly into my eyes and all I could do was nod. Ready to do anything to get him to leave at this point. "Naturally, the winner gets the strawberries."

"I don't know about that. The strawberries already belong to me," I reasoned and crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I'm not really fond of making bets either."

"It's more like ... I will give you three riddles and if you solve 'em, you win. If you can't solve 'em, I win. Fair enough, right?"

Sting knew he had me at riddles, I just couldn't resist those. Don't play with fire because when it comes to riddles, I'm one of the smartest people in Fairy Tail. It worried me though, that he knew this about me. The riddles must be pretty tough for him to feel this confident. He smirked slyly which made me very uncomfortable.

"I take your silence as a yes? Okay then, here comes the first one: What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?" Damn him and his super smooth voice. I could barely concentrate on that riddle. Luckily, I already knew the answer to this one.

"It's a river," I answered triumphantly after a while contemplating. "That one was lame you know? It's a pretty old riddle, too."

"Yeah, I know." Sting patted my arm as if to soothe me. "I just wanted to test if you are smart enough for the next two riddles."

"Why you – "

"What is a blonde doing when she holds her hands tightly over her ears?"

"Are you serious? A blonde joke?" I rolled my eyes, but he just shrugged his shoulders. "You are blonde yourself, mister. You'll loose the strawberries if you're going to keep this up..."

"Hmmm, I wonder~" He grinned mischievously and leaned closer to my face. Again, he kind of busted my personal bubble, but I was slowly getting used to it. "You should still say the answer."

"She is trying not to lose her thoughts." I mumbled and grasped for air when I felt his breath tickle my face. I should pay attention or I will lose my thoughts as well. Sting smirked, a tell-tale sign that he was planning something. I should've known better than to play along his games.

The blonde man brushed a loose strand of my hair away and took another berry, eating it extra slowly again. I'd have been angry, but he looked way to attractive doing that right now. My brown eyes followed his tongue when he licked his lips. Great, now I'm the pervert.

"You are right, but I have one more riddle for you," Sting lowered his voice so that it sounded as if he was telling me a particular interesting secret. I was excited and could feel my heart rate speed up dramatically. I really wanted to win this, no matter what. "What causes a sudden increase in heart rate, a loss of memory and overall brain function, but is not a drug?"

Okay, what could that be? Amnesia? No, that doesn't damage ones brain function. Maybe something like weed? Oh, but that's a drug ... Maybe if you hit yourself with a stone and fall unconscious? I guess not. Maybe...

"Can't solve it, Miss Smartypants?"

Distractedly, I looked up from my thinking position only to meet his stunning blue eyes. There were specs of yellow mixed into their depths that I've never noticed before. All embarassment forgotten, I shamlessly continued to study his face and tried to decipher the unusually gentle expression on his features. In that moment, I really didn't care that I was about to lose. Almost unconsciously, I nodded my head.

"Do you want to know the answer?" Sting whispered and lowered his head even closer to mine. Realizing how close we were, I tried to look away from his intense gaze, but he held my chin in place with his fingers.

"A kiss."

Soon after that, his lips pressed lightly against mine. The faint taste of my strawberries lingered on his lips, but it was mixed with something that was distinctly him. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't describe the sensation of feeling his hands in my hair, his mouth dancing together with mine and how my skin felt suddenly hotter than the sun. The kiss was soft but passionate at the same time and I wished we would never have to stop.

Since the world is unfair and invented something unnecessary like air, we had to part sooner than I would've liked. For a while, we just tried to catch our breath and looked at each other, cheeks covered in red.

"So, I get the strawberries, right?" Sting grinned happily and I groaned. Of course, that jerk had to ruin the mood. "I mean just in case you didn't notice, I won and you lost."

"No need to rub it in!" I punched his arm in mock-anger. "You cheated anyway."

"Oh~ that's interesting." Sting smirked knowingly and leaned closer again."How did I cheat?"

Pouting, I pushed him away and stuck my tongue out. "You distracted me while I was thinking."

"I did?" He grinned wolfishly and pulled me closer to him again. Such a cheater. I wiggled out of his embrace and tried to reach for a strawberry. Unfortunately or not, one of those strong muscular arms held me back and pulled me into his lap.

"Hey, now you're cheating." He grabbed them before me – curse his long arms – and held them out of my reach. "If you really want them back, think of three riddles."

"So unfair!" I poked his cheek and pouted. Despite feeling happy about the kiss, the heat was still killing me and there was nothing that I wanted more than a juicy fruit.

I wasn't in the mood to come up with riddles, so I just leaned back against his chest and sighed. Meanwhile, I started to wonder if that moment meant something to him because it definitely did to me. Although, Sting appeared out of nowhere, is a cocky jerk, annoying and a pervert sometimes ... I really like him. He can be incredibly sweet in his own way, that's why it didn't surprise me when whispered into my ear...

"You know that there is another solution for the last riddle, Lucy?"

The End