Learning and Identifying

The way she eats is different, too; dainty and trying to keep blood off her fingers from the fresh kill. It reminds Natsu of Freed, always aware of the stickiness that comes from dying blood and hating the feeling of it against the skin. Lucy holds her deer leg by the tips of her fingers, digging her nails into the meat but keeping her palms off the dead animal leg. Her teeth hesitantly eat around the femur, keeping clear of the bone and checking consistently where she's putting her small mouth.

It's been five days since bringing the female to his home and all has gone well. Natsu was right in trusting Lucy to be on her own. After hunting down a duck on the first morning of Lucy's arrival, he came back to her trying to light an Igny in the ash pit of the house. She kept rubbing stones together, the way most humans try to bring about the warm flames when they've never worked with them before. He tried to show her how to use tinder and rocks, but the clashing of the stones is a rhythm she's still having some trouble getting right.

Lucy has roamed the grounds with him by her side, but the male village continues to be a place that he's not comfortable with her getting near. He's heard whispers carried on the wind of the other males and their curiosity, a foreboding in their heavy stares whenever Natsu would make trips into the tribe for furs and trades. He's tried roaring to the other males, specifically Gray, that Lucy isn't something for them to go and touch. Every time he's met with merry laughter and a teasing of how he can't keep her all to himself forever. He wouldn't if it wasn't for how weird they're all being about it. In a way, he'd figure that having their Sacred Rods react badly towards Lucy would have been enough incentive to keep them away, but it's unfortunately done the opposite. Their eagerness to be around something that he's claimed for his own sets a determination within Natsu to never have them come near her.

It's become official—Natsu can't give up this female he finds endearing. Beyond Lucy's sharp mind, she's got a caring nature to her and a fortitude that constantly gets him cackling. She's a surprise to him at every turn and has changed his life in ways he wasn't expecting. He never once gave a thought to the fact that he had cooked meat next to raw meat and she's trying to get him to bath more often, as it's been almost a week since his last one, but he continues to not see the point.

"Do you not like the deer?" Natsu asks confused. He's eaten his way through a leg and a few loins already, finding nothing wrong with the taste.

With a small Igny between them in the hut, Lucy sits across from him and pauses in her meal. "Oh, no, I like it. It's different tasting. Back home, Igny was such a rare thing to come upon. I never knew you could put an animal over it without turning it black. It's impressive."

"I still say fish is better," Happy purrs. He nibbles on the head of his breakfast, having no trouble eating past the scales and bones.

Natsu's chest puffs out. "I've mastered Igny easily."

"Guess that's one thing to look forward to when it comes to living here," she smiles.

Elated with Lucy's praise, he feels it's okay to begin with some of the questions that have been burning in his head. He decided getting some food in her belly firstly would put her in good mood and help him get straight to the heart of the matter. Technically, she's lucky he held out for this long, as usually he's not a very patient person, but with the way she was acting upon coming here, fearful and distrustful, he wanted to give her some time to readjust to her new life.

"Can you hunt for yourself?" he asks around a deer thigh.

"I'm good with traps, finding berries, nuts and other fruits. I can also take down larger animals, too, with a bow."

"Like a cave bear?"

Her jaw slacks. "Uh, no, not that big."

Though unspoken, a part of him is oddly happy that Lucy can't fend off such a large animal. It would be a great opportunity to show how reliable he can be in protecting her if such an easily enraged animal did come along. Although Natsu knows for sure that he would never want Lucy to be on her own in these woods, surrounded by large cliffs and nimble predators that could swallow her whole in an instant. He'll always be at her side; she won't have to worry about a single thing.

Her statement also tells Natsu how weak she really is if she can't take down a grizzly. Being able to kill an untamable animal like that is considered to be a rite of passage for his tribe. When males reach a certain age, being able to take down a cave bear on their own shows their strength and determination to take on life's challenges.

"Eh, don't worry. I can do that for you," he reassures. He throws the meatless bone into the Igny pit, settling into the ash and flames.

Happy eats the rest of his fish before chuckling. "I'm glad you can forage for berries without trouble. This poor guy doesn't know the difference between a black berry and a nightmare berry that will send him running for the bushes—"

"Hey, that only happened once," Natsu protests.

"Once during the spring and once during the winter of last year, sure."

Picking up the cat by the scruff of his fur, he lightly throws his friend towards the skin hide door. As expected, Happy brings out his wings and saves himself from crashing to the ground with a gleeful laugh at having successfully teased his friend. It's been his favorite pastime since they were kids, getting a rise out of those around him for the sake of bringing about a smile, whether for himself or for others.

"Get out of here, Happy. I want to talk to Lucy about something," Natsu says, crossing his arms.

"Aw, come on. Lucy you want me around, don't you?" he asks as if saddened.

"Of course, but if Natsu wants to talk about something in privet then you should respect his wishes," she says.

He hovers by her head, lightly patting the golden locks of her hair. "Alright, fine, but don't do anything I wouldn't." He ducks low to fly under the skin hide and out into the daylight.

Natsu has never seen Happy be smitten by another person before unlike with Lucy. The two can start a conversation with the thinness of air between them to carry it out and somehow end up laughing at their banter. She treats the male with a gentle fondness, a natural instinct to have something as small as Happy be content in life. It's different compared to how she treats Natsu, not surprising considering he and Lucy will have something Happy could never accomplish. It's their interactions as humans that brings them much closer together.

Having watched the cat leave, Lucy turns back towards Natsu to presumably ask him a question but it dies on her tongue. Coming to find out that despite his size Natsu is much stealthier than most people realize, having mastered the art of sneaking up behind unsuspecting pray and catching them off guard, it allows him to be inches apart from Lucy without her knowledge. He can see the wavering in the color of her clear eyes, lighter brown like cocoa towards the edges and hazing into dark earth on a rainy day near the pupil.

When she twitches from his sudden appearance, Natsu gently grabs one of her upper arms. His hold is light enough that she could escape from him without struggling if she wanted to. That hold also tells of another story. How he wants her not to be afraid of him and that it's okay to be this close to one another. It's as with kin comfortable and content with one another.

"What are you doing?" she asks quiet.

"I'm looking," he says simple.

"At … what?"

"You obviously. Your cheeks run with blood more than me. You have a smaller nose and pinker lips. You are like me but different at the same."

Lucy ducks her head softly and it makes him notice how much longer her eyelashes are, creating long shadows against her cheeks. Against her pale throat, he can see the way her pulse jumps and her changing scent of nervousness brushes under his nose. It's not a bad kind of nervousness though, as after years of coming to distinguish different scents, Natsu knows there is a type of good anticipation in her nerves.

Her shy expression says something to Natsu, innocence and a need to make sure she's cared for in every way possible. Everything about her urges for him to take care of her. In the same way it's instinct for him to hunt, to be the predator that dominates the land, a new instinct is starting to find its voice within him because of Lucy. It's one Natsu doesn't understand entirely. Yet, sometimes, instinct isn't meant to be understood but simply done.

"What do you see? What do I look like to you?" Natsu asks serious.

Hesitantly, her eyes come back to his. "You are … sturdy in shape. I see someone who is strong. I don't think I've seen anyone with muscles like you have." Her eyes wonder to his open vest and her stare makes something in his belly fall, never having been so concerned before about someone else's opinion about him. "Your eyes are sharp and your hair is very unique. Like a ripening strawberry. I see … scars, too. How did you get those?"

He talks with a hint of pride about his scars, as marks like that always tell of victories over past obstacles. "Ah, well, the one on my neck I don't remember how I got. The one by my hip I gained from a battle with another male. Won that fight within an inch of my life but that bastard hasn't been around since."

Lucy's hand reaches out tentative, her movements obvious in the way that she's trying not to startle him. Her fingers nuzzle along his jaw line, smoothing their tips down to his neck scar and caressing from there, pushing his scarf slightly down to give a gentle stroke. A shiver runs down Natsu's spin and he has to let go of her arm, afraid that with his grip tightening he might hurt her. She traces the edges of the raised skin in thought, taking no heed of his reaction at her touch.

Why is it only her that makes him behave like this? If any of Natsu's brethren put a hand to his throat he'd take it as a challenge but with Lucy it brings about a vibrating force in his body. It's compelling Natsu to grab her, to capture her in his arms and bring her close, but he can't act upon that instinct. Not when walking beside this feeling is another, saner part of him that begins to tremble in anxiousness under Lucy's touch.

What's she doing to him? Why is this coming on suddenly? Was this why Mas Ter warned to not keep females around?

Lucy says. "I suppose that's Natsu I'm seeing. You are uniquely you."

Natsu jerks away from her hand and it leaves his skin cold. He snaps to his feet, dashing backwards, but with nowhere else to go he stops towards the back end of the hut, arms up as if prepared to fight whatever is causing these sensations within him.

"What? What is it?" Lucy turns towards the door, looking for any danger that could have possibly made Natsu react as he did. She looks back to him confused when she finds nothing.

"Uh, nothing. I—your hand was cold, is all," he mutters, looking to the floor.

She sighs annoyed. "You could have told me that. You scared me half to death."

"Sorry …"

No, whatever this is, it's not bad, Natsu decides. He's gone all of his life surviving on instinct alone, more so than the other members of his tribe after being raised for the first few years of his life by a dragon. This part of him that acts more animal then human at times is engrained within his very self and therefore is something he can always trust. He knows that whatever he's feeling towards Lucy doesn't harbor any ill will but he can't act upon it when her touch so easily breaks him down. Only this small female has brought about this timid side to Natsu—it's both extremely annoying and confusing. Maybe he'll ask Lucy some other time about what's happening with him when he doesn't feel the need to stiffen his muscles to keep from running away from her. Whatever that's about.

Natsu relaxes his stance and kicks up some dust under his feet on the dirt floor, trying to play off what he did. "I … I guess I'm seeing Lucy also," he chuckles. "I've never heard of females until you came along."

"Seems we have a lot to learn about one another," she amends.

XxXxXxX

The elk are towards the flatter lands past the mountains and while their fur is the best for insulation against the cold, Natsu can't risk being away for as long as it would take to get to them. After elk, sheep skin could work just as good, their wool luxurious and fluffy. Yet the only sheep around are the ones kept for the Male Tribe. His brothers would be after his own hide faster than a rabid dog if he killed one of their own livestock. He's got to figure something about before the cold season sets in, as it takes some time to cure a fur hide. Lucy came to him only in her summer garb, and while Natsu doesn't mind sharing furs with her, she doesn't seem too keen on the idea.

"What are you thinking hard about?" Happy asks, coming up beside Natsu.

Surrounded by pines and maples, Natsu comes out of his stupor from the cat's voice. His eyes focus back in on Lucy as she gathers berries and herbs in a woven basket, a triumphant smile gracing her face from her easy success.

"I'm thinkin' about getting Lucy some furs. She'll like that," Natsu says.

"Oh, that's a great idea!" He flies back to Lucy's side, taking the basket out of her arms and hovering above her. "Natsu's going to make you a pelt."

"Really?" She turns to him in glee, calling out her enthusiasm and saying thanks.

"That was going to be a surprise, Happy!" Natsu says annoyed.

Happy snickers at his antics.

Natsu has come to realize how cunning Lucy can be when using the land to her advantage. The traps she's set have caught him a few times, hidden beneath leaves and bushes to the point of invisibility. The way she can pick out berries, nuts and late blooming fruits with ease, telling him their names, what they can do for the body and what seems to be everything else in-between, is astonishing to Natsu. He only thought the animals roaming the land were of use to him but it seems that all around there were items that could have replenished his way of life.

He leaves them be and goes back to his observations. Natsu has continued to learn the ways of the female by not only intently watching Lucy but by seeing the way animals interact. If there are female humans then there are female animals, a revelation Natsu never thought of before. One way to learn about females is through nature itself, after all.

Quietly encroaching in on a pair of rabbits, he sits on the balls of his feet and holds as still as possible behind the cover of a bush with red tinted leaves. He quizzically watches the rabbits, as for once he's not interested in hunting down the delicate animals. Seeing the way these two rabbits groom, cuddle and nuzzle noses against one another gets him thinking. It's obvious how to tell a human female apart, being that they have large appendages on their chests and curvier builds, but how is he supposed to tell these two identical white rabbits apart?

The white rabbit on the left rubs its small paw across the tops of its head, flattening its large ears and closing its eyes happily. Maybe that's the male because it's a little bigger than the rabbit to the right? When the fatter rabbit turns around, Natsu finds a dot of black on its rump in the shape of a heart.

Come on, do something. These things are cute but they sure are slow animals. They continue to eat grass for a long enough time that Natsu's about to get back up and go to Lucy.

But then the rabbit with the black heart on its backside gets behind the other rabbit and tries to climb on top of it.

What the—? Are they fighting? He isn't entirely sure what's happening, watching the spotted rabbit convulse its hips on top of the other rabbit. Is it dying?

A male voice calls out in the distance.

It's a deep tone belonging to Gajeel, a fellow male of Natsu's tribe. "Hey, flame brain!" he calls out.

Natsu would normally call back but that voice in the middle of these open woods now becomes a phantom that clutches at his heart. He snaps to a stand, scaring away the rabbits into the bushes. Shit, why is Gajeel all the way out here? Why now of all times when Lucy is nearby?

That must be it though. Gajeel's here get a good look at his female, after so many days of being forbidden from doing so he's finally showing his true colors and testing his limits. Gajeel isn't a bad person, a little rough around the edges and having the mind of an iron rock at times, but Natsu remembers his words upon seeing Lucy for the first time, tied up and defenseless. He said he didn't care what she was as long as he could eat her.

A low growl rips from Natsu throat as he runs to where Lucy was last, trying to keep his steps light to not alert Gajeel and begin the hunt.

"I think I have enough blue berries but I wasn't able to find—" Before Lucy can finish her sentence, Natsu urgently grabs her by the arm and hauls here away to a nearby oak. She drops her basket of berries, sending it clattering to the ground and most likely giving signal to Gajeel where they are, being that his hearing is just as good as Natsu's.

Cut deep into the trunk of an old oak tree, a narrow opening in the wood creates the perfect hiding spot for them. Natsu pushes Lucy into the hole firstly.

"Hey, what's happening?" she asks surprised.

"Happy, get Gajeel out of here," Natsu demands, following swiftly after her.

Flying above them with a confused stare but a complying nod, Happy says. "I'll do what I can."

They cram together in the tree trunk, rubbing into dry wood and a deepening darkness. Little pits in the soft trunk tell of termites that once took home in this tree, hence its slow demise. They press their fronts to one another, the space tight enough that it makes it hard to breathe, ribs rubbing against one another. It doesn't help that those large mounds of Lucy's take up most of the space. For a split second, a part of Natsu's mind is filled with elation at having Lucy be this close to him but that's quickly overshadowed when a gravely tone reaches his ears.

"Hey, Happy, have you seen the dork anywhere?" Gajeel asks. He raises an eyebrow of studded iron to the basket of berries left behind.

Luckily the blue cat quickly comes to the distraction. "Last I saw him he was in a hurry. Off to the river, I think. Along with Lucy."

He snorts. "Ah, so that female thing is still with him. What an idiot. If he's at the river that must mean he's finally going to get rid of those parasites of his."

Natsu mashes his teeth. He does not have parasites!

"I'm going to go and see him. Mas Ter is getting concerned with that female he's keeping and he wants to check up on Natsu to make sure he hasn't been bewitched or done somethin' stupid."

"Too late for that," Happy chuckles.

They talk for a little longer—hurry up and get out of here!—agonizingly slow as they inch towards the river beyond a thicket of trees.

XxXxXxX

She isn't prepared for this! Lucy wanted to study Natsu like a human with some intelligence. All this time, she's been thoroughly examining his body firstly, getting to know it by sight and smell. Eventually when she felt comfortable enough, she planned on touching the hard plains of his body, to memorize every curve, divot and roll. She would have slowly gotten down to his Sacred Rod when confidence in him become certain, the thing that truly separates them from male to female. She wanted to take her time in getting to know the make of his body.

But that has been thrown out the window.

Natsu's chest presses firmly against hers in this tight crevice he's pushed them into, all for what reason Lucy can't question right now. Not when it's impossible to get her mind off of anything else but the way Natsu feels against her. He really is made of muscle, those hardened parts of his body rubbing against the softer skin of her stomach, down to her hips and having their legs tangle together. Arms don't know where to go or are given no thought to. She keeps her hands gripping the animal pelt covering his broad shoulders, trying to find purchase in this maddening situation he's put them in. Natsu's arms wrap around her waist, a left-over effect from when he pushed her into their hiding spot, and his hands rest gently against her lower back.

It's a good thing his face is turned away from her, staring out into the bright light of the open forest through the small opening of the hollow tree trunk, because Lucy wouldn't be able to live it down if he saw how bright her face was. The tips of her ears burn, the air itself has become much too hot to breathe comfortably and the sweltering heat of their bodies coming together is unlike anything she's felt before.

How is she supposed to do anything but give in to what's happening when her heart feels like it's dying?

Speaking of dying, she was expecting Natsu's Sacred Rod to stab her fatally, being that it does have enough strength to scare away her tribe. In fact, despite being close enough to feel every contour of his body, Lucy doesn't feel much of anything where his Scared Rod should be besides a bump. Males sure are confusing creatures.

Natsu leans to the side a little, looking further out of the crack in the hollow tree to watch something.

That's when Lucy's hearing opens past the rushing of blood in her ears and a very deep voice, like that of the devil finding its tongue, startles her into freezing against Natsu. It's another male from the sound of the baritone, large, foreboding and a threat. Suddenly she understands why she was shoved into this hiding spot. Natsu is protecting her.

She's been told by Natsu that the other males are too dangerous to get near for now, that their curiosity could turn into fright at any moment due to not understanding what she is. Lucy herself has seen firsthand these other males, though for only a short period of time when she was first brought into Natsu's tribe. Most seemed to not care, there were others that tried to challenge her for unknown reasons and some thought she wouldn't make too good of a meal. They all have that same rock-hard build like Natsu, a frightful sight to her when she knows it would be impossible to fight them off if they chose to attack.

With Natsu being the only male that Lucy can trust in this wilderness, she doesn't question at this point in time if these other males have good intentions or not. Natsu says not to go near them and so she'll listen. She would eventually like to get to know these other males, because the more information she can bring back to her tribe the better. Lucy supposes she did get lucky and got the nicest male out of the bunch to huddle up with.

She gently presses her forehead into Natsu's scarf, burrowing the tip of her nose into the fabric that smells like him. It's a smell she's beginning to associate comfort with.

Natsu waits for the voices to die down, holding as still as possible against her. Lucy can feel his heart thumping under her fingertips.

He sighs quietly. "I think he's gone."

"Who was it?" she asks worried.

"His name is Gajeel. Don't get too close to him. I don't think he'll mean you harm but I wouldn't chance it. Seems Mas Ter wants to summon me." She can feel his face come back around to look down at the top of her head, his chin brushing against her hair. "We'll make a run for it back to the hut for the night."

Lucy nods in agreement. She definitely doesn't want Natsu out of her sight for the night with another male out on the prowl close to his home.

She lifts her head to try and read Natsu's face, to see if the danger has truly passed, but due to the tightness of the hollow tree trunk there's no room for their breath to find space. Her mouth brushes against his, the ghost of a touch with lips pulling open to gasp at the warm sensation. Natsu's mouth drops open slightly in surprise, having their lips overlap and their front teeth touch slightly. His hands squeeze her hips, unconsciously bringing her a little closer to him.

Face to face, Lucy notices for the first time the specks of green reflecting in the darkness of Natsu's eyes that stare wide open right back at her. A spark of electricity snaps between them and her chest heaves against his. Something heavy can be felt hovering in the air.

Lucy quickly ducks her head, thumping her forehead into his shoulder.

The sound made when their lips parted! A suction of flesh coming apart. Oh, Goddess, what is this? Why is she embarrassed? She shouldn't be embarrassed.

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Lucy says quickly.

Natsu squirms and clears his throat. "It's fine. Don't know what that was, anyway ..."

They both silently agree it's time to get out of the hollow trunk, struggling against one another to get out at the same time. Having become highly aware of Natsu's body, every move of muscle and the slight scent of sweat coming from him at having to hide in such a confined, hot space makes her all the more desperate to get away. Skin scraps against bark and arms bash against body parts. They escape with a gasp of fresh air from both.

Natsu rubs his hand against the back of his neck and looks to the ground. "Forget the berries, just get your basket."

Lucy is starting to panic, not because of what happened but because of what touching Natsu's lips did to the pace of her heart. Before it was pounding widely like an untamable lion but as soon as their lips came together it changed. The lion calmed down and morphed into a humming bird. Beats skipped and that fluttering sensation came back at full force, enough that her chest almost felt as if it really did hurt. It still hurts. Here and there in the days that have passed the flutter would come about, normally whenever Natsu would do something kind, give that easy-going smile and make her laugh to the point of a rib threatening to crack. Her heart soars at his caring gestures, that much is obvious, but why would a simple touching of his mouth have its fluttering come around as strongly as it does?

This different sort of fluttering is sweet, bashful almost. A warmth that spreads out from her very soul and whispers to hold onto Natsu.

So what they did … it's supposed to be something pleasant, it seems.

Authors Notes:

*Slaps roof of fanfiction*

"This baby can hold so many tropes!"

Please, leave a review for the chapter! I'll update again as soon as I can.