"Oh, crap. Natsu, we should probably get out of here."

Natsu blinked, craning his head to see Lucy trying fruitlessly to hide behind him, her hands twisted in his scarf and her expression one of anxiety. "Why?"

"Those kids in the booth over there… they're students."

"Uh… so?"

"That's awkward."

Natsu laughed uproariously, attracting the attention of nearly everyone in the small burger joint. "You're so weird, Luce," he said finally. "There's nothing wrong with seeing students."

"Mr. Natsu!" said a boy with black hair and an orange scarf, waving happily. "I didn't see you there."

The girl in the booth with him, sporting dark blue hair in long pigtails, waved too. "Natsu-nii, I didn't know you were coming here today. Oh, and good afternoon, Ms. Heartfilia."

Lucy laughed uneasily, "G-good morning to you, too, Wendy, Romeo. I mean, afternoon. Damn it! I mean darn it." Natsu began giggling like a kindergartner until Lucy stomped on his foot. "You didn't hear anything," she blurted, smiling forcedly back at the students.

"Ow, Luce, you didn't have to do that when you're wearing heels," pouted Natsu, before recovering his smile as he looked at the kids. "So what're you guys doing here?"

Lucy grinned, a little evilly, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. "Are you guys on a date? I knew it would happen eventually!"

Wendy squeaked, a blush coating her features as she began to babble. "… not really... not that he's… and it won't… it's Shelia's… and we just…"

Romeo opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Finally, he blurted, "It looks like you and Mr. Natsu are on a date!"

Natsu blinked in confusion. Lucy's face went red as she waved her arms around frantically. "Nooo, it's not like that at all, Romeo!"

"I wouldn't let Wendy go on a date with anyone!" announced Natsu, already behind on conversation topics. "My cousin is too young for that sort of thing, Luce! I'll protect her!"

Lucy sighed – he was pretty much a lost case. "You're so slow, Natsu."

"Nuh-uh, I'm super fast! I can beat that loser Gray in any race!" boasted Natsu, proudly.

Lucy sighed again. "Oblivious, too," she mumbled. Fortunately for her, the line had moved forward, and the impatient, gum-chewing checkout lady (who seemed to be suffering from eating too much food at her place of employment) was right before her.

"A regular burger and two doubles with two sides of fries; if you can, drown the doubles with hot sauce and overcook the meat," she said, as always (Natsu ate a lot. Both the doubles were for him.)

The lady raised an eyebrow. "Is your order to-go?"

"Yeah."

Natsu chose that minute to pay attention for once. "But Luce," he protested, "I wanna eat with my cousin!"

"Maybe next time, Natsu," said Lucy cheerfully, "I have papers to grade."

"But you said you didn't have any today!"

"Well, bye, Romeo and Wendy! Good luck on your date!"

"Nooo Luce, I wanna eat with Wendy, don't drag me awayyyy!"

"Good luck to you, too, Ms. Heartfilia!"

"Romeo! We're not – now they think we're dating!"

"Calm down, Wendy, it's fine."

"Luce, noooooooo-!"