A/N: OMG! YOU GUYS! I LOVE YOU PEOPLE SO MUCH! Thanks to those who reviewed, you make me inspired to write more. Thanks to those who added this story to your alerts/favourites too! To dotRhea, thanks for pointing out the mistake! I changed it the moment I read your review! I had a good laugh myself.
Oh, today's Good Friday so... enjoy:)
I hope I won't be late in updating next week as I'll be out of town for almost five days.
Lots of love, PET. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail.
Chapter 2: Ice cream meltdown
"Luuuucccyyyy," a certain fire dragon slayer whined.
"For the last time," Lucy snapped, "no means no! We just returned from a mission yesterday! I need a break!"
It has been almost two weeks since Sting and Lucy went to that restaurant and if Lucy was honest to herself, that blonde dragon slayer was on her mind 90% of the time.
"You know, you could always agree to go with him and pick out the easiest quest on the board," Lisanna teased into her ear as she walked by with a tray of empty glasses. "I heard there's a fairly well-paid decorating job now. No fighting, and mostly relaxing. Take the job, all for the sake of shutting him up."
"Really now, Lisanna?" Lucy exclaimed loudly. "You want to go on a job but Mira and Elfman are a little tied up right now? Hey, Natsu! Heard that?"
Of course Natsu heard it. His face lit up and he ran up to the white-haired mage. Lisanna shot Lucy a death glare. As much as the takeover mage yearns to spend more time with her childhood friend, everybody knows that cleaning up his mess after every mission was the most tiring job of all. Mess, huh? Lucy started wondering if Sting ever destroyed anything while on a job, and if he does, would he clean it his mess up like he did in her apartment? Lucy was sure that he did.
When night fell, Lucy went home alone. Natsu was still bothering Lisanna about that mission. Lucy giggled. She understood the pain of that rambunctious pink-haired mage always next to you, whining for attention. But hey, as long as Natsu wasn't pestering her all the time, she didn't mind if she implicated a friend. Furthermore, Lucy was sure that, deep down, Lisanna was actually elated by the attention Natsu gave her.
"Free!" Lucy squealed as she balanced herself by the river.
"From what?" she heard a voice from behind said.
Lucy gave a slight grin and turned swiftly, "You know, Sting, you sure like popping out from the darkness, don't you? Don't tell me you are a dark dragon slayer."
Sting scoffed, "Most people associate Rogue to darkness rather than me."
"Let me guess, they associate you to light? I mean, with the way you dress."
"What about you? Which element do you think I am?"
Lucy shrugged, "There are many possibilities, but one thing I know for sure is that you and your partner are an enigmatic pair. And Mr Mysterious, what are you doing here?"
"Have you forgotten you owe me something?"
"Oh right, I'm in your debt," Lucy sighed. "What do you want? A drink?"
"Your body," Sting leaned forward and whispered sexily into her ears.
Blood rushed to Lucy's face as she tried to push him away. Finally, Sting stepped back and propped himself against the lamp post – their only source of light in this darkness.
With a smug smile on his face, he guffawed, "You should have seen the look on your face! Hilarious! You really think I wanted your body? I want an ice cream."
Like previously, he gripped Lucy's wrists tightly and pulled her to the park without a thought for the girl herself.
"I'm going to get fat," Lucy bleated as she stared at her vanilla and strawberry ice cream.
"You already are," Sting pointed out, earning a glare from the lady. "I was kidding," Sting mumbled. "You have nothing to worry about."
"Says the guy who called me fat seconds ago," Lucy muttered.
"I meant you probably won't look fat, you never look fat anyway," Sting mumbled again as he looked away.
Lucy felt her face getting warmer again, "I don't know if I should feel disgusted by the seemingly perverted comment, or flattered, but thanks? What's your ice cream flavor?" Lucy asked, trying to change the topic and shatter the awkward tension between them.
"You wouldn't like it, it's lizard tails and monkey's eyes." Sting saw the look on Lucy's face and tried to suppress his laughter. "You're really gullible, you know? I was kidding, I have no idea what flavor this is but I heard the seller said something about a winged fish. Let me try yours."
Without waiting for an answer, Sting bent down and licked the cream off her cone.
"H-hey!" Lucy stuttered. Regaining her composure, she masked her nervousness with a look of distaste, "Do you mean the winged fish that can be found at Web Valley? They are inedible!" She remembered the last time they tried those flying fishes, even Happy found it gross!
"It's actually quite nice! Wanna try?" Sting said, shoving his ice cream in front of her face.
Licking her lips, Lucy nodded hesitantly. They already shared saliva once, what's the harm in another? She stuck out her tongue and bent forward. At the same moment, the ice cream moved towards her, causing cream to spread all over her lips and nose. She heard Sting burst out in laughter and frowned, deciding that revenge was in order. She tiptoed and dumped her cone on Sting's head. Both of them started laughing at each other once they had seen how the other party looked like, without caring about the looks they were receiving from bystanders and started smearing more ice cream on one another.
"Hey! It's actually quite delicious! After seven years, they finally found out how to make this disgusting fish edible!" Lucy exclaimed while licking her lips. "And you look like you need a bath!"
"Speak for yourself. You looked like you just bathed in ice cream," Sting chuckled.
"Shut up! Whose fault do you think it is? Come on, wash up at my apartment." Lucy tugged onto his hands. Realizing that her hand was in Sting's, she tried to pull it away but to no avail. Sting gripped onto her small hands firmly, refusing to let go. Both went to Lucy's home like that, hand in hand, not looking at each other.
Sting wondered what possessed him to make such a move on that girl. They've only met without her annoying friends twice, the first one didn't count since he was drunk, but Sting's mind has been occupied by the celestial Mage ever since their dinner together. He originally wanted to treat her to dinner and be done with her as soon as possible, but it didn't go as planned. When the dinner ended, Sting felt a sense of unwillingness to not let the girl go, hence following her home. He was glad to be able to help the girl get the keys – just another excuse to see her again. What was it about her that made him feel this way? He took a peep at her and realized that it could be her smile. That unselfish smile she would show even to her guild's rival. That smile which could brighten up even a blind man's day.
"Do you want to get into the shower first or-" Lucy started the moment they entered the room.
"Go ahead."
"Don't-"
"Touch anything? No promises."
Lucy let out a loud sigh and grabbed her things before heading for a shower. She saw herself in the mirror and let out soft laugh, knowing that she was probably heard by the dragon slayer outside. She looked horrible! There was blue cream all over her head and face. She thought about Sting, knowing he didn't look any better than she did. Lucy decided to have a quick bath, not wanting to let Sting wait any longer and not wanting him to look around her house, especially at her novels which she remembered leaving on the desk in plain sight.
"Sorry, I don't think I have an extra set of clothes for you," Lucy apologized sheepishly.
"I'll just wear my old clothes back."
Lucy hummed as she dried her hair, waiting for Sting to reappear from the bathroom. Suddenly, she felt a grip on her arms and was pulled into the tiny room. Sting lifted Lucy, bridal style, gently put her down in the wet bath tub and turned around to turn the shower knob. The loud sound from the shower head became noisier. Lucy flushed as she scanned the man in front of her. He had a towel wrapped around his bottom, but the abs of his were as clear as day, even with the fog coming from the hot water.
"Like what you see?" Sting smirked.
More blood rushed to her face and as if the heat from the water wasn't hot enough, the air around her became warmer, and Natsu was certainly not to be blamed this time.
Lucy scowled, "What am I doing here?"
Sting put a finger on his lips and whisper, "Don't speak too loudly. Your fiery partner and friends are coming."
"Natsu? So?"
"The same reason you didn't bring me to the guild when I was dead drunk."
Lucy's mouth formed a small 'O'. Natsu would probably kill Sting, or at least try to, and go to Saber Tooth to cause all sorts of trouble for them. Erza would probably try to kill Sting along with Natsu, giving them higher chances of succeeding. The only sane person would probably be Gray (despite the stripping habit), but then again, Sting belonged to the guild who 'stole' first place away from them in the recent tournament, so Gray might not be as normal as Lucy thought he would be. The last thing on their mind would be listening to anybody since they would be convinced that Sting was at fault here and that Lucy was in danger.
"But your smell! Your smell is all over my place, he would still figure it out."
"I thought about that too, but seeing how I was doused with vanilla and strawberry ice cream when I came in, I am hoping that it would mask my smell."
Lucy frowned, "You speak as if you don't want to fight him."
Sting's smile faltered as he whispered, "Whoever said I didn't? I came to Magnolia to do just that, I just don't want him to fight me like this - finding me with his best friend, thinking that I coerced her to doing something."
Lucy giggled and was about to ask some more when she heard a loud 'LUCY!' over the splashing of the water. All of a sudden, Lucy remembered something.
"Shit!" Lucy exclaimed a little too loudly, hurriedly slapping her hands over her mouth, with Sting doing the same. Lucy realized that both of them were closer now and resisted the temptation to admire his body as there was a more serious situation at hand, "They will enter the bathroom!"
"They barge in knowing that you are in the shower?" Sting whispered furiously.
"Yes!" Lucy shouted back exasperated.
"Strip. Now." Sting commanded. When Lucy just stared at him in shock, Sting sighed, "Or I'll do it for you. Just your shirt, and only to your underwear!"
Lucy immediately did as she was told while Sting turned the shower off and laid down as low as possible. Lucy tried to avoid his eyes and stepped out from the bath tub. The moment she was out, Sting pulled the bath tub curtain over to hide himself.
"Luc-" Natsu and Gray walked in and turned as red as tomatoes the moment they saw her shirtless.
"Get out!" Lucy did her signature high-pitched scream.
Natsu and Gray scrambled out, their perverted actions earning a punch from Erza. Erza bowed apologetically and dragged the two boys out. Lucy sighed in relief and quickly put on the shirt and went out, not forgetting to give Sting a glance.
"What are you guys doing here?" Lucy sighed.
"We are going on a mission!" Natsu cheered.
"Aye!" Happy followed.
"I-I thought you were going with Lisanna?"
"Lisanna asked me and Gray if we could go with them, but she suddenly had something on," Erza replied for Natsu.
"Aye, she said you won't refuse this time," Happy said.
Lucy grumbled, who has the guts to reject the Titania?
Her thoughts about the man in the bathroom were about to go away, when out of the blue, Natsu started sniffing, "Is it me or is there a weird smell in your apartment?"
"What?" Lucy shot up immediately. "It must be you! I can't smell anything else!"
Her quick response earned her weird looks from her teammates and she stuttered, "M-maybe it was the insect repellent I was using a moment ago. There was a pesky bee that refused to leave my house; I had to spray practically every corner!"
When they didn't reply, sweat formed on her forehead. She had to get them out of the house before they found out she was holding Sting in the bathroom, where she came out almost half-naked. Not to mention, it was already late into the night. There would definitely be misunderstandings, violent ones at that.
"Don't you feel hungry? I'm feeling hungry! Let's grab supper!"
"Eh? But, Lucy, you said supper makes you fat," Natsu whined, wanting to stay in Lucy's homey apartment longer.
"Aye! Plus if you gain any more weight, my wings might not be able to support you!" Happy took this chance to tease Lucy.
"When I say I want supper, you better grab supper with me! You blue furry kitty, stop making fun of my weight! You're just weak!" Lucy growled, desperate to get them to leave.
"Lucy is scary!" the blue exceed cried.
"S-supper it is," Gray agreed, not wanting to get on Lucy's nerves, "I'm feeling hungry myself."
When Lucy returned, Sting was nowhere to be found. She headed towards her desk and found a note beneath the ink bottle. It read:
Nice story, you just need some more hot action between Gwen and Nick.
Anyway, you owe me one. Without me and my fantastic sense of smell, you probably wouldn't be able to get out of this by yourself.
Thanks for getting me wet and sticky again.
Sting.
P.S. Seriously? A pesky bee? What are you then? A whiney princess?
Thoughts rushed through the blonde's head. First it was anger, she was mad that Sting actually had read her novel, not to mention that he had asked her to put in some smutty scenes between the main characters! And who was he to call her a whiney princess? This princess is going to kick some sorry bee's ass the next time she sees him. After anger came disbelief. Was Sting actually serious? Lucy couldn't believe that she was in his debt again. It was his fault, not hers! If Sting wasn't at her house, there would be nothing to get out of! Furthermore, she was the one who prevented him from being found and killed by her nakama! The last emotion was amusement. She couldn't help but laugh at the image of Sting, all wet and sticky from the ice cream battle they had, walking on the streets.
Back at Sting's home...
"Hey Sting!" the darkish brown exceed called.
"What?" Sting replied as he walked lazily into his house.
"Where have you been? You have been going to places without me more often recently!" Lector whined.
"Sorry, but I've been busy."
"Busy with what? I smell ice cream all over you," Rogue asked emotionlessly.
When Sting did not reply, Rogue nodded and went back to what he was doing previously. The nod was clear between the pair who has been together since young - Rogue didn't really want to invade Sting's privacy and his friend would tell him when he is ready.
When they were going to their respective rooms, Sting heard, "Is it a girl?" Rogue knew that Sting didn't want the Exceeds to know what was going on. The Exceeds might be their trusted partners, but they were quite a busybody and annoying pair at times.
Sting looked at Rogue for a long time and nodded, giving the brightest smile Rogue has not seen in a long time.
END of Chapter 2
A/N: Hopefully, Hiro Mashima will reveal Sting's and Rogue's powers so that I would have an easier time with it. Gah. #excited.
Burning question: Do you guys want some filler chapters with fluff? .
