"I'm not talking to you," Natsu stated, crutching across the kitchen to grab the Cheerios box out of the cupboard. He poured some in a bowl, letting out a frustrated harrumph when there was less than a cup left.
Gajeel feigned a frown to cover up his smile, watching as Natsu crutched over to the fridge. He pulled out the milk, letting out an annoyed sigh as he realized there were only a few droplets left.
"Seriously?" he yelled as he put the empty jug back in the fridge, "You drank all the milk?"
"Thought you weren't talking to me!" Gajeel taunted.
"I'm not," Natsu grumped, taking his bowl of Cheerios to the couch. It was a delicate balance…crutching with a bowl in his hands, but Gajeel wasn't about to offer to help him. Natsu glared at him as he passed, "So shut up!"
"Did you at least get to kiss her?" Gajeel persisted, grabbing his coffee – with milk – as he sauntered to the living room after Natsu.
Natsu glared at him. Gajeel knew perfectly well the entire date was ruined. As if Lucy would want to kiss him after he'd thrown up. Gajeel was purposely rubbing salt into his wounds.
"Oh c'mon – it wasn't that bad!"
Natsu threw darts at Gajeel through his eyes, "It wouldn't have been that bad if you'd just cut us out…on your own…without calling for backup from the Magnolia Police Department! Why the hell did it take 6 officers to bring a fucking pair of scissors?! AND HALF OF THEM WEREN'T ON DUTY!"
Gajeel was suppressing his laughter…and doing a miserable job of it.
"Well, are you gonna see her tonight?" Gajeel pressed.
"No," Natsu growled, spooning his dry cereal.
It needed milk.
"She probably thinks I'm a danger to mankind and will avoid me like the plague for the rest of eternity. Thanks for that. We're done. Caput. She doesn't want to see me again…so mind your own business!" Natsu toyed with his cereal, moving the spoon around grumpily.
Gajeel's frown was real this time. Maybe he'd gone too far. For all the teasing Natsu received, he was generally a good sport. This Natsu...he was really upset.
Glancing over to the corner, he could see Gray shaking his head with complete amusement, a smile curved on his lips.
Natsu was playing with him…trying to throw him off to the fact that there would be a third date.
"I'll be out with Levy tonight," Gajeel told him, sending him a salty grin, "Don't wait up."
Natsu glared at him again, tossing his half-eaten bowl of dry cereal beside him on the couch as he hauled himself to his feet. Dry cereal sucked.
"Wasn't planning on it, Iron-Breath."
Levy stared at Lucy, a look of complete and total pity on her face as Lucy finished recounting the events of the night before.
"I can't believe Gajeel called for backup," Levy sighed, "I feel so bad for you and Natsu."
"Oh, they had a hay day with it, alright," Lucy seethed, "Between the constant taunts of, 'hey Natsu – did you at least get to pet her squirrel' and the fact that Gajeel and Rogue were laughing so hard, they could barely cut the ropes enough to get me out of the hammock, I thought Natsu was going to lose it for sure."
"He didn't, did he?" Levy clarified.
Lucy shook her head, "No, but that would be why they cut me out first…and gagged Natsu…and gave him a mild sedative. Once I was freed, most of them took off running, leaving Natsu with the scissors to cut himself out once the muscle relaxant wore off. It took me a half hour to get him out...and then he couldn't move because of the sedation."
Levy shook her head in a cross between sympathy and disbelief, "I will be having strong words with Gajeel tonight."
Lucy waved her hand, "Doesn't matter. It's done now."
"They ruined your picnic!" Levy exclaimed.
"It was…pretty much ruined when Natsu threw up," Lucy dead-panned, "Who knew a hammock could induce motion sickness?"
"Hmm," Levy had to agree…that would put a damper on things.
She was starting to worry. Things weren't going too well.
"I hope that doesn't mean you're giving up on him."
Lucy's eyes widened in shock, "What? No! Of course not! We're going out again tonight."
She narrowed her eyes, leaning into Levy like she was about to divulge a big secret.
"We've got a plan that can't fail tonight," she confided, "It's foolproof! Nothing bad could possibly happen!"
Levy flashed Lucy a smile, hoping inwardly that she was right.
"I didn't tell the boys I was going out with you tonight," Natsu stated. They were walking down the sidewalk. Lucy's pace was slow to accommodate Natsu's crutches, "So hopefully we'll have no interruptions."
"It doesn't matter," she promised, "I'm not mad about last night."
He sighed, "Are you getting the impression someone up there doesn't want us together?"
She giggled, putting her hand on his hand.
"No…I'm getting the impression that whatever we have must be special," she said softly, "Because we both showed up for the third date, regardless of what happened on the first two."
He smiled, their eyes locking.
"You're really something," he commented, brushing the bangs out of her eyes.
"You're not so bad yourself," she whispered as his lips neared hers.
"Okay!" the instructor called out, "If everyone is ready, we're going to begin!"
"We're late," Lucy huffed, backing away from him, "C'mon…we need to find our seats."
Natsu followed her inside the building, deciding tonight, he would definitely get his kiss. They found seats together along the edge of the wall. Two clean white canvases sat untouched, a palette of acrylic paint on a foam plate in front of them. There was an array of brushes, ready for their use.
"Excuse us," Lucy said politely to the man beside her as she helped Natsu adjust into the chair. She took his crutches, placing them on a nearby wall.
"Welcome to Paint Nite!" the instructor announced, "Tonight, we're going to paint a Snowy Owl!"
Lucy turned to look at the instructor, her face draining of colour.
"What's wrong?" Natsu whispered, seriously concerned about the look on her face.
"It's him," she groaned, "Of all the people in the world…why did it have to be him?"
Natsu glanced at the instructor. The man wore an apron that went down to his knees, his long green hair tied back into a ponytail. Natsu frowned…was he wearing a petticoat?
"That's Freed Justine," Lucy whispered, "He used to be Levy's boss at the library…Class A jerk."
"Nice to see you too, Lucy Heartfilia," Freed spat out from behind them.
Lucy froze, unsure how Freed had crossed the room so quickly. Her breath stuck in her airways.
"Freed," she greeted, trying to send him a friendly smile. It came out as more of a scowl, despite her best efforts.
Freed grunted, turning his eyes to inspect Lucy's companion.
He looked Natsu up and down, giving an appreciative smile to him, "Well, well! Haven't you moved up in the world, Lucy! Did you finally ditch Miss McGarden for this fine...specimen of a man?"
"I wasn't expecting to see you here of all places," Lucy commented, "Aren't you at the library full-time now? You know...since you can't seem to keep employees?"
Freed frowned, biting his lower lip for a moment, "I don't see how that's your concern. However, for the record I have attained new capable employees who are very loyal and actually show up to work. Which frees me up to instruct nights like these."
"You son-of-a -" Lucy began to say, her face flushed with annoyance.
Natsu squeezed her knee, stopping her mid-sentence. He gave Freed a friendly wave, praying that Freed would get the hint and move on, "We're looking forward to painting with you."
Freed zeroed in on Natsu's biceps, licking the corner of his mouth as he sauntered off to begin the class, "Indeed."
Freed held up a canvas with a cute, fluffy owl face on it, calling out his first instructions. Lucy grinned at Natsu, excited at their new venture. Nothing could go wrong tonight, even if Freed was the instructor. They were simply going to paint an owl.
"Those of you who have been to Paint Nite before know the rules," Freed called out, "Rule #1: Have fun! No one is judging you! Rule #2, the instructors are not going to fix your painting, but we will give you advice! You can ask for more paint or whatever you need. Just put your hand up and we'll come to you."
Lucy huffed off her anger. She was here with Natsu and Freed would not ruin her night.
She smiled at Natsu, taking out the wide brush Freed was telling everyone to pick up. First, they had to paint their entire canvas. They were supposed to take a bit of the black and mix it with the white to make a light gray.
Natsu was busily mixing his paint, stealing glances at her as she stroked her brush up and down the canvas. She smiled at him, moving her leg over slightly so that it touched his. Natsu's skin tingled every place their limbs connected.
"Oh…" Lucy frowned, glancing between her painting and Natsu's. Hers was decidedly darker than his.
"It's okay," Natsu told her, whisking his light gray paint over her canvas. In a moment, he had it looking slightly lighter…but honestly, her gray had been very, very dark.
"Thank you," she smiled, squeezing his hand.
He raised their joined hands to his lips, kissing her hand gently.
"You can't hold hands and paint!" Freed snapped, stepping between them haughtily. He clasped Natsu's hand, guiding it back to his paint brush. Lucy's eyes were wide in disbelief.
Natsu and Lucy had to let go of each other, slightly embarrassed as the rest of the class broke out into giggles.
"Try and stop us!" Natsu muttered as Freed stalked away, but he picked up his brush again as he stuck his tongue out at the teacher's back.
"Okay – next we're going to do the wings!" Freed called out, walking away from their corner to pace the rest of the room, "Start with your medium brush and pure white paint, making arced lines from about the mid-canvas down to the bottom."
In the shadows of the room, Gajeel had Levy by the shoulders, holding her back from giving Freed the beating of a lifetime.
"SHRIMP!" he chastised, "What in the hell are you hoping to prove? You already know he's an ass...don't let him get to you or I'll have to take you home!"
"Why are we all here anyway?" Wendy asked, "Does it really take 7 Angels to look after Natsu and Lucy?"
"Ask Ice-For-Brains," Gajeel scoffed, "We all know what happens if he's in charge of looking after them."
"You wanna come say that to my face?" Gray challenged, balling both fists.
Gajeel growled, "Happily…maybe we should step outside…"
"He's was flirting with Natsu!" Juvia cried out dramatically, drawing both Gray and Gajeel's attention back to the issue at hand, "Lucy has a love rival!"
"Don't worry – Natsu's oblivious!" Gray insisted, holding her back as Juvia threw a fist at an unsuspecting Freed, "I seriously doubt Mavis implanted any memories on how to handle male flirtation!"
"Natsu doesn't even know Freed's alive!" Erza stated valiantly, "He only has eyes for Lucy!"
The girls stopped struggling, noting how Natsu doted on Lucy, giving her small pointers on how to make the brush strokes.
"Even so," Erza's eyes narrowed, "It can't hurt to compel him a little."
Natsu dropped his hand on Lucy's thigh, squeezing her knee. She froze as it traveled slowly up her inner thigh, drawing small circles into her skin.
"I want my kiss tonight," he whispered in her ear, "I don't care if we end up burning down the building."
Her cheeks burned as she nodded enthusiastically. She turned back to her painting, noting her white streaks were much thicker than Natsu's. She needed the distraction to keep from jumping him in front of everyone. The way he stroked her skin had her nerve endings screaming for more.
"I don't think I'm doing it right," she murmured to him.
"And now wash out your brush. Mix the white and blue paint together," Freed called, "You don't want a dark blue – just a nice, light blue."
"You're fine," Natsu encouraged her, examining her painting. He ran his hand back to her knee.
Her white streaks were about twice the width of his. She bent into the painting, concentrating on making the blue lines blend in with the white.
"Maybe your streaks are a little thick," he admitted after a moment of watching her intently, "Here...let me show you."
He pulled back his chair, maneuvering on his good knee until he sat behind her in her chair. He wrapped his arms around her, his hand enclosing over hers and he guided her fingers to turn the brush. She trembled, noting that there was no space between her back and his front. The other hand rested on her thigh, squeezing it gently.
"Just lightly," he murmured in her ear. His hot breath sent tingles down her spine, "You don't want to press too hard…just enough that the canvas absorbs a bit of the paint. If you turn the brush like this, the bristles will skim the surface."
Lucy could barely hear him as heat traveled to her face. She leaned back against him, allowing him to guide her hand as she tried to mimic his movements. He pressed his hard chest into her back, ghosting the back of her neck with his lips. Her feather stroke became very squiggly due to her shaking hand.
"You want to do it slowly," he told her, the seductive tone of his voice making it hard to for Lucy to breathe, "Stroke it slowly. See how the colour is deep, even with gentle strokes?"
Lucy's breaths were coming faster, her hand lowering the brush as she tilted her head backward to catch his eyes.
He complied in her attempt to let go of the brush, placing the newly free hand on her stomach, just below her breasts. The other hand kneaded her inner thigh as their eyes met.
"What in the hell is wrong with you?" Gray yelled at Erza, "You've got them so hot and heavy, they're not going to wait until they're alone!"
Erza grinned mischievously.
"She's been reading romance novels again," Levy sighed, pressing the heel of her palm into her eye.
"The ones you lent me," Erza pointed an accusing finger at Levy, "detailing the undeniably crudest acts of sex and seduction known to humankind! If anyone is at fault, it's you for giving me ideas!"
Wendy's face turned purple.
Jellal turned his head, whistling to himself in the other direction. He was fine with Erza reading erotic novels…he had no problem with it at all.
"Knock it off! Both of you!" Gajeel grunted, "Here comes Freed again."
Levy and Juvia both glared, moving forward a few steps, ready to intervene if necessary.
"That's hardly behaviour becoming of a young lady!" Freed yelled at Lucy, noting the intimate position Natsu and Lucy were in.
Natsu huffed, removing himself from Lucy's chair and taking his own seat again.
"Jealous much?"
Freed raised an eyebrow at him before looking to his painting.
"That's good," Freed commented as he looked over Natsu's owl, "His face is contoured just perfectly. That body is very, very nicely shaped…and those eyes…they're mesmerizing."
Natsu frowned, a little unnerved that Freed wasn't even looking at his painting.
"Hey! What about Lucy's?" Natsu demanded as Freed began to walk away.
Freed turned, his face contorting in obvious distaste. Lucy's painting was…less than perfect. For one thing, it was entirely too dark, giving it an ominous feeling. Her feathers were thick, intertwined with thinner, squigglier feathers. The eye…was entirely too large. Freakishly large.
"There's no helping that," Freed stated flatly, turning on his heel to walk away.
The entire class gasped as suddenly Freed lost his balance, falling into a woman's painting head first. Freed righted himself, the nearby painters unable to contain their giggles as an imprint of the owl's face had transferred to Freed's skin, the eye on one of his cheeks. The woman screeched, grabbing at her painting as it began to fall off the easel. The woman beside her screeched because the eye on his cheek seriously looked like a third eye.
"You tripped me!" Freed snarled at Lucy.
Lucy's eyes went wide, "I didn't! I was sitting right here!"
Freed glared at her, her face going redder, "I am warning you, Lucy Heartfilia...I won't hesitate to kick you out."
Lucy reeled back, confused by his aggression. Finally, Freed called a 20-minute break while he sauntered off to the bathroom to try to remove some of the paint on his face before it dried.
In the shadows, Levy and Juvia were howling with laughter. Wendy's face was filled with wonder as she watched her mentors. This was appropriate Angel behaviour?
"That was priceless, Juvia!" Levy cried out, wiping tears from her eyes, "The look on his face! Oh….my sides hurt."
"That was immensely satisfying," Erza agreed with a curt nod.
"I will defend Lucy against her love rival!" Juvia declared, shaking her fist towards the door Freed had gone through.
Jellal, Gray and Gajeel shook their heads, but none could contain the amused smiles on their faces.
Natsu had recovered his canvas with a red background, painting a green dragon instead of the proposed snow owl. Something about the way Freed had been complimenting his former painting unnerved him. There was no rule that he had to paint what Freed told him to, so he'd started over.
When Freed crossed the room to check on progress, again completely overlooking Lucy's painting, he cried out like he'd been struck in the face.
"Where is your beautiful painting?" he demanded, "Why would you opt to paint such a hideous beast instead?"
Natsu winked at Lucy as Freed moved off, making her giggle.
Now, Natsu studied her painting, noting the abnormally large eye. The nose was okay…and with a little blending, he thought the feathers could straighten too. The problem was the eye.
He wouldn't have worried about it, but it was causing Lucy obvious stress. She heaved several sighs, reapplying paint over and over again as she tried to rectify her blunders.
"It's hooped," Lucy sighed, throwing her brush onto the table, "I can't do it! I give up!"
For the most part, Natsu and Lucy had kept their hands to themselves over the past 10 minutes. Freed was keeping a very close eye on them…well, on Natsu anyway.
He glanced back at Freed. He was on the other side of the room. Now was as good a time as any.
"I can help you," he suggested, "If you're okay with that."
Lucy nodded and Natsu wasted no time switching paintings. Lucy watched as he took his brush, blending around the eyes to give the illusion of softer feathers around the wings. The eye became much smaller, but Natsu couldn't decide how to soften its' piercing gaze. No matter what he did, the owl appeared to stare directly at him. He shivered, then switched brushes, using the earlier-discussed technique of creating small, thin feathers above and around the eyes.
"Like eyelashes," Lucy murmured, completely engrossed in how he was moving the brush.
The painting began to transform, blooming into a nicely-sized eye. The painting as a whole, however, was still entirely too dark. All the snow owls around them were innocent looking, sweet birds. Lucy's looked…like it would probably eat someone given the chance.
Natsu glanced over his shoulder, realizing Freed was on his way back to their end of the room. He switched paintings quickly, making Lucy giggle when the paint brush in his hand slid across his cheek, leaving a blue streak.
"You think that's funny, do you?" he asked mischievously.
They both froze, Freed's hand landing on Natsu's shoulder, "Interesting dragon…I must say I'm sorry you covered up that shapely owl."
Natsu glanced at Lucy. Freed had wedged himself between them, his back to Lucy as he ran a finger down Natsu's arm. Natsu found it hard not to burst out laughing. The owl imprint hadn't been washed from Freed's face completely. The eye on his cheek was smudged, giving Freed a Picasso look.
He tried to see around him to point it out to Lucy, but Freed was definitely in the way.
"You're blocking my view," Natsu told him.
Freed looked confused, "Your painting is right in front of you."
"And my girlfriend is on the other side of you!" Natsu raised his voice.
Freed scowled as he removed himself from between their chairs, stomping as he took his place at the front of the class again.
Lucy was frozen, her eyes wide in wonder.
"What a dink!" Natsu chuckled, shaking his head, "Seriously…the dude is weird."
He turned, noticing Lucy's stare.
"Are you okay?" he asked gently, placing a concerned hand on her arm.
"You called me your girlfriend," she whispered.
He blushed, "I guess I haven't officially asked you, have I?"
She squeezed his hand, encouraging him with her eyes.
"So…" he drawled, "Do you wanna be?"
She nodded enthusiastically, clasping both his hands.
Juvia and Levy clapped their hands excitedly, both of them swooning over the Nalu moment happening right in front of them. Wendy shook her head at their behaviour, not completely sure what had happened that was so exciting.
"He's not very smooth," Gajeel commented.
"Like you could do better," Gray scoffed.
"I was the first to get the girl!" Gajeel grabbed a struggling Levy, wrapping her in his arms.
Gray laughed, "Juvia and I were together before I died! Technically, that makes our relationship longer!"
"You croaked – and she didn't croak for a long time after that! The time between doesn't count," Gajeel pointed out, "Levy and I knew in Crocus that we were going to end up together."
"Whatever man…" Gray waved him off, "But for the record, I had Levy first too."
The Angels froze, Gray's eyes widening when he realized what he'd just said. Gajeel's face was heating up, turning red like a thermometer. Juvia's hands clasped over her own mouth.
"And all this time, I thought my love rival was Lucy!" Juvia whispered. She frowned, wondering where that thought had come from…Lucy had only ever had eyes for Natsu.
"You and my Levy?" Gajeel roared, advancing on Gray with a fist raised.
"It was a long time ago!" Levy interjected, throwing her arms in front of Gray, "And nothing happened! It was a passing attraction! We're just really good friends!"
"LOVE RIVAL!" Juvia screamed, throwing herself at Levy.
Erza held a protective arm against Wendy, shielding her from the now-brawling Angels. Jellal stepped back as the boys hit the floor, rolling wildly with punching fists.
"We need to stop this!" Wendy exclaimed as she ducked out of the way of Juvia's fist.
"There's no need," Erza stated, eyeing the dessert table. There was a lovely piece of strawberry shortcake there with her name on it, "None of the humans know what's going on. Let them get their jollies out."
Juvia screeched as Levy dragged her backward by her hair.
"Come, Wendy…Jellal," Erza encouraged, "There's no harm in helping ourselves to the dessert table either."
Wendy's eyes threatened to bulge out of her head as Erza led her away, Jellal following her calmly without question.
"Is this where we kiss?" Lucy stared into Natsu's eyes, drawing closer to him.
Natsu shook his head, "No…not here…not now."
Lucy rolled her eyes, "You just asked me to be your girlfriend! Are you worried about Freed? He already hates us! What's he going to do – kick us out?"
"It's not just that," Natsu admitted after a long moment, "I'm sort of…afraid to kiss you."
"Afraid?" she repeated.
"Yeah," he confirmed, squeezing her hand, "We don't exactly have the best track record for successful attempts."
Lucy laughed nervously, "So we'll just never kiss? Ever? Because you're afraid if we kiss something bad will happen? What happened to being determined that you'd get your kiss tonight?"
He chuckled with her. It did seem a bit far-fetched. He knew damn well he wouldn't be able to resist her forever. Hell, he'd been hard-pressed to resist her over the past 3 days! Were it not for their unfortunate mishaps, he'd have kissed her the first chance he'd had.
"I don't think any attempt could top our first kiss anyway," Lucy said softly, remembering the heat between them, not even 20 minutes after meeting…and then the heat between them about a half hour ago.
He tilted his head, holding her gaze for a long moment, "I'd bet against that."
She could feel her ears get hot, desire flooding through her. She would bet against that too. Their next kiss was likely to set the room on fire. She wanted that…she really, really wanted that.
"You're overreacting!" Gray told Gajeel as he backed up along the wall.
Gajeel stalked toward him, his arms transforming into iron hammers.
"You're sure we shouldn't stop this?" Wendy asked Erza, her eyes wide with concern as Juvia and Levy rolled passed them, duking it out on the floor.
"Nah," Jellal waved a hand, "It's all good."
Erza had the plate of strawberry shortcake her in her hand, eyeing the delicious morsel as she lowered her fork to take the first scrumptious bite.
Gray ducked underneath of Gajeel's arm, bolting to try to get to the other side of Erza. Gajeel roared, firing an iron hammer projectile at Gray. He missed, his iron projectile knocking the plate from Erza's hands.
Both men froze...their mouths agape, the cake splattered all over the floor.
Levy and Juvia stopped struggling with each other, separating to protect their perspective boyfriends as Erza's eyes turned a dark, insidious red.
Jellal chuckled, "Now they've done it."
Wendy's face lost its colour as Erza stood up, steam pouring from her ears.
"Please don't let them kill each other," Wendy whispered, closing her eyes. She didn't want to see what was going to happen next.
Jellal patted her arm, leaving the safety of the side of the wall to stand in front of the fuming Erza. For everyone's sake, he would intervene.
"Stand down, Erza...I've got this."
He handed her a second piece of cake, quelling her temper for the moment...then turned to face the new recruits of Crime Sorciere.
"So if you believe our next kiss is going to surpass our first one," Lucy stated, pushing her body against his, "What's stopping you?"
Lucy could feel Natsu's hot breath on her neck. They were standing so close together, she swore she could feel his heart beating. Maybe it was her own. She didn't care. She traced his collarbone with a finger, sliding her arms around his neck slowly.
"I want to take my time with you," he told her as he slid his arms around her lower back. His words were opposite what his body was feeling. Her body heat was driving him insane, the contact sending tingles throughout his entire body, "I want it to be right. I don't want to blow what we have by moving too fast."
"What if it's my opinion that we're moving too slow?" she asked haughtily, brushing her lips over his cheek.
He sucked in a breath as she moved her lips overtop of his, pausing millimeters from actually touching him.
Natsu placed a single finger between them, preventing their lips from contacting.
She stared at him, not completely understanding as he pulled his face away.
"I mean it, Luce," he whispered, "I want to kiss you. But I'm afraid. Every attempt since that first day has ended badly. We're having a really good night...but with Freed looming over us...let's just…wait. We have all the time in the world, right?"
The heat of the moment snuffed out immediately. She narrowed her eyes, folding her arms like a kid who'd just been told she couldn't have candy.
"Smile, Luce," he said quietly, "Please tell me you see where I'm coming from."
She dipped her paintbrush in white paint, holding it to her canvas, but didn't do anything with it.
Natsu was starting to second guess his good intentions. She looked so…angry.
"Please, Luce," he pleaded, "Try to understand…I really like you. I don't want to mess this up by moving too fast. Every attempt we've made so far has ended in disaster. I'm so afraid the next bad thing to happen will finish us…"
She sighed, closing her eyes as she contemplated his words.
The desperation on his face made him look like he was going to cry.
"That's stupid," she said monotonously, lifting her white tipped brush. She paused at the canvas, giving him a half-cocked smile.
Natsu didn't know how to react to that. He was trying to be a gentleman because he cared about her and wanted the relationship to work. Wasn't that what gentlemen did? Date their ladies properly?
"It's stupid," Lucy explained, "because it's all that bad stuff that has made me even more attracted to you."
She took her brush, drawing a thick line on his other cheek to match the blue one he'd attained earlier.
"I'm still here, Natsu," she said softly, dotting his nose with black paint.
She drew from his ears, encircling his eyes with round circles. The dot on the centre of his nose bridged his 'glasses'.
"I'm still here despite all the weird events that have happened to us since Day 1," she reiterated.
His mouth was wide open in shock. He really didn't know how to react.
"There's nothing conventional about us," she continued, "We didn't meet conventionally, our dates haven't been conventional…"
She used the black to paint a moustache overtop of his lips, suppressing her laughter so that she still looked serious to him.
"We are not conventional, Natsu," Lucy paused, admiring her face painting. She did a better job on it than the painting she'd come to do in the first place, "And if I wanted conventional, I wouldn't have fought so hard to get away from Dan."
Natsu was stunned, absorbing her words.
"So when you're ready to kiss me," she stated, placing a hand on his thigh, "Be unconventional and just go for it. Bad things might happen...but chances are, eventually we'll get it right."
Natsu was stunned, watching her with mesmerized eyes as she reached for some red paint.
"How long are you going to let me do this?" she asked, laughing as she aimed the red brush at his lips.
He caught her hand, locking eyes with her. She could feel the intensity coming off of him as he leaned in, hovering his lips over hers. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head…
…and got a palate full of paint right in her face.
He grinned wickedly as she screamed, bolting to her feet as the paint dripped down her apron. She staggered backward, pushing on the chair of the man behind her, knocking him forward.
"Oh, you're dead!" she shouted, ignoring the glare of the man behind her.
Whispers circulated throughout the room amidst laughter. Freed froze, knowing the most likely source. Freed stormed across the room, ready to intervene on behalf of whatever that blonde-haired witch was doing to that pink-haired god now.
Lucy had grabbed her palate, smashing it into Natsu's apron. He burst out laughing, finger painting her cheek as she struggled against him.
The entire class had stopped to stare, but when Natsu's elbow reared back, hitting the man next to them in the chin, suddenly everyone wanted to join in. It seemed Freed hadn't been the only one to watch the pair throughout the night. The man who'd gotten elbowed, smashed his palate into the face of the woman he was with, causing her to scream. She reared backward, bumping into the man behind her. When the man moved to stop her falling, the first man hit him for touching his wife. The entire room broke out into an enormous paint fight.
"Stop this!" Freed yelled, standing amongst the brawling painters. "Stop this immediately!"
It was too late. The entire room was oblivious to his cries as they pummeled each other, paint flying everywhere.
"Mavis, you're hot!" Natsu hissed to Lucy, rubbing a red streak down her hair.
"We can make it a game if you're that insistent that we'll never kiss," Lucy replied, putting a green handprint on Natsu's jeans, "I'll wear you down eventually."
He grabbed her, pulling her into his arms, "Consider me worn down."
Their lips crashed together, pulling each other into complete bliss. The chaotic brawl around them raged, but Natsu and Lucy were completely oblivious, drawn into their own world.
Erza and Wendy sat along the back wall, watching the brawl inside the tiny tavern. Wendy was in good spirits now that she had chocolate cake. Erza was downing her second piece of strawberry shortcake. They watched the human brawl…Natsu and Lucy kissing passionately right in the middle of it. Freed stood in the centre of the room, bawling his eyes out as his assistants rushed for the phone.
She forked a good-sized bite, feeding it to Jellal before kissing his lips tenderly.
"Thank you for your help," she said, running a hand down his face.
"I know you could've handled it," Jellal replied, "But I'd do anything to please you."
"That may have been excessive," Wendy sighed, glancing behind her.
Behind them, Gray, Gajeel, Juvia, and Levy were all bound and gagged with his Heavenly light magic…
"Nah," Erza dead-panned, looking at the spoiled piece of strawberry cake that still lay on the floor, "They deserved it."
"You know you're going to get razzed big-time tomorrow," Sting told Natsu as he pushed him to the police car. He couldn't cuff him since Natsu still required his crutches, but he had a firm hold on Natsu's shirt. Not that it was necessary.
"Don't care!" Natsu sing-songed as he cast a longing glance at Lucy, who was cuffed.
When the police arrived to break apart the brawl, the patrons of Paint Nite had been quick to pinpoint Natsu and Lucy as the instigators...and Freed as the person who harassed them into such behaviour. The hosting bar was destroyed, covered in paint. Half the canvases had been splattered with globs of paint, ruining the evolving portraits. Freed bawled loudly as the bar owners demanded to know who was going to pay for damages.
"It's not every day we arrest our own officers for disturbing the peace and starting a brawl," Sting shook his head, laughing to himself.
"There was some pretty serious damage to the bar," Rogue agreed, "Although it kind of looks right now like the bar manager blames Freed for picking on Natsu and Lucy and he's going to get stuck with the bill."
"We have nothing to hold you on…" Sting added, "As soon as we get to the station, you're basically free to go."
Natsu and Lucy exchanged heated glances. That was fine with them.
Lucy was grinning ear-to-ear too as Rogue helped her toward the squad car. Both she and Natsu were covered head-to-toe in copious amounts of coloured acrylic paint.
"Hey, you got my painting, right Rogue?" Lucy asked casually.
He nodded, undoing her cuffs now that they were out of the public eye. He handed the painting to her once she was in the back seat, Sting handing Natsu his.
"It didn't turn out," Lucy sighed as she studied her owl. He was very dark, his eye gleaming, "This owl is seriously evil…like demonic evil. He looks more like a Hell Owl than a snowy owl."
Natsu laughed, leaning over to get a better look and very purposely brushing her shoulder as he did so, "I dunno, Luce…I like it…it speaks to me."
She laughed out loud, only to be silenced as he claimed her mouth passionately again.
"So getting razzed!" Rogue called back to them, snapping a picture to show the boys tomorrow, "It's against protocol to let prisoners make out in the back seat on their way to the station, by the way!"
Natsu barely heard him, completely immersed in the world of Lucy.
Sting sighed heavily, signaling so he could pull out onto the road.
"I think protocol is out the window on this one," he told Rogue, "They're not listening anyway."
*A/N: Just wanna say - I don't own Paint Nite and I adore it thoroughly! Every instructor I've ever had has always been professional and awesome!
The cover picture is the Hell Owl I painted in January. Seriously...the thing is not cute or fluffy. He's in my living room because I'm afraid if I put him in my bedroom, he will eat me. One time, my 14 -yr-old and his friends slept downstairs and I was awake all night...listening for the sounds of slaughter.
I also want to state that I have nothing against Freed. Honestly - he's a pretty cool character.
I hope you're enjoyed this little mini-series and that it's placated your need to fill in a bit of Natsu and Lucy's first dates after the events of Angel of Oops. I've already been asked for the lemon. If you remember, it took 2 weeks for Lucy to get Natsu into bed (lol).
Let's see what kind of reviews this mini series gets...then I'll think about it. I've also thought about adding to some of the one-shots from Nalu Week and/or adding Lucy's evening as a second chapter to Buck-A-Suck. As always, I appreciate comments!
Seeya next week for Angel of Oops: Angels of the Discerning Son! And Happy Anniversary, Angel of Oops!
~Shana~