A/N Two shouts for summer coming up around the corner! Although, summer doesn't mean quicker updates for me since I got a volunteer job over the break.
Side Note: I am dedicating this chapter to the huge thunderstorm currently going off outside my window (which, mind you, is about three inches from my bed). It is all thanks to your loud ruckus and blinding lightning that I woke up, so I might as well use this time to write.
Disclaimer- Hiro Mashima own Fairy Tail
"Okay, so what's your favorite color?"
"Red. Favorite food?"
"Yogurt." Lucy thought for a moment, "Oh, I got one. If you could compare yourself to any animal, what would it be?"
"Dragon, no doubt." he answered without any hesitation.
The speed of his answer caught Lucy off guard, "A dragon?"
"Of course! Dragons are wickedly strong and never give up." He grinned. "What would you be?"
"Rabbit." she answered, thoughtfully taking a sip from her drink.
"Fair enough." Natsu moved his cup to the side and jumped on the counter, "Next question, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"
"Isn't it my turn to ask the question?"
He ignored her, "Well?"
Lucy sighed and looked at the ceiling, "Maybe somewhere with a beach?"
Natsu frowned, "That wasn't specific at all."
Lucy stuck her tongue out at him in a childlike manner, "You only get half an answer since you stole my turn."
Natsu raised his hands up in surrender, "Caught me."
"But, it still counts as a question, though."
"No fair!" Natsu protested, "At least answer it fully if you're counting it."
"Paris."
"Why Paris?"
"Because I've always wanted to see the Love Locks in person." Lucy explained before sighing when Natsu gave her a blank stare, "A couple writes their names on a padlock and lock it onto one of the bridges in Paris. They then throw the key into the Seine River as a symbol of their undying love."
"Sounds girly." replied Natsu, unimpressed.
"I think it is romantic," replied Lucy in a huff, " but I would want to visit both bridges if I were to go."
"There are two?"
"Pont des Arts is for your committed love, while Pont de l'ArchevĂȘchĂ© is for your lover. You have to be careful which one you put the lock on."
A light knock sounded throughout the small apartment, causing Natsu to slid of the counter in interest.
"That's probably Gray." said Natsu looking over at the front door.
Lucy stole a glance at the clock. Eleven minutes had passed since they had started.
"Either that or the mailman," replied Lucy, "I'll check just in case you're wrong."
As she made her way to the door, she saw Plue, out of the corner of her eye, walk into the kitchen behind her; most likely in search of Lucy secret lollipop stash hidden in the cabinets. Lucy grinned. Too bad she had moved them onto her topmost closet shelf after the last time he had raided her stockpile.
Lucy opened up the door and came face to face with a dark haired male. Nothing in particular stood out to the blonde; not his messy hair, pale skin, or dark eyes. What did stand out, however, was his clothing. Or rather. his lack of clothing. That's right. Lucy had a boy on her threshold wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.
Definitely not the mailman.
The spoke up first.
"Hey, are you Lucy?" He glanced down at the paper in his hand, " The lady downstairs said to come here and-"
That's when Lucy decided to slam the door in his face.
Lucy had just leaned against the doorway as Natsu laugh began to echo from the kitchen.
"Going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that wasn't the mailman?" asked Natsu between laughs making Lucy glared at the doorway.
"A little warning would have been nice, y'know."
"I told you he was the stripper."
"And, I thought you were joking." Lucy muttered as she craned her neck to look out at her door's peephole
As expected, Gray had remained standing at her doorway, but now looked a bit stunned as he stared at her door trying to figure out what had just happened moments ago. Clearly, the scenario he has pictured in his head hadn't gone accordingly.
Hesitantly, Lucy cracked the door open again.
"Sorry, your-" She cleared her throat. "choice of style caught me off guard."
Gray shrugged, "I was told to come in disguise."
Her forehead creased, "Then, why did you pick one that stood out so much?"
"I didn't." replied Gray, rubbing his hands together distractedly before moving them to rest of the waistband of his boxers. There, he began to tug on them, as if thinking it were an inconvenience to have them on and he should rid himself of them entirely.
Lucy did give him the chance..
"Natsu's in the kitchen," she informed quickly, yanking him into her apartment by the wrist.
He stumbled a bit, but regained his balance quickly enough. He straightened up and glanced around her small apartment in approval.
"Nice place you have." he complimented.
"Thanks." she replied shutting the door behind them.
A small thunk followed by the familiar tinkle of breaking glass caused Lucy and Gray to snap their attention to the kitchen's doorway.
"Stop that, Plue!" came Natsu's frantic voice as Lucy and Gray reached the doorway.
Upon noticing their appearance, Natsu shot Lucy an uneasy smile from his position on top of her counter. He lowered his hand - which he had been using previously to stop Plue from rummaging through the cabinets above.
"I know this looks bad." said Natsu, slowly.
"Oh, no. It's bad." muttered Gray, leaning his shoulder against the wall while Lucy folded her arms across her chest.
"I only broke two cups this time!" argued Natsu to Gray.
Lucy glanced down to see the remains of her and Natsu's hot chocolate slowly form a small puddle on her floor, while droplets dripped steadily from the ceiling.
"How in Earthland did you manage to get it on the ceiling?" Lucy asked, not sure whether to be amazed or mad at Natsu's achievement.
"Not sure." he replied, hopping down from the counter. The glass from their smashed cups crinkled under his feet.
Gray sighed and shook his head, "I can pay for those. We will just add it in with your compensation."
"Compensation?"
Gray looked surprise at Lucy's question, "For playing impromptu babysitter for Matchstick over there." he explained, jerking his head in Natsu's direction, "Plus, I bet you want something in return for keeping it a secret that you met us."
He narrowed his eyes as if looking at her for the first time.
"Although, I'm surprised at how calm you are about all this. Most girls would have been attacking us by now."
Lucy shuttered as the memory of downtown flashed through her head. Gray had said it such a relaxed manner that sounded like they had girls destroying their clothing on a daily basis.
Speaking of clothing, Lucy glanced down at Gray's body.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked,
"Not particularly. Why?"
At that moment, Natsu made a grab for Plue in the cabinets, missed, and instead, knocked Lucy's flower vase to the floor. The vase shattered causing the daffodils inside to scattered while the water splashed across the floor.
"Natsu! Stop that!" shouted Lucy, jumping away from the streams of diluted hot chocolate heading towards her and Gray.
"Got you!" shouted Natsu, ignoring Lucy's protest, as he made another grab for Plue; this time succeeding, "Now give me back my scarf!"
"Scarf?" asked Lucy, curiously, as Natsu snatched a white cloth that had gotten caught on Plue's collar. Natsu wound the scarf around his neck before setting the dog on the floor.
"When did you get that?" she asked, trying to remember every giving Natsu any type of winter clothing. She drew up a blank.
"Long time ago." answered Natsu simply.
"You had that the whole time?"
Natsu nodded before focusing his attention onto Gray, "Dude, where did your boxers go?"
There was a loud shout from Gray when Natsu said this leading Lucy to turn around in confusion. Almost immediately, Lucy regretted her decision. Her face lit up like a neon sign as she slapped her hand over her eyes and turned away from the scene before her.
"CRAP!" Gray shouted again as he snatched some of the fallen flowers off the ground to cover his privates, "Where did they go this time?!"
"Found them." said Natsu between manic laughter. He waved Gray boxers around his head like a flag before Gray snatched them away. Slipping them back on, he glanced over at Lucy who was busy rubbing her eyes, frantically trying to erase the image burned into her memory.
"Lucy?" asked Gray, cautiously, as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "You okay over there?"
Lucy jumped when she felt his hand on her shoulder, "Yup. Perfectly fine!" she reassured a bit too brightly.
"If you say so." he said, removing his hand, before turning in Natsu's direction, "Time to go, Flame Brain, we don't want the press to find us."
Natsu's grin disappeared, "Yeah, we should go."
As Lucy watched the pair head towards her door, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Even though they had invoked way more stress in a manner of one hour then Lucy had experienced throughout her entire life - not to mention the mess she now had to clean - she didn't want them to go.
"Are you sure you need to go now?" she asked, causing the pair to pause at the door, "I mean, the Half-Off Sale outside is still going on. You might get recognized."
Gray shook his head, "No need to worry yourself over us any longer. But, don't worry, we will be sure to send the money and tickets as compensation as soon as possible."
"Tickets?" Her face brightened."Does that mean you're professional athletes?" she asked, following after Gray as he opened the door.
Just as Natsu stepped out into the hallway, Gray looked over his shoulder and gave her a strange look before their vision lit up in a bright flash.
A/N For all my impatient readers, Natsu and Gray's identity will be reveled in due time. But until then, you will just have to wait and see!
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