4. Shortstack


Lucy swallowed loudly, drinking her tea in short sips as her eyes darted nervously from the food on the table, to the man in front of her. "Mm…" She murmured into the teacup. "The tea is quite… exquisite?" She laughed dryly as she slowly set it down. It annoyed her how he chose what drink to get her, and he got one of the more bitter teas one could possibly offer. The dress she wore squeezed her body way too tight, she couldn't even nibble on anything else, or it would explode.

The pudgy man sitting across from her was supposedly the "great" Duke Sawarr Junelle, the man that she was supposedly engaged to.

"Is t-that so?" He smiled at her nervously, she swore he was sweating buckets.

"So…" Lucy started as she swung her legs up, stretching it as she tried to reach her toes. Sawarr looked at her with surprise, as if he was appalled by her movements. "What's exactly going on right now?"

"What d-do you mean?" He asked before wolfing another cupcake.

"This." Lucy waved her hands, gesturing towards the fancy restaurant. "I mean, yeah, I agreed to meet you." She undid one of the lacing strings behind her. Letting out a breath of relief, she wasn't sure if she was going to survive the evening if it was left like that. "But I never agreed to an engagement."

Sawarr looked at her thoughtfully. "Is t-there something w-wrong with that?" He inquired shyly. The tone of his voice made Lucy shudder with uneasiness.

Lucy turned her head to the side, muttered several curse words under her breath, before looking back up at him. "Yes. Actually. I thought this was just some… business talk, but apparently my dad, um, Mr. Heartfilia I mean, lied to me." Lucy stood up and tied the lace back behind her loosely. "As a matter of fact, I'm only sixteen." She scoffed and handed him some money. "I'll pay for my half of the share, but I'll be leaving first." Marriage was not on her list right now.

"You can't leave, Lucy."

She had to fight back a gag as his sweaty hand caught her wrist. "Excuse me?" Lucy glared at him. His sudden change in manner caught her off guard. He changed from being the shy, sweat creepy midget to an extremely sweaty and creepy midget.

"Your father promised me that you would marry me- for business." Sawarr explained. "I was also planning to reject this proposal, but I've taken quite a liking to you…" He eyed her from head to toe.

Enough was enough .

Lucy was done with being polite.

"Oh, please ." Lucy snatched her wrist back and slammed her other hand on the table in front of him, the plates and glasses clattered under the force. "Well I don't like you! You're creepy and weird and- and all sweaty!" Lucy exclaimed loudly. The entire restaurant was staring at them now. "If you think for one second that I would even consider marrying the likes of you, then you're out of your mind!"

"But L-Lucy!" He started, but she shushed him up with her dangerous glare.

"That's Miss Heartfilia to you, Duke ." Lucy hissed. "We are not on friendly terms, let alone acquaintances! I will not marry you just because you think I'm some sort of eye candy! "

"Like I said, Lucy. I wouldn't leave if I were you." He warned her again, rather menacingly. Under his stuttering mess, there was some sinister about his words. Even then, all she could do was snort.

"Oh, please enlighten me." Lucy nodded her head sarcastically as she crossed her arms. "Ah, actually, before you begin…" Lucy took a step towards him. She was easily a head taller than him. "I'm a witch, so you should be very careful with your words." She murmured, cocking her head to the side.

Sawarr scoffed, staring right back at her. "If you abuse your power, the Royal Council can easily take it away from you. Aside from that, White Witches do not excel in offensive magic-"

"Shut the hell up, shortstack."

Lucy turned around a little too quick, she stepped on the hem of her dress in surprise.

"Natsu?"

She didn't panic or flail her arms around as she fell, he caught her arms before she fell flat on her face.

"Graceful as always, even in front of your future fiance." Natsu half joked, he still held her close to his chest.

"Whatever." Lucy rolled her eyes and pushed him back a little. "And he's not my fiance!" Lucy jabbed a thumb back towards the confused man. "Actually, the bigger question is why you're here!"

"To chat with your Duke?" Natsu tilted his head to look at the Duke, he nodded his head as a greeting. Unfortunately, Sawarr didn't understand the movement. "Don't tell me you forgot that I'm your bodyguard for tonight."

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" He challenged Natsu angrily.

Natsu rolled his eyes and peeked behind Lucy to look at him. "I feel really bad for you." Natsu looked back at Lucy, his lips tilted into a smile. "Your dad sent me, so just sit over there while I give him some ground rules about being your husband." Natsu nudged her towards the bench at the entrance.

"He's not my husband!" Lucy growled, "and I'm pretty sure Jude hates your guts." He gave her a knowing look, and she knew exactly that he was going to save her from this terrible set up. "Alright! Fine. Whatever, just don't scare him like you always do with everyone else. Or else Jude will hate you even more." Lucy threw her hands up in surrender and hobbled over to the bench, plopping down on it firmly. Her gaze was locked on Natsu as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"This is nonsense! I will not stand for this kind of harassment-!" Sawarr exclaimed as he stood up. Natsu pushed a firm hand down on his shoulder, slamming him back down onto his seat.

"Talk to me for a while, yeah?" Natsu sat down in the chair Lucy was in. "How old are ya'?"

"Twenty one. Who on earth are you? Do you even have the authority to-"

"All you need to know is that I'm with the Heartfilia family." Natsu leaned back in his chair and gave a toothy grin. "So, what do you like about Miss Sass over there?" Natsu nodded his head to where Lucy sat. She was impatiently tapping her foot.

"She has a rotten attitude," Sawarr started, and Natsu almost fell off the chair, "but if she were to become my wife, I wouldn't mind. She's pretty. Luckily, appearance doesn't reflect on personality-"

"Well, you just ultimately failed the test. You're the fastest person, congrats." Natsu clapped his hands together. "Also, just so you know…" Sawarr didn't notice that Natsu was suddenly leaning in his chair, very close to his face. He swore he saw a vein popping up on his forehead as he spoke. "I'm a Black Witch." He whispered, speaking the words out slowly. "I don't think you want to piss me off more than you already have." A shudder ran through Sawarr. "Just like that," Natsu snapped his finger next to Sawarr's ear. "And you can become freshly, grilled, minced meat." He growled lowly, quiet enough for only him to hear. He pulled back and smiled at him. "Seems like you don't really like her. I think it'd be wise if you go running back home to look for another girl. Maybe she'll be desperate enough to marry you." Natsu got up and pat down Sawarr's curls. "For the money, at least." Natsu slapped his back in means of a friendly gesture, but he almost crumpled into a heap on the floor from fear, embarrassment, and anger.

Lucy jumped up as she saw Natsu tread his way towards her, his smile as bright and big as ever.

"What'd you say?" Lucy peered past Natsu's shoulder, to see Sawarr slumped against his chair.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Natsu shrugged and draped his arm across Lucy's shoulder. "Let's go hit the haystack at Porlyusica's place so your pops doesn't find out you ditched your date!"


A/N: Thanks for reading! xoxo