WARNING: This chapter contains mature content. Continue at your own risk!

A Talent Within its Own Right

"Hey Lucy! Check out this new move!"

Lucy sighed and peered over the top of her laptop from her seat in the bleachers as Natsu filled his mouth with some liquid from a water bottle and then held a flaming torch in front of his mouth. His chest puffed out and he angled the torch up, back arched. His eyes went wide and he started sputtering, dropping the torch on the concrete and clutching at his throat.

"Oh shit," he choked. "I just swallowed it…"

Lucy let out another long, drawn out sigh. She rubbed her temples, "Hey Natsu…"

He pounded on his chest, coughing. He pressed his bare foot down on the torch, extinguishing the flame. He made a face. "That was kinda gross. Hey, is it bad to swallow paraffin?"

She deliberated for a second, "Isn't paraffin… kerosene?"

"Yeah. The stuff that they use in jet engines."

"Natsu that could kill you."

He pursed his lips and stared off into space for a second before shrugging and jogging up to her, "I'm sure it's fine. Anyway, what's up?"

She averted her eyes and said, "How long have I been a student at Fairy Tail?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Hm. Dunno. A few weeks now?"

"A month. It's been a month, Natsu."

"That long, huh?" he grinned. "Feels like you've been here forever though!"

Lucy refused to be touched, "And do you want to guess how much of my novel I've written since I started bringing my laptop to specialty classes?"

"Dunno… the whole thing?"

"One chapter."

He cocked an eyebrow, "Is it a long chapter?"

She sighed in exasperation and snapped the laptop shut, "No! It's not that long! And worst, it sucks!"

"Maybe you're just a crappy writer."

She glared at him, "I can't concentrate in here."

His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Natsu," she set the laptop down on the seat beside her and stood. "It's impossible to get anything done in here with you always interrupting my train of thought by demanding I watch you do something or making me pass you tools or…" she pressed her hand to her forehead.

"What are you saying, Lucy?"

She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment before crossing her arms over her chest and leveling him with a stare. "I think I need to write in the library from now on."

Natsu was instantly frowning.

"It'll help me concentrate to be in a quiet environment, especially in a more comfortable environment," she gestured at the stiff bleachers around her. "I'll be able to finally— don't shake your head at me." She scowled.

"You can't!" he exclaimed. "We're a team! We gotta stick together! Besides, Levy gets you all day in class, so if we don't hang out during specialty training, when will we ever get to see each other?"

"Oh I don't know… when you sneak in to my room every single night and raid my panty drawer?"

"I told you that was Happy."

"It's happened six times too many for me to believe that crap."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor, frown etched firmly into his face.

Lucy sighed and walked down the bleachers, "It won't be so bad… we still walk to and from school together… this is only a few hours…"

"But I like spending this time with you," he murmured. "I like showing you my new moves and hearing about your story ideas and—" he turned to the side.

Lucy's heart ached.

"How about this," she said after a moment of silence. "How about… I try writing in the library for a week. And if I don't get at least six full chapters written in that amount of time, I'll come back here for specialty training."

"A whole week?" he glanced at her.

"I'll buy you dinner every day after school to make up for it."

Natsu perked. He pretended to consider her offer for a long minute, hmmming and stroking his chin in thought.

"Okay!" he turned towards her and grinned cheekily. "Six chapters! And they have to be good and long!"

She smiled, "Alright. You've got a deal."

"Lu-chan!" Levy pranced up to the girl as she pushed into the library. "Yay! You're gonna write in here today?"

"That's right," she smiled at the little blunette. "I had to practically beg Natsu to let me leave though." She rolled her eyes. "That boy is so clingy!"

Levy giggled and winked, "Oh, you know you love it."

Lucy blushed, "Shut up. No I don't."

"Hey Lucy!" a voice called from across the library. "Get your cute little ass over here and play me!"

Lucy looked at Cana, who sat at a table, a deck of cards sitting in front of her.

Levy took the blonde's hand and led her to the brunette in the white blouse that was unbuttoned to reveal an impressive expanse of cleavage.

"Play you?" she repeated, sitting across her at the table, setting her laptop down beside her.

Levy sat next to her, "Don't do it, Lu-chan. Cana is a pro at tabletop card games."

"Sh, sh sh," Cana grinned and started shuffling the cards expertly, flipping them from hand to hand. "I'm not that great. C'mon. It'll be fun."

Lucy examined the girl in amusement for a few seconds. She could tell by her flushed cheeks and boozy smile that she was highly intoxicated. Not that that was unusual. The girl was always sneaking drinks from the flask she kept in her jacket pocket. No one even tried to stop her anymore. Director Makarov even sometimes drank with her, Wakaba, and Macao at lunch.

"I'll play," Lucy said. "But I don't know the rules."

"It's fine, just fiiiine," Cana passed the cards out and pulled five from her half of the deck. "I'll teach you as we go."

"You idiot! Catarac can't have blue hair!" Bickslow exclaimed at Freed at the bank of computers near Lucy's spot in one of the puffy love seats. "Oceanna has blue hair! They're supposed to be complete opposites! Give him red!"

"Blue suits his personality better," Freed replied calmly, tapping at the keyboard quickly. "If it means that much to you, I'll switch Oceanna to red."

"But her name is Oceanna!" Bickslow gripped his beanie with tight fingers. "She has to have blue hair!"

"Analytically speaking, it makes more sense for the man to have the blue hair and—"

"Gah! Get back to coding the fight sequence! I'll finish this up!" Bickslow shoved the green haired boy from his seat.

"Could you two shut up?" Laxus muttered, twisting two wires together on the metallic box he held in his lap. His feet were propped up on the computer table, next to his spare electrical wiring. "You're seriously pissing me off."

"Sorry Laxus," the two boys said.

Lucy sighed and leaned her head on the back of the couch. She had moved across the library to this location to get away from Cana, who was relentless about playing a fourth game of cards even after she slaughtered Lucy three times already, and Levy, who kept staring over her shoulder and reading every word she typed down.

I thought a library was supposed to be quiet, she thought sourly as she packed up her things and stood to find a new spot. This is what librarians are for, she weaved her way through the bookcases silently. Keeping the order.

Too bad this library didn't seem to have a librarian. Lucy scowled. The whole point to moving to the library was to have a quiet, comfortable place that she could write in peace. Something, she was realizing, was absolutely impossible in this rowdy school of miscreants.

"Wow!" her phone beeped and she slipped it out of her blazer.

She had just received a new text message from Natsu. She unlocked the screen and tapped on the notification. A picture popped up. It was a close range selfie of Natsu spitting kerosene into an open flame, shooting fire like a fire breathing dragon. Lucy smiled as another text message came in after that one.

Finally did it! it read.

"Wow!" a third text came through.

Only swallowed three mouthfuls of fuel.

Lucy laughed. She glanced around at the aisle she stood in. She set her laptop down on the floor and grabbed a book off of the shelf. She opened it up and held it in front of her face. She snapped a picture and sent it to Natsu.

Researching. Only swallowed two text books.

A reply quickly popped up.

It was a picture of Happy, who was stretched out on his back, eyes closed.

Napping. Only swallowed 3,000 dream fish.

Lucy giggled. She snuck down the aisle and peeked around the corner. Cana was sorting her cards at a table nearby. Lucy held up her phone and zoomed in. She snapped a photo and then hid behind the shelf to send it.

Boozing. Only swallowed 5 million gallons.

A few seconds later came Natsu's reply. A picture of Erza doing push-ups on the wooden half of the gallery.

Training. Only swallowed 30 billion souls.

Lucy grinned and sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the book shelf. Before she could reply, another text came.

A picture of Natsu, holding his nose, blood dripping down over his lips and chin.

She caught me taking her picture.

She laughed and snapped a photo of herself.

That's what you get!

There was a long pause before the next text came, this time not accompanied by a picture.

Miss you.

Lucy's heart thundered in her chest. She stared at those two words for what seemed like an hour, even though it was probably just barely more than a minute. She typed a reply.

Start thinking about what you want to eat for dinner.

She glanced at her laptop. She loved to write. She always had. It had amazed her the way her mother could weave stories when she was younger. And when she found out she had a talent for the same thing? She was elated.

I want to be a writer.

She did. She still did.

But…

"Wow!" a new text message popped up.

A picture of Natsu eating the fire on the end of a torch.

Nom nom nom.

Lucy smiled. Yeah, she still wanted to be a writer. That was her lifelong goal. But first…

She stood, scooping up her laptop along the way. She sent a quick text back to Natsu.

Pack your stuff up. I'm coming back to take you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped.

First… she wanted to catch fire.

"How was the hospital?" Levy asked as Lucy and Natsu returned to the school once more.

"I've never heard so much whining in my life," Lucy grumbled.

"So Natsu was a total baby, was he?" Gray said, smirking. "Not surprised."

"GRAY!" Natsu turned to the boy. "FIGHT ME!"

"Both of you better behave yourselves," Erza said, voice low with warning.

"Aye Sir!" they both squeaked.

"So it was that bad, huh?" Cana leaned back in her chair, flask in hand. "I've had my stomach pumped couple of times. Don't remember it hurtin'…"

Lucy sat down between Erza and Levy. "The doctor had him sit down on the table and then when he started raising it, he got sick and puked all over the floor…"

"I told you I get motion sick," Natsu sat down across from her, next to Cana and Gray.

"It was barely moving!"

He shrugged.

"So why did you two come back to the school?" Gray asked. "Seems like a waste of a trip. Specialty training is pretty much over."

Lucy sighed. "I wanted to go straight home, but Natsu left his stuff here."

"Can't do nothin' right," Gray glared at the pink haired boy.

He glared right back at him. "Ice Prick."

"Flame Ass."

"Fuck you."

"No, fuck you."

The two fell to arguing, calling each other whatever names they could think of.

Erza watched Lucy for a moment. "Is there something wrong, Lucy?"

"Hm?" she looked up. "Oh…" she sighed. "I was just trying to think of what to do…"

"About what?" Levy leaned forward.

"Well… I'm not really making any progress on my novel. So I was thinking that maybe I could find a new specialty."

"A new specialty?" Cana hiccupped. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know," she leaned on her elbow on the table. "I was thinking something a little more hands on. Something physical that I can use as exercise."

"You can join my fire show, Lucy!" Natsu suggested.

"Uhm… maybe something a little less… dangerous."

"Hmm…" Erza crossed her arms over her chest. "Let's see…"

"You could be a nude model," Gray offered.

Natsu punched him in the face and the two fell from the table to the floor, rolling around, throwing fists.

"You could taste wine," Cana slurred. "That's a talent within its own right."

"I'm underage…"

"So?"

"You know what this calls for?" Erza stood.

Everyone looked up at her.

She smiled, "I believe we should all take a trip into the city together. I think I know just the store to visit to give Lucy some inspiration."

Lucy gaped up at the front of the store from her place on the sidewalk.

"E-Erza?" she squeaked.

"I've always wanted to go in here," the redhead said proudly. "And now I have an excuse!"

"B-but…" Lucy ran her wide eyes over the sign above the door. Voira's Specialty Shop! it read. Then, underneath those bold, bright yellow words was printed in smaller font, Must be 18+ to enter. "Erza…" Lucy turned to the windows, which displayed skimpy, silky costumes on female mannequins. "You do realize what kind of store this is… right?"

"Alright!" Erza walked confidently up to the door and grabbed the handle. "Let's go, everybody!"

Natsu followed right behind her, arms behind his head, eyes half closed apathetically. Gray was next, hands in his pockets. Lucy looked to Levy and Cana.

"Are we just going to let them go in there?" she asked.

Cana took a swig from her flask and shrugged, "Well, I was meaning to come here and get a new…" her eyes flicked to the blonde. She passed her by on her way to the door, "Nothing…"

Levy chuckled sheepishly, "To be honest, Lucy… Once Erza gets her head wrapped around something, it's pretty much impossible to stop her." She followed Cana.

Lucy watched her go, mouth hanging open.

She blinked in utter shock as the blunette disappeared through the door of the store.

"Wait a goddamn minute," she muttered. "Am I the only one that realizes this is a sex shop?" After a pause, she hurried reluctantly after her classmates.

The store clerk watched the high school students mosey around the store for a few short minutes before calling out, "Hey, you kids are eighteen, right?"

"Of course!" Erza replied.

"Alright," he went back to reading his magazine.

Lucy gaped at him. "Aren't you going to check our ID's?"

He shrugged, "Nah."

"What is wrong with people here?" Lucy rushed after Erza as she made a straight line for a wall of sexy costumes. Cana had disappeared near the back of the store immediately upon entering, Levy was blushing and browsing over a shelf of bras, the boys were nowhere to be found, and Lucy was in panic mode.

"Erza," she said to the redhead. "I'm not eighteen. I'm only seventeen. I can't be in here."

"I know," she replied, eyes gleaming as she reached out and pulled a skimpy maid outfit from its rack. She turned and shouted across the store, "Oh shopkeeper! I'd like to try this outfit on!"

"Dressing rooms are over there," he pointed towards the back of the store. "They're unlocked. Be my guest."

"Gray!" Natsu's voice rose from the direction he pointed. "Fight me!"

Erza grabbed three more costumes and headed for the dressing rooms as Lucy ran off to find the pink haired hooligan that was surely about to cause problems for the Fairy Tail students. Levy chased after her when three men entered the store and stared at her with knowing grins.

"Natsu!" Lucy hissed as she maneuvered her way through the aisles, trying not to look too hard at any of the products lining the shelves. "Where the hell are you?"

Levy grabbed the girl's sleeve, staring at her shoulder, cheeks aflame.

"Hiyah!" Natsu's battle cry rose. "Take this!"

"Too slow, Jackass!" Gray's taunt followed.

Lucy rounded a corner and just about fainted. Her soul started to travel up her throat and out of her mouth. It took every ounce of self-control to keep it inside.

"Oh… jeez…" Levy breathed behind her.

"Hah!" Natsu whipped the long, pink rod down and Gray blocked the blow with the purple one in his hands.

"Nice try!"

"Natsu! Gray!" Lucy shrieked. "Put those down! They are not weapons!"

"Shuzzah!" Natsu spun, swinging the pink tube towards Gray's face. The other boy ducked it and jabbed up towards his stomach with his.

"There they are!" Erza passed Lucy and Levy to go to the dressing rooms on the wall to their right.

Cana walked up, bag in hand. When she saw Natsu and Gray, she started laughing.

"Idiots!" Lucy cried. "Put them down now!"

"I gotta get a picture of this," Cana pulled her cellphone from her pocket and pointed it towards the boys. "Macao is gonna lose his shit when he finds out those dumbasses were sword fighting with dildos."

"Cana!" Lucy blushed. "We should stop them!"

"Ah, leave them alone," she snapped photos as Natsu and Gray both grabbed two more 'weapons' and dual wielded in their 'sword fight'.

"Look!" Natsu raised his second, "This one's got spikes!"

Gray examined the one he had picked up, "This one has weird grooves in it. I don't really get it. Do they make it hurt more?"

Lucy swayed on her feet and Levy caught her.

"Hang in there, Lu-chan!" she begged.

"Behold!" Erza called, drawing everyone's attention. She stood in the doorway of the dressing room, dressed scantily in the little maid uniform. She fluffed her hair and smirked. "How does it look?"

"Erza!" Lucy squeaked. "You're not supposed to wear those in public!"

"Wait until you see the others I picked," she closed the door, oblivious to Lucy's complaints.

"Show us, Erza!" Cana encouraged, turning her camera in her direction.

Mere seconds later, the door opened again and she was dressed in an entirely different costume, a nurse's uniform. "How's this?"

Cana catcalled and snapped a photo.

The door closed and then reopened. This time it was a Playboy bunny leotard and fishnets.

"Ow! Jackass!" Gray called out as Natsu landed a whack in the boy's face with one of the dildos. "That fuckin' hurt!"

"SPIKES!" Natsu lifted it triumphantly towards the ceiling.

"Natsu!" Lucy whined. "Please stoooooooooppp!"

"Hold up," Gray turned to the shelf, "Get a load of this one," he set the two he already held down and lifted a clear rod. "It's got buttons on it," he said. He started pushing the buttons on the end of it. "Whoa! Look, it lights up!"

"Cool!" Natsu stood next to him. "So you can sword fight in the dark!"

"Whoa," Gray held it out unsurely as it started to buzz. "Now it's vibrating."

"What are you two so interested in over here?" Erza walked up in a leather police uniform. "Ah, I didn't realize they sold weapons here too. Look, this one has a handle."

Lucy covered her eyes. "Somebody please explain to me how they can be so ignorant…"

"Cut them some slack," Cana grinned and took another picture of the three. "They don't realize how oblivious they are."

"It's true, Lucy," Levy said, peeking around the blonde's arm. "You have to consider where these three come from."

"Hm?" she glanced at the blunette. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Cana crossed her arms over her chest. "Natsu's Dad was gone by the time he was ten. He doesn't watch TV. He doesn't read books. He doesn't know how to work the internet. The only magazines he's interested in reading are about fighting or fire. He spends all of his time training or at school."

Lucy watched as the pink haired boy lifted a gel sex toy and slammed it down on Gray's head, enticing a short tussle between the two before Erza whacked them both with a toy of her own.

"Then there's Gray," Levy said, finally moving around from her hiding spot. "He grew up in the north with his teacher, who died when he was around ten as well. He came here to Fairy Tail and started living in the dorms with the other boys but pretty much kept to himself. Jet and Droy told me that he spends all of his time sculpting or drawing up ideas of new sculptures. His dorm room doesn't even have a TV or computer."

"And then Erza," Cana sighed. "Erza grew up in an orphanage. I don't know the whole story, but I guess they didn't really treat the kids right in there. When she left, she was really distant from everyone in the school. Her room is next to mine in the dorms but she's never in there unless she's asleep. The girl is too damn busy to learn up on this kind of stuff."

"So they've never been exposed to these kinds of perverted things," Lucy said quietly.

"Everyone finds it funny and doesn't really want to ruin their innocence," Levy admitted.

"Still… we can't let them continue like this," the blonde stepped forward. "Guys! Put those down! You don't know what they are. They're not swords though!"

"Hey check out that one," Natsu pointed at the end of the shelf.

Gray followed his point.

"That one just looks like a dick, doesn't it?" Natsu continued.

Don't tell me he's finally figured it out, Lucy thought, pausing.

"It totally does," Gray acknowledged.

They stared for a few seconds before turning away from it.

"Who would want a dick-shaped sword?" Natsu wondered.

"Not a damn clue," Gray replied.

"Unless…" Natsu's eyes wandered over to Lucy and Gray's followed soon after. The looks on their faces turned to ones of disapproval.

"YOU BETTER NOT BE THINKING WHAT I'M THINKING YOUR THINKING!" the girl bellowed.

The boys looked away.

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu said, "Sheesh, calm down."

Lucy pressed a hand to her forehead. "That's it. I'm getting out of here." As she turned, her eyes caught on something hanging on the far wall. She froze.

"Lu-chan?" Levy cocked her head. "Are you okay?"

She didn't reply.

Levy turned, following her gaze across the store to the BDSM products on display.

"Lu-chan?" Levy ran her eyes over the fuzzy handcuffs, the leather straps, the riding crops, and there, hanging in the center of it all, a whip.

The blunette turned back to the blonde, "Are you okay, Lucy?"

"Hm?" Lucy tore her eyes from the whip and turned to the small girl. "Oh. Yeah. I just… got an idea."

"An idea?" Cana joined her. "For what?"

"My new specialty."

Author's Note: Okay yeah so it got kinda ridiculous there. It was kinda weird to write. Was it weird to read? Hm. Well, they won't be revisiting THAT store in the future. At least Lucy has an idea on the horizon, right? We will have to wait until next chapter to see just what she has in store! (I better start thinking about what she has in store...)

So... I don't really have a lot to say here. There were a few questions that I got in reviews, but I think I'll either wait until next chapter to collect and answer them in bulk or write pm's to the specific people asking. Jeez. I'm so tired. Maybe I need a nap or something. Thank you guys so much for all the support I've been receiving on this story. And also for the ones that continue to read and support my other story, even though I'm not writing on it doesn't mean I'm not reading your reviews! It's so great to hear from you all! I love you!

If there is ever anything you want to talk about or questions that you have for me, feel free to send me a pm! I will always reply! Also, if there are any music suggestions you have that remind you of this story or just Fairy Tail in general, let me know! I love listening to new songs! :)

Thank you! Onward we go!

Love-Moo