Natsu lounged in an armchair, sweat swimming across his skin. Why did the cooling system have to break on one of the hottest days of the year? If it was hot enough to make Natsu this uncomfortable. . .he couldn't imagine how miserable everyone else felt. He wished Gray and Juvia weren't on a mission, they could easily help with this problem. The bedroom window was propped open in the hopes that an errant evening breeze would trickle in. He owned a single fan, and it was the saddest excuse for a fan. Even if it was high-functioning, it would still only be pushing around slightly less lava-like air.
Natsu had been fighting for hours against the heat-induced exhaustion. Lucy had fallen asleep hours ago, but only because he had draped damp rags over her to help her stay cool. Every time he felt himself begin to dip into a hot sleep, he got up to rewet her towels. Slouching awkwardly in the chair, the dragon slayer watched the fan blades dawdling round and round and round. . . and round and. . .and round. . .round. . .rrrrr. . .With a jerk he sat up and rubbed his face with slick hands. He released a quiet groan as he pulled himself out of the chair. He staggered slightly as he walked to the bed and stuck his hand in the bucket. Damn, it's not cold anymore, he mumbled in his head. He lifted the bucket, careful not to let the water slosh too loudly, and took it into the bathroom.
He shut the door, muttering to himself as he worked. "This baby has made Lucy such a light sleeper." He wedged a towel under the door to muffle the noises. Dumping out the warm water, he remembered something that Gray had said the other day.
Lucy had been relaxing in the guild hall during dinner and Natsu brought her a plate loaded with food (most of which she did not eat).
He placed the bucket beneath the faucet, cranking the knob to the coldest option.
Lucy hadn't even thanked him. And when she left she did not take the plate to the kitchen. Without hesitation Natsu jumped up to clear the dishes. Without hesitation Natsu jumped up to clear the dishes. Gray slapped a hand on his shoulder and said, "Man, what are you doing?"
Dazed from weeks of this behavior from Lucy, Natsu blankly stared at his teammate and flatly replied, "Clearing the table?"
"I can see that, you idiot. I mean. . .why are you letting her treat you like this? Like her servant?"
He turned off the water and removed the towel from the door, then carefully carried the full container back to the bed.
"She's tired, Gray. Apparently it's harder than we thought to grow a child. The baby makes her moody, I know, but it's not her fault."
Natsu delicately pulled the warm cloth away from her soft skin.
"Okay, fine, her crabbiness isn't her fault. But she keeps stomping on your heart, Natsu," Gray responded.
Swirling the rags in the chilly water, he smiled to himself. He carefully draped the cloths over her again as he remembered his answer.
"She can stomp on my heart, hell, she can do anything she wants. Lucy will always be the mother of my child, and I'm going to love her no matter what."
The last towel in place, he stared at her and whispered, "And soon she is going to love me that much, too."
A low whimper drifted into Natsu's dreams and he jolted awake. Frantically looking around the room, he realized the noise was coming from Lucy as she rolled over in the bed. He hurried to her side, angry at himself to falling asleep and letting her get overheated. A single tear rested on her warm cheek and he brushed it away as he said, "I'm right here, Lucy, what's wrong?"
Her eyes opened sleepily and she whined, "I'm so uncomfortable! It's so damn hot, and I'm so big!"
Natsu smiled gently as he kissed her forehead. Placing a hand on her round belly, he said, "You're beautiful, and so is our little fireball."
The next day was not quite so blazingly miserable, but everyone was still extremely overheated. Many of the guild members were hard at work trying to fix the cooling system, but it would still be a while before it was running again. Natsu and Lucy had decided to spend the day at the pool, so Lucy was on her way to invite Levy to come along.
Lucy stood outside Levy's door, wearing a large purple t-shirt over the swimsuit she felt uncomfortable in. She knocked lightly and called, "Levy, open up!" It took Levy an unusually long time to come to the door, and when she did open it her appearance shocked Lucy. The short girl was usually very put together, but today she was sporting a bathrobe and the worst case of bed head Lucy had ever seen. Her cheeks began to turn pink as she said, "Uh, hey Lu, what's up?"
Lucy cocked an eyebrow as she tried to determine the source of Messy Levy. She didn't appear to be ill. "Could I come in and sit? This baby is so huge!" She really did need to sit and rest, but she also wanted to gather more information.
The blue-haired girl's eyes widened as she stammered, "Uh, ah, well no? Wait, no, of course you can! Look at you! Er, just a sec!" She shut the door with a snap. Lucy thought she heard the girl whispering, then a rumbling sound replied. She definitely heard Levy giggle then order, "Go!" The door opened again and Levy ushered the blonde inside.
Lucy waddled over to a chair and gratefully sank into it with a groan. She nonchalantly glanced at the couch, finding proof that someone had definitely been sleeping there. "Could I have some water?" she asked sweetly. As Levy retrieved that, the blonde woman quickly looked around for more clues. There was a glass on the coffee table and Lucy sniffed it cautiously. Whiskey. Levy always drank amaretto. In fact, Levy hated whiskey. There were a couple drops of something brown on the table. Lucy hesitantly poked it, surprised to find the goo stuck to her finger. She stared at it for several long seconds then she popped her finger into her mouth. Chocolate?
"Here you go, Lu!" Levy entered the room with a cup in her hand. She frowned and said, "What are you doing?"
Lucy sucked on the finger as she quickly attempted to think. With a smile she pulled the digit from her lips and sheepishly said, "Oh, Natsu made pancakes this morning and I guess I made a mess with the syrup so. . ." She stopped rambling as she noticed that Levy was biting her bottom lip and appeared very uncomfortable. Lucy examined her friend once again, this time noticing a faint brown smudge along her collar bone. "Levy, is that. . .chocolate syrup?"
The ice in the glass Levy was holding began to rattle as her hands shook. She quickly set it down on the coffee table, cringing as she noticed the brown drops and forgotten whiskey. She attempted a shaky laugh and said, "Would you believe me if I said I was making sundaes?" A loud snort sounded behind the door to Levy's bedroom. Lucy had never seen Levy's eyes as wide as they were now, or her cheeks as red.
Lucy pulled herself to her feet, pointed a finger at the door, and demanded, "Who's in there?"
The small woman exhaled loudly and shook her head. "No one? I'm, uh, taking care of someone's pet pig."
"And the pig likes chocolate sundaes and whiskey?"
"Yep," she squeaked and nodded her head vigorously.
"Whose pig?"
Levy frowned and tilted her head. "What?"
"Whose pig is it?"
"Ah, uh, oh hey, did you know that Mavis demanded an entire section of the library be about pigs?"
Lucy began to walk toward the door. "Nope, I didn't know that." She set her hand on the door knob, ignoring Levy's nervous tics. "Who does the pig belong to, Levy?" At first Levy did not anser, so the blonde began to turn the knob.
"Don't! Don't go in there," Levy squealed. Lucy raised an eyebrow. "It's not a friendly pig?" Lucy continued to turn the knob. "Ah! Gajeel! The pig belongs to Gajeel!"
Lucy released the knob and turned around with a knowing smile on her face. "Something belongs to Gajeel, but it's not a pig."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Levy mumbled.
Lucy opened her hand to reveal an earring, one that was identical to those of the iron dragon slayer. "This was on your couch."
The blue-haired girl laughed nervously. "Maybe the pig dragged it in?"
A loud sigh came from the bedroom and the door opened roughly. "Give it up, shrimp. She figured it out a long time ago." In the doorway stood Gajeel, wearing only a pair of black knee-length shorts. He tapped an empty hole on his eyebrow and said, "Gimme that, blondie."
The details of the night came out later as the girls floated in the pool. But, those scandalous details are only for Gajeel and Levy (and Lucy, of course).
