Obligatory party scene!
Helpful references: BYOB = bring your own booze, i.e. provide your own alcoholic beverage if you want to drink at this party
Ring of Fire= drinking game. Btw, in real life, when it's your turn to drink it's actually reaaally easy to get away with taking a tiny sip. Tip for if you don't wanna get drunk but still play :p
Categories= don't know if there's anyone out there who hasn't played this, but just in case, the idea is everyone has to come up with something that fits in the category, and if you take too long to think of something you lose (and in a ROF context, you drink!)
Fairy tail = not mine.
Disclaimer: People get tipsy here but not catatonic, because that is never fun for anyone :(
I hope this makes you happy! :) :) :) Your follows, favs and reviews make ME happy! :) :) :)
LEVY AND LAKI'S END OF TERM PARTTTYYYY
-read the enthusiastic event title on Natsu's social media invite.
He clicked on the notification thoughtfully. Invited by Lucy Heartfilia. No way was he gonna miss this.
'Attending' the event without a second thought, Natsu spared a glance at the description.
Hi guys! It's been a busy first term at St Makarovs, and I'm sure everyone wants to let off a little steam :p Hope you can all make it to our party! Feel free to invite a few other friends, it's gonna be super casual so we can catch up with the old, and mingle with the new. BYOB because we're students and we're broke. Lots of love, Levy and Laki xx
The other attendees already included Erza and Jellal, Juvia, Mirajane, Elfman and Evergreen. Natsu checked to see if Gray had been asked. He hadn't. Natsu smirked. He added Loke to the mix, holding off on Gray for the moment just so he could taunt him about it later.
His phone chirped with a message from Lucy.
Lucy H.: Hey!
Natsu typed his reply in.
'Hey beautiful!'
He looked at it before sending, considering carefully.
He chickened out and changed the second word.
Natsu D.: Hey Lucy!
Lucy H.: I see you're coming to Levy's :) Sounds like fun, right?
Natsu D.: Yeah, looks awesome! What should we take?
Lucy H.: "We"? :p You want to bring something together? Lol
The reply was teasing but Natsu immediately started to sweat.
Natsu D.: Whoops, typo! I meant 'me' haha
Lucy H.: You meant… "what should 'me' take"?
Natsu facepalmed. But he forgot he was holding his phone- so he kind of, facephoned. A rounded rectangle imprint was left on his forehead.
Natsu D.: Look, my grammar sucks ok? Just lemme know what I should buy
Lucy H.: Mmmhmm. Sure. Well, I'm not much of a drinker. Wanna get a mixer?
Natsu D.: Wine it is.
Lucy H.: I'm enough of a drinker to know that wine is not a mixer.
Lucy H.: … I may also have googled it to make sure.
Natsu D.: Haha ok, I'll pick up something later :p
Lucy H.: Cool!
…
On the Thursday next week, Natsu sat at his desk, bored stiff with work. His laptop was down, the battery having run out and his charger having broken earlier. Nothing at all to do with him trying to pull the plug out the wall socket while sitting all the way across the room from it. Nope. Definitely not caused by his own stupidity.
He'd been trying to do any paper-based assignments he had (actually pretty rare these days), and looking up relevant info on his tiny phone screen. It currently held information on factorisation. Factorisation, for crying out loud. He'd done this at age 12 and couldn't remember a fricking thing.
His phone rang, mercifully, to save him from his ineptitude. He checked the number. Unknown. Huh.
He answered it gingerly. "…Hello?"
"Natsu! Thank goodness you picked up. It's Levy."
He relaxed. "Oh hey, Levy! How's it going?"
"Not ideal. Sorry to bother you- I got your number from Lucy, as you weren't replying to any online messaging."
"Laptop's down," he said forlornly. "Anyway, what's up?"
"You remember the interview you did for me? Now Makarov's Quarterly wants a photo to go with it, and I forgot to take one. It goes to print in an hour! Can you send me something, or can I use something off your online profile…?"
Natsu sat up, considering. "Hmm… I had some good MMA action shots on my laptop, but it's dead right now. But feel free to use my profile picture!" He hadn't changed the thing in like a year anyway, it was a fairly safe headshot with him smiling at the camera.
"Would that be ok? Thank you! Could you just do me a favour and send me a text giving me permission?"
"Sure thing," Natsu said. "Will do."
"You're a lifesaver. Gotta get the photo in now- just send me that message when I hang up!"
The line went blank, and Natsu dutifully added Levy to his contacts and sent a text.
He had a reply a few moments later.
Levy M.: Thank youuu also excited to see you at our party tomo yay!
He chuckled. That girl was almost more enthusiastic about writing than Lucy.
…
She was wearing in a baby blue skater dress, paired with little grey suede ankle boots and a longish, stylish grey coat on top. The look was completed with a pair of impossibly fluffy earmuffs and the softest scarf he had ever felt in his life. He knew, because when he'd leaned in to peck her on the cheek the texture of it begged him to stay. It was like a cotton-wool cloud.
He reflected this was the most wrapped up he'd ever seen her outdoors, and approved that she was finally paying attention to the temperature.
"It's freezing!" she still said, snuggling into his side as they walked from his apartment towards Levy's block. Her breath caught on the frozen air, captured by streetlights.
He laughed slightly, and snuck his free hand round her waist. The other clutched a plastic bag with a spirits bottle and some lemonade for mixing.
"I noticed you didn't bring anything in the end," he pointed out to her, as they walked. She turned her innocent brown eyes up at him.
"But I thought you said we were getting something together!" she said mischievously.
She got an elbow nudge in the side for that, and between laughs, told him she'd pay him back, while Natsu protested with futility.
Levy shared a small flat with another student a year above her, named Laki. She opened the door to them, lilac hair clouded around the rims of her cute glasses. Music and excited chatter spilled through the open doorway.
"Hey Lucy, come on in. And who's this?"
Lucy responded almost absent-mindedly.
"Oh, this is my boyfriend, Natsu."
Time stopped.
Natsu gazed at her in wonder.
"Did you just… did you just call me, your… your…"
Lucy had begun to blush beet red, realising what she'd said; the first time she'd ever called him that. Outside her head, anyway.
"I mean. This is my, Natsu. Not, like, my Natsu. You can't own a person. They abolished slavery, umm, in the, 1800s. Just Natsu. Laki, this is Natsu."
Laki looked at her weirdly.
"Right. Well, I have to, do some stuff. Just… close the door when you come in. Okay?"
She retreated from the doorway, bemused, while Natsu and Lucy looked at each other, stammering.
"I… Do you really think I'm.. do you think of me as, you know, your…" Natsu tried to force words out.
"Not if you don't want… I mean, just, forget it, hahaha, like, what?" she giggled nervously, peeking at him from under her hair all the time.
"You know what?" he said abruptly.
"What?" she bit her lip, responding to his change in tone.
"I have the most amazing girlfriend."
With those words, he closed the gap between them, striding towards her, cupping her face with both hands and lips descending. Lucy sighed in longing and relief, arms closing around his back and pulling him closer…
"Wow. This is some party."
Natsu and Lucy drew apart, both more than a little irritated.
"Cana," Lucy groaned. "Why."
Cana seemed to not have gotten the message about BYOB. She was carrying enough alcohol to provide for an army (on leave). It was more like, BYOB, and everyone else's B too.
"Levy's bedroom has a lock, you know," she winked at them as she passed by.
"Let's… talk." Natsu gave Lucy a heated stare, and just liked that, dragged her through the door, past the living room where party guests had started up conversations, towards the corridor where the bedrooms supposedly were.
"Hi Levy, bye Levy-" she managed, seeing Levy's surprised face as she was whisked past the others.
Natsu practically pushed her through a bedroom door, dark and thankfully empty apart from a pile of coats on the bed. He kicked it purposefully shut behind them.
"So," he began, enjoying Lucy's expression that ranged somewhere between terrified and extremely turned on. "We're doing this, huh?"
"What, in here?" She asked dazedly. "Natsu, I don't think this one has a lock on it-"
"No- I mean, we're doing this, boyfriend, girlfriend, thing," he cut in quickly, gesturing between themselves. "This… relationship." He took her hands gently, and she stilled, breathing hard.
"I suppose we are," she whispered, as his face inched closer.
"All I needed to hear. Talk officially over."
He kissed her with unreserved passion, and she responded in kind. As their tongues met, sensuously exploring each other, her feet went on tiptoe to reach him more easily, arms locked firmly around his neck. Moans built in their throats, and the pile of coats was starting to look incredibly inviting.
"You can just leave your coats in here, guys!"
An unnecessarily loud voice, Levy's by the sound of it, announced from behind the door. Lucy and Natsu broke apart just as it swung open, flooding the room with light from the corridor. They blinked guiltily. Caught.
"Wonder what you guys were up to," Gray stood there, Juvia in tow, grinning knowingly.
"Gray, why are you here?" Natsu all but snapped. "You don't even HAVE a coat."
It was true. He was both coatless and shirtless.
"Dammit! Where'd it go!"
Gray barrelled back into the corridor, while Juvia gave them a friendly wave and followed. Natsu and Lucy shared a sigh and a warm glance, before she took his hand, sending sparks up his arm, and tugged him back towards the party.
…
In the dark bedroom, the pile of coats shifted.
"Are they gone?"
A scarlet head emerged from beneath a black furry hood, coats slipping over each other to reveal decidedly uncovered skin.
"I think so," A blue head, and a face with a characteristic red tattoo popped up from behind the side of the bed. A pale bare torso followed as the figure stood up, raking his hands through his unruly blue mop.
"God Erza. I knew we should have used Levy's room."
"Yes, this choice was misguided. I hear that one has a lock."
…
An hour later and the party was in full swing. Drinks flowed freely into cheap plastic cups, music blared from tripped out speakers, and there were crisp crumbs everywhere. Natsu found himself surprisingly engaged in conversation with Jet and Droy, while Lucy animatedly caught up with Levy. Guests had been streaming in at random intervals, people he'd met as well as some he'd never seen before; he recognised Evergreen, entering with three guys, including one with green hair, another wearing visor sunglasses, and a last, hulking blond presence exuding the air of danger.
The bell rang yet again, and Levy raced to open it.
"Hey, how's it- you!"
She broke off in surprise. Filling the doorway with an ominous dark aura, stood the man Natsu had faced off with in the ring the previous week.
"Gajeel, how's it going dude!"
Levy turned to Natsu in shock as he sauntered over to the door and gave Gajeel a fist bump. Which, even more astonishingly, he returned.
"You invited him?" she asked.
"I did actually," Juvia beamed, coming over. "Gajeel is an old school friend! I was so happy to see him in Magnolia!" she gave the man a happy hug. "Nice to see you too, shrimp," he said to Levy sarcastically, over Juvia's shoulder.
Levy flushed. "I was just surprised is all," she muttered. She shook herself out of her confusion. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Yeah sure. Whatever you got."
As Levy bustled off to the table, Natsu turned back to Gajeel. "So how are things with you? Oh hey, did Levy interview you last week?"
He nodded gruffly, entering the flat and shrugging off his coat. Then, inexplicably, he started to chortle.
"I read it this morning. Nice photo, man." He continued to snigger, leaving Natsu mystified.
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't seen it?" On cue, Jet and Droy popped up behind him. "Here!" one of them thrusted a copy of Makarov Campus Quarterly at him. "We collect every issue!" "Levy's the best…"
Natsu flipped through the pages hurriedly until he found it.
There: his interview, next to a large colour photo of himself… being headlocked… by Gajeel.
He looked at the photo in horror. It was, to say the least, not flattering. His face was bright red, shining with sweat, contorted in a terrifying grimace, and worst of all, it looked very much like Gajeel was kicking his ass.
"LEVY!"
The poor girl, having just returned with a drink, jumped and spilled it all over herself.
"What?" She queried in a scared voice. Natsu kicked himself mentally, especially as he saw Lucy hurrying over. He continued in a far more reasonable tone.
"Err, where did you get this photo?"
"On your profile! Like you said!"
Natsu gazed at her in shocked disbelief. There was no way. He quickly fished out his phone and logged on to his profile, discovering that in fact, she was correct. 30 assorted likes and crying-with-laughter emoji notifications assaulted him with regards to the change.
There were only three people who could have taken this photo at this angle and this close up. And he was pretty sure he knew which one it was.
"FULLBUSTER!"
Natsu went charging across the room towards Gray, leaving some very confused people in his wake.
"I thought it was good," Levy ventured, uncertainly, over Gajeels uproarious laughter. "You know, an action shot."
…
"YOU'RE A DEAD MAN, ICE FREAK" Natsu announced upon arrival. Gray had been chatting with Max and one of Evergreen's friends, Freed, and looked up casually.
"Took you long enough to realise. I swear you never check your notifications-"
Natsu held up the student newspaper copy and shook it in Gray's face.
"LOOK! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!"
Gray took one glance and burst into cacophonic laughter. "Oh man, what? I'm sorry, I totally didn't mean for that to happen, but this is fucking priceless!"
Natsu swelled with rage and prepared a fist to the face.
"Time for party games!"
Cana interrupted in her usual flamboyant style, appearing in their midst twirling an unidentified bottle.
"We're playing ring of fire! Come sit down!"
"Right after I kill him, Cana," Natsu warned, rolling up his shirtsleeves.
Her eyes narrowed. "I said, we're playing ring of fire."
"I heard you. Now I-"
"RING OF FIRE!"
With surprising strength and dexterity, she grabbed him by the lapels and sent him crashing to the floor, where he landed fortuitously next to Lucy, sitting in a circle with most of the party guests around a collection of face-down playing cards and a mysterious murky beverage.
He exhaled shakily. "O-kaaaay. I guess we're playing ring of fire, then."
…
Ring of fire was a traditional college party drinking game with highly flexible rules. Natsu tried to pay close attention to what was going on; each person picked up a card in turn, going round the circle, having to avoid creating a gap in a ring of cards around the probably fatal mix of unidentified alcohol types in the middle, on pain of having to consume said fatal mix. The number of the card corresponded to some sort of particular action.
"Six! Dicks!" Cana yelled a little too happily as she drew the six of clubs. The guys in the circle groaned, (with the exception of Elfman, who professed his pride at being a REAL MAN,) clutching their plastic cups and taking a swig.
"I though six was chicks," Lucy interjected, sounding confused.
"No, that would be four- whores", Erza responded to her with a completely straight face, as she drew a four herself.
The guys cheered as the girls in the circle drank, and Jellal drew the following card.
"What's a 3 do?"
"3 is me, right? You gotta drink."
"Nah, that'sh boring," Cana interrupted, loudly, waving her arms. "Let's play A and B! Shut your eyes Jellal, we pick who's A and B, then you say what they do!"
He obediently closed his eyes, and a whispered conference ensued, resulting in Levy being pointed at by half of those present, and Gajeel picked as well.
Jellal opened his eyes. "Erm… I dunno… er… A and B, swap shirts?"
Laughter exploded around the circle, as Levy burned and Gajeel roared. "Are you kidding me? Shrimp's shirt wouldn' even fit round my little finger!"
"Sorry, the rules of the game indicate you have to do it," Erza stated, biting back a smile.
"C'mon, Gajeel, let's get this over with," Levy stood up and gestured towards her room. This drew a collective "ooooohh," from the assembled crowd.
"Shut up! Stop being so immature!" Levy hissed as she departed, Gajeel stomping after her.
"Who's next?"
Loke, his arm round Laki ("we were meant to be together - listen to how good our names sound!" he'd expostulated, while she looked unimpressed), picked up a Queen.
"Oi, somebody tell me what this means?"
"Fuck you, questionmaster," Gray replied smoothly, drawing the next card (Laki had extricated herself from Loke's clutches and fled.)
"If you answer his questions, you have to drink," Natsu explained to Lucy helpfully.
"I got a 10." Gray flashed the card to the onlookers. "Categories! I pick… sexual positions."
"WHAT?" Lucy yelled.
"Don't you know any, Princess?" Loke asked her with a grin.
"No!"
"DRINK!" at least 10 hands pointed at her as she'd answered Loke's question; she grudgingly finished her vodka-coke.
"Let's get this going then" Gray said, grinning evilly. "Missionary."
Bo-ring, Natsu thought, unbidden.
"Reverse cowgirl!" Gray's neighbour, Juvia, announced, with too much enthusiasm. The turns continued round.
"Retrograde wheelbarrow!"
"69?"
"Um, reverse missionary?"
"I… I… Um…" Lucy stammered as it got to her.
"Too late! Drink!" Cana laughed, reaching across to pat her on the back. "Oooh, an empty glass is a full glass!" she poured a generous helping of wine into Lucy's cup. She glared at Cana as she downed it.
"God Natsu, aren't you teaching her anything?" Gray asked with a grin.
"I already want to kill you," Natsu warned, as Lucy hid her face in her hair. "Don't make me come over there."
At this moment, Levy and Gajeel returned at last.
"You've been gone awfully long," Elfman waggled his eyebrows at them.
"Don't. Even." Levy's face was thunderous. Gajeels black muscle tee hang lower than her knees. He followed her, shirtless, with her crop top tied around his arm.
"It's like when a knight earns a lady's favour," Evergreen commented. "How terribly romantic!"
The glare Gajeel sent her way crushed this particular line of comment fairly quickly.
The game went on with more and more outrageous rules and challenges. Evergreen's friend, Bickslow, got a Jack, and was allowed to make the rule to replace the word "drink" with "masturbate". Lucy seemed particularly unable to get on board with this one. It was made especially worse by the fact that whenever she slipped up, everyone else would tell her to masturbate. Natsu noticed as she got steadily more and more tipsy- her face grew flushed and her eyes, whenever she looked at him, were wide and dark and incredibly appealing.
"A sits on B's lap for the rest of the game," was Max's latest challenge, drawing another 3. Natsu and Lucy had been chosen as A and B… respectively.
"I can't sit in her lap, I'll crush her!" he protested, looking at her worriedly. She threw back her head and giggled like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.
"No it'sh ok Natshu, I'm fiiiiine," she insisted, as she tried to pull him into her lap. She wasn't very successful. "Natshuuuuuu", she cried, getting upset.
"Ok, ok, I'll just… here, how about I sit with my legs across you, alright?"
She complied quite happily, and Natsu's legs were pulled on top of hers. She settled her hands on them, and began to squeeze them methodically, like a cat. Natsu was starting to find it very difficult to concentrate.
Elfman drew the last King of the game. "Oh my god, you have to drink the punch!" Mirajane laughed gleefully.
"I'll do it," he said solemnly, grasping the glass. Gasps echoed around the circle- through the course of the game, it had been topped up with wine, vodka, lemonade, rum, cider, and goodness knows what else. "For I am a REAL MAN."
With these words, he tipped it back, finishing the last drop. Cheers resounded from the assembled guests, and Natsu's legs were bounced up and down as Lucy applauded crazily.
"That's the end of the game!" Cana stated. She'd grabbed the speaker remote, and started punching up the volume. "God I love this song!"
She pulled up a surprised Loke to an empty part of the floor, entering into a wild dance, as the others rose and started to move, chattering and singing along themselves.
"This song is amaaaaazing!" Lucy looked at Natsu with those Bambi eyes, gaze unfocused and sexy as hell. "Let's dance!"
He couldn't say no to that. He stumbled after her, and jumped slightly as her hands gripped his hips, her forehead brought close to his, swaying in time with the music. A slow burn crept up his body. It was incredible how turned on this made him feel. Their hips touched, and he grasped her waist, closing his eyes. If he was behaving slightly inappropriately, everyone around them was too drunk to notice or care.
"Mmmm," a small sound came from Lucy, sending Natsu's nerves crashing into new heights of desire. The bass was slow, the beat dragged sensuously onwards, and she swayed and snapped her body in time.
"You're a great dancer," he breathed in her ear.
"Thanks," she replied, biting her lip again. A curtain of silky smooth messy blond hair fell across her eyes, and he put his hand up to brush it aside. She caught him totally by surprise as she kissed his palm, staring at him all the while she did so. It caused a sharp intake of breath and an involuntary groan from him.
"What are you doing to me," he whispered, almost to himself, as he pulled her tighter; hands still on her waist, not daring to move south as they itched so badly to do.
She didn't reply, just kept moving to the music, smiling.
The song changed, thankfully to something more upbeat. She pulled away from him, screaming happily, racing across the room to Erza who had just squealed in excitement herself. Natsu watched, bemused, as they joined hands and started to jump up and down.
"I believe they call this… their 'jam'". Jellal materialised beside him, making him jump.
"Dude, seriously! Don't do that!" he calmed down and looked back at Lucy, who was flailing wildly, yet still sexily. He couldn't help smiling- she was having so much fun.
"Apologies," Jellal said, smoothly. "How are things between you two anyway?" he continued conversationally.
"Great," Natsu said, dreamily. "Things are going great."
…
After a half hour of exuberant dancing, a neighbour threatened calling the college authorities, so the party broke up a little reluctantly. Lucy was still rather tipsy, and swayed slightly as she walked. She insisted it was because of the 'invisible music'. Yeah, sure Luce, Natsu thought.
He was walking her home through the cold winter streets of Magnolia. She laughed and giggled quietly, talking about how fun the party was, asking Natsu if he had fun as well. He assured her repeatedly that he had. They reached her front door, and Natsu tried to say goodbye.
"You're going?" She burst out, grasping his hands deploringly. "Don't go, I'm not tired!"
"What, seriously?"
"Yeah! Come up!"
She looked at him with that adorable, beautiful gaze, and Natsu reminded himself that she was still drunk.
"Ok… maybe I should just walk you in."
She practically screamed in happiness, and fumbled for her keys, pushing the door open and dragging him up the stairs.
They entered her dark apartment, and she collapsed on the sofa. Natsu smiled to himself.
"Come on Luce. I think it's bedtime for you."
Her next words threw him off completely.
"Only if you come with me."
TBC oooooh ;)
In case anyone was wondering what song they're dancing to, a contender is the Neighbourhood's Sweater Weather; catchy and quick at the start, with a total beat breakdown at the end. Damn that song is sexy.
