AN: You get a fast update because of ftangstweek. This is the chapter of WaW you are all getting in apology to the angst I'm about to rain down.
At some point during the night, Natsu and Lucy had migrated back into her room. Natsu had been perfectly content merely laying on the couch dozing off with Lucy tucked to his side and slurping down the rest of the can of whipped cream. However she had taken issue with that. Natsu couldn't imagine why, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Plue ran off with her underwear and they were both naked in the middle of their living room.
Humans were so strange. Lucy hadn't cared she was naked while they were engaged in other activities. Why she cared now was a mystery. She called him shameless, which he was, so there was no complaint from him there. He only found it hilarious when she threw his underwear back in his face as she tried to catch Plue with his shirt wrapped around her chest.
Of course Natsu hadn't let her catch the dog. His arms caught around her waist, lifting her into the air while he smiled into her neck and breathed in her scent. She wiggled and kicked her legs through the air, but Natsu held on tight and swirled her around until her legs accidentally kicked a lamp off the table. That earned him an elbow to the cheek, but he had picked it up without dropping her so it was deemed a victory in his book.
Natsu dropped Lucy into the bed, who complained half-heartedly about needing a shower. She curled against him when he slid under the covers with her, snapping the waistband of his boxers in some weird punishment for not letting her walk to the room. Natsu couldn't help it; he had just wanted to extend the period of time he got to hold onto her.
He grinned into the mass of golden hair trying to work its way into his mouth. Their limbs were tangled together, but Natsu felt a content laziness that made him want to stay right where he was lying. Heat pooled through his body as he observed Lucy partially obscured by the blanket, memories of their shared night together springing to his minds eye.
He felt warm.
No, odd.
He felt hot.
He grinned, thinking it was probably his imagination. She was draped in his shirt, much too large for her. It somehow managed to both slide off her shoulder and hitch up around her ribcage. That was certainly distracting enough. His eyes fastened to the creamy stripe of skin exposed to him, unable to stop from admiring her. Lucy really was incredible.
For once, he was glad he listened to that stupid Gray and his stupid advice. His heart was troubled over the future, but there was nothing he could do about it. That bridge was burnt the moment Lucy opened her mouth and told him she love him.
He closed his eyes, ignoring the odd licks of heat racing through his blood and remembered the conversation he had with Gray.
After Gray had walked in on him and Lucy sprawled on the floor, Natsu had left with Gray for a few moments in the back room. The demon slayer looked angry still, so Natsu tensed in preparation for a fight. The ice maker just turned to him, eyes distant, a little cold, and with plenty of sadness.
"So you and the new girl, huh Natsu?" Gray asked, his gaze turning past Natsu to the other room he left Lucy in, "Didn't think you had it in you."
Natsu felt like he had been hit in the face with a brick. Or a right hook from Erza. His entire head caught on fire in indication of his feelings far faster than he could hide it. Mocking amusement actually crossed Gray's somber face for the few seconds it took Natsu to pat himself out and he scowled at Gray, "It's not like that!"
Temper flared in Gray's eyes, Natsu not quite understanding why his non-relationship with Lucy would make his friend angry.
"Cut the crap Natsu and pry your head outta your ass," Gray jabbed an icy finger into Natsu's chest. He felt it through the layers of bloody fabric, but neither men seemed to notice, "I've never seen you hold a woman like that much less let them sprawl all over you for something as simple as comfort."
If anyone asked, Natsu was not in the middle of swallowing his own tongue.
"But she's—"
"A human?" Gray snarled in response, stepping into Natsu's face to growl in his face, "Does that really matter to you? I didn't realize you were so hung up on different species!"
Natsu blinked at Gray, his brain desperately trying to catch up to whatever was eating at him, "No, it's just that—"
"What?" Gray snapped, "She'll die before you because her life is shorter? Because you're a demon and she's human?"
He shoved Natsu hard in the chest, the demon snarling back at him and refusing to be budged. Gray didn't seem to mind and shoved back into his space, temper flying away from the man who was normally so cool under pressure.
"Because I'm a human and I'm still here while Juvia is dea—"
His dark eyes widened with the slip of his tongue and Natsu watched his expression close off with record speed. The fire drained from Natsu in response and his eyes followed his brooding friend, understanding for what Gray was finally trying to tell him clear on his face.
"We don't know Juvia is dead, she's strong," Natsu said with even temperament.
"We do know that," Gray muttered. He pressed a palm against his forehead, his face pale and he turned away from Natsu entirely. It was weird to see Gray like this, his shoulders stiff, a tremor running through them, "I was the one who sent her to Meredy – stupid, I thought if I did that she would be the one who'd make it out."
Trying to protect her, Gray felt as if his actions had instead caused her death.
"I wasted so much time," Natsu strained to catch his words, "So much time, because I'm a human and she's not."
"Just don't waste the time you have left with Lucy."
Natsu's eyes darkened in the memory, his face an inch from hers as he observed her sleeping face. The thought had been swirling around his head for days now. His tongue sticking on the roof of his mouth every time he turned towards her large brown eyes with an attempt to say something – anything about it.
It wasn't like him to run away from any battle, especially not one of the heart. He fought with all of it, every ounce of his being and then a little extra. But there was something so disarming about Lucy's smile; he couldn't help but fall into puppy-like love every time she gave him one.
And he realized yes, he loved her. The human he lived with had crawled so deep into his heart that he couldn't imagine being without her. He wanted her as his Queen, as his heart, as his everything. Demons and Dragons were similar in a lot of ways, both in their need to hoard, and their desire to possess. Lucy was not an object, but she certainly was a treasure. One more precious than any Natsu had collected over his hundreds of years of life.
He would trade all the wealth in his collection for a single smile from Lucy.
END loved a human.
So when Lucy breathed those words to him. He asked her not to. The writing was on the wall for a long time, and Natsu was not an idiot. He was a centuries old dragon, and an even older demon on top of that. The tension between the two of them had been building ever since he first laid eyes on her. Awareness was one of those things between them that neither could ever ignore.
He didn't foresee this ending well for either of them. So for a razor second, he stood on that edge. Lucy standing in front of him, her words of love hanging in the air between them.
Should he refuse – break her heart and hurt them both?
Or should he accept – love her as she loved him, destroying themselves in the process?
Don't waste the time left you have with her.
Gray's words floated to the surface of his mind in that moment, and his decision was made.
Destruction it was.
Whatever, if he was going to be hurt no matter what at the end of this, he was going to do it without any regrets. Besides, playing it safe had never been his style. He went big.
Natsu tipped over the knife's blade, his mouth capturing Lucy's in a kiss that had his heart racing and blood singing. She tasted sweet, like the weird canned, confectionary they had been playing with. But there was also the taste of vanilla and honey clinging to her lips, her natural taste coming through and enchanting him.
He was lost then.
Even now his lips still tingled, his body warmed and his breath hitched at the reminder of their activities. Now, all he wanted to do was breathe her in and never let go.
Not exactly the most realistic of hopes, but he was a dreamer.
He grunted then, a sharp spike of heat racing through him that was not because of his daydreaming. He closed his eyes and pressed a palm against his forehead, a touch of light-headedness making itself known. It passed after a moment, and Natsu blinked, shaking his head.
Weird.
His eyes dropped down to Lucy's quietly snoring figure. A wicked grin dragged over his face and he leaned in close to nuzzle her, reaching to wrap a lazy arm around her shoulders.
He stopped, his eyes fastening onto his right arm and stopping just before it would curl around her. What he saw there was an unexpected shock to his system and he twisted away from the sleeping woman to inspect himself with a critical eye.
Dark patterns were tattooing into his skin, an intricate pattern of swirls and flames. Demonic markings he hadn't seen for a very long time. A rush of confused emotion ran through him and he slid from the bed as quiet as he was able so he could sneak into Lucy's bathroom.
Weird.
Weirdweirdweirdweirdweird.
He cracked the door and turned towards the mirror, freezing where he stood when he caught sight of his reflection.
"This is impossible," Natsu breathed, looking into the dark red eyes that stared back at him in the mirrors surface, "No way."
Tattoos curled across his body, dark brands of curse magic. Natsu stared at his reflection, black in his sclera and glowing crimson in his irises. He lifted his hands, watching as before his eyes blunt nails morphed into sharpened talons, his hands staining black to work up his forearms.
He was transforming? But how? Lucy had sealed away his magic, and his demonic form along with it. It left him in his weaker, human looking state. Either forms he didn't mind, but he didn't want his magic to spill out right now. Not with Lucy in the room next door. If this transformation was bottled up, Natsu didn't know what would happen.
Natsu's denial and confusion didn't make the change easy. He tried to force it backwards, the black in his eyes trying to bleed back into white. Taloned hands gripped the vanity, hot claws sinking into ceramic like it was play-doh before the entire thing cracked under his strength.
Uh oh.
He was losing it.
He hadn't seen this form in centuries. Even before he met Lucy, it had been subdued by Igneel's magic. Natsu thought it was lost to him forever! He wasn't quite sure how to control it.
He snarled in pain as the muscles in his back clenched and ripped under his attempt to keep his transformation back. He clawed through the cabinet, the wood smoking as he dropped to his knees. The tiled floor cracked under the impact of his weight, but he was blind to the damage he was causing. Pants filled the air and he dropped his head back, the ripping of flesh in his back made him smother a scream as wings forced themselves from his body.
There was a spurt of blood and this time he did scream as massive, leathery wings tried to stretch out in the cramped bathroom. But still he struggled to keep the power at bay, knowing if he let out the fire now, he could very well burn this building, and Lucy to a crisp.
He could handle this. It had been a while. But he could keep this power contained. Natsu had to.
But there was something different.
Something wrong.
There was more power in him than there had been before he met Lucy. More raw strength, more fire, more everything. It was like how he was before he met Igneel. Before that seal had been placed on him.
Lucy had unraveled both her magic, and somehow had undone Igneel's.
But how?
Igneel was the king of dragons. Mavis herself had to help cast the seal to bind his magic. Natsu as END fought the dragon many times and never had been able to break free of his seal or this entrapment.
Could he control this? Natsu didn't know. When he was END, he had never tried. Since meeting Igneel, he didn't have the full strength he had been created with. It was something that never bothered him before, but now proved to be a problem. Why try to learn how to control something when his power alone was powerful enough to lay waste to everything around it?
"C'mon Natsu, breathe," He growled through the pain. The sound was low and guttural, more animal than man and he bent over himself, wings pressing bloody streaks into the walls, "This is nothing. You've done this before!"
A light scrape across the door had his head whipping back, wild eyed to the door.
"Natsu?" Lucy's voice came from beyond the door, "Are you okay?"
Panic settled in his chest and he grabbed a hold of the doorknob before she could creak it open. He slammed the door shut, ripping it from her hand before she could pull it open. It earned him a noise of angry complaint that almost had him smiling before a splitting pain in his head had him doubling over in agony.
"Lucy don't come in here," he panted, grasping fistfuls of his hair. Horns began to sprout from his skull, pushing past skin and hair in slow, jerky motions. Natsu forced his breathing under control, his hand shaking on its grip over the doorknob.
He knew if he just let it go, this wouldn't hurt. The transformation would be painless and freeing. But he couldn't risk that. Not with Lucy so close by.
Not with his magic threatening to burst free and destroy everything. He could already see the paint on the walls bubbling, peeling up and falling in acrylic chunks around him.
"Natsu are you okay? Let me in here!" Lucy's voice challenged. She made to tug on the doorknob, and Natsu's heart froze in his chest when he heard her scream on the other side. He could smell the sizzle of a burn against tender skin, and his eyes went wide.
"Natsu! What the hell!" Lucy cried and he jerked towards the door, resting his hands against the wood instead of the metal knob, "What did you do that for?"
"I-I'm sorry!" Natsu stammered, his eyes going wide in panic. He hadn't realized his whole body was overheating, at least not enough to think about what touching a metal doorknob would do, "It was an acciden— "
He broke off with a shudder as the horns stopped their growth. The changes had stopped. Finally. Exhaustion sagged through him and his power bubbled back down to manageable levels. He wanted to ask Lucy how her hand was, but his hearing was growing fuzzy and his vision darkened around the corners. Enough for him to drop sideways in a dead faint.
He caught himself, just barely managing to stay upright. Black encircled red eyes, managing to look up in time to see the door swing open and Lucy standing there, the blanket wrapped around the door knob.
Registering the expression of horror on her face for a few seconds, Natsu's heart clenched before his body went slack and he passed out.
-::-
When he came to, he couldn't move.
Natsu frowned, his head bobbing up to see him wrapped in blankets and bandages on Lucy's bed. He blinked, noticing how sore everything was. Plue was curled up on his chest, his head buried into Natsu's neck and tickling him with his fur. He coughed and tried to move his arms, seeing that they were banded down to his sides.
"Lucy?" He called. His ears could pick up sounds in the bathroom, and realized she was in there cleaning the mess he had made. Natsu shifted with guilt as he picked up the sounds of her gasping and running over towards him. She filled his vision, a bright smile on her face and relief in her eyes.
"Natsu you're awake!" She exclaimed, her hands reaching around to his face. She shooed Plue off his chest. With impatience she physically moved his head around, mushing his cheeks together.
"Waffarryadoin'" Natsu stared at her as she dragged his head around in exaggerated circles. It was hard to speak with his lips mushed together, but Lucy seemed to translate him well enough.
"I'm checking to make sure all the stupid is gone from your system you moron!" Lucy scolded him, "Why didn't you tell me your demon form did something like that!"
Considering she was still shaking his head like a magic eight ball, Natsu was surprised he could focus on her question at all. What was she talking about? It took a few seconds to collect his thoughts. Old aches and pains asserted themselves as he tried to wiggle his body in the burrito she put him in. Each throb reminded him of why he was in pain. Oh right, his demon form had triggered somehow in an absolute clusterfuck of not-fun-at-all.
He glanced down at his hands, talons flexing. Natsu blinked in confusion and shifted enough for his wings to make themselves known under him.
"Well it isn't normally like this, so it was sorta a surprise for everyone involved," Natsu pouted at her, blackened eyes drawing down to her hands. Guilt stirred in his chest when he saw where she had grabbed the hot handle. It didn't look like a severe burn, but it probably had hurt. She didn't look angry about it anymore, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Lucy gave him a reassuring smile. Her arms folded under her chest, giving him enough of a view to assure himself she was fine. Hating she had gotten burned, he managed to lift himself up without the aid of his arms and legs.
"You are handling this demon thing pretty well," Natsu's eyes squinted with suspicion on her, "Aside from tying me up – which I'm still pretty confused about."
"Well I knew you were a demon already, I was more upset about the fact you were covered in blood and trashed my bathroom," Lucy gave him a grave look, "We're going to have to get rid of the cereal in your room now."
He snorted in amusement and flashed her a toothy grin, "Nah, we'll just move it in here."
Lucy gave him an amused look and tugged at the bandages around him, "As for these, I called Levy while you were unconscious so I could talk to Gajeel about it. He said to wrap you like a mummy so you couldn't move your arms and legs. He said that would help?"
Irritation flooded through Natsu and he wiggled more forcefully. He was ignoring how Lucy blinked at him in surprise as he screeched his rage to the joining apartment wall. Levy and Gajeel were still at Ultear's shop to get the younger human training for Lumen Historie, however it made Natsu feel infinitely better to scream at something, "You shrapnel-studded-Sonova BIT— "
Lucy cut him off by clearing her throat.
"I take it he was just messing with me then?" Lucy asked. Her finger hooked around the bandage around his chest, keeping him still with just a single touch. His cheeks warmed and focused on her with his sharp gaze. He nodded, still grumpy, but no longer raging at the heavens. Lucy sighed, taking out a pair of safety scissors from the emptied first aid kit to snip at the bandages binding him.
"Yeah I figured as much," She said with a mischievous grin, her eyes glinting up at Natsu. His jaw dropped and he growled at her while she worked on freeing him, "Still it was fun to see your face when you tried to move, you looked like a worm. That's what you get for scaring me!"
He pouted at her, apology in his eyes, but rearing up to wrap his clawed hands lightly around her elbows.
"Tying me up while I'm unconscious – that's playing dirty Lucy," He growled, leaning forward with cautious movements to press his forehead against hers.
"That's rich coming from a demon!" Lucy exclaimed with a laugh, looking into his darkened eyes without fear.
His heart lurched with emotion and he reached up, sliding black talons across her cheek in a light caress. The tips were razor sharp, but he took care not to hurt her. She held still in his hold, not flinching away or moving. Lucy's eyes just closed, trust showing in the way her face went lax at the sharp blades of his claws caressing her tender skin.
Insecurity was not an emotion Natsu felt often, but when he did, it hit him hard.
"This really doesn't bother you?" He asked her, dark eyes searching her face for a trace of a lie, "Me looking like this?"
Lucy's eyes opened and met his, a small smile crawling across her face. She moved forward, the mattress shifting under her weight. Her legs came across to straddle his hips and she sat down. Natsu balanced her with a hand on her thigh. She was still wearing his shirt from the previous night. Red and with graphic orange flames printed in zig-zagging patterns over the worn cotton. His heart raced and mouth went dry at the feel of her against him.
His grip slowly tightened on her leg, but he forced his attention upwards at her. He never thought it would be so difficult for him to focus with her on top of him the way she was though.
Breathe Natsu. Now is not the time. He internally scolded himself.
"Honestly?" Lucy asked, leaning over him and drawing her hands across his shoulders. He felt her fingertips grazing across the upward curve of his wings and a surprising jolt of electricity from their skin coming into contact caused them to flutter. Surprised, but not enough to focus on the odd sensation, his whole attention landed on the human.
"I thought seeing you like this would bother me," Lucy caressed his cheek. Her touch was light against his heated skin. He wondered how much of a monster he must have looked to her, "The change in you was scary – I wasn't expecting it at all."
Her gaze fell down somewhere near his shoulder, where his Fairy Tail emblem was still shining true, untouched by his demonic markings. She instinctively rubbed a thumb across the red ink in his skin, Natsu almost smiled. Her honesty stung, but it rang of the truth and he was grateful for her words.
"But you woke up," Lucy smiled at him, "And you were exactly the same as you were before."
He returned the smile, unable to stop himself from grinning back full force. Natsu's heart warmed, his hands sliding down the curve of her spine to rest his nose into the crook of her neck.
"So why would I care about the rest?" She asked quietly into his ear, her arms wrapping around his chest and stopping just over his wings.
They had hugged before, but never like this. Never so reassuring. He breathed in her scent with deep inhales, unable to help but fall a little more in love with the weird human.
Because really, what kind of human would be okay with their demonic boyfriend suddenly sprouting claws, horns, and wings?
Lucy.
Only Lucy.
He breathed out, drawing his power back into the core of his being. Like a hot flame dancing across his fingertips. He coaxed it into a ball, tucking away the swell of magic until it wrapped around itself into a little knot.
He breathed in, pushing the power back through his limbs like a stream. He let it swell and expand through him, becoming part of his lungs. The air he breathed in became fire, soothing the strange changes of his body.
Out. He contracted.
In. He expanded.
He kept breathing, using Lucy as an anchor in his arms. Until finally, with each breath, the physical changes to his body began to fade. It retreated back, diminishing inch by inch until he was back to normal.
She pulled away from him, suddenly looking sad, but tearful and happy.
Her fingers slid through his hair, fingertips pressing lightly into his tender scalp where his horns had been. Lucy's hands came to rest against his cheeks and she smiled at him, "See, you're still the same."
His hand looped around her wrist, a small chuckle coming from his chest. Fingers came to rest across her bandaged palm, but he gave her a shrewd look.
"And you're weird," Natsu stared at her.
Lucy gasped and swatted at his arm, her cheeks burning red as she scrambled to get off him. Natsu wheezed as her elbow dug into his sternum while she lost her balance and flopped across his lap.
"Ow! Lucy what the hell!"
"I was being sweet and romantic, and you called me weird! Again!"
"So you attack me!"
"Like you even felt it you big baby!"
Natsu hooked an arm around Lucy, lifting her body through the air and tossing her over his body so she belly flopped onto the bed. He crawled over her, his smile growing into a predatory smirk despite her exaggerated shrieks.
"Who's the baby now!" He crowed, his hands dancing across her sides as he tickled her. Lucy screamed, her knee nearly coming up to nail him under the chin. Swift, he managed to dodge it to let it sail past his head. Resuming his tickle torture, he tormenting her with a relentless attack. This continued until her laughter shrieked at him to stop.
Breathless with laughing, he laid down next to her as they both giggled themselves hoarse.
"Our bond is gone now so you can leave. I'm going to miss you," Lucy murmured once the swells of their laughter faded away. It left an air of silence hanging between them, her fingers curled into his back. He held still against her, an arm slung around her waist. There was a flicker of pain from where his wings were, but her fingers seemed to slide right past where they had been. Brushing fingertips deliberately avoided the more sensitive places.
Fingers trailed over the planes in his back, tracing the ridge of his spine down to his waist. They fluttered back along across his ribs, Natsu lying still to allow her to continue her exploration in peace. He turned his head towards the clock just enough to catch sight of the numbers, frowning over how late it was. Tomorrow Lucy went back to work. She said she was really eating through her vacation time with this odd end of the world stuff that was happening around them. Natsu didn't know what the importance of 'vacation time' was, but Lucy seemed worried about it.
Natsu didn't get humans. He really didn't.
Why did they need time for vacation?
Couldn't they just go on vacations?
Lucy was tracing letters into his back, forming around the contours of muscle. He watched her as she stared at him with a melancholy look on her face.
He didn't like it.
Natsu sat up abruptly, an idea springing to his head.
Lucy gave him a wary look, confusion on her face. She was watching him sit back on his heels, his hands drifting behind his head to the leather cord tied around his neck. He looped it out from around his head and leaned over her. Slow and with deliberate movements, he crowded her back against the pillow.
"Do me a favor, alright?" Natsu asked her, sliding the cord around her neck. He bent down, breathing her scent in. His mouth grazed across her full lips, relishing in the soft hitch of breath that came from that tender throat. The way her mouth fell open against his was addicting, and for a second he was nearly overcome with the urge to indulge himself.
His hand smoothed down across her side, his other resting across her chest where the pendent was nestled in her cleavage. If she wasn't so distracted by his mouth, Natsu was certain she would be giving his hand a suspicious glare.
The weight of the pendant was familiar in his palm. Warmth resonated within it, responding to his touch and sinking into his soul. It was a gentle reminder of the good he had found in his life.
"This is hope Lucy," He breathed against her, shifting his face so his nose grazed against a smooth cheek. His eyes shuttered halfway shut and he felt her trembling lips slide against his own, "Hope defies everything, so carry it with you always."
He pulled away from her, enjoying the dazed look on her face. Tanned hands caught hers and brought them up to her chest to settle over the polished stone.
"Never open it Lucy," He warned her, "Not unless you are at the end of your rope, and the only thing you have left is hope."
Silence hung between them, brown eyes meeting his heavy gaze. Her hand lifted to draw the leather cord up to eyelevel, looking at the small stone he polished. It held one of his most precious treasures, and it was almost as well guarded as his scarf.
"Are you saying that you just gave me Pandora's box?" Lucy stared at it, looking a bit wary by his words, "How romantic."
Natsu's smile widened and he tapped a finger against the stone.
"Zeus was a jerk, and this is way cooler than some jar of dirt with humanities sin crammed in it," Natsu captured it in his fingers, rubbing his thumb over the smooth surface. It was a sign of his heart. That one moment he had that encompassed everything important to him. When he realized whom he loved and why he loved her. Whether or not she knew that small detail, this belonged to Lucy just as much as it belonged to him.
"Keep it closed and keep it safe Lucy," Natsu grinned at her, "I'm not sayin' goodbye."
Lucy's fingers curled around it, determination flashing in her eyes. A smile stretched over Natsu's face as the sadness left her face, filled instead with the firm fire he had grown to love.
"I won't say goodbye either."
"Good."
His eyes darted to the clock again. Precious minutes ticked by, the bathroom was still a wretched mess, and Natsu spent the entire day knocked unconscious. That was unacceptable in his book, and even though Lucy hadn't said anything Natsu knew she wanted to do something fun on her day before she had to return to work.
Not tend to some invalid demon that couldn't go to the bathroom without blowing up the sink.
Gray was not going to find out about that.
Accident or not, the salty bastard wouldn't let him live it down.
Natsu had so much bouncing around in his head he thought his skull was going to split apart. His bond was broken with Lucy, which he always had faith she could accomplish. But the seal Igneel had put on him was significantly more powerful than anything Lucy should have been able to break through.
What was Lucy.
The question sprang to his head, for perhaps the hundredth time since he knew her—
—and decided it didn't matter.
Not right now.
Perhaps not ever.
Natsu hooked his hands around Lucy's hands and pulled her out of bed, his expression breaking out into a broad smile. The prisoner he held squeaked as she was dragged from the blankets and carried out to the bedroom floor.
"N-Natsu what're you doing! Are you okay to be moving?" Lucy's legs caught around the blanket and she almost fell over, "You had brand new appendages shoot out of parts of your body!"
Smile never fading, he straightened her up and fluffed her bangs out of her face. Silly human, every time she thought to get comfortable doing something, he would always be there to pull the carpet out from under her feet. Really, what was she expecting at this point – for him to remain content in bed while the rest of the evening passed them by?
"I'm fine, besides, we're going to enjoy the time we have together," Natsu said, firm decision in his voice, "We're going on a date, get dressed."
The shocked expression on Lucy's face was enough to make him drop his hands on his hips. He tilted his head at her, curious by her stammering. Humans had strange courting rituals to be certain, but he didn't think he had to explain the reasoning of it to her. After all she had been so excited to go on a date with Bora.
Not that Natsu found anything interesting about that date. Although he supposed the demon attack would have been cool if he had been able to get inside to beat it up.
"You want to go on a date," Lucy pointed at herself, "With me?"
He was almost insulted by her need for clarification.
"No, with Plue," He deadpanned. Turning towards the dresser, he opened up the first couple of drawers and threw out a mismatched pair of sweats and a tank top to Lucy, "Here, get dressed!"
Flailing arms just managed to snatch them from the air before they fell on the floor and got dirty. Lucy looked displeased by his selection though, "Natsu these are pajamas."
Duh.
Not immune to the fact Lucy could throw this back in his face, Natsu held his hand out to her, "Trust me?"
Her expression softened.
Natsu pretended not to notice when his heart did a really weird flip when her hand slid into his.
"Yeah."
He smiled at her.
"Then lets go on a date."
-::-
Thanks for your continued support everyone! It really encourages me to see people are interested in seeing this fic progress. The story is heading to the finish line quickly! I sorta pooted it out so we can see how that will go… haha…
You can thank Lonestorm for these 16 pages of fanfiction.
