088 : Touch
There were many things about Natsu that bewildered Lucy to the point of her wanting to rip her hair out.
One of those many things was his hugs.
Yes, you heard her right.
Hugs.
You see, usually people give hugs when people were feeling down, in a comforting gesture, and so you would think that after the whole Paradise Tower thing, when Natsu saw Lucy's tearstained face, that he'd offer some kind of support when she came running up to him, stopping just in front to stare into his eyes. But the teenager had simply put a hand on her shoulder and grimly nodded with a weak smile before turning away, leaving the blond to blink by herself.
At first, Lucy hadn't really noticed how they had barely any body contact; she'd given more hugs to Gray for goodness sake! I mean, sure they were friends and the ice master would sometimes join forces with the duo, but he was not as close to her as Natsu.
She also remembers this one time when they'd gone through an especially tough mission that they'd been separated and forced to fight on their own. When they'd finally been reunited, she had run towards him with open arms, but he'd stopped her by reaching out his own hand to simply ruffle her hair, causing her to wonder if he was actually serious. They'd almost died, ALONE too, yet he only offered to mess up her hair?!
This had caused her to have a moment of anger, which she magically didn't take out on the problem himself, but it was replaced with curiosity.
Was there a reason that he didn't like touching her?
Was it something that the supposed amazing dragon forgot to teach him?
She'd gone through quite a few reasons, but she'd finally just given up on it and went back to regular life. I mean, so what if he didn't hug her? It wasn't like it was the end of the world or anything.
But what even caused her more puzzlement was when he HAD finally given her a hug.
It was nothing near special or in a prime moment, that's for sure.
It was just a regular day at the guild as Lucy sat there reading an especially thick tome, before Natsu and Gray had started their regular spare. Irked, Lucy had called them to shut-up and sit down so she could focus on her book since it was just starting to get good. Natsu had actually listened to her with a growl, yet Gray wasn't so keen to do the same. Now really annoyed, Lucy had, from her seat, called Cancer and ordered him to shave off Gray's hair to which he'd readily accepted, making the ice alchemist sprint down the street in a trail of dust as the stellar spirit followed with happily clicking scissors.
Natsu had dumbly blinked before a wide grin spread on his face, turning his practically split face, from his smile, to Lucy which she only raised an eyebrow at.
"Wha-"
But she didn't have a chance to finish even a word before she felt herself being crushed by Natsu's arms, causing her to choke on whatever air she hadn't coughed up yet. Just as she was starting to flush and choke from lack of oxygen, he'd let go of her and Lucy had happily gulped in much needed breath.
"Why'd you do that?" She choked out, not being able to hold down her smile.
Yet Natsu didn't answer, simply going back to his seat to sit there silently, a content smirk still plastered on his face.
It wouldn't be another two weeks until Lucy received another hug after her and Torus had defeated a threatening monster, and she was just as shaken after his embrace then she was after the first one.
From then on, it seemed that whenever she did something that he especially liked, he'd give her a crushing hug. And even though it was slightly painful for Lucy, because in his over enthusiastic state it would make him forget his strength, she still liked them and looked forward to the next one all the same.
So when she finally got the guts to lean up and brush her lips on his, pulling back to look at his shocked face through dark lashes, she held her breath for his reaction.
He flashed his fanged teeth in a smile.
And then he hugged her harder then ever before.
A/N: Atemu'sLotus said in his/her review how s/he thought Lucy hugging Natsu was really cute and I was like, I could make it even CUTER! Mwahahaha! So...this came out XD anyway, hope everyone liked and mind reviewing? And OMG, if you've read chapter 103...ACTION FIGURES! WITH REMOVABLE CLOTHING!? WFT!! (lol)
