Playful

It was a laugh. A small laugh. It was very quick, and if it hadn't been so obvious, Lucy probably would have missed it. It was a normal conversation, right after they had put Nashi to bed. To prove her point, the celestial wizard lightly poked Natsu's stomach, right above his waist band. And he jumped, a light chuckle escaping his lips without his consent.

At the moment, the two wizards were having a stare-down, Lucy debating whether or not she'd really heard it, and Natsu praying to Mavis that she didn't. Neither one of them said anything, and neither of them moved. Lucy quickly reached over to poked him again in the same spot, and that same laugh-borderline-giggle sounded from his throat. A sly smile curled onto the woman's lips. "Why, Natsu?" she said coyly. "Are you, by any chance, ticklish?"

"What? No," the Dragon Slayer answered a little too quickly, a light blush coating his cheeks. "Don't be stupid, Luce. Of course I'm not—ah! Stop that!" The blonde had begun to push him down onto the mattress on his back with one hand, her other repeatedly poking his stomach. Looming over the flushed man, she grinned cheekily.

"My, my, Natsu. After all this time that we've known each other, you've never said anything about you being ticklish." Natsu cleared his throat and avoided her eyes, staring at the wall, clearly embarrassed to all hell.

"Well…" He trailed off to clear his throat. "I-it's never been something worth mentioning." Lucy giggled and slowly ran her finger across his stomach, tracing the path of his pants. His abs contracted in attempt to hold in the chuckle. Suddenly, he wrapped his hand around her wrist, looking up at her with dead-serious eyes.

"You really want to play this game with me, Luce?" he said lowly. "You know I'll win." His free hand slowly lifted to touch her waist, his fingers slipping beneath her shirt and squeezing. She jolted, a soft "eep!" coming from her lips. Smirking, he bucked his hips to flip them over, pinning his wife to the mattress. She made a noise of surprise as he straddled her hips, and she instantly burst into uncontrollable laughter as his hands skillfully tickled her waist.

"N-Na-tsu!" she screeched. "Stop it!" Natsu somehow managed to push her hands away with his elbows while his hands were still firm against her waist, moving relentlessly. Lucy thrashed as she giggled, trying to lift him off of her, but to no avail. "Natsu! Th-this isn't f-fair!" He abruptly stopped and looked at her, her eyes swimming in tears of mirth, still caught up in giggles. Grinning mischievously, he leaned down, blowing hot air onto her exposed neck in a huff, and causing goose bumps to run down her arms.

"You should know by now," he whispered into her ear, "that I don't play fair." With that said, he gathered both of her wrists into one of his hands and pinned them above her head, using his other one to resume his assault on her waist. Her laughing/screaming went up an octave as she writhed helplessly beneath him, trying desperately to free her hands from his grasp. She kicked her legs, using all of the strength that she could muster at the moment to hopefully throw him off of her. But he didn't even budge. It anything, he added more of his weight to rest on her hips, proving his dominance in the current situation.

"Natsu! Please!" she yelled, trying to pull her hands away. But all it did was make him press down harder, her wrists sinking into the mattress. She tossed her head from side to side. "Natsu," she gasped. "Please, Natsu. I can't… I can't breathe…" He paid her no heed, only leaned back down to latch his mouth onto the junction of her neck and shoulder, blowing hot air onto her skin. She let out a small scream. "Natsu!" He only stopped when they both heard the sound of their child crying. Natsu loosened his grip on her wrists, allowing her hands to slip through and push him off of her. "See what you did?" she scolded half-heartedly, breathless as she slid off the bed. "You woke her up."

"Me?" Natsu said, incredulous. "If I remember correctly, I wasn't the one that was screaming at the top of my lungs." Lucy sent him a fake glare over her shoulder.

"That's only because you were tickling me," she spat back.

Natsu snorted. "You started it."

Author's Note: Ne, mina! I thought I'd just write a short, silly chapter with no specific point. I've always loved the idea of Natsu being ticklish. It just seems so… not Natsu, but it a good way, y'know? Anyway, I hope I did good! Please let me know in a review!