A/N: I hope no one's adverse to a tiny bit of Loke x Lisanna.
Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima is the owner of Fairy Tail and the master of nalu feels.
"So, Cana! Lucy! What brings you two here?" Mirajane asked, her interest piqued by the unexpected visit from the pair. "Cana, I am happy to see you over your funk, by the way."
Cana gave Mira a slight tilt of her head as thanks. "Well, I was dueling with my partner here today and some very interesting things happened, so I thought I'd see if they'd happen in other circumstances too. I consulted my cards; your place was given as the best place to test my theory."
"Partner? Lucy, you're joining us on Tenrou Island too?" Mira inquired, pleasant surprise evident in her tone of voice.
Determination adorning her face, Lucy answered. "Yes, and I'm going to make Cana S-class no matter what! I can't fail her."
Lisanna had heard essentially the same thing being said yesterday by Happy and Loke for their partners too, but somehow, Lucy sounded way more serious about it, like it was a life and death situation.
"Juvia is glad Lucy will be there, as long as she stays away from Gray-sama."
"Juvia..." Lucy sighed in exasperation.
"So, what kind of 'interesting things' happened and what's your plan here, Cana?" Lisanna asked, curious about it and a little scared about what Cana had in store for them.
"Well, I'm glad someone is interested in what I have to say." Cana said loudly, getting their attention again. "When Lucy and I were sparring, a lot of 'lucky' things would happen. Cards that should've worked against her missed or something in the environment would interfere, changing the expected outcome. I was...upset by it, to say the least. But then I remembered the conversation I overheard the morning after your party, Lisanna."
Lisanna looked perplexedly at her, not knowing what she meant.
"Y'know, the one you were having with Gray and Natsu about Lucy being lucky?"
Both Lucy and Juvia whipped their heads in Lisanna's direction, both seeming to request an explanation.
"Oh, you mean when Natsu told me how he met Lucy?" Lisanna asked, vaguely remembering the time she had talked to both of the boys mentioned.
"Bingo." Cana smiled and nodded vigorously, unslinging the bag she had over her shoulder and attempting to open it. "I was especially struck by you finding your keys in the ocean, Lucy. Pretty lucky, that. Now, didn't you lose your keys another time?"
"...Yes. During the Phantom attack." Lucy answered slowly. "...What's your point?"
Cana at this time had finally succeeded in opening the bag and had begun to pull out bottle after bottle of alcohol, much to the wonderment of everyone else there, including Lucy.
"And how'd you get your keys back that time, Lucy dear?" Cana asked.
"Loke found them and passed them to Natsu and Gray, who gave them to me."
"Don't you find it lucky at all that no one else picked them up? Those gold ones are worth quite a bit aren't they? Hell, gold on its own is worth a lot and tends to attract people's attention when seen just laying around. Wasn't it pretty lucky that Loke found your keys for you before someone else could find them and sell them?" Cana questioned as she finished pulling the last bottle out.
"Would you get us shot glasses and mixers, Mira?" Cana added. The oldest takeover mage immediately and happily rose to fulfill her request.
Lucy was quiet for a moment. "Okay, I admit getting my lost keys back twice is pretty lucky, but I still don't know why we're here."
"Lucy, I think you're exceptionally lucky. Especially when it matters. Your magical objects have found their way back to you at least twice that I know of. I've heard stories of other things that happened to you and your team that seemed pretty lucky too. Mind you, some of it's not always good luck, but it's still luck in my book. I just want to see for myself how lucky you really are. It might really help us in this test."
Lucy eyed the dozen bottles of alcohol warily. "W-what do you have in mind?" she asked nervously.
Cana stuck her hand in her bag again, pulling out a small rectangular package. She held the object high in the air.
"We play cards!"
"Oh goodie, this is going to be fun!" Mira exclaimed, coming back from the kitchen, her arms laden with tonic water, grenadine, and various juices.
Lisanna, Juvia, and Lucy exchanged looks of dread between one another.
"Okay, since the point of playing is to test Lucy's luck, this is how we're going to play." Cana began as she shuffled the cards. At the same time, Mira began mixing elaborate (and rather pretty) shots into the requested glasses she had found, setting one in front of each of them when she was done. "First, to make things a little more random, call out whether Aces are high or low, then deal out one card to each of us. Lucy's card shall always be dealt face up, while our cards shall be dealt face down. If you feel like it, you may then make bets on whether your card is higher or lower than Lucy's. If you're wrong, you take a shot. Whoever has the highest card is the winner. All of the losers have to take a shot. Since Lucy can't make bets, if two of us have higher cards than Lucy, then she has to take an extra shot."
"Sounds simple enough, Cana." Mirajane said. "Can we make any other rules later?"
"Sure! After a couple rounds, feel free to add anything that you guys think would affect Lucy's luck. This is an experiment after all." Cana replied jovially.
"Some experiment." Lucy muttered. "I don't like this."
"Relax, Lucy." Cana replied, patting her on the arm. "If my theory is correct, you'll be the only sober one at the end of the night."
Showing a serious side of herself, Cana kept very careful record of the game's progression. So far, Lucy had won about half of the hands. But when she did lose, it was rare when she had to take an extra drink. There were even times when her cards were pretty low, but unluckily for everyone else, her opponents cards were usually lower. Considering that she was playing against four others, this meant that while Lucy stayed relatively sober, Lisanna, Mirajane, Juvia, and even Cana were steadily getting more and more inebriated.
Lisanna was starting to feel slightly buzzed when Mira decided to "liven things up". She made a new rule that as well as drinking their shots, any losers had to tell something personal about themselves.
The first game after she made this rule, Mira dealt out the cards, demanding that the losers tell the others an embarrassing story. Lisanna finally got lucky and won that round, much to her relief. The only embarrassing story she could currently think of was when she overheard Natsu Dragion and Lucy Ashley getting intimate in his car. She really didn't think Lucy would appreciate hearing about that, especially with the others being here to remind her about it later.
Juvia's story was about her fight with Gray when she was still working for Phantom Lord. Apparently, he had accidentally groped her breast when he froze her with his ice. And although from the deep shade of Juvia's blush telling one that the incident really was embarrassing to her, Lisanna couldn't help but notice that Juvia was smiling as if it was also a fond memory for her. It made the youngest Strauss sibling wonder how Gray felt about the whole thing.
The story that Mira recounted came from a few months after Lisanna had gone to Edolas. To make some extra money, she had finally agreed to be a model for 'Sorcerer's Weekly'. Everything had gone quite well until they moved to the ocean for some bikini shots. The wind was strong that day, producing huge waves. One of those unexpectedly crashed into her, causing an unwanted wardrobe malfunction. Mira only giggled, barely even blushing at her retelling, revealing that the trauma of it was long forgotten.
Cana's story, to no one's surprise, involved alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. The morning after consuming said amounts of alcohol, she awoke to find herself lying on the altar of Kardia Cathedral, facing the angry visage of the priest there. To this day, she still didn't have all the details, but knew she must have done something else dreadful to the church since she was still banned from ever setting foot in there.
Lastly, Lucy described a mission she had gone on with the rest of her team to help a theater owner. They had somehow ended up being the actors in terribly written play. Lucy had been playing the part of the princess, Gray and Erza were opposing princes and Natsu, aided by Happy, was a giant flying dragon. Natsu's flames got out of control, Lucy's dress caught fire, and before Gray could snuff out the flames with his ice, Erza had cut the dress off, completely exposing Lucy to the entire audience.
While everyone was laughing over the various stories—Juvia even joining in, even though she had worked out that Gray had seen Lucy naked (and wasn't too pleased about it)—Erza's name came up in the conversation.
"It's too bad that Erza isn't here." Lucy had said. "She loves this girl talk kind of stuff."
"NO!" Both Cana and Mira shouted in unison, startling the three others.
"Whatever you do, don't let Erza drink." Mira warned.
Lucy gave her a questioning look.
"Seriously, don't ask." Cana confirmed. "And seriously, don't let her get into the booze. Poor Wakaba." Cana added, shaking her head in pity.
"Poor Wakaba? What about my poor brother?" Mirajane replied. "It was only a few months ago that he stopped having nightmares about it."
No matter how much the other three prodded, Mira and Cana stayed tight-lipped about the subject, so Lisanna could only imagine what had happened there. If Mira was unwilling to speak of it, then it was safe to assume that asking Elfman about it was also a no go. She was just going to have to be satisfied with it remaining a mystery. But it still rankled her. Maybe if Mira got completely drunk before she did...
From the following games she learned a lot about the other girls. The scariest nightmares they had ever had, what their perfect gift would be, what they'd want to do on a dream date, their most important object, just to name a few.
"Aces High!" Mira slurred as she took the cards to deal again. "This time, I want to know about your best kiss ever." she demanded with an over-exaggerated teasing waggle of her eyebrows.
This game Lucy flat out lost. Mirajane, who won the round, insisted that Lucy tell first; she was anxiously bouncing up and down in her seat as Lucy downed her required two shots while everyone else took their one.
"I – I've never actually k-kissed anyone." Lucy confessed, as she plucked at her skirt shyly.
"What, still?" Mira groaned. "Damn! I should have worded that one differently. Totally wasted it." Mira grumbled and then hiccuped.
Cana was cackling merrily as she scribbled on her note pad. "This is definitely a point for Lucy's luck! She lost without really losing anything! Really, Mira," she tutted. "You should have asked who they wanted to kiss in the future."
"Well, how about you Cana? Who gave you your best kiss?" Mirajane lazily asked.
Cana contemplated that for a while, alternating between smiling and frowning as she thought it over.
"Definitely Loke." Cana stated with finality.
"Loke-san!" Juvia exclaimed at the same time that Lucy said "Loke!" in surprise. Lisanna didn't say anything—she knew Cana spoke the truth.
"Wh-when did that happen?"
"Ooooh, Lucy, is that a touch of jealousy I hear?" Cana leered at her. "Can't stand the thought of your white knight getting to first base with me?"
"N-no! That's not it!" Lucy spluttered.
Lucy, red-faced, was still stammering in denial at Cana when the card wizard decided to take pity on her.
"Relax, Lucy, I'm only teasing. But, honestly, he really is quite the kisser."
Cana smiled teasingly some more. "The things that guy can do with his tongue and teeth." Cana followed this statement by waggling her eyebrows and licking her lips suggestively, much to everyone's embarrassment but her own and Mira's.
"There's no way Loke-san would be as good a kisser as Gray-sama!" Juvia objected suddenly.
"Yeah...I don't know about that myself. What do you think Lisanna?"
This caught Lisanna completely by surprise. Luckily though, she wasn't too drunk yet and was able to quickly respond to this statement to try to quell Juvia's obviously building anger.
"What! Cana?! I've never kissed Gray!" What was that woman trying to do? Was this a plot to ruin her partnership with Juvia to make Juvia a smaller threat in the coming exam?
Juvia hovered from looking teary-eyed and angry to almost appeased as she eyed Lisanna's face. This changed instantly back when Mira spoke next.
"You've never kissed Gray." Mira said suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.
"Yes! Mira! Of course I haven't! Why would you think I had?" Lisanna asked, anxiously looking at Juvia. Juvia herself was looking between all four of them, her face hard as she tried to discern the truth. Mira only had eyes for Lisanna, Cana was having a fit of silent giggles, and Lucy was just looking like she'd like to escape.
"I don't care about Gray. What I care about is Loke." Mira replied.
"Huh?" Lisanna was feeling lost and the alcohol in her system wasn't helping things.
"You said you've never kissed Gray. Why didn't you say you've never kissed Gray and Loke?" Mira asked, her eyes narrowing again.
Oh crap. She was suddenly glad that Loke was immortal because when Lisanna's facial expression showed her mistake, it looked like Mira was contemplating killing him.
"Cana! Why would you do that?" Lisanna hissed, upset at the now openly laughing girl.
"Whoa now, everyone needs to calm down." Cana said laughingly, laying a hand on Mira. "Mira, it's Loke. Playboy or not, he's still our nakama. He'd never hurt Lisanna. And it was just a kiss. I was even there. So relax."
Cana then put a hand on Lisanna's shoulder. "And Lisanna, you would've had to mention this anyway, right? Best kiss, remember? Cause if you say it was someone else, I'm gonna call bullshit."
With everyone looking so expectantly at Lisanna, she was suddenly overcome with extreme embarrassment. Hiding her face in her hands, she mumbled out, "You're not wrong, Cana."
"What was that, Lisanna? Onee-san didn't hear you. Say it loud and proud." Cana prodded.
Louder this time, but still covering her face, she said, "You're right. Loke gave me my best kiss. Happy now?"
"Immensely."
Cana then had to spend a few minutes wrestling with Mira to keep her from leaving the house. In the course of that, it was worked out between them that Mira would forgive Loke's transgression against her sister if and only if she heard the details and judged for herself that no harm was done.
So Lisanna found herself telling a story that she had never planned to tell another soul.
{Flashback time everyone!}
It had been her fifteenth birthday party. Turning fifteen was, in Fiore, a very big deal. Fifteen was old enough to get married, own property, or drive a car. And most importantly, at least to the Fairy Tail guild which was populated by several lushes, fifteen was old enough to drink. That was how Lisanna eventually found herself in the company of Cana, getting more and more intoxicated as Cana insisted she try just one more new drink to celebrate her coming of age.
"Ah, fifteen...seems like it was ages ago that I turned fifteen." Cana sighed, reminiscing.
"It was only two years ago!" Lisanna protested.
"Was it? Huh, I guess you're right." Cana stroked her chin in thought. "Maybe it's because I was drinking since I was thirteen that I feel like it's been so long ago."
"That's only two extra years, Cana." Lisanna deadpanned.
Cana waved that statement off.
"Anyways, kid," Cana slung her arm over Lisanna's shoulder, spilling a bit of both of their drinks in the process. "I can't believe that you're finally all grown up. Little Lisanna is finally a woman. Before you know it, you'll be getting married and popping out little brats all over the place."
"Cana! Don't you think that's going a little fast? I mean, I haven't even had a boyfriend or kissed anyone yet!" Not that she hadn't thought about it. She really really did want all of that someday.
"Never been kissed? Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised with the company you keep." Here, Cana looked over to a corner of the guild. Lisanna's eyes followed hers. There lay Natsu and Gray, both knocked out by Erza when during their last scuffle in the guild that day, they had run into the requip mage, smashing the piece of cake she had been holding into the bodice of her dress. Everyone expected that the destruction of her cake would earn them punishment; who knew that it would be the spoiling of the white dress Erza had been wearing that would send her into such a rage that the two younger mages would spend the rest of Lisanna's party unconscious?
"What, Natsu?! I'm not expecting Natsu to kiss me!" Not that she wouldn't mind too much if he did. She did like him and admire him. She liked talking to and spending time with him. And there were certainly worse things than having your first kiss be from your best friend. But it wasn't like she was expecting something like that from him.
"Good. Cause I don't think anything's gonna happen there sweetie. At least, not for awhile. Boy's too focused on Dragon Daddy for anything else, except food and sleep." Cana replied seriously.
It was certainly true. Although Lisanna was really the only person besides Happy to get along with Natsu most of the time, their conversations often came back to Igneel. Natsu spending time on a mission to look for Igneel, Natsu wanting to be S-class so he could do tougher and farther away missions to look for Igneel, Natsu wondering if his dad would be proud of him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right about that Cana." Lisanna agreed half-heartedly.
"Hey, cheer up girl!" Cana said, squeezing her a little bit with her draped arm. "Y'know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna get you another birthday present. A really really good one."
"Oh yeah, what would that be?"
"A first kiss."
Lisanna stood up in shock at these words. "Sorry Cana, but I just don't swing that way."
Cana laughed uproariously. "No, no. That's not what I meant at all. Although, I think I have enough kissing experience to get the job done right." Cana winked.
Lisanna sat back down again. She was glad to. She suddenly felt awfully dizzy from all the alcohol she had already consumed, especially since she had absolutely no tolerance for it at all.
"Well, who do have in mind then?" Lisanna asked, curious. Suddenly (and maybe it was the alcohol thinking for her) the thought of celebrating her fifteenth birthday with a first kiss seemed kind of...exciting.
Cana scanned the area. "Let's see...who would be...amenable?" Cana murmured. "Warren? Lips might be a little too big, a little too sloppy? Max? Nah, I don't think so. Alzack, maybe? He's pretty cute... Laxus is right out, he'd be an asshole about it. Oh, maybe Bickslow. With that tongue of his, that could be fun..."
"Um, Cana?" Lisanna interrupted her reverie. "Have you kissed all of these guys? Do you know if they'd be any good at it?"
"Lisanna, I never knew you were such a little vixen! So you want a good kiss for your first one. I get ya. There's only one option then. I wonder if he's available?"
Cana then immediately stood on the table and began her search in earnest. Finally spotting who she had in mind, she waved at him as she yelled out, "Loke! Over here for a sec, will ya?"
Loke? Lisanna, of course, somewhat knew who Loke was. He had joined the guild about a year ago, never telling anyone where he was from or even what his last name was. Not that that was too unusual. There were a lot of mages that only went by one name—Laxus' cronies Bickslow and Evergreen being two that immediately came to mind.
But one thing that she definitely knew about Loke was that he was a total player. There were very few women from Fairy Tail that hadn't been hit on by the self-acclaimed ladies' man. Lisanna was sure she had only escaped his attention so far because of an early run-in with her sister when Loke first joined the guild.
Cana noticed Lisanna's gaping stare when she sat back down on the table.
"What's wrong Lis?"
"You've actually kissed Loke?!" she whispered-shouted, amazed that someone like Cana would actually fall for his moves.
Cana waved her off like it was no big deal. "Of course I have. I figured there must have been a reason for him to always be surrounded by several girlfriends." She smiled fondly. "Yep, very good reason indeed."
"How can I be of service, Cana?" Loke said when he suddenly appeared before them.
"This girl," Cana jerked her thumb at Lisanna "has never been kissed."
"Really? A tragedy, for sure, but one I'm not surprised at with the company she keeps." he answered her straight-faced as he looked Lisanna in the eyes.
"Ha! That's what I told her!" Cana laughed.
"...And what do you want me to do about it?" Loke asked when Cana didn't elaborate.
"Well, kiss her of course, show her how it's done."
"Cana!" Lisanna moaned in embarrassment, while Loke answered at the same time with, "No way."
"Lisanna I can understand, cause she's a shy little virgin, but what's your deal, Loke?" Cana asked in surprise.
"I don't know about you, Cana, but I'd rather not die by her sister's hand tonight."
"Mira's outside, challenging Erza again. I saw her leave a few minutes ago."
"Oh! That's different then. As long as it never got back to Mirajane, I could totally do this." He smiled leeringly at Lisanna, making her feel almost naked under his gaze.
"I – I don't know about this, Cana. What if someone else sees?" Truthfully, she wasn't scared of that, since they were off in a corner of the room, but instead she was scared of what would happen during the kiss itself. What if Loke wanted more than that? She definitely wasn't ready if that happened.
"No one's paying attention over here, Lis. Everyone's got their own thing going on." Cana reasoned with her.
"I still don't know." she mumbled uncertainly. She was curious, but really, this could cause all sorts of problems in the future.
"Do I have to dare you?" Cana questioned a little impatiently. Lisanna didn't answer her. "Fine. I dare you to kiss him, Lisanna. Loke, I dare you to kiss her, make her a woman, whatever."
"Cana!" Lisanna hissed in embarrassment.
"Cana, let me handle this." Loke interrupted, shooing Cana away.
Taking Lisanna's chin in his hand, he turned her face to meet his.
"Lisanna, do you want to do this? Because if you don't want to, I won't force you."
"N-no, it's not that. I just...don't want things to get weird or complicated." Lisanna practically whispered the last part.
He nodded his head at her. "A promise then. I promise I won't make things weird for you as long as you promise not to tell your sister about this. I'd appreciate being alive tomorrow."
The look he gave her was so guileless that she soon found herself nodding at him, earning herself a satisfied smile from the man.
"Good. Now close your eyes."
Lisanna complied by squeezing her eyes shut. Loke immediately laughed.
"Not so tight! Relax. You're scrunching up your beautiful face."
"I'm sorry! I've never done this before and I'm really nervous." she admitted, trying to relax as he said.
"Well, I promise I won't bite." He ran a hand slowly along her cheek. "Much." he whispered close to her ear.
Lisanna shivered from the feel of his warm breath on her ear and neck. That had oddly helped in making her feel relaxed. She would've expected the opposite to happen from such an action.
The hand that had touched her cheek then moved to thread itself into the hair at the back of her head. She could now sense that Loke's lips were close to her own, the smell of mint prevalent on his breath. Was it possible that he hadn't even been drinking?
With the other hand still holding her chin, Loke tilted her head back slightly, her lips parting on their own in anticipation.
When his lips first touched hers, there was an immediate spark and tingle which shocked her into opening her eyes. His hazel eyes twinkled in amusement at the shock in her blue ones. When he moved to slant his mouth more firmly against hers, her eyes fluttered closed again almost against her will. Following his lead, she was soon lost in the sensations of his lips sensually massaging her own.
When his tongue slipped out to glide at the seam of her lips, she tentatively poked her own tongue out to meet with his. She felt another spark and tingle, this time traveling all the way to her lower stomach, warming her pleasantly. When his tongue began to explore her mouth, she nearly lost her mind at the feelings it was producing within her. She definitely could see what Cana meant about why Loke still had so many girlfriends.
Loke ended the kiss with a gentle tug of her lower lip between his teeth, leaving her breathless and blinking at him slowly when he pulled away. She felt like she was about to faint from the experience she'd just had.
"There. How was that?" he asked Lisanna kindly.
Lisanna couldn't speak, but she must've been telling him something by the expression on her face because he smiled gently at her and stroked her cheek affectionately again.
Soon after, Loke went back to the party, leaving Lisanna solely in Cana's company again, the latter teasing the former about the enormous blush she wore on her face and forcing more alcohol in her system until Lisanna passed out where she sat.
Of all the presents she got that day, that was the one she remembered with the most fondness.
{Flashback done}
After her story was done (Lisanna, of course, not going into quite that level of detail in her storytelling, but close), her companions looked at her with varying expressions. Cana was nodding smugly, evidently pleased in the part she had played. Lucy looked awestruck, making Lisanna really want to know what she was thinking. Juvia was staring at her with a sort of love-struck air, and Lisanna was actually kind of worried what was going on in her head. It was her sister's reaction that she was most worried about. Mira seemed to be struggling internally with something.
"Mira-nee, are you okay?" Lisanna hesitantly asked.
"And that's all that happened? No taking advantage of you later on? No trying to do it again?" Mira replied.
"Yeah, he kept his promise. He never brought it up or acted any differently around me later, except I suppose he did wink at me from time to time, but he does that with everybody."
"That's for sure." Lucy muttered quietly.
"Well, I suppose it's okay then." The elder of the two sisters acquiesced.
Disaster averted, attention was brought to the game again. Namely, the fact that Juvia still had to take her turn.
"Okay, let's not forget about Juvia." Cana reminded everyone. "Who was your best kiss?"
"Juvia's best kiss will be with her Gray-sama!" Juvia exuded giddiness, the alcohol seeming to affect her the most of all so far. "He will take Juvia to that new restaurant near his home and then for a moonlit stroll around the lake. And after he walks her home for the night, he will lean in to give Juvia the sweetest, gentlest kiss with the promise to see her the next day." Juvia sighed in happiness.
Lisanna found herself joining the others at shaking their heads at Juvia's imagination.
"No, Juvia, we're not talking about future kisses yet. We're talking about past kisses." Cana admonished.
"Although we should totally do that Cana." Mira admitted. "But she's right, Juvia. We want to hear about the best kiss you've ever had, not will have."
"No! Juvia doesn't want to talk about Bora-san!" Juvia said with such vehemence that Lisanna was a little taken aback.
Lucy started choking nearby. "D-did you just say Bora?" she asked when she had recovered some, her voice hoarse from coughing.
Juvia nodded slowly at her.
"Bora the Prominence? Of the Titan Nose guild?"
"Does - does Lucy know Bora-san?" Juvia asked hesitantly.
"You could say that! He was going to brand me and sell me as a slave! If Natsu hadn't come crashing through the roof of his yacht, I might've been a slave in Bosco even now!"
Juvia looked horrified. Falling onto her hands and knees when she left her chair, she shuffled over to where Lucy was sitting and quickly wrapped her arms around her.
"Oh Lucy-san! Juvia is sorry!" she wailed, her tears quickly soaking Lucy's shirt. "Juvia did date Bora-san in her Phantom Lord days! When he broke up with Juvia, she was so upset at the time, but now Juvia can see it was a very good thing. Juvia had no idea he was such a bad man!"
Lucy, looking both confused and surprised at this development, sat there gently soothing the now sobbing Juvia. It looked as if all the alcohol Juvia had consumed that evening was now hitting her like a ton of bricks. Apparently, Juvia was an emotional drunk. A very, very emotional drunk.
It took quite a while for Lucy to calm Juvia, but soon enough the five of them went back to playing again. Since it was someone else's turn to demand a personal fact, Mira never got to ask about future kisses. Lisanna figured that Lucy would have won that one anyhow. After a few more games in which everyone got steadily drunker, it was Cana's turn.
"Aces low this time." Cana said as she shuffled for the next round. "And instead of saying something personal this time, if Lucy is among the losers this turn, she has to sing a song in front of the guild while sitting on Natsu's lap."
Lucy flushed bright red. "You – you can't make me do that!" she shrieked.
"Okay, for that," Cana said, wiggling her finger in her sound-blasted ear, "now you have to wear your bunny outfit when you sing your song."
Lucy sat looking furiously at Cana. The cards were dealt, Cana smiling wickedly when Lucy received the two of diamonds.
"Oh ho, looks like you secretly want to sing a song, partner." Lucy, blushing furiously, tried to stammer out her protests over this unfair treatment only to be talked over by an overjoyed Mirajane.
"Oh, I can't wait! It's going to be so cute! I'll even let you borrow my guitar if you like, Lucy!"
"I'm betting that I have a higher card than Lucy." Cana stated, following formality. "Anyone else?"
Lisanna, along with her sister and Juvia joined Cana in the bet.
"Well, I suppose we should show our cards, although I hardly see the point." Cana admitted as she lazily turned over her card.
There, staring back at them from its spot on the tabletop, was the ace of spades.
…
"No fucking way." Cana breathed after ten seconds or so. She then reached across to quickly flip over the cards in front of Mira, Juvia, and Lisanna. No one talked for a couple minutes as they stared at the appearance of the other three aces on the table.
Cana then started laughing hysterically. "I still say you subconsciously want to sit on Natsu's lap, but I like this outcome! If you can keep this luck thing up, then I've got this test in the bag!"
Those two shots she had to consume were probably what moved Lisanna from pleasantly drunk to completely shit-faced.
Lisanna knew that they played for a few more rounds, but for the life of her, she couldn't really understand what was going on anymore. It was like she kept periodically waking up to what was going on around her, her vision blurry and her body numb from the alcohol.
She woke up again to find herself laying face-first on the couch and already wearing her nightshirt. When had that happened?
Juvia was nowhere in sight when she tentatively looked around, but she guessed that she was already sleeping off the alcohol in one of the bedrooms. Surely, they wouldn't send Juvia home in the state she had been in?
Currently, she could hear her sister talking.
"-really happy to see that you're going to be helping Cana this year, Lucy. How'd that come about anyway?"
"I was walking home and saw Cana laying in the snow in the alleyway." Lucy admitted. "We talked and I decided that I had to help her win."
Cana started chuckling. "Boy, was Natsu ever surprised to find me in her bed in the morning!"
"Well, considering that you usually sleep in the nude, I bet he was." Mira said dryly. "Why was he there? I thought he'd be off training by himself for the week."
"Why else?" Lucy asked. "He wanted me to make him breakfast."
"You should've seen his face when I told him Lucy'd be making breakfast for me instead since we were partners now." Cana chortled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was jealous."
"Well, he does really seem to like my food. He certainly can't help but eat all of it whenever he comes over." Lucy said thoughtfully.
"Uh, Lucy..." Cana began only to be stopped by Mirajane.
"Forget it. She's as oblivious as he is. It's a lost cause right now."
Lisanna however, suddenly got the urge to say something.
"Hey Lushy," Lisanna said. Quickly realizing it didn't sound quite right, she tried to correct herself. "Luuu-Shiii" Nope. Still not right. She tried several more times, all with pretty much the same result.
Lisanna had lost track of how many times she attempted to force her lips to pronounce Lucy's name properly when Lucy herself placed her hand on Lisanna's mouth, making Lisanna look at her blonde friend questioningly.
"Lisanna," Lucy spoke with concern in her eyes "Why don't you forget about saying my name for now and just say what's on your mind."
What was on her mind. What was on her mind?
Thinking hard, for some reason she couldn't quite remember what she wanted to tell Lucy now. She was staring open-mouthed and confusedly at Lucy's face.
"Is it about the S-class trials?" Lucy prompted.
Lisanna shook her head, positive it wasn't that.
"How about Natsu since we were just talking about him?" Mira suggested.
"Yesh! Thatch it, Mira-nee!" she slurred heavily. "I jush wanna say when you and Nashu realize you like each other, promish me tha' you'll le' all of ush know righ' away, 'kay? I don' wanna overhear tha' again."
Happy at having been able to say her piece, Lisanna quickly fell back to sleep.
A/N: I'm not sure when you actually are old enough to get married, own property, or drive a car in Fiore. It is a fact that you can legally drink at fifteen though. It makes sense to me that these ages would coincide.
If anyone's having trouble understanding what Lisanna drunkenly said to Lucy, let me know and I'll put a non-slurred version in the author notes here.