Long wait? Have a long chapter! On me, of course.

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 13: Dinner Conversations are Really Hard~

"I'll have to remember this place next time I'm craving cake…"

A dark smirk crossed Erza's face as she popped another morsel into her mouth, savoring the blend of sweet cream and tang of strawberry in one luscious bite. Before getting too caught up in the flavor –even though she probably had eaten well over an entire cake at this point- she snuck another glance over at the table of six, eyeing Gray and Juvia in particular.

It truly was refreshing to see them getting along so well- not necessarily anything romantic, but just seeing Juvia not so high strung and Gray opening up a bit was more than she could ask for. She'd only came to make sure Gray didn't unintentionally screw anything up, or possibly reign in Juvia if needed, but her worries were unfounded. A few times she had to hurl a dinner roll at Gray when he slacked off, but now that they were well into the date, both of them were comfortable with each other. Mission accomplished on her part.

She also had to quietly admire the other two couples. Gajeel wasn't nearly as animated as Gray, but he was actually having a two-sided conversation with Levy, who was known more for talking than listening. While Gajeel would throw in a few 'short jokes' every now and then to get a rise out of Levy, he surprisingly proved to be a decent conversation partner. Whatever they were idly discussing, it must have been engaging, as even Lily's ears were perked to attention as he listened in closely. Happy wasn't nearly as attuned to Natsu and Lucy, as his limited attention span was consumed by the wide spread of fish, yet it worked out for the best. Natsu was on his best behavior now–Erza had a hard time believing this was the same guy at a few points- and while Lucy had started out pretty guarded, she eased into it and relaxed quite a bit. Erza couldn't help but smile- it was good that they were all happy.

"Well, their dessert course should be around shortly, along with the beverage I requested…and I suppose my work here is done," the redhead sighed contently, rising from her seat and leaving a generous tip on the table for Sue, who had also been waiting on her. "I'll go wash up in the facilities and see myself out…"

In the back of her mind she was quietly wondering when it would be her turn to go on an outing like this, but she shook such thoughts out of her head. This was their night, and she wasn't going to taint it with her own selfish desires…even if they had no idea she was even there.

Upon entering the restroom, Erza reequipped out of her coat disguise and left herself armorless, heading straight for the sink and washing up. She was in the middle of dropping a glob of soap into her palm when a silver-haired woman who had clearly seen better days sauntered in, lamenting to herself. Erza wondered if the off-kilter woman even noticed that she wasn't the only one in the room, but as Erza watched her reflection in the mirror, the knight took note of the slightly unhinged looked in the stranger's eyes.

"I am so sick of waiting…!" the woman complained, waltzing over to the far sink to splash some water on her face. "How long does it take for that little man to make a move anyway?!"

Under normal circumstances, it didn't sound like a far-fetched complaint. She was a woman in a nice restaurant, and out of context, it appeared to be that she was upset with her date for not taking the "next step" or something of the sort.

But Erza was trained to see what wasn't obvious, and tried her hardest not to look conspicuous as she slid her gaze over to the woman standing opposite at her…and immediately recognized the dark Black Thorn symbol on her collarbone.

And thus, that woman's statement took on a far more dangerous meaning.

Every inch of Erza was on high alert- Master Makarov had made her aware of Black Thorn's antics, considering two of her teammates were attacked and one was currently being targeted, but she was advised to not take action against them either, unless someone's life was in danger. While it sounded to her that someone's life was in danger she was without proof, and just as she turned to leave the restroom and investigate this, Mercury did what Erza had done.

She noticed the blue Fairy Tail mark on Titania's exposed arm.

"KAAAAAA-!" Erza screeched, suddenly watching as the world grew taller around her when her body became spontaneously engulfed by the floor below. She was trapped up to her chest, and unable to move her arms, summoning any sort of weapon was impossible, and using a Requip became pointless. She gritted her teeth as she heard the clicking of high heels striding up to her in an uneven beat, until Mercury leaned over Erza from behind, her body unnaturally twisted thanks to her non-solid consistency.

"Grah, this whole bloody city is just crawling with fairy scum like you, huh?" Mercury sneered, and although she wasn't particularly pleased, she treated Erza's appearance as nothing more than a minor inconvenience. "Well, that's okay…we'll oust you all one by one if we have to. You're not the only guild in Fiore that knows how to get mean revenge, you know…"

"So you're just targeting my friends for nothing more than petty retribution?! How low are you, unable to gracefully accept failure and defeat?!" Ezra snapped, struggling for her freedom. Mercury shook her head disgustedly.

"Sweetie, that mission your rat pack interfered with was a huge loss to us, and it runs deeper than anything you could ever hope to be involved with." Her tone was acidic, and her body continued to warp in on itself, which frankly disturbed Erza. "The little bookworm is the reason the plan fell apart in the first place, that water princess took out one of our strongest members, and that dragon slayer is going to fetch quite a bit of money on the dark guild black market …anything we do with that trio will just be compensation for what we've lost, you know."

Erza cried out again as the floor devoured her even further under Mercury's command, her chin barely remaining over the linoleum. A twisted laugh ripped from Mercury's throat as she started to make her way out of the room, her hand all set to send Erza straight through the floor without another thought.

"You just better hope this place has a basement, and you better hope I come back for you when we finish taking care of your little fairy friends, cha ha."

And Erza vanished beneath the floor of the bathroom, completely swallowed up like she was never even there.

. . .

"H-hey, which one of you ordered champagne…?"

Lucy wasn't exactly ready to dive back into the world of alcohol after her last unfortunate experience, so when Sue returned to their table with a tray full of desserts and there was a nicely sized wine bottle placed in the center of the tray, she grew a little cautious. Only Gray cracked an eyebrow with bemused interest; the other four were incredibly skeptical.

"I'm pretty sure that's for another table," Levy stated politely enough as Sue set it down and casually popped the cork.

"Nah, the lady over in Booth Eight bought it for you guys," Sue explained, starting to gesture over to the table in question. When she found no one there, she tilted her head and shrugged. "Ah, she must have left already. Not that I'm surprised, given how much dessert she was devouring…I'd almost have her pinned for a mad woman."

She placed the thin green bottle onto the table; Lucy and Gajeel eyed it warily, Natsu and Juvia leaned in to study it closely, and Gray and Levy were perplexed at best.

"If you're worried about the alcoholic content, there's only a very minimal amount in there. Only way you could possibly get drunk on somfin' like that is if ya suck down the whole bottle…" Sue winked. "It's practically virgin, but there's still enough there to maybe give ya a kick if ya know what I mean…"

She sashayed away with an almost too-coy flair. The group was left exchanging uncertain glances for a few uncomfortable seconds-

Levy went to reach for it; Gajeel nonchalantly smacked her little hand away.

"We ain't about to drink that! We don't even know where it came from, or from who!"

"But this is a full bottle- it'd be a huge waste if we didn't drink any of it," Levy pointed out. "Besides, someone probably recognized us from Fairy Tail and wanted to give us an anonymous present."

Gajeel gave her a long look. "…did ya drink some of this while I wasn't looking?! You're supposed to be the sensible one- this is all way too suspicious!"

"Hey, if it was your old friend that prepped it for us, I sincerely doubt it's poisoned," Levy countered, and the majority of the table had to agree with that. Gajeel was unable to come up with a witty enough response, so Levy beamed in victory and started pouring everyone a glass.

Lucy immediately refused her glass, not wanting to take any risks –Natsu felt the same- while Gajeel refused to drink something potentially poisoned. Seeing that Gray was taking a glass, Natsu didn't want to be outdone- but he stopped to sniff it first.

"Um, what the-?" Lucy started, but Natsu shot her a look.

"You know I don't normally drink alcohol."

"Well, there's hardly any in there- you should be fine," Lucy shrugged.

"And that's why you're not drinking it?"

"Do you want me to risk having you carry me everywhere again?"

"Not particularly."

"Aw, just one won't kill you!" Levy laughed.

"That kind of talk gets people killed."

"Gajeel!"

"What? Not everyone can carry their alcohol well, even if it's just a drop." Gajeel aloofly waved his hand. "The guys back at Phantom Lord were wimps; they'd probably black out just by lookin' at Cana, I swear…"

"Soooo…are we drinking, or not?" Juvia asked innocently enough, blinking and tilting her head. "Because Juvia does not want any…unless Gray-sama drinks it."

Gray threw up his hands before snagging the glass. "Geez, fine! You're all making a big deal out of nothing! Sue said it was practically virgin- it's basically just sparkling grape juice."

Gray made a huge show of chugging the glass down in one try; almost instantly Juvia followed suit, almost she made a puckered face afterwards. After seeing that neither of them spontaneously died from taking the drink, Levy went to do the same…until Gajeel swiped her glass and took it for himself. Everyone at the table proceed to gape at him as he casually wiped his mouth off with the back of his sleeve.

"…I wasn't taking any chances."

Levy heaved a sigh as Lily dropped his head in his paws, until all eyes rolled over to Natsu, who was staring at his glass like it would disappear were he to look away. Gray raised an eyebrow and drummed his fingers on the table.

"Are ya going to do it or not, Fire Face? We don't have all night."

"Sh-shut up!"

Natsu was biting his lip as he silently debated whether or not to do it. Gray and Gajeel's heckling of the pink haired dragon slayer wasn't much help either, even after Lucy told Natsu drinking the stuff was purely optional.

"Guys, no, don't pressure him-" Lucy had started to say in response to the increased taunting, but of course before she even managed to get her sentence out Natsu had already downed half the glass. And yet, that was all he could get down.

"…yuck!" He nearly wretched, grabbing at his throat while he teetered around in his seat. "I dunno why people are so into that stuff- it's nothing but nasty!"

"Is it really that bad?" Happy wondered as he took a break from his fish smoothie to investigate, picking up Natsu's cup and finishing it off. He sat poised for a moment, as if testing out the taste, but eventually puckered and shook his head. "No sir, I'm never letting that enter my system ever again…!"

"Guess I didn't miss out on much," Lucy remarked as a red-faced Natsu hastily shook his head.

"It was fine; they're just being over dramatic," Gray insisted, pulling his slice of cake a la mode closer to him and ignoring the killer glare Natsu was throwing his way. "Now come on- let's dig into dessert!"

Juvia immediately agreed with Gray and wrapped her lips around a spoonful of her own dessert, and it was easy to tell she was the one cherishing the dish the most. Her eyes fell closed to better enhance the dance of sweet flavors currently taking place on her tongue…

What? It was really good ice cream.

As she poked pensively at her plate, she rested a hand on her cheek, her thoughts unsurprisingly drifting over to Gray. There was actually the smallest hint of a genuine smile on his face, which was far more welcome that the mellow half-pout he seemed to prefer. His shoulders were naturally relaxed –not that forced mellow slouch- and he still had his clothes on! …which Juvia couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing, but at least it kept the stripper jokes to a minimum.

When she felt herself slowly slipping into a new fantasy of a shirtless Gray with a bowtie sharing ice cream with her, Juvia hastily shook it away and discretely nudged Gray to get his attention. He seemed to snap out of whatever dessert induced trance he was in to look at her.

"Isn't this dessert commendable?" Juvia asked casually, breaking out into a smile as she popped another bite of cake into her mouth. Gray chuckled as he ate more ice cream for himself.

"Of course it tastes good- it's the best meal of the night!"

Juvia gave him a skeptical look. "Is that because it's the coldest dish of the night?"

"…yes…"

Gray immediately flushed with embarrassment when he couldn't tell if Juvia was laughing with or at his horrible attempt at a quip, although he had a pretty good idea when Gajeel deadpanned at him with a thumbs down. Gray groaned and put his head in his hands, but Juvia eventually calmed down and reassuringly patted his back.

"Juvia appreciates your attempt at humor. At least it made her laugh."

"I'm glad you got some entertainment out of it then," Gray murmured under his breath, sounding annoyed but Juvia could tell he was relieved. She giggled at him before casually tracing her finger around the rim of her wine glass.

"So, um, anyway…" Juvia cleared her throat a bit, catching Gray's attention again. "I probably should have mentioned this earlier, er, um, maybe not…but, um…have you been on a date before?"

Juvia flinched like she feared the answer; Gray gave her a fleetingly curious look before hanging his head.

"…eh, a few," Gray admitted after a long silence that Juvia was prepared to fill with apologizes for being too forward. However, any words she were about to form died at his remarkably casual response, and now she could only stare at him with wide eyes. "None have been nearly as nice as this though."

Juvia's heart hammered as his subtle implication as a chuckle escaped him, those intense eyes rising up to meet her blue gaze.

"…did you know I went out with Cana once?"

"No," Juvia gasped out in horror and shock, eyes bugging out of her head. "Does this mean Cana is a Love Rival too?!"

Gray snorted. "No way! We were young and dumb and it turned out less romantic and more of us just hanging out…and after she drank herself stupid we both kinda decided we were better as friends. Nothing against her; I just don't see her romantically."

"I see…" Juvia narrowed her eyes as she stared at her reflection in her now empty porcelain plate. "But, ahm, what about Lu-"

"Juvia! Not while she and two nosy dragon slayers are at the table!" he hissed as quietly as possible, quickly checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was paying attention. Gajeel's senses seemed highly trained on both Levy and the restaurant around them, while Lucy was half-amused by the flaming idiot who had a spoon hanging off his nose. Only Happy seemed to notice his glance and gleefully waved back. Gray promptly sighed.

"…so yeah I may have been interested in Lucy-"

Juvia nearly screamed "I KNEW IT" at the top of her lungs, but Gray clamped his hand over her mouth before she could.

"-at one point, but I realized quickly that she doesn't see me that way and I'm more than cool with just being her friend and teammate. In fact, I kinda like looking out for her more as a brother, you know? Maybe that's as close as I need to be…"

Gray lowered his hand from Juvia, dropping his gaze at the bewildered look she wore.

"…I never told anyone that before, by the way," he grumbled quietly, and suddenly Juvia felt honored that Gray had shared something so personal with her. She remained speechless as he went on- not that she knew how to respond anyway. "Besides, hothead over there is crazy about her, and I don't want to be the guy that stands in his way…about something like this, anyway."

He picked up his fork and poked at his cake again, although he lacked his earlier enthusiasm.

"Even an idiot like him deserves to be happy too…"

"And so do you, Gray-sama," Juvia hummed quietly, figuring she had kept that to herself, but with the way his eyes widened she knew he'd heard. As soon as he went to look at her Juvia frantically waved her hands. "Ahaha, ignore me! I'm ruining the atmosphere…!"

She desperately wracked her mind for some way to change the subject before things became irreparably awkward, and her eyes lit up as she clapped her hands.

"Oh, I've got it!" She excitedly tugged his arm and grinned at him. "Gray-sama must walk Juvia home later! She has something to give you!"

"I…planned to walk you home anyway," Gray replied with an amused smirk. "But what are you thinking of giving me? …please don't let it be another body pillow with you on it."

"Hmph! Juvia would not be so dense as to give you the same thing twice!" She became ghostly hopeful. "Unless you really want another pillow of Juvia-!"

"NO!"

"Okay, okay…" Juvia's cheeks puffed out with disappointment. "But Juvia heard you had a bad day yesterday and since even Gajeel-kun was being all secretive about it, she just wanted to do something to cheer you up!"

Gray calmed down a little and raised an eyebrow at her. "Wendy and I just had a run in with some creeps, that's all."

"But Juvia heard you got hurt-!"

"Nothing I couldn't walk off," Gray assured smugly, with Juvia giving him a disbelieving look. "…hey, it didn't stop me from coming tonight, did it?"

"Nope!" Juvia sang, clasping her hands together. "All the more reason why Juvia needs to show her appreciation!"

Her heart swelled when Gray actually laughed, and she nearly melted when his hand found its way to her shoulder. She looked at him curiously while he smiled in such a way that launched her heart into one continuous beat.

"Well, don't worry- this outing is all you and me, and there's nothing but you on my mind. Promise."

Juvia gaped at him, obviously interpreting his words as some higher meaning, then quickly went to pinch herself. When she immediately felt pain, she squealed in delight.

"…er, what was that?"

"Juvia was double checking to make sure that this wasn't one of her daydreams."

"I-I see…"

The mood went back to normal as Gray finished off the last of his dessert, with Juvia happily swooning to herself without a care in the world. To be the sole thing on her beloved Gray's mind for even just a moment was more than a dream come true, and she felt so delighted…!

Still, her curiosity insisted on eating away at her –it was partially why she was such a snoopy person- and eventually commanded Gray's attention again, looking straight ahead as she gulped down her now rising anxiety- why was an actual date so much harder than what she imagined up?!

"May…May Juvia ask you one more question?"

Gray shrugged and folded his arms behind his head. "I don't see why not."

"Well Juvia doesn't really want to pry anymore…" Her voice grew quiet, and she felt like sinking again. "…but with this being Juvia's first real date and all, she just wanted to know…what's the best one that Gray-sama's been on?"

"Well, I don't know." Juvia was surprised by his sudden easy-going tone and how quickly he responded. She instinctively blinked and turned to face him, blushing profusely at the sharp smirk on his face and the wink he gave her. "…this one's not over yet."

. . .

Gajeel was incredibly amused by Levy on this particular date- she was such a multitasker! He swore every time he slipped a glance her way she was doing something different, changing it up in the timespan of a blink! One moment she was raving about the cake to an eagerly agreeing Lily, the next she'd be scribbling on that napkin of hers, and then she'd ask him some inquiry…which he only answered depending on how much he liked the question.

She was so quirky, but she had the scent of sunflowers the whole time, so she must've been overall happy with how things were going.

…which left him with plenty of time to scan the restaurant.

Makarov had given Gajeel a description of the Black Thorn delinquents –according to Gray and Wendy's recollections- but he really wished he had a scent to go off of instead. That way he didn't have to constantly whip his head around in every direction like he was suffering muscle spasms.

"Gajeel, stop looking so conspicuous," Lily murmured as quietly as he could, trying not to break Levy's concentration. "…plus, at least pretend that you're hungry. Your ice cream is melting and that's such a shameful waste-"

Gajeel snarled and shoved his plate of cake and ice cream in front of Lily, with the black Exceed blinking in disbelief and giving him a skeptical look.

"How deplorable, feeding your cat table scraps-"

"Oi, shut up and quit acting like ya don't want it!"

"…well, I certainly cannot tell a lie," Lily replied cheerily, pulling the plate closer and immediately scooping up a large bite and plopping it in his mouth. Gajeel rolled his eyes, but at least Lily would keep quiet now. He was more than prepared to go back to his surveillance until he picked up on a small hum from Levy. His gaze rolled over to her, catching her staring back with a hand hiding her coy smile.

"…what're ya being all smirky for?"

"Well, I couldn't help but notice how intently you keep glancing around the room." She gained a rather sly expression, evidently trying hard not laugh. "What, did you spy some girl that's cuter than me around here?"

"Oi, no!"

Levy squealed and suddenly clapped her hands. "Oooh, so I'm the cutest girl in this restaurant then?!"

"…wait, what?"

Everyone at the table froze whatever they were doing and leaned in disbelievingly towards Gajeel; Gajeel turned pink in the ears as he replayed what had just gone down. Yet before Gajeel had a chance to either confirm or deny –or anyone had a chance to tease him- Levy broke out laughing and even wiped away a tear. She hadn't expected it to be that easy to get Gajeel all flustered!

Levy covered her mouth to prevent herself from snorting as Lily simpered deviously to himself and everyone else went back to their own things. Gajeel was left completely at a loss for a response at her reaction, and his face only grew hotter when Levy gave his arm a playful tap.

"Relax there, Gajeel. I was only messing with you."

"Sheesh, it wasn't that funny-" Gajeel grunted, which only made Levy laugh even harder.

"It totally was! Usually you'd catch comments like that, but you walked right into it!"

The dragon slayer grumbled something entirely unintelligible under his breath, although Levy was positive it contained a string of profanities. He resorted on gnawing silverware again, which Levy watched in amusement before writing down a few more things onto her napkin. Satisfied with her addition, she placed her pen down and redirected all her attention back on her date.

"So anyway, on a more serious note, why were you looking around so intently?"

"Looking for Sue," he replied coolly enough, but Levy didn't buy it.

"She was just here, Gajeel. Nice try."

Gajeel inwardly winced; the Shrimp was too smart for her own good!

Levy continued to stare at him with those wide inquisitive eyes, and Lily was of no help, casually anticipating what Gajeel was going to do about all of this. He pursed his lips into a thin line and firmly shook his head.

"Let me guess," Levy sighed knowingly, folding her hands under her chin and leaning in towards him. "It has something to do with protecting me, right?"

"…yer far too perceptive. Curiosity killed the cat, ya know."

"Nuh uh- I'm still here," Lily piped up through a mouthful of cake. Gajeel grunted and nonchalantly pushed him under the table as Levy folded her arms.

"Well can you blame me? You know I'm the inquisitive type, and I told you before-" She poked a tiny finger into his iron chest. "-reading is what I do best, whether it be ancient languages or the most guarded of people!"

Gajeel remained quiet.

"You're not going to tell me either."

"Nah."

Lily decided that it would be very wise to stay under the table, because even from where he was at, he could feel the anger rolling off of Levy in waves. Above the table, her cheeks were puffed out and her fists were curled into little fists, and it was a wonder how she didn't outright explode. Gajeel was unaware until he caught a whiff of ink in the air, followed by picked up on Levy's frustrated exhale. Just as he turned to face her –hey, he thought their conversation was over- she was already glowering at him with a harrowing stare and an uncertain look. Seeing that Gajeel was genuinely confused, Levy simmered down a bit, but continued gripping the edge of the table until she was positive she heard a small crack.

"Gajeel?"

"…mm?"

"Would you call us…friends?"

"…well, we ain't enemies." Gajeel resisted the urge to look uncomfortable and instead raised an eyebrow at her suddenly reserved behavior. "Why is that a question anyway?"

"B-because it doesn't feel like it sometimes," she grumbled, trying not to draw attention. "I know you're not the most open guy Gajeel, but friends shouldn't keep things from each other…trust breaks that way."

"…even if resorting to secrets is the better way to go for everyone?"

"They should trust each other enough to explain everything when things are wrong."

"Yeah, well, some things are put in the dark for a reason."

Gajeel just knew Lily was about to intervene, so the dragon slayer hastily silenced his thoughts with a killer look before turning away from Levy's direction. Poor Lily was left beneath the table, gaping like a fish at how rapidly things had escalated. The awkward silence was thick, and he was about to break it by engaging Levy. But she was busy biting her lip, shaky eyes scanning what she had written on her napkin before hastily folding it and stuffing it carelessly into her dress pocket. Instead of snapping at Gajeel like she so clearly wanted to, she stared intently over at Natsu, Lucy, and Happy, all of them giggling at some reminiscent story they shared.

"Oooh boy," Lily groaned to himself, not sure of how he could even attempt to fix this. Both of them were stubborn, neither of them were really the compromising type, and it didn't help that they both were technically correct on their viewpoints…

"…I only asked because I don't know where we stand right now," Levy's meek little voice croaked out, no doubt picked up by Gajeel's sensitive hearing. "I mean, we're on pretty good terms, but I just want to be clear that we have somewhere to go that just a few conversations and jobs every now and then…"

"She wants to move forward…" Lily whispered, recalling Cana's prediction. "…and you think he's holding back."

"…I thought we were moving forward." That was Gajeel, rumbling the words under his breath. "…ya know, me bein' here and all ain't exactly easy…I don't got a safety net here."

"You could've said no if you weren't comfortable with it," Levy reminded him. "It's not like I could've forced you to come. I would've been fine if you-"

"No ya wouldn't. I was yer first choice, for whatever reason," Gajeel retorted, and Levy immediately hid her face- and her spawning blush. "Did ya really have a backup plan if I said no? I can't see ya picking between Speedy and Tubby either."

Levy scowled not just at the terrible nicknames, but at the fact that he was right. Seeing as Levy wasn't about to respond anytime soon, Gajeel heaved a relenting sigh and leaned forward to look at her adamantly hiding face.

"…c'mon, Shrimp. Things were miraculously going well until this point…yer gonna let one little thing completely ruin everything?"

Levy knew it wasn't fair to get so hung up over it, and as much as she wanted the whole story, it wasn't right to ask more out of Gajeel than he was willing to give. He had a perfectly valid point- he already made her night by agreeing and showing up, and she was making things harder for him. If he said things were going to be okay, maybe she could give him the benefit of the doubt and let it go.

"…ya know I'm tryin', Levy."

The Solid Script Mage's heart nearly jumped in her throat, unable to believe that such soft spoken words had come from the rough and rugged Iron Dragon Slayer. But when she finally swallowed her pride and turned around, he was using a knife to pick his teeth like nothing had even happened.

Still, he didn't appear surprised when placed her petite hand on his bicep and smiled.

"I know, Gajeel."

"…good," he responded gruffly, trying not to make eye contact. "Now chin up- ya reek of ink right now."

Levy shrieked and reprimanded him for complaining about her "telling scent" again, but after witnessing the jagged smirk spreading on his face, she knew it would be impossible to stay mad at him forever. Lily breathed a sigh of relief from under the table, cropping back up when it was safe at last. When she was done chastising Gajeel, she sat back in her own chair and leered coyly at him; he pretended to take a drink of his soda as he tossed a wink her way, and there was no suppressing the giggle that came from Levy after that.

He told her there was nothing to worry about…and finally she felt like he was right.

. . .

Lucy was stuck laughing and wiping happy tears out of her eyes at the many ways Natsu had succeeded in making her laugh. He was far less embarrassing since the food ordering fiasco, and now she could honestly say that she was having a good time. So many of her dates before now had been so stuffy and rigid- with Natsu it was just fun, and as the night went on he gradually got less nervous and therefore she was able to relax too. After all, it was just Natsu- no need to get so worked up because they were in a new environment.

Sure, he was being a bit of a dork thanks to relapsing into his usual antics…but hey, she was with someone that could flawlessly make her smile, so Lucy couldn't harp on him too much.

Natsu, on the other hand, was seriously regretting drinking that wine.

The last thing he was going to admit to Gajeel or Gray was his shamefully low tolerance for even the tiniest bit of alcohol, but even after drinking half of what he was offered, he was feeling slightly buzzed and had lost his appetite completely- yeah, it was that bad. He had one bite of the cake before calling it quits, discretely tricking Happy into thinking he'd gotten two helpings while simultaneous keeping Lucy distracted with a funny story.

He couldn't help but smirk with pride at a few points- it was him that was the source of her joy…and not some nameless attractive guy who had jumped in out of nowhere like in his dream.

"So ya having fun, Luce?" Natsu asked during a lull in their conversation, just for clarity. As long as she was enjoying herself, he could put up with his protesting headache. Thank goodness she had nodded so eagerly; the soaring of his heart seemed to cancel out the grunts of his tummy.

"Yeah, completely! The food is great, the atmosphere is beyond fantastic, and I feel pretty good…" She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "This is probably the nicest fancy outing I've ever been on…"

"…glad to hear it!" Natsu hummed, flashing her a grin before closing his eyes and leaning his head back. He was trying really hard not to give off the impression that he was in pain, but as soon as Lucy realized he'd fallen quiet and wasn't even eating, she immediately got suspicious. Staring at him questioningly, she put a hand to his forehead and he froze on the spot.

"…do you want to go home, Natsu?" she asked quietly. "You seem to be in a lot of discomfort-"

"What?! No, no, I'm good! I'm just…digesting?" He sprang back to life and sat as straight as a tack in his seat. There was no way he was going to let this date end prematurely. "I-I mean, we just started dessert…do you want the night to end so early?"

Lucy blinked at him as she realized he'd placed his hand over hers on the table. She knew her face must've been slightly pink at that point, not just at his contact but how earnest his words were…

"Admittedly no…I've been having a good time just talking to you, you know."

"I like talking to you too," Natsu beamed. "Your face gets all scrunchy when you talk about something you like."

Mood broken.

"E-Eeeeeeh?!"

"It's a compliment, I promise," Happy whispered, shooting Natsu two thumbs up afterwards with a wink. Natsu groaned and planted his face into the table- now there was a new unpleasant sensation in the pit of his stomach, and he couldn't blame this one on the alcohol. He then heard Lucy giggling at him, and bringing his head up made him realize that his hand was on top of hers. He shyly pulled it away and avoided looking at her.

"Er, sorry 'bout that…"

"Don't worry about it," Lucy dismissed, still visibly pink as she reached for her drink. "But while I'm thinking about it, why were you so adamant on taking me out tonight?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her; Lucy immediately laughed nervously and poked her fingers together.

"N-Not that I'm upset about it or anything, but my initial reaction…wasn't the best…and I feel bad about it."

"Well that's still an easy question to answer." Natsu leaned back again and folded his arms behind his head. "You are a nice person."

Lucy hid her giggle behind her hand. "Yeah, but the guild is full of all sorts of nice people…!"

"Luce, you're acting like you wanted me to pick someone else." He stated it coyly, but Happy had picked up on the suspicious tone in Natsu's voice and stared at him curiously. "What, am I not date material?"

Happy gaped at him as Lucy frantically shook her head.

"No, no, no! Honestly, Natsu, none of my apprehension has anything to do with you…I know you always come through for me." Her eyes shimmered as she glanced down. "…I guess I'm just awkward when it comes to things like this. Strange, isn't it? Me being raised on fancy parties and whatnot and I can't even handle my best friend taking me somewhere nice to eat…"

"Yeah, but I guess that's just part of your weirdo charms."

"I'm not a weirdo! If anyone's weird, it's you!"

"Please, I am a perfect picture of normalcy."

Lucy lost it and snorted while even Happy had to give the dragon slayer a skeptical headshake. Natsu folded his arms and stuck up his nose in response, as if that was going to help prove his point. Lucy had been lost in a fit of giggles until she popped a piece of cake into her mouth-

"So, why don't you have a boyfriend?"

-and promptly choked on it.

Natsu was completely undeterred as Lucy sputtered in place, managed to get her bite of cake down safely but was left gaping at Natsu with her eyes.

"Wh-why would you ask such a question?!"

"Cuz I hear Mira and Levy and Cana ask you things like that all the time, and I've realized that I –as your best friend- don't know the answer."

Lucy looked ready to die on the spot, especially at how nonchalant Natsu was being- didn't he have the sense to at least be a little bit flustered?! It definitely didn't help Happy was tittering to himself at this point…

"Besides, you said we should use this time to learn the little things about each other-" His smirk broadened on the spot. "-unless this isn't a little thing…?"

"I feel like this is a premeditated question."

"Oi, I ain't drugged up!"

Lucy resisted the urge the pull at her nicely styled hair.

"Idiot! I said premeditated, not pre-medicated! Jeez…"

Natsu shrugged, his scarf hanging loosely around his neck. "Easy mistake. My question still isn't answered though."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks until she was red in the face before skewering menacingly at the remainder of her poor chocolate cake. Natsu gulped as he learned seven new ways to stab with an eating utensil.

"…if I'm really honest, it's just that…any guy that tries to date me ends up disappointing…" She stopped assaulting her cake and gained a sad look. "But what if it's not them…and it's just me that's doing something wrong?"

"I highly doubt it's you, Lucy." She jumped at the brutal honesty from Natsu, balking when she looked over her shoulder to find him staring seriously at her. He was leaning way too close as well, so she poked her finger on his forehead and tried to move him away. He didn't budge. "I see it all the time…people get smitten with you just watching you walking by…! And I know if they took the time to get to know how amazing you are, they wouldn't exactly be running for the hills…"

Lucy grew increasingly warmer as she again looked at Natsu- his face was no longer intense, instead wearing one of his softer smirks that always gave her heart a workout. When he noticed her looking back, he widened his grin until it was contagious.

"Do you mean all that…?"

He cocked his head. "Luce, I'll admit to being an impulsive slob with little self-control and will eat anything so long as it doesn't kill me. I am not a liar."

"Mm hm, I suppose I see your point…thanks Natsu." Her cheeks pinked as she stared at her now empty desert plate. "Maybe one day I'll find a guy that won't be too dense to see those things about me."

It had been an innocent statement and Lucy hadn't meant anything by it, but she still felt her skin crawl at the way Natsu's aura had darkened next to her. Even Happy's fur was standing on end at the sight, and he had nonchalantly crawled back into Lucy's lap when Natsu's temperature rose.

"I'm not dense," he murmured through gritted teeth, and Lucy looked genuinely confused.

"H-huh? I didn't call you dense- well, not today anyway."

"No…but people act like I'm always oblivious and I'm not…" His unwavering expression was foreign as he tried to tear his gaze away from Lucy, but it was like he was locked into her and couldn't stop himself. "But it's not just me! YOU- you…you?"

"Natsu?" Lucy asked quietly, just as the rest of the group was leaning in to see why Natsu was about to blow a fuse. Natsu opened his mouth to finish his thought, but in the same moment suddenly felt lightheaded, clamped both hands over his mouth, and sprinted towards the restroom, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

"Toldja Salamander couldn't handle a drop of alcohol," snickered Gajeel. "You'd think being a Fire Dragon Slayer, he'd burn through it faster-"

"-but alcohol is flammable," Levy intervened, drawing out her thoughts with her pen. "Even with such a trace amount, the fire in Natsu's belly surely would-"

"Oi, I was getting to that!" Gajeel exclaimed, waving around his clenched fists. However, the impending argument that sprouted between the two of them made them forget what they were talking about, leaving Lily to smack his forehead. Juvia, meanwhile, couldn't help but stare in the direction Natsu bolted off in.

"Juvia is concerned for Natsu-san…he was getting really worked up. Maybe someone should check on him…"

"Not like it's the first time he's gotten a little spurned off a drink," Gray shrugged, receiving an unimpressed look from Juvia. "Oi, if I know the guy as well as I unfortunately do, he'll be fine. I'm sure of it, Juvia."

"W-well…" Juvia backed down, shyly looking at her lap. "If Gray-sama says so…"

"I don't understand why he drank it in the first place," remarked Lucy as she shook her head. She immediately cringed when Happy started tittering.

"Maaaaybe he was just trying to impress a certain someone…!"

"Eh? And why would he want to do that?"

Happy went from snickering to appearing annoyed in record time, giving her a long look as he hopped on the table and put his paws on his hips.

"I'm disappointed in you, Lucy! You're worried about others being too dense, but maybe you're the thick one around here!"

Lucy completely blanched at his attitude change. "H-Happy?!"

But Happy went off a ranting tangent, barely paying attention to Lucy as he gave his spiel.

"I've spent half a week listening to Natsu preach about how excited he was for this date, and I had to agonizingly watch as he tried his best not to screw it up for you…but then you go and use something Cana said, turn it into a big deal, and nearly made everything awkward!"

Lucy's jaw dropped as the other four members of the group gawked, Happy beginning to pace.

"He went to aaaaaall the trouble of making this date work, and you don't even see it as such! He wasn't trying to push you into anything, but he didn't know how to tell you that he wanted to try something romantic for once, so he just went along with the idea that you're just here 'as friends' so you wouldn't freak out again…especially because Cana's second prediction said one of you was going to go home happy and the other was gonna be depressed! Guess who's gonna be depressed, Lucy?!"

"S-Second prediction?!" gaped Gray, while Juvia and Levy were confused at what these 'predictions' said. Gajeel, who had been the only other person aware of the second prediction thanks to Lily, nearly snapped the glass in his hand. Still, everyone was balking at Happy for his outburst, and he only held up Natsu's fully empty wine glass.

"I think…there's a reason why cats aren't s'poseta drink…"

"Ya think?!" Lily screeched. "You fool, don't tell me you've made yourself drunk?!"

"Is that what this is…?" Happy stuttered with a bit of a slur, suddenly feeling dizzy before slumping onto his side. "I didn't dwink that much…"

"Happy, you're an Exceed, not to mention your body is smaller than a human's…" Levy murmured. "The alcohol probably got into your system faster and has a heavier impact."

"Wow, like dumbass, like cat I guess…" Gajeel blinked. Juvia scolded him harshly as Levy turned back to Lucy, who was shuddering and was pale as a ghost. Gulping, Levy put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lu-chan, are you okay…?"

"…is all that true, Happy?" Lucy asked quietly, turning to the highly unresponsive Exceed. "I-Is this…a d-date…?!"

"Luce?" Gray asked from across the table, with a worried Juvia at his side. Lucy didn't move, sitting like she was paralyzed until Natsu returned to the scene, his expression unreadable. All too immediately, Lucy had scrambled from the table and frantically asked if he was all right.

"Yeah," he stated simply enough, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm better now that all of that is out of my system."

"TMI, Salamander," hollered Gajeel. Natsu shot him a look before frowning at Lucy.

"But um, I'm sorry for getting all bent out of shape over no-"

"Natsu," Lucy interrupted, wasting no time. The tone she used was enough to give him goosebumps. "Please, tell me the truth…is this an actual, meant-to-be-romantic date?"

Natsu's eyes bugged out of his head as he lost his words, suddenly sweating under Lucy's expectant gaze. He couldn't say nothing…but he couldn't lie either…!

Just as Lucy was about to loudly demand the truth from him, she noticed his expression shift like something was wrong, shrunken pupils darting to the right. His stare intensified as he suddenly put his arms out and lunged at her with no warning, Lucy letting out a shriek. The group still at the table immediately rose to their feet (except Happy) while Lucy tumbled unceremoniously to the ground, nearly expecting Natsu to smack against her. However, he managed to catch himself by slamming his arms on either side of her, his face contorting in pain as he slowly cracked an eye open and grinned weakly at her.

"Y-You okay, Luce?"

"Na-?"

Natsu's face went blank as he suddenly collapsed onto his side, sprawling motionlessly on the floor next to Lucy.

"NATSU-SAN!" "Salamander?!" "F-Flame Brain?!" "Oh, Natsu-!"

"What's wrong with him?!" Lucy yelped hurriedly, growing panicked as she scrambled over his body and quickly searched him. "What's wrong?!"

She hastily tried to get a thorough look at Natsu, grabbing his arm as she attempted to pull him up. His eyes were rolled back into his head as his mouth struggled to form words, which only terrified her even further. However, when her fingers brushed against his bare forearm, she went pale- he was cold.

…Natsu never got cold…

…but it probably had something to do with the darts currently embedded into his back.