Eight chapters left. There are some... NSFW things in this chapter. Look out for our purity marks ##

Conduction.

Heat transfer within an item or from one to another by direct contact.

Nastu pulled up to Lucy's condo, his heart pounding in his chest and excitement filtering through his body. He got him. Natsu knew without a doubt that he had gotten that bastard. Jackal was going to mess up. The desperate sheen that glowed behind mad eyes was evidence enough. He was going to do something stupid.

A retaliation fire probably. Something big. Something explosive. And something flashy.

He would think about it later. Natsu didn't care. They were standing at the finish line, and he couldn't wait. He parked the bike in Lucy's driveway, ignoring the way lights all down the street clicked on. Her neighbors were probably all rather resistant to the idea of him rolling up in such a noisy machine in the middle of the night.

Again.

He didn't care.

He pulled off his helmet, peeled off his gloves, and shrugged off his jacket. The heat from the bike was more than enough to keep him warm. He stuffed them into the saddle bags and locked them. The helmet was ducked under his arm and he breathed out to calm his racing heart. Adrenaline and sheer energy roared through his blood, giving him a giddy sort of rush.

Crossing the manicured lawn, up the perfect little steps, and in front of that glossy front door, Natsu didn't even have to wait to knock before Lucy opened the door. She had been up waiting for him.

She was in a baggy pajama shirt. No cats this time, instead a weird looking white dog with an orange nose was printed on it. Matching shorts with red swirling lollipops scattered across the light blue fabric.

Her hair was up in a messy bun, piled high on the top of her head and his fingers itched to bury themselves in the golden locks.

"Natsu you're back!" Her eyes skittered to his face as he stepped into her apartment, "What happened to your face! Did you get into a fight? How did it go-"

He cut her off, the helmet bouncing down harmlessly at his feet on Lucy's lush carpet. His heart roared with victory. With completion. He had gotten to Jackal and felt on top of the world. A beautiful woman was staring up at him with warmth in her eyes and she had one of the kindest hearts Natsu ever knew.

Damned was Natsu the moment he laid eyes on her. The desire to have her in that moment, rushed as he was with pride and victory was insurmountable. He stepped into her space, his hand cupping the back of her neck as he pulled her into a fierce kiss. Lucy's body stiffened against his in surprise over his sudden assault, but she soon relaxed.

He felt her hands drift up to his chest, tugging on his suspenders as he closed the door behind him with his heel. Lucy held him firmly, matching the heat of his mouth with her own. He chased after her lips with his own, fingers twisting up into the golden, messy waves that were still damp.

Her teeth caught his bottom lip, biting into it tenderly and sending a jolt of excitement rushing down Natsu's spine. Returning the favor, he pressed into her, an arm wrapping around her waist to cradle her against his chest. A calloused hand found the hair tie at the crown of Lucy's head, a low growl the only warning she had before Natsu stole the fastening and her hair spilled out around her shoulders.####

The noise of pleasure Natsu made would forever be one he would deny the moment he saw and felt those pretty locks frame her face. Lucy giggled as his palms cupped both sides of her face, finally getting to feel the way her hair felt spilling through his roughened hands. They were smiling breathlessly into the kiss, sparks shivering down their spines as their mouths found one another.

Natsu coaxed her mouth open, the velvety slip of her tongue against his enough for his brain to shut down all functions. One hand flattened against the curve of her waist, a thumb pressing into her spine while the other tipped her head back. She was driving him mad, the deeper he delved into her, the more lost he became.

Strawberries and cream. They were his favorite.

He squeezed her hip towards him, completely taken by the scent and touch of the woman in front of him. He twisted them around to her front door, bumping her shoulders back into it as he drew her back against the hard surface. Natsu mantled her with his body, pulling away enough to take a hasty breath of air.

He had to slow it down. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of the other night when she made it clear she did not want this to escalate too far until after the case reached completion. He breathed out, his lungs burning for air while every ounce of him wanted to touch and explore all of her.

But Lucy lunged after him. While originally confused by his sudden behavior, she was just as excited too now. Her leg lifted to hook around his calf, not letting him get far enough away from her. Natsu felt his head getting dragged forward, Lucy's domineering hand wrapping around the fabric of his tie and pulling him down to her hungry mouth.

He grunted, a hand lifting to catch himself on the wall behind her as she kissed him with a ferocity that made his blood sear. She invaded all of him, her fingers undoing the first couple of buttons on his shirt and his tie loosening under the pressure of her tugging. Quickly he began to cave under the ministrations, his body sinking down against her curves.

Her fingers gripped into both the fabric of his shirt and the straps across his shoulders until finally one of the suspenders popped off from around his waist band and slithered down his arm. The snap of elastic against his bare forearm brought him a bit of sense.

He breathed out through his nose and gentled the kiss. Lucy made a noise in the back of her throat that made Natsu's stomach clench, but he persisted until the kiss slowed into something more like a caress. His chest rose and fell heavily, Lucy's following his example.####

Natsu grinned against her mouth, rasping out a laugh while his hands slowly combed through her hair. He relished the feel of it tumbling against his palms, even though he was surely tangling it. He rested his forehead against hers, unable to drag the smile from his face.

His stomach gave an odd, happy flip when he saw the dazed look on her face. Red, kiss swollen lips curved into a sweet smile that made his heart ache. Natsu backed away, calloused fingertips brushing down the curve of her jaw, thumbing the point of her chin.

He grinned crookedly at her. The smile wouldn't come off, and Natsu couldn't remember a time he had been happier.

"It went fine, Luce," He managed with a casual air, even if the roughness in his voice was evidence enough he was far from immune to what they had been doing

He reached past his dazed detective and snapped the deadbolt into place, securing the door. Favoring her with a lazy grin, even as confusion flooded Lucy's eyes, he shrugged out of his remaining suspender and loosened his tie in earnest now.

"Wait, what-" Lucy breathed, confused over what happened. It was clear she was trying to figure out what happened between the time they had been making out to the time Natsu pulled himself away.

Natsu favored her a sly grin over his shoulder and laughed quietly under his breath at the dumbfounded look on Lucy's face, "C'mon, Lucy. I'm not going to let us get caught up in the moment again and do something you may regret."

A bit of clarity returned to her eyes and her hands rested on her burning cheeks, a sudden wave of embarrassment crashing over her, "Oh my god we did it again."

Her fingers crept up to her eyes and she mumbled words under her breath, hiding her face in them. He just smothered a chuckle when she seemed to want to hide in a pit. It was cute how she struggled to maintain an air of professionalism, even now. Natsu couldn't wait until this case was over so he could take that mask and smash it into a thousand pieces.

"So," He grinned at her, "You're up late, Miss Detective, don't you have work tomorrow?"

"It's hardly late," Lucy rolled her eyes and checked her watch, "You were only gone a couple of hours. I was just about to bathe Happy."

"Wait, bathe the cat, but why? He smells fine," Natsu protested.

He watched Lucy's hands drop to her hips, her lower lip, still reddened from his assault, jutt out into a pout. Her cheeks puffed out adorably, and Natsu's heart fled somewhere into his spine.

Oh he was so screwed.

"Natsu, my cat is blue," Lucy gave him a severe look at the incomprehension on his face. He hid a smile as he watched her cheeks color in annoyance. She huffed at the blank expression Natsu favored her and stressed the sentence again, "My. Cat. Is. Blue!"

"I like blue," Natsu grinned back.

"Are you going to help me or not," Lucy swatted at his shoulder, a grin breaking free on his face. He swatted back at her and laughed, finding her surliness amusing.

"I guess I can help you, I'm crashing here for the night anyway," His hands dropped down to his shirt buttons, sliding them open with a hand. Natsu pretended not to notice the way Lucy was staring, although a flicker of pride worked in his chest, "Let me get changed into something that can survive an angry, wet cat."

As if summoned, Natsu heard a jingle behind him and felt the tiny head bump against his ankles. Happy let out a soft purr and blinked up at Natsu with large eyes. It was like he was quietly asking Natsu not to take Lucy's side.

"Sorry, buddy," He bent, patting Happy's head, "Blue is a pretty weird color, even if you can totally pull it off."

Happy let out a horrified sounding mrow and darted off to hide under the couch. Natsu laughed at the angry blue tail whipping around under the piece of furniture.

He walked away from Lucy, trying to coax the cat out from under the sofa, and stomped up the steps with heavy feet to the spare room he would be staying in. His dirty dufflebag was sitting on a little bench at the end of the bed and Natsu whistled when he looked around.

Lucy's spare bedroom was better furnished than the entirety of his place. There were random vases and flowers on a pristine white dresser with fancy brass knobs. Extra, random things for purely decorative purposes.

There was even a mirror hanging on the wall for no other reason than there could be.

Decorative vases and mirrors that didn't belong in a bathroom.

What was this surreal world he somehow landed in?

Natsu finished undressing and folding up the suit to put away in his bag. He quickly got changed into a pair of sweatpants and threw on a tank top just as he heard the water of Lucy's bathtub run and a furious yowling the neighbors could probably hear from several blocks away.

Grinning, he left the room he claimed and jogged up the stairs where he could hear Lucy's choked off shouts and swears as Happy fought with her. He entered the bathroom just in time to see an angry ball of blue fluff shredding holes into one of Lucy's fluffy towels.

She was trying to catch him, but the cat was darting around like an eel. Until Natsu managed to bend down and scoop him up. Happy looked surprised, not having expected his sudden appearance while Lucy sagged in relief.

"Oh, thank god you're here. I never thought I was going to get him into the bath," She gave him such a grateful look, Natsu thought she might cry in joy.

"Okay, so what do I do with him?" He asked hesitantly. Now that he had the cat, he wasn't sure what to do with him aside from keeping his sharp claws away from anything vulnerable.

Lucy directed him to place her fussy cat in the water. And they were both favored with an expression of such deep disgust from Happy, Natsu was certain the cat would never forgive them for such an act of betrayal.

The next fifteen minutes of futile washing would forever be remembered in Natsu's mind as a series of unfortunate events which caused Lucy to land in the tub with a still-blue Happy. Having narrowly avoided getting thrown into the tub himself, Natsu was so busy laughing, he didn't notice Happy leaping on Lucy and using her legs as a springboard to freedom.

Natsu only managed to narrowly catch the sopping wet cat, still a dark shade of blue squarely in his chest.

And now Lucy was laughing, because Natsu was forced to try and hold a violently squirming cat that was leaving blue clumps of soggy fur on his white shirt. Laughter that was doubled when Natsu realized Lucy was in the same predicament as him, only worse since she was submerged in water and cat hair.

Eventually the two of them were so thoroughly covered in cat hair, water, and angry clawmarks, they called it quits.

And Happy, the angry little furball that he was, remained a stubborn shade of blue.

Complete failure.

Natsu had never been so happy.

Once they had both cleaned themselves again and thrown their wet clothes in the wash, Happy was bundled in the towel he ruined and they carried him over to the couch to wait for their clothes to finish. Natsu had opted to wear the pair of sweats he had gotten from Lucy last time. He had cleaned them and stuffed them into his bag with the intention of returning them to her, but now he was glad he had brought them along.

Now they were sitting together on the couch, mostly dry, covered in scratches, and a pissy Happy crammed between them.

They put on a movie while they waited for the cat and their clothes to dry. At first Natsu thought there was something strange about this odd little set up. Something as quiet and domestic as putting on a movie and sitting on a couch with a pet was so strange to Natsu. The realization had his spine stiffening with discomfort.

What was he supposed to do?

This place, this life. It wasn't his, and he felt like a stranger trying to play a role he didn't understand. He was a little afraid over how much he liked the simplicity of just sitting there with Lucy in comfortable quiet. A cat curled on his lap and a special woman by his side-...

It was almost a fantasy.

He had to be dreaming.

But then Lucy's solid weight slumped over, her head pillowing against his shoulder and causing him to jolt in surprise. Luckily, she didn't stir, her mouth parting open as slow, even breaths gave sign to how deep a sleep she had fallen into. Natsu knew in that moment exactly what to do.

His arm wrapped around her, eyes returning to the screen where he watched the movie unfolding.

A stupid, dopey grin was spreading over his mouth.

Yeah.

At least for right now, this was where he belonged.

When the buzzer rang to signify the end of the dry cycle, Natsu picked up the still sleeping Lucy to put her to bed. She was dead weight in his arms, but still light enough he could carry her without too much difficulty to her room.

Of course her room was on the third floor, and that was another set of problems. But he made the trip with relatively little problem and slid her under her covers. He grinned in pride and smoothed the bangs from her face when she rolled onto her side. A slender pale hand felt next to her, as if searching for something.

Lucy found a pillow and she sleepily dragged it to her side, burying her face into its fluffy center.

Pleased, Natsu backed out of the room and picked up a drowsy Happy. The cat allowed it, seemingly having forgiven Natsu for his earlier indiscretion involving the bath. That or he was too tired to care anymore and wanted to cuddle into Natsu's warmth.

Deciding to get some shut eye himself, Natsu peeked at Lucy one last time, Happy tucked under his arm. Satisfied she was comfortable, he swung the door shut.

"Night, Luce."

Alright everyone! Again thanks for your reviews! We had an incredible response last chapter! Omgggg I hope you are all satisfied with what you got! Man I'm happy over how many of you guys were so pleased by how Jackal got tossed.

THANKS TO EVERYONE SO MUCH WHO REVIEWED! - SlightlyOff7 omg so aggressive haha - Mo0nyMoon - Waternixie Yeah tbf is reaching its end! COUNTDOWN! - emeraldlily56 - Andysfire ohahaha I see - sammydalammy Cocky Natsu IS the best Natsu - hockettaustin1 I'm glad we converted you! - bluebirdeyes oh yes... I had fun with it - Snavej - Lkityan awesome! Hahaha he will never knowwww - ScarletFlame007 - Yuyui Hime - Sasukeluver02 - Adelaide MacGregor thank you so much! We try hard! - fanficlove2014 - duskbird - BookAlchemist2 - alongthedistance Ohoho! Welcome back and thank you for dropping us a review! We do appreciate it! The topic with Lisanna and Zancrow hohoho... well we gotta keep some mysteries - Etrinity - Princessatj - Cecelia817 omg. I am glad it's your favorite omggg - thewritersheart - oreobark - Danyella413 - KatLiGrey omg that line killed me when I wrote it - odoodle SHIT. I wish I thought of Jack'lemore - Merek - Guest YES. WE ARE IN OUR COUNTDOWN! - Bjuewled - Guest

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