"That was awful," Gray finally broke his silence after getting half way back to the suite of rooms. Juvia surreptitiously sneaked glances at his stoic profile as they speed-walked. His words made the lump in her stomach contort and drop further.
"Juvia is sorry Gray had to keep saying he was Juvia's boyfriend." She stopped keeping pace and tried to slip her hand free. "Juvia knew Tim was a terrible man, but she did not think he would insult his love interest."
"What?" Gray tightened his grip, "the way Tim said you weren't loved as a child is what's awful."
"Gray does not have to lie to his pretend girlfriend." Juvia raised her head, "I was abandoned by my parents and uncle - that is the truth." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The stormy blue of her eyes gentled, "Juvia has many friends now and she is happy with how much sunshine Gray has let into her life."
The warmth of Juvia's hand spread more tendrils deeper into Gray's heart. "I didn't find it a hardship to call you my girlfriend." He stepped closer to Juvia and used his free hand to press the icy replica of his necklace over her heart. "Don't think you're not worth being loved."
"Juvia will try." She looked him full in the eyes and then flicked her gaze to their clasped hands. "Juvia wants Gray to know he's worth being loved too."
"I'm working on that," Gray chuckled. "Let's get back to the room and see what everyone is doing."
He laughed even louder as Juvia answered under her breath, "each other."
Lucy kissed Natsu's jaw. Little nibbling bites of teeth and a daring swipe of her tongue made him groan. His breath whooshed out and he panted. Lucy giggled, "be careful what you ask for!"
"I have been!" Natsu grinned up at his partner who was looming over his supine body. Lucy let her eyes rove over his muscled chest. Natsu was watching the playful light in her eyes grow hazy and clouded with lust. She trailed her fingers down his sternum to his belly button. Pausing, she locked gazes with Natsu. His pupils had dilated until she could only see black. His stomach quivered and Lucy glided her hand to the waist band of his pants. Canned laughter coming from the living room startled both fire and celestial mage.
Lucy flushed with mortification and Natsu slapped himself in the forehead. Natsu cursed, "shit! Sorry Lucy, I tried to pay attention to the noises in the other rooms, but," he paused and flushed a deeper shade of pink, "all I could focus on was you."
"You don't have to be sorry Natsu." Deciding to stand up; Lucy scrambled off her partner's body, turning her back to him. Bowing her head she rubbed her forehead and then fanned herself. "I forgot we weren't alone. We both got carried away."
Natsu sat up feeling bereft. A few short minutes ago, he'd been dominated by Lucy and loved it. She'd kissed him, touched him and been about to touch him even more. "Is that what you think?"
"What?" Lucy turned to face Natsu who was looking solemn. "Think about what?"
"About getting carried away - I told you up front what I want and until you agree, I don't think we should fool around."
Not only was Lucy flabbergasted, but the shoulder angel and devil were quite perturbed. The two mini versions of Lucy glared with their arms crossed and tapped angry toes as the full size celestial mage gaped at Natsu. Biting her lip, Lucy looked down at her hands which were gripping the hem of her skirt. After a few deep breaths, she raised her head and nodded. "You're right Natsu. Until I think about this, we shouldn't kiss or fool around."
Natsu pouted; that was the only possible description Lucy could make of that sad little face, disappointed that the make-out session had been derailed by noise. He shook his head, "..."
Lucy gave Natsu a hug. "Thanks for understanding." She squeezed, rubbing her cheek against his, "how long do I have to decide?"
"Erm, I'm hoping for a speedy resolution." Natsu was a bit confused. He'd thought Lucy would cave immediately and proceed with a rapid mating. Okay, he'd hoped most fervently that she would wish to consummate their bond as soon as possible.
"I do have trouble thinking when I touch you," Lucy stroked Natsu's arm and cooed in his ear, "and you might have the same problem, huh?" She captured one of his hands and settled it over her heart. "We owe it to ourselves to make a rational decision based on mutual wants and desires."
Natsu blankly nodded. He wasn't sure how his plan had been ruined; but it had, blown up into a million spectacular pieces. Falling back on his innate honesty, Natsu tried to make headway again. "I don't want to ruin our partnership."
Only feeling a little bad, Lucy gave a regretful sigh and stepped out of the embrace. "We should try to enjoy the next events scheduled before talking this over any more."
When Natsu and Lucy slunk out of their room, Gajeel flicked his eyes to the couple and smirked. Levy gave him a warning swat on the arm and thrust the remote into his hand. "Find something good to watch." She stood up from the couch, "Lucy, want to see the outfits I borrowed?"
"Oh, sure!" Relieved at such a light topic, Lucy nodded and began to follow the petite girl. The door of the suite opened, stopping them in mid-motion. Gray and Juvia entered. The fact they were still holding hands was of supreme interest to each guild member.
Natsu snorted, hurled himself on the other end of the sofa and pretended interest in the lacrimavision program. Gajeel glowered and then an evil grin took over his face. "Why doncha join the girls lookin' at clothes Juvia? Us guys can relax and watch some mindless entertainment."
"Yeah, Juvia! We were just going to look at the stuff I borrowed." Levy smiled and waved her hands excitedly. "You guys can help me decide what to wear tonight!" The three females gave each other conspiratorial looks.
All three males were now sprawled on the couch. The bedroom door closed with a 'snick'. Gajeel turned down the volume of the program and turned to face Gray. "You looked awful cozy with the Rain Woman. How'd your interview go?"
"Like you care," Gray scoffed, "Tim's an asshole, but Juvia was great."
"Just remember what I told you before."
"You giving advice?" Natsu rolled his eyes, "Popsicle will never score with you helping him."
The other two boys gave slow head turns and stared incredulously at Natsu. Gajeel curled his lip, "since when do you talk about scorin'? Juvia deserves better than him."
Natsu scratched his head, "I thought we agreed to not interfere with each other." His good humour slipped and he shoved Gray over to the side to better glare at Gajeel. "What was the big idea earlier - turning the set on full blast? I was," Natsu bit out his next word with precision, "busy."
"Ugh, nobody wants to hear this ya damn fire freak." Gray elbowed Natsu and shuddered. "How much time do we have before dinner?"
"Do I look like the itinerary?" Gajeel grumbled, "I don't even think I've seen it."
"It's not like we gotta stick exactly to the schedule." Natsu leaned back to slouch, putting his feet up on the table. "Who's gonna care if I decide to go back to the room early when this idiot," he pointed at Gajeel, "assaults my ears with his shooby-dooby doo."
Gray snorted, "Uh, can we all leave?"
The metal dragon slayer flipped them both off, raised the volume and began to pay strict attention to the program.
The girls exited the bedroom, chattering about clothes. The boys were studiously ignoring one another. The lacrimavision set was blaring a commercial.
Levy snatched the remote out of Gajeel's hands, hit the mute button and nodded to Lucy who addressed all three males. "We're going back to conference room B to borrow more clothes." Lucy walked over to Natsu. "I'm sure to enjoy tonight's festivities more with something new to wear." She winked at him, then led the other two girls out of the suite.
Confused, Natsu gave a delayed nod. He watched Lucy's hips sway, unconsciously licking his lips.
After the door closed, Gray gave Gajeel a long suffering look. "Seems like Natsu has finally entered puberty."
"Gi hehe, he's damn obvious with it." Gajeel smirked, "Bunny girl is leading him around by his dick."
"Lucy would never do that!"
"Shut up the both of you! Such unpleasant mental images." Gray mimed puking, "we gotta keep the non-interference pact." He stood up and began walking towards his and Juvia's room. "I'm getting the events list."
"I'm getting the events list," Natsu mimicked and then shouted, "speaking of unpleasant images - make sure you keep your pants on, huh?"
Both slayers easily heard the 'fuck you' Gray muttered. Gajeel smirked at Natsu and Natsu frowned back.
"What?" Natsu's tone came out petulant, and not near as confident as he had wanted. "You look creepy."
"Gi hehe, you're finally growing up." The iron dragon slayer laced his fingers together and rested them on his stomach. "Do we need to have a talk about the birds and the bees?"
"If you're gonna do that, wait until I'm not here." Gray sat down on the chair facing them. He flourished the itinerary. "I don't wanna die from laughing at the ignoramus too much."
"Fuck the both of you." Natsu flipped them off and added, "I know what I need to know."
"Really?" Gajeel snorted, "you were very young for that talk when Igneel musta given it to yah. I was already more mature. I bet I know way more than you."
"Guys, for fuck's sake," Gray rolled his eyes and shook the piece of paper in a bid for attention. "Weren't we gonna talk about what's next on the event schedule?" Ignoring the other two men, Gray scanned the printed words and began to read the list. "Dinner at the all-you-can-eat buffet, drinks after that and then karaoke." He stabbed a finger on the paper and glowered. "It says here that the photographer is going to be roaming around and taking candid pictures."
Natsu grabbed the list out of Gray's hand and skimmed it for himself. "Tomorrow is gonna be even better," he gloated, "building sand castles after breakfast, a water balloon fight, and beach volleyball."
Gajeel pretended disinterest, "all children's activities." He crossed his arms, and let out a 'heh' of derision. "Dumb crap I expect Salamander to be all excited for." Gajeel turned to look at Gray. "Didn't expect you to be so interested in that sort of thing."
"Wha-?" The ice mage ripped the page back from Natsu. "It gets better, there's couple's massage after lunch." He and Gajeel exchanged smirks. "Nothing gets a girl more in the mood than spa time."
The two of them broke into chuckles that had Natsu rubbing his forehead. "The mood for what?"
Gajeel and Gray only looked at each other, trying to stifle their laughter. Gajeel clicked the remote and un-muted the program. "I can't deal with any more of your gross ignorance right now."
"Well, you don't have to." Natsu got up and went to the door. "I gotta go find Happy." Natsu refrained himself from slamming the door and left.
Gray shrugged at Gajeel. "It does seem like he's finally hit puberty."
The slayer nodded, "yup. He's in for one hell of a ride." Gajeel snickered and added, "so is Lucy!"
An update on the contest: another chance to participate in showing your support for our fabulous Fairy Tail Fandom Writers :D Round two voting begins!
An annual contest started by PuckSabrinaDaphne with idea sparked by elligoat
This is a competition that was started for amazing writers to be recognized and acknowledged within the Fairy Tail fanbase! You can find it here at: s/11429655/1/The-Favorite-Fairy-Tail-FanFiction
So, as incredible as I find it to have my story 'Natsu's Stars in Lucy's Sky' nominated with the real talent listed at this page - I'm signal boosting to let others know about this contest and to vote for your favourites. I'd like to thank whomever nominated me and it's truly an honour to be listed with so many great authors of the fandom. Colour me surprised!
I've made it to the top ten! Woo Hoo! A signal boost, go and vote for your favourite(s)! I'm so very pleased with the support I've received, thanks!
