Includes: Natsu/Lucy

Lucy POV

Freaks and Creeps

Part 2

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I had to do it. He was literally right there, I had no excuses anymore. I had to do it. Just talk to him. What's the worst that could happen? He could get angry, I guess. Offended, irritated, annoyed–god I hated it when I annoyed people. But he could see that I meant well, right? He was super nice after all, maybe I was just overthinking this.

I came to the coffee shop early today. I had to cut out of class. I wanted to see Natsu before his shift started, or at least got too busy for me to talk to him. I wanted to confront him on his smoking, but I was having trouble mustering up enough courage to do so. I still wasn't sure our relationship was on that level, but you know what? I found that I didn't care anymore. He needed to know how dangerous this was, and if he didn't like me afterwords, so what?

It might save his life.

I waited until he came up to the counters to start getting ready for his shift. He had his cafe hat placed backwards over his hair, the few strands that always seemed to stick up randomly poking through the little slit as if it were made for them. He held a pen cap in his mouth as he scribbled something down quickly on a piece of paper, his eyebrows knitted together in thought. I breathed in and out heavily.

I stood up and came over to him, stepping opposite of the counter, and watched as he was completely engrossed in whatever he was writing.

He glanced up to me, down to his paper, then up to me again. He smiled. "Oh, hey Lucy."

"Hi," I said, failing at trying to seem inconspicuous.

He scratched his hair with his pen sheepishly, "Sorry, I have this paper due Friday and I haven't started yet."

Today was Wednesday? And he was working? Holy hell? Okay, focus Lucy, now's not the time. I waved him off, casually, and cleared my throat to muster up any courage I had left. "That's no problem. I actually just wanted to tell you something real quick."

He seemed to perk up at this, curiously, and awaited for me to continue. I struggled with finding the right words though.

"Uh, well, the thing is…" I scratched my nose, hesitating, "You…you are killing yourself, my friend."

My friend?

He creased his eyes at me.

"And I know it's none of my business to be bringing this up, it's your life and I have no say in what you can and can't do, but honestly Natsu," I sighed out, tiredly, "It's so terrible."

He opened his mouth but I already knew he was going to protest.

"And I know it's hard! Habits are a bitch to break, I know, but I promise it's so worth it! I just can't stand to see you every day, being so great, and knowing that you smoke so much that your lungs are practically pitch black."

Natsu stared at me then, wildly, "Smoke?"

I sighed, reaching out to grab his hands on the counter, "Look, I don't know if you're going through something right now or not, but I'm here for you. Smoking kills Natsu, your skin gets ruined, your lungs shrink up, your teeth get black, and there's something about a hole in your throat that I probably should've read in more depth, but it sounds pretty bad nonetheless."

I shuffled through my bag then, "Do you want pictures? I have some and I think you should–"

"Lucy," Natsu snapped me out of my endless rambles. I halted taking out my printed out pictures of shriveled up lungs and such, awkwardly, and saw him staring at me in the most confused way ever. "What are you talking about?"

I paused on my tongue, wondering where I lost him. I searched his eyes for an answer, but I found absolutely nothing. He was clueless.

I leaned forward then, maybe he didn't want me being so public about it. I kept my voice low and he leaned in the rest of the way, "You know…your smoking habit? It's okay, I know."

"I just wanted to be able to tell you this in enough time. I mean, it's not like your starting to look that way, at all. Your teeth are really white and you have nice skin and you actually look pretty fit for a cashier, so I just wanted to say something before you ruined it all…"

He straightened back up, slowly, and let his eyes faze over as he tried to think this all over. He blinked and switched his gaze back to me, concerned. "Lucy, I don't smoke."

My stomach jumped. I paused."What?"

He gave me a little, apologetic look and shook his head. "I don't smoke."

I gawked at him, nearly speechless until: "But you have to!" I sputtered, "Natsu, there's no way you can't. You literally air off smoke, I can smell it from here."

He glanced down to his chest like he thought his shirt was on fire. He seemed to think for a moment, quietly, before a smile slowly slid onto his lips. He lifted his head up with a laugh, albeit nervous one, and scratched the back of his neck, "Ohh."

"What?" I questioned, warily.

"That's, well," he chuckled again, shortly. "I didn't really plan on telling you so soon, but," he leaned in to me, his voice lowered. "I'm not exactly 100% human…"

He drifted off to wait for my reaction, and I honestly gave it to him. I was speechless. What? The hell?

He cleared his throat then, "See, I'm actually part dragon, of the dragon race you know? A hybrid, actually."

He stepped back and began to roll up the right sleeve of his shirt, and lo and behold was something I would not have guessed to see in a hundred years.

Dragon scales.

Ruby red, layered one over another and practically covered his entire arm. I was more speechless now than before.

"So…" I managed out, pointing a finger to his chest, "But…"

"Yeah, the smoke thing?" he asked, grinning at me wryly, "Well, I can do some other stuff also. With the dragon race and all."

I nodded painfully. Wow. Wow oh wow. This was almost unbelievable, but god did it make so much sense. "You can breathe fire?"

He nodded happily. "I don't really know much about it, but apparently there's something of an 'eternal flame' in my lungs. I can feel it when I breathe, so I guess all that smoke just comes out of my skin and pores. Or, at least, that's what my friend said when she did an experiment on me."

I listened quietly, probably still trying to find my choice of words, and saw him shake out his shirt like he was hot.

"I didn't think that whole thing was so noticeable though…" he muttered, ducking his face in the shirt hole to take a whiff of himself.

He shrugged and popped back up, straightening his cap on his head. He offered me a patient grin, his eyes practically perked up to see what I would say next.

"Oh my god," I finally spit out, burying my face in my hands. "I am so stupid."

I couldn't believe it. I spent how long rambling endlessly to him about smoking cigarettes? A full five minutes? Without a single breath?

And really? I couldn't notice all the signs of him being one of us at first glance? Someone like me?The weird colored hair, the frightening sharpness of his teeth, the fact that he never wore short sleeves in 101 degree weather like he wasn't even hot, like he never sweated, oh my god. Howstupid could I be?

I just thought he dyed it. His arm hairs were even pink, I just thought he dyed it.

"Stupid?" he said, delightfully, as if it were atrocious. "You're not stupid."

"No, yes I am," I seethed to myself, "I went on and on about smoking and you–you–I couldn't see that you–"

I moaned out into my hands, stomping a foot. This was so humiliating.

"Well, it was nice." he commented, casually. I raised my eyes to his, and he scratched his nose again. "I mean, it was pretty funny how worked up you got, but it was nice that you wanted to help me. I don't think anyone else would look twice if I started smoking."

He got all shy then, giving a quick clear of his throat and composing himself. He looked like he wasn't sure he wanted to say that, but it came out anyways. It was sweet.

I smiled lowly, some of that embarrassment lifting a bit, and laughed. "Well, I guess this conversation went better than I expected. I suppose it's better that you be a fire breathing dragon than a smoker."

He nodded then, with a cocky grin. "Oh, it's a hell of a lot better."

I laughed. Tension eased from between us and I didn't exactly know at the moment, but I felt really happy about figuring out he was someone like me, like a whole lot of us. He just seemed more easy to comprehend now. Us weirdo's always did have this special connection, and there was always a topic to discuss about upon first meeting someone. It felt nice.

"I can show you too, it's really cool." he insisted, his grin bright enough to blind me. "It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I've been practicing."

He was like a little kid who learned to ride their first bike. It was ultimately and incredibly adorable. Most people around liked to keep their powers more secretive, I suppose because of judging eyes, and I'll even admit to being like that sometimes, but seeing people like him who didn't give a care in the world just made it look so stupid to act like that.

"Okay well, don't burn the shop down. Your boss looks mad enough right now," I nodded my head towards the manager, who had been giving him side-glares for the past few minutes now.

He glanced to him and puffed up his cheeks, waving a hand to him with a crooked grin. That only seemed to make manners worse, and I giggled as that smile dropped from his lips.

"I should go, you probably have a lot of work to do."

Natsu watched as I went to go pack up all my stuff, calling out to me loudly through the shop. "Uh Miss? Don't you want a coffee?"

I glanced between him and his manager, eyeing me carefully, and hesitated. "Uh. Yeah! Totally, you know my usual right?"

Natsu nodded obviously, and skipped right past his boss to go make it. What a smartass. That was a good one.

I sighed and set all my stuff down again. I guess I could hang around here for a while longer? It wasn't like I had anywhere to go.

I didn't really want to leave anyways.

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New characters next time :)

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