~Natsu can be a handful. And so sometimes a day or two of relaxation is needed. Alternatively, Lucy never knew that Natsu apparently wanted to braid hair and paint nails like one of the girls.~
Play Date
Natsu was really on some sort of job-jag lately…
Lucy shook some snow off of her boots and shivered as she shouldered her way into Fairy Hills. Levy's apartment was on the second floor and she figured no one would take kindly to little puddles throughout their building if she tracked in snow behind her.
Her back was aching and her fingers were nearly numb. That, paired with the twisted ankle and massive bruise on her shoulder that she'd gotten during their past job and she was in definite need of a day of relaxation. Which could only mean one thing: she was headed over to Levy's for a 'girl's day'.
The job of a mage was hard and between trying to keep up with Natsu and Gajeel, both Lucy and Levy found themselves nursing stray wounds or sore muscles back to health more often than not. After all, not everyone had the stamina and recuperative abilities of a Dragon Slayer. They could relate to each other's troubles regarding their partners more than anyone else, and so, they'd made a habit of having little… spa days, if you will, whenever either one of them got back from a particularly grueling job.
Lucy trudged up the stairs to the second floor and made her way to Levy's door, knocking twice. Erza answered the door, looking Lucy up and down before nodding to herself. "You've come to the right place." Apparently she looked just about as bad as she felt.
Those little days of relaxation that Lucy and Levy had had together had been going on for about two years now. Sometimes it'd be once a month, others it would be once every other month, and on rare occasion, sometimes even multiple times a week. It all depended on their schedule.
However, with Natsu the way he was now, always rearing to go and ready for the next job, they had been rather frequent.
Levy had a machine producing steam at full-blast in one corner which made the air seem rather hazy, but also comfortable. Pillows and blankets were strewn out across the floor so thickly that it was hard not to walk on them. But then again, that was the point. It was all about comfort.
Now, these 'days of relaxation' were never anything professional. No one was treating wounds –that was up to Wendy and Mira back at the guild—and no one was healing broken bones. It was just a time to kick back and relax in comfort, with good company, good snacks, and some other comfortable amenities such as a massage train or even the stray manicure. It was painfully girly but sometimes Lucy needed painfully girly.
Over the months the word of their little days had spread and there had been a few more people invited. Erza, firstly, because she looked like she could practically burst with excitement whenever they mentioned what all went on during their days together. Erza was a battle-worn warrior with skin of steel yet on the inside she was just a girly-girl who wanted to feel pretty. Needless to say it was rather entertaining watching Erza paint her nails for the first time and insist that everyone bring a cucumber to put over their eyes. That only lasted one time, though, as none of them could keep a straight face long enough to actually give the cucumber slices a chance.
Then the offer extended. Wendy timidly asked one time if she could join and when the answer was 'yes', their family grew. Carla was also a surprise guest; after all, none of them could escape the toll put upon them by the relentless Dragon Slayers, not even Exceeds.
It pretty much stayed the same from then on out. More often than not it was just Lucy, Levy, and Erza, though Wendy and Carla did stop in after any particularly grueling job. Lisanna came every once in a while, as did Juvia and Mira. Cana even came by once but was banished after she knocked the steam machine over in her drunken stupor and ended up splashing an entire tank-full of water all over Levy's floor.
Those were the usual participants, but lately they'd had another… unlikely guest: Gray. At first he'd been kidding when he'd said he wanted to come over, but when they replied with a half-sarcastic 'sure, we'd be happy to have you' one day he actually… showed up.
Lucy wasn't sure who was more surprised when they'd opened the door to see Gray, looking uncomfortable while standing on Levy's doorstep, but it'd been a close one. It'd taken her a good two minutes to pry her jaw back up off of the floor.
That week they'd gotten back from another typical job, except Gray'd gotten in an overly-heated tussle with Natsu on the way back, and was covered from head to foot in bruises –not to mention the wounds to his ego— and so… unceremoniously… he'd shown up.
And bizarrely enough… he fit right in.
Gray was a rather tough guy with a reputation to uphold and enough pride for ten men, but he eased into a 'girl's day' with only women to keep him company with the ease that Levy quoted ancient text. It'd been a very awkward first couple of minutes, but then once everyone started to relax and open their minds to the idea… it worked.
It was kind of amusing having him around, mainly because he looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he listened to whatever gossip they spewed at each other with interest. He had never known how much stuff was going on within Fairy Tail that he hadn't known about and as it turned out, the social lives of their fellow guildmates were veritable rollercoasters of exciting ups and downs. It was also sort of fun to have him around because they got to see an oddly feminine side that he had. He told them that he had such respect for them and how they put up with the shenanigans around the guild solely produced by the male members. He said he didn't know how men would ever function without women. He was always rather curt and quiet and yet when he opened up, at least in that atmosphere, he was an overflowing well of compliments.
Although, part of Lucy wasn't really surprised at all, she guessed. He was a man of few words and a tsundere at heart but he really was caring. He was also a man that paid close attention to how he looked –though he never noticed it when he lost his clothes—so it was really unsurprising that he was actually open to the idea of getting a mani-pedi while sipping champagne and talking about what Elfman and Evergreen had been doing the past night.
Yes, he sort of fit in as one of the girls… which was incredibly odd to anyone who heard, but somehow not, as he was now a full-fledged member of the 'girl's day club'.
Lucy shouldered off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack near the door, kicking off her boots as Erza closed the door behind her. She'd worn her pajamas, as most of the girls did, and such thin clothing did not bode well for the freezing temps outside, even with a coat.
Levy was peering into the oven, micromanaging the cookies she was baking, Erza was now helping to lay out even more pillows, and Gray was meticulously making ice cubes that would chill whatever drinks they decided to have. He sat criss-cross on a very frilly pink pillow as he did so, engrossed in his job, and just the sight of it nearly made Lucy want to giggle. Mainly because the sight was normal now… which was just absurd in so many ways.
Wendy had apparently opted out, instead on a trip to Lamia Scale where she would be extending their 'girl's day' to Chelia. Lisanna was on a job with Elfman, Cana was still banned, Mira was busy manning the bar, and Juvia was probably off looking for Gray. After all, it was a known fact that in no way, shape, or form, did Gray want Juvia finding out that he participated in these days. Everyone had somehow managed to keep their mouths shut about it around her, too… so far, anyway.
Soon enough Levy's timer rang, Erza had scrounged up every last pillow, and Gray had wedged a wine bottle into the home-made cooler he'd just provided. And so their day was officially underway.
Lucy snatched a piping hot cookie and thanked Levy, who apologized if anyone found an eggshell in theirs, as she was very new to baking and still hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. It tasted delicious, nonetheless.
"Okay, before anyone gets started with anything," Gray spoke up, carefully setting out four glasses, "can we just take a moment to "appreciate" exactly how many jobs Natsu has wanted to go on, lately?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "I mean, the dude's off his rocker, right? We can't keep this up."
It was true, Natsu was on some sort of jag which consisted of him coming back from a job, just to pick out another overnight and beg them all to go on it with him. Which they obliged to, six times in a row now, and it was taking its toll.
Levy shook her head. "I really do feel for you guys… This is the fourth time this month we've gotten together and it feels like I just flipped the calendar. You guys have to be exhausted."
Gray gave her a 'thank you' sort of look, his exasperation validated.
Erza let out a relieved sigh. "I'm glad to hear that from you, Gray. I didn't want to say anything for fear I was just being weak or imagining things… It's nice to know he really has been a little obsessed lately."
Lucy sorely doubted it was even possible for Erza to be weak, which made her all the more relieved that even the great Titania herself was feeling the repercussions from going on so many jobs. "Is there something we're missing? I mean, did someone challenge him to some… 'job-off' or something that we didn't know about?"
"Not that I've heard of," Erza replied and they all exchanged looks, shaking their heads.
"Why has he been so quick to go on so many, then?" Levy pondered.
"The hell if we'll ever understand what goes through that idiot's head," Gray said with an eyeroll. He began pouring them each a glass of wine to drink. "Sometimes it's best not to try and reason with his reasoning… because it's nonexistent most of the time."
Lucy gave Gray a playful slap that told him he'd insulted Natsu enough for one sentence. It was a little rule that they had: he had to leave his qualms with Natsu at the door for these 'days of relaxation'. It made everyone happier that way. He raised and lowered one of his eyebrows, humoring her and leaving the subject be.
"You could just tell him, 'no', for some of these job requests, right?" Levy reasoned, taking a glass. "I mean, he'd understand… and it's not like any of you need the money. You already have your rent for this month thanks to these jobs, right Lu-chan?"
Lucy nodded. She'd actually been able to pay her rent after the first three missions. She was already saving up for next month. Wow. There was no way she ever thought she'd be this ahead. Natsu's job-jag did have one plus, she guessed.
"We did," Erza nodded. "That is to say, he wanted to leave today for the next request, and we told him we'd go tomorrow."
"Like one day is really going to make up for two weeks of nonstop battling. That last job kicked my ass," Gray admitted.
There were agreeing nods from both Erza and Lucy. Levy looked concerned.
"I'm sure he's just got some wild hair and he'll slow down here sometime," Lucy reassured, though she was hardly convincing herself.
"I sure hope so," Levy said quietly. "I'm worried about you guys."
Erza clapped her hands together. "But let's remember right now we're supposed to be relaxing. We can worry about Natsu and his jobs later… more specifically, tomorrow."
There were sounds of agreement and everyone took a sip of their wine to officially kick off their day together. Or rather afternoon, as they'd gotten a rather late start thanks to all the sleep they'd been needing from their missions. Lucy had to admit coming home to sleep in her own bed was probably the best feeling in the world, and her mattress had felt like heaven the past night. She hadn't set an alarm and she'd nearly choked on her own tongue when she woke up to see midday staring her right in the face. She had needed the sleep, though.
And so their day of relaxation went on without a hitch. They conversed, drank and ate, lounged, and helped to make one another more comfortable. Erza fashioned a new brace for Lucy's ankle that felt much more comfortable and sturdy. Gray gave Erza's sore arm an ice treatment. Levy ended up giving everyone a manicure –Lucy returned the favor—and also somewhere along the way they taught Gray how to French braid hair. Not that he'd probably ever need that life skill but when he'd noted that it always looked cool but he thought it was probably witchcraft to make hair look like that… the lesson had gotten underway.
It was right in the middle of the heated debate on what movie they should watch while eating dinner that something finally went awry. Or rather, came out of nowhere and scared them all half to death.
WHAM!
Levy screamed, Erza equipped a sword without hesitation, and Lucy nearly spilled her drink as she whirled around to look at the window and caught the tail-end of what must've been the most massive faceplant of all time. More specifically, Natsu's face was smushed up against the glass of the window, sliding down out of sight. Lucy saw his fingertips on the windowsill and felt a little relieved that at least he hadn't fallen an entire story.
Gray was quite literally rolling on the floor laughing as muffled yells came from outside. Natsu was undoubtedly cursing to himself and probably nursing a bloody nose. Lucy rolled her eyes. "I told you he does this. You didn't believe me when I said I put a window cling on my window for Natsu but I really did."
Levy gave her a flabbergasted look and appeared to both be holding back laughter and trying to come up with some sort of reply. Both of which failed miserably as she collapsed in a fit of giggles. Erza's sword disappeared into thin air and she shook her head disapprovingly.
Lucy scooted over to the window on her knees, flipping open the lock and pulling it up to reveal a dangling Natsu. Indeed, he was cursing to himself, albeit quieter now as he heaved and pulled and somehow got his elbows over the window's threshold and rested his chest on it, his legs dangling below. He was panting now, and Lucy had been right about the bloody nose. She peered over his shoulder and spotted Happy in the bushes below, out cold. He'd probably been holding Natsu and flying, and had gone crashing into the side of the building as well. He wasn't quite as hardy as Natsu was and so he hadn't really survived the blow. Or rather, his consciousness hadn't survived it.
"I-Is Happy okay?" she asked.
Natsu was still panting. He waved a hand to dismiss her, coming to his senses and a rather furious look sweeping over his face. "Yeah, yeah, he'll be fine- Hey listen you jackass I could've really gotten hurt," he hissed at Gray, who was still loudly guffawing to himself on the ground.
"I-I know, that's why it was so funny," he chortled, wiping a tear from his eye.
Lucy leaned back and took a good look at Natsu's bloody nose. It wasn't too bad… he'd be alright.
Natsu growled, struggling to try and pull himself over the window's threshold. "Why you- I'm gonna kill you-"
"Natsu," Erza said sharply and he jumped, his eyes going wide. He stopped his attempt to crawl in the window, instead opting to dangle half-in and half-out. "Why are you here?"
He blinked at her for a second. "We-We were all gonna go on a job," he said, sounding a little downtrodden. "Or at least I thought we were until I found you guys here." Lucy watched his face intently. Was he… pouting?
"We wrote you a note, did you not get it?" Erza replied.
"Oh… I mean I did but… still I thought maybe we could-?" Erza shot him a deadly glare and he flinched backwards, teetering precariously on the window's threshold. "We're leaving tomorrow, yeah, I got the note."
"Then why are you here?" she said, still sounding short. Gray's laughter was dying down now and instead he opted to prop himself up on a stupidly tall tower of pillows to view Natsu's scolding. Undoubtedly he was enjoying this more than any movie they could've watched.
Natsu looked down at the carpet, fiddling with the edge of Levy's windowsill. "I-I mean I thought maybe… I could join you guys or somethin'."
There was a moment of silence where everyone tried to determine exactly how serious Natsu was being.
"Natsu… this is a girl's day…," Lucy said carefully.
He looked up to her with hurt in his eyes and she could tell he was being absolutely serious. "But he gets to be here!" he whined, pointing at Gray.
Gray looked even more smug than normal now, and took a long sip of his wine before giving Natsu a wink. "Damn right I do."
Natsu snarled and Lucy put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"Gray's...," Levy tried to give an explanation but trailed off in the middle. "He's… different… or something…," she said, making a face at her wording. No, it wasn't technically a 'girl's day' anymore with Gray but he was… or just sort of felt, anyway, like one of the girls. Which was seriously bizarre to say, and it was amazing it wasn't hurting Gray's pride, but it really did fit.
Lucy's eyebrows pinched. "You do know what we do on these days, right?"
"Um… yeah?" Natsu answered. "Don't you like… have pillow fights and eat popcorn and stuff?" He looked up to her, nodding his head. "You could've invited me! I can do that stuff! I can eat popcorn and I'm totally the best at pillow fights!"
Lucy wasn't quite sure where along the way Natsu had gotten the wrong idea about their days together, but she figured she'd better set it straight. "That's not exactly what we do. I mean, yes, we've had popcorn before but no, we don't have pillow fights..." She decided to leave out the time that Erza chucked a pillow at Gray for mentioning Jellal. "We do girly things like our nails and our hair and we chat and drink mimosas and stuff like that."
Natsu made a face, apparently trying to decide whether she was telling the truth or not.
Levy and Erza nodded. Natsu frowned further. "Do you really want to do those things?"
He deflated. "No."
"That's why we didn't invite you." Lucy decided to leave out the fact that he was pretty much the entire reason why they had their recuperation days. It'd probably only hurt his feelings further at this point.
He seemed slightly consoled by that thought. He looked up to Gray with disgust. "And you actually want to do that stuff? I have lost the last bit of respect I had for you."
Gray shrugged, raising his glass. "Not my problem if you can't appreciate the finer things in life."
Natsu huffed, looking irritated. Now, Lucy had known Natsu for a very long time, and had also spent pretty much every waking minute with him since they'd first met, and so over the months and years she'd gotten fairly good at reading his body language to tell what he was thinking. Mainly because he never really let on verbally how he felt, or if he did, it was always far too loud and not always the truth. And so it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he felt… left out.
However, before she could try and console him, he spoke up.
"'s what I was trying to avoid," he mumbled to himself, barely audible.
Lucy's eyebrows pinched. She doubted anyone else had really heard what he'd said. "What do you mean it's what you were trying to avoid?" she asked, confused.
He let out an irritated sigh. "You guys always have these fun little days without me and you always come back the day after kidding around with each other and laughing and crap and it sucks." He scarily resembled a pouting two-year-old. "I thought that if we kept on cranking out these jobs you'd never get a chance to have one of your 'days', but I was wrong."
Lucy exchanged glances with everyone else and slowly the realization dawned upon them. Natsu had been feeling left out and so he'd devised a plan to go on job after job in hopes that they'd never have a free day that they'd get together for. That was why he'd been so job-crazed lately and his plan had backfired, in a way, when the jobs he so wanted to go on made them even more tired and sore than normal, which caused them to have even more days together. It was sort of selfish but also sort of sweet. It explained most everything, anyway.
Lucy patted him on the shoulder. "I mean, you can join us Natsu if you want… I just really don't think you'd enjoy it…"
"It wasn't our intention to single you out," Erza added, looking heartfelt.
Natsu frowned. "Nah, I won't stay. Sounds kinda boring…"
Lucy could hardly stand the dejected look on his face and quickly scrambled for something that would make him feel better. It took a moment but she came up with something. "Hey, listen if you wanted we could set aside days that we got together and did fun stuff with you too."
Natsu's eyes shot to hers. "Like these days you guys get?"
"Yeah, sure, we could just do different things!"
Gray rolled his eyes and made a disgusted sound. "Ew, count me out." Levy looked a little nervous about what these 'fun things' with Natsu might entail and gave Lucy a questioning look.
"No one wanted you there, anyway," Natsu snapped back at Gray. His tone changed completely when he looked back to Lucy. "Ooh like just the two of us?"
Lucy's eyebrows raised. She hadn't exactly meant just the two of them, but it was clear by his reaction that that was his favorite option. Gray wouldn't mind at all and she doubted Levy would either. Erza looked a tad offended but gave her a little nod to say it was fine. "Yeah, sure."
Natsu's face lit up and with a grin he kicked off the side of the house and disappeared back out the window. Lucy watched him land gracefully on the ground and point up at her. "You just wait; we're gonna have so much friggin' fun you won't even want to get together with these losers anymore!"
"Hey," Erza barked at him, clearly offended.
Lucy saw Natsu visibly flinch. "Oh, I mean, no offense Erza, or Levy… Definite offense to Gray though."
"Like I care," Gray mumbled to himself, taking another sip.
"I'll look forward to it," Lucy nodded at him, unsure of what she'd gotten herself into.
Natsu scooped Happy off of the bush and gave her a wave and an award-winning smile. "I'll go plan it right now!" And without another second of hesitation he took off down the street. Lucy watched him disappear out of sight and hoped he was heading to his own cottage and not her apartment. She really didn't need to blow the extra money they'd made recently on repairs if he ruined her place making whatever these 'plans' would include.
Lucy let out a sigh and carefully shut Levy's window, flicking the lock closed again and plopping down with her back against the wall. "Well I guess we have our answer on why he's been having us go on so many jobs lately…"
"Yeah, hopefully he'll let up now, too…," Gray mused. "Though you might need another day of relaxation after whatever that idiot has planned."
Lucy let out a forced laugh. She hoped he was wrong.
Levy shoved herself up to stand, picking up the empty plate of cookies and toting it back into her kitchen. "Who knew that by the end of the day we'd have solved the mystery of why Natsu is so job-obsessed, found a way to make him feel better, and somehow gotten him a date with Lucy along the way." She shot a suggestive glance at Lucy who nearly choked on her drink.
Erza's face went beet red. "W-Wait they're going on a date?" She mumbled to herself for a moment, apparently wondering what hint she hadn't picked up on before she sent an enthusiastic thumbs up toward Lucy.
She decided not to rain on Erza's parade, instead sending a heated glare back at Levy, who giggled. This wasn't a date in Natsu's mind. For all she knew he'd have them playing tic-tac-toe and throwing beanbags at a trashcan for what he called 'fun'.
She took another sip of wine. However… it was sort of like a scheduled date… and she was already guaranteed multiple ones, as he'd probably insist that they set a weekly get together date or something. She shrugged lightly to herself. No, it wasn't a date… but hey, it was something.
#11 - include
Where, oh where, did this plot bunny go? Why, oh why did it leave?
Aka I've always had a tiny headcanon that Gray sort of likes hanging out with girls sometimes and it somehow ballooned into this. To me he's the kind of guy that's like 'hey, yeah I'll talk gossip and treat myself right but if you make fun of me I'll punch your friggin' lights out'.
I don't even have any more excuses or explanations for this. ;D I just hope maybe it brought some amusement. XD
I'd love to hear what you thought of it!
Happy 2018 everyone! It's already a month into the year... but hopefully I'll be back on a weekly update schedule again.
Anyway, I hope you started off your year right and have a great week this week too! :D
~Foxtail-chan