Louder than Words

Nalu coffee shop au

Life wasn't always so difficult for Natsu Dragneel. He was adopted as a young tyke into a loving home along with one older brother and a younger sister. Did well all through school and should have moved on to college. But while he was an intelligent young man, at 18-years old, he decided he wanted to try something with a little more action and chose the military. Just four years of minimum service, see a little of the world, and when he gets out, use the education credits to go to college. A win, win, or so he'd hoped.

Natsu had just returned to Magnolia a couple of months prior after spending 9 months in a military hospital. Three months shy of his 20th birthday, his unit had been deployed to a hostile situation overseas where unfortunately, he was only one of the few that made it home after a bunker bomb caught them off guard. While he walked away with his life, the explosion and flying debris had cost him his hearing along with a large jagged scar across his right cheek. It took five months of intensive medical treatment to get him healed and physically back into shape, plus four months of a multitude of different therapies to learn how to cope with his new disability.

He could have let this traumatic experience beat him down, but Natsu refused. When depressive feelings hit, he'd remind himself that he was still alive, relatively healthy, and was lucky not to have developed PTSD like so many other soldiers endure after a traumatic experience. Having a supportive family may have been a big key to his success. His mom and sister travelled to the hospital in Clover every weekend. Friends too reached out, even visiting and keeping his spirits high. Having a positive attitude made all the difference.

But it was nice to finally be back home.

"Yeah Wendy, just grabbing coffee," Natsu texts his sister, "be home after."

"Okay, moms already got lunch cookin."

"Perfect."

Natsu pockets his phone and scans over the menu of the coffee shop. He'd just finished his weekly therapy appointment and decided to stop and grab something warm to drink before heading home. The place was quaint, typical of the homely atmosphere Magnolia exuded, and filled with college students since it was only a block from the campus. Soon enough he'll be one of them. The Fall semester was in its final two weeks of classes, there's a short month break, then Spring semester will begin. His enrollment was already taken care of along with the proper disability paperwork, so they'll accommodate for his hearing impairment.

Aside from figuring out his order, Natsu watches the pretty blonde cashier taking care of the customers orders. She looks about his age and had one of the brightest smiles he's ever seen. When no one was blocking his view, he could read some of her lip movements, mostly orders being repeated back, or gestures of have a nice day. Seems he was getting better at this skill, but it wasn't always reliable. Dealing with strangers is another skill he's been having to re-master. The constant questions could be annoying, or worse were the feelings of pity and treatment as if he was feeble. Yes, he was deaf, but he wasn't dumb, and certainly not hopeless.

After the cashier greets him, Natsu gives his order, speaking slowly and sounding out the words based on memory. "Venti cinnamon dolce latte." Since he wasn't born with hearing loss, speaking was something he could still do without a muffled tone, but bigger words could be a struggle when couldn't hear the words he was saying.

They called it a moderately severe hearing loss which meant he could still hear very loud sounds such as an airplanes engine or truck backfiring. Normal conversations were almost impossible for him to make out without the help of a hearing aid, but even with the device, he couldn't always understand, so he relied on reading lips to supplement. It's easy to take your hearing or any of your senses for granted until you lose it one day. Natsu learned quickly how difficult it is to maneuver in the world without one. So, during the treatments, the various therapists taught him how to communicate and function again so he could live as normal a life as possible.

She smiles, "any shots of espresso today?"

From reading her lips he makes out the words 'shots' and what seems like 'express.' He puts two and two together and realizes the cashier is talking about a shot of espresso. Natsu shakes his head no.

"Sure, no problem," she grabs a cup to start writing the order on it, "anything else for you sir?"

Natsu nods yes, "please wave at me when order is ready."

She tilts her head confused. "Wave?" They normally call out the order.

Natsu nods again and taps his right ear, "I can't hear."

The woman's eyes widen, "Oh! Yes, of course I can do that! But, how are you understanding my questions?"

He taps his lips, points at hers, and responds, "reading."

"That's pretty neat!" She smiles, "don't worry, I'll take care of your order, be just a few minutes."

Natsu smiles and nods, moving off to the side to let the woman continue working. Wow, he wished he could hear her voice! She seemed really sweet, and he imagined she had a voice to match. Lucy was the name on her name tag, and it was cute… like her. While he waits for his order, he trolls his Instagram and Tumblr accounts looking for anything interesting.

A light tap on his shoulder a few minutes later, pulls him from the feeds. He looks up to find Lucy standing in front of him with his coffee.

"Here you go," she smiles with a light blush on her cheeks. "I forgot to get your name for the order."

He takes the drink and smiles back. "Natsu," he responds, "and thank you Lucy."

At the mention of her name, her blush deepens, "you have a wonderful day Natsu, I hope to see you again." Lucy walks away back to her station.

'Oh, you can count on that,' he smiles to himself. Fairytail café would become his new coffee fix thanks to its friendly blonde cashier.

Through his best friend Gray Fullbuster, Natsu learned that another one of their old high school friends was also working at the café part-time. He reaches out to the girl, Lisanna Strauss who is happy to give him a wee bit of information on Lucy… just her schedule to help him out. Though the rest was up to him, the girl had teased. If he wanted to get to know Lucy, he was on his own. That was fair. Before the incident, Natsu never had a confidence issue dealing with the ladies. Not that he was a playboy or anything like that, he just simply exuded a natural charm that often won over their attention. Besides, after that first interaction, he had a feeling that getting to know Lucy naturally would be worth it despite his new disability.

For the first couple of weeks, he kept his cool, only going in after his weekly therapy sessions. He was lucky in that they coincided with her work schedule. It was cute to see her face light up when she saw him standing in the line because it genuinely made him feel relieved. Sometimes because of the communication difficulties or just stereotypes against the hearing impaired, any interactions with strangers could become a burden. But Natsu always tries to put himself in the other person's shoes. If it was hard for him to understand them, it was just as difficult for them to understand him.

One of the tips or tricks he'd learned was to go to places that made it easier. Whether the staff was just more understanding or accommodating or were used to his needs. He also tended to keep to the same types of orders out of convenience because saying, "give me my usual," is much easier than trying to explain a new order. Having his phone to type out other messages was another handy tool.

Slowly, Natsu added other visits throughout the week, but always when Lucy was working. If it was a busier time of the day when they were running two cash registers, he would stand in hers. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was doing after long.

Lucy swings onto a seat where Natsu is waiting for his order, sits across from him, and places the cup down on the table. When he makes eye contact, she smiles, "here you go."

"Thank you," he smiles back. But when she doesn't make a move to get up, he looks at her confused. "Finished work?"

She shakes her head no. "Ten-minute break."

"Cool. Been busy?"

"Not really now that college is back in session. It's just sporadic." She props up her head with her hand, tilting her head with a smile. "That's where you just came from right?"

He cocks his head in confusion, "how'd you know?"

"Friends…" she grins, "you're not the only one asking around."

Natsu's face heats up. Trying to think and pose his speech was difficult when one's mind is stammering. He takes a deep inhale to slow his breathing and racing heartbeat. "I… well, I mean, was just your schedule I swear."

Lucy chuckles, "it's fine, really. I enjoy chatting with you when you come in. I go to college too by the way."

"Really? What major?"

"Psychology with a minor in creative writing, and you?"

"Eng… enge…" Natsu pauses and pulls out his phone, tapping out a word on his notepad app. He turns the phone to Lucy.

"Oh, engineering," she remarks, chuckling, "I could never, that's too much math for me."

Natsu laugh's and nods, "it's a lot."

She looks at the clock on the wall, "well, I better get back to work," she slips off the seat. "See you next time Natsu…"

"Um, Lucy?"

"Yeah?" Lucy turns around to see the man typing furiously on his phone with a faint blush alighting his cheeks.

He holds the phone out to her after a few seconds. 'Could we exchange phone numbers?'

Lucy blinks, her eyes softening as she nods. "Sure. Here give me your phone." Natsu hands her his unlocked phone. She types her info into the contacts section, then calls her own phone. After turning off her ringer, she hands his phone back to him. "There. Hey, you should send me your school schedule and I'll send you mine later. Maybe we have classes around the same time."

"You'd wanna hang out at school?"

"School or wherever…" Lucy hesitates, then gives Natsu a small peck on his cheek. "Till next time," she smiles and heads back to her station.

A veil of warmth floats over Natsu, starting from where she'd kissed until his whole body had become enveloped in its illusion. He couldn't believe his dumb luck in meeting someone like her. Smart, sweet, and her confidence radiated just like the smile on her face. And the best part was she didn't seem to care at all about his hearing problem or not even… he pauses and runs his hand over his cheek when he realizes where she had kissed, his scar. His heart stops for a beat or two in response. Wow, just being around her made him forget all about his past.

Exchanging phone numbers was a step in a nice direction, but he didn't want to rush to judgment. The woman could simply think he's a nice new friend she's made. Natsu looks over at the cashier station and watches Lucy helping the customers in line. He stands up slowly, waiting for the right moment, and when their eyes meet, he waves, then heads out the door to go to his next class. One step at a time, he reminds himself.

The weeks pass by and by as the friendship grows between Natsu and Lucy. This semester was gearing up to be a tough one for both of them, but for different reasons. Lucy cut back on her hours at the café to adjust to the amount of schoolwork her teachers were requiring. Natsu didn't mind that part since they saw each other a lot on campus. He on the other hand was still acclimating to college life. Despite his designation of disability, not all of the professors were so helpful. Out of his 5 classes, 1 teacher was slow in getting him lecture notes to accommodate for the fact he couldn't hear the guy as he lectured. It was frustrating, and meant he needed to pay extra attention to the textbook.

Lucy helped Natsu to relax whenever his nerves or anxieties would get the better of him. She assured him that even students who were completely normal struggled with school, especially when the professors were not very helpful. She would make him laugh by telling him her own professor horror stories, or those she'd heard from friends.

"I had this one crone of a professor," she began as they lounged on a bench. "Ms. Porlyusica who taught physiological psychology and wow was she a witch! The whole semester I swear I felt like I was failing because you could never do anything right no matter how hard you tried. So, I was a little surprised when my final grades came out and she'd given me a B, until I learned that's what she does. She rides her students all semester, but if she feels you were working hard the whole time, she adjusts accordingly…" Lucy laughs, "I'd still never take her class again!"

Natsu chuckles as she's telling the story, doing his best to read her lips and follow along. During times like these Lucy could get a little animated and spoke faster, but as long as he could make out enough words to put the story together, he didn't want to interrupt her. "Hungry, wanna get lunch?" He asks after she finishes her story.

As if on cue Lucy's stomach rumbles. She laughs, "guess that's a yes."

He helps her to her feet, then slings her backpack over his shoulder.

"Natsu, I can carry my own bag," Lucy tries to grab it back.

"I know," he laughs at her futile attempt to gain her bag from the taller man, "but I can be a gentleman."

"Come on," she pouts, "gimme my bag."

He bops her nose, "adorable, but still no." He laughs and pokes her abdomen, "let's go before your stomach grumbles again."

"Oof!" Lucy slap his hand away but can't keep the flush on her cheeks from revealing her amusement of the situation.

That sends Natsu laughing again. He throws his arm around her shoulder and they start to leave. But, as they turn to head towards the cafeteria, someone bumps into Natsu's other shoulder hard from behind, causing them both to stagger. Luckily neither trip nor falls. Natsu whips around to see who had bumped into them on a walkway barren of students.

"Dan!" Lucy is the first to acknowledge the perpetrator. "What the hell is your problem!"

'Dan?' Natsu glares at the guy. How did Lucy know him?

"Tch, not my fault you two idiots walked into my path. You should have heard me coming."

"No doubt from your elephant stomps," Lucy jibs back. "The walkway is empty, you just hit Natsu on purpose for spite!"

"Spite? Pfft," Dan rolls his eyes, "why would I care about some cripple who couldn't cut it in the military?"

Oh, that was it! Natsu clenches his fist ready to swing. Even though he'd been honorably discharged, he still kept up on his physical regiment. If he wanted to drop this guy to the ground, it wouldn't be very hard. In his anger he didn't even care how this guy knew that much about him.

But Lucy grabs Natsu's wrist and forces him to look at her. "Come on," she pulls at him, "this jerk isn't worth getting in trouble for."

"Yeah listen to her," Dan taunts back, "wouldn't want a loser getting in trouble."

She does her best to ignore the man, and when Natsu's gaze narrows again at Dan, Lucy makes him focus back on her. "Let's go Natsu. He's just jealous cause I turned him down." She can see Natsu's eyes keep going back and forth constantly between her and Dan as if he's trying to pay attention to anything Dan says. In order for Natsu to keep up when too many things are going on at the same time…. Lucy could only imagine how frustrating it must be.

"Oh, please, what would I want with a bitch like you…"

Natsu pulls away from Lucy the moment the word bitch is read from Dan's lips ready to pummel him into next week, but before he could swing, it was Lucy who'd landed a slap to the man's face and a kick to his groin. It was like a slow-motion scene for Natsu watching the other man immediately drop to the ground, clutching to his privates.

"You're the bitch Dan!" Lucy spat back. "Don't you ever harass me or my friend again!" She grabs Natsu's hand ready to yank him away, but stops, and hovers over the groaning man with a final retort, "and for the record, Natsu served this country and may have paid a price for it, but all you're good at is serving fast food out of a drive through window!"

Lucy stomps away, still clutching roughly to Natsu's hand. She was so furious at the whole situation that her blood was boiling, and her heart was hammering away in her chest. It was the first time she could ever remember getting so angry that she'd hit another person, but Dan's taunts about her and Natsu had sent her over the edge.

Well that was a shock. Natsu didn't know what else to do but follow along since Lucy had an iron grip on his hand. First off, he's known some spitfire women before including this one redhead back in high school, but he never would have pegged Lucy as the type to physically respond the way she had. Just seeing her reaction was enough to calm the storm within his own mind, but he also didn't hear everything she had said since she was facing the other guy as she spoke.

This wasn't the first time someone had taunted him because of his hearing impairment or his early discharge from the military. Natsu couldn't say he was used to it, but he tried to ignore it as much as possible. He was angrier that this Dan guy had called Lucy an idiot and a bitch because she was far from either. Though as she stomped along towards the cafeteria, outsiders may think so based on the scowl on her face or the fact she was practically dragging a guy along with her. Natsu chuckles internally at the idea of this badass… girlfriend? It's been a few months since they'd been hanging out and their friends were already teasing them about the title, but it's never been solidified.

Maybe it could be?

He squeezes her hand once, twice to finally gain a reaction.

When Lucy turns her head, she meets the silly smirk plastered on Natsu's face. "Pfft," she comes to her senses and snorts a laugh.

"Are we on a new mission?" He teases. "I don't remember getting marching orders ma'am."

She snorts again, but this time it morphs into a full laugh that stops her from walking further. "I'm sorry about that, he just got me so angry…"

"I can tell," he chuckles. "But nice work, he'd be a fool to mess with you again."

Lucy sighs, "I hope so. I told that jackass I wasn't interested in dating while in college, plus he's a jerk as you saw."

"Oh…" Natsu's heart sinks, 'not interested in dating?' So much for his plan.

"Well…" she looks up at Natsu through her plumed lashes unable to face him fully, "till recently, that is."

That response perks Natsu right back up. Based on her expressions, the remark was clearly aimed at him, but with a renewed delight of interest, he can't help but mess with her a little.

"Aww, lucky guy! But maybe I shouldn't be holding your hand in case he walks by."

Lucy slaps his chest in a huff, "damn right he's a lucky guy!" She giggles, "not very bright though."

Natsu's eyes relax, the corner's wrinkling and crinkling. He squeezes and lifts her hand, bringing it to his lips, and places a chaste kiss to its back. His voice softens and cadence slows to make sure each word comes out right. "He is a lucky guy, and smart enough to know it."

She reaches up, caressing his cheek as she gazes into his eyes for a spell, smoothing the skin with her thumb, until sweeping her fingers over the corners of his mouth. "Is he now?" Lucy smiles and moves her hand behind his head, gently coaxing it lower as she zeros in, "then read," she leans forward, "my lips…"