Lucy felt something soft on her face, waking her up the following morning, she batted it away, before receiving a scratch to the nose in return. She jumped up, flinging the blue cat to the foot of her bed, "Ouch!" she yelled, before glaring at her attacker.
Happy jumped off the bed, satisfied with what he did, before waiting for her to follow. She glanced over at the sleeping Plue, before sliding her feet off her bed, and onto the cold splintered floor of her cottage. She slid some moccasins onto her feet, before following Happy into the main room of her little cottage. Natsu was asleep on the couch, or so it would appear, had he not told her he couldn't sleep in his human form. She sighed, as she watched Happy nudge a paw to the foot of the sleeping pink haired teen. Natsu didn't budge, but she wasn't worried.
She turned away from her guest and his cat, and went into the kitchen before letting out a huge groan of disappointment on seeing her pot she used for her potions charred and crumpled, not able to be used anymore. She turned around, and glared at the dragon on her couch, before noticing Happy was at her heels again, looking up at her, as if pleading for her to do something. She bent down onto her knees, and rubbed her fingers behind the cat's ear, "He's fine, Happy." she said, but the blue cat obviously didn't believe her.
Lucy couldn't believe she was going to prove to a cat that his owner was okay. She walked back over to her couch, and stared at its inhabitant, "Natsu," she groaned, "You're worrying Happy."
The dragon-boy turned over, onto his wings, before glaring up at her with tired eyes, "Let me sleep five more minutes."
She noticed he was still in the clothes she had lent him, and the cloak was still hanging where she had left it, "Did you even sleep last night?"
He looked up at her, before covering his eyes with the corners of his wings, "It's too bright."
"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, before squatting next to the couch, "Unless your dragon form is small, again, you obviously didn't sleep last night."
Natsu turned away from her, and into the cushion of the couch, "I slept." he lied.
She ran her fingers over the scales of his wings, "If you need to sleep, you can. What kept you up, last night?"
"Happy!" Natsu called, "Lucy's being mean again!"
The blue cat leaped onto the couch, and rested on Natsu's shoulder, his tail hanging across the pink haired man's neck. Lucy looked at the cat, before back at Natsu, "You hungry?"
Happy turned his head, eagerly to the dragon, but Natsu groaned in return, "Can you leave me alone?"
"No, I can't!" Lucy exclaimed, "You're on my couch!"
Natsu rolled backwards, causing Happy to leap onto the head of the couch. Lucy squealed as Natsu's burning body landed in her lap, his wings leaning against the couch, "I'm not on it anymore, leave me alone."
She pushed his body off her lap, and stood up, "Get off the floor!"
Natsu sat up, "What do you want me to do? You're so confusing!"
"Well, you are in my house, and you were in my lap!" Lucy argued.
"And you didn't want me on the couch, so I rolled off it? What's the big deal?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair. Happy jumped onto the bedhead, and pawed at the horns.
"Your cat scratched me this morning!" Lucy exclaimed, before pointing to the small scratch on her nose, "All because you were on this stupid couch!"
Natsu glared at her, before standing, balancing the cat on his head in the process, "Well, Happy and I are going to go look for Igneel, so, bye!" he said, before walking toward the door.
"What are you gonna do with the wings?" Lucy asked.
Natsu looked up at Happy, who swung his tail at the crook of his friend's neck, he turned back to Lucy, "Happy said we'll figure it out."
Lucy sighed, as she watched him open the door, "Stay here for a couple more days," she said, not noticing the sudden halt in his footsteps, "I'll come with you."
Natsu turned around, "I don't think so!" he yelled, "It's because of you I couldn't sleep last night!"
"Because of me?" Lucy asked, gesturing to herself, Natsu nodded in return. She groaned, "It isn't my fault that you couldn't sleep. I don't snore, Natsu." she turned on her heel, "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not."
Natsu groaned, as he plopped himself onto the floor, "How does she not see it's all her fault, Happy?" he asked.
After a few hours of searching for the right traveling outfit in her small collection of clothes, she finally decided to bring all of them, and made her way back to the dragon and his cat. She stared at them as he was still sitting where she left him, his head nodding slowly, as his eyes were closed. Happy rested in his lap, asleep. She knelt onto her knees and peered at his face, did he always have scales crowning his forehead? She turned around and noticed the face covering that she had brought out before. She picked it up, and shoved it in her pocket, before poking Natsu's shoulder.
Natsu raised his head, and appeared as if he had just woken up, but that couldn't be possible, "What?"
"Let's go, you said you wanted to look for Igneel, right?" she asked, shoving a cloak in his face.
He grabbed the cloak, and she noticed his fingernails were a little sharper than before, "Right," he said, before looking up at her, "you got a map?"
"Yes, I'm bringing one. Plue's not coming."
"Darn it!" Natsu exclaimed, leaping to his feet, "That would have been more fun! Two of us, two tiny friends." He flinched, as he felt a blue paw to his bare shin, "Sorry, Happy! I was talking about them."
Lucy raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying that I'm tiny?" she asked.
Natsu placed a hand over his head, before bringing it straight above his own, "Yep!" he smiled, before swinging the cloak over his shoulders.
"You're only a few inches taller than me!" She said, before shoving the scarf up to his nose.
He pulled it down, and she was certain his nails hadn't been that long before, "Hey, what was that for?"
She turned away from him, and walked out of her cottage, "Let's get going, the further away from the demon lord we are, the safer I'll be."
"Okay," Natsu replied, before jogging up to walk in step with her, "Is the white fish gonna be okay?"
"Plue's a dog," Lucy corrected, "and he went back to the celestial realm, I believe."
"Celestial realm…" Natsu murmured to himself, "Sounds fun! We should go there!"
"No, we're going to the next country, it's still under the black demon lord's reign, but, it's not as strict there as it is here."
"So how far we walkin?" Natsu asked.
"Only a few hours…" Lucy answered.
"Wow, how come I didn't see this place before?" Natsu asked, "I've flown days above these trees."
"Yeah…" Lucy sighed, turning her head away from him, and down at the blue cat, who, miraculously was able to keep up with Natsu's quick speed, something she was falling behind on.
A few hours later, Lucy pushed Natsu into a few bushes, before peaking over his horns and out into a clearing. There were a few people walking around the docks, and one or two had the badge of the demon lord on the coats. She held Natsu's head down, as she knelt again to meet his face. His eyes were nearly glowing under the dim light, and they were all the more noticeable as a dragon's. She reached into her bag, before holding Natsu's mouth shut, as he was about to say something.
Natsu's brows furrowed, before he lifted his hands to pull her hand off his mouth, "What-" she covered his mouth again, feeling the sharpness of his teeth. She pulled out the black face covering and tied it around Natsu's eyes.
That solves one problem, she thought to herself, as she reached between his horns and down the back of his head to pull the hood over them. The horns were longer than they were last night, and she wondered why. She pulled his scarf over his nose before fixing her own hood over head. It was a traveler's hood, the cloaks her and Natsu wore had been a part of her collection. She shoved Happy into her back, thankful that it was large enough to fit the cat, even though her clothes were smashed and now covered in blue hairs.
She stood up, and helped a frowning dragon to his feet, though his facial expression was hidden, only the apples of his cheeks were showing, since the hood covered the scales crowning his forehead. She helped him by the shoulder, occasionally glancing behind him, to make sure his wings weren't sticking out. She made her way to the dock, and waited for the next ferry. Natsu was laying all his weight on her, and she collapsed with him, to her knees.
"We're gonna go on a boat…" he groaned, against her shoulder, and she dearly wished she could see his annoyed face at her, though she was grateful she couldn't because she wasn't sure how dragon eyes looked when they were annoyed.
The water splashed at the edge of the dock, and she boarded in the hoard of other passengers onto the ferry. Natsu collapsed again, and she noticed he was getting a little too hot against her shoulder. She made her way to the back of the ferry, and dearly regretted the choice of bringing a dragon aboard a ship, when he had a fever! No one was at the back deck of the ferry, save her and the dragon. And she leaned him against the railing, dearly praying he wouldn't burst into his dragon form, ripping the clothes, and the face mask.
Instead, he stayed where he was, occasionally groaning when the waters got a little too chaotic, but never a shred of clothes or something that would blow their cover. She was greatly relieved, and had Happy peeking out of her bag as she leaned over the railing next to him. "Excuse me, miss," a man said behind her, "but… Is this sick blind man part of your party?"
She turned to look at him, "Yes, he's my uncle."
"We have beds in the quarantine for the sick and injured." he said.
"Ah, yes, thank you," Lucy answered, her palms sweating, "but he's seasick, and it would be best for him to have fresh air, no?"
"Ah, I see," the man replied, "though he can't get much fresh air, if his nose and mouth are covered."
"Ah, your right," Lucy answered, "I'll let him know, thank you."
The man nodded, and turned to make his leave. Lucy sighed, thankful that the man was gone. She knelt beside Natsu, and pulled the cloak away from his ear, before whispering into it. He didn't respond, so she glanced behind her, before pulling the scarf down from his nose, only to hurriedly pull it up again. She wasn't imagining the sharp nails, longer horns, and scales on his forehead, after all.