Natsu was tired of being interrupted. He had Lucy and wanted nothing more than to…well that he wasn't sure of but still he had been interrupted. He'd growled lowly the minute the doorbell echoed around the townhouse and Lucy's attention was no longer on him. He wasn't a fan of that. The annoyed, pink haired man heard Lucy call after him as he quickly backtracked towards the door and ripped it open. He came face to face with the tiny script witch and couldn't help the amused twitch of his lips as she stepped back a bit in fear.
"E.N.D…?"
"Oh, it's the tiny witch." Natsu drawled, smoke still curling from the corners of his mouth. He was vaguely aware of Lucy coming to a stop behind him, panting from her efforts to catch up with him.
"W-w-what..?" The bewildered blue haired woman started stuttering. She continued to move back. Where all women this incoherent? It was rather exhausting.
"What brings you here Levy?" Natsu said with a boyish smile, the expression obviously caught Levy off guard as she laughed nervously. A tug on the back of his vest reminded him that Lucy was still behind him.
"Uhm, I think I went the wrong…" The blunette started but stopped when she looked around him to see the reason behind her visit. She sucked in a breath and took another step back. Now he couldn't have her sprinting off and attempting to alert her guild to his appearance, so his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist rather hard.
"You seem a little confused. I insist you come in," Natsu growled lowly so only Levy would hear him and then tugged her through the threshold and shoving her rather roughly at Lucy before shutting the door. His hand was burning and turning to inspect Levy more he noticed the iron bracelet she was wearing and chortled loudly.
"Uhm.." Levy hummed nervously at his outburst before turning her attention back to Lucy. Natsu watched the interaction intently, focusing mainly on Lucy. He noticed his lovely blonde didn't have time to put on other clothes, instead opting to clench the two halves of her shredded shirt together to protect her modesty; it was all a moot point since she was showing a generous amount of under boob, stomach and the bruises they'd both caused. Seeing her covered in bruises he involuntary hand a hand in was making him hot and bothered.
"Levy? Are you okay?" Lucy asked worriedly, moving closer to the tiny witch and gently rubbing soot from her friend's cheek. That seemed to snap the terrified woman out of her apprehension.
"Me?" Levy asked with a self-deprecating laugh, motioning at Lucy's state of dress, "I'm not the one covered in bruises and.." She squinted and then turned an alarming shade of white, even to Natsu, "is that blood?" Lucy's eyes flicked up and met his before returning to her pixie of a friend and Natsu took that as his cue. He couldn't seem to stop himself from wanting to touch her, to crowd her space. He moved around Levy, making sure to avoid the arm the iron bracelet was attached too and wrapped himself around Lucy.
"Yes?" Lucy questioned, swatting at Natsu and sighing when he just shifted behind her and planted his nose into her tousled hair. "Honestly, I'm not actually sure if I'm losing my mind or if this is happening." That caused the dragon attached to her to laugh loudly.
"It's definitely happening Luce,"
"Did he just call you Luce?" Levy asked incredulously while watching his hands ghost over Lucy's hips toward her stomach. The blunette quickly jerking her eyes back up to Lucy's face, attempting to hide a blush. "What the fuck even is happening?"
"So, she does curse," Natsu mused, "Guess you and the metal head suit each other more than I thought."
"EXCUSE ME?" Levy shrieked in embarrassment. The octave she pitched causing Natsu's ears to ring.
"…was I not supposed to notice the iron bracelet?"
Lucy was sore. Her body hurt, she was feeling feverish, and her brain wasn't working as well as it usually did. She wasn't even aware of the fact that she should be embarrassed about her state of dress now that Levy was in the house. All she could focus on was Natsu glued to her back and his hands roaming her body like it was his god given right. If she weren't so worried about the state Levy was in, she would have snapped.
"Can we focus please?" Lucy sighed tiredly. She unconsciously leaned back against Natsu, she was starting to get dizzy. Maybe he took more blood than she thought. "Taking that book from your store was a bad idea…" the blonde continued to mumble.
"Book?" Levy asked, fully bringing her attention back to the growingly pale blonde. Lucy sighed heavily before taking the opportunity to explain the book, the accidental summoning that led to where they were now. She barely registered the look of fear that flashed through her friends face when Levy looked at Natsu.
"That's why you asked about…" the smaller woman started before blanching herself and taking a step closer to Lucy and the monster holding her, "Lulu I'm sorry…I didn't realize…" Levy stopped herself before rounding a glare at Natsu. "This is what you wanted? Why?"
"Why not?" was snarled back and Lucy squeaked when she was hauled even tighter against a very warm body. Natsu, right.
"Answer my question NOW!" Levy punctuated with a foot stomp. Even Lucy couldn't hold in her amusement at the display.
"I didn't think you were stupid enough to talk to me like that Lev," Natsu said calmly. Lucy didn't like the fear that graced its way across Levy's face. she struggled against the hold on her and when he didn't budge, she threw an elbow back into his ribs. It didn't do much except cause her to suck in a pained breath. why was he so sturdy? Natsu chuckled at that, moving his nose from Lucy's hair to her neck, setting his teeth against her skin gently. "I told you to stop fighting Luce."
"Then stop attempting to scare Levy." The blonde huffed unhappily, attempting to hide her blush. She was aware of Levy watching rather nervously.
"I'll stop attempting to scare your friend if I get something out of it," Natsu husked. Both girls' faces blazed at the implication in his tone. Lucy cleared her throat before focusing on Levy again.
"Please tell me there's a way to break this…uhm…familiar-ship?" The embarrassed woman finished feebly.
"I don't think so," Levy said slowly, studying a newly forming bruise on Lucy's right hand. It was making the blonde self-conscious. "Witches usually pick and bind their familiars to them with their own magic but in your case, it seems Natsu had to infuse a great deal of his power into forming this connection."
"Witch? Wait didn't Natsu call you 'the tiny witch' earlier?" Lucy asked after a delayed second. Levy just waved her off, completely stuck on her train of thought.
"Put a pin in it and ill come back to that," the blue haired woman said while moving closer and tapping on the flame shaped and bruise colored mark appearing on the back of Lucy's right hand. "Usually when a witch binds a familiar the mark that represents the witches magic appears on the familiar, not the witch."
"That would be true if I didn't change the wording thus the intention of the spell," Natsu hummed, removing himself from Lucy and turning to show Levy his right shoulder. A faint and almost indiscernible outline of a star rested there. "Equals."
"Why is this on the back of my hand?" Lucy whined, "How am I going to hide this during meetings? And why is his so much LIGHTER?"
"I would think work would be the last thing on your mind after everything that's happened but okay." Levy grumbled under her breath before answering, "The difference in appearance of the marks could be due to the difference in magical energy you both have. Which would be pretty accurate considering Lucy you're only half witch, thus your magical energy would be pretty low. I'm not sure why it's on your hand…maybe just random placement? Maybe you were thinking about your right hand?" Levy mused. Lucy's groan of annoyance only seemed to sober the magical librarian, "this…bond between you both can only be separated by both of you. There's nothing I or anyone in Fairytail can do."
"Now would be a good time for the "witch" explanation and the "Fairytail"' thing." Lucy grumbled, making her way to the pink velvet scalloped sofa in her living room and plunking down on it rather hard. She was staring at the fireplace in front of her wishing she'd lit it before sitting down. "I'm so tired of everything being all...weird. I'd go back to my normal, feeling watched all the time is fine in comparison to this."
"Ah okay…uhm well magical beings do exist, just usually in a parallel reality to this one," Levy started after a short hesitation and sat down next to her tired friend.
oOo
"I don't feel comfortable leaving you with him," Levy whispered to Lucy, shifting uncomfortably on the blondes doorstep. "He's…dangerous."
"What do you think you could do Levy?" Lucy stiffened, the hair on her neck standing on end as Natsu came up behind her, "I suggest you go home before I give your…" Lucy turned around to see Natsu give the iron bracelet around Levy's wrist a pointed look, "guardian a reason to become bloodthirsty." Before the young heiress could say anything, Levy's face turned pensive and she turned on her heel.
"I'll be back to check on you Lulu. Come by Fairytail whenever you want."
"uh…" Lucy started but stopped on a dejected sigh when Levy rounded the corner out of sight. Shutting the door and rubbing her temples, Lucy meandered back into her living room and sat down on the couch. She was determined to ignore the pink haired menace that was currently picking his way through HER kitchen. She had a lot to unpack and for the first time in a while really wished her mother were here to give her advice. The young blonde was upset to realize that she could barely remember her mothers voice anymore, the way she smelled or what she usually liked to wear. Without much thought Lucy quickly got up and picked up her mother's Urn and curled back up on the couch with it tucked against her stomach. It had been a while since she'd talked to her.
"Hey mom," Lucy sniffled; she was completely unaware of Natsu's movements coming to a halt. "I really…miss you," She finished lamely, curling even tighter against the cold jade piece. "I wish I could talk to you. I'm just, so lost. So, confused. Why didn't you ever tell me that you were a…" She couldn't get the last bit out and found herself choking on her grief. There was so much she wanted to ask. So much she wanted to say, but what Lucy wanted the most was to be able to curl up against her mother and feel her warmth. She couldn't have that and that made this moment of vulnerability all the worse. "I haven't felt like this since you first left."
"I don't understand the point in talking to ashes if its just going to make you upset," Natsu sighed while plucking the container from Lucy's stomach and studying it. The blonde shot up, reaching her arms out and sucking in a breath; it was obvious she was worried of him possibly breaking it. Lucy watched nervously as he continued to inspect the container before carefully placing it back on the fireplace ledge, right where it had sat before she picked it up. "I don't understand the appeal," He continued while gently tapping the golden lid and then turning back towards the distraught blonde and smiling widely. "I don't think she'd be happy with you crying alone though."
"Do not talk as if you know...knew her." Lucy snapped, the venom quickly leaving her tone. "You couldn't possibly understand."
Lucy's tone rubbed Natsu's temper the wrong way. It was dismissive and monarchial: Who was she to decide what constitutes pain? Anyone's pain, let alone his. He was practically seeing red, his mouth aching to draw blood. He decided then and there that she needed to learn a bitter fucking lesson.
"And who are you to tell me about pain as if I don't already know what it is, Princess?" Natsu spat heatedly at Lucy, his hand shooting out and grabbing onto Lucy's wrists. He ignored her whimpers as he hauled her up off the couch and closer to him. He could feel his temperature rising but couldn't seem to stomp it down. His skin was itching with the need to shift, scales flecking in and out of his skin. "Who are you to try to mitigate my pain in favor of yours? You who doesn't know what I've struggled with, I've experienced and what I've lost."
"I-I-I.." Lucy stuttered, tears gathering in her eyes. Natsu wasn't sure if it was from fear or pain and he truly didn't give a fuck. He just dragged her closer to his body, smoke pouring out of his mouth from his fervor.
"You didn't even stop to think. You might have a pretty head but it's starting to look empty in its lack of empathy. You decided that your mother was more important than my father? My mother? My siblings? My fucking life?" Natsu continued to pour the venom onto Lucy, taking some satisfaction in the paling of her skin as his words sunk in. He relished in that indication, of the sign, that she'd understood the hurt she'd unintendedly inflicted on him. It wasn't fair for her to claim heartache was only felt by her. "Well, Princess?"
"N-no, I d-didn't!" Lucy began in a small stutter. Her tears spilling over her cheeks and off her chin. "I didn't even think to ask." The whisper of that last statement almost made him regret his actions; that unexpected feeling made him uncomfortable and he expressed that best through rage.
"Of course you didn't think to ask. It's only ever just been about you because that's all it had to be." Natsu growled as he pressed their bodies together. Lucy was stiff and unyielding against him, her tears falling onto his chest. With a heated sigh he found himself leaning forward and rubbing his nose against her cheek almost affectionately. "Don't beat yourself up Luce." Her soft sob made him squeeze her wrists a little tighter before releasing them completely; the moody man huffed as he wrapped his arms under her behind, lifting her and heading towards the stairs.
"I'm sorry…"
"Maybe you'll feel better after a nap."