The smell of freshly ground coffee and shortbread was just the thing to cut through Levy's dark cloud. She stood for a moment, eyes closed, just inside the door of the bakery and soaked it all in. Since the first Lucy had set up shop just a month ago next door to Levy's book store, Levy started every morning with warm coffee and good conversation. It was just the little bit of sunshine Levy needed to start off her day right.
Usually, since Levy's visits fell during the morning lull, Lucy would greet her with a smile and take her first break of the day. This morning instead of a happy hello, Levy cringed at the sudden sound of banging and cursing coming from the kitchen. Concern set her in motion. Without hesitation, she circled the counter and she poked her head in the back. "Lucy?"
Lucy's head appeared from behind one of the stainless steel work tables covered in grease and flour, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Oh, Levy! It's you. Thank goodness, I don't know how I'd explain myself to a customer." She stood and dusted off her hands. She attempted to smooth her hair but only managed to add a few dark streaks.
Levy stepped into the back room and frowned at Lucy's dark grease-stained hands. She hoped they weren't that way because of some new recipe. "Is everything...okay?"
"Everything is terrible..." Lucy rubbed her eyes. "Oh Levy, I don't know what I'm going to do! Big Virgo is down! I can't get the stupid thing to work properly and I have been working on it all morning! It burned my first batch of cookies then under-cooked the next batch and I have a huge order for tomorrow!"
"Oh no! Lucy that is terrible!"
"I know! I only have the little oven working. It's going to take me all night to finish all the product I need for the order. And I still have to somehow keep up with my regulars during the day!" Lucy turned to the oven. "Why do you have to let me down when I need you the most, you stupid behemoth! I'll show you a Lucy kick!" and she kicked it with all her might. Unfortunately, it hurt her more than it hurt the oven because she immediately began bouncing, holding her foot while howling in pain.
"Oh, Lucy! Come on, why don't you take a quick break." Levy hurried over and put an arm around Lucy's back. She helped her limp out of the kitchen to sit at one of the tables in the front. "Surely there's something we can do? Can't you just call a repairman? Why are you trying to fix it yourself?"
"I don't have the money for a repairman!" Lucy cradled her face in her hands.
Levy walked over and poured them both a cup of coffee from the carafe. She added a shot of milk and a healthy dose of chocolate syrup. "Here, drink up, nothing like something hot and chocolate to turn that frown upside down!".
"What am I going to do?" Lucy moaned, ignoring the mug in front of her.
"Hmm," Levy touched her lip thoughtfully. "Oh, I know a guy who might help! He's kinda an all-round handyman, mostly electrical work though. Sometimes he does small appliance repairs for me. Maybe I can get him to give you a deal." Levy offered.
Lucy's head popped up. "Really? You think he would look at it for me?"
Levy laughed. "Yeah, probably. He's a good guy, we grew up together. I'll give him a call."
"Oh, but all I can afford to pay him with right now is coffee and baked goods!" Lucy put her head back down.
Levy patted Lucy's hair. "Oh Lucy, don't you worry. He probably prefers muffins to money anyway."
"Yeah Gray, I'll be by later. I just have to help out this friend of Levy's." Natsu pulled his truck into one of the spots in the parking lot of Magnolia Shopping Center. He had been here many times before, it was owned by the man who brought him in as a child and it now housed many of his childhood friend's businesses. Levy's book store, Jet's athletic shop, and Droy's florist were all currently dark but the neon sign in front of Mira's bar glowed bright red.
He hopped out of his truck and frowned at his destination. The bakery was still fairly new so he had not had a chance to try it. Maybe that was a good thing if the baker was already blowing out her oven.
Gray sighed. "Oh man, that's so lame. You could have said no you know."
"Ha! As if man, I tried to! Then she threatened to call Erza. Apparently, this bakery makes some cake she's obsessed with and you know about Erza and her sweets. I don't have a death wish." Natsu locked his car door and headed towards the store. The bakery was clearly closed, but Levy said just knock and the girl would let him in.
"So what's in it for you?" Gray asked.
"Other than not having Erza bash my head in? Free food. It had better be good or I'm never picking up the phone for Levy again. She only calls when she needs a favor. I'm getting tired of fixing all her old stuff." Natsu squinted through the window, bright lights lit up the back room so she was definitely there. He rapped his knuckles on the glass front door making a string of bells attached to it jingle in protest. Then Matsu turned and looked out at the parking lot. A light flickered on and off over near Mira's establishment.
"What kind of free food?" Gray asked but Natsu didn't hear. He scowled at the light instead. After a few seconds without a response, Gray sighed. "Natsu? You there?"
"Oi, gramps needs to get that light in front of Mira's place. It makes this place seem super sketchy after dark," Natsu complained.
"Man, you have the shortest attention span, I don't know why I try to have a conversation on the phone with you." Gray sighed.
"Huh?"
"What kind of food Natsu? Can you bring me some?" Gray asked.
"I don't know man, muffins? It's a bakery! How would I know? I've never been in here before. Let me see if I can see something in the win . . ." He stopped mid-sentence when he turned around and saw what he could only describe as a blond angel heading his way. This was not at all what he had expected when Levy had told him the baker next door needed help. "I'm gonna kill Levy, a little warning would have been nice," he hissed into the phone by accident, not really meaning to voice his thoughts.
"What? See this is what I was saying earlier, what the hell are you talking about?" Gray groaned.
"Whatever Ice Princess, gotta go!" Natsu hung up quickly, ignoring Gray's sounds of protest. He smiled big as the baker started to turn all the locks to open the door.
"Natsu?" She asked hesitantly.
"That's me!" Dear Lord, he hoped she cooked as good as she looked.
When Levy had said pink hair, Lucy had thought surely she exaggerated. But here he was, with salmon pink hair, tinkering inside her oven.
"This is easy Lucy; the bulb is just loose in your thermostat," Natsu said with a mouthful of muffin.
"Really? So can you fix it?" Lucy dared to hope.
"Yeah, of course! It's already done." He pulled himself out of the oven and grinned at her with some crumbs on his chin. It was weirdly adorable. "Let's fire this bad boy up," he said as he plugged it in and turned the dial to 350 degrees. Lucy watched with glee as the thermostat inside the oven rose as it should.
"Natsu, you are my hero!" Lucy screamed and nearly knocked him over with an enthusiastic hug.
His eyes widened in surprise before he returned it with a smile, saying "Eh it's not a big deal. You probably could have figured it out eventually."
Lucy pulled away, her cheeks burning with embarrassment from her outburst. She turned her focus to her trays and laughed nervously. "No, really I couldn't. Trust me I tried! I can't wait to try it out." She grabbed a prepped pan of cookies and stuck them in the oven, setting a timer for twelve minutes.
Natsu hopped up on one of her prep tables and helped himself to another muffin. "I'll just wait to make sure it's working like it should before I get out of here. Any way I could get some of these to go?"
"Of course, you can take whatever you want. Well, other than the cookies on the rack over there, because they are for an order. You ever want a coffee come on by, this is a lifesaver. Now I'm going to actually be able to finish my order and get some sleep tonight." She went under one of the tables and pulled out a box, after folding it together she slid it over to him. "Fill it on up, whatever you like." She gave him an encouraging grin then ran back to wash her hands. When she returned, she pulled a lump of dough from the fridge,threw it down on one of the tables, rolled it out quickly, and filled trays with cutout dough shapes. Lucy looked up to see Natsu staring at her fascinated, his half-filled box forgotten in his hands. Unable to stand the silence as her eyes caught his, she asked, "Is there anything in particular you are looking for? I think there's still some chocolate chip cookies leftover. Or maybe you want something more unique?"
That seemed to snap him out of it. He grinned and shook his head. "Nah, I'm pretty sure if the rest of your stuff is like the muffin I ate, I'd like anything you made Lucy."
Lucy couldn't help but giggle at the compliment. She was glad when the oven dinged and broke the tension. Her attraction to him was making it hard to behave like a normal human being. She pulled out the shortbreads, they were perfect. Lucy set them on a cooling rack. She was so excited that the oven worked that she did a small celebration dance, completely forgetting that Natsu was still in the room. His laugh brought her back to earth. She turned around with a sheepish smile, "this just makes me really happy."
"I'm glad," he said. "I'm guessing you would be too busy to go join me for a drink at Mira's?"
"I'm afraid so," and for once Lucy was being honest. "But tell Mira I say hello."
"You do go there sometimes?" asked Natsu.
"Yeah, just usually around happy hour," Lucy said as she put twelve trays of cookies in Big Virgo. "It's the curse of being a baker, early to bed and early to rise!"
"Of course," Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess I'll see ya around."
Lucy looked up at him, "Yeah, thanks Natsu. And really, come by anytime you want a coffee, it's on the house!"
Then with a wave, he was out the door. All night Lucy found her mind kept drifting back to his easy smile.