Childish behaviour

Lucy emerged from the kitchen, her slippers shuffling along the cool parquet. Stopping next to her sofa, she leaned over and gently rested the back of her hand against his forehead.

"Are you feeling better?"

His forehead scrunched up against her palm, and Natsu turned his face away from her. "…This sucks."

"You'll be fine," she replied, laughing. "It's just a little stomach upset."

"It sucks."

"You should have told me you have severe motion sickness. We could have taken it slow on foot." Sitting next to him, Lucy popped open the can of ginger ale and then slid her arm around his shoulder. "Can you sit up?"

"Wasn't goi… ugh… to tell you..."

She pressed her lips tightly together to dam the laughter threatening to overflow. The pinkette's face, although now much healthier-looking, was still beaded with sweat. The sidelong look he shot her way told her she was not fooling anyone, and the left corner of her lips curved up into a smirk. "Everyone gets sick sometimes," she remarked. "It's nothing to be upset over."

A few slow sips restored a bit more of his colour, so now he just looked irritated. "On a date, it's just… owowow… embarrassing," the pinkette muttered. "Didn't my realise pills were ou- out… either..."

Lucy propped her chin up onto her fist, teasing, "Well, it did kind of kill the mood a little…"

"Godamnit. I knew it."

She laughed when the pinkette curled his legs up and rolled onto his side like a grumpy child. With his body hunched, and the thick locks glued lightly to his forehead, the usually energetic male was certainly not giving off any of his usual suave style. Yet, the vulnerability only served to make him even more endearing. His petulant attitude would not have worked well on her exes. She giggled, wondering how Natsu managed to pull it off so charmingly.

Either that, or she was becoming somewhat of a pervert.

Bending over, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and laughed again when his eyes went wide.

"But you're doing alright in my book… Sexy."

"Lucy…" Natsu's eyes crinkled up at the edges and he smiled gratefully. Pushing himself up onto his elbows, he closed his eyes, leaned in towards her and…

Her hands were on his lips in a flash.

Lucy's expression was mildly put off and she had reared her head back. He gave a muffled protest against her palm.

"Maybe… none of that for now. You did puke in my toilet," she said wryly.

Natsu's gaze turned pleading as he pried her fingers off. "But... Luu-cy! I've brushed, flossed and gargled. What more do you want?"

Lucy laughed. She pressed one palm against his cheek and turned his face away from hers. "In return," she continued. "You can have my lap. You lent me yours earlier, so I'll return the favour."

Her eyelids shuttered for a moment as she recalled the incident just an hour ago. Surprisingly, it didn't feel so terrible in hindsight. Lucy wondered why, but she suspected that it had everything to do with the way he had kept her close during their heart-thumping escape. It had made her feel… protected.

She smiled.

"Come on, lie down." Lucy shifted into a more comfortable position, tucking a cushion behind her back for support and laying a folded blanket on her lap. "I'll wake you up later and we can have dinner."

The pinkette grumbled weakly. "Fine…But I don't need this."

Natsu reached out and yanked the cloth off her legs. Resting his head across her bare thighs, he wiggled his body to stretch out his long legs. Then, ignoring her startled gasp, the cheeky male took her arm and laid it across his chest, his fingers immediately entwining themselves with hers. Within seconds, he had fallen into a deep slumber.

The blush on her cheeks faded as Lucy swept away a thick lock of pink from his eye.

"Rest well."

"Wake up, princess."

"Mm… 10 more minutes."

"Food's here."

"Food?" The pinkette stirred.

"Mmhmm. I didn't think you'd be able to handle something heavy right now, so I ordered rice and some mixed dishes."

Natsu was rather dismayed to find that she was no longer with him. When had that happened? Tucked underneath his head was a thick sofa cushion, and the blanket he had tossed earlier now covered his body lightly. Dressed in a long robe that swished about her cat print pyjama bottoms, Lucy bustled about as she laid out plates and cutlery. There were also fresh cans of ginger ale prepared. Already sitting on the table was a medley of vegetable and meat dishes, along with two steaming plates of rice. Instantly, his empty stomach gurgled, signalling that it was ready for its next feeding.

"Go wash up. I'll wa- eep!"

"Thanks, Luce."

Releasing her from his sudden embrace, the pinkette sauntered into the bathroom. Seconds later, Lucy heard the loud gush of water jetting from the shower. Feeling slightly abashed, she touched the cheek where the memory of his kiss still lingered.

Starved after he had lost nearly everything from tea, the man scarfed down the food, prompting her to chide him at least once. However, he was a veritable food machine and Lucy sweat-dropped as she wondered where it was all going.

"You were saying?" he said in between chews.

She pulled a face.

"Close your mouth. Anyway, the academy wants to do something different for the 'Art in Motion' module, so we are looking for people willing to spare a few hours to model. Since you… did offer to help me, I was wondering if you'd be willing to consider?"

Natsu swallowed audibly, his look turning wary.

"Uh… am I supposed to strip down like the other day…?"

It'd be nice if you did. No, bad Lucy!

"No," Lucy replied, sighing. "We're looking for athletes to represent different sports. Swimming, running, weight-lifting, the works. Mira told me you… climb?"

"Not as much I'd like but yes. What do you need me to do?"

"Do you know of the sports centre on Havelock Avenue?"

"Yeah. It's 5 minutes away from the office, so I go there pretty often."

Lucy clapped her hands together, her eyes gleaming. "Oh, that's perfect! Do they do corporate bookings?"

"Uh… I can help you arrange for one… What are you thinking of?"

The blonde 'hehe'-ed and folded her legs underneath herself. "Book a 3-hour session for us. There should be…uh… 20 of us in total. Are you available next Wednesday from 3-6 pm?"

"Uhm…"

The delay in his confirmation clued her in, and Lucy's face fell. "I'm sorry. I forgot you're really busy. This might be asking too much of you."

Damn it, he wanted to kick himself. "Uh…"

"It's fine," Lucy reassured him, touching his arm gently. "To be honest, we do have a climber amongst the students. It might be a tad strange to ask him to model for his classmates, but I think the students would get a kick out of the change. I should just inform him now so that he's prepared."

As Lucy began typing, his gaze curiously wandered over to her screen and the name…

"Hey, I wanted to ask you," Natsu cut in.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Jacob, and why did Timothy mention his name earlier?"

Confusion crossed her face. "He did?"

Natsu scratched his nape awkwardly. "When he promised to keep our secret, he said he especially wouldn't tell Jacob. Why?"

"Oh. Uhm…"

His sheepishness gave way to a strange tension in his belly. Lucy was averting his gaze now, and he noticed the slightly pale knuckles as she gripped her phone. "Jacob is… one of my students and… uhm…"

That look in her eyes and blush dusting her cheeks made his gut clench painfully.

"Were you two together?"

"What? No!"

Lucy gave him a strange look. "He's still a kid, and I'm not in the habit of dating my students. He's just… well, he has a rather big crush on me, and pretty much the whole class knows about it. That's why Timothy brought it up."

"Ah. The young hot-blooded male and the older, sexy teacher trope. Yeah, you see that quite often in porn," Natsu replied, snickering. "I guess you're not drawing porn; you're living it out." He broke into guffaws when she began whacking him with both arms.

"Quit it with the porn joke!" she huffed, adding a throw pillow to her arsenal. "I can't believe you almost used it in front of my students!"

"I d-didn't say-" he chortled, bringing his arms up to shield himself, "-say the whole word! But, that changes things."

"What does?"

The pinkette reached out and slipped her phone from her fingers. As Lucy looked on in surprise, he deleted the entire message.

"Jacob. Don't text him. I'll clear my day out for you."

Laylay Lives: brownie, please :)

Sam.