Bam!

Natsu's left foot connected with his opponent's outer elbow. The kick was powerful, and if it were anyone less trained taking the blow, he would have sustained a throbbing bruise or worse, heard a sickening crack. However, the larger man barely shifted an inch. The shaggy-haired male flicked his head nonchalantly to get the thick black lock out of his eye. Then, he flashed an arrogant smirk.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Salamander. A mosquito bite hurts more."

Natsu ignored the man's attempt to get a rise out of him. He was just getting started anyway.

Drawing in a slow, deep breath, he launched into his proper assault and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks.

Wham! Bam! Thwack!

The barrage came one after another, with barely a millisecond between each one. With each hit that connected, the pinkette steadily inched forward. He would jump his back foot forward at the very last second to throw more momentum behind his jab, then immediately pull back and side-step to avoid the retaliation swing. The pinkette feigned a snore.

"Slow."

"That's okay," Gajeel Redfox replied, shrugging. "The next-" Bam!

"One-" Thwack!

"Will-" Jab!

"Connect-" Pow!

"Anyway! Haha, almost lost your balance there, pinky."

Natsu growled and launched himself at his sparring partner. Locking his arms around Gajeel's broader torso, Natsu clinched the man in a double underhook.

"Call me pinky agai- Gah!"

Gajeel pressed the heels of his palms against Natsu's ribs and head, then twisted sideways to instantly release himself from the clinch.

"Geehee. And if I call you pinky again, whatchu gonna do about it?"

"Steel-face, you're going-"

"Oi, Flame-head! Your phone's ringing!"

"Later! Pin-face is going to eat dust fi-"

"It's your sister," Gray snapped, leaping up into the ring. He shoved the vibrating device into Natsu's face. "You already have four missed calls and a shit ton of texts."

"The hell? Fine, time out, Gaj."

The man snickered then sauntered away. "I'm sure you need to rest those skinny arms of yours anyway."

The fact that he got the last word made Natsu's jaw clench but he would have to deal with this first. Mirajane never spammed him with calls and texts like this unless it was an emergency. Pushing off his gloves, Natsu brought the device to his ear.

"Mira, is something wrong?"

To his relief, his sister's voice was devoid of any sobbing. That was a good sign.

"Hurry up and check your messages," she chirped.

"Messa-"

And then, she hung up. Natsu was left staring at the black screen, his eyes wide. "The hell was that? Couldn't she just… The heck?"

There were over twenty new messages now and only the first one was actual text.

'Pick your top three,' it read.

"What?"

As he scrolled down, his eyes grew wider and his brain grew more confused. There seemed to be a never-ending series of photos flying his way, and by the looks of it, Mirajane was still sending more. Turning up the brightness, Natsu went back up to the first photo.

"O…kay…"

Lucy was standing against a plain white backdrop. He instantly recognised it as being part of the photography studio in Mirajane's office. His eyes roamed her from top to bottom and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

The blonde was not aware the photo was being taken. Instead, she seemed to be talking to someone off-camera. But even without her active participation, she made a good-looking model. She was dressed in a cream turtleneck with a simple plaid design, and her slender legs were clad in black slacks. Draped across her shoulders was a deep wine-red shawl.

He flicked the screen to the next photo.

Lucy had now changed into a burnt orange dress. A thin string belted the dress above the waist so that the material was practically glued to her generous chest. Below that, the material flared outwards and swished about her knees. This time she was paying attention to the photographer, who caught her sheepish smile perfectly on camera.

The rest of the photos featured the blonde in a dazzling array of outfits, which Natsu guessed were also from his sisters' latest line. He didn't have much of an eye for fashion himself, but even an amateur could tell that every piece Lucy modelled had been specially selected for her.

Some had been chosen to match her golden locks and eyes, others accentuated her curvaceous body. Some outfits were a little fancier and the blonde looked like she would fit perfectly in a fashion lookbook. Meanwhile, others were more down-to-earth, something someone might wear if they were lounging in a café surrounded by friends.

The one he was currently appreciating was one such photo.

Lucy was wearing a baby blue sweater dress that hugged her body like a sleeve. Along the left side of her head, thick locks had been pulled into a single braid with the rest of her hair arranged casually around the knitted material. The blonde looked really good in blue, he mused inwardly.

His gaze trailed downward and Natsu's eyes widened.

If the top half of the dress was themed 'sweet', the lower half screamed 'sexy'. The knitted dress was slit high up one leg to reveal a fair bit of milky skin.

At that exact moment, a hand gripped his shoulder. A large shadow fell over the phone screen, colouring the dress a dark navy.

"Damn, who's the babe? She has hot legs."

"Wha- Back off, Eucliffe!"

Sting Eucliffe chuckled playfully as he took a step back. However, he was a second too late and Natsu's elbow connected with his bare chest. "Ow, chill Salamander. That was just a harmless question."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "No offence taken, and also, none of your business."

"Aw, c'mon," Sting cajoled, looping one sweaty arm over Natsu's shoulders. "I'm still waiting to hear everything about your date. She's your sister's best friend, right? What's her name?"

"None of-"

"Her name's Bunny Girl," Gajeel offered as he popped back into the mix.

Sting nearly choked. "Bun- Is that her stage name or something?"

"Her name's Lucy, asshole," Natsu gritted out. "What's with the nickname anyway?"

Gajeel shrugged. "Can't remember. The first time I went over to her place… Maybe she was wearing something with a bunny print? That's probably the case."

Sting's blue eyes gleamed with curiosity. "You've gone over to her house?"

"Woman's an artist. She asked me to model for her once. Had time, didn't mind. Besides, she fed me afterwards."

"You guys talking about Lucy?"

A new voice echoed by Natsu's ear and his jaw muscle jumped. Damnit. Couldn't he get any peace here? Mirajane was still waiting on his three choices. He sighed heavily as Gray sauntered over. The man was nursing a stiff neck from an intense workout and he rolled his head from side to side. Cricks rang out and he exhaled deeply.

"Haven't heard from her in a while. How's she been, Flame-head?"

"She's fine. It looks like Lucy's modelling for Mira though. I honestly have no clue what's going on. Sis sent over some photos and asked me to pick my favourites."

"Geehee. Hand that over," Gajeel snorted and rudely snatched the device from Natsu. "Let the great Gajeel pick them for you."

"Oi!"

"Hey, if you're going to get to pick, I want in too!"

"Eucliffe, Redfox! Get your asses back here with my phone!"

"Great news, Lucy! The results are in!"

Lucy Heartfilia looked up from where she sat on the lounge couch. Clutched in one hand was a cup of sweet tea and in the other, she was spooning leftover omelette from lunch. The eggs were pitifully cold by now but the flavour was still better than what she could cook for herself on any good day.

Besides, her afternoon had been an absolute whirlwind of activity and her stomach demanded satiation. There was a small café on the ground floor so they had also managed to supplement their leftovers with sandwiches.

"Results? What results?"

"The guys have chosen their top three."

Mira laid out three hangers across the table, each carrying one of the outfits she had made Lucy model.

Lucy looked at her in confusion. "Mir, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, didn't Levy tell you? We sent the photos to Natsu-"

"What?!"

"He happened to be at the gym and the guys all chipped in to share their thoughts on what suited you best."

Memories of embarrassing poses and exaggerated facial expressions flashed through Lucy's mind. At one point, Levy had popped open a bottle of champagne. Lucy's face turned scarlet when she recalled some of the more playful shots they had taken.

"You sent those to the guys?! I thought those were just for us! Mira, there were some really embarrassing shots among those!"

"Relax, Lucy," Levy chuckled. "We only sent the proper ones. Nothing too revealing, nothing scandalous."

The blonde huffed and folded her arms. "You should still have asked me for permission."

"Can't turn back time now," Levy giggled. "But more importantly, which of these is your favourite?"

Lucy tentatively picked up the burnt orange dress. Draped over it was a slim-cut denim jacket, and she rubbed the soft material between her fingers.

"This one, but I can't really afford it… You know I'm trying to save up to move to a better apartment."

"Who said anything about payment? It's a gift from Levy and me."

Mira came around the table to sit on Lucy's other side. "Now that your outfit is settled, you only have to think about what pieces are going into your portfolio. I don't think we can help you much there."

"Mira-"

"Don't worry about it, Lucy," Levy giggled and hugged Lucy. "Just don't forget about us when you make it big. I expect VIP tickets to your first exhibition. Heartfilia, artist extraordinaire!"

Lucy immediately burst into giggles. "That's so cheesy coming from you, but thank you."

Just as they were about to leave, Mirajane pulled Lucy to one side and slid another bag onto her arm. Lucy peeked into it but the contents were tucked away under wrapping tissue.

"Did I miss something?"

"Nope," Mira replied. "Your outfit is all in that bag there. This one… is just a little something extra."

"What? Mira, you don't have to-"

"It's not from the two of us, sweetie." Mirajane's smile grew enigmatic. "Open it when you get home."

All the way home, Lucy's eyes kept sliding down towards the bag.

She had touched the contents multiple times, but aside from deducing that it was clothing, she could not figure much else. Whatever was inside was wrapped into a compact parcel and Lucy did not want to make a mess of it by taking it out now.

By the time she reached home, her curiosity was overwhelming. Dropping everything else, she pulled the mysterious package out of the bag and nearly ripped away the tissue.

The plush baby blue knitted dress was folded into a neat square. Lucy's eyes widened.

The dress had not been amongst the top three choices earlier. It was even something that she had lamented inwardly, for it was one of her personal favourites. Why was it here now?

She carefully picked up the dress and stood.

The dress fell gracefully past her knees, but the high slit would reveal nearly half of her thigh. Lucy was no stranger to short shorts, but to show this much skin in a dress felt entirely different. Not to mention that the material clung to her form. It was gloriously and unflinchingly sexy, but not in an overly scandalous kind of way. Lucy blushed when she recalled how she had looked in the mirror.

Ping!

The gentle tinkling drew her out of her reverie.

'You home?'

The message was so to the point that she could not help but smile.

'Yes. How was your workout? Heard you were at the gym.'

'Got to beat the other guys up fair and square. No complaints.'

Lucy was choking back laughs when the next message came in.

'Did you like the gift?'

'Yeah, please give them all my thanks… Though Juvia might get jealous Gray helped choose my clothing haha!'

'Sure, but I wasn't referring to Mira and Levy's gift. Do you like mine?'

Lucy's fingers stilled as she re-read the message.

'Mira said she gave it to you afterwards.'

The blonde immediately looked at the blue dress.

'The blue dress is from you?'

'Yes. It was my favourite out of everything Mira put you in.'

Lucy bit back a squeal out of embarrassment, only to realise he was not around to hear it anyway. However, now she really wished he were there. She would have liked very much to hug him at that moment.

'It's my favourite too. Thank you… I love the gift.'

'Awesome. See you Wednesday night. Wear it for me?'

A warm glow grew across her cheeks and she smiled.

'Sure. Miss you already.'

Hehehehehehe.

Sam.