Summary: Inspired by 3rd Rock from the Sun. Set in the beginning of Phantom Lord Arc before Team Shadow Gear is found. At their first breakfast at Lucy's Team Natsu quickly learn what real pancakes are supposed to be like…

Pairings: Team Natsu friendship

YouTube Prompt: Cheesy Dragons/Dragon Slayer (and maybe parental Silver/Gray and other family feels) to 'He Lives in You' from the Lion King.

Lucy was cooking pancakes.

She wasn't sure why, after breaking in her apartment, rifling through her underwear drawer, reading her private work, using her bath without her permission, making lots of noise and fighting, before they all hogged Lucy's bed, Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza most certainly did not deserve pancakes. And yet Lucy instantly offered to make them when they all started complaining about being hungry first thing in the morning.

God, she was an idiot and a sucker.

At least Erza had set the table and kept Natsu and Gray from destroying Lucy's apartment. She might have been the one kicking Lucy in her sleep all night but in comparison to the boys she was the ideal guest.

With the first batch of pancakes made and piled up on individual plates, Lucy brought the first couple of plates in to find Gray sulking at the table, Happy stuffing his face with her salmon that she had planned to eat for dinner tonight (grr!), and Erza calmly polishing her sword.

"Good morning!" Lucy trilled. "Breakfast is ready."

"Thanks Lucy," Gray smiled, "they look fantastic."

"What about me?" Happy whined as Lucy placed a plate in front of Erza, who smiled gratefully before putting her sword away. "Where's my fluffy things? Why am I always being left out on this team?!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at that. Happy's latest 'gag' is to cry and whine about being left out. She really hoped he gets over it soon. "You're already eating my fish," she pointed out instead.

"I can have fish rolled up in fluffy things," Happy said. His eyes were bigger, rounder, and deceptively more innocent looking. "Please!" he added sweetly.

"All right! Fine!" Lucy caved. Yep, she's definitely a sucker. "I'll make you one to put the rest of your fish in."

"Yay!" Happy cheered. "Thank you Lushy!"

It was then when Gray took a big bite out of his and moaned in delight. His eyes rolled back into his head as he sank into his chair. "What are these?!" he asked dreamily.

Lucy stared at him as if he was a moron. "They're pancakes," she said flatly.

"These are pancakes?" Gray cried out disbelievingly. "I thought pancakes were burnt globs of dough that explode with flour when you bite into them," he turned and looked at pointedly at the redheaded girl sitting next to him, "Erza."

Erza looked up from her plate, her mouth stuffed to the brim making her cheeks puff out comically. Her brown eyes looked around the room shiftily. "Me too," she mumbled.

Knowing how competitive Erza is and to the impossibly high standards she kept herself to, the implication of being a bad pancake maker must be eating her up on the inside. Lucy quickly hurried into the kitchen before she found herself challenged to a pancake competition or something.

She didn't know how well Erza cooked but she had a strong suspicion that Erza would wreck utter carnage on Lucy's beautiful, pristine, kitchen. And that was not something Lucy was going to risk…..especially since she only just got the walls repainted from Natsu's last attempt of using her stove.

After making another batch of pancakes, and a spare for Happy, Lucy risked going back to the others. Gray was now licking his plate clean while syrup dribbled down his naked chest (and Lucy gritted her teeth wishing that her arsehole of a friend would remember to keep his clothes on in her home like he promised) and Erza was moodily pushing the last bits on her plate around.

Happy gleefully took his pancake and before Lucy could try and comfort Erza, Natsu kicked open the bathroom door, shirtless as Gray, while drying his hair and immediately snatched a pancake off of one of Lucy's plates and stuffed it into his mouth.

"OH MY GOD!" Natsu bellowed in surprised delight. There was a look of utter rapture on his face and Lucy couldn't help but flush in pleasure at the implied compliment to her cooking. It instantly faded when she realised Natsu had spat out bits of pancake all over her carpet and her blouse. "What are these?!" Natsu demanded to know.

"Pancakes," everyone else replied.

"Really?" Natsu said dumbfounded as he examined the pancakes with fascination. "I thought pancakes were-"

"ME TOO!" Erza shrieked. "But obviously my pancakes were wrong. Obviously I cannot cook!" she growled. "I am not as good as Lucy so I will never make another pancake again."

Natsu, Happy, and Gray's cheering was immediately cut off by the glare Lucy shot them. "Come on now, Erza," Lucy squeezed Erza's shoulder comfortingly, "I'm sure there's something you can cook better than me," Lucy ignored the rapid shaking heads that the boys were giving her and the negative hand gestures Gray was making, "after all I only really know the basics, the serv – err, I mean my mother didn't get a chance to teach me much before my father took over my education."

"Really?" Erza said interestedly. "Very well," she stood up primly and brushed the crumbs off her own blouse, "you have convinced me. I accept your cookery challenge!" she declared, a gold twinkle in her eye.

"WHAT?!"

"We tried to warn you Lucy," Happy said sagely, "but you never say what you just said to Erza."

"She takes it as a challenge," Natsu nodded.

"You inadvertently challenged her," Gray said coolly, "and now your kitchen must pay the consequences."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

You would think that after such a nightmarish start to her day that it would have gotten better but sadly it just went downhill from there. Levy-Chan was found crucified to a tree, Lucy got kidnapped, Master almost died, Fairy Tail was thoroughly attacked, Lucy and everyone else were beaten to near death, and then the Council almost arrested them.

Fortunately though after such a horrific day, Erza completely and utterly forgot about the cooking challenge.

Lucy's kitchen was safe for another day….