I don't have anything fun for a note this time… So, happy Saturday!
Did you know that penguins do, in fact have knees?
As always, thanks for the love and happy reading!
Lucy smiled as she entered Loke's restaurant. It had been a while since she'd come by herself, and she was looking forward to a nice quiet meal in her favorite booth with the book she was currently reading. With Natsu working on some 'master plan' for his next trip, he'd elected not to come, leaving her on her own for the first Monday since he'd arrived.
She smiled wide as Aries welcomed her and started leading her towards her booth.
"I'm sorry, Lucy, but Loke asked to be informed once you were here. Is that okay?"
"Sure," Lucy said as she slid into the booth. "Do you have any idea what he wants?"
The hostess' face fell. "No, he didn't tell me. I'm sorry!"
"It's okay, I can wait until he gets here to tell me himself," Lucy reassured her.
"Okay. Your server will be with you shortly."
Lucy thanked her as she turned and made her way back to the hostess' stand. She didn't bother pulling the menu over- she already knew what she wanted. Instead, she pulled out her book and waited. She had a new server, so she gave her drink and food order at the same time, doing her best to put the shaky teen at ease. She had her drink and was completely focused on her book by the time Loke joined her.
"Sorry about that," he said as he straightened his jacket. "I'm learning that I shouldn't have more than one new server running around at a time. I'm not sure how it's possible to mess up drink orders so bad, but one of them put in an order for a beer for a child. It's been an interesting evening." He looked up at her and smiled. "I know you got one of the new guys, did he mess up your order as well?"
Lucy shook her head. "My drink is exactly what I asked for."
Loke sighed. "Hopefully the food comes out correctly, too." His gaze shifted to the other side of the booth. "Where is Natsu?"
"Busy planning his next trip."
"Oh? Where is he going?" Loke slid into the seat across from her, scanning the crowd as he did.
"He wants to go skiing. I always hear about how great Aspen is for that kind of thing, so he's been doing research for there."
One of Loke's eyebrows shot up. "Ms. Raised-with-Money doesn't know what it's like to ski in Aspen? Isn't that one of those obligatory places for rich people to spend holidays at?"
Lucy stuck her tongue out at her friend, used to the his teasing about her previous life as an heiress. "For your information, my mother and father did own a cabin out there, but they didn't like skiing. We only ever went sledding, and by the time I was old enough for them to try and teach me… well, you know."
Loke nodded before changing the subject. "I thought Natsu was checking out different places so he could find somewhere to settle down."
Lucy took a sip of her drink. "He is, but he said it's been a long since he went and he really enjoyed it when he used to do it with his parents. He thought it might be a nice place to live, if he can remember how to ski." Lucy took another drink, hating how much lying she was forced to do to protect her and Natsu's secret.
Loke moved to sit with his back against the wall, so he could watch his new servers work. "Well, I hope he has fun."
"Me too, especially since I'm going along."
Loke's body froze for a second before he finally got comfortable. "Really?"
"Yeah. Since I'm letting him stay with me, he's compromising by letting me tag along for some of his trips."
"Why didn't you go along to Japan?" he asked. Almost immediately, he seemed to realize he knew the answer as they both said seafood at the same time. "I forgot food was a big part of his last trip."
"Yep." Lucy stretched out her legs a bit. "It's been a while since I've been skiing. Do you remember the last time we went together, with Juvia and Cana?"
Loke groaned quietly. "How could I forget? Juvia did well, but Cana got too drunk our first day there and got herself banned from the lifts for the rest of the week."
Lucy laughed. "I can't believe she got sick on the lift! How many people did she throw up on? Do you remember?"
"Four…" he grumbled as she tried to hide her face behind her hands. "I don't know why you're laughing."
"Because I wasn't one of the people she did it to." Lucy struggled to contain her laughter as Loke glared at her. "Oh come on now, you don't still think she was aiming for you, do you?"
"I think what I think, let's leave it at that."
Lucy leaned forward to grab one of his hands. "Come on, don't be a baby. It was just poor timing, for all four of you. Cana wouldn't force herself to get sick just so she could throw up on you. Especially because she prides herself on being able to hold her liquor."
"She was pretty mad at me at the time. She might have." He moved his hand sideways so he could gently squeeze her fingers.
"Well next time, don't seduce her drinking partner."
Loke sighed. "We agreed to be each other's wingman. I was suppose to find people to drink with her, and then I got to seduce them once she drunk them under the table. It was a flawless system until she got too attached to the last one."
"In Cana's defense, the girl was keeping up with her, and that's no easy feat."
Loke sucked in a shallow breath. "I couldn't help myself. Her tolerance was hot."
Lucy snorted. "You think any quality is hot. Even the bad ones."
Loke waved his finger at her. "In small doses, they can be alright. It depends on the hot to crazy to time together ratio."
Lucy blinked at him. Then blinked again. "I'm not even going to pretend I want to know what that means."
"Well, the hot part-"
Lucy half stood so she could reach across the table to put her hand over Loke's mouth. "Shhhh, I don't want to know. Keep your mathematical seduction equations to yourself." He didn't say anything as he watched her sit back down. "Don't you need to get back to work? I feel like I'm keeping you."
Loke shook his head as he let go of her hand. "I'm the boss. I can take a break whenever I need to." He swallowed, looking a little nervous. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" she asked. As she watched him fidget in his seat, she started to worry a little bit. "Loke, are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. It's, uh… I wanted to talk to you about… Natsu…"
Lucy ignored the way her heartbeat quickened. She leaned back in her seat as nonchalantly as possible. "Oh? What about him?"
Loke let out a long breath before meeting her eyes again. "Are you sure you can trust him?" Before she could even think about her answer, he grabbed both of her hands to reassure her as he continued talking. "Don't get me wrong, he seems like a nice guy- even if he is a little weird. I just… I remember how you were when I first met you. You had a lot of trouble trusting men. It took me almost a year to befriend you, and even then, you didn't trust me to be alone with you. It might be because of how hard I had to work at it, but I cherish your friendship more than anyone else's. I care a great deal about you and I don't want anything to happen to you, which is why I'm worried.
"I understand that you used to know him way back when, but it was only for a few months, correct?" She nodded but didn't say anything, so he continued. "It's been years since you've seen him. Then all of a sudden, he showed up out of nowhere, and started crashing at your place. Are you sure you're okay living with him? I mean, obviously nothing has happened yet, but are you positive you're going to be okay living with him until he figures out where he's going? I worry that he's taking advantage of you, or might try to hurt you."
Lucy's face softened as she smiled at him. "Loke, I'm going to be okay, I promise. Natsu won't hurt me, I'm sure of it."
"How, though? How can you be sure? When people grow up, they can change, they can become entirely different people. How can you be so sure that you'll be okay?"
"Natsu isn't that kind of person." When Loke opened his mouth to argue again, she squeezed his hands tighter. "Loke, you just have to trust me. Even if you don't trust Natsu, you trust me right?" He nodded. "Then believe me when I say I'll be okay."
Loke pulled her hands closer. "You'll tell me if you need help, right?" When she nodded, he pulled her hands closer still and leaned her way, staring intensely into her eyes. "No matter what it is, no matter how crazy it sounds, if you need any help, if you have any problems, just let me know, okay?"
Lucy felt a shiver make its way over her skin as she nodded her head again. "I know you're always there for me, Loke. I promise I'll come to you if I need help."
He studied her for a moment more before he released her hands, his face softening back into his usual easygoing expression. "Alright then. For now, I'll stop bothering you about it."
One of the waitresses stopped at their table to talk to Loke, drawing his attention away from her. Lucy took another sip of her drink before looking around the restaurant. It was starting to fill up, with almost half the tables full of people. Lucy watched Aries leading a few men towards a table at the opposite end of the building. Just before she looked away, the first man turned her way to slide into the booth and Lucy felt her entire body go numb. As the next man sat, the edges of her vision darkened. The third and fourth men did not turn, but as they spoke to the others, she caught a glimpse of their profiles, and she knew for certain it was them.
Don't panic. Breathe.
Don't panic. Breathe.
They don't see you.
Don't panic. Breathe.
Lucy tried to calm her breathing, but there was nothing she could do about the way her heartbeat accelerated. As quickly as she could with her shaky fingers, she pulling her hair into a low bun and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up. She reached for her drink, but her hands were shaking so bad, she decided not to pick up the glass. Keeping her eyes downcast, she tried to focus on what Loke was saying to his employee.
"- can't be that hard. I'll go talk to him." The waitress nodded and then left. Loke sighed. "I brought this on myself, didn't I? It shouldn't be possible to screw up so badly." He smiled as he looked her way, but it disappeared as he soon as they locked eyes. "Lucy, you okay?"
Heartbeat still loudly filling her ears, she had trouble understanding his words for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just kind of tired."
It was clear by his expression that he didn't believe her. "Lucy, I just told you-"
"Yes, Loke, I know, you'll help me if I need it. Don't worry, I'm fine. Go save your baby, before the new kids destroy something." She shooed him off, not letting up until he finally made his way towards the kitchens. Once he was out of sight, she glanced over at the other table again before moving to the opposite side of her booth. She scooted next to the wall and opened her book again..
When the waiter came back, she assured him she was fine, she just preferred the light from that side of the table better. Despite having the book out, she couldn't seem to focus long enough to read more than a sentence before her thoughts were pulled away again. She continued to fight with herself through her meal.
She didn't even remember leaving or walking home, and when she arrived, she didn't question why Natsu wasn't home. She locked the door, checked all of her windows, and went to her room, where she locked and relocked the window, pulling the curtains tightly closed. She crawled into her bed, wrapped her blankets around herself, and continued to fight with the images that slowly forced their way to the forefront of her mind.
When Natsu returned shortly after and came to her door, she pretended she was asleep, refusing to acknowledge his questions or respond to his wishes for her to sleep well. Despite feeling safer wrapped up in her blankets, the dark made it more difficult to block out the memories. She considered turning on a light, but she didn't want to let Natsu know she was still awake. Despite how hard she fought it, the darkness in her mind eventually overtook her.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Lucy pressed her palms to her ears.
Manacles bit into her wrists, clanging against chains that bound her to the wall.
She rubbed at her wrists, twisting her shirt sleeves tight against them.
Rough palms squeezed her shins as her ankles were tied down.
She rubbed her hands up and down her legs, chasing the shivers away.
A heavy figure, one she couldn't make out through the hood over her head, sat on her stomach, holding her still as her waist was strapped down.
Lucy's arms wrapped protectively around her middle.
Her shirt was violently ripped from her body, causing goosebumps to appear all across her torso.
She tugged the blanket tighter around her as she curled tightly into herself. She whispered to herself while keeping her eyes wide open, staring at the clock across the room. "Breathe. You are safe. You are home. They cannot find you. Breathe. You are safe. You are home. They cannot find you…" It was much later when Lucy finally closed her eyes, her exhaustion pulling her into a restless sleep.
Natsu sat outside of Lucy's room, listening as her breathing finally leveled out. He'd felt her panic when she'd been at Loke's restaurant, causing him to race home. Unfortunately, she'd returned before him and locked herself in her room. He'd tried talking to her, but without giving away that he knew she was upset, and that she wasn't sleeping, he hadn't been able to do anything to help her.
He furrowed his brows as he adjusted his legs. Something had happened that had scared her. He was fairly certain that once she'd returned, the feeling had changed slightly. She was still scared, but it had an almost fuzzy quality to it, as though it was a fear that she was remembering, rather than experiencing for the first time. Natsu recalled everything he'd learned about Lucy since he'd met her, but she'd never told him about any incidents that would have caused this amount of anguish.
It reminded him of the way she'd felt when Midnight had found her. She hadn't mentioned it, but he knew she'd been struggling with nightmares since that night. The nightmares made him twitchy, and even if he had needed the sleep, he knew he wouldn't have been able to get any shut eye at night because of it. He worried that her dreams were going to get even worse after whatever had happened.
Natsu listened to her breathing even out as he tried to figure out what he could do to help her. His options weren't good, and because of his unique position in her life, he decided that he was probably the best being suited to helping her through whatever was wrong. He grit his teeth, upset with himself for his decision to invade her privacy and potentially lose her trust, but he saw no other way.
He sighed as he raised his hand towards the knob of her door, easily unlocking it. He chanted quietly, coaxing her door open silently before reaching out with his magic to bring her phone to him. Once it was safely in his hand and her door was shut, he carefully made his way down the hall to the kitchen. He pulled open the phone after checking to make sure it was late enough. When he realized it was locked, he fought with himself, again, before using his magic to unlock it. It drained him to use the magic, but that didn't bother him.
The phone only rang once before it was answered. "Lucy? You okay? I'm glad you called-"
"It's not Lucy, it's Natsu."
There was a pause. "Natsu, why do you have her phone? I know she locks it, how did you get it open?"
"That doesn't matter right now."
"What do you mean, it-"
Natsu couldn't stop the growl that came out of his mouth. He managed to cut it off quickly, but he knew the other man had heard him. "Just don't worry about it right now, it's not important." His voice was lower and rougher than usual, but he couldn't do anything about it. "I need to talk to you."
There was a heavy pause. "What do you need?"
It was almost an hour after he called Loke that Natsu finally returned to the hallway. He worked his magic to open her door and return her phone, but before he could leave, her breathing changed. He paused in the doorway as he listened to her heartbeat speed up and her breaths change to short gasps. The anger in his system mixed with the fear that began to emanate from the woman in the bed, creating a volatile mix.
He was restless. He wanted to help, needed to help, but he had to wait for Loke to get him more information before he could. He'd never been good at waiting around- he'd always been an action first, questions later kind of being. Fire began to lick its way up his arms, causing him to reach up to grasp his scarf. It always seemed to help him calm down, and he needed to do it quickly if he didn't want to wake Lucy up.
She began to mumble, her words hushed and frantic sounding. As Natsu watched, she began to thrash around, knocking her blanket off her chest. Her fear filled the air around her, thickening it. Natsu pulled his scarf over his nose, hoping the comforting smell would help him breathe more easily. As he adjusted the material, he suddenly had an idea.
He quickly unraveled his scarf from around his neck and moved towards the bed. Leaning over, he carefully wrapped the material around Lucy's neck twice, tucking one of the ends close to her face and spreading the other one along her body to help warm her clammy skin. After a while, her breathing seemed to even out as her movements slowed to a stop. Eventually she sighed and rolled onto her side, clutching the fabric of his scarf with both hands. Natsu grinned as he slowly pulled her blanket back over her body.
Take that, Erza! I helped without punching anything! Natsu's eyes widened as he put his hands over his face. He had a bad habit of reaching out for her when he didn't mean to, even when he was just thinking to himself. If Erza came now, it would ruin everything! I wasn't calling you! We're fine! Everything's fine! I didn't mean it! He waited with baited breath to see if he'd accidentally summoned her. When he was certain he hadn't, he tiptoed his way to the door and shut it behind him, careful to lock it without making a sound.
After he made it back to his room, he set an alarm so he could retrieve his scarf before Lucy woke up and went back to planning his trip with Lucy. He had some changes to make- specifically, the date that they would be leaving.
