So… my husband and I recently started a new Minecraft server, so my free time is now split between that and writing. I apologize that things will slow down for a while, but video games are my only craving right now and I've never been good at denying myself.
I'm very pleased with the positive responses for the last chapter! I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves, and honestly… I don't know how Lucy is going to top that gift either, (begins to sweat internally.)
As always, thanks for all the love and happy reading!
Lucy jerked awake as her coffee pot buzzed, letting her know it was finished brewing. Her jaw cracked as she yawned and got up to fill her mug before allowing her body to run on auto pilot and prepare it.
She had been up way too long the previous night. Natsu had been insatiable once he'd discovered the feelings that could be produced with touch. They hadn't done anything different after the first time, except that Lucy had lost the energy to reciprocate after the… third time? Even then he had continued, apparently finding enough satisfaction in just making her finish. The images running through her head made her body flush despite her exhaustion.
Natsu had been a very attentive student, and he'd practiced his new skills until Lucy had begged him to stop.
A quiet groan escaped Lucy despite herself. As amazing as it had been, she hoped Natsu wouldn't expect every night to be that way. She wasn't sure she could handle it, not to mention the lack of sleep that came with it. Natsu might only need an hour or two, but she needed a human amount of sleep. Maybe she'd have to remind him to experiment on his own as well…
Once she returned to the table, she laid her head down in her arms, giving herself a moment to regain enough energy to lift her mug to drink.
"Mornin' Luce." Natsu's voice interrupted her body's attempt to fall asleep again.
"Mmm." Lucy didn't even bother to raise her head when she responded.
She heard him begin to open cupboards. "Tired?"
"Mmmhmm."
"Would you, uh, like me to get you something?"
"Mmm."
There was a pause. "I don't know what that means."
"'m good," she mumbled into her arms.
"Okay."
Natsu continued to put the things together he'd need to make some eggs and hashbrowns, occasionally glancing back at Lucy who appeared to have fallen asleep at the table. He let out a breath when she began to softly snore.
The previous night had been… Natsu couldn't find an appropriate word to describe the experience. It had far surpassed anything he'd done prior in his life, and he could only imagine it would get better. He was eagerly waiting for the next time they could be together, even if she continued to restrict what they could do.
However, Natsu couldn't shake the embarrassment that had popped up as soon as he'd seen Lucy that morning. The night before, despite being in a situation he'd never been in before, he had felt confident, he'd felt good, he'd felt like the best version of himself. This morning, in the light of day… he felt less sure of himself. He noted that he felt like something was missing since the previous night, like the fire he normally felt in his belly wasn't as hot as usual. He was also strangely the only presence inside his skull. Normally seeing Lucy would wake up that extra thing in his head, but today he didn't feel anything. Perhaps the two things were related?
Lucy jerked a little and then raised her head, blinking rapidly as she looked around. With a sigh, she lifted her coffee and took a long drink.
"Natsu, about last night…"
Instantly, the heat in Natsu's belly flared and his face began to burn. He turned away quickly, trying to pretend he was only working on breakfast. "Uh, yeah? What about it?"
"I just… I wanted to make sure you won't be expecting what happened last night to happen all the time."
Stomach suddenly in knots, Natsu faltered as he cracked the eggs in the bowl. He began to dig the shell pieces out as he cleared his throat. Had he misinterpreted something? "Did I, uh, do something wrong? Not that you need to tell me why you don't want to do it again. It's just a curiosity thing. Nevermind-"
Lucy cut him off. "Natsu, that's not what I said." When she appeared at his elbow, he nearly jumped out of his skin.
She turned his face her way and then got up on tiptoe to kiss him. He was stiff at first, but she eventually coaxed him into kissing her back. When she pulled away, she rubbed his nose with hers, surprising him. "I wasn't saying I don't want to do that again, I was just saying I can't do it every night… at least, not that much."
Her eyes darted away as her cheeks pinkened. "It's kind of exhausting, and I need sleep. So we can do it again, just not so much, okay?"
Natsu nodded as she pulled away and returned to the kitchen table. With the air somewhat cleared, the rest of the morning was more relaxed as the pair ate and finished some prep work for the following day.
Around noon, Lucy's phone went off while she was snoozing in her bed. She rolled over and hit the answer button when she saw it was her friends.
Levy's was the first face to appear in the video chat. "Happy Christmas Eve, Lu!"
"Isn't it Merry Christmas Eve?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, well, everyone says that. I thought I'd shake it up a bit."
Lucy chuckled. "Calm down over there, don't want you going overboard."
"Haha."
Cana appeared next, looking tired but in good spirits. "Morning losers, what's going on?"
"It's after noon," Levy said as she checked her watch.
"Someone looks happy today," Lucy added.
Cana grinned. "I'm always happy, what are you talking about?"
"Babe, you got anything to eat around her?" A muffled voice called out from the background before Cana covered the mouthpiece and called back.
Lucy and Levy were both waiting expectantly when she returned. "What?" she asked.
"Oh come on," Levy said.
"Was that Bacchus?" Lucy asked.
"Who else would it be? I want details! How long has this been going on?" Levy laid down, angling her phone so the lamp didn't turn her into a black blob.
"A little while," Cana answered, "but it's not a big deal. There's no relationship or anything, it's just sex."
Lucy only grinned as Levy tried to probe further. She knew if she said the wrong thing, Cana would undoubtedly figure out what she'd done the previous night, and she didn't want the questions.
"So where's Juvia?" Cana asked eventually, in a final attempt to change the subject.
"She's traveling with Gray today," Lucy answered, taking pity on her friend. "I doubt she'll pay any attention to her phone while she's away, so I wouldn't expect her to join us." She rolled onto her stomach.
"I still don't see- Lucy what is that?" Cana's face moved in so close only her nose and one eye were visible in her picture.
"What's what?" Lucy asked.
"Oh my gosh," Levy gasped, "you have a hickey!"
"What?" Lucy felt her cheeks begin to burn. "What are you talking about?"
"On your boob, blondie." Cana's face pulled back again, her smile wide and eyes knowing. "You can't hide something like that from me."
Lucy looked down and realized her tank top had gotten pulled down when she'd rolled over. She groaned as she pulled it up to hide the bite mark on her breast. "It's just a bruise, guys."
"Put there by a man's mouth," Cana argued. "So, did you finally ride that roommate of yours?"
"Cana!"
"Seriously Lu, who else would it be?" Levy asked. "It's been pretty obvious the last few weeks that you're into him, and you're not the type of girl to bang just anyone. I thought you two weren't dating?"
So much for keeping things quiet for a while. Lucy sighed. "We've been dating for a little while, but the physical stuff only started happening last night."
Lucy's response was met with squeals from Levy and woots from Cana.
"That's amazing, Lu!" Levy said. "I'm so glad you've found someone special!"
"So was he any good?" Cana asked, her face coming up close to the camera. "You look pretty tired. Does that mean it was a, ahem, late night?"
"She's even still in bed," Levy added. "Were you not able to walk this morning? Oh!" Her eyes lit up. "Did he bring you breakfast in bed?!"
"Or were you breakfast in bed?" Cana asked with a wiggle of her eyes.
Lucy groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "It's not like that. It's not that simple. He…"
"Was so good you're speechless?" Cana finished for her.
"No, it's not- well, I wouldn't say he wasn't-"
Levy began to squeal again. "Lucy, that's so amazing, I'm so happy for you!"
"Yeah yeah, we're glad she got boned," Cana said. "I want deets, Heartfilia, so spill."
Lucy sighed, not sure she wanted to share her special night with them, but she knew she wouldn't get away with telling them nothing. She told them about Natsu's gift and played it off as a romantic picnic dinner with stargazing that just evolved. Which was somewhat true.
"So you guys didn't actually…" Levy trailed off.
"No, I just- I don't know. I didn't feel ready for it."
Cana snorted. "It's sooner than she did anything with what's his face."
Levy nodded. "That's true. It took you over a year to sleep with your last boyfriend, so Natsu must be pretty dang special."
"Of course he is," Lucy said, a small smile spreading across her face. "He's… he's amazing."
Levy clapped her hands together in front of her mouth as Cana smiled. "Well we're happy for you, lady. Wait." Cana pulled the phone close again. "Where is Natsu?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. Napping maybe?"
"Why isn't he napping with you?" Levy asked. "I was pretty sure I woke you up from a nap when I called."
"Not quite. I was kind of dozing, but I hadn't been in here long. We were doing some last minute set up before tomorrow and I just wanted to lay down for a while."
"I'm sorry we won't be there," Levy apologized with a frown.
"Yeah, I'm not looking forward to my old man showing up today, but I owe him some time since he's making the effort." Cana shrugged. "Maybe I'll introduce him to Bacchus and mess with him a bit."
"You're lucky, Cana." Lucy rolled onto her back again. "You have a father who obviously loves you and dotes on you."
"When he's around," Cana said with a frown.
"You know he tries to come home as often as he can," Levy said. "His work just keeps him busy."
"Speaking of busy," Cana cut in, "when are you going to get busy wtih Gajeel?"
Levy's cheeks instantly went red and she began to stutter, causing the other two to shoot up from their relaxed positions and begin firing off questions.
In the hall, Natsu sneaked away back to the kitchen. He'd gone to ask Lucy about lunch, but decided not to interrupt. Hearing about Lucy being with someone else physically… the thought made his stomach burn and his fists clench. That someone else had seen her body and made her move the way he had…
Natsu jerked back when he realized his fist had lit on fire, burning the wall next to him. He quickly used his magic to fix the damage and made his way to the kitchen to distract himself with food.
Well, even if she had, it didn't sound like the guy had been so great, unlike what she'd said about him.
He's… he's amazing.
Those words spun around and around his head, making him smile and slowly pulling him out of the spiral his thoughts had started down.
Lucy was the amazing one. The woman had no idea how truly special she was. He'd met demons and dragons, humans and fae, gods and angels, and so many other races, but no one could compare to her. To her beauty, her kindness, her grace. She was the most wonderful person in all the realms and deserved everything that she could ever want.
With that in mind, Natsu began to make them lunch. He had to top his gift to her, but he didn't know how yet. Seeing her light up as she had, to see and feel the amount of happiness she'd felt, made him want to do it over and over and over again. Surely he could find something that great again.
By the time lunch had finished cooking, Natsu had begun to think about his missing friend. Not Happy this time, but that presence in his skull that seemed as devoted to Lucy as he was. He'd thought long and hard, trying to figure out what it could be, but he hadn't come up with much. He was certain it had something to do with Lucy, since he'd never sensed it before meeting her. Not to mention that it only showed up when she was around, or he was thinking particularly hard about her.
Except for today.
That worried Natsu. So far, his best guess was that it had just tired itself out being so present the previous night.
Despite it not taking over, it had been more involved the previous night, helping him when his instincts couldn't. It was almost as though its entire purpose was to please Lucy; to be devoted to her.
Combined with the times it made the fire in his belly burn even hotter, he was reminded of the stories his father had told him about dragon mates. His father had told him about how each dragon had one true mate. Someone who, if found, would earn that dragon's devotion, love, and protection for the entirety of the dragon's life. Not only that, but a dragon could draw on immense reserves of magical power for their mate that they could not reach otherwise.
The stories always made Natsu feel a little sad, since his father had lost his mate so many years before he'd been born. He'd never met them and he knew that the loss had been a huge hole in his father's life, one Igneel had said had been healed by his presence.
Natsu knew better. He'd been able to sense the sadness that lingered in his father every day that he lived. Despite the love he'd had for Natsu, he'd missed his mate, and no one could fill that hole.
Natsu finished putting the food on the already set table and went to get Lucy.
Perhaps he should try to get in touch with Grandeeney… She might be able to help him.
