Natsu collapsed himself onto the couch, and glanced around the room, "So…" he began, "If you're not a vampire…"

"I'm not." Lucy snapped.

"Then why'd you got two things of blood?" he asked, pointing to the vial on the counter, next to her magic book.

"It's not just any blood!" she replied, "I need this specific blood!"

"A picky vampire." Natsu replied.

"I'm not a vampire! I'm a witch!" she snapped, before slamming her hands against her mouth.

"A blood-loving witch, then," Natsu replied, "what type of blood is this specific blood anyway?"

Her eyes widened, "You're not gonna sell me out?"

"Sell you out?" he asked, "Why would I do that?"

"Cause I'm a witch?"

"And I'm a dragon, you're point?" he asked before his eyes went wide and he covered his mouth with his hand, causing Lucy to get a little anxious, "did you kill someone?"

"What!" Lucy replied, "No! Of course not!"

"Whew! I thought I was in danger!" He replied, and let out his breath.

Lucy shyly smiled, "Yeah, you're safe here."

"Sweet!" he replied, and threw his arms back, relaxing himself into the cushions, "So much comfier than a bush…" he closed his eyes, before he opened them again, "Hey!"

She jumped, "What?"

"You never answered my question!" he exclaimed, as Happy jumped onto his lap.

"What question?" Lucy asked, clearly knowing which one he referred to.

"What blood are you collecting, and why is it so special?" he asked.

"Oh…" she replied, and turned away from him, she grabbed the book, and handed it to him, it was still being opened to the page she had it on, she glanced away from him as she let him read the pages.

"Uh…" he stared down at the book in confusion, "What kinda writing is this?"

"The potion might be ancient, but my mother had translated this book for me so I could read it, what do you mean what kind of writing is it?" she asked, glaring at him, "Can you read?"

"Of course I can read!" he replied, defensive, "These aren't even letters, though!" he pointed to the pages.

"Of course they are!" she stated, pushed him over on the couch as she sat beside him, grabbing one side of the book from him, "It says 'Breaking A Demon's Seal.'"

"You made that up." he replied, before taking the book from her, "it says, 'ajn sdff fkbd.'"

"You can't even read." she laughed.

He pouted, "I can read! Igneel taught me how to read!" Happy now perched on his head.

She scrubbed her fingers behind the cat's ears, "He doesn't know how to read, does he, Happy?"

"Stop talking to him like he's a baby!" Natsu replied, "and I'm right here."

"He's just embarrassed that he can't read, right, Happy?" she said, continuing to pet the cat's soft blue ears.

"I'm right here!" Natsu stated.

Lucy stood up, the book in hand, "Well, if you can't read, then you'll never know what kind of blood I need."

"Not sure I want to know anymore." Natsu replied, trying to pull Happy off his head.

"Really?" she asked, walking back to put the book back by her vials of blood, she had placed the new one beside it. She glanced down at the two vials.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird anyway, vampire lady." grabbing Happy's torso, and pulling him, as the cat's claws dug into his scalp.

"I'm not a vampire!" Lucy shouted back, as she knelt down a little and looked at the two vials, before deciding to test the new one.

"I'm not judging!" he stated, prying the cat's claws off him, "I think vampires are cool!" he said.

"Vampires don't exist, Natsu." she said, glancing over at him as she studied her tests.

"What do you mean?" he stated, finally pulling the cat off his head, "Ouch, Happy, why'd you do that?"

"Well, sure, bats exist." she stated, as she wrote down her notes.

"Yeah, bats, vampires, what's the difference?" Natsu asked, as he rose from the couch, leaving Happy alone on it.

"There are different kinds of bats, and I'm not a bat." Lucy stated, as she glanced back at the vial.

"I can see that! What different kinds of bats are-" he interrupted himself, "Who's the fish?"

"Fish?" Lucy asked, turning around, "What fish?" she noticed he was looking at her dog, "Plue's a dog."

"He looks like a fish, right Happy?" the cat was suddenly on his shoulder now.

"How do you get along with a cat anyway?" she asked.

"You're right, Plue!" he laughed, before looking up at her, "Happy's my friend, of course we get along." he stated, as Happy pawed his face, "That was one time, and they taste better roasted."

"Can you understand them?" she asked, before realizing it was a stupid question, he was an animal, too.

"Duh, can't you?"

"No."

"Oh," he glanced behind her, "What are you doing anyway?"

"Nothing important." she replied, turning around quickly, "you're a dragon, right?"

"Yeah, you already know that."

She looked at her vials, "Are you powerful?"

"Hell yeah!" he grinned, "I'm really strong!"

"That's great," she smiled, "do you heal fast?"

"Duh," he frowned, "I'm a dragon."

She turned around, and smiled, "Make yourself comfortable here, but don't go in my storage, my bedroom, on this side of the room, or anywhere but the living room, and the outhouse, obviously. Also, don't mess anything up! And where the nightgown I'm gonna get ya, when you go to bed, got it?"

His eyes were wide, "So this room is my room?" he asked, pointing at the floor.

"Yes, pretty much."

"I can't touch anything?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"I have to wear the dress?"

"It's a must."

"And Happy gets to roam around?"

"He's a cat, not some random eighteen year old boy!" she accused.

"What's wrong with being eighteen?" he asked.

"It's the fact that you're a boy." she frowned at him, narrowing her brows.

"Oh." he sighed, and slouched onto the ground, "It's better than the bushes, it's better than the bushes, it's better than the bushes." he repeated to himself.

"Stop sulking!" Lucy sighed, and hit him over the head, before she turned around, and decided to make herself a little dinner, him as well, she guessed.

After a good hour and a half, Lucy sat down at the small table in her living room, not failing to notice Natsu's apparent sleeping form, though he was still human, so she assumed he wasn't actually asleep. Taking a chance, she poked his cheek, which in turn caused his eyes to open, as he looked over at her. Even if they still, technically were, dragon eyes, the pupils a thin line in the onyx color irises, which contrasted the white of his eye, though making them all the more enticing.

"I almost had it damn it," he muttered before sitting up, "What is it?"

"Wow, no manners, I'm your host, idiot. This is my house!" she frowned, before sliding off the couch, "I made dinner, if you want to eat."

"Do I want to eat? Is that even a question?" he asked, as he slipped off the couch, and sat cross-legged at the small table, the cat pawing at the fish spread.

"What did you almost have, anyway?" Lucy asked, as she poked her food with her fork.

"Staying in human form when I'm sleeping," he replied, before letting a small flame escape his mouth as he roasted her cooking even further. He plopped it in his mouth before turning to the cat, "I told you I almost had it, would you stop doubting me?"

"Don't catch my house on fire." Lucy reminded him.

"I wasn't." He pouted.

After a little while, Natsu slumped against the table, while watching Lucy eat. He tilted his head to the side as she stabbed her fish again, his mouth opened, and he watched her put it in her mouth, "So…" she spoke, glancing down at him, his pink hair flattening against the table, "are you just gonna keep staring at me?"

"No," he replied, sitting up.

"What was it, something on my face? Me? Am I tasty to you?" she asked.

Natsu face jumped back some, before he stuck out his tongue, she noticed it had a small slit at the end, like a snake's, "Yuck!" shook his head, "why would I eat a person? No, I was just wondering if you had any more food."

"Not for today," she answered, before handing half the fishbone over to Happy, and the other to Plue, "Can I see the bones?" she asked, "I'm gonna let them chew off the excess fish."

"Bones?" Natsu asked, before turning to Happy, "What is she talking about?" The cat looked up at him, and meowed, before chewing on the fishbone he received. Natsu looked back over to Lucy, "I ate those."

"You ate them?" she asked.

"Yeah, was I not supposed to?" he asked.

"Well, no, you could, they're full of calcium, but normally people don't eat bones," she began explaining before noticing the wings on his back, "but I guess dragons do, I don't know, I've never met one."

"Yeah, and it's a real bummer for you, too." Natsu replied, "Dragons are awesome!"

"I can imagine. They're a match to demons, right?"

"Demons?" Natsu questioned, "Yeah, they are, though I've never fought a demon yet."

Lucy stood, and grabbed the wooden plates, to bring them back to the washing bucket, "So, when did you come to this forsaken land, anyway?"

He smiled, "I don't know, I've been looking for Igneel. He went missing when I was ten."

Lucy frowned, "So you're telling me that you've been on this land since you were ten?"

"Yeah. Seven years ago, right?"

"You would have been eleven."

"Same difference," he waved his hand in dismissal, "I've been traveling places, and then Happy hatched a year later, so we've been searching for him together, but to no luck."

"You've gone into towns looking like that?" she pointed to the wings on his back.

"No, Happy tells me I should wear a coat over it, so they don't show." he put a hand to his head, "I can hide these pretty easily, though."

"No wonder there have been no reports of a human-dragon hybrid." Lucy sighed, "Happy must be a smart cat."

Natsu frowned, and covered Happy's ears, "Don't give him any ideas."

"Does he even understand me?"

"Of course he does," Natsu replied, before bringing his hand back, and shaking it.

"He doesn't seem to like you, though. Maybe he thinks you're gonna eat him."

"No, Happy never thinks that, Luce." Natsu replied, blowing on his hand.

"It's Lucy," Lucy corrected, "You sure?" she reached over and began petting Plue.

"Yeah, we've been best friends for ages." Natsu replied before standing up and stretching, "I need to stretch my wings."

"Too cramped for ya?" Lucy teased, though she knew her cottage was small.

"No, it's just hard to stay in this form all the time." he replied, "Plus, I've used a lot of energy trying to maintain it while sleeping. Don't worry, if I eat some good fire, and food, I can stay in this form til I go to bed."

"Don't fly up in the sky." Lucy called, "Also, aren't dragons supposed to be huge?"

"Yeah," Natsu replied, as he walked out of her cottage, "I'll be bigger with more fire, and more energy, I haven't eaten in a while, so…" he trailed off as he unbuckled the belt.

Lucy hadn't noticed since his back was turned to her, "So, the more powerful you are, the bigger you are?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Natsu replied, as he pulled off the coat, and turned to her, "It's more like if I don't have enough power I can't reach my actual size."

"So right now, you're about the size of five cats."

"Seven." Natsu corrected, "Seven cats."

"You were about the size of four or five cats when I put you on that wagon." Lucy pointed to the wooden wagon.

"Oh." Natsu replied, "Well, I did get cut in the back yesterday, so, that'd make sense."

"Cut in the back?" Lucy asked, as she recalled the red scales covering the wound it looked like he had.

"Yeah, there was this girl in the woods, she had blond hair and…" he trailed off, "you." he pointed at her, as he kicked off his sandals, his pants and scarf the only things on him now."

"Me?" she asked.

"Yeah!" he replied, "some guy said something weird, and claimed he was like a salamander, but," he giggled, "he didn't even know what dragon flames looked like!"

"You saved me?" she asked, "You were stabbed?"

He smiled, "Of course! He was annoying."

"So it was your blood I woke up this morning."

"You really like blood don't ya?" Natsu asked, with a disgusted look on his face.

"No, I don't like it, I hate it! It makes me want to throw up when I see wounds, and injuries." Lucy defended herself.

"Not in my experience," Natsu replied, putting his hands on the hem of his pants.

Lucy's eyes widened and she turned around, "Just don't fly too high." she walked back inside, as she heard wings flap behind her. She turned around to see him in his dragon form, the scarf still around his neck, as he shot up into the setting sky. She watched in silent wonder, as he did a few laps around her roof, before flying off beyond the trees that hid her home. Slowly, she re-entered her home, and glanced around. She now had a dragon living in her home. Sure, he changed into some human form with the magic he possessed, which still didn't make much sense to her, but he was still a powerful dragon that was supposed to be extinct ages ago.

She picked up Plue and Happy, and made her way to her bedroom, where she placed them on her bed, smiling as they fell back to sleep on each other. She opened up her closet, and glanced around, she found a large nightgown that she had hoped she would get fitted, but the fairy refused to service witches. She laid it out on the bed beside the sleeping pets, and sighed, it was probably too frilly for his taste. She turned around and eyed a cloak she had been harboring for the chances she had to travel. She pulled it off the rack, and made her way back to her main living space to lay it on the couch.

She heard the flapping of wings again, and turned over to her giant pot, she wanted a cauldron, but this had to do until the black-magic market sold them again. She glanced over at the herbs she had, and decided to mix together the potion she'd use to draw onto the ground, breaking the seal of Aquarius. She threw a few extra logs onto the fire under her pot to make it boil faster, as she chopped the steps off the herbs she gathered so all she had were the leaves. She heard the door open, but didn't dare turn around.