As they approached the restaurant, Natsu bounced away right as Juvia grabbed Gray's hand.
"Please be seated." The hostess led them to a booth big enough for the group of five.
Juvia squeezed into Gray, sliding to sit next to him in the tiny booth, with Lucy and Natsu on the other side. Happy sat on a chair at the side of the table.
"May I say that you both are the cutest couple I have ever seen?" The hostess spoke to Gray and Juvia.
Immediately four of the five mages bristled.
"Don't look cute together at all!" They all yelled together.
"They aren't a couple," Happy explained helpfully.
"Oh. I'm sorry. My bad." The hostess apologized backing away as fast as she could.
"Juvia feels conflicted. She hates being in Lucy's body. It's preventing her from being happy that other people think of her and Gray-sama as a couple!"
"Me too Juvia. Having people think Gray and I are a couple is worse than having Aquarius try to drown me," Lucy deadpanned.
Gray opened his mouth indignantly. "And what's that supposed to mean?"
Still angry about his comment on her weight, Lucy was about to answer when Natsu cut in.
"It means that Lucy wouldn't want to date a creepy exhibitionist who can't even say what he wants, Ice Princess."
Gray shoved his face into Natsu's. "Oh yeah? Say that again flame brain!"
Lucy and Happy immediately began pulling on the two trying to break up the fight. Lucy was hungry and she wasn't going to let her two teammates get her kicked out of the restaurant. Of course Juvia cheering for Gray didn't help matters any.
Finally Lucy pulled out her trump card. "Both of you sit down or else I'll tell Erza that you two aggravated the situation instead of helping Juvia and I!"
"Aye!" The two squeaked and sat down immediately. Happy sat on Juvia or rather Lucy's shoulder. "Good job Lushy."
"Thanks," Lucy said dryly, looking at Happy on her body.
"So now what?" Natsu asked moodily.
"Now we order," Lucy shoved a menu into his face. "Cool down a little will ya? What's gotten into you Natsu?"
"I'm fine," the pinkette insisted. Lucy looked at Happy, waiting for him to agree with her, but the blue feline stayed strangely quiet. Lucy couldn't take it anymore. This was too strange even for Natsu. She stood up making the others look up at her. Reaching down, she tugged Natsu upwards.
"You know what? We'll go eat somewhere else. Happy, will you stay and watch to make sure Gray and Juvia don't do anything while she's in my body?"
"Aye sir!" Happy cheered, sticking a paw in the air, ignoring Gray's squawk of indignation and Juvia's squeak of embarrassment. Natsu only seemed confused but Lucy was a woman on a mission. There was something wrong with her partner and she was going to find out what.
"Weren't we staying together?" Natsu asked her as she dragged him along. "I needed to talk to you more." Lucy glanced at Natsu over her shoulder. It took him a moment to stop resisting before he nodded.
Natsu motioned at Lucy to stop moving before he pulled her towards a bench and sat them down. "Talk about what?"
"About whatever is wrong with you. You were acting fine before. So what happened?"
Natsu faced away from her. "Nothing's wrong."
"You know, I may look like Juvia but it's still Lucy in here. After everything, do you really think I won't be able to tell if you're alright or not?" Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand forcing him to look at her.
Natsu sighed, as he squinted at her. "It's just weird you know? I mean the whole switching bodies thing is kinda freaky."
"We've done it before. Remember? And this one seems a lot less extreme," Lucy pointed out.
Natsu refused to look her in the eye. "How's this? We can talk properly once you're back in your own body? Okay? I just need things to be back to normal."
Lucy blinked. "Is this because of your thing with change?" Natsu nodded jerkily making Lucy frown. "But...you know that unlike last time this isn't permanent. It'll wear off…" she trailed off.
"Like I said, it's weird." Lucy laughed. "Okay, I'll let it go for now. I want a more thorough explanation when we get back. Now let's go eat," she commanded.
"Aye sir!" Natsu replied, acting like himself again. Lucy couldn't help but blush seeing his boyish grin. "Let's go back Lucy." She nodded silently.
They'd just reached back to the restaurant, intent on eating when they saw their other teammates standing outside.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia was chasing Gray around the restaurant while Happy was flying around laughing. Lucy felt her eyebrow twitch.
She cleared her throat, making Happy jump. "I thought I told you to watch them?"
"Aye! I am watching them," Happy told her proudly. Lucy groaned. She should've known Happy would take it literally. "Why aren't you all eating?" She questioned him.
Happy shrugged, "Well…."
Gray was looking away from the table watching the other customers. He shifted uncomfortably away from Juvia who was heavily leaning on him. Happy's sharp eyes seemed to be watching his every move, as immediately the blue feline began snickering.
He glared at the cat. Happy gave Gray an innocent look. He sighed, there really was no stopping Happy from making fun of him.
"Why did Lucy drag Natsu out of here anyway?" He questioned the Exceed. Happy gave Gray a look before glancing at Juvia. Out of reflex, he looked over to see Lucy looking quite sad. No, it was Juvia. She just looked like Lucy, he reminded himself.
He'd ask Juvia if she was alright later. "What was with that flame brain anyway? He seemed… weird," Gray put it, unable to think of another word.
Happy only smiled coyly, clearly knowing something he wasn't willing to share. Well, unluckily for him, Gray was quite determined to get an answer.
First he tried a bribe. He waved the menu in Happy's face. "Check this out. This restaurant has the rare salmon from Clearwater Poisson."
Happy's eyes grew wide. "Clearwater Poisson? The most natural fish, that are supposed to taste ten times better than regular fish?" His eyes were sparkling, and Gray could see the longing.
He nodded. "Little out of your price range though." It was the most expensive thing on the menu, around 9000 jewel. Happy didn't have that kind of money for a single fish. The restaurant was surprisingly classy, Gray noted.
Happy drooped. "I could buy it for you," Gray offered. "For a price."
Happy seemed to be struggling. Then Juvia spoke up, "Juvia could buy it for you Happy. You love fish too much for something like money to get in the way," she spoke passionately, giving Gray a side-along glance.
He on the other hand, gave her a betrayed look.
"Aye!" Happy chirped. "You're the best Juvia!"
"Juvia had to Gray-sama! Happy loves fish so much, how could anyone keep it away from him?"
Gray sighed. He tried to do the threats, but Happy would respond by flying far out of reach. Gray gave up. He'd let Happy keep his secret.
"Are you ready to order?" The hostess had come back and was smiling brightly. "I see you've lost two of your group?"
"They'll be back soon," Gray drawled. She giggled, causing Gray to frown. He hadn't said anything funny had he? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Juvia shiver. "You alright?" He asked feeling a little worried. What if there were other effects to this spell?
Juvia shook her head quickly. "Juvia is fine, Gray-sama." He nodded at her.
"So, are you ordering?" The hostess asked again. This time she leaned closer to Gray, as she twirled her hair. Gray leaned back to avoid the scent of her perfume.
"You know what you want?" Gray checked with Juvia. She nodded, so he shrugged at the hostess. He glanced back at Juvia, wondering if her looking tense was just his imagination.
It was hard to tell, since he rarely saw Lucy suppress anything she was feeling, after all.
"I'll take the kale salad," Juvia said shortly.
"That, a burger with fries and," he sighed. "The salmon crystale."
The hostess grinned at him, and ran a hand down his arm. "You got it handsome. And I won't even make you wear your shirt." Then she winked at him.
Juvia shot straight up. "That's it," she growled before pouncing on the hostess.
"...the waitress decided that since we said Gray and Juvia weren't a couple, it was okay to hit on him."
"And then Juvia declared her a love rival and nearly committed murder," Lucy guessed correctly. Happy shot her a thumbs up, indicating she was right in her assumption.
"And then we got kicked out," Happy concluded. "I didn't even get my fish!"
Lucy sighed tiredly. She was exhausted, the sooner they reverted back the better.
Happy laughed at her expression. Natsu was snickering too but he looked a little tense. Deciding she'd definitely confront him once she had her own body back, she moved to stop Gray and Juvia.
"Guys come on! Stop fooling around."
"You think I'm doing this of my own free will?" Gray squawked at her, as he ducked behind them using her as a shield. Happy flew in front of Juvia, distracting her for a moment.
Lucy rolled her eyes as she turned towards him. "What's new here? Why are you making this more difficult right now?"
"Because!" Gray sputtered. "Because it's weird when she looks like you." Lucy blinked at Gray, having to concede the point. She saw him a little like an older brother, and it was weird for Lucy too, seeing herself chase after Gray.
Natsu cleared his throat, sounding quite irritated. Gray shot Natsu a pointed look, but Lucy couldn't decipher its meaning. In that much time Juvia had come around, and was glowering at Lucy.
"Love Rival," she snarled as she prepared to latch on to Gray. The ice mage moved quickly out of the way, though he seemed to be watching Juvia closely.
Lucy grabbed Juvia's or rather her own arm to stop her from trying to pounce on Gray and that's when they both went tumbling to the ground.
"Lucy!" Natsu's voice was all she heard right before a white light flashed before her eyes.
Took awhile but here it is! Of course my inspiration returns when I need to be studying for midterms. Pretty typical actually. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy!