The next day, Lucy set to work, scratching away at her list in the same place at the guild. The mission had proved to be fairly uneventful, but Natsu had managed to squeeze in pick-up lines whenever they were alone and within earshot, culminating in him asking if she saw any Rune Knights around, because he was going to steal her heart. The worst part about it had been that, when he'd said that line to her, her traitorous heart had indeed thumped, as if it was agreeing that it was going to be stolen.

She couldn't figure out why she was having these reactions to her partner. So what if he was saying all sorts of cheesy stuff to her? That shouldn't be affecting her.

And to make it all worse, the only semi-decent line she'd been able to get back at him had been, "Was that an earthquake, or did you just rock my world?" And, honestly, she wasn't even sure whether or not that was true anymore.

Groaning loudly, she plopped her head down onto her folded arms. Even though she had come to the guild early to work on some better lines, she wasn't really making much headway.

A voice behind her startled her. "Hey, Luce, you ok?"

Jumping, she whipped around and saw Natsu standing behind her. "Oh, it's you. You scared me. Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

Casually, he said, "Oh, I was just wondering if it hurt."

Confused, she asked, "If what hurt?"

"When you fell from heaven."

She stared at him, and a smile slipped out in spite of herself. "I think you might have me confused with Angel."

Looking her up and down with exaggerated care, Natsu propped his thumb and forefinger on his chin. "Hmm, maybe I do," he agreed. "What's your name again?"

She laughed, and decided to play along, interested to see where his antics were going. "Lucy, you weirdo."

"Lucy, huh?" He dropped his hand and smiled. "Can I just call you mine?"

She laughed, feeling a little lighter. She decided to try one of her own pick-up lines. Fanning herself, she said, "Woo, slow down there a little, it's getting hot in here." Squinting at him, she asked, "Or is that just you?"

Grinning in reply, he said, "It must be, because you've got me all fired up!"

"What are you two idiots going on about?" a gruff voice interrupted.

Startled, Lucy looked around and noticed Gajeel sitting at the table behind them, giving them an odd look. She had been getting so into their battle, she had forgotten that they were in a fairly public place. Blushing, she opened her mouth to reply, but her idiot partner beat her to it.

"Oh, I'm trying to pick up Lucy."

Gajeel's eyes widened visibly. "What's that now, Salamander? Finally got the balls to ask out Bunny Girl?"

Lucy's open mouth gaped now. What? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Natsu took advantage of her being dumbstruck and barreled on with his explanation. "Nah, not like that, man. We're having a battle!"

Gajeel took a drink out of the mug in front of him. "Don't look like much of a fight to me," he said.

Lucy struggled to find her voice before Natsu could make the situation worse. "No, no, Gajeel, he's saying it all wrong. We're having a pick-up line fight. We're each trying to come up with the best pick-up line within a week. Well, six days now, I guess, since yesterday was the first day. Anyway, that's what we were doing, nothing weird, just…" realizing she was beginning to babble out of nerves, she snapped her mouth shut, and prayed that her idiot dragon slayer wouldn't complicate her explanation any further.

Gajeel raised one eyebrow, and looked at both of them in turn. "Yeah, is that what's going on? Because it sounded pretty weird."

Lucy's hopes of Natsu shutting up evaporated as he asked, "You mean you never used a pick-up line on Levy?"

Sputtering into his mug, Gajeel set it down with a thunk and coughed heartily. "Nah, I never needed to do any of that shit," he growled.

"Huh. Don't you think she'd like it, though?" Natsu asked.

Cheeks starting to stain red, Gajeel turned away and muttered, "I don't see why she would."

"Why not? Girls like stuff like that, don't they?"

Abruptly, Gajeel stood up. "I don't know, Salamander!" he snapped. "Anyway, can you two keep your creepy little game to yourselves from now on?" He stormed off.

Watching him go, Natsu grumbled, "What's his deal?"

Lucy growled, "He was embarrassed, Natsu! You didn't have to keep pushing him like that! Asking what he says to Levy, of course you're going to make him uncomfortable!"

Turning to her and tipping his head in a way that Lucy found entirely too adorable, he asked, "Why? The guys always ask him about Levy, and we do the same to any other guys with girlfriends."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lucy tried to explain to this idiot why he should have common courtesy. "Because, Natsu, people don't generally like others prying into their relationships. I guess it might be different when it's with just you boys in a group, but not with me or other people around."

Natsu stared at her for a second, and then said flatly, "I still don't see what the big deal is. But I guess," he continued, "I'll try to stop, if you really feel that strongly about it."

"Thanks, Natsu," Lucy smiled at him, hoping that he'd remember his promise and avoid making Levy feel uncomfortable in the future.

He stretched his arms up languidly and said, "Anyway, Luce, wanna take a job today? Happy still won't be back for at least a few more days, so we might as well do some work, huh?"

She squinted at him. "Depends. How many more pick-up lines do you plan to use on me today?"

"Ohhh, scared already, are ya?"

"No way!" she protested, standing up abruptly. "Come on, let's go! Bring it on, fire brain!"

Natsu laughed at her. "That line needs work. But at least you're cute."

Lucy sputtered, "What? Well, that pick-up line sucked, too!"

"That wasn't a line, I was just saying you're cute. Now come on, let's go pick a job!" Turning around, he left Lucy to follow after him, confused and blushing scarlet.