The job they settled on involved retrieving an item for a client, and ended up taking a few days total. It wasn't overly complicated…at least on the magic side of things. Seeing as it was just the two of them, Lucy was subjected to an almost endless volley of pick-up lines over the course of the three days, and was able to counteract them with a disappointingly small amount of her own. At the end of the mission, she had grudgingly agreed that Natsu was currently winning when he had pulled out, "I value my breath, so can you stop taking it away every time I see you?" This had only served to fuel her determination to win, though. Her pride as a writer was rearing up, and she was resolved to prove herself. It hadn't occurred to her that not being able to write a decent pick-up line didn't actually have much bearing on her ability as a serious writer.
The morning of the day after they returned found her at a table in the guild hall, scribbling furiously on a sheet of paper, until her eyes were covered from behind by rough hands that she recognized immediately by feel.
"Natsu, what are you doing?" she sighed.
She heard the grin in his voice as he asked, "What do you see?"
She could feel the pick-up line coming, but answered anyway. "Nothing right now. Why?"
"Well, that's my life without you."
Her shoulders slumped as she groaned, and the hands were dropped from her eyes. She tipped her head backwards, and it bumped gently against her partner's stomach. Her heart beat a bit faster at their proximity, but she willed it to be quiet and rested her head comfortably against him as she demanded, "Weren't these last couple days enough for you to do your pick-up lines?"
He smiled down at her, and she noted that his cheeks were tinged with pink. "Nah, it's not enough until I win the contest in a couple days." She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off. "Hey, now that I can see your face up close, I have a question. Was your dad a thief? Because someone stole the stars from the sky and put them in your eyes."
She saw her opening. Letting a smirk play over her lips, she asked, "Are you sure about that? Because I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with my eyes. I can't take them off of you."
Natsu laughed. "That's probably because your face is so close to me, weirdo. Isn't that hurting your neck bending it back like that?"
Realizing he was right, Lucy winced as she said, "Yeah, I guess it does," and attempted to lever it back upright. As she was struggling, she felt a hand cup itself gently on the back of her head and help lift it up.
"Thanks," she mumbled, ducking down her flushed face as she spoke.
Sliding onto the bench next to hear, Natsu asked, "Hey, Lucy, you see my friend over there?" She followed his finger and saw that he was indicating Gray. "Who, Gray?" she asked incredulously, uncertain whether he was actually referring to the ice wizard as his friend.
"Yeah, him. He wants to know if you think I'm cute," Natsu finished, smirking at her confusion.
Lucy groaned and plopped her head down onto her arms. She really should start seeing his pick-up lines coming.
A finger poked her arm. "Hey, Luce."
She groaned. "Whaaat?"
Apparently ignoring her blatant annoyance, Natsu said, "Can you name all 21 letters of the alphabet?"
Although she was suspicious, Lucy raised her head and looked at her partner quizzically. "21 letters? Don't you mean 26?"
"Oh, that's right, there are 26 letters! I must have forgotte T!"
Lucy just stared at him for a second, decided that it wasn't worth trying to talk to him any longer, and plunked her head back down onto the table.
"Aw, come on, Luce." He poked her arm again, but she ignored him this time. "Lucyyy. Luuucyyyy. I know you can hear me. Don't ignore me. Come onnnn, Luce," he cajoled, continuing to poke her forearm.
She mumbled at the table, "What, so you can use more pick-up lines on me? No thanks, I'll stay down here. Besides, I thought you were going to stop doing that in the guild."
He paused. "Oh. I guess I did say that. Well, how about this then, wanna go get dinner with me tonight?"
Lucy jerked her head up. "What?"
"Yeah, that way nobody from the guild will be around, and then you can't get mad at me for being the best at pick-up lines." He grinned at her, pleased with his own idea.
"Oh." Lucy felt like an idiot for being disappointed. She had thought he meant they should go on a date. She shook her head. Wait, why was she disappointed that it wasn't a date? Realizing Natsu was still waiting for an answer, she rallied herself to reply, "Sure, I guess that's fine. Where should we meet?"
"I'll come pick you up. How about 7?"
She nodded. "Sure, that's fine." Standing up abruptly, she announced, "If that's all you need, then, I'm going to go home. It will be quieter there, and I can actually get some work done." Gathering up her papers, she turned around and said without looking at him, "See you later, Natsu." She then left the guild hall quickly, telling herself that she wasn't running away from her feelings.