Lucy wanders around the forest, eyes taking in all the night sky has to offer, or what she can see of it, anyway. The trees are clumped together, the branches and leaves blocking her view of the stars and the moon unless she stands at a certain angle. She hears a noise from up ahead and her pace slows. She needs to be cautious. The last thing she wants to do is run into trouble. The tips of her toes are all she uses to move, slowly slinking around the corner, and -
"Cut!"
Laxus' voice rings throughout the clearing and Lucy immediately drops so she's standing normally again. This is the sixth time they've run through the same sequence, and while she knows it's essential to get shots from every angle, she wishes she could do a more interesting scene. It's the first time anyone will actually see her in the film, so it's definitely important to get it right, but the meat of it all comes later when she actually gets to interact with the other characters.
"Alright, we've got all we need for that scene, let's take five and we'll have the princess meet the old married couple," Laxus says, already picking up his coffee thermos.
Lucy sighs and heads out to where Natsu, Evergreen, and Elfman are sitting. She plops down beside Natsu and raises an eyebrow as she watches the other two whisper heatedly to each other, as though there aren't people right in front of them who can hear every word you're saying.
"Don't screw this up, okay, you big oaf?"
"You're the one who took forever to get ready, Ever."
"Don't call me Ever!"
Lucy leans closer to Natsu and asks in a low voice, "Have they been like this the entire time?"
"Yep," Natsu replies with a bored expression on his face. "Watching you act was the only thing keeping me sane. I have no idea what you were worried about, you know. You're a natural out there."
Lucy has to fight off the oncoming blush (from such candid flattery, of course, nothing else) and covers her cheek with her hand. "I was only walking around, looking at everything. It didn't take much of an effort."
"If you say so," Natsu says, sending her a look that shows he disagrees. "I just want it to be my turn. This costume's badass and all, but it gets uncomfy when you've been wearing it for so long."
Lucy has to agree that the costume is as badass as Natsu says it is. When the dragon is in his human form, he wears an open vest and dark, ripped pants with no shoes. They all shimmer when he moves, along with his skin. Mira may have gone a bit too far with the body glitter. The best part of the costume, at least in Lucy's humble opinion, is the wings. They stretch out behind him, a fiery orange-red with shimmering scales that Lisanna took care to put on one by one. They're as big as Natsu's body, and she wonders how he can even move with them on.
"Patience is a virtue," she says as Laxus decides it's been five minutes, calling Elfman and Evergreen up to go over the first part of the scene.
Natsu grumbles, but she just laughs and waits for her turn to come yet again.
It isn't long before she has to join Elfman and Evergreen on set. She waves at a pouting Natsu as she leaves, preparing herself for the arguments the old married couple are about to get into, but she's pleasantly surprised to find the two of them only arguing in-character, not out of it. It's only after the scene is finished and they're free to do what they want to that the two return to their usual state. Laxus has to order them off set, going as far to tell them to go to bed, or anywhere but the filming location. They do just that.
"Finally, it's my turn!" Natsu says, leaping up, wings almost making him fall backwards.
"C'mon, get out there, since you're so eager," Laxus says before continuing his conversation with Reedus and (begrudgingly) Gajeel.
Natsu doesn't need to be told twice. Lucy is sure he would run onto the set if not for the wings, and she can only imagine how mad Lisanna and Mira would be if he ruined them. It's probably best that he's cautious for once.
"Alright, the scene where the princess meets the dragon, let's go."
Lucy completely absorbs herself in her character. On the surface, it's as though all she's doing is taking a deep breath, but it's more than that. Her expression changes, as does her body language, because she isn't Lucy anymore. She's the celestial princess. Natsu stands further away from her, head turned to the side as Laxus directed him to do earlier, hair blowing slightly in the wind. Only his wings remain sturdy.
"Action!"
The celestial princess walks through the tall grass, confused as to where she is and what she's doing here. It's only when she turns her head that she spots the winged man, and she hesitantly walks towards him, swallowing thickly.
"Hello," she calls out, half-hoping the wind will carry her voice away.
It doesn't. He turns to her with bright eyes, the rest of his face giving nothing away, and she steps back as his gaze lingers on her longer than she thought possible. It's only then that he speaks.
"Who are you?"
"I'm just a princess. My name isn't important. Who are you?"
"Just a king." The corner of his mouth slides up. "My name isn't important, either. You aren't from around here, are you?"
She pushes some hair out of her face. "How could you tell?"
The shrug he gives her is lazy, almost out of place in such a situation, but it suits him. She doesn't know how she knows that. She just does.
"Intuition," he says. "I'd be happy to show you around."
He comes closer and offers his hand. She meets him halfway and takes it.
"I think I'll take you up on that."
The following morning, Lucy wakes up to blinding sunlight streaming in through her window and cat fur up her nose. Happy must have made himself comfortable during the night, she realises when she leans on her elbow and sees the small cat napping beside her pillow. He seems to be gravitating towards her more and more, and she can't say she dislikes it, especially when he and Plue get along so well.
Any feelings of endearment she has are instantly washed away the moment she pulls out her phone and checks the time. It's not the morning, but the afternoon, and Lucy groans once she realises just how messed up her sleeping schedule has become. Laxus did warn them, she supposes. She just didn't expect it to be this bad.
Forcing herself up while also avoiding Happy's sleeping form, she looks over at the bed adjacent to hers. Natsu is asleep stomach-down, head to the side, and she's convinced that such a position can't be comfortable. Natsu did say he could sleep anywhere, but she thinks this is taking it a bit too far. It doesn't matter, though. Not when she's about to wake him up.
Grabbing her pillow, she tosses it in his direction. It hits him on the head. "Wake up! We've been asleep for too long!"
"Not long enough," Natsu whines, though his voice is muffled by the pillow, so it sounds more like 'nuh lov enug'.
"It's the afternoon already! Don't you want to catch up on breakfast and lunch?"
That does it. Natsu launches himself out of bed, almost tripping over Plue, who squeaks and ducks for cover under one of the chairs in the corner. Lucy can only watch with amusement as he kicks off his pyjama pants while crossing the room, grabbing a shirt and tugging it on all the while. A pair of shorts come right after, but the real struggle is his shoes, which have been misplaced since they came back to the room last night.
"Where are they?" he mutters to himself, flipping over his suitcase.
Deciding to just leave him be, Lucy heads over to the bathroom and cleans herself up before grabbing her camera and pressing the record button. The world needs to know what's happening.
"Hey, guys! I'm in the bathroom, and those weird shouts you're hearing? Yes, that's Natsu, he can't find his shoes."
"They're my only pair, Lucy!"
"That's your own fault!" Lucy yells in the direction of the bathroom door before giggling at the camera. "He almost tripped over Plue."
"Did not!"
Lucy only gives the camera another look before ending the clip, but she tucks it into her bag so she can continue to use it throughout the day. Although Laxus told them this wasn't a holiday, they're still going to make the most of it, and so the lot of them all plan on going down to the beach later, whenever they're ready. Picking a time would just make everything inconvenient, what with everyone's fluctuating schedules. It would be too much.
Once Natsu finally finds his shoes (they were hidden behind the bathroom door), the two of them grab Happy and Plue and make their way downstairs. They aren't the only late risers, it seems. Elfman and Gajeel are talking by the restaurant's front counter, and Cana has made herself at home by the bar. By the amount of empty glasses in front of her, she's been there a while. Lucy isn't surprised.
As they approach Elfman and Gajeel, Happy meows, and Natsu says, "Happy's wondering where Lily is."
If Gajeel finds it strange that Natsu knows how to translate cat speak, he doesn't show it. "He's with Levy. He's always with Levy nowadays."
"Maybe Lily just knows better company when he sees it," Natsu suggests, and has to dodge Gajeel's fist as it's swung his way.
Deciding to leave the boys to their discussion - if it can really be called that - Lucy scoops Happy up in her arms and gestures for Plue to follow her as she heads down to the beach. She can already see some familiar forms in the distance, and it's not long before breakfast/lunch has been momentarily forgotten, as she spots Levy herself. Gajeel was right; Lily loves her. He's content to just sit beside her as she reads.
"Afternoon," Lucy says as she plops down. Happy immediately jumps out of her arms and goes to bother Lily.
Levy grins, closing her book over her finger so she can keep her place. "Lu-chan, you're up! How was filming?"
"Exhausting." Lucy lies back on Levy's beach towel and Plue jumps up on her stomach. "Laxus is a real slave driver. I'm just lucky I was in most of the scenes. I think I would've gone insane if I was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch for most of the night. Natsu definitely looked ready to go by the time he was finally called for our first scene."
Levy's grin simmers down into a smile, but there's a hint of a smirk that Lucy's learned to both love and hate. "Speaking of, are you prepared for the kiss scene yet?"
Lucy groans and covers her face with her arm. "Not at all. I've stopped thinking about it, to be honest. I feel a bit better about it after we talked about it, but it's still nerve-wracking. I've never kissed anyone in front of people before, let alone for the camera. But I guess if Natsu's okay with it, it can't be that bad."
"See? It'll all work out," Levy says, nudging Lucy's shoulder. "And if worst comes to worst, you could always ask him to practice with you."
Lucy just groans again and slaps Levy's arm.
Lucy spends the evening editing and scrolling through her video comments, which she realises a little too late may have been a mistake.
'THEY HAVE A ROOM TOGETHER DID MIRA DO THIS'
'happy's been spending a lot of time with lucy lately.'
'this ? domesticity ? i'm so here for it ?'
If only they knew what the film had in store for them. They'd probably go insane. She doesn't know whether to be amused or terrified about it.
"Whatcha doin'?"
Natsu's chin is suddenly on her shoulder, and she resists the urge to jump up in case she bumps him. She's glad she already scrolled back up to the video so the comments aren't visible, though she wonders if it would make a difference. Does Natsu know about the comments? Does he receive similar ones on his channel? She tells herself that she'll take a look later, then scolds herself because why is she so invested? It shouldn't matter what the comments say. She knows the truth.
"Just editing and looking through comments and stuff," she says before closing the browser, just to be safe. "I'm just about done, anyway."
"Great!" Natsu doesn't spare her laptop a second glance, and she hates herself for being so self-conscious about it. "You wanna run through some lines again?"
Lucy smiles briefly, already leaning over her desk to grab her script. "Always. Practice makes perfect."
The moment she says that, Natsu's demeanour changes ever so slightly. He still has that casual air about him that he always does, but there's a hint of awkwardness that Lucy has never associated with him before, and she can't help but feel nervous. Is something wrong? Did something happen? She crosses the second one out, as she's sure if something had happened, he wouldn't have suggested running lines. So what is it?
"Natsu? What's wrong?" she asks softly, fiddling with the edges of her script.
Natsu runs a hand through his hair. "Well, I was wondering, since you seemed so nervous about it the other night, what if we practice the kissing scene?"
It takes Lucy a few moments to realise what he means, as they have practised that scene before, just without the kiss involved. He means the entirety of the scene, lip-lock and all, and she can suddenly understand why he's so fidgety. She can feel herself becoming that way, too.
And yet, to her horror, she finds herself answering with, "Sure, why not?"
She sounds calm enough. Perhaps her acting skills are better than she initially thought if she hasn't cracked yet, but it's too soon to tell. They haven't even started the scene yet.
Natsu appears relieved by her willingness to go along with his plan, and he flips through the pages of the script until he finds the scene he's looking for. Lucy does the same.
"Great! Alright, where should we go from? The beginning of the scene?" he asks.
"The beginning of the scene sounds good," she says, though she'd be lying if she said she didn't have an ulterior motive. She wants to prolong this for as long as possible. Logically, she knows she should just get this over and done with, that it's not going to go away, but make her feel worse instead, but Terrified Lucy is winning over Logical Lucy at the moment, and so she doesn't try and rectify her mistake.
Natsu clears his throat before starting the scene.
"The moon cycle is almost complete. The moon will be full again and you can return home."
He doesn't need his script anymore, and neither does Lucy, though she has to resist the urge to hide behind it as she speaks.
"Is that so?"
"You don't sound so sure. This was your plan in the first place. Are you having second thoughts?"
Natsu's voice is hopeful, just as the dragon king is supposed to be. At this point in the story, he's deeply in love with the celestial princess and doesn't want her to leave. She doesn't either, and all that's holding her back from staying is the fear that he doesn't feel the same way she does, that she'll just be a burden if she stays. Everything would be sorted if they simply told each other how they felt, but they don't. Lucy can sympathise.
"I-I don't - I don't know."
He takes a step forward. "Anything I can help with?"
Lucy makes the mistake of getting too in-character and looking up, just as the celestial princess would. Natsu is staring down at her with such soft yet insistent eyes that her breath catches in her throat, and she's glad she can pass it off as acting. She looks away just as the script tells her to. It's a relief to not have to look into Natsu's eyes, to have an actual excuse not to.
"Not really," she recites. "It's my fault. I'm indecisive, I - it's hard to explain. I want to stay, but I don't want to if I'm unwanted."
"Unwanted?" Natsu is frowning, and Lucy doesn't need to look at the script to know it. She can feel it. "Did I make you feel that way? Please don't tell me I made you feel that way."
Lucy ensures her breath is shaky before she speaks again. "No, you didn't, I promise. You've been nothing but good to me, but... What happens when you get sick of me? Will you leave? I don't know if I - if I could really live here if you do."
A hand touches her cheek, but she knew it was coming. It's all in the script. She has to remind herself of that as he gently turns her head so she's looking directly at him again. She's prepared for his expression this time, though. Now isn't the time to get distracted, even if they're just practising.
"I'll never get sick of you." His voice is a hoarse whisper. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
He leans in and she closes her eyes. His lips touch hers, warm and soft, and her stomach flutters. She rests her hands on his arms as the kiss deepens on both sides, as though both of them had the desire to at the same time. His free hand comes to rest behind her head until reality sets in and they have to break apart to breathe, but the scene isn't over. She wraps her arms around his neck as his snake along her waste and pull her in. His forehead rests against hers and he closes his eyes. She does, too.
"Aaaaaand cut!"
Natsu's voice shakes her out of her thoughts and she immediately lets him go, the weight of what just transpired hitting her like a tonne of bricks. Right, of course, this was just a practise run, because this isn't real. She forces herself to remember that as she looks up at Natsu again, the serious expression he'd worn as the dragon king had vanished, now replaced by his usual easy-going smile.
"Maybe I'm biased, but I'd say we don't have to worry, don't you? We've got this in the bag!" He winks at her, and that's when Lucy realises he was doing this for her benefit. Because she was nervous. The thought shouldn't give her a sudden surge of emotion, but here she is, and she makes sure to keep herself calm.
"Yeah, we did better than I thought," she says with a small smile.
Natsu returns the smile for a split second before breaking into a yawn. He doesn't bother to cover his mouth, stretching his arms over his head. "All that intense acting made me tired, though. I'm gonna have a shower before going to bed. What about you?"
"Oh, uh - I'll just read and have a shower in the morning, I think." Natsu's yawning must be contagious, as she has to fight one down herself.
"Suit yourself! I'll be out in ten. Fifteen, tops," he says, oblivious to her inner turmoil as he grabs a towel and saunters into the bathroom. Happy and Plue try following him, but aren't quick enough.
As soon as she hears the water hitting the tiles, Lucy dives onto her bed and muffles a scream into her pillow. When she closes her eyes, she can still see Natsu's expression right before he kissed her, the gentle way he touched her, how his lips seemed perfect over hers, and it makes her want to both smile and cry because it's not real. They're just acting, that's what actors do. They do it for the cameras. There shouldn't be a problem with that, right?
Except there is, because the only conclusion Lucy can draw from tonight is that she has the biggest crush in the universe on Natsu Dragneel.
bET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME
i hope you guys had a good holiday! even though i'm late in saying so.