Author's Note:
Hellooooo there! Remember me? Haha, here's the new chapter~ right on time. Weelll, technically it is after 12 AM so I guess it's a tad late, but whatever. Close enough.
Anyways, for announcements I actually remembered one that I've been intending to make and kept forgetting, so here it is finally! In terms of chapter length, I promise that every chapter will be AT LEAST 10 pages worth in Word (with possibly a very few exceptions). Now, how that counts out in terms of words, I'm not entirely sure, but I just wanted to let you guys know that there is a minimum page count I'm working with, so you all are guaranteed a decent length chapter every time. :D
Alrighty, and on to the next topic. REVIEWS~ As always a humongous thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! We hit a grand total of seven! More than any other chapter so far! It got me so excited I almost posted early just for fun...if we can't hit eight I may lower my early posting limit to seven. We'll see. I just get so excited it's hard to contain myself. Anyways, I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you. So big hugs to my repeat reviewers WisdomDragon27, dihan, Elphaba818, and pixiecatost! I always look forward to your comments! And equally big hugs to all my new reviewers, Wolves silver wind, GoPackGo97, and gingerxgoddess!
And of course, we reached over five reviews, so there will be a sneak peek for the next chapter. Stay tuned. ;) And if you guys want an early post, let me know. I may just cave in after seven, you never know~
And now, on with the show!
That night, after another luxurious meal, a monster pillow fight somehow broke out.
Erza had simply asked their two male team mates why it took them so long to catch their target, since Gray should have been able to trap the invisible perv in ice.
Gray had gotten cranky and jerked his thumb accusatorily at Natsu. "That's cause Squinty-Eyes over here kept melting my ice with his fire!"
"And that's cause you couldn't catch the guy!" Natsu yelled back, fire already beginning to lick his lips as he got all riled up.
"Technically it was a girl." Lucy pointed out and Happy snickered behind a blue paw.
"Yeah…you both got molested by a giiiiirl." The little blue cat taunted Natsu and Gray, and both their heads whipped around to glare at him.
Lucy couldn't resist joining in. "Yeah, it must have been terrible to get felt up by a hot naked chick. And I bet you both got a good feel of her too while you were trying to capture her. That must have been really rough."
"Shut up!" They said in perfect unison, and Lucy burst into laughter.
Their heads whipped back around to glare at each other again, as if they were pissed that they had said the same thing at the same time.
Naturally Happy made it worse by saying, "Awe…you two make such a cute couple. You liiiike each other."
Both men seemed to absolutely pop with fury at that, and they made a dive for the blue furball. Of course he just flew out of the way, so they instead pile drove into Lucy. At the absolute last possible second, she managed to snag a pillow and smacked Gray – who happened to be first in line – hard across the face. It diminished the tackle just a little, redirecting the black-haired man to the side somewhat while Natsu landed squarely on top of her. She had been aiming for both of them, but had only managed to pillow block the ice mage and totally missed her fiery partner with the wild swing. So Natsu flattened her.
Meanwhile, Gray sprung to his feet and bellowed, "Oh yeah? That's the way you wanna play?" He grabbed a pillow from a suspiciously convenient pile that suddenly appeared next to him.
Lucy noticed and glared into the bushes, knowing that a blue-haired culprit was betraying her by giving Gray ammunition. Still, she wasn't exactly surprised…nor was she even shocked that the bluenette had followed them in the first place.
She cringed as a pillow came flying at top speed towards her. However, it accidently hit Natsu instead – who had just rolled off her. Naturally, this started an epic pillow fight between the two young men, and when a fly pillow hit Erza, she joined in on the fight with gusto. Lucy tried to stay mostly behind Natsu and used him as shield – since he couldn't target her, being her spirit and all. She would pop out at key moments to bean either her red-haired or black-haired team mate and then hid back behind her partner. Of course Natsu was having a blast.
Really it was pretty fun, but it quickly got out of hand. She ended up recruiting Happy, and he flew her up into the air for an aerial attack. He was so fast that no one could hit them with a pillow, and for a short while Lucy enjoyed being the top dog of the pillow fight. Unfortunately though, her blue partner got a little carried away and ended up beaning everyone with pillows and fly-bys that would knock them over. He dropped Lucy and even she wasn't immune to his attacks from above, much to her amusement and aggravation.
Soon there were three teams, Erza and Gray teamed up while Natsu and Lucy joined forces, and Happy was a wildcard.
It all came to a head when Happy managed to knock Natsu off balance, and he got tossed into Lucy, who fell flat on her butt with him on top of her…again. Being knocked over and flattened twice in short order was not fun by any means, especially since she whacked her head on the floor this time as well and it gave her an instant headache.
"Really?" she groaned. "Stop knocking me over Natsu!"
"S'not like it was my fault!"
"Fine…whatever. Just get off would you?" Her hand pressed to the side of her head as she scrunched her eyes closed.
"You okay?"
She squinted up at him when his weight lifted off her up. However, he stayed crouching over her on hands and knees, and she gave him a grimace.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Now get off!" she groused, giving him a little shove.
One of her palms managed to land on bare skin where his robe had fallen open a little. She couldn't help but notice how hot his skin was – which was something she had noted before on multiple occasions – and not for the first time, she wondered if it was a dragon thing. Her shove had very little affect, aside from giving her a really good feel of his unyielding chest and shoulder muscles. This position was somewhat compromising, and she quickly grew flustered as he just frowned down at her.
With an exasperated exclamation of, "I said I'm fine!" she gave him a much harder shove, and this time he finally sat back and removed himself, looking somewhat confused.
When she stood and brushed herself off, she noticed the other three had paused and were just watching the two of them with expressions that ranged between intrigued (from Erza) and amused (from Gray and Happy).
She quickly decided that going to the baths at this moment might be a good idea, both to relax and also to get away from Natsu. Her face still felt a little hot and she was aggravated enough with him that she just wanted to get some breathing room and space to clear her head.
Erza decided to join her, and soon the two women and Happy were trotting along towards the bathing area …. after giving the boys strict instructions to NOT fight or break anything in their absence.
It was later in the evening, really more like nighttime, and so there weren't any other people there as they entered the first room. They both scrubbed off any dirt and then soaked in the mineral bath for a moment. Happy joined them and swam around, blowing bubbles in the water and generally being silly.
They didn't stay long. Lucy wanted to get to the heated baths that Erza said were further in. So, they skipped the sauna this time and went straight to a hot tub area. As they sunk in, Lucy sighed with delight. Now this was more her style - hot enough to sting when she first got in, but then the heat seeped into her body and relaxed all her muscles completely. She rested her head against the side and stretched out.
Happy swam around a little, and then flipped over and simply floated around on his back with his eyes closed, as if he was asleep. Lucy envied him just a little for being able to do that, but he was so cute she couldn't hold a grudge. He looked like a little blue otter, and she couldn't resist reaching over and lightly tickling his belly. He wiggled and swatted at her, but otherwise didn't protest.
After a little while of silent relaxation, Erza struck up a conversation. "Soooo … how have you enjoyed having Natsu as a partner Lucy?"
"Huh? Natsu?" she asked lazily as her eyes opened. "He's fun, and I think we make a pretty good team. Although I wish he'd dial his destructive tendencies down just a notch."
It was at this point that Happy piped up with "She looooooves him."
She halfheartedly swiped at her blue companion, which he was expecting and dodged easily. Ever since Mirajane and Cana started selling tickets to the 'Natsu-Lucy Ship,' Happy had hopped on board with a vengeance – never passing up an opportunity to throw in his annoying little phrase.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus. It's a shame nobody asked me what I thought about it first…"
"Oh really? That explains why I've been hearing whispers and giggles from Cana and Mirajane." Erza said with a quirked brow, looking amused. She had never been on the receiving end of their deadly matchmaking duo, but Lucy was almost always in their crosshairs. Maybe she just wasn't scary enough.
"Those two are going to be the death of me someday."
"You'll survive."
Lucy snorted at Erza's lack of sympathy.
After a bit, she spoke up again. "Perhaps you just make it too easy for them. After all, you two do seem awfully close…that was especially obvious earlier tonight."
"What? You mean when he wouldn't get off me after the pillow fight?" Lucy scoffed, having suspected that was going to come up at some point. "If you're suggesting that there's anything sexual about it, you'd be very wrong. Our relationship is strictly platonic."
"Are you sure he feels the same as you do?"
"Absolutely. There's never been any indication he could even be attracted to me, or any other girl for that matter. The only thing that guy ever seems to care about is food, fighting, and friends."
"Hm. That is true, I don't believe I've ever seen him looking at scantily clad women the way other men do. Although he did seem interested earlier today when you were pinned under your opponent."
"Well she was naked. But to me it looked like he was more shocked and amused than anything…."
"In sharp contrast with Gray, who reacted like any young man confronted with that particular sight." Erza sighed slightly in exasperated and amused agreement.
The conversation trickled away again, and they continued to soak in silence.
Soon after that, the redhead bid her goodnight and left for the night. As for Lucy, she decided to soak a little more. In fact she moved to an even hotter outdoors spring that was surrounded by lush bamboo and of course a privacy wall. There was nobody there though, so Lucy had the whole enormous pool to herself, and thoroughly luxuriated in it as Happy situated himself on a nearby hot rock. He stretched out and promptly fell soundly asleep.
Lucy was on her way to an almost asleep blissful daze herself when suddenly she was shocked back into full alertness as a splash indicated the sudden appearance of someone new. Out of habit, she reached for the towel she had folded next to the pool and slapped it across her front within a few seconds.
As it turned out, it was a good thing she had covered her private bits, because her bathing buddy was none other than the pink-haired pest himself.
"NATSU!" she whisper-yelled, not wanting to alert the staff that a boy was in the girl's bathing area…that would get them all in trouble. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Her arm clenched even tighter around her breasts, holding the top of the towel securely against her chest while her other hand pressed the tail down into her lap.
"Yo Luce!" Natsu greeted casually, and then black eyes glanced her body up and down before he cocked his head to the side. "Why are you naked?"
Lucy was left gaping at him, both from the completely outlandish question, and the totally normal way he was talking to her right now. How was he not embarrassed? Or shocked? Or something?!
"I'm taking a BATH Natsu." she finally hissed in response once she had gathered some of her scattered wits.
"Oh!" He finally glanced around and seemed to notice that he was now standing waist-deep in water. One hand came up to run a hand through his hair. "So this is where you disappeared off to. I thought maybe you were getting something to eat."
"You're the one with a never-ending stomach, not me. Besides that, Erza and I told you we were going to take a soak!"
"Oh did you? I must have missed that…" He shrugged, and then said, "Oh well, whatever."
Then, of all crazy things, he shed his vest. Lucy watched him, with something akin to horror. He couldn't possibly…. yes, yes he was. As soon as his hands went to the waistband of his pants, she spoke up hastily. "What are you doing?!"
"Undressing?"
"Yeah, I can see that. But WHY?!"
"You said we were taking a bath, right?"
"NO! We're not taking a bath! I'm taking a bath! And this is the women's side anyways! So you're gonna get us in trouble! Get out!"
He just blinked at her in seeming confusion for a moment. "What's wrong with taking a bath together?"
All poor Lucy could think of in response to that was a blank stare. There was no earthly way she could explain something like that to him, and she didn't even try. Instead – after she got over her reoccurred shock – she simply whisper-yelled at him some more. Besides not wanting to attract staff, she also didn't want to wake Happy and get teased some more.
"Get out! If you don't understand why men and women can't take baths together, then there's no way I can explain it to you! Just shoo! Leave! Vamoose! GET!"
After said whisper-shouting, he eventually got the message and with an exasperated shake of his pink head he finally poofed.
By this point her peaceful bath had thoroughly gone down the drain and she doubted she'd be able to fully relax again, so she just got out, dressed, and gently picked up Happy without waking him. Natsu met her outside the doors to the women's bath, obviously sulking. His arms were crossed, and he had on his scowling face that he used whenever she told him to stop something he didn't want to stop. She'd seen it often enough after kicking him out of her apartment and various other similar instances that she was intimately familiar with it.
Happy was still largely asleep in her arms, and therefore when she spoke to Natsu it was in a hushed tone.
"Why do you look like someone kicked your puppy? You're the one who interrupted my bath."
He just silently pouted and glared morosely at her. It was always this way, especially when he didn't fully understand why she had yelled at him, and Lucy knew this good and well. But she honestly didn't have all that much guilt over it this time, because there was really no excuse for not knowing why hopping into someone else's bath without their permission was not okay.
And so, as Lucy walked back to the room to deposit the sleeping bundle in her arms, Natsu followed silently. After Happy had been safely tucked in, she turned and walked back out towards the exit.
"Alright fine. You said you wanted to eat right?"
Natsu instantly perked up, as she knew he would, and it was her turn to follow him as his nose led them to somewhere that smelled good.
They were only a little ways away from the dragon's chosen restaurant, when they practically tripped over Loki.
"Oh shoot! Sorry Loki, didn't see you there!" Lucy barked as she skipped back a step before falling all over him.
He was strangely kneeling in the middle of the street, looking at something on the ground. At the sound of her voice though, he went ramrod straight and snapped up into a standing position. As usual, he took several steps back to put some space between them. For as long as she'd known the sandy-haired womanizer, for some reason he had been incredibly standoffish. All she had been able to find out about it was that he apparently really didn't like celestial wizards. The theory was that he had been in a really bad relationship with one, but somehow she thought it had to go deeper than that to cause this aversion for all the years she'd known him. Still, she tended to just pretend not to notice.
"So what are you doing all the way out here Loki?"
"Um, uh, well I got a job in the, uh, next town over to track down a bunch of, um, cats…."
"Cats? Isn't that a little low level for you?"
She'd been getting significantly more worried about him lately, because it seemed that over the past year or so he had been taking less and less advanced jobs – which was the opposite way most mages went. Usually as a mage worked, their magic and skills increased, and they were able to take on increasingly advanced jobs … but that wasn't the way Loki operated. He had joined after her, and she distinctly remembered that when he first joined he had taken some of the highest-level jobs on the board and completed them without a problem. But since then he had been on the decline, and lately he hadn't even been showing up at the guildhall for weeks at a time…with no job to explain his absence. She'd talked about it with the master, and it seemed she wasn't the only one who noticed. The general consensus was that he might have some sort of terminal illness.
She couldn't remain silent any longer. Even if he didn't want to be her friend, she still considered him one.
"Y-yeah…I guess." He chuckled nervously. "I guess I just, uh, felt bad for the lady. She's a widow, no kids, and is all alone. Her cats are all she has, and some miscreant thought it would be funny to steal them. So I'm tracking him." By the end, he was talking confidently again and seemed impassioned.
Her concerns abated a little, since it seemed he had taken this job more out of sympathy than lack of ability. "That's terrible! It's a good thing you took the job, I'm sure you'll get the thief and return her cats in no time."
"Thanks…" He grinned tiredly at her and swayed a little on his feet. Taking a good look at him, her concerns returned when she saw just how worn and thin he looked.
Clearing her throat, she tried to casually throw him a bone. "By the way, we were just going to get a bite to eat in that restaurant right over there. If you're at a good pausing place would you like to join us?"
It seemed that triggered his playboy instincts and suddenly a sly grin worked over his lips. "Are you asking me on a date?"
Lucy rolled her eyes. She'd also gotten used to this part of him too, where he would temporarily seem to forget that she was a celestial mage and would – for brief moments at a time – treat her like any other girl. It never lasted long.
Sure enough, a few second later he was grimacing. "Er, I don't know if that's a good idea…"
"Oi! …" Natsu suddenly barked, making both Lucy and Loki jump. This whole time he'd been quiet and just watched the interaction from behind Lucy – which was abnormal in and of itself. He never remained silent or still for very long at all. But in her concern for her guildmate, she had almost forgotten his presence.
It seemed that Loki hadn't even noticed his presence, and then when he did he suddenly went pale. "N-Natsu?! What are you doing here?"
At the same time Loki said this, Lucy was saying, "Oh that's right! You two haven't met yet have you? You've been, uh, out a lot lately Loki, and I haven't been able to … wait, do you two already know each other?"
"No! Not at all." Loki quickly said, and Natsu raised an eyebrow. When he opened his mouth, looking like he was going to argue, Loki shot him with a sharp look and repeated. "We do NOT know each other."
Natsu's mouth shut with an audible snap as both his eyebrows shot up on his head. Finally he shrugged. "Whatever you say man."
That exchange was so strange that Lucy didn't quite know what to make of it. Loki obviously knew Natsu, and vice versa, but she didn't really know how that was possible. Natsu was a celestial spirit after all. The only thing she could think of to explain it, off the top of her head, was that Loki's celestial mage ex-girlfriend maybe had Natsu's key or took Loki to the spirit world on one occasion…or something.
Blowing it off, she just started walking again towards the restaurant. "Well, if you wanna join us, you can."
"Yeah, come on!" Natsu added, and eventually Loki followed along behind somewhat warily.
Once situated in a booth, and after they had ordered, Loki finally attempted to make conversation. "So…what are you two doing here?"
"A job like you." Lucy said simply, but naturally Natsu wasn't going to leave it at that.
"Oh yeah! We had to take out this pair of pervy twins who were sneaking into the bathhouse. It was a blast."
That got Loki's attention real quick.
"Did you say pervy twins and a bathhouse? Were they women?" he asked with a somewhat smutty grin. All Lucy could do was put her forehead in her hand and groan.
"Yep. And they could go invisible, but only their bodies could, so that meant they were naked. As soon as we knocked them out they were totally bare-assed! It was hilarious. Especially when the one Lucy was fighting passed out right on top of her. Ha! And then Gray got a boner, cause Lucy was practically naked too."
"Okay, I think that's enough Natsu…" Lucy hissed, turning red now.
Her partner was pretty mouthy on a normal basis and didn't always seem to know what was shareable or not. Basically he had no filter between brain and mouth, which often left her embarrassed. Even so, he seemed awfully chummy with Loki for someone who was supposed to be a stranger, and Lucy became that much more convinced that they already knew each other quite well. Even Loki was growing comfortable around her pink-haired partner in a way she hadn't seen him do with anyone else. Although that might have been the topic.
By this point Loki's eyebrows were practically mating with his hairline, and he was glancing between Natsu and her with a perverted sparkle in his eye. "No kidding. It's a shame I missed that."
"No. It's really not." Lucy countered.
But Loki just continued to push the envelope. "So are you and Gray an item these days? He must be attracted to you considering his reaction to your nudity."
"Not you too…why does everyone want to pair me up with someone?! No! There's nothing between Gray and me, and I know he doesn't like me like that."
"I gotta agree with her. Seeing two naked girls on top of each other was just too much for the pervy popsicle. Don't think it mattered much who the girls were." Natsu chuckled with a broad grin.
Loki grinned. "I see, so that means you're still single…" and then after a moment, once again he seemed to realize who he was talking to and blanched a little before hurriedly opening the menu. "So…uh…what were you planning to order?"
The conversation continued on from there, and for a while Lucy thought the embarrassment was over. They discussed the town and the bathhouses and then the specific bathhouse they were staying at. That's when things went down the drain again.
"By the way, why is it not okay to take a bathe with a girl?" Natsu suddenly popped out, and Lucy's drink sprayed over both boys in shock.
The sudden shower had both flinching back in surprise, but it didn't seem to distract Loki too much.
"Why is it not okay to do what now?"
Natsu sent Lucy a nasty look while he shook his pink hair to get the drops of soda out of it, before answering his friend's question. "To take a bath with a girl … cause -"
And that was where Lucy cut him off with a shrill, "NATSU!"
He flinched. "What?! What is it now?!"
The damage had already been done though, and Loki was slowly beginning to smirk. He addressed Lucy this time, once again going into his confident persona and not having any trouble talking to her. "Let me guess. This idiot here summoned himself while you were taking a bath. You justifiably got upset with him and tossed him out on his ass. Am I right?"
Lucy's blush was apparently answer enough because her fellow guildmate began to laugh. All she could do was glare at him as he snickered insensibly for a good while.
"Wow Lucy, I am so sorry…" He managed to get out in between guffaws. "You got stuck with a spirit who has absolutely zero social cues."
By this point Natsu was growling and glaring just as hotly at Loki as Lucy. "Yo! What the hell man?!"
"Sorry. But…seriously? I mean, from what I've heard-" at this he shot Lucy a sideways glance, "-about Lucy's new spirit, you've been stuck in the celestial realm for a long time. But you can't have forgotten how human society works… I mean really. Humans generally don't bath – or get naked – with the opposite sex unless they're lovers."
Natsu's eyes grew wide and Lucy could practically see the lightbulb pop on above his head. "Ohhhh. Right. Shit. I'd forgotten how weird humans are about nakedness. Especially with Gray going around in his skivvies all the time." He turned to Lucy then with an apologetic grin on his face. "Crap Luce, my bad."
She just blinked at him. "Um…it's okay as long as it doesn't happen again. But I thought that spirits had the same idea of modesty as humans?"
"I think that might just be him…" Loki interjected with a thumb jabbed in Natsu's direction.
Said dragon shrugged unapologetically. "Bein' naked is no problem for me. In my true form I'm a giant flying lizard…and I don't wear clothes."
It was Lucy's turn to have a lightbulb moment. "Oh! That makes sense. Actually, I didn't know you had a full dragon form. I've only seen your halfway transformation I guess, huh?"
"Yep." There was a pause, and then he added conversationally, "I've always been curious actually…why does nakedness always have something to do with sex for humans? Why can't it just be, you know, being naked?"
Lucy sighed and flushed, while Loki started chuckling again. He took pity on her and explained. "Well, it's for lots of reasons. But, the biggest one I suppose, is that it's arousing to see someone of the opposite sex naked. And that can be a problem, especially for guys."
Natsu seemed shocked, and then he wrinkled his nose. "Huh. So human guys can't control when they get horny? Damn, that's gotta suck. If ya can't help but pop a boner at the sight of a girl's boobs, no wonder nudity isn't allowed."
"Well, not exactly. A guy could try thinking unpleasant thoughts in an attempt to not get aroused, but…yeah, if he's aroused, the boner will happen."
Suddenly the dragon burst into laughter and sputtered, "No wonder Gray was so freaked out! Poor guy couldn't help it." And he continued to laugh unrepentantly at Gray's unfortunate penile situation from earlier.
Lucy just sighed and ignored him in favor of trying to figure out just what it was that she had heard. To her, it had sounded like Natsu was saying that he could control when he was attracted to someone and/or when he got physically aroused. That explained why he had never shown any sort of interest in any woman – no matter how skimpily she might be dressed. If he could just turn off his sex drive, then he really was basically asexual as she had hypothesized…which to her was actually pretty funny. In a way it also made her feel better about all those times he had snuck into her bed or popped in on her when she was dressing – since it meant that nothing perverted had ever gone through his mind.
That also just so happened to be the end of the conversation, at least as far as Natsu was concerned, because the food came, and he was completely occupied with stuffing his mouth.
Sneak Peek
Over the course of the next week, Natsu continued to vanish for hours at a time, and Lucy continued to grow more and more concerned. It was easy for her to see that Natsu was upset, which was something she'd never seen before, and it worried her enormously – especially since he refused to talk to her about it.
Every instinct was screaming that something was very, very wrong…and something told her that it had to do with Loki. Even though she had no proof, somehow she just knew.
Finally, after a long week of fruitless worrying, one day Natsu announced loudly that he was going out. "I'm uh…going to take a walk. Again. By myself. Don't uh…follow me or anything."
"What?" she asked, momentarily stunned and confused by the strange statement.
Happy sat on the nearby couch and watched with equally confused eyes. "Lucy…Natsu's being weird."