Author's Note:
Aaaaaand…another LONG chapter! Yay!
I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. ;D
Also, I have a question. For future reference, is there anyone out there who wants a warning when there's a lemon coming up? Be sure to let me know. Otherwise I won't put in any warnings. ;D
As always, HUGE, SPARKLY, HAPPY, thanks to everyone who reviewed! Big hugs and kisses to all my repeat reviewers: WisdomDragon27, TheJSmooth, Elphaba818, Lady La-sara, 19vanelkc, Firefly9917, HotvampGurl23, TheOldIronKing, valerioux, Musiclover237, Donthedarkdragon26, Maczorro, TheAvatarShadow, thechani, Shadowslayer15, Daisy73, FantasyDreamer06, lkityan, ravenqueen162, Leomae2.0, KitsuneLover05, Ksta, moeruhoshi, Wolves silver wind, and mumof4. Equally big hugs and kisses to all my newest reviewers: silentlinkmit339, PandaWarMaster, and Lucinda. You guys are all amazing and wonderful!
So now, on with the show! And stay tuned till the end for the sneak peek of next chapter. ;D
The next day, she woke to find Natsu curled around her, and the strange sensation of a tail coiled around her leg. While she had woken up with him cuddling up to her many times before…this was the first time that she'd ever been gripped in what felt like a python's hug. It was such a curious sensation that it took a very long time for her sleepy mind to make sense of it, or even try to figure out what exactly it was. In fact, she had to actually lift the covers and look at the red limb twined in between and around her legs for her to finally figure it out.
That woke her up real fast, and she immediately geared up to kick Natsu out of bed – although kicking was literally impossible for her at the moment with her legs restrained as they were. However, before she did, last night crept to the forefront of her brain and she froze, remembering their strange confessions.
Had that really happened? Had Natsu really said that he loved her, and had she really responded in kind? In the bright light of morning, it was hard to believe.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to contemplate it too long, because she had slept through her alarm. When she happened to glance at the clock, every other thought was wiped from her mind.
"SHIT! NATSU! We're gonna be late!" she screeched and launched herself from the bed – dragging Natsu with her. They both ended up on the ground, tangled in limbs and covers.
"What the…what's going on?!" he yelped, and then apparently concluded that they were under attack, because he burst into flames.
"GAH! Put that out right now before you set the hotel on fire!" Lucy screamed, yanking the covers away from them and patting out the flames. It was pretty singed, and she winced, staring at the black scorch marks…wondering if that was going to come out of their payment. Probably.
After that debacle, they somehow got ready and made it to work on time.
Thankfully this was their last day at the burlesque restaurant, because Lucy was starting to get tired of it.
Although … she certainly wasn't getting tired of watching Natsu dancing up on stage in western gear – complete with a cowboy hat, boots, and assless chaps. Completely unbiased, Lucy determined that Natsu's was most definitely the best butt up there, not that she spent too much time looking at the others. They were nice and all, but they just didn't measure up to his … tail and all. At least this costume didn't have to get cut up to make room for his fifth limb.
She was also a bit surprised and couldn't help but laugh when he used his fire like a whip and popped it over the crowd's heads during his solo. She was the only person who didn't flinch and grinned at him when he caught her eye and winked – a broad toothy smirk of his own crawling across his lips.
Thankfully nothing untoward happened on her end dealing with rowdy customers, so their last day passed quickly and without incident. At the end of it, Silvester paid them and did his very best to convince them to take a permanent job with him … which they politely declined. They left with an open invitation to come back anytime if they were short on cash and just needed a temp job to pay a bill…which Lucy was actually really grateful for. It was nice to have a backup if she needed to pay rent and there weren't any short jobs on the board. If nothing else, this job had paid well and was sort of fun.
The entire train ride home – which Lucy did alone of course, since Natsu + trains = vomit – she finally relaxed and put her feet up, thinking back on the past few days. It had been a crazy job…and she was determined to kick Gray's butt when she got back. Or more accurately, she fully intended to sick Natsu on him. This had been a dirty way to get back at them. Sure, it had been sort of fun, but it had also involved her getting groped (TWICE), and Natsu nearly burning the place down with fury (ALSO twice).
Although…it hadn't been all bad. Immediately Lucy's mind was consumed by thinking about what had happened between them last night.
She'd wanted to bring it up earlier, but just hadn't had a chance to. Frankly, it still felt like a dream her brain had cooked up after spending hours stewing over him. She desperately wanted to ask him if it had really happened, and what it meant for them going forward. Were they a couple now? Could she call him her boyfriend? Should she worry about their future and how dating a celestial fire dragon may, or may not work out? Honestly…they were basically different species…not that she really cared anymore. Still, it was probably something she should ask about, just so she would have an idea of what to expect.
At least 80 percent of the train ride was spent with her daydreaming and deep in thought as she considered this newest development in her and Natsu's relationship. Eventually though, she summoned Pikachu again to keep her company, and he was only too happy to spend the last thirty minutes snuggling with her. When the train finally screeched to a halt in Magnolia, she sent him back to the celestial realm with a little packet of ketchup as thanks for his company. After discovering he liked the red sauce so much, she'd stocked up on small packets of it to give him whenever she summoned him for a social visit.
She'd arrived at the train station sooner than she would have thought – being so consumed in her thoughts as she had been, the time had flown by. It was night by the time she got home, so she made a beeline for her apartment. She could sign in at the guildhall tomorrow… her first priority right now was to get things straight with Natsu, and she knew he would show up soon. This was one conversation that she would rather have in private.
Almost as soon as she got back to her apartment, Natsu reappeared as she had predicted.
Before she could chicken out, she blurted, "Did last night really happen? I mean…did I dream us saying that we loved each other?"
He cocked his head and blinked at her, giving her a really weird look, before saying, "Um…yeah? I told ya I loved you, and you said it back…" There was a long pause as he continued to give her a perplexed stare.
Then there was an awkward pause – for her at least – as she tried to figure out what to say next, and then flushed as she realized that she hadn't even said hello to him before busting out with her inquisition.
Eventually, she relocated her tongue and figured out how to properly use it. "Okay…good. So….what now?"
His head cranked another degree to the side, and she could practically see question marks popping up in the air above his head. "What d'you mean?"
She gestured back and forth between them to help clarify. "I mean, now what for us? Where do we go from here?"
There was just silence on his end as he continued to give her a blank expression that said he had no idea what the heck she was talking about.
Hot air puffed out of her mouth in what should have been a sigh but ended up being infinitely more aggressive as her exasperation spiked at his obliviousness. "We confessed our feelings! What does that mean for us? Are we still friends? Partners? Are we in a relationship now? Is that even allowed between a mage and a celestial spirit?! Do we just continue on as we've been doing, or does something change?"
He stared at her with wide eyes. "You really overthink things Luce."
That ticked her off a little. "I am not! Usually when people confess romantic feelings for each other, it means they start dating and stuff! But our situation is not normal, so I don't know where to go from here!"
"Well…I guess we're 'dating and stuff' then."
"But…is that even possible with us? I mean, you're a celestial spirit!"
"So?"
"Isn't there some rule against being romantically involved with your mage or something?"
"Nooo…." he said slowly, and gave her another funny look – as if he was wondering if she was stupid or something.
"Oh."
There was another pause as she absorbed that information. There was still the issue of the future and where this could possibly go, but at the moment she chose to not think about that.
Her thought process was interrupted by Natsu when he grinned brightly and asked, "So, what does this dating stuff do?"
"Huh?"
"You said you wanted to date and stuff, so … how do we do that?"
She blinked, suddenly under the impression that he had no clue when it came to romance. "Um…you do know what I mean by dating right?"
"I know it's something that couples do, but I don't really know what a 'date' is exactly." he clarified, and grinned at her unrepentantly.
"Oh. Uh…basically, if we go anywhere together to have fun…and be with each other, then it's a date."
His pink eyebrows scrunched together a little in confusion. "Then doesn't that mean we've already been dating since we met? Cause whenever we go anywhere together, we have fun, right Luce?"
That got a grin out of her. "Yeah. We do. But it's not really a date unless you intend for it to be a date. Like you said, it's something couples do. If two friends go out to eat, it's not a date. Plus, there's more romantic things to do, like holding hands and … kissing and stuff." She flushed a little at the thought of kissing Natsu.
He blinked, seemed to think about it for a minute. After a moment, he plopped down onto her bed with a broad grin. "Sounds like fun! So, do you wanna go on a date tonight?"
She gaped at him and then shook her head. "Um, no. It's too late, and I'm tired. We just got back from a mission."
He pouted and glanced at the clock, which read about 9:00 PM. "Okay, fine. But tomorrow we're going on a date!"
It was incredibly cute how excited he was about this, and she couldn't quite help but smile and chuckle softly at his antics. "Alright. But first we have to report in to the master and let him know we completed the mission successfully."
"Sure!" he agreed with another of his easy, toothy grins, and she was helpless but to smile back.
"Alright, well I'm taking a bath." she chuckled, and headed off into the bath.
After a nice thirty-minute soak and her normal nightly routine, she made her way back into the bedroom and then stalled at the sight that met her. Natsu was sprawled across her mattress, sound asleep, with a goofy grin on his lips and his eyes closed. Thankfully he'd taken his shoes off.
With a soft smile tugging on her lips, she walked over to her bed and lightly prodded the sleeping dragon, saying, "Natsu…did you wanna take a bath too?"
Then a random thought occurred to her, and she frowned down at him curiously. "Actually, do celestial spirits even take baths?"
He woke with a start, and his eyes popped open to look up at her. "Sure we do. Usually I bath back home in my lava tub, but I can take a shower or something here if I don't wanna go back."
Her mind took a slight detour at the words 'lava tub,' and she blinked, trying to process it. "Um…by lava tub, do you mean…?"
"A bathtub full of lava. It's great! You should try it sometime. Burns all the dirt and stuff right off."
"…I'm pretty sure that would kill me."
He pouted. "Oh. Right. Well, you're missing out."
"I'll, uh, take your word for it." She snorted, and then asked, "So…did you want to take a shower? I know for a fact you didn't take any on our mission, and we just spent four days in a bar. You had to have gotten alcohol and stuff spilled all over you."
"Yeah I definitely did. But I took one while you were on the train, so it's all good."
"Oh, alright then."
She grabbed her brush and then joined him on the bed, still feeling a little odd about it as she did so. Aside from the last couple of nights – and when she was sick – she hadn't ever fallen asleep with him in her bed before. He'd always snuck in after she had fallen asleep, so this new arrangement was still a bit new and weird to her.
After a few minutes, another random thought occurred to her. "Hey, don't you have pajamas or something?"
"No. Why?" he asked curiously as he tucked his hands under his head and watched her get the last few tangles out of her wet hair.
A moment later, she tossed her hairbrush onto the nightstand and shoved him over with an elbow. He grunted but moved over closer to the wall and window without protesting.
"Then what do you normally sleep in?" she asked.
He just stared at her and then gave her a broad grin with closed eyes. "Nothing."
That shouldn't have surprised her, but it did, and she gaped down at him. "You sleep naked?!"
"Not when I'm here."
"Obviously." She snorted and wiggled under the covers with him. "Well … as long as they're fresh clothes that's fine."
"You've never complained about what I wore to bed before."
"That's because I never gave you permission! You just snuck in without me knowing, and I kicked you out when I woke up."
"You didn't always kick me out…"
"Sometimes I was too tired. Or you were too warm. Or…I just didn't want to."
They shared a small grin. Then she snuggled down into the covers and rolled onto her side, facing away from him, and turned out the lamp so it was dark. "Goodnight, Natsu."
"Night Luce." he rumbled.
There was a long, ever so slightly awkward pause, and then he suddenly snuggled right up behind her and buried his face into the nape of her neck.
Quietly, he mumbled, "Love you," into her hair, and a smile yanked sweetly on the corners of her mouth.
"Love you too…"
His arms tightened around her, and he gave her a squeeze. Warm breath painted her neck, and she shivered as he snuffled her with his nose and then pressed his lips to her skin. It wasn't really a kiss …. it was more of a nuzzle with his mouth.
Their legs tangled together, and soon she felt something snake around her top leg and coil snugly. That was definitely his tail, and she wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.
The heat of his body soon lulled her to sleep.
…
The next day, she unsurprisingly woke to find Natsu still wrapped around her. His tail was thoroughly tangled around her legs, somehow having worked around both during the night. Warmth covered her from head to toe, and when she sleepily stretched, she met with resistance as Natsu gripped tighter. His head rested on her shoulder – nose buried in her neck – and an arm draped across her stomach, while his leg hiked over her thigh.
Her first reaction to his pulling her closer was to kick him off her – simply out of habit – but she reined herself in at the last moment. He grunted at the little twitch that ran through her, and then snuggled further into her side with a satisfied sigh.
"Um…Natsu, it's time to get up…"
"…mmmm…five more minutes…" he mumbled.
She rolled her eyes and lightly poked his cheek. "No, now. Don't make me kick you out of bed…cause I will."
After a bit more prompting, she eventually got him up and moving, and soon they were setting off to the guildhall.
As soon as they arrived, she glanced around, and when she didn't see Master Makarov anywhere she went to Mira to report.
"Hey Mira."
"Oh! Lucy! Welcome back. Did your mission go well?"
"Yeah, it was fine. Also…how's Happy, Carla, and Wendy? Have they gotten back yet?"
"No, not yet." the transformation mage replied with a kind smile, knowing that this was the first time Lucy had been separated from Happy like this.
They were interrupted – as usual – by a massive fight breaking out behind Lucy, as Natsu confronted Gray about setting them up.
"You deserved it Flame Butt!"
"Bring it Ice Princess! I'll burn ya to a crisp! You get one punch for every perv that eyeballed Lucy!"
"If he does that, we're gonna be here all day…" Lucy mumbled, shaking her head.
Mira giggled sympathetically. "Oh my…was it really that bad?"
"The dancing was fun, but yeah, the costumes were a bit risqué."
"Dear me."
Despite what he'd said, the fight actually didn't last long. Natsu apparently had other things on his mind, and soon enough he was getting distracted and came over to join Lucy at the bar. Gray followed behind at a slower pace, massaging his jaw a little.
"How's it going Luce?" Natsu chirped and draped his arm across her shoulders, nearly knocking her out of her seat.
"Oh, uh, good." she sputtered, managing to reply as she steadied herself.
"Hello Natsu. Lucy was just telling me about the job you two went on. It sounds like quite the adventure." Mira greeted.
He turned to the barmaid and snorted. "It wasn't an adventure. It was a pain in the butt."
"Oh, well…in that case, you two should go and do something relaxing today. Take a little break. Do you have any plans?"
"Yes actually!" he perked up, and Lucy cringed, already predicting what was about to happen. "Lucy and I are going on a date! Right Luce? We're going on a date today?"
Naturally, as he was speaking, Gray came up and joined them at the bar, just making the situation more awkward.
"Oh, uh, yeah." she muttered, a little self-conscious about having their relationship outted so quickly.
Gray grinned and slapped Natsu on the shoulder. "Good job! It's about time Pyro!"
"Heh, funny coming from you, Droopy Eyes. How long did it take for you to get with Juvia?"
Gray flushed and glared, quickly interrupting with, "Shut it Dumbass!"
Naturally, this rekindled their fight, and they tumbled off together as Juvia came up and joined Lucy at the bar. They stood on the sidelines and watched their boyfriends beating the shit out of each other.
With a sigh, Lucy said, "What are we going to do with them?"
"Boys will be boys!" Juvia sung back, then laughed. "Oh, my darling Gray is so heroic…! Go my darling!" she cheered loudly for him.
Lucy rolled her eyes, but then just smiled and went with the flow. "Alright fine. You got this Natsu!"
"My Love will definitely win."
"You wanna bet? Natsu's gonna kick his ass."
"Never!" Juvia said, and then turned back to Gray and called, "If you win I'll do anything you want!"
Two could play at that game, and she had a funny feeling that Natsu would be more motivated by that than Gray. "Alright! Natsu! If you win, I'll do the same!"
In response, Natsu bellowed, "I'm fired up now! Prepare to die Popsicle Dick!"
They tussled, and Natsu got pretty close to destroying the guildhall. Since Gray was nice and toasty by the end of it, Natsu was definitely the victor in Lucy's book, though of course the two of them argued over who won and refused to agree. Gray was also convinced that he had won. Meanwhile, it looked like Juvia had forgotten all about their bet and ran to Gray so she could fuss over him, insisting that they go take care of his burns.
Natsu came over to Lucy with a big grin. "I won! So now you gotta do anything I ask you to, right?"
Not thinking he was going to suggest anything uncomfortable or anything to be nervous about, she grinned back and agreed. "Sure."
"Great! I'll think about what I'm gonna ask you to do while we're on our date. So you ready to go?"
"Yep."
"Alright! I've got a fire in my belly now!"
He grabbed her hand and took off with her running out of the guildhall. She was dragged along behind him and laughed breathlessly as they took off like their lives depended on it. "Where are we going?!"
After a couple of blocks, he skidded to a halt. "Dunno. Where do you wanna go?"
She leaned over and grabbed her knees while she panted to catch her breath from the mad dash. "Uh…lunch maybe?"
"Sounds good to me! I smell some great food this way!"
Once again, she was being dragged along after him. "Woah! Slow down Natsu!"
He laughed but did slow down a little as they once again raced down the street, until they screeched to a halt in front of the restaurant that his nose had led him to. "This place smells good!"
"Oh…good…" Lucy gasped, and then breathlessly laughed a little as she wiped sweat off her brow.
They went inside and were seated, and naturally Natsu ordered everything on the menu.
"So what else do we do on a date? Where else do you wanna go?"
"Um…well we could go for a walk in the park, or…there's that new indoor swim park I've been wanting to go to. Or…there's an amusement park in a city nearby. Or we could go dancing again. Or…I dunno."
"Swimming sounds like fun!"
"We'll have to stop back by my apartment, so I can get my swimsuit." she hurried to add, not wanting to be dragged off again without it.
"That's fine."
Once they had decided on a destination, they finished eating relatively quickly, and then rushed back to her apartment so she could grab her swimsuit and pack it in a bag with water bottles and other necessities.
About an hour later, they arrived at the swim park, and Lucy was beyond ready to take a dip in some cool water. Despite it being cold outside, the quick pace Natsu insisted on setting for them had made her work up a sweat. First though, they had to make a pitstop at the changing rooms so Lucy could switch into her bikini – the white one with a pink hibiscus over one breast and pink strings. It was her go-to swimsuit, because it was so cute and fit so perfectly.
After she popped back out of the changing rooms, Natsu's eyes glanced her over, and then he grinned broadly. "Looks good Luce! I'll go change now. Be right back."
He poofed in a little flame, and she sat on the nearby bench to wait for him to come back from the celestial realm. There were a few little screams when he disappeared, but Lucy easily ignored them – she was used to those sorts of shocked reactions from people by now. There were even more as Natsu reappeared in swim trunks, and then the whispers started. His red tail was on full display sticking out of the back of his black swim trunks – which of course had a bright-red flame design crawling up the side of one leg. Funnily enough, he still wore his scarf, though it was now around his head like a bandana…and for the first time she saw that he had a dangerous-looking jagged scar along the right side of his throat.
"You ready to go swimming?" he asked with one of his toothy grins that showed off his fangs.
She completely disregarded all the stares and whispers as she stood and grinned back at him. "Yeah! Let's go!"
They set off hand in hand, and for a little while they ambled along aimlessly, just looking at various rides and pools to play in.
"Hey! Let's check out the wave pool!"
He was pointing at one that had huge waves every now and then, and Lucy looked at it somewhat askance. "It looks a little dangerous…"
"Oh, come on, don't be a chicken." He grabbed her hand tighter and tugged her behind him into the large pool.
At the edge, the water lapped at their ankles in a very ocean-like way, and then as they got deeper the draw and pull caused her to sway as she walked. It was actually pretty fun, and she snagged a large innertube as it floated by and quickly slipped up into it. It was really big though, and as she tried to lean on one side, it arched up behind her and then flipped over, leaving her bottoms-up.
"Umph!"
She kicked her legs in the air and tried to flip herself and the tube right side up again, but it wasn't quite working out for her. Then suddenly she felt the tube moving, and she was surfacing again and spat out a mouthful of water.
Natsu's hand was on the tube, and he was laughing his head off. With a hot glare, she swatted some water in his direction and managed to spray him right in the face, causing him to sputter. Then he laughed and sprayed her with water right back. Naturally, at that point an epic water fight broke out as they splashed each other, laughing and coughing in equal measures as they inhaled the water when it hit their faces. It didn't last too long though, and after a little while, their battle devolved into giggles and chuckles.
Once there was no longer any danger of getting a face-full of splashed water, Lucy grabbed another passing tube and leaped into it, only for it to start tilting just like the first.
"Yikes! Don't you dare, you stupid piece of inflated rubber!" she firmly instructed the inflatable device.
Natsu busted out laughing again and slapped a hand down on his side of the tube to keep it down. "What's going on with this thing?"
"I think it's just too big, so when I lean on one side it flips over me."
He eyeballed it. "Do you think it's big enough for two?"
"Probably…but…"
Before she could finish, he was diving down and she felt him slide up in the water beside her. Soon he popped up inside the tube too.
"Uh…isn't this a mode of transportation?"
He looked at it contemplatively, but then said, "Nah. And if I start getting sick I can always just duck out of it or hold onto you instead."
"O-okay."
Things were a little snug in the innertube, but it worked okay. As they floated out deeper, the waves got harder, and sent them up and down in their little flotation device. It was actually soothing … at least to Lucy. For Natsu though, he quickly had to switch from holding onto the inner tube to holding onto her. They ended up with her resting her chest and arms on one side of the tube, while Natsu basically spooned her and had his arms wrapped around her middle. Strangely, when he was holding onto her instead of the tube, he was just fine and didn't get motion sick.
"Why does it make a difference?" she finally asked, curious about the reasoning behind it.
He shrugged. "You're not transportation."
"…oh."
Her brain shorted out a little at the oddness of that statement. The only thing she could figure, was that it was at least partially mental.
Whatever the case, it let her feel his bare chest pressed into her almost bare back, so it was worth suspending her logic for that. Something long and warm slipped around her leg and then twined around and around all the way down to her foot. The slight jostling between them caused by the movement of the water grew much less as he tethered himself to her more securely with his tail.
For a long time, they just floated there like that, resting against each other and enjoying the feel of the water and the warmth of their bodies.
After a while, Natsu mumbled, "Is this what ya meant by the romantic stuff that happens on dates?"
She chuckled as his words got muffled through his closed teeth and lips since he didn't bother to pick his chin up off her shoulder to speak.
"Yeah. This is the kinda stuff I meant."
"It's nice." he sighed, nuzzling into her neck. She'd noticed that he seemed to really like doing that.
Since this was a great opportunity to do so, she asked, "Why do you always do that?"
"What?"
"Bury your face in my neck and shoulder and hair."
His shrug was translated to her by the feel of it against her. "Smells good I guess? Feels good too."
"What is it with you and smell?"
"Dragons have a great sense of smell. You should know that by now."
"Well yeah, I know that!" she said exasperatedly. "What I meant was, why do you keep bringing up my smell?"
"Because you smell good?" he repeated questioningly.
"Oh for the love of…never mind…"
"What's wrong with me saying you smell good?"
"Nothing Natsu. It's flattering…but I guess it's also a little embarrassing."
He laughed. "You overthink everything Luce! You should just get used to it, cause I'm probably gonna say it a lot."
"Don't you have a filter between your brain and your mouth? Or does everything on your mind come straight out?"
"I have some filters…but not many." he admitted with another laugh and then nuzzled her again. "Especially not with you. I generally say whatever I wanna when it's just us."
"Ya…I noticed."
After some more floating, he eventually got antsy. "So you wanna do something else now?"
"Sure."
And so, they dogpaddled their way back to the shore and then let the innertube loose back into the wild.
"What's next?"
"Let's go check out that big slide!" Natsu asked enthusiastically, and they took off towards the big twisty monster that featured as the main attraction. Thankfully there wasn't a huge line on the stairs leading up to its mouth, so they got in after only a few minutes of waiting.
It was a two-person ride, so Natsu got on right behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Then they were off. Water went flying, Lucy screamed, Natsu laughed, and they zipped down at an ungodly speed before splashing down into the large pool at the end. That was the only time they rode it though, because the last few feet made Natsu motion sick, and he nearly threw up in her hair.
After that, they stayed away from any of the slides or rides and stuck to pools. There was a river though that was sort of a slide, but not really. It had rapids and stuff, but the bottom was smooth, so you didn't need a floaty of any kind – you could just ride it on your butt. It was fun, but Lucy had the worst wedgie of her whole life afterwards. Natsu made sure to point it out and laugh, which she smacked him for.
Then they perused the food stalls, and Natsu ate way too much, but Lucy couldn't blame him really. The food at this water park was actually shockingly good, and she found herself eating more than was probably good for her figure. They had to wait a bit after that before entering back into the pools of course, so they spent the time walking around hand in hand and eyeballing what they wanted to do next as soon as their bellies settled.
Over all, it was an enjoyable mix of fun, excitement, and relaxation that Lucy could really find herself getting addicted to.
…
When they got home later that night, they were exhausted but happy. As soon as they got back to Lucy's apartment, they collapsed together on the couch.
"We definitely need showers before bed. I stink of chlorine." Lucy complained, sniffing her hair.
"Sure. Go on ahead."
"You need one too! You smell like pool just as much as I do, you know!"
"Wanna take one together then?" he asked innocently, and she just stared at him with wide eyes for a long moment.
"Um…isn't it a little soon for that?" she asked weakly.
"Soon? What d'you mean?"
"We haven't even kissed yet!"
His head cocked to the side as he stared at her with a thoroughly confused look on his face. "What does kissing have to do with taking a shower?"
Sighing, Lucy realized that she was going to have to spell out the stages of a relationship's progress to him. "Alright. Look. Here's how the physical part of a romance generally progresses. You go on a date or two, and then have your first kiss. Then you go on more dates and kiss some more and eventually start touching each other. Usually touching above the waist is considered the first stage, and then everything below the waist is a more advanced stage. Eventually clothes start coming off. Once nudity is involved – whether it's partial nudity or full frontal – usually more…involved activities start to happen."
When he didn't seem to pick up what she meant by 'involved activities,' she sighed again and clarified. "I mean sex Natsu. Various stages of sex and sexual activities generally happen once clothes start coming off. It can happen with clothes on too, but…it generally starts with the removal of clothing."
His eyes widened, and his lips formed an 'o.'
"Right. So showering requires nudity, which usually involves…stuff that we haven't even gotten close to doing yet."
He shook his head. "Humans are so complicated."
"Yeah…well. Sorry, but you're in a relationship with one now. So, you're just gonna have to deal." she said with a slight snort of amusement.
After that little lesson on dating a human, Lucy disappeared into the bathroom, and Natsu was left on his own, wondering how the hell he was supposed to remember everything she had just told him. It seemed kind of important to remember, but she'd just spouted out so much stuff that he knew he would never keep it straight.
With a groan, he looked around for any ideas, and eventually his eyes landed on a lone piece of paper on her kitchen counter. Curious, he went over to get a better look.
"Huh…bananas, apples, eggs, milk, Happy's fish…this must be her grocery list."
Suddenly a lightbulb went on above his head and he grinned, taking the piece of paper and flipping it over. With a pen he found lying around, he quickly wrote down a list of his own.
…
A little while later, Lucy was drying her hair with her blow dryer as Natsu was taking a shower. Right about when she was finished with it, the click of the door signaled that Natsu was done. When he came out in nothing but a towel though, she very nearly dropped her dryer and fumbled with it before shutting it off and safely putting it on her dresser.
"Uh…why are you just wearing a towel?"
He glanced down and raised an eyebrow. "Cause it was there?"
"Well, could you put on some clothes now?"
He shrugged, and poofed in a little flame that almost set her towel on fire.
Shaking her head, she headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth, and while she was in there she happened to note the neatly folded scarf he had surprisingly left on the bathroom counter. As soon as she'd finished getting ready for bed, she very carefully picked up the white rectangle and relocated it to the nightstand, figuring that he would want it near him as he slept.
A second later he popped back in, wearing soft-looking black pajama pants that hung low on his hips.
"Uh…I thought you didn't wear pajamas…" she asked, coughing to clear her throat.
"After you brought it up, I asked Virgo for a pair. Are these okay?"
"Yeah. They look just fine."
"Cool." He nodded, and then obviously noted the scarf she had moved because his eyes widened somewhat.
"Oh, um…I hope you don't mind. I figured you'd rather have it here and not in the bathroom."
A soft smile startled her, and his head cocked in a way that seemed almost tender as his gaze gentled. "Yeah…thanks Luce."
"You're welcome." she managed to get past the lump in her throat, and he shot her a much brighter grin.
Then, he turned around to head into the kitchen and undoubtedly raid their fridge. The thought caused her to pause and she wondered when she'd started to think of things around the apartment as 'theirs.' However, she was distracted from the thought when she noticed that his tail was poking through a snug hole in the pajama bottoms. As he stuck his head in the fridge, his tail began to wag a little in excitement, and she hid a snicker behind her hand.
After he'd grabbed a snack, he grabbed her and hauled her down to the couch with him as he munched. She snagged a book on the way and read a little while he stuffed his face. By the time he was done, she was thoroughly engrossed in her story, so she didn't notice how his attention shifted to her or how his eyes started staring at her contemplatively.
She definitely noticed though when a finger hooked over the spine of her book and tugged on it.
Lowering it so she could see over the top, she leveled a look at him. "Yes?"
"I have something to tell you."
"Okay…what is it?"
"I wanna kiss you."
Once again, she was left dumbfounded by his blunt phrasing and sense of timing. It was so…odd sometimes. "I…uh…okay?"
He leaned in a little and tugged the book out of her hands. Before he could lose her place, she pulled it back out of his hands and stuck in a book mark, then set it safely on the side table. After that, she turned her full attention back to him, and her heart starting jackhammering inside her chest as if that was its new purpose in life.
He licked his lips and scooted closer to her on the couch. Her breath caught in her throat as the pulse there skyrocketed and seemed to strangle her.
He didn't come closer than that though, and after glancing off to the side a second, he took a deep breath and said, "Uh…before I do that though…I have to explain something about dragons so it won't freak you out."
That somehow didn't bode well, and a new kind of tension stuck in her. "Alright…"
"When we kiss, or do other stuff with our mouths, we tend to share our element. And of course in my case, that'd be fire."
"Share your fire? That, uh, sounds a little dangerous."
He pursed his lips. "Well…yeah. Technically. I mean, it'll kill anyone who's not a claimed dragon's mate."
At that, she felt faint. "K-kill? Okay, wait. Hold on just a minute. First of all, what did you mean by, 'you tend to share your element.' Is it something you just can't help? Like, it just leaks out?"
He nodded. "Basically. It happens when we get too into it."
"Well. That puts a whole new meaning to 'fired up'…" she muttered to herself.
He must have heard, because after a long moment he busted out laughing. "That's a good one Luce!"
"Yeah, well. Thanks. But don't get too excited, I've got a whole bunch more questions that need answering. First of all, just let me get this straight. You will randomly leak fire into the mouth of the person you're kissing if you get too excited. That about cover it?"
He nodded a little sheepishly.
"And this fire will kill the person you are kissing?"
Again, he nodded.
"Unless they are a …?"
"Claimed dragon's mate."
"And what exactly is a 'dragon's mate?' And how do they get 'claimed?' Is it the person you choose to be your mate?"
"Uh, no. Not exactly. I have no power over that. I could choose anyone to be my girlfriend if I wanted to, but that wouldn't make them a dragon's mate. They have to be a 'dragon claimant' first – which is just something you either are or aren't."
"Okay…and what's a 'dragon claimant?'" she asked, feeling like she was going in circles.
"It's someone who has the ability to become a dragon's mate."
"And how do they become one?"
"They get claimed by a dragon's element. It's like slayer magic, they take on an aspect of – or more like an immunity to – a specific dragon's magic after spending a lot of time with them. Then, they're a dragon's mate, but can only be that dragon's mate."
She felt a little weak and sick to her stomach. "Okay…so no kissing then. Thanks for warning me."
"Well, actually, you're my dragon's mate."
That got her attention real fast. "What?! What makes you think that?!"
"You aren't burned by my fire."
She blinked at him. If he was right, it would explain why his fire hadn't ever hurt her, despite coming into direct contact with it. She had always just assumed that she'd dodged it somehow, or that he had used a weaker flame around her.
"I…don't know about that. Don't you just use a weaker fire around me?"
He shook his head. "Nope. But if you don't believe me, I can prove it to you."
"How exactly?"
He looked around and then grabbed a piece of paper. Once it was crinkled up and held in the palm of his hand, he reached out to her and grabbed her hand, the paper between their palms. Before she could protest, his hand had burst into bright fire, hot enough that it instantly burned the paper to mere ashes – which drifted down and scattered across their laps. She gasped and jerked back, expecting to get burned, but his hand clamped down on hers and prevented her from pulling back.
Her eyes closed, and she cringed back in expectance of pain, but all she felt was heat. There was no pain alongside it. Slowly she opened her eyes and stared, jaw dropping, at his hand holding hers. Her hand was on fire. Literally bathed in it. But it was just fine. Her skin wasn't burning at all.
"See?"
When she slowly nodded, he let her hand drop, and she stared at it in shock. It was slightly red from the heat, the way she would turn pink after a hot bath, but it wasn't injured at all. Then, he reached forwards and grabbed a lock of her hair.
"It won't even burn your hair. See?"
When he set his fingers on fire, her hair glowed from the light, but it didn't smoke, didn't light on fire … nothing.
"Believe me now? Only a dragon's mate would be that stubborn about getting burned. So sharing my fire with you won't hurt you at all. You might just get really hot. But I wanted to warn you so you'd expect it. Okay?"
"I…I'm just…give me a second here to absorb this."
After a pause, Natsu scooted a little closer to her and asked, "Are you scared?"
"I…I'm not scared. I just…I mean you just told me that your kiss is basically lethal! Of course that's going to unnerve me a little…"
He pursed his lips and seemed to think about it for a moment. "What if I promised to stop before I accidentally shared any fire? It might make the kiss kinda short, but if it would make you feel better I wouldn't mind."
"Maybe…just to start with…" she agreed, a little knot of tension easing up inside her.
He grinned. "Okay! Then…can I kiss you now?" His eyes flicked down to her mouth and then back up to meet her gaze.
She licked her lips and nodded, feeling her heart start to flutter wildly in her chest as excitement once again took over as the predominant emotion inside her.
Of course, naturally things didn't exactly go smoothly … because Natsu was a little overeager. He grinned and pressed close before leaning in, but his face approached hers much too fast. She didn't even have a chance to jerk back to avoid the collision, and when their noses crashed together she yelped.
She flinched back and protested. "Ow! Watch it Natsu! Not so fast!"
"Whoops, sorry Luce…" he chuckled awkwardly, blushing a little.
"It's okay just…go a lot slower and tilt your head a little so our noses don't collide."
"Sounds like you know your stuff! Have you done this before?" he asked with just a tone of curiosity, not jealousy or suspicion.
"Um…I've done it a couple times before, yeah, but not a lot." she mumbled, still a little awkward about the conversation.
He nodded and then paused. When he started to pout and frown a little, she could tell he'd put two and two together and realized that that meant she had kissed other guys, so she quickly distracted him.
"How about you? Have you ever kissed anyone before?"
Thankfully it worked, and his frown switched to a grin. "Nope, never been interested before."
As those words filtered through her brain, she felt herself flush a little with happiness as a bubble of warmth inflated inside her chest. She wanted to ask why her specifically, because she couldn't imagine what was so special about her to suddenly make him interested in those things, but she didn't get a chance to.
He was leaning in again, and softly asked, "So…can I try again now?"
She nodded and hurried to reach up and bracket his face with her hands so she could help guide him…just for a little extra security.
This time he went slow enough that he didn't smash into her face, so his lips actually connected. They didn't really land on her mouth though, he ended up more on her cheek than her mouth, but he quickly relocated to the side and found her lips. It was far from the most romantic first kiss in the world, but it was Natsu's lips on hers and that was enough to make her flushed and have her heart pounding.
His lips were insanely warm, slightly chapped, and pursed too tightly for a proper kiss. He also didn't move his lips at all, and it was pretty obvious he had no idea how to actually kiss someone. With his lips tightly puckered – almost like he'd just eaten something super sour – she couldn't really do much, so after a long slightly awkward moment, she pulled back. As soon as she did, he started to say something, probably along the lines of 'what's wrong?' but she didn't give him a chance to actually speak.
Catching him off guard, she kissed him again and felt him gasp against her mouth in surprise. For a brief moment she felt his mouth against hers the way it was supposed to be, but then he puckered up again, and she couldn't help but sigh a little in amused exasperation.
This time when she pulled back, it was only a hairsbreadth, and her lips brushed against his as she whispered, "Stop puckering. Just relax your mouth and try to do what I do."
As she whispered the instructions, she could feel herself blush bright red, a little flustered about having to actually spell it out for him, but it was also kind of funny and cute in a way. For some reason, she found it adorable that he was so innocent about this kind of stuff.
"Oh…okay." he whispered back.
This time when she reconnected their lips, his were relaxed. A little jolt went through her at the sensation of his superheated mouth molding against hers, and she didn't hesitate to move her lips against his, starting gently and slowly so he could easily follow the motions. For a long moment, he didn't respond and just let her kiss his lax mouth, but soon he started hesitantly imitating her, using soft pulling and pushing motions of lips against lips. When she felt him start to kiss her back, another zing went through her, and it almost felt like she was zapped in the stomach with a little bit of lightning. It felt good, and she slanted her lips against his more firmly to get better contact.
She both heard and felt him suck his breath in through his nose as she deepened the kiss, letting her lips part against his a little more and fitting his bottom lip between hers. His hands came up and gripped onto her biceps, holding her to him tightly as he met her extra pressure with his own, eagerly following her lead as she increased the range of motion in her lips.
By now it was quickly heading into the realm of open-mouthed kissing, and it was growing wetter by the second as the moist inner parts of their lips began to come into contact. The warmth of his mouth started to increase against hers, as if his body temperature was skyrocketing, and his breath also heated up in their joined mouths, making the kiss feel like a sauna. It was surprisingly pleasurable, and she just wanted to get closer and never stop kissing him. She'd entirely forgotten about the threat of his fire… all that mattered was his lips against hers.
Her hands were still on his face, but one soon slipped behind his neck to tangle in the short pink hairs at his nape, while the other remained to cup his cheek.
It wasn't long before she wanted to try deepening the kiss even more, and she snuck her tongue out to lick along his bottom lip, testing the waters a little. He jerked and froze a little, seeming confused. When she went back to kissing him though, he unfroze and started kissing her back again. Then he surprised her a little when she felt the tip of his tongue experimentally flick against her lower lip, the same way hers had done to him. She couldn't help but smile a little into the kiss at that.
The smile slipped away quickly though, because she couldn't resist taking advantage of the opening he'd just given her, and she quickly slid her tongue along his and into his mouth, which startled a yelp from him. He stilled again, and she felt his eyelashes tick against her cheek as his eyes opened in surprise. Unable to control herself, she indulged in kissing him as deeply as she knew how to – without being gross and sticking her tongue down his throat of course. She'd been on the receiving end of nasty tonsil hockey once, and she didn't want to force Natsu through that experience.
After a few seconds of stillness on his part as he absorbed the inclusion of tongues in their kiss, he eagerly responded. The first few touches of his tongue against hers were hesitant, but quickly grew forceful as he got the idea of it. Soon he had wrestled hers back into her own mouth and had taken possession, exploring as thoroughly as he would on any mission and taking no prisoners. It was a little overly forceful actually, and the kiss seemed to be quickly spiraling out of control as he eagerly pressed his lips against hers and their teeth started to click together periodically.
After piercing her lip with a sharp fang, she pulled back a second for a breather, and to lick her now slightly bloody lip. He growled and followed, but she held him back with her fingers in his hair. "…gentle…" she mumbled softly, before brushing her lips against his, and he murmured something unintelligible against her mouth. His lips were gentler though when she dove back into the kiss, but his passion didn't seem to have abated at all. The kiss was just as fierce, but thankfully less tinged with near-violence.
It only lasted a few more moments though before it was his turn to pull away, and Lucy was left wondering what had happened. He sat back, and she let her hands slide off his head and into her lap.
"Is…something wrong?" she inquired, attempting to catch her breath and failing pretty spectacularly. For all the quirks and awkward moments of that kiss, it had undoubtedly been the best of her life – despite nearly breaking her nose and bloodying her lip.
"No…but I promised to stop remember?" he huffed back, looking and sounded just as out of breath as her – which made her puff up a little with pride.
"Stop?"
"Yeah, before I shared any fire with ya."
"Oh. OH!" she suddenly flushed as she realized what that meant. Apparently Natsu had REALLY gotten into their kiss…or else it didn't take much to fire him up. He was a guy after all, but she had been under the impression that celestial spirits could chose when that sort of thing happened.
"I uh…I thought you could decide not to…you know…"
"Huh? Decide not to what?"
"Remember, back at the hot springs? You and Leo were talking about the differences between human men and celestial spirits and how you could…well…choose not to get aroused?"
"Oh! That!" He started laughing, even though he was still flushed and a little winded. "Normally, yeah. But it's harder to control when you're involved. I guess I just decide to get all 'fired up' without realizing it." He smirked a little when he said, 'fired up,' and she rolled her eyes but smirked back. She could already tell that it was probably going to become a codeword for them, although she doubted it would ever be less corny.
Returning to the previous topic of conversation, she verified, "So, you stopped because you weren't going to be able to control your fire anymore?"
"Yep. I promised didn't I?"
"Yeah, you did…" she murmured and bit her lip, glancing at his mouth.
She really wanted to keep kissing, but the thought of having fire breathed down her throat was still a little concerning to her. Still, she also kind of wanted to just get it out of the way so she would stop worrying about it. So, with a deep breath, she leaned forwards and hooked her hand behind his neck again before pulling him close.
Their lips met, but he pulled back only seconds later, murmuring, "…Luce?"
"I don't care. Breathe all the fire you want." she said with confidence that was only partly faked. He could probably hear the slight tremor in her tone, but didn't comment on it.
He sealed his lips back over hers with a slight groan, and she felt an answering jerk in her gut at the sound. One of his arms wrapped around her shoulders, and his hand burrowed into her hair, while the other latched onto her thigh. A slithering sensation told her that his tail had coiled around the calf and foot that were dangling off the couch, and she almost giggled when the very tip wrapped around her big toe. The giggle turned into a gasp though when Natsu initiated open-mouthed kissing and immediately slipped his tongue between her lips when they parted.
Apparently he liked tongue kissing…good to know. She certainly enjoyed it as his tongue twined around hers – even when his teeth knocked into hers again. That was definitely something they were going to have to work on though.
He tugged her closer, and every bit of him started to heat up like before. His lips, tongue, breath, and hands all started to get beyond feverish against her skin, but it felt amazing, and she couldn't help but sink into the heat. However, this time he only got warmer and warmer, particularly his mouth.
But that was nothing compared to when fire started to spill from his lips.
Their mouths were both pretty open to accommodate the deep kisses, so his flames licked right from his mouth into hers, and suddenly the inside of her mouth was burning. Like the other times she had come into contact with his flames, it was insanely hot, but didn't hurt even a tiny bit. It WAS, however, quite shocking, like she had just taken a drink of boiling water – minus the pain – and it shocked a full-throated gasp out of her. The boiling water metaphor turned out to be relatively accurate too in a rather startling way, as the fire acted almost like liquid…coating her tongue and then pouring down her throat, making her feel as if she almost needed to swallow. It was sort of a ticklish sensation really, in an incredibly strange way, as the flames licked her throat on the way down. It also felt like it set fire to her insides….her neck, chest, and finally stomach lit up like a fireplace.
Sweat popped out all over her skin at the sensation of such intense heat blooming in her gut, and she felt herself flush hot. Partly though, that was due to something else. As shock started to give way, discomfort quickly followed as she struggled to adapt to the strange sensation, but then it almost immediately started to switch over to pleasure. There was something intensely sensual about it, not only because it was a part of Natsu entering her body – which was more a mental turn on than anything else once it occurred to her – but it was physically arousing. Something about the heat was intensely pleasurable, in a way she had never experienced before.
It was so intense that it startled a sharp groan from her, and Natsu instantly stiffened and pulled back.
"You okay Luce? Was that too much? Did it hurt?" he gasped, his voice incredibly rough and breathless.
It took a moment for her to peel her eyes open, and when she did, it was to the sight of Natsu's face all flushed and his eyes dark and heavy lidded. All that did was excite her more, but she tried to focus on his words too. "Uh…no. It was fine." she managed, and then after licking her still tingling and burning lips she admitted, "Actually it felt really good."
The worry on his face instantly melted away, to be replaced with heated curiosity. "It felt good?"
"Yeah…"
"Can you describe it?"
She flushed a little, and for the very first time wondered if Natsu was a chatty type during intimate situations. Somehow, that wouldn't surprise her in the least, considering how mouthy Natsu was in general. But she wasn't quite sure how to feel about the thought of a dirty talking Natsu…whether it was funny, awkward, or hot.
She hoped he didn't expect her to mouth-off too much though, because that might get a little embarrassing. But she figured she could answer this one question without it getting too awkward.
"Um…it was…it's really hard to describe. It was like swallowing something boiling hot, but without any of the pain. It burned in a good way."
"Sounds like the way it feels to eat fire."
"Does eating fire arouse you?" she asked bluntly, flushing as she did so, but too curious to resist.
He blinked with wide surprised eyes at her question, and any embarrassment she might have felt was worth it to see his shocked expression. "Um. No."
"Then it's not exactly the same," she admitted.
He blinked some more and then grinned. His eyes darkened and his grin was a little sharper and more sexual than any other she'd ever seen from him – while also somehow being a little mischievous – and the expression made her gulp and lick suddenly dry lips. Since when had Natsu possessed the ability to make her tingle with just a look? Apparently admitting that his fire turned her on had sparked something a little feral in him.
"I'm glad my fire makes you feel so good. I knew you were getting turned on, but I just thought it was the kiss…"
She flushed and abruptly decided that, yes, Natsu was probably the chatty type…and it wasn't nearly as awkward or funny as she'd thought it would be. In fact, it downright flustered her. "U-um…well, the kiss did it too…" she admitted haltingly.
She really wanted to kiss him again, but with the way she was currently feeling, she decided it might be best to call it a night here. She wasn't ready to do more than kiss, and the looks he was giving her said that he might be. Aside from that, she wasn't sure she wouldn't accidentally go further than she was actually comfortable with if she got too wrapped up in another of his burning kisses, and she'd rather not wake up tomorrow with any regrets. That would suck.
When she glanced at the clock, her eyes bugged out. It was a lot later than she'd thought.
"Woah…is it really already eleven o'clock? We should get to bed Natsu."
He pouted. "Do we have to?"
"We really should. And besides that, I uh…I'm feeling a little hot under the collar right now, and I'm not ready to go any further than we already have…so it's probably for the best."
His pout didn't go away, but he did nod in agreement.
Sneak Peek
Several more days passed in this manner, up until a new and infinitely more serious topic overtook everything – completely blindsiding the entire guild.
Almost a week after returning from the burlesque mission, Lucy was at the request board once again looking for a mission. Natsu had eaten them almost out of house and home yet again, and they needed a little extra to cover the food budget. Right as she was leaning in to take a closer look at an intriguing mission involving a lake monster, she was thoroughly distracted by the guildhall doors being slammed open. That, in and of itself wasn't entirely unusual, but the sound did attract Lucy's attention and she glanced over, only to become immediately concerned at the sight of Erza running into the guildhall. She was out of breath and had a wild look in her eyes that prompted everyone to instantly pay attention and move back several paces.
"Jellal's been caught! The Council is giving him a court case, and we've been summoned as potential witnesses!"