Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
ACT VI: Reverberation Time – Gathering what's left
Approximately X793
~ o ~ O ~ o ~
Chapter 43: It's about time
The rest of the day went by rather eventless, as the Dragon Slayer and Celestial mage enjoyed their time resting while watching different movies. It was a good day for both of them, because they had been through enough emotional struggles, so it was nice to forget about it all, even if it was just for a short while.
They had just finished one of the movies, when Natsu turned to look at Lucy who looked like she was seconds away from falling asleep.
"Nnngh!" he stretched both arms over his head, making the muscles prickle a tiny bit in pain. In response to this the blonde followed the same procedure.
"That was awesome" Natsu managed to say, before he felt the urge to yawn, so he did making him open his mouth in order to let it out.
"Yeah..." Lucy whispered while rubbing her eyes, with the palm of her hands "... I'm tired..."
"Me too..."
"I'm gonna go brush my teeth..." she yawned while sluggishly getting up on her feet, before strolling out to the bathroom, where she did her business and returned to the couch.
"My turn then!" Natsu smiled to himself as he weakly did the same procedure, before returning to the girl who sat staring into thin air, with small tears gathering in her eyes.
"Ahhh..." Lucy moaned as she snatched her duvet and pillow, leaving a blanket and another pillow for Natsu to sleep with "... it's been ages since I've been this tired..."
"Mmm-hm..." he licked his teeth, which didn't go by unnoticed by the celestial mage.
"Did you brush your teeth?"
"Sure did!" Natsu smiled widely revealing his now super polished teeth.
"With what?" her eyes narrowed while a vein on her forehead started to throb visibly.
"I used yours" he looked a bit baffled as anger radiated from the girl "I mean what else could I do, it's not like I have my own here"
"Gaaah..." Lucy exhaled loudly the anger instantly vanishing "... I guess you're right... remind me to buy a new toothbrush tomorrow..."
"... sure" Natsu blinked feeling a bit confused that she let him off the hook so easily. It was probably because she was too tired to have an argument. Ohh well, he mentally shrugged before snuggling underneath the blanket on the couch.
"Goodnight" the blonde called once she got into her bed.
"Nighty night" Natsu answered back.
It didn't take more than a few heartbeats, before he was fast asleep dreaming about nothing in particular, with a stream of drool running down his cheek.
The Dragon Slayer laid like that for a few hours, when he suddenly felt something that felt like a fly carefully tickling his chest, making him lazily swat it away. But of course the bloody insects wouldn't stop, which caused him slowly drift out of his sleep, which made him use more force to make the pesky thing go away.
"Mmm..." he grumbled in annoyance when the thing started tickling his foot "... go away..."
Natsu tried wiggling with his feet, but the pestering thing kept coming back.
"Moohh..." complaining about his unfortunate situation, he was caught by surprise when he felt something that suspiciously felt a lot like teeth, suddenly dug into the meat on his left foot.
"Yaaarrrr!" a squeal escaped him, as he shot up into a sitting position, where he sat eyeing the culprit with huge confused eyes "Plue?!"
"Pun-pun..." the spirit let go of his foot, before it started staring at Natsu, like it could convey it's message through telepathy.
"Uhm..." his eyebrows twitched in confusion, as they sat having a very weird staring contest. As they did he suddenly he noticed a really weird bark, or something that sounded awfully a lot like a whimpering dog.
"Ehh...?" okay he knew Plue was supposed to be a dog like creature, but this was just too freakishly weird, especially because it had never barked or anything that sounded remotely like something a dog would say... bark... whatever!
The spirit seemed very displeased with him though, because suddenly it jumped down on his stomach, making Natsu exclaim an "Umpf" as he watched the spirit jump away from him. Once it had taken a few steps, it turned around and hoisted with his head evidently encouraging him to follow him.
"I'm really not in the mood for this..." he complained, but followed the spirit nonetheless. As Natsu dragged himself after Plue, he noticed that the dog sound seemed to get louder, signifying that it was something else in the apartment that made the noise. Which shouldn't at all come as a surprise, since he had already established that it wasn't Plue who made the sound.
Seriously, he was like super tired, so give a guy a break, will ya...
"Mmmm..." he questioned his own sanity for a second, especially when he found himself standing in front of Lucy's sleeping figure.
Seriously what the...?
Lucy's body suddenly jerked ever so slightly, as the barking like sound escaped her mouth.
Ohhh...
It didn't take long for him to realise that it wasn't at all a bark, but more like her mumbling random stuff while occasionally whimpering.
Not noticing that Plue had vanished Natsu sat down on the bed and removed a few stray hairs from her forehead, while softly calling her name. She didn't respond to it at first, but after a while she slowly opened her eyes, making her stare up at him, with a confused expression.
"You okay?" he asked sincerely, making her blink a few times as she started to get out of her slumber.
"Natsu?" she called in a fragile voice "Is something wrong?"
"Well... uhm... you were making these weird noises..." he said feeling rather awkward all of a sudden.
"Ohh..." her eyes darted away, making her look directly at the wall "... I guess I was having a nightmare..."
"You guess?"
"Yeah... I can't really remember it..."
"So... uhm... you wanna talk about it?" Natsu asked still feeling a bit weird about what he should do about the current situation. After all he really wanted to go back to sleep, but he also wanted to ensure that Lucy was alright.
"No..." she sighed loudly "... I'm too tired"
"Me too..." he nodded with his head turning ever so slightly to stare at the free space next to Lucy. It was sooo luring to just dive in there next to her, especially because the couch suddenly seemed to be several hundred kilometres away.
"... you're not sleeping next to me..." Lucy said when she caught him eyeing her bed.
"I'm not?" he smirked teasingly, earning a small smile from the girl.
"Nope" she smiled wholeheartedly, making something spark inside of his mind.
"Ohh well, I guess I'm not gonna get any more sleep tonight then" Natsu smiled wickedly, before crawling underneath her large duvet, earning a small rant of protests from the Celestial mage.
"This is nice" he smiled widely, while snuggling a bit closer to her.
"Uhm..." Lucy blushed fiercely, when he found a nice position next to her "You know it's okay... you can go to sleep if you want to"
"It's fine..." his eyes flashed with amusement for a second "So don't you worry, there should be plenty I can do to keep myself entertained here"
"I... uhm..." her lips trembled, making her look like she was about to panic "... mmm..."
"Are you sick or something?" he said in a serious tone before he placed one of his hand against her forehead "Mmm, you know you are pretty hot"
"Do-don't say that!" Lucy's eyes glistened as she nonchalantly swatted his hand away.
"Why not?" Natsu asked in what sounded like a confused tone.
"Because it feels wrong..."
"Mm... you think so, huh?" he shrugged before turning onto his back, in order to look at the ceiling "... now go to sleep, I promise I'll stay awake"
"Yeah but doing what...?" Lucy asked, looking like she dreaded the answer.
"Nothing in particular..."
"You're not... gonna get physical?"
Gotcha! he inwardly snickered before answering "I might, I mean sure my muscles are still sore, but I need something to keep me awake right?"
"... even when I'm sleeping next to you..." her face seemed to be carved out of stone, as she glared back at him.
"It might actually be for the best if you're asleep, since I might pull something out you don't wanna see" he answered in neutral voice, howling with laughter on the inside.
"..." Lucy's entire body froze, making her look like a statue.
"What?" Natsu enquired and turned to look at her, while trying to look like he was confused by her actions.
"... " she looked directly into his eyes revealing no emotions whatsoever "... I'm wondering if I should summon Leo"
"You want him to watch you sleep too?" he raised an eyebrow "You're seriously weird sometimes Lucy"
"I'm not!" she spat back at him "You're the one hinting, that you're gonna do indecent stuff, when I fall asleep!"
"Huh?" he blinked a few times "Why is training my combat skills indecent?"
"You... what?" her jaw dropped visibly in surprise.
"Seriously your level of pervy thoughts isn't normal" Natsu smirked before he gently flicked a finger against her forehead.
"Auch..." Lucy complained while pouting ever so slightly.
"But you know..." his smiled turned more predatory as he continued "... I'm open for suggestions if you're not gonna sleep"
He could actually see a chill running through her body, before she suddenly slammed her pillow against his head.
"You stupid, perverted idiot!"
"Mmpf!" was all Natsu could manage to say, as she started rubbing the pillow more forcefully against his face.
Hell no, he wouldn't just lay there while she violated him!
Smiling to himself, Natsu reached out for her body and once he made contact his fingers started tickling her stomach, making her squeal in surprise, before it was replaced with a bright giggle.
"Heh..." his eyes glistened with amusement, as he seized that as an opportunity to take the pillow and forcefully snatch it from the girl, who wasn't holding on to it that firmly.
"Ey!" Lucy protested "Give that back!"
"Nope!
"Mmm..." pouting defiantly she tried taking it away from him, but in defence he quickly moved the pillow in the opposite direction of the girl and out of her reach.
"Oy!" her arms started flailing in the pillows direction and her body would have followed in that direction too, if it wasn't for the fact that Natsu had quickly placed his free hand on her chest.
"Naaa-aw" he shook his head "This is mine now"
"Common stop being an idiot!" she tried once more but still didn't get any closer to her target.
"At least I'm not the one who is having indecent thoughts" he chuckled warmly "You perverted little girl!"
"It's your fault for saying... stuff!" her face turned totally red again at his accusation.
"Ughhh!" Lucy extended her hand so far she could in order to reach the pillow but it was a futile effort. The movement however caused the duvet to slip down from her upper body revealing her waist, which caused huge imaginary stars to spawn in the Dragon Slayer's eyes.
Chance!
"Woop!" Natsu casually dropped the pillow and in a quick movement he used that hand to tickle her now exposed waistline.
"Wait! No... stop that!" she giggled profoundly and tried to snake away from the assault, but he used the opportunity to quickly force her onto her back, before he straddled her legs thereby preventing her from running away.
"Now where were we, mm?" his lips curled backwards revealing all of his shiny teeth.
"Plea-please" Lucy begged with small tears glistening in the corner of her eyes.
"Nope!" was his short answer before he mercilessly started tickling her stomach and ribs, resulting in Lucy howling with laughter.
"Heheh" Natsu loved teasing her like this, it was just so incredibly satisfying for some reason.
Or it was until he suddenly felt something pinching his thighs, which caused him to squeak in surprise before his body suddenly feel flat down on top of the protesting girl, who made a "Umpf" like sound, her eyes instantly becoming huge and bulky from the sudden development.
"What did you do that for?" he asked sounding mildly offensive, while hoisting himself up on his elbows.
"To make you stop" she huffed in response.
"Mmm..." wiggling with his nose in dissatisfaction, he stared down at the girl who was looking rather grumpy.
Feeling caught in the moment Natsu stayed in his position, just looking at Lucy who was starting to look like she was feeling rather uncomfortable.
Which made her look so gosh darn adorable, the way she was fidgeting ever so slightly, her cheeks blushing in a lovely red shade.
It was actually kinda weird but he could feel this weird tension, which came out of nowhere. Or well he had felt it before when he was this close to her, but it was still something he couldn't quite explain. Not that it needed to be, because Natsu actually knew all too well what it was. Heck he might be an idiot in other matters, but since this was such a primal almost instinctive drive, he could easily tell what it was.
His own cheeks started to blush, as he shook his head denying his own trail of thoughts to enter the perverted zone again, because that would be... pretty bad considering the circumstances.
Or would it?
They had already kissed a few times, so...
Would it be that bad?
Was he a good boy?
…...
"Uhm... can you get off me, please?" Lucy said sounding slightly nervous for some reason.
Screw this shit! Heh...
"Are you sure that's what you really want?" Natsu asked with a playful grin on his face.
"Yes, it's kinda hard to sleep when you're hovering above me" her eyes became two thin lines, making it evident she had enough of his shenanigans.
"Mmm..." his eyes narrowed as he inched a bit closer to her face "... I don't think you mean that"
"I do!"
"Sure you do, however..." Natsu gently brushed his own cheek against her's, which caused her to stop breathing for a second, giving him the opportunity to gently whisper into her ear "... you can feel it too can't you?"
Lucy didn't say anything, but it did seem like her body became less tense all of a sudden.
"You know..." he continued speaking in a low voice "... isn't it about time we figure out what we are?"
"We're a team" she whispered in an almost inaudible voice.
"So..." his teeth gently nibbled on her earlobe, causing Lucy to gasp in surprise "... you only kissed me those times to remove the curse?"
"Ye-yes" she exhaled sounding completely flustered.
"Liar..." he smirked to himself before he placed a kiss on her cheekbone, his lips following a pattern that trailed down to her neck "... the first time you just placed your lips on mine. However..." he carefully bit her, causing Lucy to take a deep shaking breath "... you used your tongue the second time"
"I did" she her entire body trembling all over.
"Mmm-hm" Natsu hummed almost seductively, while continuing to place his libs against her neck.
"Ahh..." she gulped loudly, clearly struggling about what to do.
"Lucy..." he sighed before leaning backwards, so he could exchange a look with her "... do you like me?"
"Yes..." she answered honestly "... we're friends right"
"Only friends?" he asked in a serious tone while narrowing his eyes.
"I..." Lucy said sounding absolutely miserable "... I don't know"
"Yeah..." Natsu lowered his head for a second to gain his composure, before looking at her again and to his surprise tears was suddenly streaming down her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked sincerely in concern, before placing one of his hands against her cheek.
"I'm sorry..." she sobbed weakly "... I'm just... scared"
"Scared?" his eyebrows furrowed "About what?"
"That you don't really like me and that..." she took a deep breath before continuing "... that you'll leave me again..."
"Luce..."
"I'm sorry..." she smiled weakly up at him, causing his stomach to clench in pain "... I'm being a silly unreasonable idiot aren't I?"
"Yeah..." sucking in his breath he rested his forehead against hers "... so am I"
"Huh?"
"I know how you feel... you're scared that all your happiness will go away, because you've seen it before. All you know and the people you care for, just vanishing all of a sudden leaving you alone, to face the world" Natsu closed his eyes, recalling way to easily how lonely and scared he had been when Igneel vanished.
"But..." he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb "... sometimes you gotta take a chance and hope for the best... I know it's hard and scary, because in the end we're all alone, left to deal with everything ourselves..."
"Natsu..." Lucy whispered in a fragile tone "... that's an unusually gloomy thing for you to say"
"Heh..." he leaned backwards and faked a smile "... I guess it is"
"But you're right about taking a chance..." she nodded to herself "... some times... things can get better, making the world seem less lonely"
Lucy gently snaked her hands around his neck, forcing his head downwards until their lips met each other. Which caught him by surprise making his eyes widen in shock, because that was a super bold move on her behalf.
And he absolutely loved it!
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath through his nostrils, instantly feeling how her warm scent entered his system, while his stomach starting to tickle in a pleasant way, almost as if a million tiny fingers was poking it from all directions.
Straightening his back a bit, he turned his head slightly to the side before his tongue slipped into her mouth, making them battle each other on a level, that wasn't really like a fight at all.
What a silly comparison...
He could feel Lucy's fingers carefully trailing down his back, causing a shiver of delight to run down his spine, making him moan loudly into her mouth.
Feeling light-headed he stopped their exchange by removing his tongue, however he didn't remove his head, resulting in both of them panting into each others mouths, making the air move back and forth between them.
After catching his breath he once more dove down and caught her lips with his own, this time his hands trailing down Lucy' arms, his gesture earning a gasp to escape her mouth, which seemed to make him feel more dizzy and more primal, in a way that was totally different than anything Natsu had ever experienced before.
Feeling the adrenaline and lust flow through his body, he once more kissed her cheek bone, following the same pattern down her neck, causing Lucy to shiver even more while her breathing became more staggered.
"Mmm..." he almost purred as his fingers carefully followed the contours of her stomach, until he finally located her hips, which he grabbed firmly with both of his hands. In reaction to that Lucy let out a moan, her legs twisting underneath him like she was uncertain what to do with them.
Holy mother of fucking everything!
A growl formed in his throat, as Natsu hungrily kissed her mouth again, in what almost seemed desperate, like he needed this connection to live.
"Luce..." he managed to mutter in a low and husky tone, before he very gently placed a kiss on her forehead "... I really, really like you"
"I really, really like you too" she giggled warmly, while taking deep breaths through her mouth.
"Heh..." he leaned backwards and half smirked down at her, which caused Lucy to look slightly confused "... that was... something"
"Mm-hmm..." she agreed while her fingers started caressing his neck.
"We should get some sleep" Natsu suggested, before resting his forehead against hers again.
"Huh?" she blinked looking rather surprised, which caused him to chuckle.
"This isn't the right time to do that, but rest assured I'm not gonna show you any mercy when it happens" Natsu licked his lips and watched as Lucy's face turned completely red.
"I uhm..."
"You sweet and utterly perverted girl" he laughed wholeheartedly while wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing her firmly against himself.
"Oy" Lucy somewhat complained as she returned the hug.
Not responding he carefully rolled over on his back, making her lay on top of him.
"Ahh..." he exhaled loudly, his head still feeling affected by their little exchange.
"Mmm..." Lucy answered as she removed her arms from the embrace, before crawling up to his face where she placed a gentle kiss on his lips "... well goodnight then"
"G'night" he said while watching Lucy as she laid down next to him, her head using his torso as a pillow while one of her arms rested on top of his waist.
It took a little while after that, before any of them was content enough to sleep but once they did, they were both knocked out like they had been in a super long marathon, making them both so exhausted that they slept for a long time in each other's arms.
A/N: Daaaaaaaaaaaw! They lub each other *.*
So I'm gonna end this story very soon, because right now it's just a nalu arc that doesn't have that much content. Which is fine and all, but I want to move on to other stories, since this one should have finished ages ago.
I think there'll be one perhaps two more chapters, where I wrap things up and then it's diddly-done!
It's gonna be so weird o.o
Have a nice one you lovely people!
/Hejmdal
