CHAPTER FOUR: Hallelujah, Pillows.
Natsu and Lucy stood just inside their room, Natsu's hand still on the handle.
They stared in silence at the room before them, awkwardness hung in the air as they both thought the same thing.
There's only one bed...
"Yay!" Happy cheered, zipping over to the small chair in the corner, plopping down onto the cushioned seat and sighing contentedly. Then he lifted his head and looked back at his two companions. "Natsu, look! Pillows!"
Temporarily distracted, Natsu's eyes lit up and he let out a cry of delight before darting over to the bed and burying his face in one of the oversized pillows, his gleeful chortles muffled by the fluffy down.
Lucy smiled in amusement at his antics and turned to examine the rest of the room.
To her right there was a washstand and large claw foot tub which was filled with steaming bathwater, a definite highlight to the evening.
Up against the wall stood a folded screen which could provide some privacy while bathing. Still though...as ready as Lucy was for a hot bath, she wasn't too eager on stripping naked and bathing while there was a young man in the same room. The screen would only provided a little protection from curious eyes.
"Um...Natsu?" She called over her shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"Did you tell the owner that we weren't, um...well..." She trailed off, too embarrassed to finish the sentence.
"Weren't what?" He queried, suddenly appearing behind her.
Turning to face him, Lucy found it was even more difficult to finish the sentence with him standing right in front of her, eyes wide in questioning. "Uh, well, you know." She stammered, waving her hand in a flustered manner.
He blinked. "Uh...no, that's why I asked." Tilting his head to the side slightly, one eyebrow quirked up as his eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "You're cheeks are red..." Realization dawned on his face as he glanced from Lucy's flustered face to the single bed. "Oh, you think he assumed we were a couple or somethin'? Huh, guess that would explain why he didn't give us a room with two beds." Turning back to her, he shrugged apologetically. "Sorry."
She shook her head. "No, it's alright, it's not your fault."
He frowned slightly. "Yeah but I didn't have enough money for a bigger room anyway, guess I'll have to think of some way to get more cash." Narrowed eyes flicked sideways toward her. "And before you say anything I am not gonna steal. Don't know where you came up with that ridiculous idea anyway." He grumbled to himself.
"You broke into my home and were rummaging around the treasure room in the middle of the night! What was I supposed to think?" Lucy defended irritably.
"Okay fine, but in my defense I wasn't even in the treasure room."
She frowned. "Then what-"
"Celestia's got the largest source of information in the Northern continent."
"Information? About what?"
Something shifted in his eyes, and for a moment Lucy glimpsed something dark in their emerald depths. But it was gone as soon as it came and his gaze shifted behind her.
"You'd better bathe before that water gets cold. The hot bath should help your sore muscles."
Lucy decided her immediate needs outweighed her curiosity, and nodded in agreement. "Right. Um...one problem." She motioned to the folding screen. "That's the only form of privacy..."
He glanced at the screen. "Oh."
For the first time since she met him, Lucy saw just a hint of embarrassment flicker in his eyes.
"Uh...well, I could, you know...step out for a bit?" He said, suddenly avoiding eye contact.
"I think it'd be fine if you just...kept your back to the screen while I was bathing?" Lucy said, trying to keep her face from burning any hotter in embarrassment.
Natsu raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah, I didn't even think about that. That'd work."
He quickly moved the screen in front of the tub since it was too heavy for Lucy to move, and then plopped down with his back resting against the wooden slats. "That okay?"
"Uh yeah, that should be fine just...don't turn around."
"Sorry I don't have any clean clothes you can change into." He apologized as the sound of fabric sliding to the floor reached his ears.
"It's alright, I can make do with these for now. Thank you by the way, for lending me them."
"No problem."
Silence fell on the room, Natsu's sensitive ears picking up the sound of her sliding into the water, a relieved exhale echoing in the quiet, as she sank into the hot water.
"Where's Happy?" She questioned suddenly.
"Asleep on the chair, poor little guy's all worn out." Natsu answered with a chuckle. Realizing that they'd slipped into hushed tones unintentionally. The atmosphere was peaceful, comfortable, but there was a slight...something in the air, Natsu couldn't quite place it, but he could sense it.
"Hey, Natsu?" Lucy suddenly asked, the water rippling as she shifted.
"Hmm?"
Lucy bit her lip, fingers absentmindedly rubbing against the smooth side of the tub as she tried to put her thoughts into words.
"Yeah, Lucy?" Natsu asked, prompted to respond again after her silence in case she hadn't heard him.
"It's funny, isn't it? I feel like I've known you forever but...I know nothing about you." She laughed softly and slipped her arm back under the warm water. "I guess I really don't know much about anything beyond Celestia."
There was silence in the room for a few long moments, then his deep voice said almost too quiet to hear. "Magnolia is my home, but I don't know where I was born or who my parents were, my real ones at least."
"You were adopted?"
"Yeah." He fell silent, giving Lucy the impression that it was difficult for him to talk about personal things.
In an effort to even out their knowledge, she responded softly. "My mom died when I was seven."
"Oh...I'm sorry, you must miss her."
"I do. A lot. They told me she had been sick and passed away suddenly but...I think something happened to her. My dad closed off completely and became so overprotective and paranoid. In the end it was like I lost both my parents." She smiled ruefully. "So in a way I guess we're both like orphans, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Wanting to turn to more cheerful subjects, Lucy asked. "So, what's Magnolia like?" She could hear his voice brighten as he replied.
"Oh man, it's the greatest place in the world...well, at least the greatest place I've ever been to. The sun shines almost all the time, puffy white clouds and blue sky and everything, at the end of summer the rainbow Sakura trees bloom and the petals glow and all fly off into the air. The rivers and lakes glitter like diamonds, flowers grow everywhere. The people are all so friendly and inviting you feel like...like you're home."
She turned her head slightly, catching a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. He sounded...sad. "That sounds wonderful."
"Yeah...it is."
The longing in his voice made her wonder something all of the sudden, and hesitantly she voiced her thoughts out loud. "How long has it been since you were home?"
There was a long stretch of silence, Lucy quickly regretting asking such a personal question.
"Too long." He murmured, raising his voice ever so slightly so she could hear him clearly. "You know, I don't even remember. It's been at least a year, maybe more." He sighed and rested his head against the screen.
Lucy was surprised when he continued, especially since he was sharing such personal feelings with her.
"To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure if I'll be welcomed back. I didn't exactly tell anyone I was leaving, I just...left." He laughed under his breath. "Everyone's probably glad to be rid of me."
"That's not true!" Lucy interrupted, her voice reproachful. "I may not know these people, but I know that you're a kind and fun person and anyone would be lucky to call you their friend. A-and I'm sure they're all waiting for you to come home and have been worried about you."
She sank lower into the tub, her face nearly melting off from her ramble. She hadn't exactly meant to say all those things, but she definitely meant every word.
She was startled when he suddenly started laughing, the deep rumble echoing around the room.
"You sure are weird, Luce."
She puffed her cheeks out irritably, about to reply when his voice said gently.
"Thank you."
A different kind of warmth seeped into her cheeks, the smallest of smiles hovering over her lips as they sat in comfortable silence for a moment.
"So what do you want from life?"
She raised her eyebrows slightly. "I, uh...I'm not sure I understand what you mean."
Natsu hummed pensively, and then tried again. "What are your dreams made of?"
Lucy blinked. "My dreams?"
"Yeah, what makes life worth living? I've been curious, you know, ever since I saw you at that dance thingy-"
"You mean my birthday party?"
"Yeah, whatever, anyway I was saying that when I first saw you, you looked..."
Lucy turned her head to glance at him, curiosity tugging at her. "I looked...?" She prompted.
"Empty."
The small, simple word hit Lucy with a mind shattering force, a thousand thoughts and emotions surging to the forefront of her mind, all scrabbling for attention.
Natsu's observation had hit far too close to home, and the walls she had spent years carefully constructing all crumbled away like ash.
Because the truth of the matter was, she hadn't been happy since her mother died, she had been sad for a while, and the loss still hurt, but over time she got used to the pain until she couldn't remember what it was like not to have it weighing on her heart.
She had been living, sure, but she hadn't felt alive in years.
"But then when you found me underneath that food table," he continued with a small chuckle. "With your pinched eyebrows and indignant comments, I saw something in you, something I missed at first glance."
Lucy sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. "Oh? What did you see?"
He turned his head ever so slightly, his voice full of warmth. "A spark, kind of like a glowing ember in your eyes, a hint that there was more than just a pretty princess hiding in you."
"I want to write stories." She blurted after a short pause, confidence surging through her. "I want to share all the adventures in my head with other people, to share the feeling of losing yourself in a good story, to give people hope...that's what my dream is."
"That's a good dream." Natsu murmured.
A sudden yawn took Lucy by surprise, the warmth of the bathwater combined with the late hour and quiet atmosphere had done a little too good job of relaxing her.
"Tired?" Natsu questioned at the sound of her yawn.
"I suppose so." Lucy said with a light laugh. "I guess I didn't even realize it." She shifted, turning halfway around as she warned. "Alright, I'm getting out now, I'll tell you when I'm dressed."
"Okay." He responded casually.
Stepping out of the tub, Lucy toweled off and slipped back into her panties, slipping Natsu's white shirt over her head before rubbing the moisture from her hair.
Realizing that his shirt hung down almost to her knees, she decided it would be more comfortable to sleep just in that.
Although it was far from decent, Natsu had already seen her in her nightgown.
"You decent?"
Lucy let out a hushed giggle. "Not by the standards for a princess, but yes, I'm covered."
He stood up and stretched lazily before turning around, eyebrows rising nearly imperceptibly for a moment when he saw her. "Uh if it's alright with you I'm gonna just hop in the bath real quick before bed."
Lucy nodded. "Sure. The water isn't very hot anymore though...sorry."
He grinned. "Nah it's fine, I'll get it warmed up just fine." Before she could ask what he meant, he gestured over his shoulder. "Go on and take the bed, I got the floor."
Lucy's eyes widened. "What? No! I'm not letting you sleep on the floor."
He snorted. "Well I sure as hell ain't making you crash on the ground when there's a perfectly good bed available. 'Sides, I'm used to sleeping on the floor, I'll be just fine."
Lucy crossed her arms. "No, that's ridiculous, you payed for the room, you sleep in the bed."
"Nope, I may not look like it, but I've got enough manners not to let a lady sleep on the floor."
She growled in frustration. "Fine! Then we'll both sleep on the bed!"
His eyebrows shot up. "Eh?"
She motioned toward the furniture in question. "It's plenty big enough for the both of us, with room to spare even."
He scratched the back of his head. "My knowledge of proper etiquette might be a tad rusty, but I'm pretty sure it's considered indecent for us to share a bed."
She crossed her arms defiantly. "Since when do you care about proper etiquette?" Lifting her chin and quirking one eyebrow up challengingly, she said. "Do you have a different solution?"
He exhaled in a huff and shook his head. "No."
"So it's settled then."
He shrugged. "Alright, I'll sleep on top of the covers though, I don't get cold too easily so it won't be a problem."
"Whatever makes you comfortable, I'm going to turn in then."
Reaching up and pulling the cord tied at the back of his head, causing his wild hair to tumble free, he shot Lucy a grin. "I'll try not to wake you when I climb into bed."
Caught off guard by seeing his hair down for the first time, Lucy blinked and nodded before turning and walking to the bed.
She hadn't realized quite how long his hair really was. The front hung down just below his jaw, and the back stretched almost to his shoulders. The short ragged layers gave the illusion of it being shorter when it was tied back.
There was something undeniably wild about her traveling companion, and perhaps it should have made her uneasy, but the more time she spent with him the more comfortable she felt in his presence.
He had kind eyes and an even kinder heart, wrapped up in mischief and a deep seeded need for adventure, she knew that much just from the short time they'd spent together.
The bed felt impossibly good as she sank into it, a blissful sigh fluttering from her lips as she snuggled up underneath the blankets, her body instantly relaxing into the soft mattress.
The faint sound of water rippling reached her ears as Natsu bathed, a smile tugging at the side of her mouth when she caught snatches of a tune he was quietly humming.
She had just started to fall asleep when she felt the mattress tip slightly as his weight settled beside her, the movement stirring her briefly.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" He whispered.
"I hadn't fallen asleep yet." She mumbled in response.
"Oh okay."
Lucy could smell the soap he had used, fresh and subtly floral, was that lavender? She'd used the vanilla scented soap that had been placed by the tub, she hadn't seen any other bars, which made her wonder if maybe Natsu carried a bar of soap around with him. It didn't seem too likely, but he was full of surprises.
Heat radiated pleasantly from where his steady breathing could be heard, his natural body temperature turning the air around them into an even more comfortable atmosphere. Her body seemed to melt away as she slipped closer and closer to the inviting darkness coaxing her mind into slumber.
Vaguely she registered the deep rumble of Natsu's voice, not able to register distinguishable words.
"Hmm?" She hummed, feeling him shift onto his side before the sweet abyss finally swallowed her.
"There's uh...somethin' you should know. About me...uh- Lucy?" Natsu's sharp eyes settled on her face, blinking when he realized she'd just fallen asleep.
Grinning slightly, he studied the peaceful expression on her face for a few moments.
"Ah well, I guess it can wait until tomorrow. Let's hope I'll still have the guts to tell you." He let out a sigh, rolled into his stomach, and quickly followed Lucy down into the realm of slumber, murmuring just before sleep claimed him. "Night, Lucy."