Woo-hoo, two in one week! And double-digits now, too! Only 40 more to go... (ugh)

I originally had something very different planned for this prompt, but the random number generator gave me 11 and I'm in too peppy of a mood today to write something dark, so I switched it up and wrote something light and funny instead! Hope it makes some people smile today!

I also wanna toss a major "thank you" to all my readers/reviewers/followers. We topped 100 reviews on this with the last chapter, which is amazingly awesome! Next milestone is 500! Think we can get there by chapter 50? Think I can even MAKE IT to chapter 50? Maybe through the power of teamwork! Haha :)

Anyway, have a laugh, everybody! And thanks again!

#11 Drunk

If normal days classified as rowdy at the Fairy Tail guild hall, parties broke the scale altogether – especially when the festivities were over the appointment of a new S-Class mage. Freed had insisted time again that he didn't want an oversized celebration, but Bickslow had of course ignored his nay-saying and planned one anyway, asserting that his teammate's promotion was not an event to be overlooked. And when someone from Fairy Tail wanted a party, they often got more than they'd bargained for.

The guild hall was twice as crowded as usual, with people of all ages lounging around every table and gathered in every corner. There was talking, laughing, singing, dancing, shouting, fighting, and all manner of sounds in between. Elfman and Lisanna were on table duty, and could be seen darting in and out of crowds carrying trays piled high with food. Erza had had a few too many drinks and challenged a similarly inebriated Gajeel to a sort of extreme dance-off, which involved weapons as well as moves and which many of the guild members had begun betting on. Mirajane had enlisted the help of Alzack and Bisca behind the bar, though Cana was doing a better job of passing out drinks than the three of them combined – she had taken to handing a glass to anyone lucky (or unlucky, depending on the person) enough to pass by her. In fact, it seemed the only person she had yet to catch was Wendy, who appeared to be avoiding Cana as if the older girl had an extremely contagious disease.

When Gajeel finally passed out, Erza dropped her swords and raised her hands in the air, letting out a very loud victory scream and prompting the onlookers who'd placed their bets with her to laugh and collect their dues – Natsu and Gray among them. Once finished, they stepped back from the crowd to count their spoils.

"Gajeel never even stood a chance," Gray pointed out, a wide grin on his face. "Did you see that move where Erza flipped over him to catch that spear, then used it to trip him up right in the middle of his turn? It was perfect!"

"Nobody can beat Erza," Natsu agreed with similar excitement. "Hey," he went on, his mind changing direction. "You haven't seen Lucy, have you? I sent Happy to find her ages ago but now I've lost him too."

Gray frowned, glancing over the crowd. "Last I saw her, she was with Cana. But that was a while ago."

Cana? Natsu thought, a lump forming in his throat. "Great…" he groaned. Cana had made it her personal mission that night to get as many people drunk as she could, and she knew full well that Lucy wasn't the best at holding her liquor. Natsu had a bad feeling about this turn of events.

"Don't worry about it," Gray said off-handedly, noticing the look on his friend's face. "She knows better than to let Cana trap her. I'm sure she's with Levy or something."

"Natsu!" a small, high-pitched voice called suddenly from somewhere in the crowd. Natsu looked to see Happy rise up above his guildmates' heads and glide straight for them, looking almost afraid. "I'm sorry, Natsu! I tried to—hic!—stop her, but she was too—hic!—strong for me!" As the cat hiccupped again, Natsu fixed him with an incredulous stare.

"You haven't been drinking, have you?" he demanded as Gray started to laugh.

"No!" Happy replied. "Well—hic!—maybe a little… I was looking for Lucy, like you—hic!—said, but Cana wouldn't—hic!—let her go! She forced me! Hic!" He shook his head, trying to stay in the air but teetering dangerously. "I tried to save Lucy, but—hic! I'm sorry, Natsu! It's all my—hic!—fault!"

Before Natsu could ask what Happy was talking about, the cat's wings drooped and he suddenly dropped several feet in altitude before catching himself. He fell directly into the path of a hurrying Lisanna, who shrieked and jerked to the side, losing her balance and causing the tray of food in her hands to go flying, cascading its contents over the small group of people behind her. The tray hit Jet in the side of the head, knocking him into Gray, who in turn fell sideways into Natsu, who grabbed his friend and staggered backward, managing to keep his footing rather than tripping against the bar that stood just behind him. Happy looked mortified, and opened his mouth to speak when another voice interrupted.

"HEY, YOU! GET OFF OF MY BOYFRIEND!"

Uh-oh… Natsu thought as he yanked Gray to his feet. There was no mistaking that voice.

"Oh, no," Happy whined, covering his mouth and gliding around to hide behind Natsu's shoulder. "Here she—hic!—comes."

Gray barely had time to regain his balance and turn around before Lucy was between him and Natsu, hands on her hips and a fuzzy glare in her eyes. She was swaying vaguely on the spot and there was a light flush of color in her cheeks. "Whodo you thick you are, anyways?" she demanded in a slurred voice, poking Gray hard in the chest and staring him down. "You floozy!"

"What?" Gray stuttered, looking utterly lost as Natsu smacked a hand to his forehead. "You're joking, right?"

"I don' care if you don' wanna fight," Lucy argued, mishearing Gray's words. "Keep way from 'im, sister!"

By now some of the people around them were watching with piqued interest, more than a few breaking into fits of laughter. Realization dawned on Gray's face and he glanced over Lucy's shoulder at Natsu with a groan. "She thinks I'm a girl, doesn't she?"

Natsu offered him an almost apologetic half-smile as Lucy once again misunderstood what he said. "Tha's right! I'm his girl! He doesn' need you!"

"Lucy, just calm down a minute," Natsu said, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. He'd only ever seen her drunk twice before, but that had been enough to teach him how… aggressive alcohol made her.

She shook him off, her eyes fixed on Gray, who had begun to back away from her slowly. "Maybe you should take her home, man," he suggested to Natsu, sounding on edge.

"He's not goin' home with you!" Lucy growled. "You thick jus' cuz you go around topless, guys are gunna fall for you?" Gray looked down at his bare torso and sputtered in surprise, clearly not remembering having lost his shirt (Natsu didn't find it necessary to point out that he had taken it off not ten minutes into the party). "'Sides, I can do that too." Defiantly, Lucy gathered the hem of her shirt in her hands and began to lift it toward her head.

"Whoa, okay!" Natsu yelled, leaping forward and wrapping his arms around Lucy from behind, trapping her arms at her sides. The men around them who'd perked up and leaned closer at her motion seemed to deflate in disappointment, and Natsu felt a twinge of annoyance toward every one of them. "I think it's time we get out of—mmmph!" Natsu's sentence was cut off when Lucy wriggled around in his arms and crashed her mouth against his, shoving him back against the bar and pressing her body tight against him. She was an aggressive drunk, alright – and it seemed her kissing was no exception. He responded reflexively at first, but the snickers and whoops from the crowd around them brought his judgment back, and after a few seconds he raised his hands to Lucy's shoulders and pushed her off of him. "Uh…" he said unintelligibly, his train of thought momentarily derailed.

Gray took the opportunity to attempt an escape, but unfortunately for him, Lucy saw his movement. Before he could get more than two steps away, she grabbed his arm and spun him around, bracing a fist and slugging him hard across the jaw. He stumbled off his feet and sprawled across the floor, knocking over two chairs in the process. She was about to launch herself after him when Natsu grabbed her arm. Still in battle mode, she spun around with a glare and swung the same fist at her captor. It connected squarely with the side of his face just below the eye and he staggered back, releasing his hold on her.

"Oh!" she gasped, her blurred eyes widening. "Sorry, Natsu… You okay?"

Natsu blinked a few times and straightened up, glancing at Lucy. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw her eyes drooping and her smile fading. Then without warning she went limp and collapsed with a tired groan, and Natsu dove to one knee to catch her before she hit the ground, fast asleep.

Chuckling in exasperation, Natsu gathered Lucy into his arms and climbed to his feet as the laughter around him grew louder. Somehow in the madness, Juvia had found her way to Gray's side and was coaxing him into a sitting position as he rubbed the spot on his jaw where Lucy had hit him. Happy must have fled the scene at some point during the commotion and was nowhere to be found, but Cana had made her way over in his place.

"You should get her home," Cana told Natsu with a laugh and a shake of her head. "She won't be feeling so feisty in the morning."

"This is your fault, you know," he told her with a smirk.

She held up her hands, one of which was holding a mug of frothy, golden liquid. "Hey, I was just trying to get her to loosen up! It's a party!" She laughed again and took a swig of her drink. "If you ask me, I'd say it worked like a charm!" Cana offered a cheerful wave and headed back into the crowd. Natsu bid the rest a hasty goodbye before carrying his sleeping girlfriend out of the guild hall and into the night air.

When they arrived safely at Lucy's apartment, Natsu made a beeline straight for her bedroom and laid her down carefully on her bed, not bothering to draw back the blankets. There was heat rising from her skin, and a quick trip to the kitchen soon yielded Natsu a cool, damp cloth, which he folded up and set across her brow. He sighed and shook his head, watching her sleeping form and remembering the last time she'd let alcohol get the better of her. That time, she had made the mistake of picking a fight with Erza over who could hit the hardest, and had been subsequently knocked out cold by the undeniable winner of said argument. He supposed this time had gone a little better.

After a few minutes, Natsu turned to leave, but stopped when he felt a pull on the edge of his vest. He spun back to see Lucy looking up at him through half-open eyes. "Where are we?" she asked groggily.

"Your place," he answered.

She looked puzzled, but her eyes sparked with concern when she noticed the bruise forming under his left eye. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Fine," he replied honestly. "I'll, uh… explain it tomorrow." He wasn't surprised that she didn't seem to remember.

Lucy breathed deeply, grimacing. "My head's killing me…" she complained. "Hey, will you… stay with me? Just for a while?"

Natsu was taken slightly aback, but figured she was still a bit delirious and didn't want to argue with her. "Of course," he said, and she scooted over on the bed in an obvious invitation for him to lie down beside her. Tentatively, he swung his legs up onto the mattress and stretched out in the space she'd made. She wasted no time in twisting to the side and lying her head on his shoulder, cuddling up next to him and taking a deep, steadying breath. He smiled and draped his arm behind her shoulders.

"Hey…" she whispered in a voice already heavy with imminent sleep. "What happened to Freed's party?"

Natsu laughed lightly, running his fingers through Lucy's hair as she nodded off. "Trust me, you had a great time."

It annoys me that Microsoft Word chooses to underline the 'Tail' in 'Fairy Tail' and ask if I meant 'Fairy Tale'. No, Microsoft Word. If I had meant 'Fairy Tale' I would have TYPED 'Fairy Tale'. Don't presume to know what I'm talking about. It's bad enough I have to add everyone's names to your dictionary just to avoid the glaring red lines. Rude.

Haha, anyway, reviews are love, friends! See you soon!

-oMM