AN: We're so sorry the chapter is a week late! Kaeli started school this week and it was kind of a mess! The next chapter should be on time!
Dog Days
Chapter Four: Duck, Duck Goose (From Hell)
Of course, of fucking course.
As if this day hasn't already been bad enough.
"No," Natsu feels like laughing, or throwing up, he isn't quite sure yet. "I'm not gonna do it."
He folds his arms defiantly across his chest, purposefully looking everywhere but in the direction of the short blonde standing in front of him. Natsu will not make eye contact with the enemy. He would undoubtedly go to the ends of the earth for this woman, along with declare his love for her from every rooftop in the city, but he will in the same breath also tell them that he is not going to do it.
Every person has their breaking point, and this is Natsu's breaking point.
Scary dog owners be damned. Scary dog owners covered in tattoos, be damned. Butch, be damned! Natsu is more terrified of what's awaiting him, should he agree to Lucy's request, than he is the scary tattoo artist with even scarier hand gestures.
Okay, so that isn't entirely true. Butch haunted his nightmares for a fair number of nights after that particular incident with Princess, but this situation is preventable! He isn't about to willingly walk into what could possibly be his end! No matter how cute Lucy looks when she pouts and gives him that adorable little frown!
And damn, she really does look cute right now, especially when she does that little thing with her—no, he has to stay strong this time. He will not break.
"Natsu," he can tell by her tone that she's getting upset with him, since it's now shifted from the innocent pouting that it had been only a few seconds before. Natsu feels a tiny crack in his resolve—he really hates upsetting her—but still, he holds strong.
He forces himself to turn around completely, showing his back to the girl as he shrugs off her scary tone. "Nope," he says, "I refuse."
She scoffs, and he just knows that she's rolling her eyes at him. He can feel the annoyed motion directed at him and it sends a shiver down his back.
"Why are you being such a baby about this?"
"I am not being a baby about this!" He whips back around, nearly tripping over an excited Scooter who is busy bouncing around Natsu's feet, thinking the young man's erratic movements are a part of some game. "Any sane person would have the same reaction as me right now, thank you very much!"
"You act like they're going to eat you!"
Natsu's eyes widen at the girl's nonchalant tone, and is dead serious when he replies with, "They might!"
"You're such a dork." He watches as his girlfriend shakes her head just the slightest, and is confused when he sees the corners of her mouth lift in the smallest of grins. "Maybe that's why I love you so much." He pouts a little at her words, feeling even more out of the loop when she hands him Sammy to hold, leaving him now with both dogs as Scooter continues to pant happily at Natsu's feet.
Lucy rests her hands on her hips, raising a brow as she says, "A few ducks are not going to hurt you."
"It's not the ducks I'm worried about," Natsu says, mocking the girl's teasing tone before shifting his voice back to normal. "But that goose over there is just waiting to fuck me up."
"Then don't go near the goose!"
Natsu, feeling affronted that anyone could take a potential goose attack so lightly, opens his mouth to tell her that it isn't as simple as 'don't go near the goose'—those little shits can smell fear, and that was something he'd learned the hard way on a field trip back in the third grade when one of the demon spawn had harassed him for his lunch, making off with both his ham on rye and his left shoe, don't ask—when he is interrupted by a loud splash coming from the duck pond.
The sound of that splash, that has just soaked Natsu's sneakers—it's really proving not to be his day—is the very reason he and Lucy are even having this stupid conversation in this unholy area in the first place!
They hadn't been walking for very long, a short enough period of time for Scooter to still be moping about losing his wheels when they'd heard a loud splash coming from the duck pond that they'd been passing on their way into town.
The splash, Natsu knew immediately, had been too large for any duck to make.
Oh, for the love of… Natsu had practically wilted where he stood the moment he felt Lucy's hand fall on his arm, stopping them in their tracks as she whipped her head to the side. Natsu, meanwhile, had only closed his eyes tight and prayed that he wouldn't be responsible for whatever was in the pond.
"Is that…" he heard Lucy mutter, feeling the way she suddenly gripped his arm as tight as she could. "Natsu! It's Atlas!"
Natsu peeked one eye open to, sure enough, see a very jolly Golden Retriever having the time of his life as he was busy treading water, swimming around the pond and harassing any and all ducks that had decided to take a dip. Normally, on any other occasion, Natsu felt as though he would reward the dog for finding such a good pass time, but not when he was responsible for getting him out of said duck pond!
Scooter had barked happily at the sight of his furry friend and had tugged at his leash, eager to join the Golden Retriever, although Natsu was having none of that.
Damn it.
"Would you just go in after him?"
"You go in after him!"
Natsu realizes his mistake just a split second too late, and watches as Lucy raises her brow.
"Okay," she says slowly, calmly. "Fine."
"Wait…" Okay, so it's not exactly the response that he was expecting from his girlfriend, especially when it meant wading through a duck pond. "Luce," he wrinkles his nose and points to the water, covering Sammy's young ears as he whispers, "Ducks shit in there."
It's important to Natsu that his girlfriend knows the full extent of what she just agreed to.
Lucy only laughs, saying something along the lines of how it's a good thing she wore her old shoes that day or something, Natsu isn't really sure. He's a little distracted by the blonde's hands that are now drifting towards the hem of her shirt.
"Uh, Luce," he says softly, his mouth going dry as he watches her lift the fabric up and over her head before handing it to him.
"What?" she shrugs, "I'm not about to go in with my clothes on." She rolls her eyes and wrinkles her nose at the thought. Natsu only nods, half-listening as he takes in the sight of her standing there in only a tight tank top and jeans. His eyes roam his girlfriend's figure, suddenly very thankful for the figure-hugging material that she seems so fond of.
It's still beyond the young man how even after four years of dating, the girl in front of him could still take his breath away and leave him speechless. He never will be able to get enough of her.
And, oh God, her bra is an electric purple color and showing through the thin material of her white tank top… Natsu quickly shields Sammy's pure, virgin eyes.
Well, as virgin as one can call a dog who won't stop humping the stuffed duck toy they have back home—the aftermath of one very expensive night at the fair, but so, totally worth it. Speaking of ducks, Natsu makes a quick mental note not to let Sammy down any time soon…
When he hears the faint sound of Lucy unbuttoning her jeans, he's immediately snapped out of his daze.
"No stop!" With his free hand he reaches out and swiftly re-does the button one-handed—he's had a lot of practice over the years—and quickly hands back her shirt and Sammy before she can shed any more of her clothes. "I'll do it!"
That Sting kid could still be around, for all Natsu knows, and he isn't about to let that pervy teenager get a free show of his girlfriend in her underwear. Not that Natsu would let him pay for a show either, not that there would be a show in the first place…
There will be no show of his girlfriend, period!
Unless it's for Natsu, then he may reconsider… but that's beside the point!
Natsu takes a deep breath, staring out at the murky water as his eyes follow Atlas' head—the only part of the canine that isn't underwater—and makes one last feeble attempt at whistling for the dog to come back to shore. All it does though is excite both Scooter and Sammy, who howl back in response.
As for Atlas, he's too busy panting away as he "sneaks" up on a group of ducks who have taken solace in the very middle of the pond.
"You sooo owe me for this," Natsu mumbles as he swiftly removes his shirt once handing over Scooter's leash to the blonde. He makes quick work of his jeans, kicking them off to the side before bending down to re-tie his laces.
He's not about to go into a duck pond barefoot, after all. Gross.
His girlfriend just snickers, carefully folding Natsu's clothes over her arm as she waves him off once he's done testing the waters.
"My hero," she calls after him, laughing harder when Natsu leaves her with a bird of her own after flashing an obscene gesture.
"A-Atlas!" Natsu calls out shakily for the pooch as he slowly wades into the murky water, his eyes focused on the sky as he promptly refuses to look anywhere near the demon lurking on the far end of the pond.
His eyes eventually drift down to the water, so dark that he can't see his legs beneath the surface. He knows, with every squishing step, that he's further ruining his shoes.
"Atlas!" Natsu calls out again, cursing when the dog lifts his head to look back at the man before deliberately doggy-paddling off in the other direction, like they were playing some sort of keep away game.
"We don't have time for this!" he groans, wading further into the pond until he's waist deep. The sun overhead is still blazing, directly in the middle of the sky, but that doesn't mean much to Natsu. They only have three—well, two technically, Atlas isn't caught yet—dogs out of sixteen, and their window of opportunity is closing with every passing splash of Atlas swimming around.
Natsu makes a lunge for the drenched Golden Retriever, only to end up gagging when he misses and some of the water splashes up onto his face, only very nearly missing his mouth.
"My life sucks," he groans, throwing his head back to look at the sky. "I'm only babysitting cats from here on out. Or rabbits. We're rabbit-sitters now."
Who the hell taught this dog how to swim? he thinks a few moments later, panting and trying to figure in his head how long it had been since he last went to the gym. This was just sad on his part.
The sound of Lucy laughing her ass off back on land wasn't really good for moral, either.
However, then he hears her soft, "Oh."
Natsu, whose hair is now drenched and sticking to his forehead, watches in confusion as Atlas' ears perk, and soon the dog's nose is the only thing above water as he stills completely. The man lunges forward, thinking this is his chance to finally catch the rogue pooch as he makes a grab for Atlas' collar.
He's close. So, so close.
But no dice.
He reaches just as the dog darts away, making a beeline for dry land and straight towards Lucy, whose holding something in her hand way above her head, out of a bouncing Scooter's reach. Natsu squints and shields his eyes from the sun to see better, and that's when he notices just what it is his girlfriend is holding, and why Atlas is so interested.
She's holding a dog treat.
"You've got to be shitting me."
"Sorry," Lucy winces when Natsu, who is now wading just above knee-level, gets closer. She holds up a drenched leash attached to an even more soaked Golden Retriever, who is gnawing happily on a pink-colored dog biscuit. "I laid your pants down for a second so I could readjust your shirt, and when I looked down Scooter was trying to eat your pockets. And when I checked them, well," she winces once more as she holds up a small handful of the multi-colored biscuits. "You had these in there, and you know they're Atlas' favorite."
His own jeans, and he forgot about the treats.
The treats that he carries with him on every walk.
And now he's soaked and cold from wading around in duck shit for the past ten minutes.
It's truly a great, remarkable day.
Natsu finds himself wishing that this will hopefully be one of those days that he and Luce can look back on and laugh about one day, because then that would mean Natsu got at least some enjoyment out of it.
But as for now? Natsu looks down just as Atlas finishes off his biscuit, plopping himself down beside the man's feet before panting up at him. The dog wags his tail happily, shaking the water from his coat and spraying Natsu's dry shirt, which Lucy has just handed him.
Rabbit-sitting is looking better and better.
Natsu nearly jumps out of his skin when there's a loud, angry squawk from behind him, and he quickly grabs Lucy's wrist and pulls her—and their three babies—farther away from the water that was lapping at their heels.
Holy shit, he thinks, breathing hard as he dresses as quickly as possible, ignoring Lucy's laughter. Not today, you satanic bird. Natsu glares after the goose that was making its rounds, wincing when the bird honks one last warning at the pair before turning in the direction of a small group of ducks.
The small departing hiss—yes, geese hiss. Terrifying, right?—sends a shiver down Natsu's spine while taking him back about fifteen years.
The man shoots the Golden Retriever a dirty look, but the dog's tail only thumps the ground as Atlas bounces up and down with Scooter, both happy to be reunited. Sammy barks from his place in Lucy's arms, panting happily before snuggling closer to the blonde's chest.
His girlfriend only laughs at his grumpy expression, pressing his jeans to his chest before stepping up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his cheek.
"I love you," she grins, pecking him on the lips before gesturing for him to hurry and finish getting dressed. "Come on, we still have more puppies to round up."
Fifteen more, to be exact.
Seriously, Natsu thinks, wringing out his shirt. Could I still pay rent if I switch to rabbits?
AN: Next chapter is the special 50 review chapter! You guys will finally learn what happened during the strip poker incident ;) I'll put a warning at the top, because I'm not sure how naughty it will get.
Bit thank you to everyone who's left a review! Kaeli and I really appreciate the feedback!