Happy felt his fur rising as the cool wind grabbed hold on the three friends. He definitely should have put some more clothes on, since his winter fur hadn't grown in properly yet. Still though, here they were, in Natsu's and Happy's back yard, late in October.
Lucy had initially come over in order to tidy up their house and to hang out, but she didn't even get inside before she started working. She wasn't expecting their garden to be as overgrown and messy as it was - to be fair, the only time Natsu and Happy even looked at their land was to see if anything had magically grown during the summer. The last time it got remotely taken care of was when Lucy took the lead late in June, but by then most plants had already gotten quite deep roots, so she tried giving Natsu "homework" to fix it before she came over. As if that would ever happen.
She had been clearing the flower bed for almost an hour before Natsu came out to look. He had been expecting her to at least pop in to say hi before complaining about the condition of his home, so as he waited he had decided to take a nap. To say the least, he got quite an earful when he greeted her, Lucy sighing and complaining about Natsu's "forgetful nature". Happy was laughing like a fool - he flew out to say hi to Lucy the second he saw her from the window, so he was in the clear of any scolding.
"I cannot believe you!" Lucy's eyebrows were close together in a fierce frown, but Natsu could see a slight grin in the corner of her mouth. "Didn't I tell you to fix this place? You've got so much space and healthy soil here, do you know how much money you could be saving from groceries?"
Natsu grinned gleefully, scratching the back of his neck.
"I forgot. You're never here anyways, so I didn't think you'd notice." He really wished she could come by more often though. He liked having her company, and if they were at his place she couldn't kick him out if he annoyed her too much. Besides, Lucy coming over gave him more reason to actually keep the place tidy. He would also light the fireplace more often - as a fire mage he never needed to do that, since the house always was warm enough with him just being there, but even if he'd never tell anyone about it, he loved the cosy mood that the fireplace gave.
"Well if me coming here is all it takes for you to take your home seriously I might have to step by a few times a week. Do you know how many people there are that would kill for their own house and a big garden to take care of?" Lucy's frown had disappeared, but her arms were still crossed to mark her slight annoyance.
Natsu just grinned. He knew that she was jealous, and rightfully so, knowing how tough it was to pay rent to an annoying landlord every month. A landlord who would do almost anything to get rid of you, to add.
"You could always move in with us," he half-joked. Lucy would probably rather have a one-on-one fight with Erza than to live with a man before marriage, but Natsu knew that his offer was tempting. "But you'd have to deal with the stench from Happy's fish-stash."
"Yeah no, fat chance," she scoffed, turning her back to return to her digging.
"Rude!" Happy exclaimed. His fish was always fresh and of highest quality - with his trained nose he could smell bad fish immediately. "He's right though Lushy! You make yummier food than Natsu, and maybe he'd get a proper bed if you lived here!"
Lucy just shook her head, desensitised to their pleads. They sounded the exact same when they wanted to fill Erza's dorm with worms, so she knew they were being unreasonable. Though, the offer was tempting. No money would go to rent or heating, and they could use that extra money to renovate any rotten parts of the house.
Before she got too convinced to accept the offer, she grabbed a rake and started raking up leaves, earning a tired look from Natsu. Yard work was boring enough for him to experience the most tear jerking yawn in history, probably.
Happy watched as Lucy made their lawn more pleasing. She looked serious yet happy, despite acting angry at Natsu. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail to keep it out of her face, and maybe to hide the fact that it was a bit greasy. It still looked good though, and she was dressed in a big warm jacket and a warm chequered scarf that was wrapped twice around her neck. Happy thought it looked a bit suffocating, but he knew he was in no place to comment on it, since he was freezing a bit himself in today's weather. Lucy still wore the minimal amount of clothing needed on her legs, standing in one of her short skirts and a pair of tights underneath them. Good thing she was moving, because that looked cold.
Natsu stood behind her, arms crossed in lack of any instructions. He was dressed as usual, even sporting the slippers on bare feet - in his defence he thought Lucy would come in when he went out to greet her. It didn't matter thanks to his warm nature, but it was seriously unsettling to see that outfit a day like this. Well, Happy was used to it, but it still looked silly.
"Heeeey…" Natsu moaned, not too pleased with today's chores. "Do we have to do this now? Aren't you cold?" As he complained he started leaning on Lucy, making her lose her balance for a split second.
"Heey, yes we have to do this now. It won't be cold if I keep moving." Lucy groaned slightly as Natsu continued leaning against her, with more weight now. "Besides, don't you want to make autumn cosy for the hedgehogs?"
Natsu's interest piqued slightly.
"Well how do I do that?" He mumbled, standing back up on his own legs. Lucy smiled a little. Natsu never said no to helping animals, unless he could eat them - then he hunted them.
"Well you see, if we rake all the leaves in your garden and leave them in a big pile, the hedgehogs can dig through them and live there for some nights. The leaves work as insulation, so when their body heat radiates off of them, they'll have a nice warm room to sleep in!" Lucy explained, getting a bit excited herself. "We can also leave out wet cat food and water, if it's above freezing temperatures at night. That way it will be like a bed & breakfast!"
Natsu looked really excited. Calling it a bed & breakfast was definitely stretching the truth, but it was enough for Natsu to feel motivated to help her. He grabbed another rake and started working, making sure to get every single leaf. Happy, who still felt colder than he would like, flew into Natsu's scarf, stretching his body over his neck. It made the work a bit harder for Natsu, now that he couldn't freely move his neck and shoulders, but the work got done nevertheless.
A big pile of yellow, orange, red and brown leaves stood in the middle of Natsu's backyard, high and proud. Lucy had worked up a sweat and wiped her brow with the back of her hand.
"It turned out great!" Lucy beamed, looking at their work.
"But how do hedgehogs live in there? They don't have rooms or anything!" Happy puzzled, now waking up from his short nap.
Natsu lit up with an idea.
"Happy, you go in there and make rooms for them! It'll be the perfect size, and Lucy and I can make little doors!" Before Lucy could protest, Happy had already gotten thrown into the pile of leaves.
"Wait, you'll mess it all up! Stop this!" Lucy tried to grab Happy, but somehow he was already lost in there. She could hear snickering but no matter how many times she stuck in her arms, he always seemed to be too fast.
"Now you're the one messing up," Natsu snickered, getting kind of impressed by how fast the leaves returned to their original position, spreading out all over the lawn again.
Lucy, who got annoyed over how things turned out, could only grab a handful of leaves and throw them in Natsu's face in an attempt to wipe that grin off. One throw led to another, and soon enough leaves were flying around as the two mages tried to smash the biggest amount of dirty wet leaves in the other party's face. Happy, who no longer had a pile of leaves to hide in, had flown to the side so he could brush off the worst of the dirt. Laughter and yelps of surprise filled the air as Lucy and Natsu chased each other down. To their defence, leaves were no easy weapons, especially when the wind managed to make every throw into a curveball.
As Happy watched them, he caught himself with a huge smile. Natsu and Lucy were always so fun to be with - never had he felt seriously bored or upset with them. Natsu could be called a mastermind with his great creativity. He was more cunning than he himself understood, solving many fights by using his head to find loopholes with enemies. He also always made sure the three of them had something to do. While Lucy could entertain herself with a book, the boys rarely found themselves satisfied with such mellow activities. And that was where Natsu came in, often dragging them out on new adventures of all sorts. If the guild wasn't open with missions, he'd take them to the park, or the mountains, or maybe the ocean if he could bear with the train ride. All of these adventures always ended up to be so fun, Happy found. They could be a bit scary at times, raising their adrenaline, but they always managed to get out safely. After all, Natsu would always protect them from any possible dangers. If you asked him, he'd probably claim it was his job, though Lucy would disagree.
Lucy's greatness didn't come from her creativity. Well, some of it did, but that wasn't what Happy liked most about her. In Happy's eyes, Lucy was the definition of safety, believe it or not. Natsu might be the one that took the most pride in protecting them all, but he was also the one that most times put them in danger. Lucy on the other hand brought comfort in the calmer parts of Happy's life. Early mornings and late evenings were glazed with Lucy's stories from her childhood, as she told them about the small things that made her life in the mansion manageable. She would tell them about her mother's early morning walks, and Natsu would make it a habit to open a window to let the fresh morning air in. Lucy would describe the tea that Layla drank when she felt drained from her hectic life, and then she would serve it after dinner, when the birds had quieted down outside.
Even without focusing on the calm attributes Lucy had, Happy still loved her presence. When Natsu did or said stupid things, Happy could joke about it with Lucy and she'd be completely on Happy's side, even furthering the joke at Natsu's expense. Other times Lucy would do the stupid thing herself, and thanks to their deep bond Happy could joke about it without any hard feelings. Her reactions to the crazy daily lives they led, were big and raw and frankly, quite hilarious. Even after being a guild mage for many years, she found a lot of things baffling. Maybe it was the way someone talked, or maybe it was a fact about a big animal that roamed the forests. Her emotions had always been perfectly in tune with Happy and Natsu, and Happy could only love her for it. He had never laughed as loud as he had with Lucy, and he never slept as good as he did in Lucy's bed, in between her and Natsu.
So watching them play around like this in the murky nature, truly filled Happy's heart. He knew they cared deeply about each other - they cared about Happy too, just not in the same way. While Lucy would look at Happy with love and affection, she'd gaze at Natsu with longing, admiration and pure joy. She looked at Natsu with so many emotions that only calling it love would be dull in comparison. Natsu would be tender and kind to Happy, making sure he felt seen and loved at every possible moment, but the way he treated Lucy was once again beyond those actions. They'd be soft, slow, attentive, and they'd hold fondness, devotion and respect like none other.
Happy knew about their feelings towards each other, but he chose not to say anything. Not because he didn't want them to get together - he just knew that they'd find the right way eventually. The occasional "he liiiiikes you" would of course slip out in a playful manner, but since the joke had run empty for a long time it never seemed to bother anyone.
As the laughter quieted down, Happy started paying attention to the mages again. It looked like Lucy had called time out, as she stood catching her breath and reaching down into her collar to scoop out the wet leaves Natsu had managed to get in there.
"Can we continue with the cleaning up tomorrow?" Natsu asked, no longer feeling up to recreating the hedgehog-bed & breakfast. "I bet you wanna wash off."
Sneaky move, Happy thought, since Natsu knew how much Lucy loved long, warm showers - especially after getting cold and dirty like this.
"... Fine. But tomorrow we get the garden ready for winter, I don't want to come here in spring and look at a jungle." She tried to look strict, but after playing and laughing like this, not even she could pretend to be mad. "Let's make some tea as well."
Natsu flung an arm around Lucy's shoulder as they went into the house, Happy flying in shortly after. Whenever Natsu and Lucy were ready to confess their feelings for each other, Happy would be there with unwavering support, but for now he didn't mind waiting around. After all, hanging out with each other brought all the happiness and comfort the three of them needed.