Supermarket
Maybe working in a supermarket with your closest friends isn't a good idea, especially if you keep getting distracted by your co-workers. Nalu. supermarket!AU"Hey, Lucy!"
A sudden call brought her back to the present, and Lucy shook her head, ridding it of any other thoughts. She looked back up at the clock, and noticed only about 7 minutes had past, give or take. With the slow stream of people coming in, the blonde knew the day would be a slow one.
"Hiya Erza!" She greeted enthusiastically. "What's up?"
The student manager made her way to counter 4, clipboard in hand, as always. Something different, though, was the second clipboard in her hands, one that belonged to a certain white-haired beauty.
That couldn't be good.
She seemed to check it again, before flipping all the pages back to the first one. Clicking her tongue, Erza exhaled remorsefully, "It seems Mira will be taking morning and afternoon off today."
The redhead watched as Lucy have a long, tired sigh. "And I know how much you dislike being back there-"
"-No!" She exclaimed, bringing her hands up to prove her point, "it's not that I don't like working back there, or anything..."
Erza sighed, "Is this the doing of a certain pink-haired employee?"
No one had ever mentioned it out loud, but she knew the bad things filed in Lucy's reports were not her doings, and were quite unfortunate, really. It was such a shame how someone as hardworking and responsible as Lucy was best friends with a lunatic.
"If it's because of his inability to work as a functioning adult, I completely understand your reluctance to work in the same environment as hi-"
"Wa-wait!" And again, the cashier could do nothing but stutter her explanation. "It's completely fine! Ha ha, ha. Nothing wrong! I am completely capable of working in that kind of environment! Inventory duty, right?" She carefully stood up, before slowly making her way out of the little counter that was cashier 4, "As long as you're fine with being one cashier down...?"
She left the statement open, in case Erza had a sudden change of mind. She really wished she did, but considering the slow day it was making itself out to be, it didn't really leave much option.
Mondays were inventory days. Mira did rounds daily, but Monday's were the days that she actually had to take notes of stock, what was missing, or surplus. It defined the mart, and the effects were extremely important. Mira did her job very well, and the reason it's always been her was the difficulty to find someone as capable as she was.
Without Mira, and on a Monday no less, Lucy knew the backlash it would have on the supermarket, and she internally groaned, knowing she would have to take on the job.
Erza shook her head, "I'm sorry Lucy, but there's no one else that can possibly do it. You know that."
That she did. She knew she was the manager's second pick for Mira's current job, mainly because of her diligence and attention to detail. Often Natsu would comment on it, and often it was followed by a laugh and a sharp jab into his stomach.
Groaning out loud this time, She took the clipboard from Erza's hands and slumped her shoulders, defeated. An apologetic glance from the older girl, and she made her way to the rows of shelves on the right side of the mart.
Might as well get to work.
LINELINELINELINELINELINELINELINE
On her second row of shelves, she passed the aisle streaking the middle of the mart, parallel to the doors. Making her way to the back of the mart, where the wall worked as an open refrigerator, she stopped. Why was it so quiet?
Coming to walk at a much slower pace, she was about to turn a corner to the next shelf, before a head of pink hair suddenly popped right in front of her, promptly making her jump at the spot.
"Boo!"
Baring his fangs, Natsu struck a pose, before clutching his stomach and bursting into laughter,
"Haha! Ya should've- ha- ya should've seen your face!"
Nearly falling to the floor, the hysterical teen clutched the shelf beside him for support. The girl beside him blushed in embarrassment, which quickly shifted to anger,
"Natsu! How many times do I have to tell you! Stop doing that!" Her cheeks puffed out in frustration, something he found absolutely adorable.
"Hey, it's funny!"
"Not when you're the one being scared to near death!"
He took a more serious expression, but his eyes still held mirth, "Aww, stop overreactin', it was just a joke!"
Huffing out, Lucy crossed her arms, wary of the clipboard still in her hands. Being reminded of her current job, she briskly made her way past the male, turning the corner he was hiding at not a few moments ago.
He called out to her, but she merely ignored her.
"Lucy! C'mon, lighten up!"
She ignored him again, taking the pen from her pocket to jot something down.
"Luuuce, I'm sorryyyy~"
She grumbled, eyes carefully raking through the upper shelves. She was too invested in her task, that she didn't notice the sneaking teen coming up from behind her.
Suddenly, Lucy was yanked back into a hard body. Yelling in surprise, she nearly dropped the clipboard in her hands. His arms were encircling her waist, holding her in place.
Squirming uncomfortably, she almost didn't notice the soft groan that came from behind her.
"Luce, c'mon," his breath fanned against her earlobe, and she had to fight the need to shiver, "I promise I'll make it up to you."
He planted a soft kiss to her pulse point, something that made her breath hitch and her pulse rate quicken. He chuckled lowly in her ear, and she fought the urge to moan. The fact that they were in the middle of a supermarket, and that they were supposed to be working, completely slipped past her, and the only thing on her mind at that moment was him.
It was something he did often, albeit unbeknownst to him. He wasn't a Casanova, nor was he the romantic type, but he could be really sweet when he wanted to be.
He could also be sexy as fuck if he wanted to be, and she was sure he knew that much.
His stupid, extremely distracting grin set her heart ablaze, and his dark, passionate eyes lit something in her, something that only he could put out.
Oh, the things he did to her.
Squirming in his arms once more, she pushed back, loving the feeling of the hard lines of his body against her soft curves. He groaned in her ear, and dragged his fingertips to the top of her blouse.
"Excuse me, but I can't seem to find the fresh apples."
Springing apart, she coughed awkwardly before picking up her pen from the floor. How did it get down there? She turned to see Natsu smile warmly at the elderly lady that had walked in on them, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Of course! It's on the opposite side of the mart, but if you'd like me to escort you there, I'd be happy to do so." His smile widened, and the old lady giggled.
"Why, thank you, young man!" She smiled at Lucy, nodding her head, before slowly making her way toward the direction Natsu's hands were pointing to. The said male stopped to face her, before his mouth curved into a salacious smirk. Winking to her, he began to lead the old lady away.
Lucy did know she was holding her breath until she finally exhaled. This was the, what, 9th time this had happened? They knew they weren't supposed to this kind of stuff during working hours. Well, they knew it, definitely, but Natsu never really followed the rules.
They had, surprisingly, never been caught yet. Mainly due to the fact that whenever they were about to be, or if Erza was going to round the corner of the back room, or if Makarov managed to make his way to them, Natsu would 'accidentally' knock down a display, or in most cases, an entire shelf.
And that was the brunt of Lucy's reports. They really had to stop that, but whenever it happened, she didn't have the heart to stop him.
Keeping their relationship a secret for more than two years had probably taken a toll on the two of them. Doing couple things together in public was more dangerous, and thus more rewarding when they got away with it.
"Snap out of it!" She whisper-shouts to herself, shaking her head roughly and patting her cheeks until her blush calmed down. Sighing, she looked to the shelf.
Well, at least they didn't knock it down this time.
Sighing, she marks the entire shelf off, not an over amount, none needing to be restocked. Good. She made her way to the center aisle again, and her eyes caught on something that wasn't there the first time.
A giant can display was erected there, in the middle of the aisle. Making her way towards it, her mouth widened in awe. It was huge, and was probably the replacement for the can display that was ruined that morning.
"This is amazing." She whispered under her breath, eyes taking in the whole of it.
"It is, isn't it?"
A new voice came in from behind her, and Lucy turned around. Gray was standing there, shirtless of course. Even though it was just as sudden as Natsu a few moment ago, she wasn't as surprised by his sudden appearance. Then again, maybe it was just because this was Gray, and not Natsu.
"Didn't seem like you enjoyed it when you knocked it down this morning." She retaliated, a small smile on her face. He chuckled under his breath, embarrassed.
"I said I was sorry, okay?" He sounded guilty, but she knew he would do it all over again if it meant he would beat Natsu at something.
"It really is amazing though," Gray's voice filled the comfortable silence that settled around them.
"Yeah," she agreed, "You wouldn't think a big and tough guy like Elfman could make something so delicate and detailed and..."
"Beautiful?" He finished, taking his eyes away from the display to look at the blonde, his eyes taunting and his smirk smug. She scoffed, irritated.
"Shouldn't you be fighting with a certain someone right now?" She taunted, a victorious smile on her face.
His smirk widened, "What, your boyfriend?" He taunted right back, "Nah, you can have him all to yourself today."
Her eyes widened. Gray knew? Before she could question him about it, his laugh resounded through that side of the mart.
"I'm just messing with ya, s'not like flame brain could actually get himself a girlfriend, especially someone like you." He shook his head, still laughing to himself, walking past her to the customers at the other corner. She groaned, pushing her palm to her eyes to ease the tension that settled there. Processing what he had just said, she turned to face the direction he disappeared to,
"Hey, what was that supposed to mean?!"
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A/N: haii again! So, I wasn't really supposed to update this soon, but I got inspired all of a sudden. That, and that one review got me writing almost immediately! Yes, that's how this works!
(Thank you so much havarti2! This chappie is basically dedicated to you T^T)(lovely, lonely review)
Again, sorry for the mistakes I might've made, I just wanted to get this out as soon as I could, and I'll be sure to review it soon.
This is just another introduction-like chapter, I guess, but I delve a little more into Lucy's actual relationship with Natsu. Yehehe they're together, if anyone's confused (I'm so sorry)
I'm making this M just for those little themes and curse words, but I'm debating whether to make this a smut fic or not. Give me your opinions! Do you guys want to see a supermarket smut take place? Or something else?
Other than that, I hope you guys like this so far! I'm trying to find a good balance, but this is hard without much opinion tbh, so if ya have one, it's very well appreciated if you offer it~
Also, summaries are hard. Send help.
Again, please f and review~ I could write quicker and be more inspired and it's just great to see it there.
(Plus, it actually gives good reason that I check during English class deg)
Thanks for reading~
-UnderratedOver :33