Neither of them moved for what must have been a few minutes. They were utterly still, the wind rustling through every now and then the only movement in the alley.
Lucy recalled that Don had reacted the same way when she came to him a year ago, asking him to teach her how to fight. He had dropped the glass he'd been cleaning, and after he'd come to his senses laughed at her for a solid five minutes. She'd been so mad she'd slammed her fist into the top of his bald head, and he had quickly agreed to coach her. After months of grueling workouts and matches with low-level fighters on Don's payroll, Lucy was now proficient enough to handle herself, she thought.
After a small eternity, Natsu reacted. "What?" he asked. He showed no emotion, no confusion or surprise. He only stared at her, like he didn't hear her the first time. Lucy noticed his hands had stopped shaking, though.
She edged closer, and she caught him tense up. "I said fight me. You obviously need to blow off some steam, so why not right now?"
He stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "Lucy, I'm not going to fight you. I've put in enough danger without—"
"Natsu, I'll be fine. I've trained with— uh, ever since you've been gone." She was not about to tell him she'd been trained by Don, not after that meeting. "I may not be able to hurt you, but I can take a hit and evade you long enough for you to—"
"Lucy, no! I ain't gonna hurt you. I'm not like whoever you trained with; I probably coulda knocked them outta the ring when I was like ten!" His eyes were wide now, like he was panicking. Lucy took in his stance; he looked ready to run. She backed off slightly, but refused to give up; she had been secretly hoping to see how she would fare against someone of his skill level.
"Okay, Natsu, okay. But will you at least let me practice on you? With all of this running around this last week I haven't had a chance to get to the gym." It was true, at least; she hadn't been in the pub since after her last meeting with Capricorn nine days ago. She watched Natsu size her up, his fingers flexing in thought.
He sighed in defeat, but held up a finger. "Okay, but I'm only going to defend." Lucy nodded eagerly; she was sure that after a moment he would start at least retaliating, to test her, maybe. He walked toward her, allowing her to square up in front of him. He didn't prepare a block, didn't take a defensive stance. Lucy smirked. He was underestimating her. Sure, she couldn't actually hurt him, but if he didn't get ready now she was sure to connect.
Lucy thrust her fist forward quickly, aiming at his chest at first. She didn't want to hit anything serious when he was—
Her fist was in his hand before she even saw him move. One minute his hand was by his side, the next her fist was safely cradled in his palm. He looked down at her, eyebrow quirked. He didn't seem impressed. Lucy frowned and knelt, getting on her hands and kicking her feet forward. Her heels hit his hands every time. She squashed down her frustration and sprang back up; she shouldn't have expected to hit him in the first place. She would never be able to.
She shot her fist toward his jaw, but he only cocked his head to the side as a deflection. But his eyes were starting to shine, ever so slowly. Lucy smiled; if she kept it up, he might actually fight back.
For the next few minutes, Lucy threw punches and kicks at him. He blocked every one, but with every attack his movements got quicker and quicker. She caught his hands twitching forward every so often, or a loud pop. 'Just one more,' she kept thinking, enjoying the feeling of her heart pounding and sweat pouring down her arms and back.
Finally, it happened. After a particularly fast punch, Lucy had to drop to the ground to avoid his fist swinging toward her face. Despite her quick drop, she felt his knuckles graze her forehead on the way down. She looked up briefly and saw his horrified expression, and realized she'd better act quick if she didn't want him to call it off. She pushed herself onto her hands again and kicked forward at his face. She felt her feet connect with his forearms before he pushed her legs forward, knocking her off balance.
A hand wrapped around her ankle, and Lucy swore. She dropped her whole body, trying to drag him with her. But his grip held, and he pulled her up slightly before tossing her backwards. She squeaked as she skidded across the dirt, getting up to run back at him but stopping at his expression. He was looking between his hand and her, fear flashing in his eyes. He took a step back from her, then turned around fully. "Natsu?" Lucy asked, confused.
"Go home, Luce. Workout's over. Come back to the pub tomorrow. I'll get the old man to put me in tonight." He turned the corner without looking back, leaving Lucy unsure what had just happened. But she knew better than to press the issue right now.
Not if she wanted answers.