I'm on a roll! This is the continuation to yesterday's Valentine's drabble!:) I have fallen in love with this AU tbh. And there is art for it now! I will link it on my profile so you can check it out! It's by the awesome 'asketchbookthing' on tumblr!

mesmerized

"So you've always loved flowers?"

Lucy laughed softly at the question.

It was nice outside, even nicer than the last few days, and she had only grabbed her cardigan on the way out. The wind was rustling in the treetops and playing with her hair all the same. It would have flown around her, had she not tamed it in her usual braided side ponytail.

She looked down at her skirt, the one with the floral patterns. How ironic.

Had she always loved flowers?

"I guess so. I never not liked them. Though I can't say it always was my dream to be a florist. It just happened, somewhere along the way."

She smiled as she looked up at the sky, unaware of his eyes lingering on her face with an almost mesmerized expression. Bringing the cup of coffee to her lips again, she tore her gaze from the clouds and smiled over at him.

"Do you have a favourite flower?"

The question seemed to take him by surprise. He rubbed the skin behind his ear, where the hair was so very short. Unlike on top of his head. There, his hair fell unruly, rosy curls like she had never seen before. It suited him so very well, even though he was the very first man she had ever seen sporting a pink hue.

"Uh, red ones?"

"What?" she giggled.

"I like red flowers." he grinned at her sheepishly. "Don't know any specifics though. Sorry, heh."

"It's alright," she laughed.

For a moment, it remained silent as they both sipped on their beverages. Lucy inhaled deeply, enjoying the sun hitting her face. Yes, spring had finally arrived.

"Did you always like tattoos, then?"

He laughed, and licked his lips.

"Sure. I always loved drawing, you know. My dad was an artist."

Past tense. For a moment, Lucy hesitated, but then chose it was not her place to ask. She had only met him, after all.

"And then," he continued, watching her intently. "I kinda got into it over a mate. Got my first tattoos when I was 17, and then never stopped, haha."

Oh, she wanted to ask. The question was burning brightly in her mind. But she held herself back. Maybe one day, in case they would actually get to know each other better.

For a second, an image flashed before her mind's eye; how she traced her fingers over the patterns and colours covering his skin. She'd start at the neck, and then work her way over his shoulder and over his bicep until - but it was too fleeting, too vague, to grasp it properly. The patterns slipped from her as she tried to imagine them.

She wanted to know what his tattoos looked like.

With a loud harrumph, Lucy shook her head slightly, ridding herself of these beckoning thoughts. There. Better.

But when she turned her head, she found Natsu staring her with a very amused expression, his right brow raised high.

"What was that about?"

"W-what? Nothing!"

"You're weird, you know."

"Ouch."

"It was more of a compliment, I think."

The tip of his tongue cheekily poked out between his lips, and she had to look away again.

What was he doing to her?

"Oh. Thankyou."

She hoped her cheeks didn't look as hot as they were feeling. What was this, anyway? A date? No way. Just a coffeebreak with her new almost-colleague. They were simply getting to know each other a little better.

"Oh!" He suddenly called out. "I forgot to ask - what are your favourite flowers? Not like I'll know what they look like, but hey, gotta ask right?"

She shook her head at so much likeable honesty.

"Nothing all too special." she smiled, her eyes dropping to the small meadow in front of them. "If I had to choose - I just really love bellis perennis."

She grinned cheekily as he blinked at her like a deer in the headlights of a car. Realization dawned on his face.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Maybe," she chuckled. Then, she pointed a slender finger at the meadow in front of them. "Daisies."

"Huh?"

He bent over to pluck a stray flower from right beside his feet, and held it up in front of his eyes.

"These? They're everywhere."

"Yeah."

She picked it out of his hands, twiring the stem between her fingers, watching the white petals spin and blend.

"They're heralds of spring. Persevering beauties, is what their name means."

He didn't reply, as if he seemed to be waiting for her to continue, to dig deeper. And so she did.

"I like them, I guess, because they are so ordinary. Nobody pays them much attention, but everybody likes them. They're pretty. But they're also strong, and resilient."

She brought the small flower, now bereft of its life source, closer to her nose.

"They smell nice, too, if you bother coming close enough."

The toll of a nearby churchbell suddenly brought her back to earth.

She really had to get back to her shop.

"Oh noo, we've done it again!" she laughed.

He grinned in response, ripped from his dazzled state, but from his eyes it became clear that he had no clue what she was referring to. It only made her laugh harder.

"We forgot the time!"

"Oh shit, you're right! Damn. Gajeel's gonna slay me, like a dragon."

He groaned, and she laughed at his fake agony.

"Well, tell him the princess forbids it."

His eyebrows rose again, and she turned the words over in her head.

"Oh - oh no! I didn't mean it like- I mean…well. Shit."

They both broke into roaring laughter as they stood up from the crooked stone wall they had chosen as a resting space. Comfortably, they began their way back to work. When they arrived in front of their shops, they had managed to calm down, at this point not even sure about the cause of their laughter anymore.

"Well," Natsu started. "This was nice."

He flashed her a grin, so congenial and innocent that she did not even scrutinise his words for any added meaning. Natsu was refreshingly different, in a way, like the wind that was still blowing through the streets.

A welcome change.

"Yeah," she agreed.

They both stood there for a moment, reluctant to enter their respective shops. It was silly, she thought, because they were sure to meet again no matter what they did. Nevertheless, it took her a moment to come up with something to say. Nothing clever would pop into her mind, and he was still just standing there, smiling.

"So… say hi to Gajeel from me."

"Oh, I will - if he lets me live."

And with that, the awkward moment had passed, and Lucy was happy to reencounter her usual self-confidence.

"Oh, don't worry. I know just how to soothe him."

She gave him a wink he did not seem to understand. And she could not blame him - he did not know what she knew. But she would make sure he would come to know her 'secret weapon'. She grinned.

Everybody deserved to know how to calm a grumpy Gajeel, after all. Especially his coworker.

"I might drop by in the next days. With the right amount of coffee, this time."

His face lit up again, a sort of boyish joy that made her heart feel light.

"Sweet! Promise?" After realizing just how excited he sounded, he cleared his throat to add: "I need my caffeine, after all. Don't want these dragons to look like lizards."

Dragons. Lucy was quick to keep that information.

She was going to find out more about those dragons of his.

"Promise."