HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Just thought I'd post one of my little one-shots again...because they're fun to write. lol
Thanks as always to my dear friend and editor and co-conspirator, OtakuPrincess28.
I'm working on the Angel of Oops sequel, but it will be awhile before it comes out, so here's a little completely-unrelated one-shot to keep you busy :D
~ShanaHollows~
"So I'll see you tonight," Lucy promised, hanging up the lacrima. She glanced at her partner, who was watching her with wide open eyes.
"Whatcha doin' tonight, Luce?" Natsu asked.
"The girls are having a Girls' Night," she told him, a happy smile on her face.
"But we're on vacation!" Natsu exclaimed, "We don't get to Crocus that often! We should spend our time together!"
"And we're back to work tomorrow," Lucy reminded him, "It's just me, Levy, Juvia, and Erza. We're just going for drinks and such. We'll be back by morning. You won't even know we're gone."
"I can be like a girl!" Natsu whined, "Pweeeese, Luce…take me with you."
Lucy burst out laughing as Natsu gave her his best puppy dog look.
"Not this time," she said finally, "I need to go back to my room now so I can get ready."
Natsu's face fell. The feelings he had for the Celestial mage were bubbling to the surface again. He just wanted to be around her all the time. This vacation to Crocus had been well earned after a particularly difficult mission that had taken almost a month to complete. The group of mages had decided to take a few days in Crocus for some fun and relaxation.
And fun they had had. They'd been to the hot springs, taken in some theatre, and shopped to replenish their battle supplies and whatnot. Natsu wanted to spend the last night in Crocus walking the streets with Lucy…or sitting in the hot springs. Anything…as long as it was with her. Eventually, he'd get the courage to tell her…
An hour later, Natsu watched forlornly as the girls waved and disappeared into a taxi waiting for them outside the hotel. Gajeel, Gray, and Jellal stood beside him, immediately turning to go back into the hotel when the taxi was out of sight.
"I'm going to have a shower," Jellal announced, disappearing into his room.
"We should follow them," Natsu said, following Gray, and Gajeel into the room Natsu and Gray shared, "I'm telling you, it's really selfish of them to not include us! We could just go near where they are. They don't even have to know we're there!"
"No!" Gajeel grunted, "Girls' Night isn't Girls' Night if we crash it."
"Well, what are they going to do that they can't do with us?" Natsu demanded, "It's really mean, what they're doing! They're ditching us!"
"Just let them have their night!" Gray scolded him, "You are so transparent! We're not crashing Girls' Night."
"Whatever," Natsu huffed, "Lucy will tell me everything that happened tomorrow anyway."
"No, she won't," Gajeel laughed, "There's a saying, Natsu. 'What happens on Girls' Night, stays on Girls' Night. She ain't gonna tell you nuthin'."
"She will too!" Natsu protested, "We're best friends! She tells me everything!"
Gajeel and Gray exchanged glances, but didn't argue with him.
"Fine then!" Natsu announced, "I'll follow them on my own!"
Natsu lifted his knees high, marching toward the door with his arms behind his head and a determined look on his face.
Gray grabbed a pillow, hucking it at Natsu. It hit its' mark on the back of Natsu's head. At first, the force of it threatened to knock him over. Natsu whirled around to tell off Gray.
"We are NOT crashing Girls' Night!" Gray emphasized.
Natsu's face fell momentarily…before lighting up again. He grabbed a pillow off the hotel bed and whacked Gray over the head with it, a proud grin on his face.
"What the hell?" Gray yelled, his face contorted in a scowl.
Natsu was on the move, hopping over the edge of the bed to Gajeel and thwacking him in the head too.
"Natsu!" Gajeel bellowed.
"If there's such thing as Girls' Night, can we have a Boys' Night?" Natsu asked innocently.
"Hell no!" Gajeel growled, "We aren't having Boys' Night! I'm going to bed!"
He turned, heading for the door. Natsu used the bed as a springboard, flying right overtop of Gray and landing on Gajeel's back, again smacking him with the pillow.
Gray face-palmed. The kid never learned.
Gajeel roared out as he spun around to reach for Natsu. Realizing that he had just made a huge mistake, Natsu held on to Gajeel's back for all he was worth. The large man stumbled backward to the bed, landing backwards so that Natsu was squished between Gajeel and the bed.
"You're heavy!" Natsu choked.
"Then get the hint!" Gajeel grunted.
Gray stifled a chuckle as Gajeel finally got off Natsu, resuming his departure for the door. Natsu's eyes furrowed as he caught his breath, flipping over. His pillow was still in his grasp, so he chucked it…hitting Gajeel in the back again.
Gajeel stopped in his tracks.
Natsu's eyes jarred open as he realized that he'd just invited huge trouble…again. Gray couldn't contain his laughter as Gajeel turned, glaring at the smaller man with darts in his eyes.
Natsu grabbed another pillow off the bed and slammed it down on Gray's head for laughing at the situation, whirling around to smack him with a 2nd pillow in his side. Gray fell over, the wind knocked of him.
"He needs to die," Gray growled.
"Oh, yes he does," Gajeel agreed.
Natsu let out a screech of alarm, quickly gathering all of the pillows off both beds and retreating behind of the bed by the window. He began chucking the pillows as quickly and with as much force as he could muster, trying desperately to ignore the cackles of the two men who were now tandem-coming for him.
Gajeel was catching the pillows mid-air, tucking them under his arm for rapid-fire return once Natsu ran out of ammunition. Gray stood back, blocking the escape route from Natsu's position to the door that would take him out of the room, a huge sadistic grin plastered on his face.
Natsu considered his options. He had 3 pillows left. Gajeel had 4 pillows. Another pillow laid on the floor harmlessly behind Gray.
He grinned wickedly. Pay back time.
Both men charged at him. At the last second, Natsu catapulted over the bed, appearing behind them. He kicked both of their butts, forcing them to their knees, then released his pillows in a barrage of repeated hits.
He could hear both Gray and Gajeel making a noise and he paused to see what it was. They were laughing.
"Okay!" Gajeel cried out, hands above his head, "I surrender! You win!"
Gray copied the other man's gesture, the same sinister look in his eyes.
Natsu lowered his pillows, a wide grin plastering his face.
"I win?" he asked.
Gajeel and Gray lunged for him at the same time, Natsu's cocky grin disappearing in a millisecond.
It was nice while it lasted.
An hour later, Natsu, Gajeel and Gray sat around the hotel room table. Jellal sat in the 4th chair, amused at what could transpire during the time it took him to have a shower. His companions were all beaten, bloody and tired. The pillows had long since burst and there were feathers all over the room. But the men were deeply satisfied somehow.
"I told you we could have Boys' Night," Natsu quipped, a cold cloth against his lip, "We should do something else now…like go spy on the girls."
"We're not doing that," Gray told him firmly.
"Why not?" Natsu asked, glancing between the three faces.
Both Gajeel and Gray shook their heads.
"You should just admit to Lucy that you like her," Jellal suggested, "Then you would realize that you don't have to worry when she's out without you."
"I'm not worried," Natsu protested, "And we're just best friends."
All 3 of the other men scoffed, pretend coughed, and other various 'bullshit' noises.
Natsu pouted before pointing his finger at Jellal, "You're one to talk, Captain Obvious! We all know you've been sneaking around with Erza for years!"
Jellal's face went red as Gray and Gajeel keeled over laughing.
"And you!" Natsu pointed at Gray, "As if you don't love the attention Juvia is constantly throwing at you! You freakin' exhibitionist!"
Gray stopped laughing, his fists balling.
"He's right!" Gajeel chuckled, "You're both so pathetically obvious."
"Says the man who will sit for 2 hours at the same table as Levy, bored as shit, when she's reading some weird book just to be near her," Gray scoffed.
The four men froze for a moment, exchanging glances.
"They'll look after each other," Jellal said, breaking the tension, "We definitely should not interfere. Girls' Night is sacred. If we interrupt them, we'll never have a peaceful Boys' Night again."
Natsu announced, "Then we need to have Boys' Night! Same rule applies: What happens on Boys' Night, stays on Boys' Night! What do we do first?"
Both Gray and Gajeel sighed, looking with pleading eyes to Jellal, who was almost always the voice of reason.
"Okay, Natsu," Jellal decided, "We can play poker."
Both Gray and Gajeel sighed.
A few minutes later, the four of them were sitting around the table with cards in their hands. Natsu had a list of poker hands in front of him so that he could figure out what he had in his hand…not that it was going to help.
"The game is Texas Hold 'Em," Gray said, "Three cards are shared on the table, one for the turn, one for the river. We're each dealt two cards. Make the best hand you can out of a combination of 5 cards. Ante is $5.00. Any questions?"
Natsu put up his hand, but no one even glanced at him.
"Gajeel…how many?" Gray asked.
Gajeel held up a single finger. Gray threw him another card, taking the one Gajeel passed him.
"Jellal?"
"I'll stay," Jellal said.
"Natsu?"
Natsu stared at his hand, trying to make the cards go together to look like something on his cheat sheet.
"I'll take two," he said finally, sliding both cards over to Gray.
Gray slid two cards over to Natsu, then looked at his own hand.
"Dealer takes one," he announced.
"Betting $10," Gajeel said, pushing some money into the centre of your table.
"I'm in," Jellal confirmed, passing his own money into the centre.
"Natsu?" Gray asked when Natsu stared, confused, "Are you going to bet?"
"I'm just wondering why everyone is betting when it's clear I have the best hand," Natsu frowned, "4 kings…that's good, right?"
Everyone groaned, throwing their cards on the table as Natsu pushed in his money.
"FOLDING!" Gray announced.
Two hours later, Natsu had a pile of money in front of him. Gajeel had run out of money and was now serving as the dealer. Jellal's pile was getting down to the nitty gritty and Gray had less than Natsu, but by no means was he losing.
"I'm done," Gajeel announced, "Finish it up, wouldja? Or I'll just go to bed before the game is over."
Jellal nodded, "It's getting late. I'm all in."
Natsu frowned, assessing the term 'I'm all in' as Jellal pushed all of his remaining money into the centre of the table.
"$45.00 to call," he said.
"Called," Natsu said, counting out $45.00. Gray did the same.
Jellal laid his hand on the table, "Two pairs, Ace's over 10's."
Gray shook his head. He wasn't going to show his cards.
Natsu laid down his cards, "Three Queens."
Jellal laughed out loud, "Okay – I'm out!"
"Death round, Flame-Brain," Gray announced, "We're all tired. Let's do this. I have less than you, so I'm all in at $150."
Natsu counted out the money, then waited as Gajeel dealt the cards. Down on the table were the Jack of Clubs, the Queen of Clubs, and the 10 of Clubs. Natsu peeked at his hand, laying his cards on the table.
"We don't have to do this, Gray."
"Why…nothing in your hand?" Gray smirked.
"No," Natsu said, "I just feel bad taking all of your guy's money. I'll give it back though. You all worked hard for it."
"You're not giving our money back," Gajeel snorted, "That's what Poker is. You play, you accept defeat if you lose."
Natsu sighed, "Okay."
"So how many cards?" Jellal asked.
"I don't need any," Natsu replied.
Gray showed 1 finger, exchanging the card into his hand. His face was completely emotionless.
Gray laid down his cards. He had the 8 and the 9 of clubs. He grinned triumphantly.
"Lay it down, Dragon-Slayer," Gray taunted, "Let me see you beat that."
Natsu sighed heavily, dramatically laying his cards on the table.
"No way," Jellal commented, his eyes bulging from his head.
Gray turned white, "The King and the Ace…how?"
Gajeel just laughed.
"Well done, Natsu," Jellal assured him, patting Gray's back sympathetically, "You earned it fair and square."
"In that case…." Natsu stood up, performing a victory dance.
"Bedtime!" Gajeel yawned, stretching out his arms.
Natsu frowned, "But the girls aren't back yet. We can't go to bed until they're back."
Jellal scoffed, "If anyone picks on those girls, they won't live to see tomorrow. They can handle themselves."
"We could just check on them," Natsu suggested.
"Go to bed, Natsu," Gray grumbled, cleaning up the poker cards.
"But—"
"GO TO BED, NATSU!" all three of the men chorused.
Natsu frowned. He was very outvoted, but he didn't think he could sleep until he knew Lucy in particular was back at the hotel, safe in her locked hotel room.
"We should play one more round of poker," he said slowly, "but this time, we won't play for money…this time, we make a different kind of bet. Each man gets to name their own winning reward."
"Interesting," Jellal sat back down at the table.
Gray pulled out the cards again.
"Name your prize," Natsu dared the others.
"If I win," Jellal said slowly, "Then Gray has to tell Juvia he loves her."
"WHAAAA?!" Gray exclaimed.
Gajeel keeled over laughing, "That's good! I like that! So if I win, Gray has to tell Juvia he loves her AND Natsu has to tell Lucy he loves her."
"Hey!" Gray stood up, slamming both fists on the table, "That's two things!"
Jellal chuckled, "I've got Gray covered – you take Natsu."
Gajeel grunted his agreement.
"Name your bet," Natsu grinned to Gray.
"If I win," Gray took his time, thinking it out carefully, "The three of you have to streak the lobby."
The men laughed.
"We should have played it like this the first time!" Natsu chuckled.
He dealt out the cards, turning the three cards onto the table. There was an Ace of Spades, a 4 of Clubs, and a 9 of Hearts.
"Crappy deal," Jellal commented.
"Yup…winner could be anyone," Gajeel agreed, "Get ready to tell Juvia you love her!"
Gray turned red, "I won't be the only streaker after tonight!"
"No draws," Natsu announced before everyone looked at their cards, "It's as is."
The other men nodded nervously, picking up their cards. Everyone looked at their hands.
"Pair of 9's," Jellal said, laying down his cards.
"I got nuttin' at all," Gajeel threw his cards down.
"Me neither," Gray growled.
Natsu had a small smile on his face.
"Can you beat the 9's?" Jellal asked him.
Natsu laid down one of his cards…the 4 of Hearts. Now he had a pair of 4's.
"I WIN!" Jellal laughed, "Oh, Juvia is gonna be one happy lady!"
"Wait!" Natsu said, holding one hand up. He laid down his 2nd card…the 4 of diamonds.
"3 of a kind," Gajeel said under his breath.
"I swear he's cheating," Gray muttered, "He's been pulling hands like this all night."
"You didn't name your bet," Jellal reminded him, "What's your prize?"
Natsu grinned ear-to-ear, "Let's go spy on the girls!"
All three men groaned…but they'd agreed to the terms of the bet.
25 minutes later, the four men stood on the corner of a busy street in downtown Crocus. They happened to get the same cab driver that had taken the girls earlier in the night, so there was no guess work in how to find them. If they'd moved on from the initial drop-off, Natsu and Gajeel could just follow their noses.
The club was bouncing with activity as they entered it. Natsu supposed that's what happens on a Friday night. Things are sure to be hopping.
"There's Juvia," Gray hissed under his breath.
She was standing on top of the bar. To the other men's dismay, they soon realized all 4 of the ladies were standing on top of the bar, dancing coordinatively to the lively Irish song that was playing in the background.
The men watched in awe as the ladies pulled off completely coordinated dance moves, even weaving between each other on the narrow bartop and collectively yelling 'HEY!' at different parts of the song. There was a lot of whooping and cat calling as Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Jellal began to come out of their stupors.
"We should definitely go haul them outta here by their hair!" Natsu declared.
"That's a good idea," Gray stated, "If you want Lucy to never talk to you again."
Natsu cringed. That was the last thing he wanted.
"Well, we have to do something!" Gajeel grunted, "They're all pissed out of their trees! Those men are starting to grab!"
As if on cue, one of the men reached up and ran his hand up Juvia's calf muscles.
Gray tensed, ready to go kill the jerk.
"Wait," Jellal said, holding Gray's arm so he wouldn't do something stupid, "Let's see what they do."
Juvia shot daggers out of her eyes, stopping her movements. Beside her, Lucy also stopped dancing, stooping down to stare into the man's eyes.
"Get your filthy hands off my friend," she seethed.
Natsu felt a surge of pride overwhelm him as Lucy proceeded to stand up, raising her spiked boot heel and slammed it down on the man's hand. He yowled in pain, jerking his hand back. The music stopped and all four girls jumped off the bar.
"Perhaps it's time for us to go," Levy said haughtily, sizing up the men who were surrounding the injured man. There were at least a dozen.
"That's a good idea," Juvia agreed, reaching for her purse.
The girls started passing through the crowd, only to realize they'd been boxed in. The twelve had swelled to more now. Some were just trying to get a look. Others were angry about what Lucy had done to the man who'd grabbed Juvia.
"Move aside, you disgusting jerk!" Lucy yelled in the face of the largest man blocking their path.
In the corner of the room, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel and Jellal got ready to make their move.
The large man staring down Lucy had a cocky grin on his face as he reached out to touch her hair, "Whatsa matter, Baby? You look like you know how to have a good time."
Lucy grabbed his arm, jerking it behind it back and using the other arm to vice his head in a grip lock. The other men gawked.
"We were having a good time," Erza spat, "Until we were rudely interrupted. Now kindly get out of our way."
A man reached around Erza's waist, pulling her flush against his body.
Jellal started chuckling, "We're about to get a really good show. He's done it now."
The four of them sat at a shaded table at the back of the room. True to Jellal's words, the man who had touched Erza slammed into the wall beside the boys' table and slowly slid the ground, completely unconscious.
A full-on bar fight broke out, all four girls breaking out into combat mode.
Another man landed beside the table, his eyes whirling around in his head.
"There's about 30 of those guys," Gray commented, "Think we should at least help them?"
"Nah," Gajeel grunted, "Let them have their fun."
"WE'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH FAIRY TAIL GIRLS!" Lucy screamed. She was star-dressed as Loke and used her whip to toss the man back into the bar. He shattered the shelving as he sunk to the ground.
Natsu swooned. That was just plain hot. The other guys rolled their eyes.
"YOU RUINED OUR NIGHT!" Levy yelled at another man, scripting boulder overtop of him. She elbowed a man approaching from behind her, whipping around and kneeing him in the gut.
"Damn!" Gajeel muttered under his breath.
Erza was just having fun bonking heads together, "AND YOU'LL ALL PAY THE PRICE FOR THAT!"
Juvia had a half dozen men in water lock, "Of course, this is kinda fun too!"
"Bartender just called the cops," Jellal told the others as he watched the bartender hang up the lacrima, "We've got to get the girls out of here before they get caught."
"Do you want to be the one to tell them to get outta here?" Gray asked him, an eyebrow cocked.
"No," Jellal admitted, "but if we don't do something, they'll end up in the drunk tank."
"They need a distraction to buy them time," Natsu said pointing to the door.
"What are you suggesting?" Gajeel asked in alarm.
Sirens were audible outside the bar now, but the girls were oblivious as they continued their fight.
"You're kidding, right?" Gray demanded, "Because I was only kidding!"
"Lead the way, Stripper," Jellal pulled out his Mystogan face cover as Natsu wrapped his scarf around his face and hair, disguising themselves.
Gajeel and Gray both sighed heavily. The things they did for their guildmates.
Two minutes later, just as police were about to head in to break up the bar fight, four naked men covered only on their heads ran out of the bar, disbursing in four different directions. Each carried their clothes in a bag over their shoulders.
"Fight's over!" Natsu yelled, "Nothing to see there!"
"After them!" the police chief yelled.
An hour later, a very exhausted Natsu fell into bed. It took forever to lose the cop that had followed him. Gray wasn't in the room, but Natsu knew he'd escaped because his bag of clothes was outside their door. He also knew Gajeel and Jellal were back because they'd run into each other outside the hotel, putting their clothes back on. No words were spoken. Honestly, Natsu reasoned…what could they possibly say?
They didn't know what happened to the girls, but they knew the police hadn't caught them since the four of them had successfully managed to lead them all away from the bar fight.
There was a light rap on the hotel room door. Natsu groaned, seriously not wanting to get out of bed.
"Damnit Gray! Did you lose your key when you were –"
He opened the door, realizing that it wasn't Gray there.
"Luce!"
"Hey," she said, an embarrassed tinge to her face.
Natsu looked down, his own face turning slightly red. He wasn't wearing anything but his boxers.
"Juvia and Gray are spending some time together in our room," she said softly, "I was hoping…maybe I could sleep here."
Natsu nodded, beckoning her inside, then closing the door after her.
"Why would Gray and Juvia be spending time together now?" Natsu asked.
She paused, sitting on the bed opposite Natsu's, "We just all realized how much we missed you. Girls' Night was fun, but we always have more fun when you guys are around."
"Oh," Natsu sat on his own bed, facing her, "I missed you too...all of you...but mostly you."
There was a long, awkward silence. Natsu fidgeted nervously. He'd spent the night near Lucy many times. He couldn't explain why he was so antsy.
"So what did you do tonight?" she asked.
"I can't tell you," Natsu sighed, "We had a Boys' Night. And what happens on Boys' Night –"
"Stays on Boys' Night," Lucy finished with a smile.
Natsu nodded.
"So…it's kind of pointless to ask how your night went?" Natsu asked.
Lucy smiled slightly, "It was a quiet, uneventful night."
Natsu smirked, noticing the slight bruise under her eye and the few scrapes on her arm, "That's okay, Luce. I understand."
"We should go to bed," Lucy sighed, "It's ridiculously late."
Natsu nodded, sliding under his covers as Lucy turned out the light. He heard shuffling in the other bed, then felt Lucy sit on the side of his.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"My bed is covered in feathers and there's no pillows," Lucy giggled, "I can't imagine how that might have happened."
He laughed, lifting the blankets for her. She slid in beside him and laid her head on his chest, his arm coming around her back.
"Natsu?"
"Yeah."
"I'm drunk."
He snickered, "I would never have guessed."
"I might not remember in the morning," she yawned, cozying into his side. She wrapped a leg over his as she turned onto her side, cuddling in, "But I feel like I should tell you…I think I like you."
His body stiffened, surges of emotion coursing through his body. They were the words he'd waited to hear for so long...
Her breathing was even and he knew she'd fallen asleep. He leaned over, pressing his lips to the top of her head gently.
"I like you too, Luce," he whispered, "I might even love you. And Boys' Night was fun, but my favourite nights are Natsu/Lucy nights. So I won't bring it up in the morning unless you do."
What happens on NaLu nights…stays on NaLu nights.