Love Test
Chapter 4: "A Friend's Love"
Lucy loves sleeping, yes; she loves every moment she spends with her beloved mattress, pillow, and cozy comforter. Which is why when the world continues spinning and starts a new day with the sun poking its big fiery head over the horizon and poking its nosy little rays through every crack and crevice, Lucy fights her hardest to remain unconscious. Sadly Lucy rarely ever, no, never, wins this battle. Turning over on her side, the young blonde snuggled into her pillow in an attempt to go back to sleep. Oh how she loved the feeling of her plush pillow supporting her neck. Wait a second... What was she doing on her bed? The last thing she remembered was that she was writing about the girl finding out her lover was her mother's murderer, and then blank, she never remembered plopping herself down on her bed though. Her ears picked up on the sound of soft, even breathing. Looking to her right, she saw a ball of blue fur. Happy? The young Heartfilia wondered sitting up. "Natsu!" The blonde exclaimed honestly startled.
The pinkette let out a choked snore and continued to sleep. The blonde stared at her rose-haired partner, did he move her over to her bed? Lucy's lips pulled into a soft smile. Shifting so that her feet were on her pillow and her face was closer to Natsu's, Lucy smiled. He could be so sweet sometimes. Sure he was destructive, loud, and a complete dummy, but he was the best partner she could have ever asked for.
The celestial mage stared at the fire dragon slayer's face, thinking how cute he was when he was asleep. She admired his cute little nose, eyes trailing up from the little ball like tip it had to where his eyebrows rested. Lucy marvelled at his pink hair. It appeared so soft despite its tendency to stick out from all ends. The young Heartfilia got the sudden urge to touch the sleeping boy's hair. Her hand reached out without her consent and just as she was about to touch those beautiful silky locks, the regained her ability to reason and stopped herself. Well, it wasn't like he was going to wake up, and she wouldn't play with his hair too much. Taking a deep breath, Lucy ran her hand through those pink locks.
So soft! Lucy's eyes widened, before a pleased smile like that of a five year old took over her features. The blonde continued to play with the pinkette's hair, enjoying its surprisingly silky texture. A smile soon formed on the unconscious man's face, "L-Lucshyyy," he groaned, causing the said girl's hand to still and her heart to drop.
Lucy refocused her attention to his face, where she saw a happy smile planted in between his two slightly pinkish cheeks. Removing her hand from her partner's hair she got up and stumbled her way over to the bathroom, ready to take a shower and change into a crisp new outfit for the day. Unbeknownst to her, the man she had left behind's smile left as she walked away from the bathroom.
0o0-_-_-_-0o0
The dragon slayers sensitive nose twitched as a familiar aroma was swept into his nostrils. It was sweet and delicious, making his mouth water. The smell was so sweet it forced consciousness upon the rosy haired mage. His eyelids rose ever so slowly. It felt as though someone had embedded lead into the skin that covered his eyes. A yawn made its way out of the mage as he stretched and fell back upon the comforter covered mattress, his nose taking in another sweet scent. Lucy's scent. Natsu sighed as he began to drift back into his sweet scented dreamland, before his partner's honey-coated voice giggled, "Natsu!"
Natsu's head snapped up, his eyes meeting the sight of the lovely blonde in an apron flipping pancakes. Realizing that his partner was, without a doubt awake, the rosette's face brightened. "G'Mornin' Lucy!" He chirped. "I found this really cool request… that I know you'll li-"
Natsu was cut off with a syrup covered pancake being shoved into his mouth by Lucy. "Geez you just woke up and you're already talking about work," she huffed before she began to laugh at his obviously bewildered expression.
A light pink dusted the male's cheeks as his heart pace sped up. He wouldn't mind waking up to this scene every morning. Actually that would be heaven. Considering how Lucy was wearing a really nice night gown that showed off her lovely, lovely legs.
Swallowing he sat down at the table only to have a large stack of pancakes a foot high be placed in front of him. Syrup then began to magically pour down the sides of the newly erected Tower of Heaven-ahem- pancakes. An assortment of berries and fruits then spilled around the base of the tower. Natsu's mouth watered, and when a fork was finally handed to him by his favorite blonde, he dug in without a moment's hesitation.
It didn't take a moment before the entirety of the tower along with the sea of fruit that surrounded it was floating along the inside of dragon slayer's stomach. Lucy sighed loudly as she placed another beautiful, mouth-watering plate of pancakes before the eager fire mage, who devoured it just as quickly. Natsu's hunger was only satiated after his eighth helping of pancakes, Lucy scowled before serving him a smaller ninth plate before helping herself to the few that remained, decorating them just as extravagantly.
The two ate in silence, a very peaceful and enjoyable silence. Which didn't last long as the dragon slayer leaned back on the chair and patted him toned abdomen sighing contently, "That hit the spot."
"So you were saying something about a job?" The key user asked him.
"O-oh! Yeah! Here!" Natsu handed her the request flier.
"Sexy female wizard model needed, reward," Lucy read aloud, "700,000 jewels?!"
"I know you've always wanted to do a modelling job, so I thought you'd like this one," Natsu beamed.
The blonde's face's temperature rose in that one instant. Blood gushed into her cheeks turning her face into a tomato-ish color. To think he would be paying attention to what she liked and didn't like, he wasn't as much of a numb-skull as she'd like to believe.
"So whaddaya say?" The dragon slayer grinned. "I think you're perfect for the job."
"W-why didn't you ask Mira-san, or Erza?" Lucy stammered. "They're both much better for the job than I am."
"Nah, from what I heard this guy was looking for a blonde, and I think you're prettier than any other girl in the guild," the pyromaniac said with ease.
"They lllllike each other," came a lazy yawn.
Lucy's heart couldn't take this. It was hammering against her chest in an attempt to break past her rib cage and exit her curvaceous body. "O-okay, I-I'll go with you," the celestial mage steamed.
"Really?" Natsu's grin widened. "Let's go tell Mira!"
"Wah! Lucy made Natsu breakfast!" The accusing cat hopped onto the table.
"Just let me get changed first," the celestial mage shuffled away.
"Lucy! Why did you make breakfast for Natsu, but not for me?" A blue cat whined.
The blonde didn't answer as she looked for a suitable outfit. "Lucy why are you ignoring me?" The cat whined again.
"Ne, ne Natsu," the little blue furball put on his best pouty face, "why is Lucy ignoring me?"
Seeing as he received no response from his pink-haired friend, tears began to accumulate in the bottom corners of the cat's eyes, "Natsu! Natsu!" He cried in desperation.
"Hm? What is it Happy?" The rosette finally responded.
"Why is everyone ignoring me today?" Happy wailed, leaving the fire mage to scowl and sigh.
0o0-_-_-_-0o0
"Oho! Welcome back to the land of the living bastard!" Natsu smirked challengingly as he arrived at the guild house with Lucy.
"What was that flame head?" The ice-make mage retorted.
"You heard me."
"You wanna go?"
"Bring it on ice-pervert!"
And so began the daily elemental rumble between Fire and Ice. Lucy sighed tiredly as she sat down in her usual spot at the bar gaining all the other girls' attention. "Good morning Lu-chan!" Levy sang out before shifting her attention back to a certain bluette. "And then what happened."
"J-Juvia," the water mage bit on her lip, before wailing "Juvia slapped Gray-sama."
This response stimulated gasps from all the girls that were listening. Lisanna begged Juvia to continue the story of how she and Gray finally got together. "Wait…" Lucy blinked. "So you guys actually did it?"
The rain woman blushed a deep crimson nodding slowly. "Any way, Lu-chan," Levy smirked evilly at the blonde, "you and Natsu came into the guild together today."
"And I heard you two slept on the same bed last night," Lisanna added.
It was Lucy's turn to blush, "We did not! The idiot just fell asleep with his head on the bed."
"Oh is that what happened?" Levy's smirk grew. "If I recall things correctly, he wanted to have a child with you."
"It's nothing like that," the Zodiac mistress huffed, "any way Mira-san, Natsu and I will be going on this request tomorrow," Lucy handed the folded up request paper to the barmaid.
"Did Natsu pick this out?" The S-Class mage giggled.
"Yeah," Lucy breathed out.
"Sure thing I'll let the clients know that their request has been accepted," Mirajane smiled warmly before running off.
The girls continued to bicker until a tall shadow came upon them. "Yo!" The owner of the shadow smiled at Lucy.
The celestial mage looked at the man before her distastefully, "What do you want?"
"Ahaha, come on don't be that way, Lu-cy," the male spoke out the two syllables of Lucy's name, "I just wanted to ask you out again."
A light tint of pink dusted Lucy's face, "I thought you didn't have the time to waste on girls."
The yell of, "Oi! Squinty-eyes what the hell was that? You trying to kill me?" could be heard in the background.
Upon hearing that, the white dragon slayer's smirk widened. "Well, I was kinda in denial, I didn't want to admit that I liked you too," he somehow managed to feign a blush and watch as red erupted into the other blonde's cheeks.
"Too?" Levy questioned.
"Ah, I mean Natsu-san already likes her, so," Sting stood back up.
"Oh so you think so too?" Levy chirped. "Wouldn't they make the cutest couple?!" Levy chirped.
"Nah," Sting shook his head, smirk still present, "I think her and I would make a better couple," he pulled Lucy up and placed an arm around her waist.
The sound of wood shattering could be heard in the background, and Levy looked up and saw an amused Gajeel. Following his line of sight she saw Natsu was gripping the wooden table before him so fiercely that he had damaged it.
"Oi! Saber bastard! Fight me!" Natsu roared.
Sting turned around, a smile tugging at his lips, "You got it!"
And soon another brawl was underway.
0o0-_-_-_-0o0
Sting didn't remember being so overpowered by Natsu before. No, this gap in their strength had appeared once at the end of their battle during the Grand Magic Games. Had Natsu been thinking of that blonde he was just flirting with when he'd said he'd fight for his comrades that were laughed at back then?
He slimly dodged Natsu's fire breath, only to be hit by the punch that came afterwards. He must be really serious, Sting thought as his back connected with a tree.
Once again, an explanation is needed. Sting and Natsu were forced to relocate their battle to the woods East of Magnolia to avoid destroying the guild. Right now, Lucy, Levy, Rogue, Gajeel, Wendy, Gray, and many others are watching the two dragon slayers battle.
"Roar of the," Sting sucked in a tremendous amount of air, "White Dragon!"
Natsu dodged the blast with ease, by jumping onto a tree and then propelling himself forward a fist of fire aimed directly at Sting's head. Sting smirked. He loved how amazing this battle was, Natsu was really serious and fighting with him was so much fun! "I really see why I look up to you Natsu-san," Sting spoke, "It's so much fun to fight with you!"
Natsu barely had time to react as the white dragon slayer flew forward hitting him in the gut. Natsu coughed at the impact. Sting let out another roar consequently, which Natsu barely managed to hold back with a roar of his own.
DING! DING! DING! "That's enough!" A stern woman's voice spoke, her armor clanking as she stepped in-between the two. "Natsu, master wants you. Report to his office immideately."
"Oi! Can't you see we're in the middle of a battle," Sting stupidly snapped back.
Erza sent him a glare that could scare even a dragon shitless. "The master requires Natsu's presence. He will go, and you," Erza walked up to the saber mage intimidatingly, "will quietly return to your hotel room, or I'll escort you there personally."
"Y-yes ma'am!" Sting sputtered before taking off to his home.
"I swear that woman's a demon," Gray muttered.
"You say something? Gray?" Erza snapped.
"N-nothing at all!" Gray responded quickly.
And so the amazing fight ended.
0o0-_-_-_-0o0
"What do you want Ji-chan?" Natsu grumbled.
"It's time for another test," the man grumbled offering Natsu a vial containing the deafening and anosmia potion.
Groaning Natsu grabbed the vials, too worn out to argue and drank them in one go. The master led Natsu down a stairwell and into what Natsu would call, "the dungeon," before seating him down on that same chair, and blindfolding him.
0o0-_-_-_-0o0
"Alright, so are you ready?" Mira asked worry coating her voice.
"Yes," Lisanna nodded, "and I recommend you blindfold Lucy before she does this test with Natsu the day after tomorrow. Otherwise, she'll refuse to do this test, especially if she realizes that she has to do it on Natsu."
"I see, okay I'll let master know," Mira looked at her younger sister thoughtfully.
Soon the old man walked into the examination room and nodded his head to start the process. Lisanna entered the other room, via a "hidden" door and slowly approached Natsu, the test already beginning.
0o0-_-_-_-0o0
Natsu didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. There was an annoying weight on his lap, and it made him feel filthy. He felt like he was betraying someone. Like he was betraying Lucy, and it aggravated him. His face scrunched up in disgust, he would never betray Lucy! He was so angry with himself. He wanted this stupid test to be over and done with so he could get rid of this cruel feeling. Stupid Mira, stupid Ji-chan he cursed.
Lisanna smiled happily seeing Natsu's aggravated expression. It was good, actually very good that he didn't like someone other than Lucy straddling him. Lisanna giggled a bit, it was so cute how loyal Natsu was to Lucy, even if he didn't know it. Mira instructed Lisanna to change positions, so that she was just sitting in his lap normally. The pyromaniac's face shifted from disgust to irritation. This was good, very good! It meant that Natsu acknowledged Lisanna as a friend, and being the strong supporter of NaLu (that's what Mira-nee called the two) that the youngest Straus was, she couldn't help the happiness that took over her mind, injecting her blood with pure giddiness. Lastly the former pin-up model instructed her to give Natsu a small hug and remove the blindfold.
"Lisanna?!" Natsu couldn't even hear his own voice.
Lisanna giggled and waved towards Mira and the elderly master of Fairy Tail.
Before Natsu knew it, the antidote was flowing down his throat allowing him to regain his senses of smell and hearing.
"Why the hell'd you do that?" The fire dragon slayer raged.
"Master's instructions," Lisanna bounced merrily, first he got extremely jealous over Lucy and now this! Oh! Today was one of the best days ever!
"Natsu, can you please tell me how you felt in the beginning?" The Wizard saint asked patiently.
"I felt like I was betraying Lucy," the rosette answered honestly, earning squeals from the Strauss sisters.
"How about when Lisanna changed the way she was sitting in your lap?" The man interrogated.
"It felt kinda annoying, and kinda wrong, but not so much that I wanted to punch myself," the child of Igneel answered thoughtfully.
"What about when she hugged you, did you feel anything…weird?"
"Nah, it felt like any other hug I get from Erza, just less painful."
"Natsu," The youngest Strauss walked up to her former crush, "what am I to you?"
"My best friend, my nakama," Natsu answered immediately.
"If I had to get married, would you be hurt if I didn't tell you who I'm marrying?"
"Huh? What's that got to do with anything?"
"Just answer the question!"
"Sure, sure," the Salamander frowned, "yeah, I would, we're friends after all, I'd honestly expect you to tell me," Natsu paused, "you're not getting married and not telling me who you're marrying are you?!"
"No! No! I'm just trying to teach you about the love we share!" Lisanna laughed.
Natsu had a bewildered expression. "You love me as your friend, but nothing more," the animal soul user smiled, "that's a friend's love."
"Oh… Is it?" Natsu asked. "So I love you? But not in the way I'd want to marry you? And not in the way I see you as my sister?"
"Exactly!" The Strauss cheered.
YAAAY! I finished this before I travelled! No chapter for at least another week, I'm leaving on a four day trip and I'm gonna need some time to type when I come back… soooooo…..
Anyway, thanks again to all those who followed, reviewed, and favorited. It means a whole lot to me!
Now if you'd please leave me a kind review telling me what you like, disliked, and would like to see in the future, I can gladly make adjustments!
And sorry for any spelling mistake/ grammar errors, I didn't really edit this chapter.
Any who~
PREVIEW
Chapter 5: "Modeling Mayhem"
"We're sorry to report, but we will also be requiring a male model, ours has fallen down the stairs and broken his neck."
Lucy groaned, wasn't there ever a request they went on that could go smoothly for once?
"The reward sum will increase accordingly."
Now that sounded nice.