WELL WELL WELL LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE! IT'S A NEW CHAPTER! WWEEEEEEEEEE!
NaLu LoveFest day three prompt: Heat.
AU guys.
Disclaimer: I own diddly. Okay? Okay.
Enjoy!~
A.~
Lucy has to admit that summer is one of her favorite seasons. Not only is the sun shining bright and happy, and it's nice and warm, but she gets to see plenty of nice looking guys at the beach. Working for a resort has some perks of course. She's not native to the island, but she's lived her since college. She decided she needed a change of scenery after high school. Her mother had passed when she was young, and her father was distant ever since. Her home suddenly didn't feel like a home anymore, so she decided to make a new home for herself, right here on this beautiful tropic island where it felt like summer all year round.
And this year the count of cute boys as potential boyfriends was high.
"Luce!" She rolls her eyes and tries to ignore that voice. The resort had decided to bring on some more entertainment. In the form of a pierced up sword swallower, a speed sculpture who worked with ice, and a fire eater. The fire eater had seen her dancing before his first set, and afterwards he decided that they were going to become best friends. "Luce! Hey!" He calls. She looks up, unable to ignore him now that he was closer.
"Doing great, Juvia. You'll be able to teach it soon." She assures the new trainee. The blue haired woman smiles up at her and continues practicing in front of the mirror. Lucy leaves her to her own devices and goes over to the doorway in time to intercept the pink haired man before he can barge in.
"Natsu, I'm training someone." Lucy huffs.
"What for? You're here Luce." He smiles.
"Well yeah, but there's lots of people who want to learn and my classes are getting crowded. Now, is it important, whatever you wanted to bug me with, or can it wait?"
"Aww, Luce, don't be like that!"
"Natsu, seriously!"
"Okay, okay! Look the boss sent me, and you know how scary she can be for such a tiny person." He grumbles.
"Ha! Yeah because it has nothing to do with that fact that Levy has Gajeel and his swords to back her up." She smirks. He scoffs at that.
"No, I can handle him." He said confidently.
"Anyways, your point for interrupting me?"
"Levy had an idea. She wants you and I to do a show together. You dance in a ring of my fire." He says.
"What!? I don't want to be flame cooked!" She exclaimed.
"Calm down, you won't be!" He promises. "Anyways, she wants you to teach me a dance I guess so we can choreograph a fire dance or something." He shrugs.
"Oh, great." Lucy sighs. "What did Levy just get my into." She whispers while Natsu beams widely at her.
O~O~O~O
The first time they practice Natsu wants to start out with fire, but Lucy quickly shoots down the idea, lest he burn her while trying to get the footwork down.
"No, no, no! You're not moving your hips right Natsu! You can't worry about looking feminine, trust me, you won't!" She huffs as she breaks her own stance. She goes over and inspects his form. "This is all wrong. Your arms are here, your hips go this way, and your feet stay right here." She says as she readjusts his arms, moves his hips the right way, and then kneels down to place his feet correctly.
"Sorry Luce." He mutters. She looks up at him and realizes exactly where she's at. She blushes and shoots straight to her feet.
"Again." She commands, getting back into position.
O~O~O~O
"Levy has another suggestion." Natsu says suddenly when he comes in.
"What is it now?"
"We make it look more couple-y so we could interest both men and women to take classes." He says. Lucy groans.
"And you were just starting to get the choreography!" She throws her hands up, wondering what Levy was thinking. It was nearing the end of fall and the winter was surprisingly their biggest season because the weather was mild and people were looking to escape the snow. That's when she had arranged for the performance to take place, according to Natsu.
"Well now I know how to move, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. C'mon we can power through this." He says, always the optimist. She shakes her head.
"I have to come up with a whole new dance, and we still have to work out the fire situation." She mutters.
"Well I was thinking we'd save the real fire for the finally. I can teach you how to breathe fire if you want." He smiles. She looks wary.
"Am I gonna be burned?"
"Nah, not if I'm the one teaching you. I won't let you get hurt." He promises. She blushes for some odd reason at his words and the look he gives her. And then she sighs.
"Alright, I guess it couldn't hurt." She mutters.
O~O~O~O
"No, no! See this is why we're practicing with water still! Stop drinking it, if this were the gas and oils I use, you'd be poisoned ten times over by now." Natsu laughs as Lucy coughs on the water, she trying to hold in her mouth, and NOT drink it. Again. She spits it back into the cup and glares at him.
"Well if you actually gave me something gross, maybe I'd be less likely to drink it!" She huffs. He groans and then sighs.
"Fine, but don't hold me accountable if you kill yourself from ingesting this crap." He mutters as he goes and digs through his bag of supplies. He tosses a bottle her way and she fumbles to catch it and not drop it when she realizes it's glass.
"What's this?"
"Gas and Oil mixed. Put it in your mouth but don't. Drink. It." He commands fiercely. She huffs and glares at him but uncorks the bottle and lets the liquid fill her mouth. Immediately she spits it out when the taste registers. "Hey!"
"Sorry-"
"You actually spit real well that time!" He laughs, seeing how far she got the liquid to travel. She thought he'd be mad that she wasted his deadly concoction but he looks proud, and for some reason it makes her smile.
"God that tastes gross!" She exclaims through a laugh.
"Well, look at it this way, you won't want to drink it." He chuckles.
"Hell no! It's so gross that I'll want it out of my mouth the second I let it in there." She mutters. Natsu freezes and then clears his throat.
"Um, right. Anyways, let's continue." He says. She wonders what she's said to make him act so weird. Before she can really ponder further, he starts digging through his bag again.
"Now, since you'll instantly spit it out, I think you're okay to work with the actual fire part." He smiles.
"That's rushing it a bit don't you think?"
"Well, you can't just keep wasting it like that, I only have a certain amount of a budget to buy this stuff each month." He mutters. She bites her lip. "Don't worry, Luce. I have faith in you. You can do this." He promises. Reluctantly she nods. "Good, now. Here's a fire stick, light it, take a gulp—but don't gulp ya know—and then spit but aim for the stick. Once the gas is lit you can pull the match away and just spit until you run out. When you're running low you just close your mouth and then wipe it quick." He shrugs, like it's the most simple thing in the world. And she has to admit that with the way he explained it, it sounds really simple, but she knows it's dangerous if done wrong.
"Uh…. Could you demonstrate first?" She asks.
"Sure, Luce. Although you must have seen me do it a hundred times by now." He teases. It takes her a second to realize that he's talking about the performances that they do for guests, although she's never stuck around to watch the others after her dancing is finished. But she doesn't admit this.
"Well-…Uh- that was from far away." She excuses poorly.
"Yeah I guess, I never could see you in the crowd ya know." He smiles easily. She shifts uncomfortably, and luckily he doesn't see it as he's too busy lighting his stick on fire. He grabs a bottle, takes some of the liquid into his mouth easily, as if the taste doesn't bother him at all, and then sets it down before grabbing a rag. He holds the flaming stick before him and spits the gas and oil mixture onto it before pulling it away, and all of a sudden, he's breathing fire. He can do it for a while too, and then he stops, steps back, and wipes his mouth on the rag. She stands mesmerized by the heat that had flared out to her from the fire, and how cool he looked, how calm and natural it seemed for him to breathe fire.
"Where did you learn how to breath fire?" She asks.
"My dad taught me. It's a trade secret of the islanders." He winks playfully.
"You're a native?" She asks in surprise.
"Yeah. Born and raised right here." He shrugs. "Well, not right here, not in this spot, ya know, but on the island-"
"Natsu, I know. I understand." She laughs.
"Right, well, your turn." He smiles. Her happiness vanishes into thin air, just like the fuel did when the fire ate it up.
"Um….. O-okay…." She squeaks.
"Just remember what I told you." He nods reassuringly. She nods back and then grabs the stick, lights it, and grabs the bottle. She takes some into her mouth, holds it even though it tastes nasty, and then grabs the rag Natsu offers quickly. Holding the flame in front of her she shifts nervously before spitting out a bit of the fuel. It arcs in a stream, hits the fire, flares up and she jumps back, nearly swallowing the liquid. "Lucy! Spit it back into the bottle!" He says quickly, holding it to her mouth. She expels the liquid quickly and begins coughing. "Are you okay, did you swallow any?" He asks cupping her face in his hands and looking her over.
"N-no, sorry, I just panicked." She coughs.
"Well, I think that's enough for today-"
"No! I wanna go again." She demands. He frowns. "I'll be okay, it's just scary the first time." She promises. He sighs, but lets her continue.
By the end of the night, she's breathing fire almost as well as he is. And she realizes that the warmth she is feeling isn't just from the fire breathing. It's caused by the fire breather too.
O~O~O~O
"No, no, no! That's too rough!" She snaps, smacking his hands from her hips.
"Well I'm sorry! When your hips are moving that quick it's hard to grab hold of them gently!" He huffs.
"No it's not, Natsu! C'mon, again!" She demands. But he doesn't get into his position, standing a little to the side and back of her. "Natsu?"
"No way, it's nearly midnight, I'm tired and I'm going home." He huffs.
"We need to practice!"
"I don't care, I'm tired! I'm only gonna keep messing up if we continue like this!"
"No you won't just one more run through-"
"I said I don't want to practice anymore!" He explodes, shouting louder than she thought possible. It startles the blonde and suddenly she feels a pang of fear from his threatening stance and expression. She cringes back from him and instantly his demeanor softens. "Luce….. I'm so-"
"Fine! J-just go! We'll work again tomorrow, or not, I don't care!" She snaps, turning away before he can see her cry.
"Lucy-"
"Leave, Natsu!" She near screams without turning. Knowing he can't do anything but give her space he grabs his bag and leaves.
O~O~O~O
It's a week before they're practicing again, and things are tense. When Natsu messes up, she sends him home, and when she messes up she leaves for nearly thirty minutes.
"Wait, Lucy, I don't want to leave ye-"
"You're tired Natsu, I'm tired. I'm calling it a night." She said with finality.
"Dammit, Lucy, we have less than two weeks! If we don't figure this out in the next couple of days, then we'll be so behind that we won't be able to do any of it properly and the big finale will suck because we haven't even touched what choreography to do right before we breathe fire!" He huffs. "Now, I'm not leaving here until we do this right! Get your butt back over here right now!" He demands. She glares at him, but moves into position.
"Five, six, seven, eight." She counts off. They dance, and their moves are fluid, graceful, hips and joints loose as they dance in sync. She's using her anger towards him to push herself harder than she has before, and he's using his burning annoyance with this damn dance to make sure he gets it right so they can continue on. They get through it and when they're done with the portion they turn and stare at each other. Slowly he grins and slowly she grins back. And then she throwing herself at him, hugging him to her.
"We did it!" She laughs.
"Yeah! It only happened cause I have a great teacher." Suddenly his voice is soft, and the warmth of his breath in her hair makes everything else seem so cold that she shivers. She pulled back slightly and looks up at him as he looks down at her. His head dips down a bit and she blushes, realizing what he wants. She turned her head when he gets too close and breaks away from him while clearing her throat.
"So, do you want to try another piece of it?"
"How many pieces do we have left?" He looks a little less happy and she wants to kick herself.
"Well, I was thinking that this would be the last one. And I could demonstrate my half of it first…." She offers. He nods quickly and goes to sit against the back wall.
He likes to watch her dance a lot, he watches her every performance because he loves the way she looks like she gets lost in the rhythm of the music, how her body does whatever she commands and makes it look graceful. There's also the face that she wears cropped tops to show off her belly and a grass skirt. But she's not wearing it now, no, right now she's wearing a thin cropped tank top and really short yoga shorts that are driving him up a frickin wall!
She begins dancing and all the stress in her expression seems to melt away. Her face is serene with a hint of a smile tugging at her lips as she shows him what she wants.
"And then, this is my favorite part. We can come together like this, we'll hook arms, grab the sticks or something and then breathe fire." She suggests. He nods quickly, liking the idea.
"I like it." He confirms. She beams as him and he thinks she looks radiant, glowing brighter than the fire he eats. And then he realizes that she had been talking. "What was that?" He asks a little sheepish. She gives him an annoyed—but not really—look and repeats it.
"Ready to learn it?" She asks. He nods eagerly and they get into the positions where they ended the last bit. She breaks it down slowly, showing him how to move and what to do. He gets this piece quite quickly, which isn't surprising considering the fact that the movements are wild and reckless. It matches his personality perfectly.
"I tried to create a dance that represented fire, and fire never has the same shape twice, so none of the moves are repeated." She explains after practice when he wonders what inspired the choreography. "After all we're working with fire in the set, and you said Levy wanted it to look couple like. Couples and l-lovers," She blushes as she says the last word quietly, "are all about romance and passion, and what better way to represent burning passion than fire?" She's completely red-faced and stops talking. He's just staring at her with a mix of awe and something else in his dark green eyes. "Wh-what?" She asks suddenly, breaking him from his thoughts, of her of course.
"Nothing, I just….. I liked the way you described it." He smiles softly. She blushes and dips her head down to hide her face but his finger hooks under her chin to tilt her head back up. "Don't be embarrassed. I'm serious, the way you explained it…. I can see what you meant, what you're trying to say through the moves now." He murmurs. She smiles softly as her warm chocolate eyes look into his. And then she yawns.
"Oh, sorry. I'm more tired that I realized." She laughs in embarrassment. He chuckles and stifles a yawn himself.
"Well, let's get a good night's sleep. I'll see you tomorrow yeah?" He confirms as they get to the door of the studio.
"Yeah, good night Natsu." She smiles.
"Good night Luce." He smiles back, and then they turn and part ways.
O~O~O~O
Tonight is the night. They're practiced so hard over the last couple months for this night. Lucy looks at Natsu, and he looks at her. They're called onto the stage and in unison they step out to face the crowd of vacationers. They greet the crowd, say a few things, and then the music starts up. They begin to dance slowly, and fire rises around them on the stage. As their movements build momentum and they go faster, the fire flares higher. He moves with her flawlessly, working as partners. Totally in sync with the other they dance and smile softly to each other. The heat builds, not just from the fire, but from their dance as well, burning bright and building up flames so high that it makes both of them breathless and beads of sweat begin to pearl on their exposed skin.
"You ready Lucy?" He asks very quietly so the noise doesn't carry over the thumping drums.
"Yeah." She nods. He grabs a bottle from the floor—they've worked it into the choreography as well as when they grab their sticks of flames—and takes a mouthful before passing it off to her. She does the same, holding the liquid in her mouth now they finish that last couple steps, link arms, lean forward and fire spews from their mouths as they straight back up and tilt their heads skyward. And as they finish, before she has a chance to even wipe her mouth she can feel his mouth on hers, taking her by surprise. Literal fireworks explode into the sky as he kisses her and the crowd goes wild for them, but neither notices, neither one hears anything that isn't the person in front of them.
He tastes like the fuel for the flames he spits, but she doesn't care. She kisses him back and pulls him close, and as his body presses against hers the heat inside her rises, building like someone is adding wood to an already raging fire. She can't pull him close enough fast enough. And then he's pulling back. He's pulling away from her, despite her obvious protests. His hand finds hers and their fingers link together.
"Let's get out of here Luce." He says, and the rough quality his voice has taken on just stokes the flames higher. She agrees quickly and he pulls her along, down the beach where the resort is. She wonders where he's taking her exactly but doesn't care enough to ask. She's too busy realizing something else.
She's falling for this man, this dorky, pink haired, fire breather. She's falling hard and fast.
As he leads her to a house on the beach and pulls her inside so he can kiss her the way he wants—which is quite indecent and she was glad he didn't kiss her like that in public—she thinks to herself, maybe she's already fallen.
O~O~O~O
"I never got a chance to tell you last weekend, but that performance you and Natsu did, it was spectacular!" Levy compliments. She'd called Lucy up to her office to discuss her work hours that way Lucy can match hers with Natsu's therefore giving them the same free time in order to go on dates and the like.
"Thank you, it was a wonderful idea you had." Lucy smiles. But Levy frowns and shakes her head.
"It wasn't my idea. Natsu came to me and asked if it would be possible that you both could perform together, though I didn't know you'd dance together and that both of you would be taking part in the pyrotechnics." She laughs. "I would have given you a bigger budget to practice with. Learning to breathe fire mustn't have been an easy feet. But you both pulled it off so well! I just-"
"Wait, wait, back up a second. You mean Natsu was the one who planned out the whole joint performance thing?" The blonde asks.
"Yes, and it couldn't have been better. So many people are requesting another show like the one you performed together." Lucy's smiling to herself secretly and nearly laughing in disbelief.
"I'll talk to him about it. I'm sure we can do it if you want." She nods. "In exchange for a schedule change of course." She teases.
"You've got it as long as that heat stays between the two of you. That kiss, that was quite unexpected as well but many people have been signing up for dance lessons because of it." Levy laughs. "Now, I have to go, have fun with the new time off." She teases as she stands and walks Lucy out.
"Thanks." Lucy nods. She leaves, and heads over to Natsu's house. Using the key from under the mat she walks in and stops to pet his cat—which is blue because apparently Natsu left his friend to pet sit and he ended up mixing up the cat shampoo bottle with his blue hair dye—Happy before she heads into the kitchen, which is where he is most of the time. Lo and behold he's there when she walks in.
"Ehem." She stifles a giggle when he hits his head on the inside of the fridge in his haste to straighten up. "No please, don't stand on my account. I had a lovely view." She teases lightly. He chuckled and sets his food down, coming over to kiss her quickly.
"Hello Luce, I wasn't expecting to see you until later."
"Well, I went and talked with Levy about changing my working hours. Now our hours match so we can actually date and not have to rush through it or be late." She shrugs.
"Oh that's nice. Do you want a sandwich?" He offers.
"Sure, thanks." She smiles, and he nods before going over to the counter in order to fix them both turkey sandwiches. "Anyways, we chatted, and she really liked our performance last week." She smiles.
"Oh yeah? That's good."
"Yeah, she was happy that you suggested it." She watches as he stops, hand mid-air about to slap down a piece of cheese on his sandwich, and slowly turns his head to give her a sheepish grin. "Why?" She's surprisingly not mad, like he thought she'd be. He shrugs and she—dare she think it, is he blushing?
"Well…. Um…. I wanted to ask you out, but I didn't know how, and I figured if I could just get a little bit closer to you, then I could work up the courage to do it." He explains hurriedly and then cringes. "Please don't kill me."
"Why would I kill you? That's actually really sweet, and adorable." She giggles as she comes over and pulls his arms from his face so she can kiss him. He kisses her back quickly and soon the food is forgotten as they get lost in each other. The warmth of his body always inspires the little flame within her to turn to a raging inferno. And she happily accepts the heat.
Okay, well there it is folks! Hope you liked it! REVIEW and tell me what you thought! Or not! (Please do!)
UNTIL NEXT TIME MY LOVELIES!
A.~