Natsu clears his throat and turns his head away from the bathroom door. After losing Lisanna he vowed to never allow his heart to feel for anyone else, but he is a man after all and his 'urges' are a bit too much to handle right now. Lucy is rather attractive, and definitely has a body that makes Natsu twitch, which is why he's trying very hard to not think about her naked in the bathroom right now.
It's just so hard, is the thing. Pun fully intended, he thinks grimly as he looks down. Lucy officially moved into his room yesterday, she's completely redecorated the guest room into a child friendly room, and now she's getting comfortable in Natsu's space.
As she sings, loudly, in the shower Natsu can't help but eye her silk pink pajamas that are on the bed. Natsu was there when she picked them out but he had no idea the material was so thin. He allows the cool material to tickle his fingertips tips before pulling back and swallowing. This is a problem.
The same problem that has resulted in Natsu having these inappropriate, and conflicting, thoughts in the process. You see, Natsu is already in bed and Lucy is in the shower but she left her pajamas on the bed. If Natsu was a better person he would knock on the door and hand Lucy her pajamas but sadly the horrid part of him wants her to come out in just a towel.
He shakes his head and texts Gray. He needs a voice of reasoning to stop him from being tempted to being a perv.
To: Ice tits: Help! Luce is in the bhroom. I'm in bed. She left pajamas on bed. Wht shld I do? Sent: 11:49 p.m.
He places his phone on his lap and nibbles on his thumb until he feels a vibration.
From: Ice tits: First thing you do is learn how to spell. You are an adult, in age anyways, so stop texting in lazy manners. Secondly, don't be that guy. Hand her the fucking clothes and go jerk off in private like respectable men.
Natsu glares at the text and then tosses his phone on the floor altogether when Gray decides to send a picture of a monkey rubbing on a banana. He hates his friend, but he has to admit that Gray definitely put a metaphorical foot up his ass.
Resigning to his confused fate he does as suggested. He gathers the clothes and raps on the door before peering his head in-eyes closed.
"Hey, you left these pajamas on the bed. Want me to put them on the counter?" He hears the water cut off and feels the steam on his face as the shower door opens.
"Oh, thank you so much. I'm so embarrassed." He feels her touch his hands and he blinks his eyes open. Lucy is standing before him in a towel and he's not prepared. How could he possibly think he was ready for this? He looks down, briefly, and scowls at his lower half. His body parts are trying to write a cheque Natsu can't cash.
"N-n-no wo-r-r-ries." He stutters. Freaking stutters, like a blushing, nervous fifteen year old virgin. What the ever loving fuck? Ugh. He didn't even feel this way when he touched her boob last week in the tent; granted it was an accident, of course-but still.
How is it that now he suddenly sees her differently? He'll have to talk to Erza; she might tease him to death but at least she gives great advice. Or should he talk to Levy? Hmm, no. Levy will tell Gajeel, who will tease Natsu mercilessly.
"Natsu?" He blinks out of his haze and gives Lucy a grim smile before backing away, closing the door in a haste. For fuck sake, he runs a hand over his face and rests the back of his head against the wall.
He takes his left hand and palms his hard on, mentally willing it to go away. It doesn't, of course. He gives up and decides to shuffle to Laxus' room hoping the man will go easy on poor Natsu.
Natsu doesn't knock, just pushes the door open and almost screams upon seeing Bickslow sitting on the edge of the bed rocking a wicked smirk as he makes eye contact. Bixs holds his phone up and shakes it in a teasing manner. Natsu will kill Gray.
"He texted you?" Natsu whines and even goes as far as kicking out his feet.
"He text Laxus, who showed me." Laxus comes out of his bathroom, dressed in nothing but sweatpants, and laughs upon seeing Natsu.
"I don't need this from you two." Natsu sniffs, trying to save some ounce of dignity that he might be able to scrape up from off the floor.
"You're finally becoming a man, let us enjoy this moment." Laxus teases. Bixs leans back and howls his enjoyment before slapping his knee.
"They grow up so fast." Bickslow wipes away an imaginary tear. Natsu's scowl is his best one yet, he can practically feel the heat of embarrassment raising on his cheeks.
"I'll let you two laugh for a full minute if you can give good advice." Natsu snipes through clenched teeth.
"As if we need your approval?" Laxus sits next to Bixs.
"Of course if you want the best sex advice then I'm your man." Bickslow wraps an arm around Laxus. "My man here is hot stuff but he's so emotionally stunted that the last time he got his dick wet was about eight years ago after knocking up Mira." Now it's Laxus' turn to become red. The elder scrunches up his face and knocks Bickslow's arm from off of him.
"I saw Lucy in her towel and got hard." Natsu whispers as he double checks to make sure the door is shut and locked. "How am I supposed to sleep in the same bed as her when my nether regions won't stop reacting?" Bickslow nearly chokes as he tries to suppress his laugh.
"Well you can start by not calling your dick your 'nether region.'" Laxus deadpans, unhelpfully.
"This is the part where you help me instead of tease me." He reminds the two.
"Not really sure what we're supposed to advise you on." Laxus shrugs. "Just be honest with her, she seems reasonable."
"That is horrible advice." Natsu runs a hand down his face. "Can you imagine? She came to us as a last resort. She's run away from her father, who has people looking for her, just so she can expose him for his corruption. She has nowhere to go, no money, and is now depending on two fairly strange men. A part of her has to be terrified that we're going to hurt her or take advantage of her in some way."
"You have to give her more credit than that." Bixs leans back on the bed. "She's an adult with full culpability and capability of making her own decisions. She had a place to stay and was going to stay there until she found a stable enough job to move on. She trusts the two of you because you're helping her, are both well known, and are safe options. You think she's going to stay somewhere she doesn't feel safe? Especially after leaving her father?"
Natsu can feel his brows forming together. Sometimes Bickslow gives really great advice and it reminds Natsu that while the guy is a complete idiot sometimes, he's also pretty soundly smart.
"You're right," he admits. "I'm going to bed." He turns and waves the two of them off as he heads back to his own room where Lucy's already in bed, glasses (who knew she wore them?) on and a book in her hand. She has a book mark with a light on it.
"You know there are tablets now right? You get to read with illuminated light without having to struggle." He comments as he tries to casually stroll into the other side of the Queen sized bed. She turns to him and scoffs indignantly.
"I'm old fashioned this way. I love the smell, and feel, of a good ol' book." She smiles as she talks, almost in a whimsical way. Her expression, talking about books, reminds Natsu how he used to feel about fire. To him fire wasn't about destruction, it was about passion. "What's wrong?" He lifts his head to see her eyeing him cautiously, so he swallows and shakes his head.
"I used to be that passionate about something once," he answers with a lump in his throat. Guilt. How can a five letter word hold so much power, and render him useless like this?
"Well, I hope you can find your passion again someday." She gives a tentative smile but doesn't press the issue, which he more than appreciates. At least this somber talk has called manhood down enough that it won't be awkward when they sleep tonight.
"Me too," he finally responds after enough silence has engulfed the room. She gives him another smile which he reciprocates before snuggling up in his duvet. He tries to go sleep but only dreams of Lisanna, pain, and fire.
FT
Watching Laxus awkwardly stand with his daughter is everything to Natsu. The elder looks ready to bolt any minute now. He has her purple backpack on his shoulder and is holding onto her small hand while just standing there in the middle of the living room-Mira having just left.
"Umm," Natsu muffles his laughter as he watches the elder scratch the back of his head-pained look upon his face. "What would you like to do?" She looks up at him and blinks expectantly.
"Take her to the basement, we can set up the game station and get some Mario Kart going." Her eyes grow wide with mirth and excitement. She squeezes Laxus' hand and rises to the tips of her feet.
"Please?" She practically begs adorably.
"Yeah," Laxus looks to Natsu with an expression of pure gratitude before disappearing down to the basement. Looking to his left, he sees Lucy giving him an indecipherable expression.
"What?" He questions with a quisitive tone.
"You're good with children." Natsu scratches at his elbow for no reason.
"Meh," he shrugs as he fights a blush.
"It's because he's still a child." Natsu turns to look at a beaming Bickslow who's leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
"Hi pot, meet kettle." Natsu grumbles his response.
"I didn't know you were still here," Lucy tries to placate the situation.
"When does he ever leave?" Natsu complains.
"Oi," Bixs protests indignantly. "As Laxus' only true friend it's my duty to keep him company at all times."
"Which translate to you having no life outside of kissing his ass." Bickslow grins which makes Natsu feel uncomfortable.
"You really want to start talking about asses?" Bixs look to Lucy in such an obvious manner Natsu can't help but fling himself to cover Bickslow's mouth. "Mfdsfum" He mumbles and Natsu turns over his shoulder to give Lucy an embarrassing smile; one that consists of him awkward laughing.
"Shouldn't you be joining Laxus in the basement?" He seethes to his friend, who finally gets the hint. Bickslow doesn't tease anymore, verbally, but he does wag his brows and blows Lucy a kiss as he runs towards the basement.
"I can't even apologize enough for him." Lucy waves off the apology.
"He's a lot of fun," she says earnestly. Natsu puffs out a breath and shakes his head.
"He's a lot to get used to more like." He responds before walking towards the kitchen. "By the way, I was thinking that I could fix us some breakfast and then afterwards we could go to the bar and hang out with Mira, and Gray?"
"Sure," Lucy is fast to reply. "Is the bar open this early in the morning?" Natsu nods.
"It's why she brought Azmay over so early." Lucy's lips part in a manner that leads Natsu to suggest she understands. "I think working alone soothes her in a way, allows her to just be without any immediate responsibilities."
"She's a strong person," Lucy comes behind Natsu, who's working on making rice and pork, and sits down on the counter. "I know she and Laxus have had some sort of touchy past but even so, she seems to accept her fate without tossing blame."
Natsu stops watching the water boil and turns to look at the person who just spoke. She's not wrong, is the thing. Mira made a mistake and dealt with the backlash without missing a beat. Granted she was in the wrong to try and destroy Laxus' happiness, but she didn't deserve to have her and Laxus' child be denied by Laxus. Natsu still regrets not pushing his brother harder.
"Natsu," he blinks and turns back to his cooking-listening to the soft voice. "What happened between them?"
"It's not really my story to tell," he admits.
"I get it." He's not looking at her but he can tell she's giving him that reassuring smile she tends to do. It makes his own smile threaten to break across his face.
"Gramps isn't shy about telling others business, so if you really want to know that would be your first stop." He turns to gaze her reaction and catches her giggling behind the back of her hand. He goes back to frying the pork and swallows down his thoughts. Lucy is extremely cute and he's not sure how much longer he can stay around her without developing feelings. Feelings he doesn't even deserve to have, not after Lisanna.
"Of course not," she breaks through his thoughts. "I'll respect his privacy and let him tell me if he wants." Natsu gives her another brief look and he hopes it doesn't convey just how much in awe he truly is. He turns his attention back to cooking and wills his heart to go back to a steady beat.
FT
"So," Gray trails off as he swirls his ginger ale around in his glass. Mira is wiping counters, in the background, but Natsu is smart enough to know she's actively listening in. The woman has the hearing of a werewolf.
"What Gray is trying to ask is whether or not you two are fucking?" Cana crudely demands to know. She's leaning forward, practically across the table, and is staring Natsu and Lucy down as if waiting to hear the greatest gossip of the century.
"Cana," Erza, who wasn't even invited, chastises on Natsu's behalf. He's grateful for the gesture because he's not even sure his own vocal cords work anymore.
"We've slept in a tent together and in the same bed, if that's what you mean." Lucy speaks in a soft voice. Natsu chances taking a look at her expression and she seems amused, not at all ready to slink away like Natsu.
Cana huffs, folding her arms across her chest like she's severely disappointed with this new development.
"You two are getting rather close, and so soon. Already having sleep overs." Erza sips some of her tea while looking over her mug. Natsu lowers his eyes to glare at the woman he thought was his friend. They grew up together for heaven's sake, there shouldn't be so much teasing going on.
"I'm honestly glad he decided to take me in, I'm not sure how I would have survived my old living conditions." Natsu brushes his shoulders with hers and gives her his open mouthed grin.
"Of course Luce, you're the perfect guest; unlike Gray who comes over uninvited and starts stripping." Natsu raises a brow at his nudist friend who squawks his disapproval.
"I'll have you know there's a lot of alcohol involved before my clothes come off." He frowns and places his hands over his chest as if to try and hide his dignity.
"Oh really," Cana turns her gaze towards Gray. "I distinctly remember you taking your clothes off last month and all we were doing was watching Grey's Anatomy." Gray scratches his nose instead of answering.
"How do you know Meredith doesn't do it for me?" Gray's cheeks turn pink as he tries to deny the fact he enjoys taking off his clothes. Cana gives her best 'i don't even fucking believe you look' which has Gray turning his head away from her.
"I'm sure Juvia would love to know you have a thing for Meredith Grey." Erza joins in.
"Juvia's not even my girlfriend." Gray's cheeks turn a brighter red now, and it looks like he's itching to take off his shirt. "We're just friends."
"Right, just friends." Cana draws out the words. "Because I make heart cut outs of my best friends and build shrines in their honor."
"It was a collage, not a shrine." Gray whispers harshly.
"Oh, my mistake." Cana teases in a mocking tone.
"I think you should make me a shrine, Gray; since we are best friends and all." Natsu grins and winks.
"If I make you anything it'll be a collage of busty blondes who…" Natsu has never reacted so fast in his entire life. He practically flings himself across the table and covers Gray's mouth with his own palm.
Erza raises an amused brow while Gray settles back in his seat looking smug as well. Natsu gives a nervous laugh and sits back down without making eye contact with Lucy.
"So, who's up for some strip poker?" Cana reaches in her purse and pulls out a deck of cards, shaking them while wagging her brows.
"Cana, no. It's practically noon and far too early for this." Erza sternly states.
"Please, I've been drinking since last night; I'm ready to go." Cana slurs as she starts to spread the cards out on the table.
"I'm not taking off my pants." Gray warns.
"I guess I could play." Lucy looks to Natsu and shrugs. Natsu runs a hand down his face and groans.
"Mira is so going to kill us, she opens in an hour." Natsu tells them.
"Then let's hurry and get drunk enough to play." Cana slams a hand on the table before getting up. Natsu watches as she jumps over the bar and starts rattling around looking for mugs. Natsu shakes his head and turns back to his friends.
"We are so going to regret this." He mumbles but at the same time feels at ease. Lucy fits in perfectly with his friends-his family. It's like she's this missing link he never even knew he needed. It's a dangerous thought, one he hopes will linger for more time to come.