I have this headcanon that Lucy moved into Natsu's house while he was gone. x)
And purpleraven89 made some amazing art of nalu sleeping together (not nsfw) which gave me another cute idea. x) Check it out on her tumblr!
This is another one of my FT416-coping-drabbles. Spoilers for FT Chapter 416.
A (post) reunion fic.
entanglements
Lucy wasn't sure how it had happened.
It had all started, of course, when she had been painting her toenails, a practice that had never come easily to her.
The creaky old chair wobbled dangerously as it stood on its two hind legs, and Lucy's foot pushed against Natsu's little table. Her lips were pursed in concentration while she tried to apply the pink nail polish as carefully as possible.
She had been living here for so long now, it felt like home as much as the flat she had left behind. The fact that she had to pay no rent had only a little to do with that sentiment. But that was the reason she had moved here, wasn't it? She always reminded herself of that. This was not about Happy and Natsu. And the fact that she still missed them, so so much.
It was true though, she had had to admit to herself, that she felt their lingering presence in the little hut even now. Even when her bed had replaced his hammock, and the chaos he called his own personal order had long disappeared, victim to her diligent fingers.
However, most things hadn't changed. Of course not. They would be back one day, and she would have to move out. So she kept all his flyers on the wall, because how could she ever take them down? How often had she stared at the little note he had tucked to the mission pamphlet of Everlue mansion? She kept the maid outfit, too, in a corner.
Many times after she had moved in, she had told herself that she would move out before they came back. It would be too embarrassing if they found her here. What would they think? No, she would avoid that fiasco.
But it had been 11 months now, and she did not feel like moving out anymore. They could build their own house when they came back. They owed her one.
And so she sat in her living room, foot on the table, when the door opened.
Their eyes locked the second he stepped into the cottage.
And of course, she fell.
The chair hit the floor hard, digging into her back, and she spat a number of curses as the nailpolish spilled over her ankles. She came up in a mess, but didn't notice any of it. Her body was moving on autopilot, and her mind had gone blank.
Natsu was back.
He was standing there, all wide eyes and disbelief. And then she watched as his lips curled upwards, and he cried her name with such relief and joy that something in her heart contracted painfully.
She was in his arms before she knew it, limp and shocked. Her mind was not fast enough to catch up with anything.
Natsu was back.
Faintly, she realized that Happy was clinging to her too, and that Natsu was talking to her, something about how she had not been at home and he had panicked.
When he released her and she finally - finally - could see his warm eyes again, so close up and full of joy, the reality of it all came crashing in.
Her lower lip started trembling, and her eyes filled with tears all by themselves. His face turned concerned, worried. And guilty.
"Lucy….?"
She couldn't speak. Happy landed on his shoulder, face just as nervous.
"Say something, Lucy! Did you lose your voice?!"
There was serious concern in his eyes, and she almost laughed.
They really were back.
As the first tear fell, she wiped it away, and felt her voice return to her.
She had wanted to kick him when he returned. She couldn't. Not when he was looking at her like that, and not when she was so happy.
"You're back."
"Of course we are!"
And there it was. That grin she had missed so much. The one she had always tried to recall when she was sad and needed cheering up - to no avail. Now that she saw it again, the beauty of it felt almost overwhelming; the joy it conjured up inside her almost alien.
This time, it was her who fell against his chest, and he put his arms around her carefully as she smiled against him through her tears.
That day it had happened for the first time.
They had had to share the same bed.
But how had it come to this?
On that first night, she had fallen asleep to a warmth she hadn't felt in months. Of course, she kept a safe distance, and had only given in after many of his pleas. He was right; it was the only sleeping space. Even if he did deserve to sleep on the ground.
And so they fell asleep with secret smiles on their faces and Happy curled up on the bottom end of her comfortable bed.
They had woken up in a tangled mess, and she had nearly suffered a heartattack.
So naturally, on the second night she had furiously repeated various threats and had described in detail what would happen to him if he did that again. She fell asleep pressed up against the wall.
And woke up cuddled against his back.
On his side of the bed - to her endless, utter shame. Her legs were entangled with his, her arms securely around his chest. His hand rested over her left, and suddenly she was feeling things that made her pull back in a desperate flurry.
He turned and blinked at her as she sat up, and she realized he had been awake. But she couldn't scream at him this time.
It had been her.
At that time, she had not known what to say, the embarassment and her hammering heart too much to handle. But it had not been the last time they had woken up far too entangled to call it a normal sleepover. Happy accepted it without too many of his quibs, too.
And so, before they had known what was happening, it had become a habit, a second nature. An unspoken expectation.
Natsu would complain if she stayed up late, because I can't sleep without you in here, and she would stop scolding him when they woke up in each other's arms. Even the blush that had been plastered to her face every single time during the first week slowly disappeared over time.
They didn't speak about it. Didn't mention that they technically both were aware that their behaviour was a little weird - for just friends.
It simply was as it was.
The positions they woke up in changed all the time, but one thing remained constant: they never were apart. They always touched, and if it was just their arms pressing firmly up against the other's.
Other times, it was her face on his stomach. Her hand on his neck. Their legs entangled so much, they didn't know which ones belonged to whom. And, even more often, it was his face squished into her breasts. (She had become a little weary about that. It had happened a little too often to be just a coincidence, I swear!)
So they had continued their little game, because none had been eager to stop.
And now, right in this moment, Lucy was waking up again.
His touch had become familiar, his warmth something she knew like her own.
But as her mind slowly emerged from sleepy dephts, she couldn't help but feel a sensation that was slightly different than the usual ones.
She felt something tickle her forehead. His hair. That much she knew; she had become used to the way it fell so thick and unruly. She had woken with her face pressed against it many times before.
No, that was not it. But - it was only on her forehead.
Something was pressing against her nose.
She carefully cranked one eye open, only to squeeze it shut again immediately. It was his nose, alright.
His face was so close.
A shudder travelled through her. But she couldn't move. Didn't want to, even. She knew what they had been doing these past weeks was wrong for friends to do - but then again, did she really want to be only friends anymore?
The thought scared her.
But she would let herself enjoy the exhilarating feeling of this position. He didn't have to know, did he? And if he woke up now, she could blame it on him, couldn't she?
Her body relaxed visibly.
Natsu had looked like he was still deep asleep anyway.
"Are you awake?"
Oh no. Oh no. No, no. This was not supposed to happen.
He was awake. And from the way her traitorous body turned to stone, she could tell he knew that she was awake too. Which meant he knew she had been awake without saying anything, or even moving. And she knew that he was awake, but she hadn't said anything either, and they both were lying here, so close, so awake, and now - now what?
"Yes." she whispered back.
Almost reluctantly, she opened her eyes - and found his already staring.
His expression was unreadable, yet something about it spoke of barely restrained curiosity. And… something else.
Something she wasn't quite sure she wanted to know, because if she did, then she would be dangerously close to admitting to herself that she was feeling it too.
As always, it was warm beneath the blanket. Sweltering. His arms around her made her body temperature rocket sky-high every time. He knew just how much he had to regulate his body heat to let her fall into a deep, sound slumber. But at night, when they both were asleep, it seemed like he lost some of that control, and when they awoke and Lucy threw the blanket aside, she always felt like she had just emerged from a volcano.
She didn't do that now, though.
Her body would not let her move away.
Both their breathing was still steady, their minds only waking up. And neither moved.
Lazily, Natsu smiled at her, and everything inside her started tingling. He observed her face, that expression still edged into his features.
"We should kiss."
What?!
The question died on her lips, and all she could do was stare at him, openmouthed and in disbelief.
"We should kiss," he repeated, voice still a little rough from sleep. "'cause I really wanna kiss you right now. I've never done that - but I want to. Kiss you. If you want."
Her mind was screaming at her, but she couldn't understand a word of the panicked shouts. If you had asked her in that moment, she couldn't even have told you where she was.
Natsu wanted to kiss her.
Natsu. Kiss her.
Why had the prospect of kissing someone never been so tempting ever before?
Her eyes automatically dropped to his lips.
It dawned on her that she really did want to be more than friends. Much more. She could no longer deny it.
Natsu understood her silent consent.
It did not take much to close the already miniscule distance between their lips. All he had to do was slightly push his chin forward. And he did.
It was the most innocent kiss she could have imagined. Lips against lips, soft and curious. And then he pulled away again.
He looked at her, so very serious and inquiring that she felt like he wanted to find out every last of her thoughts and feelings.
And suddenly all she could do was grin.
She couldn't even stop it.
The sudden change confused him, and he looked almost scared, afraid of having done something wrong.
Before she could give it too much thought, she brought her hand to his neck, pulling him closer.
And then she kissed him, much like in that paragraph in one of her books she had read so many times, the same words over and over, wondering what it would be like to be kissed like that.
Lucy felt bold, and a little nervous, but her mind was quickly put at ease by his eager response.
He made a sound against her, a little surprised at first, but then it turned into a content hum that made her heart swell up in the best of ways, until she felt it might explode any second.
Natsu was kissing her.
She was kissing him.
Lucy still didn't know how it had come to this.
But she wanted it to continue forever.