We're just spoiling you all, aren't we?

23

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

"It gratified all the vicious vanity that was in him;"

― Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Natsu came back to consciousness slowly.

He was warm and very comfortably curled up on the nicest mattress he'd ever slept on with equally comfortable pillows and a warm blanket. So he was reluctant to leave sleep behind.

However, the more he fought it the more his brain began nagging at him with little things. Like it was a weird time of day for him to be waking up, and where was he anyway? Lucy's mattress was nice enough, but not like this.

As his mind woke up he realized he was also curled quite protectively around someone. That was enough to get him to open his eyes, and his gaze landed on a pile of messy blond hair resting next to him. Lucy. He was snuggled up to Lucy?

He blushed at the idea of him, him, snuggling up to anyone. It just wasn't something he did anymore! However, his attention was almost immediately pulled by the unfamiliar bed they were laying in.

He looked around, careful not to disturb Lucy's sleep lest she start yelling or kick him in the face or something, and it all suddenly came flooding back.

They were in Lucy's world. She'd somehow managed to screw up another gate and they'd landed in her magicless world. He remembered her getting him home through those stinky streets, and how frigid her house here was. And he remembered she'd left him here while she...

His eyes widened as wild excitement gripped him.

Shopping! She'd gone shopping for him to get him clothes he could wear in this world! She'd actually gone and gotten him stuff!

A wide grin split his face and he flung off the blankets and hopped out of bed, stars shining in his eyes. He just had to see what she'd gotten! She'd been gone forever! Surely she'd gotten some cool stuff right?

He started racing towards the door, leaving a confused and sleepy Lucy mumbling at the disruption to her sleep, when he screeched to a halt. He shouldn't go through his new stuff without her. She'd put effort into this. He should let her see how much he liked it.

His grin widened as he pounced back on the bed and tugged on Lucy's hand, "C'mon Luce! Wake up! You gotta show me the stuff you got for me!"

Natsu didn't even pause to consider how strange it was for him to act like this. He couldn't help it. Sure, he had stuff he had stolen and collected throughout the years, but he hadn't bought anything in a great while.

Much less had someone buy something for him.

Lucy was staring at him as if he set her curtains on fire - which he had in the past. But much to his displeasure, she was taking much too long to get ready.

Or hell, just moving.

He scooped her up, hauling the human's smaller body over his shoulder as he fled out of the room with a cackle.

"Natsu wait no!" Lucy cried out, reaching out blindly for something to hold onto, but only managing to hook her fingertips around the blanket.

It dragged uselessly behind Natsu while he carted Lucy with him.

The bag was quickly located at the end of the hall, and Lucy shrieked as her center of gravity shifted when Natsu suddenly sat down with her still on his shoulder.

She elbowed the back of his head in protest, getting him to loosen his grip enough for her to scuttle off him.

"You couldn't have waited until I was awake?" Lucy hissed at Natsu, snagging the blanket around herself protectively.

Natsu just tsk'd and grabbed the other end of the blanket, burrowing himself into the other side. He gave Lucy an unrepentant smile, unable to hide his excitement.

Lucy's heart jumped at the schoolboy smile, so alight with happiness she thought it would burst. It was an expression that looked so natural on him, something in Lucy's chest ached when she realized how often it was missing.

"You bought me something! I want to see what it is!" He declared, very much like a child on Christmas morning.

Lucy laughed, unable to resist, and shook her head with a smile, "Hold on another minute Natsu." She told him and climbed to her feet, glad that she wasn't in anything skimpy this time, "There's more in the car. I forgot to bring it in after I caught you going through my underwear."

She rolled her eyes a little, but couldn't help smiling as it appeared that if Natsu got any more eager he would be floating.

"Just wait there, and I'll be right back." She promised, grabbing her keys and heading outside.

She even left the door open so he could watch her getting stuff out, though she didn't really expect him to help her until she looked up and he was next to her relieving her of half her bags.

"Thanks." She murmured gratefully, and headed back in.

It was only once everything was settled that she realized she'd really gotten a lot. Much more than she'd really realized at the time.

Ah well. That just increased the odds he'd find something in there he liked.

She grinned and shoved a green bag at him, "Well go on. Check it out! And remember, if you don't like any of it we can take it back and get something you do like instead."

Natsu stared at the bags, feeling a little overwhelmed by It all. Lucy had bought a lot - it was saying something when he was left wondering if she had any sense of restraint when it came to shopping.

He was suddenly grateful they didn't have the means to buy all this stuff back home.

Still, he couldn't help but be amazed over the sheer amount she bought. She couldn't decide what he wanted so she had just settled on everything?

She really was a strange human.

He began to dig into the bags, pulling out clothes from a fashion he didn't understand. Natsu stared at it, far used to the thinner and flowing fabrics of his world instead of the sturdy, thicker ones here.

And the designs! They were so strange.

"Go on! Try some on!" Lucy said enthusiastically, tossing what appeared to be a sleeveless shirt and pants directly into his face.

He pulled them off and stared at them, mystified.

How was he even supposed to put them on?

The time he was in human form in Fiore was centuries ago. His style was outdated even in his world since Natsu never had to transform down as a human.

Navigating something as simple as a zipper was going to be a daunting task. He swallowed a bit thickly.

He gave Lucy one last pout and marched into the bathroom Lucy pointed out. He had since learned never to try and undress in front of Lucy, she was prone to much screaming and panicking the moment she realized he had no clothes on.

He didn't quite understand why, but he figured it was because of the noble upbringing she no doubt had.

Not favoring getting nailed in the face with something hard, Natsu marched off to get changed.

Lucy listened with badly concealed amusement as Natsu thumped around the bathroom, swearing creatively as he tried to figure his clothes out. She heard more than one comment about Gray being the one who wore stuff like this, and had to bite back a laugh.

Natsu really was ridiculous when he wanted to be.

The clothes were different yes, but the styles weren't that different.

She'd seen Master Makarov wearing Hawaiian shirts, and Gray in blue jeans before he stripped out of them.

Surely this wasn't that different?

Then again, Gajeel had mentioned Natsu hadn't been seen out of his dragon form in centuries. It was entirely possible he really hadn't changed, and therefore didn't know how more modern clothes worked anymore.

She moved over to tap on the door when he let out a particularly frustrated whine, "Need a hand in there Natsu?" She asked tentatively, hoping he was at least mostly dressed. And had his underwear on.

The door flung open, "What kind of weird thing is this?!" He demanded, his face flushed with frustration as he waved his top around.

Lucy sighed as she led him out and shook the top out, "It's like your vest." She explained, "Put it on the same way."

She helped him get it on and then grabbed the bottom part of the zipper, "Now pay attention. This is how you work the zipper."

She carefully showed him, trying hard not to think about what her hands were hovering near, and zipped it up, "See? You can adjust it by tugging it up or down."

Natsu stared at it as if the zipper were some kind of evil torture device. His jaw jutted out in defiance, his hands dropping down to the front of his new shirt and patting his stomach where it was now covered by fabric.

It's weird. Why can't they just have a neck hole and arm holes - is that too much to ask for?" He grumbled, giving the zipper a drag down his chest.

A strange, excited glint entered his eyes as he dragged it up and down, suddenly fascinated by the noise it made every time he pulled on it.

This was going to be a long day. She already knew it.

Natsu as it turned out, wasn't too picky about what he liked. Although he went nuts over the dragon printed shirt Lucy had bought him. It had a lot of strange black lines and designs thrown into the mix, and it was pretty gaudy to look at.

But that perfectly summed up Natsu she thought. It only made sense he would pick out the most visually offensive article of clothing from the pile as his favorite.

It also wasn't fair how naturally he seemed to fit into her worlds clothing. While they weren't so different from his world in how they operated, the fashion itself was wildly different.

Natsu looked perfectly at home wearing clothes, and considering he went from wearing practically nothing to being covered up, it was saying something.

"Am I allowed to go outside now?" Natsu asked, wrapping his scarf around his neck over a blue shirt, "I have pants on and everything, and they're even facing the right direction!"

The pride in which he said that could not go ignored and Lucy spluttered out a laugh that had Natsu grinning alongside her.

"I guess you can go out!" Lucy allowed but made sure to block his path before he could charge out the door.

"But first, shoes," She pointed at his bare feet, "Most places won't even let you through the door if you don't have your feet covered."

This caused him to roll his eyes as he eyed the boots she bought for him. They looked much too encasing for his tastes. He was used to walking barefoot. The soles in his feet were strong, and Natsu was used to feeling the heat from the earth rising into his body from them.

"You humans have so many rules. Does everyone have to get dressed like this? Or is it just me?" He asked

Lucy snorted, "You're starting to sound like Gray."

She didn't even try to hide how her eyes rolled at the offended look Natsu gave her.

"It's everyone." She smirked in amusement, not budging until he moved to put his shoes on, "Businesses have a rule about it so we have to abide by it." She shrugged, "Though if you really hate the boots you can always wear the sandals instead."

By that time Natsu had both his feet jammed in his boots and one laced up, and Lucy couldn't help giggling at the look he shot her over that tidbit.

She was absolutely certain that a prank of some kind was in her future for it, but it had just been too easy!

Lucy smiled as she grabbed her purse and her keys, "C'mon. Let me show you some of the sights before we try heading back." She giggled a little, "We can even hit the pharmacy and find out if the medicine we have for motion sickness works on dragons."

Just like that Natsu's plans for revenge were gone.

His eyes went wide as he stared at her in disbelief, "You have medicine for motion sickness?" He whispered, hardly able to believe it.

Lucy blinked at him a little in surprise, "Well sure. Lots of people can get it. We have all kinds of stuff to help treat it." She shrugged, "Maybe some of it will help you out."

Natsu could hardly believe his ears. His world didn't have anything like that. The 'treatment' was lie down and try to ignore it until it went away. Maybe with the addition of something to settle the stomach. Did Lucy's people really have such miracle medicine?

If so he just had to see it for himself.

He grinned as he jumped back to his feet, grumpiness over having to put on boots long forgotten, "Well let's go!"

Lucy rolled her eyes in amusement and led him out the door and into the blistering late afternoon heat.

She watched as Natsu happily rolled up his sleeves, his head turning up towards the sun. It was still absolutely boiling outside, but Natsu seemed to love it. Even without his natural flames, heat radiated from his body in a wave. It wasn't as intense as it had been, but he was still definitely warmer than the average person.

He was soaking up the heat like a sponge, looking rather pleased with himself. The sudden image of Natsu curled up on a rock under a heating lamp sprang to Lucy's mind and she was forced to smother a giggle.

It was such a reptilian thing to do, made even funnier since he was a dragon.

They headed out to the corner market on foot. Occasionally Natsu would make a face at the smell of car exhaust and every now and then he'd clap a hand over one of his ears from the noise pollution.

Even with all the distractions, he seemed to enjoy himself. Natsu sprang from one end of the spectrum to the other, bouncing through excitement to absolute awe over something as simple as packaged ice cream.

"And they don't use ice lacrima to keep it cold?" He would ask in awe, nose pressed against the glass window which held the frozen treats in the corner store.

His breath fogged up the glass, hot against the icy surface and it took a promise of rocky road to get him away from licking the freezer.

Lucy shook her head a little as they wandered the aisles, Natsu sniffing at everything and asking all kinds of questions. Just like an excited little kid. She couldn't really blame him though. She'd done a more restrained version of the same thing the first time Erza and Levy took her shopping.

It had been quite an experience to deal with an outdoor farmer's market. Not to mention the many shops that to her eyes were old timey shops from before things were mass produced.

By the time she was done with what she actually wanted to get she had quite a selection of various foods as well. Though she'd firmly pulled Natsu away from getting frozen hamburgers or something.

"I'll take you out and show you what that stuff tastes like fresh." She promised. Though at this point she was a little worried by what Natsu did want her to get. If he ate all that a sugar rush was imminent.

A truly terrifying thought that.

She shuddered a little as she nudged him out the door, promising a big dinner as neither had eaten since...she actually had no idea how long it had been.

Ugh, it was her trip to Earthland all over again. At least she had money this time and hadn't landed in a burned out forest. A definite step up.

"C'mon." She smiled, "I'll show you the park and we can eat our ice cream before dinner okay?"

She wasn't worried about spoiling appetites. Natsu's was terrifying despite his loss to Erza, and she herself was fairly hungry now that she was actually thinking about it.

They managed to get their hands on some food from some vendors at the park, Natsu as usual, ate an impressive amount while Lucy was capable of restraining herself. Natsu flopped back onto the grass they were sitting on, his arms folding behind his head.

This was a very fun and interesting world. He could see himself getting into all kinds of trouble here. Furthermore, he was almost normal here. What a strange concept.

Well, he still had all the physical features of a dragon but without his magic. No fire came to him even though he felt like he could still consume it. Natsu thought it was doubtful it would do anymore than give him a satisfying burn in his stomach.

Still, as nice as that thought was, Natsu missed the quiet of his world. Lucy's was full of fast paced convenience, but it was missing the bright vibrancy Natsu was used to.

That being said he wanted to explore all of it. Lucy's world was vast, and he wondered how much of it they could see.

The wind shifted and Natsu picked up a rather powerful scent of cologne, enough to make him hack suddenly and wrinkle his nose. It soured his mood when his eyes watered from the smell and he ducked his nose into his scarf.

"Ugh, why do people here drench themselves in smelly stuff. It's gross," Natsu groaned.

In fact, Lucy had done that too when they first began to live together.

Up until Natsu had thrown all of it into the sink and set it ablaze in a fit of temper. A bit of an overreaction to be sure, but the smell of so much lavender invading his senses was like a gas grenade to the face for him.

Natsu liked her scent much better now. She still used the sprays she was fond of, but used them to a lesser extent so it didn't irritate his nose.

He blinked as the thought settled in him and he wondered...

How long had she been doing that for?

What a strange thought, but had she adjusted that behavior just to help him be a little more comfortable? A sudden jolt of guilt twisted in his chest and he glanced at Lucy out the corner of his eye.

Lucy laughed a little, "Sorry Natsu. Most people don't have noses as sensitive as yours." She smirked, "Though I agree some of them are excessive even to my nose."

She eyed him for a moment, "Out of curiosity, when did you wash your scarf?" She asked, catching him by complete surprise, and blushed, "I mean, I never see you without it, but it looks like you've been working on cleaning it up."

She smiled at him, "It's starting to look really good."

Natsu stared at her, not sure what to say. He hadn't been washing his scarf. It was made from Igneel's scales, though she wouldn't know that, and those didn't get dirty in the conventional sense.

In fact, he was a little uncertain about why it had gotten so dirty to begin with. Though he agreed he was happy it was starting to shine again.

However, he just grinned at her, "Just wait until it's completely clean."

Thankfully, Lucy seemed to accept that answer and stood up, "C'mon, how about I show you a little of the nightlife before we head back to my place?" She grinned, "And I promise, no clubs."

That would just be cruel and unusual punishment to him.

"If you don't wanna go to one, then it sounds like fun," Natsu smirked at her and stood up, his fingers curling into his scarf. He let out a quiet hum in the back of his throat and patted his pants free of dirt.

Lucy guided Natsu through the various things to do in her homeworld. She was a little embarrassed to admit that many of the things she showed Natsu, she was experiencing herself for the first time.

How often had she turned in after a day instead of going out to explore? Showing her life to Natsu made her look at her homeworld differently.

She managed to drag him into the car to drive off, and much to his everlasting joy - the motion sickness medication she bought actually worked for him.

Lucy thought Natsu would actually shed tears of joy.

So she took him with her all over the place, having an impromptu adventure with Natsu to all the unique nooks and crannies Lucy had never seen before. It was an experience she enjoyed and it felt so natural to do it.

She really had changed quite a bit since she was last here, hadn't she?

As much fun as they had though, Lucy found herself missing Fairy Tail. That was her home now, and she wanted to return. All their friends were waiting back at the guild, with jobs lining up.

Rent had to be paid after all.

"Are you about ready to head back home?" Lucy asked Natsu as they moved up the steps to her condo.

Natsu gave her a startled look. Home? She'd said home?

He'd never doubted that they would return. It was impossible she could keep him as entertained every day as she had today. Even with traveling around. And besides, there was no question he missed his magic, and longed for the cleaner simplicity of Earthland.

However, he hadn't expected that word to pop out of her mouth in reference to his world. Did she really consider it home now?

For some reason the thought made his heart thump a little in excitement and he grinned, "Yeah!"

Lucy laughed as his eagerness as she unlocked the door and headed inside, "Then let's get your stuff packed and I'll open the gate. I think I've got the idea now, so hopefully we won't have problems."

"That's good." Natsu replied, "I'm not sure I'd wanna get stuck on top of one of those skyscraper things." He shuddered a bit at the thought. It wasn't natural for a building to be that tall. Not even the palace was that big.

Lucy winced a bit at the idea herself as she pulled out a sturdy old duffle bag for him to pack up with, "No kidding." She agreed fervently, tossing it to him, "You get started on packing up. I'm going to print off some of the pictures we took before we go."

She was sure the others would love to see glimpses of her world, and she'd been liberal with taking pictures from the cheap camera she'd picked up earlier.

Natsu had no idea what she'd just said, so he shrugged and began tossing his new clothes into the bag.

He knew Lucy would probably fuss at him for just balling the clothes up and tossing them into the bag, but he could iron them out with a single touch anyway when they got back home. Home. The word filled him with a giddy sort of fuzzy warmth. A small smile tugged secretively at his lips.

In the other room, his ears picked up the sound of Lucy clicking away at her glowing-box thing. It was totally a lacrima, he didn't care what she called it.

There was a distinct hum of something whirring to life and then an terrible groaning noise of what sounded like gears ripping against paper. Whatever she was doing in that room sounded awful. Was that the 'printer'?

Why did it sound like a dying animal?

Natsu slung the pack on his back, walking into the room Lucy had her lacrima in. He watched her excitedly gathering up pictures. She showed them to him, shoving them under his nose with an enthusiasm he found catching.

The images were incredible after all. Sure they had magical images and paintings in his world, but they were largely drawn. Natsu had never seen such a life-like rendition.

"Whoaaaaa," He caught one of the papers between his fingers and held it in front of his face, "You sure your world doesn't have magic? This is pretty crazy for your 'science' stuff."

Lucy gave him a smug look and took the photos from him, turning him around by the strap across his chest and tucking them into the side pocket for safekeeping.

"It's not magic, just a simple play on light," Lucy zipped up his bag again with a jerk of her hand and patted his back just between his shoulderblades.

"Now try not to be too rough with the pack otherwise the photos will wrinkle," She instructed firmly, "I wanna show them to everyone back at the guild!"

Natsu opened his mouth to reply, but abruptly stiffened and spun around in shock as a familiar stench hit his nose. It struck his sinuses like a well remembered blow and Natsu's mouth thinned. He dropped a hand on Lucy's shoulder, catching her attention with the tenseness around his eyes.

It was the cologne from before. He was sure of it. Lucy never smelled even vaguely like that, and there was no reason for that smell to be seeping into her apartment from the door.

A moment later there was a knock at the door that had Lucy frowning and automatically moving to answer it, but he grabbed her arm to stop her, "It's the same smelly guy from before." He hissed softly, "From the park."

Lucy's eyes cut to him in alarm as the knock sounded again, louder this time, along with a, "Miss Heartfilia?"

They both turned to look at the door.

DUNDUNDUNDUN

Man you gotta love us. Don'tcha? OH OH OH AND GUYS WE HAVE MOAR FANART FROM THE SUPER LOVeLY the-ultimate-anime-trash ! SHE DREW A GIF OF NATSU SHIVERING IN A BLANKET. GUYS HOLY SHIT IT IS SO CUTE. CHECK IT OUT HERE. Just replace the X's with periods :D

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Guys I can't do the review responses today. XD They take an hour and a half to respond and format and it's SUPER LATE. I am sorry ;3; I wanna talk to each and every one of you! But I'm DYINNNNNG. I will answer the questions though!

*The Exceeds are coming EVENTUALLY. Not this chapter, not the next chapter, but they will show up in this act.

*Natsu does know about physical touch between humans, but since he's spent most of his life in isolation, the idea of love is more of an abstract concept. He does about the dirties though.

*At the moment, their bond is 'suppressed' - no magic, no bond.

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRIMSONLIGHTKEY - as your birthday gift, I will tell you the lemon will appear in Act 3. That is all.

*I'm afraid I, mslead, cannot marry you. For my heart belongs to another.

*The Gates do not hurt the spirits if they are opened. They only hurt the spirits if they remain opened. It's sorta the same like if a spirit stays in our world too long.

*If Lucy didn't end up with Natsu who do I think she'd be with? I dunno. Haven't thought about it to be honest. I actually didn't really ship NALU until really into the GMG. I could see hints, but I didn't have a focus shipper heart until after then. So I dunnoooo

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING! IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US!