I hope everyone is doing well! We are doing okay overall, although this mama is in desperate need of a solid night, or month, of sleep.

This one wasn't really prompted by much. I just wanted to write, since I don't do much of that lately, and this came out. I hope you enjoy!

As always, thanks for all the love, and happy reading!

Lucy tapped her nails delicately on the bar top as she waited for her drink. She could feel the heavy thump of the music all around her as the lights flashed in dizzying sequences. She wasn't sure what she'd expected when Cana and Juvia had invited her out, but this hadn't been quite it. She was a homebody, so they were usually nice enough not to drag her to loud places like this. She'd tried a bar once or twice in college and hadn't been impressed. Several years later, she still wasn't.

"Man," a voice said from over her shoulder. "I thought the lights were blinding, but they don't have anything on you."

Lucy turned around and found a man with pink hair, a wide grin, and a cherry red face. "Does that mean I'm hard to look at?"

His already rosy cheeks instantly darkened even more. "No. No, what I meant is that your beauty is blinding. Like, you're really beautiful. Like, really, really beautiful."

Lucy laughed. Encouraged, the man sat next to her, grin in place once more. "Are you here alone?"

"No, I'm with my friends," she answered. "They just went to the bathroom."

"Oh, that's unfortunate." His smile didn't so much as twitch, despite his words. "I was hoping to show you a good time."

Lucy's next laugh was so loud, it caused a few heads to turn. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to stifle the noise. The man sighed. "I'm not good at this, am I?"

"I wouldn't say that." She grinned and reached over to squeeze his hand. "I haven't left yet."

"But…?"

"It sounds like you're trying out some pick up lines from a tutorial on how to pick up women." She took her hand back so she could take her beer from the bartender. "You should try being a bit more honest."

"But I am." His grin softened. "I do think you're that beautiful."

Despite her best intentions, Lucy could feel her face growing warm. "Well, thank you." She hid behind her mug. "That's really nice of you to say."

He squinted a little. "You're not already with someone, are you?"

Lucy pressed her lips together, trying to keep from smiling. "No. No, I'm a free bird tonight."

The guy two stools down leaned back so he could see Lucy around the pink haired man. "If you're over this amateur, I would love to offer-"

"Back off." Lucy frowned a little as the man speaking to her growled at the newcomer. He glared over his shoulder, obviously not about to back down.

"Geez, calm down, dude," the other man snapped. He stood up, signalling to his buddy to do the same, before leaving.

Obviously embarrassed, the pink haired man sighed. "Damn it."

"That was a little aggressive," Lucy responded.

The other man groaned. "I didn't even get to introduce myself, or ask you out or anything. Uuuuugh." He dug his fingers into his hair, pulling a little. "How lame am I."

It wasn't a question, but Lucy answered anyway. "I don't think you're lame." She leaned forward and winked. "I think you're hot."

Flustered, the man raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really," she replied solemnly.

He grinned, but then sighed and got to his feet. "Still, this was lame. I'll try again another time."

"Oh come on," she said leaning forward. "You were doing good!"

"Another time," he repeated and then left.

Lucy sighed and turned back towards the bar. She was just lifting her mug when a voice startled her. "What was Natsu doing here?"

Lucy sputtered, nearly spitting her beer all over the bar. "Holy shit, don't do that to me!" She took the napkins Cana offered her to clean up her chin.

"Seriously though." Cana patted a wet spot on Lucy's arm while Juvia, behind her, just rolled her eyes. "What was he doing here?"

"He was just trying something," Lucy answered.

"Something… like what?" Juvia asked.

Lucy sighed. "He told me a couple weeks ago that he was upset he'd never gotten the chance to try and pick up a girl at the bar. When I told him this was where you were taking me tonight, he was very excited and asked really really nicely if he could."

She smiled, despite Cana's fake gags. "I think he was waiting over near the door for a good half hour for you two to leave so he could come over here."

"That's the lamest-" Cana started.

"-most adorable thing I've ever heard," Juvia gushed. "I wish Gray would do something like that with me."

Lucy laughed, but Cana wasn't having it. "You two are married. Isn't he a little late?"

"Well I thought it was nice," Lucy said, "but if you'd like to talk about something else…"

Juvia caught on quickly. "Like, say, about Bacchus-"

"I yield," Cana said quickly. "You get two minutes to be gushy about your husbands, and then we're done for the night.

The other two laughed while Cana took a drink of her beer. While her friends took those two minutes, and maybe a few more after that, to talk about their husbands, Cana just smiled and wondered, once again, whether that was the kind of life for her.