Piles of paper littered the floor, curving and twisting around one central point. Some were loose with scribbles and highlights. Some were in color coordinated folders. others were in stacks the size of mini ant hills. In the middle of it was his Lucy; one knee balancing a thing she'd called a 'tablet', a 'laptop' perched on the other knee and Plue sitting right in the center of her lap.
"Weird summoning circle," Natsu mumbled from his vantage point on the couch. Out of her way. He'd been perplexed when she'd started to yank folders and loose papers out of her bag, paperclips flying in every direction and her annoyance apparent in the hard strike of her fingers against the keyboard. He didn't understand why she was doing something that was so clearly making her agitated.
"Summoning circle?" Lucy mumbled back questioningly, she never stopped scribbling on her tablet with that odd pencil that wasn't a pencil. "These assholes are doing this on purpose," She continued to gripe, "have to be, why wouldn't they just digitize everything from the start? Just giving me more work at the end of every freaking month or maybe they're just stupid and think I wouldn't personally be going through all this."
"Hm," Natsu grunted back uninterestedly; he didn't have a clue what she was talking about.
"I deserve a fucking raise!" Lucy practically barked in a tone that hinted at irony or maybe it was sarcasm? He just rolled off the couch and headed toward the kitchen to raid the ice box and give her more space. She'd been in a weird mood since seeing a pictures of herself on the newspaper cover this morning. He'd watched as she'd stared first in confusion and then her face turned a light shade of pink in embarrassment before shifting to a bright red in anger. The pink haired man was surprised to see her crumple the newspaper and throw it across the room in a flash of anger and then stand huffing in middle of the room; her coffee cup held in a death grip in one of her small hands. He had smelled tears but when he'd looked at her face it was dry. He'd never seen her lose her cool like that.
Instead, while he rummaged through the fridge, Natsu decided he'd much rather think about Lucy's reactions to his gifts. To his relatively gentle treatment of her. His blonde tried hard to hide her bright smiles and happy hums every time she picked up a bouquet of fire lilies and sat them somewhere else. Natsu was quite frankly captivated by the soft expressions she wore when she caressed the petals and even when she cuddled with Plue. They were addictive and allowed a glimpse of her that he hadn't seen since he spied on her through the flames. Lucy was more receptive to his touches, didn't hold herself nearly as stiffly nor did she flinch when he popped up behind her. Natsu truly learned the difference between giving and taking especially when comparing her expression and behavior toward him after he'd taken her in the alley; he realized he hated that bleak and quiet version of Lucy. He liked it better when she was more animated, more excited and into his touches.
Grabbing a bowl full of cherries and swiping chili flakes from the top cabinet, Natsu meandered his way back to the couch. Stopping next to his irritated muse to hand her a few before focusing back on the cheesy movie involving dragons. All the dragons he knew didn't look anything like what was depicted but he found himself hooked, none the less.
Lucy was stressed out. She felt like she was constantly dealing with some form of emotional turmoil or another. With a soft sigh she handed Plue the last cherry in her hand and watched contently as he nibbled on it, his shaking non-existent. She'd quickly grown attached to the tiny dog and was happy to see that he seemed just as excited to see her whenever she summoned him; with Natsu's help translating and through Plue's own gesturing they'd managed to form a contract, something Lucy had learned spirits needed to bind them to a certain witch with terms and conditions that needed to be met or else the partnership was null. He quickly became family and was doted on accordingly.
"Pun!" Plue called out with a gentle pat of his paws against one of her thighs.
"Yes, I know, times up. Thank you Plue." Lucy responded gently, closing her laptop before placing both it and the tablet on the floor. She'd been working on organizing the paperwork for three hours and had just finished, right on time. "You've been a wonderful help as always." With that Plue disappeared in a shower of silver, leaving Lucy feeling more alone than she had in a while.
"Done?" broke the heavy silence after a few beats. Right, she'd forgotten about Natsu; he'd been acting…considerate of her feelings lately. It was sweet but Lucy couldn't help waiting for the other shoe to drop and him to act out inanely as he had before. She simply nodded as she began to collect the scattered piles of confidential information; she'd shred them after sending her secretary the digital files. "Feeling better?" Natsu asked hesitantly, sliding off the couch to help her collect everything. Lucy wavered. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable enough, trusting of him enough, to talk about her feelings or what was going through her mind. Just because he was being considerate now didn't mean he couldn't use anything she said against her later. Her hesitation must have spoken for her as he huffed out, "You know you don't have too if you don't want too Luce."
"I know, I'm just...overwhelmed." the blonde admitted lowly, the bit of truth shocking to both her and the demon in her midst. "I'll be fine. It's no big deal." She wasn't sure if that last part was a lie or not. She didn't care to offer any more information and Natsu didn't push for anymore. He just collected everything up quietly, studying her as he did so and allowed her mind to wonder.
Lucy had been truly surprised when she'd collected the paper on her front step this morning after opting to work from home. She didn't think her nerves could handle a fourth day in a row of Natsu insisting he come into the office with her; he'd been acting as her shadow since he'd been back and didn't want to let her out of his sight. So, she'd allowed him to accompany her. This turned out to be a massive mistake as on the front page of the paper were one singular picture of her and two of Natsu with an arm slung around her shoulders, walking her to and from the building. Lucy was quick to bring the paper inside and skim the article that was highlighted on a further page: 'Young CEO shows off model looks and expresses big ideas, but her board of directors is concerned with her behavior,' the header read. Lucy rolled her eyes at that browsing through the opinions that some thought she should dress more moderately, the questions of who the pink haired hunk was to her (there words not hers) and if they thought her strategies were innovative enough for a woman in a leadership position. None of that had bothered Lucy, it was the last line that had her seeing red. A board member that wasn't named had made a statement that 'the late Jude and Layla Heartfilia would be disappointed in the directions their daughter were trying to take the company in.' and that 'Jude had done a better job running the company and that it shouldn't have been left in the hands of a spoiled child with little to no business experience.' Lucy couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped her throat; those idiots truly had no idea that she'd been the only one keeping the company afloat while her father and attempted to drink himself into a meeting with her long-deceased mother. How dare they imply that Layla, the mother who only ever expressed pride, would be disappointed in the way Lucy was handling herself. She'd crumpled the paper before she could stop herself and threw it across the room. She came too in the middle of the room with a death grip on her mug and Natsu eyeing her warily.
"-ce?" brought her out of her reveries. She blinked and looked up to find Natsu staring at her yet again, his eyebrows furrowed and a question on his face.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you were done?"
"Sorry Natsu," Lucy apologized with a smile. "I was just lost in thought. Yeah, I'm done for the day, I'll-" She was cut off by the wailing of her phone at top volume that made her jump. The pages in her hands fluttering back to the floor in all directions. She ignored the amused look that lit up Natsu's face as she went to locate and answer her phone.
oOo
For the third time in five minutes, Lucy tripped over Natsu's feet. He stuck to her so completely while they walked, she had a hard time keeping her own balance. She'd learned the hard way that he had no qualms about public displays of affection.
"Move over! You're going to trip me!" Lucy practically hissed but was met with a chuckle and a quick nuzzle of his nose against her temple. The black hat she'd shoved on his head to hide his horns bumped into her briefly.
"You wouldn't be scared of tripping if you'd pay more attention to where ya walkin' instead of me, Luce."
"You didn't have to come with me," the annoyed blonde countered back frostily. She'd been excited to go back to the antique shop after the call from Cana. Without him.
"Whadya mean?" Natsu questioned, the arm around her shoulders dragging her even closer to him when the sidewalk narrowed, and they were coming upon their destination. "It's getting dark out, what man in his right mind lets his girl go out alone at night? That's asking for trouble."
"I don't remember agreeing to being 'your girl'" Lucy commented while shaking his arm off her shoulder and pushing open the door to the A. Antiques.
"You did when you were screaming my name while my mouth was between your l-"
"Woah, if I had known you were like that Lucy, I would have hit on you the first time you came in," Cana interrupted Natsu with a throaty laugh. Lucy stood stiffly half in and out of the store, her face bright red. She had to be nudged in by the drake at her back before the door could be shut.
"She's mine," was growled out threateningly, the temperature rising.
"That's one nasty case of demonic possession you got going on blondie," Cana said with an impressed whistle after raking her eyes over Natsu. "Good luck with that. Anyway, here are the keys," the brunette continued, brushing off Natsu's territorial remark in favor of sliding the keys from the center of the desk closer to Lucy.
"Thank you, Cana. How much do I owe you?" Lucy asked, the blonde wasn't sure if she wanted to ask the other woman about her 'demonic possession' statement or not. She opted not to.
"Mmm well the old man and I couldn't find record of when these keys were dropped off here so therefore, we can't figure out their worth. I'll give them to you for $5." She finished with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Ah, alright," Lucy mumbled as she dug a few bills from her purse. As she plucked out a five and handed it to Cana, she watched Natsu's hand shoot out quickly to snag up the key ring to inspect it. She watched curiously as his face scrunched up in disgust at the key labeled 'Leo'. Weird.
"Why ya buying these hunks of junk, Luce?" He asked after a moment, his eyes sparking with barely concealed revulsion.
"They called to her," Cana answered while taking the offered money from Lucy. "Let me ask you a question," she continued while leveling a serious look at him. "I've seen you in my cards as well, Natsu, I've seen what you have planned. Tell me, do you think she'd be happy with you, covered in blood?"
"Do you think she'd be happy with you, covered in blood?"
"Do you think she'd be happy with you, covered in blood?"
"Do you think she'd be hap-"
"Who gives a shit," Natsu growled to himself. Her question rattled around in his head and conjured with it an image of Lucy: naked, covered in bruises and bleeding bite marks. His cum leaking from between her long legs. The image alone almost had him answering yes until he realized that it was what he wanted. The only other thing he couldn't picture was her face; he wasn't sure if it would look broken or if her eyes would be sparkling. He could only hope for the later but maybe that drunk was right; Natsu couldn't help but wonder if that noisy woman felt his intent to snap those damned keys in half as well. He wasn't sure how, but they'd managed to find their way back to Lucy. They were going to make everything infinitely more difficult for him.
Cana wasn't exactly who she said she was and that in and of itself was dangerous, Natsu mussed. Her question still bouncing around his head as he trailed Lucy back to their home. He watched with a deepening frown as she inspected the keys thoroughly, excitement lighting her eyes.
He wasn't in the mood to keep the over affectionate cat and annoyingly rude mermaid in check; he resented the closeness they'd shared with Lucy in her childhood. He wasn't too found of sharing her with anything other than Plue, that small creature wasn't a threat to his hold on her. But these others, they'd have to be dealt with.