NATSU
After Happy had gone to find Carla and seduce her with the enormous fish we had caught earlier in the day, I made it a whole five minutes before my boredom had me pacin' the small area of my apartment. I had ta' do something before I died of it. Which was why I was walkin', hands in my pocket, vest flapping in the cool night air.
I pictured Gray's face on the rock I was kickin' as I headed to the guild. I was firin' myself up for a good fight with the pervy streaker. Maybe Gildarts if he had finally made it back from his last decade quest.
I stopped, head tilted in thought. Well, if that fell through, I could always have Mira whip me up somethin' tasty. I could feel a dribble of saliva at the corner of my mouth just thinkin' about all the food I was gonna' stuff in my face. The idea had me pickin' up the pace. A good fight and a big dinner was just what the doctor ordered.
I cleared the doors with a quick kick, grin splitting my face.
"Hey Gray! Where are ya'?! I wanna' fight!"
My eyes scanned the crowd fillin' the hall, no black mop of hair to be seen. I walked up to the bar where Mira Jane hurried back and forth.
"Hey Mira!" I called out over my rowdy guildmates.
Setting down a laden plate, she made her way to me.
"Hey Natsu! Whatchya need?"
"You see Gray around?" I slid into a stool, elbows on the smooth wood surface.
"He's on a side quest. He left this morning. Why do you ask?" Her head tilted in curiosity.
"Eh, just wanted to slap some stupid outta him." I cracked my knuckles, a fierce grin forming. "How 'bout Gildarts?"
"No, sorry. He's gone too." She gave a half-hearted shrug as my shoulders slumped.
"Man, this sucks. I was all fired up too." I laid my head down resting my cheek against the bar. I felt a gentle pat before Mira spoke again.
"Aww, I know what'll cheer you up! How about I go and make you something to eat!" She exclaimed, smiling brightly. My head popped up at the mention of food. I couldn't help but smile back knowin' her cooking wouldn't disappoint.
I could barely move once I had my fill. There was quite a stack of dishes in front of me, I could barely see Mira over the top of them. She was looking a bit worn out, dress and face streaked with the ingredients used to make my double-digit course meal.
"Thanks Mira. That hit the spot." I leaned back adjusting the waistband of my pants. I was lucky they didn't have buttons or they woulda' went flying.
"Anytime." She replied weakly. "But not for awhile I hope." A soft smile softened the words.
"Nah, I'm stuffed." I patted my protruding belly.
"Thank goodness." She muttered under her breath before carefully balancing the remnants of my meal to take in the back.
No longer hungry, I went about the hall lookin' for a sparring partner. Not a single one of those losers wanted to take me on.
I tapped my fingers on a table tryin' to think of somethin', anything to do. I pursed my lips, it helps me think, goin' through my options. 'Who was lame enough to be doin' absolutely nothin' right now?' My face lit up as I thought of a certain crappy writer who was probably sittin' there readin' an equally crappy book with no pictures in it. I went for the door, off to save a bookworm from her boring life.
I was climbin' through the curtained window when I heard it. Her voice.
"Come hell or high water, I'll ask Natsu tomorrow."
"Ask me what?" I had just put my second foot on the floor.
She turned all sorts of colors while she fell back off the bed, ducky pj legs getting' wrapped in her sheets. I probably, maybe, well, okay, it was unlikely that I coulda' held back. But that friggin' girl scream was the kicker. I was doubled over, hands on my knees with a pain in my side, tryin' to gulp down air. Tears ran down my face as she sat there, arms crossed, tongue stickin' out.
"Yea, yea. Laugh it up, Chuckles." She growled at me.
It took me a minute to get it together. I sucked in a few deep breaths before makin' my way over to her pouting on the bed.
I flopped onto the too pink for my tastes bed and slung my leg over the edge, swinging it slowly. Sitting still ain't my thing. Makes me itch.
"So Luce." She turned to my voice, a scowl on her face. Apparently she didn't like somethin' she saw 'cause her scowl got scowlier once she looked at me.
"What?" She gritted out.
'Man, she's grumpy. Who went and ticked her off?'
"Whatdya' wanna' ask me?" She looked constipated and sweaty.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
'Lie.'
"I never said that."
'Also lie.'
I could hear her heart race as her pupils dilated. She smelled of sweat and heat.
"Yea ya' did. Just when I was comin' through the window." My thumb pointed at my point of entry.
That earned me a muttered, "I really need to start locking my window." She knew better than that. I could hear ten times better than she could, if I made it a point to. Half the time I really didn't care what people had to say, Lucy especially. Nine times outta' ten she was just complaining about stupid stuff or yellin' at me for eating her food or startin' stuff on fire. She liked to holler when I showed up uninvited and dug through her dresser drawers. I couldn't help it. I just didn't understand how those tiny pieces of cloth held her up. Or, why would anyone wanna' get a wedgie on purpose. Like, how did she walk?
I guess she did have her reasons to keep me out…. but still I asked her.
"Why'd ya' wanna' do that?"
"Are you seriously that dense?" Her brow cocked upward.
'Hmmm, her smell doesn't match her attitude.'
She got quiet after that, just staring at me to the point it gave me the creeps. Her eyes just kept lookin' me over until she locked on'ta my mouth. I wiped my sleeve over it wonderin' if I had food leftover from my earlier feast. I called her name. but she still just sat there staring. Having enough of bein' gawked at, I snapped my fingers in front of her face.
"Yo, earth to Loopy!" She slapped my hand away.
"My name is not Loopy. Get it right or get lost." She snapped. "What are you doing here anyway?"
'I dunno' why she keeps yellin' all the time. Doesn't she ever get sick of it? It's gotta' give her a headache. I know it gives me one.'
"Eh," I shrugged. "I got bored."
She suddenly looked like she had gas.
'Geez, what'd she eat today?'
"Gee, curb your enthusiasm." Her frown lines deepened.
She really was crabby, more so than usual. I sat there wondering if I forgot about somethin' I said or did to tick her off. I mentally ran off the list of stuff I usually got hassled for.
Ate her food? Nope. Ate at the guild. Went through her stuff? Not today. I didn't smell anything charred so burning things was out. Huh, weird.
"Carla and Happy are out doing exceed stuff and Gray and Gildarts ain't at the guild so there's no one to fight. I already ate. I ain't tired. So, I came here." Sounded logical to me but again her face was scrunched up.
'I really hope she doesn't explode.'
"So glad you could grace me with your presence." Her scent wasn't lining up with what she was saying but I'd take it as a win.
"No biggie." I smiled, lyin' back on the bed, arms folded under my head.
'I wonder if she'd share her pillows.'
"Seriously though. Next time save yourself the trouble. I was perfectly content before some pink haired moron came crawling in my house."
'Back to the name callin. I'll show her. Tryin' to act like she don't want me around.'
I inhaled, filling up my lungs with the many aromas that made up her apartment. I could smell the ramen she had made earlier in the evening. The candle she had beside her bed. Cherry blossom. Her strawberry vanilla shampoo. Under that, her magic. And a layer down, her. The scent of warm, gooey cookies. Somethin' with cinnamon in it. She was happy, warm. Safe.
'Liar liar, I'll set your pants on fire.'
"Okay." I propped myself up, elbows holding me in a position so I could see her epic reaction to me catching her in the lie. "If you didn't want my company, how come your scent changed?" I asked, leanin' forward to search her face.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
'Point Natsu.'
"What?" She was obviously tryin' to avoid answering me.
"You smell different than when I first got here." I was totally smirkin' on the inside.
"My-my scent changed?" She stuttered, eyes darting around the room.
"Yea." I rolled to my side, head propped on a hand and elbow, settlin' in to explain. "You have your usual scent. Like a base scent. Everyone does. Then you add the stuff like the shampoo and lotion you like to use. Bein' a mage, the type of magic you use kinda' affects it too. Yours smells like dirt and a bit a ozone." Actually, I really liked the way she smelled. I'd never tell'er. Didn't wanna' sound like a weirdo.
"Huh, I never knew." She had a frown again. "Wait a minute." Her look got darker, meaner. "Dirt? I smell like dirt?"
'Crap'
My eyes widened as I realized how bad I just screwed up.
"Not that you're dirty." Her face smoothed out at first – "We all know how long it takes to get ready in the mornin'. Like, how long does it take to wash the important parts?"
-then quickly flowed back into the just-sucked-on-a-lemon expression she'd been wearing all night.
It was at that moment that I realized the more I tried to fix it, some days I just don't know when to shut the hell up.
"Letting the water run over you does not constitute as a proper shower, Natsu." She quipped.
"Whatever." I waved it off getting back to it. "Point is you smelled, worried?" I shook my head dismissin' that reasoning. "Nervous, anxious when I came in. Then it shifted. You smelled happy, relaxed." And to be honest, havin' her smell like that now helped me calm down a bit. I always seemed to get fired up when she was cryin' or upset.
She blinked once, twice, before slowly meeting my eyes-
"The stronger the emotion, the easier it is to pick up on it too." -before darting quickly away again.
"Oh." She mumbled. "What does happy even smell like anyway?" She asked herself more than me.
I answered her anyways.
"For you, it gets warmer. Sweeter almost. Kinda' like fresh backed something er 'nother."
I watched her eyes double in size, blushing from the roots of her hair down into her top. Followin' the spread of crimson, I could feel my cheeks and tips of my ears burn. I cleared my throat loudly, fingers fidgeting with the blanket beneath us.
"It's what you smelled like when I got here." I lifted one shoulder casually, tryin' to play it off like it didn't matter.
Her body went rosy again, her fingers' turn to pick at the blanket's small fuzzies.
My lips quirked. It was kinda' cute, but her uncomfortable made me uncomfortable. Which irritated the hell outta' me. The longer we sat there not sayin' anything, the worse it got.
'Time to change the subject.'
An idea formed along with an inside smile.
"After you got done screaming like a little girl that is." I prodded.
"Excuse me… If I didn't have pervs breaking and entering in the middle of the ni-"
'Here I am, tryin' to be nice, and she's calling me names.'
"I'm not a pervert!"
"Says the creep that comes in here when I'm not home and goes through my stuff." She retorted poking me in the chest.
"I'm just curious is all." I pushed her hand aside.
"Obnoxious is the word you're searching for." She had crossed her arms again and my eyes drifted down wondering, not for the first time, how she did anything with those things.
"C'mon… you know you'd be disappointed if you started comin' home to an empty apartment." My teeth flashed knowin' damn well just how bored she'd be without me.
"I wouldn't mind, considering the trade off would be a full fridge." She teased.
'Really? Oh, it's on.'
"Hey, I'm just tryin' to help ya' out. Your Lucy kicks ain't as high, and I noticed your clothes are lookin' a little snu-umph!"
The pillow hit my face knocking me back and stopped my teasing.
"Do you want me to smother you in your sleep?" She threatened, glowering over the side of the bed.
I sat up spitting the feather that had been slammed into my mouth.
"Geez, see if I help you out again."
"You wanna' help me? Go home, Natsu."
Then she had the nerve to just roll over leavin' me sittin' on the cold floor.
"You're really gonna' go ta' sleep? Just like that?"
'Maybe I overdid it… again.'
I sat there staring at her 'til I remembered somethin' Somethin' that'd get'er to pay attention to me.
'Prepare for tickling!'
I started jabbin' her in the side. She fought it. I knew she was holdin' it in, her body tensed up. I was gonna' win this…
"Luuucccyyyy." I whined, shakin' her shoulder hard enough to move her whole body. "I'm booorrrred!"
She turned over with a look that shoulda' killed me dead.
"Not my problem. Go bother someone else" Her head went from on top to underneath her pillow. That wasn't gonna' save her.
"Aww, c'mon Luce. No one's as fun to bother as you."
"And you are the heavy weight champ. Get lost before I do something you're gonna' regret." It wasn't much of a threat since it was so muffled.
She didn't sit back up, just laid there. She wasn't givin' in this time.
'Lame…'
I twisted away from the bed, legs folded up, arms crossed. I sat there thinkin' of anything I could do to get'er to keep me entertained. I came up with a few ideas, but most of'em ended up with me hurtin' or gettin' an ear full. The longer I sat there, the more I thought it'd be worth it. I was just about to go get a bucket'a water when a soft sound floated out from her feather stuffed cave.
Her scent had shifted again. It wasn't one I knew. One I never smelled on her before. Whatever it was, I got hot and tingly, my gut clenching as it grew stronger. Mouth gone dry, it hurt as I swallowed hard.