Step Up
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
Enjoy!
2 Days Later
Contrary to popular belief, Natsu had never dated a woman before. Numerous one night stands, yes, dates, no. Needless to say, Natsu was nervous. Lucy was nothing like the other women he had been with, only about money and appearances; so naturally she deserved the best.
"But how to ask her and where to take her on a date?" Natsu mulls over. He was a busy man, in general, and Lucy was busy with her work, but a text seemed too informal. He wouldn't do anything stupidly over the top, that may embarrass both of them. Pacing his home office, he faintly hears the knock on the door.
"Come in." Natsu says as he pivots on his heel for the nth time. Looking to the door, Natsu smiles slightly as his brother enters the room.
"You seem uneasy." Zeref says calmly. Natsu's lip twitched slightly before he let out a sigh.
"I am." Natsu says.
"Well, I am the company lawyer and I tend to help with you and Jellal on most family matters, is it any of that?" Zeref asks.
"No. Personal matters." Natsu says, stopping in his tracks.
"Well, as your older brother, I can offer an ear and maybe some advice." Zeref chuckles, taking a seat. Natsu lets out another sigh before he himself takes a seat in his office chair.
"I'm trying to figure out exactly how to ask out Lucy and damn it's a lot harder than I thought." Natsu says.
"Only because you're making it harder than it has to be." Zeref smirks.
"Shut up, unlike some people, I've never asked anyone out. And no, 'wanna fuck' doesn't count." Natsu says.
"Obviously. Why not text her.." Zeref starts.
"That's too impersonal." Natsu says quickly.
"Let me finish you shit." Zeref states. Letting out a snort, Natsu gestures for him to continue.
"By all means, oh wiser older brother of mine." Natsu says sarcastically.
"Thank you for the permission. As I was saying, why not text her when she has a moment to talk on the phone. You have her number and I know you've been texting her frequently. Ask her when a good time for you to call is, then ask her out. The details will come to you. Try not to overthink this." Zeref chuckles.
"Huh, that could work." Natsu says. Zeref rolls his eyes and has to refrain from laughing at his brother. Between the two of them, Natsu did have the charm and charisma of a playboy and he had the body count to go with it, but actually dating a woman was not in his wheelhouse.
"You really like this woman huh?" Zeref asks. Natsu looks at his brother, eyes shining.
"She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met and she's feisty. She's smart too. I could probably stand here twenty minutes just saying what I like about her from just what she looks like to how I enjoy conversation with her." Natsu says.
"Do you have any clue where you would want to take her out to dinner?" Zeref asks. Natsu ponders this for a moment before a smiles breaks out on his face.
Lucy rubs her temples in sheer annoyance. This was not what she thought this job would be, yet here she was, doing yet another stupid article about the latest fashion trends. Thankful for her brief break from asking the 'fashion gurus' what color pallet was in this season; she feels her phone buzz in her coat pocket. I swear, if they're going to ask me to do another diet article I will scream Lucy growls mentally before she sees the text is from Natsu. Almost immediately she calms down.
'Hey, when ya got a minute, can I call?' the message read. Lucy smiles.
'Yeah, should be done here around 3. I'll let you know when I'm good.' She replies. Natsu replies with a simple thumbs up emoji and then Lucy carries on with the rest of her day, begrudgingly.
Making her way back to the office, Lucy sends Natsu a quick text saying she's finally available to talk. Within a minute of sending the text, her phone rings.
"Hey, how are you today?" Lucy asks as she gets out of her cab and walks into the publishers office.
"Eh, same old business, nothing of much interest." Natsu says, balancing his phone on his shoulder while he cleans and sharpens his knives for the job he has tonight. He might be the don, the head honcho, but he still does groundwork for risky jobs and tonight was no exception. He's already cleaned and loaded his guns.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Lucy says sweetly as she plops in her cubicle. She had about fifteen minutes before she had to start deciphering her notes and put in a fake happy tone in her writing for the stupid article.
"No worries. How's your day been?" Natsu chuckles, applying the lightest of oils to the blades and then wiping them dry.
"Ugh." Lucy says, sliding her feet out of her heels. A snort escapes Natsu.
"That great eh?" Natsu snickers.
"Naturally. So, what did you want to talk about or are you just checking up on me?" Lucy asks. Natsu can feel the blood rush to his face.
"You got any plans Friday night?" Natsu asks, somehow calm even though he can feel his heart pounding out of his chest and feel the blood rush to his ears.
"No, not at the moment. Why?" Lucy asks, though she's already trying to suppress her own grin.
"Can I take you out to dinner?" Natsu asks.
"Like a date?" Lucy giggles.
"Not like a date, a date." Natsu snorts.
"Yes, I would love that. What time?" Lucy asks. She's practically vibrating in her chair and her face is pink, a smile on her face.
"I'll pick you up at seven. Send me your address please. I don't want to be creepy and ask the driver from the party for it." Natsu chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had. At that comment, Lucy bursts out laughing, and Natsu can't help but feel lighter at the sound of her laughter, and smile.
"Yeah, I'll send you my address. Dress code or no?" Lucy asks. He smiles.
"Yes, nothing too crazy. Semi formal." Natsu says. Lucy smiles.
"Great. I'll see you Friday, but obviously I'll still text you." Lucy giggles.
"Well duh, weirdo!" Natsu replies.
"Oh, shut it. I gotta go write my article now. Looking forward to Friday! Have a great day and bye!" Lucy giggles.
"Have fun with that. Same and you too." Natsu chuckles before they hang up. A light knock sounds from his office door. Coming down from cloud nine always sucks, but it has to be done.
"Enter." Natsu says. Gray walks into the office and scowls a little.
"What's got you so damn happy?" Gray asks.
"You'd think that a friend would be happy for me not a crabby bastard." Natsu snorts as he strides out of his office, Gray in tow as they go to rally the others.
"Nice way to attempt to avoid the question jack ass." Gray replies as they turn down the hall to the main foyer of the Dragneel estate. Gray and Gajeel had keys to the Dragneel estate, a tradition within the families.
"I asked Lucy on a date for this Friday." Natsu says and can't stop the grin from spreading on his face at the shocked expression on Gray's face.
"Holy shit you actually asked her? And she said yes?" Gray asks.
"Yeah, I'm not that ugly, unlike someone here." Natsu jokes.
"Fuck off. But seriously, you're being fucking serious with her?" Gray asks.
"Yeah. Maybe you should take a hint and follow my lead." Natsu chuckles as they get into their cars.
"Maybe I will." Gray says as they leave.
The Next Day
"Wait, he actually asked her out? Like on a date?" Sting asks Gray. The subject had come up when he noticed Gray being more easily annoyed than usual with his crew.
"Yes, and then he got all fucking smug about it." Gray sighs as they take their rest from sparring.
"Well, that is what he does. But to be fair, I did kinda see it coming." Sting chuckles.
"Kinda? I made a bet with Rogue, which by the way jack ass, you owe me." Gajeel chuckles from around the corner of the locker area. With an expletive, Rogue slaps a bill in his hand and flips him off.
"There now if you don't mind I gotta go." Rogue snarls.
"Where to, we don't need to collect money and we only have to do checks every now and then, did someone in your crew send something about family business?" Sting asks.
"No. Natsu set a pace, gotta follow suit. Kagura has today off, so we're having coffee. You can figure the rest out." Rogue says with a smirk on his usually calm face.
"You shit, you're going to ask her out." Sting growls.
"Wow you catch on quick." Rogue replies sarcastically. Sting glares at Rogue and notices the other two are glaring as well.
"Well, I don't have much to do this afternoon. I think I'll go downtown." Gajeel drawls casually as he saunters out the door. Sting stares at him as he goes, confused.
"Levy works at a bookstore downtown." Gray says. It clicks for Sting, and he lets out a snort before he snickers.
"Well damn, guess I better get going. Yukino goes on her lunch soon and I'm not falling behind." Sting laughs as he also leaves. Gray follows, debating how exactly he would ask out Juvia.
Again, this is going to be somewhat NaLu focused, but the other couples will get their time to shine as well. The next chapter is only going to cover three of the five dates, and its going to be a longer chapter. As for which three, well, you'll have to read to find out. Until then, please R&R!