Chapter Forty-Five
Assessment?
"Oh, hey, I was just coming to see you but then I was ambushed by this succubus and her," Natsu cranes his head to see Erza and Lucy both on opposite sides of the guild, whistling away to themselves.
"I wanted to say accomplices, but their allegiance appears to have been made of paper in the rain." He added.
"I found Natsu," Mira said sweetly as she returned to her normal ensemble, a face that couldn't possibly promise the level of violence that she'd just dished out. She went to stand but was quickly pulled back down.
"Natsu, we're in the middle of the guild!" She whispered urgently, the heat rising in her cheeks. He didn't offer a response but gave a dazzlingly bright smile.
She gave a playful slap at the hands holding her waist, managing to dislodge his hold so that she could stand and move elsewhere, preferably out of sight of everyone else so that she could work on getting the furious blush under control.
"Ah," Jura said after a moment, watching the pink-haired man who seemed unable to get off the floor.
"I had hoped to test his strength myself, but it seems that he can't even stand," the rock mage sucked his teeth.
"Why are we fighting? You're not related to… One of those three, are you? I've already got Strauss-Two glaring holes in my head." Natsu stifled a laugh at the increasingly hostile look that Elfman was giving him from where he and Erza stood.
"No, you haven't offended me, rest easy," Jura assured him with a gentle smile.
"Well, I don't owe you money, and I haven't slept with your sister-"
"Hey!" Elfman shouted in a flustered rage.
"Calm down shoulder-boy, I haven't done that to you either," Natsu argued, craning his head towards the silver-haired man.
"Fine," Elfman grumbled, crossing his arms but looking no less happy about it.
"Not yet at least," Natsu added with a grin, already flipping his body up from the floor and preparing himself for a quick getaway should Elfman's angered hulking form suddenly throw itself at the Dragon Slayer.
"Natsu, stop making a situation when there doesn't need to be one!" Makarov thundered, glaring at the troublemaker.
"I'm actually here at the request of the magic council," Jura explained, resting his hands between his sleeves, looking wisened beyond his years.
"i really wish that I could give you my honest response to that, but the last time I did, I got fisted straight through the floor, and not in any fun kind of way." Natsu responded flatly.
"Colorful," Jura nodded, bemused, "No, I'm not here to collar you, I've been asked to assess you to decide whether or not you are fit to hold the title of one of the Ten Wizard Saints." Jura continued.
"I'm just a lowly fire-type, what could possibly give you the impression that I'm fit to be a Wizard Saint? I'm not even in the S-Class of my own guild." Natsu shrugged, unsure of whether or not his bluff would work.
"So, you didn't defeat the former Wizard Saint, Jellal Fernandez?" Jura raised one of his odd-shaped eyebrows.
"Yeah, but I didn't use any magic," Natsu shot back, looking triumphant.
"You… You took down one of the strongest mages of Ishgar… With your fists?" Jura asked, stunned at the implication.
"Well…" Natsu faltered, "Fuck. No, I just started destroying the tower with my fists, and I did beat him up a little bit while my magic was bound, but then I ate some of the Ethernano crystal and my magic broke the binding spell, and then I defeated his abyss break and broke the tower." Natsu explained, realizing that throughout his retelling he was only accentuating Jura's perception of him.
'Right…" the Lamia Scale Ace said flatly.
There was silence in the guild as everyone stared at Natsu in astonishment, "And then when the tower was imploding, I pulled Erza out of the crystal and…" he stopped short, realizing that he could feel her eyes burning into the back of his head.
The kiss.
"And then… I absorbed all of the magic from the Etherion blast. Two out of ten, do not recommend." He shrugged lightly.
"You do realize how unlikely this all seems?" Jura asked.
"I am, at my heart a deeply disturbed individual and pathological liar with a talent for story-telling." Natsu drawled sarcastically.
"You aren't used to people questioning your strength, are you?" Jura tilted his head slightly.
"In my defence, you are the first person to question my strength in four hundred years. People usually see it first hand and understand that I am not to be taken lightly, that or they're on the receiving end and die painfully." The Fire Dragon stated, no longer smiling.
"Four hundred?"
"...Four hundred months…" Natsu looked up at the ceiling, internally slapping himself for his stupidity.
"You're thirty-three?" Jura was sure that this was all a bad prank at the magic council's behest.
"You said you wanted to fight? Flattered as I am, unless you're willing to engage in good old fisticuffs, I am very sadly out of magic, totally drained from my recent rampage with the three women I walked in with." Natsu grinned, motioning towards Erza and Lucy.
"Oh? I was led to believe that you and Mr. Fullbuster were together, from your interview with that magazine." Jura said, his well-natured smile returning once again.
Grey's cries of outrage had been miffed by Juvia who took any and all opportunities to touch him.
Natsu slapped a hand across his mouth, unable to breathe from the tremors rushing across his body.
"So," Natsu wiped a tear away from an eye, "Unless you can summon fire out of thin air, then this isn't happening." He told them.
Levy swiped a hand at the air, "Solid Script; Fire!" She said, materializing the element. It gently floated above the ground.
Natsu sighed heavily. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep for a week straight. He'd never experienced E.N.D. having that much control and still being caged before, it had always been all or nothing, and during that harrowing experience, the Demon had used all of his remaining magic, leaving him totally dry.
"Yeah, no thanks, I hate eating magic fire." He scrunched his nose at the concept.
"I can set more of the guild on fire if you'd prefer," Laki called out from behind the bar.
"Laki, I think I may be in love with you and your zero hesitation to set things on fire," Natsu mused before his smile faded and he looked back to Jura.
"But I really don't want to do this. I was hit with an instant death spell after I had most of my magic extracted by an insane, egomaniacal mortal who wanted to use my power to fly among the stars. I just want to go home." Natsu waved at them, leaving the guild behind him.
"I'll still be able to assess him, as long as you ensure that he's with the team in the alliance request," Jura explained, turning back to Makarov. Their conversation returned to the idle and mundane that it had been before they'd strayed to the Dragon King.
Natsu hadn't gotten much further than a dozen feet out of the guild when he felt Erza slip out of the doors and fall into step beside him.
"'I pulled Erza out of the crystal and…'", she said, "Then what happened? Because I've been trying to figure that one out since it happened." She added quietly, her fingers playing and fidgeting with one another.
"Then I kissed her, because I thought I was going to die, and also because ever since I met her, I really wanted to do it. What do you want from me?" He asked, looking at her through truly tired eyes.
Everything he'd been through in Loduhn was beginning to show.
"I guess… I want answers. We caught you, you promised to tell us what we wanted to know. I'm mildly surprised that the other two haven't taken this chance." She spared a cursory glance over her shoulders at the guild they were slowly leaving behind. No one else had come or gone, it was just the two of them.
"Mira caught me, in an unnecessarily sexy way." Natsu corrected her, "But, I did, I did say that, so ask your questions, I've got probably a full day before I get home." He told her.
"Where do you live?" She asked, catching him off guard.
"I give you free rein to ask me things and that's what you ask? Fine, I won't judge. I live in a small cave in the mountains, actually not far from Loduhn, probably a few hours run at full tilt." He answered
"Why? You've got the money, and now you've got a reason to be in Magnolia, why don't you just get yourself a place closer?" She probed.
"Because I've been busy. Next question." He waved.
There was a terse moment of silence between them before she spoke again, "Would you… Would you want to stay with me? At least until you find somewhere new that's closer to the guild?" She asked quietly.
He watched her, half expecting that rosy tint to cover her cheeks, but it didn't appear. She hadn't met his eyes, instead looking at her shoes as they walked, indiscriminately kicking pebbles here and there.
"Do you live far away, and do you live with other people that I should avoid upsetting?" He asked, considering it. Even if it was just for one night, he'd be able to let his body rest enough to recover his magic. He could take a day away from the guild tomorrow to look for a new home.
"I live in Fairy Hills, it's technically an all-female dormitory for most of Fairy Tail, but I don't suppose it would be much of an issue seeing as it would be temporary, plus, we're all adults." She beamed.
"Adults... Probably doing adult things," he smiled, thinking about things that Erza was most certainly not also thinking about, and most certainly not blushing about.
"I think Mira would probably be happy to know that you're taking care of yourself after what happened," Erza added, trying to shift the conversation.
Natsu sighed again, knowing that he was far too weak to pass up the opportunity to sleep sooner rather than later.
"Lead the way," he said, following the excitable Erza as she took him to the dormitories.
It hadn't taken long before she'd guided him through the building and into her private domicile.
It was simple, but also tasteful, something that reflected Erza perfectly. Amid the room was a large bed, that looked like it would feel like a cloud beneath Natsu's body.
Without another word, he kicked his boots off and removed his shirt, revealing the enormously well-sculpted body underneath.
Erza stared. Her mouth tried and failed to form words.
"Should I, I mean, I should give you some privacy." She stammered, tripping over her words. She'd tried to turn away but Natsu had grabbed her by the waist and lifted her cleanly off her feet.
"Wait, what are you doing!?" She panicked, flailing slightly.
"Resting, come on." He said. There was no trace of anything suspicious about his words, or his tone, so she stopped struggling in his arms and just let herself be carried to the bed.
True to his word, he lay down on top of the bed, pulling her down with him. He'd fallen asleep the moment his head touched a pillow, truly exhausted from his ordeal.
As quietly as she could, she stepped out of her armour, not wanting to be a discomfort to him. She was left wearing very little, but that didn't matter much to her. She was content, wrapped in one of his arms.
The heat that radiated from his body made her feel more comfortable than if she'd been under the covers on a cold winter day.
"Oh," he stirred after only a few minutes of sleep, "thank you," he said, lifting her chin with a single finger, placing his lips against hers as they recreated the kiss inside the crystal at the Tower of Heaven, only this time it was purely on their terms with no uncertainty holding them back.
She hadn't noticed it the first time, but now, where they had all the time in the world to enjoy it for what it was, she could taste the smokiness of fire on him.
Once they'd broken apart, she nuzzled in closer to him, both of them awaiting the embrace of sleep.
With a gentle touch, he pressed two fingers against the brand on her collarbone, "I don't think you need this anymore." He whispered to her.
She quickly put a hand over his, stopping it where it was, "Probably not, but I like it. It makes me feel like…" her words fell short, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
"Like I'm yours," she answered, looking vulnerable in his arms for the first time since he'd met her.
"That's a summoning brand, it's a contract, you don't need to, why not have a better one?" He asked in his husky low voice. His fingertips tapped against the red Dragon figure and she felt the magic from it disappear.
"Fine, but, put it here," she deftly guided his hand down, resting on her chest right above the thumping of her heart.
He leaned in, pressing his lips against hers once again while the magic flowed between them. It was an almost identical symbol as before, if a little smaller.
This one was far darker and far clearer. It rested at the peak of her breast above her heart, right where it should be.
There was no binding contract, and it barely held any magic at all, it was in all of its simplicity, a mark to show who her heart belonged to.
Her last waking thoughts had been a reflection of the conversation they'd begun to have on the outskirts of Magnolia only an hour earlier.
If sharing him was what it took, then she'd be able to live with that.
Love was a powerful emotion.
A/N: Hopefully this scratches the itch, for now at least. Review?