The breeze gently combed through Lucy's golden locks exposing the silver, heart shaped earrings in her earlobes. When the wind calmed down, she looked up and smiled at the gentle rays from the sun. We were in the woods, nestled in the luscious grass, surrounded by dark green pine trees, facing a murky lake. Initially, I just wanted to go fishing, like I used to do with Gildarts whenever he would find time to hang out with me. After about only 20 minutes of being on the water, I got bored and wanted to fall asleep. Now, here we are.
Now that I think about it, the only reason I thought this would be fun, was because I just liked spending time with Gildarts and the only thing that fucking geezer liked to do was fish.
Lucy turned to the side and grabbed the picnic basket that she packed for us. "Want something?"
She reached inside the straw woven basket and grabbed a blueberry muffin. She took a dainty bite, clearly enjoying her own baking. I didn't answer her. She had the basket in between us for me to help myself if I was really hungry. She doubled back inside the basket for a bottle of water and loosed the top of it before taking a few swigs.
I sighed.
She sighed too.
"Natsu, you know, I didn't even know how to fish when I agreed to do this with you. I only came out here because you basically dragged me by my wrist."
This was true.
"So since we're both bored, why don't we just go home?"
I'm not gonna lie, the whole time she was eating, I couldn't take my eyes off of her.
She was wearing a light blue crop top, a dark blue tennis skirt, and paired it with white sandals and a white visor. The outfit was simple and minimalist, nothing too fancy, but the thing that was grabbing my attention was how much her body filled out everything. The way her skirt rode tauntingly up her toned thighs. The way her shirt did such an excellent job showing off her large breasts and slimming waist. She was showing so much skin from her milky chest, to her untouched neck, to her collarbone, my throat went dry. I couldn't stop myself from biting my lip. I feel like I'm going crazy.
Is this some kind of a test?
She never dressed like this around the loft. Her outfits usually consisted of cutesy outfits like her pajama sets, or her dresses for work.
It almost made me forget just how freaking sexy she was... almost.
"Actually... I do want something..."
My voice came out a lot darker than usual, probably mired by my growing lust. She turned to me, previously unaware of my greedy ogling.
She's noticed now though.
I grabbed her hand, took the muffin from it and put it back in the basket. I pulled her by her legs closer to me and lowered her to the ground using her lower back. She shallowly gasped at my actions, her eyes widening at her change in position.
"Natsu...!"
I climbed on top of her, our legs deliciously intertwined together while my hands were on either side of her head. Her golden hair sprawled across the grass. I took all of her in, slowly. My eyes roaming and lingering on parts of this godly body that Lucy very consciously hid away.
"Wha... what are you doing?" She asked faintly.
Wow... her beauty was ethereal.
I wanted to kiss her so badly right now. Instead my head found its way in the crook of her neck, my teeth scraping from her shoulder and along her jawline. I could feel goosebumps start to form on her skin. Her breathing became progressively shallower.
"Don't act like you don't know..." I said, hardly being able to contain myself.
With that, I indulged myself in the taste of her skin, latching my mouth in the nook of her neck and shoulder, kissing the area tenderly, thoroughly, before sinking my teeth into her skin, my larger than life canines being sure to leave their mark. She tensed up, letting out a sharp moan at the pain. I could feel her legs hike up between mines turning me on even more.
I kissed her neck some more, losing myself in the feeling of skin, my body being pressed against hers, her hand finding it's way in my hair, her addictive scent.
"Come on Lucy," I smirked against her skin. "Don't act like we haven't done this before."
"Natsu..." she said softly. I raised my head to eye my blonde beauty as she looked at me out of breath, face flushed, eyes pooling with hesitant desire. I felt myself getting lost in her eyes, and she in mine. She just looked so... ready.
"W-wait," she said pressing her hand against my chest. "You want to... here? But, what if somebody sees us? What if somebody hears us?"
I thought it was so cute how needlessly self-conscious she was sometimes. I never in my life thought that prudence from a woman could be a turn on... but here we are.
"I don't care," I whispered, feeling a smile tugging at my lips. "Look me in my eyes Lucy."
I hovered my lips over hers. So pretty. So pink. I had been feigning for the longest time to get a taste of them.
"I want... you..." I rasped, before letting myself give in to temptation, finally savoring in the taste of her lips.
Natsu woke up suddenly, eyelids flying open at the surprising declaration from his dream self. His breathing was labored, his heart racing, the dream felt a little too real. Like, aggressively detailed. He rubbed his hands over his face, tugging at his pink hair. He groaned.
"What the fuck was that...?" He asked to himself.
He was having trouble processing the fact that he had such a vivid and sensual dream about his roommate. Even though he woke up before anything too freaky happened, his heart couldn't stop racing at the afterimages of his encounter with Dream Lucy. Clearly, this was just his body's way of telling him he needed to get laid, but it's not like he hasn't been getting any for the past four weeks. Which was the second thing that confused him... why didn't he at least dream about Daphne, the girl he was actually sleeping with?
His ears picked up on the faint sounds of music nearby. Realizing it was coming from his speaker by his bed stand, he checked his phone. He went to bed with his playlist on shuffle, but when the phone's screen lit up, he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Wet Dreams by J. Cole was playing.
"Okay seriously...?"
He sat up and wiped his face with his hands. He had to keep repeating in his head that it was just a dream. None of that happened.
Relax Natsu, it was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.
He spent a few minutes steadying his breathing in the dark, mulling over what he might've done recently that could've possibly spurn on a dream like this. After all, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he discovered he was becoming mindlessly horny like Loke.
Regardless of what he kept trying to tell himself, his body definitely didn't register it as just a dream, and now, he was dealing with a raging boner that desperately needed his attention underneath the covers.
His phone lit up with a text from Daphne.
"Speak of the devil..."
Daphne: Hey so, I know this is sort of last minute, but my boss wants me to go to this partner mixer today and talk to a bunch of interns and paralegals and I kind of don't want to go alone so...
Daphne: Do you want to come with me?
Natsu: Are you asking me out on a date?
He watched his phone screen as the three dots bubbled signifying his hook up typing her response.
Daphne: I guess I am.
Natsu stared at his phone screen for a while, not knowing what to make of her proposition. Their relationship thus far had strictly been just sex. It started off with a tipsy encounter at the bar. She was charming enough to convince him to give her his number and after some flirty back and forth texts, suddenly they found themselves hooking up in cars, behind bars, in hotel rooms and mostly her apartment.
If he was being honest with himself... there was a part of him that really liked her. They had great chemistry with each other, she was cute, charming and extremely ambitious... also, did he mention the sex?
Natsu: You shouldn't guess when you're asking the most important question of your life ;)
Daphne: Oh whatever, you ego maniac. I'll be expecting you at 10.
He smiled reading her reply. He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. This was a good turn of events for his love life, right? Daphne seemed nice and he wouldn't mind getting to know her better. Still, he felt kind of scummy, agreeing to go out on a date with a girl while having sexual dreaming about another.
Natsu slapped both his cheeks hard. "It didn't mean anything!"
Now, he needed to get a shower in before anybody else got up.
A nice... long... cold shower.
Return of the Douchebag Jar: Story of the $50
Once upon a time in apartment 4D, there lived three guy roommates by the names of Natsu, Gray and Loke. The three boys were friends for a long time, with Natsu and Gray having met Loke in college. When they agreed to move in together, Natsu and Gray came up with the idea of the "Douchebag Jar". It was made from a recycled old pickle jar with a sticky note with the words "Douchebag Jar" written on it. When the boys came up with rules for the loft, one of those rules were that anytime one of them had a douche moment, they had no other choice but to put a certain amount of money in the jar. The amount of money being determined by his other roommates of course. Throughout the years, it was mainly Loke who had to place money in the jar for varying degrees of douchiness, being sleezy with women, bragging about his XXXL condom size to the boys (if those even exist), walking around the apartment with a bomber jacket that had loud colors - things like that. Every single time though, it would simply be a dollar. Sometimes it was a $5, maybe even a $10. However, this is the story of how and why a $50 was placed in the douchebag jar.
When Lucy was finished her poetic narration, she became acutely aware of everyone in the living room looking at her in awe.
"Wow... that was... beautiful Lucy," Loke said after a while.
Everyone in the living room murmured in agreement.
"Yeah, Luce that was great."
"It was really beautiful."
"Almost like she majored in English or something..." Gajeel trailed off.
The blonde smiled and held her warm cheeks at their compliments. "Thanks you guys."
Lucy, Natsu and Gajeel were all gathered on their living room couch, facing Loke who was sitting on a chair across from them. It was early in the morning so the four of them were in their sleepwear, Lucy in her pajamas, except Gajeel who had a blue vest on his arm as part of the uniform from his job.
"Now quick, tell us why you called a loft meeting so I can go get ready for work," Gajeel said.
"I thought you said you quit the Super8 yesterday?" Lucy asked him.
"Yeah I did, but I realized I need the money and they're bumming for workers anyway so."
"Wait, Gajeel got a job?" Natsu looked confused. "And Gajeel quit that job?"
"Well, you would know that if you weren't so busy acting like a 7th grader sneaking in and out the house to awkwardly cuddle with a girl you like in math class," Loke snapped at him in a single breath.
Gajeel, who was sipping on a mug with hot coffee in it, let out a mix between a laugh and a choke when Loke was done.
"Seriously Natsu, I still can't believe you were trying so hard to hide Daphne from us. You are ridiculous," Loke finished.
"Okay guys!" Lucy cried, waving her hands. "I'm the one who called this loft meeting, remember?"
"Yeah, let's listen everyone," Natsu reinforced.
"Thank you Natsu," Lucy said, before laying down sideways and propping her head up under one of the couch pillows. As she fixed herself, Natsu caught sight of her flat stomach, as the bottom of her pajama shirt rode up.
His heartrate sped up as flashbacks from his dream whizzed past his eyes causing his face to get warm. He quickly looked away and thankfully, nobody seemed to notice.
"So it all started three days ago..."
Three Days Ago...
Loke slammed his laptop close with a look of despair on his face.
"I lost it..." he said hauntingly. "I lost the party bus..."
"The party bus for your... birthday party?" Lucy asked from the kitchen counter. She had just come home from work, after making a quick stop at the grocery store and the spoils of her shopping spree were placed gallantly on the counter. Natsu and Gajeel were on either side of her helping her to put everything away.
Loke spun his computer chair dramatically around, from the kitchen table to the kitchen counter to face his friends.
"Yes! Apparently, my business isn't as important as Frankie Muniz's. They canceled my rez. There's nothing I can do; The party's off."
"You should totally torch them on Yelp," Lucy suggested. "Actually, I can do it! I have an account under the name Fantastic Jacques. He's a French diplomat with very little patience."
"Or... you could just get another bus," Gajeel said, as he lazily put away bread and peanut butter. Loke pulled up a counter stool and sat across from his friends.
"In two days?" he asked incredulously. "Okay, yeah, sure, Gajeel. W-Why don't I just go down to the party bus store, where all the party buses have a state-of-the-art sound system, a stripper pole, a love grotto, and a steering wheel in the shape of a boob! You uh... you honk the nipple," he added quietly. "It's pretty awesome."
"Just have the party at a bar," Natsu said, tired of his whining.
"Natsu, this is it! This is my 29th birthday party. This is the year. After this, I don't know, it's just... all darkness."
Loke exited the kitchen with his head hung low. Natsu looked at him with a bewildered expression.
"Was he crying a little bit?"
"Hey, I just came to make sure you're okay," Lucy said. After all of the groceries were put away, she followed her friend into his room to check on him. She met him laying face first on his perfectly made up bed.
"I'm not okay, Luce. I just had to cancel my birthday party. It's social suicide... I can feel my it factor just... going away."
There was a pause between them as Lucy looked befuddled.
"And what am I supposed to tell Taurus?"
"Why are you always so worried about Taurus? Isn't he supposed to be your friend?"
"Luce, we have a very weird, girl-style friendship where we kind of hate each other... we're bronemies. He's my fremesis."
"I'm so confused right now..."
"Okay, look, Taurus was my roommate in college... well, before I moved in with Natsu and Gray."
Flashback
"Taurus, I can't wait to get to L.A," said a younger, fatter Loke, in a sweatshirt and pants as he smiled at his masculine friend and drove both of them to their new school. "We're going to have so much sex... in the morning, in the afternoon, at bedtime. Mmm, peanuts."
"I'm telling yoooooooooooooou, man, I'm gonna run that town one day... you'll see," Taurus said, pulling out a checkbook from Loke's glove compartment. "I'm gonna write you a check right now for $100 million. How do you like that?"
"Damn, dude. And this is a real check."
"You can cash it when I'm rich and awesome. Give me about four years. Do the song."
"We built this city..." Loke started.
"We built this city on Tootsie Rolls!" they chorused.
"If it wasn't for Taurus, I, I never would have become a Los Angeles baller... holla," he added in falsetto. "I mean, I changed everything about myself, Luce. I lost all the weight, I changed my clothes, I even dropped my voice half an octave, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough for him." He sighed. "I guess I'll just never be cool enough."
Lucy looked at him sympathetically as she rubbed his shoulder to comfort him.
"Okay, I've got it!" Lucy said excitedly as she ran back into the kitchen to Natsu and Gajeel. "We are going to throw Loke a birthday party!"
"No," Natsu answered swiftly.
"Yes, 'cause it's his 29th birthday and we care."
"Luce, Loke's world is... different than ours. They speak a different language. They shorten every word to one syllable."
"This is the same guy who thinks it's appropriate to call an oven... an 'ov'," Gajeel chimed in.
"He calls an airport 'airp'."
"He called ketchup 'ketch'."
"Last month he went to a party called Bros before Hos on the Moon," Natsu's nose scrunched up at the thought. "The hell does that even mean? And the dress code was "yacht flair. That's the pinnacle of douche-ness right there... matter of fact, did I jar him for that?"
"Loke has a friend who legally changed his middle name to Doin' It," Gajeel added. "Yeah, Doin' It. Just one word: Doinit."
"Lucy, I'm telling you, you are not emotionally, mentally, and spiritually prepared to throw these d-bags a party."
"I'm gonna do some research," Lucy said excitedly, tuning them out. She already had the idea stirring in her head and basically had her heart set on throwing her friend a party, tuning the cousins out.
Natsu's phone lit up as Lucy excitedly started scrolling through hers.
Daphne: You on your way?
"Actually, sorry uh, I do have to go," Natsu said, staring at his phone getting off the barstool. "I apologize."
"Where are you going?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "And why are you wearing jury duty pants?"
"I'm not, man, I'm just... mumble, mumble, mumble," he said as he slipped away.
"Did that man forget he had to take me to work?" Gajeel asked once it was just him and Lucy in the kitchen.
"It's okay, I'll drive you," Lucy said absentmindedly. "You're going to work at a Walmart right?"
"No Blondie. Fuck Walmart, I'm working at Super8."
Lucy watched as he walked back into his room and pulled out a blue vest with the Super8 logo on it. After the New Year came in, Gajeel made a resolution within himself that he was going to find work no matter what. Working at a superstore wasn't the dream, but it was a good in-between job to pay the rent until he found something he actually liked. Also it was Lucy's idea.
"Welcome to Super8!"
An old, extremely short white man with bushy eyebrow hairs stood on top of a table. He was wearing a light blue collar shirt and brown khakis, and he was holding his phone over his head, triumphantly playing Superman's theme song.
Gajeel looked around at his new coworkers in the Super8 breakroom. He saw a fat, almond-skinned man in an electric wheel chair, a taller buff woman who was even more jacked than him, a Japanese woman with hoop earrings and way too much eyeshadow, a young teenage boy, and a pregnant woman who talked like she was rubbing the last two of her braincells together.
"My name is Yajima!" the old man continued. "And this is our little slice of heaven!"
The other coworkers all cheered, as the guy in the wheelchair talked busily on his phone.
"...no, yeah, I'd definitely kill a wolf."
"Hey Yajima, since we've got a new guy, can we finally use those go cart thingies in the store?" the pregnant lady asked.
"Bisca, I've told you countless times that those are disability scooters... for the customers."
"Oh come on, you promised me!" the girl named Bisca whined.
"Yeah, take it from me guys, it'll be the best part of your day," the guy in the wheelchair chimed in.
The others turned and gave him a look, but he didn't seem to care as he went back to his phone call.
"And it's not like any of the customers who use them are actually disabled..." the teenage boy deadpanned.
Yajima looked around the room, and after the protests from everyone, he sighed. The next thing Gajeel knew, Yajima and all his coworkers were showing him around the store while all of them rode disability scooters as customers shopped. Yajima still had the Superman theme music playing proudly on his phone as he led the way.
Okay... so interesting first day... Gajeel thought as he drove along in slow motion.
"Sooooooooo," Daphne smiled nervously at her date. "What do you think? I mean come on, lawyer party... the classic first date."
She and Natsu were walking together in the lobby of a five star hotel that was converted to a dining space, full of men and women in suits and pantsuits. There was a grand fountain in the center of the lobby and a foldable table with fancy appetizers as people talked. Daphne was in a pencil skirt, burgundy camisole paired with a black cardigan and black heels. Natsu wore a dark blue button up shirt and black jeans and shoes, watching Daphne as she showed him around.
"What are you even talking about?" he asked.
"I'm not gonna apologize for it. I got nothing to apologize for," she tapped his nose with her finger and he smiled at the gesture. "I owe you nothing."
"No, but I'm having a really fun time," Natsu said. "It's cool, watching you so much in your element."
Daphne leaned forward and grabbed his hand. She smiled at him.
"I'm really glad that you're here with me."
"Well, I'm happy you let me be here with you."
"No, seriously Natsu, I'm not just saying that. I really am glad because I've got to, like, kiss all the asses of these 24-year-old law students to try to get them to work at my law firm."
"You know... I went to law school," Natsu said hesitantly.
"You went to law school?"
"Yeah, but I quit."
"You quit law school... why?"
"Because I realized one day that I hated lawyers."
Natsu took a sip of his fruit punch nonchalantly, while Daphne looked at him, hoping he would add something to that.
"...he says to the lawyer," she finishes softly. Natsu's eyes widened in horror at his blunder as he swallowed his drink to quickly make up an explanation. "And for some reason... I find you ridiculously attractive for saying that," she added.
"Well why don't you kiss my ass, then?" Natsu asked.
Daphne coughed a laugh. "W-what?"
Natsu laughed too, realizing how weird his question sounded after it came out.
"Look, Daphne, I got turned around. That actually sounded so much better in my head..."
"Re-lax Natsu," she said with a teasing smile. "I'm just kidding. I really do want to do that."
"Oh, you would?" he asked in surprise. "Well, we can make that happen."
"Great. Let's go to your place."
"Ummm, want to go to your place?" he asked nervously. "Do you mind?"
Daphne's smile quickly fell. "Are you serious right now Natsu? Natsu, I've shown you to my friends, let you sleep at my place and even brought you to the place that I work... and you still won't ever invite me to your place or, like... tell me all that much about yourself. Are you ashamed of me or something?"
"No! No, no, n-no, no, no, n-noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I'm not ashamed of you. It's actually the opposite of that."
Natsu felt bad looking at the downcast expression on her face. He sighed. "Daphne. You are great, it's just that... I'm worried how my friends are gonna react when they see me with another woman. I've told you about Lisanna, and they know how I get with relationships... I just don't want them to scare you away."
The smile slowly returned to Daphne's face as she cupped Natsu's cheeks tenderly. "That's what you're worried about? Natsu... I am a corporate lawyer, and usually the only woman in a room filled with sharks in human suits. I think I can handle whatever your friends throw at me. Nobody's going to scare me away."
She pulled his face closer to hers and the two shared a tender kiss.
"All right, let's go," she said, pulling him along by his hand. "And to your place this time."
"Yes ma'am," he said obediently.
"Hi! Yes, I'd like to order a last-minute stripper."
Lucy spoke politely into the phone as she paced her room that afternoon. After racking her brain on everything her blonde friend would want out of a birthday party, Lucy finally came up with a comprehensive list. First thing on the docket: a stripper.
"Yes, um, preferably one of Asian heritage, very bendy, with a heart of gold and a crotch of gold... mm-hmm, yeah, I'll hold."
Being so busy on the phone, Lucy didn't even notice the front door opening and closing with one of her roommates and his guest.
"Hey, Luce," Natsu peaked into her room with Daphne emerging next to him. "This is Daphne."
She turned to him quickly, but the woman she was talking to on the phone, came back on the line.
"Ma'am, just to clarify, your request is for one of our workers with a specific race strain? Also, as per our qualifications on flexibility..."
"Oh!" Lucy quickly walked over to the door and smiled at them, switching the phone from one ear to another. "Welcome to our home," she whispered.
"We're just saying hi," Natsu said with a hand wave, acknowledging that she was busy. A part of him was very glad she was preoccupied, that way he wouldn't have to give Daphne the 'what's wrong with that blonde girl?' speech that the guys seemingly had to give everyone new they bring around the loft.
"Nice to meet you," she said absentmindedly, not noticing Daphne stepping forward to shake her hand. Daphne reverted her hand awkwardly as Lucy walked back into her room.
"Give me a second Nat, I'm ordering the stripper for Loke's surprise party."
"Who's Loke?" Daphne's curiosity was peaked.
"Oh, I didn't tell you about... about uh, Loke? Oh well he's-"
"That's our other roommate."
The pair turned around to meet Gajeel walking through the front door, blue vest in hand and hair in a low ponytail.
"And I'm Gajeel, his cousin," he said holding out his hand for her to shake. "And his other other roommate."
"Oh!" Daphne said excitedly shaking his hand. "So there's four of you in this loft huh?"
Gajeel narrowed his eyes at how suspiciously little information this woman seemed to know about Natsu. The whole time Natsu was fidgeting behind her awkwardly, scratching his neck, rocking in place, avoiding eye contact.
"Yeah... and you know what? You should come to the party. It's on Saturday."
Daphne's face lit up with excitement as Natsu glared at Gajeel from behind her. He smirked at his cousin's reaction.
"Is this like a presents thing or more like a donations to charity situation?"
"Don't worry about it, just bring yourself."
"Hey Daph, do you wanna head in my room for a little bit?" Natsu said, approaching her gently. "I'll give you the rest of the tour around the place soon."
After he pointed her in the direction of his room and he heard the sound of the door closing, he decided to let Gajeel have it.
"What's your problem?"
"Dude, are you hiding her from us?" he scoffed. "Like, are you ashamed of your friends?"
"YES! Absolutely! Don't even need to think about it, you're all crazy assholes!"
"You know you live in a loft with us crazy assholes, so what exactly does that make you Dragneel?"
Just then, Lucy reemerged from her bedroom, interrupting their argument.
"Yes! You guys! I just hired my first stripper!" She pumped her fist in the air and jumped. "Her name is Mrs. Fatbooty, and there's no guaranteed that she's Asian but she's very highly rated on the website."
The two of them looked nauseated at her excitement. All semblance of fire they had to start a full blown argument immediately fizzled out. It was quite impressive actually.
"Anything else I should get?"
Two Days from Present Day (One day Before the Party)
Lucy was fervently searching through the principal's office for something. The blonde was eyeing the desk, fingering files on the shelves and flipping through the cabinets. It was Friday, and Lucy was becoming anxious for Loke's party the next day. Even with everything she was able to rally up last minute, she still wondered if it was enough. She opened up a specific cabinet drawer and her eyes widened. She found a pocket knife, fireworks, a thong. Lucy picked up a small white stick and put it close to her nose.
"Do you like jazz cigarettes?"
Lucy jolted, dropping the contraband and slamming the cabinet door shut. She turned around to be face to face with her baby-faced principal.
"Lyra! Hi! Uh, Patti told me that..."
"Patti told you to break in my office to look for drugs?"
Lucy's heart dropped like a stone.
"Hey, JK kidding, JK kidding," Lyra said, her stern demeanor immediately melting away with a smile. "You're a teacher, you can do whatever you want. Although... I didn't know you liked to shop at the Confiscation Station," she said walking over to the cabinet Lucy just slammed shut. "So what are you looking for... grass? 'Cause I can do another locker search on Monday."
Lucy fixed her glasses nervously.
"Oh, well, Monday's too late because-"
"So you've got something cooking this weekend, huh?"
Lucy's jaw dropped, not knowing what to say. Normally, she and Lyra got along pretty well, with the two of them often finding themselves in random song sessions (Lyra was quite the expert harpist herself) and Lyra giving Lucy the space and freedom to be herself as well as honest with her, however, Lyra was her still her boss, and an overly zealous one at that. Lucy wanted Loke's party to be cool, just like he imagined, and she wasn't sure if her hippy-dippy boss fit into that picture.
"You have to tell me; I'm your boss. What is it, a list thing, Paperless Post? I'm free to come after work today... but I can also make Saturday or Sunday work."
On the other end of that spectrum, Lucy didn't want to be fired, so she'd happily take her hippy boss to greet the Queen of England if she had to.
The Day of Loke's Party...
It was Saturday morning, the day before Loke's actual birthday and the day of his party. Both blondes got up early, showered and gussied up in rampant anticipation for the day's festivities. Meanwhile, Natsu and Daphne slept in together, and Gajeel lounged about in his room, listening to an audiobook and ricocheting a tennis ball on his wall, dreading the hours until he had to go to work. The smell of eggs on the stove and hash browns in the oven wafted through the house, as Lucy checked herself out in the bathroom mirror.
She had just finished applying her make up, a light coating of glittery blue eyeshadow, a dab of blush and matched with a pink, glittery lip gloss. Her outfit, a simple strapless blue minidress that showed off her supple skin extravagant curves, was matched with blue flats and a silver necklace that highlighted her chest. She let her hair in its naturally bone-straight state fall on her shoulders and back. She looked hot, just like the kind of hot girl that would host a cool-guy party like the kind Loke and his friends would go to.
She was ready to make this the best birthday party of Loke's life.
Her phone buzzed on her bathroom sink with a text, and a smile formed on her face. It was go time. After texting the boys to be ready, Lucy raced into the kitchen to pull Loke away from the stove. This gave her friends a chance to sneak downstairs undetected.
"Close your eyes," Lucy said, sneaking behind him.
"Well you're closing them for me Luce."
After feeling to turn off the stove and oven, Lucy guided a very annoyed and a very blindfolded Loke all the way from their loft to outside their apartment.
"Luce, what are you doing? I'm making an egg yellows omelet. The shallots and gouda are going to congeal. I can't... what is this?"
Lucy excitedly dropped her hands from his hands. As soon as he could see, he was met face to face with a yellow school bus full of people yelling 'surprise' at him. Standing outside the bus were some of his closest friends, his roommates Natsu and Gajeel, Daphne in Natsu's arms and Lucy's principal, Lyra. Loke noticed his face plastered on the side of the bus with a light blue banner that read 'Happy Birthday Loke!' on it. He turned and shared excited smiles with Lucy.
"Happy birthday!" she cried. "It's a party bus! I'm so excited."
"Whoa, Lucy, you really did all this for me?"
She nodded at him and the two shared a warm embrace.
"Okay, so... over here is kosher yogurt and honey." Lucy said, gesturing to a small, foldable table at the front of the bus with said appetizers on it.
"Oooh, kosher yoge?" Loke was following closely behind her, his eyes taking in the snack table, but also the rest of the decorations of his makeshift party bus.
After the initial surprise, Lucy cleared out the bus with Loke's guests to give him a tour of the amenities. The inside of the bus was decorated in a very homely manner, with floral and lava patterned sheets covering the worn out leather of the seats, Christmas lights and paper lanterns were taped to the ceiling, construction paper with children's drawings were taped to the windows as makeshift tints and there were several stations with hookah pots.
"We got some condoms over here... small, medium, large, whatever your preference."
"Well, I would use-"
"-Don't want to know. Anyway, the R-rated section is in the back with the stripper pole," she gestured to the safety pole that kids held onto when there were no more seats on the bus. "It's normally used for stability, but tonight it's going to be used for $50 worth of semi-nudity."
They high fived.
"Coincidentally, I'm wearing my lap dance pants!"
Meanwhile, outside the bus, all of Loke's party guests were chatting excitedly with one another. Daphne, who was dressed in an outfit of leather from head-to-toe, looked around smugly and then at Natsu.
"So this is, like, your world, huh?"
"Well, uh..."
"It is," she said, relishing in his nervousness. "It's you in your natural habitat, it's fascinating."
"Really, I'm just here for Loke," he smiled calmly, looking around. "I don't know any of these people."
"NatsUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU," Taurus mooed, approaching the two of them. The man was six foot two with green eyes, olive skin, a golden hoop nose ring, brown haired jerry curls and an upper body as buff as Natsu, Loke and Gajeel's combined. "What's up, N-word?"
"Oh my God, don't call me N-word," Natsu said mortified, realizing what it sounded like out of context. He turned to Daphne. "I-I don't really know this guy."
"How's your family back in Magnolia?"
"Really good, thanks for asking," he said, taking Daphne's smirk as a sign that his cover was blown.
"That's good, that's good," he said absentmindedly. Just then Loke stepped off of the bus and Taurus turned his attention to him. "Oh, well look at this big old pile of birthday shit! Hey, do you mind if I catch a ride on your school bus? I don't want to be late for first period."
Some of Taurus and Loke's mutual friends laughed at his joke. Loke laughed too, just so he wouldn't bring the mood down.
"Why you got to do me like that, Tai-are-you-us?"
Nobody laughed at Loke's joke. Just then, Lucy dismounted from the school bus to Loke and Taurus' reunion with a smile. "What's up, boys? What's up?"
"Hey Celeste why don't you sing us your birthday song?" Taurus asked ignoring her.
"Oooh, you have a birthday song?" Lucy clamored excitedly.
"All right, all right, guys, come on," Loke said, trying to wave away Taurus and his other friends' excitement for the song.
"Sing it, come on!"
Loke gave in, beginning to start the song excitedly. Lucy joined in, thinking that she recognized the lyrics to the song, although she sang the actual words while Taurus and Loke sang the remixed version.
"We built this city, we built this city..."
"...on rock and roll!"
"...on Tootsie Rolls!"
Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at Loke gleefully shouting out the mocking lyrics.
"Are those the words?"
Taurus laughed out loud hardily. "Yeah, we used to make him sing that because he was fat!"
Lucy's confused smile slowly dissipated. The guys didn't seem to notice her though.
"You know I'm just playing with you Celeste."
"Yeah, hilarity, my man, hilarity."
As Taurus and Loke laughed and talked with each other as well as the rest of their 'bros' laughing and jesting at Loke's expense, Daphne looked surprised at the pinkette next to her.
"You really live with that guy, huh?"
"Yeah, I really do." Natsu said shaking his head.
"Does he, like... tuck his shiny jeans into boots when he goes out at night?"
"Daph, you know, the truth is, I met Loke a long time ago when we were in both college and he was this sweet, chubby communications major who wore cargo shorts and used to do my friend and I's math homework."
"Hey, loosen up handsome, I'm just messing with you." She grabbed him by his chin and affectionately shook his head from side to side. "Seriously, I think all of your friends seem authentic and nice and fun, so relax."
"Oh, you don't have to hold back," he chuckled. "They're my friends, you can tease 'em. I tease them all the time, they don't care. Loke's just this over-the-top, drama queen-"
"-You know, I really don't want to tease your friends..."
"-and Lucy's like a total Broadway junkie. Oh... And Gajeel, don't even get me started on Gajeel..."
As Natsu continued his rant, Gajeel slowly walked up behind him in an orange button up shirt, holding a cake box. Daphne's eyes widened although Natsu didn't seem to notice.
"Gajeel's this competitive, megalomaniac, who sucks at puzzles, loves all things kiwi-flavored and is oddly afraid of thunder. But see, I'm basically the voice of re-".
"He's behind you, he's behind you, he's behind you."
Natsu turned around to meet Gajeel staring blandly at him.
"And he's also, one of the coolest guys I know."
"...sure."
"Hey Daph, you want to go inside the bus? Yeah, we should go inside the bus."
It was well into the afternoon and all the party participants were comfortably aboard the bus, mingling, drinking, catching up. Smiles were plentiful, alcohol was flowing and the atmosphere was positive. After coming from the punch table, Lucy waddled her way back next to Loke with a red solo cup with a special drink mixed inside. Gajeel told her it was his birthday tradition. Lucy watched as he greedily gulped it up. When he was done, his eyes gravitated toward Taurus toward the back of the bus.
"Luce look, Taurus is smiling," he whispered giddily to her. "You did so good!"
The two of them giggled girlishly while sharing spirit fingers, but were soon interrupted by an older, buff gentleman who neither of them recognized. He was carrying a duffel bag and making his way down the aisle.
"Is this stripper pole weight-bearing? Looks like some pretty shoddy workmanship on the cap flange..." he trailed off.
They both got up to meet him halfway.
"Sir, can I help you?" Lucy asked.
"Byro Cracy." The man responded.
"Hi, I'm Lucy Heartfilia," she shook his hand. "I think I spoke with your supervisor on the telephone. Um, when are you bringing the stripper?" she whispered, covering her mouth so Loke who wasn't too far behind her couldn't hear. "I really wanted to see her jugs first, you know, just so... um, I do right by my bro."
"Ohhhhhhhhhh, we might've had a little miscommunicado. Did you make the call? Because if they hear a woman's voice, then they send me. I'm your stripper, folks," he announced to the bus. With that, he wiggled past her continuing to make his way to the back of the bus where the pole was.
"Hey, need to clear this aisle. I got to have a perimeter."
"Please, please, please, no, you can't!"
"You the birthday boy?" Byro paused in front a concerned Loke. "You are going to love it. I do wet towel tricks."
"Nobody likes wet towel tricks you socially unaware flasher!"
"Don't judge, pal. I just want to have fun."
"Sir, you are not gonna-"
"I don't want to be rude, but, uh, times are hard," he said, turning around to Lucy and Loke who were chasing him down the aisle. "It is Saturday night, so if I get hired to take my clothes off... I'm gonna get naked."
"Luce! Make it stop!"
"Hey, Mr. Cracy. Mr. Cracy. Mr. Cracy?" She chased him down again. With that, she pulled out her clutch and went searching for a couple of bills. "I'm gonna pay you... $50 to never show us your penis."
"But what about tips?" He asked pocketing her money. "I make my living on tips."
"Well, can you do anything else for the money?"
He stared at the ceiling for a moment.
"I used to be a baritone at my gospel choir at First Presbyterian."
"Perfect!" She shouted.
"Everybody, everybody... hey!" Lucy announced speaking into the bus system's intercom. "Welcome to Loke's 29th! Safety is of the utmost importance, so the person sitting next to you is gonna be your bus buddy for the night. Any time you're up and about, please wear one of these fashion helmets."
"And I brought drugs!" Lyra shouted from the back.
"And uh... Lyra has half a pot cookie, so maybe if you're lucky... she'll share. Okay, everybody, let's have fun! Byro, sing us out."
With that she let go of the intercom speaker and hooked it back up by the driver's seat. Byro started clapping and the party patrons began clapping along as the middle older male stripper began to sing in acapella.
"Oh, when he comes Oh, when he comes, he's gonna come for you..."
He sang and slowly stood up, taking off his jacket.
"No stripping!"
Ding-dong!
The story of the $50 was interrupted by knock on the door and Lucy paused her story as Natsu hopped over the couch to answer it. It was Daphne, dressed in a black track suit with a black sports bra underneath. After Natsu let her in, and they greeted each other the two of them took their place together on the couch.
"One thing nobody's explaining to me yet is Gajeel's job," Natsu inquired. "Seriously, when did he even have it?"
"You know what that's actually a good question," Loke chimed in. "You never told us why you quit."
"It was because we got robbed... but not really."
Flashback
That day at Super8 was as average as any other day at the convenience store with customers and workers alike bustling around the aisles. Suddenly, without warning a masked man jumped on top of one of the checkout aisles with a pistol in hand. He unceremoniously waved it in the air before bellowing into the store.
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN ON THE GROUND RIGHT NOW!"
He clocked his gun and started pointing it towards people. Patrons all started screaming and panicking, eventually everyone got on the ground, including Gajeel, and whoever wasn't on the ground ran outside.
"Where the hell's the damn security?!" He whispered to his coworker who was next to him.
Little did they both know, the security guard artfully skipped away with the rest of the escaped shoppers.
"NOW EVERYBODY CALM DOWN! I'M ABOUT TO START SHOOTING SOMEBODY EVERY MINUTE... UNLESS..."
With that, the robber hopped down from the counter, and threw off his mask revealing a Native American man with an eyepatch on, walked over Gajeel's pregnant coworker, Bisca.
"Alzack?!" She cried.
"Unless this girl agrees to marry me!" He put his gun in his pocket. "Hit it!"
With that, one of the shoppers sprung up, and rang over behind the counter pushing Droy and his wheelchair out of the way.
"What the fu-"
The random shopper started to play Jason Derulo's "Marry Me" on the loud speakers and a bunch of the shoppers jumped up and formed a flash mob behind Alzack. As the song played and the flash mobbers expertly danced behind Alzack, other workers and shoppers got off the ground and started cheering. Alzack brought out a chair in the middle of the open space and guided her to sit down. She smiled delightedly.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS STORE?!" Gajeel roared.
"Remind me to stop trusting the blonde's in my life," Gajeel deadpanned.
"Okay, what is even happening right now?" Daphne asked, wrapping Natsu's arm over her shoulders.
"Blondie's explaining to us why Loke has to put 50 big ones in the jar."
"Honestly... $50?" Loke said again in disbelief. "I've never put $50 in the douche bag jar."
"Well, that's honestly impressive, considering how much we make you put in the jar."
"For what? I feel like sometimes you guys just pick on me..." he paused his talking as he felt a strong sneeze coming on. "Achoo!"
"Jar!" Natsu shouted. His friends all looked at him in confusion. "Sorry... it's a reflex."
"Somehow, Loke, whatever it was, you've managed to outdo yourself," Gajeel said amusedly.
"C'mon Luce..." Loke pleaded. "...it was my birthday... I was- I was very drunk..."
Lucy raised her hand to silence him before continuing on.
The night of the party raged on, well into the dead of the night. The partygoers became even wilder, kissing, smoking, hooking-up was happening as the middle school bus took a joy ride through Los Angeles.
"All right, everybody, I think we need to take shots!" Lucy shouted in the intercom, pouring some vodka into shot glasses and Loke's male friends cheered her on excitedly.
Standing a few feet in the back were Natsu and Daphne, her arm was latched securely onto his and he serenely sipped on a drink in his red solo cup. Gajeel approached the pair with a red cup of his own and his other hand in his pocket.
"Hey cousin!" Gajeel greeted, gadding his weight onto Natsu's throwing his arm around his shoulder. He was fostering a devious grin as Natsu gave him a dirty look. "Hey, this would be the perfect time for you to serve up your infamous 'Bro juice'!"
"Bro juice?" Daphne asked him. "What's that?"
"Oh, I have no idea," Natsu said casually, before taking three big gulps of his alcoholic beverage.
"Really Dragneel?" Gajeel challenged. Natsu was cutting him with his gaze, silently telling him to back off.
"Yes."
"Natsu Dragneel invented bro juice," Gajeel explained to his cousin's date. "On Loke's twenty-second birthday actually. It was also the night he ended up having a threesome, one of the girls was his old college professor. Remember that? Oh wait, weren't you supposed to be with Lisanna at that time?"
"You son of a bitch, we weren't even together when that happened."
Daphne's eyebrows grazed her hairline. "Wait, when did this happen? And who's Lisanna?"
As Natsu scrambled to explain the actions of his younger self to his growingly suspicious date, Gajeel watched the chaos unfold with a petty grin, taking a sip with his red cup filled with bro juice.
"When I say "Par," you say "Tay." Lucy shouted in the intercom with her fist pumped. "Par!"
"Tay!"
"Par."
"Tay!"
"Holla!" she yelled like Loke. After a moment, she caught herself. "What am I doing?"
As Lucy continued to inject life in the party, Loke watched with arms folded from the sidelines. Taurus casually approached him.
"It makes you think, huh?" Loke said with a smile. "Twenties... they're almost over, man. It's crazy. You know-"
"Are you hitting that?" Taurus cut him off.
"Luce?" he asked pointing to his friend.
"Obviously."
"No..."
"Great. Well, then I think I'll help myself... you know, to sex... with your friend."
"No, no, no, Taurus, you can't. Not with her. Please don't."
"And why not? She's got a rocking bod. And besides, who's gonna stop me... you?" He scoffed as he made his way from the back of the party bus to the front seats where Lucy was.
"Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sexy," he cooed as he got closer to her, his eyes trained on the fold in her cleavage as he talked. Lucy scooted over, immediately feeling uncomfortable. He continued. "I hope you've got disease immunity because it's about to get bubonic in here tonight. Some of the fellas and I are going to... The Plague."
"I'm sorry?"
"It's The Plague. It's a discotheque. We'll be going there next. Whose list are you on? Liam's? Tristan's?"
"Isn't it just like a bar or something? Why would it need a list?"
Loke's attention was peeled away from watching Taurus and his friend when the older male stripper approached him. His curiosity was piqued. He cleared his throat, getting his attention.
"So uh... what do you pull down a year in the game?"
"Ever since I started doing full frontal, I pull down 7k a year easy. Why? You interested in the life?"
"Me? A male stripper?" He laughed modestly. "Come on. You're too kind... But you know, theoretically, if I were to get into the game, you know, what are they looking for in the gator department? You know what I mean? Or is it just moving so fast that it doesn't really matter?"
"It's all about storytelling, you know? Taking 'em on a journey. Let me ask you some basics. When you thrust, what's your range of motion, side-to-side?"
"Well, left... No, right-right."
"What about your testicles? Are they more or less symmetrical?"
"Size... yes, location... uh no."
"What about your persona?"
"What? Fireman or a cop?"
"I didn't ask you your character. Your persona. I'm a Wolf-Hawk. What are you?"
"I'm a warrior poet, man."
"That's it." Byro smiled happily at him, stroking his ant shaped mustache and gray goatee. He pulled out a card from his pocket and passed it to him. "Got a number for you to call."
"You ever hook up with the ladies?"
"It's ladies, like, one out of ten times at most."
Loke's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
"You're dancing for dudes?!"
"Well yeah, I'm dancing for dudes."
Back in the back of the bus, Daphne and Natsu continued in an uncomfortable silence. Natsu's mind was racing with a million different thoughts. The lack of communication was killing him.
"Daphne I'm sorry, okay?"
"Why are you apologizing?"
"You're so quiet. I get it. I'm probably not the man you thought I was and you're getting ready to run for the hills. I don't blame you."
"No, that's not what I'm thinking at all. I'm just a little... intimidated. I mean, when I met you I figured you were a ladies man. You're so good looking... and charismatic... I almost couldn't believe that you chose me. And that's kind of a big responsibility you know? I'm not as wild or out there as the kind of girls you used to mess with."
"I think that's why I like you so much," he said, bringing her head closer and planting a kiss in her hair. A small smile played on her lips.
"Honestly, to know that I'm sleeping with a guy who's so sweet and thoughtful but also with a dark and mysterious past... makes me that much more attracted to you. Plus, I'm eager for you to try some of those old tricks on me whenever we're alone again," she spoke alluringly into his ear, planting a kiss behind it, then another one underneath it, and another on his neck.
"Okay, that... is also why I like you so much..."
"Don't be ashamed of your past," she said hugging his torso. "Everyone's got embarrassing stuff. I mean, I have stuff that you don't know about."
He raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"As long as you don't lie to me about stuff, we'll be fine."
"Deal."
"Hey. So, I texted Tristan," Taurus said, coming to sit next to Lucy again. "He said he could get us into Plague."
"Oh, that's-that's... terrific?"
"Well, just you and me, of course... So uh, why don't you ditch that zero and get with the hero? The hero being me, of course."
"Oh... Uh... no."
"Come on, it'll be a fun time."
"No thank you..." she said trying to shrug his arm off of her again. Despite her best efforts, Taurus kept blatantly ogling her at point blank distance, and she couldn't get his arm off of her no matter how hard she tried. As a matter of fact, he scooted even closer, his breath reeking of alcohol.
"Okay Taurus! Just leave her alone man," Loke said, rushing in between Taurus and Lucy and yanking her up and away from him. He coaxed his roommate protectively behind his own trembling form as Taurus stood, towering over them. It caught the attention of people in the party, including Natsu and Gajeel. Taurus, noticing the inquisitive eyes on him, raised his hands as a form of surrender.
"Look Loke, your party is ass, bro."
"Hey!" Lucy said defensively from behind Loke.
"All right, you know what?" Loke said, beginning to get mad.
"Loke, this party... is the worst."
"Actually, this party is amazing," Natsu chimed in. "And don't act like I didn't see you over there eating all that damn charcuterie!"
"Yeah, you know what, snout nose?" Gajeel shouted. "If you hate this party so much, then why don't you just leave? No one's forcing you to stay here!"
"You guys suck," Taurus said as the four of them started to surround him.
"Let me talk to him for a sec," Daphne said from behind Natsu. She stepped up diplomatically from behind him. "I'm a lawyer. Hi. Why don't you just say that one more time?"
"What? That you guys suck?"
And with that, Daphne pulled out a martial arts move, striking him sharply between the eyes and once he covered his eyes, she grabbed him by the arm and flipped him on his back, causing the whole party bus to shake. The roommates all yelled in surprise.
"Oh!"
"Whoa!"
"Oh!"
Towards the end of the party, the ruckus on the bus caused two of the tires to go flat. It pulled over to the site and all of the guest irately had to call for rides home. Lucy delegated making sure everyone evacuated off of the bus okay as a bunch of stoned, drunk or double faded adults, stood around on a lonely highway in the cold night.
"I'm so sorry," Daphne said to Natsu once they were outside. She kept rubbing her arms for warmth.
"Just who are you?"
"Listen, I've got these... like, these anger management issues..."
"Anger management?"
"But I'm trying to fix it! I go to all these classes... They're court-ordered classes, but..."
"And what was, like, all this stuff you...?"
"It's martial arts. I started doing martial arts, ironically, because I thought it would give me a little bit more Zen in my life. You must be really freaked out right now."
"Yes, I am really freaked out. Why do all the lawyers I know have anger management problems?"
"I'm so sorry," she said again.
Natsu sighed. "You don't have to be. I've got this childhood friend, who recently got married a couple months ago, she's a lawyer too, anyways, she's literally got restraining orders out for crushing dudes' balls."
Daphne cringed. "You're telling me... I remind you of your old childhood friend who crushes people's balls?"
Natsu didn't realize how badly she could've taken the Erza comparison. In her defense though, any comparison to the red headed demon would be traumatizing to anybody. "Well, uh..."
"You guys sure you're cool waiting for the tow truck?" Gajeel asked. He, Natsu and Daphne hung around after all of the other party guests left the premises. Loke and Lucy sat dejectedly next to each other on the pavement.
"Yeah, it's fine," Lucy waved them off. "We'll see you guys back at the loft."
"Bye, guys," Loke said limply.
"Happy birthday," Daphne offered.
"Thank you. Bye, Daphne."
"Bye, Bro Juice."
"Thanks for that."
As they all left, wishing him happy birthday, cheering him on, he nudged his premier party planner.
"So... it's finally my birthday."
"Right now?"
"Right now," he said showing her his phone.
"Happy birthday, Loke," she said nudging his shoulder. She was wearing the outer jacket of Loke's suit for warmth, covering her entire frame.
"I'm 29, folks. What's up? 29! 29!"
After a few minutes of awkward silence, he turned to her again.
"Ummmmmm can you please not tell anybody I just did that? That feels embarrassing. Actually, you know what? I don't care what people think... Do you think I care too much about what people think, Luce?"
Lucy smiled and rubbed his thigh.
"Maybe a little bit sweetie."
"Maybe."
"Hey Loke... did you really have fun tonight? 'Cause I know tonight was a little bit... flawed."
"Lucy, are you kidding me? Tonight was... tens across the board. No splash."
Lucy smiled drowsily, her eyelids becoming heavy with sleep.
"Good."
"No. For real, Luce... Nobody's ever done that for me before."
She smiled drowsily at him. "Any time, Loke. Any time."
She took a pause, fighting off a head nod. "And thank you Loke... before I forget... for standing up to Taurus for me. I know it must not have been easy for you."
"Of course Luce... you don't need to thank me."
The two sat in sullen silence again. Her stared deeply into her eyes. It was times like this when Loke was really reminded that his weird roommate wasn't... unattractive by any means. Lucy started to feel awkward at his awestruck staring.
"Loke, why are you looking at me like that?"
Without answering, he leaned forward in an attempt to close the distance between their lips, closing his eyes and puckering, feeling like it was the right thing to do in that moment.
"Oh my..."
For a moment, she thought he was trying to do something else, but once it was clear he was going in for a kiss, Lucy leaned far away from him, and used his suit jacket to further shield herself.
"Oh... um..."
"Loke I can't believe you just..." Lucy started laughing in disbelief. "Oh my God..."
"Because you had... you know you had some fuzz on your face..."
"You should never that I would never..."
"You know I thought... piece of fuzz on..."
"...like never ever... in life..."
"You tried to kiss her?!"
Daphne cast Natsu a side glance at his reaction.
"Can you blame me?" Loke asked, looking at the accusatory glances of everyone in the living room. "I mean, she went through all that trouble to throw me a great party, got me a new party bus, dressed up like that... what was I supposed to think?!"
The room filled with exasperated groans and sounds of disgusted disapproval of Loke's actions as Loke looked at them all cluelessly.
"Uuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggggghhhhhh..."
"Douchebag..."
"You sound like such a douchebag man..."
Even Daphne was shaking her head. "That's exactly what a douchebag would say."
"She had some fuzz on her face! You know, I was just trying to... I just wanted to get it off..."
"Just put the $50 in the jar Loke," Natsu asserted.
"Damnit..." He cursed defeatedly, as he got up and fished in his wallet for the money, making his way over to the jar. Once he put the $50 in the jar, Lucy nodded satisfied.
"Happy birthday," Lucy called out to him as he retreated to his room.
"29!" he shouted in that faux deep voice.
"$10 more!" Natsu shouted.
A/N: And with that, the douchebag jar makes it's triumphant return! Second to probably only Gray, I thought the douchebag jar was the funniest bit from the first chapter.
Sap time. So I'm super grateful for all the favorites, followers, reviews and consistent reviewers I've received from every chapter of this story so far. The whole thing is such a cool feeling and I'm grateful there are people who really like what's been put up so far, and hope we all continue to enjoy the ride until its done. :)
Update: College is hard. I cried a lot when school first started because I honestly didn't want to come back. Even though I try not to spend too much time on this because I need to focus, every time I do work on this story, I'm transported away from my reality into this really fun, goofy world. It's stress relieving.
So another really busy chapter. Thoughts? The scenes with Gajeel at Super8 were totally inspired by another another sitcom, Superstore, (similar to how the songs in chapter 7 were from Community). I realize (in my opinion anyway) that this story works best when the roommates all have something to do. Gajeel didn't have much to do based on the episode, so I figured his new job subplot could earn him some smiles (or laughs) on its own. Also, that scene at the beginning of the chapter... whew. I considered putting another friendly reminder of the story's rating at the top, but since nothing really happened, I didn't think it was necessary. Rest assured, if this story does have any explicit scenes, or goes into heavier topics, I'll be sure to put up the appropriate warnings.
Big thanks to rao hyuga 18, samurai of sunflowers and queenuly14 for reviewing last chapter! I really appreciate you guys. Fun fact, samurai of sunflowers, I had to read your review twice to catch the whole Zeref needs a spanking part. YO XD! LMAO, I was literally laughing nonstop rereading it.
Until the next chapter; aptly titled: Luce and Daphne.