Wow. So... that was a bit of a break in writing. I am SO SORRY. Truly. Thank you all for your patience, going through all the wonderful reviews has helped me get off my arse and try to write again. It's been a while so here goes!
Again I'm so sorry, please don't hurt me. I will do my utmost to get back in the game, if I still have it in me, that is!
Big love to you all, and as always, I don't own Fairy Tail or any of the characters.
The inn, as they discovered, turned out to be more of a lavish hotel - a pleasant surprise, in Lucy's humble opinion. She had thought with a name like "The Harbour Inn", they would find a regular tavern with standard rooms.
The receptionist was welcoming and informed them the client had already arrived, patiently waiting at the bar located on the far end of the lobby. Lucy, not wanting to appear rude, decided to greet the client first before checking in to their rooms.
"If you wish, madam, we would be more than happy to set your room up now and have a porter bring your bags for you. They will provide you with the card keys in a moment."
Lucy blinked, taken aback by the high-class service offered. It had been a while since she received such refined treatment, and though she was never overly keen on the rich lifestyle, she certainly wasn't above making the most of it, either.
"That would be wonderful, thank you."
She motioned for Natsu to follow her, his awe at the place rather apparent, and giggled at the excitement.
She just hoped he contained it enough not to wreck anything during their stay.
The client in question was easy to pick out; he was the only person sat on a table by the bar. An elderly gentleman, flanked by a couple of bodyguards, awaited them with a gentle smile. Lucy observed him, wary as ever of leery, deceitful sharks such as those she met during her upbringing. His pristine grey suit was tasteful, not overly fancy but tailored well, Lucy without doubt recognised this was no cheap suit. Despite some natural greying streaks, his hair maintained a healthy shine of dark blonde and the man exuded a wistful charm with brown eyes so gentle, yet still possessing an intelligent gleam. There was something peculiar about him she could not name, an almost nostalgic and comforting charisma that had her at ease and somewhat pleased to know they could be of aid to him.
"Tatsugawa-san." She bowed, pushing Natsu's head down in compliance. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Lucy Heartfilia and this is Natsu Dragneel, we are the Fairy Tail mages sent to help with your request."
"A pleasure to meet you both, please take a seat. I thank you for accepting the job and welcome you to my establishment." He greeted them warmly, his voice, she noted, pleasantly soothe.
Natsu and Lucy both blinked at the last statement. "Eeeh, you mean you're the owner of this fancy schmancy hote- oomph!" Natsu choked off as Lucy shoved her elbow in his stomach. "What the hell was that for, Luce?"
She cleared her throat and pointedly ignored him, looking instead at Tatsugawa and smiled, apologetic. "Please forgive my partner's rudeness, sir."
The old man chuckled at the exchange and waved his hand. "None taken, my dear. Let me tell you about the job then, shall I?"
The mission in itself was simple. There were two ships arriving the next day which needed unloading and safe storing. The cargos contained valuable items which were to be presented at an event the day after where they will be required to attend for safety measures. It was to be an all-day auction; the proceeds of which were to help fund smaller villages struggling in their efforts to rebuild from the chaos of war.
Both mages approved of the charitable cause. Though years may have passed, the devastation wrought by the war against Alvarez was vast and many places had yet to fully recover. Fiore's queen, Hisui, had done much to restore as much of the land as possible, but even her resources could only reach so far.
"I am not the first to host such an event, which is where my main concern lies. It appears at the last auction there was an individual who disrupted the evening and stole an item of value. The culprit wasn't apprehended as he vanished on sight – evidence of a magic user. Unfortunately, the event ended then and there for security reasons." Tatsugawa explained.
"Many of the guests are VIPs, as I'm sure you can imagine. Due to the incident, all the guests were to leave with no further bids to place, which is why I had the unsold items sent to me in addition to what is already coming. That event failed and consequently not much was given to the cause."
"I understand Fairy Tail played a huge part in the war, hence why I reached out to your guild. The people need as much as they can get. I thought if there was anyone out there who could devote as much passion into the task, who better than the heroes of Fairy Tail?" He finished.
The celestial mage was touched by the display of concern for the people shown. Throughout her life Lucy had met many arrogant aristocrats who happily bathed in their riches without a single care for those they deemed beneath them. Nobility wasn't about the titles or ranks. In her books, to be noble was to have high moral principles.
It was refreshing to see such honesty and generosity in someone who clearly had a prestigious rank. It gave Lucy hope that there was goodness in the world.
Natsu leaned forward on his chair and made a fist-in-hand motion. "I ain't sure about the hero part, old man, but if it's to help the people then Fairy Tail members don't back down!" He announced proudly.
Lucy matched his fierce grin and nodded. "You can count on us, Tatsugawa-san. We will endeavour to do our best."
They watched as the man heaved a sigh of relief. "I am glad to hear that." He stood up to leave and bowed thankfully to the two before h im. "The ships aren't due to arrive until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, please make the most of your stay. My staff will ensure all your needs are taken care of until the mission is over."
Lucy bowed back and wished him a good evening, thanking him for his generosity, and no sooner had the client left their sight a hotel attendant came over to hand them their card keys.
"Come on, Luce! Let's go check out our room so we can explore the place." Natsu beamed.
Natsu understood the concept of luxury. In fact, he'd been privy to certain luxuries a few times in his life, not that it made much of a difference to him. As long as he had a roof over his head, fire and food in his belly, then he didn't see any need to grumble.
He wasn't past enjoying it though, and by the look of their room so far, Natsu had to admit he was impressed.
To say the room was nice would be a severe understatement – it was huge, similar to the guest suites at Crocus palace. There was a lounge complete with a sprawling leather sofa, plush rug and fifty-inch LV screen to one side, a personal desk on the other. They even had a private balcony behind the floor-to-ceiling windows.
He heard Lucy's small squeal from what he could only assume was the bathroom (he'll never understand her obsession for baths) and whistled in admiration once he got a look too. There was a power shower, with a bathtub built into the floor big enough for at least five people. Everything in marble and handcrafted tiles with golden taps. No wonder she was happy.
"Isn't this incredible, Natsu!" She gushed. "Let's head over to the bedroom!"
They opened the door leading to the main room only to gape in awe/horror.
Oh it looked nice alright… Ivory curtains softly draping over the windows which opened to the same balcony connected to the main lounge, beautiful ornate bedside tables, a personal boudoir, spacious walk-in wardrobe and a bed with pure white sheets.
A large, singular king-sized bed.
To share.
Between the two of them.
The sudden urge to facepalm at such a painfully ironic detail overwhelmed him.
It wasn't as though they had never shared a bed before (hell, he used to sneak into Lucy's bed at her apartment plenty) and generally if there was a sofa then they would take turns to swap. No, the issue now was the reminder of the conversation back at the market with the old merchant.
Natsu was still unsure about the new feelings it brought about, but whatever they were, the dragonslayer had a feeling being in the same bed wouldn't be a good idea.
Mentally groaning, he resigned himself to sleeping on the leather sofa (of course it just HAD to be leather) and to a night of sticky glory. He took one long look at the bed, cursing the inviting furniture before making his way back into the living room.
"Where are you going?" He heard Lucy call out.
"There's only one bed, so I'm taking the sofa." Natsu stated, leaving the room without further ado.
To say Lucy was thrown off guard was a slight understatement.
First, she really didn't expect their so-called room to be so lavish (amazing as it was).
Second, she didn't understand why there was only one bed (because surely if this was in the owner's budget why couldn't they have provided two beds?).
Third, Natsu never - in the history of ever – volunteered to take the sofa. Lucy had fully expected to call shotgun and kick him out with him whining or ignoring her and plomping himself on the bed immediately.
So what gave?
Not that she wasn't grateful. The mere thought of him tangled up in the same sheets now brought a plethora of trite, cringeworthy scenarios all ending indecently.
Curse Erza and her stupid books.
Perhaps Natsu graciously leaving her the bed was quite the relief.
And yet, Lucy couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She was enjoying his company, more so than she had anticipated. The lack of their usual teammates gave way to an intimacy Lucy tentatively wanted to explore. She didn't know what good would come from sharing the same bed, but for the first time since the soulmate debacle at the guild, the blond-haired mage wondered if it wouldn't be so bad an idea.
Especially after that time in her kitchen, back pressed against the counter and Natsu's body caging her in like a predator…
No, Lucy, get a grip!
Lucy shook her head clear of the image, cheeks flushed from her scandalous mind.
She glanced towards the door leading to the living room, then at the grand bed in front of her. A twinge of guilt coursed through her at the thought of Natsu sleeping on the leather sofa, knowing how uncomfortable the material made him. Lucy would have offered to swap but somehow knew Natsu would outright refuse.
Maybe she could ask for a different room?
Mind made up, Lucy took a seat on the bed and reached over for the telephone.
"Hello reception, my name is Mia, how can I help?"
"Oh, hi Mia, my name is Lucy Heartfilia, I was wondering if you could help me. We're all set up in the room and it's lovely, however I couldn't help but notice there is only one bed. Would there be any chance of changing to a room that has two beds please?" She asked.
"Ah, you are the mages sent for Tatsugawa-san, correct?"
Lucy frowned, confused as to what this had to do with her request. "Yes, that is correct."
"I see, yes, well… unfortunately we cannot change your room, Miss."
Baffled, but not wanting to sound rude, Lucy tried again. "Begging your pardon?"
"Um… one moment, please, I'll just pass you on to our manager."
"Wait!" She started, only to hear a tune indicating she had been put on hold. She huffed in bewilderment, not understanding the situation. Out of the corner of her eye, she found Natsu leaning against the doorway, head tilted in question at her – he must have heard her shout.
Still focused on the ring tone (because damnit she would get to the bottom of this), she placed her hand on the speaker and explained to him her intention. A look of surprise flitted across his face.
"Why? Don't you like the room?" He asked.
"Yeah, I do, but I don't want you to sleep on the sofa if I can help it." She replied distractedly.
She could see him open his mouth to retaliate but shushed him as someone (finally) came on the line.
"Miss Heartfilia, my apologies." She heard a man say. "I am the General Manager of this hotel, Tatsugawa-san has appointed me to your care. I believe you were looking to change your room; may I ask if there is an issue?"
"Yes, well, we were hoping to see if there is another room available with two beds instead?" Lucy pressed on.
"I'm afraid that isn't possible. We are fully booked due to the upcoming auction, however we made sure to reserve you the room according to the request made."
Well, that didn't make any sense to her.
"I'm not sure I understand, I did not make any prior requests."
An awkward silence fell, and she could almost sense a sudden discomfort.
"We received it the day you took the job, our notes specify for a couple's suite?"
A COUPLE'S SUITE?
Lucy's promptly broke out into a furious blush, grip tight on the receiver. "There must be a mistake!" She sputtered. "Who told you that?"
Another hesitant pause. "Our data shows the request came through from a Mirajane Strauss."
All at once her blood ran cold, followed by an intense heat of embarrassed rage.
That two-faced, meddling demon! Oh, Lucy could already picture her sickly-sweet smile. She desperately wanted to go back to the guild and unleash all the violence in the world on her. Or at least try to, anyway.
"Hello? Miss Heartfilia?"
"Yes, I'm here, sorry. And there's definitely no other room?" Lucy strained. She was positively fuming (wasn't there a universal girls' code against this fucking shit?), humiliation running deep.
"I'm very sorry Miss. If there are any changes or cancellations, then I will have you on the priority list." The manager offered, sincerely apologetic.
Heaving a great sigh, Lucy ran her hands through her hair in frustration and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. It wasn't his fault, she knew. Another long exhale later and she thanked him for his effort, hanging up the phone none too gently. Her body slumped forward in defeat, cheeks still burning in embarrassment.
How was she going to explain this to Natsu? She peaked over her shoulder towards him, eyebrows shot upwards at the sight of his abashed stance.
Oh Mavis, please no…
"So… couple's suite, huh?" He chuckled awkwardly.
Lucy groaned. "You heard that?"
Natsu tapped his ears. "Dragon hearing."
Of course. How could she forget. She pushed her face in her hands, hoping the floor could swallow her up whole.
His soft footsteps signalled his approach and she felt a dip on the bed next to her as he sat down. Warm fingers gently pried her hands away, but Lucy couldn't bring herself to look at him.
"Hey," he called out softly. "Come on, Luce, it's not that bad."
She opted to plop her head on his shoulders to save face and sighed as he wrapped one arm around her. She basked in his comforting scent, a woodsy mix of campfire and earth, her embarrassment slightly abating. "Sorry, Natsu."
"What're you sorry for? Mira's clearly on another one of her matchmaking crazes. Can't really fault you for that now, can I?" He pointed out.
Lucy lifted her head at that. "You know about her matchmaking obsession?"
Natsu snorted. "Give me some credit, would ya? It's hard to miss when she gets in those moods. She's almost as bad as Juvia around the ice-prick - who do you think gave her the idea of a love potion?"
Both shuddered at the memory of the calamitous episode.
"Besides," he added, "I don't know about you but we now have a kick-ass suite at an awesome hotel, so let's just make the most of it!"
Lucy giggled. Trust Natsu to stick to the positives. Feeling lighter, Lucy got up with a stretch and returned his grin. To be fair, it was a pretty awesome deal they got, so maybe she'd consider thanking Mira.
"True. Why don't we go check out the restaurant first? I'm getting a bit peckish." She moved towards the door as Natsu whooped behind her in excitement, not that she was surprised.
As if a lightbulb went off in her head, she threw a mischievous grin his way.
"And maybe while we eat, we can come up with a well-deserved prank for Mira." She suggested wickedly.
Natsu raised an eyebrow and cackled at her plan.
"Now, we're talking - I'm all fired up!"
Tadaaa, hope you liked it! As I mentioned, it's been a hot while, would really appreciate constructive feedback! Also I know the whole one room trope is beyond predictable but it was so much fun I couldn't help it I swear! xx