#and lucy gray was falling apart because she was so scared

[crazyexshipper]

[vannahfanfics]

Request: GrayLu; "Life in Every Breath" from Lucy's POV

Hey, Anon, thank you for waiting patiently! Here it is!

Beat of Life

Alternatum to Heartbeat and Life in Every Breath

Lucy swallowed thickly as she stared down at the heavy leather-bound tome in her lap— the Book of E.N.D. Natsu’s life was tied to this strange book, she considered as she brushed her hand over its uneven, rune-carved surface. Her hand was just as marred, littered with scrapes and bruises accumulated through the conflict with Zeref and his armor. Second by second, they were inching closer to the climax, and Lucy could not let it end with Natsu’s death. 

Gray’s breath puffed in her as he leaned over her shoulder, drinking in the book with just as much apprehension and awe. He’d calmed down after his attempt to destroy the book, thankfully, but the fact that they’d come so close to just snuffing out Natsu’s existence made anxiety churn in her belly. Or maybe it was the fact that Gray was so close, his cheek brushing against hers as he leaned in to get a closer look. She couldn’t think about that now; she had to focus. 

“I’m going to open it now,” she murmured, but her fingers trembled along the hardcover of the book. She had to in order to save Natsu’s life, but she had no idea what was ahead. However, she set her expression into a determined frown; she couldn’t be scared! Her best friend’s life was on the line! Whatever would come, Gray was right there to support her, and he iterated that by gently bumping his chest with her back and whispering, “You got this, Lucy. Let’s save Natsu.” 

Before she could change her mind, she flipped the book open. For the briefest of seconds, it seemed like the world took a deep breath in anticipation. The wind died, the discarded leaves finding respite on the cracked cobblestone; even the clouds seemed to freeze, ceasing their endless drift across the heavens. The world and everything in it was in limbo. And then, that breath was released. 

Light exploded from the book with a shrieking roar, along with a great buffeting gale that had Lucy’s golden hair flapping around her face. One of her pigtails whipped back to smack Gray across the cheek, based on his pained grunt. Then, to her amazement, the characters inked upon the age pages began to move. As if carried by the gales springing from within, they danced into the open air, swirling upwards to form great, circling, interlocked chains of words. 

“What are they?” Gray whispered in her ear. Lucy’s mouth hung open as she gazed at them, struggled to make sense of the moving and shifting characters. Gradually, the text came into focus— the Book of E.N.D., of course!

“They’re all about Natsu,” she whispered, squinting as she studied the words more deeply. Surely, these strange sentences contained a hint on how to save him! She leaned forward in her concentration, scanning and scanning and scanning, until— 

She screamed as the world heaved underneath them. The book snapped shut as it was flung from Lucy’s lap, causing the words to dissolve into the dust clouds now filling the air. As she tumbled into the air too, she reached for it, desperate not to lose the one lifeline she had to Natsu’s life. She gasped when she felt Gray’s arms wind around her waist, and then his broad, muscled chest was pressed against hers. She didn’t even have time to be embarrassed about it before they crashed back to earth. Gray groaned as his bare skin met the rough cobblestone of the street, but he had spared Lucy such an unforgiving landing; embraced by him, she just flopped into his body, and stayed there until the world finally stopped rumbling and shuddering. 

“What was that?” complained Happy, who was rubbing his head while he lay sprawled out on his belly next to them. Gray was leaning his head back, eyebrows furrowed as he gazed in the direction of the guild. 

“I’m assuming it’s Natsu, since it’s coming from where he’s fighting Zeref,” he predicted. Once the aftershocks had faded, he loosened his grip on her. Despite his help, a dull ache pounded in her head from being jostled about, so she pressed her palm to the side of her head with a small groan. When she finally regained her wits, she gasped in alarm— had she really seen something that terrible in the text? Gray yelped when she kneed him in the stomach in her attempt to crawl off of him, shambling on her hands and knees back to the book. 

Once more, she flipped it open. The words spilled out into the open air— and her worst fears were confirmed. One by one, characters were popping out of existence. 

“Lucy, what’s happening?” Gray demanded, crawling up behind her. Lucy watched with wide, tearful eyes as more characters disappeared. No! This couldn’t happen! It couldn’t end like this!

“Natsu’s hurt really bad!” she cried, and she heard Gray suck in a breath. She had to do something, anything! Just as Gray sat behind her again, she fished her magic pen out of her pocket and sucked in a breath. She didn’t know if this would work, but she had to try. Their friend’s life was at stake! She held up the pen, like a director poised to conduct a symphony— the symphony of Natsu’s entire existence. “If I rewrite the missing characters, I should be able to save him,” she asserted. Even from that mere glimpse, she thought she knew what was missing— so, one by one, she began to scrawl them in the air. 

She could feel Gray tense behind her, and she glanced down to see his fists balled up by his sides. He could only watch as his friend’s life ebbed away, and she battled to save it. It must be maddening, she thought. She wished she could comfort him somehow, and so she tried to reach out to brush his leg, just to show that she knew his pain— 

Suddenly, it felt like fire surged through her veins. It tore an anguished scream from her throat, arching her back and freezing her in the middle of writing. She’d never felt such pain; it felt like she was being torn apart from the inside out. Her teary eyes drifted to her hand, where she was alarmed to find tendrils of dark red-orange magic dying her skin and slowly snaking up her arm. 

“Lucy!” Gray exclaimed, and she could only respond with an agonized groan. Oh, it hurt, it hurt. Her body trembled violently, rattling her teeth in her skull like she was freezing, but in reality she was burning, she was on fire. Gray put a hand on the small of her back to steady her quaking body, but it sent more flares of pain through her sensitized nerves, causing her to his. 

“M-my body,” she whimpered. “It’s so hot, I’m burning!” With another painful spike of pain she collapsed, curling on her side into Gray. It hurt to touch him, to feel the sweat smearing between her flushed skin and his own, but she also felt comforted by his presence. Moaning, she pressed against him, trying to leech as much of that comfort as she could to chase the godawful torment away. 

“It must be a rebound!” she heard Happy cry. “Natsu’s magic is overtaking her body!” Gray’s hands fluttered over her skin, afraid to touch her because she whined each time the pads of his fingers hit her searing skin. She still crooned and looked up at him with weary eyes as he brushed a few sweat-slicked strands of blonde hair from her face. 

“It’s okay, Lucy, you’ve done enough,” he said and reached for the magic pen, which she still clutched in her hand. She clenched her teeth tightly; she couldn’t give up just because of a little pain! She forced herself to grab onto Gray’s shoulder and hoist herself up, though it felt like all the muscle fibers in her body ripped in doing so. “Hey! Don’t overexert yourself!” Gray ordered, but she just lifted the pen again with a few heavy pants.

“I can do this!” she said, mostly to convince herself. “If I just finish re-writing this section, then I can change Natsu’s fate.” Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced herself through the almost insurmountable task of twirling the pen through the air again, scrawling out the characters that would save Natsu from certain death. 

She gasped when a sudden coolness spread over her body, and she looked back to see Gray generated a swirling, icy wind behind her. He gave her a reassuring smile and said, “Got it. Let’s save our idiot, Lucy.” 

As the chill spread through her system and kept the fiery poison at bay, Lucy felt herself relaxing, melting back against him a bit; however, with every minute that passed, the strange black magic tendrils crawled further and further up her body. She sucked in a breath when she felt it spreading across her chest, the spines invading her nerves to feel like it was wrapping around her heart and squeezing tight. She fought through the pain, one eye screwed shut and her teeth clenched. Just a little more…!

Just as her vision began to swim before her eyes, she wrote in the last character. She slumped forward with a wheeze, her arms falling limp; her hand didn’t even have the strength to hold the pen anymore, so it rolled across the cobblestone before settling next to Happy’s paws. 

“I did it… It’s done…” she wheezed between ragged breaths. The text spiraled back down into the pages, settling within the ink, before the book flipped shut. As she pawed at her heart, digging her fingers into her skin to try and pry out the magic instinctively, she looked up to see the book fading away. Tears bloomed in Lucy’s eyes. Did it work? Or was she too late?

“Lucy?” Gray asked, and she turned her face into his chest to avoid the question. 

“I don’t know,” she admitted weakly. “I did everything I could…” Still, it felt like even that had not been enough, and she whimpered as she pressed into Gray for comfort. She needed him now, more than she’d ever needed anything before, it felt like. Tutting soothingly, Gray gently guided her so her back was resting against his chest and her head was tilted back over his shoulder, her crimped and sweaty strands of blonde hair falling over her face. 

“You did great,” he assured her in a soft whisper and brushed her hair away with tender touches. She managed a tired, serene smile just as the book faded into nothingness. Her eyes fluttered as she stared up at the blue, blue sky and the clouds drifting within. Gradually, he graze was drawn to Gray, to the chiseled line of his jaw and his messy blue-black hair and his glinting ice-chip eyes. As the sun streamed down and fell into his hair like strings of ice water, she marveled at how handsome he was, how handsome he’d always been to her. 

She thought then of all they’d been through together, and how he was here with her now, holding her so close with his hand digging into her hip like he never wanted to let her go, and she realized it. 

She wanted to tell him, but all that came out was a strained gurgling noise— that’s because her heart had suddenly convulsed in her chest, driving all the air from her body. Her hands snapped to her sternum, pushing down like she could force her heart to start beating again, but her consciousness was already slipping. No, she thought weakly as the darkness encroached upon the edges of her vision. She could dimly hear Gray calling her name, or maybe she was imagining it? She wasn’t sure. 

No, she thought again as she slipped into the blackness. I wanted to tell him that I…

Emptiness. A void. Where was she going? Where had she been? She looked around with a lidded gaze into the nothingness, and had the strangest sensation of being called home. Was that her mother’s voice? Her father’s, too? Were they together, and had they resolved their differences? She longed to go toward them, she realized as she stretched out her hand toward the gleaming light taking shape before her. And yet… And yet… Something held her back. 

“Come on!”

Whose voice was that?

“Come on!”

It sounded familiar. 

“Come on!”

Gray? That was his name. She felt a warm, bubbly feeling rise up within her as the image of a handsome dark-haired man took shape in her mind. Gray… She loved him, yes, she did. She couldn’t go yet, even though she longed to look upon her mother’s face. She still had so much yet to do, so much yet to say… to him. 

“Come on, Lucy! Don’t die!”

“I’m coming,” she tried to say, but there was no sound in this endless void. So, she turned away from the light and started running, starting searching for him in the dark. His voice echoed all around her, but yet she had the feeling of getting closer, closer, closer…

“I love you, Lucy! Please don’t leave me!”

Light exploded all around her, and then she was on her back, heaving for breath while the azure sky blazed above her. And then Gray was there, hauling her up, whispering her name as he hugged her tight enough to crush her heart all over again. Her sternum burned from where he’d been frantically compressing it, but she was alive. She was alive. He was sobbing into her golden hair, and she managed enough strength to shakily tug at the black tufts at the base of his neck. 

“Gray,” she managed hoarsely. “Gray, I’m okay… I’m okay…” His trembling hand came to her neck to feel the blood pulsing through her carotid, and she felt him melt against her. She felt tears flood her eyes at the desperate gesture, and they carved through the layer of dirt and sweat on her cheeks. He pulled back to look at her with broken eyes and an equally broken laugh, then started touching her face like he wanted to commit it to memory. 

He swept a fingertip down her cheek, over her jawline, and then swiped a thumb gently over her lip. Lucy parted her mouth ever-so-slightly, the softness of her lips embracing the pad of his finger, and blinked expectantly. 

He jerked her forward to kiss her passionately, hungrily, desperately. She fell against him as what little breath she had recovered was stolen away, and every time she fought for a gasp of air, her chest brushed over his. She tangled her fingers into the messy strands of his hair while his snuck to her waist, fixing her place while he pushed the kiss impossibly deeper. Lucy felt like he was drinking her up, savoring everything she was to make himself whole, and she would let him because she was doing just the same. When they finally broke apart they both sucked in deep breaths, then stared into one another’s eyes like they were meeting for the first time. 

“I love you, Lucy,” he murmured with another caress of her face, and despite everything, she blushed. 

“I love you too, Gray.” 

He pulled her into another hug, and they both buried their faces into each other’s necks. As she pressed the tip of her nose against his jugular, she could feel the pulse beneath. Bump-bump-bump-bump: the beat of life, of love, of passion. It was such a beautiful sound, she considered for the first time. And she wanted to hear it every day forever. 

And as Gray whispered once again that he loved her while pressing sweet kisses into her skin, she had no doubt that she would.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

[rebelwrites]

Chapter Twenty Five: Girls Night In Lola

As this is an original fic it is hard to tag, so I’d really appreciate it is you reblogged and shared with your friends and followers 🖤 and if you reblog with comments I will love you forever

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Falling For Red Masterlist

This Months Writing

The feeling of home made my head spin, not only around Grayson but around his sister and niece. It was the same feeling I got around the boys. And with spending the afternoon with them the feeling just got stronger. Every time Grayson tried to get cuddles with Lucy she would tell him no and didn’t leave my side. Which made my heart melt.

I didn’t know why I let her call me Lola. But as soon as I looked into the brown eyes I couldn’t say no. Maybe this was what I needed to try and fight that demon. Having someone call me Lola, someone that didn’t know the horrific past I had or the fact I kill for a living.

Currently me and Lucy were cuddled up on the love seat, a blanket wrapped around us whilst we watched whatever film she had chosen. It was the first time this week, well apart from being in Grays arms this morning, that I was relaxed, the demons were at bay for now. But part of me knew that was because Grayson was sitting in the next seat next to me.

“Are you Uncle Grayson’s girlfriend?” Lucy asked, looking at me. I couldn’t help but laugh as Grayson spat his drink out. None of us were expecting her to ask the question.

“No darling we are just friends” I nodded but didn’t miss the flash of sadness in Gray's blue eyes. “He is helping me through some things”

“That’s a shame” Lucy sighed dramatically “you are cool”

“That won’t stop me coming round to see you” I laughed tapping her nose.

“Right little monkey” Harper smirked picking Lucy up “time to get you ready for your date”

“Uncle Gray needs to get ready too” she pouted looking at Grayson who was still sitting on the sofa drinking his coffee.

“I’m going Princess” he smirked as he left the room.

“Can Lola help me get ready?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah I don’t see why not” Harper said smiling at me. “But it’s up to Red”

“I don’t have anything better to do” I chuckled, pushing myself to my feet.

As soon as I was upright Lucy grabbed my hand, dragging me through the house to her room. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling, a five year old was making me so happy, I honestly missed being that age, well no I didn’t because of my so called parents but I longed to feel carefree, not have any worries and get excited over the little things in life. Her room was what every little girl dreamed off, unicorns everywhere and so much pink.

“So what are you wearing?” I asked sitting on the edge of her bed.

“Something sparkly” She grinned pulling out one of her princess dresses.

“That is beautiful,” I gasped, placing my hand over my heart, as Harper walked into the room.

After about half an hour she was ready to go and was just waiting for Grayson now, my heart literally melted at the thought of him doing this, the bond he had with her was immense. He was her favourite person, I couldn’t help it as I started daydreaming about what he would be like with a child of his own. Our child.

Whoa girl slow down, I thought to myself, why was I having these thoughts? Why did I feel safe around him? Was I falling for him?

The moment he walked down the stairs, I swear my heart stopped. I just hoped I didn’t have heart eyes right now. His black suit trousers clung to his ass perfectly, paired with his crisp white fitted shirt, the sleeves rolled up showing off his tattoos. My mouth was watering at the sight and my whole body was tingling.

“You okay there Red?” He smirked standing in front of me.

“Urm ye- yeah” I stumbled over my words mentally cursing myself.

“Sorry I can’t drop you off at home” he whispered brushing my cheek with his knuckles, the moment he connected sparks shot through my body.

“It’s okay” I nodded “I can get one of the lads to pick me up” Before he could speak Lucy tapped my hand, a huge grin on her face.

“Are you going to be here when I get back?” She asked, her eyes full of hope.

“Urm I-”

“Yes baby she is” Harper grinned throwing her arm around my shoulder “we are going to have our own girls night”

“We are?”

“Yes we are and I am not taking no for an answer” She smirked glancing between me and Grayson “I know you need it. And I want to get to know you better as I have a feeling you are going to be around here a lot”

I wasn’t used to this, I didn’t have female friends so never had girls nights. I was more takeaway, beer and normally Call of Duty or whatever game the lads were playing, not takeaway, wine and talking. This was extremely out of my comfort zone. But I had no choice in whether I stayed or not.

“So I don’t think I have ever seen Gray so worried as I did” She said softly.

“He was worried?” I asked, raising my brow at her.

“One hundred percent” she nodded “He completely smashed his office up, I honestly thought I was going to have to sedate him or something. He cares about you so much Red”

“I guess I’m just not used to it” I sighed “I mean I have my boys, it’s just been the five of us for as long as I can remember, but it seems my circle it's getting better and I don’t know it kind of scares me a bit”

“That's a good thing though” she smiled “I can imagine it is hard making friends with your line of work”

“Tell me about it, all our neighbours think I’m training to be a professional boxer. It’s the only thing that fit when I come home black and blue and covered in blood” I half laughed, as I thought about my life, a life I didn’t know I wanted any more.

“I am sorry about Lucy, with the whole name thing”

“Honestly it’s fine” I nodded “She just took me by surprise, but I can’t exactly flip out at a five year old. I mean the last person who called me Lola ended up with a butcher’s knife jammed in their thigh”

“You really hate being called that don’t you?” She asked softly.

“Yeah, it just brings up bad memories for me and reminds me of a time where I was weak”

“I’m sorry” she sighed, “changing the subject, what is going on between you and my brother?”

“I don’t know. Like I literally hated him when I first met him, thought he was an arrogant asshole to tell you the truth but now” I said taking a deep breath, fiddling with the sleeves of my hoodie as I felt Harper’s gaze on me, a huge smile on her face “I am not sure, like he makes me feel different, I haven’t felt like this before, he makes me feel safe and that scares me”

@chibsytelford @everyhowlmarksthedead @talicat713 @little-diable @band--psycho @mrsmarvelous1995 @pancakeisreading

[thatweeboverthereisthirsty]

Hi, I hope your doing okay😊, Could you write sfw and nsfw headcanons whole team natsu in a relationship with a fem s/o? Thank you!

Hi there! Sorry this one took me so long I had a hard time with the SFW headcanons. The NSFW ones are a bit longer hope you don’t mind. Also like my last poly team natsu post this one sort of left out wendy just cause she’s a kid.

SFW:

- So you never once thought that you would be able to manage getting one partner not to mention 4! Yes honey that's correct, 4! Gray, Natsu, Erza, and Lucy. And dear Celestial King did you love them.

- You go on all together dates, then sometimes threesome dates or just one on ones. But you were all together and very happy!

- All 5 of you being in a relationship sometimes made things just a little more complex. For instance anniversaries. You all had one anniversary together and then a one on one anniversary. Your individual anniversaries usually happened on days where something special happened in your bond with each other.

- When you went on dates with all 4 of them they might take you to see fireworks or on a picnic or to do something as a group. When you just went with one or two of them it ranged depending on who it was picking the activity.

- Lucy liked calm dates to a coffee shop or on a walk around the city to shop. She was into lowkey things because her chaotic life in Fairytail left her very little time to be chill. You guys would often read together or cook and eat a homemeal. If you wanted quiet time she was the person to go to (although Natsu regularly interrupted your fun).

- Erza was somewhat laid back with her approaches of dating. She had these visions of what a perfect romantic day would consist of almost like a little girl dreaming of her future. You found it adorable… until she started beating up people for ruining her picnic. She often took you to dinner at fancy restaurants and to festivals in town where she would buy way too much stuff. If you guys stayed home you would probably try on her armor cause she insisted you looked amazing in it. Training dates too where she would teach you to use all sorts of swords.

- Gray wasn’t really the ‘take you out on a date’ type he was more of a ‘spontaneous hang out’ person. He’d probably show up in your apartment claiming he was bored and no one else was around and play a board game with you. Sometimes he would be waiting for you outside so you could walk to the guild together. He wasn’t interested in setting up a time and getting all dressed up just to see someone who you’ve already seen in sweats and a stained t-shirt a thousand times. But occasionally on special occasions like individual anniversary days he would take you dancing in a nice setting or to a fancy dinner where he bought you a dress the day before hand and slipped a bracelet on your wrist when you arrived. 

- Natsu was the most adventurous with dates so far. He wanted to go on a job as a date then get dinner at some crazy all you can eat buffet afterwards. Or you guys would climb a mountain to find some crazy creature just so he could fight it. He took you out to eat a lot but it was mostly a lot of him stuffing his face and you talking about whatever you're interested in. He was a surprisingly good listener when he eats. Sometimes dates would be chill and calm like when he and Happy go fishing while you lean on his back and fall asleep. Speaking of Happy, the little blue cat usually accompanied you guys on your dates but when you went home he flew off to spend time with Carla or Lucy. At home you guys would probably talk, sleep, he would make a mess and be his general upbeat self.

- You weren’t the strongest wizard alive and you certainly couldn’t beat your lovers but you could usually hold your own in a fight. Not that your baes would want you in a fight. The four of them happen to be extremely protective, with you and each other. So expect to get very little action time. They’re just so scared to lose you or that you’ll get hurt. Sometimes it's kinda funny but at the same time you don’t want to be treated like just some kid that can’t defend themselves so at the very least they could let you fight your own battles. They agree that you should be able to fight for yourself and even offer to help you train. It’s been a while since that ridiculous protective mode kicked in for any of them (and you) but if you or one of them were to get hurt then it would be the end of times for whoever caused it. (ok not really but there would be repercussions). 

Spicy time ;)

NSFW:

- Sometimes a fivesome is a bit too much to deal with so you often break off into groups of two or three.

- When having sex with Natsu he likes to make it fun and often likes to singe your sheets a bit, liking how the smell of smoke mixes with your own. His heightened sense of smell makes it all the more fun since he can literally smell when you like something and just how much. He’s always gonna find the sweetest spots on your body and it’s a guarantee that you’re going to cum more than once. He wants to exhaust you. Natsu loves the afterglow and finds that lying with you afterwards completely at ease is his favorite part of the whole experience. 

- Kink wise he’s probably into praising you as you ‘take control’. Natsu’s not really the type to be into harsher play, he’s seen his friends hurt enough and wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he was the one to seriously hurt them. An exception would probably be bruises in the shapes of his hands right around your hips. Instead of being extra rough and kinky he switches things up a bit by letting you take the reins. Although if you tease him too much or he gets the feeling that you're forgetting who's really in charge he’ll quickly flip things around and remind you that he’s the top in the relationship.

- Grey is different in the way that he doesn’t mind if you get mouthy or tease him a little. He finds it entertaining when you're on top since you're so submissive like when you're out of bed and he could easily take control. So he has no problem laying back and letting you ride or suck him and chase your own pleasure however you please. But his favorite way to have you is with you on your hands and knees as he fucks you fast and hard. 

- For gray’s kinks I imagine that he’d be pretty kinky, but only for some things. Gray would probably be into being tied up and trying to break free. He would also love it if you choked on his dick and it would especially turn him on when there are tears of pleasure and overstimulation in your eyes. He likes to be edged and edge you for hours till either of you finally get your release. 

- Erza is actually soft when it comes to sex which she prefers to call it making love. She believes that it’s an opportunity to be intimate and close, to be vulnerable and expose yourself to another. It’s a high form of respect and she wants to treat you with respect. Slow sensual kissing, comforting massages that turn into more, slow grinds and hands everywhere. Having sex with Erza isn’t about kinks or doing a quickie, it’s all about you. Erza wants to worship you in every way possible and occasionally she’ll let you worship her too.

- Lucy on the other hand can go either way. Sex can be calm and sweet and meaningful, or it can be fast and rough and simply about pleasure. She can be a top or a bottom depending on the situation. With slow sex she likes to top because it really gives her a chance to show how much she loves you. When it’s rough though she could top but really actually likes being a bottom.

- This girl is kinky af! She’s into just about everything with some probably obvious exceptions. Bondage? Absolutely! Tie her up, bend her into different positions, overstimulate her to the point of tears. Public? Sure. Although she probably wouldn’t do it on a stage, a quick closet session where you’d have to hold your hands over your mouths to keep quiet would be thrilling. Toys? Yes! She will wear a collar for you and she will also sit at the guild all day with a toy in her. Her favorite kink though? Degradation/dirty talk. Pretty sure that has a bit of voice kink mixed in but it doesn’t really matter since she’s crying out as she cums anyway. She wants to be called a dirty slut as you pull her hair and finger her. She wants you to whisper all the things you’ll do to her in her ear. She can’t help but love the fierceness in your tone and the fake hardness in your eyes.

- All together sex is usually more fun but also super overstimulating since your all receiving several people's attention at once. You can’t bring yourself to mind however as you always feel satisfied in the end. When it’s all five of you together it’s usually just vanilla sex but occasionally some dirty stuff slips under the radar. You usually act as a bottom/switch in these occasions only ever really conscious enough to find pleasure for yourself. The rest is just a haze of bliss that comes then takes forever to leave when you're done (not that you mind however).

- Aftercare is very important to all of them and is crucial for all types of sex. They simply won’t allow you to sleep on sticky sheets or covered in cum. Most of the time you’re to out of it to really care but once they come to they move you to the (large enough to fit 5 people *wink* *wink*) bathtub for a nice relaxing bath while they change the sheets. They then often join you and cuddle until drying off and making your way back to the fresh bed.

[splendidlyimperfect]

we are unbreakable - chapter 16 [a surprise visit]

It’s been thirteen years since Natsu and Gray met in a program for troubled youth - since they both fell apart and helped put each other back together. Now they’re married and happy, loving each other and the shared family they found. But the past doesn’t always stay past, and when the things that broke them come back into their lives, Natsu and Gray have difficult decisions to make - ones that could change their lives forever.

Chapter Summary: Gray visits Neelan in rehab.

Chapters (16/?): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 Rating: Mature Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe, Laxus Dreyar/Freed Justine Characters: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Rogue Cheney, Sting Eucliffe, Freed Justine, Laxus Dreyar, Wendy Marvell, Chelia Blendy, Ultear Milkovich, Lyon Vastia, Lucy Heartfilia, Cana Alberona, Original Characters, Original Child Character(s) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Aged-Up Character(s), Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Married Couple, Established Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Drug Addiction, Mental Health Issues, Foster Care, Family Issues, Grief/Mourning, Childhood Trauma, Bipolar Disorder, Adoption, Families of Choice, Nonbinary Character, Trans Character, Genderfluid Character, Forgiveness, Absent Parents, they're really in love but are sometimes dumb, Natsu is a stubborn shit Series: Part 15 of the only hope for me is you, Part 3 of if you jump i'll break your fall

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Sunshine Health Recovery Center looked more like a luxury condo than the hospital Gray had been expecting. It was a long, squat building with brick siding and floor-to-ceiling windows, and the gravel parking lot out front had a path leading down to the beach. The ocean lapped against the sand under a bright blue sky, and it calmed some of Gray’s nerves as he parked the car and turned off the engine.  

He glanced down at his phone, smiling at the lock screen photo. Natsu had changed it a while back to a picture of the two of them at the top of La Grande Roue on their anniversary. Gray was smiling at the camera, but Natsu wasn’t looking, instead kissing Gray on the cheek.

A text from Natsu popped up on the screen and Gray swiped it open. It was a selfie of Noah and Natsu at the playground, both sticking out their tongues that were bright purple from the popsicles they were eating.

Natsu [13:47] love you snowflake, call me when ur done ok? kick my dad in the shins if hes an asshole. noah says hi and hugs & kisses xoxo

Gray smiled, sending back a quick love you, too before putting his phone back into his pocket and opening the car door. He stood and stretched, inhaling the familiar scent of salt and sand. Then he turned to stare at the front door of the building and the letters painted above it in a bright, cheery yellow.

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then headed inside.

“You must be Gray!” The woman at the front desk – Rebecca, Gray assumed – gave him a cheery smile when he walked up. “I’ll just get you to sign in here, Neelan’s down in the common room.”

The hallway past the admin desk led to a large, open area filled with chairs, couches, and tables covered in books and board games. Neelan was sitting at one of the tables, rolling a stress ball between his hands. Gray hesitated, hovering by the door and watching him. It was so easy to see Natsu in him – they had the same eyes. Eventually Gray took a deep breath, then made his way across the room and slid into the chair across from Neelan.

“Hey.”

Neelan looked up, eyes widening in surprise, and the ball rolled away from him and bounced to the floor. Gray leaned down and picked it up, turning it in his fingers a few times.

“What are you doin’ here?” Neelan’s voice was rough, and he looked down at the table, scratching at an invisible mark in the wood.

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Gray admitted. “I got your call.” He rolled the ball across the table and Neelan caught it before it bounced away again. An awkward, charged silence hung between them. Neelan looked up at Gray eventually, eyes filled with regret.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.”

“Is Natsu…?” Neelan trailed off, picking at his fingernails as he glanced over Gray’s shoulder.

Gray shook his head. “He’s not ready to see you right now.”

Neelan nodded, face tight and eyes downcast. “Why are you here, then?”

Gray ran his hand through his hair, looking pensively at Neelan and trying to figure out what to say.

“I was in court a couple days ago,” he said eventually. “At a parole hearing for my brother. He’s been in jail for fourteen years.”

“What’d he do?” Neelan asked.

“Drugs,” Gray replied. Neelan winced, squeezing the ball tightly between his hands. “He made a lot of mistakes,” Gray continued. “Hurt me really badly. Almost killed me, actually.” Gray could see Neelan searching him for signs of what had happened, and he shook his head. “It’s a long story and I don’t want to get into it. But when I saw him in court…”

He paused, looking around the room. It was empty except for them and one of the staff who was sitting at a table near the door. The large window on the other side of the room looked out onto a small garden, and as Gray watched, a flock of sparrows burst from one of the trees and took off into the sky.

“I forgave him,” Gray said. Neelan frowned. “It took me a really long time to see that what he did happened because he was in a lot of pain. It was awful, and it hurt like hell, but it doesn’t mean he’s a monster.” Gray looked straight at Neelan and added, “And neither are you.”

Neelan dropped his face into his hands and took a shaky breath. The gesture was so familiar – so Natsu – that it almost hurt.

“I didn’t want to be right about you,” Gray said softly. “All I’ve ever wanted is for Natsu to be happy, and he missed you so much. He just wanted his dad in his life.” Gray nudged Neelan’s foot under the table. “What happened?”

Neelan sighed, rubbing his eyes and staring at the table. “I didn’t know Becca was pregnant until she went into labor and called me,” he said. “We weren’t together. And then after Natsu was born, it was just… she couldn’t be a mother. She tried on and off for a couple years, but it was too much. She ended up leaving town with some new guy, OD’d after a while.” Neelan chewed his lip and looked up at Gray. “You ever heard a baby cry that’s coming off meth? It’s the most heartbreaking sound. Natsu—fuck, he was so little. He’d have fit in my hand when he was born.”

“He had these seizures ‘til he was ‘bout six months old,” Neelan continued. “Scared the shit out of me. I thought he was gonna die, and… I mean, I never wanted a kid. My dad was a piece of shit and I thought I’d turn out like him. But the first time I held my son, I wanted to be better. For him.”

Gray thought of the picture of Neelan in the hospital, looking down at baby Natsu with eyes full of love. “So why did you leave?” he asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

“I wish I could give you a good answer,” Neelan said sadly. “I tried; I really did. I visited him all the time. We read books together and he loved it, and he’d sit on my lap and laugh, and it made me feel like the most important person in the world. The foster parents always told me what a hellion he was, but I didn’t care. He was mine and I loved him so much.”

Neelan’s wistful smile disappeared as he looked up at Gray with a heartbroken expression. “I just couldn’t be who he needed,” he said. “When it was good – god, it was perfect, and I was sure he was gonna come home with me, and we’d be a family together. But then it got low, and I couldn’t – I wasn’t safe. Didn’t know how to deal, and drugs made it easy, and then…”

He trailed off and Gray’s heart twisted as the pieces fell into place. He studied Neelan for a moment, then said, “Natsu has it, too.”

Neelan’s eyes widened. “You mean…”

“Bipolar disorder.”

Neelan swore. “Of all the things he could’a got from me, had to be that.”

Gray nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s been really, really hard for him. He hesitated, then added, “And for me.”

Neelan’s expression made Gray feel like he was back in the hospital with Natsu, the year after they’d gotten married and Natsu had relapsed, hard. It was the eyes – they both had the same dark, scared, uncertain look.

“I love Natsu more than anything in the world,” Gray said, playing with his wedding band. “And his story is his to tell you, if he wants to, but I think…” Gray sighed. “He had a really, really shitty time, and yeah, some of that’s your fault. He’s had a lot of times where he thought he couldn’t make it. But he’s still here, and he’s doing so well, and I’m so, so proud of him.”

“He’s better than me,” Neelan said, eyes wet. “He’s lucky to have you.”

“That’s the thing,” Gray said. “He has what you didn’t – support. Friends. A family. And when he didn’t have that, things went bad.” The memory of Natsu bleeding out on the floor of the supply closet popped into Gray’s mind.

“I’m glad he has you,” Neelan said. “I dunno what I’d do if he turned out like me. I guess that’s why I never came back, y’know? I thought other people could take better care of him than me. An’ then… god, thinkin’ somebody hurt him.” He swallowed, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know you are,” Gray said. “And I think Natsu knows, too. You’re going to have to be patient, though, and give him some time. He might never be ready. He’s really hurt and disappointed, and I’m not letting you off the hook for that. But…” Gray paused, thinking of Lyon’s face when Gray had said I love you. “I think you can be better. You’re getting another chance, like Natsu did. And even with all the shit he went through, he’s done amazing things.”

Gray pulled out his phone and opened his photos, flipping to one of Natsu at the playground with Noah. Neelan’s expression softened as he took the phone carefully from Gray and gazed at Natsu’s face.

“That’s our friend’s son,” Gray said. “His parents were addicts, too. He sees his mom, sometimes, but he’s got a good home now, and great dads. He’s a bit of a handful, but Natsu is amazing with him because he gets it, and Noah’s improved so much over the past couple years.”

“He looks so happy,” Neelan said quietly. “Natsu, I mean.”

“He is,” Gray said. “He’s amazing with kids, even with all the trauma – sometimes because of the trauma. So you can’t use that as an excuse to not be his dad.”

Gray gestured for Neelan to keep scrolling through the photos – Gray had saved all his favorites just for this. One was of him and Natsu at their wedding, looking out over the ocean. Another was of Natsu carrying Sylvie on his shoulders after her first day of kindergarten. There were pictures from Christmas with grand-maman and grand-papa, Thanksgiving at Freed and Laxus’ place, summer days at the park with Sting and Ryos and the kids.

Neelan flipped through them slowly, and when he got to the last one, he stared at it for a long time. Natsu was sitting in front of a Christmas tree with four-year-old Sylvie in his lap. He was holding a book in front of them, and Sylvie was snuggled up against him, almost asleep against his chest. The look on Natsu’s face was soft and open, and the memory made Gray smile.

“That was our first Christmas together,” he said. “Sylvie – our niece – was four, and she adored Natsu as soon as she met him. She’s seventeen now, and he’s still her favorite person.”

A small smile crossed Neelan’s face, then disappeared as he looked closer. Natsu’s sleeve was pushed up in the photo, and the bandage on his forearm from his suicide attempt was visible.

“Did he…” Neelan looked up at Gray with a grief-stricken look on his face. “He didn’t. Please tell me he didn’t.”

“That’s his story,” Gray said gently. “He’ll tell you when – if – he’s ready. I wanted you to see that because it was his first real Christmas, the first time he’d had a family since you left.” He took the phone back from Neelan and looked at the picture with a small smile on his face.

“I’m so sorry,” Neelan said, voice full of regret. “You both have every right to hate me, and I know Natsu doesn’t want to hear from me right now.” He picked up the stress ball and started to play with it again. “I should have done this—” he gestured around them “—a long time ago, but I didn’t really have a reason to get better until I met you two. And even if Natsu never talks to me again, I’m gonna get sober.”

Gray’s hand unconsciously moved to the letter that he still kept in his pocket. It was so long ago that Freed had read out nearly the same words from Lyon.

I know there’s nothing I can do to repair things. I’m going to be in here for a long time, and that is entirely my own doing. It’s probably for the best. I’m clean now, for what it’s worth. It makes the past clearer, though, and I can’t overlook the terrible things I’ve done.

“Natsu might never be ready,” Gray said, watching Neelan’s expression shift from relief to regretful acceptance. “But I didn’t think I’d ever forgive my brother, either. I can’t make any promises, but Natsu has the biggest heart of anyone I know, and if any person would be able to forgive you, it’s him.” Gray tapped the table and gestured around them. “This is a good start. You need help, and you need other people.” He thought of the first time he’d met Natsu, when he’d been angry and scared and convinced he was better off alone. “We all do.”

Neelan nodded, playing with the hospital bracelet around his left wrist. The two of them sat in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of birdsong outside the open window and watching the light play across the floor as it filtered through the trees. Eventually Gray’s phone buzzed, and he looked down to see a message from Freed.

“I have to go,” he said, standing up and tucking his phone into his back pocket. “My friend is waiting for me.”

Neelan pushed himself up as well, leaving the stress ball on the table and shoving his hands into his pockets. He kept his gaze on the floor. “Thank you,” he said gruffly. “I’m sorry again. I’m gonna do better.”

“I know,” Gray said. He hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should shake Neelan’s hand, then decided against it and took a step back toward the door.  

“Thanks for seeing me.” Neelan looked up at Gray again, giving him a small half-smile. “And thanks for taking care of Natsu.”

Gray nodded and ran his thumb over his wedding ring. “Always,” he said softly. Then he gave Neelan a wave and said, “Good luck,” before heading back down the hallway and out the doors, into the bright summer sun.

[doof-doofblog]

"I Think That's It!"

Thursday 14th January 2021

Hello again everyone! Hope your week is going well so far, I'm really looking forward to reviewing today's episode! I feel there's a lot of emotion and drama going on in the soap right now, still so many secrets and lies to be exposed! I do believe that a new EastEnders trailer has gone out, I have say it looks absolutely brilliant, very exciting with confrontations between Frankie and Mick and then Ash and Suki!! Ooooo it's all going to kick off!! I'm really looking forward to seeing what's due to happen within the next couple of episodes! But back to this episode, I won't waste anymore of your time and jump straight into it!

Okay, so there's a few things I want to talk about. The first thing I'll mention first is Iqra! I do get the feeling that her relationship with Ash is kind of on the rocks, they seem to be disagreeing on things a lot. Plus Ash seems to have a big interest in Peter all of a sudden! During the scene where Iqra and Ash are sat alone in the Cafe, Peter enters and no surprise, Suki follows after a while. However as Iqra and Ash make themselves scares after Suki makes a comment on them staying up too late the night before, did anyone notice that she implied that she and Peter had slept together?! Peter orders himself a drink, to which to interrupts and offers to pay for it, telling him to enjoy his drink - to which she made a disgusting comment that she "Enjoyed" her time with him the previous night! Firstly - Ewwwww! - I don't know what your opinion is on Peter and Suki, but personally, I really don't like it! But I do have a feeling that Iqra is going to have another love interest soon! - The new girl at the Prince Albert - Mila! If she is going to become a regular character and we're going to see more of her, I think it would be nice to give her a storyline. We've already seen her beat Kim to win a job at the Albert, also seen her chatting up Frankie, and now she's been introduced to Iqra. What's not to say that Iqra and Mila begin get grow a close bond and eventually fall for one another? It would be nice to see Iqra in a happy relationship, as I feel right now, she's not happy with Ash. What do you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this possible theory?!

The second thing I want to talk about is the Carter's. Shirley is determined to find her little sister, much to Gray's frustration and panic. Before Mick arrives to accompany her to the police station regarding her attack on Katy, Shirley makes a call, which is later to be revealed as one of Tina's friends, as she desperately tries to search for her sister. As she does so, Gray is looking even more worried, for his own sake. He tries to convince her not to make any calls to Tina as it will makes things look bad on Tina as well as Shirley herself! Later when Shirley and Mick arrive back from the police station, they both inform Linda that Katy isn't going to press charges on Shirley for her attack. (Deep down I'm thinking it's because she doesn't want her own crimes being revealed!) But it's during this moment, when Mick and Linda begin to fret that Tina still hasn't been in touch with any of them, Shirley reveals to them that she actually received a text from Tina, informing them that she actually had attacked Ian. Instantly, things don't make sense to the Carter family, they believe that what the message is saying isn't true. But Mick makes the valid point that even if they don't believe it, they have no proof to show that she actually is innocent. It's then that Linda takes a huge gamble and requests to speak to Max. Since Linda ended their fling, Max has been down in the dumps and moping ever since. So when he gets a message from Linda asking that they talk, he goes round to her apartment when no one else is around. She informs Max that she's sorry for the way she treated him, but regardless of sticking by her husband, she does still care for him and treasures his friendship. But she then turns the subject onto more important matters and informs him that she's worried about Tina, even though that Tina has sent them a message almost admitting to attacking Ian, the only way to prove that it wasn't her was to give the police the weapon. Now we all know that the weapon used to attack Ian was the blue Lucy Beale Award, which Max ended up stealing and burying in an attempt to save Linda. The big thing here is, is that Linda is basically asking him to give up the weapon to put Tina out of the frame, but I don't think she realises that it could make Max look guilty of attacking Ian instead, and Max makes a very valid point here, even though he cares deeply for Linda, he refuses to go back to prison for anyone! Why should he also help her family after what's happened between him and Linda? I get Linda is just trying to help her family, but honestly - I think she needs to find another way, approaching Max is the wrong way to go about it.  

Thirdly, let's talk about Martin and Ruby, shall we?! When we first see them, Martin appears to have gotten off the phone to, I'm assuming, Sonia or Bex, and he happily informs his wife that he's going to be going away to see his daughter. Ruby has a face like thunder, she is clearly unhappy and as soon as Martin tells her his plans, she has the audacity lie once again to him to reminding him that she's pregnant. I hate to say it but I loved the way Martin responded with "I didn't think I'd have to ask your permission to see my daughter!". Ruby states that since she's told her husband about her pregnancy, he hasn't shown her the slightest bit of interest, however Martin puts on a front saying that he's happy that she's carrying his child, but as he leaves the room, we can see that he still doesn't feel right about it. However, later on Martin bumps into Sharon with little Albie in the park. As they begin talking, Martin reveals to her that Ruby is pregnant, even though it wasn't planned. As she congratulates him, he questions how show manages to cope, knowing that her son Albie was born on the same day she lost her other son, and also happens to mention that he never thought he'd see the day when she and Ian would be married. It's at this point when Sharon has to put on a front and basically lies to Martin, informing that even though it wasn't the future or family that she had planned, somehow it works for her. Her words must play on Martin's mind though, as later, returning to Ruby, she's alone in the house and reaches for a bottle of wine from the shelf, only to be interrupted by the front door opening, she quickly puts it back. Martin enters and comes with a peace offering, he reveals he has bought some baby items such as a baby grow, little boots and a teddy and informs his wife that she'll make an incredible Mum. Ruby seems completely overwhelmed by his surprise baby gifts, but the realisation sinks in when she realises she has to pregnant fast, before Martin becomes suspicious! What on Earth will she do? Could she convince Martin to sleep with her? Or would she have to take extreme measures and get pregnant by somebody else?!

The next thing I want to talk about is Sheree and Patrick. Trying to avoid the situation which is happening with her husband, Sheree is keeping herself busy at the salon. Cleaning things making everything look absolutely spotless, regardless of the fact that her first client isn't due for a long while. Suddenly Stacey and Jean enter, announcing that it's Jean's birthday and she's eager to get rid of the dark eyebrows that Mo has applied for her. Sheree takes it upon herself to help Jean out and stating that she has all the time in the world to help her. During Jean's time in the salon, Kim steps in and confronts Sheree about not visiting Patrick in the hospital after his stroke, she states that if she doesn't step up she'll be disowned by family. Jean witnesses this confrontation and sees the devastating look in Sheree's eyes, she takes it upon herself to console the poor woman and informs her that families can be hard to talk to if they don't understand the upset and hurt you're feeling. It's then that Jean begins to tell Sheree all about Daniel and his aspect of life, regardless of knowing he was dying from cancer, he lived every day to the full and didn't let it get him down, he was strong and was right up until the very end. I believe it's these words which really hit home for Sheree, after Jean's wise words, she rushes to the hospital to be at her husbands bedside. Meanwhile poor Patrick has been asking Isaac for his wife, even questioning why he's there when she should be at school - however what Isaac says really moves me, "I have to be here for my Dad!" - Is this the first time he ever called Patrick "Dad"? Even so, it was so moving, the look in both of their eyes was so warm. Eventually Sheree arrives at the hospital, Patrick is happy to see her but also informs her that he doesn't want her to be his carer, as that was not what she signed up for when they got married - however, Sheree informs her husband that she won't be going anywhere, she's going to remain at his side during this knock back in his health, but informs him that he will be taking all the medication he needs and following the doctors instructions.

Now, I've mentioned her already but I need to talk about Jean, we need to talk about Jean. I've said it before and I've said it again, what an absolutely inspirational woman! Regardless of coming to terms with her own personal situation, she's still wanting to help out everyone around her, previously it was Dotty and Iqra, today it was Sheree. I have to be honest, I absolutely LOVED the fact that she talked about Daniel again, even though he was such a small part of the soap, his role was very very important and he plays such a huge part in Jean's life, we need to make sure he's not forgotten, and Jean continuing to talk about him is just perfect, even if it is quite sad. After getting her eyebrows fixed and getting dressed up in another gorgeous dress (She's been wearing some stunning dresses recently!) she begins to record a video of herself. At first, I know it sounds silly, but I genuinely thought she was doing a video for Daniel, even though he wouldn't be able to see it, I just thought it would've been a way for her to still kind of talk to him, if you get what I mean? But as she continued the video and talking to the camera, I think it became clear that the video she was recording is actually intended for Stacey and the rest of the family. In the video, she announces that devastatingly that she feels in herself that the cancer has returned, even though she hasn't had it confirmed, she can feel it. Not only does she announce this but she also states that she's taken the drastic decision not to have treatment this time around, she wants to live the rest of her life to the full and be just like Daniel. She doesn't want the family to worry and to accept her decision. I did find this very emotional to watch, I mentioned this in my previous post but I can't applaud Gillian Wright enough for her performance as Jean, she is absolutely incredible actress. The only thing that plays on my mind though however is that, I would be incredibly devastated if they were to kill her off. Jean has been such a breath of fresh air in EastEnders, even during her absolute lowest moments, everyone loves her and wants her to fight through the toughest times. I truly believe that the Slater family will be lost without her, the whole Square would be lost without Jean - Oh I love her so much!

I know there are plenty of storylines happening at the moment, and with the recent trailer which has been released, I can't wait to see it all unfold. But Jean's storyline is the one that really going to keep me guessing the most I think, I hope to God that her cancer hasn't returned, or maybe it's something completely different and not cancer - (I don't know?) - But either way, I just hope Jean will be okay and EastEnders don't kill her off! What do you guys think? How do you feel about Jean's current story? Are there any storylines that are keeping you gripped at this moment in time, how do you feel about them all and what are your thoughts and theories?! I'd love to hear what you have to say, please feel free to leave me a message or a comment, I'll always respond! Thanks again folks! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back very soon! Love you all xXx

[glare0322]

h.i.v.e. head canons

just some character and relationship/friendship head canons :)

laura

- plays the piano and quite well. she doesn’t want to play much at h.i.v.e. because it reminds her of scotland and her family. after book eight, she plays a lot more frequently cause she really sees h.i.v.e. and the people there as her home.

- is not organized in anything but school and files on her computer. her brain runs a million miles an hour which leads to things getting messy fast.

- becomes a lot closer with raven after the greenhouse since they now have a bit of shared trauma especially in the fact anastasia favored to torture both of them.

- still sucks at driving even after h.i.v.e.

- after h.i.v.e. laura goes and lives with her family for a month back in scotland. they talk about h.i.v.e., shelby and her other friends, whats been happening here, and other general catching up topics. mary (mrs. brand) takes a special interest in meeting otto and laura reminds her mom every day not to make a big deal about it. yet she still counts down the days until she gets to meet her daughter’s boyfriend.

otto

- gets very frustrated when he can’t grasp certain concepts or master specific skills. he is known as the boy genius after all.

- went through an edgy phase while at h.i.v.e. not emo, but he would throw in more hurtful quips towards shelby during their usually playful spits and his jokes were just a little too dark. otto got a lot more detentions during this time and even the thought of trying to escape again reoccurred in his mind. he eventually noticed how wing was not a fan of it and slammed the breaks. of course everyone still makes fun of him for it.

- if you don’t think otto wouldn’t cry at the sight of his newborn child/ren then um...you’re wrong

- he looks back on his little prime minister scheme with pride and cringes terribly at it. on one hand, it was his beginnings and the device he made not only worked but was something like no other. and then he remembers how he made the prime minister moon everyone. when he was younger it was hilarious, now that he’s a tad older otto hates the fact he did that. there is just something immature and lacking taste about the whole thing.

- lives in sweaters/jumpers. i know this one is random, but something about them just suits otto.

wing

- has a gentle singing voice. he only sings lullabies to his kids and if one of his friends needs it. besides that wing does not sing often. it’s always a treat when he does.

- wing is really scared to be a dad. the thought of being like his father is incredibly scary to him.

- i really can not see wing becoming a villain but an antihero, now that i can definitely see. his methods are immoral in the sense he is still technically a murder, but he only goes after truly evil corporations. like human trafficking kind of evil.

- he teaches his kid/s self-defense and martial arts.

- trilingual and speaks english, japanese, and mandarin. the first two are canon to the story but i feel like his parents probably would have taught him at least some mandarin.

shelby

- shelby hated how laura would stay up for hours in the night tapping away on her computer. however when she moved out, it seemed weird not to fall asleep to the sound of a typing keyboard.

- if there is a h.i.v.e. gymnastics team/program (since there is a water polo team) shelby would totally do it. she waves to her friends before her round and even sometimes blows a kiss to her supportive boyfriend who is always there to see her.

- after h.i.v.e. she pursues gymnastics professionally. it provides the same wealth she was used to back with her parents, she likes to do it, but most importantly it’s an amazing cover up for why she’s traveling so many places around the world. (to steal of course) it also funds these trips and gives her, and wing for that matter, a great public image. plus she likes the spotlight a bit.

- i’ve said this before but shelby eventually gets lessons from raven. i just love this idea with my whole heart especially because how different these two are.

- had a bit of affluenza before h.i.v.e. which played into her desire for stealing diamonds along with her crappy parents. (my theory on shelb’s parents is right here)

laura and otto

- otto adores laura’s piano playing. there is something peaceful about it to him which he finds really comforting.

- they go to university together in scotland and help each other get through it. the two live in an apartment together go to school then see each other after classes at home.

- laura has some zero ptsd and it occasionally effects her relationship with otto in the sense she gets flashbacks and is genuinely scared. otto completely understands this though and is super patient with her. obviously it bothers him since he’s not zero, but he understands why she’s experiencing this and loves her enough to put his annoyance aside for her.

- these two wanted their kids’ names to be after someone. so if they would ever have a daughter her name would be lucy and the middle name of their son would be wing. laura wanted to include shelby but it just didn’t fit anywhere.

- if otto can’t find a shirt, then laura is wearing it. she wears his clothes super frequently and he won’t complain. she looks cute :,)

laura and shelby

- shelby likes things to look pretty, so she ends up being the one that keeps their room tidy, makes the beds, and other cleanly stuff like that. especially when they live together outside of h.i.v.e. she does the dishes pretty often, keeps their room looking nice, and stocks their fridge. laura is messy, but it doesn’t effect her much cause shelbs takes care of it. she doesn’t mind and only teases laura when people are over to embarrass her (all in good fun).

- laura doesn’t like girly things (we been knew). shelby tried for a while to get her into these things and a few stick on: nail polish, very light make up, and shopping. but never and i mean never would shelby make laura do something she didn’t want to. of course laura introduces shelby to her more geeky/nerdy stuff. they watch superhero shows together, shelbs has a black widow t-shirt in her closet now, and even some basic hacking codes.

- laura didn’t like shelby at first not only because of her nasty personality, but because she was a lot like the girls who would talk about laura behind her back.

- basically canon, but shelby was the number one ottra shipper. she had been rooting for them since day one of h.i.v.e. laura comes to her for advice with otto and shelby consoles her when lucy and otto get together. they both were disappointed the two didn’t get together.

- laura is really good at baking and shelby asks her once to help her bake something for wing. (she was really trying y’all) long story short, even laura couldn’t help shelby’s terrible baking skills and they set off the fire alarms in their apartment along with the sprinklers.

wing and otto

- otto wanted to do one of wing’s workouts despite his best friends many warnings it would be rough. it was safe to say otto underestimated the intensity of the workout.

- oh god the scene where these two will eventually leave each other to go move on past h.i.v.e. is just absolutely gut wrenching. they both acknowledge how the other had such an influence on their lives and hope to see them prosper in life. honestly this is like a rare moment where i can see wing legitimately crying.

- so we all know how wing has half the overlord protocol necklace (he has yang) if shelby doesn’t get the yin half then otto should because he kinda fits the yin meaning and is best bros with wing.

- for wing’s “bachelor party” they honestly just get all the guys from h.i.v.e. together and hang out for a couple hours. after, however, he and otto go out and go have some fun doing morally gray criminal activity.

- they still sometimes speak in japanese to each other on missions and stuff or if they need to plan something without anyone else knowing.

shelby and wing

- they move permanently to america, but visit china and japan quite frequently.

- one of the first things shelby does after she and wing get out of h.i.v.e. is watch a bunch of disney movies and american movie classics so he can understand the pop culture references she has been making for the past five years.

- i totally think shelby gets the other half over otto, or at least a replica. there’s kinda set up for this as well, the other half (yin) is known as the feminine half.

- if they would ever have a daughter her name would be mei or raven.

- she always knows exactly what to get him as a gift or even just in general. she’s observant and can pick up on what he needs before he does. wing has mentioned before shelby is a little...less predictable but he tries his hardest and oh my goodness does shelby appreciate his efforts. of course it irritates her, but she knows her slightly emotionally-unavailable boyfriend is trying an insane amount to sort through her emotions right.

shelby and otto

- they totally bond over how wing is great, but have an urge to smother him in his sleep because of the obnoxiously loud snoring

- menaces to the public when these two are together. i couldn’t even begin to tell you all the crafty things that would conspire between these two. pranking teachers, seeing who can steal the answers first, racing in stealth or in fitness classes. (wing beats both of them in combat/fitness so their efforts are often pointless)

- when they first came to h.i.v.e. shelby was taller than otto, by quite a margin too. she teased him into another galaxy about it. so when the day came that otto was officially taller than her, she mourned the countless jokes that could no longer be made.

- asks a lot of those “wait who logically thought to make butter?” questions. they also argue whether these people were geniuses or a new level of stupid. (seriously who thought to mix together milk until it gets to a solid consistency and then eat it?)

- they have to live together for one month after h.i.v.e. in the beginning, they like wanted to choke each other, but by the end of the month they were upset to not live with each other any more. (fic is dropping soon 🙈)

wing and laura

- after the greenhouse incident, laura went to wing asking him to teach her some martial arts since she felt really weak physically while in there. he doesn’t initially think it’s the best idea, but laura convinces him it will be okay.

- they’re a lot better friends then people would initially think. she hugged him like twice in the first book alone and is grateful for him saving her life. laura and wing seem like the two that just relax with each other. no shenanigans, no combat, honestly just vibing. they drink tea and watch murder mystery shows while catching up on the latest things and theorizing about the show.

- the entire gang goes to tokyo all together at one point in their life. laura and wing go to all the historical places in the city and chat about them for hours.

- they go on hikes together. that’s it. i’m right and you know it.

- i always imagined at least once wing decided to try and take the high road instead of cheating by asking laura to tutor him. it worked pretty well for him and now whenever he needs help with work, he just goes to laura and they work through it together.

[animezing-fandoms]

The Baby Race Chapter 4: Home for the Holidays

Fanfic Masterlist (find links to the previous parts there)

Warnings: Suggestive themes, aka mentions of smutty stuff. The guys have a comedic conversation about boobs. I hope I didn’t write it too cringey 😬

Relationships: Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza 

Summary: As everyone’s settling down as the Holiday season comes to Magnolia, the relationships develop further. Gray and Juvia’s wedding is just around the corner, Levy is due to give birth sometime during the month, and Natsu gives Lucy a big surprise! 

A/N: Hey guys! So I’m really busy but I wanted to give you guys the fourth part to help get y’all into the Holiday spirit while waiting for part five which I won’t be able to get started on until finals are over. So until then, enjoy this part and don’t forget to comment!

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On a cold winter morning in Magnolia, Lucy was in her apartment, humming to herself as she placed her soap and shampoo by the side of her bathtub and began to run the water. Then she came back into her bedroom and began to unbutton her top.

"Hey Lucy!" Natsu and Happy casually greet her from her bed.

Lucy screamed and pulled her top shut over her chest. Then she frowned when she saw that her bedroom window was wide open.

"Natsu what the hell! I gave you a key so that you could use the door not climb in through my window like a perverted stalker or a burglar!" Lucy complains.

"Oh yeah." Natsu says.

He feels around in his pockets and pulls out the key.

"I'm just so used to coming in through the window I must have forgotten about the key and just broken in out of habit." Natsu laughs.

Lucy sighs and blushes.

"I should have known that this would happen. You always seem to barge in on me while I'm changing after all..." She whines with a teasing lilt to her voice that Natsu picks up on.

He blushes when he notices her tugging on the open ends of her top, teasingly revealing her cleavage while her pretty doe eyes darkened with lust.

Happy felt the change in the atmosphere and immediately felt uncomfortable.

"Uh, I know you two are a thing now but I don't need to know what kind of kinky roleplay you're into!" He says and flies back out the window.

"There's nothing kinky about thi-" Lucy starts then gets cut off and gasps as Natsu suddenly pins her against her dresser.

"So you knew I was coming eh? Is that why you drew a bath?" He asks in a low tone.

"Yeah. Would you care to join me?" Lucy offers seductively.

----------

After taking a nice relaxing bath together where they cleaned each other off among other activities, and then made their way to the guild hall like they did every day since they got together.

It had been a few months since that fateful day that the "baby race" started at the guild and by now most people had forgotten about it entirely. They were just happy that the couples that they knew were destined to be together had finally gotten together, there wasn't a big rush for anyone to get pregnant yet. Lucy for one was fine with that. She and Natsu were still getting used to this new chapter in their relationship, adding a baby to the mix would be too much right now. Besides, Levy was going to be due to have her twins any time this month, and Gray and Juvia were having their wedding the day before Christmas Eve. There was already so much celebration going on, Lucy didn't want to steal her friend's spotlight, nor the Holiday's.

Yep. It was that time of year again, and as the first snow fell on Magnolia, everyone in the guild was busy setting up decorations inside and Erza was meticulously dictating every aspect of it.

"Put in more effort everyone! These decorations need to be perfect this year since we'll not only be celebrating the Holidays, but a Fairy Tail wedding!" Erza declares and everyone cheers.

Juvia's face lit up when she heard everyone cheering.

"Did you hear that Gray-sama? They're so happy for us!" Juvia exclaims and throws her arms around her fiancé in a tight hug.

At first Gray frowned at Juvia for being so affectionate like this, but then he saw how happy she looked and couldn't help but smile and hug her back.

"Yeah they are. But I doubt they're happier than I am to get to have you as my wife." Gray tells her.

"Aw Gray-sama, Juvia is really happy too!" She says and then they kiss each other.

Erza watched them hugging each other and felt a pang of jealousy. Jellal was away for the week, so seeing Gray and Juvia get so cozy with each other was a bit irritating but hey, at least it wasn't every couple right? Suddenly she turned her head towards Levy when she heard her laugh.

Asuka was laughing too, because she had just shot mistletoe onto Gajeel's forehead and he was very unamused.

"Hey this ain't funny you little brat!" Gajeel growls at her.

"Gajeel don't talk to her like that, she's just a little kid. You wouldn't yell at one of our kids like that would you?" Levy asks and rubs her swollen belly.

Gajeel quickly realizes his mistake and then flashes a big grin at Asuka while patting her on the head.

"No of course not. Children are the most precious things in the world gihee." He says.

"That's funny, but now you have to kiss Levy since she's under the mistletoe!" Asuka says and laughs.

"Gihee. That's no problem for me." Gajeel says and then leans down and plants one on Levy.

Now Erza was starting to get a little ticked off and she growled.

Lucy was on a ladder setting up garland on the balcony. While she was working she heard a commotion below her as a bunch of the older men in the guild who had had a little too much to drink were fighting over who got to hold the ladder for her.

"Hey cut it out you perverts! You're gonna make me fall!" Lucy shouts at them.

Natsu came over after hearing the commotion.

"Why are you calling them perverts? They just want to hold the ladder for you so you don't fall." Natsu says.

"Natsu, they want to hold the ladder so that they can look up my skirt!" Lucy shouts at her clueless boyfriend.

As soon as he hears that his demeanor changes and he growls at the older men who dared to creep on Lucy.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu shouts and all the drunk men scream as his flaming fist comes hurtling towards them.

"Wait Natsu be careful you're gonna break the ladder-AH!" Lucy shouts as the ladder breaks from Natsu's attack and she falls.

She expected to hit the floor but she didn't. Natsu caught her in his arms and smiled at her.

"Don't worry Luce, I'm always here to catch you when you fall." Natsu says.

Lucy blushes and looks at him lovingly.

"You too Natsu." She says and then they both kiss.

Erza was now fully enraged with jealousy and her fist clenched around the railing for the balcony and cracked it.

"Whoa Erza's really mad!" Jet exclaims.

"Everyone look out!" Droy shouts and ducks for cover under a table.

Lucy and Levy noticed how angry she looked and then left their boys and quickly walked towards the guild's exit.

"Hey Levy, do you think now would be a good time to do our Christmas shopping?" Lucy asks nervously.

"Yep! Definitely!" Levy agrees.

-----------

Lucy and Levy walked through the streets of Magnolia and looked for gifts to get for their friends in the guild. They also pointed out things that they would want for themselves. Lucy didn't see anything she was dying to get in the market though. But the one Christmas gift she did want was for Natsu to get down on one knee for her with a ring in his hand and a four-word question on his lips. She was pulled from her thoughts as Levy shivered beside her and held her coat tighter to herself, the buttons were strained over her large baby bump. Lucy pulled a shawl out from her bag and wrapped it around Levy's shoulders.

"I hope Gajeel got you a warmer jacket for Christmas." Lucy says as she rubs her best friends shoulders to get her warmed up.

"Don't tempt him or else he'll probably make it himself out of iron." Levy jokes and the two girls laugh.

"He's still determined to build your whole house out of iron isn't he?" Lucy asks.

"No, I was able to talk him out of that." Levy laughs.

"I reminded him that if the whole house was iron then he'd be tempted to eat the place all the time and he wouldn't be able to because it would be made from his own magic so it would be like torture for him. So he's toned down on the home projects for now. Although he does seem to be busy doing something with Natsu lately." Levy says.

"Yeah I've noticed. I tried to ask Natsu what's going on but every time I bring it up he gets nervous and tries to redirect the conversation to something else. Do you know what he's been up to with Gajeel?" Lucy asks.

"I haven't got the slightest clue. Gajeel's been just as secretive. But I don't think it's anything to worry about, because whenever I ask him he laughs before telling me that it's a secret he can't tell me about because if I know then I'll tell you." Levy admits.

Lucy looks down and crosses her arms to keep them closer to her warm body inside her pink jacket as a cold breeze blew by.

"Whatever it is, I guess it's clear that it's something he really doesn't want me to know about." Lucy says.

"Puu-puun." Plue says.

The girls turn and see Plue dancing around as the snowflakes fall around him.

"I'm surprised Plue isn't shivering right now. He looks like he's always cold, I'd imagine he'd be freezing right now." Levy says and holds her shawl tighter to herself.

"He doesn't shiver from the cold, just when he's nervous. He's actually rather fond of the cold weather to be honest, that's why he's so happy right now." Lucy says and giggles as Plue stands in place and shakes his hips before jumping up and cheering with joy.

"There you girls are!" A loud voice shouts, scaring Plue and making him scream and jump into Lucy's arms where he began to shiver.

The girls turned to see Cana standing there, stumbling slightly as she approached them, an open bottle of some sort of liquor in her hand.

"Cana what are you doing drunk out here? The ground is slippery because of the snow, you could fall and hurt yourself!" Levy warns.

"I'm getting drunk to celebrate the first snow of the season!" Cana slurs before taking another large swig of her drink, finishing the bottle and tossing it into the alley where they heard it shatter.

"Besides, being out here is worth the risk because there's something going on at the guild hall you girls have got to see!" Cana exclaims.

Cana lunged forward and grabbed both of their wrists and tugging them forward with surprising ease and then took off down the street with both of the girls struggling to keep up.

"Cana what are you doing?" Lucy exclaims as the card mage dragged her through the street towards the guildhall by her wrist while Plue flew behind Lucy like a kite as she held his hand.

"Yeah, ouch Cana! You're being a bit rough." Levy says as Cana dragged her along by the wrist with her other hand.

"You should be more careful with a pregnant lady." Levy reminds her.

"Relax Levy, I'm grabbing your wrist not your uterus, and besides, for all we know, Lucy could be expecting too by now since she and Natsu are spending every night together." Cana says suggestively and looks at Lucy.

She blushed and looked away from her.

"Just because we're sharing a bed doesn't mean we're having sex every night!" Lucy retorts.

"So you admit you've done it more than once!" Cana replies.

Lucy yelped when she realized what she just revealed and Cana laughed heartily and Levy giggled.

"So what's going on at the guild that's so important that you pulled us away from our Holliday shopping?" Lucy asks grumpily to direct the conversation away from her sex life.

"Heh. We're here now so see for yourself." Cana says and lets go of them once they enter the doors of the guild hall.

What the girls saw inside was nothing out of the ordinary. Just the boys being rowdy and fighting each other as usual. But then when they heard what they were saying, they understood why Cana wanted them to come down there so quickly.

"Lucy is ten times sexier than Juvia!" Natsu exclaims and throws a fireball at Gray.

Gray blocked it with an ice shield that shattered when the fire hit it and then smirked at Natsu.

"Oh yeah, then how come Juvia won the Miss Fiore contest in Sorcerer Weekly and not Lucy!" Gray retorts.

"Yeah! You tell him darling!" Juvia cheers.

"Juvia loves hearing you say how much you prefer her over that blonde bimbo."

Levy and Cana snickered and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, that contest means absolutely nothing to me. In my eyes there's nothing in this whole world that's more beautiful than Lucy!" Natsu shouts back at Gray.

Lucy blushed from the compliment.

"Oh wow...I can't believe he really thinks of me like that." She whispers, touched by his words.

"Besides, Lucy's boobs are way bigger than Juvia's!" Natsu adds and Lucy's heartfelt feelings go away as quickly as they came.

"And now I can believe it." She deadpans.

"Well then you need to get your eyes checked because Juvia's rack is ten times better than Lucy's!" Gray shouts at Natsu.

"Hey don't use my numbers against me!" Natsu shouts.

"Does that flame brain of yours even know how to multiply by ten!" Gray retorts.

"Of course it does, that's why I'm gonna punch you ten times harder than I did last time!" Natsu shouts and throws a flaming punch at Gray.

He lands the hit and Gray hits a table while Natsu smiles proudly as he stands over him while Juvia helps him sit up and regain his bearings.

"You two are fightin' over nothin'. Levy's the sexiest girl that ever existed, and you two boneheads are too dumb to see it." Gajeel says from the table next to them and drinks his beer.

Natsu and Gray snickered behind him.

"The problem isn't that we're dumb." Natsu says and both he and Gray snicker again.

"The problem is that you'd need a magnifying glass if you wanted to see her chest."

The boys erupted into a fit of laughter and a vein bulged out of Gajeel's forehead.

Levy gasps and her face turns red from embarrassment while she crosses her arms over her chest and Plue comfortingly pats her shoulder from where he was standing on the balcony.

"Forget her chest Natsu, you'd need a microscope just to see her at all!" Gray adds and the two of them laugh harder.

"And Gajeel's such a big guy, how do you think he even fits inside of her?" Natsu jokes.

"Well she's pregnant so he must have managed to squeeze it in there somehow." Gray snickers.

Then they stopped laughing when Gajeel picked them both up by the collars of their jackets.

"You two don't need to worry about how well I fit inside of Levy. You should be more worried about how yer gonna fit inside the wall!" Gajeel shouts and tosses them both into a wall with a loud crash.

Gray and Natsu groaned and fell out of the wall.

As Natsu regained his senses he noticed that some of the men in the guild were snickering and pointing at him and Gray while the girls looked annoyed and unimpressed.

"Hey Gray, why's everyone laughing at us?" Natsu asks gruffly.

"They're not laughing at us." Gray answers.

Natsu looked confused but then Gray pointed to the wall and Natsu caught himself before he burst out laughing when he saw that the craters that he and Gray made in the wall greatly resembled a woman's chest.

The two mages looked at each other before laughing hysterically and slinging their arms around each other's shoulders.

"I guess now we know who the biggest pair of boobs in the guild are!" Happy teases before falling over from laughing.

"What a mature response." Carla says in an unamused tone but still cracks a small smile when Happy's not looking.

"Huge boobs are so manly!" Elfman shouts.

"You callin' Levy a man Elfman?" Gajeel growls.

"Uh no. I mean, I don't think so." Elfman says and scratches his head.

"I mean her boobs are pretty small aren't they?"

"Well, they were but now they're bigger." Gajeel says and blushes.

"Whoa wait she made them bigger!" Gray exclaims and looks at Gajeel curiously.

"Can girls just make them grow or shrink whenever they want like Brandish's magic or something?" Natsu asks curiously.

"No you idiots it's because of the babies!" Gajeel roars at them.

"They get bigger because of the milk her body's gonna make to feed them with because of hormones or some crap like that, I don't remember." Gajeel explains while blushing and scratching his head.

Carla rolled her eyes in annoyance before quirking an eyebrow when she noticed that Juvia was feeling her chest.

"Why are you doing that in public woman?!" Carla barks at her and Juvia blushes and puts her hands down at her sides and pretending that nothing happened.

"Well pregnant or not Lucy's still got the best rack in the guild!" Natsu claims while giving Gray a challenging look.

"In your dreams flame brain, Juvia's are way better and you know it!" Gray argues.

Both of them press their foreheads together and growl before Mira interjects.

"Both of you are so silly. If you want to know which one of them has a bigger chest then just go by their cup sizes." Mira says cheerily.

"Why is she encouraging them?" Lucy sighs and presses her palm against her forehead.

"Cup size?" Natsu asks.

"You mean I'm supposed to shove different sized cups onto one of her boobs and see to see which one fits or not?"

Lucy groaned and Cana and Levy giggled.

"No you idiot!" Gray says and smacks him in the back of the head.

"She's talking about her bra. The part that holds her boobs."

"Oh that makes more sense. So then do you know what size Juvia is?" Natsu asks.

"No. When I'm taking Juvia's bra off I'm not checking to see what size it is, I just want to get it out of the way to get at what was inside of it." Gray says matter of factly.

A few of the guys in the guild cheered for Gray and a few of them gave wolf whistles too.

"Oh Gray-sama you're so vulgar!" Juvia exclaims happily with hearts in her eyes.

"I can't even get Lucy's bra off. It's too complicated and it takes too long so I just rip it off instead. But Lucy doesn't seem to mind." Natsu says.

Everyone gasps and Lucy squeaks in embarrassment and her face turns bright red and she hides behind her hands.

"Oh my..." Levy says.

"Wow that's kinky." Cana says and slings an arm around Lucy.

"Oh hey Mira that reminds me, do you know where Lucy buys her bras because I owe her a couple new ones." He says and blushes and scratches the back of his head.

"I can buy them myself you pervert!" Lucy shouts.

Natsu froze and looked terrified when he turned his head and saw Lucy standing there glaring at him. Gajeel did a double take when he saw Levy standing next to her looking equally upset.

"Hey honey." Gajeel says with a nervous grin.

"H-hey there Luce, when did you get here?" Natsu asks and scratches the back of his head.

"Just in time to hear your little conversation with the boys..." Lucy says and crosses her arms while tapping her foot.

"Oh good then you heard me defending your beauty in front of them!" Natsu exclaims and stands up.

He shakes the remnants of the plaster from the wall out of his hair and then holds his arms open for Lucy to go and hug him. She remained standing in place with her hands on her hips as she frowned at him. That's when Natsu's smile fell and he lowered his arms.

"I did something wrong again didn't I?" He asks.

Lucy huffs, turns on her heel and walks out the door.

"Hey Lev, have I told you how cute you look today?" Gajeel asks sheepishly.

Levy rolls her eyes and follows Lucy out the door.

---------

Levy came back inside once Gajeel apologized to her. Natsu set a fire in the huge fireplace that the guild built for the winter and everyone was drinking hot cocoa and warming up together. Gajeel and Levy were sitting near Gray and Juvia and Levy turned towards their direction when she heard Wendy say something interesting.

"Hey Juvia, have you started wearing the same perfume as Levy? You kind of smell like her." Wendy asks.

"Really? She doesn't smell any different to me." Gray says.

"Well your nose isn't as good as Wendy's Gray-sama." Juvia reminds him.

Levy smirked at them before trying to fish a marshmallow out of her cocoa.

Meanwhile, Lucy decided to stay outside the guild hall and let Asuka play with Plue since she really wanted to dress him up like a snowman. She looked back at the guildhall and sighed when she heard them all clinking their glasses and cheering to celebrate the first snowfall of the season.

"Why are you out here in the cold and not inside warming up with Natsu?" Asuka asks.

"Because Natsu did something bad today. So I'm not going to give him any attention until he apologizes." Lucy explains.

Just then a cold breeze blew by and Lucy shivered until she gasped when she saw Natsu's scarf get dropped over her head and then she blushed as she felt him gently wrap it around her.

"I guess I'd better say I'm sorry then because I'm worried you might freeze if I wait any longer." Natsu says.

"Tch. I bet your only worried that my tits will freeze off." Lucy scoffs.

"Wait that can happen!?" Natsu exclaims with a worried expression on his face.

"Here I'll warm them up right now!"

Natsu grabs her chest from behind and Plue covers Asuka's eyes. But she could still hear Natsu's wail of pain as Lucy kicks him in the shin to get his hands off of her.

"No it can't! I was being sarcastic you big dummy they're fine!" Lucy shouts at him.

"I'm sorry Lucy. I'm still learning about this stuff. So I know I'm gonna mess up a lot and make you mad pretty often. But I'm gonna put everything I've got into learning from my mistakes so I can be a man worthy of spending forever with you." Natsu says and wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her in close.

"Oh Natsu..." Lucy says softly.

She was almost ready to forgive him but then she remembered something else she was mad at him for and looked away from him.

"That's really sweet and all but if you really want to spend forever with me then why have you been hiding things from me?" Lucy asks.

"Hiding things from you?" Natsu asks.

"Yeah. You've sneaking off with Gajeel for a few hours every day and you won't tell me why. If you really want to spend forever with me then why are you keeping secrets from me?" Lucy asks.

Natsu flashes her that big goofy grin of his.

"I only kept it a secret because I didn't want to ruin the surprise." Natsu explains.

"Surprise? For me?" Lucy asks.

"Yep! And Gajeel and I just finished it today, so now I can show it to ya when we leave the guild today. I hope you really like it!" Natsu says.

Lucy smiles at him then gasps when Asuka suddenly shoots something onto Natsu's forehead out of her toy gun.

"Pow! I got ya! Now Lucy's under the mistletoe so you two have to kiss!" Asuka laughs.

"Well, we've gotta honor tradition you know." Natsu says and Lucy giggles.

"Lucky for you I was already planning on honoring tradition." Lucy says and kisses him.

Once their lips parted Lucy rested her head on Natsu's chest.

"So what's this big surprise you have for me?" Lucy asks.

"I'll show you later Luce." Natsu says and kisses the top of her head.

"Seriously!" They heard Erza shout and turned to see her standing outside the guild hall's doors.

"Why does everyone have to get so romantic when I'm feeling so lonely!"

She swung her sword into the wall of the guild and gave Natsu and Lucy a death glare.

"Or maybe I could go and show you now." Natsu says.

"Yeah you know what, going now sounds like a good idea." Lucy agrees.

-----------

Natsu carried Lucy while she had her eyes closed and Happy flew beside them.

"Alright, we're here." Natsu says and sets her down.

"Okay now open your eyes Lucy!" Happy says.

Lucy opened her eyes and gasped in surprise from what she saw. It was Natsu and Happy's house, but it looked different. It was bigger than it was before.

"Surprise!" Natsu and Happy cheered.

"Whoa, so you and Gajeel renovated your house?" Lucy asks.

"Yep. It took a lot of hard work and Jule but we did it! Come on inside I'll show you around." Natsu says and pulls her inside through the front door.

Lucy was expecting to see a mess like there normally was, but instead everything was clean and tidy in the main living space. But what she didn't expect to see were the extra bookshelves considering Natsu and Happy barely read anything. She also noticed something else.

"Hey your hammock is gone." Lucy says.

"Yeah, that's 'cuz we don't need it now that we've got our own bedroom." Natsu says.

He takes her hand and leads her upstairs. He opened a door and Lucy gasped when she saw the bedroom inside. It was just as roomy as the one she had back at her apartment and the window had a beautiful view of the mountains. She opened the door on the far end and squealed with joy when she saw a luxurious bathtub that she could only ever dream about.

"Oh my gosh it's beautiful! I'll have to come over here more often to use it!" Lucy exclaims.

"You can use it as much as you want, Gajeel and I made it for you!" Natsu tells her.

"You built me a bathtub?" Lucy asks, tearing up.

"Yeah, and that's not the only thing I built for ya." Natsu says.

He leads her down the hall to another room and opens it for Lucy and then she actually does tear up from what she sees.

There were more bookshelves, and a desk with writing supplies on it by a big bay window seat with the same gorgeous view as their bedroom.

"Did you make me a writing room?" Lucy asks.

"Yeah, I know how you get upset when Happy and I barge in and distract you when you're writing so I thought you'd like your own space to write in that you can lock us out of whenever you want. Do you like it?" Natsu asks.

Lucy wiped her tears from her eyes and smiled at him.

"Oh Natsu I love it!" Lucy exclaims.

"But why did you have Gajeel do all of this?" Lucy asks.

"The last room will answer that question." Natsu says.

Lucy looked confused as Natsu opened the door to an empty room. She walked inside and looked around for any clue of what it's use could be but she couldn't find one.

"Natsu, what's this room for?" Lucy asks.

"It's for the baby." Natsu says.

Lucy gasped and turned to him.

"It's a nursery?" Lucy asks.

"Yeah dummy he just said it was a room for the baby." Happy teases.

"But why?" Lucy asks.

"Because your apartment doesn't have space for a nursery. So I built one here, and I knew you wouldn't be comfortable living here as it used to be so I added a few things to make it more comfortable for you." Natsu explains.

Lucy was starting to catch on and her tears came back.

"Oh Natsu..." She says softly.

"And I own this place so you don't have to worry about paying rent anymore, which would save us a lot of money that we'll need for the baby, so I was wondering how you might feel about moving in with me and Happy, Lucy?" Natsu asks.

"Yes Natsu! I'd love to!" Lucy exclaims and throws her arms around him in a tight hug.

He hugs her back and rests his head on top of hers.

"Well now that that's settled, there's one more thing you've got to do to make it official!" Happy says cheerfully.

The three of them stood outside while Lucy elegantly wrote her name with the paint brush onto the sign under Natsu's name.

"Why'd you write it so small?" Happy asks.

"Well, there's not much room since your names are so big on the sign." Lucy explains.

"Well to be fair we never expected anyone to ever move in with us. Much less a girlfriend." Happy says and glares at Natsu.

"Hey!" Natsu shouts in offense, making Lucy laugh.

"It's a good thing you wrote it small though Luce. We're gonna have to save room for the kids' names too." Natsu says and wraps an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, but we've got to make a kid first." Lucy reminds him.

"Alright then let's head inside and work on that while testing out the new bed!" Natsu says and Lucy squeals as Natsu picks her up and rushes her inside.

Happy looks at the sign and sighs.

"We're gonna need a bigger sign." He says.

---------

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Don’t forget to comment!

[adramaticbeauty]

Gruvia Oneshot: Accepting the Pain

Umm

Thank you💕

Juvia stared at the door as she waited for Gray to come through it. She sighed as she looked at her untouched dinner in front of her and then she glanced at the plate across from hers. She had even made his favorite meal tonight, hoping that maybe he would come home. She chuckled dryly at her situation. Why was she even sitting here waiting? She knew he would be out late, as he had been ever since that day. 

It seemed like no matter where she ended up she was always unhappy in the end. She dumped her plate of food in the trash, as she had lost her appetite long ago. She carefully wrapped up Gray's plate with foil and left it on the table. She trudged upstairs and curled herself up on the bed, which she shared with Gray. She could still smell the scent of oakmoss and pinewood on his pillow. Juvia soon sat up with a start when she heard a loud knock on her door. She jumped off her bed in a heartbeat, even tripping over her bedsheets. She whipped open the door, panting, as she took in the worried face of Lucy Heartfilia. Juvia sighed. She didn't want to have this conversation right now.

"Juvia! You finally opened the door for me! Usually I have to talk through the door…" Lucy trailed off as she took in Juvia's appearance. 

Juvia had looked like she hadn't slept in weeks and her eyes looked red and puffy from crying. Her blue hair was a tangled mess.

"Juvia...thought you were someone else…"

Lucy smiled and embraced her tightly.

"Thank goodness you're okay, Juvia. Everyone has been so worried about you and Gray. Even Gajeel has said he stops by a lot, but you never open the door for him." 

Juvia looked away guiltily. She missed everyone so much at the guild, but she couldn't go back. Not in the condition she was in emotionally. 

"Can I come in Juvia? I'll only be here for a little while I promise!"Lucy pleaded.

Juvia glanced at the floor nervously, while Lucy held her breath. 

"Yes... Juvia will talk with you." Juvia reluctantly said.

She opened the door wider and let Lucy in. The house was sparkling clean, with everything in its place. Even the wooden crib painted blue in the living room was still there, untouched. It was pitiful and Lucy felt tears forming in her eyes at the sight. 

Lucy took a seat on the couch while Juvia took a seat  across from her. It was deafeningly quiet as Lucy thought about what she could possibly say to Juvia for her to understand, and convince her to come to the guild again, or at least get out of the house. But what came to Lucy's mind first was a question she was scared to know the answer to.

" When was the last time Gray came back?" Lucy asked.

Juvia was already prepared for that question. 

"Three days ago.."Juvia solemnly stated.

Lucy felt worry and pity well up in the bottom of her stomach.

"Where is he now?" Lucy asked.

"How should Juvia know? The last time he came to the house he said he was going drinking. And he...never came back. Just like that time.." 

Juvia had lifeless eyes as she said this and Lucy was afraid she was never going to be the same again. She felt pity for Juvia and anger towards Gray. How could he do this to her, and she was suffering with the loss as well?

Lucy gripped Juvia's pale hands in hers and looked in her eyes. 

"Juvia, you need to come with me. You can't stay in this place day after day alone! You might just break if you continue this way." Lucy pleaded.

"Juvia has to wait for Gray~sama to come back home. Even when he does come home and doesn't spend any time with Juvia. Even when he leaves again, she must wait for him. It is what a good wife should do." Juvia couldn't hold back her tears as one slipped from her eye and down her pale cheek.

"Juvia you are falling apart! Gray goes out drinking and who knows when he'll come back!? Nastu and Gajeel have given up trying to talk to him but you have to worry about your mental state! You don't deserve this Juvia...both of you don't."

"Juvia is Gray~sama's wife...if I leave him what will he have left?!"Juvia shouted. Juvia sobbed in Lucy's chest as Lucy soothingly patted her back. 

She hated seeing her this way, hurting so much. But there was nothing she could do but sit on the sidelines. There was a sound of keys jingling and a knob turning from the door. Both of the girls froze as the door swung open and a stumbling Gray came in. Lucy gasped as neither of them were expecting to see Gray. Lucy stood up from the couch so fast and walked over to him, near the door. A slap echoed throughout the room.

Gray stumbled back from the impact of the slap and growled. Any buzz he could have had was gone now. Gray saw a pissed off Lucy in front of him.

"What the hell is your problem, Gray?! This is the 7th time you have left Juvia, and only in a month!" Lucy yelled.

 "What the hell…?" He mumbled rubbing his reddened cheek. Juvia scurried over to Lucy to try and calm her down.

"Lucy-san please! He is probably drunk! We should have this conversation in the morning!" Juvia rambled grabbing onto Lucy's arm. 

"Who knows if he will even BE here in the morning!"Lucy spat.

Juvia shriveled up and started weeping once again, still holding onto Lucy's arm.

"See what you have reduced her to Gray?! Ever since that day you have been nothing but trouble for Juvia! The doctor even prescribed her antidepressant pills and all you can do is leave to go drinking!! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Lucy was now crying with all the anger and sadness she felt. 

Gray was her friend, and she could tell he was hurting inside too, but he was being selfish. None of them would ever heal with the way things were going. 

"Lucy-san...please leave." Juvia sobbed."I will talk with him." 

"No way Juv-"

 "Lucy please!" Juvia pleaded.

 Lucy was reluctant at first but sighed and with a last look of pity for Juvia, walked out of the house and closed the door. Gray slumped to the floor and didn't say a word.

"Gray~sama, Juvia is sure Lucy didn't mean anything by what she said. She was just a little worried about Juvia. Come on, we can make it to the bed so you can sleep." Juvia reached down to try to help him up.

"Why? Why does everything turn out like this for me?" Gray mumbled with a shaking voice. He choked back a sob as he buried his face in his sleeve. 

"I couldn't even have my own son alive. Everyone close to me either leaves or dies. I can't take much more of this hell." Gray cried.

" It was a miscarriage Gray~sama. It wasn't your fault or anyone's...it was just not our time yet…." 

" Juvia it is my fault! I killed my own son! I'm cursed!" Gray yelled.

" Stop it Gray! You know better than anyone we can't get our baby back!" Juvia sobbed as she dropped to the floor. 

" You left Juvia when she needed you the most!" Juvia bawled."When we lost our baby Juvia  was depressed, and accused herself of killing our baby all the time!'Maybe Juvia should just kill herself. Maybe that will stop the pain,' Juvia would always think to herself! And where were you?! Out burying your sorrows in drinks and leaving Juvia all alone, barely even acknowledging Juvia existed as you walked through the door, or if you came home at all!" Juvia gripped her blue locks in frustration from herself. She felt so weak and pathetic.

" Juvia felt so alone...And she couldn't go out to the guild. They would just be treating her like she was a child, constantly checking up on her, and asking  how Juvia was doing! She wouldn't be able to stand it!" Juvia shouted as she dropped to the floor. 

Gray stared in shock at the bawling mess on the floor that was in front of him. He had forgotten she was going through the same pain he was. It was both of their baby they had lost, not only his. He hadn't been thinking of anyone's feelings but his own. 

" I-I'm sorry Juvia..I forgot about how much you were hurting too... Lucy was right. I really am selfish.." Gray mumbled. Gray felt guilt eating him up inside. He really left his wife all alone in her condition. He was the worst. 

Juvia finally looked at Gray with her watery blue eyes and embraced him tightly. 

"All Juvia needed for comfort was you Gray…" Juvia sobbed.

"I'm sorry Juvia. I'm so sorry…" His whispers of apologies faded into the night as he held Juvia as tightly as he could.

Five years later:

"Silvia! Wait up, honey! You're walking too fast!" 

"Come onnn, Momma and Daddy! We are gonna miss the birthday party!" Silvia whined. Gray chuckled at his daughter.

" I'm sure Nashi won't start her birthday party without her best friend."Gray reasoned as he walked alongside his wife.

" Besides mommy has to walk slower because she has a big belly now, remember Silvia?" Juvia reminded her daughter. Silvia's eyes lit up.

" I'm sorry mommy! I forgot my brother is heavy!" Silvia giggled.

As the family rounded the corner they spotted Nashi standing outside the guild.

"Silvia!! Come on!" Nashi yelled as she stood waving her tiny arms in the front of the guild, trying to get Silvia's attention.

"Hi Nashi!" Silvia yelled as loud as she could.

"Mommy! Can I walk faster now? You people walk too slow." Silvia pouted.

"Go ahead honey." Juvia laughed. 

Juvia and Gray watched Silvia run to catch up with Nashi and chat happily as they walked into the guild.

"Juvia never thought she would be pregnant ever again." She whispered to Gray as she rubbed her overblown baby bump.

She was almost 7 months pregnant and it definitely showed.

"Me neither, honestly. Not after what we went through." Gray admitted. " But I'm glad things turned out this way. I will never forget our Storm. He will always be with us." Gray said as he looked to the sky." Especially watching over his new siblings."Gray smiled.

" Your right, Gray~sama. Our baby Storm will live within us. Forever. And Juvia can't wait to meet our new baby boy."

[tbehartoo]

200 Follower Thank you

Once upon a time, I said hey I’m about to have 200 followers. That’s 199 more followers than I ever expected to have. Maybe I should show these people some appreciation for following my hodgepodge of a blog? I asked what would be considered a good Thank you and received a whopping one (1) reply to the possibilities I mentioned. This is a result of that poll. Please note: I will NEVER volunteer to do this again!

200 Head Canons from the various fandoms I’ve written fan fic for (Fairy Tail, Miraculous Ladybug, and Voltron: Legendary Defenders). Please note these are made up things from my very tired brain and not necessarily thought through or even complete ideas, though I did try to make them internally consistent there are no guarantees. They might contradict each other and most certainly will contradict canon. Please take everything with a grain of salt, and enjoy!

Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)

1-Erza only likes red fruits- strawberries, cherries, raspberries dragon fruit, apples, etc.. But they have to be red in color not other versions of the same kind of fruit. No black cherries, green apples, or the like- she can taste the difference even blindfolded.

2- Erza likes to go stargazing on summer nights, but can’t sit still for watching clouds.

3- Between missions she will occasionally try to write poetry. It does not go well

4- She has never told anyone about the poetry!

5- There is a small part of the space she uses for her requip items that contains the locked box with her writing journals. 

6- Erza and Mira like to go shopping together. The stores tremble in fear when the two are on a campaign to find the perfect outfit. One boutique has had to hire a couple of mercenaries at the door to give the staff sufficient time to brace for impact, whenever they have a sale and the girls are in town.

7- There is a cat colony near Fairy Hills and every single cat knows Erza. They are all feral cats, but they trust Erza to provide calming attention.

8- Two things Erza does in any new place is find the baths and find the gyms. 

9- She likes to go to different gyms to observe new fighting techniques, but she doesn’t like to be recognized so she always goes in disguise.

10- Every time she asks to be taught a new technique, there is one guy (you know that one guy) that feels he needs to mansplain things to her.

11- This man is always handed his ego on a silver platter with a side serving of crow. Sometimes quite painfully.

12- Erza was once invited to an underground gym by a woman she met at the baths. She was so surprised to find it was a group dedicated to learning to fight like the Great Titania. Most of the women had histories of being abused, but had been inspired by the leader of the Fairies to stand up for themselves and get safe. They then worked to make sure that others are safe on the streets of their city and in their homes. Erza actually broke down at learning of their strength and resilience. 

13- The only time she purposefully took off her disguise was for these women to thank them. She then spent the rest of the night helping them train.

14- Erza is demisexual which is why she fell so hard for Jellal as she had a strong connection to him. 

15- She continues to have fond feelings for Jellal, but is no longer romantically or sexually interested in him.

16- Erza doesn’t bother to tell others in her guild about her changed feelings for Jellal which means the girls are always trying to get them alone together whenever he’s in town.

17- Meredy once sneaked a sensory link between Erza and Jellal and herself to figure out what was going on with them. She never told anyone what she found out, but she worked at toning down the FT girls’ attempts at matchmaking. 

18- Erza works really hard to keep her strength in check. She has trained with Guildarts to get her control as finely tuned as it is.

19- Erza has yet to find a mode of transportation that is fast enough for her. It’s a pity that Magnolia doesn’t have jet propulsion or rockets.

20- Her favorite hot drink is cinnamon tea with a little sweetened condensed milk in it.

Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail)

1- Lucy prefers the feel of cotton over silk, but she prefers the look of silk over cotton.

2- She has to invest in cotton, linen and woolen clothing as a member of Team Natsu since they don’t burn as easily as other materials.

3- Lucy has asked Levy to look for a fire retardant/ fire proofing spell to be able to use for both her clothing and her apartment.

4- Lucy was taught to crochet when she was a young girl. Though she doesn’t make the fine lace she was expected to produce as a child, she does use those skills to make tiny amigurumi mice for Happy.

5- Lucy also crochets scarves and hats every autumn for her friends. Often she makes a couple extra ones to donate to the local women’s shelter.

6- Aires likes to bring Lucy wool like thread/yarn from the spirit world for her to use in her projects.

7- Lucy likes to go fishing with Natsu and Happy.

8- She does not like catching fish with Natsu and Happy.

She like casting her rod and reeling it in, but she does NOT like baiting her hook or killing the fish. Natsu and Happy have no problems taking care of those things for her.

9- Lucy prefers moving rivers and creeks over still ponds and lakes.

10- She loves going to the beach to watch the waves break along the shore.

11- Lucy was taught how to steer a boat, well it was a yacht but why quibble over details?

12- She once claimed she was going to sail around the globe, but her father told her not to talk nonsense and then sold their boat to keep her from ever trying.

13- Lucy made friends with the birds in the garden and can whistle their calls almost as well as the birds themselves.

14- Lucy has always told herself stories. Even when she’s on a job with Team Natsu she’s often composing short stories as her day goes along.

15- Lucy hates the taste of truffle and will instantly distrust anyone who claims to like it.

16- She prefers to have short hair, but keeps hers long to be able to use the comb and brush set her mother used to use.

17- Lucy has two special silver hair pins that her mother gave her when she twelve. They belonged to her grandmother and her great-great-aunt. They get passed down to the next generation on the twelfth year after they have sparked. They always end up with a celestial mage.

18- Lucy’s understanding of celestial contracts is both modern and archaic. She is well aware of what is expected from a modern magic user, but she has been well taught in the lore of celestial beings. 

19- Most celestial spirits are pretty plain speaking with what they will, can, or won’t do. Some however, the eldest spirits, are very tricky and will find whatever loopholes through imprecise language they can to do what they can to be maliciously compliant. This is why, even though the elder spirits are more powerful than most of their siblings, they are rarely contracted with.

20- Lucy eventually has five contracts with elder Celestial Spirits. None of them have been able to twist out of their responsibilities to her.

Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail)

1- Natsu only flies off the handle so easily so that he has “legitimate” reasons for using his fire.

2- He has to eat a lot to have enough fuel for his fire.

3- He really just likes to eat and uses his fire so often so that he has room to eat more.

4- Natsu often lies awake at night trying to come up with good insults for Gray, Gajeel, and even Loki, though he rarely remembers them thus having to fall back on old and well used insults.

5- When Natsu does remember a new insult, he will rate the reaction on a scale of one to five and if it doesn’t get a four or a five he will drop using it.

6- One time he said something about Levy to Gajeel that was rated a ten and after he healed up, he never used that particular insult again.

7- Because of the sheer amount of energy that routinely flows through Natsu, he has a faster healing rate than most people, including dragon slayers, except Wendy. Wendy’s magic makes her quick to heal so that she can heal others.

8- Natsu has several potted succulents that he and Happy take care of whenever they are in town. 

9- Natsu talks to his plants and has named each one.

10- One time a new neighbor overwatered his plants while Natsu was ot of town, killing all of the plants.

11- The new neighbor was mortified and offered to buy replacements, but Natsu was offended. You don’t buy FAMILY MEMBERS they are FOUND!

12- Natsu and Happy took nothing but desert and costal assignments for a year to find new plants for their place. They even took a few over to the neighbor to teach them how to care for the very laid back plants.

13- Natsu isn’t dumb, he’s just simple. No need to be all stealthy when you can just flame broil a problem. Right?

14- Natsu likes to come in Lucy’s apartment through the window because she’s always good for a laugh when he does it.

15- Happy, and Natsu, likes to stay the night at Lucy’s place because she will read them a bedtime story.

16- Natsu’s favorite stories are about the constellations and the heroes that got put into the stars.

17- Happy’s favorite stories are about animals acting like humans, and who like to eat a lot. (Basically he likes Redwall stories, just those from Earthland)

18- Natsu hates the Pied Piper story because the kids didn’t help their lame friend go with them and Happy hates it because he scared all the rats away. Somehow the book with that story in it mysteriously burned to a crisp.

19- Natsu doesn’t have a favorite color. It changes every time someone asks.

20- When Natsu is really stressed Happy will curl up in his lap and start purring. When Happy is stressed, Natsu will raise his body temperature slightly and then hold Happy close until Happy feels like he can purr again.

Gray Fullbuster (Fairy Tail)

1- Gray doesn’t like the feel of most of his clothes touching his skin.

2- He only likes the feeling of heavy clothes touching him. Lightweight clothes bug him.

3- Gray prefers to take jobs that take him up in the mountains because it’s cooler there, and there tend to be less people he has to deal with.

4- Gray’s favorite place to vacation is the beach in the summer, but otherwise he prefers foothills in the spring for all their blooms, mountain slopes in the winter for the ice and snow, and mountain valleys in the autumn for the color change of the leaves.

5- While ice and snow don’t bother Gray, and even charge up his magic, he still prefers to come in and sit in front of a toasty fire with a warm beverage after being out in the snow.

6- One reason Gray doesn’t object to Natsu being around and being annoying is because he always has that portable space heater thing going after being cold when Natsu is around.

7- Gray experiments with poetry when he travels on his own. He never writes any of it down.

8- Gray is obscenely good with numbers and logic puzzles.

9- He’s been banned from many gambling establishments for exposing their crooked practices, even the ones that usually go unnoticed.

10- Gray kind of assumes that other people also see what he sees and doesn’t understand why he’s expected to spell everything out for the rest of Team Natsu.

11- Gray is slow to warm up to people. He’s been let down before, so once he considers you a his friend, he’s your friend for life.

12- People that really know Gray were surprised at how quickly he befriended Lucy. With most people Gray takes at least a year to even start acknowledging their existence.

13- Gray thinks Lucy is like a little sister that needs careful watching up until Tenrou.

14- After Tenrou, Gray thinks of Lucy as an equal that can and will kick his butt if he needs it.

15- Gray is not afraid of Erza, unless Natsu is involved.

16- Gray was once emotionally and verbally abused by a girlfriend, it’s what makes Juvia’s first behavior and love declarations so uncomfortable for him.

17- Gray will never admit that he’s jealous of Natsu and Gajeel’s exceed companions. But he does want to have his own flying cat occasionally.

18- Gray’s least favorite food is egg nog ice cream. He just doesn’t care for the flavor and you couldn’t get him to drink hot egg nog for love or money.

19- Gray’s preferred hot drink is Lapsang souchong tea. He likes the pine flavor in his tea cup.

20- One time Lucy, Erza, and Wendy invited Gray to accompany them to a fancy Hotel for afternoon tea. It was the only time he willingly wore a three piece suit!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Marinette likes to make lots of different kinds of pastries.

2- She only likes to actually eat a few types of pastry.

3- There are baked goods that she makes, but never eats because the textures give her the heebie jeebies. She knows other people love them so she’ll still make them.

4- Sabine, Marinette’s mom, was a martial artist of Chāquán. It is “a Chinese martial art that features graceful movements and some acrobatic aerial maneuvers. Chāquán also includes a large range of weapons.” Sabine was especially proficient in the use of the hookswords and the spear, which she has taught Marinette.

5- Sabine still goes over her forms every morning and young Marinette practices with her.

6- Marinette was fairly good at the acrobatic maneuvers until she hit puberty. Her mother often reassures Marinette that after she finishes her growth spurts she’ll be back to doing those moves again without messing up every third one.

7- Even though her father is an only child Marinette has dozens of “uncles” from around the world. Tom played on a rugby team in college and even was in the minor league for awhile. All of his team mates were made honorary uncles when Marinette was born. They get dozens of Christmas cards, letters, and emails to keep in touch.  

8- Marinette and Tom once did a tour of Europe only staying with his old teammates. They never had to find a hotel during the two weeks they traveled. They’ve had a fair few of them stay at their place in Paris, too.

9- Marinette often makes presents for her uncles, aunties, and cousins throughout the year, and receives small presents from them as well.

10- She was saving up for a trip to Australia and New Zealand for her sixteenth birthday, so that her family could visit with a couple of uncles in that part of the world, but suddenly Hawkmoth came up and now she’s not sure they will ever take that trip. 

11- She mentioned Chat Noir and Ladybug in an email to one of her ‘cousins’ in New Zealand who hadn’t heard of them, so she linked them to Alya’s Ladyblog telling her that this was really going on in Paris.

12- Two weeks later she got a video from them asking Mari to pass it along to Ladybug and Chat Noir. It showed their family and all their neighbors doing a haka for Paris and the heroes. They said it was to encourage the heroes to be strong and have courage in the face of Hawkmoth.

13- Mari cried when she saw the video as she knew what a big deal it was for them to do this for her. She asked for a translation of the words and was surprised to find it was actually written by her cousin’s grandfather, who was considered a great warrior chief, specifically for LB and CN.

14- Mari asked if only someone from her cousin’s tribe could perform that haka or if it would be considered appropriation for her and her friends to do it, too. She received another video that was an interview with the man who wrote it. He explained the tradition, the words, and showed exactly how each part should be performed. Then he gave all of Paris his blessing to do his haka for the heroes.

15- Marinette brought Alya over right away and showed her the videos. Alya promised to put both videos up right away. The traffic shut down the blog host’s servers!

16- Marinette invited this cousin’s family to visit during the summer to thank them for all that they did. During their visit an akuma attack happened. This family was delighted to suddenly have Ladybug calling the city to order and joining in as all across the capital young and old were preparing to dance strength and courage into being.

17- Marinette has noticed that her strength to stand up to Hawkmoth and perform her duties as Ladybug has increased dramatically ever since she, and the rest of Paris, has started doing the special haka.

18- Marinette likes to put youtube on autoplay and start on a random video when she’s trying to come up with a design and feels blocked. She stops it on the third and seventh video and then tries to come up with a design based on the video’s title.

19- Marinette has just started trying out needle felting and loves to make little felt mice for the animal shelter Chat Noir has endorsed.

20- Marinette has become the vice-president of the Chat Noir fan club at Francois- Dupont. Nino is the president.

Plagg and Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Plagg watches  a video of camembert making on loop whenever he can get Adrien’s phone. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atOpLj-q5nA) [People in the comments are seriously convinced that Plagg would like this video!] 

2- Tikki likes to watch crafting videos and always makes sure to leave an encouraging comment on each one she watches.

3- Tikki prefers sweet things to eat, but she can recharge on almost any food. 

4- Plagg actually needs those fermented, slightly spoiled foods to recharge completely otherwise he’s acting on about half power.

5- Plagg wanted to explore Adrien’s house more, but Gabriel’s interest in Adrien’s ring has made him stick close to his boy.

6- Plagg spent the first month of being awake getting familiar with current events using Adrien’s phone. The invention of the computer has made him ridiculously happy.

7- Plagg may or may not have had something to do with a computer virus that infected the mansion’s protection protocol after Gabriel was akumatized. Now Adrien can get out of his room an time lockdown is initiated and doesn’t have to feel trapped in his room.

8- Tikki doesn’t sleep as much as Marinette does. She gets about an hour a night.

9- Tikki emits strong “sleep rays” when she sleeps to help her holders get to sleep. Her creative types can be overthinkers that need help dropping off. 

10- Tikki doesn’t need to sleep. Whenever creation is happening she is energized and really doesn’t need to rest. She’s the originator of “pulling an all nighter”

11- Tikki tends to get a surge of power at the equinoxes while Plagg receives more power at the solstices.

12- Tikki loved coming across this video of The HU and plays it as often as she can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8dCGIm6yc

13- Plagg found out about punk rock and now plays it as Adrien sleeps hoping that the messages of the music makes through that thick layer of “presentability” Gabriel has forced on Adrien. 

14- Tikki sometimes leaves Marinette’s purse to flit over and peek at Nathaniel’s progress on his drawings if the lesson is boring.

15- Plagg’s hearing is very sharp and his ears let him tune into conversations without moving much. He is careful to check into the class gossip, but also listens in to what’s happening in Mr. Damocles’ office and the teacher lounge.

16- Plagg listened in on Tom and Gorilla’s talking about Marinette and Adrien and snickers whenever he remembers Gorilla saying, “My money’s still on Marinette confessing first. Mine’s to dense to realize how far gone he already is. He might believe she likes him on their golden wedding anniversary.”

17- Even though Plagg can phase through matter he still has a healthy respect for Gorilla’s brute strength and doesn’t want to test if he’d be quick enough to dodge the big man in the even of an emergency.

18- Tikki spends many nights creating pictures of fractals using Marinette’s digital drawing tools.

19- Tikki may or may not be the cause of Marinette having more advanced capabilities digitally than any major studio on earth.

20- Tikki despises the nickname Sugarcube, but it is the best out of Plagg many, many tries so she puts up with it. Stinky Sock is the mildest nick name Tikki has ever called Plagg. 

20.B- Most of her other names for him would be considered unprintable, but they’re in dead languages so it’s probably safe for her to use them. 

20.C- Plagg tries not to mess up so badly that she uses the Babylonian curse on him.

20.D- Plagg can tell how angry Tikki is by what language she slips into. The older the language is, the more angry Tikki is.

Nino Lahiffe (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Nino used to play percussion on everything he ever came in contact with until his uncle brought over a small hand drum for him to play. His parents called it ‘tapping’ when he was little.

2- The rule around the house was that he could only tap on the drum and not other parts of the house, when he was inside. Everything outside of the house was fair game.

3- Nino’s uncle came over every day to teach him the basics of playing his doumbek.

4- After a year of lessons, his uncle would take him to his weekly drum group where the more experienced drummers would teach little Nino drum tricks like rolls and pops.

5- By the time Nino was eight, he was a regular member of the drumming group and often went with them to play at weddings, parties, or other events. He was the cutest kid! When he was all decked out in traditional Moroccan garb playing smoking hot solos, he was often the source of viral videos.

6- In school he tried to join the band, but he was far too advanced for the beginning players and they didn’t have an advanced group for him to join.

7- The band teacher wanted to help him continue with his music so he showed Nino how to record and remix his own drumming.

8- The summer after that, he spent every day busking with a different member of the drum group to be able to afford his own recording equipment and programs.

9- The summer music money plus his share of the money for playing events with the drum group allowed him to be able to turn his room into basically a recording studio.

10- He soon became the group’s recorder which led to him also video taping performances.

11- The year before Stoneheart happens, the art teacher was able to teach Nino some basic film editing.

12- Nino’s tapping was one way for him to relieve his anxiety, the other way he tries to release it is through blowing bubbles as a kind of meditation.

13- It was hard for him to use his bubbles again after the Bubbler incident.

14- When Alya and Nino got locked in the cage at the zoo, it took all of ten seconds for Alya to figure out he didn’t actually have a crush on her. It took fifteen seconds for her to figure out it was Marinette he’d liked. He was really embarrassed about it.

15- However, after talking a lot about things they liked and disliked they found they really had a lot in common. Alya told Nino about Marinette’s crush on Adrien and Nino was upset for a moment, but then Alya made him laugh and he was suddenly thinking, “Marinette who?”

16- By the time they were out of the cage Nino was firmly in Alya’s corner for matchmaking Marinette with his friend Adrien.

17- Nino’s anxiety can get high during an akuma attack, unless he has someone to watch out for or protect, then he’s calm and collected. Which makes running after Alya toward the big scary monster the better choice for him during those moments. 

18- Nino was a natural at wielding the Turtle Miraculous as it played to his need to protect.

19- After being Carapace, battles in which he wasn’t called to be a protector of Paris were excruciating to watch even as he kept Alya from coming to harm. He craved using the Miraculous as it allowed him to care for more people at once.

20- Nino introduced Wayzz to both smooth jazz and rap music just to see what the kwami would do. He loved everything Nino threw at him! Wayzz requested a copy of Nino’s latest mixes and a song by Sade before he had to go back to the Guardian. Nino found an old iPod to give to the little godling who claimed it would be his most precious treasure. Nino couldn’t talk for a full five minutes as he was too embarrassed and proud to speak.

M. Gorilla (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Gorilla and Tom played Rugby on the same team in college.

2- He often stops by the bakery after dropping Adrien off at school if he isn’t needed by M. Agreste immediately.

3- He’s convinced that Adrien is in love with Marinette, as are Tom and Sabine. It’s a topic of great interest and much discussion when he comes in, if there aren’t other customers around. Sabine and Gorilla have a bet on who will confess their feelings first. (Sabine’s money is on Adrien.)

4- Tom and Gorilla met their future spouses as they acted as bouncers at a local club on weekends all thorough their Junior and Senior years at university.

5- Sabine and Gorilla’s significant other, Jerome, were in a group of friends that frequented the night club regularly. Sabine dared her friend to get the cute bouncer’s phone number by the end of the night. After a few shots of liquid courage, he’d brazenly asked Tom for a date and his number, but Tom gently, and privately, told the young man he was straight. He then motioned for Gorilla to come over and introduced the two. The young man returned to the bar with two phone numbers: Gorilla’s for him and Tom’s for Sabine. 

6- Tom made the cake for Gorilla’s commitment ceremony, before same-sex marriage was legal in France. When Marinette was ten, he also made the wedding cake for Gorilla when he and Jerome were legally able to be married.

7- Jerome had a child from a previous relationship that he and Gorilla took care of for the first five years of the girl’s life. She was taken away when the girl’s mother claimed that Jerome wasn’t the father of the child. DNA tests proved he wasn’t. The mother tried to sue another man for child support, then took the girl and moved to another country.

8- Gorilla and Jerome were distraught to have their little girl taken from them. They tried to adopt another child, but they were denied and not even allowed to foster any children.  

9- Gorilla started working for the Agreste family shortly after he lost his daughter.

10- Emilie saw how angry he was over anyone that wasn’t an Agreste coming near Adrien and eventually got the story out of him over why he’d be so protective to keep people from potentially taking her son away. It was something she was very appreciative over. Gorilla considered her a friend after she went out of her way to find out about his heartbreak.

11- Gorilla is legally Adrien’s godfather. When Emilie heard what that woman had done to Gorilla she took Gorilla and Adrien to her lawyer and made Gorilla legally responsible for Adrien and any future children she may have regardless of his continuing employment by the Agreste family. Gabriel signed the papers without complaint, but didn’t actually read them carefully, or register exactly what he was signing..  

12- Gorilla worked for the DGSI, the French CIA, as an informant while playing rugby. It allowed him to travel for legitimate reasons and keep tabs on one of the players for the DGSI.

13- After university, Gorilla was recruited to become an agent. He was injured on an assignment and decided to retire to be an up and coming rocker’s body guard.

14- He and Jerome get invited backstage any time Jagged is in town to be able to catch up.

15- Gorilla really enjoyed doing his job as a bodyguard, but wanted to be home more with Jerome, especially after their little Marie was taken from them.

16- The DGSI came to Gorilla to ask if he’d be interested in working for them again as they look into the workings of one Gabriel Agreste and the Gabriel empire.

17- Gorilla was actually key in getting Nathalie in the door at Gabriel. She is also an informant gathering evidence on Gabriel Agreste.

18- Gorilla was speechless when their higher ups requested that he and Nathalie continue to aide Gabriel once he became a magical terrorist, they were interested in seeing the power of the moth Miraculous and what it could do. Nathalie complied willingly, but Gorilla refused to do anything that would put Adrien in trouble.

19- Gorilla despaired of Adrien ever figuring out how to give him the slip, and he was so proud when Adrien succeeded at eluding his tailing him through the Metro. Then he panicked because he just lost his child!

20- Gorilla is fully aware that Adrien is Chat Noir. He was the one to change the angle of the security cameras, and conveniently show Adrien their blind spot right outside his window. (Seriously, that boy needs all the help he can get.)

Pidge Gunderson/Katie Holt (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

1- Katie was introduced to Pokemon when she was very young.

2-For awhile all she managed to find were Pidgeys in her game. And she collected every one she could.

3- Matt laughed at her for this and nicknamed her “Pidge”.

4- Katie didn’t like his teasing and vowed to make her pidgeys the strongest she could to beat Matt’s team.

5- She eventually fulfilled that vow.

6- Later Pidge went on to collect and evolve almost every pokemon in the pokedex.

7- Matt never recovered from being beaten by a flock of pidgeot, and has refused to pick up the game ever since that time. Pidge considered that her greatest accomplishment until she infiltrated the Garrison.

8- Katie has loved robots ever since she watched the Iron Giant movie with her dad.

9- Katie first started building robots when she got a MeccaSpider Robot Kit for her sixth birthday. 

10- She was dissatisfied with how klunky the spider turned out to be and proceeded to borrow a few parts from something of Matt’s to make it work better. It’s ability to move as quickly and silently as a spider was not appreciated by all the inhabitants of her home. 

11- Katie has never grown out of her ability to see other uses for mechanical parts past their intended use, or for cannibalizing parts from anywhere she can get them.

12- While Katie likes to build robots, what she really adores is programming them. She hopes someday to make a small robot that can serve to help the physically disabled with everyday tasks.

13- Seeing her mother’s father struggle after he fell and broke his hip was what has spurred Katie on in her endeavor to build helper robots.

14- For all the squabbling and tattling that she and Matt engaged in, they were very good friends. When he left for the Garrison, and had to stay there, Katie cried every night for a month.

15- Katie hates to be in the middle of drama, but she loves to watch it unfold. She has been guilty of bringing snacks to watch Lance confront someone about a perceived slight.

16- Katie is a multishipper of fictional characters. When Hunk asked if she shipped Lance with any of the other cadets at the Garrison, she read him the riot act for shipping “real people”.

17- Pidge faked a crush for a whole week while in the Garrison when Lance wouldn’t stop pestering her about it. Then the female cadet showed up with a girlfriend and Lance tried to console Pidge about not having a shot since her “crush” was into girls. Pidge didn’t know how to feel about the entire situation and started telling Lance to “Zip it!” whenever he started up about Pidge needing a girlfriend.

18- Pidge finds the idea of “love at first sight” baffling and illogical, unless it’s a sweet piece of tech. Then she totally gets it. Her idea of a “sweet piece of tech” is not the same as Lance’s, but Hunk gets her.

19- Pidge is curious about everything! She likes to tinker with things to find out how they work as well as read about discoveries others have made.

20- Pidge finds sociology fascinating. People and cultures can be hard to understand, robots are nicer that way, but once she gets to meet so many other sentient beings, see their environments, and how they adapt to them- she thinks they are almost as awesome as the robots.

Hunk (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

1- Hunk’s grandmother (his father’s mother) was a chef at an upscale hotel. She’s the one that gave him his first lessons in cooking, knife skills, and developing one’s palate.

2- Hunk’s grandfather (his father’s father) was a fisherman who demonstrated traditional fishing techniques at their island’s living history museum three times a week once he’d retired. There was always plenty of fish to go around on those days.

3- Hunk’s other grandfather (his mother’s father) was an electrical engineer and worked for the county as lead engineer. He often had little models of circuits and old mother boards that he let Hunk tinker with and program.

4- His other grandmother (his mother’s mother) was the designated worrier of the family. She also had a lush garden that she tended daily. It was full of strange plants that often bore unusual fruits for the family to eat. 

5- Hunk learned to combine the strange fruits with the kitchen skills he had to make things his younger siblings would eat. Not every experiment turned out well, but he always tried to analyze what went wrong and strategize a better plan to execute his vision for the star ingredient.  

6- Hunk and his cousins often had “Bake offs” when they went to TiTi’s house for sleep overs. Hunk usually lost as baking was not his forte.

7- When he and his cousins did their own version of “Chopped” then Hunk usually won hands down. Especially when given a strange basket of ingredients to work with.

8- Hunk is highly anxious but working in the kitchen helps to calm him down. The rules for cooking are simple and there are few surprises he’s not prepared to deal with.

9- Hunk uses his cell phone to ease his anxiety about things in the kitchen. He always takes a photo with a time stamp when he leaves the kitchen. Also he has remote access to all appliances with alerts to let him know when everything is being used.

10- Hunk has installed cameras and view screens on every major appliance in his family’s homes so that if he starts to worry about them, he can check his phone to see what their status is.

11- The first time Hunk left something on in the Castle he realized he’d need to come up with the same kind of thing so he wouldn’t worry while on a mission.

12- The Castle had no clue what Hunk was doing, but eventually allowed Hunk and Pidge to install primitive sensors in the kitchen appliances (and the garbage disposal for some reason) but absolutely refused to allow remote activation of anything. Hunk had to be content with that.

13- Hunk has difficulty standing up for himself, but his anxiety has “Protective Mom” override mode. He will absolutely end someone messing with his friend or family member.

14- Hunk’s favorite color isn’t yellow, it’s orange. However he was drawn to the Yellow Lion because they both want to protect their friends and family.

15- The first night Hunk spent in the Castle of Lions he made sure to lock the door then proceeded to do a traditional siva tau in memory of his family whom he never expected to see again.

16- Hunk has composed a special siva tau that includes some of the people and places he’s been. It offers each of them encouragement to be strong, to trust in the goodness of others, and realize that they are not alone in the universe.

17- Hunk has performed his siva tau on only three occasions. Each time it was at the request of Allura for other groups that had lost their home planets. After each performance Hunk would have several people ask if he would teach them the dance.

18- After the defeat of the Galra, Hunk composed a second siva tau to celebrate the victory and also to mourn those who were lost to the conflict.

19- On the anniversary of this moment Hunk, his family, and any Paladin that is near will gather to celebrate. The evening always closes with the bon fire being stoked up and a performance of that second siva tau. 

20- At Hunk’s death there was a large crowd full of many species that honored his family and expressed their grief at his passing by performing Hunk’s first siva tau. It was said that the earth trembled as each foot/appendage touched down and the skies carried the sound of their voices all around the globe.  

[superfreakerz]

TDS 5

"The Dragneel Scrapbook"

Rated M for smut.

Summary: They've loved each other every step of the way, from becoming partners to getting married, and now they get to experience raising kids. Snapshots of the Dragneel family life.

Wonderful art made by @ccrispy :D It's one of my favorites for this story so far lol I love it.

Chapter 5

Insatiable

Lucy should've known better that pregnancy was no walk in the park. In the back of her mind, she'd known that. After all, she'd seen Levy go through much pain during her pregnancy. But in her excitement of having a child, the girl had conveniently forgotten about the downsides that were soon to come.

And when those downsides did come, they hit her like a brick.

It all started with soreness. A month into her pregnancy, Lucy's breasts were tender, aching as they began to swell. Then, the rest of her body followed suit, aching from head to toe. Her most problematic areas were here back, head, and breasts. Her stomach also cramped, but it wasn't as bad as the others.

Luckily, Natsu was right there at her side, offering to do anything she asked for. Whether it was to get her food or rub her back, the boy would always happily oblige with a huge smile plastered to his face.

And now, her body had a new symptom to surprise her with.

Cravings.

Lucy was a little excited for this part of her pregnancy. Watching Levy crave the weirdest foods, some that she didn't even like before, made her curious to see what she would be craving. Would she prefer salty snacks? Or perhaps meat? What if she only wanted to eat pickled plums? Poor Wendy would pass out just watching her.

In the end, Lucy's cravings came in waves. Some were longer than others, lasting for months, while others only lasted a few days. She knew that she'd entered this new round of pregnancy when all she wanted to eat were pickles. Dill pickles, to be exact.

Lucy quickly realized that her cravings were also oddly specific. During the pickle wave, Natsu had rushed to the store in the middle of the night to get her a jar. When he returned, he proudly held up a jar of sweet pickles, which she turned down immediately. Apparently, her stomach required dill pickles only. Whether it was the whole pickle, slices, or even frozen like a popsicle- which was actually Lucy's favorite version- so long as they were the sour kind, she would devour them all.

That wave lasted for about a week. The next was ice cream. But not just any kind of ice cream. It had to be sherbet. She'd woken up at four in the morning with an insatiable hunger for the damn ice cream but seeing Natsu so peacefully asleep- he'd been exhausted throughout her pregnancy as well- she knew that she should let him get her rest.

And that was how Lucy, at three months pregnant, took a lovely stroll in the middle of the night to get a whole tub of ice cream and scarf it down while sitting on the kitchen floor. Natsu had woken up the next morning, scared when he saw she wasn't in bed with him and went out to the kitchen to find her laying on the floor, hugging the empty carton to her chest.

The worst craving of all, however, was the spicy food. One day, Lucy had watched Natsu stuffing his mouth with the guild's famous fire chicken. Before, she would never even dream of taking a tiny bite of it, knowing that it would set her mouth on fire. But seeing her husband enjoying it, she wanted some for herself.

Lucy wanted anything spicy she could get her hands on. Peppers, hot wings, that blasted fire chicken, she wanted it all. And while Natsu was excited about this, exclaiming that nobody ever ate spicy food with him before, she wasn't looking forward to it. Even though her pregnant belly demanded to be fed spicy food, her mouth still couldn't handle it. So, every time Lucy ate something spicy, she would also have to chug down a glass of milk while tears clouded her eyes. Yet she found that she couldn't stop eating it.

Unfortunately, that wave lasted the longest, three months to be exact, leading the way to the next craving.

Despite being pregnant, Lucy refused to stop going on jobs. She had more of a sideline duty now, and everyone was more adamant on keeping her away from the enemies, but at least she got to be there with her team.

On one of their jobs, she'd watched Natsu fight some robber. Flames lit up his fists as he delivered fiery punch after punch. Usually, Lucy's eyes would be glued to his toned, tanned arms and the way his muscles would be flexed, but she found her gaze occupied with something else.

Natsu's fire.

Drool gathered in the corner of her mouth as she watched, mesmerized by the way the fire flicked around his hand. It was so bright, so inviting, it had her mouth going dry. She'd seen her husband eat fire countless of times and she always wondered what it tasted like. And now, her curiosity had grown to a desperate need.

Once they apprehended the criminals, Lucy walked over to Natsu and the rest of their team. Grabbing his wrist, she gained his attention.

"What's up, Lucy?" he asked.

"Use your fire," she ordered, to which he quickly obliged. He took any chance he could get to use his magic.

Lucy's eyes sparkled at the sight of the orange fire dancing over his fist. The drool that had collected in the corner of her mouth now dripped down her chin, but she didn't bother wiping it away.

"I'm going to eat it," the girl said.

"Wait, what?" Gray asked. "Are you talking about Natsu's fire?" She nodded.

"Lucy, you can't eat that," Erza said, sweat-dropping. "Only Natsu can because he's a dragon slayer."

"I don't care. I'm going to eat it."

"Oh no, Lucy's having another weird craving!" Happy cried, flying all around them. "What do we do!?"

Natsu awkwardly chuckled while studying his wife. Cutting off his magic and ignoring the glare she gave him for doing so, he wrapped an arm around her. Honestly, pregnant Lucy was a bit scary. Saying no to her was worse than saying no to Erza. But eating fire would only hurt her, and he didn't want to see her hurt.

"Sorry, Luce. No fire for you," Natsu said, his face growing pale as she gave him an icy glare.

"I want fire," she replied, lifting his hand to her face. "Give me fire."

"Luuucy, that'll only hurt you!"

"We don't know that for sure."

Gray went to shove his hands in his pockets, realizing that he'd discarded his pants somewhere along the way. "Shit, where'd my pants go? Anyways, we do know that for sure, Lucy. You aren't a dragon slayer. You can't eat fire."

The team watched as angry pregnant Lucy turned into something much worse.

Crying pregnant Lucy.

In seconds, the blonde was bawling her eyes out, falling to her knees and covering her face with her hands. Her wails were loud enough to startle the birds from their trees. Everyone shared a worried glance, unsure of how to fix it.

"D-Don't cry, Lucy!" Natsu exclaimed, his voice higher-pitched in his panic. "You might not be able to eat fire, but I can get you a substitute! How's that sound?"

"A substitute?" she questioned, peeking at him through the cracks of her fingers.

"Yeah! I can give you something that fire tastes like!"

"What does fire taste like?"

Natsu opened his mouth to reply, but the words died in his throat. What did fire taste like? Honestly, he didn't have a clue. Fire tasted like fire, there really was no substitute. He just said that to get her to stop crying. But if she found out that he lied to her…

He was a goner.

Thinking of something quick, Natsu shouted, "S'mores! Fire tastes like s'mores!"

"S'mores?"

"Yep!"

"Why does it taste like s'mores?"

"I have no idea, but it does! Wanna go home and make some?"

The rest of the team watched, sweat dripping down their foreheads while they bit their fingernails. If Lucy didn't believe him, they were screwed.

Luckily, the girl's lips curled into a wide grin.

"Yeah! I love s'mores!"

And that was how they were able to save themselves that day.

Once the fire craving ended, it was time for the last wave. Similar to when Lucy craved Natsu's fire, now all she craved was Gray's ice.

She was in the third trimester of her pregnancy now, her belly bulging out as if she had stuffed a watermelon underneath her dress. With all of her symptoms hitting her at once, nobody had it in them to say no to the girl.

So, whenever she walked up to Gray, asking for ice, he would always oblige, making her a small chunk of ice she could munch on. She would always thank him and walk off with a pleasant smile on her face, informing the guild that the beast had been sedated for now. The process repeated multiple times throughout the day.

And it didn't stop outside the guild, either. One night, during the middle of the night, Gray's door was being banged against nonstop until he opened it to find Natsu and Lucy, the former's hair disheveled as he looked utterly exhausted.

"Gray…" Natsu croaked out. "Ice."

"Right now?" the ice-make mage asked, cracking a yawn. "It's like two in the morning!"

"The cravings don't stop for sleep. The cravings are forever."

Lucy held a hand out, demanding to be fed. Gray obliged, making another chunk of ice for the girl before opening the door wider.

"Why don't you guys sleep here for the night?" he suggested. "You're already here and I have a feeling these cravings aren't over just yet."

Natsu thanked him, taking a step into the house before collapsing on the floor, knocked out immediately. Meanwhile, Lucy sat beside Gray, humming as she munched on her 'meal.'

It only got worse from there. Every night after that, the two showed up outside their house, asking for ice. It got to the point where Natsu asked Gray to move in with them during the last month of the pregnancy so that they didn't have to walk to their house every night.

And so, after asking Juvia if it was alright, Gray found himself sleeping on the Dragneels' couch for the rest of the pregnancy. It turned out that even Juvia could be apart from him so long as it meant being apart from Lucy as well. With them banging on their door every night, Juvia wasn't getting any sleep either.

Lucy stepped out of the bedroom, holding a hand out.

Gray sighed, making her a Happy-shaped ice cube. As the girl thanked him and went on her way, he prayed that the cravings would end soon.

[amehanaaa]

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

The Nalu is getting real juicy out here. It gets my blood pumping, wow.

Thank you all so much for reading so far! You all make my heart swell with happiness. 

Hope you enjoy this chapter! (Also can be read here.)

Chapter 5 – Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 Words: 4130 Summary: Lucy and Natsu are determined to take the necessary steps to fulfill their lifetime dreams. Little do they know, they have both given themselves 10 days to achieve it.

                                                 ——————–

“Hey, what are you doing right now?”

“Nothing much,” Natsu speaks into his phone as he tightens strings to a trash bag. “What’s up with you?”

“You want lunch?”

“You don’t have to ask me that even once. Come on over, Gray,” Natsu responds, not missing a beat.

Finished with his chores for the day, he waits for his friend to arrive at the station. He stands beneath an awning due to the early summer heat.

As soon Gray’s motorcycle rolls up on the driveway, Natsu’s stomach growls. He cracks a grin when he finds that Gray brought him his favorite—an Italian sandwich with spicy mayo.

Taking their usual seat at the outdoor table, Natsu doesn’t hesitate to take a large bite. “Thanks,” he says in between bites.

Gray nods while watching his friend happily eat the sandwich. Admittedly, Gray couldn’t bring himself to meet up with him yesterday after his episode with Lucy. A part of him regrets ambushing her; he wonders what she thinks of him now.

But most of all, Gray fears that he isn’t being loyal to his best friend. He can’t figure out if keeping the information about Lucy is betrayal. An overwhelming sense of guilt is scattered throughout his chest.

“So, how are you and the girl?” Gray forces himself to ask, careful enough to speak nonchalantly. “Lucy was her name, right?”

Natsu swallows the last bite and wipes the dripping mayo off the side of his mouth. He lets out a loud sigh. “Can I be honest with you? She’s a lot to handle right now. I don’t know what has gotten into her lately.”

His words cause Gray to lift a brow in response. “What has she been doing to you?”

“One second she’s great and loving,” Natsu begins. “The next second she’s being so difficult and toxic. It’s suffocating.”

Gray opens his mouth to respond, but Natsu is already too fired up to stop venting.

“I made her my famous ham last night, but she didn’t eat it because suddenly she was a vegetarian. Then, she assumed I thought she was overweight because I was looking at her plate of spinach. I can’t believe—”

“Hey, Natsu,” Gray stops him gently. “You’re starting to yell.”

“Sorry,” Natsu responds with a large gulp of water. “I don’t know how to fix this.”

“She reminds me of how Juvia used to act,” Gray mentions.

Natsu’s jaw drops at the sudden realization. “That’s exactly who she’s like! How did you and Juvia work through it?”

“Lots of a time and lots of communication,” Gray admits. He realizes that this is an opening to sway Natsu. “But do you think Lucy is even worth it? Or would it be better to cut her off?”

Natsu instantly starts to shake his head. “No way. I’m a man of my word, you know that. No matter how difficult Lucy is, I’m determined to win her over. We only have four days left, anyway.”

Gray sighs under his breath, expecting nothing else from Natsu. He perks up in his seat again when he gets an idea.

“Hey, why don’t we have a guys’ night tomorrow? You can bring your fire buddies and I’ll bring my coworkers.”

Natsu’s eyes light up at the idea. “Sign me up for that. We can have it at my place. It’s been a while since my home has felt like what it’s supposed to feel like—a home.”

The two share a nod, both satisfied that it worked out. Gray is about to stand up and ride back to work, but he freezes when he catches a glimpse of a car approaching the station.

“Lucy is here,” Natsu says.

Gray glances at him, finding Natsu stand and walk towards the car. He actually is taken aback for a second—he has never seen Natsu’s eyes soften that quickly before.

“I missed you today!” Lucy shouts while leaping into Natsu’s arms.

They share an embrace until he pulls back. “Hey, I have someone I want you to meet this time.”

He slides his hand down to intertwine fingers with her, bringing her to the table. Lucy and Gray make eye contact for a split second before they avert gazes to Natsu.

“Lucy, this is my best friend. Gray, this is Lucy,” Natsu introduces them.

There’s a moment of silence between the three of them, but Lucy makes sure it isn’t noticeable.

“Nice to meet you, Gray.” She extends her free hand to him.

“Nice to meet you, too,” he responds as he shakes her hand. He notices that her palm is sweaty, revealing to him that she is just as nervous as he is.

“How well do you know Natsu?” Lucy asks. After realizing that this is the perfect opportunity to find out what kind of person he is, she goes into reporter mode.

“Was it when we were second years in college?” Gray looks over at Natsu, trying to remember. “Or third years?”

“I thought we met our first year,” Natsu responds with a frown. “You sure it wasn’t first year?”

“No, because you had just broken up with Lisanna,” Gray reminds him.

“Oh,” Natsu says plainly.

Natsu is afraid to see Lucy’s expression, but he decides to sneak a glance. He’s surprised to see her with an amused look.

“You’ve known each other for a long time, then,” she comments.

Natsu tries not to express his shock. He expected her to investigate his past relationships, but she doesn’t seem to have any interest in that. Instead, she is more focused on him and Gray’s present friendship.

“Lisanna was a childhood friend,” Natsu explains, feeling as though he owes it to her.

Lucy slightly shakes her head with an assuring smile. “You don’t have to explain it to me. I get it.”

“Okay,” he answers hesitantly. He isn’t sure why he feels the way he does right now; he’s impressed by how relaxed she is about it.

Gray clears his throat. “Well, I should probably start heading out.”

“Wait!” Lucy abruptly exclaims. Releasing her hand from Natsu’s, she rushes over to a nearby tree. “Look, there’s a cat!”

Her hurried steps are enough to scare the cat, causing it to jump onto a branch above her. Once she reaches the tree, she tilts her head back and laughs.

“Natsu, look!” She continues to laugh and points at the branch. “You were made for this job!”

Gray has already put his helmet on when Natsu turns to him with tired eyes.

“Good luck. I’ll see you at guys’ night tomorrow.” He pats Natsu on the shoulder.

Natsu lets out a sigh as he starts to walk away. “Does she know that it’s pretty rare for firefighters to rescue cats out of trees?” He grumbles to himself.

Grabbing a ladder, he sets it at the tree and starts to reach for the unamused cat. Lucy can’t stop herself from giggling as he successfully rescues the feline.

“You should keep him,” she suggests. “Look, he’s snuggling against you!”

Natsu scoffs, not paying attention to its soft fur. “I don’t have time to take care of a cat.”

“We can co-parent!” she insists. “But he has to stay at your house. Please!”

He observes Lucy’s pleading eyes. Every part of him wants to reject the idea, but after remembering that he’s determined to win her over, he accepts the fact that he needs to show his commitment.

“Okay, I’ll keep him.”

“Yes!” Lucy cheers with a grin. “We’re going to be a happy family!”

Natsu gives a small smile in response. Although the station’s front yard is shaded by multiple trees, he feels beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. He can start to sense irritation bubbling up inside of him.

“I’m going to go inside and clean up. I’ll see you later tonight,” he tells her as he takes the ladder and lugs away.

“Um, Natsu?” Lucy asks before he gets too far away. As he turns around, she points to her puckered lips.

Natsu can physically feel his shoulders slump, but he tries to hide it as he returns to her. After they kiss, she tilts her head.

“Did you have a sandwich for lunch? I can taste it.”

“Yeah, I did,” he responds simply, already turning away.

“With meat in it?” she asks, although he doesn’t bother to look back at her.

“Yep!” he answers loud enough to hear her. “See you later!”

Lucy presses her hand to her lips in order for her laugh not to leave her lips. Natsu has already entered the station, leaving her on the yard alone.

“You don’t even know what else is coming,” she giggles under her breath. With that, she leaves the station to start the next part of her assignment for the day.

                                                 ——————–

Natsu has lost track on how many times his phone has buzzed in his pocket for the past hour. He has accepted that the vibration will forever be imprinted on his leg.

Once he is back to his apartment—with a cat in his arms—he checks his phone to find Lucy calling again. He lets the call ring until it automatically declines. He groans when she leaves another voicemail. 30 voicemails, to be exact.

“What is wrong with her?” he mutters, a wave of irritation returning to his chest. “She’s making this so much more difficult than it needs to be.”

He decides that it would be best to just sit down and breathe, so he kicks off his shoes and falls face first into the couch. He shuts his eyes, finally feeling some of the pressure fade.

The moment is promptly ruined as a round of knocks pound on the door.

“It’s unlocked!” Natsu turns his head to shout at the door.

“Natsu!” Lucy shouts while entering the apartment. “Where are you?”

He raises his arm up from the couch. As she walks towards him, he pushes himself to sit up.

“So, I did something a little crazy today,” Lucy says with a bashful smile.

“What did you do?” he asks, almost afraid to know the answer.

“Well, I was messing around at work today,” she explains. “And then I suddenly came up with the perfect name for our daughter!”

Natsu doesn’t have any time to react as he watches her pull out a journal from her purse. She sits next to him, opening the journal and half of the pages landing on his lap.

“Here are all the combinations I made with our names.” She drags her index finger down the lists on each page. Her finger stops at the final, circled name. “Look, her name is going to Nashi! Isn’t it cute?”

“What makes you think we’ll have a daughter?” Natsu’s brows furrow in response.

Lucy gapes at him in disbelief. She folds her arms across her chest and turns away with an audible huff.

“I’m sorry.” He forces himself to reach over and place a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I shouldn’t have questioned that.”

“That really hurt my feelings. You don’t think we could have a daughter someday?”

The realistic side of Natsu wants to be bluntly honest, but he feels as though he has to read a script. He swallows back his pride.

“I think we can be hopeful about it,” he replies.

Lucy shifts in her spot to send him a delighted smile. “Let’s be hopeful together!”

He nods, allowing her to nestle into his chest. Both of them let out sighs, although they’re for different reasons.

“Let’s stay in for the rest of the night?” Lucy suggests.

“Please,” Natsu mumbles in agreement. “Let’s just relax.”

Before she can change her mind, he leans over and turns on the TV. Just for good measure, he closes his eyes and dozes off until it’s too late to commit to anything for the rest of the night.

Meanwhile on the other side of the couch, Lucy can hardly believe that Natsu is still invested into the relationship after being shown the ridiculous journal she made. If it was the other way around, she would be finding excuses to never see him again.

Natsu must be a superhuman if his feelings for her are still as genuine when they first met.

And yet, Lucy can’t keep herself from wondering if her initial feelings are still the same as the current, swirling ones in her chest.

                                                 ——————–

“You’re still together after all that?!” Cana bursts out incredulously once Lucy has updated her from last night’s events. “He hasn’t even tried breaking up with you?”

“I have no idea what I’m doing wrong,” Lucy groans. She takes a bite out of the Italian sandwich she has been craving all day. “I’ve been clingy, needy, whiny, obsessive… I don’t see why he’s still with me.”

“You know what,” Cana begins with a mischievous smile. “I could make up some kind of drink for you to give him. It’d definitely make him dislike you for a bit.”

Lucy shakes her head, dismissing the idea. “I feel like not even that will work. I have to do more than that. It’s already been five days. I have to do something big tomorrow.”

“Why not tonight?” Cana asks.

“He’s having a guys’ night tonight with his friends,” Lucy explains.

“That sounds like something he wouldn’t want to miss out on,” Cana points out.

Lucy’s brows raise in recognition as she takes another bite of her sandwich. She takes a large gulp of her water.

“Cana, you are so right!” she exclaims.

Cana sends her a grin before taking a sip of her mysterious drink of the day. “Don’t forget to take your notes.”

Lucy nods before hastily adjusting the outline to her next move. She planned on taking it easy tonight to prepare new, absurd ways to get on Natsu’s last nerve. But of course, spontaneity always makes its appearance.

Anticipation begins to flow through Lucy’s veins as the workday comes to an end. A part of her doesn’t even know if she’s going to be able to pull off her new plan.  

“You got it,” Cana encourages her, sensing her apprehension.

Lucy sends her a grateful smile as she picks up her belongings. “Thanks. Don’t drink too much tonight.”

“You know that’s not possible!” Cana calls out to her, causing Lucy to scoff as she leaves the office.

Once Lucy is outside, she reads her watch. Natsu should be at his apartment by now, probably setting up for the guys’ night. If she wants her plan to work, she’ll have to wait at least another hour. That will at least give him some time to enjoy, too. To kill some time, she enters a clothing store.

Simultaneously, Natsu has never felt so refreshed coming home. The best part about a guys’ night is that there is no prerequisite for setting up. All it takes is showing up and deciding what to do on the spot.

Pouring the cat some food, Natsu can’t hold back his excitement as the first round of knocks sound throughout his apartment. Soon enough, his place is filled with some of his best friends, along with some of Gray’s familiar coworkers.

“Who wants to play some video games? Elfman and Laxus, you in?” Natsu offers.

“As a man, I can’t refuse a challenge,” Elfman responds while Laxus simply shrugs in response. “Give me the controller.”

It isn’t long until the three of them are yelling at one another, roughly slamming on the controller buttons. Natsu’s stomach even starts to hurt because of how much he laughs. He genuinely is having the time of his life for the first time in a while.

“Since I’ve won each round, I’ll let someone else play,” Natsu announces proudly. He looks over at one of Gray’s coworkers. “Here, Lyon. You’re up.”

“I don’t even know how to play this game,” Lyon mumbles, but still accepts the controller.

Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, Natsu takes a long drink. He sighs out in relief and watches his friends play for a moment. He can’t remember the last time he has experienced this much freedom.

“It’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together like this,” Gray mentions as he takes another water from the fridge.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Natsu agrees. “I definitely needed this night.”

Although his words say otherwise, Lucy lingers in the back of his mind. After spending several consecutive nights together, he feels as though he should be seeing her. He isn’t sure if this means that he misses her. However, he knows that there’s a fun side to Lucy—she could surely have fun playing video games with him, too.

Making a mental note to invite her over after the guys leave, Natsu rejoins his group of friends. His stomach aches from laughing, his cheeks hurt from smiling, and his thumbs hurt from all the unsystematic button-pressing.

After about an hour of thoroughly enjoying himself, Natsu is in the midst of cheering Elfman on to beat Laxus when he hears the door behind him open. He curiously casts a look over his shoulder to see who it is.

“Hi, Natsu!” Lucy nearly sings as she enters the apartment. “I just wanted to come by and say hi!”

“How did you get in here?” he asks, wide-eyed.

“I was able to get a copy of the key,” she replies nonchalantly. She walks closer to observe Natsu’s friends, some of them acknowledging her while others remain focused on the TV. “Are these your friends?”

Without a second thought, Lucy extends her hands and shakes all of the guys’ hands with a large grin. She waits for Elfman to pause the game until she introduces herself.

“I’m Lucy. Nice to meet everyone!”

The guys mutter a hello in response before Elfman returns to the game. The sound of the TV slightly masks the awkward atmosphere.

Gray leans into Natsu’s ear. “Is she crazy?”

Before Natsu can respond, Lucy makes an announcement.

“I brought snacks!”

All of the guys’ seem surprised at her statement, some of them looking at her with hopeful eyes. The guys have been snacking on peanuts for the last hour.

Lucy reaches inside of her purse and slides out a veggie tray. She places it on the coffee table in front of the TV.

“Eat up!” she tells them excitedly. Being able to see all of their disappointment, she decides to wait until one of them feels obligated to open it and take a celery stick.

Lucy has to bite her lip in order to stop herself from laughing as she goes into the kitchen. Through the opening to the living area, it’s obvious how much they don’t want to eat it.

She stands in the kitchen for a few moments while the guys slowly start to make conversation again. In the midst of observing the back of their heads, she catches a glance of the plant that she placed on the windowsill several days ago. Walking over to it, she finds that nothing has sprouted yet.

“Natsu!” Lucy dramatically gasps. She takes the pot and brings it over to him. “Have you not been watering our plant?”

“N-No, I haven’t,” Natsu admits, helplessly stuttering. “It’s just sleeping, that’s all.”

Lucy is able to see the guys staring at them from her peripheral vision. This setup could not have been more perfect. She takes a deep breath before speaking.

“What if it’s dead already? You let our plant die! Will you let us die, too?” She doesn’t give Natsu any time to respond. “You know what… I’m leaving and taking the plant with me!”

With the pot in her arms, Lucy swiftly turns away and grabs her purse. She storms out of the apartment, not bothering to look behind her. Her hurried steps almost make it to the elevator when she hears footsteps following after her. She has to suppress her disbelief when Natsu sets his hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing?” they ask simultaneously.

“This is getting a little weird,” Natsu responds first. “You’re acting insane, Lucy.”

She lifts a brow. “Are you calling me insane?”

“No, I said you’re acting,” he clarifies. His voice comes out harsher than he meant it to.

Lucy lets out a short laugh, pressing the elevator button. “You know, I don’t think I can be with someone who thinks I’m insane.”

The door to the elevator slides open. Once she is inside, she turns around to send him a final goodbye wave. Natsu already has his hand at the door to stop it from closing.

“Can you tell me where the real Lucy went?” he demands. “Where is the person I knew before? The one who was observant and kind? The one who wanted to be a dedicated journalist?”

Lucy opens her mouth to respond, but Natsu keeps going.

“Lately, you’ve been all over the place!” he proclaims. “I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

She sends him a hard gaze. “So, does this mean we’re over?”

He returns her stare, swallowing thickly. “Yeah. I guess it does.”

After he takes a step back, she nods in understanding. “Okay, fine.”

“Fine,” Natsu sighs out. His arms stay limp by his sides as the elevator closes.

Once the elevator starts to lower, Lucy leans against the wall with a loud sigh. She can sense the intensity from their argument slowly fizzling out of her body.

“Finally,” she breathes out.

She stands there for a moment, realizing that a pit is developing in her chest. Not out of hurt, but out of loneliness. It’s a heaviness that reminds her of a few nights ago. Lucy’s façade isn’t as strong as it used to be—she is finally feeling her true self peek through.

As Natsu returns to his apartment, he tries to avoid the concerned looks on the guys’ faces. He makes direct eye contact with Gray.

“It’s over,” Natsu states plainly.

Immediately, Gray charges towards him and firmly takes his shoulders. “Natsu. You have four more days! You can’t give up now!”

“Did you just see what she was like?” Natsu scoffs while taking a step back from Gray’s grip. “No way.”

“What about couples’ therapy?” Gray suggests.

“What does that even mean?” Natsu scrutinizes at him, trying to see if he’s serious.

“That’s how Juvia and I were able to work everything out between us,” Gray reveals. “Now, go catch up with Lucy and tell her you’re still dedicated to her. You want that job, right?”

Despite being exhausted, annoyed, and confused all at once, Natsu begins to recognize the reality of the situation. His heart races inside of his chest.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be right back,” he says before taking off.

Since the elevator would be too slow, Natsu goes for the stairs instead. He jumps down three at a time until he reaches the lobby. He’s out of breath as he rushes outside. Luckily, Lucy is still close enough for him to call out to her.

“Lucy!” Natsu shouts. “Wait!”

Lucy’s instantly stops in her tracks. She slowly turns around, finding Natsu catch up to her. She can hardly believe that he’s still chasing after her.

Once Natsu is in front of her, he takes a moment to regain his breaths. “I’m so sorry,” he says in between breaths. “Can you forgive me? I don’t know what I was just saying back there.”

Lucy waits until his breathing regulates. She tightly grips onto the plant pot as she watches him. If she looked insane at the elevator, she isn’t sure what to call Natsu right now.

Natsu knows how desperate he appears right now, but he also knows that he needs to embarrass himself to make his despair look believable. His words frantically spew out of him. “Can you give me another chance?”

“Haven’t you had enough already?” she asks, her voice escaping as a whisper.

“I’ll do anything to get you back,” he nearly pleads. “Gray told me about this thing him and his girlfriend used to do. It’s couples’ therapy. Would you like to do that with me?”

“Couples’ therapy?” she echoes. As Natsu nods, she suddenly gets an idea. “Actually, I know a doctor who would give us a free session. I could call her and schedule an emergency appointment.”

“Yes, let’s do that.” He reaches for her hand, brushing his lips across her knuckles.

Lucy presses her lips together and gently pulls her hand back. “I don’t have to like you right now. So, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Without another word, she continues to walk away. She doesn’t allow herself to look back as Natsu shouts out endless thank yous. She physically cannot believe anything she just witnessed.

Natsu returns to his apartment with the most clenched jaw he has ever made in his life. He cannot believe that Lucy has caused him to turn into someone he never thought he would become.

[crazyzaika]

between hell and heaven chapter 4

Hey guys, here we are. Chapter 4. Hope you like it. Let me know your thoughts. Again a big thank you to my beta doginshoes.

Greets Z ♥

Chapter 4

She went up the stairs and grinned wide. Slowly she felt the exhaustion, but she didn't let it show. She never had. Lucy knew she had stomped him into the ground and it felt great. She loved to play, loved magictag and of course, she loved to win. And probably it hadn't been fair to delay everything for such a long time, but he should feel what it felt like to be ice-cold finished. After all, he'd finished off these four unfamiliar teenagers and risked a big mouth. Then he shouldn't have to be surprised if he got a return. Natsu was a little further behind her, she could feel his anger and magic, but she didn't care.

When she returned to the entrance area, she grinned broadly and the others welcomed her. The boys grinned as wide as she did and Juvia and Levy fell around her neck laughing.

"Wow, that was an absolute mega performance."

"This was the first time Natsu had ever been so beaten up."

"SHUT UP", his angry exclamation ripped the hum of praise towards Lucy and they all looked at him. He snorted and fixed her angrily.

"So... how did you do that, huh? Did you cheat?" he asked growling and she pulled her brows together. Couldn't someone lose? Her lips turned to a broad grin, then she laughed.

"I'm a former active member of Virgin Star," she said, shrugging her shoulders. His jaw dropped down, "but hey. You took my challenge, so keep your cheeky mouth shut. Someone who plays with so little mind and love has rarely come across me. Even the guys from Red Death played with more devotion than you and we even got broken bones and if I hadn't dodged one of the shots from one of their snipers, I probably would have died. Magictag is not a game to harass others, all right? It's a tactical war game," she said, and coldness lay in her brown eyes. Her words had silenced the others. Levy looked at Lucy with big eyes. She would have died in the championships? Bewilderment was also in the faces of the others. Nobody had heard anything about it. Sure, there were injuries, but... it was only color with which they shot. Could someone really die? Natsu also frowned confusedly.

"You almost died? Through paint? Are you serious?" he asked and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Somehow he couldn't really believe it. Lucy rolled his eyes.

"Sure, when the weapons are restyled like Red Death's," she said, remembering how much impact the enemy's weapons had had. This team had wanted them all dead. She smiled and then pulled up the black long top that was close to her skin. She pulled it up to her ribs and when Natsu saw the ugly scar tissue that destroyed her flawless porcelain skin, he was stunned.

His heart stopped for a moment and everyone else was speechless. His anger seemed to fizzle out and he couldn't take his eyes off her skin and scar. Lucy just smiled and you could see that she carried this old scar with pride. The skin was reddish and was like a notch in the soft pale skin. The edges were bulging and it looked like someone had ripped something out of her body. Not deep, only superficial, but it was enough to destroy the perfection of her body.

"Unfortunately it was a graze shot", Lucy said and Natsus eyes flew up to her own. She pulled the cloth down again and he swallowed easily. She was even wounded and he realized that she took this game much more seriously than he had ever done. Before he could say anything, Lucy looked at her friends and grinned broadly.

"So... do we still want to play or do we go back to the dorm?"

"Uh... "

"Juvia would love to go back," Juvia replied and Levy nodded. She had just been shocked. She hadn't expected anything like this to happen to her new friend. And it scared her. Magictag was a war game, of course, but so far she had never considered it so dangerous. Lucy smiled. She understood it and nodded.

"Okay, then we'll go back," she said and waved to the boys, completely ignoring Natsu, and to the hall employee and saying goodbye. They left the hall and walked through the city back to campus. Lucy yawned cautiously.

"Are you tired already? Because of the game?" Levy asked and grinned slightly. The blonde grinned back and shrugged her shoulders. The game had been minimally exhausting. Real competitions were much more strenuous, because you had to keep an eye on several opponents. So she shook her head only slightly, grinned.

"Not from the game. That did wear me out a bit, but rather because of the ride," she admitted and grinned broadly.

Natsu ran his fingers through his hair and sighed slightly. His shoulder protested as he moved, but he ignored it. She impressed him, even though somewhere he was still angry about his scratched ego. But he just couldn't change it anymore. And if he considered it carefully, then he hadn't had a real chance to win against her. She had been in the professional league. Well, she had only played in the junior league, but still. Maybe she could become a member of the team? After all, the university also had a team. But they weren't really strong. They were rather middle class and even if he didn't like to admit it, it simply irriated him.

"And what do we do now?"

"Good question, ask another one," growled Gray. Natsu loosened his shoulders, at least he tried. He pulled out his lacrimapad, took a look at it and frowned for a moment, then his lips turned to a big grin.

"We have an assignment," he said and laughed quietly. The others listened, looked at Natsu, who took a cigarette from Gajeel, stuck it between his lips and ignited it with his magic.

"A mission", Laxus asked, and the boys started to move, left of the hall. Natsu nodded and blew smoke into the air.

"Aye, Raven Blood is causing trouble again," he noted, "Erza says a raid is planned in the western part. Must be a drug deal."

"Interesting. Who's running it?"

"Erza's unity. Mira will keep out of it this time. We're supposed to stop by. As a backup," he added, enjoying the taste of the tobacco flowing through his lungs. The others also grinned as Natsu lifted his gaze from the device's display and he saw the silent approval in the eyes of the others. They stepped into the parking lot in front of the building and ran to the motorcycles they had come on earlier. Each put on a magic headset so they could communicate on the road if necessary. He pulled the cigarette one last time, then flicked it to the ground.

"Well then, let's go stir up some idiots who think they can shower our city with drugs," Natsu said and they started their machines, which came to life with a loud thunder. Of course, it would be easier if they let a car come, but none of them wanted to. And they were in the southern part, so the western part wasn't too far away. Houses just flew past them as they shot through the streets. While they were driving in the direction Erza had given them, Natsu called her to let her know.

"Scarlett," she growled after a click and Natsu suppressed a laugh. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins. He loved speed and accelerated again.

"Jo, are on the way. Exact location?"

"The warehouses, you'll see it as soon as you get there," she just gave back and his grin became diabolical.

"I'm already really hot on it," he growled and heard the annoyed sigh, but Erza didn't say anything about it, just hung up. Natsu, who drove at the head of the small squad, made a daring turn and skilfully turned and drove in the right direction and his boys followed him without a moment's hesitation. Today he would be able to rip some asses open.

When they arrived at the warehouses in question, Natsu already heard and saw the fights. For a moment he pulled a light pout because nobody seemed to have waited for him. But well, his team was the backup. Simply because they usually broke everything apart. He saw Erza's red shining hair, which was just led by a wooden sword. She ducked cleverly under her opponent, hit her opponent's throat and he overturned, fell unconscious to the ground. Natsu turned off his machine, pulled the helmet off his head and let his gaze wander. A total of 10 members of Fairy Tail were present, who were ready to arrest about 20 criminals.

"Do they need our help at all?" asked Laxus, who leaned forward on his machine and looked at the whole thing. "It can't do any harm, can it? After all, we are the backup and so we can rub Erza's nose in that she needed our help," Natsu said and laughed quietly. Then he swung off his machine, made sure it didn't fall over and loosened his shoulders again, stepping towards the fighting ones. Oh, that would be fun and clearly exhausting, he was convinced. Better than the fight with Lucy. And he could let out his pent-up aggression on these idiots. A guy he didn't know ran roaring towards him, swinging an iron bar. Natsu skilfully avoided the attack and then kicked the guy in the face. Then the guy simply fell over.

"Well then, let's go", growled Gajeel and the others followed their leader.

Lucy pushed through the rows of seats. Today she had her first course, her first lecture and was looking forward to it. Her heart was beating up to her neck and she was already jittery to learn new things. And although she wanted to change, she continued to wear her old clothes. She had already got funny looks and that was absolutely unpleasant for her. She wore a white blouse and a long dark blue skirt reaching to the middle of her calves. Simple wedge sandals in black completed her outfit. Loki sat two rows behind her at her request. What could happen to her here? Someone sat next to her. The room was already well filled. And she looked up to see who was sitting next to her. When she saw Natsu next to her she flinched back. Confusion gripped her senses. What was he doing here?

He grinned at her and leaned back. Her eyes scurried over his appearance. He wore a tank top, black jeans, jumper boots and a black leather jacket. Her brow twitched upwards, but she said nothing. Wasn't he a year above her?

"Uh..." she brought out and he grinned wider.

"Hello, beauty. Long time no see," he said and she pulled her eyebrows together. Yes, it was exactly a weekend ago. She had arrived last Friday and luckily hadn't seen him over the weekend. And that was a good thing. He looked good, yes. But his character was just disgusting and she knew about his reputation. Natsu leaned slightly in her direction as the auditorium filled slowly.

"So... my little flower," he grumbled and she opened her eyes. Did he just call her a little flower? She blinked and snorted slightly.

"Leave me alone. Aren't you a year above me? Then what are you doing here, mhm?" she growled and he shrugged his shoulders with a crooked grin.

"I have to repeat the course", he said and her eyes widened. Then he leaned towards her with a grin on his face and came quite close to her. Too close for her taste and she leaned aside to avoid him. Something that automatically lifted her upper softness and made her stand out even more than before. He grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

"How about we learn together, my little star," he asked with a broad grin and she felt redness on her cheeks. Why did he have to give her these stupid nicknames? She didn't understand it.

"L... leave me alone. I will not learn with you. You can do that very well alone", she brought out, but she was insecure. It was other on the magictagfields. . Her heartbeat accelerated restlessly.

"Sure? I wanted to offer you to join ou university team without having to do the test," he said and shrugged his shoulders. A fellow student pushed Lucy roughly aside to sit down and she was thrown directly against Natsu. His face landed between her breasts and she hissed in shock, but he laughed quietly and detached himself from her.

"Team," she asked and frowned in confusion. Natsu shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes ... magictag. The university has a team but normally you have to do a test to be able to join us and ... normally we don't take girls, but since you're good ..."

"I'm in," she said, and her eyes were glowing. Her heart was racing. Magictag! The university had a team where she could play! His brows went up and the grin on his lips widened as he bent over again, grabbed a blonde strand and wrapped it around his left index finger.

"But only when you study with me, my Beauty," he purred and again her cheeks burned with shame at this nickname. It was unpleasant for her and why for gods sake did he play with her hair? She didn't really like that. She bit her lower lip and he leaned forward to her again. Uncertainly, she looked to the side and saw the professor of the course come in and put his documents on the desk. She swallowed. She wanted to play Magictag again and sighed.

"All right ... but only on one condition," she said and smiled at him. Salmon eyebrows went up.

"And that would be?

"Loki comes with me," she replied. He frowned his and went through his hair, but still didn't let go of her strand. Then he leaned back and shrugged his shoulders.

"For all I care," he growled and she grinned. Then she pulled on her strand of hair and he reluctantly let go. She turned her eyes forward to the professor and listened to his explanations. While he explained things, she took notes and her thoughts were completely fixed on them. Magic in combat was incredibly wide-ranging.

"Read chapters 1-5 until the next lesson and think about what kind of magic you want to learn to expand," the professor pushed his sheets together, Lucy eagerly scribbled his homework, "see you all on the next thursday."

And so he finished the lecture. Lucy bent down and picked up her bag, which she had placed in front of her feet on the floor, then pushed in her notebook, pencil case and textbook and looked up. Natsu next to her was asleep in his chair. She blinked as everyone around her packed up as well. She frowned. Was he serious? He was asleep? In class? No wonder he had to repeat the course. She sighed and stabbed him in the cheek. But that didn't help. The girl who had sat next to her snorted amusedly.

"Just let the rowdy sleep, he'll fall through anyway, the idiot. How he made it to university surprised me anyway," she said, laughed hatefully and marched away. Lucy looked after her with big eyes. How could anyone be so rude? Sure, he was a player and had also behaved quite stupidly, but ... was he such a bad person? After all, he had been accepted at university, hadn't he? He couldn't have been that stupid. She shook his shoulder.

"Natsu, wake up," she said quietly and ignored the giggling of the other students. Then Loki pushed herself to her.

"Lucy," he asked and looked at her waiting. Lucy smiled.

"Uh... I can't get him awake," she said and Loki looked at Natsu. His eyes became narrow. Then he grabbed the sleeper by the right cheek, pinched in and pulled Natsu up from the chair. This immediately woke Natsu up and he slapped Loki's hand away.

"Dude, what are you doing?" he nagged and rubbed his red cheek.

"Very nice, you're awake. Lucy-sama, can we go then?" Loki asked coolly and looked at his guarded friend waiting. She smiled and nodded.

"Yes Loki. We can," she said and shoved herself past Natsu, shouldering her bag, but the latter held her by the arm and pulled her towards him.

"Loki is a guy," he asked and pulled his brows together angrily. Lucy looked up at him, smiled and nodded. She took her arm from him and then quickly pushed Loki out of the auditorium and followed him. Natsu just let her stand. He clenched his hands to fists and was annoyed. His dark eyes followed the two and he growled. This Loki wouldn't get in his way. Under no circumstances. Lucy would belong to him!

AN: So ... thank you for all your support. In german, my story is up to chap 12. And I have to say: sometimes I really got depressed in so much desinterest in my story. I mean I ask myself, if my writing is not good enough because of so little feedback. And some people dropped my story, because not enough NaLu(even if I had written in my summary, that the mainpairings are NaLu, GaLe, Gruvia and Miraxus). And yeah ... I got depressed and had fallen in a deeeep creativydeep. And after I oke part in a little writingcompetition and put so much work and love into it, only one person ratet for my. Yes I know I'm selfish and stuff, but I requested myself: I'm not good enough? And that broke my creativity again. But then I startet translate this because some person wanted to read it and know here are we. You all are so sweet, giving me so much backup. Thank you. You're words are so important to me *overwhelms everyone with hearts*

And know I'm nearly crying haha XD

Love you guys, Z ♥

[splendidlyimperfect]

It’s been thirteen years since Natsu and Gray met in a program for troubled youth - since they both fell apart and helped put each other back together. Now they’re married and happy, loving each other and the shared family they found. But the past doesn’t always stay past, and when the things that broke them come back into their lives, Natsu and Gray have difficult decisions to make - ones that could change their lives forever.

Chapter Summary: Sting needs help with Noah, and it gives Natsu the distraction he needs to stop thinking about his upcoming meeting with his dad.

Chapters (10/?): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe, Laxus Dreyar/Freed Justine, Cana Alberona/Lucy Heartfilia, Chelia Blendy/Wendy Marvell Characters: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Rogue Cheney, Sting Eucliffe, Freed Justine, Laxus Dreyar, Wendy Marvell, Chelia Blendy, Ultear Milkovich, Lyon Vastia, Lucy Heartfilia, Cana Alberona Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Aged-Up Character(s), Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Married Couple, Established Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Drug Addiction, Mental Health Issues, Foster Care, Family Issues, Tumblr: FTLGBTales, Grief/Mourning, Childhood Trauma, Bipolar Disorder, Adoption, Families of Choice, Nonbinary Character, Trans Character, Genderfluid Character, Forgiveness, Absent Parents, they’re really in love but are sometimes dumb, Natsu is a stubborn shit Series: Part 14 of the only hope for me is you, Part 3 of if you jump i’ll break your fall

-----

[July 26]

Neelan Langdree [14:45] Do you want to meet?

 [July 28]

Natsu Dubois-Tremblay [18:54] Yeah. Does this weekend work for you?

Neelan Langdree [18:57] Sure.

~

“Hey, buddy.”

Natsu crouched down a few feet away from the tree in the back yard of Sting and Ryos’ house. Noah sat there, knees pulled up to his chest, gaze vacant as he stared across the lawn. When he saw Natsu, his face brightened a little, but he didn’t uncurl from his position.

“Your dad said you’re having a rough day,” Natsu said gently. “Can I come sit with you? Or do you wanna be by yourself?”

Continue reading on AO3

Noah considered the question, eventually nodding and pointing to a spot a little way away from him. Natsu settled down with his legs crossed, then held out a cookie for Noah.

“I stole it from the pantry,” Natsu whispered conspiratorially. “Don’t tell Dad.”

A tiny smile crossed Noah’s face and he reached out, taking the cookie and then withdrawing to the tree again. He nibbled on it slowly, staring at Natsu the whole time. Natsu didn’t say anything else, just lay down in the grass with his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, letting the sun play across his face.

Nearly half an hour later, he felt a weight on his arm, and when he opened his eyes, Noah was curled up next to him. Natsu smiled, shifting so that Noah could lean on his chest.

“Story?” Noah asked, looking at Natsu. His eyes were the same bright, clear blue as Sting’s, and sometimes it was hard to believe that he was adopted.

“What kind of story?” Natsu asked. The sun had moved now and was casting dappled shadows through the tree. A ladybug made its way across Natsu’s chest, and Noah stared at it in fascination until it flew away. The only sound around them was the fountain bubbling, and someone mowing their lawn several houses away.

“Mm.” Noah shrugged, and Natsu raised an eyebrow at him.

“How about... ‘once upon a time there was a little boy named Noah who was kind of a turd but apologized to his dad for throwing his iPad?’”

Noah scowled at Natsu, sitting up and gently shoving him in the chest. Natsu laughed at the indignant expression on the five-year-old’s face.

“Pretty bad story, hey?”

“Bad,” Noah agreed. “Is ... th-the...” He huffed in frustration. When Noah was calm, speaking in simple sentences was easy for him, but as soon as he got upset, the words got lost.

Natsu sat up slowly, crossing his legs and tapping the back of Noah’s hand. “Show me with your hands,” he said. “I can’t read your mind, little man. I’m not Professor X.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of Noah’s mouth. Freed’s suggestion of teaching Noah to sign had made a huge impact on his communication. One of the people Freed worked with at the Pride Centre was Deaf and had started coming to the house once a week to teach everyone – Gray and Natsu included.

“Can you give me a feeling word?” Natsu asked. “Do you want to show me the picture or can you sign it?” He had an app on his phone with different pictures of expressions that Noah used occasionally, but today he shook his head.

Sad, Noah signed. He looked like he might elaborate, then shrugged.

“Yeah?” Natsu sighed, digging his fingers into the grass and looking up at the sky again. “Me too.”

Noah looked at him, surprised. “Why?”

Natsu didn’t say anything for a minute, trying to figure out how much to share with Noah. He was smarter than most people gave him credit for, and if Natsu made something up, Noah would see through it.

“I’m gonna see my dad soon,” Natsu said eventually. “I haven’t seen him in a really long time.”

Noah scooted closer to Natsu until their knees were touching. “Why’s sad?” he asked. Natsu tipped his head back and forth, then sighed.

“I’m scared,” he said eventually. “I know he’s my dad, but I don’t really know him. And I’m afraid that he might not like me.”

“I like you,” Noah said. He picked a dandelion and leaned forward to tuck it into Natsu’s hair.

“I like you too, bud,” Natsu said, smiling as Noah sat back and started picking more dandelions.

Noah spent the next few minutes piling up the yellow flowers in Natsu’s lap, then picking out the best ones and putting them in Natsu’s hair. Eventually he seemed satisfied and poked at Natsu’s hands.

Sad and angry because K, he signed. Natsu recognized it as his sign for Kylie, his biological mother. Tomorrow.

“You don’t wanna visit her?” Natsu asked gently. Noah shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Noah huffed, then looked back over at the house. Stay with dad and papa, he said. And you. Not before.

‘Before’ was a complicated word for Noah. He had trouble differentiating between seeing Kylie now and living with her when he was younger, and he refused to call her ‘mom.’ It had been over a month since he’d called Natsu in the middle of the night, upset about seeing her for the first time in two years, and Sting and Ryos were still uncertain about them interacting. They’d tentatively agreed to let her spend the afternoon with him tomorrow – supervised by both Sting and the social worker.

“She don’t, won’t... won’t, um...” Noah scrunched up his face, then signed, don’t know. Don’t want before. Natsu’s heart ached at the uncomfortable expression on Noah’s face. Frustrated, Noah added.

“That’s a good word,” Natsu said, smiling at Noah. “Sounds like you’ve got a of feelings, huh?” Noah nodded sullenly. “It’s okay, my feelings get mixed-up sometimes too, and we can’t control that. You can feel however you wanna feel.” Noah looked up at Natsu hesitantly. “What you can’t do,” Natsu added, “is throw your iPad at your dad.”

Noah sighed, looking over at the house.

“I know you’re trying, buddy,” Natsu said gently. “I know words are hard, and that sucks. But your dads love you a lot and they just want you to be happy.” He tugged on a loose thread of his jeans, then added, “Grown-ups make mistakes too. I yelled at Uncle Gray last week.”

Noah’s eyes widened as he stared at Natsu. “Why?”

Natsu chewed on his lip, trying to figure out the best way to explain it to Noah. “Because I was scared,” he said eventually. “I made a mistake – I didn’t tell Uncle Gray something that I should have, and it hurt his feelings.”

“Lied?”

Natsu winced, then nodded. “Yeah, bud.”

“Not good.” Noah reached out and took Natsu’s hand, holding it loosely between his.

“I know,” Natsu said. Guilt still sat heavy in his chest every time he looked at Gray. “I shouldn’t have lied, and I shouldn’t have yelled – that just made it worse.”

“Uncle Gray is sad?” Noah asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Natsu said softly, “he was.”

“You said sorry?”

Natsu nodded. “I did, lots of times.” He squeezed Noah’s hand. “Do you think you can come inside with me now and say sorry to dad?”

Noah chewed his lip for a minute, then nodded and stood up with Natsu.

“Flowers stay,” he said, grinning at the mess in Natsu’s hair. “It’s pretty.”

“I’m keeping these in forever,” Natsu replied, taking Noah’s hand and leading him back to the house.

Sting was in the kitchen over the stove, but as soon as they came in the back door, he made his way over and crouched down in front of Noah.

Sorry, Noah signed, looking at Sting dejectedly.

“It’s okay, bumblebee,” Sting said, brushing Noah’s hair out of his face and looking up at Natsu gratefully. “We’re gonna use words or signs or pictures next time, right?”

Noah nodded, then pointed to the fridge where a picture of Kylie was held up with a magnet shaped like a duck. He shook his head and made an angry face.

Sting sighed, kissing Noah’s forehead and nodding. “Okay, you don’t have to go,” he said gently.

Noah’s face brightened and he gave Sting a small smile. “Love dad,” he said, wrapping his arms around Sting’s neck. Sting pressed his face into Noah’s hair, hugging him tightly before Noah let go and darted away to his room.

“Thank you,” Sting said, pushing himself up and reaching out to squeeze Natsu’s hand. “I can usually handle it, but with Ryos gone, it’s just...”

“Anytime,” Natsu said, shaking his head and ushering Sting back toward the kitchen. “Kids are tough without all the extra stuff.”

Sting nodded, grabbing the pasta from the stove and pouring it through the strainer in the sink. “Sometimes it feels like all we do is go to appointments,” he said, looking at the calendar on the fridge. “We had the speech pathologist yesterday, and Kylie tomorrow, and then Aspen’s coming for the signing on Sunday...”

“About that,” Natsu said, moving out of the way for Sting to mix the spaghetti back into the sauce on the stove. “Gray and I can’t make it this week.” Sting looked at Natsu with a raised eyebrow, and Natsu hesitated before saying, “I’m meeting my dad.”  

Sting didn’t say anything for a minute – Natsu knew that Sting was still upset about being complicit in Natsu’s lie to Gray. A familiar ache was nestled next to the guilt Natsu felt, a quiet whisper of, all you ever do is hurt the people you love.

“Is Gray going with you?” Sting asked eventually.

Natsu nodded. “Yeah. We’re going to Victoria – we’ll stay for a couple days. I…” He sighed, rubbing his face. “I feel like shit about all of it, and I know I said I was sorry before, but I just… and now I’m scared, and it feels like an excuse but I’m—I haven’t been feeling good, and Gray knew but I didn’t listen to him, and…”

“Hey.” Sting set the pot down in the sink and reached out for Natsu, pulling him close. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Natsu argued, but he leaned into the embrace anyway. “I’m not trying to make excuses, I just…” He bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to cry. “I’m scared.”

“Of meeting your dad?” Sting pulled back, squeezing Natsu’s arm and leaning against the counter.

“Yeah. I…” He sighed. “I want to know why he left.”

Sting and Ryos knew about Natsu’s past and his parents – part of the reason that they’d decided to foster and adopt Noah was because of how similar his situation had been to Natsu’s childhood.

Sting was quiet for a moment, and Natsu kept his gaze on a mark in the hardwood.

“I know I might not get the answers I want,” he said quietly. “Gray and I already talked about it. I just… now that I know he’s alive, and he’s just—I’ve been to Victoria so many times. I could have walked past him and…”

“It’s a lot,” Sting said gently. “I’m glad you told Gray and that he’s coming with you.”

“Me too,” Natsu mumbled, rubbing his face. An uncertain silence hung between them for a moment.  

“C’mon,” Sting said eventually, nudging Natsu’s arm and handing him a stack of plates. “Help me set the table.” 

~

The doorbell rang ten minutes later, and Natsu could hear the pounding of Noah’s feet on the stairs as he ran to answer it. When he giggled and shouted Gray’s name, the anxiety that had started to thrum through Natsu subsided a bit. Even with everything – the fight, the tears, the uncertainty about Lyon – Gray was Natsu’s favorite person, and he always felt like home.

“Hey, you,” Natsu said as Noah dragged Gray into the kitchen by his hand. Noah pulled Gray right up to Natsu, then put both hands on his hips and gave Natsu a serious look.

“Sorry,” he said.

Natsu frowned. “Why are you sorry?”

Noah rolled his eyes, pushing at Natsu’s legs. “You sorry,” he clarified.

It took Natsu a second to realize what he was talking about, and he burst out laughing, looking up at Gray and reaching out for his hand.

“We talked about apologies earlier,” he explained.

“Sorry,” Noah said again, looking up at Gray. He tapped his arm, a mirror of where Gray’s snowflake tattoos were, as his sign for ‘Uncle Gray.’ “Sad,” he said to Natsu. “No yelling. Sorry.”

Gray’s expression softened and he crouched down, holding his arms out and waiting. Noah looked at him for a second, then leaned in for a quick hug.

“I already forgave Uncle Natsu,” he said gently. “And he forgave me, too.”

“You yelled too?”

Gray sighed. “Yeah.” He gave Noah a fond look. “We were both wrong, and we both said sorry, and everything is okay now.”

Noah thought about it for a second. “Grown ups mistake,” he said seriously, then leaned in and kissed Gray’s cheek before running off to the patio table on the back deck.

“Well, then,” Gray said, laughing as Natsu reached down and helped him to his feet. “Sounds like whatever you said to him stuck.”

“Mm.” Natsu pulled Gray close, pressing his face into the crook of Gray’s neck as Gray kissed his temple. “How was your meeting with Claire?”

Gray sighed, wrapping his arms around Natsu’s shoulders and resting his chin on Natsu’s head. “I dunno,” he said. “The hearing is in two weeks.”

“That soon?”

“Yeah.” Gray ran his fingers up Natsu’s back, tracing an absent pattern up his spine.

Natsu sighed at the sensation, then tipped his head back and searched Gray’s face. The tightness in his jaw and the way he didn’t meet Natsu’s eyes was telling. “You okay, Snowflake?”

Gray shook his head and Natsu made a sad sound as he saw tears start to pool in the corner of Gray’s eyes. “No,” Gray said roughly as he swallowed and tipped his head up, trying to blink away the tears. “I’m just… feeling a lot of different things, and my stomach hurts, and I feel like I’m going either throw up or cry.”

Natsu gently tucked Gray’s hair behind his ear. “You wanna go home?” he asked softly. “I can explain to Noah.”

Gray shook his head. “No, I wanna stay,” he insisted, pulling off his glasses and wiping at his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. “I don’t want to think about it right now.”

“Okay,” Natsu said, leaning in and kissing Gray’s cheek. “Je t’aime.”

“Je t’aime aussi, mon couer,” Gray murmured, letting out a shaky sigh and then giving Natsu an uncertain smile. “C’mon,” he said, nodding toward the porch. “Noah’s waiting.”

[ship-ambrosia]

Let's start with the most recent obsession taking over my life; Fairy Tail.

So I started it in January, I own the final volume, I've watched the last episode of fairy tail Zero, but I have three more episodes of the Tartaros arc to watch. Literally the next season is gonna start this fall and I'm still not gonna have it finished lol. Now that my class is over I plan to finish it before school starts again.

Anyway, my top ship from Fairy Tail is probably pretty easy to discern; Gruvia. I love Gray and Juvia as separate characters, Juvia is definitely my favorite female character and Gray is pretty damn close with Natsu for the top spot out of the guys. I loved Gruvia even before I started the fandom. Gruvia Week was how I met a lot of friends on tumblr, and how I found a lot of blogs that I admire as well as being the first showcase for my fanfictions, so in that way even years from now Gruvia will probably always be very special to me.

Here's some Gruvia Headcanons of mine:

- Juvia is, in my opinion, drop dead gorgeous. The most beautiful girl in Fairy Tail. I imagine if she was in real life she'd have that sort of eerie beauty, that like she's so perfect she seems like a vampire or something. Like very pale, ivory skin, elegantly shaped eyes that are so crystal blue, full lips, that unfair hourglass figure. She seems so shy in her appearance that I can't help but feel like one of the things that also alienated her from people aside from her rain was just how pretty she was. She either got lots of attention from people, or she got lots of jealous glares from people.

- I think it's pretty much confirmed at this point, but Gray seems to have even first considered himself with Juvia around Edolas/Tenrou Island. I don't think he really felt strong romantic feelings for her until the Grand Magic Games, mostly I think Lyon expressing his attraction for her really made Gray think "would Lyon have a chance with her? Would Juvia consider dating him? Hey wait, I don't want that to happen. Why am I jealous of the thought of Lyon with her?" I love the talk Erza had with him. Erza seems to have really looked out for gray, and she sees Juvia as a no-strings-attached kinda girl, a girl who just wants to make gray happy. Gray is terrified of getting too close to people and losing them, and I think the fact that Juvia almost died during the fight with the dracolings scared him even more than the fact that he DID die, especially after he realized what Ultear had done. But the moments between them during Tartaros for me, solidify their relationship. And unpopular opinion, I love the "confession" scene in the final chapter. It's in character. Gray isn't able to express himself fully yet. He's still scared. He thought he had lost Juvia again to Invel. So the "you're mine/you belong to me" felt like the best he could do.

- When they finally are officially a couple (whenever that will be) I wholeheartedly believe that, despite all of her crazy fantasies, Juvia will be terribly shy with any sort of affection. Gray tries to kiss her for the first time and she whacks herself (or him) on the head because she thinks it's a fantasy. Gray puts his arms around her and she screams and falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes (something I have physically also done lolol). Even though she is perfectly willing to strip after picking up his habit, I think the romantic feelings of such a moment would make any sort of intimacy/sex with gray very difficult with her. Basically like she sees it as her mind playing tricks on her. Not in an annoying way though, I see it being very endearing and gray would probably find it all very funny, considering how all-in she appeared to be about her feelings for him.

- They are a power couple. Ain't nobody gonna be able to defeat them when they're together. They are both so extremely powerful (my girl Juvia is so underrated; she was an S-class mage in Phantom Lord! She was good enough to be nominated as one for Fairy Tail too! Alongside Gray!) by themselves, together they will destroy anyone for hurting the other. And Unison Raids for DAYS

Second favorite couple is Nalu. I know I'm basic. I'm sorry. Natsu and Lucy just have so much chemistry, I can't help shipping them. I want to add that I ship pretty much any ship... I'm just naming my favorites. But yeah, I'm all for Nali, Graylu, Julu, Gratsu, Navia, Luli... whatever. Within reason, I'm up for any ship, really. Back to Nalu

Honestly I just love Natsu so much it hurts sometimes. And Lucy is such a good, relatable character. What I want more than anything in this world is for Lucy to get some love. And jealous Natsu. The possibilities are so good for jealous Natsu. I've heard a lot of different theories for why we didn't get an "I love you" from one of them in the final chapter, and honestly I love them all, so I'm not gonna sit here and explain those.

- Personally, I think Lucy was the first to consider a relationship, maybe even have a crush on Natsu. Any time anyone in the guild suggests it, gets Lucy madly blushing. But I think Natsu fell in love first. He probably didn't even realize what it was. But mix Tenrou Island, and Future Rogue killing Future Lucy... I think he really realized she was more than his best friend there.

- The post-Tartaros timeskip is such good angst for Nalu, but one of my favorite things to consider is that Lucy didn't seem to know where Natsu and Happy were. I love to think of her, following reports on all her other friends but having no idea where Natsu was, and how heartbreaking it would be. Not to mention, that moment Natsu finds the map. And he realizes that Lucy was so scared for him, that she was tearing herself apart because she couldn't find anything about him.

- Even though they never really elaborated on the tension between Natsu and Lucy after he had left her, I do believe Natsu felt immensely guilty for what he had done. Going back to Gruvia too, I think Natsu and Gray both know they hurt and abandoned the girls who care about them most in the world, and would even sorta bond over that - like what can we do to make it up to them?

- Did I mention how much I want jealous/possessive Natsu? Not in a bad way where Lucy gets mad at him... just sulking Natsu, Natsu trying to have his arm around her/be around her at all times, yanno?

Ps, there are so many good Nalu gifs... how do I pick one...

Pss, dragon cry slayed me.

Okay last ship I'm gonna ramble about - my third favorite ship is Stingyu. A little less on the popular side, but it's certainly got more attention that I had originally thought. I love Sting, he's definitely right below Natsu and Gray for my favorite guy. And Yukino is so sweet, her friendship with Lucy makes me unbelievably happy every time it is brought into the spotlight. I love the angst of this pair, but also the sweet moments they share (Sting asking for Yukino to come back to Sabertooth, Sting punching Rogue when he accidentally groped her, their interactions during the Alvarez fight, and DONT even get me started on the Sabertooth spin off... you're telling me anyone else would react the same way Sting did?!)

- Yukino admired sting immediately from the moment she joined the guild. I'm convinced, because how would any girl not join a powerful guild, and not look up to the attractive, powerful dragon slayer at the top of it? Plus their magic together would be incredibly compatible. Sting was so certain she was going to beat Kagura, so I'm assuming he knew her strength, he thought she was strong, and he'd just be devastated that she lost. He'd be furious. But then he'd realize how awful it was when he finally realizes how terrible Jiemma treated them.

- Sting 100% put Yukino's guild mark back himself

- Sting is basically the jealous Natsu I want. That moment he punches rogue is so unexpected, like it was clearly by accident, he knows rogue better than anyone. I realize Stingyu is somewhat similar to Nalu, but like hey, sorry can't help it lol

- They probably end up together before any of the Fairy Tail couples, let's be honest. I think Stingyu has a pretty high chance of actually happening

Those are my top ships for Fairy Tail. I'm gonna finish off by saying that Jerza, Gajevy, Nali, Baccana, Rogerva, Lyredy, Stingue, Luli, Miraxus, Fraxus, Mirafreed, Kinabra, Luvia all follow pretty close in about that order. I really ship anything in this show cuz I love all the characters so much. And yes my blog is based around shipping, but I love fairy tail for more than just that. The story and the magic abilities are so incredibly fascinating. For me it's get hooked by the ships, stay for the story. Now if only I could finish the anime! Lol

Sorry this post was so long, but I've been wanting to do these sort of rants for a while? I've worked on this for like an hour now. I think the other fandoms will wait for other days. Right now, for sure I'll make ship rants about Persona 5, Fire Emblem, My Hero Academia, RWBY... and then maybe I'll just make some general rants lol

[justauthoring]

You Were - Gray Fullbuster

Request: Hi! I love your writing! Can I request a Gray x reder when they meet during the Grand Games after the events in the island (8 years for reader) because she stayed, and had to join sabertooth because it hurt her to stay in fairy tail. Thank you!!! Hope you write more fairy tail!

Okey dokey, telling Gray you love him for the first time, xx

A/N: It’s been a long time since i’ve seen the Grand Magic Games arc, so i’m super sorry if a lot of this is wrong!

Please don’t plagiarize my work - I spend a lot of my time writing, copying and pasting destroys that. If you want to repost my work. please ask first - but even then I might say no.

Requests are OPEN for NaLu, Natsu and Gray!!!

-

You had expected to see Fairy Tail there. How could you not? What you hadn’t expected to see was them there. Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Levy, Gajeel, Gray... all of them. They were suppose to be dead, or at least the last time you’d been there, they had been.

They were suppose to be dead - so why? Why were they here?

You were too afraid to confront the members of your old guild, too scared. You felt they’d hate you for what you’d done. Because after they’d disappeared, it became too painful for you to be in Fairy Tail. Why you still loved those who were there, all you ever saw were the faces of those you’d never see again. All you heard was the voices of those you’d never hear again.

All you saw was him. And you couldn’t handle it. So, despite yourself and despite everything you stood for, you left Fairy Tail and joined another guild. Sabertooth.

It certainly hadn’t been your first choice, but it was the only that’d accept you. Once Sting had seen your powers in person, he professed that there was no way he could let such an opportune mage slip through his fingers - especially one that had once been apart of the famous Fairy Tail.

And that’s how you found yourself here, competing in the famed Grand Magic Games. You’d, of course, been nervous that you’d be paired against a member of Fairy Tail, should they choose to join, and have to fight them. But you’d always said you’d worried about it later, plus, it wasn’t really your choice whether you fought them enough when you had Sabertooth bringing down your neck to fight to your fullest and not let anything get in your way.

But now the rest, somehow, were here. And all you wanted to do was run and hide but at the same time run to them, and join Fairy Tail once again. You wanted to be with your family again. It’d been a mistake from the beginning, to leave them, those that’d been left. You’d betrayed your nakama, and you’d only stayed in Sabertooth because you thought it wrong to join them after all you done.

You’d stand in the shadows, promptly staying hidden from their eyes. And you watched their battles with a renowned excitement, willing each of them to win. Lucy’s loss had broken your heart, even more so when she collapsed onto the ground, crying and the crowd laughed. When Sabertooth laughed. You couldn’t handle watching those you love, suffer. 

Somehow, you hadn’t been called to fight, but it seemed Mavis was not on your side that day. Maybe revenge for your betrayal. Because you were meant to fight now, against a Fairy Tail member. But what made it ten times worse was that your opponent was Gray.

You watched, unbeknownst to your team as Fairy Tail read your name on the huge sign and their eyes widened, and shocked filled them. Your eyes zoned in on that of Gray, watching as his face fell, all excitement of fighting lost as he hesitated to move down to the rink.

But it was unavoidable. Your opponent was Gray Fullbuster.  

“Do not fail us,” Minerva growled, glaring at you.

“I’m placing my bets on you, Y/N,” Sting grinned, clamping his hand down on your shoulders. “I expect to see what I saw that day.”

You nodded, silent before turning and making your way down to the main rink. Soon enough, sooner than you would’ve liked, you found yourself in the middle, all eyes on you, adjacent to Gray.

He seemed unsure what to say, the both of you just staring at one another. The announcer spoke up, saying that you two could begin the fight anytime you chose. You swallowed thickly, watching as Gray glanced up, no doubt to his friends, before nodding.

“I will not fight you.” Gray said, and you nearly gave up there and then at the sound of his voice. Your fist unknowingly clenched, your jaw tightening. 

You hesitated a moment before speaking, the history between Fairy Tail and you, you and Gray, getting in the way of your judgement. You felt glares on your back and knew that your team was waiting impatiently for you to make the first move. To crush Gray.

“I don’t think Fairy Tail would appreciate your forfeiting.” You mumbled. 

Gray took a step forward, and you almost wanted to run away. “Fairy Tail doesn’t attack their nakama.” Gray said, and your eyes fell shut. “You know that, Y/N.” Hearing your name on his lips was too much, and you felt your strength wavering.

Looking up at Sabertooth, you practically shivered at the glares you were receiving. If you didn’t fight, there would be no end to the punishment you’d receive. But you couldn’t attack Gray, especially if he didn’t fight back. 

You took a few quick steps forward, gaze down. “Please,” you pleaded, voice barely above a whisper and cracking. Gray’s eyes widened at the vulnerability. “I need you to fight me.”

“Y/N-”

“Please!” You shouted, forgetting yourself. You halted, before swallowing the lump in your throat. “If you don’t... Please, Gray, just fight me.”

Gray hesitated a moment, utterly confused by your behaviour. He glanced up at Sabertooth, seeing the sharp glares you were receiving before shaking his head. “I won’t fight you. Not you, Y/N.”

You grimaced, your fist clenching so tightly you could feel your nails digging into your own palm. You bit your lip, your body shaking slightly as you took a step back, preparing yourself to lunge forward. Gray braced himself, ready forward whatever would come his way. A green glow emitted from your hand and you begun racing forward, faster than anyone could keep track of.

You heard Sting cheer in the distance, and you almost felt your resolve weaken before a glance of Gray’s eyes met your own. You quickly halted, panic filling your entire being as you stopped inches from Gray, your fist just before his own nose. 

The crowd fell silent, and you looked at your feet, shaking. Taking a deep breath, you nodded to yourself before taking a step back, your hand raising.  Gray flinched, afraid you’d hit him, but instead you only continued to raise your hand. 

“I forfeit.”

-

You felt your back smack harshly against the concrete behind you, wincing as you glanced up at Sting. He’d cornered you after your forfeit, leaving you no room for any escape.

“What’s so special about those stupid fairies?” Sting growled, grasping the end of your chin tightly as he yanked your gaze back up to his. You gasped softly, but never wavered. You expected this, now, you just needed to live through it. “Huh?”

You clenched your jaw, remaining silent.

You felt a sharp sting on your cheek, your lips parting. Sting grew closer to your face, growling. “Tell me!”

“Everything,” you whispered, staring defiantly up at him. 

Sting scoffed, picking you up before chucking you against the ground. “Pathetic,” he spat, before turning. “The master will hear about this.”

You didn’t say anything, and eventually, Sting just walked off.

Sighing, you let your head fall in your head. What were you going to do? The moment you returned, you were sure you’d just receive another beating and if not, you’d receive it back at the guild. It was inevitable. Before you knew it, and despite yourself, you felt your eyes begin to water. You’d made the worst choice of your life that day. Why? Why did you ever leave?

“I don’t know about you, but i’m not a huge fan of him.”

You gasped, your head immediately snapping upwards, finding Gray standing a few inches before you. You straightened yourself out, hastily wiping at the tears that flowed down your cheeks. “Gray...”

Gray knelt before you, sighing. “Here,” he said, offering you his coat. You hadn’t realized it until now, but your shirt had been torn by Sting’s beatings. “It seems like you need it more than me.”

“Looks like you still have that stripping habit,” you joked softly. Gray chuckled, before silence enveloped the both of you once again.

“How much of that did you see?” You asked after a moment, gazing falling to the ground.

“Just the end.” Gray explained, “but I can imagine seeing the bruises on you.”

You nodded, biting your lip.

“What happened, Y/N?” Gray whispered, “why are you with Sabertooth?”

“You were dead,” you whispered, shaking your head. “You and everyone else was suppose to be dead. All I saw was you, and I couldn’t handle it. So I left. Sting found me one day fighting some bad guys, said my powers were too good to pass up. Been with them ever since.”

“Y/N-”

“I know I betrayed Fairy Tail,” you interrupted, meeting his eyes. “I thought you were dead, and I couldn’t handle that.”

Gray suddenly grabbed your hand, shocking you. “You didn’t betray Fairy Tail.”

“How can you-”

“Because you’ll always be apart of Fairy Tail. No matter what.”

You felt the tears flood in again and with a soft shudder, you whispered; “I loved you. Love you. And when... when...”

“Here,” Gray whispered. “come back with me. You can rejoin Fairy Tail. The other’s miss you.”

“What about Sabertooth?”

“We’ll figure something out.”

You nodded, smiling hesitantly up at Gray. He helped you up to your feet, letting you lean against him. “Oh and Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you too.”

- 

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