#nalu fanfiction

[beargyufairy]

Take my hand

Take my whole life too…

[scarletgray]

they should invent eyesight that doesn't go bad from reading fanfiction on your phone 24/7

[bluedragneel]

i LOVE this new fanfic trope about Natsu excited for his future Nasha in Earthland and Lucy’s like Natsu wtf we aren’t even together….. and then events unfold omg i eat it UP

[bumblebeehug]

Big Spoon, Little Spoon

Summary: No one in the guild would normally clock Lucy as the affectionate one, but Natsu has since long known the truth. Notes: (At the end bc I'm going on a LONG grateful rant and you can't stop me) Ao3 - FF.net

***

With Natsu Dragneel, physical contact was inevitable. The fire wizard craved other people’s presence like a magnet - when he fought his fists spoke for this craving, and when he didn’t fight he had two people who could satisfy his needs. The first one was Happy of course. They hung around 24/7, either by Natsu carrying him around in his arms, or by Happy sitting on his head or his shoulders. Then Lucy entered the picture - the weird, kind of spoiled girl who sought adventure despite being new to the big wizarding world. When Natsu met her he didn’t know if they would click - she was a complete chatterbox, and a clueless one at that, since she talked for almost an hour about how great the Fairy Tail guild was - and she wasn’t even aware that she was having lunch with one of their wizards! Well, at least he knew she cared for his guild, so when he accidentally met her on that party boat a few hours later, he knew there was no need to doubt his decision of inviting her to join Fairy Tail. She would fit in just fine with her weirdness.

Natsu found that he enjoyed being around her a lot more than the other people in the guild. He despised hanging out with Gray, Erza gave him chills and Elfman was all brawn, no brain, which was fine except he couldn’t joke around with him. He could honestly go on - Loke was annoying and smelled weird, Cana had more alcohol than blood in her body, Levy was boring with her books and righteous ways, and besides, she had Jet and Droy around her all the time, and those guys were wimps. He loved them all more than anything, but he couldn’t hang out with them the way he did with Happy, and had done with Lisanna back in the day. Lucy became a breath of fresh air compared to everyone else. She was inexperienced and odd, but she joked around with him in a way that he really had missed. That, and her reactions to his pranks were actually hilarious.

It wouldn’t be a big surprise if Lucy had decided to leave Natsu after joining Fairy Tail, to hang out with other people. After all, even Natsu knew he could be a handful to deal with. But in the end she stayed with him. He learned fascinating things about her - how her spirits worked, that she never broke promises (convenient for his first job actually, but an admiring trait to have even without considering his own benefits), that she was smarter than her looks let on and that she had a happy spirit. What he hadn’t expected to learn was how much she loved physical contact. Natsu knew he expressed love through meaningful touches, but Lucy had never been the one to initiate any of it – at least not if she was facing him.

The first time she had done it, he almost jumped in surprise. They hadn’t known each other for more than a couple of months, but Natsu had managed to find an unparalleled satisfaction under Lucy’s covers. He had slipped into her bed, not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, when she hugged him from behind. Her breathing hadn’t changed: she hadn’t woken up. Still, she must have noticed Natsu’s familiar heat, because she approached him like she’d been expecting him. Natsu didn’t know how to act. It was like his muscles had been switched out with concrete: he had tensed up and wouldn’t move a single millimetre, like the slightest movement would scare her away.

It was only when he realised he’d been holding his breath that he allowed himself to move. A shaky puff out, and then a shakier breath in. But despite Lucy’s arms feeling his movement from being wrapped around him, she didn’t budge. If anything she’d nuzzled closer, pressing her cheek against his neck, wrapping her legs around his as she molded herself to his stale figure.

He hadn’t slept very well that night. He considered it weird after all, that the girl who spent so much time denying all signs of enjoyment connected to physical affection, would be the one to initiate a cuddling session like that. He supposed that was around the same time he really leaned into her nickname: “Weirdo”. It was oddly accurate, it turned out.

Time didn’t fix this conundrum: in fact, it made it worse. Or, intense, was a better descriptor. Natsu still refused to cease his night time activities in her bed though. It almost became a game, a silent, unconscious sparring match, where they fought over the right to be the big spoon. Natsu usually won at dawn, but as soon as the sun started to rise and Natsu flickered awake for a split second, he found himself held by the blonde. Fondly she’d cuddle closer as Natsu stirred, seemingly not aware at all of her actions.

However, every morning he’d wake up a little bit colder. Lucy would be awake already, humming to herself in the shower or cooking breakfast, or she’d sleep in with her back turned. Natsu suspected she knew how the two of them slept at night – there was no other explanation as to why he never woke up in her embrace.

What he didn’t know was how right he was. Lucy was insanely aware of her bad sleeping habits, more than once drenching herself with cold water in the shower to get rid of her blushing. She could do many embarrassing things, but something like this? It felt vulnerable to show that side of her. It alluded to her not-so-pleasant past, which wasn’t something she was quite comfortable showing yet. After all, Natsu didn’t even know her last name yet: none of the guildmates did, her past was something she’d left behind.

As time went on, truths revealed themselves, and secrets spilled, Lucy realised that she didn’t need to feel ashamed of this need for physical contact. Natsu had never seemed to mind after all, repeatedly showing up, night after night, to roll around in the sheets with her. She would never allow herself to show this side to anyone other than him or Happy: not even Erza could know this secret, and she was her best friend. No, what happened at night was between her and her boys. Natsu had never slipped up about their activities either, so she let it stay uncovered as long as it needed to. Lucy clinging on to Natsu like a lifeline, as dreams shook her around, just didn’t need to be brought up in a day to day situation.

Natsu didn’t know Lucy’s view on their sleeping habits. He only knew that time was in his favour when it came to this thing: the longer they’d known each other, and with more frequent sleepovers, Lucy seemed to gain courage in her awake affection as well as her unconscious one. Now she didn’t avoid him when Natsu brought his arm around her, nor did she shy away from coming up from behind with a back-hug-sneak-attack. She’d even stand beside him at the bar, mindlessly take his hand and start fidgeting with its rough crevices, removing dirt from under his fingernails and even going as far as rubbing in hand cream, like it was her own hand.

He liked this side of her. It felt like she allowed herself to claim him as hers, as much as he enjoyed claiming her as his. Every time she approached him, he felt validated: like their friendship was just as important to her as it was to him. Naturally he’d feel like that anyways, he knew how much she appreciated him, but it was somehow different when it came to physical contact. Maybe that’s the way he understood affection best: getting his feelings reciprocated was truly unparalleled.

__________

Tonight Natsu’s feet once again took him to her apartment. Happy was flying a bit in front of him, practically asleep – they hadn’t planned to take so long, but before they knew it the sun had set, and Lucy was probably done waiting for them. Their initial plan was to meet up after dinner: normally they’d eat it together, but Lucy had been coerced by Erza to have a “practice dinner” before a special day that she wouldn’t give them any details on. It wasn’t like details were needed though: Erza being sneaky only ever meant one thing – even Natsu knew that much.

So it was fair to say he was tired when he reached the pink brick building. Gazing up to the second floor, he envied Happy who could just fly up with ease. Still, sleeping with Lucy had never been a question of if he should, but when. He carefully stretched his neck, slapping his cheeks twice, before climbing up. The route was etched into his brain like second nature: he knew exactly which brick to grab or step on, and he knew which ones to avoid if it had been raining. Luckily, Lucy’s window was always left cracked open, making it possible for him to slide up the bottom panel and worm himself in.

The landing that had once been clumsy, waking Lucy up by landing straight onto her, was now a lot smoother. Not only did practice make Natsu more agile, but Lucy had also made it a habit to sleep closer to the window, making Natsu land beside her instead of on her. Happy had already curled up to a ball by Lucy’s feet. He’d eventually make his way up to sleep closer to his friends’ heads, but from years of experience he knew that it would take a while for them to settle down.

As Natsu quickly undressed by the edge of her bed, leaving his day clothes haphazardly on the floor, Lucy stirred under the duvet. Natsu longed to join her in her nest of pillows and soft, clean blankets, but first he reluctantly made his way to the bathroom.

He winced at the loud clicks the bathroom door made when he closed it, not sure if it was his worry of waking Lucy or his own hearing that was most bothered. Either way he hurried to do his business. After flushing and washing his hands in much too cold water, he took a quick second to look in the mirror.

Looking back was a pretty grown up man, looking like he’d forgotten to shave one day too many. Underneath the stubble were scars – some prominent, ones that he’d gotten long before Wendy joined Fairy Tail, and others less obvious, only faint shadows remaining. Not even her magic could make the skin look completely like new again, but he was thankful that it helped as much as it did. Some of these scars were less pleasant memories, like the one on his cheek that he associated with Zeref.

His shoulders had gotten quite big over the years. When he’d first met Lucy, he considered himself scrawny. With time and with experience they’d grown stronger, and he found himself thinking that he resembled Gildarts more and more. He shivered. He really needed to shave in the morning, or he’d end up looking exactly like that old fart. With his shoulders slumped over the sink he ruffled around his hair with some water, rubbing away the tensions of the day from the scalp. It was about time he cut that hair again. A mental note to ask Lucy to bring out Cancer was put in the back of his head.

Quickly he grabbed his toothbrush from the shared toothbrush cup and generously smeared on toothpaste. He was about to brush with his normal force, but stopped himself as he heard Lucy’s voice echo in his brain.

“You’re gonna give yourself receding gums if you keep that up!”

He let out a sigh before lightening his grip. She really nagged him about the smallest things. It was either how he brushed his teeth, or how he procrastinated doing the dishes, or she’d complain over a rag or two missing the laundry basket when he and Happy tried to get them in from across the living room.

But he didn’t dislike those complaints. In fact, he was actually a bit fond of them. It was yet another reminder that Lucy considered Natsu and Happy family members in her home: she worried and complained, but she never threw them out anymore. She had been the one to give Natsu a permanent toothbrush in her bathroom, and she’d been the one who hung up three hand towels instead of one, all under their respective names. She was the one who cooked most of their food, and she gladly made some space in her wardrobe to fit in some clothes for Natsu, so he wouldn’t have to wear the same dirty outfit each day.

Reflecting on it made him smile, resulting in spilling out some toothpaste and drool on his chest. He grabbed the towel that hung under his nameplate and dried himself. Yeah, she was probably wise to assign separate hand towels to the three of them: he had to give her credit for that.

Finally finished in the bathroom he hurried over back to where Lucy was laying, curled up, lightly snoring. Had anyone else been making that sound he’d probably want to punch their heads in, but when Lucy did it? Natsu melted in the delightful ambiance.

As soon as he crawled in under the covers, Lucy seemed to stir awake. Mission unsuccessful, but at least he got a chance to talk to her.

“You’re late,” she mumbled, voice raspy from just waking up.

“We lost track of time. Sorry.” Natsu whispered, shamelessly placing his head on her pillow.

“It’s okay… Erza held me back too.” She rubbed her eyes from sleepy crust before taking a good look at Natsu. “Your hair’s getting long.”

She brought her hand to his head, combing it from his temples and back. Natsu shivered at the sensation of nails running against his scalp.

“Yeah, I was thinking of having Cancer cut it in the morning.”

“You should try growing it out again. You look good with longer hair.”

He almost blushed as a smirk entered his lips. She could be uncharacteristically bold at night.

“Look good, huh?”

She lightly flicked his forehead before returning to combing through his hair.

“Don’t get cocky.”

Natsu felt a snicker bubble up his throat.

“Wait, I’m sorry, I’m seriously considering it here,” he defended himself. Lucy softened her grip on his hair.

“Good.” Her teasing expression had once again turned soft.

For a couple of minutes they let the silence settle. Natsu grabbed Lucy into his embrace by pulling her in by her waist, allowing Lucy to continue playing with his hair. He felt like he was living in bliss, breathing her air, feeling her light fingertips tuck hair behind his ear with a softness that resembled sunbeams kissing his skin a warm early spring. What the two of them had during the night, in between chaotic missions and stressful adventures, was something completely otherworldly.

“Hey, Natsu.”

Her soft whisper breathed life in the tranquil atmosphere.

“Yeah?”

His eyes fluttered open, meeting hers. She seemed to be thinking fondly about something, her pupils big and eyelids molding as her mouth formed a relaxed smile. Just seeing her made the corners of Natsu’s mouth pull upwards.

“Can you turn around?”

Suddenly her voice had gone from pleasantly sweet to sickly sweet, as Natsu realised what she was asking of him. He felt his expression go from calm to troubled.

“No…” he tried, whining a little to see if she could possibly be the small spoon tonight.

“Please…” Her big doe eyes sparkled at him. This wasn’t fair. How dare she use those gorgeous brown eyes against him. He tried to hold his ground, holding her firmer by the waist so she wouldn’t flip him over when he least expected. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all.

“I…” He quickly shut his eyes and turned his face away. “No, not today.”

“Come on…” She squirmed a little in his grip, trying to come up with something to coerce him. “What if…” her face grew rapidly red. “Well… how about we make a deal.”

Natsu perked up again, curious about what she was offering.

“Okay… What’s in it for me?” He had turned back to face Lucy, but this time she’d been the one to avoid looking at him. Even in the dark he could see that she was blushing.

“I’ll… Give you a kiss,” she finally said, carefully looking back at Natsu to see if she could read his reaction. It was… smaller than she’d expected.

Truth was, Natsu wasn’t sure if he’d heard her right. Had she really said kiss? Even he was aware of the implications of that: She was asking for permission for them to become something more.

“A kiss? On the lips?” He asked, trying to clarify. It would be terribly embarrassing if he’d misinterpreted her.

“W-well we don’t have to if you don’t want to! I’ll come up with something els-”

“Ten.” Natsu interrupted her.

“Ten?”

“Ten kisses. In exchange for being the little spoon,” he explained, making an ugly face while describing what he was offering. Lucy frowned.

“It can’t be the equivalent of ten kisses,” she tried to argue, but Natsu stood firm in his offer.

“I think it’s reasonable. I can start by giving you the first, but you gotta give the rest.” By now he felt sort of determined, like he had to get those kisses no matter what. She couldn’t exactly go back on her word: she was the one that had offered the kiss in the first place.

“W-wait, Natsu!” She squealed a little as he grabbed her face in both of his hands, squishing her cheeks together until she looked like a fish.

“Ya’ ready?”

Before he could lean in she shook out of his grip.

“Stop! Fine! I’ll do it! Just, give me a moment to brace myself…” Lucy demanded, now changing her position from lying down beside him to sitting up, legs in a criss cross. Natsu mimicked her position to make things easier for her. Though, truth be told: he was getting a little impatient. As soon as she had offered a kiss to compromise his usual sleeping position, he’d started craving those lips against his. They always looked so soft, so supple, like they’d break if they were sucked too hard.

When Lucy finally composed herself, she looked at him with fierce determination in her eyes. She scooted a little closer, making their knees touch. It still didn’t feel like they were close enough. A distance that was so easily closed normally, now felt like miles. First she grabbed his arms, firmly. Not quite satisfied with the feeling of that, she tried placing them on his shoulders.

Problem was: no matter where she placed her hands, it didn’t feel like Natsu was getting any closer. He was always an arm length away. This frustrated her.

“Could you…” she tried to find the right words, “help me? A little?”

“Yeah, of course, sure, what do you… want me to do?”

Yet again there was a shift in atmosphere. Flailing arms and nervous chuckles made him realise that this was happening. He was going to kiss Lucy. Or more accurately: she was going to kiss him. Part of him wanted to just screw any rules about technicality, grab her and kiss her until twilight. Another part of him knew that nothing would compare to what Lucy was setting him up for right now. He really, really wanted to find out what she had in store: what kind of kisses she’d give, if she preferred leaning to the left or to the right to avoid their noses crashing, and how it would feel to be kissed, instead of the kisser.

“Would you just…” Lucy was still caught up in how they were going to sit and do this. “Maybe we should stand-”

“No.”

“Yeah no. If you lean forward a bit? Maybe?”

Natsu toppled his torso forward, closing in the space a bit. It didn’t seem like Lucy was satisfied though, even if their noses were close enough to touch.

“No, my back hurts like this.” She changed her sitting position a couple of times, moving around so much that Happy was starting to stir awake. Natsu had enough.

“Shh,” he whispered, nodding slightly towards the sleeping exceed. His expression was probably hard to read – he didn’t quite understand his emotions himself, but it was a confusing mixture of impatience, eagerness, and something deeper that had been tinting the entire evening. Could it be what people called love?

He pulled roughly on her arm until she sat in a straddle over his groin. She better not sit down here, he managed to realise, which luckily for him, she didn’t. Instead she blushed from the crown of her head, all the way down to her shoulders. It seemed like reality was starting to hit her too. Except this time, she didn’t back down. Her back wasn’t hurting, she wouldn’t have to do any weird maneuvers to get both her lips to meet his.

She straightened herself up, trying to ignore the burning feeling of Natsu’s hands against the dip of her waist, and combed back his hair from right above his ears and back to his neck, mirroring what she’d done earlier this night. As her hands met at the crook of his neck, she carefully braided her fingers together, leaving her thumbs right behind his ears. Getting a good look at him, he’d really grown up to become handsome. The boy she’d met in Hargeon such a long time ago was only a fraction of the man in front of her. His jaw was more chiseled, his eyes had matured, they reflected a certain light of wiseness that they hadn’t before. His chapped lips had gotten framed with slight smile lines – she liked to think she was the cause of their early appearance: he always seemed to smile around her after all. His chin had grown a stubbly, dark pink beard, and she almost wanted to giggle at the thought of him growing it out one day. A pink beard: could you imagine?

But the truth was: she was so in love. She still felt like the night was surreal, the dimmed light from the moon being the only lightsource in the room. Just a couple of hours ago they had been joking around like today was any other day, no clue that she’d be sitting here, straddling him, on her merry way to kiss him. And not just once.

Finally she pressed her lips against his. It was a soft, dry, fluttery peck that only left both of them wanting more.

“One,” she whispered as she pulled them apart for a split second. She only briefly met Natsu’s dark eyes as he looked up at her from under his eyelashes. He was quick to pull them together again, this time harder, with an urgency that he couldn’t quite explain. Her lips were so soft, even softer than they’d looked, and as they took half a second to breathe, he found himself wanting to taste them. So he did.

Lucy had just opened her mouth to jokingly say “two” when her teeth clacked against Natsu’s. Was that his tongue? The new sensation gave her goosebumps, in a very… good… way. Natsu slowly dragged his tongue against Lucy’s bottom lip, taking in everything that she tasted. It was warm, no, hot, and the taste itself was neither sweet, sour or salty, but rather a weird mix of everything and also… Nothing? The most he could identify was the faint taste of the toothpaste they used.

When Natsu’s tongue suddenly felt Lucy’s against it, it felt like he’d been shot by lightning, the shock creeping along his spine, raising every hair on his head. It was… amazing. A little messy, drool finding its way down both of their chins, but it was hot, sweaty and completely delightful. He felt himself grabbing her pillowy hips, pulling them closer to his own groin, before realising what he was doing and stopped himself in his tracks. Things didn’t need to go this fast: today he wanted to revel in the fact that he was kissing the most beautiful woman in the whole world.

Instead he gently lowered Lucy down on her pillow, making it so he could be on top. As a hair got stuck in their mouths, he gently pulled apart, a string of drool embarrassingly acting as proof that they’d just been connected. Her golden hair almost silvery in the faint moonlight, he realised she looked angelic. Her light eyelashes carefully fluttered as she opened her eyes, a small giggle escaping her mouth. It sounded like heaven.

“I’m counting that as number two and three.”

“What? Why!?”

He squinted at her. Was she trying to cheat him? To be honest, with her sweet expression, flushed cheeks and glittering doe eyes, he was about to let her.

“It was longer. And with tongue. And your beard scratched my chin.”

Natsu groaned.

“I knew I should have shaved…” he muttered under his breath before diving in for round four. Once again it started perfectly innocently, Lucy’s hands cupping Natsu’s cheeks as their, now warmed up lips molded against each other again. This time Natsu was quicker to ask for VIP-entrance though, running his tongue over her mouth once again in hopes that he’d get the chance to spar with it. When she played a little bit too hard to please, he repositioned himself over her, one leg between hers, letting his body weigh down slightly where their cores met. Seemingly it was a good move, because with a gasp he was allowed entrance.

Lucy thought that he played a little dirty, in more than one way. Did he even know the effects he had on her? That every time he touched her, she came undone? She teasingly sucked on his upper lip to punish him a little, not knowing it only edged him on. With his hands running across her torso, drawing little circles where her skin had gotten exposed, he deepened the kiss even further, their tongues now sparring like there was a prize to win. Lucy kept up with it for five whole minutes before she suddenly pushed them apart, swallowing hard.

“That’s four, five, six,” she panted, her hands keeping some distance between the two of them. His chiseled chest felt nice… No, focus.

“What?! No way, what did I do this time?”

“You drooled in my mouth!” Lucy had to whisper-shout it, as she remembered that they certainly weren’t alone in this bed.

“Ew! Did not!” There was no way he’d done something disgusting like that: kissing was a drool-involved activity! There was no need for her to get her panties in a twist.

“Yeah, you did? Wanna switch places and see how it feels?”

“You’re on!”

Swiftly they swapped their positions, Lucy being the one on top this time. She carefully positioned herself right above his groin, not to wake any monsters she couldn’t tame, and leaned forward, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Your turn,” she taunted, leaning into her seductive side before finally giving him a slight peck on his already open mouth. “Oh, and that’s seven.”

“Cheater,” Natsu muttered before cupping her face and leading her on to their eighth kiss. This time he understood why Lucy had counted as she had: not only was the actual kissing more intense from below (and also containing more saliva, he admitted), but the general power play made it feel unfair. All he could do from his position was grab her hips, butt, waist and upper-middle back to hold her closer, or play with her hair and touch her neck, like she’d done to him before.

Lucy, however, had all the cards on her table, tracing his bare torso, feeling the curves and crooks of his abs, sometimes using her nails to her advantage, sending goosebumps throughout his entire body. He’d reward her with a gentle squeeze wherever his hands were, or he’d deepen the kiss, gently biting her lip or feel the back of her teeth with his tongue.

Rather than learning how taxing it was to be the drool-bucket, it seemed like Natsu was only enjoying this experience. She wanted to teach him a little lesson, so she pulled the two of them apart again, this time to quickly reposition her mouth on his neck, right below his scar. And then she kissed him, and licked him, and she sucked and bit, Natsu’s panting by her ear only encouraging her.

Then she slowly rose up, a sly grin on her face.

“The hickey counts as number ten.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake…” Natsu breathed, too impressed to actually complain.

“Now!” Lucy’s eyes sparkled in excitement as she left her straddle. “A deal is a deal: get into position.”

Natsu sighed deeply before complying, rolling over to the side so his broad back was facing Lucy.

“I don’t get how you enjoy this,” he said, feeling Lucy hug herself into her place, body tightly pressed against his, her face landing in the crook of his neck. The place he knew from experience was the best smelling place on Lucy’s entire body – oh, how he wanted to switch places with her.

“Same reason you do, silly.” She wrapped her arms around him, locking them together by tightly hugging his stomach. Instead of complaining, he accepted his role as the little spoon, grabbing her hands and bringing them up to his face. Ten, small kisses, he gave her, one on each finger.

“I think I can stand it if i get paid in kisses again,” he joked, not realising that Lucy would push herself up one last time, land a wet kiss on the corner of his mouth, before laying down again.

“One on the house.”

__________

Happy felt his tail twitch in annoyance as he finally heard them settle down. Next time he’d tell them to wait until he’d fallen asleep at least.

__________ __________ __________

Oh wow, this year has flown by! I’ve started lots of WIPs and somehow only now had the energy to finish them (during exam season and all… Typical). There’s still a small surprise upcoming, so you haven’t yet seen the last of me this year lol.

I hope you’ll allow me to get a bit sentimental here in the notes…

This fic has been on the back burner since… 2023 I think… It’s inspired by Mitski and her song First Love/Late Spring, and back then I still didn’t know I’d get to see her perform live in Edinburgh. My trip there was my first solo flight, and soon after I went to Greece with just my friend. Then I started uni again! Pedagogy, which has been so much more fun than journalism was for me (it sucked out my creativity, hence why I didn’t post much earlier this year). In general this year’s been more good than bad, save perhaps when my beloved Mala passed in March, and when we thought my other baby, Findus, had an autoimmune disease. Findus turned out to be fine, that cuddly-bug will probably not leave in a very long time.

Oh but I’m getting off track. This fic is fic nr10 posted this year, and while looking over my history I’m realising that they’ve all been posted within 6 months… They’ve also been a lot more mixed genre-wise: I started with And Then They Were Two, an angsty fic written in memory of Mala. It was my first time portraying death: I didn’t know then it was just the start. Then I posted a fic where I tried making Natsu and Lucy fight (that was a tough one…), though at least it ended happily, lol. I also finished Nalu Week from 2023! Hike in Heels is one of my favourite fics up to date, I’m really happy with that one, and though I’m slightly less fond of Some of their own, I still enjoyed the fluff.

I also wrote my second more suggestive fic: I really hope my growth from Massage Misunderstanding to A Way Into Your Heart shows (though they’re not exactly comparable: one is a crack-fic after all). Unrequited Love was my first truly angsty fic. It was written with no solution in mind, during a time when I was experiencing my own unrequited love. It was very nice being able to use fic-writing as a creative outlet: and I also hope it somehow portrays how much of my own soul is poured into what I write. This is truly my passion.

Lastly I managed to pad my goriest, by far saddest, fic with a couple of fluffy ones: A homage to autumn (Home) and a gift to one of the greatest people I’ve met this year, Roxy.

I’m so insanely thankful to all of you who motivate me to continue to write! I seriously couldn’t have done this without all of you, I’m forever grateful. Writing is the one passion I’ve held on to since I could hold a pen: I’ll always treasure Ao3, ff.net and tumblr for being sites I’ve been able to rely on when it comes to meeting wonderful people, posting and reading fics.

So, for one of the last times in 2024: Thank you for reading my fic<3 See you all lots in 2025!

[xanvasofxords]

“Huh what?”

Natsu tilts his head in confusion. She’s furrowing her brows in a cutesy way. The dragon slayer feels something in his stomach flutter because of it. It doesn’t bother him anymore though, for this has happened way too many times before.

Hands on her hips, Lucy asks, “Do you ever think before speaking?”

Natsu rolls his eyes with a shrug. He didn’t say anything wrong, in fact he corrected the guy by pointing out how genes work. Their kids will either have pink hair like him or blonde hair like Lucy. He thought she’d be happy knowing he’s more intelligent than some salon-guy.

“What did I say wrong?” He crosses his arms and leans into her space. Lucy’s face heats up from the close proximity.

The celestial mage was actually very surprised when her idiot of a partner started talking about genetics. But that really isn’t the issue. It’s just moments like this give her false hope. That maybe he feels something for her, maybe he does see her as more than a friend. But she knows he’s not on the same page.

Natsu loves her too much but it’s the same way he loves any other member of the guild. And honestly, she’s happy just being his closest friend for the rest of her life. Their friendship is the most important thing and she won’t ruin it for the sake of her feelings.

She just doesn’t want him to make things harder for her. She’s trying so hard to move on and it hurts when she constantly has to remind herself that he doesn’t feel the same. She doesn’t want him to talk about their future kids knowing it will never happen, no matter how much she wants it to.

“Earth to Lucy?” Natsu waves a hand before her, “What’re ya thinking about?”

Lucy sighs and looks up at him again. “Nothing. Leave it, Natsu.”

And he doesn’t, instead pulls her closer to him and kisses her forehead. Lucy relaxes into his chest, almost forgets about the mental storm from a moment ago. She knows he’s trying to comfort her as always. It means nothing...

“I didn’t know your favorite color changed from pink to blue.”

“What?”

“It’s okay. We can just adopt a little one with blue hair, if that’s what you want.”

[through-a-blackhole]

golden

Summary: All Natsu knew when he met her for the first time was that Lucy was the weirdo with golden hair, golden keys, and golden smile.

-

The first time Natsu Dragneel meets her, the first thought that enters his mind is the fact that she is the weirdest girl he has ever met,

He sees some guy with puny flames pretend to be a mage from Fairy Tail, even going as far as to use Natsu's identity as the Salamander, and immediately his world is turned upside down.

There is a blonde girl who thanks him and Natsu is confused. He broke the spell, the girl explains, and he doesn't care. Igneel isn't in this town and all Natsu wants to do is go back to the guild, fish with Happy, or start a brawl with Gray. But then the weird girl tells him that she'll treat them to a nice meal and Natsu never says no to food so this time it's him who's thankful.

The weird blonde girl becomes the nice blonde girl and Natsu is hooked. Yeah, she's nice but she's so loud. She's vain and loud and talks so much but then she mentions being a mage and wanting to join Fairy Tail.

And the first thing that enters his mind is there is no way on Earthland that this princess will ever fit in with his guild. One look at her and Natsu knows she's royalty; she has probably never even seen struggle her whole life.

For the first time in all his life, Natsu has never been proved wrong multiple times in such a short period.

The blonde girl, Lucy, can fight. She causes a wreckage that ruins the entire port of Hargeon and before he knows it, he's taking her hand and bringing her to his guild.

"Come with me," he says but what she really does is enter his heart.

They become teammates, and then best friends, and he wonders when he ever had this much fun in life.

Lucy is a wonder and she surprises him day by day. She yells and kicks him out of her apartment, but then he knows she secretly loves having them over when she doubles her groceries and never leaves her window unlocked. She gets mad when he sleeps in her bed yet he notices the spare pillow on her bed cover.

So Natsu keeps these little discoveries to himself and treasures Lucy like how she treasures her spirits. And slowly, she infiltrates not just his mind but also his heart.

It is impossible to not think about her, Natsu decides. The more he gets to know Lucy, the more he wants to keep her to himself.

Natsu has never been this exhilarated before. Love, he thinks, is silly.

He learns of her departure and hightails it to her home, and she's shocked that they came to get her. He feels the fear leave his body when she tells him that she just wanted to say goodbye one last time, and she walks back with them to Fairy Tail.

The estate and the garden (which they all mistook as a village) serve as a reminder of how Lucy Heartfilia grew up with wealth and power, and the way she sighs at a high-paying job reminds him that she left all of it for him.

His heart jumps. She left her comfortable life the moment he told her to come with him on an adventure. And Natsu gives her adventures as he promised. But new adventures come with new scars. Soon, her skin is peppered with small streaks of scars, new and old, and his heart feels heavier whenever he sees them.

She jumps off a tower blindly just because she knows he will catch her. And he does.

His body is crushed under rubble and Lucy is getting beaten right before his very eyes, and he begs her to run, but she stays because it's more fun when we're together, she says.

She is beaten black and blue against Sabertooth, unconscious and bleeding, and she has the thought to apologize how she didn't win first place for Fairy Tail.

Her body starts merging with the infinity clock and Natsu's blood is frozen in fear but she finds the courage to laugh. I'm a Fairy Tail wizard. It's almost a reminder to him. And then the entire ship explodes and he sprints across the entire field just to catch her and he does.

She turns invisible and the entire guild forgets her, but Natsu remembers her with his heart and not just his brain, so he says her name out of habit and love more than memory, and she is visible again.

It is the time for viewing cherry blossoms and playing games with his guild and he can't even enjoy it when the person he wants to be with most is stuck at home with a cold. So he uproots the biggest, brightest tree he can find, sails it down a river, and hopes that Lucy won't feel left out.

He doesn't know when or how it starts, but soon it's not just his mind and heart that's full of Lucy. His home is littered with memories of them: their first job together, rubble from the fight where he asked her to run away with him, Lucy's maid outfit, the fake Salamnder signature.

She's golden, he thinks. Everything about her is bright and precious and he must protect her. This nice weirdo who bought him a meal and rewrote his entire life to save him.

Natsu Dragneel is in love with Lucy Heartfilia, he decides. And he doesn't know what to do, so he tells her honestly.

"We'll always be together from now on." I'll always be with you. You'll never be alone again. I'm in love with you.

-

end

-

Thank you for reading this short story! :') I missed writing, kinda rusty but I hope you liked it! I love Nalu so tell me if there are any prompts you'd like me to do <3

[gymjunkie412]

📖One Shots By Moeruhoshi📖

Moeruhoshi has some of the best Nalu fanfics I have ever read. I enjoyed reading them and would reread them if I needed some time to kill. I enjoyed creating this piece, even though I had trouble thinking the poses, haha. This sketch was probably back in May 2024.

.

Red String of Fate: Through a missapplied spell, Natsu gains the ability to see his red string and can't help but know who lies at the other end.

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Dragon Blood: Their blood was so unbelievably rare. Who would ever be lucky enough to get their hands on it?You'd only ever see a dragon if you were stupid. Everyone avoided them like the plague. It was a death sentence to even think about getting anywhere near them. And of course , she just happened to know where one lived.

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A Dragon's First Crush: Natsu meets a girl by chains that he just can't stop thinking about.

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Author: @moeruhoshi

Source: ff.net, ao3 and tumblr

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No text version

(Ps. I love your work very much!)

[shiiro-arts]

Hey, I was wondering if you could recommend some of your favourite Nalu fanfic. I've been trying to find some good ones but it's really hard?

Yep!!! I'm going to try and recommend only finished ones but I will put a warning if they are unfinished (because sometimes they are too good not to share fr fr)

Name: Capturing Her Damaged Heart

Rating+Wods: M(For blood/gore and smut (skippable smut)) 669,120wrds

Status: Unfinished

This is the bad boys of slow burns, the big mama, the final boss.

Literally my favorite fic ever, it destroys me that it's unfinished but SO WORTH IT, you'll probably want to kill me if you "finish it" but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

___________________________

Name: The Keys of Fire

Rating+Wods: T (Torture scenes but not extremely heavy) 343,076wrds

Status: Finished

___________________________

Name: Amazing

Rating+Wods: T/G?, 1,998wrds

Status: One Shot

___________________________

Name: Of Dust and Shadows

Rating+Wods: M (For gore, no smut) 506,628wrds

Status: Finished

This fic is more planned than my life, one of my favorites, the angst had me gripping my armchair for dear life, every detail is so important, it left me with my mouth open fr

___________________________

Name: Fairy Tail

Rating+Wods: M (Smut) 340,795wrds

Status: Finished

___________________________

Name: Just fine

Rating+Wods: M (Mention of torture and PTSD) 1,986wrds

Status: One Shot

Good old angst, It just has something that I absolutelly love

___________________________

Name: Memories

Rating+Wods: Gen, 7,526wrds

Status: Finished?, I think they wanted to write another chap but you can totally read it without worring, the chapters aren't super connected.

This one is from a mutual that wrote a story based on my BlindLucyAU, It's not really NaLu centered (a few scenes) but they deserve the support, amazing writing

___________________________

Name: through the lens of my fingertips

Rating+Wods: Gen, 1,215wrds

Status: One Shot

Tokkias wrote this one for my birthday! Is based on my AU too

___________________________

If you have already read all of these you can always ask me for more, some of these are really big boys so they will keep you entertained for real lmao

[lara-a-fada]

I thought too much about this chapter and it pop out.

English is not my first language so the grammar is poor, Idk if it configures a drabble too...

------------------------------------------------

Pink or Blond

“Do you think our Nasha will have pink or blond hair?”

The question came so unexpectedly during their lunch, that the water Lucy was drinking spilled through her nostrils, wich only added to Gray and Happy's laughter.

“Stop thinking about it!” She vexed, accepting the napkins Wendy gave her. “We might not even have a Nasha.”

Natsu didn’t even think before continuing.

“Do you want a boy?” He was so serious that even Erza hold a giggle.

“It’s not… Ugh, why are you so okay with it?”

“Why you are not?”

“Because you are too much steps ahead, dumbass.”

“I was not asking you ice prick! C’mon Lucy, do you think our kids would have blond or pink hair?”

“Natsu, stop bugging Lucy,” Erza intervened.

“I’m not bugging her, I just asked…”

“We cannot have children Natsu,” Lucy stated, trying to take that idea out of his head.

His expression blanked for a second just before he added.

“Oh, so we might just adopt then.” Followed by Lucy’s defeated sigh and their friends laugh. “But you must admit, a girl with pink hair and pretty brown eyes would be really cool.”

A stunned table stared at his wide smile.

Lucy was deep red, her hand covering her beating heart, and except for Gray’s “smooth idiot” mumble, everyone silently agreed.

[starswritewhispers]

Nalu Writing Practice-Bets & Loops

I'm so out of practice with writing, please let me know what y'all think

Lucy rubbed at her temples, her eyes squeezing shut as if that could drown out the sound of arguing next to her.  She just wanted to read her book and instead she had a front row seat to a soap opera.

"You let him call you Ever?”  Bickslow’s incredulous voice demanded, ruining her fifth attempt to read the same line. “Honestly, just because the idea of romance is lost on you does no–” “I am very romantic–stop laughing, Fried–” “See, even Fried,--” 

“I’d like to stay out of this,” The green haired mage piped up, wincing when both of his friends whirled towards him instead.

Lucy had changed her usual seat in hopes of a more peaceful spot to read, and usually, this area would’ve been fine. Of course, Evergreen had decided to tell Laxus that her date with Elfman had gone well, which led to Bickslow spitting his drink out and the following argument. “It’s not like I’m Natsu or some shit,” Bickslow argued and Lucy blinked, slowly tuning into their argument again.  “Careful,” Laxus drawled, eyes flickering over to Lucy’s as he smirked. “Blondie’s right there,”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She demanded, sliding her bookmark into place before snapping the book shut. “Talking about Natsu’s romantic failures, white right in front of his biggest–only–failure, isn’t wise or kind,” Fried supplied in a tone that she supposed was meant to be helpful.  She distantly heard the sound of chairs scooting over but was distracted by her own heartbeat in her ears and the warmth rising to her cheeks. “I–Natsu–me?”  She spluttered, eyes widening to saucers. “See,” she overheard Bickslow grumble to Evergreen. “I’m not that–” “Hey!” “What he means,” Evergreen cut in, a smirk worming its way onto her face. “Natsu obviously is in love with you, everyone knows it, except you. And maybe him.” “We’re friends,” she answered with a roll of her eyes that was heavily counteracted with her deep blush. “He doesn’t feel that way about me and neither do–” Her weak rebuttal was canceled out by a loud whoop, followed by a crash and– “Gray did it!” 

“Natsu did it!” Lucy groaned, sliding her book into her bag and accepting defeat as she stood up. “You know,” Evergreen began, something similar to mischief flickering in her eyes. “If you really don’t like him, why don’t you try dating around? I have some friends I could set you up with,” she offered, her tone far too sweet for her. “Just check with him first, make sure there’s no set jobs or anything.” Lucy narrowed her eyes, sensing a trap but unsure of where it was. She huffed, turning on her heel. “Fine,” she succeeded with a shake of her head. “Just so you all–”  She gave a pointed look to the rest of her friends who were listening in, “Leave it alone.” She started to walk off towards Natsu and Gray, or rather, the tumbling mess of limbs that was Natsu and Gray when she was cut off by Levy.

“Are you actually going to tell him?” Her best friend asked, cocking her head.  Lucy sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “I might as well,” she admitted, looking down at the bluenette. “It’ll get the guild off my back and stop giving me–” She cut herself off, checking to make sure nobody else heard her near admission. Luckily, only Levy smiled at her with a knowing, sad, look in her eyes. “I think you should just ask him,” she suggested with a bright smile. “He may surprise you and jealous dragons are never the best thing to deal with, trust–” “Levy, I love you and appreciate your help but it’s just–” She frowned, shaking her head. “We’re just friends and he hates change, I don’t want to ruin that.” She offered a weak grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she shrugged. “Don’t worry about the jealousy, Natsu doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body.” With that, she continued her trek over to Natsu and Gray, swallowing her unnecessary nerves. “Luce!” Natsu’s excited voice called otu to her over the noise, the pink hair boy bouncing up with a grin. “What are ya doing here? I thought you were finishing that dumb lovey-dovey book today?” Lucy frowned, crossing her arms. “It’s not dumb, it’s romantic,” she corrected with a sigh. “And I–” She cut herself off, grimacing at the memory. “Changed my mind,” she settled on with a shrug.  He only grinned at her, glancing over to Gray with a laugh. 

“Lucy goes on all these adventures with us in her real life then reads about make believe ones,” he shook his head, his mess of pnik spikes following the moment. “Your life is better than a book, Luce.” “Well,” Gray began, in a voice that usually was followed by Natsu’s fists, “Lucy’s books have charming princes and Lucy’s life has,” he glanced down at Natsu. “Temperamental dragons.” “My temperature is fine, ya lousy–” “Temperamental doesn’t mean your literal temperature, Natsu,” Lucy corrected him with a fond smile. “It means you’re–” She paused, deciding she didn’t want to be included in Erza’s wrath that day. “Nevermind.”  “See,” He whirled over to Gray, a frown tugging on his lips once he realized the ice mage’s attention was elsewhere. “Why are you looking at Juvia like that? It’s weird.” Truly. Not a romantic bone to be found. “On the note of princes,” Lucy began, immediately regretting her decision when both of the men turned their gazes back onto her. Gray looked amused whilst Natsu just seemed an odd mix of confused and something else she couldn’t place. “Evergreen wants to set me up wirth one of her friends,” she started, eyes focusing on anywhere but them. “Do we have any set mission day—” “What?” Natsu demanded at the same time Gray burst into laughter. He was rewarded with a sharp elbow in the gut from the dragon slayer, but he only doubled over as he continued to laugh.  “Shut up, Gray,” he hissed, turning back to Lucy. “You and Evergreen aren’t even friends,” He protested, eyes narrowing. “She doesn’t know the kind of guys you should be around.” Lucy bristled, her own temper rising to the surface. “Oh, and you do?” She demanded, crossing her arms.  “Obviously,” he huffed out with a laugh. 

A laugh.

She was going to kill him with his own scarf.

“I mean do you think any guy Evergreen picks for ya would know the books you read? Or how to make you hot cocoa, cause for some reason you want it just above lukewarm? Or the way ya wrinkle your nose when you lie, or–”  For a moment, Lucy’s thought paused and even Gray stopped laughing as Natsu rambled on, seeming to get more frustrated with every passing second. “And–are you even listening to me, Lucy?” He demanded, hands on his hips in an oddly similar manner to her own usual annoyed posture. “I–” She paused, feeling a wave of courage surge up in her. “So if I shouldn’t go on a date with anyone, who should I be with then?” “Me,”  Despite being the one who said it, Natsu looked as shocked as Lucy felt when the words fell from his lips. He recovered quickly, his trademark grin falling over his face as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Cause, yknow, we spend so much time together and I don’t want to deal with a new–” “Shut up,” Gray advised in a hiss, still seated next to them.  “Do you–” Her eyes flicked down to Gray, narrowing slightly at the realization that he may know something she didn’t. She’d deal with that later. “Do you like me, Natsu?” Perhaps she should’ve waited for a moment when the entir guild hall wasn’t listening to them because his response would be held over her head for far longer than she ever needed. “Really, Luce?” He asked, an expression of bemusement on his features. “Gee, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, ya weirdo.”    She was going to punch him. Or kick him. At this point, he had earned a kick. “Like isn’t the right word, I think–” he paused, and she noticed Gray giving him an almost encouraging nod. “I think I love you?” His words trailed off at the end of the sentence, sounding unsure, nervous, and so un Natsu like that she completely reconsidered kicking him. The kick could wait, what she wanted to do in that moment couldn’t. Lucy walked closer to him, ignoring the way her hands trembled as she clutched his scarf, then promptly used it to pull him into a kiss.  She ignored the way the guild hall erupted into cheers and complaints of loss bets, focusing on Natsu’s hands sliding over her waist, both of their lips forming smiles against the others, the way they fit so perfectly. “Okay, okay, enough with the PDA,” Gray groaned and Lucy yelped, breaking away from Natsu. Her cheeks flared, promptly becoming far too aware of the guild hall. “Says the stripper,” “Yeah yeah, go take that energy out on–” “Finish that sentence, I dare you,” Natsu’s hand had somehow grabbed Lucy’s during their argument, lacing their fingers together. He turned back to face her, the bright grin on his face mirroring her own. 

By the time the happy couple had gone home, the hall was still awake with murmurs of what had occurred. “You so cheated, Ever,” Elfman groaned, dropping his head in his hands. His girlfriend snorted, but still ran her fingers through his hair fondly as she glanced over at the rest of the thunder legion, currently going through their winnings.

They had bet on not only the month but the location of when the two would confess.  “There were no rules against offering one of them an out,” she said with a faux innocent smile. “Just interfering with their own relationship.”

“Loopholes,” Cana grumbled bitterly with a swig of her beer. Or vodka. Hopefully, just beer. "At least it finally fucking happened.”

[princeash28]

❤️ Happy Belated Valentine's Day ❤️

I didn't get to post a fic for it, so here's a sweet treat from me instead 🫶

A WIP from an excerpt of some NaLu spice 🔥 that may or may not be coming up in one of my fics 😊. Could scrap it entirely but I jotted it down on the notes app of my phone, so it's not polished. Workshopping this, so any feedback is appreciated.

Enjoy!

Context: Natsu is stuck in a dragon-force-like state. Scales, a tail, the whole shebang. Something more is happening to him. His instincts are getting harder and harder to ignore... and so are his desires.

NSFW warning just in case? Mostly just kissing tho. And some angst sprinkled in. ✨ Because I have to. 😘

"Luce," Natsu's breaths came out desperate, hot on Lucy's lips. "I-... Is this... Do you want—?"

"Yes," Lucy breathes, her mouth a whisper on his own. She pulls back enough to meet his eyes properly, looking up through her lashes. "...Do you?"

Natsu nodded even as his heart thrums with a million uncertainties. His searing lips caressed hers again, something between a purr and a hum rolling from his throat.

His hands touched her and yet they weren't full enough. His body brushed against her clothes and yet he wanted to feel more.

Wanted to be more.

His lips left hers, tracing her jaw, under her ear and finding the pulse of her neck. Her heartbeat was in his ears, growing faster, growing more excited. His tongue darted to taste her skin--sweet and soft as silk--and he was rewarded with a small hitch of her breath and her hands pulling him closer.

"Ah, Natsu." Her voice lilted into a moan he had never heard before, plucking cords in his gut and sending molten blood away from his brain to wander to more exciting places.

He kissed her neck harder, needing the warmth of her skin like he had never known anything but the cold. His lips went down, down, down, earning him trembling gasps and a small buck of her hips that made him ache with a need he had never felt before.

His tongue darted out again, tasting that soft spot between her shoulder and neck. Lucy pulled him closer, her hair falling to the side as she tilted her head to open herself up to him. Exposed. Inviting. 

His.

A growl rumbled from deep in his chest, a warning, a wanting—

His teeth grazed her skin, and he nipped her gently—so gently—just to test this strange instinct that had come over him—

Lucy gasped and curled back into him, her hips bucking into his—igniting a fire he'd never known was burning for her until recently. She hooked a leg around his waist, pressing them together—

Natsu's teeth grew hot, and his lips curled into a snarl. Suddenly he had a wrist pinned above her head, his other hand pulling her shoulder down so that he could claim what was his—

His eyes darted to hers, and he froze.

Her cheeks were flushed, her bottom lip fat and a little bloody.

Bloody.

When had that happened?

He looked back to her shoulder, the patch of red and the little bruise already forming from his tiny nip—maybe harder than he's intended.

But her eyes weren't shimmering with pain or fear. They were full of trust--full of desire reflecting right back into his own. 

But her lip was bloody, and only now he realized the sweetness on his lips was turning acrid—metallic.

"I—" He pulled away, the heat and want in his gut trying to anchor him back down to Lucy.

Her flushed face pinched in worry, and like a blot of stray ink on a masterpiece, the pleasure Natsu had been steeped in was ruined.

"Are you okay?" Lucy whispered. Her breath tickled his chest as she looked up at him, prone as a lamb.

Gods, she was beautiful.

He spoke past the dryness in his throat choking him, past the cloying taste of blood on his tongue.

"Lucy, I..." he panted, his hand hovering near her cheek, seeing his talons about to graze her fair skin, and pulled back. He lowered his head in shame. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't—"

"Lucy." He met her eyes again, his face hard-set, shoving down the desire that had taken him to a place he was reluctant to leave. " ...I can't."

Her lips parted, and the tiniest "oh," of realization was the only sound between them. Her eyes, flecked with golden stars, searched his pitch black depths of ink. He waited for her to nod and scoot away, to unlock them both from the quivering tension threatening to snap between them into something they would never be able to put back together.

But Lucy cupped his scale-freckled cheeks, and leaned up to kiss him. It was deep, and warm, and sweet; less fevered and more solid. Solid like a promise between them both.

"You won't," Lucy whispered. She kissed him again. "I trust you, Natsu. So trust me."

And then her lips left his to explore his neck, his bare chest. His rigid frame shuddered, his body fighting with his mind that was ready to shut this all down at a moment's notice.

"L-luce—"

"Shh," her breath was hot on his scaled abdomen. She kissed his crimson and inky scales, which parted for her like the sea, revealing his skin underneath so that she could kiss there again, igniting him in ways he had never thought possible.

Natsu swallowed down whatever words his brain had tried to come up with, and a deep groan rushed to take its place. His eyes fluttered and closed.

Her hands found the hem of his pants, and her fingers trailed just above the fabric.

His hips bucked—a primal, involuntary thing—and he gasped softly.

His voice took on a new desperation, a plea and a final warning all at once. "Lucy..."

"Natsu." 

He opened his eyes, his chest heaving, his core burning, aching—

"Is this... something you really want?" Lucy asked. She began to nudge the shoulder of her sleeve down, her other hand resting like a branding iron on his abs.

Gods.

"Yes," he breathed.

"Me too," she smiled, red faced and kind. "So let's figure it out together, okay? Just like we always do."

And just like that, the ball of nerves and fear in his chest unknotted somewhat.

He managed a small smile back, and the tip of his pointed tail—the damn nuisance that it was—wiggled.

Lucy failed to stifle her giggle, and she leaned in to kiss him again.

[beargyufairy]

In a world of boys, he’s a gentleman

Credit to artist

[scarletgray]

[bumblebeehug]

Not a date

Summary: Fic inspired by this prompt: Natsu invites Lucy out for a “normal” day of fun, but everyone else keeps assuming they’re on a date. Lucy brushes it off - until Natsu starts rolling with it. Notes: happy belated valentine! Ao3 - FF.net

***

Natsu wasn’t the romantic type. She didn’t expect him to be; strictly speaking, he’d never come across someone he wanted to court. To Lucy’s knowledge, he’d never even had a crush on anyone, save perhaps on Lisanna back when they were kids. Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d react to a romantic situation at his current age. Would he get nervous around his person? Twirly, giggly or shy? She somehow doubted it. If she knew him, which she believed she did, he’d probably be honest and bold. He wouldn't jump around, fiddle with the person of interest’s heartstrings, but rather face them directly. Maybe to lay out a complete confession, or maybe just to tell them his honest intentions; that he wanted a relationship with them, starting from this moment on.

This was why she couldn’t help but to feel discouraged regarding her own crush on the man. As far as she could tell, her feelings weren’t reciprocated. Not that she particularly minded – they’re still young, and Natsu didn’t seem to have his eyes on anyone else. But the nagging feeling of what if still permeated her heart.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the man in question.

“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?”

He sat down beside her, leisurely throwing an arm over her shoulders. How would this natural action change if he fell in love with someone else? Lucy shook her head, ridding herself of the thought.

“Nothing important. What have you been up to? You stink…” She made no effort masking the look of disgust on her face. Natsu chuckled mischievously.

“I pranked Happy. Messed around with the plumbing in the bathroom, you shoulda seen his face!” His teeth gleamed in the daylight as he threw his head back in laughter. Lucy would have found him insanely attractive, Adam's apple bobbing as gleeful chuckles escaped his mouth, if she wasn’t suddenly very aware of what it was she was smelling on him. He smelled like feces…

“God, Natsu!” She shoved him away. “And you didn’t wash up afterwards? We’ll both get sick!”

Natsu gave her a nonchalant shrug.

“The plumbing is ruined, I couldn’t shower even if I wanted to. That’s why I came to you!”

“What, so you could rub poop on my new shirt?!”

“No,” he scoffed. “To tell ya’ I’ll borrow your bathtub.”

Lucy, who was now standing up, felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn’t want to touch a single object at this state, and even less touch Natsu, but she grabbed his scarf and started walking towards the guild door.

“We’re taking a bath, now.” A faint whistle from one of the guild mates was met with a deadly stare from Lucy. “God, all the times you’ve invaded my apartment without asking, but this is when you ask? This stench has got to be killing you and your bloodhound nose.”

“Meh, I got used to it pretty quickly.”

Lucy gave him a puzzled glance. With the wind blowing away the worst of the stench she didn’t find the same fiery energy as before to scold him. Instead she dragged him all the way home, and immediately drew him a bath.

As she took off her shirt to throw it in the washing machine with Natsu’s disgustingly damp clothes, she remembered the victim of the prank.

“Hey, where’s Happy? You didn’t leave him in poop-city, did you?” She lifted up her left bra-strap that had fallen down her shoulder.

“He jumped in the lake to wash himself. Then I reminded him that we eat the fish from that lake, so he ran away crying. He’ll be back sooner or later.” Natsu was sitting on the bathroom floor in just boxers, as Lucy forbade him to sit on any furniture. The tiles in there were easy enough to clean, so she allowed him to wait there. As she looked at him, he seemed to be staring intensely at something south of her face. “Is that a new bra?”

Lucy’s face became warm, and according to the bathroom mirror, glowing red.

“Why do you keep an inventory of my bra-supply?” She clipped back, sounding angrier than she intended to.

Natsu just sheepishly smiled, pointing to his head.

“I like the colour, it kinda matches my hair!”

Lucy felt a vein pop out of her forehead. She suppressed the urge to hit him for his insensitivity, and instead redirected him to the hot bath.

“Okay, fashionista, how about you like cleanliness instead.”

She pointed to the tub and then left the room so he could do what she’d brought him to do. In the meantime she washed her hands in the basin in the kitchen, and went and picked out some clean clothes for them to wear. She’d called him a fashionista, and she really meant it. That man was so peculiar with the clothes he wore that she sometimes wondered why he wore that open vest when they first met. She understood the appeal, as she didn’t exactly reject the straight view to his abdominal muscles, but she was attracted to him. Natsu didn’t seem attracted to anything, other than maybe food and fighting. Still, he was picky with the clothes on his back.

A few minutes passed, and she heard the water sloshing around in the bathroom, followed by a loud sigh of relief. Natsu must have finally submerged himself. Just as she sat down on the couch, a muffled voice called from the bathroom.

“Oi, Lucy!” She sighed.

“What now?”

There was a brief pause before he answered.

“I think I dropped my soap.”

Lucy groaned, rubbing her temples.

“Then pick it up, genius.”

“No, I mean… it went flying. I think it’s under the cabinet.”

Lucy squeezed her eyes shut. Why is he like this?

She stood up and stomped over to the bathroom door, cracking it open just enough to glare at him through the gap. She picked her field of vision carefully.

“I’m not helping you unless you cover up. Spin around or something.”

“Prude,” he muttered under his breath. Lucy ignored him. Some social rules were important to adhere to – friends of different sex weren’t supposed to see each other naked. The fact that this rule had been accidentally broken multiple times before didn’t have anything to do with it.

She exhaled sharply and opened the door wider to enter. Natsu had obediently spun around to face the window, allowing Lucy to step in without any worry. She crouched down and peered under the sink cabinet, spotting the rogue soap resting just out of reach. With a huff, she stretched her arm underneath, fingers just grazing the edge—

Splash!

Lucy froze. Slowly, she turned her head, feeling the cold trail of water drip down her lower back. Natsu was half-sunken in the tub, grinning like a mischievous imp.

“…You did not just do that,” she gasped, her voice a mix of disbelief and amusement.

Natsu snickered, completely unrepentant. He eyed her up and down, so fast Lucy thought she might have imagined it, but then he quickly gulped, proving that he had, in fact, ogled her. Before she could swiftly take her leave, Natsu spoke up.

“It was an accident?”

A playful fury rose in Lucy’s chest. Oh, he was so dead. Without hesitation, she grabbed the soap and hurled it straight at his head. It smacked against his forehead with a satisfying thunk. Natsu flinched, then burst into laughter, clutching his head.

“Okay, okay! I surrender!” he wheezed, hands up in mock defeat.

Lucy crossed her arms, scowling – though the tiny smirk tugging at her lips betrayed her.

“You better be squeaky clean when you get out,” she warned, turning toward the door. “Or you’re sleeping outside.”

With a huff, she spun on her heel and marched out, leaving Natsu’s laughter echoing behind her.

When Natsu finally stepped out of the bathroom, he was dressed in the clothes Lucy had picked out for him. A couple of months ago, she’d reached out to his tailor to get him a new set, something close to what he usually wore. The result was an outfit not unlike the one he had during their fight against Tartaros. She had always liked that look – it suited him – but it was a shame when those clothes were destroyed in battle.

Then again, the same could be said for her own. That green top and vest she’d chosen specifically because they reminded her of Natsu’s had met a similar fate. But unlike him, she could never wear that outfit again. Too many painful memories were woven into the fabric, especially the ones tied to Aquarius. Just thinking about it made her chest tighten.

She could only hope Natsu didn’t feel the same way about his clothes. Or at least that the subtle differences in design would keep any bad memories at bay. Maybe the fact that it was a gift from her could be enough to soothe the wounds. But that might be wishful thinking.

The original plan had been to give them to him as a birthday gift, but given the state of his old outfit, he might as well start wearing them now.

“Where’d ya’ get these clothes? They fit me perfectly.” Natsu was tugging at different parts of the fabric to correct the position. “Like they were tailored or somethin’.”

Lucy let out a chuckle.

“They were. I was going to give them to you at a better time, but you needed something wearable now, so…” She crossed her arms over her stomach and smiled at him. Natsu smiled back, flashing his teeth.

“Thanks! They’re great!”

“Spin for me.” Lucy let a mischievous glint in her eye show.

“What. Why?”

“I just wanna…” She tried to pick her words. “Fulfill the vision.”

To her surprise, he actually did as she asked. Not the pretty ballerina version like a small part of her had wished for, but still; a slow couple of steps that gave her the full view. Lucy almost barked out a sit command too, but the dog-resemblance would be too big for her to keep from laughing. So instead she just nodded in approval.

“He did well.”

This time it was Natsu’s turn to look at Lucy. It wasn’t anything new that he stared at her; he’d done it countless times before, sometimes what felt like hours at a time. She didn’t usually care, as she was too deep in books or too busy writing to notice, but when she stood in front of him, facing his longing gaze, she couldn’t help but cower a little. She didn’t understand what he was thinking about. So many thoughts were swirling around in that head, yet the silliest words made it out. Once he’d stared at her for 2 hours, practically begging for her attention, and when she finally gave in and looked at him, he had just said “Hey look at this” and farted.

But she knew he wasn’t as unserious as he wanted to seem. He was smart, thoughtful and kind; his mouth just filtered all intelligent words out and let the goofy ones out. So when he finally opened his mouth, she didn’t know what she expected him to say.

“Are you going out like that?”

Lucy blinked.

“Like what?”

“Ya’ know… You’re not wearing a whole lot.”

A brow scrunched up in confusion. She never wore a whole lot, yet he’d never complained about it before?

“What are you trying to say?”

Natsu stepped closer, only stopping when their chests were practically touching, and Lucy could feel his hot breath against her face. He leaned in and whispered straight into her ear;

“You’re just wearing a bra.” Lucy’s entire body shivered when she felt his finger curl into one her bra strap, letting it go with a light smack against her shoulder. She was certain her face was the deepest shade of red.

Natsu laughed and goofily put his hands behind his head as he took a step back.

“You shoulda’ seen yer face!” He cackled, clumsily stepping out to the kitchen to search through the cupboards for something quick to eat. Lucy let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and then sent him an angry look; a look sent in vain, as he already had his head deep in a drawer with different boxes of cookies and bags of flour.

She shook her head. Whatever mood there had been earlier was long lost. Instead she grabbed the nearest clean shirt, a pink tank top, and then entered the kitchen to take back the food that was getting stolen.

“You’re getting crumbs all over the floor. Sweep it up, lick it up, I don’t care – just make it clean.” She didn’t hide the irritation that lingered from his prank, letting it lace her voice as well as her facial expression. She was irritated. He smeared her with sewage-water, made her draw him a bath, annoyed her while in said bath, took a gift early, didn’t thank her for said gift, then played her feelings like tangents (unknowingly, but still), and now he was eating her food and leaving a big mess to top it all off.

“Yer crabby,” Natsu mumbled, crumbs flying out of his mouth like they were fleeing from his stinky breath.

“You’ve been annoying,” Lucy simply stated. “Look, I’ve cleaned you up, you’ve had some food, let’s just go back to the guild. I’ll…” she already regretted what she was about to say, “... clean this stuff up later.”

She rested her hand on her hip as she let out a tired sigh. If she stayed in this mess she’d get a headache, no doubt.

“Nah. Let’s take a walk.”

Natsu sprung up from his seat and was standing in the hallway, putting on his sandals, before Lucy even had time to blink. Still, when her brain caught up with his words, she didn’t bother protesting – she didn’t mind taking a walk. The guild was just an excuse to get him out of her apartment after all.

“Alright. Sure, let’s walk.”

The air outside felt nice and crisp as they stepped out from the front port. Lucy had thrown on a jacket, thinking that the February weather would make her temperature drop too quickly otherwise, but she didn’t have to worry about that. Natsu was plenty warm for both of them. She took a deep breath in, finding more pleasure in the air now that Natsu didn’t stink of poop.

“Hey, look! The sun is out.”

Winters weren’t harsh in Magnolia, but there came years where the sun rarely peeked out from behind the clouds at all for months. This year had been like that; the snow had started falling late in November, continuing to mercilessly pack on during December and January. Sure, the sun might have blessed Magnolia with its warm rays a couple of times, but Lucy must have been away on missions, because she could swear that this was the first time she’d felt the sun against her skin in months. 

“One day I’ll taste it.”

Hadn’t Natsu said it so dreamily, Lucy would have laughed. For some reason though, she actually related to his words – in a much less literal sense of course.

“Yeah, one day.” It was about as realistic as finding out if fairies had tails, but dreaming didn’t hurt. She hooked her arm to Natsu’s and started walking. “So where did you want to go?”

“I dunno…” Natsu thought for a second. “Just wanted to walk around. We haven’t done that in a while.”

While he said he didn’t know where he wanted to go, he still decided on the direction to take. They walked through new blocks, some that they rarely went through due to the lack of shops. The estates in that area were beautiful – somehow Lucy felt like she had been missing out. She really wasn’t enough of a tourist in Magnolia. Today was the perfect opportunity to make up for that though, as the sun still stood high in the blue sky, and Natsu and Lucy had what felt like all the time in the world to stroll around, looking at the small wonders around them.

When the alleys between apartment blocks disappeared, the shops appeared in their place. All kinds of shops – some with beautiful, delicate looking pastries, some stands selling little bars of soap, the smell of which spread out over the entire street. They passed flower shops, street food stands, a couple of coffee shops, and near the river the most beautiful handmade jewelry shop. Lucy, who insisted she’d been good to save money on all the previously mentioned stands, couldn’t resist stopping at this one.

“Oh, Natsu, look at this necklace… It’s beautiful!” She pointed to a necklace, delicate with a gold coloured chain and a gorgeous pendant in the shape of a star. It was simple, but had clear marks that showed its handmade quality. Rough, almost raw. Only when Natsu pulled away Lucy’s hand from his arm, did she notice the hard grip she held him with.

The woman in the stand smiled warmly.

“I made that one many years ago, to an old friend of mine. She passed away before it was finished, and it’s never sold since then. You remind me a bit of her. You have the same eyes.” The wrinkles around the lady’s mouth made her seem kind – like she’d spent so much time smiling that her joy had made a permanent mark in her face. Lucy was starry eyed. So filled with awe that she couldn’t make out any words. She was glad to hear her partner speak up for her.

“It’s nice. It would fit ya’, Lucy. How much do ya’ sell it for, Granny?” Lucy didn’t bother telling Natsu off for his impoliteness. The shopkeeper didn’t seem to mind the nickname, and it was rare for her to hear compliments from Natsu. A beautiful piece of jewelry like that, fitting Lucy? Flattery took him far.

“Normally I’d try to get 30’000J for it, as it carries too much emotional value to let it go too easily… But for you, my dear? 10’000.”

Lucy’s mouth fell open.

“No, ma’am, you couldn’t possibly give it so cheap. Let me pay full price, please.” Her protest was made in respect for the handcraft, but the woman shook her head firmly.

“You can try to give me more for it, but I won’t let you.” She picked up the necklace and put it in a small mesh bag. “I’ll simply give the money back. I wanted this piece to go to a good owner, and I trust that you’ll care for it.”

Lucy tried to protest more, but this time Natsu cut her off.

“Whatcha complaining ‘bout? You’re not the one payin’ for it either way. But Granny, I’ll give ya’ 15’000J, no less. Can’t be a proud Fairy Tail wizard if I’m rippin’ ya’ off.”

Before Lucy could stop them, the exchange had been made. Natsu was trying to sneak in another 5’000J, but the lady stood firm. Before the mood became unpleasant, Lucy gave her her deepest thanks and dragged Natsu along so they could make their leave.

“How nice to be young and in love… Lucy, was that your name? You’ve caught a good one.” This time Lucy’s protest fell out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“Oh, no, he’s not-! We’re not… like that…” Her blush got deeper as she stuttered. “Natsu’s a friend!”

This time it was Natsu’s turn to drag them away. The shopkeeper only held back laughter as he and Lucy walked out of sight.

“It’s gonna be an awfully long day if you’re gonna explain that to everyone,” he pointed out. 

Lucy looked at him, still tinted pink from the embarrassment. If a normal person, someone who wasn’t Natsu, had said this to her, they probably would have said it with meaning behind it. Something along the lines of ‘I don’t mind being in a ‘relationship’ if it’s with you’ or ‘I take offence at the insinuation that I’d be so terrible to be in a relationship with’. But as she tried to understand the face he made, she didn’t see any of that. He didn’t mind being ‘just a friend’. Of course he didn’t, being friends was the best thing they could be in his mind – and after all, they are friends. Best friends even. Still, a small part of her hoped that the small scowl that showed in his face was due to feelings deeper than friendship. Though, her brain told her it was merely the sun blinding him, so she just hooked her arm with his again and let him continue their walk.

For around 10 minutes they walked by the river. Lucy doubted Natsu actually wanted to take this way, but she wanted to do her little routine, balancing on the brick wall as the sun slowly moved closer to the horizon. A familiar voice made for a pleasant surprise.

“Hey miss Lucy! You better be careful today, the water's cold and the wall’s slippery!” It was one of the men that brought in smaller shipments of fish through their river boat that had made his voice heard. His friend chimed in.

“Better hold on tight to your boyfriend there! Catch her before she falls, would you, sir Natsu?”

His assumption made her slip as she once again tried to argue against the boyfriend-claims. Before she actually lost her balance though, she felt Natsu’s steady hand grab on to her.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Lucy squealed. Though, she sure was happy he caught her before she fell. The clucking laughter echoed between the walls of the river bank as the boatmen enjoyed the self fulfilling scene.

“Have a nice date you two!”

“We’re not on a date!”

She tried to counter their claims again, but they were soon too far away to bother talking any sense to. Only the slight pull from Natsu’s hand brought her attention back to the two of them.

“Ya’ really gonna fall one day if ya’ keep this up,” he smirked. Lucy pouted a little – she just couldn’t help it. She liked talking to the sailors, and it was a creative way to make a long walk home shorter. But she usually did avoid it when it was close to freezing. The dangers of icy cold water weren’t something to just shrug off. But today? With the sun shining, the ground looking dry, and Natsu as a space heater right beside her? She supposed she got cocky.

Finally, she jumped off the ledge and got her feet back onto the street. She didn’t go out of her way to drop Natsu’s hand, and seemingly neither did he. It was a rare occurrence, but sometimes they ended up holding hands. A drunken walk home after a late night with the guild, or just a silent drop off at Lucy’s place before Natsu took a sleeping Happy home to their cottage. When she thought about it though, they’d never held hands in broad daylight before. To keep their intimacy secret, only having the mild moonlight revealing their tender touch, was one thing. But to show it off to the sun, to the world? Lucy couldn’t stop her heart from racing even if she tried. Unimportant worries filled her brain like annoying flies. Was her hand sweaty? Was her face blushing too red? Was he listening to her heartbeat? Was he aware of the level of intimacy this was? That they were displaying their oddly close friendship to the world, and that their touches weren’t only between them, the moon, and the fluffy sheets in her bed at night, when she pretended she was asleep as he cuddled close?

“Breathe.”

Lucy wasn’t sure she’d heard him at first, as the word was spoken so quietly it could just as well have been merely a breath. Then he tilted his head slightly towards her, tightened his grip on her hand, and said it again:

“Breathe.”

A big exhale followed by a slow inhale made Lucy realise that she, in fact, hadn’t been breathing. When had she stopped? Well, so many thoughts had been going through her head that she’d simply forgotten to. An easy mistake in her opinion, though it made her kind of dizzy. She was glad that she had Natsu to hold onto. Broad and steady, grounded in their slow stroll towards the park. If he were to drop her hand right now, she was sure she’d lose her balance completely, fall on her face even. But he held on to her, like a warm, unwavering anchor.

With oxygen making its way back in her lungs, Lucy dared to speak.

“Aren’t you getting hungry? I could go for a bite.” A well-timed rumble made itself heard from Natsu’s stomach, drawing out a hearty giggle from Lucy.

“Man, I could eat a horse.”

“Would a couple of hotdogs suffice for a while?” Lucy pointed towards the small cart in front of them with her free hand. It wasn’t the most nutritious option, but it was food and it was close.

“I’ll need at least 6!” He almost looked offended, but a smirk appeared in the corner of his lips before she took him seriously. Not that he’d been joking about the amount of hotdogs – those he really did need in numbers. He would probably need twice that amount to even begin to feel full, if this wasn’t just a snack.

At the cart, Lucy began to order.

“Hello! May we order 7 hotdogs, please? All condiments.” She showed him a polite smile. She didn’t always like how meak her voice got when she spoke as a customer, but with Natsu backing her up she knew she didn’t need to feel bothered by it. If anyone tried to rip her off he’d be quick to… negotiate.

“Seven? Yer sure a hungry one!” A hearty laugh boomed out from his chest. “And for the lad? Hoho!” Before Lucy could correct the man, he’d already started scooping up the hot dogs from the warm water bath they rested in. “A word of advice for ya’ son – don’t be givin’ the lass hotdogs on a date. Ain’t proper.”

What was with the residents of Magnolia today? The jewelry seller, the boat men, and now a hotdog vendor? Lucy didn’t want wizard-fame to go over her head, but surely they all knew the two of them? Lucy Heartfilia, celestial mage of Fairy Tail, and Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer, the Salamander? Sorcerer's Weekly had covered their relationship status for ages – sure, they always made sneaky remarks of ‘secret relationships’ and hopes for something more than just friendship, but they always debunked the same thing: that they were just friends. Dates and boyfriends? It still felt further away from Lucy’s reality than another visit to Edolas.

But before she had a chance to rebuttal, Natsu opened his mouth to speak.

“Yeah, tell me ‘bout it. I’ll take her on a proper date next time.” He rubbed his neck as he let out an embarrassed chuckle.

Lucy’s mouth was left hanging open as the two of them snickered. Was Natsu acting… bashful? Was he even acting? She knew better than to pretend like she could read Natsu’s mind by now, he was one of the most unpredictable persons she’d ever met, but surely she knew him well enough to understand if this was a joke or not? But a small spark of hope acted as a shield, hindering her from asking. Because if it wasn’t a joke, if Natsu really thought that the two of them going on this walk was a date – well, was she really ready to reject him?

She didn’t know how to answer that yet. So she closed her gaping mouth, hung on to Natsu’s big hand, and stayed silent. Natsu and the vendor were making idle small talk, but Lucy couldn’t find it in her heart to join in. Her mind was racing. Natsu wasn’t the romantic type; he smelled of sewage, his favourite way to pass time was to prank people, and his top three concepts in the world were 1. Food, 2. Fighting, and 3. A talking blue cat. He didn’t think about romance the way Lucy did. He found his emotional satisfaction from being with his friends, with the guild, and, well, with Lucy. So realistically, Lucy shouldn’t take this as a sign of anything. She had made peace with his lack of interest years ago – he had always just been her Natsu, and that was okay. More than okay, it was good: perfect even.

But there it was – the small glint of hope that had managed to keep Lucy’s fear of rejection at bay for all these years. This time in the form of a chatty remark at a hotdog vendor’s off-hand comment. Other times known as a rainbow cherry tree floating down the canal, the call of her name every time he feared that she was in danger, a hand helping her up to see the perfect views of the stars, the heavy arm leaning on her for support during his toughest times, and the small air of flirtiness that saturated the air between them when their faces were close enough. The sign that her hope had something to hang on to. That there was something more than just coincidental romantic gestures between Natsu and Lucy – that there was meaning behind it.

By the time Lucy came back from the thoughts swirling around inside of her, the hotdogs were ready to go, and already halved in numbers Natsu.

“He was nice! Funny old man.”

Lucy nodded.

“Yeah, he was great. Really kind.” She realised that her voice didn’t carry the same weight it usually did. She almost sounded shaky, like all the air had been pushed out of her. Before Natsu asked, she cleared her throat and spoke up again with more power. “So, what do you want to do now? We’ve seen half the town.”

Natsu had a puzzled face as he looked at her. Maybe Lucy couldn’t read Natsu very well, but Natsu could sniff out Lucy’s emotions before she even knew them herself. He read her like a book – ironic, when he was the actual book, in a literal sense.

“We could watch the sunset.”

Was she really being delusional for sensing something similar to romance between them today? A sunset. And then what, gaze at the stars? Kiss under the moonlight? The thought intensified her small blush.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s do that.”

She wasn’t sure why her first guttural instinct was to fight it, reject it. She wanted to do all these romantic things. Like, really wanted to. She just didn’t know what to brace herself for: the humiliation of rejection, her senses being wrong and Natsu not having any romantic intentions behind his actions at all, or the emotional vulnerability of a confession – that there was something more going on today. She didn’t know; and it scared her, not knowing. Life with Fairy Tail had never been predictable, but in a way, Natsu’s stoic, yet reliably silly character, was the one thing she could always lean on. No matter Lucy’s odd antics, freaking out at her chest being exposed, crying from thankful nostalgia, laughing at Natsu’s jokes, or getting angry when he trashed her apartment; no matter what she threw his way, he always reacted the same. He’d brush any embarrassment off and then tell a joke to turn her frown upside down. Reliable.

The park bench they found would have been cold and humid if it weren’t for Natsu’s magic. He had dried up the spot for them, even heated it up a little, and then they sat down to finish the food. The sun hung lower in the sky, and in Lucy’s peripheral she could see the moon sneaking a peak at the sunset itself, ghostly faint against the pale blue sky. She clung close to Natsu, as the longer shadows also meant cooler breezes. The temperature was dropping rapidly, and she briefly remembered that she should have brought in some wood for her stove.

“Nice day.”

“Poop-incident aside,” Lucy agreed. She hesitated for a moment, but soon found her head resting against Natsu’s shoulder. “Thanks for treating me today.”

“Oh, that’s right,” he dug through a pocket on his jacket that still smelled like her fabric softener, “I forgot to give you this.”

The mesh bag that the jewelry maker had given him was now hanging from the grip between his thumb and his pointer. The contours of the pile of gold-plated metal were strong in the backlight of the sun, but she could still clearly see the shine reflect through the mesh of the fabric. He dropped it into her open palm and watched as she carefully undid the scrunch. Holding the necklace up in the increasingly golden light of the sunset made it look like it was glowing. Like there was a fire within, waiting to burst out from the five points of the star pendant.

“It really is beautiful,” she breathed. “But I can’t accept it, Natsu. It’s too nice, what if I lose it or drop it or-” Natsu cut her off.

“Well who else is gonna wear it, weirdo? Ya’ won’t catch me or Happy with it. And as I said, it fits ya’. Take it.”

When she turned to look at him her breath got caught in her throat. Golden hour. Natsu was more handsome than she’d ever seen him before. Lips turned in a soft smile, dark eyes pointing all his attention to her. She wasn’t sure how long he’d been looking at her, but it seemed like ages. Like he’d admired her from a distance for centuries, like a human admiring a God. Her heart rate picked up, though not in the unpleasant way that made her prepare herself to fight off monsters on missions. It raced in a good way, the way that made adrenaline addictive and roller coasters exhilarating. She felt alive.

“Thanks.” She wasn’t sure if he noticed, but her voice was laced with love. Pure and whole, filling her chest to the point that she had to look away before it spilled over and she threw herself on him in a passionate kiss.

He took the chain from her hands and undid the clasp.

“Turn around.”

She obliged, knowing what he was about to do. Except, knowing didn’t help avoid the sparkly sensation that electrocuted her skin once his hot hands moved her hair aside though, grazing the nape of her neck in the movement. She wasn’t sure if she’d imagined her light gasp, as he didn’t pay her skittish reactions any attention. His focus seemed to be on the necklace, as he had to dry his hands against the fabric on his pants multiple times to get a better grip on the tiny hook. She knew the struggle, so she didn’t rush him.

When he finally managed to get the chain secured on her neck, he rested his hands on her shoulders. She was just about to sneak a peek at him when he rested his forehead to the dip right between her neck and her shoulder. Maybe she tensed up – it wouldn’t surprise her if she did – but her attention was tuned to Natsu only. The slow, long breaths that cued her in on the fact that he was smelling her, and the sensation of his hands clasping the fabric of her jacket. She wasn’t sure how to react or what to say, so once again, she said nothing. She just waited, hoping that Natsu would have figured out the words to explain what he’d been doing.

But as he picked up his head and Lucy turned back around, he stayed silent. Watching her, studying her face. Perhaps he was searching for any sign of rejection or disgust, none of which Lucy could muster up even if her life was on the line.

Then, finally, he spoke.

“You’re golden.”

Lucy almost thought it was she who had said it. Natsu’s skin in the deep, orange glow that was cooling by the second, the sunlit shine in his eyes, the reflections in his hair – but it wasn’t she who had said it. The words were Natsu’s.

“Your hair, it’s like a waterfall of liquid gold,” he clarified. Then he let out a small chuckle, and Lucy found herself joining in.

As the warm laughter faded, Lucy’s breath evened out, the moment stretching between them like a held note. Lucy carefully cuddled closer again. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and all that was left was a dim blue hue over the landscape. The dusk brought a gorgeous sparkle as the moisture in the air crystallised into frost, making the beige grass look dusted with sugar. She wasn’t fond of the cold, it brought back memories from her first year after running away from her father, when she still didn’t have enough money to sleep inside. The frosty winter nights were the worst, yet another night just like that was falling around them, and Lucy felt as warm and toasty as she would in bed at home. Natsu was a blessing in every sense of the word.

“Not too shabby for a date, eh?”

His words cut through the silence of the evening.

“It was a date?” She felt stupid asking, but she felt the urgent need to clarify. “You called it a walk before.”

His right arm took her into a tight half hug. She glanced up at him, and to her dismay he was looking goofy and playfully childish, like the sun had brought any overflow of handsomeness with it below the horizon. Was he messing with her?

“That was the plan,” he explained. “A walk to get your mind off of stuff. Ya’ seemed tense. Crabby.” She rolled her eyes, but he continued. “But then the mood got good, don’t ya’ think? So I rolled with it. Ya’ got a pretty necklace out of it. And a hotdog.”

He poked a finger in the side of her stomach to lure out a giggle, which he immediately succeeded at.

“So, what…” she got out in between the fits of giggles, “it was just an accidental date?” She was still smiling, but she raised a questioning eyebrow. Was it all just a chance? Would he have kept it as a normal hanging out session if the shopkeepers hadn’t been in a romantic mood? She wouldn’t feel offended exactly, just… disappointed. It might be selfish, but she wanted him to want her.

His finger became still and she watched as he looked away from her. It wasn’t light enough for her to properly tell, but his ears looked… reddish. Was he blushing? Her heart skipped at the small ray of hope.

“Well… if ya’ didn’t want it to be a date, it doesn’t have to be.”

Lucy poked her head forward, tilted it to see his face clearer. Was he giving her an easy way out if she wanted to reject him? If that was the case, didn’t that mean that Natsu actually wanted it to be a date?

“It was a date,” she decided, hurried before he took it back. He glanced back at her, boyishly happy with her choice.

“Yeah?” He gave her a sheepish, cocky even, smile.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “but next time you gotta tell me ahead of time. I would have picked a better outfit.” She chuckled. Natsu let an eyebrow raise as his lips crooked in a mischievous manner.

“The outfit with the bra was kinda good,” he teased. Lucy just smacked his arm playfully.

“Calm down stallion, I have a cheekier stash. For actual dates.”

“Wait, you do?”

Lucy stifled a laugh as she stood up from the warm park bench. She’d been half joking – the sexiest lingerie she owned was stuff he’d seen a long time ago, just tucked away in a box in the attic since dates weren’t a common occurrence. But it was tempting to buy some new stuff – you never know what the future might hold.

“Come on, let’s go home.” She reached out her hand to help him stand up, but when he stood on his feet he didn’t let go of her.

“Oi, how have ya’ kept that a secret?” He playfully leaned his weight on her, making her stumble as they slowly made their way home.

“Not. Telling.”

The path ahead was dimly lit, but with Natsu’s warmth beside her, Lucy didn’t mind the chill. His grip on her hand was firm, like he had no intention of letting go – she certainly didn’t want him to. A few minutes of silence passed, the only sound being of the low chattering spilling out from a rogue bar on the way, and the gravel beneath their feet. Then Natsu spoke again.

“Still not tellin’?” he prodded again, his voice teasing.

Lucy smirked, leaning into him just enough to make him stumble in return.

“Nope. Guess you’ll just have to take me on another date to find out.”

He huffed a laugh, his thumb brushing over her knuckles.

“Deal.”

And just like that, they walked home. The moon had risen high, yet the stirring of people on the street gave away that midnight wouldn’t arrive for some time. Playful banter made their laughter carry through the frost-kissed air as they took the leisurely stroll towards Strawberry Street. Between Natsu and Lucy, the only thing indicating that the night had turned cold was the clouds of breath escaping their mouths. She felt so comfortable.

Natsu might not be the romantic type, but being romantic and doing romantic things were separate. If she had to pick anyone in the world, pick between hunks and princes, she’d still pick him, because it wasn’t his smooth language or sexy aura that had drawn her in – it was Natsu. Everything that described him, the humour, the boyishness, the unwavering determination, the loyalty – but not as single aspects. Only when they mixed together into Natsu, did she find herself captivated. Lucy would always pick him. And judging by the hand squeezing hers, he’d pick her.

[xanvasofxords]

“If anything, you’re the biggest pervert here!”

“Me?!” Natsu snaps, smashing his forehead against Gray’s. “How am I a pervert when you’re the one getting naked all the damn time?!” The ice mage tackles him backwards with double force. The temperature around them simultaneously rising and falling because of the polar opposite magics clashing together.

Lucy assumes it’ll take her thousand years more to get used to them. Just when she thinks ignoring them is the ultimate solution, not even a feet away, a chair crashes into the floor so loudly that she drops her book with a yelp. A vein pops on her head.

“Cut it you two!”

The blonde complains, picking the book up and closing it to glare at them. There’s absolutely no way she can finish the novel like this. She hasn’t had the chance to read it in peace at home- thanks to Natsu and Happy messing around with her all morning. And now the two of them are trying to kill her!

Unfortunately, the boys don’t even spare a look at her as they continue with their fight.

“Oh yeah? Better than looking up a girl’s skirt,” Gray shouts while giving sideways glance to Lucy. “Or shoving a hand down her cleavage!” Both Natsu and Lucy turn their heads at the remark and for the first time in his life, the pinkette doesn’t seem to have any proper response to the raven haired mage’s insult.

Gray takes it as a sign of his victory and takes off his underwear with a shrug, standing completely naked. But nobody complains because the other two people are too embarassed to speak. There’s a long pause before Lucy clears her throat. Gray smirks at the pair.

[natsudragneelswh0re]

headcanon: pet names

i love the idea that lucy’s pet name for natsu is ‘angel’ 

bc he’s E.N.D i feel like he gets kinda insecure/afraid that everyone thinks he’s some sort of monster

and lucy calling him ‘angel’/’her angel’ reinforces the idea that lucy would never see him as a monster 

and we know he’s OBSESSED with the way she views him (dragon cry “what do i look like to you?”)