#salamanders are dragons now bc i said so

[lattescribble]

新年快乐！！🐉🐉🐉

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. we have finally watched the voyager pilot! short verdict: nothing will ever be as good as ds9 but i enjoyed it!!

longer verdict: i will go through it character by character, in order of appearance, saving the maquis crew for when they have more than .5 seconds of screentime in the little opening. this feels like a REALLY big cast, by the way?? am i counting right? 11 recurring characters and we don't even have seven yet? tos has 7 with chapel and rand appearing sometimes, tng had 8 with o'brien and guinan sometimes, ds9 has seven with...man, jake nog rom garak AND keiko as recurring extras, and we don't even have worf yet. so i guess ds9's is technically bigger! anyway.

JANEWAY: i was surprised at how janeway sounded...her voice is different than i expected even though i've heard her be flemeth in dragon age. i was also kind of surprised to see her in the bun and her head looked So Big. like dax's in season 1-2 of ds9. i'm used to seeing her with it down in gifs which looks better but personally i also think she could have rocked the kira cut. that said, i like her so SO much. she has a couple of speeches that remind me VERY strongly of kirk - when she's lamenting harry left his clarinet behind and not getting to know him, when she decided she couldn't sacrifice an entire people to get one ship home. she's got the kind of compassion kirk did - when she pulled up a stool to listen to the caretaker's troubles, when she held his horrible little corpse, she was genuinely filled with real sadness for what had happened there. (as a side note, speaking of tos, the ship voyager also reminds me of the original enterprise WAY more than the tng enterprise was - especially their little cafeteria.) i was really surprised she had a boyfriend, because i feel like i've heard she gets with chakotay! sorry to her bf, she is gonna cheat on you (and i support women's wrongs), but the worst part is the dog. if they pull some odyssey shit with the dog i'm gonna be so upset. ALSO, i love that she insists on "ma'am" instead of sir (that always bugged me) and even that will only do in a pinch. YOU WILL ADDRESS HER AS CAPTAIN. even when her hair fell down she fixed it on her way down the hallway. she's such a badass. when she says she's gonna get them home I BELIEVE HER. she's got an iron fucking nerve and balls made of titanium.

TOM PARIS: i hate this man so much it's insane. i googled to see whether he died and found out he was played by one of those cadets wesley got in trouble with...girl, he was in prison, why not just make him the same guy?? anyway, he was kind of shitty to both harry and chakotay (oh boy we are already being racist to chakotay) and i cannot believe THIS is the man janeway is gonna have salamander babies with. he's extremely obnoxious all the time (him harassing that betazoid lady...fuck off lol) and i just KNOW people are writing paris/chakotay slash because of their whole deal which makes him more annoying. the "your life is mine now" thing is racist as hell. i'm not prepared to sympathetically see this man's hidden depths bc i know that as a snarky white man he already has half of whatever voyager fandom happens to exist doing that for him already. sadly, we will have to put up with him for all seven seasons. LUCKILY, aside from the racism, half of which came from this guy anyway, he was my only real sour note.

HARRY KIM: love this dude. i like how he managed to talk sense into b'elanna when she was wigging out and despite my wishing he didn't have to be friends with tom paris him going "i can pick my own friends" was a great way to show that he's not afraid to stand up for himself. i wish i wasn't feeling so anti-quark lately bc otherwise his scene in the bar with quark (and why is it always quark doing these surprise cameos!!) would've been pretty funny. i think it was a nice touch that harry, on his first EVER mission, got to be the one to deliver the news about how far from home they were. i absolutely love his whole deal of being completely green and meeting everything head-on anyway, he is so brave. as i said before, the way he is just charging through despite being out of his depth reminds me a little of chekov, if chekov had brain cells. he's very charming. i think he and b'elanna could get it also.

HOLOGRAM DOCTOR: he is so funny, i love him. like, i don't really know how he works? is all of medbay a holodeck? but it's kind of hilarious that he's sentient enough to get annoyed when people are randomly beamed away and when people forget to shut him off (he needs a nap!)

CHAKOTAY: oh i am already feeling how rough this is going to be. that "can't you use some magic to turn into a bird and fly away" and also the "your life is mine now" were rrrracist. (that said, "you're too heavy" was a really good comeback.) can we please be normal. that aside: i really like him. i like how quickly he came to grips with the situation and i like how much he hates tom paris (NOT SEXUAL!!! NO!!!!!! i just agree with him) and i especially like that he has a set of titanium balls to match janeway's like did we SEE that doomsday machine-esque suicide run he almost went on? he cut it even closer than kirk did and kirk cut it that close ON ACCIDENT chakotay was yelling at them not to beam his ass back until his ship was already on fucking fire. also, he's very handsome. ALSO, when tom paris asked him "you'd rather die than let me rescue you?" i had to laugh because quite literally 10 seconds prior out of mine own mouth was "if it was death or tom paris i might let go." i really hope there's more to chakotay than "tom paris's antagonistic buddy" because 1. a fate worse than death 2. this is not humans and vulcans this is real life racism you cannot spock and bones this. STOP THAT.

TUVOK: ALSO VERY HANDSOME. very like. he reminds me of spock so much because he's extremely bitchy but also very dialed down about it. i like that leonard nimoy was like yeah im gonna go stupid crazy and all vulcan will be like this from now on, including my funny little eyebrow thing, in which girlies will still see spock long after i'm dead. like what misha collins tried to do with cas but it actually worked. tuvok strikes that perfect balance of dignified and kind of above everyone else without feeling stuck up or prissy (though his scene where he tries so hard not to look at neelix's junk was great, he was justifiably a little prissy there), and with that undercurrent of wryness that nevertheless doesn't truly betray any emotion - you don't get the same sense of repression/unease with the self from him (at least in the pilot, who knows what will happen later) that you do from spock so it doesn't feel like voyager is copying tos's homework, and it feels nice to get to know another vulcan who's gonna be a main character instead of a one-off. i hope they are more normal about a black vulcan than they have been about chakotay so far bc we have got to get out from under all of that. i am a little worried janeway might kill him. i feel like i see people on reddit criticizing her all the time for killing some dude who i am pretty sure is tuvok and like. can someone tell me if he dies if he dies i will be SO mad

B'ELANNA TORRES: she is stupid hot. i'm a little "lol" when she's like yeah my klingon half is HARD TO CONTROL!!! (super saiyan scream of rage) bc like worf does fine (most of the time...) but i will never turn down a chance to watch a beautiful woman be insane with rage. i like how she calls harry kim "starfleet" derisively and then goes out of her way to give him breaks when he needs them and help him up the stairs when he can't make it. big tsundere energy. also like that she was questioning janeway's decisions. not that i disagree with janeway's decisions necessarily i just like that janeway will have to earn her respect from some people the way any male captain would. equality. also, potentially, girlfights.

NEELIX: i forgot to add him to "the things i know about voyager" post because i had only heard him mentioned a couple of times and got the idea he was just a horrible little gremlin there for comic relief. a rygel, if you will. a quark, if you won't. was pleasantly surprised to like him better than rygel and quark combined, though that's a pretty low bar. not only is he clever enough to outsmart the slavers, he was brave and caring enough to go back and rescue his girl. HE RESPECTS WOMEN. also, his water indulgence was pretty hilarious, as was, again, his scene with tuvok. i feel like those two could do straight man funny guy all day long. a dynamic duo. i hope they wind up having screentime together. i don't mind horrible little gremlins so much when they're charming and when they aren't trying to take holosuite videos of kira.

KES: i feel like kes hasn't done much yet except lecture her people on the dangers of having a cult-like mentality. but i like her! she's sweet and compassionate and pretty brave. she does a lot to humanize neelix, at least! maybe it's just me but i feel like she was barely in this. for now i am trusting that they do more with her later. or, idk, maybe they don't. we DO have janeway AND b'elanna AND seven eventually so i can't be too mad about it as long as they're not turning her into a holodeck sex toy like poor deanna

other things of note:

BANJOS? i counted three different southern accents in this section. it would have been offensive if it wasn't so funny. the people holding hands and jumping around in a circle like animated robin hood characters was a great touch. so was the corn on the cob. the emotional whiplash from an otherwise very serious episode was. certainly something.

the empty barn reminded me of this side of paradise <3 i love, in general, how voyager just FEELS a little bit like tos. certainly more than tng did, even more than ds9 does. like this FEELS like it's set in the same universe, it kind of bridges a mental gap between ds9/tng and tos for me, worldbuilding wise.

water thing reminded me of mad max. really good.

slaver aliens.......are these guys really our antagonists?? i thought our antagonists were the borg but maybe we don't do that until seven gets here. i feel like possibly a bunch of semi-primitive people in the desert who enslaved and beat (potentially raped, depending on how you want to interpret that dialogue) a pretty blonde girl is maybe um. not the best idea. maybe they'll get written down into side villains and eventually just guys. like the ferengi. siiigh, the ferengi.

that said, i kind of loved the story of the caretaker and the ocampa, enough that i almost forgot the caretaker was choosing to appear as a banjo-playing hillbilly. i like to think him and his wife were from andromeda like those guys from tos...and it's very nuanced that even after he fucked their planet forever he still didn't really learn to value life because he's kidnapping people and letting them die or stay stranded in order to attempt to procreate. NONETHELESS he is filled with remorse, and janeway's scene with him, comforting him that children could learn to grow on their own, was really sweet. i also like that when he died his little horrible goop body shrank down until it looked like a hunk of dried snot. do not take that to the ocampa.

i just like the PREMISE of voyager. a 75-year journey that they have to cut down by any means possible...it's like the odyssey, but it space. in tos and tng they wandered from place to place but always over the same stomping grounds in general. we have the same old players, like klingons and romulans and vulcans and andorians etc etc. in ds9 we stay in one single place and it's to our benefit because we get deep character work. but voyager is going in a straight line back to earth, and we've never been out here before, so whether or not it lives up to the potential right now it feels like anything truly could happen. we don't be running into the neutral zone and we can't call the klingons for help or stop by quark's for another cameo. we are just out here. it's VERY neat.

major concerns so far include of course tom paris and potentially him being handcuffed to chakotay as banter buddies. racism in general but also with chakotay in particular. and perhaps a lack of interesting points re: kes. rip girl.

stuff i'm looking forward to is janeway getting to be a person instead of A Woman, seven eventually, getting to know chakotay and tuvok better, and the salamander episode, someday.

okay. this concludes my voyager pilot write-up. TONIGHT: "parallax" and "time and again."

[moeruhoshi]

Princess x Dragon headcanon bc what else do I do with my life?

His father warned him of humans, beasts who would lure you in with their fake smiles and kind words if given a chance to do so. That their hugs were filled as an opportunity for them to stab an unsuspecting creature in the back. There were tales of the dark ages, when humans and dragons fought, allies with inherited magic turning their back on their masters to side with their native race. Gone into hiding after the Dragon King Festival had ended, their lives spent apart for over four hundred years.

Natsu liked to explore, away from home and from the prying eyes of his cousin, yearning to see the world outside of their marked coven. He snuck away whenever his parents had gone hunting, returning with just enough time left to seem as though he’d been brawling with Gajeel all day. He never went too far, flying quick and low into the neighboring woods, strolling in a similar but smaller dragon form. He liked the different scents floating in the air, finding flowers, not near his home, fruits he’d never tasted before, showing down a wolf to prove himself as the alpha. He was careful, never near a village, never near a path he knew the humans traveled. If there was ever any trouble, he was off in a flash, never daring to look back if there were humans who’d be out for his scales. Pelts of war, his father would say.

On this particular day, he made his way to a lake he had heard elders talking about, one that sparkled brighter than the sun under a full moon. It was risky to stay away from his home at night, but Igneel and Grandine had gone for elk beyond the mountains so it wouldn’t have been till the next weekend they’d come home. Natsu had an affinity for the more shiny things in life, he was a dragon, after all, his tail swishing just thinking about the glittered water. He flew, hidden above the clouds and down under the large treetops, no town or village close enough to be on his radar. He happily trotted through the empty woods, curling into a comfortable ball once he reached the water's edge. There was still time before the sun would set, the dragon letting his eyes flutter shut, napping while he waited for the wonder to appear.

It was light, the sound of her voice as she hummed, stirring his more than sensitive senses. He was cautious, opening one eye to see a girl on the other side of the lake. The clouds were now a mix of purples and oranges, sun almost out of sight. Her toes waded in the water, eyes glued to the rippling surface; she hadn’t noticed him yet. He stayed still, in the dark, probably looking like a rock to her. Women, his father told him, were the most vicious of their kind. They could fake a smile through any pain, used it to gain their wants and needs, to hide their malice as they took your life. Kindness so ripe only to bitter the tongue with their hidden lies if one was foolish enough to take a bite.

He was scared, sure, swore he wouldn’t take his eye off her. But he wouldn’t wait a month and risk coming back here just because a girl had found her way into these thick woods. It was strange seeing her, dressed in fine silk and embroidery, no guard by her side to acknowledge her status as a lady or royal. His ears tuned in to the forest around them; no one else around for miles.

She sat in a small patch of wildflowers, twisting them into a crown to wear, song still vibrating lightly as she placed it atop her head. She whispered for her mother as she looked towards the sky, the moon beginning its cycle. Her finger traced and connected the constellations, Natsu following her movements as she did so. He knew them well, was taught them by way of navigating his home below the mighty Draco if he ever got lost.

He flinched as she suddenly wept, unsure of how or why she would be, curious as to why such a beast seemed so frail. For a moment, he felt drawn to her side, to help her, because maybe she was lost. These were very dense woods that lacked any safe berry bushes to eat from, and territorial animals were only a wrong path away. He felt a whine build in his throat, unsure of what to do, instead choosing to merely watch as the moon came above the lake as his elders said it would. Its light reflected brightly against the surface of the water, almost blinding when it first appeared. It lit up whatever lied underneath, hidden crystals or bioluminescent algae, that made the water glow a truly auspicious hue. He smiled, for this was the wonder he was genuinely excited to see, reigning in his happiness before his tail began to wag.

She smiled as well as it lit up, gracefully wiping her tears with a handkerchief, stepping further into the shallow water to observe up close. He flinched as the sound of a twig breaking nearby stole his attention, eyes darting to the line of the trees northwest of his location. Eyes well adjusted for the dark landed on an older, mean looking wolf snarling upon sight of the girl. She didn’t notice, too busy humming and twirling on the shore, stuck momentarily in her own world. Panic rose in his chest as the wolf neared her, slowly stalking its prey, teeth sharp and certainly making an aim for the neck she displayed without much of a thought. He kept to his feet, breath rapid as he tried to hurry his decision. She was human, humans were evil, so he shouldn’t interfere with nature taking its course. But she was lovely. Even from afar he knew her beauty was one no dragon back on Tenrou could match. And she was sad, the tears that spilled from her eyes beckoned him to aid her, gripped his heart and forced him to his knees. The human had wormed her way inside him like an infection caught in the wind. The warnings his father gave him had been right, humans were dangerous beings.

He flashed into his more humanistic form, desperate to move as the wolf reared its pounce. She caught sight of the wild mutt, body still as a faint gasp left her lips. Fire boosted from his feet as he shot across the water, rearing his fist as it attempted its kill. He snarled as the animal fell to the ground, challenging it with a thick growl. Natsu’s scales and fire crawled up his skin, scaring the savage thing into submission with its tail between his legs.

The dragon huffed as he calmed his aura, cautious as the breath of the girl behind him pulled him away from his sudden anger. He was slow to face her, dread filling the pit of his stomach as he met her shaking eyes. Natsu watched her chest heave, hands clasped tightly as she held them close to her. He wanted to run, knew he should run away from the human who he was sure would try to kill him.

They stared at each other for quite some time, the lake illuminating each other’s features, either too scared to speak. The dragon felt clammy, feeling hot when he’d never so much as broken a sweat under the cape of his flames. Her eyes were doe and kind, full and a deep shade of brown. Her scent wafted in the wind, sweet, inviting, and warm. Natsu felt his scales bristle at his attraction for the human, Igneel’s words suddenly at the back of his mind.

“Thank you...” He gulped as she began crying again, the gravity of the situation quickly falling to her shoulders. His hands moved without thought, wiping the tears he so strangely despised.

“Go home, it’s not safe out here,” He mumbled, still holding her cheeks, impressed by their softness.

“But...the wolves...” She blushed as he toyed with her, serious eyes seemingly taking all that he could of her in.

“I’ll take care of them,” An instinct bubbled in his chest as he let her go, somehow sick at the idea of allowing her to leave.

Natsu paced in annoyingly rapid circles, his cousin near ready to knock him on his ass. It had been almost a week since his encounter with the human girl, his experience unlike the tales the ancestors had spun. He feared this is what they warned him of, their control powerful enough to fill his mind with constant thoughts of themselves. His nose tracked her faint scent, hundreds of miles away but it followed him like a ghost. Gajeel found himself a bit worried when the flame brain kept mumbling to himself and hadn’t bothered to fight him since the night he snuck off.

“Alright,” The metal dragon grunted as he dragged the shorter boy off into the woods. “The hell is going on with you?”

“I can’t say,” He frowned, ignoring the deep glare the other sported.

“I’ll go tell the others you sneak off the island all the time, so fess up Salamander. You’ve been driving me crazy with your annoying ass grumblin’.”

Natsu knew of the consequences if he dared to tell the truth, trusting his cousin better than the sure punishment of his adventures being leaked to the adults.

“I met a human,” He sighed, cringing as the color drained from Gajeel’s features. “She was about to get eaten by a wolf—I couldn’t just watch! I-I don’t know what happened...we only spoke for a minute...she’s all I can think about, all I can smell...I can’t stand being away from her!”

“You gotta go kill her,” He said seriously, gripping Natsu’s shoulders as he growled. “This is exactly what Metalicana and Igneel warned us about! She’s infected you with a curse!”

“A curse...” It made sense, ability humans were sure to possess to lure him in with obsession. “Can it be undone? I...I don’t know if I can hurt her.”

“That’s the curse talkin’, a human would never reverse their magic to save you. I say get her before she gets you. Leave before it gets any later, I’ll cover for you,”

Natsu was almost too eager to take off towards the setting sun, snout leading him in the direction of the human witch who was probably waiting for him to arrive. It stung, the thought of having to burn her to a crisp to save his sanity, thinking the girl too precious. More than anything he wanted to wrap her in his arms and coo her to sleep, protect her from outside dangers, hoard her and keep the blonde to himself. He shook his head of these crippling thoughts as he slowed his approach to her home. It was a lone tudor castle in the middle of the woods they had first met. It was old, practically falling apart, deserted if not for the girl locked away inside. He landed on her balcony, quickly shifting as he was unsure the structure could hold the entire weight of his dragon form.

He watched through the window, too nervous to attempt walking in uninvited. The maiden just emerged from her bath, fluffy towel falling to the floor as she stood in front of her armoire, slowly shuffling through her collection of nightgowns. His breath caught in his throat, eyes raking over the lithe curve of her body, uncomfortable as he continued to watch her in secret. 

“I...I can’t...” He whined, unable to follow through and confront her as his cousin suggested. Her curse was too strong and pulled at his heart, wanting to run away but couldn’t find it in him to leave again. He sat and waited in the shadows as he heard her clothes shuffle on, the creak of her bed as she ducked underneath the covers. The dragon anxiously chewed on his thumb as the change to speak to her slipped away, her breath steady and even as she fell asleep.

It had been hours until he forced himself inside her bedroom, instantly dropping to his knees as her aroma overcame his senses. The curse choked him, pulling him immediately to her side to smother his nose where it centered. He was grateful for her heavy sleeping habits, lost in himself as he practically climbed on top of her. He purred and nuzzled against her cheek, holding her close as he sat above her blankets, a whine thick in his throat. His sharp canine bit into his bottom lip, breath ragged as he stared intensely at her sleeping face. Gajeel’s words floated through his mind for a moment, and he saw his chance to rip away at her while she slept. His cheeks flushed as she mewled in her sleep, squirming underneath him as she adjusted herself. Her spell was too strong, he couldn’t even think about raising a hand against her, she was too precious. The dragon licked his lips, shaking as he dipped closer to meet her own. Eyes fluttered shut as he indulged in her flavor, heart beating wildly even with such a quick kiss.

“A dream...?” The girl woke up with flustered cheeks, clutching her blanket close to her chest as she slowly sat up, the room empty just as it had been before she fell asleep.

“Natsu, where have you been?” His mother scolded him as he came through the trees of his home, jumping as his parents glared at him.

“We got home last night, and you weren’t here, what’s going on?” His father said as he crossed his arms. Gajeel said you were on the other side of the island, we couldn’t find you.”

“Sorry, I was just explorin’,” The pink haired boy mumbled as he pushed past them, cringing as Grandine pulled him back.

“Your scent...” His face paled as she caught a whiff of his scent, Igneel curious to smell him as well. “Eh? Natsu, you’ve imprinted?”

[thescriptorium]

tomorrow is my birthday and I am in love with your writing, could you do "caught sight of some deal going south so I did what any dumbass would do, and stepped in to stop one of them from killing the other. Y'all have some damn anger problems though cause I ended up getting cLOCKED IN THE NOSE BUT JOKES ON U CAUSE sURPRISE I GET ANGRY TOO AND SMACKED THAT RIGHT BACK BUt you started laughing bc apparently some lil thing like me getting angry and violent was not something you were expecting" nalu?

I totally forgot this was my super old prompt, so I went ahead and spiced it up for you :)

Happy Birthday! I hope it isn’t too late for you to see this! ♥

There were many things Natsu was used to. Having a knife suddenly appear against his throat was, unfortunately, one of those things.

As soon as he saw the gleam of the blade a sigh begged to slip past his lips. Reluctantly, he did the routine: hands up, gun out of his pants, pockets emptied.

Then the final: “Where is it?”

First rule of street business, never get caught with the glittering jewel in your pocket. You don’t run into battle without any armor on, it’s security you need. An advantage.

This time around, not having the ancient artifact he managed to sneak from a sleeping manor was his kevlar. Or in this circumstance, his dulled blade.

“I’ll show you where it is when you tell me what I want to know,” Natsu said breezily, and flicked his gaze to the sharpened edge below his chin, “and when you get that fucking knife out of my face.”

It wasn’t a secret that Natsu was impatient. A hot-headed boy with fire in his veins was the image sent across Fiore. Salamander, they called him. A cutthroat and cutpurse who would trade anything for information, specific information that only a few would kill to know.

If you wanted something, he was the person to get it. He was the monster that stormed the gates. The dragon that destroyed the castle to get the princess.

So, yes. It both surprised and unsurprised him that people still tried to best him. It was his game and yet people still thought themselves clever—as if cheating wasn’t something he could foresee or do himself. As if he hadn’t mastered it a long time ago.

Slowly, the cold crudeness of the blade left Natsu’s throat. Before him stood the collector, waves of desperation rolling off of him like the sea at high tide. It crashed and splashed every which way, the air thick and tense in the darkness.

“You said you had it,” he mustered. The grip rolled over in his hand. His palms were sweaty.

“And look where I would be if I did,” Natsu grumbled, jerking his chin toward the grimy pavement. “Down there, choking on my own blood.”

The collector swallowed. Loud enough to hear. There was no denying it now; the flicker in his eyes gave it away.

Natsu did not appreciate people trying to kill him.

“I suggest your next words be what I want to hear, or else I can show you what that knife can really do in the hands of someone like me.”

The grip rolled over and over. Still pointed at him, the blade shimmering with every car that passed by the dim alleyway they were stationed in.

Say it, Natsu thought. His heart thumped at the silence. Say it already.

It took an effort this time to mask his desperation. Perhaps he was getting too restless. The last few deals had gone down in similar ways, similar where the end result gave nothing of what he wanted. Just scams and useless facts he already knew. He was in his twenties already; for years he’s been doing this. And yet not a inch closer to what he’s been working towards.

It had to work this time. It had to be a lead.

Say you know where my father is.

“Show me where—”

“Don’t try that bullshit,” Natsu thundered. His voice coated with venom, he spat it out. Even with the knife pulled on him he stormed forward, and the collector stumbled back. His grip went shaky.

Sweat rolled down the scrawny man’s cheek. Natsu wasn’t tall, but built twice as tough. The knife seemed a child’s toy in his hand, undoubtedly to bend and snap if attempted on the steeled flesh of the Salamander’s chest.

“I—I thought you would have it,” he said again. His breaths turned into pants. The sharp glare he received had a fist around his lungs, around his heart. Panicked wasn’t nearly a good enough description of his current state of mind.

“You don’t know,” Natsu realized. He didn’t shy from the venom that begged to coat his voice. Deep and dark, scratched when leaving his throat.

Again. This happened again.

He knew nothing about his father. Just as he willed himself to explode, a shriek cut through his ear like a knife slice.

“Hey!”

One second pounded into another and the next Natsu knew, a blur of blonde hair was thrown in his face. A hand grasped his leg as he was pushed back a step, the scent of vanilla and strawberries washing over him like the tide.

“Get away from him, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” the female shouted.

Natsu tripped another step, stunned, before catching his rightful balance. The collector seemed to not expect this either—but took it in his favor. It appeared his prayers to get some distance between him and Natsu were answered: in that a human form.

“Look if you want money, I have some. Plenty. Just drop the knife and go.” she spoke, when no one else did.

It was one second Natsu had a savior. It was the next he realized she was about to be a hostage. His eyes connected with the lustful gaze of the collectors, how greedy and dark his thoughts must’ve been to get what he wanted out of Natsu.

She was an equal step from both men. Right between them, so easy to snatch without a blink.

The collector was fast. Natsu was faster.

But the savior was the fastest.

They all pounced on each other, a mess of shining metals and swinging limbs and strangled yelps.

Natsu succeeded in yanking the female back as the collector jumped, his knife gleaming. What would’ve been a good slice to her throat became a knick on Natsu’s forearm. Blood bubbled and drew from that, but the pain was hardly noticed.

Just as predicted, the blade caught and dropped from the shivering hands of the desperate man. It clattered to the pavement, forgotten, as all three stilled.

The first to move was the woman. She’d been taken off her path of sidestepping the collectors swipe and slammed into the crude bricks next to her. Natsu counted one beat, two—the woman’s mouth agape, before the whites of her teeth shown. Her eyes flicked from the blood covering Natsu’s arm to the knife now feet away from them all.

Then to the collector.

Three beats. A crunch sounded, a harsh thwack that had even Natsu blinking. The woman’s fist landed snug on the bridge of the collectors nose. The aim was probably a little lower, but the result was fair enough.

Stumbling steps echoed off the brick walls. A low hiss came from behind the hands that held the snapped nose. With a single exhale blood came spitting from his nostrils, spilling through the cracks between his fingers.

“Don’t fucking try to stab me you asshole!” she screeched. It took her one step towards him to have him fleeing, swaying and zigzagging down the alleyway and out of sight.

A wind tumbled down the alley, tousling her hair upward and onward. It floated around in a haze, and that combined with the crazed and angered look in her eye would’ve had any man running for the hills.

Out of the crisp and heavy air came a snort. Then another, and another, until laughter was fully seeping into the small space surrounding the remaining two.

Natsu couldn’t keep himself together. Not when he discovered the deal was a sham, and not when a short (-er than him) blonde girl just scared away an idiot with a knife. And not when she most definitely thought she needed to protect the Salamander from some scrawny switchblade.

“What?” she sounded panicked, “What’s the matter with you?”

He could only hold up a hand to her. His eyes were too squinted and watery to do anything but. It was ridiculous, he decided, how things never seemed to turn out like he wanted. Only this surprise—it wasn’t all that bad.

After a moment, she seemed to catch on. “You’re laughing at me,” she droned.

“I just wasn’t expecting it,” Natsu admitted, a hand on his hurting stomach.

It took a few more huffs and snorts of laughter, spaced out in silent breaks and pants for breath before his back slid down the wall. He found the cold stone beneath him much relief against his heated skin.

Fire boiled his veins.

“You’re still bleeding,” came her voice. The woman knelt down by the time his little fit had finished, the flash of blonde from before falling over her shoulders now. Her eyes were wide and brown, and froze him in his place. It was the first moment he truly took to look at his savior.

Her hands were gentle as she took his arm to inspect. She didn’t notice him staring at her, and she didn’t even look up until he said those two, magical words.

“You’re weird.”

Natsu almost burst out laughing again at the offense flashed in her eyes. She dropped his arm, her mouth open like a fish out of water. “I just saved your ass and the first thing you do is call me weird? How about a thank you!”

Now, he really did laugh. She was funny—a funny girl.

“You see someone getting stiffed and the first thing you do is run right in front of the knife?” Natsu shook with giggles, “And then get mad when he tries to stab you?”

Her cheeks heated red. Still, her mouth opened and closed. “Well, this is Hargeon! Most people just use knives for show, they never actually have the nerve to use them. Especially that idiot.”

Natsu sighed. “Idiots like that are the most dangerous kind. People do all kinds of shit when they’re scared.”

Her mouth opened again, but nothing came out. Instead she fell quiet, looking at him peculiarly. He could tell she was trying to figure him out now. When Natsu stood, she looked like a child gazing up to him—curious and cute.

“What was going on down here anyways?”

“Nothing,” he answered quickly, not out of guilt, but simply because that’s what happened. Absolutely nothing. He still had no lead as to where his father was.

Waste of his damn time.

He strode over a few steps and picked up the gun where it fell, shoving it back in the waistband of his pants.

“You mean to tell me,” her voice returned, “you brought a gun to a knife fight and you still lost?”

Natsu narrowed his eyes at the woman as she rose to her feet, her arms crossing over her…unusually large chest.

“And now you wanna give me shit for how I handled tonight?” she blinked.

The smile that held her lips was anything but nice. It was smug and arrogant and baffled, all at once.

“I needed something from him. You saw him, he spooked easily.” he said simply.

“What did you need?”

Natsu bent down to pick up his wallet now, and some coins he turned over in his palm. “Information.”

“Information about what?”

Straightening his back, he resisted a loud exhale. “You’re being kinda nosy.”

“Well I did save your life,” she said, “I think I’m entitled to the story here.”

“I saved yours right back,” Natsu chimed now, an upward tug of his lips, “We’re even already.”

When she decided he wasn’t going to spill, her lips twisted in a pout. She came over and picked up some other belongings for him.

“Did you at least get anything from him?” she asked, the words soft on her lips. She put the handful of cash and cards into his own, gently.

Natsu knew he had a role to play—the monster of Magnolia, the dragon, the wrongdoer. It was how he’s gotten to where he was now, and how he would find his father one day. But now, now he didn’t feel like acting tough. Tonight, in a summary, sucked. Just as the past ones had. And the ones before that.

He didn’t want to resist the frown pulling at his lips.

“Nope.” he breathed. He pocketed his keepsakes, her eyes watching the too-harsh swallow down his throat.

“I’m sorry.”

Natsu found her eyes in his once again, and considered her. She had no idea what she was sorry for. She didn’t know him, what he’s done, what he can do. She didn’t know his father. She didn’t know how awfully it tore him up, every single day, to not know where his dad was. If he was okay—if he was alive. No one did.

And yet, she stared at him as if she did. As if she read it all, and understood. As if she could relate.

This significantly confused Natsu. Weird. That was the only way he knew how to put it.

Nonetheless, “No need,” he said. The way he pulled his lips, into such a face-splitting, mind-melding grin, had the girl taken aback. “I’ll find out one day.”

“My names Lucy,” she blurted. She said it so quickly, as if she needed to get it out before he was suddenly gone. Her cheeks heated at how eager it sounded.

“Natsu,” he nodded. It felt weird, saying that. Usually people already knew who he was. And most definitely not by that name. He couldn’t remember the last time he introduced himself so informally.

He missed it.

“Well Natsu,” she spoke, and he could hear the drop in her tone. The tone of a goodbye. “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

He didn’t like how sucky it felt to be saying goodbye already.

“Don’t worry, I will soon. Then I can tell you everything.” he promised.

Maybe it was blind hope he was feeling—seeing her again. It was unreasonable. This was Hargeon Bay, miles from his town. His name was a mere whisper here compared to Magnolia. And with tonight’s deal a sham, he had no reason to stay. Off and away he would go, to find another lead. To steal something priceless. Maybe burn someplace down.

Hargeon Bay was doomed to be another bad memory.

“I hope it’s real soon, then.” said Lucy. “I’m sort of just passing through here.”

Off and away she would go, too, Natsu realized. Further and further away from him. Doing whatever she did, and what he would probably never discover.

A reluctant, soft thump hit his chest. “Oh.” he told his feet to move, backward, unsure steps. “Well, me too, I guess. I’m…gonna head back to Magnolia now. This whole trip was kind of useless.”

Lucy perked. “Magnolia?”

He gratefully stopped on his feet. “Yeah. I live there.”

A smile spread across her face, from one end to the other. Slowly, like a timelapse. “I was headed there next. I heard it was huge.”

A silly, boyish thud hit Natsu’s stomach. Relief, he realized it was. “You wanna come with me? I can show you around,” he said. “I think I know the place pretty well.” 

He did own the city, after all.

Lucy nodded in a similar manner. But, the smirk she flashed him was anything but light. “On one condition though.”

Natsu rose a brow.

“You thank me for saving your life.”

The scoff that passed his lips was girlishly shrill. “I saved—”

“I did it first though! And especially when I didn’t have to—I could’ve kept walking,” she reminded him, pointing a finger to the street she must’ve been passing by.

“And I could’ve handled myself,” he challenged, yet unable to resist a grin. It was fascinating, how she still had no idea.

“Honestly!” she huffed, “Has no one taught you any manners?”

Natsu started to laugh again. She really was funny—in an annoyed kind of way.

In the end, he found himself trapped with that flustered look of hers. He couldn’t decide then, which he preferred. Her frustration face or smiley face.

“Thank you Lucy. For saving my life.” he said, not a whisper or a shout. But even and full, deep with sincerity. Even she wasn’t expecting this.

“Thanks for saving mine,” she replied.

Natsu jerked his chin toward the bay, where dozens of lights illuminated the churning waters. Boats and ships of all sizes laid and waited. He hooked his hands behind his head. “Come on, we got a long way to go.”

He turned and strode in that direction, not turning his head to make sure Lucy was indeed, following. She surely felt pretty accomplished tonight, but Natsu supposed it was better that she didn’t know he was planning on thanking her anyways.

Any person willing to jumping in front of a knife for him deserved much more than a couple of words. They only did so much, and Natsu wasn’t known for doing the minimum. Everyone knew how he was: he went all out, held nothing back.

Lucy would soon figure this out. Her bravery earned her nothing less.

In fact, she would learn a lot of things in the time soon to come. The biggest and most important?

Lucy Heartfilia had just befriended the country’s most wanted criminal. And unknowingly, had just become the Salamander’s right hand man.