About the Simple Things: Ch. 3 (#009. Hospital - Natsu/Lucy)
Title: About the Simple Things
Fandom: Fairy Tail
Characters: Natsu Dragonil and Lucy Heartphilia
Prompt: 009. Hospital
Word Count: 4000 (Ha!)
Rating: T, for mild swearing and sexual references.
Author's Notes: And the third chapter is done, too. D’aww, I just can’t stop writing this story. I love the plot just way too much. My inner fangirl is in hyper mode right now.
Chapter 3: The Thing with the Date
It wasn’t surprising that Natsu had given her next to no sleep over the past few weeks, Lucy thought. She had always imagined him to be just that sort of guy, an unstoppable lover. Those weeks with him had been the most exciting and thrilling adventure of her whole life. It was something completely new; being so desired by someone that they just couldn’t keep their hands off of you for even one second.
Natsu never cared about something trivial as time and places, he’d just grin at her devilishly and then find all the right spots to get her to give in to him, even if it was in Fairy Tail’s toilet. She had gotten used to it by now. Whenever the others were too busy with themselves or generally not paying them much attention, they would sneak off to the basement or a cabin. There didn’t pass even one day where they were not screwing each other for more than three-fourths of it.
And damn, Lucy was exhausted. No, seriously, she was really tired. Not tired of all the sex, hell no. God knew she would probably never get enough of that man and his skilled mouth. It was just that it was simply difficult for her to spend some quiet time with Natsu for a change.
It was as if all about them was just strictly physical. Heck, the last time she had just simply sat next to him was probably weeks ago on a mission when he was having another fit of motion sickness.
As Lucy was standing in her kitchen this morning, pouring some fresh-made coffee in her favorite cup and biting in a marmalade sandwich, she pictured what it would be like to have breakfast with him. Just that. Really simple. He would probably say something naughty about how his shirt looked sexy on her (after he had given it to her in their first night together, it became her favorite), and she would comment how much of a pervert he could be. They would laugh together, and just share that really, really simple thing; boyfriend and girlfriend having a self-cooked breakfast.
She gave a small sigh, blowing cold air at her coffee before taking a sip. Somehow though, she didn’t really feel like she was his girlfriend. Rather a sex friend. And Natsu, he had never explicitly called her his girlfriend yet. Plus, their friends didn’t even have a clue that there was something going on between them for weeks now.
Whatever that ‘something’ was, it didn’t really feel very relationshippy.
Suddenly, she heard a dull banging from her living room, her parquet floor creaking beneath a pair of feet. Lucy immediately recognized the footsteps by their briskness and energy, smiling to herself around a mouthful of her sandwich. If one knew that guy for long enough, he was so predictable.
Speak of the devil, she thought in amusement as she turned around to greet him with her most seductive pose. Okay, she wasn’t making it easy for him to resist, but he was just so much fun to tease.
One heartbeat later, Natsu’s salmon-colored head of messy hair poked out from the living room, grinning impishly at her as his eyes roamed over her body that it was almost insolent. “Morning, sexy.”
“And a good morning to you,” she purred sweetly as he walked over to her, slinging his toned arms around her thin waist and giving her a long smooch on the lips with a comical groan. Lucy giggled, drawing small circles on his chest and batting her eyelashes at him.
“So you missed me, huh?”
Natsu gave her a lopsided grin, but never answered. “You look really hot in my shirt.”
Well, at least she had been right about the naughty shirt-remark before. Giving a sigh, she pursed her lips at him. “Don’t do that, Natsu. I know where you’re going with this.”
“Yeah, so?” he murmured against her cheek as he trailed fleeting kissed down her jaw line until he was nibbling at that special spot on her neck.
Lucy was barely able to suppress a moan. “So,” she said forcefully, gently wriggling herself free from his embrace. “I won’t give in this time. I just got up, you know. I’m really not in the mood right now.”
She almost squealed of the sheer cuteness when his lips curled up to a disappointed pout, looking like a child who just lost his favorite toy; and well, there wasn’t much of a difference, really.
“But, Luuu!”
Lucy gave a quiet giggle, like always when he called her that. He would occasionally switch nicknames, calling her either Luce or just simply Lu. She was only Lucy when things got serious, but since that hadn’t been the case for a while now, she didn’t hear him call her by her real name for several weeks.
As she turned back to her coffee, humming something to herself, she felt his strong arms wrap around her from behind as he whined directly in her ear. “It’s not fair, you know. You never had any problem with that before.”
“Well, I have one now,” she told him innocently. Offering a warm smile, she added, “You want some breakfast?”
“No. I want you,” Natsu said impatiently.
Reaching the end of her endurance, she gave an exasperated groan. “Really now, Natsu. Don’t you think we’re past the point where we do nothing but have sex?”
Natsu gave a blank look, utter confusion written all over his face. “How can someone ever be past that point?” he asked, and Lucy could just gape at him in disbelief. “You’re being really unreasonable, Luce.”
For a split second, she thought that maybe he was joking. Then again, this was Natsu. “Say, are you a sex addict or something?”
Instead of taking it as an insult, Natsu actually chuckled about her remark, but then again, that was typical for him, too. Lucy gave an exhausted sigh, thinking that maybe she would have to say it straight for him to get what she really wanted. Natsu could be dull as a duck at times, completely oblivious to a girl’s feelings. Of course, it wasn’t intentional, and since she knew that and she knew him, she picked the easiest route: Just scare him a little.
“Listen, Natsu,” she said calmly, turning around to face him. “As much as I love spending, err… time with you in bed. Or, erm, other places. Just that is not good enough.”
Natsu backed away just a bit, his smile fading as a concerned frown appeared on his face. “What do you mean?”
Lucy could barely keep herself from grinning devilishly. Her little trick was working; Natsu could be so predictable. “Look, if you wanna keep spending some quality time with a cute girl like me, you should try to keep me satisfied. And not just sexually, though that’s important, too.”
“Erm, okay?” He seemed pretty insecure; a sight so rare that it was amusing. “So what keeps you satisfied?”
Her eyes flashed up in triumph. Now she had him right where she wanted him. “Well, for one, you could go out with me.”
Natsu blinked at her in puzzlement, and then a relieved grin spread over his face. “Jeez, if it’s just that! You really gave me scare here, Luce.”
Lucy’s face immediately lit up to a delighted grin as she clasped her hands together, more than elated. “Really? We’ll go out?”
“Of course,” he said as if it was the most stupid question ever. “We were gonna head to the guild either way, right? There we can hang out as much as you want.”
And just like that, the girl’s smile faded and turned into a scowl. Ah damn it, that guy was really hopeless sometimes. “No, you idiot! That’s not what I meant,” she snarled rather gruffly. “I wanna go out with you.”
Natsu stared back at her, still not fully grasping her hint, and she felt the nagging urge to slap him.
Rolling her eyes, she growled out, “On a date, you dork.”
Then finally, he seemed to get on the same page as her as an odd expression plastered itself on his face. “… Oh. You want a date.”
“I most certainly do,” Lucy declared persistently, crossing her arms over her voluptuous chest.
“Erm. Okay, I guess.”
She felt her lips curl up to a small smile. “Okay?”
“Yeah, I mean,” Natsu murmured almost bashfully, scratching the back of his head, “If that’s what keeps you happy, it’s probably a good idea.”
“Really?” Lucy beamed at him in utter delight, unable to hide her excitement. “Really, really, really?”
Slowly, a small smile crept to his lips. “Yeah. Let’s go on a date.”
She actually let out an elated squeal, throwing her arms around his neck in a wild hug that almost knocked him off his feet. Natsu made a small noise of surprise at first, but then hugged her back, chuckling softly at her jubilant reaction. For a moment there, he was overwhelmed at how just simply holding her like this sometimes felt so much better than going further. Normally, he would only ever hold her like this whenever he was watching her sleep.
It made Natsu think that maybe cutting down their sex live a bit wasn’t such a bad thing after all. They would just go out and spend some fun time together, like back in the old days when they were still convinced they were just friends. Maybe going back to the roots could be something amazing.
Lucy gave soft laugh when she let go of him. “Sorry, I’m just so excited.”
Natsu couldn’t help but grin. She really was incredibly cute. “So, did you already have something planned?”
“Kinda,” she admitted a bit sheepishly, grinning back at him as she fidgety played with her hair. “Leave everything to me. You just go back to your apartment and change into something more… err, date-fitting. And then you come pick me up at, let’s say, 5 p.m. Okay?”
Natsu shrugged. “Sounds fine to me.” More date-fitting, she said; he really would have to pull something good out of his sleeve if he wanted her to enjoy this. “Though I really think the guy should plan out the date.”
Lucy cocked her head, winking at him. “There’s always a next time.”
“Right. I’ll see you later then,” he said with smirk, leaning down to give her a peck on the cheek.
“Yup. Bye bye.”
The blonde waited until he was gone before she allowed a goofy grin to appear on her face, turning back to her coffee and her sandwich that tasted even sweeter now. Still grinning, she chewed on a mouthful of strawberry marmalade, feeling all giddy and warm. Finally, the first date with her boyfriend.
Suddenly blinking in confusion, she paused. Something about that sounded definitely wrong. The next moment, she burst into giggles, slapping a hand over her eyes and shaking her head.
“God, can’t that guy do anything in a proper order?” she mumbled to herself.
Everything related to him did always get mixed up. Really now. Obviously, she would have lots of sleepless nights because of him no matter what.
-
Calling their date awkward would be an understatement.
Natsu really didn’t get it. What happened to them? They used to have so much fun together as friends back then, but now that they had left that step behind, everything was accompanied by a sheepish glance, a nervous touch, a forced dialogue. He’d never thought he would ever be happy about a day with Lucy ending, but now that they were on their way home, he honestly kinda was. Hoping that tomorrow everything would just be back to normal.
As he watched Lucy’s frame strutting a few steps ahead of him in her incredibly sexy backless dress she picked out for today, the fire-mage wondered who exactly up there hated them so much that almost everything had gone so horribly wrong.
It had actually started out pretty good, though. He had put on something relatively fancy (black pants and a beige chemise, even left his scarf at home), he had tried to bring a little order in that chaos on his head (vainly, though), complimented her on the way she looked (because, damn), and even brought her a flower he picked up on the way (he thought it was a strange sort of rose); basically, he’d done just about everything Happy had advised him to do, who was the only one that knew about them.
Lucy had even commented how surprised she was at how considerate he could be. But eventually, of course, they had to leave the apartment. That was when things began to go bad.
She had taken his hand, looking very excited and very, very beautiful, and until they arrived in the centre of the city, they had chatted along cheerfully. When Fairy Tail was within sight, Lucy told him it’d be bothersome if someone from the guild saw them and decided to disturb their date with stupid questions. Natsu had thought that was pretty reasonable, so they took a different route.
Until Kana had crossed their path. Simply following what Lucy said beforehand about not wanting to be seen, he had immediately let go of her hand before the woman could spot them. After exchanging a bit small-talk with Kana about why they looked so fancy (Natsu had one of his dumb moments then, randomly crying out how it was not a date), they had proceeded. But when he’d reached out his hand for her to hold, Lucy shot him a harsh scowl, telling him that they didn’t need to hold hands; it could’ve been his imagination, but she’d practically spat it at him.
After not exchanging even one word on the rest of their way, they had finally arrived at the restaurant Lucy had made reservations at. From then on, things had gotten even more awkward than before. Natsu would try to make conversation and actually have some fun, but Lucy would always just put him off coldly, which had gotten him pretty nervous. Then there also were his bad table manners that Lucy had found not half as amusing as she did in the guild. After that, he had another stupid moment when he ducked down under the table as Arzack and Visca came into the restaurant.
Much to his relief, they had their table all the way in the back where they couldn’t possibly disturb their date from. Lucy had given him a look so cold then that he felt shivers running down his spine as she snapped that she would go freshen up and give him a few minutes to think about what he was doing. Then, to make things worse, he had also spilled some red wine on her dress, which she claimed would never go out again.
And to top it all, he had forgotten that normally on dates the guy pays for both, and so Lucy had to pay for her share herself.
Sighing, Natsu dug his hands in his pockets, kicking one pebble out of his way. So now here they were, heading home after a really fucked-up first date. How could he have messed this up? Okay, so spilling wine on her and letting her pay for herself was pretty rude, but was it really so bad that she refused to talk to him?
He was painfully reminded at her words from the morning when she had told him that he had to keep her satisfied if he wanted to keep her all to himself. And losing her would be the worst thing to happen since Igneel left.
Trying to make the best of a bad job, he opened his mouth to speak. “Maybe we should’ve gone to Harujion instead. ‘Cause that’s where we first met, you know.” It was definitely always a good move to show the girl you like that you remember that important little detail.
Lucy whirled around to him so fast and furiously that he actually startled and stopped in his tracks. “Yeah, what an idea! Maybe then you wouldn’t have been so damn scared of people finding out what’s actually going on!”
Natsu stared back in pure confusion. Now wait just a minute. “Hah? Is that what this is all about?
“Of course it is!” she yelled, cheeks flushing in rage. “What do you think how it feels when the guy you’re dating tells the waiter he wants some tacos for him and his friend! His friend that he’s apparently only goofing around with!”
“Now cool down a sec, Luce,” he said, knitting his brows at her. “It was you who said she didn’t want anyone to disturb our date.”
Lucy shook his head at him in utter disbelief. “You really are hopeless. I might’ve said that, but that doesn’t mean that you can treat me as if you’re embarrassed if you’re seen with me. Do you have any idea how that made me feel or do you just not care about that?”
Natsu scratched the back of his head, suddenly bashful. She did have a point there, actually. Maybe ducking down in front of Arzack and Visca hadn’t been so nice; and quite embarrassing for Lucy too, since everyone in the restaurant had been looking at them. Also, letting go of her hand and denying her so loudly had definitely been unnecessary, too.
He gave an exhausted sigh, mumbling rougher than he wanted, “Look, I’m just not good at stuff like this, okay? Let’s forget about tonight and that’s that.”
The ice-cold expression from before returned on her face as she glared viciously at him. “Oh, so that’s that, yeah? Well, if it obviously doesn’t mean much to you, it seems I’m just wasting my time here. Good night,” she spat, turning on her heels and flouncing off.
Natsu was more than baffled at first, but his eyes didn’t widen because of her words, but rather because of what his eyes caught sight of on the ground not far away from her. “Err, Luce?”
“Shut up! Just leave me alone from now on!”
“But Luce, I really think you should stop.”
“And why would I do that? So that you can humiliate me some more, huh?”
“No, because right in front of you, there’s-”
“KYA!”
Natsu winced when Lucy slipped on a large brown spot on the ground, painfully landing on her back. “… A puddle of mud,” he finished, unable to suppress a chuckle as he rushed to her, bending over her miserable form as she lay in the puddle, covered by dirt, and soon his subtle chuckles turned to a throaty laughter.
Lucy narrowed his eyes at him. “Oh, you think that’s funny, don’t you?”
“Oh hell yeah,” Natsu managed to gasp between laughter, holding his stomach. “Why are you so damn clumsy, freak?”
“Why are you so damn stupid, stupid,” she snarled back, spattering some mud at him with her free hand.
“Oi oi!” he snickered, trying to duck from the dirt, but a few splashes landed in his face anyhow.
Lucy angrily puffed out some air in a quiet snort. “I swear this is the worst date ever,” she scoffed softly.
Natsu grinned down at his favorite girl covered in mud, and reached out his hand to her. “C’mon, I’ll help you up.”
She snorted loudly this time, looking away as she slowly straightened up, ignoring his hand. “No, thank you, I really don’t need help from a-Nnngh!” She grimaced in pain as one of her feet twisted hurtfully, but much to her luck, Natsu’s reflexes were good enough that he caught her before she could fall back on the ground.
“Whoa, you okay?” he asked, examining her features in concern.
Lucy was still wincing as she looked down at her right foot. “Dunno. I might’ve sprained my ankle when I slipped.” Experimentally, she tried to move her foot a bit, which made her groan in pain once more. “Oh damn, it hurts like hell. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”
Natsu looked down at her ankle, watching her flinching each time she tried to step on it. Knitting up his brows to that serious expression he knew she wouldn’t dare to dismiss with a veto, he slipped his other arm under her knees and picked her up.
“Okay. I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“Eh!?” she blurted out, her cheeks flushing the cutest shade of red as she started to pummel his chest with punches that really just tickled him. “I said I didn’t want your help! Put me down, you imbecile! Put me down right now!”
“Lucy,” he said sternly, and funny enough, she immediately shut her mouth, eyes wide. “Someone needs to take a look at that. And clearly, you can’t walk. So just shut up and let me take you to a doctor.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes, looking away as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Wh-whatever, idiot.”
He couldn’t help but smirk in triumph. “That’s a good girl.”
-
“Well, that’s a sprained ankle alright,” the doctor said, letting go of Lucy’s soar foot. “How did it happen?”
Lucy flushed crimson in embarrassment while Natsu gave an amused grin. “Let’s just say, there was a mud-related incident,” he chuckled, earning a deadly glare from the girl.
The elder doctor raised one bushy eyebrow. “All right then, Miss Heartphilia,” he said, deciding not to dig deeper on that. “I’ll bandage your foot up provisory, and give you some moderately weak pain killers. But it looks like you’ll have to come back in a few days so we can provide you with a proper splint.”
“But I’ll be able to walk normally, right?” Lucy inquired, frowning at the elder man.
“That should be no problem,” the doctor assured her, offering a polite smile. “Also, I’m sure this young man here will gladly help you out with anything you need. He has, after all, carried you all the way here in his arms. Most boys wouldn’t do that for their girl.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes when she caught sight of Natsu’s proud smirk, turning her head away with a snort. “He’s just a friend.”
Natsu’s smile slowly faded away to be replaced by a look of utter confusion, feeling a rather painful sting in his chest. Just a friend? After all this time and everything they had… Oh dear God. Suddenly, it clicked and he saw it plain as day. Damn, he really was hopeless.
The doctor frowned at them, shrugging his shoulders. “Well, I’m sorry for getting the wrong impression then,” he said, standing up from the small stool in front of the bedside Lucy was sitting on. “I’ll tell the nurse to write out a prescription for the pain killers. It’ll take just a second.”
“Okay,” Lucy murmured, watching the doctor exit the room and close the door behind him. Sighing, she turned to Natsu who was watching her features intently, frowning at her. “I’m in the best hands, you know. You don’t have to wait with me.”
Suddenly, a warm smile spread on his face. “I’m good here.”
“I mean it,” she insisted, beckoning with a flap of her hand for him to leave. “Go and do something more fun.”
Natsu smirked in amusement, gently catching her hand with his. “Nope, don’t wanna,” he mumbled against the soft skin of the back of her hand as he brushed his lips over it in a fleeting kiss. “I’d rather stay right here with my girlfriend.”
Lucy’s head spun around to him in shock, eyes wide as she gaped at him, blankly.
The fire-mage gave a cheeky grin. “She’s been pretty mean to me all day, though. But I guess I deserved that for being so inconsiderate about her feelings. Thank God she’s so patient with me.”
“Wh-what are you…” she murmured in disbelief, but was cut off when he pressed a soft kiss on her mouth.
“No matter what you say, I’ll stay here,” he told her, tracing his thumb over her cheek. “Cause you’re my girlfriend.”
Flushing the deepest shade of red a face could possibly be, Lucy lowered her head until she was sure he couldn’t make out her expression anymore. Only then she allowed herself smile in relief, desperately trying to not let him see that her eyes were all glassy with emotion as she hooked her fingers with his, squeezing his hand tightly.
“Idiot.”
It was then that Natsu realized that a really bad date could always end with something really good. It was just simple like that.
tbc
♥