Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

A/N: I've been told the quarantine was the time for me to study. No, it's not. It's been 2 years since I wrote in this fandom, I'm sorry to the people who expect me to update on-going fics. When an idea gets into my head, it's over. Ugh, I've always loved the NaLu dynamic so damn much. I just let myself go with this lol Enjoy!

Silence

.

Juvia spent the afternoon hiding under Lucy's table because of several reasons. The main one was particularly obvious and was not much aware of the effects it caused. Lucy was trying hard to not laugh as she and Levy made their best to negotiate and persuade her to come out and sit as the rest of them. Juvia passionately refused, flushed in a deep red.

Lucy shook her head and sighed, glancing back at the guild's bar where Gray was sitting with Gajeel and Mira served them something to drink as they talked. It was rather, Gajeel asking questions and Gray answering them with a boasting smugness on his face. The subject of discussion was, unsurprisingly, the abundance of nail markings all over his shoulder blades, shoulders and arms, which he hadn't minded exposing at all.

Matter-of-fact, it wasn't clear whether he wanted to show it off, expose it because wearing any fabric would hurt or he just forgot to put a t-shirt whatsoever, like he usually did. Lucy couldn't help but snort out a laugh when Juvia let out a quiet sound of helpless horror under their table when Gray's voice raised even more and now most of the attending could hear him.

"Yeah, you gotta try it sometime."

"You sound like it's fun." Gajeel squinted at him.

"It is." Gray shrugged, sipping from his glass triumphantly.

Lucy scoffed, turning to look at goggled Levy looming over a big tome with scripts of all colour and sorts. She was completely ignoring this ridiculous conversation and gave up on trying to get Juvia from out of the table long ago. Natsu, on the other side, was eating, uncharacteristically quiet and with this glazed look in his eye, like he was thinking of too many things to pay attention to his surroundings, but still animate with annoyance.

Happy spent the day with Charle and Patherlily, as far as she was aware, and the air around him was particularly gloomy, which made Lucy raise an eyebrow at one point. Then she leaned her head down again, finding Juvia still huddled up, hands pressing her knees to her body and face sunk and hidden. Only the small part of her forehead and a little of her navy blue eyes peeking could be seen from under the waves of her opulent hair.

"Your back starts to hurt a lot after a while, though," Gray spat, as if in time with Lucy's smile at her.

Juvia heaved up a little, her lips twisted in the same horrific grimace. "Is he still going on?"

"It must've been some night," Lucy chuckled, "if he's more excited about it than you are."

Juvia hid again, red in the face all over again. When Lucy decided to raise her eyes and sigh with boredom, almost suggesting to Natsu for them to find Happy and go off on a mission already, he had stopped eating, now busy pouting at the table. He was sullen ever since the morning and she never asked whether he's ill or something. It wasn't like him to be so broody. And he surely never seemed so reluctant to eat before.

"I don't do that," Gajeel's loud snort came to their ears again. "Levy doesn't like it."

The door opened with a creak and Laxus came in with his teammates, announcing that he saw Erza on his way back and that she was going to come soon after them. The cold wintry air came in with a sensible whiff and Lucy shuddered. It made her realize how chilly it was in the guild all the time. The hall was a vast space that was usually hard to warm up even during summer, but now that Magnolia was desolate with grey skies and nipping winds, it made her rub her hands together.

The Thunder God Tribe dispersed quickly and only Laxus remained present, wearily making his way to the place where there was the loudest fuss. He absently told Mira to call Makarov because he wanted to speak to him and as she nodded and quickly disappeared, he leaned on the bar and became interested in the conversation. He remained quiet until Mira returned and told him he had to wait for a few minutes.

"What are you boys talking about?"

"Oh, please don't." Mira groaned, grabbing Gajeel's empty glass and turning her back on them.

"That." Gajeel sneered, pointing at Gray's marked back.

Laxus snorted. "I see." His eyes darted to Mira as she rolled her eyes and cast him a highly exasperated look.

"Don't even start. Say a word and I'll skin you."

Laxus gestured at her, looking back at the highly amused faces of Gray and Gajeel. "My point exactly."

"Hm, I never saw Natsu have any of those," Gray turned around and rest his arms back against the wood, narrowing eyes at his target.

Lucy turned around, furrowing at Gray's blatant and provocative intonation, and then looked back at Natsu who was still sitting next to her, very much wired with anger. There was something metallic that trickled down through his tightly curled fingers and she realized it is—was the fork.

He stood up and headed straight for Gray, wearing one of those frighteningly thunderous expressions she only saw on rare occasions. Gray laughed as he dodged the fist Natsu landed on the now-empty stool, shattering it and setting it on fire simultaneously. Lucy bit her lip, her uneasiness mingling with general amusement. Most of the new building was stone and concrete and all things inflammable, but the bar, the chairs and tables were still wooden. He could burn those down.

As for the rest, he had razed concrete walls to the ground before too, so the danger was real.

Gray quickly hid behind an ice wall that Natsu easily broke through and they went on punching each other and strangling each other for a while. Lucy lost interest, helping Juvia get out and sit next to her at last. Now, Juvia was always interested when Gray was fighting. She was interested in everything he did, if Lucy had to be honest. She wouldn't let him take a breath without her knowing about it. He also never complained about it.

Juvia held her arms with slight worry, but Lucy touched her shoulder and pointed her attention to a full plate of food. The poor girl hadn't eaten a thing for hours because of Gray's completely uncalled for speech. There just had to be at least a single day in every man's life, Lucy pondered within her mind with the fictional tonation of a writer, that he'd go around glorifying his pleasure-granting abilities.

"Why so angry? I'm just establishing some facts." Gray smirked but was quickly struck by an enraged Natsu. "Maybe you have something to be embarrassed about, I get it."

"Shut up!"

He was pretty consumed by his aggressiveness until Laxus and Gajeel didn't laugh out loud and he nailed in place, to the great surprise of Gray. They had only broken two tables and three chairs so far. Natsu's eyes remained on the laughing duo on the other side with this passive and vacant expression on, and Lucy exchanged glances with Juvia. He was being too quiet and also his clothes had started to give out visible curls of fume and smoke.

"Juvia should probably hide under the table again," Juvia whispered, leaning to her, and succeeding in making her chuckle.

The sound was way too loud and Natsu suddenly changed the arrow of his attention to her. It muted her instantly. "Juvia, hide," Lucy whispered back, forcing her lips to purse together so that she doesn't burst out laughing again. Honestly, she wanted to laugh, but then she started wondering whether he's decided to pour out his anger on her, which was a worrisome thought on another level. They look in his eye forestalled a disaster anyhow. The doors opened and Erza came in together with Cana, diverting the attention once again.

"Hey, guys! What's going on?" Cana waved at everyone, smiling widely as she approached the bar along with Erza.

"Everything alright?" Erza sighed, eyeing the silent Natsu's still and smoking form in the middle of the hall with grand suspicion. She laid her sword on the bar and looked around, certain that she's interrupted something.

"Yeah," Gray puffed, returning to his place on the bar. His expression soured a little when he remembered his stool had turned to embers and ashes now.

Natsu remained quiet for a while, his chest heaving up and down wrathfully, and then he turned around, leaving the guild without saying anything. Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but when she turned around, the only person who had followed him leave was Juvia and she only shrugged helplessly. The front door slammed shut and both of them flinched.

"Juvia thought Natsu is always in a happy mood." Juvia mouthed with wonder.

Lucy sighed, her eyes still on the gate. "I've never seen him like that before. I think he gets pretty sad when Happy's not around him." She hummed, "He'll be fine."

Magnolia was breathtaking during the winter months, but she couldn't stand the coldness. It was biting at her skin and she had always been prone to fall ill with colds all the time. However, she liked wearing stuffy, warm clothes and drinking hot chocolate with her friends. It was her purest happiness.

Her apartment was cold and dark when she got home, and she shivered when she turned on the heating. Since she barely felt her limbs anymore, she skipped straight to the bath, tossing clothes all over in the process. After she turned on the water in the tub, she stopped in front of the mirror and removed her earrings and headbands. A moment later she was sighing contently and rubbing her scalp cheerfully.

She was sleepy, but she took her time to enjoy the bath. Her fingers made pathways in the white lather as her mind drifted with the flow of her thoughts. It's been so quiet the whole day that she realized silence was not part of her guild's repertoire. Something was different, like a miniscule puzzle piece that was shifted or missing in the whole picture. She knew what it was.

Her fingers made another absent circle in the warm water and she relaxed back.

It couldn't be that she was the only one to notice. The massive, gaping hole, the inexplicable hollow that was opened up every time he stepped away from the center, where he belonged. Even if he was physically there, but still not being what he truly was, it felt wrong. Even when he was there, she missed him. All the unruly noise in the background, all the attention he attracted magnetically.

On days like this one, she had this veil of almost... sadness and she sometimes accused herself of this behaviour, even though everyone else had it, more or less. Unknowingly relying on Natsu to be the light, to be the torch and the warmth, to be always in the mood, running around razing cities to the ground because that's what he did. That's what flames were supposed to do.

Every day, all the time. He was happy to be that, as far as she could tell, but there was no way he didn't get tired at some point and then she, and everyone else, would shake off this constant high, beginning to wonder what's wrong. It wasn't quite fair to have these expectations, but she doubted anyone saw it like that. She thought that maybe his fire was so embedded into the life of the guild that the thought of it waning or dimming never crossed anyone's mind.

Lucy got out of the water and wrapped herself in a towel, grabbing another to dry the lemon locks of her hair. While her hands slowly passed through her locks she glanced at the door. It was late, but sometimes, without any warning at all, Happy would fly in through the window around midnight and snuggle next to her and it was when she knew Natsu would follow.

When she was ready, she returned to her bed and was about to reach for her pyjamas when she noticed Natsu standing in the middle of her room with folded hands and an intense scowl, making her let a sharp hissing sound and take half a step backwards in shock. "Oh, hey! Didn't know you'd spend the night here!" she chimed right away. It weirded her out that he always broke a window, shifted a hinge or bashed the door and now she hadn't heard him enter at all. "Where's Happy? Is he alright?"

Natsu shrugged. "Guess he's sleeping."

"Oh. O-okay."

The pause extended and Lucy decided it's maybe a good thing to respectfully change into her pyjamas back in the bathroom. She would've, if he hadn't crossed the room, slammed her against the wall and pushed the air out of her lungs. His leg was between hers and she had unconsciously gripped at his arms for support. Unlike any other time, she didn't hear him complain about keeping her weight up.

She held her breath in painful anticipation, growing uncomfortable by the minute. There was something very intriguing, very intimate in the pressure of his hands at the dips of her waist. Was that some new friend thing she didn't know about? Or was that some kind of a new joke of his? One of the pranks. Or a surprise. Happy was surely hiding somewhere and was ready to pop out with a Hey, Lucy! Since we sleep here all the time we decided to pay your rent for you for once!

He didn't.

"Natsu, it's not funny," Lucy chuckled nervously, the flush splashing on her cheeks under his relentless stare. The heat of his skin was sifting through and was so delightful, it has always been. "You can let me down now, s-so that I can sleep?" she stammered a half-question when he titled his head, primarily fixated on her lips.

It occurred to her what's happening not long after the initial daze had passed. It was way too weird for her to talk with him from that distance. If it could be called distance at all. Last time something like this happened, she nearly slapped him and yelled a lot. She was free to slap him now, but most of her body was clenched and she was too cold to resist.

"Are you still angry about the thing in the guild? Pft, forget about it. You've known Gray for so long, I can't believe you're still mad about his teasing!" Lucy tittered, remembering the absurd scene from this morning.

"I am not gonna lose to some ice brat," he murmured under his breath.

"L-lose?" Lucy's breath hitched as he got a hold on her and shifted her on the bed, unravelling the towel to reveal her body and take a moment to stare, kind of like the stare he gave to a plate full of meat. "Natsu?!"

"He thinks he's better than me," Natsu almost ripped off his own clothes, with a zealous look in his eye. It was bordering on comical, the battle-focus he had. It was when he put the scarf aside when she decided that maybe it wasn't funny at all.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked breathily, still not sure if she's dreaming or hallucinatory.

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" He complained, annoyed at her apparently obvious question.

She had to swallow now and relax her head back on the sheets, trying her best to recollect her thoughts and glue them back together into some kind of a reasonable, calming explanation. It wasn't like they hadn't seen each other naked before, it was that she had never… they had never faced or questioned… this strange bubble of impenetrable devotion they had going on in-between. With her eyes wide open and lips apart, she stared right up at his vexed expression with the deepest astonishment she had felt in a long, long time.

Natsu furrowed, leaning in closer as if being closer to her face would grant him better understanding.

"What?"

Lucy swallowed again, chest heaving up and down with the adrenaline. It was hot, even now, when her inner thighs barely touched his and her breasts barely touched against his chest. What, he asked.

"I… I-I," She stammered even harder, easily picturing her words tripping and dissipating one after the other, leaving her in this vast sea of open, vulnerable confusion. It was inconceivable to her mind how they could get away with doing that without a single word or a comment on it beforehand. He expected her to finish her sentence, but she was at a loss. The only thing that she could think about was the simmer of anger that burned in his eyes when he looked at her in the morning. Very similar to his current look, but with a rapacious addition. All she managed to say was, "P-please be gentle."

She cursed herself for not seizing the chance, which might've as well been the last one, to open up the most pressing issue right now (or ever). However, Natsu gave her a look of genuine surprise. It calmed her a little, at least it looked like her request was already taken into consideration. He's never treated any girl with the brute force he treated everything else.

He proceeded to casually lick her neck all the way up to her chin and have her gasp with surprise. One of her hands clutched around his arm and the other travelled down his chest, sighing as his tongue invaded her mouth and plied with hers. The fire… she wasn't sure she'd endure it if he doesn't control the heat. He was poor at control, a universal fact, but he had never let his fire harm her before so she trusted him.

The fright lingered within her, but it wasn't a benumbing fear, it was nervousness. She wasn't mentally prepared for the colossal waves of adoration that overcame her when she broke the dam of the safe illusion they had diligently constructed. Natsu was the best thing that happened to her and she hoped it was the other way around too, because she had no plan for that scenario.

The magic was thickening the air around him, it was heavily stained on his tongue, a strong taste of ashen bittersweetness that she breathed in, her mind sinking deep within the addictive, hazy feeling. It's been months on months, wondering over what his magic would taste like. And Natsu, she understood it was a struggle to him not to ravage his way through anything whatsoever, which is why she considered it a miracle he still hadn't.

He was on his way to it, though, she could feel the eagerness flow into him as he increased the pressure and loomed over impatiently. It was her turn, her fingers wandered and stopped a couple of times, lost with the unfamiliar sensation of being so comfortably close, all of their skin exposed, then she skimmed over embossed skin and tentatively wrapped her fingers around him. The single brush sent an immense shiver through him as he distractedly slowed down the kiss, breath stumbling into her mouth.

Her face was flaming red, certainly, but she had been curious for this for so long that she didn't care or realize what she was doing at all. It didn't feel unnatural, that was for sure. After all those years of them pretending, she thought they'd at least have a genuine conversation instead of skipping directly to… to touching. She squeezed just a little and he suddenly let out the strangest sound, a protracted, animalistic growl that made her stomach turn.

The alarm hit her anyway and she froze, letting go. He was not very human-like most of the time, but now the reality of it hit her twofold. "Sorry," she heard herself breathe out quickly, her hand passed over his core and oblique muscles, resting at his lower back. There was a rugged outline under her touch, she pondered. Another scar.

Natsu backed away for a moment, to shamelessly look at her straight in the eye with this mixture of childish adoration and something very, very dark that she hadn't seen before. It left his features with quite a fiendish expression.

He kissed her again, this time his predatory canines biting at her lip. It was her turn to tremble and gasp a little, feeling his hand sliding across the dip of her waist, down her hip and clutching at the joint of her knee, pulling it up to his waist. The heat of his skin everywhere they touched was starting to get downright unsettling. His fingers kept drawing uncoordinated circles against her most sensitive spot and it electrified her even more.

"Natsu," Lucy protested quietly, already frustrated with the pulsating between her legs, the wetness, and the terrible need for him to get closer.

He slowed down again and she could feel him furrow, and fuss, and fret. Something bothered him for quite a while and he concealed it under the greedy pressure he applied to the exposed flesh of her breasts and all the softness he could find. Her back arched numerous times when he sucked and pulled and bit at the skin, but he clearly preferred and enjoyed licking his way through her so she obediently sank her fingers into the moulded sinew of his arms, reacting way louder than she anticipated. It was muddling her mind, but the dull worry remained.

Was it something she did wrong? She wanted to know if it was her, because that would mean she was partly the reason why they were separated by this dreadful charade for so long. It was torturous for both of them, she imagined, to have those obsessive thoughts all this time, and never being able to get close. Never affording to say a word. And now, thanks to Gray's teasing, they did, but… he was not as stupid as everyone thought he was. There was an obstacle, one that he carefully avoided the same feverish way a veteran would avoid talking about war, and she wanted to know what it was.

She could only watch him sleep from inches away on a day off, when he spent a fair amount of time convincing her that her bed was more comfortable and softer than any other, instead of admitting that he didn't want to be alone. He only averted his eyes from her face, starting to babble and yell and complain to divert the attention when she woke up in the mornings and caught him doing it. Silence led them so far.

Natsu took pains over normalizing his breathing, but it didn't help much. She pulled at him eagerly, grasping at his hands with a force that was too weak for him to notice. She wanted to kiss him, the mouth to mouth touch he avoided, and feel him burn as she did it. He pushed against her, shockingly and at once, and she didn't stop to think about the stinging, uncomfortable sensation of being stretched because he sank into her with a low groan, his temple touching hers and his breathing intersecting at even intervals.

Lucy had to close her eyes through the dazing heatwaves that attacked her body right away. She wasn't sure if it was the sounds she was hearing or the molten heat that poured all over her. Lips parted, she let out a soft moan amidst her reverence. A voice at the back of her mind thanked all deities existent that it was still winter. She wouldn't have survived this during any other season and he was lucky she was always cold.

The warmth was all-consuming now, the softness of her skin pressed intensely against the hardness of his. One of her legs was still higher around his waist and the other weaved tightly around his, the base pressing against his calf. "You feel so nice," Lucy whimpered in his ear absently, at the smallest shift he did, to find her lips and tremble sensibly himself.

"I haven't done anything yet," he scoffed, but his words dripped with poorly concealed pride.

She wasn't sure where this was going, but the point was, everyone was fine so far. He choked out a few syllables the first time he thrust against her and she had to bite her lip hard. The second time collapsed their defences altogether, she moved her hips to meet him desperately, and their voices merged in an odd sonance, hers climbing up and his falling down.

Lucy knew it was going to happen sooner or later, teeth sinking into her lips almost to blood to smother the blissful sensations of his measured grinding against her, and nails dragging hard into his skin. It scalded, in a bothersome, literal sense, and every time her fingers sank in or her body was too tightly entangled with his, she recoiled a little or writhed away. Constant shivers ran through her as he didn't try to stifle anything that she caused, or rather had no control over it, she wasn't sure, his voice reflecting every single thrust. And so did hers.

She couldn't focus on the distant suggestions whirling in her mind and instead focused on trying to breathe over the stabs of pleasure and the incandescence his skin glowed with. Her voice climbed higher and cracked in-between under the pressure, closing in and drawing nearer, the deeper and sharper he delved. Trembling from head to toe, she managed to form his name once or twice, lips pressed against his ear, but the sounds were lost in his curious, repetitive groaning.

The coil finally snapped and she threw her head back with the blinding wave that washed through her at ripples, moaning softly at each and every one of them. The pleasure mingled with the pressing need to clench or grip at something, so she took advantage of his shoulder blades and back, to steady herself or hold on to something. Natsu let a half-angry hiss and nearly faltered, losing balance without a particular reason, his fist clasping at the sheets until she didn't relax back, gasping for breath.

Lucy lidded her eyes open, amidst the desert-like swelter his body emanated, feeling numb and exhausted. Her fingers travelled up to his tousled hair and passed through the softness. He shifted to her mouth again, but she couldn't gather the energy to reply and let him part her lips open and explore as he liked, with the nipping, cindery taste lingering in her mouth.

Her brows gathered together with a mixture of playfulness and intent when her previous thoughts returned.

Maybe you have something to be embarrassed about, I get it.

Lucy replied to his kiss rapidly, catching him unprepared when she tilted her head upwards to deepen it, and heaved up, urging him to move. He did, but she arched just a tad, and his breath hitched badly. Natsu quickly found her eyes and glared at her as she let out a small gasp. The words rolled out of her mouth before she could stop her curiosity, "Is this a Dragon Slayer thing?"

He pouted at her for what it must've been a full minute, before he closed his eyes and rubbed his nose against her temple, inhaling her scent. So it was a Dragon Slayer thing. Lucy couldn't help the deep blush, squinting a little at the memory of Gajeel's words. If Dragon Slayers were anything alike, then she could understand Levy enjoying a different sort of activities. She forgot that enhanced senses meant... profound reactions to all stimulants. The relief lifted off her worry. It wasn't about something being wrong with her, it was about being disconcertingly sensitive.

"I wanna try..." She whispered against his lips, using the moment he was distracted to push herself on top, switching their places. The heat was too much anyway, the cold air in the room met her bare skin pleasantly.

"What—?" His features shifted into a stance of reluctant embarrassment, but he didn't protest. For one, the view was perfect from there, she imagined. She heaved up a little, extremely careful, and put a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Both of them were breathing heavily but as she was relishing in the still pleasant pulsing in her bloodstream, he was hissing through his breath in a sort of uncomfortable strain. Lucy flushed all over again at the sight and froze for a second, eyes wide, forgetting her intentions. What was she doing?

"Try what?" He snapped, a little too breathily and on the verge of pulling her back to her previous place. It took her a second of blinking. She could feel the sweat on her skin making her hair stick to her forehead, neck and back. Lucy leaned in and he looked up and down her body, the spark of amusement returning to him quickly; he realized his hands were free to touch.

With the support of both her hands, squeezing the sheets around them, she tried rolling her hips with a tentative, slow motion that sent another pleasurable wave through her, it made him grip at her hips tighter and increase the rhythm of his breathing even more. His eyes met hers with a dose of shock before they veiled and lidded, and she felt like she was too slow and too careful.

"Tell me how that was," She breathed out, in need of guidance. "I have no idea…" She ground again, carving out the same protracted growl as before. Her breath spread out with a drawling sigh at how pleasant it felt. Maybe... she had to try something different; she heaved up and lunged down harshly.

His voice cut through with a raw moan, sending an electric bolt down her spine, "...Lucy."

"Okay, I see," Lucy whimpered, hoping that she'd be able to establish a tempo. When she adjusted a tad and tried again, it was easier and comfortable, and she loved the dull feeling of how hard and hot he was beneath her, even though grinding felt better for her. Natsu, on the other side, let out a dark and carnal, rasping sound. Her motions were measured at first and his gravelly voice pierced her with courses of shivers, core fluttering, so kept on torturing him, and the pleasure had him grip at her skin with inhuman strength.

Lucy leaned in a tad, almost bending, without ruining the rhythm and letting her hair slide down. There was something very arousing in his discomfort and the way he let her do whatever she wanted, bossing around, even though she was trying out everything in her inexperience and he was falling apart already, breaths shaking with the open sounds that fell of his him.

"Come on," Lucy mouthed softly, sharpening and quickening her movements. "Come on." The friction made him shudder underneath her and he fought to keep his eyes from closing or giving in, but she pushed on until his fractured breaths broke off with the pleasurable tumble and the relief that returned the youthful lightness of his voice. He loosened the hold on her, to bite at his skin and quench the heavy moans that dragged out of his throat, leaving her panting and at pure wonder for at least a third time today.

Lucy leaned down, propping herself on her elbow as she looked at the mess she's left him in. She guessed it wasn't that bad for a first time (and she wouldn't count the times she had imagined doing it to the detail in her mind). The thought made her flush all over again and all words disappeared from her mind again, leaving it completely blank. Instead of talking, she gently closed her fingers around his wrist and moved his hand away, to take a look. He was just as embarrassed and flushed as herself, so it was fine.

"What the hell, Lucy?" Was the first and last thing he said and she figured having an aggressive defence mechanism made him feel better about losing all control. She had to get used to it, even though it was terrifically unnatural when it was directed to her. They had never done that before so there's that.

Lucy's lips extended into a timid smile when she shifted, to get off him and lie her aching body down. The motion was as slow as she could, but she could still hear his breaths skip through. When she lied down, he turned his back on her and stole the nearest pillow for himself, like he usually did. She stared up for a while, then she looked at him askance, her eyes gliding over the deep red scratches on his skin, the weapon markings, the old scars… the mosaic of his muscles shifted every time he took a breath and released it. Lucy forced herself to look away, sit up and turn the light off so that they could sleep.

Hesitating, her fingers groped about for the sheets and pulled what she could grab closer, over her shoulders, over his. Natsu trembled just barely, but she saw it in the dark. The urge was stronger than her will and she cautiously reached for him, sliding her hand under his and pressing herself to the ember-like radiance he gave out, making her moan quietly. It was such a wordless joy to have him around during winter days like that, he had no idea.

In fact, it was a wordless joy to have him around all the time, but she didn't tell him that. He didn't say anything either.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!" A very annoying voice pierced through her and she groaned, pulling the sheets to cover her head while her mind refocused on reality. "Lucyyyyy!"

Lucy was not at home, she was somewhere far away from here and had no desire to wake up at all. However, the flutter of wings whiffed at her skin and she felt the chillness on her bare shoulders. Then the irritating, stinging sensations attacked her at once and she had to blink her eyes open with this fear that slowly started to creep into her mind. She blinked her eyes open to a hovering-over-her Happy.

"Lucy—" He beamed, but he stopped in the middle of the sentence, landed on the sheets she had covered herself with, and put paws on his waist, furrowing at her from up close. The silence extended a little before he beamed again. "You look horrible, Lucy."

"Is that what you woke me up for?!" Lucy yelled, shooing him away angrily, but he just lifted off, flying up to the ceiling where she couldn't reach him.

"No. It's nearly noon and you still haven't come to the guild, Lucy! Natsu found a cool mission." Happy flew in excited circles. "Dress up already!"

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered, holding her head with hand pushing away the mess of long, yellow locks from her face. She sat up, keeping the sheets close to her body and looked around the bed, wondering when he's woken up. "Is he at the guild?"

"Yes, he's fighting with Gray. I ate breakfast already." Happy announced, bored to his very core. "I wanna go to the mission now."

"Alright," Lucy murmured, her eyes falling at her hands and she flinched back against the frame of the bed with a scared gasp.

Happy stopped flying around at the sound and looked at her suspiciously. "Are you ok, Lucy?"

"Mm," She rapidly hid her hand under the sheets and nodded energetically to him, putting on a wide smile. "You can go back to the guild, I promise I'll be there in… ten minutes."

"You're lying, Lucy. You're always late."

"I promise!"

Happy pouted at her, but then he puffed and flew out of the window (which she was forced to close after him because it had become way too cold). She sank in her bed again, staring in the blank air in front of her with unseeing eyes. The painful stinging dragged her attention again and she slowly got out of the bed, nearly losing balance at the first step and gasping through a whine with the new, intense pain that suddenly appeared in her thighs and lower back.

Her mouth was open in alarm even before she somehow found a way to walk and ignore the bad soreness. Leaning in on objects, she finally stopped in front of the mirror and the colour from her face disappeared as a cry of horror fell off her lips. The skin was sloughing all over with mild blisters and big red taints, peeling and scaling at her hands, legs, her stomach, chest and shoulders… and neck. Everywhere.

"Oh no," Lucy leaned in closer to the reflection, noticing that her lips had cracked at three places with dryness and had bled a little. "Alright, no panic, no panic. I'm not panicking." Her breaths came out ragged. "I can cover all of this. No problem at all." With a wide gesture of her hands, she got under the shower and leaned on the wall, trying to figure out how she's supposed to walk all the way to the guild feeling like someone had beaten her up and had set her on fire after that.

Not too far from the truth.

Lucy snorted. The truth, huh?

Naturally, she put on her oversized collared sweater and all things wintery so that she could hide everything she could, except for the tips of her fingers and her lips, which she tried hard to balm with numerous hissing sounds of pain. If she put aside that her insides were protesting with aches and her skin was in a disastrous condition, the day was great and she was feeling good. She was fine. Perfect. Nothing could ruin her mood. Not even storms and blizzards and long missions and monster-slaying and paying rent and Natsu messing her up big time only to win over a fight with Gray.

Lucy tried not to think about it much, ended up thinking about it a lot and decided it didn't matter when she pushed the gate of the guild open and closed it after herself. As she walked down the aisle between the tables, she greeted most of the members who were chatting, heading for the table where Erza and Juvia sat. Her gaze passed over the multiple piles of rubble, crashed glass, furniture and at least three cracks in the nearest wall.

"Hey, w-what's going on?" Lucy took her place next to them, still looking about with the lingering worry.

"Mira sent Gray and Natsu to annihilate each other outside because she told them they'll have to buy the next thing they destroy." Erza rolled her eyes, her elbow clinking against the wooden surface with the armor. "Didn't really understand what they were fighting over."

"Uh-huh," Lucy glanced at an angry-looking Mira across the hall.

"Are you alright?

"Sorry?" Lucy blinked back to Juvia, who was eagerly staring at her hands and she quickly pressed them between her legs, laughing. "Me? Yep. I'm just…" She shrugged, "I'm starving, that's what I am."

By the time she thought she's successfully fooled Juvia, she felt Erza tug at the collar of her sweater, giving her a wave of chills. Before she attempted to form any kind of explanation, Erza was looking straight at her in silence and playful curiosity burned in her warm eyes. Her hands carefully pulled at her sleeve and examined the blistered skin for a second before smiling. A very lip-pressed, discreet smile.

The doors opened and everyone attending turned around to see a scowling Gray and a grinning Natsu. At the way Gray was holding his elbow, she could deduce the fight didn't go well for him this time. The horror struck her all over again when she saw Natsu, though, and then the generous amount of still faintly red grazes across his forearms and shoulders, and she turned away, eyes wide.

To her great dismay, both of them sat on their table. Of course they did, Juvia and Erza were sitting here. Gray greeted her, Natsu didn't. Happy came hovering over the table as well.

"Are we going now?" He complained, landing in front of her and Natsu, who sat next to her.

"Of course we're going!" Natsu cried. "I'm so bored and I beat Gray's ass already, now there's nothing more to do—"

"Shut your mouth," Gray snarled, banging his fist on the table.

Erza's loud sigh silenced both of them and it just cracked something in her and she couldn't help a breathy laugh. All eyes were on her and she regretted it.

"So," Gray coughed a little, "are the three of you going on a mission?"

"We are!" Happy interjected, stealing a bacon strip from Gray's plate and munching on it cheerfully. "It's a long way down to Clover and we'll travel all day, but…" Happy's voice rolled on with a waterfall of words but was quickly stopped by Natsu.

"Yeah, let's go," He suddenly announced, grabbing Lucy's hands and leaving the table with her, even though they just sat. Happy was overjoyed with the rapid turn of events, seemingly, following them and stopping at some tables to wave goodbye to the others, but Lucy was sinking deeper and deeper within her fear and confusion.

"Wait, I haven't eaten anything yet!" She managed to say, but he kept going. They left the guild and the cold air met her when they found themselves outside.

"It's noon, I had three meals already, what were you doing?" Natsu grumbled.

"Let me go, it hurts!"

Natsu jumped away as if her words electrified him. "Huh?" He faced her with genuine surprise, searching all over her whole body to find an answer.

Lucy swallowed and for a moment just looked at him, scared to speak out. Then she rolled up her sleeves to the elbows and showed him her hands. A shadow passed over his features and he stepped closer, looking at her skin intensely.

"I'm here!" Happy yelled.

"Happy, Lucy hadn't eaten yet. Go take some food for her." Natsu looked up at him and Happy nodded. "Aye, sir," and he disappeared again.

The silence extended and she hunched a bit, frightened of what he might say... or not say. Natsu slowly took her hands in his and examined them silently before he caught the rim of her sweater and pulled up to reveal her skin without any warning, making her furrow. His eyes skimmed over the redness and he let the fabric cover her skin again. He was always so easy to read and she saw the guilt in his eyes. Guilt that none of them needed right now.

"Hey, I'll be fine, don't worry."

He stepped back at a very friendly, normal distance. She had seconds. Just a few seconds before Happy returns and she didn't want to waste them away. She didn't want to waste any more months and years wondering. Not now, when her heart was at the stake and her body had already been in his possession.

"Natsu."

He had put his hands in his pockets and was now tapping the ground with his foot rhythmically.

"...hm?"

"Was this all a-about Gray's teasing?" Lucy stammered again, wringing her hands together nervously. "I just want… just want to know."

He snorted. "He'll know better now."

"Tell me," Lucy demanded, making his eyes meet hers and lose their vibrant energy. Her heartbeat had increased vastly. Everything that he made her feel, it came rushing through her, it was in her veins still and imprinted on her skin, branded all over and.. how could it not be? It was one to watch his flames from aside, another becoming one with them.

"Of course not," Natsu eyed her incredulously, like he was surprised to hear so dumb a question from someone who had constantly proven to not be dumb so far.

"No?" She asked, lips apart with the warmth and relief that erupted inside her chest.

"Don't make me say it again, jeez," Natsu puffed, walking away from her at a fast pace, but she had already attached a big smile on her lips and didn't plan to put it down for a long time.

Lucy caught up with him and hooked her arm around his, her heart jumping up and down restlessly and her thoughts whirling wild. Still, she couldn't bring herself to speak on the subject further, too deeply flustered for now. Alternatively, she tried another, to ease both of their inconvenience. "You are aware Clover is hours away with a train, right?"

Instead of replying, he pulled out the contract from the inner pocket of his jacket and solemnly handed it to her. When she saw the prize, she burst out laughing. Motion sickness was bearable if they weren't going to worry about rent for the next six months.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope that's a nice comeback from my absence in this fandom and a decent cheer-up. Also, headcanon of mine, Lucy is loud, Natsu is louder.