"Do you know what you could've done, Lucy? This isn't all just fun and games. Some of us don't take matters like this so lightly!" his green eyes flashed as he spoke. She'd heard him angry before, but never at her. Suddenly she felt guilty and a little frightened. And she didn't even understand why.

"I'm sorry, I —" she began.

"Argh, don't you get it?!" He roared at her, his fist slamming against the wall, the impact reverberating through the house she rented. A tense, lethal silence filled the air between them, and Lucy shrank away from him and further into her seat on the bed, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. Yet almost as quickly as it came, the tension began to evaporate, as if it was heat trapped within water, released imperceptibly as it came to a boil.

Natsu sighed and turned to face her, and from what she could see, hers were not the only watery eyes in the room. "Dragons mate for life," he said simply. As if that explained everything.

Lucy had no words. Natsu made a small exasperated noise at her obvious confusion, and faced the wall again. He hung his head and explained carefully, "Call it the Slayer magic. To beat a dragon, you become a dragon. Given the right circumstances and the ties you feel to another person, something as simple as a kiss could solidify that bond for the rest of your lives." His fist clenched and unclenched. Another sigh.

"You're the closest person to me, Lucy. I can't control it. If we—if I stole your freedom, I could never live with myself. I couldn't bear the thought of taking something from you without asking. So please understand, with me, there's no such thing as a harmless kiss."

She wasn't sure when he left. All she could do was stare blankly ahead as his figure retreated from her, sweeping from the room. As he vanished from her sight she absentmindedly noted that he'd actually used the door this time. She allowed herself a punishing smirk that quickly faded, and she released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She risked a glance at the wall. Surprisingly enough, there was little damage: a slight scorch mark, a small indentation. Natsu had held back, a sign of restraint. He must be furious with her.

It was Lucy's turn to sigh as she shook off the tears that had threatened to spill over moments before, and she moved mechanically toward the bathroom while pulling the ties out of her hair. She turned on the water to fill the bath and slipped out of her dress. She chastised herself for her reckless actions and lack of thought, and wondered how she had been so inconsiderate. She'd known about the lore, of course, but she hadn't realized that their closeness would really affect the potential for them to bond, especially not after one measly kiss. It wasn't as if he was in love with her.

The thought gave her pause. Steeling herself, Lucy combed through her thoughts and memories of the Dragon Slayer as she breathed in the steam. It was true that for the majority of their knowing each other, most they encountered or knew thought they were a couple. Then again, they were partners, and they were always together, and that didn't always mean they'd become a real couple, like Asuka's parents, Alzack and Bisca. She thought of Levy and Gajeel, and how he all but swept her up out of reach of her cheering squad. Gajeel was a Slayer, too, and he and Levy seemed perfect together. The fact that their relationship had an extra bit of magic in it than the run of the mill coupling, she couldn't deny. But Gajeel seemed to seek Levy out from the first moment. It was as if he knew, or at the very least was drawn to her so magnetically that they were bound to end up where they were: happy and together.

Lucy bit her lip, shifting slightly beneath the bubbles. She wanted to deny that Natsu had ever sought her out, that it was entirely different. Their first encounter happened upon chance, and they ended up working rather well together, quickly becoming the best of friends. But before then, he'd come to her. The more she thought of it, the more she noticed how he'd kept coming back to her specifically, especially with all of his crazy or outlandish ideas or requests, even when just starting out, there were probably many more wizards far more suited to helping him than a novice Celestial Wizard. But. Then all too easily it seemed the natural choice. Surely there wasn't anything deeper than that.

She thought of the past few years, and how after he disappeared, she knew she would never want to face life without him. The puzzling thought at the back of her mind, however, remained. Why now? Why all of a sudden would a kiss be such a big deal? A few years earlier Asuka had demanded it of them, and it barely fazed Natsu at all before he was leaning in. That time, it had been her shyness that had caused her to latch onto Happy's tail and throw the little cat up between them at the last second. What if she hadn't? And when he returned last year, he'd said that they'd always be together. She remembered how those words made her heart feel so much lighter. It still didn't fully explain how he felt. Or how she felt for that matter. How did she feel?

Lucy sank deeper into the bubbles, just deep enough for blowing raspberries under water as she thought. In truth hers and Natsu's relationship felt like a little more than how best friends ought to. But what did she know? They were two people of the opposite sex constantly pushed and pulled into adrenaline heightening adventures and near-death experiences that could stand to reason things between them might be a little...much sometimes. Perhaps it caused them to be a little too comfortable with one another. That feeling along with nearly everyone else's expectations of them could lead to some rather interesting experiences to say the least. Like tonight.

It hadn't seemed like it would be a big deal. They had been close the whole evening: her hand on his arm, his occasionally brushing the small of her back. But they were laughing, all of them. Out for drinks and in a party atmosphere, nothing was consequential. So when the dare came from a brazen and drunken Gray itching to pick at the flame starter, Lucy went along with it. Maybe it was because of his ease with it the last time, or maybe she was curious, but she kissed him. She didn't mean anything by it, and in front of everyone else, Natsu took it like a champ, only seemingly a little embarrassed and caught off guard. The way he reacted later though...

Lucy sat up again. He'd been a little tense after that, but only she had noticed. When they'd finally had some privacy she'd asked him about it, and, well... she was still reeling from that episode. From all this thinking, she still didn't understand why, or how things had changed exactly to put them in this position. She didn't even know how she felt, although she was certain there was a bit of disappointment, maybe? It wasn't as if she was put out about not being able to kiss him without consequence. She would loathe the thought to think even a close friend such as her would use him in any sort of way. Then again, the kiss...felt nice, and although she wouldn't mind it happening again, even for real maybe, was she really ready to even consider her feelings for her goofy, pink-haired, fire-breathing partner as being remotely serious?

Lucy groaned aloud, moving to rise from the water. There was no need to fuss about it all right now. She needed to apologize. And while she also needed to know how he felt, that could wait until she understood her own feelings, if that is, she even wanted to reach deeper into all of that mess. What they had was comfortable and safe. After all, what if she looked deeper in her head and heart and realized she did feel for him on a level to accept him, only to find that he didn't feel the same at all? And yet, she had the feeling now that it was bound to be different anyway after tonight. First, she'd apologize, and then, even if he wanted to be around her for the beginning while after that, she'd observe him from a distance and put to the test whether or not she might actually have been motivated to kiss him out of more than simple curiosity.