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“Can you even believe that those sea serpents had legs?!” Lucy said. “It actually makes me grateful that Magnolia is on a lake and not the ocean!”
“It really was spooky to see them walk out of the water,” Wendy agreed. “But seeing them growing multiple heads after Natsu and Gray cut off one, was even more unbelievable.”
“Yes,” Ezra began rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration, “Those idiots took much too long to figure out that the more heads they cut off the more they would multiply. Thank goodness we brought you and Juvia with us.”
The team had just finished up on a job in a coastal city in Fiore. The city’s beaches had become overrun with destruction from sea-serpents and of course this scared off tourists, which the city relied on for much of their income. The team was hired to dispatch of the serpents and repair the beaches in time for the city’s annual “Boogie Woogie Bugle Board Contest.” The contest was normally their top grossing event of the season, attracting boogie board and bugle enthusiasts from all across Fiore.
“My dashing Gray looked handsome as he bravely slayed those beasts,” Juvia squealed, hugging herself as her eyes gazed off into the distance, thinking of the sweet memories.
“Speaking of, do you think that Natsu, Gray, and Happy are done with their games yet?” Wendy asked.
The Dragon Slayer and the Ice Make mages got into one of their “pissing contests” again. They battled in such things like: longest one-legged jump; how long they could run on one breath with their hands tied behind their back; who could balance the most seashells on their noses while singing the alphabet; who could finish the race first while balancing all the seashells on their noses, singing the alphabet, with their arms tied behind their back and using only one leg. After about 15 minutes of watching the boys competing in these stupid games the ladies decided that it was too hot to just be standing around watching the boys’ shenanigans. So the ladies went to a club down the street from the beach and ordered some refreshing drinks. Happy was going to tag along too, but Gray and Natsu demanded a referee.
“Not a chance,” Ezra said cooly as she took a sip of her drink. She was still annoyed at having to clean up the boys’ serpent heads mess.
Lucy giggled, “I bet those two idiots won’t be done until at least tomorrow morning. Might as well enjoy our time away from them.” Lucy winked at the girls as she lifted her umbrellaed drink to her lips and sipped at it through the pink striped straw.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right, Lucy,” Ezra said. Erza smiled and took a large breath in as she straightened her posture. She lifted her glass victoriously high into the air. “Tonight we shall enjoy ourselves to the fullest! We shall drink and make merry!”
“Make merry?…” Lucy raised one of her eyebrows. “Erza, I think you can relax on the knightly talk for a bit,” she giggled. “I don’t think we’ll be making many friends tonight if you keep that up.”
All the ladies shared a laugh and took more sips of their drinks while Wendy sipped on her pineapple berry smoothie. They continued to talk about what possible contests a bugle boogie boarder might participate in and if there was such a thing as a waterproof bugle. Suddenly, Juvia paused and a mischievous grin grew across her face.
“Oooo Lucy….Juvia sees a guy at the end of the bar making eyes at you,” Juvia said. “He’s not as handsome as my darling, Gray, but Juvia thinks he is attractive enough for someone like you…”
Lucy rolled her eyes and huffed out a sigh.
“Juvia, I don’t know how many times I need to say this, but I’m not in love with Gray, so you don’t have to keep making up stories and trying to set me up with strange men…” Lucy replied.
“No she’s right,” Ezra said, staring in the same direction as Juvia. Clearly, subtlety wasn’t in the requip mages skill set.
“Huh?…” Lucy furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief and turned around to see that they weren’t lying.
When Lucy first glanced at the man, she immediately thought “surfer.” He had shaggy dark blonde hair that looked like it had been highlighted by the sun. He was wearing a fitted white linen button up T-shirt that had been unbuttoned halfway down his torso and even had a shark tooth necklace around his neck. His tanned skin was a large contrast from his blonde hair. Juvia was right. The man was attractive. He caught Lucy taking a glance at him and he nodded and winked at her.
Lucy turned around quickly with a huge blush on her face. “Oh my gods! You weren’t kidding…” she said, thinking it over. “I look okay, right? I don’t have anything embarrassing on me… right? No boogies or lipstick running?”
“You look great—Oh! He’s coming over here!” Ezra said, fading into an alarmed whisper.
Panic set into the pit of Lucy’s stomach, “What?!”
“Sorry, ladies, I hate to intrude,” a baritone voice said, “but I just had to come over and introduce myself to one of Sorcerer Weekly’s models.” Surfer man turned his head toward Lucy and flashed a dazzling grin. “I must say, I really have missed seeing your pictures in there. Do you know when you’ll be gracing all of Fiore with your beauty again?”
The celestial mage looked at her companions for support. Juvia looked smug as ever. Wendy was blushing with wide eyes. Charle looked bored and Erza mouthed, ‘Make merry…’
Lucy blushed once again and looked away from them. “Uhhh… you know I’m not sure,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I kind of only did that because the guild disbanded and I needed money…”
That was one of the most embarrassing points in Lucy’s life. When she had first joined Fairy Tail it had been a dream of hers to model at Sorcerer's like Mira, but as time went one Lucy realized that she really didn’t want men ogling at her like Mira and would much rather be out on adventures with her friends.
“Well, what a shame…” Surfer Man sighed, “I guess I’ll just have to get to know you rather than just pictures.” Lucy blushed again. “The name’s Ferris. And you’re Lucy, right?…”
“Y-Yes...” Lucy said, a little stunned that he remembered her name.
“So Lucy, should I buy you a drink first or should we go straight to dancing?”
“Uhhh…Dance?….” Lucy was already feeling a little buzzed from her Daiquiri and the alcohol seemed only to increase her nerves.
“Then come with me, Lucy,” he reached out his hand and Lucy tentatively took it and stood up fixing her dress. The fitted pink V-neck dress always crept up on her whenever she sat down, so she tried to casually fix it as they walked to the dance floor. The music was high beat and the bass was so prominent Lucy could feel it vibrating in her chest. Ferris had put his hands firmly on Lucy’s hips and she put her arms on his shoulders as they swayed their hips to the music.
“You seem nervous, Lucy,” Ferris yelled over the music. He had a smirk painted on his face.
“Uh…it’s just been awhile since I’ve danced with anyone like this,” Lucy said trying to look away from him, so he wouldn’t see how embarrassed she was. She definitely had too much alcohol because normally she wouldn’t feel this awkward. Being a light-weight was such a pain in the ass.
“That’s a damn shame. The guild must work you like a dog because someone as breath-taking as you should be out dancing enjoying yourself all the time.”
Gods he is so corny… “Well I gotta pay rent somehow and I enjoy the work.”
“Beautiful and hardworking, I like that in a woman.” Ferris swirled Lucy around so that her back was flush against his front. His lips grazed her neck and she let out a small sigh.
“So, hot stuff,” he continued, “when was the last time you were treated like the beautiful woman you are?” he said. He planted a kiss on her neck and worked his way up to nibble on her ear, which sent shivers down her spine. One of Ferris’s hands crept slowly to the front of her thighs and the other wrapped around her waist. Lucy could feel something poking hard up against her bottom.
Lucy became breathless, “Ohh—-Uhhhh y-you kno-ow—uhh...” This was still a little foreign to the blonde, but why did she feel this anxious? His hands on her felt good…right?
“That long, huh?” Lucy could hear the amusement in his voice. “Well why don’t we take this outside and I can jog your memory,” he said into her ear.
His breath tickled her ear and Lucy felt another shiver. She knew she should be turned on by this very handsome man’s actions and in all honesty it felt nice to be wanted, but Lucy couldn’t quite figure out why she was so resistant to his actions…
No–that was a lie. She knew exactly why she was hesitant. Lucy wished that it was a certain pink-haired flame breathing idiot instead of this man, but she knew that that was never going to happen.
Just get over it, Lucy! He’s never going to like you like that. He’s your best friend and nothing more. Why not enjoy yourself a little bit tonight? Show yourself that you don’t need to be stuck on, Natsu, she told herself.
Lucy turned her head and placed a swift kiss onto Ferris’s lips. His eyebrows went quickly up and back down as a grin split his face. His gray eyes sparkled in victory.
Lucy turned on her seduction and reached her arm behind her and grabbed his head at the nape of his neck. She bit her lip and hooded her eyes. “Sure that sounds nice…” she purred.
“Then follow me, beautiful.” Ferris grabbed her hand and led her to the door that went out to the alley way.
—-------------------
Once outside Ferris shoved Lucy against the rough brick wall and crashed his lips against hers. He was a very sloppy kisser and his tongue was practically down her throat. The man held tightly onto one of her arms while his other hand tried to scoot up Lucy’s dress. Lucy tried to catch his hand. She wasn’t sure that she liked the pace of things.
“Not yet…” she mumbled.
“Oh, playing coy are we?...” he said. He grabbed her thigh hard and brought it up and he ground up against her. “But doesn’t this feel nice?…” Lucy grunted. It felt like someone was jabbing a broomstick into her thigh.
He moved his other hand to grope her chest. His squeezing actually made Lucy squeak and wince in pain, but Ferris must’ve taken it as signs of pleasure because he did it even harder whispering, “Yeah, you like that, sexy?”
Before the blonde could answer, Ferris forced his sloppy mouth back onto hers. Lucy really wasn’t too keen on the idea of this anymore. She wasn't sure how she was going to get out of this situation without a fight. If this was his idea of how a woman should be treated she pitied the other women he’d been with. Some people rely too heavily on their looks to carry them through these situations.
“If you had needs, Luce, why didn’t you say anything?” said a voice from the shadows.
Lucy’s eyebrows rose and her face paled as she turned her head toward that all too familiar voice. Ferris looked over, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
“N-N-Natsu?!” Lucy sputtered. Lucy could only make out his dark silhouette and red eyes glowing in the shadows. A wave of relief washed over her, but it was quickly overtaken with embarrassment.
The silhouette looked at the arrogant man feeling up Lucy. “Scram prick, you’re way out of your league here.”
“I was here first. Fuck off, asshat.” The man turned back toward Lucy. “Now where were we, doll face?...” Ferris tried to capture Lucy’s lips again, but she turned her head out of the way. She tried to squirm to be free of the man’s hold, but he held firm.
The shadow gave an ominous chuckle, “I don’t think you really want to play this game, buddy. ‘Cause you’re not gonna win. It’s clear you’re not the one she wants and whatever you’re doing is hurting her. And that’s pissing me the fuck off.”
Lucy gaped at the silhouette.
Ferris let out a grunt of annoyance. He furrowed his eyebrows again and released his hard grip on the blonde and turned to face Natsu. “Sorry baby, I’ll be right back.” Lucy cringed at being called “baby” by him.
“Who the hell do you think you are, jackass?” Ferris demanded. His hands tightened into fists.
Natsu stepped out of the shadows to show that the Lord of Demons was actually the one speaking. The runes wrapped around his sculpted arms, chiseled torso, and handsome face like vines. Black horns grew from his effortlessly tousled pink locks. He gave a dangerous smile showcasing his fangs.
“Your worst nightmare,” END said in a low voice.
Lucy huffed a laugh. Natsu always erred on the dramatic side of things.
Ferris' breath caught at the sight of him. Fear clearly in his eyes. The man cleared his throat. “Y-You think you can scare me out of nailing blondie? No way in hell, man.”
END stepped toward the man and looked down at him, cocking his head. “Oh yeah? Hell is my domain so I’d be careful throwing that phrase around so freely…” END challenged.
“Back off!---She’s mine!” Ferris yelled and tried to throw a right hook, but END caught him and effortlessly stopped his attack. The man tried to kick END’s ribs, but he was blocked once again and held him in place. The demon smiled maniacally at the man and looked straight into his eyes.
“Yours, huh?…” END tightened his grip on the man until Ferris whined in pain. END glanced over at Lucy. “I gotta say, Lucy, you sure know how to pick ‘em. They’re bold, if not stupid.”
“I could say the same about you,” she quipped.
END chuckled, “Yeah, I suppose you got a point there...”
END slammed Ferris up against the wall and pulled back his fire encased fist.
“Natsu, that’s enough now! Let him go!”
“But, Luce—“ END whined with amusement, “we were just getting to know one another.”
“NOW!” Lucy demanded.
“Fine…” the demon sighed and let the man fall to the ground. The demon turned towards Lucy and folded his arms. “You know Luce, we really need to have a chat about your choice in men—“
Suddenly, Ferris pulled out a knife and aimed it towards END’s neck. Lucy squealed in shock. The Demon nonchalantly caught the man at the wrist and used the man’s own momentum against him. Ferris spun himself around to an uncomfortable position with his arms raised and held behind his head. Lucy could see a telling glow of flame from END’s hands. The man shrieked in pain and let go of the blade. The Lord of Demons slammed Ferris down on the ground. The man’s back bounced off the pavement as all the air rushed out of his lungs. END smirked.
“Gotta be quicker than that, pal. Now…” END switched his tone to sickeningly sweet as he was set alight with the flames from hell, “How are you leaving here: running away with your tail between your legs or in a body bag? Makes no difference to me.”
Ferris’s eyes popped out of his head as his facial expression contorted to pale fear. He nearly toppled back over trying to get to his feet. He ran down the alley way and out of sight.
END sighed and rescinded his flames. “Damn. I was really hoping for a good fight tonight. Oh, well…can’t get what I want all the time…” He put his hands casually behind his head. His eyes looking lost in a day dream of kicking the snot out of the pitiful cowardly man. Speaking of wants …he started to think.
“What the hell, Natsu?!”
END lazily turned his head to look towards the blonde with a smirk, “What?”
“Don’t act stupid! What do you think you’re doing, meddling in my personal business?”
“Oh c’mon, Luce! The guy was a total waste-of-space dickhead and you were clearly not very into it…”
“Natsu!” she blushed.
“He woulda just left you unsatisfied anyway,” END said like it was an obvious thing.
“Oh really?” Lucy raised her eyebrows mockingly, putting her hands on her hips. “And you know what satisfies me? Okay, yeah–sure let’s go with that,” Lucy said, as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Do you even know what that means?”
END put his hands down and turned to face Lucy with a dangerously smug grin on his face. “Is that a challenge, Heartfilia?”
“---No—-wait—--what–?”
Lucy gasped as she was suddenly trapped between the cool brick wall and the dangerous heat rolling off of END. He smelled like eucalyptus and cinnamon which always awakened Lucy’s senses. He tilted her chin to make her look directly into his devilishly black eyes. “Oh Lucy, you know I love a challenge.”
“--Natsu?” she whispered. Was he actually flirting with her?
END gave a dark chuckle as he brought his face inches away from her’s. “Now Lucy, you know better than that,” he said. “I wouldn’t have the balls to be this forward with you if I was just Natsu…You know, I’m pretty sure, holding back my desire for you is the only filter I have. But throw a demon into the mix and that filter gets burned to ash.”
Lucy’s eyes widened. Her heart pounded as her breathing picked up. Was this actually happening? She had to be having one of her embarrassing dreams about the slayer that left her wanting when she woke. Or he lost a bet or something….
“What’s the matter, Luce? Exceed got your tongue?” He purred. His lips were dangerously close to hers.
“You’re just playing with me,” she said.
“Not yet, but hopefully I will be soon.”
Lucy’s breath hitched and she put her hands on his chest to push him away because she was scared of embarrassing herself—still worried this was some sick joke. “Y-You’re drunk or–or–h-have been drugged–”
“Nah, I run too hot in this form for any drugs or alcohol to have an effect on me. They burn off right away.”
Lucy paused her actions. “Then what are you doing here?” she whispered.
“The girls said you had come out here with some guy that was feeling you up on the dance floor and that did not sit right with me…” END’s brows furrowed and red flecks began to show in his dark irises. His posture became rigid. “Then he has the audacity to call you his…” he hissed.
The way Natsu’s hungry eyes looked at her, sent lightning through her veins and made a direct path to her core. This was the feeling she was missing from Ferris. Why was he so irresistible when he was protective of her?
Lucy let out a nearly inaudible whimper as she felt the undeniable need for her best friend. Unfortunately, dragon senses gave her away and a dangerous smile grew on the demon’s face once again.
“So, I’ll ask again. If you had needs Lucy, why didn’t you say anything? You know I’m more than happy to help you out with any problem you’re facing.”
“--Natsu, I-I don’t want to do anything that we may regret when you’re not END—”
END chuckled again. “I promise you, I will have no regrets about doing anything with you as long as you give consent and are completely satisfied.” Lucy’s mouth opened in genuine surprise and shock. Her chocolate browns blinked at him. “Was I that good at acting like an idiot who doesn’t know what sex is?…Damn, I gotta give myself more credit…” he shook his head clearly amused with himself. “Lucy, I’m a guy–”
“--Yes, but I didn’t know if you were maybe–I don’t know–gay or maybe asex–”
“---Imma stop you right there, Luce. Let me make this crystal clear,” he continued. He leaned on his left arm that was placed above Lucy’s head. His right wrapped around Lucy’s hip pulling himself flush against her. Lucy felt his arousal against her tummy and a moan slipped through her lips. END smiled. “I’ve wanted you since the moment you came into my life. And that want turned into a need everyday after. It’s sad that it took me this long, and a dickhead, and my demon form to admit that. I just couldn’t take another second of knowing another man was touching you.”
“Natsu…”
END put his lips in line with the blonde’s. His lips lightly brushed against her’s as he spoke, “It’s not just lust either, but we can talk about the fluffy stuff later. If you’d like to keep going...”
Lucy grabbed the collar of his vest and looked at his lips through hooded eyes. Without hesitation, she brought her soft lips to his and began to kiss him with such desire. He smiled against her greedy mouth, knowing that he successfully seduced the vivacious blonde. As if he needed another thing to boost his ego.
Lucy moved her hands to END’s hips, pulling him more against her and then dragged her fingers across the flesh of his muscular torso. END caressed her lips with his tongue waiting for an invitation inside. Lucy took a sharp intake of air as his calloused hand left her hip and took hold of her thigh, pulling it over his hip. END took the opportunity to invade her mouth and explore it with his hot tongue. They both let out a moan as they tasted each other. The demon ground himself into her now accessible core. Lucy’s head fell back against the wall in hums of approval. There was something so erotic about making out with your best friend. Just knowing through all the platonic moments there was always an insatiable animalistic need underlying. It drove even more passion into their actions.
The demon couldn’t contain his carnal need to mark her as his any longer. END didn’t want any man to ever think that his Lucy belonged to anyone else, but him. The demon bit down on her neck and the celestial mage rewarded him with a groan that sent the hottest fire through his veins. Lucy’s fingernails dug into his skin as his tongue lapped at his mark on her. He could feel the heat radiating from her core as he continued to thrust into her. His dick ached to be united with her.
Lost in the moment of it all, Lucy wanted to feel all of him and take her as his this very moment. She reached down to undo his belt…
“Lucy! Natsu!” Both of the mages' eyes widened and paused their actions at the sound of Fairy Tail’s Sky Dragon Slayer.
END cursed under his breath as he lowered Lucy’s leg back down to the ground and begrudgingly released his hold on her. Had it been ANYONE else, he would of told them to ‘Fuck off’ and leave them be. Natsu rescinded his END form. Lucy tried to fix her clothing and smooth out her hair. Natsu pulled Lucy partially in front of him to cover his, now, embarrassment. Natsu’s eyes caught a glimpse of the very visible marks of his teeth on Lucy's neck and he fumbled his scarf around her quickly–just as Wendy came into view.
“Wendy!--H-Hey–girl!…C-Can we help you with something?” Lucy asked in an over delighted tone to compensate for the situation.
“I heard Natsu fighting with that guy you left with, Lucy. Then both of your breathing picked up and I heard moaning. I thought you guys would still be able to handle it yourselves, but Happy really insisted that I come out and check on you guys anyway,” Wendy said, with concern in her eyes.
“Did he?…” Natsu said through his tense smile. “How thoughtful of him...” That smug Exceed was as good as dead.
“Are you guys okay? You seem to be fine…” the bluenette said, with the concern no longer in her eyes.
“Never better. I got to beat up a guy that was being a dick to Lucy and now we’re ready to really party!” Natsu said in the same fake happy tone, placing his hands on Lucy’s shoulders and shook them playfully. “Right, Luce?”
“Uh–Y-Yeah…we’re all good here! We sure taught that guy a lesson he’ll never forget…”
“Okay, good. We’re all heading back to the hotel now to take advantage of the baths. You guys coming?…” Wendy asked.
“Yeah we’ll be right behind you…Luce has just gotta find her–uh–her ring that fell off during the fight.”
“Oh—I can help you look!”
“No!—uh—I mean—no, that’s fine,” Natsu cleared his throat. “We’ve got it. We need you to go tell the others that we’re comin’ with you guys so they don’t leave without us.”
“Good idea! I’ll go let them know! See you guys in a minute!” she said, turning back to head inside.
The pair held their stiff positions until Wendy was out of sight. They let out a large sigh in unison and relaxed from their rigid positions.
Natsu wrapped his hands securely around Lucy’s waist and tucked his head into her neck. She moaned softly. Natsu shot his hand up to cover her mouth to make sure a certain innocent dragon slayer didn’t come back. “Later,” Natsu quietly promised in her ear and he grazed his fingertips across her hips as he walked back towards the entrance of the club.
—————————-
As the team walked back to the hotel, Lucy was still reeling from the events that just took place. Natsu—or rather END—just admitted and acted upon his want for Lucy. She wasn’t sure that it even had happened. Especially because Natsu seemed to be his normal self. He was strolling along with his hands behind his head chatting with everyone. She thought of the way those warm hands felt against her skin and the passion behind his mouth. She felt the familiar sweet tension at her core and she pushed her thighs together for a moment. But she saw Nastu’s posture stiffen and he glanced back at her with predatory eyes. He quickly shook his head, smirked, and recomposed himself. Okay, so it did happen.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starvin’,” Natsu said. “Can we get some food? I don’t think I’ll last much longer,” he whined as he rubbed his belly.
“Natsu, we literally ate a little over an hour ago,” Erza said.
“You pretty much ate the restaurant out of food,” Wendy giggled.
“Really?! I don’t remember that,” Natsu replied with a look of confusion.
“Did your brain finally melt, candle wick? I suppose it doesn’t matter, there wasn’t much there to begin with…” Gray mocked.
Natsu's eyes narrowed and he grabbed Gray's shirt by the neck. His face was filled with fury. “What’d you say to me, Popsicle?”
Gray smirked, “That the lights are on and no one’s home.”
“I have no idea what that means, but them sound like some fightin’ words to me!” Natsu pulled his fist back ready to wipe the shit-eating grin off of Gray's face.
“Natsu—Gray—behave!” Erza said in a dangerous tone. “Or do I need to make you?”
Both of the men promptly put their arms to the sides of their rigid bodies as their eyes bulged out of their heads. “No ma’am!” They squeaked in unison.
They continued to walk giving each other the stink eye. Natsu stuck out his tongue and Gray flicked him off.
Nastu ground his teeth trying to hold back setting the ice make mage on fire. “Well I think I’m going to order a bunch of pizzas when we get back. Anyone else in?”
“You know I’m always up for a sardine pizza, but I’m still full from our meal from an HOUR ago,” Happy said. “Besides Charle and I are going to sit in the warm steam at the baths by some candle light. Sounds super romantic, right, Charle?”
Charle had a look of absolute disgust on her face, but must’ve decided it wasn’t worth answering the lovesick Exceed.
“Really? No one else wants to jump in for pizza?...” Natsu asked. Hearing crickets he continued, “Well fine! I guess I’ll eat MY pizza by MYSELF in the baths. And no one better get any ideas about stealing a piece from me!”
“Ugh gross, Natsu!” Lucy said. “You can’t eat while in the baths! This isn’t your tub at home.”
“She’s right, Natsu,” Erza began, “they wouldn’t even let you passed the doors with food.”
“Lame! I guess I’ll just eat the pizzas by myself in the room,” he said in defeat. “Who wants to take a dumb ol’ bath with somone as gross as Gray anyway…” he mumbled.
“You wanna say that louder for the class, Pinky?!” Gray started to charge for Natsu. Natsu’s fists were immediately lit with flame. Erza clocked them both in the heads before they even touched one another.
Both the slayer and the ice mage laid KOed on the pavement.
“Well I might have overdone it, but you were both warned,” Erza said with her hands squarely on her hips. “Juvia, Lucy, collect your idiots and get them laid down in their respective rooms.”
“What do you mean ‘our’ idiots?!” Lucy blushed. Gray and Juvia had been official for a while now, but Natsu and Lucy were not. Did Erza know what happened in the alley?! No she couldn’t. “Also, why should we be punished for the idiots' actions?”
“Did I stutter?” Erza said icily. If looks could kill Lucy would already be 6 feet under.
“No ma’am!” Lucy squeaked.
“Juvia is more than happy to take care of her handsome Gray!” Juvia said. She grunted a bit while hoisting him up over her shoulder and nearly dropped him. “He’s just so muscular and valiant it will take every bit of my strength to do so, but I will never let you down, my love!”
Lucy sighed and begrudgingly went to pick up Natsu. She tried to get him up on her back and it worked for a moment, but then Lucy fell flat on her face. She was trapped underneath his crushing weight. “AGH!”
“Here, Lucy. I will help you with him,” Happy thankfully got Natsu just enough off of her so she could escape.
“Thanks, Happy,” Lucy replied. “Will you help me lighten the load a little bit? I’ll put him over my back again.”
“Aye, sir!”
Happy helped lift some of Natsu’s weight off of her, which made the trek a little easier. Charle did the same for poor Juvia as well, but Gray ended up coming too when they made it to the entrance of the hotel. Natsu unfortunately did not.
———————-
Lucy and Happy made the grueling journey to the elevators and then to the room the 3 of them were sharing. Lucy and Happy walked Natsu over to the bed. Lucy was trying to line Natsu up to the bed and Happy ended up letting go with an exhausted sigh.
“OOF!”
Natsu once again trapped Lucy underneath him, but at least it was a bed and not the pavement this time.
“Alright, Lucy! Good luck taking care of Natsu! I’m headed for a well deserved bath!”
“--WAIT!--NO! HAPPY, GET HIM OFF OF ME—“
Lucy heard the click of the door latching, sealing her fate to be suffocated under the massive weight of her best friend. The world could be so cruel sometimes.
The blonde squirmed and grunted trying to break free, but her body ached from carrying Natsu all the way back here. Lucy froze when she felt a chuckle coming from the “unconscious” dragon slayer.
“NATSU! Have you been awake this whole time?!” Lucy spat in accusation.
Natsu continued to chuckle and cracked his eyes open. “I did a really solid job of acting again, didn’t I?”
“You what?!” She hissed.
Natsu rolled off of the blonde’s back and sat up. The blonde got onto her knees and shot such a heated look at him she was surprised when lasers didn’t shoot out disintegrating the slayer.
Natsu held his stomach as he continued to laugh at Lucy’s expense. “Oh, Luce! You should see your face! It’s adorable how you get so pissed off at little things,” he said with an endearing look on his face.
“LITTLE THINGS?! I had to drag your heavy ass all the way back here because I was being nice!”
“I think it was more that you were scared of Erza, but sure, we’ll go with ‘nice,’” he said, still clearly amused by the situation.
Natsu could practically see the steam coming out of the celestial mage’s ears. She was so fun to rile up. Lucy opened her mouth ready to give him a lashing worse than if she had used her whip, but Natsu covered her mouth with his hand.
“Hold up right there, Luce,” Natsu began with an eyebrow raised. “Are you really gonna spend the time I got us alone with you chewin’ me out? You worked so hard to get it and I thought I could return the favor. You have needs after all,” he winked.
Lucy raised her eyebrows as her eyes widened in realization. Suddenly, she was back in the alley held up against the slayer after their throws of passions had been interrupted by Wendy. She thought of his promise of later. She felt the pull of her muscles at her core and her cheeks mirrored the color of Natsu’s hair as she felt her body begin to fire up and not out of anger at Natsu’s words.
“That’s what I thought,” the pinkette said with a toothy grin. Natsu got up off the bed to go deadbolt the door just in case the pesky blue cat decided to come back prematurely. When Lucy heard the deadbolt she felt a ton of butterflies get released into her stomach. Her heart raced and her breathing picked up.
Natsu turned around and walked back over to where the blonde was still kneeling on the bed. Natsu felt a rush of shyness and looked away from his best friend blushing. He scratched the back of his head as he tried to find the courage that he had in the alleyway.
“Listen Lucy, I want to first apologize for earlier. I don’t know what came over me—well a demon's jealousy actually is what came over me—but I hope I didn’t hurt you in any way…you know that is the last thing I ever want to do…” Natsu said sheepishly.
Lucy’s chest gave an almighty squeeze and she giggled at the polar opposites of his personalities. Natsu’s face became even more red at the sound of her giggles.
“Sorry, Natsu! I’m not laughing at your sentiment. I’m laughing at how different you and END are. I appreciate the apology, but there is nothing to be sorry for. I know you would never actually hurt me and that’s what makes me so comfortable with you,” the blonde gave a small smile and climbed to the foot of the bed and sat on her knees in front of the slayer. Natsu looked down and Lucy brought her fingers up to his chin to make him look at her. “Besides what you did felt great, so please don’t feel embarrassed about this, Natsu. You’ve got nothing to worry about, we're in this together. If you still want this that is…” now it was the blonde’s turn to feel a little embarrassed.
“It’s all I ever wanted...” he whispered.
Lucy dipped her head in and brought the fire mage’s lips to hers in a tender kiss. They pulled back a few inches to gaze into one another’s eyes.
“Your lips are so soft,” Natsu whispered. “Softer than I imagined…”
They both gave a soft smile as they dipped in for another kiss. This one was deeper and more fervent than the last.
“What else have you imagined about me, Natsu?…” the blonde inquired in mirth against his lips.
A smirk grew on the slayer’s face. He had more confidence behind his stance now and had a deliberate hold on the celestial mage’s hips.
“Hmmm…” he started. “Would you like me to show you, Luce?”
“What do you think?” She said against his lips.
“I want to hear you say it…”
Lucy rolled her eyes as she tried to hide her blush. “I want you to show me, Nastu.”
Natsu ran his hands up and down her curves. “Do you want the sweet fluffy stuff or something a little more like those naughty books and toys in your secret spot?”
Lucy pulled back away from the fire mage. “WHAT?!” Lucy gasped in horror. It was bad enough that Natsu and Happy raided her panty drawer on nearly a daily basis, but she never expected them to find her sexy things. Gods, WHY?!
“Oh hush, Luce. Don’t worry.” Natsu chuckled at her embarrassment. “Happy doesn’t know about it...” he pulled her back to him. “I kept that juicy secret to myself,” he winked and chuckled darkly.
———-
Natsu couldn’t believe what he found in the pink box about a month ago. He had broken into Lucy’s apartment to grab his scarf that he forgot at her place the night before. They’d been drinking and he took it off and his drunk ass forgot about it.
When he had entered the apartment. He had noticed a distinctly sweet mouth-watering scent and was curious to find where it was coming from. He walked across Lucy's mainroom and saw a pink box sticking out from under her bookcase. He took the box out and discovered erotic novels—even some original works done by Lucy—along with some colorful objects. Natsu picked up a bright pink one and examined it. He saw a button on it and pressed it. He heard a hissing coming from the hole at the top of it. He didn’t feel any air coming out and he placed his finger onto the hole and it sucked at his flesh. Natsu wasn’t quite sure what the stuff was until he dug a little more and spotted a purple dick with a sanction cup at the base. Realization hit him like a punch from Gildarts. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Natsu couldn’t believe his eyes. Hopelessly romantic Lucy had a kinky side to her after all. He was so turned on at the thought of her using the toys for her pleasure and quite honestly it preoccupied many of his thoughts of the past month—especially when he was alone. He secretly tried to catch her in the act of using these things, but he couldn’t figure out when she was going to do it…But he always knew when she had done it based on her scent. If he was totally honest with himself though, he was also jealous that these play things were seeing some Lucy action.
————
“You’re such a naughty girl, Lucy…” he said in a husky tone, reaching his hand around to spank her perfect ass.
“Ugh, don’t say it like that,” Lucy whined into her hands. Her face was so hot with embarrassment that she thought her skin would melt right off.
Natsu pulled her hands away from her face. “Don’t be embarrassed. Sorry ‘bout teasing you.” Natsu’s face had a mischievous grin painted on it. “I’m just hoping that I get to see some of the action that the things inside your box get.”
Natsu caught the blonde’s lips into a passionate kiss as he placed her hands behind his neck. He moved his hands slowly down her curves and around her round ass, squeezing it as he pulled her tightly against him. Lucy moaned as she felt his arousal up against her.
“See, just thinking about you using those on yourself, turns me on, Luce,” he continued.
Natsu thrusted up against her. Lucy let out another moan and tilted her head back to surrender her neck to him. She still wore his scarf. The slayer unwound the scarf from around her neck, revealing his bite mark from earlier. He placed tender sucking kisses around it and moved up to suck on her pulse point. She knotted her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck and tugged lightly. Natsu let out a groan and his hands made way to the zipper on Lucy’s dress.
He captured her kiss swollen lips again as he slowly slid the zipper down. Natsu pulled at the soft hem of her dress. Lucy released her lips from the slayer’s. She pulled the dress over her head and tossed it to the floor. Natsu pulled Lucy back to him, but when he placed his hands on her hips he did not feel smooth skin. He looked down in confusion. Natsu took a small step back. He gasped as he took in the angelic beauty before him. She was wearing a dark pink cropped bustier that was sheer laced lined. She even had matching laced panties. The color of her lingerie was her color. It brought out every breathtaking feature— the delicate pink flush under her glowing skin; her lips that were a perfect rose pink; her chocolate brown eyes that sparkled like the stars. She’d never looked more beautiful. He wasn’t sure what he did in life to deserve such favor from the gods, but he made a note to send a thank you card to someone.
“—Uh—W-Wow—-um—Were y-you actually planning to get laid tonight?” Natsu asked in confusion. His awe struck eyes were stuck on looking at her perfect figure. The slayer started to feel light headed. He was sure that every single drop of blood that he had had rushed south.
“No, of course not. People can wear lingerie for themselves too, you know,” Lucy rolled her eyes.
“I really like it.” A wide grin grew on Natsu’s face as he traced his fingers across the delicate fabric. “Although, I don’t remember this being in your collection…”
Lucy rolled her eyes again and slapped his chest. Natsu’s eyes lit up with fire and he tackled the blonde onto the bed.
“Oh! So you want BDSM?…” He said in a chuckle as he held the celestial mage's arms down against the white duvet.
“Nats—!”
Natsu's hand instantly covered her mouth. “Hush kitten, I did not tell you to speak,” he said in a mock macho tone.
Lucy couldn’t help but giggle. Nastu’s silliness was one of the things she adored most about him. “Apologies, sir.”
“Now that’s more like it…” he purred as he sat back, releasing her arms. He spotted his scarf at the end of the bed and grabbed it. “Now bring your hands together.”
Lucy’s eyebrows raised. Wait—Were they actually doing this?
Natsu saw the hint of concern in Lucy’s eyes. “Don’t worry. It’s gonna be pretty tame tonight because we don’t have the right—uh— equipment ,” Natsu winked. Natsu brought his scarf up to her wrists.
“This okay?” He asked looking into her eyes looking for any sign of hesitancy. A little dumbfounded, Lucy nodded.“If you want this, I need you to verbally consent, Luce.”
“Yes, it’s okay with me,” she said with a soft smile. Her chest warmed at Nastu’s mindfulness towards her. He truly cared about her wants and needs and boundaries. Although she was a little nervous for what was to come, she trusted him completely.
As Natsu wrapped the scarf around her wrists he raised his brows up and down suggestively. Lucy let out another small giggle. Luckily, the headboard was a rod iron one so he lifted her arms above her head and secured the scarf around one of the rods.
Now secured to the bed, Lucy looked at Natsu. Still above her, he sat back a bit and smirked. Lucy’s breath caught in her throat at the way his eyes looked at her with such awe and need. She would normally say she had butterflies in her stomach, but they were more like busy buzzing honey bees sending vibrations of anticipation throughout her entire body.
Natsu continued to gaze at the heavenly prize underneath him. She was even tied up with a bow. He had to be dreaming and if he was, he had no desire to wake up.
Lucy blushed and looked away from his heated stare. “Okay…y- you can stop staring now,” she said, feeling self-conscious.
“It’s hard not too,” Natsu said, face splitting grin. “‘Sides, since you’re tied up now you can’t hit me for checking you out.”
Natsu did a very slow up and down look of her curvaceous figure. Due to the competitive nature of their relationship, she decided that the slayer needed to stop being so smug. He had forgotten that her legs had all her power. She quickly shifted her hips to the left and tried to throw a kick to his noggin. Natsu caught her at her ankle before she could make contact. His eyes turned to a deep obsidian speckled with red and his toothy grin now looked more menacing. Lucy noticed black runes start to climb up the length of just his forearms. The slayer looked predatory.
He narrowed his eyes. “So that’s how you want to play…” he purred. He gave her heated kisses, starting at her ankle and slowly made his way up. Electricity started to pulse low in her abdomen. Lucy’s breath shook when he got to the very top of her thigh. Her mind drifted to imagining the feeling of his warm mouth against her center and she let out a whimper. Natsu gave a breathy chuckle and looked at the blonde who’s dark eyes were the size of saucers. He crawled back up to her so that their faces were inches away from one another.
“What is it Lucy?” He whispered with a smug grin. “Something you’re hoping to happen just then?”
He left one hand to keep himself positioned above as the other grazed fingers lightly down her arm, up her neck, and to her slightly parted lips. He looked at her with hooded and hungry eyes. She instinctively tried to pull her arms down wanting to tangle her fingers in his hair and pull him in, but she huffed at the resistance she felt at her wrists. She groaned and slightly pouted her lip. Natsu gave a knowing smile. Wanting to have some sort of control over the situation she settled for just kissing his runed finger tip.
“Oh this is gonna be a lotta fun,” He said. “I’m all fired up now!”
The blonde gave a wink wrapped her lips around the finger and sucked it into her mouth. Natsu’s breath caught. He was not expecting that. Her tongue gave tantalizing licks and she moaned softly still continuing to suck him. He groaned as he felt his cock twitch to the sensual attention his finger was getting. Gods, how he wanted her warm, beautiful mouth around his other appendage.
Natsu shook his head trying to clear those thoughts for right now. He had a tied up bombshell blonde to explore and tease.
He removed his finger from her mouth and dragged it down her neck and across her chest. The wet trail caused goosebumps in its wake. He brought his lips to hers and gave her long passionate kisses. His tongue caressed her lower lip and Lucy responded with more fervor. The heat in her core continued to build. She tried to speed up the pace trying to create the same need in Natsu. He bit her lip in retaliation and tugged.
“Always trying to be the boss,” he muttered.
He released her lips and planted kisses down her neck and settled with sucking the base of her neck. Lucy’s chest pushed up against his in response.
Natsu grazed his fingers over the sheer lace covering her breasts and circled around the pink buds. Lucy’s legs squirmed in anticipation as she felt her arousal increase. She wanted to feel more of his hands. Natsu adjusted his position on top of Lucy and brought his face down to her breasts. His tongue now copied the patterns that his fingers previously practiced. Lucy groaned again. It felt like she was only getting samplings of his actions. She wanted to feel his mouth against her bare skin, but the lace was the barrier to that reality. She pulled on her restraint in frustration, but it also felt so good for him to tease her like that.
“N-Natsu p-please…” she whispered.
The slayer then brought one of the buds into his mouth through the offensive fabric. Lucy’s head fell back into the pillows and her toes keened as she felt her inner walls clench from the tension that was building.
Natsu blew cool air on the wetted fabric taking in the blonde's reactions. “How’s this feeling, kitten ?”
“S-so good—please I need—AH!” Her back arched off the bed as Natsu captured her other nipple into mouth with more intensity and hunger. He rolled her other nipple in between his very thumb and forefinger.
Lucy became more and more flustered at the lack of attention her bottom half was getting. She now was beginning to truly comprehend the powerlessness that came with being tied up. No matter how much her body craved to rush through to relief, she was completely at Natsu’s mercy. So she had to lay with her sensations and her anticipations and fully acknowledge her dirtiness and how she wanted every single piece of his erotic touch that she could get.
Natsu loved the reactions the beautiful blonde underneath him gave from his touches. Her chest heaved and her skin was flushed. He continued to tease her nipple with his mouth and added scrappings of his teeth. The slayer then trailed his hand down her belly and to her heat.
“—P-Please!” Lucy encouraged.
Natsu’s hot fingers glided across her folds covered in lace. Taking inspiration from his previous teases, he decided to only touch her through her panties.
With his fingers pushed against the fabric he glided them in between her warm folds. Lucy moaned again and Natsu groaned along with her as he felt her arousal soak the lace. How lucky he was to have this goddess at his mercy and enjoy every touch of his. He really tried to maintain his dominant bravado, but it was becoming a real challenge.
“Fuck, Luce—” the slayer said in husky whispers. His dick ached wanting to take full advantage. “—I want you so badly right now—”
Lucy’s heart skipped a beat and her breath became labored. Lucy begged him for more again.
“—But you have to be good and cum for me before I can take you,” Natsu continued.
“Natsu, p-please!” She pleaded.
He swirled his fingers up to her pleasure point and rubbed the fabric against it. The sweet friction of the fabric against her clit was euphoric. Natsu returned to sucking on her neck as he continued his work on her center. Lucy tugged and pulled against the scarf wanting so badly to touch him and herself. Everything was becoming overwhelming and she craved sweet relief.
Natsu doubled his efforts and thrusted his erection against Lucy.
Lucy cursed from the sensations and want.
“Gods! Please don’t stop—AH!“ She begged. Every muscle in her body was wound so tight that her muscles twitched for some relief. She felt the familiar drop in her stomach as she began to climb her way to ecstasy. Screaming the slayer’s name, she went over the edge as her hips writhed against him.
Natsu smelled the familiar sweet scent of her pleasure. He sat up and continued to rub her clit as she rode out her orgasm. “I need to taste you…” he groaned.
In an instant, Natsu pulled her lace panties down her legs and off of her. She squealed as she felt his hot tongue against her lapping at her core. Finally she got to feel him against her bare skin, that was now hyper aware to his touch due to the depravity of it from before. Natsu groaned at the sweet taste of her pleasure and craved to have her come undone under his hungry mouth. He sucked and his tongue teased against her mound of nerves and he traced a finger around her entrance.
“F-FUCK,” the blonde yelled as she threw her head back in delight. Her restraint started to give her a little burn around her wrists from all the pulling.
Natsu felt her tense and he plunged two fingers inside of her and sent Lucy into another mountainous climax.
When she came back to earth she was nearly in tears from the overwhelming sensations her body was experiencing. She needed him as an anchor to hold herself together.
“N-Natsu, p-please, I w-wanna touch you-u,” the celestial mage begged.
Natsu complied with the blonde’s request and made quick work of untying his scarf from around her wrists. Lucy sat up and met his lips in hunger and finally tangled her one of her hands into his hair and the other reached around his back to pull him aggressively against her.
“Natsu-u——-please——I-I need you inside me,” she said between kisses.
There were so many more things he wanted to do with the blonde, but he also didn’t know how much longer he could hold off. His carnal need to take her as his was completely taking over. He began to take off his vest in haste. Lucy went directly for his belt and made quick work of his zipper. She slipped her hand past the waistband of his boxers and stroked him. Now feeling him totally, she knew she would be filled to the absolute brim and stretched to perfection. Her walls tightened in the anticipation of feeling him. They moaned in unison. Natsu breathed curses.
Lucy helped him pull down his pants and boxers. He quickly kicked them from his legs. The slayer knew he would regret destroying it later but now he didn’t care—he brought both hands to her lacy bustier and swiftly tore it down the center. He expected the blonde to berate him, but she continued to kiss him as though she needed his mouth to live.
He dug his fingertips into the bare flesh of hips. She fell back on the bed and brought him with her. She widened the space between her legs and Natsu brought one hand down to line up his shaft with her. Lucy whined as she felt his tip against her.
“Ready Luce?…Or should I make you beg?…” he thrusted against her opening.
“Mmmm—Please!—p-please take me, Natsu!” she answered breathlessly.
Natsu pushed inside of her fully sheathing himself to the hilt. “Fu-uck,” he hissed.
Lucy gasped at the feeling of being filled and quickly adjusted her hips to compensate. She then wrapped her legs around Natsu's hips pulling him more against her. Natsu groaned and steadied himself with his hands on her hips and began to thrust into her over and over again. Lucy’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she yelled praises and affirmations of her pleasure.
Natsu adjusted his position and took her naked erect buds into his mouth and teased and nipped at them. Surprisingly, Lucy quickly found herself climbing again to absolute ecstasy. Natsu noticed the familiar signs to her previous assenstions to her climaxes and prayed he would last long enough to get her there. The slayer rubbed his thumb against her pleasure point. Natsu felt Lucy’s warm walls clamp down on him and pulsate. He came instantly from the glorious sensations. He realized quickly though that his dick was not totally satisfied with one go.
Lucy was an incoherent mess at this point and her head was spinning. Her body trembled and was much more lax.
“I’m not done with you yet, Luce.”
“Wha-a—?…” Her eyes barely opened to look at him.
He quickly flipped her onto her side and spanked her ass. She let out a surprised squeal.
“Wake up, Lucy. I know you haven’t had enough of me yet. I’m going to try to get you one more time, kitten.”
Natsu straddled her leg that was laying against the bed and lifted her other one against his shoulder.
“Fuck! You’re going to s-split me in half-“ she giggled breathlessly. He lined up and pounded into her again. Lucy’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open to an “O” as she felt overwhelming sensations coming from her core that she had never experienced before.
“Oh gods!! Right there Natsu—-more!”
“Shit, Luce,— I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you—You feel so fuckin good—” He picked up his pace and dug his fingers into her flesh. “C’mon Luce—cum for me one more time—”
“Harder! I need more!”
Natsu chuckled. The vixen wanted more? More she will get. “Careful what you wish for…” he warned.
The runes expanded to the rest of his arms, torso, and face. The black horns grew from his pink locks. With his demon power now in full effect he picked up his pace too inhumanely fast and slammed into her with all of his strength. Lucy cursed so loud that Natsu was sure everyone in the baths 4 floors down could hear her.
Lucy cried out one final time and her body shook vigorously as she felt the waves of her pleasure filled climax rolling over and over again through her body. Her eyes watered from the overwhelming sensations. Her walls held on tight to the slayer’s shaft and milked him to completion once again. He slowed his pace and chuckled at the sight of the mumbling blonde that was trying to keep her eyes open. His hand patted her butt tenderly, “Good girl,” he said, still trying to catch his breath. Lucy hummed her approval. Natsu rescinded his demon form completely and pulled out of her.
“Okay I think I’m going to need a little break,” the celestial mage breathed out.
Natsu chuckled, “You and me both.”
He plopped down beside the blonde and wrapped his arms around her. He nuzzled his face into her golden locks that smelled of strawberries. He gave her a soft kiss on her shoulder and closed his eyes perfectly content in the moment.
—————-
Natsu awoke to the morning sun cutting through the curtains. He squinted and tried to roll over away from the light, but found that a pretty naked blonde laying pretty much on top of him. He smiled and closed his eyes to fall back asleep. But then he remembered a little blue cat was supposed to sleep in this room as well. He vaguely remembered hearing banging and someone calling his name, but he thought it was a dream. His eyes widened when he realized the implications of Happy being locked out of the room with Natsu and Lucy inside. He was hoping they could keep this new development under wraps for a bit, but the cat was out of the bag now or the room, rather. Oops…
Now he faced the problem, to wake Luce so they could face this thing head on or just live out the rest of their days in this room avoiding all contact with others and the outside world.
Lucy stirred and lazily blinked her eyes open. “Mmm…Natsu? What time is it?… Everyone should be coming back from the baths soon…”
“Yeah…about that…”
Lucy lifted her head to look at the slayer. She raised her eyebrows in question.
“Luce, we slept through the entire night…It’s morning…”
Lucy’s body stiffened and her eyes widened. “No…” she whispered. Her neck and face began to flush.
“Yeah… I’m not sure if we can talk ourselves out of this one…”
“W-we—w-we could tell them that—that we just fell asleep and you locked the door out of habit after getting the pizza.”
Natsu raised an eyebrow. “You know, that might just work…” His eyes softened and cupped Lucy's face in one of his hands. “Or we can tell them that I’m in love with you.”
Lucy gasped and the blush returned to her cheeks. She looked away, “Natsu…don’t tease me like that...”
“Lucy, I’m not joking.” Lucy looked up and into his ebony eyes. “I love you.” He pulled the celestial mage up to meet his lips and poured his love into their kiss.
A tear trailed down Lucy’s cheek, “I love you two, Natsu.” The pair brought their lips together again and passion began to rise quickly. Natsu pulled Lucy completely on top of him.
“Ready for round 2?…” he said with a smirk.
But then there was a loud knock at the door.
“Natsuuuu! Luuuucy! Are you two done making kittens yet?!…” Happy called through the door.
Lucy froze and paled and then flushed to the color of Erza’s hair.
With a huge grin, Natsu rolled both of them over so he was now on top of Lucy. Natsu could hear the smug Exceed laughing under his paw. Happy must’ve thought they were both so embarrassed and they would be totally at his mercy. Natsu decided to double down.
“Not yet, Happy—Come back later!”