midnightstar | Happy Holidays Charlie Brown! .. oh wait wrong canon

Christmas and Thanksgiving were going to be difficult holidays for Regina and the kids. They had, for the most part, mended from the deaths of their friends, but this would also be the first Christmas slash Thanksgiving without them. So for that afternoon, she decided to let Natsu distract the kids and the dog for the time being. More than likely they were bundled up and jumping in piles of leaves outside, or begging Natsu for more demonstrations. As for herself, she went to help distract Regine with preparing food. Happily, Regina only took Lucy's bright smile for her natural demeanor and not for any other reasons.

On the other hand, Lucy hadn't been able to stop smiling since the night she and Natsu were.. er.. very intimate together. Assuming she didn't drift off into a dreamy spacey mode when she thought no one was looking. And if she actually saw him, forget it - it took everything she had not to grab him and hold him close. Heck, before that night she had difficulty keeping her eyes off him - it was more so now. SO it was probably for the best that she had something like cooking and entertaining Regine to occupy her attention.

If Regine noticed the way Lucy's conversation chatter kept turning to the topic of Natsu unconsciously, she didn't mention it, though she did seem amused for some reason. Currently the ladies were discussing options for the dinner - the kids wanted to start eating spicier food to - obviously - be more like Natsu after all.

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Admit defeat? Never! "Hmph, al.. all right, fine I will!" Just give her a minute to think of a good excuse. ... ... Wait, what was she supposed to be sounding convincing about again?

OH right! Weaknesses! Yeah that's..easy. "The fact that I can still string words together to form a coherent sentence is proof enough that.. that you don't know all my weaknesses, right?" Right?

Lucy. Lucy do you realize what you've done. Laying that kind of challenge before him. That was nothing short of suicide.

"That's it? Well then why don't we take this to our room. You won't be standing much longer let alone talking once I get serious~"

.... oops. That... that was definitely a big oops.

That statement left her speechless for a second, struggling to come up with a response as her face - not to mention the rest of her - started to turn scarlet. "A...ahah, t..that's ... that's an easy boast to make..." She managed after several minutes of mental choking.

... "All right, then. Why don't we..." She agreed finally, accepting his challenge because she was obviously suicidal. Death by Dragonslayer. Yep, that's what will be on her tombstone. "Are you trying to say you... you weren't serious before..?"

It was so easy to fluster her. THen again it wasn't like he didn't mean to live up to his claims. Oh no no no she started this game and he was going to hold her to it to the very end.

"You know what I'm like when I'm serious~ You felt it plenty~"

Getting too flustered. Definitely getting too flustered. She pivoted to pull out of his arms and walk back to their room, her mind scrambling for a defense, grabbing for the first thing that popped in her head.

"Oh, so that's the best you could do when you're serious?"

... she clapped a hand over her mouth. FILTER. FILTER WAS NOT ON. Why. WHY did she just dig her own grave? Did she like teasing him -that- much? She.. she should just stop saying things.

Of all the things to say to his face that was the least smartest one. Because Natsu leveled her with such a gleeful look in his eyes. She'd just given him permission to go even further than before~

"I didn't say that." Natsu chuckled and got ready to throw Lucy over his shoulder if she didn't run off to try and evade him.

It's not her fault! Her mouth filter was off! She paused at his response, a chill of doom running up her back. She glanced over her shoulder for a half a second, But that look on Natsu's face - oh dear lord. "..!"

RUN LUCY RUN! She dodged just barely out of the way of his grab, bolting like ..like a kitty being chased down by a dragon who's been poked with a stick too much. Save me house~! Save me doors~!

Well.. even if she DID close the door on him, he'd probably just climb in the window wouldn't he. And to add insult to injury, he'd be /smug/.

Run little mage. This firedragon will track you down regardless. Which he does when he puts his hand on the window sill while saying in a sing song growl.

"Luuuuu~Cyyyyyy~"

Why she thought locking the door would keep him out --

Okay let's be honest, she knew it wouldn't and it was aaaall part of the game. She was actually chuckling when she went up to the room, closing -that- door too, breathing a sigh as if she was safe for even a second.

HA. That sing-song growl made her whip about in surprise. "Ack! You tracked me down already!?!" Oh noes, woe is her, whatever will she do~!?a

He's already got one leg over the window by the time she turns around. She just locked herself in with the ravenous dragon. Or maybe that was her intention from the start. Either way Natsu climbed into the room and closed in on his lovely prey with a mischievous chuckle.

"You didn't really make it hard for me~"

If interrogated by a crowd of her peers she'd swear it wasn't her intention-probably-maybe. "A-ah, well.. I guess I'll have to make it hard for you next time." She grinned, backing away as he closed in on her. Not... that she could actually get away - even if she tried to unlock the door she'd have to turn her back on him and that was dangerous!

"You can try~"

And if he would be around to hear of it, he would be calling her bluff for all to know. As it was however they were alone in their room and Natsu wasn't done being mischievous. She could turn her back on him. However he would grab her from behind and that would leave plenty of her weakpoints exposed to his lips.

"We should keep it quiet though. After all those two kids should be sleeping~" That didn't mean he was stopping.

She did consider it, and decided that way lay madness. His comment of keeping it quiet got another scarlet blush, remembering the last time was anything but. Of course, that time no one was at the guild so it didn't matter. "I-I know that.."

Though she couldn't help but tease him, "I suppose that's extra incentive with the house, huh?"

Ohohoh for once her distraction tactics actually work as intended however he still cages her up against the door, his face coming even closer to Lucy's though the look of mischievousness softens a little.

"Well that's one reason. I also like the idea of living in a place I made with my own hands for us~" And slowly he put his hand up against her cheek. His warmer than normal hand isn't uncomfortable though and he's clearly leaning closer now.

She skirted a quick glance to the left and right. If she were intending to make it hard for him, like she had jokingly said she would, she could duck under his arm if he tried caging her in next time. Though that could also backfire if he was still quick enough to grab her.

Also she should stop thinking about ways to trick him and make things hard for him - he had ways of reading her mind, it was positively scary he knew her so well. And vice versa. She glanced back at him at the warmth of his hand against her cheek, smiling at her mischievous dragon. "Heem. Well I can't say that you're the only one who likes that idea."

... "O-of living in a place you made I mean." Not... the other thing. Although that wasn't a bad idea either --er, moving on!~

If he was out to cage her then any opening she could slip through was going to be minuscule at best. Natsu rubbed the bad of his thumb over Lucy's cheek lovingly as he let himself drown in those brown eyes of hers.

"Won't be long now. But I can't wait that long to do this." Natsu said and closed that final distance to press his lips against Lucy's.

Well if that's the case then her clever idea of ducking under his arms to 'escape' wouldn't work out at all. Lucy chuckled slightly, "I'm just kidding. There's no real rush.." At the end of the day they were together. Like they should be.

"..well I think that would be excessively cruel to make you wait." That long. No sir, there were no complaints from her either, with as much as he wanted to look at her. It gave her the same opportunity to take advantage of watching him as much as she liked. And though she teased him earlier, she still felt the thrill of butterflies when he closed in with her, her hands drifting up to rest lightly against his side, her chin tilting up slightly as she smiled into the kiss.

Natsu felt her lips curve into a smile while he pressed them against her's just relishing that beautiful warmth and softness he always found in Lucy. He canted his head to the side and pushed up closer to her body, not wanting to miss even a moment of the delight of just feeling her form pressed up to his.

His hands slowly fell from the door and came to rest on Lucy's hips as a low rumbling noise started coming from Natsu as the kiss went on for longer and longer.

His closeness and warmth was always so addicting to her, she didn't think she'd ever get her fill. Her heart raced in circles and as he pressed up closer against her, she let her hands slip from his sides just enough that she could circle his waist with her arms. As if he was even thinking about moving away. She wanted him to stay close to her.

Although the longer the kiss lingered, the more that she was reminded she would need to catch a breath at some point. That was when her lips parted against his, gasping in a soft breath and -- well he's kind of got her against the door here so she couldn't very well lean back -- took a second or two to catch her breath, her eyes opening to look at him at the sound of that rumble. That .. noise just..she didn't know why it had the effect on her it did. It just appealed to her, that content noise.

He reluctantly pulled his lips away from Lucy's when she tried to take that breath she so direly needed. That being said he barely moved away from her even without that determined hold she had over him. He loved being held by LUcy. It didn't matter from where as long as it was nice and close.

"Mmmm now that's what I call an appetizer~" he purred softly, licking his own lips looking very happy with himself.

Lucy's smile only warmed that much more as she got her breathing back under control, and chuckled softly at how happy he looked. And why shouldn't he be happy? For the matter why shouldn't she be happy? She was probably the happiest she could ever be.

"Appetizer?" She echoed, when she managed to speak. "Didn't you already have dinner?" ... wait, what?

The correct answer would be she shouldn't not be happy. That was what drove him on the most ever since they met. It was a kind of requirement that just popped into existence without his conscious prompting.

Her response to his little flirting tease actually made him pause for a moment. Wasn't she supposed to be the writer with the wild imagination?

"I did but I'm talking about a different kind of meal."

It always takes her brain a little bit to restart once she got in close to him. More importantly...

IS THAT AN OPENING SHE SEES.

Well, whether it is or not, his explanation clues her in quickly, and she jumps at the chance to try to get a foot in the door of that opening. "Well in that case," she pulled him in closer, leaning up to brush her cheek against his, nuzzling against him with a purr of her own. "Wouldn't it be more accurate to say dessert?" She even nipped his ear a little, playfully.

An opening? Maybe. Natsu never prevented her from trying to fight back by attacking his own weaknesses. That being said he secretly enjoyed it quite a bit when she was the one doing the pulling. He loved seeing how much she wanted him closer to her than any other man had ever been with her.

The nuzzling left him speechless until the nip on his ear earned Lucy a rumbling noise of satisfaction.

"Well I suppose you're mmmm sweet enough to be a dessert~"

Either way she was taking advantage of it. And there was no question of how close she wanted him to her. She'd been too long holding herself back from wanting to hold him in her arms, she was never going to catch up to herself. But that was okay, she didn't want to.

And with him held close like this, she couldn't help but marvel at how perfectly she fit against him, nuzzling under his chin and against his neck affectionately. Being called sweet enough to be a dessert got a couple of giggles out of her, just on how silly it was, but she lifted her head with broad smile, shifting her arms from around his waist to around his neck in order to pull him closer still. "..mm..., Natsu...?" She hesitated a moment, sure he was going to laugh at her. "Do you believe in a thing like soulmates..?"