Chapter Text
"Go on, I want to see what you got," Natsu smirks.
"I'm not sure about this," Lucy says small. "Can't I use a bow?"
"Not this time."
In the early morning, the forest has come alive, scents spring up energetically and animals scamper among the foliage. Reflecting in the light of a calm river is the sturdy body of a doe drinking from the water's edge, the doe's fur pristine, nose delicate and one hoof cautiously testing the cold water with a light step inward. In the autumn haze of the trees, Natsu must admit it's a pretty sight but it's not going to last for long. He and Lucy hide behind a sturdy oak tree, acorns rolling under their feet and colorful leaves matted to the forest floor. In all the time that he's known Lucy, not once has he seen her hunt, only gathering berries and other non-exciting items. It's about time he let her enjoy the thrill of the hunt, although she doesn't seem too keen on taking down a doe with her bare hands.
He's also got something else in mind doing this.
"It's easy. All you have to do is get the animal by the muzzle—but don't get bitten!—and twist the head," Natsu says eager, leaning against the tree. This far away, the doe shouldn't hear them.
"That sounds horrible," Lucy blanches.
"It's no different from putting an arrow in its neck. It dies either way."
"You're not wrong ..."
"You're scared? That's it, isn't it?" he mocks, getting near her face with a devilish grin. "Chicken Lucy. Can't take down one simple doe with her hands."
Her jaw tightens. "I can, too."
"I thought you said you've killed bigger animals. I should have known better." He waves his hand as if blowing away an awful stench. "Chickening out on such an easy kill—you sure are a silly girl."
"Alright! If I do this, will you quit with that tone of yours?"
"What tone? I'm only stating the truth."
She grabs the front of his pelt vest, tugging on the material to have him trip a little. "You're helping me. I'm not about to get bitten by a stupid deer because you can't shut your mouth."
"Alright, I'm good for that," he smirks smug.
Luckily, the doe stuck around during their argument, loitering by the river with its ears swiveling to listen to the sounds of the forest. The mourning doves coo softly in the branches above and squirrels chase one another up and across trees.
Despite this hunt being meant for Lucy alone, there's something about being on the prowl besides her that sets Natsu's belly swirling with glee. They crouch low to the ground behind a large bush, its dense branches enough to keep them concealed. They can see the doe through the lower half of the bush where its branches are lifted from ground. The doe is upwind, keeping their scents in the light breeze away from the animal's nose and giving them the element of surprise. For Natsu, on the other hand, the scent of meat and blood, alive and pulsating, has anticipation rush through his limbs, compelling him to run, capture and devour.
Lucy's posture doesn't look like she's ready to give chase, more like she's trying not to get dirty while kneeling beside him. Her eyes do stay focused on the doe, but the scheming in her head on how to kill the doe as clean and swiftly as possible leaves her not in the right mindset to do this. Lying on his belly next to her, Natsu gets annoyed at her calculating ways—having her think like that defeats the whole purpose of this hunt. He reaches up and pushes her down to the ground.
Lucy swats his hands away. "Hey—"
"Stay low," he instructs quiet. "I don't know how you usually hunt but it's obvious you're not used to doing this."
"I usually hide in the trees. You know that. I can get a good shot from a height like that," she sighs harsh.
"When you're on the ground, you're going to want to rely on speed. Get your legs ready to run and gather your breath. Let go of that prim and proper way you were raised."
In an almost troubling manner, Lucy begins to delicately rip up the grass and her eyes narrow in thought, as if what he said pierced her mind. A blush rushes across her face, but from what exactly he's not sure. She's been blushing like mad around him as of lately and if it was difficult to understand why she blushed before, it's impossible to understand now.
The animalistic instinct all humans carry has been shoved down for Lucy—Natsu can tell from the way she holds herself back. She was raised in the Female Tribe to have too much self-control, almost to the point of stifling her own body in more ways than one. That's exactly why he wants her to do this. If she can get in touch with the more instinctual side of herself, then perhaps she won't be afraid of getting close to him anymore. They haven't kissed in a long while, and he thought at first that she was outright rejecting him, reverting to how she acted when she was first brought home. It took him a while, but after her vague explanation a little while ago, he came to realize that she wasn't spiteful but rather embarrassed to get near him.
That drove him nuts on the inside.
How in the seven hells is she embarrassed to be near him now after all this time? He knows why. It's because she thinks too much. He's told her before not to do that, it causes her too much grief, but she goes and does it anyway. They've done lots of kissing before and, screw it, even gone beyond that, the Harvest Festival coming to mind, but now she's acting like kissing is the end of the world, and it's all because she overthinks things. She's not rejecting him entirely, not when he's the one that willingly lets her go when he sees how unhinged she gets, but it still stings, dammit, and by this point it's getting annoying. He gets being nervous with the unknown, but nervousness hasn't completely stopped him in a long time. So why does it still affect her? Diving into the unknown is fun, a new adventure to go on. If it's with Lucy, then that's all the better.
He'll teach her that getting in touch with the more inhuman side of her that whispers what to do with the soul rather than the mind isn't a bad thing.
Natsu lowers his head a little to see Lucy's conflicting eyes better. "When Igneel taught me to hunt, he told me to see myself as a dragon, never as a human. Bring up that wild, bold feeling of what it means to be a hunter. It should be screaming in your gut."
"I don't know about that," she says uncertain.
"What do you do when you're up in the trees?"
"I would perch, waiting for something to come along."
"Then you could say you were like a ... a hawk! If you're in a tree, you need talons to hold onto the branches. You need wings to balance at such a height. Eyes sharp to see the smallest of pray below."
"I suppose," she says, the tinniest hint of recognition coming to her voice.
"Down here on the ground, if you need claws to dig into the earth, then so be it. If you need fangs to rip flesh, then feel them grow in your mouth. If you need strength, build it up, feel it in your muscles and don't hold back."
"I never thought of it like that."
He jabs a finger at her. "That, right there. Don't do that. Don't think—just go."
"I can see the benefits behind not thinking and just going with it. I have a friend, Cana, who often does that, but that's mainly because she's drunk. It did work out for the best a while ago when we were looking at flowers ... What's the point in acting like a wild animal? What if the doe escapes because we can't control ourselves? We're looking for food, not having fun."
"I haven't come home empty handed yet and I don't hunt any other way," he says matter-of-fact.
Lucy thrums her fingers against the ground, the grass under her hand torn apart. Once again, her mind crafts a way to see reason in what they're doing.
"You have ten seconds to think. I ain't waiting for ya," he says.
"Hold on a moment," she insists.
In the silence that follows, having Natsu realize that ten seconds is longer than he thought, Lucy can understand the thrill of the hunt despite her earlier questions. He knows this for certain due to the way her scent spikes with anticipation, steadily overriding her thoughts and letting her come to realize that predator and prey exist for a reason. It makes him grin. There's no point in denying the inner animal when needed and she knows that.
Lucy lifts her chin proudly and their eyes lock in the intensity of the nearing chase, her eyes holding a spark in them that catches Natsu's breath. His words have reached deep down into a part of herself that he was hoping she would find, maybe even further than expected. Seeing that, a baser instinct in him strikes at the base of his spine, calling to provide for her more intensely than before.
He smirks sharp. "You feel it?"
"I—yeah, I can," she nods quickly. "I'm not exactly a hunter like you are but I'll give this a try." She mummers to herself. "I'm sick of acting like a mouse around you."
He raises an eyebrow at that but doesn't comment. "You can do this, Lucy. I know you can."
That sparkle in her eyes ignites into a flame, roaring to form into a predatory glare.
Does the thrill of the hunt coil in her stomach? Does she sense her inner animal crawling below the skin? For Natsu, it will always be a dragon his spirit molds into, boiling in his veins and, strangely enough, beginning to acknowledge Lucy as something other than a hunting partner in this moment. He needs to have her here with him, to rival in the same hunger and to make sure that she's taken care of.
He snorts hot air through his nostrils to clear them out, pushing Lucy's enticing scent from his senses before going back to the doe. It hesitantly moves away from the river towards a bundle of bushes, it's hooves light against the ground and creating not a sound above the fallen leaves.
Lucy hunches in preparation to spring around the bushes, but Natsu knows it's too soon.
"Wait a little more," he instructs.
A low groan of complaint comes from her but she does listen to him, grimacing with impatience. "You tell me to go wild and then make me wait. Make up your mind."
Her scent of lust for the hunt brushes under his nose, an almost shocking thing to smell coming from Lucy. What exactly has he awoken within her? When she lets go of her more logical side, that inner animal of hers consumes all reasoning. If she gets like this from a doe, then what's going to happen if he kisses her senseless right now …?
Making sure that she doesn't make a mistake on her first real hunt, wanting this moment to be rememberable in a good way for her, Natsu takes to covering the back of her hand with his, declawing her from the earth. Her shoulder line stiffens and her eyes do widen slightly, but he's thankful she doesn't push him away. He talks against the shell of her ear. "Wait until its head is in the bushes. It won't be able to hear you coming if it's eating. It needs to be distracted before you can strike."
"Will … will you go with me?" Lucy asks small.
Her lips hover near his, not initiating contact but taking in each other's heated breath during this excitement. She's testing Natsu's control when it feels like there's little to hold onto, his dragon instincts close to the surface and boiling there thanks to a combination of the hunt and her new behavior. For dragons to hunt beside one another shows absolute trust, in both life and death. To hunt beside Lucy almost feels like a privilege, that she's fully accepting him as an all-around partner in the hunt for life.
He weaves his fingers between hers above the back of her hand and his sharp eyes glance at the doe through the bushes. It encroaches closer to a shrub, but he decides they got time.
Natsu snatches Lucy's lips, having her gasp in surprise. He puts as much fierceness into the kiss as she's been giving out in her anticipation for the hunt. She kisses him back—thank the Gods for small favors—and while it is a small amount interest on her part, he can't let up unlike all those times before, even when he knows she's not prepared for how he tilts his head and keeps the pressure up. It's been a while since they've done this, and he hadn't realized how much he missed this kind of contact with her. It's always such a shocker to speak silently through the body, to speak instead with the soul, and if his soul is meant to be a dragon tonight on the hunt, he can dine on the doe for dinner and drink in the sight of Lucy throughout the night.
Natsu backs away when she's obviously had enough, having to turn her head away to breath and calm her raging heart. It's a reaction he'll never get over, not when it means she's overwhelmed by him in a good way. He can tell from her scent how happy she is to finally be this close to him again, even if she looks away as if surprised by what happened.
"Took you long enough to kiss me again," Natsu says.
"I-I ... I had my reasonings," Lucy hesitates. "I think I have some stuff to explain about kissing," she looks back towards the doe, tensing her body, "but we'll do that later."
A branch snaps, having him quickly turn back towards the animal. The doe is distracted with its head in the bushes.
"Let's go for it," he growls heavy. Every instinct within him flares, a need to hunt, a need to show Lucy what he's made of. A need to simply move.
"Uh, yeah, let me re-focus," she pauses. A few deep breaths and a roll of her shoulders later, the spike of desire in her scent comes back, although it's not as strong as before. It's a mixture of need for the hunt to begin and something else, something Natsu's smelled before from Lucy during their kisses. It's a scent he doesn't understand its meaning but knows it must be a good thing.
Sadly, the hunt is over with too quickly for him.
Between the two of them, the doe is mauled to death. Natsu lets lose his desires for the hunt and Lucy displays a new type of behavior that astonishes him. She might not go wild like he does but it's exciting to watch her chase down this living animal with everything she's got, all of them running through the forest, predator and prey. At one point, she cries out like she's the one between them trying to snarl—that's a sound to behold. She catches up with the doe firstly and gets her hands around its muzzle without getting bitten. Natsu wants her to be the one to end it all, to twist its neck and silence its cries, but when he gives her the opportunity, he can see the hesitation behind the flare in her eyes. He doesn't want her to suffer over a decision like that when she isn't fully ready, letting him create the finishing blow to the doe. He got more than what he wanted watching her.
The sound of the neck snapping and its dying breath are things Natsu's used to hearing but now that the doe is no longer alive and the rush of exhilaration from the hunt has passed, what happened bears down on Lucy. And he can tell she's not happy about it.
He drags the doe's body to the river they ran beside and washes its bloody neck, not wanting to attract other predators within the area. He cleans the grime off his hands and silently watching Lucy who, all the while, sits on a large rock near the riverbank. She's taken off her outer fur coat, her body having heated up with the rush of the hunt and leaving her tired from the exertion. The fox pelt that she wears to cover her chest heaves with every breath. She stares at her amulet, turning it over in her hand and seeing how the gold rivers reflect in it.
"What's wrong?" Natsu asks confused. He stands with bare feet in the river and flicks the water from his hands.
"Nothing. I think I ... let this get to my head, you know?" she says, dropping the amulet.
"You did great for your first hunt! Don't be hard on yourself."
"That wasn't my first real hut. It was the way that doe dropped under my hands and the sound of its bones breaking—!" She shakes her head quickly as if trying to ger rid of the sound from her ears. "I shouldn't have helped you. I like it better being high up in the trees. It's not so ... personal."
Natsu snorts in disbelief. "But you enjoyed it."
"I got caught up in the moment."
"That's shit. You're too … you to do such a thing. You put enough thought into this that you drove me crazy. You wanted that hunt to start."
She grimaces, lost for words at being backed into a corner she can't come out of unless she speaks the truth.
"Do you understand what happened when you went after the doe?" he asks slowly.
Lucy stubbornly holds her breath, obviously trying to think of a way out of this. She gives in with a groan of irritation. "Alright, fine. I felt strange. It was more than a need to hunt for food. It was like the world was brighter, the smells more defined … It was a rush of power," she says almost in awe. "I never felt like that before. Like I was dominating the land and the creatures all around should fear my power."
"Exactly! You don't have to be concerned with your thoughts so much if it means what you did felt good."
She leans back on her hands, pushing out her chest in a way that catches his eye, but he quickly focuses back on her worry. Her cheeks remain dusted with a shade of pink and the brown of her eyes is almost swallowed whole by the way her pupils expand to take in every movement around her. That feeling she talked off is lingering below her sense of reasoning, trying to push to the surface and permanently stay there.
"You've given this a lot of thought," Lucy says.
His eyes widen a little. "Have I? Instinct is a part of everyone. I simply wanted you to understand that."
"I already know that. Granted, instinct is such a hard thing to control. I swear, I was going to turn into an animal myself, being on the chase like that," she chuckles.
Natsu's mouth line tightens. "What do you mean by 'you know'? And why would you want to control it?"
"I mean, I know what it's like to have your gut tell you something or … when alarm goes off in your head."
"Anything else?"
"Um, no, not that I can think of."
"Come on, you have to know what I'm talking about," he insists. "Instinct isn't there to tell you to run, or to—to let you know when something's strange. There's more to it."
She frowns. "Hey, I'm a strategist. I think things through and then I do them. While it was fun to let go, I can't do that often. It's not in my nature."
"Too bad. You're going to have to re-learn what instinct means because the way you do it sucks."
She pauses in agitation. "Excuse me for doing things differently then you. I thought I did pretty good on that hunt but now you make it sound like this was some sort of test I failed."
"You did!"
Natsu keeps his place at the river's edge, the sting of the cold water against the scorch of his skin heightening his alert. There are a heavy number of scents to take in wafting in the air—the grass, the water and the sky, animals, oaks, maples, and, above all, Lucy. The stench of left-over sweat clings to her skin. The need for another hunt to begin lingers like a separate pelt layer just above the heat of her body. Lust for power, to run wild. All of that tried to break through in her voice but she refused to acknowledge it. Lucy's trying to control the instinct screaming inside of her.
She's like a goddamn child! And that's saying a lot, considering Natsu can admit to himself that he's not exactly the most mature person out there. How does someone go all their life without realizing the basics on what the body tells you to do? If that's the case, it explains why she's been so hesitant to move forward with their bond. Who the hell cares if they don't know what the future holds? If they're in it together, it's not something bad.
Their bond comes from a place not brought about by reason but by what the heart screams. That's what Natsu believes, yet Lucy holds back every time it feels like they're getting close and heading into new territory between them. Hearing her explanations, it's like a damn insult. Maybe it's his dragon instincts, or maybe it's because he's never had a friendship with another human like this before, but either way, he's had enough. He was hoping that Lucy hunting alongside him would reassure her inner workings, like his words have done so many times before for her. Mostly, it was frustration that compelled him to have her do this, but she continues to have her eyes veiled by this stupid logic of hers.
He'll teach her that instinct isn't a bad thing with his own power if he must.
XxXxXxX
From a young age, Lucy was taught to flow with the land, to not fight against it but to learn it's every curve, bend and call. She would use the land to her advantage and silently hunt those that called it home. In the trees, high above and far away from any animals, it would create a barrier between her and the wild. She was never part of its untamable and savage ways but rather had control over it, making all her kills domestic and quick.
It was Natsu who showed her the forgotten excitement of becoming one with the forces of nature. Instead of backing away and hiding in the trees, she stood firmly on the ground and accepted the forest's way of life. She'd never done that before. It was like letting go and gaining control all at the same time. A call to the wild, while also being at its mercy. That sensation reminds Lucy of Natsu. How it feels to be held in his arms, the pressure of his body and his smoky, home scent. All things that would make her mind stop and anticipation take over, screaming within her. To finally experience that overwhelming sensation at full force, not stopping it half-way through—too aware most of the time of the unforeseen consequences if they continued—in the moment of the hunt, it was exhilarating.
Coming down from a high like that isn't the fun part. The frustration of realizing that what she's been feeling towards Natsu is a new type of instinct makes her want to outright deny it. What other instinctual call could there be if not for survival? That's all she's ever known.
Natsu had her hunt that doe for a reason. She could tell from the start he had an ulterior motive, confirmed more by his questioning after they were done hunting. Normally he doesn't push on things like that, rather enjoying the hunt instead questioning its quality. She doesn't understand why he's taken a sudden interest with her inner instincts, seeming to ask if they're there in the first place. Why would he want to test that?
She thinks Natsu's behavior has something to do with what he said before. He said that what they did wasn't wrong, but he meant much more than that. She could hear his double meaning but can't figure out what he wanted to convey.
As of now, Lucy isn't too sure what Natsu's doing. He's standing in the river with his eyes turned down towards the ground, standing so still that water ripples around his ankles in a steady rhythm. She's thought all of this through while unknowingly staring at Natsu's slate clean face.
Suddenly, he snaps his eyes up to her, a ferial ferocity in them that startles her.
"I don't know what you're doing but you need to stop," Lucy says unsure.
"Prepare yourself," he warns, bending at the knee with intimidating slowness.
The drawl in his tone is not friendly, low and threatening, a danger that sets her stomach dropping. Looking around herself, there's nothing else to suggest his wild intentions are directed at anything but her. Natsu isn't warning her for an unexpected animal attack, but rather to prepare her for an inevitable fight against a human male.
Lucy gets off the boulder she was sitting on, thinking quickly. No way, he's not gonna—! "Don't you dare!" she shouts.
She panics, not knowing what to do besides raise her arms in defense and search for an escape route. It's a futile attempt, because once Natsu makes up his mind on something there's no stopping him. Run and he'll give chase—Lucy can see it in the way his eyes are intense and dark, daring her to do so. He's waiting for her to make the first move. She thinks about simply giving in and admitting defeat, but the disgrace it would bring upon her pride has her internally shrivel.
"You're acting so stupid!" she yells harsh.
He snorts. "Takes stupid to recognize stupid."
"Don't become a smart-ass on me. I've done nothing to want this—and I've told you before, I have no interest in fighting you. Go find Gray or someone else if you're itchin' for a fight."
"Nope. It's gotta be you, Lucy."
Why can't he ask her what he wants to figure out? Why does he have to go through all of this? On top of that, why the heck should she give into this little charade? She doesn't want Natsu to get away with his awful behavior, meaning her only option is to fight.
Lucy's muscles tense, a spring ready to catch Natsu's claws that come out to play, and the heated anger in her brain has her vision tint red, a defiance that says she will not go down without a fight. She's not sure how she can win this, as it'd probably be a miracle to win against someone like Natsu. He would never hurt her, a fact she will never doubt, but that doesn't mean he won't roughen her up a little. Especially now with the way she can see his biceps tighten, a slight lean to his upper body in preparation to run. A sense of intimidation radiates off him with how serious he's taking this.
Lucy has submitted to Natsu before, acknowledging him as the provider for their family and the one that could protect her from anything. She's never had any problem relying on him, as her pride was never in jeopardy, knowing she could still handle herself when the time came. This is different though. This isn't submission for him to take care of her. Not when he's the threat.
"You gonna stand there or are you too much of a coward to finish what you started?" Lucy provokes.
That foolish encouragement is enough to stir a reaction from Natsu that begins chaos between them.
He gives one good push off the ground and flies towards Lucy, water splashing up and birds calling out as they fly away. She's instantly within reach of his grasp, but in comparison to someone like Natsu who relies on strength, her swiftness and reaction time give her the advantage. She quickly jerks to the side, dodging Natsu's lunge and creating some space between them. He reacts instantaneously to their new position and uses his feet to propel off the bolder, take advantage of his missed opportunity to the fullest and lunging towards Lucy. Dammit, he's always trickier than she thinks!
They go tumbling to the ground together in summer-saults due to the large amount of jump momentum Natsu created. Lucy's breath is punched out of her with every roll, but she refuses to let that disorient her. She gets forced onto her back, but before Natsu can drive his body weight down on her, she scrunches her legs up against her chest and thrusts them out in a hard kick. Her feet smack into Natsu's torso with all her might and he's pushed away, giving a harsh grunt while falling into the dirt and grass that plumes under him. Lucy slowly stands with a snort of irritation and a hand against her stomach, trying not to focus on the stinging throb it gives, having gotten hit during their tumbling.
Natsu recovers with ease from the kick, having taken worse impacts. Almost as if insulting her, he smiles. "Not bad. I always thought you'd be good at this." No Igny spills from his mouth and there are no scales of ruby red running along his face, but the foreboding presence he bares states that the body of a dragon is not needed to act like one.
Nevertheless, that damn smirk irritates her. "I'm not here to entertain you!"
Lucy makes the next move and charges at him with a swipe of her claws at him, nails that are sharper than his due to the maintenance she puts into them. She doesn't think for a second at the fact that she could hurt Natsu by doing this, to scratch at the skin hard enough to have him bleed. She can only think about winning this instinctual match.
Natsu sees the attack and catches her wrist, lifting her up by the arm to where she must stand on the tips of her toes to not hang in the air. It doesn't necessarily hurt but that strong hold of his is a sharp reminder of the strength he has. He's not using a tenth of his actual strength, simply displaying what power he could have. Knowing he's holding back has Lucy's teeth grind.
"Let me go!" she hisses. She begins to claw at the arm that's holding her up, leaving red marks behind on Natsu's tanned skin.
With disorienting swiftness, she's suddenly swung around until her back faces Natsu, allowing him to place a foot against the inside of her knee and have her kneel forcefully. She cries out, not because it hurts but because she was captured by him easily. He brings her arm around and has her wrist press to the middle of her back, holding it there with both of his hands. He keeps a sandaled foot in place behind her knee.
"Come on, you can do better than this," Natsu says hard.
"If you'd shut up and let me go, I'll show you what I can do!" she growls.
With her free arm, Lucy reaches back as far as she can, pulling arm muscles painfully, and scratches near his right thigh that sticks out from the slit in his pelt wrapping. It doesn't matter where she strikes at him, needing only to get out of his grasp.
To Natsu, on the other hand, it matters. He removes his foot from behind her knee and backs away from her animal-like swiping. "That's not fair!" he shouts.
"How so?" she asks skeptical, dropping forward now that her arms are free.
"Because every guy knows not to aim for the Sacred Rod!"
"Well, I'm not a guy, so I don't care—!" She takes to pouncing.
With her arms not strong enough to do damage and assuming leg power wouldn't do much of anything either, Lucy bites at Natsu's throat, tasting the salt of his sweat. She clings to his hair and pelt, keeping her teeth on him while Natsu roars, from the pain in her harsh bite, or maybe because doing such an act is trying to get him to submit to her. Either way, it gets him to frantically back up until his back hits a tall rock. She lets go when her jaw starts to ache during Natsu's thrashing as he tries to throw her off and as soon as her teeth release him, Natsu thrusts her off of him.
They pant for breath across from each other, pausing to take in the intensity of the moment. Natsu puts a hand to his neck under his scarf and it comes away with the tips of his fingers bloody.
Seeing him injured punches through the haze in Lucy's mind and she begins to apologize—"I am so sorry, are you okay?"—but it's a momentary lapse of logic. She flinches when Natsu snaps forward and can do nothing but stare wide eyed in panic when he comes for her. As he pushes her to the ground, he captures both of her wrists in a single hand and presses against her stomach with the other. The rush of breath forced out of her lungs from the impact strikes through her mind and she automatically fights back, trying to kick at Natsu once they hit the ground.
He repositions his hold on Lucy by trapping her hands on either side of her head, slamming them harshly into the ground and hovering above her with a fierceness in his sneer. He catches her left thigh with his knee resting on it and having it sit in an awkward position against the ground. Lucy hauls her right leg back and kicks him in the side, his harsh grimace showing she enforced pain, but he refuses to give up. The teeth marks on his neck run red slightly, most of it being absorbed by his scaly scarf and his remarkable healing ability, the pain it must be inflicting mostly ignored by him.
When Natsu ducks down, Lucy's expecting him to return the favor, to have his deadly teeth at her throat. She's about to kick at him again but the thought has every muscle in her body stiffen.
But he doesn't do that. Natsu presses the tip of his nose to hers, keeping that steady thrum of a growl deep and heavy in his chest. His eyes burrow straight into hers.
"This is enough," he says in finality.
Those words say a lot on why Natsu doesn't feel the need to go on fighting anymore. Even after those words disappear, he silently calls out to Lucy's excited blood, singing to it in a way no songbird could ever accomplish. He's seen what she can do, how she has proven to be an equal to him. There is no need to see who is on top when they can stand side-by-side.
She debates if that's what she wants—to tie with this male. A large part of her yells to come out on top, that she needs to show this male who's dominate, but the quieter part of her speaks with more powerful words. This is Natsu. Of course, they should stand by one another and not fight.
Lucy relaxes under him, letting her breathing ease and lowering her defenses. Natsu sees that and cautiously let's go of her wrists as thanks, removing his knee from her thigh. He gazes down and waits for his partner below to further accept his reconciliation.
He doesn't have to wait long. Everything races through Lucy, no time to stop, no time to think. There's a rising within her very soul that knows how to respond to him. Granted, she's still unsure why he started this in the first place, but the sheer, unexpected excitement this battle brought almost makes her giddy. He looks wild above her, hair an absolute mess, body scuffed up and a predatorial power behind those arms that cage her in. Gods, she can't get enough of it. Who cares where this is coming from, her heart is racing and instead of getting closer to Natsu through fighting, she would rather do so in other ways. She wants to show Natsu the affection he deserves, having come to recognize her as an equal to his power, not by physical strength but by spiritual fortitude.
She brings her hands up to cradle his face but the instant she does that nothing goes quite as planned. It's when she touches the heat of Natsu's skin, lowering his head a little and having his heavy breath brush across her lips that all sense of rationality is lost to a black void.
Lips's attack and arms wrestle to hold onto anything they can. Teeth clack in their urgency and Lucy's hair is pulled when Natsu puts a hand to the back of her neck. Sweat has their skin stick to each other, a molten heat radiating from between their bodies, and shallow, humid breath shared. This close to Natsu, Lucy can smell an overwhelming scent of home, a woodsy, charred, content kind of smell. She moans in their open-mouthed kiss, telling him how much she loves these kisses and how much she's missed them. What a coward she's been! Look at what she's missed out on!
Natsu responds back to her with throaty groans. No matter how passionate she wants to be, it seems it will never be enough to outdo him. He dominates their kiss, whether that's intentional or not, and weaves his fingers through her hair to have her head tilt, deepening their actions.
Lucy's hands glide down the front of his throat to feel his anxious breaths, the physical sensation of knowing what she does to him almost unbelievable. She quickly gets irritated by his scarf getting in the way, covering most of his throat and shoulder line, preventing her from feeling more of his skin. Natsu helps her take it off, tossing aside the garment without thought. Satisfied that there's nothing to stop her, they return to kissing as Lucy slowly runs the tips of her fingers down the hollow of his throat, to his collar bone and resting on his upper chest, enjoying those hard muscles.
Natsu's other hand that isn't tangled helplessly in her hair slides down Lucy's body, copying her movements in a sort of ritual dance. To her, it's as if Natsu sets the tips of his fingers to ignite, trembling with Igny wherever he goes. When he reaches her waist, he squeezes wantonly there. At her hip, he fondles the area and lifts her towards him a little more. Coming back up, nails scrap the skin ever-so gently and it makes her gasp in their kiss.
She jumps in his arms when he hungrily fondles the side of Lucy's breast, startled at his boldness. Yet she doesn't care where he touches. Anticipation has a new type of heart-stuttering effect play out as Natsu tests its fullness and weight. The caresses make Lucy gently coo, sounds she's unable to help from stopping. The noises call out to the mostly silent forest, a not so unusual sound to the other animals that avoid interrupting them, least they wish to ensure the wrath of the male in this courtship. Natsu lips curve into a devilish grin against hers and she can tell he's getting an ego boost, hearing those uncontained noises. He goes to nibble on the shell of her pink ear, running his teeth along her jaw, pressing kisses and affection wherever his mouth goes—passionately so when he reaches her lips.
In her open-mouthed moans and his explorations, tongues brush. It's such a shock to feel that hard, wet muscle that Natsu jerks his head back in surprise. Lucy shoves the back of her hand against her mouth, wide-eyed and face burning. Her other hand backs away from him, hovering between their upper bodies in uncertainty. A spell has been broken and Lucy is able to find her voice.
She blinks. "Ah, sorry, my tongue …"
"Um, I don't … It didn't feel wrong," Natsu says hesitant. "Surprised me, was all."
He soothingly rubs his thumb against the underside of her breast, partially exposed past the fox fur that has trouble hiding her assets. She squirms slightly, a heat coiling in her center.
"I want to do that again," he says straight forward.
Natsu chuckles at Lucy's slight squeak. He nips at the palm of her hand that she keeps in front of her mouth. Cautiously moving it out of the way, she places both of her hands against the sides of his face. A little unsure of what to do, she raises a blond eyebrow to tell him so.
They return to their kissing, building in its fever and lack of tactic with each panting breath. Natsu roughly captures her tongue with his, drawing it out to let him explore. The heat and ravaging groans coming from Natsu are enough to have Lucy shake, hearing right back at what she does to him. It sends sparks to fly through the core of her, especially when she suddenly feels a lump that would be his Sacred Rod against her thigh begging for the same affection.
If Lucy could pass out from sheer hunger for his body, she would have done so right then and there. This time around, she could care less that this foreign, intimate part of Natsu is pressed up against her. It feels too good to care. Too good to want to back away.
Natsu gently tugs her top down a little further, caressing the swell of her chest that heaves at his touch. He watches the way she can't find words to say he can continue, instead removing her hands from his face to clench them hard around his back. He takes to cupping the side of her left breast, pushing it up a little and, at the same time, having his mouth come close to the top edge of the fox fur. His mouth brushes close to a rosy peak that stands at attention, hidden just under the fox fur. Lucy can't help but wonder if he can hear how fast her heart is pounding. She's sure he can. Natsu doesn't push for more access—something in this moment she wouldn't have minded—and stops before a nipple can be revealed. His teeth suckle against her skin there, creating a bruise that hurts and nags her on at the same time.
This isn't enough. It's never going to be enough. If Lucy wants to continue to live alongside this sky-high feeling in her bones, then she'll need to get closer to Natsu more than ever before. Whether that's right or wrong, she doesn't care. She wants him right now.
Natsu removes his teeth from her chest with a soothing lick, so damn close to what she would rather have him suck on. His hand drifts down to the pelt wrapping around her waist, tugging on it as if wanting to rip the offending piece of fur away.
His eyes widen and he pauses, jerking his hand way from her, seeming surprised by his own actions. "Ah, dammit, Lucy. Hold on a second," he says frustrated.
She hisses, the sound saying that she doesn't want to stop. She quickly digs her nails into the back of his fur pelt and lifts to kiss the crook of his neck.
He backs away from her, looking down. "Stop it, will you? We can't keep going like this."
She's for once in Natsu's tight embrace and isn't backing away but wanting more. Her frustration of not getting what she wants heightens her anger, overshadowing her reasoning. On top of that, being rejected by him stings. Does he not want her the same way she wants him despite all that's happened?
Refusing to let this end, Lucy boldly reach's down to clench a hand against Natsu's leg that sticks out from the slit in his pelt wrapping. She quickly slithers her way up his inner high and gets breathlessly close to his arousal that creates a small tent in his pelt wrapping.
Natsu instantly stiffens and all breathing halts.
Despite her mind whispering not to get any closer, this intense need to keep Natsu in her arms overwhelms everything within her. Trying to be considerate, her fingers are gentle as can be when she makes her move. She touches course hair but is distracted momentarily by an amazing heat. She fiddles with the pink hair on his lower belly, no real thoughts going through her mind but a quiet, steady concentration.
Suddenly, she encounters what feels like a hard piece of flesh that remains incredibly soft somehow. His Sacred Rod. A natural recreation stirs within her, a need coursing through her arm to back away, a leftover reaction from her days blinded to the unknown. Uncertain on what to do, she gently explores his arousal and applies pressure, memorizing what it feels like. For some odd reason, she was expecting his rod to be hard, having been told many times before what it becomes, but she always imagined it would be like a solid piece of wood. Instead, the hard flesh bobs a little with flexibility in her hand.
Natsu digs his nails into the ground, hearing the soil crunch right next to her ears. He doesn't yell for her to stop, a type of anticipation hanging in the air from the way he keeps breathless.
But Lucy misinterprets what he wants.
About to reach for the tip of him, wanting to experiment and play with it a little more as natural curiosity sets in, Natsu snaps. "Stop!" He bites at her pulse point.
This isn't a display of affection like he was doing before at the top of her breast but rather a need to get her to listen to him. His sharp fangs pinch into her skin, halting her movements and having her slowly take her hand back out from under his pelt. He keeps his teeth on her until her hands come up to gently touch his collar bone.
When Natsu lets her go, he doesn't ease the pain with his tongue like he did before against her breast. This time he lets the pain linger and backs away to look at her with a pinch of irritation on his face.
"Listen to me for a second," he says firm. "It's fine if you want to act like an animal with me around but not right now. There something more important I want to talk about."
The word 'animal' shots through Lucy's mind like an arrow to the head.
Oh. Oh, no. She really was acting like a senseless animal. She was reaching for his Sacred Rod—!
Her hands crash against her lips, covering her gasp of shock. Her upper arms squeeze inward as if she can try and make herself smaller, to disappear from the embarrassment she's brought upon herself. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to push you—!"
He sighs, shakes his head and interrupting her pointedly. "Nah, you're fine. You got nothing to apologize for."
Natsu obviously wouldn't see anything wrong in what I did, Lucy thinks to herself. But he should have been able to see how lost in her own desires she was, how she was willing to push boundaries and potentially become the wild animal he called her. Natsu has more control over himself then she does, and that's saying something!
"Either way, I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I don't know what happened."
"You lost control for a second, nothin' wrong with that." He frowns when she doesn't answer back right away. "Don't be like that. I didn't start all of this to make you sad."
The leftover breathlessness in his voice has Lucy wanting to shiver, but her stubborn self-consciousness holds it at bay. Despite the call of the wild still flowing through her body, she will not give into its desires.
"What—what happened? What's going on?" she asks hesitant.
"Sorry, I … I need to talk to you about a few things now that I've got you like this," Natsu chuckles half-hearted.
He backs away to give her room, readjusting his pelt to try and push away his left-over reaction to her stimulation. He seems uncomfortable but takes to eventually ignoring it.
Lucy sits up with a frustrated sigh. "You have the worst timing."
"Sorry, I didn't want you to do something you might regret later on," he says slowly. "Will you let me talk?"
"I'm surprised you even want to talk. If you're sure you're not mad at me, then go ahead."
"I didn't have us fight for no reason. Of course, I was hoping the deer would be enough to get the point across, but you weren't having that. Sorry about hurting you."
"You didn't hurt me. Not really. I think I did more damage to you considering your neck …"
He looks at her straight in the face with a wide smile. "Don't worry. You did great! I always knew you were a fighter. We should tussle more in the future. It was fun," he praises with a full-blown grin.
It's almost surprising to Lucy, seeing how proud he is of her. The bite on his neck has stopped bleeding, scrapping over a dull red around its edges and partially covered in dried blood. Natsu heals faster than anyone she's known, and she's never been more thankful for that. It would have been hard to stare at those marks she left on him for weeks to come, but if those horrifying cuts from Gajeel can heal in a few weeks then most likely that bite will heal in a few days.
"I knew you were up to something," she says suspicious.
"Yeah, I wanted you to, um, give into yourself."
"I don't understand."
Natsu places his forehead against her—he has a habit of doing that, now that Lucy thinks about it—and gazes into her eyes. "When we first met, I told you what I saw when I looked at you, but I didn't tell you everything. I can also see your heart pounding under the skin of your neck, did you know that? The way your heart jumps tells me a lot. I can hear it, too. The thumping of it, kind of wet and hollow. I know what you're feeling from your change in scent, if you're sad, happy or anything else. These are things most humans wouldn't be able to tell."
Her eyebrows furrow in confusion for lots of reasons. "Then why can you? Because of Igneel?"
"It's more than that. I was raised to not fight what I feel. I don't turn away from things that most humans consider to be 'inhuman'. There's no point in doing that for either of us, not if it's making you sad."
Lucy stiffens and realizes so many things at once it's hard to keep her thoughts coherent.
Logic has always ruled her life; to go without a plan firstly in this unforgiving world could easily mean death. That's why when it comes to Natsu—being held in his arms and becoming breathless from his lips—she always wanted to continue, but without knowing exactly what the implications of that were, she always backed off. That's what Natsu was trying to say before. Why her answer didn't satisfy him. She knew about instinct all along but didn't want to give into it. That was the entire point of hunting the doe, and when that didn't work Natsu took matters into his own hands.
It's not Natsu's fault she has a hard time with this. Lucy is drawn to his nature, his nurture and everything else in between about him. She would want more from him and in return would give more to him. It's her uncertain emotions, her connection to him, and wondering exactly what it is they're doing to one another that has held her back. Apparently Natsu took notice and became angered by it.
Maybe her instincts, are in, fact trying to say this is all part of being in love. That this is what she's wanted to figure out before becoming fully vulnerable to him.
When they were kissing, it was nothing like they've done in the past. She wasn't aware of what she was doing but rather went with it. She didn't care about the consequences but only wanted to be forever held in Natsu's arms. There was a swelling in her heart calling out to be with him that was so potent it almost broke her softly. Being with Natsu like that brought her happiness, a type of euphoria that compelled no wavering in her soul. Being with him, no matter what they do, fills her heart.
"It's not wrong," Natsu repeats his words from before. "Feeling wild, going with your gut, listening to that little voice in your head, anything screaming at you to act, not to think, is instinct. There's nothing wrong with that." His lower lip juts out in slight annoyance. "That's why I don't like it when you back away from me. We get close and then you suddenly jump like I'm a rabid dog. That hurts."
He's teasing to try and ease the seriousness of the conversation, Lucy recognizes that, but there's something new bursting at the seams inside of her. His words bring an almost reassuring pressure off her shoulders. She doesn't understand all the time what they're doing, what her emotions are truly trying to physically mold into, but after being with him for so long, after all that's happened, she can't help but think in another direction—one that believes he's right about this.
"How do you know we won't get hurt?" Lucy asks quietly. "Look at what happened. I lost control for a second there."
"That's because you're not used to dealing with that side of yourself. I guess it's like learning something new. You're not going to be good at it the first time around. Besides, I stopped you. We'll be with one another to make sure neither of us gets in trouble. You have to trust yourself … and me," Natsu smiles.
"You don't get what we're doing? Besides kiss, that is. Because I don't."
"Not really. I go with whatever I want to do unless you don't like it. It's not that bad of a thing. You let go for a while back there and you seemed pretty damn happy."
She admits that she was happy. "I wasn't thinking and doing that was a relief. I was living in the moment, not having to worry about anything."
"Benefit for me was that I finally got to touch your boobs again."
"I should have known that would be the highlight for you," she says dull. "Has your Sacred Rod filled up power again?"
"Nah, I figured out a long time ago that it isn't just your boobs that make it come alive. Your entire body does that. Us kissing has awakened my erection before, but I still like your boobs the best."
Erection is a new word to add to her vocabulary. She lightly shakes her head at the insanity of this. "I guess I'll take the compliment."
"You don't have to be uncertain when you're with me. If we haven't clawed each other eyes out yet after all the touching we've done, I don't think we have anything to be concerned with."
"This is a concept I'll need time to get used to."
"You think too much," he sighs amused. "When you do, guess I'll have to hit you in the head to bring you back around."
"No, you won't," she snorts.
Natsu comes close and hover his lips above Lucy's. When he speaks, his mouth moves against hers. "Do you want to continue?"
"Hmm … no, you ruined it," she says.
He backs away. "Fine, but next time we get to that kind of kissing, do what you did here and don't think about it."
She hiccups a little when her breath catches. "You want me to touch your Sacred Rod ...?"
It apparently wasn't what he was thinking of, as his eyes blow wide in surprise. "No, you don't have to do that! … If you don't want to ..." The fading in his sentence leaves a lot to linger between them both.
Honestly, the thought of going back to that part of him doesn't scare her like it used to. Having plunged into the unknown boldly and realizing nothing bad had happened, it's a reassuring thing to know. But she doesn't voice that out loud. "... But, you know, you should have told me all of this from the beginning."
"You and I both know I suck at stuff like that," he sighs. "I'm not good with words—actions speak louder, especially with our fight, right?"
Lucy can't help but laugh a little. He sure does go through elaborate things to make sure she's happy.