#he scribbles without a care in the world and his poses look very fluid!

[janebonbon]

DID can be so annoying and very isolating sometimes but then other times I get to laugh at fronting switches making our sketches look... very funny. Different alters having slightly different methods to their own madness etc etc

[mamabearcatfanfics]

Be My Baby

Was going through AO3 to see if there were any new comments I hadn’t answered, and I came across this, which I wrote way back in March 2019. Doesn’t that seem like forever ago? I need to get back into writing for Fairy Tail. I miss Natsu and Lucy. And even though I don’t know if I’ll ever write this Dirty Dancing AU, which is still at the scribbly planning stage, I still loved writing this. Mutual pining rich girl Lucy and rough around the edges dancer Natsu - what’s not to like? I’m tempted to do a piece of art to go with this.

If you prefer, you can read this on AO3

Natsu stood straight and poised, his arms stretched outwards. “Now, the most important thing to remember in lifts… is balance.” He rose up onto his toes and jumped straight up suddenly, the fallen tree trunk they were both standing on shuddering under the sudden pressure as he landed. Lucy squeaked, immediately dropping to grab onto a convenient branch, giggling as she sat down and watched Natsu shuffling around to regain his balance.

“I got it now”, he grinned.

She watched as he walked gracefully along the fallen tree spanning the stream underneath them, the dappled sunlight highlighting his tanned skin, almost sighing at the smoothness of his movements. It seemed unfair that any one person could be so attractive and at ease in his own skin. A sudden thought struck her. “Where’d you learn to be a dancer Natsu?”

“Well, this guy came into this luncheonette one day, an’ ya know, we were all sittin’ around doin’ nothin”, he shrugged, sitting down on the log, ruffling his rose-pink hair nonchalantly with one hand, watching her interested expression as he answered her question. “He said that Fairytail was givin’ a test for instructors. So, if ya passed they’d teach ya all these different kinds of dances, show ya how ta break ‘em down, how ta teach ‘em, ya know?” He placed his hands in front of him and jumped back to his feet in one fluid movement.

Lucy’s eyes widened as he bent his knee, lunging forwards in a fencing pose and flicked his finger towards her with a smirk and a glint in his eye.

“What?”

He grinned at her, his finger beckoning first to her and then to the spot right in front of him.

“No”, she said, without hesitation, shaking her head at him so her blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders. Was he insane? She had trouble doing the dance steps on level ground, let alone standing on a tree trunk thinner than a balance beam.

Ignoring her protests, he strode forward and reached down to grab her hands, helping to balance her as she wobbled, looking down with trepidation at the drop below them. She suddenly realised that the water in the stream below them really wasn’t very deep, and those rocks looked bone-breakingly jagged. Why on earth were they up here again? Oh, that’s right, because Natsu had absolutely no concept of how normal awkward people tended to fall off things and hurt themselves.

“Good – don’t look down, look here.” She felt gentle fingers brush her chin momentarily as he tilted her face upwards and gestured towards his own eyes. “Right here.”

Swallowing nervously, she placed her hand on his bare muscular shoulder, left uncovered by his black singlet top, trying to remain outwardly calm, but internally blushing up a storm. Out here, away from the pressure of the dance studio, it felt different. The warmth of his slightly damp skin under her nervous fingers made her heart ricochet in her chest, and the warmth in his dark green eyes seemed to pull her in... She wondered, not for the first time, if she had been temporarily insane when she had agreed to do this.

Arms locked in the correct position, she grinned up at him as he began moving, and couldn’t help cackling as she lost her balance almost immediately, breaking her dance frame and clutching onto his shoulders. He steadied her, grinning like a Cheshire cat, guiding her forwards until they were almost at the centre of the trunk bridge. He let go of her arms, and then winked at her roguishly, standing with his feet together.

She nodded, placing her own feet together, the base steps of the mambo chanting through her head. “Left forward, together, right backward, together”, she muttered under her breath, arms held out to keep her balance, beginning the steps, her head watching her feet for a moment until she figured out exactly where the edges of the log were. She still felt a little bad about losing her temper with him before in the studio, even though he had kinda deserved it.

She had to remember she wasn’t doing this just for Natsu. She was learning this dance for Lisanna too, taking Lisanna’s place so she could make it to that appointment at the abortion clinic. Her heart still burned at the injustice of it. She knew she was naïve, a doctor’s daughter who had lived a privileged life, but she also understood that it took two people to get a girl pregnant and couldn’t understand how Dan could put a girl he’d been intimate with in that position and not take responsibility for it. Noticing her serious expression, Natsu tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

“Hey, lighten up Luce. We came out here to make this fun, remember?”

She smiled at him, watching as his usual graceful movements became silly as he wiggled his hips, rolling his fists and then doing the monkey. She giggled, doing her best to dance alongside him on the narrow trunk, her heart warming as he steadied her wobbles with his strong hand yet again.

She tried to lose herself in the moment, but she just couldn’t. She needed to know this dance in two days, not only know the steps, but look professional while doing it. She didn’t know if she could pull this off. If she didn’t deliver this could cost Natsu and Lisanna their job; it was her first look at how the real world worked and it wasn’t pretty. Natsu’s voice snapped her out of her reverie.

“You’ve got that look on your face again, you weirdo.”

She sighed. “It’s just… there’s only two days left Natsu”, she said quietly, looking down at her bare feet again. “Two days. I don’t want to let you down. I know how important this is for Lisanna, and I know I’m clumsy and awkward and probably the last person you would ever choose to do this with, and we haven’t even tried doing the lifts yet and it’s… it’s freaking me out.”

Natsu’s gaze softened, and he rubbed her upper arm in a comforting way, making her raise her eyes to his. “That’s not true Luce. I’m sorry if I’ve given you the impression that you’re not good at this. You’re doing really well for someone who hasn’t danced like this before.” He sighed. “Even though Lisanna and I haven’t been a couple since we were in school, I still care about her, ya know? I want to make this right for her, and it’s not somethin’ I can fix by myself.” He swallowed, looking away from her as his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat, a dull flush rising in his tanned cheeks. “I don’t like feelin’… powerless. I’m sorry if I’m puttin’ that pressure onto you. The fact that you’re willing to help us like this, it’s… you’re… amazing.”

A fiery blush tinted Lucy’s cheeks and she squeaked as Natsu took her hands. “Right. We can’t practice the lift here, let’s go back over to that field where I parked the truck.” Lucy nodded, still speechless, carefully following him off the log and back down the slope to the soft grass.

_________________

Lucy stood poised, ready to run at Natsu, wiping her sweaty hands on her white jeans. She was never going to be able to do this! She was gonna fall on her arse, and quite possibly crush Natsu in the process. She forced herself to try and concentrate, listening to Natsu’s last instructions.

“Now, bend your knees, and go up. Go, go.” His arms were held out for her and she ran towards him and jolted to a stop as his hands went to her hips. She heard his grunt as he half raised her in the air, and then lowered her down again. “Good try.”

Lucy shook her head as he backed away to put some space between them, biting her lip. She just knew this wasn’t going to work. Natsu took in her worried expression and smiled encouragingly at her.

“Hey, it’s okay. That was just the first try. But you’ll hurt me if you don’t trust me, all right?”

Lucy breathed out in a big whoosh, but nodded her head, ready to try again.

“Now, go, go. Go.”

She ran again, jumping at the correct time and he lifted her a bit higher, grinning at her. He lowered her back down and backed away again, giving her a longer run up this time.

“Good job, Luce. Now, I’m gonna go up.”

He nodded at her encouragingly and she ran towards him again, feeling his strong fingers digging into her hip bones as he lifted. All of a sudden she felt her centre of gravity change and she instinctively fought it, screeching as she tipped forwards, landing on Natsu’s chest with a thump, as they crashed to the ground, leaving him momentarily winded.

She rolled off him, giggling uncontrollably, her legs flailing, trying to apologise but unable to speak for laughing.

Natsu propped himself up on one elbow and sighed at her, a mock serious expression on his face at the laughter at his expense, but after a moment he couldn’t help breaking into a smile.

“You know, the best place to practice lifts is in the water.”

That stopped Lucy’s giggles. “What do you mean, in the water?” she said, looking at him nervously.

“You’re worried about falling right? You don’t trust me to catch you. Practicing this in the water should take away that fear.”

All of a sudden a very different type of fear hit her in the gut. Her and Natsu, alone in the water. She licked her lips nervously. Her thoughts flicked back to that first night she had met him, when he had beckoned her out onto the dance floor of the party in the staff quarters, all raw masculinity, wrapping her arms around his neck and rolling his hips against hers, showing her a world she’d never known to exist.

She realised she was moving further and further away from her original reason for doing this. It was no longer only to be helpful. Her innate need to see a problem and find a solution, to fight against injustice, was being replaced by a growing hunger to be near Natsu, wanting to feel the heat of his hand on her back as he moved her body around the dance floor, wanting to earn those small words of praise when she did well.

She flopped back against the grass, feeling like her well-ordered world had just been turned upside down. This was getting more than a little out of control. What would happen after the dance at the hotel was over? Where would all these feelings go then? She was pretty sure Natsu considered her a child, not a potential romantic partner. What would happen when her family went home? She could feel her heart cracking a little already.

Natsu dragged her up, pulling her to her feet. “C’mon Luce, I know just where we can go.”

__________________

Natsu pulled off his black singlet and dropped it onto the bank, wading barefoot out into the cool dark water of the lake until he was waist deep. His black jeans dragged on his hips, pulled down by the weight of water. He turned back just in time to see Lucy sliding in, squealing and almost slipping a little as her feet hit the sludge near the edge. She’d taken off her flowy button up shirt and was now only dressed in a white singlet and white jeans. Taking a breath, she held her nose and ducked her head underneath the water.

“Fuck.” Natsu held his breath. When her head had broken through the water when she came up for air, he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Water dripped down the now darkened blonde hair, falling in rivulets over her shoulders and down into the valley between her breasts, now clearly defined as her drenched singlet clung to her like a second skin. He could see her lace bra through the wet white fabric, her hardened nipples pushing against it. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to mentally erase the image, but it only seemed to make it more ingrained. Probably because every ounce of blood and willpower he possessed was making its way southward.

He’d been fighting this attraction for a while now. He’d only dragged her out onto the dance floor that first night to tease Sting for bringing a guest back to the staff party. He’d thought she was cute and that was as far as it went. But then when she’d agreed to help them, had committed time and effort to help his friend even though she could have just turned her back and returned to the safety of the world she had always known, his esteem had skyrocketed.

She was pretty, sure, but it was her soft heart, her sense of humour, her willingness to work hard and treat him like any other guy she might have met in the rich boy circles her family moved in, even though he was a nothin’ whose skill at dancing was the only thing he had going for him. She was a guest, one of those people with time and money to selfishly spend on themselves, but here she was, sweating alongside him, throwing everything into learning a dance that was gonna save his job and Lisanna’s career. He was so close to breaking that cardinal rule of not falling for guests, in fact he was pretty sure he was careening down the slippery slope with no hope of stopping. This was going to end badly for him if he didn’t nip these feelings in the bud right now.

“Natsu? Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes and forced a grin onto his lips. “Sure thing. You ready?”

She bit her lip, then nodded determinedly.

“Just bend your knees.” His hands moved towards her hips, wanting to linger on her curves of her waist but forcing himself to be all business. “And… go.” He lifted her up into the air as he felt her push upwards, raising her up above his head. “Good, good. Now, hold the position. Hold it. Good. Don’t break! Don’t break!” He felt Lucy’s centre of gravity slip behind him and they both splashed into the dark water, falling down into the chill.

Lucy spluttered back to the surface, laughing and shivering. Natsu reached out his arm, dragging her back to where it wasn’t too deep for her to stand and she clasped both arms around his neck, giggling, her eyes bright with laughter, smiling at him. It suddenly struck him that today was the first time he’d ever seen her laugh like this. He wanted more of it. Her fingers around his shoulder were cool, chilled by the water, but he felt a warmth in his heart that he couldn’t remember feeling for a long time. He helped her stand up, swiping his wet fringe out of his eyes, watching her do the same. He nodded at her, placing his hands back on her hips.

“Let’s do it again. One, two, three…”

He lifted, and she straightened her legs and arms, wobbling a little as she found her balance. “Oh, sorry…”, she murmured, struggling to hold the position.

He squeezed her hips a little as he held her above his head, trying to convey that she was doing well. “Good.” Then she shifted a little too far one way. “Keep… no, don’t…” And they splashed into the water again.

He watched her push up out of the water again, already smiling. Tugging her towards him, listening to her laughter as she hung one arm around his neck, he realised it was already too late for him. He’d fallen for her, wanted nothing more to be part of her life, be by her side. He didn’t know how the fuck that was gonna work, but he was gonna try. He was gonna risk his heart, because she was worth fighting for.

She stood in front of him, grinning, wet hair plastered over her face, singlet and bra falling off one shoulder, teeth chattering slightly in the cold. His hand moved without thinking to slide her shoulder straps back up her arm just as her own hand moved to fix it herself. And then the look she gave him. He realised it wasn’t only his heart on the line, and he was simultaneously elated and terrified.

She smiled softly at him. “One more time, Natsu?”

Reaching out his hand, he tucked a wet chunk of hair behind her ear, feeling her head tilt its weight into his hand. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her, right now, but he didn’t know if he’d be able to stop at just a kiss. They would work this out, somehow. They just needed to get this dance over with first.

“Okay Luce.” He placed his hands on her hips again as she straightened herself, ready to work with him. “Over my head. Go.”