#say 'I can' it's not true cuz he's stylized in my style

[redwoodwrites]

Fun Hazard

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13368537

Summary:  Before the twins leave for Piedmont, Mabel takes them on a short adventure in the forest.

“BLAAAAAH!”

Ford woke up when something large and heavy landed on his stomach. He jack-knifed to a sitting position and fell off the couch. “Ow! Mabel?”

“IT'S FUN O' CLOCK, PEOPLE!” she bellowed. “RISE AND SHINE!”

Stanley, still sitting on the couch, groaned and cracked his joints as he woke up. Ford and Stanley had fallen asleep on the porch, reminiscing over their boyhood, sharing the adventures they'd had in the forest. At some point, Ford had fallen asleep against his brother, and apparently they'd stayed outside like that all night.

Ford squinted blearily at the sun. “Mabel, it's six in the morning. You haven't been possessed by a rooster again, have you?”

“Puh-lease. You see this sweater?” She stood back. Her handmade earth garb sported a stylized purple octopus with a blushing smily face. “Ain't no rooster's got style like Mabel.”

“Actually, with a double-negative –”

“Mabel?”

They turned. Dipper had appeared in the doorway, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He was soaking wet. “Please tell me you didn't rig the water-balloon alarm clock over my bed. It's too early to murder someone.”

“Then it's my lucky day!” she sang. “C'mon, everybody! We've got two days left at the Falls and I've got BIG PLANS! WOOHOO!”

It took a few minutes, and a lot of loud singing, but eventually Ford let himself be led into the kitchen. Mabel had one hand on his sleeve and the other on Stan's old robe, with Dipper trailing behind.

“I'm gonna make you guys the best breakfast EVER!” she announced. “Smorelets and toast with jelly made from actual jelly beans and juice!”

“Fruit juice?” Dipper asked cautiously.

“Probably!”

Stanley snorted. “Yeah, no, I'm gonna cook 'cuz I ain't got a death wish.”

“I take it Mabel has cooked before,” Ford said wryly, taking a seat at the table.

Dipper shrugged. “Mostly she just makes Mabel Juice. You do not want to know.”

Stanley cooked pancakes while Mabel bounced around him, singing at the top of her lungs and pulling out every topping conceivable for said pancakes: the Jellybean Jelly, powdered sugar, Maple syrup, ice cream, and a rather frightening assortment of off-brand Halloween candy. No telling how old that was. As much as he loved the holiday, Ford made a mental note to stay clear.

Finally the meal was ready, and Stanley put a huge stack of pancakes in the middle of the table. Mabel insisted on putting the toppings all around the pancakes in a flower shape while Dipper passed out the plates. Ford, feeling rather obligated to help, offered to do the dishes.

“Sweet, now I can make as much of a mess as I want!” Mabel said gleefully. She grabbed a stack of pancakes with her hands, loaded her plate and drowned them with syrup. Ford laughed.

They settled down to eat. It was strange, eating with his family. Normally he was on the lookout for inter-dimensional bounty-hunters, and since his recent return to this dimension, he'd eaten in his lab (when he remembered to eat at all). This was different. Companionable. He found himself less interested in the pancakes than in watching his family.

Well, some of his family. Mabel shoved pancakes into her mouth at a frankly unnerving rate, so he quickly looked away. But Dipper and Stan, he noted, both ate their pancakes the same way: filling them with powdered sugar, rolling them up, and eating them like burritos.

Mabel caught him watching. “They call it the 'True Breakfast Burrito',” she said, spitting a few crumbs because her mouth was so full.

Dipper winced. “Ugh, Mabel...!”

“Don't just sit there, smart guy,” Stanley said, his mouth also incredibly full. He nodded at the pancakes. “It's a free-for-all. Take what you want.”

Ford took another pancake and put it on his plate, then scooped out a little pat of butter to put on top. He ate it slowly, listening to the breakfast conversation. Mabel and Dipper had planned a “Weirdmaggedon Outta Here” party for the supernatural creatures they'd met over the summer.

“We can do it tomorrow,” Dipper was saying. “Everybody's probably still freaked out over the whole Apocalypse thing, anyway. Betcha the hospital's packed with people.”

Ford raised his eyebrows. “The hospital? What made you think of that?”

“Oh, well...” He ducked his head. “I've, uh, been there before. Had some issues with...forks.”

“Ah.” One guess what that meant.

“Did you know Soos' mom used to be a nurse?” Mabel asked cheerfully, and poured maple syrup directly into her mouth.

Ford winced. “That can't be good for children.”

Dipper grinned. “Mabel hasn't exploded yet, but Stan and I took bets. I'm thinking she'll drop of a sugar coma by next Wednesday.”

“I've got money for this Saturday at the latest,” Stan said, putting another bottle of syrup on the table.

“Hey!” Dipper protested. “That's enabling! And cheating! You're not supposed to do anything to influence the bet!”

“Says you.”

Ford grinned. “I'm all for long shots. Put me down for three weeks from today.”

When they were done eating, the kids cleaned up and Mabel fed her pig. Stanley got dressed and Mabel hustled them all into the Stanley-Mobile car. There was a brief argument over who would stay to watch Waddles, but Mabel refused to stay behind, so they ended up squashing the pig in the back seat with the twins. They drove off, under orders from Mabel to head straight to the mall. Ford sat shotgun next to Stanley, who, quite frankly, drove as if he was half-blind.

“Are you sure you don't need stronger glasses?” Ford asked, gripping the car door as they took another wild turn.

“Sure I'm sure.” He ran over a road sign. “Just sit back and enjoy the ride, huh?”

“OOOOH!” Mabel shrieked, and Stan nearly flipped the car.

“What the Maple Syrup, Mabel?!”

“Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Stan, you have to stop the car!”

“What for?” he demanded, but Mabel opened the door and he stomped the brake so hard the car burned rubber. She jumped out, came around to Ford's door and pulled it open.

“C'mon, c'mon, Grunkle Ford, you have to see this!” she squealed.

“What, what is it?” he asked, but he let her pull him out of the car.

They'd stopped on a turnout, and the road, as ever, was lined with redwoods. Ford remembered the place dimly from his previous explorations of the forest. It was known for its weirdly glowing pink rocks and the little scampfires that liked to hide among them.

Mabel pulled him into the forest, the rest of the family hurrying to follow.

“Where are we going?” Ford asked her.

“You'll see...here!”

They came to a clearing and stopped. It was about ten feet in diameter, and most of the space was taken up with a pile of the glowing pink rocks, arranged in a distinctive heart shape. Stan came up on one side of him, panting, Dipper and Waddles close behind.

“Wow, Mabel,” Dipper said, surveying the area. “This looks like a lot of work. When did you do this?”

Mabel grinned, sweeping her hands exactly like Stan did when introducing an exhibit. “Welcome, Dipper and Gentlemen, to Mabel's Heart of Bold! I made it after that run-in with Cellestabellabethabelle.”

Ford winced. “Ugh. Her.”

“Haha, yeah...anyway, I was wandering around like a little lost kitten when I saw all these glowing pink rocks. And I thought, aw, they're like little hearts! And that's when I got this idea!”

Ford bent slightly for a closer look. “I thought scampfires collected these. How did you manage to get ahold of so many?”

“Easy! I taught them a neat trick and they let me keep the rock art until the end of the summer.”

“A trick?”

“Watch.” She stepped over to Dipper and whispered in his ear. He blushed and darted a quick glance at Ford.

“Mabel, seriously?” he whispered. “Here, now?”

She grinned. “Unless you have a better one!”

He screwed up his face, thinking, then sighed. “I got nothin'. Fine, here we go.”

The twins faced the rocks, opened their mouths, and sang:

 Friday night, and we're gonna party 'till dawn Don't worry, Daddy, I've got my favorite dress on! We're rollin' to the party, the boys are lookin' our way...

 At this point the rocks, which had been glowing a steady pink, began to pulse with a reddish light. The longer the twins sang, the stronger the pulses, until they were flashing pink and red. Then, under Ford's amazed gaze, the rocks began to change color. The whole heart rippled like a rainbow was flowing over it, a dazzling display of turquoise, indigo, orange, and butter-yellow. Ford caught his brother's eye and grinned – Stan's face was bathed in green light, exactly the color of money.

“Green suits you,” he whispered, as the lights played over their faces.

Stan grinned back. “Me? Look at you.”

Ford looked down. His body was glowing yellow. He stared at it for a second, then started laughing. Stan slung an arm around Ford's shoulder and Ford leaned into his brother, listening as Stan joined in the song.

 Oooh-oh! Girls do what we like, Oooh-oh! We're takin' over tonight.

 The song ended and the rocks gave a last burst of brilliant color, lighting up the trees like miniature fireworks. All four Pines thrust their fists in the air at once.

“Pines! Pines! Pines! Pines!”

 A/N: This was just a quick thing, but I think I like how it turned out. Hope you guys liked it, too!Also please feel free to leave a comment and check out my other works!

[mamabearcat]

All Fired Up Ch 7

Double the size of my usual chapters for this fic - an early gift for Nalu week. Hope you enjoy it. And if you’d prefer, here’s the link to fanfiction.net

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5 , Ch 6

“Okay, so spill. What’s going on between you and Natsu?”

 Lucy made an indistinct noise, nearly snorting her strawberry milkshake out her nose. Wendy had dragged her to the mall this morning on the pretext of ‘girl time’ and so far, it had been great. First stop had been to ‘Polish Me Pretty’ for mani pedi’s, then they’d had fun looking around a Japanese dollar store, both leaving with a bag full of cute and kitschy things they hadn’t known they needed until they saw them. They were now taking a break from shopping at a café, and Lucy was feeling relaxed and happy. Wendy’s question had caught her totally unprepared.

 Lucy gulped down the mouthful of milkshake threatening to choke her and licked her lips, placing the metal container down on the table next to her half-eaten donut. “Uh, what do you mean Wendy? We’re the same as always.”

 Wendy rolled her eyes, noisily slurping her chocolate milkshake through the straw. “Yeah, sure you are. You’ve been dancing around each other for the past two days. Natsu blushed when you handed him his coffee this morning.” Her eyes sparkled and the corners of her lips curled up in a knowing grin. “It’s so obvious. You like each other, don’t you? Are you gonna go out with him?”

 Lucy’s eyes widened. What should she say? “Um… we do like each other, but…”

 Wendy squealed excitedly, bouncing a little in her seat across from Lucy, her long blue pigtails bouncing with her. A few café patrons glanced at them curiously as Lucy frantically waved her hand and shushed her. “Wendy! Calm down! This is embarrassing!” Wendy giggled behind her hand at Lucy’s frantic expression.

 “I’m sorry”, she grinned, “but I’m just so happy for you both!” She planted her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So, are you going out on a date?”

 Lucy smiled back, nodding shyly, twirling the straw of her milkshake absentmindedly between her fingers as she took another sip. “Yes, Natsu’s asked me, but we haven’t decided when or where yet.” She snorted. “Hopefully it won’t be anywhere too fancy, it’s not like I’ve got a wide variety of clothes to choose from at the moment.” She glanced down at the pale pink yoga pants and loose t-shirt she was wearing. She’d bought a few more outfits online as she’d been paid, but she’d aimed for comfort rather than style as her injuries healed.

 Wendy clapped her hands together, a look of determination on her face. “Alright! We’re in just the right place! Let’s go shopping and buy you a date outfit Lucy! My treat!”

 Lucy spluttered. “Wendy! I couldn’t possibly let you buy me an outfit!”

 “Sure you can”, announced Wendy airily. “And it’s not like I’m giving you a choice anyway.” She grinned again. “You two are good for each other Lucy. I can’t think of anyone that Natsu’s been so blatantly head over heels for, ever. And if little cuz Wendy can help smooth the path of true love with a bit of clothes shopping, who are you to stop me?” She looked down at Lucy’s plate. “You better eat that up – the way I shop, you’re gonna need the energy!” she teased.

 ________________________________________________________________

 Lucy frowned as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She’d didn’t consider herself a vain person. She had always liked clothes, and had taken pride in her appearance, but her self-esteem had never really depended on how she looked. Or so she had thought. But now she was second guessing the outfit that she and Wendy had so much fun picking out together.

 The floral skater skirt she’d fallen in love with on sight and Wendy had bought as part of her ‘date outfit’ was a perfect fit, the soft fabric falling to mid-thigh in flattering folds against her slim legs. She still loved the skirt, but that wasn’t the problem. She looked below the hem of the skirt at the mostly healed burn scars on the front of her thighs. Her pale skin had always scarred easily – she had a weird shape on one thumb where a pelican had bit her when she was a toddler, and a star shaped pattern on her knee where she’d come off her bike. But these scars – these would take some getting used to. They were obvious against her lightly tanned skin, the mixture of pale and darker pink looking even more vivid than usual, lit by the afternoon sunshine streaming in her bedroom window. She tugged at the hem of her skirt. Maybe she should have bought over the knee socks to wear with it. But that would still have left scars uncovered. And it wasn’t like Natsu didn’t know her legs were scarred, but… She chewed her thumb nail, unsure about her reflection.

 Her shirt was white and sleeveless, with a cute peter pan collar. The skin coloured pressure sleeves on her arms were ugly, but she planned to hide them under a light cardigan, so that wasn’t really a problem. Her blonde hair was caught back in a loose braid with a few soft pieces around her face, and she’d kept her makeup simple and natural looking. She looked at her legs again. She really had wanted to look nice when she went out with Natsu and had picked this skirt for their date because it was so different to the loose unisex outfits that he’d seen her in since leaving the hospital.

 “Hey Lucy?” Wendy’s voice filtered through her closed bedroom door. “Natsu just messaged me – he said he was running a little late, but he got changed at work and will be home in ten.”

 “Okay, thanks Wendy.” Lucy sighed. No time to change now. She sat down on her bed to pull on her tan suede ankle boots. She would really have to pay Wendy back. The younger girl had got so excited buying her an outfit that Lucy hadn’t had the heart to tell her to stop, but shoes as well as the clothes was really too much. She stroked the soft suede, trying to calm the nervous butterflies somersaulting in her stomach. Natsu hadn’t really even told her what he had planned. Just that he wanted to take her out on Friday evening after he got home from work. She pulled on the baby blue cardigan with small heart shaped buttons, also soft to touch. It was still Summer, but the evenings were starting to get chilly.

 She heard a soft knock on her door. “Lucy, can I come in?”

 “Sure Wendy,” she said, adding her wallet, tissues, keys and lip gloss to the small satchel style leather handbag that she’d bought online.

 Wendy’s head poked around the door, her long blue hair shimmering as the sunlight hit it. “Ooh, Lucy, you look lovely!” she exclaimed, stepping into the room. She made a circling movement with her forefinger, and Lucy obediently twirled for her, tugging her skirt downwards as she did so. Wendy gave her an encouraging smile.

 “Lucy, the scars will fade”, she said gently. “You’re beautiful. And it’s not like Natsu’s not covered in scars either you know.”

 Lucy’s eyes widened. “He is?”

 Wendy snorted. “Guess you’re not up to that part of the relationship yet huh?” she sniggered. “He got them in a house fire when he was younger – tried to climb through a broken window that was too small and cut up his side really badly on the glass. Sliced his neck too. He had so many stitches – I tried to count them while he was in hospital, but I was only four – I couldn’t count high enough.” They both turned at the sound of a key in a lock as the front door opened, and Wendy smiled again. “Speak of the devil!”

 Lucy took one deep breath, then walked out into the lounge room where Natsu had just sat down on the sofa to wait for her. He looked like a nervous wreck; his unkempt pink hair even messier than usual as he ran his fingers through his fringe. He’d dressed nicely, wearing his ‘good’ jeans and leather boots, and a slim fitting black polo shirt that she hadn’t seen before that accentuated his muscular frame. He jumped to his feet as soon as he saw her.

 “Lucy, I’m so sorry I’m late, I left my wallet at the station when I got changed and I had to go back and…”

 Lucy smiled at him, feeling most of the butterflies that had been teasing her stomach settle one by one. It helped that he was nervous too, that he understood the weight of this step they were taking together. She giggled.

 “Natsu, you’re babbling.” Lucy reached out her hand and squeezed his fingers. “It’s just me, remember?” She tugged on his hand and he chuckled.

 “Yeah, I know. I’ve just never been great at this date stuff. But I put a lot of thought into this and I really want you to have a good time tonight Lucy.” He took in her outfit appreciatively. “You look gorgeous, by the way”. The last of Lucy’s butterflies took flight, leaving only excitement behind.

 “Thank you Natsu. You look good too. And of course I’ll have a good time, silly. I’m with you.” Lucy beamed at him, giggling at the pink dusting his cheeks. They both did their best to ignore Wendy cooing in delight at their mutual compliments in the background.

 “Have fun you two!” she teased. “Don’t stay out too late, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

 Natsu mock glared at Wendy and took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road Lucy. I hope you’re feelin’ hungry!”

 ________________________________________________________________

 Natsu parked his little Datsun near the town centre and they strolled down the main street, hand in hand, the sunset dusting everything with a rosy glow. Long shadows tilted in front of them, making giants out of everyday objects. Natsu squeezed Lucy’s hand as they rounded the corner, and Lucy squeezed back and smiled, relishing the warmth of Natsu’s palm against hers. His hands were always warm.

 “I read lots of reviews, and this place is meant to make the best spicy hot pot in Magnolia”, said Natsu excitedly, licking his lips. “I’ve been wanting to try out this place for ages, and this seemed like the perfect night. I can’t wait!” He gestured proudly with his hand to a Sichuan Chinese restaurant called Rising Embers, the windows painted with stylized red dragons.

 “Um, Natsu? It’s closed.”

 Natsu turned, glancing at the doorway in confusion. “But it can’t be! I called and made a booking this morning!” He let go of Lucy’s hand, cupping his hands around his face so he could peer through the window into the darkened interior.

 Lucy pointed at a note stuck to the inside of the door with sticky tape, written in both Chinese hanzi and English. “It says closed due to a family emergency. I hope everyone’s okay.” She turned to take in the disappointment on Natsu’s face and grabbed his hand and squeezed gently. “Don’t worry Natsu, it doesn’t matter if we can’t go tonight. We’ll just come back some other time, okay?”

 Natsu sighed, seemingly mollified by her reassurance that they could come back. ���Okay. I just really wanted to take you somewhere special the first time we went out on a date.” He interlaced their fingers and raised their joined hands to his lips, kissing Lucy’s knuckles gently. “I like holding your hand, by the way”, he said softly, rubbing his thumb on her wrist.

 Lucy smiled at him. Already her jaw was starting to ache from smiling so much in one evening. Was she that out of practice? “I like it too, Natsu.”

 Natsu grinned, tugging on her hand. “C’mon Luce, we’ve still got two hours before we need to be somewhere else. Let’s find another place to eat. I’m starving!” He yanked her forward and she giggled as he pulled her back up the street in the direction they’d just come.

 It looked like most of Magnolia had the same idea to eat out that evening. They walked along the main road, but nearly every restaurant looked full to bursting.

 “What about here?” asked Lucy, pointing to the pub on the corner. It also looked to be busy, but there were some empty tables in the beer garden at the side. Fairy lights twinkled in the trees and under the yellow and white striped umbrellas shading the wooden picnic tables, and people chatted animatedly, drinking beer and eating chips and burgers.

 Natsu rolled his eyes. “Give me some credit Luce. It’s our first date. I want to take you somewhere nice to eat.” But as the minutes ticked away, and every restaurant had a wait time of another hour, they ended up standing in front of the pub again. Natsu grumbled under his breath.

 Lucy looked at the brick building. It seemed like any other pub she’d ever seen, smelling faintly of stale beer, with blackboards advertising upcoming live bands and a weekly trivia night. The name was cute too, ‘Three of Cups’; Lucy recognised it as a minor arcana tarot card. Natsu still looked reluctant.

 “Is there something about this place you’re not telling me Natsu?”

 Natsu sighed, running his fingers through his already messy fringe exasperatedly as they walked in the door past the front bar and out into the beer garden. “There’s nothing wrong with it exactly, it’s just owned by someone I went to university with. She’s a good friend, but sometimes she can come on a little…”

 “Heeeey, Natsuuuuuu!”

 A tall woman with brown wavy hair and a wide smile waved at them, easily transferring the empty glasses she was collecting to a tray balanced on one curvy jean covered hip.

 Natsu huffed out a sigh but smiled as he turned to face the woman with a wave. “Hey Cana, it’s good to see you.”

 Cana grinned at him, putting the tray with glasses down on an empty table and leaning forward to give him a swift hug, the tight black cropped t-shirt she wore leaving little to the imagination regarding her curvy figure. “Don’t lie, hotshot, we both know you’re terrible at it.” She winked, looking Lucy up and down. “You do realise you’re punching above your weight with this one Natsu.”

 Natsu made a warning noise in the back of his throat. “Cana!” he growled. “Settle down, okay? This is Lucy. Lucy, this my friend Cana – we met at university, and she’s hung around like a bad smell ever since.”

 Cana rolled her eyes at him and held her hand out to shake Lucy’s. “Nice to meetcha Lucy!” She lowered her voice a little and grinned at her mischievously. “If things don’t work out tonight with this dork, stop by the bar and get my number.”

 Lucy flushed as she shook Cana’s hand, not quite sure what to say. “Oh, um, thank you, I’m flattered, but um…”

 Cana grinned, ignoring Natsu’s sputtering in the background. “Never mind, I gotcha. Always worth a try, ya know. So are you guys thinking about eating here? First drinks are on me tonight Natsu, friend discount.”

 Natsu nodded, and Cana grinned. “Okay, sit wherever. You can order at the bar when you’re ready to eat. Natsu knows what’s good on the menu, he’s a regular.”

 Lucy and Natsu sat down facing each other on the bench seating, the fairy lights overhead twinkling merrily under the yellow and white striped umbrellas. Natsu coughed apologetically, reaching out for her hand across the wooden picnic table.

 “So, uh, that was Cana.”

 Lucy smiled. “So I gathered. She seems nice.” Natsu snorted but nodded.

 “I dunno if nice is the word I’d use, but she’s definitely a good friend. Gray and I come here a lot for lunch.” He rattled off the menu to her, and after she’d made her choice he went off to the bar to order, returning with a beer for each of them and the restaurant pager that would indicate when their food was ready.

 Ten minutes later when the pager began beeping, Natsu disappeared again, returning with Lucy’s chicken skewers and his own gigantic beef burger with a bowl of wedges to share. Lucy tucked in. She was really hungry, and the garlic and lemon flavoured chicken was delicious. Natsu was also hungry, judging by the way he launched himself into eating the burger on his plate. A movement next to Lucy’s shoulder made her look up.

 “Everything okay? Is the food good?” asked Cana as she paused near them with a tray crowded with empty glasses.

 “It’s really delicious, thank you”, replied Lucy with a smile. Natsu, whose mouth was clearly too full to make any sort of coherent comment, just gave her a thumbs up.

 “Okay, glad to hear it!” grinned Cana, disappearing with her tray. But as they ate their meal, she kept reappearing, watching them with a knowing grin. Natsu was clearly getting more irritated by the second as she loitered near them to pick up glasses. Again.

 “Are you nearly finished eating Lucy?” he grumped, as Cana sashayed past them with her tray, giving Natsu a meaningful wink.

 Lucy leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Natsu, it’s okay, really. She’s obviously just teasing you, trying to get a rise out of you. Just ignore it.”

 “Well, it’s working dammit”, he growled. He’d finished his burger and Lucy was three quarters of the way through her meal. “How about we get out of here, and I buy you ice-cream instead? There’s a place near where we’re goin’ next.”

 Lucy nodded. “That sounds good!” They each snagged a handful of wedges to eat on the way and got up to leave, Natsu glowering over his shoulder at a grinning Cana.

 “Nice to meet ya Lucy! See ya later Natsu!” called out Cana.

 “Not if I see you first”, muttered Natsu. Lucy bumped his hip playfully with hers.

 “Come on, cheer up! The food was really good! I’d like to go here again.” Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. “Okay, it possibly wasn’t the romantic atmosphere you wanted during dinner, but I’m enjoying myself Natsu, really.”

 Natsu’s usual cheerful grin returned. “Okay.”

 He took her hand again, and they walked down towards the canal, where there was a man selling ice-cream from a small pink refrigerated food vendor’s cart on wheels. Lucy got a single strawberry cone with a drizzle of cherry syrup, and Natsu ordered a double cone with butterscotch pecan and vanilla. They dawdled slowly across the bridge, licking their ice-creams, and enjoying the balmy twilight, smiling at each other.

 “Look out!” yelled a voice behind them. A courier riding a bicycle zoomed close by, knocking Lucy off balance as she shifted quickly to get out of the way. Natsu’s arm wrapped around her waist before she could fall, pulling her tightly against him. She dropped her ice-cream with a cry of surprise, watching it land with a splat on the ground in front of her, just missing her new suede boots. Natsu’s elbow jostled against the edge of the stone bridge, and the scoops of ice-cream dropped into the canal, leaving him holding an empty cone.  

 “Watch where you’re goin’ you ass wipe!” hollered Natsu at the retreating back of the cyclist, who had already made it across the bridge. His distant cry of ‘sorry’ floated back on the breeze towards them but did nothing to improve Natsu’s temper.

 “Are you okay Lucy?” he asked gruffly, glancing in disgust at the empty ice-cream cone still clutched in his fist, then tossing it over the side of the bridge to join the rest of it in the water below. She nodded.

 “I’m sorry Lucy. Like I told you earlier, I’m not real good at planning dates”, he sighed. His expression was so despondent that she couldn’t help hugging him tightly.

 “Natsu, this is all just unlucky! It wasn’t your fault that the first restaurant was closed. The pub would have been amazing if Cana hadn’t been trying to tease you! And my ice-cream was really good! Please don’t be down about this, okay?” Natsu hugged her back, then picked her up, twirling her around. He finally listened to her squeals to put her down, but refused to relinquish his hold on her, kissing her on top of her head.

 “Why are you so nice Lucy? Any sane person would have given up on this date by now! Hopefully this last thing will make it up to you – I know you’ll love this!” He glanced at his phone to check the time. “Crap, we gotta move or we’ll miss the beginning!”

 He grabbed Lucy’s hand and tugged her along, until they ended up outside an old movie theatre. The exterior architecture reminded Lucy of photos she’d seen of 1920’s buildings.

 “This place shows older movies, and it looks really cool inside too, all red velvet curtains and cushy seats. They even have people dressed up in old time usher costumes who show you to your seats and sell popcorn. I checked their website yesterday and they’ve got a Jane Austen movie festival running – they’re playing ‘Sense and Sensibility’ tonight, which I happen to know is one of your favourites, because I heard you tell Wendy!”

 Lucy grinned at him, squeezing his arm. “Oh wow Natsu, I haven’t seen that movie in ages! Thank you so much!”

 Natsu walked over to the small ticket booth, manned by a bored looking woman with dark hair. “Two tickets to Sense and Sensibility please”, he said cheerfully.

 “Sorry love, no can do. That’s on next month during our Jane Austen festival. It’s ‘Screamers’ showing tonight – we’re doing a 90’s space theme this week.”

 “You’re joking”, said Natsu, pulling back. “Please, tell me you’re joking. I looked it up yesterday – your website said it was on this evening!”

 “Yeah, sorry about that. There was a mix up and the wrong dates were entered. Did you want tickets or not?”

 Natsu looked at her, speechless. He turned to Lucy, who had her back to him, her shoulders shaking. Natsu tentatively put his hand on her shoulder. “Lucy, please don’t be upset. We’ll come back and see it when it’s on, okay? I promise, I’ll make it up to you. Please don’t cry!”

 Lucy turned around. There were indeed tears in her eyes, but that was because she was struggling not to laugh. Finally she gave up and let loose, laughing louder than Natsu had ever heard her. She threw her arms around his neck, still giggling. Natsu gazed at her, unsure of what to do.

 “I’m sorry to laugh”, she giggled, “really Natsu, but it’s just so ridiculous! And you tried so hard!” She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him gently on the lips. “Let’s go buy a hot chocolate and talk under the stars. What do you say?”

 Natsu was momentarily stunned after her kiss, but then smiled, dropping his forehead to hers. “Whatever you say milady”, he grinned, returning her kiss with one of his own.

________________________________________________________________

 Lucy was still giggling as they finally sat down under a tree in the park, Natsu leaning back against the trunk, with Lucy sitting between his legs, her back against his chest. Natsu rested his chin on top of her head, reaching around to tap her on the nose as she handed him his takeaway hot chocolate with extra marshmallows.

 “You can stop laughing now, you know. It’s not that funny”, he grumbled as he sipped his hot chocolate, trying not to smile.

 “Oh, but it is”, she sniggered. “Do you know Natsu, you couldn’t have planned a better first date if you’d tried. Do you know why?”

 “All right, I’ll take the bait. Why Lucy?”

 “Because”, she giggled, “I’m never going to forget this date, not in a million years.” She cupped her hands around her hot chocolate, taking careful sips of the hot liquid.

 “Yeah”, sighed Natsu. “That’s pretty true. I’d rather that it was because I’d got everything right though.” Hearing the wistful tone in his voice, Lucy put down her hot chocolate, and turned so she was kneeling in front of him.

 “But you did get everything right Natsu!” she exclaimed, stroking his cheek. “Every single thing you picked to do, was something you chose because you believed I would enjoy it, that we’d enjoy doing it together. And that makes you the most thoughtful person I’ve ever gone on a date with.”

 Natsu snorted. “The other guys you’ve been out with must have been total bastards then. Why wouldn’t I want to choose things that you’d want to do?” He shifted slightly, pulling on her shoulder gently. “Here, if you’re gonna turn around this way, scoot sideways and sit on me. I don’t want you to scrape the skin on your legs, not when it’s just getting better.”

 Lucy moved to sit on Natsu’s thigh. “Why are you so kind to me Natsu?” she asked seriously.

 “I can’t help it”, he grinned.

 “No, I mean it.”

 “So do I”, he said, tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “There’s just somethin’ about you Luce. It’s like I need to help you find your smile, and when you smile at me, it’s the best thing ever.”

 Lucy looped her arms around his neck. “You do help me smile Natsu. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.”

 “That’s good to know”, he said huskily, moving his forefinger down to her chin and tilting her head back. His green eyes examined hers carefully, pausing, the tension between them winding so taut that Lucy was sure it would snap, and then he closed his eyes and bent down to meet his lips with hers.

 The first press of his lips was gentle, exploratory as he learned the shape of hers, the curve and texture. They were petal soft, moving gently against his own. “Lucy,” he murmured, his hand moving to cradle the back of her head. He stroked his tongue over her plump bottom lip, tasting cherry lip gloss and hot chocolate, a delicious combination. Eager to taste more, Natsu licked and then sucked her lip between his teeth. She gave a needy whimper, and he slipped his tongue swiftly into her mouth to explore and learn all he could. Her tongue was silky and slid against his, and he groaned. Her hands had thoroughly messed his hair, and his had made their way downwards, resting on her hips. Breaking from her lips, he placed small heated kisses in the hollow of her throat as Lucy sighed his name, her fingers still twisting in his tangled hair.  

 A throat clearing behind them had Lucy squeaking, hiding her head in Natsu’s neck, and his shooting upwards with a glare.

 “Sorry to break this up kids, but the park is now officially closed, and you’re trespassing. You’re gonna have to take this somewhere else.” At least the park ranger had the decency to shine the torch to one side, rather than shine it directly in his eyes. Natsu’s head tipped backward onto the tree trunk with a dull thud.

 “That’s it. I’m officially done with today Luce. Let’s go home.”

 The park ranger waited until they’d picked up their mostly empty cups and walked through the park gate, then shut and locked it behind them with a clang. Lucy was still feeling embarrassed, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as they walked back towards Natsu’s car. She peeked at Natsu out of the corner of her eye. He was striding along with his eyes down, hands thrust in his jean pockets.

 “I’m sorry”, she said hesitantly.

 Natsu looked at her incredulously. “What on earth have you got to apologise for Lucy?”

 “Well, the park was my idea”, she answered softly. “I didn’t realise that they would close it when it got to a certain time.” She curled her fingers around his bicep. “And I was having a pretty good time until we were, um, interrupted.” She cleared her throat. “Natsu, when you said you were done with today, that didn’t mean that you were done with, um, the idea of us…”

 Natsu leaned down and kissed her swiftly. “That answer your question Lucy?” He took his hand out of his pocket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Please say you’ll give me another chance at this”, he chuckled. “I know I can do better.”

 Lucy wrapped her arm around his waist as they continued walking back to his car. “Of course I will Natsu. But can I make a suggestion?”

 “Anythin’ Luce.”

 “Maybe next date we can send Wendy out, and order in. That way there’ll be less chance of things going wrong, or any interruptions.” Natsu leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

 “Great plan Luce. Tomorrow good for you?”

 Lucy sighed happily. “Tomorrow sounds awesome.”

________________________________________________________________

 This, believe it or not, is based roughly on my very first date with my husband. We’d been best friends for about three years before we started going out, but he was very determined to take me on a ‘proper date’. He lost his wallet and was running late; the French restaurant was booked out for a private function and the dinky Chinese restaurant we ended up at was where his female flatmate worked. She teased us the whole time we were there but did give us free soft drink. Then when we got to the movies, Sense and Sensibility wasn’t playing as advertised, but Screamers was. Unlike Natsu and Lucy, we stayed to watch it. It was hilariously bad. Then we got sprung making out in the hallway at university. It was an unforgettable night and makes me think of him lovingly every time I remember it.

[galaxyacerodoesart]

OOOOH BOY. GET READY ‘CUZ HERE COMES ONE LONG ASS POST, FOLKS C’:

OH MY GOD, I can’t believe i’m FINALLY done with this cursed thing. Well… after the first Sanderstuck thing I did, I decided to might as well commit to it fully adlakshdlkahdjah SO. HERE WE HAVE IT. 

FULL SPRITE SHEETS OF EVERYONE IN THIS CURSED SANDERS SIDES AU. THAT IS SANDERSTUCK.

Ok, to be completely honest, Those are all just my ideas and all djsakdjaskdl If you have like, a different God-tier for anyone here,

THAT’S GREAT!

:DD It has actually been a few years since I did some good God-tier Analysis and all, so some of my choices might be weird and stuff, but hey, if it makes at least A LITTLE bit of sense, it’s good for me :v

I don’t think I need to say this AU WOULD have them all as Humans/different beings…right? :’v it should be pretty obvious but still. Being a Human AU AND a Homestuck AU, That’s why they each look different from one another, have more “casual” clothes And the reason to why I changed some stuff, Like, YES. I know, Thomas eyes aren’t anywhere near the mint color I gave him, BUT i a Homestuck AU context it makes sense since Eye color = Text color in HS. I could have given him brown eyes buuuut…Brown text wouldn’t be as fun :’)  So, he gets a nice mint-green color! Oh, and if anyone is curious, Remy eyes are a Silver-grey color! c: Everyone always thought he was blind whenever they looked at him (he isn’t, his eyesight is a bit sensitive to light, but he can see without any problem) so to stop the staring and questions, he decided to just wear glasses all the time. :o

So, In order, We have the sprite sheets of:

Thomas - Patton - Logan - Roman - Virgil - Deceit(Dolian) - Remy - Emile

Now, Under Read more i’ll put some extra info about each sprite, so if you are truly curious go ahead and read it! c: I must say, this definitely was fun pff, Since I was going more deep into this whole thing, I figured I might as well give their trollsonas signs from the canon extended zodiac Even though, someone like Deceit might still keep the original idea I had for him and not show his sign at all, I made him showing in the sprite just for shows c: And I did change Troll!Virgil horns so they would resemble something more like a lightning bolt, due to the thunderstorm cloud that is his symbol!  It was DEFINITELY fun to come up with Emile and Thomas troll desings, since I never did one for them in the past, Thomas being a Bronze blood is simply because…well..he’s a Taurus :’v I was going to make Emile the Bronze Blood first (Not even sure why anymore, Just thought it would fit at first??) but then decided to let Thomas have it and Emile as Mustardblood with psiionics in blue and pink, giving a little nod to both his ties in both cartoon therapy videos c:

Again, this was really fun, pfff If anyone ever want to talk to me about this AU or anything, feel free to! I am mainly doing it for fun, after all c: no matter how cursed I feel it is

Thomas Sprite sheet:

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style (AKA. Not that stylized sprite)

“Could be Gayer” Shirt

Steven universe Shirt

RETRIEVE ARMS. (Arms sprite)

Trollsona, Bronze Blood (Canon extended zodiac - Sign of the Entrepreneur- Taurnius)

Dreamself, Prospit

God-Tier, Heir of Hope (Hood down)

God-Tier, Heir of Hope (Hood up)

Grimdark

Trickster Form (”Gay Bacon” Theme) The idea came to me out of nowhere and it was TOO GOOD to not use PFFT

Patton Sprite Sheet:

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style

Standard/Normal Sprite

Happy boio! (Arms sprite 1)

CAT JACKET ON! (Arms sprite 2)

Trollsona, Jade Blood ( Jade Blood, Canon extended zodiac - Sign of the Foundation - Virlo)

Dreamself, Prospit

God-Tier, Maid of Heart Because screw gender-roled GTs (Hood down)

God-Tier, Maid of Heart (Hood up)

Grimdark (welp someone is heartbroken.)

Trickster Form (Sweethearts candy Themed, Would probably be the first one to actually go on Trickster mode.)

Logan Sprite Sheet:

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style

Standard/Normal Sprite

“Allow me to pull out the fact to say how wrong you are.” (Arms Sprite)

Trollsona, Teal Blood (True Libra sign - Sign of the Watcher - Libra)

Trollsona, Just for funs, Troll!Logan with canon Terezi Pyrope horns. 

Dreamself, Prospit

God-Tier, Seer of Mind i can’t believe I literally made Logan Terezi, holy fuck(Hood down)

God-Tier, Seer of Mind (Hood up)

Grimdark (a n g e r y  a n d  f r u s t r a t i o n . )

Trickster Form (Crumpets with crofters jelly Themed, Well… looks like it isn’t everyone that can get super hyped on a weird sugar overdose-indulced happiness. Huh. AKA: Logan is Basically Dirk and doesn’t get all hyped like every other trickster.)

Roman Sprite Sheet:

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style

Standard/Casual clothes Sprite

Casual Clothes + Arms (Arms Sprite)

Princey outfit

Trollsona, Violet Blood (Canon extended zodiac - Sign of the Campaigner- Aquaga)

Dreamself, Derse

God-Tier, Knight of Space (Hood down)

God-Tier, Knight of Space (Hood up)

Grimdark

Trickster Form (Raspberry pie Themed)

Virgil Sprite Sheet:

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style (Though it is still rather complex because I didn’t want to get rid of the plaid…pff)

Standard/Normal Sprite

Ow the angst. (Hood Up, Arms sprite 1)

“I’m not ignoring you, it isn’t my fault that my phone is way more interesting than you right now.” (Arms sprite 2)

Trollsona, Purple Blood (Canon extended zodiac - Sign of the Bold - Capries) If you think of making a dick joke because of the sign form, just know you are too late as it already has been done by half the homestuck/hiveswap fandom lmao.

Dreamself, Derse

God-Tier, Page of Time (Hood down, Changed outfit because he sure as HECK wasn’t gonna go around wearing no pants.)

God-Tier, Page of Time (Hood up)

Grimdark (Oh look, i’m more dead inside than I already was. Wow.)

Trickster Form (Cotton Candy Themed. Too much positive emotions and completely lack of care surely seem to be rather overwhelming and awful when you deal with stuff like anxiety and paranoia on a daily bases, huh?!)

Deceit (True name in this AU is “Dolian”) Sprite Sheet:

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style

Standard/Casual Clothes Sprite

“Why, I certainly have NO IDEA what you mean by that.” (Arms sprite)

Normal Deceit Look

Trollsona, Cerulean Blood (Canon extended zodiac - Sign of the Doubtful- Scorittarius)

Dreamself, Derse

God-Tier, Bard of Void (Hood down, and no fucking Cod-piece because I refuse to draw anyone that isn’t the canon HS characters with one, and because Deceit sure as heck wouldn’t wear it if you ask me)

God-Tier, Bard of Void (Hood up)

Grimdark (Someone seems…way too happy with this…)

Trickster Form (Lemons Themed. If you were around the internet before the word “sm u t/ ns f w” was being used, i know what you are thinking… D O N T .)  The famous Twisted happy person.

Remy (Sleep) Sprite Sheet: funfact- Remy is the only one who eyebrows deceive logic and appear on top of his hair, mainly because i didn’t want to lose the chance to present more emotions and expressions to him.

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style

Standard/Normal Sprite

“GUUURL, YOU WOULDN’T GUESS WHERE I AM. But please try to because I personally have no idea how I got here, lol” (Arms Sprite)

Trollsona, (Mutant) Lime Blood (Canon extended zodiac - Sign of the Vociferous - Canun)

Trollsona, Would disguise himself as an Olive blood (but never change his sign because he figured no one would be bothered to fucking look that stupid thing up, right?! Oh no, there goes my hive and my lusus is now dead, woops.)

Dreamself, Derse

God-Tier, Thief of Breath (Hood Down)

God-Tier, Thief of Breath (Hood up)

Grimdark

Trickster Form (Frappuccino themed. How does the cup stays in his hair and doesn’t spill or anything?! Trickster Magic.) 

Emile Sprite Sheet:

Standard Black and White Homestuck Style

Normal/Pink Tie Sprite

Blue Tie/Glasses Sprite

THE THERAPIST IS IN AND READY TO GO! (Arms Sprite)

Trollsona, Mustard Blood (Canon extended zodiac - Sign of the Intimate, Gemcer)

Dreamself, Prospit

God-Tier, Sylph of Blood (Hood Down, again, fuck them gendered GTs, slightly modified so it isn’t much of a dress and more like pants, mainly for easier walking/practicality)

God-Tier, Sylph of Blood (Hood up)

Grimdark

Trickster Form (Fizzy bubblegum bottles candy Themed)