[ Video / Action -Mid Afternoon ]

[celestial_wizard]

[ As always, the video feed turns on - she may not use the network much, but she did when she needed to. This time, Lucy is seated at a desk with balls upon balls upon balls of crumpled up pieces of paper. She gave a dejected little sigh. No matter how hard she tried, her stories just weren't forming the way she wanted them to. She knew why at least - kinda. She needed a distraction, desperately. Finally, she let out a frustrated noise, flailing at the desk and shredding a piece of paper before running her hands through her hair. She'd been TRYING (key word) to write about the latest capers with the body swapping and everything, even though she wasn't affected by it, but... ]

Aaaa - Darnit!!

[ HUFF. ]

I'm not making any progress on this whatsoever. It's not even writer's block, it's just..

[ She stopped there, brown eyes shifting towards the feed as she stretched one arm over her head, the other reaching behind her head to grasp her elbow. MRPH. ]

I think I need some air. Anyone want to come with me? I was thinking about exploring the Outlands a little. A distraction should be just what I need to get a fresh start on this.

Comments

[celestial_wizard]

[ YES IT IS. Indirectly. Because her thoughts kept wandering back to THEN. THere's a short pause, before she grins. ]

... Okay. Just let me clean up here, and I'll meet you outside. [ Assuming he wasn't already on the way and climbing in her window because he can't use a door darnit. ]

[explodewiththerage]

[Well that just means you need to work on your focus. Erza could probably help with that~]

[Close. He plans on climbing up the drain pipe then shimmying from from window to window until he reaches hers.]

Okay. I'll see you in a bit then.

[celestial_wizard]

[ Only when it came to things not related to her training - and most of that was due to her wild imagination. And that tended to run wild. Even Erza would have trouble reigning that in. Probably. ]

Okay! See you soon.

[ /sob. Use the -doooooor-. Actually if he ever did she'd think something was wrong. But she turns off the feed there and starts picking up discarded balls of paper, oblivious to Natsu' dastardly plans. ]

[explodewiththerage]

[Well imagination is that double edged sword writers so sorely need so there's no getting out of that.]

Yep.

[And he's going to cut the call and climb up the pipe like ten minutes later. He can be very quick as you know~ And now he's on your window sill perched like a pink haired frog.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ She had her back to the window too, by the time he reached it. Just tugging on her boots and getting ready. ... wait. She ... she had a feeling someone was gargoyling on her window sill. ... She warily glanced over her shoulder and though she some how KNEW it would be him, the sight of Natsu perched there was still startling enough that she flailed a bit and slipped off of the edge of the bed. ]

WAUGH!

NATSU!

[explodewiththerage]

[To which he casually replies by raising a hand in greeting with a big smile on his face.]

Yo. Still not ready I see huh.

[Nooo. You just got here faster than intended, Natsu]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Lucy scowls. ]

I thought we were going to meet outside? You're too fast!

[ She gets to her feet, scooping up balled up pieces of paper to toss out. Honestly, some people have no patience! ]

[explodewiththerage]

No I'm not. Besides that'd be too boring.

[Spots the papery fuel and his eyes light up.]

You gonna burn those? I can take em off your hands if you wanna.

[Remember he hate the council documents Makarov ignited back when you first joined.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ She remembers that well, hence the expression somewhere between exasperated and amused. You pyro. ]

I was going to just drop them in the wastebasket, but...

[ She dropped them into said empty container and pulled it to the center of the room. ]

Have at it. Just be careful. [ Be careful you don't set anything else on fire in your eager nomming, that is. In any case, she dropped onto the bed again to fish out her other boot and start pulling that one on. ]

[explodewiththerage]

[Hey it's his thing. And part of you likes watching him play around with fire. When you don't get caught in the crossfire that is.]

Sweet. Don't worry I won't set fire to your place.

[Happily flips out his lighter and ignites one of the balls and holds it in his palm for a bit to allow the fire to engulf it completely before popping it in his mouth like it was a bun.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ It's true. It's so very true. It was fascinating in a way, even though she was shaking her head in quiet amusement as she watched him feast on the balls of paper. ]

You'd better not!

[ But she didn't think he would. She trusted him to be careful, and have total control of the fire that was his element. Twisting around, she reached over to push her window closes, practically sprawling across the bed in doing so. She had a one weirdo limit for crawling in her windows, thank you. Now he HAS to use the door, mwahahah. ]

[explodewiththerage]

[It was a good thing he was eating the fire balls right now. If not he might have acted on the impulse he felt when she went over the bed to close the window. She looked so tickle-able. Yes just pounce on top and dig his fingers into her sides and then she'd squirm and yelp for him to stop and he'd move his hands higher and then...woah there! Focusing on the fireballs again cause those thoughts are starting to not conform to his his usual plotting standards.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Whoah there indeed, cowboy. Of course despite the flailing and protests, Lucy wouldn't mind the tickling. It was their usual goofing off. But the ... rest of that would - well who knew how she'd react! ]

There!

[ She sat back against her heels, finally getting the window closed, stretching one arm over her head and arching to the side, then repeating the process on the opposite side. Nothing like a good stretch! Scooting back to the edge of the bed again. ]

[explodewiththerage]

[Odds are they would but trapped on the bed looking on each other until one of them made a move.]

Almost done here too.

[Which helps since it means the distraction from what he'd just thought up, was successfully executed.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ And if their luck didn't hold out, someone would walk in and mistake their position for something else. ]

Good. [ She hopped off the bed and padded up behind her friend, resting a hand against his shoulder briefly. ]

Let me just grab some thing from the kitchen and we can go. [ Just in case they end up staying out later than usual. ]

[explodewiththerage]

[And that someone would more than likely be Erza or someone they knew.]

Okay. I'll just get these last two over with.

[Speaking of the two fireballs cooking in his hand right then and there.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Lucy grins, giving him a pat on the shoulder before passing by and heading off into the kitchen. Since Natsu was going to be coming with her, she should adjust what she was bringing. Tugging a few sandwiches out along with some hot peppers, she started chopping the peppers to add into the sandwich. He liked it hot best, after all. She just wished it didn't make her fingers burn. Aaaaa. She lifted her voice a little to call out to her friend. ]

I found a new kind of pepper when I went shopping the other day, by the way. You'll probably love it. [ Because her hands are burning now. Ohgod. Water. ]

[explodewiththerage]

[He looked over his shoulder while a corner of burning paper was still poking out from between his lips.]

Eh really? Can't wait to taste it!

[He can't really sense her discomfort from tehre since scent wise the new pepper and various ingredients don't set anything off in his mind.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Lucy was rather glad he couldn't tell from this distance. She could handle it - it was just pepper juice! And she didn't have any cuts on her hands or anything. ]

Yeah, the shopkeeper said it was like ghost peppers. Even normal people have trouble bearing with it. [ Ahaha...ha...ha.... hm. She touched a finger to her tongue curiously. .... .. OHJEEZUS Why did she do that D: ]

A-are you about done out there? [ She stepped out of view in the kitchen, rummaging about in the icebox to grab an ice cube. Could she have actually found a pepper that might even be too much for Natsu? ... hrm. ]

[explodewiththerage]

Hohoho ghost peppers huh. Now I'm really looking forward to having a shot at those.

[Though now her discomfort is rather hard to ignore now. Don't mind him. He's done with the burning paper so he's just going to get up and follow the strong scent of pepper. Hope you don't mind him grabbing your hand and licking one of your fingers. Oh wow she wasn't kidding. Hang on need a bigger taste. That feeling around your fingers? Totally his lips.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Well she was planning -- and still was planning -- on giving him a piece of pepper to see if he liked it or not. If he couldn't tolerate it, she would cut back a little. ]

Oh? Well then-- then-- t..th... [ That? That was the sound of Lucy's brain stalling at the feel of his tongue licking a finger. And -THAT- is the sound of her brain crashing, breaking into tiny pieces, then catching on fire from the level of her blush when he got a bigger taste. Wh... what is... what is he DOING? ]

[ She pressed her lips together tightly, barely suppressing the soft, strained noise that started to slip out. Oh god why what where what. Her eyes darted from his lips to his face, repeatedly, rasping a soft breath. ]

U-um....

[explodewiththerage]

[Oh he's tolerating it just fine if the way his tongue lightly brushes around her finger, cleaning off the peppers juice from her digit. There's even a faint hum of approval.]

[So focused on that finger that it takes him a while to see Lucy in her state of utter shell shock.]

Lucy? What's wrong?

[Yep totally acting like what he did was perfectly normal and in a way it was, For him.]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Somehow, she managed to keep from yanking her hand away. At the question, she looked away. ]

N... nothing.

[ ... Lucy, do you want to try that again? A little less strained, this time? ]

[explodewiththerage]

[That would've probably sent the right message as to why what he did was so effective on her.]

[As it were though he just released her hand but not before licking one final spot on her tip that had the pepper juice still on.]

You were right. It's some strong stuff. It'll go great with the sandwiches!

[celestial_wizard]

[ And here she worried it would have hurt his feelings when he was just trying to be helpful! Once her hand was released, she quickly dropped it back at her side, taking a step back. Hmph. Now she's going to have to wash her hands again --well she was going to anyway since those peppers were hot as hell to her skin. ]

T-That's just the juice though. [ Clearing her throat, she slipped over to the counter and retrieved one of the slices of pepper she cut up, taking a breath because ow. She needs to start getting some gloves when she investigated these hot ingredients for Natsu, seriously. ]

Here, open up. [ ...here comes the pepper train, choo-choo? Although Lucy could have just handed it to him, but no, she just steps right up to him to feed him that slice of pepper, fingers twitching slightly. ... Lucy you don't need to stand THAT close to feed him a piece of pepper. ]