Moody

Having known Lucy for many years, Natsu was no stranger to her mood swings. And since they had no boundaries and no privacy with each other, Natsu also knew fully well her bodily functions. What kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn't know every little detail about her?

And so, when he had returned from a solo mission he was completely unsurprised by her murderous aura. Not only had he and Happy left secretly without telling her (it was for a surprise after all!), but he could easily smell the coppery and bitter scent of blood coming from her. She was on her period. He cursed at himself mentally, of all the times to sneak out, he picked the week she would be at her worst. Why had he not been keeping track of the date? Now he was going to be doubly punished. He was screwed.

He cowered at the sight of his glowering girlfriend. "Oh... he-hey Luce... I've m-missed you..." Lucy's nostrils flared. "Oh? Then maybe you shouldn't have left without me?" Her angry voice felt like ice water had been poured down his back. "O-Oh. Y-yeah... silly me..." Lucy literally growled at him. "I am giving you one chance Natsu Dragneel. Why did you go on a mission without me? And more importantly- without even telling me. I woke up in bed, and boom. You both had just magically disappeared."

Natsu gulped. He couldn't tell her the real reason- it was a surprise for her! The gears in his mind spun rapidly as he tried to find an excuse. Funny, the whole way back he planned what he would say and do to make it up to her, but now that she was on her period... He had no chance of getting out of this one.

"U-Um... Because... Happy didn't want you to come!" Happy's eyes bugged out of his head as he swirled to his foster father. "Eh?! Lucy that's not true! Natsu is being mean!" Happy's eyes filled with tears at the thought of Lucy blaming him for everything. He flew into her chest, sobbing that it wasn't true and that he had missed her a lot. Lucy didn't even bat an eye. She tossed Happy off of her easily, ignoring his tears. "Get off me you damn cat!" Happy continued wailing, now hiding behind Natsu. Lucy was always so mean to him.

Lucy turned her glare back to Natsu. "That's not the reason Natsu. I said one chance-" She was cut off as Natsu interrupted her, he was struck with a brilliant idea. "It's because you're on your period! I knew it was coming and you wouldn't be up to a mission so we went alone! We didn't want to bother you!" Lucy looked taken aback for a moment. Her glare came back full force, covering the small blush on her cheeks. "Don't tell the whole world, you ass!"

Natsu flinched, maybe that wasn't the best idea after all... Lucy swiftly turned away from him. "That's it! FREED!" Natsu groaned. "Luce. Not that again! Come on!" Lucy just stomped away from him up to the green-haired man. "Freed. The usual please." Freed smiled politely. "Of course Lucy." He quickly drew runes around her and stepped away, knowing better than to try a conversation with her when she asked for these specific runes. Freed glanced at Natsu and smiled sadly, "Sorry Natsu."

Natsu groaned and banged his head on the counter as he sat down. Damn those runes. Before they even started dating, whenever they got in a serious fight the clever woman came up with this plan to ignore him. The runes wouldn't let him touch or speak to Lucy. She couldn't even see him. It was like he didn't exist to her. He whined again even though she wouldn't hear it, "Luuuucccceee."

Gray cackled and wacked Natsu on the back. "Silent treatment again huh? We all saw it coming this time though." Natsu sighed. He had been trying to do something nice for her, and this is what he got? Well he could really only blame himself. He had expected this kind of reaction from her. She'd forgive him eventually- she always did.

Mira smiled ruefully at the dragon slayer. Lucy was overreacting a bit. She slid a fire whisky to him. "Here Natsu. On the house." Natsu sighed glumly and tossed the liquor back, grimacing slightly. "Thanks Mira." He didn't feel like drowning his sorrow in alcohol though, so he abstained from asking for another. Getting drunk wouldn't solve anything, it'd probably make things worse.

"Ugggh. What the hell. Does Juvia ever do this to you?" Gray shook his head and smirked. "Nope. Although that's cause I'm not an idiot. I don't piss her off. Few times I have scared me shitless. She's actually terrifying." Natsu nodded solemnly. He had no doubt that the rain woman could be just as terrifying as any other female in Fairy Tail. The lot of them were pure demons when they wanted to be.

Gray raised an eyebrow at him. "So why did you go on a solo mission? You never leave Lucy behind." Natsu chuckled. He hadn't planned on telling anyone, but they'd find out eventually right? Plus Lucy couldn't hear him anyway. He glanced at the she-devil behind the counter. He knew she was listening carefully to them, even if she didn't show it. He nodded to a table in the back of the guild. "Let's talk over there, stripper." He ignored Gray's grumbling insult as they made their way to the table.

"So, flame breath? What was your tiny brain thinking?" Natsu rolled his eyes, letting the insults slide. "Well it was bad timing on my part. Should have waited another week." Gray just crossed his arms, waiting for the reason. Natsu huffed, this was actually difficult to say out loud. "I needed to get some extra cash. I had to buy... something for her. It's supposed to be a surprise." Natsu chickened out at the last moment. Maybe he shouldn't spill all the details just yet.

Gray laughed throatily, "So you were buying her a gift then? Man you should have just gave it to her the moment she confronted you. Then she wouldn't be pissed and locked away in those runes." Natsu laughed along too. "You're right, ice princess. But this isn't something she would want me to give her in front of the whole guild. Plus bad timing, remember? I'll give it to her later." Gray raised his brow again. If this wasn't something she'd want public, then it must be really special. Gray wondered what it could be.

Suddenly Gajeel slammed himself down on the bench next to them. He held his head in his hands. "What's wrong with you, metal head?" Gajeel didn't even respond to Natsu's question, nor the insult tacked on. Gray spoke up, "Oi Gajeel. What's got you worked up? Fight with Levy?" Gajeel looked up at that, his eyes looked haunted. He whispered lowly, "I'm an idiot. Dammit. Shit."

The men sat at the table in silence. Natsu and Gray waited for Gajeel to talk. Men don't usually talk about emotions and crap, but they all had problems with their women from time to time, and they complained to each other frequently. They were clueless on how to fix their mistakes, so sometimes three dumb brains put together would help them figure something out. This little meeting happened weekly at least, and they took turns telling each other how badly they screwed up. It was like a therapist session. Sometimes other men would join them. Laxus would bitch about Mira constantly because of how difficult she was (her mood swings were worse than Lucy's since she was seven months pregnant). Elfman would cry over how unmanly he had been towards Evergreen. Even Romeo came to seek advice from the older men, with Wendy in mind. On occasion, Gildarts would join them for a good laugh at how dumb they all were.

Finally Gajeel started mumbling, "I fucked up guys. Like really really fucked up." Natsu chuckled humorlessly, "That makes two of us, screws-for-brains." Gajeel growled, "Oi I'm serious Salamander! This time I really messed things up!" Natsu stayed silent, waiting for an explanation. Gajeel put his head in his hands once again, talking from behind his hands. "Levy is pregnant."

Gray and Natsu both gasped in surprise. Gray questioned, "And? She's mad at you for it? Kinda takes two to make that mistake." Gajeel growled, "No she wasn't mad about that. She was fuckin elated about it. She got mad because I didn't share her feelings immediately." Natsu furrowed his brows. "What, you don't want a kid?" Gajeel swallowed. "No that's not it. Havin a kid would be great. It's just... she wants to get married and buy a big house and shit." Gray still couldn't see the problem. "And? That's kinda what you're supposed to do after knocking her up."

Gajeel banged his head on the table. "I know that! I fuckin know that! I just... I was shocked you know? It was overwhelming and I kinda freaked out. That's lots of commitment and responsibility all at once. Levy took it the wrong way... She thought I meant I didn't want any of that stuff. Thought I was trying to leave her or something. She started screaming at me, telling me I had better get my act together and man up. Dammit. She packed a bag and left, told me not to bother her until I figured out how to take care of her and our kid." Natsu let out a low whistle. "Yeah you fucked up buddy." Gray patted Gajeel's shoulder. "You're a fuckin idiot. But I think you can fix it. Buy a house and a ring and you'll be golden."

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah sounds like she just wants you to do what you plan to do, right? Just apologize and give her what she wants. Besides she won't be gone for long. The girls always forgive us eventually, no matter how dumb we are." Gajeel nodded, a little more cheerful about the outlook on things. Levy would never seriously leave him, especially not now that she was carrying his child. He smiled a bit at the other men. Gray cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well I guess it's my turn then." Natsu and Gajeel turned to him, all ears.

Gray continued, "Well... I didn't get in a fight with her or anything. I was just thinking..." Natsu snorted. "The ice popsicle was thinking?" Gray landed a punch to his jaw, although it was more playful and annoyed than serious. "As I was saying, ash brains. I was thinking about asking Juvia to move in with me." Natsu and Gajeel raised their eyebrows. This was a big step, Juvia and Gray had only started dating about six months ago. Gajeel asked, "You sure about that, ice freak? If things don't end well I'll have to personally kill you."

Gray rolled his eyes. Juvia was like a sister to Gajeel because they had been together since Phantom Lord. Gajeel always threatened Gray unnecessarily, warning him not to hurt her. "I'm sure. I'm not gonna hurt her. And it's not gonna end badly. Hopefully it won't end at all..." Gajeel gave a small smile of approval. Natsu smiled widely and punched Gray lightly in the arm. "Movin' in together is great! You'll get to share the warm bed and she'll cook for you all the time. At least that's what Luce does. And she yells at me. And sometimes hits me. But usually it's great!" Gray laughed at that, "Didn't Lucy sic that pervy bull on you one time?" Natsu nodded seriously. "Yeah sometimes she does that. And Loke comes out to fight with me over her all the time- that bastard! But the worst is when she calls out that water demon lady."

They all cringed, picturing Aquarius turning her wrath towards the pink-headed dragon slayer. She was scary as hell. Usually her wrath sucked in Lucy as well, but in moments where it concerned Lucy's heart and love life, Aquarius was quick to defend her master. In earlier years she always claimed Lucy would never have a boyfriend. But when she finally did, Aquarius always comforted her, stating how stupid men were and how they had to stick together and blah blah blah. It drove Natsu crazy when Aquarius tried to convince Lucy to dump him and move on. Yeah he hated that demon water woman.

Suddenly Wendy glided up to their table. She squeaked, "Um, Natsu-san? Lucy wanted me to tell you that you aren't welcome home tonight. She said Levy-san was staying with her, so don't bother her. And Gajeel-san? Levy-san wanted me to tell you that she'll be staying with Lucy until you reevaluate your decision." Gajeel growled, "What the hell? I never made any decision! Where the hell did that bookworm get these ideas?" Natsu was also frowning. Usually Lucy only kicked him to the couch, only occasionally totally kicking him out. Since they lived together in his house now, she couldn't tell him to leave like in her apartment. However that didn't always stop her.

Natsu sighed. "Can I crash at one of your places tonight? I'll give her time to cool off and fix it tomorrow." Gray shook his head. "Juvia is staying the night tonight. So you're stuck with each other." Natsu just sighed again, really he didn't want to stay with either of them. Gajeel growled at him. "Don't cozy up to me like you do with bunny girl, you pyromaniac." Natsu rolled his eyes, "Well don't mistake me for your shorty either, iron ass."

Natsu strolled over to the bar, placing a kiss on Lucy's head even though she couldn't feel it. He left the guild to grab a bag for the night. He vowed to get Lucy to talk to him tomorrow. He would sort out this huge mess. In the mean time, he had to plan...