Operation: White Day

Natsu is not a shitty lover, but this operation is going south real quick.

"

He understood love, but romance and dating was another labyrinth on its own, filled with much traps and hazards that he had yet to detect.

Such as now.

"Uh." Natsu uttered lamely and bit his chapped lips. In front of him were vases of assorted flowers, all in full bloom to showcase their brilliance in the battle of grace and color. The vase of roses, on the other hand, hung its wilted buds and browned petals like dirty laundry.

"Roses are 70,000 jewels for a dozen, mister." The shop keeper with strands of greyness that adorned her jet black hair tied to a tight bun smiled at his sweetly, though her eyes carried a slight mockery. Should have planned better huh?

Natsu decided to not glare, although he knew she was correct. If he had took time to notice the sudden sale of chocolate, flowers, jewelry, and dinner reservations discount flyers that dock the streets of Magnolia, he would have realized and planned ahead. In fact, if he was really set on planning, he would have gotten together with her after Valentine's Day so he wouldn't have received those lovingly made delicious spicy cinnamon chocolate and then could avoid the whole ordeal for this year. Technically, he had always prepared something on this day, but it was never specific for one person because the chocolates he had received had always been friendship ones and it was easy to return his sincerity by bringing some whale-tuna back to the guild to share. This was the first year they share this day together since their mingle of arms and scarfs and tongues after the damn alcoholic turned her into a puddle of mess over New Year party –

Focus. Right.

Despite that knowing that roses would be an easy and fail-proof choice, he hesitated. Firstly, she would surely murder him on the grounds that these flowers cost as much as her rent; he could already imagine her bashing him with said flowers while complaining that he would have just paid for her rent for one whole month instead (he had considered that too, but she would probably mistook that as his attempt on moving in with her, which he basically was already but she liked to pretend otherwise). Plus, these roses spelt "death". With her tendency to overthink, she would let her mind to roam freely to its (false) implications such as whether he was going to die too (as if) or break up with her soon (also, as if).

He frowned and bid the flower shop lady good bye, empty handed.

It was White Day today, he had booked himself a date with Lucy but he had nothing prepared.

"

"

By the time he reached the Guild, he had mentally prepared himself to meet his doom's day and face her wrath or her disappointment and the coachs. Perhaps he would get lucky and she would forget until tomorrow –

Speaking of the devil, Lucy dashed to him and hooked her arm around his and looked up with her doe eyes, securing him with secret arts of 'I bring death to you if you don't listen' Lucy style. He made a silent prayer to Mavis – Please don't ask about White Day. Please don't ask about White Day. Please don't ask about White Day – before he broke out his boyish grin at her and asked a bit too quickly, "What's up, Luce?"

"Umm about today – " She looked at him flustered.

Well shit. It was good knowing all of you. Did I write a will?

"Do you think we delay the date until tonight? I… I want to go on an author meet and greetwithLevyintheafternoonplease?" She jumbled her words to him and avoided looking in his eye. She was ashamed of not spending the day with him as it was their first White Day together.

"Sure, Luce, if that's what you wanna do. I can grab take outs for dinner tonight if you want so you can stay there longer." He smiled.

Inwardly, he had just hit jackpot and the entire town of Magnolia erupted in joy and were now celebrating and bathing him with confetti and glitter. Deadline extension granted!

"Thanks Natsu!" She smiled gleefully and gave him a quick peck on his cheek, before she released him and bounced giggly towards Levy (and a very pissed off Gajeel. Strange.)

Now, he had an additional half a day to resolve his side quest. First thing first, he would nurse his hunger before he attempted the shops again. As he was wolfing down his meal by the bar, clinks of metal approached him. Without lifting his gaze from his good, he greeted, "Hi Erza."

"Natsu," Erza sat on a bar stool next to him and stared into the space in front. "I have a question to ask you."

"Whadassup." Curiously, he inspected his red hair teammate while he swallowed another mouthful of fire chicken.

"What do guys usually like for White Day?"

"Ung, vood?"

"He'd already booked a restaurant for tonight."

"Oh, okay." He washed down his meal with a large gulp of fire drink, a content sigh eased out of his lips. "Then why are you worried? You seem set for the night." Compared to me.

Erza hid her face with her side bands by shying her face away from him, but her ears were red from embarrassment. "I should be the one who is returning his Valentine's."

Ah. That Jellal guy is sneaky little bastard.

"Well?" Now irritated, Erza urged him for an answer in a tone that Natsu knew too well of. He had exactly three seconds before his head is caved in the bar table for the rest of the day.

"Honestly, I think he'd be happy just to spend time with you."

"Ugh. Both you and Lucy said the same things. Mira is right, you two should just get married already." Erza rest her face in her palm. The mention of his girlfriend's name bought panic back to him as his eyes quickly glanced over to the clock. He did have a time-limited mission to complete today after all.

Then an ingenious idea hit him.

"Erza, what time is your dinner reservation tonight?"

She arched a brow at him. "Seven. Why?"

"I was thinking… maybe I can get Jellal a White Day gift for you, and you could get one for Lucy. I've already went through the flower shop and the candy shop today, but I can't find anything that is meaningful without the outrageous price tag. Maybe you can help me instead?"

Erza paused for a moment and then grinned to agree with the dragon slayer. "It's good to see that you are using your brain once in a while. We'll meet back here by six to exchange then."

"

"

The restaurant was buzzing with energy as couples sat across from each other with glittering eyes. Wines were poured and gentle but bubbly live music were played in the background. Erza sat in a corner table cladded with wine color table cloth by the piano. Her hair drew to a neat bun to better show off the latest open back design from her halter dress, but a handful of strands framed her face as she knew Jellal liked the look of her hair. Her eyes focused on the light flickering of the candlelight while her hand busied with tugging the hem of her navy dress. To say she was nervous was an understatement.

"I didn't think you'd arrive early." Jellal spooked her from behind with a light chuckle and slid into the seat across from her. As expected, he was on time. She mumbled bashfully, "I was excited."

He smiled warmly at her and held her hand to place a kiss, "I am glad. Shall we order?"

The rest of the night went on romantically and was perfect until the dessert came. The waiter dropped off with a heart shape strawberry shortcake, which the strawberries were arranged neatly along the edge of the cake and icing on the plate scripted "Happy White Day to My Beloved". Erza drooled at the sight of her favorite dessert before she remembered her gift.

Gingerly, she reached for the brown paper bag and handed it to Jellal while averting her gaze, who was surprised. "For me?"

"Just open it." Erza always carried a strong and collected demeanor, so he relished these private moments when she became unguarded and revealed her flustered expressions.

However, he really didn't know how to react to her White Day gift. Was it a test? He gulped.

Sensing his uneasiness, she looked over at her beloved partner and found his expression collected with hint of amusement. For the first time in the night, she looked at the gift Natsu had picked for him on her behalf.

In his hand was the latest model of the Erza figurine, expression fierce and dressed in her Heaven's Wheel armor painted in sparkling silver to mimic the real one she had. Her left leg was curled upward and her right down held onto midair as if frozen before her final blow to an opponent. Comically on cue, Jellal's hand accidentally tapped on the outer ring of the figurine stand and the plastic armor pieces popped off. Without the armor, the miniature now sported a seductive white bikini instead. The battle pose had strategically showed off her miniature hour glass body, with her bountiful breast perked outward and her legs positioned so collector would get an excellent view of all her underside where the swim suit hugged her thighs.

The air grew exponentially awkward and suffocating. Then, she bolted from her seat, eyes flared with embarrassment and rage because her night was ruined. "IDIOT!"

His hand gripped on her wrist to stop her from dashing off to murder and he admitted firmly, "Thank you for the gift, Erza."

She swung around to meet his face, brows arched. "You liked… this?" She gestured at the miniature version of her with a pit of disgust and embarrassment.

He got up from his seat and pulled her into a hug. He kissed her cheek before he whispered, "I have the privilege of loving the real one, and am honored to be loved back."

She stiffen at his gentle words, unsure whether to pull him closer because her heart was squealing silly like a teenager, or to shove him off because she was not a fan of public display of affection. He released her a moment later, lips still tugged into a soft smile, "thanks for spending time with me."

She let her lips crept upward. "Let's finish the dessert before we go somewhere else."

Her night didn't end up too badly after all.

"

"

Lucy poked her head into her bedroom just as Natsu crawled into Lucy's room through her window and landed safety with their take out dinner.

"I would have butchered you and then make you pay for dry clean if you spilled any of that, you know. Why couldn't you use the door?" Lucy crossed her arm and huffed, but he knew she wasn't truly angry at him. Besides, he needed to hide her White Day's gift from her to give her a better surprise.

"Well, I was careful to ensure it wouldn't spill because I don't waste food. Plus it's quicker this way!" He grinned at her and bought the take out containers to the table. "Let's eat now – I am starving!"

They sat close to each other and dug into their dinner. Lucy told Natsu about her afternoon at the meet and greet event with one of her favorite author. To his amusement, he found out that Gajeel actually didn't want Levy to attend the event because he wanted to spend the whole day with her – but had agreed to let her go if Lucy also managed to get "permission to go" from Natsu. Well, sucks to be Gajeel, as Natsu sure as hell was not going to reject an extended opportunity for him to amend his under preparation for her White Day gift.

Speaking of which, he figured he should check to see what Erza had gotten before he whisked the gift to his girlfriend. Lamely, he excused himself to her bedroom ("Luce, let me hit the restroom real quick.") to check out the gift from the hidden spot.

When Lucy was done discarding the remains of the container boxes, Natsu still had not returned from his bathroom break. Curiously, she walked to her bedroom and found him on her bed, face drained of color and his hands hidden behind him. On the floor beside her bed was littered with a red paper bag which the white tissue paper with black polka dots was partly yanked out.

"Natsu… what are you hiding?" Lucy closed in their distanced and felt Natsu gulp down nervously. She picked up the paper bag and found it empty.

"Nothing." He was trying really hard to disguise his uneasiness but it only further aroused her suspicion when she detected a slight quiver in his reply.

"Show me your hands."

He thrust his hand outward to let her inspect, then attempted to distract her by drawing her into an embrace, except she was not submitting to him. Why is she so stubborn now?!

He knew his luck was up when she instructed him to get up from her bed. He had not prepared himself to explain how he managed to get her such a gift (nor did he have time now to ask Erza why she got Lucy this gift - was she trying to murder him?). He considered explaining to her that it's a plank to 'see her reaction', but dropped it as that would end up burning himself in the arse because she would then sulk and demand for the 'real' gift, which would be nothing. Head hung in defeat, he slipped a book into her hand and waited for her judgment. "Happy White Day, Luce. I, ah, please don't get mad at me."

The book was packaged with recycled paper book wrap so the title and back cover was not revealed, so she opened the book and read the blurb at the inside.

"

"When I first married him, I thought I have found the perfect husband. He was loving, sweet and capable, a perfect yang to my yin. We were earnest to each other, except I could not reveal my deepest lustful desires to my husband. I am not one of those wanton women. Instead I lived my lewd sexual fantasies through my secret diary, in the paragraphs and paragraphs of passionate and greedy detail. Then one night, my wettest fantasy came home when he undress – "

"

She snapped the book shut and Natsu immediately drop his head to avert her gaze. She is gonna snap my neck any minute now…

Then he felt her shaky hands touched his shoulders and gave a firm shove. When he dropped to her bed without resistance, she straddled him and latched her hands onto his each of his wrists to limit his movement. He lied absolutely still, his heart throbbed and mind hazed, while her large chocolate orbs observed him from on top.

Is she angry? Or – but his thoughts were interrupted when she dove to his lips for a passionate kiss. Boldly, she sucked and tugged on his bottom lip, to which he yielded and open his mouth for her to explore and engage in a tango of their tongues. Fluidly, she retracted her tongue and plant kisses down his throat and near his neck. He tensed at her kisses and let out a raw animalistic growl of excitement when she bit down at the skin near his collar. He was trapped in a vortex of passion, his mind spun and spun with no means to stop.

Then it stopped. Abruptly, Lucy lifted herself from him and plopped next to him with her back facing him.

"Wow." He panted to calm his wrecking nerves down before he approached gingerly. "Luce, is everything fine? Did I smell bad?"

"No, you smelt wonderful Natsu. I am just embarrassed." He moved her around to see her, but she shielded her face from him. "I have never… I thought you gave me the book because you want to try it. I mean, I am curious too but I don't know if I am fully ready and I don't want push you away…"

Oh. Oh. Well then. He had to retain his smirk from plastering all over his face. This is too fun.

"Luce, I will never do anything that you are not comfortable with. I am curious too - but not curious enough to hurt you, so I don't take it personally." He stroked her hand gently to ease her off her worries. "We can take our time, stage by stage. We'll be together forever, right?"

She slid her hands off her face to catch his warm gaze. He reached to kiss her on her forehead and then let out a wide grin.

"Ne Natsu… do you want to hear my first fantasy?"

Natsu inhaled sharply to her inviting question. He recognized the flicker in her warm brown eyes that dared him to play and licked his lips devilishly. He propped himself up until he hovered her with his arms acted as pillars supporting his body and caging her inside his shadows. "Tell me, Luce, what is your first fantasy?"

"Well, I fantasized about you giving a kiss here…" Lucy whispered and slipped her hand underneath her shirt.

His White Day turned out better than perfect.

"

"

Erza and Jellal walked to the guild hand in hand. She excused herself when she saw Natsu on the same stool.

"E-Erza." Once again, Natsu greeted before she reached him, but this time he spun around in a defensive stance. Once he noted she was not sending off a murderous aura, he dropped his shoulders and tucked a waffle to his mouth. "What's up?"

"How was last night?"

"It went alright. Thanks for picking up… the gift for me." He chose his words carefully to avoid intentional misunderstanding from a certain white hair mage.

"I would like to thank you as well. I owe you one." Erza nodded in sincerity before she noticed little marks near Natsu's collar. "Natsu, are those…"

"Hickey marks I see there, dragon boy?" Cana hijacked their conversation with her brows wiggling suggestively.

"A-No! Lucy and I were just – "

"Ahhh, so our innocent Lucy was involved too, eh?" She purred, tipped her mug of beer over her lips but never lost her eye contact with his. "Well well well, it seems like I should interrogate her myself, don't you think so? I'll just let her know her boyfriend give me a little tip – "

He paled. Fuck! NOW Lucy would kill me!

"

Natsu may have lived through his first White Day disaster, but he still had a long way to go from avoiding pit falls in the maze of romantic journey.

"

"

The story was stuck in my head and I needed to kill it off, ultimately sacrificing sleep for it. Seriously, I am too old for this.

PS - Consent is good thing in a relationship. Don't use "love" as a sorry excuse for not consenting.

And signing out. Till then.