This is just a little idea I've had for a while that I wanted to get out in the open. First off, this will be Natsu/m!Lucy. As in guy/guy. Why? Because I like genderbends and I feel it would interesting to see how the story would differ if Lucy were male. If this idea doesn't appeal to you, then leave. But if you're curious and open-minded, then by all means, stay and hopefully enjoy. As well as a gender study, this is a bit of a character study on Lucy, Natsu, and the connection between them. Are their personalities fundamentally the same? Yes. Is the pairing dynamic fundamentally the same? Yes.
Only difference is that Lucy is a guy (whose name is, for obvious reasons, Lucas here).
I'm pretty open to suggestions and ideas, but if you don't like the homo and you're just here to complain about then I'd appreciate it if you would leave.
Otherwise, I hope you have as fun with the idea as much as I did.

His head hung limply against the window, allowing the ocean breeze to catch stray strands of rose-colored hair in its gentle flow. His hands clung to the edges of the leather train seat in trepidation, fingers pale in grip until the train would finally cease to move.

If there were anything in the world Natsu truly detested, it'd be trains. Or any death-trapped roller coaster idea of transportation for that matter.

He just wanted to get off and get the sweet feel of solid ground under his sandals once again. His stomach felt like it was screwing itself over from the inside out and he didn't want to stay on this train long enough to find out what the result of that would be.
As much as he wanted to jump clear out of this shaky, hell-like nightmare, he knew it'd all be worth it as soon as he got to see Igneel.

The train came to an abrupt, slamming stop and Natsu all but rolled off his seat.
After all, he was a cool guy.
Cool guys didn't roll off trains like motion-sick saps.
Cool guys took two steps down the aisle before collapsing in a moaning pile on the ground near the next car.
Luckily, Happy dragged him by the scarf towards the door before he got stepped on.

"Uh, sir?"
He guessed the man's voice belonged to some sort of train operator.
Hell if Natsu could hear him though. Everything sounded like nauseating garble at this point from his little ball of pain by the wall.

"We've reached Hargeon, Natsu! Get up! Get up!"
He heard Happy's eager chirp and kind of felt the winged cat hitting his head or something. That also could've just been his own pounding head.

"Is...he alright?"

"Aye! This always happens to him!"
God, his head was really killing him. Maybe if he just layed down for a while, his stomach would stop trying to explode on him. He cursed under his breath as the strong odor of coal hit his nose.

"Never again...I'm never riding a train again..."

He took another breath and the smell of ash got all mixed up with the smell of dead fish and ocean and that was the end of Natsu's self control.
Feeling worse than he ever had in his 18 or so years of life, Natsu dangled out an open window, doing his best to keep in his last meal that threatened to fly out his mouth in a less than enjoyable manner.

His feline partner seemed distracted by the city beyond them and didn't take note of Natsu's valiant struggle. "If our information is correct, the Salamander should be in this town. Let's go!"

"Gimme...a minute first..."
Natsu felt a bit better now that motion had stopped at least. He savored in a deep breath of the wind that rustled the damp bangs over his forehead. He'd managed to keep his lunch down for the most part, if not for the rotten taste of bile he'd gotten stuck with.

He was nearly ready to stride out of there like the composed, confident mage he was.

And then the train started moving again.

And Happy, standing on the safe, motionless ground of the station, simply watched the train go by.
None of Natsu's desperate pleas for help were heard.

"What?!"

His voice cracked in exclamation, his face flushed from his frantic run through the town. His hands lay firm on the smooth wooden counter, his head bearing forward in befuddled shock.

The kindly old man behind the counter laughed softly in amusement and replied with an apologetic stare.

The scandalized costumer continued to gape, his wide chestnut eyes trying to take in the situation.
He'd traveled all the way across, well, probably the continent, looking for a rumored key here. He'd nearly gotten run over by a mob of screaming girls (for whatever reason that was) when he entered. Nearly tripped into the ocean. Nearly got crushed by a giant fish.
And to top it off he probably reeked of fish.
Lucas had dodged his way through the bustling crowd of the village in his desperate search for shops all day out there was only one shop...the last one he visited.
If anything qualified for a complete waste of day, this would certainly be it.

"Let me get this straight...this is the only magic shop in this entire town?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. To be honest, this place is more a fishing town than anything else."

Lucas groaned, his face drooping in complete and utter hopelessness. Go figure, this 'luck' of his. What he wouldn't give for a nap right about now.

The man continued. "Not even a tenth of the people here can use magic, so this shop is mostly focused on selling to traveling wizards."

"Ugh...all this way for nothing..."
He frowned, taking a glance at the door as the little man at counter seemed to shuffle through a few items in desperation.

"Now, now, don't say that! Take a look! I do have all the latest goods in stock!"

Lucas watched in feigned interest as the man pulled out a pink remote-looking object.

"This Colors magic is popular with the girls!"

Lucas was now clearly unamused. "Then why are you showing it to me?"

The man was undeterred from his sales pitch. "It can change the color of your clothes to match how you feel that day!"

By this point, Lucas had taken to scanning through items on the shelves as the elderly salesman was having the time of his life coordinating his outfit's palette.

"I'm looking for powerful Gatekeys." Lucas stated, unsure whether the man even heard him.

Seems he did. "Gates, huh? That's a rare request."

His lips quirked up in an enthusiastic grin as his eyes caught a tiny, open box on a table. Maybe this day wasn't a complete loss after all. "The White Doggy!"

The man looked somewhat hesitant. "That one...isn't powerful at all."

Lucas let out an odd sort of delirious chuckle, kneeling over the box like an excited child. Still, an onlooker wouldn't be able to determine much difference considering his unimposing stature and round, babyish face. Nonetheless, Lucas was a teenage boy all and all. His short golden hair framed his forehead in a handsome manner, though he habored none the masculine qualities to be described as such.

Not that he could help it even if he did stress over such matters: he'd taken after his mother through and through. It was a genetic happening he'd learned to take clever advantage of, especially in regards to his big, brown eyes. The 'puppy dog look' had never been corrupted so strategically well.

"That's okay!" Lucas smiled thoughtfully, resting his chin on his palm. "I've been looking for this one everywhere. How much is it?"

The man returned the smile. "20,000 jewel."

Lucas didn't smile back anymore. "How much again?"

"20,000 jewel."

Time to break out the big guns.

Lucas immediately dropped to his knees, staring back at the man with the most pathetic look of desperation he could muster.

A single tear dripped down his cheek.

If there was one thing Lucas did not have, it was dignity. Not like he had much masculinity to salvage anyway.

"Are you sure, Mister? I'm just...I'm so poor..."

He was also quite skilled in the art of lying.

This was exactly why he didn't get along with old men.
Lucas grumbled angrily to himself, fists clenched at his sides and he barreled his way through the fish-smelling people of Hargeon.

"I can't believe he only lowered it 1,000 jewel...god, I even cried for that! I'm plenty charmful, plenty!"
People begun to stare at the teenage boy having a bitter conversation with himself as he marched down the road. Lucas could care less.

"That fact that it's so low is what really pisses me off! The poor orphan magician boy gag never fails that badly! Cheap old man..."

To add to what could've been the worst day of his life, he practically tripped over a rock as the unnecessarily loud screams of the girl mob rang in his ears. What were they still screaming about anyway?

Lucas gripped onto a railing to peer over the bridge at the crowd below.

"The famous wizard is here!"

"It's Mr. Salamander!"
He blinked as another group of bubbling girls zoomed past him towards the gathering area underneath them.

"Salamander?" He mused curiously, leaning further over the railing to try and get a sneak peek at the starring man of the crowd.

The name certainly sounded familiar, something he'd seen plastered on a good bit of teen magazines during his regular bookstore trips.
This lizard guy might be worth checking out after all.

Today was definitely not one of Natsu's better days.
He was a pretty optimistic guy, so he wouldn't call it his worst day, especially if he got to see Igneel at the end of all this.

But it was definitely at the bottom rung of days.

"Man...I wound up riding the train twice...you've got to be kidding me..."

Happy trotted along cheerfully beside him. "You're no good when it comes to riding things."

Natsu scowled. "No shit. Not to mention I'm hungry..."

"We don't have any money."

"Thanks for the reminder, Happy." Natsu glanced over the building as he walked to keep his mind distracted from his less-than-settled stomach. "This Salamander...it has to be Igneel, right?"

"Aye!" Happy replied, his tail swishing back and forth in rhythm with his steps. "Igneel is the only fire dragon I can think of."

"Yeah, same here." Natsu's mouth twitched in annoyance as mob of girls not far from him started screaming at the top of their lungs and crowding around the center of town.

"Mr. Salamander!"

"You're so dreamy!"

"Please burn me!"

Then again, maybe it wasn't so annoying and useless after all.

"Salamander?!" Natsu's eyes widened in excitement, and he exchanged a quick look with Happy before rushing off into the massive group.

"See!" He laughed through labored breaths as he sprinted forward, all traces of his former queasiness forgotten. "Speak of the devil, huh?"

"Aye!"

They both charged forward in childish anticipation, pushing their way through countless chattering fangirls as they made their way towards the center prize.

Said center prize, a charming dark haired man with a winning smile, paraded the middle like a stunning show dog, winking and flipping his ruffled bangs at any nattering female who so much as breathed his air.

Lost somewhere in the chaotic frenzy of hormones stood Lucas, who, in striking contrast, was the only male in the bunch. No one noticed.

All he'd come to do was check out this hotshot of a Salamander dude and then leave. That was all.
Instead, he remained frozen on spot like a deer in headlights, staring at the entrancing swirl and swish of the magician dreamboat's cape.

He could honestly say he had no idea what he was doing.

He would have chided himself over it, but he was so engrossed in the twinkling azure of the man's eyes that he could perform no other function than to watch.

There's something wrong with me...there's really something wrong with me...

"You're too kind."
The man's deep, masculine tongue egged on the rising cheers of the mob. Lucas was probably the only one present that seemed to still have control of his voice...or moreso his 'lack of' due to his mute reverie caused by the flowery-smelling man.

Salamander then turned his glazed stare towards Lucas and the blond all but fell unconscious.

What the hell has gotten into me?! He...he only looked at me!

Is it because he's a famous wizard? Yeah, that's gotta be it.

Freaky famous people and their stupid...stupidness.

Inner Lucas seemed to have adequate control of his mental state and the reasons behind it. All good.

Outer Lucas lingered there with his face red and his shaky hand clutched towards his chest like every other lovestruck female in the swarm. Not so good.

"Igneel!"

Outer Lucas began to gravitate towards the strange, flouncy man, shoving through a few clambering girls on the way.

"Igneel!"

Outer Lucas just wanted to get a better look at this oddly attractive man's face...

"Igneel!"

A part of the group exclaimed, pushing himself to the center of the crowd at the same time Lucas stumbled forward in his flustered stupor.

They stood opposite each other, not more than a foot apart, but it took only that moment for something breath-taking to happen.

Where did the other man's face go? The Salamander...the one he was hypnotized by...

All he could see was this boy.

Probably around his age, maybe slightly older.

He had spiky, pink hair, which could have been impossibly goofy, but somehow complimented the warm, embered glow in his eyes. His pointed, almost button-like nose gave him a bit of a cuter look, sparing none the striking presence glaringly obvious in his firm muscles and defined jaw. Lucas stared, but in this case, it felt much different than the previous situation with Salamander.

Something about this boy...felt much different altogether. The boy stared back at his observer, a perplexed expression crossing his features, and Lucas almost hoped he felt the same way he did. It wasn't something Lucas could explain with words, despite his passion for words simply...drew him to this guy.
That was that.

After a minute, the boy turned his attention back towards Salamander, his face wiped of any tender feelings it possessed in the exchange with Lucas. "Who are you?"

Lucas almost answered.
But he knew the question was meant for someone else.
So he waited.

"Would the name 'Salamander' ring a bell?" The caped philanderer donned his trademark grin, proudly showcasing the gaudy rings on his hand.
The boy was absent for this impressive display as he was already sulking away with disinterest. It didn't take but a split second for a pair of rabid fangirls to sic themselves on him in attempt to drag him back to the crowd.

"How rude!"

"Yeah, Mr. Salamander's a great wizard, you know!"

"Apologize right now!"

Salamander was more pleased by the scene than anything else, placing his hands on his hips and nodding in egotistical satisfaction.

Lucas stared.

He wanted to do something. Something, anything to help this boy.
He felt kind of bad; the boy just seemed confused and had butted into the wrong place at the really wrong time.

But Lucas found himself once again petrified. He didn't realize it himself when his own gaze narrowed, zoning in on Salamander with a clear glare of resentment. He wasn't attracted to this scumbag at all. This guy was as much of trash in Lucas' head now as the cheapstake at the magic shop that didn't fall for his orphan story.

Well, okay, the magician was probably worse. Not that he understood the drastic shift in his emotions himself.

Once being forcefully yanked back to the masses, the boy remained silent in front of Salamander as he wrote 'his loving fan, Natsy' an autograph and left him with a patronizing word or two. Finding himself reduced to a bedraggled mess in the trash pile, the boy sat on the ground, exhaling in sync with his winged cat companion beside him.

"It wasn't him after all." The cat stated plainly, taking a comfortable spot on a trash bag.

The boy grimaced incredulously, scratching some stray dirt off his pink hair. "Who the hell was that?"

A worn up black boot took a step near the boy.

"He was a real creep, huh?"

The boy looked up.

Lucas gave a sympathetic smile, awkwardly waving a hand at him. "...Thanks, Natsy."

The boy looked appropriately puzzled.

"I'm Lucas! It's nice to...uh...meet you?" Lucas watched on in astonishment as the boy proceeded to shovel down various foods by the pound, sparing no crumb in his destruction.

The boy did not respond, or more likely, could not respond due to the entanglement of spaghetti he was smashing down his throat.

So Lucas went on speaking, quietly sipping his tea.

"Your names were...Natsu and Happy, right?"

There was no acknowledgment other than a muffled 'Mfrr rabmf namf" from Natsu's part and Lucas exhaled in exasperation. He really had no idea what he was thinking when he invited these two to dinner as a 'thank you'.

"Yeah, just uh...try to slow down." Lucas' lip twitched, wiping a splatter of spaghetti sauce from his own cheek. "Stuff is flying everywhere."

Natsu and Happy seemed none the less hindered and continued consuming endless platters of food within their reach as quickly and efficiently as they could.

Lucas deadpanned. There goes the 1,000 jewel my little show saved me.

He leaned against the back of the chair and rolled his shoulders a bit, glancing back at Natsu's ravenous food rampage. Now looked as good a time as any to get boring and somewhat embarrassing explanation out of the way.

"Here's what I figured out...that 'Salamander' guy was using a spell charm. It makes the user attract people to them, even against their will. Sale of this charm was banned years ago-"

"So you were attracted to this jackass too?"

Splendid timing for Natsu to finally pay attention to the conversation. Lucas scowled, a slight coloration to his cheeks as he slid another plate of steaming god-knows-what towards Natsu. "Look, the main point was that he was a real creep for using the illegal spell like that and I wanted to thank you for breaking me free of it. End of story. No more questions."

Natsu rolled a tomato in the palm of his hand, his eyes trained on Lucas. "I see."

Something about the look in Natsu's eyes made the situation all the more uncomfortable to Lucas, and he quickly masked the issue with an oblivious smile. "Hey, believe it or not, I'm a wizard too!"

Natsu's attention drifted back to his food with a flat reply. "Are you sure?"

Lucas made a face. "What's that supposed to mean?! I know I haven't joined a guild yet, but even so..."

"Hmm..." Natsu hummed a noncommittal response and took to munching on an apple.

"There's actually a guild I really want to join!" Lucas regained a dreamy smile, his eyes gleaming at the bustling town on the other side of the window. "They say it's pretty hard to get in, but hey, what good is it if I don't even try? It's filled with amazing wizards...I'm definitely going to get there..."

Natsu's attention stayed fixed on Lucas while his own mouth remained full of apple bits and chunks. "Yeah?"

Happy bobbed his head between the two before chipping in his two cents about Lucas. "You talk a lot."

Lucas chose to ignore that comment and directed a question towards his human dinner companion. "Come to think of it, it sounded like you guys were looking for someone."

Wherever Natsu had found a pizza at that moment, Lucas would never know. But as the pizza was now consuming Natsu's full focus, Happy raised a hand to answer in his stead. "Aye! Igneel!"

Lucas cocked his head to the side. "Igneel?"

Natsu sputtered, sticking his tongue out and waving his hand frantically to gesture his dislike of the taste of anchovies. Served him right, Lucas smirked.

Happy more than acceptingly took the disapproved pizza topping off Natsu's plate as the fire magician spoke.

"We were here 'cause we heard a Salamander was coming to this town, but it ended up that he was just some pervy freak in cape."

Chewing on a tiny fish, Happy nodded in agreement. "He didn't look like Salamander at all."

Natsu crossed his arms over his chest. "A Salamander is a fire dragon, so we came here all hyped and expecting Igneel. Some dragon he turned out to be."

Lucas now had about twenty mental pictures clicking through his head of ugly looking dudes flying around with disproportional wings and dragon heads. "What...kind of a person looks like a fire dragon...?!"

"Person?" Natsu seemed slightly amused, propping an arm up on the edge of the table. "Listen, Luigi, Igneel isn't a person. Igneel actually is a dragon."

Lucas grew indignant. "My name is Lucas! And you've got some nerve to think I'd believe a story like that! Why the hell would there be a dragon in the middle of a fishing town?!"

Natsu, having no idea why he had originally assumed it possible, now seemed fully cognizant of the fault in his Igneel theory.

Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose and set the money down on the table as Natsu zoned into his moment of epiphany. "Yeah, uh...I'll just be going now. Enjoy your meal...or, what's left of it, I guess."

Truth was, Lucas didn't want to leave.

Sure Natsu was...a little idealistic, if not a complete and utter mess, but something about him was refreshing to Lucas. The bright confidence in his eyes, the way his toothy grin spread across his face when he laughed; Natsu was charming in his own little goofball way.

It was a type of charm Lucas couldn't copy, no matter how well he lied or acted for people he wanted to convince. Not only that, but he had a feeling that lying to Natsu would be a feat in itself.

He wanted to turn back.

Wanted to say 'Hey, maybe we should meet up again sometime?'

He did no such thing.

Lucas vowed from day one not to give in to loneliness. It was a promise to himself he stuck by dutifully. He was a strong, self-dependent guy who was going to get even stronger and join a guild.

He'd be friendly, he'd be nice, move up a few stepping stones along the way. But that was that.

Trust was another issue all by itself.

So he walked to the door, getting a firm grasp on the handle with a casual wave at the server.

The server though, seemed to be staring down at the ground in perplexed delight.

Lucas turned around.

"Thank you..."

Natsu lay face down by Lucas' feet in an awkward little bow of sorts, only it looked more like he just planked out on the floor. Lucas, avoiding the potential embarrassing display Natsu was creating, turned his gaze far away.

Evidently, Natsu didn't take well to being ignored and made it a point to get a response from his dinner mate. By screaming.

"Thank you! Lucas! Thank you! Thank you!"

Lucas made a mortified groan and spat out in a harsh whisper. "Stop that! I heard you, I heard you, okay?!"

Satisfied, Natsu rose back up without any regard to the stares he was rapidly receiving from jeering costumers. Must be nice to live in your own little world like that, Lucas mustered a wry smile.

"Look, it's okay. You helped me, so now we're even!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and muttered to Happy under his breath. "We weren't even trying to help him though..."

Happy's ears flattened in remorse. "Aye, I still feel indebted..."

Snapping his fingers, Natsu then rummaged around in his bag, his face lighting up in delight. "Hey, I know! You can have this!"

Lucas looked down at the paper his taller male companion shoved towards his chest.

What the hell could it have been? Natsu wasn't giving him money, was he?

He would've accepted without hesitation had it come from anyone else, but something was unsettling to Lucas about the idea of taking anything from the rose-haired fool. He wondered how much Natsu could afford to donate as he turned the paper over.

He was greeted by a sloppy, lecherous cursive hand of the word SALAMANDER.

"It's your boyfriend's signature." Natsu commented with a sly nudge at Lucas' shoulder.

Lucas promptly expressed his glee by shoving the now crumpled paper back to him with a hard punch to the gut.

Natsu made a strangled, dying noise before crumpling to floor on his knees.

Lucas marched off with a venomous, dictating glint in his eyes, though his fist throbbed in fresh pain.

Screw Natsu and his rock hard abs.

I'm not a big fan of author's notes at the end of a chapter, but if anyone wants to see it continued, are there any other characters you'd like to see genderbended?
Natsu and Gray are going to remain male, but those are really the only two I need to stay as they are.
I'm highly considering Erza, but I think it'd be fun to do a gender study on a few others too.