. Kiss Me! .

She wasn't entirely sure who'd originally begun the argument. She didn't really care about who started the argument. What she did care about, however, was the fact that her partner was currently completely and utterly smashed, and she was pretty sure it was a tie between Cana and Elfman on who had given Gray and Natsu the idea that a drinking contest would be the best way to settle it.

At least they weren't destroying the guildhall.

"Hold my scarf!" Natsu ordered, shoving the scaled material into his blonde friend's arms. Everyone gaped at it; this was Natsu, after all, and he didn't just hand his scarf around for the entire world to hold. It barely left his neck. It only came off when it had been forced off in a fight or he was bathing - and even then, according to Erza, his eyes rarely left it.

So the fact that he'd given it to Lucy… Well, that was downright concerning.

Erza decided to come and take a seat beside him, worried about the state of their guildhall as he downed what remained of his drink. Lucy had lost count of how much he'd consumed long ago.

Mirajane, who was serving both he and Gray another drink upon their drunken demand, giggled and smiled at the bewildered celestial mage. "Just don't lose it, kay? Here." She pushed the tray she'd been using into Lucy's hands and then gently took the scarf, more than aware of the harsh onyx eyes that suddenly turned on them.

"He has like a sixth sense when it comes to this thing," Lucy grumbled as he watched Mirajane wrap it around her throat. Mirajane patted it down, and then gave a warm smile as she took the tray back and headed for the bar.

Natsu turned his attention back on the drinking competition he was having as soon as he was sure his scarf was safe and grinned smugly at the equally drunk Gray. Juvia hovered anxiously beside the ice-make mage, Lucy realized, much like she was doing with Natsu. The water mage was frowning, insisting, "G-Gray-sama, Juvia thinks you've had enough…"

"Juvia's right," Erza agreed despite the groans of protest from the members of the guild that surrounded the pair. "You two rarely drink like this as it is… I don't think you can handle much more."

Cana laughed, hugging a barrel to her chest. "C'mon, Erza," she slurred, "Let 'em have some fun." She hiccupped after that, tilting her head back to chug a couple swallows of beer down. "'Sides. S'hilarious. Am I right?" The last bit was shouted, and the guild cheered.

Gray shrugged Juvia off with a grin on his face. "You really think you can go another round, Pyro?"

"I know I can, Frostbite," he taunted in response, voice mocking.

Nervous, Juvia whimpered and tried to pull Gray away from the table they sat. "Gray-sama!" she pleaded.

"I'm with Juvia and Erza on this," Lucy said firmly, wishing Happy was there to maybe forcefully fly him out of the guildhall and back home. But the Exceed was away with Wendy and Charle.

...maybe that was a good thing. Lucy didn't want to think about the teasing over Natsu handing over his scarf that would have been happening on top of the mess before her.

"Natsu." Lucy lightly shook his shoulder to catch his attention and he grinned broadly up at her, a bright flush on his cheeks. "Come on, it's time for you to stop drinking, you've had enough. Erza said-" She cut off with a squeal when he slipped an arm around her waist and hoisted her into the air as he jumped onto the table, spilling beer all over it. Gray scowled furiously up at him. "Natsu!" she shrieked. "Put me down!"

"Never!" he crowed, arm tightening around her until she gasped for air.

"Natsu," Erza said darkly. "Put Lucy down."

"Nope!"

Now he's just asking to be murdered! Lucy wailed silently. Terror shot through her when Gray suddenly hauled himself up onto the table beside the fire mage and huffed, "They said to put her down, stupid."

Natsu glared at him. "Go play with Juvia." He promptly kicked the ice-make mage off of the table, and Gray yelped as he was sent sprawling on top of Juvia. Natsu cackled and hauled Lucy off at full speed when Erza shot to her feet and darted a hand out to grab him.

Lucy didn't think Juvia really minded being crushed by Gray, but that didn't lessen any of Erza's wrath. The celestial mage screamed as she was dragged around the guildhall by a cackling Natsu, who was sprinting as he tried to escape Erza.

He couldn't avoid her forever.

Nearly ten minutes later - Lucy was exhausted and silently praying on a miracle at this point - he suddenly tripped and fell flat on his face. Lucy was sent rolling away, and she took the chance to bolt to safety, wailing as she threw her arms around Levy, "Freedom!"

Levy, who'd been sitting calmly at a table with Pantherlily in her lap, a book in her hands, and Gajeel at her side before the mess had begun, laughed and patted her shoulder soothingly. "Hold on, Erza asked Gajeel for help."

"She doesn't need it if you ask me," Pantherlily muttered as the requip mage latched onto the dragon slayer's ankle and threw him across the building before Gajeel could take another step closer. The iron dragon slayer was quick to retreat, grabbing Levy's arm to try and yank her towards the entrance.

"She's serious," he muttered in explanation. "Time to get the fuck outta here."

"Bye, Lu-chan!" Levy shouted, waving.

Lucy wanted to cry. "Come back," she whined, "How am I supposed to get him home?"

Lisanna laughed softly as she came to stand beside her. "It's like his usual self is amplified," she mused, shaking her head as Natsu suddenly threw himself at Gray, bellowing, "Fight me!"

Lucy snorted. "I don't think that covers even half of what we're looking at," she muttered, shaking her head in exasperation when Erza stormed towards the pair. Rather than giving a smart ass answer like they all expected - most of the guild had backed to safe places, watching from afar - Natsu swore, hauled Gray to his feet, and then both took off running in circles around the guildhall with Erza screaming at their heels.

It took a while, but eventually, Erza managed to catch them and seemingly beat them into submission. Gray was quick to leave the guildhall after that, accompanied by Juvia without protest on Erza's demand, but Natsu was reluctant to leave.

"Where's my scarf?" he mumbled, his hand seeking out the scaley material that usually rested around his neck. He panicked when he realized it wasn't anywhere around him. "My scarf!" he shouted, "Where's my scarf?!"

Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose, moving over to kick at his shin until he turned to look at her with a pitiful look on his face. She lifted the end of the scarf she wore in his face. "It's okay," she tried to reassure, "It's right here. See? You gave it to me."

He fell into a thoughtful silence that had Lucy taking a wary step back as his onyx gaze swept down her form, flickering back to his scarf and then her face. He squinted at her, blinked a few times, then gave a lazy grin and rocked back on his heels. "Looks good on you, Luce."

There was a moment of silence on Lucy's part, and then she blushed furiously, mumbling to herself. "Let's get you home," she said, ignoring the cooing that Mirajane was giving. "You're seriously drunk and you don't know what you're saying…"

"No," he said stubbornly, lower lip sticking out like he was a little kid. He crossed his arms and dropped straight to the floor with a loud crash, smoke enveloping him as the floor "accidentally" burst into flames around him. Erza growled warningly and he gave her a dirty look.

"Natsu," Lucy pleaded, wanting to cry. "Stop. Don't you want to go home? You were complaining about being tired, remember?"

He looked bewildered. "I'm not tired."

"Obviously," someone muttered, and Lucy didn't hesitate to turn a death glare on him. Not helpful!

"You will be," she sighed. "Seriously, come on, Natsu."

"No." He paused, studying her for a few moments, and then grinned hugely, giving her one of those smiles that meant he was up to something. "No, wait, sure. But only if you do something."

Lucy, eager to get him home before he pissed Erza off anymore, eagerly agreed. "Sure."

She regretted it a second later.

"KISS ME!" he shouted, recapturing everyone's attention as he threw himself onto his back on the floor.

There was beat of silence. And then Erza turned around, a deadly expression on her face. Lucy was quick to try and shush her partner as he repeated this a few times at the top of his lungs, as if screaming it to the world would get him what he wanted.

"Natsu, shush," she hissed, flushing again. She tried desperately to get him to stop, dropping down to try and cover his mouth with her hands, and Erza watched, ready to intervene if need be. The scarlet-haired warrior stood over them, her eyes gleaming with an almost excited look that made Lucy panic.

She was pretty sure that a hangover was a hell of a lot easier to fix than death.

A sharp pain in her palm made her yank back with a squeal of disgust. "You bit me!"

He grinned up at her, then giggled wildly, tackling her to the ground before she could move. "Natsu!" Lucy wailed, flailing to try and free herself as he hugged her tightly around the waist.

It took her a few minutes, but Erza was able to finally pry him off of the barely breathing celestial mage. Gritting her teeth, Erza turned her glare on Lucy. "Get him home. Now."

"Yes, ma'am," Lucy mumbled, tugging the scarf away from her face in a manner similar to the very one who was apparently determined to get himself killed by a furious requip mage.

"No," Natsu drawled when she demanded he stand up. "You didn't give me my kiss, Lucy!"

"And I'm not giving you a kiss," she retorted. "Ask me again when you're sober, and maybe I'll reconsider it." She said it as a way to get him to just shut up and go, but the cheers of excitement around the guild made her regret her words immensely. Grimacing apologetically to Erza, who looked astonished, Lucy told him, "If you get up and come with me, you can stay on my couch for the night. Okay?"

He furrowed his brow in consideration of this, taking a good long minute. "...kay!" he finally agreed happily, bouncing to his feet and practically vibrating beside her. Lucy bid everyone a quick farewell, pretending not to notice when he threw an arm around her shoulders and leaned heavily into her.

"Why are we going to your place?" Natsu demanded as they started for the door.

"Because your's is too far of a walk and I'm not leaving you to roam the town alone," she replied.

A huge grin spread across his face as he twisted his head to look at her, his onyx eyes sparkling evilly as he said hopefully, "Are you gonna take advantage of me?"

Cana, who'd been in the process of downing a barrel of alcohol nearby, choked on her drink, spitting it in on the people around her. Erza slowly turned on her heel, her own face a brilliant red, though it wasn't anywhere near as red as Lucy's. Mirajane's squeal made Lucy moan in frustration. "No," she whined, embarrassed. "I'm not going to "take advantage of you", Natsu. You'll be on the couch. And you'll stay on the couch if you don't want to lose some valuable parts of your body."

He pouted, but said nothing more, only began to hum obnoxiously in her ear.

Lucy was ready to sob and scream into her hands by the time they finally reached her apartment. Natsu refused to go in the normal way, and she was relieved he was relatively unharmed when she opened the door and found him meandering towards-

"No," she said darkly, "You are not eating all of my food, Natsu Dragneel." She grabbed him by the shoulders, spun him around before he could reach her pantry, and ignored his whining protests, shoving him towards the couch. "Sit, I'll get you something to eat."

He cranked his head around, studying her face intently, and Lucy sighed when he whined, "You didn't kiss me!"

"We've been through this, Natsu," Lucy groaned, making sure he was sitting before going to grab supplies to make him a sandwich, figuring that would work.

Not that he'd listen to her and just stay on the couch.

As expected, she heard feet padding across the floor until he stood beside her, looking confusedly over her shoulder. "What are you doing?" he demanded, flames flickering along his arms.

Lucy smacked the flames out with a warning glare. "Making you food. Now go sit down, damn it!"

"Nah," he mused, going over to another bit of counter. He studied it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world to him and Lucy sighed, turning her attention back on making his food. She'd just finished when hot breath washed across the back of her neck, making her squeal and whirl around.

Natsu leaned into her, searching her gaze as she tried to lean away over the counter. "You're pretty," he finally decided, turning away. Lucy sighed heavily in relief as he made his way back to the couch. She followed him, handing him the sandwich. "Thank you," he said happily and practically swallowed her work whole.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Go to sleep," she ordered, reaching for her book. She opened it to the page she'd been on and settled down, curled up in the corner of the couch to read and keep an eye on him until he went to sleep.

Natsu, it appeared, had other ideas.

The dragon slayer scampered closer, somehow managing to squirm himself between Lucy and her book. She whimpered in frustration. "Natsu-"

"Kiss me!" he demanded, face full of frustration. "I don't want to go to sleep, I want you to kiss me!"

"No," she snapped, shoving him away so that he fell off the couch. It's not like he'd feel it until morning anyways. "Damn it, Natsu, I'm about to kick you to the- oh, hell no, that's where I'm sleeping tonight." She climbed to her feet as the fire mage went to make himself comfortable in her bed, burying his face in her pillow with a happy sigh. "Get your ass to the couch, Natsu, you're not sleeping in my bed." She silently screamed her frustrations and tried to pull him out of it, but failed miserably, falling onto her own rear rather than getting him out. "Never again," she said darkly as she turned to go to the couch. "Never again will I let you drink, and I don't care if it's Gray who-"

She grinned evilly.

"Natsu," she sang, going to stand beside the bed. The suddenly drowsy pink-haired man glanced up expectantly. "Let's make a deal. I'll-"

"Kiss me and I'll move," he interrupted, and her smile vanished, replaced with a mortified look.

"I'm not going to kiss you," she huffed. "Just move over at least." To hell with it. She gave up. She'd rather be in the same bed then kiss him at this rate.

Mind you, if he'd been sober and demanding such a thing, she wouldn't have hesitated to kiss him, but drunk Natsu didn't need to know that. Drunk Natsu didn't need to know anything like that…

She dropped her book on the nightstand as he eagerly moved over, looking excited. Lucy thought it might have something to do with the fact that he never got to sleep in her bed with her permission - while she enjoyed waking up to having protective warmth all around her, reassuring her that she was always safe, she didn't exactly tell him to hop in at night. Yet here she was, telling him it was alright!

Lucy decided to sleep in the clothes she was wearing rather than going to change, because that was just asking for trouble, even keeping the scarf on. She slid in after turning the lights off, noting that it was nearly one in the morning before closing her eyes and making herself comfortable under the blankets.

It didn't take long for the wild fire mage to curl himself around her. He happily buried his face in her blonde hair, breathing in before letting his breath whisk across her. "My Lucy," he practically purred.

She gently pushed his head away just a bit. "No," she told him, rolling her eyes. "Not your Lucy."

He huffed impatiently. "Shush," he mumbled, then paused before adding, "Thank you for my food." Natsu's words grew slurred after that. "Delicious," was the only word she could get out of his sentence.

To Natsu, squirming until he could reach and place a sloppy kiss on her lips in gratitude before burying his face against her chest seemed like a perfectly normal to thing to do. It was warm, soft, and smelled heavily of his Lucy.

To Lucy…

It was annoying and she was furious with him for kissing her when she'd told him not to, but she only sighed and ran her fingers through his pink hair as he passed out, arms wrapped tightly around her. "If you were sober," she muttered simply, voice wistful

He only sighed contently in his sleep and snuggled a little bit closer.

"Kill me now," Natsu moaned the next morning, ignoring the glass of water his annoyed partner set before him. He cradled his head in his hands. "It hurts. I want Wendy." He glanced up mournfully at Lucy when she crossed her arms unsympathetically and spoke.

"Then you shouldn't have gotten yourself smashed. I hope Gray's suffering just as much as you."

Natsu scowled, and then rested his head down on his folded arms. "It hurts," he said miserably, not caring that he was repeating what he'd already said. "Make it stop."

Lucy shook her head in exasperation, then affectionately touched his shoulder before rubbing his back soothingly. "Idiot," she said with a sigh. "Come on, let's get you something for your head…"

After she'd gotten Natsu some medicine to help with his hangover and the dragon slayer had gone to nap, Lucy dropped to sit on her couch with an exhausted groan.

She'd thought it would have ended after he'd gone to sleep. But he'd gotten up a few times to do various things, semi-drunk still despite a few hours worth of sleep. He'd run to the bathroom to vomit up half of what he'd downed throughout his competition with Gray, he'd meandered to the fridge to grab a snack, and he'd gotten up one more time to seek out Lucy when she got up to go get some water.

All in all, Lucy was tired, and she couldn't help it when her head began to loll and her eyes fluttered shut. She was beginning to doze off when Natsu's panicked voice hollered, "LUCY!"

She groaned, wanting to cry. "What?" she demanded, opening her eyes and turning to glare at the dragon slayer that sat on bed with a terrified expression on his face. "What do you need? I need a minute to relax, Natsu, you kept me up all night."

"Where's my scarf?!"

Lucy's sigh huffed out loudly. "Natsu," she groaned, "You and that damn scarf...it's right here, see?" She lifted up an end to show that it was wrapped around her neck. "See? You told me to take it last night when you were having your drinking contest with Gray. Mira put it on me. I thought you were going to tear her apart for touching it."

His fear and panic vanished. "Oh," he sighed. "Okay. Thanks for watching it." Relaxed now, Natsu carefully laid back down, then called tiredly, "Ya look nice in it, Luce."

Lucy's lips twitched into a smile. "Thank you," she said simply, absolutely amazed that he'd actually said it. Maybe there was still some alcohol in his system…?

She certainly hoped not.

When they went to the guildhall later in the evening, Natsu fell a hell of a lot better and Lucy was still wearing his scarf. He seemed to content to let her wear it for the time being, so she didn't try and force it back on him as soon as possible. She liked it anyways. It smelled like smoke and pine, and it was constantly at a comfortable heat, as if someone had just taken it off.

It was nice in the chilly autumn air.

"Don't cause any trouble," she pleaded as they stepped inside, her gaze pleading.

Natsu huffed. "I just want something to eat," he grumbled. Not trusting his stomach, Lucy had refused to let him eat anything too big throughout the day, and he was determined to get some "real food" into himself. After making sure that his companion would be okay by herself, Natsu wandered off the bar, demanding Mirajane bring him something big to eat.

Tugging the scarf away from her face, Lucy went to greet a few of the others that had arrived a while before them. Levy was there, her nose in a book as she sat beside Lisanna, who was chatting eagerly with Bickslow. Erza was there, as was Cana and - to Lucy's surprise - Evergreen, though she left to go speak to someone else when Lucy walked over.

"Hello, Lucy," Erza greeted warmly. "I take it Natsu is well again?"

"Yep," Lucy answered, seating herself between the requip mage and Cana. "Has anyone heard from Gray and Juvia?"

Cana snickered. "Pretty sure I heard some interesting things when I went past Gray's place last night…which reminds me." She turned to grin at Lucy, wiggling her eyebrows. "I'll be right back." She stood, told them to watch her barrel, and then started straight for-

"Cana!" Lucy wailed, "Don't you dare!"

"So, Natsu," Cana said after greeting the dragon slayer, completely ignoring the celestial mage in favor of sitting at the bar beside him. Lucy practically vaulted over the table to try and stop the card mage before she could say anything more when Natsu looked up from his food, yawning and mumbling a "Yeah?"

"Did Lucy take advantage of you like you wanted? How good was she? You have to give details, buddy, or we won't know what pointers to give her."

Natsu's jaw dropped and his fork hit the plate with a loud clatter - just in time for Lucy to practically tackle Cana off of the barstool. Cana only burst into laughter, cackling as Lucy wailed for her to shut up and tried to cover her mouth in a similar way to what she'd done to Natsu the night before.

Mirajane giggled from behind the bar, watching with sparkling eyes. "Well, Natsu?" she teased the suddenly panicked looking man. "Are you going to answer Cana's question?"

"I...what...she…" Natsu sputtered, looking terrified as he struggled to come up with an answer. His face was nearly as red as Lucy's flushed one, and he glanced back at her for help, uncertain of just how to respond to this. "I don't know what you're talking about," he finally said, shaking his head frantically.

"It's not nice to lie," Mirajane sang, coming out from where she'd been working. She planted her hands on her hips, blue eyes sparkling as she demanded, "Now come on, Natsu, how did it go?"

"Lucy!" Natsu whined, "Stop them, I wanna eat!"

"We didn't do anything," Lucy said hastily when Mirajane turned on her. She let Cana get up, ignoring the snickering of her nakama. Everyone in the guildhall was listening eagerly - even Makarov, who'd come out of his office to take a break from some paperwork the Magic Council had sent him.

"Uh-huh," Cana taunted. "Unlikely. Now talk! Or we'll torture it out of you, woman!"

"We didn't," Lucy insisted, glaring at the unhelpful dragon slayer that inhaled what was left of his food and fled to go and hide somewhere in the large room.

Before Cana and Mirajane could say anything else, the doors swung open and in came a happy Juvia, accompanied by a hunched and quiet Gray. Eager to get the attention off of her, Lucy suggested, "Juvia might be able to tell you something though."

Cana lunged forward. "Hey, Gray!" Gray's expression became that of a male who realized that he was about to be in serious trouble. He glanced at the very curious Erza, and then proceeded to turn to walk right back out the door, grabbing Juvia's arm to drag her with him.

"Oh, Gray!" Mirajane purred, going to help Cana catch him before they could escape.

Lucy sighed in relief and tugged the scarf away from her face. Smiling to herself, she was shocked when a hand suddenly grabbed her by the wrist and hauled her backwards, dragging her from the main room of the guildhall before anyone could notice. "Natsu," she protested when she realized just who was pulling her.

"Sh," he hushed, glancing around. "Gotta leave now while the bastard has 'em distracted…"

"And just what do you plan on doing?" Lucy demanded, rolling her eyes. "They'll go right back to asking tomorrow. And you're going straight into Happy's little clutches when he gets back."

He swore, and then whined, "I hate everyone...won't give me a break about it."

"About what?" Lucy demanded.

"...nothing."

"Natsu," she warned, "Tell me, or I go right back in there and bring you with me."

The dragon slayer blushed brilliantly, mumbling something under his breath so that she could just barely hear, and Lucy's lips parted in surprise before she suddenly smirked. "Oh, really," she hummed, suddenly leaning in close to him. He leaned back, eyes widening with just a hint of fear. "And what did you say in response?"

"Uh…" He seemed distracted, especially when she shook his fingers off in favor of twining her own with them and stepping closer until she was flush against him. "I, uh, said that I was-" He tensed when she reached her other hand up to lightly brush against his cheek, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "L-Luce, what are you-"

"You know," she drawled, carefully drawing him closer. "You could stop procrastinating and just ask me if I was interested in being your girlfriend rather than telling them that you were still thinking about where to take me to and that you were thinking about whether or not it was a smart idea to ask."

He opened his mouth to say something in response, but she cut him off by lightly pressing her lips against his. He froze, then hesitantly kissed her back, his hand rising to gently tangle in her blonde hair. She smiled against his mouth, and then pulled back, her eyes warm with amusement. "See? Not so hard."

Natsu gawked for a few moments before suddenly giving a grin and crushing her in a tight hug, burying his face in her scarf-clad neck. Lucy giggled, choosing not to say anything, only leaned into him, amused with his excitement. "Idiot," she said with a gentle affection.

Unknown to her, his eyes suddenly took on a mischievous look, and he smirked before suddenly shifting so that he could mumble in her ear.

"So...are ya gonna take advantage of me?"

There was a heartbeat of silence as Lucy processed what he'd said.

And then she scowled.

The guild was quiet despite the lateness of the day. With Gray sulking at the bar with Erza on one side of him and a cheerful Juvia on the other, and the others of the guild eating and chattering amongst themselves quietly after Erza threatening to throttle everyone if they didn't leave Natsu, Gray, Juvia, and Lucy alone, it was peaceful.

That changed very quickly.

Natsu suddenly came sprinting at full speed from a set of doors that led further into the guildhall, both laughing and nearly screaming in fear. He tore past the bar, and then straight outside, shouting over his shoulder, "Run!"

Silence filled the room as the guild tried to process what had just happened.

And then Lucy came strolling out as well, moving at a leisurely pace with her hands shoved into her pockets. She looked like her normal self - until one's self looked at her face and discovered the darkest of evil looks, one that rivaled even those of past enemies they'd fought and defeated.

Everyone - even Erza - flinched.

Never again,Lucy growled silently as she went to work on hunting Natsu down. Never again will I let that bastard have any alcohol whatsoever!

So this was originally supposed to be a drabble. Turned out as a nice one-shot, don't you think? It was mostly my editor's idea to have our lovely dragon slayer say this while he was drunk. This was completely based on the phrase "Are you going to take advantage of me?" We came up with it after a particularly funny video about people after their wisdom teeth were taken out. One of the guys in there asked his mother that, and it was too perfect not to use. I hope you enjoyed! :D