Counter Chaotic (Nalu)

Prologue II - The Arrival

Long Time Skip: ⋆꙳•̩̩͙·:*¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨*:·•̩̩͙꙳⋆

Short Time Skip: ༺☆༻

Lucy's POV

Damn Cana and her stupid fortune-telling skills. I would never have lost that bet if she hadn't sided with that demon going by the name of Mirajane. Now I am stuck breaking my back trying to wipe the counters clean while attempting not to step on the broken bits of glass I scattered across the floor earlier the evening. This is my last task tonight. But. The. Grease. Won't. Come. Off. Argh!

I lost a bet I started. I have to fill in for Mira on her job as the barmaid while she gets all the money. But do you know what is worse? Elsa was laughing at me the whole time for no freaking reason! I mean... I know I was juggling the drinks and snacks in the most ridiculous manner possible, but I didn't drop or break anything up until it was cleaning time. 

Mind you, even when I chucked a cup of coffee at Ice Princess out of anger, every single drop of the scalding liquid went down his throat. Ahahahahaha! Payback baka! (Note that Lucy is not an angel here)

If you put aside my lack of grace and the overheated drinks and food, my serving skills are not that bad... I guess.

I glance up at the clock, it is five minutes to midnight, and I must go on a job to pay my rent for the Fairy Hills dorms tomorrow. I knew I should have smashed all the glasses instead of wasting time trying to clean them, seeing as I broke most of them anyway.

I bang the rag on the counter for what feels like the one-thousandth time, and in case I haven't said it already...

This sucks.

༺☆༻

The next time I check the time is when I finally finished wiping the countertops. I groan when I find out it is one minute 'til midnight, so it will technically be tomorrow morning by the time I get home.

Nabbing my bag and swinging my cloak over my shoulders, I dash for the doors, grumbling quietly.

The calendar says it is June, in other words, summer, and what a summer this is, wailing winds and all.

The calendar says it is June, in other words, it's my birthday next month, and what a celebration Mira is throwing me.

Some careless soul left the guild door agape, allowing wisps of cold air to slip through the small gap. Enwrapping my cloak tighter around myself, I reach for the doorknob before jerking my hand back when an unfamiliar smell of a person, most likely a boy, attacks my sensitive nostrils.

Barely a second after, the double doors swing open on their hinges, an inch from whacking me in the face. Due to a strong gust of wind that attacks me the instant the doors open, I almost miss the boy with spiky pink hair wobbling into the guild hall.

I blink the dust out of my eyes and peer at the pink ball of hair before me as an onslaught of memories rushes into my mind as if an invisible trigger has been pulled.

༺☆༻

I arrived at the guild on an afternoon, on a day I appreciate as much as my life.

Fairy Tail accepted me as part of the family since the day I joined; It is hard to believe It has already been one year since then. But that one year is a hundred times better than the two years I spent wandering around aimlessly with tears in my eyes.

I never stopped looking for Igneel. One day, I will find him and tell him everything about Fairy Tail. He will be proud of me; I know he will. I also know he has a good reason for leaving and will tell me when we meet again. 

Before Fairy Tail, that was the only thing that kept me going. For two long years, that was my only motivation to live.

I inspected the boy in front of me. He is the invisible trigger. He reminds me of the family I had with Igneel.

I wonder why.

I walk around him and gently shut the door, careful not to make much noise. I have no idea why I did that, maybe because I don't want to startle him while he lets his eyes adjust to the light, unaware of my presence.

When I walk back, he is slightly doubled over, eyelids drooping, yet he is only less than a centimetre shorter than me, even in that position. Not fair.

I tap my foot irritatedly against the wooden floorboards. He hasn't even looked at me for one whole minute. Rude. That word gives me inspiration for the first words I say to him.

"Oi!" I say, to show him he is, in fact, not alone, "Who are you?"

He doesn't startle. He doesn't flinch. He merely examines me from my hair to my chin. 

The next I know, his bright onyx eyes are staring into mine, and for the first time since he came in, I permit myself to take note of his other appearances, not just his pink hair.

My eyes travel from his medium-length nose and hollow cheeks down to the rest of his body. An involuntary gasp escapes my mouth. He is in a dreadful state. A slightly ripped brown bear-skin shawl wraps around his thin but tall figure, and his knees and back are bent at a peculiar angle.

Overall, he requires warmth and food before taking a much-needed nap. The guild is warm enough, so I have to get him food. We will worry about the nap part later.

The pinkette's eyelids sag again. Crap, he is going to fall asleep and die; maybe not dying literally but still...

"Woah. Hang on." Translation: Please don't die here. "I will get you some food." You better keep your eyes open while I dig into Erza's secret stash of strawberry cakes for you.

Shuddering at the mere thought of what may happen to me if the earthly representation of monstrosity finds out, I took a baby step sideways to the hidden cabinet before snapping right back.

The boy stumbles, and his knees bend to the extent that he is about to crash hard onto the wooden floor.

Something bursts out of my mouth, but I don't remember what it is, too focused on lunging forward and snagging Pinky beneath his arms at the final beat.

His eyes are completely closed now, and I bet he is fully asleep too. I carry the surprisingly light boy in my arms clumsily.  I suppose I shouldn't be shocked, considering he has the look of someone starving for days.

I don't know where to take him, but he is not sleeping on the table here. Although Erza will kill me (and Mira will misinterpret a lot of things) if I bring a boy into the dorm, that is the only option. I haven't the faintest idea where any of the boys in fairy tail live.

I nudge open the doors, bracing myself for a powerful blast of air. When it rushes in, the pinkette in my arms nuzzles into my chest, probably noting my abnormally high body temperature, which comes in handy in weather like this. My cheeks heat up at his unconscious action: honestly, that was... somewhat cute.

Before racing to the dorms, I gave his face a particularly long glance.

Remember when I said his scent smells unfamiliar? Well, it still is, but I feel as if I met him before, sometime, somewhere.

Looking away and picking up pace, I try to focus on keeping him alive instead of worrying over the stretching blank portions in my head.

I try to ignore the oncoming feelings from the river of time that flow like a raging torrent towards me, or back to me.

But I can't.