Don't Burn On My Watch

5

I woke up in the bed, alone.

When I had made my way downstairs I found Natsu waiting for me cheerfully. "Let's go on a mission!" He said.

"Yeah, ok." I agreed. And that was that. We left a short while before noon, the sun almost directly above us.

Natsu and I entered the guild and walked over to the board. "I have something to confess." He said, turning to me. "I kinda already picked out a mission."

He passed me the paper and it was a medium paying job that asked us to... Help take care of someone's cat?

I groaned. "Come on, really?"

"Well actually the guild master picked it out because you're... new?" He said, scratching the back of his neck. I sighed and took his hand in mine. "Atta girl." He said, walking me out the door.

As it turned out, the cat was pretty pleasant and the old woman who took care of it was going out. She was a frail and short old woman and for a person like her, I could understand why she'd be worried about her cat. She was widowed and her children all moved away from the neighboring town Nova where she stayed.

Despite the job being fairly easy, we did it quite well. Who knew all you had to do with a cat in the middle of the day was nothing?

We were paid 7000 J and were thanked graciously.

"Really, ma'm, it's no problem." I assured her.

Natsu really didn't say much when we were leaving though, which was weird. We were on our way back to the guild when he inhaled sharply and looked down at me beside him.

"Did something seem off about her to you?"

I shook my head and frowned. "Why?"

Natsu's hand squeezed mine. "I don't know. It just felt... off."

We were about a meter away from the house when a blast from behind us knocked us off our feet. Natsu stood up fast and sucked the flame into his stomach and swallowed. I coughed and tried to stand up.

Natsu rushed over and helped me stand. "We have to go check to see if anyone's hurt." I said, regaining my balance and running towards the wreck.

The old woman cried out from under the rubble and I carefully pulled her out. "My cat." She said, pointing a crooked finger in the distance behind me.

Natsu and I whipped around to see that the cat had turned into a human.

"Well, damn." He said. "That's not a cat." I smacked his shoulder, telling him to mind his language.

The... human cackled. "Ha... This whole time you pegged me as a stupid, obese cat."

I rolled my eyes. "So you were so dedicated to pretending that you ate cat food and cleaned yourself with your tongue?"

He backstepped, briefly taken aback. "Wh- Yeah. It's called an actor's dedication."

Natsu frowned and wrinkled his nose. "Dude. That's gross."

"Come on guys," The guy said, pinching the area between his eyes. "You're ruining my plan."

"Oh sorry." Natsu said. "Continue."

I turned to Natsu, annoyed. "No. We're leaving."

"Aw come on baby." Natsu begged.

I sighed. "Fine, just... Make it quick."

The guy put his hands on his hips and cleared his throat. "So... You thought I was just a measly cat?" He stopped, shoulders drooping. "Ugh. You know what? Just... Get outta here. I'll take the old woman to her kids."

Natsu pouted. "Aw, man."

I rolled my eyes and pulled him away from the wreck. We continued on our way home and Natsu walked beside me, disappointed. "Hey." I said, pulling him to face me. "If that had gone as we thought, would you feel any different now?"

"Well, no, I guess."

"I guess?"

"Well we were helping until that... 'cat' blew up the house."

"Just be glad everyone's safe." I said, unlocking the door and pushing it open.

Happy was passed out on the couch, looking exceptionally full. I shook him awake and he woke with a cold sweat. "Oh man. I finally ate enough food to induce a food coma."

Natsu raised his hand for a high five. "That's rad, man." Happy weakly hit his hand back and I carried him upstairs to Natsu's room and set him on the bed. Natsu snapped his fingers and I turned to see him standing in the doorway, watching.

"Oh, darn." He said in a monotone voice. "I guess I'll just have to sleep in your room again."

I laughed and hit him with a pillow. He smiled and pulled me into my room, picking up more pillows and hitting me back.

I struck him hard in the side with a pillow and he groaned. He saw that I was vulnerable from laughter and took the blanket off the bed and covered me with it, trapping me inside. "Hey!" I exclaimed, wiggling around.

He held the blanket in place by my waist and picked me up, dropping me on the bed. I pulled the end of the blanket off my face and Natsu was standing over me, his soft salmon hair drooping over his face.

I ran my fingers over his shoulders and collarbone and he kneeled in close to my lips.

"I think I won." He whispered into my ear, brushing his cheek against mine. The hair on my arms stood up.

I bit my lip, looking in his eyes. He kissed me, pulling my lips.

"You taste like cinnamon," I mumbled.

Natsu smirked and kissed the bottom of my chin, leaving a trail of kisses up to my mouth.

I grinned and pushed him off me. "Not tonight."

Natsu groaned and threw the pillow on the bed. "Alright, I respect that." I climbed into bed and pulled the sheets over me. Natsu got in beside me and pulled me into his chest, his body embracing mine.

I sighed. "Goodnight, Natsu."

He interlocked his fingers with mine and exhaled slowly. "Goodnight."