Lucy sighed for the umpteenth time, pushing her hair out of her face as she hurried towards her last stop for the evening. She worked at Sorcerer Weekly as an intern while she went to school in attempts to earn a degree in Literature with a minor in Journalism. Her boss, Jason, would have her run random meetings with prospective clients or persons of interview interest a couple times a month. Her cheeks were sore from the endless flow of fake smiles and laughs, tired of refusing offers to stay and have drinks or go out for a late dinner. The bath of fluorescent lights was lukewarm at best as she stepped into the enlighteningly dingy office this late evening. The woman at the front desk was minimal with her greeting, waving for her to take a seat in their waiting area while she let her boss know she had arrived.
“Ah, Miss Heartfilia,” A shiver ran down her spine as she was allowed into his office, forcing her smile as she took a seat in front of the suspiciously large desk. Certainly too big for the size of this office; this company was trying to look more well off than it truly was. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me at this ungodly hour.”
“No trouble at all, Mr. Prominence. I appreciate being able to have a meeting with you.” She shook his hand, her smile twitching as he placed a kiss against her knuckles.
“I’m very excited to tell you all about what we do here at Titan Nose, especially passionate to dispel those nasty rumors someone spread about our company,”
“Of course!” She flipped open her little notebook open and pressed pen to pad.
Her throat was sore from fake laughter and cheeks beyond sore from excessive smiles, her teeth clenched to stop her from yelling at this completely sexist idiot. She was quick to stand up from her chair after her list of questions had run dry, politely refusing to keep him any more company as she slowly rushed out the door. She sighed as she came into contact with the more refreshing night air. Lucy had barely dialed the number for a cab before her arm was yanked and her body flew backward, into the bony chest of the grubby older man that apparently hadn’t received her message. Nasty rumors indeed, he seemed the type to harass female clients.
“I’m sure you won’t be disappointed, Miss Heartfilia,” Bora said with a sickly sweet smirk as he kept her close, ushering for him to follow her to his car... when had it pulled up?
“U-Umm, it’s really late, I’ll have to get going,” She insisted, her cheeks tight again as she tried to shimmy her arm out of his hold.
“I’m afraid I don’t want to let you go,” He hummed, forcing a white cloth over her mouth and catching her as she fell faint.
“W-What a-are...” She tried to manage her words as he ushered her weak legs towards the car door, now open as the driver held it for his boss.
“Titan Nose is lucky to have you joining us,” She yelped as he shoved her roughly in the backseat, her hands not even able to form the fist she knew she could use to knock this piece of shit out with. She tried her best to sit up and weakly kick the two standing in front of the open car door but was beaten by a flying tan fist that had her two captors out cold in a second. Her mind slipped away from her as the chloroform kicked in, a wavy image of a pink blob as her last memory.
~~~
Lucy woke in a cold sweat, eyes staring up a familiar ceiling and wrapped in completely unfamiliar pajamas. She groaned as her head reeled with a dull ache, looking over to the side table, grateful to see a closed bottle of water. She chugged half of it before choking when the door opened.
“Oh! You’re awake!” The pink haired stranger grinned at her as she coughed, moving to grab the water bottle that shook in her hand as she hocked out a lung.
“W-Who are you...?” She wheezed, blushing as she tried to keep her eyes trained on him instead of his dripping chest and towel wrapped lower torso.
“Natsu, I’m sorry, you’re probably confused,” He chuckled as she nodded and waited for an answer.
“Just a bit,”
“I don’t know who that guy was, but I saw him shove you into that car, and I moved before I could think of anything else. You were knocked out cold, so I brought you home,” He started, a blush of his own dusting his cheeks as he explained himself. “B-But I didn’t change you! That was my little sister, promise.”
“O-Oh,” Lucy let a sigh of relief escape her as her fears of being kidnapped subsided. “Thank you so much for saving me then...”
“I’m Natsu, Natsu Dragneel.”
“Well then, Natsu,” She said with a slight smile as he dazzled her with a bewitching grin. “Could I ask you to get dressed?”
“Dammit!” He cured before rushing out of the room as quickly as he had entered.
~~~
“You’ll be safe getting home on your own, won’t you? I don’t feel so great leaving you alone after all that,” Natsu frowned a bit as Lucy pulled on her heels and stood in front of his door, her heart melting at his concern. “I called the cops on those guys, but still.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not like I go into that part of town a lot. I’m making sure my boss knows not to send me out so late anymore either.” She nodded, hands pulling on her bag strap as she refused to ogle the suit that held him so lovingly.
“At least let me drive you,” He offered, the hand that grabbed hers much warmer than all those from the previous night. “I want to make sure you’re safe.”
“S-Sure, I’d like that.”
