Forever by his side (nalu)

Meeting the guildmates

Natsu pov

It's only the next morning that I feel confident enough in my recovery, hence my capacity to protect Lucy, to go down and face our new guild. I'm not really happy, especially after the master came back yesterday to tell us we would have someone accompany us everywhere. He explained it was for the peace of mind of the guild and the town and more or less everyone, but why should I care about their peace of mind? What about my time alone with Lucy? But Lucy agreed to the condition and I had no choice but to do the same. So we are going to be stuck with an annoying third wheel. 

We get out of the guild's infirmary and head to the left, where I can hear the loud noise of the guild. Ugh. I am going to get so many headaches staying here. Hopefully, Lucy won't want to spend too much time at the guild. Unfortunately, knowing her, it was probably wishful thinking. At the stairs, I go first, obviously, and Lucy lets me with a roll of her eyes. She often tells me I am overprotective, but I don't care. She means a lot to me and I will go to great length to protect her.

When I get downstairs, both feet on the floor, silence takes hold of the room and tension rises. Everyone is looking at me, judging me. I react the way I always do when there are too many people around me aware of my presence. Aggressively. My bloodlust fills the space, making most of them cower. Those who did not recoil stand up and take a defensive position, ready to react at the slightest provocation on my part. The whole room reeks of fear. That makes me happy. As long as they are aware of my power, they will think twice before attacking me.

Then Lucy slaps me on the back of the head. I look at her angrily. "Tune it down, Natsu, they are not enemies," she says. Then she shots me a look saying 'not yet'.

I growl at her. She just ruined my efforts to make them all cower. In answer, she only slaps the back of my head again. "Behave," she chastise me. I grunt and look back at the room only to see them all stare at us, agape.

"What are you all looking at?" I ask with narrowed eyes.

They all look away, going back to their previous occupation, but at a more subdued level of noise and still keeping an eye on us. I follow Lucy to the bar which is tended by the same white haired girl who brought us food yesterday. What was her name? Marie? Maria? Ah, yes, Mirajane. 

I salute her with a nod, not saying anything for now.

"Master Makarov told us to come to you for our guild mark," Lucy tells her.

"Ah, yes, where do you want it," Mirajane asks while taking out a stamp from under the counter.

 "You can also choose the color."

Lucy thinks a little bit before putting her right hand on the bar. "I want it pink," she says. Then she shoots a bright smile at me. I grunt and look away, embarrassed. She chose the color of my hair, the imp. Well, two can play this game. After she gets hers, I tell Mirajane, "I want mine red," while tapping my right shoulder. When I glance at Lucy, I see she is looking away from me, but I can see some pink on the cheek I can get a glimpse of. With a satisfied smirk, I go towards an empty table, Lucy following me a couple of steps behind after thanking Mirajane. I'm a few steps away from sitting down when a black haired guy around my age gets into my face. He stares at me for a few second before saying, "I don't like you."

I roll my eyes. "It's okay, I don't like you either." I pause before asking him, "Not that I care one way or the other, but getting all over my space like that, are you gay?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he snarls at me in anger. I look him up and down. Behind me, I can hear Lucy sigh in annoyance. She passes me, going to the table I was aiming for before being so rudely intercepted. I can hear her sigh out "boys" in an exasperated tone.