comfort | nalu ✓

5/5 | purple.

    [coffee shop au; sorry.]

   

   

    weekdays always had the better shifts. a lesser number of customers usually meant a lighter work pressure, and natsu, although always full of energy and warmth, found himself growing tired a bit too early in the chilly winter day. he was almost alone, with most of his colleagues calling in for a day off, and had only the café's cat mascot for company.

   

    it was eleven a.m. in middle of january and the celebratory aura of the holidays was still omnipresent. no one would leave the comfort of their homes to go through the heartless cold just to visit a cozy café down the street...

   

    or would they? the door opened, and natsu made a great effort to look as welcoming as he could, although he had been told before that his enthusiastic side was a tad bit more intimidating.

   

    she was a gorgeous young blonde woman, and natsu was too stunned to utter a greeting. 'did spring take a human form to come and see me, happy?'

   

    he must've accidentally said that out loud, because she blushed and softly smiled an angelic smile before walking right towards him, or maybe she was just coming towards the counter to place her order, but that set his pulse racing either way.

   

    "good morning," her voice wasn't pitchy nor deep; neither dull nor vibrant. it was soothing, something so comfortable that natsu accidentally bit his tongue when he snapped out of his lovestruck trance. "yeth?" he spurted, and she responded by letting out another soft chuckle, and natsu could swear he could see the sun rising behind her.

   

    'wow, this must be love.'

   

    "will you take my order?" she asked, with a voice as sweet as honey, but natsu tried his best to once again snap out of his reverie, and pulled out a notebook and pen in response.

   

    he dreamily managed to ask her to wait for a few minutes and prepared her mocha. but then it struck him: he hadn't asked for her name. there wasn't a need for that as there was no other customer, but this was his chance, and that was his purple sharpie on the counter and he knew, at that moment, that he had to take both.

   

    "your order, miss," he held out the cup to her, all wrapped up in some tissue, so that the heat wouldn't hurt her hands, he swore, and not because he had a horribly messy handwriting. she smiled again, and reached out to take the cup from his hands. their hands briefly brushed against each other, and that sent sparks of electricity through him, and he stood still, paralyzed.

   

    her brown eyes were sparkling as she said thanks, and then, she turned to leave. she went out the door, and some minutes passed. natsu felt a little tsunami of disappointment destroy him. she hadn't even read what he had written. maybe the tissue was a bad idea.

   

    meanwhile a few blocks away, lucy could feel her heart fluttering. written on the cup of her premium mocha was

    "you're beautiful."

   

   

    ◇◇◇

   

   

    the name of lucy heartfillia being written in purple is now a common occurrence in café fairy tail, and happy the cat mascot is always delighted to see both his favourite employee and favourite regular happy together.