Chapter Text
Icing
Lucy dove forward, seeing the impending disaster long before it actually happened. But, unfortunately, Plue decided at that moment to dance forward under her feet, tripping her, making her do a hop, skip and dance of her own just to keep her balance.
Erza, shell-shocked with chocolate brown eyes wide, was rooted to the spot, her hands out in a mock parody of salvation, reaching to catch what had already fallen on the floor with a mushy splat.
“Erza...” Lucy trailed off delicately, half thanking her lucky stars she wasn't the one who dropped it and half afraid of what would happen next. “It's okay...?” Her voice rose in a nervous question as she took a step forward towards the other woman.
“No Lucy, it is not.”
Lucy flinched a little. Of all the times for Gray and Natsu to be conspicuously absent! Lucy couldn't take on a raging Titania on her own. Those boys were utterly useless sometimes. Trust those two idiots to decide to go on a mission during such an important time anyway.
“I mean...” Lucy trailed off, watching Erza's face anxiously. Everyone knew how things went when cake fell on the floor in her presence.
To the blonde's astonishment, tears were welling up and Erza's nose was crinkling in a desperate bid to fight them back. Her hands dropped to her side in defeat, shoulders slumping and tiny sniffling sounds issuing from her nose.
Surprised, the Celestial Mage took a tentative step forward, “It's just a cake...”
“But... but... it was for... you...” Erza burst out, glaring at the floor as if it were the culprit in the case of the dropped cake. She added mournfully, “Juvia helped me make it. Well...” There was a long pause, “Juvia helped me make the first, second and third cake.”
Lucy wasn't sure she wanted to know what happened to them or why the fourth cake hadn't suffered the same fate.
“For me?” Lucy drew back, cocking her head curiously. She blinked a bit, studying her friend questioningly, “Not that I don't appreciate it, but why? It's not my birthday or anything...”
Erza stared at her helplessly, wordlessly.
Lucy squatted down, scooping up a bit of icing carefully. Without thinking too much about it, she popped it in her mouth.
“Erza, this is delicious!”
The redheaded warrior looked expectant, “Is it? I did not dare try it after the others... so I hoped...”
“It is! Here,” Lucy scooped up a bit more on her index finger, careful to avoid brushing the floor. Who knows what was on there. But there inner icing should be perfectly safe and delicious for Erza to put in her mouth. She straightened up with a bright smile, unwittingly holding her finger out in front of Erza's face for a taste.
Erza eyed her strangely for a long moment, the two locking eyes with the frosting covered finger held between them. Still holding eye contract, she leaned forward tentatively. It wasn't until she opened her mouth that Lucy realized what she intended to do, and by then anticipation and horror had rooted her to the spot.
Squeaking, Lucy furiously closed her eyes, wishing she could cover them too. Except her finger was occupied already with a hot, wet tongue swirling around it intently. A blast of cool air rippling across wet skin let her know Erza had abandoned it, clean of all traces of the sugary treat.
Whipping her hand down with a blush, she opened her eyes and mouth both to look at the guilty party and say something. But that was mere moments before she registered the looming presence in her personal space and the warm, clumsy brush of skin on her nose. Erza's face was too close for comfort, her eyes seeking something, darting slightly but guileless.
Only Erza could look that way so... so close! Lucy bit down on her lip to keep the near-silent moan from escaping as some of her daydreams sprung into near-reality. The ones she'd been having since she met the fierce warrior and realized the utter sweetness that lay beneath the stern outer shell. Ones she may have written in her diary a bit but mostly kept close to play out in her mind, wondering about those soft lips and the silky hair.
The moment Erza started slipping into her bed during the Games, Lucy had thanked her lucky stars... and hushed her Spirits about their curiosity about her feelings seeping through their link. If Loke had said anything, even in passing, Lucy would've died. But not before she killed him first.
“It was delicious. Thank you.”
Lucy barely trusted herself to nod, eyes hidden under the lashes, lip bitten harder. What was she expecting after all?
But what was Erza waiting for? She was lingering in Lucy's space, and it certainly couldn't be for any reason Lucy was imagining! Maybe she was going in for a hug? Lucy winced a little in anticipation of a violent meeting with metal armor, her plump, bitten lip released and her body tensed.
Instead, soft, warm lips gingerly brushed her own gentle and tempting. Shocked, Lucy stood there before her eyes slid shut almost against her will and she greedily jumped at the chance to return the gesture before Erza thought to break off the contract.
Erza drew back slightly, pink rising on her cheeks, and admitted frankly, “You had icing on them.”
“So it wasn't a kiss?” Lucy demanded, trying to calm her racing heart and slow her horses down. Trust Erza to use her mouth to remove the excess mess. It was a miraculous there wasn't an encore of the tongue's performance on her finger, thank goodness, or Lucy's heart might have exploded.
“I did not say that!” Erza protested immediately, still close enough their noses were almost brushing.
The giggle slipped out before she could catch it, fluttery feelings going through her, “So it was an accident?”
Erza gave her a betrayed look prompting another heady giggle. Lucy couldn't resist inching forward, her face tilted up with a mock innocent look.
“Uh-huh,” Lucy smirked, a near-copy of Gray's when he was about to start something. She cocked her hip a bit, bumping Erza teasingly, before stumbling a little over her boots and losing her balance, falling back. Erza reached out, catching her by the shoulders, hands warm and firm. Lucy took that as a sign, gathering her courage before it all slipped away, and she laced her fingers through Erza's so they both rested on her shoulders. “Well, fifth time's a charm? I think you might need to make a little more icing.”
“I do not think I can make enough to cover your entire body,” Erza remarked making Lucy choke. The redhead continued bluntly, “But I suppose...”
“For the cake, Erza!” Lucy couldn't help the end of the sentence slipping up an octave. Who suggested such a thing right after a first kiss?
“Oh,” she sounded a little... disappointed? “But the book made it sound as though...”
Lucy had to stop her then. With her lips. Some things she just didn't want or need to know the details of. At least not at the moment...