dinner with the dragneels

Ⅸ

lucy adjusted her sunglasses and peered over them. "do i look suspicious right now?"

"very," natsu admitted.

"you're literally in a trench coat!" she hissed.

"why did you ask me for my opinion if you're going to brush it off anyway?"

"why didn't your parents wear a condom?"

"meanie."

lucy rolled her eyes and pretended to ignore natsu, who was doing his best to look hurt.

the date was going well... as far as lucy could tell. she lifted her cup to her lips as wendy turned her head in their direction. "duck," she hissed.

"what? where?" he looked around wildly, and it was all lucy could do to not slam her forehead down on the table in exasperation.

"put your head down," she amended, and natsu obliged, barely escaping his sister's gaze.

she wiped the fog off of her sunglasses and slid them back onto her face, lacing her fingers together under the table. "well? thoughts?"

"uh, they both seem nice enough," natsu said, clearly occupied with studying chelia and wendy.

"no opinions? really?"

"as long as wendy's happy, i'm happy."

"that's sweet," she hummed absentmindedly, more focused on following natsu's stare. he wasn't studying the date at all, she realized. instead, his gaze was fixed on a blue-haired figure seated just behind wendy and chelia.

"who's that?" she asked after a beat of silence. the figure wasn't doing anything suspicious as far as she could tell, but the way natsu furrowed his eyebrows at it worried her. what could he know that she didn't?

his gaze flickered back at wendy for a moment. so it has something to do with her, she thought. as if on cue, her anxiety flared up, thinking up a thousand ways this seemingly harmless date could go wrong. she sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. this was not the time, nor the place, to be panicking. she steeled herself and tapped natsu's hand.

"what's wrong?" she asked, her voice breathy and quiet.

natsu narrowed his eyes at her, studying her for a moment. she squirmed in her seat. she didn't want him to know how panic drummed around in her skull beneath her calm exterior.

"that guy behind her," he gestured subtly. "watch him. i'm gonna go make some calls."

"that's not much of a- hey!" she yelped as he promptly got up and headed to the bathroom. 

lucy huffed, exasperated, but he was already halfway there. she would cause a scene if she were to speak up. lucy would yell at him for this later, she decided. for now, she studied the man. after a beat of silence, he shifted his sunglasses down and looked back at her. she ducked her head and shivered. out of the corner of her eye, she saw him staring at the back of wendy's head. she dug her nails into her palm. she had to get closer. this called for more extreme measures.

she dug through the pocket of her trenchcoat. as expected, a fat wad of cash sat in it. good. she was going to need it if she wanted to pull this off. she slipped behind the counter when she thought no one was looking, which was easy enough, considering how packed the café was. 

the staff were all busy, tending to their own business, but one headed towards the cool room. perfect. she followed the girl in and shut the door behind her.  

"look," lucy began. "i need a favor."

the girl looked unfazed as she spun on her heel. "what's in it for me?"

"stars, you people are miserable," lucy grumbled, digging up the wad of cash and pressing it into her palms. "how about that?"

the girl sifted through the crumpled bills and nodded silently. "take my apron. your shirt's a good enough color and we look sort of alike anyway. no one will notice."

"you've got brown hair and an eyepatch."

"close enough."

and so lucy acquired an apron. she had left her trenchcoat with the girl in the cool room, who had promised not to dig through its contents. there wasn't much in there anyway, so lucy considered it a safe bet. she took out a pen and pad and approached the table in an overly sweet, customer service voice. "what can i getcha?"

the man looked startled. as he lifted his head, she noticed an intricate red tattoo over his left eye. he raked his fingers through his hair and lowered his voice. "a black coffee."

she forced herself to smile. "will do! please wait here."

mission accomplished. she got a good look at the man. now she'd be able to identify him in front of authorities... given that they did end up turning him into the authorities, of course. if he were to hurt wendy, there might not have been much left to turn in at all.

she shook her head. nope. positive thoughts. he's just a sketchy figure from wendy's past that we're keeping an eye on. that's all. 

she handed the apron back to the girl in the cool room and nodded. "black coffee for the blue-haired man."

"what's up with him? you have a crush on him or something?"

"what? no, my friend's little sister's on a date and he keeps looking at them weirdly."

"oh, ugh, gross. my girlfriend and i have come across sooo many creepy men like that. i'll make sure to put extra tabasco sauce in that black coffee of his." she winked. or at least, lucy thought she winked. it was hard to tell with that eyepatch.

"why does a café have tabasco sauce?"

"i sneak it in for creeps like that."

"won't you get sued, or something?" she folded her apron up and studied the name tag at the front. 

"ehhh," she shrugged. 

"well, thanks for the help, beidou," she read off, handing the apron back.

"my pleasure, sweetheart," she saluted with two fingers and grinned. "now, shoo. i've got a coffee to make."

"uh, thanks again!" she slipped her trenchcoat back on and ducked out of the door.

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wc ;; 1015 
a/n ;; a short chapter after a long time mainly because i've been playing genshin lol <3 anyways yall stay safe and drink water, ily!