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Stand tall. Suck in.
The voice of Lucy’s father rattled in her head, bouncing around her skull before escaping her mouth in a deep sigh. She plastered as real of a smile as she could muster, humming along in agreement to the words of the noble. Although, she wasn’t truly comprehending anything he was saying.
As if noticing her lack of awareness, Jacque stared at her, blinking, waiting for some kind of response. Since Lucy had no idea what he was looking for, she gave a polite laugh. When the cocky grin on his face grew wider, she knew she must have picked the correct option.
“As I was saying..”
“LUCY!” Natsu tumbled into the poor girl and she immediately stood up in order to properly berate him.
Lucy put her hand to her temple in an attempt to calm down before merely sighing, “Natsu, can’t you have some decorum in front of our clients?”
Natsu tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy and Lucy couldn’t help but let her face soften a bit as she faced the boy, “I suppose I should know the answer to that.”
Jacque cleared his throat, interrupting whatever moment had begun to happen, “Boy, do you know who I am?”
“Uh… some rich guy?” Natsu said with a mischievous grin, sticking his tongue out at Lucy as an indicator of a deliberate attempt to annoy him.
The man merely scoffed and turned his nose in the air before solely addressing Lucy. “You are such a lovely young lady, it is unfortunate you must align yourself with such…” a pause as he looked for a word to describe the Fairy Tail wizards, “Cretins.”
Lucy’s polite and patient smile slipped into a frown, but before she could even get a word in, Natsu beat her to it, “I don’t know what that means,” his fist ignited brightly, “but I don’t like the sound of it.”
“You should learn to show some respect,” Jacque scoffed, not taking Natsu’s threat of fire seriously.
“Say what you want about me,” Natsu growled, eyes going dark, “but you don’t want to see what happens if you keep talking like that about my family.”
The noble laughed loud and long, the air stiff with his sense of superiority, “Miss Heartfilia, I simply do not understand what you see in them.”
Lucy and Natsu froze at the same moment, their heads slowly turning towards each other before turning back to Jacque.
“How do you know that name?” Lucy asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Jacque turned to face Lucy completely, ignoring Natsu’s presence completely, “it’s the whole reason I asked for Fairy Tail’s strongest team for such a simple task,” the man’s smile grew smug in a way that forced a shiver down Lucy’s spine.
Natsu quickly stepped in front of her, “This is Lucy of Fairy Tail,” he said sharply, “I don’t know who you think you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about my potential future wife, she obviously hasn’t forgotten how to be a lady,” Jacque licked his lips, “despite her current company.”
Lucy grabbed her own hand quietly, steadying the slight shaking, before approaching Natsu slowly and setting a gentle hand on his shoulder. Natsu lowered his guard slightly at the contact but never let his gaze leave the seedy noble.
“Jacque…” Lucy began, her polite smile returning once more, “despite the fact my friends are cretins, I’d much rather enjoy their company over a man who pays for his.”
She turned to Natsu with a shaky gaze; however, her posture and smile remained composed, “We’re leaving.”
Natsu opened his mouth to argue but caught the quiet plea in her eyes. He threw one last furious glare at Jacque before following her out. The only sound echoing in the now silent grand hall was the steady rhythm of their footsteps leaving.
Lucy let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding as she let her shoulders drop and smile fall into something more real, glancing at Natsu in a silent thank you.
Natsu’s expression suddenly turned very serious as he stared straight into Lucy’s eyes.
The girl scanned his expression, confused, “w-what? Do I have something on my face?”
“Why do you always do that?”
“Do what,” Lucy gave a nervous laugh, “...exactly?”
Natsu’s frown deepened, “Force yourself to pretend like you enjoy talking to those creeps!”
His words were like a blow to the back of her head, “Be a lady, not a friend,” Lucy echoed the words her father had practically beaten into her skull over the years in order to find her what he considered a suitable husband.
The pure concern in Natsu’s face at that phrase had Lucy nearly on the verge of tears, unsure how to explain the logic. It’s not as though she wasn’t aware how illogical it was to still follow her father’s harsh rule when in the stuffy and rich environment, but she didn’t know how to unlearn the tendencies.
“You don’t have to do that anymore,” Natsu scratched the back of his neck, cheeks tinged slightly pink, “We like you plenty.”
Lucy couldn’t help the giant smile that took over her features at that, tears pooling in her eyes before falling messily down her face. Natsu’s demeanor turned into one of panic, “What? What did I say?!”
She wiped desperately at her cheeks, smiling through the tears, “The perfect thing.”