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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND November 15, 2019 – Ford Vs. Ferrari, Charlie’s Angels, The Good Liar, The Report and More!

Another week where I found myself falling behind on writing just because I have so much else going on. Sorry for the tardiness of this column… again.

In case you hadn’t heard, I’ve returned to my role as house manager at David Kwong’s Off-Broadway show “The Enigmatist” so that’s taking up some of the weekend I use for writing. It’s also awards season, which means I’m being invited to a ton more events that I don’t necessarily want to turn down. Plus there’s a little something called “Disney+” which I haven’t actually had much of a chance to get into.

That be as it may, the last few weekends have been so pitiful at the box office that things can only get better, right?

My favorite movie of the weekend, as well as the year, is James Mangold’s FORD V FERRARI (20thCentury Fox), starring Christian Bale as British racecar driver Ken Miles, who is hired by Matt Damon’s racecar designer Caroll Shelby to help him create a sportscar for the Ford company to race at Le Mans in 1963 with the sole intention of defeating regular winner Ferrari. It’s an amazing film – you can read my review below – which includes a fantastic cast that includes Caitrioni Balfe from Outlander, Noah Jupe (also in Honey Boy, currently in theaters), Jon Bernthal, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas and more. I probably don’t have to say too much more about this because you can read my review below, but since it will be in my Top 5 for the year, it’s highly recommended and a movie that you will not want to miss in theaters.

My Review of Ford v Ferrari

I wish I was as bullish on Elizabeth Banks’ remake of CHARLIE’S ANGELS (Sony), co-starring Kristen Stewart, newcomer Ella Balinska and Naomi Scott from Aladdin, as well as Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, Sam Claflin (staying in asshole mode after co-starring in The Nightingale) and more. It’s a female-friendly version of the action-comedy that McG made in 2000 with a sequel called Charlie’s Angels: Fully Loaded in 2003. The latter is one of my personal guilty pleasures, even though it’s probably not a very good movie. As far as Elizabeth Banks’ movie?

Mini-Review: I really wanted to like this movie, mainly since I’ve been a fan of Elizabeth Banks for so long. I really want her to shine as a filmmaker, especially in this case where she’s both written and directed this attempt to relaunch the popular ‘70s television show that often focused more on its stars T ‘n’ A than their brains and abiliites.

We meet two of the new Angels, Sabina (Kristen Stewart) and Jane (Ella Balinska), as they’re dealing with a horny millionaire in Brazil, played by Chris Pang from Crazy Rich Asians. Sabina is in the midst of pulling a big-time seduction on the sleezeball before Jane comes in with other ninja women to deal with his bodyguards. That opening scene gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the movie, but then the needlessly overt and deliberate “girl power” opening credits is a bit worrying of the direction where things might be going.

We then meet Naomi Scott’s Elena Houghlin, a trod-upon programmer at a big corporation getting ready to release an Amazon Echo-like device that can do anything from powering an entire building to being weaponized in dangerous ways. She tries to tell her obnoxious and sexist supervisor, played by Nat Faxon, but he refuses to tell the big boss Alexander Brock (Sam Claflin). Elena turns to the Townsend Agency and its Angels to help her blow the whistle on how dangerous the device can be in the wrong hands, so her, Sabina and Jane proceed to break into the Brock Corporation to steal one of the devices.

That’s the basic and quite derivative premise, and frankly, it’s rarely enough to keep the viewer entertained, especially once you realize that the entire movie is just a means to introduce Naomi Scott’s character as an Angel. This Townsend Agency isn’t just one small agency with a few women and one Bosley, as it has expanded worldwide with many, many Bosleys, including one retiring one played by Patrick Stewart. You see, like the Kingsmen, Bosley is just a rank of handler in between “Charlie,” who apparently is a woman, and her Angels. Stewart’s Bosley is being replaced by a former Angel, played by Banks, but first, they go on a mission with another Bosley, played by Djimon Hounsou, whom has a close relationship with Jane. (Don’t get too used to him as he’s barely in the movie.)

There’s a lot to take in as all this information is thrown at you, including a number of homages to earlier Charlie’s Angels incarnations, but the biggest problem with the movie is the fact that Kristen Stewart just doesn’t have a lot of on-screen charm. Watching her spending an entire movie trying to be funny and sexy and failing at both – well, that’s one-third of the movie that just doesn’t work at all. Fortunately, the other actors are generally better. I was really impressed by newcomer Ella Balinska, who handles a lot of the best action scenes, and I also enjoyed seeing Scott playing a character so different from Princess Jasmine in Aladdin. Even so, the attempts at comedy in Charlie’s Angels frequently falls flat, except a few moments later on.

This leaves Banks in a position where she’s forced to lean quite heavily on her soundtrack and locations to keep things interesting. While Bryan Tyler’s soundtrack is pretty good overall, I really had no interest in the pop songs written specifically for the movie.

The overall issue is that Charlie’s Angels just doesn’t offer much beyond the very basics. The fact it essentially uses the same general idea that didn’t work in Men in Black International as its basis just makes the movie derivative of another Sony movie that fell flat.

Sure, mileage is going to vary with those who see Charlie’s Angels based on how much they’ll put up with from the lackluster Stewart as the lead, but this just seemed like an idea that was destined to fail from the beginning, regardless of who was directing it.

Rating: 6/10

Last as far as the wide releases go is THE GOOD LIAR (Warner Bros.), directed by Bill Condon (Beauty and the Beast) and starring Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen, a psychological thriller about a man who isn’t what he says he is, who makes the mistake of getting on Helen Mirren’s bad side.

Mini-Review: Sometimes, it’s nice going into a movie thinking you know what to expect and then be continually surprised as it pulls the rug from under you, not once or twice, but many, many times.

At first, Bill Condon’s psychological thriller seems like a nice movie about the relationship between an older couple who meet online – Helen Mirren’s Betty, a kindly widow with an overprotective grandson, who goes on a date with Ian McKellen’s Roy Courtnay, who is a lot more than meets the eye. We quickly learn that Roy is involved in a number of grifts in trying to steal mucho bucks from some very rough Russian sorts, but we also see that Roy can be just as tough and cruel. This is all going on as Betty and Roy are getting closer, her offering Roy a place to stay in the house she shares with her grandson Steve. We know quite quickly that not everything is what it seems as far as Roy is concerned, but it’s the way we’ll learn the truth behind him and his relationship with Betty that keeps you on the edge while watching The Good Liar.

Obviously, the big draw for Bill Condon’s psychological thriller are his two fantastic actors, and neither of them disappoint, particularly Mirren, who is absolutely on fire with her performance. Since we already know that not everything about Roy is on the level, you would think that you have this film sussed, but that just isn’t the case. Even after a major revelation about Roy’s past, the relationship between him and Betty and her grandson Steven (a decently laid-back performance by Russell Tovey) just gets more interesting.

Unfortunately, I can’t say too much more about the third act where things really turn on their ear, and there’s some extremely disturbing revelations that might make the difference for some between liking or loving the movie. Me, I thought it was quite good, definitely better than similar thrillers like the recent Greta, which starts out with a suitably twisty premise but then fell flat. I was also surprised by how violent and even bloody The Good Liar gets, really earning its R-rating and not from language.

The Good Liar is a movie full of surprises that, like its characters, is never what it seems. It may not be as good as some of Condon’s influences – Hitchcock the most obvious one – but few will be disappointed by the two hours they spend in the company of Mirren and McKellen.

Rating: 7/10

You can read more about the above movies and how I think they will fare over at The Beat.

LIMITED RELEASES

One limited release opening today I highly recommend is Scott Z. Burns’ THE REPORT(Amazon Studios) aka “The Torture Report,” an in-depth political thriller based on Daniel T Jones’ investigations into the CIA’s use of extreme torture to get torture from detainees in the name of national security. Jones is beautifully played by Adam Driver in another one of his performances that really has made this a great year for the young actor as Jones is assigned by his boss, Senator Diane Feinstein (an equally brilliant performance by Annette Bening) to investigate the CIA’s use of torture techniques to get information from detainees. This is an intensely brilliant bit of filmmaking from Burns, only directing his second feature after writing some great films for Steven Soderbergh, such as Contagion and Side Effects. (I wasn’t a big a fan of The Informant! Or the recent The Landromat.) But Burns clearly did his research to tell a story that has a lot of talking and exposition but also great filming and editing to keep things moving at a fast pace, which also can be attributed to the dramatic fireworks he gets out of a cast that’s an abundance of riches, including the likes of Moira Tierney, Corey Stoll, Tim Blake Nelson and other wonderful surprises. The Report offers another of the year’s most impressive ensembles, but it’s always kept centered on Driver’s Jones and his long journey to get the report he’s writing out to the public. Burns uses some great techniques to create tension without going overboard on the thriller aspects of this story, but this is a fantastic bit of investigative exposé work for a movie that isn’t a doc. If you miss it in theaters when it’s playing in two weeks, you can catch on Amazon Prime in a couple weeks, but I do recommend giving this a look when it’s in theaters if possible since it does require the type of concentration few have while watching movies at home.

I’ll have an interview with Burns over at Next Best Picture next week.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to catch It Comes at Night director Trey Edward Shults’ WAVES (A24) before opening, but it involves the journey of a suburban African-American family led by a domineering father (Sterling K. Brown) as they “navigate love, forgiveness and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.” (Sorry, that’s the best I can do without having seen the movie.) It stars Kelvin Harrison from Luce, Lucas Hedges, Taylor Russell and more.

I also seemed to have missed Swati Mhise’s THE WARRIOR QUEEN OF JHANSI (Roadside Attractions) – this is the running theme of this week’s column, by the way – but it looks like a cool biopic about the legendary Rani (or Queen) of Jhansi, a freedom fighter in 19thcentury India, who led her people into battle against the British Empire at the age of 24. It led to the shift of power that took down the notorious British East India Company and Queen Victoria’s reign over India. It’s opening moderately wide this week, possibly in as many as 300 theaters.

I also haven’t seen Mark Landsman’s doc SCANDALOUS (Magnolia), which explores the 60 years of the National Enquirerand it’s salacious and shocking stories.

A couple Netflix movies will get limited releases before their debut on Netflix. Jeremy Clapin’s French animated film I Lost My Body, based on the novel “Happy Hand” by Guillaume Laurant. It follows a hand as it explores the romance between a pizza delivery boy and his lady love, a librarian named Gabrielle. It seems to be opening at the Cinema Village in New York, and I assume somewhere in L.A. as well.

There’s also the French film Atlantics by Mati DIop, which won the Cannes Grand Jury prize, which is quite an achievement. Somehow, I managed to miss this at the New York Film Festival and haven’t had a single chance to see it since. Odd. It’s set in a suburb of Dakar where a 17-year-old girl named Ada is in love with a construction worker named Souleimayne, although she’s been promised to another man in a fixed marriage. After he disappears at sea, Souleimane and other workers return to get revenge on the people building the tower that has cast a shadow on the city. That will open at Film at Lincoln Center

I also didn’t get a chance to see Amp Wong and Ji Zhao’s Chinese animated film White Snake (GKIDS), which will open in L.A. at the Landmark NuartFriday and then in New York City on November 29. It’s a classic fable about a young woman named Blanca who is saved by a snake catcher named Xuan, the two of them going on a journey to discover her true identity, as she’s lost her memory. According to its PR, it offers “a sumptuous tale of trickster demons, deadly mythical beasts, assassins, wuxia action, and the promise of eternal love.” So basically, everything that I look for in a movie and life.

An intriguing doc I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival was Matt Wolff’s Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber), opening at the MetrographFriday with LOTS of QnAs planned. It documents the thirty-year efforts of African-American left wing activist Marion Stokes on recording television 24 hours a day, and that includes almost every channel, becoming one of the most impressive television archivists with over 70,000 VHS tapes at the time of her death. Wolff edits the footage together to tell an amazing story.

Opening Wednesday at Film Forumis Annabelle Atanou’s debut feature MICKEY AND THE BEAR (Utopia), which takes place in the mining community of Anaconda, Montana with newcomer Camila Morrone playing a teenager who must care for her father Hank (played by James Badge Dale), who is afflicted by PTSD from serving in the Iraq war and in grief from the death of his wife.s

BAMhas the exclusive New York run on Brett Story’s documentary The Hottest August, which deals with the future of New York City following Hurricane Sandy and a particularly hot summer in 2017, and how climate change affects the city’s many denizens. It played at this years’s BAMCinemaFest and will include a repertory series called “In This Climate: Brett Story Selects” which unfortunately ends tonight.

A few other movies out this weekend in various combinations of theatrical and On Demand and digital that I just won’t have time to right about:

Feast of the Seven Fishes (Shout! Studios) The Shed (RLJE Films) Bluebird (Cleopatra Entertainment) Line of Duty (Saban Films/Lionsgate) A Reindeer’s Journey (Screen Media) To Kid or Not to Kid (Helpman Productions)

LOCAL/REGIONL FESTIVALS

Not too many festivals of note, although Doc-NYC ends tomorrow with a few last films. If you’re in Atlanta, you can check out the Buried Alive Film Fest, a straight-up horror film festival that opened last night with the 4thAnnual Sinema Challenge for horror shorts. It will include a wide variety of features and shorts running through the weekend.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Lots of stuff hitting Netflix this week, including the animated Klaus, which had a short theatrical release last week. Also Earthquake Bird, the movie I haven’t seen and missed in the column a couple weeks back hits the streaming service after a short theatrical run. It’s a romantic drama that stars Alicia Vikander and Riley Keough, but that’s pretty much all I know.Another thing that I haven’t watched, and it’s a great shame considering what a bit Peter Morgan stan I am, but The Crown will begin its 3rdseason on Netflix with the wonderful Olivia Colman in the role of Queen Elizabeth, and man, do I need to catch up on this show.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

The Metrograph begins an intriguing new series this weekend called “On the Process,” a collection of docs and narratives about famous painters and their process, including Raul Ruiz’s 2007 film Klimt, Derek Jarman’s 1986 film Caravaggio, and more to come as it runs through November 20. Metrograph is also continuing its “Noah Baumbach in Residence” series with screenings of Baumbach’s 1997 debut Mr. Jealousy on Sunday, followed by a screening of Peter Bogdonavich’s Saint Jack (1979). On Saturday, the Metrograph is also screening The Complete Works of Edward Owens, a collection of the queer Black artist’s short films from 1966 to 1967, and then on Sunday is a 30thanniversary screening of Isaac Julien’s Looking for Langstonwith Julien in person. Welcome To Metrograph: Redux continues this weekend with Peter Cohen’s 1989 doc The Architecture of Doom and Cinda Firestone’s 1974 film Attica. Late Nites at Metrograph will show Bong Joon-Ho’s The Host (2006) a couple more times and also show Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man (1995), starring Johnny Depp. This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matinees is Joe Dante’s Gremlinsfrom 1984. Downtown 81 continues, probably forever?

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Glad to see Tarantino’s rep theater get back on track, and you can catch a double feature of Medium Cool (1969) and The Don is Dead (1973) tonight. Friday’s Cronenberg matinee is Videodrome, a supremely weird movie starring Debbie Harry, while the weekend’s Kiddee Matinee is Jason and the Argonauts (1963), featuring amazing stop motion visual FX from the late Ray Harryhausen. Saturday night’s midnight movie is Kevin Tenney’s 1990 movie Peacemaker, starring the late Robert Forster, with Tenney in person. Monday’s 2pm matinee of David Lynch’s Lost Highway is already sold out. Monday night’s double feature is The Stalking Moon (1968) and 1970’s Pieces of Dreams, both starring Forster.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Thursday will be your last chance to see the new DCP’s of Yasujiro Ozu’sTokyo Story and Toyko Twilight, but that’s mainly because the Film Forum is starting a new series calledThe Romanians: 30 Years of Cinema Revolution, a 12-day series showing some of the best from that country, some which have been seen in the States like Cristi Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu from 2005 and Corneliu Porumboiu’s 12:08 East of Bucharest from 2006 and many others that have not. My knowledge of Romanian cinema is not good enough to recommend anything specifically but there should be some good stuff in there. Another series beginning this weekend is a longer-running series called Lee Grant: Actor. Filmmaker. Running through February and this weekend screening Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light and Norman Jewison’s 1967 film In the Heat of the Night. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is George Roy Hill’s 1967 movie Thoroughly Modern Millie starring Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Well, at least the Egyptian finishes its run of Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman(not repertory!) to begin a series called “Nitrate Nights 2019,” which as it sounds is about showing rare nitrate 35mm prints of film like Powell and Pressburger’s Disney film Gone to Earth from 1950 on Friday, Hitchcock’s Spellbound (1945) on Saturday, and then the master’s 1940 film Rebecca with special guests Christopher Nolan and Jared Case of the George Eastman Museum, that provided the print for the series. Otto Preminger’s 1940 film Laura screens Sunday, also with guests, and then Sunday night, Alexander Payne presents Edmund Goulding’s 1948 thriller Nightmare Alley, which Guillermo del Toro is in the process of remaking. Eddie Murphy will be in person at the Aero on Tuesday to show his new movie My Name is Dolemite in a double feature with Frank Oz’s 1999 film Bowfinger, both in 35mm.

AERO (LA):

Aero is mostly doing awards-campaigning screenings of movies like Her Smell (with Elisabeth Moss in person!) and a FREE 70mm screening of Joker with Todd Phillips, but let’s get to the repertory stuff. At midnight Friday, the AERO will screen the sci-fi “classic” Zardoz (1974) starring Sean Connery. Saturday night is a double feature of David Finch’s Wild at Heart and Blue Velvet as part of “Laura Dern: A Life on Screen” with Dern appearing in person! That series continues Sunday with a double feature of Rambling Rose (1991) and Small Talk (1985), that one with Rambling Rose director Martha Coolidge in person. On Tuesday, there’s a matinee screening of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven as part of “The Hidden Lives of Terrence Malick,” which makes reference to Malick’s upcoming film A Hidden Life.

MOMA (NYC):

MOMA is beginning its annual “The Contenders” series showing a number of smaller movies you may have missed, as well as continuing Vision Statement: Early Directorial Workswith a number of first films by foreign filmmakers, on Sunday showing Mira Nair’s 1988 film Salaam Bombay! MOMA also has a number of weekly series but since I don’t think this column will be up by Weds next week, we’ll have to explore them later. One cool thing they’re starting is Open Door Fridays, and this week they will be showing the Maysles Brothers’ concert movie classic Gimme Shelter all day long, which is free with a ticket to the museum.

Modern Matinees: Iris Barry’s History of Film also continues with more silent films from the 20s with piano accompaniment every weekday afternoon at 1:30pm.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

FilmLinc’s new series this weekend is Rebel Spirit: The Films of Patricia Mazuy, whose work I’m sadly not familiar with, so you can check out what’s playing here. Next week is the big series that I’ve been waiting for!

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Sadly, the Quad has been slowing down on its series, but this weekend, it will be bringing out a 4k restoration of Buster Keaton’s 1926 film Battling Butler, as well as a 2k restoration of his 1924 film The Navigator. Both films are preceded by shorts.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: May All Your Christmases be Noir shows the late Harold Ramis’ 2005 The Ice Harvest, starring John Cusack ad Billy Bob Thornton, while Waverly Midnights: Spy Games will screen the original 1962 The Manchurian Candidate, starring Frank Sinatra. Late Night Favorites: Autumn 2019will show Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fictionand Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange this weekend.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

MOMI in Astoria begins a new series called Moments of Grace: The Collected Terrence MalickFriday, which runs through December 8 and is pretty self-explanatory. Friday, it’s showing Badlands (1973), Saturday is Days of Heaven (1978)and Stuart Rosenberg’s 1972 film Pocket Money (written by Malick), plus the first two will be shown on Sunday as well. (If you miss this series or don’t feel like going to Astoria, four of Malick’s first movies will be shown at Metrograph in December.) On Saturday, MOMI is also screening the 2017 animated The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales for its Family Matinee, plus it’s also showing Ildikó Enyedi’s My Twentieth Century (1989) in a new restoration.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Tonight, the Roxy is showing Francis Ford Coppola’s 1986 film Peggy Sue Got Married, starring Nicolas Cage and Cathleen Turner, plus tomorrow, it will show Coppola’s The Cotton Club Encoreone more time.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Next week’s Terror Tuesday is the 1986 film The Wraith while the Weird Wednesday is Ralph Bakshi’s half-animated 1992 film Cool World.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is Akira.

Next week, hopefully I’ll get back on track in terms of timing re: posting this column (fingers crossed!) The big movie is Disney’s Frozen 2, which I won’t have seen. Great.

#WhatToWatchThisWeekend CharliesAngels FordvFerrari TheReport TheGoodLiar Repertory movies Reviews

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siriusly-random · 7 years

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Whiskey Tango

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Nalu

Rated: T

Summary: Without a second thought, Lucy quickly downed one last whiskey before jumping to her feet and grabbed Natsu by the hand without a word, dragging him to the dance floor. He didn’t seem to mind though, stumbling his way after her with his face flushed and graced with a smile.

Word count: 5247

Just a one-shot I thought up as I had a really rough week not too long ago with midterms and projects and this was the result.

This deals with anxiety and alcohol and all that jazz so just a heads up on that.

Part 2/

I read tags guys so if you wanna leave a quick comment it’d be really appreciated!

Also thanks to the amazing @x-benihime for your help with this. It honestly probably would have been shit without your input so thank you <3

Into each life some rain must fall. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“A double whiskey please.”

The bartender nodded, pulling out a bottle of Jameson and pouring it into a glass, handing it across the bar. Lucy sighed, looking down into the glass with a sort of resentment before knocking it back in one swing. It had been a long week with her midterms and assignments all shoved together forming her own personal hell.

She ordered another.

She was tired. She was so tired, and she just wanted to drink and have a well-deserved break. It was a Friday night, and she didn’t have anything due again for a while so she told herself why the fuck not.

Though, she supposed, getting wasted at 8pm alone probably wasn’t the best decision she made in a while. But she didn’t have anything else to do (except study and catch up on some work, but who’s counting), and her friends all decided to go home for the weekend, so here she was. It’s not like she minded the alone time though; the bar was really relaxing at this time with only a few people around, and the music was pretty calming.

In any case, at least she would get a good night’s sleep for once.

“What’s a pretty lady like yourself doing all alone at a bar on a Friday night?” Turning towards the voice, Lucy fought down the urge to visibly shudder. An older man- probably in his 60’s- sat beside her, leering down at her.

Forcing a small smile onto her face, she politely lied, “oh I’m not alone, just waiting on my boyfriend. He should be getting here any minute.” Lucy turned her back on the man and turned towards the bartender, ordering another drink.

She was definitely going to have a headache in the morning.

“Well that’s awfully rude, making his little miss wait so long.” The sickly voice drawled, slurring on his words and making Lucy twitch. She thought she had dealt with the situation.

She just wanted to be left alone.

“I came early, he isn’t late. Totally my fault.” She avoided looking at the man, trying to give him the hint to leave her alone.

She heard a chair scrape against the floor, and glanced over to see him moving closer. She internally groaned, not in the mood to deal with this at all.

Just as he was about to say something else- probably something sexist and degrading- she felt an arm slip around her shoulders, a voice whispering in her ear.

“Just go with it.”

Startled and confused, Lucy glanced to the side to see a man with pink hair and a large grin plastered on his face, hand giving her shoulder a squeeze.

“Hey babe, sorry I’m late. Got caught up with some work.”

Lucy saw the old man get up and move, probably to find some other poor young girl to creep out. The pink haired man moved his arm away taking the seat next to her, looking sheepish.

“Sorry for just springing up out of nowhere, just looked like you were really uncomfortable so I thought I’d try to help.” His cheeks were a bit rosy, from embarrassment or alcohol Lucy didn’t know. He scratched the back of his neck, almost absentmindedly as he ordered a drink.

“What’s your name?” she blurted out, face heating up after realizing she had been staring.

Whiskey was not her friend in that moment.

Looking surprised, the man quickly regained composure and offered her a large grin. “Names Natsu, nice to meet ya!” He threw out his hand, which Lucy took without a second thought.

“I’m Lucy. Nice to meet you too.” She supposed she should have been a bit more skeptical of the guy, but he seemed familiar- though she could place how- and he was, simply put, very attractive.

“I know.” Eyes going wide, Natsu started to fumble his way through his slip up. “I mean, you go to Magnolia University, and, well I’m not a stalker or anything, I know that’s what it sounds like but ah, we’re in the same economics class and, ah shit this is weird, but you know my roommate Gray and-”

Lucy couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing. This was honestly one of the cutest things she’s seen in awhile. At least she knew now why he seemed familiar. “Oh! You’re Gray’s friend who sets things on fire all the time! He’s told me about you.” Apparently he even caught himself on fire once. Lucy remembered wondering why Gray would live with someone who could potentially set their whole apartment on fire, but to each his own.

Natsu’s face seemed to heat up even more at the fact that she knew about his pyro-like habits, and she suddenly felt bad. “But he’s also said you’re a great guy and a decent roommate, besides the fact.”

That seemed to ease him up, as he suddenly sat up straighter and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Ice princess said that? I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He leaned forward slightly on the arm he had resting on the bar, “got any other ammunition I can use against him?”

Lucy rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her drink. She briefly wondered when it had gotten half empty. “I’m not helping you out in whatever weird competition you two have.”

He downed the rest of his drink, quickly ordering another. “How do you know him again anyways?”

“My mother and his father went to school together and were good friends, so we used to visit each other a lot as kids.” Lucy smiled fondly while thinking of her raven-haired friend. She can’t even remember a time when he hadn’t been there, he just always was. “He’s like my brother honestly.”

Natsu’s brows squeezed together in confusion for the briefest of moments, but Lucy saw it. Her mind was in too much in a haze, however, to figure out what was confusing. She should probably slow down on the whiskey, but she was having fun, and she wasn’t quite drunk yet.

“Weird to think Fullbuster has someone like you for a good friend.” Natsu teased, ordering them both another round.

Rolling her eyes, Lucy took a small sip from her drink, thanking her newfound friend. At least, she hoped that they could become friends. He seemed like a fun person, and Lucy needed some more fun in her life.

And wanting to be his friend had nothing to do with the fact that she was on the verge of being very drunk and thinking he was insanely attractive.

“So what’s your major?” Jolted from her thoughts, Lucy twirled the straw in her drink, smiling at Natsu before taking another drink.

“I’m majoring in business admin, with a minor in English.”

“So pretty much a million projects and papers with some tests thrown in?”

Lucy hummed in agreement, not wanting to think about that. “What about you? Business as well?”

Suddenly her drink was gone, and not thinking much of it, bought them the next round.

“Nope, I’m minoring in it though. I’m majoring in chemistry.” He grinned at her again, this time his eyes lighting up knowingly. “Did you just finish up midterms and projects too?”

Sighing, Lucy nodded and downed the rest of her drink. She came here to forget, and forget she would.

Another double it was.

“I actually just had my last midterm today, economics.” Economics. That was- “Oh! Right, I guess you would’ve had it too!” Lucy almost slapped herself on her forehead, berating herself for forgetting that he mentioned they were in the same class so quickly. She wondered how she never noticed him before either; you’d think someone with pink hair would stand out in her memory. Maybe he sat in the back whereas she sat in the front, or maybe he skipped class a lot.

That seemed like the most logical reason. Economics was painfully boring.

He chuckled, a deep sound that was making Lucy’s mind wander to a place that she quickly drew herself out of. “Yeah, that was something. Not sure if I passed, but it’s done and over with and now I have whiskey and a pretty girl to take my mind off of it.” He finished his drink and suddenly Lucy wondered how many they’ve had, but then decided that she didn’t really care all too much.

And then it clicked in her mind just what Natsu had said and she felt a heat rise in her face, and was so thankful that the bar was dark and it wouldn’t be that noticeable.

Before she could make a witty retort however, she felt her phone go off in her pocket, and she decided that it was a perfect out at the moment so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself.

“Fuck,” she mumbled, only managing to unlock her phone after the fourth attempt. Maybe she’s more drunk than she thought. She heard a snigger, and looked up to see Natsu looking much too interested in the menu board but she could see how his lips were turned up slightly in the corner, attempting to fight off a smile.

So much for not making a fool of herself.

Scowling, she opened the text message to see that it was from her father, and promptly locked her phone without reading it. There was no way she was going to deal with him tonight, knowing he would be wondering about school and her marks and her life in general, and quite frankly, if she were to answer him right now there would be a lot of swearing involved.

Lucy huffed, mood slowly starting to deteriorate as her thoughts drifted to her father.

She was definitely not drunk enough, she decided.

She quickly downed a few shots, earning a concerned look from Natsu as he got one for himself. “Everything okay?” he asked, placing a hand on her knee in a comforting gesture. Lucy ran a hand through her hair, taking a shaky breath before giving him a smile.

“Honestly?” she asked. Maybe, Lucy thought, it would be good to talk about it for once. Levy was understanding when Lucy told her about her father and her childhood, but they only ever talked about it the one time after Levy found Lucy crying on the bathroom floor.

“Honestly.” he repeated, giving her knee a squeeze.

Lucy licked her lips, trying to figure out where to start. Her mind was all jumbled, and she had a heavy feeling in her chest and throat that she knew all too well. “Well, know how I said my mom and Gray’s dad were friends, and that’s how we know each other?”

Natsu nodded, the confused look from before came back for a moment before it was gone again, just as quick. “Well, you probably know this, but Gray’s dad died when he was younger, around 10.” Again, Natsu nodded, not saying a word, which Lucy found she really appreciated.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy steadied herself by placing her hand on top of his, his fingers twitching just the slightest. “My mom died around the same time. Well no, it was the same time. The were on their way to their high school reunion together. Carpooling.” Lucy stopping, incapable of continuing her story. She thought she might burst at any moment, eyes beginning to water.

“I know.” He said softly, shifting his chair closer to hers, an unsaid apology in his words. He moved his hand from her knee to her back, rubbing it in slow circles. This time it was her who placed her hand on his knee, taking a few deep breaths before calming down. The weight was still there; pushing against her chest, but not as noticeable. Lucy couldn’t help but be surprised that it started to settle so quickly.

Regaining her composure, Lucy sat up a bit straighter and looked up at him, eyes distracting her for a moment as she stared into them. But she continued on, keeping her hand on his knee and his arm around her.

“After the accident, my father changed. He became distant and uncaring, focusing all of his energy into the family business. I was pretty much raised by maid- which I’m thankful for,” she scoffed. “They were more loving to me than he ever was. But then I wanted to go to University, and well, he actually approved.”

Sighing, she reached for her glass, taking a big drink. “Well, he approved until I told him I wanted to major in English. That I wanted to be a writer. That was when he had a problem.”

Natsu continued to rub circles on her back, silently telling her to take her time, that he was in no rush.

“And so, after a lot of arguing, it ended up being decided that I could go to University, but only if I majored in business. But, I was allowed to minor in English.” she finished with a frown on her face- and a few shots- letting him digest the information. Of course there was a lot more to it than that, but talking was becoming increasingly more difficult, so she figured that was enough.

She glanced over, scared to see what he thought of her now. He was biting his lip as he stared down at his drink. Lucy started to get nervous with him not saying anything, her leg started to bounce out of habit.

He finally looked up at her, a questioning look on his face. “Why can’t you just switch over to English? You’re already minoring in it. Maybe you could minor in business. It’s your life.”

Lucy had thought about doing just that. Because Natsu had a point; it was her life. She should be able to do as she pleased, and get the education she wanted.

The only problem was her father paid for her tuition and living expenses, and she told Natsu as much.

“And he never let me get a job when I was living at home, so I have no savings. I’ve already applied for a few jobs to start saving up. But I can’t even get a good student loan because of him.” She frowned, cutting herself off before she started ranting to Natsu, who probably didn’t want to listen to her complain about her problems.

Natsu licked his lips after downing his drink, drawing her eyes, and he gave her a toothy grin. “Y’know, that’s pretty cool.”

“Cool?” she quirked an eyebrow, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

“Yep. Cool. You’re breakin’ away from something that makes you unhappy, doing what you need to do. That’s pretty cool if ya ask me.”

She laughed lightly, wondering how he could so easily make light of something that’s been weighing on her. “Well ya know what Natsu?” her hand moved a bit further up on his leg as she leaned in closer, giving him a genuine smile that reached her eyes. She leaned in until her lips were against his ear, feeling him tense up the slightest before whispering, “I think you’re pretty cool for a pyro.”

She leaned back, laughing at his incredulous expression. She couldn’t help herself, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. He just shook his head, smile lighting up his face in amusement. “And I think you’re pretty beautiful.” he muttered softly, but loud enough for her to hear over the music. Eyes widening, Lucy stared at Natsu, mouth turning up into a soft smile as she gazed at him. She usually would’ve blushed and became embarrassed at such a comment, but for some reason she was able to push through the embarrassment and take it with stride.

It must be the whiskey, she thought.

All of a sudden the music changed to more upbeat song, more people heading out onto the dance floor. It must’ve gotten late, as the music didn’t normally change until 10 or 11. For a fleeting second she couldn’t believe they’d been sitting and talking for so long, but she didn’t really care.

Without a second thought, Lucy quickly downed one last whiskey before jumping to her feet (a relatively bad decision with the amount of alcohol in her system) and grabbed Natsu by the hand without a word, dragging him to the dance floor. He didn’t seem to mind though, stumbling his way after her with his face flushed and graced with a smile.

They started off slow, getting a feel for the music as they swayed from side to side. Natsu grabbed her hands, twirling her around before bringing her back into him with a grin. Smiling back at him, she reluctantly twirled out of his hold, but moved his hands to her waist. Her eyes were lit up with slight mischief beneath her drunken haze. She brought her arms up to his neck and stared him in the eyes as he smirked at her boldness. She was lost in the music and in the whiskey, not thinking about how she would never do something like this sober. She was having fun- after all, that was what she came to do.

His grip tightened on her waist, pulling her closer to him as they danced. He leaned his forehead closer to hers, almost touching, but never going any closer. Her eyelids felt heavy, threatening to close but she’s also never felt more awake. They locked eyes, too many emotions running through them and Lucy didn’t think she would’ve been able to tell what he was feeling even if she were sober. She let out a long breath, bringing her forehead to rest against his as they moved against each other, dancing to the beat. Her hands dropped down to his arms, grip loose as she moved, feeling lighthearted and happy.

His forehead drops from hers, moving to the side, lips ghosting her neck and Lucy closed her eyes because she wants him but she knows she’s drunk and that’s a bad idea but she can’t help the shaky breath that escapes her. His hands move lower, pulling her even closer until they were pressed against one another, not a space between them. His breath tickles her neck as he exhales, a shiver running down her spine.

The music had become a background noise, moving to beats she barely registered as she lost herself in him. She ran her hands up to his shoulders, then back to his neck in a slow motion, drawing his head back up, locking eyes once again. He was easier to read this time, and she knew he wanted her just as much, if not more. His eyes darted down to her lips, resting there for a second before looking back up at her.

She bit her lip as a she looked at him, desperately wanting to press her lips against his and to stop thinking for once, but she couldn’t.

But holy fuck did she want to.

It was too bad that her mind decided to start working again.

The pain in her chest came back, and she felt it slowly build up as she tried to ignore it. Deciding that life was incredibly unfair at that moment, she pulled away from Natsu and gave him an apologetic look as she turned and headed towards the exit.

She had to get out of there.

She needed air.

She needed to breathe.

She leaned against the railing on the porch outside the bar, closing her eyes for a moment as she breathed deep, in and out, trying to calm down. Her breathing was shaky and she felt a tear roll down her cheek as she cursed every god she could think of for letting her feel like this.

She wiped her hair out of her face and tried to dry her wet cheeks with shaky hands. She looked around for a cab hoping she wouldn’t have to call one, but resigned herself to the fact that she would most likely have to.

She suddenly felt a warm pressure on her and saw Natsu out of the corner of her eye, staring at her with concern as he rubbed circles on her back. She cursed, not wanting him to see her like this. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this.

“Do you want me to get you a ride home?” Natsu questioned, unsure of his own words.

Lucy smiled, but it wasn’t real and she knew Natsu could tell from the look on his face, making her heart sink. Nodding, Lucy couldn’t hold it back anymore and the tears streamed down her face, chest heaving as she sobbed as Natsu gently led her towards a less crowded area, pulling out his phone as he went. He pulled her into him, wrapping his arm around her as she cried and pulled at her hair in frustration, angry at herself for letting this happen. She heard him talking, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and brought his other arm around her, not saying anything.

“I’m sorry,” she finally choked out after a few minutes, having calmed down the slightest bit. She stayed in his arms, feeling secure and warm as she dealt with the aftershock of it all. Her chest still ached and she found it hard to swallow. But she knew it was almost over, and she was glad for that.

“Don’t apologize, it’s fine. I think you deserved to let some of that stress out. Your life isn’t exactly easy.” His hand moved up to stroke her hair, her face in the crook of his neck. She didn’t know how to respond to that. Most people would just tell her that it would all be okay and that she just needed to get more fresh air. So for someone to tell her that it was okay was overwhelming- in a good way.

She just nodded her head, muttering a small ‘okay’ and moved her arms around him as they waited for her cab. He started to hum, the sound drowned out from the music playing from inside the bar, but she appreciated the gentle vibrations she felt coming from his chest.

“Lucy?”

She must have imagined that voice, because she could’ve sworn that that was Gray, but Gray didn’t drink.

But then Natsu unravelled his arms from her, and she turned to see that in fact she wasn’t imagining things and Gray was standing there, his jeep parked on the side of the road in front of them.

Blinking, Lucy stood up and looked at Natsu with a confused look on her face, but before she could ask him what was happening Gray had engulfed her in a tight hug, releasing a deep, relieved breath. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Recovering from shock, Lucy reciprocated the hug, breathing in his familiar smell, almost making her want to cry again from relief.

“It’s not fair Gray.” She muttered, clutching onto him desperately in an attempt to keep her composure.

“I know.” He soothed, then released her and gave her an understanding look, “what do you say? Stay at my place for the night?” Closing her eyes in relief, Lucy nodded before opening them again and giving him a smile. She didn’t want to spend the night alone, and she figured Gray was thinking the same thing. “Alright, let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and opened the front door of his jeep for her before getting into the driver side. Natsu got in behind Gray and Lucy gave him a smile in the mirror, to which he returned with a large grin, eyes squinting slightly.

Her heart fluttered, smile turning soft and small as she looked out her window, eyelids heavy, as they drove to Gray and Natsu’s apartment.

She missed the knowing look on Gray’s face as he looked at her.

Her head was pounding, mouth craving water.

Groaning, Lucy rolled over to the edge of Gray’s bed and sat up, staring at the wall for a few minutes before checking the time on her phone.

9:16 AM.

Licking her dry and bleeding lips, she got up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water and an Advil. She saw that she still had an unread message from her father and she knew she’d have to open it eventually, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Passing by a sleeping Gray on her way to the kitchen she smiled fondly at him, thankful for having him in her life. He had giving her a sweatshirt and pair of shorts to sleep in, helping her to bed before going to talk to Natsu, a conversation she remembered all too clearly.

“What the hell happened you prick?” she heard Gray whisper-shout, with the sounds of cupboards opening and closing.

It was quiet for a few moments, and Lucy wondered if the response was whispered quietly enough for her not to hear. She felt bad for leaving Natsu to defend himself when he hadn’t done anything wrong, but she was too tired and comfy- and drunk- to get up to help him.

“I told you on the phone.” Natsu calmly stated, a bit of anger in his voice, though she didn’t know what he was angry at.

For a fleeting moment the thought crossed her mind that he was angry at her, because she ruined his night.

“We were dancing, having a good time, and then she just took off and I thought something might be wrong since she was having a rough night and went to find her outside looking like she might pass out or somethin’.”

There was a weird thumping sound, and Lucy assumed that was the couch turning into a bed.

“What do you mean she was having a rough night?” Gray sounded defeated, as if he knew exactly what was causing Lucy trouble. And he was probably right.

“Regular stuff, school and shit. Then there was this thing about her dad.” The anger seemed more prominent in his voice when he mentioned her father, making Lucy realize that no, he wasn’t mad at her. He was mad at her situation.

Gray swore, “she told you about that then?”

Of course she did, she was drunk. Gray should know better by now.

“Yeah.” Natsu paused, seemingly debating on whether or not to continue. “Does...does this happen often?”

Lucy shrunk in her covers at the question, closing her eyes as she let sleep take over her body.

She didn’t want to hear the answer.

Shaking her head, she continued on to the kitchen, opening random cupboards until she found the one with the cups, grabbing two and filling them up with water. Strangely enough, she had never been to Gray’s apartment except for when he moved in, and Natsu hadn’t been there at the time so she never met him.

Making her way to what she assumed was the other bedroom in the apartment, Lucy bit her lip and wondered if she should just go back to bed and leave him be.

Taking a deep breath and deciding to say fuck it, Lucy knocked on the door.

She half hoped he wouldn’t hear the knock so she wouldn’t embarrass herself, but also hoped that he would and she could talk to him. She felt she owed him a proper explanation instead of whatever Gray told him, though she also knew Gray would’ve done a decent job.

She tensed up as she heard footsteps, and then suddenly the door opened and there stood Natsu,wearing only boxers.

Face heating up, she quickly looked away from his exposed chest and saw a blue ball of fur curl around his legs before leaving the room and trotting to the living room.

“Lucy?” He grumbled, voice low as he rubbed his eyes with one hand.

“Uh, hi.” She awkwardly greeted, holding up one of the glasses for him. “I thought you might be thirsty. Sorry for waking you up.”

He smiled at her, taking the glass from her hand. “How are you?” He asked, almost downing the glass in one gulp. Lucy’s mouth twitched in amusement, taking a generous sip from her own.

“Much better, thanks.” And she was. She still wasn’t completely fine of course, and she doubted she ever would be, but she was okay. And that was what mattered. “I was actually wondering if I could, well, talk?”

Tugging at the sleeves of the sweatshirt, she made eye contact with him, seeing an understanding in his eyes that made her feel slight relief.

“Yeah, ‘course. Come on in.” He moved aside, giving her room to enter as she took in his slightly messy room, bed in the center with clothes strewn about. Overall though his room was typical, posters scattered on the wall for different bands and movies, with a desk against the wall filled with books.

Natsu shut the door as she sat down on the edge of his bed, sitting beside her.

Tucking some hair behind her ear, Lucy shifted so she was sitting on one leg, the other dangling off the bed so she could face him. “First off, I am sorry for crying all over you last night and for unloading my problems on you. You didn’t deserve that- we barely know each other.” Natsu looked like he wanted to object, she she continued on before he could say anything. “I, however, am not sorry that it happened. Because I know that I can’t help it, that it’s something that I have to live with. And letting it out is better than keeping it in.”

He seemed to be okay with that for the most part, nodding for her to continue. “It’s, well, I get panic attacks. Sometimes they have an obvious reason, like last night it was school and my father, but sometimes they aren’t so obvious.” She chuckled bitterly, fighting off the tears as she talked about it. “I still don’t know why I’ve had certain panic attacks. It’s frustrating.” Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. “I’m rambling. Anyways, my point is I didn’t mean for that to happen and I wish it didn’t but it did and now I have to live with that. I just hope that you won’t hold it against me.”

Natsu stared at her for a few seconds, crossing his arms as he studied her. “Lucy,” he started, grabbing her hands off the bed. “I would never hold that against someone, ‘specially not you. I know we just met so this is a bit weird, but I’ve noticed you for a while now.” His cheeks lit up in a blush and Lucy found that adorable, and also very sweet that he took notice to her. “I mean, I’ve been in a few classes with you, plus with what Gray’s told me and everything. So I feel like I kinda know you.” His grip tightened slightly on her hands.

“You should never have to apologize to me for this. Cry on me all you want, rant to me, whatever you need. I’ll be here.”

Lucy let the tears fall as she couldn’t hold it in anymore, but this time for an entirely different reason.

It was from talking about her disorder, and the looming message from her father, but mostly, it was from relief.

And in that moment as Natsu wrapped his arms around her, she was so, so, happy.

#fairy tail #nalu #natsu x lucy #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #ftfanfics #gray fullbuster #my writing #should probably have gone over this a bit more but oh well #enjoy!! :)

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