Gray stared at the quest board, eyes skimming through the jobs. He sighed, not finding anything interesting, because most of these jobs were small, unimportant tasks that could be accomplished without the immediate need of a wizard. His gaze paused at the bottom right corner of the job board and read through a request that caught his eye.

A member of a dark guild was spotted at a bar in Clover Town. Locate him and extract the needed information in order to uncover the guild's location and whereabouts.

The price is 1,000,000 J

Gray snatched it out of the board and headed towards Lucy and Erza, not bothering to read the rest of it, as it only gave information about the person's appearance, which didn't concern him at the moment, as he had already made up his mind.

"Hey, you two, what do you say about taking this job? The pay's good and I know that you could use it, Lucy." He announced as he slid the leaflet on the table towards the two girls and crossed his arms over his chest.

Lucy grabbed it and held it in front of her. "This is awesome, Gray, 1,000,000 Jewels is more than— wait, a dark guild member? Isn't this a little bit dangerous?" she placed it back down on the table and glanced at Erza, "What do you think, Erza?"

Erza tapped her finger against her chin, remaining silent for a few moments and then nodded, "This will suffice— nothing is too dangerous for us, we can handle it just fine."

Gray smiled at Erza's approval, grateful for agreeing with him. It had been a while since he had had a good fight and he was itching to go out there.

"I get it, but still, going against a dark guild member…" Lucy trailed off, biting her lower lip.

Erza wrapped her arm around Lucy's shoulder, pulling her closer. "Don't worry, I will protect you no matter what." She reassured, glancing down at her.

Lucy's cheeks flushed and she ducked her head, "That's not what I meant, but thanks…" she mumbled, pouting.

"Lucy, you are being too obvious." He grinned as Lucy's eyes widened, mouth agape.

Erza released the blond and turned towards Gray. "What do you mean, Gray? She's being obvious about what?"

"Well, Erza, Lucy actually—" He started, but was cut off as he avoided the whip that was lashed out towards him.

His grin widened as he saw Lucy glaring at him with a murderous expression.

"Gray, don't you dare." She seethed and stepped quickly close to him, placing a hand over his mouth.

"I still don't understand what you're talking about," Erza said, head cocked to the side.

Lucy waved her other hand in front of her, "It's nothing, really, just an inside joke Gray and I have— right, Gray?" she forced a smile on her face, staring straight into Gray's eyes.

He sighed and shrugged, "Yeah, yeah, just an inside joke— for now."

Gray knew that Lucy had a crush on Erza— had realized it only a few weeks ago and had confronted Lucy about it and it turned out that his speculation was right. Her feelings had developed a little bit after their fight against Tartaros, but had only recently come to accept them, according to what she had told him.

The other person that only knew about this was Natsu. At first, he was surprised because he had thought that Natsu and Lucy were a couple, but they were just really good friends and he was oddly pleased and relieved after Lucy confirmed her romantic feelings towards Erza.

The reason of why he was relieved about Natsu and Lucy not being romantically involved, he never understood, and never pondered on it more than necessary. There was always an irksome ache deep inside his chest whenever he witnessed Natsu getting close with not only Lucy but Lisanna too, and he didn't get it.

Lisanna was his childhood friend that he had already lost one time and Lucy was now one of his best friends, so he didn't see any point in acting like this, it was only usual that he would hang out with them, just as he did with everybody else.

Did he think that he would lose Natsu as his rival? He couldn't really imagine the two girls going against Natsu willingly in a fight, so that definitely wasn't it. Then what was it? Why was he feeling so…territorial towards the pink-haired mage?

A hand landed on his right shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"So, what is this inside joke of yours? Care to share it with us, too?" Natsu asked, a wide grin stretched on his lips.

Gray felt the hand that was on his shoulder tighten and glanced at Natsu, shaking his shoulder, "Hey, flame-brain, let go, you are crushing my shoulder."

"Oh? Am I hurting your delicate body, ice-princess? I apologize, but no can't do," Natsu gripped even harder for emphasis, "until you let me on in about this inside joke of yours, right, Lucy?" Natsu glanced towards Lucy and Gray saw her roll her eyes, silently nodding.

"We'll be right back." She declared as she dragged Natsu away.

He saw them walk away, Lucy obviously scolding Natsu as she tugged his ear.

"What was all that about?" He asked, still staring at those two.

"Who knows," Erza wondered out loud from behind him and he turned around to face her.

"So, about the job, who do you want to bring with us?" He questioned as he sat down across from her.

She placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "Well, I was thinking we could go just the four of us —you, me, Natsu and Lucy— just like old times," she glanced at him, "what do you think?"

The corner of his mouth quirked up and huffed a laugh, "Yeah, I think that would be ideal."

This would be good for him, the four of them going out on jobs again, like old times, as Erza said. He was practically shaking from excitement at the thought of going up against a strong opponent.

"What the fuck?" Gray yelled, throwing his arms in the air, "the job didn't say that this guy frequents in a gay bar!"

"Well, it did say that he was in a bar—" Erza started, but was cut off.

"Yeah, just a bar— how the fuck would we have guessed that they meant a gay bar?" He huffed, running his hand through his hair.

"Don't interrupt while I'm talking." Erza said as she glared at him, voice low.

He shivered and averted his eyes, "S-Sorry."

"Now what are we supposed to do? We didn't plan for something like this— I won't be of any use now." Lucy admitted, placing her hands on her hips.

It was nighttime and they were hidden outside the bar— a gay bar that their target frequented in, plan prepared as they were about to spring into action, but what they didn't see coming was this. How were they supposed to infiltrate the bar now?

Their plan had been the common they always had in situations like this— Lucy had the main role; to seduce their target and acquire the needed information, whilst the three of them were pretending to be the waitresses, observing from nearby but it was of no use anymore.

What could they do, though? They had never encountered something like this ever before, so they were completely clueless as of how to proceed.

"I'm going to do it!"

He turned towards Natsu, who grinned widely back at them.

"You're going to do…what exactly?"

"I'm going to take Lucy's usual role and replace her, of course! My awesome moves are gonna dazzle everybody." Natsu cackled, hands placed on his hips.

The three of them remained silent, gawking at Natsu.

He clicked his tongue and forced out a chuckle, "You and what 'awesome' moves? Please, you are only going to embarrass yourself, ash-brain." He declared, waving his hand dismissively.

"What was that, droopy-eyes? I'll have you know I'm really good at dancing— just because you haven't seen me, doesn't mean that I'm not good at it, you just wait and see." Natsu countered, grinning widely.

"Not gonna happen, squinty-eyes."

He glared at Natsu and he glared back at him, gritting his teeth.

"Natsu, I think Gray is right, maybe you shouldn't do this," Lucy stepped between them, "I will be honest with you, but you aren't a good dancer…" She trailed off, glancing briefly at Erza, who nodded at her, and continued, "Actually, the thing is…you are terrible at dancing." She stated, meeting his gaze.

Gray silently observed as Natsu wobbled towards the nearest wall and placed his hand against it, supporting himself.

"I…I have been betrayed by my own friends…" Natsu sniffed, hands balling into fists.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic already."

"Then what do you suggest we do, Gray?" Natsu lifted his head, peering at him with a hard expression on his face.

He averted his eyes and shoved his hands inside his pockets.

What, indeed… No matter how much they wrecked their heads over it, they couldn't really use an entirely different plan, so, the way he saw it, there was only one possible option to this mess.

He exhaled heavily and ran his hand over his face.

I'm so going to regret this.

"I will do it." He spoke out loud, eyes meeting their shocked expressions.

"What…? But Gray, you can't—"

"Lucy's right, that ice-freak could never do it." Natsu agreed, glaring at him, challenging him.

"Oh? Is that so, dragon-freak? We'll see about that, won't we, right Erza?" He smirked and glanced over at Erza.

Erza walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Gray will take Lucy's usual role," she glared at Natsu as he was about to protest, "and that's final. This is no longer argumentative."

Natsu grumbled, stomping his foot down.

"Everything will go according to our usual plan, only this time Gray will be in Lucy's stead, understood?" Erza asked, withdrawing her hand from his shoulder.

"Yes, Erza."

"B-But—"

Erza glared at Natsu, who swallowed and silently nodded.

She smiled and ushered them towards the bar. "Well, then, let's put the plan into motion."

As they reached the door, they were stopped by the man dressed in black, standing outside.

"IDs, please."

They all reached inside their pockets and handed over the fake IDs, whilst he took them and inspected them.

"We are the new members that have requested to work here," Erza explained and the man handed their fake IDs back.

"Yeah, okay, whatever, you can pass through."

"Thank you." Lucy chirped and was the first one to pass through, followed by Erza.

As Natsu was about to pass through, Gray placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in.

"See you on stage, Natsu." He whispered and walked ahead, not bothering to look behind him.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Why did he have to talk so fast? This was way worse than he had imagined it would be— he was already regretting it and he hadn't even gotten out on stage yet.

"Nervous?" Lucy asked as she secured the silver bracelets on his ankles.

He fidgeted in his seat, "More like embarrassed." He huffed and turned his head away, crossing his arms over his chest.

When he had agreed to do this, this whole…attire wasn't in his mind. He knew that whenever Lucy did this, she was dressed in an over-the-top clothing, but he would have never guessed that the same would count for him too. He had suspected that he could be free to wear normal jeans and maybe show up without a shirt— that was his usual routine, after all, he could have dealt with that, but not this.

"Come on, let's take a look at you." Lucy said and grabbed his wrist, guiding him towards the mirror.

His eyes widened, mouth gaping as he gawked at his reflection. He was wearing earrings, a blue, see-through crop top, a ridiculous, midnight blue mini-skirt that barely covered his crotch, dark blue arm gloves that reached his elbows and various silver bracelets on both ankles.

"Is all this garbage really necessary?" He averted his eyes, face flushing at the ridiculous image of himself in his head. He walked back to the chair and sat down.

"I look ridiculous."

"Nope, quite the opposite— you look very stunning, Gray." Lucy stated, whilst brushing his hair.

"What…" He felt his face heat up even more and jumped in his seat as he heard a voice announcing him.

"Now, let's have a round of applause for our new dancing boy— please, make sure to go easy on him!"

"This is your cue, good luck, Gray —and remember what I told you before, don't let the people distract you— close your eyes, imagine you are alone and give it your all." She flashed him an encouraging smile and patted his back, "Go get them, tiger."

"Don't call me that!" He snapped and thickly swallowed as he stared at the curtains across from him.

"Wait— won't I need shoes for this?" He called out and Lucy just waved a hand over her shoulder.

"It's better without shoes, trust me!"

He took a deep breath as he was left alone in backstage and briefly close his eyes, tuning all the other noise out.

He could do this, it wasn't like he had never danced in front of an audience before. They hadn't been trying to eat him alive with just their eyes, though.

He opened his eyes, stood up and walked towards the curtains.

Gray swayed his hips to the beat of the music, roaming his hands up and down his body, slowly from his thighs, to his abs, chest and up to his neck. He heard the bracelets jiggle as he moved and slightly panted as some moves put extra strain on his body. He seriously didn't know how Lucy could do this.

A round of roaring, cheering and whistling was heard as he dropped gracefully onto his knees and his hands traveled back down again, teasingly tugging his skirt up. He spotted their target amidst the crowd and noticed that he was sitting next to the stage, so he moved towards him while on his knees, basically crawling towards him.

Gray smirked as he saw the man studying him with hungry eyes.

Good, he had taken the bait.

He sat back and lifted his right leg, stretched it in front of him and placed it under their target's chin, lifting it up. He made sure his left leg was pressed against the other, as to not reveal anything.

"Care to take me for a ride, big boy?" he mouthed at him and licked his lips.

The man's eyes in front of him lit up and grabbed Gray's foot, nuzzling it. He snatched it back before the man could place his disgusting lips upon him and leaned forward, placing his hand against the man's chest.

"Meet me at the private room in the back at the end." He whispered beside his ear, pulled back and winked.

He stood up and went to the center of the stage again, almost tripping over himself as he felt eyes bore into the back of his head. He twirled around and his eyes scanned over the crowd.

A shudder ran down his spine as he caught sight of a bundle of pink hair and locked eyes with two brown eyes glaring at him. He quickly averted his eyes and continued dancing, yet those eyes not once did they waver away from him.

"Would you please put these on for me?" Gray gestured towards the pair of high heels that lay beside him.

"Yes, of course, anything for you, darling." The man complied immediately, grabbing the shoes and positioning himself in front of his feet. The man lifted his right leg and slipped in the high heel, all while rubbing it.

Pathetic old man.

He physically restrained himself from sneering in disgust at the man and instead forced a smile on his lips.

"That's good, now put the other one on." He instructed and leaned back on the bed, spreading his arms wide over the headboard behind him.

If he was honest with himself, he had no clue of what he was doing, but the only thing he knew was that he had to delay things as much as possible, as to get the information he needed.

When the other high heel was also clasped onto his foot, the man in front of him moved forward, but he stopped him, as he placed his right foot against the man's chest, pushing him backward.

"Who said that you were allowed to touch me yet, hm?"

"But—"

He held a hand up, silencing him, "If you promise to be a good boy, I will let you touch me— are we clear?" he asked and cocked his head to the side, some bangs falling over his eyes.

The man nodded eagerly and as he pulled his foot back, the door across the bed was banged open and in a flash, the man in front of him was thrown into the wall.

"What the fuck, Natsu?" He yelled, drawing his legs in and crossing his arms over his chest.

What the fuck was that idiot doing here? He had their target wrapped around his little finger.

He went rigid as Natsu slightly turned and glared at him, eyes burning with something he couldn't exactly pinpoint.

"You have done enough— return to the backstage and stay out of this. I will deal with him now," Natsu gestured towards the man lying in front of his feet, "and then I will deal with you later, Gray."

He felt his face heat up and clicked his tongue, yanking the high heels and throwing them at the side. He got up and walked towards the door, heading backstage.

As Gray was in the middle of pulling off the crop-top he was wearing, he flinched as he felt hands cover his own.

"Natsu what— what are you doing?" He stuttered, taken by surprise. He hadn't even heard him coming in.

"I'm helping you out of your clothes." He shivered as Natsu's breath ghosted over the back of his neck. Natsu pulled the crop-top over his head and tossed it aside.

"What about our target?"

"Erza and Lucy will take care of him."

A tense silence stretched in the room, Gray observing Natsu as he stopped in front of him and kneeled down, unclasping the bracelets on his ankles. He cocked his head as he noticed that Natsu's expression was eerily closed up, unreadable.

He lightly poked Natsu at the side with his right foot, "What with that expression, flame-brain? Disappointed that I got to shine instead of you?" he smirked as he saw the pink-haired mage grit his teeth.

The next thing he knew, he was knocked over, falling against the wooden floor beneath him.

"Hey, idiot, what do you think you are—"

"You know, for such a long time I have tried so hard to hold myself back, but I can't do it anymore," Natsu confessed, taking his silver necklace in his hands. "I really didn't want to do things like this, but I can't just sit back and watch my mate rub himself all over another man." He growled lowly, placing his right hand next to Gray's head.

His eyes widened, heart rate spiking up, "M-Mate…? What—"

He gasped as Natsu attacked his mouth with his own in a hungry and heated kiss. He squirmed under him, and Natsu grabbed his arms, pinning them down at either side of his head. He moaned as he felt another tongue being pressed into his mouth, teeth biting down at his lower lip, feeling the coppery taste of blood. Natsu sucked at his lip and frotted against him, rubbing his clothed erection against his thigh.

Natsu broke the kiss and moved downwards, burying his face against his neck. He kissed and nipped at the skin there, trailing down to his collarbone and then moved towards his chest.

"N-Natsu, wait a second—" he cried out as teeth grazed his right nipple, tugging it.

Then, a warm tongue latched around the other nipple, licking and sucking. He whined and panted heavily, trying to move his hands, yet the grip only tightened more at the attempt to move.

Suddenly, his hands were yanked down, to either side of his hips as Natsu moved further down and nuzzled his face against his erection. Gray clenched his teeth as his body shivered, his cock twitching at the attention.

"Oh, eager, aren't we?" Natsu chuckled and smirked against his clothed cock, "don't worry, I won't make you wait for much longer."

He gasped as he felt teeth graze against the waistband of the skirt and glanced down. Natsu was studying him with hungry eyes, slightly pulling the waistband back and then let it hit against his skin.

"Don't tease me you…jerk," he said in between pants, bucking his hips.

Natsu moved his mouth towards the inner of his left thigh and inhaled, "What would you have me do to you, then?" he teased, and slightly lifted his head, glancing up at him, "Should I fuck you while in the skirt?"

Oh, good god.

He whimpered at the thought and tried to move again, to do anything, to touch back, to get touched more— anything than this slow torture.

"Nah, you don't deserve to get fucked just yet, 'cause you had been a very bad boy," his smirked widened, "but soon enough."

"Natsu— come on, please, come on." He begged, bucking his hips again, trying to find some relief as his cock strained painfully against his skirt.

"All in due time, Gray."

He was about to protest, talk back, say something, anything but the air was knocked out of him as sharp teeth bit down on his inner thigh, tearing through the flesh. He threw his head back and let out a loud moan. His whole body shuddered violently, feeling like he was burning alive. He sobbed as he felt a tongue lap over the sensitive area on his thigh.

"N-Natsu…"

At that moment, he felt a euphoria like never before, pain and pleasure pumping through his veins, a feeling that he had never experienced before in his whole life.

Whole.

Complete.

Warm.

Mate.

So, that what it was, that's what this weird feeling was all along. Gray never could exactly understand what it meant, but from the time since he could remember himself, he had always felt an emptiness inside him, eating away at his soul, but now he finally understood clearly what it meant and what he had always felt towards Natsu, yet never acknowledged the truth.

Without realizing it, a few tears had escaped his eyes and slid down his cheeks. He sniffed and bit his lower lip as teeth returned at the skirt's waistband and tugged it down, his cock springing free. His voice hitched in his throat as a warm mouth was wrapped around his dick. Natsu started bobbing his head, picking up the pace. He let out small, breathy moans as he felt heat pool downwards, nearing towards the end.

"Natsu, stop, I'm— I'm about to c-come," as soon as he said those words, Natsu sucked harder, refusing to lift his head.

He tipped over the edge and cried out as he came inside Natsu's mouth. He shivered as he felt a tongue lick him up dry and then Natsu pulled back. He laid there, wasted and heard some rustling of clothes and before he knew it, he was yanked forward and Natsu pushed his cock inside his mouth.

"G-Gray…"

He started hesitantly swirling his tongue around, testing, not knowing what was best. Then, he moved his head, hands coming up to grip Natsu's hips.

"I'm sorry about this," he heard a growl from above him and without any warning, Natsu snapped his hips forward, thrusting into his mouth.

He coughed but kept going at it, with Natsu thrusting his hips against his mouth faster and harder. He whined as he felt the tip of Natsu's cock hit the back of his throat and heard a loud moan from above. After a few thrusts, Natsu pulled abruptly back and jerked off throughout his orgasm.

"Why did you pull out?" he asked hoarsely as he glanced at Natsu's flushed face.

"Didn't know if you…wanted me to come in…your mouth," Natsu admitted, panting, as he pushed his hair out of his forehead, eyes gleaming.

"You really are an idiot." He scoffed and leaned down, starting to lick at the come that had fallen over Natsu's abs.

"H-Hey, Gray, you don't have to—"

"Shut up, I want to."

He continued licking until there was no trace of it left. He licked his lips, face scrunching up at the salty taste.

"We should probably go now," he leaned back and was about to stand but a hand caught his wrist, pulling him forward.

His face landed against a warm chest and two strong arms were wrapped around his waist.

"I love you, Gray, always have." Natsu mumbled against his head and his eyes widened.

He wrapped his own arms around Natsu and gripped him tight, "Me too, idiot." He confessed, a smile forming on his lips.

They stayed like that for a while and after deciding that it was enough for now, Gray pulled back. "We should probably leave and join the others now, come on."

"Gray, one last thing."

"What—"

He hummed as he was pulled forward, lips covering his own, this time gentle, loving. He melted into the kiss as two hands came up and cupped either side of his face, thumbs caressing his cheeks. They slowly parted and breathed together, staring into each other's eyes. Natsu rested his forehead against his and closed his eyes.

"Don't think that I have forgotten what you did, Gray. Once we get back home, I will remind you to whom you belong to."

He thickly swallowed and grinned as his body thrummed in excitement.

"Yes, Sir."