A/N: Fairy Tail + genderfluid. Gratsu twoshot.

Part 1 is family-friendly. Part 2 is explicit. ^^

Part 1 – Unbound

Natsu wriggled out of the chest binder and tossed it on the pile of clothes. Closing their eyes, they took several deep breaths.

Liberation.

The swirl of air on bare skin brought along the discomfort of knowing the shape of their chest, but they felt…rebellious. Natsu's fighting spirit had rallied, plus the dysphoria wasn't so bad today—and also they just really wanted out of the binder.

Sifting through clothes strewn about the floor, they found a loose top and threw it on, glancing in that sometime enemy The Mirror and discovering they didn't actually look half bad.

"Tits out," they said, apparently loud enough to be heard down the hall, for Gray called, "Woot."

They threw on a fedora before sidling out.

"Yo," they called. "You guys ready?"

Gray poked his head out of his room.

"I assumed Loke would take half an hour picking the perfect outfit to snag the twinks." Gray held up a book. "So I started reading."

"I do not take that long," Loke called across the house.

"Gods, he could hear me?" Gray snorted.

"You aren't exactly the quietest person," Natsu said, grinning.

Gray eyed Natsu's outfit. "You look nice."

"Thanks."

They hunched to make their breasts look smaller; Gray didn't comment on the gesture, simply saying, "You going to dance tonight, or just watch?"

"Just watching. Drinking my cheap vodka." Natsu smiled toothily. "Although with this hat, I might not be able to help popping a few moves."

"If you ever get tired of water, you can get a virgin cocktail."

Natsu crossed their arms. "No."

"Come on, Natsu," Gray sighed, tilting his chair back on two legs. "I know you love girly drinks."

"Cocktails aren't girly!"

"Damn right they're not. They're all I drink. So what's the problem?" Gray asked, rising on his tiptoes and trying to balance his precarious chair.

Natsu scowled. "People who think they're girly."

They avoided anything that made people pin a gender on them. Which was just about anything. Today was an androgynous day, but even on femme or masc days, Natsu couldn't stand the typecasting. It felt like ropes slithering around them.

Gray caught their eye for a second, understanding.

"What if I have a cocktail too?" he asked. "Then nobody can call them effeminate."

Cracking a smile, Natsu looked him up and down: Gray wasn't exactly the paragon of manliness (which Natsu was glad of, because they were allergic to the toxic kind of masculinity). Even when in his work suit, Gray radiated queer flamboyancy.

"I see your point," Gray snorted when Natsu stayed silent, preening a little under their stare. "Next time we have a night in, then, I'll make you something virgin."

They smiled. "Deal."

Loke came bounding down the hall in his boxers and a half-buttoned shirt.

"What are we saying about virgins?"

"Oh my god, Loke," Gray huffed. "We're talking about Natsu's drinking."

Loke deflated. "Oh. Still. If there are any virgins tonight, they won't be by tomorrow."

"You're a little disgusting sometimes, you know that?" Natsu chortled.

"I think you mean charming."

"No, they mean disgusting." Gray grabbed a dirty sock off the floor and threw it at him. "Go finish dressing already."

"How can you tell me that when you defame my honor?" Loke said, looking hurt.

Gray and Natsu glanced at each other.

"Sorry. You're a wonderful person," Gray said, "and we love you. You know that."

"Even if I disagree with your mission to take the virginity of everyone in the city," Natsu added.

"Go. Get. Dressed," Gray finished.

When Loke sauntered back to his room, Natsu turned to Gray, leaning close and whispering, "Good thing he doesn't know I'm still a virgin."

"I'm pretty sure you're safe as his flatmate," Gray said, but he whispered too. "Wait, you are? I thought…huh."

Natsu's face heated, unsure how to answer that.

Throwing their shoulders back, Natsu straightened. Tonight wasn't about drinking or sex for them. Tonight was about being free. Being with friends, being themself, and being proud.

Natsu had a social, attention-seeking side when they let it out, but life held so many instances when they needed to hide, suppress, avoid the limelight. Getting to be wonderfully queerly unique was a rarity. They were already excited about letting their pent-up energy out. Friday nights were the best nights of the week.

Standing taller, they found Gray grinning at them and they grinned back, breathing deep.

That breath was a luxury. In the beginning, they bound their chest with cloth bandages, pressing their breasts down instead of in—they wound up in the hospital after passing out, and discovered they damaged their breast tissue. Not that Natsu cared: their breasts could fall off and they'd be happy. But the passing out had to stop. So they used a real binder, one loose enough they could breathe, and made sure to take it off every night.

Breathing meant getting mistaken for a woman; a flat chest meant tight breathing. There was no winning. But on Friday nights, Natsu won, because on Friday nights, Natsu could be themself without the binder and nobody looked at them sideways. On Friday nights, they hung out with their two best friends and got to wear their identity in front of not just Gray and Loke, but the entire world.

"You're so ready," Gray laughed, nodding at where Natsu was tapping a rhythm against the doorframe.

"Duh." Natsu grinned, weirdly shy, but it quickly transformed into a confident smile. "Let's go already."

"Let's see how Lovebird is getting on with his wardrobe," Gray said, rising. Gazing at them for a moment, he clapped a hand on their shoulder and smiled as he moved past into the hall. "You really do look good, Natsu."

"Thanks, Gray," they said under their breath.

Gray was always on the same page with them. It was comforting to have someone so firmly on their side.