Belly
Gray had left with Erza on a mission. It had seemed that it was going to be somewhat morose and with a lot of work but it ended up being a nightmare that extended for over a month over what'd been planned.
The two friends couldn't be happier when they saw the guild front once again.
The jewels were quite the important necessity but the work had been a bit too extreme.
And there was no place like home…
When they crossed the doors and found themselves inside, the usual ruckus met them. It was lunchtime and everyone seemed to be in a very sunny disposition – despite the dark clouds outside that seemed to be threatening with rain.
Gray took a deep breath and exhaled. He was back.
Erza placed a hand on Gray's arm and the duo glanced at their usual table. Their friends were there. The two exchanged a smile before heading to the table.
"Hey! Welcome back!" Lucy greeted happily, glancing down to flip a page on the book sitting beside her.
"Hi." Erza said as she sat down, a tad more wearily than usual. "How's everyone?"
"Fine, fine." Lucy replied mildly as she grasped her cup and took a sip from it. "Your mission took a bit longer than expected."
"It wasn't our fault, I can assure you of that." Gray replied as he plopped himself on the seat beside Erza's. "We were nicely rewarded but had to sweat for it."
"You sweating?" Natsu interjected from where he'd been inhaling his food. "You're such a little flower."
"Hey! Shut up, flame breath!" Gray said in a low voice. He saw Erza's brow arching and let out a breath. "I can't but admit that I missed you being a pain in my ass. Now I wonder why."
"Heh, figures." Was the only answer before Natsu's attention was caught by food once again.
Gray stared blankly at Natsu before catching himself and looking back at Lucy. She and Erza had started to talk during the exchange. Yet, Gray saw her throwing some covert looks at Natsu. He couldn't help but wonder why.
"Naaaaatsu!" Happy flew from somewhere and stopped scant centimetres from the fire mage's face. "Come on! We have to go meet Wendy. You had promised to do that, remember?"
"Was that today?" Natsu asked, letting out a groan. "Damnit, I knew I was forgetting something." He took his cup and emptied it before placing it over the table top with some more force than necessary. "Gotta go, guys. I'll see you later."
And that was when Natsu stood and Gray noticed that something was quite different indeed with his friend.
Natsu had developed a paunch.
It wasn't anything overly exaggerated but… Natsu's torso had been extremely well toned last time he'd seen him – and Gray had intimate knowledge about the state of the fire mage's torso.
So now this… this development was slightly surprising and he didn't understand it.
"W-what's that?" Gray blurted as Natsu was piling all his dishes into one tray and having a distracted conversation with Happy. Gray's question jarred Natsu into stopping.
The fire mage looked blankly at Gray. And Gray beat himself for noticing the attempt at masking vulnerability. Could it be that Natsu was being self-conscious about this?
"What?" The word sounded strangely hollow in Natsu's voice. It was enough to make the conversation between Erza and Lucy come to a halt too.
And by the looks of Lucy, this was probably what she'd been going with those looks she'd been giving the Salamander.
"Your belly." Gray repeated. "It is different."
"You're right. Haha," Natsu gave a mildly uncomfortable laugh and pasted one of his bright, fake grins. "Guess that this is some dragonslayer stuff." He shrugged and pretended not to be troubled by the whole conversation.
"Dragonslayer stuff…" Erza repeated neutrally.
"Yeah," Natsu continued, throwing a glance at the doors – Gray could bet that he was thinking that they were extremely far away, then. "It just… appeared. But apparently it's natural, once a certain degree of maturation is achieved? I don't know. Lucy was doing some research about that." He gestured vaguely.
As Erza and Gray took the time to glance at the celestial mage, Natsu took his chance.
"Gotta go now. See you later." And he rushed away. Leaving his friends in confusion.
"What was that all about?" Gray said finally after the fire mage had left the guild.
"Yes, Natsu was acting strangely." Erza added as she leaned slightly forward on the table.
"I'll tell you what I know." Lucy said with a sigh. "But didn't you want to eat too? It's lunchtime after all." She looked at her book and with a small sigh she closed it.
"You're right." Erza did concede. "But you'll have to explain this whole situation to us."
"It's not like there's much to explain…" Gray heard the celestial mage say as they went in search of food.
Not long after, the two mages placed their trays on the table and sat, not taking long to dig in. The food and drink were great, as usual.
"So, Natsu?" Erza repeated.
"It all happened when you were away on your mission." Lucy began, rolling her empty cup distractedly between her hands. "I mean, it wasn't much of a happening?" she glanced up at her friends. "Natsu just… got a belly. He continued eating his absurd amounts of food and it just popped there."
"What do you mean, popped?" Gray asked in shock.
"I mean just that." Lucy retorted with some vehemence. "He went through his day as usual, went on missions, exercised at first. But it wouldn't abate. And he did have some exercise, with the jokes and arguments with some of the people here at the guild."
"So, they mocked him?" Gray intoned his phrase as a question but he already knew the answer. The nod he got didn't make him feel all that great.
"But Natsu mentioned it being dragonslayer stuff." Erza added, as she continued to eat primly.
"Yes. We found that a bit later. Even if thing were already not so good, by then." Was the reply. Lucy sighed. "It was only when we did research." She tilted her head to the side, as if saying 'and that was it'.
"So, what's that dragonslayer stuff?" Gray prodded.
"I'm still not entirely sure about it. I mean, from what I got, it was intrinsic to fire dragons. You see, they would use the fat of their own bodies to produce the fire. And that's what that is, for Natsu." Lucy shrugged and placed her hands on the wooden table top.
"So, because he's from fire dragonslayer magic he also magically got that gut?" Gray deadpanned.
"It's what it looks like. I mean, I don't think it happened magically. He had the propensity to having that and he just reached the maturity stage that makes him have that reserve." The blonde mage looked at her two friends. "And that's basically the gist of it."
"Natsu hasn't been taking this very well, has he?" Erza asked and Gray turned his head towards her. He'd thought the same.
"Well, yeah. He has tried to get rid of it but it's like it's there to stay?" Lucy grimaced at the whole situation.
"I should go talk to him." Gray said.
Erza looked at him pointedly. And the ice mage inwardly slapped his forehead. His thing with Natsu, he wasn't supposed to admit it. Or talk about it. It was just very complicated between them.
"I'm not sure if that's for the best, Gray. I think we should give Natsu some space." Erza said finally.
"But-!" The ice mage interjected.
"No buts. We should go home, get some rest, leave Natsu to his own devices and tomorrow we can talk." Erza's voice brooked no argument.
"Okay." Gray replied with an eye roll. He took his tray and placed it in the rightful place before returning to the table to get his things. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye."
Gray turned on his heel and hurried home.
And through it all, the whole path home, after he got home and sorted his things and placed them in their places, Gray kept thinking about Natsu's belly.
What is it? He asked himself. What's it that has me fixating on that dumbass' stomach?
Gray threw himself onto his bed, staring at the white ceiling. A soft breeze made the curtains sway as light and noise came through the open window.
He closed his eyes and just lay there. With darkness painting his eyelids. Until the moment where he saw himself running his hands over Natsu's torso. First he was mapping already known territory, the pecs and abs – but the abs softened quickly and softness followed and Gray was mapping it with his lips and-
Gray opened his eyes and sat up in the bed, as if he'd just been shocked.
What the hell was that? He screamed at himself. What are you thinking just now?
He ran a hand over his face before punching the mattress.
You are not thinking about that dumbass, you hear? He thought to himself once more.
Except, he was…