Someone organized a Team Natsu Week on Tumblr and I'm participating! I'm planning to do a short drabble for each prompt matched up with one member of Team Natsu (including the exceeds), and will be interpreting them very loosely. Let's hope I can get them all written on the correct days because I totally forgot this was a thing until like yesterday haha.

I'm planning an art piece for the last day, so it will only be viewable on Tumblr. But the written pieces, as always, go on all three sites (tumblr, ffnet, ao3).

Team Natsu Week Day 1: Formation

Title: Intangible

Character: Gray Fullbuster

Summary: If he couldn't hold it in his hands, he sometimes doubted it was even real.

Ice Make magic was, by nature, one of the most creative types of magic in common use. It drew magic from the user, culminating in the formation of whatever shape the mage so desired. It could be used to form almost anything, from weapons to birds, creating intricate sculptures with just a whim and a little magic power.

But there were some things even Ice Make magic couldn't form: intangible things, like love, and friendship.

"Oi, stripper."

Gray rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Whaddya want now?"

"We got a job."

"And what makes you think I'll go on it? I already got plans with Cana."

Natsu stopped next to Gray's chair and crossed his arms. "You really wanna go against Erza? Suit yourself."

"Damn Erza," Gray grumbled. "Just let me do my own thing for a change. We're always going on missions together; maybe I just want to hang out at the guild alone for once. You all go. I'm staying here."

"You're not really gonna make me tell Erza you're staying behind, right?" Natsu said.

"Good luck," Gray said.

A low growl rumbled in Natsu's throat. Damn, Gray'd made him angry. But to Gray's surprise, Natsu didn't pick a fight. He just leveled one last glare at Gray, glanced at Cana over by the bar, and walked out of the guild.

Well. That was easier than he thought.

Natsu gone, Gray stood up and meandered over to join Cana. He ordered his usual from Mira and settled down on his favorite stool, right next to his longtime friend.

"You not going on the job with your team?" Cana said, not looking at him as she sipped her beer.

"You heard?"

"You brought me into it; 'course I had to listen in and see what kind of trouble you were getting me into."

"No trouble," Gray said. "Even if you ratted me out to Erza, I'd be the only one in trouble."

"Natsu'll see through the lie," Cana said.

"The man's dense as a brick when it comes to this kind of stuff," Gray said. "Erza too. They won't know the difference."

Truth was, Gray hadn't made plans with Cana. That was just an excuse. It's not like he could refuse the mission without a good reason, and a prior engagement was something Erza was likely to honor.

"Why d'ya wanna skip out so badly?" Cana asked. "Seems to me like you lot make a pretty good team."

Mira set Gray's drink down in front of him. "I'd like to hear your reason as well," she said as she shuffled some things around behind the bar. "Is something wrong? Did you have a disagreement?"

"Nothing like that," Gray said. "I just… You're going to think I'm weird for saying this."

"Go on," Mira said gently.

"I don't know how to be friends with them."

The two girls stared at him blankly.

Gray rushed to explain. "I mean, I know we're friends. I get along really well with Lucy, but Wendy's just a kid. Natsu and I fight all the time. And Erza's kind of like an older sister to me I guess, but she's always been scary so there's this distance between us. I don't feel like we're as close-knit as everyone thinks they are. At least, I'm not; maybe the rest are, but I'm not."

There was a short pause before Cana burst out laughing. "Leave it to you to be this emotionally stunted," she said.

Mira took a more serious approach. "Gray, I've never seen you as happy as when you're on a team with them. Don't you think that counts for something?"

"I guess," Gray said. "But honestly, I'm a lot more comfortable here with my drink." He held it up as if to toast with Mira, then chugged the entire mug.

"Gray," Cana said, "you're an idiot."

Heat rose to Gray's cheeks, and probably not from the alcohol. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm afraid Cana's right," Mira agreed.

"Oi."

"You're capable of more than just Ice Make magic," Cana said. "You've made friends. You've made family. You've made a team. Let yourself enjoy it for once."

"That's different. Friends and family I made for myself. The team just…happened."

"A team doesn't just happen, Gray," Mira said. "You know that."

He did know that. And he knew they all considered him a friend just as much as he considered them his best allies. But damn, it was hard for him sometimes to acknowledge things that he couldn't hold in his hands. Natsu called all of him his friends, but he meant it in the sense that they were allies; did that really mean Gray could consider them close friends, with all the petty arguments they had? It's not like they ever had heart-to-hearts the way he and Cana did.

Ever since the team started going on missions together, they'd gotten closer and learned so much about each other that even years of growing up in the same guild couldn't compare. It all happened so naturally that it felt like they'd all become close friends without Gray even trying to make it that way. And how could he trust something he didn't even remember making?

"Ah, whatever," Gray said, standing up. "I should go. They're probably waiting for me. A bunch of idiots, the lot of them."

"And you the greatest idiot of them all," Cana said.

Gray grinned. "Can't disagree with that."