Natsu would always regret taking the long way to the guild that day. Because Natsu had nothing better to do, he had decided to take a route through the forest to the guild instead. It was quite a pretty sight, actually - fall had come to Magnolia, and golden leaves had begun to speckle the array of trees lining the forest. He was very pleased with his decision up until when he heard a familiar voice.
"Natsu?" The pinket heard the voice utter with a hushed tone. It seemed to be coming up from above. Swirling his head around to the source of the sound, scarf whipping around his neck, he looked to see Gray staring back at him from the top of a tree.
"Oh, thank god," Gray said under his breath, a look of relief washing over his face. He was standing atop the highest branch in the tree, near 40 feet in the air, clinging to the trunk of the tree with a death grip.
"What're you doing up there?" asked Natsu with genuine, childlike curiosity that only Natsu could possess. Gray grunted as he hung his head.
"I've never climbed a tree before… so I wanted to try it."
"And?"
"Well... I... can't get down." Natsu burst out laughing.
"You don't know how to climb a tree!? What, are you expecting me to escort you down by the hand, ice princess?"
"Listen, flame brain; just because you were raised like an animal doesn't mean I was."
"Oh? Would you rather I go get Erza to help you down?"
"NO! Uh, no. Please?" Natsu rolled his eyes.
"I don't have Happy with me. He's out on a fishing trip, remember?"
"Do something!"
"Well, if you're not going to ask nicely…"
"...I bet you can't even climb this high." Oh, that was it. Accepting the challenge, Natsu effortlessly bounded up the tree. With perfect reflexes, he jumped from branch to branch, holding on to various branches as he ascended, rustling the leaves on each branch furiously as he climbed.
"There!" He proclaimed once he'd reached the branch that Gray was on, beaming triumphantly. "And don't you dare challenge me to something that easy again." Up close, he could see now that Gray really was terrified. His knuckles, gripping the tree trunk, were as white as the whites of his eyes, which were showing very clearly. He looked like he was close to trembling.
"Gray?"
"Shut up. This is pathetic of me."
"No, Gray! You're just…" Natsu trailed off, half searching for the right word and half in surprise that he was trying to comfort the bastard. "...you," Natsu settled, hoping to recover from such an out-of-character moment.
"Such a way with words," Gray said sarcastically, managing to roll his eyes despite his terror.
"Well, I doubt I can carry you down without you freaking out. I'll go get someone," Natsu said, turning away from Gray, about to descend the tree once more.
"NO! I mean, thank you, flame brain, but I don't want to be alone." Rolling his eyes, Natsu made a grunt of consent.
"So what'd you expect us to do? Just stay here until someone walks by?" Gray smiled sheepishly.
* * *
A few hours later, someone did happen to walk by, who offered to call the fire department. Much to Gray's protest, one lost argument later resulted in the Magnolia firefighters were stationed underneath the tree, climbing up a ladder. At this point, a small crowd of Fairy Tail members had gathered beneath the tree to see what the commotion was all about. Descending the ladder, the crowd went up in a roar, asking Gray and Natsu what had happened.
"It was crazy," Natsu started, shouting it so the entire crowd could hear. "We were just walking by when suddenly a huge swarm of some kind of monster was chasing us! We had no idea what had hit us so we just climbed up the tree. We eventually realized we couldn't get down, because…" During Natsu's explanation, Lucy managed to pull Gray aside.
"Natsu's making stuff up, isn't he?"
"N-no!" Gray protested, put on the spot. Lucy shot him a look of disbelief.
"Yes," He admitted, hanging his head in defeat.
"I didn't know you were so afraid of heights! It doesn't seem like you. And Natsu stayed up there with you? That seems even less like Natsu…"
"Today's been weird, Lucy. Don't question things."
"Wait… you have ice make magic. Couldn't you just form an ice slide?" Gray felt the air getting hot as he searched for an explanation. He looked up at the sky, but alas, the sun was still hidden behind the trees. Why was the air so warm all of a sudden?
Lucy looked at him with a sudden look of understanding.
"Ah, I see what's happening. I'll leave you to catch up with Natsu." Lucy turned away, grinning from ear to ear, and headed off back to the guild. Gray stood there, perplexed at Lucy's comment. Suddenly, all was clear to him when Natsu came up from behind him and put his arm around his neck.
"Jeez, they're all practically stoning us for getting attacked by magic-neutralizing monsters, Gray! You'd expect our guild members to be more empathetic." Natsu gave him a juvenile wink for emphasis. "By the way, Gray, your face is all red. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, starting for the guild. He was alarmingly unresistant to Natsu's arm around his neck, as for the first time, the dragon slayer's arms weren't trying to put him in a headlock.
"Just fine."
