With friends all over the country, Natsu had a difficult time keeping in touch with all of them. He would always make a special exception for his fellow Dragon Slayers, however. He had even taken the great sacrifice of travelling on a train just for the opportunity to come to their guildhall, a huge building placed on the outskirts of the area surrounding Crocus. Luckily, he was not to be disappointed by Sting's excited reaction.

"It's about time you came to Sabretooth!" Sting yelled with a laugh in his voice. "Have you seen our guild even has a pool? Pretty neat, right?"

"Nice!" Natsu said. Of course, the Fairy Tail pool was nicer, but it was good to see that Sabretooth had come so far in such a short space of time.

"Hey, where's Rogue and Frosch?" Happy asked to his fellow exceed.

"They'll be in the city centre," Lector told him. "They heard you were coming and wanted to get things ready in case you wanted to stay the night."

Sting gave a sheepish smile as he scratched his cheek. "We had guessed you probably didn't want to try that journey again for the rest of the day…"

Natsu felt himself suddenly overcome by the kindness of the gesture. He was already reminded why it was important to spend time with those who shared both his powers and vices, and asked if they could find Rogue any sooner. Sting seemed strangely happy with that request, a beaming grin spreading across his face as he tugged Natsu by the shoulders and lead him out of the gates of Sabretooth and towards the main city of Crocus. They quickly moved away from the quieter streets of their guildhall and into the heart of the capital city, Sting leading by familiarity while Natsu vaguely followed the scents around. They both seemed equally ignited with energy while in between the huge crowds, an energy they shared as they searched for the quieter soul.

"Rogue! Rogue, look!" Frosch tugged on the shadow mage's trousers, pointing towards the new guests, despite seeing little but legs around him. "Sting and Lector! And Natsu and Happy!"

"Already…?" Rogue hadn't expected Natsu and Happy to arrive so early in the day, and he especially hadn't expected their company in the middle of the city. There was still so much to do, but he couldn't deny the blush on his face as he saw them. "I wasn't going to be long," he excused himself in place of a greeting. "You didn't need to come out here."

"I know. But we couldn't wait," Sting excused, putting a hand on Rogue's shoulder as he leaned in closer. His lips pressed against Rogue's, an affectionate welcome that an even wider smile to his face.

Usually, Sting's light was so infectious that even Rogue wouldn't have been able to shield himself from a bright smile. This time, there was something that held him back. Rogue's eyes fell back to their honoured guest, wearing a deep-set frown on his face. He'd seen some fairly stupid expressions on Natsu's face before, but nothing seemed quite like the wide eyed and gormless look he wore right now. That boy just couldn't keep his emotions to himself. "Something wrong, Natsu?" Rogue asked, almost hissing the challenge.

Natsu's mouth opened and closed several times. It was as if he could hear the hiss of his brain melting and gushing out of his ears. But he shook his head quickly, replacing his giant smile and giving a thumbs up. "Nope. Nope! All good here!" he insisted.

Sting stayed close to his partner, leaning over Rogue's shoulder and tilting his head to Natsu. "He's not from the big city; he's probably never even seen a gay couple," he teased gently.

"That's not true!" Natsu yelled, stomping his feet on the ground and ignoring the confused looks that so many passers-by were giving him. He frowned his angry glare at them both, wanting nothing more than to wipe that irritating smile off Sting's face. "We have gay people in Magnolia. Just I thought you two were, you know… Brothers?"

Both Rogue and Sting blinked at him.

"Wait, what?"

"Like… actual brothers?"

"You're called the twin dragon slayers, okay?!" Natsu explained, gesturing back at them both. "How was I supposed to know you weren't actually twins!?"

It was taking all of Sting's willpower not to burst out into loud and uncontrollable laughter. He had to throw his hand over his mouth and hide behind Rogue.

The shadow dragon slayer, however, just gave Natsu a long flat stare. "We look completely different," he told him a monotone voice. "We have different surnames. We were raised by two different dragons. How does any of this make you think we're brothers – twin brothers?"

Even Happy couldn't stop himself from giggling, which only led Natsu to feeling more irritated than ever. "That's just what everyone was calling you! And you smell really similar to each other!"

That last sentence caught both Sting and Rogue a little off guard. So far, it had been the only vaguely compelling argument, but even that was completely flawed. "Natsu, of course we smell similar…" Rogue told him. "We're a part of the same guild, we've trained together for years. Barely a day goes by when we aren't in each other's company. We're bound to smell somewhat similar."

"Exactly," Sting agreed, moving back around and leaning his arm against Rogue's shoulder. "You know you smell pretty similar to most of your guild, too."

Natsu frowned, taking a step back. "Like hell I do!" he insisted forcefully. "I don't smell anything like them!"

"Sure you do," Sting said. "Especially the Ice Maker you're always around."

Natsu froze. All except for the twitching eye. His body just seemed to completely lock up into a statue. Even as Happy flew up to inspect him, Natsu barely even seemed to register. "I think you broke him," Happy said, tapping Natsu on the side of the head and expecting to hear nothing but an echo inside.

No response for 3… 2… 1…

The blast of hot air suddenly erupted around the fire dragon slayer. If it wasn't for the fact that Sting and Rogue were both so used to strange magical outbursts, they would have no doubt jumped back several feet. Before they could even begin to react or warn him that frightening the citizens of Crocus was generally frowned upon, Natsu had skidded on his heels and was storming away.

"Uh, Natsu?" Rogue blinked, wondering what had just happened.

"Where the hell are ya going?" Sting called after him.

Steam hissed from the top of Natsu's head, the bright red blush on his face spreading across his whole body. "For a goddamn SHOWER," he screamed out, disappearing into the crowds.

Sting was instantly back to holding back his laughter, a sadistic glimmer in his eyes as he saw the tiny plumes of smoke disappear onto the horizon. Rogue just frowned to himself. "Do you think we should warn him that we only smell so similar because we sleep together?" he asked.

Sting shook his head. "Nah, he'll work it out for himself," he told his lover, pressing a kiss on Rogue's cheek.