Happy Birthday
Summary: Gajeel is having a bad day, so Natsu gives him a reason to smile. Obvious pairing.
Gajeel looks out at the road ahead of him, and the large building at the end of it. Today had been an utter hell. He had to go out of a job alone, because everyone else was busy. He got it done, but the people were so stupid he just wanted to destroy the place. To make matters worse, Lily came down with a cold and Wendy ordered him not to use his combat form for the next two days. And worst of all, this all happened on his birthday.
But he's home, and there's no place the Iron Dragon Slayer would rather be. Home, the Fairy Tail guild, full of obnoxious, funny, wonderful people. One of those people is Natsu, a fellow Dragon Slayer and considered one of Fairy Tail's elite.
Natsu… out of all the people at Fairy Tail, Gajeel liked Natsu best. He liked everybody, how could you not? But Natsu just understood Gajeel best. Dragon Slayer stuff, you know?
And the fact that Natsu was a big bag of adorable topped with pink frosting that can fight. What more could you want?
"Hey Gajeel! Why so down?" Gajeel flinches a little bit at the sudden outburst. "Um… Lily's sick, I've been dealing with idiots all day, and everyone forgot my birthday." Natsu frowns, "I didn't forget your birthday! I just didn't have enough money to get you the thing I wanted to, so I went out on a mission… but we lost most of the money to pay for damages."
Gajeel waves it off, "I don't need a fancy present Salamander. It'd just be nice for the Guild to remember. Even Juvia forgot, and we've known each other since we were Wendy's age!" Natsu shakes his head, "I don't think she necessarily forgot Gajeel, maybe she's out getting you a-" "she's on a date with Gray."
"That might have been a lie." "Trust me; it wasn't. He wore a suit, and kept it on for more than five seconds."
"Well then… we can go hang out alone. If they didn't remember, they don't get to have fun with us!" Gajeel rolls his eyes to cover up his joy at SOMEONE remembering his damn birthday and lets the pink-haired Dragon Slayer lead him out to a shady clearing by a river.
It was dotted with little red and yellow flowers, and dragonflies buzz around the shallow bend in the creek. In a place where the grass is bent down is a small box, and across the river is a fort type thing, by way of stepping stones.
"Do you like it? It's my secret camp!" Gajeel turns to Natsu, "this is… incredible." Natsu beams.
"I was thinking we could make the shelter bigger and make it into a Dragon Slayer camp, and bring Laxus and Wendy! We can train in the field, and camp in the fort if we want!" Gajeel looks over at the lean-to style fort, "it'll take some work, but I think we could double its size by sunset." The pinkette's eyes widen, "S-so you wanna help?"
They work throughout the afternoon, adding extra support beams between trees and making the roof bigger, and better. They add a wall to the south, keeping the west and east open to view the sunrise and sunset. By the end of the day, the camp was doubled in size, just like the iron Dragon Slayer had predicted.
Pleased with their work, the two sit down to watch the pink-orange glow spread over the forest. The clouds roll in from behind them, making the atmosphere eerily beautiful.
"Hey Gajeel… why'd you wanna work on your birthday?" the black haired mage looks over at him, "Because I like working. I like putting meaning into what I do, think, and own, and having a place to call our own is the best gift of all."
"Ours…" Natsu whispers, a slight blush flitting across his cheeks. "I-I did say that… didn't I." he looks away, fiddling with his scarf.
"You okay Salamander?"
"Uh… yeah. Just… I picked you up something on my way back from the job. It's kind of stupid, but here, I guess." Natsu hands own the small wooden box, which turns out to be a box for holding guitar picks. There are three in there, one with gold music notes inlayed in the surface, one with Gajeel's name on it, and one that has the pattern of Natsu's scarf.
"You… you had them specially made… Natsu…" the Fire Dragon Slayer looks up, surprised. "You called me by my actual name! You never do that." Gajeel looks up from his gift, "I don't? I guess I never noticed."
Natsu scoots a little closer as rain begins to fall. He wrinkles his nose at the rain, but seems satisfied with the roof.
He leans gently against the older Dragon Slayers side to avoid stray raindrops, and Gajeel wraps a timid arm around his waist. Natsu turns as pink as his hair, and the older Dragon slayers scent fills his nostrils.
'…cinnamon and metal… he smells good…' Natsu admits in his mind, leaning a bit closer, 'I wonder why I never noticed?'
"Gajeel, you got to spend more time with your Dragon, and learn more Dragon Slayer stuff, right?" Gajeel blinks, "yeah, why?"
"Well, when I was little, I would ask Igneel a lot of questions, and for the most part he gave me answers. Occasionally though, he'd say he'd tell me when I got older. I was wondering if Metallicana ever told you that, and did you ever get answers?"
Gajeel runs his free hand through his long hair, "I guess there was finding a mate and stuff. It's really not that complicated. You just suddenly… love someone. You find little, usually unimportant details about someone that you adore. It's just like with normal humans except we use our senses a bit more."
'like your laugh, the way you play with your scarf when you're nervous… the fact that you smell like burning flowers in the best way possible…' Gajeel sighs inwardly, 'I really do have the mind of a teenage girl don't I?'
Gajeel looks away from Natsu, the thoughts not all that foreign. Gajeel knew a long time ago that there were two types of male Dragon Slayers, those who are dominant, and those who are not. And Gajeel was dominant, if the piercings and rock star hair didn't tell you that. He knew what his type was; someone who was challenging, but would never deny their feelings. He wasn't like Laxus, who just wants a doll to fawn over him. Natsu interested Gajeel from the first time they met.
Natsu speaks up again, "so like… noticing how someone smells? Like, not just registering it as their scent, but knowing what that scent is." Gajeel shrugs, "what, you have someone in mind?"
Natsu looks like a deer in the headlights, "no actually, this just spurred from a random thought I had about how people smell." He replies rather quickly, as if it was news to him as well, "I don't know! I was just drifting off into random thought land while sitting here next to you, I unintentionally wondered what exactly you smelt like, so I smelled you. You smell like cinnamon and iron, which is amusing. Then I started wondering about a question I asked Igneel when I was like four, and it all wrapped back around."
Gajeel chuckles, "Only you Natsu, only you." He then smirks at the younger, "You like me or something?" Natsu practically jumps up, "You're the one holding me! And besides that, this is one of those trick questions where whichever answer I pick, you'll yell at me!"
Natsu looks utterly confused, so Gajeel lets go of him. "I think I get it. You don't know whether you like me or not, you just know your dragon instincts are going absolutely nuts lately. it's Igneel's fault for being such a wuss raising you."
The Iron Dragon slayer shifts his weight so he's facing Natsu. He grabs the younger my his shoulder and makes him face the same way. Natsu peeks up at Gajeel from under long dark lashes, all innocent and sweet.
Natsu almost gets up the nerve to say something angry, Gajeel can tell by the look on his face. But then he looks back down in out of character contemplation.
'well this is no good. Can't have Mr. happy sunshine being sad, can we?" Gajeel smirks before tilting Natsu's head up and roughly pressing their lips together. Natsu, taken by surprise, falls back and Gajeel follows him.
The fire mage lands in his back in wet grass, the rain that doesn't land on Gajeel pattering on his skin coolly. Gajeel, realizing Natsu isn't fighting, deepens the kiss, pushing his tongue into the younger mages mouth.
Natsu is too surprised to do anything but close his eyes. He instinctively pushes his tongue against Gajeel's in a weak attempt at fighting for dominance. Sensing how stiff Natsu's muscles are, he gently massages at the youngers hips, slowly forcing him to relax. He sits up, puling the fire mage up into his lap, the kiss breaking only a moment to let them breathe. But as soon as Natsu got a gulp of air Gajeel's lips attack his neck, sending him into an involuntary spasm.
Fangs ever so gently pierce his milky white skin, making the younger mage cry out. The elder Dragon Slayer begins to gnaw and Natsu's neck, tasting the glorious skin beneath that scarf.
He finally let go, letting Natsu fall. The pinkette hit the wet grass, the rain running across his face. Gajeel shakes his own drenched locks before coaxing Natsu back under the shelter.
"Now I trust if I stay close you'll dry me off?"
(A/N: wow, this was supposed to be posted on my birthday, which was Friday, but whatever!)