The door to the wine cellar slammed behind Gray and he turned around, quickly drawing the deadbolt, then pressing himself against the wall. Natsu stared at him intently from the other side of the door, and they listened carefully for the sounds of pursuit.
None came.
"Knew they wouldn't come to the Gallows," Natsu said, grinning and tipping his head back against the wall in relief. "Can't believe you actually pulled that off – I thought for sure we'd both end up hanging off the Black Bridge."
Gray shrugged, running a hand over his face, then gesturing for Natsu to sit at one of the tables. Natsu flopped down, wincing and rubbing his shoulder, but Gray slapped his hand away.
"Don't touch it, you'll foul it up."
Natsu rolled his eyes but obeyed, leaning back against the table while Gray headed to the back room, then emerged moments later with a bowl of water, some rags, and small box.
"Haven't had you suture me up in a while," Natsu commented, tugging his shirt over his head. Gray swallowed at the sight of Natsu's bare chest, dirty and covered with a thin sheen of sweat. A dark scar ran from the side of his neck down to the bottom of his ribs – Gray remembered stitching that one up after Natsu had picked a fight with one of the hustlers from the Half Crowns.
"That looks nasty," Gray said, leaning forward so that he could inspect the site where the crossbow bolt had pierced Natsu's shoulder. The thick undershirt Natsu had been wearing had prevented it from going too deep, but it was still crusted with blood and needed sutures.
"Leg's probably worse," Natsu said, kicking his foot up onto the bench. A dirty, bloodstained rag was wrapped around his calf. "Went right through."
Gray shuddered, dipping one of the rags into the bowl of water. He started to dab gently at the shoulder wound, and Natsu hissed in pain.
"Don't be such a baby," Gray muttered, brushing away the dried blood and inspecting the edges of the wound. There was no sign of sepsis, which was a relief, since they were out of eyesalve. "You'll live."
Natsu grunted, fingers digging into his thigh as Gray tipped some wine onto the cloth and dabbed it over the wound, then pulled out the suture kit.
"You need something to bite down on?" he asked. Natsu shook his head, exhaling sharply when Gray pressed down next to the wound and slid the needle under his skin.
It didn't take long for Gray to stitch up the shoulder wound and bandage it, and the one in Natsu's calf was easy to dress – the bolt had gone all the way through the leg, but appeared to have missed anything important.
"I can see if the physicker's got any ether once the others are back," Gray offered as he rinsed off his hands and tossed the water down the drain at the back of the room. Natsu groaned, pushing himself up and testing out his leg.
"'s fine," he said through gritted teeth, starting to limp toward Gray. "Got more important things to worry about."
"You're a stubborn arsehole, you know that, right?" Gray sighed, moving back over and wrapping Natsu's uninjured arm over his shoulder. Natsu grinned, tipping his head back and looking at Gray.
"'m your stubborn arsehole, though," he said. Gray felt his cheeks burning and he looked away, trying to guide Natsu toward the sleeping area. Natsu shook his head, pointing toward the door on the other side of the room.
"You should sleep," Gray insisted.
"Mm-mn," Natsu said, shaking his head. "We fucked with the magistrate, and it looked like Sting and Rogue burned down half the market. They're not gonna let us off that easy. Maybe they won't brave the Gallows today, but it's a matter of time before they start kicking down doors. We need to get out."
"Leave Magnolia, you mean?" Gray asked, supporting Natsu as they made their way across the room. Gray reached into his pocket and tugged out a large copper key, turned it in the lock, and pushed the door open.
"Soon as possible," Natsu replied, grabbing the small alchemical lantern that sat next to the door and shaking it until it glowed a soft yellow. "First we need to figure out what to do with all this."
The light illuminated the entirety of the small room. Each wall was lined with shelves and sets of drawers, and each of them held trinkets and baubles that the guild had 'liberated' from the nobility over the years. Necklaces, bangles, sets of diamond earrings, several fancy rapiers, gold goblets encrusted with various gems – everything their nimble fingers had ever lifted ended up in this room.
"We're going to need a carriage," Natsu commented, looking to the very back of the room where the light gleamed off an enormous pile of coin. Most of them were solons – tarnished silver pieces – but there were smaller piles of gold tyrins, and even the occasional baron, worth more than a layman would make in a year.
"I don't think we'll be able to take it all with us," Gray said reluctantly, and Natsu let out a pitiful sigh. "We can exchange some of it, but we'd better be quick about it before Jiemma finds out what we've been up to and throws us to the sharks."
Natsu's eyes wandered around the room for a minute, and Gray watched from the corner of his eye as several different expressions made their way across Natsu's face. Idiotic glee, pride, then a brief flash of regret, before he turned and met Gray's gaze.
"It wasn't ever about the coin," Natsu said quietly, eyes searching Gray's. Part of Gray felt terrified – the way Natsu was looking at him almost hurt. It pulled him apart, searched the hidden places in him, dragged the truth out until it lingered between them hesitantly.
"N-no?" Gray asked, voice uncertain. Natsu shook his head, smiling and bringing his hand up to brush against Gray's cheek, and Gray was fairly certain that his heart was pounding loud enough for Natsu to hear it. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, it was slowly sinking in that Natsu had kissed him.
"It's always been about the adventure," Natsu said quietly, brushing his fingers through Gray's hair and smiling. His face was so open and gentle that Gray felt like he was looking at a stranger. "Wouldn't be any fun without a bit of danger."
Gray let out a short laugh, shivering when Natsu swiped a thumb over his bottom lip. "W-well you've certainly had enough d-danger today," he said softly. Natsu hummed, curling his fingers around the back of Gray's neck.
"Wouldn't be any fun without you, either," Natsu breathed, then tugged Gray in and kissed him.
Gray let out a soft moan against Natsu's lips, bringing his hand down to rest on Natsu's hip. Natsu turned until they were pressed together, dragging his fingers through Gray's hair and pushing him up against the wall.
"W-wait," Gray gasped, running his thumb down Natsu's jaw. "Y-you- it's…"
"I'm an idiot," Natsu said, pressing their foreheads together and kissing Gray's nose. "And listen carefully, because you're only ever going to hear this from me once – I'm sorry." He gazed at Gray, eyes dark and serious.
"You, uh…" Gray floundered for words. "'s fine, you can- can make it up to me."
"Oh?" Natsu's face quickly changed from earnest to playful. "Like this?" He pushed his hips forward against Gray, laughing softly at the quiet moan that escaped Gray's lips.
"S-something like that," Gray stuttered.
Natsu leaned back for a second, looking around the room again. He turned back to Gray, mischievous grin on his face.
"You know what's better than a pile of coin?" he asked, running his thumb down Gray's throat and leaning in to press a kiss under Gray's ear.
"Wh-what?" Gray asked, tipping his head back against the wall and humming as Natsu slid a hand under his shirt. Natsu smiled against Gray's collarbone, then stood up, tugging Gray toward the back of the room.
"Enjoying you," Natsu replied, grinning, "on top of the enormous pile of coin."