The sound of Lucy yelling ripped Natsu out of his sleep and caused him to spring upright. Sunlight had already filled their little room, and the dragon slayer was a tensy bit ticked that he missed the sunrise. After how late they'd been out around the campfire, he shouldn't have been so surprised. He then turned towards the source of the sound and found a blushing Gray standing outside the bathroom door. Natsu smirked at the sight of his expression. He's so cute when he's embarrassed.
Gray's eyes found Natsu's, realizing that his friend was awake. It did nothing to help his humiliation. "Uh….Lucy's taking a bath right now, so I'd stay out of there if I were you."
"Maybe you should take your own advice. Or did you wanna see her?"
"It was an accident, ya flaming idiot."
"Keep telling yourself that, buddy." Natsu abandoned his cot and made his way outside for some fresh air, Happy right behind him. Teasing Gray was too much fun, and the way it made his blush worsen was adorable. It also helped that he was denying peeping on an attractive girl, and although Natsu knew that by itself wasn't proof that Gray was into men, he could wish, couldn't he? Looking to his right, he saw Erza already outfront, stuffing things back into one of her many bags. If he would have watched for a little bit longer, he would have seen her reach into her favorite bag and pull out a piece of cake.
Eventually, Lucy exited the bathroom and everyone was packed and ready to go. It wasn't much longer until the next town where their job awaited, and Natsu was eager for some action. The job request they'd chosen told of a small town south of Magnolia which was having disturbances during the night. A group of people (presumably wizards) were appearing in the town at night and terrifying anyone they could find. This has led to almost no one going out after dark, but the figures keep appearing and banging on the doors and windows. The figures are described as tall, cloaked, and spooky.
Carla had insisted Wendy sit this one out, not wanting the girl to get frightened. Despite Happy's protests, the others agreed it was for the best. In hindsight, Lucy probably should have asked Carla to come without Wendy. Then maybe she wouldn't have to deal with Happy's annoyances every five seconds. The cat was currently swooping down, collecting leaves or small sticks, and then dropping them into Lucy's hair. The blonde tried to snatch the exceed out of the sky several times, but he was too swift. She debated calling out one of her celestial spirits, but then decided it wasn't worth her magic energy. Instead, she'll just complain about it.
"Natsuuuu, tell that stupid flea bag to leave me alone!"
"Hey, I don't control what Happy does. Besides, he's just havin fun with ya. Right happy?"
"Yeah Lucy, don't be a kill joy."
"I'm gonna be killing a lot more than joy when I get my hands on you."
Lucy's threats only made Happy laugh, continuing to torment the poor girl. Gray rolled his eyes. He recalled what Lucy said the first time she showed up at the guild: "There's not one sane person in the whole place." She was right, but if she thought that didn't apply to her too, she was in major denial. While he was watching the blonde girl swat at the cat, he saw Natsu staring at him out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head slightly to look back at him and saw Natsu quickly shift his gaze to something else. Well that was weird. But what can you expect? He's always doing weird stuff. Like last night.
Suddenly, a thought swam into the ice mage's brain that he'd never considered. He almost stopped walking, but quickly continued and almost tripped over his own foot. Luckily, it didn't look like anyone had noticed, but Gray was a little preoccupied with his own thoughts anyway. He was brought back to last night's conversation around the fire. "I care about you. A lot." He thought Natsu was just being a moron. "I just meant that you really matter to me." But maybe Natsu wasn't the dumb one this time. "I like spending time with you and stuff."
Had Natsu….confessed romantic feelings for him? Gray struggled to remember what he'd said in reply.
"I like spending time with you too, loser."
Oh boy.
Gray was really glad no one was paying attention to him; he was certain his facial expression showed his current confusion. Did Natsu really feel that way about him? Had Gray rejected him? Now that he was thinking about it in that context, it didn't sound like a rejection. But it didn't sound like he was returning the feelings either. It sounded like some idiot who completely missed the point. Was he reading too far into this? This was Natsu he was dealing with here; the king of impulsiveness and unpredictability.
Gray stared straight ahead, not daring to peek behind him again. The town came into view shortly after and, at the requests of Natsu and Happy, they decided to stop and get lunch. A local restaraunt was having a special on fish, so there was no question as to where they were going to eat. The waiter brought them to their table, and Erza slid into one side of the booth, Lucy sitting next to her. Of course this left Gray with the only option of sitting across from the girls next to Natsu. Normally he wouldn't have a problem with this, but given the current situation, he was kinda scared.
Now don't get it twisted, Gray didn't care if Natsu was into guys or not. In fact, his fear came not from Natsu's feelings, but from his own. The thought of Natsu being interested in him romantically made Gray feel all fuzzy inside, something he rarely experienced. Despite their constant bickering, he was always able to be himself around Natsu, a trait Gray felt was very important when choosing a romantic partner. Why would you ever want to be with someone you can't act normal around? So yeah, he liked Natsu. But does that mean he likes Natsu?
This wasn't a question of his sexuality either. One thing he learned from Ur was that people are deeper than their outward appearances. She always taught him that you fall in love with a person, not the way they look or their gender. Gray had never really been the lovesick type, but he definitely counted Erza, Lucy, and Natsu among the people that really know him. It would only make sense that one of them would eventually end up in that kind of relationship together, right? Was he crazy?
The waiter delivered their drinks and took their orders before running off towards the kitchen. Happy, who'd elected to sit on the table, had ordered large amount of fish that was probably going to require every chef in the kitchen to prepare. No one spoke about who was going to pay for the meal, and it would most likely go to whoever couldn't run out of the restaurant before everyone else. Erza pulled out the job flyer and began to recount the details, but Lucy was the only one really listening.
Natsu probably knew somewhere within him that a public place wasn't the prime location to act on his hidden romantic feelings, but he doesn't like to lose. Partial success and success aren't the same thing, so he was still looking for some redemption from last night. Since he apparently wasn't very good at using his words, he decided to take a different approach. Pretending to pay attention to Erza's jabbering, Natsu slowly scooched closer to the ice mage. He didn't want to stare at him, but he tried to use his peripheral vision to gauge Gray's reaction. At first, he didn't seem to notice, but after the second or third scooch, the ice mage clearly tensed up. Is that good or bad?
Being an ice wizard, Gray knows what it means to feel frozen. And he'd never felt so locked in place as he did right now, Natsu seemingly moving closer every second. The dragon slayer stopped when their shoulders lightly touched, and Gray marveled at the heat radiating off the pink haired boy's body. Gray didn't like to think of himself as a coward, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't too scared to turn and face Natsu. He just kept staring straight ahead; Erza probably thought he was paying really close attention to everything she was saying. Truthfully, he hadn't heard a word.
Moments later, he felt a warm hand brush against his own, and finally looked Natsu dead in the face. Despite the fact the dragon slayer was the one making the move, his eyes displayed no bravery, but instead a yearning for acceptance. Gray could tell Natsu was afraid, and that made him upset. Did that fiery idiot really think Gray would reject him? Gray knew he was distant sometimes, but he never thought he'd be perceived as unapproachable. How long had Natsu hid these feelings from him? Why did he so suddenly feel like he felt the same way?
Here was someone he'd been close with for many years, now looking for a deeper connection. He'd gotten to know pretty much everyone in Fairy Tail, but things were different with Natsu. Gray had never thought about it before, but seeing the look in Natsu's eyes now told him that it had always been there, a spark waiting to be ignited. Gray only wished he'd had a camera; that face would be something he'd always want to remember. However, something he wanted to see more was Natsu's brilliant smile. Gray didn't break eye contact and took Natsu's hand in his.
As soon as he felt Gray take his hand, Natsu lit up like a thousand lanterns. He smiled his big cheesy smile, and delighted in the way it made Gray blush. He wanted to say something, maybe tease Gray or make a joke about how his hand was cold (Natsu wasn't good at saying romantic things, so humor was really his only option), but he was interrupted by Erza, who had finally realized that neither boy was paying any attention to her.
"Natsu, Gray, are you listening? We need to come up with a strategy to help the villagers."
"Right." Gray's voice cracked mid-word, causing Natsu to chuckle and give his hand a light squeeze. Lucy gave the pair a strange look, but said nothing. Their intertwined hands were hidden under the table, but neither one let go until the food arrived. Someone like Natsu needs both hands to eat at his desired speed. Gray watched as Natsu devoured his meal like a rabid animal. Normally he would have rolled his eyes or yelled at him to eat normally, but this time it only made him smirk. That's Natsu for ya.
After they finally capped Happy on his fish intake, Erza reluctantly footed the bill and they made their way to the town hall. The mayor was the one who'd put in the request, so they needed to work out all the details with him. The people in the town weren't accustomed to magic, having no major guilds nearby, so it was decided that only one of them should go in so they didn't overwhelm anyone. Erza, being the most mature (usually), was the obvious choice. Lucy absolutely refused to spend one more second in the presence of a certain flying feline and volunteered to go set up a room for them at the local inn. Low on cash, she had Cancer fix up her hair before she left, hoping to use her charms to get them a discount.
Happy was lying on the ground with his bloated stomach, content not to move a muscle since Lucy was gone. This was good, because now Gray and Natsu were basically alone. They obviously needed to talk about what was going on, but Gray was nervous and Natsu liked actions more than words. He was content to show his affection by pouncing on Gray and playfully wrestling him to the ground, but even he knew that wasn't really how things worked. They stood in awkward silence for a moment, stealing glances at each other all the while. It wasn't until their eyes finally locked that Gray spoke up.
"So….uh….I feel like I kinda missed something last night."
"You think so?" Natsu laughed, but Gray didn't think it was so funny.
"Can't you be serious for a second?! We need to talk about this."
"Why?"
"Well….because….I don't know. Don't you feel like we should?"
"What's there to say? I like you, you like me, right?"
"Yeah." Gray blushed again, and Natsu was loving it.
"So that's it! We're on the same page. Don't complicate things, ice princess." The name normally was intended to humiliate Gray, but now it sounded more like a cute nickname.
Gray couldn't think of a way to argue with that. "Ok."
"Good. So what're you still standing over there for?" Natsu slumped down up against the side of the building and patted the spot next to him.
Gray should've known Natsu would be so easy going about this. Truth be told, he was no expert on relationships, so he couldn't honestly say if this was acceptable or not. He sat down next to Natsu, apparently not close enough since Natsu scooched closer again, and listened to the dragon slayer ramble on about what he thought the cloaked figures really were. Gray smiled at Natsu's creativity, and picked which theory he liked best (it involved several small wizards standing on top of one another under the cloaks).
"I'll bet they have four hands instead of feet so they can easily grab onto each other and form the perfect human sized formation."
"How do they keep their balance if they don't have any feet?"
"Can't you stand on your hands?"
"Can you?"
"Watch and learn, captain popsicle. Watch and learn." Gray ignored the friendly insult as he watched Natsu get up and try to do a handstand. He only succeeded for a few seconds before toppling over and landing with his head in Gray's lap. Finally, the tables had turned, as Natsu's cheeks were filled with a rosy hue. Gray just smiled down at him.
"Nice try, flame head."
The romantic moment was interrupted by Happy releasing a large burp, causing both boys to burst into a fit of laughter. Erza returned from inside the hall and smiled at the sight of them. She loved to see those two getting along.
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