Strangled Love
Chapter 2 – Dealing with the Devil (slayer)
A/n: This is quite a short chapter but I have a longer one planned for chapter 3 that I hope to upload later today.
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail
The previous night, before Gray left…
Gray looked over to Natsu's sleeping form. It was tossing and turning and kicking out from underneath the bedsheets. Natsu must have been having a nightmare. The pained look on his face made Gray feel incredibly guilty.
"I hate you for making me feel this way." he mumbled out loud. He got out a pen and some paper and proceeded to write Natsu a note. Once finished, he packed up his few belongings and headed to the train station. Being light packers was one of the few things the two mages had in common, and it was certainly useful in situations like these.
At the guild hall…
Natsu arrived at the guild hall around 3:00. He had decided to walk back rather than take the train, or as he called it, 'the death trap'. Natsu was a lot later than Gray thought he was going to be. Gray would never admit it, but he had begun to feel slightly concerned at the lack of a fire mage in the guild hall just before said mage had returned.
When Natsu entered, he was met with multiple confused stares.
"What?" he questioned his guild mates.
"You. Necklace. Gray. Scarf?" Lucy sputtered.
"Ahem. I think what Lucy is trying to say is why are you wearing Gray's necklace rather than your scarf?" Erza was bewildered by the whole situation but decided she had to be the rational person in the guild as, by the look on her guild mates' faces, no-one else was going to be.
"Oh." Natsu was expecting this reaction. However, just because he was expecting it does not mean he had planned for it. Natsu wasn't exactly a forward-thinker. "Gray gave it to me."
Gray chose this moment to intervene. "Idiot wouldn't stop whining." He had to think of an excuse and quick. He couldn't have people thinking he would do anything nice for his rival! "He lost his scarf." he blurted.
Natsu looked at Gray, eyebrows raised in question. Gray shook his head to tell him to just go with it.
"Aw. Is that true Natsu? I can't believe you lost your scarf. I know how much it means to you." Happy looked at him with pity in his eyes.
"Don't worry about it." Natsu patted Happy's head. "It's fine."
"That was nice of you." said Erza. She still couldn't understand why Gray would give Natsu his necklace or why Natsu would even want to wear it.
"Like I said, idiot wouldn't stop whining so I gave it to him to shut up until he finds his scarf."
"Who you calling an idiot?"
"You flamebrain."
"Stupid stripper!"
"Ash breath!"
It escalated into a fight rather quickly. This was what the members of Fairy Tail were used to, not their polar opposite mages doing nice things for each other. Erza was not amused by the whole situation. Apparently their bonding mission had done nothing for their friendship.
"Take it outside!" she yelled. There was no use breaking their fight up; they'd just get into another one a few moments later.
Natsu and Gray did as Erza said, not wanting to make her angry. Once they were a safe distance from the guild hall, Natsu launched at Gray again.
"Wait." said Gray. Natsu was confused, they had come out here to fight, right? "What the hell were you thinking!?"
"Huh?" Natsu had no idea what he had done to make Gray this mad.
"I thought you would wear the necklace under your scarf, you know, to hide it." Gray explained. "I can't have people thinking I'm nice to you!"
Natsu flinched. "My neck would have been to crowded." he mumbled, looking down.
"Oh. I guess it's OK. And look, I'm not gonna tell anyone about your strangulation phobia. If you were reluctant to tell me, I doubt you would want anyone else to know."
"Thanks."
"No problem. I'm going home now. Follow me and I'll freeze you."
Natsu laughed slightly. "Not just for not telling anyone. Thank you for the necklace as well. You're not all bad, I suppose."
"Whatever. See ya tomorrow." Gray brushed it off. Natsu watched Gray walk away before heading home himself.
On the way home, Gray couldn't help but wonder what had exactly made Natsu get his phobia in the first place. Although he never said it out loud, Gray knew Natsu was a strong wizard. He also knew that Natsu didn't scare easily, he'd just face the threat before him head-on, so what could have possibly happened? Gray didn't like not knowing things, in fact, he praised himself in knowing everything about his fellow guild mates. It made fights alongside or against them so much easier. Gray was going to find out what had happened. A little curiosity never harmed anyone.
Next chapter – Childhood Torture