I do not own Fairy Tail.
"Should we tell him?"
Makarov ran a hand over his dreary, exhausted eyes. The old, pink haired medic sat next to him, looking honestly sympathetic. Her blood red eyes were soft, solicitude in the most unpredictable of places. There was no consolation, though. Nothing either of them could offer but a sliver of doubt in the merciless truth.
"Or should we let him figure it out by himself?"
The aged guild master lowered his head, feeling shame wash over him in crashing forces at letting the unthinkable happen to one of his own. There was so much talent to be tapped into boiling inside each and every one of his children. It was as if someone had cut his heart at knowing someone put the fuel out on one of them when there was so much left undiscovered.
"As much as it pains me, I'm not one to let my children agonize of something like this." Makarov twiddled with his faded whiskers pensively. Porlyusica let her lips form a fine line. She moderately placed a hand on the elderly master's shoulder. Makarov nodded in understanding on what she wouldn't convey with any audible language. He made a silent promise, committing himself to telling the ice mage next day, once he figured out how.
…
"That was NOT funny!"
A set of hard, black eyes glared at the laughing ones of the raven. Natsu rubbed his now sore back, trying to ease the pain brought on by the ice mage's actions. No doubt there would be a mark as dark as Gray's mane. The ice specialist might still be considered bedridden, but that didn't mean he couldn't win in one of their brawls. Course nowadays their fights weren't much, if they could even be called that. It was more of light teasing from the dragon slayer rewarded by trickery from the ice alchemist.
"You deserve it." Gray smiled at him through his laughter. "Besides, I have to be entertained somehow. I'm bored when you're not here to make fun of."
"Nice to know I can make you happy." Natsu grumbled as he pushed himself up from the tiled floor. He righted the chair he had been pushed out of. How Gray managed to tip him was a mystery even to him. Gray dropped his head back into the thin pillow he had been supplied. Natsu sat back down next to him on the now, hopefully, stationary chair.
Natsu opened his mouth to make another snide comment. He quickly shut it again when he realized the gleaming blue ponds gazing at him. Or rather, how they were gazing at him. The dragon slayer swallowed awkwardly, trying to push back the lump that was oddly forming in his throat. He wasn't sure but he thought he spotted tenderness in Gray's eyes as the raven watched him. An intense heat came to Natsu cheeks and he turned his head away.
"What is it, Ice Bl-"
A door slamming open shut him up yet again. The rosette twisted his head to see a prideful scarlet and subsequent blonde coming in. A ball of blue fur buzzed through the air after them. Happy landed softly at the foot of Gray's bed, his pearly wings disappearing as his paws touched the sheets.
The celestial mage set a vase of colorful flowers Natsu hadn't noticed she had carried in on the bedside table. Gray eyed them curiously, trying to piece together why the blonde had bought them. Lucy grinned at him knowingly. "They're from the guild."
The ice mage raised an eyebrow and gingerly reached out a hand to charily rummage through the ebullient petals. His fingers clamped around a cardstock piece. Dragging it from the nosegay he brought it closer to his being. His eyes traced the carefully printed characters impressed into the card. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at the two female mages in puzzlement.
"You'll just have to find out when you get back." The blonde bubbled.
Natsu leaned over; trying to spot what had the ice mage so flustered. He was near making out a few engravings when he was called from his focus.
"I'm sorry, what was that Erza?"
The scarlet sighed but let his inattentiveness pass. "I asked if that was a blush on your cheeks I caught when we entered."
Happy let out a squeal that could have mimicked Lucy's. "He must have asked!"
The celestial mage let a gleeful smile overrun her features. The knight's face turned as red as her hair, a nervous combination with the smile that had suddenly appeared on her lips. "We're not interrupting a moment…are we?"
"Moment?" Gray dumbly echoed.
Natsu turned his head away. An uncomfortable, stifling heat that he was a stranger of consumed him. He let his sakura bangs fall in front of his eyes, casting a shielding shadow over his face. He could feel Gray's questioning eyes bore into the back of his neck as the other three in the room stuttered out plans and schedules.
"I didn't ask him…"
Both girls stopped like a switch had been flipped. He could feel several sets of eyes dart between him and the ice mage. He heard a faint, "Excuse us," and watched from the corners of his eyes as Erza left along with Lucy who carried a stunned Happy out the door. The heavy wood closed softly behind them, barely making a 'click' as the face and strike plate hit against each other.
"Ask me what?"
Gray's voice was just above a whisper, but to Natsu it felt like a condemnation ringing in his ears. Eerie silence passed between the two. The dragon slayer warded off the shiver threatening him. His fingers numbly ran over the smooth surface of the box hidden from sight in his pocket.
"It's nothing,"
"Natsu…"
"I'm leaving now,"
The dragon slayer pushed himself up abruptly from his chair, making it clatter to the ground for the second time that day. Gray's melancholy eyes followed him as he made his way to the door. The dragon slayer's kept his back turned to him, making him feel abandoned for an outlandish reason he couldn't place.
"Natsu..."
"Master wanted to talk to me about something, better not keep him waiting."
"Natsu,"
The pinkette froze, his hand lingering on the worn out doorknob.
"What are you trying to avoid…"
Natsu let his eyes drifted down, focusing on the lines in the floor. The cold metal of the handle teased his palm, one turn away from granting him temporary asylum. He could hear Gray's heart beat just above his pounding thoughts.
"So you are avoiding something then."
Natsu stayed silent, wallowing in his own mind. He thought back to a certain job request, to one idea that he never should have carried out.
He could hear Gray give a gloomy sigh behind him. "If you're not going to bother to look me in the eye then I guess I'll just have to look you in yours."
Natsu snapped his head up when the mattress springs squeaked behind him. He turned around to glimpse the ice mage struggling to get to his feet, one hand clutched on the frame of the bed, the other awkwardly holding his hip, just below the scarred tissue. It took less than a moment for the dragon slayer to lock one arm securely around the ice mage's waist and hoist him back up on the bed.
"Idiot, you're not supposed to do that yet."
Gray hooked his arm around Natsu's neck and pulled his face down to meet his. "Are you going to tell me now?"
Natsu stared the other down, forcing back all emotion until his face was void. It wasn't till Gray shifted under him in another attempt did he move back and collapse on the still knocked over chair, in what he believed to be a downright helpless manner. Gray watched him, waiting expectantly.
"It's not that important any more…" The fire mage let out a tired sigh. He let his exhaustion from the past several weeks wash over him as the two stayed quietly in each other's company. "I guess you can honestly say I'm the one who did this to you." Natsu gestured to the hospital bed, a bitter sharpness at the end of his words hung in the air.
"How pathetic is that?!" Gray watched him with saddened eyes as the dragon slayer continued on. His voice wasn't as tart as a second before. It had dropped octaves though, giving him a deadly sound. "I completely ditch you, left you alone and that started it all. For what? So I could buy you a pointless ring?" The dragon slayer shook his head at himself. "I guess that just shows how childish I still am, or better yet how superficial. Just goes to show that I just don't deserve you."
Natsu voice trailed off into a humorless chuckle at the end. "I guess I just didn't want to tell you…I didn't want you to be done with me just yet."
Gray felt tears prick the corners of his eyes as he gazed across to the dragon slayer averting his sight from him. The pinkette's words slowly sunk in, planting themselves firmly into his mind. His vision began to blur and became dark. Just like the dark cell he suffered in. Where he screamed in pain and everything was coated with red. The place where his nightmares sprung from…
"I don't think that's unimportant." The ice mage forced back the salty drops, focusing only on the man in front of him. There was a break in his voice, cutting his words before their intended end. Natsu lifted his head, looking back at him in poorly contained disbelief. "You did all that for me, it wasn't your fault any of this happened. You saved me."
Gray reached out and gripped the other's hand, intertwining their fingers. Pools of sapphire stared back into ones of charcoal. The raven could feel a lump forming in his throat as the other captivated him. "You didn't give up on me when you realized I was gone. You kept looking. If you did that, I must mean something to you," The ice mage forced a strained breath down his throat, painfully filling his lungs, "and that's all I need to know."
An irresistible urge rushed from Natsu's fingertips up his arm before traveling to his core. He gently closed the gap that had formed between his upper and lower jaw that he hadn't realized appeared. He crushed his hand against Gray's, feeling the tender skin tickle his sensitive nerves, he ducked his head and kissed the ice mage's fingers. An action he wouldn't have done if they hadn't been alone.
"Gray," Natsu's warm breath tickled the other's skin. "I've already made up my mind. I love you…but I'm not the one for you. We both know that. We should stop fooling ourselves before we get hurt."
The ice mage stared at him blankly. His hands began trembling, shaking like a leaf in a summer's storm. His breathing hitched as he waited for the fire mage to add, take back, say anything to undo those words he just heard.
"Don'-Don't even think about it, Natsu Dragneel." Gray grabbed the fire mage's hand and pulled him close. He buried his head in the crook of Natsu's neck, inhaling the sweet smell. "You've already promised me too much. You're not allowed to back out now that you think something like that. You never give up this easily. My Natsu doesn't back down this easily."
The fire mage ran a comforting hand through the ice mage's hair. "Gray, I've already decided. It's not like I'm leaving you forever. I just…can't take a chance another mistake of mine will fall on you."
"You're not doing this."
The dragon slayer shook his head once more. "I'm repeating everything. You've gone through enough."
"The stay with me dammit!" the ice mage cried, snapping his eyes up to Natsu's. "If you're so damn guilty then stop running! Make it up to me, dammit! Stay the hell with me!"
Natsu's eyes widened as Gray's voice rose several octaves. The ice mage's words settled in the pit of his stomach, hitting his core. He pressed the pads of his thumbs to the edges of Gray's eyes. "Please don't cry-"
"Promise me you'll stay!"
"Gray, I-"
"Promise me!"
"Alright, I promise. Just please don't cry."
Gray's trembling lip slowly stopped moving. Natsu brushed the tears streaking his cheeks, clearing his ultramarine eyes. A feeble smile that didn't quite reach his eyes spread across the fire mage's features. "I'll make everything up to you…I won't go until you tell me to."
Gray returned a smile of his own which faltered within seconds. Natsu caught a sheet of red shrouding the ice mage's face before he buried it behind his curtain of hair. "Well?" The dragon slayer blinked in confusion, something Gray was able to catch even through his concealment. "Are-Aren't you going to ask? Or do I have to do everything for you, Flame Brain?"
Natsu confusion switched to a mock angry scowl. "How demanding. Maybe I don't want to ask someone who's such a pain."
"Whatever, jus-just get it over with, squinty eyes."
"Don't tell me what to do, droopy eyes." Natsu growled, yanking the box out of his pocket.
"What do you mean? I can do that now." The ice mage huffed. "You're just lucky I put up with you." Gray snapped. Natsu snarled in response. He roughly grabbed Gray's hand and expertly freed the ring from its container. The ice mage brought down a hard fist on his head when he tried to jam it on. "Idiot, you're supposed to ask first."
"Fine!"
The pinkette gave a twisted sneer that went swimmingly with his reptile like characteristics. He slid from the chair onto one knee. He held one of Gray's hands gently in his own, while his other hand presented the dazzling silver band in all its glory. Gray opened his mouth to retort to whatever snide "or else" was about to come out of the dragon slayer's mouth. His defensive expression flipped into a new one as he couldn't help but stare at the fire mage.
Natsu's expression had turned to a new one; the immature glower had disappeared, leaving behind a well-defined, gentlemanly outward show. His posture was excellently established, making him not too rigid or too relaxed. He viewed ideally responsible with a serious air around him that the ice mage had never witnessed before. It wasn't the terrifying seriousness he saw when Natsu was fighting. It was solemn.
"Gray Fullbuster," he started, comfortably playing with the raven's fingers. "Will you do me the honor, of making me the happiest man in existence, of becoming my one and only partner for now and forever. Would you do me the honor, of becoming my husband?"
The ice mage stared at him dumbfound. It wasn't how he'd ever imagine the dragon slayer to do this. He felt something wet slide down his cheek. A choking sound left him as he broke down, trying to cough out an answer from his unwanted stifle. An unsolicited sob left him. He hadn't cried this often since he was a child, now it seems lately he couldn't stop. A nervous laugh mixed with his bawling; at least this episode was for an entirely different reason.
He must have somehow managed a nod, for the next thing he found was a shimmering halo gracing his finger. Warm hands cupped his cheeks and lifted his face up, successfully putting an end to the rivers flowing down his cheeks. A heat covered his mouth, hot breath mingled with his own. Pallid hands tangled themselves in the familiar muffler wrapped around at tanned neck. The ice mage felt his mind want to shut down, worn-out from the past few moments of his emotional loop. It seemed every few moments the dragon slayer was anew to him. He twined his fingers in the dragon slayer's hair, hoping he'll get his old Natsu back, permanently.
I don't have time to write nowadays...
Which is a problem.
On the bright side, the past few Fairy Tail chapters have been amazing. This new arc looks amazing so far. I want something big to happen with Silver. He's the best new character to be introduced yet.
