Title: Salamander and the Naked Prince
Author: Risa
Pairing: Natsu/Gray, Gazille/Levy, Erza/Jellal, Lyon/Juvia, possibly others
Rated: T
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is Mashima's and this is a bit of a Cinderella ripoff, but whatevs.
Summary: Every maiden in the land is called forth to attend his highness Prince Gray's ball. Now, this shouldn't have anything to do with Natsu, an orphan that lives and hunts on the outskirts of the kingdom, but when he should chance to meet this dashing ice prince then everything regarding Gray suddenly becomes his business.
THREE: Scuffle at the Lake
It was the twenty-second hour, long after the sun had fallen beyond the horizon, and Natsu had long since stormed off from his home in a belligerent huff. Not often did Wendy open her mouth to scold, but he and Gazille destroyed half of the kitchen over the fish incident, and were even told to clean it at once. So they did, and they hated every moment of the deed, as well as the company that they were in. Wendy also had to add insult to injury by taking delight in her invite to the ball. It would give her an opportunity to sew a new dress and indulge in finer things, claimed she, though Natsu still took no pleasure in the thought of that bastard prince taking her hand in marriage. He would not let that happen.
With that in mind, he flexed his muscles all the way to the east side of Fairy Lake, where stood the prince from earlier. The moon caught this man quite well, and he had even bothered to dress for the occasion. From plumed hat to breeches he was the picture of a creep looking for a fight, or perhaps that was just Natsu's bias, for no threat of treason could keep him from this battle with this man. He had an idea of what slept beneath the bangles and the bullshit, and he liked what he saw.
"I had begun to think you would not come, filth," said the prince, tossing his hat aside. Natsu's face dressed itself with a confident grin, and he slammed his fist into his palm with fervor.
"And I'm surprised you have clothes on, pervert."
"Still your tongue, beast! I am no pervert," said he whilst discarding his overfrock. "I am crown prince of the Magnolia Kingdom and a mage in the art of ice make. You would do well not to attempt to disgrace me with your foul and worthless babble, if you value your life, that is."
"Ah, shut up, you stripping scum sucker. Quit yapping and start slapping, or you'll be dead long before you're done being an arrogant pile of crap."
"An arrogant pile of crap, am I? Please, do not mistake me for the likes of you. Prepare to eat your words, dreck!"
"Come at me, birthday suit."
By the time their fists collided Gray was down to one cravat, which he kept to prove a moot point, because the only other clothing he managed to keep on were his breeches and the undergarments beneath. All else flew. His plumed hat floated in the lake like a little boat which a frog had jumped into. What this frog bore witness to was an exchange most bright and fierce, which frightened the poor thing into soiling the hat.
Natsu had pulled out all the stops with no regard to the splendor of this beautiful, open space. He dosed the plant life in flames coming after the prince, who was as quick as he was sharp. He transformed his ice into cannons, whose balls bore holes into every bit of ground Natsu once stood. Then at once the fire mage used his command of flames to propel him from the singed ground to the open air from which the ice mage stood upon a frozen pillar and was firing cannons. He pummeled that pillar upon which Gray stood, and when Gray hopped from his pillar he made fifty-someodd daggers from his ice in and effort to pin Natsu to the closest tree. Natsu turned just in time to see those daggers fly, and breathed fire toward them so to destroy them before their target could be reached. It worked, and then they were both on the ground, already in a fit of panting.
"You are not bad, that is, for a complete waste of my good time and company," said Gray through his labored breaths, and he was smiling as though it were his first in ages, and Natsu had to admit that he found the prince's smile quite charming.
"You talking because there's no more fight in you, you pompous prick?" said Natsu, assuming his next fighting position. He too was giddy as a steed with a bushel of apples, and Gray appreciated this fervor. It was like nothing he had ever experienced in his training, not even against Lyon, by whom he was always defeated. And though Lyon was every bit as overconfident and shit eating as this monstrous salamander, he did not glow with satisfaction over the art of battle, nor did he exchange good-natured gloating. He was just bored, bored, bored, and that would dampen Gray's enthusiasm considerably.
Call this exchange of blows a breath of fresh air. Gray was evenly matched against his elemental weakness, making him the superior of the two intellectually, though that went without saying. He was a prince, and this boy was a commoner, though for a civilian he had an uncanny battle sense that would make him an asset to the military for sure. Gray proceeded to form a broadsword from his ice, and Natsu surrounded his fists in flames, and once again they had come in contact magic to magic. The sword had begun to melt, and the flames had begun to cool, and the two stood in pushing and pushing the limits of their reserves, both broken into sweat and gleaming in the light of Natsu's flame.
This did not cease until they were both drained. Gray's sword had become a puddle, and Natsu's fists were doused, and all they could do was exchange fists. Natsu's fists flew wherever, having no regard for visible bruising. He seemed to have no qualms about being charged with treason over this, though in such an event Gray would fight tooth and nail to have him freed, even if he had to press a dagger to his own neck to get his point across. Mother, father, Lyon, Erza, Laxus, all of them. They needed to realize that the art of combat coursed through Gray's veins more than his own blood, and to be stifled by trifles such as marriage and governing, why, it would simply waste him away.
By the time he and Natsu were finished exchanging fists, Gray landed one just hard enough to knock his wild opponent down once and for all. He fell also, upon Natsu's exposed chest no less. Really, he was one to talk of revealing wear, for he wore about as much as Gray did at this point in time, which admittedly was not much, but at least his breeches were not lost. That was a good thing.
"The fight is mine," said Gray, in voice cracked by exuberant exhaustion.
"Like hell it is. You can't move anymore than I can, moron."
"He who deals the final blow is called victor."
"If those are your terms," said Natsu, bopping Gray in the skull with the all force of a breeze. "Then there's the final blow and I'm the winner."
"You cannot win by turning my own words about your tongue to suit your needs, you biased, bumbling fool."
"Yeah, well you can't even scoot inch enough to pry yourself from my chest."
Gray's cheeks flushed, and though he was quite comfortable where he had landed, that was no excuse to be outdone. He scooted inch enough that his cheek reached the ground about Natsu's shoulder, though he did nothing to retract the arm he had splayed across his opponent's chest. The other man minded not, because he had placed his hand upon Gray's exposed spine and warmed it. It was then that Gray realized his heart was still pounding, but the battle adrenaline had worn off, and all that was left was this moment with this person who excited and delighted him.
"What might you be called? Other than beast and dreck of course," said Gray, whispering his question onto Natsu's skin. He could feel the other man's body burn beneath his arm, his breath, and his words, but when he turned to face Gray he was smiling as though this were the most fantastic moment in all of his life.
"Natsu, son of Igneel. I hunt for a living, and reside on the north side of this lake on the fringe of the kingdom."
"Well, Natsu, son of Igneel. I am certain that I do not have to introduce myself; however, I will say this-" Gray reached around to take Natsu's hand in his and sighed in a most content manner. His hair tickled the nape of Natsu's neck. "-I have never had such a wonderful time in all of my eighteen years. Thank you."
"H-hey, you challenged me and I took you up on it. No big deal," said Natsu, and at this moment his heart had begun to pound. For a man whose magic was based in ice, Gray felt incredibly warm pressed to his side. Not only that, but he couldn't help but pull the other man closer to himself. There was a part of Natsu that never wanted this moment to end, and truly up until this moment he had never seen Gray as anymore than an opponent. No title of royalty had any bearing on their match.
Gray's grand title would have bearing on matters of the heart, however much his heart chose to defy even that, at least for the moment. There was no mistaking how close they pressed together. It was an uncanny fit, and though they barely knew one another, their fists told a great story. They were both pent up in their respective homes, and they both needed an outlet. They were also chained to their social classes, one being a prince, the other a peasant. On this night, at this moment, none of that mattered. Natsu laced his fingers with Gray's, and Gray turned his head up to catch a glimpse of this man's face.
"You are radiant," he said, and he took his free hand and played with Natsu's cheek. In return, Natsu rolled his beaten body on its side so that he might face the prince directly, and the two of them kissed as the moon bathed them in splendid light.
TBC
A/N: OK guys, here's the deal. I'm not dead. This fic and Gladys shall go on, though it might be a bit slow-going. I'm having (hopefully) minor health-related issues, and my job's eating more of my life than it should. It was also Christmas and my birthday and blah blah. I'm 24 now, wooo, that means NOTHING! XD But whatever. I'll at least try to post the chapters of this that are already completed just to tide you all over. I've also got a nearly completed smut fic that I'll be posting on AO3 eventually. I'll let you all know about that when I do.
Anyway, Happy New Year, everyone! Thanks for your support.
