Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail
*Rated M for Mature
Chapter 10
Natsu woke to the sun shining through the window. He stretched and yawned, laying flat on his back against the pillows. Turning his head to the left, he noticed that Gray was still asleep. Natsu laughed to himself when Gray's mouth parted slightly and a light snore came out. He's so cute like that.
Gray turned over in his sleep and was now facing Natsu. Seeing Gray's peaceful face gave Natsu an evil idea. He leaned over cautiously and lightly tickled the ice mage's nose with his finger. Gray scrunched up his nose and wiggled it. Natsu silently laughed to himself, tickling his nose once more. This time, Gray swatted at his own nose, which only made him slap himself in the face. Jolting at his own action, Gray's eyes shot open. He glared at Natsu menacingly.
"What? I didn't do it!" Natsu insisted, smiling playfully. His smile faded though when Gray lunged at him.
Straddling Natsu's hips, Gray placed his hands on the sides of Natsu's head and looked down at him with a mischievous smirk on his face. "Bad dragon," he said. "What should I do to discipline you? Hm?"
Natsu gulped. He'd never known Gray to be…playful before. "Um…how about you let the dragon go?" he offered innocently.
"No. I know a fitting punishment for the dragon."
"What are you doing?" Natsu exclaimed when he felt Gray's hands run up and down his sides. Natsu started laughing uncontrollably. Gray started laughing too as he tickled Natsu mercilessly.
"Haha…p-please s-s-stop," Natsu pleaded. Gray relented and let him up. They smiled at each other. After a moment's silence, Natsu said, "I was thinking about what you said yesterday."
Gray's smile faded as his expression grew grim. "What about it?"
"I think we should give it a try. Us, I mean. If you still want to, that is," he said, light pink dusting his cheeks.
Gray smirked at the blushing dragon-slayer. "Oh, I still want to," he said huskily. "And I'll give you all the time you need. There's no need to rush things. We have our whole lives ahead of us."
"Thank you, Gray," he sighed and Gray found himself with an armful of Natsu. He hugged Natsu back and grinned as he took in his scent. He smells like cinnamon.
Natsu let go and leaned back. "Can you stay still please? I want to try something."
Gray raised his eyebrow at Natsu's request. "Is this something going to hurt?"
"No," Natsu replied, contradicting himself by lightly smacking Gray on the arm. "Just stay really still."
"Fine." Gray's eyes widened when Natsu leaned in toward his face, an impish grin playing on his lips.
"Just…stay…very…still," he muttered against Gray's lips, but he didn't kiss him. Natsu's lips rested against Gray's, tickling them with his breath. He slowly rubbed his lips back and forth against Gray's, eliciting a sharp intake of breath on the ice mage's part.
How the hell does he expect me not to do anything when he's teasing me like this? Gray exclaimed in his head. He almost groaned aloud at the loss of contact when Natsu pulled away from him. He wanted the dragon-slayer to kiss him, but he knew he couldn't ask that of Natsu. Not yet, anyway. Looking at Natsu's face, he was about to say something when he noticed the dragon-slayer's eyes fixated on his lips.
Natsu's eyes darted up to meet Gray's. He smirked at him, and before he could react, Natsu's lips met his. He timidly moved his lips gently against Gray's. Although he was clumsy, it felt, simply put, good. He pulled back. "You can kiss back, you know."
"I thought I was supposed to stay still."
"Gray," Natsu whined.
"Oh. So I'm allowed to move now?" Gray questioned with a smirk.
"Jerk," Natsu said before their lips met again. This time they both relaxed when Gray took over the kiss. Deciding to take it a step further, Gray gently tugged at Natsu's bottom lip, nipping at it slightly with his teeth. When he heard, and felt, Natsu gasp, he continued. Gray tenderly pushed his tongue into Natsu's open mouth and then pulled back, looking into Natsu's eyes questioningly.
Natsu melted when he felt Gray prod his mouth. He was brought out of his stupor when Gray stopped. He opened his eyes. When had they closed? Gray was staring at him. Why'd he stop? Oh. He's not sure if he should continue. Well, here's my answer. Natsu grabbed the back of Gray's head and pulled him in for another kiss.
Gray smiled when the dragon-slayer kissed him again. He felt Natsu shyly prod past his lips with his tongue, trying to pry his mouth open. And he granted Natsu access.
Natsu was stunned when Gray opened his mouth, allowing him to explore the depths of his hot cavern. He timidly explored Gray's mouth, mapping out every crevice; he tasted like ice cream in summer. Then their tongues met in a fierce battle. They fought back and forth until Gray overpowered him, shoving his eager tongue into Natsu's mouth, leaving no space untouched. Gray aggressively yet compassionately kissed him with all his might, drawing Natsu's tongue back into his mouth and sucking on it fervently. When they both needed air, they broke away.
They panted as they looked at each other.
"Wow," Natsu wheezed, a dark blush staining his cheeks.
"Yeah. Wow," Gray agreed in a similar manner.
"Wh-" Natsu was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. Gray and Natsu scrambled from the bed and tried to reassemble themselves. "Who is it?"
"It's Happy. Mira says it's time for brekafast," happy called from behind the closed door.
"Okay. We'll be right there," said Gray.
"Okay. See you at breakfast." They heard Happy leave and then they looked at each other.
Gray approached Natsu and he regarded the ice mage uneasily. "Um, Gray?"
"Yes, Natsu?"
"Can we keep this—us—a secret for now? I really want to take things slow and I don't want to have to deal with everyone else knowing just yet."
"I understand completely," Gray said, jerking him into a swift hug. "Let's go get some breakfast before everyone else eats it all."
Natsu smiled in response.
Magnolia Stadium (Arena)
"Welcome to the Magnolia Stadium!" said the overenthusiastic announcer to the excited crowd. "Today we will commence with the beginning of Grand Magic Games! Will our twenty-six guilds please come down to the arena?"
All contestants stood in the middle of the arena awaiting the next statement.
"Great! Now that you're all present, we'll begin," continued the announcer. A few guilds groaned, wanting him to get on with it. "It's time to activate the archive-magic database." The announcer walked over to a large lacrima system with monitors on each corner of the arena. He pressed a button that brought the machine to life and selected the 'Guild Selection' feature on the screen followed by 'Compeition Selection.'
"Now, this database will select six guilds, making a total of three competitions this time. After the paired guilds are selected, the competition they will be competing in shall be announced as well," said the announcer. "Are we ready?" The guilds nodded. The announcer activated the program for the selection process.
"GUILD NUMBER ONE...TWILIGHT OGRE," said the archive. "GUILD NUMBER TWO….QUATRO CERBERUS….COMPETITION….OBSTACLE COURSE."
"All right! So our first competition will be Twilight Oger vs. Quatro Cerberus in the Obstacle Course! Let's give a round of applause for our competitors!"
"GUILD NUMBER THREE...CRIME SORCIERE," said the archive. "GUILD NUMBER FOUR….DARK UNICORN….COMPETITION….WATER BALLOON TOSS."
"Wonderful! Our second competition will be Crime Sorciere vs. Dark Unicorn in the Water Balloon Toss. Let's give them a hand!"
"GUILD NUMBER FIVE...PHOENIX GRAVE," said the archive. "GUILD NUMBER SIX….DWARF GEAR….COMPETITION….SACK RACE."
"Fantastic! Our third and final competition of the day will be Phoenix Grave vs. Dwarf Gear in the Sack Race. Give it up for our competitors!"
The audience gave a loud round of applause, whistling and cheering.
"Now. Let's have our first two guilds have at it. Twilight Ogre! Quatro Cerberus! Step on up!" Everyone else left the arena floor and headed toward their seats in the stadium. Everyone sat down and waited for the first competition to begin.
Suddenly the floor rumbled and opened. A large platform rose from beneath the disappearing floor, securing itself between the two guilds. It was an obstacle course of magic design.
"All right competitors! Step on up!" cried the announcer. "Please select four members to proceed through the course!"
Twilight Ogre vs. Quatro Cerberus – Obstacle Course
Both guilds quickly observed the so-called obstacle course. To them, it just looked like a flat platform; there were no obstacles. Perhaps they activated during the competition?
Once each guild selected their four members, King Fiore made an announcement. "The first guild to successfully send all four members through the Obstacle Course wins. However, only one member can complete the course at a time. The use of magic is forbidden. This is a test of intelligence.
"May the best guild win!"
Thibault from Twilight Ogre and Rocker from Quatro Cerberus stepped up to the platform. As soon as they proceeded to the course, runes activated, creating the plethora of obstacles they now saw before them.
Ladders, garbage cans, and even old lounge chairs littered the arena. It looked like a death trap with all they had to crawl over, under, around, and through.
And a death trap is was for Thibault. Not one minute in and he'd already gotten stuck in an old lounge chair that had decided to latch onto his foot. It wouldn't seem to let go.
Rocker, Warcry, and Nobarly had made it through the Obstacle Course before Thibault broke free of the chair. Once he was finally up and running, much to his guild's relief, he found Bacchus of Quatro Cerberus hot on his heels. Who knew that drunken bastard could move so fast?
Well, maybe too fast.
Thibault screamed as he found himself drunkenly shoved into another old lounge chair, which had decided that his head would be its next victim.
"And there you have it ladies and gentlemen. The winner of the first completion is Quatro Cerberus!
"Now. Let's have our second two guilds have at it. Crime Sorciere! Dark Unicorn! Step on up!" The next two guilds entered the arena.
Again, the arena shifted itself.
King Fiore now spoke. "The Grand Magic Games are about being outside in the fresh air and hot sunshine, making water-themed events a must! For this competition, we will have the guilds pair their members off—only two pairs—and line up about six feet away from one another. First, pairs toss their balloon and those who do not drop their balloons stay in the competition, taking two steps back to increase the distance from one another at each round. We will continue until there is only one team left."
"All right competitors! You heard the man! Step on up!" cried the announcer. "Please select your two pairs for the competition!"
Crime Sorciere vs. Dark Unicorn – Water Balloon Toss
"And now let's have our next pairs step up to the center of the arena," called the announcer. "We have Meredy and Sorano, and Cobra and Racer from Crime Sorciere! And…well, two different pairs from Dark Unicorn. They all look the same, so I'm not sure who is who.
"Also! I've just received word from King Fiore himself that magic is allowed in this competition. I repeat! Magic is allowed! Let's begin!"
Cobra smirked as he listened in on Racer's thoughts. This was going to be good.
"EEK!" shrieked Sorano, who was now drenched from the water balloon popping. "You're going to pay for that, Meredy!"
"You were supposed to catch it!" Meredy yelled back.
"It seems our first pair—from Crime Sorciere—has been eliminated!" cried the announcer.
Cobra turned his attention back to Racer, giving him a quick nod to signal the mage into making his move. As Cobra tossed the water balloon, Racer zoomed to the first Dark Unicorn pair and popped their balloon, coming back to his own partner just in time to catch the balloon.
"And the first pair from Dark Unicorn is out! It's now down to two! Please spread out! Last dry team wins!"
After catching on that they could use magic, the members of Dark Unicorn utilized their own magic to make a tiny magical barrier around them so that Racer couldn't interfere. Cobra kept listening to their thoughts, hoping to find an opening. But it seemed favor was on their side.
With several minutes going by, and increasing the distance between themselves, Dark Unicorn became erratic with their throws. Which was all Cobra needed as his opening. A distraction was in order.
Just as one of the members of Dark Unicorn was about to throw the water balloon, Cobra used his Sound Magic as a distraction. He watched in amusement as the water balloon was thrown way off course, with the other Dark Unicorn member racing to catch it; however, having your hair pointed in such a manner did no one any favors.
"I can't believe it! The water balloon popped on the mage's hair! Crime Sorciere wins! Congratulations! Okay now let's have everyone clear the arena for the next and final competition of the day."
"Now. Let's have our third two guilds have at it. Phoenix Grave! Dwarf Gear! Step on up!" The next two guilds entered the arena.
Again, the arena shifted itself.
King Fiore spoke once again. "It is now time for the Sack Race. For this competition, each guild will select one mage. That mage will then select a magically imbued burlap sack from the crate in front of them. Competitors will place both feet inside the burlap sack and hop to the finish line at the end of the arena. The first one to reach the finish line wins."
"All right Phoenix Grave and Dwarf Gear! You heard his majesty! Let the Magic Sack Race begin!" cried the announcer. "Please select your representative for the game!"
Phoenix Grave vs. Dwarf Gear – Sack Race
No one really knew what to expect from the Sack Race. It was a bit unnerving when King Fiore said the burlap sack were magical. The opponents from both guilds hesitantly picked up a sack and walked over to the starting line. The sacks felt like regular old sacks.
Stepping into them, they waited for the starting signal.
"On your marks! Get set! Go!"
The member from Phoenix Grave began right away. He jumped. And launched straight up into the air and out of sight.
"Oh, my goodness! It's seems that our person from Phoenix Grave has selected the anti-gravity sack! Who knows when he'll come down?!"
The member from Dwarf Gear stared up at the sky, jaw hanging open. Just what the hell competition was this? Steeling himself for the worst, he gripped the burlap sack, and jumped.
He fell over, barely moving an inch.
"Uh, oh! It seems our Dwarf Gear competitor has selected the over-encumbered sack! Will he be able to move at all?"
The Dwarf Gear member raised himself a little bit. All he had to do was make it to the finish line, right?
"Oh, my! It looks like he's dragging himself to the finish line. There are no rules against that!"
Grinning since he was nearly there, his almost stopped when he heard screaming and witnessed people pointing at the sky.
"Wow! It looks like our Phoenix Grave member has returned from above! Get ready for an impact!"
The Phoenix Grave member screamed as he came hurtling back into the arena and crashed across the finish line. Curse this competition!
"We have our winner! Phoenix Grave has won the Sack Race! Dwarf Gear is out! Great job! It was kind of close there.
"All right, everyone! That's it for today. The next round of competitions will resume tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of the activities that are going on until then. Bye!" the announcer exclaimed.
"I can't believe the types of competitions we're being subjected to!" whined Lucy.
"Hm. Makes you wonder what goes on in that King's head," laughed Natsu.
"I agree," replied Gray. "We should all head out. Maybe come up with a game plan."
"Okay. Let's go," Natsu said.
End Chapter