Spluttering and choking, Gildarts reappeared, covered head to toe in white dust.
"W-what the..." Lucy stared, eyes wide.
"Stupid wall gave way," Gildarts huffed. Natsu, curious, half-walked-half-flew over into the billowing dust, and he, too, was turned snow-white.
"Big brother Zeref! Come on!" he laughed. "It's fun!" Zeref looked on emotionlessly, as if he couldn't care less about anything right now. Natsu giggled nervously, grabbing Zeref's wrist and tugging him into the cloud. Even Zeref's night-black hair paled in the plaster dust.
"Great, now we have three dust monsters loose in the house," Lucy groaned.
"Lucy! What happened? I heard you scream and..." Gray trailed off, skidding to a stop, staring at the three powdered figures. "The hell?"
"The wall gave in," Gildarts explained, trying in vain to brush the dust away.
"It's snowing! It's snowing!" Natsu shouted enthusiastically, grabbing handfuls of dust and tossing them into the air. Poor Zeref gained an extra coating of plaster dust, but he didn't notice as he slowly blinked at the energetic boy.
"Stop that, Natsu," Lucy said, batting the rogue specks away. Natsu immediately froze, hands still in the air as another cloud slowly descended to the floor.
"Okay, big sister Lucy," he said agreeably, not letting his arms down. He watched the fake snow, his eyes changing to a bright, forest-green color.
"Now what do we do?" Gray whispered. "It's not like we can just sweep it all under the carpet and call it clean."
"No, we can't," Lucy agreed softly, watching the dust finally settle. "You and Gildarts should probably clean the kids up. Me and Erza can make dinner," she decided.
"Why me?" Gray asked incrediously.
"You're a boy. I'm a girl. Simple enough?" Lucy said, a sharp edge to her voice. Gray gulped. Lucy could be just as scary as Erza when she wanted to be.
"A-aye..." He gestured to Gildarts to come over.
"Yeah?" Gildarts blew a cloud off of himself, making Gray's face and chest turn white.
"First of all, Gray needs some clothes again. Second, you and him are going to give the boys a bath," Lucy explained. "They'll also need some clothes, but you can take care of that."
"We'll just give them Gray's. He never wears them anyways," Gildarts grumbled, brushing more dust out of his rust-colored hair. Gray gave the man a nasty glare, but shrugged.
"Whatever."
Maybe an hour later, Gray and Gildarts came into the kitchen, their hair soaking wet and plastered to their faces. Natsu bounced along behind them, dragging a blank Zeref behind him. Both him and his brother were dressed in some of Gray's extra clothes, made to stay with clothespins.
"Big sister Lucy! That was fun!" Natsu chirped.
"Maybe for you," Gray grumbled, shaking his damp hair and spraying droplets all over the floor. Gildarts copied him, and soon they had Natsu doing just the same.
"That's good, Natsu," Lucy said with a smile. "We just got dinner ready. Are you hungry?"
"Hungry...?" Natsu tilted his head questionably. "Natsu don't get hungry."
"I'm hungry," Zeref said softly, crimson eyes clear. Natsu turned and gave his brother a bright grin.
"Big brother Zeref always hungry," he said, poking the said boy in the stomach. Zeref put a hand on his stomach, as if Natsu had somehow hurt him, but then his eyes turned cloudy once more, and Natsu visibly deflated. Gray seemed to jump at something, and he turned wide eyes on Lucy, clearly saying 'I just remembered!'
Lucy raised an eyebrow, and gray cupped his hands together like he was holding water. But then he started imitating turning pages, and Lucy pointed to Erza. Gray nodded, seemingly satisfied by her unspoken answer.
"Come sit down," Erza barked, and instantly the table was full. Natsu happily bounced in his seat, not even knowing why he was sitting in the first place.
"Lucy, can you go get the pasta?" Erza asked, bringing out some bowls and spoons.
"Of course!" Lucy obediently entered the kitchen, and came out seconds later with a giant, covered salad bowl.
"Prepare to be amazed!" she said, lifting the lid off the bowl with a flourish. Natsu, Gildarts, and Gray eagerly looked inside, and the older boys cheered loudly. Natsu stared for a second, before sitting back in his chair, looking bewildered.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing to the bowl. Everyone suddenly froze, and every eye was on the ghost boy.
"You've never had pasta salad before?" Gray gasped disbelievingly.
"The poor boy!" Lucy whimpered, shaking her head.
"Poor thing will never live like this," Gildarts said solemnly, crossing his arms.
"Have you ever tried to eat before?" Erza asked calmly. Natsu shook his head, his spiky hair bouncing.
"Natsu never eated before," he mumbled, looking at his lap while slightly levitating above his seat.
"Then let's change that," Erza said decisively, setting a bowl in front of the supernatural child.
Lame. Lame lame lame. You had to wait a looong time for a piece of shit.
Okay, for real? I was just too lazy to update. I have the next, like, three chapters done. But I'm rewriting them because I realized I messed up, big time. So I had to make SOMETHING to please you demons.
Natsu: You know, I could kill you in your sleep
Me: *Shudders* Let's hope it never comes to that. Adios~!