Chapter 26 – Explanation
Gray POV
I awoke to the soft, familiar murmur of a sleepy Fire Dragon beside me. Opening my eyes I noticed immediately Natsu laying on my chest, his hair ruffled and messy, but his body otherwise fine and clothed. Looking around the room I realised that we were not in our rented house-room, but rather were splayed on a make shift mound of blankets and cushions in the dining hall. Weird, when did we go in here? I thought observing how the tables and chairs had been rearranged to accommodate our sleeping area. After a moment of foggy thought a few choice memories came back from the evening before; Hope attacking me with that blade, and Natsu trapped by the Boy-Nightmare's powers. I looked down at the Dragon Slayer as I thought this, my eyes critically searching for any sign of change or harm caused by the events of yesterday. I don't think he's been injured, he's just sleepy I summarized, choosing to look up to one of the windows conveniently opposite the 'bed'. There was a soft light and a pale pink-blue sky showing beyond the waters. It's morning then, early morning I'd guess I thought, resting my head in Natsu's hair and taking in his scent. As I felt that comforting smell fill my nostrils more memories filled my mind; Natsu collapsing and falling unconscious, me crying over him, begging him to wake up, me kissing him…
The thoughts twisted at my stomach. I kissed Natsu… in front of everyone the realisation hit me hard and fast. I kissed Natsu… I kissed him whilst crying… IN FRONT OF EVERYONE! The realisation quickly gave way to panic that rose from my chest to my throat. And Lyon was there too… what the hell is he gonna do? Insult me, maybe… Poke fun, definitely…
As I spiraled deeper into panicked thoughts I noticed the change in Natsu's breathing, it was hard not too since he was pressed so close to me. "Ergh… G'morning Gray" the sleepy pinkette greeted me. Thankful for the sudden distraction I smiled at Natsu, shifting position so I lay next to him instead of with him on top of me. "Good morning Natsu" I replied. He smiled back at me, a perfectly content smile. Obviously he doesn't remember what happened then I thought.
Natsu remained quiet, observing me for a few minutes before sweeping his gaze across the room. "Why are we sleeping in the dining hall?" he asked, a cutely confused expression on his features. I smirked down at him. "I don't know, I guess we passed out and then the others put us in here" I replied, not really caring about the logistics of why we were here but rather what made them think it was safe to let us sleep, cuddled up as we were, without killing each other when we awoke.
"Oh…" Natsu breathed, his face told me he was still trying to piece together what happened, "Er… we beat Hope, didn't we?" he seemed genuinely confused, so I decided to fill him in.
"Yeah, we beat him" I stated, a small smile playing with his lips.
"Then why are you worrying, we're obviously both alive?" he asked me. I seemed taken aback by his question, and was a few minutes in replying. "I can smell your worry Gray, tell me what happened, please" Natsu followed up. I sighed; there was no escaping a Dragon Slayer's nose.
"Well… after we beat Hope down, Walter used some sort of 'ultimate spell' that created this huge inferno to kill him, guess he thought it was appropriate" I explained. Natsu nodded.
"Yeah, I can remember looking at flames and wondering what they tasted like" he said. I chuckled whilst rolling my eyes; of course he'd think about food, even in a life-or-death fight. "Yeah… after that you kinda passed out and then…" I faltered, however Natsu's slight smile became a wider smirk.
"You kissed me" he stated bluntly. I nodded.
"I kissed you because I sort of overreacted, I'm sorry" I said to him. Natsu's face quickly became puzzled again.
"Why are you sorry, I like kissing you?" he inquired. I sighed. Should I tell him? I thought. Natsu's eyes narrowed on me. "What happened, Gray?" he asked me a bit more sternly.
I looked into his deep green eyes, a fire set within them. "Err… um… well… when I kissed you we were kinda… in front of… everyone" I stuttered. Natsu didn't move for a couple of seconds, his brain processing what I said. "Is that all?" he asked finally. I looked at him incredulously.
"Is that all?" I parroted, "I kissed you in front of everyone. Aren't you mad, or worried about what they'll say?" I asked him, not thinking for a moment who I was asking this.
Natsu shrugged and ran a hand over my chest. "I know we've been keeping it a secret, but I've told you before; I don't care whether people know or not, Gray, I left it up to you" he said, "Anyways, if people don't like it, I'll beat 'em senseless until they do" he grinned at the prospect of violence, but wrapped an arm comfortingly around me. "Are you worried about what they'll think?" he asked me. I gave the answer some thought.
"I guess… not really, I was just kind of in shock that I had done that, but I had all these flashbacks to the tower, and seeing that women again…" I trailed off as Natsu trailed kisses along my shoulder and neck.
"Don't worry, she's gone now and I'm still here" he said. I smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I know. I guess I panicked just now, but I know that none of them would actually hate us. I mean, no one in our guild can hate another member, not really" I stated. Natsu nodded.
"That's right. All of us in Fairy Tail care for each other"
"But can we try to keep it quiet for now, just the people here can know" I asked Natsu, who sighed, rolling his eyes at me. "First you kiss me in front of everyone, then you ask if I'm okay keeping it a secret from a few people. I think you're pretty messed up Gray" he said to me, before patting his stomach, "However I'm fine with whatever you want to do, so I don't mind if you only want to let a few people in on it. On us" he smirked at me. I smiled back at him, knocking him on the side of the head.
"Thank you" I said quietly. Natsu nodded.
"It's okay, however… do you think we could get some food, I'm kind of hungry" he replied. Now it was my turn to sigh and roll my eyes. Of course he's thinking about food, when isn't he I thought amusedly, But I suppose if he wasn't like that he wouldn't be Natsu I reasoned as Natsu verbally debated whether there would be anything in the kitchen we could raid. I leaned in and kissed his soft lips to shut him up for a second. He was too caught up in his words and had to stop for a minute to allow his brain to catch up with what was happening. After a short, chaste kiss, we broke apart, Natsu grinning stupidly. "So you have no problem kissing me now?" he asked. I smiled.
"Of course I don't, we're alone right now" I said flatly. Natsu smiled, his nose twitching slightly.
"Not for much longer" he said. I followed his gaze to the door, noticing the sound of approaching footsteps. "Someone's coming" Natsu added, stating the obvious. Despite everything that we had just said, a tiny doubt still remained at the back of my mind. Who's coming? Was my first thought, quickly followed by, How are they gonna react to me and Natsu kissing, not to mention cuddled up together like this?
Even with that thought I still wriggled closer to Natsu, a great sense of protection filling me as I felt his warm body next to mine. Regardless of how this person reacted, I knew I could always rely on him to be there for me. Always.
/
As we continued to look towards the door, the footsteps neared, growing louder before stopping all together, shadows of feet at the door telling us that whoever approached was just behind the entrance. Clearly Natsu already knew who it was, however he was giving me no clues, and I just had to wait in mildly-concerned quiet as the person composed themselves before entering.
After a moment the doors swung open and the wizard stepped inside. I was first to react to the scene; my childhood friend and rival, Lyon, stood there with a stoically stern expression on his face. His narrow eyes adjusted to the dimness of the hall before fixing themselves on where Natsu and I lay. "Good morning, Gray, Natsu. I thought I heard your voices, and felt I should check up on you" he said calmly and politely. Okay, sounds good so far I thought.
"Er… good morning, Lyon" I said back to him, Natsu to busy keeping cozy beside me to respond.
"Was I interrupting something?" Lyon asked, a slight touch of sarcasm in his voice. I shook my head.
"No" I said flatly, nudging Natsu a little with my elbow to get him to stop groping me like some giant octopus, unsure of when the other Ice-Make wizard was going to bring up the fact I practically had Natsu wrapped around me at this point. It only lasted a few moments before he cracked a smirked. "I never had this pegged for you" he said with mild amusement. I was prepared for an insult, or at least a slight bit of mocking from Lyon, so the amused tone threw me off a little. "I mean, I shouldn't be surprised, any straight man would've fallen head over heels for a chance with a stunning beauty like Juvia" he added with a slight amount of romanticism in his voice. So that's how he's going to play this I though carefully. I noticed Natsu tense up slightly at the mention of the Water mage, however he quickly calmed down. That's a problem for later…
"So you're okay with us?" I asked Lyon, straight-to-the-point.
Lyon raised an eyebrow. "You want a clear answer then?" he said. I nodded, propping myself up so I was sitting rather than lying awkwardly with Natsu beside me. Lyon smirked once more, moving to perch against the table nearest to where we were, folding his arms across his chest. "I guess I was surprised when I saw you kiss Natsu yesterday, however I didn't really feel angry or upset with you or anything. I mean, you guys do spend a lot of time together so it doesn't bother me that you're together like this. I just can't believe you didn't tell any of us sooner" Lyon spoke with a sincere expression. I noticed Natsu sniffing the air slightly, obviously making sure he was telling the truth, however I didn't need his nose to tell me that Lyon meant this. "Besides, it's not like I can do anything to change this. Ur would've accepted you and so will I" he added with a shrug. I was surprised by his reaction, although everything he said reinforced what Natsu had said to me just before.
"So you're sure?" I asked once more.
Lyon smiled pleasantly. "Of course" he replied, "Why, do you not want people to know or something?" he added, a slight mocking in his tone now, "Because if that's the case I'll keep my mouth shut, you've just got to remember to keep your mouth to yourself too" Lyon nodded at Natsu, who chuckled a little at my expense. I grinned and bared it for a few minutes as the two threw a few jokes around, Lyon and Natsu warming surprisingly quickly. After a short conversation, Lyon checked the time. "Looks like I should probably get back to Jura. I only left to see if you two were up" he stated matter-of-factly. I furrowed my brows.
"You're leaving already?" I asked, however Lyon shook his head.
"Later. I just need to discuss some things with him about what to do in the event of another crisis. He wasn't around earlier and I stopped off here on my way finding him" the white haired mage explained. I nodded and moved to get up to bid him goodbye, however he gestured for me to remain where I was as he neared the door. "You don't need to get up yet" he said, "You two deserve a rest after everything that happened yesterday. Cyrus said Blake was pretty beat up too, from taking on both of the other two Nightmares by himself. They'll be around in about an hour or so to check up on you, then they'll decide what to do from there" he added before leaving. "See you later, Gray. Oh… and Natsu," he started, the pinkette looked intently at him, "Please be careful with Gray, I know how stupid you both can be, but at least look out for each other" he said.
Natsu grinned broadly. "Of course I will, someone's got to keep an eye on this popsicle" he poked my side, making me wriggle. Lyon chuckled at the comment before opening the door and stepping out into the morning light.
Once he was gone Natsu turned to me, the same broad smile on his face. "I told ya they'd be fine with it. Heck, even Lyon doesn't care, not really" he said. I nodded and grinned too, before pulling him in for a short kiss. "Yeah, I know. You were right" I replied. Natsu laughed.
"Could you please just say that again?" he asked me.
"Say what?" I asked confusedly.
"That thing about me being right" he said. I punched him on the arm.
"No. You're an idiot" I stated, before Natsu began kissing me again.
/
An hour later
We had talked on and off for about an hour when another person approached the building. Natsu had been discussing whether or not we would be okay doing couple-stuff in front of everyone whilst we were here on the beach, when a knock sounded. "Gray, Natsu, are you awake?" it asked. We both stayed quiet, seeing if the mage was going to enter. After a few minutes not one, but six wizards entered. Lucy was first through the door, popping her head in to see if we really were asleep or not. "So you are awake" she said cheerily, walking in with Erza, Sting and Cyrus all behind her, Blake and Rogue tailed the group, each as quiet as usual. Looks like we have to deal with everyone at once I thought worriedly. Natsu and I still continued to lie, propped-up on our bed as the others came in. "Er… Hey guys" I said to them friendlily. Natsu's arm was around my waist already, his head resting on my shoulder. Lucy raised an eyebrow seeing him grin at her. "W-were we interrupting anything?" she asked suddenly unsurely. Natsu laughed, but I shook my head, pushing him off so we could all sit together around one of the tables. Sting and Rogue had to pull over chairs as Natsu pouted, sluggishly shuffling over to the empty chair beside me. As soon as we were faced by everyone together me and Natsu both found ourselves unable to speak, wanting them to be the ones to make the first move. Cyrus and Blake had already disappeared into the kitchen, giving us a short analytical glance as they passed. After a long moment they began to ask the inevitable.
Lucy was the first to speak. "So… er… are you two together, or was that kiss just some one-off thing?" she asked warily. Natsu smiled at her.
"We're together, we have been for a couple of weeks now" he replied. Erza raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Really, and you never told anyone?" she asked. Natsu went quiet, clearly not wanting to admit the truth, however I slipped an arm around his waist and hugged him closer to me. "Well… we did kinda tell one person, and another sort of found out" I admitted to the redhead. Sting was smiling at me as I spoke, obviously he had already suspected something was up between us, since he seemed the least inquisitive of the group. So we didn't fool him when he came over before I realised suddenly. "Who knows then… oh wait… is it Lisanna, or maybe Mira?" Lucy inquired. I shook my head. "Was it Lyon? He's close to you, or maybe… is it Juvia?" the blonde continued. Once more I shook my head.
"It's none of them" I stated. They all gave puzzled looks, trying to work out who on Earthland we could've trusted enough to tell. After a brief moment of confusion, I decided to set things straight, since it was my fault that we even were having this conversation with them at this moment in time. "Alright, so the person I told isn't exactly a member of our guild, but it is someone you know. They worked it out without me telling them, and then helped me to actually get together with Natsu" I explained. Lucy furrowed her brows in thought.
"So they knew before you two got together?" she asked for confirmation. Natsu and me nodded.
"Yeah, he kind of helped me to make Gray admit he had feelings for me" he blurted, giving away a big clue. I smirked as the others still failed to realise who we were talking about. Savoring the moment, I hesitated. "So, the person that knows is Walter" I stated at last. A few widened eyes of realisation, quickly followed by flashes of understanding passed through those assembled. "You told Walter? When? Why?" Lucy babbled. I chuckled a little.
"It was back when they first arrived, after about a week you, me, and Walter all went on a job together, remember?" I prompted her. After a moment of thought she nodded.
"Yeah, you two wouldn't stop arguing about who as going to drive" she stated.
I nodded. "That's right. It was on our way back from the client's, we stopped to sleep in the forest. At the time I was kind of… I guess you could say lost, and I couldn't get to sleep. Walter was awake, and after prompting me a bit, the smug bastard decided to show off and correctly guessed that not only was I in love with someone, but who I was in love with" I stated.
"So you've known for a while?" Erza asked flatly. I nodded, but Natsu butted in.
"I had also felt something for Gray, but I didn't understand what it was, so I always got angry and fought him" he stated. Hearing that made me realise that we had both kept feelings hidden for a long time. Natsu… I thought happily, I'm glad I told you.
Erza smiled warmly at us, an odd image coming from the woman who wore armor everywhere, and beat us up for no apparent reason. "You two are idiots, but you would be good together" she stated, moving over and giving us a back-crushing hug. I patted her arm more out of submission than comfort, but it seemed to have the same effect. "Er… than-thank you" I panted. She nodded curtly and sat back down. Looking back at the group after being assaulted by the redhead, I now noticed Sting beaming with a grin, Lucy smiling happily, even Rogue cracked a smirk. "I kind of guessed when I walked into your room" the blonde Dragon Slayer admitted, "And Rogue, you owe me one hundred jewel" he added, patting the Shadow Dragon Slayer on the back. Rogue glared at him before returning to smirking at us. "We kind of bet on whether you were together or not. Although I did bet against it, since you always seemed to be fighting, I want you to know I really do not mind what you do, and I'm happy that you're okay" he stated, before looking to Sting. The blond tapped the table contentedly.
"I'm, of course, fine with it too" he said, "But… can we talk later, I've got a few things I want to ask you, Natsu?" he made the request to both of us, despite focusing on my boyfriend.
Natsu shrugged. "Sure" he said, "I don't mind" he looked to me for clarification. I nodded too.
"Yeah, just come ask us whenever" I reiterated. Sting nodded, patting Rogue.
"We'll come by later, after Walter's finished doing whatever he said before" he said. This made me frown.
"What is Walter doing?" I asked, Sting shrugged, however at the mention of the Requip Mage, Cyrus seemed to reappear.
"Walter is going to be doing us all a favor and fixing all the damage caused in the fight" the Script mage said. "Plus he wants to show off" he added, moving back to where he came from. I took this in as Blake appeared carrying trays of breakfast stuff. He placed them in front of everyone with a smile.
YOU ALL NEED TO EAT UP TO RESTORE YOUR STRENGTH
He wrote with his newly recovered Light Pen. I smiled at him, as Natsu already started helping himself to all the food. "Thanks for all this" I said to the dark haired mage. Blake shrugged in response.
COOKING'S LIKE CHEMISTRY, BUT FUN. AND TASTY IT SEEMS.
He wrote in reply, nudging Natsu slightly as the Fire Dragon helped himself to copious amounts of food. I sighed and began taking stuff for myself before it was all eaten by my ravenous boyfriend. Geez, will Natsu slow down I thought as I piled food, then I noticed Sting and Rogue had a mountain of food each too, and a smile passed across my lips. Dragon Slayer's stomachs must be as big as a Dragons I quipped silently. Erza and Lucy seemed to be having the same thoughts as they smirked up at me, observing the three as they rushed to consume as much food as possible.
Despite all this they still treat me exactly the same the thought filled me with comfort as I began tucking in to my own breakfast of meats, toasted bread, and other delicious foods.
/
After we all ate Cyrus reemerged once more. "It's nearly time everybody, Walter's done preparing and will be about to do his big show outside soon" the Script mage informed us. We all nodded in understanding, quickly tidying up all of the blankets and cushions that had been used to make up Natsu's and my bed. "Hey Gray," Natsu whispered as we helped Lucy put the blankets away. "What is it Natsu?" I replied.
"What do you think Walter's bid show is gonna be?" he asked me. I shrugged.
"No idea, but knowing him he'll make it big and flashy" I stated, earning an amused nod from the pinkette.
"Yeah, he's always so damn cocky" he stated. I chuckled slightly hearing that, earning a confused look from Lucy. "Look who's talking" I guffawed. Natsu pouted and crossed his arms.
"I'm not that cocky, I just like teasing you, Ice Princess" he stated in mock offended tone. I continued smiling as I nudged his arm. "Come on, I was only teasing you this time" I said back to him. Natsu nodded and smiled whole heartedly.
"What are you two whispering about?" Lucy asked suspiciously.
"Nothing" we both replied in unison, looking at each other as we did so. Lucy rolled her eyes at us. "Come on, there's only a few left. Erza went to help Sting and Rogue get ready for whatever it is Walter's doing, so all we've gotta do is get these cleared up" the Celestial wizard stated. I nodded and prodded Natsu in the side.
"Come on, flame for brains, help me fold these" I instructed him. He pouted again at me.
"Make me, popsicle" he replied aggressively. I snuck a hand up his back, he seemed momentarily surprised, but then relaxed into the touch, just as I expected. Then I sent some magic to my palm, making him yelp instantly. He glared at me, rubbing the cold patch on his spine. "Well, you did say 'make me', so I thought a nice blast of cold would make you move quicker" I stated amusedly. Natsu continued glaring, before sighing and helping me out.
"Stupid popsicle" he muttered under his breath. A quick glance over to Lucy told me she was finding this scene amusing as well. "You two never change" she said, before running off to tidy up some more stuff. I looked to Natsu and he smiled. "She's right, no matter how much we kept this a secret we're still the same as we were" he said. I agreed with him.
"Yeah, but at least now I get to kiss you" I said, before kissing his cheek. He laughed and then we quickly finished off tidying the remainder of the blankets before going off with Lucy to find the others, eagerly pondering what Walter could want us all there for.
/
Natsu POV
We found the others, plus Walter, Jura and Lyon, all standing on the crest of the hill that led down to the site. Walking around finding them, both Gray and I realised that most of the buildings had been destroyed by either the battle with Hope, or with the twin Nightmares, and the entire place was in disrepair. "Here comes lover boy one, and lover boy two" Walter chirped as we arrived last, alongside Lucy. I sighed and smiled at the Requip mage. Walter wore a plain grey suit again, his dark, blond-tipped hair messy and set out in spikes at all angles. "Hey Walter" I replied, "So what's all this about?"
He smirked. "You'll see in a minute, I'm gonna test drive a new suit I've got" he said, a glow forming around himself. "Requip;" he started, all of the assembled growing quiet. I held Gray's hand, and smiled at him, he clearly wasn't use to me showing affection as publicly, and I found it amusing to watch him quickly glance around to see if anyone had noticed. "Chronos, I summon you" Walter added.
After the light flashed, Walter stood in a new suit, although it was not too dissimilar to the one he had worn previously. I was a pleasant dove grey jacket, with a light, powder grey, shirt, and matching dove grey trousers and shoes. As usual he had a glove over each of his hands, however unlike all the other suit combos we had seen him in these were completely different from the suit. The right glove was a jet black and made of a leathery substance, whilst the left was made of a golden leathery material with a white cuff. On top of this there was a small, ticking clock embedded into the back of the hand of each glove, and also he wore a metallic epaulet on each shoulder, a black metallic one on his right and a golden one on his left to match the gloves. These each had a clock in too. "What's that suit?" Lucy inquired.
"It's another of my three Divine Garments; Chronos, the Lord of Time" Walter replied, matter-of-factly, fixing a tie around his neck. It too was half black and half gold, with lots of little clock designs woven into the fabric. His overall appearance was odd, however much like the other Divine Garment, Astraeus, this one gave off a powerful smell of magic. I noticed Sting and Rogue's noses twitch too, and nodded over to them. This is a really powerful suit. "With the powers this gives me, I will be able to undo all of the damage that was done to our lovely buildings" Walter explained, "However, whilst the suit has been empowered with Arc of Time, among other magics, it does have the power to somewhat manipulate the time of living things" he added.
Cyrus nodded. "We would request you all stand with me and Blake within an enchantment, just to be safe" the Script mage stated, gesturing to a cordoned off area, already glittering with runes in an unknown grey script. We all complied, eagerly wanting to observe Walter's powers, and once we were all inside the barrier, Walter grinned at us. "Let's see what I can do with this" he said confidently, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes at getting to be the center of attention. He made a gesture with each hand. "From darkness of night I call you to my side. Split time asunder; Twilight" Walter incanted. A great wave of darkness pulsed from the black glove and epaulet. It quickly molded into shadows before forming a shining, black, metal spear, which floated to Walter's right. "From light of day I call you to my side. Reveal all time to me; Dawnbreaker" he then stated, this time a wave of light poured forth from his left shoulder and glove, shifting and molding into a large kite shield that appeared to be made of pure gold, and gave off a faint rainbow aura. "The Twilight, spear that can pierce all, and Dawnbreaker, the shield that can stop all, with them both I can completely mold time" Walter stated aloud, "Now…" he gave a concentrated expression, "Firstly, Twilight… split the time of the buildings off from our own" he stated, pointing the spear towards the buildings. It let itself fly around each building before returning to Walter's side. "Now… Reversal" Walter swiped his arms through the air, a wave of grey energy washing over the scene. Even the waves were still as the energy washed over everything, making bricks and mortar, carpet and wood, all begin floating and moving back to exactly how it was before the fights, fixing itself without anything to needed to hold it together. As everything flowed backwards, Walter gave off an air of satisfaction, I couldn't help but be amazed as everything went back to exactly how it was, and I noticed Gray's eyes light up at the spectacle as well.
After only a few moments everything seemed returned to normal, so Walter nodded. "Now, at last, Dawnbreaker, reconnect time for it all" he instructed. The shield glowed, it's rainbow light shimmering brightly. Walter looked intently at the shield, and once the light faded he waved his hands dismissively. "Begone, tools of time!" he instructed. They both dissolved into shadows and light and flowed back to his suit, once that was done he smiled brightly at everyone.
"Looks like it's done. Not as flashy as I hoped but…" he shrugged, "It's the first time I've used this suit"
I smiled at Gray. "It didn't need to be flashy, at least I get to share a place with you again" I said to him, he nodded.
"Yeah, I feel the same way" he whispered back. Lucy cooed over both of us, and we soon realised that everyone was watching.
"Way to go showing me up" Walter called, "You two are far more entertaining than me" he added with a cocky tone. I laughed and Gray blushed slightly. Too cute…
Now that everything was fixed, Walter allowed us all to return to where we were each staying, Lyon and Jura bidding everyone farewell as they had to return to their guildhall. Gray said goodbye to Lyon, giving him a hug, before the two parted ways once more.
/
With Lyon and Jura gone, that only left the six of us, plus the three Triplet Code members. I dragged Gray over to our room, as he unlocked the door with the keys. "What's the hurry Natsu?" he asked me confusedly. I shrugged.
"Can you blame me for wanting you to myself for a little while?" I asked, Gray shrugged back.
"Guess not" he said as I dragged him inside and pushed him against the door, kissing him passionately. Gray kissed back, our tongues sliding over one another, his arm wrapped around my waist. Gray… I thought hungrily, however before we could get any further a knock sounded against the door. "Hey Natsu, Gray, I know that you're a little busy, but can we talk?" a voice sounded.
I frowned and pulled off of Gray to let him open the door. "Hey Sting, and Rogue" Gray said with a surprisingly cheery tone. Sting grinned at us both, a slight twitch of his nose telling me he could already smell that we had been kissing on the other side of the door. "Thanks, sorry about this, but can we come in?" Sting asked me specifically. I sighed and moved to allow them inside. What the hell do they want? I know we said we'd talk later but… really, now?
They wandered inside, Rogue's eyes moving over the single bed quickly before analyzing the rest of the room. "So you really do only have one bed" the Shadow Dragon Slayer noted. I nodded, taking a seat on one of the two sofas, Gray sitting beside me. Sting smiled and sat opposite, gesturing for Rogue to sit beside him.
"We just wanted to talk to you guys for a minute, since I've never met a mated Dragon Slayer" Sting said abruptly. I widened my eyes.
"So you… wanted to talk about that?" I said in surprise, my eyes already trying to avoid the blonde's gaze. I felt Gray's eyes on me, and when I came to meet it, I found that a slight pang of sadness hit me.
"What's wrong?" Rogue asked flatly. Sting narrowed his eyes, sniffing the air.
"Oh… erm…" I stammered, unsure of what to say. "W-well… what did you want to ask?" I said. Why the hell did this have to come up now? I added mentally, I mean, Gray's already known about it but…
Still…
And why is it Sting who's asking? I was pretty confused about the whole thing.
"How did you… um…" Now Sting seemed to be in the same position as me. Rogue sighed and knocked the Guildmaster on the side of the head.
"What he means is; do you know any ways around the whole mating bond with sex thing" the Shadow Dragon Slayer said flatly. I jaw dropped. "Roguuuue, why did you have to say it like that?" Sting whined.
I looked to Gray for a moment before grinning, he caught my grin and nodded. "W-well…" I started.
I wonder if…
Chapter 26 End
Next Chapter; Lessons on fun