Author's Note: Written for Gray Day (September 1) 2020 [first posted to tumblr]

The Price of Fame

Gray let his companion's chatter wash over him, keeping his impatience in check and—hopefully—hidden. The bar was dim, even on a sunny afternoon in late summer, and mercifully cool. It was a traditional kind of place, with well-worn plank floorboards, and lots of scuffed dark wood and tarnished brass. Gray liked it here, and could only hope that the man sitting beside him was telling the truth about only being in town for a short time. He'd hate to have to start avoiding the place.

"So, now that your guild is famous—and you're famous!—do you have any plans to, you know, do something with it?"

"Do something?" Gray forced himself to focus. Idle conversation with an old acquaintance wasn't his thing. He'd agreed to share a drink or two for politeness' sake—Erza had been nearby when the man had come up to him—but he hadn't been enthused about it, and he was regretting the decision.

"Well, yeah! You know, get into the advertising game, make some money off it while people still know who you are!"

"…People know who I am." That sounded self-important, so Gray added, "I mean, those who need to know, know."

His companion took a large swig of foamy beer, coughed, and shook his head. "See, that's a mistake right there, Gray! That's how come you'll always be second best to that Natsu guy!"

Gray finished his beer—without choking on it—and leaned forward a little. The temperature in the immediate area dropped a couple of degrees.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, I mean, look… I'm not trying to say you're actually second best"—the man's tone wasn't convincing—"I'm just saying that Dragneel's more showy, you know? He knows how to get attention and keep it. I'll bet he's a huge draw for promoting stuff."

Gray forced himself to shrug. It had taken time, effort, and a ton of practice, but he did better these days about not deep-freezing people who compared him negatively to Natsu. …But it was annoying how many opportunities he'd had to practice his self-restraint.

"You're right, Boritt—"

"Biritt."

"—Yeah, Biritt. Anyway, you're right that Natsu draws a lot of attention. Not always good attention, though." More like Magic Council Mad at Fairy Tail Again attention. Or Yet Another Town Bans Fairy Tail's Team Natsu attention.

"Ehn, you know what they say about 'any publicity is good publicity.' The point is, the Grand Magic Games are still news, which mean that you are news. Time for the spotlight and a good sponsorship deal, right? I mean, come on, stop trying to be modest—"

Uh-huh, thought Gray, draining half the new beer the barkeep had just dropped off. What's your angle Biritt? We barely knew each other four years ago, let alone now.

Biritt sensed that he'd lost his audience somehow, and turned up the brightness on his smile. He tried to punch Gray playfully on the shoulder, but Gray leaned forward at the last moment, and he didn't connect. Both men pretended that nothing had happened.

"So…" Biritt wasn't giving up. "How about letting me help you make it big? I'd hate to see you, you know, get overlooked. I've been in the biz for a couple of years, and I'm sure I could hook you up with a couple of juicy contracts! You should—"

"Oy—Popsicle Breath!" A pink-haired man stood in the doorway, squinting into the gloom.

"Got a problem, Flamebrain?" Gray could feel his quiet afternoon slipping away, but he was glad for the interruption.

"Yeah, I want to try out a coupla new moves, but Erza's busy, and Laxus isn't around, and Lucy says she's busy washing her hair—again—and Happy went out somewhere, and Mira kinda banned me from the hall this morning, and Gramps said—oh hey, you know this guy too? Boritt, right?"

"It's actually Biritt, Mr. Dragneel! Like 'beer!'"

"And 'it'," Gray added helpfully, his expression bland.

"Sure, yeah, okay." Natsu smiled breezily. Most people would have assumed he was unaware of Gray's understated snark, but Gray suspected otherwise.

"So—sparring!" Biritt hopped off his barstool and advanced on Natsu, his expression covetous. "I mean wow! A chance to see the kingdom's top dragon slayer in action! Hope you don't mind if I write up a little something for my travel blog? My readers will be thrilled! And I have a pretty big readership, Mr. Dragneel—trust me, you'd get only the best exposure. Better yet, you might want to consider that agency agreement I mentioned earlier!"

"Uh, yeah… I mean—I don't think I—"

Gray was surprised. It was unlike Natsu to sound so indecisive. He might ignore something outright, or respond with something outrageous, but hesitation wasn't his style. Gray frowned internally. It struck him again, more forcibly, that agreeing to drinks at his favourite bar with a bare acquaintance had been an odd thing for him to do. Natsu wasn't the only one out of character.

"Another drink, sir?" Gray turned to the barkeep, and saw the twitchy look establishment owners got when their sixth sense told them that something was going on with a member of Fairy Tail. He couldn't blame them.

"No, I'm good." Gray paid for both sets of drinks and headed for the door.

"Whoa—Gray!" That was Natsu, but he could also hear Biritt calling out to him in confusion.

As soon as all three of them were outside, Gray turned to Biritt.

"It's been interesting, but I think I've got other things to do now."

"Huh? Gray—wait—if it was something I said earlier…" The would-be publicity agent to Team Natsu sounded squeaky with anxiety.

"You mean trying to get to me about Natsu being more famous? Or do you mean that you might have overreached yourself by trying to string both of us along at the same time?"

When the man started to protest, Gray's patience snapped, and he conjured up an ice gag. Natsu was staring at him.

"Um, Gray… I don't think Erza's going to be keen on this…"

"Maybe not, but I'll bet she'll be even less keen on Biritt here when she finds out that he tried to use magic to charm us into some kind of weird agency thing."

"Mm-mm-mmmmmph!" Biritt sounded shrill, even through the ice. He could've been complaining about the cold, but Gray suspected it was more than that.

"Look, Biritt. I'm sure you're a master of the con game, and I seemed like the perfect patsy to you. And I can't blame you for thinking Natsu is totally oblivious to being manipulated, 'cause he can be pretty dense."

"Hey!"

Gray ignored Natsu.

"But seriously, guy…" He poked Biritt in the chest. "Just because we're good at wrecking things doesn't mean we aren't good mages, you know? Eventually I was going to realize you were messing with me by magic, and I wasn't going to like it. Seeing you with Natsu just let me figure you out sooner."

Gray wasn't surprised when the man finally gave up and tried to run. It was child's play to snap on a set of ice manacles and drag him back.

"So now what?" There was no trace of friendliness in Natsu's expression as he studied Biritt.

"Now we hand him over to Erza, or Makarov, and go for a beer." Gray's eyebrows rose a little. "Or if you ask nicely, I'll spar with you."

"Give me a break, Ice Princess!"

"If you insist." Gray was suddenly looking forward to a good fight.

They ignored the muffled shrieks from their captive as they headed off to the guildhall to hand the whole problem over to somebody else. Gray just hoped that Erza didn't get distracted by Biritt's spiel once they let him speak again. She had a weakness for cute merchandise…

[END]