You voted for B: Pick Natsu. Enjoy!
"You do it, now get off!"
Natsu smiled, but thankfully let go of Zeref and got up. "I'll go run us a bath."
And with that, he was out of the room, pulling the door closed.
Zeref closed his eyes and wanted to bury his head in his hands, but instead he only hit himself with the two bandage balls—again.
"Ouch. Shit."
He hit his bed in a fit of frustration, as if it was somehow responsible for his situation. Why on earth had he picked Natsu and not Gray?
'Because I crave his touch, I want him close to me. Some evil part of me wants him to notice my attraction, wants him to do something like last night...'
He shook his head, this time deliberately hitting himself.
'No. I chose him because choosing Gray would have been illogical. Natsu would've needed to go to the guild hall and bring Gray here, it only would've raised unpleasant questions from everyone, starting with Gray. He already noticed something yesterday, I really don't want to give him more reason to be suspicious.'
Zeref just needed to stay calm. Imagine it were his own hands washing him. Oh god, Natsu was going to wash him. That meant he was going to touch every part of his body. His chest, his back, his ass, and even... there. Holy shit. Zeref was already rock hard at the thought alone.
Hard and panicking.
'I could still run away, or I could feign a heart attack or anything that keeps me away from the bathroom. I could flee to the guild and beg Wendy to heal me.'
But Zeref couldn't bring himself to do any of these things. He realized that, however masochistic it seemed, he didn't want to run away. This was his fate, then. If he wanted to retain at least a little dignity, he would just have to play it cool, like Natsu did.
'This is just a morning wood. I couldn't get rid of it myself, obviously, so it's still there. I'm not embarrassed in the least. It's totally natural. Most men have this issue in the morning, it's really nothing to be ashamed of. Yeah. Right.'
Natsu wasn't a fool. Of course he'd noticed his brother growing hard under him. And that he'd panicked because of it. All of this was clear as day—the only question was the reason. Did Natsu arouse Zeref or was it just because Zeref hadn't gotten laid in a long time and anybody could turn him on? Jerking off and having sex weren't the same after all, right? Natsu couldn't be sure, since he was still a virgin if he didn't count his toys.
Natsu bit his lip to stifle a moan. He'd gotten naked as soon as the water was running, absent-mindedly stroking his penis, fully intent on getting off before Zeref entered the bathroom. Even though he knew that Zeref was probably still aroused, he wanted to spare himself the shame of being aroused as well. After all, he couldn't be sure what his brother would think if he noticed.
A knock on the bathroom door startled him back to awareness. The bathtub was as full as it could be, and the clock showed him that already five minutes had passed. He looked down at himself, his hand wrapped tightly around his erection—he wasn't even close to finishing yet. Well, this only seemed fair, even if Natsu didn't like being exposed like this. He could already smell Zeref's arousal through the bathroom door.
Natsu closed the tap and sunk into the water, then said, "It's open. Come in."
Zeref entered, his elbow on the handle when he walked in, then turned around and pushed the door close with his foot. Zeref was still half clothed, nearly in the same state as Natsu had left him the previous night. Right, Natsu needed to undress him, so he'd have to get up and expose himself way too soon for his liking.
Zeref raised his eyes. "Oh, you already started without me?"
Natsu briefly panicked, but realized that Zeref was referring to the bath, not his masturbation.
"Yeah, I kinda forgot that you can't undress on your own. Well, come here."
Zeref stepped closer and his aroused scent grew stronger, addling with Natsu's brain.
Natsu took a deep breath and stood up, but he needn't have worried. Zeref was looking anywhere except for Natsu's direction. His big brother was ashamed of seeing him naked. A hint that it was him who turned Zeref on.
Natsu quickly undressed Zeref from within the bathtub, gulping when he noticed Zeref's dried sperm on the sash. As expected, Zeref's penis was proudly standing upright, his tip already leaking fresh precum.
'Fuck, I want to take you right here and now. Do you even know what you're doing to me? Well, of course not—how could you?'
Despite his raging desire, Natsu knew that doing something rash would probably scare his brother away. So, he sat down and invited Zeref to come in as well. The foam hid both their erections and the water repressed most of Zeref's scent, so Natsu's desire calmed down a little and he could pretend everything was normal.
To ease the mood, Natsu splattered water into Zeref's face. "Hah! You can't defend yourself with your hands bandaged!"
He hadn't even finished talking when a spurt of water hit his face. Natsu blinked, opening his eyes in time to see Zeref's foot vanishing under the surface again.
"I'm sorry, what did you say? I couldn't hear you, you had water in your mouth." A devious—sexy, Natsu would say—smirk played on Zeref's lips.
"Just you wait!"
Natsu launched another attack, close range this time, sitting on Zeref's legs so that he couldn't counterattack anymore. Zeref still tried, though, but his hands really were a huge handicap. He didn't want them to become wet, so there was not much he could do. He lifted his arms in surrender. They were both giggling and light-headed, so Natsu didn't think much of it when he leaned forward to tickle Zeref's armpits. He hadn't considered that both their cocks were still hard, and that the motion brought them so close that they brushed against the other. Zeref was very ticklish, so his only reaction was a fit of laughter. Natsu skidded backwards and ceased his attack, a little embarrassed.
When Zeref had barely recovered from his bout of laughter, Natsu cleared his throat.
"Okay, enough games, we don't want to be late. Turn around."
Zeref complied, and Natsu tried his hardest not to touch his brother in a non-brotherly way when he shampooed his hair and massaged his scalp, but even he noticed that it was a weak attempt. However, Zeref didn't seem to mind. He sighed and leaned into the touch.
"Hmmm, that's good. Can we do this more often?"
Where did Zeref take this courage from? The night before he'd been rather passive and nervous, in the morning he'd nearly panicked. Natsu found Zeref's new confidence a little unsettling. Was that how he usually made his brother feel?
Well, Zeref could pretend to be confident, but Natsu was confident.
"You like that, eh? Then what about—" Natsu scraped his fingernails lightly over Zeref's scalp, "—that?"
"Ah, that's... mmhh, even better."
Natsu's heart thumped heavily as he continued to massage his brother's scalp. He wondered how long they could uphold their little game of pretending nothing was out of order. Natsu wasn't going to be the one to break it. After all, maybe this was the only way Zeref could give himself to Natsu? He didn't want to ruin that.
Everything about Natsu's touches was erotic—he took his sweet time soaping Zeref's shoulders and arms, caressing his bicep far longer than was necessary. When he got to Zeref's back, he dipped his hand into the water just because he wanted to trail down Zeref's backbone a little more, get a little closer to his—
"Natsu, are you stupid? You should've told me to get up. Now you need new soap, idiot."
A little taken aback, Natsu stopped his advance. Was he mistaken? Was there a chance that Zeref really saw this as a normal thing between brothers and didn't think anything special of it?
No way. Zeref was definitely aroused—a quick look over Zeref's shoulder confirmed his belief—and was just trying to play it cool, following Natsu's example. To mask his movement, Natsu grabbed the soap, accepting that his erection brushed Zeref's back. Zeref didn't even seem to notice.
"Well then, get up."
Zeref stood up without turning around and Natsu followed suit.
Both their breaths elevated more and more the closer Natsu got to Zeref's genital area, but neither said a word. When there was nothing left unwashed but Zeref's ass and crotch, Natsu gathered all his courage and leaned against Zeref's back, his own erection pressing in the cleft of his brother's ass, hands lightly brushing Zeref's hips.
He brought his lips to Zeref's ear and said, "I need to wash there, too, if you allow me."
Zeref shuddered. "Of course. I believe it's rather dirty there."
Well well, if that wasn't an invitation for cleaning it very thoroughly. Natsu slid his hands slowly over Zeref's skin towards his crotch, giving him enough time to protest, but when the only thing he heard was their combined hard breathing, he wrapped one hand around his brother's arousal and the other gently around his balls.
There were so many things Natsu wanted to say. Some of them lewd, some very lewd, and even some sappy things. However, he bit his tongue and instead focused on making his brother feel good and feeling good himself. Because if he liked it or not, Zeref's hips moved ever so slightly with the rhythm his hand set.
Of course, Natsu loved it, but the slow rhythm was driving him mad, so he moved his hips a little against Zeref's ass to get more friction. It was in this moment when the first moan escaped Zeref's lips. He moaned when Natsu humped his ass. That was it. Natsu let go of the last bit of control he'd tried to maintain and thrusted hard, earning him another moan.
With a burst of confidence, Natsu decided to be bold. He nibbled at Zeref's earlobe and whispered, "Mmm, yeah, you're very dirty down there. It's gonna take some time until you're clean, I'm afraid."
"Thought so. Ahh... But I wanna be clean—ah—, so you better do it properly."
Holy shit, and Natsu had thought he couldn't possibly be hornier.
"I'll be thorough—nghh—, I promise, nii-san."
Was there anything stopping Natsu from taking his brother from behind for real? He wanted to ram his cock into Zeref's butthole so desperately. He'd just have to angle his hips a little differently, and it would slide in there, maybe with a bit resistance—
No. Zeref wasn't prepared and it would be very painful for him. Natsu wasn't so selfish. He wanted Zeref to feel good, not scare him off. Besides, Zeref's ass cheeks were doing the job just fine. Natsu felt his orgasm drawing closer and closer. His hand sped up of its own volition.
Zeref winced. "Whoa, hey, are you trying to burn my cock? Hold still, I'm gonna show you how to clean it properly."
Was he for real? He wanted to fuck Natsu's hand? The sheer thought nearly made Natsu cum, but he held it back. He wanted to draw this out as long as possible.
Natsu obliged and held his hand still, tightly wrapped around Zeref's cock. Zeref moved slowly at first, then sped up a little, but then came to a halt abruptly.
"A little too tight. Now it's too loose—ahh, that's it. Perfect."
When Zeref started fucking Natsu's hand in his own rhythm, letting out sounds of pleasure and stimulating Natsu's cock with every thrust, it was too much for Natsu to take. He blew his load all over Zeref's back and ass, and for a moment, he forgot where he was and what he was doing and just succumbed to bliss.
Apparently, his grip had loosened considerably, since Zeref protested, but Natsu was too out of it to understand the words. He tightened his grip nonetheless and a second later, all the sensations came back to him. Zeref was humping his hand again slowly, but his ragged breath betrayed his impending orgasm.
Interesting. So, the night before hadn't been an exception and Zeref liked it slow before his orgasm. Natsu committed everything to memory: how Zeref's hips suddenly stopped dead, then Zeref's ecstatic scream as the first spurt of cum landed on the tap, his shudders as the next few followed, staining the rim of the tub and Natsu's hand, the soft plop as droplets landed in the water, and finally, how Zeref sunk against Natsu's chest, his knees too weak to support him any longer.
Natsu carefully sank back into the water and set his brother down. He wiped the mess from their skin, his hands calm even as a wave of guilt crashed over him, threatening to suffocate him.
Neither of them said another word. Zeref also didn't turn around during the whole drying process, and by the looks of it, he probably wouldn't anytime soon. Natsu was aware that he'd need to lead Zeref to his bedroom and dress him there, so he pushed past his brother and opened the door for him, too afraid to check on his face.
When Zeref's clothes were in place and Natsu was fastening his sash, Zeref finally broke the silence.
"Thanks for washing me. I probably wouldn't have set a foot outside otherwise. I'm looking forward to this festival of yours as well. It's my first time after all, so I'm glad I'm not missing out on it."
Natsu looked up and when their eyes met, he felt choked.
Zeref was just too beautiful.
So damn beautiful.
"It's..." Natsu's voice was croaky and he sounded breathless, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Don't say 'yours'. Fantasia Festival is organized by all of Fairy Tail for all the people in Magnolia. You're a part of Fairy Tail as well, a part of our family."
Zeref smiled and Natsu felt like his heart might combust.
"You're right. Well then, let's get ready and get going."
"Yeah."
Natsu felt his eyes prickling even as he smiled a broad and happy smile. He turned around and left Zeref's room before his eyes started to water, and he was in the bathroom, leaning against the closed door when the first silent tears ran down his cheeks. He covered his lips with both hands to make sure no sound escaped them, slowly sliding down the door as tears streamed down his face.
What on earth was he doing? What had he just done? He thought he'd be fine with it, and honestly, he was. But what if Zeref grew sick of this little game they were playing? What if it was really just a game to Zeref? What if he rejected Natsu?
Natsu bit his lip. The mere thought made his heart ache in ways he didn't even know were possible. When had he fallen so deep? He thought he'd be okay with messing around and not get feelings involved. He'd been so sure of it. He'd prepared for rejection all along, yet here he was, giving himself to his older brother with heart and soul, feeling vulnerable like never before.
Erza, Lucy, Natsu, Zeref and Gray arrived at their designated hotel late in the evening. Everyone was tired, as their day had been hectic to say the least. Neither of them was happy when Makarov informed them of their special mission in the late afternoon, leaving them barely enough time to pack.
There was a special jewel the size of a human head which glowed in the most beautiful colors. It was guarded by a horde of strong monsters, so Makarov wanted to make sure and send their strongest team. Their task was to 'lend' the jewel for Fantasia Festival and then bring it back afterwards.
Although Gray suspected that their master just wanted to get rid of their troublemakers for a while, and he couldn't hold it against him, seeing as he and Natsu destroyed more than they helped. Naturally Erza stepped into their fight and devastated the guild only more. Lucy and Zeref tried to stop the three of them and finally succeeded, but the damage was already done.
Gray wouldn't be surprised if this jewel didn't even exist. It sure came in handy that it was supposedly hidden in the snowy mountains far away from their guild. If everything went as planned, they would make it back one day before the festival.
He looked over to his friends where Erza held up three sticks with the ends hidden in her fist and Natsu inspected it from every side. Zeref shrugged and ordered Natsu to draw the middle one for him, but Natsu didn't oblige, instead asked him several times if he was sure.
Gray sighed, took a step towards Erza and pulled out the middle stick, revealing red color at the bottom.
"And this one—" he reached for the left stick, "—is for me."
Gray was relieved to find the bottom red as well. This meant Zeref and him would share a room while Natsu would sleep alone. It would've been unsettling if Natsu and Zeref had ended up sharing a room, but the probability for that was one-to-two.
Naturally, Natsu pouted and complained, but you didn't mess with Erza. She made it very clear that this decision was final.
Gray added, "Well, that's what you get for hesitating too long, flame-brain," then turned around and walked to his and Zeref's room, showing off his key as he went, much to Natsu's displeasure. He shouted insults at Gray, but was cut off by a hit, probably Erza's. Gray snorted in amusement.
"Hey, I heard that, you know," Natsu shouted after him.
Gray turned around one last time, noticing that Zeref was following him.
"Good," he shouted back at Natsu.
Zeref lay awake, hyperaware of Gray next to him in the double bed. He couldn't remember ever sleeping with another person in the same bed. Probably because for most of his life, he would've ended up killing that person accidentally in his sleep. Even though he had nothing to fear now that his curse was gone, he couldn't shake his nervousness. Rationally, he knew he couldn't harm Gray unconsciously. However, that didn't stop his mind from jolting him back into awareness whenever he was about to succumb to sleep.
"Can't sleep?" Gray whispered.
"Oh, you're still awake?" Zeref whispered back.
"How could I sleep with you trembling like that? Do you want to talk about it?"
Actually, he didn't.
'Please, don't suppress your feelings ever again. We are your family now; you can trust us. It will only make you unhappy if you bite your tongue,' Lucy's voice in his head resounded. He'd promised, and even though Zeref was still unused to talking about his feelings, at least this was something harmless to talk about, compared to his feelings for Natsu.
So he took a deep breath and admitted, "A little over three months ago, I would've accidentally killed you in my sleep."
Zeref heard sheets rustling and then felt Gray's hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I thought it would be something like that. Can I help you calm down or even sleep somehow?"
Gray's hand on his shoulder already calmed him down somewhat. And it also made him crave more physical touch. No matter how jealous Zeref was of Gray sometimes, he couldn't bring himself to hate Gray. It was quite the opposite: Zeref enjoyed Gray's company, except for the times when Gray and Natsu came too close.
"I'm already calmer. Thanks."
"That's good."
Gray withdrew his hand, and Zeref involuntarily let out a displeased grumble.
"Sorry," Gray said in an amused tone. "Let's see. The only position I can think of that lets us sleep while we're touching is holding hands."
"Very funny."
"Oh, right. We could also try hugging each other."
"We're not a couple."
"You're not used to body contact, are you? There's nothing to it. Even siblings sometimes cuddle."
Was that true? Zeref had felt the urge to cuddle Natsu before, countless times. If what Gray said was true, then that meant Zeref and Natsu could cuddle? Without it being considered romantic? So Zeref could bluntly ask Natsu for a cuddle?
The mere prospect of cuddling with Natsu made him feel warm and fuzzy.
'I've been overthinking. All this time, I could've just asked Natsu to cuddle with me. I'll definitely do that the next time I have the opportunity.'
Well, if there was nothing to it, then why not try it with Gray?
"Okay."
It took some time until they found a comfortable position. Zeref even accidentally hit Gray once with his bandage ball and once Gray accidentally hit him with an elbow, but eventually they managed to sort their limbs and fell asleep.
"Wake up, you two, wake u—oh."
Gray wanted to rub his eyes but found one of his arms squished under Zeref's body. He had no feeling in that hand, so he extricated himself from Zeref's tight embrace.
He'd been fast asleep just a moment before, so he didn't know what the heck was going on. He sat up and found Natsu in the middle of their room, fully dressed and wearing a shocked expression. Gray looked down at Zeref lying close to him, grumbling in his sleep at the loss of contact and blindly fumbling for him.
"Natsu... have you ever heard of knocking?"
"Uh... I didn't think... I didn't know... The door wasn't locked, so I thought..."
"You're thinking too much. Leave us alone."
Natsu gulped, nodded, and turned around to leave. Gray didn't like this situation in the least, but it was Natsu's fault for barging in without knocking. And jumping to conclusions, judging by his expression.
Just when the door closed, Zeref stirred and slowly blinked awake.
"Hu? D' I miss som'thn'?"
"Yeah. Your brother burst in without knocking, saw us cuddling, and left again."
"I see. Y'don' wan' him t' think that we're involved 'cuz you love him."
Gray's eyes widened. "Wh-what are you talking about? You're still half asleep. Get your senses together first, and then we'll talk."
Zeref sat up and punched himself in the face with his bandaged hand.
"Ouuuch."
Gray blinked a few times. "Well, that sure is a way to wake up fast."
"It wasn't intentional. I keep forgetting this." Zeref waved his bandaged hands back and forth.
"Well, yeah, typical Natsu. I'll redo that for you. I'm sure I can do it much better than him."
Gray helped Zeref through his morning routine. He brushed his teeth, shaved his face, and helped him pee (without looking, of course). Then he redid the bandages. Zeref's hands were still scarlet and blistered, and from Zeref's reaction, they hurt like hell when something touched them. So Gray smeared ointment on them and then wrapped them in another bandage, only with far less layers than before. It looked much better than before and felt a lot better, Zeref admitted.
"I'll take a shower now. Do you want to join me? You'll need a shower as well."
"I'd prefer a bath, since it's easier to keep my hands out of the water."
"Makes sense. We have a bathtub, so I could run us a bath. Unless you'd prefer a bath with Natsu?"
Gray stared at Zeref, praying that Zeref wouldn't choose Natsu. Gray wasn't blind, after all. He'd noticed Natsu's longing looks in the direction of his older brother. However, they were siblings and it was best if Natsu wasn't tempted at all. Even if Zeref chose Natsu, Gray wouldn't give up so easily. He'd protect Natsu's honor at all cost. And not only because he was in love with Natsu, which was of course also true, but nobody besides himself needed to know that.
When Zeref only stared back at him without answering, Gray asked again, "Well?"
The options seem pretty obvious, don't they?
A: Pick Gray.
B: Pick Natsu.
C: Pick Erza.
D: Pick Lucy.
The game is on ;)