Summary: Based on the Fairy Tale 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf'. Gray plays the same trick one time too many….

Pairings: General friendship feels.

YouTube Prompt: A tribute to the parental relationship between Igneel and Natsu and Silver and Gray to 'Things My Father Said' by Black Stone Cherry.

It was a normal day at the guild when Gray suddenly burst through the doors. "Guys, guys," he panted as he tried to catch his breath, "you'll never believe this!" he cried out. "I saw a Dragon!"

"WHAT?!"

Everyone had a vague sense that Dragons still existed and weren't entirely extinct as they all thought thanks to Natsu but no one had ever, ever, seen a Dragon before (apart from Natsu) and the idea that someone had seen one just now was incredibly exciting. Everyone crowded round Gray and started questioning him. Their voices over-lapping one another until Natsu finally pushed through and grabbed Gray's shoulders.

"Where?!" he demanded as he shook Gray. "Where did you see the Dragon?" he asked. "What colour was it?" he immediately asked before Gray could even open his mouth. "Was it Igneel?!" he cried out as he shook Gray extra hard at that. "What did he say for himself about leaving me?" he spat out as Gray began to get rather dizzy. "Why are you fucking naked?!" he shouted in Gray's face.

"Flipping heck, Natsu!" Gray snapped. "Give me time to answer your damn ques- wait, I am?" Gray glanced down and took in the fact that the only thing he was wearing right now was his boxers. "Shit!"

He immediately began to turn round and start searching for his clothes. A small twitch in Natsu's eye developed into full blown out angry twitch as he grabbed Gray's shoulder again and whirled him round to face him. "WHERE DID YOU SEE THE DRAGON?!" he screamed into Gray's face. Spit flying everywhere.

Gray grimaced and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Oh, I saw it over in the park," he said calmly. "You better hurry before it leaves."

There was a split moment of pure silence and then suddenly Natsu dashed out of the guild building. "IGNEEL!" he screamed. "WAIT FOR ME!"

Curiosity, because no one but Natsu and now Gray has seen a Dragon before, got the better of everyone and they immediately ran after him. Soo enough they all reached the park breathless with excitement.

"Where is it?!" Lisanna squealed. "I always wanted to see a Dragon!"

"Me too!"

"There!" Natsu pointed up to the sky where a small, scaly, object could be seen hovering over the trees. "It's a Dragon, and its red, OI IGNEEL!" he bellowed. "COME DOWN HERE AND EXPLAIN YOURSELF. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING JUST LEAVING WITHOUT A NOTE OR ANYTHING?!"

Utter silence…the Dragon didn't even bother to glance in Natsu's direction, let alone reply to him, or better yet fly down so they could see him properly. Levy's suspicions were raised and her eyes narrowed as she noticed a piece of string tying the tiny Dragon to the tree…

"OI!" Natsu roared. "DON'T IGNORE ME, I'M YOUR SON!"

"Erm, Natsu….." Levy tugged at Natsu's t-shirt nervously. "That's not a Dragon," she said quietly. Natsu whirled round furiously, ready to scream in her face, when she blurted out hastily; "that's a kite."

Natsu's mouth slammed shut at that. "A what?" he said dumbly.

"Pfft!" Gray snorted. "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" he cackled madly as he clutched his stomach and doubled over in hysterical laughter. "Oh God," he wheezed. "I can't believe you fell for that, as if dragons are-"

Natsu's fist sunk into Gray's stomach without a second thought. Gray's eyes popped open as he gasped for breath and slowly sunk to the ground on his knees. Natsu snarled wordlessly with barely suppressed fury and immediately stormed off.

Without a second thought everyone began to follow after him. Macao draped a comforting arm over Natsu's shoulder which the boy shrugged away, Erza tried to offer some cake, and Levy apologised profusely….they were all ignored.

Everyone went to comfort Natsu apart from one person. Her tiny, pink-covered, feet stepped into Gray's view and he slowly, reluctantly, lifted his head to meet the blazingly furious glare of Lisanna Strauss, chin jutted out with righteous anger, arms crossed, and an ugly look that was akin to Mirajane at her most terrifying. "You're an arsehole sometimes Gray Fullbuster!" she spat out disgustedly.

"Oi!" Gray protested. "He's just as bad with all of his stupid jokes!"

Lisanna just shot him a very dirty look before she stomped after Natsu. Gray followed, continuingly protesting that he's no worse than Natsu, but strangely enough no one wanted to listen to him.

…it'll be a whole week before people start talking to him again.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

The next time happened at the annual picnic celebrating the rainbow sakura blossoms. Natsu and Gray were actually behaving (though that might have to do with the fact that when they kept trying to shove one another off the picnic blanket, Erza cracked her knuckles and then promptly bashed their heads together) and after a very delicious, sugar-heavy, picnic, the pair of them were lounging in the mild spring sun…

"Oh my God!" Gray suddenly shot up and pointed dramatically across the park. A Dragon!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" Natsu cried up as he staggered to his feet. He started look around wildly, his head jerking in all different directions. "Where?!"

"Over there!" Gray pointed to a darkened corner of the park filled with trees. "Can't you see it? It's a red scaly thing."

The look of childish happiness made Natsu appear radiant. People would swear they could see flowers and sparkles surround him as he lifted his arms out and began to run towards the trees. "IGNEEL!" he shouted tearfully.

And then promptly tripped over something and crashed into a tree. He shot back up and looked around. "Huh?!" he blinked rapidly. "Where's Igneel?"

"Pfft!" Gray snorted. "You idiot," he taunted gleefully, "How can you fall for that again? Pfft! You're such a mor-OUCH!" Gray cut himself off with a screech of utter agony as Erza slapped him on the back of the head…..hard. "What was that for?!" he whined childishly.

"For playing such a cruel joke on Natsu," Erza said coldly, her body was trembling with barely suppressed rage, and a dark, evil, aura of sheer fury was leaking out of her. Gray took several steps away from her, utterly terrified his life (Natsu and everyone else also did the same and simultaneously shuddered). "Now, apologise or I will break every bone in your body."

"Oh come on!" Gray protested. "He plays cruel jokes on everyone all the time, why is everyone being so hard on me about this one?"

He belatedly realised exactly how stupid that was when Erza's face contorted with fury and he suddenly found himself eating dirt as Erza used his back as a prop for her foot.

"Because," she said calmly as if she wasn't grinding Gray's face into the ground, "despite his silly pranks and his nasty jokes, Natsu has never, not once, made a joke about your parents."

Gray stiffened slightly at the rebuke as he realised exactly how cruel he had been. They were a group of orphans and each and every one of them had a silent understanding that they don't talk about their parents. Igneel, for all intents and purposes, was Natsu's Dad, and Gray had broken the biggest rule in Fairy Tail.

He slumped against the ground in shame and defeat.

"….okay," Gray mumbled (and choked as dirt filled his mouth), "I'll go and apologise."

"And you'll swear that you'll never play that joke again," Erza added dangerously.

"And I will never play that joke again!" Gray choked out. "My honour as a Fairy Tail mage!"

Satisfied, Erza lifted her foot off of Gray. "Good," and with that she returned to her cake and enjoyed the mild spring afternoon.

Gray, however, spent the rest of his in a corner of shame as Natsu grudgingly accepted his apology and everyone else spent the whole afternoon glaring at him as they patted Natsu's back.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

It was two weeks later and Gray was making his way back from a job straight to the guild building when he heard it. Felt it, was more accurate. Gray fell to the ground as huge gusts of wind pushed past him, he could hear something big and heavy flapping, and when he glanced up his eyes widened with shock and horror as he took in the black scales, the wings, the lizard like body, it was….it was….

"DRAGON!" Gray screamed as he burst through the guild doors, completely and utterly naked, "I SAW A DRAGON!"

The entire guild fell silent as they turned to look at him. Natsu let out a sulky huff and turned his back on him, Lisanna patted his back comfortingly as she shot a furious glare that almost matched Mira's most terrifying, and everyone else looked utterly disgusted with Gray.

"God Gray!" Mira snarled. "You can be such a dick sometimes."

"What?" Gray blinked, confused, and then quickly realisation sank in as he remembered the last two times he claimed to have seen a dragon. "No, no, no!" he cried out hastily. "It's not a joke this time, I'm being serious-"

"That's very cruel of you Gray," Levy scowled, "to play that joke so many times."

"But I'm, not joking!" Gray protested. "I really saw a dragon this time! It was black and-"

"I'm so very disappointed in you," Master interrupted solemnly, "playing the joke once was in bad taste. A second time was poor judgement but this third time? It's absolutely revolting that you would be so inconsiderate to your friend's feelings."

"But I-"

"How can you live with yourself?" Cana snapped. "It's not funny, Gray."

Erza gazed at him coolly over her slice of cake, her eyes hardened within an instant. "You disgust me!" she growled. "Breaking your word in such a dishonourable fashion."

"But I really did see a dragon this time!" Gray whined childishly. "He had blue-"

"Gray Fullbuster!" Maser exploded furiously as he stood up on the bar. "If you don't drop this matter right now I will give you the punishment and you'll not be able to walk for weeks."

"But-"

Master transformed into his gigantic form. "I SAID DROP IT!" he bellowed.

"A-a-aye."

And with that Gay found himself alone and shunned for two whole days before Natsu got over it, punched Gray for being 'annoying ice prick' and everything went back to normal.

Meanwhile Acnologia was able to fly over Magnolia without any difficulties as the population continued their everyday lives completely oblivious to his presence. God, he snorted in disgust to himself, humans were so stupid….