A/N: Thank you to everyone for being so patient with me! I know I haven't updated this in a long time, so hopefully it was worth the wait ^-^
Tuesday came faster than Gray expected, but the day itself crawled by. He alternated between looking forward to seeing Sting again and panicking about the bright bubbly sensation in his chest that he hadn't felt since he'd met Natsu.
Breathe, Natsu texted him halfway through the day. I can feel you freaking out from here. He invited you, you're gonna be fine.
Gray sighed, rubbing his face and trying to take Natsu's advice.
By the time he got to the zoo, it was only an hour before closing. When Gray told the ticket-taker that he was looking for Sting, she waved him through without paying and pointed him toward the large cat exhibit.
Gray's shadow stretched out in front of him as he wandered down the well-tended paths. The zoo had changed so much since he was a kid, and even with the directions from the information desk, it took Gray nearly twenty minutes to find the glass-walled enclosure on the other side of the park.
There was a crowd of people around the window – mostly young children that were squealing and jumping up and down – and Gray moved around them curiously until he was able to see what they were all looking at.
At the front of the enclosure was a natural-looking swimming pool, crisscrossed with logs and ropes and surrounded by enormous toys. Sting was waist-deep in the water, holding his arms out to a frightened-looking tiger cub that was pacing back and forth along the bank.
"Carla's a little more nervous than her brother, so we're gonna give her a hand." Sting's voice came through the speakers and Gray realized he was wearing a headset. "Tigers are one of the big cats that love the water, so once we get her in, she'll be just fine."
Gray felt his heart melt as he watched Sting move closer to the cub, making a soft purring sound to soothe her. Carla looked uncertainly at him, dipping one paw into the water and then backing away, shaking it off.
"C'mon, darling," Sting murmured, making the gentle sound again. "You're all right." The gentle lilt of Sting's accent captivated Gray, and he couldn't help the soft smile that crossed his face as he watched Sting stroke the tiger cub's fur.
"Carla needs a bit of encouragement," Sting said over the headset, turning to look at the kids in the crowd around the enclosure. "I'm gonna give her a little ride and introduce her to the water."
Carla pawed uncertainly at Sting and he made the purring sound again, nudging her until she clambered up onto his back like a child taking a piggyback ride. Then he slowly moved into the deeper water until Carla's paws were touching it, making gentle sounds of reassurance.
"There you go," Sting said, slowly turning around and guiding Carla into the water. "See? Not so bad after all." Carla's eyes were wide, but she reluctantly started to kick her back legs while Sting held onto her front paws. "Good girl," he said softly.
Once Carla was happily swimming with Lily, Sting stepped out of the water and waved to the kids gathered around the glass. The rest of the presentation consisted of facts about tigers, but all Gray could focus on was the way Sting's wet shirt clung to his chest. It made Gray's stomach twist in ways that made him think of Natsu, followed by the low, thrumming guilt that had been following him around since Natsu had brought Sting home for dinner.
"Come on in!" Sting opened the gate for Gray, squeezing Gray's arm as he stepped into the enclosure. It was hot and humid, and Gray's shirt was already sticking to his back. "It's good to see you," Sting said, pulling Gray into a hug. The gesture was so comfortable and familiar; like they'd known each other for years instead of days.
"This is amazing," Gray said as Sting headed toward a small building at the back of the enclosure. The area was filled with tall trees, and on the other side of a glass wall, Gray could just make out a large white tiger settled next to the pool from earlier. "Is that Frosch?"
"Yeah!" Sting looked at Frosch fondly as she flicked her tail back and forth, yawning and basking in the sun. "I'd love for you to meet her – I've known her since she was a cub – but once they get that big, they're a bit too dangerous for strangers. I still play with them sometimes, but they know who I am."
Gray sighed wistfully and Sting laughed, nudging his shoulder. "The cubs are a lot smaller though," Sting said, opening the door of the small building and gesturing for Gray to step inside. He locked it firmly behind them, then asked, "You wanna meet them?"
The lights in the building were dim, and Gray followed Sting down a short hallway that opened into a larger room with glass walls and several ropes and large toys strewn about. The two tiger cubs from earlier were wrestling with each other in the center of the room, nipping at each other's necks.
"Carla! Lily!" Sting made the same soft purring sound as earlier and both cubs immediately perked up, separating from each other and running toward the gate. "C'mere my loves," Sting said, reaching out and letting them sniff his hand. "I brought you a friend."
Gray's eyes widened as Sting gently took his hand and moved it toward the cubs. The pass of Sting's thumb across Gray's palm was electric, and Gray was glad when one of the cubs sniffed him and he could pass his sharp intake of breath off as surprise.
"Good girl," Sting murmured, letting go of Gray's hand and stroking one of the cubs behind the ears. Gray immediately missed the contact. "They've been hand-raised so they're pretty used to humans," Sting explained. "Their mom passed when they were born so the zoo's been taking care of them. Once they're big enough, they'll be integrated back with the others, but they're only nine weeks old, so they're basically big kittens."
"They're adorable," Gray said, laughing when one of the cubs headbutted his hand and made a noise that was almost a meow. "Not going to lie, I am insanely jealous of your job."
Sting laughed, scratching underneath one of the cubs' chins and running his thumb over her nose. "I wouldn't want to do anything else," he said.
Once the cubs were used to Gray, Sting opened the gate and the two of them sat down on the floor as the cubs climbed on them curiously. Carla ended up in Gray's lap, making the strange purring sound that Sting had been making earlier.
"It's called 'chuffing,'" Sting explained as Lily ran off to grab one of his toys – a knotted rope that he brought back to Sting and tugged at playfully. "If you do it back, it's like saying hello."
Gray's cheeks flushed as he attempted the sound. Carla seemed pleased, pawing at his arm before jumping off his lap and onto Lily. The movement pushed Gray a little closer to Sting so that their knees were touching, and Gray swallowed before relaxing against him.
"Thanks for letting me visit," Gray said, smiling as he watched the cubs play. "Natsu's a pain in the ass, but he's right, I really do love cats."
Sting laughed, leaning back on his hands but keeping his leg pressed against Gray's. "You and me both," he said. "And you can visit any time."
"Oh," Gray said, biting his lip to hide the grin that threatened to appear. "Thanks."
"Yeah."
A gentle silence grew between them, interrupted only by the soft growls and playful sounds of Carla and Lily. It reminded Gray of the quiet evenings he and Natsu spent together with Happy, and the confused, guilty sensation started to swell in his chest again.
Luckily, his phone vibrating saved him from the feeling, and he pulled it out to see a text from Natsu.
Rogue came by the café and he's got his hair in a fucking ponytail, I'm having a gay crisis. Is it a terrible idea to invite them over again?
Gray snorted, then looked over at Sting, who was watching the cubs with a soft smile and bright eyes. He sighed, then typed out, Maybe, but when has that ever stopped you? I'll make burgers. He hit 'send,' then sighed and added, Also, Sting has dimples, you're not the only one having a crisis.
Then he turned to Sting, nudging him with his knee and asking, "You wanna come over for supper?"
Dinner together became a regular occurrence. Rogue and Sting started joining them at Thursday trivia nights, and they were welcomed eagerly by Lucy and Erza. Saturday nights were spent showing Rogue and Sting around the city, and Gray started visiting the zoo every Tuesday to spend time with Sting and the cubs.
At first, Natsu felt guilty. He and Gray would spend the time after their get-togethers talking quietly about their mutual attraction to Sting and Rogue and what it meant for the two of them. But neither Sting nor Rogue mentioned it when Gray complimented Rogue's hair, or when Natsu wrapped an arm around Sting to celebrate a win at trivia night.
In fact, both of them reciprocated. More than once Natsu found Rogue's foot resting against his under the table at the restaurant, or Sting would lean into Gray while he laughed, tipsy from a few too many glasses of wine. Casual touching quickly became normal, and Natsu found himself looking forward to those soft, gentle moments of intimacy between the four of them.
"Is it starting to feel like home?" Natsu asked after a few weeks. He nudged Rogue, who was sitting next to him at the café. The editing office where Rogue had started working was just around the corner, and he'd taken to visiting Natsu for most of his lunch breaks.
"It's getting there," Rogue said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I like it. People stare at us less." Natsu frowned in confusion. "I'm black, Sting's white," Rogue elaborated. "And we're gay. We lived in a small town, people were conservative... apartheid wasn't really that long ago. Most people were nice, but sometimes it sucked. My parents haven't talked to me since Sting and I started dating."
"Shit, I'm sorry." Natsu played with the rim of his coffee cup. "I never really thought about that."
Rogue shrugged. "Sting's worth it." The smile that crept across his face made Natsu's stomach do something complicated that he didn't quite understand. "What about your family?" Rogue asked.
"Gray's parents are great," Natsu said, shifting his feet and resting them on the edge of Rogue's chair. "His dad works in business and is always texting me asking how to say stuff in Japanese to impress his clients." Rogue laughed. "My parents took a while to come around – mostly 'cause Gray's a guy, not 'cause he's black. But they're fine with it now."
They spent the rest of Rogue's lunch hour together, and Natsu couldn't stop thinking about how easy it was to talk to him. At one point, Rogue shifted his foot on the stool and his calf brushed up against Natsu's. Neither of them mentioned it, but neither of them moved away, either.
When Rogue finally left, kissing Natsu's cheek and heading up to his office, Natsu could feel Lucy's curious eyes watching the interaction. He stared at the door for a long time after Rogue left, taking deep breaths and desperately trying to understand the feelings he couldn't control.
"You're telling me you've never seen 'Star Wars?'"
Natsu sat on the couch at Sting and Rogue's place, gesturing at both of them with his empty glass and giving them an incredulous look. It was nearly two months after their move, and Sting had insisted on Natsu and Gray coming to their place for dinner this time, even though they still didn't have a kitchen table.
Sting laughed, nudging Rogue with his shoulder.
"Nope," he said. "We're probably the only people on the planet who haven't, at this point." He grabbed another slice of pizza from the box on the table, then settled back onto the couch, kicking his feet up over the armrest.
"We're gonna have to fix that, right, babe?" Natsu said, looking down at Gray, who was sitting on the floor next to the couch. Gray tipped his head back and hummed in agreement. "You guys have Netflix?" Sting nodded, gesturing to the remote on the coffee table. "You wanna watch the first one right now?"
"You're lucky he's only asking about the first one," Gray said, rolling his eyes. "When we met, he was so affronted that I hadn't seen it that we had to watch the original trilogy in one sitting."
"You liked it," Natsu grumbled, flicking Gray's ear.
"To be fair," Gray said, laughing as he ducked out the way, "I didn't really pay much attention to the second two. We were a bit preoccupied."
Natsu was about to argue when he noticed the pink blush that had spread across Sting's cheeks. An affectionate feeling bubbled in Natsu's chest at the sight and he bit back a sigh, running his fingers through Gray's hair instead.
"Shush, you," he grumbled, nudging Gray toward the remote. "Maybe this time you'll pay attention."
Halfway through the movie, Natsu realized his mistake. Sting, who had been previously curled up against Rogue, yawned and stretched, and when he settled back onto the couch, his shoulder pressed up against Natsu's. The touch sent a thrill through Natsu, and he held his breath, trying his best not to move.
"They're gonna end up together, aren't they?" Sting asked, tipping his head toward Natsu as he gestured to Han and Leia on the screen. His voice was low and soft, and it sent a tight, hot feeling straight to Natsu's stomach.
"Can't tell you that, 's a spoiler," Natsu replied, holding in a sharp breath when Sting's hand shifted towards his and their fingers brushed. "They, uh…" He trailed off, torn between leaning away from Sting and moving closer.
Sting made the decision for him when he moved again, and this time his hand ended up on Natsu's knee. Natsu's heart jumped at the touch, and he peeked guiltily over at Rogue from the corner of his eye. Gray, who was still on the floor, had shifted over, and Natsu realized that he'd tipped his head back against Rogue's leg. Rogue's hand hovered not far from Gray's hair, and Natsu could see his own hesitation mirrored on Rogue's face.
The uncomfortable sensation that Natsu would have felt if anyone else had wanted to touch Gray never surfaced. Instead, all Natsu could think about was how much Gray would enjoy Rogue's fingers in his hair, and how much Natsu wanted to hold Sting's hand.
Natsu swallowed, making up his mind. "Rogue, I think Gray's got some—something in his hair."
Rogue blinked, looking over Sting's head at Natsu and then back down at Gray's hair that definitely had nothing in it. "Here?" he asked quietly, fingers brushing uncertainly through the hair behind Gray's ear.
Natsu watched as Gray tensed for a second, then sighed happily and leaned back into the touch. Rogue was tentative at first, but when Natsu didn't say anything, he grew a bit bolder, sliding his fingers gently through Gray's hair.
Sting was watching too, quiet and warm beside Natsu, and Natsu took the opportunity to gently run his finger against the side of Sting's hand. There was a moment of hesitation, and then Sting slipped his hand into Natsu's.
A warm, comfortable sense of contentment and rightness settled into Natsu's chest and he let out a quiet sigh, relaxing against Sting. Out the corner of his eye he watched Rogue's face light up with a smile as he drew his fingers gently through Gray's hair.
Sting yawned, shifting again and sliding his fingers between Natsu's, then tipping his head onto Natsu's shoulder. Natsu hummed happily, running his thumb along Sting's as a warm thrill ran through him.
It was exhilarating and terrifying, and Natsu just wished he knew what it meant.
A/N: The scene with Sting and the cubs swimming is taken directly from an episode of "Tigers About the House" which you should definitely watch, you won't regret it!
