Gray knew he was dreaming. It was the same as always – blood, fire, and a deep sense of panic that thrummed in his chest. The haze around him was filled with screaming, with broken bones, with smoke that choked his lungs.
He closed his eyes in the dream, but it didn't matter. The images burned through his eyelids anyway, dark and inescapable. Gray clenched his teeth, wishing he could wake himself up from the nightmare. He already knew how it ended.
A sharp pain suddenly shocked his hand and dream-Gray looked down, frowning. His skin looked unbroken, but the sensation sparked through him again – sharp pinpricks along the edge of his index finger.
He looked around – the scene hadn't changed. Then the sting moved to the side of his hand, sharper and more insistent, and he yelped in pain.
Gray's eyes flew open and he pulled his hand to his chest, wincing as he felt tiny drops of blood on his skin. It was dark, and he sat up quickly, realizing he was still on the couch. He fumbled for the lamp on the side table, still trying to catch his breath.
The light filled the room with a warm glow and illuminated the three baby dragons, eyes wide as they stared at Gray. Natsu cocked his head to the side and made a soft chittering sound, then butted his head against Gray's hand in an almost apologetic manner. Gray looked from the pinpricks in his skin to Natsu's sharp teeth and realized that Natsu had nipped him awake.
"Thanks," Gray said softly, running his finger over the top of Natsu's head. Natsu closed his eyes, tail flicking happily behind him as he pushed up against Gray's hand. The tight, anxious feeling in Gray's chest relaxed, and he tipped his head back, staring up at the ceiling.
Natsu came closer, putting his paws on Gray's thigh and rubbing his head against Gray's chest. Gray exhaled, rubbing his face before pushing himself up off the couch.
"C'mon," he said sleepily, reaching out for the three dragons. They quickly clambered into his arms and cuddled up against him as he headed for the bedroom.
As soon as he lay down on the bed, Sting jumped in the middle of Gray's chest, staring at him curiously for a few seconds. Then he turned in several slow circles and settled down with his tail tucked over his nose. Rogue hopped over Sting, nipping his ear playfully on the way, then curled up above Gray's shoulder, resting his head on his paws as his tail flicked slowly back and forth.
Gray tipped his head to the side and pressed a soft kiss to the top of Rogue's head. Rogue made a happy snuffling sound, returning the gesture with a quick lick to Gray's cheek.
Natsu nuzzled Gray's hand, then moved up to his shoulder. He copied Sting's circling movements, kneading the blanket until he seemed satisfied, then plopped down, resting his head in the crook of Gray's neck. Almost immediately, a soft, rumbling sound started up in his chest, and it took a second for Gray to realize he was purring.
The other two quickly joined him, the sound reverberating through them and flooding Gray's body with a sense of calm. He sighed happily, bringing one hand up to brush through Sting's fur and the other to pet Natsu while he rested his cheek against Rogue's head.
It took him almost no time at all to fall back asleep, and this time, he didn't dream.
Gray woke up to something tugging on his hair.
He grumbled, cracking an eye open and rubbing his face. When he tried to roll over there was a muffled squeak of protest, and he looked down to see something small and red curled up on his chest.
"Oh," he said, yawning and rubbing his face. "Thought that was a dream." He reached down and ran his fingers over Natsu's head, smiling when Natsu purred and pressed up against Gray's hand.
Something pulled on Gray's hair again and when he reached up to brush it away, he was met by a tiny growl and sharp teeth on his fingertips. He could just see the white fluff of Sting's fur out of the corner of his eye, and he sighed as he realized Sting was grooming his hair.
"I don't need a bath," he muttered, trying to nudge Sting away again. Sting made a disgruntled sound, biting the end of Gray's finger again, then returned to licking Gray's hair. Gray gave up, tipping his head to the side when Sting pushed at it with both paws. "You're bossy," Gray said. The only reply he got was a sharp nip to his ear.
Gray yawned, pressing his face into the pillow as Sting continued to clean his hair, making soft, pleased noises as he worked. Rogue, who had been next to Gray's head, shuffled down next to Natsu and curled up with his head on Natsu's back, both of them purring happily as Gray petted them.
Gray had nearly fallen back asleep when there was a knock on the door. Immediately all three dragons were wide awake, sitting up and glaring suspiciously at the front entrance. Sting tumbled backward as Gray sat up and Gray caught him quickly before he fell off the edge of the bed.
"Shush, you," he said to Natsu, who was growling quietly. Gray grabbed a sweater from the side of the bed, pulling it on and picking up Natsu as he headed for the door. The other two immediately clambered down the blanket and trailed after him toward the door.
It was Freed, with Laxus not far behind them.
"Oh," Freed said, eyebrows raised as they looked at Gray's hair. "We, uh…"
"I know," Gray said, moving to run his fingers through it. Sting, who was sitting between Gray's feet, looked up at him reproachfully. "Fine," Gray said, sighing and dropping his hand. "But only 'cause you're cute." Sting looked pleased, flicking his gaze from Gray to Freed and back again.
"Should we come back later?" Freed asked, trying their best to hide a smile. Gray rolled his eyes, gesturing for both Freed and Laxus to come in. Natsu, who had so far been sitting contentedly in Gray's arms, growled as soon as Laxus approached the door.
"Knock it off," Gray said as Sting and Rogue joined him, moving in front of Gray's legs and glaring at Laxus. "He's not going to hurt you! You're all ridiculous."
"I don't think they're worried about him hurting them," Freed said as the two of them stepped inside. "They don't want him near you."
Natsu wriggled in Gray's grip, kicking at him ineffectively with his back legs. Gray sighed, setting him down on the floor with Sting and Rogue and looking at the three of them with his hands on his hips. "I don't need you to protect me," he muttered.
Rogue tipped his head back and looked up at Gray, chittering softly and rubbing his head against Gray's shin. "Stop that," Gray said, rubbing his face. "Look, he's not going to hurt me either." Gray stepped away from the three dragons to stand next to Laxus and all three of them made distressed sounds, tails flicking back and forth.
"Come here," Gray said, sighing and gesturing for Freed and Laxus to follow him into the living room. Laxus crouched down, settling onto the floor in front of the couch with his legs crossed and his hands out in front of him non-threateningly.
Natsu, Sting and Rogue approached cautiously, ducking under the coffee table and glaring at Laxus, who laughed and continued to sit perfectly still. Gray settled down on the couch nearby, while Freed took the armchair and set the book they'd been carrying on the coffee table.
"Did you find anything?" Gray asked.
"Sort of," Freed replied. "Levy figured out that the scroll was enchanted to disguise its true intent, and I didn't recognize it. I'm sorry."
Gray and Laxus both shook their heads. "You couldn't have known what would happen," Laxus said, giving Freed a meaningful look.
"I should have been more careful," Freed said, sighing as they tapped the book. "It's a completely different magic than we first thought."
"Different how?" Gray asked.
While Freed opened up the book and pulled out the scroll, Gray's gaze turned back to Rogue, who had crept out from under the table and was now sitting in front of Laxus, curiously sniffing his outstretched fingers. Natsu and Sting were still under the table, and Natsu was batting at Rogue's tail as it flicked back and forth.
"See?" Laxus said quietly as Rogue hesitantly shuffled closer, placing his front paws on Laxus' shin. "I promise I'm not gonna hurt him. I've got my own mate, I'm not after yours."
Heat rushed to Gray's cheeks at the word 'mate,' but it seemed to please Rogue. He chittered something at Laxus, then turned to look back at the other two as if reassuring him that it was safe.
"Here," Freed said, drawing Gray's attention back to the scroll. They'd spread it out on the coffee table, holding the curled ends down with coasters. "I don't recognize the language, now."
Gray shifted on the couch to take a look at it over Freed's shoulder. With the enchantment lifted, it looked nothing like the scroll they'd used yesterday, and Gray's eyes widened as he recognized the insignia at the bottom.
"Shit," he said, reaching out and running his fingers over the symbol. "It's the same guild."
"The one from the job last month?" Freed asked, frowning.
Gray nodded. "Vengeance Soul. They're a dark guild from Isvan." The fight against them had been a nightmare and had ended with Sting nearly dying, and Gray had hoped they would never have to face that kind of magic again.
The expression on Freed's face quickly shifted from puzzled to relieved. "That's what we were missing," they said, scanning the scroll again. "Levy has a translation spell that should help us out. Or can you read it?"
Gray shook his head "I haven't spoken Isvanian since… with my parents," he said, trying to make sense of the vaguely familiar symbols. "Ur and Lyon both spoke Fioran. It's been years since I've read it."
Freed shifted the scroll to the side, opening the book and pulling out a pen. "I'll have to take it back to the guild," they said, scribbling some notes in the margins. "Hopefully translating it will help – all we know right now is that it's a magic targeted specifically at Dragon Slayers."
"So… this was done to them on purpose?" Gray asked, frowning. "The guild was after this." He held out his arm and summoned his dark devil-slaying marks. There was a still-healing scar near his wrist where the guild had attempted to literally carve the magic out of him. "We're still not sure why, but I thought we got all of them."
A distressed chirping suddenly filled the room and Gray looked down to see all three dragons sitting at his feet, staring at his forearm in concern. "I'm fine," he reassured them, letting the marks fade away and holding out his arm for them to inspect. "See?"
Sting scrambled up onto the couch, hopping into Gray's lap and nuzzling his arm. As soon as Sting touched him, warmth spread through Gray's chest, dissipating the anxiety that had been tying itself in knots.
"I'll take the scroll back to the guild right away," Freed said, tucking it back into the book. "Or… maybe in a bit."
Gray followed Freed's gaze back down to Laxus. Satisfied that Gray was unharmed, Rogue had clambered into Laxus lap and was carefully sniffing his arms. Natsu had climbed up onto the couch next to Laxus' head and had both paws pressed on his shoulder as he groomed Laxus' hair.
"I'm not sure who's going to be more embarrassed about this later," Gray said, laughing. Laxus rolled his eyes good-naturedly and leaned back against the couch, giving in to the tiny dragons' affection.
Sting nudged Gray again, putting both paws on his chest and rubbing his head against Gray's cheek.
"Don't worry," Gray said softly, stroking the soft fur behind Sting's ear as Sting started to purr. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. Promise."