The second night with the dragons was much more difficult than the first.
"Sting, sweetheart, please go to sleep," Gray mumbled. There was a huff next to Gray's head and he cracked his eye open to see Sting sitting next to the pillow, eyes wide as he stared at Gray. Gray sighed, reaching out and scratching behind Sting's ears. "What's wrong?"
Sting made a soft, whining sound and nudged Gray's cheek with his head. Gray squinted at the clock next to the bed and groaned – it was only 2:47 a.m.
"You guys slept last night," he said, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Why are you suddenly nocturnal?" Sting blinked innocently and Gray rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look."
Sting made a soft chittering sound, but it was interrupted by a crash and a loud yelp from the living room. Gray swore, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he flicked on the lamp. Rogue and Natsu were nowhere to be seen, and the bedroom door was wide open.
"I swear I closed that," Gray muttered, pushing himself out of bed and scooping up Sting before heading out into the hall. "What the hell are those two doing?"
With the lights off, the only illumination in the apartment was the soft glow of the moon through the living room window. Rogue sat in the middle of the carpet, tail whipping back and forth wildly as he stared at something in the kitchen. As soon as Gray set down Sting on the couch and stepped toward him, Rogue took off, digging his claws into the carpet and darting toward the front door.
"Get back here!" Gray shouted. Rogue yelped again, then leapt into the air and flipped around, darting between Gray's legs and back toward the bedroom. As he passed the couch, Sting pounced down onto him, pinning him to the floor and growling. Rogue flipped onto his back, kicking at Sting with his hind feet while Sting nipped at his neck.
"Just… stay there," Gray said, peeking into the kitchen. There was a faint scratching sound from the corner and Gray sighed, stepping over to the pantry. Natsu froze when he saw Gray, one paw still on the door. "You're a terror," Gray said, leaning down to grab Natsu, who growled at him playfully and darted between his legs. "Would you—for crying out loud, it's three in the morning!"
Natsu chittered at him, charging at Sting and Rogue, who were still grappling next to the couch. A flurry of movement was followed by several loud yelps that ended with Natsu being pinned by both Sting and Rogue.
"Stop it," Gray grumbled, yawning again. They all looked up at him, tails flicking and eyes wide. "You can fight when it's not the middle of the night. Please?"
None of them moved and Gray glanced down the hallway longingly at the bedroom. Part of him was tempted to just leave them here and go back to bed, but the other part was terrified of what they'd do unsupervised.
Natsu bit Sting's paw and Sting yelped, tumbling backward against Gray's legs. Gray quickly trapped Sting between his feet, then grabbed Rogue and Natsu by their scruffs. Both of them immediately started to whine, scrabbling to escape his grip.
"Enough," Gray said, voice sharp with irritation. All three of them immediately stopped, ears going flat against their heads. A tiny pang of guilt ran through Gray, but it was quickly pushed aside by exhaustion. "I'm tired," he said, tucking both Natsu and Rogue under one arm and bending down to pick up Sting. Natsu reached out to bat at Sting but quickly pulled back when Gray glared at him. "Knock it off. It's the middle of the night and we are all going to sleep, got it?"
He headed back into the bedroom and dumped all three dragons onto the bed, then closed the door firmly behind him and dragged the bedside table in front of it for good measure. Natsu immediately scrambled down from the bed and attempted to scratch at the door, but Gray caught him and set him back down again next to the other two.
"Sleep," he said again, yawning and curling up on his pillow. He reached out for the three of them, patting the bed next to him. "C'mere."
Natsu grumbled but moved up, turning in several circles before curling up next to Gray. Sting and Rogue quickly followed him, and when Gray eventually fell asleep again, it was to all three dragons purring against his chest.
Showering the next morning was an ordeal. As soon as Gray turned on the water, all three dragons hissed and scattered throughout the house, and he spent the next five minutes finding them all in their respective hiding spots and bringing them back into the bathroom.
"I'm not washing any of you," he insisted, closing the door behind him and locking it. "I just don't trust you out there."
When he stepped into the shower, all three dragons made distressed noises. "It's okay," he said, peeking around the shredded curtain to see Natsu with his paws up on the edge of the tub again. "You're going to fall in again, get out of here." Natsu chirped at him, backing away from the tub and pacing uneasily.
Gray quickly soaped up his hair and was in the middle of rinsing it when the shower curtain rattled. He shook the water out, wiping his eyes and looking up to see Rogue peeking curiously at him from over the curtain rod. Tiny holes made a pattern from the bottom of the fabric up to where Rogue was now perched precariously.
"I'm fine," Gray insisted, sighing as Sting's paws appeared on the edge of the tub next to the tap. He whined at Gray, eyes wide as he shifted back and forth on his hind feet. Natsu's head popped up next to Sting's and Gray could see the shadows of both of their tails flicking wildly on the other side of the curtain.
When Gray finally stepped out of the shower with the towel wrapped around him, Natsu and Sting crowded around his ankles anxiously, rubbing themselves up against his legs.
"You're the ones who hate water, not me," Gray said, shaking his head and reaching down to pick up each of them and set them on the bathroom counter. Sting snuffled uncertainly and Gray scratched behind his ears as Rogue clambered down from the damaged shower curtain and settled on the back of the toilet.
Natsu seemed satisfied that Gray was unharmed and turned to sniff his toothbrush instead. A flick of red in the mirror caught his eye and he immediately growled, jumping forward and smashing directly into the mirror.
Gray snorted, shaking his head and reaching out to tug Natsu away from the glass. "That's just your reflection, idiot." Natsu squirmed out of his grip, shaking himself off and batting at the mirror again. When his paw hit the glass, he made a puzzled sound, looking up at Gray, who rolled his eyes. "Of course you want to fight yourself. Why wouldn't you? You want to fight literally everything else you see."
Natsu huffed at him, then turned back to the mirror and rumbled at his reflection, spreading out his wings and headbutting the glass.
"At least you're not destroying my carpet," Gray sighed, reaching out to turn on the tap. Sting squeaked, backing away from the water and nearly falling off the edge of the counter before Gray grabbed him and set him down on the back of the toilet next to Rogue.
By the time Gray was done shaving, Natsu was still growling at the mirror, and Rogue was busy grooming Sting's fur while Sting stared at Natsu quizzically.
"Nobody knows why he's the way he is, it's not just you," Gray reassured Sting, tugging on his shirt and re-wrapping the bandage around his forearm. "Natsu, you're going to give yourself a concussion."
Natsu backed up a few steps, flicking his tail, then hissed and flung himself forward at the mirror again. When he slammed into it with a dull thud, Sting looked up at Gray and chirped at him.
"I know," Gray said, shaking his head and grabbing Natsu around the middle. Natsu grumbled at him, squirming for a second before giving up on his reflection and turning around to clamber up onto Gray's shoulder. "C'mon, you two," Gray said, reaching out for Sting and Rogue, who happily scrambled up into his arms. "Let's go see if Freed figured out how to turn you back."
The walk to the guild was full of playful tussles, and it was nearly noon by the time they walked through the doors into the hall.
"You managed to get the icing out?" Lucy teased from the bar, waving them over.
"Barely," Gray muttered, depositing all three dragons on the counter and showing Lucy his bandaged arm. "Apparently they don't like water."
Natsu scrambled over to Lucy and chirped happily, rubbing his head against her outstretched hand and then curling up next to her. Sting and Rogue both sat on their haunches, looking around the guild curiously.
"Have you heard from Freed?" Erza asked, sitting down next to Gray. He shook his head, yawning and reaching across the counter to grab himself a cup of coffee.
"I haven't seen them since yesterday."
Sting approached Gray's coffee cup carefully, sniffing it before wrinkling his nose and rubbing a paw across his face. "You don't like that, huh?" Gray asked, laughing and petting the top of Sting's head. Sting made a sound that was almost a sneeze, then glared suspiciously at the mug and returned to Rogue's side.
"Good morning!" Mira appeared on the other side of the counter and reached out her hand to the dragons, laughing happily when they sniffed her and licked her fingers. "Are they hungry?" she asked Gray. All three of them immediately perked up, staring at Mira with wide eyes.
"Always," Gray said, poking Natsu, who squeaked at him and nipped his finger. "They've nearly eaten everything we bought yesterday already. I'm surprised they haven't doubled in size."
Sting, who was undeniably the roundest of the three – even without the fluff – chirped at Gray. "Yes, you're very cute," Gray reassured him, holding out his hand for Sting to rub his head against. "You're just insatiable."
Gray slowly relaxed with Lucy and Erza as Mira brought out a plate for the dragons – raw slabs of bacon and ham that she cut into small chunks and they devoured eagerly. A few tussles broke out between them for the larger pieces of food, but Gray let them fight it out, watching with amusement as Sting puffed his fur up as much as possible whenever the others tried to steal from him.
It was nearing midafternoon when Freed finally surfaced from the basement with Levy close behind, both carrying stacks of books and looking relieved.
"You figured it out?" Gray asked hopefully, wincing as Sting kneaded his bandaged arm and rubbed his head against Gray's chest.
"We think so," Levy said, sounding breathless as she set her stack of books on the counter. Natsu immediately ran up to it and sniffed it curiously, and when Levy reached out her hand for him, he rumbled with a happy purr. When Gajeel appeared behind her, Natsu's ears flattened against his head and he let out a warning growl.
"Don't antagonize them," Levy chastised as Gajeel made a face at Natsu, who hissed and flicked his tail. "Be nice."
"I'm not doing anything!" Gajeel insisted, but when Levy glared at him, he took a step back. Natsu huffed, shaking out his wings and keeping a suspicious eye on Gajeel as he settled back on his haunches next to Rogue.
"I really hope they remember this when they turn back," Gray muttered. Sting, who had clambered up onto his shoulder, made a concerned sound, and Gray reached up to scratch behind his ears. "Don't worry," he murmured quietly, turning to kiss Sting's nose. "You'll still be cute when you're not fluffy."
There was a snort from Laxus nearby, and Gray steadfastly ignored the heat creeping up the back of his neck and into his cheeks.
"Well," Freed said, tapping the pile of books on the counter, "The counterspell should work." Gray raised an eyebrow.
"Should?"
Freed sighed, rubbing their face and looking over at Levy. "Well, there are no guarantees," they said. "Magic isn't always precise, and when you throw translations into the mix…"
"Do we have another choice?" Gray asked.
Freed tipped their head side to side. "Not really. Unless you want to make a trek to Isvan and storm a dark guild."
Gray shuddered, unconsciously touching the scar on his wrist. "No thanks."
Almost an hour later, they were all back in the field by Gray's house. It took a few minutes to get the three dragons settled into a similar protection circle that Freed had drawn the first time they'd done the spell. Every time Gray stepped away from them, they all made distressed sounds, scampering after him and trying to climb up his legs.
"Stay," Gray said firmly, scooping them up and setting them back in the circle again. "I promise I'll be fine."
Eventually Lucy ended up running back to Gray's house to grab some raw fish to set in the circle, and they were able to trick the three of them into devouring it instead of running after Gray.
"Quickly," Freed said, reaching out for Levy's hand as Gray backed up toward Lucy. Laxus stood behind Freed and Levy, arms crossed over his chest as he watched them begin to read from the scroll. The same crackling energy from before started to swirl around the dragons, and when they started whining in confusion, Gray felt a sharp pang of guilt. He almost moved forward to grab them out of instinct, but Lucy held his arm, whispering, "They'll be okay."
Gray closed his eyes as the sound and the magic intensified, filling the air with the same strange pressure until it reached a crescendo and disappeared with a quiet 'pop.'
There was an eerie silence as the dust settled, revealing the three dragons, just as they had been moments ago. Almost immediately all three of them began to growl, looking around in confusion. Sting's hackles were up and Natsu had spread his wings, while Rogue bared his teeth and kneaded his claws into the grass.
"Hey, it's okay," Gray murmured, moving toward them. "It didn't work, but you're fi—"
A sound like a tiny sneeze interrupted him, and a short, sharp bolt of lightning burst across the ground, zapping the grass next to Sting's paws. Sting hissed, scurrying away from the black mark in the ground and looking around, wide-eyed.
"What the…" Gray trailed off as Freed stepped to the side, revealing another baby dragon – this one white and gold, with bright eyes and tiny lines of electricity sparking around its wings.
"Oh," Freed said, staring at the dragon. "Well, shit."