Author Notes:
Warnings: Swearing - Sexual themes/Content.
Genre, in depth: Male/Male Romance, also known as, Yaoi.
Story Cover Art: Astrovique.
Beta Reader: enjoys literature.
Disclaimer: Dear reader, I'm not the owner of Fairy Tail's characters. If they were mine, Gray and Natsu would be boyfriends.
O.o.O Chapter Thirteen O.o.O
Natsu throws around demonic glares and gestures like it's his second nature, most of the time, but, but, but, rarely, well, he's Angelic. It's hard to explain, but when inner angel Natsu pops up, Gray's brain visualizes the thick shiny wings and the picture is complete.
Natsu rested on the living room's sectional sofa with a newspaper in hand. Surely, Natsu doesn't possess that polished 60-year-old mentality to READ an ACTUAL newspaper. If he was Gray's high school crush Natsu Dragneel, then he's checking out the fun comics.
Natsu wore a white hoodie shirt and faded blue jeans. One hand shifted between the sandwich next to him and the newspaper. WOW, those comics were good.
The innocent angel, god blesses.
Gray transferred his weight on the other foot (above the stairs) after he had had a long stalling shower. When should he approach Natsu? He can't have his breakfast in peace with the way things were.
Should he go out there and have yet another fight in the morning?
Absolutely. Fights added a spice to their fucked-up relationship. He descended from the stairs and earned a flinch from the boy immersed in the newspaper with a defenseless back.
He ignored Gray's unwelcomed presence and took a huge bite from his sandwich.
"Hey."
Before any force that exists in this universe or not judges that, Gray knew that his ice-breaking word had faults.
He deserved to be ignored.
Okay, try again?
"Good… morning?"
Ignored. Natsu chewed and read with undivided attention.
"Listen man, about yesterday… um. Don't make a big deal out of it because it's super unintentional. I drove around a bit after you left with the boyfriend version two, and I guess so much happened that I lost the track of time." Gray paused, "And I always switch my phones to silent because of work and meetings and shit, so it's vibrating by default … and to be honest, I don't give a shit about this phone, it's useless to me."
Natsu trained his alligator green eyes to filter Gray out as he took another bite and read avidly through his piece of shit newspaper.
"What are you reading?"
"An interesting article." Natsu said with a mouth full of food, "You should read it too."
Wow, he didn't expect an answer. Progress, cool. But wait.
The next housing unit must have heard Gray's gasp.
"You said the word ARTICLE? You know what that actually means, right? Like it can be a giant 300 words long with scientific jargon too-"
Ok Gray, you don't want him upset. You don't.
"Cool, anyway. What's your little article about?"
"Says here…" Natsu narrowed his eyes and his face got closer to the paper, "Four tips on how to be an asshole."
Gray sighed, the back of his foot rubbing against the soft tufted carpet.
"Number one, minimize, deny, and blame. Two, apologizing is for sissies. Three, personal responsibility, what the fuck is that? Four, you're always right, be secure in this. Rings a bell?" Natsu accomplished the first eye-contact since the morning in the shape of a glare.
Gray shrugged, putting on a careless facade, "What're you eating?"
Natsu flipped the page and continued reading.
"A cheese sandwich."
"Is it any good?"
"It's decent."
"Perfect." Gray stole the sandwich from Natsu's unsuspecting hands, took a bite smirking, and headed to the kitchen for water.
"Number five, eat other's food like it's rightfully yours. See? Better learn from me than from a useless article written by a shy introvert behind glasses in a random office."
The shopping bags in the kitchen with the pre-made sandwiches indicated that Natsu went out in the morning, again. The boy's stomping became clearer until he stood behind Gray who took another bite from the sandwich with a smirk just to piss him off.
Natsu maintained the eye contact as he snatched a sandwich and tossed the full bag at Gray. For Natsu's disappointment, Gray's reflexes worked well, and he grabbed the bag.
"Thank you for sharing darlin'. Love you too."
Natsu retreated to where he was seated and gave him the middle finger. Ohhhh, he's not leaving it alone. He flopped himself on the sofa next to Natsu and unwrapped the cheese sandwich, "So man, this daily shopping with your boyfriend… Is it gonna be a trend now or what?"
He didn't expect Natsu to handle his comment like an adult and ignore it.
"You didn't tell me how it went yesterday. Did you get laid?"
Natsu's hands pressed harder on the newspaper, but no other major reaction that inclines towards physical assault. The pink haired boy made it a point that Gray wasn't getting the counteraction he hoped for. That he was too upset for his shit.
"Probably not, seeing you have such agitation."
Natsu's hand tightened around the newspaper till it became white.
He was being an asshole because he wanted Natsu to be an asshole back and then find their way towards making up, but that strategy failed. It hurt like a bitch that he had to opt for strategy number two which wasn't always a favorite.
Strategy number two forced him to relinquish his pride, and self-preservation (He's doing a lot of this shit lately. Why the fuck?)
Strategy number two guaranteed solving the unsolvable though.
He dropped his provocative tone, putting down his sandwich, then gently removed the newspaper from Natsu's warm fingers that he accidently touched.
"Hey, look here. Come on."
Natsu didn't glare, curse, or get violent. He never turned to face Gray. His gaze was on glass sliding door in the front.
"Fine, don't look." Gray sighed, "Dude, sorry I got you worried. There goes my ego and you're not even looking to watch how it's crumbling. I win-"
"-Is this fun to you?" Natsu's eyes met his quickly, but they were hurt and he was shaking.
"What?"
The boy stood, "Minimizing Gray. Minimizing. You minimize every damn issue that's on the planet and make it sound like a damn funny joke-"
"-Well, maybe it's because you maximize everything."
"Forget it. Just pretend I'm not here. Do whatever the hell you want."
He apologized, what more does Natsu want? Fucking dumbass.
"Damn right I will, especially when you're acting like a bitch that doesn't know what she wants."
"Great."
Boy, Natsu smelled so good. He definitely took a shower, and he so wanted to kiss his neck. That would've been an awesome start to the morning.
Shame.
Did Gray feel an atom of guilt? NO. He apologized, case closed.
Daydreaming aside, it was time to activate the nerd in him. He prepared coffee, and a stack of the sandwiches Natsu bought on a plate. Having those ready-made sandwiches saved time to study the machine he brought yesterday. Oooh he will open it up, fawn over its intricate circuits, and be the happiest man alive.
While devouring his food, Gray pushed Vance's trolley all the way to the study room Eve showed him, and decided it'll be a suitable place to dissect Vance.
Notebooks and tools… He ran upstairs to get his handbag and suitcase and moved those to the study room. He sat up the laptop Hibiki Lates gave them and inserted the flash drive that contained Vance's data. The overall freaking manual was over three hundred pages and going through it was critical to discover what he was dealing with.
'Dissecting is gonna have to wait... but not for long.'
BECAUSE he'll go through the manual and finish it and get his hands on that baby. He only had fifteen days with the machine, so he had to put them to good use.
Enthusiasm gnawed him at first. As he delved deeper into the details, functions, settings, and Vance's different software programs and 3D model viewers, Gray's head coughed and gurgled. It's been AGES since he saw a machine so complicated and mysterious. The beast manufacturer embedded intricate specifics of the lethal weapon (right next to his ass) and an alien technology to him.
Gray adjusted his glasses and scrolled through the endless black hole of information he sucked himself into.
The sitting position for over two hours, killed Gray's back. Stretching for a minute helped, and he moved the laptop to the living room because the sofa was nicer, and allowed stretching his legs. It was convenient since he wasn't doing practical work on Vance, yet.
He almost bumped into Natsu mid-way to the sofa. The boy had his newspaper folded in hand and decided suddenly to go upstairs.
'Bastard. Is he really doing this?'
Natsu couldn't avoid him for long. They freaking shared the same space. And why was the fucker unsatisfied after his apology?
Fuck that guy.
He calculated the time it'd take him to finish going through Vance's data and excluding four out of eight hours sleep helped boost the process to be finalized in a day.
Natsu descended from the stairs, looking for water. Just as fingers touched the wetness of the cold-water bottle, he stopped. Gray's head was tilted to his left side, his hands were motionless on the laptop, his injured leg was bent under the other.
His glasses rested on shut-eyes as his chest rose and fell with soft breaths.
The pink haired rolled his eyes, climbed the stairs, then re-appeared with a dark blue blanket. He pulled the laptop away from Gray's hands, laid him on the sofa so that his neck wouldn't screech, and unfolded the injured leg with care.
He draped the blanked over his chest till his ankle. As he knelt, a bitter sigh left him with… bitterness. He could see the blotches of blood on the waterproof bandage around Gray's shoulder, and the slight perspiration at Gray's forehead, reminding him of the shit they went through.
He leaned in and pressed his lips to Gray's jaw.
"… I should be the one… seeking forgiveness. Forgive me…"
Warmth amplified at the back of his hand where he stroked Gray's cheek.
"I…"
Natsu stopped himself from spouting words that'd hurt him.
"Rest well."
'Where am I?'
His surroundings were blurry. Instinctively, his hands reached out for his glasses on the glazed coffee table next to his laptop.
'Vance… shit!'
As he moved, the soft blanket draped over him exposed his upper half. Fuck, he slept like a baby and he blamed it on the pain killers and medications, NOT on Vance's data overload.
He couldn't help but pull out a wide smile at the blanket as he touched its soft texture.
The phone's crazy ringtone on the coffee table woke him up, and he glared at the caller ID as he held the phone which wasn't his.
Sergeant Loke.
A hasty Natsu Dragneel (Where the hell did he come from?) snatched the phone, answered, and walked to the foyer.
"Yes? Good, how are you?" He laughed.
Gray threw the blankets and stalked Natsu. Clearly, Natsu didn't want Gray to hear him talking to the Sergeant, and Gray's paranoia returned.
"Today?"
Natsu waved at Gray to fuck off, but Gray only walked closer until Natsu's spine was straight against the Unit's wooden entrance door.
Gray mouthed the words, "You're busy. You're fucking busy."
Natsu pushed at Gray's chest, but Gray's feet rooted themselves closer to Natsu whose face reddened. The pink haired used one of his tightened fists to collide with Gray's jaw, but Gray held it, so Natsu used his shoulder to support the phone and launched the other fist, but Gray disappointed that one too.
"Tell him you're fucking busy."
"I—Today is a bit-evening?" Natsu's weight pushed Gray off enough to rush to the stairs.
'Oh no you don't.'
Gray dashed after Natsu who had climbed four steps and pulled him from his shirt. They nearly crashed together on the floor, but their reflexes saved them before they tumbled ungracefully.
"No. No, you can't-hey-you're busy."
Natsu's glowering eyes promised a world of hurt if Gray didn't get off Natsu's back, literally.
"Loke, I'll call you back, yeah? Sorry." Natsu hung up, then roared, "You're gonna die!"
Burning Lava with seething steam flowed behind Natsu's figure.
Expected. He had thought of a counter attack. The perfect one that there is.
"Shit…" Gray pretended to lose balance and fall when Natsu shrugged him off. He bent his injured leg to his chest and faked pain.
The pink haired gasped and hurried to his side, "What… shit, you ok?"
Success.
"Fine… I need to—help me up."
Natsu supported him until he reached the sectional sofa. That idiot was so simple that Gray smirked on the inside. Not only simple, he was too cute worrying about Gray sick like that.
'Fuck, I AM an asshole.'
"Does it hurt a lot? Want me to grab something from upstairs?"
They both sat on the sofa, and Natsu's world shook with fear.
"Idiot, I'll be fine. It's a temporary cramp."
"A cramp?" Natsu placed a hand over his chest and sighed, "Thank god…"
Natsu's phone rung, and before Natsu gets it, Gray grabbed his arm, "…"
"…"
They stared at one another for ten seconds. In Gray's chest, something dark wandered at the thought of Natsu spending another minute with that guy.
Natsu's palm on Gray's grip was like a candle fire drop. Gentle, scorching, but tolerable. It patted a sensitive chord in him as Natsu slowly shrugged Gray's bruising grip off him. Because it was sudden, Gray cooperated, and Natsu picked up his phone from the floor.
When Gray moved to make himself a physical obstacle, Natsu shot him a glare.
"Don't." Natsu warned, "I'm gonna reply, and you won't stop me. Understood?"
"You-"
"Understood?"
Gray scoffed. Natsu might as well say 'Stay. Good boy.'
The bastard walked away with his phone. Gray didn't follow because Natsu's touch on his hand lingered and provided necessary assurances of things he feared. Like losing the person he liked to someone else. It was strange, and Gray watched his fingers as they trembled with satisfaction from the gentle gesture.
"Yeah—sorry, I know. Um, today is a bit… I can't make it. Tomorrow is a different story though."
'So it's tomorrow?' Should he fake his death tomorrow?
"I'm all fired up for it. Yup, see ya."
Natsu's weight landed next to him, and the boy glared, "You're so sick, you know that?"
"Hmm? I'm not. Don't go with him, that's all."
"That's all?" Natsu scoffed, and slammed his fist on Gray's head, "What kind of-"
Gray teared, "—Thanks for the blanket. Didn't realize that shit was so deep."
"…" Natsu threw his phone and glowered again.
"You're not going with him because you're coming with me."
Natsu's limbs stopped moving.
Gray got on his feet and stretched as if pain never existed.
"Grab what you need. We're going now."
"Why?"
"Why?" Gray repeated.
Natsu jerked up, shoulders quivering and voice laced with a slight shake, "Why can't I go with him, but should go with you? Doesn't make sense... What… do you want from me? You can't-"
"-Hey." Gray interrupted, "Stop being such a girl. Gonna wash my face, then we'll go."
Those words were his support to run away from Natsu's questioning line and he succeeded because Natsu detested being called a girl. They weren't high schoolers, but it still worked, thank god.
Gray hated anyone calling him a coward because he wasn't, except when it came to Natsu. They had found the way towards each other after so many years. Their fragile friendship was restored recently, and Gray didn't want to take a chance at sabotaging it.
Having Natsu near him was enough.
Was it though?
Gray leaned on the Jeep and they stood viewing the Canal he saw the day before. The air expanded in volume and increased the strain between them and the difficulty of talking to Natsu who hid behind a pair of sunglasses.
"I came here yesterday. Thought you would like to see it. Looks cool, right?"
Natsu sniffled. He stared at the flowing water and shunned Gray.
"Nat, why're you still mad? I apologized, didn't I?"
Natsu removed his sunglasses and faced Gray, "I don't fucking care. Do you have a clue about the severity of the heart attack you gave me yesterday? Your freaking book was thrown on the floor, your bed had wrestling signs, your handbag contents were emptied… Do I have to be a fucking detective to imagine kidnapping and assault at the same time?! Fuck!"
"Dude-"
"That's not all! You don't answer your damn junk! I prayed to god! I don't do that! I fucking don't! BUT I DID!" Natsu yelled, his eyes shut, "I know you're an insensitive asshole all the time, but fucker! What would you have done if you were in my shoes?"
Gray chuckled and looked at his foot that nudged the grass, "Murdered you."
Natsu's arms flew, "Thank you!"
"Do you want to beat me up? Will that make you feel better?"
"I-I don't know!"
"Do it, it's ok."
"Gladly!"
Pain shot in Gray's abdomen. He held it with both arms and his jaw dropped, "Dude, are you serious?!"
"Oh don't be such a girl!" Natsu countered.
"Cool." Gray's laughter hurt with the pain in his stomach, "Feeling good now?"
Natsu turned away and unclenched his fists, shoulders slumping.
"No…"
"You're so difficult-"
Natsu spun and stomped towards him. His weak heart hammered and Gray predicted another blow.
'Such a goddamn beast!'
Natsu's arms wrapped around him. Paralyzing him. Loving him. Shuddering the ribcage containing his heart, lighting it with sparks. Did Natsu know what he was doing to Gray?
No. He didn't. He buried his face in the joint between Gray's shoulder and neck.
Gray licked his lips and struggled with himself. He was trying his absolute best, the maximum absolute best AND beyond to protect this friendship since he's back with Natsu, but Natsu wasn't playing by those rules. Natsu's pushing, pushing, pushing Gray's thread of willpower, and now, that thread is torn and pulled out.
Enough. Seriously, enough. Natsu should be his.
"Stay with me..." Natsu's voice rattled, "Don't go… not again, I can't do that again. Please… I can't."
"…" Gray's pulse in his neck raced.
Too much care… too much love that he didn't deserve. He gravitated towards that same warmth ever since they became friends because no one gave him so much other than Natsu.
Natsu gave, gave, and gave and Gray was always on the receiving end. Why did Natsu give so much if Gray didn't? He asked himself that so many times that he realized Natsu's feelings towards him were void of deception, personal benefits, or anything ugly. It was all beautiful, sweet, genuine, and no one gave him that other than his best friend.
Why did things have to be this way?
Gray was so hypnotized he wanted to reply 'Yes, I'm staying forever'. Before he could say those irresponsible words, he forced them away as he trusted himself less to keep any promises after his abuse to Natsu over the years.
He pulled Natsu's waist towards him and buried a hand in the pink locks, hoping it'll compensate, instead of promises he might not keep. Gray wished time would stop with him facing the sparkly canal, wrapped in the love he was unworthy of. Their relationship was preposterous chaos. They were stuck in one bitchy friend-zone when all he wanted was to own his friend.
But the marking on his heart pounded with vigor whenever Natsu neared it and repelled Gray's wishes. It reminded him of the consequences of losing Natsu for the sweet demons that were desire and love.
Maybe his paranoia was groundless; however, he would not take any chances. That moment was perfect, they were in a good place, and he wouldn't dare to ruin it.
For now…
God, Natsu's body fitted so damn well in his embrace, like he was created for him all along.
"Why're you such a drama queen?"
Natsu tightened his hold around his neck as Gray chuckled.
"I appreciate your love for me, but my shoulder hurts so let go."
"Sorry…"
'That blush is illegal.'
"I'm hungry, buy me food."
As a general rule of thumb: You wanna make up with Natsu? Buy him food.
Like 99% of their problems are sorted out that way.
Gray grumbled, "Don't have money on me."
"Let's go get it then eat… I'm starving."
Gray shut the Jeep's door and fastened the seatbelt, then glared at Natsu to do the same.
"I know an excellent barbeque place. Imagine, here of all places."
Natsu's eyes formed star shapes, "For real?"
"Yeah baby. You're gonna kiss me for this. The meat in there is something else."
"SERIOUS?!"
It doesn't take much to make Natsu happy, that was one of the convenient things about being friends with that guy.
"When did you know about it though?" Natsu blinked.
"Hehehehehe." Gray cackled, "Yesterday, this hot chick treated me there for helping. You know my charm~"
Gray expected his friend to retort or come up with a ridiculous comment… but he looked ahead with a small smile before he turns away to look at the street from his window.
"That's great."
He didn't know what to make of that fake smile, and for sure, something went wrong.
Gray drove far from the canal with a new courageous determination.
He's making Natsu his. Nothing would change that.
The aroma of grilled meat hit them before they make it inside. Natsu skipped as they walked, and Gray's stomach was ready to receive what the place has to offer. Meat lovers in the military base targeted that restaurant for a good reason.
The meat was a-melt-in-the-mouth.
They had to add volume to their voices to hear each other over the music beats and occupied tables' chatter.
"This is…" Natsu paused, "… Industrial and funk. I like."
The ceiling showed the black painted ducts and pipes. Chocolate beech wood made up the flooring; exposed brick walls reflected a mix of sea blue, pink, yellow and red LED graffiti-shaped lights with English text. Small, but many lighting bulbs lit the tables that had five giant sauce bottles besides salt and pepper.
Seating arrangements varied between bar stools, booths, and standard dining tables. They had taken a booth and Natsu examined the place as the aroma of grilled deliciousness surrounded them. Over thirty waiters served in the two-story restaurant; they were frantic as they did their best coping with the needs of the needy officers and militants.
The sizzling dishes that came out of the busy kitchen encouraged their stomachs to starve as they debated about their order.
"Trust me. Their food is better than their interior design."
"Are those… charcoal bags? Where the guy with the weird hair is?" Natsu giggled.
Gray was glad the boy was back to his normal cheery self, "Look who's talking!"
"Shut up."
"Yup, charcoal bags, bottle drinks in boxes… they don't keep them in the fridge, they give them with tons of Ice."
"This place is amazing…"
"I know." Gray adjusted his glasses and scanned the menu.
"Gentlemen, good evening." A young-lady with long green hair and black bow tie approached them.
"Hey." Gray said.
She provided them water and two glasses, "I'm Hisui, and I'll take care of all your needs this evening." There was kindness and comfort behind her bright fern eyes that made her more of a princess than a normal waiter.
When she walked away, Gray flipped through the menu and mumbled, "That's what she said."
Natsu threatened hurling the menu at his head, "Give it a rest, will you?"
"You saw that way she said it!" He defended himself.
"Fucker."
"What Natsu? Don't you want her to take care of your evening needs?"
Natsu shook his head, "Fucker, that's what you ARE. I decided!"
"Hmmm?"
"I want to try the rib-eye steak."
"Good choice, you won't regret it."
They gave the belle with the green hair their order and waited for their food.
"So… what were you so caught up with yesterday?" Natsu rested his cheek on his palm.
"You know the girl from the airport? The one that Jellal said was innocent?"
Natsu stared at the bulb that lit up their table, then nodded, "I remember. Don't tell me you've met with her?"
"Crazy, right?" Gray snickered, "It's like fate or something. My Jeep almost bumped into her pickup truck."
Natsu smirked, "Hooo, I sense a fated romance story."
Who knows, right? "She was crying in the middle of the fucking road, and I sorta damaged her luggage, so-"
"-Shit. The horrors of a crying girl."
"Exactly. I helped around with her massive luggage, and it took us hours. Later she treated me here to dinner, although I didn't do it for the treat. I felt sorry for her since we both shared the same tragic work experience."
"You little bastard, you got yourself a little date while I drowned with worry?!" Natsu's tone was void of malice, and full of teasing.
Gray's shoulders quivered with laughter, "When you put it that way, yeah I guess. Didn't wanna tell you that yesterday though."
"Good call." Natsu grinned, "She hot?"
"SMOKIN'."
"You little bastard."
"Like I've already forgotten her terrible deeds when her melons jiggled around."
They both laughed and Natsu wiped a tear.
"What about you? Had good time yesterday with Sergeant Hotness?"
"You should have come yesterday. The day was epic until you screwed it up."
"Fucker. Tell me."
Why on earth was he joyful about a day with Sergeant shit-head? Gray wasn't curious, but 'Loke' was an annoying topic and he needed to know how far their relationship has gone and if he had to tweak Vance with the bazooka pressure setting.
Natsu gushed with a joyous twinkle about the shooting training, and the triathlon.
"They asked me to join their division, but I said no ways."
"Was dickhead there?" Gray asked.
"Mmmm, there were so many dicks there. You need to tell me which one?"
"Fuck, you took part in an orgy?"
Natsu held the steak's knife up, "I'll slice you up."
Gray held his stomach in pain from laughter, "You should listen to yourself saying stuff."
"Fuck you."
"Not now, baby. Let's eat first."
Natsu shook his head, "Thanks, but no thanks. Not now, not ever."
Gray smiled, "Gajeel Redfox, was he there?"
"Dude, I fucked him in the triathlon. I fucking stepped all over his corpse, you should've seen his face, fucking jerk."
Gray smirked.
"What's up shit-face?"
The night couldn't get any better.
"You realize you're so heated about it, no?" Gray's smirk got darker.
"What? So?" Natsu shrugged. "He's a jerk."
"Maybe he's special then. Oh man, you don't wanna know what I'm thinking of."
A rough smack on the head was Gray's reward. "FUCK! You're an ass! There's definitely something wrong with you!"
"Whaaaaat? Didn't you hear of relationships starting off with hatred, then turning to heated passionate love?"
"Ewww, disgusting!" Natsu placed his hands around his neck and faked puking noises, "Not this fucker!"
"Why not this fucker? He's big, full of muscles, and I bet something else is big underneath that belt." Gray laughed his head off internally, but managed his expression to appear as a major smirk.
"Shut the fuck up. You wanna get beaten up or you want me to leave? I'm not sure."
Gray laughed, "I can't joke anymore around you man."
Natsu sighed and stared at LED lights on the brick wall. Gray's thumb rubbed his own hand underneath the table. He needed to ask and get over it no matter what the answer was.
'Natsu wouldn't… he wouldn't.'
"What about Loke?"
Why not? The guy was good enough, and maybe 'Loke' was Natsu's answer.
"What about him?" Natsu almost growled the response.
"…" Should he say it or not? Yes, he should, "Do you like him? He seems to care about you."
"Gray." Natsu's amused inquiring green eyes cut through him, "You jealous or something?"
Ok, Gray. Game was backfiring. Retreat or retaliate, either way he figured he would be the loser.
"Couuurse I'm. You're my best dude, and it's not nice seeing someone else taking you, but if you like him and feel happy then why not? Gotta deal with it."
Natsu's brittle laugh was obvious, "I'm your dude?"
"You're my best dude."
"I'm your dude…"
"My best dude!"
"Ok, enough!" Natsu was exasperated, but his cheeks propagated a deep shade of red, "He's not my type… like, he's fun to be with and you'd realize that if you weren't such a jealous dude. Come with me once to the shooting practice, I bet you'd get along well with him."
"HUH?" Gray made it as if he saw a fluffy ass unicorn flying on top of Natsu's head, "You're kidding me, right? You should've felt the throbbing when the asshole kicked my INJURED leg, I wanted to destroy him at that moment if I weren't busy preventing myself from shrieking in agony. Get along my ass."
"Wow, you have a grudge there man."
Gray grunted, "It's not a grudge. You wouldn't understand because you weren't in my place."
"But he apologized right? Came all the way, bowed, demeaned himself, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Plus, I beat the shit out of him for you."
"Yeah right." Gray rolled his eyes, "You don't know me man."
Natsu raised an eye-brow, then smirked and rested his cheek on his hand, "Oh I know you alright. Your jealousy is preventing you from opening up to him, that's all."
Gray reddened. Natsu was a fucker, and he knew how to get to him. He wasn't jealous, he was beyond while wanting Loke and Ondrej dead. He shot, "You don't know me."
"Jealous Dude."
"Shut up."
"Green dude."
"Fuck-"
"Oh Graaaaay, you changed, I can't joke around you anymore."
"I'll-"
"-Hey." Natsu cut him off and tugged at Gray's sleeve, "You're my best dude too. No one's changing that and your place is irreplaceable."
Natsu fueled Gray's light heart with many electrical shocks that day. He was glad they were within a public space, if not, Gray didn't trust himself enough to be around the boy and his little confession.
Gray's eyes urged Natsu to give him more than that. More than a 'Best dude'. He took hold of Natsu's hand on his sleeve and tightened it.
"Am I just that?"
Natsu opened his mouth, "Aa-" and red colored his cheeks as he pushed hard to retrieve his hand. He averted his gaze to their lady-waiter coming with their food, "Gentlemen! One Rib-eye steak, one sirloin steak, two beef shanks, and two lamb chops! Enjoy and call me whenever you need anything!"
"Oh my god…" Natsu's drool was visible. His eyes were a heart shape and cheeks were red. "Meat… Meat… oh Gray, the meat…"
Gray wished he was the meat.
Natsu was all cuteness at that moment. Gray offered a broad smile.
"What are you waiting for?"
The marinated product dazzled the taste buds with an exquisite experience. If they left the blue Pegasus military base, Gray was gonna cry.
As soon as Natsu had the first bite, his soul left his body, happy that it's ascending to heaven. Gray laughed at how breathless, amazed, and excited he was. The sizzling meat had so much flavor and juiciness which melted in the mouth with each bite.
Despite of him coming to the restaurant the day before, Gray maintained the level of amazement at how addictive and fulfilling the food was.
They spoiled their bellies rotten and regretted nothing.
"Why can't we live here?" They were on their way back to their accommodation when Natsu asked with star-shaped eyes, "It'd be cool."
Gray smiled at the boy's hypnotism.
"I'll puke if I see any food right now." Natsu was proud, "I so need to lie down, my stomach's about to burst."
"At least you're happy."
"No kidding." Natsu smiled.
"What did you have for dinner yesterday?"
Natsu was thoughtful for a second, "Yesterday… yesterday… Hey! Yesterday, I was back before dinner. That's when I looked for you. Frankly, I was irritated because you weren't found and I could eat an entire elephant after the triathlon."
"And?"
"Of course, I didn't have it. Anxiety took over. But in the morning, I couldn't take it so I went to the military store and got those sandwiches from there. They're not so bad."
"No, they're good. But military store? Didn't see that one… not to mention any kind of store."
Natsu grinned, "That's the perk of befriending a sergeant. You could say it's a special thing within their campus, because it's not accessed by public."
"Who makes special friendships for special stores idiot?"
"Who knows? You never know." Natsu smirked.
Gray raised an eyebrow and remained silent. That was a throwback to Natsu and Ondrej's story wherein the pink haired boy accepted the vice president's offer of 'help' fund his friend's project, then afterwards, Natsu become his as in, his.
Natsu showed a foreign behavior that Gray didn't see when they lived and studied three years ago. That foreign behavior was, without doubt, repulsive. Speculating about Natsu's recent change has caused his stomach to revolt and rendered him speechless for seconds.
Gray was thankful they reached their accommodation because the awkward air was expanding. The day couldn't be any more perfect, why the hell did he jibber jabber about the boy's dinner the day before? Goddammit.
He tousled his hair in frustration, then took off his shirt and went to the study room where Vance and his laptop were. At least work would distract him from the newborn negative thoughts and doubts. The sheer excitement of using his voltmeter with Vance didn't suppress the sinking feeling, but improved his mood.
"You're not sleeping?"
Gray's back was given to the boy.
"Nope. Maybe later."
"… Okay. Goodnight then."
Natsu went straight to bed in their room, much to Gray's dismay who unloved sharing a bed with him then.
Voltmeter, Voltmeter, Voltmeter, laptop, tape measure, wire strippers, Vance. Mission disassemble and rebuild start.
He hoped he made the right decision of dissecting that weapon and that it won't be blowing up in his face.
Natsu… what on earth…?
To be Continued...
Next Chapter Release: TBD. My (expectation) is 15 days, subject to change.
Special thanks to: deboome, Kori No Koibito, Jo. Guys, thanks for your lovely comments and support.
Thank you ALL for reading. Feel free to share any comment, inquiry, or advice. I'd love that.
Alright, till next time!
Looooooove,
Flame-Belt