"Just put your lips on mine, goddammit!"
"If anyone had heard you say that, ice-block, they would think you've gone off your rocker," Natsu says to mask the fact that he's stalling.
Gray's breath feels cool on his jaw as the ice princess waits for him to move. It is his turn at trying out kissing, his turn to initiate. And, well, Natsu is feeling a bit nervous now when he knows Gray's aware of it. Heck, the hugging part was hard three minutes ago as Gray was waiting for him to do it, but he grit his teeth and just did it, albeit jerkily like his muscles got stiff all of a sudden.
Now the kiss is beginning to be an even bigger problem. He shifts his eyes around the room. It's Gray's room, in tones of grey and white and blue. Just like Gray, he thinks for a brief second, before he gets his bearings and looks back at his rival.
Gray glovers at him, eyes hard and mouth turned downward in distaste. "Come on, pyro! We don't have the whole day."
Natsu guesses it's Gray's attitude that always makes him get into trouble for fighting because of that challenge in Gray's words makes him answer in kind. That's also the reason why his lips are currently, without previously felt restrictions, slant against Gray's cold ones. It runs his bloodstream hot, the kiss itself holds a challenge inside as the two of them try to win whatever metaphorical battle they're fighting.
Though, there's one thing puzzling his mind. While the kiss makes him happy, not the romantic-happy, just fighting-happy, he doesn't feel 'out-of-this-world-happy' nor 'mind-blown' as one of the romance books he accidentally started reading implied.
It's exciting, sure, but nothing fantastical as described in that shitty romance novel he tried reading once when he was waiting for Lucy in her apartment. Honestly, it's never a good thing when he's bored, and Lucy reads really weird stuff.
Ok, maybe the author wrote that the characters are in love or something, but does it really make such a huge difference?
Probably not.
And he soon forgets about that dilemma because Gray groans and it's a soft sound, gently vibrating over his lips, and Natsu feels empowered somehow like he won some kind of contest.
He presses forward, plastering his hot body to his rival's cold one, his teeth nipping on that fuller lower lip and Gray answers in kind.
It's like frost. Gray's lips seem to be like a snowy meadow, and his breath reminds Natsu of cold southern winds. Would he give frostbite to anyone he kisses? Besides Natsu of course. His natural resistance to cold makes Natsu impervious to Gray's frost.
Suddenly, their movement is slowing down, flesh pressing flesh much gentler than before until they stop moving altogether. The fire inside Natsu is slowly subsiding so he pulls away and only their breaths mingle, one hot and one icy.
Natsu opens his eyes and sees Gray being quite rosy in face, though he guesses it's the same for him since his face feels like a shining star.
"Hey, did you ever give frostbite to someone with those icy lips of yours?"
Gray takes a step back and glares at him with anger in his eyes, fist coiling like he would punch him any second now. But then that fire in his eyes dims and he meekly looks to the side. Gray seems...embarrassed?
Why?
Natsu frowns. "What is it, frostbite?"
Dark blue eyes shift to his and then back to whatever is on the floor and Natsu doesn't understand.
"I don't know. Okay?" Gray says as his cheeks color even more. He again takes a peek at Natsu and probably sees the obvious confusion on Natsu's face. "I don't know if I would actually give frostbite to someone if I lose control," he admits quietly.
Natsu thinks he understands. Well, he's not sure, but he might have heated the air around himself during this makeout session of theirs. And it wasn't just heating the air hot, it was heating the air to boiling.
Shit, aren't they a pair.
The next thing that comes out of his mouth most definitely isn't because Gray looks sad, his shoulders dropped as if he's trying to curl into himself. Nope.
"Well, who cares. If you ice it, I have my fire to thaw it."
Natsu knows he is grinning at Gray's surprised expression and head held high again but he's not sure why exactly. It's like he won in a competition, though both the contest and the prize elude his comprehension.
It's the dawn of another day. Natsu knows, he has always been tuned to day and night. What he doesn't know is where he currently is. Because let's face it, this isn't his bed. His mattress isn't this much firm and the smell isn't minty for crying out loud. What the hell?
As his eyes open, he notices something big. The realization that there's an arm thrown over his side and a soft, chilling breath blowing on his nape makes him go still in his position. He is lying on his right side, trying to remember but his brain is still sleepy and unresponsive. His left side has an unidentified arm and a leg around, as he noticed a minute before, and whoever those limbs belong to is most definitely male because that thing poking his rump is definitely as hard as his own morning wood.
Mint… Gray…
Shit!
As he moves, the arm curls around him tighter, like it won't let him go, but Natsu manages to get out of its constriction with expertise and jumps out of bed. Really, he should get an award for not waking up Gray who obviously tried playing octopus with those grabby limbs of his. How the hell Gray had managed to curl his leg like that around his own in that position Natsu would never know.
The arm that had been around him blindly and slowly pats around the part of the bed where Natsu had lain before it stops when it doesn't find anything. Gray's face does something weird like he's annoyed for whatever he was holding isn't there anymore. Well, tough luck, pal.
Natsu sighs, rubbing his eyes and then yawning. He needs food before he can deal with this.
He knows the general layout of Gray's apartment and goes to the kitchen with one thought in mind - food. Hopefully, there's bacon in the fridge. He really hopes so.
Gray's apartment isn't big, yet it isn't exactly small: two bedrooms, the bigger one being Gray's, a kitchen/living room spaced together, and a bathroom he now somewhat remembers going into last night.
So they somehow managed to fall asleep together, he notes while grabbing bacon from the fridge, and Gray then turned octopus sometime during the night, leeching himself on Natsu.
Natsu has actually remembered that Gray would kill him he used his fire magic to cook breakfast and now the bacon and eggs are sizzling in a pan he found in one of the cupboards and the smell that wafts from it makes his mouth water in hunger. He has always been the hungriest in the morning after a good night's sleep.
So he had a good night's rest in Gray's bed with Gray inside the same bed. Lovely. He honestly needs food before thinking about anything.
There's a shuffle of soft steps from the doorway.
"So, bacon and eggs for breakfast." Gray's voice is gruff from sleep.
Natsu doesn't turn to acknowledge him but agrees with a low, "Yeah."
"Hope you made enough for me too," Gray says and Natsu hears him walking to a table and taking a seat. "And make coffee while you're at it."
The nerve of that asshat. "Do I look like your butler or something?"
"More like just an idiot inside my kitchen," Gray deadpans. "But I still want coffee."
"Oh piss off, snowflake," Natsu shoots back but it lacks the usual bite as he glares over his shoulder at Gray.
Gray has his hands folded on the glass table and head resting on them. He looks peaceful enough that Natsu doesn't want to bother him.
Instead, he takes a pot from the same cupboard he found the pan in and starts boiling water the same way Mira taught him a few years ago. Fine, the prissy ice princess will get his coffee, the finest one he's ever tried because Natsu has set his sights on making the best coffee ever. Frostbite better be grateful 'cause this coffee will blow his mind.