"Gray-sama." A gentle voice called out to Gray, followed by a soft hand resting on his cheek.
His face scrunched up as he realized his position on the floor and he shot straight up, trying to regain some of his dignity after falling to the floor upon hearing Makarov talk about "the punishment". But just as he did, his head slammed into Juvia's.
Juvia cried out in pain as she clutched her forehead, muttering over and over, "Ow. Ow. Ow."
"Oh shit! I'm so sorry Juvia!" Gray exclaimed, wincing at the sharp pain that spread through his head as he turned to assess her.
She waved his hand away. "No no, Juvia is okay. Juvia's felt worse pain." She assured him through gritted teeth.
Gray frowned and furrowed his brows as he placed a hand on her shoulder and slightly squeezed it. "Come on." He said softly as he hoisted her up and lead her to a chair. He gently pried her hand away and placed his own hand over her forehead, using himself as her own personal human ice pack.
He saw Juvia smile as she relaxed, the pain subduing. "Feel better?" He asked.
"Juvia always feels better when Gray is around." She stated without skipping a heartbeat.
Gray didn't know how to respond so he just stayed silent. Showing emotions like that wasn't really his thing. He stayed that way for a few moments longer and then removed his hand, snickering when he saw the red hand print that was left on her forehead.
"What's so funny?" Juvia asked confused. "Does Juvia have something on her face?" She put a hand to her face reflexively.
Gray shook his head. "It's nothing. Really."
Just as he was about to say something else, something hit him on the back of his head and he tumbled a few steps forward. He quickly spun around, his anger flaring. "Okay, which one of you bone heads did that!" He yelled furiously, scanning the room.
Natsu And Gajeel were walking away with their arms behind their backs whistling innocently, looking everywhere but Gray.
Gray grit his teeth and took long, quick steps to reach them. "What's your problem!" He demanded, his jaw clenched.
"None your business, Ice Boy." Gajeel responded. Natsu and him had continued their fight once Makarov left, and Gajeel had thrown a large piece of iron at Natsu that happened to accidentally hit Gray when Natsu dodged it.
"What did you say!" Gray yelled, infuriated now. He got into his fighting stance, ready to let loose his ice maker magic.
"It really has nothing to do with you," Natsu chimed in. "But if you're looking for a fight, I'll take you on any time, anywhere." He smirked, facing Gray, anticipating his next move.
"No way Salamander, we still haven't finished ours!" Gajeel cut in, pushing Gray out of the way.
Gray grit his teeth as he froze the floor underneath Gajeel's feet. Just a slight push was all that was needed to send Gajeel spinning on his butt across the floor, however, Gray's version of a small push was on a whole nother level. Gajeel did spin on his butt, but he went flying across the ice, his hands clamped over his mouth as he tried not to hurl.
Gray humphed in triumph, and faced Natsu. "Now come at me, Pyro." He challenged with a smirk on his face.
Natsu returned his smirk and engulfedhis hand in fire before bringing his hand back ready to use his Fire Dragon's iron fist.
Just then, the door swung open with a loud bang as the thick wood smashed into the wall. Laxus stood at the entrance with his leg still propped in the air, grinning at the ruckess before him.
"I see you're still as hot headed as always, Natsu." He joked, smirking at Natsu.
"And Gray, where the hell are your pants?" He criticized. Not that he personally cared, but it was purely out of amusement at Gray's reaction.
Gray quickly got out of his fighting stance and looked down at himself in disbelief.
"H-how the hell??" He turned this way and that, looking for where he placed his pants. But on his quest for searching for his pants, he glanced at Juvia who's eyes were near bulging and her face was as red as a tomato as she stared at his lower half.
Reflexively, he covered himself out of embarrassment and stood like a deer in headlights until from the corner of his eye, he spotted his pants draped over a chair. He dived towards them like his life depended on it, quickly slipping them on.
Through all the commotion, Makarov's heavy footsteps could be heard coming towards the main hall. "I thought I told you nincompoops to behave yourselves!" He bellowed long before stepping foot into the hall. "I swear, if there is one little chip anywhere, I will make all of you spend the day with Bob!" He continued his tirade.
Natsu and Gray felt their hearts leap in fear. They began to shudder and swiftly straightened up the area before Makarov appeared, scanning the room for any damage.
Makarov made a loud grumbling sound as he scanned the guild hall, paying attention to the smallest of details. But when familiar hair glinted in the corner of his eye, he shrunk down to his regular size in surprise.
"Laxus?" He exclaimed in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm just stopping by with a delivery." He grabbed Freed who was draped over his shoulder and placed him flat on the table.
"What happened to him?" Makarov asked, looking at the battered member of the Thunder Legion. "And what happened to you guys?" He exclaimed, exasperated at this point as he took in Jet and Warren's appearance.
Jet flashed a lopsided grin as he brought a hand up to the back of his head, ruffling his hair awkwardly. "Well... We ran into a Gorian and some nasty Vulcans."
"Vulcans? This far down?" Makarov asked with a deep frown beginning to crease his tired face.
"Yeah, we thought the same thing. They were a little tough to beat, but a lot easier than expected since they weren't in their normal environment." Warren chimed in.
Makarov grunted in agreement, taking note of the situation. He snapped out of his train of thought when he noticed Laxus leaving for the door. "You're not staying?"
"Nah. I have things to do, Old Man." He dismissed the concern in Makarov's question. He stopped for a second before stepping out of the guild hall and called over his shoulder, "You take care now, okay?"
Makarov didn't say anything, he just shook his head sadly, upset that he wouldn't stay even for a couple of minutes.
He walked over to Freed who was still passed out, but at least his breathing was stable.
"Natsu, grab Freed and follow me."
"Sure thing, Gramps!" Natsu happily obliged, grabbing Freed and flinging him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. In the process, a loud thump was heard as Freed hit his head on the table.
"Oops." Natsu said simply, brushing aside the fact that Freed might get a bump from the force of the hit.
Makarov slapped his hand across his face in frustration. "Why couldn't they just let me retire?" He internally cried as he lead Natsu to the infirmary where Porlyusica was tending to the remaining members who were still in bad shape.
Makarov cleared his throat to grab Porlyusica's attention. She slowly turned around, "What is it?" She asked in an unfriendly tone, clearly beyond annoyed with Makarov.
Makarov started to sweat bullets as he fumbled with his words, "Well... you see... could find it in your heart to heal one more human for me? Please?" He begged, clasping his hands together hopefully. "We really need him to wake up." He added, getting flashbacks from all the times he had to meet with the council when Fairy Tail misbehaved. All the times he had to defend their behavior and all the times he had to pay for it.
Porlyusica turned even grumpier. "Who do you think I am??" She yelled at him, grabbing a broom.
"A very skilled healer with beautiful eyes." He responded nervously, eyeing the broom warily.
"Oh shove it." She snapped at him. She looked at Freed and motioned for Natsu to put him in an empty bed.
She quickly analyzed him, stopping at his forehead. "This doesn't match his other wounds?" She questioned with confusion. A bump was forming.
Natsu jumped up with his hand raised in the air. "Oh, that was me! I don't think it's serious since it was just a light bum against the table."
Porlyusica's face turned red and she started hitting Natsu with the broom. "Get out before you cause any more damage!" She yelled, throwing the broom like a spear after Natsu who scuttled out of the room.
Porlyusica huffed as she flipped back her bangs into their normal position. "Insolent humans." She grumbled as she began to work on Freed.
Makarov kept his distance, holding in a laugh. When he finally couldn't hold it in anymore, he covered it up with a fake cough.
"Don't think I don't know you're laughing." Porlyusica called out, her concentration not even breaking the slightest bit.
Makarov shuffled out of the room as quickly as he could in fear of facing her wrath as well.
As he gently closed the door behind him, the scene that faced him when he turned around made all the color drain from his face.
Gajeel had Natsu in a headlock while Gray started to form his ice hammer, the spikes growing considerably larger than normal.
"For the love of Mavis!" He bellowed, immediately transforming into his giant form. "I warned you nincompoops over and over again to behave yourselves!" He grabbed Gray's hammer with one of his enormous hands, crumbling it up into sparkling little bits.
The group immediately stopped as the cold little bits rained onto their skin, quickly melting.
"I've had it!" He grabbed them, placing each of them in a different corner of the hall, facing the wall. "If you move even a muscle, your punishment will be ten times worse!" Makarov threatened, stepping out momentarily to setup their punishment.
Gray and Natsu jumped out of their skin, fearing for the worst case scenario. They tried to keep themselves from shaking.
Makarov came back and exclaimed happily, "Alright, you nincompoops. We're going on a field trip!"
Gray and Natsu nearly broke down while Gajeel tried to keep his cool composure. He was tough as steel. He could handle anything. He wasn't like those little wimps.
"First form of punishment is for the two dragon slayers." He stated with a wicked grin as he opened the doors to show a carriage.
Both Natsu and Gajeel gaged even before stepping foot onto the vehicle. "Please let this be all, Gramps." Natsu begged.
"I'm not going easy on you, boy. You had your chance."
Natsu hung his head low and accepted his fate.
Thirty minutes later...
Gray stared out the window, his eyes wide in horror as Blue Pegasus's guild hall came into view.
"Wha..bluugh...do you... bluugh.. see?" Natsu said in between gags, his face a nauseating blue.
Gray remained silent, too petrified to speak.
The carriage came to a sudden stop, and both Natsu and Gajeel quickly crawled out of the carriage, rolling onto the ground.
"We're heeeaaar!" Makarov yelled happily, showcasing the guild in a 'ta-da' fashion.
Gajeel turned his head to see where they were at. "Why are we at Blue Pegasus?" He asked, completely baffled.
Natsu on the other hand, jumped to his feet and spun around to confirm what Gajeel saw.
"Oh come on Gramps! Gray and I can get along!" He pleaded, grabbing Gray and giving him a side hug; throwing in a big, fake smile on his face too.
Makarov ignored him as he turned towards the sound of crunching gravel.
"Well hello boys!" Bob warmly greeted them, giving them a small, dainty wave.
Gray and Natsu's face completely paled, their souls leaving their bodies. While a confused Gajeel turned his head back and forth between Gray and Natsu, the Blue Pegasus's guild master, and Makarov who had an evil grin spread across his face.
Author's corner:
So, I have no excuse for this long absence of mine. I'll try and update this story as much as I can since I decided to continue the story. Welp, thank you for those that stuck with me this entire time! I appreciate you! 3