Chapter 8 – Beaching Problems
Magnolia Town Outskirts, Summer Time
Year X792
Sting Eucliffe
It had been about twelve hours since I had woken up this morning, naked and alone in the hotel room that Edric had prepared for me. The job the previous day had gone pretty smoothly, and up until that morning I was in quite high spirits. After showering, and getting changed back into my clothes, I went out of my room and knocked on Natsu's door to see if the Fire Dragon Slayer was awake. Sure, enough a sleepy-looking pinkette greeted me and we then went to find Edric. When I, with Natsu behind me, knocked on Edric's door, we found that the teen was already up and sprightly, something which surprised both Natsu and me quite a lot, however neither of us commented. Not long after regrouping, we left the hotel.
On the way back to Magnolia, Edric had us take a detour to eat at a small café that he often visited. The owner was a pleasant elderly lady, that seemed to treat Edric as if he was her own grandson. She gave us all some breakfast at a reduced cost, and even gave us some cakes to eat on the rest of the way back to Magnolia. Normally I would have thought this to be a good day, especially given the cheap food and company I was keeping, however there was something that held a great grey cloud over all of my fun; Natsu's quiet and withdrawn behaviour.
Since he had left his hotel room that morning, Natsu, quite uncharacteristically, had said very little. Initially, I just assumed that he was tired, however as the day wore on, the normally smiling and boisterous pink-haired Mage maintained his visage of contemplation, and I began to worry.
The reason for Natsu's behaviour felt both odd and at the same time worryingly familiar; especially given how he had acted the day before, questioning me on my preferences at amusement parks. I had already given some thought as to why the Dragon Slayer would be so interested the night before, however after a while I just guessed he was intrigued as we were both Dragon Slayers with similar weaknesses from childhood, specifically towards moving vehicles. The behaviour of Natsu now, however, made me second guess my earlier decision, and for much of the journey after the café I tried to work out what exactly was going through the Fire Mage's head.
It wasn't that long, however, before we reached Magnolia, or at least it didn't feel like it. I hadn't even realised we were close to the town, since I was so lost in thought, it was only when the shout of Edric rang out from in front of me that I bothered to look around and check my surroundings.
"Looks like we're almost there" the multitalented teen Mage commented from out in front of us. I glanced up, before smiling and looking to Natsu.
"Well… seems like this is gonna be another uneventful job then" I stated, hoping to elicit some response from the pinkette. Unfortunately, all I got was a mumbled 'yeah' for a reply.
Edric looked at me with a slightly ruffled brow, before nodding discretely to Natsu with a questioning gaze. Watching his miming for a second I realised he was secretly trying to ask what was up with Natsu, however all I could do was shake my head slightly and shrug in reply. With both Edric and I suitably confused about Natsu's behaviour, we began to set off down towards Magnolia. As we walked, I continued to try to guess at what was bugging the Fire Dragon Slayer. If Edric doesn't know then it's not something he did… so is it about me? I questioned silently. If that's the case, then is it something to do with those questions from last night… did Natsu want me to answer them differently? Or is it something else? Looking to the pinkette again, I noticed him move his head quickly. He was looking at me? And hiding it? This is definitely about me then… a thought suddenly occurred to me, however before it could even raise my hopes a few millimetres, I pushed it right back down. Don't be stupid… if it's about me it's going to be about something else other than 'that'… maybe Natsu was hoping I wanted to go back into the amusement park or something, so that he'd have an excuse to go too…
My mind wandered with possibilities. It wasn't until I reached the guild hall that something managed to distract me from my worried thoughts about the pinkette that walked beside me. Even if only momentarily.
/
As I entered the now familiar setting of the Fairy Tail guild hall, something strange played at my nostrils; a scent that was quite familiar to me. Looking around, I thought for a moment that I must have imagined it, however after a few minutes of looking my eyes narrowed onto a very welcome sight. "Hey, Rogue!" I called out, before rushing the distance between myself and the dark-haired Dragon Slayer with a bright smile on my face. The Shadow Dragon Slayer twirled around in time to greet me, before apologising to the two people he was speaking with; Makarov and Haruki. "Hello Sting, did you just get back from your job?" Rogue said to me in a pleasant tone, before bowing his head slightly to Makarov and Haruki.
"Yeah, we just got back" I said in response to the other Dragon Slayers question, before glancing around. My sudden bolting seemed to have surprised Natsu and Edric, although only for a moment, as the pair made their way over to where I now was with Rogue.
The Shadow Dragon Slayer looked to Natsu for a moment, a flicker of intrigue in his dark gaze, before his eyes came to rest onto our teenage accomplice. "I assume that you are Edric Zollzero, correct?" he said in a slightly stiffer tone than the one he used with me. Edric smirked and nodded.
"Yes indeed. I already know that you're Rogue Cheney, Shadow Dragon of Sabertooth" the blond-haired teen replied, before glancing to Haruki. "Did you receive the advance payment, it seemed easier to have them send it direct than have us haul it back over here?" he said in a business tone. Haruki smiled and gave thumbs up.
"Yeah, it's good. Oh… and I've got the money for Sting and Natsu here with me too" Haruki stated, before fumbling about in his pockets. After a moment, he produced an envelope in which was contained the remainder of the jewel that should be split between myself and Natsu. He handed this to Edric, who then briefly glance over the contents, before finally handing it to me.
"Everything seems to be in order then. Come on Haru, I've got something I need to speak to you about, unless somebody else needs you for something?" Edric looked to the group for a moment, especially resting his gaze upon Rogue, who shook his head.
"I simply needed to ask him if Sting was working like he said he was" the Shadow Dragon Slayer commented, "I don't really need to speak to him especially" he added after a moment. Edric smiled and nodded, before wandering off with Haruki to do whatever it is he wanted to do. Once he was gone I narrowed my gaze onto the Shadow Dragon Slayer.
"What do you mean 'if I was working like I said I was'?" I questioned with an offended tone, "Of course I'm working!"
Rogue smirked. "I was just checking that our Guild Master wasn't getting distracted and being a hindrance to our allied guild" he replied in a calm-yet-slightly-sarcastic manner. I pouted.
"Hmph… I take this seriously too" I said, folding my arms in defiance to Rogue's words. The Shadow Dragon eyed me for a moment, before looking to Makarov.
"That reminds me, we need to discuss Sting's presence here" he said to the older Master, who had so far just been watching everything unfold. I frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean by that Rogue? Has something gone on at the guild?" I asked. Rogue shook his head.
"No, the guild's fine, I just figured that we needed to discuss the overall cost of having you over here" the Shadow Dragon began to explain, "You see Sting, Sabertooth's already reduced our debt to only one quarter what it was when we started, however Fairy Tail, at least according to Haruki there, still has almost half left to pay" he stated.
I went wide eyed. "You've already paid off three quarters of our side of the debt?!"
Rogue nodded. "Yeah, however we still have that quarter left. Although you have been helping to pay it off on this end, I began to realise that so long as you're here, Fairy Tail will be having to foot the bill for your accommodation" Rogue stopped for a moment to produce an opened letter which he then handed to me. "I understand that you have been paying your own rent, however the hotel that you were staying at sent me, or rather Sabertooth, a letter, saying that they can't afford to keep allowing you to stay in that room for the reduced price. They said that either we, or Fairy Tail, would have to start to pay the full amount, since even though you are a visiting Guild Master, you have stayed quite a long time already" the Shadow Dragon went on to explain. I nodded in understanding, as my eyes read over the very letter that said all of this.
"Alright… why doesn't Sabertooth just pay for it then?" I said in a questioning tone. Rogue sighed.
"Because we've put all of our efforts into paying our side of the debt, we're currently unable to pay for such a high rent. That's why I rushed over here to see what you wanted to do" the Shadow Dragon stated. I frowned and pouted in thought.
"Fairy Tail could in theory pay for it, since we haven't spent any large sums in dealing with this debt so far, however… if it accumulates…" Makarov stated for his place near to Rogue. Although he sounded willing, I already had discounted the possibility of asking Fairy Tail to pay simply out of pride for my guild.
"I could go on more frequent jobs, or at least go on some of the higher paying ones. The money required to pay for my rent at full is… what?" I looked to Rogue for assistance.
The Shadow Dragon Slayer frowned. "At the moment, you're paying around two thousand a night, however it should increase to double that. If we take it at a weekly amount that's twenty-eight thousand jewel a week" Rogue stated. I nodded.
"Okay… so if I stop giving as much excess reward money to the family, and then go on a couple of higher-paid jobs, I should be fine, yeah?" I stated. Rogue shrugged.
"If Master Makarov will allow you to go on these jobs, then yes" the Shadow Dragon stated. Both he and I looked to Makarov, who smiled.
"I'm okay with it, provided that you keep safe. I can't have another guild's Master getting injured whilst he's entrusted to us" the old man stated. I smiled and nodded.
"That's okay then… actually…" I looked to Natsu beside me, who had been quietly listening thus far. "Is this okay with you, Natsu?" I asked. The pinkette shrugged.
"I'm okay with it" he said, in the most upbeat voice I'd heard from him since waking up this morning. He forced that… I thought for a moment, before returning my gaze to Rogue.
"If that's fine then, we can go and discuss this with the hotel owners later. Ideally, we can start implementing this new fee at the end of the week, rather than now" I stated to Rogue, who nodded. With that decision the discussion ended, and Rogue, Natsu and I, all went to the bar to get a drink.
As we sat down, I noticed that there was a somewhat tense air resting over our group; both Rogue and Natsu were unspeaking, and both wore withdrawn, contemplative expressions on their faces. After a moment of looking between the two, I sighed and tried to put on a smile. I've gotten nowhere all day when I've tried to prompt Natsu… guess it's about time I should just ask him what's up I thought, before turning and looking towards the pinkette. Natsu seemed to flick his eyes to me for a moment, obviously registering my directed gaze, before returning to the drink that Mirajane had just placed in front of his seat.
"Hey Natsu, is everything okay?" I asked in a calm but friendly manner, "It's just you've been pretty quiet today, and even though the mission went well… I got the feeling that you were down about something" I added, trying to prompt the silent Fire Dragon Slayer to respond.
After a couple of minutes of staring, Natsu eventually spoke. What he said surprised me. "Sorry about worrying you" he stated, before shooting me a smile, "I guess I was just thinking about something" he added after a moment. I smiled for a minute, hearing Natsu finally respond to me made me happier than I expected, before what he said finally struck me.
With a friendly smile, I tried to gain more information about what ailed my pinked-haired crush. "Oh… so… is what you've been thinking about just about the jobs or something? Do you wanna take a break from doing some jobs?" I asked him. Natsu shook his head and sent another smile in my direction.
"It's alright, you need the money, so I'm fine going on other jobs" he said "However… actually, can we take a break for a couple of days. I just need to do something, okay with you?" he added after a moment, his face the picture of innocent request. Oh… fuck that's cute! I thought suddenly at Natsu's adorable expression. I smiled out of habit at my abrupt thought, however I had to cover this up as a smile of agreement; even though I desperately wanted to know what the pinkette intended to do.
"That's fine with me. I kinda wanted a couple of days free too, so that Rogue and I can catch up" I answered in a cheerful tone. At least Natsu is beginning to open up again… however even I can tell that he's not totally over whatever it is that's been bugging him I thought in a more realistic internal voice.
Natsu seemed fooled by my tone of voice, and smiled brighter. "Okay, that's cool… so I'll see you later then" he said, before standing up from his space.
I furrowed my brow. "You're leaving now?" I asked in surprise. Natsu nodded.
"Yeah. It's been a while since I saw Happy. He's been working with Lucy, or Wendy in order to let me and you do the other jobs. I think it's 'bout time I hung out with him again" the pinkette stated. I smiled at his show of friendship, sudden memories of my own exceed partner filled my mind and I found myself smiling even broader and brighter.
"Yeah, of course I can understand that. Say hi to Happy for me" I stated, before waving Natsu off. Once the pinkette was gone, I turned to Rogue, who wore a slight smirk on his features. "Hey, wipe that smirk of your face, I was just being friendly!" I barked suddenly.
Rogue laughed a little. "Oh, is that so" he stated with a knowing look and a raised eyebrow. I allowed him his little look for a moment, before I sighed and gave in sipping my drink as he began to speak once more. "Now that we're alone" he started with a faintly amused tone of voice, "How are you doing with that other thing?" I smirked.
"Er… well about that…" I said, before beginning to discretely explain to Rogue all that had gone on between me and Natsu since I had arrived. Including what went on just last night.
/
Magnolia, later in the day
Year X792
Rogue Cheney
Sting and I walked around Magnolia, heading towards the hotel where Sting was staying in order to have our discussion with the owners about the payment. As we walked, we discussed the White Dragon Slayer's short comings. "So basically, you've chickened out so far and not done anything yet?" I asked in summary of all the information I had just been given.
Sting gave me a momentary death-stare, before sighing and dropping his head in defeat. "Well… I guess you could say that" he mumbled, before brightening up and displaying a more upbeat expression. "But I do have an idea about some way that I could get more information…" he stated, with a cheerful grin. I frowned sceptically at his optimism.
"So… are you going to tell me what that plan is?" I asked in a suspicious tone of voice. Sting chuckled.
"It's gonna be kept a secret until I begin the plan. Don't worry though, it's nothing that'll be a problem for our guild" he stated, giving me a thumbs-up. "Although… it's gonna involve the next job Natsu and me are going on" he hinted carefully.
"But I thought you told Natsu you weren't going on a job for two days?" I said in a slightly confused tone. Sting shrugged.
"Yeah, that's why it won't matter to you, because you'll have left by that point" he stated in a more matter-of-fact tone.
I frowned. "I could always stick around for a little while longer" I said, teasing my friend slightly, before going back to my more serious usual tone of voice. "But you know I wouldn't, since someone needs to look after the guild. Besides, I was only here for a day before I leave for my own job… coincidently, when did you get a new job for you and Natsu to do?" I added, giving Sting a probing look.
The White Dragon Slayer smiled, as he held the door to the hotel open for me to pass through. "I got the job whilst you went to the… er… toilet. Whilst you were gone, I figured I'd talk to Haruki and Edric, who were just at the bar. When I asked about some… particular… types of jobs, Edric pointed me to the request board, where he said he'd just noticed a job that was absolutely perfect" Sting explained, "I asked Mirajane if I could keep it on hold for a couple of days. Normally she would've said no I think, but for some reason she said that me and Natsu could go on it in a couple of days, which was great. Probably just because I'm the visiting Guild Master or whatever" Sting finished. I shrugged.
"Probably" I agreed, before Sting and I went to the front desk to request to see the owners. Despite my verbal agreement, something else popped into my head as I stood beside the blond wizard. I wonder if Mirajane's noticed what I thought I could smell before… coming from Natsu and not just Sting… I thought; Because if that's the case, then Sting's not as 'discrete' as what he claims he is I added, a momentary inkling about Sabertooth's reputation filling my mind, which I rapidly dismissed. Sting wouldn't ever do something to harm the guild… plus, it's not a bad thing that he has these feelings, he can't help it. Just like I can't help thinking about my own little- my thought process was disrupted by the sudden appearance of the owners.
"Mr Cheney, Mr Eucliffe, we're so glad you could reply to us so quickly. And in person no less" the short but slim owner of the establishment stated with a friendly smile.
"Well I am only at Fairy Tail, it wasn't much of an issue to come see you" Sting replied happily. I smiled to myself.
Always the friendly one I mused, before turning to greet the owner myself.
/
After meeting with the owners of the hotel, Sting decided to return to his room. The owners had been quite happy to allow us to begin the new payment scheme at the end of the week, since, as they themselves said, Sting was a Master and a wizard, and so had other work to be doing, instead of visiting them. In reality, I could smell the falseness of their pleasantries and it was likely that they simply didn't want to slight the Guildmaster of another guild, especially one as large and as powerful as our Sabertooth Guild was.
Deciding to return to the Fairy Tail guild, instead of taking Sting up on his offer of coming with him to the hotel room, I agreed to meet the White Dragon Slayer later, and catch up on things going on at the guild he had abandoned in pursuit of his own crush. As I entered the large guild hall I bumped into a slightly familiar character. "Oooph… sorry about that" Edric apologised as he rebounded off of me. I frowned at the blond-haired teen.
"It's not a problem, although… you weren't watching where you were going? I would've thought a person in your kind of business would be on watch all the time" I remarked as I brushed off the minor accident. Edric looked at me and grinned, rubbing the back of his head somewhat haphazardly.
"Well… with my job it isn't really like I'm in all that much danger" Edric stated, before glancing around. "Anyways, you're not with Sting?" the teen analysed after a moment. I shrugged and shook my head.
"Despite our titles, and our famed ability to work together, we don't spend all our time together" I replied, "Plus, after discussing our new payment scheme with the hotel, Sting just wanted to have a few minutes rest. I suppose since he hasn't had time to since he only came back a little while ago. Knowing him, he'll already be asleep" I added with a faint smile. Edric laughed.
"You say that, yet this morning, after me, he was the first one awake, and since it is impossible for someone to awaken earlier than me normally, he must not be that much of a sleeper" the teen commented. I smiled.
"He is usually up first, I suppose…" I stated, before looking into the guild hall. "Now… I should probably get going, I need to find Mirajane" I said. Edric furrowed his brows in confusion at me.
"What'd you need Mirajane for?" he questioned, "Unless you're hungry or something…" the teen thought aloud. I shook my head.
"Sting was acting a little odd earlier, so I thought I'd try and ask about whatever job it was that he had reserved. I wouldn't think he'd make a fool of the guild, however it is possible he'll make a fool of himself" I explained to Edric, who immediately started smiling as I gave out this information. "What is it?" I asked the grinning teen after only stopping for a few seconds.
Edric laughed, "I don't think you need to worry about the job he's picked, especially since I pointed it out to him" the teen said. I gave Edric a questioning look, which made him elaborate. "What I mean is that… well… how much do you know about Sting, in terms of what he likes?" the teen asked. I was confused about his line of questioning for a moment, before I realised what he was getting at.
"Well, I know about… that…" I said, trying to avoid saying the topic out loud, just on the off chance that there happened to be someone nearby within earshot who was listening.
Edric nodded. "It's not that hard to see, if you're looking that is. Or if you're as used to seeing it as I am" the teen stated, before shrugging. "But that's just my opinion. Nevertheless, this is the job that I showed him" Edric stated, holding up a copy of a flyer.
I glanced at the contents for a moment, before smiling. "Hmm… interesting…" I said, as my mind began to realise just why Sting had been so happy about this particular job, although this only led to more confusion as I tried to work out what, exactly, the White Dragon Slayer had meant by this 'helping in his pursuit of Natsu'.
Seriously Sting, if anything this is just going to make it more difficult for you to hide it… isn't it? I thought with a dismissive shake of my head, before proceeding to finally enter the guild hall and order some food whilst I mulled over the other Dragon Slayer's thinking process. I still didn't have an answer even when the White Dragon Slayer himself entered about two hours later.
/
Magnolia, Summer Time,
Year X792
Sting Eucliffe
The two days passed quite quickly. It wasn't long before I was having to say goodbye to Rogue, as the Shadow Dragon Slayer went off on his own job. With a smile on my face I watched the dark-haired Mage leave, and then proceeded back into the guildhall, where I was met with a smiling Natsu. "So, is Rogue gone then?" the pinkette asked me in a cheerful tone of voice.
I nodded. "Yeah, he's gone" I confirmed, before glancing up to Happy, who was flying around near Natsu's head-height. Over the past two days I had seen very little of the pink-haired mage, or the blue exceed. When I questioned people if this was normal behaviour for Natsu, a number of the guild wizards did tell me that Natsu and Happy sometimes went off to train outside the town, which helped abate my growing paranoia that the Fire Dragon Slayer had been attempting to deliberately avoid me. Natsu noticed my gaze, before flicking his eyes to Happy himself.
"Is there something wrong with Happy?" he asked me in a questioning tone of voice. I shook my head.
"No, sorry… I was just thinking about Lector" I lied, "Anyways, about our job…" I added, trying to redirect both the flow of the conversation as well as my own thoughts. Natsu shrugged at my thoughts.
"I figured you'd have picked one" he commented. I smiled.
"I was gonna tell you yesterday, or even the day before, however you had already vanished" I stated, which made Natsu bow his head apologetically, although he was still smiling.
"Yeah… heh, sorry 'bout that. Since me and Happy hadn't had time to hang out very much, we decided to go on a fishing trip at this really nice spot at a nearby lake. It became a camping trip without us really intending it too though" the Fire Mage explained. I chuckled.
"Figures you'd wander off without telling anybody. Lucy told me about your 'short one year training trip'" I mused, which seemingly surprised the pinkette, who then began laughing and rubbing the back of his head, somewhat sheepishly.
"Heh… I'm sorry if I made you worry" he apologised. I just laughed, shrugged, and then shook my head.
"Nah, it was fine. At least I got to hang out with a few of the others, like Lucy and Gray. I didn't just idolise you when I was a kid, you know, so it is kinda great that I could speak to you all so normally" I stated, before looking around my person. After a moment, I decided to retrace the conversation back to the original topic at hand. "Anyways… about that job… here's the flyer" I said, before producing the scrap of paper and handing it over to Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer scanned over the contents, absorbing the necessary information, before handing it back.
"Okay, sounds good. It pays more than some of those other jobs too" he stated. I nodded.
"Yeah, that's why I chose it. Are you okay with it being on the beach though?" I asked, just making sure that Natsu understood everything about the job before we went on it. No surprises I thought confidently, not after that last one put us in that… kinda awkward situation I added mentally.
Natsu smiled. "Of course, I'm okay with it being on a beach. It means that we don't just get to fight this sea monster thingy, but also afterwards we can enjoy a bit of fun in the sun, right?" he laughed almost childishly. I nodded with my own bright smile.
"Yeah, of course. In fact, the person who sent this job, said that they'd let any wizard who completes the job not just get their pay, but also have free access to their private beachfront house for a day" I confirmed, my eyes glittering as I described the additional prospect of something on top of the usual reward. After a moment, an additional thought struck me, and I looked to Natsu's flying partner. "Oh… also, is Happy coming with us too?" I asked not so much the pinkette, but the pair in general. Happy smiled.
"As much as I'd like to, Sting" the exceed began, "Master asked for me to help Carla and Lily on some specialist delivery job to a remote mountain house, so I can't really come, unfortunately" he explained. I nodded, trying to look sympathetic towards the feline, although inside I was actually a little glad that it would only be me and Natsu.
Natsu looked to his partner with a sorry expression, "Sorry little buddy. Maybe you can come with us on another job, if it's a nice one like this" he said. Happy nodded.
"Aye sir!" he agreed, giving a little salute. I smiled watching their camaraderie with my own fond thoughts about my partner. Lector…
"I'll be sure to pick a good job if I know you're coming next time" I chuckled, which made both Happy and Natsu grin happily at the prospect.
After a short little while later, Happy was dragged off by the other two exceeds, along with Wendy and Romeo who seemed to be accompanying them in order to assist, and then it was left just to me and Natsu to get ready. Without Happy around, Natsu's attention became more directed towards me, and the job, and he was soon asking questions about both the job, and what I had been doing in his short absence. As I answered his numerous inquiries, my own thoughts began to drift towards the upcoming beach trip as well as all the preparation I had put into making it perfect for my own personal goals.
I've gotta make this perfect, but I've gotta be careful too. This should help me to work out what Natsu's… preferences... are, since he won't be able to hide them so easily when he's almost naked on the beach, however at the same time I've gotta do everything I can not to well… give the game away as soon as I see Natsu's half-naked body clad only in trunks I reminded myself, as Natsu and I agreed on a time to meet later, when we'd head off to the job location.
/
A few hours later, near 3PM, Natsu and I set off towards the target destination, a beachfront hotel near to the port of Hargeon. Although it would definitely have been faster to take the train, neither Natsu nor I could face travelling for more than a few seconds on a vehicle, and as I pointed out to Lucy, who suggested we take the dreaded train journey in the first place, if both of us passed out, then we'd just end up missing the stop anyways and causing more problems for ourselves.
Plus, walking with Natsu gives me some time to ask him a few questions I thought silently to myself with a faint smirk. Walking beside the Fire Dragon Slayer these past two weeks, we had already covered many topics, ranging from talking about ourselves, to discussing our guildmates, and even comparing and contrasting the various different aspects of our two guilds. In that time, I had managed to gather quite a lot of information about my pink-haired crush, including his food preferences (which seemed to include just about everything edible) and even what he liked to do in his down time. The only piece of information I had yet to coax from Natsu, and probably one of the only two pieces of information I really wanted to know about him, was whether he had been on a date with anybody and whether he had a crush on someone.
Every time the topic had rotated to one of these two questions, Natsu had often gotten distracted, or simply avoided it. This had made me very suspicious, either the pinkette was hiding something, or was too embarrassed to discuss it with someone like me. Either way I WILL get that information on this job… I'm absolutely determined to! I resolved mentally, as I gave fleeting sideways glances towards the pinkette walking to my right. Here goes…
"Hey Natsu" I voiced aloud, looking to the pinkette as we walked through some quite picturesque landscapes of rolling green fields.
"Hmm… what is it Sting?" the Fire Dragon Slayer asked, with a quizzical glance in my direction.
"Er… well… I was just thinking, what do you actually think about Gray. I mean, I get that you both fight a lot, but…" I trailed off at my open-ended comment. Natsu frowned for a moment, like he was trying to work out why I was asking him this. I was prepared to try to elaborate, however Natsu responded before I needed to.
"While we do both fight… I guess he is strong, and kinda dependable. Even if he is a stupid popsicle some of the time" Natsu stated, before giving me a more piecing look, "Why do you ask?"
I shrugged. "I was just wondering…" I stated, before smiling, "But if that's the case about Gray, do you think like that about people like Gajeel, or Erza… or Laxus?" I asked, with a mildly amused tone. I've gotta make sure Natsu doesn't suspect something's up… when I ask him about what he thinks about Lucy, or the other girls…
Natsu seemed momentarily surprised by my sudden questioning, however he recovered in time to respond. When his response came, it was, rather unhelpfully, just a shake of his head, along with a few choice words. "I don't think the same 'bout everybody; Gajeel's an idiot, even if he is a Dragon Slayer, and Erza's well… she is strong, but she is waaaay too scary. Oh… and Laxus is just an asshole" Natsu stated with a slight smirk at his bad-mouthing.
I smiled at Natsu's confident expression; Cocky when they aren't around, but even I know he wouldn't say that if they were… well, at least he wouldn't to Erza I thought with faint amusement, before I began to prepare my next few comments carefully. I need to get his guard down before I ask him about this… let's try-
"Hey Sting," Natsu said after a moment, I furrowed my brows.
"Yeah?"
"Why did you ask about what I thought about my guildmates, I'm sure we talked about it before… at least a little?" the pinkette asked me. Crap! What am I gonna… wait… I know…
"Oh… er, well…" I sighed, "I just wanted to ask about how close you were to Lisanna. I heard that you two were really close when I was in the guild once, however she hasn't really approached you much whilst I've been there… so… I was just curious" I 'explained', or rather, completely lied.
Natsu frowned at me for a moment, before smiling brightly. "If that's all why didn't you say?" he stated in an upbeat tone, before moving on to answer my 'query'. "Lisanna and I are kinda close… I guess. We used to hang around together a lot when we were kids" Natsu stated, with a slightly nostalgic tone of voice, "But then… we thought she was dead, and it did make me sad" Natsu added. I frowned and looked as Natsu's eyes drooped a little.
"Oh… sorry for asking…" I apologised when Natsu's nostalgic gaze seemed to become saddened for a moment. The pinkette, however, just shrugged off my apology.
"It's fine, it's all good now, since she's here and everything" the pinkette stated, with a more cheerful smile on his face once more. "But yeah, she's not as attached to me as she used to be" Natsu added with a nod, "I mean… when we were kids it was okay, but then she started blabbering on about us getting married when we were older…" Natsu recounted, before rubbing the back of his head and laughing.
I gave a surprised look. "She asked you to marry her?!" I barked.
Natsu chuckled embarrassedly. "Well… she talked about it, but then stuff happened… she hasn't really mentioned it since she got back" the pinkette stated, before shrugging. "I guess it would've been pretty traumatic for her. But anyways, why did you want to know about Lisanna? Did she say something to you?" Natsu asked me. I was once more taken off-guard by Natsu's questioning. Damn it, he's supposed to be the one being taken off guard, not me! I cursed inwardly.
"Well… er… well…" I floundered for another answer. "I guess I should tell the truth" I said after a minute. This seemed to intrigue Natsu further, as the other Dragon Slayer seemed to take pause; Time that I needed to come up with a convincing lie.
Trying to compose myself I found that Natsu and I had stopped walking. This is it, I need to get the info now I realised, as the critical juncture approached. Looking at Natsu I was met with the fiery gaze of the Fire Dragon Slayer. His gaze seemed to rest intently upon me, the flames in his eyes visible and mischievous; I felt like they were boring down into my very soul.
"Well… I guess I just wanted to know, since you have not really told me anything like this before, but… I was intrigued as to whether you had ever… been on a date with anyone before?" I stated, trying desperately to sound confident, even though I knew I sounded more uncertain than ever before. Natsu listened to my question with the same intent look on his face for a whole two minutes, before finally giving some kind of answer. This came in the form of a grin that he wore from ear to ear.
"Is that really it? Is that why you asked all of these random questions, to get me to answer that?" he chuckled, "You shoulda just asked from the start Sting" he stated, before laughing loudly. I began smiling at Natsu's childish laughter.
"I was just a little embarrassed, since you kept avoiding it I thought you'd not want to tell me" I stated with a little more confidence in my voice now. Natsu kept smiling at me, and we began to continue our walk as he answered.
"To be honest, I avoided it because… well… I haven't been on a 'proper date'… ever" he explained, with a faint blush of discomfiture, "However, I have been to places with Lucy, and she often pays" he added. Probably because you forgot your wallet I thought to myself as Natsu listed a couple of the various eateries that he had frequented with the Celestial Spirit Mage, and Happy. "I did go on a sort-of date with Lisanna. It wasn't anything 'real' though, she just treated me to dinner for helping her once when we were kids, however… I don't really count that as a date" Natsu added, with a nostalgic tinge to his voice once more, which he shook off after a moment. "Does that answer your question?" Natsu then asked me. I nodded and smiled politely.
"Yeah, sorry for acting so weird about it" I replied. Natsu shrugged at me.
"It's fine, I don't mind telling you stuff like that. After all, we're friends, aren't we?" he stated, with a glance towards me. I smiled.
"Yeah… we are" I said.
Although I wish we could be more than that…
/
We arrived at the beach resort much later in the day, when the sun was setting in the sky. Finding the hotel did not take long, and soon Natsu and I were face-to-face with the manager of the establishment. He was a short, kind-looking man, who was about the same height as Makarov. Unlike Makarov, however, he had a beard that drooped from his face, all the way down to his knees. His overall appearance kind of reminded me of a garden gnome.
"I'm so glad you could come so quickly" the manager greeted us, at the reception desk of his hotel. I smiled politely at his kind tone of voice.
"We apologise for making you wait a couple of days, there was… er… well, something came up" I lied. The manager shook his head.
"Think nothing of it. To be honest, I cannot express my joy at having such esteemed wizards as yourselves visit my little slice of Fiore" the man stated, before clearing his throat, "And to be even more honest, it gave me some much-needed time to prepare your accommodations" he added with a friendlier tone of voice.
"Ah, well I'm glad it worked out" I stated, before glancing at Natsu. The pinkette smiled, but did not say anything; in situations like these he seemed to leave much of the talking to me. "However, could you perhaps explain what exactly it is we're here for. It said on your request you were having some monster issues?" I added after a moment. The manager nodded.
"Of course, I can explain. You see, this cove is quite peaceful, or at least it was. That is why I set up this small, but welcoming, hotel here on this private strip of beachfront" the manager stated, before wandering over to a window that looked out onto said area and sea. "However, recently there have been several attacks by some overlarge squid-type creature that has gotten stuck in the shallower water around my beachfront. Unfortunately, the squid cannot leave, due to underwater rock formations blocking its exit. Normally I don't think it would have been able to enter these waters, however there was a bad storm a few days ago , and it was likely the creature got caught up in it and ended up here. I've tried to help it as much as I am able, however this as to no avail and in its agitation, the creature attacks all those that come into the water. I have allowed people to remain on the beach, for fear of them leaving my establishment and ruining my business, however besides that I have no hope of dislodging this… unwanted lodger" the man added, turning to us to observe our reactions. I smiled confidently, my mind already working out what this man's request was.
"So… I'm guessing you want us to get rid of the squid, without killing it? Yes?" I asked after a moment. The manager smiled and stroked his beard.
"I see your as intelligent as you are powerful, Master Eucliffe" he chuckled, "And yes, I would. I can't afford to close up the beach, however I have instructed no one to enter the water, or hamper in your efforts. I also have a small vessel which I will give you full access to in order to give you access to the ocean" the man stated. I nodded in understanding, and looked to Natsu, to get the pinkette's thoughts about the request. The pinkette grinned.
"I'm not that bothered about the boat but don't worry, we'll get that squid out!" Natsu declared with confidence seeping from both his tone and actions.
"Excellent!" the manager exclaimed happily, "You can start tomorrow then?" Both Natsu and I nodded. "Perfect, now… I'll show you to your room" he said, before producing a key. I smiled happily as the man lead us away to where he intended us to sleep, however something suddenly hit me as we began to climb up the stairs to the second floor of the three-storey building.
Wait! Room?!
/
We were lead to a single room on the farthest east side of the hotel. Initially I queried the manager on what he meant by giving us a single room, however as I asked, the man explained that his hotel was already fully booked, and that this was the only room spare. Much to my annoyance, I couldn't argue with the client, since he did give us a valid reason. Damn it!
As the manager had us approach the door, a lacrima in his pocket made a noise, and he had to excuse himself, before handing over the key to me and rush off to deal with some other issue in the hotel. Now alone with Natsu, I turned to the door and pushed the key into the lock. It'll be okay, it'll only be for one night… or two, at most. I can cope with that I reasoned, as I unlocked the door and entered the room, Natsu following me close behind. Or maybe not… I thought after a moment of glancing around the hotel room.
"Excuse me, I just need to go to the bathroom" I said to Natsu, before rushing off as fast as was humanly possible. Once I was in the bathroom, I let out a large, and long sigh of annoyance. "So not only am I sharing a room with him… but there's seriously just one bed too" I stated to myself, as the image of the plush-looking room, with a single bed filled my mind. "I mean… when Natsu heard we were sharing a room he seemed okay with this, but will he really be okay with us being in the same bed?" I voiced aloud. After a moment of silent contemplation, I realised that even if he wasn't, there wasn't much that could be done, except perhaps one of us sleep on the floor. If it comes to that, I'll sleep on the floor… it's not like Rogue hasn't made me do that before I thought with a faint flicker of a smile as I thought about the Shadow Dragon Slayer. It was not unusual for both me and Rogue to share a room, or even a bed, when on jobs, and from what I could gather, Natsu had needed to share a room with Gray more than once, so it shouldn't be too difficult for either one of us to cope with this type of situation. Usually.
If it was anyone else I'd be okay… but Natsu… well, there's no point griping, I can't change this. After all I can't turn this down, I promised Rogue I wouldn't show the guild up! I thought after a moment. Going over to the wash basin, I splashed a little water onto my face, just to cover up for the real reason I had so quickly excused myself. Before I left the room, I gave myself a quick check-over in the mirror above the basin, forcing a smile onto my face as I did so.
"I've just got to cope for one or two nights. I can do this!" I resolved, as I looked into my reflection.
Just don't give anything away…
/
Meanwhile,
Natsu Dragneel
I sat down onto the soft bed with a loud, vocal sigh. Sting had just run out of the room when we entered, mumbling something about needing to go to the bathroom. Probably drank too much at our last stop I reasoned, as I flopped down onto the bed so that I was looking up at the ceiling of our shared room. The White Dragon Slayer had seemed a little off today, especially after all that weird stuff he was asking earlier, about whether I had been on a date. I had answered honestly, and that seemed to pacify him, for a little while at least. It wasn't until we stopped for lunch that Sting elaborated on his questioning. After a while I grew bored with his questions, and began to probe a little myself, just to see if I could get any juicy info on Sting's love life. Unfortunately, Sting had been quite unforthcoming with his answers, and it wasn't long after that when we both stopped asking questions altogether, instead discussing other things, like our favourite beach activates.
He probably got embarrassed I thought to myself, as I recounted the events of the day, before I turned my head to eye the closed bathroom door and think about the blond male beyond. He was acting weird just before though too… Could it be because we're sharing a room?
I shook my head at the thought. "Sting mentioned he and Rogue sometimes shared too, so it couldn't be that" I voiced aloud, although in a hushed tone so that the White Dragon Slayer would not hear my talking.
Could be because he noticed the bed and felt embarrassed to share with me? I thought after a moment, a wicked smirk forming on my features at the idea. It would make sense… especially since when he was asking about my love-life earlier he was so obviously lying about his reasons I thought, with a small chuckle. Sting may not be part of Fairy Tail, but I've been around him so much lately that even I can tell all the little changes in his scent when he lies, or is flustered… like when he just rushed off right now I mused. Suddenly a thought sprung to my mind that made me pout.
"Actually… when he just rushed off before… there was that really weird scent again… it's kind of sweet, but really odd at the same time" I said, before sitting up and scratching my head in thought. It's not the first time I've smelled it on him either… the last time it was this strong though was… when… we were on that job together at the theme park?! the memory of the job filled my mind as I thought about Sting's odd scent. After a few minutes, another memory also filled my head; this time one of me that I'd rather not have remembered. No no no no no no no… I won't think like that again… it was weird enough he first time, especially since I masturbated whilst I was thinking it I panicked internally. Just as I began to think about this, I heard the lock of the bathroom door click. Crap! Think about something else… wait I know. Erza… scary Erza… scary mad Erza… A shiver ran up my spine as I tried to wilfully change my thought process.
Surprisingly this worked, however just before Sting emerged from the bathroom, another thought popped up in my head; one that made me smile cunningly.
Actually… if we're on the beach tomorrow there will be no way for either of us to hide anything… especially if both of us wear trunks. That'll be the perfect opportunity to finally corner Sting about all the stuff he's been thinking about… and then maybe he'll tell me what I want to know…
Like why his scent changes to that sweet-but-odd smell… or why he was so freaked out when we were at the restaurant…
Or why I can't stop thinking about his stupid cute face… agh! No! Scary Erza, scary Erza, scary-
End of Chapter 8
Chapter Hint; Hide and Seek