So this is my very first story on this site, and it's a Yaoi/Bara. I've been meaning to write stories for a while now but I guess I haven't had the time to. Thank you guys for clicking on this story and starting to read it. I wove you. ^^
There won't be a lemon until the second-third chapter, but I'm still deciding if my lemon will move the story to Adult Fanfiction. If this story becomes somewhat popular with a number of decent reviews, I promise to continue this story until the 20th chapter-however long you want it to be.
GrayxNatsu for the win.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, they are the property of Hiro Mashima.
Natsu was walking down the streets of Magnolia, with Happy flying just above him. The gate to Fairy Tail was just in the distance, and of course that was his destination for today. And as he trudged along with Happy, he silently enjoyed the gentle breeze as it caressed his skin, and listened intently to the mesmerizing songs of the birds as they circled each other in the sky. For a moment, he decided to listen to his thoughts.
"Everybody seems to be recovering well after that whole Edolas incident. I'm glad everyone made it back, unharmed."
Natsu's face scrunched up as he recalled the details that haunted his mind, but he quickly dismissed them with a smile as he took in this wonderful day. The sun was shining brightly above the busy town, and there were a few clouds scattered here and there. It was as if, the sun was smiling down on the world, happy for the day was currently Friday.
After a few moments of stopping to make small talk with the townsfolk, and following the scent of food, Natsu finally passed through the arch of one of his most cherished places. "The certain air about Fairy Tail hasn't changed much at all ever since we were young, right Happy?"
"Aye, sir!"
As Natsu walked into the guild, the smell of all sorts of cuisine wafted towards him and greeted his nose, instinctively making him hungry as usual. He could also recognize the rowdy voices of the people he have come to love and respect. After taking in the scene, Natsu made sure to enter in silence, not wanting to disturb the happy atmosphere, and luckily no-one noticed him. Everybody was too lost in their conversations, including Lisanna, who was usually the first to greet him every time he walked inside that familiar building.
Of course, this very building was where all of Natsu's adventures begin.
As he made his way to one of the empty wood tables, he pulled one of the chairs toward him, and sat down wanting to relax and observe the guild. Everyone was smiling and laughing, and all their emotions made Natsu happy as well.
Turning his head to his right, Lucy was sitting on a chair in front of the minibar chatting with Mira-Jane and of course, blushing furiously. Mira had probably started talking about the boys she thought would go well with Lucy, and this was always an uncomfortable topic when it involved him as well.
"I just can't seem to understand women. Why is it hard to tell what they really want sometimes?" Happy heard this unusual thought, and started to beam at Natsu.
"What's wrong Natsu? Are you in lovvvveeeee?"
Natsu snorted and talked about how he didn't love anyone in this guild, and how that would be a bad decision on his part. And after about 5 minutes, Natsu finally finished his small speech directed to Happy, and turned his head right to look a new set of people. Mira and Lucy weren't the best show out there.
Erza seemed to be livelier than usual too at her current table with Juvia as she was talking her head off, and her usual face devoid of emotion this time, was painted with glee and laughter. However, Juvia was clearly not listening at all and was staring intently at Gray while muttering things about passion, and romance.
"Oh, Juvia. Just go up to Gray and confess your love instead of just trying to show it." He whispered to himself.
Now deciding to let his eyes wander around he could see, that the rest of the guild was in their usual positions going about their daily routine. Natsu's eyes swept over to Cana who was chugging down a barrel of liquor again. She was sitting next to Macao, who had a smaller cup of beer in his hand. It was always quite amusing to see the size of liquor all the boys drank compared to Cana who was one of the fiercest drinkers out there, who could win any sort of competition.
"Cana, you're going to kill your stomach if you keep chugging down a barrel of alcohol every couple of hours." Macao said, taking a sip of his beer showing a rather glum face.
"I can handle my alcohol, and if my stomach doesn't like what I'm doing, it'll tell me." She countered, a devilish smile on her face. Even now, she wasn't intoxicated at all. It was a mystery how she managed to not get drunk from all that alcohol rushing through her veins.
Looking down at Happy, Natsu could see him twitching and making quick glances at Carla, 'his potential love interest.'
"Go ahead Happy, go hang out with Carla. I won't mind, I don't want to make you bored."
"Thank you Natsu! I won't take long, aye!"
Happy then proceeded to fly over to Carla and Wendy, offering a fish to Carla who had rejected it as always. But Carla showed a sort of softness to Happy now, that wasn't present before. Wendy was just bubby as always and was giggling quite softly.
Natsu just sat there and thought. "What should I do? Should I go over to Gray, Lucy, or Erza? Or just stay here and wait for someone to notice me?"
Not long after, Natsu saw movement from the corner of his eye. "Oh god, it's Gray. What luck." He muttered.
Gray had noticed him, and was headed his way this very moment, the smirk on his face unchanged. Natsu's heart fluttered as he began thinking of how attractive Gray was. His spiky hair was always perfectly styled, and he was very well-toned. He always had his shirt off, so that added to his overall hotness. Plus, he had some sort of badass guy attitude.
As Gray made it near him, he snapped out of his unwanted daydream.
"Hey asshole. What are you doing there all alone? Go hang out with Lisanna, your future wife." Gray teased as the expression on his face was mocking.
"Why the hell is this in my mind? Gray is a boy, and I'm a boy. But I just love it when he teases me, it makes me feel like we're some sort of couple. God, what is happening to me?" He thought, enraged that these thoughts were still ongoing and didn't stop. Coming back to reality, he proceeded to make a remark to counter Gray's previous tease.
"Go mind your own business, damn exhibitionist." Natsu retorted with his usual bright grin.
Everybody noticed that Gray and Natsu were getting along more than usual, but they never questioned it. If something was going on between them, it was their business after all.
Both Natsu and Gray laughed as they playfully insulted each other again, and again. Lucy, on the other hand, approached them with a not too welcoming face. She looked angry, and worried at the same time.
"Now is not the time to be laughing, if we don't go on a request soon, I won't be able to pay my rent!" She squealed as her face morphed into one of worry.
"Come on Lucy, you should be flashing us a bright smile. On the bright side, you could always move into my home or Gray's home, if you get evicted."
"Hell no. I can't sleep knowing that there is a musky guy inside the house." Lucy replied, her face twisted in disgust.
"Suit yourself. I guess, you can go live in the streets." Gray openly remarked which led to Lucy glaring at him.
Erza, now finished with her chat with Juvia, obviously overhead the loud ramblings of the group and walked right to them, leaving Juvia who wasn't even interested in her small-talk in the slightest.
Natsu heard the familiar clink of armor as Erza approached them out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Erza, I challenge you to a duel, all right?" Natsu said jokingly as he gave Erza one of his determined gazes. Unfortunately, everyone took Natsu seriously not being able to see him grin.
Cries of laughter were heard around the guild, as they all remembered the countless times when Natsu challenged Erza, and was hurt pretty badly.
"Natsu, are you asking to be trashed again?"
"Come on Natsu, Erza will kick your ass! You better stop asking for it!"
"Natsu, you better fall back."
Comment after comment sprang out from different people as they all got worked up over a possible fight between some of Fairy Tail's strongest members.
"Now is not the time for games, Natsu. You will only end up defeated again. I need to talk to our group."
Once again, howls of laughter were heard all around the guild as they heard Erza reject Natsu, knowing fully that she would manage to defeat him. But like it started, the laughter gradually died down as everyone returned to their previous business.
Lucy, Gray, and Natsu turned their focus to Erza.
"I have overheard Lucy's predicament and may have a job that we can complete." Erza said, her monotone voice not matching her obvious jubilance.
Lucy on the other hand, literally jumped for joy as she hugged Erza but quickly broke the hug as she saw Erza, staring at her with her piercing gaze. Erza didn't mind the hug but Lucy mistook her gaze for a glare.
Lucy then just decided to express her gratitude with words.
"Erza, you are such a lifesaver! I've been asking these two idiots to look for a job, but they keep being a pair of lazy asses."
Natsu looked over at Lucy and grinned, while turning around. He had a teasing expression on his face, as he started walking in place.
"Can't you take on a job by yourself, aren't you a big girl?"
Erza gazed at Natsu and rambled on about how how defenseless women should always be escorted by friends. Gray noticed the reference to Lucy and started chuckling while placing his free hand on Lucy's shoulder.
"It's okay, Lucy. You'll become stronger, and then you can take care of yourself. But we need to babysit you now whenever we go on a mission."
Lucy openly offended, started to glare daggers at all three of them and was about to start another tedious speech when she decided to listen to what Erza had to say.
Meanwhile, Natsu felt a tinge of jealousy remembering how Gray had placed his hand on Lucy. "Shouldn't that be me?" He thought but quickly dismissed these countless thoughts as they were making him confused and confused. Forgetting all about their silly small-talk, Lucy, Gray, and Natsu proceeded to ask Erza many questions regarding the job request.
"What's the request this time? Is it dangerous? I'm looking to crush some criminals." Gray inquired while he started to unbutton his shirt, no one noticing as it was such a common occurrence.
Erza looked at the paper in her right hand, scanning the text for the information before giving her reply.
"We must travel to the forest near the once-was Caitshelter guild, and pick up a package belonging to a man who lives alone in a small hut. We must then deliver the package safely to Hargeon Town. The pay is 300,000 jewels per person."
"That's enough for purchasing a truck-load of food, and then I can treat you all to a feast!" Natsu said as he began to drool from all the thoughts of various dishes in his mind. But mainly, meat, meat, and more meat.
Of course, Lucy was next in line to ask the question currently on her mind.
"Why is the pay so much? It's dangerous, isn't it?" Lucy asked, delighted at the fact of being able to pay her rent, but horrified at the fact that the job might be very risky.
After discarding his button-up shirt on the floor, Gray began to unbutton his pants having trouble pulling them off, but successful regardless. He then started to take care of the remaining garments until he was just in boxers as always.
Meanwhile back on the ranch, Erza after remembering the details from memory answered Lucy's question.
"The pay is higher than usual because the man is insistent on making sure that the package is delivered quickly, and without fail. And there might be a few dangerous people along the journey that will do anything to prevent the package from arriving at its destination." Erza said, her eyes showing a twinkle of excitement.
Gray grinned like a child upon hearing that there may be potential people to beat up on this job request.
"We'll kick their asses, regardless. I've been itching to try some of my new ice make techniques." Gray was cheerful at the thought of being able to go on a mission, since the group's last official mission was more than a week ago.
Natsu finished with his minidream, let his eyes wander over to Gray as he then noticed him fully undressed, just one layer of clothing separating body from the air. He was at this point, blushing furiously as his nether regions started to feel warm. Natsu thought he would lose himself right there, and just couldn't handle this. But he fought to regain himself, while once again losing himself in his many thoughts about Gray.
"Why was Gray so particularly damn sexy today?"
Ironically, now was the time that someone actually remarked on Gray's absence of clothing. And it was no other than Juvia, no surprise.
"Gray-sama, your clothes!" She yelled as she started turning the color of a tomato, and squealing like a little girl.
"There's no time for that, I'll put some clothes on later." Gray replied while shifting his attention back to Erza who held a questioning expressuon. Lucy was snickering her head off, wondering why this habit was so often repeated at the most unexpected moments.
Natsu subconsciously cheered as Gray decided to stay naked, not sure why he was his body was taking his mind over. He let his eyes trace Gray's abs, and he started at Gray's face. "He is just so adorable." Natsu thought as he once again started feeling the familiar feeling he got around Gray.
Gray seemed to notice this extra attention too, and wondered if Natsu was thinking of something inappropriate. He was grinning, wondering how his body made Natsu really feel. He felt himself quite attracted to Natsu, but yet separated.
Juvia on the other hand could not handle the amount of smexiness being transferred to her brain, and fainted promptly after screaming like a fan-girl.
"Gray-sama." Juvia repeated as she fell down on the wood floor, knocked out. She was ignored by everyone, including our heroes as this was all too common for everyone.
Gray had a "Did-I-do-something-wrong?" look on his face, and Lucy nodded her head yes as they both just remained amused at this little scene.
Erza, not concerned with all the straying conversations, began to finalize the details of the job while everyone was obviously distracted by Juvia.
"Then it's settled. Meet me at the train station tomorrow, at noon. And remember to pack enough necessities for about a week."
She then mentally thought about how many suitcases she should bring, while making sure that she remembered that she had a great number of clothing, armor, and weapons.
"Eight, nine, or fifteen this time? It is always so tedious to plan out what things to bring. I need to make sure I have enough room for everything."
After killing the rest of their time at the guild with drinks, food, and performances by mainly Mira and Gajeel, the group then exited into the hot humid air outside.
It was now 7:00 PM, and the sun was now below the horizon, the sky beginning to display the stars and turn it's signature dark blue color.
The group walked down Magnolia together, the town now quiet and calm, different from its bustling atmosphere in the morning and afternoon. And after reaching each of their respective houses, each member departed until it was only Natsu and Gray left.
Their houses down the same road, they decided to chat a little while returning to their sanctuaries. They were worn-out, their ears still replaying the many performances made by Gajeel who was off-key on most of his song choices.
Natsu was the one who decided to break the silence first, commenting on the transportation as usual.
"A train? I would rather just fly with Happy. I don't want to feel like throwing up everywhere again." He openly remarked, while staring up at the night sky.
He thought about how breathtaking it was, the stars fitting right in with the moon, illuminating the world underneath them, mainly him and the boy next to him. Gray, fatigued beyond his own understanding, couldn't help but speak his mind and let his mouth talk what he really wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Natsu. I will sit next to you, and then I could help you out. If you sit on my lap, my cold aura will relax you just like an ice-pack would and hopefully tame your motion sickness for a while."
"W-what?" Natsu's heart started beating as fast as earlier. This was such a straight-forward request. And it had some many meanings to it. What was he implying?
Luckily, Gray had realized his mistake, and quickly made up a believable excuse as not to scare Natsu.
"It's just because, we're friends. And I'm cold because I'm an ice mage, so that might give you some relief on the train ride." Gray stated quickly, blushing as he started to turn right in the direction of his house.
"Sure, Gray. But I'm not sitting on your lap, but I'd be happy to sit next to you." Natsu said, his blush still red as a tomato. Though his heart was still racing, it was returning to normal as he was comforted by Gray's words of friendship.
Gray smiled, a little happy that Natsu had not been severely traumatized, like he had imagined him in his mind.
"See you tomorrow, kid."
Natsu heard the sound of a door shut, and before he knew it he was back at his own home as well.
Now just noticing Happy behind him, he froze. "Could he have heard me and Gray?" He thought, frightened at the thought, and desperately thinking of excuses he could use to get Happy's mind off of those things.
Happy looked over at Natsu with a smirk, his face was heavy with teasing, and he know he was in for it.
"Natsu and Gray. Aye sir! You two are in lovvvvveeeeee."
"Shut up, Happy. It's not that way." Natsu said as he was honestly still confused by Gray's outburst.
"Gray just meant that as a friend. He's just looking out for me after all, that's what he said. But if this was the case, why did Gray make my heart flutter?"
These were the questions on Natsu's mind as he laid in bed that night. Being as stubborn as he is, he quickly dismissed it as an act of friendship, not bothering to hurt his mind with such a complicated question anymore.
At Gray's house, Gray was trying to sleep, but still angry at how Natsu's personality was.
"Natsu is too dense to notice anything. I'm better off, forgetting about him." He thought as he let go of all his feelings for Natsu, it was hard but he promised that Natsu would be nothing more than a friend to him.
He finally was able to sleep that night, disappointed about what will never be, and what could've been had everything worked out.
"I'll freeze my heart, until someone comes along and thaws it out. There's no need to hurt myself again."
Thoughts like these ravaged Gray's mind as he slept, and he wondered what was right and wrong. Gray was losing his mind over Natsu, and it was time to not let him be affected anymore.
For the rest of the night, the moon beamed down, the crickets chirped their songs, and all was silent.
Sorry for such a short chapter. I just wanted to see what you thought before writing a full on long chapter because I want you guys to criticize how bad/good my story is so I can improve it and make it worth reading.
But thank you, regardless. New chapter probably, in 4-5 days.