"Erza, no." Don't you dare listen to her, she can do it herself.

A silence and then they both spoke at once.

"Natsu-"

"Erza, you don't understand-"

"No," she interrupted, voice deepening frighteningly, "You don't understand. It is his birthday and he's coming back into town tonight and if I don't get to have sex the way I want it because you can't do me an incredibly simple favor, I will skin you." Natsu's cheeks tinged pink at the mention of sex because she has no shame. No shame whatsoever. He was also very nervous about her threat because, as reliable and loyal as the redhead could be, he had seen her repeatedly smash a man's hand against a wall when he'd knocked over her piece of strawberry cake in a diner and he was sure that he would never be prepared for the full wrath of Erza Scarlet if his refusal caused her to miss out on something with Jellal, who Natsu was sure Erza loved marginally more than her precious dessert.

He put his hand over his eyes, sighing deeply in irritation. Say no. It's easy, just N-O. Not difficult at all, Say it! Say-

"Fine," he gritted out. You have no spine. No balls. If you ever had balls, they shriveled up and died with that word, you coward.

When she'd first told him just what kind of favor she needed, he had frozen in place with the phone by his ear and thought he would rather swallow down a bottle of hot sauce. He wouldn't do it. He was scared of Erza, but not that scared.

It turned out Erza was a scarier woman than he'd originally thought.

Natsu hadn't even known Jellal was out of town. He knew the guy was a member of 'Crime Sorciére' but Natsu didn't think studying the similarities in violent crimes was all that important for Jellal considering he worked in a sex shop. He cursed the blue-haired man as he made his way back to the stupid shop.

And so the fourth visit began.

Natsu hesitated at the door, his hand against the handle, before he pushed it open. Please do not make a fool of yourself this time around. Just talk like a normal person. Normal people don't look like tomatoes when someone speaks to them, they look normal.

Natsu pulled up his scarf to cover the bottom of his face to feel a little less exposed. He made his way to the side of the store that did not contain any dildos and hoped the handcuffs would appear before he could have a heart attack in the middle of one of the aisles at the sight of a so-called bowling pin. You now have one of those at home. Go on and think about that while you walk up and down the aisles like a pervert.

When Natsu turned into the third aisle from the left to see the selection of nipple clamps and edible flavored underwear, he clamped his eyes shut and turned right back around, heading toward the counter and preparing himself for abject humiliation.

He looked up at Gray, bit his lip, and then, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, asked, "W-where are the…" he trailed off mumbling the last word of that sentence.

Gray wanted to kiss him. The guy was freaking adorable and that blush didn't match the number of visits he'd made to the store in less than a week. Still, he held himself back and said, "I didn't catch that last word, what were you looking for?"

Natsu cleared his throat and avoided looking in Gray's general direction, then quickly refocused on him when the sights in the store were too explicit for him to handle any better. "The handcuffs," he stated, one hand now fisted in his shirt instead of simply fiddling with it.

Gray smiled and Natsu buried his face in his scarf. Remember that he is just a guy.

Gray stepped out from behind the counter and motioned for Natsu to follow him. Natsu did, focusing on the back of Gray's head because looking at anything else, including the rest of Gray, would make him as red as Erza's hair because Gray was wearing drop-crotch joggers that rested low on his hips and a sleeveless black turtleneck top that showed off his shoulders and his biceps and that cut off right under his chest showing off his abs and, since Natsu was currently walking behind him, showcased back dimples right over the lining of his pants and do not look oh my god what happened to looking at the back of his head, you're drooling, you're a perverted man that is going to get punched in the face if he turns around.

Gray stopped and Natsu averted his eyes as the man turned around and said, "We have basic wrist cuffs, love cuffs, intermediate cuffs, leather cuffs, and grip cuffs in black, white, red and silver with varying levels of resistance. What kind were you looking for?"

Natsu stared wide-eyed at the selection and felt himself sweating as he tugged at his scarf. The sheer number of handcuffs hanging in neat rows from the aisle made him feel dizzy. What the hell are you going to do now? Do not pass out. You cannot do that in front of people over freaking handcuffs, calm yourself! Just… think. What would Erza want? Ew, gross. Don't think too deeply. She's strong. Okay. Okay, good. You can do this.

"Strong," Natsu blurted out, legs trembling as he tried to remain standing. Gray simply nodded and picked two pairs of handcuffs, holding them out for Natsu's inspection, causing Natsu to step back apprehensively and he's not going to attack you with a pair of handcuffs, what the fuck are you backing up for?

"For experienced users we carry leather cuffs and stainless steel, but the metal could cause pain or some bleeding in the wrist area. There are some people who are into that. Which would you prefer?"

Gray was looking at him expectantly and Natsu stopped to think that Erza would murder him if she got too injured for her… activities… with Jellal and he absolutely refused to let his mind go anywhere near the possibility that either of them would be 'into that' because he just knew wouldn't be able to stop himself from fainting.

"L-leather," he stuttered out, not once glancing at the cuffs that Gray was holding. Gray placed one pair of cuffs back where it belonged and held up the other in front of Natsu.

"And would you like to buy it in this color?" Natsu shut his eyes.

His voice was decidedly high-pitched when he let out, "The color's fine!" You don't even know what the color is.

Gray poked his cheek and Natsu let out a very unmanly squeak as his eyes shot open and he stared at Gray, unable to form words and Gray just smiled. "Follow me."

He walked right back to the counter and it took Natsu a moment before he could make his legs move, his heart hammering a Phil Collins drum solo against his ribs. When Natsu gets to the counter, Gray is already ringing him up and Natsu shoved his hands in his pockets because you don't know what to do with them. What do people do with their hands?

"So," Gray said as he handed the bag over to Natsu, "Are those for you and your partner?" There was an undertone of interest and jealousy that Natsu didn't hear because he was determined to explain as clearly as possible that the things in the bag were not for himself.

Natsu's expression was one of clear irritation as he spoke. "No! This isn't for me. It's all Erza's fault because she wants to 'do something special' for Jellal and she's making him food even though she hates to cook anything that isn't sweet and he doesn't eat a lot of sweets, so she's actually cooking a meal and said she's too busy to buy the handcuffs herself and she called me asking me to get them for her and I tried to say no! I did! But then she said she would skin me and Erza is scary," he shuddered, "You don't understand," he continued, hands moving around in wide motions and not realizing how quietly Gray was as he stared at him ranting, "Erza made a buff man cry when he accidentally knocked over her slice of strawberry cake! He was sobbing and he ran out of the place and she loves Jellal more than cake," he emphasized, getting ready to explain exactly how he knew this to be a fact when he looked at Gray's expression and bit his tongue to shut himself up. You do not know when to shut up, do you? He's just staring at you because you're going off about Erza like a crazy person to him and you don't even know him! Do you realize how weird he must be feeling because he can't tell off a customer? Congratulations. You made him uncomfortable. Just go crawl into a hole and hide.

Natsu turned bright red as his blush climbed up all the way to his ears and he yelled out, "Anyway, I have to go, bye!" running out of the store, black bag gripped in a sweaty palm. I hate you, Erza.

Gray was stunned and a little pleased, more than a little, that the guy didn't seem to have a partner in mind for his purchases. He was the smallest bit disappointed that he never tried to ask Gray out. He couldn't hit on a customer because then the customer might not return and that just wasn't good for business, but that didn't mean he couldn't admire something… appetizing when he saw it. He just sighed, wishing he didn't have to admire from a distance. He'd rather be up close and personal.