The fifth time around, Natsu had just about thirty seconds to prepare himself because he was completely blindsided.
"Lucy…? Where are we going?" he asked, unease seeping into his words because the shopping center was one that was too familiar and he didn't think there were too many places in it that Lucy would drag him along to for 'moral support.' She had woken him up by banging on his apartment door and when he'd said he wasn't going anywhere so early, she'd proceeded to rain down a series of slaps to the walls by his apartment and he'd pulled her away from the poor chipped paint so that the neighbors wouldn't report him to the landlord and gotten dressed, thinking that whatever she had in mind couldn't be too bad because it was Lucy. Lucy was innocent. That was obviously a mistake. You should have asked where exactly she needed to go earlier.
Lucy turned a light shade of pink and started tugging Natsu along by the hand when he stopped walking, something he struggled against determinedly.
"You got Loke the… the thing," she whispered, glancing around at the people walking by to make sure they couldn't hear the words she was saying. Natsu's eyes widened and now he knew for sure where she wanted to go and doubled his struggles to get away, something that made Lucy scowl and dig the heels of her boots into the pavement, keeping Natsu still with a death grip. She is tiny and you can get away from her if you just try hard enough.
"Natsu! I've never been in one of these before and I asked Erza and she said you came-"
At that, Natsu glared at her and interrupted by asking, "Then why didn't you as Erza to come with you for your 'moral support?'"
She sent him a matching glare and promptly informed him, "Jellal just got back yesterday. Are you an idiot? I don't want to get in between Erza and her time with Jellal! Don't you remember what she did at the diner? Natsu, she loves Jellal more than cake!" Lucy looked just a little bit terrified and Natsu knew exactly how that felt in regards to Erza and Jellal, but he couldn't feel too much sympathy because he did know that Jellal just got back yesterday because thanks to that little tidbit of information, Natsu had just been in the sex shop the previous day and he would not go into the place for the fifth time in the span of seven days. No. Just no. He wrestled himself out of her grip and turned to run-
-and immediately crashed into someone.
"Watch where you're going!"
A very familiar someone with a scowl and a busted cup of coffee. The yelling put Natsu's nerves on edge and he found himself yelling in return before he could think better of it.
"When you see someone coming, you should move!" You could have apologized. Instead you've pissed him off. Brilliant idea.
Gray's tensed jaw and darkened eyes could strangle lesser men. He pushed his way past Natsu and opened up the shop and then Natsu found himself being tugged along by a nervous Lucy that berated him for his immature behavior but she's not the one who's been here five times is she? Who is she to judge? Listen to yourself! Who are you to judge when you just admitted the number of times you've been here?
Lucy was asking for his opinion on which handcuffs were better and Natsu had the sense of Déja vu. He closed his eyes and explained that the leather and steel ones were the strongest and that she should get the leather ones because they were less likely to cause injury and, "Can you please, please not ask me anything else?" He looked at her with his best pleading look. You're going to have nightmares because of her and Erza. The mental images are going to land you in a hospital.
She rolled her eyes at him and huffed, turning her attention back to the selection of handcuffs. She picked a few and went to ask Gray which he would recommend and Gray answered her series of questions with a series of one word answers as he sent scathing glares at Natsu. That had Natsu scowling because while he had bumped into the guy, and caused his coffee to explode, and failed to apologize, none of those things were… okay, well it sounds pretty bad now that you're putting it all together in a list like that. Natsu's cheeks turned pink and he pointedly stared at the boxes of condoms to avoid Gray's gaze.
But still. Just because he'd upset him didn't mean Gray had to be rude to Lucy. She hadn't done anything to him. Lucy was looking between Natsu and Gray curiously, but Natsu steeled himself despite his now red face and started grabbing random things and moving them from their proper places in their respective aisles.
Lucy saw the glares Gray was giving Natsu and she was the tiniest bit afraid that they would get kicked out of the shop, but she put her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles because Gray growled out an 'excuse me for a moment,' and proceeded to follow Natsu around the store moving things back to their proper place and the whole scenario was just too funny for her to care anymore.
When Gray balled up his fists and gritted his teeth, Lucy finally went after Natsu and pulled at his wrist. "Natsu! Can you stop running around and disturbing the products so that I can pay for the handcuffs?"
Natsu hesitated, glanced back at Gray and saw his absolutely murderous expression, and turned to Lucy, nodding.
Gray returned to his place behind the counter and rung them up silently, angrily shoving the red leather wrist cuffs in the discreet bag and glaring at the cash register as he handed Lucy her change. Natsu tried to make eye contact and silently apologize because he knew he wouldn't be able to say it out loud, but Gray diligently avoided looking at him entirely. Natsu sighed. You've pissed him off so much he can't even look at you. Why can't you ask him out like a normal person instead of embarrassing yourself every time you walk into his store?
Lucy accepted the bag, smiled, and pulled Natsu toward the door, leaving Gray behind even as his glare grew in intensity.
Just as they reached the door and Lucy pushed it open, Gray called out, "Enjoy our products with your girlfriend," loudly and sarcastically and Natsu turned to look at him disbelievingly because girlfriend? Natsu looked at Lucy then back at Gray as he froze in the doorway. He thinks she's your girlfriend? Hell no! Natsu yanked his wrist away from Lucy's grip with lightning fast speed and jumped back a step, one foot out of the door.
"What? No! I'm gay!" he stressed, the last two words coming out in a near screech that had everyone in the parking lot turning to stare at him. You just said that out loud. Why? You didn't owe him an explanation. You owe him nothing!
Gray stared at him for a moment, jaw slightly dropped and then he burst into a fit of laughter and Natsu turned around irritably, ready to storm away, when he saw just how many people were staring at him. His face turned crimson and he broke into a run, Lucy laughing as she ran after him, Gray still chuckling to himself in the store.