Dragons Intsinct

Chapter 2.

Perhaps just a bit.

"Lily! Open the goddam door!" Banged Gajeel when they arrived. The way to the shed was quiet, as neither Juvia nor Gajeel bothered with chit chat. And Natsu seemed completely lost in thought.

"What´s with all this ruckus?! Asked Lily. He was in his small exceed form, as he opened the door. For his looks, it was obvious he was sleeping until moments ago, and he made no effort to hide it. "Ah, Juvia. Gajeel didn't told me we were having guests. Pardon my looks."he stopped for a moment. "And... Natsu too?" He raised an eyebrow at Gajeel. "This is something, bringing anyone else other than-"

"You talk to much, Cat." Cut off Gajeel. He was in no mood to get teased by his fellow companion, even if what he said was no lie, it still annoyed him like hell. "Get inside and close the door. You too, Juvia." Ordered Gajeel. Both of them complied wordlessly. Lily clearly woken up from the sudden, if not unfamiliar serious tone of Gajeel. As soon as all of them entered, Gajeel threw Natsu into the floor of his living room. Perhaps aiming for the sofa that was laying there, and even then, perhaps missing entirely on purpose.
"So. Are you gonna tell me whats going on now?" Asked Lily. "Don't take me wrong, I like the company. But Im pretty sure you wouldn't bring anyone else here without a reason."he acknowledged. "Heck, Im still surprise you brought anyone else at all!"
"Anyone else? Gajeel-kun, is Lily perhaps talking about Miss-"

"Shut it woman. Not now." Cut off Gajeel. Fully flushed now, he had no option but to stop the flame before it became a wildfire. And he really didn't need anymore "heat" right now.

"As you wish." She declared coldly. "Is Natsu-san alright?" Asked Juvia. "I mean, a few minutes before he seemed pretty "lively" with Lucy, and now..." Lily raised an eyebrow at the statement, and then proceeded to look at Natsu. Her concern was true. Natsu laid in the floor, not even mad with Gajeel for dropping him into the floor. It was a complete contrast on what happened back at the guild.

"Salamander, how long have you kept it in?" Asked Gajeel, ignoring both questions from Lily and Juvia. Fairly enough, his own question perked the attention of both mages, as they now stared at the pink haired boy in the floor.
"…" Natsu did not answer. And made no effort to do so. Tho his cheeks continued to become red. "Answer me, you idiot!" Demanded Gajeel. Perhaps a bit worried that a fellow dragon slayer was in that state, something was clearly wrong with him. With both of them.

"Imma ask again Gajeel. Whats going on? And why are you so bothered by it?" Spoke Lily. He had become used to the silence Gajeel sometimes handed, but this time he had to know, as his friend and partner.

"If my nose doesn't lie..." He took a deep swif of the room. It stinked, courtesy of Gajeel himself. But in between the odor, ink and paper, a sweet aroma flew in the air. At this gesture, both Lily and Juvia perked their noses in order to try and smell whatever Gajeel was talking about. But to no avail. Yet Gajeel could smell it. And it was as clear as day. Both Salamander´s reaction and his own.

"...You´re in heat, aren't´cha, Salamander?"

At this words, both Juvia and Lily blinked a few times before taking a step back wide-eyed, as they tried to process those words.

"What is the meaning of this, Gajeel-kun?" She asked, blushing by the sudden topic. A understandable question. Humans did not "go in heat", even if sometimes it looked like it because of... various reasons.

"Is this some kind of joke?"Asked Lily.

"Does it look like I'm laughing? This idiot is in heat. That's why he was acting so weird." Stated Gajeel.

"But still, heat as in animal heat? So Lucy-san is in heat as well?" Asked the water mage.

"Not exactly." Gajeel said. He brought a hand to his forehead, trying to push back the redness of his cheeks. "Lemme explain. When you hang around enough with dragons, like the Idiot, the Squirt and I have, you start undergoing certain changes. You start acting a bit like them." He explained. His mind traveled back to his days with Metallicana, rash and proud as he was, he still remembers the first day he tried to eat Iron. His teeth were not yet strong enough. Or rather, he did not have the teeth of a "Dragon". "Our Dragon Slayer magic is possible to be used by us, because of our resemblance with the dragons themselves. Since we did not have dragon lacrima to use it, like the Sabertooth brats or Laxus and Cobra. We had to ´Become Dragons´ to a certain extent."

Lily closed his eyes as he went deep into tought. It made sense. Using magic meant to kill something like a dragon would put a great strain on its user body. And since they didn't have the lacrima to disperse such strain, enhancing one´s own body with the same essence of the creature was a must. "So you are telling me that Natsu is in heat because he is a Dragon?"

"No. Metallicana and the others made sure that will never happen..." Said Gajeel. Bringing the dragons, and the death of his own father still stinged, but there was nothing he could do about it. "But our senses, our nose, sight, listening. Deep inside our bodies and instincts changed to ones of a dragon." Gajeel finished.

Juvia and Lily stared in silence. They never did give it a lot of thought before, but there was no way for a normal human to "eat" flame, iron or wind, no matter how strong of a mage you were. You needed to be a "slayer".

"So that explains that." Gajeel interrupted their train of thought. "Now, what you need to explain is why the hell are in heat, Salamander."

"Huh? Isn't this type of behavior was normal between dragon slayers?" Commented Juvia.

"No." A voice said. Natsu raised his head, his cheeks no less red than before, and his breath still heavy as if after a marathon. "You don't see Gajeel running after Levy every now and then, do you?"

"Oi! The hell is that supposed to mean?!" Growled Gajeel. Natsu sat in the floor, as he placed his head on the sit of the sofa behind him.

"We can control this. Usually. Fighting, running, doing exercise. As long as we keep moving the effect goes away in one or two days." Explained Natsu. It seemed as if he had regained composure, but his fellow Dragon Slayer wasn't fooled. His eyes were still cloudy with lust.

"In that case, we only need to let Natsu-san go around for a while, and this conduct shall pass, should it not?" Suggested Juvia.

"That wont do. If that worked then he should have been fine after this last quest." Gajeel stated. "Probably the fact that there was so much destruction was because of this, wasn't it?"

"As if!" Insisted Natsu. He lied. Even Juvia without any special seneses could see that. "Anyways, thanks for the help back there, but Im fine now. So ill be on my way, yes?"

"Like hell you are." Intercepted Gajeel. "You are going back to the Guild to finish what you started.

"That's not it" Replied Natsu as he stood up.

"Natsu, perhaps its for the best if you stayed here for a while." Spoke Lily, as he firmly grabbed Natsu´s shoulder and pushed him into the sofa. It was more a demand rather than an invitation, but even Lily could imagine what horrors could happen back at the guild if Natsu was to return in this state. "Im sure Gajeel can fancy some drinks for everyone?" Asked Lily.

"What do I look like? A damn butler?" He barked back.

"If you wish, Juvia could go for some refreshments as well." Stated Juvia.

"That´s a good idea. Thanks, Juvia." Answered Lily, not letting go of Natsu, who crossed his arms in the sofa. And as Gajeel and Juvia walked out of the room, Lily added. "And Juvia"

"Yes?"

"…Keep you eyes on Gajeel." Lily stated. His eyes betrayed the hidden message meant for Juvia.

"Understood." She answered. Perhaps she managed to get a the same conclusion as Lily.

If Natsu was like this.

How long until Gajeel starts?

Going back at the guild, Mira called upon Lucy and Levy onto one end of the bar.

"My my! Are you ok, Lucy?" She asked.

Lucy sat on the stool provided by Levy, as she took one for herself. "I.. err... Yes, Im fine." Lucy was still processing the recent events like a blur of new feelings.

"What happened back there?" Asked Levy.

"I would tell you if I could, really. He was being annoying as always, and then he tried to take a book."

""That" book?" Asked Levy.

"Yes..." Blushed Lucy. She really didn't want to be reminded of the contents of said book, taking on account what happened afterwards. She was embarrassed enough as it is.

"Then what?" Insisted Mira.

"Then he grabbed me. He hugged me from behind and..." She left the sentence there. There was no way she could continue. What did he do to her? She felt weird. Hot didn't cut it. It was something else, something special.

"He kissed you, right?"

"Ghue?!" Blabbed Lucy. "W-W-What are you saying, Mira! I would have never allowed something like that!" Her cheeks were on fire. She could not hide her embarrassment at the state. Granted, is not like she could before that, but still.

"Is that so? Because the hickey he left on you neck tells me otherwise." Smiled Mira. She enjoyed to see her friends somewhat embarrassed, as she was probably the only one who could remember and remind everyone of their deeds while drunk. And if their embarrassment were proof of their happiness, it was all the better for Mira. Not that Lucy appreciated it.

"Eh?!" Lucy rushed to the guild bathroom, and stared at her reflection on the mirror. There it was. A bright, rede mark contrasted her usually fair skin. There was no way to hide it. And anyone who would see it would get to the same conclusion: It was a love bite.

"Kyaaaaaaaaa!" Her shierks could be heard outside of the bathroom. And Mira and Levy looked at each other, as if asking ´Now what?´.

"Maybe you should go to her," Stated Mira, shooing with her hand to go.

"Ah! Sure!" She answered as she stood up from the stool. To be honest, she wasn't completely herself either. The close up with Gajeel had a stronger effect that she dared to admit. Even thou, patted her sheeks, and entered the bathroom, where Lucy was covering her neck.

"Aaaah! Levy-chaaan! I can´t go out like this!" Lucy franticly stated. The mark was small enough to be covered with a single hand, but was bright enough that it could be seen a mile away.

"There, there." Levy reassured. In a swift movement, she reached for her hair and pulled the bandana she usually used to hold her hair. "Here. If you wrap this around your neck, it should cover it all." She said. Her hair dropped into a bit of a mess. Even if she liked to keep her hair in order, her friend was more important.

"Levy-chaan!" Tears of joy streamed from Lucy's eyes. Forgetting the matter at hand for a second, she hugged her friend. And after a brief moment of happiness, she quickly took the Bandana from Levy´s hands and did as instructed. Perhaps a bit short to be called a scarf, the piece of cloth stood out of place with the rest of her attire, but did cover the bright problem in her neck. Afterwards, they both took a step out of the bathroom, as they looked around in order to see that there were no curious eyes towards them. Once they made sure, they picked up the pace toward Lucy´s apartment. In the background, Mira´s voice called.

"Lucy! Take a long nice bath once home! And Levy! Remember to check on Lily and Gajeel!"

"Y-Yes!" Levy called somewhat embarrassed. It was true that she wanted to check on Lily. She knew firsthand how bad a thunderstorm can be. And in Lily´s case, that was way worse. And, even if she would never admit it, she wanted to see Gajeel after their face-to-face encounter. She knew something was wrong with him, but for now, her best friend needed her.

About half an hour later, both female mages arrived at Lucy´s apartment. They both talked as usual, but the awkwardness of the past events never left the back of their heads.

"Well, here we are." Said Lucy as she opened the door. A little plush of a dragon hanged from her house keys.

"New keychain?" Asked Levy.

"Ah! Yeah! Natsu gave it to me as soon as he returned today..."

"I see..." Not realizing what she had done, both Levy and Lucy let their sentences trail off, as the topic of Natsu rised. Feeling a bit guilty, Levy entered Lucy's living room and placed her bag on the small table in the middle. "You sure you are ok?" She asked

"Yeah, sure." Lucy answered, putting the notebook on the table. "...or at least I think so..." She trailed off. She was not ok. Granted, she was better than right after Natsu attacked her. But his attack also rose a lot of questions. Why did he attacked her? Why did he asked of her smell? Why was she reacting so strongly? She had come to terms that Natsu was an attractive individual, and a dear friend. But never did she imagine that she would have a chance to do "anything" with him. And his actions and technique left her speechless.

"Nee. Levy-chan"

"Yes?"

"Do you think..." She trailed off again. "Do you think that maybe he felt something too?"

Levy did not dare to answer. There must be a reason to his actions. And Natsu wasn't the type of guy to toy with a girl´s emotions like this. Then again, he never showed any interest on another girl before Lisanna. And even then, it was never quite the same with Lucy. He meant something. And she knew Lucy felt something as well.

"Im sure he felt something too, Lu-chan..." She finally reasured. "There is no way he did that without meaning it."

"What should I do?" Lucy asked. There were many things to do. She could go and confront him. Ak him first hand what the hell was he thinking. Or she could let it slide. Take it as one of Natsu´s stupid games. But then again, she didn't want this to be a game. She wanted to feel his warmth again. The softness of his lips...

And maybe one day

kiss back.

Hello again! Wolfen here for a nee update. School and the moving delayed this update. so sorry for taking so long! Comments and reviews are always welcome. I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail, its characters and locations are property of Hiro Mashima. This story is for entretainment purposes only.