Natsu was the one to suggest they return to the beach, guilt tripping Gray into the splurge with the confession that it was on their last trip that Natsu came to realize that his feelings were Gray ran deeper than mere friendship or gratitude, and that it was almost like Gray didn't think that was significant. Natsu's work in the kitchen wasn't worth a steady income, but Makarov still paid him a few Jewels each day to encourage him being up and active, and Gray still received payment for seeing to Natsu's care while Natsu couldn't actually earn a decent living wage, and since Natsu had just come back from a week with Sting, Gray had taken a few fast jobs and had a neat little stash of money that could earn them a fun weekened.
Of course, Natsu hadn't just come back from a week with Sting, but a week with Sting during Sting's vacation, which Sting chose to spend at the beach. But Gray was certain that this had nothing to do with Natsu's heartfelt plea that he and Gray immediately go to the exact same resort.
A resort was out of Gray's budget, but the same hotel he took Natsu to the year before was not. The last time they'd been there, Natsu's health hadn't declined too greatly yet. He wore out easily, and he barely if ever used magic, but he'd gotten himself from the beach to the hotel on his own when sulking over how Gray attracted attention from other women. He'd taken Gray's swim trunks with him too. While Gray would have preferred that Natsu still be able to walk that full distance by himself, there was a silver lining in that no one would be able to make him run all the way across town with only frosted ice to preserve his dignity.
He carried Natsu from the hotel to the shore, the two of them having agreed that they would see if Natsu could walk all the way across the sand to the water on his own. Natsu made it five steps before scampering back and clinging to Gray, almost trying to pull himself up. It took Gray a second to realize Natsu was trying to pull himself up, and he hoisted the roset off the ground.
"What's wrong?"
"It's hot!" Natsu said. "No one ever told me the sand gets hot."
Gray's own tolerance for the cold was as much from pure resistance training as it was magic, and the idea that he might find snow cold even without his magic seemed absurd to him. But then it was probably a good thing that Igneel taught Natsu to resist the effects of heat with magic, rather than by breathing fire on him and hoping that he would stop burning eventually.
"It's like that mid-day. Want me to make you ice sandals?"
"They'll melt before I'm halfway to the water."
"I'll make more."
Gray ran a hand under Natsu's feet, coating the soles with a thin sheet of ice, then set him back on the ground. Natsu took one step, then over-acted slipping and falling back into Gray's arms.
"Alright, princess. If it's that hard for you, I can carry you to the water."
"I can do it!" Natsu pushed himself upright. "I can do it! Really!"
The ice shoes had to be reapplied twice more before Gray made them an inch thick, and they still melted when Natsu was a few steps away from where the sand grew wet and cool. He skipped across the last couple steps before his feet met with safe ground, and from there he walked the slow, steady pace that he'd grown accustomed too over the past year.
It no longer seemed strange to Gray to watch Natsu move so cautiously and deliberately. Rather, it seemed strange to remember how energetically he used to move about. They'd had plenty of time to adjust to his condition, and it was almost weirder to see him walk all the way to the water on his own, or to be able to skip across those last few steps in an effort to keep from burning his feet.
The effects were gradual. A few times, they'd gone to Natsu's house and seen how much of the walk to the guild he could manage on his own, but he still couldn't make it all the way there. Still, he could get up and down the steps of Gray's apartment consistently. Sometimes, he grabbed Gray's wallet and took himself to the convenience store on the far end of the block to buy candy. Gray had initially discouraged this by telling Natsu he was worried about what might happen when he tried to get back up the stairs, and when Natsu prove himself capable, had to admit that he didn't like the excessive markups on the store's wares. He wasn't strapped for cash, but he wasn't rolling in it either, and he hated pointing that out to someone who knew they didn't quite pull their weight.
Gray thought Natsu was getting much better with handling his own weight, although Natsu always sulked when anyone called attention to his steady recovery. The projected capacity for improvement still had him living a magic free life, and Gray knew that to Natsu, who still had that desire to bounce off the walls even if he lacked the energy for it, it still felt wrong to be so feeble. That was the real reason Gray let himself be guilted into the beach trip. It cheered Natsu up when how serious his condition was first sank in, and Gray wanted to see Natsu smile as brilliantly as he could.
Natsu laughed when the first wave reached his toes, dancing back from it. The second time he let the water wash around him, not daring to dodge it more than once. His goal was to make it until dinner before he was completely dependent on Gray, so he had to be cautious with where he spent his energy.
This meant finding more ways than running around to keep himself entertained. Initially, Natsu and Gray had discussed sand-castle building, as it had been as easy enough activity for Natsu the last time they went to the beach, but with the sand so ungodly hot, Natsu was no longer sure he wanted to go that route. Instead, his wandering eyes found a stage a little ways down the beach, and a crowd milling about around it.
"Is there a concert?" Natsu asked. "I don't see a band name anywhere."
Following Natsu's gaze, Gray squinted at the stage. Still dependent on his glasses, Natsu would be no better than Gray and reading any banner, but there was no banner present near the stage at all, which did seem strange for an open air band performance.
"Probably some sort of contest. It's a resort town. I'm sure they hold all kinds of events during the summer."
"You should join."
"You don't even know what it is."
"Take me closer so I can tell you exactly why you should join."
Chuckling, Gray hoisted Natsu up onto his back and set off towards the stage. It seemed most likely to him that it would be a kiddie talent show, or a bikini contest, or some other event that he was ineligible for and likely required you register at least a couple days in advance anyway.
It was a wet t-shirt competition. With open registration. And male and female divisions to compete in.
"You should sign up for the girls' division," Natsu said. "You'll stand out more that way."
"I'm not signing up for this. I'm not an exhibitionist," Gray said, balking at the registration sign.
Just looking at it gave him chills. Like it was Juvia sitting in that bucket suspended over the stage, ready to drop down into his unsuspecting arms and says that if he was really so hot, she could help him take his clothe off, although things might get a little steamy after that.
In truth, Juvia hadn't given Gray trouble for some time. When Mira spread the news like wildfire that Gray and Natsu were a couple, a blizzard snowed everyone in, which went on for days before someone figured out that the cold weather was effecting Juvia's rain making abilities. A mixture of coping mechanisms had been pushed on her by the guild at that point—no one daring to suggest that Gray set Natsu aside to sooth her after they'd split the two up so recently—and she'd kept on with her various therapies after the blizzard ended.
At the time, Gray had been more concerned with being trapped with Cana and Mira and all their teasing, and hadn't paid her much heed. He'd been so caught up with dodging their questions about how far he and Natsu had gone and would go to notice anything about the storm other than that it made it hard to physically escape from questions about whether or not he thought Natsu was up for sex. It had been a bitter stab of guilt right in the gut when he heard how she'd taken the news that he gave his heart to someone she dared not sincerely tackle as a love rival. He'd known she wouldn't be happy when he finally got it through to her that he wasn't interested, but his lack of returned feelings didn't mean he wanted to hurt her.
He still saw her gnash her teeth if he and Natsu got too affectionate at the guild, which was why kissing was more of an at home affair than something the two did in public, but Juvia wasn't there, and Natsu was getting pushy. Gray twisted his head back and kissed Natsu on the cheek before saying, "None of this nonsense. You see me shirtless often enough anyway."
"Yeah. But no one else gets to see what an awesome boyfriend I have."
"Natsu, everyone sees me shirtless. I got arrested last week when everyone saw my everything. People know you scored."
Natsu smacked Gray on the back of the head. "Only I get to brag about you. When you do it, it sounds cocky."
"Fine, fine."
Not that it hurt when Natsu struck him, but Gray liked to pretend it was something worth avoiding. It no longer made Natsu sulk to see how much his strength had dwindled. Even if you didn't take his Suraci's into account, Natsu had lost all muscle definition from being so sedentary, and he'd seen himself in the mirror often enough to accept that it was a thing that happened.
Natsu grinned, satisfied to see Gray give in, and decided to push his luck. "As punishment, you have to compete."
"Natsu, no."
"C'mon. We came all the way out here to have fun. Doesn't it look like fun."
"For you, maybe."
"You don't want me to have fun?"
It wasn't the question so much as the faked look of hurt Natsu gave that crumpled Gray's resolve. Getting up on stage like that looked embarrassing, but it looked better than seeing Natsu upset.
-o-
Gray somehow lost his swim trunks on the way to the back of the stage, which was just as well. Everyone had to wear the clothes the contest host selected anyway, so he had shorts to change into. Granted, he was going commando in them, and that was a dangerous thing to do when you were Gray.
The rules were simple enough. Stand up on stage, have water dumped on you, and a panel of judges selected from the female audience would decide who was the most attractive. Gray peeked out into the crowd four times as he dressed to make sure Juvia wasn't there. She might have toned things way down at the point that she lost to a sickly love rival, but Gray was still trained to be wary of any activity that might end with him being tackled by her.
Once he was confident that Natsu was the only person he knew in the audience, Gray pulled the thin white shirt he'd been provided over his head and lined up with the other contestants to be paraded in front of his boyfriend and a bunch of perverted girls.
He really wasn't an exhibitionist. Not in the sense that he got off on flaunting what he had to others. The stripping issue was a bad habit that he learned not to be too embarrassed about around people he knew, but didn't enjoy others catching him in too great a state of undress. He especially didn't like people thinking he enjoyed flaunting his body, even if he didn't mind people letting him know he looked good.
Trying not to feel too embarrassed, Gray focused his attention on Natsu, who grinned up at him like an idiot. He would find something humiliating to guilt that jerk into as retribution for this.
The host called out to the crowd, asking them to applaud and cheer as he pointed to each man on stage to get a sense of who they liked most, and Gray did his best not to pay attention to the roar of noise when it was his turn. How could you even tell who everyone was the loudest for? He had no idea girls could scream so much for men in white shirts.
Once the roll call completed the host ran over to a rope at the far end of the stage, ready to pull a that would release water over everyone. Anticipating the ice cold splash, Gray folded his arms and braced himself.
The water that crashed down over his head was lukewarm from sitting in the sun, and didn't cool him as much as he'd hoped. Under everyone's gaze, Gray could feel everyone's judging gaze on him, and while he wished he wouldn't blush, he felt his cheeks grow warm. In fact, on display under the noon sun, with a damp shirt clinging tight to his skin, it felt like he was overheating in general.
Lucky for him the ocean was right there. Gray decided that Natsu's punishment could be having to find a way across the hot sand on his own, because as soon as Gray was allowed off stage, he was racing for the water. Those girls they'd picked to judge just needed to hurry up and hold up the names of whoever they thought looked best and…
Gray blinked in surprise, taking in the results. A whopping nine out of ten girls lifted a sign bearing his name up, and another round of squeals went out from the crowd. The host laughed, bounding over to the judges, and stopped by the one girl who'd voted for someone else.
"You look like the type who enjoys going against the grain," he said. "What made you disagree with everyone else?"
"This is a wet t-shirt contest," the girl said. "He took his shirt off the moment he was splashed."
-o-
"Don't look so glum. It's not like there was a prize for winning anyway, other than getting your ego stroked, and you got that."
"I'm allowed to be embarrassed that I was disqualified from a wet t-shirt contest, Natsu."
Natsu laughed, wrapping his arms tighter around Gray. In the end, it had proved emotionally impossible to ditch him, so Gray was again carrying him across the sand. He went bridal style this time, hoping to still embarrass Natsu somehow. Unfortunately, Natsu was adjusted enough to needing to be carried one way or another that it had no effect. In fact, the shameless little brat seemed to enjoy being able to make eye contact with Gray while they walked.
"We speak of this to no one," Gray said.
"That's fine. Juvia will want a repeat performance, and I didn't like how all those girls were so excited by you."
"Then don't make me strut in front of them again."
The idea of Gray strutting set Natsu giggling.
"I mean it. That was humiliating."
"Fine. I'm sorry." Natsu reached up and kissed Gray on the cheek. "They're gonna be here all weekend, so it can be my turn tomorrow. Bet you I can get all ten judges. I know how to keep my pants on."
Natsu hadn't possessed any muscle definition for almost a year, and Gray doubted he'd land a single vote when evaluated by all those pervy girls. But rather than say as much and risk brusing Natsu's pride, he snorted and said, "First off, it was my shirt. Second, some of us don't need to learn the hard way that we don't like putting our boyfriends on display. The last thing I want is someone else trying to beat me to your pants."
Natsu made a face. "What does that mean?"
Gray glanced away from Natsu, grinning deviously. It had been a whole year of therapy and medication, and Natsu was in better shape than he used to be. If they started at the right time, things might be manageable.
"If you behave while we're on vacation, then maybe I'll teach you."