A dragon slayer's wrath was a terrible thing. Especially when said slayer was mated. Their territorial instincts kicked in and any stranger that happened to pass by their home wound up either on fire or dead.

It had been a week since Natsu had brought Rissa to his place to rest and recoup and in that time Natsu had lost count of how many people in scarlet cloaks he'd maimed or murdered outright. His former friends and guildmates were starting to distance themselves from him, worried that they may be next while still trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

Some contributed his odd behavior when it surfaced- to his grief over losing Lucy.

They didn't know shit.

The only people out of the guild that bothered to come around now were Erza, Grey, Elfman, Mirajane and a handfull of others. And they mostly came around to bug him about the bodies that had been piling up. But the one person that happened to drop by that managed to surprise him was Leo.

The blond showed up on the seventh morning at seven a.m. as Natsu was stepping out his front door to go do some grocery shopping while Rissa slept.

The protective spells he'd places on and around his home were neatly in place and activated as he pulled the door closed and paused when he caught sight of the blond man standing a few feet away wearing a pair of old faded and torn jeans and a long sleeved button up black shirt with a jacket.

"Leo. What are you doing here?" Natsu asked as he turned around to face him. Leo stared the dragon slayer down before sighing.

"We need to talk man."

"If it's about the bodies again-"

"Fuck the bodies, Natsu. I don't really care who you kill as long as the guild and I aren't your targets. Actually I came to talk to you about your recent behavior." Leo said as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Natsu nodded and motioned for him to follow him then started walking. Leo fell into step beside him after a moment or so before Natsu asked.

"You're curious about why I'm nesting aren't you?"

"Sort of and not really. I know enough about dragon slayers to know that they tend to get nasty when they are mated... Sooo- When did you mate?" Leo asked.

Natsu snorted. Nosey lion. "Don't you mean who am I mated too?"

"Nah, I had that figured out when you killed that guy after questioning him. You gave Erza one hell of a shock by doing that by the way."

"I'd imagine so since she tends to think I'm a simpleton." Natsu said as he turned a corner and headed towards the outdoor market. If there was one thing he'd learned in the past week about Rissa it was that she liked the food that he got at the outdoor market. That and the occasional bouquet of flowers that he picked for her. She may not say much about them because she was still wary of him and his intentions towards her, but when she thought he wasn't looking he could see her run her fingers along the petals and smile faintly.

Leo made a noncommittal sound. Natsu was right. Erza among some of the others at the guild tended to treat him like he was a simpleton without a single thought in his head. It was about time they got a great big dose of reality. After all, Natsu wasn't a simpleton. He may sometimes act like it but that was only so that the others wouldn't be afraid to be near him.

It was different now. A week ago he'd dropped his mask and shook up the entire guild by killing the man he had been questioning without a second thought. His dragon side overriding his human half so that he could protect his mate. And while the new Natsu scared some of them, others had already figured out that the resedent dragon slayer wasn't out for their blood and knew that as long as they didn't do anything to cause harm to Rissa then he would have no reason to go after them.

Everyone else was still trying to wrap their heads around what they'd seen him do and were also still trying to figure out why. They were such clueless fools. Leo thought as he stopped a few paces behind Natsu and watched him shop. Noting that many of Natsu's former habits had been replaced by soem new and more interesting ones.

The dragon slayer picked only the best vegetables, fruits, nuts, sugar's, creams and meats for his mate. The things that would keep her healthiest and sustain her the longest. It took almost an hour for Natsu to check out everything he was buying to his satisfaction and in that time Leo noted that he was relying heavily on his sense of touch, smell and taste to help him pick out what he wanted.

Then once he had everything he set it all on the counter and waited patiently for it to be rung up by the person selling it all and then helped placed everything in a cloth bag before handing the man running the booth several gold coins then picked up his bag and looked towards Leo and motioned again for the blond to follow him.

Leo smiled a little bit, and fell into step behind the dragon slayer. A mite curious about where the younger man was taking him and stopped outside the village floral shop and cocked his head to the side as Natsu disappeared inside.

Well, I suppose that even Natsu likes to stop and smell the roses. Leo mused as he stepped into the shop and paused just in the doorway at the sight before him.

Natsu stood several feet away with one hand completely full of flower seeds, had a white rose bush tucked in the curve of one arm and was reaching for a pink rose bush while the person behind the counter worked on making a bouquet of long stemmed cut flowers.

Oh dear god, what sort of mess had he just stepped into? Leo wondered as Natsu turned and hurried over to him and handed him the seeds and asked him to help him figure out which ones Rissa would like the best.