Prompt:I'm going to take care of you, okay?
(This one has some explicit language, cauterization, and semi-graphic descriptions of a wound.)
Gray had known it was a horrible idea, but his body moved before he could stop it. They'd been surrounded,already low on magic from a previous fight, and dead tired from being awake for days on end. The group of dark mages had caught the two of them off guard, and Natsu hadn't seen nor sensed the spell aimed at his back.
Gray took the hit for him. He'd been out of magic, anyways, so it's not like it was too big of a deal.
"It hurts like hell though."
"GRAY!"
The blast had hit him right in the chest, knocking him to the ground and an inch away from unconsciousness. Almost instantly, a wave of heat enveloped him. It was harsh and powerful, but it was also comforting and kind. The angry flames licked at their attackers, and surrounded him like a blanket.
Despite being miles away from home, Gray knew he be okay. After all, he had Natsu, and Natsu was more that strong enough to take care of this on his own.
"Especially since I'd just be in the way now."
He finally lost conscious as the last of the dark mage's screams hit his ears.
When they'd been attacked in the state they were in, Natsu hadn't expected to take them all out. He just wanted to get them to leave them alone.
He didn't expect to be so tired that he completely looked over one of them, nor did he expect Gray to take a hit for him, or for his name to rip from his throat in the desperate way it did.
There was blood flying through the air in small droplets, and within seconds, the color was all Natsu could see.
The dragon slayer didn't even register the damage he'd dealt until it was over, and several dark mages lay on the ground, heavily injured. Natsu knew it wasn't enough to kill them, but he did know that it probably hurt like hell. He turned away from the bloody mess he'd created and ran back towards Gray.
The ice mage was bleeding heavily from his abdomen, and the pinkette didn't think twice about what he was doing. He placed a hand against it, searching the internal damage first. When he realized that none of the organs had been damaged, he sighed in relief. Cauterizing organ tissue was a much more delicate business than just the abdominal cavity, and it mean that they could stay nearby while it healed. He cauterized each individual injury the blast had caused, effectively stopping the bleeding, but without gauze, the burn was left open to infection.
He carefully picked Gray up, bridal style so as not to irritate the wound, and he carried him back to the cave they'd seen about half an hour before. Once got there, he carefully placed Gray on the ground. He set up both sleeping bags, one on top of the other, and place Gray on top of them.
Once he found the gauze, who knows why it was at the bottom of the bag with how often they got hurt, he wrapped Gray's torso, leaving about half of it for when he'd have to change it. He'd also dug through Gray's bag to find burn ointment to put on it, but there had only been a little. He'd used it all this time.
After carefully sliding the ice mage into the top sleeping bag and covering him up, Natsu glanced down at himself. He scrunched up his nose, finally realizing that the awful smell had come from him.
"I should probably wash off all the blood."
Gray's head was pounding when he woke up. He didn't even try to open his eyes, knowing that the light would make it worse. He did make the mistake of trying to sit up, though. "Fuck-Shit-Dammit-Fuck." He fell back down the second he tried, and he felt the wound reopen. "Son of a bitch." Blood ran down his side, but luckily, it wasn't very much. He'd only reopened a small section.
"I leave for ten minutes and you've already hurt yourself again?" The teasing tone was not something the ice mage needed at the moment, but he was over joyed at the fact that he's not alone. "What the hell, Gray?" It came out as more of a sigh than a question, "Jumping in front of me like an idiot and then tearing the wound right back open? Really?"
Gray didn't say anything, instead choosing to squint at Natsu. When he realized that there wasn't any light scorching his eyeballs, he opened them all the way, shocked at what was in front of him.
Ten minutes had not been enough to get all of the blood off of Natsu. Not even close. There were still splatters of it across his face, in his hair, caked beneath his fingers, and a few other dots elsewhere.
The small gasp he made drew the pinkette's attention to him. He now had fresh gauze in his hand and a small sewing kit he'd no doubt found in Gray's bag. "What?" After he said it, he'd realized, and he turned his gaze away from Gray. "Most of this is yours jackass." He'd gone back to whispering.
"Mine?"
"Yes, moron. Yours." He moved over to Gray and took off the already soaked wrappings, "Do you want me to cauterize it again or stitch it?"
Gray paused for a moment to think, and then decided on the more effective of the two in this situation, "Cauterize it."
"Do you want something to bite down on?" Natsu asked quietly. He raised the his body temperature in one of his fingers, and it glowed the same way scorching metal would.
Gray stared at it and took a single deep breath,"No." Natsu didn't hesitate past that. He ran his finger along the edges of the wound, sealing it shut once again. The violent hiss of Grays skin would have made any onlooker cringe as the skin bubbled up and stuck to itstself. The smell of burning flesh assaulted Gray's nose, and he knew it had to be much worse for the dragon slayer. Gray's teeth ground together roughly, producing few squeaks.
When Natsu was finished, he looked at Gray apprehensively, "Are you okay."
Gray pushed him away slightly. "I'm fine Flame-Brain. Don't worry about me." He reached for the gauze but Natsu beat him to it, already wrapping the wound again. "I can do that myself, you know."
"I'm aware," Natsu responded.
Gray glared at him slightly, "I'm not an invalid." He reached to take the gauze from the pinkette's hands, but they were lightly shoved away. "I can do it my damn self."
Natsu paused and looked him in the eye,"I know you can,but," his voice had gone back to the whisper from earlier, "I'm going to take care of you, okay?" Whether Natsu had meant to phrase it the way he did, Gray didn't know, but it made his cheeks turn a light pink. "Not because you can't do it yourself, but because I want to."
Gray snorted, "And why the hell would you want to do that?"
Seeing Natsu blush was unusual, but not unheard of. It usually happened before he said something he found embarrassing, or really heartfelt. Despite knowing this, Gray wasn't prepared for the words that came out of Natsu's mouth. "You're always there fro me, even when I don't realize it. Especially then. I'm not good with most things, and even though I've been speaking the basics for years, I still can't say the things I want to in Fiori that I can in Dravic, so just let me do this." The drops of blood had begun to blend in with the rest of his face, and then they vanished completely, camouflaged in the color.
Gray, to dumbstruck to do anything else, nodded.
They stayed there for a few days, allowing Gray's wound to heal before they headed back to Fairy Tail. They never brought the incident up, but it remained something they thought about.
The next time Natsu got hurt, Gray had said nearly the same words.
It happened over and over again, not only because they're reckless idiots who can't take care of themselves, but because they would always be there for one another.
Words:1,391
GUESS WHO HAD A FREE PERIOD FOURTH BLOCK? I DID! You guys might get three one-shots this week! I'm part of the way into the other one already, so I should be able to post it Friday. To be honest, I had a lot of trouble coming up with an idea for this one, but once I got it, it flowed like water from a fresh stream. I hope you liked it, and as always:
Constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you find a typo, don't hesitate to point it out!
Reviews are my 90% motivation.
Love you guys!
-Jinx