A thousand hearts and kisses to my wonderful friend and beta, MiyuTanemura. Your beta-ing skills are like nothing I've ever seen before 8D

5. Entanglement

"Hey, slanty-eyes."

"You're awake!"

Natsu's exclamation was filled with joy and relief. He was so glad to see his friend looking healthier that he let the other's mocking "slanty-eyes" slide by. And that wasn't all. "You can talk now." He realised in delighted surprise. Wendy must have been able to heal his friend's vocal cords too, this time.

Gray nodded distractedly, glancing out of the window on his right to the night sky. There was still a hint of orange-red in the horizon, which meant that it should be late evening. But what day was it? How long was he asleep for? Time was running out. He had to hurry up and try to find Lyon.

Focusing on getting out of bed without waking the slumbering Happy, he slipped noiselessly from his blankets and scooted lightly towards the edge of the bed on his behind. When his feet hit the smooth, wooden floor, he took care to raise himself from the mattress slowly. As he did, he noticed how his friend rushed forwards with his hands outstretched, obviously intending to help him up – but at the last moment stopped and backed some distance away.

"What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled.

Natsu shook his head, and then thought better of keeping silent; the ice mage had narrowed his eyes dangerously, demanding an explanation. "It's just that... you do know you passed out, and why, don't you? That's why I can't get too near to you just yet. You're still quite weak."

"I'm not weak."

The dragon slayer sighed in frustration. He knew that the other boy had responded so defensively upon hearing that particular word because it reminded him of Lyon and his taunts of how he was a weakling. Hating Lyon for damaging the dark-haired boy's self-esteem, he wished he could be right beside Gray so he could comfort him. But he couldn't. Not yet. Even if he yearned to.

Gray scowled. "Look, I'm perfectly fine now. Stop treating me like I'm made of glass."

When Natsu made no indication of getting any closer, the ice mage blew out a breath of exasperation and started towards the other – who automatically moved backwards, fearing that he might unintentionally cause harm of any sort to his friend again. At that, Gray stopped and pierced him with a look of incredulity. There was a pause as both mages stared at each other. Then Gray tried again by taking another step forwards. Natsu took a step backwards. When this was repeated a second time, the dark-haired boy threw his hands up and spun away from Natsu, growling.

Natsu felt a stab of regret as Gray stalked away to lean angrily against the dresser next to the bed, purposely slanting his body away from him. As the minutes ticked by in silence, he knew he was being ignored. Finally, unable to stand the cold shoulder any longer, he decided to take a gamble and allow the other boy to approach him. In an attempt to salvage the situation, he said, "Gramps had Freed put a rune around the bed that would trigger an alarm if I got too close to you. Trust me, I would really like to hug you right now, but it would be really embarrassing if I set off the alarm."

Gray swung around and stared at him for a while, then spoke, "Around the bed, you said?"

Natsu blinked at the expectant look on the other's face, then chuckled softly as he realised what his friend was trying to get at.

"How stupid of me," commented Natsu, a grin spreading across his face as he crooked a finger at the other boy, beckoning him over. To his dismay, Gray snorted and walked round the bed to the window instead to look up at the moonlit sky. Now he could not get closer to the ice mage even if he wanted to. He hesitated at where he stood, uncertain of how much space the rune-spell actually covered. "Gray, come here..."

"You're the one who didn't want me to go nearer in the first place!" Gray growled, refusing to turn and look back.

They sulked quietly.

...

"I still intend to go on my journey, Natsu." Gray's voice broke the silence after some time. He turned to meet the fire mage's stunned gaze. "Now that I'm better, I'll do what I planned from the start. I have to find Lyon." Enough time had been wasted. Every day lost was a day less to find an ice dragon and be trained by it. He wanted to be able to get stronger as soon as possible, so he had to find Lyon quickly.

"You're still on that?" Natsu asked, his voice tinged with disbelief. "You're still insisting on seeking Lyon out despite having just recovered from a heatstroke?"

"And whose fault might that be?" The words came out sharper than he intended – than his friend deserved.

The dragon slayer hastily backtracked. "But in your condition it might not be so—"

"Are you implying that I'm a weakling?" Gray interrupted frostily, unable to help it.

That was the last straw for the cerise-haired boy. Painfully reminded of how it was all because of Lyon that Gray was behaving in such a manner, Natsu exploded. "Goddamnit, Gray! Why are you being so damn unreasonable and antagonistic? Why must you persist in fighting that bastard yourself? Why are you making things difficult for yourself?"

He had turned away and was now repeatedly slamming his fists against the wall in a fit of rage. "Why must you always make me feel so worried? Why is it that you must always drive me crazy?" In a flare of self-consciousness, he suddenly felt irrationally maddened at Gray for making him lose control like this. "Why do I even care about what you do? Why am I going nuts over every little thing you do? For fuck's sake, why?"

A last punch to the wall made him wince as his fury began to subside and his brain registered the pain. Letting his arms drop back to his sides, he sat down, grimacing as he massaged his aching fingers.

Gray was thrown into a state of confusion at his best friend's unexpected outburst. Hearing the words Natsu uttered made him wonder if there was more to it than simply furious concern for another friend. It made him think back to all the times the fire mage had been more emotional towards him than how friends normally should. Slightly nervous, he went over and crouched down directly before the dragon slayer. "Natsu," he started to speak, but stopped. He was at a loss of what to say to his friend. Finally, he just took the other's hands in his and began to stroke the bruised knuckles lightly, apologetically.

All of a sudden, the hands he was holding were wrenched back by their owner. He looked up in surprise – only to have strong arms lock around his waist. "What—" he began, but then the arms pulled him forwards. Losing his balance, he toppled into his friend's lap. In a panic, Gray struggled and tried to right himself, but the firm grip around his waist prevented him from moving away. In a desperate attempt to break free, the combination of his weight and frantic movements somehow managed to knock the other flat on his back.

They landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs.

He flailed as he fought to push himself upright. It was only when he was suddenly aware of the warmer-than-average body beneath his that he realised the position the two of them were in. He was sitting directly upon his friend's groin. His thighs straddled the other's hips and his knees were bent such that his heels touched his behind. One hand was splayed on Natsu's chest for support while the other hand rested on his stomach. Natsu's arms had remained curled around his waist. Alarmed, he started to wiggle, trying to get free.

"Oh." He heard his friend say a little breathlessly.

"Let go!"

Renewing his efforts to loosen Natsu's grip on his waist, he wriggled with even more vigour.

"No, wait—"

"What do you mean 'no'?" Gray speared his friend with a look of furious incredulity. What was Natsu waiting for? This was one position he could have lived without ever experiencing. He wanted to get off of his friend – and fast. The arms around his waist retracted, only to be replaced by strong fingers gripping his hips. They held him down, restricting his movements. He was outraged, "I said to let go!"

"Gray." Something about how strained Natsu's voice was made him still for a moment. Their eyes met and he detected a small difference. Frowning, he looked closer. The dragon slayer's dark eyes appeared dazed. He started to lean forwards to see what was the matter—

"Stop!"

He stopped. Wait. "What?"

"Gray." Natsu's voice was definitely strained, his breathing laboured. "Stop moving. Please."

Because he had almost never heard the fire mage tell him 'please' before, he did as the other told. He tried to figure out what was wrong. Why was Natsu acting so strange? Why were they still in such a compromising position – and why was the other boy not letting him get off despite that? He looked inquisitively at his friend who had squeezed his eyes shut and his eyebrows sloped downwards in a frown. It seemed as thought the fire mage was concentrating on something. A minute or two passed and he began to feel a little worried. He shifted anxiously. "Natsu―"

"Gray, stop."

He felt a flash of annoyance and snapped at the cerise-haired boy, "What the hell is wrong with you? You keep telling me to stop, and don't say why! And could you also get your hands off me?"

Natsu's obsidian eyes fluttered open then and looked hazily up at him. "Uh..." A hand shifted from one hip to gesture vaguely at the area where their two bodies met. The fire mage's cheeks were pink. "Um. No offence, Gray... but every time you move, it's rather... inconvenient. Especially with how you are... with where you are sitting on..." His cheeks coloured even more as his hand, left aimlessly in the air, had no choice but to return to rest tentatively on the ice mage's hip. "Please don't move anymore?"

Mystified, Gray glanced down at where the fire mage was pointing at. He tried to comprehend what Natsu had said. Where he was sitting on? But he was sitting on his friend, obviously. Sitting on his... oh. Understanding flooded him. Out of reflex, he immediately tried to move away – only to feel the fingers on his hips tighten and hear a small groan escape the dragon slayer's lips as he inadvertently created more friction between their bodies.

"Gray, I can't―" Natsu broke off, his face aflame.

He was sure his own cheeks were on fire too. It was obvious that he had to move carefully, or risk causing the fire mage... greater inconveniences. The only thing he could do was snatch his hands off his friend's body and put most of his weight on his knees to try reduce the pressure of his body on the other's.

"Natsu," he said slowly, flushing further as he noted how his own voice had suddenly acquired a strain for itself. "If I may... I mean, could you release me so I may get off?"

The dragon slayer gave a barely noticeable nod of his head in affirmation and whispered hoarsely, "Try not to... jostle."

Gray swallowed hard at the words. "Okay," he replied, equally hoarsely. They were both trying their very best to look anywhere but at each other. When he felt Natsu's hands lift from his hips, he took a deep breath to steady himself. Then, using his knees and the strength of his lower legs, he pushed himself off his friend with a hand on the wall beside him for leverage. He shot upwards and quickly stepped over Natsu to one side to avoid standing directly over him. Abruptly turning away, he fought to keep his emotions in check.

That had been dreadfully, horrendously mortifying.

On the floor, Natsu let out a shaky breath and slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and struggled to compose himself. They remained silent for a long while, the air thick with tension and unspoken thoughts.

Getting up and dusting himself off, Natsu mumbled, "Awkward..."

Gray let out a small grunt, not really feeling a need to answer. He was looking over at the still-sleeping Happy, amazed that the Exceed had managed to sleep through the racket they had been making. He was immensely grateful for that. What happened earlier would begin and end between only him and Natsu. Nobody else should ever know. He was sure the fire mage felt the same. Though, he wasn't sure if he could converse normally with Natsu for the next couple of days without being reminded of this embarrassing incident.

"I'm sorry."

He cast a curious glance at Natsu. "Whatever for?"

"For... for just now. I only wanted to... hug you for a while. I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. That was completely unexpected... I guess it must have caused you quite an amount of discomfort."

A great amount, in fact. But he refrained from voicing it out. He didn't wish to pressurise his friend any further. Natsu was already looking fairly distressed. The fire mage was obviously feeling insecure about their current situation as he wouldn't make eye contact. He was clearly afraid that Gray would hold a grudge or behave negatively towards him after what happened. He sighed inwardly. His mind was in a mess. He didn't know what to think of it. Besides, he had important matters calling urgently for his attention – namely Lyon, who was a thorn in his side he was eager to remove.

But first, he needed to reassure his friend – and himself.

Sighing again and aloud this time, Gray hesitantly walked right up to Natsu. Then, before the dragon slayer could speak, he slipped his arms around the other's waist and pulled him into a hug. It was a chaste and comforting type of embrace. His chin rested lightly on the other's shoulder. At first, the fire mage's body was tense and rigid, taken by surprise at his action. Then, gradually, he felt the other relax and the coiled muscles loosen up. A familiar pair of arms brushed past his sides, wrapped around his own waist and tugged them closer together. He could feel Natsu's fingers and palms pressed burningly against the curve of his lower back.

"Held me long enough now?" he murmured.

He was pressed even closer to his friend's body. Lingering for a few seconds more, he pulled back a little to let the other know. This time, Natsu let him go without much resistance. He drew back and they gazed intently at each other, seemingly lost in their own private world. Then Gray broke the spell by shaking his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Touching his friend's arm briefly, he moved aside and towards the door. He had barely taken two steps before he paused and looked at Natsu, who had turned to watch him.

"Actually, I'm sorry too." Gray gave a quick smile that didn't reach his eyes. His voice was soft and low, almost a whisper, as he continued. "There really isn't any other choice. This desire for atonement... this hunger for revenge is consuming me..."

Natsu's heart sank.

"I have to seek Lyon now."

Are you people thinking "Finally! Some NatsuxGray!"?

Then again, I don't know how that little scene happened. I totally did not intend to write that — it just... happened o.o I was planning on dragging out the subtlety of their interactions (mostly on Gray's part) but, well, I guess Natsu simply couldn't keep his hands off Gray this time. I'm a little worried that I've made our two boys here somewhat OOC... though my awesome beta says otherwise :3

Plus, some words to a few lovely people whose reviews I didn't reply to earlier—

fairytopia: I couldn't PM you as you were anon, but I really appreciate your comments! Thank you muchly for following my story since day one :D

Jam: Thanks for reviewing, and answering your question: yes. There will be yaoi and Natsu will be topping... sometimes :P As our two boys are obviously both quite dominant, it wouldn't be fair if Natsu topped all the time with regards to their, eh, bed activities. But Natsu will predominantly be the 'seme' in their relationship. However, the yaoi will take quite some time to get to :3

Universe Star Gazer: I like any boyxboy pairing with Gray in it as long he is mostly the uke :D And I might write a LyonxGray because their relationships with each other is just too ambiguous to ignore, so keep an eye out for when that happens!

See you people next chapter ^-^