Author's note: Thank you all for your support thus far. This new chapter is, again, random fluff (in response to pre-release season 4 Game of Thrones madness) (Can you imagine? It's called A Song of Fire and Ice. Cracked me up every time). The ideas for the song do not belong to me.

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I Loved a Man Fair As Summer

Natsu grumbled as he dumped the armful of firewood into the ring of stone he had arranged. Gray, like the lazy bastard that he was, wasn't helping. Arsehole. He was leaning against a tree with a blade of grass between his lips, blowing a mindless tune that wasn't quite a melody. It would have made Natsu smile, except for the fact that it was Natsu who was gathering wood for the last haft hour.

He grumbled again, before blowing a stream of flame to ignite the camp fire. It was just Gray and him this time, Erza, Lucy and Wendy having gone on one of those 'girl's missions' together, and Natsu wondered why he was letting himself be whipped like a hen-pecked husband like this. Oh, right, because he had proposed to Gray first, the sly bastard. Like that made him the ice princess for real! His mind helpfully supplied.

He was about to convey to Gray how exactly he felt about this situation, because, lovers or no, they were on a quest, granted, a finished quest – but that still didn't give Gray the right to treat him like a servant, dammit! – when the quiet stream of words reached his ears.

'I loved a maid fair as summer...' Gray was singing, voice low and tender, the sort of voice only Natsu had been allowed to hear on rare occasions. Like now. There was a smile in his eyes, the way he looked at Natsu as though all the gentleness in the word was concentrated in Natsu' rough being. All the same, though, it stole the breath away from him, as it has never failed to do. Just like that, Natsu forgot his snarky insults in favour of drowning in Gray's private little world. Not fair.

'I loved a man fair as summer...' He changed the lyrics, a spark of amusement in the depths of blue eyes now, and Natsu, like a snared dragon, abandoned his fire to drift to Gray's side. It was natural, and it was irresistible, the timbre of his voice rumbling in the quiet rustling of the forest.

'The sun in his breath and honey his hair...' When he was close enough, Gray reached out a hand to pull him in. For a split second, Natsu thought of resisting, before his instincts took over and he plopped down at Gray's side like the puppy he was. Heh, ridiculous, he knew, but if Gray would just keep singing in that voice of his, Natsu was willing to be his lapdog if only for a few more moments.

'But I'm just a black bear on the way to a fair...' Was that a tinge of sadness in his voice? Natsu had to wonder, before he decided that he didn't like it. So he leaned over, impulsive and insistent, and the song temporarily died on Gray's lips.

The wind picked up, and his fire danced in its stony ring, the crackling coming from far away. Then the melody revived in his head, playing over and over, as he kissed his Gray with all the ardour and affection he couldn't express through a song. 'I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer...'

'I love a man fair as winter.' Natsu said, and his heart filled to the seams with warmth threatening to burst out of him into roaring flames. Instead, he pushed Gray down, the white body pliant underneath him tonight, and so, so willing it almost hurt. A long-fingered hand reached up to card into his short locks as Gray cradled the side of Natsu's face in his palm.

'So I licked the honey in his hair...' The thumping of Gray's heart under his fingers was steady, one, two, three, the song humming into infinity. Natsu dove down to take a lock of Gray's fringe between his teeth and nuzzled it aside, getting drunk on the taste of clean hair and the cold of fresh snow.

'And danced with the man once in the fair.' Gray finished, his voice drifting off to the black of the clear summer sky. And it was fine; he didn't need a damn song to know Gray's wishes. Natsu would just move to kiss those pale lips, letting his hands dance over the fair of Gray's body, and then Gray would be singing another song tonight. Natsu's favourite song.

I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer, I loved a man fair as summer...

Gray mouthed something incoherent against his neck, and Natsu smiled for real this time. If this was what was in store for him, Natsu was willing to let Gray be the ice princess all he wanted. The thought flitted by quickly, before the sly bastard finally stole that away from him with a cold and soft, soft touch.

I love a man fair as winter

I love a man fair as winter

I love a man fair as winter...