Csilla: Simply for clarification of the last chapter - Gray's depressive thought were simply because no one can handle shooting/killing someone for the first time (unless they have a mental/psychological disorder, which he does not)

Hope that clears things up &enjoy~

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Chapter Eight: Coping

"How is he?" That was the question Natsu had no answer for; upon shoving the other into the car, the raven had basically shut himself down. Not that everyone didn't already piece together what brought upon this.

Exhaling, the rosette brushed aside Mirajane's question before being stopped by a short blonde that was often mistaken as a teenager; he knew right away what the other was about to say but nodded his head anyways: "I did just as you asked... according to the coroner's report, Hades was already dead when the bullet entered his skull,"

"Thanks Eve," Natsu ripped his arm out of the blonde's grasp before heading back to the bedroom he shared with Gray; the strong odor of alcohol was no surprise, the raven seemed adamant that he didn't deserve to live and Natsu had been less than supportive.

Walking over to the lump on the floor that was his roommate, tan finger reached out to poke the drunken adult out of his slumber; lifeless onyx eyes peered out - the rosette had noticed the change in complexion immediately but thought nothing of it - under very pale eyelids before blinking slowly. Natsu watched as the other made an attempt to sit upright but when it seemed he would simply fall back down, tan arms wrapped around protectively before helping Gray sit up against the nearby wall.

Unsure how to really comfort someone, the rosette simply shifted uncomfortably while debating if he should tell his comrade the truth before asking, "Do you think you deserve to die, Gray?"

A hollow chuckle then: "I-I... ki-killed... s-so-someo-one," the alcohol still very much present in the raven's voice and breath.

"Does that mean I should die?" The rosette could only hope he could break his comrade away from these thoughts; when onyx eyes widened he knew he had done something: "N-NO," grabbing onto Natsu's shoulder, Gray words became ragged: "I-I... me-mean... I-I ju-just..." before his head hung as his words stopped.

"Its hard, isn't it?" Gray's face lifted as the rosette continued: "Living with the burden of killing someone... even if they didn't deserve to live... it doesn't make it any easier to do this job," inhaling the raven could feel the change in the atmosphere then, "I was pretty young when I first killed someone... it just happened. I was supposed to grab some medical supplies and this person came back... and after a scuffle, I ended up killing him... when he lunged at me and I dodged, the man hit his head hard," pausing for a moment, "thinking back on it, if I had told someone he might have survived..."

Unsure of what to say in response, a hushed: "I-I didn't know..." was all that came out causing a solemn smile to spread across tan features before they whispered, "You're not alone in feeling like shit after something like this... we all have and we all pulled through,"

Something inside Gray seemed to snap back into place as the raven muttered, "So how... how do you cope?"

"I try and think about how many people I've helped because I tainted my hands with some asshole's blood," relaxing as he rubbed the back of his neck, "And when that doesn't work... I take a walk to my favorite place,"

"Favorite... place...?" The alcohol was slowly losing its control over the raven, who removed his arms from the other's shoulder with mild curiosity in his eyes.

He barely knew anything really about Natsu except what he had picked up and what he had learned in passing; the rosette smiled as he patted his comrade's knee before pushing himself off the floor then offering a hand, "Wanna see?"

Pale hand latched on and Gray was hoisted up onto his feet, staggering slightly under his own weight; the rosette didn't move until he was sure that his comrade would be able to handle the trip to his spot. Onyx eyes met cobalt ones as the raven found his balance and was led out of their bedroom; the air outside the room, the Gray noticed was light and bright, with that last word making its appearance in his mind he drew up the hood on his pullover to shield his eyes.

Shortly after, he was led outside the house and into the backyard; a short flashback of his first day here when Natsu had told him that he thought the this place was the most peaceful place to just think. The rosette kept up his pace as he crossed the grassy growth and headed into the massive amount of trees; the raven glanced from side to side to take in the earthy surroundings, Gray had never been back here. The duo continued their trek through the woods and before long, the raven noticed the trees seemed to curve towards them almost like an arch and then-

Onyx eyes shut from the sudden lighting and with his arm raised to shield his eyes, Gray peered past his pale forearm to see a breath-taking sight before him! A vast puddle of clear blue laid surrounded by smooth rocks, big and small. A winding stream leads to and from the pond; upon closer inspection, he saw the plants that littered about the place. Before he could speak, Natsu spoke up: "I found this place after my first mission... I acted much you did and I ran," a hollow chuckle, "and ran until I trip over a overgrown root and found myself here,"

The duo sat down upon two rocks that laid side-by-side near the pond; "It is a really peaceful place,"

A wide grin, "I know, right? Aside from the back porch, this is another amazing place to come and simply forget about work,"

They stayed there, talking about everything and anything, until the sun painted a warm orange sky above them; Gray smiled as they stood up and headed home, where they knew (and smelled) Mirajane's cooking awaited them.

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Csilla: Thanks Kris for helping describe a 'peaceful place' - my brain has given up XD

I think this is the least amount of fluff I've ever written for these two~ o_o

its a little scary... so what do you think? Would you like more fluff or is this enough until I reached the climax? (no pun intended)