Gray felt an odd weight on his chest as he woke up. He wasn't sure what it was, and he didn't yet have enough energy to open his eyes and check. He was dozing in and out of sleep, his brain fully unable to process anything. All he could feel was the comfort of his bed, the warmth in his body, and the intense desire to fall back asleep.
The weight on his chest shifted significantly, enough to fully wake Gray up. He squinted his eyes open, the sunlight hitting him like a flash grenade. He muttered indistinctly under his breath. Slowly, his eyes adjusted.
"Natsu…?" Gray mumbled, his voice breaking from lack of use over the night. He pulled himself upright a little, not comprehending how that would affect the man laying on his chest. Natsu slid, his head falling from Gray's torso to the mattress. He groaned and began to stir.
"Oops, sorry." Gray whispered. Natsu rolled onto his stomach, laying on his forearms in a half-plank position. He turned his head and blearily took in Gray's face.
"What…" He began, his words more of a sigh than actual language. "What were you doing?"
Gray sweetly rubbed Natsu's strong, round shoulder. "I'm not doing anything, Natsu. I just woke up."
"Well, sure, but why…" Natsu drifted off, considering his circumstances. "I was laying on your chest, and… and your hand is on my shoulder… and somehow I'm shirtless and you're not. You're even wearing yesterday's clothes…" He closed his eyes. The muscles in his face relaxed, but he kept his eyes closed.
"Natsu." Gray sighed through a smile. He brought himself closer to Natsu. He held his lips mere millimeters from Natsu's, awaiting an invitation. Natsu's lips twitched delicately.
Gray closed the distance. Natsu was as warm as he was last night, and Gray's hand soon slid from Natsu's shoulder to his back.
It was a fairly chaste kiss. Gray was simply trying to remind Natsu of last night's developments. Natsu's eyes remained closed. His eyebrows pressed together very slightly, a little movement that deepened the shadows over his eyelids. Gray remained close, watching his face.
"Ah." Natsu remarked plainly.
"Do you remember?" Gray whispered.
"Yeah. It must've just taken me a second to wake up and, y'know, remember it all." Natsu said. His voice sounded much more awake.
"So… I know it's early, but what does this mean? For us?"
Natsu got off of his arms, flopping onto his side. He held an arm up, opening a space for Gray. Gray scooched in, and Natsu closed his arms over him.
"Natsu." Gray said, wanting him to answer his question.
"I don't know what it means for us." He said finally. "I mean, I like it. It makes me feel good."
"...Can we try going on a date when we get back to Magnolia?" Gray mumbled into Natsu's chest.
Natsu pressed his lips together in a thin-lipped smile. "Yeah, of course." He said, just as quietly. Gray pressed hard into Natsu, and Natsu squeezed him right back.
"Okay." Gray whispered. "C'mon, Natsu. Let's go. We need to be there when the others get back."
Natsu let Gray go and swung his legs off the edge of the bed. His shoulders hunched to form a smooth slope. "Do we tell them about this?"
Gray could only see Natsu's back and couldn't discern his expression. "I dunno, Natsu. Do you want to tell them?"
A faint sigh escaped Natsu's nose. "I'm not sure. On one hand, yes, but on the other hand… no."
"I get that." Gray swung himself off the bed, too, then stood. He spoke while sifting through his suitcase. "I'm leaning more to yes, though. Might get Juvia off my dick." His last sentence was much quieter, a sort of addendum.
Natsu began to think aloud. "I mean, it would be cute to be a…" Natsu paused before saying the next word. "...a couple." He grimaced to himself, hoping he wasn't being presumptuous. "Like, publicly. I'm mostly just worried about…"
"About?"
Natsu stuttered for a moment before his thoughts came out. "Well, we're gay! It's gay. Nobody really knows that. Plus, everyone thinks we hate each other."
"Natsu, c'mon." Gray said. Natsu balked at the rude answer before Gray continued. "Do you really think Fairy Tail would just drop us for being gay? And I never hated you! Fighting you was like hanging out with you, I guess. I wouldn't spend that much time with someone I hated."
"I know that, Gray! I'm just…" His voice dropped considerably. "I'm just worried."
"You don't need to be worried."
"That doesn't help."
"We can wait, then."
"But you want to tell them!"
"It's not only about me."
Natsu looked briefly over his shoulder. He tried to say something, but nothing came out. He gave up trying to speak. Gray didn't say anything either. He continued to rummage through his suitcase, continuing to pull out what he would need to get ready for the day.
Natsu sat, still, on the bed for about a minute. He then stood and, like Gray, went through his suitcase to get clothes and toiletries. Gray went to go shower. It didn't take him long, and he soon came out of the bathroom, fully dressed.
"I'm sorry." Natsu said, breaking the short stalemate.
Gray looked relieved. "You don't need to be." Gray caught the look in Natsu's eyes. "I wasn't mad or anything. You weren't saying anything, and I didn't know what to say so I just… didn't say anything. Maybe that wasn't the best move, I don't know."
"Oh." Natsu plodded sheepishly in front of Gray.
"Truth is, I'm a little worried, too. Maybe not about the same things, but I am."
Natsu sighed. "I know it's irrational. But I'm still anxious about it."
"We don't have to do it now."
"I don't want to make you wait."
"You're not."
Gray realized they were going in circles. He crossed his arms and took on a careless expression. "Listen, man. Either we do or we don't. You don't want to, so we won't."
Natsu shifted uncomfortably. "Okay."
Gray's shoulders relaxed. He poked the tip of Natsu's nose with his index finger. "Go shower. We'll meet up with the girls soon."
Natsu relished the small touch for just a moment before nodding. He brought himself to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
It had been mere minutes since Gray had woken up and he was already exhausted. Kissing Natsu like that last night had made him forget about the emotional toll relationships can have, especially new ones. If they really were going to take on a romantic relationship, they would have to change a lot about how they interacted with each other.
Gray was surprised about how downright embarrassed Natsu was to be gay. He seemed like the type to wear it proudly. There was no way the guild would just drop them. Gray reasoned that, sure, considering all of the circumstances, there may be some pushback. Maybe some confused comments, or someone thinking it was a joke. He couldn't imagine a scenario any worse than that.
Him and Natsu would surely make for an interesting pair. They had always fought, but… hardly was there true ill-will towards the other. It's not like they had never been nice to each other, either. Gray was sure their guildmates saw that, too. How could they not?
Gray thought about how this all came to be. He had always felt that Natsu was by his side. Either literally, by fighting with him or screaming at him from across the guild, or emotionally, being another fairly stoic man that understood where Gray was coming from. Recently, things had become even more clear. Their conversations had been sweet, emotional, and enlightening. Natsu's body heat, lying next to him, was an intense comfort. Being stricken with sudden anxiety while watching the movie with Natsu was all the confirmation he needed to know what he had to do. It was impulsive, but Gray truly wanted it to work out in their favor.
The bathroom door creaked open once more. Natsu quietly peeked his head out. "Are you ready, Gray?"
"I am."
Natsu looked around, scanning for anything they might have forgotten. He didn't find anything. "Okay. Let's go."
They left their hotel room, following a now somewhat familiar path from their room to the main entrance. They asked for directions from the front desk again, just in case. They had to get to the coast, but more specifically, they had to get to a specific shipyard. The workers were very used to being asked for directions, and complied easily. They drew another simple map for the pair and sent them on their way.
It took just as long to find the shipyard as it did to find the shopping center. Despite being around for a few days, both Gray and Natsu still felt entirely alien within the confusing city. They walked across the boardwalk until they found a good enough spot to settle. The constant sea breeze took some of the heat from their faces.
Natsu, absently kicking his legs off the edge of the dock, scrunched his nose. "Man, I've always hated the smell of the ocean."
"I think it's a sea, actually."
"I don't know the difference."
Gray rolled his eyes jokingly. "Ocean big. Sea small." He explained, enunciating his words as if Natsu was a small child. Gray sat down next to Natsu and said no more. Natsu continued to kick his legs, but Gray's were still.
The boardwalk stretched across the entire beach of the sea strait. It was obviously well cared for, the wood being smoothly sanded and having a light stain. Certain planks didn't fit in perfectly with the rest, so it was obvious that parts were regularly replaced for whatever reason. Despite being held in such good care, no amount of upkeep could fully save the wood from growing blue-ish green spots of algae. Beach moisture is unavoidable, and wood is particularly susceptible. Considering the moisture, the wood's expansion and contraction over the seasons would be bound to wear down the path. The entire boardwalk would likely have to be replaced every few years to keep up appearances. One may be reminded of the Ship of Theseus paradox, though to a much lesser scale.
At certain points, the boardwalk forked to form a pier, such as the one Natsu and Gray were sitting on. They each extended approximately fifty feet, enough space to allow crew and cargo to unload from larger ships. Certain sections of the boardwalk also held shipyards, in which operational ships bobbed just outside the shallow water, and damaged ships run aground into the sandbank to be repaired or scrapped. At this point in time, most of the ships were aground with damages from whatever had been targeting them. Very few were left floating outside the shallow waters.
The constant sea breeze brought the temperature down significantly. It ruffled both of the boys' hair, entirely ruining their bangs.
"It really is pretty." Natsu said quietly. It was true. The midday sunlight caused the water to be colored a lighter blue than at other times in the day. The hazy shadow of a strip of land was the only thing suggesting that the water had an end. Even that was only visible for a portion of the horizon.
"It is." Gray murmured. He questioned if salt water freezes any differently than fresh water. It was something he would have to look into.
Natsu glanced at Gray. This moment, sitting at the edge of a pier, seemed like too perfect of an opportunity. He was surprised that Gray hadn't taken it.
Natsu inched closer to Gray until their thighs were brushing against each others'. Gray saw what Natsu was trying to do now, but decided to let him do it himself. He continued to stare at the water.
Natsu became more bold. He slid his arm behind Gray and held it around his waist. He then rested his head on the crook of Gray's shoulder. Gray acknowledged him now, resting his own head on top of Natsu's.
"Your hair is still, somehow, stupidly soft." Gray said.
Natsu chucked. "Yeah, it still is."
The water lapped at the dock. Gray wanted to say something, but didn't know if he should.
He bit the bullet. "Are we boyfriends?" Gray asked, saying it quietly as if that would reduce the embarrassment of asking.
Natsu mulled it over for a moment. "Yeah, I think so."
"Okay. Works for me."
Natsu squeezed Gray for a moment. Gray smiled into Natsu's hair. The breeze continued to chill the air as the sun passed its zenith, but neither Gray nor Natsu were bothered by the temperature. They continued to stare out into the water, awaiting the ship that held their friends.
