#gratsuweekend2021

[becausewhenyoupracticeyouimprove]

Gratsu weekend:

Day 2: Confession

#gratsu #gray fullbuster #natsu dragneel #fairy tail #gratsuweekend2021 #my art #well another one #I also think that Gray's head is off in this one too #but oh well #what is done is done #next time i will try to do better

[lollypopinky]

@fuckyeahgratsu

Sooo turns out I’m joining? It’s been a while

Day 1: First

(Encounter? Impressions? Either way, it’s rivalry at first sight)

#gratsuweekend2021 #gratsu #thank god for my tablet #fairy tail

[twomanyideas]

Through the Spyglass

A collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404

Gratsu Weekend 2021 Prompt: Secret Pairing(s): Gray x Natsu, Sting x Rogue For @walkinginfiction

AO3 | Next: Ch 2 Summary: 

“You little pervert!” Sting teased, “You’ve been watching him, haven’t you?” 

 “I haven’t!” 

 “Bullshit! How else would you have known that?”

 “I -,” Natsu tried to think of any other way he could have discovered that little fact, but came up empty. “It’s only been a few times, I swear! I was just trying to find an excuse to approach him.” He hid his face in his hands, embarrassed at being found out. 

 “Well, lucky for you, I’ve got just the thing!

Chapter 1

“Nghh, that’s soooo good!”

It mattered little to Natsu whether his housemate Sting was fucking his new boyfriend Rogue or just eating. He’d already discovered the hard way that it was impossible to tell the difference from their sounds. Each one a reminder that while Sting was feasting, Natsu was very much in the middle of a famine.

“You like that?”

Natsu scowled in response. Did they have to be so fucking loud? He turned his stereo on, determined to drown out the noises that were coming from the room next door. It helped a little, but not enough to distract him from what may or may not be happening. And it was late enough there’d be nowhere for him to go.

Where were those comic books he’d been meaning to catch up on? A quick glance around his room was enough to let him know there was no way in hell he was finding anything. Clothes, both clean and dirty, littered the floor and just about every other available surface except his closet. Sealed boxes lined up the walls, waiting for him to get his shit together and finally unpack.

Fiine.

He grabbed as many clothes as he could carry and made his way to their laundry room, also known as the bathroom.

Lalala I can’t hear you, he thought as he walked past Sting’s closed door, although of course he could, and now Rogue was joining in, expressing his approval at what must arguably be the most delicious ice cream sundae ever fucking made.

Why had he agreed to room with Sting again?

Open the washer door, chuck clothes inside, pour detergent in the dispenser and hit start. Great, ten points for adulting. Covering his ears with his hands, he hurried back to his room, grabbed the nearest box and sat down, using his pocketknife to open it up. Might as well get started on some of those now that he could walk around his room again.

That was his intent, but in the end he couldn’t help but examine the items one by one, fascinated by what he found among them. To be fair, even he would admit most of it was junk. He had no recollection of how he’d ended up with most of it, but that’s what made them so fascinating.

Score!

Finding a container of spicy jalapeño cotton candy, age unknown, he shoved some into his mouth. It was a little stale, but perfectly edible.

He placed the textbooks on the floor without a second look, having already seen more of them than he ever wanted to. There were some more clothes, the exercise ones he’d been searching for, for quite some time.

He scratched his head, wondering who the hell had packed this box. A set of three sex dice, a gag gift from Loke, were next. Maybe he should give them to Sting. He’d certainly get more use out of them.

Knit Your Own Boyfriend, another gag gift from Sting this time, joined the textbooks on the floor. Porn for Women, a book which had pictures of guys doing household chores and shit, almost joined it until Natsu realized some models in it were pretty hot. He’d keep that one.

101 Ways to Annoy Your Roommate

He glared at the wall between their rooms. Yep, keeping that one too.

Next came decision dice with messages like Fuck it, Fuck that and Fuck If I Know, followed by a nose flute, a bottle of Maybe You Touched Your Genitals hand sanitizer, a tube of bacon lip balm, and a bar of Uranus soap. Every item he pulled out was more entertaining than the last.

He positioned the flute over his nose and mouth and breathed out, having a great time attempting to play along to the music while he continued unpacking, bursting into giggles and some rather interesting sounds when he realized how terrible he sounded.

It was only when he took out the last item, a pair of binoculars Igneel had gifted him when he’d been a boy scout many, many years ago, that he realized all he’d done was clutter the floor again by spreading out the box's contents.

In no mood to do even more cleaning up, he examined the binoculars carefully, worried they might have broken in the move. He should probably test them out.

Picking a random subject- the dragon poster hanging above his bed, he aimed the binoculars on it and looked through them. They seemed in great condition, outside of some smudges and dust on the lenses. He grabbed a microfiber cloth off his desk and used it to wipe the lenses clean.

With nothing better to do, he pulled his curtains back and held the binoculars up to his eyes, searching for anything that might hold his interest for a few minutes. He’d settle for a trash-digging raccoon at this point.

What he found, however, was much more interesting. The house across from theirs, which had sported a For Rent sign for as long as he could remember, had a moving van in front of it, and the lights inside the house were on. He was a little curious why someone would move in this late at night, but that thought ceased to have any importance as soon as he got a good look at his future husband- uhm, new neighbor.

The guy had dark hair that stood up in unruly spikes. His skin gleamed in the moonlight, so much so Natsu wondered if he might be glittering like a certain gay vampire. He can absolutely bite me! Yum! And if that wasn't the sexiest fucking glower he’d ever seen in his life, Natsu didn't know what was.

He couldn’t make out the guy’s eyes, but he was almost willing to bet they were blue. This was all great, but it was his chest that Natsu kept staring at because for once in his life God had been merciful and the guy was shirtless, giving him the opportunity to ogle every one of his taut muscles.

“What are you doing?”

Natsu jumped at the sound of Sting yelling behind him, almost losing his grip on the binoculars. His hand moved to his heart as the nose flute squeaked loudly from his rapid breaths. He removed it, tossing it on his bed, and glaring at his roommate who stood laughing at him. “Jesus Fucking Christ, Sting!”

“What? I tried calling out to you, but your music was too loud.” Sting tiptoed his way around the mess on the floor to get to the stereo, lowering the volume so they could speak without having to shout at each other.

“Well, if you and Rogue hadn’t been having a food orgy next door, I wouldn’t have had to play it so loud.”

“Yeah, nice deflect. Wait, are those your scout binoculars? What were you looking at?”

“N-nothing, yep nothing at all.” “Ah, so you like listening in and spying on people, huh?” Rogue stood in the doorway, still licking what Natsu only hoped would be sundae off his fingers.

“I do not!” Natsu spluttered, “You guys are loud enough the new neighbor probably heard you!”

Fuck.

“There’s a new neighbor?!” Sting jumped over the box, grabbing the binoculars, which were still hanging around Natsu’s neck, and pulling them up to his eyes. “Oh, I see what you were looking at, alright,” he snorted.

“You’re cho-king me,” Natsu gasped out. “Whoops, sorry about that-” Sting pulled the string over Natsu’s head and continued to observe the scene across the street. “You should go over there and offer to help him out.”

“Hell no.” “Why not? He’s cute.”

“Because it’s like 11 o’clock and he’ll think I’m a weirdo.”

“It’s not that late. If we were still at the dorm, you wouldn’t think twice about it,” Sting pointed out. “You could take your shirt off too.”

“Yeah, cause that’s normal,” Natsu didn’t like the way Sting’s eyes seemed to twinkle. Not one bit.

“Man up, Dragneel,” Rogue dared, joining them at the window to get a look at the guy they were talking about.

“Look, I get you guys would like nothing more than to get me out of the house, but I’m broke and I’m not about to go make a fool of myself just so you can get it on. Besides, newsflash, not everyone is gay.” “Your point? Not everyone’s straight, either,” Rogue countered, crossing his arms. “Yeah, and I hate to break it to you, but we’re gonna get it on regardless,” Sting snickered, earning himself an eye roll from Rogue when he used the binoculars to zoom in on him.

“Right, well, don’t let me keep you,” Natsu said, grabbing the binoculars from Sting before he shoved both of them away from the window and closed the curtain.

“Ooh, sex dice!”

“You want them? Here, take them,” Natsu said, offering the dice to Sting and then throwing them out the door as hard as he could.

“Hey!”

“You don’t really expect him to chase after them, do you?” Rogue chuckled, unconvinced, but his laughter died abruptly when Sting hurdled over all the crap on the floor like some kind of Olympic athlete. “Suck, toes, 50 seconds!” “You were saying?” Natsu’s grin was smug as he shooed Rogue out of his room, locking the door behind him and collapsing in a tired heap on the floor. Those two were fucking exhausting.

A few moments later he realized he was wasting precious time and dragged himself back to the window, hoping to find his new neighbor still out there lifting boxes out of the van. Sadly for him, he was not. Although the lights were still on, the doors to the moving van were closed and despite his best efforts, Natsu wasn’t able to see him anywhere inside the house either.

He had to admit that Rogue was right. It was stupid not to even try just because he was afraid of a negative outcome. That had never exactly been the Dragneel way of doing things, although of course that might also be why he crashed and burned much more than he scored.

His cheering squad, however, was about as dangerous as a firing one, so if he was going to make a move he’d have to keep it a secret from them for as long as he could manage it.

He’d just have to watch a little longer, at least until he found an opportunity to introduce himself. Satisfied with this plan, he set his music on a timer and climbed into bed, already looking forward to learning more about his neighbor in the coming days.

0-0

“He’s so not straight,” Rogue called from the bottom of the stairs, closing the front door behind him and announcing his arrival a moment before coming up.

“Yay, you’re back,” Natsu muttered, not even bothering to look up from the magazine he’d been reading.

“Who’s not straight?” Sting came out from the kitchen, holding a bowl of chips and plopping on their living room couch.

“Your new neighbor,” Rogue said, looking incredibly pleased with himself as he took off his shoes and jacket.

Natsu flipped the page, refusing to take the bait even though he was itching to know more. “Fascinating, and how would you know that exactly? Did he show you his membership card?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

Well, that caught his interest. Natsu waited for him to say more but the sonofabitch knew he had him and now he was going to force him to ask. Sadistic asshole.

He stayed strong, willing Sting to ask for him, but the bastard just kept shoving chips into his mouth and watching the two of them with interest.

Natsu turned the page of his magazine slowly, attempting to wait Rogue out.

“I saw him arrive when I got here, so I thought I should introduce myself,” Rogue explained, keeping Natsu waiting while he joined Sting on the couch, greeting him with a kiss.

“You talked to him?!” Natsu threw his magazine on their coffee table, dropping all pretense of disinterest. “What did he say?!”

“He said his name’s Gray Fullbuster, and that he moved in a few days ago. So then I said, yeah, I know, we watched you through a pair of binoculars.” Natsu could feel all color vanishing from his face, while Sting almost choked on his chips. “Kidding,” Rogue snorted, smacking his boyfriend on the back a few times. “I asked him where he’s from since he has a bit of an accent. Turns out he’s from Isvan.” “He’s got an accent?” Natsu groaned. He was so screwed.

“What’s the matter with him?”

“Natsu has a thing for accents, always has.” “And you have a thing for assholes!” Natsu retorted, tossing a pillow at Sting’s face, hoping he’d stop laughing. “I mean, don’t we all?” Sting caught the pillow and put it behind his head. “Oh, speaking of which, how do you know he isn’t straight?” “It wasn’t hard,” Rogue shrugged, shoving his hair back away from his face, “His backpack had a bi flag pin on it. Oh, and he asked me if there was an art supplies store downtown, so I figure he’s an artist.”

“Yeah, he is.” Natsu blurted out, recalling the night he’d spent an hour watching Gray sketching a cat, fascinated by how lifelike he’d made it seem. The sudden look that passed between his friends made him realize his mistake.

“You little pervert!” Sting teased, “You’ve been watching him, haven’t you?”

“I haven’t!”

“Bullshit! How else would you have known that?”

“I -,” Natsu tried to think of any other way he could have discovered that little fact, but came up empty. “It’s only been a few times, I swear! I was just trying to find an excuse to approach him.” He hid his face in his hands, embarrassed at being found out.

“Well, lucky for you, I’ve got just the thing!”

Natsu peered at Rogue from between his fingers, not sure he liked the way he’d said that, especially when he looked like a cat who had just swallowed a canary whole.

“What did you do?”

Almost as if by magic, several envelopes materialized in Rogue’s hand.

“I may have liberated some of his mail.”

“Are you out of your mind?! You can’t just take someone’s mail, Rogue. That’s illegal!” “Says the stalker. Besides, it’s only illegal if you get caught,” Rogue smirked, examining the envelopes in his hand before setting them on the coffee table. “These were just delivered to the wrong mailbox, that’s all. They look important, though. You should make sure he gets them back. We wouldn’t want him to get in trouble.”

Sting had the decency to look shocked, but that only lasted for about a minute, replaced by what Natsu could only interpret as admiration. “That’s perfect!” And next thing he knew, they were in full scheming mode, mumbling to each other as if he wasn’t even there. “He should open up a few buttons, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Maybe fluff up his hair?”

"On it!"

“Oh, no. I want no part of whatever it is you two are thinking!” Natsu made a show of grabbing his magazine and opening it back up, but Sting had already gone off to his bedroom. The ominous sounds of him rummaging through closets and drawers traveled through the walls, and soon he returned holding a bunch of items. A comb, a tube of hair gel, some fancy-looking body spray, one of his infamous crop tops, and… was that Natsu's bacon lip balm?

"Did you just steal that lip balm from my room?"

"It's not stealing if I'm using it on you, dumbass. Now be still."

“Get away from me with that crap!” Natsu stood up from his chair, ready to bolt and lock himself in his bedroom.

“You wound me,” Sting sighed. "I even grabbed you my best one-" he held up the top and pouted at it.

“I am not putting on one of your stupid shirts.”

"His shirt's fine," Rogue sided with Natsu for once, “it just needs some re-adjustments.” He straightened the collar of Natsu’s button-up, pulled down the sleeves so he could roll them up neatly again, and opened up the two top buttons.

“Pucker up!” Sting made kissy faces as he approached him with the lip balm, and although Natsu refused to purse his lips, that did nothing to dissuade him. He still managed to apply a generous amount of it on the general area of his mouth.

“Ugh, that tastes awful!” Natsu complained, wiping the excess off with his hand.

“It’s bacon, man. All dudes love bacon, am I right?” “On my plate, yes. But on your face?” Rogue looked like someone spit in his socks.

Sting didn’t let Rogue’s response get him down, cheerfully moving on to the next item in his arsenal. A bottle of body spray that had little bits of something floating in it. Was that-

“Glitter?! No way, no how. I’m going to look ridiculous.”

“You’re going to look and smell awesome.”

“It’s glitter.”

“Which of us has a boyfriend?”

Okay, Sting had him there, but did he really need to be primped up like some schoolgirl about to go to Prom just to say hi to the guy? It was humiliating. If he went through with this ridiculous ploy, and that was still a big if, he wanted to at least make a good impression.

“It smells nice, and Gray’s an artist. Maybe he’d appreciate the glitter,” Rogue said, grabbing some chips from the bowl and moving over by Sting.

“He doesn’t make kids art projects. He draws beautiful, realistic looking pictures.”

“Oh, sorry,” Rogue fake apologized, holding up one hand next to his head while feeding Sting chips with the other.

Sting took advantage of Natsu’s distraction, spraying him before he could protest further.

“Hey, watch the face!”

Natsu had to admit the spray smelled nice, but in his rush to do a sneak attack, Sting had sprayed very liberally, covering not only Natsu but the coffee table, which had Gray’s mail on it.

“Oh, great. How am I supposed to explain that?”

“Will you chill? By the time I’m done with you, Gray won’t care about some stupid glitter on his mail,” Sting promised as he set the spray down and opened the tube of hair gel, squeezing some into his hand and moving to pluck at Natsu's hair.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Natsu grumbled.

“Oh, come on, have I ever steered you wrong before?” Sting grinned, brimming with confidence, only to wince as he paused to think. “Okay, maybe don’t answer that.”

Natsu chuckled, thinking back to some of Sting’s more hare-brained suggestions over the years. He had this habit of getting carried away, but Natsu had never regretted going along. Even when things went sideways, they always had fun, and he knew his friend’s affection for him was genuine. So why was he fighting him so much now, when he was only trying to help?

“Fine, fine, do your worst.”

"Pftt, please. I perform nothing but miracles."

Rogue grabbed a stool from their kitchen island and brought it into the living room, gesturing for Natsu to sit so Sting could get started.

He let Sting fuss over his hair for the next ten minutes, his fingers sculpting it into well-defined spikes away from his face.

“Done!”

“Not bad,” Rogue said after giving him a once over. He grabbed the mail from the table and handed it over. “Now get going.”

“What, now?”

“No, next week. Yes, now!”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” Natsu hedged.

“On that note,” Sting stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out an object that he placed on the coffee table. “Roll.”

Natsu recognized the decision dice he’d left on his desk. "Seriously?! What are you two, kleptos?"

“Just roll.”

“Okay, but if it says no, we’re done here, right?”

Natsu picked up the dice and studied them, unsure of what he wanted the outcome to be. He shook them lightly in his hands and tossed them on the coffee table.

“Fuck in’ a?” “Fuckin’ A!” Sting cheered and raced to his room again for more digging through drawers, and this time he returned with only two foil packaged items that fitted between his fingers. Both things Natsu easily recognized but had no intention of using during his first meeting with Gray. “Oh my God!” he backed away, “I’m just gonna go return his mail and introduce myself!”

“You were a Scout, weren’t you?” Sting grinned, extending his hand to offer the packets. “Didn’t they teach you to always be prepared?”

“I’m just gonna go drop these off,” Natsu rushed out of the room and down the stairs, hearing Sting and Rogue’s laughter and a warning to not be back soon.

@fuckyeahgratsu

#gratsu #gratsuweekend2021 #stingue #fairy tail #Gratsu Weekend 2021 #media #gray x natsu #sting x rogue #prompt: secret #other #fics

[splendidlyimperfect]

When Gray wakes up one night with a voice in his head, the last thing he expects is to suddenly be sharing a body with a demon. Natsu is nothing like Gray expected, though. He's surprisingly charming, and more concerned about getting Gray to eat vegetables than he is with taking over the world. Since Gray can't push him away like he does with everyone else, he begrudgingly accepts Natsu's place in his life - for now. But when Natsu ends up needing Gray's help, what started out as an inconvenience turns into a road trip - and a friendship - that changes Gray's life.

written for @fuckyeahgratsu​ gratsu weekend 2021 event

day 1; prompt: first

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Fairy Tail Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster Characters: Gray Fullbuster, Natsu Dragneel, Lyon Vastia, Mard Geer Tartarus Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Humor, Adventure, Demonic Possession, but the good kind, demon Natsu, References to Depression, Depressed Gray, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Sort Of, Road Trips, Falling In Love, Natsu's not an evil demon, he really just wants to take care of Gray, Gray sucks at feelings

-----

“Wake up.”

The words drifted through Gray’s dream, breaking up the strange carnival music that had been playing in the background. He could feel the images dissolving around him and he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to stay asleep.

“Hey! Wake up.”

The edges of the dream blurred and then slipped away entirely, leaving Gray miserably awake with a pounding headache. He sighed, rolling onto his back and rubbing his eyes. The room was still dark, and when he glanced at his phone, he realized it wasn’t even two in the morning.

Continue reading on AO3

“Fucking hell,” he grumbled, pushing himself up and swinging his legs out of bed. He stumbled to the bathroom, grabbing the bottle of aspirin and tossing two back before leaning forward and staring blearily into the mirror. There was a soft meow behind him as the bathroom door opened wider, dragging a bright line of moonlight with it. It cast a strange shadow along the wall and lit up Gray’s reflection with an eerie glow.

“Finally, you’re awake!”

The voice that filled Gray’s head was bright and wild, and for some reason it made Gray think of a matchbook. It curled around his senses, filling him with a strange sense of warmth. He frowned at his reflection. Something wasn’t quite right.

“What the…” Gray leaned in further, running his fingers underneath his left eye. The iris, normally a deep blue-black, was shimmering. Gray blinked a few times, then groaned and rubbed his face. “Lyon, you stupid fuck, what the hell did you put in my drink?”

He stood there for a minute, hand over his eyes, until his hazy brain caught up with the fact that someone else had been talking, and he lived alone.

“Happy?” He frowned at the cat that had padded into the bathroom and was now sitting on the back of the toilet, staring at Gray. “Did you…”

“I’m not gonna lie,” the voice interrupted again. “I’m really, really tempted to let you think that your cat can talk.”

Gray jerked back from Happy and glanced around the bathroom. There was nothing around except the two of them and the moonlight, but he flicked the light on just in case. The only thing that greeted him was his reflection – messy hair, lines on his cheek from the pillowcase, and one glowing eye.

What the fuck?

“I…” He frowned, rubbing his face and blinking a few times. The eye kept glowing. He could feel something behind it – something in his mind, wriggling around like a memory he couldn’t quite find. “What?”

“Are you always this eloquent?”

“It’s two in the fucking morning,” he snapped irritably, then ran both hands over his face. “Am I dreaming?”

“Are you gonna believe me if I say no?” Gray could hear a laugh coloring the voice this time.

“Who are you?” he demanded, looking back out into the bedroom. Nothing greeted him but the empty bed, piles of books, and several cups of cold coffee.

“Look in the mirror.” Gray’s gaze flicked back to his reflection. “Closer,” the voice said, and despite his brain screaming at him that it was a terrible idea, Gray leaned in.

His reflection wobbled for a second – like the surface of a lake after a rock had been thrown. Then the features on the left half of his face started to shift. The glowing eye turned a soft shade of green and changed shape, slanting upward, and a wave of freckles rippled out across his cheek. The piece of hair that hung in his face started to curl and shifted from black to a soft pink. His teeth sharpened into fangs, and his lip quirked up into a smile that Gray definitely wasn’t controlling.

“How high am I?” he murmured, touching his teeth to ensure that they were not, in fact, sharp. “I’m gonna kill Lyon.”

“Is that the kid with the white hair?”

Gray nodded absently.

“He didn’t give you anything. He’s a punk-ass bitch who waters down his liquor.” There was a pause, and then the voice added, “And he’s a fucking terrible warlock.”

“A… what?” Gray was only half paying attention to the words. The rest of his focus was still on the way that his reflection was shifting and changing. The right half of the mirror was still him – messy hair, tattooed chest, pierced ear, black boxers. But the left half was quickly becoming something more… Gray wasn’t sure what word to use for it.

“Warlock,” the voice repeated. Gray’s left eye rolled itself in the reflection. He blinked a few times and shook his head.

“You mean that Ouija board shit?” he asked.

Slowly, the left half of Gray’s reflection separated, shimmering and then coalescing into the form of a young man standing just behind him. Gray looked over his shoulder to the empty washroom, then back at the mirror. The man waved at him and gave him a cheeky grin.

“I’m Natsu.”

Gray blinked a few times, rubbing his temples to try and relieve his throbbing headache. Natsu, who was now almost entirely solid in the reflection, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall. He looked about the same age as Gray, with black tattoos that twisted around his arms and up his neck. His cheeks and temples were smattered with what looked like scales, and his wild pink hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail at the base of his neck.

Fuck, he was hot.

“Do you have a name?” Natsu prompted, giving Gray a grin that showed off his pointy teeth.  

“Um.” Gray’s brain blipped and he frowned and blinked at the same time, making what he assumed was an extremely unattractive face. Heat rushed to his cheeks as he ran his hands through his hair and quickly said, “Gray.”

“Hm.” Natsu tipped his head to one side, studying Gray’s reflection. “You’re not a warlock.”

Gray shook his head. “No, it’s just Lyon. Well, he’s into magic stuff. Like tarot cards, and he’s got the Ouija board. I thought it was just… weird college shit.”

“I am not ‘weird college shit,’” Natsu said indignantly, making quotation marks in the air as he raised a pierced eyebrow at Gray. “I’m a demon. From—” Here, he said a series of words in a rough language Gray didn’t understand.

“Is that, um… in Germany?”

Natsu glared at him.

Gray sighed and ran both hands over his face. Happy, who had been watching him with vague disinterest, hopped up onto the sink and rubbed his face against the mirror. Gray felt a tugging sensation in his arm, and before he realized what he was doing, he reached out to pet Happy. His hand felt strange and weightless and it took him a second to realize that he wasn’t controlling it.

“What the hell?” he yelped, jumping back and pulling his hand toward his chest like he’d been burned. “What did you—”

“Not hell,” Natsu reassured him. His reflection was no longer against the wall, and he was instead standing directly behind Gray as he stared down at Happy. “Hells. Plural.”

“No, what did you do with my…” Gray gestured vaguely at his arm. His fingers were still tingling.

“Oh. I just wanted to pet him.” Natsu nodded at Happy. “I haven’t seen a cat in a long time. Not alive, anyway. He’s soft.”

Gray frowned at Natsu in the mirror, then reached out – on his own, this time – and ran his fingers over Happy’s fur again. “He’s kind of an asshole,” Gray warned as Happy purred, then turned and nipped his fingers.

Natsu grinned. “We’ll get along just fine, then.” The weightless sensation appeared in Gray’s hand again as Natsu took over, but this time he let it. Despite Natsu’s fangs and scales, he didn’t seem particularly scary. In fact, the expression on his face as he petted Happy was one of almost child-like excitement.  

“Wait,” Gray said as Natsu’s words finally caught up to him. “You’re staying? In me? I mean not—not in me like that, but in…” He trailed off and ran a hand over his burning cheeks. Natsu started to answer but Gray shook his head. “Nope. No. It’s two in the morning and I’m still not convinced this isn’t just a side effect of Lyon accidentally giving me mushrooms again, so I’m going to sleep and deal with all of this—” he gestured vaguely to Natsu’s reflection in the mirror “—once I’m awake and sober.”

Before Natsu could argue Gray flicked off the light, grabbed Happy, and headed back to the bed.

“I’m not a side effect,” Natsu grumbled as Gray burrowed under the blankets and pulled a pillow over his head.

“Shut up,” he said through a yawn. “If you’re still around tomorrow, we can talk.”

~

“Gray. Graaay. Graaaaaaaay.”

Gray groaned as he blinked slowly awake. His head still throbbed and he felt vaguely sick, and the insistent voice calling out his name wasn’t helping.

“What’you want?” he mumbled. His mouth felt fuzzy.

“Finally! I’ve been trying to wake you up for like half an hour now. Did you know that you snore? Like, a lot. It’s a good thing I don’t need sleep, or I’d be pretty annoyed at you right now.”

The voice was much too chipper for – Gray squinted at his phone – 7:36 a.m. He groaned and flopped back against the pillow, then looked around for the source of the voice. Nobody was there except for Happy, who was curled up on the pillow next to him, fast asleep.

“Who—”

“In your head, remember?”

The events of early morning started to come back to Gray in pieces – the hot guy in the mirror who claimed he was from… somewhere that wasn’t Germany. He frowned and looked over at the bathroom.

“I don’t live in the mirror, idiot.”

“Well how the fuck am I supposed to know that?” Gray glared at the ceiling. “It’s not like I’ve ever done this before.”

“Aw, I’m your first?”

“No,” Gray said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and staring up at the ceiling. “I get possessed by demons all the time. It’s a hobby.”

“Really?” Natsu sounded genuinely surprised.

“Oh my god,” Gray muttered under his breath. “It’s way too early for this.” He sighed, then pushed himself up and ran his hands through his hair.

“Is it breakfast time?” Natsu asked. “’cause I’m starving. Or you are. I’m not sure if I can be hungry when I’m possessing you. Maybe we’re both hungry! What kind of food do you have?”

“I’m not hungry,” Gray interrupted. A low growling from his stomach disagreed with him, but he ignored it.  

“Well then I am.” Natsu sounded almost petulant. “Do you have coffee? I haven’t had coffee in forever. I mean, I haven’t had anything in forever – demons don’t really eat. Do you like tacos? I wanna try tacos. They weren’t around the last time I was here.”

“Do you always talk this much?” Gray asked. He stood up and stretched, then rummaged through his drawers until he found a clean shirt to pull on.

“I dunno,” Natsu said. “Maybe? Probably. I haven’t had anyone to talk to in a long time.”

“Aren’t there other… demons? Where you’re from?”

“Yes. They’re boring, though. All they talk about is torturing people.”

A cold thread of fear suddenly crept up the back of Gray’s neck. The word ‘demon’ had obviously registered before, but it wasn’t until now that he realized that being possessed by one probably wasn’t a good thing. Natsu seemed harmless enough, but the mention of torture made Gray’s hairs stand on end.

“Don’t worry,” Natsu reassured him before he could say anything. “I’m not gonna torture you. I mean, I couldn’t, even if I wanted to, ‘cause I don’t have a body. I mean, I can sort control you, so guess I could probably compel you to walk into traffic or something.” He must have felt Gray’s fear surge because he quickly added, “I wouldn’t! I promise.”

Gray didn’t say anything as he pulled out the tin of coffee from the cupboard and started measuring it into the machine. Now that he was awake, a thousand thoughts were racing through his mind. How had this happened? Did Lyon do this on purpose? If it was an accident, how was he going to reverse it? Would an exorcism work?  

“It might.” Natsu’s voice shoved its way to the forefront of Gray’s mind.

“You can hear my thoughts?”

“Mhmm.”

“Fuck.” Gray watched as his hand moved on its own and added one more scoop of coffee grounds to the machine. “Stop that.”

“Why?” Natsu’s voice was bright and playful. “It’s fun.”

“’cause it’s my body.” The coffee machine started to hiss and sputter. “And it feels weird.”

Natsu huffed but acquiesced and Gray was relieved when the sensation returned to his arm. He shook his hand out a few times, then slumped down on one of the stools next to the counter.

“Aren’t you gonna make breakfast?” Natsu asked. “Do you have bacon?”

“I’m not hungry,” Gray said again.

“Why are you lying?”

“I’m not.”

“You are. I’m literally inside of you, I can tell you’re hungry. Why don’t you want to eat?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” Gray said. “This is weird enough without you bossing me around.” He pulled out his phone and stared at the screen, then swiped to his text conversation with Lyon.

Natsu was quiet for a few minutes while Gray attempted to compose a message. The only sound in the kitchen was the drip of the coffee machine, and Happy’s quiet meow from beside the pantry where he waited to be fed. Gray started and deleted a few messages, then set the phone back down on the counter and dropped his head into his hands, sighing.

“You’re really sad,” Natsu said quietly.

“No,” Gray said, “I’m frustrated.”

“I don’t mean right now,” Natsu said. “I mean just… in general.” Gray felt a strange tugging sensation in the back of his mind. “It’s kind of a mess in here.”

“Stop looking through my brain!” Gray stood up and shook his head as if he could dislodge Natsu from his mind. “I’m fine. I’m just not hungry, is that a fucking crime?”

“When was the last time you ate?”

“None of your goddamn business.” Gray could feel heat rising in his cheeks as he ran his hands through his hair. “Leave me alone.”

“I can’t.”

Gray stared across the room at his reflection in the microwave. The shadow of Natsu stood behind him with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t look angry, though, just concerned. Gray hated it. The last thing he needed was someone poking around in his brain – even if that someone was unfairly attractive, and, despite being a demon, actually kind of nice.

“How do I get rid of you?”

“I don’t know.” There was a note of hurt in Natsu’s voice as he disappeared from the reflection. Gray could still hear him, though, when he added, “Ask your warlock friend.”

“He’s not my friend,” Gray said, glaring at his phone. “He’s my brother. And he’s a fucking idiot.”

#fairy tail #gratsu #gratsuweekend2021 #gray fullbuster #natsu dragneel #fairy tail fanfiction #ft fanfic #my fic

[allen-kunekune]

Le petit Dragon Rouge

Titre :  Le petit Dragon Rouge

Fandom : FairyTail

Relation : Gratsu

Par @fuckyeahgratsu   🔥Monday: Disaster / Fairy Tale ❄️

Lucy était malade aujourd'hui, alors il avait été décidé par le village d'envoyer quelqu'un lui apporter une galette faite par Lisanna et une bouteille de thé qui devrait aider la jeune fille à aller mieux. Normalement ce n'était pas quelque d'incroyable, mais la jeune femme habitait seule depuis la mort de sa mère dans la maison de sa grand-mère, une petite cabane confortable dans les bois.

  Malheureusement les bois n'était plus sur, pas avec l'arrivé de loup dans la région. Il n'y avait pas encore eu d'attaque, mais le village craignait que les bois deviennent dangereux. Les moutons avaient été attaqué, du moins deux avais disparut pour être retrouver en partie manger.

 Natsu c'était porter volontaire pour cette dure mission. Il avait toujours était curieux de vivre de grande aventure, alors il avait prit sans hésitation le panier et avait juste prit le temps de mettre son écharpe et sa veste avant de disparaitre dans les bois.

 Tout c'était passer pour le mieux, jusqu'à qu'il rencontre un loup.

 Le loup n'était pas vraiment comme on lui avait décrit. Il y avait bien les oreilles duveteuses et pointu en haut de sa tête, ainsi que la longue queue mais il était mit à par ça très humain. Trop humain. Et peu vêtu remarqua le jeune homme. Il ne portait seulement qu'un pantalon et des bottes. Oh, il avait aussi un collier en argent.

 Natsu avala difficilement. Il était assez chaud pour un loup, surtout quand il lui sourit, passant sa langue sur ses lèvres. Un message très claire qu'il aller être le repas du loup, mais pas toute a fait de la manière dont il avait été prévenue.

 Le garçon n'était pas du genre à perdre sans se battre, mais il devait avouer qu'il était tenté de se laisser manger par se loup. Lucy ne lui en voudrait pas de ne pas arriver tout de suite, non ?

#gratsuweekend2021 #fairy tail #gratus #natsu dragneel #gray fullbuster #gay romance

[gray--dragneel]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Fairy Tail Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster Characters: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Lucy Heartfilia, Lyon Vastia Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Magic, demon Natsu, sorcerer gray, Disaster Gays, demon pacts, Flirting, Protective Natsu Dragneel, Eventual Smut Summary:

All Gray wanted was to make it to the Sorcerer's Society in time for his meeting. Instead, he's somehow managed to portal himself to the In Between.

His plan is to keep to himself. Simply survive amongst the demons, witches, and sorcerers until he can figure out how to get home. Then he meets Natsu, a mysterious - and annoying - demon. Gray discovers it's hard to be annoyed by someone who saves you from having your soul eaten. He still manages when Natsu, for whatever reason, will not leave him alone.

As suddenly as Natsu enters Gray's life, he makes himself part of it. If he keeps smiling at Gray like that, Gray thinks he can deal.

#gratsu #natray #life ruining jerks #ft #gratsuweekend2021

[becausewhenyoupracticeyouimprove]

Gratsu weekend: Day 1: First (kiss)

#gratsu #gray fullbuster #natsu dragneel #fairy tail #gratsuweekend2021 #my art #ooooh #who is this #isn't it me coming back from the dead #with an event that passed 3 months ago? #yes it is #but all gratsu fans will just forgive me #because better late than never #but it's been a while since I last posted anything #and a while since I did some gratsu #so although Gray's head seems off #I am still happy to be posting again

[lollypopinky]

@fuckyeahgratsu

3 - Consume (to) protect

I fused the prompts kinda?

Also, çan you tell I relied way too much on my tablets ability to correct? Cuz I can :D and I hate it

Couldn’t find a good background

#gratsuweekend2021 #gratsu #fairy tail #ft

[lollypopinky]

@fuckyeahgratsu

#2 secret (-relationship)

The lights did it I believe,,

#gratsu #gratsuweekend2021 #fairy tail #ft

[lollypopinky]

@fuckyeahgratsu

4-Fairy Tale

Dragons like shiny things right? Well natsu is hoarding gray’s crown. (Gray can’t get him to give up)

It’s really not original but at this point I don’t particularly care

#gratsuweekend2021 #gratsu #fairy tail #ft

[twomanyideas]

The Way To A Man’s Heart

A collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404​

Gratsu Weekend 2021 Prompt: First Pairing(s): Gray x Natsu, Gray & Loke

AO3

Summary: Gray has long held feelings for Natsu, but it takes finding out that Lucy is planning to make a move to convince him to act first.

Chapter 1

Gray had been about to open the door to the Fairy Tail guild when he heard a rustle in the bushes.

“Pssst, Gray.”

He recognized the voice right away and could already feel a headache forming in response, but he dutifully walked towards the bush, fighting the urge to just freeze it and head inside the guild. Loke crouched behind the bushes, looking uncharacteristically serious.

“Do I even want to know who you’re hiding from?”

“I have some important intel, and it affects both of us.”

“Intel?” Gray was admittedly curious, but he stopped himself before he could get caught up in whatever this was. “Look, man, I just got back from a job. All I want is to relax and grab a beer.”

“Would you still think that if I told you it’s about Natsu and Lucy?”

Well, that certainly changed things a little. Natsu and Lucy were his teammates, and if they were in trouble, then he wanted to know about it. However, he knew from experience that Loke’s definition of trouble was markedly different from his. But what if it was serious...

Ten minutes later they had made it to Gray’s small apartment. Gray dropped his mission bag, and subconsciously his shirt, by the door and led Loke to his living room.

“Alright, so what’s this about?” he asked, getting two beers from the fridge and giving one to Loke.

“Gray, don’t take this the wrong way, but I need you to grow a pair.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Look, the situation is desperate. Cancer told me Lucy summoned him to do her hair and help her pick outfits this morning.”

“Is that all? She does that all the time.”

“Yes, but this time she was getting ready to ask Natsu out.”

Gray ignored the tightening of his stomach at those words, outwardly shrugging them off.

“Still don’t see what this has to do with me.”

“So you’re perfectly fine with Lucy dating Natsu? That’s bullshit and you know it.”

“I don’t care what the Flame Brain does,” Gray was lying through his teeth, but he’d gone years hiding his feelings and he wasn’t about to let them out now.

“You’re so cute when you’re in denial,” Loke snickered.

“Fuck off.”

“We both know Natsu will end up saying yes, even if only because he won’t want to hurt her feelings, and who knows how long that will last. We’d both be screwed, and not in the good way.”

Loke was right. Natsu hated hurting his friends, except for him of course, but Gray couldn’t fault him for that. Not when he was just as bad. Natsu wouldn’t want to disappoint Lucy, so he’d likely say yes. Not to mention there was almost as much pressure on him to like Lucy as there was on Gray to like Juvia.

And what if Natsu ended up marrying her? That tightening in Gray’s stomach worsened, making him want to doubl over to ease the pain. He’d experienced plenty of crushes over the years, but his heart had long ago decided on Natsu. Would he be able to live with himself if he didn’t at least try to stop this?

But what about Lucy? She was his friend too. Should he really stand in her way?

His eyes narrowed at the thought. Fuck that, he’d hadn’t known her that long, but he’d been waiting for the flame brained dimwit to wake up to romance for years. If she was planning on making a move, then it was as good as a declaration of war. And Gray wouldn’t give up without a fight.

“Alright, let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you were right. What is it you have in mind?”

“I think it’s about time you asked Natsu out. Don’t you? If you get him to date you, then maybe Lucy will finally take me seriously.”

“I can’t just ask him out. He’d probably think I was messing with him and punch me on the spot.”

“True, he’s a tough nut to crack, but there’s always something,” Loke muttered, his expression turning thoughtful.

He snapped his fingers a few minutes later, startling Gray out of his panicked thoughts.

“Okay, so the basic problem is that Natsu’s oblivious, right?”

Gray nodded, thinking that summed it up quite nicely.

“So here’s what you’re going to do.”

Loke explained his plan and Gray instinctively knew he was doomed. There was no way anyone could be that oblivious.

He knew the likelihood of this working was slim at best, but that didn’t matter one whit because Gray had already resigned himself to doing whatever it took to keep from losing Natsu forever.

0-0

“I’m back!”

Gray tensed the moment he heard the guild doors bust open, followed immediately by Natsu’s loud greeting. It was time to put their plan in motion, but he didn’t feel ready. He hadn’t really had enough time to process that he was finally making his move. Loke squeezed his shoulder before sitting down next to him at the table, and that was all the encouragement he could give because Natsu was likely to hear any words they exchanged.

“I can’t believe you got a reservation for The Spice Grill!” Loke sounded enthusiastic. Way too enthusiastic. Gray cringed at the loudness of his voice.

“Oh yeah, it was part of the reward for that job I went on today,” Gray recited his lines, feeling incredibly stupid. “I hear all the food is super spicy there and they cook it on a grill right in front of you.”

“Don’t they have that magical bartender too?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right! She makes special drinks that you can infuse with your magic. I wonder what ice-magic tastes like?”

Loke made a few crass comments in response, but at least they made him laugh, soothing his nerves a little. Gray hoped Natsu was listening, but it worried him that he’d remained silent so far.

“So who’re you taking?”

Gray thanked his lucky stars that Juvia had yet to return from her job with Gajeel, because that had been the trickiest part of this plan. If she’d been here to overhear this conversation, there was no chance he would’ve gotten away with not taking her. Voluntarily or not.

“Hey, Levy!”

Shit, that was Lucy. If he couldn’t lure Natsu over before she got to him, it would be all over.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Gray stuck to the plan, doing his best to sound disinterested even though inside he was desperately screaming at Natsu to take the bait. “You like spicy food, don’t you? Wanna come along?”

Loke rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess I could go.”

“I like spicy food, I’ll go with you, Ice Block.” Natsu finally joined the conversation, and Gray almost cheered.

“Why would I take you out to eat?” Gray sneered, knowing he couldn’t make it too easy or Natsu would suspect something was up. “You have the table manners of a boar.”

“Didn’t you say the reward was for all you can eat?” Loke threw in the last incentive.

“All you can eat?” Natsu’s enthusiasm bumped up a notch at the news, and now he was practically salivating. “Oh, come on, don’t be a jerk! I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you what,” Gray proposed after pretending to think it over. “I’ll take you, but only if you can beat me at arm wrestling.”

“As if I would lose to you,” Natsu scoffed, sitting across from him and propping his elbow on the table. He peered at Gray expectantly. “Bring it on, Ice Princess, I’m all fired up!”

Elfman had just checked their hands and elbows when Gray heard Juvia enter the guild already calling for him. So rather than complete the challenge, he got up, dragging Natsu along by the hand he was already holding and making a beeline for the exit.

“Change of plans, Pyro, let’s go!”

He glimpsed Juvia’s disappointed face on their way out, but it didn’t bother him in the slightest. Lucy’s, however, was much harder to dismiss. He felt a bit guilty, knowing what she’d planned to do and how much effort she’d put into it, but not nearly enough to abort his mission. All was fair in love and war, right? And this was both, so doubly fair.

“Hey, you can let go now,” Natsu tugged his hand free of his grasp. “What got into you, anyway?”

“I didn’t want to have to deal with Juvia wanting to come along,” Gray answered honestly, and Natsu didn’t question him further.

“So where is this restaurant?”

“Akane Beach.”

“Aw man, you didn’t say we’d have to take a train to get there!”

“You didn’t ask.”

Gray held his breath while Natsu glared at the train station as if it were somehow responsible for his motion sickness. A minute later his shoulders slumped, and he began walking. “Ugh, fine. Let’s just get it over with.”

He couldn’t believe it. Loke’s stupid plan had actually worked! He was going on a date with Natsu! Well, fine, he’d tricked Natsu into going on a date with him, but it was still more than he’d ever thought he’d get.

0-0

The train ride went about as expected. They had the compartment to themselves since Natsu’s agonized groans and dry heaves scared away most of the passengers. Gray watched over him while he thought of the dinner ahead.

The restaurant was pretty trendy, much more so than any place they usually went to. Loke had pulled some major strings to get a reservation on such short notice, and adding that all you can eat option was going to cost Gray almost the entire reward from his last job. He was a little worried that they would stand out from the other guests, and while he’d teased Natsu about his manners, it wasn’t like his were that much better. However, the hassle would be totally worth it if things went the way he hoped, but if it didn’t... Well, it was all you can drink too.

This wasn’t the first date Gray had been on, but it was the first one where he felt this nervous. Had they ever done anything like this together before? He didn’t think so. Most of the times they’d gone places together, it was at Erza’s behest - one of her attempts to get them to get along better, and she was usually there to run interference.

And they still almost always ended up in disaster.

The train slowed down, signaling their arrival and pulling Gray out of his thoughts. Once it rolled to a stop, he nudged Natsu that they had arrived, carrying him off the train on his back and walking onto the busy platform of the Akane Beach Station. He soon found a bench outside where they could sit while Natsu recovered.

The breeze brought with it the smell of the ocean, making him feel like Ur was wishing him luck. Gray couldn’t help but smile in response. Natsu stirred next to him, perked up by the sounds of live music and the bustle of excited tourists.

“You ready to move?”

Natsu responded by springing off the bench, grabbing Gray by the arm and pulling him up, “Come on Ice Block, I want to check out the music!”

That was easier said than done. It was a Friday evening, and people had come to Akane in droves. Natsu held on to Gray’s arm as he tried to force them through the crowds, making sure they wouldn’t lose each other in them.

Gray rolled his eyes at his friend’s usual blunt approach, lowering his core temperature instead. He laughed at Natsu’s surprised expression when people moved away from them, clearing a path.

Natsu grinned, but rather than letting go, he tugged harder, wanting to get to where the excitement was at. They quickly crossed the boardwalk, getting their first view of the resort and amusement park.

The Spice Grill, the restaurant they were going to, was inside the resort, but they still had some time before their reservation. Natsu headed straight for the street musicians that played outside the hotel, tapping his foot to the beat and clapping louder than anyone when the song was over. He threw some jewels into their open guitar case.

“After listening to Gajeel, I’d almost forgotten what proper music sounded like.”

Gray snorted in agreement. “We should probably head inside now, wouldn’t want to miss our reservation.”

“All you can eat, here we come!” Natsu cheered, holding the door open for Gray, and following him inside.

@fuckyeahgratsu​

#fairy tail #gratsu #gratsuweekend2021 #gray x natsu #media #natsu x gray #Gratsu Weekend 2021 #prompt: first #other #fics

[twomanyideas]

Through the Spyglass - Chapter 2 (Final)

A collaboration by @mdelpin​ and @oryu404​

Gratsu Weekend 2021 Prompt: Disaster Pairing(s): Gray x Natsu, Sting x Rogue

For @walkinginfiction​

AO3 | Prev: Ch 1

Chapter 2

Passing the mirror in their small entrance, Natsu checked himself out just to make sure he looked somewhat presentable. His hair looked good. His shirt wasn’t bad either, save the glitter, but his skin looked like he’d been eating bacon everywhere Sting had applied the lip balm. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to get rid of the greasiness. It kind of worked, but some of that glitter must've been on his hand, and he’d now smeared it over his face, which still smelled like breakfast. As did his hand, and he couldn't even go back upstairs to wash it off because the muffled sounds told him he absolutely did not want to be there right now. So with no other choice, he opened the front door and stepped outside. Fuck my life.

That should have been a choice on those damn dice.

Natsu took a moment to examine the three pieces of mail in his hand. His eyes narrowed as he read: Or Current Resident typed beneath Gray’s name. He wanted to strangle Rogue. Junk mail? Really? What kind of idiot went out of his way to return junk mail?

Great.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that at least the last letter seemed important. Placing it on top, he figured he might as well get this over with. Gray could see what a fucking disaster he was, and he could get back to his famine.

Still, Natsu’s natural optimism refused to let him give up completely, not to mention his curiosity. After days of watching Gray through binoculars, he couldn’t help but be a little excited at meeting him in person.

He crossed the street, keeping his eyes fixed on Gray’s front door until he stood outside of it.

Alright Dragneel, you can do this. You have a valid reason to be here, and you’re looking very fine.

He was about to ring the doorbell when the door opened unexpectedly, putting him face to face with Gray.

The first thing Natsu noticed now that he could see him up close, was that his eyes were indeed blue, and as he stared into them, he couldn’t help but smile at being right.

“Hi?” Gray frowned, giving Natsu an inquisitive once over, gaze lingering on the glitter sticking to his shirt.

Natsu listened with fascination as Gray somehow made that one word sound like the sexiest thing he’d ever heard.

“Are you alright?”

Natsu blinked, confused by the question until he realized he still hadn’t said a word, just stood there gaping like an idiot.

“Mail,” he blurted out, holding out the letters. “I mean, I have your mail.”

“Oh, thanks for bringing it over,” Gray said as he grabbed the letters from Natsu. He looked down at the envelopes, his mouth twitching as he examined them.

“You, uh, really like glitter, huh?”

“Would you believe I was assaulted?”

“By who, the glitter fairy?”

Natsu roared heartily at that, earning himself a smile from Gray. “Close. I'm so calling him that from now on.”

“Well, it certainly looks good on you.”

Was Gray flirting with him? Yes!

“I’m Natsu, I live across the street.” he extended his hand for a handshake, completely forgetting about the lip balm.

“Gray, but you already know that,” Gray shook his hand, and it was only when he let go quickly, his expression changing from friendliness to disgust that Natsu remembered.

Noooooo! Things had been going so well!

Gray sniffed at the air, “Do I smell bacon?”

“Bacon?” Natsu chuckled nervously, wiping his hand on his pants leg, “That’s kind of random.”

“Right.” A beeping noise had Gray pulling out his phone, “Well, it was nice to meet you. I guess I’ll see you around,” he muttered, peering down at his phone’s screen.

“Yeah, bye.”

Natsu couldn’t believe he’d crashed and burned so hard, so fast. Fucking bacon balm. And now he’d have to go back home and listen to the two rabbits. He turned around, but Gray had grabbed him by the arm before he could get moving.

“Change of plans. I need a favor,” he said, dragging him inside the house and up the stairs.

“Hey, let go of me. What the hell?!” Natsu dragged his heels and tried to loosen Gray’s grasp on his arm. He was no slouch, but this guy was just as strong.

“Take off your shirt,” Gray said calmly, once they’d reached his studio. Damn that accent!

“Excuse me? Are you mental?” Natsu might have been protesting, but his fingers were moving, deftly undoing buttons until he stood with his shirt open, debating what to do next.

“Perfect, let me go get some things,” he left the room, and Natsu could hear the tap running, followed by the sound of him rummaging through drawers not too long after.

This wasn’t at all how he’d expected their meeting to go, but he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. He’d already unbuttoned his pants and was working them down his legs when Gray returned holding art supplies, which he immediately dropped.

Oh.

Natsu could literally feel the blood rushing to his cheeks, which was perhaps the best place for it to be right then.

“Whoa! What are you doing?” Gray yelped and looked away, similarly flushed.

“Yeah, I’d like to know as well,” Natsu griped, pulling his pants back up. “First you blow me off, then you drag me in here and ask me to take off clothes.”

“So you figured I’d gone from blowing you off to wanting to blow you instead?”

Gray looked away from Natsu, his hand moving to cover his mouth, but he soon broke into loud belly laughs. “Oh my God, you are so cute. But you’re right, I didn't explain.”

Natsu stood waiting, as patiently as he was able, while Gray picked up his supplies and set them on the desk. “Well?”

“Oh, right. I have a live model project due tomorrow and my mate cancelled on me at the last minute.”

“Mate?”

Of course Gray was already taken. The guy was gorgeous. It had been stupid of him to think otherwise.

“Uhm, what do you call it here?” Gray’s forehead creased in thought, “Buddy?”

Natsu desperately wanted to ask if he was taken, but he’d already humiliated himself plenty. “So what do you need me to do exactly?”

“Not sure yet.” Gray studied him, lifting Natsu’s chin and easing his face from left to right before removing his shirt and tossing it on the desk. He asked Natsu to turn around and observed him some more until finally seeming satisfied.

“Just stand over here,” he ushered him to a spot near the window where the lighting was better, and then posed him like a figurine. Gray fixed his posture, put his hands inside his pockets, and tilted his face at a slight angle. “I guess that’ll do,” he shrugged, taking a few steps back to assess the result. “Now all you need to do is hold that pose so I can draw you for my project. Think you can do that for me?”

Natsu massaged the back of his neck, unsure of what to do. While he’d like to stay and help Gray out, everything he’d said or done since he’d arrived had only made him seem like a complete idiot. Plus, he was notoriously bad at keeping still.

“I’d tell you I’d make it worth your while but, given the pants incident, I’m a little apprehensive about what you might ask for in return.” Gray prodded with a teasing smile.

Damn that accent, and his good looks. He didn’t want to give up and go home yet. Fuck it. How much worse could he possibly make it?

“How about you never bring that up again, and we’ll call it even.”

Gray laughed, “Deal, I’ll even throw in some pizza.”

Natsu tried not to focus on Gray's closeness, or the way his skin sizzled at the subtle touches as Gray moved him back into the pose he’d wanted to draw.

“Now, don’t move,” Gray warned, settling behind his desk. He grabbed a pencil and his sketchpad and got to work.

With not much else to do, Natsu watched Gray work, noticing little patterns here and there. Things he hadn’t been able to see from his window. Like the way Gray would draw his lower lip between his teeth right before doing a bunch of erasing, or the little half-smile he’d get when he was pleased with his progress. But Natsu’s favorite by far was the way his tongue peeked out the corner of his mouth when he seemed to be in deep focus.

Soon, even that wasn’t enough to hold his interest but anytime he tried to strike up a conversation, Gray ignored him. It didn’t help that he was fucking freezing, standing there half naked, or that his phone kept vibrating in his pocket. He began to fidget.

“You’re moving again,” Gray scolded.

“How can you expect me to stay still when it’s freezing in here? What are you, some kind of ice princess?”

“Funny.” he said, giving Natsu a dirty look. “I suppose I could turn the heat up a little. I wouldn’t want your nipples to freeze off before I could draw them.”

Gray got up and stretched, leaving Natsu alone in the room while he went to adjust the thermostat. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket, eager to see what all the notifications were about.

There were dozens of them.

How’s it going? 👀

Did he invite you in?

Way to go! 👍😎

You should have taken the condom I offered, 🍆💦🍑 ​🔥​😏​

Hey, you’re not answering, does that mean you’re busy?! 👀👀👀👀👀

What’s happening!!!!!

It went on and on… until he finally caught up.

Going to look for your binoculars….

Why are you standing there half naked? I see you reading…. Why aren’t you answering me?

He turned to look out the room’s window, mortified to see exactly what he’d been afraid to see: two shadows standing inside his bedroom. He had to close the blinds, but the sound of Gray’s footsteps echoed loudly in the mostly empty apartment, approaching too fast for him to make a move.

“You moved again, is there something outside?” Gray peered out the window.

“I thought I saw a light on in my room,” Natsu explained, pretending to give the matter little importance.

“Here, I made some cocoa to help warm you up. You might as well take a break.”

“Thanks,” Natsu accepted the mug gratefully, even as his phone continued to vibrate in his other hand.

“Shouldn’t you answer that?”

Natsu shook his head, “He’ll stop eventually,” he said, praying it was true. He wouldn’t put it past Sting to show up if he thought something was wrong.

“Needy ex?” Gray sat at his desk, leaning back in his chair with his own mug and studying his drawing. “Those are the worst.”

“Oh no, that’s not it,” He quickly changed the subject, realizing how embarrassing it would be to explain what was actually happening. “Can I see what you’ve done so far?”

“Sure, knock yourself out,” Gray had been about to pass him the sketchbook, when he seemed to reconsider. “On second thought, go wash the bacon grease off your hands first.”

“That’s not what it is! Do you really think I walk around with bacon grease on my hands?” Natsu protested.

“How would I know? I just met you. Anyhow, bathroom’s that way.”

Natsu put his mug down and looked at where Gray was pointing, noticing that the house had a very similar layout to his. His phone continued to vibrate, this time with an incoming call, but he waited until he’d reached the bathroom to answer.

“What?!” Natsu yelled as loudly as he dared.

“Don’t you what me, Dragneel! I was worried. You disappeared and then you weren’t answering,” Sting snapped, “We know nothing about this guy. He could be a serial killer.”

“I’m fine.”

“Yes, I know that now. Where’s your shirt?”

“I’m just posing for him for an assignment!” Natsu hissed, “His model bailed at the last minute.”

“Okay, I guess that sounds legit.”

“Thanks, Mom. Now can you please get out of my room before he sees you?” “He’s taking his shirt off!” Rogue’s voice rang through the phone. “Is that part of the assignment too?” “He’s primping in the mirror now!” Sting added excitedly, “Fixing his hair and… Oh shit.” “What?” “He, uhm... he just waved at us…”

“He what?! Gotta go, bye!” Natsu hung up, powering off the phone before they had a chance to call back.

Natsu turned on the faucet, letting the water warm up while he scrubbed his hands with hand soap. Examining his face in the mirror with a frown, he decided to go ahead and wash it before nervously returning to the studio.

Gray looked up at his approach, handing him the sketchbook without saying a word. Natsu saw that he had indeed taken his shirt off, but decided it best not to bring attention to it. He could feel him watching for his reaction to the drawing, which was much further along than he’d thought.

It was strange to see himself on paper, especially when the drawing made him look much better than he thought he did.

“Do you like it? I mean, it’s not done yet,” Gray crossed his arms over his chest and looked away.

“Like it?” Natsu puzzled, “It’s amazing! Even though you’re making me out to look much nicer than I really do.”

“What are you talking about?” Gray grabbed the sketchbook from Natsu, looking from him to the drawing. “That’s exactly what you look like to me.”

“I-,” Natsu couldn’t even begin to come up with a response to that, so he went ahead and addressed the elephant in the room. “I’m sorry about my friends.”

Gray waved away his apology, “They’re just being good friends. They probably expected you to have come home by now.”

“Yeah. They’re also a pain in the ass though.”

“You think they’re bad? Just wait til you meet my mate Erza.” Gray handed him the mug, “You should drink this before it gets cold.”

Natsu nodded, drinking the whole thing down in one gulp and setting the mug back on the desk.

“Alright, let’s get you back into your pose,” Gray stood up, following Natsu towards the window.

Fingers grazed Natsu’s cheek as Gray adjusted the tilt of his head, resting there as their eyes met. Natsu’s heart raced at the intensity of that gaze. He tried to tell himself that Gray was only studying him for the drawing, but it was hard to think when their bare chests stood so close together. Especially with the added torture of Gray’s fingers tracing their way up Natsu’s face.

“You got your hair wet. Let me fix it.”

Gray’s fingers tugged and pulled at Natsu’s hair, sending shivers of pleasure from his scalp all the way down his spine. “There you go, good as new.”

After making some final adjustments, Gray hurried back to his desk, picking up the pencil and getting back to work. He only looked up at Natsu a few times, the pencil diligently gliding across the paper as he kept adding to the drawing. At some point, he stopped to look at his work, the hint of a smile forming on his lips when he switched the pencil for what looked to be a white pen. He added some finishing touches here and there, and by the time he put the pen down, Natsu was equally relieved and disappointed.

Gray leaned back in his seat and stretched, presenting Natsu with a magnificent view of his chest and abs. It wasn’t like Natsu had never seen it before. The guy walked around his house shirtless more often than not, but he looked so much better up close than through a pair of old binoculars.

“It’s done. You can move now.”

“Oh. Right.”

Natsu took a moment to stretch as well, slowly rolling his shoulders and neck to ease some soreness out of his muscles. Once done, he made a beeline for his shirt, putting it back on and remembering to leave the two top buttons undone.

“So, what do you think?” Gray asked, handing him the sketchbook again so he could see the finished result.

Natsu was stunned. The drawing looked almost like a photograph. That white pen Gray had used towards the end had created some amazing highlights, like the glitter on Natsu’s skin and the light reflecting in his eyes, really making the artwork come to life.

The doorbell rang before he could give his answer.

“Oh good, it’s here. Hold that thought,” Gray led him to the kitchen where he grabbed his wallet from the counter before hurrying down the stairs to answer the door. Natsu continued to stare at the finished drawing with awe, having trouble accepting that this was how Gray saw him.

Soon, Gray returned, holding a large pizza box and a 2 liter of soda. “I did promise you pizza.”

Natsu watched with mixed feelings as Gray set the food on the counter, wanting to tell him he hadn’t needed to do that. That he’d had fun posing for him, but before he could do so his stomach growled in response to the smell of food wafting in the air.

“Is that... bacon?” he sniffed the air, then his hands again to make sure he wasn’t just imagining things.

“Yeah, I got you a bacon pizza considering how much you seem to love the stuff.”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope,” Gray snickered, opening the pizza box and helping himself to a slice.

Natsu grabbed a paper plate, loaded it up with slices, and looked around for somewhere to sit. Finding no other furniture, he sat on the floor with his back against the cabinets. A moment later Gray joined him, handing Natsu a paper cup and placing the two liter in front of them.

“Sorry about this,” Gray said, “I have to get around to buying furniture. I had to move rather unexpectedly, so all I‘ve got right now is my desk and a bed.”

“Well, you can always come over to our place. We’ve got a pretty nice setup.” Natsu bit into his pizza, moaning at the taste and shoving more into his mouth. “This is fantastic!”

Not seeing any napkins, he used the back of his hand to wipe some of the grease off his mouth.

“You’re easy to please, aren’t you?” Gray chuckled, stretching to open a cabinet and snatch a roll of paper towels, which he offered to Natsu. “Good to know.”

Natsu ripped one from the roll and shrugged. “I like things simple.”

“Can’t argue with that. Well, I for one am glad you showed up today. You really saved my bacon,” Gray snorted, dissolving into giggles.

Natsu groaned and pushed Gray with his shoulder.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist.” Gray pushed back, his laughter finally subsiding. “Anyhow, what did you think of your drawing?”

“It looks amazing! You’re so talented.“ Natsu said earnestly. “Can I see some of your other work?”

“Sure, I have some on my phone,” Gray took out his phone and started fiddling with it.

“So, uhm, how come you lost the shirt?”

Gray looked up with a frown, “You’re joking, right? It’s sweltering in here.”

“Sweltering?” Natsu repeated, dumbfounded. “Oh right, Rogue mentioned you were from Isvan.”

“Rogue,” Gray’s eyes sparkled with amusement, “That’s the bloke that stole my mail, right? I thought he was checking me out.”

“Nah, he’s my roommate's boyfriend. He was just trying to get me to come introduce myself.”

“So hang on, the glitter, the hair- that was for me?”

Natsu nodded, and not wanting to see Gray’s reaction to his admission he got up and snatched two more slices of pizza from the box.

“Okay, now I have to ask. What the hell was up with the bacon thing? That was nasty!”

“Right?!” Natsu sat back down and told Gray all about Sting’s makeover attempt, finding it pretty funny now that it was over with. He was delighted to hear Gray laughing along beside him, even as he fended off his attempts to steal one of his slices.

“Oh man, that’s great! You didn’t have to go through all that. Though I gotta say, the glitter definitely sold it.”

“I’ll make sure to let him know.”

“Uhm here,” Gray handed him his phone, “Just tap the screen to go to the next one.”

Natsu wiped his hand on the paper towel before touching the screen, soon becoming lost in Gray’s art. There were some other portraits of men, and Natsu didn't like those much. It made him think Gray might have also sat with them like this. There was a striking portrait of a redhead that caught his attention. She looked intense, certainly not someone you'd want to cross.

“That’s Erza, my mate I was telling you about.”

Natsu nodded, making a mental note not to piss her off before moving on to the next one. There were lots of different styles, including a few that looked like they would be at home in some of his comic books. He commented here and there, continuing to tap the screen, unsure of what it was he was looking for until he found it. The picture of the cat he’d seen Gray draw a few days earlier.

“You like that one, huh?” Gray peeked to see which one he was looking at. “That’s a recent one.”

Natsu smiled fondly, “Yeah, it reminds me of Happy, my childhood cat. We used to do everything together. He was my best buddy.”

He told Gray some stories about Happy, leading to them both sharing silly childhood memories as they finished the rest of the pizza and half of the soda. Much too soon, it was getting dark outside, and Natsu knew their time together was ending.

“Shall I walk you back home?” Gray asked, getting up and dusting off his pants. “You know, just to make sure the glitter fairy won’t worry about you.”

Natsu wanted to decline, he lived right across the street after all, and he didn’t need anyone to protect or watch over him. He’d be fine on his own.

But... that would be stupid.

“Sure!”

“Ok, let me just grab a shirt and turn down the thermostat.” While Gray disappeared into his bedroom, Natsu washed his hands in the sink, not wanting a repeat of earlier.

Gray followed Natsu down the stairs, locking the door behind them. It took them less than a minute to reach Natsu’s front door. He’d just curled his fingers around the doorknob when Gray cleared his throat behind him, causing him to turn and face him.

“So I was thinking, if you like that cat picture, I could, uh, send it to your phone.”

“Oh, sure!” Natsu remained oblivious to what Gray was asking for a few seconds, stuck on the thought of being able to look at the picture whenever he wanted. “Wait, you want my number?”

“Sure, I have a live nude project due next week,” Gray waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Wh-aat?”

“Relax, I was just teasing,” Gray’s laughter washed over Natsu, followed by words he hadn’t expected. “I would like to see you again, though.”

Natsu could only nod and stammer as Gray handed him his phone so he could add his number. He could barely even remember it, distracted as he was by the thought that Gray wanted to see him again, but he made sure he’d plugged the right one by giving himself a call before returning it.

“Well, uhm, good night,” Natsu waved, feeling awkward and not sure what else to do. Should he shake his hand, give him a hug?

He didn’t have long to worry as Gray peered into his eyes with the same intense gaze as he’d done at the studio. Closing the small distance between them with one step, Gray leaned in slowly, tilting his head and closing his eyes as he pressed his lips to Natsu’s for a soft kiss.

It only lasted for a second, but it was enough for Natsu to feel it all the way down to his toes. Gray moved back, licking his lips and opening his eyes.

“I thought about that a lot while I was drawing,” he admitted with a shy smile.

“Oh,” Natsu mumbled, amazed he’d gotten even that much out. His brain was a jumble of inner screaming, disbelief, and just pure joy at the idea that this amazing, gorgeous guy seemed to like him as much as Natsu liked him, and oh dear god that accent. He couldn’t get enough of it.

Gray chuckled, tracing his fingers over Natsu’s cheek one last time before waving goodbye.

Natsu watched Gray walk back to his house, wanting to see him until he went inside, but he found himself being dragged into his house and grabbed by the hands. Next thing he knew he was bouncing up and down with a screeching Sting and an only slightly less enthusiastic Rogue.

Thankfully Rogue kept Sting from carrying Natsu piggyback up the stairs in a victory lap.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he stopped celebrating long enough to check it.

As promised, Gray had sent the cat picture, along with a text.

Sweet dreams 🥓boy 😉

Rolling his eyes at the bacon reference, Natsu typed a reply, thrilled to know his famine was finally at an end.

A/N: We really hope you enjoyed this story at least half as much as we enjoyed writing it. This might be our favorite Natsu, Sting and Rogue combo we’ve ever written. It’s entirely possible we might visit them again someday.

#fairy tail #gratsu #gratsuweekend2021 #stingue #other #update #prompt: disaster #fics

[twomanyideas]

Somewhere Only We Know

A Collaboration by @mdelpin and @oryu404​

Gratsu Weekend 2021 Prompt: Protect Pairing(s): Gray x Natsu, Ultear & Gray

And if you have a minute, why don't we go Talk about it somewhere only we know? This could be the end of everything So why don't we go somewhere only we know? Somewhere only we know

-Somewhere Only We Know by Keane

AO3

Summary: Their combined might hadn’t been enough to take down Zeref, and the one thing Gray might have been able to do to stop him was the one thing he’d promised Natsu he’d never do.

He should have done it anyway.

If he had, they would never have been captured.

0-0

It was Gray’s obsession with fulfilling his promise to his father that had brought him to Alvarez. He’d wanted to find Zeref, and that goddamned book of E.N.D. It had been a stupid idea; he realized that now. But he’d been grieving, and he’d never expected Natsu to track him down.

He’d never expected a lot of things.

Natsu had tried to convince him to return home, but Gray had been too stubborn to listen, and he’d recognized that despite his protests, Natsu had wanted to fight Zeref as well. After all, there’d never been an enemy they couldn’t defeat once they put their shit aside and set their minds to it, and if they died trying- well, he doubted either of them would regret it.

They’d decided they would fight together to make that bastard pay for everything he’d done. For the lives he and his followers had taken with his magic, for the demons he’d created, who had caused so much suffering and destruction. And in doing so, they would protect their Fairy Tail family and prevent any additional bloodshed.

Their combined might hadn’t been enough to take down Zeref, and the one thing Gray might have been able to do to stop him was the one thing he’d promised Natsu he’d never do.

He should have done it anyway.

If he had, they would never have been captured.

He would never have learned who Natsu was.

Never would have said those hateful words he didn’t mean.

Never would have seen the light fade from Natsu’s eyes as he accepted the truth of it.

Gray had let his rage consume him at Zeref’s revelations, and he’d hurt the one person he’d always loved. He’d really fucked up this time.

They were all but helpless now. Their minds and bodies locked by Invel’s spell, their magic contained by sealing cuffs. No way to struggle, nothing to do but live inside their heads while they waited to see what would happen to them.

How were they going to make it out of this one when no one knew where they were?

It couldn’t end like this, not after everything they’d been through together. There had to be a way out, they just needed to figure out what that was, and soon. But first, Gray needed to make Natsu listen to him so that he could take his words back and beg for his forgiveness.

But the words wouldn’t come, no matter how much he tried.

Hours passed in uneasy silence until a lacrima lit up the inside of their cell, broadcasting its feed in vivid color and sound. The screen showed other prisoners, robbed of their dignity and forced to perform sexual acts. They seemed barely human. Used, abused, and reduced to nothing but toys.

It didn’t matter how much Gray tried to look away or willed his eyes closed; they remained riveted to that screen, even as the sounds and images made his stomach wrangle up in disgust.

Soon that would be them.

The message was obvious: their punishment had yet to begin.

Gray didn’t much care what happened to him, but the thought of anyone but him touching Natsu that way was enough to make his blood boil. They belonged to each other and no one else. That was how it had always been.

After what seemed like forever, the lacrima finally turned off, revealing Natsu’s strangled cries as he tried to break through the collar using brute force.

“Stop it!” Gray pleaded, “You’re only hurting yourself.”

Natsu stopped his efforts, but he still refused to look at him.

Guilt crushed Gray even more than the thought of what the future had in store for them. All these years had passed, and he hadn’t learned a goddamn thing. Just like when he’d gone after Deliora as a child, convinced that he was strong enough to defeat him, he had underestimated his enemy’s power. Ur had paid the price then, and now both he and Natsu would suffer a fate worse than death for his folly.

“This is all my fault,” Gray strained against the spell, stretching his arm enough so that his fingers grazed Natsu’s hand. “I won’t let them touch you.”

He stopped short of making a promise, but he could feel his eyes burn with rage at his impotence.

“Maybe, uhm... maybe if I agree to join him, Zeref will let you go.”

Natsu had finally spoken, but his words were not what Gray had wanted to hear. What was the idiot thinking? Like he’d ever let that happen.

Gray couldn't care less that Zeref had been waiting for Natsu for hundreds of years, or that it had been his brotherly love that had brought Natsu back to life. His heart might have been in the right place once, but it had become corrupted over the years as his mind deteriorated. A life by Zeref’s side would be a nightmare for Natsu, forced to become the demon that Igneel had tried so hard to protect him from. Gray would never allow that outcome, certainly not for his sake.

“No! Besides, we both know I’d never leave without you.”

“Then you’re an idiot.” Natsu declared, turning away to stare at the wall. “Because there’s nothing here worth saving.”

“Don’t you dare say that! You know I didn’t mean any of the shit I said.”

“No. You were right. I’m E.N.D, Gray. A Book of Zeref, no different from Deliora or Mard Geer. You even came here to kill me.“

Gray sighed, realizing there was no easy fix to what he’d done. It was going to take them a long time to get through this. Time they didn’t have.

“None of that matters now. You saw that lacrima. Who knows how long we’ll be able to stay us. I don’t want to waste any of it arguing about things we can’t do anything about.”

“I’m sorry.”

Gray could hear the tremble in Natsu’s voice and it broke his heart. Why was this happening now?

“You don’t have to apologize to me, Natsu. None of this is your fault, it’s his. All you’ve ever done is help others.”

He grabbed Natsu’s hand in his and pulled with all his might until he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend, the chain from their collars dangling between them. “I’m so sorry I got you into this,” Gray murmured into Natsu’s ear as he ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair.

“Sealing cuffs didn’t work on those Tartaros demons since they used curses. Do you feel anything like that at all? Anything that can help break your collar?”

Natsu shook his head, looking defeated for the first time since Gray had known him.

“Oh well, it was worth a shot,” Gray shrugged, acting like he wasn’t giving the matter any importance, for Natsu’s sake.

“Just promise me you won’t do what you said before. Whatever happens, I want to stay with you.”

“I don’t want... that to happen to you.”

“I don't want that to happen to you, either.”

They lay down on one of the cots in their cell, clinging to each other tightly. Gray refused to let go, fully aware that things could change at any moment. He reveled in Natsu’s warmth, letting his fingers travel Natsu’s skin, trying to soothe away the hurt his words had caused. Over and over, Gray reminded Natsu of how good he was, how much he loved him, and how he’d rather die than live without him. But Natsu remained eerily silent. It worried him.

Gray!

Gray heard a voice calling out to him, waking him up from the little sleep he’d managed, but it was too faint for him to recognize who it belonged to. Natsu was still snuggled up against him as he slept. Listening to his snores made Gray smile. He could almost pretend they were back home, their capture nothing more than a nightmare he’d finally woken from.

He opened his eyes to find that although nothing had changed in their cell, that voice still called out to him. It felt closer this time.

Gray!

Was that Ultear? How?

“Ultear?” He called out to her, even though he realized there was no way she could be there.

But against all of his expectations, Ultear appeared before him a moment later, looking as young as she had at Akane Beach months earlier.

“Good, you heard me. I had a hard time locking on to you.”

“How did you- I saw you, you were...”

“Old?” Ultear laughed, “I was. I cast a spell during the Dragon King Festival, thinking I could turn back time and fix everything, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Even though it used up all my life force, I could only get one minute back.”

“You saved me.”

“Yes, and thanks to that I can do this now.”

“You mean you can get us out of here?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m not really here, not in the way you think. I exist only as a concept within a time distortion. I can’t get you out, but I can offer you an escape.”

“You and Natsu, you’ve both died and were brought back to life through magical interference. Because of that, you’re technically living outside of time.”

“Ultear?” Natsu sat up, rubbing his eyes, “Why can’t I smell you?”

Ultear moved closer until Gray thought she was going to touch the bars of their cell. Her expression became apologetic when her body went straight through them.

“Not now, Natsu,” Gray peered at Ultear, “You said you can offer us an escape, what did you mean?”

“I can take your souls with me. You would escape the horrible future that awaits you and exist as I do, and you’d be together.”

“So we’d die?” Natsu frowned.

“Not exactly,” Ultear shook her head. “Your souls would pass on, leaving your bodies behind. They’ll still suffer your fate, but you won't experience any of it. You must decide quickly, they’ll come for you in about one minute.”

“I don’t care if we die, we both have once already,” Gray said resolutely, his mind inevitably going back to the images of molestation on the lacrima, once again thinking that would soon be their daily fare. “At least this way, we can stay together. Or would you rather live out your remaining days as a slave for those sick perverts?”

“Of course not! I just wanted to underst- wait a minute... When the hell did you die?”

“Boys!” Ultear snapped, her tone reminding Gray of Ur whenever she tried to break up fights between him and Lyon.

He’d never see him again, or Erza, or any of their other friends. But odds were they wouldn’t have, anyway. From the sad look on Natsu’s face, Gray could tell he was having similar thoughts.

“What do you say, Flame Brain? You ready to spend eternity with me?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t like I could get rid of you, anyway,” Natsu joked weakly, a small smile breaking through his grief.

The sound of footsteps approaching their cell grew louder, and Gray snuck in one last kiss.

“Grab hold of my hands and don’t let go of each other,” Ultear offered each of them a hand and they grabbed on, clasping each other’s hands tightly. There was no pain, although they felt a slight tearing sensation when their souls separated from their bodies and entered the time dimension.

Neither of them looked back.

It saddened Gray that Ultear had needed to come to his rescue once again, but he was grateful. At least this time, no one had died to save him.

They had earned that much.

Ultear tried to explain the rules of the time dimension to them, but they didn’t really get them. It was hard to understand what was real, but they didn’t worry about it much. It was just somewhere only they knew. A place that existed just for them, where they could bicker, laugh, and love each other for as long as time existed.

Sometimes Gray worried that Ultear’s rescue had all been a dream, a place he escaped to to avoid what was happening to his and Natsu’s bodies. He thought if that were true; it was a kindness he shouldn't question.

Either way, it didn’t matter. They had their magic, and they had each other. That was all they could ever ask for.

They discovered they could visit just about any place they remembered, but their favorite spot was still the river by the old Fairy Tail building. It held so many memories for them, and they spent countless days sparring and coming up with endless competitions. The dumber the better.

#fairy tail #gratsu #gratsuweekend2021 #gray x natsu #fics #other #media

[fuckyeahgratsu]

We’d like to thank everyone who supported this event!

@mdelpin and @oryu404 for organizing it.

And all the amazingly talented people who took part:

@allen-kunekune Cherrypopz @lollypopinky @mdelpin and @oryu404 ( @twomanyideas, @ft-dads-au) @splendidlyimperfect @gray--dragneel and @gaymirajane 

Thank you so much for helping us keep this ship going! Check out their blogs and profiles to find more amazing content.

We will continue to accept late entries. Please remember to use the gratsuweekend2021 tag in your first five or mention @fuckyeahgratsu in your post. If we somehow missed your entry, please send us an ask, we’ll be happy to reblog it for you!

This will be our only event this year.

#gratsuweekend2021 #thank you post

[splendidlyimperfect]

When Gray wakes up one night with a voice in his head, the last thing he expects is to suddenly be sharing a body with a demon. Natsu is nothing like Gray expected, though. He's surprisingly charming, and more concerned about getting Gray to eat vegetables than he is with taking over the world. Since Gray can't push him away like he does with everyone else, he begrudgingly accepts Natsu's place in his life - for now. But when Natsu ends up needing Gray's help, what started out as an inconvenience turns into a road trip - and a friendship - that changes Gray's life.

written for @fuckyeahgratsu​ gratsu weekend 2021 event 

day 3 (super late but still!); prompt: consume

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 Fandom: Fairy Tail Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster Characters: Gray Fullbuster, Natsu Dragneel, Lyon Vastia, Mard Geer Tartarus Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Humor, Adventure, Demonic Possession, but the good kind, demon Natsu, References to Depression, Depressed Gray, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Sort Of, Road Trips, Falling In Love, Natsu's not an evil demon, he really just wants to take care of Gray, Gray sucks at feelings

-----

“Let me get this straight.” Lyon stared at Gray from where he stood in the kitchen, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and boxers. “You want me to help you find a demon, then exorcise that demon so that the other demon inside of you – that I apparently summoned while drunk – can get back into his body.”

“He’s not very bright, is he?” Natsu said. “I told you he was a shitty warlock.”

Gray snorted and Lyon raised an eyebrow. “He says you’re a shitty warlock,” Gray explained. “And yes, that’s exactly what I need you to do. Can you help me or not?”

Lyon stared at Gray, then moved closer until they were nearly nose-to-nose and peered into his eyes. “I don’t believe you,” he said eventually.

“Why the hell would I lie about this?”

“’cause you probably just took something you shouldn’t have last night and you’re still hallucinating.”

Continue reading on AO3

Gray groaned in exasperation. “You’re the one who did the goddamn spell!” Then he glared at Lyon, adding, “Why did you do it, anyway?”

“Ex,” Natsu reminded him. Gray’s eyes flicked up to his blurry reflection in the microwave. Natsu’s image was standing directly behind him, so close he almost had his chin on Gray’s shoulder. The look in his eyes was somewhere between disgust and amusement.

“You were pissed at Loke, weren’t you?” Gray asked. Lyon’s scowl gave him the confirmation he was looking for. “You seriously tried to summon a demon to… what, beat up your ex?”

“I wasn’t trying to summon a demon!” Lyon said, holding up his hands in surrender. “It was just some stupid spell from one of those forums online. It didn’t do anything.”

“Except it did.” Gray gestured vaguely to where Natsu’s reflection was behind him. “And now your stupidity is my problem.”

Lyon shook his head. “Demons aren’t even real,” he insisted. “Seriously, did you try the cookies from the top shelf of the pantry? ‘cause I’m pretty sure—”

“I’m not fucking high!” Gray snapped. He rubbed his temples where his headache was still lingering. “I’m not high,” he said again quietly. “I just want to fix this.” He looked back at Natsu’s reflection in the microwave. “Can you show him? Prove that I’m not crazy?”

Natsu hummed uncertainly, not meeting Gray’s gaze. “Yes,” he said. “But you’re not gonna like it.” Gray’s heart sunk. “I’d need to… take over,” Natsu said. “Everything. Just for a second.”

“You want me to let you…” Gray trailed off and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. All the conflicting emotions running through him – his and Natsu’s – were compounded by the heavy sense of fear that grew in his stomach.

“We can figure out something else,” Natsu said quickly. “Maybe I can—”

“It’s fine.” Gray forced the words out as he opened his eyes and looked back at Lyon’s puzzled face. “Just…” Lyon looked like he might say something, but Gray shook his head, holding up a hand. “Shut up and give me a second.”

He let out the tight breath in his chest, trying to relax the tension in his shoulders.

“I promise it’ll just be for a second,” Natsu said. He sounded regretful. “It’ll feel weird – like when I was petting the cat – but I won’t do anything scary. Well, it’ll be a bit scary for Lyon, but I’m not going to hurt you.”

Gray hesitated. Natsu had only been in his mind for less than a day, but something in Gray’s gut said that he could trust him, even if he was a demon.

“Okay, just make it quick.”

“What are you—”

Lyon’s words faded away as Gray exhaled, closing his eyes, and letting Natsu’s presence overwhelm his mind. It felt warm, like he was sitting next to a campfire and watching sparks flicker up into the sky. The tingling sensation that had filled him earlier came back in full force, leaving him feeling like his hands and feet had both fallen asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, everything looked red.

“Esaeun xnae ya qnuy.” The voice was his, but not his, rough and layered with words that felt too big and wrong for his mouth. They were unfamiliar, but somehow Gray could understand them – he’s telling the truth.

Lyon stared at Gray, eyes wide with terror. “Your eyes are glowing,” he managed.

“Yes. I’m a demon. They do that.” Natsu spoke in the same infernal language, but he sounded more irritated than angry. “I also have sharp claws and could rip your heart out if I felt like it, but I just ate a cinnamon bun and I’m in a forgiving mood. Now do the damn locator spell.”

As quickly as it had taken him over, the warmth and tingling in Gray’s body disappeared, and his vision quickly returned to normal. Lyon was still standing in front of him, but the expression of disbelief was gone, and now he just looked stunned.

“You okay?” Natsu asked in his own voice in the back of Gray’s mind.  

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Gray reassured him. “Are you convinced now?” he asked Lyon, who nodded slowly. “Good. Now get your shit together and help me figure this out.”

~

Natsu’s body was in the middle of nowhere.  

“Well then,” Lyon said. He and Gray sat cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom and stared at the map where the black mark had settled – a little ways away from a tiny town called Belle Creek in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.

“It says only 26 people live there,” Gray said, looking at the information on his phone. “What the hell is a demon doing out in the mountains?”

“I thought he’d be somewhere big,” Natsu said. “A city, or something. Y’know, causing destruction and mayhem. Killing people. Demon stuff.”

“Maybe he’s retired,” Lyon said. Gray rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think demons retire.”

“Well, what else would he be doing in the middle of the mountains?”

“Hiding bodies?” Natsu suggested.

Gray sighed and rubbed his temples before looking back down at his phone. He flipped over to the maps and typed in ‘Belle Creek.’

“It’s ‘close,’ huh?” he said to Natsu, raising his eyebrow at the distance – nearly 45o0 kilometers. “That’s at least a three-day drive.”

“At least I got the right country!” Natsu insisted. “Three days isn’t a long time. Not when you’ve been around for almost two hundred years.”

“Well, I’ve only been around for twenty-six years,” Gray said. He looked up at Lyon, who was still staring at him with a baffled expression. “I need to borrow your car.”

“You… what?”

“Your car.” Gray shoved his phone back in his pocket and tapped the map. “I’m not taking the bus to the middle of fucking nowhere. And this is your fault, so I’m taking your car.”

“You can’t just…” Lyon looked down at the map, then back up at Gray. “What’s your plan? You’re just gonna drive out to this place and, what? Ask if anyone’s seen a demon in human skin? You don’t even know what he looks like.”

“Yes, I do.” Gray pointed to his reflection in the bedroom mirror where he could see Natsu, sitting next to him on the floor. Natsu stuck his tongue out at Gray, who rolled his eyes. “I can see him. He’ll be easy to find. Now, show me how to do an… exorcism, or whatever.”

“Or whatever?” Lyon made a sound of exasperation. “You can’t just—you have no idea what you’re doing. You don’t even have any magic! How are you gonna…”

“I’ll help,” Natsu said as Lyon continued to rant. He picked at his nails. “With the magic, I mean. I’d have to take over again, just for a little, but I could help, if you wanted. Unless you wanna bring him with you—” he gestured at Lyon “—but I doubt he’d be much help.”

Gray snorted. “I’m not spending six days in a car with this asshole,” he said, gesturing at Lyon, who stopped mid-rant and glared at him. “Just show me the spells,” Gray said. “Natsu can help me figure out the rest.”

An hour and a half later they were both back in the kitchen and Gray was shoving a handful of books and old parchments into his bag. Lyon leaned on the counter and gave Gray a serious look.

“Are you sure about this?” He hesitated, then added, “I know you haven’t been… great, not since she—”

“Shut up,” Gray said quickly, gritting his teeth. “I’ve told you a hundred times that I’m fine.” He could feel Natsu’s uncertainty as he turned away from Lyon and snatched his car keys from the hook on the wall, then grabbed the front door handle and swung it open with more force than necessary.

“Gray, I—”

“I can handle this.” Gray interrupted Lyon’s concerned words. He turned around in the doorway, doing his best to give Lyon a reassuring look. “I’ll be back in a week.”

~

Gray stood in the doorway to his bedroom, feeling the familiar sense of frustration and defeat as he stared at the piles of dirty clothes and dresser covered in empty coffee cups. He sighed, making his way to the closet, and searching for his duffle bag.

“What’s wrong?” Natsu asked. He’d been quiet the whole drive home, leaving Gray alone with his thoughts.

Gray shook his head. “Nothing. I just have to pack.” He gestured vaguely to the clothes.

“You’re sad again.”

“I’m not sad,” Gray snapped. “I’m…” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m just tired.”

“But it feels like sad,” Natsu said, sounding genuinely puzzled. Before Gray could get mad at him, he quickly added, “I’m not spying! I promise, you’re just – when your feelings are really strong, it’s hard for me to not feel them too. And I feel sad, not tired. It’s weird.”

Gray groaned, tossing the duffle bag on the bed, and rummaging through one of the piles until he found a few mostly clean shirts. As he started to pack up his toothbrush and razor, he gave in.

“My life has kinda sucked lately,” he said. He looked up into the mirror, where Natsu was meeting his gaze and listening intently. “A lot of shitty stuff happened where I used to live, and sometimes it makes me… tired. Of everything.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Gray shoved the toiletries bag into his duffle, then looked around the messy room. “It’s over and I live here now. I’m just trying to figure shit out and I don’t wanna think about any of that stuff. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Natsu was quiet as Gray headed to the front door and started to put on his shoes. Happy, who had been sleeping on the couch, stretched out and meandered over to them.

“Lyon’s gonna take care of you for a bit,” Gray said to Happy as he meowed and rubbed himself against Gray’s leg. “Feel free to bite him.”

Natsu laughed. “Can we pet him again?” he asked. “If not, that’s okay, I just—”

“Sure.” Gray ran his fingers over Happy’s head and scratched behind his ears. He registered Natsu’s surprise, then excitement, and then his arm started to tingle again. Now that he was expecting it, it wasn’t as strange. A warm sensation spread through him as he stroked Happy’s fur.

“You’re happy,” he murmured as he watched his hand with a strange detachment. Apparently feeling emotions went both ways. It was strange – the sensation of contentedness was familiar but alien at the same time.

“I love cats,” Natsu said, scratching Happy under the chin before dissolving his control over Gray’s arm. Gray stood up, looking over at Natsu’s excited expression in the mirror before shrugging on his coat.

“You ready?” he said as he shouldered the duffel bag. He spun Lyon’s keys around his fingers and let some of Natsu’s excitement take over as they headed out the door. “Let’s go get your body back.”

#fairy tail #gratsu #gratsuweekend2021 #gray fullbuster #natsu dragneel #fairy tail fanfiction #ft fanfic #update #new chapter #my fic #highway to hell

[allen-kunekune]

Dans le feu de l'action

Titre :  Dans le feu de l'action

Fandom : FairyTail

Relation : Gratsu

Par @fuckyeahgratsu   🔥Sunday: Consume / Protect ❄️

Gray avait l'impression que la scène se passait au ralentie. Normalement leurs missions se passaient relativement bien, se focalisant plus sur les combats et l'actions que sur un réel danger. Normalement leurs missions étaient simples. Il fallait servir de garde de corps pour des riches, chasser des animaux sauvages ou des créatures magiques hors de champs ou de village, parfois des missions d'infiltration ou de guilde noir à détruire quand les autres membres de Fairytail n'avait pas prit les missions car trop peu payé et souvent au gout de l'équipe trop facile.

 L'équipe aimait plus le voyage et la découverte que les récompenses, malgré que Lucy était souvent juste pour son loyer. Cela restait néanmoins de bon moment entre amis.

 Mais cette mission ne se passait pas comme prévu. Gray voyait impuissant Natsu être brutalement jeter sur le sol prêt de lui, tenant son flan d'une main qui sous l'horreur de son partenaire  elle devenait rapidement rouge. Gray cria son nom, se précipitant vers à ses cotés alors que le monstre rugissait et se préparer à frapper de nouveau le mage encore sonné et blessé.

 Pour une récompense pour une fois assez correcte, l'équipe s'était mit en route vers le village montagnard de Soldnage. Ils devaient simplement chasser une sorte de créature qui vivait normalement dans le haut de la montagne et qui c'était mit à attaquer leurs élevages de chèvres.

 La créature c'était révélé être un gorille des montagnes, une créature de plus de trois mètres de haut, aux griffes et crocs acérés, et à la capacité de plutôt dangereux de soufflés du vent avec sa bouche. Cela n'avait pas été prévu par l'équipe. Erza n'arrivait pas à lui faire face assez longtemps pour permettre aux autres d'attaquer. La rousse avait été soufflée sur l'esprit que Lucy avait invoqué pour l'aider rapidement après quelques tentatives.

 Cela avait laissé au gorille la possibilité de s'attaquer au reste du groupe maintenant qu'Erza avait été écarté du combat. Personne ne l'avais vue venir quand il chargea Lucy avant de brutalement changer de direction et mettre Gray a terre avec sa magie.

 Tout était passé si vite.

 Le monstre venait de saisir la jambe de Gray, sa main forte serrant douloureusement sa cheville avant de le jetait brutalement contre le sol. Gray entendit ses amis criaient quand il rencontra le sol de la montagne rocheuse, jurant qu'il avait put entendre quelque chose craqué sous lui et espérait que ce n'était pas l'une de ses cotes.

 Il eu juste le temps de se redressait pour voir la créature marché vers lui, rugissant avant de courir pour sans doute finir avec l'un de ses opposants. Le mage de glace n'avait pas le temps de se relevait, la jambe encore un peu douloureuse et le temps manquant cruellement. Gray se préparait à un invoquer un mur de glace quand l'attention du monstre fut détourné.

 Natsu venait de sauté sur le gorille des montagnes, les poings enflammait et un air féroce sur le visage. Gray fut impuissant alors qu'il pouvait voir la patte de la bête frappé durement Natsu, projetant violement Natsu au sol à quelques mètres de lui.

 Natsu avait connu pire, mais Gray vit l'autre mage gémir en atterrissant sur le sol, sa main se levant aussitôt sur son flan sanglant. Les griffes de la bête avait put rivaliser avec les épées d'Erza, et le torse nu du mage de feu avait été une ouverture trop visiblement pour le monstre. Lucy cria, inquiète pour les deux garçons et Erza.

 Le gorille rugit, marchant vers eux alors que Gray inquiet se précipitait vers Natsu toujours au sol et sonné. Ses mains brillaient de magie, observant inquiet la plaie vif des quatre griffures profondes qui entaillait le torse de Natsu. Le sang coulait librement entre les doigts de Natsu, se rependant lentement sur le sol malgré que le garçon tenté d'arrêté l'hémorragie.

 "Natsu !" Cria Gray, arrêtant l'hémorragie du mieux qu'il pouvait avec sa magie et ses propres mains. L'autre garçon gémit d'inconfort sous la sensation de froid soudain sur sa peau. Le temps pressé et Gray se retourna un court instant. Le gorille cria derrière eu, ne laissant le temps à Gray de monté seulement un mur de glace entre eux et la bête. Celui-ci ne résista pas au coup de poing de la bête, explosant en plusieurs éclats devant les deux garçons.

Gray était naturellement devant Natsu, serrant le chasseur de dragon dans ses bras en maintenant une de ses mains en partie gelait sur l'hémorragie, laissant l'autre tenir Natsu contre lui de manière protectrice. Il ne pouvait qu'espérer que son dos soit suffisant pour protéger son partenaire d'un nouveau coup. Il ne pouvait rien faire de plus alors que les choses s'enchainaient trop rapidement pour pensée.

 Mais le coup n'est pas venu.

 La créature gémit, dérapant sur le seul alors qu'il était frappé sur le coté. Erza venait de le charger, de nouveau d'attaque avec Lucy et Taurus pour l'épaulé. Gray soupira de soulagement, mais ne lâcha pas un seul instant Natsu tant que le groupe n'était pas retourné au village, triomphant et offrant au chasseur de dragon d'avoir les soins qu'il méritait. Il se promettait de disputer l'autre mage plus tard pour son geste téméraire, profitant simplement pour le moment de l'avoir en bonne santé à coté de lui.

#gratsuweekend2021 #gratus #fairy tail #natsu dragneel #gray fullbuster #gay romance