"My lips got lost on the way to the kiss—
that's how drunk I
was."
― Rumi

Fantasia!

Last year, Gray missed Fantasia because he was still in the hospital. He remembered how depressed he had been feeling, furious at his bad luck, hating life, wishing he had just died in battle, feeling that would have been more noble than the wretched life he had, filled with pain, surgeries, blood transfusions, and staring at a mutilated leg that doctors warned would never work again.

Now, he could not be happier. He and Natsu teamed up for a fire-and-ice float. Natsu was the flaming dragon atop a makeshift mountain they made on the float, and Gray was the gallant prince defending from the dragon's flames with his sword and shield of ice. The kids loved it!

It was a parade of lights and magic. There was always a special emotion associated with Fantasia, memories of the past, both good and bad. Mostly it was a time to be with friends, show off a little to the townspeople, laugh, drink, and party. It was the harvest festival, and food abounded.

So did girls!

It was normal, almost traditional, for young men and women in the town to rush up to their favorite wizards after the parade and flirt with them. Lucy loved the attention. Erza was indifferent but looked generally happy. Evergreen flaunted her fairy wings. Juvia looked overwhelmed and dizzy. Lisanna laughed with the men and agreed to many animal transformations, apparently oblivious that she was making some men's fantasies come true. Timid Wendy shied away from admirers, Carla did her best to defend her, until finally Mest and Romeo both came to her side and shoved aside a few perverts. Mira, of course, had the most admirers by far and posed for many pictures.

The men were no different. Admirers vied for the attention of Laxus, Freed, Elfman, Gajeel, Gray, Natsu, and others. Each acted in their own ways. Laxus looked utterly unconcerned, standing there for photos with folded arms and a stone-cold face. Freed looked ready to panic from all the fawning women and tried to hide near Laxus. Elfman awkwardly blushed as girls cooed over his muscles and called him manly. Gajeel had grabbed Levy out of a mob of men and split so fast, townsfolk looked around in confusion, wondering where he could have gone.

As for Gray, he personally liked this part of the festival. In the past, he would flirt around, slip away with a group of girls, and end up with one—sometimes more than one—by the end of the night. It was a good time to get laid.

Even now, although he had no intension of going home with any of them, he smiled and chatted with the ladies. He thanked their compliments and showed them magic tricks. He gave one lucky lady an ice rose.

Natsu was trying to deal with the people around him. He signed some autographs and blindly accepted a few business cards with girls winking and telling him to call them on lacrima sometime. However, he kept looking over to Gray.

Gray looked like he was having fun, but seeing him around a lot of girls made Natsu burn with jealousy. He knew how Gray used to be. People said he was only slightly better than Loke when it came to women.

Did he really like all the female attention?

Natsu usually fled to the guild, just like Gajeel had done. He might pose for a few pictures or accept some gifts, but he never stayed around like this before.

He never realized how many admirers he had!

Happy flew up with a large sack and began to put away the boxes of chocolate and wrapped candies from girls, excited at the idea of eating all these sweets later. Natsu was almost amused by all the candies they were getting. Maybe sticking around was not such a bad thing.

Then he saw some lady by Gray get a little too close and rub her hand up his arm. Before Natsu could react, some boisterous girl bounced up, wrapped her arm around Natsu, and told him to smile as her friend took a picture. Natsu focused back on his own group, grinned, and saw the camera flash. The girl squealed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Natsu gawked at her boldness, and ladies in the crowd either whistled or shouted in protest.

"I wanna kiss the dragon!"

Someone else kissed his cheek, and Natsu blushed. What the hell was going on? Then he felt soft warmth on the other cheek and did not realize they were lips until he heard a smack.

"W-wait!" he cried out. This was too much!

It felt like kisses were raining down, only on his cheek and head, but there were too many to figure out where they were coming from. He wanted to shout at them, but that was rude. Makarov specifically told him not to do anything rude today.

Suddenly, the pressing throng moved away, and Natsu felt a cold arm around him. He had ducked down, hands over his mouth to make sure no one kissed him on the lips, and he looked up with relief as Gray stood watch over him.

"The dragon is mine!" he declared.

Natsu's eyes widened. Did he ... publicly ... to all these people...?

Then Gray looked down at Natsu. There were lipstick marks all over his face, and that pissed him off. How dare he let his guard down like that!

Natsu cowered under than angry glare. He was a little jealous just because some girl had touched Gray, yet here he was, attacked by kisses and not stopping them.

Gray snagged up Natsu's chin and lifted it forcefully. "At least you protected your lips." Then he leaned over and gave Natsu a lingering kiss on the mouth. Girls all around groaned in disappointment, while others squeaked at how hot that was. Quite a few took pictures.

Natsu moaned soft enough so no one else could hear. These were the lips he loved! Only these lips made his heart flare up like this.

Gray pulled back, letting their lips pop, but he still glared down. "You're in trouble," he warned softly. "Go to the guild. I'll be there later."

"Where are you going?" asked Natsu.

Gray's eyes narrowed. "I'm a little pissed right now."

Natsu gulped. Shit... He did not blame Gray, though. If the tables were turned, he would have been so enraged, he probably would have set something on fire.

Happy flew up with the sack of candies. "I'll take these back home. You go on, Natsu." He flew off, but his tail drooped a little as he sensed the tension between the two.

Natsu wondered if he could apologize, but it was not even his fault. The girls had attacked him! Still, he looked silently up at Gray, hoping for forgiveness.

"Go!" Gray ordered.

Natsu sadly left, struggling to be polite as he pushed aside admirers. He broke free from the crowd and made a lonely trek to the guild, feeling cold and guilty for angering Gray.

When he entered the guild hall, Gajeel burst into laughs. Others who were around chuckled and pointed at him. Natsu froze. What ... why were they laughing?

Bisca came up to him with Asuka on her hip. "Natsu, you ... um ... probably want to wash your face. If Gray saw you like that, he'd bring on an early winter."

"My face?" Natsu asked, and he reached up, wiping his fingers over his cheek. When he looked at the hand, there was pink, glittery lipstick all over his fingertips. "What the...?"

"Mama, I wanna kiss Natsu, too!" shouted Asuka. She leaned dangerously over and smacked her lips against him. "Do I have lipstick now, Mama? Do I?"

"Lipstick?" Natsu ran to the restrooms and looked in the mirror. Finally, he saw the lip marks that covered his cheeks, forehead, and some were even in his hair. "What the hell? And Gray saw this? Shit!"

He turned on the water and set about scrubbing his face, but the lip paint did not easily come off. He scrubbed and scrubbed, wet a paper towel to wipe vigorously, and still the vermilion and pink marks only smeared.

Alzack finally entered the restroom and walked over to Natsu. "Bisca figured you might have a problem and suggested this."

Natsu took the bottle marked makeup remover and tried it. Much easier, the lipstick marks began to come off his skin.

Alzack stood to the side, chuckling as he watched. "Lots of lady admirers, huh? I would say you're lucky, but I'm not so sure it's a good thing for someone in a relationship."

Natsu grumbled, "Yeah, Gray was pissed."

Alzack gawked. "He saw? Oh damn. You're in for a lot of punishment. Better make it up to him."

"Like he's much better," argued Natsu. "I was just sticking around because I was waiting for him, and he kept flirting. I bet he likes to flirt with all those girls."

Alzack let out a low whistle. "Looks like you both are in for a domestic dispute. Take it outside if it turns to fists and fighting, okay?"

Natsu muttered something, maybe an acknowledgement. Finally, his face was clean but a little swollen from scrubbing. He handed the makeup remover back to Alzack and returned to the main hall.

There were more people now. It seemed the wizards were done socializing with fans and ready to party hard with Fairy Tail. However, there was no sign of Gray. Natsu frowned, but he figured it was best if Gray cooled off his anger before coming here. Natsu really did not want to fight with him.

Still, he wondered where Gray could have gone.

Gray knew that being mad was just part of jealousy, and he knew Natsu was hardly the sort of guy who would really go for a bunch of women like that. He knew Natsu was struggling to obey Makarov and behave; otherwise, he would have shoved those pesky fangirls aside.

He knew this!

He was still furious.

Gray tried to remember if he had ever in his life felt jealousy. Maybe he was envious of strength, of powerful people like Laxus, Gildarts, and Erza; however, in matters of love...

Well, he had never honestly fallen in love before, so he supposed he never had a chance to be jealous.

He could not figure out what to do, so he did the only thing he actually wanted to do. He went to a bar to drink.

He knew Fairy Tail was partying, but out here there were lots of people willing to buy him free drinks, guys who were amazed to see simple magic tricks, and he had to admit, talking with a few ladies made his drunken mind feel like he was getting back at Natsu.

Before he knew it, it was past midnight. He figured he should at least show up at Fairy Tail, talk to Natsu, and settle things with him. He was still a little mad, but the alcohol made it all seem so ridiculous.

He had not quite arrived at the guild when the world seemed to tip. Gray grabbed a light post and hung onto it. Just how much did he drink?

"Gray-sama?"

He looked up and saw two Juvias. No, three. He blinked a few times until he saw clearer. She was walking up to him with a concerned look.

"Juvia." He gave her a lopsided smile as he swayed in inebriation. "Y'r lookin' bootiful!"

She blushed and tucked a strand of hair back. "It seems Gray-sama drank too much."

He walked up to her and cupped her cheek. "You really are lovely, though." His fingers drifted down her soft hair. "I always thought that you were the prettiest girl in Fairy Tail."

Her eyes widened. "G-Gray-sama!"

Although Natsu was excessively drunk, half-collapsed on a table and swirling his finger around some spilled beer, his nose locked on to a smell he had been waiting for all night. Gray! He leaped up, disturbing Happy who had passed out hours ago. He ran out of the guild, ready to both leap into Gray's arms and whack him over the head for making him wait so long.

He saw Gray, and he saw someone else. It was too dark to see for certain. He sniffed, but maybe his nose was drunk too, because he did not smell anyone strange, only guild members. He squinted, but the person with Gray was right in front of a tree. There was no way to see her.

He saw Gray, though. He was smiling at the person, and it appeared that he was caressing her face. Natsu's skin prickled. What was going on?

"How about we go to my place?" his keen ears overheard.

Natsu shook his head. No way! Just because some idiot girls were kissing him ... was Gray trying to get even? This was ridiculous!

He saw Gray wrap his arm around the girl. He saw the dress, but Natsu still could not see her face since Gray's body was now in the way of her. He fisted up his hands, ready to punch that stripping bastard for cheating on him. He marched forward two steps...

And that was the last thing he remembered before falling down the stairs, crashing onto the cobbled walkway, and passing out drunk.

Natsu awoke to moans from others rising with hangovers. Someone must have dragged him back indoors, because he felt wood floor under him and opened his eyes to the banners of the guild hall. Wendy was going around, healing a few with severe headaches, while Mira passed around herbal drinks for those not quite so bad. Natsu's eyes drifted around and landed on a clock. It was already past noon.

Or midnight?

No, too bright for midnight, and it had been many hours after midnight when he saw...

He saw Gray ... and some woman...

Natsu bolted up, but he covered his mouth as acid shot up.

"You should wait for Wendy, Natsu," Mira advised. "I found you unconscious out front. You took a really nasty fall. Your cheek got a bit cut up."

Natsu touched his face and found a bandage taped to a stinging pain in his cheek. That did not matter, though. "Gray...?" he began to ask, but he held his head at the sound of his own voice.

"Gray never showed up," Mira told him. "I bet he partied in the town all night."

Natsu gnashed his teeth. He had seen Gray slip away with some girl. Bastard! "I need to find Gray. I think something bad happened."

"Eh?" she asked in alarm. "Do you think he's hurt?"

"I think he was really drunk and stupid and thoughtless and he's an idiot," Natsu grumbled furiously.

Wendy healed Natsu's hangover, but before she could tend to his cheek, he bolted out of the guild. Sniffing, he wandered the streets. Magnolia was quieter than usual for lunchtime, as the residents slept off a night of partying. The litter from the city-wide festival was just now being swept away. Natsu was glad there were few people around. It meant the scent trail had not been disturbed by other smells. He kept sniffing, following the trail down the street.

It did not lead to the residential neighborhood, though. Instead, he did not have to go far at all. There were hotels close to Fairy Tail, and the trail ended in front of one.

Natsu sneered up at the hotel. "Dammit, Gray, what did you do now?"

He knew barging inside and demanding the room number was not allowed; he had done that before with Lucy on a mission and got booted out of the hotel. He was beginning to weigh the option of climbing up the side of the wall and peeping into the windows until he found Gray's room, when the door opened.

Natsu scurried back behind an alley and peeked out. He saw Gray walk out of the hotel with Juvia.

No way! Her?

"Thanks for last night," he said, smiling down at her.

"Juvia just wants Gray-sama to be happy," she said cheerfully.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm much happier now." He began to lean in to her face.

Natsu turned away sharply, gasping for air as his heart pounded. No! Why? He slammed his eyes shut, and tears tumbled out. It had to be a mistake. It had to be! The two of them ... it couldn't be ... they didn't!

"We shouldn't tell Natsu," he overheard Juvia say.

Natsu fled, covering his mouth so no one would hear him cry.

Idiot Gray! Stupid idiot stripping bastard!

He knew it was too good to be true.

Natsu was not looking where he was going, and he suddenly slammed into a person. He heard a woman cry out, and on instinct he reached forward, managing to catch her before she fell. He recognized the smell immediately.

"Rei-chan!" he cried out.

"What? Natsu-dear?" she asked, regaining her balance. "My, aren't you a rambunctious one this early in the day! After the festival, I'd think all of the wizards in this town would be hungover." Then she saw him clearer, including the wetness under his eyes and the bandage on his cheek. "Oh my dear! What happened?" she asked in dread.

Natsu found his defenses crumbling under the soul-wrenching pain. When he opened his mouth to speak, a sob croaked out, and suddenly the tears tumbled over thickly.

"Gray," he managed to say.

Rei-chan looked stung by his deep pain. She wrapped him up into her arms to hide away the tears. No one needed to see the Fire Dragon Slayer so broken.

"Come with me, dear. I'll get you a good, strong drink." Then she happened to sniff him and the reek of alcohol. "Better yet, a good, strong coffee. I was just heading into work to fill out the schedule for next week. You can rest in there. No one will be in today."

Shuddering as he struggled to hold back outright bawling, Natsu nodded and let her lead him away.

Gray and Juvia walked into the guild hall together and saw that more than half of the guild was still there, most of them drinking coffee or strong tea to recover from the drunken party.

"I really missed out on the fun," Gray noted, smiling at the typical scene of devastation. "Where's the flame-brain?"

"Gray!" Mira cried out, and her hands covered her mouth. "You ... and Juvia ... you weren't together last night, were you?"

Juvia blushed crimson, and Gray leaped away from her in a panic. "It's ... it's not like that!" he cried out.

"Natsu didn't see you two together, did he?"

Gray froze in confusion. "Natsu?"

Mira nodded with her brow furrowed from worry. "He ran out a few minutes ago. With his nose, I thought for sure he would find you in no time."

Gray felt a chill run down his spine. If Natsu had seen him and Juvia in the hotel, or even seen them leaving that place...

"Oh shit," he whispered.

Juvia put a worried hand on his arm. "Gray-sama?"

"He'll know we spent the night together."

"You what?" Gajeel bellowed, much to the agony of people still recovering from hangovers. The Iron Dragon Slayer stomped up to him and grabbed Gray by the collar of his white coat. "You finally smell like mates, and you're cheating behind his back?"

"No! Juvia and I ... we didn't—"

"You spent the night with her?" roared Gajeel.

"Gajeel!" Juvia pleaded, tugging his arm.

"Mates are sacred, Gray!" he yelled in outrage. "Dragon Slayers don't just fuck around, and their mate should respect that. Fuckin' pisses me off how you two aren't actin' right."

"I didn't sleep with Juvia! I mean ... I slept with her, but ... goddammit, we didn't have sex."

Gajeel released him and took a deep sniff of Gray. He glared but mumbled, "Okay, I believe you. You don't smell like her."

"Sheesh!" Gray growled and straightened out his clothes.

Mira still looked worried. "If Natsu saw you two, he might think the same thing. He was waiting all night for you, Gray. I could tell he was depressed, and he drank so much. I found him passed out in the courtyard outside."

"Outside?" Gray asked.

"Yes, he ran out quite suddenly around two in the morning. He must have fallen down the steps and got knocked out. He was injured, too."

"Injured!" he shouted.

Two in the morning: that was when the bar closed and he had come to the guild. Natsu must have run out when he smelled Gray approaching the guild hall.

And then he met Juvia...

And complimented her in a really flirtatious way...

And went away with her...

"Oh shit," he whispered, realizing what Natsu must have seen. Then this morning, seeing him with Juvia after a night in a hotel ... Gray lost his breath and ran his fingers through his hair in a panic. "Shit!"

He turned and ran out, not realizing he threw his coat and shirt off in his rush. He raced all the way to Natsu's house, but no one was home. He remembered last night, he told Juvia they should go to his house. Natsu must have heard at least that much. He rushed back to town to check his own house, but there was no sign of Natsu having broken in. He spent an hour roaming the streets of Magnolia, sometimes shouting Natsu's name.

Where could he have gone?

One answer came to mind, and Gray cringed. The Pussy Palace!

"No way. He wouldn't," Gray whispered to himself, but his feet turned that way.

Maybe Natsu just went there to talk, nothing more. Yet as Gray continued on, dread built more and more until he found himself running. If Natsu really did think Gray had cheated on him, wouldn't he want to get even? Rei-chan told Gray directly that she was interested in Natsu. She would of course want to comfort him.

By the time he threw open the doors of the Pussy Palace, an icy fog of rage swirled around Gray.

"Where's Natsu?" he bellowed as the ice crackled out in front of him.

A scantly clad woman walked up. "The one with pink hair? I'm sorry, he's occupied."

Gray's eyes glared at her like ice daggers. "Where is he?" he sneered.

Without waiting, he ran through the club and to the back. He began to look into the VIP rooms, but it was early in the afternoon, so they were empty. Then he remembered Rei-chan had an office.

The call girl ran after him in her stiletto heels. "Sir, you can't go back here without—"

Gray waved a hand at her. Instantly, she was pinned to the hallway wall with ice around her wrists and ankles. "I'm sorry, but I need to find Natsu."

He saw a room at the end marked "Private" and guessed that was the place. Gray marched forward, yanked the door open, and entered what looked more like a dressing room than an office. Natsu was on a plush bed of satin, and Rei-chan was straddled over his hips.

"Gray!" the Dragon Slayer shouted in shock.

In a low, dire voice, Gray snarled, "Get ... off ... of ... him."

Smoothly, Rei-chan stood and straightened her clothes. "I was merely giving him a massage. The poor dear was stressed."

"I don't care!" Gray screamed. "Don't you ever touch my boyfriend again."

She did not back down from his anger. "Then maybe you shouldn't touch other women."

Their eyes fought a silent battle, with Natsu as the prize. Quietly, yet with rage simmering in his words, Gray demanded, "Get out. He and I need to talk."

She stared silently for a few tense seconds, but then she straightened up her shoulders. "Natsu-dear, I'll be just outside." She slipped past Gray and closed the door behind her.

Gray looked down at Natsu on the bed. The emotions that scrambled his brain in those first few seconds of seeing them together had really overwhelmed Gray. Now, he saw that Natsu had dark circles under his eyes from crying heavily, and there was a bandage on his cheek. He looked like hell.

And I made him feel this way!

Gray collapsed into a chair, and his head sank into his hands. "Is this what you felt?" he wondered aloud. "Seeing me and Juvia, did it hurt this badly?"

"Rei-chan wasn't doing anything," Natsu said, sitting up on the bed. "She took me in, got me coffee, and began to massage my shoulders. She offered to do acupressure. She's done that before. It's not sexual, really."

"I believe you. Or at least, I desperately need to believe you, because the alternative involves punching a woman, and I really don't want to do that." Gray looked up, and there were tears in his eyes. "For a second, I thought ... I really thought ... you wouldn't want me. All because of a mistake."

Natsu stared at him silently waiting for an explanation.

"I got drunk ... real drunk. I'll admit, I flirted with Juvia."

Natsu scowled and looked away in anger.

"But that was it! I said she was pretty, and I ... I maybe ... okay, I was drunk and stupid," he shouted in admittance. "I ... said things I shouldn't have to her. I was mad at you. Maybe I wanted to get even."

Natsu screamed in frustration, "I didn't do anything!"

"I know!" Gray sneered at himself. "I know, it wasn't your fault. Those fangirls were just doing whatever they wanted. Still, I was mad. Think how I felt, Natsu! Seeing my boyfriend being molested by a dozen women." He forced himself to calm down. "It was stupid, I know, but ... it made me really mad. And then I was drunk. Juvia was going to walk me home, but I almost threw up. I was ready to pass out, so she took me to a hotel. She was going to leave me there, but ... dammit, I hate to admit this."

"You fucked her?"

"No!" Gray screamed. "No, we didn't! I broke down, okay. I began to sob like a goddamn baby. I don't even remember it all but ... but I was scared of losing you, scared of my own inhibitions, scared you'd get annoyed, always waiting for me to get over things, scared you'd think that all of this was a big mistake, and I would be left alone. Goddammit, Natsu, I'm so in love with you it's terrifying me! And I just ... broke down. So Juvia stayed, and I cried myself to sleep. We woke up the next morning, and ... holy shit, I just about leaped out the window. I thought I had messed up in the worst way of all. But we were both still in clothes, and she calmed me down. Then, I don't know why, but I broke down into tears again. She stayed with me until I could calm down. She kept telling me ... you'd forgive me ... and you'd wait until I was ready. She said she could see that you loved me."

Gray sputtered out a tearful laugh and wiped his wet cheeks.

"Hearing that someone else believed that—believed in us—made me happy. She calmed me down, and then we left. I knew that if anyone found out we had stayed together in a hotel, they'd get the wrong idea. She knew that, too. She didn't want you to be mad, so she said we shouldn't tell you, but then I told her that wasn't what I wanted. I don't want to keep secrets from you, Natsu. That's a shitty thing to do."

Natsu's mouth dropped, thinking about the secret he was still keeping from Gray about his damaged heart.

"So there it is, the whole truth. I was an asshole who got drunk, flirted with an ex-girlfriend, ended up spending a night crying into her arms, woke up the next morning with her, and the instant Mira said that maybe you actually saw us together, I panicked and ran all over town searching for you. And of all the places in this town, I find you here!" Gray snuffled up his tears and glanced up to Natsu. "Do you have any idea how scared I was, thinking all I feared last night was coming true?"

Natsu solemnly replied, "About as scared as I felt when I thought my worst fear was playing out right in front of me, that you wouldn't really want a boyfriend, you want women ... and you don't want me anymore."

Gray dropped his head back down into his hands. "Shit. Never again, Natsu. Let's never again spend a holiday apart. Never let me get drunk without you around. And never come back to this place. Even if you think of that woman as a friend, never come back here. Meet her in town, whatever, just not here."

Natsu reached over and took Gray's hand. He tugged with encouragement, and Gray stood, sliding over to the bed. He collapsed against Natsu's chest, and warm arms enfolded him in fiery comfort.

"I promise," he whispered, and kissed Gray's hair. "But promise you'll never stay in a hotel with a woman again."

"Only Erza or Lucy, and only for missions," he promised.

"Juvia didn't ... try anything, did she?"

Gray laughed and shook her head. "Surprisingly, no, despite how pathetic I was. She's a good, strong woman, obsessive at times, but mature. Rei-chan, she didn't—"

"It was an acupressure massage, nothing more."

Gray's brow tensed up as more tears threatened him. "I ... really thought..."

Natsu hushed him and stroked Gray's hair. "We're both idiots."

Gray snuffled up the last of his worries. He straightened up, and his eyes peered right at Natsu, strangely serious now, filled with silent determination. Suddenly, Gray took Natsu's hand.

"Come with me." He yanked Natsu up.

"Wh-what?"

Gray pulled Natsu toward the door. "I'm going to show you this time."

"Show me what? Hey, stop dragging me along!"

Gray stopped, but he pulled Natsu in by the hips. "I'm going to show you ... just how much I love you."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Y-you mean...?"

Gray leaned over and kissed him. Natsu's heart raced. Gray ... wanted...

Gray pulled back and smiled down at him. "I'm going to show you, you're the only one." He gave Natsu another soft kiss. "If you want," he added.

Natsu could not get his throat to work. He merely nodded and gulped hard. Gray's face beamed with happiness.

"Are ... are you sure?" Natsu asked in concern. "I ... I want..." He dropped his head and whispered with embarrassment. "If we do this, I want to be on top."

Gray was slightly surprised. Sure, Natsu had acted quite aggressively when they were together, but he always assumed ... well, he imagined it both ways. "Can we at least take turns?"

Natsu smiled with a vigorous nod. "Definitely! Just this time, the first time ... I've dreamed of this, Gray." His hands drifted up Gray's bare chest. "I want to claim you." His dragged his nails softly down, spiking thrills through Gray's nerves. Natsu whispered lustfully. "I want to be inside ... I need it. Need to feel inside you, claim you, dominate you ... at least the first time."

Gray moaned at those words, and Natsu saw that already he was hard.

Gray grabbed Natsu's scratching hand and pulled on him. "Follow me."

He opened the door and saw Rei-chan standing nearby, grinning cunningly at the two.

"Worked things out?" she asked in amusement.

"He's never coming back here," Gray told her, tugging Natsu a little closer with possessiveness.

She merely smiled. "I hope, for your sake, he never needs to." Her eyes gleamed at him. "I won't play nice the next time."

Gray grabbed Natsu around the shoulder, scowling at her, but Rei-chan merely giggled.

"Kindly release my girl from her bondage. You normally have to pay for that."

"What?" Then Gray remembered the call girl he froze to the wall. "Oh! S-sorry." The ice vanished, and the strip dancer hummed with pleasure at being released.

Natsu gawked up at him. "Gray? You ... iced a stripper?"

"I was in a rush," he said defensively. "Let's go."

Rei-chan watched Gray yank Natsu out of the strip club. Her finger tapped her smiling lips.

"Congratulations, Natsu-dear," she whispered to herself. "You've finally melted him completely. It just took a little jealousy." She bit her lip and held back her excitement for those two. "I hope you enjoy being his first, Gray-dear. I doubt he'll hold back." She let out a mischievous giggle, glad to see her plans all worked out. Another satisfied customer!

And it was about damn time!

---

Happy one-year anniversary, LAND.