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Life After Near Death	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 14426 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I make no money, I just do this for my own pleasure.

Chapter List
- 38
- 39
- 40
"The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space."

― Marilyn Monroe

Chapter 39

Tatami and Fingers
Gray sat on his couch reading a book when suddenly something heavy dropped into his lap and a head popped up right in his view.
"Whatcha readin'?" Natsu asked, looking down at the book in Gray's hands.
He looked annoyed but answered, "A study on the different forms of ice crystallization."
"That sounds boring. You should read something better. Like, did you know there are different ways to categorize a fire based on what fuel it burns?"
"So how do you categorize a flame-brain?"
"Hey! How would you categorize an icicle dick, huh?" he shouted back.
Gray rolled his eyes and tried to focus back on the book. Natsu stayed on Gray's lap. He looked at the words on the page, but they were long and boring, so he stared up at the bottom of Gray's chin.
"You have a booger in your nose," he stated.
Gray slammed the book shut. "Do you need something, or are you just planning to bother me?"
"I'm bored," he complained. "We should go swimming, or training, or take a mission."
"Nothing's stopping you. Happy would probably love to go swimming with you."
"But I want you to come."
Gray sighed, "I have such a clingy boyfriend."
"Yep!" Natsu laughed, and he grabbed around Gray's waist. "I just wanna have fun with you."
Gray smiled plaintively and stroked his fingers through the pink hair. How could he possibly stay upset when Natsu was so cute?
There was a thump at the door, and without even waiting Erza burst in.
"Yeah, go ahead and enter," Gray muttered at the intrusion.
Erza saw the two on the couch and asked, "Am I interrupting?"
"Yeah, we're busy cuddling here," Natsu snapped playfully, nuzzling Gray's thigh. "If you don't leave, we might start making out. I've learned the precise spot on Gray's neck to make him moan every time."
"Natsu!" he cried, and his voice cracked in shock.
Erza's cheeks went a little pink, but she remained focus. "How do you two feel about taking a major mission?"
Natsu bolted up and sat on the edge of the couch with sparkling eyes. "Ya mean it? How major? What are we fighting?"
"A rogue wizard on the coast wanted to help his villagers by using magic to increase the size of the fish in the ocean. Now the village is being terrorized by monstrously large crabs, starfish, lobsters, and the ocean is seething with giant fish, including a report of a shark the size of an island. The reward is seven million Jewels and all the free fish we want."
"Oh, Happy's gonna love this one," Natsu chuckled gleefully. "Yosh! Let's do it!"
She looked at him worriedly. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I'm fine, I'll be great. I really need to beat up something, and giant crab legs sound yummy."
"And you, Gray?" she asked.
He nodded. "My leg is a lot better. Besides, you'll need someone who knows how to fight while on a boat. I've battled water monsters before. This idiot would just throw up all the time."
"Boat?" Natsu cringed. "Uh, can I just fight the monsters on land?"
"That's the plan," Erza nodded. "You and Wendy protect the village and defeat anything that crawls out of the ocean while Gray, Lucy, and I find that shark. We'll leave on the evening train."
"Traaaaain?" Natsu moaned.
Gray patted his arm. "Go tell Happy and pack up. See you at the station."
"Sure!" Natsu suddenly kissed Gray's lips, then bolted out past Erza, excited to finally be going on a big mission.
Erza smirked at Gray. "Well, you two seem to be doing good."
He rose from the couch and pulled on his shirt. "We're fine. It's been quiet these past few weeks."
"Have you gone on any dates?"
He laughed and blushed a little. "Not that it's your business, but yeah. We've been to the movies twice and went to a night fair a couple of days ago. Of course, Natsu mostly just ate a bunch of food."
"And … more?"
His eyes narrowed. "No."
"You're still taking things slow, then?"
"That's our choice," he snapped.
"Don't get me wrong. It's admirable," she smiled. "I'm proud of you two." She patted Gray on the shoulder. "He's treating you well."
"Hey!"
"And you're treating him respectfully. I saw the way you two looked on the couch. You're comfortable around him now."
Gray looked aside petulantly. "It's … not quite as weird anymore, being with him."
"Good. Well, I hope this strengthens your ability to fight together. We may need it. I purposely picked a mission that requires a group effort."
"Don't worry," Gray assured her seriously. "Our relationship won't get in the way."
"It better not! I'll see you this evening." She turned and left.
Gray went to fetch his duffel bag and pack for the journey. Finally, a mission! He looked down at his leg, flexed the knee, and nodded confidently. It had been nearly a year since his injury and their last serious mission as a team. It was a long time healing and struggling with his injuries, then the miraculous restoration followed by months of regaining strength in his leg, but at last he was ready for this. He felt great, in both body and heart, so it was time to rekindle that Fairy Tail spirit!

The train ride was fairly normal, except instead of Lucy or Erza taking care of Natsu, it was Gray who let the Dragon Slayer lie on his lap as he struggled to hold down his stomach. Erza had her hands full with Wendy's newly-acquired motion sickness, unwilling to use on the little girl the same method she had for Natsu (hitting him hard enough to knock him out of his misery).
Finally they arrived at the village and saw right away just how bad it was. There was a massive crab, taller than a building, scuttling through the barren streets, while a gigantic starfish clung to the side of the town's church steeple. As soon as they arrived, the town elder rushed to them, summarized the situation, and the team got to work.
Wendy and Carla worked on getting the starfish down without damaging the church. Natsu raced after the fleeing crab, which was surprisingly swift for its size, but not fast enough for a Dragon Slayer driven by hunger. Natsu wanted crab legs! Happy wanted fish! Two hungry Fairy Tail members was never good news to potential food.
While they worked on the town, Gray sailed off with Erza and Lucy to hunt after the shark. They saw other massive fish under the waves, but they were swimming around peacefully. The village elder had admitted that their food problem really was fixed by the wizard who did this, so he asked if they could leave the non-aggressive fish alone for now. It was the shark who was a threat, and it had killed five people, including the wizard who went out on his own trying to shrink it back down.
It was not hard to find, so massive they thought the fin was a small island until it swam right toward them. Lucy had Sagittarius shoot at it with arrows, and Gray coaxed it with a variety of ice implements, while Erza prepared to slay the monster.
Suddenly, rather than be distracted by Gray's bait, the shark went right after their boat, teeth as big as a child, all gleaming and eager to devour them whole. Lucy shrieked, and Gray hastily put up a net barrier of ice.
On shore, Natsu had the crab dead and knocked on its back, ravenously ready for his crab legs, when he heard the scream. He looked out to the sea and saw the freakishly large shark battering against Gray's ice.
"Gray," he whispered in dread. "Happy, let's fly out there."
"But fish!" the Exceed protested, pointing to the crab.
"We have plenty of time to eat. Let's go help them get that shark. Seared shark and shark fin soup!"
"Aye, sir!" Happy grabbed Natsu up and carried him over the ocean.
Natsu knew Gray would probably be fine. He had Lucy and Erza there too, after all. Still, he worried. As they flew over the waves, he knew he was letting his emotions get in the way of the mission. Gray was fine, he saw that the ice net was working really well, and Erza would handle it. He would probably get scolded for leaving the village unprotected, but for him, Gray came first.
"Fiiiiiish…"
"What?" Natsu realized they were on a path downward toward the sea. "Happy! Happy, snap out of it."
"Fiiiish!" He drooled as he saw the massive fish under the waves and was quickly losing altitude.
"No! Fly up, Happy. Up! We're gonna…"
They splashed into the waves, and Natsu felt Happy let go. He managed to tread water, but he struggled to move in drenched clothes. He felt his shoes and wet pants pulling him down into the sea.
"Happy!" he shouted, but the blue cat was in a daze as he followed after a flounder the size of a boat.
The shark heard the splashing and turned toward it. Just as Erza was preparing a harpoon, the shark turned away and headed toward the coast.
"Where is it going?" the redhead asked, standing on the ship's prow with a spear in her hand.
Lucy saw the pink dot on the ocean. "Natsu! How did he get out here?"
Gray turned sharply and saw the Dragon Slayer flailing about. "That idiot! His splashing is attracting the shark."
Across the waves, Natsu realized the monstrous shark was heading right toward him. "Oh … shit," he whispered. "Happyyyyy!"
He tried to swim away. He kicked his shoes off to swim a little faster, but he knew it was pointless. The shark was coming as fast as a torpedo. He struggled still, swimming with all of his strength, feeling like he was barely moving. He looked back and saw the opened mouth, a dark tunnel coming at him with swords for teeth and the ocean sucking inward, pulling him closer.
"Ahh! No!" he screamed, stroking faster than he had ever tried to swim in his life.
Suddenly, a pain shot through his chest. Natsu gasped and swallowed some water. He stopped swimming and grabbed over his heart.
"No. No, not now. Not…" Pain radiated up his neck. He had felt pain like this before. "Oww, shit, no!"
Shadow encased him. Still holding his chest, he looked up and saw that he was already inside the shark's mouth. His bare feet felt the softness of pale flesh under him. Massive gills opened and closed to the sides. The jaws slowly lowered, and a secondary opening leading to the stomach was just beginning to open.
"GRAY!" he shrieked.
"Ice Devil's Freeze!"
Suddenly, everything was ice. Natsu felt the cold all around him, encasing him, but also stopping the shark from swallowing him. He stared through thick ice at the opening to the shark's stomach. He could not move, could not breathe, and he felt his blood frosting over as his painful heart froze to a stop.
He heard voices, shouts of panic, but his mind was starting to fade. He vaguely felt a crack as he was broken free from the rest of the shark. He was dragged out of the nearly closed jaw and scraped one of the teeth on his way out. Just as he saw the sun gleamed through the ice, Natsu lost consciousness.
Was he dead?
The next thing he felt was thumping pressure on his chest, and suddenly he gasped as his heart found a rhythm. He saw distorted faces and blue sky. The ice was gone, and Gray leaned over him, hands on his chest. He felt Natsu's neck right over the carotid artery and sighed in relief. Then suddenly Gray shrieked.
"You goddamn idiot!"
Arms were around him. Natsu shivered. Whatever the pain in his heart had been, it was gone now. Those few seconds of his heart being frozen to a stop and then forcefully restarting seemed to have fixed whatever happened.
"G-rr-Gr-Gray," he shivered.
"Don't move. I had to freeze you as well since I couldn't even see where you were anymore. Shit, you asshole, what the hell were you thinking?" Gray yelled, rubbing Natsu's limbs to warm him.
"Heard … s-scream … sh-shark…"
"We almost had it. I didn't want to freeze the whole frigging ocean, you bastard. We've probably killed a lot of other fish as well. Are you okay?" he asked, pulling Natsu's face up and looking at him in worry.
"Wh-wh-where … H-Happy?"
"I saw him flying off. Goddamn it, Natsu!" He grabbed him again into a hug and grimaced in anguish. "Seriously, don't scare me like that again."
"Heh! J-just … 'nother … n-norm-m-mal … mission."
Gray let out a sigh and shook his head. "You're going to give me a heart attack one day."
Natsu flinched. Was that what happened just now? Gray looked aside as Lucy and Erza ran over the frozen sea, the boat now stuck in ice, and both worried about Natsu. The Dragon Slayer secretively rubbed over his chest. He felt fine now, but that pain worried him.
What the hell happened?

They brought in the dead and frozen shark. Luckily some of the fish did not die when Gray froze the sea, so the village had frozen fish that would last them, as well as giant fish still swimming around that they could hunt for a while more. Still, they encouraged the Fairy Tail wizards to eat as much as possible, since there was no way they could eat a shark that massive.
Natsu got his crab legs and shark fin soup. Happy ate until he passed out. The village invited all surrounding communities and had a huge festival to give away as much food as they could. It turned into a boisterous party of many villages combined, with music and dancing and all the seafood they could eat.
It was near midnight when they went to their hotel. There were tatamis laid out for them, and they all collapsed with bloated bellies, more than ready to sleep.
Gray was on an outside tatami, rolled on his side and facing the wall. He had eaten so much, his stomach seriously hurt too bad to sleep. He felt the warmth of Natsu next to him, and he heard Lucy, Wendy, and Erza already breathing softly somewhere past them, with Happy and Carla snoring away peacefully. It had been quite a day, but it felt good to be back into doing missions … even if Natsu screwed it up again.
Seeing Natsu about to get eaten by that shark had really terrified him. Although he knew the Fire Dragon Slayer was far stronger than even a shark the size of an island, and knowing him he could have burned his way out of the shark's stomach and escaped unscathed, his emotions got the better of him. The idea of Natsu getting hurt made him panic.
He let his feelings get in the way, precisely what he had promised Erza he would not do.
He rolled around and jolted as he saw the glint of eyes in the moonlight. Natsu was watching him. Instead of closing his eyes or turning away, Gray gently smiled. Even if he overreacted earlier, at least Natsu was safe now.
Natsu smiled back, his cheek pressed into the pillow, smashing up part of his eye. He looked content, but something more. Something he ate today really affected him. Maybe it was the meter-long oyster. Gray smelled so, so good!
"You okay?" Gray lipped silently to not wake up the girls or Exceeds.
Natsu just smiled, feeling wonderful. He reached forward, picked up Gray's hand, and pulled it over to him. Gazing happily and sleepily into those wintry blue eyes, he kissed Gray's hand.
Gray jolted and tried to pull back, but Natsu rested his cheek on Gray's fingers. He looked so happy, Gray did not have the heart to stop him, although the warmth of Natsu's face seared his hand and made his cheeks flush.
Natsu nuzzled against the fingers. He smiled so joyously, Gray had to hold back a laugh. What an idiot, getting so excited over something so simple! Natsu kissed his roughened knuckles, then flashed him another giddy smile.
Gray just shook his head in amusement. Maybe this was Natsu's way of thanking him. It was adorable.
Natsu kissed the top of his hand, then raised his head and kissed each of the four knuckles on top. He moved Gray's hand up and kissed the middle knuckles, then the smaller knuckles, until Gray's whole hand tingled with the sensation of Natsu's warm lips.
Natsu paused on the index finger. He kissed the small knuckle again, slower this time, and gazed up at Gray as he did. His eyes burned with the flame of passion building up inside his chest. He kissed again, dragging his lower lips across the fingernail and up over the knuckle.
Gray instinctively flinched. That was more than just a cute kiss to the hand. Natsu's eyes were changing, and his pupils dilated widely. Gray gulped, not sure why this made him shiver. It was just kissing his hand, after all.
Natsu used his thumb to slowly lift Gray's captured index finger, and his lips wrapped around it, sucking sensually.
Now Gray yanked his hand back. That carnal look in Natsu's eyes shot straight down to his groin. Shit! Shit, shit! He was getting seriously aroused by just that much.
Natsu's eyebrows raised and his eyes pleaded to have the hand back, like a puppy deprived of his toy. Gray yanked the covers up over him and rolled onto his back, away from those eyes. He stared at the shadows of a tree webbed across the moonlit ceiling and deftly wiped the saliva off his finger. Still, it felt so … cold now. His whole hand felt empty and chilled.
When he glanced back over, Natsu had propped up on an elbow and was watching him worriedly. Gray glanced around. The others were all soundly asleep.
Suddenly, he wanted this. He wanted to do something with Natsu, here in front of the others. Damn exhibitionist tendencies! He wanted to push their limits. How much could they do without waking the others?
He rolled back onto his side and let his hand slither over his tatami, onto Natsu's mat, and rubbed up his chest, feeling a fast pulse under the taut pectorals. Natsu snatched his hand away, knowing Gray could feel how fast his heart was racing and honestly fearing it might suddenly beat irregularly. He did not want to worry Gray about that.
He held the hand preciously and silently lipped, "Is it okay?"
Gray looked down at where their tatamis pressed together and nodded petulantly.
Natsu tapped the bottom of Gray's chin and lifted his head. He looked serious, and he dared a whisper amidst the silence.
"Are you okay with this?"
Gray was stunned by how sincere Natsu looked. He was taking Gray's hesitations into consideration, and that melted the icy barrier around his heart. He nodded firmer this time.
Natsu kissed Gray's hand reverently, but his eyes quickly turned mischievous. He swirled his tongue around the middle knuckle of the index finger.
Gray gulped, but he strained not to pull away this time. Natsu kept looking up, seeking silent permission as he licked the whole length of Gray's finger, all the way down to the tip. Then he held the fingertip in his lips, right on the edge where Gray could not feel moistness. He hesitated and kept looking into those wintry blue eyes.
Gray was breathing hard, and he hated to admit just how turned on he was by this. Erza could wake up! Lucy could catch them! Wendy and Carla were too young to see this! Happy's massive eyes might pop up at any moment and he would innocently ask, What are you two doing?
It was terrifying and thrilling and seriously affecting him. He nodded, letting Natsu do more, pushing the boundary of this thrill.
Natsu parted his lips, and the finger slid inside his mouth. A very faint but sharp exhale grunted out of Gray, and his face cringed up to hold himself back. Natsu loved the texture and taste of that finger. He let his tongue swirl around it, feeling the shape and moistening the skin. He pressed it up to the roof of his mouth, sucking happily, curling his tongue and caressing Gray's finger with the wet tip. Gray's smell was growing sweeter, muskier, and the chill Natsu normally felt radiating off of him was lessening as his whole body heated up.
Natsu suddenly surged up on his hand, until the finger was pressed to the back of his throat and he had his lips around Gray's upper knuckle. Gray could feel the soft uvula hanging down, and he curled his fingertip down since he was pressed right against the back of Natsu's throat. The Dragon Slayer held it there, the whole finger devoured, and his eyes let Gray know that he was promising to do something like this, yet so much more, some day when they were ready.
Gray felt that maybe—just maybe—he was almost ready for that.
Natsu pulled back slowly, this time letting his teeth drag along the skin, playfully biting above each knuckle and letting the joint pop past his teeth. Then he let his lips rest on the fingertip, unwilling to completely let it go. He began to slide back up the finger, just to the middle knuckle, but he backed off, letting his lips drag until he was completely withdrawn. Then he kissed Gray's palm and leaned back with a content smile once more.
Gray was on edge, nerves sizzling, only to be left hanging. He was almost ready to reach down into his blankets and touch himself while Natsu sucked his finger, but now it all stopped. He wanted to protest, to beg for more, but Natsu shook his head.
"That's enough," he whispered.
No! It was not enough at all! Then he realized that if Natsu did more, he really would do something they should not do in front of their teammates.
And now Gray felt embarrassed at having wanted to risk even that much for a thrill.
Still, he did not want to give up this warmth. He shifted over closer to Natsu's tatami.
"What?" Natsu lipped silently.
Gray leaned in closer to his ear. "Scoot over."
Natsu shifted back, making sure he did not bump into Lucy's mat or disturb Happy and Carla sleeping above their heads.
Gray shifted until he was on the same soft mat. They were curled together, their blankets mingling, shifting until Gray felt himself slip into Natsu's covers. Their bare knees touched, and their toes played together, hot feet and cold toes. Natsu curled down with an elated smile. Sleeping together! They had slept in the same room many times before, but never curled together like this.
Gray reached forward and caressed Natsu's cheek. He felt so hot, warmer than normal with the flush of excitement from their trivial but sensual playfulness. His fingers drifted up, combing through the hair that was so soft and pink, then around his ear and scraping softly down his neck.
Natsu's eyes closed in pleasure. He loved the feel of Gray's fingers in his hair.
Gray softly caressed his blushing cheeks again. Natsu looked amazing in the moonlight, adorable … cute … erotic! The way the moon lit his cheeks made Gray want to stare at him all night. He leaned forward and laid a soft, silent kiss on Natsu's cheek.
He looked up in surprise. "Gray?"
He held a finger up to his lips to silence him. Slowly, heart racing, knowing they could get caught, he leaned down and kissed Natsu's mouth. His lips felt so soft, and his breath was nice from all the savory food they had eaten all night. He meant to give only one kiss, but it was too good for just that much. He leaned down again and kissed harder. A hot hand went up and grabbed the back of Gray's neck, pulling him in closer. Gray moved with stealth, shifting closer, positioning himself to be more on top, wanting to feel Natsu's body reacting.
Still, he held back from doing too much. They really did need to be sure not to wake anyone. So Gray only kissed him, silently and just with lips. Then he pulled up, lifting above the Dragon Slayer's body, and gazed down, amused to see how lost and dazed Natsu looked from just a kiss.
His body felt the reactions, though. Natsu's boxers were stiff, and his chest heaved with fast breaths. Hot hands slid down Gray's bare back, dipping under the blankets covering them both, and rested on Gray's ass. Slowly, he pulled him closer. Natsu thrust up to meet him, sliding their bodies together. Gray gulped at the feel of the erection stroking against him. However, he pulled his hips up, away from the fiery body. Natsu looked up in concern, and Gray shook his head.
"Not here," he whispered. He caressed Natsu's face. "Just this."
Gray leaned only his face down and kissed Natsu gently. Those lips! Seriously, he could never get enough of them, so soft and warm, but not at all like a girl. Natsu kissed like a man! Not really fighting for control, but never fully surrendering to Gray, he kissed back because he enjoyed it. A tap of his tongue silently asked Gray if he wanted more, but Gray pulled back, lips popping in separation, only to lean back in, mouth still closed. It was a silent signal, and Natsu understood the intent. These had to remain as quiet kisses.
Gray finally leaned up to catch his breath before he began to pant loud enough to wake the others. Natsu opened his eyes, saw the gaze of his lover in the moonlight, and forgot himself. He grabbed Gray possessively, his arms around those muscular shoulders while legs hiked around Gray's hips, and he began to surge up to kiss him, claim him, have him.
A finger bopped him on the nose, and he stopped in surprise. Gray pulled himself back and shook his head.
"But—"
Gray held a finger to his lips in silence again. He pulled back so far, Natsu was forced to unwrap his limbs from around Gray's body.
The Dragon Slayer frowned and grumbled something under his breath. Stupid ice princess, purposely riling him up just to deny him! Then again, that was precisely what he had been doing to Gray … but still! He was the one who had to smell how turned on Gray was.
Gray settled back onto his side, but he shifted his pillow over to be closer. His toes sought out those warm feet and rubbed against them. Their toes caressed each other, and somehow that pulled Natsu out of his frustrated mood.
Then Natsu took Gray's hand again. He kissed it and pulled it in close, lying his cheek on top of it. He snuggled the hand-pillow and kissed the top. He sighed in happiness and lipped silently to Gray, I love you.
Gray let his toes gently caress Natsu's ankle and mutely said back, I love you, too.
Natsu looked like he wanted to giggle. Instead, he nuzzled down onto the hand and closed his eyes.
Although it was adorable, Gray did not want Natsu sleeping on his fingers. He whispered softly, "Hey! Give me my hand back."
Natsu had a perfectly content face, and he shook his head while snuggling the hand more. "Mine!" he declared.
"Don't fall asleep on it!" Gray protested, barely keeping his voice down.
Natsu ignored him and tightened his grip on Gray's wrist. He inhaled and let out a happy sigh. "Mine."
Gray shook his head. Sheesh! Such a clingy boyfriend! "Brat," he grumbled, and Natsu chuckled, still not surrendering his treasure. Gray let him keep it. He lightly stroked the pink hair.
His, huh? It was still a little weird, but … he really didn't mind!
He watched as Natsu's face relaxed, his toes stopped moving, his shoulders sank, and his face grew heavier on Gray's hand. As soon as Natsu's breathing went steady and loud, Gray pulled his fingers out from under the hot cheek, being as gentle as possible. Natsu's hand caught him, and he let out a dreamy protest, but he only held onto the fingers.
Gray gulped as he realized this was a first for them. They were holding hands, sleeping in the same bed, and sharing blankets. Still, it was nice, warm, and comfortable. His eyes grew heavier. He wanted to watch Natsu sleeping, but his eyelids kept lowering. They struggled open, drifted down, fluttered open, sank again, and finally closed. In no time, Gray's body sank and his lips parted as he began to snore.
The moon shone on them, sleeping almost nose to nose, pink and black hair, two new lovers holding hands in bed.

It was still early in the morning when Natsu heard Happy's high pitch yawn. The room was just turning pink with the rising sun. Erza, Wendy, and Lucy were still breathing heavily or muttering in dreams. Natsu had eventually rolled onto his back. He opened his eyes to the faint light coming from the curtained window. He was about to stretch but he felt his hand occupied.
He looked to his side to find Gray's sleeping face next to him on the pillow and their hands entangled. Natsu's eyes widened and stared with blushing surprise that turned into a warm smile. He remembered last night, kissing Gray's hand, teasing him by sucking his finger, making out as quietly as possible, and then Gray scooting over to sleep with him. Natsu squeezed Gray's hand a little tighter.
Gray felt warmth press into his palm, and he struggled to open his eyes. A green gaze stared right down at him.
"Morning," Natsu whispered, not really wanting to wake the others yet.
"Hey," he replied groggily.
Gray looked down at his hand. It felt sweaty, and he wondered if they actually kept holding hands the whole night. He was about to take back his hand, but Natsu tightened his grip. Gray felt a panic of embarrassment. Happy had drifted off half-asleep to the bathroom. Erza's breathing showed she was slowly coming out of dreams. Lucy, Wendy, and Carla would wake up soon as well. He needed to get out of Natsu's bed and back onto his own. He pulled at his hand again, but Natsu held tighter. The Dragon Slayer smiled mischievously, and he began to raise the hand to his lips.
Now Gray's face went red. Kissing his hand in the middle of the night was one thing. Kissing in daylight, in front of their team, was another. He pulled back sharply, and Natsu tensed his grip. Gray's eyes narrowed.
He wanted to play it this way, huh?
Gray squeezed back tightly, and Natsu felt the pressure in his hand. Oh hell no was he going to let Gray crush his hand! He tensed his own grip even more. Gray sneered in a challenge and really put a crush onto the hand.
Thirty seconds later, Erza woke up as the two appeared to be in some weird form of arm wrestling.
"You bastard, let go!"
"I'm not about to let go, you cold-toed icicle."
"Who are you calling cold-toed, you sweaty-handed shark bait!"
Lucy woke up, too. "Sheesh! Can't you guys give it a rest? It's still early in the morning."
Erza stretched out her arms. "At least they're the same as always while on a mission."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I guess hoping they'd be lovey-dovey and wake up normally was asking too much."
Gray snarled and Natsu growled as they both tried to squeeze each other's hands harder than the other one could.

Next Chapter: "Right Place, Right Time"
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Life After Near Death