A New Home (Gratsu)

A Shared Meal

Gray's hand was warm. Stiflingly warm. This was a fact that he was painfully aware of as he was pulled through a sizable crowd by Natsu. Were his hands clammy? Was he holding on too tightly? Question after question flooded Gray's mind as he followed behind the very attractive salmon-haired boy.

"Alright so you've met Erza already so that just leaves Juvia and Lucy. I took a few fists in the face when I first met them so I'll give you the 411. Don't want that cute face of yours to be ruined. WAIT! Not c-cute! Uh... stupid. That's what I meant! They sound the same sometimes..." Natsu shouted, his face bright red. "A-anyways... Where was I... Oh! Juvia tends to talk in third person. Like constantly. So don't point it out or she might cry and then you'll get punched by Erza. Lucy has uh... well let's just say she fills her shirts really well. Don't stare at her boobs or Erza will punch you."

"That shouldn't be a problem." Gray said.

"Not a boob guy?" Natsu raised his eyebrow with the question.

"You could say that..." It wasn't like breasts were repulsive to Gray. He wasn't one of those gay men who feared female anatomy. Boobs were just there in his mind. Not sexual or attractive... Just there.

"Figured as much. I'm more of an ass guy myself." Natsu's eyes gleamed as he remembered the nice view of Gray's from earlier today. He must've been smiling like an idiot or something because they had stopped moving and Gray was simply looking at him with a small smirk.

"For me it's all about the face... I love it when a bo-PERSON! When a person has kind eyes and a nice smile. Not that many people have ever looked at me that way..." Except for him. That one man who Gray tried to forget. Gray felt his eyes mist over as a flashback threatened to overtake him.

A squeeze from a fiery hand pulled him back to the present. "Hey Gray it's alright. You're not unattractive... For a snowman I mean. I'm sure you're going to catch the eye of some girl real soon, alright?" Natsu's eyes shone with care as he tried to comfort his new friend. He knew that he had seen something dark through Gray's eyes. Whatever it was Natsu knew that he wanted to burn away anything that could ever hurt this boy. Before he made a terrible decision Natsu decided to pull Gray through the crowd again.

"Maybe that's not what I want..." Gray began.

"Pardon?

"N-nothing! Nothing..." Gray sighed in relief. It was good that Natsu hadn't heard him. He was safe.

But Natsu, with his acute sense of hearing, had heard exactly what had come out of Gray's mouth and his heart skipped a beat. Did this mean that Gray was gay? Or was Natsu just reaching to a conclusion he wanted to exist? Either way Natsu knew he was in trouble. There was absolutely no reason why he should feel this attracted to someone he literally met a few hours ago but Natsu felt as though a static charge was pulling him to Gray. He just hoped that this skinny icicle might be feeling the same way.

"Natsu, Gray, there you two are. I was preparing to go out searching for you. The others are at a table nearby. Follow me," demanded Erza.

With their hands still interwoven Natsu and Gray were led to a table where three other girls were enjoying coffee and desserts. Gray recognized Lisanna immediately and slipped his hand from the Dragon Slayer's grasp. The last thing he wanted was for her to see and tease him about being led around the mall like a dog. The other two girls had to be Juvia and Lucy.

"Hiya, I'm Lucy! You're Gray right? I like the look of you. I can tell we're going to be good friends!" exclaimed a blonde teen with a very ample bosom. Gray's eyes couldn't help themselves as they focused on Lucy's chest. Lucy was almost as thin as Gray but her breasts were humongous. Beet red, Gray extended his hand, which Lucy shook strongly. This girl had a surprisingly masculine grip and Gray saw the ripple of the dense muscles in Lucy's arm. She was much stronger than she looked.