The Red Dragon

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It had been an unusually long day. Erza had them run drills for hours, switching up partners every round. Natsu had been holding his own until he'd been paired with Rogue. Usually, he didn't have that much trouble fighting the Shadow Dragon Slayer, but he was just too tired to maintain the speed needed to stay one step ahead of the shadows that tried to suffocate him.

He'd hoped that Erza would take notice, but she'd given him Gajeel as his next partner instead. She kept her eyes on him the whole time, evaluating him as she always did and barking adjustments he couldn't make in time. Paying attention to her meant he wasn't paying attention to Gajeel, and that was a big mistake.

He woke up in the infirmary with Gray sitting in a chair by his bedside. He was staring at him with concern and an air of sadness.

"Why won't you let us help you, Natsu?" Gray asked, and although he tried to hide it, Natsu could tell that he was just about at his limit of how many of his excuses he was willing to listen to.

"What could be so important that you have to do this to yourself?" Gray caught his gaze and refused to let go. Natsu felt trapped in those eyes, and it frustrated him that they demanded answers he just couldn't give. Not yet.

"It's a task only—," He got no further.

"Yeah yeah, a task only you can do. I know. You've said." Gray sounded annoyed as he waved the excuse away. "What is this task, Natsu?"

Natsu set his lips in a hard line, having to yet again fight the instincts that demanded he keep no secrets from his mate. He felt a trace of anger and quickly subdued it. If only Gray wasn't so unreasonable about dragons, he could tell him everything, instead of continually having to hide what he was and how he felt.

"I'm fine now. That must have been some nap," Natsu gave his friend his best grin. He noticed with some confusion that Gray was staring at his mouth a little too intently, a frown marring his features.

What was that about?

Natsu closed his mouth.

Gray shook his head, laughing before starting in on him again. "Nap? Natsu, Gajeel knocked you out with one punch."

"What?! No way that metal freak took me down in one punch." Natsu yelled in outrage and quickly sat up.

He pressed his hand to his head as his yelling introduced him to a headache that had been shyly hiding until then. He groaned and fell back on the bed.

"I swear, I can't tell whether it's the hit you got to the head or if you're just really this stupid." Gray rolled his eyes as he chuckled.

Natsu shook his fist at him, but it didn't really have the intended effect as Gray only looked concerned again.

He muttered something under his breath that Natsu purposefully ignored, having the decency to at least feel bad about making his friend worry about him.

"Don't look so worried, Ice Block. I'll be fine in no time." Natsu tried to reassure Gray, to no avail.

"I don't know if you've noticed this, but your regeneration is not working as well as it used to."

The glare on Gray's face softened, and he placed his hand on Natsu's cheek, "I care about you, Natsu. Please let me help you."

Natsu felt his heart race at those words. That was the closest Gray had ever come to admitting he had feelings for him. It was what Natsu had always wanted, but dammit now was not the right time.

There was a sharp knock on the infirmary door, and Rogue entered. "Gray, Erza wants to see you in her office."

"I don't want to leave Natsu," Gray dismissed the dragon slayer without even a glance.