i will burn for the things i love

3. unafraid

The ruined city sprawled before them, a wasteland of blackened rubble, lain untouched over the week since the battle. Shattered glass and splinters of wood lay buried beneath piles of ash that the wind picked, shifting it back and forth across the scorched earth.

Natsu didn't speak as they walked through the wreckage, just trailed his fingers over the ruins until they came to the spot where he'd detonated.

"How the hell did you survive?" he whispered.

Natsu stared at the ground, crouching down and running his fingers over the dark marks along the earth. Charred lines exploded out from the point where they stood, stretching like broken fingers clawing their way across the rubble.

"You're giving yourself too much credit," Gray said wryly, leaning back against a blackened pillar. Natsu glared at him, teeth worrying his lower lip. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should be!" Natsu said, standing up and gesturing around them. "I destroyed... this entire city is gone because of me."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Gray growled, shoving Natsu's shoulder and pointing behind him. Splintered bits of wood stretched from the ground, nothing but a skeleton of a building huddled against the grey sky. "I did that."

"Yeah, but—"

Natsu's words were interrupted by an enormous wall of ice bursting out of the ground behind him, tearing through the burned buildings and reaching up into sharp, scintillating peaks. The impromptu mountain crackled and snapped as it grew, the edges taking on a blackish-purple sheen, bruised and deadly.

"See?" Gray's voice was rough, and Natsu watched, entranced, as the black marks of his magic spiraled across his skin – an eerie echo of the whitish scars that Natsu's flames had left behind. "You're not the only one who can destroy things," Gray said. Then he closed his hand and the ice wall shattered into a billion tiny, razor-sharp pieces.

Natsu cursed, hands coming up instinctively to block the shards with flame that melted them before they could touch his skin. "What the hell?" he asked, turning to glare at Gray again.

"You're fine," Gray said, rolling his eyes. Natsu opened his mouth to protest, but Gray shook his head. He turned his hand toward Natsu and the melted ice re-solidified into sharp crystals that hovered in mid-air, the same eerie, bruised color as before.

"You can—"

The ice crystals all exploded simultaneously and Natsu swore again, dropping into a defensive stance as he blasted them all away. Before he could retaliate, the ground under his feet began to shake, and he stumbled back as sharp, deadly spears of ice exploded from the earth, narrowly missing him.

"Stop it!" he shouted, melting the ice as quickly as Gray could form it. He threaded his way backward through the spikes, scowling at the smirk on Gray's face. "What are you doing?"

"Are you afraid of me?" Gray asked, voice low.

The question was pointed, but the way Gray said it brought up some entirely different feelings that had nothing to do with Natsu's fear, and everything to do with wanting Gray to take him against the nearest surface.

"No," Natsu said, still backing away from Gray's attacks. They were rapid, now – a barrage of frozen splinters that pinned Natsu back against a wall that suddenly appeared behind him.

"You should be," Gray said, bringing both hands into his chest and then thrusting them forward. The marks moved on his arms like a living thing, creeping up until one of his eyes was as bright as winter sky. More ice appeared around Natsu, cracking the ground beneath him and slicing through his clothes.

A stinging pain on Natsu's forearm shocked him out of his stupor. He stared down at the blood beading on the surface of his skin where one of the shards had nicked him. It wasn't deep – barely a scratch – but the sensation left him winded.

Then cold bit against his skin, shackles of ice wrapping around his biceps, wrists, thighs, ankles. Thin, piercing shocks of pain spread out from everywhere that the ice touched him, digging into his skin and pinning him to the wall.

"You gonna surrender?"

Natsu jumped as Gray appeared in front of him, one hand flat on the ice beside Natsu's head, the other grasping his scarf and tugging him forward. Gray's face was so close to his – the air started to crystallize, their breath steaming between them.

"I could kick your ass," Natsu murmured, voice trembling as a fire grew in his chest, spreading outward until he could feel it on his fingertips. Gray shook his head, gazing at Natsu intently, pinning him with an unnaturally multicolored gaze. The darkness spread across Gray's cheek and down his neck, and the ice gripped Natsu harder.

"Do it," Gray challenged, tightening his grip on Natsu's scarf and pulling him closer. He leaned in, brushing his lips over Natsu's cheek as he slid his fingers up into Natsu's hair. "If you're so dangerous... prove it."

The last words were whispered as Gray's teeth grazed Natsu's earlobe, and a thrill coursed through Natsu's body, vibrating everywhere that Gray pressed against him. Natsu let out a stuttered, noisy breath that hung heavy between them, then met Gray's gaze and leaned in to kiss him.

"That's better," Gray breathed, biting down on Natsu's lip and pulling hard on his hair. Natsu gasped, tongue tracing the shape of Gray's mouth as he ground his hips forward and whispered Gray's name. "There you go," Gray murmured, lips moving down to Natsu's jaw, across his throat, teeth sinking into sensitive skin. "Say my name just like that."

"Gray," Natsu moaned as Gray's ice tightened around him again, and Gray's hand trailed down his stomach, then over his cock. Natsu thrust up into his hand, whimpering at the harsh touch.

"I'm gonna tear you apart," Gray growled, deft fingers tugging at the laces on Natsu's pants. His voice softened for a minute as he whispered a gentle, "okay?" in Natsu's ear.

"Yes, fuck," Natsu gasped as Gray tore his pants open, dragging them down to his thighs and then wrapping a cold hand around his cock. "Please."

"I've got you," Gray promised, covering Natsu's body with his own, an oath that if either of them becomes a demon, the other will bring them back.

-----

Afterward, they sat against the wall, sprawled in the ruins of their devastation. Natsu ached and was covered in ash, and he felt alive and content and safe in Gray's arms.

Safe from himself and everything else.

"Maybe there's a little bit of monster in both of us," Gray murmured, pulling Natsu back against his chest and kissing his temple. "But I love you. All of you, even the parts that scare you, because those are the same parts that make you strong and brave."

The black marks flickered across Gray's palm and down his fingertips, and he curled his hand around Natsu's.

"You're not scared of me?" Natsu asked. Gray shook his head, wrapping his arms around Natsu.

"No," Gray said, leaning in and kissing Natsu's neck as he rubbed his thumbs over the backs of Natsu's hands. "The only thing that scares me is losing you."

"What if I lose myself?" Natsu whispered.

Gray tipped Natsu's head back, pulling him in and pressing a harsh, desperate kiss to Natsu's lips.

"That's easy," Gray whispered, running his tongue over Natsu's sharp teeth. "I'll bring you back." Natsu moaned quietly, fingers digging into Gray's forearms as he kissed back, hard. "And if I can't bring you back," Gray added, "then we'll lose ourselves together."