Work Text:
August 17, 2021
Natsu and Gray had just finished putting the kids to bed and were settling in for a quiet night at home. They had turned off all the lights to create ambiance; that part had been his bright idea. The blanket that covered them as they cuddled on the sofa watching TV had been Natsu’s. Gray wasn’t sure who had decided on the awful movie they were watching. It had probably been a result of their usual bickering and constant challenges. Either way, there they were watching a scary movie like two stupid teenagers, neither willing to admit that it was making them nervous.
Gray didn't know much about horror movies, but he could tell by the eerie background music that something terrible was about to go down. The first time it had happened had been funny, Natsu had squeaked loudly and leaped into his lap at the jump scare, and Gray had a great time mocking him, but now that was coming back to bite him in the ass. The suspense was killing him, and he held his breath as he watched the protagonist walk around her house.
Agonizingly slow, eyes wide open in fear, she reached the basement stairs and descended into the darkness. Gray found himself gripping Natsu tighter against him as if he were his only tether to reality. He tried to remind himself that it was just a damn movie by taking comfort in his boyfriend’s presence, solid and real by his side.
"Hello?" the young woman on the screen called out, her voice quivering in fear, "I-Is someone there?"
Gray held his breath as she took another step down, the old wooden stairs creaking beneath her weight. The camera focused on a dark corner of the basement, slowly zooming in while the ambient sounds that were giving him the creeps intensified, and then…
CRAAASH!
Gray jumped to his feet at the clatter, wincing as he heard the thud that immediately followed, realizing much too late that he’d just dropped Natsu on the floor. However, instead of the loud complaint that he’d expected, Natsu had only scrambled to his feet, his breathing shallow and fast.
“What was that?” he asked as his eyes darted around the ample open space of the first floor of his house.
“Probably just our overactive imaginations,” Gray chuckled nervously, “how about we watch something else?”
CRAAASH!
Jingle Jingle Jingle
“Overactive imaginations, huh?” Natsu grumbled as the jingling sound continued.
“Should we check it out?” Gray asked although he wanted nothing to do with whatever might be in the basement.
“Sounds like a great idea,” Natsu approved, “thanks for volunteering!”
Gray felt himself being nudged forward and instantly dug his heels, “Hell no! It’s your damn creepy house.”
“My house is not creepy!” Natsu huffed.
Gray raised an eyebrow as another noise rose from the basement. This one followed by even more crashes.
“Ugh, fine!” Natsu turned on the living room light and walked over to the small closet that sat at the bottom of the stairs. He opened the door and grabbed one of Erza’s foam practice swords, closing the door as quietly as possible.
He quickly walked back over to Gray and handed him the sword.
“ Me ? What do you want me to do with it?”
“I don’t know. You’re the big bad martial arts 100th level Master or whatever, go martial art!”
“That’s not even a thing, you dimwit,” Gray scoffed, looking at the foam sword with dismay. Seriously? What was he supposed to do with that? He gave a practice swish and reluctantly started to move forward, not wanting to look bad in front of his boyfriend.
It was at that moment that the protagonist let out a piercing, blood-curdling scream that made both of them jump again.
He handed the sword back to Natsu, “Fuck this, it’s probably nothing.”
The scream seemed to have affected whatever was downstairs as well because the noises started up again, that eerie jingling speeding up with every sound.
Natsu sweatdropped, “Are you for real?! Fat lot of good you are.”
“Hey, I’m injured, remember?” Gray pointed at his broken nose, a souvenir from seeing his ex the previous weekend.
He grabbed the TV remote from the sofa and turned off the TV, eliminating one source of stress as they debated what to do.
Natsu gazed at Gray in disbelief, sighing when he refused to budge, “Fine, I’ll go.”
He took two small steps, obviously waiting for Gray to change his mind or, at the very least, come with him. When neither happened, he turned to Gray, his eyes imploring, “I’m ready to die if necessary.”
“My hero,” Gray deadpanned, ignoring the blatant attempt at manipulation, he gave his boyfriend a small shove towards the door that led to the basement stairs.
“What in the world is going on down there?” They both looked up to see Erza coming down the stairs in her pajamas. “I could hear your bickering from my room. You’re going to wake up the kids.”
The warning came too late for the kids had already woken up. The sounds of little feet padding on the floor and coming out of their rooms attesting to that fact.
“I think there’s something in the basement,” Natsu informed his sister, having the decency to look embarrassed now that everyone was awake to witness their cowardice.
“I see,” Erza eyed both of them before shaking her head in disappointment at their behavior.
“Give me that.” She demanded her sword, and Natsu was quick to hand it over.
“I was just getting ready to go, you know,” Natsu protested, sounding much braver than he had just a minute earlier.
“Yes, I heard,” Erza smirked but refrained from saying anything else.
“Gray, why don’t you go check on the kids? Natsu, you’re with me.”
Natsu grabbed another sword from the closet, swinging it around as he followed his sister down the stairs, glaring when he noticed Gray laughing at him.
Gray hurried upstairs, herding the kids into Atlas’ room, which was the closest to the stairs. It wasn’t two minutes later when he heard an unmanly squeal.
There was a loud metallic sound followed by the sound of footsteps on the stairs.
“Everything’s fine, we found the culprit,” Erza called out, and there was something in her voice that piqued his interest. Was it amusement?
He hurried down the stairs, all three kids following close behind.
Erza was putting her swords back in the closet, and there was no mistaking the crinkling in her eyes. Gray turned to look for Natsu, who had yet to reach the living room.
“Where’s Natsu?”
“He’s having a little chat with our intruder,” was all she would say.
Gray was about to go after him when the basement door opened, and Natsu finally made an entrance holding a rather unhappy looking kitten by the ruff of its neck. The kitten had managed to get itself tangled up in some sort of Christmas decoration that was mostly made up of bells.
Jingle Jingle
Hisss
Gray was about to tease his boyfriend when he noticed the scratches that littered his arms and hands, some deep enough to bleed. He set out to find some antiseptic instead. Natsu continued to hold the kitten speaking to it in a soft voice as Erza carefully freed it from its bonds. Once his part was over, Natsu handed the kitten over to his sister so she could examine it.
Hana gasped loudly as she got a better look. She clapped her hands over her mouth in surprise before rushing over to Natsu and Erza. “Kitty!” she squealed in delight, bouncing on her feet. “It’s so cuuutteee!!! Can we keep it, Daddy?”
“I don’t know,” Natsu thought aloud, “we’d probably need to get it checked by a vet, and we’ll have to buy all kinds of stuff for it...Pets are expensive…”
Although he had a good point, Gray knew it the second Atlas, and Aki joined in with their oohs and aahs, and all three kids unleashed their combined attack of puppy eyes.
Natsu was screwed.
“Pleeaaassseeeee?” they all chorused, delivering the final blow, and judging by the defeated groan he let out, Natsu had accepted his fate.
“Your father is right,” Erza tried to intervene on Natsu’s behalf, “We can’t make that decision until we have a vet check to make sure it’s healthy.”
The kids groaned at her words, but they didn’t let that ruin their enthusiasm. Little hands reached out to pet the small creature who seemed to take the attention in stride for the most part.
Erza chuckled and carefully petted the kitten’s head. “It is cute, though, isn’t it?” she smiled as the kitten relaxed under her touch, offering her sweet little purrs in return.
Gray couldn’t help but agree. Even though its fur was matted down with dirt, it was a pretty blue-gray color, and now that it wasn’t scared anymore, the kitten was looking around curiously and mewling.
“Yeah, adorable,” Natsu grumbled under his breath, somehow managing to examine the scratches on his arms while deftly evading Gray’s advances with the antiseptic.
“Stand still,” Gray complained, “we need to get those cleaned up.”
Natsu obeyed reluctantly, wincing at the sting of the antiseptic as Gray dabbed the scratches, “What happened anyway?”
“I forgot to close the bulkhead after I finished clearing the yard, apparently that hellion snuck in and knocked the Christmas decorations over.”
“Hellion? That little guy?” Gray couldn’t help but laugh at Natsu’s choice of word, “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating just a tad? Besides, you might as well get used to it. We both know you’re stuck with it now.”
Gray had always loved cats, and he was itching to get a closer look, so when he had finished tending to Natsu, he joined Erza in the kitchen, where she was giving the poor thing a warm bath in the sink while the kids watched in awe. He carefully extended his hand to let the kitten sniff him before attempting to pet it, quickly springing back when it hissed at him.
“You know, now that I think about it,” Natsu smirked at Gray’s wounded look, “I guess he’s not that bad.”
“Oh yeah? Let’s see if you still think that tomorrow when you’re getting a nice tetanus shot.”
“A what?!” Natsu complained, “You’re joking, right?”
“I suppose you don’t have to,” Gray shrugged, pretending to give the matter no importance, “You did say you were ready to die if necessary.”
“At least I wasn’t a big scaredy-cat, Mister it's your damn creepy house .”
“Oh, please, like you were any better. The only reason you went was that your sister didn’t give you a choice, and you know it.”
"Oh yeah? Let’s finish that movie and see who the bigger wuss is. You know, the one you turned off because you were too chicken to keep watching it!"
Gray was about to remind Natsu about who it was that had jumped into who’s lap when Erza put an end to their squabbling.
“That’s enough! You’re both wusses,” Erza retorted matter-of-factly.
“Honestly, getting so worked up over a little kitten. Here, hold it while I get the bathroom set up,” Erza handed the kitten over to Natsu and recruited Hana to find some dishes they could use for water and food.
“I didn’t notice any fleas, but we can’t let this little guy run around unsupervised all night,” Erza reported before running upstairs in search of some old towels and blankets.
Natsu nodded his understanding and grabbed the blanket from the couch, tossing it to Gray so he could spread it out on the floor. Once that was done, Natsu sat down and let the kitten walk around on the blanket.
Atlas and Aki soon wandered over, fascinated by the small creature, but to their great disappointment, it seemed to have eyes only for Natsu. It walked right up to him and sniffed him curiously before rubbing its head against his hand and licking one of his fingers.
Gray still had a hard time believing that the little guy had freaked them out so much, even though that stupid movie had been a significant factor. He watched a small smile spread across Natsu’s face at the gesture, and he felt all of his previous irritation vanish, replaced by a warmth in his chest that still caught him off guard after years of feeling nothing but sadness.
He joined them on the blanket, placing his arm around Natsu’s shoulders as Aki settled on his lap, shyly trying to pet the little cat and giggling when it purred in response.
Hana placed two small saucers at the edge of the blanket, one filled with water and another with tuna. She looked overjoyed when the cat went over to explore her offerings.
Gray watched the kitten devour the tuna messily, smiling at how easily Natsu had accepted the creature who had scratched the crap out of him. It reminded him of the way he’d accepted him despite how much of an asshole he’d been in the beginning.
Natsu was a lot of things. He was incredibly loud, loved to bicker about the stupidest stuff, couldn’t sit still to save his life most of the time. God, there were so many things about him that drove Gray completely up the wall. But for every one of those shortcomings, he had discovered a dozen other things that kept him coming back for more.
Real love is warm and unconditional.
Gray’s cheeks flushed as he remembered those words, spoken so earnestly just days earlier. Breathed into his skin and burned into his soul by the man he held in his arms. He hadn’t been capable of responding then, not with all the negative feelings that had been flowing through him after their encounter with Siegrain. Still, Gray knew he’d felt that warmth for a long time now— flowing through him as it cautiously worked its way to the surface, present in every one of their interactions until he felt heady with it. And he knew it was time to let go of his fear that once he said the words, they would be used against him again.
Gray gazed down at the man he’d fallen in love with - the one who had taught him so much about love from the moment he’d asked him to dance a year earlier, who was everything he could've ever dreamed of and more.
It was time to trust in what they had built together and finally make his feelings known.
“I love you,” he spilled quietly, but loud enough to know Natsu would hear him.
Natsu turned to him, and Gray could tell he was surprised by his sudden confession. His eyes glistened, and his face was swiftly turning a pleasing shade of crimson, but still, he managed a cheeky grin as he confessed his own feelings for Gray.
“I love you too, dumbass.”
Gray snorted, recalling how he’d responded to Natsu’s awkward confession when he’d returned from Crocus. “I suppose I deserve that.”
Natsu lay his head on Gray's shoulder, neither one capable of suppressing their smiles as together they watched the now tired kitten curl up in his lap.
"Alright, the bathroom is ready for our guest," Erza announced as she walked in, her expression once again turning into one of amusement when she saw them all sitting on the blanket. "What's with those goofy grins of yours?"
Their smiles widened as they looked at each other, "Oh, nothing," Natsu replied, “ Just happy, that's all."