Archive of Our Own

It was a bright and beautiful morning at the Fairy Tail Guild. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. There was a strong stench of ale in the air, and much yelling could be heard as on this particular morning, some of the members of Sabertooth had come to visit Fairy Tail. So far, Natsu had gotten into a fight with Rufus and Orga, and more and more members from both guilds were joining in, until it was an all out brawl. The sound of glass smashing, and a wall tumbling down had Sting wincing and worrying about paying for damages.

"Don't sweat it Sting," said Gray. "The guild is forever being rebuilt. Honestly, it's miracle when all four walls are still standing." Sting chuckled at that and drank some more of his cider. Gray, Sting, Rogue and Gajeel were sat the bar and had a great view of the fight.

"Are neither of you going to jump in?" asked Sting, ducking as a stray chair flew his way from the tussle.

"Nah, I've had enough fighting for one day. Just finished an S class mission," said Gajeel grinning, his piercings glinting under the lighting of the bar, as he stretched his arms.

"I feel that," said Sting. "Rogue and I just got back from a long mission of our own."

Unbeknownst to the group of boys was an exceedingly happy Juvia hidden behind a pillar. She had finally gotten her hands on another love potion, and she had been given many assurances that this one was guaranteed to work.

Slowly, she crept closer and closer to the four males. Then, once she was but an arm's reach away, she sprang up and yelled 'Ahah!' Then, many things happened at once.

Instinctively, Sting shoved Gray out of the way, took a face full of fruity, pink bubbles and fell to the floor. Rogue immediately hopped off his bar stool and bent down to help Sting up.

"Sting! Are you okay?" he asked, slightly shaking the man in his arms.

Sting blinked a couple of times and slowly came to. "Ow, my head," he groaned, rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the floor. He then stared up into Rogue's eyes and smiled. "You have really pretty eyes, did you know that?" said Sting, dreamily. Rogue scowled and pushed him back onto the floor.

"Juvia, what did you do?" growled Gray. "That better not have been be what I think it was! I thought you learned your lesson last time when it nearly got me killed!" shouted Gray.

"I-I, I went to a more reliable dealer this time!"

"A more reliable dealer. A more reliable dealer! You are unbelievable! What have you done to Sting?"

Juvia stared at the floor, small tears in her eyes, "I hit him with a love potion. It will last for about a week. And since he looked into Rogue's eyes first, he'll be in love with him."

Gajeel laughed, "Wait, so Lightbulb's is gonna be in love with Ryos? Man, that is gold!"

At that moment Rogue was helping Sting up, again. Sting's stare held a deep sense of longing, so intense that Rogue had to look away.

"You're so beautiful," said Sting sincerely. Rogue turned bright red as Gajeel fell off his chair from laughing too hard.

"You don't know what you're saying," dismissed Rogue.

"Yes I do. I love you." At this point Rogue grabbed Sting by the wrist and dragged him out of the guild hall.

"Let's just get you home," muttered a still red faced Rogue.

"Have fun!" sang Gajeel from the floor.

The train ride back to Sabertooth was a bit of a nightmare for Rogue. Not only was he motion sick, but he also had to deal with an overly clingy Sting who kept making 'I want you' eyes at him and reciting awful, improvised love poetry. All in all, Rogue was relieved when he was finally in bed, away from Sting. However, Rogue's peace of mind was not to last.

Rogue awoke suddenly, in the middle of the night, to a feeling of unease. Surrounded by darkness, he felt as if he was being watched. Listening carefully, he could hear the sound of faintly breathing. By his bed, he spotted a dark figure. Before he screamed out, he remembered his training, and instead yelled, "Shadow Dragon Iron Fist!" His fist struck the shadowy figure straight on.

"Ow, Rogue! What the hell?! " groaned the intruder, who Rogue belatedly realised was Sting.

"What the hell?! I should be asking you that! What are you doing in here you creep?" hissed Rogue.

"I was... just... watching you sleep," said Sting.

"Why?" moaned a tired Rogue.

Sting shrugged, "You look so peaceful when you sleep. And beautiful. Peaceful and beautiful. Plus, it's what Edward Cullen does in twilight. How come when Edward does it it's romantic, but when I do it it's creepy?"

Rogue sighed, "I knew letting you read those books was a mistake. Will you go back to your room now?"

"Can I stay here? I want to be close to you," Sting said quietly.

Rogue let out another sigh, "I guess it's not like you can help it. Come on in then," said Rogue, giving in and moving over to make room for Sting.

"Really? Thanks, babe," said Sting, cuddling up next to Rogue. Wrapped in Sting's comforting scent, Rogue couldn't help but think of all the times they'd slept in the same bed as kids when the world seemed younger and full of innocence. With that thought in mind, he drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Rogue awoke early the next morning to find himself cuddled in Sting's arms, the hug ensnaring him with the grip of a cobra.

"Sting, get off me!" exclaimed Rogue, elbowing Sting in the chest.

"Ow! Is that anyway to rouse your guild master?"

"Please excuse my incompetence, my liege. Would you prefer to become acquainted with my fists?"

"Okay, okay, letting go, I repeat, letting go," said Sting, holding his arms up in surrender.

Xxx

The following day, Rogue spent most of his time out on an S class mission with Yukino. When he finally got home, he was greeted by Sting, holding a bunch of his favourite flowers - black tulips.

"Pretty flowers for my pretty guy," grinned Sting. Rogue found himself going slightly red and tried to cover that by eating a Tulip.

"Fanks," said Rogue.

"You're welcome," grinned Sting. "I also made dinner - your favourite."

"Slightly charred steak?"

"Yes, and white chicken for me." Rogue flashed Sting a smile that he happily returned. The pair walked through the hallway to the kitchen and sat down.

"This is delicious Sting."

"I'm glad you think so, I had Minerva give me some pointers."

Rogue chuckled, "Now the truth is coming out." Sting stuck his tongue out childishly.

The pair enjoyed a lovely sticky toffee pudding for desert, and then snuggled up under some blankets to watch some Lacrima-Vision before heading upstairs to bed. Just before Rogue drifted off into unconsciousness, Sting whispered 'I love you' to Rogue. Frozen, Rogue found himself wishing that he could respond in turn.

Xxx

The next day the Twin Dragons headed off on a mission with their exceeds. The pair were walking through a small village, called Azalea, situated near the sea on the way to dispatch some monsters, when Sting grabbed a hold of Rogue's hand. Rogue blushed, but gripped back happily all the same.

The four of them eventually reached the town's local port where the villagers were being troubled attacking hippocampi in the area. Changing into their swimming trunks, the pair dove into the sea to search for monsters.

Almost immediately after diving in, a herd of hippocampi smashed into them. The pair took a barrage of vicious kicks to the chest. They retaliated with a unison raid, then swam up for air and were subsequently biten on the feet by the furious sea horses. Angered, the boys returned underwater and began a rampage of flurried attacks until the hippocampi had been chased away.

The pair then swam back to the port and crumpled on the promenade. They looked at each other and collapsed into giggles.

"Did we almost get our asses handed to us by a bunch of horses? Sea horses at that," said Sting.

"It would seem so," replied Rogue. Rogue then found himself sucked into an intense starring contest with Sting. Rivulets of water dribbled down from his hair to his chest to his abs, and Rogue couldn't help but think how delectable he looked.

"You look so gorgeous right now," said Sting. Rogue responded by going bright red, standing up and speed walking straight past Sting back towards Sabertooth.

Xxx

The following day, Rogue had again gone out on another S class mission with Yukino and Minerva. Once he was back at the guild, he found it absolutely covered in black tulips. Rogue's favourite band were playing and the guild members all had shit-eating grins plastered across their faces. Sting handed Rogue a box of his favourite chocolates and simply said "I love you."

At this point, Rogue stared crying. Ugly. Messy. Bawling.

"Rogue? Did I do something wrong? I thought you'd be happy."

"It's not real!" Rogue simply stated.

Suddenly, the guild doors slammed open and in walked Juvia and Gajeel.

Completely missing the tone of the room, Gajeel threw an arm around Rogue.

"Hey Ryos, what's up? Juvia and I have come along to hang out. Oh, and Juvia's here to apologise about the love potion again."

"Yes, sorry Sting for any inconvenience I caused. Luckily, I found out later after you left that it was out of date and therefore ineffective."

"Wait, what?" said a very confused Rogue who was now glaring at Sting.

Sting looked like a little kid who had just been caught stealing from a cookie jar.

"No, no. It was definitely effective. It must have still worked after the sell by date."

"No," said Juvia, shaking her head, "the bottle was very clear. Ineffective."

"Wait, why is this room covered in black tulips?" asked Gajeel.

"Yeah, Sting. Why is it covered in black tulips?" said Rogue, his voice coated in venom.

"Er... I can explain... I'm sure there is a simple, reasonable explanation," said Sting with an awkward laugh.

"Were you just messing with me? You found out about my crush and you decided to taunt me? Sting, I really thought your sadistic, cruel side had left with Jiemma, but maybe I was wrong," said Rogue with tears clear in his eyes.

"No, no, no, no Rogue! Nothing like that! It's just that... when the potion hit me... if I hadn't acted any differently, then everyone would have realised that I was already in love with you... so I just did all the things I already wanted to do with you, but was too scared to try."

Rogue glared at Sting, slapped him and then gave Sting the brightest and rarest of smiles and said, "You are such an idiot." before wrapping Sting up in arms and smashing their lips together.

Gajeel yelled a loud, "Woohoo!" and started clapping, and soon the whole guild was clapping and cheering with them.

"I'm so happy for you guys!" yelled Juvia.

"Thanks for throwing a potion at me!" replied Sting who was coming up for air.

"You're very welcome."

Surrounded by black tulips and his favourite music, Rogue couldn't help but be happy for the happy accident too. And the dorky pair were grinning at each other the whole way back home, where they had some rather passionate activities to attend to, before a well deserved rest.