Chapter Text
The tavern was fairly quiet when Gray and Natsu walked in. Fellow travelers occupied a couple of tables, having a late lunch, planning the next leg of their journey, or simply enjoying a leisurely moment. Scanning the room, it didn't take long for them to spot Sting and Rogue waving at them. They were huddled together in a cosy booth in the back, curiosity all but written on their faces.
Gray was relieved to see four mugs of ale already on their table. He could definitely use a drink after the morning they’d just had. They plopped down across from their friends, and he took a few big gulps before even offering a greeting.
“Should I even ask how it went?” Rogue raised an eyebrow.
“It was a disaster.” Gray waved his mug around and made explosion noises.
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“Natsu, you almost set that lady’s dress on fire.”
Sting snorted into his own mug. "Almost?"
Gray sipped his ale, waiting for Natsu to retaliate by telling their friends about how he’d stripped his shirt not even five minutes into the interview, but he remained silent. And while Gray was grateful for the reprieve, it also plucked at his heartstrings. It wasn’t like him to let an opportunity like that pass.
“Maybe they’ll change their mind,” Sting said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he reached for the menu.
Gray seriously doubted that. "The interviewer made herself very clear when she said they didn't select same-sex couples for the adoption process."
“It's such a stupid rule!” Natsu complained. His raised voice and the sound his fists made as they slammed on the table were loud enough for a few other patrons to turn their heads, but they lost interest just as quickly. “It makes no sense! I even told her all about how I’d hatched Happy from an egg and raised him.”
“Please tell me you didn’t tell her about KemoKemo.” Rogue gave him a look that said he already knew what the answer was going to be.
“Of course I did!”
"Of course you did," Rogue sighed. "I'm sorry, and you're right. It's not fair that they only rejected you because you're both men. We could only wish a loving couple like you guys had taken us in back then."
It really wasn't fair. They’d be great parents if given half a chance. Gray knew it.
But that was the thing; no one was willing to. This interview had been their last stop on this road; an orphanage in a small town they’d never heard of before. They’d already gone everywhere else, and the answer had never changed.
"Should we go back and set her dress all the way on fire?" Sting joked, or at least that’s what Gray hoped.
“I don’t see how getting the Rune Knights on our ass will help our case. Let’s just drink.”
"Fair enough. I'll get us another round, then." Sting got up, clambering over Rogue's lap to get out of the booth, and giving Natsu a few shoulder pats as he passed him on the way to the bar.
“Sounds good to me.” Gray said, hurrying to finish his current drink. He turned to Natsu and asked, “Do you want to get some food?”
“Sure.” Natsu listed off what he wanted, but it was barely half of what he’d normally order.
Gray grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. “Hey, I know it didn’t go the way we’d hoped, but let’s try not to let it spoil our day, okay?”
Natsu nodded, resting his head on Gray’s shoulder for a moment. “I bet I can drink that ale faster than you.”
It was a half-hearted attempt, but Gray was quick to agree, knowing once they got going Natsu’s competitive streak would take over.
“You’re on.”
“Hey, hold on, I want in on that!” Sting returned, handing over drinks, and all three of them glanced at Rogue, waiting for him to give in to their combined pleas to join them.
"Last one to finish buys the next round," he said, “and no magic this time.”
They all toasted to seal the deal and started downing their ales as fast as they could.
0-0
“Where the hell are we?”
The resulting silence from the three dragon slayers was troubling, considering they’d been walking around for what felt like hours now.
They’d left the tavern early in the afternoon, determined to explore the woods that surrounded the town. It had seemed like a great idea at the time, but they’d all been completely plastered, so that wasn’t exactly surprising.
And now they were lost.
Gray searched for any landmark, even though he knew it was pointless. If those three had no clue where they were, what chance did he have? Everything looked pretty much the same to him. There was just green and more green everywhere his eyes could see.
He wasn’t too worried yet, but he’d feel much better knowing they would make it back to town in time to catch the last train home.
"At least it's not going to rain." Sting shrugged. "Let’s just keep walking. We’re bound to find something soon."
Gray was about to protest that this was a terrible idea when he saw how relieved Natsu seemed by Sting’s announcement. It was clear that he didn't want to go home just yet, and Gray knew exactly why.
He decided it couldn’t hurt to explore for a little longer.
Besides, it wasn’t like he was in any hurry to get home either. Not when he knew what was waiting for them. The minute they showed their faces in Magnolia, their friends would descend upon them full of well-intentioned questions that neither one of them was in any mood to answer.
"Hey, guys–" Rogue stopped walking and stared off into the distance. "Is it just me, or are the trees getting bigger over there?"
Gray followed his line of sight, but it was too far away for him to make the distinction. “I don’t see–”
“Oh, I think you're right!” Sting said, bouncing on his feet. “Let’s go check it out!” He immediately set off at a run with Natsu chasing after him.
“–Anything.”
“And off they go.” Rogue shook his head. “We might as well hurry and catch up before they do something stupid.”
Like he needed to be told that. As much as he appreciated Sting’s friendship with Natsu, it was a bit of a double-edged sword at times. Natsu lacked impulse control on his best days, but Gray could usually steer him back on course. Sting, however, was like the gunpowder to Natsu's fire and when they were together, there was no telling what might happen.
Gray ran beside Rogue, wondering what they would find when they caught up to their idiots. It didn’t take him long to notice what Rogue had mentioned. The grass became taller as they got closer. The trees certainly looked bigger than the ones they’d seen earlier, and there were a lot more of them. Plants and shrubs too, some of them bearing what looked like giant versions of common forest fruits. He stopped to examine one, hoping Sting and Natsu had been too excited to notice.
That thought hadn’t properly manifested itself yet when he heard Rogue yelling, “Don’t eat that!” to no avail. The sounds of slurping and munching, followed by delighted moans, were enough to let Gray know that ship had already sailed. Not that he was all that surprised, Natsu had yet to meet something he wouldn’t shove in his mouth given half a chance.
“But they’re so good!”
“You can’t just eat random berries,” Rogue protested. “You have no way of knowing if they’re poisonous or not.”
“Relax, they’re just blackberries,” Natsu grinned, juice dripping down his chin.
“Just blackberries? They’re big enough to pass for pine cones! Don’t you think that's–”
The rest of that argument ended as Sting shoved one into Rogue’s mouth. “Perfectly sized! You love these, right?”
Rogue grumbled but chewed nonetheless, going from angry to surprised in the blink of an eye. “Oh… They're amazing!”
Great. Now all three of them were gorging on the damn things. What the hell was it with dragon slayers and food, anyway? Gray sighed, holding on to the faith that the fruits were indeed nothing more than oversized, regular fruits. He wasn’t looking forward to a repeat of the time he and Natsu had ended up sprouting mushrooms from their heads. Or anything even remotely similar.
Looking around for any suspicious fungi, a peculiar structure caught his eye. It was all closed up, overgrown like the rest of the area, but he could easily make out the shape of an arch among the lush vegetation. He pushed some twigs and vines aside, squinting his eyes to get a glimpse of what lay beyond, but all he saw was more greenery.
“What’cha looking at, Ice princess?” Natsu said, suddenly standing next to him and startling him out of his observation.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
Natsu pretended to look chastised, but he looked entirely too pleased with himself to pull it off.
“I was just wondering what’s on the other side of this arch.”
“Is that all?”
There was a sudden burst of heat as Natsu covered his fist in his flames and approached the vine.
“NO!” Gray shouted along with Sting and Rogue. He quickly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back and away from the vines.
“Are you stupid?”
“What? You wanted to see what was on the other side.”
“Yeah, but what do you think will happen if you set that thing on fire? In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of the woods.”
“I was just trying to help!” Natsu huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "In case you haven't noticed, this place is full of magic."
“What are you talking about? What magic?”
“Yeah, I noticed it too,” Sting backed him up. “It’s not very strong, but it’s all around us, even in those berries.”
“And you ate them?!” Gray facepalmed, lamenting their utter lack of common sense.
“Sure, why not? They were good.”
There wasn’t a sane one among the three. He strained his senses, but couldn’t detect the magic they were talking about, and that made him feel anxious, especially given how many berries he’d watched Natsu wolf down.
"Should we check it out?" Rogue tried to peep through the leaves like Gray had, with similar results.
“I think we should go back to town and take the train home,” Gray said. “We don’t know what this magic is, or even what’s waiting for us on the other side. What if it’s a dark guild hideout or something? We should let someone else handle it.”
“No one has been here for a long time,” Natsu pointed out, and the Twin Dragons nodded in agreement. “Besides, if a dark guild is involved, then we should definitely check it out.”
“Natsu’s right. It's our responsibility to make sure there’s nothing shady going on here.” Sting nodded, feigning seriousness, but it was plain to see he was vibrating with excitement.
“Oh, please, you just want to play around with Natsu some more.”
“Of course he does, and avoid his actual responsibilities while he's at it.” Rogue snorted. “I have to admit, though, I’m curious as well. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Gray continued trying to get them to see reason, but Sting and Natsu countered every point as Rogue looked on.
“Look,” Natsu said, interrupting another one of Gray's perfectly sensible arguments. “You can go home if you want to, but I’m gonna stay and check this out.”
“Natsu, will you just listen to me?!” Gray snapped, reaching the end of his patience.
“Oh, for fuck's sake,” Rogue sounded exasperated, and those were the last words Gray heard before the ground swallowed him and everything went pitch black.