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"Rogue, you idiot. You're meant to be the smart one!" yelled Sting. His cheeks rufescent, from anger or embarrassment he wasn't sure, "I've never loved Yukino... a-at least not in that way! It's always been you..."
"W-What?!" asked Rogue, who couldn't quite believe his ears.
"D-Don't make me repeat myself." There was a deafening silence between the two dragon slayers. "F-Fine! I love you! I love you Rogue Cheney!" shouted Sting who was now refusing to look at his partner, "A-And, I don't care if this makes you hate me! If it makes everyone hate me, and call me a freak, and kick me out of the guild b-because I know I'm strong and-" Sting was cut off by a pair of soft lips against his own. He allowed himself to melt into the kiss for just a second before gently pushing Rogue away. "You, you could have just said something," said Sting, his cheeks now somehow a deeper shade of scarlet.
"I did, several times, but you were yelling nonsense pretty loudly. Also, I don't like seeing you cry, and I wanted to do something about it." It was then that Sting realised there were tears cascading down his face.
"Gah! What the hell am I writing? This is so cringe!" yelled Lucy, looking down at the page in dismay. "How would someone not realise they're crying? Also, I'm pretty sure my Sting is totally OOC," groaned Lucy, burying her face into the thirty-page long story she'd almost finished. "How did I let things get this out of hand?" she mentally questioned.
Lucy thought back to a couple of months previously: it had been a bright and sunny day. Like every morning, Lucy had happily walked over to her guild hall. Little did she know, as she pushed open the large oaken doors, that today her life would be changed forever.
"Good morning Mirajane!" said Lucy cheerfully.
Mirajane's eyes widened. She let out a slight scream and then threw a magazine violently over her shoulder.
"Mira?" asked Lucy tentatively, "Is everything okay?"
"Hmm? What? Everything's just peachy! You're sure here early," she accused.
Lucy narrowed her eyes, "What were you reading?"
"N-Nothing! Just the latest 'Sorcerer Weekly'," responded Mirajane in a less than innocent voice.
"Really?" asked a sceptical Lucy, "Well, then let me have a look; I've haven't had a chance to catch the latest issue yet."
Mirajane sighed in defeat, "You got me. Actually, I'm reading guilty pleasure of mine," she lowered her voice, "I'm reading 'Shipping Weekly',"
"'Shipping Weekly'? What's that?" Lucy questioned, unaware of how loud her cheerful voice suddenly seemed to Mira's ears.
"Shh! If word got about this it might cause a war! Or at least severe damage to several buildings. Not to mention, my character would likely be questioned," said Mirajane, with a visible sweat drop. Lucy eagerly leaned closer to her. "This is probably going to sound very strange, but it's a magazine full of romantic stories."
"Well, that doesn't sound very strange at all."
"I didn't finish. Romantic stories about our friends, from Fairytail and other guilds all over Fiore. And not really about couples that are together, like Bisca and Alzack, more like couples that are yet to happen, like Levy and Gajeel,"
"Wait, what?" asked Lucy, now very confused. "Who creates these things? And why?"
"People who enjoy writing in their spare time I guess. They see us all the time in the grand magic games, sorcerer weekly, all over the news. They feel invested in us. Connected to us, and kind of in celebration of that they like to write to stories about us.”
"Well, I guess there’s nothing wrong with that. But it sounds a little like an invasion of privacy. The idea makes me feel a little uncomfortable.”
Mirajane smiled sweetly. “That’s why this is very much kept on the down low. I don’t think any of the writers really have any ill intent if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Lucy nodded along and allowed herself to get lost in her own thoughts for a minute. “Could I borrow your copy? I'd like to see what's it like for myself."
"Of course!" responded Mirajane merrily.
Lucy shock her head back to the present. What a fateful day that had been. Lucy had found herself completely absorbed into the first story she'd read. It had brought her an odd sense of joy that she honestly couldn’t quite describe. The story had been about Gajeel and Levy, and, apart from certain details, it had been scarily accurate. It had a confession at the end which honestly Lucy really needed being around those two in real life was a nightmare. Often, Lucy had half a mind to smoosh their faces together.
Before she really knew what was happening, she had read almost every story in the magazine. There was an amazing one about Leo and Aries that Lucy just wished was true, and another completely gen and wholesome fic about the Thunder Legion off on adventures. There was a hilarious fic about Gray and Juvia that had Lucy laughing for hours, and another about her and Natsu that she refused to admit to herself that she adored.
She also found that there were some ships she just couldn't stomach: Gray and Natsu? Never in a million years. Wendy and Romeo? Just no.
Lastly, there was one pairing that completely sang to Lucy's soul. Lucy couldn't quite say why, but she was just drawn to it. It made happy butterflies bubble throughout her body, and made her want to sing to the world. Said story was about Sting and Rogue. It wasn't like Lucy knew the two Sabertooth mages all that well. Sure, they were friends of hers, but not close friends.
Perhaps that was why she cherished the pairing so dearly. With the story about Gray and Juvia, although she had enjoyed it, she knew the two of them so well that she could pick out each and every inaccuracy in the story. It wasn’t realistic because, as a close friend of Gray, she understood how he acted in his more intimate moments, whereas as the author of the story clearly didn’t, so Lucy just couldn’t quite take the story seriously.
However, Lucy had absolutely no idea how Sting and Rogue acted when they were just around their closest friends and truly being themselves, so she didn’t have as large a problem with the story.
The second reason Lucy loved the pairing was not something she wanted to acknowledge; she kind of thought Sting was like Natsu, and that Rogue had certain qualities in common with her, like intelligence, empathy and putting up with a dorky dragon slayer with an annoying, talking, flying cat. It had the added bonus of not making her confront her thoughts towards Natsu so literally.
Suddenly, Lucy was asking Mirajane for all the copies of 'Shipping Weekly' she possessed. Then, Lucy found herself with a subscription to the magazine. Each Stingue fic (as she had come to understand their ship name was) she read spoke to her in a special way. However, each one had something just slightly wrong with it. Not to the same extent the Gruvia fics did, but enough to drive Lucy slightly insane. Either Sting was an insecure weakling with Rogue constantly coming to his rescue, or Rogue was a helpless, depressed damsel with Sting's bright smile saving him. Or the writer glossed over the fact that Sting used to be a massive asshole. Or the writer failed to mention that Future Rogue killed Sting that one time – although admittedly Lucy was probably one of the few people that knew that. Or they didn't include that Rogue is basically a massive dork. Or Rogue's eye colour was wrong.
Or, or, or, or, or... all these inaccuracies buzzed around in Lucy's brain combined with the fact that Lucy's writer mind kept coming up with glorious story lines she eventually snapped. That's how she found herself here with a thirty-page story about two of her friends who she didn't really know that well, and who probably didn't have feelings for each other in which they kiss, and had ended up in several compromising positions.
Lucy sighed, "If anyone ever found this I would literally die," she muttered to herself as she stuffed it deep into the draws of her desk before snuggling under her covers, and slowly falling asleep. Little did she know, that two mischievous figures lurked in the shadows of her room.
"'She'd literally die?' I bet it's super juicy!" whispered Happy, rubbing his paws together gleefully.
"You betcha pal! Let's find out all of Lucy's secrets!" murmured Natsu excitedly. "'Gaybertooth'... what do you think this is?" asked Natsu, confused.
"I dunno! But I'm excited!" exclaimed Happy.
After reading the first page, the two were quietly laughing their asses off, "Oh man, it's a love story about Sting and Rogue! It's pretty good as well."
"Good? It's gold!" declared Happy as to two read on.
Once they'd reached the end, Natsu said, "Well, it's not quite finished, but it's basically there. I say we take it to Sabertooth right this second. Happy, do you have the energy to fly me there?"
"Aye sir!"
Xxx
Sting had sprinted out of his guild master's office the moment he'd heard the word Natsu. However, now he was walking cautiously towards his friends. Although most of them, Natsu included, were laughing and smiling, Rogue looked oddly pale, and slightly sick which had Sting on edge. Just what was that document they were all reading?
"Sting! Sting!" yelled Natsu, shoving a couple pages in his face. Sting had read but a couple sentences when the pinkette continued, "You've have read this! It's like the funniest thing that's ever happened ever!" declared the pinkette, as he started reading in a sensual tone: "Sting found himself winded on the ground. He'd slipped on the icy terrain. In his struggle, he'd pulled Rogue down with him. Chest pressed against chest, Sting found himself enchanted by sparkling ruby eyes. He found himself wondering if Rogue knew how beautiful he was. He wanted to let him know. He would, if only it wouldn't turn his life completely on its head.
"Lucy wrote a romance about you and Rogue!" said Natsu gleefully. "Isn't that the funniest thing? It's so ridiculous!" chuckled Nastu. Natsu’s laugh, usually so uplifting, was bringing back distressing, repressed memories.
"Um, yeah, super… super funny," said Sting, although he couldn't meet anyone's eyes. His throat was dry. Tears were welling up in his eyes. "Um, sorry. Gotta go!" yelled Sting, running away from the situation and back to his guild office as fast as his legs would carry him.
"Hey! Sting! Wait up! You haven't even heard the best part yet!" yelled Natsu, sprinting after him. Despite his best efforts, Natsu managed to dive into his office before Sting could slam the door in his face. "Wooh man, you must have remembered something pretty important because you sure run super fast," panted Natsu.
He stared Sting down, and the intensity broke Sting down into tears. "Hey, Sting? What's wrong?" Goofy demeanor gone replaced by a serious expression.
"Oh…” sniffed Sting, “I don't know. I suppose it's not every day you realise your childhood idle is a homophobe,” stated Sting. Humour his last line of defence. “But what did I expect? I know I'm a freak. I guess this is why people tell you to never meet your heroes."
"A homo-what-now?"
"A homophobe! Someone who hates gay people!" Sting spat, with half a mind to white dragon iron fist Natsu into next week.
"I don't hate gay people! I love happy people! My best friend is called Happy!" declared Natsu indignantly.
Sting blinked at Natsu in bewilderment, the tears stopping for a second out of sheer confusion. "No, not gay as in happy. Gay as in when a man likes another man romantically!"
"Oh! You mean like Freed? That's what Happy says at least, personally, I don't see it."
Sting paused for a second, trying to remember who Freed was. "Yeah, like that."
"Wait a second, I'm still not a homophobe! I have no problem with any type of gay people!"
"You literally just said that a romance between Rogue and me was quote unquote ridiculous and spent ages laughing about the idea with all my friends," said Sting, the tears starting up again.
"I, I didn't mean it like that, Sting! I just thought the idea of you and Rogue together was funny! I would have thought the same thing about Rogue and Minerva! It wasn't gender related, I swear! Besides, why are you so upset anyway? It's not like you like Rogue," Sting just kept on crying. "Come on, Sting, tell me what's wrong? I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong!"
"I... I do like Rogue... I... I know it's disgusting."
An expression of horrid realisation hit Natsu’s face. "Sting, no, it's not disgusting! It's really great! I'm so sorry. I didn't know. It must have seemed like I was being a real jackass back there... I was being a real jackass back there." Sting blinked at Natsu through the tears, not quite believing his ears. Maybe, maybe if Natsu thought being gay was okay then it was, "But I'm going to fix it! I'll get you and Rogue together and happy, forever, in no time!"
"No! No one can ever know! Especially not Rogue!" panicked Sting.
"Why not?"
"Why not?!" Sting fired back hotly. "Do you seriously not know how homophobic Fiore is?! What am I saying, you only just learnt that word, of course you don't know. Look man, people hate gay people, all right? They lose jobs and housing over being gay. I'd probably get kicked out of the guild, and, worse, Rogue would probably hate me." Not wanting to upset Natsu again, Sting held back the thought that he felt like he deserved all of that.
"What?! That's crazy! Why does anyone have anything against gay people!?"
Sting chuckled, "A lot of people would pay good money for that answer. Fear, I think. Fear of the unknown."
"Well that's just stupid! If they're messing with you, then they're messing with me! I'm going to get you and Rogue together if it's the last thing I do!" Although Sting was extremely worried by Natsu’s involvement for once in his life Sting felt a weird sense of hope in relation to his sexuality.
Xxx
Lucy woke up screaming to the sound of her door slamming, and an enraged Rogue staring her down.
"Um... hey... Rogue... what... what are you doing here?" she asked, still half asleep.
"Does this look familiar?" he asked, dark shadows swirling around him. Lucy’s fanfiction about Sting and him was placed none too gently on her lap. Her face started to drain of colour. Frosch stood to one side, glancing worryingly between the two of them.
"Where did you get that!" she shrieked, dashing to her desk, desperately hoping it was still somehow magically there.
"A certain fire dragon slayer with a blue cat took great delight in reading it to the Sabertooth guild hall this morning."
Lucy felt bile rising into her throat. "Oh my God! I'm going to kill him! I'm so, so sorry! No one was ever meant to see that!"
"Yes, well, they did," said Rogue, the snaking shadows getting larger and more ominous.
"Rogue, please don't hurt her," pleaded Frosch.
"I'm not going to. Don't worry Frosch," he replied, petting the cat, the shadows immediately calming down. "I just wanted to know, did I do something to hurt or offend you? Did Sting? Is it about our actions during the grand magic games?"
"What? No! Neither of you did anything at all! I consider both of you friends."
"Then... if this isn't an attack, what is it?" asked Rogue, sounding genuinely baffled.
"It's... um... oh God. Have you heard of 'Shipping Weekly'?" Rogue shook his head.
"Oh God, this is so embarrassing, but I owe you an explanation. Okay, well, it's a magazine that I'm a big fan of, and it's full of romantic stories about various wizards who aren’t actually couples. My favourite stories are about you and Sting. I don't know why! And I am so, so sorry. And then, the stories were just always slightly inaccurate, and before I knew what was happening I'd written my own thirty-page story. I am so, so sorry."
Rogue stared at her in utter discombobulation. "You're supportive of the idea of Sting and me as a couple?" Rogue's face had taken on an oddly emotional expression.
"Yes," Lucy replied.
Rogue started to tear up. Lucy felt awful. "No one, no one has ever been accepting of that. Except for Frosch of course." Lucy wasn't quite sure what Rogue was getting at, but she'd dug herself into a deep enough hole already, so she decided to wait for further explanation. "I... we... Jiemma. When we were little kids... in fact... all the time he was with us, whenever Sting and I messed up, he'd call us... he'd..." Rogue had to pause for a second, "he'd call us faggots. He'd make us call ourselves faggots. When... when we really messed up, and he make us take it all off, he'd... he'd... he'd..." At this point, Rogue had completely broken down. “I-I can still hear the laughter. The horrible, horrible laughter.” Without thinking, Lucy wrapped her arms around him and let Rogue cry into her shoulder.
After a couple of minutes, Rogue still hadn't moved. "No one has ever been accepting before. Thank you. I knew, I knew not to listen to what he said. But it was so, so hard not to.”
"I'm so sorry to have brought up all those painful memories," she said sincerely.
"It's, it's okay. I think it was good to get all that off my chest. I'm sorry for breaking down there," said Rogue, pulling out of Lucy's embrace.
"Think nothing of it. Crying is healthy! Also, it was really my fault."
Rogue smiled at her, "All things considered, I liked your story. Especially now that I know it's not in jest."
"R-Really?!"
"Yes, I don't know if it was clear from my spieling, but my feelings towards Sting are... more than platonic. So, your story was something of a nice fantasy. And weirdly accurate," said Rogue, sounding a little disturbed.
Lucy barely managed to contain her squealing, "You like Sting!?"
"That wasn't clear from what I just said?"
"Sorry, yes, it was. I was just surprised is all," said Lucy with a large grin. "Do you think Sting likes you back?"
Rogue furrowed his brows for a minute, "I tend not to let my mind wander down that path. Sometimes, I think he may. But this morning, after Natsu read but a couple sentences of your story, he looked very upset, and ran back to his office which leads me to believe he's disgusted by the idea of us as a couple."
Lucy wanted to bang her head against the wall, "Oh my God. I am so sorry,"
Rogue smiled weakly at her, "It's fine. To be perfectly honest, I kind of think of our friend group like yours – Sting is Natsu, I'm Gray – though I'd rather be Gajeel – Minerva is Erza, and Yukino is you. So really it makes more sense that Sting would like her. But that’s okay. I’m content in the role of friend.”
"Are you kidding?! You're obviously me!"
"What, how?"
"Well, I'm Natsu's best human friend and you are Sting's, not Yukino. Look, you and Sting can be left alone in the same room together for five minutes without killing each other. There is no way you are Gray.
"Listen, Rogue, this may be over stepping bounds a little, and I know I have already done that enough for several life times, but I just know you and Sting are destined to be together! So, if you don't mind me saying, go back home and get your man!"
"My man? I just explained that he's likely straight and infatuated with Yukino."
"Yes! Your man! Rogue, he wears an earring and crop tops, he's at least bi! Now go get your beautiful bi boy!"
"But I-" Before Rogue knew what was happening, he had been shoved out of Lucy’s house, and back onto a sickening train home. What was it about the blondes in his life being so aggressive and stubborn?
Xxx
"Wait, what did you say happened this morning while I was away?" hollered Minerva at a rather terrified Yukino.
"W-Well, N-Natsu came round and read a-a st-story about Sting and Rogue becoming lovers! I, I think it may have upset the two of them," quivered the celestial mage.
"Imbeciles! Why would anyone let that happened? Everything falls apart if I leave here for even a second!"
"I-I'm sorry! I thought it would be good for the two of them. They clearly like each other."
Minerva's expression softened. "Sorry, I'm not annoyed at you. I'm annoyed at myself. When I was little, no, even as an adult, I allowed my farther to do some despicable things to Sting and Rogue. I'm afraid the two of them probably have a dangerous level of internalised homophobia."
"I-I'm sure they don't! They're both so strong. They overcame their fear of Jiemma," countered Yukino confidently.
"You didn't see what happened," said Minerva. Yukino's face took on a sombre expression.
"Well, then let's let them know they have our full support and love!"
Xxx
"Come on! Letting Ichiya do a TED talk about gay people is a great idea!" said Happy.
"He's not even gay! He's a womaniser!" yelled Lector.
"Actually, I think he might be bi; he puts his moves on Rogue," said Sting, a murderous energy surrounding him. "But I agree with Lector; that is a terrible idea! Both of you are useless!" Sting yelled at Natsu and Happy.
Just then, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Enter!" yelled Sting gratefully. "Ah, Yukino, M'lady. What can I do for the two of you?"
"Actually, it’s what we can do for you. We, we've come to say that we accept you Sting!" declared Yukino.
"…Thank you? I guess?" said a perplexed Sting.
"She means we accept your biness Sting,” stated Minerva.
"W-What?! I'm not bi!"
"Sting, you wear a singular diamond earring and crop tops, every day," deadpanned Minerva.
"What does bi mean?" asked Natsu.
"Why are you my idol?" muttered Sting, facepalming. "Have you ever heard of being metrosexual? Straight men can wear earrings. I-I'm not bi," repeated Sting, shaking slightly. "A-And if I was, there is no way you'd ever accept me," accused Sting, pointing a finger at Minerva.
Minerva let out a long sigh. "Sting, I'm lesbian. I've... I've known that for a long time. I'm sorry I never said anything sooner. I'm sorry I never tried to stop my father, or offered you comfort when you needed it. I'm sorry I laughed along with everyone else. The truth is, I was scared. But that's not an excuse. And I'm here to try and fix things now."
Sting stared calculatingly at her for a number of seconds. "I... I am bi," said Sting uncertainly. He trusted his friends. But in this moment, he was terrified. Terrified they'd use his vulnerability to break him like he'd been broken countless times before.
"Me too!" yelled Yukino.
"Wait, what?!" said Sting and Minerva together.
"Seriously you guys! What does being bi mean!" yelled Natsu, approximately three seconds away from burning the Sabertooth guild to the ground.
"It means liking both men and women!" said Yukino.
"Wait, that's a thing to?!" said Natsu, his head about to short circuited from information overload.
"Please no one try to explain to him what Pan and Ace are," muttered Minerva.
"Guys! I have a brilliant idea!" declared Yukino. Everyone turned to her inquisitively.
Xxx
Rogue arrived back at Sabertooth completely terrified by its appearance: the castle that was the Sabertooth guild hall had been drowned in rainbow decorations; people wore multi-coloured face paint and a collage of coloured clothes. The largest statement, however, was that the ‘S’ of and 'b' Sabertooth had been painted over, so that the guild hall now read 'Gaybertooth'.
Rogue walked nervously into the guild's interior where Sting had just started talking.
"U-Um, h-hello everyone," stuttered Sting. Rogue looked over anxiously at his partner. His arms were crossed, and he was gripping both of his elbows tightly.
He looked like he'd rather on a train than in his throne. Sting was never nervous. It wasn't a good look on him. He was speaking right from Jiemma's throne. Right from where everything had happened. And Sting was now talking to basically the same group of people who had laughed at them but a couple years ago. Rogue hugged Frosch tightly into his chest.
"S-So, you may have noticed the new decorations," some of the audience cheered. Sting managed a weak smile. "As... as Sabertooth's master. I'm introducing some new policies. From now on, Sabertooth is a place of acceptance. A safe haven for people of all sexualities, all races and of all genders." He paused for a minute, and then looked Rogue directly in the eyes. "I think it's only fair that I admit that I myself am bisexual. I've never been very accepting of that fact, and I understand if-"
"Faggot!" yelled someone from the crowd.
Swirling multicoloured portals erupted across the guild hall, flashing dangerously. Minerva then shoved Sting out his throne. "Whichever miserable worm said that, come and say it to my face." Nobody dared move a muscle. "Listen here you insects. I'm a lesbian. Anyone who has a problem with that, come and whisper it into my ear I dare you." The guild hall was deathly quiet. "Anyone who's sexist, racist, homophobic or transphobic get the hell out of our guild hall. If you decide to stay, you better pray I never learn your views," she growled with a chilling glare. Wordlessly, about a third of the guild members left the hall. Then, the guild erupted into boundless cheers.
Rogue stood frozen where he was, not quite sure what had just happened. Minerva was gay? Sting was bi?! And their guild was PC now? What was going on?! Before Rogue could pinch himself, Sting walked over to him.
"Do, um… do you want me to move out?" asked Sting.
Rogue just blinked at him. "What?"
"Of our house. Do... do you want me to leave?" he repeated, still gripping both elbows so hard that his knuckles were white.
"N-No! Why would I want that? D-Do you want me to leave for some reason?!"
"No, no! It's just, you just learned I'm bi, and I thought..." Rogue stared at his partner in disbelief. All this time they'd been having exactly the same thoughts. If only they'd talked to each other about this.
"O-Oh, well, um, I'm... I'm…" Rogue mentally berated himself. If Sting had the courage to come out then he did too. "I'm gay. S-So it would be pretty messed if I had a problem with your sexuality," said Rogue, hiding behind his bangs, fighting hard to resist the urge to dissolve into the shadows.
Sting blinked at him, utterly befuddled. "You don't like Yukino?"
"Yukino? You're the one that likes Yukino!" accused Rogue.
"What? No! Where would you get that idea?"
"I'm the one who likes Yukino! You two dolts like each other!" yelled Minerva from a couple feet away.
While Minerva caught a fainting Yukino, Sting asked, "Is... is that true Rogue?"
Rogue remembered Lucy's solid conviction, drew in a breath filled with fortitude and replied, "Y-Yes."
For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. The silence was deafening. Tears welled up in Rogue's eyes, and started silently streaming down his face. Just as Rogue was about to disappear into the shadows Sting cupped his cheek with one hand, and pressed a gentle kiss against his lips before quickly pulling away.
The guild erupted into renewed cheers.
"A simple 'I like you too' would have sufficed," mumbled Rogue, cheeks flaming.
"But I don't like seeing you cry, and I wanted to do something about it," said Sting cheekily.
"Did you just quote Lucy's fanfiction at me?"
"...maybe?" sang Sting.
"Why do I like you again?" despaired Rogue.
"Hmm, I don't know? It is my devilishly handsome looks? Or my epic strength? My A+ personality?" Rogue responded with the blankest stare he could manage. "Just answer me one thing, did you notice that you were crying?"
"Yes of course I noticed!"