Chapter Text
The happy chatter of Natsu’s guildmates was echoing through the guild hall. Some of them were eating, some were playing card games and most of them were drinking. The guild hall was always full of action after they’ve won a battle and this time it was no different. Most everyone was used to the chaos, partying and occasional brawl. After all, most of them had grown up here. And Natsu didn’t mind the myriad of conversations and activities taking place anyways. While for normal humans they all blended into one loud mess of celebrations, he could follow along every single conversation, even the ones at the other side of the hall. Sometimes that was a good thing and other times – not so much. Freed was telling Laxus about a special type of tea he had heard about that is supposed to be imbued with healing magic. Wendy and Romeo were talking about which desert they should go for. They couldn’t decide between the chocolate and strawberry cake. Natsu turned to look at the younger dragon slayer across the room, “The strawberry was really good. Go with that one,” he exclaimed. Though hardly audible for Laki and Kinana at the table next to them, Wendy had heard him just fine.
Keeping her gaze down, she nodded knowingly. They communicated like this a lot, most often to poke fun at Gray or Lucy without them knowing. It was just a shame that Laxus and Gajeel could hear them as well. For this reason, they made it a point to never make fun of the thunder legion – unless Natsu was purposefully looking for a fight with Laxus (which happened more often than he cared to admit). Levy was an angel anyways, so her name never came up during their jokes anyways. The younger Dragonslayer turned to face her guildmate, “Hmm, I think the strawberry will be better.” Romeo nodded enthusiastically but Natsu’s gaze had already wandered to someone else.
“Shut up, you old creep,” Cana exclaimed as she slapped Wakaba across the face. Natsu hadn’t paid attention what he had done to earn himself a beating, but he assumed it was something inappropriate. He snickered. The brunette definitely had a higher tolerance limit than someone like Erza when it came to naughty jokes and shenanigans. Considering she was drunk most of the time, she usually didn’t care. But when she did… well, it could get dangerous. She once knocked Jet out with a barrel after he’d asked her to take a break from drinking. Wakaba rubbed his cheek. “I’m sorry, Cana,” he answered ruefully.
Mira and Lisanna were having a conversation about some guy Lisanna has been going out with.
She sighed, putting her head between her hands, “I don’t know Mira; this is my home. I don’t wanna leave Fairy Tail. What if he feels the same way about Blue Pegasus?”
Natsu nearly spit out his drink. Lisanna was seeing someone from Blue Pegasus?! He hadn’t seen thought that any of them would be her type, but at least it wasn’t a random runaway from some dark guild. He liked Blue Pegasus. They were nice and could hold their own in a fight. And whoever it was, Natsu was sure he’d be good for Lisanna.
Natsu was pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice, “Hey flame-brain, are you eavesdropping on people’s private conversations again?”
He banged his fist into the table, “You jerk, you know that I can’t just turn this off, right?!”
Gray nodded, his gaze darting down to the table, into which his guildmate had just put a giant dent. “I know… just. It’s weird. I don’t want you to hear every single conversation I’m having in this guild hall.” Lucy, sitting next to Gray, could tell from the way he was avoiding Natsu’s gaze that something was actually bothering him.
Natsu, however, was as oblivious as ever. He put an arm around his teammates shoulder, “It’s a bit too late for that realization, don’t you think? I’ve known every single one of your secrets ever since you were a little kid. Even the ones you don’t talk about. And I haven’t told anyone… besides Lucy, sometimes.” He still had that foolish grin on his face when the Ice Mage’s glare shot up at their blonde friend, pulling away from Natsu’s half-embrace.
“Wh-What did he tell you about?” Gray exclaimed in horror. If Lucy had the power to kill someone through eye contact, Natsu would have been dead that instant. She shook her head in disbelief, “Wow, thank you very much Natsu. He never told me anything you didn’t end up telling me a day or two later anyways.”
Gray rolled his eyes in annoyance, “Well, I’m glad to be the most interesting object of your gossip, then.”
Natsu snickered, “Well, you did have a huge crush on her. And bringing that up in front of you would have been AWKWARD.”
“Y-you told her that?”
The Ice Mage was already pale as it was, but Lucy could see the color draining from his face as he heard those words. She placed her hands on top of his, squeezing softly. “It was kind of obvious, though. And I mean, you’ve moved on since, right?”
“Right,” he sighed.
Suddenly, Lucy’s frown broke out into a smile. “I know what we can do to brighten the mood, guys,” she exclaimed as she loosened her grip on Gray’s hands, “You still have that new deck of cards we haven’t tried out yet, right Gray? Let me steal away some of the cake and then we can get going.”
“Not like I had plans anyways,” Gray murmured, still sour over the embarrassment he had just felt. Natsu put his hand around the Ice Mage’s shoulder again, “It’s not like you ever have any other friends to have plans with.” Gray was about to protest, when Lucy spoke up, “Na-na, you guys. We’re done arguing now. Let’s have a fun night.” Both of them saw the excitement in her eyes, so neither dared to refuse her. At that, the trio silently, but contentedly, made their way to Gray’s place.
Lucy had taken exactly three slices of the cake back with them – one for each of them. While Natsu, who, of course, knew his way around Gray’s place, went to get plates from the kitchen, Gray and Lucy started to set up the game.
“I hope he doesn’t break anything again,” Gray sighed as he heard the cluttering of crockery and cutlery, reminiscing about a cup Natsu had broken the other day. It was a reward he had received after helping some rich family with their festivities. People sometimes requested him for ice sculptures or other simple tasks. There was no thrill in these requests, but they helped pay the bills and pass the time between the really exciting jobs. And sometimes, people handed out random items as rewards. Gray had received a lot of junk over the years, but he never complained. The people only meant well. Likewise, the cup wasn’t anything special. It was black with delicate ornaments in the shape of snowflakes and stars all around. It was a pretty thing, but it didn’t hold much meaning to him personally. Naturally, none of the insults he had thrown in Natsu’s direction after the fire mage decided to use his powers to heat up the drink in his hand, subsequently melting the cup, had any sincerity to them. But Gray didn’t want Natsu to know that. Whenever he was too nice, it somehow got awkward between them. It was different with Lucy. She was such a sweetheart and always considerate of everyone’s feelings. Natsu, on the other hand constantly bordered between being completely oblivious and utterly overbearing. When Natsu showed up with not just a brand new cup but an entire set of cups, it, inevitably, became awkward. What was Gray supposed to say?
“Thank you, Flame-Brain,” was the only thing he could muster.
Gray expected to be hit back with an insult. Instead, he was hit with the widest grin possible.
“I hope you like them. They only cost 20.000 Jewel,” the Fire Dragon Slayer responded.
The Ice Mage nearly fell of his chair, “You mean 2000 Jewel, right?”
Natsu tilted his head in confusion, “No, I meant 20.000. Look they even have a silver circle around them. Don’t they look cool?” He was back to oblivious mode, then. Gray couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his idiot best friend. Sometimes, his heart was too big for his own good.
Gray was pulled out of thought when Lucy spoke up, raising the glass of wine she had poured for herself. Gray had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t even noticed Natsu return safely with the plates and forks.
“Um, I don’t know if any of you guys remember. But today is actually a quite special day for the three of us. And Erza too, technically. It’s a shame she’s out of town today,” Lucy exclaimed, as to give a toast.
Natsu grinned at her, “What? Because there’s strawberry cake? Everyone loves cake.”
Gray slapped him across the shoulder, “No, you idiot. She means the anniversary of our first big job together. Galuna Island, the S-class quest we weren’t supposed to take on, Lyon beating me up?”
Natsu shrugged, “Hmmm, doesn’t ring a bell. But does that mean we’re celebrating?”
Gray rubbed at his forehead, “Man, you’re so dense. I’d tell you to stop drinking, but I’m pretty sure this has nothing to do with drinking.”
Before Natsu could fire back, Lucy stopped him in his tracks, aggressively placing a hand on his mouth.
“Oh no guys, you aren’t gonna fight now. We’re celebrating. With cake. And drinks. Regardless of whether or not someone will have forgotten tomorrow. We deserve this time together. Who knows when we’ll have to go on our next mission.”
At that, the celestial spirit wizard raised her glass even higher, indirectly demanding the guys follow suit.
“To another year full of adventures with the best team,” she announced cheerfully, as their glasses clashed together.
Natsu snickered, “You know Lu, technically it’s been eight years. After Tenrou.”
“Those seven years don’t count, you jerk. I mean, our bodies haven’t aged, right? I still look like I did when we first met?!”
Natsu leaned in very closely from where he was sitting next to her on the couch, until their noses were just a few inches apart. Lucy blinked, unsure what to say. Frankly, this wasn’t the first time they found themselves like this. She could think of a few times Horologium had saved them – at the cost of being squished together at an impossible position. Lucy felt her face turn red and she was unsure whether it was because she remembered that time she had accidentally landed face-first in Natsu’s crotch or because he was still staring at her face like some psycho. The blonde stared at her friend in bewilderment as he squinted his eyes. Carefully, he placed both of his index fingers on her forehead and started moving the skin there around.
At a complete loss for words, Gray looked at the glass in his hand and took a slow sip. He didn’t understand why they wouldn’t just kiss, why they always had to make it so goddamn weird. No one else he knew initiated so much – admittedly sometimes accidental – physical contact and then refused to act on it. They were such fools. Everyone around them saw the way they looked at each other. Everyone was in on it. Besides Lucy and Natsu themselves, that was. Mira and Cana even had a bet going on how much longer it would take them to figure it out. Gray felt his heart sink in his chest at the thought. He sighed, spinning the glass in his hands. Before he could bring himself to really think about why his friends’ intimacy was upsetting him, he realized he had accidentally frozen the glass, including its contents. Irritated, he set it down on the table. Forced to look up, he realized they hadn’t moved or even noticed him. Natsu was still in Lucy’s face, half crouched on top of her as his knees rested on her thighs, their faces only a few inches apart.
At long last, Natsu broke the silence, “I think you have a wrinkle on your forehead. But you’re still pretty, don’t worry.” He said that last bit with his typical Natsu smile – the one that went all the way to his eyes and usually made whoever he had just upset simmer down. But not this time.
“A- a wrinkle?!”
Lucy jumped up with a loud screech, as a result knocking Natsu off her as well. She raced to the bathroom to inspect her face in the mirror, making weird noises that Gray couldn’t quite make out from where he was sitting.
“YOU JERK. DON’T LIE TO ME LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN.” Gray certainly heard that.
Lucy seemed to have calmed down, as she exclaimed, “I’m still as beautiful as ever. And you’re an idiot liar.”
She sighed as she plopped down on the sofa again, this time on Gray’s side. “Now I’m really in the mood for some ca- NATSU DRAGNEEL. YOU ARE IN FOR A BEATING. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!”
Lucy’s face went from excited, to angry, to sad within a matter of seconds as she watched the Dragonslaver greedily down a slice of cake. Which would have been fine, if it hadn’t been the second slice. Gray watched her with a raised eyebrow. She really needed to lower her expectations towards Natsu. He was known for stealing people’s food. Most of the time he made up for it though. This time around, there was no way to make up for it. Gray had already eaten his slice earlier, or he would have offered her his. He slowly felt a disappointed Lucy melt into his side, resting her head on Gray’s shoulder.
“Man, I was really looking forward to this cake,” she wined. Gray could feel her warm breath on his ear. Too awkward to move, he let her sink into him. The warmth that spread through his naked upper body felt comforting, almost like a soothing blanket.
Natsu finally seemed to notice what he had done, as he realized her disappointment was sincere and not just some joke. He started at the plates in front of him, at Lucy, and then at the plates again.
“I… didn’t realize that was yours. I’m so sorry Lucy, please forgive me. I promise I’ll make up for it. I’ll get you an entire cake just for yourself by tomorrow, I promise. Pinky swear.”
Lucy’s frown of disappointment faded away at Natsu’s rueful words. She could never truly be mad at him – especially not when he was giving her those puppy eyes.
“Ahh, whatever. At least I still have the rest of my- NATSU.”
Flabbergasted, Lucy stared at her empty glass. Just a few moments earlier it had still been nearly full.
The Dragonslayer was up and running before she could even say anything else. Lucy turned to the right where Gray had the same slightly annoyed but also amused expression on his face.
He shrugged, “At least he went to get you a re-fill. That’s gotta count for something, right?”
While Natsu was making his way back, Lucy noticed the cards that were scattered around the table.
“Oh man, we completely forgot about the game,” she chuckled as she shuffled the cards.
“Okay, so this stash will be yours. These will be mine. And these will go to Natsu.”
The Ice Mage snickered, “Please tell me you gave him the bad cards.”
The blonde gasped in shock, “You know I would never do that. Whoever wins, wins fair and square.”
“Well, tell Cana that. I’ve never seen anyone beat her,” Natsu laughed as he entered the room with the bottle in tow.
They continued like that, laughing, mocking each other, and drinking their wine for a while – no one was really sure how much time had passed – when they suddenly heard a knock at Gray’s door.
Natsu squinted his eyes at Gray, “Who’d you invite, your secret lover?”
“Shut up you, idiot. No, I did not. I’ll go see who it is.”
Natsu, of course, already knew that it wasn’t anyone from the guild. He would have smelled them, at the latest by the time Gray opened the door. But there was nothing – no sound, no smell… besides… “More cake???”
Lucy and Natsu exchanged confused glances, both waiting for Gray to unveil the mystery.
As Natsu had predicted, Gray did return with a plate full of cake.
“That’s not the same cake we had at the guild hall earlier, or am I delusional?”
Gray nodded, “No, it isn’t… someone left this at my doorstep and I’m fairly certain I know who that someone is.”
Natsu beamed from ear to ear, “Does it matter? At least now I won’t have to feel bad about eating your slice, Lucy.”
Gray rubbed at his forehead. “That’s weird. Why would someone randomly bring me cake but not stick around? What if it’s poisoned or something?”
Lucy looked up at him, pursing her lips. “If someone was trying to poison you, I think they wouldn’t go through this effort. They could just put it in a drink, ya know.”
The Dragonslayer shrugged as he filled his plate with more cake.
“Maybe you really do have a secret lover we don’t know of. Anyways, I don’t care. Cake is cake and cake is good,” his words became increasingly incomprehensible as he continued to shove the sweet dish down his throat. If they had been anywhere else, Lucy would have scolded his awful table manners. But within their little bubble, no one really cared. They could all just be themselves. And those were her two best friends: Gray, who, of course had to act all unbothered and aloof about this sweet gesture, and ever-optimistic but so, so oblivious Natsu. Only Erza was missing. It was always easy to notice when she was missing. The dead giveaway was the arguing between the three. Erza was always the one to keep their tempers in check. The Celestial Spirit mage sighed, wondering if she was thinking about them right now as well. Lucy really didn’t like it when they split up like this. They were a team for a reason. They knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how to protect one another in battle. Whenever one of them went out on their own, it left the rest uneasy and worried.
“Hey, you’re gonna eat that or not?”, a mischievous voice pulled the blonde out of her thoughts. It was Natsu, prying for her cake.
“Not again, you jerk!” she screeched, putting her hand on his chest and pushing him away.
While Lucy and Gray were enjoying their cake, it was Natsu’s turn. Lucy knew they were doomed when she saw the mischievous look on his face.
“You know you don’t have to be so smug about it. Just put your cards down, flame-brain,” Gray muffled through a mouthful of cake.
Lucy shook her head. Having grown up in a wealthy family, the Fairy Tail table manners – or more so the lack thereof – still appalled her, even though she should have long since gotten used to them.
“Ayyyyyyyyyy, I win. Hah, you losers. Try beating me next time.”
“You wish you stood a chance.”
Lucy chuckled in amusement, “What makes either of you think you’ll win next round? You’ve forgotten I’m good friends with Cana. She’s taught me a trick or two.”
“Oh, you won’t cheat! That’s not fair!!!”
They spent the evening like that: Laughing, drinking, enjoying the rest of the cake.