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The fourth day of the Grand Magic Games came to a close.
Things were sombre on the corner of the guild of Fairy Tail. Lucy was still in bed recovering, in the infirmary when the mages who were still in game were nearly booted from the room.
Lucy was stable, she was going to recover after all the abuse from the day’s match. But it was late in the night and everyone needed rest.
So Natsu and Gray headed to the room they were sharing. Silence hanging heavily between them, too many things to be said but they were too burdensome.
As soon as the door of the room clicked closed Natsu started pacing, agitatedly.
“How dare they! Those fuckers hurt Lucy!” he was raging, arms moving to accentuate his words. He was like a tiger in a cage. “I just barely got to her…” he said in a whisper before turning to Gray. “We just barely got to her!” Anguish was oozing off him but before Gray could interject, he kept going. “I didn’t give them back the hurt Lucy felt.”
Gray was silent for the moment. He was sitting on the bed, his back resting against the wall and sombrely following Natsu’s pacing. It was best if the fire mage let out some of his energy.
For the moment he was containing his rage but it was also there, being stoked for the moment. Because he was furious that some assholes had the gall to hurt their friend so deeply. Whoever hurt their family was going to pay and Natsu and Gray – and the rest of the guild, really – were ready for payback. There was no reason to act so sadistically even though the competition was strong.
At long last Natsu stopped and sat heavily on the other bed. Seemingly deflated for the moment.
Gray went to kneel in front of him, holding his hands between his.
“Natsu.” Gray’s voice made the fire mage focus, be grounded by the other. Gray squeezed slightly. “I know that right now a lot is going on. The games, all the teams and especially the ones with underhanded plans.” he paused for an exhalation, looking down at their joined hands. He leaned forward so his forehead was touching their joined hands before looking back up and locking his gaze with Natsu. “Lucy was hurt but she’s out of danger now. Yeah? You, look at me,” he nearly pleaded as Natsu was looking down at the floor at the mention of their friend, “you can’t lose your head, okay?” he pressed.
The near aura of flames that had been surrounding Natsu and steadily decreasing, seemed to disappear as Natsu let out a breath. It hadn’t flickered out though, just becoming a banked fire whose rage was going to be unleashed at the right time.
The fire mage nodded.
“We will avenge Lucy,” Natsu stated, at first slightly hesitantly before continuing, “and deal with those fake dragon slayers.” he gave a nod to Gray. “It won’t end like this!” his hands tightened, loosening from Gray’s grasp, curling to fists in front of him.
“We will,” Gray assured him. “But now we should get some rest. It will do us well. And then tomorrow, we’ll kick their asses!”
Natsu nodded in agreement.
With that, the two prepared for bed. They ended up curling in one of the beds, limbs intertwined and that was what allowed for the turmoil to abate slightly. Sleep took them not long after.