#ftlgbtfics

[fairiesnova]

Fun in the Sun

Late entry for the Gratsu Summer Solstice Event run by @fuckyeahgratsu for the prompt: fun in the sun

Note: The kids in this fic are apart of my Erzajane Home is Where They Are series but this fic can be read as a stand alone. 

Read on Ao3

“Are you sure you can handle this?” Erza asked shifting from one foot to the other. It was a nervous tick. One that years of staring down enemy after enemy should have gotten rid of. But Erza did not stand before him as guild master of Fairy Tail. No, Erza stood before him as a nervous parent hesitating at the thought of separating from her children despite them both knowing she needed the break. The tell-tale signs of pure exhaustion were written all over Erza’s face weighing down her body. It wasn’t too obvious of course, this was Erza, she still keep that level of grace in her movements and a blank stare to ward off any prying questions. But he knew Erza and so did Gray.

Natsu looks over to his husband to find him staring worriedly at Erza. Gray’s teeth sunk into his lower lip in a way that made Natsu’s eye linger before traveling up to the eyebrow scrunched high on his face. He too could see what Natsu saw and knew they needed to do this.

With practiced ease, Natsu called a wide cocky grin onto his face. “Oh, come on Erza, we’ve babysitter for you a bunch of times remember?”

But as Gray and Natsu could see though Erza’s facade, she could see through theirs. She narrowed her eyes at them. “Rhea. You babysat Rhea alone. I’m warning you now that this is not the same. Rhea has always been self-sufficient even when she was younger. Andre can be…difficult sometimes. Toddlers are a lot of work.”

Gray interrupted this time moving closer to the mother. “Stop trying to scare us off Erza, you know that only gets us fired up.” Natsu’s grin turns into a smirk as he redirects his attention to Gray. “Stealing my lines now Snowflake.” Gray gives him a challenging stare back but says nothing. The two just smirk at each other like idiots in the Scarlet-Strauss yard speaking a thousand words without a sound. Erza always held strong for their guild, for Gray and Natsu, no matter the cost to her. That type of behavior had led to her self-destruction more than once, and each time the boys were there catch her before she fit the ground.

There was no way they were going to leave without the kids.

At that moment, the door opened again, and Rhea walked out. Heading their instructions, she brought along with her a bathing suit and towel carried on her cake-shaped backpack. The eleven-year old looks between her two rowdy uncles and her tired mom. Secretly, she had noticed that both her mothers had looked more down the last few weeks. Between issues at the guild and Andre tearing through whatever he could get his hands and/or teeth on, her mothers were always fixing problem after problem. Rhea tried to make up for it by being extra good. She cleaned up after herself and did her chores without her mother’s asking. She even tried to talk to Andre about being good too, but he just stared and giggled at her as if she were telling a joke. Rhea wasn’t anymore immune to that cute giggly face than her parents and ended up on the floor reading him stories.

Still. She was going to keep being good for her uncles as well. Especially since they seemed blissfully unaware how much of a little terror her brother has been for the past few weeks.

Mirajane smiled at Gray and Natsu and so did the little person slobbering on her dress. Andre giggled as Gray made silly faces and went willingly into his arms. Her turned to shoot a I-told-you-we-could-handle-it look at Erza only to be stopped by the same look of hesitance that flashed over Mirajane’s face.

At this rate, they’d never leave. Gray and Natsu exchanged looks again and subtly nodded to each other. It’s game time.

Gray started down the pathway with Andre in his arms and Rhea following right behind them. Natsu waited for them to move further down the road before stepping forward to grasp both women’s shoulders. “Listen, you two deserve this break. We all know how hard you’ve been working both at the guild and at home. Me and Gray handle the kids for a few days, just trust us alright?” Without waiting for an answer, he kissed both women on the cheeks and grabbed the baby bag Mirajane had brought along with her. With another reassuring grin, he headed to meet his lover.

“Natsu wait-” He turned to see Mirajane and Erza’s hands intertwined. A look of sincerity on their faces as they whispered, “thank you.”

 This time, the smile that came onto his lips was genuine.

~

He and Gray had spent hours arguing over where the best place to spend a week with little kids was. They had come to a standstill glaring from opposite sides of their kitchen table when Happy’s fish went sailing through the room and ended up dropping between them. When Natsu turned to yell what the hell was that for! Gray’s eyes had lit up in the mesmerizing way.

Now here they were in a 5-way race across the beach. Happy won of course, the cheater, but Natsu gladly headbutted Gray out of the way allowing for Rhea to race past him. In retaliation, Gray picked Natsu up off the ground and swung him around under the eyes of a giggling Andre. Andre had given up on trying to race on his short unsteady legs pretty early and instead seemed content to run his fingers through the sand and watch his uncles wrestle. Rhea was celebrating her victory with Happy by trying to bob for fish underwater. At the sound of a scuffle, she raises her head and turns to the fighting men fight men on the beach. She jolts up out of the water when recognizes her uncles. “Are they okay?!” She askes Happy worried. The blue cat just rolled his eyes. “Yeah they’re fine. That’s just their version of fun. Come on, the fish aren’t going to catch themselves!” Rhea hesitates, but as she looks back she could see the little details she missed before. The light tone in their voices as they called insults back and forth, the smiles they exchanged when one managed to pin the other, the way the hands lingered and caressed the other in between moves. In that moment, they reminded Rhea so much of her own mothers when they bickered back and forth just to have an excuse to get closer to each other. With a smile she decided that Happy was right and they continued their dives.

The rest of the day passed by in a splash.

Natsu tried to teach Rhea how to swim while Gray wadded around the shallow end with Andre on his hip. Then they broke for lunch and devoured the triangle sandwiches Mirajane had packed. Shortly after eating, Andre fell asleep on Natsu’s chest while the rest of the gang built sandcastles. They spent some more time in the water until the sun started to set and both kids movements began to slow. They were in the process of packing up their stuff when Gray placed his hand gently over Natsu’s, “so, kids hun?”

Natsu squeezed his hand back. He didn’t need to respond to the question verbally. The look exchanged between the two lovers spoke a thousand words.

[dustyphantom]

When You’re Gone

Angst warning, but also family fluff and children.

Prompt: Loss

Pairing: Fraxus

Laxus sighed, running his hands through his hair. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this. All of it had happened so quickly, he wasn’t sure what to make of the news. After all, Fairy Tail’s worst enemy was dead.

But so was his dad.

He heard footsteps approaching him, steady thumps against the carpeted floor over the gentle patter of the rain outside, “Are you alright?”

Laxus smiled. At least through all of this, he had his husband by his side, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

There was a pause, “May I have a seat?”

The dragon slayer patted the seat beside him on their couch. Freed placed a peck on his cheek as he sat down, swinging one graceful leg over the other. They were both silent for a moment before Freed spoke again, “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”

Laxus nodded, “It’s just… so weird. As a member of Fairy Tail, I feel like I’m expected to be happy about this. But… he was also my father. I mean, he was never a great dad, but he was there.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“I… don’t know,” Laxus admitted, “Empty, maybe? I’m not sad, but I’m not happy either. I don’t really feel anything.

Freed hummed, “That’s understandable. You don’t have to feel a certain way about it. Nobody is expecting anything from you about this.”

“It’s just… something that’s been there my entire life is just suddenly gone. I guess I kinda miss him, but not as a father. Just as someone who’s always been out there. Is that weird?”

The rune mage shook his head, “We all process in different ways. Everything about this is complicated,” Freed’s arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling the dragon slayer closer, “If you need some time off to process, we’d all understand.”

Laxus let out a huff of laughter, “I think that would be the worst thing for me. I just need something to take my mind off of it.”

Freed smiled before resting his chin on Laxus’s shoulder, “If there’s anything you need, I’ll be here.”

Laxus kissed his husband’s forehead, “Thanks. I love you.”

“And I you.”

The dragon slayer sat still as the rune mage slowly fell asleep, still leaning against him. Freed always looked so peaceful when he slept, his features gentle as his chest rhythmically rose and fell. It was always comforting to see him rest, since he hardly ever slept when they had first met. The Thunder Legion had always been like a family, and they had lost their eldest brother as children. Freed had taken it the hardest, hardly ever sleeping in fear that he would have nightmares about all the people he had lost.

“Papa?”

Laxus looked over to the little boy in the doorway, trying his best to not disturb his husband, “Hey Yuri. What’s up?”

The boy made his way over to Laxus, climbing up onto the couch and then onto his father’s lap, “Is something wrong?”

“Huh? No, why do you ask?”

Yuri frowned, “Your eyes look sad.”

Laxus sighed. Even though he was only five years old, Yuri was always very empathetic. He cared so much for every living thing, insisting that they take in injured birds and nurse them back to health. It was adorable, but Laxus had always wondered where he’d gotten that from, “I guess I am a little sad. But it’s not anything you have to worry about.”

“Is it about Robin?”

The dragon slayer froze. It was rare anyone ever mentioned their lost daughter. Robin was Yuri’s twin sister who had suddenly died three years ago. Although it was no longer taboo to mention her in the guild, nobody ever had much of a reason to talk about her. Laxus always hated remembering the months after she had passed away, when everything had been so bleak and he and Freed grieved every night.

But this was nothing like that. All in all, it was a good thing Ivan was dead, “No, it’s not about her. I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“Oh, okay,” Yuri said, “I’m sorry I talked about her. She makes you upset.”

“It’s alright. It’s just a little hard to talk about her sometimes.”

“Can you tuck me in?”

“Of course. Just give me a minute, I don’t want to wake up your dad.”

Laxus slowly shifted Freed off of him, laying the smaller man down on the couch as carefully as he could before taking Yuri back to his own bedroom. The boy climbed into bed, pulling the covers over himself. The lightning dragon pressed a kiss against his son’s forehead before tugging the covers up just a little further. Yuri yawned, curling up on his side. Laxus waited until the boy was barely conscious before standing up. He brushed a strand of bright blonde hair out of the boy’s face.

“Good night, Yuri.”

“‘Night, Papa,” he mumbled sleepily.

Laxus sighed, slowly closing the door behind him as he left his son’s room. He was lucky to have a kid who was so kind and easygoing. Even he couldn’t remember much of Robin, but he was sure she was more difficult than Yuri was. Still, just thinking about his daughter made his heart ache.

It was an age of peace for Fairy Tail. There hadn’t been any major conflicts in nine years, and the guild was flourishing with new life as the members settled down and started families. Even so, Laxus had suffered so many losses. Makarov had died exactly a year before the twins were born, then Robin, and now Ivan.

When he walked back to the living room, Freed was sitting upright, staring at the lake beyond their window. He stood when he heard Laxus approach, blue eyes almost glowing in the low light.

“Sorry,” Laxus said quietly, “I tried not to wake you up.”

“It’s quite alright,” Freed responded easily, “You had to take care of Yuri. Besides, I’ve always been a light sleeper.”

The dragon slayer looked at his feet, “So did you hear what he asked me about?”

Freed frowned, “I didn’t. Is something wrong?”

Laxus shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. It’s not important.”

The rune mage crossed his arms, “You know you don’t have to try to protect me. Come now, I can handle it.”

The lightning dragon sighed his resignation, “He noticed that I was upset and he… he asked if it was about Robin.”

Freed went quiet.

“Of course, he’s allowed to talk about her, but it still hurts, you know?”

“Yeah. I know.”

They both stood silently for a long moment, until Laxus heard a quiet sniffle. Freed wiped tears from his eyes as the lightning dragon looked up.

“Oh, Freed,” Laxus murmured, pulling his husband into a hug.

The rune mage shuddered, “It’s been three years since then. I should be over it. It shouldn’t still make me feel like this.”

“No, no. It’s fine to still be upset. What happened was horrible. Nobody expects you to just get over something like that,” Laxus comforted, “It still hurts me when I hear people talk about her.”

“Gods, I miss her so much.”

Laxus pulled his husband closer, “So do I. But when someone dies, there’s nothing we can do about it. We just have to be happy that they lived.”

Freed chuckled softly, “You inherited the master’s way with words, too.”

“Yeah. I guess I did,” the dragon slayer murmured, “I’m sad he’s gone, but I’m lucky to have had him there when I needed him.”

Laxus smiled, thinking of all the ridiculous things his grandfather did to cheer him up when he was little. He truly was grateful to have such a person with him.

“Freed?”

“Hmm?”

“Promise me you’ll always be by my side.”

“Of course, love. I would never leave you,” Freed responded, “But in return, you must promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“If, for whatever reason, something happens to me, take care of Yuri and the Thunder Legion. They need you.”

Laxus chuckled, “Of course. But nothing will happen to you, right?”

“Of course not. I love you all too much to ever dream of leaving.”

“Good, ‘cause we need you too.”

@ft-wwtdp

[ftlgbtales]

Stingue 500 word Drabble for @oryu404

Sting was normally a heavy sleeper. You could shove him out of bed or even pour ice water on him and he wouldn’t move, but something about the soft sigh he heard made him crack his eyes open anyways. The bedside clock read 2:36 am, and there was a cold chill creeping in from the open balcony door. He reached beside him gently, feeling for his partner, but coming up empty, only finding a cold spot on the bed. 

He got up as quiet as he could, knowing that it would likely be futile, and crept towards the door. Rogue was leaning over the balcony rail in nothing but the pink pajama pants with frogs on them Sting had gotten him for his birthday, and he looked almost peaceful. Sting watched for a moment, content to just take in the sight before he finally decided to move. He wrapped his arms around Rogue’s abdomen and laid his head on his shoulder. “Hey,” his voice was soft, but it was easily heard in the quiet of the morning. 

Rogue smiled and laid his hands over top of Sting’s, “Hi… What are you doing up?” 

“The bed was cold,” Sting mumbled, “because my cuddle buddy left me.” He nuzzled Rogue’s neck gently, then left a soft kiss on his shoulder. “Bad insomnia night?”

The kiss tickled, the lightness of Sting lips always did, and it made Rogue’s smile brighter. He turned around without leaving the embrace, “mmm…. Yeah, but that’s okay.” He wound his arms around Sting, even though they were as heavy as lead with exhaustion. “I have you here now.”

Sting pressed a kiss to his temple with the same love and softness as before, “You don’t look super okay… but I’ll hold you as long as you need me too.” He pulled Rogue closer, one of his hands moving up to play with his tangled hair, and he sighed softly when he felt Rogue mindlessly trace the old scars on his back. “I love you, even when this stuff happens.”

He hadn’t voiced it, but sometimes that’s exactly what Rogue needed to hear. He relaxed into Sting’s arms, blissfully happy, “I love you too, Sting.”

After a moment or two, Sting started humming a nameless tune and swaying with Rogue. It was the only sound beside the crickets under the early morning moonlight, and Rogue’s fixated on it. It was just as calming as always, and he thought for a moment that he could fall asleep standing. Sting was a head of him though, and chose instead to scoop him up and carry him back to their warm bed. Rogue fell asleep to his partner’s humming that night as he was wrapped in blankets and held in a place were his thoughts couldn’t touch him. 

Sting kept humming long after Rogue had fallen asleep, wanting nothing more than for him to dream peacefully, even if it meant losing a few hours. When he finally stopped, it was with a quiet, “I love you,” and him snuggling right back in.

[xnovamore]

Beautiful

My part of the @ft-fairyexchanges Ftlgbtales Happy Holigays Exchange 2019. This is for @eilynn-arts your request mentioned Lolita styled dresses and flowers so I took that and ran with it. I hope you like it! (also I didn’t know if you have an ao3 account but if you do please let me know me, I’d love to gift it to you on there as well)

Happy Holigays 2019

Pairing: Lucy x Juvia

Word count: 2553

Read on Ao3

On the outside, she was sure she had the tough guise of the almost S-class rain woman whenever dealing with the other mage. Her stern glare and annoyed mask firmly in place as she brought her face closer and closer to the one stirring up unspeakable emotions within her. But on the inside, her heart was beating a mile a minute each step she took closer to Lucy’s.

Lucy Heartfilia, the bubbly blonde menace to society that was surely going to be the death of Juvia.

You see, Juvia did not handle crushes well…even she can admit that. And it didn’t help that Juvia crushed easily, always looking for someone to form a connection, a bond with. Someone she could love and cherish for all time and whom would give her those same feelings of passion right back. It was something she crazed desperately. As Mirajane once put it, Juvia was in love with love.

But nothing could compare to the way she felt when Lucy pressed their foreheads together all those years ago.

It was a build-up of things. It started with the pain and helpless she felt as that man controlled her body and forced her to do battle with Lucy. Forced her to hurt someone whom was calling out to her, believing in Juvia to be stronger, able to fight off the mage’s control. Juvia wanted so badly to prove her right, to be strong the way Lucy thought she was. Then it was speaking to Lucy through her magic and feeling for the first time like there was someone else out there besides Gajeel who listened to her, who understand her desire to find a family in the Fairy Tail guild the same way Lucy had. The turning point came when they fused their magic together to form an unison raid. Juvia doesn’t even have the words to describe the feeling of their magic tying them together so closely that they hearts beat in sync other than calling the experience extraordinary. Then afterwards they sat for what felt like forever panting softy with their hands holding the others face and the foreheads pressed so gently together. Gentle, Loving, Warm in ways Juvia never experienced before or since then. Never had anyone hold her as if she precious the way Lucy did. So, when they finally separated, Juvia knew without a shadow of doubt that Lucy left a piece of herself within Juvia.

But Juvia had no idea if she had left a piece of herself within Lucy, or if Lucy would even want her too.

So that leads to them now, Juvia glaring into those honey-brown eyes hoping her false anger would excuse her red cheeks and clenched sweaty fits to anyone looking closely.

Which just so happens to be the entire guild.

“Juvia…” Lucy starts with annoying warm voice of hers. Tone soft and her hands held up in the signal of surrender in an attempt to calm the raging water mage down. She shared a glance with a pouting Natsu, concerned Mirajane, gleeful Cana, and a slowly backing away Gray. So much for their help. “Juvia it’s really not that bad. I know you don’t want to do this, but you heard Master, Cana decides the team for this mission.

Turning her fierce glare onto the snickering card mage, Juvia pointed an accusatory finger in her direction. “Cana will re-pick the teams then! The cards must have been wrong this time!”

“Sorry but no dice Juv,” Cana snickered again not even bothering to hide her amusement in the antics of the woman in front of her. “The cards have spoken, and they said the holder of the zodiac keys and the water mage are the perfect team!” Besides…” Her voice trailed off as she threw an arm over Juvia’s shoulder. “I thought you would be happy. I hear the place your going is beautiful this time of year! All that snow and mistletoe will sure make for an interesting time.” She even threw in a wink for good measure ignoring the killing intent coming off of the other girl. Honestly, Juvia would thank her one day, hopefully one day soon. She had a bet to win after all and with Christmas coming up soon she didn’t have much time to spare.

There was only one flaw in her plan. “But Cana! Me and Lucy always are together on saving the world missions!”

Natsu. They had forgotten about Natsu. Well that wasn’t entirely true, they had purposely left Natsu out of their plan because of his inability to keep his big mouth shut.

“And besides guys, you still haven’t told us what the mission is?”

Thankful Gray was to the rescue, Cana should have known he would have her back. “That doesn’t matter right now. Your train is going to be leaving soon and you still need to pack! We can debrief you once you reached your destination.” Gray said pushing Lucy towards the guild doors. With a glare in their direction, Juvia followed quickly.

Once they were out the door, Mirajane let out a relieved sigh. Cana turned to her and spoke gloatingly.

“And here you doubted me.”

“Okay you were right.“ Mirajane giggled. "I didn’t think that would actually work.” 

“It won’t.” A rough voice spoke from one of the tables. Laxus watched the spectacle unimpressed apparently.

“Your just jealous that your team is going to lose.” Cana smirked at the table smugly. 

“Failure is not in our vocabulary.” Erza declared next to Laxus, even raising her sword to illustrate her point. “Lying to them about a mission is not going to get them together by Christmas. You are going to lose!”

“It will work!” Cana and Mirajane yelled back in unison. The glaring contest with the four threatened to resume the months long argument that nearly resulted into a brawl before the teams were formed, each with a different plan on finally getting Lucy and Juvia together. So far, neither group had any luck but Mirajane, Cana, and Gray were sure the plan they conducted would finally pull through before the agreed upon deadline. It was important to do this now because the A team would have their turn again after Christmas, and judging by Laxus’s constant smirk, they must have come up with a plan that might actually work. The B team could not allow that to happen.

“I don’t really care which of you idiots finally get those two to stop dancing around each other.” Gajeel said strumming his guitar. “Just that it happens. Juvia deserves to be happy. Lucy too.”

A silence rang through the guild as they were reminded why they started this bet in the first place. Yes, there was the added bonus of bragging rights once the deed was done, but more importantly, they wanted to help their friends to be happy together. Even if that involves a little lying…what was the worst that could happen?

~

Juvia ran into her apartment in Fairy Hills a nervous chaotic mess. She raced around throwing all the basic necessitates she needed into her bag before stopping in front of her large closet. Throwing it open, Juvia eyed her clothing selection wary. She still wasn’t sure where they were going, but Cana had mentioned snow which meant it was probably somewhere cold. But were her winter wear cute enough to gain Lucy’s attention? Biting her lip, Juvia eyes wandered to the gem of her collection, the dress she that was her second love after Lucy. It was a baby blue Lolita dress with pink trims and white fluffy ruffles. The dress was nearly floor length stopping just a bit over Juvia’s knee. The dress was complete with silky pink ribbons on the sides, a pair of baby blue flats easy to slip on and off, and a blue headband. The longing Juvia felt when she first seen the dress was nearly strong enough to bring her to her knees. She bought it immediately spending off the jewels she had and nearly tripped herself in a hurry to put it on. 

The dress made her feel like a princess. The fabric and ruffles were so soft and warm and it hugged her skin in a way no other dress had before. The light blue of the headband contrasted so pretty with the darker blue of her hair and eyes. The curls in her hair, the ruffles, and the way the dress fawned out at the bottom had her entranced. It was beautiful, she felt so beautiful in it, and now a small part of her wondered if Lucy would find it beautiful too. 

Making a decision, Juvia gently placed the dress into her the zip-close bag and packed into her suitcase. Within the next moments she was gone heading for the train.

~

The train ride wasn’t as awkward as Juvia thought it was going to be. Her nerves still made her flustered, but instead of tense silence, they filled the ride talking about various topics from the weather to guild events and recent jobs they took. Lucy was in the middle of telling her the story of how Gray and Natsu’s fist fight nearly furthered damaged the already decimated town when a bump on the road sent Lucy flying forward from her seat next to Juvia to her head smacking against the train window.

“Lucy!”

“I’m okay.” She tentatively raised a finger to the knot forming on her head wincing. “Ouch that’s going to leave a mark.”

Worry still simmered in her stomach as she wrapped a hand around Lucy’s wrist pulling the girl towards her. “Rival you need to be more careful.” She continued to pull until Lucy’s head rested against her lap. She summoned small bits of water into her palm then froze it the same way Gray had taught her how. Lucy sighed immediately at the cold touch.

“Wow Juvia your hands are magical.”

That darn blush was back. “Gray taught me how to summon water into my hands while still keeping them solid.”

“Oh.” Lucy made herself more comfortable pushing her head more into Juvia’s hands. She stared up at Juvia. “You and Gray have been getting along more lately. You probably wish he was here with you hun?”

“No…no I’m glad I’m here with you.”

Lucy’s smile brightened the entire train. “I’m glad I’m here with you too.”

~

The train stopped at a midpoint halfway to wherever Gray brought the tickets for. She stepped off of the platform dragging Lucy with her.

“Juvia I told you I’m fine.”

“Nonsense rival. If we leave it you will bruise! There should be medical aide somewhere near here.”

“But what about the trai-”

“We will make it back in time or we will catch the next one. You are getting checked out now! I will not allow my rival to be done in by a head injury.”

By the time they found a healer to check out Lucy the train and long since left. They agreed to book a room in the inn near the train stop and rest until the next one came that evening.

Juvia was the only one in the room now. Lucy was downstairs gathering information about the village they were being sent to. Gray, Cana, and Mirajane debriefed them over lacrima but the details were fuzzy and the three spent more time bickering between themselves then giving clear instructions on what this save the world mission was so Lucy and Juvia decided to do some digging themselves.

Juvia was glad she was alone because she needed the few moments to gather her courage. Staring herself down in the mirror, she ran her hands loving down the sides of the Lolita dress, the familiar softness of the fabric grounding her. She knew there was little chance of her getting an opportunity to wear it once they reached the village. She had an opening during the hours before the next train left to impress Lucy and she needed to take it. Here in this sleepy little town where its just the two of them far away from any distractions would be her best chance to make Lucy notice her.

And notice her Lucy did.

She was there at the bottom of the steps watching with wide eyes as Juvia slowly descended the stairs. Juvia kept her movements slow and her head held high, eyes locked on those honey-brown ones. Lucy’s eyes drifted from the way the dress swished and shayed with the movements of Juvia’s hips down to the blue flats before coming back up, lingering on the ruffles down by her legs, then focusing on the blush lingering on her cheeks.

“Juvia…” she whispered softly. She took one step forward then another. Soon the were rushing towards each other desperate to close the distance between their bodies.

“Juvia” she said again, breathless now. Her hands lifted close to Juvia’s face but not quite touching yet as she looked to Juvia for permission. Juvia nodded rapidly closing her eyes in pleasure as Lucy’s warm hand tugged on a stray curl brushing it back behind the headband. The hand drifted down her cheek, brushing her lips, then tracing every inch of the dress she could reach.

“Juvia, you’re so beautiful”

Her hands played with the ruffles.

“It’s so soft. Soft like your hands Juvia”

She linked their hands together using both to continue her exploration.

“Warm too. The fabric is so nice under my hands. It looks taken care of too, you must really love this dress.”

“I do. It makes me feel beautiful”

Lucy frowned at that. Taking their joined hands, she cupped Juvia’s cheek again. “Juvia, your always beautiful.”

The blush deepened but Juvia wasn’t going to allow her embarrassment to take control this time. Instead she pushed more into Lucy’s palm speaking so only she could hear. “I wanted to look beautiful for you. I wanted to share this part of me with you.”

“Juvia…” Juvia was quickly growing to love the sound of her name coming from those lips, especially when Lucy was smiling at her like that. “Come, I want to show you something.

~

They walked slowly up the hill taking their time. Juvia had one hand on her hip keeping her dress from being blown by the wind and the other still locked in Lucy’s. They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the top of the hill where an endless array of flowers bloomed.

“Oh.” Juvia gasped out.

“Yeah it’s amazing isn’t.”

She pulled out a blanket from her bag lying it onto the ground. She motioned for Juvia to sit on it then followed once again lying her head in Juvia’s lap.

“I found it when me, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Wendy went on a job in a town near here. I always wanted to come back here.”

She took Juvia’s hands again and pressed a soft kiss to the back of one. Juvia’s smile was so wide her cheeks stung. She laughed softy unable to contain her joy of being here, in her favorite dress with her favorite girl watching the sunset over the beautiful bed of flowers talking the night away.

In the end, the missed their second train. But they gained so much more.

[gratsustingue-the-ot4]

Gray had a bad night and is struggling more than usual, but luckily he has amazing loving boyfriends who are right there when he needs them.

Wrote a little something for the best boys! ❤️Also as a special congrats for the amazing @splendidlyimperfect reaching 100 ft fics! 🥰

[izukillme-moved]

(Oneshot) Gray x Natsu + Protecting Each Other - You deserve so much better, Ceru <3

Thank you so much, Jaci <3 you have no idea how much this means to me :333

@watcher-ofthe-sky tysm for the help on this!! I always love to brainstorm with you <3

–

Natsu and the woman rage across the barren earth, trading powerful, blazing punches and delicate, deceptive strikes that keep cutting too close. He’s powerful, but his fists are no match for a swordswoman of her calibre. He spits and hisses flame, trying to keep her at bay, but her steps are too quick for his single-minded, imprecise attacks. Her blue hair’s half-burned off, hanging in a short, ragged, soot-edged bobcut around her ears, but she barely blinks at the sudden loss of weight from her head, pivoting expertly around Natsu’s stunned form.

And then the sword is slicing down towards Natsu’s chest before he can breathe, but he’s not even afraid because he knows - 

Ice stops the swing that surely would have killed him, strong and firm and hard and unyielding, a solid block that weighs the swordswoman down, and she cries out at the sudden cold, clutching her shoulder as veins of blue creep up her dark skin. Natsu doesn’t waste a second, going in for a full-blown punch to the head to knock her out while Gray stabilizes his magic to make sure her sword arm is incapacitated. Her head lolls back, brown eyes half-closed, skin glimmering with a sheen of sweat, lips murmuring a prayer even in unconsciousness.

“Do I always have to get you out of this stuff, Flame Brain?” Gray says, and he sounds exasperated, but Natsu knows he’s not. 

So he responds cheerfully, “It was me who knocked her out, not you, Ice Princess,” 

Gray snorts. “Says the guy who was getting his ass beat.”

They don’t mention that he would have been dead by now if Gray hadn’t been there. Gray won’t gloat in it; Natsu won’t thank him - because that’s not how it works between Gray and Natsu.

Because they have an unspoken deal, and that deal can stick to being unspoken.

—–

Gray stares up at the sky, dark eyes vacant and empty as they always are on this day. His head spins with a whirlpool of memory he’d rather not get sucked into, but he’s got no choice. 

At least today, he should let himself sink into it. Should atone by allowing it to rip him apart all over again, leaving him the same torn, broken mess he becomes this day every year. 

The same mess that he deserves to be, for daring to be happy.

Unwittingly, his shoulders sag, heavy with the weight of the illusory strength he’s too tired to project today. His head falls forward onto his knees, and a pit opens up in his stomach, wide and gaping and empty - a pit that can’t be filled even by the bubbling vivacity of Fairy Tail, not today. 

He is dropping, then, dropping into this pit, deeper and deeper, hurtling down the seemingly bottomless hole of despair and guilt and regret which widens every second he’s in it. A voice screams at him to stop, to pull himself out before it is too late, but he simply can’t try anymore. 

Gray is a lost boy, adrift, floating, and there is nothing that can save him now.

But then there is a warm and sharp blast to his bare back, shocking him back into the present, and his body retaliates with a hastily-made lance, though his mind is still reeling from the sudden shock.

“Come on, Ice Princess,” taunts Natsu, smirking confidently, but his eyes are full of understanding. “Today ain’t no day to be moping around like some emo loser.”

“Emo loser, huh?” Gray returns challengingly, a spark lighting in his dull-edged, rusty blade of a heart. “I’ll show you what this emo loser can do!”

Natsu attacks first, and Gray sidesteps most of his too-direct punches and kicks, trying to get his rhythm down. But he soon starts taking hits and giving them in equal measure, tired of evading the fight like a prissy princess.

Natsu’s fists speak better than his words - always have. 

With a punch to the gut, he says, It’s not your fault.

With a kick to the head, he tells Gray, Never has been.

With a spell aimed at his face, he shouts, So shut up and let me help you! 

And as they launch themselves at each other, sharp hisses of steam rising as white-hot fire and hell-cold ice clash, Gray manages to forget, just a little.

And he manages to forgive himself, just a little.

The words stuck in his throat don’t come out. 

Thank you, Natsu.

Not today, not now… maybe not ever.

Because he doesn’t need to say them; doesn’t need to state in words the extent of their bond. Meaningless strings of letters cannot describe Gray and Natsu, and will never be able to.

Because this is how it is - Gray will protect Natsu from others, and Natsu will protect Gray from himself.

Because this is how it is - and neither of them will have it any other way.

[mdelpin]

AO3 | FF.Net

This was written for @adhdnatsu who is the 3rd Place Winner of the @ftlgbtales 300 Followers Raffle we did a few months ago. They requested Igneel and Natsu fluff and I really hope they enjoy this. :)

Dragons Can’t Cannonball

"Where are we going?" Natsu asked excitedly from his spot on Igneel's enormous back. They were flying up in the air, and this was unusual so early in the morning.

For being a dragon, Igneel was very particular about his schedule. Mornings were for teaching Natsu about reading and practicing his letters. Physical and fire magic training took place in the afternoons. While the evenings were filled with hunting, and cuddling on a full belly. All in all, it was a pleasant schedule, but Natsu hungered for adventure.

"You'll see, youngling," Igneel replied with a touch of mischief in his voice, making Natsu think they would be embarking on a great adventure. They flew for another hour before landing in a vast valley. Natsu got off the great dragon and looked around. His face fell as he took in his surroundings, this couldn't be it. There was nothing here.

“Why are we here?” Natsu whined, frustrated that his hopes of adventure had been dashed.

“You seem disappointed, Natsu,” Igneel remarked containing his amusement as best he could.

“Well, it’s not that,” Natsu was quick to not hurt the dragon’s feelings, “It’s just… what are we doing here, Igneel?”

"Well, what can you hear?" Igneel asked almost nonchalantly, and that's when Natsu knew there was more to this place than met the eye.

He extended his new enhanced hearing as much as he could and listened to the sounds all around him until he could make out something. Natsu strained even more and was able to make out the sound of running water. Natsu looked at Igneel with a confused expression and ran towards the noise. He ran through a grove of trees, the sound of the water getting louder and louder until he finally saw a large waterfall. He was running so fast he almost ran over the edge.

Igneel came behind him slowly, the trees impeding his movement. He snorted, “I guess your hearing has improved after all.”

Natsu ran towards him and gave him a big hug, “I take it back, this place is great. Can we go swimming?” He waited for Igneel to give his approval before finding a spot where he could safely dive into the water. He jumped in and was soon splashing around and frolicking happily.

He was having a grand old time when he heard a rather undignified cry of "King Dragon Splash!" and with a start saw Igneel run off the side of the cliff and let himself fall into the water with a resounding splash. Natsu found himself flying in the air along with many fish and a large amount of the water supply that until a moment ago had been residing at the bottom of the waterfall. There was a loud thundering sound in the air that Natsu immediately recognized as Igneel's laughter.

Natsu felt himself begin to fall and he flailed his arms trying to control his descent, soon landing on top of a scaly belly.

Igneel was still laughing, "You should have seen your face?!" Natsu thought he could almost see tears coming out of those giant yellow eyes. He wanted to pout, but the fact was it had been hilarious, and his heart warmed at the sound of his father's laughter.

He lay on his back and made himself comfortable, letting the sun dry his body. After a few minutes, he grew bored of this and plopped on his belly, peering into the water to try to spot any marine life, although he knew Igneel had probably scared most of them away.

“Hey Igneel,” Natsu crawled up closer to his father’s face. Igneel shook his head a little, the warmth of the day making him drowsy.

“What is it?”

“What are you gonna teach me today?” Natsu asked curiously.

“Just this,” Igneel waved his arm at where they were.

Natsu thought about what the dragon could mean, looking around at the waterfall and the rest of the beautiful scenery that surrounded them. “I don’t understand.”

Igneel smiled lazily, “It’s all well and good to learn how to fight, use magic, and all the other things I try to teach you. But every once in a while, it’s also important to just relax and enjoy yourself, to spend time with the ones you love and remind yourself of what it is you’re fighting for.”

Natsu remained quiet as he thought about Igneel’s words, his nose scrunching up cutely, making Igneel smile.

“Ok, look at it this way. Why do you fight?”

"To win of course!" Natsu jumped up and down on Igneel's body, and after some more thought he added, "And because it's fun!"

“Well yes, that’s nice of course, but that’s not why you should fight. You fight because you want to protect someone or something. It could be as simple as seeing a place like this exist for others to enjoy or because a friend is threatened or even just because it's the right thing to do," Igneel explained slowly, knowing sometimes it took Natsu a little while to grasp more abstract concepts.

“I’d fight to protect you,” Natsu said seriously as he hugged as much of his father as he was able to surround with his small arms.

Igneel’s voice was gruff and full of affection, “I know you would, and as fierce as you are I don’t envy anyone who gets in your way!”

Natsu's chest puffed with pride at the rare compliment. He thought the lesson was over, but Igneel continued. "What I'm trying to say is, Natsu, you can't fight all the time, sometimes you have to stop and enjoy the world around you and just be for a little while.”

Natsu looked at Igneel seriously, “That sounds really boring.”

"Oh yeah?" Igneel's grin became mischievous again, and he managed to somehow flip and have Natsu land on his back. He quickly took off and flew as fast as he could with Natsu holding on for dear life, his initial screams of fear quickly morphing into squeals of glee as Igneel began to dance in the air, doing acrobatics that made Natsu's heart dance as well.

“I love you, Igneel,” Natsu yelled into the air.

“I love you too, Son.”

[fyeahstingsu]

Hello!

The StingSu event is officially over and we would like to thank everyone who participated either by posting their works or simply by liking and rebloging them. You'll find a list below of all the works for each day!

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Day 1: Flowers

@ft-stories-lgbt : drabble

@zerefserigala : aesthetics

@watcher-ofthe-sky : drabble

@splendidlyimperfect : drabble

@adridoot : fanart

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Day 2: Night Time

@ft-stories-lgbt : drabble

@adridoot : aesthetic

@splendidlyimperfect : one-shot

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Day 3 : Parents

@ft-stories-lgbt : drabble

@adridoot : drabble

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Day 4 : Songs

@ft-stories-lgbt : drabble

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Day 5 : Birthday

@ft-stories-lgbt : drabble

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Friendly reminder that we'll still reblog every works related to this event, just don't forget to mention us in the post or Stingsu2019 in your first five tags!