REUNION (GRATSU WEEK 2018 PROMPT FOUR)
"I hate special missions," Natsu thought bitterly. The council had specified that only he could go on this mission, but they hadn't told him why until he was briefed in person. They needed him to retrieve some boring artifact from a cave, that much he knew beforehand, but they hadn't even told Makarov that the cave was on the inside of an active volcano.
He and Gray had just told the guild they were dating, despite the fact that it had been going on for quite a while longer, and the freedom to curl up in the guild had been addictive. They had somehow managed to get even more clingy with one another, and the separation was going to be hell.
At least the cave Natsu had grown up in was inside active volcano, so he knew what he was doing.
He did not know what he was doing.
"The council said it was an active volcano, not one about to fucking erupt."
The ground shook violently, throwing off every bit of balance the pinkette had, and parts of the mountain were already cracking .He knew that the bubbling lava couldn't hurt; he swam in it all time as a kid. It was guaranteed to be nice and hot and it killed more dirt and bacteria than water did, so it had always been his first choice to bathe in. Not to mention they'd have to go all the way down the volcano to reach clean water and it was frigid. So he wasn't worried about that. He was worried about getting hit with a chunk of pumice traveling a couple hundred miles an hour.
The actual eruption hadn't started just yet, so maybe luck was on his side?
He made his way to the top, carefully avoiding any possible drop offs and all the water in the area. He glanced carefully over the top, watching the molten rock bubble in silence for a moment. "I actually kind of missed this…" he mumbled, and small piece of pumice flew up at his face. "NEVERMIND." He leaned backwards, only getting nicked by the sharp rock, but sacrificing the little balance he had. He flailed his arms for a moment, but ultimately failed to stay upright.
Once he stopped rolling, he froze. There was grass beneath him, and he had rolled all the way back down. "DAMN IT!"
Another hour of climbing later, and Natsu didn't even bother looking back down at the lava. "May as well make it fun." He jumped over the side and wrapping his arms around his folded legs. "Cannon ball!" He sank through the lava the same way a normal person would in water, and when he breached the surface, it rolled right off of him.
The gave was about a foot above the lava, but Natsu gripped onto the ledge without too much difficulty.
The cave was small, only tall enough to stand it and barely thirty feet in all directions.
That wasn't the problem. The problem was that it was protected by a room barrier that kept the heat away, and only the heat. The cave had roughly three feet of water at the bottom. The barrier may have kept the temperature away, but the deadly gasses in the area still could have dissolved in the water. "Wait, didn't they say the artifact was submerged in order to protect it?" Natsu unzipped his pocket and pulled out a hair clip. He dipped the tip of it into the water and dropped it on the rocks in front of it. The metal was already bubbling.
"Well, this was a useless trip."
Natsu wanted to bang his head on the wall. It had taken two hours to explain to these morons what an acid lake was and why it existed. Eventually, he had left them with a list of volcanic gases that dissolved in water and told them to test it their damn selves.
As soon as the guild was in sight, Natsu's mood improved massively. It had been an entire week since he'd seen Gray, and he was just a few steps away. He couldn't stop the smile that stretched across his face as he kicked the doors open. "I'M BACK!"
There were several loud greetings fired back at him, but he was only listening for one. The ice mage was all the way across the guild, but it didn't stop Natsu from getting to him before master could ask for a mission report. He tackled Gray to the ground, consequently sending the guild into a fit of laughter. "How was the mission?" Gray asked quietly.
Natsu decided he could sum it up in one sentence. "Well, I fucking hate the magic council, and you can have the details later."
Gray snorted as he leaned down to peck Natsu's lips, and Erza, who had been sitting with Gray, jokingly shouted, "GAAAY!"
The duo glaced at one another before responding in unison. "YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!"
"Actually, I have two girlfriends, " she was smiling happily, and the boy looked like they were about to burst with excitement.
"I knew you and Lucy were poly, but when did you two get another girlfriend?" Gray asked, and Erza was all too happy to give them the details.
The guild continued to laugh along with team Natsu's antics, and the pinkette couldn't think of anywhere he wanted to be more than om the floor with Gray and his nakama.
Constructive criticism is always welcome, and if you find a typo, don't hesitate to point it out!
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