Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong To Hiro Mashima
"Come on, Gray," Ultear cajoled from the kitchen where she was preparing dinner, "I'm not asking you for much. We all have to pitch in until Mom recovers from her surgery."
“But I already promised Loke I’d go over to his house to play Smash Bros,” Gray complained loudly, earning him a glare from his twin sister.
“You can do that any time, you know how much Wendy looks forward to her dance class,” Ultear reminded him before adding with a glint in her eye, “Are you really gonna make her miss it just so you can go play some video game?”
"Dancing is stupid," Gray grumbled in defeat, and Ultear grinned knowingly. There was no way he would disappoint their little sister, and she knew it.
Gray adored Wendy, she was sweet and kind but almost painfully shy. You could usually find her playing with their white cat Carla, or hiding behind a book. Whenever anyone outside of the family tried to talk to her, her face would turn a worrisome shade of red, and she'd begin to stutter. She was also notoriously clumsy.
Both of these things had decided their mother to put her in a class at the local dance studio a few months ago. At first, Wendy had cried and refused to go, but when she saw her mother wasn't backing down, she caved, even trying to be enthusiastic about picking out her dance outfit and slippers.
After a few lessons, Wendy had slowly begun to come out of her shell. She'd made a few friends, and she'd started dancing around the house, practicing her steps to impress her teacher, a woman by the name of Natsu, if Gray remembered correctly.
Gray had to admit his mother had been right. Wendy seemed to be doing better, she was no ballerina, but it always brought a smile to his face to see her trying her best to dance. He supposed taking her wouldn't be that bad, maybe he could treat her to some ice cream afterward at the shop next to the studio. It would ruin her dinner, but it would serve Ultear right for sticking this on him.
A few minutes later, Wendy stood in front of him dressed in her dance clothes and gazing up at him hopefully.
“You ready?”
She smiled at him and nodded.
“Thanks for taking me,” Wendy confided, ”I was afraid I was gonna have to miss it.”
“It’s fine,” Gray waved her concern away as they started walking towards the studio, “How long is this class anyway?”
“Just an hour.”
“Do I have to go in with you?”
"Nah, you stay in the waiting room, but you can watch me from the TV if you want," She looked down at the ground shyly, and he smiled to himself.
He’d make a point to watch for a little while so he could compliment her. She remained quiet for the rest of the ten-minute walk, gripping her dance bag tightly, occasionally taking her water bottle out for a drink.
They arrived a few minutes early, and Wendy changed out of her shoes and into her pink slippers, chatting with some of the other girls as she did so. Gray was already bored. He was about to sit and play on his phone when he happened to glance up at one of the screens, which was showing one of the classrooms.
A guy was standing by himself in front of a mirror and Gray began to turn away when the guy started to dance. The classroom must have been soundproofed, Gray couldn't hear any music, but it was clear the guy was moving to a rhythm.
Gray had never seen anyone so graceful in his life, male or female. Every movement was fluid, and even though it was clear the guy was focusing on his routine, his face was filled with joy as he moved. It was breathtaking, and Gray couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen, hypnotized by every move.
This guy was fit, his tights, did male dancers wear tights? Well, pants, clung to his muscles and since his shirt was off, Gray could admire his torso to his heart's content. His routine was entertaining, a combination of gymnastic elements and moves that Gray couldn't name but knew he'd seen before. Some even reminded him of martial arts. It wasn't at all what he expected from a dance routine.
Though the quality of the camera was not the best, Gray could definitely tell the dancer was very good looking, and he thought the guy seemed vaguely familiar, although he couldn't pinpoint where from. Gray was so caught up in the performance he didn't notice Wendy and her friends giggling at him until Wendy pulled on his shirt. He grudgingly turned away from the screen and gave her his attention, not hearing the door open up behind them.
"What's up, Squirt?"
“I’ve been trying to get your attention for ages,” Wendy complained, “I wanted to introduce you to my friends.” She narrowed her eyes at him, “Why were you watching the TV anyway? I thought you said dancing was stupid.”
Gray rubbed the back of his neck as he felt the glare of several pre-teen girls and their mothers at Wendy’s words. Had he said that? Well, he'd just changed his mind. Dancing was not stupid at all, it was hot as hell.
“That’s a shame, you certainly have the body for it,” A voice from behind him said, and before he had a chance to turn around or respond to what he thought was a compliment his sister completely lost her shit.
Gray turned around to an unexpected sight.
"Natsu!" Wendy, his usually quiet and shy sister, was squealing with delight, hug tackling the dancer Gray had been watching, who'd put on a shirt and was now surrounded by a gaggle of giggling girls.
Natsu took it in stride, ruffling Wendy's hair and grinning at her. "Hey, Wendy, did you have a nice week?"
All this time he’d imagined Wendy’s teacher as a nice older woman who wore her hair up in a bun and carried a stick around to count off the steps. How wrong he’d been.
Natsu looked to be about his age and dear God, he was gorgeous. His hair was the pink of every flower Gray had ever considered beautiful, his eyes a shade of green that was both warm and expressive, reminding Gray of a warm summer’s day.
Oh my God, I sound like a fucking Hallmark card!
If Gray hadn't already known he was gay, he was pretty sure he'd be having an awakening right about now. He felt the draw of those beautiful eyes as they peered at him with open curiosity.
“You must be Gray,” Natsu directed a blinding smile at him as he extended his hand in greeting, “Wendy talks about you all the time. I’m Natsu, Wendy’s teacher, nice to meet you.”
"I'm Gray," Gray realized to his chagrin that he'd just repeated what Natsu had said. What was wrong with him? He was never this flustered around other guys, no matter how good looking they happened to be, but he couldn't get the way Natsu's lithe body moved as he danced out of his mind. Gray managed to shake Natsu's hand without making a further fool out of himself, and he dearly hoped that Natsu hadn't noticed his infatuation.
Natsu laughed at him good-naturedly, before clapping his hands to get the girls attention. “Alright girls, everybody in the classroom. We have a lot of work to do for the recital.”
The girls who’d been watching the two of them and giggling ran into the classroom in a large group. Natsu chuckled, “Well, they have a lot of energy tonight, I’m going to have my work cut out for me.”
He looked at Gray one last time before waving and entering the classroom, closing the door quietly behind him.
Gray found an empty chair, and before long he was once again glued to the TV, watching transfixed as Natsu had the girls sit in a circle. It was easy to see why all the girls adored him. While Gray couldn't hear what they were saying, he could see Natsu talking enthusiastically with all of them, his hands making broad gestures in the air for emphasis. There was a lot of laughter before he finally got them to focus, leading them in a series of warm-up exercises.
“You’re such a good brother,” A young mother praised him as she noticed him watching the class, “It’ll mean a lot to your sister to know you were watching her.”
Another woman snorted at the praise, but Gray ignored her. He noticed that a lot of the moms were watching the television, fond smiles on their faces.
“Natsu really is very good with them,” the same mother informed Gray, “And he’s an amazing dancer. I saw him compete once, won every category he was in.”
Gray continued to observe, making sure to pay attention to his sister who was by no means the best dancer there, but she made up for it by trying hard, and it warmed his heart with pride. He watched as Natsu took her aside at one point and worked with her when he noticed she was having trouble, encouraging her until she got it. The hour passed quickly, and Gray found he never looked at his phone once.
Towards the end of the class, Gray saw Wendy take a tumble as she tried to do a pirouette. She didn't get up right away, and he stood up quickly, ready to enter the classroom and get her when the door opened, and Natsu came out carrying Wendy in his arms, as the other girls huddled around them.
“I’m sorry,” Natsu announced to the parents, “I’ll need to end class a few minutes early so I can take a look at Wendy’s ankle.”
None of the parents complained, and Gray followed him as he carried Wendy into a back room. Wendy's eyes were shut tightly, and Gray could tell she was doing her best to hold back tears.
“What happened?” Gray asked, even though he’d seen it on the screen.
"She lost her balance and tripped, but she's gonna be just fine as soon as we put some ice on her ankle," Natsu assured both of them, "I checked it, and it doesn't seem to be very swollen, but it's best to treat it anyway."
Natsu set her down gently on a small sofa, motioning Gray to sit by her legs and elevate her ankle. He opened a freezer and moved some of the contents around until he found an ice pack. He knelt down by Gray’s legs as he wrapped the ice pack around Wendy’s ankle.
“You’ve just gotten your first official dancer’s injury,” Natsu’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at Wendy, “You’re definitely one of us now.”
Wendy opened her eyes and gave Natsu a weepy smile in return. Natsu fiddled with his watch and stood up. “Can I get either of you anything to drink?”
When they both shook their heads, Natsu grabbed Wendy's hand and squeezed it before letting go. "Hang in there kiddo, I know it's a little uncomfortable, but you need to keep that on for about fifteen minutes, I'll be back in a few, okay?"
“Okay,” Wendy replied, she took a shaky breath and pouted at the ice pack.
“You were doing pretty well in your lesson, you know, until this happened,” Gray offered, trying to get her mind off her ankle.
“You watched me?”
“Sure, who else would I watch?” Gray regretted his words as soon as he saw his sister smirk at him knowingly.
"Isn't Natsu a great dancer?" Wendy gushed, "He's won tons of competitions, and he has his own YouTube channel!"
He has his own YouTube channel? I am definitely looking that up when I get home.
"Oh, God, please don't watch that!" Natsu groaned as he overheard Wendy's words, "I only have that up so I can watch and compare videos easily. Especially the poomsaes." In the time he'd been gone he'd changed out of his dance clothes and into a pair of jeans and an MCR t-shirt.
He placed Wendy's bag at Gray's feet and put his own on a small table before grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and sitting across from Gray.
“Poomsaes? You do TaeKwonDo too?” Gray asked excitedly, “What belt are you?”
“Yeah, my dad thought Karate was too violent,” Natsu revealed, “I’m a Second Dan black belt.”
“I’m testing for my Second Dan in December,” Gray was excited to find they had something in common. “We should spar sometime,” Gray offered, excited by the prospect, “I could use the practice.”
"Sure, that'd be fun," Natsu agreed, "I have my sparring gear somewhere. I have a few competitions I have to get through first, though, I can't afford to get injured."
“What dojo do you go to? I hadn’t heard of any competitions coming up.”
Natsu laughed easily, “That’s because they’re dancing competitions. I go to Kian over on Broadway. ”
“That’s where I recognized you from!” Gray snapped his fingers in an aha gesture.
"How long have you been dancing for anyway? I was watching you earlier, you're amazing!" Gray gushed and then blushed as he realized how he sounded, but thankfully Natsu didn't say anything about his little outburst.
"Uhm, It feels like forever?" Natsu scratched his head as he thought, shrugging when he couldn't come up with a number. His watch began to beep, and he focused his attention back on Wendy, stifling a laugh as he realized she'd fallen asleep.
"Poor kid, it looks like I tired her out. I'm gonna take the ice pack off her ankle now, and then I can drive you guys home."
“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that,” Gray protested, feeling guilty that he’d forgotten all about his sister as he talked to the guy he most definitely had a crush on.
“I really do, she shouldn’t put any weight on her ankle for a while,” Natsu reasoned as he removed the ice pack, getting up to clean it before putting it back into the freezer.
“Besides, how else am I gonna find out where you live?” He added in a teasing tone.
“You want to know where I live?” Gray asked in surprise.
“Among other things, yeah,” Natsu grinned.
Gray wasn't sure what to make of that response, so he tried to play it cool, "Well, okay then, if it's not too much trouble."
“It’s not a big deal,” Natsu assured him, “Grab Wendy, I have to close up the studio real quick.”
Natsu grabbed his bag and draped it over his arm. He walked through the studio, turning off all the lights as Gray followed behind him carrying his sleeping sister in his arms. After locking up the studio for the night, they walked over to Natsu's car.
Wendy woke up when Gray tried to put the seat belt on her, confused about her surroundings but rather cheerful to see Natsu was still with them.
The short ride home was spent with Wendy firing question after question at Natsu while Gray tried not to stare as he offered directions.
He'd hoped to be able to talk to Natsu some more, but to his disappointment, he saw his father was outside smoking a cigarette. As soon as the car parked in the driveway, Silver Fullbuster walked up to them.
“Is everything okay?”
“Daddy!” Wendy undid her seatbelt and lowered the window, “I got my first dancer’s injury, I’m a real dancer now!”
“Is that so?” Silver smiled at Wendy’s enthusiasm. He peered into the driver’s seat and recognized Natsu, “Oh hey, Natsu! What happened?”
"She took a fall and sprained her ankle, I didn't want her to put any weight on it, so I offered to drive them home," Natsu hurried to explain, "She should be fine in a day or two, there wasn't much swelling."
"Well, thanks for that," Silver peered into the car as he got Wendy and picked her up, "Gray, are you getting out?"
"Uhm, yeah," Gray replied quickly, grabbing the handle and opening the door, "It was nice to meet you."
"Oh, hey, did you want to stay for dinner?" Silver asked, "My other son won't be here, so there should be plenty."
“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Natsu answered politely.
“Nonsense, I insist.”
Gray could almost kiss his dad, he was so thrilled to get to spend more time with his new friend. Okay, calling Natsu a friend might be pushing it, but whatever he was still happy.
Natsu turned off his car and got out, following them inside.
“Gray, could you let Ul know we have a guest?”
Silver put Wendy down on the sofa and handed her the remote while he went upstairs to check on his wife.
"Yeah," Gray replied, leaving Natsu with Wendy as he headed into the kitchen.
“Who the hell is that?” Ultear whispered as she peeked at Natsu through the kitchen door.
“That’s Natsu, Wendy’s dance teacher, he’s staying for dinner.”
“That’s Wendy’s dance teacher?!” Ultear marveled as she gave him a thorough once over, “Damn he’s hot, all this time I thought it was some old lady. Do you think he teaches adults?”
“Hey! Back off!” Gray snapped at his twin sister.
"Oh, ho!" Ultear immediately teased, "Got a crush already? Damn, I should have taken Wendy to her class and made *you* cook!"
“It’s bad enough you’re going to poison him with your cooking,” Gray stuck his tongue out at his sister before rummaging through the cabinets and drawers, collecting all the things necessary to set the table.
“For your information, I made lasagna, so no one is getting poisoned tonight,” Ultear protested, punching her brother in the shoulder.
Gray laughed, "Well, thank God for that, I might have a chance if he doesn't think about throwing up every time he thinks of me."
Ultear smirked and muttered something under her breath as Gray left to set the table.
“Hey, I heard that!”
Ultear giggled and went back to preparing the salad she’d been working on.
xxx
"It means summer in Japanese, my parents met in Japan in the summer, so they thought it would be romantic to name me that."
Gray could hear Natsu talking to his parents as he set the table and went into the living room to join them, watching with a bit of envy as Wendy draped her head over Natsu's shoulder which he didn't seem to mind.
Throughout the conversation, he learned that Natsu's mother had passed away a few years ago, and he was an only child. Before they could ask Natsu any more questions, Ultear called them to the table.
"So, Natsu, what made you decide to start dancing?" Silver asked in between bites, "It's an odd choice for a boy, isn't it?"
“Dad!” Ultear and Gray chorused, both utterly mortified by their father’s comment.
Natsu chuckled, “It’s fine, he’s right. My mom was a professional dancer, she’s the one who first taught me. I like to think it keeps her close to me.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up,” Silver apologized, “Do you go to the same school as Gray?”
"I don't go to school actually, I'm homeschooled," Natsu announced, not seeming uncomfortable in the slightest by his father's questions. He took a bite out of the lasagna, and his face lit up, "This is really good!"
“Thank you! At least someone appreciates my cooking,” Ultear glowed at the compliment.
“We mostly get take out since neither my dad nor I really know how to cook, so thanks for this,” Natsu rewarded Ultear with one of his wide and toothy grins and Gray could practically feel her melting next to him.
They got through the rest of dinner mostly unscathed, although Gray did learn that Natsu had ADHD and the reason he didn’t go to school is he’d gotten into trouble a lot with his teachers because of it.
Natsu had to leave after dinner, and Ultear sent him home with a plate for his father which he accepted gratefully. He said goodbye to everyone and asked Gray to walk him to his car.
Gray trudged after him wondering what Natsu wanted to talk to him about, but excited to get to spend some time alone with him.
Natsu waited until they were outside before blurting out, "So, are we engaged now?"
“What?!” Gray stammered in consternation.
Natsu’s slapped his thigh as he took in Gray’s panicked expression, his laugh loud and warm as he quickly assured Gray, “Relax, I was just joking. Dinner was nice.”
“Besides, what makes you think I’d be interested,” Gray grumbled, trying to hide his excitement at the fact that Natsu seemed to be just as interested in him.
“Well for one, I’m pretty sure the looks you were giving me at the studio might be illegal in at least ten states,” Natsu retorted, green eyes sparkling with amusement.
Gray’s face turned ashen as his hopes that Natsu hadn’t noticed his ogling were shattered.
“So, are you going to make me wait until next week to see you again, or can I ask you out on a date, seeing as your sister never actually sprained her ankle.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been teaching your sister for months, and while she can be clumsy at times that fall was obviously faked,” Natsu reported then added with an eye roll, “Not to mention she showed me the wrong ankle.”
"If you didn't think it was real, why did you go to all the trouble to treat it?"
"Well, she's a good kid, and she went to all the trouble, I figured I'd see what you were about," Natsu showed the first hint of shyness as he admitted his intentions.
Gray didn’t know how to respond to that, but he liked the way Natsu could switch from being cocky to shy in the blink of an eye. He decided to ask him something instead, “Why do you like dancing so much? I mean when I was watching you had this look on your face…”
“Well part of it is it reminds me of my mom, but it’s more than that,” Natsu explained looking into Gray’s eyes as he added, “When I was little she taught me that dancing wasn’t really about the steps, it was about freedom and expressing joy with your body. That’s what I hold onto.”
“She sounds amazing,” Gray spoke quietly.
“She was,” Natsu looked sad for a minute but then tilted his head to look into Gray’s eyes as he asked, “So do you really think dancing is stupid?”
Gray was embarrassed at being called out on his earlier words, but he was definitely enjoying having Natsu's eyes on him. He answered honestly, "No, not anymore. I know it's corny, but when I watched you, you made me feel like dancing too."
Gray felt like he’d won a prize when he saw Natsu’s eyes light up at his answer,
"So…uhm date. Yes or no?" Natsu asked, still looking a tad nervous, "Maybe I could show you a few moves."
“I’d like that, you busy Friday night?”
“I am now,” Natsu looked relieved as he took his phone out of his pocket so they could exchange numbers.
Natsu got into his car after promising to call the next day. On a whim, Gray leaned in and kissed him chastely on the lips before gently tapping the hood of the car and waving. “See you Friday.”
Gray snickered at the look of utter astonishment on Natsu’s face, that was immediately followed by a devious smile. It was the type of smile that implied mischief, and suddenly Gray couldn’t wait until Friday, he got the feeling their relationship would be an interesting one.
A/N: This was written for my friend Liz, I really hope you like it!
“You... You’re a Guide?” Natsu managed at least. It was kind of obvious, but he wanted to hear it from Gray anyway.
Gray nervously rubbed his neck with his hand.
“Ah... Yes... I always kept it hidden, wasn’t keen to have this government idiots annoying me. But since they figured it out now, I guess there’s no point in keeping it to myself anylonger... I... Do you mind?”
At that, Natsu blinked confused. “Why would I mind?”
Gray shrugged, visibly more relaxed now that his worry proved to be obviously unnecessary. “Well, there are many who make a fuss over it, when they find out that someone is a Guide or Sentinel. Many start to treat them differently, either deliberately or unconsciously. Maybe Guides have it easier, still, but with Sentinels... There are just too many prejudices,” he sighed, at which Natsu could only nod, understanding.
