Mating Season (Mostly Chendy, Erlu, Canajane)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

A/N: ALRIGHT PEEPS! This is the last chapter before the epilogue! But don't worry (if you're still enjoying this story) because @TheRandomnessOfLife has convinced me to do a short sequel to this story! If you like this story (and let's be honest, if you stuck with it this long you probably do) then check it out! It'll probably be coming out at some point during the Christmas Break!

Natsu smiled as he and Gray made their way back to their apartments. Natsu suddenly remembered something. "HEY! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE MAD AT YOU!" Gray cursed under his breath. Natsu had said that he would be mad when they got back. Natsu started to go off, complaining about how he had worried about his boyfriend and Gray had known it was fake the whole time. The Fire Dragon Slayer repeated himself a few times in his anger, but Gray decided it would probably be detrimental to his health if he mentioned it. When Natsu finally ran out of things to say, something that took a shockingly long amount of time, Gray looked over at him. "I already apologized. I can't change the past, Man." He said, shrugging. Natsu seemed more than a bit upset about the fact that Gray had responded to his fifteen minute tangent with two short sentences. Natsu had a huffing sound and Gray let out a silent sigh, knowing just how good Natsu's ears were. "What do I have to do?" Gray asked, regretting the words as he had said them... but he knew he had to. There wasn't anything else he could do to get back on his boyfriend's good side. Natsu seemed lost in thought for a moment. The pair walked in silence for a good two minutes before Natsu spoke. "Don't ever do that again." It was definitely not what Gray had been expecting him to say... and he wasn't sure exactly what Natsu meant by it... "What do you mean?" Gray asked. "Don't you dare get hurt," Natsu mumbled before pulling Gray closer to him protectively. "That's not allowed." Gray found himself laughing and Natsu glared up at him. Gray held up his hands in calming way, as if to say 'alright, alright'. Natsu nodded at the exchange. "Good. Now don't you ever break that promise of yours." Gray found himself smiling at the words. "I won't." The Ice Mage said solemnly and Natsu looked back up at him, looking into his eyes as if looking for some hint of falsehood within their depths. "Good." The salmon-haired Dragon Slayer sniffed. Gray barely stopped himself from laughing when Natsu looked back at the pathway. "Now, you still owe me something..." Natsu suddenly looked up, grinning quite evilly and Gray gulped. "What?" Gray tried to keep a level voice, but he wasn't certain if he did. "My house is messy. You're cleaning it." It would have seemed like a simple request from most people, but this was Natsu they were talking about. Natsu's house. Gray had been in there and he was certain that he had seen three spiders, five mice, and an animal that was hereto forth unknown to man. Gray shivered and Natsu smirked, looking up at his boyfriend. "This way, next time you go around thinking you'll get kidnapped, you can remember this!" Gray nodded. He wasn't certain if he'd ever be able to forget this if he'd live a further thousand years.

•••

Natsu opened the door to his house and Gray felt his jaw drop towards the floor. He, obviously, wouldn't actually let it touch the ground. Definitely not with what was on that floor. Gray wasn't certain whether it was chocolate or rat feces and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Natsu started laughing suddenly and Gray turned towards him, glaring. "Have fun!" Natsu called and made his way to the bedroom. "See you in the morning!" Gray let out a growl and looked around. The Ice Mage didn't even know where to start with such a mess. It was in a league of its own. Gray covered his nose, his face wrinkling up in disgust at the smell around him. Gray summoned an ice broom and started to sweep away the disgusting debris that littered the floor all around him and, somehow, had gotten onto the walls. For once in his life, Gray didn't find himself stripping randomly. This place was far too filthy for such an act. At least maybe now I won't have to come over to a disgusting pig pen whenever I want to see my boyfriend. Gray thought as he used ice-made hands to pick up a banana peel that was at least three months old. It was simply disgusting-no, actually. There was nothing simple about the filth within this place that Natsu referred to as a 'house'. Gray sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to take all night... if he was lucky.