The crack in his voice signaled him that he should probably stop singing, or at least lower his volume. Gray Fullbuster stopped singing, noticing that his meal had been ready and waiting for a while now. He checked the rice. It was done, and he thought it looked better than other times he'd prepared it. His beans were unrivaled, at least according to Erza, so he didn't bother tasting them. He put the stove at minimum heat, though, to keep the beans warm. Gray needed to use the bathroom, after all.

Five minutes later, the raven-haired young man sat at the only table in his apartment with his plate full of food and his music Lacrima turned off. A satisfied sigh escaped when he took his first bite. Whether his cooking was great or not was up for debate, but damn did he know how to make rice and beans. Gray noticed he had left his cupboard doors open, so he stood up to close them. He made a mental note to buy more pasta the next morning when his communication Lacrima rang.

"Yeah?" he asked in a monotone.

"What're you doing this Thursday night?" asked Natsu from the other side of the call.

Gray remained quiet for a few seconds, wondering what he could say to annoy Natsu. He figured the truth would do. "Probably sit in my bed, think about murder, sex, and total isolation—"

"Was that an ice pun?!" growled Natsu.

"What?"

"ICE-olation?" said the pink-haired Dragon Slayer, irked. "Dammit, Gray, I thought we were over this!"

Gray's hand found its way to his forehead. Either the pink-haired moron was dumber than he thought, or he had been unconsciously doing that for weeks. He thought it was probably the former.

"Whatever," he said. "Why did you ask?"

"Cause I was gonna ask you to come with me and Gajeel to that bar that opened up last month down the street from the guild," replied his best friend. "But since you'll be mopin' around as usual, then I guess that's a no from you…"

Gray's brow furrowed. Natsu had a knack to piss him off whenever possible, though this time it seemed he really wasn't expecting Gray to tag along. The Ice Devil Slayer decided to accept out of spite.

"Ah, what the hell," he said, catching his rival's attention, "I'll go. I have nothing better to do, anyway."

"Wait, what?" Natsu sounded surprised. "Um, okay… I'll tell the tin man, then."

"Awesome. At what time should we meet?" asked the raven-haired mage.

"Uh," Natsu stopped to think for a few seconds. "How about 9pm in the guild?"

"Sounds cool," muttered Gray.

"Dammit Gray! Just for that I shouldn't tell you about the karaoke!" yelled Natsu, annoyed.

"That wasn't—wait, there's karaoke?!" said Gray with a grimace. Well, that was great. All he had to do now was embarrass himself in front of everyone there. That is, unless he stripped first, of course.

"No, there's not! See ya tomorrow," Natsu hung up quickly.

Gray ran a hand through his hair. Natsu probably wanted to sing with him and Gajeel, or maybe humiliate him by getting him drunk first and then making him sing. Either way, he knew what the outcome would be: the three would sing and someone would tell the press or record a video of it and the whole guild would be talking about it in less than twenty-four hours, and he'd be embarrassed to no end regardless. He hated singing in front of people. Not that he hated his voice, though. He just didn't feel like anyone deserved to see that side of him. He also didn't feel like anyone should see most other sides of him, but that wasn't the point in his mind. He sighed, wondering if he should cancel going to the bar. He decided not to. He wouldn't let Natsu call him chicken, so he'd have to make the flame brain sing first to keep things even or find a really good reason not to sing at all. He checked his calendar. It was Tuesday.

The next day, Gray was sitting on a stool next to Cana, who was napping on the guild's bar, with a sour expression. He often wished he wouldn't agree to things just to annoy Salamander, but their rivalry was too strong. The ice mage groaned lowly before Erza sat next to him.

"Something on your mind?" asked the redhead.

"I often wish I could just say 'no' to things…" muttered the black-haired mage.

"Natsu again? Where're you going?" asked Erza, curious.

"Oh, we're just goin' drinking." Gray looked around the guild to see if the pink-haired hothead was around. They spotted each other, and Natsu stood up from his chair and started making his way towards the ice mage. "Ah, shit. Speak of the dragon…"

"Hey, chilly! You better be warmin' up! Gajeel said he's gonna bring his guitar!" called Natsu when he reached the pair. A few meters away from the trio, a loud sneeze was heard.

"Yeah, right, he is," chuckled Gray sarcastically.

"Well, he will once I tell him." Natsu smirked at Gray, who snarled in reply. The fire Dragon Slayer nodded while still smirking, as if to say that they would sing in that karaoke whether Gray wanted to or not. The ice Devil Slayer shook his head, still snarling. They kept doing the same gesture over and over, getting more vigorous with each repetition while their fists started to clench menacingly. The little exchange didn't go unnoticed by Erza, though.

"I hope you two are getting along well," she warned lowly. Natsu and Gray squealed in terror and calmed down immediately.

"Yes, ma'am," they replied in unison. Natsu turned to Gray and added, "Don't worry; we'll all have fun! And you should shave; you look like crap. Also, you better start practicing, though! I hear Gajeel wants to do a duet with you!"

Gray glared at his pink-haired friend while another loud sneeze was heard in the guild and muttered something under his breath about his facial hair (not that he had a substantial amount; he was "blessed" with not being able to grow much of it) while the Salamander left him alone with the redhead. Erza squinted at the exchange, deep in thought, when an idea popped into her head.

Later that afternoon, Lucy and Erza were shopping together for clothes. Not that either needed them, though; Erza just needed an excuse to talk to Lucy away from the guild.

"You have any plans for tomorrow night?" asked the gorgeous redhead.

"Well, Levy and I were gonna finish the latest book of an old series…" said the busty blonde. "But we can do it another time if you're gonna suggest something."

"You know that new bar down the street from the guild?"

"Oh, I know which one you mean!" Lucy put back a pink shirt that wasn't much to her tastes and looked at her friend. "You wanna go there?"

"If you want," shrugged Erza. "I hear they have karaoke…"

"Ok, now I really wanna go!" Lucy beamed in excitement. "Oh, I should tell Levy and Juvia! It's more fun when we're together!"

"Perfect! We'll meet up in your place tomorrow night so we can go, then!" Erza was excited too, but not because of the fun the girls were going to have…

phew~ I'm glad I could come up with this little fic just to pass time! actually, I was planning on writing it for a while so I finally published the first chapter xD

I hope you like it~ please leave your thoughts/opinions/whatever~ :3

~Humbert