Note: Creative title is creative. Yeah, I'm just going to start posting these before I hit the end of "Recon" and have to face the self-imposed ultimatum of whether to quit posting or not lol How are these different from the "Words"? Well, they aren't based on single-word prompts, obviously. (What, you actually did figure that out on your own? Bunch of smarties, you guys.) These are more of little stories than just random snippets of things, relegated to a collection for one reason or another. This will be updated even more sporadically than "Words" after the first few, because I don't have as many written. I tend to put things here but then take them out because they stand on their own too well. But I've got a few.

Most are going to involve Gray, obviously. (You figured that out too? You're on a roll!) But little scenarios that don't involve Gray might end up here too, because I'm not invested enough to turn them into fully fleshed-out standalones. Again, lots of genres. Lots of angst and hurt/comfort, a bit of humor and fluff, and buckets of friendship. BUCKETS, I tell you.

Hands Off

Being new to the guild, Gajeel has yet to learn that although Fairy Tail mages can get away with almost anything, there's one hard-and-fast rule when it comes to Natsu. Gray intends to set him straight.

Did Natsu really need another sparring partner? Probably not. Did he want one anyway? Hell yeah. You could never have too many people to beat up.

So when Gajeel made one mocking comment too many, Natsu was totally ready to take him on. It wasn't like there was really anything better to do, anyway. Gray was talking to Cana and was 'not interested in your dumbass antics right now, ash for brains'. And yeah, Fairy Tail was kind of a violent place and there was no shortage of brawlers to be found if Natsu really went looking, but Gajeel was presenting himself as an easy target, so why not?

A couple weeks ago, Natsu probably wouldn't have considered it. Well, he wouldn't have had a problem beating Gajeel up, but it wouldn't have been a friendly fight. Natsu's memory wasn't quite as bad as everyone seemed to assume, and he quite clearly remembered how the other dragon slayer had not only destroyed their guild hall but also injured a number of Fairy Tail mages, Team Shadowgear and Lucy most notably. Natsu wasn't usually one for holding grudges, but seeing Gajeel turn up and suddenly be a Fairy Tail member had been rather off-putting.

Still, Levy had said something about Gajeel being nice to her with something or other—it may or may not have had something to do with Laxus and possible death, but Natsu hadn't really paid much attention to the details—so it was all good now. The other dragon slayer was still an annoying metal-head, but most Fairy Tail members were annoying fools too, so he fit right in.

Given all that, Natsu felt justified in starting a fight.

"Take that back!" he growled, aiming a punch at Gajeel.

Apparently having no patience for silly hand-to-hand combat, the other dragon slayer went right for magic. A metal spike went shooting just to the left of Natsu's face.

"Yeah right, Salamander. You fairies sure are a dumb bunch."

"You're a fairy now too," Natsu pointed out, whacking Gajeel in the chest with a fireball.

Gajeel brushed off the attack and sent back one of his own. Of course, just because the dragon slayers were using fairly minor magic didn't mean that the rest of the guild wasn't annoyed. A few people were yelling at them to take it outside and not destroy the guild hall, but Natsu ignored them. Honestly, why was he always the one who got blamed for this stuff? Half the time the entire guild ended up joining in these fights, so he definitely wasn't the only one destroying everything.

"Whatever," Gajeel grumbled finally, apparently unable to come up with a way to save face. "I'm the best one you've got, anyway."

"Ha! You wish!"

Okay, so this wasn't quite as fun as fighting Gray or having a guild-wide knock-down, drag-out fight, but it was still pretty exhilarating. Maybe it was partly because it was cool to fight someone that he hadn't grown up fighting. Gajeel was still new and unpredictable. It wasn't like with Gray, where Natsu could easily fall into a familiar pattern and both boys had a pretty good idea of what the other was about to do. Natsu wasn't too familiar with Gajeel's pattern of fighting yet, and the metal dragon slayer used his magic in a seemingly erratic fashion to make it even more unpredictable. Natsu liked the thrill and excitement of it all.

A hunk of metal went smashing into his chest, and he grunted in pain as he slammed into the back wall. That kind of hurt. Just as well. He'd been fighting with the other guild members for so long that they all knew each other's limits and how much strength they could use before someone got hurt. But Natsu kind of liked it rough sometimes, and Gajeel definitely wasn't pulling his punches.

The two dragon slayers eyed each other warily, on guard as they circled and attacked. They weren't exactly friends, but weren't quite enemies anymore either. They were something in between, not sure where exactly they stood yet. Natsu had always found that fights were a great way to figure out boundaries and learn about your opponent, though, so maybe this had been a long time coming.

"Ha!" he crowed as he scored a direct hit. "Gotcha!"

Unfortunately, his celebration was premature and distracted him just enough for Gajeel to whip around and slam him into the wall again. Natsu winced as his ribs groaned in protest, and began working on wriggling his way out from behind the metal beam pinning him.

His eye caught on something white falling through the air, and he realized that his scarf had gotten knocked loose during the attack. Shit. He couldn't tear his gaze away, even as he continued working himself free. He needed it back right now.

"Well, would you look at that?" Gajeel stepped over and picked up the scarf.

Natsu tore his gaze away from it long enough to glower up at the other dragon slayer. "Give it back."

He wasn't joking around anymore. He was totally serious, an edge of angry desperation creeping into his voice, but Gajeel either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Make me," he taunted.

Natsu growled deep in the back of his throat and redoubled his efforts to free himself. He was going to get Igneel's scarf back and then rip Gajeel's arms off for daring to touch it.

"I'm really fucking serious right now," he snapped.

"Yeah, me too."

Natsu finally managed to wriggle out of his prison, and lunged for Gajeel. The other dragon slayer danced back, a sneer on his face as he held the scarf high in the air above his head, taunting Natsu.

"Hey, give it here."

Natsu was so startled by the unexpected interruption that he paused his attack and turned to see Gray walking towards the dueling pair, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes unreadable. Natsu just stared at him, an uncomfortable feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. He and Gray fought, but surely his friend would never stoop this low?

He was so distracted gawking at Gray that he was only half aware of how Gajeel was eyeing the ice mage thoughtfully, weighing his options. Then, apparently deciding that Gray was a good choice of co-conspirator since he was Natsu's main rival and the two had a reputation of always bickering and harassing each other, Gajeel nodded.

"Catch," he said, tossing the scarf through the air in Gray's general direction.

Natsu made a strangled sound, his heart jumping into his throat as his most precious possession was tossed around like it was trash or something. How dare Gajeel? And even worse, how dare Gray?

Gray's eyes widened fractionally, and it would have looked like he lunged forward a step or two if it didn't all seem so leisurely. Still, he whipped his hand out of his pocket and snatched the scarf out of the air well before it hit the ground.

Normally Natsu would just attack him right then and there, grab his scarf back, and be done with it, but for some reason he couldn't make himself move. He just stood there, frozen, staring at Gray. Hurt and betrayal flickered in his chest, and the whole situation was taking on a sort of surreal quality. For all their fighting, he and Gray were friends. Gray knew exactly how much the scarf meant to Natsu, and surely he wouldn't go that far?

It was worse than Gajeel messing around, because at least he was pretty new and not familiar with everything yet. But Gray knew better, and that betrayal cut deeper than anything because Natsu had trusted him.

For his part, at least Gray didn't try running off with the scarf. In fact, Natsu wasn't sure what exactly he was planning to do. The ice mage had started walking towards the two dragon slayers again, the scarf clutched in one hand and his expression cold and inscrutable. Gajeel looked mildly puzzled as he tried to figure out the plan, and Natsu was still too blindsided by the betrayal to react.

"You might have noticed by now that our guild doesn't have a whole lot of rules," Gray said evenly, not sparing Natsu a glance as he kept his unwavering gaze on Gajeel.

Around them, everyone in the guild had fallen silent, holding their breath. Probably they were waiting for Natsu to explode.

"For the most part there really aren't any, and we like to break everyone else's rules while we're at it," Gray continued. Natsu didn't know what the hell was going on in his head. "But there are a couple."

Gajeel frowned in confusion and opened his mouth, but Gray continued on over him, cutting him off.

"I'll cut you some slack this time, because you're still pretty new and haven't figured everything out yet." Gray's footsteps echoed in the silence as he continued his inexorable approach. "But you should know that even Natsu has a rule. You're welcome to beat him up and make fun of him all you want. It's a lot of fun, really. I do it all the time, and you're more than welcome to join in."

Natsu scowled, some of his shock starting to melt into anger. He was going to pound Gray's face in for this.

Apparently unconcerned by his imminent demise, Gray stopped right in front of Natsu.

"You can rough him up and mess with him all day long if you want to." Gray's gaze hardened, boring into Gajeel mercilessly. Without looking away, he draped the scarf back around Natsu's neck and dropped his hands. "But you never touch the scarf."

Natsu gaped at his friend's profile, his heart leaping into his throat again as he reached up to wrap his fingers around his scarf and make sure that it was really there. It was. He hurriedly readjusted it, winding it around his neck and tugging it tight.

Gajeel was staring too, mostly in surprise, but understanding was starting to creep into his eyes. The rest of the guild seemed a little shell-shocked too, maybe because they hadn't been expecting Gray to stand up for Natsu with all the two of them fought.

Natsu hadn't really been expecting it either, to be honest. And suddenly he felt bad for doubting his friend, because of course Gray would never be that cruel. But Gray also usually left Natsu to fight his own battles, and choosing to step in now, for something important, was unexpected.

And…touching.

Natsu swallowed hard. "Gray," he managed past the lump in his throat, "I…"

He trailed off, uncertain of how to respond. What was he really supposed to say to that?

Gray finally looked over at him, the cold anger in his eyes melting away as quickly as it had come. He grinned suddenly, and the expression was so normal that it was jarring. Natsu opened his mouth, but before he could think of anything to say, Gray punched him in the face.

The dragon slayer flew backwards and crashed into the wall—again—and stayed slumped there for a moment, blinking at his rival in stupefied bewilderment. Gray just smirked back.

Then Natsu barked out a laugh and jumped to his feet, an answering grin tugging at his lips as he summoned up his magic and leapt forward.

emmahoshi: "The sock that is Gray" XD XD XD XD Hahahaha, I died a little. This made my morning, thanks. Yup, our boys are idiots, but we have love them anyway X)