Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or any of its associated characters and lore. That right belongs to Hiro Mashima.

[AU]

Avatar Union

[AU]

Avatar Mikage Forest Branch, Kingdom of Fiore, Ishgar, Earth Land, X792

With no one around presently, Natsu Dragneel, and his equally undercover friends in Avatar, Gray Fullbuster and Happy the Exceed, conversed in secret about what to do when it was time to go against the Black Magic Cult. Unfortunately, the three soon met one of Avatar's strongest members, Briar, in the hallway they were talking at, and she looked skeptical at best to what they were doing.

"Hello, Ice, Flame, and Hairball." She greeted Gray, Natsu, and Happy using the nicknames she gave them. "Can I ask what you were all talking about?"

"Uh, it's too complicated to put into words, Briar." Happy sweated nervously.

"Meaning what?"

Gray soon interjected. "It's nothing for you or anyone else here to worry about, Briar."

Briar still didn't look persuaded to back off. "What? Are you planning somebody's birthday or something?"

Natsu sighed impatiently. "Just what's your interest all of a sudden?"

Briar scoffed. "Well, it's that I don't trust you three, but the Priest for some reason is spooked about a traitor in our midst, so- "

She didn't get to finish her sentence, however, because Natsu, in a panic, pulled Briar close to him by the brooch fastening her cloak and silenced her with a kiss. Happy and Gray looked gob smacked at the scene while Briar was stunned at first before embracing Natsu and returning the kiss with much greater passion.

When Natsu realized what Briar was doing, though, he quickly broke the kiss and stepped back with a blush. "Uh, Briar, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- "

"It's all right, Natsu." Briar interjected with a wide grin. "Truth be told, I found you gorgeous from the start."

"Huh?" The three formerly from Fairy Tail said in shocked unison.

Briar, not realizing what they were confused about, continued happily. "True, I didn't make the first move because I couldn't decide between you and Gray at first, but now, I believe I have my answer."

Gray raised his hand in question. "Wait, I was a contender?"

Briar turned to him with a small smile. "Yes, but not anymore, Gray. Sorry." She then turned back to Natsu with a predatory lustfulness in her eyes that spooked him. "Now, Natsu, why don't we talk about our new relationship in my room."

"What?" Natsu cried out before Briar then pulled him by the arm far into the abandoned church used as Avatar's local branch building, leaving a shocked Happy and Gray to themselves.

"That was unexpected." The blue furred Exceed said at last.

"Yep." Gray replied uncertainly.

[AU]

Sexually Explicit Reading Section Found at Archive of Our Own Only

Not for Kid/Family-Friendly Readers

Ideologically Sensitive Readers Be Warned

[AU]

The following day, Natsu found time to reunite with Gray and Happy, both of whom still looked awkward after yesterday's events.

"So, how did it go?" Gray asked Natsu finally.

Natsu smiled pleasantly. "It was amazing beyond words." He then showed a look of misgiving. "But now I think I've gotten too attached to these guys than what we planned at first. I don't suppose you two know of something we can do to talk Briar and a few others out of what they're doing." Both Gray and Happy frowned unhappily while Natsu sighed in defeat. "Yeah, me neither."

"I'm sorry, Natsu." Happy apologized with a pat on his oldest friend's head.

[AU]

With the Avatar characters still not getting much attention, unfortunately, I decided to make the first Natsu/Briar lemon before someone does Gray/Briar/Mary first. I got nothing against that last pairing, of course, I'm just admittedly main protagonist-biased. As you can imagine, Clone Magic and the way Briar dresses do make for good intimate content. I actually wonder how Gray would've developed if he became a Dark Mage/Cultist for real, even if it was "well-intentioned" reasons.