Note: Yay, I finally finished another multichapter :3

Before we get started, I have one quick thing to say. Today is my one-year anniversary of writing FT fanfics. Break out the confetti! Joking, joking. But it got me thinking. In one year, I've written roughly 690,000 words of FT fanfics (because I have no life XD), and I'm still going strong even though I expected to lose inspiration and motivation a long time ago. Even better, I've met a lot of really awesome people around here and it occurred to me that this would be a good time to say thanks. Not even so much for the reviews/favs/follows, although those are great and I always appreciate them. I'm more humbled by the general support I've received and all the interesting people I've met in this community. Some of you guys have been with me almost this whole time, some are new, some have never directly spoken to me, some R&R religiously, some only pop up sporadically, some just like to troll me sometimes ;) Regardless, I'm grateful to all of you, and seeing as Thanksgiving is coming up later this week, it seemed like the perfect time to express that. And what better way to celebrate an anniversary than to start posting another multichapter? XD

So happy sort-of-almost Thanksgiving, guys. Thanks for being awesome :)

Chapter 1

(In which a challenge is issued.)

When Erza suggested that the team take a job since they hadn't been out together in a couple of weeks, Natsu was the first one to the request board, already calling dibs on picking the job. He expected protests from Gray at least—the ice block usually took such a declaration as a challenge or personal affront and would pick out a different job so that the pair could spend twenty minutes arguing over which one to take—but the ice mage just shrugged indifferently and continued talking to Lucy. That was actually rather disappointing. Natsu always liked getting a rise out of his rival and was itching for a good fight.

Then a sly grin spread over his face and he perked up again. If Gray wasn't going to fight him on this, then Natsu could pick whatever job he wanted. And if that job happened to be picked out for the sole purpose of maximizing his friend's annoyance… Well, Gray should have known better than to let Natsu have free rein over job selection.

Smirking wickedly, he combed through the requests pinned to the board. Instead of just grabbing one at random like he was often prone to do, he carefully considered his options. The last job Gray had picked out for them had been all the way at the top of Mt. Hakobe, and he had laughed at a shivering Natsu the whole time. The time before that, Gray had made sure to pick a job in a city that was several hours away by train. Oh, he claimed that he had chosen it for the reward money and not because of the long train ride, but Natsu knew better.

This was his chance for revenge, and he was going to make the most of it. So he took his time, forcing himself to look over the requests with far more patience than he usually possessed. Then he paused, his smirk taking on a distinctly malevolent edge. He hesitated for a second because this job was also quite far by train, but it would be totally worth it to see Gray's face. Snickering, Natsu ripped the request off the board and headed over to where the rest of the team was chatting.

Gray glanced up at Natsu's approach, and his initial bored expression morphed into wary caution as he noticed the dragon slayer's smugness.

"I picked us a job," Natsu announced, keeping his eyes on Gray's face as he slammed the request onto the table in the middle of the group.

Gray continued to regard Natsu suspiciously for a moment, but then glanced down at the paper. Natsu watched his dark eyes dart back and forth rapidly across the page as he quickly read the details. Gray's eyes widened slightly and he pressed his lips into a tight line before voicing his protest.

"Oh hell no," he ground out. "I'll sit this one out."

"Why?" Natsu asked, his smile sharpening and taking on a predatory edge. "Scared of a little heat?"

Gray's eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a scowl.

"I don't know, Natsu," Lucy interrupted with a frown, her eyes shining with uncertainty as she cast a worried look at Gray. "I'm not sure that a desert is a good idea."

"He's not made of ice," Natsu said dismissively. "He won't melt in the heat."

"But with his magic…"
Gray snorted derisively and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not just my magic. I grew up in Isvan, which is known for having arctic temperatures. It was plenty cold year-round and that was normal for me. And then with Ur's unconventional training techniques…" His eyes dimmed for a split second before he rallied again. "I pretty much trained half-naked in the snow and ice up on a mountain. I've acclimatized to milder temperatures like the ones we get around here and I can handle extremely low temperatures, but I don't do so well with high ones. I'm not going to melt or anything, but my body isn't as well-equipped to withstand high temperatures and I get uncomfortable quickly."

"Aw, is the ice princess too delicate to handle the heat?" Natsu teased, his voice taking on a mocking edge.

Gray glared at him, and Erza quickly stepped in before things got out of control.

"That's enough of that, Natsu," she said, giving him a quelling look. "If Gray's going to be uncomfortable in the desert, then we can just pick a different job."

Instead of looking vindicated, Gray's scowl deepened and his eyes flashed with annoyance. Natsu resisted the urge to grin. Erza had unknowingly played right into his plan. She hadn't meant to suggest that Gray was weak or incapable of doing the job, but he was already irritable and defensive. Under normal circumstances Gray would have probably just laughed it off, but right now it only served to aggravate him even more.

"You guys can go ahead and do the job," Gray grumbled, frowning at the tabletop in front of him. "I'll just take a solo job."

Natsu was actually a little impressed. Gray apparently found the desert aversive enough that he wouldn't volunteer to go despite his injured pride, and that was really saying something.

Erza was already shaking her head. "We haven't done a team job in weeks," she said firmly. "I said that we were going to take a job as a team, and I meant it."

"No one protested when I said that I was picking the job," Natsu complained.

"Yes, yes, you can pick the job." Erza ran a hand through her hair, looking partly frazzled and partly irritated. "But not this one. Go pick another one."

Natsu wasn't going to give up that easily. "I didn't complain when he picked that job on Mt. Hakobe," he muttered mutinously. "Or when he picked that one that seriously took forever to get to by train."

"Yes, you did," Lucy said dryly. "You complained the entire time. On both jobs."

"Oh, for crying out loud."

Natsu whipped his head around to look at Gray again, whose expression had darkened even further.

"You can stop with this whole innocent act," Gray continued coldly. "Did you forget how you dragged me out to one of the hottest towns in this area in the middle of a heat wave a few months ago? Or when you deliberately withheld information from me in that job at Hargeon just so that I'd make a fool of myself?" He snorted. "You can complain about Mt. Hakobe, but don't act like it was so unprovoked. Okay, when it's our turn to pick jobs we sometimes choose them to annoy each other. That's fine and good, but I don't do deserts. You can do this one without me."

Natsu rubbed at his nose sheepishly. It was true that this was hardly the first time he had picked a job to annoy Gray. Yeah, he still wanted revenge for Mt. Hakobe and that extra-long train ride, but he had to admit that he himself was hardly an innocent victim here. This whole thing was really just one small part of a larger war between the two rivals. It was mostly good-natured and was just another way for them to rib each other—and yes, they did enjoy getting on each other's nerves from time to time—but Natsu had taken particular offense at those last couple jobs Gray had picked.

Still, was a desert going too far? Natsu considered it briefly and then shrugged it off. Gray wouldn't enjoy it, but it wasn't like he couldn't handle it. He'd complain a lot, but ultimately there would be no harm done. Natsu didn't know why he was making such a big deal out of it.

"Okay, that's true," Natsu conceded. "But sending me on an eight-hour train ride was uncalled for."

"Oh, for the love of–!" Gray threw his hands up, dark eyes flashing angrily. "I already told you that I didn't pick the job because of that! The reward was good and the job seemed interesting. It was in some little remote town I'd never heard of before. I didn't even know how far away it was until we got to the train station and bought the tickets, and none of you realized how far it would be until then either. Given what an annoying jerk you are I might have picked it anyway if I'd known, but I didn't know at the time."

Natsu rolled his eyes. That was Gray's story and he was apparently sticking to it. A niggling doubt in the back of his mind warned that Gray's explanation made sense and he wouldn't be so angry right now if he was lying, but Natsu conveniently ignored it. Even if the eight-hour trip hadn't been intentionally malicious, it was still Natsu's turn to pick the job and he wanted to irritate Gray.

However, he wasn't exactly getting anywhere arguing with his friend like this. It was time to change tactics.

"Oh, alright," Natsu said, his voice suddenly mild. Gray immediately looked suspicious at the abrupt change of tone, and for good reason. "We wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable. If you don't think that you can handle the desert, then I'll go pick another job."

He started to turn away as if to head back toward the job board, hiding a satisfied smirk. One step, then two, then three. He started to worry that maybe he had miscalculated after all, and began mentally berating himself for messing things up when he'd had such a perfect setup. But then he heard Gray's irritable exhale behind him and knew that he had won.

"Whatever," the ice mage growled. "Let's go do the damn job."

Natsu spun back around and rejoined the group by the table, a new, triumphant spring in his step. He was careful not to let too much of his smugness show on his face in case Gray got annoyed enough to renege, but it was hard to contain his glee.

Gray looked considerably less pleased than Natsu. His face was carefully blank and his expression almost perfectly neutral, but his eyes burned with the anger and resentment of someone who recognized that he was being manipulated but was trapped and couldn't back down. Oh well, he'd get over it soon enough. Gray and Natsu fought like cats and dogs, but at the end of the day they rarely stayed seriously mad at each other for long periods of time.

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked, the barest hint of mock concern tinging his voice. "We wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable. But maybe this isn't such a good idea after all. It won't be much fun to listen to you complaining the whole time. I don't think you'll be able to complete the mission without fainting like the delicate ice princess you are or whining at us all the entire trip. Maybe a different job would be better…"

Gray's impassive mask slipped as he scowled at the dragon slayer. "Is that a challenge?" he demanded.

Natsu couldn't stop his lips from curling upwards in triumph. He'd gotten Gray now. There was no way he would back down from this.

"Do you want it to be?"

Gray's nostrils flared, but he looked away and glowered at the floor. Natsu wasn't sure if he was planning on responding, but if he was then Erza beat him to the punch.

"Natsu, stop playing childish games," the requip mage said tiredly. "Gray already made it clear that he didn't want to go. Why can't you just pick out a job that everyone would be okay with? This silly feud of yours is getting old."

Natsu opened his mouth to convince Erza to change her mind—he had already trapped Gray into agreeing to go and there was no way in hell he was going to let Erza throw a wrench in his perfectly-laid plans now—but surprisingly, he didn't have to.

"It doesn't matter," Gray said, wiping some of the irritation off his face with great difficulty. "I said that I'd go, so let's go already."

Natsu hid another grin. Now that a challenge had been issued, Gray would stick it out to the bitter end. Even Erza couldn't stop this now. She sighed and shook her head in exasperation.

"Are you sure?" she asked resignedly.

"Yeah." Gray tried to smile reassuringly, but the expression was too sharp and feral from his pent-up irritation with Natsu. "It won't be the most fun job ever, but it shouldn't be that bad. I mean, we just have to go beat up a dark guild and recover some artifact, right? Should only take a couple days and then we'll be back again. No biggie."

Funny, considering how adamant Gray had been about how terrible this job would be. Natsu reflected that it was actually amazing how easy it could be to manipulate Gray at times, conveniently ignoring the fact that he was just as easy to manipulate when people appealed to his pride or stubbornness.

"But–" Lucy started.

"It's fine," Gray interrupted.

"He already said he'd go," Natsu added, shifting impatiently. "If the ice block thinks he can handle it, who are we to stop him?"

Gray looked back at Natsu, his scowl returning full force. "I hope you know that you're the most infuriating, stupid, annoying–"

"Now, now, stripper," Natsu said cheerfully, his eyes sparkling with amusement, "no complaining, remember?"

"The job hasn't started yet, idiot."

"I can already tell that this is going to be a fun trip," Lucy said with a sigh.

"Actually, it will be." Natsu's grin widened. "After all, Gray's not going to be complaining, is he?"

Gray's grimace deepened and he muttered something horribly uncomplimentary under his breath. Natsu snickered.

"Fighting isn't exactly complaining," Lucy pointed out.

"I think I can handle it," Natsu said confidently.

"That's not what we're worried about," Erza grumbled, still looking displeased with the whole situation. "You two will be the death of me."

Natsu smiled winningly, but Lucy spoke up before he could say anything.

"Actually, I think they'll be the death of each other first," she disagreed, shaking her head.

Natsu laughed good-naturedly. That was probably true. Beside him, Gray suddenly perked up as well. He smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant expression—it was all sharp edges and vindictive satisfaction.

"At least it's a five-hour train ride to the village," he said, finally finding something to be smug about. "Too bad you're too delicate to handle trains well. I suppose it's a good thing that listening to your pitiful whimpers and complaints is our favorite pastime."

Natsu rolled his eyes, but didn't let Gray's sourness put a damper on his mood. The train ride would suck, but it would totally be worth it to get his rival into a desert. Gray could mock him all he wanted, but Natsu would have the last laugh.

"Well, good," Natsu said pleasantly. "I'll make sure to be extra loud for you, then. And I guess I might as well complain all I want, since I'll have to complain enough for the both of us."

Gray growled angrily in the back of his throat, but Natsu just grinned back. It wasn't often that he could get such a complete victory over his friend, and he was going to savor it for all it was worth. Gray would be bitter about it for a while, but once the job was over and he'd had some time to cool off—figuratively and literally—he would get over himself. Although Natsu would have to be careful for a while, because he would definitely get his revenge eventually. But for now Natsu would just revel in his win and congratulate himself for managing to back Gray into a corner.

"Enough, you two," Erza said firmly, fixing the bickering friends with a hard look. "There will be absolutely no fighting on this job. We'll meet at the train station at eight in the morning tomorrow. Then it will be a long ride to the client village, and when we get there we'll listen to what they have to say, do the job, and get out. Natsu, make sure you tell Happy the plan."

"Sure thing," Natsu said, still cheerful.

Giving Gray one last infuriating grin, he turned to walk away, only pausing for a second when Erza spoke up again.

"Natsu, I meant it when I said no fighting," the requip mage said meaningfully. "You two can work out your issues later, but on this trip you will not provoke Gray in any way. Your behavior is childish enough already."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," Gray snapped. "He can do whatever the hell he wants. I don't care."

"See, Erza?" Natsu asked happily. "Gray doesn't care if I provoke or tease him. You worry too much."

"This is not going to end well," Erza said with a weary sigh.

Natsu just snickered and headed over to where Happy was harassing—or flirting with, if you were inclined to view it as such—Charle. He couldn't wait to fill the Exceed in, and there was a new bounce in his step as he happily considered all the ways he could annoy Gray, starting bright and early tomorrow. He silently applauded himself for not only forcing his rival into such a position but also managing to clip his fangs for as long as the job lasted. Gray might never be in such a vulnerable position again, and Natsu was going to take full advantage of it. He smirked victoriously.

This was going to be fun.

Note:

FAQ:

What genre is this story? - The dominant genre switches sometimes, but there's humor (more than you'd expect from me), plenty of friendship, angst, and a bunch of hurt/comfort later.

Are there any pairings? - As per usual, no. But read whatever you want into it.

How does this story fit in with canon? - It doesn't have an explicit place in the canon timeline. Judging by certain references I make, it would have to take place after Tenrou. Other than that, it doesn't matter that much.

So, I heard there was some kind of weird POV thing...? - No you didn't—I didn't tell anyone XD But yeah, I did something a little different this time. The chapters alternate POV between Natsu and Gray. Odd chapters are Natsu's, evens are Gray's. It was kind of a pain because it led to a lot of pacing issues and rearranging of events, but in the end I think it was worth it.

How long is this? - Originally it was supposed to be a short 4 or 5 chapter story. Ah, past-me was so naively optimistic lol Now it's 16 chapters.

So what does the posting schedule look like? - Posting schedule? What posting schedule? Uh, so I know that when I post chaptered stories, I usually have an every-three-days posting schedule. That might not happen this time. Usually it works fine, but I got really overwhelmed while editing and posting "Stay", and I don't want that kind of pressure again. Updates will still be frequent since I've already written the first draft of this story, but I'm not going to worry about adhering to such a strict schedule this time. Sorry. Updates should come every three to five days, I'd think.

A flower? Really? - Yeah...Sorry. I– Hey, wait a minute, wrong story! Go back to "Stay" where you belong -_- Sorry guys, no flowers in this one :3

emmahoshi: Ha ha, no, only a year. It does feel like it's been a long time though, doesn't it? XD Yeah, these guys are pretty childish sometimes, especially Natsu. You can blame Mashima for that one. I could totally see them turning everything into a competition or way to annoy each other. Miraculous rainy season XD Well, in practice it just amounted to me writing each chapter in the other POV as the previous one so it wasn't that complicated, except for trying to figure out how to arrange events and everything. It did give me some problems though. I wouldn't have done it if this story hadn't needed it. Yeah, I was born up north but have lived down in the heat for most of my life, and I've never gotten used to it x.x Gray can suffer with me, ha ha.