AS PETALS BURST FORTH. ❀ stingue

destruction

in which sting has guests, and rogue wonders if his suspicions are true.

Once the tides of consciousness crash down upon Rogue, the first thing he thinks after he opens his crimson eyes is that he and Sting were not alone in the room.

The scent is familiar, he thinks. And judging by the voices, there were at least 3 new people. He can still remember their names.

"Yo," he greets after he manages to sit up from his spot in the couch. Natsu looks at him in surprise.

"Hey, Rogue! Didn't see ya there!" Natsu grins that wide grin of his, his green eyes crinkling at the sides and his whole face lighting up to an expression of joy.

"It was practically obvious that he was there," snapped Gray, who had his arms folded over his miraculously bare chest. Lucy sighs exasperatedly, hitting the Maker Mage on the head.

"We're in a hospital, can't you contain yourself?" She says agitatedly, though there was an unmistakable fondness in her tone. Rogue smiles and looks at Sting, who seemed rather happy that he had visitors.

"So... er," Rogue started to say awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck as he started to choose his words carefully. "So... how did you know about Sting?"

"What?" Natsu said incredulously. "Of course I know about Sting, didn't we fight at the Grand Magic Games? You were there too, Rogue!"

The latter tried and failed to resist the urge to slap his palm against his forehead, as Gray argued with Sting's role model.

"He means about the reason Sting's here, you idiot!" hissed Gray agitatedly, holding the Dragon Slayer by his scaled scarf and pressing his forehead to the other. Natsu blushed and squirmed out of Gray's way, weakly pushing the taller mage by his bare chest.

Lucy laughed, shaking her head. "Stop with the sexual tension, you idiots. It's too bad Juvia isn't here," she added sadly.

"You..." Rogue gawked at them, a bewildered look on his pale face. "Natsu and Gray are dating, and Lucy and Juvia are also-?"

Gray laughed, throwing an arm over his shorter man lazily. "Yeah. Happened two weeks ago," he said, eyeing the pink-haired Dragon Slayer fondly. Rogue stopped abruptly.

"Two weeks ago...?"

"You're all over the Weekly Sorcerer, Sting," Lucy reminisced worriedly. "Apparently they saw Lector flying you over here."

"I am, aren't I?" Sting chuckled. "I don't really mind the publicity, as long as they aren't trying to find out who my lover is."

"Who is it, though?" Gray asked seriously. Sting smiled at him sadly.

"Ah, well," he turned his head to the side and avoids looking at any of them. "It's... yeah."

"Who's yeah?"

Natsu's childish but overly stupid remark was met with a punch in the face from Lucy.

<○~●>

Natsu, Gray, and Lucy left with a farewell and a wish for Sting to get well soon.

Soon? Sting could almost snort. He's not going to get well anytime this century, actually, not with Rogue being oblivious. He would be disgusted with him once he knew, that was for sure.

He looks at the empty couch. Rogue left to talk to the doctor outside. If only he could hear clearly what they were saying, with his hearing the best he could muster were the louder whispers.

"--I'm beginning to think it's Natsu--"

Sting jumps.

That was Rogue's voice. That was Rogue, out there, telling the doctor that he thinks it's Natsu fucking Dragneel who Sting is infatuated with.

What the fuck.

What the actual fuck.

He feels a wave of nausea wash over him and he grabs the bucket from the side, feeling his stomach churn and his lungs gurgle. It hurts, it hurts so so so bad and he's alone in the room and nobody is going to see him puke out his fucking feelings in the form of stupid fucking flowers just like how Rogue is so fucking stupid and so fucking oblivious that he can't even fucking see that Sting is in love with him and what the fuck why aren't the flowers coming out why isn't he puking why why why why why WHY WHY WHY

<○~●>

Rogue almost gets a heart attack when his senses pick up faint wailing and gurgling coming from Sting's room. He cuts the doctor off and slams the door open.

There was Sting, holding the metal bucket so hard the rim was beginning to crumple. Sting, with a pale face so white it could rival Yukino's cape. And Sting, puking blood instead of flowers--

Rogue doesn't think of anything else and screams until he feels himself cry.