A Fairy Tail Gratsu.

Narrators POV:

     Happy and Lucy watched as their friend locks himself away in his room, ordering them to bring food every day but to leave him alone. The fire Mage didn't like appearing weak, and with his currently unstable curse powers, locking himself away was the safest, and easiest, thing to do. Master Makarov knew about dragon slayers, and had always given Natsu leave when he asked, never telling Natsu or the other brats how much he actually knew about the slayers. He'd even created a special 'job request' that made Natsu's absence less suspicious. Heck, Gajeel and Laxus had asked the same thing this year.

       Natsu curled up on his bed, silent tears streaming down his face and he shivered. He was scared. Laxus, Gajeel and  Cobra, heck, even Wendy, they'd lose all reason and control if they scented him and he didn't want a dominant dragon slayer imposing themselves on him just because they scented a submissive in heat. What Natsu desperately wanted, what he needed right now, was to be curled up with his chosen mate, but was that even a possibility? His chosen mate wasn't gay, he wasn't into guys, so what Hope did he have?

      (Back at the guild) Gray Fullbuster sneezed again. Juvia, despite being heartbroken at being rejected by her crush, went up to her friend and asked him if he was alright. He reassures her that he's fine, and wanders over to where Happy and Lucy are sitting. He takes a seat opposite them, and jumps violently as Mavis and Zeref materialise either side of him. Were they trying to give him a heart attack? Lucy greeted Mavis and ignored Zeref. (as she couldn't see him.)

     "You're going to ask about Natsu, aren't you?" Zeref asks the devil slayer softly, a hint of anger in his voice. The dark haired 'ghost' didn't understand Gray in the slightest. The ice devil slayer had set his heart on killing END, and now they were something akin to best friends. It made no sense to him. Gray glanced at Zeref and commented on the man's current form.

     "I didn't think you could appear to anyone like that except Mavis and the dragon slayers whilst in that lacrima?" Gray asks softly, knowing that apart from himself and Mavis, no one currently in the guild hall could see or hear the Black Wizard. Mavis smiles at Gray and Lucy, who looked completely confused. She couldn't see or hear who Gray was talking to, but she gathered it had something to do with the strange magical presence she could feel nearby.

      "Normally, you'd be right, but zeref's magic power is different to mine, despite the fact he taught me how to use some of my magic. Unlike me, only a Dragon Slayer should be able to see him. I can understand you seeing him, Gray, because a Demon Slayer is not unlike a Dragon Slayer, but why Erza can see him too, I don't know." Happy just sat there on Lucy's lap, a confused expression on his face. Why was Gray talking to Zeref? Had he finally lost it and started talking to imaginary bad guys? Zeref was dead, wasn't he? He understood Mavis talking to Zeref though, he already knew she had a screw loose, after all, who else would be crazy enough to found such a rambunctious guild?

     "Wait, you're saying Erza can see him too?!!" Lucy exclaimed, not too loud, but still noisy enough to earn a few weird looks from Macao, Wakaba and a strangely sober Cana.

     "Yeah, didn't you know?" Mavis asked curiously.

      "Sorry Lucy, I forgot to tell you that. Remember when Erza blasted a hole in the wall for no apparent reason? It was because she saw Zeref. Gajeel and Natsu couldn't stop laughing at her and got knocked out, remember?" Gray explained, smiling at the memory.

     "Oh yeah. So that's why she went nuts." Lucy giggled, remembering how confused the scarlet warrior had been when Gramps yelled at her for 'unnecessary' destruction......

(At Freed's house.) Bickslow and Evergreen Stood in the middle of the living room of Freed's modest two bedroom apartment, mouth open in shock. Neither Mage had been to his home before, but had they walked in when Freed wasn't home, they would have sworn blind that the flag belonged to someone like Lucy, Mira or even Erza. The whole flat was just so.... so.... girly.

        Evergreen sat down with a slight smile on her face as she saw Freed casually throw up a concealment enchantment over a stretch of wall. Bickslow was investigating the other rooms, a tidy, compact kitchen and a well kept bathroom with a spare room nestled between them. At the end of the hallway was a final room, but Freed had put up a seriously strong enchantment around it, preventing anyone except Freed from entering.

     "Hey, Freed, is this you're room man?" Bickslow called to his green haired friend and teammate.

    "Yes. No-one, not even Laxus, is permitted to go in there." He states firmly, implying that the Lightning Dragon Slayer had been to the flat before. A slight static charge began to seep into the flat, causing Freed to rush to his room, casually throwing up two enchanted barriers behind him as he went. He opens the door to his room softly, entering and closing the door behind him carefully. The man on his bed was shaking with pain, bright sparks flying off him in all directions.

        "Are you alright?" Freed asks softly, placing a warm hand on the older man's shoulder, expecting the answer that came. Laxus shook his head, sparks flying everywhere as he did. The man uncurls himself and sits up on the bed, sitting next to the rune Mage and leaning into the younger wizard's shoulder. He was glad that the rune Mage understood him so well.

     "Tell no-one I'm a sub, got it?" He orders, the words almost ineffective in his currently shivering voice. "I'd never hear the end of it from the dominant like Natsu, Gajeel and Cobra. And they'd go crazy if they scented a sub slayer like me." Freed nodded in understanding. Laxus wasn't as confident as he made out to be, and the same threat had been made four times before, every mating season. The lighting wizard leaned heavily on Freed for support during mating season, because the bigger man felt so insecure. The rune Mage knew this, and was careful to keep his friend safe.

     "Do you know who your mate is yet?" Freed asked softly, noticing the pain in his friend's eyes.

    "Yeah, but I'm not ready for that sort of commitment yet. Can you wait a bit longer?" The last sentence was mumbled so softly, that freed almost missed it. It took him several seconds to register what Laxus meant, and when it finally sunk in, all Freed could do was nod, as he was internally screaming and fainting with joy at being noticed by the man he loved. The rune Mage kept his calm composure though, reassuring the Lightning Dragon Slayer that he'd wait a lifetime if he had to. Laxus nods softly, the sparks slowly dissipating for a bit, as the lighting Mage curled back up on the bed and drifted off to sleep, despite it being only one in the afternoon. Freed goes back out to Evergreen and Bickslow, apologising for rushing off like that.

      "Sorry, one of my lacrima started playing up." He explained, not exactly lying as such, but not telling the truth either.