The Drunk List [Gratsu]

fourteen

I feel totally uninspired to write this right now, but let's see if simply staring at the computer screen works out. 

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Gray's POV

Something wasn't right.

I could tell by the way Natsu's eyes were slightly rubbed and bloodshot and the way he shied away when Sting talked to him. That wasn't the typical confident and snarky Natsu I had learned to appreciate (and ignore the snarky bit, because that got under my skin a lot.)

My eyes kept wavering to the side to sneak not-so-inconspicious looks at Natsu. He stuck out his tongue in concentration as he glued rhinestones to a pinecone. He still had that sad aura clouding around him, and I couldn't shake off the feeling something was off with him. 

It was weird, really. Just a couple days ago I was happily (okay, not that happily) in a sturdy relationship with a beautiful girl, and now I was questioning everything I thought I had sorted out, all because of this idiot who had decided to drink nine of those sugary, alcoholic happy bombs.

The next activity was the scavenger hunt, and then lunch. When people were starting to clean up the spilled glue, gems, and scraps of construction paper, we all put our creations nearby our other belongings and clumped into the crowd of people waiting for directions.

The breakdown of it was that the girls and Sting were extremely pumped to do to this scavenger hunt, and the rest of us guys were laying low and wishing we didn't have to. I thought it seemed like a fun idea, slightly childish and lame, but fun nevertheless. But when the announcer lady, a frail woman with a rouge messy bun and large glasses, announced there'd be a cash prize for the winning pair, suddenly everyone was a lot more interested in the game.

"Wait, pair?" I turned to Rogue.

"That's what it says on the pamphlet," Rogue waved a light blue brochure in my face, slapping my head with it to knock some sense into me. "Partner scavenger hunt, 11:30 to 12:30. Didn't you look at the schedule at all?"

"Haha," I chuckled condesendingly. "You know I don't read."

"The only thing you don't do," Rogue pointed out. "But yeah, better find a partner. And as much as I bet you want me to be your partner, I already have one."

His eyes travelled fondly to Sting, who's currently in a second heated, whispered conversation with Natsu. Natsu glared at him and clenched his fists bitterly as he hissed something back. Rogue doesn't seem fazed by their argumentive discussion and continued to stare like Sting will disappear from the earth tomorrow and it's his last chance at looking at him.

I momentarily thought it was very adorable, but instead I faked a gag. [A/N: Do I have no soul if I laughed at the irony of this?] "Rogue, stop staring. You'd be less obvious if you scribbled 'madly in love' on your forehead with a Sharpie."

Rogue blinked and shook his head, turning his head back forwards. "Oops," He said sheepishly. "No regrets, man. He's mine, aye."

I nodded with a confused expresison, pursing my lips. From the makeshift stage (it's really just a rug and a microphone and speaker set), the same lady tapped the mic to gain everyone's attention. "Attention, everyone! We will now be commencing the favorite event of the day, the partner scavenger hunt!" She announced cheerily, sounding like she was hyped up on too much coffee from this morning.

A roar of applause cut her off from speaking further. She smiled warmly and waited for the clapping to die down. When it does, she spoke again. "So, to go over the rules, you have one hour to find everything enclosed in the manilla envelopes over there. Each team of two will pick an envelope at random and race to get everything and be back here first to win the prize," The woman explained seriously. "This year's prize is... a fifteen dollar iTunes gift card!"