Archive of Our Own ^beta

The sun was shining brightly.

There was a gentle breeze and, with it, a wind chime sounded from some place nearby. There was warm golden sand cradling their feet and it was all completed by the sound of waves crashing on the shore.

‘It’s perfect,’ Gray thought. He and Natsu had arrived not long before but they’d left their luggage on their rented house and had gone outside to check the area.

It was the first free time the two had to spend alone ever since they’d got together.

So the little escapade meant a lot to the pair.

It was still early morning but the beach and buildings nearby were already bustling. It was going to be a hot day.

“Let’s go to the water!” Natsu said and started to sprint.

Not one to let the challenge pass, Gray rushed after him.

They first got to the area with the parasols and jewels were spent but that ensured that they had their cosy corner. They dropped the bags (and the magical lunch box, which was filled to the brim), extended their towels and Natsu rummaged through his bag. He made a triumphant noise and his hand emerged with a bottle. He turned to Gray with a smile that was very untrustworthy.

“What’s that?” Gray asked from where he was knelt at the edge of his own towel.

“I’ve been tasked with something of utmost importance!” Natsu said pompously and with mock solemnity. Then he all but shoved the bottle into Gray’s face. “It’s sunscreen!”

“What the hell?” Gray grabbed the bottle and glared down at it. “I don’t need that.”

“Oh yes, you do!” Natsu said with a smirk. “Last time we all came to the beach you got out looking like a lobster.”

“It was strangely hot that day,” Gray pointed out, crossing his arms and looking straight at the water. “But,” he said suddenly, glancing at Natsu, slyly, “I’ll do it if you do.”

“Hey! I don’t need this.”

“What, is the great Salamander afraid of a teensy bottle of sunscreen?”

Natsu glared at him, grabbed the bottle and squeezed a handful out.

“Fine. But I’ll do your back first.” And with that he slapped the handful of lotion on Gray’s back.

“Fine. And I’ll do yours.” Gray agreed breezily while he got some of the lotion and started to apply it on his face and arms.

Then, Natsu’s hands started to move in a more sensuous way. Gray turned to glance at him. “Easy, boy. There’ll be time for that later. “And he let the back of his hand press onto the right spot on Natsu’s swim trunks.

“You’ll pay for this…” Natsu shot back in a slightly tight voice.

“You started it, so… bring it on.” Gray offered at the same time that he turned to fully face the fire mage. “But for now, I need your back.”

Natsu let out a huff but he complied promptly.

The two quickly finished that and went into the freezing waters moments after. They had a lot of fun, splashing about in the water, trying to dunk on the other, and generally acting like the kids they were at heart.

After a while they got out of the water and lay on their towels, to dry a bit. But it didn’t take long for Natsu’s stomach to start rumbling.

It was nearing lunchtime. So they prepared to eat.

The lunch box was filled to the brim so the food nearly was about to explode from there. But as the two dug in with gusto, it quickly emptied.

“Ahhh,” Natsu stretched his back a little and gave a tiny burp after downing half of his glass of juice, “there’s nothing like the sea breeze to open my appetite.”

“What do you mean, sea breeze?” Gray answered with a chortle, “any and everything opens your appetite.”

“Hey!”

“You can be a bit of a glutton…” Gray said innocently while he pointed his fork in the other’s direction. Natsu leaned forward and stole a bite out of it.

“As if,” was the good-natured reply, accompanied by a wink.

The two continued to eat while playfully teasing each other. But no food was wasted.

As they were finishing their lunch, a wave of torrid heat fell over the beach. It seemed to be a normal thing to happen since the beach started to empty at that point. The pair made quick work of packing their things and returning to their rented house.

After a quick rinse and change of clothes, they lay down on the bed. With a little distance between them since the room was hot despite the blinds being down and the windows closed – that was the case of all the windows in the house – and the fan in the bedroom.

Gray was not feeling his best so he made a column of ice to sit in front of the fan and colder ice quickly started to fill the room.

Before either of them noticed it, they had fallen asleep.

It was much cooler outside when they woke back up and the sun seemed to be well on its way of setting.

The two decided to go to the restaurant they’d noticed earlier. While heading there they got to check the stalls of the market, lots of tourist things that Lucy would probably enjoy a lot.

The wind-chime was almost giving them a welcome to the restaurant.

The meal was simple but refreshing; cold noodles and cold watermelon. And there was still room for ice cream on their way back to the house.

“It’s funny how calm things are here.”

“Hey, at least we’re not going to damage anything and hear a sermon from the master,” Natsu stated semi-seriously

“You do more damages so, more sermons.” Gray said teasingly.

“And you walk around naked. I mean, why am I holding your shirt?” Natsu waved the piece of cloth on his right hand.

They might be bickering but were holding hands at the same time.

The two shared a smile and kept walking down the busy street.