Virtual

"Ah! That asshole!" Natsu sat up as he threw the visoglas down to the table. He crossed his arms and pouted.

"What are you talking about?" Gray took out his own visoglas in a more sedate way and looked at Natsu.

"That asshole, Gajeel! We were on that mission together and he threw me under the bus. Well, down the cliff." Natsu huffed, leaning forward to grab the TV's remote.

"Ah, you mean that you were caught in the loopilimpa and will now have to restart the mission from the top?" Gray placed his visoglas on the table and crossed his legs, waiting expectantly at his friend.

"When I finish this mission and see him back at the guild, I'm going to kick his ass. For real." Natsu groused, changing the TV's channels aggressively.

"Dude, there's no need to be like that. Besides, the Master might have your ass if you start something like the other time." Gray chuckled and rested his head against the back cushion of the sofa.

"Unless Erza's there, it might be like that…" Natsu grumbled, throwing the remote at Gray. "You choose what you want to see. I'll just lay here and think about the points I lost. Dude, you don't get it! I was almost in front of the Blue Column but then that fucker…"

"Oh. You'd been working on that mission for a while, hadn't you?" Gray said, understanding.

"Gee, don't tell me that your brain has also froze in real life? I mean, I know that you're an ice mage and that the biorelation is awesome but, are you serious?" Natsu started by saying, confused but laughing.

"At least I'm not a dumb fire mage…" Gray shot back but his retort was cut short.

"Not just a fire mage. Don't forget that I'm a dragon slayer. More, I'm the Salamander." Natsu stood up and puffed up his chest, the fabric of his t-shirt stretching over his torso. "Be careful." He warned, wagging his finger in front of the dark-haired youth.

"Tche. So full of yourself, are you?" Gray said, unimpressed, as he grabbed the other's finger. He then pushed Natsu suddenly so that he was falling back onto his sofa. "Now, let's go back to the game. I was with Lucy and Juvia when you so rudely called me." He extended his arm, presenting the visoglas back to Natsu.

Natsu grumbled but he grabbed them and put them on. Without another word, he entered the game once again.

Gray entered the guild, listening distractedly as Lucy and Levy talked excitedly and Juvia was, once again, hanging off his arm. The ice mage rolled his eyes before starting to, gently, peel her off him.

The group walked to the table where some of their friends were already sitting and eating, the conversation and drink were already running freely.

Cana's laughter resounded from somewhere but Gray didn't focus on that. He looked around the guild in search of a certain pink-haired fire mage. Gajeel was already sitting at the table – and having a strange eye conversation with Levy. The vibe coming from those two was a bit weird – and so were Lisanna and Elfman who were talking to Mirajane.

Finally, he sighted that mop of pink hair, heading their way. As per usual, he was accompanied by Happy and the pair was talking excitedly.

I guess that he managed to get to the end of the mission. Gray mused to himself.

"Ah, you finally got here." Natsu said, perking up while seeing that Gray and the others had arrived. "Took you long enough." He said, looking pointedly at Gray.

"Well, we wouldn't have been so late if a certain person hadn't thrown a tantrum, would we?" Gray quickly shot back.

"Shut up, ice brain!"

"Fire breath!"

"You mushy-!" Natsu was staring to say when a presence was felt, coming from behind him.

"Boys. Glad to see that you're back." Erza said calmly, walking towards the table and motioning at everybody to sit down. "Come, sit and I'll tell you the news."

"News?" Natsu perked up.

"Is something the matter?" Gray asked as he sat down.

"Yes." Erza said as soon as all of their focus were on her. "It has come to our knowledge that something is happening, dark powers are in movement and conflating to one single point. Has anyone heard of a guild named Chronos?"

"Do you mean, the dark guild?" Levy offered.

"Yes, that would be the one." The red haired mage nodded seriously. "Some serious things have been happening and we have proof that it's their doing."

"But when you mean serious…?" Lucy started saying.

"I mean something that will throw the balance we have into complete havoc." Erza replied, glancing at all of her friends. "There are pieces moving in this great game and it's time for us to make our move." She stood up. "So we're going to form a team and head towards the mount Tartarus."

"But that's in Akos. It's still a bit far away from Magnolia." Levy interjected.

"Yes, that's why this mission is so important. It's going to allow us to get to the next level."

"I'm in!" Natsu shouted, jumping from his chair in excitement. "Can't wait to see who we might have to face."

"And that's what shows that you have melted mush instead of a brain…" Gray said in a low voice, but Natsu caught it.

"What are you saying?" Natsu crowded into the ice mage's space but when he was going to grab him by his shirt to give a few good shakes, he noticed that it was gone. "Hey, what happened to your shirt?"

"Huh?" Gray looked down at himself and groaned. "I was wearing it just now!"

"Pervert…" The fire mage whistled.

"Am not!" Gray stood up now, glaring at the other.

"Boys…" Erza said in a tired voice.

Both youths froze momentarily.

"Sorry…" the said in unison, to the amusement of their friends.

"Well then. I'll see you in five flowts, okay? You should see if you can clean as many side-quests as you can. And don't forget about the experience and to pack up with the necessary goodies. Am I clear?" Erza said with finality.

"Yes!" They all answered.

"Wow." Was the first thing Natsu said as he took off his visoglas. "That's going to be awesome!"

"It is going to be quite an adventure, I'll give you that." Gray agreed, pensively. "But, why now?"

"Why now what? We're so going to kick ass in that mission. No. Quest!" Natsu was nearly vibrating with excitement.

"You just want to punch things."

"Like you're going to deny that my flames are super badass." Natsu scoffed as he spoke.

"I quite prefer the class of ice. It can be quite extreme…" Gray said proudly.

"So extreme that you nearly left your ass in there, for real." Natsu scowled. "If you ever try that thing and are unable to return to the game because your self is stuck in a piece of ice, I'm going to kick your ass, for real, the way my character does on the game." Natsu threatened.

"Hey, it was my last resort." Gray countered. "And like hell does your character kick mine's ass. It's the other way around, dumbass."

"Is not!"

"It is…"

"Is not!"

"Yep, it is…"

Natsu launched himself at Gray, they tumbled into the large sofa and a mock-grapple began, both half-assing it.

Before long it evolved into a making out session, with some frottage thrown into the mix, that lasted until one of their phones started ringing.

"Ignore it." Natsu mumbled against Gray's lips, his hips undulating against Gray's answering ones.

"But it might be something important." Gray said in a thick voice.

"Then they'll call me too."

"Tche. You're so full of yourself." Gray said against Natsu's neck, rolling them in the constricted space of the sofa's seat so that he was laying on top. He licked and nipped at the other's skin, enjoying the saltiness and the pleased noises the other let out. And then his lips latched on the area where neck and shoulder met and he started sucking.

"I might be… but you love me anyway." Natsu agreed, hissing when Gray became a bit rougher. "Hey, that's enough, no?"

"Not really." Gray said after a little longer. "I want it to be nice and big, for everyone to see it."

"Sheesh." Natsu rolled his eyes. Then his phone rang, a text. He groped blindly on top of the table, his hand curling on the thing after a little while. "Okay, let me check this. Maybe whoever called you sent me the text."

"Heh, fine." Gray also leaned to grab his phone.

"Ah!" Natsu exclaimed, sitting up and nearly knocking his head against Gray's chin. "It's Lucy!"

"What?" Gray wondered, waiting for a follow up.

"They have pizza!" Natsu half-squirmed from beneath Gray and started to head to the door. "Come on! They invited us for dinner."

Gray looked up at the ceiling, in a bid for patience, before following after Natsu.

"You really just think with your stomach…"

Natsu arrived at the arranged meeting place. He wasn't too sure about this current mission but he knew that he would manage to get to the end of it. Now, if only his partner didn't take so long to arrive…

"Oh. It's you."

"You?"

They said at the same time, Natsu and Gray sporting disbelieving expressions.

"Did Mira give you the mission pamphlet?" Natsu asked.

"Nope. Erza didn't give me anything but she told me that I was to come here and that the mission would be explained on site." The ice mage explained.

"Ah, okay."

At that moment, a grey circle of light emerged under their feet, creating a wall that both protected them and would be giving them the specific information on the mission.

"Well, some mission it is, to have a booth…" Natsu quipped.

"Somehow, I don't think that this is going to be all that fun…" Gray replied in a wary tone of voice.

"What do you mean?" The fire mage asked.

At that moment images and words started to appear in front of them.

As they read, the mages' faces became pink, their expressions going from surprised to embarrassed to pissed.

"I have to wear a dress?" Was Natsu's outraged shriek.

Glossary:

Visoglas – virtual reality glasses.

Loopilimpa – a vortex that will make the player be thrown back to the starting point, in some cases they can take them only to the last checkpoint.

Flowts – the game's time measurement.

A/N: Quick little drabble that I felt like writing. Basically, I was urged by my friend Subkulture to write something a bit more run of the mill (ah!) and after reading Ryuu91's fic I felt like writing some fluff and this is it. Well, a bit of a failure on both ends, I must say. xD

Anways, I'm pretty sure that this idea has already been used to exhaustion but I had fun, so yeah. :P

Unbetaed.

Any feedback would be nice.