Anticlimactic Kiss

Unless you can see these two as the biggest dorks on the planet, it's a little OOC. Not super pleased with this one :/

The first time Rogue and Sting nearly kissed was at the party after the Grand Magic Games. Sting had managed to get Rogue onto the dancefloor, if only for a moment, and neither of them cared about any weird looks they got. Rogue lasted about ten minutes before he wanted to get away from the dancing crowd of people; Sting didn't blame him. They moved over to the corner away from everyone else, watching the members of their guild interact with Fairy Tail; a smile on their faces from how everyone could get along. Rufus was chatting with Gray, Orga with Laxus and Yukino hanging out with Lucy. That reminded him, he needed to talk to her later…

"Why did I have to come again?" Train of thought officially braked. Good thing too, it might have blown up because Sting was currently witnessing Rogue pouting and dammit that was adorable!

"We all got invited by royalty, don't tell me you were gonna turn that down?" Black hair swished from side to side, prompting a big grin to appear on Sting's face.

"Well no… but does that really mean I have to be happy about it?" Please stop pouting? I really don't want to be arrested for public indecency.

"No, but you could smile at least a little, you're on good terms with Gajeel now right?" Seriously you need to stop pouting, don't make me jump you.

Sometimes he hated that his boyfriend was so handsome, and sexy, and cute, and way too damn tempting.

Red eyes flickered to him and the pout receded a little, leaving Sting a little conflicted on whether to be pleased or not.

"I suppose, doesn't mean I have to like this."

"Oh come on, you look awesome!" Yes, he saw that light dusting of pink on the other's cheeks. Yes, he thought it was adorable. "It's a good look for you." But you wearing even less clothes would be better.

"What, awkward and uncomfortable?"

"That's the one." They broke out into small giggles, just enjoying being them. And no, Sting would never admit he was a dork, or Rogue, he kinda liked breathing…

"You can try and lighten up a little can't you?" A small smirk and Sting could guess the witty response coming.

"That's your area of expertise now though, isn't it?" Sting could almost picture Rogue looking at his nails smugly, that sexy smirk on his face as his head tilted and bent down to breathe teasingly into Sting's ear- Not good, he was going to drive himself mad at this rate. Rogue never did things like that in public.

They both leaned back against the wall, effortlessly sticking as close to one another as possible, shoulders brushing and heads turned to look at one another. Red and blue clashing as their eyes locked they spoke softly. A faint sadness in the Shadow Dragon's eyes as they conversed.

"You don't always have to take the Shadow thing so far, you know?" Joking never really seemed to make things better, but he knew the familiarity of it was a comfort.

"Oh? But what if I like taking it this far?" Inadvertently shifting closer to Rogue, Sting's cheek almost brushed against the paler skin and his breath tickled Rogue's neck.

"In which case you're being an idiot. Why would you do that?" A quick flash of a smile was shown to him as Rogue also moved closer.

"Because." Closer…

"That's not an answer." Closer…

"Maybe I like seeing the faces you make when you're confused." Closer…

"You're pretty weird aren't you?" He could feel the 'uh-huh' in response over his lips, he just needed to get a little bit closer…

"Hey Sting!" All of a sudden the two flew apart, the guild master beginning to talk with the newcomer as Rogue rushed off to get a drink, thankful that his small blush was hidden behind his hair and that nobody could see the rest of it as he was looking down.

*/*\*

It had been a few months since the after party of the Grand Magic Games and Sting was frustrated. He hadn't been able to recreate any such moment between him and Rogue and didn't want their first kiss to be under circumstances any less special. He could stay focused though, another opportunity would come up, they'd get that special moment.

CLICK. The door swung open and Sting looked up to see Rogue walking through the door with Frosch huddling up on his shoulder. They were talking about dinner and if Sting were any gladder for the fresh chance, there would be hearts dancing in his eyes. But he kept his composure, mostly.

"You guys are hungry?" He turned so his stomach was resting on the couch and rested his head in his hands on the back. "We could go out for dinner, my treat." Fro jumped at the chance rushing over and hugging his neck, crying out his 'thank you!' over and over.

"That sounds good." Woah, he hadn't noticed Rogue get in front of him, but he was met with a toned stomach hidden by incredibly annoying clothes. He craned his neck back to look at Rogue's face only to knock his head with the other who had begun to kneel down.

"But Sting, I'll need to take a shower first; I'm aching quite a bit from the journey back." He hadn't completely heard the first part, mind leaving him no rational thought as he pictured Rogue, in the shower, naked, wet and dripping, maybe cheeks that were lightly flushed from the heat- he'd be the death of himself, he knew it.

Too busy mentally scolding his own perverted mind; Sting didn't notice Rogue's smirk fall into place as he bat him in the face, shaking him out of his thoughts. Arms slipping and failing to support his head, Sting crashed onto the back of the sofa, tipping it up and sending him rolling onto the floor as Rogue jumped away, Frosch tucked securely under his arm.

"I'll only take a bit, I'll be out soon and we can go out." The smirk was still on Rogue's face, something that cheered him up as his head throbbed from his position on the floor.

…

They hadn't gone to a very expensive restaurant, just a simple place in town that wasn't very busy and could probably serve them faster. After many visits to this place, they knew it wasn't the most romantic destination but the food was good, and that was truly the way to a man's heart, right?

Sting ordered a burger while Rogue went for one of the specials, Lector and Frosch ordering fish, constantly reminding Sting that he was paying. He regretted it a little, but not much, Frosch was being adorable again, he kinda couldn't say no to that.

"You're spoiling us Sting." He looked up from his fries and locked eyes with a smiling Rogue; temporarily dazzled by how pretty his boyfriend was, he almost missed his question.

"So what's the occasion?" There was suspicion, but mostly a healthy interest in his partner's 'motives' in those beautiful scarlet eyes, and- and he wasn't getting into this again. But suddenly Rogue's elbows were on the table and he was staring right into his soul, obviously Sting didn't think anything as dorky as that, definitely not. He could only hope Rogue didn't read him deep enough to see that. He'd never live it down.

"No occasion, can't I just treat my boyfriend to food?" Eyebrow raised; more suspicion.

"Not when you bring Lector and Frosch along, they're fish-a-holics." Everyone was grinning, especially Lector. Though his was admittedly a look of 'I know what you're up to and I'm going to tease you really badly when we're alone' that almost got Sting to blush.

They finished their meals with regular conversation going and ordered dessert, though it was just Sting's luck that Rogue ordered strawberry. So much for special moment, this wasn't working out as planned. Next time he'd go to Mirajane from Fairy Tail.

When it arrived, Sting's chocolate pudding was wolfed down while Rogue savoured his sorbet, often sticking his tongue out when Sting would bother him to hurry up. That didn't help things.

Red. Rogue's lips were a brilliant red, probably from the sweet and Sting couldn't focus any of his attention from there, his gaze fixed as he chewed on a strawberry, just-

"Sting! Frosch got a tummy ache so we're going home to try and feel better." Never had he ever been so grateful for the distraction.

"You're carrying Frosch all the way home?" A proud nod and Sting gave his consent to go, the mischievous Exceed flying away with Fro in his arms, leaving the two Slayers alone. The diner was emptying, the only people still here were the ones who were still inside, all others around them were gone and the streets were quiet.

Sting hopped onto the table and sat nearer Rogue, leaning forward so that his breath puffed onto a pale cheek, skin flushing slightly.

"You know," He bent down further. "You're a pretty messy eater Rogue." He'd kept his voice soft, awesome! It was going to happen this time!

Rogue's head tilted back teasingly, exposing his slender neck, hot air blowing onto Sting's lips "Oh really?" The corner of his lips shifted upwards, giving Sting this handsome little smirk.

"Uh-huh. And you tease too much." A smirk of his own and they were inching closer to one another… nearly there… little bit further, he could almost taste the strawberry… come on…

"Hey you guys!" Sting closed his eyes in frustration, lips pursing and he pulled back to greet Natsu and Lucy as Rogue slumped in his chair, stoic expression on.

*/*\*

13. Sting had tried 13 more times since the dinner two months ago when Natsu and his guildmate had barged in on them about to finally kiss. The time he'd tried after his idol interrupted, it had been the Magic Council, after that Orga, later it had been Minerva barging into his office and announcing she and Yukino had gotten together. He couldn't even remember the others through his frustration.

He was just a tiny bit tired of it all; the idea that his and Rogue's first kiss would be super special was slipping away bit by bit. He would've felt sorry about it if he wasn't so completely focused on how the hell he was gonna finally kiss Rogue.

"…Speak of the devil." Rogue shut the door behind him, Sting following each movement as the Shadow Dragon Slayer marched to his desk.

"Sting we need to-"

"I know." Rogue would usually be glaring for the interruption right now, the fact that he wasn't was a little worrying.

"It's just that-"

"Yeah." Okay, a glare this time, he'd be quiet.

"So you understand?"

"Totally." The raven's shoulders slumped in relief, obviously glad that Sting understood him. Nobody did that better than him after all.

"That is such a relief, I mean, these problems with the plumbing have really been getting me down."

"Yeah of course I completely a- Wait. What?" It's not about our lack of kissing? Oh come on Rogue!

"The plumbing. There was a blockage last week; we need help if we want the facilities in our guildhall functioning properly." 'Our'. Our guildhall, our friends, our relationship, our first kiss- crud. He'd have to talk to Yukino later about self-motivation.

"Ah yeah…" He fell back into his chair, any energy instantly drained out of him. Rogue quirked an eyebrow and bent over the desk, getting in Sting's face.

"What is it?" A glare fell into place, and Sting suddenly found himself wondering why his boyfriend could be so adorable one minute and scary the next.

"I, it, just, ugh." His hand ran over his face and he stroked an imaginary beard, hoping that the humour would lessen the intense expression he was being given. Thankfully the glare vanished as Rogue put on his poker face. Sting relished the times that Rogue tried to still seem angry when he wanted to giggle; he still couldn't hide anything from him.

"We have been dating for six months and have done pretty much nothing. Sure we go out on dates but we're not past hand holding stages." That was technically a lie; they both agreed that holding hands was silly and childish, and also agreed that they'd never say that aloud in fear of the wrath of Minerva. "I, just, kiss-"

"You're making even less sense than usual." …Rogue's drawling shouldn't be allowed to be that sexy, it always got to him. But he was still frustrated, and he'd just had to bring up kissing. Honestly, he wanted to drop a brick on his head; but he was irritated, and Rogue was so close.

"I just really want to kiss you because it's pretty much all I think about lately and I wonder what you'd taste like and this whole thing is driving me insane!" Terrific. Way to not impress someone, blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. At this point, Sting was considering writing a book; too, many, damn, mistakes.

But, Rogue was blushing. As in actual blushing, and crap he was pretty, and cute, and Sting wanted to jump him. Before now, he'd only ever gotten a small colour in Rogue's cheeks, but right now Sting would feel the heat and would swear he saw steam rising from Rogue's face.

"W-wha-" The blonde watched as Rogue jumped off the desk and clapped his hands over his mouth, just admiring the cute side to Rogue only he'd ever seen.

"You heard, or you wouldn't be blushing like that." Ah teasing, teasing was good, it kept them normal. As proven when Rogue managed to control his blush and bring his hands away from his mouth to whack him on the head. "Yeah, you heard didn't you Rogue?" Cue the big goofy grin and the small smirk on his boyfriend's face.

"Of course." Oh crud, oh- Purring too, Rogue should not be allowed to purr!

And he was back on the desk, and back in Sting's face, and Sting was starting to blush. Rogue was wearing that smirk, it was growing wider and his eyes were half closed. On second thought, maybe he should just ban Rogue, keep him away from everyone else and all for him. Yeah, that worked.

"So, uh-"

"Sting." He was forced to sit up straight as Rogue grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him upwards, they were practically touching at this point, barely a millimetre between them and Rogue was turning his head, moving that last little bit down… Trying to assert some control in the situation, his arm flung out to the side as he tried to grab Rogue's shirt, accidentally knocking the lamp off as he did. The crashing sound it made as it hit the floor didn't bother them, their focus completely on each other.

…Until there was a harsh pounding on the door and they groaned, Sting calling out for whomever it was.

"Sting, are you okay in there? Can I come in?" He looked to Rogue, only to see him standing in the corner, now reading a book.

"Yeah sure, come on in." Perhaps not the best decision as he was pretty sure he'd punch the person who stopped him kissing Rogue this time.

He took it back; no way was he going to try and punch Minerva, though he was still pretty angry. He'd almost had it that time too…

"What were you two doing in here? I heard the crash and ran up here, were you guys actually fighting?" Below the thick layer of disbelief was a tinge of anger in her tone, oh crap, uh, how to diffuse the situation? Oh, he could-

…He hated his ideas sometimes; he almost wanted to relive the fight against Natsu.

Eventually, he managed to get her away, he had to act really silly and Rogue actually did most of the work but she still left.

And then he pinned Rogue to the desk. "What was with that?!" As much as he wanted to give in to the 'innocent' face Rogue was trying to pull, he would keep his ground. "Oh you know what I'm talking about."

"I didn't say I didn't. You said you wanted to kiss me, yet you seem to believe that I don't want the same." Arms crossed and making being pinned look like an almost fun activity; dammit Rogue!

"…Since when did you get kind of sassy?"

"Since my boyfriend doesn't know how to do things properly and needs a push in the right direction." Sting had to give him that one; he knew he could be pretty oblivious. Dropping his arms and giving Rogue more room, he backed away and began to leave the room, opening the door slightly and hoping to get a drink.

But with his back turned, he didn't notice the frown on Rogue's face or glint in his eyes when an idea sprang to attention.

"You know," He would not turn his back; he would wait for another chance, another time. He would not look at Rogue right now. "You have about as much luck with relationships as Natsu Dragneel."

Oh hell no. Natsu could beat him in combat, and could take down stronger enemies than Sting, but nobody got to say that he was worse with love than the guy even more oblivious than him! Slamming the door shut, he ran back to the desk and in a flash his lips were finally locked with Rogue's. He'd probably kick himself for ruining 'special' later but right now Rogue tasted of something very nice and he was eager to find out just what.

Moulding their bodies together, his tongue pried open the Shadow Dragon's mouth, roaming inside and enticing a moan from the other. Damn.

Unfortunately they were cut off by the door slamming open and their heads flicked round to see Minerva staring at them wide eyed. When Sting shifted uncomfortably, she was broken out of her shock and grinned. "It's about time."

Reviews are appreciated, though I'm kinda sorry about the state of this one, ah well.