Disclaimer: I am not fluent in French.

Chapter 11

L'amour De Ma Vie

When Gray woke up, it was to a roar. He bolted up in bed, wondering why it sounded like an airplane was about to smash into his apartment, only to realize the bed under him was much softer and the view out the window was pure blue sky, not the brick warehouse across the street. Then he heard a moan and looked beside him to see Natsu, his face looking cranky at being woken up, his chest bare, the scar on his neck visible through strands of pink hair. Gray leaned over to the window, a tiny port, and saw endless sky, clouds below, and far down a sparkling blue sea that stretched to the edge of the horizon.

They were flying in Natsu's private jet. He remembered now.

Natsu rolled over with a sleepy hum, and when his eyes opened to see Gray, he felt a deep warmth of bliss.

"What time is it?" Natsu asked sleepily.

Gray looked at a clock on the wall and squinted his eyes. "That can't be right. It says it's midnight. Are the batteries out or something?"

Natsu sat up and stretched. "It's set to Paris time now. We'll be landing in the middle of the night. Can't be helped."

Gray stretched. "My sleeping schedule is going to be so screwed up."

Natsu nestled over to him and wrapped his arms around Gray's torso. "Let's shower, then get some dinner. We can sleep a little longer. It'll help reset your internal clock."

"We slept pretty long."

Natsu's teeth showed in a hungry grin. "I can wear you out."

Gray laughed and stroked his fingers through the messy pink hair. "Hell yeah, you can! Food sounds good. It feels like it should be dinnertime."

Natsu got up and stretched his arms high up, touching the roof of the plane. Gray was enthralled to see him naked. He rushed out and wrapped his arms around Natsu, grasping onto him as if he might fly away without him. His lips latched onto Natsu's neck, sucking kisses on it until he heard a purring moan.

"How big is that shower?" he whispered.

"Small," Natsu said, gasping as Gray's hands stroked across his chest and flicked his nipples.

"So we have to be really close to one another, huh?"

Natsu felt Gray's hand drifting lower, lower. "Mm-hmm," he hummed, ready to whimper and beg to be touched.

"I wonder if we can both fit. We might have to press together really close. Something might rub against you." He pressed his groin up against Natsu's bare ass and got a gasp of surprise from him. Gray whispered into his blushing ear, "Don't blame me if I mistake your cock for the soap and try to lather it up."

Natsu let out a moan that was a bit too loud. Gray glanced at the partition, the only thing separating this room from the rest of the jet plane. He pulled away and took a step toward the bathroom.

"Let's go," he said, his eyes cold and commanding.

In return, Natsu's eyes burned with desire, and he marched forward. He pushed Gray until he was up against the shower. They slammed the door shut, and Natsu pinned Gray to the wall, not even bothering to turn on the water. Their kisses were almost violent, until Gray found himself scratching into Natsu's back. His moan reverberated through the small shower stall.

"Shit, Natsu," Gray gasped.

Natsu pulled back and turned the water on. After adjusting the temperature, he stepped back in and closed the shower door behind him. To fit, they really were pressed right up against one another.

"Let me soap you up," Natsu offered with a scheming smile.

Gray bit his lip as Natsu took a washcloth and lathered it with soap. He rubbed Gray's body with it, laying on kisses before stroking the sudsy cloth over his skin. Gray gulped as Natsu dropped lower, eye level to his cock that had woken up and was eager for more. Natsu planted kisses along it, then let it slide into his mouth. Just as Gray started to moan at the wet heat, Natsu pulled back, and that soft, inviting tongue was replaced by the scratchy feel of the washcloth.

"Bastard," Gray growled in sexual frustration. He hated the smug glint in Natsu's eyes as he smirked up at him.

Natsu continued down: thighs, legs, feet, lifting each foot and diligently washing them. Then he turned Gray to face the wall and continued back up, tracing the way he had come: up the legs, each butt cheek getting attention, then up the back, to the neck, and behind the ears. Then his hands went back down, giving more attention below the waist, and he slid the cloth between the butt crack.

Finally done, Natsu pulled Gray back toward him, only to feel himself getting stabbed in the hip. He looked down and saw Gray fully erect, his face in agony for action.

Instead, Natsu shoved the washcloth over. "Wash me," he ordered.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Dragneel, sir," he mocked.

Natsu whimpered at the formality, and Gray chuckled at how easy it was to rile him up. He soaped up the cloth and started off normally, rubbing it around Natsu's neck, shoulders, chest, abdomen, and worked down. He purposely skipped the groin and moved onto the legs. Natsu began to rush, eagerly lifting his feet up to be washed, then slamming them down, spinning around to get the backside, but pressing his chest up against the wall while his butt stuck out invitingly. However, Gray gave only teases, the same as he had gotten. He rubbed around the plump globes, temptingly slid the cloth in circles around the asshole, but then moved on up to Natsu's spine. Still, that slutty pose really sparked through his nerves.

"Arch your back for me," he whispered.

Natsu did, arching and moaning as if waiting any longer might kill him. Gray dropped the washcloth and grabbed around Natsu. His cock lodge between his butt cheeks and glided between his thighs, stroking up to Natsu's balls, while his hand reached around to stroke Natsu's arousal.

"You're a sinful temptation," he snarled.

Natsu barely heard him, moaning at finally behind touched. He thrust his hips back, feeling Gray thrust up between his inner thighs.

"If we had lube, I'd pin you to the wall, ram my cock into you, and take you right here."

Natsu moaned at the sensual threat. "When we fly back. Please!"

Gray said nothing more. They had not even had anal sex yet. They planned to in Paris, and now they were just hours away from arriving.

If they did, if they broke that barrier … Gray had all sorts of ways he wanted to take Natsu, although he had no idea if either of them would truly like it. Gray knew from experience, the idea of anal sex was amazing, but the actual act was sometimes not great.

He ignored that uncertainty for now, wanting to lose himself in the moment. "Do you want that, Natsu? Do you want me to fuck you hard against the wall of your own plane?"

"Yes!" he whimpered.

Gray sucked on his fingers and tried to slip them down without the water washing away the saliva. "Do you think your ass can handle it?" He slid a finger in, and Natsu's whole body arched back with a shout that Gray knew even the pilots in the front of the plane must have heard. "You really want my cock in there, you horny bastard! Do you want your ass plowed hard?" He slammed his finger in deep.

"OH GOD, YES!" Natsu howled.

"Shit," he hissed.

Every single person on the plane had to have heard that. He hoped Freed was playing the television loudly again.

"Gray. Hand."

Natsu's whimpering beg brought him back to the moment, and Gray focused on stroking Natsu. Blame it on the tiny shower and the walls close in, but Natsu's moans, almost sobs, sounded louder than ever before, and it was driving Gray crazy. Surely, people could hear this. Someone could hear them. Freed, Laxus, the flight attendant, the pilots maybe … were they all listening?

He sort of hoped they were!

"Gray!" Natsu howled.

Gray whipped him around, rammed Natsu's shoulders against the shower wall, and stroked them both together. Natsu was already at his limit, and in just seconds he shot out, dripping cum along Gray's cock and washing down to their toes. Gray slowed down to milk out Natsu's pleasure, stroking until Natsu shivered and shook his head. Then he release him and kept stroking himself, feeling the cum slathered over his hand and cock, letting him glide in his fingers faster. The idea of smearing Natsu's cum all across the length of his cock boiled Gray's blood. His face drew up in desperation, feeling all of his lust narrowing to one point.

And just then, heat slipped down, and he opened his eyes to see Natsu kneeling in front of him.

"I want it on my face," he whispered.

Gray gasped, and in just a couple more strokes, he shot out, making sure it was aimed at Natsu, whose mouth was open and eyes were closed, feeling the mess covering his face.

"Oh damn, Natsu!" Gray said in awe. He saw white lines smearing over Natsu's cheeks, nose, even his forehead and into his pink hair. Then green eyes opened, heated, filled with such intense satisfaction, Gray shivered all over again.

Natsu stood up, his face a mess, his cheeks bright with fatigue, and he looked lost in the moment. Gray wiped a line of cum up onto his finger and held it out to Natsu, who eagerly sucked it off his finger. Gray bit his lip, a new heat already pooling in his stomach.

"I might have just found something new that I really like."

Natsu smirked and tilted his head. "Coming on my face? You've never done that before?"

Gray shook his head, startled by how the sight of Natsu like this was affecting him.

"Something to try more often," Natsu muttered to himself.

They washed up for real this time, and Gray made sure the cum was out of Natsu's hair. Then they went back to the private quarters and collapsed together on the bed while their hair dried. Natsu snuggled against Gray, and he soon drifted off. Gray lay back, stroking Natsu's hair as he listened to his slow, steady breaths of sleep.

He had honestly wanted anal sex just then, and Natsu sounded like, if they had been prepared, he would have agreed to it. Were they really now at that point in their relationship? Was Natsu serious about losing his virginity on this trip?

That question both thrilled and terrified Gray. In his experience, once two people had sex, that changed everything, and at least in his experience with men, it almost always foreshadowed the end to the relationship. He knew that was all just bad luck and bad partners, but it still worried him.

He seriously did not want to lose Natsu.

Natsu's nap was brief, but in that time the sun had sat, and the view of the stars out the windows was uninterrupted by clouds or city lights. Natsu woke up to give Gray lots of sleepy kisses, purely happy with a soft, weary glow to his eyes. Then he rolled out of bed and began to dress. Gray hurriedly followed suit, pulling his clothes back on and using a comb in the tiny bathroom to fix his damp hair. As Natsu pulled open the partition door, Gray held back a step.

The people out there definitely must have heard the two of them, and that made Gray nervous to come out.

Freed, at least, slipped directly into his official role, striding up to Natsu to update him on the estimated time of arrival, weather in Paris, and he pulled up some financial reports that were the reason they were rushing to France.

Gray was not sure if he should listen in on something like that—it sounded executive-level—so he slipped over to a couch and pulled out his phone, anything to look at so he did not have to see others. However, when he glanced around, he saw Laxus staring at him, a smirk on his face. It was blatantly obvious, he was amused by all the sensual noises earlier, and he knew precisely what they were up to.

Natsu asked the flight attendant to whip up a small meal. In a few minutes, she had heated up gyros with hummus and pita bread to split between them. The four sat at a table, ate, and chatted about mundane things. Then the copilot came out and informed them that they would be landing soon and to secure their things. Natsu tugged Gray over to the cabin seats, and he pressed his face up against the window to watch the descent.

"Paris is amazing at night, flying in and seeing all the lights," he told Gray.

Gray leaned over to the window, resting his chin on Natsu's shoulder. Natsu glanced over, their faces so close, their noses were touching. They easily could have kissed, but a bump of turbulence as they went through clouds broke off the brief moment. They kept their focus on the window as city lights came into view.

"Whoa!" Gray said, leaning in even closer, almost right on top of Natsu. "Is that the Eiffel Tower?"

"Sure is." Natsu glanced over at Gray, seeing how close he was, his body pressed up against him to get a view out the window. "You've never seen it before, huh?"

"Never been to Europe," Gray muttered, focused on the lights to see if he recognized any other landmarks from movies and television shows.

"Then there's lots of things I want to show you. Freed, come up with a good tour plan."

"I can call up a travel agency to design a route that will fit into your schedule," Freed said, jotting down a note in his tablet.

Natsu squeezed Gray's hand. "This is gonna be so awesome!"

Gray began to feel the rise of excitement as well. Traveling to another continent, seeing one of the most famous cities in the world, and spending lots of time with his boyfriend in The City of Love: it really was like a dream come true.

The plane touched down in Paris–Le Bourget, an airport just for private planes. According to the wall clock, it was two in the morning, and outside was dark except for the glow of city lights. Gray got up to stretch and use the toilet one last time before the drive to their hotel. While he was gone, Natsu rushed over to Freed.

"Where are we staying?"

"I had booked us to stay in La Defénse to be close to meetings." He glanced to where Natsu was nervously looking at the restroom. "Shall I book another room?"

"One close to the Eiffel Tower. How about the Pullman?"

"I doubt it, on short notice."

"Shangri-La?"

"Even less likely."

"Hotel Raphael? Hôtel La Bourdonnais? Wait, can you see the Eiffel Tower from there? How about across the Seine? There was a nice one I stayed at with my dad once, near the Carousel."

"Sir, calm down," Freed urged, keeping his voice soft.

Natsu looked urgent to plan this before Gray returned. "Find a place, a room with an Eiffel view."

"I doubt I can at two in the morning, sir." Freed glanced as they heard the toilet flush, and he leaned in close to Natsu's ear. "Stay in La Defénse for a few days. There are plenty of exciting things to do to keep Gray busy while you're in the office: shopping, parks, museums. We'll see how the meetings go, and as soon as we clear everything up, you can surprise him with a weekend in a truly romantic hotel right along the Seine. If you take him to a nice hotel but then leave him alone all day, isn't that more lonely than a hotel in the business district that reinforces that you're here on company time?"

"I guess," he muttered, realizing that if Gray took him to a place as romantic as Paris, but then left him to wander around aimlessly, he would definitely get bored, not wanting to experience things for the first time without his boyfriend there. Plus, he wanted to see Gray's awe at every single historical place. Maybe it was greedy, but now that he thought about it, he did not want Gray to explore the greatest sites in France without him right there by his side. "In that case, make it a really fancy place to make it up to him. And with a view!"

"It'll take some doing, sir, but I'll make it happen."

Gray came out just then and tugged on his suit coat. He smiled at Natsu as he prepared to take his first steps onto European soil.

Or at least, the tarmac of a private jet airport.

"Ready?" Natsu asked, seemingly also aware that his boyfriend was about to take his first steps in France.

Gray nodded, and Natsu grabbed his hand. With an encouraging grin, he pulled Gray to the exit, down a flight of stairs, and together they made their first steps.

"Welcome to France," Natsu said, his voice bubbling with excitement.

Despite the late night, there was a man in a bespoke suit waiting for them. Natsu let go of Gray's hand and stepped forward to greet him.

The tall man with fair hair bowed deeply. "Monsieur Dragneel, contente de vous revoir." Mr. Dragneel, I'm happy to see you again.

"Oui, comment allez-vous, Pierre?" Yes, how are you, Pierre?

"Je vais bien comme d'ordinaire." I'm fine as usual.

"Comment vont votre la femme et votre fils?" How are your wife and kids?

"Elle est occupée par son travail, et mon fils se porte bien." She is busy with her job, and my son is doing well.

While they exchanged pleasantries, Gray found his mouth dropped, gawking, lost in the conversation happening in a language he did not know, and stunned at hearing Natsu speak it flawlessly. Natsu spoke French? While it should not be surprising that a person who did business in a country would learn the local language, it was still astonishing to hear. Natsu did not struggle in the least, but spoke it like it was his native language.

The gentleman's eyes turned to Gray. "Pourquoi, c'est ton petit ami?" Why, is this your boyfriend?

"Oui! Il s'appelle Gray." Yes! His name is Gray.

Gray jolted out of his shock and forcefully closed his gaping mouth.

Natsu turned to him. "Gray, this is Pierre Lécuyer. He's the head of my Paris branch."

"Oh," he muttered. "Nice to meet you." Then he whispered to Natsu, "I don't know how to greet someone in French."

The gentleman smiled in understanding. "It is okay, Monsieur Gray," he said in a thick accent. "We can speak in English, if that is better for you."

"Oh! N-No, that's fine. I'm just here for the ride." He cringed as he said that, wondering if that sentence made sense to someone whose first language was not English.

Pierre laughed and said to Natsu, "Il est drôle … et terriblement beau." He's funny ... and terribly handsome.

"Terrible? What?" Gray asked in confusion.

Pierre continued with a warm smile to the two, "C'est évident que tu l'aimes." It's obvious you like him.

Gray whispered into Natsu's ear. "Is he insulting me?"

However, Natsu laughed at what the man said. "Je l'aime tellement c'est fou. Il m'est très précieux. C'est mon âme sœur." I love him so much it's crazy. He is very precious to me. He's my soulmate.

Gray huffed and turned away. "It's like I'm not here."

"We apologize. Monsieur Dragneel was just saying how much he adores you."

Gray's face went instantly red. "N-Natsu!"

The man laughed heartily and waved them on. "I have cars for you and your guests. Let us sleep late in the morning, but we can meet for breakfast. I promise, the conversation will be in English this time."

Hearing that, though, made Gray scowl. He hated feeling like everyone had to accommodate him. Still, he could not help that he spoke not a word of French, besides the lyrics to Labelle's song, Lady Marmalade. He doubted saying "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" to anyone other than Natsu was appropriate. (Although he made a note to say those words to Natsu later and see how he reacted.)

They walked over to two waiting, sleek, black town cars, both with drivers standing with the doors held open. Freed tapped Gray on the shoulder.

"Laxus' job is to protect Natsu, so you shall ride with me."

Natsu turned sharply at that. "What? No! I want Gray to ride in my car."

Freed looked ready to scold him. "Sir, the most likely time for someone to try an attack on you is when you're in a car. There is not enough room for all four of us plus the driver."

"There is if I sit on Gray's lap."

"That's illegal, sir," Freed said flatly. "It would be an insult to Monsieur Lécuyer going out of his way to get us two cars if we all piled into one like a clown car."

Natsu grumbled under his breath, "Should've gotten us a limo."

"I opted not to get a limo since it would attract even more attention. Now, you get carsick anyway, so do you really want Gray to have to handle you all on his own rather than enjoy his first views of Paris?"

Natsu growled at being reminded of his weakness. "Fine. I'll see you at the hotel, Gray." He sulked over to the waiting car and got into the backseat.

Freed shook his head. "He's so stubborn. I have no idea how you put up with him, but I'm glad you do. His mood has been so much better since you two hooked up."

Gray looked over at Freed in surprise. He had to admit, he had never really had a proper conversation with Freed. If they were going to be riding around together in a car, now was a chance to learn about a side to Natsu that no one else knew. As they both took seats in the back of the town car, Gray struck up a conversation.

"So, how did you come to work at Dragon Enterprises?"

"I was brought in as part of a merger between Dragon Enterprises and a Tokyo-based electricity company, Raijinshuu. Four of us joined, including Laxus."

"Wait, Natsu brought in a security guard as part of a merger? Isn't that weird?"

"Probably," Freed confessed, and he smirked over at Gray. "And I probably had a hand in making sure my boyfriend came along with me."

"Ah," he said, nodding in understanding. "So you and Laxus have been dating for a while."

"Four years," he said, a light blush on his cheek. Gray saw his hand drift over to his pocket, and for a second he saw the outline of a cube.

Gray smiled privately. "You shouldn't touch that pocket too much. I can totally see the outline of the engagement ring box."

Freed let out a cry and sputtered as his cheeks went red. "W-What … I'm not … wait, y-you can…" He slammed his eyes shut to pull himself back together. "Is it totally noticeable?"

"Only when you touch it like that. You should put a few things into the pocket to soften the edges of the box. A handkerchief would do."

Freed yanked a handkerchief out of one of his pockets, then pulled the box carefully out of his chest pocket. Gray glanced at the box as Freed set it out on the square cloth.

"Can I see it?" he asked, avidly curious.

Freed's mouth dropped, but he blushed as he nodded. "No one knows I'm planning to do this. I didn't tell my family or ask his grandfather for his blessing. I didn't even tell Natsu why I was so insistent that Laxus travel with us as well, since he's terrible at keeping secrets." He opened the box, and Gray saw a titanium band inside with an embedded diamond.

"That's perfect for Laxus. I mean, I don't really know him, but titanium instead of gold somehow works for a tough guy like him."

"It really does, I think," Freed said softly, gazing at the ring. "I'm still scared he'll say no. His own parents had a really bad relationship; his father left when Laxus was a teen. He's said before that he thinks marriage is for fools. Well, I'm a fool for falling for him."

"Do you mind telling me how you plan to propose to him? Do you have it all planned out?"

Freed tucked the ring safely into his pocket and patted around it, making sure the edges were not visible. "You're surprisingly eager to know about something like this. I hope you're not thinking about being a copycat."

"N-No!"

"Because, and I don't mean this cruelly," Freed said, staring at him hard. "Natsu is not ready for something as serious as marriage."

"Oh, trust me, I know! I'm not eager to rush in, either. Hell, we haven't even had sex yet."

Freed arched an eyebrow. "I beg to differ. You were quite vocal on the plane."

"Shit," Gray whispered. He knew Freed must have heard the two of them. "I mean more than, y'know … oral … um … wait, does the driver speak English?" Gray suddenly had this deep dread that he was talking pervertedly about his boss in front of someone he did not even know.

Freed called out to the driver, "Chauffeur!"

"Oui, monsieur."

"I want you to pull over so you can join the two of us in a threesome before we reach the hotel."

Gray nearly choked hearing that.

"Je regrette, je ne parle pas anglais."

"I said, I want to pleasure you in the wildest ways. I'll pay you."

The man still shrugged, looking regretful. "No English."

Freed winked to Gray. "He doesn't speak a word."

Gray let out a sigh as a few seconds of fear drained out. A normal person would have been at least mildly astonished to hear Freed's proposition, if not caused a car crash in horror. This confirmed that the man did not speak a word of English.

Instead, Freed asked the driver, "Quand atteindrons-nous l'hôtel?" When will we reach the hotel?

"On sera là dans quelques minutes. Putain d'embouteillage, même quand il est tard. Ah! Désolé, messieurs." We'll be there in a few minutes. Fucking traffic, even when it's late. Ah! Sorry, gentlemen.

"C'est bon, ne vous inquiétez pas." It's fine, don't worry. Freed then turned to Gray. "It'll be a few more minutes in this traffic to reach the hotel."

"You nearly gave me a heart attack with that request," Gray grumbled.

Freed had a tiny smile of amusement. "I know how to get the best results in the quickest amount of time, although my methods can be a bit unorthodox."

"More like sadistic. So, where are we staying?"

"In La Defénse, the commercial district of Paris. There are meeting rooms available in the Hilton, so Mr. Dragneel can hold gatherings with the executives of the Paris branch without needing to worry about traffic. Given his severe carsickness, it's easier to book a hotel with all the amenities he needs right there, and since the offices are in La Defénse, there's a minimum of traveling all around."

"Cool," Gray said, but as he looked out the window, he realized they were keeping away from the burning lights of the center of Paris.

Freed checked a message from Laxus on his phone. "So, you're not actually going to try to elope with Natsu while you're in Paris, right?"

Gray laughed and shook his head. "No. Like I said, we just started on … y'know, intimacy. We've thought about trying it here, on this trip. Sleeping together, I mean." Gray dropped his voice. "Did you know Natsu's a virgin? Or as he puts it, he's never had anal. I'm curious what he has tried."

Freed raised an eyebrow. "I can't answer that one. It's not exactly something that comes up at board meetings."

"Ah! Sorry," Gray cried out. He could hardly believe how easy it was to talk to Freed about anything, even matters like this. "It's just, I'm worried. How do you even respond to a guy who wants to have sex for the very first time, and he wants it to be with you?" Gray flinched. "And I just realized I asked that of his right-hand man in business. Sorry."

Freed sighed and faced forward, speaking calmly. "I consider Natsu to be a friend as well, and to answer you, you respond with honor and respect. He's even more afraid that he's going to do things wrong, so praise him, but don't pressure him. Make sure it's what he really wants, and be ready to stop if it's not. At the same time, if it's not something you want, if at any point you decide you're not ready, you need to stop, not pressure yourself just because it's what he wants. I've known Natsu for many years now, and I know that for him, the worst feeling in the world is for someone to do something against their will because they fear him."

Gray's eyes dropped to the side. "He's mentioned that."

"He'll sense it too, so be honest with yourself as well as with him. That's about all the advice I can give you on that subject."

"Ah, yeah, sorry," he muttered. "Hey, um … when you're ready to propose to Laxus, just give me a hint, and I'll make sure Natsu's out of the way."

Freed smiled and blushed. "I'd appreciate that. Natsu may be a good man, but his exuberance would be a huge distraction to me. I'm nervous enough about this without having to propose in front of my employer."

"I get it," Gray laughed. "So, how did you and Laxus meet?"

They spent the rest of their time stuck in traffic talking about Freed's old job with Raijinshuu, how he came to Dragon Enterprises shortly after Natsu took over as CEO, and his relationship with Laxus. In return, Gray told Freed about the trip to Colorado, Natsu combing a mountain in a blizzard for the necklace that meant so much to him, and how that made their relationship grow closer and more physical. Gray realized, that trip was not too long ago.

"Am I moving too fast?" he wondered to himself.

"I don't think so. In fact, knowing Natsu the way I do, I'm surprised he's taking things as slowly as he is. He's not exactly known for his patience, which makes me wonder if it's mostly out of concern for you. Did you, at any time, give him a hint that you might not be into having sex with him?"

"No! I mean, I want to be closer with him, although…" Gray paused as a memory returned to him.

"What position do you like?"

"Thinking about sex already?"

"I just feel like we should set that parameter."

"Honestly, it doesn't matter. I'm not really into anal in general, but I can give or receive."

"What are you into?"

"Oral, or just touching. I've had anal twice, both ways. It was okay, but I like to suck more."

"I wouldn't mind that. Not yet."

"No, we take our time."

Gray stared straight ahead as he muttered, "I was the one who said we should take our time because … because I'm not normally into anal sex. I meant that the times I've done it in the past weren't all that great, but … but I could understand, someone like him … I didn't know at the time that he was a virgin, so of course he would take that to mean that I don't truly want sex."

Freed hummed and nodded at seeing Gray come to a realization. "Then perhaps you're the one who needs to take the lead. Tell him you want it, and let him decide from there."

Gray turned aside to look out the window at the passing cars. "I'm still worried. When I had sex with guys in the past … to be honest, it was terrible. It either hurt, or it wasn't worth the effort. I like dating guys, but I always preferred sex with women." He thought for a moment. "What if I'm just like that?"

"That's valid. A person can have a romantic orientation that's not the same as their sexual orientation. However, you seemed to have quite enjoyed yourself on the plane."

"Oh God," Gray groaned, blushing at being reminded that Freed and Laxus had heard them. "But that was oral. I'm fine with oral."

"Perhaps it was your partners, or the way you went about anal sex. Do you top or bottom?"

"Both, but Natsu said he wants me to top."

"Good, then I can help you with that, and if you want, I can let Laxus give Natsu a few pointers so he can prepare himself for you. I'll look into where we can buy a rectal douche. It's Paris, I'm sure we can find a place."

Gray cringed back. "Sheesh, you don't have to go that far."

"My job is to see to Mr. Dragneel's personal affairs while he is in France, including his health and well-being. That includes making sure he can sit on the plane after we're done here."

"It's … weird … having the guy who is essentially my manager setting up so I can have sex with the CEO."

"Don't think of him that way. He hates that!" Freed snapped. "Mr. Dragneel … Natsu … has done a lot for me and Laxus, hiring him to work in Dragon Enterprises being the biggest thing I owe him for. Consider me your boyfriend's wing man."

Gray laughed with a blush. "I'll try. It's still weird."

"Personally, I'm glad to see Natsu found someone like you, and I want him to continue pursuing personal enjoyments. If promoting safe sex helps him to stay inspired to work hard, I take it as my duty." Freed's attention went forward. "That's the place."

Gray saw a massive structure coming up with skyscrapers all around, not the idea he had of what Paris would look like. "That's a hotel?"

"That's actually the CNIT, Center of New Industries and Technologies. It's a bit more like a convention center, a mall, a business school, and a hotel all wrapped up into one. They have good board rooms for meetings, and it's within walking distance to the branch office, which is why Mr. Dragneel tends to stay here."

Gray looked around at the sleek glass towers and bright lights of Paris' business center. Then a massive bronze statue caught his eye.

"What the hell is up with the giant thumb?" he said with a sneer. The 12-meter tall metal thumb was almost grotesque, from wrinkles around the scruffy nail to the tendon that would have connected the thumb to the artist's hand. Such corporeal details stood out—Literally like a sore thumb, Gray thought to himself—compared to the perfectly sculpted, straight-laced world of commerce surrounding it.

"Le Pouce. It's a Baldaccini avant-garde sculpture." Freed shrugged, also not really getting it. "What do you expect from France?"

The car pulled up to a sign for the Hilton, and a man in a prim uniform hurried forward to open the doors for them. As soon as Gray stepped out of the car, Natsu ran forward and grabbed him around the arm.

"Missed you," he said with a playful grin.

Gray blushed at having Natsu cling on to him in public like this. Granted, they were in another country, they did not need to watch themselves like in Magnolia, but it was still awkward.

They walked into the hotel and took an elevator up to their rooms, separating from Freed and Laxus who continued on down the hallway. A porter brought in their bags while Natsu happily explored the hotel room. Meanwhile, Gray checked the little refrigerator.

"Help yourself to drink, snacks, anything you want. The company pays for these trips."

Gray really did feel like he needed a drink. That long talk with Freed, especially the embarrassing parts, left him parched and dizzy.

As he mixed a tiny bottle of rum with a soda, he heard a bounce and saw Natsu playing on the bed like a child.

"You're really something," he muttered. "It's like you've never been in a hotel before. Freed said you stay at this place a lot."

Natsu rolled around to look at Gray, lying on his stomach with his chin popped up on his hands. "Have you traveled much?"

"Not really. When I was a kid, my parents took me on a trip to Canada, mostly camping, but we stayed in a nice hotel in Toronto."

"I love hotels." Natsu rolled around some more. "You never know which ones are going to be really good, and which ones have awful beds. Even within the same hotel, their mattresses can be different the next time you stay there." Natsu sat up and immediately flopped himself down hard. "I like this mattress."

Gray took a sip of his drink and looked at Natsu playing on the bed. If things went right, if they both wanted to … sometime later, on that bed, he and Natsu…

"I'm hungry!" Natsu shouted. "Want room service?"

Gray was yanked out of his prurient thoughts. "Uh, yeah, sure. Just a little bite, though. I'm not sure what time it is back home, but I'm not all that hungry."

"It's dinnertime back home, but we ate on the plane and had that nap. I'll order some bread and cheese, at least. The bread here is awesome!" He went to a phone line and called up room service, again talking in flawless French, presumably ordering a midnight snack.

"So, you speak French?" Gray asked casually after Natsu hung up.

Natsu looked over in confusion. "Yeah. Didn't you learn it in school?"

"No, I took Spanish, and I probably recall only three sentences."

"Huh. Well, my school taught French, Spanish, Italian, and German."

"So, you settled on taking French class?"

"Nope. All of them. I also took lessons in Russian, Swedish, Arabic, Hindustani, Japanese, Tagalog, and Mandarin, for business purposes, of course."

Gray's jaw dropped. "You're joking," he whispered. "Are you saying you speak all of those?" He counted them up on his fingers. "That's twelve languages!"

"W-Well," Natsu muttered, looking sheepish now. "Thirteen, actually. Sign language too. Oh, but I'm only fluent in eight of them," he assured.

Only eight? "Who the hell speaks that many languages?"

"My dad did, and he made sure I did too. Do you really only speak English?" Natsu laughed at that. "That's kinda silly."

Gray felt his cheeks flush. "Yeah, well, public schools aren't rich like whatever fancy-ass private school you went to. We had to share Spanish books that were from the 1990s."

Natsu pulled down his smile. "Sorry, that was really thoughtless. Yeah, I was able to attend good schools and have tutors. I guess I really am privileged and out of touch with regular people."

Gray rolled his eyes. "You mean poor."

"Average. I don't think you're poor, Gray. You have an awesome apartment, for one."

"It's a loft above an ice cream parlor that no one wanted because it's freezing cold all year round and ices over in the winter."

"You dress well."

Gray arched an eyebrow. "Half my closet now are things you bought me. Look, never mind. I don't speak French, so I'll have to rely on you."

"Totally! Just stick close." With that, Natsu grabbed Gray's arms and dragged him right up against him.

"H-Hey," he said, starting to blush.

"What's wrong?" Natsu said with a teasing smile. "It's just us here, and the people from Magnolia all know we're dating. No one else in this entire country would care if I kissed you in the middle of the street."

Gray knew he was right. They had played it safe in Magnolia due to not wanting employees to think Gray was getting special treatment, but here in France they could do anything.

"People might still know who you are. Paparazzi—"

"Oh, please! I'm not a big name around here."

"You're still famous."

"Not really. I run a mildly successful software company. I'm not exactly ripe gossip. Hell, when my dad went missing, it made the evening news for exactly one day, and then no one cared. The fact that I have a boyfriend?" He gave Gray a playful peck on the cheek. "Don't think too highly of yourself, Mr. Fullbuster. The rest of the world doesn't care that I think you're the most amazing man on the planet."

Hearing Natsu say that brought heat to Gray's cheeks.

Natsu slid his arms around Gray's waist again, tugging him in flush against his body and swaying against it, trying to entice him. "I want to forget the rest of the world while we're here. I hate hiding you, so let me indulge a little."

"You're always indulging," Gray said, trying to act cranky still.

"I want you to play a game with me."

Gray arched an eyebrow. "Game?"

"A little make-believe. Now, don't be weirded out when you hear it, okay? It's like role play." Despite saying that, he bit his lip nervously. "Let's pretend this apartment is our home, and in the morning I'll go off to work, but I'll come back, and you can greet me with 'Welcome home' and a kiss like … like a … um…"

Gray glared. "If you say 'like a wife,' I will punch you."

"No! But, like we're … m- … marr- … -ied." He slammed his eyes shut. "I just wanna pretend, that's all. Don't read anything more into it. I just wanna make-believe that I have someone waiting at home for me."

Gray sighed, amused and yet flustered. It was adorable, the way Natsu's brain worked, and it was almost too much for Gray's heart. He cupped Natsu's inflamed cheek and lifted his face.

"Idiot. I'll always wait for you to come back to me."

Natsu's eyes turned up, and Gray swore he could get lost in them. They leaned in closer and closer, until they could feel the gentle breaths escaping from each other's lips.

"Did you notice?" Natsu whispered, sinking as he gazed at Gray's lips. "Freed messed up. Rather than a twin-bed room, he got only one king-size bed. I said twin beds, in case you … you didn't want to…"

"Freed picked right," Gray said, and he pressed down firmly, taking Natsu's mouth and capturing a moan from him.

Natsu pulled his scarf off, and Gray's mouth immediately went down, latching on, biting and sucking hard until Natsu quivered in his arms. He knew that this was a business trip and Natsu might have to be away most of the day, but he would mark him, leaving him with a little ache that would remind him of the lover waiting at home to greet him.

"Every day, as you're heading back here, text me, so if I'm out exploring, I'll come right back and greet you with a kiss."

Natsu tried to agree, but as soon as his mouth opened to say "yes," the word escaped in a lusty, erotic moan that hissed with building need.

A knock on the door and a man calling in wedged the two apart, and they both took a step back.

"Room service," Natsu said breathlessly, and he rushed over to the door, putting a hand on his neck as he felt the bruising there.

Gray ran a hand through his hair. At this rate, he wondered if he should go shopping for lube and condoms immediately.

A tray of food was pushed in, and the smells calmed Gray's thoughts away from sex and onto the next best thing: food. It was just wine and cheese with some bread and a spread that was one of the best things Gray had ever tasted. They both ate, picking through the different cheeses.

"This one is good," Gray said, finding a hard cheese that was sweet yet salty in taste.

Natsu laughed. "Of course, you'd pick the one that's illegal back home."

Gray jolted. "What? Illegal? Cheese?"

He nodded and drank some wine. "Lots of French cheeses are banned. It's stupid, if you ask me. What you're eating is Mimolette. You probably don't want to know how it's made."

"Like you never ask about sausages," Gray muttered.

Natsu swirled around his wine glass, but he stared at it with a pinch to his brow. "Gray? Are you really okay with all this?"

He smiled and reached across the table to hold Natsu's hand. "I know how you are. You do things without thinking, and we all scramble after you to catch up. It'd be annoying if it didn't work out every single time. That's why Freed works directly under you, and Laxus is okay being dragged to another country, why I feel like I'm in the most awesome lucid dream of my life, and it's why your company is where it is now. You're impulsive, but it's more like an instinct. You know precisely what to do, and even if your gut instinct is wrong, you figure out how to make it work for the best. I like that about you. I like that I can never guess what you're planning next. I like being dragged along and seeing which adventure you're going to take me on next. So yeah, Natsu. I'm okay with all this. I'm more than okay." He squeezed Natsu's hand harder. "There is nowhere else on the planet that I'd rather be than right here with you."

Natsu sank in relief, and his eyes glistened to hear all that.

Gray sighed and looked around at the dishes. "Let's save the rest of the cheese for morning and cork the wine. It's made me a bit sleepy."

"Same here." They stood and began to put the food in the mini fridge. "We'll only be getting about four hours of sleep, but we took that nap."

"It should be fine." Gray capped the wine bottle and glanced at the bed. "Can we … wait to do stuff? Just a day."

Natsu chuckled slyly. "Did I wear you out in the plane?"

"A bit," Gray had to confess. "Also, I really want to hold you. Just sleeping with you. This whole day has been a wild ride, and I'm still not really sure if I'm dreaming."

Natsu took both of Gray's hands and pulled him over to the bed. "It's real. I'll cuddle you all night, and you'll wake up in the morning to realize I'm still here, we're still in France, and there's still cheese in the fridge."

Gray laughed and let himself be pulled along. He had nothing to sleep in, so he stripped to his boxers and slid under the sheets. Natsu also stripped to his underwear, turned off the lights, and dived under the covers, wrapping himself around Gray. The warmth and strength in those arms, the smell of Natsu's breath on his skin, all of it made Gray's heart flutter.

"You're right. It's a nice bed," he muttered, staring up at the shadows on the ceiling.

"It's nicer now," Natsu sighed, rubbing his cheek against Gray's chest.

He wrapped Natsu up into his arms and kissed his forehead. "Good night, sweetie."

Natsu's mouth dropped, and even in the dark Gray could see his face burst into a red flush. They giggled softly together and bashfully looked aside.

"That's stupid."

"I like it."

"Fine. Good night, ice princess."

"Don't you dare call me a princess. Sheesh, you ruined the mood."

Natsu snickered and gave Gray a kiss. "Fine. Good night … l'amour de ma vie."

"No fair. What does that mean?"

Natsu dropped down onto his pillow and closed his eyes. "Figure it out."

Gray sighed, but the phrase intrigued him. Amour, that was love. Vie was like the song La Vie En Rose, and he knew that meant Life in Pink, so vie meant life. De meant of in Spanish, so Gray wondered if it meant the same in French. And ma? He had no idea. Still…

L'amour de ma vie.

Love of my life.

Gray laughed softly. "Ya know, I do know one phrase in French."

"Yeah?" Natsu said, sounding sleepy.

Gray stroked Natsu's naked shoulders. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?"

Natsu burst into a laugh. "Seriously? 'Will you sleep with me tonight?'"

"From the song, idiot."

"I know." Natsu still laughed. "It'll be stuck in my head now, jerk. Well, the answer is yes. Although only sleeping this time."

"This time," Gray muttered, wondering what the rest of the week would hold and letting that curiosity fade into dreams.

.

A/N: Awwwwww! (It's cute, but these two seriously need to fuck.)

I've never been to Paris, so I did a little "tour" with Google Maps street view to see what Gray would've seen driving from the airport to the Hilton in La Defénse. That included Le Pouce, a sculpture of a giant thumb that sits right in front of CNIT.

Mimolette is made by setting the cheese in a room with cheese mites, which burrow through the crust and create a sweet, salty taste. It is banned in the United States. There are "ways" to get illegal cheese. There's the internet; you'd be amazed what you can get shipped to your house without going through inspection. (Hell, I once ordered a certain weapon online only to learn months later that it was illegal.) If you live up north, you can straight-up smuggle it in, buy a bunch of cheese in Canada and bring it over the border. Just this past summer, some friends of mine smuggled in cheese and didn't bother to tell me until we were past the border guards. I like cheese, but not enough to risk jail time for smuggling FOOD.