I do not own Fairy Tail, but I do own these upcoming OC's.

Magic

Chapter 9

Natsu choked on the water he had been drinking. Choking twice in less than two minutes...he could feel his throat burning slightly, and knew it was going to be sore.

"Excuse me?" he coughed, looking wide eyed at the man smirking at him across the table.

"I assume you heard me. I didn't stutter or misspeak, did I?" He crossed his arms and leaned on the table. "I need you to pretend to be my lover."

"But….what happened to bodyguard?"

"Well, you're still my bodyguard, but you'll be posing as my lover in public."

Natsu shook his head, thoughts running through his mind a million miles a minute. He was able to hold onto one thought, though: How can he forget about Gray and his feelings if he were to 'pretend' to be in love with this other…..man?

"Now, you don't need to fret over it," John said quietly, bringing Natsu back to reality. "Again, it's only pretending. I promise no touching, kissing, or sex. While we are out in public, I just need you to stand there and be pretty."

Natsu blushed bright red at the mention of sex. "What does that mean? When do I get to fight someone?" After all, that's one of the main reasons why he came on this job in the first place; to protect someone meant fighting for them...and he had really high hopes that that's what he'd be doing.

"Hopefully it won't come to that. At least let me explain," John said in a rush as Natsu stood from the table and started making his way to the door. "Please, you're my last . The convention starts tomorrow, and if you don't agree to this, I don't know what I'm going to do."

Natsu stopped and turned to the now desperate man, who stayed sitting. How could Natsu even think to say yes to this job? He took this job thinking it'd be an easy one, protecting someone from a possible assailant, staying away from the guild for a few weeks, and letting Gray cool his head.

Natsu couldn't even begin to understand how uncomfortable he was at that moment, and nothing really happened yet. When Gray was around, and was actually touching...well, Natsu still couldn't decide how he felt about that.

John took Natsu's hesitation to continue further. "There is a man that I'm trying to convince to fund a project that my company is working on. I've heard rumors that the only way to get him to fund anything is to seduce him."

"How does that even make sense?" Natsu interrupted, grabbing his hair. "What kind of company are you in? What project? What the hell kind of convention is this?!"

"A normal convention where many people from many merchant guilds gather together and try to sell their newest inventions. It just so happens that this one particular man is the only one who can push our product forward, and it just so happens that this is the only way to get his money. This whole thing is purely for profit."

"What if it doesn't work?"

The older man shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Then it doesn't work, my project gets canned, and millions of jewel worth of time and effort gets wasted." He watched as Natsu looked around the room. It seemed like the boy hadn't realized what sort of environment they were in until that very moment, which seemed odd to John. What a strange thing to focus on in the middle of a conversation.

Natsu had just realized the room he was standing in. Just like Natsu to be blindsided because he was offered food. It was a single room, a living room of sorts, with the table and kitchen towards the back door, which looked like it led to a patio. There was a door on his left, and one on the right of him. A bedroom and a bathroom? What good is keeping a bedroom on the opposite side of the room of the bathroom? Would that mean one would have to walk across the living room, naked, in order to get to their room? Or was the bathroom big enough for clothes?

"I'll pay you a bonus," John said, interrupting the boy in his thoughts. Natsu jumped slightly and looked back at the man. "Whether we're successful or not, I'll pay you what I promised, plus a nice bonus. It wasn't fair of me to spring this up on you out of nowhere, and I can see that you're uncomfortable, but it'll worth your time. I promise."

Uncomfortable. That was an understatement. What kind of man asks a stranger to pretend to be his boyfriend? However, that promise of all that money...the initial reward was hefty enough to ensure Natsu and Happy were covered for a long time, and to add on a bonus? Lucy would be covered with rent for a year.

Just think of how much food that would buy.

Natsu shrugged. Honestly, how bad could it really be? After all, John did say that there would be no intimate touching at all. He could pretend, couldn't he?

"I understand if you need a moment to think about it, but we're also on a tight schedule."

Sighing, Natsu hung his head. "I guess I could help you out, just to see how it goes."

With an obvious sigh of relief, John's composure relaxed, his arms falling to his sides, and a huge grin spread on the man's face. "You won't regret it," he said, standing up. "Now, you will have to move from your room to here-"

Nastu jumped back as John stepped closer to him. "Whoa. We have to share a room?"

"Well, yes and no. The hotel room, yes, but this is a two room suite." He pointed to the doors on either side. "That's my room…" He pointed to the left. "And that's yours." He pointed to the right.

"Okay, I'll have to talk to my partner."

The man stopped. "Oh. I didn't know you were with someone. That's fine; we can work around it."

"He'll be okay with this, I just need to tell him what's going on."

John watched as Natsu left the room. So, the boy didn't mention that he already had lover. That explains why he was so nervous about taking the job. And here John thought Natsu was only surprised about being a man's lover. John should have known better; the boy did give off a feeling that he was into men - it wasn't just John's imagination.

John felt a huge grin spread on his face again.

ooooooOoo

Nastu quietly entered his room, still trying to figure how the job was going to work out, and how he managed to accept the job in the first place. His mind kept flittering to Gray, and the way his eyes looked the last time Natsu saw him.

"That's a promise," he had said. Natsu shivered at the memory. The cool feeling of Gray's lips against his, the feel of Gray's hand pushing Natsu's head closer…

Natsu shut his eyes tight and shook his head, shaking the memory out his head.

"So? Did we get the job?" The familiar squeak of Happy brought Natsu back to his senses.

"Yeah, but we're moving. Help me pack."

The cat blinked at his partner, but helped pack their things either way. Natsu looked a little shook up, and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly Natsu was protecting his charge from. It had to be bad if it made Natsu nervous.

The cat shrugged and dropped a bottle of shampoo - compliments of the hotel - in his bag. Actions first, questions later.

ooOOoo

AN:

Thank you to all who reviewed/faved/followed. It really makes my busy days seem brighter when I see that people actually like the story. Thank you soo much! 3

Hopefully this chapter appeased you all to some extent until this weekend when I'll have more free time to write.