Natsu paced back and forth, hands clasped behind his back and brow pinched in aggravation. Every once in a while he'd cut a sharp glare at Gajeel, who sat cross legged underneath a tree, arms crossed and face set in an half amused, half bewildered expression. Natsu growled at him, gritting his teeth as he kicked a rock and sent it flying a good distance away.

"So Salamander, what brings you to my little hiding spot?" It'd taken Natsu more than an hour to track Gajeel down, and each second that passed without finding him only stoked Natsu's fury. Ironic, that now that he stood in front of the other dragon slayer a growl was all he could manage. Anger did funny things to people.

"How couldn't you tell me about that so called surprise? It's not fun, or funny, or even interesting." Natsu finally grounded out, eyes flaring.

Gajeel blinked. "Wait, you figured the surprise out already?" Uncrossing his legs, he brought them to his chest, leaning an elbow on them as he leaned forward.

Natsu snarled deep down in his throat. "Of course I did! Why do you think I'm here? It's not like I enjoy talking to you!" He shook his head at the thought. Who would rather stick his hand in one of Mirajane's drink makers that crushed ice than voluntarily talk to Gajeel. Unless it ended in a brawl.

"Hmmm, then how did you not have fun? Did she not like it or something?" Gajeel looked up in the tree when something begun to rustle in the leaves. A bird poked its head out, cawing like he didn't appreciate the noise. Natsu supposed that not many people came this far into the forest often.

"Dud she not like what?" Natsu asked, bewildered, was Gajeel trying to be funny?

The iron mage gave him a confused look. "The sex you idiot."

Despite common belief, Natsu actually had a good handle on that type of stuff. Not from experience, don't make him laugh. He overheard a lot of bar talk, and as soon as he got the birds and the bees talk from a drunken Gildarts when Natsu turned fourteen he started actually listening to the dirty stories, and even mentally taking some notes. So yes, he knew exactly what Gajeel meant.

So instead of acting like a bumbling idiot, he settled for a sputtering one. "W-What? We did nothing like that, what are you even talking about?" Natsu vehemently denied, eyes wide as his pacing came to an abrupt halt.

Gajeel scoffed, fingers rubbing his temple. "Of course, I should have known you wouldn't get that far so quickly." He rolled his eye, mumbling something that even with his heightened hearing, Natsu couldn't make out any other word besides stupid. This made him bristle a bit, but he didn't comment on it.

"So if by surprise you meant that, then what the hell is going on with Lucy?" Natsu gripped the ends of his hair, groaning in frustration.

"Why don't you tell me?"

So Natsu did, he spoke about Lucy's changes in smell, and how it did things to him. Or how she moved less like prey and more like the one doing the hunting. It had him all sorts of flustered, and after the walk from her house to the guild he'd almost snapped nine times. She would brush up against him just so, and what with that knot coiling up in his stomach-Mavis knew every thought in head yearned for a more intimate touch than the bush of her arm on him.

After his heated explanation, Gajeel remained quiet for one…two….three seconds before loud, boisterous laughter rattled the peaceful wilderness of the forest. Confused and embarrassed, Natsu lit his hand on fire, leering down at Gajeel threateningly.

Struggling to get his obscene laughter under control, he sat up straight. "Gihihi, you have the shittiest luck, Salamander. Like this couldn't have happened at the worst moment." Gajeel huffed, still shaking with silent laughter.

"What couldn't have happened at a worse time?" Natsu bit out. This wasn't a laughing matter, "Look Gajeel, when you went through this Levy wasn't your best friend. Sure you guys were close and all, but you weren't in danger of losing the person you've grown the closest to since your father left you. I am, and I could really use some actual help from you. I would have asked someone else, but oh wait, there is no one else I could ask!"

Gajeel sighed, scoffing. "Don't get your panties in a twist. You're not gonna lose bunny girl. You're her best friend too, you know," Gajeel replied gruffly, returning to his slumped, unimpressed demeanor, "But to answer your question, I think bunny girl went into heat." He stated, a smug grin stretching across his ugly mug.

"Girls can go into heat?" Came Natsu's disgruntled reply. He never thought about it…but he guessed it made sense.

Gajeel looked like he wanted to smack him. "Of course they do, humans are nothing more than overrated animals. But there is a catch. I think there's only one heat per year for a human that changes their scent and stuff dramatically, enough for people like us to notice it. You're just lucky I'm the only dragon slayer in the guild. I'm taken. But if there was another male dragon slayer in the guild, Lucy would seem more…interesting because you're interested in her. Even if he wasn't actually attracted to her."

Natsu begun to pace again. "So, what does that mean for me?"

"The next couple days are going to be very…fun for you."

Natsu couldn't shake the feeling that the next few days were going to be anything but fun for him.

AU:

So I think I might make a separate short story after a finish this about the part with Lucy going into a special kind of heat while at the Grand Magic Games. Just sayyyying.

Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate every single one of them!