Christmas at the guild was a spirited and enthusiastic event bringing everyone together in celebration, the week leading up to the holiday party on the other hand had been tense and awkward for it's own reasons. Sorcerer's Weekly had released a new wave of cover stories aimed at drawing in the female audience and their latest ploy come in the form of a "most eligible bachelors" list. Two Fairy Tail men had topped the list followed by a few familiar faces, Natsu was excluded much to Lucy's relief with news of their engagement spreading like wildfire. Gray spent the days since the issue released smugly chatting about being the number two bachelor, coming in only behind Laxus, but one drunken comment caused a major fight between the two.
Gray had been well over his limit for a while, taking a swig of his beer he slurred to Cana, "I can't believe Laxus is number one, as far as I am concerned he doesn't count after betraying the guild and being kicked out all that time."
Sitting a few tables away Laxus jumped up and took Gray by the hair tossing him across the room, "I don't give a rat's ass about some magazine ranking but I refuse to let some punk like you talk shit, you haven't been the poster child for guild allegiance after selling Natsu up the river to that crazy Daphne chick." Gray lifted his head slowly as if it weighed a ton, then drooped as he succumbed to his drunken state, Laxus stormed out leaving him passed out on the floor.
The evening of the Christmas party finally arrived and the guild had been beautifully decorated with sparkling baubles and glittering lights. The entire guild showed up and were happily enjoying the festivities; team Natsu sat chatting at a their table, Cana drank at the far end of the bar nearby Juvia who resided near the mistletoe as not to miss a possible kiss from Gray, the Strauss siblings were dressed up in elf suits hosting the event, and Laxus watched it all from the quieter end of the bar. Most of the evening had passed without disruption until a slightly tipsy Erza loudly complained that Jellal hadn't been included in the Sorcerer Weekly list and the moment the magazine was mentioned the irritation sparked up between Laxus and Gray, and it suddenly felt like the oxygen had been sucked out of the entire room.
Gray opened his mouth first, "As far as I am concerned, they picked poorly, if they included a jerk who was removed from his guild for trying to take over by force they could have put anyone in."
Laxus bit his tongue but his blood boiled and he wanted to throw Gray and his loud mouth out the window, lost in his thoughts he felt a bump against his back and turned to see Juvia grabbing a drink and apologizing for the accidental run-in before heading back to her spot near the mistletoe. He rose from his barstool and made his way to the other end of the bar in a few long strides, looking up he assured his position under the mistletoe and shot a cocky smile toward Gray before tugging Juvia to him and pressing his lips to hers in front of the entire guild.
He noticed that she didn't react at first, she simply froze for a few moments before her eyes widened and she pulled back. Her lips quivered as tears brimmed her eyes and she turned, fleeing the guild hall into the night. Laxus simply shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled toward the doors glancing over at Gray as he passed, the ice mage appeared to be doing his best to avoid looking at Laxus and his expression was oddly blank, feeling annoyed Laxus wondered if he had succeeded at pissing Gray off at all.
The streets of Magnolia were quiet, and a blanket of snow lay over the landscape mostly untouched, he saw the fresh footprints down the path toward Fairy Hills and sighed as he walked down the same path to head to his home.
Thoughts turned through his head as he walked along, why hadn't Gray reacted at all, there was no fun to his plot if he couldn't get revenge on him for running his mouth. A soft sniffling sound caught his attention through the otherwise quiet trek, a small pang of guilt flickered as he realized it was likely Juvia. Following the sound and her footprints he found the bluenette sitting on a ledge around the frozen lake nearby, he walked over and she sprang to her feet and planted a strong slap across his face.
"Laxus, you stole my first kiss in front of everyone, including my beloved Gray!" she yelled through her tears, "how could you? Gray-sama must have been so angry."
"First kiss eh?" Laxus said passively, "he didn't seem to care, so you're good."
"Good?" she snapped, "how is that good? I am so embarrassed."
"Hey, I am mad too, this was supposed to piss him off for talking shit but it didn't work," he shrugged, "back to the drawing board."
"Wh-what?" Juvia deflated, "you used me to hurt Gray-sama and yet you only hurt me in the end!?" Laxus watched the expression on her face change from sadness so something more, suddenly he saw the hurt twisting with anger as she murmured, "he was supposed to care about me."
"Listen Blue," Laxus said roughly throwing an arm over her shoulder, "he is a self-absorbed jerk and he should have been mad; I would have put money on it, but it's his loss. I enjoyed it regardless, go home and forget about him, or plot revenge, whatever floats your boat."
"Well I did not enjoy it," she fumed, "how can you enjoy a kiss you didn't even know was coming?"
Laxus headed back up to the path, "so it wasn't that it was with me, it was only that you didn't know it was coming? I'll keep that in mind, see you later Blue."
He could hear the sputtering of disbelief as she struggled for words as he walked away, the thought crossed his mind at that moment, oh, this is going to be fun.