. Skating .
"Come on, Juvia, it'll be fun! You'll love it, I promise!"
"Juvia's friend lied to her," a blue-haired woman bit out irritably as she flailed her arms in an attempt to catch her balance. Her skates slid dangerously on the ice as she slammed a foot down in an attempt to catch her balance. She sent a glare of daggers at the blonde's back; Lucy was too busy giggling as she watched her boyfriend of three months hit the ice with a yelp of shock.
It had initially been Lucy who'd brought up the idea of ice skating. It was winter, and the fairly wealthy girl had rented the outdoor rink as soon as she'd come up with the idea. A few dozens of people had been invited, including Lucy herself and her boyfriend Natsu. They'd all been told to bring whoever they pleased, and the whole event had turned into a New Years party.
Among strangers and couples, Juvia felt alone.
She knew only one other person besides Lucy and Natsu, and that was Gajeel Redfox, her only friend for years before Lucy. And he was busy snickering his signature "Gihi!" at a pixie of a girl as she used him to keep her on her feet.
Her breath puffed out in frustration, her pink lips pulling into a pout. She wasn't good at ice skating to begin with; she never had been. She'd dressed warmly for the cold weather, in a warm blue trench coat and a pair of jeans that would easily tuck into her skates to avoid blisters on her ankles. She wore a pair of white woolen gloves and a matching scarf and hat that Lucy had complimented as cute. Her white skates - a gift courtesy of Lucy in order to coax her to come - completed her outfit, and Juvia was grateful for them despite hating the whole activity; at least she wouldn't have sore feet like those with the rental skates would.
Juvia's lips twisted down and a desperate pang filled her chest. Juvia should have stayed home.
At least home held the warmth of familiarity and fuzzy blankets to snuggle under while watching movies.
She carefully glided her way over to the edge of the rink, her toes clacking roughly into the side as she grabbed railing. A scarlet-haired woman who Juvia believed to be named Erza glided past expertly, hand in hand with a blue-haired man that held a strange marking near his eye. Her eyes gleamed with a challenging look; his with amusement.
Juvia edged her way along the side of the rink, trying to avoid falling and making more of a fool of herself than she already had. She hadn't fallen yet thank the heavens, but it didn't mean she wouldn't yet.
Blue eyes watching the door carefully, she didn't see it coming until it was too late.
Wham!
A shriek of surprise left Juvia's lips as someone crashed into her from behind sending her shooting forward. She just barely managed to keep her balance, flailing her arms in circles to avoid falling, and then spared a quick glower over her shoulder at the grinning pink-haired man who'd been the one to smack into her. Lucy called an apology as she hauled him up to his feet again.
She was too busy glaring over her shoulder and it took only seconds for things to go from what had been something that she could handle to something completely out of the poor woman's control.
Juvia's skates seemed to go out from underneath her as she suddenly fell backwards, landing harshly on her now sore rear. Grimacing in pain, she prepared to haul herself back to her feet.
Only for someone who'd been going pretty fast to promptly trip over her jean-clad legs and hit the ice even harder than she had face first. Juvia looked on in sheer horror before crying with flushed cheeks, "Juvia's so sorry! Natsu-san pushed Juvia and Juvia isn't good at this and fell!"
There was a grunt as the man who'd tripped over her pushed himself onto his elbows, glancing her way. "No problem. Bastard did it on purpose, I'm guessin'?"
Juvia opened her mouth to speak, and then blushed a brilliant red. He was good looking for sure, with disheveled black hair and annoyed dark eyes. A scar crossed across his forehead above his left eye, hidden beneath messy bangs. He carefully sat up, expertly swinging his legs around to avoid slipping himself. "You okay?"
Juvia nodded quickly, her gloved fingers twisting in her coat for a moment. "J-Juvia's sorry," she repeated.
"Hey, said it was fine, so it's fine." He gave a crooked smile of reassurance. "Juvia, right?" She nodded again and he hauled himself to his feet, balancing on the ice with ease. "I'm Gray."
Juvia smiled hesitantly as he offered a hand to pull her up and she cautiously climbed back onto her skates with a frown of frustration. He smirked slightly at the sight of it before turning a glare away, directed straight at the cause of her fall. "Oi! Natsu!" he bellowed, making sure he could be heard. "Watch it, man!"
Natsu gave an uncaring wave of the hand to show he'd heard before nudging Lucy, seeing just how far he could go before she fell, too.
Juvia puffed out a sigh. "Juvia wants to go sit down but…" She cast a glance over her shoulder, towards where the rink's entrance was. It was half way across the rink, and people were practically flying over the ice on occasion, chasing each other. Juvia didn't feel like falling again. "Juvia will have to go another round."
Gray watched as a pair of people suddenly wiped each other out and crashed into the side of the rink only to burst into rambunctious laughter. "Good luck with that." The dark-haired man shook his head. "You need any help with that?"
Juvia shook her head with a determined look; she would not embarrass herself again in front of Gray. "Juvia will be okay," she said. A pause. "I think."
Gray's lips threatened to curve into a grin full of amusement. "Whatever you say. See ya then."
Juvia watched, arms held out slightly to her side Gray lazily skated away, and she pouted to herself when she realized that he knew what he was doing, his feet crossing one over the other and still moving as he turned sharply with an evil look as he headed straight for Natsu.
Juvia couldn't help the giggle that left her lips when he purposely sent both himself and Natsu flying across the ice on their stomachs, the pink-haired man practically yowling his protests to the sky.
Relief flooded Juvia when she'd finally made it to safety and found herself a seat off in a lonely little corner. She rubbed her sore feet after removing her skates, grateful for the extra padding as she ignored the sting of the cool air on her flesh.
She sighed quietly as she tugged her socks onto her feet, wiggling her toes with a smile at the fuzziness. Fuzzy socks were great for when you were forced outside this late at night. She spared a glance at the large nearby clock nearby; it was only two hours in, she noticed with disappointment. She couldn't leave just yet.
She sat like that for a while, lost in thought and looking up at the stars. The outdoor rink had been a good idea; at least she could stargaze and look for the constellations that Lucy had taught her. She rubbed her gloved hands together in hope that it would warm them. It was cold, she thought with a frown. Too cold for her liking.
Juvia listened to the sound of chattering laughter that came from the others and felt the familiar feeling of tears building up. She felt lonely with nobody to chat with. What had Lucy been thinking, inviting her when she knew barely any of these people? They weren't friendly towards her either; they just avoided her and went elsewhere to talk.
She thoughtfully touched a tender spot on her thigh where Gray had slammed his foot into, grimacing at the pain of a forming bruise. Ow. She sighed heavily and settled back - only to blink in surprise when a steaming cup filled her vision. Juvia glanced up in surprise to find an amused looking Gray standing there. His skates had been abandoned for normal shoes, it appeared. "Here. As an apology for tripping over you."
She blushed and hesitantly accepted it. "Th-thank you," she stammered as he dropped carefully into a seat across the small table. He flashed a grin before taking a drink of his own and Juvia carefully sipped at the plastic cup. It was hot chocolate, and she hummed under her breath in appreciation at the taste.
There was a moment of somewhat awkward silence before Gray suddenly questioned, "The hell are you doing over here alone?"
Juvia hid her face behind her cup. "Um, J-Juvia was invited by Lucy-san, but…" She shrugged. "Juvia only knew Gajeel-kun and Lucy-san and Natsu-san. So Juvia came to sit here after getting off the ice."
Gray snorted. "You sure like talking in the third person, don't ya?"
Juvia flushed even more at the question. "Juvia's sorry," she said hastily, apologetic. "It's just...habit."
"Meh. It's weird, but whatever."
Silence again.
Juvia bit her lip nervously as she tightened her grip on the hot chocolate, then glanced her surprising company. "Do you have any friends here?"
"Erza," Gray commented. "A fellow student of mine, Lyon. We work with a master of ice sculpting named Ur, and her daughter, Ultear. Lyon's "friend"," he snickered at that, "Meredy, is here, too. And then Natsu, I guess. Though he's not so much a friend as a fuckin' moron who needs to get his head screwed on right…"
Juvia giggled, and then smothered her laughter with her hand when he raised an eyebrow at her. "S-sorry," she managed to get out. "Juvia thinks that Natsu wouldn't appreciate that."
"Nah, but it's true." He grinned.
Juvia smiled warmly at him, her blue eyes gleaming with a friendly look. "Yes. Juvia thinks so, as well." She kicked one of her fuzzy sock-covered feet with a thoughtful look before saying, "Juvia doesn't like ice-skating." She made a face. "It hurts my feet."
"Look," Gray commented drily, "You spoke like a normal person." Juvia blushed again at his comment before he mused, "Kinda obsessed with ice where I learn, so. We come out here every night almost and have some fun during the winter." He glanced at her, and Juvia paused in confusion when she realized that he'd lost his coat at some point and was simply sitting there in a short-sleeved shirt without seeming to realize that it had happened. "What about you?"
Distracted for a moment, Juvia took a moment to answer. "Um, what about Juvia?"
He smirked in amusement before explaining, "I mean, what do you like to do? Since you don't like ice-skating?"
Juvia tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before admitting, "Swimming. Juvia likes to swim." Her gaze softened at the thought of water. "Juvia lived in a warmer climate before moving here a few years ago. The water was beautiful, and Juvia got to swim every day. Juvia still does swim, but...not every day."
"Swimming's okay. Sucks when the matchstick is there though." Gray indicated Natsu. "Sucker likes to see how many people he can throw into the pool."
Juvia murmured her agreement. "Juvia went swimming once with Natsu-san and Lucy-san. Gajeel-kun went, too, and we were told to leave because Natsu-san and Gajeel-kun got into a fight." She grinned at the thought, flashing straight white teeth at him. "Lucy-san was angry for weeks afterwards."
"I remember that," Gray laughed. "Natsu was storming around in a bad mood for a while. When he finally went to apologize, he said Lucy was thinking about ways of torture and using Erza to plan it."
Juvia enjoyed the sound of his laughter, she decided, and she smiled shyly as she said, "Juvia wishes you had tripped over me sooner. Then Juvia wouldn't have been so bored for that long."
Gray smirked and Juvia flushed for the umpteenth time. "Same goes, though I've been trying to trip people on purpose. Particularly Natsu."
The two continued to chat for a while, simply enjoying one another's company. A few people stopped by to question Gray and Juvia shyly greeted them every time he introduced her to them. They were friendly, she was surprised to discover, though they left to go skate some more once they'd confirmed whether or not he was going to be going to some outing they'd all planned apparently.
It was almost an hour and a half later that Gray suddenly climbed to his feet, stretching his arms behind his head with a thoughtful look. I think I'm gonna head out to get something to eat before heading back…" He eyed her for a moment, and then asked, "You got anything planned for the rest of tonight?"
Juvia looked up at him in surprise, her breath puffing out in a soft white cloud. "Oh! No. Juvia doesn't have anything going on. Juvia was actually going to head home after this."
Gray smirked. "Then let's get going. Ya gotta be hungry after this, eh? I'll pay."
Juvia's eyes went wide. "What?"
"Let's go," he repeated. "What do you like to eat?"
The young woman was silent, her entire mind overwhelmed. Suddenly, she giggled, and he arched an eyebrow with a look of amusement. "Is Gray-sama asking Juvia on a date?" she teased, eyes widening when she thought a hint of color tinted his cheeks.
"Maybe," he drawled.
"Then Juvia likes anything that makes Gray-sama happy," she said cheerfully, tugging her heels on and standing. She met his gaze with a warm smile. "But Gray-sama will have to bring Juvia back to pick up her car."
"No worries." Gray twirled a ring of car keys around his finger. "I don't mind."
Juvia only smiled again, barely able to contain her excitement despite the painful bruise on her thigh.
Maybe ice skating wasn't so bad after all.
An idea I came up with when I went ice skating with a few friends over the weekend. I feel as if they're a bit OOC...sorry!