Lucy strolled down the sidewalk early Saturday morning, enjoying the pale sunrays and the sounds of the town of Magnolia at rest. The streets were quiet, save for a few cars that drove by and the hearty joggers that passed her on their routes. Lucy hummed to herself, the blue water bottle that hung from her wrist swinging with every step she took. The soft breeze tickled her exposed stomach and lifted the ends of her long blonde hair. She walked on, past the little closed shops with colorful signs and shuttered windows, and the open park with it's beautiful flower trees and well-kept grass. Past the rows upon rows of houses, all the same design, all different colours. As she strolled towards the center of town, the buildings became bigger, and the cottages turned into apartment complexes. Here, the town was more alive; the sidewalks became filled with people, either on their way to their weekend jobs, or just out on a walk. Businesses were opening their doors, and all around, people were pulling back the curtains to their apartment windows. The chatter of the people and the whirring of the cars that zoomed down the streets filled the air, turning the quiet into liveliness.
"Morning, Miss Lucy!" Came a shouted greeting. Lucy turned, looking for the origin of the call, though she already knew who it was; there, two fishermen, old enough to be her uncles, were standing by the side entrance of a restaurant, smiling at her. Judging by large the crates at their feet, they were no doubt making a delivery.
Lucy smiled. "Morning, guys!" She responded, raising her arm and waving to them from across the street. They were such sweeties, always greeting her every day like she was their own niece.
Lucy continued on with a skip in her step, her messy ponytail bouncing. Soon enough, she had reached her destination; Fairy Tail Gym. It was rather sizable building, though not much bigger than an average school gymnasium, covering a good portion of the area that it was built on. The whole front of the building was made up of large glass panels, and the door, also made of glass, sported the gym's logo, in black.
The blonde pushed the door open, and her sneakers made a small noise on the waxed floor as she stepped inside. The lady at the front counter looked up from her papers, her snow-white hair falling around her shoulders. A bright smile lit up her face as she recognized her, her brilliant blue eyes twinkling. "Ah, Lucy! Good morning, dear," she welcomed her warmly. "How are you doing?"
Lucy couldn't help but smile at her cheeriness. "Hey, Mira! I'm actually pretty pumped up today, thanks for asking," she replied. "My instructor at hip-hop just announced a new dance routine for an upcoming competition, and I want get it down perfectly. It's really difficult, so I decided that some extra time at the gym might help a bit."
Mira clasped her hands together, and clicked her tongue in surprise. "Oooh, that's exciting!" She exclaimed. "And I get it where you're coming from- me and the girls all come to the gym whenever we want to tone up or get a little extra exercise in."
"Speaking of which," Lucy started, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter. "How's your ballet class doing?" Mira was the coach of an all-girls ballet class, and she sometimes brought some of her students to the gym while she worked at the front counter.
If possible, Mira perked up further. "They are doing great- amazing, in fact! For a bunch of middle-schoolers, they're pretty impressive, if I do say so myself," she gushed. "There is this one girl in particular who is really good- Wendy Marvell, a seventh-grader. She moves like the wind, I tell you, and she gets new moves down before the other students even memorized the steps. And plus, she's the cutest little thing ever."
Lucy chuckled at the adoring look on the older woman's face as she talked about her students. "Well, that's always good to hear," she conceded. "I'd love to come see them one day at class- all your talking is making me anxious to see them dance."
Though she really shouldn't be able to, Mira brightened another notch. "That's a wonderful idea!" She exclaimed, nodding vigorously as a arrangements were doubtlessly forming in her mind. "Maybe next Friday? Oh, and we have that make-up practice on Wednesday, maybe we could schedule it then…"
Lucy laughed outright at her friend's eagerness. "Whenever you can find time, I'll come," she reassured her. "And, speaking of time, I should probably get started with my exercise."
Mira smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for holding you up, Lucy," she apologized. "I tend to get carried away."
"It's alright, Mira," Lucy told her, pushing off from the counter and walking to the main area. "See you later!" She called over her shoulder, lifting her hand in a wave. Mirajane waved back, smiling as always.
Lucy ambled into the exercise area, and stood at the front of the huge room. A few people occupied the area already- on rather chubby man was sweating away on one of the treadmills to her right, a bright sweatband holding his dark hair out of the way, and at her left, a little farther down the room, a purple- haired lady was lifting weights. Lucy surveyed the various equipment that was available to her, hands on her hips, the gold rings on her fingers glinting against the dark colour of her leggings. The gym was filled with all kinds of exercise machines; sand-filled punching bags were hung up in the far left corner, the weights took up a hefty section of the left side of the room, treadmills lined the back half of the right wall, and all sorts of machines were scattered around the center of the room, from leg devices to ridiculously complicated-looking arm-strengthening equipment.
Lucy's chocolate eyes trailed each machine, before stopping on a rack of dumbbells near the center of the room. She dropped her hand from her hips and started towards it, slipping the strap of her water bottle off her wrist to hold it in her hand. When she reached the metal rack, she set the blue bottle on the floor, and began stretching herself. She linked her fingers and pushed her arms out straight, hearing the satisfactory pops as her arms stretched. Lucy lowered them, and brought her knees up, one at a time, the stretchy black material of her work-out leggings clinging to her tightly, but allowing her to move with ease.
Muscles properly stretched, Lucy began her workout, reaching for two of the heavier dumbbells. She began pumping her arms up and down, up and down, regulating her breathing.
A half hour later, Lucy dropped to dumbbells back onto their place on the rack, her arms feeling the burn of her relentless exercising. She placed her hand on her hips and tilted her head back, sucking in air as she rested. She closed her eyes, letting the ceiling fans cool her down with the breeze their spinning blades generated. After a moment, she bent down and grabbed her water bottle, unscrewing the lid and bringing it to her mouth. She tipped it back, and the water, still cold though the ice-cubes had long since melted, filled her mouth. She gulped it down, revelling in the coolness of the liquid. In her haste, a drop of water escaped her lips and trickled down her chin. Lucy wiped it away, and resealed her bottle.
Though she was a little sore, Lucy was far from done. She picked out her next machine- the treadmill. Leg strength and stamina were essential in the type of dance she did, so she figured that it was important that she build as them up. Her legs were pretty strong, there was no doubt about it, and her stamina wasn't too bad either, but a little more practice never hurt.
Lucy had just made it to the treadmills when the little chime on the gym door rang once again, indicating that yet another person was coming to work out. Ever since she had got there, the gym had been slowly filling up with people. Lucy recognized all of them- they were all long-time members of Fairy Tail Gym, so she had all met them once or twice in the year that she had been coming here. So when she glanced at the door out of habit and saw someone she had never seen before, it was no surprise that she did a double take.
Lucy peered at the newcomer; he was talking with Mira at the counter, and if the fact that she was nodding and writing down something on a sheet of paper was any indication, she was probably setting him up for a membership.
As much as his arrival surprised her, she was even more so startled by his odd appearance. He was tall; that she could tell, just by how much he towered over Mira. The man was shirtless, but that wasn't strange- almost everyone in Fairy Tail, women included, had exercised without a shirt on, and not to mention that Gray Fullbuster, a long time member of Fairy Tail, practically walked around naked.
No, there were two things that surprised her. One being that, instead of a head of, let's say, blonde, brown, or black hair, this fellow sported hair the colour of cherry blossoms. The pink locks were spiky and unruly, falling into his eyes and sticking out as if he had just rolled out of bed.
The second was that an odd lump of dark red cloth was stuffed into the right pocket of his dark gray sweatpants. It looked stiff, yet kind of worn and loose at the same time. It didn't look like a towel, but it definitely wasn't a water bottle either.
"What'cha looking at, Lucy?" A voice asked her, coming from her right. Lucy ripped on her gaze from the stranger, brown orbs landing on the chubby guy from earlier. He was peering at her curiously, the treadmill he was resting against currently off. The hair that escaped from his green headband was sticking flat against his forehead with sweat, and an near-empty water bottle was in his hand.
Lucy smiled at him. "Hey, Droy," she acknowledged. "Nothing much, just that guy over there." She tilted her chin in the man's direction, and Droy followed her line of sight.
Droy squinted at the man at the counter, then his featured relaxed with recognition. "Oh, that guy! I saw him last night- Gray brought him in." He informed her, twisting the cap of his bottle closed.
Lucy raised her eyebrow slightly. "Gray did?" She inquired, a tad skeptical.
Droy nodded. "Yeah. I overheard him talking to Mira about it yesterday- he's a friend of Gray's, apparently."
As if on cue, Gray walked through the glass doors, eyes instantly drawing to the pink haired man. A grin breaking across his face, Gray trotted over to him, greeting Mira warmly before he turned to the stranger. The men clasped hands, bringing each other into a half hug and clapping each other on their bare backs. Warm words and smile were exchanged, and it was clear that they were close.
Gray stayed with the stranger as he wrapped up his business with Mira, bouncing on the balls of his feet impatiently. Lucy couldn't possibly fathom just why he was so eager to work out, but then again, almost all the men at Fairy Tail were exercise freaks.
The second they finished at the front counter, they were off, jogging through the various machines and weaving around people. Lucy's big eyes followed them as they made their way to the back of the large room, and she tilted her head curiously as they neared the area where the punching bags were kept.
The punching bags had their own secluded corner of the big room because of the hazards that came with them. Lucy hadn't yet joined Fairy Tail, but she had heard the story involving the bags and the famed Laxus Dreyar. Apparently, Laxus was working out with the punching bags one day, when a rather surprising accident occurred. Laxus had thrown a particularly hard punch, and, being the hulking beast he was, he had sent the bag swinging, and poor Levy McGarden, who was walking by, was hit squarely with it and sent flying. The unfortunate girl landed hard and nearly got a concussion. After that, Fairy Tail's owner, Mr. Makarov Dreyar had the punching bag area moved in the back, where less people were walking around. Mira had told her, giggling, about how Laxus grumbled about the stern chastising he had gotten from his grandfather. Laxus was really the only one who used them, and they hung there, still and unused whenever he wasn't around.
So it was rather odd to see Gray and his companion kick of their shoes and peel off their socks and step onto the mats of the punching bag area. Gray took out something that Lucy hadn't realized was stuffed in the pocket on his sweatpants, and unfolded it. His friend pulled the strange red cloths, and they rolled open. Lucy squinted at the cloth, but as the stranger began wrapping one around his hands, she realized that they were fighting hand wraps. Though they weren't the traditional beige colour, there was no doubt as he expertly wrapped them around his hands, efficiently following a pattern unknown to her. Lucy was surprised to see Gray doing the same- she didn't know his was into proper fighting, as he had not mentioned it in year that she had known him. But then again, he was the type to get into brawls, as he had made clear on the multiple occasions that he and other members of Fairy Tail got into wrestling matches.
After they secured their gloves, the boys went to the bag-less part of the area, spacing themselves out readying themselves. The stranger smirked, teeth gleaming, and rolled his shoulders. Muscle rippled under the tan skin and his biceps twitched in anticipation, drawing Lucy's attention to just how incredibly fit the newcomer was. Sure, majority of the Fairy Tail men were fairly fit- but this new person practically oozed athleticism and an aura of health surrounded him. And Lucy could sense that from a good thirty-five feet away.
Suddenly, both men darted forward, arms raised in front of them in defense. Lucy blinked at the sudden speed, but before she could properly react, they were fighting in a whirlwind of motion. The stranger aimed a punch at Gray's stomach, but he deflected it and retaliated with a hit to his shoulder. The pink-haired man swerved out of its path, and used his momentum to ram his other shoulder into Gray's chest. Gray brushed of the hit and went to the offense, driving an elbow into the stranger's ribs.
On and on the pair went, and Lucy found herself watching their fight in rapt fascination. She vaguely noticed that Droy had turned away some time ago after giving up on regaining her stolen attention, but didn't pay it any heed, too wrapped up in staring at the sparring men to care.
Randomly through their fight, the newcomer glanced away, and his vivid green eyes caught hers. He locked his gaze with her's and smiled, his lips curving over his teeth in a brilliant grin, before he ducked, dodging a hit from Gray.
Lucy was jolted out of her little trance, startled by the odd timing and sincerity of the stranger's smile. She turned away from the sparring pair, trying to hide the little blush that bloomed on her cheeks as she focused on the treadmill she had forgotten about. Droy, already running on his treadmill for a while now, sent her a questioning glance. Lucy just shrugged and gave him an apologetic smile, and thankfully he didn't pry further, too busy keeping up with the conveyer belt as it made its endless rotations.
Lucy stepped onto the treadmill, placing her water bottle in the little cup holder as she turned on the machine. She picked up the headphones attached to the small screen and scrolled through the available channels, selecting a cooking show that looked promising. She placed the headphones over her ears and pressed play, starting the machine. The black conveyer belt began to turn slowly, but it gradually picked up speed until she was jogging at a fast pace. With the voice of the chef and the measured thudding of her feet keeping her company, Lucy fell into a comfortable rhythm.
Lucy watched the little screen intently, worry and anticipation crunching her brow at the hectic scene that was playing. Cooks ran around left and right, trying to fix the disaster they had created, sweat running off the brow of the cook who was currently holding a pot whose contents had caught fire. The yelling voices and clanging of various supplies streamed out of the headphones, shouted orders and desperate footsteps filling her ears. Besides the flaming food, other disasters befell the poor cooks- one person carrying a cake tripped over a whisk on the floor and the cake went flying, sailing through the air before splattering onto another cook. On one of the counters sat a hardened bowl of overly bitter chocolate, and at the opposite wall, a cook was throwing over-steamed vegetables into a trashcan.
"This is an absolute disaster!" One cook yelled despairingly, used their chef's hat to try to put out the flames.
"I know this looks pretty bad," another chef began, a positive tone in her voice. "But you all are completely forgetting our secret dish of the day! The is no way that it could have possibly been ruined- we set it away in a fridge earlier, remember? All we have to do is-"
A loud crash shifted Lucy's attention away from the screen, and she snapped her head to the side to see what happened, the headphones being yanked off her head at the sudden movement. Her chocolate eyes widened at the scene that confronted her, and her mouth dropped open with surprise.
Gray was sprawled across the treadmill three down from hers, a pained groan sounding from his parted lips. The treadmill itself was askew, and Lucy could only guess that Gray was the cause for that, probably having crash landed on it. Lucy didn't know how precisely he managed to do that, but that wasn't her concern as she slammed the pause button on her treadmill, jumping off before it fully halted. She rushed to him, her long hair fluttering out behind her before she dropped to her knees next to him.
"Gray!" She fretted. "Are you okay?" Her hands hovered over him, not sure if touching him would make him hurt more or not. Gray groaned again, his eyes slowly opening, blinking and focusing on her. He lifted himself up into a sitting position gradually, rolling his shoulders, wincing in pain at the obvious soreness in his back from his collision with the treadmill.
"I'm alright, Lucy," He reassured her, but she was not convinced, frowning at him slightly. His eyes focused on something above her, and he glared at it. "But you did not have to hit me that hard, Natsu," he huffed.
A sheepish chuckled came from directly behind her, and Lucy jumped a bit at the sudden presence. She turned to look at the person Gray addressed, her eyes finding a gray pair of sweatpants. Her gaze traveled up, over a sweat-covered torso until it rested on the wincing face of Gray's sparring partner. Lucy was surprised- she didn't see him coming, nor did she sense him, which was strange, because now that she realized that he was there, she could feel his raw, physical presence dominating the air.
"Sorry about that," he apologized, scratching the back of his neck. "I got a little carried away," he admitted.
Lucy's eyes widened at his words. "Wait," she began slowly, her brow furrowing. "You mean that you hit Gray hard enough that he landed all the way over here?" She questioned, glancing between him and the punching bag area, which lay well over thirty feet away.
The man, Natsu, turned his green gaze onto her. "Um," he started uncertainly, shrinking slightly under her disbelieving stare. "...Yes?"
Lucy's mouth dropped open a bit at his hesitant confirmation, her eyes squinting up at him incredulously. "Holy crap," she mumbled, peering up at him for a closer inspection. "How is that even possible?"
"That's Natsu for you," Gray grumbled, massaging his shoulder, a grimace on his face. "Always doing the impossible. But even I'm surprised- I swear you weren't this strong last week."
Natsu laughed in embarrassment, his cheeks pinkening slightly at their inadvertent praise. "I, uh, I… sorry," he floundered. He dropped his hand from his neck and held it out to Gray. Lucy stood and moved out of his way, studying the stranger contemplatively. The inky haired man clasped his forearm, and Natsu pulled him up, steadying him when the excess force sent him stumbling forwards.
"Alright, I think that's enough for today," Gray announced, regaining his balance. "I probably need to go and ice this shoulder, and we both need to take a shower."
Natsu smiled, a small huff of a laugh escaping his lips. "Agreed," he affirmed, but added an after thought; "You stink."
Gray's mouth fell open in mock offence. "You don't smell any better," he countered, crinkling his nose. They were both covered in a glistening sheen of sweat and they did, indeed, smell.
Natsu rolled his eyes, grinning, his lips pulling the twin piercings on his lower right lip. "Whatever, man," he replied. "See you later." Gray nodded, and they grasped hands and pulled each other into a hug. Natsu looked at her and smiled, tipping his chin up at her in farewell. He turned and left, picking up his sneakers as he jogged around people and machines, not bothering to put them on as he pushed the glass door open and stepped outside.
Gray turned away, shaking his head. "That man, I swear," he muttered, a fond smile on his lips.
Lucy looked at him curiously. "I take it that you guys are close?" She asked, figuring that they must be, considering their interactions.
"Hmm?" Gray asked, focusing on her. "Oh, yeah. I've known the idiot since we were kids."
Lucy smiled at his choice of words, hearing the affection that warmed his voice. "I thought as much," she told him, then glanced at the clock, noting the time. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked, watching has expression go from confusion to surprise and panic as he looked at the clock.
"Damnit!" He yelped, his back straightening immediately and clapping a hand to his forehead. "I have to go meet Juvia!" He rushed to where his shoes lay, scooping them up and running to the large door. "Thank's for reminding me, Lucy! See you later!" He called, jogging backwards and raising his hand in goodbye. Lucy smiled- Juvia, her teammate, had informed her excitedly of her date with Gray, and Lucy wasn't about to let Gray's disorganization tamper with her friend's happiness. She waved back and Gray turned around, tipping his chin at Mira before dashing out the door.
Lucy turned back to her treadmill, shaking her head slightly at his antics. She pulled the headphones up from where they dangled from the wire and placed them back in the cup holder, deciding that she was done with exercising for the day. She closed her progress on the machine and shut it off, picking up her water bottle and starting to make her way to the door. Droy glanced at her as she passed. "You leaving?" He huffed out between pants.
Lucy nodded. "I think I've done enough for today," she told him. He nodded, wheezing a goodbye. She returned it, and continued her walk, greeting various people on her way out.
As she passed Mira, she called out a goodbye. "I'm heading out," she informed her, pausing with her hand on the handle.
Mira smiled at her. "Alright, Lucy," she responded. "I'll call you about coming to see the girls, okay?" Lucy nodded her confirmation and pushed the door open, stepping out and beginning her walk home.