School can be so annoying.
Hope you enjoy D:
"Lucy!"
Before the jubilant voice reached her ears, the stellar spirit wizard had been enjoying a glass of apple cider. Normally, she drank water or milk from the bar but Mira set this down on her table, giving her no choice but to drink it. Lucy loved it the moment a single drop plopped on her tongue. She'd take a swig, and moments later her taste buds would tingle from the fizz in the juice.
Lucy paused, planting the glass on the table. She wiped her lips with a satisfied beam. "Hey, Gray." She greeted.
Gray grinned and slid onto the seat across from her. "We're going on a quest today! You and me." His usual stony expression was gone. In place was an incredibly giddy demeanor that Lucy didn't recognize ever seeing.
"You're in a good mood today." The celestial spirit mage couldn't help but smile. "But usually Natsu picks out the mission, doesn't he?"
"Well - yeah-" Gray scratched the back of his neck. As he did so, his necklace gleamed and caught the light. He held out his other hand sheepishly. "I just thought we change things up, just for today."
Yes, most definitely odd. What on Earthland was into him today?
She gave him a hard, observant look and realized he was fully clothed. Shoes, pants, white coat and all.
Knowing Gray, he'd at the very least strip off his shirt. Very strange indeed.
Oh, just forget it. A voice argued in Lucy's head, cutting off the suspicious remarks.
Lucy gave a little lift of her shoulders, the other half of her feigning resignation. A diversion from her natural routine was called for anyway. She needed rent money and today of all days, she craved adventure and excitement. Her magic was full to the brim and she could totally take out her energy on a mission. Besides, she couldn't help but like this side of Gray.
She pressed her palms against the wooden table and bounced on her toes as she stood up. "That sounds great!" She said exuberantly. Gray's face lit up. "So are we going to leave now?"
Gray didn't get to utter a word because a certain pinkette stepped into the picture.
"Gray," Natsu scowled. Veins sprouted on his forehead. He stood in front of the table and shot Gray a malicious glare. His eyes switched over to Lucy and his features relaxed. "I'm coming along." He said firmly. He folded his arms and then stared at both Lucy and Gray as if challenging them to decline his "request."
"Um. . sure," Lucy mumbled, perplexed.
The ice-make mage ground his teeth together. He planted his elbow on the flat surface of the table and hefted his chin up with the heel of his palm. A little huff blew past his lips.
"What's the reward for the quest?" Lucy asked awkwardly, breaking the silence.
Lucy unrolled the quest flyer and read it over for the tenth time. Plue poked Lucy's shin and shivered. "Pun pun!" He peeped.
"The mission requires us to go to Mt. Hakobe," The celestial spirit mage swatted the paper. She flinched as the memory overshadowed her mind. "Ugh, it was cold over there. Why are we heading up to the mountains?"
Gray smirked, tugging at his collar in anticipation. "Because we're supposed to find thieves stationed up there. They've been causing trouble in Shirotsume Town."
The stellar spirit wizard thoughtfully pressed her fingers against her cheek. "That sounds familiar, actually. Wasn't that the mission where we had to retrieve a book for Kaby Melon?" She remembered the quest vividly in her head, but the title of the book was a blur. She couldn't recall what it was.
The fire dragon slayer cringed. "Are you talking about that one quest involving Everlue and Daybreak? I remember fighting those Vanish Brothers." His eyebrows creased. "They were extremely irritating. Full of it too."
Lucy snapped her fingers. "That's it! Daybreak!" She said eagerly. "Dear Kaby." She then said with a relaxed sigh. For a first mission, it went quite well. Better than the ones that would soon follow.
The ice-sculpting mage laced his fingers together and put both of his hands behind his head. "It's a great day to show those thieves what Fairytail-we are made of." He said, changing the subject.
An alarm went off in Lucy's head, although she wasn't exactly sure why.
"Would you shut up and walk faster, Gray?" Natsu said feverishly.
Gray glanced in his direction, seeming provoked.
"You better not fight again," Lucy warned the both of them. "I'm not about to put up with you guys brawling for the entire trip to Mt. Hakobe and back." She wished she had thought this through. She was better off going on a quest with one or the other, not both. Not if a figure of authority wasn't monitoring them. Which happened to be Erza, who was absent, unfortunately.
Natsu didn't take his charcoal eyes off of Gray. "We won't." He said curtly. He straightened his shoulders and began to walk again. "Right, Gray?" He seethed, putting ultimate emphasis in the ice-make wizard's name. He trotted ahead of the rest of the team.
Lucy lowered her eyes to the grassy plain. "Honestly, what's with him today?" She asked before she could stop herself.
Natsu was supposed to be radiating with giddiness and rowdiness. He was supposed to be boasting about how he could take on the criminals and what he would do with the reward once they'd receive it. He was supposed to be bugging her the entire time too. It was strange to admit such a thing, but she wanted him to burn down trees or start a brush fire. Anything to shows signs that he was still himself. All Lucy saw in her teammate was an implausible demeanor that was enough to drive her off of cliff. To put it shortly, his attitude pissed her off.
Gray rolled his eyes. "Forget that bastard. He's just moody."
The celestial spirit wizard used her peripheral vision to see Gray. Her head hung low and she said, "Really? But Natsu's never moody."
Gray lifted the corner of his mouth and closed his eyes. "Sometimes he is. You don't notice."
Guilt resided in Lucy's chest. Was it possible for Natsu to feel depressed too?
Plue the Dog waddled around, flapping his stubby arms and shaking his little head. "Pun pun!" He cried and gave a little hop.
"He hides it a lot." Gray added as if Lucy's ignorance couldn't be helped. He waved his hand off in Natsu's direction. "Like I said, forget that loser. We're getting you your rent money, right?"
"Yeah," Lucy nodded. "I just need about 30,000 more jewel. The reward covers it."
"Awesome!" Gray grinned broadly.
Lucy sensed an unmistakable thud in her gut. She blinked in bewilderment at the ice-make mage.
The grin stayed on his face momentarily but then it vanished. He held her gaze and she held his for what Lucy perceived to be. . perpetuity.
"Oi!" Natsu barked, interrupting their exchange. "It's getting dark. We need to set up camp for the night."
Since they were only a few miles away from the mountains, the freezing temperature reached the area that Team Natsu so happened to set up camp in.
"It's freezing." Lucy exhaled and undoubtedly could see her own breath coming from her lips and rising to the sky. "I'll get some branches so we can start a fire."
"I'll come with." Natsu offered in a monotone. He was still as grouchy as ever, but his tone of voice was a little lighter than before.
Gray sat in front of the tent and yawned with those dark blue pools in his eyes following the stellar spirit mage and fire dragon slayer's movements.
It was pitch dark now, but Lucy could rely whole-heartedly on Natsu's ability to summon fire to light the way. Before she would ask though, she approached one tree and tore off a few spindly branches. There were no leaves hiding the boughs, so she gained an easy grasp on them and tugged them off with ease. Natsu went over to a separate lanky tree and did the same thing.
They delved farther into the woods. Lucy continued to pluck bare branches from trees. She lost herself in the process, forgetting where she was and what she was even doing for a moment.
Once Lucy had an armful of tree limbs in her hands, she called to Natsu, "I've got enough. Let's go back."
"Same here. Let's go." Natsu answered.
Lucy blinked when she spun around and saw no traces of the campsite.
Shoot, we're really far away. . .
"Natsu, can you light a path back to the tents?" Lucy asked the fire dragon slayer.
"Hm?" Natsu grunted and gripped the edges of the wood. "You. . . can't summon a spirit of yours?"
The daughter of Jude Heartfilia regarded Natsu quizzically. "But your magic. Fire. Light?" She said carefully as if she was trying to get a toddler to comprehend her words. All the while, she was feeling irritated. Even the dense dragon mage had to know that his magic was the original source of both heat and light.
So it was almost painful to hear Natsu reply passively, "I'm unable to use my magic."
"You're unable to use your magic." Lucy echoed through gritted teeth. She shifted the multiple branches up with her thigh so they wouldn't fall out of her arms. "You've got to be kidding me, Natsu!" She cried in disbelief. "You can summon a simple flame without even thinking about it. I've seen you do it a hundred times."
Natsu stared at the ground. "If I could, I would Lucy." He whispered. "I'm just not feeling that well."
At this point, she couldn't tell if Natsu was pretending he couldn't use his magic just so he could be even more of a pain than he already was or not.
Gloomy attitude, inability to bring forth his own magic, what's next?
"Fine," Lucy growled in submission. She dropped her pile of sticks and swiped at her belt to retrieve a zodiac key.
She moved her arm in a simple, flowing pattern that all celestial spirit wizards knew by heart. "Open, Gate of the Lion!" She commanded. She slashed at the air with the tip of the key. "Leo!"
Loke flashed into view before her and bowed with a flourish. "At your service, princess." He said flirtatiously. He adjusted his rectangular glasses and the lenses glinted.
"I really wish you guys would quit calling me that." Lucy grumbled, vexed. She raised her voice, "Loke, can you light the way back to our campsite?"
The leader of the zodiac keys frowned. "Why did you call me when you have Natsu here?"
"Gee, I'm not so sure myself, Loke." Lucy cocked her head and sent Natsu a look of menace. Natsu shrugged.
Loke studied Natsu and then returned his gaze to Lucy. "Oh!" He laughed. "I understand what's going on. Not to worry my Lovely Lucy. I'll light the way for you!"
Lucy couldn't fathom how Loke could apprehend what the situation was from just looking at both of them, but she brushed off the thought and let it dissipate. She gathered the branches in her grasp, letting out a little yelp when she felt them prick her skin.
His ring illuminated and released bright rays of dazzling light. It only seemed like it took a couple of steps, because they were back at camp at the blink of an eye.
"About time!" Gray snorted. He had been nestled against a thick trunk of tree. His raven hair was a ruffled mess, a sign of napping. "Build the fire already."
"I'm more than happy to do it." Loke said pleasantly as Lucy and Natsu set down the bundles of branches. Sure enough, he shot a beam of light into the branches and they sparked. A toasty fire burrowed on the sticks.
"Thanks so much, Loke. For doing a really unnecessary thing." She was literally embarrassed for having to bring her trusted companion out of the Spirit World for something so ridiculous.
Gray yawned again, stretching his arms. "Why was he here, Luc-y?"
Lucy sat herself in front of the fire indian-style. She rocked back and forth a bit. "Doesn't matter." She decided not to say. She tried her best not to look in Natsu's direction.
Natsu just shook his head. If he was ashamed he didn't show it because his onyx eyes were as dull as ever. "I'm going in my tent. G'night." He lifted the flap of the tent and ducked inside.
"Night." Gray and Lucy responded simultaneously. Once the fire mage retired to sleep, they didn't say a word.
All that could be heard was the constant sound of flames crackling.
"Hey, Luce?"
Lucy focused on him across the fire. She brought her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.
"Do you. . ." Gray sighed and placed his hands behind the back of his head.
Lucy quirked both of her eyebrows.
"Do you like me or Natsu?"
Well, that was very unexpected. Lucy was so thrown off by the question that she gawked at Gray for a full 20 seconds.
Gray flinched at her lingering stare.
Lucy thwacked some sense into her own head with her palm. "I like both of you guys. Duh." She forced out a blonde girl giggle.
Gray didn't buy it. He leaned forward and traced the dirt with his index finger. "I really like you Lucy." He murmured. "You're smart and beautiful and amazing. I've actually liked you for a long time. Ever since you joined."
The stellar spirit wizard swallowed, not saying a word.
"Natsu likes you too." He continued, his voice shaking as he said so. "I've been wondering for a long time. Which one of us you've liked. I know you like one of us."
Was she always this easy to see through?
The issue was, she had a pretty clear idea of who she liked better - but the answer was something she needed to ponder about. She wasn't sure why, it was just better to compare the two.
The way Natsu had been so dismissive today and out of sorts had frustrated her to no end. The way Gray had been giving Lucy so much attention, treating her like a true friend, maybe even something more. . .
Puzzles fit into place in her mind, and connected. Her vision was so much clear as her eyes widened in realization. "I know who I like." Her voice dripping with absolute certainty.
Gray said nothing.
"It's you." She stated, abashed.
The ice-make mage's pupils darkened. "Really." He whispered.
Lucy nodded. Never had she been so resolute on anything, now that she understood. "Yeah."
"What is it about me, then?" Gray insisted. "Tell me." The confession seemed to anger him, making the features on his face drearier.
Lucy was amused at this. "You're strong. Brave. You hold pride in Fairytail."
"Yes." Gray obviously wasn't convinced. She couldn't blame him, her description was quite ambiguous. Not very declaratory, especially when it came to admitting one's feelings. She could've been talking about anyone in the guild.
"Okay-okay. To be honest, I think you're a nuisance sometimes. You're hard-headed and you get riled up really easily. But you trust your instincts very well and you act upon knowing what's best for everybody you care about. You're passionate about friends and family, and you'll do anything for them. You're an idiot, but you're admirable and lovable."
For a moment, Gray was ridiculously happy. Then his face went slack and the smile faded. "Wait, you're not describing. . . "
"I like you, Natsu."
Natsu blinked. He lowered his arms and examined his palms. He then glanced at his feet, seeing that he was wearing brown sandals. The only aspect of Gray that remained were the onyx eyes. Otherwise, Natsu was in his navy vest and billowing trousers along with Igneel's muffler wrapped around his neck. "It wore off." He mumbled.
He scrutinized Lucy in awe. "How did you know it was me?" Was all that came out of his mouth.
The stellar spirit mage rolled her eyes. "You and Gray are very different people, Natsu. But it even took me this entire time to realize it was you."
It was surely mortifying that it had taken her this long to differentiate Gray and Natsu's behavior. She continued, "Gray was in your body and you were in his, right?"
The fire dragon slayer was aghast. "I can't believe-" He ruffled his spiked-up hair and separated the locks to see if they were pink. He shook his head. "You had me there for a minute. I really-" He was, for once, at a loss of words.
"What kind of mess did you get yourselves into?" She huffed. "Who do you guys think you are? Were you trying to prank me?"
"Nuh uh! I only wanted to go on a mission to get you your rent money!" Natsu insisted, energetic. "Gray decided to be a total fag and stalk us because he was worried I'd 'blow our cover' or some crap."
Lucy imagined such a scenario. "I can. . actually see that happening." She giggled when Natsu gave her a scowl.
"Whatever. So. . you like me?" He indicated himself with his forefinger. He squinted at Lucy again as if he wanted to make sure. "I'm Natsu. Not Gray."
"Yes, Natsu. You." She would normally be mortified at confessing ever so bluntly, but she felt a little more at peace saying this to him. What she realized was that she had been emotionally attached to him, even though she hadn't known he posed as "Gray." That even though she had no clue he looked like another person entirely, she still connected herself to him without knowing his true identity.
It sounded so cheesy, like something that came straight out of a romantic comedy lacrimal movie, but it was the undoubtable truth.
A hint of a smile crept into Natsu's face. "So we both like each other. . . right? Can you remind me how this whole thing works? Because I don't remember what we're supposed to do now."
Lucy fiddled with her thumbs nervously, never thinking it would come to this. She always thought that Natsu was far too dense to be capable of these sorts of feelings.
"I think. . it'd be best to take it slow." Lucy suggested. "Both of us are new to the concept of dating anyway, and I don't want to rush anything. . . " but her heart constricted when she saw Natsu's somber expression at the proposition.
He circled the campfire, his sandals imprinting deep marks into the dirt, and knelt beside Lucy. The celestial spirit wizard could hardly breathe as he stared somewhat possessively into her eyes.
"I don't want others to claim you, though. They would get in the way." He spoke, his voice rather threatening towards the very thought of other men getting in the way of their relationship. . . which had barely even begun.
Despite the unsettling uneasiness inside of her, Lucy had to laugh. "Trust me, Natsu. I won't let that happen."
"It better not." Natsu warned her. "I'm capable of a lot of things." He then smirked somewhat deviously.
"I'll. . take your word for it." Lucy decided.
"Good." Natsu inched his hand towards Lucy's, and his warmth enveloped her when their skin touched.
Gray lay on the sheets her rested on his tent. He closed his eyes, grappling between relief and somberness.