Gray's drink rippled in unison with the heavy rock beat blaring from the Speaker Lacrimas. Jeez, not even the guilld hall is this loud, the ice mage thought. He had been invited along by Gajeel and Natsu, his best friends in Fairy Tail. They had all just gotten back from jobs, and they decided a guys' night out would do them all some good. Gray had been excited at first. It had been a while since he and the Dragon Slayers had hung out together, and as much they all bugged each other, they were good company. He had gotten dressed in his usual cargo pants, button down shirt, and trench coat, and his dagger necklace was laced around his neck as usual. They had met up at the guild hall around seven, and were about to head out with Happy and Pantherlily.
But then she saw them. Gray had always loathed being spotted by the water mage. It wasn't as if he hated her; in fact she was one of the people he had gotten closest to in the guild. But she was always nearby, and Gray felt a bit smothered at times. He told her this, of course, but many times it fell on deaf ears. He tried telling her that the guys wanted to hang out, but she told him she wanted to hang out with him too, that she had missed him while he was out on his job. He had looked to the metalhead and the matchstick for help, but they said they didn't mind. He was stuck with her. He remind himself to knock their heads together later.
"Gray!", he heard Juvia call. Oh boy, he thought, here we go. She walked up to him, her big blue eyes filled with something he did not understand. He turned and looked her up and down. He had to admit, she did look good tonight. She had donned a pair of black, knee high boots, a blue button down shirt with a blue green lace around the edges, and a short, turquoise skirt that came up to her mid-thigh. He could see a small portion of her guild mark, a color almost as deep a blue as her hair. But she was goading on him as usual, and he was frankly quite tired of it tonight.
"Would you like another drink, Gray? Juvia can order for you, if you like", Juvia said. He looked at her for a moment and turned back to his half-finished beer. Why does she feel the need to do everything for me?, he thought to himself. He took a long sip from his mug and set it aside.
"Juvia, you don't need to keep doing things for me. I'm eighteen years old. I can handle myself", he said. He looked around for Natsu and Gajeel, who were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are the guys?", he asked.
"Natsu heard there was a fight club upstairs, so he and Gajeel went to check it out." Gray's ears perked up at the sound of that. He hadn't been in a good fight since the Grand Magic Games, and he was really bored. He was about to get up to meet back up with them and knock some heads, but Juvia grabbed his arm.
"Juvia was hoping you'd have a drink with me?", she asked. She had a faint, nervous smile on her thin little lips, a light blush slowly creeping to her flawless skin. She looks cute as hell, he thought. But he was also a little bit peeved. She had invited herself to the bar with them, and now when he wanted to go do something, she needed to be glued to his side. He couldn't take it. He jerked his arm away from her grasp.
"Look Juvia, I get we're friends and all, but sometimes a man just needs some space. I never invited you out here in the first place. I don't want to sound like an ass, but I think you should go home." He was a bit louder than he had intended to be, and people were starting to stare. Oh crap, he thought, now I've done it. Juvia stared at the floor, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry, Gray. Juvia will leave you alone," she whispered. He felt terrible now, but he was paralyzed from embarrassment. Juvia turned to leave, and Gray sat back down at his seat. Man, I need to learn some tact, he thought. Not only did I make my guild mate cry, now Erza's gunna friggin' murder me. Erza was always taking Juvia's side, which Gray found a bit unfair.He reached across the counter for some peanuts. As he sat brooding over his action, he heard a rough voice calling out to someone.
"What's the matter, little lady?", the voice said. Gray wondered if the voice was talking to Juvia.
"N-no, Juvia is fine. Excuse me", Juvia responded. Gray sensed trouble.
"Aw, don't be that way. I'm a pretty good listener", said the voice.
"Juvia really must be going", said the water girl.
"Come on baby, I can fix all your problems. Just let me take you home and everything will be alright." Gray couldn't see what was going on, but he knew the man was reaching out to touch her. The man lifted Juvia's skirt slightly, revealing her guild mark.
"Oh, a Fairy Tail wizard, huh? Come on, I could tell people I slept with the finest girl in the strongest guild in Fiore. You gunna deny me that glory?", the man chuckled. Gray crushed his peanuts in his hand. The man tried to run his hand down her backside when she slapped him. The man was visibly shocked. That shock quickly turned to anger. He smacked her so hard that she flew backwards onto the floor. She began to cry.
"What, am I not good enough? You think just because you're in Fairy Tail you shouldn't talk to lower men? Well listen here, bitch, I don't care what guild you're in, I don't take no for an answer.
Gray stood up so fast his chair broke when it hit the floor. He stepped between the man and his team mate, arms crossed at his chest.
"Touch my friend again and I'll rock your world harder than Iron-Rock Jura." He had been waiting forever to use that line. The man laughed and punched Gray in the face. Gray held his nose; he could feel the blood trickle into his hand. When he took it away from his face, he looked down and laughed. He spit blood onto the floor.
"You hit like a girl", he said. Natsu and Gajeel watched from the stairwell.
"Gray's gunna wreck this guy" Gajeel said to Pantherlily.
"Poor guy has no clue who he's dealing with", Lily said. "Aye", Happy said in agreement, "and look who Gray's helping." The little blue cat chuckled at the thought of telling Erza and Mirajane, who would surely go crazy for this story.
"Kick his ass Gray!", Natsu shouted, a gleeful expression on his face.
The man started laughing in Gray's face.
"Some confidence you got there, pretty boy. And you're little girlfriends over there seem to think you've got this in the bag. But what are gunna do, huh? I'm the bigger man here, so just go home, kid", he said. Admittedly, the man was huge, taller than even Laxus. But Gray had seen and fought bigger.
"You talk a good game, big guy. But you should never underestimate your opponent, no matter your size. A lion is bigger than a wolf, but sometimes the wolf comes out on top." Just then, Gray landed a punch to the big man's gut, making him curl face first into Gray's knee. He grabbed the man's shoulder and threw him against the wall next to the jukebox.
First off, You should have known better then to mess with Fairy Tail. But even more important, you don't screw around with a guy who's fighting for his friends. He spit again and turned to help Juvia up off the ground. Natsu smirked in the background.
"Man, that was no contest. I was looking forward to a decent rumble," the Fire Dragon Slayer said. But the man was slowly getting back up to his feet.
"Huh?", Gajeel muttered. "Hey, Salamander. Watch him. I don't like this", the taller Dragon Slayer said. Natsu turned back to the fight to see what was going on. Then he noticed the glare of metal in the man's hand.
"SHIT!", he shouted.
"Gray, look out!", Happy added as Natsu and Gajeel rushed to their friend's aid. But their interference would be unnecessary. Gray turned just in time to see the knife screaming toward his head. Juvia screamed for him to get out of the way.
He backed up just in time, but the man's knife caught him arm. He cursed in pain kept dodging perfectly.
"Huh. He obviously doesn't need our help", Gajeel said. Natsu nodded his agreement.
"Let's keep watching them. This is getting interesting", Pantherlily said.
"I'LL TEACH YOU TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME," the man yelled angrily. Gray kept dodging the attacks, but the man kept coming. Gray finally saw an opening as the man brought the knife above his head for a downward slash. He grabbed the man's wrist and twisted, causing the man to scream as he dropped the knife to the floor. Gray kicked it away and threw the man again. The man staggered. Gray ripped off his shirt as the man caught his footing. The man then rushed at Gray headlong.
"Be careful, Gray", Juvia said. Gray smiled. He balled his fist and placed it into the open palm of his other hand.
"Ice Make Baton", he shouted, as a three foot long stick of magic ice formed in his hand. He sidestepped the man and brought the ice stick screaming into the back of his head. He picked the man up and punched him in the face, sending him flying backwards.
"Why you little-", was all the man had time to say as Gray brought the ice stick across his face. The man spun and around and fell to the floor, bloodied and bruised. Gray stood over him, panting, and soon the ice dissipated into the air.
"Never mess with Fairy Tail, asshole", he said. The other patrons began to cheer for the Maker Magic user as he stood triumphantly over his defeat, embarrassed opponent, a good show to be had by all. Gray turned to help Juvia to her feet. She smiled at first, but her smile changed to an embarrassed frown.
"G-Gray, I'm… Juvia is sorry for causing you trouble… Juvia will-" She stopped when she saw that he had extended his hand to her
"No need to apologize. I'm sorry for treating you like an asshole earlier", he said. He had to admit, he was angry with himself for being so selfish. On the bright side, he thought, I got into a decent scuffle. Juvia smiled and took his hand. He brought her back up to her feet, and looked in her eyes. She does look adorable tonight.
"Care to join me for a bite, Juvia?", he asked. Juvia's eyes lit up with excitement, and she could hardly contain herself when she answered him. I guess a date can't be all that bad. He thought about what Erza had told him that night at the Grand Magic Games. Why don't you give her a clear cut response? Perhaps it wasn't the response Erza had had in mind, but Gray figured it was a start.
"J-Juvia would love to!", the girl said excitedly. Gray smiled and put his now wrinkled clothes back on.
"Gihi", Gajeel laughed, "he's totally hitting that tonight."
"Why would he punch his own team mate?" Natsu asked. Gajeel looked at him and shook his head.
"You're absolutely hopeless, Salamander." Happy flew over to explain, and soon Natsu was cheering for his friend. Gajeel and Lily walked away, embarrassed for their dimwitted friend.
"Hey, don't walk away like that you metal piece of garbage!"
"I'm afraid I may catch your stupid if I stand too close"
"You wanna say that again?"
"I'll say it with my fist if you utter another word, Salamander."
"Why you-" Lily and Happy shook their heads as their Dragon Slayer companions started yet another brawl in the middle of the bar.
"To think they were working so well together at the fight club", Lily said.
"Aye, sir!" yelled Happy.
As Gray and Juvia walked out, Gray allowed her to wrap her arms around his. He looked at her hair as the moonlight guided them along the streets of Magnolia. I think her hair is my favorite part of her, he thought.
"That was wonderful, Gray, darling", Juvia said. Back with the darling stuff again, he thought. But he didn't mind it so much now.
"Hey, it was nothing", he said. Juvia smiled at him.
"Of course not. You're the strongest person Juvia knows. But there is one thing", she started.
"Huh?", he said. "What's that?"
"Don't you want to bandage your arm?" He looked down at his left arm, and saw blood seeping through the sleeve of his jacket.
"Crap! Juvia, help me find a bandage", he shouted as the blue haired girl laughed into the night.