First up is Gray, and I hope you enjoy his date with Lucy! I didn't describe the whole thing in detail because that would have taken forever and I still have a certain Dragon Slayer to get to, so take what you get. Poor Gray is really trying his hardest, will his efforts be fruitful? Read on and find out how the dating game treats him!

~GLGLGLGL~

Gray visibly flinched when he heard the guild doors slam open, knowing exactly who it must be.

"Lucy, over here~!"

He heard Levy call her friend over and took the opportunity to slump down in his seat, not wanting to be noticed. It had been an hour since the guild members had challenged him and Natsu to go on a date, leaving him all that time to plan before Lucy arrived. Only a few minutes ago he had been thinking this would be easy- just walk up and ask her out, right? Now that she was actually here, though- sitting and laughing with all her friends, oh god why the hell do women always have to be in groups?- he was not nearly as confident.

With one glance at the bar Gray could see the older guild members watching him with amused smiles, ready to laugh if he screwed up with Lucy. The ice mage clenched his fists. What was he doing? Sitting around, stressing over something as silly as a girl? Sure, Lucy had a nice body- but so did he, so there was no reason to be shy! He was a guy, and guys go on dates god dammit!

Gray stood, a new determination in his icy eyes. It was time to be a man!

Slowly he made his way over to the blonde, trying to look as confident as he could, even if his heart was racing on the inside.

"Hey, Lucy…"

The blonde mage glanced up with a smile, peering up at her friend when she saw his somewhat forced expression.

"What's up, Gray?"

He leaned against her table, arms crossing over his chest as he looked down at her, trying to be cool.

"I was wondering, since we're both free-"

He felt like all eyes were on him, and he worked hard to keep the pink out of his cheeks.

"if you'd be willing to go out tonight."

Lucy's eyes widened as she blinked up at him.

"Out like- a date?"

He nodded, unable to believe how casual he was acting even when his stomach seemed to be doing a trapeze act. He could see all the other girls at the table whispering to each other as Lucy's cheeks went bright pink.

"Gray, I dunno-"

The blonde bit her lip, seeming to glance around the room a moment. Gray caught her expression and felt his stomach sink, afraid he might know exactly who she was looking for. Scrambling to save himself the ice mage shrugged, adding casually

"It's not a big deal or anything, I just figured it'd be fun for us to do something together, since we're both single…"
Lucy fidgeted, taking in all the encouraging looks her friends were giving her before peeking up at the dark haired boy, offering a shy smile.

"Well, okay- why not?"

Gray flashed a relieved smile.

"Great- so, I'll come by your place around 6 tonight."

She nodded, flashing another smile and, having nothing else to do now, Gray casually made his way back to his table. He could feel eyes on him and waited as patiently as he could until Lucy left before collapsing forward onto the table, finally able to relax. He had never realized how exhausting it was to be manly- tonight was going to be tough!

~GLGLGLGL~

Gray stared down into the ice in his glass, watching it slowly float around and clink against the lemon slice wedged onto the rim. Licking his lips, he half wished he could jump into the glass of water, feeling as if he wanted to melt. He was hot, but not as if he was sitting in the sun- the café they were sitting in was breezy enough and the sun was almost set, so it could not have been the weather that was making him uncomfortable. Rather, he seemed to feel a little color come to his cheeks every time he glanced up from his drink to see his friend across the table, twirling a strand of hair on her finger or smiling at the sunset outside their window or leaning forward with her low-cut tank top-

Gray gulped, quickly bowing his head again. He knew things were getting uncomfortably quiet, but he didn't know what else he could do! Trying to save himself, the ice mage thought back on the advice several older friends had given him before he left that night.

'Make sure you compliment her!' Mirajane had warned in her all-knowing tone, wagging a well manicured finger in his face from across the bar. 'Girls spend a lot of time getting ready for these things and they like to know it was worth it!'

Gray gulped again, trying to relax. So, all he had to do in order to break the silence was come up with a compliment; being sure to keep his head on straight this time, he peered across at his friend again.

"Lucy," He started, grabbing her attention. With eyes on him he wanted to retreat, but instead he offered a small smile, continuing "I noticed you did your hair differently tonight; it looks nice."

Suppressing a grin, Gray inwardly high-fived himself on a job well done. Compliments were easy! He had saved the date!

Lucy blushed, giving a shy smile.

"Oh- thanks…"

She glanced away, and Gray quickly fell off his victory high- had he embarrassed her? Lucy seemed unsure what to say now, and Gray scrambled to figure out how to save the conversation- perhaps being so blunt hadn't been the best idea after all…

"I think Erza's mentioned before you have a celestial spirit that is good at doing hair? I bet for you that would come in handy."

Gray tried to encourage Lucy by giving her something to talk about, and it seemed to work; she laughed slightly, peeking up at him again.

"Yeah, that would be Cancer; I love having him to help me out on bad hair days…"

Gray nodded, asking

"So he's one of the zodiac keys you have, right? What other keys do you have?"

Lucy's eyes seemed brighter now, and Gray was relieved to see she had relaxed back into her old self. It was somewhat strange, talking to her like this; they had been friends for a while now, but he didn't know many times where they would ever just sit and talk. Lucy was a nice girl, so why didn't he chat with her more often?

Finally more calm Gray was content with listening to Lucy as she described each of her spirits to him, sometimes pulling out the keys themselves to show him. Conversation came more freely now, and the pair ordered and had a light dinner as they discussed almost anything that came to mind. Gray could hardly believe this was a date- they always seemed like such a big deal, but really he was just out with a friend.

After dinner the pair walked around town together, watching the last bits of color fade from the sky and the stars begin to twinkle instead. As the pair walked by the river near Lucy's house Gray impressed her by being able to point out a few constellations, including that of Virgo and Leo. She beamed as he pointed them out, obviously thrilled, and told him he'd have to show her the rest someday. Then, they reached her apartment.

Gray may have been new to dating, but he knew the significance of this moment. Elfman had described it to him and, being the ultimate guru in manliness, Gray had hung on every word.

'After a date,' the silver haired man had described, 'you must walk the girl home. It's the dating code! And when you get there, she's going to turn to you and give you the cutest smile ever, and it's your job to say something snazzy and kiss her. If you don't, you're not a man!'

With Lucy's door in sight Gray began to get nervous again, his throat tight. Him and Lucy were really going to kiss? The night had been fun but he was still a little insecure- Lucy was his friend after all, and he wasn't exactly sure how to go about kissing her…

When they got to her door Lucy took a step forward, before turning around to address her friend.

"Well, guess this is my stop…"

They both laughed somewhat sheepishly before she added with a shy smile

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Gray- I'm glad you asked me out…~"
Gray gulped. Oh god, there it was! The smile! Now he had to say something snazzy!

"I'm glad too- you're really something else, Lucy…"

Unable to turn back and suddenly deciding this was the right moment for it Gray suddenly leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to Lucy's. She seemed surprised a moment before hesitantly kissing him back, and Gray could feel through all the confusion her warm cheek brush his own. As quickly as it had begun it was over, and Lucy looked sheepishly up at him when he pulled away.

"That was- my first kiss…"

Gray didn't hide the slight pink in his cheeks as he replied

"It was mine too, actually."

Then he flashed a grin, suddenly feeling a completely different kind of warmth all around him.

"It feels kinda nice to have it over with- I'm glad I could share it with you, Lucy…"

She giggled, giving one of her signature warm smiles that just made him feel even more alive.

"I'm glad I could share mine with you too, Gray."

She turned and opened her door, turning back one more time to offer a goodnight before closing it behind her. Gray took a deep breath and headed back off down the road towards home, feeling a little dizzy as he tried to sort his thought. Lucy really was a great friend, and he was glad he had spent this night with her- he was certainly glad he had shared a kiss with her, unable to believe the kind of feelings it conjured up- but still this night had left him kind of confused.

Even after the kiss, Gray still wanted to call Lucy his friend- in other words, he didn't feel like he was in love or anything… was this really what being a man was like? Satisfied to leave those questions for tomorrow Gray went home and crawled into bed, exhausted after taking a long turn on this dating game.