A/N: E: Hello there beautifuls! I know it's been a long wait, but writer's block did get the better of me for part of this chapter. To make up for it, we present what is, by far, the longest chapter yet. And it's one hell of a ride. I hope you enjoy it.
A: Have fun I hope you enjoy the chapter! I know I had fun helping Em write it!
Previously on Thaw My Heart:
"'Take the birthday girl out to dinner tomorrow night,'" he read, just loud enough for Lavinia to hear.
"Yes! I hoped he'd get that one!" Lucy squealed quietly as Seiko aimed her famous evil smile at Lavinia.
"I'll be over at six to help you get ready," she grinned, her eyes full of evil promise.
Lavinia and Gray left the party not long after Seiko's attempts to get the two of them together, after Lavinia had had a bite of cake. Gray had made sure she at least got that before they headed towards his apartment.
"Well, it's your last night before you can get your own apartment. Want to celebrate independence a little bit?" Gray asked after he unlocked his door and let them both inside. He grabbed a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses, offering one to her.
"Oh," Lavinia muttered, her face turning scarlet. "Um, thanks, but I, uh, don't drink," she revealed. "Just a personal choice."
"I'll put it away then," Gray shrugged, replacing the liquor and glasses where they had been originally.
"You don't have to not drink just because I don't," Lavinia protested. "I really don't mind."
"Nah, it's fine. Trust me, I don't need to be getting drunk, even by accident, with other people in the house," he chuckled, trying to sound casual. What he'd really meant was 'I don't need alcohol in my system telling me that it's a good idea to try and hit on you.' Her responses from Seiko's and Lucy's attempts to set them up seemed like she didn't think too highly of the idea of being with him. He'd drown out that pain a little later with the tequila when she was moved out, but he didn't necessarily want to focus on that at the moment. "Soda?" he offered. This time, the blonde accepted the can he handed to her.
"We can still celebrate though," Lavinia shrugged. "Tell each other stories or something like that." The minute the words were out of her mouth, she cursed herself. She was supposed to be forgetting her past, not inviting to share her deepest memories with Gray! That might have been the single most idiotic thing she'd done since joining the guild. She didn't know how she could back out of this one if Gray started digging into her past again. She'd just given him a wide open door. The problem was that it was so easy to talk with him that he made Lavinia forget that she needed to watch what she was saying.
"Sure. What made you want to join FairyTail?" he asked casually, lounging across his couch. Lavinia blinked. She could actually answer that question. Her posture relaxed slightly as she joined Gray on the couch, albeit on the opposite side.
"I picked up a Sorcerer Weekly copy someone had thrown out one time," she smiled. "I was bored and had nothing to do, so I decided to give it a read. There was a huge article in there about the FairyTail guild, and whether or not they'd manage to break their record of destruction." She adopted a thoughtful look onto her face as she thought back to the story in the magazine. "Erza was definitely mentioned… yes. I'm trying to think of who else they talked about. I didn't pay much attention to the names back then. I'm almost positive Natsu was there as well… that makes sense now that I've met him. I'm trying to remember… I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain you were mentioned, as well as Lucy. What I did remember was that the group was dubbed as 'FairyTail's strongest team,'" she recalled.
"That would be us," Gray admitted. "Sorcerer Weekly usually loves making that kind of stuff up, but once the four of us formed a team years back, Mira was actually the one that started referring to us as the guild's strongest team. I didn't believe her one bit at first; Natsu and I were nowhere near as powerful as people like Laxus and Mystogan. But over the years, I've realized she was actually pretty spot on," he acknowledged.
"She's really got an eye for the sort of thing," Lavinia agreed. "She just… reads people so well. She's very tactful too. I think she was the only person that didn't question me on why I needed so much ice, she just got me cups when I requested them and welcomed me to the guild on my first day. She's a lovely person. But then again, I haven't met anyone at the guild I haven't liked."
"Not even Seiko?" Gray teased.
"No, not even Seiko, surprisingly enough," Lavinia laughed. "Despite her… nosiness, I actually quite like her. She's entertaining, that's for sure, and I can actually hold up a conversation with her pretty easily. And that's not something that comes natural to me, either." Gray wondered if she realized what she was saying. If it was hard for her to hold down steady conversation, and if she thought she and Seiko could talk easily, what did she possibly think of the banter they had at that very moment? Not for the first time, Gray wished he could see into the God-Slayer's mind to find out what she was really thinking.
Without any warning, Lavinia took a sharp intake of breath, her hand subconsciously flying up to the center of her chest. Her face was contorted in pain. "What's wrong?" Gray asked immediately, sitting up so he was closer to her. "Another panic attack? What do you need?"
"I'm fine, I just need ice," she said hastily, already smoothing her features back to normal. Gray nodded and immediately ran to the kitchen to grab a glass he could fill for her. Despite this extra waiting time, Lavinia was glad he left the room for a few moments. It gave her time to get the pain in her chest under control before he came back in. That was one topic she hoped above all others that he wouldn't cross.
Gray dashed back into the room with a cup full of ice, which Lavinia downed without coming back up for air. Wordlessly, he refilled it for her when she was done, and she nodded a thanks to that and immediately started pouring the cubes down her throat again. "So what's it like being part of a strongest team in the guild?" she asked to change the subject when she came up for air, giving him no time to question her chest pain.
"Oh, uh, well it's definitely never boring," Gray answered, caught off guard by this sudden change in topic. He knew she wasn't going to talk about what had happened, so he wouldn't pry (even though he'd kill to find out what was going on with her). He started telling Lavinia stories of missions he'd been on that she hadn't heard yet, and all the while, couldn't stop thinking of how her eyes sparkled every time she'd laugh.
They talked and traded innocent stories for hours into the night before Lavinia, who'd been fighting sleep the entire time, nodded off on the couch without warning. Gray yawned widely when he found her asleep before picking her up to carry to his bedroom.
"You're not being a perv, that's where she was going to sleep anyway," he muttered to himself before setting her down delicately on the bed. Even in sleep, she craved the cold that his body emanated, and reached her arm out for him when he pulled away. "I'll be right back," he reassured her, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. He went around to the other side of the bed, not bothering with taking off his clothes since he'd already lost the majority of those in the guild. Not a second after he lied down did Lavinia turn into him, readjusting her position so that half of her body was entirely on top of him. She was stomach down, and her arms and legs twisted around him so that every single part of her body was touching him in some way. "You just love to torture me, don't you?" he huffed. Looking down at her face, he noticed for the first time how innocent she looked when she was asleep. Her usual fierce features were calmed into an expression he could only describe as serene. Slowly, he raised his hand to brush hair away from her face. "Ah, fuck it," he decided, wrapping both of his arms around her. This was her last night here, and it wasn't like he was ever going to get this opportunity again. And he wasn't going to be doing anything bad to her, he just wanted a chance to hold her one time. All he wanted was one time, and if this was his chance, he'd be damned if he didn't take it.
It was the dead of night when Gray woke up again. At first, he wasn't quite sure what the weird sensation was on his chest; it felt like something was twitching. After blinking a couple times and letting his mind regain clarity, he could finally focus on Lavinia. She was still clinging to him, but she was writhing on his chest. He couldn't tell whether or not she was having a panic attack or if this was something else. "No… Midian…" she moaned after a moment, yet her eyes were still closed. She was clearly asleep.
"It's okay," Gray muttered to her in vain. He was aware that he'd most likely have to wake her up to get her to calm down, but he was selfish enough that he wanted to keep her on top of his chest. He wasn't quite ready to let her go yet. "I've got you, you're safe," he murmured, putting on hand on the back of her head and stroking her hair. Miraculously, as though she heard his voice in her sleep, her body started to calm down. She twisted around until her face was buried in his neck, which caused Gray to groan in frustration. She's asleep, she doesn't know what she's doing and she probably just needs comfort from something. She'd be doing the same thing if I were a pillow, he told himself over and over again, desperately trying to not to pull Lavinia even closer to him so that he could kiss her. She was asleep, for God's sake! He couldn't do anything to her while she was asleep!
"Gray," she breathed out against his neck, startling him enough to the point where he was forced to look down at her again. At least, he thought she said his name. He could be making that up to try and rationalize to sensible part of his mind that he should in fact kiss her. Swallowing hard, Gray fought against what he wanted and instead settled for pulling her closer to his body so her temperature would be kept low. As his hands brushed against the back of her head again, he registered the circlet that was still around her head. For the first time, Gray realized that he'd never seen the God-Slayer without that circlet woven into her tresses. He remembered what she'd told them about it when they'd been on their first mission together. "A friend of mine gave it to me. He was trying to stop a monster, and died in the process. He knew that he was not going to come back alive, so he gave this to me to remember him by. It was his mother's before mine." He also recalled the name she'd said before he'd started comforting her: Midian. The way she'd said his name, even in sleep, Gray could tell that he'd been highly important to Lavinia. The raven-haired man was positive that this Midian, whoever he was, was the name of the person who'd taught Lavinia her magic.
He hadn't like the way she'd said Midian's name. She'd cried it out desperately, as if she'd sacrifice the world to try and save him but was utterly powerless to anything more than scream. Gray knew that feeling; he'd felt that way when Ur had sacrificed herself to save him and Lyon from Deliora. He hoped that Lavinia's relationship to Midian had been strictly that of master and pupil, but he couldn't ignore a nagging sensation that he felt in his gut that there was more to it than that. But it wasn't like he could just ask the blonde. She'd proven that she was not going to talk anymore about her circlet any more than she already had, let alone mention Midian.
He decided it wouldn't do him any good to ponder anything while Lavinia was sleeping and he was only half-awake. Wrapping his arms securely around the blonde's back once again, he closed his eyes for the remainder of the night.
~TMH~
When Lavinia woke in the morning, the first thing she registered was something hard underneath her body. Bringing one hand up to rub at her eyes, she nearly squeaked in surprise when she realized that hard thing had been Gray's chest. When she dared to peek up at him, she thankfully realized that his eyes were still closed, though one arm was loosely wrapped around her. Her face had been buried in the nook of his neck, and once again, her limbs were entirely splayed out over him. Carefully, so as not to disturb him, she rolled over so she could get off the bed without waking him up. He mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep, rolled to one side and hugged a pillow to his body, but to Lavinia's great relief, the raven-haired mage didn't open his eyes. She quickly slipped out of the room in search of food.
Judging from the streams of light coming through the windows, it was well past morning. They'd slept in later than the blonde had anticipated, but she let that go for the moment. Pacing around the small kitchen, Lavinia wondered whether she should try and find something to eat or if that would be considered rude. If she was in anyone else's house, she probably wouldn't have dared go snooping. But at this point, she was fairly confident that she knew Gray well enough that to say with certainty that he wouldn't care.
Still, she only tentatively opened the pantry to see what she could find. To her relief, he had a box of cereal that was half-full on the shelf at her eye level, so she happily grabbed that and after she'd opened a few cupboards, found a bowl to put it in. She had better luck with the drawers; she only opened two before finding a spoon. She hopped up on the counter with the bowl in her lap and began munching on the cereal.
She was almost done with her little breakfast when Gray, still looking half-dead, wandered into the room. She was in the middle of taking a bite when she looked up at him and nearly choked. He'd put on sweats but the upper half of his body was still bare, and Lavinia was liking that more than she usually did. But his hair-oh God, his messy hair! She could think of no other word to describe Gray other than downright sexy, which was so wrong. For the umpteenth time, she berated herself for giving any semblance of romantic feelings for her fellow ice mage. She hunted down all thoughts that travelled beyond the line of innocent friendship and tried with all her might to stomp them to dust. To her annoyance, Gray just added more fuel to the flames when he shook his head slightly in an effort to wake himself up.
"M-m-morning," he managed to get out around a yawn. He looked at the almost empty bowl in her hands. "No milk?" he asked as he grabbed the same box of cereal out of the pantry. Lavinia twisted her face up in disgust at that.
"I will never understand why some people enjoy the taste or texture of soggy cereal," she mock gagged. "It feels so gross when it goes into your mouth."
"You wound me," Gray teased, putting his hand over his chest like she'd physically hurt him. "Milk and cereal is probably the greatest invention mankind has ever come up with."
"You know, I thought this friendship was going somewhere, but I think it's time I bowed out," Lavinia said. Her exaggerated solemnity made it abundantly clear that she was joking. "If you like milk in your cereal, I don't even know if I can stand being in the same room as you!" She pretended to sob at the end of her sentence, as though his love for milk and cereal was truly breaking her heart. Her antics just caused Gray to laugh boisterously.
"You might want to look away for this," Gray teased as he poured himself a bowl of cereal and then added milk with exaggeration. Lavinia pretended to double up in pain at the sight, causing both of them to laugh once again.
"I wouldn't say no to just a regular glass of milk," she chortled moment or so later. "I don't only drink ice; if it's cold, I can have it."
"No way," Gray shook his head, causing Lavinia to furrow her brow in confusion. "If you want the milk, you have to have it with the little amount of cereal you've got left. It wouldn't be too much, I bet even you could handle it," he grinned wickedly.
Lavinia raised her brow up at him. "I will get that jug from you," she declared, her face set in determination. Gray quickly snatched the milk from the counter where he'd left it. Lavinia put her breakfast down and slid from her perch, stalking over to Gray. Immediately, Gray held the drink high above his head, way out of the little blonde's reach. To his immense surprise, that just caused her to grin in a way that made Gray instantly terrified of what she had planned. If he was being honest with himself, it also turned him on.
"Big mistake buddy," Lavinia smirked before she put her hands on his shoulders and hoisted herself up. She started climbing his body to get to what she wanted. Gray stumbled back, completely caught off guard from what she'd been trying to do, and managed to lose his balance. With Lavinia's legs around his waist, he sent both of them to the floor.
Gray landed on his back, so Lavinia was on top of him, her legs still wrapped around him. They stared into each other's eyes, not even daring to breathe. They held this pose for a few moments before both of them busted up laughing, the sounds echoing around the house. They were both so caught up in the moment that neither of them realized a stunned celestial wizard standing in the doorway.
Lucy had wanted to get to know her new guild member a bit better and spend some one-on-one time with the God-Slayer, so she'd wanted to offer to go apartment hunting with her. After it was past noon and neither Lavinia nor Gray had been seen at the guild, Lucy had decided to head over to Gray's place. She'd been knocking on Gray's door for a while with no reply. She could hear muffled laughter from inside the house, so she knew they were both awake. Gray had broken into her apartment enough times, so Lucy decided to try her luck with the door, and found that it was open. She'd been just in time to see Lavinia try to climb Gray's body like a tree and watch them go tumbling down.
Propping herself up on her elbows to get up, Lavinia looked up and saw Lucy standing there, her expression beyond shock. With a yelp, she sprang off of Gray's body, almost falling again in her haste to stand up. Confused, Gray turned on his stomach and looked behind him. Seeing Lucy, he immediately began stammering out excuses.
"This isn't what it looks like! She was just, uh, getting the milk… um… why are you even here?" he asked, trying to divert the attention away from him.
Lucy blinked a couple times in surprise at the suddenness of being asked a question. "Oh, um, I was just gonna ask… you know what, never mind. I gotta go," she said hastily, slamming the door behind her. She immediately set direction for Natsu and Kaia's house to gossip with the latter about the newest development in the Lavinia/Gray relationship. She and the bluenette were determined to make the two of them realize and act on their feelings for each other, especially since Gray hadn't gone out with anyone since he and Juvia broke up. Besides that, there was more of a spark with Lavinia than he'd ever had with anyone.
"Here's the milk," Gray mumbled, holding out the jug for Lavinia. She took it with a murmured thanks and poured herself a glass, downing it quickly.
"I really do have to find an apartment today," she reminded him apologetically. "Want to come with me? I think I might have seen something a few blocks from here, but I would really appreciate a second pair of eyes looking the place over," she explained. Gray instantly took her up on her offer.
Fifteen minutes later, when both ice mages had finished their breakfast and were fully clothed, they set out down the street to look for the apartment Lavinia had mentioned. They had almost reached their destination when she received a few cat calls, causing the blonde to sigh.
"You'd think people would have better sense not to get drunk during the daytime," she grumbled. There were passing by a pub that had the bar partially outdoors. A group of about five heavily drunk men were calling out comments to her, all of them consisting of how she should ditch Gray and join them for a while.
"I can get rid of them if they're bothering you," Gray growled, his fist already down in his palm. He didn't want to show Lavinia how enraged those comments had made him, but he couldn't entirely conceal his wrath. The woman standing with him deserved a thousand times better than cat calls from drunk men.
"No, I can handle it," she shrugged. "You might want to look away though. I don't want you to have to see this," she warned. Before Gray could inquire as to what she meant, she muttered a spell name. "Frost God: Frozen Stare!" She turned her head completely to the side so that her face was entirely hidden from Gray. The second the drunk men looked at her, they adopted horrified looks on their faces and averted their gaze as quickly as possible.
Ending the spell quickly, Lavinia dropped her head and closed her eyes for a few moments to make sure the effects of her magic were done. Of all the spells Lavinia knew, Frozen Stare was one of her most dangerous. The old phrase 'if looks could kill' would be the easiest way to describe it. Her facial expressions became so cold that no one could look at her for more than a few seconds, giving her the perfect opportunity to strike if she was in a battle. Even still, Lavinia hated using it in fights. It seemed to take away any chance the opposing party might have, and more importantly, if any of her allies saw it, they would become terrified of her. Now that she was in FairyTail, that was one of her biggest fears. She didn't want anyone in the guild to hate her or to become scared of her, especially Gray. She'd found such an amazing friend in Gray, and she wanted to make the most of that friendship in the little time she had left.
When she was sure her face had returned to normal, she tentatively glanced up at the raven-haired wizard. He whistled lowly. "Must have been some spell," he commented casually. "Is that the apartment complex?" he asked as they neared a cluster of houses. Lavinia was beyond grateful that he'd changed the subject and didn't pry about the spell she'd just used.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is," she agreed. She quickly maneuvered through the web of buildings until she saw the 'For Rent' sign she'd spotted on her first day in Magnolia, and quickly read over the informative flyer below the sign. "We're in luck. We came during the landlord's office hours. He should be in the main building in the complex."
"Then let's go get you your apartment," Gray smiled as the two of them set off together.
~TMH~
"Kaia!" Lucy screeched, banging on the door to her and Natsu's house. "I have news!" Natsu stood there a couple moments later.
"Oh hey Lucy!" he greeted with a smile. "Kaia's having lunch, but I think she'll be done soon. You can come in." He stepped aside to let the blonde celestial wizard through the vestibule, and she went straight for the kitchen to fill Kaia in on the gossip.
"You'll never believe what just happened when I went over to Gray's house this morning," she started as she sat in a chair opposite from where Kaia was shoveling food into her mouth. The bluenette held up one finger, signaling for Lucy to wait a moment, and finished the rest of the meal within seconds.
"Please tell me that they stopped being stupid and finally admitted that they liked each other?" she asked hopefully, crossing her fingers.
"I wish," Lucy grumbled. Kaia pouted for a moment. "But I do have new ammo if they keep trying to deny it." Kaia leaned forward eagerly, prompting Lucy to continue with her story. "So I went over to get to know Lavinia better and see if she wanted help apartment hunting, and apparently she wanted milk for some reason. Gray was holding it up over his head, I don't know why, but she started climbing him. Like, actually climbing his body. Well of course, that made Gray all hot and flustered, and he stumbled backwards. He landed on the floor with Lavinia on top of him and her legs were wrapped around his waist. Instead of getting all awkward about it, they started laughing. They only got awkward when they realized I was there. But my point is, they were acting like a newly married couple. They almost had me fooled."
Kaia was silent for a moment. "I will file that information away for later," she decided. She was planning on using that moment to remind Lavinia of her feelings for Gray, because she knew that even if they did end up getting into a relationship, Gray would royally mess up at some point. And Kaia was pretty sure the first time that happened, Lavinia would be tempted to leave him. It wasn't in the God-Slayer's nature to be forgiving. If Gray didn't do something really awful like cheat on her, Kaia was determined to make them work out.
"Anyway, do you want to see what we're planning on having Lavinia wear tonight for their date?" she changed the topic abruptly. "Seiko and I think it's perfect, but I'd appreciate a second-er, third pair of eyes on it. And I don't trust Natsu's opinion on fashion," she giggled.
"Hey!" the rose haired man protested from the next room, causing both and Kaia and Lucy to chuckle softly.
"I'd love to see it," Lucy agreed. "Maybe I can go with you and get Cancer to do her hair?" Kaia shook her head at that as they headed to Kaia room.
"I don't think I'll be able to convince her to do anything with her hair," she explained. "Have you ever seen her without that circlet?" Lucy shook her head. "I don't think she'll take it off for anything," the bluenette continued. "She's always touching it when she gets nervous. I think not having it will just stress her out more. And that kind of holds her hair where it is. Besides, I think it's really pretty the way she wears it. If they continue this, I'll probably take you up on your offer, when she's more comfortable around him."
"That makes sense," Lucy agreed. "Oooooh, I love it!" she squealed when she saw the outfit Kaia had planned for Lavinia. "Gray's going to die when he sees her in this. She'll be so gorgeous." Kaia grinned, happy that Lucy agreed with her. She proceeded to tell Lucy all the plans Seiko had made as she anxiously waited for six o'clock to roll around.
~TMH~
"Thank you for your business Miss Soya," the landlord was saying. "Here's your apartment key. Er, would you like me to make one for your… companion?" he asked, glancing at Gray. Lavinia shook her head quickly.
"I don't see the reason to," she shrugged. "He's just a friend that offered a second pair of eyes to make sure the apartment was in good shape, in case I missed something." The landlord nodded, obviously satisfied with her response.
"In that case, since we've completed all necessary paperwork, you can move in at any time you'd like," he smiled. Lavinia and Gray left after that, the former promising to be completely moved in within a couple days or so.
They were heading down the street accompanied by comfortable banter when Lavinia suddenly spotted a clock. "Fuck," she growled, causing Gray to raise his eyebrow at her in question. "It's 5:45. Seiko's going to be at your house in fifteen minutes to play dress up with me," she pouted. Gray cursed internally. He'd totally forgotten that he was supposed to take her out to dinner tonight. The good news was that he was sure the blonde wouldn't want anything fancy, so he wasn't in trouble for not making reservations.
They had just stepped inside Gray's apartment when there was a knock on the door. Feelings of trepidation filling his entire being, Gray cracked it open and sure enough, Seiko was standing there. She was holding a large plastic bag in one hand and was looking extremely pleased with herself. Over the course of her time at FairyTail, Gray had learned to be terrified of that expression on her.
"You. Leave," she ordered immediately as she pushed past him and let herself in.
"This is my house!" he protested immediately. "I thought you were going to take her back to your place and I'd pick her up there."
"Yeah sure, let's make the pregnant girl do more walking," the bluenette snapped. "And I don't care if it is your house, you need to leave. Especially since I royally saved your ass tonight and made reservations. Out. Now!" she repeated.
"Actually, do you think you could run an errand for me?" Lavinia asked softly as she came out of the bathroom. "I hate to ask, but since she's going to take me hostage for the rest of the night, could you pick up an air mattress or something that I can sleep in tonight?" She handed him some jewel, and in spite of himself, Gray couldn't help but smile down at her.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be back in an hour," he promised before heading out. He couldn't pretend that he was a little disappointed… he'd realized earlier that she didn't have any furniture and was hoping that meant she could stay a few nights longer with him. Obviously she was determined not to make that happen.
"Dear Mavis. You have him totally under your thumb and you're not even dating officially yet," Seiko commented. Before Lavinia could offer a weak protest, she continued. "Anyway, I have your clothes in here. Put them on, and then I can do your makeup."
"As long as you don't touch my hair," the God-Slayer muttered under her breath as she grabbed the neatly folded clothes Seiko had brought her and headed into Gray's room to change. It only took mere seconds before she was back out, holding out the thong like it was chemically radioactive. "What is this for?" she asked in disbelief.
Seiko lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Sweetie, you're going to get panty lines if you wear normal underwear with the leggings I brought you. And trust me, those are not attractive. If you put on that, panty lines will go away. Problem solved."
"I think it's better to have 'panty lines'" she air quoted, "than you to have your underwear jammed up your butthole!"
"Oh it won't go inside and you'll get used to it after about five minutes you colossal baby," the bluenette pointed out with her signature eye roll.
"Pardon me for liking my comfort," Lavinia huffed. "And for not wanting to seem like a slut. Not really the angle I'm trying to put out there."
"No, no, a slut wouldn't wear underwear," Seiko tittered, clearly enjoying herself now.
Not coming up with a good argument for that, Lavinia stomped back to the room to actually get dressed this time. After Seiko heard a lot of fumbling with clothes and a good amount of cursing, Lavinia finally came back out in a long off-the-shoulder navy blue shirt with sleeves that came down to her wrists and black leggings. However, she kept having to pull the strapless bra back up her chest. "I do not have the boobs to keep this up," she muttered.
"Oh, I made sure that came with clear straps," Seiko shrugged. "Here, I'll show you-" she reached over to grab at the straps inside Lavinia shirt, but as soon as she pushed a bit of the fabric back Lavinia jumped away as if she was burned.
"I can fix it myself," she mumbled quickly before darting back into the room. Seiko had come way too close to accidentally seeing her chest… the bra didn't hide enough skin. Beyond anything else, Lavinia would never, ever, let anyone come close to seeing her chest. That was the biggest taboo for her.
She came back out demurely a few moments later. Seiko glanced at her bare shoulder and after a minute's searching, found the faint outline of the clear straps. "Okay, let's get to work on your face," she smiled, eager to change the subject. She'd clearly struck a nerve earlier, although she wasn't sure over what. Normally, Seiko would have bugged Lavinia for details, but Kaia was wisely forcing her not to push the issue.
The blonde let out a sigh when she saw the makeup Seiko had spread out in front of her, but took a seat nonetheless. "That looks like a lot," she muttered nervously. Seiko waved her hand, brushing the question off.
"It just looks like a lot because I'm assuming you've never worn makeup before. Trust me, you'll barely even know it's there," she assured before picking the palest foundation she'd been able to find. She started dabbing it on Lavinia's nearly impeccable skin with a small sponge. "Don't worry, you're still going to look like you. I don't have to do much with you; you're totally gorgeous. I'm jealous. I just want to highlight those amazing features you have, Dollface," she teased. Lavinia rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything more and continued to let Seiko paint her face.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Seiko as long as Lavinia suspected to finish with her makeup. "All I have left is to brush your hair out a little-don't worry, I'm leaving it in the same style-and then get some shoes on you," she smirked. "This is some of my best work yet!" She ran a brush through the God-Slayer's blonde tresses quickly, then turned to the two types of shoes she'd brought. "I think we'll go with the ballet flats," she mused, picking them up.
"No," Lavinia protested softly but firmly. "I want the heels." Seiko looked at her doubtfully.
"Are you sure? Granted, those are only three inches, but it can still be hard to walk on them if you've never done it before," she explained, but Lavinia was set and determined.
"I'm tired of always being the short one. I know those won't make me taller than him, but any extra height I can get is a welcome change. I'll learn to walk in them. I want the heels," she insisted stubbornly.
Seiko sighed dramatically. "Fine," she agreed, helping Lavinia slip the pale gold heels on her feet. Gingerly, Lavinia tried to stand up and promptly wobbled, nearly falling over. Seiko sighed again. "This is what I was afraid of," she grumbled, and solemnly set herself to spending the rest of the hour teaching Lavinia how to walk in the heels.
Lavinia still wasn't totally comfortable walking in the shoes when there was knock at the door, but she still refused to change out of them. She paced the kitchen a few more times as Seiko went to let Gray in. "Am I allowed to be in my own house yet?" he asked sarcastically once Seiko opened the front door.
"Not like that!" she yelled quietly, so Lavinia wouldn't hear, but let her fury seep through her tone. "Where are your clothes?" Gray looked down in shock; he'd totally left all his clothes except his boxers somewhere and had no idea where they were. "Ice-Dragon's Blade!" Seiko called and the second the sword appeared, she began smacking Gray with the flat of the blade.
"What the hell?" Gray protested, trying to block and dodge Seiko's swipes. "You should know by now that this happens all the time. Why are you choosing now of all times to freak out about my stripping?"
"Because you do not show up for the first date with no clothes on you perv!" Seiko raged, grinning when she made contact with the side of his chest.
"It's not a date!" he groaned, almost ready to pull his hair out. He was nearing the point of putting up a shield with magic when Lavinia came around the corner and the words stuck in his throat. The blonde looked even more stunning than she usually did. Her eyes were popping out even more, and the way those clothes hugged every curve….
"What's going on?" she asked hesitantly. Seiko's sword quickly dissipated. "Do I need to be concerned?" she wondered, looking between the two of them. Seiko somehow managed to pull out a smile.
"Oh no, Gray and I are just having words about what's going to happen," she said with false sweetness. "How about you go wait in a different room while we sort this out?" Lavinia gave both of them a skeptical look, but retreated into a bathroom to give them space. Seiko turned back to Gray, and her annoyance with him grew exponentially when she saw him totally erected from seeing Lavinia.
"Dear Mavis, you are a perv!" she accused, before creating a blade again and smacking him across his chest, effectively allowing him to speak again as he resumed yelling at her. "I'm glad you're appreciating my excellent work with her, but that is so fucking inappropriate to behave that way in front of a date. Do you have any sense in that frozen brain of yours?" She took great pleasure in punctuating every few words with a blow to his body.
"Are you going to keep hitting me or let me go inside and get dressed so we can actually go?" Gray raged, knowing he'd struck gold. He knew Kaia and Seiko had one track minds when it came to setting people up. Seiko would hate it if she accidentally caused them to miss the dinner reservations she'd apparently made.
Her eyes narrowed. "Why don't you just go find the clothes you pulled off?" she challenged. Gray sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Did you not see her?" he asked, pointing in Lavinia's general direction. "Can I not get something a little nicer so I look half decent compared to her?" Seiko stood her ground a few more seconds, then relented.
"You have five minutes," she growled as she stepped aside. Gray sprinted past her into his room. "Lavinia. Coast is clear," she called out wearily. The God-Slayer cautiously stepped out of the bathroom and stood next to Seiko.
Gray came back out just as his five minutes were about to end, in black jeans and a dark red dress shirt. Seiko looked him over critically. "Not bad," she decided. "Now listen carefully…" she proceeded to tell him the name of the restaurant and that they needed to be there in fifteen minutes to keep their reservation. "And for Mavis' sake, do not screw this up!" she hissed in Gray's ear just before he and Lavinia stepped out the door. "Have a fun date!" she trilled.
Lavinia rolled her eyes at Seiko as she and Gray headed out into the streets. "Sorry about this," she apologized to Gray.
"No need," he smiled genuinely. "Just two friends getting dinner together. It'll be fun." He was trying to convince himself as much as her. While he had no doubt that he would enjoy himself in Lavinia's presence, he wasn't looking forward to having to try not to ravage her every time she looked at him.
They were almost to the establishment when Lavinia slipped on her heel. Her arms flailed wildly, trying to catch her balance. Acting on instinct, Gray caught out and grabbed her before she could fall. Wrapped in his arms once again, she cursed herself for not listening to Seiko and insisting on the damn heels.
"You gotta stop falling," he smiled down at her. "At least it wasn't off a demon this time," he quipped, pulling a reluctant chuckle out of her as she regained her footing. At least they were at the place and she didn't have long to dwell on the situation. Biting her lip, they two of them walked in together.
"Oh no," Lavinia groaned as she and Gray stepped inside the restaurant. "I'm going to kill Seiko. This is way too fancy," she muttered, tugging nervously at her shirt sleeve.
"Don't worry, you'll forget all about it once the food comes," Gray tried to soothe her. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable the whole night. If they were going to be forced to do this, he at least wanted her to enjoy herself. He walked up to the hostess, trying to act like he knew what he was doing. "Reservation for… Fullbuster?" he phrased the statement as a question. He'd had no idea what Seiko had called for. Luckily, it seemed it that he guessed correctly.
"Right this way," the lady smiled, grabbing two menus and leading Gray and Lavinia towards the back. There was an open window right over their table, letting in the frigid December air. Lavinia breathed a sigh of relief. Seiko had obviously been mindful of her need for the cold. Even though the blonde was still a bit annoyed with the Dragon-Slayer, she was also grateful that she'd thought to request special accommodations.
Both Ice Mages took seats across from each other. The lights were dim; they could only just see each other. Lavinia squinted down at her menu and her face fell. "Most of these are hot aren't they?" she murmured. Gray cursed under his breath.
"We'll make sure we ask for it cold," he assured as a waitress came up to them with a smile on her face.
"Hey there folks, my name's Robin and I'll be taking care of you today," she beamed. "Can I get you started with anything to drink?"
"Um, just a cup of ice, please," Lavinia requested. "And about the food-"
"I have special orders regarding that," Robin cut in. "All food has to be cold, correct?" Gray and Lavinia both nodded their heads. "Don't worry, that was all explained when the reservation was created. It has been taken care of," she assured. Lavinia visibly relaxed. She didn't mind room-temperature food, but she couldn't eat anything that was fresh out of the oven.
Robin left to grab their drinks when Gray placed his order and the two of them were left alone again. "That takes a burden off my shoulders," Lavinia breathed. "I'll have to thank Seiko."
"I didn't think that you'd thank Seiko for anything," Gray chortled. "Except for doing such a number on your face. Have you seen it?" Lavinia nodded her head, but looked rather unimpressed.
"I still look like me, which is a relief. I was slightly terrified once I saw how much she brought," she admitted, still with a bit of good humor in her voice. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought I was going to be sitting there for the whole hour, but she was done with me in under twenty minutes."
"You look amazing," Gray complimented. He was surprised when she looked down, blush staining her cheeks. Even more shocking, there was a small little smile gracing her lips. Maybe… just maybe Kaia and Lucy had been right about her feelings for him….
"Here you are," Robin said, returning with their drinks. "Have you decided what you'd like?"
"Everything I could order would be cold?" Lavinia double checked. Robin nodded cheerfully. "Can I get the chicken penne with tomato please?" Robin wrote her order down, along with the steak Gray wanted. "We'll have this ready for you soon," she promised before taking the order to the kitchen.
"How do you now know what cake is but can instantly recognize fancy restaurant meals?" Gray teased as soon as Robin was out of earshot. The smile that was on Lavinia's face flickered for a moment.
"Well, myself and the family I lived with hunted chicken before," she explained carefully. "And we grew tomatoes. Occasionally we ate in towns if we travelled far enough south, so I've had pasta before. It just wasn't often that we spent time in the south. We lived deep in the northern continent."
"No kidding? That's where I was born," Gray commented. "I lived up there before coming to FairyTail. Actually… that's where I learned my magic. My master was a woman named Ur, and myself and someone named Lyon trained with her. We were close to a town though, so you must have been even farther north than we were."
"When did you come to FairyTail?" Lavinia wondered. "Did Lyon or Ur, or both, come with you? I don't think I've met them…" she trailed off when she saw the dark look on Gray's face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. You don't have to answer," she immediately tried to rectify her mistake.
"You're fine," Gray assured. "You didn't know. Ur.. she sacrificed her life to save Lyon and I. It was my fault; I went after something that I shouldn't have. Lyon blamed me and we went our separate ways. That's when I made my way to FairyTail. Lyon and I didn't meet again for years. He's actually part of the Lamia Scale guild now. We see him from time to time."
Lavinia was stunned. If someone had asked her questions about her past like that, especially ones regarding her teacher, she would have shut them out and refused to speak even one word on the topic. But Gray had completely opened up to her. She could tell it hadn't been easy for him to talk about that; she saw the pain clearly on his face when he relived Ur's final moments. Hesitantly, because she wasn't sure if she was allowed, she reached out across the table and covered his hand with hers. His gaze snapped up to meet hers.
"I'm sorry," she murmured sincerely. "But thank you for telling me. I know that can't have been easy for you. I-" she cut off here, not sure if she wanted to continue. It was still painful to talk about him. But Gray, of all people could understand. He'd lost his own master. "I was forced to watch the person who taught me magic die in front of me. I was powerless to stop it. He-" she cut off again as Robin returned, placing their food in front of them. Lavinia hastily removed her hand from Gray's.
"Let me know if I can get you anything else," she said earnestly as she left again. Losing her nerve, Lavinia dug into her food. She looked away from her raven-haired companion, shutting her doors again.
But Gray wasn't going to let her do that this time. He was finally getting her to trust him enough to open her doors for him. He wanted to keep them open. Hell, he wanted her, and he was pretty sure she'd put up enough signs to at least say she was interested in him too. Something was holding her back, like she was afraid of opening up. Gray wanted to make sure that he could take that fear away from her. Swallowing, he steeled himself and asked the question. "The person who taught you magic… was his name Midian?"
Lavinia nearly choked on the food that she was swallowing. After a few hard coughs, she looked up at Gray was nothing but pure fear in her eyes. "How did you know that name?" she whispered.
"You… kind of talk in your sleep," Gray admitted, putting one hand on the back of his neck. "You just said the name last night, and I wondered if that's who Midian was." He purposely left out the part where she'd said his own name, and that he could tell she was having a nightmare. Gray realized with a start that she'd probably been seeing Midian's final moments once again in her dream. Lavinia looked down at her hands.
"Yes. His name was Midian," she murmured. "I lived with him and his brother while he taught me magic, before they both died to save me from a monster. He's the one that gave me this," she said, touching the silver star on her circlet briefly. "I wear this to remember him and honor the power that he taught me to use."
"Thank you," Gray said. This time, it was he who reached over and took her hand. "You can tell me if you need to. I know it's not easy. I want you to know… actually, I hope you already know that you can trust me. But if you aren't ready to say anything, I don't want to push it. I'll give you the time that you need." Lavinia looked back up at him. She could tell that he meant every word he said just by looking into his eyes.
"I do trust you," she heard herself whisper. "More than anyone." Not even that was a lie. With Midian gone, there wasn't a single person Lavinia knew with 100% certainty she could trust. That didn't make her any less terrified to admit it. The last person she'd opened up to had used that as an advantage and done everything in their power to use those weaknesses against her. She would be beyond devastated if Gray turned out to be the same-
Her thought were cut off as Gray lunged across the table, pressing his lips against hers. She couldn't move a single muscle. Lavinia was so shocked that she couldn't register anything else other than the feel of his cold mouth over hers. And she liked it. She liked it so much more than she should have. Against her will, her eyelids started to flutter shut.
Gray pulled back a moment later, hesitantly watching her to scope her reaction. She blinked a few times before she was able to see straight again. Then, faster than lightning, she whipped her hand back and slapped him as hard as she could across his face.
A/N: A: Oooooh someone's gonna be in trouble! REVIEW and tell us what you thought! Leave your comments, questions, concerns, feelings, hopes, thoughts, and dreams in a REVIEW for us! WE LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!
E: Did I just end it there? Why yes, yes I did. And I'm proud of it! Poor Gray though, he gets beat up a lot in this chapter! Anyways, I recommend you do as Ana says and review! Sneak peek for next time: Lavinia and Gray have a rather heated discussion about what just happened, and Lavinia makes important choices regarding their future. We hope to see you then!
UNTIL NEXT TIME OUR LOVELIES!
