Chapter Ten:
Gray shifted his weight awkwardly in the hard plastic chair inside the little coffee shop. He'd found a combination coffee shop with bakery on the second floor of the Jolly Jester Casino. It was crowded with customers and they had claimed the last free table in the far corner. It wasn't originally free, but the two men that had been nursing their coffees abruptly left when Erza glared in their direction. He had offered to purchase Erza a slice of cheesecake to settle her nerves. She wanted the whole cake and then some. They were trying to keep a low profile, but Erza's unusual level of sweet tooth attracted a great deal of attention from the vacationers in the casinos.
She was wearing a sleek dark blue gown. Would she be able to continue to fit into it after she devoured half the goods in the bakery? Perhaps it didn't matter. She could just requip into something larger if necessary.
Gray looked up when the bell at the front door chimed at the entrance of another customer. It was a middle-aged man with dark hair and he was wearing a bright red suit. Blending in was definitely not on that man's agenda. A prominent scar stretched jaggedly from his forehead to his left ear. He shifted the sunglasses over his eyes down so that he could view the customers within the coffee shop. His bright silver eyes settled on Gray and Erza and he started to make his way towards them.
"We're about to have company," Gray whispered. Erza nodded, but she continued to shovel the cheesecake into her mouth. "Jeez, you're not even tasting the cake. How can you possibly enjoy gorging yourself like this?"
Erza pointed her fork at him threateningly for a moment before she dug right back into her dessert.
Gray sighed and looked up as the man in the red suit stood at the edge of their table. That man would have a very difficult time fitting in given his height and bulk. He was massive and the suit was stretched taught over his muscles.
"Excuse me, fine young people," the man said. He reached into the inner folds of his blazer and brought out a pair of elaborate golden tickets. "Would the pair of you be interested in complimentary tickets to a magic show for tomorrow?"
"A magic show?" Gray echoed skeptically. He accepted the tickets and upon further inspection they appeared harmless enough, if not a bit tacky.
"Indeed, the greatest magicians in the world shall perform wonders that will have you and your lady friend ooing and aahing!" The man in the red suit spread his arms out wide and sparks of light danced from his fingertips. "Can I count on you?"
Erza continued to focus on her food and it became clear she had no intention on addressing the man. "It's free?" Gray asked glancing back up at the mountain of a man. The stranger smiled wide, his teeth were shockingly white and reflected the light from the fixture over their table.
"If you have a golden ticket," the stranger said with a nod. He bowed in a flourish and then in a puff of crimson smoke he vanished.
Erza looked up from her empty plate and stared at the spot where the man had vanished. "I have no intention of attending that man's show."
"Why not? He seemed legit. There's something magical about him or he wouldn't have been able to teleport before our eyes," Gray pointed out. He tapped the golden tickets on the tabletop.
"He is like that creepy Ichiya from Pegasus," Erza said. She began to stack up her empty plates and set them to the side of the table. "I've had my fill. Let's go do our job."
Gray tucked the tickets in his front pocket. He didn't really mind if Erza skipped out on the magic show. He'd just take Lucy. "It's probably a trap. There's no way he would have randomly selected us out of all these people in the coffee shop."
"All the more reason to avoid it," Erza said. She rose from the table gracefully and started for the door.
Gray threw a tip on the table to help with the trouble of the server having to clean the mass of dirty dishes — he held more sympathy for such things given the amount of times he'd done a similar job with Lucy at a local restaurant back in Fiore. He followed after Erza as they took the elevator down to the casino levels of the large hotel. "I'll see if Lucy wants to go," Gray said. If it was a trap then he wanted to look into it. Any clues into the disappearance of so many people needed to be investigated.
They weaved their way through the crowded halls and the bright lights of the casino games flooded their field of vision. There were sounds of sirens blaring indicating jackpot winners, shouts and cheers from the card and dice tables, and exotic dancers on center stage with giant feathers sticking out of every which body area. One particular dancer drew Gray's attention. She had an amazing body, violet colored hair, golden eyes, and seemed to be wearing horns on the top of her head. She winked at him and he quickly averted his gaze.
"What is that?" Erza gestured past the chaotic crowd to settle on the far end of the room. There were large white pillars and a building inside of the building that resembled an ancient Greek temple. The golden sign across the top of the building read Wedding Chapel. "People would marry at a casino?"
Gray and Erza continued through the crowds until they arrived closer to the wedding chapel. "Looks like you can choose between any of the Ten Wizard Saints to perform the ceremony," Gray said. He read the brief description on the plaque outside of the chapel that described the various wedding packages. There was an impersonator of each of the current wizard saints. Lucy would probably think it was interesting. "I wonder if there was an impersonator for Siegrain before his expulsion from the group."
Erza frowned at the placard. "This place is ridiculous." She hooked her elbow through Gray's. "We need to check out some of the card games and dice games. Listen for any helpful gossip." Her high heels clicked smartly against the marble floor as she led Gray back through the crowds.
"Just loosen up," Gray suggested. "It looks like you're casing the place." Gray had the uneasy feeling that someone was watching them. He kept his eyes sharp and observed any unusual details. The wait staff wandered about the floor with trays of cocktails and wine.
Erza snatched up a glass of wine and drained it. She set the empty glass on the tray and took a second one. "I can do loose." Gray tightened his hold on her elbow. If she'd been too tense before now she was working on being a drunk.
"I think two is enough," Gray said steering her away from the wait staff and towards the large bingo section of the casino. If anyone would be gossiping surely it would be bingo players. Gray had no idea of the true cut-throat nature of competitive bingo.
OoO
Lucy and the now maroon-haired Jellal sauntered through Indigo Indecency, the crowded casino next door to their casino hotel. She wore an elegant emerald gown and the starbursts of her opal necklace and earrings were eye-catching. Jellal wore a charcoal gray suit with an emerald silk undershirt. He kept trying to rub at the makeup over his tattooed mark, but Lucy would knock his hand aside from his face before he could mess up her excellent job at glamour. It was ironic that Jellal – their enemy for so long and feared mage – was letting his hand be slapped away by her like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Jellal was quite skilled at poker, his face a stoic mask and his ability to read the players around him proving a lethal combination. He'd been playing and winning for an hour at his table while his pink-haired bombshell of a dealer flirted blatantly with him. Lucy played at a nearby slot machine.
She fed her chips into the slot machine, pressed the lever on the right, and watched as a series of three rows spun vertically until three images lined up horizontally at the bottom. Only once had she matched three images together and won a small amount. She looked down at her bucket of chips and frowned. She'd only be able to play a few more times before she ran out of chips. So far she hadn't overheard anything particularly interesting amongst the other slot machine players. They all seemed to be focused on the three images before them and not particularly social with one another.
The elderly woman to her right reeked of cigarettes. Her hair was a tacky dyed blue color and pilled upon her head in a bee-hive style. It took all of Lucy's etiquette lesions from her upbringing not to ask the woman to take a shower and save her neighbors from her smelly funk. The woman grunted in disgust after losing another round, reached into her over-sized jewel encrusted purse and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She hurried to the exit vacating her slot machine.
"Oh, thank goodness. I thought she would never leave," the man next to her said, looking toward Lucy. He winked, crinkling the prominent scar across the left side of his face. "Now we can breathe." He was an older man, near the same age as her father, and with dark hair. His eyes were a beautiful silver color. He wore a red suit and reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of golden tickets. "You wouldn't happen to be a fan of magic, my dear?"
Lucy stuck in another chip into her machine and pulled the lever. Three matching diamond symbols lined up across the bottom row. Coins began to spill out of the bottom of her machine and she pulled her bucket close to catch her winnings. She turned towards the man in red. "I've been losing all night and now I've hit the jackpot? I believe in magic," she confirmed. There was no need to tell him that she was a mage herself.
"Ah," he pointed toward her slot machine. "That was luck, my dear. Magic is different. Magic is art and mystery and illusion." He held the two golden tickets in her direction. "I've a spare set of tickets for tomorrow's performance in the Pleasure Palace down the block. Would you be interested in attending?"
"Sure," Lucy agreed accepting the tickets. She looked back to thank the man, but he was gone. "That's weird."
"What's weird?" Jellal asked, taking the empty seat to her immediate right. "Ugh, this area stinks. Maybe you should have let me keep my mask. It serves as a good filter."
"A chain smoker was there a few minutes ago." Lucy handed over the tickets she'd just received from the man in red. "What's weird is that a strange man just gave these to me and then he disappeared." She picked up her suddenly heavy bucket and showed Jellal. "I'm a winner."
"Me too," he said with a grin showing her his winnings. While her chips were plentiful they weren't worth a great amount of money. Jellal's bucket was full of high dollar chips. She pulled out one of his chips. It was worth a hundred thousand jewels. "Is this real?"
Jellal nodded. "I think I drew too much attention. They don't like for people to win too much. The House is always the winner in the end."
"Well you certainly caught the dealer's eye," Lucy pointed out. The pink-haired girl kept looking in Jellal's direction, alternating between batting her eyelashes at Jellal and shooting venomous glares in Lucy's direction. "And I'm pretty sure she's wishing me dead right now."
Jellal's cheeks flushed. "She tried to give me a keycard to her hotel room," he whispered. "She seemed to like my company and a flirtatious woman was more likely to let slip some valuable information."
Lucy touched Jellal's arm. "You don't have to do that. We'll find other ways. If you do that Erza would be devastated." Lucy would have been very upset if Gray had offered himself as bait in such a situation. She wasn't as scary as Erza when she was angry. It was best not to upset the requip mage. "Why don't we check out the Russian Roulette table? We can let The House win back some of their money so they'll go back to ignoring us and your card dealer will assume you're with me and she'll give her keycard to someone more interested in what she has to offer."
"Let's just find a section with clearer air," Jellal suggested. He took Lucy's hand and helped her stand. He led her toward the crowd at a the Russian Roulette table. The spinning red and black slots were mesmerizing to the spectators, but they looked up at the sound of Jellal plunking his bucket of chips on the edge of the table.
"A new contestant has appeared!" a man wearing a top hat and black tails called. He held a cane in his hand and cleared away observers for the game to make room for Jellal and Lucy – his eyes never left the contents of the bucket. "It's a minimum of eighty thousand jewels per game!"
"That's more than my rent," Lucy whispered in Jellal's ear.
"Play big or go home," Jellal said with a confident grin.
OoO
"Are we there yet?" Happy asked. He was sitting on Natsu's shoulder as continued on the path to Joya City keeping parallel to the train tracks. A few hours before they had crossed the border between Bosco into Stella — an arid desert. Lisanna had taken the form of a strong white mare and was their current mode of transportation. Thankfully, Natsu hadn't felt nauseated riding Lisanna. He patted her neck, her muscles taught and a fine sheen of sweat covered her body.
"Not yet, Happy," Natsu said. They would need to rest soon. "Lisanna, we can rest now. You're really pushing yourself to the limits." He wanted to reach Joya City, but not at the expense of Lisanna. He'd lost her once before and didn't want to lose her again. However, his anxiety about Lucy was also weighing on him. She'd never gone on a mission without him. He trusted that she was strong, but it seemed that villains always wanted to kidnap her. And he didn't want Gray to get all the credit for completing the job.
Lisanna neighed at him, but kept at her brisk pace.
The temperature in the air began to decrease rapidly. Natsu glanced up at the sky to see dark rain clouds gathering. "Let's stop for now," Natsu decided. "There's a cave a little to our right." Almost the moment the words were out of his mouth the bottom fell out of the clouds and freezing rain began to fall.
Lisanna took off at a gallop that caused Happy to cling to Natsu's scarf tightly. Lisanna's transformation faded the moment she crossed the threshold of the cave and she collapsed on the ground with Natsu. He rolled so that he would absorb the brunt of their fall.
"Lisanna?" Natsu asked, worried. She was drenched in sweat, panting heavily, and her chest was heaving with effort. He held his fingers against Lisanna's forehead, but with his higher body temperature he couldn't tell if she had a fever or not.
"I'm fine. I just need rest," Lisanna said. She laid down on the cold stone ground of the cave and closed her eyes.
"Okay," Natsu said. He reached into his pack and pulled out a blanket and wrapped it around Lisanna. She was already asleep. "Make sure she drinks some water," he said to Happy.
"Aye, sir," Happy agreed.
Natsu left Happy to watch over her while he gathered firewood to keep Lisanna warm.
There had been three sudden rain showers since they started their journey. It was highly unusual, especially in the desert lands of Stella. It was delaying their time and Natsu was anxious to join his teammates. What was Team Natsu without Natsu? They were always stronger together than separate.
He set up a fire and prepared a simple meal. Happy had gorged himself on fish and then fell promptly to sleep near the fire. After a short period of time, Lisanna woke up and shared in the meal. She wasn't as pale, so the warmth and the rest were doing her wonders. She hydrated with some of the water they collected from the frequent rains.
"Are you okay?" Lisanna sat with her legs drawn up so that her knees were under her chin, her damp pale hair plastered against her skull, and gooseflesh up and down the exposed flesh of her arms.
"I'm fine. I'm just hoping they don't have too much fun until after we arrive. I can't have Gray getting all the credit." Natsu blew a stream of fire onto the wood to keep the fire strong to make the cave nice and warm for Lisanna. The cold didn't bother him, but he wanted to make sure she was comfortable. He moved to sit beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her close to his side. "Better?"
"Much," Lisanna agreed snuggling against him. "What do you think all this rain means? Stella is a desert land and yet it's rained thrice since we have crossed the border."
"My guess is that Juvia is in a bad mood," Natsu teased.
"We should reach the city in two days. Make sure that you and Gray don't destroy it, okay?"
"No promises on that," Natsu said with a grin. "I just hope they leave some fighting for me."
"I thought it was an investigation on missing persons," Lisanna said.
Natsu punched his fist into his palm, eager to punch something. "Someone is making them go missing."
OoO
Lucy and Jellal made their way back to their suite. Jellal lost half his winnings playing Russian Roulette, but at least The House wasn't keeping a close eye on him anymore.
The Russian Roulette had panned out intelligence-wise thanks to a case of mistaken identity. A married couple had approached Lucy and Jellal thinking they were their friends. The two couples had decided to meet up at the famous gambling city, but their couple friends never met them. They'd checked in to a hotel room and then proceeded to vanish without a trace. The husband thought that the other couple had decided to have a private romantic get-away. The wife suspected foul play and she'd approached the police, but was told there was nothing they could do without further proof.
Inside the suites Gray sat on the couch in his boxers and was watching the twenty-four hour news channel. He looked in their direction when they entered the room. "Nice job, Lucy," he said, his dark blue eyes scanning Jellal's hair and face critically. "You made one of the most famous men in the land anonymous."
"I had help," Lucy said. She moved to the couch and sat next to Gray. Jellal dead-bolted the door and then secured the chain. She laid her cheek against Gray's shoulder. "Where's Erza?"
Gray's sniffed her hair and his nose wrinkled in disgust. "No offense, but you stink, Lucy. Erza is in her room. She had a little too much to drink and then she got into a fight with some competitive bingo players. We had to turn in early to avoid too much attention. We didn't really learn anything." Gray pointed to the coffee table where his feet were propped up. A pair of shiny gold tickets caught Lucy's attention. "I was given tickets for a magic show tomorrow. Want to go?"
Lucy reached into her pocketbook and pulled out a matching pair of tickets. "A nice gentleman I met at the slot machines gave me a pair of tickets too."
"Was he wearing a red suit?" Gray asked.
Lucy nodded. "Same man?"
"That's not a coincidence," Jellal said pulling out a kitchen chair and bringing it near the couch. "We did meet a couple who's friends went missing. I plan to speak with the police tomorrow."
Gray stretched his arms over his legs and picked up his tickets and then compared them to the ones Lucy had. "I suspect that the magic show is a trap. This only confirms it. That only makes me want to see it more." He wrapped his arm around Lucy's waist and drew her close to his side. His skin was cool against Lucy's flesh. "Will you be my date?"
"What did this man in the red suit look like?" Jellal asked.
"Middle aged, muscular, big, dark hair, scar across the left side of his face," Gray said.
"He was also charismatic, handsome, and had bright silver eyes," Lucy added. She noted the scowl on Gray's face when she used handsome to describe the strange man.
"I would say cheesy more than charismatic. He vanished in a puff of smoke," Gray said.
"The smoking was so thick in the slot machine section I wouldn't have noticed any more smoke. One moment he was there and the next he wasn't." Lucy read over the golden ticket. Explore the Wonders of Chaos! "He was gone by the time Jellal met back up with me."
"You two will attend the magic show tomorrow evening. Erza and I will follow up on the actual disappearances starting with a conversation with the police." Jellal stretched his arms wide above his head and then scratched at the makeup covering his tattoo. "I can wash this off now, right?"
"Of course, you'll just have to give me time to reapply it in the morning," Lucy said sweetly. Jellal's shoulders slumped and he sauntered back off to his bedroom. She turned to Gray. "Will you help me out of this dress? I'm so tired I barely have the energy to return to bed."
His dark blue eyes grew wide. "Oh, right, well you need a shower first." He picked her off the couch and carried her to the bathroom. He shut the door behind them and inspected her zipper. "How did you put this on to begin with?"
"Magic," Lucy teased winking at him over her shoulder. Gray took hold of the zipper and pulled it down, the dress practically fell off Lucy and she stepped out of it wearing only her black lacy bra and black lacy underwear.
Gray stared at her for a moment. "I suppose you want privacy."
"Could you go to our room and put a set of pajamas on the counter for me?" Lucy asked. She began to pluck out various bobby pins from her hair and the blonde strands flowed loosely down her back.
"No problem," Gray said. He hurried to their room. His nose burned from the smell of cigarettes. Now he stank thanks to carrying Lucy. He went to her bag to pull out a fresh pair of blue lacy underwear and pajamas — silk shorts and a lined tank-top. "The joys of being a boyfriend," he murmured to himself. It elevated him from a pervert looking through a girl's personal items to being the personal slave to said girl and forced to look through her personal items.
"What is this?" Gray asked, his fingers brushed against a crunchy package of some sort. He pulled out the item and immediately dropped it back into the bag. He could feel his face burning in embarrassment. What was Lucy doing with a multipack of flavored condoms? It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex with Lucy. What healthy and intelligent man wouldn't want that? However, Lucy was his friend, and while now she was his girlfriend it was all too new — they just barely started holding hands! What if he did it wrong? Would she break up with him? Maybe he should read a book about doing it first. Or ask Loke. He cringed at the latter idea, knowing that the celestial playboy would give him grief about the matter.
He gathered the panties and pajamas and made his way back to the bathroom. He set them on the counter by the mirror. It was very steamy in the bathroom. He leaned against the counter and stared at his image in the fogged up mirror. Should he bring up the condoms? Did he need to set boundaries?
Lucy pulled back the shower curtain so she could look out at him. "Thanks, Gray, I—-"
"Yes?" Gray asked, turning to face her direction. Her face was red and her eyes big.
"Where are your clothes?" she squeaked.
He glanced down. Of course he stripped. He'd been freaked out by the package of condoms after all. "That smoky stench of yours rubbed off onto me," he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Why don't we share a shower then?"
"Are you sure?" Gray asked.
Lucy nodded and held the curtain back a little further for him. Gray stepped in behind her in the shower. The water was a little warm for his taste, but the smell of her cherry blossom shower gel was intoxicating. Lucy handed the bottle of gel to him. He read the ingredients. It was a combination of cherry blossoms and sandalwood. Definitely better than the old lady cigarettes.
Lucy stood facing him while she shampooed her hair. Gray's eyes couldn't help but travel down to her exposed breasts. They were impressive. How could he ignore them? He cleared his throat. "So what do you think will happen at the magic show tomorrow?" He poured a generous amount of gel into the palm of his hand and began to lather it over his chest, arms, and abdomen.
"I think you're right and that it's a trap. It might lead to an explanation for the missing people. Why did the man in the red suit choose us for tickets? Was it because of our magic? Was it our youth? Was it because we aren't locals?" Lucy asked. She stood under the water and rinsed her hair. She twisted her hair up in a knot and piled it on the top of her head to keep it out of the way.
Gray handed her the shower gel and she put it on a shelf inside the shower. She shuffled her feet closer to him and placed her hands hesitantly on his shoulders and began to rub the gel across his flesh. She looked up to meet his eyes. "Is this okay?"
Gray swallowed thickly. "It's fine," he said, voice cracking. "A little distracting, but fine," he said in a more clear voice.
Lucy pressed her weight against him and angled her chin towards him. Gray tilted his head and their lips pressed together in a chaste kiss. Lucy's arms slipped from his chest to around his neck and pulled him closer against her. Her breasts pressed against his chest and Gray's hands found their way to her hips. He deepened the kiss and pivoted so that he was supporting Lucy's weight against the tiles of the shower wall and he was under the falling water.
The water stopped falling. He looked back in confusion. He froze the shower. At least it helped to calm him down in certain other areas.
Lucy laughed quietly, pressing her cheek against his chest.
"Hopefully, it will thaw out by tomorrow morning," he said with a cringe. He kissed the top of Lucy's golden head. "I think it might be time to retire for the night. Do you…want me to sleep on the couch?"
"Of course not," Lucy said. She kissed the guild tattoo on his right pectoral and then she kissed the scar on his lower abdomen. "I guess I better stop there," she said with a sigh, leaning against him.
"Hm," Gray answered. He'd have been glad if she hadn't stopped there, but he was pretty sure that by any indication of the stock of condoms he found her in bag that he'd be having a raincheck soon enough. "We should get some sleep." He reached down and turned off the shower nob even though he'd frozen it. He pulled back the shower curtain and grabbed a towel for Lucy and himself.
They dried off and Lucy smiled at the pajamas. "Good choice," she said holding up the pink and blue cherry blossom patterned silk pajamas. She slipped them on quickly and made sure to hang her towel up neatly on the hook on the back of the door.
Gray tied his towel around his waist and then ran his fingers through Lucy's damp hair and tucked a strand behind her ear. He grasped her hand in his. "Let's go," he said opening the door and leading her back to their bed. They slipped under the covers together and he held her close against him.
"This whole boyfriend-girlfriend deal is working out rather nice," Lucy murmured. Her cheek was pressed against his chest, her damp hair fell across his bare skin.
"Just try not to get kidnapped tomorrow," Gray teased, pinching her hip.
"I'll be fine as long as you're by my side," Lucy said quietly slapping away his hand.