Seeing Gray in a faux police uniform had Lucy rather taken aback. After a moment or two of just standing there in the lobby, Gray finally took a breath to speak.
"Okay, so I might be a stripper." He said, his shoulders lifting and falling into a simple little shrug. "What's your point."
That was Lucy's point. "I thought Natsu was kidding when he said you were a stripper. I-I just thought-"
"That I prefer to be naked? There's that, too." The ravenette rolled his eyes in an all too relaxed motion. "Natsu doesn't know. Erza does, but trust me when I say I wasn't too keen on telling her."
Lucy lifted her hands up to her shoulders in a gesture of surrender. "Believable. Would you be up for explaining after your-session?"
Gray was silent a moment before snorting in laughter. "Mavis, blondie, please don't call it a session. I'm not a prostitute."
The blonde pouted her lips softly, having not meant it that way at all; then again, she was a bit of an oblivious girl. "You remember where my apartment is. Just come by when you're done. With your clothes on."
The fake cop before her tipped his hat at her before securing it over his waterfall of black hair again. "Yes, Miss Lucy." He assured her. Jabbing his thumb into the up button on the elevator, Gray rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment.
"Good." Lucy confirmed with a nod of her head. Her mail felt heavy in her sweating palms.
Gray stepped into the open elevator, his hand pressing up on the buttons. He stood there in silence for a moment, slipping his fingers through the waist of his black belt. "Well? You coming up or not?"
Lucy's eyes widened in realization that just standing there would do her no good. "Right." She said quickly, jogging over to hop inside the lift with him.
The blonde felt her cheeks heat up for a moment. "It's just it kinda seemed like we already said goodbye-"
"I know." Gray chuckled, comfortably staring at the reflectively gold doors in front of them as they ascended.
Lucy's chest rose and fell shallowly as she hugged her mail to her chest. Sure, this was an odd situation to be in, but she felt more than lucky that she knew Gray, let alone befriended him. Because things would be much more awkward had Lucy been riding the elevator with a stripper she didn't know at near midnight. At least now she could say she knew that stripper. And she was oddly proud of that fact.
Lucy Heartfilia, friends with a stripper. She must have written that in her dream diary when she was eight.
Pressing her lips together was all she could do to restrain the smile creeping up her face.
Her smile diminished five hours later when she was more than tired and answered the door to an equally exhausted Gray. Leaving the door open for him, Lucy walked away into her apartment. "There's glitter in your hair."
Gray was locking up her front door when his eyes widened. He pulled out his phone, looking into the dark glass of his screen to shake out the sparkling flakes from his hair like dandruff. Clearing his throat, Gray kicked off his shoes and followed her. "How was your night?"
"It's three in the morning and I'm talking to a stripper." Lucy shrugged. She scooped loose tea leaves out from their tin and dumped it into the top of the colander. "Pretty good I guess. You?"
Gray leaned against the kitchen wall as he watched her work. "Fairly decent. I made money to make girls squeal without even having to touch them."
"Lucky you." Lucy drew out semi-sarcastically. As the tea brewed, she looked over her shoulder at Gray's smug face and gestured him over. "Come on, wash up. Are you hungry?"
The raven haired man uncrossed his arms from his chest and let them sway at his sides as he walked. "Mother Lucy, you're rivaling Mother Erza's spot on the squad."
Hanging her head slightly, Lucy leaned against the kitchen counter. "You know I don't have to feed you."
Just like that, Gray pushed up his hands and stuck them under the kitchen faucet to wash up. Being at a strange house full of drunk women made Lucy worry for both of their sanitary states now. Gray, however, used more than plenty of soap, squishing his palms together and playing with the suds in a childish manner.
"How much money did you make tonight?" Lucy asked nonchalantly. She buried her head in the refrigerator to find something for him to eat and to keep her awake.
Grabbing a towel for his hands, Gray narrowed his eyes at her. "Why?" He asked carefully.
The blonde just shrugged as she grabbed some eggs from the fridge. "I was wondering if I could bribe you into paying me for my hospitality." She replied with a slight grin.
Gray was careless with his laugh, his mouth falling open in a disbelieving o shape. "Well, that's what all real friends do." He said in justification.
Lucy affirmatively nodded her head. Grabbing a pan from below the counter, she placed it on and heated up the stove. Her friend just cocked his head at her and asked, "What are you making?"
There was a sharp crack and the hiss of sizzling as Lucy cracked an egg into the skillet. "Breakfast."
And it went like that: friends sleeping over for breakfast food at the early hours of the morning after a long night out. Lucy never had that, and she hadn't even realized what this moment truly was until she sat down on the couch with him to eat, their lower bodies draped in blankets and legs pushing at each other in battle for more sofa space.
Gray gave up the fight and drew his legs into his chest. "If I knew you made such killer omelets then I would've told you I was a stripper long ago."
Lucy snorted. "If I knew you were a stripper than I'd have you pick up the coffee tab way more often." There was a moment she was estimating just how much money he made until the image of bills of money being tucked into his crotch made her mouth go sour. She forced down her bite of food before willing the thought away.
As Gray poked at the yellowed eggs on his plate, Lucy hardly noticed the smile quirk up the corner of her mouth. Suddenly feeling tired didn't feel so tiring, like she could fall asleep right there in his company and be completely content in the fact she was comfortable around him, not like family and not like lovers and not like friends, but something with a piece of all of those in a simply platonic way.
"Do you like what you do?" Lucy piped up, pulling apart and playing with her food out of habit.
The man across from her just grunted softly. "It's fine. Not exactly something that would make people proud...but it gets the job done."
Trying to make people proud, Lucy thought, was a complete waste of time. She flashed Gray a coy smile in hopes of lightening his mood. "Not to mention you get to give some nice little bachelorettes a bit of innocent happiness for a night."
Gray smiled with half of his mouth, his jaw gritting softly. "It would be. But that's not really my thing." He said, his eyes locking with Lucy's and narrowing suggestively. "You know...females."
And with that, Lucy's denseness had stooped down to Natsu's level. It wasn't until Gray took a bite of omelet with his dark obsidian eyes widened with fake innocence at her that Lucy made a small 'ah' sound of realization.
"And you never cared to mention that before?" Lucy had to reach over and set her plate of half eaten food on the coffee table. "I mean, what about that poor girl at the café who keeps flirting with you?"
Gray shrugged bluntly, obviously not having cared about her. "I don't have the heart to let her down. Besides, the little hearts she puts by my name on my coffee makes me feel special."
Lucy and Gray each shared a wild snort of laughter at the casualness of it all. A poor, seemingly sweet woman was in love with a gay man who just used it to his advantage to get good coffee. A daily routine, perfectly normal. Normal was nonexistent for Lucy, and it seemed so for her friends as well.
"You know, that's where I got them from." Gray said, swallowing the food in his mouth before elaborating. "The bruises. They aren't from Loke, they're from Lyon. Apparently he's that girl's boyfriend or something."
Lucy furrowed her brows. For once she was reveling in someone else's drama and it felt great to not be involved first hand, just watch or listen like an in-real-life drama show. "Why is she flirting with you if she has a boyfriend?"
Gray just rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. "I said 'or something,' Lucy, that implies that they aren't official and I don't know."
At least his level of sass made sense now. Lucy huffed a clumpy strand of blonde hair away from her face. "Why don't you just tell Lyon you're gay then? Problem-o solved."
Lucy wondered if that had been what was happening the day Lyon pushed past her so quickly during school that the strap on her bag broke. She could just imagine him saying: 'Sorry! I have to go beat up a gay guy because the girl I want to date hits on him! I'll see you next week!' Enticing.
"Right, sounds like a great idea." Gray mumbled, stuffing the rest of his food in his mouth in a record time that would rival Natsu's speed-eating. "Just proclaim my gay-ity to him to keep him from fighting me."
It truly did sound like a great idea, so Lucy didn't understand. "First off, it's homosexuality, not gay-ity. Second, what's the big deal? You get one less fight to worry about."
Gray snorted as he set his plate down on the coffee table. "Coming out doesn't solve anything, Lucy. It never has and it never will."
The blonde shifted uncomfortably on the couch as Gray seemed to draw his legs in closer to his body. Lucy knew that position, the 'I-just-want-to-curl-up-and-disappear' position. "Says who?"
"It just doesn't!" Gray said again, his blackened eyes looking at hers a moment before darting off again. "Loke hated me for it. My family did. Why wouldn't anyone else?"
Lucy's brown eyes widened again. "Oh my Mavis-"
Gray just rolled his eyes. "Yes, Lucy, I'm gay. The shock factor is a little late on you." He mumbled, black eyes rolling in annoyance.
Grumbling, Lucy reached out and kicked him with her foot. "Not that!" She hissed.
Gray smacked her away semi-playfully and semi-angrily. "Then what?"
Lucy wasn't sure whether to let her lips curl into a smile or just keep a strong, sympathetic face for Gray's sake. "You love him, don't you?"
It didn't take much of an answer: Lucy knew by the way he deflected his gaze, the same way she had when Gray had asked her about Natsu. "You're in love with Loke."
Nalu Lemon Novel
Exy Koroleva © 2016
Thank you for reading.
Some triggering scenes
to be included, so please
do not report. Comments
& votes are appreciated.