Putting Theory to Practice
Part Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did own Fairy Tail
this wouldn't be fanfiction; it would be the word of God.
(If you read TV Tropes you hopefully got that attempt at joke.)


P A R T . T W O

Countess and courtesan
Have fallen 'neath my tender hand
When their husbands were not around
But you, my spoiled teenage girlfriend
And how you are furrowed like a lioness
Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect (Decemberists)


"When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice."
~ Marquis De Lagrange

When the forecast turned dour he had seriously contemplated bailing on his date with Lucy. He couldn't take her to an outside light show with the sky dumping out an ocean over the land, and it wasn't like the light show would be happening even if they did attempt to brave the storm. So it seemed logical to just take a rain check. Lucy was a smart girl, and he was sure that she would understand.

Only as it got later and later and he got more and more bored, Gray found himself thinking about a certain blond an awful lot.

What was she doing? Did she still expect him to show up, and either way, was she disappointed that he hadn't? Was she just reading another one of her beloved books, or... or was she maybe thinking about him while doing something much naughtier? Hm... He could only wonder... or he could always go over to her place. It wasn't actually that far of a walk, and he was quite confident she'd be glad to see him even if it was a little late.

The light over his head flickered as thunder rolled. Gray narrowed his dark eyes at the exposed florescent that swung on its rusted chain above his bed. The electricity is fucked up enough without bad weather. I'll be damned if this whole building doesn't lose power within the next hour. He stayed in the cheap apartment because he was a cheapskate who didn't feel like spending all his time worrying about rent like Lucy, but at times like this he regretted his stinginess.

I bet Lucy will still have power in an hour, and if she doesn't, then she'll want company. An image of the beautiful blond girl cowering in flimsy pajamas on her bed in the dark materialized in his mind. Her pretty face distorted with fear as the storm got worse and worse; she'd be whimpering, wishing he'd show up. Then like magic, he'd be there to hold her, protect her, make love to her until the storm passed...

Gray shook his head to clear his mind of such dirty thoughts right as the lights flickered one more time, and then went out without farther fanfare. He got up out of his bed, and fumbled around pulling on the clothes he had been planning to wear on his date with Lucy. It was decided, why the hell should he lay around in the dark when he had a gorgeous girl waiting for him two blocks down?

As an after thought Gray grabbed his wallet and shoved it down in his pants pocket, thinking of the condom shoved down in the ID card slot. It was always better to be safe than sorry. Gray stepped out of his apartment, locked the front door as an after thought, and set out for Lucy's place.


Dark storm clouds rolled in from the west to blot out the night sky, and the first of many rain drops tumbled down from the gradually darkening sky. It was the first major storm of spring, and the weather reporters didn't expect it to pass for several more hours. Normally she'd be okay with this turn of events, but this evening she found the stormy sky a burden. Tonight was her first date with Gray Fullbuster, and it was not supposed to be raining.

Lucy Heartfilia stared dejectedly out her bedroom window. Doesn't this just figure. She thought as a crack of thunder rolled through the air and lightning lit up the streets below. Her hazel eyes scanned the streets below for any signs of life. There were none.

Well, she couldn't blame him for taking a rain check tonight. She sighed as she removed herself from the window seat. There was no reason to get upset over spilt milk; she couldn't make it stop storming, and neither could he.

The blond trekked across her bedroom to her small closet space. It was eight o'clock, and he hadn't shown up so, she felt it was alright to slip out of her new clothes and into some comfy pajamas for the night. She peeled off her v-cut, black sweater, and the red, lace trimmed tank top underneath it. She slipped out of her skin tight jeans, and tossed the bundle of clothes into the hamper before she dug out her old, faithful pajama set: a pair of white and blue pinstriped shorts, and a white tank top.

A clap of thunder shook the pictures on the walls, and the lights in her bedroom flickered. Oh please, don't let the power go out. She pleaded to the heavens as she exited her closet, and the flopped down on her bed. Very few things scared Lucy, but she'd be lying if she said she was fond of black outs during bad weather.

Deciding not to follow that line of thought she picked up her latest read off her bedside table, and flipped it open. The book was a fantasy/adventure novel that had just lately gained a lot of popularity among the stellar spirit mage community. Its plot was largely based on ancient conspiracy theories concerning the origin of stellar spirit keys, which would have been interesting by itself, but there was also a delightful romantic subplot concerning the main character, Niagara, and her best friend, Jacoby.

Books always easily enraptured the blond mage, and in no time she was far away from the escalating storm trekking through the sunny deserts of Yoira. Time ticked by slowly in the real world, and Lucy easily lost track of it. There was no telling how long she would have remained in Yoira had not someone knocked.

The first knock she wrote off as her imagination, but the second was louder and undeniably there. Who could possibly be out this late in this storm? Lucy wondered as she crawled out of her bed, and went to answer her front door.

While she had been reading the storm outside had been growing in intensity. Now the rain pounded out a hard, incessant beat on her roof, and every few moments lightning illuminated the room in quick flashes of lurid white light. The person at her door was persistently knocking without pause not that Lucy blamed them what with the thunder blotting out all other sound every minute or so, they probably thought she couldn't hear them over it.

I bet they're soaked. Poor soul, they really shouldn't be out in this. Lucy thought as she reached her front door, and pulled it wide open. The stellar spirit user uttered a small gasp when her eyes locked on her nighttime visitor. Gray Fullbuster stood on her front steps soaked to the bone with one arm raised mid-knock.

"Get inside before you freeze, you idiot." Lucy scolded lightly when she recovered from her initial shock. She stepped to one side to let the older mage pass, and quickly closed the door behind him before the chill could get inside.

She pulled the lock securely into place before turning to face her guest. A puddle of rainwater had formed around Gray's feet, and his dark hair was plastered to his skin. The exhibitionist was fully dressed in a soaked, blue button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black dress slacks that stuck to his lithe form like a second skin. Despite the fact that he was wet and probably freezing, he was smiling, and Lucy's heart skipped a beat as she thought that maybe he was smiling for her.

However, the practical came before the romantic, and Gray would be fucking sick for sure if he didn't get out of his soaked clothes soon.

"What are you doing out in this weather?" Lucy asked, hands poised on her hips. "You'll be sick, and I won't get my makeup date."

"Sorry for thinking you might enjoy riding out the storm with me." Gray shot back. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she could've swore that sentence was more loaded with innuendo than anything. Promptly a faint blush dusted her cheeks. She pushed that idea from her mind quickly before less modest thoughts could follow it.

"I can handle one little storm by myself, I'll have you know." She continued now in full on mother hen mode. "And you need to get out of them clothes; they're soaked all the way through. You must be freezing to death."

"I'm quite used to the cold actually."

"Either way you're dripping all over my floor. Strip." She demanded.

"Usually I'd expect you to buy me dinner first, but for you..." Gray trailed off as his fingers deftly freed the buttons of his shirt one by one.

The blush on Lucy's cheeks darkened, and she swallowed hard. It wasn't like she hadn't seen Gray naked before, but it was different now that they were, to one degree or another, dating—it was more sluttish somehow.

She knew she shouldn't watch, but seeing his fingers run over his smooth skin as he undid the buttons of his shirt held her transfixed. Each button slid from its place minutely exposing more of Gray's sculpted body. The sloping, chiseled planes of well defined muscle. The dark navy tattoo on his left pectoral, and the way his metal necklace perfectly divided his chest into two halves. Abdominal muscles came into view one by one, and Lucy found herself imagining what they would feel like beneath her fingertips. She wondered how the ridges of muscles would ripple beneath her touch, and whether his skin would be cool or warm beneath hers...

"Lucy, you're drooling."

"What!" She squeaked. "I am not." She denied quickly as she spun on her heel to face away from the ice user. Trying to be as discreet as possible she quickly wiped her hand across her mouth. No drool, you damn lair. She mentally cursed.

"Are too." He said in a high sing-song tone.

"You know it's impolite to just start stripping in front of me." She huffed. "You'll scar me for life."

"You know you like it." He teased. "And anyways, you're the one who told me to strip."

"Whatever. Go to the bathroom, and I'll find something for you to wear." Lucy paused as she tried to think of exactly what she could find. Then it dawned on her, and she mentally patted herself on the back for figuring it out so quickly.

"I have few of Natsu's clothes in the laundry room that should fit you." She declared, and quickly took off to fetch the aforementioned clothing, grateful for an excuse to get away long enough for her blush to die down. Suddenly she was very thankful that she had agreed to wash Natsu's vomit saturated clothes for him that night he'd broken in drunk and highly upset with Lisanna.


Gray slipped into Lucy's bathroom, and finished stripping in record time. The only reason he'd even taken so long with his shirt out front was for Lucy's benefit, but now safely away from her eyes he tugged the clothing off unceremoniously. The beauty of his sub-conscience stripping habit was the quick development of a talent for removing clothing which came in handy in more ways than one.

As he waited for Lucy to bring him something to wear he brooded over her last words to him. What the hell is she doing with a bunch of Natsu's clothing? Why has Natsu even had clothing off in her home? Surely if he'd been with Lucy flame-head would've been bragging about it by now... Gray's stomach twisted angrily as he considered the multitude of possibilities. The green eyed monster locked down on Gray's thoughts as the mage found himself genuinely irked.

Why the hell do I even fucking care? The ice alchemist growled inwardly. It isn't like she's my damn girlfriend. I don't own her, and I have no right to say anything about what or who she does. He berated himself with a strange ferocity. I've never liked virgins anyways, they're too much damn trouble, and they never know what to do. He thought, and with that thought came a wave of calm. Yea, if she had experience that worked in his favor. He just needed to chill out.

Gray grabbed up a towel off Lucy's towel rack. He ran the cloth over his head, messily drying off his dark locks, and then wiped down the rest of his body. Lucy had been right about one thing: rainwater was fucking chilly. Contrary to popular belief the ice mage was still aware of the temperature around him, and didn't like temperature extremes anymore than the next person. He could deal with cold temperature extremes better than most, but that didn't equate to liking them by any means.

Naked but dry, Gray flipped open Lucy's hamper, and went to toss the towel inside when he noticed a glimpse of something pink and lacy. Unable to resist the temptation Gray plunked the piece of cloth out of the pile before tossing his towel inside.

He held his new found treasure up for examination, and grinned wickedly. Apparently Lucy was the girly girl type. The panties were boy-short cut and pale pink with hot pink lace running along the edges, and a rainbow of metallic sparkles decorated the front of the cloth in nonsensical patterns. The ice mage was well aware of a heated stirring in his lower abdomen as his dick hardened up to half-mast.

Yea, that's exactly what I need—Lucy to open up the bathroom door to find me standing here with her underwear and a hard on. The ice alchemist thought dryly. Deciding to take the higher path to salvation, Gray tossed the underwear back into Lucy's hamper, and immediately regretted having to give them up. If he'd had his pants he would've pocketed his find, they were a nice pair of panties after all, and nice panties made great hand to gland combat materiel.

Gray's scheming was interrupted when Lucy knocked timidly on the bathroom door. No panty stealing for me tonight. He glumly thought as he twisted the knob to just barely crack the door. He stuck his hand out, and waited for her to hand him a bundle of cloth before he pulled the door back to.

"Thanks, Luce." He called through the closed door.

"It's no problem. I'll be in the kitchen."

"Alright."

He unfolded the bundle of clothing for inspection. It was a typical(1) Natsu downtime getup consisting of black jogging pants and a black wife beater—nothing overtly offensive to the eyes like Natsu's usual daily outfit. With the same amazing dexterity he had removed his clothes with Gray went about getting dressed.


The stellar spirit mage leaned against the kitchen counter while she waited for the microwave to kick off. She'd found half a pot of day old coffee, and rather than make a new pot she'd just poured the remaining cold coffee into two cups to heat up the easy way. The microwave hummed quietly as the cups rotated in slow circles. Her hazel eyes followed the predictable path without really seeing it. Her mind was preoccupied with a certain dark haired boy who was currently naked in her bathroom.

She hadn't expected for him to actually brave the storm to come see her, not that she was complaining or anything, but it seemed odd. As far as she aware Gray rarely did anything just for the hell of it, and he always thought out every move carefully. For him to take off into the night during a thunder storm... it just didn't seem to fit his character. She liked to think he'd done it just because he liked her that much, but somehow she doubted that.

But if it wasn't because he cared about her than just why the hell had he done it?

The rational part of her mind thought it might just know, but the romantic part argued heatedly against it.

Gray just wants to get in your pants. The rational part calmly insisted. And if you let him than you're no better than any other common whore. It continued, not maliciously, but definitely not kindly either. You've never even been on a date before, and if you let go of your virginity this easily than you'll have a reputation in no time. How does that sound, princess? How would you ever face Erza or Natsu after that got out?

The romantic part of her mind was on the defensive. Gray cares about you, Lucy, and he just wanted to check in on you. He was afraid of being rude and upsetting you. The romantic part was far more fierce in pushing its convictions. He just wanted to make sure you would still go on a makeup date with him, and now he's just supplying some polite company. You shouldn't think so lowly of him when he's just being nice.

She was utterly torn in half between what she wanted to believe and what she felt was more than likely correct. Pretending Gray was a nice guy wouldn't make Gray a nice guy anymore than pretending Gray was in love with her would make him fall in love with her. Juvia was proof that just wanting Gray to be in love wasn't enough to force it on him. Still...

It was hard to accept that maybe she meant no more to him than any other easy girl. She wanted it to mean more than that. She wanted his affection, his love, his dedication. She wanted him to hold on to her, to comfort her, to caress her, to love her. She wanted to mean as much to him as he meant to her...

You don't always get what you want. The moment the words passed through her mind she knew they were true. You couldn't always get what you wanted, and you couldn't always win. Sometimes you just have to lose, and sometimes you just don't get the guy. It wasn't pleasant to draw the short stick, but someone had to. Lucy knew this all to well, but she still liked to pretend that maybe, just maybe, she'd win this round.

Beep. Beep.

Lucy was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of the microwave. She retrieved the cups of coffee from the microwave, and arranged them on a tray. Anything was better than wasting time trying to dissect Gray's motives. He was here, and that was all that mattered for now.

"Hey. What's in the cups?" A smooth voice asked from right behind her, cool breath fanned out across her neck raising up gooseflesh. Startled Lucy jumped, her hand flying up to her chest as if to physically slow her racing heart, but she recovered quickly.

"Coffee. It's old, but I warmed it up so, it should be alright." She said.

Gray's arm momentarily brushed against the fabric of her tank top as he reached around her to grab up one of the cups. She shivered involuntarily, and mentally berated herself for it.

"We can talk in the living room." Lucy mumbled. She grabbed up her own cup, and abandoned the tray on the counter. She turned around quickly—apparently to quickly because Gray had yet to extract himself from her immediate vicinity. She found herself staring directly at Gray's lips with their bodies mere inches apart.

Time seemed to stand still, and a nervous chill worked its way down her spine. A twisting feeling of anticipation burned in her abdomen almost unpleasantly. She was waiting; she didn't know what she was waiting for, but she was waiting. Her tongue darted out to lick along her lips, and for a moment she was so sure he was going to kiss her. Then Gray turned away, and walked toward the living room.

Lucy followed after the ice mage feeling equally confused and disappointed.


He had just barely resisted temptation twice so far. Each time she'd all but invited him to kiss her, and for some unfathomable reason he'd taken the moral high road both times and walked away. Hell of a time to develop a moral conscience. He thought, but surprisingly the thought wasn't bitter. He didn't know why, but the idea of taking advantage of Lucy's lack of experience in any way bothered him immensely. She'd kiss him because she thought it was that simple, but Gray knew himself well enough to know that kisses were never that simple. He really wanted to protect her from himself.

He plopped down on the couch, and sit his cup on the coffee table. His eyes followed her every movement as she settled down on the opposite end of the sofa. He watched her lips capture the edge of her mug all the time acutely aware of how nervous and cute she looked clutching her cup like a lifeline in her worn out pajamas.

"Are you nervous, Lucy?" He teased lightly.

The blond's eyes widened, and she sputtered, droplets of coffee flying out in a shower of spittle. It was kind of gross, but kind of endearing as well.

"No. Why would I be nervous?"

"I don't know. You're acting kinda edgy. I don't bite you know... Unless you want me to that is." He slipped in the innuendo, and noted that satisfying shade of red that flooded her cheeks. She made it too easy sometimes.

"I'm not on edge." She insisted completely ignoring the rest of what he had said.

"Then why are so stiff and jumpy?"

"Stress. I'm just a little tense."

"I could loosen your muscles up for you if you'd like." He offered coyly.

"Gray!" The blond stellar spirit mage exclaimed. He chuckled, and held his hands up in surrender as she glared daggers his way.

"Joking. Chill, Luce."

"Sorry," She sighed, slumping forward dejectedly. "I know I shouldn't feel this way, and don't take this the wrong way because I do trust you; you're my nakama so of course I trust you, but..." She trailed off.

Gray had a pretty good damn idea where this conversation was going, and he immediately felt the need to put an end to it. He knew that Lucy was looking for more than a fling, but he wasn't sure what the hell he was looking for. He couldn't very well discuss the issue of a 'serious' relationship or a 'monogamous' relationship with her when he didn't even know what he wanted. It was like ordering a dish before you'd really had time to consider the menu.

Since he'd gotten his first real blow job at fourteen Gray had dedicated himself to privately womanizing, and completely flying underneath the love radar. He always made it clear that he wanted nothing more than sex. With Juvia it had started as pure release and ended that way. With Lucy it had started as curiosity, and now Gray just didn't know what to do. What did he want? How much was he willing to give up? Could he even do it if he wanted to?

He made to change the subject, but Lucy cut him off.

"I can't let you use me. If you're just in this for sex you can go find someone else to mess around with." She said pointedly.

"Lu-chan." He sighed, and raked his fingers through his disheveled hair.

"Don't start stripping again." She warned. He glared.

"Whatever. As I was trying to say, you're my nakama, and I wouldn't come here just to use you. Natsu would fucking kill me. I honestly wanted to just give us a chance." Only partially a lie, but it was a lie to save Lucy's feelings so Gray didn't feel too bad about it.

Their eyes met, and she immediately diverted hers; a dark blush stained her cheeks, and Gray wasn't quite sure what to make of that. However, when she scooted closer to him—just barely, but closer all the same—he had an epiphany. This wasn't just a simple little crush, he honestly meant something to her. Just mentioning that she might mean something to him had garnered to pure of a reaction for someone simply toying around with shallow feelings. At least his experience with girls led him to believe from her actions that she was genuinely falling for him.

She really... really, what? Loves me. He thought uneasily. What the fuck do I do with that? As soon as he thought the question he knew the answer to it. I love her back because that's what she wants and I need. She loves me, and... and I like that a lot. Maybe I like that too much, but I think that'll be okay. It was a tentative realization, but it felt right, and he could work with that.

His train of thought came to an abrupt halt when he felt her thigh brushing against his own. The blond had migrated down the couch, and was now seated beside him. Her shoulders were still stiff and tense. Now that he knew that she was nervous because she felt something big for him his ego swelled to epic proportions.

He turned to face her completely unsure of what he was doing for once, and took her small hands into his own. Rubbing gentle circles into the palms of her hands he closed the distance between them. This part was always easy. He'd done this millions of times. It was like a riding bicycle: if you can do it once then you got it.


Her breath hitched. The ice alchemist was suddenly, unexpectedly close to her. Her mind immediately pulled information she'd gained from years of reading romance novels, and came to one conclusion: Gray Fullbuster wanted to kiss her; he was going to kiss her in fact. Butterflies fluttered about in her stomach, and the adult rated parts of her anatomy reacted with an intense flare of pleasurable heat that rattled her senses.

Any moment now she would have her first kiss. Whether or not it would mean anything in the long run was up in the air, but all the same, she would have it for better or worse. He was already leaning forward to give it to her.

His lips brushed against her forehead, and he pulled back. She was left reeling.

What the hell? That wasn't a kiss. Her mind shouted indignantly. Yet, some part of her was relieved. She hadn't sacrificed her first kiss to someone who was a known womanizer. Perhaps it was better if she hung onto her first kiss for a little while longer; until she was absolutely sure that Gray had changed and was truly hers to keep.

"I don't want to mess this up." Gray informed her. His voice was deep and husky just as her romance novels had taught her it would be. Only they hadn't mentioned the underlying gravel... Maybe that near gravelly, near growling sound, was just a Gray thing? She thought it probably wasn't. Romance novels seemed to be wrong a lot these days. Reality just sucked that way.

"Do you care for me?" She asked timidly. A creeping shyness threatened to tongue tie her at any moment.

"Yes." He replied, and she thought he was being sincere. At least at this moment he sincerely cared for her as more than nakama or a sex object. It shone in his eyes. She couldn't quite place it, but she could sense it. An ingrained feminine ability to tell when a guy meant 'I care for you' versus 'I want in your panties'.

"Then I think we'll be alright. You won't mess anything up too badly."

"You think so?" He asked sounding oddly hopeful.

Lucy nodded.

"And maybe it'll be okay for you to kiss me soon. Maybe I'll be able to trust you enough because you won't mess this up."

"Let's hope."

She smiled, and gave his hands a light squeeze. She was pretty positive she could trust him. He was nakama, and he wouldn't lie to her. After all, Loke would murder Gray if he hurt her, and that was only if Natsu didn't reach the ice user first to do the honor.

In romantic theory, the couple that is fated to be together always gets a happy ending.

In reality, Lucy wasn't sure what statistics had to say, but it was one theory that she was willing to put a little stock into.

Happy ever after.


(1) No, Natsu has never worn this exact outfit in the manga as far as I'm aware, but we haven't seen Natsu dressed in much of anything besides his normal scarf-vest getup which I just couldn't bring myself to torture Gray into wearing. However, since this is my story I took some liberties, and just made up something that seemed Natsu-esque to me for him to wear as typical-Natsu-casual.

A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE TO REVIEWING: SoulReaper Rukia, TheIslander, Serenade, BlabberMouth141, leogirl321, DayDreamerJxD, and Lynn.

Author's Note: Bad ending? Nope, I like it. I had a lot of problems trying to decide on how to end this. Gray nearly didn't end up with Lucy, and in one rough draft, he actually ended up in bed with Juvia. I only changed my mind after I got through typing out the second draft of the original. I don't know why, but I really thought they needed a sweet ending. Maybe there was some left over fluff fumes from my Valentine's Day project still affecting my thought processes.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm writing on a Lucy/Loke oneshot, but I don't know if it will be quite so fluffy. Sometimes I just can't stomach fluff, and I've been overdosing on the stuff lately. x.x

Guess what? I just finished reading chapter 80 of Fairy Tail! Yay! Go me! I know I still have a lot to go, but I'm still throughly happy with this accomplishment. =)

Well, reviews are love, and thanks for reading.

xx. Bon Vivant.