Author's note - Gah! I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this next chapter posted. I've been really busy lately and had total writer's block on it for ages. But it's now complete and I hope everyone enjoys it. Oh, and a big thank you to those who reviewed: Awesome Rapidash and Midnight Philosophy. Thanks so much!
Death By Humiliation
Gray staggered out of the Clinic with as much speed as he could muster, vowing as he did so never, ever to agree to one of Ann and Cliff's plans again. It simply wasn't worth the pain.
A brisk Fall breeze battered him as he made his way down the street, past the supermarket, and quickly around the corner. All the while he cradled his still throbbing hand pitifully, like a small child who'd scraped their knee.
Normally, Gray would be less than pleased at his own pathetic attitude, but just now he was too annoyed to care. What on earth, he wondered, had Cliff and Ann been thinking when they suggested something so ludicrous? And, more to the point, why had he even considered going along with it?
"Gray!"
The young blacksmith's head jerked upwards and he caught sight of Cliff lugging barrels across the Vineyard. He stopped sharply at the thunderous look on Gray's face. "You okay?" he asked somewhat nervously, as his friend's blue eyes narrowed. "Didn't it go so well?"
Gray looked down at his unfortunate hand and winced. "You could say that."
There was a sudden silence as Cliff shuffled across the yard and came to stand at the gate with Gray. "I don't understand," he said, perplexed. "I thought you were just having the stitches removed." Then, looking horrified, the scruffy brunette gasped. "Hey... she didn't, like, um, try and break your hand, did she?"
It was such a ridiculous idea that anyone who heard it would struggle not to laugh. Except for Gray, that is - who knew that the truth was even more unbelievable. "No," he muttered, his voice becoming strangely croaky. "She didn't, at least..."
Though as he recalled his horrific morning, Gray felt that Elli had every right to be annoyed with him. Hell, even he was! Annoyed with himself for doing something so stupid and annoyed with his friends for allowing - no, encouraging - him to. He didn't really want to talk about it, but Cliff had hitched himself up onto the fence and was looking expectant. "Well? What happened?"
Sighing, Gray jumped up too.
He didn't go into how the whole thing started, as Cliff knew that already. He was actually there for one thing and, if Gray remembered rightly, it was him who'd suggested Elli. They (Cliff, Ann and Gray, that is) had made a list of any possible dating prospects in an attempt to help Gray forget Mary. Not likely, he'd thought at the time, as Ann made a shortlist. She was out, of course, because of Cliff and so was Karen due to her long-term relationship with Rick. "Plus she'd eat you alive!" Ann had chipped in less than helpfully. So with the two of them out of the question, only Popuri and Elli were left. "Unless you'd like to go for an older woman?" the red-head continued jokingly. "Anna? Sasha? Manna even?" Gray could do nothing but laugh - it was either that or cry, anyway.
Ann herself felt that Popuri would be the best choice, given that she and Mary were almost complete opposites. It would help him get right away from all thoughts of the quiet librarian, was her thinking. It wasn't so much Gray's though. While he could see that she was right about Mary and Popuri having very different personalities, the idea still didn't appeal to him.
Popuri was a lively girl, very bubbly and just as pretty as she was high-spirited. Her candy-floss hair and ruby red eyes, though, were miles away from Mary's understated beauty and shy demeanor. Now Gray was reasonable enough to see the benefits of Ann's plan, but he simply wasn't ready for such a stark change. "Besides," he agrued at the time. "Doesn't she have a thing for Kai? You know - a crush on him?" After much bickering over Popuri's relationship status, Cliff finally had the sense to remind the two of them that there was still Elli.
Yes, the kind, sweet nurse, who wasn't a million miles away from Mary personality wise. Sure, Elli tended to worry and fuss over people more, and she certainly wasn't as shy as Mary, but they were both quieter and gentler than any of the other girls in Mineral Town. In fact, at the time Gray was pretty sure it was a good idea to try and 'woo' Elli as it were.
Or perhaps he didn't truly believe that his friends were going to make him go through with his. Perhaps, deep down, he believed that this was all just a game or a joke. Nothing concrete at least.
So it was shock for him, then, to find Ann pressing a bunch of flowers into his hands this morning, just before going to have his stitches removed.
"Um... thank you?"
"They're for Elli!" Ann laughed, shaking her head out of exasperation. "Remember the plan? You're going to be all sweet and give them to her and hopefully, maybe ask her out on a little date. Right, Gray?"
The strangled noise Gray came out with at that news was far from confirmation. But Ann, convinced her idea was utterly perfect, heard it to be. "Good boy," she told him, brushing down his clothes like a fussing mother. "You'll do fine, I'm sure."
"You know now I think of it, Elli and I aren't really compatible," Gray babbled, once he'd found his voice. He was starting to wonder exactly what he'd been thinking when agreeing to this.
Ann just chuckled, casting aside his worry with a wave of her hand. "Nonsense!" she said cheerily. "You're only saying that because you're still pining after Mary. It's no use," she added, sounding far more solemn. "She's married now and pregnant, don't forget. You're doing yourself no favours, Gray."
Huh, he thought, how could he forget with people like her drumming such things depressing facts into him? It was true though, Gray realised in defeat, as he trailed up the road towards the Clinic, dragging his feet as though walking to his doom. The deep grey clouds above echoed his gloomy mood and even the bunch of Trick Blues clasped in his good hand seemed to be wilting there and then.
"So what happened when you got there?" Cliff asked presently. He looked highly curious, but his tone was hushed as he sat waiting. The only reply Gray felt like giving though was a self-pitying groan.
"I don't want to go into it anymore," he muttered quietly.
Unsurprisingly, this didn't satisfy Cliff. "Oh, come on!" he insisted. "You haven't told me anything I didn't already know. What happened after that?"
"Oh...well..." Gray sighed heavily, rolling his eyes skyward. He would much rather never even think of this morning again, so intense was his embarrassment. Cliff, however, was like a persistent puppy...
"Fine, fine!" he snapped, as his friend grinned victoriously. "Well, nothing really happened at first..."
That was certainly true enough. On his arrival, the reception was Elli-free though he could hear her slightly muffled voice as she spoke just beyond the blue curtain. Mingling with her softer, sweeter, more feminine tones was another voice. It was deeper and definitely male. Doctor Tim, Gray concluded; they were clearly talking about a patient.
He wasn't sure exactly who until he turned and jumped about a foot in the air at the realisation that he wasn't alone. A frail looking Lillia was sat on one of the squashy, bright yellow sofas. As their eyes met, Lillia gave him a friendly smile that was bordering on mischievous. It took Gray a little while to understand what she was getting at - until he remembered the bunch of flowers he was holding.
Completely unable to stop himself, Gray felt his cheeks burning scarlet. "It's - uh - " he stuttered, pulling his cap down further over his face. "Erm - " He would have liked to say 'not what it looks like'. But that would have been a lie, wouldn't it? In actual fact, it was exactly what it looked like. Lillia, who was starting to appear more and more like her daughter as her expression grew ever so teasing, only raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Gray?" The blacksmith turned around hurriedly at the sound of Elli's voice. She had just emerged from behind the curtain and greeted him with a welcoming smile. "So are you ready to - " A feeling of dread rushing through him, Gray watched as her big, brown eyes locked onto the flowers and widened even further still. "Oh my!" she uttered breathlessly.
The events following that were mostly a blur. Elli looked faintly embarrassed, while Gray, for some unknown and highly irritating reason, could not stop babbling on as he tried to talk his way out of the situation. Naturally, with the result that he made things a hell of a lot worse in the process. He did eventually get his tongue into order and asked her to dinner - but soon wished to the Goddess he hadn't.
She refused. Not in a nasty, vindictive way, but in a polite 'I think I'm busy, perhaps another time, I'm so so sorry' kind of way. Which in Gray's opinion, made the whole horrible situation seem a thousand times worse. He wasn't sure who he hated most at that moment: her, Cliff, Ann or even poor stricken Lillia whose sympathetic look burned into the back of his skull.
The absolute icing on the cake though, was having his stitches literally wrenched out by the Doctor. It was only then, after all that humiliation, that Gray realised the clearly obvious. Elli and Tim were a couple. Yep - all that for nothing. He could have cried.
"Ouch," Cliff winced, as Gray came to his very grim conclusion. "So, er, no date tonight then?"
For a moment, Gray considered shooting back a sarcastic reply, though he quickly decided against it. After all, he wanted to be in the best possible mood for his arrival at the Inn. Ann would be there, of course, and he had a few choice words to say to her.
He leapt clumsily from the fence, joking, "She said she'd call me."
A/N - Well there you have it, readers, another chapter complete. I hope it was enjoyable, despite not being full of exciting plot development. Look out for the next chapter though, where I can promise a much more interesting twist that'll really move the plot along. Well... hopefully, anyway! Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review.