Happy Friday! I'm so ready for the weekend, who's with me? XD
guest: Looks like you read my mind. This one's for you!
And for all you patient Grayza fans who have been wondering what this couple might look like in the world of Mazeverse...this is your chapter!
- K. Chandler
It was grey.
It was gloomy.
It was appropriate for a day like today.
Gray had wanted nothing more than to have stayed in bed, with the covers pulled over his head to darken his dreary world.
But he didn't.
Gray forced himself to head to the guild instead. The distraction would be good for him. So he went. It was better than facing the demons in his past.
Deliora…
He chatted with Erza, laughed at Happy, fought with Natsu, and teased Lucy. Gray let the droning clamor of the busy guild settle over him, numbing the ache in his chest like a layer of ice.
Ur…
After a few hours, he'd excused himself. Gray knew he'd only get more waspish as the evening went on and he didn't want to do anything he'd really regret. As it was, he was already feeling a little guilty for some of the things he'd said to Natsu. He'd have to let the Dragon-Slayer get the first punch in the next time they fought. That was the closest thing the flame-brained idiot was getting to an apology.
That seemed to be Gray's lot in life. Always hurting others. Always bringing them trouble. Never quite bringing himself to say that he was sorry. But he was.
Lyon…
But then there was the issue of Juvia. It wasn't her fault she caught him on a bad day.
That haunted look in her eyes as he pushed by, disappointment frosted with hurt, it cut him to the core. He heaved a sigh. He'd been a jerk. And she deserved better.
Somehow, he always managed to disappoint people.
And even though part of him had wanted to turn around, to fix things, the other part of him knew he'd only make things worse. So, he kept on walking, ignoring the self-loathing bubbling in his gut.
The memories swirled around him like snowflakes.
The snow was falling heavily by the time he arrived back at his apartment. It crunched underfoot and covered everything in a layer of white.
Gray froze, eyes widening in surprise.
"Erza!?"
His redheaded teammate was huddled beside his front door, a blanket of snow piling up around her.
"G-Gray…" She smiled softly, her cheeks flushed from the cold.
"Who else did you expect? It is my house," he said, helping her up. "God, you're freezing. Let's get you inside."
Gray tossed Erza's wet jacket over the back of a chair. Her clothes had stayed dry, but her teeth still chattered. The fact that he liked to keep his place a bit on the chilly side probably wasn't helping.
"What were you doing out in the snow like that?" he demanded, frowning.
"I knew y-you'd be back eventually," she said, as if that explained anything.
Gray rolled his eyes, grabbing the quilt off his bed. He paused by the thermostat on his way past, cranking the heat up all the way up. It would be uncomfortably warm for him, but he'd deal with that later.
"Yeah, but why would you do a dumb thing like that?" Gray led Erza to the couch, draping the blanket around her shoulders.
"I was worried about you."
"Me?" Gray shook his head in disbelief.
The softness in her eyes caught Gray off-guard. His chest tightened uncomfortably. He had good days and bad ones, but he wasn't worth sitting in the snow over.
"I'll make us some tea," he muttered, retreating to the kitchen.
Gray filled two mugs with hot water. He started to reach for the tea bags, but swapped one for a packet of instant cocoa instead as he remembered Erza's sweet-tooth.
"Here," he said, pressing one of the steaming mugs into her hands. She was still colder than he would have liked, but she seemed to be doing better. At least she wasn't shivering anymore.
For a moment, they sat in silence.
It was strange, really.
For the first time today, the ever-present ache had receded. The memories had been cast aside, pushed back into the darkest corner of his mind.
If Gray had known that this sort of distraction was all it took to make the day better, he would have pitched Natsu out into the snow years ago.
Gray felt Erza give him a nudge with her shoulder. She was giving him that look again. It was the one that made his insides want to turn inside out.
He let out a breath, answering the question that went unasked. "I'll be fine, Erza. You know that."
She hummed vaguely.
He could tell she didn't believe him. But he also knew she knew better than to ask.
But he pulled her closer against him, in silent acceptance of the comfort she offered. "You're still kind of cold," he said instead.
She let her head drop against his shoulder with a sigh. She smelled like strawberries.
"Gray?" she asked, a question in her eyes.
Gray shook his head. "This…" he gestured vaguely. "This is enough. You're here. That's all I need."
And now we know where Erza was. I love how these two are such close friends. :) Could they ever be more?
Every couple we've seen so far has been set up as one-sided. It's going to come down to a question of why each is one sided and what's it going to take for the first ship to work things out (and who's it going to be)? What's going to happen to everybody else after? Will taking two people out of the picture change how things are going to work out and what ripples will that cause?
But we're almost at the end of this particular story. All that's left is two epilogues that give closure to the couple of loose ends that are out there.
Next time, in [Mazeverse] Anniversary: Special, Just Because, we get back with Lyon and Juvia: "Then Lyon should know that he can always confide in Juvia. Juvia brings Lyon her problems. Lyon should be able to do the same."
Stop back next Friday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.