WARNING: FLUFFY SCENES. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. :D
Truth and Misconceptions
By Divinecriticizer
It was a heart-skipping moment for Gray Fullbuster. An annoying and illogical pounding can be felt of his chest, as if his ribcage was going to break at any moment. He was frozen; his eyes shrank, obviously shocked by the sudden appearance of Juvia Lockser in Lucy's doorstep. The water mage was also lost in his eyes, persistent to cut the unspeakable connection and think of something to say. She failed to show her practiced smile in front of him, resulting for her to avert her eyes while thinking of something, anything to say.
"J-Juvia, are you…?" Gray stupidly stuttered in front of the water mage. He was hesitant to approach the mage in front of him but did it anyway. Pathetically, he didn't have anything sensible to say.
"Yes," she cut him in the middle of his question, "Juvia was invited by Lucy-san." She kept her composure on and greater, locking her gaze to the man in front of her. To the man she really loves. She sweetly smiled, though Gray can sense something sinister and somber in it. He observed her luggage; a sleeping bag, and a bag that probably contained her stuff. He reached her face up to his eyes, unnoticed that they were mirrored by each other's orbs.
It was peaceful. The chaos in their stomachs halted, replaced by something warm and comfortable feeling. Not until the silence was broken.
"Oi, don't just stare there, let her in Gray!" Erza ordered, devoting herself with Lucy's potato-chicken salad. They blinked and somewhat got the logic when someone you know was standing at your doorstep: let them in. And once more, everything between them was awkward. "Hey, Juvia! Drop your things then come over here." Lucy said, bending her head to indicate her to come. She did but then a voice followed her step. "I'll fix the bed Gray!" Happy said, shooing the static ice maker to go somewhere.
He smirked, getting out of the apartment, on clothes strolling under the starless sky. Happy on the other hand altered to positions of the bed. There sleeping positions were perfectly rearranged. And thus…
(The top will be the right and the bottom will be left)
Erza.
Lucy.
Juvia.
Gray.
Natsu.
Happy.
If either Gray or Juvia complains about their planned arrangement, they have a back-up plan. While Gray was preoccupied with his thoughts outside, Juvia on the other hand, was busily changing her clothes to her comfy ones. Her attire was simple: A white loose T-shirt, and a pair of under-knee royal blue leggings. She let her hair loose, forming waves in her shoulders and in her back. Juvia took a shower before she departed in her apartment so the water mage did not bother repeat the same process again. Erza and company came in, simultaneous with Gray who had his thoughts and feelings wrapped up. His demeanor was cool as ice, but his butt was shaking in stupidity and cowardice. He already forgot how to talk to her. He hated to admit it, but she had changed, and he made her do it. He hurt her, too deep to heal so easy, and to make things worse, he himself was unconscious of the things going not only around him, but also inside him.
He loves her.
Now, he knew what was happening. All the denials, discreet happiness, disturbances in his heart—it made all sense. He loves her. But wouldn't say it; not until she smiles how she used to. Not until her bleeding stops, not until she loves him again. And if ever the time comes that she will, Gray Fullbuster will kiss her with every inch of his life, making up the time of desperations, sadness and longing. Then he will give her a thing that will worth more than a wedding ring, so he can take the chance of giving her his last name…
"The bowl of potato-chicken salad was served, the chicken was chopped and the beverages were in each other's cup. Everyone gathered in front of the television, with their sleeping bags on, they scattered around the cramp living room, making themselves at home. Erza in the center sofa, all alone, Natsu in the floor, beside him was Lucy; Gray in the adjacent sofa near Natsu and Lucy and Juvia at the back of Gray, in the floor. Lucy took the liberty of bringing out her recent DVDs at all genres, while Erza was helping herself with the potato salad. There was Coming Soon, Insidious, Quarantine, Inkheart and The Dictator.
Erza was too infatuated with the creaminess of Lucy's potato-chicken salad when Natsu dared to perturb her. ""Oh! Erza! You have a perfect movie here to watch! The dictator! Let's watch—" a spanking cut his criticism followed by another spanking from Erza's. The movie was playing, (Coming Soon) making Lucy scream while using Natsu's arm as a protection in the process, Erza shivering and biting her pillow while maximizing her grasp in the bowl of potato-chicken salad. Gray stole a glimpse of Juvia behind him who had her eyes closed, terrified of the character hunting a poor, kid, desiring for an unattainable freedom. Once the planners had a chance, Lucy screamed, Natsu 'accidentally' grabbing Gray's foot, in the process causing him to fall at Juvia's top; Lucy forced herself to topple Erza's seat so she would also fall on Gray's back.
The planners were ruthless and creative. Their plan went absolutely perfect and the outcome was hilarious yet very convincing. Erza at the most top stuck in the weight of the couch, Natsu and Lucy on the side, safe.
The water mage winced at weight on top of her. It was hard yet warm. She opened her eyes and a very creative curse pulsed her ears to shot her eyes open. She never wanted this to happen.
She was stuck under Lucy's furniture, but prior to the furniture came the man protectively flung his right arm to her head while the other on her waist, never intending to let her get a bruise, not even a scratch. His breath tickled her ears, listening to his pants of desperation of protecting her. The water mage's eyes shrank, surprised with the sudden turn of events from an eerie horror movie to a heart-skipping actual melodrama. Gray Fullbuster lifted his head, scrutinizing her with a huge amount of relief, unaware of the close proximity that pressed them with Erza's weight along with the furniture. They were in an intimate position for a long, awkward time. (Or so they claimed.)
Not to bother him anymore.
But she was frozen, her mind completely shut down for the likes of her! Gray was looking at her, absolutely stunned because he never expected that she's more beautiful up close than he imagined her to be. Due to the 'oh-so-protective' arms of the ice maker, he felt her warmth, already used in such a short span of time. Gray would have lost his mind, but he controlled himself, and it was too hard that he want to give in and just take her away.
Neither blinked, yet they gulped. The water mage blinked, already coming for her senses. Gray too, was gaining his lost composure, stood hurriedly, shooing the weird stares and comments of his fellow team members. Juvia on the other side stood up, "U-um, Juvia will go to the bathroom, Lucy-san, where is it?" she asked, as calmly and kindly as she can. She was trying real hard not to blush, and her cheeks abided to, her face shown a glowing Juvia, in which the rest thought was really unconvincing. "U-um... get past the kitchen then there's the bathroom." Lucy answered, wanting to scream due to the splendidly accomplished first plan that she planned herself. Juvia went off, as calmly as she was prior the 'disaster' happened. As soon as Juvia was out of sight, he too excused himself and went outside.
Juvia was in the bathroom, all flushed out. Her heart was racing, she even felt it going out of her ribcage, and her body was on fire. She locked the door and splashed her face with cold water, (she turned the water to an icy one) which reminded her of Gray, and what happened earlier. She continued to splash her face with water, hoping to clear her head with all the unnecessary emotions and things that she used to believe and prepared to go outside. They might get suspicious. She thought.
Gray Fullbuster was once again, strolling under the starry sky, getting his thoughts and emotions all wrapped up. It was the hardest thing he ever did in his entire life after Ur's death: Controlling himself. And the one that made it hard for him was her.
Juvia Lockser.
Inside were three heads repressing their laughter. It was the most sadistic thing to do, forcing to confess someone in the hard way. And to admit, they enjoyed it. Just their faces on the verge of giving in to the other and trying to control their emotions was priceless. They checked on Gray, who seemed to appear like he wanted to jump off the window and kill himself in shame, made them feel satisfaction and achievement on their behalf. At least they're aware that something is happening. Moreover, Gray seemed to realize that Juvia did blush when the 'disaster' happened. I guess he's not entirely an ultimate idiot. Erza thought.
The three heads waited for them. They turned their repressed, wild giggles to an innocent, happy faces. The ice mage was at a composed state, but still unconvincing. Juvia on the other hand had no remnants of reaction in her face just that she avoided Gray's eyes that were lowered as well. Both seated in their designated seats, aware that they were facing each other in their peer circle. "Well... we have 4 movies left. D'you wanna watch more?" Lucy asked lazily as she helped herself with the chocolate chips they brought out. She laid her head in the sofa.
"I'm bored..."
"Let's fight!"
"..."
"Pooyee..."
".."
"Everyone, what do you want to do?" Erza asked.
"Whatever..."
"Erza! Fight me!"
"Up to you..."
"Eat fish..."
"..."
"Do you wanna watch another movie?" she asked again.
"Yeah sure."
"Hell no!"
"About fish..."
"..."
"..."
"Well?" she twitched. She's reaching her limits.
"Yeah..."
"I challenge you!"
"Beats me."
"..."
"DECIDE!" she snapped. Everyone was in the verge of life and death. Well, exaggerating.
"U-um..." Juvia finally said something. "Juvia brought some cards so..."
"Hey! Let's play strip poker!" Natsu suggested, his mind flying to La La Land of maturity. "When did you even had that mind?!" Erza spanked his head, throwing him back to planet Earth. "I have a better idea." Lucy suddenly liven up, explaining the rules of the game she suggested.
"Yeah, I wanna play that!"
"Let's try!" and everyone agreed to do the planned game.
Name: Saint Peter (I dunno, but that's the name we have here so I guess it varies on culture.)
Objects needed: A blindfold, and a dark place!
Players: Unlimited!
Mechanics: The 'it' will be decided by putting each players' hand on top of each other, eliminating the one with different hand side (whether its the back of the hand or the palm) Only one can be the 'it', and when the 'it' is selected, he/she will be wearing a blindfold, turn him three times and start searching for a person in a dark room! The 'it' will guess whoever he/she touches. The 'it' must never let his/her victim to escape. If he/she does, the guessing is nullified. If the guessing is incorrect, he/she will remain the 'it' but not if otherwise. The participants aside from the 'it' must not get out of the premises, or hide in totally cramped area. (The cabinet etc...) They can be groups or in twos, they can even use each other as shield or even exchange with each other's clothing.
"Well, we have a damn luck. It's Natsu. He has a great sense of smell. But I must not lose!" Erza said. "Lucy! Lend me your ear." she said, obviously pairing up with Lucy while the two was left out but decided not to pair up.
And thus, the game-plan began.
The lights were off, everything was quiet, Natsu was busy staring in the blindfold while relying in his sense of smell. Happy was in the far far corner of Lucy's house, burying himself with Lucy's clothes. Erza and Lucy brought a pillow with them acting as shield. They also exchanged clothes so Natsu won't determine who was who.
On the other side, Gray was crawling while lifting his senses, alarmed that the flame brain might come over and sniff him. No one wants that. Not to a pervert like him being a gay around this freaky little game. Juvia on the other hand, settled in a corner, buried herself with blankets. "Oright! I can smell you..." sniff sniff. Okay that was gross and, salamander turned left, sensing a familiar smell of his comrade.
"Lucy!" he said, groping her waist in the process. She tried to escape, but luckily she couldn't, which proved that she was the real deal. "Natsu, just don't grab someone's hips! At least grab me in the arm!" she lectured, while watching the sniffing flame brain removed the blindfold. The light was on and again, it was turned off.
"Ugh! I'm gonna get someone!" she encouraged herself, thoroughly patting her hands in the dark as she waited to feel someone's presence.
5 minutes.
.
.
.
.
10 minutes
.
.
.
.
"Lucy... Hurry up; I can't stare in the dark forever!" Gray complained, leaving Lucy clues to his whereabouts. Upon realizing it, he quickly crawl somewhere far, in the corner where Juvia was. She was quiet all this time; maybe their 'moment' still had the drug on her. Gray's face showed a tint of pink, remembering their little 'staring-contest-while-sandwiched-together' moment. He sensed a living creature beside him, oblivious it was Juvia. Alarmed that it might be Lucy, he distanced himself only to tackle something hard—an iron board. DANG, it's not a great time! Lucy followed the noise, followed by continuous thuds of Juvia and Gray's knees. Gray thought it was Lucy catching up to him and Juvia thought of escaping because of the sudden noise.
.Tap.
It dawned to Gray that Lucy was nowhere in his rear. Then who was at his back catching up? It alarmed him, Lucy was coming, he's gonna be 'it'! Someone whimpered, son of a lion, he didn't have enough option but to grab the one nearby and covered her mouth. He was glad she did shut up for good until a moment later...
"Erza!" Lucy said, finally catching someone to free her from the agony of being an 'it'.
"Tch." the queen of the fairies replied, and the light was shining again. Now it was gleaming in brightness that the one he grabbed was the last person he wanted to grab right now. The atmosphere was steamy, since Gray was sitting his butt on the floor, legs apart, Grabbing Juvia's neck with his right left hand while the other was in her mouth. It wasn't the best position imagined but hell... It sure looked like an attempted rape.
"Oy! Don't practice your moves here, porn-star!"
"As if! Don't sniff people you perverted gay!"
"Don't speak your thoughts, bastard!"
"You wanna fight?!"
"Bring it on!"
"You want to fight?" Erza asked, putting the blindfold in her, with an icy tone in her voice.
.
.
.
.
"Let's all get along!" The ice Mage declared, and as anticipated, followed by an irritating mockery of Happy's 'Aye sir!' in the process.
And that's left was darkness and silence.
Erza never missed even a decibel of sound. Not even a thud of knees or the pulling of blankets. She can hear all of it. She may not been showered by raised olfactory senses like a certain dragon slayer, in her opinion, hearing is a gift, and a strong one is another. Everyone has their own weaknesses, and be grateful to have one. It means you have something to overcome and learn.
Thud.
She heard it and was alarmed. Her footsteps were inaudible, her arms patting the darkness. It was a thud so probably they're doing a four-leg walking. By that intuition, she bent down, again, patting her hand in case of intrusion or a person playing tricks on her since she's incapable of telling who was who.
After a couple of minutes, she touched something hard. And sweaty, and moving, and cold, and shaking.
What does that mean?
She touched him or her again, this time, a little keener than before.
A man. She thought.
And he was struggling, but Titania wouldn't let her, she's a mad cow with insatiable strength; struggling was futile. With that kind of strong struggling and shaped, hard something that felt (more like touches) like biceps, the prey was surely a man.
Gray Fullbuster.
Sure enough, the ice mage panicked. He violently pushed the queen aside, but failed. Titania shoved him on the wall, cornering him in the process. She tried to widen her senses, saying it was the ice mage she had caught.
"Gray."
She untangled her blindfold, the lights blinding her. Sure it was Gray, annoyed that he was caught. Until another round of complains and 'boo-ing' of each other, they once again, turn off the lights.
Another round had begun.
He walked.
He crawled.
He patted his hands.
He cheated.
He got annoyed.
He kicked out his clothes, searching angrily and vigorously in the four walls of the room.
5 minutes.
.
.
.
.
10 minutes.
.
.
.
.
23 minutes
.
.
.
.
.
.
Had passed.
It was an annoying, embarrassing, and alarming deal for him. He was a mage—damn it, and he cannot even grab someone to replace him as the 'it'. If he only knew what really was happening, then he wouldn't dare to even make an effort. The threesome went outside, over looking in the damp moonlight outside. It was only the two of them, both oblivious of what was happening.
Juvia Lockser made herself comfortable under an iron board, covering herself with a comforter she found. She did not dare to move an inch, though willing to, be the water mage would not risk her pride as a mage just for a little comfort she was longing to have. The 'it', on the other hand crawled to his knees and started patting the darkness. It came to his senses that the light sounds suppressed by the others were gone. Did they settle somewhere? He asked himself.
Expanding his chances and hope, he crawled again. This time, faster. It was not long until he grabbing, felt like it was something that feels feminine to his touch. Thinking it was Lucy, he expanded his exploration. His hands reached a cloth— a pair of leggings to be exact.
The young static ice maker was still exploring the newly found body, examining its texture.
Juvia Lockser squirmed at his touch, backing away yet she knew she had leaned on all the spaces available. He continued his exploration, now holding her narrow waist. She squirmed even more, pushing him away from her. She felt his breath tickled her sensitive neck.
Gray Fullbuster was now sure it was a girl he caught. But who can it be?
Erza? Nah, her waist would be wider, and more masculine.
Lucy? Not a soul. She will create a noise once her waist is caught.
He continued his little investigation, unaware that his hands were reaching somewhere it must not.
Her breast.
Juvia Lockser was startled, actually the second time someone touched her like that. And alas, the same person who did the first. She could not stand the meddling any longer and she, without a sound, tried to stand up, knocked herself with the iron board, and stumbled down to the ice maker's naked torso. Gray, know realizing who he was feeling before, was empty with thoughts, unable to respond with the situation he was in.
Something felt warm and soft in both of his torso and his mouth. It was an accidental, clichéd kiss that was always present in the novels she used to read, the soap operas she used to watch, the radio and music she used to listen to.
Her mind went blank.
It was dark.
All were vague.
It was only the two of them.
It was a thing to be sure of.
Resolves did not matter anymore.
She did not bother to control herself, she kissed him. Like in so many dreams of her.
FIN.
There ya go. okay, I know there are some mistakes I unconsciously committed and soo sorry for that. I was just too busy these days. ANYWAYSSS! THIS CHAPPIE IS DEARLY DEDICATED TO ALL THIS STORY'S FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS, READERS AND REVIEWERS! THANKS A BUNCH GUYS, YOU MAKE ME MOTIVATED TO PUSH THIS STORY FURTHER!
TO SARAPYON, THIS STORY'S FIRST REVIEWER, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'VE BEEN READING THE REVIEWERS AND IT MADE ME MELT. MS SLICING CLAWS, DIS-APPEARING WRITER... WOW. GUYS THANK YOU. HOW CAN I REPAY YOU BY THE WAY?
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