Author's Note:I wanted to update sooner but I got side tracked and busy, so as a way of making it up, I made it much longer than what it originally was going to be. As always, looking forward to your opinions. Here's chapter three I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 3
Gray was a taken aback by Cana's claim until he quickly guessed that she was already drunk and just drunkenly babbling things that came to mind. He looked over at her again and heaved a sigh, believing that his guess was correct and that she wouldn't remember much of what she said. Although there were a few other guild mates who heard, just like Gray, they thought that she was drunk, but there was a few who knew she wasn't yet. These were the ones who looked on at the two from the very beginning and shared the same feeling of wanting to get Cana as far away from Gray as possible.
"You got me there for a second there Cana. You got drunk a lot sooner than I thought or have you've been asking Mira for something stronger this time around?" Gray said as Cana pouted cutely at him.
"I'm not that drunk yet Gray. I meant what I said about you." Cana replied and an adorable blush formed on her face as she met eyes with Gray.
His voice immediately was caught in his throat; he was shocked to know that meant it. He knew that he was a good looking guy, no doubt about that, but hearing it from Cana was something he didn't think would happen. He tried to keep his always present cool exterior, but the slight pink tint on his cheeks was anything but helping him keep it up. Before he could even muster a word to reply her with, Erza had appeared at their table with a stern look on her face. The one Gray knew all too well he got in a fight with Natsu.
"Hello Cana, what are you two talking about?" She said taking an authoritative stance, one hand on her hip while the other had her plate of cheesecake. Gray might have breathed in an air of relief if it weren't for Cana sliding straight to him and curling up against him.
"Oh nothing much Erza, just how I find Gray to be the hottest guy here. It's a shame no one here noticed Gray like I do, I mean c'mon Erza you're in the same team as him." A flirty smile formed on her lips as she looked to Gray and Erza immediately wanted to get her so far away from him.
Gray was amazed at how bold Cana was for saying something like, especially to Erza and the stare she was giving told him that things could get messy. He needed to think of something quick before Erza blows her top on Cana and no one wants to see that. Okay maybe some people do, including Gray, but now's not the time for such fantasies.
"It's alright Erza; I just think she drank too much." Gray chimed in, quickly getting himself and Cana on their feet. She whined to him that she wasn't drunk, yet Gray ignored those claims and looked back to Erza to see if she bought it.
"Well I guess there's no help for that, fine I guess she has been drinking a little too much for today." She replied setting her cheesecake down on the table to enjoy it.
"I'll take her to the counter to see if Mira might have something for her." With that Gray walked Cana away from the table and let out a sigh of relief for a crisis averted.
"How come you did that Gray, I was just telling her the truth." Cana said giggling to herself again, while Gray rolled his eyes at her unusual care freeness.
"I was saving your ass from getting a beating from Erza back there. I don't know if you noticed, but that's the vibe I was getting from her." He replied as they got closer to the bar counter as Cana immediately latched on to his arm.
"Maybe I should repay you for saving one hot girl from getting hurt." She said with a seductive look that got Gray slightly blushing again and her smile grew even bigger.
A little ways away from the two, jealous stares had been pointed at Cana mainly coming from the resident water mage seeing as her potion had a much stronger effect than she believed. It was angering her that this bold act and forwardness came from the potion she brought. Gajeel on the other hand was amused with how the rain woman was beginning to grip the table so tightly that it began to splinter in some areas, but he also felt a bit odd seeing Gray held by the drinker. He watched as the two mages sat down at the counter and deiced to ignore both them and the weird feeling inside of him for the meantime.
At another table Natsu sat with Happy and Lucy, trying to understand why his vision did that with Gray. It never did it when he saw him, heck it never really ever happened to him when he looked at other people. So why was Gray the only one that had completely changed in his sight of vision? He kept trying to think of any possible reason and Lucy looked at him questioningly since he hasn't deep in thought before.
"Natsu sure is thinking pretty hard, huh?" Happy said as he continued to munch on his fifth fish since leaving their previous table.
"I hope he doesn't hurt himself." Lucy replied with a slight giggle, her own thoughts cleared and mind began thinking clearly again after that small ordeal with Gray. She too was feeling peeved at how Cana held onto Gray, as if she was the one that got him first.
"Ugh! I give up, Luce can you help me? Natsu asked as he couldn't do this on his own anymore.
"Uh…Sure what do you need my help on?" She asked as he plopped his head onto the table looking at the counter where Gray was now moving away from a smiling Cana to sit somewhere else.
"What does it mean when you see someone differently, as in they look much better than they normally do and there's like flowers and stuff around them?" he didn't move his gaze as he said this and Lucy followed where he was looking at. She saw what seemed to be him looking at Lisanna and a smile formed on her face as she realized what he's going through.
"Aww, I know what that means Natsu…" She said with a knowing face as Natsu became excited to know what it meant.
"Lucy looks weird with that face" Happy said which Lucy repaid his comment by bashing the back of his head with her fist.
"Shut it cat! Anyways what you told me means that-" Before she could finish her sentence a bright flash appeared and now sitting next to her was her Lion spirit.
"It means that you really like someone." He answered as Lucy puffed up her cheeks from being interrupted by the flirty lion.
"What!" He exclaimed with a face of horror at the revelation, did he like his rival in that way now? It was absurd and completely impossible that he would really like the ice princess as Loke said he did.
"I don't see the problem Natsu; it looks like you've actually shown some interest in someone." Loke said as he leaned back into his seat and Lucy agreed with him, but the look didn't seem to fade from his face.
"I think it's perfectly alright for you to like someone Natsu. As far as I know you've never really shown an interest in anybody since I joined here." Lucy continued as that devious smile made its way back onto her face.
"Natsu llllllliiiiiikkkkeeessss someone" Happy said as he regained his consciousness after Lucy's head blow.
"I thought you were on my side Happy!" Natsu whined as his best bud through that catchphrase at him.
"Aye, but I hardly ever do this to you so I'll stick to it." Happy said with his paw raised as Natsu got back to his feet ready to end all of this nonsense.
"Where are you going?" Loke asked looking at Natsu as he made his way to the bar.
"To make sure my head's straight." He replied although the others were confused on how he said that, but it was Natsu, so saying something confusing wasn't really a surprise. It just meant Natsu had his own way of thinking, one they really don't know how it functions.
Back with Gray, he had managed to separate from the drunken, flirty and clingy Cana to the other end of the bar resting his head on his palm as it was propped up on the bar counter. He wanted to go back to his booth, but he was weary of the state Erza was in and his instincts of self preservation kicked in to tell him not to go back. He was busy in his thoughts to notice Mira making her way towards him and before he knew it a mug was placed right in front of him.
"What's the matter Gray, you look pretty worn out" Mira asked as he sighed thankful that he could at least talk to someone for the time being until Erza calmed down and the others came back to the booth.
"It been pretty complicated for me Mira, but hey it's often complicated for me in the guild," He joked, "thanks for this Mira." He said gesturing to the mug, but before he could bring the whole mug to his lips he was shoved forcefully forward by the pink haired dragon slayer.
Gray immediately retaliated, sending Natsu into Elfman which soon began a classic guild brawl, but Gray looked over the counter to see that Mira had fallen back when Gray was shoved forward pretty harshly. He jumped over the counter and offered his hand to help Mira up, seeing that it was partly his fault she fell over.
Mira looked at Gray's hand for a moment and then a sudden urge struck her when she looked at his face. It seemed as of the world stopped so she could only center her attention to him as the ice mage looked at her with concern. Even Mira wasn't sure why her heart seemed to beat faster as she continued to look at him, it only did that when she had a successful couple come together from one of her devious plans.
"Hey Mira are you alright?" Gray asked as she just stayed there looking at him instead of taking his hand.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you Mira, I hope this doesn't hurt our friendship. I really enjoy being around you Mira." Even Mira could not escape the effects of the potion and so she sees the Gray the rest of Team Natsu, save Happy, had seen today.
"Was Gray always this handsome?" Mira thought this as she took Gray's offered hand and let the feel of his cool calloused hand surround her smaller and smoother one. Had she never truly noticed Gray for the man that he grew up to be, instead of the boy that fought Natsu at every turn and stripped without knowledge?
Gray began to feel a blush come on his face as Mira held onto his hand longer than what he expected even if she was on her feet. He turned his head to avoid her seeing his blush and this brought Mira back to her senses, blushing just as equally for being too caught up in the way her hand in his. He chuckled nervously as she finally let go of his hand and passed it through his raven colored hair, while Mira found it to be very cute on how bashful he was being.
"Sorry for toppling you over Mira, I'll beat the snot out of Natsu even harder just for you." He said as he jumped back over the counter and made his way towards the brawl.
"Be careful not to injure them too bad Gray!" She called to him as he turned and gave her thumbs up with a wink and as he walked away she looked back to her hand and a small smile formed on her lips.
"Yeah, be careful my ice mage." Her eyes shot open when she realized what she had said and couldn't believe that something like that came from her.
Sure she has been interested in some people, but to be so struck like that hasn't ever happen to her before. Mira shook her head to clear her thoughts as best she could, but every now and then she would take quick glances to the fighting raven haired boy with a smile she always wore slightly brighter when he looked her way.
"Hey Mira, something good happen to you? You look much happier than you usually do?" Cana asked as she sat near the take-over mage, who was wiping down a few glasses.
"Hmm? Nothing out of the ordinary happened Cana, but I do see something coming soon." She replied with her usual smile on her face, but Cana knew better than to believe that smile. The eldest Strauss sibling had her match-maker aura going, but this time it was in place for herself for the first time since she started doing it.
"Maybe I should get Mira to help me hook up with Gray" Cana thought as turned to look at said mage wrestling Natsu, arms locked not budging an inch. So it seemed that even under the influence of the potion, drinking as much as Cana does has placed its effects to be much more prominent.
With Natsu though, he was enjoying fighting his rival but didn't know how long he could keep this up. The Gray he fought changed midway through their brawl and having him at arm's length made it more difficult to focus on the fighting than his dark pools that seemed as if they could read him like an open book. How he wished for someone to join the fight to get out of this predicament because it'll be a cold day in hell before he forfeited a fight with his rival. Even Erza stopping them would be a better idea, but she wasn't anywhere nearby.
"Give it up ash brain I'm going to beat you and you know it!" Gray taunted as he pushed with more force to overcome him.
"Like hell I will droopy eyes!"Natsu countered with equal force as they wouldn't budge a step further.
"But if you don't I don't know what I'll do."
"Just forfeit ice princess; I'll keep pushing if you don't and come after you even harder!"
"If you do that than I don't know if be able to stop myself from falling in love with you!"
In that instant, Natsu's world stopped and the last thing he noticed was a fist smashing his cheek into the guild floor.
