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"So what are we going to do now? We kind of already toured the museum, albeit we did that on our own while looking for each other."

"What are we going to do?" he grinned. "We're going to go whale-watching."

"So when you said whale-watching, I was kind of expecting tickets, probably onto a passenger ship," I said.

"Yes?" Gray nodded for me to continue.

"This is not a passenger ship. This is a yacht."

"It's really just a small boat when you get down to it. But yes, you are correct," he said, turning off his car engine and sitting back to look at me.

"Your yacht?" I asked, my voice going unnaturally high.

Gray simply let out an amused laugh and stepped out of the car, and I had no choice but to follow.

Gray might as well have said, "Yes, I pick up dog shit with my money."

The yacht didn't look like it received much use, its walls still a stark white and the wooden planks polished and even in color, free of water damage. There were plenty of wooden lounging chairs set out on the deck, and a small pool peeked out from around a corner.

At the threshold between the boarding plank and the actual boat was a woman, curvaceous and confident, arms crossed and feet planted apart, her fiery red hair flapping in the breeze. Gray quickly laced his hands behind his back as we approached her.

Gray's voice narrated the image before me, "I'd like to introduce you to our captain for the day."

A small smile graced the woman's lips and she extended an arm. "I'm Erza," she said, shaking my hand. She had a surprisingly powerful grip, and I felt my bones creak as she pumped my arm. "And you are?"

"Lu-OW!-cy," I stammered, testing my hand for broken bones after she released it from her calloused fingers.

"Nice to meet you Lousy," she said.

I opened my mouth to correct her, but snapped it shut when Gray sent me a panicked Don't fix it or else you'll have to shake her hand again look. In turn, I sent him a Thanks for saving yourself glare, directed at his hands hidden behind his back.

"So you're really the captain?" I turned my eyes back to Erza and gave her attire a second look. The reason why I asked was because her sailor uniform… Let's just say it was more the type you saw on schoolgirls than on ship captains.

"You can be anything, as long as you have fighting spirit!" she declared passionately. I, on the other hand, took a safe step back onto the boarding plank at her sketchy non-answer.

"Wait a second, does that mean you're not a real-"

"Thanks Erza! We're counting on you for a safe journey. Let's go this way, Lucy," Gray quickly cut in, finally producing his hands from their hiding spot to push me onto the deck.

As soon as we were out of earshot, I whirled around and furiously hissed, "What the hell, Gray? You're telling me she's not licensed to sail this thing? What if we die? What if I die? I can't swim!"

Gray faced my fury with an apologetic but firm demeanor. "Look, you don't get between Erza and what she wants. And it just so happened that today she wanted to be ship captain- Lucy, what the heck are you doing?"

I was already halfway through inflating a lifeboat when Gray stopped me. "Don't worry about Erza, okay? She's got fighting spirit, like she said. And when she's passionate about something, she's really good at it."

I reluctantly let the air fizzle out of the boat.

"And if worse comes to worse, she can jump in the water and cover as one of the motors."

I didn't even bother commenting on the last part.

Looking out, the sea was like a cut of denim, textured by small rippling waves. We chose a spot near the middle of the boat and wait staff appeared instantly, bringing out a small table to set down hors d'oeuvres such as shrimp cocktails and salmon crostinis.

Gray and I made small talk about what sort of whales we could expect to see in the area, about the history of the yacht we were sailing on, about Lyon, about his greenhouse. I didn't even notice when the boat had left the dock and before long the we were surrounded by water on every side, the blue expanse stretching out as far as the eye could see. Gray and I eventually took to leaning on the silver guard rail and gazing towards the horizon.

"How long have we been out here? I've completely lost track of the time," I asked through closed eyes, enjoying the feeling of the salty breeze combing through my hair.

"A little over two hours," came Gray's answer.

Two hours?! It felt like thirty minutes.

I opened my eyes and rested my chin on the railing. "Two hours, and we haven't even seen a single whale yet," I pouted. "Plus it's so sunny and bright out. My eyeballs are burning off."

"Yeah, I guess I should have told you beforehand to dress in layers or something. You can borrow my sunglasses, though." He pulled them out of his pocket and offered them to me.

"You should wear them," I waved it away but he caught my wrist and placed them in my palm.

"My eyes are naturally squinty, so I think I'm okay. See?" That forced me to look into his deep-set eyes, which were turned down at the corners. I noticed that his normally dark irises had turned a stormy gray in the direct sunlight.

"You have kind eyes, Gray. Gentle."

Gray dropped my wrist like he'd touched fire, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning away so his hair hid his face. "It's probably because I've been looking at you. Anyway, just put them on, okay?"

"These are men's sunglasses. I'll look ridiculous," I argued.

"You could never look ridiculous."

Before I could respond, Gray's cell phone rang. I raised my eyebrow in silent question as he checked the caller ID.

"It's my assistant. Might be important. Just give me a second," he said. I set down the sunglasses on a table and started to walk away but he placed his hand, always slightly cool to the touch I was noticing, on my shoulder. "It'll just be a minute. You don't have to go."

"It feels weird for me to stay here. Take the call." But he already had, and as I walked off, I spared one glance back. He looked hurt and mouthed something to me that vaguely looked like give me a chance.

I found myself in the "captain's" cabin, but the woman herself was nowhere in sight.

"If you've come for cake, the staff can get you some. However, this strawberry one is mine."

I swung to the left and found Erza sitting behind an entire candlelight dinner setup, the full nine yards with a gingham tablecloth, two lit candles, and two sets of utensils. But the only meal on the table was a thick slice of cake.

"Erza! No, I'm not here for cake. Gray's busy so I thought I'd explore."

"That's good to hear. The first part, I mean. But how tactless of Gray to leave his date alone."

"I was the one that left him." Great, now it sounded like we were dating. "He's taking a call for work and I didn't want to get involved."

"Your precautionary measures have fighting spirit. I respect it."

The room fell silent for a bit as Erza ate her cake and I studied the seamless view out the boat's large windshield.

"The fish aren't really biting today," I commented. "We haven't been able to see anything yet."

"We're looking for whales, Lousy, so of course you won't see many fish," she said seriously. I was going to tell her it was an idiom, but my aching hand shut me up.

"It's just that this is my first time going out with Gray-" Ugh, why does it always sound like we're dating? "-and I don't want him to feel bad that we haven't seen any whales yet."

"I'm sure you're lovely company," she said, but she seemed to be talking to her cake.

But then she glanced up and said, "Besides, people don't go whale watching to look at the whales, but at each other. Talking and bonding as they search for themselves reflected in one another. That is the power of friendship. That's what makes people strong."

I didn't quite know why Erza was giving me a friendship speech. But it sort of made sense and made her seem like an actual captain for a minute, so I nodded along. Just then, a waiter burst into the room, and Erza shot him an evil look.

"Insolent fool! You're interrupting my friendship speech," boomed Erza.

"My apologies, Erza. But a whale just surfaced on the starboard side!"

"Excellent. You and Lousy may excuse yourselves and go watch. I myself have… unfinished business." She prodded the cake with her fork.

The waiter scratched at his shocking blue hair and shifted on his feet. "Do you think you could take us in closer? It's far away and kind of hard to see."

"But… but..." I watched her jut out her lip childishly while gazing longingly at the half-eaten slice in front of her.

"I'm sure the wait staff would really like to see it too and would bake you a whole cake in appreciation. Please… Captain Erza?"

And just like a sleeper agent triggered by those magic words, Erza threw off her clothes to reveal a full-blown naval uniform, pulling out a navy cap from nowhere. Holy crap, this waiter has mastered mind control!

"Lousy, man the deck! Jellal, give slack to the sails! We're going to catch that whale!" she announced enthusiastically. Then she gave the steering wheel a dramatic spin and we all lurched to the left.

This whole thing was getting crazy, Erza was crazy, I was going to die, and somebody needed to say something normal. "Um, Erza, you know we're not on a pirate-"

"Aye, aye, Captain," said the waiter named Jellal, and pulled me out of the cabin with him.

Jellal seemed like a pretty normal guy. I mean, he tattooed his face, but there were weirder things.

So what did Erza have on him that made him her minion like this?

Love.

He stopped dragging me when we reached the top of the wooden stairs and simply stood there, looking away, and refusing to meet the stink eye I was giving him.

"Erza. Is. CRAZY!" I shouted, flailing my arms around. I was so exasperated I felt like I could bend the boat in half. As though on cue, the lights in the hall flickered as the ship swerved again. I almost fell down the stairs but Jellal pulled me back.

"Maybe. But she's happy, and that's what matters to me," he said.

"Do you actually want to see the whales?" I asked, referring to the disinterested way he was looking out at the ocean. His expression become one of boyish guilt.

"Not really. But I know that she would want to if the cake wasn't there distracting her, so I gave her a push in the right direction. She's only captain for one day after all. I want her to see the whales so she doesn't look back on today with regret."

I felt a sympathy tear on the verge of leaking out and gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"She'll come around."

He suddenly looked embarrassed on top of his guilt. "It-It's not like I'm expecting her to return my feelings, Lousy."

I laughed when Jellal said it. "It's Lucy."

He cracked a smile. "I figured as much. For the longest time she called me 'JellOW.'" I watched him wiggle his fingers in memory. "Erza's got quite the handshake, huh?"

I smiled. "Yeah. Look, I should be getting back. Thanks for your help, Jellal. I can't wait to see the whale!"

The problem was, Gray wasn't where I'd left him. I searched the entire deck to no avail, and he'd left his phone on his lounging chair as though to say "I told you it would only be a minute. You should have waited." Finally I got it out of one of the staff that he was below deck on the loading dock. She gave a list of lefts and rights that I obviously remembered and followed perfectly.

...We all know how I really got there. It's a secret technique I like to call "Floor by Floor: Remastered."

I found him standing on a wide ramp that gently sloped to touch the water's edge.

"I'm not fond of hide-and-seek, if that's the impression you got," I called over to him.

He smirked back at me. "This is payback for the museum."

It was then that I noticed the yacht had stopped moving. "Why'd we stop?"

"The whale is too far away," Gray replied. "We won't be able to see it very long or up close at the speed we're going at. Erza said it will probably have already disappeared by the time we get there. Which is why we have these."

He tapped what appeared to be a small motorboat with the toe of his shoe. "Ever seen a whale this close before?"

A high-pitched scream suddenly cut through the air, and it took a moment for me to register that it was me screaming in delight.

"Oh my God!" I attacked him with a hugging jump, the type that only excited girls know how to do. Mirajane would have gotten it. Cana would have gotten it. But because Gray is clearly not a girl, he kind of just awkwardly stood there smiling. But I was too excited to care, and squeezed him tighter.

"Easy, Killer. You're gonna break my ribs," he laughed, but made no move of escaping my embrace. "You know how to ride?"

"Not all of us own personal motorboats and yachts, so no," I said, releasing him at last. Then I jabbed a finger at him like the Ace Attorney himself and said, "But like hell I'm passing up this experience. So teach me."

He motioned to the motorboat. "Climb on."

I kicked off my heels, straddled the seat, grabbed the handlebars, and looked at Gray expectantly. He stared for a few moments before an amused smile lit up his face. "Well at least I don't need to teach you how to sit properly."

I frowned. "How else are you supposed to sit?"

"Women sometimes like to sit with both legs to one side, like a princess on a horse. Decency over safety, I suppose," he said, eyes zeroing in on the hem of my dress, which was quickly riding up my thighs.

Normally I would have screamed "PERVERT!" and Lucy-kicked him out into the water, but that would mean I'd have to jump in and save him, and I couldn't swim so we'd both drown. So instead I reluctantly turned my eyes back to the front. "No thanks. I'm not dying today."

"I already knew this, but you're smart. Good choice," he said. He walked closer and placed a foot on one side of the motorboat. In one smooth motion, he swung himself over so he was seated behind me, his chest pressed to my back. Then he covered my hands with his and bent the handlebars left and right, like we were steering a bicycle.

"Steering should be pretty self-explanatory. Just like this." His voice was right next to my ear, the puff of his breath causing the hairs to rise on the back of my neck. He's so close! If I just turned my head a bit, I could... turn this into a really cliche moment.

Gray's voice was steady, and I felt a little ashamed that I was the only one being hyper-aware.

"Okay," I heard myself say.

"The engine is started by pulling this cord, just like starting a lawn mower. It's located back here." I turned around, resting my forearm on him.

I was shocked. Not by the cord; that looked exactly like I'd expected: a plastic handle attached to a retractable cable. It was Gray, whose cheeks were flushed, and his breathing was shallow beneath the pressure of my arm.

So maybe I'm not overthinking things.

That, or my arm weighed a shit ton, and Gray was red in the face because I was stopping his oxygen supply.

I faced forward again, feeling a little better. "Got it." I felt him flex from behind me, and the engine roared to life.

"Last thing is stopping and going. There's a stick shift on your right. Drive, neutral, and reverse." I glanced to the right. "Put it into reverse to brake. But when you do that I recommend going neutral for a bit first, then reverse to avoid being thrown from the boat. It's a straight shot to the whale. Any questions?"

"You go out here often?" I asked.

"Once in a while," said Gray, "but I am at work six days a week, after all."

"What do you do at work that requires so much commitment?"

"Well, it's a lot of paperwork, that's a given. And then there's dealing with the unending stream of problems that my assistants report to me; someone's always having one issue or another. Business deals, promoting your product, inspecting the manufacturing… it's a lot of shit."

I winced. "Sorry for bringing it up on your day off. Let's talk about something else."

"You're doing it again," he sighed, unmounting the boat to stand beside me. "I thought you said you'd give me a chance."

"What- What do you mean?"

"We've talked about a lot of things today. The Great Gatsby, the whales, my brother. And I love talking to you. You're a brilliant conversationalist, probably because you're a receptionist. But every time the subject of work comes up, you shut it down. Why can't you talk about work with that same brilliance and- and interest?"

"It's not like I don't care about work," I said, feeling slightly offended.

"But?"

"But I already told you about the situation with my father."

"And I said that I wasn't your family, that this doesn't have to be as complicated as you're making it seem. I'm the sort of guy that really likes his work, and I'm comfortable with talking about it at any time. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you hate your job or something?"

He hit the nail on the head and I didn't even realize the nail had been there at all.

I didn't like kissing up to Freed. I didn't like Freed, or his antennae hair, or his calmly overbearing personality, or his stupid unpersonalized desk that had so much wasted Pinterest potential.

I didn't like this job that wasn't going anywhere, that had little chance of promotion, that made people like Gray look down on me like my forehead was forever branded with my Job. Until this point, I felt a certain dignity in the hard work I put into a mediocre job, but now I realized that might have been the dignity of the poor. I answered phone calls, filed papers, served coffee, checked people in.

I was Lady Hardliner, and I hated it.

But to tell all of this to Gray? Telling someone you hated your job just wasn't first date material.

"Of course I don't hate my job," I lied.

"Then what's the problem?" Gray questioned. Then he suddenly looked saddened, his eyebrows knitting together. "Or did you change your mind? Do you just not like me? Because we don't have to go around in circles like this if you don't."

"No! I-" I do like you!

But the words died on my lips, and I saw Gray's features distort with disappointment. What could I say now that wouldn't sound like excuses?

I needed to get out of there. And without thinking, I fisted the stick shift into drive.

The roaring of the engine drowned out whatever Gray was going to say. One moment I was inside the yacht's small dock, and the next, I was skidding across open water, the wind whipping my hair about madly. The feeling was liberating, though seeing only open water on all fronts had me gripping the handlebars tighter.

I glanced back towards the yacht, but Gray had already disappeared inside, and I felt an irrational surge of disappointment, considering I was the one who had fled. Maybe we both needed time to think, especially now that Gray knew how totally spineless I was, fleeing from such an important conversation. Of all the things I could have said, I chose nothing. How much bigger of an idiot could I be?

The blaring sound of the yacht's fog horn suddenly cut through my thoughts. I whipped my head around and squinted against the late afternoon sunlight. There were a lot of people on the deck, probably the staff, jumping up and down and waving their arms around. The yacht had also started moving again. Were they celebrating something? What the heck was going on?

I looked forward again and instantly understood the fog horn and the waving. In front of me, no more than 200 feet away, was the hump of the whale.

I was on a collision course.

Ooh, first cliffhanger.

All of you guys hollering for NaLu: I see you, I see you! Natsu was supposed to make a cameo in this chapter, but didn't quite make it, so he'll be in it next chapter. I promise. Even if it stretches to four thousand words or something. Scout's honor.

I'll make it a goal to update next Sunday/Monday, but it's my birthday this week so we'll see. Have a great day!