[Fairy Tail] Like Gravity
“That idiot-Natsu…” Gray grumbled, clearly irritated, “…he just had to go off on his own again.”
“Gray,” said Lucy, touching his arm, stopping mid-way through his tirade. She kept glancing up at the sky.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What is it?”
“Maybe we should look for shelter,” she said. “It looks like it’s about to rain soon.”
No sooner had she said this and Gray had glanced up at the clouds did it started to pour. Heavily. By the time they'd reached a nearby tree, they were almost soaked to the bone.
“Tch. Now I can see why they call this place the 'Land of a Thousand Tears',” said Gray, running his hand through his hair to wrinkle out the water. He touched the surface of his coat, where rain-water had already seeped in through the fabric. His lips twisted into a sardonic, little smile-funny he had a suitable excuse to take off his shirt now.
“I hope Natsu and Happy are okay,” said Lucy, who was wringing strands of her hair and patting herself dry with a handkerchief. She was trying to see through the downpour with obviously very little success.
Gray rolled his eyes. “Knowing that moron, he’s likely still trying to walk through it.”
Lucy sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She took a seat. “It’s really coming down, isn’t it?” she said, almost in awe. “I wonder what’s causing this much rain to fall. In the ads it said it could last as short as a couple hours to about as long as a couple days-maybe even weeks.”
“We don’t have weeks,” said Gray firmly. He had already disposed of his jacket. “And this is obviously not a natural phenomenon. There’s a source somewhere and we’ve got to find it and stop it right away.” He lifted up his shirt. “The village can’t keep rebuilding their homes every time there’s a flood-“
Lucy made a choking noise. He looked at her and her expression suggested she either wanted to bludgeon him or run far, far away. In this case, he was guessing the former. It wasn’t like she could go anywhere anyway, he thought.
“What?” he said, blinking.
“Must you strip now?” she complained with an embarrassed huff. “I mean... you should stop that horrible habit already, Gray. It’s not dignifying.”
He ignored the jab at his exhibitionistic tendencies. “It’s raining and I’m wet. How else am I going to dry off?” He gave her a flat look. “If you don’t like it, you don’t always have to look you know.”
Lucy’s jaw dropped as heat slowly crept across her face. “I-I wasn’t-I would never-how dare you imply that I would even-“She could barely string together two sentences. It was priceless.
Despite himself, Gray couldn’t resist teasing her a bit more.
“Heh. I knew it,” he said, chuckling. He sent her a sideways look and a smirk. “Wow, Lucy, I don’t know what to say…”
“What?!” she nearly shrieked. “No!” Lucy’s face burned a fierce shade of scarlet. “It’s not like that at all! I-I was just-it’s not like there’s anywhere else for me too look, okay?”
“Uh-huh,” he said, really trying not to smile.
“I can hardly see passed all this rain, that’s all!” she went on. Her voice was starting to reach the squeaky volumes. “You’re the only thing here I can properly lay my eyes on and the last thing I need is the after-image of your-“
“Lucy,” he said, grabbing her by the arms and cutting her off. “It’s okay. Will you relax? I was only joking with you.” He rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.
“What?!” She smacked him on the chest as he laughed. “You. Jerk. How. Could. You-” With every word she dealt another jab to his chest-something she probably meant to bruise him with, but knew would probably do little than just tickle him. “It’s not funny,” she said, glaring at him in that way he thought was pretty damn cute.
“Sure it was,” he said, snickering. “I found it highly entertaining.”
“Mou, you jerk!” she huffed. “I’m going to this side of the tree now so that you won’t-eep!”
He had grabbed her by the wrist to stop her and pulled her back, causing her to fall against him.
“C’mon, don’t be like that,” he said, even though his amusement was still far from over. She scrunched up her nose at him, (cute, he thought again with an inward smile), but it was a gesture that signified she was still annoyed with him, and he forced himself to sober up-well, as much as he was able to anyway. “Sorry,” he said. He cleared his throat and smiled down at her. “I really am.”
She dropped her head against his chest and sighed. “You’re still a jerk though,” she mumbled, but it was muffled and sounded half-hearted, and he knew instantly he was forgiven. She still hadn’t moved from her position. “You’re surprisingly comfortable though…” she said, almost as a grudging afterthought.
The laughter rumbled in his throat. “I’ll take that as a compliment then,” he said and she laughed and looked up at him. She still did not let him go. Not that he minded anyway. He still had yet to relinquish her hand.
She had small hands, he noted; his own could swallow hers up, keep it safe somehow. And after struggling with that thought for a brief moment, he realized that that was something he wanted to do-felt like it was something he should do.
She’s my nakama, he argued with himself. Of course he’d want to go out of his way to protect her, to look out for her-he’d have done that for anyone in his guild, not just her. That was just the sort of thing nakama did for one another. However, the nagging tingle of doubt at the back of his head kept making him feel like this was different somehow. That Lucy was a special case. That this was personal. Something he reserved only for himself.
He gripped her just a little bit tighter.
For a minute, she was quiet. For a moment, all around them it was quiet. And all he could hear, was aware of, was the sound of her breath-the feel of it washing against his chin-and the warmth of her against him. From this proximity he can see her how brown her eyes were; can see the tiny flecks of amber and light, and he never knew-or hadn’t taken notice of-the dab of freckles on the tip of her nose; the smell of her hair or how full and soft her lips looked from this angle.
He couldn’t help but lean in to her; it was like gravity was pulling him in and he couldn’t stop or resist-and he realized he didn’t want to. His hand touched the side of her waist, where fingers grazed against soft skin. She shivered.
“Are you cold?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper now. She wasn’t wearing much to begin with. And Gray, again, was struck by the kind of insight that told him he should have already known this, and yet hadn’t.
She shook her head. “No, I’m alright,” she said and placed her other hand-the free one-lightly on his chest, just above his tattoo. He almost shivered too, but for entirely different reasons. She gave him a meaningful look. “Not anymore at least.”
He gave her a look in return. “Me neither.”
And then it happened. One minute they were standing, face to face, so close that her scent filled his nostrils and he can see the specks of amber in the melting chocolates, and then the next their faces had closed in, lips brushing, and then pressing and then moving. Slowly, deeply-all in tandem to the heavy pounding of his heartbeat, where the nimbleness of her fingers guided and moved and scorched through the very surface of his skin. And everything else was forgotten; the endless rain, the cold, the mission, everything-and the only thing that seemed to be running through his mind was Lucy; the feel of her, the warmth of her and the feeling of soft velvet melding with the rough contours of his mouth. The way she seemed to fit just right in his arms did not escape him either. Everything about this moment was right, and he did not want it to stop.
“Gray…” she whispered against his lips, almost absently, and in response he kissed her harder. “Gray…” she said again, this time, a sigh. His arms encircled her and he nearly lifted her from the ground while pulling her to him. “Gray…”
God, he loved the way she said his name. There was a quantum of things he heard and felt in that one syllable-all of which he could hardly get enough of. He contemplated what she'd likely hear from his voice if he should speak her name.
“Lucy,” he tried, rolling the name off his tongue, and for some reason the way he said it sounded different to him now. “Lucy…” he whispered again, and in response she sighed into this mouth, tugging him close and threaded fingers through his hair. “Lucy,” he said again, because this time he really couldn’t resist, and almost smiled when the grip on his hair tightened-none too gently he might add. Not that he minded of course. He just pulled her closer and for once in his life, didn’t mind that the rest of the world was going by without them.
When they finally pulled away, there was that one second where he was still locked in the dream before reality eventualy settled, and it settled fast. And Gray was met with silence. For a long and terrifying moment, Gray stopped breathing, because this was it. This was their friendship and everything he’d come to treasure about her all on the line, and with a rush of anxiety he wondered what would happen to them if she suddenly regretted it-the kiss, them, all of it and turned away from him. He didn’t know what he’d do if she were to tell him it hadn’t meant a thing or that they should just forget about it because he didn’t think he could anymore-not when he’d all but put his heart on his sleeve and given it to her.
He was literally at the mercy of her answer. He’d already made his choice, whether he wanted to or not. Now he had to wait for hers.
“Gray.”
He closed his eyes, because here it was-the moment where she’d either make or break him. He half-prepared himself for the latter and grimaced.
Since when had he started to become such a wimp? He thought. He could practically hear Natsu laughing at him. Just the thought made his teeth grind.
“Well,” said Lucy, clearing her throat. “That was… something.” Her cheeks were flushed red and she looked almost, for a lack of a better word, awkward being incased in his arms.
Gray felt his heart drop. “Yeah,” he said, thickly and found it difficult to swallow. He could not say anything more than that. Any more and he could tip the balance between them-or what was already left. And she was still looking awkward.
That was never a good sign. And to make matters worse, she was starting to squirm-a gesture that either signified discomfort or that she wanted to break free. Or possibly both. He felt his arms start to loosen from her waist, as if ready to let her go if need be.
No.
He… wasn’t going to do that. He had to let her know somehow that he was serious. Serious about her. About them. About everything. Anything to change her mind, make her stay-with him. Because he wanted her to stay with him. Maybe he always had. All he knew was he wasn’t about to lose her.
“Erm…” she began again when he hadn’t spoken. She nibbled at her lip-a nervous habit she’d picked up-before sighing, defeated. She looked resigned to something. “Look, Gray, about what happened-“
“I don’t regret it,” he said, cutting her off.
She blinked. “What-you don’t-you mean you-“
He slipped his arms around her again and pulled her close, his face serious. “It was real for me,” he said quietly, firmly. “So please-“her eyes widened, as Gray had never used such a word in his life, “-just. Just stay with me.” He swallowed. He sounded pitiful and a tinge desperate, but he didn’t care. His hold tightened on her. “Stay with me, Lucy, because I don’t think I can-“
She touched his lips with the tips of her fingers, stopping him, and Gray wasn’t sure whether to be grateful for this or uneasy.
“Idiot,” she murmured, “What ever made you think I was going anywhere in the first place?”
His eyes widened. She was smiling. The amber flecks in the brownness of her eyes were glowing and the pink in her cheeks was warm from the heat of her shyness and mirth. But she was smiling-at him.
“It was real for me too.”
Gray let out the breath he’d been holding and … felt the corner of his lips quirk sideways into a wide-grin. I probably look like a moron, he thought, but didn't care. He felt... happy.
“A-Although,” said Lucy, blushing, and looking every bit as delirious as he felt, “that still doesn’t mean you can strip whenever you want. It’s not dignifying at all.” The sound that escaped her lips was most definitely a laugh-and a teasing one at that.
“Tch. I knew you were checking me out,” he said, smirking as she hit him square on the chest.
“Enough of that,” she whined, her face burning with embarrassment and he laughed and pulled her to him. “Oh! The rain has stopped,” she said suddenly, pointing over his shoulder.
He turned his head and, sure enough, he could already see the path they’d been walking on earlier coming back into view.
“Huh, so it has,” he said, not the least bit concerned by this. He turned his attention back to her. “So?”
“So… shouldn’t we go look for Natsu and Happy then?” said Lucy, raising a brow.
Gray pretended to give it some thought, which didn’t last very long.
He just smirked as he leaned into her; lips barely touching.
“Natsu can wait,” he said, before capturing her mouth.