Saturday 25 October 2014

Gray Fullbuster one shot - The Weakness of Wind




                You never meant to get yourself into situations like this, they always just sort of happened. Your mind usually raced far beyond what you could comprehend and you were always left reeling. It would come up with an elaborate plan and put it into motion, giving you enough bravery for the first step, and the first step only. Then your resolved fizzled out when you realised your mind had glossed over the middle stages, and you were left trying to fix the mess you had gotten yourself into.
                Today you were sat with Lucy as she ate her breakfast, clutching a piece of paper to your chest. This wasn’t just any paper. This was a job request in the mountains. It involved crossing hazardous rivers, surviving in the cold, climbing shining ice faces. Obviously, it was a dream come true of a job for a certain ice mage. And that’s why you had taken it. You knew the ice mage had seen it, and that he’d wanted it. Now that you had it, he would either have to give up on the mission or come with you. Simple as that, and you knew in your heart he wouldn’t give up this mission no matter how much you might want him to, now that you realised that it was working.
                Lucy was laughing at you. “Don’t look so upset, your plan’s actually working this time.”
                “I don’t want a plan.” You muttered, “I want to go home and never come out.”
                “Well the Master has already approved you for this job, so you have to go.”
                “Maybe if I head out now I can get far enough away before he gets here…” With this new plan in mind you turned in your seat only to see the door open, and then your heart dropped. Of course Gray had to arrive at this very second.
                He walked over to the request board and skimmed it, his forehead creasing as he realised his dream job was gone.
                You groaned as you saw Jet point in your direction. Gray began to turn and you quickly looked back to Lucy who was muffling her giggles.
                “Shut up!” You hissed at her.
                “Hey Lucy, Hi Sarah.” Your heart missed a beat as you realised it was only Natsu and Happy who sat down. Great, more witnesses to your humiliation. You heard footsteps behind you and you cringed. The footsteps stopped.
                “Hey Sarah, How’s it going?”
                Slowly you turned in your seat to look up at Gray, who was stood towering over you. “Oh hi Gray… I’m alright, nothing special.”
                “I heard you took the job in the mountains? Doesn’t really seem like your kind of thing.”
                You winced as Lucy kicked you from under the table, probably her version of encouragement. “Er… well I don’t have much experience up there, I thought I should start taking missions so I’m… ready.” You finished lamely, kicking yourself in your mind.
                “Well do you mind if I come along?” He asked, “I haven’t been up there in a while.”
                “Oh yeah,” You said, attempting breeziness but knowing that your voice was probably coming out as gurgled clumps. “Yeah no problem.”
                “Great,” he said, “want to leave tomorrow morning so we can get the most light?”
                “Sounds good,” you squeaked. He bid his goodbyes to his friends and walked out of the guild. Turning back to your table, you saw Lucy giving you a thumbs up and Natsu staring at you with wide eyes. Happy had his sly grin, “you lllllllllike him.” He purred.
                “Shut up Happy.” You hissed, only making them laugh at you.
                “Gray? Seriously?” Natsu exclaimed. You glared at him and Lucy pulled him back down to the table from where he had stood in surprise.
                “She’s liked him for forever!” Lucy said conversationally and you dropped your forehead to the table, covering your head with your arms. “And I keep telling her he likes her back but she won’t believe me.”
                “Lucy,” you said, lifting your head from the table, “did that conversation seem like it was between two people who like each other? No it didn’t. I might as well go live with Juvia…”
                “This sounds like a mission!” Natsu said, leaping up onto the table, Happy flying around at his shoulders.
                “Natsu get down!” You said, seeing that everyone was looking.
                “We will get the two of you together! No matter what it takes! Operation Sarah-Gray is a go!” Natsu pumped his fist in the air and Happy cheered. Lucy laughed and onlookers chuckled. You lay your head back on the table, dignity flying into the air.

***

                Now Gray didn’t understand why everyone always lumped him in with having the same dense brain as Natsu. Of course he knew that Sarah liked him, and of course he liked her back. He just never found the right time to do anything about it. But this mission, just the two of them up in the glittering mountains, he was sure he’d think of something.

***

                “Are you sure this is the right way Gray?” Sarah asked, shivering. She was freezing, the coat seemed to be doing nothing.
                “Yeah, I’m sure.”
                Sarah followed numbly, her booted feet trudging through thick fluffy snow. Her nervousness around Gray had been replaced with irritation for the mountains, she wasn’t suited to be up here. But she had to admit, Gray flourished. She looked up to check where he was, and tripped face first into the snow.
                She heard a loud peal of laughter, then, “You ok Sarah?”
                “No! It’s down my shirt and on my neck and in my boots! It’s so cold! I hate snow!”
                Gray’s expression softened, and he took pity on her. “I see a cave up there, we can rest there for the night.”
                Sarah’s eyes lifted hopefully to see this cave, and her heart sunk. “I am not climbing a frozen waterfall.”
                “You don’t have to, see?” Gray made glittering steps of ice for them, but Sarah shook her head.
“Gray that’s ice! I’ll fall off. No, I’ll do it my way.”
                Now Gray was excited, he didn’t often get to see her magic, but he loved it.
                “Gemstone make, staircase!”
                A thin staircase appeared next to his own which he let fade away. He loved how her gems glimmered in the fading sunlight, like they had a light of their own which blossomed from inside. Her magic was so similar to his own, maker magic.
                By the time they reached the cave, the sun had disappeared and they were shrouded in darkness.
                “Gemstone make, cave dweller.”
                Grey watched as a small gem grew from the ground in front of them. It was like her other gems, but somehow different. It seemed to pulse, like a heartbeat, casting a wash of dim light around them. He was grateful, he hadn’t wanted to sit in the dark the whole night.
                “Can you block off the entrance with gemstones? I want to make a fire but this wind won’t let up.”
                She did as he asked, and soon a little fire was flickering away, Sarah huddled around it.
                “So… you’ll want to let your clothes dry.” He said, watching her eyes turn to him, “trust me, being up here in wet clothes is an awful idea.”
                She grumbled, but knew he was right. She shrugged out of her coat, placing it on one side of the fire and went to take off her soaked shirt, “Gray! Turn around!” He chuckled, but looked away as she continued to undress to the bare minimums. The gemstone door reflected the heat of the fire back into the cave, making them a cosy pocket of warmth. But Sarah wasn’t warm yet, she’d been out in the cold so long, it felt like icicles had formed around her bones, keeping her cold and shivering. Not the blanket around her, not even the fire could stop her chattering teeth.
                “Here, let me help.” Gray said, lifting the blanket and sitting next to her, closing it back around them. Sarah was frozen again, but in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. Gray had been shirtless from the minute he saw the snow, and she’d always assumed that Gray’s body was cold, but she was so wrong. If anything, it seemed to burn hotter to chase away the cold. His arm wrapped around her bare shoulder, pulling her tight against him. “See, much better.” He said cheerfully, but Sarah could only nod. Her nervousness was back in full force, what should she say, she had to say something! She couldn’t just sit here like a mute the whole time, Gray would think she was weird! Her mind was working overtime, but all thoughts had left her. The only thing she could think of was the arm on her shoulder, and the thumb rubbing small burning circles into her skin.       
                “So why did you take this mission Sarah?” He asked slyly. Of course he knew the reason, and she was pretty adorable like this, but he wanted to see the Sarah he saw around Lucy and Natsu.
                “I told you.” She stammered, “to get used to high mountain areas.”
                “And how’s that going for you?”
                She fumed, he was making fun of her!
                “Because honestly,” he continued, “I don’t think that’s why you came up here.” He looked at her and she couldn’t stop herself from meeting his gaze, “Tell me if I’m wrong, but I think you came up here to have some alone time with me.”
                Her heart stopped. He knew. This was mortifying. How did he know? Natsu… Natsu must have said something! Oh no! She wanted to melt into a puddle…
                “And if I’m right, then I’m glad. Because I did the exact same thing.”
                She was still frozen, what did he just say? He couldn’t…. there’s no way… that would mean that he liked her back!
                “You… you mean…?” She stammered, heart thudding back into action and pounding away like a sledgehammer.
                “I do.” He answered back, corners of his lips tilted up in a smirk. And then she realised, this whole thing wasn’t her plan, not this time. It was Grays!!
                His arm on her shoulder curled, pulling her into him. His other hand reached up to brush her hair. The blanket fell from around them, but Sarah barely felt it, she was warm. Warm with the burning trails of Gray’s hands, warm with the lips that pressed against hers.
                She wasn’t nervous, not anymore. Her lips boldly melded to his, her hands reaching up to tangle in his hair as her body pressed against his. His tongue swept over her lip, and she barely thought before letting her tongue rush out to meet him. His hand cradled her head, curling in her hair and pressing her closer to him.
                They broke with laboured breathing, and their silence was broken with a squeal as Sarah realised Gray could see her practically naked body since the sheet had fallen away. She scrambled to grab it and cover herself but Gray nabbed it first. He settled it around the two of them, before guiding her to the floor of the cave. “Sleep now, we’ve got a big day ahead of us.” He said. His hand slid over her bare skin and pressed flat on her stomach, pulling her back against his chest as he curled himself around her.
                Sarah smiled, lacing her fingers with Gray’s and snuggling closer. The wind howled and the mountain hail battered at the gemstone covered entrance to the little cave. The small fire died out in the night and the cold crept back in, but Sarah didn’t notice. She had her own protection from the cold.

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