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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