【Re:Freezing】 | Gray Fullbuster x OC

18. Going South

"Hey, look." Karissa pointed at the waterfall, "The water is floating."

Gray followed after her when she bounced over to the waterfall that looked rather beautiful in the sunlight. According to a sign he just passed by, there was a lacrima located below the water, causing droplets of water to simply levitate and float in the air. Karissa carefully squatted down and peered inside the water curiously.

"Find anything interesting?" Gray stopped next to her.

"Fish." Karissa snickered before pushing back her right sleeve behind her elbow and dipping her hand inside the water to fish out something. It was a small lacrima crystal. She held it up and examined it in an excavator-like manner. "It looks nice when it's not a weapon."

"Tower of Heaven?" he took it from her when she handed it to him.

"Yep." She wiped her hand on her jacket and pushed herself back up. She stared at the floating water droplets around them, admiring the scenery.

Gray chuckled inwardly when she looked at the area with an artists' eye. The scenery did look rather nice. He lightly tossed the lacrima back inside the water.

―

"Gray!" Karissa quickly called him and nearly fell off the seat she tried throwing herself onto. Gray, who was just eating some bread and going through a magazine he swiped off a counter, looked at her curiously and wondered why she was all excited.

"What's up?"

She slapped a job request form on the magazine and grinned, "This is the town in the south! Novera! It sells a bunch of cool art supplies last time I checked! I talked about it after we came back from Galuna Island!"

"And...?" he tipped his head, confused.

"Look at the freaking reward money!"

"Huh?"

His eyes lazily wandered downward. He nearly choked on his spit when he saw all the extra zeroes. He snatched the form off the table and stared at it in disbelief while Karissa smirked. She knew he was getting a little angsty about his expenses, and this seemed like an efficient way to get his attention.

"Holy shit?! Just for retrieving some lost auction items?!"

"Right? But..." Karissa casually plucked the form out of his hands, snapping him out of his cash daydream, and merely shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I just wanted to show it to you since I'll be using the reward money to buy some art stuff. So byeee." She chuckled and walked away from his table until she felt him grab the back of her sweater.

Karissa looked over her shoulder with a grin.

Gray scowled at the shit eating grin on her face. "I need some freaking money. And that job will be hella lot easier to cover my expenses for two months. Can I go with you?"

It was easy.

"Say please?" she jutted her bottom lip teasingly. He knew she wasn't going to refuse.

"Please. I'll meet you at the station in an hour."

Karissa laughed when Gray took the flyer from her hands and went to tell Mirajane that they were going on a job together.

―

Gray and Karissa were out on a job together for their own personal benefits.

Karissa wanted some high-quality markers while Gray needed some more money.

They were currently on their way to Novera on foot since the town was a couple of minutes away from the train station. It wasn't all that bad considering how they were exposed to different types of views of nature that were influenced by the presence of lacrima. According to what Pandora told Karissa, the town usually had lacrima crystals laying around which meant the environment look interesting enough to be a touring spot.