Worth the Wait

December X784

Gray felt confident Loke would be there. Somehow, he just knew. Now more than ever, he wanted to be picked for the S-Class trial, if only so he could see Loke again.

He was shocked when Loke visited his house on his own the day before the announcement. Gray had been in the middle of making dinner—naked, of course—when he heard a poof and turned around brandishing a spatula like a knife. Loke could hardly help but drop his eyes below the teen's waist.

"Caught you at a bad time?" he asked with an amused smirk.

Gray let his shoulders relax. "Just cooking dinner. Mira is busy with Master, so everyone in the guild is fending for themselves tonight."

"Frying chicken... naked? Doesn't that hurt? You know, when the grease pops and splashes on you?"

"Huh?" Only then did Gray notice his lack of clothes. "Dammit, when did that happen?" He grabbed a nearby apron and pulled it on quickly. There was no sign of the rest of his clothes. "What are you doing here?" he asked, already irritated that Loke saw him in such an embarrassing way after a long absence.

Loke thought seeing Gray wearing nothing but an apron was an even bigger turn-on than seeing him naked. "It's time, right? The S-Class trial."

"Yup. Do you think I have a chance?"

"Of course! Oh, but your chicken is browning too much."

Gray turned back to the frying pan and hurriedly got the meat out of the oil, while Loke leaned back and enjoyed the view. Gray had such a firm, muscular ass, so cute, and with the apron ties dangling down, it was like a kitty toy begging to be pounced on. He quickly shook his head. He had to think about something else... something else... food!

"Do you know what would go great with this dish?" Loke grabbed jagaimo, rincon, ninjin, and a kitchen knife. With grace, he began to chop the vegetables and added them to the hot oil.

Gray stood back and watched. This was one of his fantasies, to make dinner together with Loke. He looked so sexy, cooking the food with professional skill, handling the frying pan with grace. Gray only wished he was wearing something better than this stupid apron, or if maybe Loke was also wearing nothing but an apron...

No! No, he couldn't think like that.

When Loke added the jagaimo, the oil began to pop and hiss. Some splashed out and hit Gray's bare arm. He yanked back and sucked on the burning oil.

"Oh no!" Loke forgot all about cooking and took hold of Gray's arm. "I'm so sorry. I should have eased the vegetables in instead of dumping them. Is it bad? Do you need to go to a doctor?"

"I've been burned worse arguing with Natsu," he assured.

Loke leaned over the speck of oiled skin already turning red, placed his lips over it, and gently sucked the oil off. Gray's face went red as he felt those moist lips on his skin. Then Loke's mouth parted with a light pop, and he licked over the burn to clean up any residue of oil. Gray almost gagged at the feeling of that hot tongue gliding over his arm. He could barely help but compare... a lion's tongue was scratchy, but Loke's tongue was so wonderfully smooth. Gray yanked his arm away and turned aside to hide the nether stiffness that the apron hid so poorly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Gray snapped, wishing it was possible to mentally force an erection away.

"Caring for you," Loke said, amused by the reaction. "It was my fault you got hurt."

"I'm not hurt," he yelled, silently cursing the cock that had a mind of its own. "Besides, my specialty is freezing things." He put a layer of ice over the burn, then with his front side still pointed away, he held his arm out to show. "See, ice bandage. Simple fix." Stupid Lion, doing things like that! He tried to imagine something repulsive... like Makarov naked. Ugh! That alone almost cured him. "If you want to make it up to me, finish cooking dinner while I find my clothes."