Worth the Wait

December 15, X784, Tenrou Island

NOTE:  Gray and Loke's fight against Wendy and Mest is anime-only. It's a funny scene. Go watch, if you're manga-only.

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Loke and Gray had just defeated Mest and mentally terrorized Wendy enough to make sure she could no longer fight. They had silently agreed not to actually attack the small girl, but "torture" her with their Secret Technique: Double Dried Plum Attack. However, now Gray had to stop with a severe stomach ache.

"I am never eating another umeboshi again," he groaned, curled over and holding his stomach in pain.

Loke let him sit and lean against his shoulder. As the moans got louder, the Lion Spirit began to stroke Gray's raven hair, worried for him but unsure what he could do. Suddenly, Gray jumped up, ran into the bushes, and was gone for a long time. Loke waited patiently, looking away and trying not to listen to the gastrointestinal troubles.

When Gray finally returned, he looked sickly pale, but at least he was not grabbing his gut. He collapsed next to Loke, and the Spirit guided that dark head down to his lap.

"We can rest," he said, gently petting Gray's head. "The others had hard opponents to fight, so we can afford to take a little break. Gather your strength for the next trial."

Gray felt comfortable on Loke's lap. He did not want to move at all. Unconsciously, he began to strip again, and Loke did not complain at all. He would have helped the ice mage, but he seemed quite adept at doing that by himself. Soon, both Gray's purple shirt and black pants were removed until he was stripped down to just boxers.

"Loke," he muttered, staring blankly at the sky. "Do you really think I could be S-Class?"

"Absolutely," he said loyally.

"I dunno," he muttered. "I think of Mira, Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, and especially Gildarts! Compared to them, I'm weak. How could I claim to be in the same class as Erza?"

Loke laid Gray's head down on the ground, crawled on top of him, and stared straight down into his face. "You're definitely strong enough. You have been for a while. Now you're mature enough too. This past year, you've grown an insane amount. Plus you have me here. I made a promise to help you become S-Class. A Celestial Spirit keeps his promises."

Gray's eyes softened at the confident words. "Right. We're both a lot stronger than last year."

"Indeed," Loke said with a reassuring smile. "We've both grown a lot."

Gray had certainly grown, matured, became powerful, and managed to banish his private demons. Thinking about how much Gray had grown into a fine, powerful young man, Loke could barely help but lean over and give him a kiss.

This time, Gray gladly received it and hummed without feeling embarrassed. His fingers stretched out, ran through Loke's ginger hair, grasped it slightly, and pulled him in to urge him to deepen the kiss.

Loke's tongue languidly played with Gray's. His hands roamed up the taut hills and vales of abdominal muscles. His magic rings clinked against Gray's sword pendant as he blindly followed the metal chain to find the back of Gray's neck. From there, Loke began to rake his nails gently over Gray's skin, searching for areas of sensitivity. He knew he hit one of those erogenous zones when Gray made a quiet gasp and his back arched a little. It made Loke smile, and he stroked one area that almost always worked, just behind the ear. The ice mage shivered, and his hands grasped at Loke's shoulders.

Loke kissed Gray's cheek, then his ear, then the first spot on the neck that had elicited a gasp. He sucked softly there, not enough to leave a mark, not with Gray's penchant for stripping, but just enough to make the teen hiss air between his teeth. Pressed up against him, Loke felt the reaction in Gray's boxers. His kisses went lower, a nip to the collarbone, a lick to trace his guild mark, then Loke hummed with delight and cautiously licked Gray's nipple, watching to see if Gray was the sort of guy who liked that.