Worth the Wait

July 3, X791, Ryuzetsu Land, Crocus

(nsfw bonus pic - https://imgur.com/a/lj4z4KL)

Gray could hardly believe Natsu single-handedly destroyed the entire frigging water park. Seriously, that idiot was... he was... well, beyond a mere idiot. Plus now Makarov was mad at all of them, and Mavis would not stop crying. Sheesh, who would have thought the first master was such a crybaby!

At least the adjacent showers were still standing, and the members had gone over there to wash the chlorine off their bodies and patch up any wounds caused by the destruction. Gray could not stand to feel Lyon's touches on his skin. It had been purely accidental, going down the slide with that senpai idiot, but still... yuck! Juvia's boy's-love exclamations were really not helpful. All the others had cleaned up and left already, but Gray remained. He stood under the shower, scrubbing his skin, hoping to wash away the creepiness.

"Water parks are manly."

Oh, so Elfman was still there, and in the stall next to him. He wondered why Elfman had come to the showers so late. Unless... he was busy. Gray chuckled to himself. He had seen the hulking Takeover Magic and his glasses-wearing new girlfriend on their little "date." He would not say anything, of course. If he tattled, karma would bite him back, and probably someone would tattle about him and Loke.

He missed Loke. He had dearly hoped the Lion would show up at the water park wearing swimming trunks, or maybe even a sexy speedo. The last time he saw Loke...

He didn't want to remember that!

He was mad at the playboy. Really mad. It was one thing to harmlessly flirt around, and he knew Loke liked to tease Lucy once in a while, but still...

Why the hell did he frigging propose to her?

Luckily, Gray had not actually heard Loke say the words. He had been too busy dealing with Juvia and Lyon. He heard Lucy complain about it last night. When Gray heard her whining about Loke offering to marry her, the glass of water in Gray's hand had frozen over solid.

He wanted to see Loke again. He needed to talk to him. He wanted to tell him just how angry he was, and ask him if he was serious about Lucy.

And serious about their relationship.

How could Loke possibly be serious about him, yet go off and offer to marry Lucy? Even as a joke, it was too much!

As if sensing he was needed, Gray felt a body suddenly behind him, and Loke leaned up into his ear.

"You wanted me?" he whispered softly.

Gray spun around and made a slight cry of surprise at the sudden appearance. Loke smirked and put his finger to his lips.

In the neighboring stall, Elfman called over. "Is that you, Gray? Is everything okay?"

"Sorry. Water got hot," he called over.

"Hot showers are manly!"

Gray glared at Loke. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wished he could shout at him. However, in this place, with someone only a few feet away, he could not say anything at all. Especially since Loke had showed up nude.

Loke saw the spiteful glare in the ice mage's eyes, and it did not take a genius to guess why Gray was so mad. He really had gone too far teasing Lucy yesterday. He just really wanted to see how she would react to something that drastic. Lately, she just rolled her eyes at his flirtations. There was no fun in that. He wanted to know if she really was sick of his charms, or if maybe he could get her to blush like she used to do. He had not seen Lucy blush like that in ages, and he missed getting a girl to turn pink.