OK Then

Chapter 6

Juvia sat up straighter, glancing at that damned blue cat with as much fear and dread as any immature, juvenile game can fill a person with. Juvia's only been kissed once, had one boyfriend, went to one school, put on only one type of perfume all her life; she couldn't absorb change without spitting it out like a rotted fruit. And the equally immature, juvenile cat was expecting the newbie to play a game that reeks of regrets? Juvia gripped her wool skirt.
Happy turned to Lucy, asking her the starter question since he proposed the game. "Lucy?" he asked, sweetly smiling at the shaking blonde. "Truth or Dare?" Happy tugged on a lock of golden hair. Natsu looked even more intrigued than his cat, grinning devilishly as Lucy took her nervous time to respond. Lucy pffed, waving her hand in the air to feign nonchalance. "Truth. I'm not falling for that."
Happy faked disappointment, giving a little exaggerated tear at her answer. "Alright." Happy said, sitting on Natsu's lap. "Tell everyone here how much you liiiiiiiiiiike Natsu." the cat said, bringing his paws up to his mouth in amusement. Juvia sweatdropped, looking over in an anxious state to a humored Gray. Poor Lu-chan... Juvia thought, Juvia wishes she could do something...
Lucy gave a nervous laugh, shrugging her shoulders as Natsu leaned closer, dying to catch the answer. "Don't you have to ask a question?" Lucy asked, stalling. Happy snickered, "As long as you tell the truth, silly, then it's all good."
Lucy crossed her arms, hesitant. "I-I like him."
Happy smiled. "How much?"
"We're already together, why should it matter?"
"Because he's my buddy. This is like a little test of courage."
Lucy sighed, mumbling something under her breath. "I really, really like him."
Natsu groaned playfully, "C'mon, Lucy! Please?"
"Stay out of this!" Lucy yelled. "But it's about me!" he replied. Lucy growled, like, growled. Really.
Lucy leaned against Natsu's shoulder, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I like him... a lot. I'm glad he got me into Fairy Tail and didn't laugh at me when I asked him out during the summer." Lucy hid her cheeks behind Natsu's scarf. "He's really nice, too."
Natsu kissed her forehead, earning a collection of awwes and Happy fist-bumping his Dragon-Slayer counterpart. Then Levy backed up her friend on how--ugh--adorable Gajeel is when he's happy. Then Erza remarked on how absolutely sweet Jellal can be(the guy being the only one extremely flustered by his girlfriend's barrage of compliments). Wendy looked both entranced and grossed out by the couples. Gray made a gagging sound, which made Juvia laugh even though she found the affection absolutely wonderful.
The fire crackled with Lucy's turn, asking Levy "truth or dare? Truth or Dare?" and Levy responding with "Dare", learning the mistake Lucy made with her turn. "I dare you to steal Erza's cake. Not right now, but it has to be during our stay here," Lucy grinned "or else I'm gonna take away your copy of 'Lunar Scripture: Edition IX'."
Levy gasped, throwing a twig at a cackling Lucy. "You wouldn't!"
Lucy crossed her legs, "You never got me one for my birthday, so this is a late present." she high-fived a smirking Natsu. Levy turned her shaking head to Erza, the redhead being entirely encompassed with a threatening energy. Levy's gonna die.
Levy had no choice but to accept, so the girl turned to Jellal(who responded with Truth), then Jellal went to Wendy(Truth), then Wendy to Gajeel(Dare, had to jump into a frozen lake), then Gajeel to Erza(Dare), Erza to Gray(Dare), Gray to Natsu(Dare), Natsu to Juvia(Truth), Juvia to Pantherlily(Truth), Lily to Happy(Dare), Happy to Carla(Truth), and so on and so forth. The questions were quite stereotypical, the dares were stupid things--scream something, jump into the snow with nothing but underwear on, kiss someone, jump off something, etc.-- and Juvia was faced with more extreme dares and questions each time. "I-I-I thought you guys were gonna go easy on the newbie!" Juvia fretted after Gajeel asked her to sing "Happy Birthday" while eating seven marshmallows. "You lose that title after, like, five minutes." Gajeel said, taking a bite out of a s'more. Juvia swallowed, gripping her skirt as Wendy handed her the bag of treats and a timer. Twenty seconds, she could do that.
Juvia picked up the first marshmallow, cramming it and a second one into her mouth as she started the first verse. Then the third and fourth and fifth, her speech becoming incoherent after the first twelve seconds. Juvia crammed the last white puff between her teeth, the red tinge on her cheeks a mixture of embarrassment and the tingle of stretching lips. Wendy held up the ringing timer, signaling that Juvia was free. The bluenette quickly spat out the treats, tongue hanging exhaustively over her teeth. Gray chuckled beside her, again shirtless. Juvia flushed red and crossed her arms. "Truth or Dare, Gray?" Juvia asked, looking angrily at her friend. Gray leaned back carelessly, claiming Dare and popping a piece of chocolate into his mouth. Juvia felt her heart pick up its pace from the exhilarating nature of the challenge. "Beat Gajeel in a round of arm wrestling." Juvia still tasted sugar in her mouth. "Loser has to sleep one night with nothing but Happy's fish blanket." Juvia stuck her tongue out childishly. Gray and Gajeel both looked intrigued, Natsu calling out to take on the winner. Happy started saying goodbyes to his patterned cover, hugging it to him as the game began on the log Jellal and Erza were sitting on.
Gray immediately tried to freeze Gajeel's arm, since magic was still allowed. Lucy summoned Capricorn as a referee, watching as Gajeel busted through the ice coating his arm with a metal fist, adding weight to his palm. Gray still had the advantage, since tipping Gajeel's arm caused the added weight to bring the Dragon Slayer's arm down on the log, meaning Gray won. Gajeel took the blanket begrudgingly, sitting back down as Levy giggled at his defeat. Gajeel groaned.
Juvia congratulated Gray, even though the point of the dare was for him to lose and her original motive was to irritate Gray. The ice wizard patted her head, his arm lingering as Erza started suggesting ghost stories. Juvia looked hesitant to listen in, considering it was getting so late and Wendy looked scared to the point of tears.
"Who's in?" Erza asked, looking around at the lack of responses. Erza smirked. "Unless you aren't brave enough to listen to a little story?"
Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel immediately piped up at this. Lucy and Levy were curious enough, leaning in as Erza began telling the group about an abandoned theater by the lake, haunted by a horrid spirit. "The boy who visited this site wanted to be the first one who documented it up close, going unprofessionally to show the building in detail..."
"Doesn't he know not to go to these things alone?" Gray yelled, leaning back on the log. "And at night?" Natsu added, playing with Lucy's hair. Erza huffed, "Obviously he wouldn't go at night-- the lighting would be terrible for his lacrima. Now, shut up."
The story continued rather, well, like a scary story. Natsu faked fear as Lucy's voice shook, Levy hugged Pantherlily to the point of a choke-hold, and Gray and Juvia were sitting a fair distance apart, Juvia leaning her chin into her hands as Gray looked absolutely bored and shirtless. And pantless. 
"I thought you got over your 'stripping problem'" Juvia whispered, moving her eyes to Gray's torso. He had a really, really great torso...
Juvia averted her eyes. 
"Gets worse in cold weather..."
"Really?" Juvia asked, taken aback. "Why?"
"'Cause I was trained to do this--" Gray gestured to his bare chest, "in cold weather."
"Makes sense."
Gray rolled his eyes at that statement. 
Juvia yawned, silently to make sure she didn't seem rude in front of everyone. She zipped up her jacket a little higher, snuggling into the soft fabric as her eyelids heavily fell. Gray tapped her head, half-frowning. "You're not falling asleep again; I don't wanna have to drag you back like last time." he said. Juvia blushed, hiding her pink cheeks in her coat's soft, piled cotton and fleece. "Sorry, Gray. I never thanked you for that." she said, shyly smiling at him. Gray shrugged, unfazed. "Needed to work out anyway. The heavy weight was perfect."
The fucking bastard.

The story ended about ten minutes later, Juvia still having trouble not dozing off. Her eyes kept closing slowly and re-opening quickly, her chin dipping down and hair falling in front of her eyes. Gray and the others put out the fire and carried Wendy to her bed, Carla asleep on her stomach. Lucy and Jellal took care of the food, Gajeel dragged himself and Lily to bed, Levy already ahead of him.
Gray walked back over to Juvia after everyone had left, hands in his(thankfully on) jean pockets as he strode toward. "Congrats," he said, "you made it through Erza's god-awful campfire gag."
Gray stopped in front of her, the girl's head tipped backwards and her breathing slow. Gray cocked an eyebrow, bending down a bit and tilting his head. "Hey, I know the stars are great and all, but you're gonna freeze if you stay like that."
Juvia snored. Her face tipped forward as Gray looked at her, his expression that of shock and disgust. She let out another sound, drool streaming down the side of her face. Gray groaned, leaning his head back and tilting his chin up. This happened. Again. The entire carry the sleeping girl home even though she drooled and the boy was just as tired. His hands slipped out of his pockets(irritably) and under her back and the crook of her knees, lifting her up a with a slight grunt as he carried her inside the cabin. "Damn," he said, checking for any empty rooms leftover from everyone's trek and claim. "Nothing, even with Lucy's pickiness." he whispered, almost to the sleeping girl. He felt her face softly knock into his chest, her breaths against his collarbone. Gray made a muffled sound, his eyes widening as he heard little sounds coming from Juvia.
"...wa...m...soo...w...rm...sam...a..."
Gray leaned his face closer, trying to catch the rest of her speech. Bad move though, seeing that Juvia wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him like a freaking teddy bear. Gray grunted, trying to pry away from her hands. She burrowed her face deeper, mumbling, still, something that Gray couldn't make out. He tried to kick open the door to a room, not caring who's it was, but failed trying to keep his balance. He just stood there awkwardly, trying to find a bedroom before the girl strangled him to death. Juvia gave a muffled sound, mumbling and mumbling and mumbling and shivering like she was still outside. Gray leaned his ear in, cautiously, for fear he might be suffocated. "G....ray...sama..." she whispered, dreamily. Crap, Gray thought, his body going stiff. She's gonna wake up!
Juvia yawned, nuzzling her face into his skin. Gray gritted his teeth, Then again, that might not be a bad freaking idea, he thought to himself. "Gr...y-sam..a is...ju... warm..." Juvia said, shivering and breathing heavily. Gray made a strangled noise in his throat, finally finding an empty room and not hesitating to proceed to dump Juvia onto the lone and empty bed. She was freezing cold, it seemed, even with her coat and thick socks. Gray gave a tssk, trying to get her under the covers without waking her up. Oh, lord, what an awkward situation that would be...
He finally got her off him, her frame on the mattress and her boots still on. He threw the blanket over her, turning to leave with some of his dignity still intact while he could. Gray felt a pull, though, turning around to find that Juvia's fingers were stuck in the hem of his shirt. He groaned loudly, not caring about who the freaking hell would stir out of bed. He turned and walked sideways to unlace her hand from the tee's fabric, cursing the poor girl as he came closer.
"Just... as.... warm..." she muttered. Gray perked up, her hand still stuck in his top. "Just... as.... warm as... Gray-sama... when he... saved Juvia in.... Combat class." she mumbled. Gray made that strangled sound again, his eyes popping out of his sockets, his palm and fingers stalling to touch her wrist. Her hand dropped from his shirt limply into his hand, resting there before Gray let it hang over the bed as he stood to exit. Quickly. He stumbled into the doorway, then into the living room, then he knocked into the couch. He groaned for, like, the hundredth time tonight, tugging his shirt over his head and, surprisingly hesitantly, threw it on the armchair next to him. He put on a pair of sweatpants and thudded onto the couch cushions, tucking his arm under his pillow and pressing his eyes shut. 
Just as warm, huh? Gray thought, brows furrowed. He rolled onto his side, letting out a weird mix between a smirk and a sneer. 
Just as fucking warm, then.