For Blue Skies

Which Dummy?

Thank you guys for sticking with me throughout a very long hiatus. I think I'm coming back to stay.
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"He's not coming in today."

Gray Fullbuster surprised her yet again the next morning at the guild as she stared hopelessly at Natsu's vacant seat. She wasn't surprised that he wasn't coming in, but she had still hoped. She hadn't come up with a great speech yet, or a rousing apology that would win him over completely, but she just wanted to see him. To touch him and to feel him and even if he was going to yell at her some more, she thought she could handle it because it was Natsu and if he was yelling at her that meant that he was there and alive and real and she really needed him to be real right now when everything else in her life felt so fake.

"Oh." She felt awkward now, especially since she still didn't know what to say to Gray. "Did he send you here to babysit me? Because you really don't need to. I don't need a bodyguard or anything today, I promise."

"No, I'm not doing anything today." He cleared his throat. "So what are you going to do today?"

She hadn't anticipated a work-free day and the prospect, for the first time, wasn't appealing.

"I'm gonna...schedule some stuff, I guess?" It sounded paper thin to her ears as well; she now knew how well Gray saw through her bull, and she sagged with that knowledge. Might as well stop lying to all of her friends, assuming they still wanted to be her friends. "That's not true. That sounds super boring. I um...I'm waiting for a phone call, I guess. I thought being here would help keep my mind off of it. Even with CEO of Broody Incorporated here. But I guess since he's not coming, I'll just...wait."

"You mind if I wait too?"

"I thought you were off today?"

"As a guild member looking for work, yes. But I don't have the luxury of taking a day off from caring about you, Felicity, so I thought now was a good a time as any for you to tell me what's going on. Everything that's going on."

Okay, so he was clearly not 100% over it, but he was at least willing to talk to her and that was more than Natsu was giving her.

"Come on," he nodded towards the doors. "Sitting here all day isn't going to help you. Let's go get some coffee or something."

Her body was practically vibrating from all the coffee she had imbibed with Laxus that morning, having needed something to do as he recounted Natsu's adventure at the precinct the night before. She had accidentally drank four cups.

"Maybe decaf for me."

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He listened patiently as Lucy talked for about forty minutes without stopping. He didn't ask any questions, didn't interrupt her, just sat in front of her, stoically as always, taking in every word she said. Afterwards he had some questions, but she was surprised with how specific they were. Apparently his mom had been beaten by breast cancer when he was kid, and while the experiences were bound to be wildly different, it had given him an unique perspective on illness as a whole.

"So, this call will tell you when this surgery is supposed to be?"

She nodded. "And then, probably as soon as I'm better from that, they'll start chemo." She looked as if she had startled herself.

"What is it?"

"That's the first time I've said that word out loud. Like that, I mean. Chemo. It sounds so...tawdry. Like I'm on an episode of Grey's Anatomy or something. Not to mention, did you hear how casually I said it? Like it wasn't a big deal?" She picked apart her muffin some more, having already destroyed it beyond recognition. "Who am I anymore?"