Chasing Shadows

Rift

-Rift

People stared and gawked at the shiny, sleek car outside the ice cream shop. It felt even more out of place here than in the parking lot that it drew all the attention. Everything else in sight looked plain or uninteresting. Minutes ago Juvia and Lyon got out of that car, went into the ice cream shop and ordered their dairy. They were slightly disoriented with Juvia's unique style of driving, managing to swerve in a perfectly straight road, barely surviving the experience. Lyon simply could not contain his laughter when they parked.

"What flavor for you, missy?" the man behind the counter said with a heavy Southern accent. He had a shaved head and the thorny crown of Jesus was tattooed onto his exposed arm. Juvia found it strange why a tough looking guy was working in an ice cream shop. Lyon had said that this was the best ice cream shop he knew, Juvia had heard of the place. She hadn't had the dessert in a long time and she missed it. She looked at the assortment of flavors before her. There was mint, pistachio, chocolate, strawberry, rocky road, vanilla, and any other flavor Juvia could imagine. Her mouth began to water and she licked her lips. She had a hard time deciding and took longer than she'd have wanted. Lyon just silently stood beside her.

"I'll have the cookies and cream" she said looking up at the man, smiling apologetically for taking so long. The server nodded and turned to her companion. "And for the gentleman?"

"Same as the lady, thanks" Lyon said without even glancing at the flavors. He had his hands in his pockets and his tie hung loose around his neck. Under the light of the shop his face was illuminated beautifully, emphasizing the richness of his hair and the striking shade of his eyes. He looked tall and elegant even in an ice cream shop. Juvia wondered if she'd ever see him less attractive.

"Comin' right up" The man said, distracting Juvia from her observation. He served their ice creams in cones with sprinkles and fresh strawberries on top. Lyon paid even before she got her wallet out, winking down at her.

They sat across each other with him leaning onto the table beside the display window so that they could observe and keep an eye on the ridiculously luxurious car. There were a bunch of teenagers seated two tables from them, devouring ice cream cone after ice cream cone. They were talking very loud and it annoyed several other costumers. It didn't help that they always started their conversations with "Like he said-"or "ohmygosh really?!". Juvia started to taste her cone. It was so delicious that she didn't wonder why the kids devoured theirs. Lyon also started on his, looking at her, amusement in his eyes. Looking out the window, she stared at the car.

"How'd you end up with that?" She asked curiously, nodding her head towards his ride. He had mentioned before that his family was rich, but Juvia thought he was a rebel so why did he have such an expensive car?

"Well, my father wanted me to have it, I refused at first. The car was sick but I didn't want him to waste money on me like that, you know with the recession going on and stuff like that. My dad was really clever, so he sort of showed it off to many people during a Christmas party, saying that it was a gift for me. I didn't want to decline in front of so many guests. I had no choice but to accept. I'm stuck with it ever since." Lyon shrugged and ate more of his ice cream. His hair looked a little disheveled like he'd just woken up, but Juvia liked it that way, it made him look a little boyish and careless. The worry in his eyes was gone replaced by calm and confidence. " Might as well use it. I won't lie it's a pretty car but I don't like the extra attention" He finished.

"It's just that, I find it strange that you're a dude and men are like built to worship 'pretty' cars. It's sort of a given in your gender, must be the testosterone or something. " Juvia shrugged.