メカニック

((i won't post it here but the chapter starts with team natsu on a mission to eradicate a dark guild in a forest, lucy gets lost while chasing an escaping dark mage and is trying to find her way back))

...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound of a twig breaking from behind. Lucy snapped her head back, startled by the sudden intrusion of silence. Her eyes caught a shadowy figure shifting by the bushes; before she could even clearly make out who - or what - it was, a  blast of magic was sent hurtling towards her from it’s direction. Lucy froze. Her mind, bewildered by the unexpected assault, was unable to think straight - should she pull out her keys? Try to duck out of the way? Or was it too late for both?

“Watch out!”

Just when she thought she could feel the heat from the blast on her nose, Lucy was tackled to the ground by something heavy that leaped at her from the side. An acute pain cut across her cheek as the attack narrowly missed hitting her square in the face.

“Oi, you alright?”

It took Lucy a few seconds to fully absorb the situation before she could snap out of her daze and lift her eyes to the source of the concerned voice that called out to her. A male figure hovered over her, pinning her to the ground and protectively caging her body under his. She let her eyes slowly roam over his features: raven hair, deep midnight eyes, a perpetual frown, and an awfully familiar naked torso...

Lucy stared dumfoundedly as she finally recognized her savior. “...Gray?”

Instead of replying, Gray lifted a hand to grab her face and examine her wounded cheek.

“Dammit, you’re bleeding!” he growled, eyebrows scrunched into a frown, as he hastily wiped at the blood with his thumb. “What were you doing, spacing out like that? That attack could’ve killed you!”

Still a little shaken from the impact, Lucy could only blink numbly at the anger in his voice. Since when did he get so passionate about these matters? “Sorry,” she apologized meekly, “I, well...wasn’t expecting that to happen.”

“Whatever. Just don’t do it again.” Still with a stern look on his face, Gray helped her sit up and scanned over her body to check for more injuries. “How long have you been walking in the rain? You’re soaking wet! Aren’t you cold? Here, before you get sick, take my jacke - shit, where’d it go?!”

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