【Re:Freezing】 | Gray Fullbuster x OC

52: Deluge Oddments

When she sighed tiredly, Max reached over to stroke her head as if it would encourage her to finish her food. Oddly enough, it kind of did since she always brought her fork back to her mouth. Gray found it almost amusing since it sort of looked like some conditioning at this point. She was barely paying attention when they discussed Natsu's absence. It was something about him going after Yukino after she visited them.

Unfortunately, that celestial mage got kicked out of her guild after losing against Kagura from Mermaid Heel. That said enough about Sabertooth in her book. Sting and Lector spoke oh-so proudly about their guild... Maybe her guild was special enough to treat their comrades like family, but perhaps Sabertooth was taking things too seriously. If she learned the atmosphere was like that... she'd rather go freelance.

"I just hope he didn't get lost." Karissa mumbled. "Meh, he's got his sense of smell so maybe he can find his way back. He'll probably come back like a dog, pawing at the door or something..." she added more muttered ramblings. Wendy could hear the exaggerated worst case scenarios she started listing down, making her sweat drop with a light chuckle. Seeing her mumbling and not eating, Max prodded his knuckle against the cheek, reminding her to finish her food since she had a little left.

"Lay off." Karissa gently bunted her forehead against his hand since it was too much effort to make quick movements with her own. Gray picked up her bottled water and handed it to her when he saw her reach for it. Lucy and Erza watched for any signs of discomfort. They could tell simply moving was difficult to do in her state.

With Wendy being the reserve member of their team, it was obvious that the girl was going to have to take her place in the games until she recovered.

Karissa looked over to Wendy with a sheepish smile. "Sorry to bother you, Wendy..." As much as she felt upset about being forced to step away, she couldn't help but feel guilty for suddenly thrusting Wendy into the spotlight.

The young mage quickly shook her head. "No, no, no, Karissa-san! It's fine!" She held up her fists in a show of determination, her eyes held the same power. "I'm honoured to be able to fight for our guild, even if it's for a little bit!"

Wendy showed more enthusiasm than she ever did when it came to participating in the Games.

Maybe someone like her should have been participating from the very beginning?

Karissa chuckled a little and tipped her head. "Are you getting.... a little excited to finally put your training to good use?"

Hearing her read her out loud, the others looked at Wendy who blinked in surprise and then smiled sheepishly in her turn before nodding softly. "Yes."

The day at the bench when they sat together, talking about their training (Karissa's being more secretive than Wendy's) came back to them, bringing subtle smiles to their lips.

"I hope I get to see what you've been cooking up, Wendy." Karissa waved her fork lazily. Maybe she could sneak off IF she felt good enough to move around. It wouldn't hurt, right?

"Me too." Wendy responded. "I hope you'll make a swift recovery and show us what you've been doing. I'm very curious to see the result of your training!" As mentioned by Jason, she knew Karissa was a flexible mage, someone who could be relied on. Wendy, personally, felt a little connected to Karissa since she was almost like her in a way. She heard the way Cana spoke about her when it came to the past. She still retained some of her timidity, but still did her best despite it all. And she had seen some glimpses of it as well.

And when she would stare at her back from behind, it somewhat inspired her to step up her game since there was no veritable reason why she couldn't be just as great with her magic. She wasn't going to stay the timid unconfident girl that walked into the villa for the coalition. She was already leaving that image behind, growing into a prouder mage of Fairy Tail.