The day was not a particularly cold one, and he wasn’t exerting any of his magic, nor were there any sort of weather changing devices around, yet anyone who might come by him and Sherry now…well, it might just feel as if any wrong move or word would shatter the air between them as if it were delicate ice. Gray frowned as he caught her soft words, an instinctive defensiveness rising within his chest, along with confusion that momentarily twitched his eyebrows into a deeper furrow. Issues? Oh…yeah, that. He didn’t want to get into it either. He might have (silently) forgiven her (not that she really needed it, it wasn’t her fault after all), and might now even relate to her experience, but…she was right, it wasn’t what he was here for.
Out of habit, he folded his arms across his chest as he regarded her, frown remaining in place. She had plans. It put a sort of time limit on their time together, which could be a good thing, yet did add pressure to finding a suitable gift while they had the chance. She made a good point too, about if he were to settle on something that needed customising, it was best to get started on it as soon as possible. Once again, he considered the fact that she was willing to stop what she was doing in order to help him, even despite his sudden (likely unwelcome) appearance. Was she just a good person? Or was it because he was there to do something for Lyon? After a moment, he decided it really didn’t matter.
He gave a nod of acceptance as she readied herself and spoke again. Clearly, she was prepared to give up part of her day now. He’d given her an out, and that’s all he could do. Even with that in mind, a level of discomfort continued to squirm low in his stomach, but perhaps that was not strictly related to a sense of guilt at his intrusion.
His gaze shifted to the garden, glad for the distraction. Carolina the treasurer, huh? Now that he thought about it, did Fairy Tail have a treasurer? Maybe it was something Mira did. He supposed he hadn’t paid attention to things like that before. Not that it mattered to him anymore anyway.
“Plant magic is pretty cool,” he said, simply for something to say, as he became aware of his awkward silence. It wasn’t a lie, however; he did admire such magic. And because he continued to feel like he should speak, he added, “The garden’s nice.”
Inwardly kicking himself for his lame attempts at conversation, he tugged distractedly at his clothes and very much wished for the entire encounter to be over with already. “Uh, so…ready to go then? Lead the way.”