If Gray had to look at one more pencil crayon for the rest of his life he was going to snap. And probably shove it through Flame Brain's eye.
"'Pencil crayons are easy Gray, even kids can use them!'" He mocked in Natsu's annoyingly high voice. Okay maybe his voice was just the slightest bit higher than his own, but Gray still couldn't stand the smug tone and overwhelming enthusiasm the music major spoke with.
The girl walking beside him snorted, hair tied up and several pencils sticking out of her bun. She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear, smearing a pale pink pastel along her cheek in the process. "Oh, it's not Natsu's fault that you had to come up with a different medium to use after handing in ice sculptures for the last three projects."
"No, but I can still blame him." Gray shot back, lips twitching from neutral at the exasperated fondness his friend looked at him with. Everyone said his neutral face was a mix of RBF and murder, but he didn't really see it. "'Sides, you're biased. Everyone knows getting laid skews your perception of the one you're getting it from."
The girl laughed and swatted his arm, covering her tiny snorts with her free hand. "How do you know I'm not the one giving it to him?" She wagged her eyebrows at Gray's loud groan, easily dodging his half-hearted shove.
"Shit Lucy I don't need to know what you and Cheeto Dick do when you're gettin' freaky."
"Speaking of freaky I hope you're prepared for whatever present Juvia makes you when she finally sees your final project." Lucy teased lightly, chortling at Gray's grumble and light blush. He knew she was right too, and yet he couldn't find it in himself to regret the subject of his final project. He and Lucy had taken Uncommon Traditional Media, Gray for his major and Lucy as an art requirement for her creative writing major.
The college they went to was small, with underpaid staff and cramped dorms, but Magnolia Liberal Arts College was renowned for its high success rates after graduation and reasonable tuition costs. He was on his third year of his degree along with a close group he had grown up with, the five of them having been taken in by the same foster care home, a place called Fairy Tail.
Makarov had been like a grandfather to the children he took in over the years, and the children he helped raise always came back to visit and help look after the new generations as time passed. So much so that it had turned into a bit of a Big Brother Big Sister sort of house, running on donations and government subsidies when Makarov was forced to retire. Gray didn't quiet want to think about where he'd be if not for Fairy Tail.
Gray pushed aside his somber thoughts. He had a future here, and people who loved him.
"Whatever it is I'm sure it can't be worse than her 'Darling Gray Body Pillow'." Gray sighed, scrubbing his face as the 6 foot feather stuffed pillow with a shirtless picture of him on it crossed his mind. He was pretty sure Juvia still had it stuffed in a closet somewhere on campus. He cracked a grin as the image of some poor janitor stumbling across it flashed in his brain.
"Are you sure?" Lucy raised an eyebrow, only half joking.
"No." he conceded, and he and Lucy broke into laughter again as they made a left at the central fountain.
Lucy looked down at her phone after it chimed, her text tone set to her and Natsu's cat's meow which eerily resembled the word 'aye' in a squeaking pitch.
"Something's wrong." She stated, stopping in her tracks to reply to the message. "Natsu used your name in his text."
Gray froze beside her. He watched her face as she took her lower lip between her teeth, attention glued to the screen. Natsu and Gray had made a point of trying to out do each other in their creative insults, a challenge Gray would easily say he was winning, so for Natsu to say his name…
"It's Juvia." Lucy looked at him sharply. "She's at Vermillion." Gray turned around sharply, walking back the way they came before making a sharp right to the humanities building that was two buildings down from the art studio. He didn't even notice if Lucy was following him or not, too focused on his own thoughts. He should have known something was wrong when he left the studio without the usual dozen texts from Juvia, but he had chalked it up to how busy her own project has kept her.
Gray slipped on a patch of wet grass, regaining his balance with flailing arms as he kept the same speed and regained his footing. He picked up speed again when he saw the building come back in sight, a record five minutes from the centre court. A loud bang halted him midstep, the wooden door slamming against the wall as he shoved it open with his bare shoulder.
"Beloved?" Juvia's soft voice had Gray's head snapping to the side, finally spotting her in the wide hallway. She sat on the floor, knees drawn into herself and tear streaks wetting her flushed cheeks. Natsu knelt beside her, arm comforting around her shoulders. Gray heard Lucy pant behind him, Natsu's face lighting up confirming her arrival.
Gray was already half way across the hallway when Juvia threw herself into his arms, grip tight and pushing air from his lungs. He held her just as tightly, looking over her head to watch Lucy stop beside a standing Natsu. "Where's Cana?" Lucy asked him, their hands entwining as they always did when they were close enough.
Cana, Juvia, and Natsu all had a social and family studies class together, needed for Cana and Juvia's degrees and a humanities rec for Natsu, and it was odd that the alcoholic brunette wasn't with them.
"She went off to go and make missing posters for Juvia's kid." Natsu answered, concern lacing his gaze as he looked at the mess of blue hair burying itself in Gray's chest.
"He ran away. Juvia was un-unable to do anything." Juvia said hoarsely, looking up at Gray with a red nose and watery eyes.
"Juvia, tell me what happened." Gray soothed, leading her to one of the plush couches that lined the hallway, little study spaces crammed into the overfilled building. They settled on the edge of an abused cushion, Gray wiping away a tear as he looked over his girlfriend's face.
Juvia lifted a piece of paper from her lap, edges crumpled from her grip.
"Tanner's parents found his journal. They said they were sending him to a camp to 'fix' him." Juvia hissed the last part, disgust making her nails dig into Gray's arms. "His dad found Juvia after class, when she was supposed to be meeting Tanner for our session. He, he said Juvia had corrupted his 'daughter'. That it was Juvia's fault Tanner ran away. As if the thought of being electrocuted wouldn't terrify any fourteen year old." Juvia had pushed away and started pacing, a sign that she was near the point of punching a wall in anger. Juvia may be a sweet and forgiving woman, but it was times like these that reminded Gray of the hardened and cold girl he had first met.
"What kind of family could do that? How could you think that is best for your child. Juvia just doesn't understand!" Her voice dropped to a low growl and Gray finally stepped into her path, hands rubbing soothing circles into her shoulders.
"We'll find him, and then he can stay at Fairy Tail. It'll be okay Juvia." Lucy soothed, walking up and resting her hand on the other girl's shoulder. Juvia rested her cheek on Lucy's hand as a sign of acknowledgment, calming down under her and Gray's reassuring touches.
"Let's go find the alcoholic, Luce." Natsu said quietly, giving Gray a nod with his lips set in a firm line before leading Lucy away. Why did that dick have to know him so well, now Gray would have to thank him later. Prick.
"From what you've told me," Gray began softly, touching her chin and tilting her face towards his after their friends had left, "Tanner is a strong kid. He'll be okay."
Juvia gave him a small smile, one that Gray saw through easily. Juvia wore her heart on her sleeve, and deceit had never been her strong suit in Gray's presence. "Come on Juvi," Gray urged in a hushed voice, feeling his cheeks heat at the pet name on his lips. "Tell me what you're thinking."
"It's just, Juvia knows what its like to feel alone like that. To spend time thinking the world is against you. And, and Juvia had thought- hoped, that she had gotten through to Tanner that he wasn't alone." Juvia's fists tightened against his chest before she pushed away from Gray, worrying her lower lip as she paced. "Juvia saw so many people lose themselves my love, watched as their souls died on the street. They had to do horrible things to get by. Juvia had to do…" she shook her said, turning away from Gray.
"Oi."
Juvia looked back at Gray, sadness obvious in her pinched brows and full lips, but no new tears threatened to fall. Panic built inside Gray. They knew from experience that if Juvia wasn't crying then it was serious. Gray guided her back to a tight hug, trying to convey his love and his reminder that she had a family now through touch alone. Fuck knew his mouth was useless.
Juvia's warm breath hit his skin, and the blue haired girl relaxed into his embrace. She always was able to tell what Hrau wanted to say.
"Thank you, my love." Juvia said softly, words almost caught in her mess of blue curls that curtained her face. "Juvia doesn't know what she would do without you. What if Tanner never gets the chance to be someone's love?" Her fingertips brushed along a crescent scar under one of his pectorals, one part in a pair of matching twins.
Juvia liked to say that Gray ran around naked now because he was no longer trapped by a binder, the fabric always sitting too tight and a reminder of the body he was stuck in until he had finally saved enough for his surgery. He couldn't imagine having gone through his transition without his loving and supportive network, a hollowness settling under his lungs as he imagined Tanner.
But they would find him.
They were members of Fairy Tail, where everyone had a home. Especially those who had been abandoned.
Gray focused on the top of Juvia's head, making up his mind.
"Come on, I need to show ya something." Gray said gruffly, turning away from Juvia and dragging her along behind him with their fingers interlaced. He ignored her questions, focused on convincing himself this wasn't a horrible idea.
He finally stopped outside the art studio C door. He stared at it, taking in quick breaths to calm himself. His palm felt sweaty on the metal door knob. God, this was so uncool, he felt like an emo teenager all over again.
He shoved the door open, dragging a confused Juvia behinds him. He shuffled a bit as he walked, pants unbuttoned, somehow. Even Gray didn't know how that happened sometimes.
Juvia's questions had turned from befuddled to exasperated. Gray actually didn't think was speaking to him anymore, instead just letting her thoughts hang in the air around them like wind chimes.
He spent too much time with Lucy and Levy.
Gray shuffled from side to side, a large white sheet sitting over an art art stand in front of them. He was going to do this. He was doing it. It would make Juvia smile. Okay.
Right now.
He's moving.
Right.
Now.
"Fuck." Gray hissed, ripping the sheet off and immediately looking away from both Juvia and the coloured canvas. He already knew what was on it anyway, he'd been working on it for the past month.
"Gray." Juvia's tiny exhale made heat race from his cheeks to cover his entire face, ears, and Gray was pretty sure his shoulders were a rosy pink as well. God damn. Would she notice if he just… left? Probably.
"I, uh, figured this would distract you." Gray said, cursing himself for bluntly stating his intentions. The whole point of distracting was to not mention that he was in fact distracting her. And he called Natsu the stupid one. Maybe the flame head had rubbed off on him.
Ew.
Wrong phrasing. Even if there had been a few nights in high school…
Not the time, brain.
Juvia's small sniffles broke his downward spiral, panic flaring in his gut. Juvia had one hand covering her mouth, the other looking like it wanted to touch the canvas but too afraid to ruin it to actually do so.
"Uh, the project was to draw something that had changed you in an unexpected way, with an unexpected media. You know how I like carving and sculpture and ice, so I figured pencil crayon would uh, y'know, be something people wouldn't expect from me." Gray finally sucked in a breath, Juvia's eyes still hyper-focused on the canvas even as tears fell down her cheeks. "D-do, do you like it?"
Gray couldn't believe he even had to ask that. Juvia usually crooned and sang his praises without any hint of prompting, and here he was, asking her if she liked a piece he had planned on gifting her.
"It's Juvia." Was all she said. It was like she was in a trance. "My love, you're saying that Juvia is the thing that has changed you?"
Gray stood silently, nodding before his eyes flickered to the piece in question. It was a pencil crayon portrait of a candid photo he had taken of Juvia. Her eyes were shining as she had looked over the ocean on their spring break, lips pulled up in contentedness and joy and ease seen in the way her skin glowed. It was Gray's favourite picture of her. It showed the warmth she had brought into Gray's heart, and the calmness he had never thought he'd know.
"Gray." Juvia wailed again, throwing herself at him so suddenly Gray had to take several steps back in order to balance them. "This is the most beautiful thing Juvia has ever seen Juvia loves it and you and she's so lucky to have her love Juvia can't ev-even sp-speak-" and she broke off in another loud sob that turned into a wail, Gray's chest wet with the onslaught of her emotion.
He couldn't help the smug grin as he finally got the reaction he had been expecting.
His lips pressed lightly into her hair, Juvia shaking in his arms as she tried to tell Gray how much she loved it even more. Honestly, Gray had to admit that this moment made him more proud than any piece he had ever made, just having Juvia in his arms and letting her openly know how he felt. Well, as openly as Gray could show any of his deeper emotions.
And Gray now knew what story to tell Tanner when they found him. Every kid deserved to see a very real future that they had never dared hoped could be possible.
A/N; Merry Christmas! This is a gift exchange for tumblr user lockmancapulet! This was fun, I took a few chances with this and I'd really like to explore more of this universe! Trans!Gray and modern AU. Let me know what you guys think!