(A/N: So this is for the Zervis week and I know this is a day late but that's only because I haven't had internet all week. Gomen! Well, whatever. Enjoy!)
Mavis untied the string that held her top together and slid her pink long sleeved shirt down her arms. She looked around the woods for what felt like the millionth time in only a mere half hour since she'd arrived and decided she would go swimming.
A few days ago she had been lazily wandering the forest in her endless search for the fairy's. Real fairy's. The kind that were no more than 6 inches tall and flew around on dainty, crystal winds.
She smiled at the thought as she had continued through the woods.
She wandered for hours on end and even though she wasn't in an actual physical body that could get tired or harmed in any way, she still didn't want to be out after dark.
The dark scared her. No, more precisely, the things in the dark scared her.
She hurried through the forest in search of any sort of civilization or even a clearing in the densely shrubbed forest. She was running. And running. And running.
Running until she fell into the water.
At first she had panicked and flailed trying to get to the top only to realized it was impossible for her to die, since she was already dead and all.
She climbed out of the water onto the grassy bank. Being the ghost that she was, and being able to overcome circumstances in which a living person would normally for, she still wasn't exempt from getting wet.
What a dag. What kind of ghosts are affected by physical matter anyway?
She wrapped her hands around a strand of her long golden hair and wrung it out, the water dripping into the dirt and some running down her arms.
That's when she noticed it.
The water was warm on her skin... Well, if it could be called that.
Mavis promptly stood up, her previous goals to dry herself forgotten, and stuck her finger into the water.
It was warm. Really warm.
She deducted that the water must be extremely hot for her to be feeling this level of heat. She felt the compulsion to rid herself of her clothes and jump back in but because it was getting darker by the minute, she decided she would come back another day.
Today was that day.
She slipped out of her pink dress and let it pool at her feet. She was now in nothing but her undergarments which was composed of her bra (however small it may have been) and her panties.
She sighed and wondered if she should perhaps change her style of dress from pnk to some other color. Could she even do that? Where should she find clothes for ghosts? It's not like she could just walk into any store and buy a new outfit.
Not even considering where she would get the money, she decided upon not changing her outfit. Besides, pink complemented her hair color.
She sighed and finished undressing, folding her clothes neatly and leaving them in a pile on the shore.
She dipped her toes into the water and almost cried out in happiness.
The water was so warm! She couldn't recall the last time she had felt like this.
She sunk her body into the depths of the warm liquid and sighed in contentment, leaning against a rock and closing her eyes.
She idly wondered if she were to fall asleep if it would harm her in any way. She couldn't drown so would she just float or sink to the bottom? Did it matter?
Zeref leaned his head back against the tree he was using as support. He closed his eyes and prayed for sleep. Or death. Either would work. But death was preferred. Though, he didn't sense Natsu anywhere near. So that prayer wasn't to be answered today.
He groaned and felt like he wanted to hit something. Or sleep.
He lay there for sever hours, eventually laying back and using his arms as a form of support for his head and watched that clouds move lazily across the sky until the were all gone and sky was clear.
And just as he was about to resign himself to the world of sleep, well assured that no being, not animal nor human, would disturb him, he felt a brush of power.
Her power.
It was very slight so he knew she was at a considerable distance but that didn't help. How could he just ignore this opportunity to see her?
How could he?
He lifted himself to a sitting position and yawned, stretching and standing slowly. The grass had died around the spot when he had been laying and, though, he knew it was like that the minute he decided to lay down there, that didn't make it any less disturbing.
He walked through the forest, perhaps with a slight bounce to his step. He could only figure this as anticipation.
He liked the rush of excitement. It made him feel alive. And he hadn't even seen her yet.
Mavis's eyes shot open when the intense concentration of magic power surged forward toward her.
It was him and she could tell. He was so close she could almost smell him.
She tried to decided whether or not she should get out and try and dress before he got there but the moment she decided she would, Zeref emerged from the far corners of her vision.
She lowered herself into the water further and hoped the water wasn't see though.
"What an unexpected treat seeing you here, Mavis." He commented, casually not looking her way.
Mavis lifted her mouth from beneath the water to say, "I suppose. Though I hardly believe you waltzing in on me swimming was unexpected." She blushed and closed in on herself even more.
"I apologize for intruding on you. But its only fair that I walk in on you seeing how you walked in on me first." He said with a placid smile.
Mavis wanted to jump out and yell at him that it was an accident when she had seen him. She doubted this was an accident. "It was never my intention to see you naked! You're just a pervert!"
Zeref chuckled, though it came out sounding edgy and rough. He didn't use this part of his voice often and it felt...uncomfortable yet welcome.
"I will leave if you would like to dress."
"Please," she nodded.
Zeref turned and walked a few feet back into to a more thickly vegetated area.
Mavis hurriedly scrambled out of the water and rushed toward her clothes. She glanced over her shoulder to see him just standing there, looking up to the sky as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.
It was almost sad, seeing him like that, and for reasons she couldn't begin to understand or convey, it was beautiful. The way the wind was gently blowing his robe and certain long strands of his hair to the side.
She momentarily forgot she was naked and just stared.
Zeref could feel her gaze burning holes in him. All of him. So he turned around and looked at her.
But just her eyes.
It didn't even cross his mind to look down, not even for a second. Her eyes were captivating enough that he found himself unable to look away.
A beautiful mystery...