Gray mused over the request board. He needed to go on a job soon- his rent was due, and the last few jobs he'd been on hadn't quite had enough money going for them. One job stuck out to him- situated in the East, and all he had to do was defeat a few monsters that had been terrorizing the small village. He unpinned it, reading the exact details more specifically. It seemed like a job he could do easily on his own- that was, until he reached the last point. It stated that the monsters were fire monsters, and the only job could only been taken by a group of at least two wizards- one of water, and one of ice. He rolled his eyes- he knew exactly who he would have to take along with him for his job. He took it to Mirajane, setting it down on the wooden bar.
"You're in early today, Gray!"
"I need to take a job, so I'm here to get one and leave. I'll take this one, but I need Juvia to come with me. Have you seen her?"
"She usually comes in about now. She'll be here soon! Take a seat while you wait."
A few minutes passed, and the blue haired girl entered, shocked to see Gray there. Usually he arrived a good few hours after she did, so his mere presence threw her off.
"Good morning, Gray-sama!" She managed, stumbling past him to sit in her usual spot.
"Wait, Juvia. Are you busy today?"
"Is this Gray-sama's way of confessing?" Juvia asked, mind clearly running off into her usual fantasies. Gray rolled his eyes- he had walked straight into that one.
"No. Do you want to go on a job with me? This one specifically requests two mages, and they need to be able to defeat fire monsters 'with ease', apparently. As we're the only two mages in Fairy Tail that fit that, I was wondering…"
"Of course Juvia will go with you!" He didn't even get to finish his sentence before she agreed, wrapping her arms around him. He gently peeled her off, motioning towards the door with his head. He took a few steps, and she followed closely behind. They passed Natsu on the way out the door, who stooped Gray.
"Where are you going?"
"Job." Gray wasn't one for words, but luckily this time, many words weren't needed.
"And why are you going with her?" He pointed at Juvia, who scuttled back a few steps. "You're supposed to be in my team! Me and you, Happy, Erza, Lucy! We're a team!"
"Not really. We just end up stuck together, flame brain."
"Fine. Go, then." Natsu pouted, mumbling something to Happy. Gray heard the always audible 'he liiiiiikes her' from Happy, and cursed the flying cat's entire existence.
The pair walked through Magnolia, Gray a few steps in front, and Juvia skipping along happily behind. They got plenty of strange looks from the town's citizens. It was mid October, with the sun scorching down on the streets. Gray was wearing his usual shirt, hands in his pockets, head down. He was followed by the usually optimistically Juvia: winter coat and hat, smiling at everyone who walked by.
"Juvia."
"Yes, Gray-sama?"
"Walk beside me. You're giving me bad nerves, skipping like that."
"Okay." She sped up for a few paces, falling into step beside him. The two didn't talk much- Juvia didn't know what to say, and Gray didn't have anything to say. The pair made it to the train in no time, boarding the train bound for Cedar, the town where the job's client was. In some ways, Gray was glad he'd gone with Juvia- it meant he wouldn't have to deal with Natsu being sick the whole way.
The train departed after five minutes, quickly leaving Magnolia a speck in the distance. A trolley containing food came through, carrying hot drinks.
"Do you want anything?" Gray asked, making Juvia sit up straight in her seat. Clearly she had been daydreaming before that, but she didn't have the usual expression Gray was used to seeing when her dreams were about him.
"Um… Juvia will have a tea, please, Gray-sama."
He ordered a tea for her and a coffee for himself, handing over the needed jewel to the man pushing the trolley. He handed the cardboard cup to Juvia, warning her not to spill it. She was still silent while drinking her tea, staring out the window at the green countryside rushing by.
"Oi, Juvia. Are you okay?"
"Ah- yes, Juvia is fine. She was just thinking about being on a job with Gray-sama. Usually she only goes on her own or with Gajeel-kun, so it's fun being able to be out with someone else for a change." She smiled brightly, a light pink blush dusting her cheeks.
He was about to tell her not to get used to it, but she looked so happy, and he didn't have the heart to say anything negative. Instead, he agreed, with a simple 'yeah.'
"You know, you're a much better travel companion than Erza, Lucy and Natsu. Natsu gets really motion sick, and can barely move. Erza usually ends up knocking him out, and Lucy doesn't help the situation at all."
"Juvia thinks they sound like a fun group to travel with." She brought her hand up to her mouth, giggling ever so slightly.
"They're really annoying, more like." He rolled his eyes again- finally noticing this was something he kept doing. He folded his arms and crossed his legs, attempting to come up with a conversation to break the silence. Usually Juvia was good at conversations, but today, she seemed distant. Maybe she was just trying to contain her excitement over the prospect of going on a job with Gray?
They arrived in the small costal town of Cedar a few hours later, after many awkward attempts at conversation, and many more cups of coffee. Rain drizzled down on the town, which Gray only noticed after departing the train. It was a warm, unnatural type of rain, and he could only assume it was coming from Juvia. She had got off the train in front of him, and was standing at the door out of the station. He noticed her gently hit her face, as if she was trying to slap sense into herself. She perked up immediately after this, waving to Gray.
"Gray-sama! Let's go!"
They walked through the town, and eventually the rain ceased to fall. The house where the client lived seemed to be miles away, at the other end of the town. The sun was already threatening to set in the distance, and the two mages had only just arrived at their destination. Gray knocked on the door, which was almost immediately answered by a woman in her sixties. She invited them in, sitting them down in the living room.
"You're from Fairy Tail, correct?" The woman was joined by a man of the same age, who sat down on a seat opposite.
"Yes. You've got a job for us?"
"Just outside the town, there is a nest of monsters. Once a week, they attack the village. They seem to breathe fire, or something, because buildings always end up being burned to the ground. They have a leader, who I have seen while trying to find them, however he never seems to attack." The old man knotted his hands on his knees. "I'm just afraid that if that leader ever does attack, we'll all die. The town could be completely destroyed, and we'll have nowhere to go…"
"I know this is a problem, and all," Gray interrupted, and three heads turned to him in shock, "but isn't this that town that that guy Dan Straight or something was from?" He directed this point to Juvia, who nodded in confusion. "Exactly. So why don't you just get those knights to solve the problem, instead of posting this on request boards in guilds around the country?"
"Believe me, son, we've tried. But the knights want nothing to do with the monsters. I honestly think they're afraid. So that's why we requested wizards to come and sort this out, once and for all."
"Well, we'll do it. I just wanted to know. We'll start tomorrow- it's too dark to work like this."
"Fair enough. We'll pay you two to stay in the hotel in town. It's nice, don't you worry."
Juvia stood by the door with the woman, while the old man phoned the hotel and told Gray how to get there. It really had got dark- the street lamps had come on, and the stars were clearly visible in the black sky.
"It's nice to see a young couple taking jobs together! Usually we just see solo wizards or large groups out." Juvia's face flushed a deep red, and the old lady looked at her in shock.
"Ah, w-we're not a couple, ma'am," she stuttered, trying to make it obvious that they were not together (even if it was what Juvia wanted).
"Oh! Pardon me, dear. I'm sorry, I just assumed…"
"We're in the same guild, and we're on the job because they types of magic we use match up well with the monsters. Juvia is a water mage, and Gray-sama uses Ice magic!" Gray walked through to the hall as she finished her sentence.
"Are you ready to go?" He asked, and she nodded enthusiastically. The two said their goodbyes to the old couple, walking into the town. Gray directed her to the hotel, where they checked in right away.
"I have a reservation for a room? Under the name Fullbuster." The man at reception took Gray's money, handing him a key in return. Gray motioned with his head to the stairs, and Juvia followed him up to the third floor, where their room was. Gray unlocked the door, and he and Juvia were greeted with a daunting obstacle: there was only one bed. Gray's 'gentlemanly instincts' kicked in straight away.
"You can take the bed."
"No thank you, Gray-sama. Juvia would rather sleep on the sofa. She thinks it would be more comfortable for Gray-sama on the bed."
"No. You have to." Erza would kill him if she found out that he had allowed Juvia to sleep on the sofa while he had selfishly taken the bed. But Juvia didn't care about what he was insisting, and had somehow procured a blanket and a pillow from a small cupboard on the wall.
"Juvia insists. She's quite tired also, so she will go get changed in the bathroom. No peeking, Gray-sama!"
"I-I wasn't planning to!" But his words fell into the air, her having skipped away already. She reappeared minutes later, long hair plaited down her back, wearing baby blue Pyjamas.
"Gray-sama should get some sleep too. We have to be up early to fight those monsters tomorrow." She cocooned herself in the blankets, facing the back of the sofa. "Goodnight, Gray-sama." He stood for a moment, shocked at how quickly she had readied herself for the night. It took him that moment to respond.
"Yeah. Goodnight."
He took his shirt and trousers off, falling into bed quickly. He faced the wall, away from Juvia. He was genuinely surprised that the girl hadn't tried to get into bed with him, but maybe she had finally decided to heed what he had harshly told her at the Grand Magic Games. Maybe she was giving him space. Whatever had made her decide this, it didn't matter. Gray rolled onto his back, closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to take him.
AN: I recently finished Fairy Tail and I have way too many emotions about these nerds. Please review, tell me what you think! This is obviously my first Fairy Tail fanfic and I'm kinda unsure about it.