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GRAY'S PRIVATE FOLDER OF PURE WARMTH
A Gray/Juvia one-shot
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"Lucy," Mirajane calls the blonde fairy mage who is casually hanging out with Natsu and Happy on a table.
The take-over mage fishes out a black magic phone and shows it to the group. "Is this yours?"
The celestial mage shakes her head.
"Natsu?"
The fire dragon simply shrugs the white-haired mage and stares at the phone.
"Oh, a phone!" Natsu thrills as he looks at the object as if it is a shiny jewel.
"I suppose this is not yours, Natsu," Mirajane smiles warmly. "Happy?"
The blue cat who is busy eating a nice grilled fish shakes his head as well.
"Phones like that are expensive," Lucy says while watching how the fire dragon slayer ogles the magical item.
"Happy and I don't have one," Natsu brags, "'coz we are saving for something much better than a phone."
"Like a fish!" Happy exclaims with sparkles in his eyes. Then the cat adds with a snicker, "even Lucy can't afford something like that."
The blonde stiffens upon hearing the truth from her guildmate. She then glares and immediately smacks Happy. The blue cat's grilled fish flies away, leaving the teary-eyed exceed muttering how awful Lucy is.
"I wonder whose phone is this." Mirajane frowns at the black object. "I saw this on one of our tables while I'm cleaning. Somebody probably forgot his or her phone."
Lucy holds out her hand and asks, "may I see the phone, Mira?"
"Sure," the take-over mage answers as she gives the phone to the celestial mage. Lucy looks at the object in different angles, hoping for a way to trace its owner's identity. Natsu who is beside the celestial mage peeks as well. "I am entrusting that phone to you, Lucy, for safekeeping. I'll post a 'found' sign on our board."
Impatient, Natsu pushes one of the buttons and the phone emits a holographic screen of pure white and a mechanical voice asking for a password.
"I'm expecting some sort of a picture as a screen background that will give us a hint about its owner," Lucy sighs while Natsu takes the phone off her hand and attempts to hack the phone by typing random letters and numbers.
"You dummy!" Lucy jabs the fire dragon slayer and takes the phone away from him. "We have this what we call privacy! The password is there for a reason!"
"Yeah, the password is there for me to decipher," Natsu laughs as he snatches the phone again and starts typing random letters and numbers, "I'm so fired up!"
Unable to change her partner's mind, Lucy sighs again just as Levy approaches and greets them. She is followed by the iron dragon slayer who simply smirks.
"What are you doing, Lu-chan?" Levy asks as she sits beside the celestial mage. The iron dragon slayer, on the other hand, sits on the opposite side of the table.
"Natsu here is trying to decode the password of someone's phone." Lucy points her finger at the fire dragon slayer with a defeated look on her face.
"Whose phone is it, anyway?" Gajeel asks. Lucy simply lifts her shoulders to signify having no idea.
Levy looks at the screen and shrieks, "oh, look, a hint."
The blunette points at the hologram screen which indicates a hint: best guild ever.
"Wow, the hint is so easy," Levy giggles.
Natsu immediately types their guild name and the hologram screen changes to a plain-looking background with neither a picture of someone nor of something. The background is made out of blue and white strips.
Suddenly, Juvia chimes in, peeking between Natsu and Lucy. "Juvia is wondering what you guys are doing."
All of them are looking at the newly arrived guildmate as Levy responds.
"Juvia-chan," Levy answers quickly, "we are trying to figure out whose phone is this."
The water mage dons her usual outfit: a Russian Cussock hat, a long-sleeved dark blue dress with a high slit and white embellishments. Lucy cannot help but think the color combination is somehow similar to the background. Thinking that the phone is hers, the celestial mage asks, "is this phone yours?"
"No, it's not Juvia's." The water mage's eyes sparkle as she declares, "that must be Gray-sama's phone!"
"Nah," Natsu interjects, "we haven't seen him use a phone."
"Geehee, then why don't you just explore that phone's features and get hints about its owner," Gajeel suggests as he stands from his seat and faces Juvia.
"That's not a good suggestion, Gajeel!" Levy exclaims while Lucy shouts, "privacy, people!"
"Where are you going, guys?" Natsu asks as he fidgets around the phone keys, typing random numbers and letters on screen.
"Gajeel, Lily, and Juvia have a quest," the once rain woman squeals, her hands clasp together.
"Lily is already waiting for us outside," Gajeel tells the water mage. "We have a three-day mission in Crocus."
"Wait," Natsu cheerfully says. Juvia looks at the fire dragon slayer and is surprised by a sudden blinding light. Then, from the hologram screen of the phone appears a picture of the rain woman whose lips shape like an 'o' and whose dark blue eyes reflect cheerfulness. Despite majority of her hair neatly tucked inside the hat, her lustrous strands stand out.
"Oh, look," Natsu happily says, as if he discovered a treasure, "it takes pictures."
"We got no time for that, rain woman," Gajeel simply shrugs off while Natsu, on the other hand, is taking pictures of random people: Gajeel pushing the rain woman out of the guild base, Happy happily returning from his seat with the fish Lucy threw a while ago, and Mirajane serving Cana another barrel of liquor. Afterwards, he takes several pictures of Levy and Lucy together.
"Natsu," Lucy warns, "don't take stolen pictures!"
"But you look good in these pictures," Natsu innocently says as he shows the blonde woman the pictures he has taken a while ago. Lucy simply blushes and the solid script mage giggles.
"That's not the point!" Lucy exclaims. She snatches the phone from Natsu's hands and accidentally presses a button that transfers the hologram screen to a list of folders.
The hologram screen shows only two folders with labels camera and warmth.
"Oh no," Lucy, stiffens. "I don't know what to do. How do I turn this off?"
She presses random letters but the hologram remains as is.
"Choose the camera folder," Happy suggests as he presses a button with his fish-smelling hands. The folder opens in the hologram screen and shows dozen of pictures – all were taken by Natsu a while ago.
"What about the other folder?" Natsu asks as he takes the phone away from Lucy and returns the screen to its previous location wherein two folders can be seen. "I wonder what this warmth folder is."
Just as he is about to press a button, Gray enters the guild and greets them.
"Oi," he says, a little worry is seen on his face. A small crease between his forehead indicates it. Upon seeing the black phone on Natsu's hands, he says, "that's my phone. I've been looking for that everywhere. I must have dropped it some-"
The ice mage shifts his gaze and sees the hologram screen with two folder options. His eyes immediately widen as he runs toward the fire dragon slayer. The raven-haired member snatches the phone and switches it off.
"What are you guys doing with my phone?" He asks nervously as he quickly closes the hologram screen of his black phone. Sweat trickles on his forehead and his cheeks redden.
"You left it on a table and Mirajane found it," Lucy nonchalantly answers.
"Hey, ice freak," Natsu teases, "what's with the warmth folder?"
"What," is the only sound that has come out of Gray's mouth as he is seemingly lost for words. Gray's face turns into a total red.
Upon noticing, Levy nervously assures the ice mage. "Don't worry, we didn't see anything."
"Levy-chan's right," Lucy backs up the solid script mage, "Natsu only took pictures."
"How did you-" The ice mage fiddles on his phone and the hologram screen appears once again with the background of white and blue strips. A mechanical voice once again asks for a password. Sounding like a caveman, he mutters, "has a password."
"Putting a hint like best guild ever is similar to not having a password, Gray," Levy remarks with an apologetic look. "I'm very sorry."
"We didn't know that you have a phone," Lucy adds. "We are very sorry for disturbing your privacy, Gray."
Lucy nudges the other two, Natsu and Happy, signalling them to apologize as well. The two murmur their apology in chorus while Gray fumbles on his phone. The hologram screen shows the two folders once again and the ice mage quickly accesses the camera folder. After quickly scanning the photos Natsu has taken while glaring at his comrades, he finally declares, "I'm going to delete these."
"You, ice bastard," Natsu starts, "don't delete those!"
"Then don't use someone else's phone, fire pants!" Gray interjects, "buy your own!"
Lucy watches the ice mage as he tries to stop himself from removing his clothes. On a second thought, Gray turns his back fast instead and walks to the door.
"Hey," Natsu fires up.
"I have a quest." Gray bades the group farewell, leaving Natsu more fired up. Lucy and Levy, on the other hand, breathe deeply as they have evaded another brawl from the two monkeyheads.
"Lu-chan," Levy whispers while Natsu turns to Elfman from the other side of the guild and talks about being all fired up in a manly way. "Don't you find it weird that Gray seems to be nervous about his phone."
"Yeah," Lucy agrees in a whisper as well, "as if he's hiding something."
"I bet he has pictures of fishes." Happy interrupts, overhearing the ladies, "fishes make one's tummy feel warm."
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Gray has decided to take a train to Crocus for his one-day quest. On his seat, he fishes out his black phone and opens it. He opens the warmth folder and browses several pictures stored inside. He has a picture of a teru teru bozu hanged outside the guild and most probably made by a certain person afraid of rain, a yellow butterfly he saw while traveling, a picture of the sea from Tenrou Island, a foodporn picture of a Juvi-bread, a foodporn picture of Caramade franks, and a macroshot of a gray woolly textile. He smiles as he looks at them peacefully from the hologram screen.
Afterwards, he reverts his screen to the options and chooses the camera folder. He looks at the photos Natsu has taken and sighs upon realizing that most of them are most likely garbage. As he is about to press the delete all option, a streak of blue from one of the thumbnails catches his attention. He chooses that thumbnail and a picture of the rain woman appears on his hologram screen.
He feels his blood rising to his head as he stares on the hologram of the water mage, her eyes lit up like lighthouses in the darkness and her lips slightly open. Her hair seems to have been blown away slightly by wind and her porcelain skin glistens from the flash of the phone.
"I'm keeping this," he smirks as he quickly transfers the image to the other folder, then adds in an attempt to justify his action, "for blackmail purpose. Girls don't like unflattering shots of themselves."
Despite telling that to himself, he finds it funny that he doesn't think of the photo as unflattering – with her face full of serenity and happiness, he knows that she is happy with the guild and the company of their friends.
The ice mage then deletes the rest of the photos Natsu has taken.
He flinches upon hearing a mischievous laugh. He looks behind and sees Gajeel watching him, his head peeks out of the couch. Gray stiffens upon realizing that Gajeel must have been sitting on the other side of the couch and must have seen the private contents of his black magic phone.
"Geehee," the iron dragon slayer greets with a mischievous glint on his eyes.
"Gajeel-kun," he hears another voice, a woman's voice. Gray instantly knows the owner of the high pitched voice. "Juvia thinks that it's rude to stare at other people for no apparent reason."
Then as if on cue, Gajeel turns his head to his companion and says, "you wouln't believe me when I say that you'll be thrilled to see this person."
"Who is-" Juvia's head appears right beside Gajeel. Without finishing her question, she squeals in delight, "Gray-sama!"
Without any second thought, Juvia immediately transfers seat and moves beside Gray. She grabs his arm and mushily giggles, "oh, it must be kismet that brought Juvia and Gray together."
Gray, on the other hand, feels like he is big trouble as he continues to look at Gajeel in attempt to know how long the man was watching him and how much he saw.
The iron dragon slayer simply smirks.
FIN
Author: I'd recently seen Tumblr posts about Gray having a phone or something, and it prompted me to do this short one-shot. Hope you all like this! :)