Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

Title: Fluff

Prompt: Hair

Rating: G

Word Count: 513

Genre: Time-skip fluff

It was everywhere. And it was hard to ignore. He'd known that living with another person – living with Juvia – would take some getting used to. He'd known he'd have try harder to pick up after himself, but tolerate her messes too. He'd known he'd have to consider her sleeping schedule, her eating schedule, not keep the lights on at all hours of the night or snack while she was cooking their supper and ruin her appetite. He'd known that she'd need space for her own rituals, just like he needed space for his. He'd known that it was important for him to put up with her idiosyncrasies (like slipping into daydreams during training that her flushed faced revealed to be PG13 at best, but insisting that he leave every time she had to remove her clothes even though he was clearly not looking), in the same way that she tolerated his.

He had not known that Juvia sheds.

There were vibrant blue tumbleweeds on the floor, puffs of indigo cloud on the counters, sapphire snakes in their shower, and sometimes even cerulean strands in their food.

He watched her as she sat on the edge of the bed in slippers, a house coat, and a blue silk pajama set (progress, as she'd only recently started being comfortable in bed-time clothing when he was in the same room and she was not also under blankets or shrouded in darkness). She dragged the boar-bristle brush through her hair, combed through with fingers pale, smooth, and elegant as ivory. She let out a gently hum-sigh, eyes drifting closed. And then she encountered a knot. Her brow furrowed, her lips pursed, and she grabbed the offending chunk into a tight fist, separating it from the rest and attacking it mercilessly. When she was satisfied that she had beaten it into submission, she gave her locks a final once over and pulled those that had fallen from their follicles out of the brush's bristles.

And now came the moment of truth.

It wasn't her fault, really. She always tried. He saw her aim for the garbage bin. He saw her drop the clump of hair from her fingers to the mercy of the air. And then he saw the silken tangle drift down, bounce off the rim, and settle on the floor, there to stay until the next time it was swept.

"Juvia!" It may have come out a bit harsher than he'd expected, but enough was enough already.

"Yes, Gray-sama?"

"You missed. Again."

"I… oh! Juvia is sorry, Gray-sama." She returned to the bin and bent down to pick up the wayward wisps and try again, but Gray beat her there, stopping her reach by encircling her delicate wrist with one hand while the other snatched the clump and placed it in its rightful home.

"Geez," he sighed, releasing her wrist and turning away. "If you have so much trouble, maybe I should start brushing your hair for you."

Her eyes were still glazed over when he turned out the light and crawled into bed.