This was meant to be a short drabble for a request from sassyhazelowl for Grayedy and "Hyperbole", but 1500 words and two colas later, here we are. I do love this pairing quite a lot. And Juvia, too.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Over the past seven years, Meredy had grown up hearing stories from Ultear and Jellal that she had initially assumed – even at her most impressionable – to be mostly hyperbole. It was clear that Ultear and Jellal had some bias when it came to talking about the people they'd more or less relentlessly stalked for ten years. Their twin obsessions really made them the perfect pair, Meredy could only conclude. It was inevitable that they had come to work together twice in their lives.
But despite her best efforts to maintain objectivity when it came to the stories about Erza and Gray they imparted to her, it was difficult to tell fact from embellishment. Somehow she doubted that Erza basically ate mountains and demons for breakfast, or that Gray was naked in perpetuity. Though she wasn't quite as sure about the amount of cake that Erza could consume (having never witnessed it herself), and that Gray had tried to fight a demon of Zeref… twice (Meredy was coming to believe that it was a requirement of Fairy Tail to be at least that level of crazy).
So she held onto Jellal and Ultear's words all the same; they loved telling her stories, and Meredy loved listening to them. Especially ones about Gray, truth be told. Meredy loved Juvia, and Juvia loved Gray, so it seemed obvious to her that she learn all she could about the man.
It wasn't until much, much later, that Meredy realized that although Jellal may have exaggerated a good deal about Erza (except in regards to the cake), Ultear had perhaps underscored a number of Gray's more ridiculous qualities. Meredy's friendship with Juvia afforded her a front-row view of the man and his behavior. Gray really did exist in a state of near-permanent nakedness, it turned out. And he really was reckless to a fault, though he hid it beneath a façade of calm.
It was easy to see his good points, thanks to Juvia. But Meredy couldn't help but notice that the man had a great many bad habits too. Like his too-eager willingness to egg Natsu onto greater acts of destruction, or how he tended to bottle up his more unpleasant emotions when it was clearly hurting him to do so. He also tried to shoulder too much and would refuse to either ask for help or clearly explain to others what his intentions were, which led to all sorts of miscommunications.
Meredy wasn't certain that Juvia saw quite as much as she did of Gray's more unpleasant sides. Juvia worshipped the ground Gray walked upon. And although Meredy understood the deep gratitude that Juvia carried for Gray saving her (as she felt it herself for Juvia and to a less extent to Gray for saving her own savior), it felt… Meredy didn't really know how she felt about it, honestly. It was complicated, and she didn't have the words. It just unsettled something inside of her.
She continued to watch Gray even then, though. He meant something to Ultear and Juvia, the two most important people in her life, after all. Also, she felt she owed him a little, having once been dead-set on his murder. Which honestly made any attempted conversation with the man incredibly awkward. Not only had he been an object of fixation for Ultear for so many years (good and bad), he was also the center of Juvia's world as well, and those thoughts always hung in the forefront of her mind in every interaction.
As astute as she was in observing Gray, however, she probably should have noticed a lot sooner than she did that he had been seeking her out a lot more often as of late. At first, she brushed it off as politeness, since she was always with Juvia during these times. It would have been rude of him to only talk to Juvia, after all. And although Gray was dense and often accidentally rude, he was never maliciously or intentionally so.
Meredy eventually noticed that the times he talked to her when she visited increased whenever Juvia wasn't there (either distracted by something else in the guild, or out on a job). To the point where those conversations outnumbered the ones they had in Juvia's company. Again, Meredy brushed those off. Clearly Gray just wanted to talk about Juvia, or feel out a gift or the like without Juvia catching on. Meredy could play along with that. So, as the good friend she was, she would steer the conversation back to Juvia.
There was one memorable occasion when Gray's team visited Crime Sorciere. Juvia wasn't with them, surprisingly. Which was mildly disappointing for Meredy, but she liked Gray's team well enough. Although she wanted to talk to Gray (ostensibly about Juvia's marked absence), she found herself confounded a little by Sorano, who demanded Gray's attention. Although Meredy adored Sorano, this was more than a bit frustrating.
Just when she was about to give up on talking to the man entirely, Lucy suddenly insinuated herself between the pair, linking her arm with Sorano and steering her away from Gray. Meredy stared in shock after the blonde, as she threw Meredy a playful wink and a little wave over her shoulder.
Lucy was a nice person, Meredy realized. Although she'd known it intellectually, it was something else to have it directed her way. A very, very nice person.
With Sorano thankfully distracted, Meredy took the opportunity provided to her by Lucy, and she approached Gray. He smiled at her when he saw her, and Meredy's heart stuttered slightly at the sight.
Confusion and embarrassment flooded her, and to calm her rising panic, she commented on the nice weather they were having.
Stupid, stupid, she chided herself.
But it was a topic Gray was surprisingly responsive to, it turned out. And after a couple of minutes, Meredy had mostly forgotten her strange reaction to Gray's smile. She chalked it up to rarely seeing it. Anyone would be affected by something they don't often see.
It was only much later, after the group from Fairy Tail had departed (with only minor damage to the landscape thanks to Erik and Natsu) that Meredy realized that she had completely forgotten to ask about Juvia. And yet… she'd still held a conversation with Gray easily. In fact, they'd arranged to talk more on a later day.
Maybe he considered her his friend, and not just Juvia's? The thought made her flush with happiness.
That would be very nice, indeed.
"You are so freaking oblivious," Erik muttered to her then. "It would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad."
"I'm… not sure what you're talking about?" Meredy replied, her head tilted slightly. "Oh, you mean how long it took me to realize that Gray and I are friends?" Red crept through her cheeks. "Yeah, I'll give you that one."
"That level of obliviousness should be a crime," he informed her before shaking his head and walking away from his perplexed guildmate.
"Congratulations," Lucy told her teammate, nudging him with her elbow. "You got a date out of her!"
Gray hung his head and sighed. "I don't think she actually realized that I was asking her out, though."
"Oh come on, surely no one can be that dense," the blonde attempted to reassure him with a pat on his shoulder. "You're just exaggerating because you're nervous!"
Somehow, Gray sincerely doubted that.
It must have shown on his face, because Lucy shrugged and informed him, "Doesn't really matter either way. You get to spend time with her alone, and with Juvia's blessing at that. Meredy will figure it out eventually." She paused for a second, and then added, "Probably."
Hearing her name, the water mage sat down beside the pair. "Juvia is sure that Meredy will understand in due time, Gray-sama. She just needs a little time. That's why Juvia stayed at the camp today, after all."
"I'm still surprised that you're okay with all this," Lucy observed.
A smile spread across Juvia's face. "Juvia may be oblivious about a lot of things, Juvia realizes. But Juvia isn't blind. Juvia thinks Meredy has feelings for Gray, even if Meredy herself hasn't realized yet. Juvia loves Gray-sama, and Juvia loves Meredy… and Juvia will always prioritize her friends' happiness over her own, so Juvia will do what she can for them to be happy together."
Gray pretended not to see the soft way in which Lucy reached over and locked her fingers with Juvia's at that – and the way Juvia's fingers curled around the celestial mage's.
Although it wasn't ideal, Gray had to acknowledge his friends' efforts, and he did manage to score at least a pseudo-date with Meredy, so maybe the day wasn't entirely a bust. With a little time and effort, maybe they'd finally be able to crack through Meredy's denseness. Even if it… caused a little personal suffering on Gray's end of things.
Whoever once said that obliviousness was bliss had clearly never spent time with Fairy Tail.