Thank you to Sonya for looking over this. My writer's block is still pretty intense; so have some awkward writing and Gruvia (:

1

Juvia disliked routine.

It's not that she did everything to avoid it, because she didn't; she followed through, every step falling into the footprint left the day before. A cycle—going around and around and around. Like a hamster on its wheel. Even though she followed through every day, it didn't mean she couldn't abhor it.

Today was no different.

The life of a barista was a sad, sad life. Coffee followed her like a shadow, never mind the stench that overpowered any kind of body spray she bought. Soon all she could think about was coffee this, coffee that and the patience—god, she had no idea where she even acquired such a thing; Juvia knew she was a patient person but this.

This was an entirely different level.

Returning home after her shift and after a nice run around at the mall to relax her muscles was like paradise.

She sighed, rolling her shoulders and dumping her damp parka at the entrance of her apartment, next to the coat-hanger where it should be going, had it not been dripping droplets of water. She walked with her back arched, reaching down to untie the laces of her very beat up converses, skirt already half unzipped and polo half unbuttoned.

As she walked, she turned on the lights to the small living room and the kitchen and the halls, bringing life into her small one-bedroom apartment. Outside, it was raining; Magnolia was notorious for its funny weathering, after all.

Juvia opened the door to her bedroom, shoes left in the hall; shirt unbuttoned and skirt half off, she turned on the lights. She raked her fingers into her wavy hair, untangling the ice-blue strands and pulling them away from her face. She went straight for her drawer, fully intent to wear Gajeel's flannel pajamas and hoodie for the weather; fondly, she decided her stupid best friend should stop leaving his clothes in her apartment before his girlfriend thought something of it.

With a half-smile crooking her lips to one side, she walked to her bed, setting the articles of clothing over a pair of legs and beginning to peel her shirt the rest of the way off.

Juvia paused.

And blinked her eyes.

And turned to stare at where she put the hoodie and flannel pajamas. And followed the leg up to a bare torso and up to… Blue… Eyes…

Juvia's eyes widened.

And she began to scream, scratching at her chest and stomach as she tried to close her shirt up. She tripped and fell back, kicking her legs to give herself momentum to crawl back without the use of her arms.

He sat up in her bed, tilting his head to one side, and then the other; Juvia, above her panicked screeching, heard the bones crack with satisfaction.

"Why're we yellin'?" he asked, leaning forwards as he sat at the edge of the bed. Some of his very unkept dark hair fell over his blue eyes and Juvia even had the thought of cutting her screams short… Until she saw the horns on either side of his head and the tail twisting behind him.

She proceeded to screech and crawl back all the more further, until she hit the back legs of her desk chair. "What—I—who—what are you?!"

He hushed her down, almost gently, taking a hand out of his loose jeans' pocket and waving it downwards. "Calm down, would ya? Your screams are rattlin' my brain."

"You're invading my house!" She gasped for air, ignoring the strands of blue hair that tangled themselves with her lashes. "Who are you?! What do you want?!"

He was scratching at his chin with the tip of one of his claws, lips pursed almost thoughtfully and his eyes staring around the bedroom as if he just barely noticed where he was at. He looked out of place, Juvia decided; he was all black on white—pale skin, blue eyes, dark hair and dark clothing. His horns and his tail were dark, as well and he looked… So out of place.

"What are you," she demanded, again, her chest heaving with panic.

He blinked at her.

"Well… What do I look like?"

A cross between Tall Dark and Handsome and Stranger Danger, she wanted to say. But she bit her lip and furrowed her brow, looking away because her nerves were getting the best of her and the last thing she wanted was to have a breakdown in hysteria right then, and there. "Just… Answer the question."

He scoffed, standing up; Juvia heard his footsteps, heard them pause as they stopped in front of the window and then heard them again when he turned towards her.

"Y'believe in demons, girl?" He crouched in front of her and Juvia curled into herself. "Coz I swear I can change your beliefs in a sec."

Juvia swallowed, thickly, and spared him a glance from the corner of her eyes. "You're a… demon…?"

"Che," he grunted, pulling away, head tilted. "You smell good."

"If you're a demon why are you here? What do you want from me?"

He grunted, again, standing up and walking to her bed, he laid back down, the opened vest he wore sliding off his shoulders and leaving his torso completely bare. "See, tha's the funny part about you humans, girl. You always think there's a bigger reason to something; your picture box—" Juvia followed his claw as it pointed towards the TV "—fills you up with lies. We don't want anything from you. We don't need anything from you; we're above you and you have nothing great to offer."

Juvia turned to him, lips pursed, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He shifted, leaning his elbow on the mattress and supporting his head up with his hand. Behind him, his tail twisted. "Anyway, I needed shelter. I saw you on your way back—actually, I saw a guy with pink hair and then I saw you. I like blue more than pink… so."

"You followed me home."

"'ctly." He picked Gajeel's pajama pants and hoodie up with his tail, motioning them towards her. "You should change, chick. Your clothes are wet."

Juvia stood up, knees weak, and took slow and cautious steps towards him. His lips were slowly twitching to one side, into a smirk; he could probably feel her fear. She reached for the articles of clothing, still hanging from his tail, with a shaky hand. Her eyes shifted towards him, watching him watch her.

She snatched the sweater and the pants and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door and leaning against it.

.

.

.

She remained in there until she was sure she'd composed herself.

Juvia sat there, limbs shaking and eyes stinging with what she figured were tears. She didn't really know how long she remained there curled into herself, against the door of her apartment's bathroom, dark hoodie and green-black-blue checkered flannel pajama pants at her side. Her shirt was unbuttoned, leaving her black bra exposed along with her chest and her stomach.

The faucet dripped water—drip, drip, drop—and made Juvia twitch at every three second interval.

Closing her eyes, she stood up, undressing and dressing as quickly as she could.

This—this was all a dream.

Imagination—this was her imagination.

Yes.

She walked to the mirror, tying her hair back and staring into her dark eyes; she was paler than normal, face marred with something like fear. No, she told herself, willing herself to wipe the feeling—the look—away. That was all fake. None of it was true; she was just… Dreaming. No need to feel like her life was soon to be threatened.

Juvia smiled at herself, weakly, and turned away. She walked out of the bathroom and back into her room, her eyes glued onto her bed.

It was empty.

She let out a sigh, feeling her shoulders relax as she realized that she had been right; there was no demon in her room—just her. It was just her, in there. No one else…

A snort came from her desk and Juvia gasped; she peeked over the door and watched as the same boy—demon—sat on her desk chair, his legs on the table as he leaned back and entertained a book. She didn't know how to describe how she felt, at the sight of him; she felt something sink her stomach down and she felt her throat go extremely dry. She felt her hands begin to shake with another round of panic.

"You can stop starin' at me," he said, tonelessly.

Juvia gasped and ran to her bed, throwing herself on it and hugging one of her pillows to her chest. "I had convinced myself you weren't real."

He snorted, again, sparing her a glance over the top of the book. "Well, that was lame of you."

"Are you going to kill me?"

He looked up, again and stared at her, long and hard. He flipped the page without looking down at the text, his lips slowly tilting into a smirk again. "Y'want me to?"

"No."

He shrugged.

Juvia chewed on her lower lip, looking around her bedroom and sparing him glances every now and then. His vest was off, entirely, his jeans rode low on his hips and his tail was wrapped around him, like a belt. He wasn't at all threatening; the mere fact that he was what he was, was what terrified her. But he… As a whole… Wasn't intimidating.

Perhaps he didn't want to come off as such, she wondered. Not yet, at least. Not unless he felt he needed to…

"What is your name," she asked, softly, trying to ease her tense muscles.

He sighed, softly, his lips barely parting. He looked up at her, again, blinking his eyes and swatting his messy hair out of his face. "I have a pretty long, unpronounceable name. But you can call me Gray."

"Gray," she whispered.

He grunted, adding, "Fullbuster. Gray Fullbuster—that was my name before I died a long, long time ago."

Juvia nodded, softly, registering this fact into her brain.

"Now, Juvia—"

"How—"

"A million of reasons," he interrupted. "But anyway. You should go to sleep."

She shook her head, "I'm not tired."

But she already felt her mind fuzzing and her eyes drooping. She lowered herself down, still hugging one of her many pillows; her eyes spared Gray another glance, watching him watch her for another second before he returned his attention to the book. She closed her eyes, and forgot about new demon roommates and succumbed to sleep.

.

.

.

She woke up with a gasp, sitting up with wide eyes and looking around her room.

They landed on Gray, even before she could try to convince herself, again, that he wasn't real and she had been dreaming. He sat on the desk chair, still, in the same position; the only difference from what she last remembered was the stack of books at his side. He didn't look up at her; rather, he flipped the page and leaned back further into his seat.

Juvia swallowed, thickly, sparing the rain outside her window another glance, and tried to calm her nerves.

"Morning," he drawled, without looking up at her.

She curled into her covers, hiding. "Hello."

"Did you try to convince yourself I wasn't here again?"

"I was about to," she admitted. "Will you tell me exactly why… You're here? On earth, I mean… Did you even sleep?"

"No."

She studied him, his blue eyes scanning the text of the book, lips in an expressionless line, forelocks shadowing his face. "Do you sleep at all?"

"If I want to," he said.

"Do you eat?"

Gray looked up at her, again, his blue eyes locking with hers. "If I want."

Her eyes widened and he chuckled at her fear. "You are reading way too into this, Juvia. I said I wasn't going to do anything, didn't I? Why the mistrust?"

"You're a demon!"

"And you're a human," he drawled right back at her.

Juvia bit at her lip, bringing her covers up to cover her head. She closed her eyes, sleep trying to lull her back to black voids of comfort. She wasn't stupid, this time. She knew he'd be there when she woke up.