The next morning saw Juvia up too early, but she needed the extra time. Not to shower or do her makeup—that took just as long as ever—but to pack. The ordeal left her standing in her towel for nearly an hour while she pulled outfits out of drawers and threw them on the bed in the 'keep' pile. Each time she'd think, yeah, Gray-sama is sure to like that, only to decide a split second later that it was all wrong.

In the end she decided to take almost everything. That seemed to be the only way to satisfy her fickle mind. She dressed quickly after that, pulling on her favorite blue halter top, the one with the little yellow bow, a pleated white skirt, and a pair of tall, soft black leather boots. Then she set about cramming her wardrobe into her small blue polka dot suitcase.


Just as Gray was poised to knock a colourful stream of curses came from Juvia's room that had him both interested—Juvia didn't swear, not really—and slightly worried.

"Hey," he said as he grabbed the handle and pushed open the unlocked door. Inside was utter disarray. It took him a second to focus on the girl on her knees because he was so taken aback by the mess. So many clothes littered every surface it was hard to see if she had a bed under all that chaos.

Under a long blue dress, he caught sight of the top half of a stuffed doll and frowned. That head of messy black hair looked suspiciously like his own, but he didn't even want to know. He moved his eyes away from there, trying to find Juvia in the disorder, and instead found a stash of intimates she had dug out of her drawer. His vision snagged on one article in particular, a racy black corset and thin G-string combo. His heart hammered as his mind put Juvia in that tiny scrap of fabric and then imagined her showing it off for him. He swallowed tightly.

"Gray-sama? Helloooo?"

He tore himself out of the fantasy and found the woman amongst the debris. "Juvia," he choked out.

"There you are." She had been trying to get his attention for several long seconds. "Gray-sama, why are you barging into Juvia's room?" There was a hopeful gleam in her eye that Gray didn't like. Seeing that helped distance him from his fantasy, which was a good thing, because all he had to do was look at her in her too-short skirt and too-low cut top and he was sweating again.

"I just... I heard you—sounded like you needed help," he finished lamely.

Juvia stood and came too close. "Yes? What does Gray-sama want to help me with?"

Gods, all that skin was distracting. She leaned into him, smelling like fresh rain and white sweet clover and he nearly groaned aloud. "You—"

"Yes?" She was close enough to breathe in his words.

"You need to change," he blurted.

"You want to help Juvia change?" She didn't even need to think about it, her hands were clutching the hem of her shirt and bullying the fabric up over her ribs in the span of a breath.

Gray let out a strangled cry. "No!" This woman would be the death of him. Thankfully she stopped before he could see what she wore beneath that slinky blue top. "Keep your damn clothes on while I'm in here." Wasn't he a hypocrite? "I just meant, we're going to be in the foothills of a mountain, where it'll be cold, so you'll want something a little... more."

Juvia let go of her shirt and looked both humiliated and crestfallen. "Oh."

He felt immediately terrible but couldn't bring himself to ask her to continue, though he so desperately wanted to see what was hidden below that shirt. "Yeah. I'll just... I'll wait outside. Hurry it up though. And don't bring so much stuff," he added as an afterthought when he realized she had been trying to stuff closed a bag filled with too much fabric. "Only take what you need." And then he felt like an even bigger dick because her whole neck turned red. He cleared his throat awkwardly and made a hasty retreat.


Juvia tried not to let that stuff bother her. She clung to the idea that he had invited her out on this job—not only that, he had gone out of his way to tell her about it, but it was hard to feel excited when she felt so stupid. She sighed and went for a pair of galaxy print tights and shimmied out of her skirt. She left the halter top just where it was but grabbed a long sleeved shift for when they got into the higher altitudes. It was still summer in Magnolia and there was no way she was walking through the streets in a damned sweater until she had to.

She emptied out her bag as Gray had suggested, and it was a good thing too, because the zipper was just about to give up the ghost. When she unzipped it, shirts and panties went flying. She huffed and sorted out what she'd need, sticking with long pants and sweaters, though that was horribly boring. How was Gray-sama supposed to fall in love with a cotton ball? She grumbled and closed the bag, knowing she wouldn't even likely need what was in there.

She paused on the way out of her room, a black lingerie set catching her eye, and stuffed that in for good measure—a girl never knew when something like that may come in handy—and walked out into the hall.

Gray was leaning back against the wall, one foot brought up so the heel of his boot rested against the interior brick, shirt open, arms crossed over his bare chest. He spoke animatedly to Levy, who clutched her elbows and nodded along, raptly listening to his words. Watching them, Juvia realized that it was actually possible to feel even more despondent. She chewed on her lip and bit back the jealous words that came to her mind, knowing that Gray was already frustrated with her.

"Finally," he said when he saw her. "It's about time. We're going to be late now."

"Sorry, Gray-sama," she mumbled.

Gray hadn't meant for the words to come out quite like that, but apparently he was just racking them up today. He wouldn't apologize, though, they were late. "Thanks for the tips, Levy," he told the small girl. "I'll make sure to freeze their nest before they can catch our scent."

Levy nodded. "I've never seen a mountain lindworm before—I've only ever read about them in books, but from what I know they're pretty poisonous."

Gray smiled, much to Juvia's chagrin, and held up his arm and tapped the black mark there—the mark of a devil slayer. Juvia knew it was perpetually cold and stretched across his body when he asked, increasing his power tenfold whenever he used magic. It was a mark made for killing demons, but regular creatures fell just as fast.

"I got this," the ice mage said confidently. "And I have Juvia here as my back up. Nothing can touch us." He slid a sideways glance at her to see if she'd frill with pride like he was expecting. She didn't. He tried to ignore the pang of guilt he felt and told himself he had done nothing wrong. The words didn't ring exactly true, but true enough. "Alright, we have to get going. We're going to miss the train."

"Have fun, guys!" Levy called.

Juvia waved to the girl and fell into step beside Gray.

"You look good. Warmer," he said awkwardly.

Juvia sighed, taking the bad with the good. "Juvia is a cotton girl."

"What?" He scratched his head, confused.

"The cold never bothered me," she said, ignoring his question. She didn't want to explain—it had slipped out without her permission.

Gray shrugged. "It's going to be pretty frigid up there—you'll thank me later."

She doubted it, but kept silent.


They missed the train, as Gray had feared, and had to wait another two hours for the next one to arrive. In the meantime, Gray suggested they share a small milkshake, just to see Juvia light up. He wasn't disappointed when she smiled for the first time in hours. Wasn't that worth the assumptions she was going to make?

As they passed the sweet treat back and forth at the train station he watched her drink, her dark lips moving and her pale throat bobbing as she sucked on the straw. There was an instant where he imagined leaning forward and laying a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth, where he wanted to flick his tongue out and taste the milkshake from her lips, but he quickly admonished those thoughts.

It wasn't that he didn't like her—he did, too much, he may just add, that was becoming more and more apparent the longer he hung around her—no, the issue was something else entirely, something he couldn't seem to run from, something he couldn't seem to ignore, no matter how hard he tried.


Port Dover was a small coastal town with a large shipping port flanking its eastern boundaries and a huge, towering mountain to the north. They arrived late. Not only did they miss their first train, but they got delayed because there was a group of thieves that robbed the train ahead of them. The two Fairy Tail wizards offered assistance in catching them, but the conductor was sure to tell them that it wasn't an issue, the king had already hired a group of mages to take care of the bandits and they were just held up because they were finishing their preliminary investigation. It was nearly nightfall before they got moving again.

The mayor of Port Dover, one Arthur Moody, met them at the train station and accepted their apologies. He was a short, rotund man with a balding cap of wispy gray hair. His exposed skull was shiny in the false light of the train station. He pushed round glasses up on his nose and peered at the two mages. "You won't want to be travelling to the mountain at night, those lindworms will tear you apart. I'll rent you a hotel and cover the cost for your troubles. One room?"

Juvia opened her mouth to respond but Gray beat her to the punch. "Two, please, if it's not a problem." A night close to her knowing that if he asked she'd give him anything he wanted was just… no.

Arthur nodded. "Of course, whatever you need. I'll make the call just as soon as we're done here. You'll be staying at the Waterfront Hotel over on Greenly Avenue. That seems to be a popular spot for mages."

Juvia ignored the way her heart hurt. "Thank you," she told him. "This was very kind of you."

"Not at all, young lady, it's the least I can do after that business with the trains. How humiliating, as if Port Dover is a place for thieves and renegades."

Gray gave him a stiff smile. "That's alright."

"It is certainly not. But, it will be, once they're caught. To get to your hotel follow this road North. You can't miss Greenly Avenue. It's a left from there."

"Thanks," Gray replied. "Come on, Juvia, I want to get an early start tomorrow."

Juvia waved to Mr. Moody and fell into step beside Gray. "Do you think the thieves are still in the area?"

"Baldy over there must," Gray replied. "And it makes sense. Where else would they go? This is the only town for miles, and it has access to the ocean. It's likely that they'll try to take their stash and cross to the other continent, sell whatever they stole over there so we can't trace it."

Juvia kept a sharper eye on their surroundings.


The Waterfront Hotel was a large, pale brick building with a flower garden out front and a small fountain. It was nice—not over the top but clean, crisp and new-looking. Port Dover was a town that cared about its tourism; the evidence was in every corner, down to the weed-less cobblestone, the graffiti-less streets, the emptied garbage cans.

Gray went first up the walk, grabbing the door to the hotel and pulling it wide for Juvia. She skirted in past him and took in the building. Stretching marble floors, suited bellhops, and bronze elevators that dinged non-stop. The place was packed for mid-week in the middle of summer.

A bellhop ambled forward. "Sir, madam. You're the mages from Fairy Tail?"

"Yes," Juvia agreed.

"Allow me to take your bags to your room while you check in." He held out his hand patiently while they handed over their possessions.

"Thanks," Gray called.

At the front desk, a man wearing a gray suit and red tie checked them in and gave them key cards with their room numbers stamped on front, telling them, "The twenty second floor."

Juvia walked shoulder-to-shoulder to the elevators with Gray and pretended that they weren't working. Her fingers itched to slip into the crook of his arm, but she didn't dare, not yet brave enough for that.

"It's a nice hotel, isn't it, Gray-sama?"

"Hm?" he asked, distracted. "Yeah."

Juvia grinned. "Maybe you and I can stay for a little when we're done with this job."

He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no, either. The elevator arrived, dinging loudly. The doors opened with a whoosh. The water mage stepped in beside Gray, a wide smile on her face, and prepared for the ride. The machine's doors closed, then they soared skywards so fast that Juvia's stomach was left behind. When it stopped her legs felt heavy. She shook them out and stepped into their hallway as soon as the doors opened and turned to see Gray doing the same.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with me tonight, Gray-sama?" she tried, not quite ready to let him slip away.

There was a moment where Gray hesitated. Juvia's heart hammered and she listened fixedly for his word of agreement.

And then he shook his head and her heart plummeted. "Are you sure? We could get room service to bring up some champagne and—"

"We're on a job, Juvia. We can't go drinking and staying up all night just because we can," Gray said. "You know that. Get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

Juvia sighed. He was right, of course, but that didn't mean she wasn't disappointed.

Her room was three doors down from Gray's. She watched him disappear into his before she did the same, wanting another moment to see the broadness of his shoulders and the hardness of his jaw, to enjoy looking at the man who didn't want her back. And then he was gone. He didn't even spare her a second glance.

She opened the door with more force then necessary and slammed it closed at her back. Inside, the room was large—the mayor hadn't spared any expense. She had a queen sized bed, a huge shower, a view of the ocean and, when she opened the fridge, a stocked mini-bar, but she couldn't find it within herself to enjoy the luxury.

Her bag was there waiting for her on the bed. She pulled out a pair of comfortable shorts and a tank top and got ready for bed.

She was just pulling her hair into a high ponytail when a knock sounded on the door. Her heart leapt into her throat, thinking immediately that it was Gray. She dismissed the idea a heartbeat later; the universe never provided quite like that.

But… if it wasn't Gray-sama… who else could it be?

Has to be.

She tore open the door and wasn't disappointed. Gray stood there dressed in dark pants, the waist band slung low around his hips so she could see the dipping V of his body, and no shirt. His ever-present cross hung between his pectorals, flashing silver every time he breathed. She licked her lips excitedly, hectic colour rising in her cheeks. "Gray-sama." His name came out as a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried for casual indifference. "I thought you didn't want to hang out with Juvia tonight?"

Gray blew out a breath, rattled. He could nearly see through that shirt she wore. "I – I didn't…"

Juvia caught him looking at her and tried for sultry vixen, leaning against the wall and giving him her best 'take my clothes off' expression she could muster.

If discomfort was what she was going for, she hit the nail directly on the head. Gray sweated and stammered and clutched something tightly in his hand. Her eyes dropped to where he held a familiar looking white pouch. Her pouch of creams and makeup and other ah… lady things, to be exact.

"I think this is yours," Gray said when he realized she had noticed and brandished the bag clumsily. He held it loosely between his thumb and forefinger and Juvia knew he had looked inside, which was mortifying enough, but topped with how silly she now felt… she was near tears.

She snatched it from his hand, her happiness rapidly deflating. "This is why you came over?"

"It must have fallen out of your bag, I thought you'd want it back," Gray said, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

"That's it?"

This felt like a trap. "Yes?"

Juvia sighed. "Goodnight, Gray."

He noted the absence of 'sama' and was at first relieved. And then realized the trouble it spelled for him. It had most certainly been a trap. "Wait, Juvia—"

But she was already closing the door. "I can't even look at you right now."

Oh yes. It was the trap to end all traps. The biggest trap a trapper could use to trap unsuspecting men. And he had fallen directly into the pit, though for the life of him he couldn't see why. It was only a dumb makeup bag.

Gray stopped the door with his hand. "Wait, Juvia, if you're embarrassed about—" Gods, shut up. But he kept going. "—about the girl stuff, I know all about it. Ur was my teacher for a long time and—"

She groaned and tried to close the door harder. "Just shush. That has nothing to do with this!" Nothing much, anyway.

Then he was lost. "What did I do?" He thought he was a pretty smart guy, but right now he felt dumb as a cattail.

Juvia snorted, anger rising, and shot a short, cold stream of water from her palm. It hit him square in the chest and pushed him back enough that she could close the door on his wild stream of curses. She locked the deadbolt and leaned against the door, hearing Gray sputter then stomp off down the hall, still swearing.

The first tear fell in correspondence with a drop of rain outside. She pushed away the unwelcomed wetness and clomped to the bed where she lay down but couldn't even think about sleep. Not only that, she was so upset her body was trying to lose its solidness. She felt like more water than girl. She sniffled.

The door sounded again.

Juvia stiffened and thought to ignore it, but knuckles rapped more sharply against the hard wood and she ground her teeth together, suddenly furious. If Gray wanted to come back and fight, she'd tell him exactly how she felt, how long she'd waited and how frustrated she was with him. She still loved him and it was because of that love she would be willing to give him a chance to choose if he wanted to walk away from her forever or if he wanted to get serious. Whatever his answer was, she'd respect it. It was a simple thing, yes or no. Either way, she'd be free.

She stalked to the door and ripped it open. "Get in here Gray, you and I need to ta—" her words petered off.

He leaned against her door casually, mouth tipped into a slightly feral grin, blue eyes snapping over her body so quickly she fought the urge to cover her breasts. There was no doubt what was on his mind as he took her in. Filthy, raucous things. Things that had her blood pumping and her breath quickening and he hadn't even said hello.

"Sting…"

"Am I interrupting something?" He dropped his hand into the pocket of his pants and crossed his one foot behind the other.

Juvia squirmed, loving the way he could just seem to lounge anywhere, looking casually sexy and unbearably hot. "Interrupting?" She was slow on the upkeep, still trying to discern what he was doing there.

"Yeah, where's your too-cool-for-school icicle boy?" His fangs flashed.

Reality came crashing back. "He's not here."

If Sting noticed the change in her demeanor, he didn't let on, the grin was perpetually glued to his lips. "Mmhm. Is he going to be here?"

Juvia squirmed, swiped away a stray tear and shook her head. "N—no."

He nodded and stood up straight. "Turned you down again, huh?"

"Shut up, dick." He was hot, sure, but he was also an ass. She had no fear of telling him so. It wasn't Sting that she loved—well, she supposed she loved parts of him. His smile, his eyes, his hands, which were grabbing her shoulders and promptly bullying her into the room. He closed and locked the deadbolt with a sure flick of his wrist and turned back to her, all teeth and hot fingers.

"You know what I think?" His hands were on her waist dipping into the waist band of her shorts.

She didn't, obviously. She licked her lips nervously. "What?"

"I think he's an idiot, but that's okay, because he can keep fucking up. That just means more of you for me."

He crept closer, touch drawing fire from her body. Juvia took a step backwards, excitement starting slow and low in her belly. The anger and ache were gradually fading. This is what Sting was good for, forgetting, and wanting, and fun. There was no pain when they were together. It was easy to be with him. She wanted him, he wanted her back and neither one of them expected anything like love. It worked for them both.

She bumped against the wall at her back. Sting came in close and took her hair out of its ponytail then dropped the tie somewhere on the ground. "I like you better with your hair down." His voice sent chills over her skin. She shimmied against him, a small purr escaping her lips. He pressed his nose against her neck and breathed deeply, taking in her scent, her arousal and the faint traces of hurt that still clung to her. "You smell good."

Juvia allowed herself to close her eyes and touch him, skimming her hand over the flesh at his waist. "You didn't tell me what you were doing here."

"And if I said I came just to see you?" She felt him smile against her throat and knew he lied.

"That's crap."

He nipped her. "You're right, finding you here was just a happy coincidence. We got a job request to catch some thieves that robbed a train earlier." He ran his tongue over her throat from the junction at her shoulder all the way up to the hollow under her ear. Juvia resisted the urge to melt, though she did sway into him and felt he was hard already.

It was hard to focus. "It was Sabretooth that got that request?"

"Mmhmm." He brushed over the peaks of her breasts with his thumbs and smiled when her nipples hardened through the thin material of her tank top.

Juvia caught her breath and clutched his biceps. They were rock hard and solid under her hands. She loved the way he felt. "Then what are you doing here? The master of Sabretooth shouldn't be going out on low-level jobs like this."

He squeezed her harder until she gasped and rocked her hips into his. "Performance reviews," he said simply. "Part of being master."

The ache in her heart was all but buried. "I think Juvia likes that you're master," she said.

He kissed her neck, using his tongue to tease out a gasp. "Yeah?' He abandoned her breasts and groped her ass.

"Yes." Her mind whirled.

"Would you do as I say, Juvia?"

"Yes." Sometimes, anyway.

"Then master says get your fucking clothes off."

Juvia peeped when he smacked her ass playfully and rushed to obey, the place between her legs well and truly aching now. Sting watched her undress, eyes clinging to her figure unabashedly. She tried to wrap her arm around her breasts when she noticed, but he pushed her hand aside.

"Don't cover up."

"But—"

He wasn't interested in listening to the rest. He cut her words off with a frenzied kiss, drinking her down and enjoying every moment of it. When she stopped trying to talk, he slid his mouth away from hers and kissed down her neck again. Juvia's cool hands found the button of his pants. She tugged at his belt expertly having done so many times before, and mewled happily when it came undone. She slid down the wall out of his grasp and took him into her mouth, loving the way he moaned, fisted his hands in her hair and used her just as much as she used him. She worked him with her tongue until he grunted and was just about to orgasm then pulled away.

"You're a tease," he panted.

Juvia smiled. "I know."

Sting growled, bent down and lifted her bodily from the ground by her elbow. When she was at least semi-erect, he elevated her the rest of the way by the hips and bullied his way between her legs so she had to wrap them around his body tightly. He could feel she was hot and ready for him. "Lucky for you, I like that."

"Do you think Gray-sama will be mad if he finds out we're doing this?" Juvia asked suddenly.

Sting grinned. "If that means I get you a little longer, I fucking hope so." He wrapped an arm tightly around her waist and slid inside. Juvia gasped his name in just the way he liked and pulled frantically at his hair. He pushed her hard against the wall and helped her forget her hurt.


…..

…..

OMG.

This fucking story is fluffy. What the hell, me? Just… what the hell?

Maybe I hate it. It's going up anyway, though, because… It represented a turning point in my writing. Hallelujah.