So I was thinking... it sure is convenient that of all those women Gildartz slept with, Cana's mom happened to be the only one he loved. That, or he's a polite liar. Either way, the mere fact that there were at least 14 women he could have had a child with has made me lose all respect for him.

Yuki Kusanagi - Because I have to say the story out loud. I don't like people both reading what I write and knowing me. I don't show my own family what I write, even when it's normal stuff. I don't want total strangers being able to hear my story and see my face!

Beta5200 - Don't worry. Jellal is the only death in this story, though Natsu does see some abuse.

Angel-san had claimed that Erza's armor did not weigh nearly as much it's Erza herself. In addition to pointing out that Erza would be both warmer and softer, Gray found this hard to believe. Sure, she probably had a few extra pounds in the front, and muscle is pretty dense, but Erza couldn't weigh that much. Or maybe Angel-san just hadn't had to help carry the giant building sized suit of armor that had nearly torn a hole through his floor.

Angel-san had also told him that it was pointless to argue with Erza, no matter how much logic favored you. Gray, growing defensive, as Angel-san had only known Erza for several months whereas he had known her for years, had ignored this, and had received a bloody nose when his opinions on moving all of Erza's armor when she was still paying to rent out her dorm became too colorful.

Damn Angel-san.

It was his fault Erza had insisted on moving in with Gray anyway. Well, somewhat. Angel-san had sworn up and down that he hadn't broken his promise to only leave the guild to follow her on jobs, but Erza had maintained the suspicion that he was sneaking into her room. He just had to go and admit that he found her attractive, didn't he? Why did Erza even ask? Because Lucy put the idea of wedding bells in her head?

So now Gray had wasted a whole day at his life lugging Erza's armor from the dorm room that was totally still hers to his apartment where it would take up what little free space there was, for no reason that he could think of other than that so she could have it there with her. All this, so he could be forced to confirm the whereabouts of a ghost while she showered and changed clothes. But hey, it got him out of having to visit Natsu.

"I bet she has half a dozen ghost admirers." Gray complained to the floating set of armor beside him. "Dead people have probably been watching her for years and she only just started caring because you came along."

For Jellal, no part of that idea was pleasant.

Actually, Jellal thought he might, maybe, possibly, finally, be starting to feel something: exhaustion. Well, probably not, but he had done nothing for the past seven hours but help transport large amounts of metal that must've inhibited Erza's movements quite a bit without ever protecting her vital points.

He decided not to comment on that. Neither fashion nor armor were his thing. Erza must have known what she was doing. Besides, if she did realize how silly it was to wear armor that only partially covered her waist, cleavage, and… that was it, then she might stop wearing armor that only partially covered her waist and cleavage.

No, wait! He was just playing guardian angel, and certainly not trying to start a relationship in spite of being dead, probably. Guardian angels shouldn't have dirty thoughts.

…

Was that a stainless steel bikini?

While Erza washed up from a long day of lugging armor, and prepared for a long day of lugging it back since it turned out Gray didn't have enough room, Gray kept an eye on her new boyfriend/guardian angel/dead stalker, who had been invited to come in for his help with the move. Having put Erza's glove idea into practice so as to actually confirm his whereabouts, Gray decided he was actually, somehow, less bored than Angel-san. At least, he assumed Angel-san was bored. One glove was pressed in a shape indicating his head rested in that hand, the other silently tapped on kitchen table the two men sat at.

"So… you're a ghost… huh?" No response, aside from the tapping to have stopped. Was that insensitive or- "Oh, you need paper and pencil, don't you?"

Still no response, but when Gray handed him the means to communicate Angel-san wrote: Yes, I am a ghost. That was an impressive deduction.

"Okay, it was a dumb question. I'm sorry."

For what?

Awkward. "For, um, reminding you that you're dead."

Oh, yes. It's so easy to forget. Was there anything else you'd like to point out?

"Are you normally this sarcastic, because if you are I don't know how Erza enjoyed that date."

Jellal grinned at that, and confessed I'm just a little sore about being accused of spying on her.

"Well, once Erza gets an idea in her head…" Gray chuckled. "Don't fret over it. She's probably just worried you might see her secret embarrassing tattoo."

She has a tattoo?

"I don't know. It's a secret." Oh. Jellal was pretty sure he was blushing, but it wasn't like he could feel his cheeks heat up. "Anyway, aside from the armor this isn't so bad. Maybe she'll keep Juvia from standing outside my window half the night."

Juvia…? The rain girl? Gray nodded. What's wrong with her? Aside from standing outside somebody's window half the night, of course. I've seen you two get along.

"Sort of. She's fun, sometimes, but she can be a little… intense. She has a handmade doll of me, did you know that? And yesterday she put Natsu in the hospital. He'll be out in a few days but-"

Gray paused to read what Angel-san had just scribbled down. Sounds like she's worth at least three dates.

"You heard that, huh? That comment was actually why."

Oops. That was priceless. Then again, Natsu had argued his arrest, which had led to a certain negligible mistake, so maybe… he hoped the pink haired demon got well soon?

"I'd rather she accuse me of spying on her in the tub then have her spy on me." Gray sighed.

Is there something extra she can see that way? Gray read the message several times before looking down at his boxers, or lack of, and blushed furiously.

"I-I'll be right back." Well, there was one downside to roommates.

When Gray returned he found the message: You must pick up a lot of weird fans that way.

"Yeah. Probably." Gray sighed again. Would Juvia stop trying to get him in her pants if he kept his own on?

Sounds like Erza's almost done. Odd change of topic, but yes, the sound of the shower running had stopped.

"Hey… do you mind me asking? I mean, as a friend of hers it does bug me… What's your name?"

Jellal hesitated. Should he answer that? He didn't know how well Gray was at keeping secrets… but if he gave it away, well, Erza needed to know sooner or later. Taking a deep, pointless breath, he wrote his name out.

"No way."

Really!

"It would have been in the news." Gray argued.

It wasn't a formal execution. They staged an accident because my trial was dragging on. Look, you can't tell her it's me, but if you don't believe me, I'm the one who started calling her 'Scarlett,' for her hair color. She didn't have a last name before that. Ask her. She never talked about me before the tower fiasco, right? The only other person who would know is Wally, he was there at the time. He whined to me a lot about how simple I made the decision to name her seem, but he gave up on the topic before we met the other three. Just ask her. She'll tell you the same thing.

"Why can't I tell her?"

The kitchen door opened and Erza came in, dressed in pink rabbit pajamas with her hair wrapped in a towel. Jellal tore the page he'd been writing on in two and balled the second half up in his hand.

If Erza noticed, then Gray spoke before she could comment on Angel-san's behavior. "Erza, we were saying how weird it is your last name is your color. Is it something that runs in your family, or did you-"

"No." Erza cut him off, her expression a mix of annoyance, pain, and the patience that could only come from repeating 'He doesn't know any better. He doesn't know any better' over and over in one's head. "I didn't really know my family. When I told Jellal I didn't have the last name he decided to call me 'Scarlett.'"

"Ah. I bet he got a lot of grief from all your other friends for that."

Erza shrugged. "Just Wally. I don't think the others knew that story."

In the ensuing silence, Erza followed Gray's gaze to a pair of white gloves.

"Angel-san, you didn't get to meet Jellal again after everything that happened in the tower, did you?" Erza asked. "You know the two of us were good friends right? I ran into him before he was arrested. Can I tell you about it?"

Gray cringed, but Jellal just got up and waved to him before following Erza out of the room.

STA: And Gray's take on the situation just got 12 times more awkward.

I'd like to apologize twice over to Juvia/Gray fans for this. I support the pairing, as Gray does seem to be showing some sort of interest in her and she's somewhat toned it down a bit (except for that butt wiggling scene) but for the story to work the way I want that conversation had to take place. Also, the next chapter was going to be chocked full of Juvia antics but I just changed it after finishing this to something much less funny and ending with a much more (hopefully) heart breaking scene. Which was weird for me, since I've had all the same general scenes planned out since chapter 3.

But enough on that. Please review!