Hello boys and girls. I'd like to tell a story.

It's been a while since I've written anything, mostly because I haven't been motivated to do write. But a friend of mine convinced me to break out the old alphabet trampoline and bang out seven short stories for Gruvia Week 2021. So please enjoy these one shots.

Chapter 1: Beguile

"You would be perfect for my advertisement."

Juvia just stares in disbelief. "J-J-J-Juvia would…" She squeaks as her face flushes.

The man who said this to her had come to Fairy Tail to ask them if they would like one of their mages to work for him before immediately zeroing in on Juvia, who was sitting at the bar, drinking a smoothie and talking to Mirajane. Ignoring everyone and everything else, he bounds up to her and grabs her hand.

Mira stops what she is doing and looks at the person talked to Juvia. "Oh, Leiland," she exclaims.

Leiland turns to Mira. "Oh my, Mira. You look radiant as always."

The hostess knows when she is being flattered unduly and titters politely.

Juvia, getting nervous about some guy other than Gray Fullbuster giving her this kind of attention, starts to steam. "Mira-san, who is this guy?"

"Oh, this is Leiland St. Vincent," the barmaid explains. "He is one of the main financiers for Sorcerer's Weekly. He makes advertisements that are placed inside the magazine."

"And I have the perfect vision for my next advertisement," he grins, completely in his own world. "We are going to be advertising a new perfume and I just need the perfect mix of beauty and innocence. And you are it."

has shut down again. This wasn't something she wanted to hear from anyone but Gray. Will he be one of Gray-sama's love rivals. Her heart can't take this.

Leiland pulls out a bottle that is brandy-colored, attached to a pump. He grabs Juvia's wrist and sprays a miniscule amount. "Smell this."

Juvia is still in a haze but Mira grabs her wrist and sniffs it herself. There is a mix of sandalwood, lemon, and something else she can't identify. "What a unique scent," she obliges, already practiced in the ways of playing the game. It's not even a compliment, just a statement of fact. The Water Mage, however, is still rebooting. This man's lack of a social bubble is starting to make her nervous.

"You are going to be the face of this new fragrance. It's called Beguile and my tagline is going to be 'They won't keep their hands off you.'" Leiland says, not even waiting for the response. "All I need from you is to be in Crocus tomorrow and I will take care of everything." And he leaves without even confirming that Juvia agreed or not to his offer.

The azurette finds her bearings and comes back into her body. "Wait. Juvia didn't …" she gasps. "He's gone."

"Yeah, Leiland isn't someone who marches to the beat of others' drums. He's a tour-de-force." Mira gets Juvia a drink as she says this. "I've worked with him during my modeling days and he can really get in the zone and ignore everything else."

The white-haired woman watches as Juvia stirs her drink with her straw. "Juvia doesn't really want to do this. She doesn't want to give Gray-sama the impression that she is looking for other men's attention."

Mira smiles demurely. From what she's been watching, Gray has been dancing around his feelings for Juvia lately. He's like almost at the finish line but isn't willing to cross it. "You don't have to do it for Gray's sake," Mira reminds her. "You are your own person. If you don't want to do this for yourself then you don't have to do it. But it's always good to get out of your comfort zone."

Juvia sighs heavily. She's never been the kind of woman who's comfortable in the spotlight. Perhaps it was due to her rain curse and how no one wanted her around growing up but being the center of attention is downright terrifying. Even in the Grand Magic Games, putting herself on display for everyone to see was not something she relished doing. But if it could help her win Gray's affections, the Water Mage would do whatever it took.

"But maybe, just maybe, Gray would like to see this new daring side of you," Mira says offhandedly, cleaning a glass.

Those were the magic words because Juvia clenches her fist in victory. "Then Juvia will do it."

Mira smiles placidly, wondering if she set something bad in motion. She should make sure Juvia's safe.

Crocus is just as crowded as the last time she was here. She wasn't told that she had to wear something different so she came in her usual dress and Cossack Hat. And, point of order, she didn't even know where she was supposed to go. Leiland had only told her to be in Crocus, nothing about where specifically. Perhaps she should ask around to see if she can find out where this was supposed to be. Walking around, the Water Mage passes by the huge arena that served as the site for the Grand Magic Games.

"You are here, finally" An enthusiastic voice exclaims. Juvia turns to see Leiland St. Vincent holding his hands up in an ecstatic cry. "We are going to get set up in the stadium." He grabs her hand and practically drags her inside.

Juvia finds herself in a low-cut dress that wouldn't look out of place in Lucy's closet, a blue and white number with spaghetti straps. She feels a bit uncomfortable in this dress. More cleavage can be seen by others than she is normally comfortable with. The Water Mage wonders if she can back out of this now. Standing in front of a white sheet with lights pointed at it, she is starting to feel self-conscious about what she is doing.

"Juvia is no model," she mutters to herself.

"Ack, you look fantastic." Leiland's gleeful voice rings throughout the stadium. "I knew I chose right when I chose you. Oh, the male models I have won't be able to keep their eyes off of you."

"Juvia only wants Gray-sama's eyes on her," she mutters to herself. As she reconsiders staying here and doing this photoshoot, she feels a shiver go up her spine.

"Juvia," a familiar voice calls out to her. The Water Mage would know that voice anywhere.

"Gray-sama?"

Juvia doesn't even consider why Gray is here with three other guys. Just the fact that he's here makes butterflies roil around in her stomach.

"What are you doing here?" The question the Ice Mage poses to her makes Juvia feel guilty. She normally tells him everything, even when it's inconsequential. And yet, the azurette didn't say anything about this. "Mira said that there was an easy job here and that I should take it," he huffs, not even waiting for a reply. "She didn't say anything about you being here."

Juvia's heart breaks at that statement. "If Gray-sama wants Juvia to leave, she can."

The Ice Mage misses the implication of his own statement. "Nah, that's fine. It's good that I can do a job with a … friend." Because Juvia was in her own world of embarrassment, she missed the intonation of the word 'friend' on Gray's lips, like it burned him to say that.

"Great, great," Leiland says, clapping his hands. "Now, miss, you are going to be over here." He points over to a stool and motions Juvia to sit." Juvia wordlessly moves towards him and sits.

While he watches Juvia sit on the stool, Gray's ears pick up on the conversation the other three models are having.

"Leiland always has an eye for beauty but this time, he's outdone himself," one says.

"Look at her. She's got the whole innocent look but no way she isn't taking guys to bed every night," another snipes.

Gray scowls and feels like saying something, except not with his words but with cold justice. However, he doesn't want to immediately cause a scene, not unless it's the last resort.

"And that dress," the third one continues, not paying attention to Gray at all. "It really 'accentuates' her chest. It makes me want to ruin her for other men."

"Think about the sounds that she would make when you are doing the horizontal tango."

The three guys keep talking about Juvia in very crude terms and it makes Gray angrier. They only see her as an object of desire. They don't know the half of her. They don't know how strong she is, how devoted she is to their friends, how she is willing to do anything she can to keep them safe, even if it means sacrificing her life. Juvia Lockser is a wonderful person.

Gray was so into his angry ruminations that he completely missed the instructions Leiland was giving them. He realizes that two of the male models were on either side of Juvia, who is standing with open arms, nearly touching but not exactly touching her fingertips. And the other model was at her feet, nearly touching but not exactly.

The Ice Mage, who had some time during his mental rant lost his shirt, stomps past these guys and goes behind Juvia, wraps an arm around her chest, both protectively and menacingly. The azurette squeaks, feeling his bare chest on her back. She is fighting the urge to pass out and is not processing what is happening.

"What are you doing," one of the models angrily whispers. "You are suppose to be behind me. Didn't you listen to what Leiland said?"

"Shut up," he spits venomously.

The other models look at him, as if they are trying to kill him with their looks.

The flash of a camera interrupts their staring contest.

"This is even better than my original vision." A weird dramatic tear slinks down his face. "Keep up the angry looks. Give me fierce, give me…." He growls theatrically.

It's really easy for Gray to keep up the look as he is genuinely angry at these guys thinking about Juvia as a piece of meat. The camera flash doesn't bother him as much as he thought it would. And, secretly to himself, he's thinking that this is nice, holding Juvia like this.

One day, once he finally has himself sorted, he would like to hold Juvia like this for real.

"And that's a wrap, people," Leiland trills. "Thank you for your hard work. I will be sending your payments tomorrow."

Gray doesn't even wait for the man to say anything else. He snatches Juvia's hand and firmly takes her away from those vile men.

The Water Mage's brain has finally come back on line when they are halfway to the train station to head back to Magnolia. "Gray-sama, what is…"

He lets go of Juvia's hand. "Sorry." The shirtless man scratches the back of his head as he apologies. "It's just those men were saying disgusting things about you."

"But Gray-sama should know by now that Juvia only has eyes on him," she breathes. "No other guy matters that much to her."

It's the simplest affirmation but it does the trick. He smiles bashfully, scratching his cheek with a finger. Yeah, he knows that she loves him. And soon, the day is coming when he can say those words back.

"Let's go home," he says. "We can grab a bite to eat on the way. My treat."

The next issue of Sorcerer's Weekly comes out and there is a pullout advertisement in the middle. On it is a picture of shirtless Gray holding Juvia to his chest, arm around her breasts while surrounded by the three other models. She is the picture of dispassionate interest (even though that's not what was going on internally). At the bottom third, there is the bottle of the fragrance they are advertising. The lettering around it says

BEGUILE

Make your man fight for you.

And that's the end of this chapter.

I don't know why but the word beguile made me think of those perfume brands that have one word names like this and it's basically trying to prove sex sells. So that's what I went with in this chapter.

Anyways, like it? Hate it? Have no opinion one way or the other? Leave me a review. I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time,

A. Angel