"Water…cane!" A tired Juvia cried as she moved her arm in a circular motion to whip.
Using his Lightning Body, Laxus dodged her attack with little effort. Within a blink of an eye, he was behind her.
"You shouldn't let your guard down." He said with a sly smirk.
She giggled, "Who said my guard was down?"
Plop!
When he turned around, his eyes almost popped in surprise. There was an army about fifty Juvias surrounding him.
"Water…clones!"
Heh, not bad, he thought before getting into a stance.
"Multiple water slicer!" The Juvias exclaimed as they aimed at him.
"Nice try!" He said as he jumped mid-air.
Suddenly, ten Juvias formed beneath him. They all shouted in unison, "Water…cane!"
"Ha! I got you now!" The real Juvia pointed. Her hands raised as she attempted to control her clones.
"Heh." He flashed a grin.
The water whips held onto his leg and attempted to drag him down. Before she could bring him down, a surge of electricity passed through his leg. It went into the water, towards the clones, and inevitably dissipating them. Juvia gasped, she had to think of something sooner before he comes after the real one. She was already running out of magic energy.
Using his rapid speed, he managed to dissipate all the clones, leaving both of them on the field. Juvia sucked in her breath, preparing to create her water shield. Before she use it, a large fist that punched through. Her eyes widened; she almost stopped breathing. Here she was, face-to-face with him. She couldn't believe the amount of power he was emitting at the moment.
With a smug expression on his face, he pulled back his fist and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
Never leaving her anxious eyes, he said, "We're finished for the day." She felt so small, not just physically either. He certainly lived up to his status. Nodding, she turned towards her picnic basket that was lying 50 ft away.
Laxus' idea of a date was training. She didn't like it, but she understood. After all, he was a man that valued strength. She supposed that he'd want his date to be strong too, or he wasn't the romantic type. Probably both.
She remembered her first attempt at making a simple picnic date for both of them-a disaster. But due to her idyllic views on romance, a date is still a date and should be treated as such so she persisted. Even if she didn't like him romantically, she could at least try to make it a bit romantic.
On her powder blue blanket, she took out the food and plates from the picnic basket and began to set everything.
Laxus stood there in slight awe. He hadn't expected a picnic; he wanted to train her for their future S-Class missions. He didn't expect an actual date, no less a rather romantic-looking one. Maybe it was just him and this was actually all innocent. Yet, knowing her reputation for being dramatic and a tad bit delusional, this could pose a future issue.
Let's hope she doesn't fall in love with me, he thought with a shudder. He didn't want to be Gray 2.0.
Juvia looked up to face him, a sign that she was finished, and flashed him a tired smile as she motioned towards the food with her hand, "Please, come sit and eat." A bit reluctant, Laxus sat across from her and grabbed a sandwich set on his plate.
She watched with intent as he took a bite with hesitance. He kept his look of indifference like an impenetrable mask. She smiled at him. Even while he's eating, he's still acting tough.
"You must not be used to picnics," she observed.
"Huh,' he asked, a bit caught off guard, "what are you talking about?"
"Judging from your actions, I'm assuming this is the first time you have ever been to a picnic. Or you're afraid of me. Either way, you're being extra cautious," she replied. He didn't know if it was her tiredness or his actions that made her speaking voice tinged with melancholy.
Before he could answer, she continued, "It's okay, I understand. You were not expecting me, me neither."
He stopped eating and finally asked, "What is your deal with Gray anyway? Why do you always follow him around?"
She flashed a wistful smile as she thought of the man in question, "He took away my rain." Thinking about it, tears welled up in her eyes.
Laxus' expression went from confusion to nervousness as she started to cry. Fuck, he thought, I hate it when women cry. He closes his eyes, muttering, "Er…what do I do?"
Juvia sobbed even harder to the point that clouds became a dark overcast and it rained. Once she took notice of this, she looked up at her confused partner and began to sob even harder. "J-J-Juvia's sorry. Juvia didn't mean to bring the rain again!" She continued to cry harder in third person.
She internally slapped herself for speaking in third person. It was a habit she has been trying to break since the Grand Magic Games as part of her Juvia 2.0 look. Though, she found it hard to break. Whenever she got upset, she would do it. She was beginning to make Laxus' head spin as he noticed it began to rain harder. The ocean's currents became irregular at every passing moment. Her power, he remarked to himself.
"Uh…don't cry. Please, don't cry!" He almost pleaded. He never knew what to do during a situation as this, especially on a date. With a deep breath, he came closer to her and gave her an awkward pat on her back. I'll kill Mira and the old geezer for this!
"Hmm…" She realized that the usual standoffish man was trying to comfort her.
All at once, the raining ceased, the sky cleared, and the ocean calmed. She sighed and shook her head, looking up at him. "Juvia—I mean, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this."
He looked at her in slight bewilderment. If this is what she can do while sad, could you imagine her enraged? "It's okay," he said in an even voice.
Her eyes went from him to their surroundings. Everything had gotten wet, from the blankets to the food. She bit her lip and blushed, "I'm sorry! I'll clean this up right away."
She leaned over and put everything away into the basket before standing upright. When she looked over at her larger partner, she realized that he too was soaking wet. She buried her face into her hands and almost jumped in shock. "I-I'm sorry you got all wet."
He shrugged, "Whatever, it's no big deal."
"Yes, it is! I ruined our date and you got wet! Come over and you can take a shower. I'll clean those for you right away." She insisted with her hands clasped together in front of her chest.
Laxus paused for a minute. She seemed harmless. But he knew that something like this would be misinterpreted as more than that if other people saw. Normally he wouldn't care, but being seen leaving her apartment would cause speculation. And his personal life was something he liked to keep away from the guild for as long as possible.
He took a deep breath, putting hands in his pockets, "Okay, fine."
"Yay!" She jumped before linking her arm with his and almost dragged him along. He was a little surprised by her sudden touchiness.
"Just don't fall in love with me." He thought he kept it to himself but she heard him.
Looking up at him, she flashed a smile. "Don't be silly! My heart belongs to only one man, Gray, and no one else." Her voice was alive and cheerful. "Now come on. I don't want you to catch a cold."
"We're here!" Juvia said, walking into her room.
Laxus stood in the doorway, almost frozen. What the hell, he thought.
Juvia's apartment seemed to be a museum dedicated to Gray. There were Gray posters and Gray pictures. There were, what seemed to Laxus, about a million Gray plushies. There were Gray pillows, Gray blankets. Gray everything. And quite frankly, for someone with a reputation as a powerful mage, it slightly scared him. Please don't fall in love with me, he damn near prayed silently.
"Laxus?" He snapped back into reality to see a confused Juvia in front of him.
"Why are you just standing there? You can come in."
"No," he said in a flat tone.
"Huh? But why, I thought you were going to bathe while I clean your clothes?"
"I…am not stepping one foot inside," he protested. In the corner of his eye, he could see more Gray memorabilia. Ones, he observed, that Juvia could make a fortune off if she sold them to the guild's store.
"B-But why?" She couldn't understand his reluctance. She felt a bit self-conscious. Was it not tidy enough? Was it smelly?
"Because as long as that ice princess stuff is here, I refuse to come in."
"Huh?" She looked around. A light switched in her head, "Oh, you mean my Gray stuff?" She giggled a bit. That was all? A bit of relief washed over her because it meant nothing was wrong with her place.
Facing him, she said, "If you wanted me to take these away, you could have just asked. I'll put them in my room."
"No, I don't want you to hide them. I want you to get rid of them. Permanently," he demanded.
Juvia felt her eye twitch in slight annoyance. "What do you mean, get rid of them? They're mine!"
"I mean, destroy them. All of it."
"W-What?" She almost cried.
"You heard me. All of it. I want them gone."
"B-But why-y-y-y?"
Laxus could sense an upcoming breakdown. After witnessing an earlier sight, he was not going to risk another. He sighed. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell her that it repulsed him or that it was plain old creepy. He needed another way.
"Eh, don't you think you're doing a bit…too much?" He asked trying to sound calm as he thought of words.
"What do you mean too much?" Her eyes were almost ready to release a flood.
"I mean, don't you think you're coming on a bit too strong with Gray? I'm sure he'd appreciate it if you toned down on the affection."
She whimpered, "R-Really?"
"I'm sure if he saw all of this stuff he would freak out more than usual, don't you think?"
"Y-Yes." She saw his point. Maybe I am coming on too strong. "What do I do now?" She asked.
"Why don't we just get rid of the stuff? It'll help you in the future."
"You think so?" Her eyes were reminiscent of a puppy.
"Absolutely. As a guy, I think this is a tad bit too much." A complete understatement, if anything.
She blinked a couple of times before cracking a warm smile, "Thank you, Laxus!" She ran up to him, giving him a hug.
Laxus, completely off guard, just stood there. He didn't know what to do.
A transformed Mirajane and Erza stood behind them in tiny salamander forms. They had been sitting there for five minutes.
"I knew learning Transformation magic would be useful one day," Erza remarked to herself.
"This is all going according to plan," Mirajane said deviously, stroking her chin.
"Wait until we tell the Master." They said in unison.
Laxus felt the presence of someone or some people. This magic energy, it feels like…a couple of nosy bastards. He became aware of Erza and Mirajane's hidden presence. I'm going to kill them, he thought.
Breaking away from the hug, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
"Now, gather all the stuff," he commanded.
"Alright, sir!" She jumped and straightened her posture, acting like a soldier.
She ran around the room, gathering almost everything Gray-like she could find and piling them in the middle of her living room. Piles upon piles of plushies, pillows, blankets, pictures, posters—were all on the floor.
He walked over to her and examined the pile before him and then looked down at her.
"Is this all?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Hmm…" He examined her face for a moment.
A faint sound came from her closet. What the hell was that? Juvia couldn't hear it, but he could. He looked back at her and then focused on the closet. It sounded like something was moving in there. He stalked towards the closet like an animal approaching a dangerous enemy.
Juvia's eyes widened, she silently prayed he wouldn't open it. Before she ended her prayer, he opened the door and out came a ton more Gray memorabilia. And to make matters worse, they all hit Laxus in the face. An unamused Laxus stood there, annoyed and ready to electrocute everything.
"I thought you said that was everything." He continued to stand there.
Juvia bit her lip. "It was everything…in the living room."
He took a deep breath, still not facing her. This is going to be a lot of work, he thought. "I…want…everything."
Juvia gulped at the thought of more Gray items getting confiscated. "Everything?" She asked almost above a whisper.
"Everything."
Within an hour, Laxus destroyed almost everything Gray-related. Electrocuted, fried, and turned into ashes. The only thing he allowed Juvia to keep was two photos: a group photo of the guild and one from a mission with Gray. That was it, and only going to be it.
After gaining permission to keep those photos, she jumped for joy, hugging him very tight while thanking him. At first, she thought that Laxus was a cruel man but then she realized that he had a nice side to him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just don't fall in love with me." He replied, his tone fell towards indifference once again.