Summary: Sheer unadulterated Zervis fluff….

Pairings: Zeref/Mavis, some implied brotherly Zeref/Natsu, and implied Natsu/Mavis friendship.

YouTube Prompt: Fairy Tail tribute to 'Won't Let Go' by Black Stone Cherry.

It was raining.

It was really raining. Pelting hard against the marbled roof of the gazebo they were hiding under like bullets as it turned the grounds around them into a sea of mud and rain water. Zeref sighed as he could see plain as day that there was going to be no let up from this torrential rain.

And he had a trade meeting this afternoon to get to as well.

"Oh don't be so boring!" Mavis chided him gleefully when he voiced this complaint. She had kicked off her shoes (to be honest it was a surprise that she had kept them on for this long) and unbuttoned the velvet overcoat of her gown so she was down to her fragile, white, silk under-gown. "C'mon Zeref!" she goaded childishly. "It's raining!"

And then she dashed out into the rain. mud splashed all over her dress as she jumped into puddles and twirled round and round along the grass, her arms up in the hair, and her long, long, fair hair spinning around her.

She looked like the fairy he always thought she was.

"ZEREF!" she shouted as she waved madly in the air. "IT FEELS GREAT!" she twirled round again and laughed madly. "COME OUT, YOU SCAREDY CAT! DON'T BE SUCH A SPOIL SPOT!"

He drinks in the sight of her, dress caked in mud and sticking to her skin, her blonde hair darkening under the dampness, and her jade eyes twinkling madly and brightly….

He steps out into the rain.

Mavis greets him with her biggest, happiest, grin as she holds out her hands to him. He smiled back softly and engulfed her little, dinky, hands with his normal-sized ones. "Come dance with me!" Mavis ordered breathlessly.

"If that is what you wish."

"It is."

He pulled her close, hands gripping her waist, as he then swayed awkwardly from side to side. He wasn't much of a dancer, just because his palace held lots of balls for the rich didn't mean he actually participated in them.

Mavis threw her head back and laughed. "No silly!" she scolded him lightly. "Like this!"

Zeref grinned as he allowed her to lead him into a childish, foolish, giddy, prancing dance that involved jumps and twirls and Mavis laughing. He must have looked even more stupid than he had before but his heart was racing, his face was flushed, and his breath was caught in his lungs as he was having the best time of his life.

And then Mavis suddenly threw her arms round his neck, and after spinning her round, Zeref pulled her in close enough to feel her warm breath tickle his chin. All it took was for him to duck down and for her to lean back in his arms, and soon enough they went from dancing in the rain to kissing in the rain.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

"Achoo!"

The consequences of dancing in the rain had hit them almost immediately. Zeref had woken up with a horrible feeling that he had been clubbed over the head repeatedly by Natsu, his head was aching so much, and his whole body felt like lead, and he couldn't breathe at all. Mavis, on the other hand, was all shivery, her nose bright pink, and her face flushed as she kept sneezing.

"Just a cold, Your Majesties," the Royal Physician reassured him, "all you need is plenty of fluids and rest and you'll be right as rain."

Zeref groaned at the mention of rain and fortunately the Royal Physician took it as his dismissal since he bowed and quietly left the room. The door closed firmly but quietly with a light click. "Never again," Zeref moaned into his pillow, "never again am I dancing in the rain."

"But it was fun," Mavis murmured as she snuggled into him, "and I'd do it again if the con – achoo! –sequences mean cuddling in bed all day with you."

If Zeref had the energy he might have smirked or blushed at that (depending on how embarrassed or smug he could bring himself to feel) but instead he just let out another groan and buried his face into Mavis' soft hair. "Love you," he managed to breathe out despite the fact his blocked nose made it difficult to do anything properly.

"Love you too," Mavis murmured.

And with that they drifted off into a sweet, comforting, doze…

CRASH!

Zeref and Mavis immediately shot up (and regretted it as their worlds spun round them) as their bedroom window shattered across their Persian rug.

"ZEREF!" Natsu bellowed. "I heard you and Mavis got sick, so I have come to nurse you back to health!"

If it was possible Zeref and Mavis turned even paler upon hearing Natsu's declaration as both of their eyes bugged out in horror.

Oh dear God no!