Summary: In order to help Juvia train, Gray tries to get her angry….the problem is there is very little Juvia wouldn't forgive him for.
Pairings: Gray/Juvia, implied Juvia/Gajeel friendship, some implied Gray/Erza friendship if you squint, and implied Gray/OCs.
YouTube Prompt: Tribute to the Tartarus Arc and all of its battle scenes and angst to 'Our Solemn Hour' by Within Temptation.
"You're not even trying!"
It had been ten days since Gray and Juvia decided to not go back to Fairy Tail. Ten whole days of wandering, ten whole days of trying to work out a training regime for the pair of them, ten whole days of Juvia cooking, ten whole days of Juvia trying to snuggle up to Gray, and ten whole days where Juvia utterly ignored the point of training.
"Juvia is sorry!" Juvia cried out. Her eyes sparkling with tears which seemed to make her eyes all the more bluer and wider. "Juvia is trying!" she insisted. "But Juvia cannot bear to harm Gray-sama."
"You're supposed to hurt me," Gray rolled his eyes impatiently, "how else are you supposed to improve and get stronger if you're holding back on me."
"But….but…..but….Gray-sama is too beautiful to inflict any harm on!" Juvia burst out. Gray back away warily as he could virtually see the sparkles and love hearts jump out of her as she clutched her hands under her chin and squealed admiringly. "Juvia could not blemish such perfect skin or leave a scratch on Gray-sama's perfectly carved face. That would be a crime against humanity."
"I'm….flattered," Gray said weakly, "but Juvia you said you would help me and to help me I need you to give me your all or how else will I be able to give my all back. We need to push each other at our limits and beyond."
"Oh my!" Juvia gasped. "Gray-sama wants Juvia's all this early in the relationship! Juvia thinks she's still a little too young for marriage and babies!"
"WHERE TH HELL DID YOU GET THAT FROM?!" Gray bellowed, his cheeks bright red with embarrassment, he then pinched the bridge of his nose to fight back the oncoming migraine and sighed heavily. "Never mind. Let's think about this," he muttered, "we need you to forget you actually like me for a minute so we can fight."
"Juvia could never forget that she likes Gray-sama!" Juvia insisted passionately. "Juvia loves Gray-sama with a burning passion that out shines the sun's own flame!"
"I'm sure you do," Gray mumbled distractedly. It was times like this that Gray wished he had Erza with him. Erza was so angry and tough and strict and non-nonsensical that she would work him to death. No one could be a harder taskmaster…..apart from maybe any other Fairy Tail girl who lost her temper…..a light flickered in Gray's head. Juvia had a temper on her (as did all Fairy Tail girls, yes, even the sweet ones) and if he sets that off, Juvia was bound to forget her love for him long enough to give them a decent training session where they could actually improve their skills. "Juvia!" he clapped his hands together. "I wanted to tell you this for a very long time but never had the courage to do so….." he paused deliberately and Juvia leaned in eagerly, her eyes bright with hope, and the smallest, sweetest, smiles playing on her lips, "….I think your hats are very stupid."
Juvia slumped in disappointment but instead of bursting into a fiery rage (like Erza or Lucy would have definitely done), she smiled sadly up at him. "Juvia is sorry," she said solemnly, "from now on Juvia will no longer wear hats. Juvia only ever wants to please Gray-sama."
Damnit!
That didn't have the effect he was hoping for and now he had Juvia's hurt feelings to worry about…..later, he really wanted his damn training session so they can finally start making steps to killing END and Zeref.
"Juvia!" He burst out. "Your cooking is dreadful. Last night the meat was too salty, the vegetables had been boiled to death, and don't get me started on that poor attempt of a soup."
This was blatantly a lie. Juvia's cooking was to die for and Gray had eaten everything with relish last night but this sort of ungrateful comment was exactly the sort of thing that would have Erza reduce him to a pile of ash, Lucy to beat him bloody, Mira to threaten to cook him next, and Bisca to shove her gun in a very private place that he does not wish to discuss and demand he repeats that again, Juvia was bound to fly off the handle….
"Juvia is sorry," Juvia bowed her head, "Juvia will try even harder to please Gray-sama. Juvia will keep on practising until she can perfect all of Gray-sama's favourite meals. Juvia will not stop until Gray-sama's palate is satisfied with the very best!"
Gray almost collapsed at that. Was there nothing Gray could do that Juvia wouldn't forgive?! Best friend! He thought desperately. No girls likes it when you insult their best friend!
"I think Gajeel is an ugly brute," he said flatly, "you should spend less time with him."
This would have definitely caused on the other girls to destroy his remains but instead Juvia just hummed neutrally and fiddled with the hem of her skirt.
"Juvia is already spending less time with Gajeel-kun," she reminded him in a mild tone, "and Juvia thinks if Gray-sama gave Gajeel-kun a chance he would see beyond Gajeel-kun's unfortunate face, which isn't really that bad, and see a heart of gold."
Gray choked at that. He wasn't sure if Juvia was joking or not but he did know he utterly failed in his objective…..again. After spluttering over his smothered laughter Gray scanned round them trying to think of any other way to get Juvia angry at him. After a moment of flailing about, Gray snapped and pushed Juvia hard enough that she fell back – with a startled screech – and landed in a puddle of mud.
Gray smirked down at her. "I'm not sorry," he informed her pompously.
"That's okay," Juvia said in a dazed voice, "Juvia forgives Gray-sama anyway."
Gray face palmed at that.
He should have realised that was just a lost cause as all the other attempts had been. He could try to piss her off by taking something precious from her but knowing Juvia she would see it as him wanting a love token or something. He could do something about their sleeping arrangements to make her cross….but Juvia has already been ignoring his attempts to kick her away at night, so he doesn't know what telling her he hated to cuddle would do other than maybe make her cry and hold onto him all the more. He couldn't rely on any juvenile tactics like pulling her hair because she would only interpret it as him liking her and he couldn't go to the perverted approach to get her all fired up because….well….she would get all fired up but in the wrong way and that would just be wrong to lead her on like that….
Desperate times calls for desperate measures…..there is only one other way he could think that would make Juvia lose her temper and fight him properly.
"Juvia, there is something I have to tell you….." he took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled as Juvia perked up eagerly at that. "…I have been seeing other women behind your back."
The change had been immediate.
One moment Juvia had been smiling radiantly and then the next the air between them became frosty as her face darkened and her entire demeanour changed into something terrifyingly akin to Erza at her worst.
"What?" Juvia whispered in a sinister voice. "What did you say?!"
"I-I-I have been seeing other women," Gray stammered as he stumbled back, Juvia was suddenly the most terrifying person he had ever met, and yes, he was counting Erza in that., "b-b-behind your back," he finished with a gulp.
"Gray-sama," Juvia said in a deadly voice, a blue glow appeared in her hands, "HOW COULD YOU?!" she wailed as she suddenly flung a sharp, painful, blast of water in Gray-s direction. "JUVIA LOVED YOU!" she bellowed as she swung to punch Gray. Gray barely dodged it when she attacked with another and another and another. "JUVIA DID EVERYTHING FOR YOU!" she went in for a kick at his head which he barely ducked from and then immediately got him in the side with a water blade. "JUVIA HAS COOKED, CLEANED, AND WORKED HARD FOR GRAY-SAMA, AND THIS IS HOW GRAY-SAMA THANKS HER?!" Gray tried to fight back with an ice lance but Juvia shattered it without a second thought and before Gray could even blink he found himself stuck in a Water Lock. "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?!" Juvia screeched.
"What children?!" Gray yelped.
Juvia stood up straight, a demonic glint in her eyes, as she glowered furiously at Gray. "Juvia," she said in the iciest voice he had ever heard her use, "is going to boil you alive."
…..seven hours, forty five minutes, and fifty nine seconds later, Gray collapsed on the ground broken, bruised, bleeding, and gasping for breath. Juvia had most certainly thrown her all at him with her never-ending fury and it took five of these last seven hours to finally persuade her that Gray had been lying about the other women in order to get her to take training seriously.
It then then took another forty five minutes trying to escape Juvia's tears over how cruel he had been as well as trying to avoid her slaps.
Juvia collapsed beside him and sighed. "….Juvia will forgive," she said quietly with a small smile, "just this once," her smile faded, "but if Juvia sees you with another woman after this then Juvia will not even give it a second thought before she rips your balls off and gives them to Happy as his new cat toy."
At this Gray blanched and then trembled at the thought. After today he totally believed her and now he was utterly terrified of the thought of making her mad. He was never going to do that again, next time Juvia was holding back on a training session he will just offer her a –
Shit!
I should have gone with the reward system, he realised belatedly as he entire body groaned n utter agony. I am an idiot….