"Good morning!" Juvia beamed as the front bell jangled. As per usual, her smile made Lyon weak. He groaned, forcing himself to look away. He had started Juvia out with cleaning, and taking orders. But he stayed on scooping ice cream, despite there still being so much left to do in the making the ice cream department of his shop. With his freezers all fixed, he could fill them again. He had been up all night working on starting several new batches.

"What would you like today?" Juvia smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. How in the world is this woman so sweet? She baffled him. From the warmth in her deep blue eyes, to the flush of her pale cheeks. She was the kindest, most adorable person Lyon had ever met, and she had only been working in his shop for three days.

"I want two scoops of strawberry!" The little girl at the counter said. Her eyes were almost as wide as saucers. Her parents stood behind her shaking their heads and laughing.

"Strawberry! That's Juvia's favorite flavor as well," Juvia said. "Lyon-sama!" She turned towards where he stood by the display. "Two scoops of strawberry, please."

I'm going to melt. Since Juvia had started working here, the shop seemed much hotter—despite the air conditioning being fixed, finally.

"T-two scoops of strawberry," He nodded, quickly grabbing a cone and getting to work. Soon enough the order was filled out and the customers were on their way.

"Lyon-sama! Juvia is going to wipe down the tables. Maybe if no one else comes Juvia will have time to clean the windows." She smiled.

"You should take a lunch break soon," Lyon said, taking note of which flavors needed restocking in the display.

"It's okay!" Juvia said, offering him one of her stunning smiles. "Juvia doesn't mind tidying up a little before she eats lunch!"

How… does she do this to me? Just her smile made his heart pound. He felt flushed. "Thank you, Juvia," he said, "I really do appreciate all your help. And… uhh… when you take a lunch, why don't you have a scoop of strawberry as well?"

Her expression softened, her cheeks flushing a light pink. "Juvia would really like that, if Lyon-sama would join her?"

Lyon blinked. "Join… you…?"

"Have some ice cream!" Juvia beamed, "You deserve a break too!"

So somehow, he ended up sitting across from her with a kid-sized cone of chocolate ice cream. She was talking about her family—her big brother and their parents—how she was glad to be home. "The ocean is so close," she said with a sigh. "The familiar ocean, Juvia means. Juvia is studying oceanography, you know? But it's farther up the coast where Juvia goes to school, and it just doesn't feel so familiar. Here, Juvia can relax." She leaned back in her seat, taking another bite of her cone, Lyon's famous strawberry ice cream dotting her lip. He glanced away, feeling his cheeks go hot again. Say something, Lyon. He had been staring, and had been too quiet for too long.

"You like swimming?" He asked.

"Juvia loves the water," Juvia nodded. "Swimming, surfing—anything!"

"You surf?" Lyon's eyes widened.

Juvia flushed, "Sometimes… Sometimes Juvia does."

"That's amazing," Lyon whispered. You're staring again, Lyon. His ice cream was melting. "I always prefer the beach I the winter, when it's cooler and the sand is wet. You can walk along the beach and the wind is cold." He smiled a little.

Juvia offered him a soft smile, "Juvia likes the beach no matter what season it is."

"Maybe someday we can—" He was interrupted by the sound of the bell on the front door, and he jumped to his feet, downing his kid-sized chocolate ice cream in two enormous bites, and rushing to the counter without even glancing at who had stepped in.

"Hi, what can I get you…." His voice died in his throat and he let out a deep sigh. "Oh. Gray."

"Lyon." Gray nodded, "Uh… Mom wanted me to stop by to pick up the pints she ordered for dad's birthday."

"Right. They're in the back, let me grab them." Lyon rolled his eyes, and shuffled to the back room, leaving Juvia looking rather bewildered in her seat in one of the booths. When he came back, Gray was waiting at the counter, hands in his pockets.

"Thanks," he said, taking the bag off Lyon's hands.

He turned and paused, blinking at Juvia, "This the girl who's working here now?"

"Who told you about that?" Lyon glared.

"Your mom told my mom and my mom told dad and I over dinner."

Lyon scoffed. Of course, she did. "Juvia, this is my cousin Gray."

"Nice to meet you," Gray nodded. "So, you're really working for this brat." He grinned gesturing to Lyon.

"Gray!" Lyon snapped, "I'm older than you, you jerk!"

"I'm just kidding," Gray shrugged, "I'm just kidding. You're coming for dinner right?"

Lyon let out a deep sigh, "Probably."

"See you then." And his cousin stepped out the door—gone.

"Sorry about that," Lyon groaned.

"It's alright," Juvia smiled, "It reminds Juvia of when she and Jellal used to fight a lot. You and Gray seem like brothers."

"I guess in a lot of ways we are. My mother practically raised Gray for a few years when we were young. After… well, never mind. That's all in the past."

"Juvia guesses we should get back to work," Juvia said, beginning to clean up her lunch. "It's going to get busy again this afternoon!" She turned to face him, that beautiful smile that made him weak. "Thank you for talking with me over lunch, Lyon-sama!"

"Any time," he nodded.

⁂

That evening he restocked the ice cream in the display. It was late. He had told his mom he'd be home for dinner. He let out a deep sigh, pausing as he dropped the strawberry tub in. Her favorite flavor is strawberry. He hadn't ever really thought there was anything very remarkable about strawberry, though he knew his mother also really liked his strawberry ice cream…

Lyon frowned, grabbed a cone, and scooped himself some strawberry ice cream. He locked up the shop, eating the ice cream as he walked home. He glanced out once over towards the ocean where the sun was setting, turning the water red. That's right. He had wanted to ask her if …. One day she might go on a walk with him along the beach.

What are you doing, Lyon? He glanced down at the strawberry ice cream, his heart skipping a beat. What in the world are you doing? There was just something about Juvia that… drove him crazy. Maybe if she wasn't working for him he would have asked her out on a date already… Then he frowned. What… what's preventing you from asking her out?

"I… I own the ice cream shop." He blinked, blush rising in his cheeks. What's the worst that could happen? She could say no. But… what if she said yes? What if… she had the same feeling—that there was something special… something worth chasing.

Tomorrow… tomorrow I'll ask Juvia if she wants to go out with me.