In a Better Place
Prompt: Growth
Disclaimer: I love Gray and Juvia, so I am just exploring their characters a bit more. No money is earned from this.
[Setting: Post-canon]
"I'll see you soon," Gray muttered, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. His hand lingered, then moved to rest on her cheek.
"Be safe Gray-sama," she leaned into the touch, her hands coming up from her sides to hold it, not wanting to see him go just yet.
Gray smiled, "Always." He gently let go of the hand that she held on to and brought her into a hug. His lips lightly brushing her forehead before he walked out the door.
"Juvia? Juvia!" Lucy-san had taken to waving her hands in front of her to get her attention.
"Huh? Oh… I'm sorry Lucy-san." Gray's been gone for two days on his mission, but Juvia couldn't stop thinking about the way he'd left that she'd wanted to speak to someone… Lucy had been the one Juvia first thought of, since she was always acute in catching these sort of things…
Lucy only giggled, not taking any of her actions in offence, "Thinking about someone?"
Juvia smiled, but said nothing. Lucy's eyes glinted and leaned closer. Her voice turned just slightly softer, "Let me guess… Gray surprised you again?"
Thinking back to the hug and kind-of-goodbye kiss, Juvia flushed red at the thought. Lucy-san was always good with these things… Juvia looked down at her hands and back to Lucy again. It wouldn't hurt to tell Lucy-san… she thought, so she told the celestial mage everything.
Lucy had nodded and hummed, but never interrupted as she talked. Once she had finished, the blonde only said, "So that's what happened…"
"It's just… Gray-sama rarely shows how he feels, so…" Juvia picked on a coffee stain on her mug, she hasn't ever told anyone about her relationship with Gray or what their relationship was like. It made her nervous and fidgety wondering what Lucy would think.
"Well, I think you've got nothing to worry about, Juvia."
"Really?" she'd looked up from her coffee mug, surprised that Lucy-san was taking this very calmly, as if she expected this was how things would turn out.
"I'm glad Gray's finally got his act together," Lucy-san smiled at her, her hands reaching for her own mug to warm her hands.
"Juvia's not quite following you, Lucy-san…"
After a sip from her tea, Lucy said, "You probably can't tell the difference since you're so close to him, but from me and everyone else – we're glad you two have grown so much together!"
"E-Eh?!"
"It's true! Don't tell me you forgot what happened between you and Gray at my award ceremony!"
"Lu-Lu-Lucy-san heard about that?!" Juvia wished her face was small enough, she wanted to hide behind something. She knew she was as red as a tomato.
"Wendy was next to me," she smiled apologetically.
"Juvia's-"
"But that Gray is a very different one from this Gray today right?"
"Yes…"
"Juvia? Oi, Juvia!"
"Wha- Oh! I'm sorry, Gray-sama! Juvia spaced out…"
"It's alright, but I think you need to watch that soup…"
She looked down, the pot with their clam chowder had started to simmer over the brim, "Oh no!" she turned down the heat and thankfully most of the contents didn't overflow on to the stove.
"Everything OK?" there was Gray-sama again, twisting a loose strand of her hair before tucking it back behind her ear. She felt her cheeks flush just a bit.
"Juvia's... fine. Thank you, Gray-sama," she'd turned to him, smiling reassuringly. Gray kept his eye on her, his hand trailing from the back of her head to her shoulder and then her arm. Finally, reaching her hand and holding it, rubbing it gently.
Usually his touch left her flushed and her knees weak, she already feels her cheeks burning, but she knew he didn't believe her, even if he hasn't said a word. Hoping that she'll put him at ease, she closed whatever distance was left between them and hugged him.
"Juvia?" Gray-sama didn't shy away… It was something she remembered he used to do way back when she was far more outspoken about her feelings… Not that he ever did since… she can't remember when he stopped squirming away. It doesn't seem important anymore.
"Juvia promises she is fine, Gray-sama…Can we...stay like this for a while?"
"Yeah," she felt him smile as he tucked his head on her shoulder, the steady beat of his heart calmed her.
"You've always been the one to be affectionate, Juvia. So… If my gut is right, I'd say he's trying his best to do the same for you."
"You… really think so, Lucy-san?"
"He'll be back from his mission tonight, right? See if he does something again," and winked. "You mean a lot to him, Juvia. Trust me." The celestial mage had smiled gently.
"You sure you're fine, Juvia?" Gray-sama's voice called her back, she felt him tightening the embrace, rubbing her back.
"More than ever, Gray-sama!"
She felt him chuckle, "I was only gone for a few days."
"Juvia's just very happy you came home safely, that's all."
He shifted their positions so that their foreheads touched, his love for her clear in his eyes as he looked at her and smiled, "It's good to be home."
Juvia couldn't help but smile back.
A/N: L;KAJS;DLFKAS LOTS OF MUSHY SUGAR FLUFFY GOODY GRUVIA. Is it weird that I am squealing and smiling as I write these two babies? Also, when I visited San Francisco for my sis's college graduation (it's been two years now) we had the most delicious clam chowder with sour dough (any of you living in the Bay Area? it's THAT ONE), so I had Juvia make clam chowder, LOL. Funny detail that I thought I'd share, haha.
This was my attempt to write a slightly more affectionate Gray. And *cough* I had to insert a forehead touch somewhere. I love that sketch so much. So consider this drabble somewhat inspired by that *cough* I also miss the Lucy-Juvia BROTP, so here she is, talking with Juvia. I was debating between her or Cana, but Lucy seemed like the better choice for this conversation… The shift between present and past was intentional, but I didn't want the whole thing in italics so… I hope it still made sense for y'all… As always, how was the drabble? Too short? Just right? Hated it? Loved it? Let me know your thoughts! ^^
On to reviews:
Thank you GwenuitHolland, TheUniqueFangirl, muffin-dragon227 for reviewing! ^^
And Guest – Thank you for your review! I love y'all for taking the time to read and give feedback :) We've still got four more of these to go before 2017 is officially over, hopefully I wrap this up! I have some great exciting new things I want to write about in the next year!
