Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima
Title: Demon Slaying is Easy – The Hard Work is the Wrangling
Prompt: Demons
Rating: G
Word Count: 459
Genre: Future-fic, family humour
At times like this, Gray couldn't remember why he'd agreed to it. Then he remembered that he hadn't. It had just kind of happened.
Three screaming children.
They'd been awake for approximately 27 minutes and already they were covered in food, the floor was covered in toys, and Gray was covered in sweat from chasing after them. As soon as he got two gathered in one spot for their daily magic lesson, the third would disappear in a flash. And they thought it was the funnest game ever invented. Meanwhile, the two Gray had managed to group together would start poking and prodding each other and the oldest of the pair would cry "Daddy, she's touching meeee!" Just six years ago, Gray had thought some frequencies could only be obtained by tea kettles and murdered birds.
Gray had always wanted to take on disciples and be to some kid what Ul had been to him. Making his own hadn't occurred to him until there was already one on the way. But he'd always assumed a disciple would respect his master and listen! He had always listened to Ul, hadn't he? Usually… when it mattered… when it was convenient… alright, so he may have romanticised the idea a bit, but he was sure he'd been better behaved than these brats!
He wouldn't complain or make excuses. He wouldn't say he could do it if Juvia were home. Ul had done it alone. He could too.
It was just easier with Juvia. After all, he only had two hands and there were three of them. He was good with kids! He knew the tricks. He knew that if you got down on their level and treated them with respect, they would respect you in return. But in order to make eye-contact with one, Gray had to turn his back on at least one other. And that was just asking for trouble. Once he had them gathered and started teaching, they always calmed down. Fine, sometimes they just wore themselves out and fell asleep to the sound of his voice, but they really did look forward to his demonstrations. They just somehow managed to forget that they did. Every single morning.
With a grand exhale, Gray sunk to the floor. Three tiny heads, including four tiny pigtails, immediately zeroed in on their new target.
And then Juvia breezed through the door, loaded down with ingredients for a pancake breakfast, and trilling "Gray-sama! Babies! Mama is home!" and suddenly all was right in their little worlds. The tears dried, smiles lit up, they lined themselves up in an adorable row of anticipation. Juvia would sweep in, kiss all the booboos better and never know that they had been anything other than perfect little angels.