inspired by the prompt "Person A has this habit of not wearing a lot (or anything at all) to bed and it's getting really awkward for Person B when they both end up going to the bathroom at night." - cross posted to ao3

The problem was that the air conditioner in their apartment just wasn't working. At least, that's what Gray convinced himself was the problem as he stripped his sweatpants off and settled into bed in nothing but his boxers, for the nth night since he'd moved in.

That always seemed to be a problem for him—he simply ran cold, and any heat that conflicted with his internal body temperature was stifling. Unfortunately for his friends—as they loved to exclaim whenever he unbuttoned his shirt one too far—that seemed to mean any heat beyond freezing was simply too hot.

Perhaps that was why he'd asked Juvia to room with him in the first place. She was the only one in their friend group who didn't complain about his constant stripping "problem". In fact, she seemed to take it in stride, not even blinking twice when his shirt came off mid-conversation. It was kind of nice, actually, the way she kept her blue eyes trained on his as they spoke—she didn't avert her eyes from him, screaming about his lack of clothes, but she also didn't drop her gaze south and make him uncomfortable. No—for Juvia, it seemed as though his stripping was just a weird quirk of his that didn't even warrant acknowledgment. (Which it was, Gray thought doggedly. He only wished everyone else got it in the same way she did.)

This was why, when dorm housing cruelly rejected his application mere weeks before the start of the new semester, he immediately turned to Juvia.

(Well, really, he'd turned to Natsu first—they'd been assigned together in first year and stuck it out through the next year, with their friendship-slash-rivalry being the catalyst for the formation of their current friend group—but the stupid flame brain idiot had decided that, given that he spent more than half his day at Lucy's apartment anyway, he might as well help her pay for rent too.)

"I'm not a bad roommate, I swear," he insisted to Juvia, hands flailing about as desperation took over—he couldn't afford to live on his own, and the number of days between now and the first day of classes were quickly receding. "I can cook, I clean up after myself, and I always leave the toilet seat down."

Juvia appeared lost in thought for a moment. "Well," she said slowly, in a way that made Gray look at her hopefully. "Juvia knows Gajeel has been wanting to room with Levy alone for a while now, but he felt bad about leaving Juvia by herself. If Juvia had another roommate to live with…"

And, well, Juvia always did have a habit of doing anything he asked of her. After one minor hurdle—"You're going to live with this idiot?" Gajeel had roared; it had taken profuse insistence on Juvia's part that she would be perfectly safe with their friend, and Gray's firm nod as Gajeel's crimson gaze turned to him, before Gajeel reluctantly agreed—they'd found an apartment, signed the lease, and were completely moved in with a week to spare.

The first few months were blissful. Juvia was a glorious roommate—she did the dishes according to the schedule and didn't fry fish at ungodly hours of the night, leaving their common space smelling like hell on earth for weeks, the way Natsu used to do. Gray, too, was on his best behavior. He was careful to pick up his used towels after his showers, and always made sure they had flour on hand; Juvia was an avid baker, and if buying flour in bulk meant he could get delicious, homemade bread every morning, then damn if he didn't go out of his way to get it for her. He even made a conscious effort to strip less around her, so as not to make her uncomfortable.

Fridays became movie nights—Juvia eagerly watched the violent action movies Gray chose, and he in turn tried not to visibly cringe at the cheesy teen romances Juvia picked. They'd made the perfect team, and Gray would have been perfectly happy to live with Juvia for the rest of his life—until.

The first time it happened was early in the morning after a celebratory post-midterm hangout at their apartment. Their friends had come over; Cana, per usual, had brought several cases of beer and enough card games to last the night. They'd partied until half past two in the morning, when Erza announced that she'd be heading back to her dorm—and the gleam in her eyes announced that anyone who didn't follow her would face incredibly severe consequences the next day. Juvia and Gray, left alone, quickly cleaned the half-empty cans leftover from their final game of Killer before resorting to bed.

Gray couldn't remember if he'd stripped before lying down or if he'd done it halfway through the night in his sleep, but when he got up in the middle of the night to piss, he was wearing nothing but his tightest pair of boxers.

He didn't think much of it at all, until he opened the bathroom door (which was unlocked) and immediately found Juvia, sitting on the toilet with her shorts around her ankles and her bleary eyes in direct line-of-sight with his—

He quickly yelped an apology and slammed the door shut behind him, heart racing. His first thought, disgustingly, was that the color of her underwear was a soft yellow that beautifully complimented the ivory shade of her skin. Then, after evicting that particular line of thought before it turned dangerous, he shut his eyes and wondered why Juvia hadn't locked the damn door.

He waited in awkward silence as the toilet flushed, and then the sink ran, and then there Juvia was, pale cheeks suddenly painted a vivid red. She was avoiding eye contact as she sped to her room, and Gray didn't even have the time to apologize again before the door clicked behind her. He blinked, then decided to shake it off and apologize again in the morning.

But he awoke that day to an empty apartment, save for the usual loaf of bread—accompanied by a very tasty omelet—and a text message from his roommate.

juvia is very sorry about what happened last night – she will take extra care to lock the door after herself the next time she goes to the bathroom!

He had to rewrite his eventual response several times.

No worries, it happens to the best of us. See you later for dinner

After that, they never brought it up again, for which Gray was eternally grateful.

Until—

On the last night before his flight home for the holidays, Gray wrenched the bathroom door open just as Juvia pushed to get inside, and she stumbled with the force of it—in the process, once again, catching an eye full of Gray and his boxers. Normally, this would be commonplace—Gray's nasty habit had started creeping up on him again, which couldn't be helped—but he was, once again, wearing his tightest pair of boxers and they left very little to the imagination about what was beneath.

(And Gray knew he should just get rid of them—they were his oldest pair, the last left over from his years in high school, but he'd grown a personal attachment to them; they were just too damn comfortable to sleep in.)

Juvia immediately jerked her hands over her eyes and squealed an apology, but Gray took a moment too long to cover himself up with his used towel before she cautiously opened her eyes again. To Gray's surprise, her gaze lingered for a breath too long to be considered polite before she spun on her heel and mumbled something about just going to pee later. (What surprised him more, however, was the way the blood seemed to rush south at the sudden intensity of her gaze, which really did nothing to help matters.)

There was no apology omelet when he woke up the next day at four in the morning for his flight. There wasn't even a freaked-out apology text, only: have a safe flight, juvia will take good care of the apartment while you are gone, sent at a quarter to three in the morning.

Well, if Juvia wasn't going to acknowledge it, then neither would he. Eventually, they might even be able to turn it into a funny sort of inside joke: if I had a nickel for every time I saw my roommate's balls through his underwear at godawful hours of the evening, I'd have two nickels—which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

Gray snorted to himself at the thought, then resolved to stop thinking about the subject altogether.

(Which was an easy enough concept, until the day he arrived back at the apartment and found a perfectly wrapped blue box on his desk, sporting a single yellow sticky note with a neatly drawn smiley face on it. A set of boxers, exactly in his size. He marveled first at Juvia's impressive guessing abilities, before the situation caught up to him and he dropped his head in his hands out of embarrassment.

His tightest pair of boxers found themselves hidden deep inside his underwear drawer.)

Soil Mechanics 311 was Gray's least favorite class—it was dull and the professor was the absolute worst, a shit marker and an awful lecturer to boot—but it was also a requirement of his diploma, so he'd begrudgingly pulled an all-nighter to study for his midterm anyway. The day after, he awoke at eleven in the morning, feeling like weights the size of three blue whales were dragging his eyelids down, but he wrenched himself awake anyway. He had a lecture at one that he really couldn't miss—that, and the tantalizing scent of bacon leaking from beneath his door was more than tempting enough to rouse him.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he made his way to the kitchen, where the smell was met with the sizzling sound of eggs frying.

"Smells incredible," he mumbled, eyes half open as he stumbled inside. Juvia had her back to him, humming along to the music she had playing in the background as she carefully flipped the eggs in the pan. Her ass looked incredible in those shorts, and her slim figure was better defined by the apron tied around her waist. Gray paused for a moment to appreciate the way she shook her hips to the song, before he registered his inappropriate thoughts and tore his eyes away.

"Thank you, Gray-sama, Juvia hoped you would enjoy—"

Juvia's words came to an abrupt halt as she turned and looked at him, immediately whirling back around and nearly slamming her elbow into the hot metal pan.

"WhatisGraydoingputsomepantsonfortheloveofGod," she cried, cringing away.

"What?" Gray blinked as he deciphered her rapid-fire words, glancing down and immediately cursing. "Oh fuck."

At least, he thought vaguely, he wasn't wearing his tightest pair of boxers. Those were still safely hidden away—but he might as well have worn them, because who knew white boxers were practically see-through? Surely not him; they had seemed perfectly opaque when he'd put them on yesterday afternoon, but suddenly in this light and from this angle they seemed almost pornographic.

A quick glance at the full-length mirror to his right confirmed his worst fears—it was even worse from far away. Not only was the vague outline of his penis clearly defined, but so was every bump, every shape—hell, he could even see every follicle of hair from this distance. He might as well have come out completely naked.

"I am so sorry," he called out, having the good sense to attempt to cover himself as he slipped away. No wonder the clearance bin had been stocked full of these, he thought bitterly as he escaped to his room to throw on a fresh pair of dark sweats; he even dug up a t-shirt for good measure. (Navy blue, and not white. He felt he would be steering away from that particular color for a few good weeks at least.)

Breakfast that morning was a silent affair, and Gray's cheeks were uncharacteristically pink as he swallowed the delicious bacon. Juvia, too, was quiet, eyes firmly pointed at her plate. Every few minutes her head would tilt up, as if she wanted to say something, before her eyes squeezed shut and her focus was once again turned onto her plate. Gray swallowed and waited.

"Juvia has to leave for her lecture in a few minutes, Gray-sama," Juvia said finally, and Gray felt momentarily disappointed. Then he wondered why. "You need to leave soon too, right?"

"Yeah. Uh—thanks for the breakfast, and I'm sorry again about earlier. I really should get my stupid habit under control." Even he could admit that it was no longer just a "weird quirk". "If I've ever made you feel uncomfortable—"

But Juvia immediately waved a dismissive hand at him. "It's okay, Juvia understands. She just doesn't want Gray to feel disrespected."

"I should be the one saying that to you, Juvia," he insisted, but Juvia just offered him a meek smile. Her usually-pale cheeks were aflame.

"Juvia promises, it's okay. Gray should really get ready for his lecture now…"

Gray was many things, but pushy was not one of them. "Okay, if you say so." He really hoped they would never have to bring this up again, because it was embarrassing to keep revealing himself to his friend like that.

(And, later, when he dreamt of waking up to a half-naked, aproned Juvia offering him breakfast and a searing kiss, he woke up in a cold sweat. Eventually, he'd been lulled back to sleep by one repeated image: the flash of silver he'd seen on her left hand.

When he awoke the next morning, he had no memory of the dream whatsoever. He did, however, ghost his right hand over his left and wonder why the fourth finger seemed particularly heavy, like it bore a phantom ring.)

With the end of the school year came their decision to continue living together through the summer. Gray spent three weeks at his mother's house to appease her, lest she complain that he'd forgotten about the woman who sacrificed so much to raise him, and came back to an empty apartment.

juvia will be camping with gajeel-kun the week you get back, she'd texted him beforehand. you'll have the apartment to yourself until saturday! please do not set the thermometer below 15 degrees. juvia would like her plants to still be alive when she gets back

by the way, please water juvia's plants

On Monday, Gray washed the dishes and watered the plants. On Tuesday, he mopped the floor and cleaned out the bathroom. On Wednesday, he reorganized his room, sprayed the plants with water per Juvia's instructions, and finally ordered from the pizza place Lucy swore was incredible (it tasted like feet).

Thursday, however, he got complacent.

Really, it was only because his alarm clock bore the numbers 06:39 in glaring, red lines, and he was still exhausted from yesterday's lab. That, paired with the comfort of being alone, meant that when Gray tried to push the bathroom door closed behind him and it bounced back towards him, he simply left it open as he untied his sweats and pulled down his underwear. (Later, he would laugh at the irony—the day he had finally woken up to pee wearing something other than underwear—well, that was also the day Juvia had finally seen his naked dick.)

He was tucking himself back into his pants when the door pushed open further and he and Juvia fell still, staring at each other with wide eyes. The words we've really got to stop meeting like this sat on his tongue, but they disappeared as Juvia's ocean blue eyes slid down, landing on a part of him that he did not usually allow anyone to see but himself. Her eyes met his again, pupils blown wide and lips slightly parted in shock. There was something in her eyes, something that made Gray's throat suddenly, immeasurably dry. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but seemed to think the better of it. It was the way she suddenly looked away from him that finally brought him back to reality, and he adjusted himself before tying his sweats in a firm knot.

(A glance, he repeated to himself, over and over again. She only got a glance. She barely saw a thing. He wasn't sure if he was entirely convinced, but he repeated it like a mantra anyway.)

"I'm sorry," he said, feeling his throat tighten. How the hell did they seem to find themselves in this position every fucking week?

"Don't be," Juvia said suddenly. "Please don't be, Juvia should've checked before she– she thought you were still asleep—" she cut herself off and chewed her lip. Gray's eyes were drawn to the way her teeth captured her lip, his chest tightening as he looked away. Juvia continued, unaware. "The trip was cut short—the rain was just too heavy and Gajeel was upset about 'having to use a puddle as a bed'."

"Sorry about that," he said awkwardly, still fidgeting with the waistband of his sweatpants. It was way too fucking early to be dealing with this kind of embarrassment. "I know you were excited about the trip."

Juvia just shrugged. "It's okay. We still got a few days, and that's what matters."

Gray hummed, and Juvia smiled meekly. "You should probably go back to sleep, Gray-sama. Juvia will just take a shower, and then head to bed too."

The sudden, unbidden image of Juvia's naked body, half hidden beneath hot steam and water as she scrubbed herself clean flew to the front of Gray's head. He adjusted his waistband again.

"Right," he said, making his way out of the bathroom with an awkward clear of his throat. "I'll see you in the morning. Later, in the morning, I mean. When I'm actually awake." His elbow brushed the skin on her shoulder in his haste to get away and his heart thudded at the contact. Scowling, he locked himself safely in his room before he could hear her reply and frowned. What the fuck was he doing, and why the fuck was his every thought suddenly about Juvia?

(He knew the answer, but that didn't mean he wanted to accept it. Not even a little bit.

This was a problem for Tomorrow Gray.)

Gray really should have learned his lesson by now—exhaustion seemed to bring out what Natsu disgustedly dubbed the stripper's side of him, by tenfold. When he'd had to pull an all-nighter to study for his final, he should've expected to be completely naked by the time he woke up the next day, thirsty to all hell. All he'd really wanted was a glass of water.

He did not even think about the state of his nakedness until he opened his bedroom door and found Juvia walking out of the bathroom. Her figure was awash with moonlight—she was dressed in a huge black t-shirt that looked suspiciously like a shirt he owned, one that he hadn't seen since his birthday in February. The recognition, however, escaped his mind as he looked up to find Juvia staring at him with wide, blue eyes. (This was not the first time he'd seen this expression on her, not by a long shot. Not only had she looked at him like this every time she'd unintentionally come across him and his bare dick, but in one other place—the dirty dreams he could never admit to having, where her hair was fanned out below her on his white sheets and her eyes were blown wide with desire.

This was a secret he would take with him to the grave.)

She stared at him, right at his face, and she was shaking. "You need to start putting pants on," Juvia whispered, her fingers jumping along her thigh in a nervous tic, "before Juvia does it for you."

"I'd rather you take them off instead," Gray said, completely without meaning to, and his brain stuttered. What? That was not what he had meant to say, not in the slightest—he really, really needed to stop with these all-nighters. Juvia blinked; Gray panicked. He held out his hands, already stumbling to correct himself, but Juvia was a beat quicker than he was, stepping towards him with a bizarre expression.

"Is that so?" Her eyes flashed, challengingly. She was still staring resolutely at his face; her features were bathed in moonlight, and Gray had the fleeting thought that she was glowing. Ethereal. Angel.

He swallowed as she stepped closer. Despite her bravado, her cheeks were red, revealing the internal discomfiture. Still, she was moving closer and closer, her eyes still trained on his face. When she stopped, she was one step away from him. Close enough to touch. Close enough to kiss. His eyes dropped to her lips as he swallowed again.

Her eyes dropped, then took their time sliding their way up his body before finally landing on his eyes again. "Gray-sama really needs to keep his pants on," Juvia said slowly. "Juvia really doesn't want to keep staring at his dick without his consent."

Hearing Juvia say his dick in her elegant, polite voice did things to Gray that made him feel indescribably guilty. He fought the shudder that came to him and said, bravely, "What would you do if I consented?"

Juvia tutted. "Juvia would laugh, because Gray-sama did not need to orchestrate such ridiculous scenarios for Juvia to see his penis. All he had to do was ask, and she would beg him for it in a heartbeat."

Well. Gray couldn't fight the growing hardness, and Juvia didn't bother pretending like she didn't notice. Her eyes dipped down, and when she met his eyes again there was an undeniable hunger in them.

"Juvia thinks maybe Gray-sama should kiss her now."

And Gray, ever the faithful roommate, did exactly that.

She tasted like bliss and a hint of toothpaste.

Her hands were clinging to his hair, then passing over his shoulders, desperate like she couldn't get enough of him. He was cupping her cheeks in both hands, feeling like she was something immeasurably precious. The kiss was hungry, frantic—like they'd been waiting for a long time. Gray thought, briefly, like they had been.

He bit down gently on her bottom lip and she moaned in response, mouth falling open and giving him unfettered access. Her hands tightened in his hair as he explored, pulling him closer. When that wasn't enough, she dropped a hand to his back and pulled his bare chest down to meet hers (which, he was fully certain now, was clothed by his shirt). Her nails dug into his skin, and he was sure it would leave marks. (Good, he thought hungrily, before going back to lap at her mouth.)

When he finally dragged himself away so they could breathe, it wasn't far. He rested his forehead on hers and they simply looked at each other; Juvia's eyes were dark and hooded, pupils blown wide in desire and making her eyes appear black rather than blue. Gray groaned, then bent over to place kisses along her jaw, tracing his way down to her soft, exposed neck.

"Juvia has been—ah—waiting for this for a—a long time," she whispered, tugging him closer as he dropped wet, open-mouthed kisses along her neck.

"Really?" he muttered, smirking against her skin.

"Yes," she moaned, right as he nipped into the space between her collarbones. "Gray-sama—Gray, you don't even know."

His hands were travelling down, fingering the hem of her shirt, and he looked up at her for permission. At her very eager nod, he tucked his hands under, briefly marveling at the feeling of the line of her underwear beneath the shirt. He groaned. She hadn't even been wearing shorts.

But that was for later, he resolved, as his hands travelled up, exploring her soft skin before splaying out against her ribs. "I don't think this is fair," he said, looking up at her with hooded eyes. "I'm completely naked, and you're here fully dressed—and in my shirt."

She bit her lip at the admonishment, blushing cutely. "Gray-sama accidentally put it in with her laundry," she explained, "and Juvia—Juvia thought it was very comfortable—"

"Well, it does look fucking incredible on you," he admitted, pulling away momentarily to appreciate her, before his eyes turned dark and a smirk crossed his face. "But I do think it would look better off."

Juvia nodded, and that was all the consent he'd needed. Carefully, slowly, he tugged the shirt up, over her head—there was half a second where it had gotten stuck, and Juvia emerged from the top breathless and smiling; Gray was struck, momentarily, by how beautiful she was. He smiled at her gently, before his gaze dipped down and his breath was strangled by a moan.

She was gorgeous in the moonlight—hell, he knew she was gorgeous everywhere, but here in particular, her skin glowed and she looked like heaven on earth. Perfect breasts, a light pink dusting on her nipples—Gray swore up and down that he had never seen anything more perfect in his life. He knew he was staring, mouth agape, when Juvia's gentle hand tucked under his chin and pulled him up so she could see him.

"Hi," she whispered, and he mumbled something unintelligent back. (She smiled at that, and that only made his heart tighten further in his chest. God, this woman was incredible, and he was half-convinced he wanted to marry her right here, right now.)

"You're staring," she whispered. He looked at her for a moment, eyes taking in every angle of her cheeks, the handful of freckles hidden in her skin. He'd never noticed them before.

"You're beautiful," he replied, and he looked at her for a moment before his lips captured hers again, ravenous. She gasped in surprise and he surged deeper, grabbing her bare thighs and pulling her up onto his waist. He tucked his hands beneath her (soft, smooth ass) and kicked the door to his bedroom open.

He threw her unceremoniously onto his bed, and she laughed. "Someone's excited."

He raised an eyebrow and gestured down; Juvia blushed as she took him in, fully hard and at attention. She bit her lip again. "Gray, you're so much—bigger, when you're—"

Gray groaned and stepped forward, dropping a knee onto his bed. "Juvia, you don't understand how much I want you right now. You can't just say shit like that."

Juvia only smiled, hands reaching out to drag his shoulders down. "You want me?" she asked, voice clear. Gray nodded, and she pulled his head down so she could whisper in his ear. "Then take me."

Well, fuck.

Screw silk, screw goose feathers—Juvia's breasts made for the greatest, softest pillow a man could ever ask for. (Not that Gray ever wanted another man near them, now that he'd had a taste. They were his pillow now, for the rest of his life if he could help it.)

He felt Juvia pull him closer and he hummed in response, completely spent. He was laying on top of her, head resting on her breasts and arms supporting his weight at her waist. She tugged him closer, spreading her legs to make room for him; he began to play with her fingers.

"Gray-sama," Juvia said suddenly, her voice ringing with something serious that belied the previous comfort. Gray rose on his forearms, looking down at her. He nodded, urging her to continue. "Juvia wants—no, Juvia needs Gray-sama to know that this wasn't just a—a one night stand for her. Juvia doesn't do one-night stands, and if that's what Gray thought this was then he needs to leave, now. Juvia doesn't mind; Juvia understands if that's how Gray-sama feels, but she needs to set the record straight now rather than later."

She was biting her lip again, anxiety crystal clear on her face, and Gray felt his heart warm at the sight. She really was the most beautiful person he had ever met.

He cleared his throat and sat up; Juvia, eyes wide, followed, although she brought up his blanket to cover herself up as she did. (Gray was momentarily distracted by the sight of her, clinging to his sheets with one hand while she looked at him with wide, nervous eyes. He carefully set aside the memory for later.)

"Juvia," he began, and she seemed to wince at his tone. Clearing his throat again, he started over. "Juvia, this wasn't just a one-night stand to me either. Fuck no. I've been thinking about you too much to even consider that a possibility. I know I'm shit at feelings, and that I spend more time naked than I do clothed, and that I've had trouble with commitment in the past—but Juvia, you mean the fucking world to me. I look at you and it's like—it's like I just want nothing more than to make sure you keep smiling for the rest of your life. Fuck, it's just—I've never wanted anything more than for you to be happy."

He was red, he was sure of it, and he was just rambling by now. He couldn't even look at her: his gaze was trained on his wall as he spouted off the first words that came to his head; the words that he'd been thinking about for months. "It's like, you're beautiful—but it's not even just about that. It's like I want to wake up every morning to you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and you're a really fucking great roommate and I just think that you would make a really fucking great wife too" —he winced; why the fuck was he talking about marrying her?— "but I also understand if you're not that serious about me, if you just wanted me to be a fuck buddy, because I think I could do that too, if it meant I could get to see you smile every day, and—"

He was interrupted by Juvia's soft hand on his cheek as she guided him to her mouth. She crawled on top of him and kissed him like he was the love of her life, like she couldn't live without him, and Gray melted. He fucking melted. (In later years, he would vehemently argue against the teasing, despite Juvia's knowing smile.)

"I really like you too, Gray-sama," Juvia said, when they pulled away. Gray thought her eyes were shining with tears. "I've—Juvia has liked you for a really long time. Ever since she first saw you, really. But Erza told her that Gray would like her better if she was his friend first, so she tried her best to push away her feelings and be that for him. Until—"

"Until I harassed you with my naked penis," Gray supplied helpfully. Juvia grinned.

"Until Gray looked at Juvia like she was his world," Juvia corrected, and Gray flushed.

"Can't help it, really, when you do so much for me," he grumbled, trying—and failing—to mask the smile that was growing on his face. Juvia just cradled his cheek and drew him closer.

"Does this make us boyfriend-girlfriend?" Juvia teased. Gray nudged her shoulder with his nose and hummed.

"Yeah. I guess it does."

(Later, Gray finds a perfectly-fitting pair of boxers from the set Juvia had gifted him and spins around with a smirk. "You," he accused, pointing a finger at Juvia, "really spent a lot of time imagining how big I was down there, didn't you?"

Juvia only looked at him, a bored expression crossing her face. "Juvia didn't have to, Gray-sama. You had your balls out for the whole world to see at least twice a week."

Gray growled. "I'll punish you for that one."

With a twinkle in her eye, Juvia replied: "Yes, please.")

omg the urge i had to drag this on and make it slowburn and angsty HURT i had to fight for my life to keep it brief. literally wrote this in like two days, which is insane considering i usually spend about three years per draft. what can i say, gruvia just brings it out of me (:

(just like being around juvia just brings out gray's—)

anyway! minor details which did not make it into the fic but i consider canon for this universe: juvia is a swiftie (was a hundred percent listening to style in the kitchen argue with the wall), and gray and juvia went to see barbie and oppenheimer on the release date FOR SURE. (gray ended up loving barbie more than he liked oppenheimer but this is a secret he will take with him to the grave.)

who knows, i may want to expand a little bit on this universe and this friend group in the future, but i don't feel any particular urges right now and i don't have any plans to (i'm too busy working on my 23798398572958734968730 other drafts - this was just such a fun fic to get me interested in writing for fun again, and it was so worth it)

tysm for reading!