Chapter 2

Honestly, Juvia had not expected this. Finally, an opportunity to set Operation: Make Gray-Sama Love Me in motion and she was nervous. So nervous, in fact, that nothing was working out how she'd planned. And she had planned. First, she would spoon-feed him a special-made lunch. The secret ingredient, obviously, was love. Delicious and intimate. She would slide the spoon between his teeth, and back out through his closed lips. Simple. She would not jam it into the back of his throat. She would not... but then she did. She was panicking. When he needed water, she offered it from the closest reliable source - herself - not even taking the time to reason that there was a full service bar mere steps away. It was embarrassing, but it was the quickest way to ease the pain in her Gray-sama's throat. And of course, she'd be lying if she said the idea of Gray drinking her didn't send her heart a-flutter.

Knowing she needed to calm down, she decided the best course of action would be to get out of the guild. They needed privacy. She needed fresh air. And since Erza was currently very much occupied, there was the precious opportunity to sneak Gray into Fairy Hills. Juvia could have him in her room! Juvia blushed as she considered the many possible connotations of the verb "to have." She couldn't let him know she didn't know what she was doing. After all, she was his mistress! Oh, to be Gray-sama's mistress! She had earned this and she was going to make it count.

This was a mistake. This was a very, very bad idea and he knew it. So what if this was a guild-sanctioned punishment game? He hadn't lost all his rights as a human being. And he had warned her. If he didn't like something, he was going to speak up about it. That was his new creed. And the water incident had proven that she wasn't out to force him into anything against his will. All he had to do was say "Stop that!" But he didn't. Instead, he followed her to Fairy Hills, trying not to notice the way her hand was twitching, how she was biting her lip, her eyes darting back and forth as she warred with herself. She wanted to hold his hand. It was painfully obvious. So why didn't she just grab it? Well, too bad for her. Just because he was her slave for the day did not mean he had to obey orders she didn't even say out loud. But maybe if he just moved his hand a little closer she'd stop being so ridiculous and looking so damned uncomfortable. It's not like they'd never held hands before. Staring straight ahead, the picture of nonchalance, Gray just let his hand bump into hers. Still the picture of nonchalance, he ignored her wide-eyed look of inquiry. And even more the picture of nonchalance, he walked straight into the front door of Fairy Hills.

Juvia giggled. Just a bit, but enough to ease the tension in her shoulders. "Here, Gray-sama. You can't get in without a key."

The place was huge. Were there really so many girls in the guild? Juvia lead him straight to her own room, taking much longer to find this key than the one that had opened the front door, fingers fumbling. Finally, she swung open the door and Gray was greeted by himself. And himself. And himself. Innumerable images of himself. It was creepy. And frankly, he was a little bit scared. He'd known Juvia had a certain preference for him, sure. Even that she was a bit obsessive about it. It was hard to miss. But this...

"Would you like some tea, Gray-sama? It has the same name as... Oh."

She'd noticed.

"To keep the rain away."

Gray thought he understood what she meant, somewhere in the back of his head. He tried to make a sound to indicate this understanding, but it came out has a strangled "Huuuuh."

"Juvia used to make teru-teru-bozu dolls." She busied herself straightening the dolls, putting the kettle on, and avoiding eye contact. "But they never stopped the rain. And then Gray-sama did. But when Gray-sama is away, sometimes Juvia worries that the rain will come back. So she started making dolls again, but in a shape that has been proven effective. Juvia can... turn them around... if Gray-sama wants."

She proceeded to do just that, silently apologising to each one. Pulling himself out of the Fog of Whelm, into the Field of Comprehension, Gray grabbed her hand.

"Stop that." Juvia obeyed so thoroughly that Gray was reminded of why they were here. One of them was a slave for the day, and it wasn't her. "Now... who's in charge here?"

"J-juvia is!" He hadn't noticed when exactly she'd started blushing, but at this point she couldn't get much redder. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and just a little bit of his pride.

"Right. Now, Mistress, what would you like to do?"

And so, under the gaze of many Grays, they got comfortable.