dedication: to my papaaaaa. (yes. yes i did.)

notes: i'd say this one's a little meaningless but i think if i really believed that i wouldn't have written it. so make of it what you will.
notes2: i'm being sneaky and using this fic as a distraction from fmlb and nanowrimo stress. teehee. (i have sooo many little ideas for drabbles and juvia is my queen so... see you soon?)

4. him

"The rain began again. It fell heavily, easily, with no meaning or intention but the fulfilment of its own nature,
which was to fall and fall." — Helen Garner

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Two hours after Mirajane gives Juvia a glass of lemonade and told her about the rain doll, he arrives.

Apparently he and the Salamander had found Gajeel-kun wondering around Magnolia, adamantly avoiding the guildhall for some mysterious reason. (Juvia ducks her head to hide a smile — had he always been this… dorky?)

Then he notices her smiling vaguely in their direction, and says hello to her. The rain woman's breath catches in her throat when he gives her a wide, unreserved grin, unaware that he was simply returning her own.

"So how've you been?" he asks her, swinging into the stool right beside hers. "Never thought you'd join Fairy Tail, but it's not the first time I've been wrong."

Mirajane sets a cup in front of him without a word and Juvia is struck for what feels like the million time by how familiar all the guild members are with one another. In her own guild — no, no no no, in her old guild (she likes how that sounds) she very rarely spoke to anyone excepting the other members of Element 4 and the master. But in Fairy Tail… if anything, they're all toofamiliar of one another. There's no distance to act as a disguise. No clouds or rain to hide behind. No protection. (Perhaps no more loneliness, too.)

He lowers the cup of ice chips (…why is he drinking ice chips?) and as if he'd read her mind, he continues, ""I've seen you around."

It takes Juvia a second to process more than the fact that he had seen her around (he saw her he saw her he saw her he saw her!) but then she manages a shaky breath before nodding. He hasn't spoken to her since… well, since they fought and he won, and she saw the sky, and somehow she won too. "Juvia... is happier here."

She keeps her gaze focused on the wood in front of her as he hums in understanding. She's sure he'll get up and leave, if not now then eventually, and she doesn't have anything more to say so she doesn't. Instead, they settle into a comfortable silence that feels better than any victory ever could.

Juvia can barely imagine getting used to a life like this, sitting across from a mage as kind as Gray Fullbuster (or just sitting beside Gray-sama in general, but). But she'd like to. Lord, how she'd like to. So the rain woman quietly and happily sips her lemonade, and lets herself enjoy the moment.

Three hours later, he still hasn't gotten up and left.

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January/16: I have no plans to continue this in the foreseeable future, so let's leave it there for now, shall we? I hope you enjoyed this drabble series~.