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“It’s so weird, coming back.” he said softly. Natsu and Erza and Lucy, he was sure, had already arrived. Probably even settled back in, with how Lucy had talked so wistfully about returning. He would already be with them if he hadn’t left basically all his stuff with Juvia when going undercover.
“Juvia agrees.” she nodded, pink flowery suitcase clattering along behind her. “When she left, Juvia did not know if she would ever return.”
“Yeah...” Gray looked out over the city, eyes picking out familiar buildings and the bustle of new construction where the guild hall had been leveled by Tartaros. His gaze lingered on the dorms, settled comfortably in the hills just outside of town, then slid down to Juvia, already making her way down the hill. The dorms had been home for as long as he’d been a Fairy Tail wizard, but... the rules were very clear about the boys’ and girls’ dorms being split down those lines, and he’d gotten used to cohabiting with Juvia. To having her close enough to hear her soft snores when he woke from nightmares. To cooking for two every other night, more or less.
They wouldn’t have that, if they went back to their flats in Fairy Hills and Fairy Valley. Sure they’d still see each other all the time in the guild hall, they’d go back to their familiar beds, to rooms that resonated with magic, but after six months living with Juvia and another six missing her Gray wanted more than that. Wanted it with an intensity that would scare him, if he hadn’t already decided not to let himself get any closer to her until he was strong enough to deserve it. He didn’t want them to grow apart, though. His six months in Avatar had been bad enough, he didn’t want to keep living apart from her. But what other option did they have? Gray let his feet carry him towards the dorms blindly, Juvia steering him around other pedestrians and the occasional streetlamp.
He knew this part of Magnolia like the back of his hand, knew the rentals that catered to wizards and their rules, and the few which would let him and Juvia rent together would be laughably far out of their price range. Juvia’s idle chatter washed over him, half-processed like the familiar buildings in his peripheral vision. If they left the immediate area of the guild hall they might be able to find a cheaper place, but the rules around magic use would be much more strict, and places away from the guild that catered to their members would charge even more than the ones nearby.
“Oh, Gray, look at that!” Juvia gasped, and Gray followed her pointing finger to the cobbler’s shop that hired Laki sometimes for small wood tools, and where he was pretty sure Bisca and Alzack got their boots. He was also pretty sure it had only had one upstairs floor, last time he was in town, with the cobbler renting her spare room to new girls at the guild from time to time. Now though, the building stood four stories high, a strip of eye-catching colourful glass looking in on the stairs and two balconies on each floor with railings that must’ve been Laki’s work.
“Gray?” Juvia looked over her shoulder, and he realised she’d kept walking while he stared at the new construction.
“I don’t want to move back into the dorms.” he said, catching up to Juvia and resting his hand on her arm. “Do you?”
Juvia blinked, head tilting slightly in visible confusion, then her cheeks flamed with blush and she dropped her bag to slap both hands to them. “My darling Gray wants us to move in together?!” she squealed, and he grimaced. Trust Juvia to somehow skip three steps ahead while forgetting their starting point.
“Not romantically, Ju.” not yet, at least. Not until he was good enough for her. “I just don’t wanna mess with this good thing we’ve got going.” he gestured between them, trying to encompass the time they’d spent in that crummy little house together. “Housework is all easier if you’ve got someone to split it with, and we already know we work well together. Why mess with what works?”
“Oh. Juvia sees.” she nodded quickly, though Gray could read disappointment in the brief dip of her shoulders, the forced curve of her smile. Part of him, the braindead romantic part which had missed her so much it hurt, wanted nothing more in that moment than to pull her close, eliminate the scant distance between them, and kiss her until her smile shone properly. Gray quashed that impulse with the same unwavering self-control which had seen him safely through Avatar. He didn’t deserve her yet, couldn’t accept her love until he was certain he could defend it. Even just moving in together was dangerous, but... if they got somewhere near the guild hall, that should be safe enough.
“C’mon.” he said, stepping around her to pick up her dropped suitcase and offer its handle to Juvia. “Let’s get re-registered with the guild, then we can ask around about apartments.” starting with the places over the cobbler’s. She was a nice old lady, a friend of the guild. It was a better bet than most other places he could think of.
Juvia giggled, soft but genuine, and Gray smiled as she took her suitcase from him, blush dusting her pale cheeks when their hands brushed. When he was stronger, when he could be certain that she wouldn’t die at the hands of his enemies, then he would tell her. Until then, sharing an apartment would have to be enough.