Work Text:
Splish, Splish, Splish.
Scratch, Scratch, Scratch.
His pencil moved in time with her strokes, guided by the even rhythm of her arms slicing through the water.
Swoosh.
He looked up to watch her complete her flip turn. In those brief moments before she broke the surface she was ethereal. A goddess or sprite, living among mortals.
Splish, Splish, Splish.
As she returned to her strokes he focused once again on his sketchbook. The page was covered with images of her, as were the ones before it. For the last week he’d been possessed. His mind conjured images of her, and his hand recreating her form unbidden. She consumed his thoughts, his dreams, and his sketchbook. Yep, Gray Fullbuster, the school’s resident heartbreaker, was smitten with a swimmer.
Gray had often sought refuge in the upper seating of the school’s swimming pool. It was one of the few places he could sneak away to when he wanted to be alone. Up until a week ago that is, when suddenly this blue haired vixen had come strutting in.
At first he’d been annoyed, believing that she was one of the member’s of his fan club. The pool was one of his favorite hiding spots and if this girl had found him surely the others weren’t far behind.
Much to his relief the girl simply rushed forward and launched herself into the water with a flawless dive. She didn’t even seem to notice him tucked away up in the stands, and spent the next few hours doing laps in the pool instead, and Gray had sat watching her. At first it was just curiosity. Who was she? He was pretty sure he hadn’t seen her before. But slowly his inner artist took over and he found himself absentmindedly drawing her. Something about the way she swam just resonated with him.
He’d taken off before she stopped though, still a little wary of giving himself away, but the image of her submersed within the water had enchanted him and he just had to see her again.
So the next day, once classes were out, the black haired boy had rushed to the pool, settling into the same corner, sketchbook in hand. She arrived not ten minutes later, emerging from the dressing rooms in her single piece bathing suit, ocean blue hair pulled back into a ponytail. Again she flew into the water without a second thought to the world around her.
Of course it hadn’t taken Gray long to figure out who she was. The mysterious girl was actually a mid-year transfer student, and she and her best friend were the current hot topic to gossip about. Rumors were flying everywhere about her and the black-haired, piercing studded, punk; both of whom were accepted on a full scholarship.
Most of the rumours seemed to be falsified; like the one about the two of them being ex-gang members who’d threatened the principle into giving them said scholarships, but a couple were true; she really did beat Erza and Lucy last year at the state swim meet and had gone on to win third at nationals.
Actually it seemed like there was very little people knew about her. From the few rumours Gray could verify he knew her name was Juvia. He knew that she, and her friend Gajeel, had transferred here from a school in a pretty nasty part of town and that she’d been given a full scholarship but didn’t live in residence. Finally he knew that she was attending MAAA for swimming and dance; which, according to Lisanna, was where her true talents lay. Gray wasn’t sure if he’d agree with the last bit, but he’d never seen the girl dance so he’d just have to take Lisanna’s word for it. Though maybe he should avoid watching her dance, if she really was better at it than swimming Gray was pretty sure he’d spend the rest of his life drawing nothing but her!
Gray quickly pulled out his phone to check the time. 6:15pm shone back at him from his home screen.
Shit!
He never stayed this late, he’d been so caught up in thinking of how he’d met her and everything else about her that he’d lost track of time. He shoved his sketchbook into his bag and darted towards the exit a few flights of benches lower. Just as he was about to slip through the open doors a voice cut through the silence.
“Wait!”
Splash!
He turned to see her climbing from the pool. Water droplets slithered down her skin, tracing delicate curves and lean muscles. The sight of her like that had him frozen in place, memorizing the details he knew he’d repeatedly try and render later. He continued to stare as she stood up and made her way towards him, stopping at the first row of benches.
“Why do you keep coming here to watch Juvia?” Her voice was soft and hesitant, but he had no trouble hearing her. His cheeks blazed with heat at the implications of her question.
“I’ve been coming here long before you decided to start showing up. This happened to be one of the few places I could go to be alone,” he retorted, in a tone that was harsh to even his own ears.
Good job Gray! Way to be an ass! Gray sighed and braced himself, waiting for inevitable bitch fest he always seemed to provoke from members of the opposite gender.
“Oh! Juvia’s sorry, she-she shouldn’t have assumed…. I’m sorry for bothering you.” She replied, looking at him like a puppy who’d just been kicked.
Seriously? What. The. Fuck.
“Oi! I was just a dick, why are you apologizing?” He shouted. Yeah, maybe he should work on thinking before speaking.
“Juvia’s apologizing because Gray-sama wanted to be left alone, and was going to leave, but Juvia just had to bother him with her questions and now Gray-sama is annoyed with her and probably won’t want to come back to the pool.” She explained in a rush of words, clearly anxious about having offended him.
“Nah, look it’s cool, you don’t really bother me when you’re swimming... hey wait! How do you know my name?” Suddenly Gray’s back was up again, and he fixed her with a pointed stare.
"Juvia has English with Gray-sama in third period.” She squeaked out, and his frown deepened.
Wait. What? Since when? How could he possibly fail to notice she was in one of his classes!
"Juvia sits a couple rows behind Gray-sama... and Juvia probably wouldn’t have noticed Gray-sama was here, but a couple days ago Gray-sama left his sketchbook open on his desk... and Juvia accidentally saw one of the sketches….” Her words hung between them. Judging by the heavy blush coating her cheeks he knew the sketch she’d seen was of her.
Shit! Crap! Fuck! She didn’t just assume you were watching her; she knew! Okay, stay calm and don’t panic…. You just need to think of a reasonable explanation as to why you were drawing her. Not too hard; unless she’s blushing because she saw one of those sketches! Oh god….
It was a really beautiful drawing. Juvia didn’t think she looked like that while swimming, and she really just wanted to tell you that. Juvia’s sorry she made you feel uncomfortable. She’s not really good at these sorts of things….” Her soft voice pulled him from his panicked thoughts and he breathed a sigh of relief that it had just been a normal sketch. He studied the girl below him, still dripping, with crimson cheeks and self conscious stance. She was different out of the water, meek and shy, instead of passionate and fierce. It was easy to see now how he’d missed her in English class. She was the kind of girl who just didn’t want to be found.
S’ok. In case you hadn’t noticed I’m not particularly good at this either.” He confessed with a shrug, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Thanks for compliment though, I’m always a little nervous about other people seeing my art.”
“You shouldn’t be! Gray-sama is really quite talented. Juvia would actually really like to see more of his work…. That is if he’s okay with it?” The bluenette requested apprehensively.
"Uh, sure… but only if you agree to let me continue to sketch you, and not just in the water.” Gray could feel his cheeks burning as he made his counter offer. His heart was racing, hoping she’d agree, because even if she didn’t he didn’t think if he could stop.
"But why? Juvia is just Juvia, surely Gray-sama could find a much prettier model.” Her brow was furrowed in confusion and she was eyeing him suspiciously, like his request might just be some sort of joke or prank. It both hurt and frustrated him all at once. No one that gorgeous should feel this insecure.
“It’s like you said, you never realised how you looked while swimming. Maybe you just need to see yourself through someone elses eyes. You’re interesting, attractive, and passionate. Besides most girls seem to hate me once I start talking. I kinda like not getting slapped or cried on every time I say something.” It was a genuine smile that he offered her then, and she returned it with a brilliant grin.
“Well, if it will protect Gray-sama from getting slapped, then Juvia agrees!” She said with a giggle, and Gray knew he was a goner. Yep, he was gonna fall for her hard. But seeing her smiling up at him like that, the sound of her laughter, and that killer body, he really couldn’t bring himself to be upset about it.