Sparks

( “I’ll see you in the future when we’re older
and we are full of stories to be told.
Cross my heart and hope to die,
I’ll see you with your—”)
Laughter Lines
— Bastille

 

It’s been a few days since they’ve posted their entry online, and things at The Guild have mostly returned to normal. Besides keeping most of the decorated walls and doors as is, it was almost as if the whole 2-week video preparation didn’t happen.

All that they knew was they currently have days away from the deadline of the upvotes, but they were currently gathering a pretty good count so far so they didn’t worry too much.

Life returning to normal meant that there were only a few people in the guild during the afternoon. When Juvia came that day, the house was mostly quiet. No one was on the dance floor. When she reached the common area, there was only Evergreen and Bixlow eating popcorn and watching a movie on TV, Levy on her desk busy with her laptop, and Cana lounging on the floor by the bean bags and filing her nails.

They were used to Juvia dropping by the Guild to practice by now. No one else besides Gray had seen her dance so far, but they respected that enough and didn’t demand too much of her. They just told her that she can invite them over to see her dance when she was ready. They’ve all been there at one point or another, and knew how hard it was to overcome stage fright.

“Hey, girl.” Evergreen greeted when she noticed their guest.

Levy, who was in the upper loft area, also took at moment to greet her. “Juvia-chan! Here to practice?”

Juvia nodded, greeting them all a pleasant afternoon before answering the question. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

“Naw, it’s never too much trouble.” Cana said, sparing her an easy grin.

Then Bixlow sat up too. “Hey, didja see our vid already?”

“Of course!” the young woman nodded. “It was brilliant! The choreography, the shots, everything! Gajeel-kun also voted. Oh, and some of the part-timers in the shop. They liked it a lot and said they’ll share it to their friends.”

“Wow, thanks!” the man beamed. “Max is keepin’ track of the counts. He says we’re leading so far, last time he checked.”

Juvia smiled. The video and the routine was very impressive. They deserve the top ranking.

“Thank Lucy for that, really.” Cana said, chuckling. “She got Loke to retweet her link and his legion of fangirls picked up right away.”

Juvia blinked. “Loke as in… the Loke-sama from Glitter?”

“Loke, the dashing lion of the stage…” the brunette declared dramatically. “It’s so freakin’ cheesy it actually works. But yep, that Loke. Y’know, killer smile, superb vocals, sparkles…”

“Loke-sama and Lucy-san are close, even off-stage?” Juvia asked. She knew about Loke, he was the leading man for Glitter, and Juvia absolutely adored his duet with Lucy from the show. Lucy and Loke appeared a lot together in videos, guestings and interviews, too.

Cana laughed. “Girl, they had to kiss each other at least twice every night, five nights a week. Glitter was already on for 2 years before we recasted. They’re close, alright.”

“Didn’t they know each other even before the show?” Evergreen said.

Cana thought about it shortly before remembering. “Oh, yeah. He was a child actor, right? He worked with Aquarius-san and Lucy’s mom once when he was a kid.”

“He’s a pretty cool guy. Really chill, sometimes he hangs out ’round here.” Bixlow added.

Juvia gaped. “R-Really?!”

“Yup. You can ask Gray ’bout him.” the man shrugged. “They get along, those two.”

“Not too much, though.” Cana followed quickly, smirking a bit. “He might get jealous.”

Juvia didn’t know how to answer that, and only looked down, blushing. Although honestly, she wanted to scream ‘DOES EVERYONE KNOW?’

“Oh, and he beat you to the rooftop, if you’re here for that.” the brunette said.

“Gray-sama is on the rooftop?”

“Mm-hm, told us he’ll be dancing. Feel free to check out if he’s still breathing up there.”

“Won’t Juvia be disturbing Gray-sama…?” she asked, frowning worriedly.

This time it was Bixlow who waved a dismissive hand and a cheerful smile. “Nah, no way, he likes you ’round. Betcha he won’t mind if you watch him doing his thing!”

---

It took some more prodding from the others before Juvia finally dared to go visit Gray on the rooftop. He never really seemed to mind when others watched him dance anyway. Unlike her, he was confident like that.

When she got there, she was surprised to hear an acoustic track playing from the speakers. Gray was standing alone, barefoot in just an unbuttoned shirt and loose cotton pants. He was holding a towel in one hand and his phone in the other, eyes closed. He was listening to the music. He looked so calm and peaceful.

Juvia didn’t want to disturb him, trying to shut the door behind her as quietly as possible, but it still made a small click. Gray looked up to see her, surprised.

She quickly looked down. “Juvia didn’t mean to disturb Gray-sama!”

“It’s alright.” he said with an easygoing smile. “I was drawing a blank anyway.”

Juvia let out a soft relieved breath before she walked towards him. She set her bag down beside his things as she asked, “Gray-sama is dancing alone?”

He nodded. “Just felt like a nice break from all the intense group hip-hop for the past two weeks. I think everyone’s enjoying the peace. If we make the top five, we’re gonna be busy as hell again.”

“‘When’ you make the top five.” Juvia corrected mildly, a cheeky smile on her face.

Gray glanced at her and chuckled. She was always so meek, but sometimes she goes and reminds him that she has quite a fight in her. It always took him by surprise. “Right. When. Thanks for the vote, by the way.”

“Juvia is just glad to help. It’s nothing compared to what Gray-sama and the others have done for Juvia…” she paused for a while to listen to the music. It was a really mellow song, just a man’s gentle voice and a guitar, with occasional deep piano chords in the accompaniment.

((I will not ask you where you came from.
I will not ask and neither should you.))

“The song is pretty.” she commented, sitting down beside the speakers.

“Yeah, I’ve got the guy’s whole album in here.” Gray said, looking down at his phone. ‘It’s a bit different from his usual stuff.’ After another verse, he continued. “I’m not coming up with anything for it though.”

((Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips.))

Juvia blinked in confusion. The song didn’t sound like Gray’s genre, and he wasn’t exactly dressed for hip-hop either… but who was she to tell, really?

((We should just kiss like real people do…))

“It’s better for a duet.” he said, shrugging.

Juvia nodded quietly. The song was fit for a contemporary duet. A very romantic one, at that.

They fell silent as Gray scrolled through music tracks in his phone, while the song was coming to an end.

The music stopped, and Gray hummed a small tune as he considered a song. Juvia just watched him as he did this. After a while, he took a deep breath, then looked at her with a thoughtful expression. She tensed under his gaze, waiting for him to say something.

“Wanna dance together?” he asked, tone honestly curious.

Juvia sat up straighter. “W-What…?”

“You know. Dance. With me?”

“Juvia-… Juvia never danced with anyone before!”

He shrugged, already approaching her. “It’s not that hard. Let’s try mirroring. Just do what I do.”

“E-Eh? Juvia can’t dance like Gray-sama does!”

“You know that’s crap. I’ve seen you do your thing plenty of times now. You can outdance me with your eyes closed.” he said, stopping in front of her. He knew he was right, too. For the past few days that he watched her come up with routines, trying out different songs, all he saw was pure talent and a lot of improvement. He could hardly wait for her to show the others what she can do.

After putting down his towel and his phone, he pressed ‘play’. The music was already starting when he offered his hand to the woman.

“W-Why does Gray-sama want Juvia to—”

“It’s no fun to dance this song alone.” he answered simply. “C’mon, it’s gonna be real easy.”

“But Juvia doesn’t know hip-hop!”

“We’re not doing hip-hop.”

“Eh?”

Juvia turned towards the phone he had put down beside her and blinked at the song name. As if on cue, the vocals of the first verse was heard.

((You took me to your favorite place on Earth…))

She then blinked up at Gray. “C-Contemporary?”

He nodded. “We’ll take turns leading, how ’bout that?”

((…to see the tree they cut down ten years from your birth.))

That sounded like a crazy way to do things. Also, she had never danced with someone else before. But there was Gray in front of her again, offering his hand. He had seen her dance a lot of times now, and he had only ever been helpful. She knew she would have to do this in the future anyway, and didn’t she say that she was trying new things and conquering her fears?

((Our fingers traced in circles ’round its history.))

So Juvia took off her jacket and her sandals, leaving herself in her sleeveless light blue dress and leggings that ended just below her knees. She let Gray help her up and pull her towards the middle of the floor.

((We brushed our hands right back in time through centuries-))

“Ready?” he asked as they stood in front of each other, maintaining a considerable space between them. “Just do what I do, a beat after me.”

((-as you held me down, you said…))

Juvia nodded, unsure but determined. She had never seen Gray dance another genre. She didn’t know what to expect, but she trusted him, so she just watched him closely as the song’s first chorus started.

((I’ll see you in the future when we’re older…))

Gray extended an arm to his side in a sweeping gesture, followed by his legs as he spun around, and then stepped to the side and leapt. Juvia held her breath as she took this in — his form was strong and steady even though it was so different than what he usually did. He was… well, he was in a familiar element.

((…and we are full of stories to be told.))

But she snapped out of it quickly, following his lead to do the same movements, but choosing to move on the opposite direction.

“You alright?” he called out, but didn’t stop moving, following his steps with more turns, adding jumps and kicks with his arms spread wide. He didn’t add any small complicated movement, knowing those were better when choreographed beforehand.

((Cross my heart and hope to die…))

“Hai!” Juvia replied quickly, focusing on following his movements several beats after him. The steps were easy enough, although she missed some of them because she was busy with a turn. But she didn’t stop moving.

She filled the blanks in with a pirouette or a gesture of her own, improvising. Because if she had learned anything during the afternoons she spent coming up with a routine while Gray watched and gave critique, it was that as a dancer, her instinct should be to keep moving. Just because she didn’t know the next step doesn’t mean she has to freeze up.

((I’ll see you with your laughter lines.))

When the chorus finished, Gray said, “Your turn.”

He was surprised when Juvia sent a smirk towards him. “Okay.”

Then she started moving, doing a quick series of turns and then sliding smoothly down the floor. It was followed by a couple of rolls and somersaults.

((Changes on our hands and on our faces.))

‘Oh, that’s just unfair. I suck at floorwork.’ Gray groaned, but he didn’t want to lose this little game that he started, so he followed suit.

Juvia was unexpectedly competitive, he realized. Her floorwork was great — very far from the unsure steps she showed him the first time — but Gray kept up and if he missed some steps, he replaced them with arm gestures and some rolls of his own. Two can play the game, after all.

((Oh oh, memories are mapped out by the lines we’ll trace-))

The verse ended with Juvia getting back up on her feet, and this time she was the one to offer her hand to Gray. He accepted it quickly and let her pull him up.

“You’re enjoying this.” he said, eyes narrowing, an amused smile on his face.

Juvia just sent him a bright smile, about to withdraw her hand from his so they can continue the dance, but instead he gave it a little squeeze. She blinked. “Gray-sama?”

((-as you held me down you said…))

“Hold on tight.”

She yelped as he took both of her arms and moved them to shoulders, then lifted her up bridal style.

((I’ll see you in the future when we’re older…))

Quick to follow instructions, Juvia wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as he started a series of turns while carrying her in his arms.

((…and we are full of stories to be told.))

When Gray set her down, she looked at him breathlessly, hands still on his shoulders. He took one of them on his own. He only said, “Come on.” before he strode backwards, not letting go of her hand, and tugged at her lightly.

Juvia blinked once, got his message and spun, ending up pressed against him again with his arms wrapped around her.

Juvia held her breath when he bent down, dipping her slowly, but she didn’t worry too much because he held her in a firm but comfortable grip, his control solid. “Gray-sama didn’t say anything about partnerwork.”

((Cross my heart and hope to die…))

When he stood straight back up, she spun again, out of his arms, but she didn’t let go of his hand and he let her walk slowly around him, her movements still as graceful.

It’s not that she wasn’t used to physical contact — she’s been in relationships before — but she wasn’t used to it while dancing. The eyes trained on her embarrassed her enough, what more with another pair of hands touching her? But then, this was Gray, the second person she opened up to — and he seemed so experienced with dancing with someone, she knew he was sure with what he was doing.

((I’ll see you with your laughter lines.))

“Sorry.” he chuckled apologetically, this time she tugged on his hand and he followed her lead as she turned him around to face her. “Your turn now. Do your worst.”

((Ashen faces in cold breeze, ashen faces in cold breeze…))

She thought about it first, then bit her lip. “Juvia doesn’t know much about partnerwork.”

((Armed with stories you will leave…))

Gray looked at her, considering for a while. “Do you trust me?”

Juvia looked up at him and nodded.

“Wanna try lifting? Nothing too high, or complicated.”

((Oh, armed with stories you will leave…))

Juvia looked down at his hand holding hers. Well, they’ve come this far… and he wasn’t complaining about anything yet…

So she answered him by taking a step back and resting her hands firmly on his shoulders. Gray smiled and only said, “Okay, on three.” He reached out to hold her by the waist. “One, two…”

((I’ll see you in the future when we’re older…))

She stepped forward, jumped, and let him raise her above his head with his hands on her waist and hers on his shoulders. She let out a little squeak and had her eyes closed as she felt herself high up. He turned once, slowly — still matching the rhythm of the song.

Juvia could have sworn her heart had stopped for a moment, but with his strong, sure hold on her, she found herself with nothing to fear.

((…and we are full of stories to be told.))

She opened her eyes and locked her gaze into his as he put her down.

He didn’t avoid her look. “Another one, this time you can extend your legs if you wanna.”

“Hai.” she answered shortly, twirling around to spare some distance between them again, and waited for his signal.

This time he didn’t count and simply nodded at her. She ran to him again, and when he raised her, higher up because of the better momentum, she had her legs stretched in the air.

((Cross my heart and hope to die…))

Gray held her there for a moment.

Then he said, “Alright, don’t be scared. I got you, okay?”

She nodded wordlessly, looking down at him. She didn’t know what he was going to do, but she trusted him. Then as he spun around, he let her go, only to catch her in his arms just as quickly. She buried her head on his shoulder as he carried her and twirled several more times before letting her down.

((I’ll see you with your laughter lines…))

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Juvia spun around, leapt away and when she landed, made a series of graceful pirouettes, one leg extended to her side. When she sent him a bright smile, Gray quickly followed her lead.

((I’ll see you in the future when we’re old…))

When he stopped beside her, he held his hand out, and she didn’t question it as he gave her an assist while she made a high leap, an arm raised to her side, followed by a turn once she landed. She did the same for him when he followed.

((I’ll see you in the future when we’re old.))

To finish the song, he pulled her towards him by the hand and twirled her around one last time. As the music faded out, they simply faced each other, catching their breath, and standing a lot closer than when they started.

They were silent as the song changed. It was a soft ballad that was unfamiliar to Juvia so she didn’t pay much attention to it. She just lifted her head to look up at Gray, who met her eyes without hesitation.

When their breathing and heartbeats grew steadier, Gray was the first one to break the silence. “Well… that’s… something.” He raised his hand and tucked strands of blue hair behind the woman’s ear. Juvia blushed as he did this, but didn’t withdraw. “Been a while since I danced contemporary with someone.”

“Gray-sama was…” she started, but trailed off weakly as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. “Gray-sama didn’t look like he was out of practice.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding? I can hardly keep up with you.”

She smiled lightly. “Juvia wouldn’t be able to lift herself alone.”

Gray laughed then. A short, amused laugh. “I just hope it wasn’t a bad experience for your first time.” Then he finally turned around and walked away to grab his towel.

“It wasn’t!” Juvia insisted quickly, following him. As he wiped the sweat from his face and neck, she rummaged through her bag for her own towel. “Juvia would have to learn to dance with someone one way or another, so… Juvia is glad that it’s Gray-sama.”

He shrugged. “I just didn’t feel like dancing an old style all on my own, it sounds too miserable.”

“Juvia didn’t know that Gray-sama danced contemporary.” she remarked, looking up at him as she sat down beside their things.

“Why do you think I’m able to give useful critique to your dancing?”

He had a point. She always thought that for a hip-hop dancer, his coaching for her contemporary style was good and on-point. So she asked, “How long has Gray-sama been dancing contemporary?”

“It was the first style I trained for. Lessons and all.” he answered, sitting with her on the floor. “I was around eight or nine. Dad wanted me to play in the little league but I insisted I wanna dance instead. Mom talked him into letting me get lessons in a studio. But they died when I was eleven, and I got transferred into the system. Kept practicin’ on my spare time though. Didn’t wanna lose my training. I just self-studied hip-hop because it was easier to use on the streets, plus I met Natsu, Erza and the others. Usually I just dance contemporary when Erza needs a partner for a routine she came up with. But that doesn’t happen so much these days… ’till I saw you dancing like a badass and made me miss it all over again. So I dunno, today I felt like it. Danced a couple old routines I can still remember, freestyled a bit, then you came in.”

At this, she looked down, fiddling with her towel again. “Juvia must pale in comparison to Erza-san with her choreography and dancing.”

“Oi, your solos are brilliant.” he argued firmly, reaching out to poke her on the nose. “And you’re lighter than I expected.”

She glanced at him with a small smile.

“Erza’s just experienced in making routines for partners and groups… I’m not much of a choreographer in the contemporary department.” the man continued, resting his arms on his knees lazily. “In any department, really.”

“Juvia always worried about those things…” she said softly. “Group dance, not so scary… but duets are… they look pretty intimate, all the lifts and carrying… Juvia is not used to being touched while dancing.”

Gray observed her silently, all of a sudden feeling guilty. “Hey, I… didn’t force you into anything… right? Or… y’know, tell me if I made you do something you didn’t want to do—”

She looked back at him, surprised. “Ah, no! Not at all! It was… dancing with Gray-sama was… was nice. Some of it took Juvia by surprise, but… it was okay…”

He nodded, relieved. They sat in silence together for a while, just listening to the ballad playing from the speakers.

“Juvia should thank Gray-sama for dancing with her.” she whispered, just loud enough for her companion to hear. “Juvia wouldn’t have tried. Ever. If Gray-sama didn’t suggest it.”

At this, he couldn’t help but smile a bit as he pat her on the head. “You’re welcome.”

Juvia nodded meekly. She watched as he set his towel and a spare shirt behind him, then used those as a pillow as he laid on his back on the floor.

After a while, she broke the silence. “Next time Juvia won’t complain too much.”

“There’s a next time now?” he asked, looking up at her, a smirk slowly forming on his lips.

She blushed bright red then, quickly raising her hands and waving them frantically. “A-Ah, no, Juvia— Juvia doesn’t mean it like— Um, that is-… If only Gray-sama invites Juvia to join him again and— I-It’s not that— Uhhhh—”

He just chuckled as he shook his head, amused. Sometimes she was just too easy to tease. “You wanna dance with me again. I feel like I scored a second date or something.”

“E-E-EH?” She blushed brighter. He didn’t know how that was possible, but he was getting a live demonstration so he better believe. “W-W-Wha— That was— Juvia just—”

“I’m joking!” he laughed. “Breathe, man.”

That didn’t help with her embarrassment, as she was still blushing madly, but to his surprise her next words were “If Juvia wants a date, she will ask Gray-sama directly!”

He couldn’t believe how adorable that came out. He could hardly stop himself from laughing to ask, “And do you want a date?”

“Does Juvia-… Yes…?” she answered, but it sounded like she couldn’t quite come to terms with the fact that she was answering in the first place. Then she snapped out of it. “No! That is-… Maybe? Soon, but not while everyone is busy and-… Gray-sama, don’t laugh!”

“Sorry!” he breathed out, trying to contain his laughter. “S’just you won’t stop blushing.”

“Juvia is embarrassed!”

He sniggered. “I can tell.”

She pouted, looking away. “Gray-sama thinks Juvia is a mess.”

“No, I don’t.” he quickly corrected her. “I think you’re amusing.”

“Juvia is being serious!”

“Yeah, amusingly serious.”

She looked at him like she was either about to cry or just literally explode, there was no in-between.

“For the record,” he said, trying to calm her down. “If I wanted a date, I’d ask directly too. Good call on your part.”

Juvia wiped the upcoming tears and blinked at him. ‘Good.’, Gray thought. She was confused now, it was better than cry-or-explode mode.

Then gingerly, she asked, “Does Gray-sama have a girlfriend?”

“You haven’t asked the others ’bout that yet?” — because from his experience, girls usually don’t ask so directly.

She shook her head.

“You really wanna know?”

She frowned then, probably running out of patience. “Juvia is asking for a friend.”

He laughed. She was a goddamn roller coaster. Amazing.

“Of course Juvia wants to know!” she pouted.

Gray just let out another chuckle before shrugging. “I won’t be flirting with anyone if I had a girlfriend.”

It didn’t seem to faze her that he admitted that he had been flirting with her.

Maybe they both already knew. Somehow. They’re not exactly awkward inexperienced teenagers anymore, after all.

Instead she asked, with a very straight face, “May Juvia be your girlfriend, then?”

He looked up at her, this time it was his turn to blink. “You’re not very subtle, d’you know that?”

She just looked back at him innocently. “Juvia has been told that she is not very good at hiding her feelings when she likes someone anyway, and that was followed by ‘Give it up and just come out with it’. It was a bit rude, but still well-intentioned, so Juvia is following the advice.”

Well, Gray thought that was a very smart thing to do, as well. “Was that Gajeel?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so.”

When she didn’t reply, Gray knew that she was waiting for his answer.

He just sighed deeply before speaking up again. “You know I’m kind of in the dumps right now? I still haven’t found myself a job and I don’t have that much saved up. Cana will probably have to cover for my rent next month until I get a job and after that, I’ll still have to pay her what I owe… And the contest deal… We’re good but we can’t guarantee that we’ll win it and-… Whatever. I’m basically a really big loser at the moment.”

She shook her head fervently. “No, Gray-sama is not—”

“Yeah, it’s mostly my ego talking. It’s not as bad as I make it sound.” he said, looking up at the sky as he considered his next words. “But you’re a pretty and kickass waitress-slash-dancer with a pro career waiting for you — don’t even argue with me on this because we all know you’ll nail the audition — so… do you really want to be this really big loser’s girlfriend?”

The woman fell silent, but after a beat, she scooted closer to him. Then, she also laid on the floor, on her side so she can rest her head on the raven-head’s chest and still look at his face. She was trying to comfort him, he knew.

She said, “There should be a ‘right now’ in there somewhere.”

He raised an eyebrow as he looked back at her. “What?”

“It should be ‘really big loser right now’. That means it’s not permanent. Things will be better soon.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “You’re very optimistic. You know that too, right?”

She shrugged, shifting to lie on her back so she could look up at the sky as well. “Someone has to keep the mood up.”

Gray raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes. “And you sass me in scarily random intervals. What is up with you, seriously.”

But really. It was adorable.

He reached out to grab his phone because the player had switched to a loud, distracting pop song. As soon as he turned the music off, he went back to cloud-watching. Juvia stayed silent and patient, her gaze trained at the sky, but he can tell that she was feeling a bit tensed with the way her hands were clasped by her stomach and there was still a light blush in her cheeks.

He could stare at her all day like this, really. Maybe he should take a picture. She looked so pretty in this angle—

Oh, what the hell.

“Fine, you can be my girlfriend if you drop the ’-sama’.”

It was impressive how she could suddenly roll on her side to look directly at him, her hands gripping his sleeve as she practically shouted, “Gray!”

He shook his head, chuckling. “Yeah?”

“Seriously?!” she asked, shaking him.

“Seriously.” he nodded.

Juvia smiled the biggest, brightest smile he had ever seen on her face. Then Gray watched as she inhaled, dramatically closed her eyes, raised her hand in a shaking fist, and let out a breathless triumphant whisper of “YES!”

Gray didn’t know whether to laugh or thoroughly question reality, so to be sure, he tried to verify: “You know I saw you do that, right? You know you actually said ‘Yes’ and fist-pumped? In front of me? In real life?”

She nodded enthusiastically, still smiling her winning smile. Juvia just made herself comfortable with her head on his chest as he stroked her hair all the while shaking his head in disbelief. How does someone go from ‘shy helpless puppy’ to ‘badass dancer with mad skills’ to ‘actual awkward adorable dork’ in a span of seconds?

Yep. A roller coaster.

And all he was able to say to that was, “Wow.”