"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment." Lucy informed Gray with total sincerity. "Juvia is a lady, so it's natural for her to be so…" She paused.

"Stalker-ish?" The ice mage dead-panned.

"I was going to say 'devoted'."

"Uh-huh."

The Celestial Mage rolled her eyes at her friend. "Back to the subject at hand, Juvia is so devoted because she cares deeply for you. I don't think she's had a lot of love on her life, and maybe, she doesn't know how to properly express what she feels for you, so it comes out as stalker-ish and a little crazy."

Gray was silent for a moment, mulling that over. He glared at the beer in his hands, as if to glean answers from the amber liquid, but to no avail. "You really think that's the case?"

The blonde nodded silently. "You should be nicer to her."

"GRAY-SAMA~!"

Gray made a choking noise as Juvia suddenly appeared next to him, throwing her arms around his body in a hug whose strength a boa constrictor would envy. The blunette gave the ice mage's companion a filthy look. "Love-rival."

"I-IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"