Normal people buy a new house because they want a better location or because of a new baby or whatever. Not Levy. She buys a new apartment for the sole purpose of having more rooms not intended for actual, living people. She's "expanding her book space" or whatever. So she's had her puppies, Lily, and I hauling boxes from Fairy Hills across all of goddamn Magnolia since 6am.
The sun is setting now and my arms feel like noodles. I guess I'll have to train with boxes of books instead of weights from now on. Anyways, the reason it took so long is because shorty has zero sense of direction. I have a better idea of where her house is then she does and she's the one who's gonna be living here. I'm pretty sure she tried to unlock the wrong door at some point.
"I can't stress enough how thankful I am for all of you strong guys. I couldn't have done it on my own. If you all want to rest, I can go back and grab the last box."
Jet and Droy were out that door so fast. Thanks to my enhanced hearing I can still hear them bickering over who deserves to get Levy's boxes for her and what not. Fuckin pitiful. I turn from the door and see her large, golden eyes looking up at me expectantly.
"Whatcha lookin at me for? I ain't a pack mule. If you need anything else ask your boys when they get back. I'm taking a nap."
I throw myself onto the couch and close my eyes.
"Okay." She says with a smile, "Make yourself comfortable. Lily, there's a crate of kiwis in the kitchen and they're all yours. You can either eat here or head home, whatever you want."
"Thank you, Levy. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
Ugh. Always a fucking gentleman. If he wasn't my cat I'd lay him out for constantly one upping me.
"You guys have done more than enough, honestly. I'm perfectly capable of finishing up on my own. Have a great night Lily!"
I watch through lidded eyes as he gives her a quick hug before grabbing the kiwis and heading out the door. She then picks up a large cardboard box and heads into her bedroom. Finally, some peace and quiet.
Not even ten fucking minutes later I bolt back up. "How am I supposed to sleep with all of this fucking noise?" There's been a lot of rustling coming from Levy's room and it's gotten on my last nerve. I shove myself off the couch and storm over to her bedroom door.
"Alright Shrimp. What the hell are you doing in there? Memorizing the fucking diction-...ary"
There's gotta be at least a hundred ribbons lying in neat, color coded piles next to where she's kneeling on the floor.
"What... How…" I probably look like the biggest idiot just stuttering at her doorway, "You wear the same fuckin headband every day?!"
"Gajeel! Mind your language. I now have a sweet old lady as my neighbor, not the Fairy girls. However, that won't prevent me from calling Erza on you if the sweet old lady is disrupted."
All I can manage to do is shake my head. Where the hell did these things come from? I know I'm not the most perceptive guy ever, but I'm not this dense goddammit. I'm sure I'd be able to recognize some of these headbands if she wore them before, yet I don't. Not a single fucking one of them.
"Explain." Is all I can manage to spit out at the pouting, red-faced fairy below me.
"What are you talking about?"
I point at the rainbow ribbon pile.
"Um, they're pieces of fabric that can be used to tie hair back or up. I wear them everyday, Gajeel. They're headbands."
"ARE YOU CALLING ME STUPID OR SOMETHIN?! I know what a headband is. What I wanna know is why you own a thousand of 'em but wear the same goddamn one everyday."
To prove my point - I stomp over to the color coded piles, reach my hands in, and throw a bunch of 'em into the air. The headbands that were once organized and neat are now scattered across the room. They're on the ceiling lamp, on her bed, hanging off of chairs, on top of the dresser, and everywhere else I can see. Heck, they're probably under the desk and bed too.
I glare down at the bluenette - who basically caused this mess - to hopefully deter her from making me clean it up. Instead of fuming at me more, like I would expect, she's standing calmly. There's a glint in her eye that I can't quite place. Gonna be honest and say it's turning me on a bit, but now is not the time nor place for that.
A small giggle brings my attention back to Levy. Her perfect little hands are trying to cover up the outburst, but it ain't working too well. In fact, it's getting worse. She's full out laughing at me right to my face!
"Aaaaw! Look who's red-faced and pouting now! Ooh! I have always wanted to say this. Heehee! *ahem* You look so cute when you're angry! Ha! Not fun hearing that, is it?"
I quickly steel my features as she wipes the tears from her eyes. The iron dragon slayer does NOT pout. This calls for vengeance. She doesn't have Erza to protect her in her house anymore! Lily and I can easily sneak in and shave off her eyebrows while she's sleeping! OR I can give her a private jazz show outside of her window at three in the morning. Shoo-bee-do-wake the fuck up! Gihee…That'll show her.
"Okay, Gajeel. Are you prepared to feel like a complete ass now?"
My evil plotting is replaced by utter confusion.
"What are ya yappin about now, short stack?"
"I'll take that as a yes. So, I'm not the most confident girl in the world. I'm small in more areas than just my height, unfortunately. From most of the world's point of view, I'm frail, I'm nerdy, and the list goes on. However, please don't assume I'm consistently putting myself down. Usually I'm perfectly happy with who I am and what I've accomplished in my life, but some days I need a little extra help to lift my spirits. Who doesn't? In order to remember these happy moments and the people who cause them I decorate hair ribbons. The first one I ever made was…If you didn't toss the pile I'd show it to you." She scans the room for a specific headband. She must have one heck of a memory because there's no way I'd remember the last one I made let alone the first one out of so many. "Oh! There it is! Could you grab the pink ribbon hanging off the fan, please?"
I walk past her and grab the only pink headband I see up there. Before handing it back to her, I take a few moments to examine the pink atrocity. First off, it's the obnoxious color of cotton candy and has poorly drawn rainbows and clouds all over it. I think that's what they are at least. The whole thing is so faded and stained that they could be demons and puppies for all I know. It also has this lingering scent of burnt marshmallows and moldy cheese. The entire headband experience is unpleasant.
"This has got to be the ugliest thing I've seen in my life. A six year old could've done a better job."
Gihee. She's pouting again. So fucking cute. I can't help but smirk down at her.
"Considering the fact that I was five, I'll take that as a compliment."
She stomps over, snatches the thin cloth out of my grasp, and pinches my hand, hard.
I quickly yank it away and pull it to my chest.
"Gah! What the hell was that for!?"
"Did I hurt the wittle Kurogane? Serves you right for saying ignorant things."
I cross my arms and scowl, hoping that makes up for my obvious blush. Judging by the smart ass smirk on her face, she's not buying my act. I turn my head to stare at the super interesting bare, white wall in order to hide any further embarrassment.
"Pft… I'm not hurt..."
"Okay, macho man. Whatever you say. Now, back to my story." She flashes one of her killer, heart stopping smiles at me. If I wasn't so mad at her I'd have gotten goosebumps.
"I first joined the guild- or maybe was adopted into the guild- at the age of five. I can't remember the exact circumstances that led to it; however, I do remember being completely alone. I remember feeling abandoned, lonely, and out of place. Fairy Tail was this huge family of strong wizards that I didn't belong in. So, I read and didn't socialize. Life went on that way for quite some time. About a month before my one year anniversary at Fairy Tail, Natsu approached me with a very poorly drawn book sort of thing. It was a bunch of scraps of paper with stick figures and what I can only assume were attempts at words on them. I don't really remember it because he set it on fire soon after. But, I do remember the stick figures and what he said to me."
A soft sigh escapes her lips as she strokes the worn material, obviously overtaken by nostalgia.
"There was a really itty bitty stick figure with wild blue hair that was supposed to be me standing beside a stick figure on fire with pink hair and a scarf. The figures were holding hands. He told me that although we haven't held hands yet that he wanted to and we could be best friends. He said he would love it if I would read to him some time because he wasn't the best at reading, but I read all the time so I must be the best. He really hasn't changed much… So, I opened the book I had been reading before Natsu interrupted me and started reading out loud from the beginning.
It was a story about ancient warriors fighting against an evil King. Soon other kids were sitting on the floor beside Natsu and listening to me read. Then the older kids and adults came. I had to stop before the story was finished- much to the chagrin of my audience- because it was a rather long novel, but I promised to continue the next day. Reading time with Levy quickly became a tradition and I became a part of the Fairy Tail family. I made that ribbon to remember my first friend and to keep my hair out of my face while I read to him. I know it's old and ugly now, but it still holds a very dear place in my heart. I can't imagine throwing it away. You don't see me wearing any of these ribbons outside of my house because I don't want them to get stained like this one did. I want to keep them in tip-top shape so I can have them forever and ever."
Holding hands? Natsu and Levy? I'll rip his flaming head off if he ever tries. Goddamn ribbon. Color of his disgusting head. Who the hell has pink hair?! Fucking pansy. Why don't I get a headband?
"Um, Gajeel? Why are you glaring at the headband."
I jerk my head off to the side and cross my arms in an attempt to look more manly than jealous. Hopefully it's working.
"Pft. I'm not glaring at anything. So, uh… do ya need help picking up all of these scraps? You kinda made a mess in here."
"I made a mess? Goodness gracious. What am I going to do with you?"
"You promised to feed me if I helped out so hopefully that and soon. Mans gotta eat."
"Yeah. Sure. Calm down, Elfman."
Levy drops to her hands and knees to pick up the ribbons on the floor while I collect them off of the fan and other high places. I've never held so much frilly, sequined, pastel shit in my life. They look cute on shorty when they're on her. That's it. Gihee she's so little. Bet she wouldn't even be able to reach these with the dinky step ladder she brought with her.
Woah. What's this.
In my palm is a black, velvet strip. That's it. There are no sparkles, stripes, or poorly drawn rainbows anywhere to be seen. When I flip the the velvet over my eyes are met with a blood red that mirrors their own shade. I turn to ask Levy the story behind this headband, but she's nowhere to be found.
"Shorty?"
"Ye-Ouch! You made me hit my head!"
I glance around the bed and see her little, sock covered feet sticking out from beneath it. Apparently I somehow got ribbons under the bed. Woops. Sorry not sorry.
"You're adorable, you know that? Any normal sized person would've lost that ribbon forever. Not you though. You're more than shrimpy enough to fit. Gihee!"
"Haha. Very funny. You're lucky I saw the sparkles from the headband because this just happens to be one of my favorites. If I lost this because of you… Well I'm not sure what I would've done but it would've been very evil and well thought out.
"Gihee hee. Whatever you say."
She starts wiggling backwards to get out from under the bed. On a completely unrelated note, I may get a nosebleed soon. Her skirt is not long enough for her to wiggle her ass back and forth like that. Oh, what I'd do if I could get a grip on that glorious behind. I might buy a thesarasus or whatever the heck it's called just to do it justice. What a booty.
The moment is killed when the rest of her body is free and I see what she wiggled so deliciously to get. Smudged blue and yellow stripes decorate a, now rather dusty, white ribbon that looks like it was dragged through a strip club. Waaaaay too much sparkle. Her honey eyes look up at me and ask permission to tell another story. Why do I feel like I won't be taking that nap anytime soon? Oh well. After a curt nod from me she begins.
"I made this the day I met sparkles are like the stars,get it? I thought I was rather clever. Anyways, I try to connect something about the person to each ribbon. Ooo! The green ribbon with the ship on it in your hands is for Freed. He lent me this amazing book about runes that sailors get placed on their ships. I do believe that was the first time he ever lent anything or even talked to me. I was so excited to receive attention from a fellow rune lover, especially one as powerful as Freed. That silver one with strawberry stickers all over it on the chair is Erza's. Teehee! It's honestly the funniest thing I've ever been a part of. We went on this mission where.."
She went on like this for hours, going through just about every memory for every headband. I just sat right next to her and listened, my thumb mindlessly rubbing the rich velvet in my pocket. She certainly isn't a great artist, but Shorty sure knows how to tell a story.