Scaled Interest
Written by Mugen7
"Curiosity is the lust of the mind." – Thomas Hobbes.
Everyday is a new day, and with it comes a surprise or two. Or more.
"Take off your clothes."
Gajeel's mind ground to a halt, several long seconds of stasis before he was jerked out of his torpid state courtesy of the red-haired woman's blunt request.
"What...!?" He asked, staring intently at her and thinking, hoping, that he might of misheard Erza, who earlier had been insistent that he accompany her without question to into the surrounding forest, where the pair now stood in the middle of a glade.
"I said take off your clothes..." Erza instructed, "please." With a bit more politeness this time around, her tone firm nonetheless.
This scenario was a surprise in and of itself, and was undoubtedly a reason for Gajeel to be wary of the woman's intentions toward himself.
Erza would only ever approach him when it suited her, their one-to-ones somewhat occasional. Anything she needed to say to him she'd say outright and forthright; never mincing words and never caring about who was within earshot. But her sudden request and evasiveness as to "why" he should follow her, only letting slip that his "faculties" were needed, led Gajeel to think up a number of things.
Most likely, out of everyone in the guild, he was best suited for various forms of labour; repairs and improvements to the guild at Mira's strong behest, building a new home he designed for Lily and himself from the ground up, and the lower end job requests that required some maintenance work; these had him reckon that Erza wanted a handyman, perhaps for the female dormitory or her room alone. If so, then, why not just speak plainly about it...?
He then thought back to Lily. It was no secret that he was his partner's personal blacksmith, and that he made an impression on Freed after doing some work on his sword awhile back. Weapons and armours were highly valued by the redhead; for combat means, as collectibles, and - naturally - for everyday use. So with that in mind Gajeel believed she wanted something forged or reforged.
Then sparring came to mind.
From time to time Lily and Erza would engage in a friendly competition of swordplay, and, by some cases, he himself had been worked into the equation more and more. If the redhead wanted a one-on-one then it made sense for them to take their business elsewhere, especially considering that if Natsu caught wind of anything pertaining to a fight against Erza, he'd very likely jump at the chance to get himself involved.
Gajeel was certain enough about her wanting a sparring partner that he went ahead and changed his arm into a sword, but he was soon taken aback. Of all the possible sentences to come from the woman's mouth, "take off your clothes" was not what Gajeel expected to hear. At all.
"... Why?" He asked.
Back flat, shoulders back, chin up and eyes forward, and like any other trained knight Erza's feet were spaced the appropriate width apart. Although her countenance was nothing of the proud and assertive S-Class Wizard he'd come to familiarize himself with over time. Her stance was too solid, so much so that her body tremored, which in turn caused her armour plates to rattle, and her eyebrows were furrowed and tense, pushed down against wide open eyes. Her lips quivered, and she blushed heavily, which was odd considering a red-faced Erza wasn't a picture Gajeel was used to seeing.
"It is imperative that you do so." She replied.
His head tilted, "Why?"
Erza deflected, prompting Gajeel to sharpen his gaze; he never liked not getting a straight answer.
"I can assure you, my request is strictly professional."
'Funny.' Hard to take her at her word when she was an anxious, red-faced mess. And based on her behaviour at present, Gajeel came to picture Erza as a red-haired version of Wendy.
'I might actually laugh.'
It is advised that people shouldn't assume. Ask and learn the facts first, as one would say.
However, seeing as Erza failed to be frank...
"You wanna act out of some dirty fantasy or somethin'?" He's well aware that the redhead is a downright pervert with an explicit taste for smut that she tries not to read beyond the sanctum of her bedroom.
'May wanna keep quiet about Lev lettin' the cat outta the bag on that one.'
The mage's imagination could rival Juvia's, and Gajeel didn't need to take a dive into the Rain Woman's mind to know just how wet and lewd her thoughts happened to be.
'Place is a damn blue-film studio I swear.'
More than once had Gajeel caught Erza staring off into space, the odd times catching a whiff of her arousal. Last time that occurred Gajeel ruefully smacked his hand over Wendy's face to block her nose; the girl could catch onto anything quick, and he DID NOT want the young sorceress erecting graphic images of her own, a sentiment both he AND Carla shared.
"Those erotic novels not doin' it for ya any more?"
Erza's expression darkened.
'Yeah... Definitely wanna keep quiet about Lev.' Though he wouldn't be surprised if Erza realized on her own that the wordsmith outed her to not one, but two individuals.
'Good thing Lily's not a gossip.'
He went on.
"Lookin' to Jill-off to a real guy than some work of fiction now?"
Erza was a bold woman, yet Gajeel never pegged her intrepidness to extend so far out.
'We are out in the open...' and it was far from unlikely that someone would simply up and appear, passing by.
'Wait...!' Their guild was home to a number of thrill seekers, thus Gajeel pondered over the prospect of Erza being the type of woman to find excitement at potentially being caught out in the open.
'Well I'll be a dragon's uncle!' His brows peaked in alarm. "Do-"
Gajeel's next query was cut short as an array of identical swords flashed into the scene and circled him, the tip of each blade aimed in his direction and ready to be launched at the frustrated woman's command.
Manic and irate, Erza sauntered over to him, sword in hand and raised to his throat.
"Take. Off. Your. Clothes!"
He deadpanned. "You're kiddin' with this shit, right?" Swords... Metal. "Right?"
She was not, and he sighed heavily, "Gimme a break."
As pointless as the manner of the threat came to be, Gajeel decided to slip off his purple cardigan and long-sleeved shirt, keeping everything below the belt on.
"Now what?"
Swords vanished, and Erza's contorted expression fell to a weight of calm; his lack of dress acceptable to her.
She stepped forward some more.
"You can still manifest your dragon scales, correct?"
It had been sometime, but he should hope so.
"Yeah."
"Show me."
Following her instruction, Gajeel perceived the image of a metal dragon breathing superheated sparks in his mind; an indication that his magic circuits had been triggered and his prana was being converted into magical energy. With exercised control and intoning a chant, Gajeel allowed his life force to breathe out, veiling him in a pure white aura. The aura then became dense, shrinking and coating his skin with a metallic composition that hardened into a desired motif.
Completed, smooth and metallic jet black dragon scales as hard as steel, accented with a soft pale glare clad his form.
He placed a clawed hand on his hip.
"Satisfied?"
Mandate fulfilled, Gajeel waited... and waited... and waited... and watched closely as Erza responded with an O-face, her rich sienna eyes sparkling as she reached out to touch and examine him like a child thrilled to have gotten a brand new and amazing toy.
Inches away, Erza engulfed herself in a brilliant light and unequipped her armour. Lithe fingers with noticeable callus and small palms lightly traced his face and slowly worked their way downward.
"Oohhh!" Erza was mesmerized by his scales; a layer of protection made to greatly overwhelm and defend against foes was a work of art in her eyes.
'What the hell...!?'
Neck and shoulders, chest and abs and sides, even his arms and hands; Erza fawned over every inch of his scaled upper body, oohing and ahh-ing throughout her exploration.
Before Gajeel had a chance to speak, Erza stopped herself, and of the opinion that she was done with exploring him, her curiosity pushed her further along, surprising Gajeel when she wrapped her arms around his torso, securing him in a hug.
"Haaa~h." She exhaled with a breathy sigh of content, humming a tune afterwards as the cool temp of his scales set against her cheek.
"For crying out loud..." it had been quite sometime since Gajeel last manifested his dragon scales, and he never would've guessed that their next use would be for such a childish reason.
"Hey."
He poked the redhead's shoulder, careful that his claw didn't prick her skin.
"Hey," another poke. "Scarlet?" poke, poke. "Erza!?"
"..."
His eye twitched. "Don'tchu fuckin' ignore me!"
He didn't sign up to the woman's snuggle buddy. Then again, he hadn't realized what he was getting himself into when he chose to follow her to begin with.
"What does it feel like to wear dragon scales?" Erza popped the question to him out of the blue, turning her face to rest her other cheek on his chest.
"What do they feel like?" Gajeel's mood turned sombre.
His scales. These scales... They acted as a driving force; intense energy strengthening his physical abilities exceptionally well; destructive force elevated to an all new high. However, Gajeel didn't like to use the black scales extensively. If he did then his empowered state would invigorate him horrifically, progressively emanating more and more of his aggression and leading him into a transformative state of mind where reason and intellect was greatly shirked in favour of primitiveness, coercing him into being more violent and instinct prone.
"They're cool... I guess." Gajeel had no intention of divulging the pros and cons of the scales when he still struggled to overcome their drawback, but it didn't appear Erza had an issue with his short-handed response.
"Hold on...!" his grim mood expired. "Is THIS why you had me come out 'ere!?"
Erza rubbed her cheek affectionately on his chest.
"I've held much curiosity to the nature and feeling of dragon scales on bare skin, and I have always wanted to own my own set of armour and weaponry crafted with the material."
"Seriously!?" He knew his reply was wasted, but it had been primarily out of reflex that he did so.
"A formidable armament that provides excellent physical and magical defence, as well as granting supplementary aid in boosting the wearer's natural capabilities! Imagine how much greater they'd be with the additions of enchantments!"
For a good while Gajeel listened as the redhead talked like an aficionado, speculating about different armour sets and weapons crafted with the scales of various dragon types and their benefits and so forth, furthermore openly making a mental note to have Wendy use her sorcery help spawn a "new masterpiece".
"Y'sound like a nerd." He said, breaking Erza's train of thought.
"And often-times you sound crude." She replied.
"Perverted Armour Girl."
"Abrasive Metal Mouth."
"Tyrant!"
"Brute!"
"Skimpy!"
"Dissonant!"
"The fuck does that mean!?" Gajeel wasn't dumb, he merely wanted the redhead to elaborate.
"You have an unharmonious singing voice."
Gajeel gasped and gaped at the mouth; thunderstruck! While the Dragonslayer readily accepted any and all praise for his ability as a songwriter, criticism towards his vocals was a resounding "NO!"
"Get the fuck off me!" He heatedly demanded with an attempt to free himself from the woman.
"Remove your pants."
"What!?" He yelled, flummoxed.
"As I told you before, I have held a curiosity to the nature AND feeling of dragon scales upon flesh. But I've yet to experience them against my lower half."
"Hell no!"
"You're right," Erza completely disregarded his comically-lined anxiety. "The experience will be more thorough through proper skin-ship."
"Say what...!?" Gajeel witnessed the redhead's form become bathed in light once more, his eyes growing exceedingly wide after it faded. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NAKED!?"
Erza reached for his belt.
"Woah, woah! Hey! HEY! CUT THAT OUT!" He chided.
"I must have full knowledge of this feeling!" Erza spoke with deep seriousness.
Gajeel didn't care; her gravitas be damned.
"Screw the damn knowledge and- OI!"
Their forceful to and fro caused them both to fall to the grass.
"Shit!" Gajeel cursed.
The female knight quickly took full advantage of her position on top of him and gripped the waistline of his trousers.
"WOULDJA STOP TRYN' TO STRIP ME WOMAN!" Gajeel howled, particular parts of his lower half starting to warm up.
He blanched as Erza successfully removed the rest of his clothes, throwing them away aimlessly, happily mounting him and set to rake in her reward.
"A man of your frame and vigour has nothing to be embarrassed about."
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"
Fin.