From the author: Finally wrote this. After over a year. Oops. A gift for my best friend who has been waiting for this. I love you lady! -Amber
Based on the following prompt: Person A is good at strength-based carnival games. Person B is good at precision-based games. Together they amass a terrifying number of prizes before being kicked out of the carnival.
Brain and the Brawn
Spring has always been known as the time of year when animals (and some people) come out of hibernation and a new cycle of life begins. In Magnolia, the best indicator of spring was the annual carnival. It always opened on the first official day of the season and ended a week later. This year was no different and as soon as the winter chill had left the air, preparations for Magnolia's Tenth Annual Spring Carnival had begun.
Two days after the carnival had opened, Levy finds herself sitting by a window in the guild hall with a book on the table in front of her. From an outside point of view, it looks like typical Levy – reading alone and keeping to herself. Instead, her attention is focused on the activities down the street. From the window, she can see the Ferris wheel and the tops of some of the other rides. The open door nearby lets in the faint sounds of music and laughter.
In her mind, Levy is replaying her conversation with Gajeel from the day before. She had finally gathered a little bit of courage to ask the Iron Dragon Slayer if he wanted to walk down to the carnival with her. He had laughed before telling her that carnivals were silly and for kids. She walked away from the exchange disappointed and wondering if he saw her as a child for wanting to go in the first place. The whole thing was what led to her sitting alone in the guild, trying to talk herself into forgetting about stupid Gajeel.
Distracted by her inner pep talk, Levy doesn't notice someone pulling a chair up next to her, at least not until an arm is thrown around her shoulders. She jumps, turning her head quickly, only to find herself face to face with the very subject of her thoughts. Face turning red at the closeness, she attempts to scoot toward the window, but Gajeel's arm is practically made of iron and holds her in place.
"Hey, shrimp. What're ya doin'?"
"Reading." Levy gestures toward the open book.
Gajeel tilts his head toward it, before looking at her with a playful grin. "What's it about?"
His expression confuses Levy so she glances down. She realizes she hadn't gotten very far at all before losing her concentration. In fact, she hadn't even turned past the title page. Flustered, she reaches up and closes the book before standing abruptly. Gajeel's arm falls away from her and he follows suit. As she goes to step away from the table, she sees Gajeel shadow her movement. With the book tucked under her arm, Levy rests her hands on her hips, tilting her head up to look him in the eye.
"What do you want, Gajeel?"
He rubs the back of his neck and ducks his head slightly, grin turning sheepish. "Well, I thought if ya weren't doing anything, maybe we could..." He pauses for a moment, studying her. "I thought you wanted to go to that carnival or somethin'."
Levy's eyes widen some and she looks at the floor, cheeks turning red again. When she looks back up, Gajeel has his head turned slightly, hand still on the back of his neck but no longer rubbing. Levy could have sworn she saw a blush creep across his cheeks.
"But if ya changed your mind, forget I said anythin'."
"I haven't. But I thought you said it was silly." Levy relaxes her arms, grabbing the book before it falls.
"I was just teasin'."
Levy smiles as she puts the book on the table. She reaches out and grabs Gajeel's hand, tugging him toward the door. "Let's go then!"
/
The carnival is much more exciting up close than it was from the window in the guild hall. It's as if the entire town is there. The rides lit up and playing music as they spin. Some tents cover people selling all sorts of food, while others house different games. There are lines for all of them and Levy finds herself having trouble maneuvering around the people. Gajeel keeps a tight grip on her hand, keeping her from getting lost in the crowd. However, his long stride leads to her being all but dragged in a beeline for one of the last rides she would have chosen – the Twister.
Swinging bucket seats holding four people at a time are attached to long arms that connect to the base. The whole thing is painted bright red with black swirls meant to evoke the feeling people would have as they left it. Levy gulps as Gajeel hands over two tickets to the man controlling the ride. As they climb into a bucket with two other people, Levy is squished between the Dragon Slayer and the side of the seat.
"Don't worry, shorty. I won't let ya fall out." Gajeel grins at her, helping her buckle the thin seatbelt before doing his own. He slides an arm around her back and holds on tight as the ride begins.
About halfway through, Levy squeezes her eyes shut and grips the side of the bucket. After what feels like an eternity of being tossed around in circles, her seatbelt loosens, even though she could swear that they were still spinning. Her eyes fly open just as Gajeel is sliding out of his seat. He looks up at her, holding out his hand.
"Comin', Lev?"
Levy groans as she follows him off the ride, relieved that they hadn't gotten anything to eat beforehand. She wonders if she looks as green as she feels. Gajeel chuckles and leads her to a nearby bench, taking a seat next to her. After a few minutes, when her head finally goes back to normal, Levy looks over at him. "We're going on the Ferris wheel next."
/
Levy watches Magnolia shrink as their pod on the Ferris wheel makes its way to the top. "It's so pretty up here, isn't it?" She turns her gaze to Gajeel, who had been surprisingly quiet.
He's staring at her intently, but when her eyes met his, he turns away, looking out at the scenery. "Yeah, it is, shorty."
Their pod comes to a pause at the very top of the wheel. Levy goes back to taking in the view while Gajeel watches her from the corner of his eye. A moment later, he clears his throat and when Levy turns to him, he leans forward and plants a quick kiss on her cheek. Both of their faces go red as he leans back and the pod begins moving back toward the ground. Levy smiles, but keeps her eyes on her feet the entire time. When they reach the bottom, Gajeel is out first, offering a hand to her again. She takes it, but as they walk away from the Ferris wheel, she doesn't let go.
There's silence between them as they walk through the carnival, surrounded by laughter and music. Suddenly Gajeel begins to tug Levy to the side. She stumbles in the direction he's going and sees that they're heading toward a row of tents. They approach a game tent, where bottles are stacked into pyramids. The man running the tent is short and stocky with a big black mustache. He waves them closer when he sees them.
"Well, come on over you two. Step right up and see if you can knock over some bottles!" The man gestures toward a variety of large stuffed animals. "Knock 'em all over in one go and you'll be taking one of these home!"
Gajeel grins, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some tickets. "How much?"
"Three tickets for three tries."
Gajeel hands the tickets to the man and steps up to a table with three baseballs on it. Levy steps to the side as Gajeel picks up the first ball. He takes a moment to study the stack of bottles before cocking his arm back and throwing the ball. Every single one falls, either landing on the table or flying toward the back of the tent. Levy claps lightly, shaking her head and smiling at how proud Gajeel looks as he picks out his prize – a giant stuffed cat that bears an uncanny resemblance to Lily.
They move on from the game tent and Gajeel holds the stuffed cat up next to Levy. "Look, shorty, you're almost taller than it."
Levy rolls her eyes and continues walking as Gajeel continues teasing her. She begins trying to think of a way to get back at him and finally sees her chance in a game. Head held high, she leads the way to the Ring Toss tent. A table in the middle has rows of tall bottles sitting on it. The game has a lovely blonde woman running it and she gives the pair a dazzling smile as they walk up.
"Well, hello. Would either of you like to give my game a chance?" She holds up three rings of different sizes. "Try to get a ring around a bottle. One ticket per ring and you can choose whichever size of ring you like. The large ring earns you a small prize, the medium ring earns you a larger prize, and the smallest ring earns you one of the biggest prizes."
Gajeel pulls some tickets from his pocket. "How many ya want, shrimp?"
"Three." Levy watches as he hands the tickets to the woman, who then turns to her.
"Which rings would you like, dear?"
Levy grins. "One of each, please."
Gajeel folds his arms across his chest as he watches Levy step up to play the game. She starts with the largest ring and it hooks onto a bottle with ease. Next, she tosses the medium-sized ring. It finds its way onto a bottle and slides down it almost as easily as the large one did. When Levy glances over at Gajeel, he shrugs. Finally, she moves onto the smallest ring. She takes her time before tossing it perfectly onto a bottle.
The woman running the game claps once. "Well done!"
"Thank you." Levy smiles at her before looking at Gajeel. He has a look of shock on his face, but quickly hides it when she looks at him.
He shrugs lightly, grinning. "I dunno, shorty. Looked like luck to me."
Levy frowns, but before she can respond, the woman leads her over to a wall of various prizes. Levy picks out her three – the smallest is a mermaid doll for Juvia, the larger one is a hat that she thinks Lucy will like, and the largest is a stuffed dog. It's light brown with white and dark brown spots. Gajeel carries the hat with his stuffed cat, while Levy carries the dog under her arm and the doll in her hand. Gajeel spots another game – Balloon Darts – and begins to goad Levy into trying it, saying maybe she'll get lucky again.
Levy accepts the challenge, determined to prove to him that it wasn't just luck. She hands Gajeel her dog and the mermaid in exchange for the tickets so she can play. She approaches the young man running the game. "How much?"
"Two tickets for two darts. Pop a balloon with each one and you can win one of the big prizes," He gestures toward the wall behind him, "Or if you only hit one, you can get one of the smaller prizes."
Levy hands him two tickets and takes the darts he gives her, thanking him. She stands in front of the wall full of various sizes of balloons. She focuses and tosses each dart, only popping one balloon. She frowns, turning to Gajeel, who laughs. "You still did good, Lev."
Her cheeks redden as she picks out a fish shaped ball to give to Happy. Gajeel gives her the stuffed dog and mermaid back as they begin walking down the row of games. He suddenly pauses and looks at her with a mischievous grin. "Hey, shorty. We should try all of the games."
After playing each of the games, including another shot at the ones they already played, the pair has quite the assortment of prizes, most of them smaller things they're going to give to the others in the guild. People begin talking about the two carnival goers who have been playing, and winning, most of the games. When Levy overhears one such conversation and notices people watching them, she decides it's probably about time to leave. However, when she turns to tell Gajeel, he's nowhere to be seen. A moment of panic sweeps over her, as she stands there, head flipping around wildly trying to locate her taller companion.
Finally, Levy spots him. When she makes it over to him, his face is lit up like she's never seen before. In front of him is a tower with "Test Your Strength" printed across the top above a bell. Before she can speak, he already has the large mallet in his hand. He swings it down and hits the metal plate at the bottom, sending a small ball shooting to the top. The bell rings loudly and the lights on the tower flash. Grinning wickedly, he gives it another go when the ball falls back down. Levy isn't surprised when the bell rings again. She watches him go for a third hit, but when the ball doesn't quite reach the top, Gajeel drops the mallet, looking a little stunned.
"That's a cheat, it shoulda made it!" He turns to look at the burly man next to the tower.
"Sorry man. But you still won, so pick out your prize." The man points toward a pile of various items.
Levy's eyes widen when she sees the annoyed look on Gajeel's face. She stands there, a little shocked when he begins arguing with the man about it. Before long, two carnival officials make their way over to the crowd that has gathered.
/
Gajeel and Levy stand in the guild hall, arms full of various prizes and surrounded by the other members. They're busy handing out gifts and Gajeel is telling his version of how the man at the Test Your Strength tower cheated him. Levy shakes her head as Lucy walks up.
"Hey, Levy. You guys made out like bandits, huh?" Lucy smiles, adjusting the cute hat that Levy had given her.
Levy makes a face. "Yeah…But Gajeel got into an argument with a man running one of the games."
Lucy gives her a questioning look, so Levy sets down the prizes that she's still holding and sinks into a chair. "He thinks he got cheated. But that's not even the worst part. We're not allowed to go back until next year." She frowns deeply, looking over at the crowd beside them. Lucy covers her mouth with her hand, stifling a laugh as the others erupt into applause at whatever Gajeel had just told them. Levy sighs, but smiles to herself.
I guess carnivals aren't so silly after all, huh stupid Gajeel?