Title: Pick-Up Artist
Summary: A drink didn't work. A book however… "Is this your way of hitting on me?"
Genre: Romance/Humor
Pairing: Gajevy/Gale
Note: Inspiration has struck! I know I have other stories to finish…hush. Nothing wrong with a few oneshots… right? Haha…
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or anything associated with it. This is purely fan-made.
He couldn't stop staring at her. Well, when all of the tall people didn't block her, of course. He had a thing for short girls…who knew? A little blue-haired beauty sat at the bar for the majority of the night with another blue haired woman sitting next to her who seemed to have a permanent blush plastered on her face. Gajeel tried not to openly stare; he didn't want to risk her catching onto him… or worse: his friends.
"Are you into her, or do you want to murder her?" Shit. The pink-haired idiot caught him.
"Shut up, Natsu," Gajeel glowered, taking a large gulp of his whiskey. He wanted to blame his burning face on the drink and not him actually blushing. Because he wasn't. "What do you know about girls anyway?"
"I know about girls!"
"No you don't," Gray chimed in, hitting Natsu in the arm.
"Why not buy her a drink?" Laxus suggested.
"I don't know her!"
"But you're trying to get to know her," Jellal stated. "That's the whole point! If it makes you feel any better, you can say it's from all of us and get her friend one too! It's less awkward that way."
"He has a point," Gray said, shrugging.
Gajeel rolled his eyes, but decided to give it a shot when the waitress came back to the booth they had taken a permanent residence in. He hoped his friends knew what they were talking about.
Right as the bartender moved to set the two drinks in front of the pair of girls, a blonde that Gajeel had noticed popping up throughout the night came and grabbed the shorter one, the other looking too embarrassed to join. When she noticed the drink, the bartender motioned to the table the guys were sitting at, and she looked back. He could see her face light up from across the bar.
"Well, she seemed to appreciate the gesture," Jellal laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry about the other one."
Gajeel facepalmed. Just his luck.
When he looked back at the bar, the small bluenette returned, hopping up on her barstool once again. Apparently her friend informed her of the drink, because once again they were looking back at the men. Gajeel took the chance to raise his hand in a small wave while the other guys weren't paying attention, but the look he received was anything but grateful. He swore he saw a small tinge of blush on her face, but she was outright scowling at him and turned away.
"Didn't stop you from drinking it," Gajeel scoffed when she put the glass to her lips.
"Excuse me," the waitress said as she approached them once again, sliding a beer mug to Gray.
"I didn't order this," Gray said, eyeing the drink skeptically.
"It's from your friend at the bar," the waitress giggled before walking away.
All of them quickly shot a look at the bar where they found the taller bluenette blushing wildly and quickly turning away.
"Gray's fan club grows," Laxus said lowly.
"What the hell?!" Gray exclaimed.
"Droopy Eyes scored a girl when he wasn't even trying and Metal Head got shot down!" Natsu laughed.
Gray and Gajeel both made an effort to push him out of the booth.
"Don't worry, Gajeel," Jellal said, patting the dark man's shoulder. "You'll get your chance."
"As if I want a chance with that shrimp again," he scoffed, chugging the rest of his drink.
XxX
Fate was a cruel mistress.
The first time Gajeel steps into a bookstore in months, and the blue-haired shrimp shows up, perusing the shelves in the fantasy section.
Why was she even there? Gajeel just happened to be interested in finding a book to read, and there she was!
He saw her pick up a book, biting her lip while skimming through a few pages. She looked torn between actually purchasing it or not. She sighed and slipped it back onto the shelf. Bending over, she picked up a small stack of books next to her and continued further into the store.
And that's when Gajeel realized he'd been openly staring at her just like when they were at the bar. That gave him a wicked idea.
He snatched up the book that he'd been looking at and tiptoed over to where she'd just been, peering over the shelves to see if she'd catch him. Seeing the coast was clear, he grabbed the book she'd been looking at and dashed to the register before she could catch him.
"I'd like to buy both of these," Gajeel said, quickly taking out his wallet at the register.
The cashier gave him a strange look when he noticed the two books he was purchasing were nothing alike, but shrugged it off.
"When a small, blue-haired girl comes up here with a stack of books, I want you to give this to her and say it's from me," Gajeel instructed, tapping the book with the fairy on it. "I'll be standing to the side over there." He pointed to a spot just past the entrance.
"Small, blue-haired girl?" the cashier questioned. "You mean Levy?"
"Is that her name?"
"I believe that's who you're talking about. She's comes in here all the time! How nice of you to buy this for her!"
"Just, please do it, alright?" Gajeel asked, to which the cashier nodded and Gajeel ducked away to the spot he said he'd be waiting at.
Gajeel cracked into his book, doing some light reading while glancing up frequently to see if she'd stopped by the register yet.
Eventually she did. Half an hour later. And her book pile had doubled in size since he last saw her.
"A young gentleman brought this up here and asked me to give it to you," he heard the cashier say.
"Someone bought me a book?" she asked. Her voice was adorable, just like her.
"Yes!" the cashier continued. "In fact, he's right over there!"
Gajeel looked up to see the cashier pointing at him and the small woman staring at him with a light blush dusting her cheeks. He gave her a small wave just like when they were at the bar. She looked down at the book in her hand, then back up at him, realization clear on her face. Then she rolled her eyes and stuffed the book in her bags along with the rest of her haul.
"Thanks!" she called to him as she left the store. Her tone said she didn't care, but the blush on her face never faded.
He was getting through to her; he was sure of it.
xXx
He wasn't trying to stalk her. Really, he wasn't.
Or maybe he was.
She was really cute, okay? And it's not like he followed her home or anything. He simply showed up at the bookstore every day the next week because the cashier told him she popped in weekly to find something new to read.
"She reads fast," was what the cashier told him.
"No kidding," Gajeel scoffed.
The next time he found her, she was in the romance section: a place no man dared to tread. Unless there was a really cute girl that he was trying to get to notice him in it. Like Levy.
Gajeel sauntered up behind the small woman, casually looking at the shelves until he towered next to her, dragging his index finger across the spines. When she noticed the shadow cast over her, she glanced up.
When she noticed who it was, she snorted. "You again?"
"Fancy seeing you again," he chuckled, casting his eyes down at her.
Shit. She was even cuter up close.
"I'd say this is getting a little creepy," she said, taking a step away and glancing at a new section of books. "First you try to be all suave and by me a drink, which is pretty demeaning to a woman in a bar, I think."
"I think most would be flattered."
"Then," she continued, "you somehow manage to find meagain and stalk what books I was looking at to try and get me to notice you again."
"You're welcome, by the way."
"And then, you come here again for another 'chance' encounter with me," she huffed. "Who do you think you are?"
"I think I'm Gajeel Redfox," he said, sticking out a hand for her to shake. "Nice to meet you."
"Smooth talker, huh?" the small woman said, taking in his appearance. "Is this your way of hitting on me?"
"Depends on if it's working," Gajeel chuckled. "Do I get a name, or are you just going to leave me hanging here?"
She sighed, giving him a small handshake. "Levy."
"I don't get a last name?" he asked, cocking a pierced eyebrow.
"I don't give my last name to guys that stalk me," she said, turning to leave. "It only makes their job easier." She gave him a wink over her shoulder and walked away.
He was stunned to the point of being immobile. She was good.
XxX
The third time he met her at the bookstore, he wasn't even being sneaky about it. And she gave off her too-good-for-you attitude once again.
"Gajeel was it?" she asked when he approached, not even bothering to look at him. "Still stalking me?"
"Look, clearly I have an interest in you," he said, awkwardly running his hand through his hair. "I'm not meaning to be creepy."
"I guess you're kind of cute," she said, shrugging. It didn't sound at all like a compliment when she put it that way.
"Hey, I—"
She cut him off by handing him a book from her bag. The fairy book he bought her. "I figured I'd run into you again, so I went ahead and finished it so you can read it, too. You bought it for me after all."
"It was meant to be a present," he said, staring at the ground. "A way for you to notice me."
"And here I am noticing you," she giggled. "I figured you should at least know what you got me. Just take it. You can give it back to me on one of your next stalking adventures."
His eye started to twitch. "Look you—"
But she was already walking away, throwing a wave back at him over her shoulder.
Grumbling to himself, he pried the book open to read the inside cover of whatever the hell she wanted him to read. On the first page was the real reason she gave the book back. "Levy McGarden" was written in fancy script across the top of the page followed by a phone number.
He smirked. She was really good.