Levy climbed the ladder to the top shelf of the long line of bookshelves. She carried a handful of books with her that needed to be placed back into the guild library. She hummed to herself a little melody as she went about her work, content to living within her own little world, continuing to replaced the books that she had borrowed and searched for the next few books on her list. A dainty finger passed over the titles of the books as she searched for the correct name of the tomb she sought.

Just out of reach of her finger tips she found the title she had searched for. She leaned as far as she could, but still she could not retrieve it from it's place upon the shelf. Huffing her cheeks in frustration, she leaned just a bit further until suddenly she slipped.

She seemed to fall in slow motion, and the only thought she had was that she shouldn't have been so stubborn, she should have climbed down and adjusted the ladder. Her hair fell around her face as she fell downwards, her hand outstretched, as if to reach onto the ladder she had fallen from. Levy prepared herself for the hard and inevitable fall, but it never came.

Instead, she found herself being caught by strong arms and cradled close to a firm chest as a deep voice broke her from her shock.

"What the hell are you doin' Levy? Tryin' to get yourself killed?" The angry voice growled at her.

She cracked her eyes open to take a peak at who was scolding her. Lips pulled tight into a frown, and wild black hair tied back with a red bandana that made his ruby red eyes pop out, especially when he was upset... like he was now.

"Gajeel, put me down." Levy huffed as her cheeks inflated and turned pink with embarrassment.

"Oi, how about I drop you on your ass to teach you a lesson? Should have let you fall, maybe you would learn to quit making stupid decisions on that damn ladder." He proceeded to drop her a few inches into a chair nearby and stand with his arms crossed over his chest and scowl down at her.

"I don't need this, you know!" Levy stood from where he had plopped her down, stamping her foot against the floor.

Gajeel rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Need what, Shorty?"

He was taken off guard and almost stumbled back when she poked him hard in the center of his chest. "This whole act! I don't need a prince charming saving me!"

Staring down his pierced nose as her for a silent moment, he then burst into laughter at her words.

"Prince charming? Me? Do I look like a prince charming to you, Shorty?" Gajeel's hands moved to his hips and he made himself wide, as if letting her examine his appearance. And even though she could recognize him from a mile away, she still took the moment to indulge herself in admiring his strong physique. His biceps bulged and thick veins ran down his arms, weaving in and out of the studs on his forearm. His sleeveless shirt was tight over his chest and if she looked closely enough she could see the outline of his abdominal muscles.

In an attempt to not satisfy his obvious cry for attention she turned to the table where her work was spread out and pretended to organize. Though she couldn't just leave the words hanging without quipping back at him.

"You're right, you're more like the dragon guarding the princess." She grumbled under her breath.

By the time she had finished her sentence, he was already on her. Pressed against her backside, his hands crept around her waist and grabbed onto her hips firmly. She wanted nothing more than to melt against him. His breath was hot against her ear as he whispered, "That would be accurate. And a dragon always protects what is his, my princess."