A/N: I'm such a procrastinator it isn't even funny. I actually wrote this story about two weeks ago, but I may have accidentally restarted my laptop and deleted the whole thing because I'm a total fool. Alright, let's get to the business. Firstly, if there is already a fanfic similar to this one, message me and I'll take it down. Secondly, I do not proof read my writing or have a beta reader, so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Thirdly, my English sucks. And lastly, enjoy! ^-^
By the way, friendly reminder! Set right after the X791 arc – approximately three weeks before the Key of the Starry Sky, or the filler arc.
Entertainment
Chapter One: Meanings
The crimson eyes of Gajeel Redfox carelessly scanned the request board as he desperately tried to select a mission which he would attempt with alacrity. Pantherlily, his trustworthy Exceed had usually assisted him with doing so, but had decided to complete the "Exceed Squad", as he referred to it, and casually left the guild with an excited Happy and a reluctant Charla, bidding the Iron Dragon Slayer farewell as he did so. The said man had allowed himself to create a mental note of making the feline beg for clemency when he finally returns, before reluctantly turning to face the hanging mission requests once more.
Surprisingly, the guild had been unusually silent – Salamander and his bunny-loving partner decided to settle upon a more challenging mission and were gone for at least two weeks already. The Sky Sorceress had joined the other blunette and the two members of Shadow Gear for a mission. Titania practically dragged the somnolent Gray to support her on a borderline S-Class mission. Lisanna could be seen sprinting around the guild with the oldest Strauss sibling, repeatedly handing beer pints to the Fourth Master and his adviser who despite drinking them almost immediately were still no competition for Cana Alberona. The said drinker's father, Gildarts, still hadn't been expected to return for quite a while. Reedus had uncommunicatively dragged the paintbrush across his canvas, trying his best to highlight Kinana and Laki's facial features.
Gajeel had gotten too attached to the cacophony his comrades usually caused.
The black-haired Dragon Slayer had spotted a decent-looking request from his peripheral vision and focused his vision on the letters he couldn't decipher. He could easily make out the reward price – it was a large number, he had noticed – but had multiple troubles with reading the mission's summary. Because even if Gajeel Redfox, the powerful Fairy Tail member refused to confess, Metalicana had forgotten to teach him how to read or write before his disappearance.
"Fucking dragon - If I ever find the bastard, I'll kick his metallic ass beyond Heartfilia's constellations." He growled. Without glancing at the paper again, he simply snatched it from the board and allowed the wind – caused by the repeatedly opened guild gates – to subtly flutter the request as he raised his arm for a certain person to notice it. "Ay, Mirajane! I'm taking this request."
The barmaid simply nodded; the gesture was to confirm her acknowledgment and the guild's main entrance had swung open once more. Gajeel muttered a small greeting to the bypassing Alzack, Bisca and their daughter, Asuka, before turning in the opposite direction and walking away from the building. Though the said man was clueless about the destination, he irresponsibly approached the train station where he planned to ask for directions; he had only intended to avoid Shadow Gear or Team Natsu as their arrival had been estimated this week.
Unfortunately, the moment he had spotted a bundle of salmon hair and blonde ponytails sunk his hopes. And the soon discovered presence of two blunettes exacerbated his situation.
"Gajeel-san!" the youngest of all, Wendy, had unexpectedly spoken first. "You're heading out for a mission all by yourself? I assume that Lily, Happy and Charle hadn't returned from wherever they went yet?"
"No, they hadn't." The Iron Dragon Slayer grunted, altering his attitude to prevent intimidating the youngest of his kind.
Instead of muttering a reasonable welcome, Natsu's eyes had averted to the job request. "Yo, Gajeel! Why are you going on a mission like this? Unless you're planning on taking Levy as your partner, there's no use. You're nowhere near being able to solve ancient writing or solve a…extra-terrestrial – whatever that actually means – puzzle. You're a Dragon Slayer, not someone who can handle extrarasial things!"
"I heard my name being mentioned," The solid script mage said, frowning at the former for his pronunciation. "Do you need my assistance?"
Gajeel ignored Levy, failing to acknowledge her voice due to Natsu's loud screams of decrial. "Shut up, Salamander. You probably don't know what ya read." He turned to face Lucy. "Bunny girl, how did your mission go?"
Though grimacing at the nickname, Lucy replied. "If missing out his," she pointed in the salmon-haired teen's direction. "Conflagration consuming at least five buildings and not even getting a small share of the reward money, our mission went quite well." She too glanced at Gajeel's request after her companion had dropped the paper. "You seem to be looking for a partner that's suitable for the job. Speaking of partners, I think that Levy-chan would be perfect for that one. You know, Natsu did read the description right. At least he had taken my reading lessons into consideration; Erza wouldn't be happy if she found out that he forgot what she had taught him years ago. Oh my, I'm drifting off subject, aren't I?"
Ignoring the fellow Dragon Slayer's comment on how the blonde had been as ferocious and intimidating as the scarlet knight when doing so, Gajeel nodded wordlessly and instantaneously caused the Stellar Spirit mage to stop speaking. His irritation seemed infinite – that damned Exceed would definitely regret abandoning his partner.
"Thanks for the concern, but I don't need a partner. Even if short stuff over there would actually prove useful, I'm independent. I hadn't relied on anything since that shitty excuse for a father had left me. Even if Lily isn't here, I'll manage the mission."
And with that, he left a stunned Lucy, a perplexed Wendy, a distracted Natsu, an enlightened Levy and the bickering remains of team Shadow Gear behind.
He had surprisingly drifted away from the train station and found himself mindlessly switching the destination to his usual training grounds. The black-haired mage had felt slight – though unexplainable – exhilaration as the two teams had arrived in Magnolia, even if it was soon dimmed by the fact that Natsu Dragneel; the Salamander and a teenager with the potential to be an S-Class mage, had managed to accomplish something he had been desperate to learn, even if he had succeeded with the help of another individual.
Gajeel had promptly removed the thoughts from his brain as he recognized a tremendously familiar scent wafting in the morning air. He had been familiar with it before joining Fairy Tail, however he couldn't reminiscence it; it was a strangely delicate scent which practically played with his senses as its possessor approached him.
"Alright, this is stupid. Whoever you are, show yourself before I find ya." He groaned in irritation, convinced that the mysterious follower wouldn't reveal themselves anyway. Seconds later, Gajeel turned around and tracked the fragrance.
"Sorry, Gajeel…I heard your little conversation with Natsu and accidentally left Jet and Droy to accidentally follow you…" A voice which the addressed man heard numerous times had spoken, though it would have been impossible to hear if his Dragon Slayer hearing senses hadn't been activated.
"Shrimp, I'll accidentally forget about this if ya show yourself."
He could distinctly see a glimpse of orange emerging from behind the bushes, preceded by slightly messy, blue hair. Levy grinned sheepishly at the dark-haired mage and a small blush triggered by the embarrassment appeared on her face.
"So, care to explain why ya stalked me, short stuff?" Gajeel questioned the small female and observed as she grew nervous once again.
"You see, I thought that you seemed quite angry and decided to investigate before you tore Natsu into pieces." She answered firmly, and then paused. "You hadn't explained why you were furious, though. Lu-chan mentioned something about reading, so I thought I'd help…"
A frown appeared on his face. "Help? I don't need your help, shrimp; I don't need help at all."
Levy laughed lightly. "You're not being honest with me, are you?"
Sighing, the Iron Dragon Slayer significantly gave up. "No, I'm not and I won't be in this case. I chose a mission that I'd be able to do without Lily – I wouldn't go for something harder than Bunny Girl and Salamander can't even try without screwing' up."
"Alright, then. Would you at least summarize the request to me?"
"I swear, if you're that pleasant to those morons on your team," he took a breath and shook his head. "Then I don't blame them for listening to ya-"
She only seemed to laugh at his statement. "First of all, don't call me intimidating. I'm nothing in comparison to Erza and her power. Second of all, don't change the subject, Gajeel. I happen to be more observant than you think."
He considered himself defeated before the words completely slid off her tongue, and although he refused to admit, competing with words against the brittle-looking blunette would be equivalent to a verbal violation; hell, he couldn't understand half of the things she said, let alone think of anything to say that met those standards.
"Fine, I'll tell you. But if you ever bring this up when in the guild or speak of it when you're on a mission with the fools, ya'll be thanking me if I letcha go without revenge."
Levy grinned brightly at her dark-haired comrade. "Magnificent! Now, would you mind getting to the point?"
"Shrimp, I swear, if you laugh once-" He paused, sensing that he had drifted away from the subject more than intended. "I can't read."
The Solid Script mage appeared shocked at first, though her expression soon transformed into a determined one. "You'd like to be able to read, wouldn't you? If yes, then I'd like to be the one who teaches you!"
Small shouts of encouragement and something that sounded like an exhausted series of moans were emitting from the Fairy Hills building. The first voice was practically inaudible as the following one – this one being masculine, which had been an even bigger surprise to find in a female dormitory – completely overpowered it. Fortunately for the two, none of the occupants were in the said building.
"What the hell?! How can a small thing like you have so many fucking books in one place and expect me to carry them all?!" Gajeel yelped, feeling the weight of Levy's 'necessary teaching bases' getting to him.
"You're probably one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail and you're complaining about carrying thirteen books. Besides, weren't you the one who suggested temporarily moving in for the time being?" She shot back, chuckling in the process.
The Dragon Slayer cursed silently, not wanting the bookworm to comment on his foul language. Gajeel had indeed recommended for her to be accommodated at his house, even if he couldn't find a particular reason for it – the most reasonable explanation was the fact that she had already sacrificed her time and this was a form of his appreciation.
"You're lucky that my place's nearby or I wouldn't drag those things without a damned wheelbarrow." He complained once more, envious of the blue-haired girl who had carelessly walked behind him.
"And you're lucky to have someone like me as your teacher." Levy suddenly said, the words trailing off into nothingness. "Truthfully, when Lu-chan discovered that Natsu couldn't read her interpretation of him for the new chapter of her novel, she really did resemble Erza during her darkest moments."
"Remember, ya won't control me like you do with those…"
"Excuse me? Were you saying something?" The confused female questioned, shooting the former a worrying glance, then stopping right in her tracks.
Gajeel decided to surrender for the moment. "No, I weren't. But I wouldn't mind if you chose to walk faster. We won't reach the house 'till midnight like this."
"You shouldn't be talking – a tortoise could be a rocket in comparison to your pace." Levy mumbled to herself, ignoring the almost identical glare the Iron Dragon Slayer had received from her.
To say that she was mesmerised when Gajeel had unlocked the door and revealed his house was an understatement; though the floorboards were casually covered with scraps of metal and clothes were scattered around the whole place, the house he resided in appeared spotless otherwise. Still surprised, she turned and faced the black-haired man to witness him dropping her belongings onto the spare mattress which lay beside the enormous bed.
"You hadn't been expecting a different guest, have you?" The blunette sighed, nervously fidgeting with the zip of her bag.
Gajeel's eyes averted from her to the bedding. "Nah, don't worry – Lily sleeps there, but the bastard will be friends with the outside world until I get a decent apology for leavin' me behind."
"Charming," She added to her previous question, then asked another as a form of continuing their conversation. "So, am I going to receive a tour of your house, or am I forced to educate you immediately?"
"Nah, short stuff, I'll show you 'round. But to start with, what the fuck does extrarastial mean? Salamander said that nonsense when reading the request." He queried.
Levy couldn't help but giggle at Gajeel's statement. "It looks like Natsu will be receiving another lesson from Lu-chan in the nearest future…"