The Perfect Metal

By: OblivionRose

Pairing: GajeelxLevy

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima and his wonderful Fairy Tail series.

Authors note: This was just a little drabble I did for a friend who's OTP is GaLe. They absolutely loved it so I figured I'd post it here for other GaLe lovers to see. Please Enjoy! :)

Levy never thought she would ever end up in this situation. She sat across from a silent Gajeel and a content Pantherlily eating a piece of kiwi fruit. How did she end up here of all places? It's not liked she asked for his help, but as she looked at him with a confused look on her face he just scowled and looked away. Was that a hint of pink on his cheeks? And why was Pantherlily smiling? Levy looked down at herself wearing one of his large black T-shirts and then blushed herself. 'Oh yeah, I'm borrowing his shirt...' It wasn't her fault she got caught in the rain. She looked at Gajeel who was still soaking wet and sighed. "Aren't you going to dry off?" She asked finally breaking the silence. Gajeel seemed to twitch as the bluenette spoke up. Did she offend him? Suddenly, he got up from his spot and headed towards his bedroom with a grunt. "Make yourself comfortable, but don't touch anything." He nearly growled as he left her alone with Pantherlily.

"What's with him?" She asked Pantherlily who only shrugged his shoulders and went to go get another piece of kiwi fruit.

Levy leaned back in the chair and sighed. That's right. The storm. It was really odd. She had been walking back from the book store with a tower of books when Gajeel came out of no where and bumped into her. Of course the pile scattered across the ground, much to Levy's dismay, but Gajeel did help her pick them up. Of course he did mutter, "Watch where you're going shrimp." Oh how it made her blood boil when he called her that. It wasn't her fault that he was freakishly tall! And she's of average height for a female, she's not that short. So of course she had to retort, "Well, maybe you should've offered to help before this mess even happened." No way would she let him put all the blame on her. He just grumbled some incoherent words, one sounding like "damn woman" as he picked up majority of the books. As Levy was about to take them back on her pile Gajeel just held on to them.

"Well, aren't you going to give me my books back?" Levy asked.

"Weren't you the one saying you needed help?" Gajeel responded, annoyed by her question.

"You don't have to force yourself if it's such a bother." Levy responded, thus starting a little quarrel between the two of them. Just as they were starting to get into a heated argument, the flood gates of heaven seemed to open up and rain began to pour. "My books!" Levy cried as she quickly searched for some sort of shelter as she tried to shield the books with her body.

"Follow me." Gajeel said as he tugged on Levy leading her towards a building nearby. Gajeel grabbed the other few books from her hand and turned his top hand into an iron roof to protect the books. Levy ran after him, thankful for him protecting her books, and at the same time wondering where he was headed. They soon arrived at a simple apartment complex where Gajeel awkwardly opened the door and held it open for Levy. She stood there stunned for a moment standing in the rain. 'Is this Gajeel's place? Is he really letting me into his home?' She thought incredulously. She was broken out of her train of thoughts as she heard him bark at her to "Get the hell inside!"

Once inside Levy looked around at the simple surroundings. Most of the furniture was made of wood to Levy's surprise. She would've thought he would have iron furniture. Then again, maybe he had wood so he wouldn't be tempted to eat the iron. Before she could observe any more of the surroundings she noticed a small black figure huddled underneath the table in a blanket. Recognizing the figure to be Pantherlily she ran over to him and gave him a hug. "Oh Pantherlily, it's okay! I think the lightning's starting to die down now." Meanwhile Gajeel had put the books down and went into his room to get something.

"H-Hello, Levy-san. S-Sorry, you have to see me in this state." Pantherlily replied as he huddled into her embrace as another lightning strike hit. However, it wasn't too comfortable since she was soaking wet. "Sh-Shouldn't you dry off?" Pantherlily stated as he noticed the girl's condition.

Levy just smiled and shook her head. "Nah, it's alrigh-" Before she could finish her statement a towel and a large black shirt were thrown on top of her head.

"Go dry off and change." Gajeel said bluntly as he rubbed a towel on his long mane of ebony hair.

"Ch-Change?!" Levy exclaimed. So what if she was wet? Why would she wear, is that just one of Gajeel's shirts? "Thanks for the towel, I'll be fine I promi-ah ah achoo!" Levy sniffed and Gajeel just smirked. "Fine. I'll get out of these wet clothes."

As Levy went to change Gajeel went through the books that were semi wet and spread them out on the counter so they could dry better. For the most part he had been able to save the script mage's precious items. He never really understood what the big deal with books was. He wasn't much of a reader: books typically bored him.

The rain still continued to pour down, but now the thunder and lightning seemed to subside. Gajeel saw Pantherlily relax a bit as he slowly came out of his hiding spot. "See any interesting book?" The black exceed asked casually as he noticed Gajeel looking over the random books.

"Nah, there ain't anything too appealing. Books are kinda borin' anyways." He said. But one book seemed to catch his attention. "The Love of Metal: A book for those enthusiastic about metal" 'Why would she get a book like that? I doub't she'd have any interest in any such thing... Though I wonder if there's any delicious types of metal I haven't tried in there... Hmmm...' Gajeel thought as he was about to begin flipping through the book. Just then he heard a squeek and a shy voice coming from his bed room door. He quickly set the book down and turned around. What he saw made him freeze.

There stood Levy in the large black T-shirt that fit her like one of her dresses. She consciously tugged at the bottom of the shirt making sure it was long enough. She had let down her wavy light blue hair so it could air dry. Her cheeks were rosey red from embarrassment as she spoke, "Th-Thank you for lending me this. I hope you don't mind I hung up my dress to dry." Thankfully, Levy's shorts hadn't been too wet so she was still wearing them underneath, but still it felt awkward to be wearing one of Gajeel's clothes.

Gajeel stared at the petite woman, shyly wearing his shirt and thanking him. He didn't know what was wrong but he couldn't look away. She looked... adorable. He had the sudden urge to hug and kiss and cuddle her right then and there-What the hell was he thinking? This is NOT something he should be thinking. She's just a petite dorky bookworm who always has her nose in a book, always enthusiastic about life, very forgiving and kind... Shit. He was starting to think of her in that way again. Gajeel was broken from his train of thoughts after he heard a cough from his feline friend. He glared at the black cat only to look back at Levy who had now come over and sat down across from him. "It's no big deal." He finally said as he looked to the side away from her, trying to hid the fact that his face now felt extremely hot.

This was bad. Gajeel was feeling these... urges. Why did she have to look so cute as she questioned him like that? He turned his head away again and scowled. A drop of water fell from a strand of his hair and he momentarily remembered that he was still in sopping wet clothes. "Aren't you going to dry off?" Gajeel twitched as Levy's melodic voice rang through his ears. He admitted he probably should go and change himself. He stood up from his chair and began heading towards his bedroom and bathroom. "Make yourself comfortable... but don't touch anything." He stated as he left to go change. 'I can't let her think I'm getting soft...' He thought as he said the latter statement.

Now as Levy sat alone with Pantherlily she finally realized that the books were spread out to be dried. "Did Gajeel do this?" She asked Pantherlilly who nodded his head.

"Yes, And he seemed to be interested in this book." He said as he pointed to the one Gajeel had been observing earlier. Levy blushed when she read the title of the book. That had been one she got in order to study different types of metals she could try making for Gajeel when he needed a boost. As she looked at the drying books she couldn't help but think it was sweet of him. Just then she heard him come through the door and now it was her turn to blush as she was greeted by a shirtless Gajeel in a pair of pants. She quickly turned to look at the book and recover her senses.

"Yo, Shrimp, somethin' wrong?" Gajeel asked as he noticed she hadn't moved from her spot since he left her. He would've thought a curious girl like her would've been wandering all over his place observing everything.

"Levy, Gajeel. My name is Levy. And I was just looking through this book asking Pantherlily if there were any types of metals he hadn't seen before." Levy stated as she looked at the book. She tensed slightly as she felt Gajeel looming over her, not out of fear but out of the close proximity.

"Well why don't ya just ask me then... Levy?" He emphasized her name to mock her, but ended up blushing slightly as he said it. He wasn't used to calling her by her name, it was more comfortable to just use a nickname.

Levy turned around and smiled at him as he said her name. "There, that wasn't so hard, hm?" She teased. "And I figured you've probably seen them all, why would you care?"

At this Gajeel just frowned. "I'm the Iron Dragon Slayer. Of course I care about metal, it's what I eat to get strong." He reached over her shoulder and picked up the book, looking at it above his head. At this Levy jumped out of her seat and tried jumping up and grabbing it.

"Hey! Give it back, I was reading that!" Levy complained as Gajeel teased her by putting it above her head out of her reach and moving it around making her jump for it. "Give it BACK!" Levy exclaimed as she tackled him with all of her might. She only managed to push him back a few inches, but that was enough for him to hit the couch and lose his balance. They both went tumbling over the edge of the couch and closing their eyes.

Once they opened their eyes both of their faces turned bright red as they realized the position they were in. Gajeel was laying with his back on the couch, his arms protectively holding Levy around her waist as she laid on top of him holding onto the book as her head rested on his chest.

"I-I'm sooo sorry, Gajeel! I didn't mean to-ah, you can let go of me now Gajeel... Gajeel?" Levy went from nervous to confused as she watched the Iron Dragon Slayer's face form a smirk.

"What if I don't want to let go?" Gajeel said to her, enjoying seeing her face turn the color of a tomato.

"Wh-Wh-What are you saying?! I-It's not like you can keep me here forever." Levy said surprised. She squeaked slightly as Gajeel shifted position. He pulled himself up into a more sitting position but still held onto Levy as he moved her so she was sitting comfortably on the side, his arms wrapped around her. He leaned his face down next to her and let out a small chuckle. "Gihi. You should see your face."

This was enough to make Levy mad. She whipped her face towards his, their mouths inches apart. She looked him in the eyes as they both had a heated staring contest. Then Levy broke it by planting her lips firmly on his. As she pulled back she smugly enjoyed seeing the shocked expression on his now scarlet face.

"You should see YOUR face." She said, though she knew hers was probably just as red. She tried to get up once again, but Gajeel tightened his grip around her and held her close. Her sweet scent filling his lungs and energizing him.

"Now I really can't let you go... Levy." He stated as he felt her begin to give in and rest on top of him.

Levy had to admit she enjoyed the muscular man's warm embrace. She felt comfortable with him in his apartment. She now was happy she decided to go get books today. "Gajeel..." She started to say, but was interrupted by a sudden kiss on her lips. She reciprocated and allowed the kiss to last longer this time. The warmth spreading through their bodies as they let each other know how they really felt for each other. Levy allowed one hand to let go of the book and she began to run her fingers through Gajeel's course locks of hair. When they finally broke free from the kiss they were panting lightly. They both looked each other in the eye: Gajeel smirked, Levy smiled, both still had semi flushed faces. Levy broke their gaze and looked down at the book she held in her other hand. "Let's find the perfect metal together." Levy said softly as she snuggled into his firm chest.

Gajeel rested his hand on her back and smirked. "As long as you stay where you are, why the hell not?" He said as they got comfortable sitting on the couch together to read their new favorite book.

'Maybe books aren't so boring after all?' Gajeel thought as he and Levy looked at different types of metal; Gajeel pointing out ones he hadn't seen before and Levy asking Gajeel random facts about the type he normally eats.

In the background, a smug Pantherlilly looked through the camera provided to him by a certain match making bar tender. 'This will get me a whole year's supply of kiwi...' He thought as he looked through the pictures he secretly took of the new couple.

~End~

End Note: Well, I hope you liked it! Please feel free to let me know what you think! ^.^

And to anyone who was reading my Fairy Tail Tuesdays fic, sorry it's been a while since I've updated I'm just taking my time making it a PERFECT GaLe/Beauty and the Beast cross over. I'd say I'm about 30% done with it so please be patient. I promise to post it in the future! Have a wonderful whatever time of a day it is for you!