Chapter One: Wolves
Levy
"Hmm..?" Levy McGarden woke with a start as she heard a noise from outside her apartment. The clock on her nightstand read 2:24 AM.
Levy jumped as she heard the noise again. She inched out of her bed and pulled on a hoodie, determined to go investigate. Unlocking the deadbolt on the door, she opened it and the usual squeak of the door introduced the chilly night breeze that seemed to pierce her to the core. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her, looking around anxiously.
Bang! Levy let out a yelp as for the third time that night the noise was heard again. Creeping towards the source of the noise, Levy was shaking—and not just from the cold. She regretted that she didn't bring a flashlight but she barely had time to process the idea of going back for one when BANG! the sound came from right in front of her. Not able to see a foot in front of her, Levy stuck out a hand—then quickly withdrew it when the metal thing she touched scorched her palm. She sighed with relief.
"Just the radiator." She whispered to herself. Of course it was—it was cold outside and the metal would obviously be warping from the difference of temperatures. Her fear was merely foolishness.
Levy laughed at herself and headed back towards her front door. She reached for the doorknob but instead of it turning like what was expected, it stayed firmly in place. She had forgotten to unlock the handle lock. Panicking, Levy looked around for a key, but of course there weren't any to be found. She knocked on the door fruitlessly only to remember that she lived alone.
"I'm too tired." She told herself. "I'll try and get in tomorrow. Maybe Lu-chan will let me crash at her place tonight." Levy started walking the way she was so accustomed to, as she visited her friend, Lucy, all the time.
It seemed like it could have been hours since Levy left her locked front door and headed towards Lucy's, even though it was a mere twenty-five minutes. She was so tired. She leaned up against the wall of a building and rested for a minute. Two minutes. Three.
She slumped down the wall thinking that she might just stay here for the night, cold as it was. She couldn't take another step. Sitting, she pulled her legs up into her hoodie, which was miraculously warm from repelling the exertion-caused body-heat back at her. Though this warmed her torso, it did nothing for her face, which was tinged pink from the cold. After a few moments of uncomfortable exhaustion, Levy fell asleep on the sidewalk, leaned up against the hard, metal building.
Gajeel
The iron dragonslayer yawned as he traipsed home. It had been a long time since he'd been out as late as this. He stumbled out of tiredness, recovered, and glanced around furtively to make sure nobody saw. The cold air was silent around him. He finally arrived on his doorstep. Gajeel Redfox pulled his key from his pocket and jammed it into the lock. With a twist and a push, his door... didn't open.
He jiggled the key in the lock a bit more. Nothing. "Damn door!" He yelled with enough gusto to wake a dragon as he kicked it in. This time it opened for him. Ooh... he was sure that left a dent in the wall behind it.
Gajeel took a deep breath to calm himself down and prevent himself from wrecking anything else. Wait... was that...? He was sure he smelled something familiar.
He repeated the deep breath, but this time with a different purpose. It smelled like a person... but also a lot like paper... books. Also a hint of something sweet. That was definitely a scent he recognized. He sniffed around, nostrils flared and eyes closed to help him focus. It was close, very close. He rounded the corner of his house and opened his eyes. A bundle of fabric. What was that doing here. He stepped towards it, and he could've sworn it moved. A person!
"Oi," he spoke up gruffly. "You okay there?"
The person twitched, then let out a screech. "G-Gajeel?"
He recognized that voice. The one that went perfectly with her scent, though it sounded... off.
"Levy?" As the bleary-eyed form moved, Gajeel was positive it was her. "What are you doing asleep on the ground? It's three-AM."
The small, blue haired girl looked up at him, blinking rapidly. "I was on my way to Lucy's..." Levy started, "But what are you doing here?"
Surprised, Gajeel looked at her, thinking that the poor thing must really be out of it. "Sorry to inform you," He said, gruffly, "But this ain't Lucy's house, it's mine."
Levy's questioning stare greeted this comment. "I know this isn't Lucy's house. I couldn't make it all the w—wait! This is your house?!" And she was on her feet in a split second.
Gajeel grinned at her shock. "'Course. Why d'you think the walls are made of metal?" Knocking his fist against the iron building to prove his point. "Anyway, why were you headed to your friend's house at this hour, Shrimp?"
The miniature figure of the girl curled into a defensive position as she said "Um... I uh... I got locked out of my house."
Gajeel snorted. "How the hell did you manage that?!" He queried, amusement heavy in his tone.
"None of your business!" Was Levy's snappy retort. Gajeel watched as she took a wobbly step away from him, commitment showing on all features of her face.
"Oi, where do you think you're going?" He said to her, holding out an arm as a barrier. It was obvious the Shrimp couldn't make it all the way to her friend's house without collapsing. "How 'bout this: I have a couch you can crash on. You can stay at my place 'til morning." A faint tinge of pink dusted Gajeel's cheeks as he said this. He wasn't blushing, dammit, he wasn't.
Levy
Levy was shocked. Gajeel offering her to stay at his house? It was so out of character for him. Levy had always viewed him as the fearsome iron dragonslayer, incapable of showing any emotion other than rage.
"N-no, it's fine." Levy's stuttering was half caused from shock, half from drowsiness, "I'm going to Lu-chan's."
"That's another two miles from here." The dragonslayer stated in a monotone. Levy knew he was thinking that she wouldn't make it.
"I can do it." she said, although she wasn't exactly sure of that herself.
The hulking form of Gajeel scoffed, "Sure." His voice was disbelieving.
Pouting, Levy weighed her options. On one hand, she was really tired and a soft place to sleep would be heavenly. On the other, however, she didn't fancy spending the night with Gajeel.
Gajeel leaned against the side of the building, obviously impatient.
"Fine." Levy sighed resignedly. The prospect of a soft couch had won over finishing the trek to Lucy's.
Gajeel's usual wolfish grin spread over his face as he said, "Well come on in, the door's open." He walked around the corner of his house without a backwards glance to Levy, expecting her to follow.
She did, but she paused at the door frame. Gajeel, who was already inside, turned to look at her.
"Well what are you waiting for?" He chided, "The house ain't gonna eat you."
Levy stepped in. She had nothing to worry about, right? She was just going to stay at Gajeel's until morning and then she would find a way to unlock her door. Right.
Gajeel turned toward her with something pink and fluffy in his arms. "I swear if you ask where I got this... I dunno I just have it, okay?" He placed the blanket on the couch.
It was Levy's turn to laugh, a giggle escaping her lips. She laughed harder when she picked up the blanket and found that it was even fluffier than it looked. Gajeel crossed his arms with a huff and Levy stored this bit of information away to tease him about later.
She looked up at Gajeel, her eyes soft. "Thank you."
Gajeel blinked. "Uh... yeah. Any time." Levy swore she saw a pink hue on his olive cheeks as he turned and muttered a quick goodnight. "I'm goin' to bed, if you need somethin' just wake me. Oh and the bathroom's the first door on the left." He left through a door that was obviously his bedroom.
Levy stared after him for a moment. What an odd person. Then she sat down on the couch, taking off her shoes, and pulled the fluffy pink blanket over herself. It was really warm and she was so tired... Soon she drifted off into sleep.
Gajeel
Gajeel quickly changed and flopped onto his bed. He was asleep before the seconds hand on the clock had made a full revolution.
Levy
She was running through the woods, the sounds of snarling and snapping jaws coming close from behind her, but in fear of tripping she didn't look back. Suddenly, one of the creatures grabbed hold of her ankle, it's cold, sharp teeth digging into her flesh. She let out a shriek that pierced the night air around her.
Falling to the ground, she was able to see huge silver paws circling her, making a sound akin to that of a blacksmith sharpening his blade as these same metal toes scraped across the hard ground. She turned to face upwards, causing the glimmering wolves to snarl more. The largest one pressed a paw on top of her with enough force to shatter her rib cage and opened his jaws, full of large iron teeth that were sharp as swords, lowering them towards her neck.
Levy woke with a start, the pink blanket still surrounding her. "Just a dream," She reassured herself. She tried to settle back onto the couch but the image of those iron wolves kept prowling about her mind. Gasping, she thought she saw the glimmer of a long snout in the darkness, but it didn't move towards her. She shook herself mentally, remembering she was at Gajeel's house—the house of the iron dragonslayer—of course there was going to be metal lying here and there. But in this dark, she couldn't calm herself. Fearfully, she called out a small "Gajeel?"
Something moved near the wall, signifying that Gajeel had responded. Levy wondered if he was just a light sleeper (which she doubted) or if she had actually screamed and woken him up. Either way he had been standing there for at least a bit before she called for him.
"Levy? What's wrong? Are you okay?" His voice was worried.
Levy knew that even though it was dark, Gajeel's dragonslayer eyes would easily spot her own wide ones. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." She said, although obviously not as she pulled the blanket up to her eyes and was shaking. "Hey, Gajeel?"
"What is it, Shrimp?" His voice was extremely gentle compared to the tough guy act he put on around others.
"Do you have a candle... or a small light of some sort?" Levy asked. She didn't think she'd be able to fall back asleep in the looming darkness. Especially not with wolves about.
"No." Gajeel answered. Levy suspected it was because of aforementioned eyesight that he had no need for such items. "What happened?"
"N-nothing happened!" Levy retorted, a bit too defensively to sound truthful. She glanced at the clock. 4:30 AM precisely. Crossing her arms, she said, "You can go back to bed." Convinced she would get no more than an hour and a half of sleep that night, Levy was planning to just stay up until dawn.
Gajeel
Gajeel could tell that Levy wasn't 'fine' as she said she was. She had woken up at past four in the morning after screaming, she was shaking, and she was asking for a light. She was not 'fine.'
He sat down on the couch beside her, "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong."
Levy pouted. "It was just a dream. As I said: nothing happened."
Gajeel looked at the girl. "So, a nightmare." He concluded. The girl nodded.
"You planning on going back to sleep?" the dragonslayer asked her.
"Maybe. If..." Levy's voice trailed off as she shook her head.
"If?" Gajeel asked, having no idea what she was going to say.
"If you stayed here." The blush on Levy's face was apparent. After a second she added, "N-not that you need to. Go ahead and go if you want."
Gajeel grinned, "I ain't going anywhere, this is my house after all." He made no move to stand.
Levy curled back up and for several moments there was silence. Gajeel was almost asleep when Levy's voice asked, "Are you still there?"
"Mhm." He said, too tired to answer properly.
"Um..." Levy said, "Is it okay if I do this? Just so I know you haven't left." Levy's hand found his arm and worked it's way down until she left it, holding onto his hand.
Gajeel felt his face heat up but he made no attempt to hide the blush. Levy, with her normal eyesight, wouldn't be able to see anyway. "Sure, that's fine."
After a few minutes of silence, Gajeel whispered, "You awake, Shrimp?" And upon receiving no response he took that to mean no. Carefully so as not to wake her, he turned his own hand to hold Levy's. Thinking about just how tiny she was, he drifted off into sleep.
Levy
Levy was still asleep by the time Gajeel's alarm went off in the morning. She had slept peacefully once the dragonslayer had sat next to her. The wolves hadn't come back.