Levy followed Gajeel as he walked along the street, nervously playing with the tips of her hair. She was pretty sure that the dragon slayer wasn't seeing this as a date, but she couldn't help but imagine that it was anyway. She had wanted Gajeel to notice her as a woman for a long time, so she might as well fully enjoy this evening. Even if he was just taking her to dinner because he felt guilty for losing her on their last job. He and Panther Lily had taken off full speed after the burglar they were chasing, leaving Levy completely alone in their wake. She had been left to wander around the unfamiliar city for hours until they had found each other again. She had been irate by then, and Gajeel had quickly soothed Levy with the promise of taking her to a nice dinner to make it up to her when they got back.
Despite these circumstances, Levy was just thrilled to be on this "date" with the man she loved. Even if he didn't notice she was female. She sighed a little to herself. Maybe it was just the destiny of dragon slayers to be completely clueless about love, if Natsu was any indication. She and Lucy were getting what they deserved for falling in love with thick-headed dragon slayers. Levy slapped her cheeks lightly. Now was not the time to be feeling self-pity! She was actually out with Gajeel, and she should spend her time enjoying it.
She trotted a little to catch up with Gajeel's much longer strides. "Sooo, where are you taking me?" she asked playfully once she was alongside him.
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Somewhere nice, like you wanted."
Levy allowed her gaze to quickly travel up and down the dress shirt, jacket, and pants Gajeel was wearing. "I can see that by how you're dressed. I want to know where, though!"
"Damn, Shrimp! Can't you wait a couple minutes? We're almost there!"
She pursed her lips and considered this. "I guess I can." On a bold impulse, she looped her hand through the crook of his elbow as they walked.
He started and looked down at her.
She couldn't help blushing a bit. "You walk too fast. I want to make sure I don't lose you."
Gajeel nodded and looked straight ahead, not saying anything. However...it was hard to tell in the dark, but was he blushing, too?
Abruptly, he ground to a halt and nodded his head to indicate a doorway. "We're here. After you."
Levy let go of her hold on Gajeel's arm to look at the restaurant. "Ooh, Gajeel!" she squealed. "How did you manage to get us in here? This restaurant just opened up, and everyone says it's fantastic! It must have been impossible to get a reservation!"
He gave her a lopsided, sharp-toothed grin. "Geehee. I've got my ways, Shrimp. Now let's go on in."
He held the door open as she passed through, and they were ushered quickly and competently to one of the only vacant spots in the restaurant, a little round table next to a window. As she sat down, Levy looked out and noticed that the window overlooked a lovely little garden in a courtyard, bursting with pale flowers that seemed to glow under the silver moonlight. Her attention was brought back to the room when their waiter arrived, asking for a drink order. Levy quickly fumbled with her menu, not having bothered to even open it yet.
Luckily for her, Gajeel had been more concerned about the food than the view. "I'll have a rusty nail up."
Levy stared at him for a second, then asked, "What is that?"
He smirked at her. "It's just a drink, got some whiskey and stuff in it."
She considered this for a moment, then nodded her head and told the waiter, "I'll have that, too."
The waiter bowed slightly. "Very good miss, sir. I shall be right back with those."
As he walked away, Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her. "Didn't think you'd be one to order a drink, Shrimp. You sure it's not going to be too heavy for you?"
The taunting smile he wore irritated Levy. "Of course it won't! Now let's figure out what to eat." She propped up her menu pointedly, refusing to look at his smug face any longer.
A few minutes later, she had to admit defeat. She wasn't totally sure what anything on the menu was made up of, and she didn't want to take a chance and get something disgusting, like some weird animal's organs. She swallowed her pride, lowered her menu, and asked tentatively, "Gajeel? What are you ordering?"
He looked up at her. "I'm going to get a steak."
She was surprised. Where had the steak been listed on the menu? It probably was hidden under some name that she didn't recognize.
While she was frantically trying to locate it on the menu, the waiter reappeared, setting down two drinks in tall, stemmed glasses. "Have you decided what you would like to eat this evening?"
Thankfully, Gajeel answered first. "Yeah, I'll have your steak, well-done, with mashed potatoes on the side."
The waiter nodded. "Certainly. And for the young lady?" he asked, turning to Levy.
She gave up. "I'll have the same thing, thank you."
As he collected their menus and left, Gajeel turned his full attention onto the blue-haired mage. "Ok, what's with this now? Are you just going to copy everything I get?"
She giggled a little. "What's wrong with us matching? I thought I might as well, since our outfits already match." She indicated his indigo shirt that was almost the exact shade of her short dress.
His eyes darted down to her clothes, then back up to her face. "Yeah, I guess that's fair enough." He grabbed his drink and drained it in two long gulps.
Levy gaped at him. How could he drink that much all at once? Well, she couldn't let him think that she was a lightweight. She grabbed her glass and drank it, too, although it took her a lot longer than it did for Gajeel. When she put it down, he was grinning at her approvingly. He flagged down the waiter to order more drinks.
The rest of the meal went all too quickly for Levy, who was trying her best to absorb every detail of her "date" in between the steady stream of drinks that Gajeel made sure were coming to them. Strangely enough, though, the alcohol wasn't having that much of an effect on her. Levy had never really been a big drinker, only having a glass or so at a time before this. But now, wanting to keep pace with her dinner partner, she drank several in a row, and oddly enough only felt a little light-headed.
Gajeel was an entirely different story. He started to get loud and a little rambunctious, and she had to keep shushing him until they could finish their meal and pay, hoping that he wouldn't disturb the other patrons too much or start a fight. Thankfully, she managed to curb his behavior until they were safely outside of the restaurant, Gajeel's arm draped over Levy's slim shoulders. "Geehee. Sorry if I'm crushing you, Shrimp," he chuckled.
She shook her head vehemently, loving the sense of being a steadying presence for him. "No, you're fine. Let's just get you home, huh?"
He nodded and started out in the direction of his apartment, stumbling a little bit as he went.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Levy's happy musings about Gajeel's warmth were broken when he muttered, "I'm sorry, Levy. I got drunk and ruined your night."
"No, you didn't ruin it," she declared. "I just liked being out with you."
"Nah, I shouldn't have had so much to drink. I was just so damn nervous. I really wanted you to be happy and enjoy being on a date with me."
Levy was pretty sure her heart stopped for a second. "A...date?"
"Well, sure. What else did you think this was?"
Her cheeks flushed in pleasure. "No, that's what I was calling it in my head, too."
Suddenly, Gajeel stopped and straightened up, grabbing her shoulder and twirling her to face him. She was surprised at the serious look on his face as he said, "Levy, listen. I need to tell you something, because when I'm sober, it's too damn hard to get the words out. I want you to go out on other dates with me, Levy." She gaped at him, but he barreled on, "I know you probably hate me, 'cause I'm a jackass, and I know it, but I just...I just l..." Suddenly, his eyes rolled up in his head and he started to tip forward.
Levy managed to rally herself enough to produce a mattress he could fall on. As he lay face down, she stared at him in shock for a long minute. Had he really just been about to say that he...she shook herself out of her reverie. She had to get him home still, and she sure as hell wouldn't be able to carry him unconscious like this. Using her script magic, she created a stretcher and somehow managed to roll his massive bulk onto it, raise it up, and start to push it forward. As she looked down at Gajeel's surprisingly peaceful face, she gave a tender smile. What an idiot. She allowed herself to run her fingers through his think hair. He was her idiot, though, and that's what mattered