Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, all rights belong to Hiro Mashima.
Levy's Hardest Week
A spider's web is stronger than it looks. Although it is made of thin, delicate strands, the web is not easily broken. Levy read with a happy sparkle in her eyes. She was currently reading Charlotte's Web, even though it so wasn't meant for her age group, because she found it adorable and liked to believe that she and Charlotte were similar in some ways. Small, delicate and not easily noticed but still strong and silently beautiful, special in their own way. "Oi! Shorty!" A gruff call interrupted Levy's thoughts. She turned around on the bench, looking around for Gajeel.
"Short Stuff... whatcha looking for?" Gajeel asked from right behind her. Levy stifled a gasp of surprise and turned back to her original position.
"You." She said with a slight frown. "Don't sneak up on me." Gajeel chuckled.
"Gihee, yeah yeah. So Munchkin... I was wondering if you wanted to join me on a job? It's fairly simple... in a forest roughly five or six hours from here there's a gang of dark wizards who have been attacking travellers and raiding them. We need to... subdue them and yeah..." Levy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"By subdue...?" Gajeel nodded.
"Yeah... kinda gruesome but you're not a pansy." Levy smiled.
"Thanks for saying so." Gajeel blushed, or at least Levy assumed he did, really his ears just went red.
"Whatever... so do you wanna?" Levy considered it for a moment before grinning at him and nodding.
"Sure... now I just have to tell the guys." Gajeel gave her a 'really?' look before saying, "No way Short Stuff. I'm going to tell your lap dogs, I haven't had a good laugh yet today." Levy glared at him.
"They're not my lap dogs Gajeel... and fine... you can tell them but be nice about it, okay?" Gajeel grunted and Levy took it as a yes. "When do we leave?" She asked, laying the open book on the worn out table in front of her, careful so as to not lose her page. Gajeel muttered something unintelligible. "What was that?" She asked curiously, tilting her head.
"Seeing as how we have to walk and it's high priority... soon. Before noon if possible." He repeated, expecting her to freak out at how little time he had left her to pack. Levy just nodded with a smile.
"Okay then, I'll go pack my stuff, how long do you think it'll take?" Gajeel looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Pack light it is." She chirped with a smirk, standing up and skipping off to Fairy Hills. Gajeel just shook his head.
"Tch... Flame Brain thinks Bunny Girl is weird? He doesn't know the half of it." Just then he spotted the book she had laid on the table. "Charlotte's Web?" He questioned with a wondering expression. "Tch, bookworm... you sure read interesting books, what's this about anyways?" With that he picked up the book and headed back to his place to tell Lily that Levy had accepted so the cat wouldn't have to go with him. Damn cat... so what if it could rain? Afraid of a little water? Tch... When he stopped thinking about Pantherlily and his quirks he realized that the two earlier mentioned 'lap dogs' were heading towards Fairy Hills.
"Oi!" He shouted out, gaining the attention of the two mages. They bristled and turned slowly.
"What do you want Metal Head?" Jet questioned venomously. Gajeel glared at him.
"The Bookworm's coming with me for a mission. Could be two days, could be all week. Just thought you should know. Oh, and don't get mad at Shorty for keeping this little tidbit of information from you. I just asked her this morning." He stated with an evil smirk. Droy's jaw dropped and his right eye twitched comically while Jet stared at the Iron Dragon Slayer in disbelief.
"Wha...?" He asked, his head dropping so he could stare at his feet. Gajeel just chuckled.
"Too bad that your speed magic doesn't work for your brain, eh?" Jet snapped his head up, eyes burning.
"You're one to talk! She would never accept a job with you! Levy's too smart for that! Also, it's Levy, not some stupid nickname! I refuse to believe you!" He shouted, stamping his foot for emphasis. Just then the blue haired, solid script mage in question walked out of Fairy Hills and called out to the trio, waving happily. Gajeel gave one last smirk to the two upset mages before sauntering over to Levy with a grin that showcased his fangs.
"Hi, you ready to go? I'm all packed." She told Gajeel, her smile widening. Gajeel blinked.
"Done already Shorty? Aren't girls supposed to take forever or sumthin'?" Levy rolled her eyes.
"We're not supposed to but a lot of girls do. I'm different... I don't go with the flow and whatever." Gajeel grinned.
"Got some fire in ya, eh Short Stuff?" Gajeel teased, patting her on the head. Levy smiled, nodding up at him.
"Yup... what's wrong with them?" She asked him, pointing her chin in the direction of her two teammates. Gajeel smirked. "Gajeel, what did you do to them?"
"Nuthin' Munchkin. Just told'em you were coming with me for a job. They didn't believe it and got upset... I guess you just proved my statement true though... Gihee!" Levy grimaced.
"Did you tell them in a nice way?" Levy asked, placing her hands on her hips. Gajeel snickered making Levy groan.
"Gajeel! I told you to be nice to them!" Levy ground out indignantly. He pulled his hand back, glaring at her two friends.
"Hey! I wasn't mean at first! I told them straight up and then they got all 'no way' on me and started saying how you were too smart to join me and shit..." Gajeel said defensively. Levy looked up at him in astonishment.
"They... really?" Gajeel grunted in affirmation. "Jet! Droy! Get over here now!" She shouted at her two partners who had slumped to the ground. Jet and Droy stood up and slowly walked over to their fuming partner and her glaring companion. Levy immediately turned her glare upon Jet. "Did you guys... I can't believe you... explain! Gah! Really? Why would you...? Aah! Explain yourselves now!" She fumed.
"Hi Levy-Chan..." Droy said when Jet stayed silent. Levy snapped her gaze to Droy who shivered upon seeing her expression. Stamping her foot impatiently Levy decided to grill Droy, he'd crack the easiest, after all... he always did.
"What did you say to Gajeel? Why were you guys so mean? He's nakama! Yes, he did ask if I wanted to join him on a job and yes I accepted. I'm also smart and grown up enough to make my own decisions! Explain yourselves!" She pouted agitatedly. When there was no answer forthcoming Levy decided that she could kill them when she got back. "Fine, don't answer me. I'm glad to see you guys enjoy my friendship." With that she grabbed Gajeel's hand and stormed off. Jet and Droy watched her go, a sad smile pulling a the edge's of Jet's lips.
"Don't worry..." Jet told Droy with a look towards Levy. "I... I think that if she's happy then we should be too..." Droy looked at him incredulously. "Seriously... you're just giving up?" Jet shook his head. "No... not giving up... giving her a chance to be truly happy." And with that he took one last longing look at Levy before turning slowly and heading to the guild, Droy trailing behind slowly. Levy stopped a block away, looking back at her teammates with a regretful expression.
"I hope they're okay... but at the same time they hurt your feelings so I shouldn't be worried about them!" Levy said hotly.
"Calm down Bookworm. They didn't hurt my feelings. Plus... you kinda look like a lemming when you're angry." Levy blushed.
"I do not!" She told him, puffing out her cheeks.
"Well... if you didn't before then you do now!" Gajeel teased, jogging away from her.
"Hey! I do not and that's no fair! You can't just run away! Your legs are longer!" She whined, chasing after him. Gajeel laughed.
"My legs aren't longer Short Stuff... yours are shorter!" Gajeel told her in a 'duh' manner. Levy started running faster.
"That's not true! Well it is but it isn't! You know what I mean!" Gajeel just gave her a smirk.
"Yeah yeah. But you're still a shorty." He started with a teasing grin. Levy caught up and glared up a him, panting. "We're here. I've gotta tell Lily and grab my stuff. It's up to you whether you come up or not." He finished, turning and walking up the stairs to the house immediately to their left. Levy looked at the house incredulously. It was a fairly simple, two story colonial style place with a porch that wrapped around half the building and a good sized backyard.
"Wow... your house is so... not what I expected." She said in awe, following him up the steps. Gajeel raised an eyebrow.
"Why? Were you expecting a run down apartment? Most people do... and they were all absolutely right up until I got Lily. He's a neat freak and so even though it's easier to clean a small house he didn't want one that had a rundown appearance, even when clean, and so this happened." He told her, gesturing towards the house. Levy was fascinated.
"It's really pretty..." Gajeel snorted.
"Pretty Bookworm? Watch it." Levy chuckled.
"Fine, manly and... uhh... you?" She corrected herself, clearly at a loss for words. Gajeel smirked.
"Even though your description sucked... damn straight Shorty." Levy grinned. "Well let's go, it's almost noon now." Levy nodded in acknowledgement. Gajeel then stepped forwards and opened the door, letting it ungracefully hit the wall behind it. Levy cringed.
"Don't damage the house! It's fairly old and could even be historical! Ooh... historical... sounds fun!" Gajeel raised a studded eyebrow once again. Levy, upon noticing his expression just chuckled and called out to Pantherlily. Not a moment later Pantherlily padded sleepily into the foyer, rubbing his eyes.
"Lily you're so cute!" Levy exclaimed, scooping him up into a hug. Lily smiled at her.
"Hi Levy. Why are you here? Not meaning to be rude though, please, make yourself at home." He said, throwing Gajeel a smirk.
"Short Stuff accepted the job you were too wimpy to join me on." Gajeel told the cat, hoping he hit some manly pride. Lily sighed.
"Gajeel... trying to pull yourself up by putting me down? Not going to work. Don't forget, you were the one who got down on your knees and begged for me to join you." Levy frowned.
"Did you not want me to come with you?" Gajeel shook his head, sending his cat a withering glare which was just shook off by the smug cat.
"No, no Munchkin, that wasn't it. I just wanted Pantherlily to come because it seemed too dangerous for you to come. When he refused I had to come to you... well that's actually a lie. I didn't quite have to, I could have handled it on my own." Levy's eyes softened before she punched Gajeel in the arm, hard. "Ouch! Bookworm, what was that for?" Gajeel asked her, amazed that she would hit him and that it actually hurt. He already had a Levy size fist print on his upper arm.
"For thinking it was too dangerous for me. Don't start underestimating me now!" Gajeel's eyes widened and then he let out a boom of laughter, scooping Levy up into a hug and crushing Pantherlily in the process. "Gajeel! What are you doing?" Levy asked, although she didn't dislike it... that much she had to admit. Gajeel put her down gently and ruffled her hair, running his calloused fingers down her scalp as he did so.
"Hugging you Shorty. Tch, and I was in the mind set that you were a fucking genius." He said with a sigh. Levy tilted her head.
"Ooh, look who's using colourful words now!" She laughed. Gajeel grinned.
"Still you!" Levy frowned.
"But I didn't swear." She told him in confusion.
"Or did you?" Gajeel taunted, walking away. Levy watched him go, completely dumbstruck.
"Did I?" She yelled out, running after him.
"Not sure... hmm... eh, I might remember later." He said with a smirk. Levy groaned.
"Gah! Damn you!" She shouted in frustration. Gajeel grinned.
"Oi, Midget. I remember now. You said 'damn'." Levy tilted her head in confusion.
"I did? When?" Gajeel watched her as her mind processed this information. "Gajeel! That's not fair! How did you...?" She trailed off, obviously annoyed at her lack of self control.
"Consider yourself mind fucked." Gajeel said, walking into his kitchen. He heard Levy groan in misery as she padded along behind him. He smirked and opened a cupboard, telling Pantherlily to grab him a cloth bag.
"I'm not a slave." Lily muttered but flew off to grab a bag anyways. When he returned a few moments later he found Gajeel in the kitchen alone.
"Where did Levy go?" Gajeel looked up at him, snatching the bag and stuffing it full of iron scraps.
"She had to go to the bathroom." He stated with a nod towards the stairs. Lily nodded and told Gajeel to get a bag of snacks for Levy too, just in case, before flying up the stairs to find his favourite being, aside from Gajeel of course.
"Levy? Where are yo-oh, hello Levy, I was just looking for you." Pantherlily said, giving her a smile. Levy responded in kind giving Lily a bright smile before responding.
"Lily... do you know if Gajeel has any interesting books?" She asked curiously with hungry eyes. Lily chuckled.
"I think so... are you averse to entering his bedroom?" Levy blushed softly but shook her head. "Then come this way." Lily said, grabbing her wrist with his tail and padding down the hall. He brought them to a halt at the end of the hall, in front of a pair of caramel brown double doors.
"Is this Gajeel's room?" She questioned, scooping Lily up in the process. Lily nodded. "Hmm... did you not allow him to paint it black?" She smirked while Lily nodded once more. Levy let out a giggle and stepped forwards, pushing open the doors. They opened nicely to reveal a large room with a king sized bed, a large dresser, two nightstands, a long table with a chair and maps and the like spread all over it, a walk-in closet devoid of everything, and two huge bay windows along with a pair of french doors and another door tucked on the right side of the bed which Levy assumed was the private bathroom. Levy smiled. Even though his curtains, bedsheets, blankets and pillows were black he had left the original touches in the room. The bed frame was made of caramel coloured wood, along with the doors, the dresser, the nightstands and the floor. However, the floor was covered with multiple different rugs. Some of the rugs just had interesting patterns while the rest actually had different runes and hieroglyphs covering them. Lily laughed at Levy who was gaping shamelessly at the perfect Gajeel room. Levy blinked twice upon hearing Lily's laugh and blushed, looking down at the small cat in her arms. Lily grinned and pointed to the walls. Levy looked up and gasped. How she hadn't noticed them before she was unsure but covering the walls were shelves of every size that were overflowing with different iron trinkets and such. But the three shelves Levy fell in love with were the ones above his desk, which upon further inspection Levy realized was made of copper along with the chair and had many different carvings lining its surface. These three shelves were covered in books, books which Levy had never seen or even heard of before. She realized that half of them were written in a different language entirely but the biggest of those books had a translator at the beginning. Eyes shining in determination and admiration Levy placed Lily on the floor and grabbed the smallest book, which turned out to be only two hundred pages, she could finish it in twenty minutes flat. With a thanks to Lily and a squeal of happiness Levy launched herself onto Gajeels bed, curling up on the pillows. Lily snickered and promptly ran out of the room to greet Gajeel, who was walking up the stairs.
"What's taking you two so long and why'd the Shrimp just squeal?" He asked, obviously not noticing the open doors at the end of the hall. Lily smiled. "Lily... what did yo-fuck Lily!" He growled, now noticing the open doorway. He quickly made his way down the hall, hesitating at the door for a moment before sticking his head in and looking around.
"Oi... Shorty! Where are you?" He asked in confusion. Mere seconds later a movement caught his eye and he snapped his attention to his bed where he realized Levy was reading a book, curled against his pillows. For a couple seconds he forgot how to breath. Pantherlily walked up behind him.
"See something you like?" He questioned evilly with a large smirk. Gajeel sent the cat a withering glare.
"Sh-shut up ya damn cat!" He cursed, chucking the smirking cat down the hall. Lily laughed and brought out his wings, stopping himself mid-fall. Slowly flapping back to Gajeel he muttered something about dragon slayers being as dense as rock. Gajeel then muttered something about wanting to try barbecued cat. Pantherlily shuddered and quickly flew over to Levy who wrapped an arm around him comfortably. Gajeel cleared his throat which made Levy snap her head up.
"Oh... Hi Gajeel." She said with a blush, jumping up from her spot on the bed but not losing her hold on Pantherlily or the book. "I'm almost done... can we leave after I finish it?" She pleaded, using her killer puppy dog eyes. Gajeel blinked quickly, turning his head away.
"What the hell is that Short Stuff?" He cried out, putting up an arm to block the sight. Levy whimpered.
"What's what Gajeel?"
"That look!"
"Look? Is... is there something wrong with my face...?" Levy asked softly and Gajeel could hear tears in her voice.
"N-no...I just... would you stop... Fuck! Just forget about it! Finish the book so we can leave!" He huffed, crossing his arms. Levy squealed and jumped up, wrapping her arms around Gajeel's torso.
"What are you doing Shorty?" Levy laughed and stepped back with a faint blush.
"Hugging you Gajeel. Tch, and I was in the mind set that you were a fucking genius." She quoted without missing a beat. Gajeel looked down at her, completely amazed.
"Shorty... you swore!" Levy blushed but smiled up at him anyways. "Yup!" She grinned.
Pantherlily sighed, "Influencing her already Gajeel? Tsk, tsk." Gajeel let out a boom of laughter.
"Absolutely! I'm going to pack my stuff, you finish that book so we can leave Short Stuff." Levy smiled and jumped back onto his bed.
"Kay!" Gajeel smirked while Pantherlily let himself out the french doors. Mira would love to hear this revelation!
(^.^) (^.^)
"Gajeel... how are you not hot?" Levy asked, walking beside him down the steaming stretch of road. They had already been walking for four hours and the heat was extreme. Gajeel smirked, wondering how she hadn't noticed him sweating or panting. Honestly, he wished that for once he hadn't worn a black shirt.
"Short Stuff you know I'm hot." He managed to grunt out while his smirk stayed on his face. Levy, if possible, went an even brighter shade of red than her hot face already was. Which is amazing since her face was a bright cherry red before she blushed.
"I-I d-did not s-say t-that!" She sputtered. Gajeel laughed at her.
"Course ya did Shorty." He stated, jogging ahead. Levy groaned but followed after, she was not letting herself get left behind in this heat. Shortly after Gajeel started jogging he saw a shimmer on the horizon.
"Munchkin!" He called out, stopping so Levy could catch up. As soon as Levy was within hearing distance he told her that he saw something on the horizon. Levy just moaned and plopped, face first, down on the ground.
"On the horizon? I can't do that! Mm... so tired... want to rest..." She said, her voice muffled by the grass. "And why on earth is it so hot? We're not in a desert and it's not summer's prime time!" Gajeel chuckled.
"I have no idea and we can't rest. It's just on the horizon. There's just an hour or two left." Levy just continued to lay there so Gajeel gave up and grabbed her ankle, pulling her along behind him. Levy just moaned but let herself be dragged. After a half hour of dragging Levy around Gajeel got bored and tired.
"Fine... you win Shorty. We can stay the night." Levy laughed and sat up, grinning triumphantly at Gajeel. Gajeel took one look at her and burst out laughing.
"What is it?" Levy asked, her face hovering above his. The sight of her just made Gajeel laugh harder, clutching at his sides with tears streaming down his face. Levy smacked his arm.
"Tell me!" She demanded, pulling out her pen to bribe him if necessary.
"Shrimp... you... you got... l-look... look at yer... yer nose!" He managed to gasp between breaths. Levy tilted her head in confusion, earning another outburst of Gajeel's laughter. Levy quickly wrote out mirror with her pen and looked at herself, gasping and turning beet red when she found her answer. Her nose had gotten grass stained from being dragged around.
"Oh my... this is... uhh, pleasant..." She murmured, completely embarrassed. Gajeel continued to roll around laughing until Levy couldn't not join in. Eventually they both calmed down and laid side by side, watching the stars come up over the horizon. Levy sat up and looked over at Gajeel who was laying there with his eyes partially closed.
"Wanna set up camp?" Gajeel grunted a noncommittal hn before slowly opening his eyes to look at her. Then he quickly covered his eyes and let out a burst of laughter. Levy groaned and stood up, busying herself so as to forget about the grass stain. Gajeel continued to chuckle but stood up and started setting up the little tent Levy had managed to sneak along in her pockets. Gajeel still wasn't sure where she had gotten the microscopic thing. As soon as the tent was done Levy chucked a fork at him and he ate it happily, watching her roast the rabbit she had somehow managed to catch while he wasn't looking. Absentmindedly he stuck out his hand and started playing with her hair. Instead of pulling away though Levy just leaned backwards, enjoying the feel of his calloused fingers running through her hair. He chuckled and ruffled her hair quickly, leaning over to swipe the rabbit and nestle it in the small bowl of herbs she had set up. Levy smiled and wrote out a few large irons for Gajeel. Then she pulled out her canteen full of spring water and offered some to him. They sat in companionable silence, enjoying their meals and each others company. When they finished Levy wordlessly cleaned up and came over to sit next to him, lighting a fire as she did so.
"Hey... Gajeel?" She started, looking unsure.
"Hn?" He replied sleepily.
"Thanks for bringing me along." Gajeel grinned and looped an arm over her shoulders, making Levy blush madly.
"Anytime Munchkin, you're too much fun to leave behind anyways." He smirked, shaking her slightly. Levy grinned and the two lapsed back into their contented silence, staring up at the stars. After a little while Gajeel realized her breathing had deepened and he looked down at her sleeping face in mild amazement. She looked much like a kitten when asleep. With a wordless chuckle he scooped her up and headed over to the tent where he laid her down on her sleeping bag, covering her up with a thin blanket as it was still warm out. Eventually he stood up again and went to put out the fire and bring everything in. When that was all done he came back in and laid down, watching her in amusement. Levy lifted a hand and delicately rubbed her nose, much like a cat he realized. Then she rolled over so she was facing his chest, her hands curled up in his shirt. Gajeel let out a grunt of surprise but didn't try to pry her off, he wasn't sure how she was with rude awakenings and didn't want to risk it. So instead he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her up against him. She responded in kind, snuggling up against him with a satisfied sigh. Eventually he drifted off, wondering what her reaction would be when she woke up.
A/N:
Thanks for reading everyone~! Please review! I hope they weren't too OOC. Sorry if they were.
But yeah, there's my first Gajeel and Levy fanfic. I'll be updating soon! Thanks again and I love y'all~!