He almost laughed at the girl in front of him.
"Yes, I do need to see your ID," he said through a wolfish smile.
Her lips came together in an angry expression that, instead of intimidating, made her look like a child throwing a tantrum.
"I am 21. You know it, too!"
Her tight little fists shot down in rhythm with her foot stomping. Gajeel finally lost it and gave her a hearty laugh. She stared him down for a few more seconds before reaching for the bag hanging from her shoulder. He continued to laugh as she dug through it for her wallet, mumbling curses and death threats his way. Eventually she slammed the little plastic card on the bar victoriously.
He picked it up and inspected it carefully, holding it up to compare the picture with the girl in front of him. She'd been to Fairy Tail plenty of times before. It was hard to miss such a cute little thing like her among the usual rowdy crowd. Although he was confident no one here would serve to minors, the expression on her face right now was priceless.
"Hmm. I don't know…"
Fiery eyes widened at him. He smiled broadly at her reaction, but placed the ID in front of her again.
"Fine. Fine. What will it be, little one?"
She took a seat on one of stools and stared blankly at him.
"Actually, I think I just want some pink lemonade…"
Her cheeks went bright red. He leaned on the bar behind him as he crossed his arms.
"You walk into my bar, force me to believe you're not skipping school to be here, and then order… a pink lemonade?"
"Hey!"
That wolfish smirk came back on his face. He decided to ignore her request, opting to make a light blue cocktail. She gave the glowing drink an odd look.
"Go on," he rolled his eyes and stepped back. "It's not poison. Promise."
He watched her tentatively take a small sip. She looked up at him with surprise.
"It's good."
He gave her a cocky smile. "As if there was ever a doubt."
She frowned at his arrogance.
"So, what exactly is a..." his eyes roamed over her, "...young lady... like yourself, doing here at this ungodly hour?"
"Ungodly?" The girl glanced at her watch. "It's only twelve."
Disgust came over Gajeel's features. "Anything before 2 p.m. should be illegal."
She found his expression amusing but managed not to smile.
"If it's that bad, then why are you open this early?"
"I'm expecting someone. And you haven't answered my question."
She tilted her cute little face to look up at him questioningly. After a few seconds she looked away.
"I don't know. I was unsure about... something." She shrugged her shoulders. "I sort of found myself here."
He didn't say anything, opting to simply stare at her from over crossed arms. She began to feel conscious of herself, but stared back. She knew about the pierced man, but had never actually had a conversation with him. That in itself was odd, considering she'd been sneaking into Fairy Tail for years and was familiar with all the workers. She supposed she'd avoided him at first due to her age, but even after it was okay for her to be there she still kept her distance. Maybe it was the mass of long black hair, or the way the piercings screamed dangerous. Perhaps it was simply the way he looked at her, like she was prey he enjoyed taunting.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Levy turned to see who else would be at a bar so early in the morning and saw a tall, curvy redhead through the glass doors. Gajeel went around the bar to greet her. They exchanged a few quiet sentences and he gestured towards the back area.
"This might take a while so just help yourself to whatever. On the house. Just don't get blackout drunk if you're gonna drive," he said to the bluenette as they passed by. They disappeared without waiting for a response.
It made sense to Levy that he would have a girlfriend. He was quite good looking in his own way, even with all the piercings and messy hair. And he did mention he'd been expecting somebody when Levy showed up, so she couldn't be upset to find herself alone in a bar at midday.
"Cheers," she whispered to herself before downing the blue drink.
Levy did end up helping herself to a few more drinks before finally heading out about two hours later. She stumbled into the restaurant where an anxious young man flagged her down to a booth. He smiled at her brightly when she reached him; it reminded her of the dogs at the shelter that got excited when anyone passed by.
"Hey! For a minute there I thought you'd bailed on me," he said. She smiled at him, probably a bit too widely.
"No, no. I was... doing something... and lost track of time. I'm sorry I kept you waiting."
He placed his hand on top of hers. "No worries. I'm just glad you came."
It was their third date. Levy had been working with Jet for a while at the university and, after many attempts on his behalf, she finally caved in and gave him a chance. He turned out to be a nice enough guy. Funny, even. Sometimes when Levy thought of him, she thought she could live a good life with him. Nothing exciting or flashy, but perhaps a calm, stable relationship is what she really needed. At this very moment, however, she was glad she'd had a few drinks already to get her through a rather mediocre date.
Jet walked her home. She wondered to herself why he seemed so fidgety. It wasn't until they reached the entrance of her apartment building that she remembered what Lucy had told her.
"The third date is important. If it goes well, then usually that's when the couple is supposed to..."
Levy's cheeks went red as they stared at each other awkwardly by the door. "I had a good time."
"Me, too. I really like you, Levy. And I look forward to spending more time with you..."
He let his words hang there. She nodded and looked away, feeling kind of bad. She didn't want to discourage him from asking her out again, but she also had no intention of sleeping with him yet. After another awkward silence he swallowed thickly and cleared his throat.
"Well, I will see you around. Maybe catch a movie next time?"
Air she didn't realize she'd been holding finally released. "Yes, that sounds nice."
She gave him a smile and a kiss on the cheek before quickly going in.
When Levy got through the doors of her fifth floor apartment, her body told itself to crash on the couch nearby. With a shrug, she raided the fridge for more alcohol. There was only half a bottle of some fruity drink Lucy left there from their last sleepover. She put some music on as she drank it and went back to the couch. She stared at the ceiling for a long while, demanding it to make Jet a less boring, more attractive person. . Like the pierced guy, her drunken mind whispered. For a second Levy went along with it, until she realized what she was talking about.
No, Levy, she reprimanded.
Not the pierced guy.
He's bad news.
Probably.
And he has that gorgeous redhead.
You could never compete with legs like those.
She kicked her legs up to get a better look at them. Her head tilted to the side as she studied them. Her nose wrinkled and her cheeks puffed.
I'm just as pretty as any of them. He'll see.
It took her another three hours, and the rest of the bottle, to find the right outfit and put on make-up correctly. Her determination, however, only increased by the minute.