He wasn't sure when it started. It'd been all about atoning for what he'd done to her, but it turned into something else, something new. He'd been with a girl or two back in his Phantom Lord days, but this was different. She was different. There was something about the way she saw past all his bullshit, about the way she seemed to know him, whether he had wanted her to or not.
He glanced at her, noting that her current bandana was one he had gifted to her. She'd nearly squealed when he'd given it to her. Apparently, the purple design had been something she'd been looking for forever. She had switched them then and there and for the short bit of time when her hair was unbound and wild, he found himself wishing she would leave it that way more often. The orange bandana she'd been wearing before looked stupid tucked into the tiny front pocket of her shorts. More than half of it hung out, practically daring Levy to lose it. So, he ripped it from her pocket and tied it around his own head. Maybe that was the day that he realized that his feelings for the solid script mage ran well past that of a job partner. He'd never bought anything for another person just for the hell of it.
Even now he wanted to see her without the fabric, wanted to see her hair falling free. She hated it, but it fascinated him. He was tempted to reach out and touch it, to see if it was as soft as it looked.
"Gajeel?"
She was staring at him and he realized she'd called his name more than once.
"Yeah, Shrimp?" He watched her jaw clench momentarily, like it always did when he called her by that name. He grinned, loving that he could rile her up so easily.
"Are you going to give me my pen back anytime soon?" She held her hand out, and he looked down at his hand as if he was seeing it for the first time. He didn't know when he'd picked the pen up and he very nearly refused her request just to see her get angry. He decided against it at the last moment. The sooner she got done translating whatever the hell she was translating, the sooner they could leave. He could tease her all he wanted later.
She seemed surprised when he handed it back with no argument and shot him a grateful smile. She placed a hand in his forearm.
"I know this is boring for you, but I promise I'm almost done."
He could feel the heat of her skin even after she'd pulled away.
She wasn't wrong. It was boring as shit to sit and do nothing while she worked for hours, but jobs like this made Levy happy and that was enough for him. Even more so because it wasn't like she picked jobs like this very often, opting to choose ones that had more fighting involved for his sake.
Gajeel leaned over the table, resting his head on his forearms. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, but not before taking one last peak at the blue haired girl beside him.
He should have known from the start that she was going to tangle him up and never let go.