This is my first fanfic for one of my favorite pairings: GALEVY.
Title: Hairties
Author: PantherHearts
Date Published: Thursday, August 27, 2015
Summary: Levy realizes she has a strange attraction to Gajeel's hair.
Notes: Constructive criticism is awesome. Flames are not. Flamers will be ignored or reported to Juvia as one of her love rivals.
Gajeel had long hair. Very long, untamed, wild black hair that fell all the way down his back, and Levy found herself admiring it sometimes.
It certainly wasn't well-kept, and it certainly wasn't glossy or smooth. But there were times when Levy caught herself gazing at it, and she was rather confused about her sudden attraction.
She began to notice Gajeel's hair during whatever it was that he was doing. For example, everyone was having dinner in the guild hall that Levy subconsciously turned her head towards one of the barstools where Gajeel was sitting.
During dinner, he would be noisily eating and drinking with his hair flying all over the place as Natsu and Gray got into the 367th fight of the day, and when a flying stool hits him on the head, he would tilt his head back and roar a challenge and charge straight into the fistfight. People make sure to keep a wide berth around the three angry Fairy Tail members, but Fairy Tail cannot resist a fistfight, and soon everyone would be involved.
It was the same routine today, of course—it never failed. Dinnertime was always accompanied with a friendly fistfight that either Natsu or Gray started, and Levy liked it this way.
Levy smiled slightly and returned to her book, but not before she stole a last glance at the obvious mane of black hair in the midst of the chattering hall.
They were in the middle of a mission with Pantherlily: Levy, Gajeel, and his beloved exceed, kicking the asses of a rogue group of bandits. Actually, the bandits weren't a part of their mission—finding a lost magic book was (you could guess who chose the mission), but the bandits had been clogging up the path and Gajeel flew into a fit of rage.
Levy rather pitied the bandits. She stood to the side as Gajeel kicked and pummeled the lot of them. He'd been craving some real action for weeks, he said at the beginning of the mission, because the ice pansy and the hothead flame-for-brains fought like girls. According to him, pretty much nothing was worth his strength or time anymore.
Levy knew that he just needed someone to vent his anger on, and that Natsu was actually fair competition for Gajeel's strength. Levy was rather disapproving of this, and she often reprimanded him for thinking that beating up someone was equal to a six-hour therapy session.
But she was quickly distracted as Gajeel jumped over the heads of three cowering bandits and smashed their skulls with his iron fists. It was his hair again—honestly, Levy was certain that it had its own mind and did what it wanted, because that mop of unruly hair got tangled in everything and flew exactly where it wanted.
Gajeel stopped many times to push his hair out of his eyes with a huff of frustration, and Levy found herself wanting him to do it again.
Maybe her fascination was because none of the other men in the guild had long hair, except for Freed. But Freed had always been the proper type and his green hair was always combed to perfection.
Levy internally shrugged. Well, it didn't matter. A girl was allowed to have her own hobbies, right? She stopped to reconsider what she just said. A hobby?
From that day on Levy placed her habit of watching Gajeel's hair under her list of hobbies, and she didn't regret it.
Not even once.
Gajeel was bent over the anvil, working on another of his metal craft projects when Levy walked in and she was rendered speechless.
This was what she'd been waiting for, and honestly she hadn't known she'd been expecting it until now. "Whatcha staring at, Shrimp?" he said gruffly, without once stopping the eardrum-shattering hammering sounds that had been going on for hours.
Levy closed her gaping mouth and shouted back, "Nothing!" Gajeel obviously didn't believe it, and he voiced his opinion out loud. Levy smiled.
She placed the tray of food beside him and was about to go back out when Gajeel called, "Oi, Shrimp. I borrowed your hair-tie. Hope you don't mind." And he went straight back to making whatever it was that he had been so focused on for the last week and a half.
"I… don't mind. You can keep it, Gajeel," Levy answered, and Gajeel smirked. "That's good then, 'cause I didn't plan on returning it any time soon. Great invention, hair-ties," he remarked offhandedly, and Levy giggled as she bounced out of the room. She had to thank Mira for giving Gajeel the idea of tying his hair up.
OMAKE
It was a normal day for Levy as she sat contentedly in the middle of the guild library, surrounded by huge piles of books. She hummed as she flipped a page of the book she was currently immersed in, when someone thumped down on the other side of her table.
Levy expected it to be Lucy, because the blonde-haired Celestial Mage often visited her to ask for ideas on her novel. She looked up with a smile, but it wasn't Lucy. Instead, it was the heavily pierced Metal Dragon Slayer, with his ever-present scowl on his face,
"Good afternoon, Gajeel," she said with a grin. "What brings you to the library, of all places?"
"You," he said bluntly, and Levy couldn't help the rising blush on her face.
"O-oh?" she stuttered. "Is there anything you need?"
Gajeel didn't answer for a long time, and Levy sighed. She was just about to return to her book when the Dragonslayer coughed. "Levy, uh…"
She could detect a trace of nervousness in his tone and she raised an eyebrow.
He brought a book out from behind his back and handed it do her. It was her favorite book, and she squealed, but… "Gajeel, you know I already have this book, right?"
He was red-faced as he gruffly ordered, "Open it, Shrimp." Levy was feeling rather curious when she flipped open the cover—and gasped. Instead of pages, the book had been hollowed out, and nestled in the circular crevice was an ornate metal ring.
"G-Gajeel," Levy breathed, feeling her eyes start to fill up with tears.
"Do I need to ask, Shrimp?" he groaned, but she vigorously shook her head and leaped straight over the table to nearly strangle him with a hug.
"You don't have to ask," she whispered, "Because I will always say yes."
How was it?! It's my first time writing a proposal scene, but it was a lot easier because Gajeel is a man of few words.