Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Stop That.
Honestly, Gajeel had expected this. The catcalls from the audience where approaching "lewd" and Levy did not thrive on that particular brand of male attention like Cana did. But he had not expected the whiff of salt that wafted towards him when she fled. There was nothing for it. The show was over.
She was still little and quick, and instead of a living jungle, he had to find her trail through a place already saturated with her scent, but she was significantly easier to follow than she had been on Tenrou. He knew where she was headed this time. Swinging open the library doors, he was not surprised to see that it was empty. She was hiding. But she was here. Tucked away on the floor of the far corner, knees tucked into her chest and a book in her hands. Her bunny ears were on the floor a few feet away. Just far enough that Gajeel knew she had to have thrown them. She looked desperate, fervently begging the book to impart some comfort. It didn't. In its defense, it didn't get much of a chance. Gajeel leaned down and slid it up and out of her hands, chucking it over his shoulder before her leaned in further and cocked his head.
"Why'd you go and wreck my show, Shrimp?"
"W-what do you mean? You still had L-Lu-chan. She was the one you chose. She was the one being punished You didn't... need... me..."
The only response was a glare, so she steeled herself and continued.
"I only put on that stupid costume because Lucy begged me. She promised to base a character in her novel after me and she only uses that bribe for really important things. She was the one being punished, not me. Why me? I get that Cana, Mirajane, and Erza are all otherwise engaged at the moment, but there had to be someone more suitable."
"So... you didn't want to be my back-up girl?"
"That's what you took from..." Levy trailed off. He seemed almost... hurt. But then he remembered some of the shouts from the back of the crowd. He hadn't thought her hearing was good enough to pick them out through the din, but he'd learned already that it wasn't smart to underestimate her.
"Is this about what those idiots in the back were yellin'? 'Cause if it is, don't worry, they won't be layin' a finger on you."
"Of course they won't, they only want Lucy." It slipped out. She was shocked at how spiteful it sounded. She hadn't heard any specific catcalls, other than Jet and Droy and they were right at the front. But the crowd had definitely been cheering for Lucy, not her. Levy took a second to step back from the situation. Was she actually... upset about not being objectified? Yes. Yes she was. And no she wasn't. She was upset about not being desirable. Never being desirable and always being surrounded by beautiful, busty babes. And there was nothing she could do. She was just a little girl, or may as well be. The tears started again.
Gajeel was confused. So, that wasn't it, and now she was... "Oi! Stop that."
"W-why? Isn't this what little girls d-..."
"How the hell am I supposed to fix it if I don't know what's wrong?"
That stunned her into silence. Fix it? He wanted to fix her problems? Take her tears away? Levy felt a smile growing, but it was stunted from the beginning and came out crooked and bitter. "You can't fix this. This is who I am. I know, I shouldn't be crying. I'm cute, right? I've always had "cute." Why do I need to be... I just wish I could... just for once... look like Lu-chan. And every other girl in this guild, for that matter."
She'd said it and now she could only wait for him to roll his eyes and walk away. He did roll his eyes. But instead of leaving, he sighed and plopped down onto the floor beside her.
"Bunny-girl looks ridiculous flopping around up there. It's a punishment game, Shrimp. I make her look stupid, she feels stupid, I laugh. That's how this works. I didn't want to punish you too, I just thought you were up there because you wanted to, I don't know, support me or... whatever. And you don't look... you shouldn't want to look like the other girls. You're better this way. Special." He finished lamely and decided that was his queue to leave. He'd said his piece, cleared his name, and she wasn't crying anymore. He started to raise himself to his towering full height, not at all liking that she was still curled into a ball at his feet, but then her hand shot out and pulled him back down. It caught him by surprise, even more so when it brought his lips crashing into hers.
If you'd told him that Evergreen had lowered her glasses in his direction, he would've believed you. His pupils dilated. His muscles locked. Never had his reaction-time been so compromised. He felt her tense and pull away, hear her mumble a "thank you" and realized that he'd taken too long. So before she had a chance to think about his unresponsiveness too much, he responded. He stood, but he took her with him, one arm wrapped around her waist and she other supporting her spine while his hand tangled in her hair. He smiled. It wasn't quite his dangerous, sexy battle-smirk. It contained just the right amount of goof.
And then Levy said something she'd been wanting to say for a long time. "Maybe it's my turn to make you big." His eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip to hold back a smirk.
He had not expected that. But if she wanted to feel sexy, then who better than he to make her feel sexy.
They were not seen for the rest of the night.