"And that's why I love Fairy Tail!" Levy McGarden flashed a peace sign and her most winning smile at the camera, its flash blinding her for a brief second. She blinked her large brown eyes several times and focused them on the blond, pointy-haired young man in front of her. "So, um, do you need anything else?" she asked, adjusting the cheerful yellow headband that held her blue bangs away from her forehead.
Jason, the top columnist for Sorcerer's Weekly, lowered his camera. "THAT WAS SO COOOOOL!" he grinned, clenching his hands and making a fist-pumping motion. "BEST INTERVIEW EVER! My readers are gonna LOVE hearing about Fairy Tail being back in action!"
"Glad to hear it!" she chirped, though inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief. The solid script mage wasn't the type who liked being the center of attention, so she was glad the interview was over. The only reason she agreed to it at all was that the magazine was doing an entire issue about Fairy Tail, and the guild badly needed the publicity. Being gone for seven years on Tenrou Island had been hard on all the guildmembers left behind, and Levy felt she owed it to them to do whatever she could to raise Fairy Tail's reputation back to what it once was.
Hopping down from the stool she had been sitting on, she heard a faint beeping sound coming from Makarov's desk. The guildmaster's office had been turned into a makeshift photographer's studio for Jason's use – part of the Master's strategy to help Fairy Tail gain back popularity by being extra accommodating to the famous reporter. "Jason, is that your lacrima communication crystal beeping?" she asked.
"Oh yeah! Must be my editor checking in!" He ran over to the desk. "Thanks again for the interview!"
"No problem!" As she gathered her books that had been used as props in her photo shoot, she couldn't help but wonder how her guildmate Gajeel Redfox's interview went. The Iron Dragon Slayer had very little good to say about Fairy Tail seven years ago when he had first joined their guild, and she chuckled remembering the curt answers he had given Jason back then.
"Fairy Tail has no good qualities." "I have no desire that I wish to accomplish in the future." "I do not have a good relationship with anyone."
Would his answers be different this time? Would he describe Fairy Tail as his nakama? Would he talk about his hope to see his dragon father Metallicana again? Would he mention her?
She blushed. Her friendship with Gajeel had considerably deepened since he joined the guild, and there was a secret part of her that hoped it might blossom into something more. But whether the raven-haired young man felt the same, she had no idea. He wasn't exactly the cheerful, outgoing type, so it was hard to read him. But little by little he seemed to be opening up to her, and she hoped they'd grow closer as time went on. All she needed was a little patience!
"Yeah, just finished up all the interviews!" Jason waved goodbye to Levy as she walked out the doorway of Makarov's office, arms filled with books. "Yup, got him AND that blue-haired girl that follows him around like a puppy dog! Don't know why she does it when it's so obvious he barely tolerates her. Must be his dark good looks, ha!"
The words hit her like a punch in the gut. "Blue haired girl…follows him around like a puppy dog…he barely tolerates her…dark good looks…" Her heart pounded and she clutched her books closer to her chest. "He must be talking about me and Gajeel!"
Levy stood frozen in the hallway that connected Makarov's office to the guildhall. She didn't want to go back and face Jason who was obviously laughing at her with his boss. But the prospect of going into the guildhall and facing Gajeel, if that's how he really felt about her, was even more awful. Oh Mavis, what was she going to do?
The sound of Jason's camera bag zipping closed signaled that he would soon be walking out, and she fought the nausea swirling in her stomach. "You can't stay here forever!" she scolded herself. If only there was a way she could walk through the guildhall unseen.
A lightbulb flashed in her head. That's it! Placing her books on the floor, she pulled out her light pen and wrote the word "INVISIBLE" on her arm. Magically, her image shimmered then disappeared. Tiptoeing into the guildhall, she surveyed the scene. Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster were pummeling each other in a fist-fight, Lucy Heartfilia was writing in her notebook, Erza Scarlet was in raptures over a slice of strawberry cake, and Mirajane Strauss was chatting with her siblings. As for Gajeel – he was arm-wrestling with his exceed Pantherlily, a past-time she knew from experience wouldn't end anytime soon.
Taking a deep breath, she crept past her guildmates, trying to avoid bumping into the rambunctious mages who were either carousing or battling with each other, depending on how much they had to drink. Thankful for once of her petite frame that was too light to bend the creaky floorboards, she managed to reach the front door without making a sound. With one last, longing look at Gajeel, she crossed the threshold and ran straight to her room at Fairy Hills.
Levy sat her on bed in her pajamas, her arms crossed over her bent knees. Visible once again after scrubbing off her magic with a long, hot shower, she rested her chin on her arms and looked down at her toenails that she had recently painted a silvery metallic color in hopes it would catch Gajeel's eye. Of course it hadn't, but she was used to it. Or so she thought.
Gajeel. She sighed. Her feelings for the metal mage were complicated to say the least. If you would have asked her when she first met him if she would have thought he was boyfriend material, she would have answered a loud "HELL, NO!" Their first meeting had been a battle, in fact – one which she and her teammates Jet and Droy had brutally lost at the hands of the former Phantom Lord mage. But since joining Fairy Tail, he had made it up to her in spades, protecting her several times in some major battles and even offering to be her partner when she was chosen for the S-Class exam. Sure, he was still pretty grouchy, and could be a major a-hole from time to time, but she couldn't help growing to care for him in spite of it. She knew that underneath that crusty exterior was a strong, brave soul who would do anything to protect those he cared about. And she thought that she was one of the people who fell into that category.
But was Jason right? Did Gajeel really just "barely tolerate" her?
She hated to admit it, but Jason was at least right about the puppy dog thing. She did follow Gajeel around quite a bit. It was hard not to; when she cared for people, she cared for them openly and honestly and wasn't afraid to show it. Not going to him, when he was who she wanted to be around the most, just went against her entire nature. And since he never told her to go away, she figured he was okay with it.
But was it all just guilt? Was he just tolerating her to make up for what he did in the past? Was her presence just his penance?
Because now that she thought about it, if she didn't sit with him, he wouldn't seek her out or sit next to her. And she was the one always making the efforts to spend time with him – asking to train with him and Pantherlily, inviting them to picnic lunches, bringing him special metal treats she'd made with her magic. In fact, as far as she could remember, he NEVER reciprocated any of those gestures. Heck, if she really wanted to be honest with herself, he never even looked at her when she walked into the guild!
A lone tear trailed down her cheek. "Jason's right," she sniffed. "Gajeel doesn't like me at all!"
She hid her face in her arms and sobbed openly as the realization hit her like an iron fist.
"I won't bother him anymore," she wept. "He's paid his dues, I won't make him pay anymore."
But if she had to pick what hurt more – his punches or his indifference, well, she'd take his punches any day of the week.