Blanket disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I do not claim any rights to Fairy Tail or any characters associated with the manga, anime, movie, or game. No money was made from this fan fiction.
Author's note: This story is rated M for language and mature situations. The story is a romance between Gajeel and Levy, it is not meant for children; if under age please don't read. I currently don't have a beta so any grammar mistakes please overlook.
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He'd had inkling that things wouldn't go as smoothly as Bunny Girl and Shrimp swore they would when he grudgingly agree to this mission. Gajeel had worked with Salamander enough to know trouble followed the guy like a shadow.
He felt like an idiot for not listening to his own conscience, but seriously the whole situation was ridiculous.
Somehow he'd went from fighting to lying flat on his back in the dirt, drenched in the potion they'd been fighting over. The one thing he was sure about was if he didn't get away from that god awful smell he was going to hurl.
"Ugh . . . you stink!"
Finding the strength to raise his head without spewing, Gajeel bared his teeth and growled at his fellow dragon slayer. Natsu was doing an impressive job of covering his nose with one hand while crab crawling away from him.
Bunny Girl and Shrimp ran passed saying something about the mage was getting away, but for once Gajeel couldn't find the will to care.
His head thunk back against the ground, his vision wavering for a moment before it focused on Lily lecturing Happy; the two exceeds hovered in the air above him. Happy was holding a bottle cork and looking pretty fucking guilty about it too. Well, that explained how he gotten drenched. He'd have to remember to kick the little brat in the ass.
In a blur of fire Natsu ran passed, dirt flying up behind him. "Come on Metal Head, you're going to miss all the fun. I'm going to kick that guy's ass."
Wiping dirt out of his eyes, Gajeel mentally added Natsu's name to his list of people that needed his boot shoved up their ass.
"Are you alright Gajeel?"
Thank Mavis for his partner. "No, I'm not." Man, it hurt to admit that. "This shit's making me sick. Help me get my shirt off will ya?"
And just like that Lily was transforming into his full size battle form and helping him sit up. Gajeel didn't care how many cats or exceeds there were in all of Earth Land his cat was the best damn cat in the world as far as he was concerned.
His finger shook as he worked his belt off and just as Lily was pulling his shirt over his head Levy was by his side with a water bottle and a rag.
With Lily's help he moved to a different spot. Shrimp pointed out some of that crap had soaked into the ground too, a hell of a lot of good it would do him to lay back down in that stuff. Once he was laid down, now in a clean spot, Levy started washing him off.
Man, he appreciated her coming back to help him, not that he was going to admit it. "Thought you and Bunny Girl were chasing that mage?"
"He got away." She could feel her face heating up as she worked on rinsing his upper body off. Through the thin cloth she could feel every ridge of every muscle in his chest and stomach.
Don't be a pervert Levy. She reminded herself, this was about helping Gajeel not admiring his build.
Levy had accepted her attraction to the tall, dark dragon slayer for some time now. He'd do and say things that made her believe he returned her feelings, but things never went any farther than causal flirting, some teasing, or innocent forms of affection.
She and Lucy often compare notes on just how thick headed dragon slayers were in terms of romance. Even this mission had been one of Lucy's ideas -kind of a double date mission.
"Natsu and Lucy are still trying to pick up his trail, but I got worried when you didn't come. Sorry about leaving you behind. If I'd realized you were having trouble I would have stayed instead of going with Lucy."
Looking away from her, Gajeel swore he could feel his cheeks redden. His time in Fairy Tail had taught him what it was to actually have comrades and friends; especially after Panther Lily became his cat, but his relationship with Levy was some strange mix of friends, but more that he wasn't sure how to handle.
Most the time he found himself blushing like an idiot over things she said and did, but how could he not be embarrassed when she treated him like he was something special? "It's no big deal. Lily was with me."
Rinsing out the cloth, Levy slowly poured more water over his chest trying to wash away the oily potion still covering him. She wished she had some soap with her, water wasn't cutting this stuff.
"Lily is a great partner." She agreed, glancing over where a now small Lily stood guard by Gajeel's head; the black exceed smiled at her praise. Feeling bold, Levy glanced at Gajeel, who was watching her intently. "I just want you to think of me as someone you can depend on too. You've been there for me and I want to be there for you too."
"Tch . . . . Whatever."
She didn't let his words put her off. She knew he always acted tough when he was embarrassed and as red as his face was getting she could tell her words had affected him.
Natsu and Lucy stomped their way back to the clearing, neither was happy by the matching looks they were wearing. Sighing, Levy dreaded to ask. "I guess you couldn't find him, huh?"
Dropping to her knees Lucy wailed, "My rent money!"
Glancing back at Gajeel, Levy shrugged her shoulders at him. She loved Lucy, but she didn't get why her reactions were always so over the top.
"Thanks Bunny Girl, glad to know what you really care about." Annoyed Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Anyone know what was in that damn bottle Salamander's blue moron dumped all over me? Shit, I can barely move."
Pouring the last of their water on to Gajeel's chest Levy wiped away as much of the potion as she could. "Whatever it is, it's really oily. I had a horrible time getting it off him. Where is the bottle anyway?"
Happy slowly crawled out from a nearby bush, potion bottle in hand. "Here it is Levy."
Taking the bottle Levy noticed the cork had been replaced, but she kept quiet about it. Silently she read the inscription on the bottle before moving to her pack to recover her glasses and books she'd brought.
Whatever Lily had said to him must have really struck home with the blue exceed, at least he acted really put out over what had happened.
"I'm sorry Gajeel." Wow, he even got an apology. Maybe he wouldn't kick his ass after all. "I caught it by the cork after Lily tossed it to me, and it just came undone."
Squatting down next to him Natsu patted his friend on the back. "It's okay buddy. I'm sure Gajeel forgives you. I got this anyway." Bringing forth some flames to the end of his fingers Natsu moved to poke Gajeel. "At least you smell better now. Here, I'll burn off the rest of the stuff."
Trying his best to scoot away from Natsu's fire Gajeel felt relieved to have Lily standing over him transformed, his sword pointed squarely at Natsu's throat.
"Umm . . . . Lily?" Natsu blinked up at the large exceed, slowly putting distance between his throat and the end of Lily's sword.
"Gajeel isn't even able to sit up on his own & you seriously think he can fend you off right now? What happened to taking care of your guild mates like family?"
"What the hell Lily? I can still take this pink-haired moron." Okay, no he couldn't, the most he'd probably be able to do was throw up his iron scales, but there was no way he was going to put up with someone saying he was weak, even from his own partner.
Popping up Lucy grabbed Natsu's ear, yanking him away from the end of Lily's sword. "Seriously Natsu, I keep telling you not everything is fixed by setting it on fire." Shaking her head Lucy's smile relayed to them she thought Natsu was a bit of a moron too. "Don't worry guys I got him." The whole time Natsu caterwauled and carried on about Lucy being scary and mean to him.
"Well I think we better work on getting back to the guild and having Master contact Porlyusica." Wrapping the bottle in the wet rag, Levy placed the bottle in her bag along with her books and glasses. "I'm able to read the name of the potion, but I have no idea what it does. Since you're not feeling well I think getting back is the best thing we can do."
Levy's words seem to be the instructions everyone was waiting for. A transformed Lily and a now calm Natsu worked to partially carry partially assist Gajeel out of the woods they'd chased the other mage to and headed back towards the train station. Luckily they weren't too far from Magnolia.