Levy was nervous. Levy was very, very nervous. "Lu, are you sure about this?" she asked her best friend as she twiddled her thumbs.
"Girl, relax." Lucy said as she adjusted her breasts in the bathroom mirror and pursed her lips. "You look great. Just go out there and have a good time. Dance, drink a little, maybe even get laid." Lucy smirked as Levy blushed a hot shade of red.
"Luuucy!" The girls giggled together as they continued getting ready for the party. They were currently in Lucy's large bathroom, primping and preparing themselves for the guild party.
Levy looked down at herself and grimaced slightly. This was not something she was used to wearing. It was a sleek, little black dress that hugged her petite curves, ending just short of her knees. The back was open, showing off her guild mark and, if she raised her arms, a bit of side boob. God forbid anyone see her small breasts, she thought as she eyed Lucy's low-cut shirt.
Lucy turned to her once she had finished applying a third layer of bright red lipstick and wiggled her eyebrows. "Your turn," she declared as she advanced towards Levy.
"Don't even think about it!" Levy squealed as she backed away. "You know how much I dislike anything of the lip genre." Really, Levy was just not bothered to wear makeup most of the time. She'd rather be curled up on her bed reading. Speaking of which, she'd recently gotten a new, rather steamy romance novel, and couldn't wait to read it...
Lucy rolled her eyes as Levy began to day dream about god-knows-what, and capped the lipstick before slipping it into her purse. She picked up some eyeliner and nudged Levy out of her novel induced fantasies with a light hip bump. Levy blinked and turned towards her friend. "Hmm?"
"Oh, for gods' sake." Lucy pouted. "Just close your eyes." Levy complied and allowed Lucy to apply a rather large amount of black eyeliner to her upper and lower lids. She then proceeded to apply some silver glitter as her eyeshadow, and pulled away. "Done."
Levy blinked as she turned to face herself in the mirror. She could see hints of the glitter out of the corner of her eyes, creating a strange effect on the world around her. "Lu, this is weird... I'm wearing so much makeup, plus the glitter? That's going a little overboard, don't you think?"
Lucy smiled, "Levy, you look great. In fact, you're a masterpiece." Levy blushed and shrugged. "Now, here are your heels. Go put them on in the living room."
Levy's eye widened to the size of saucers when she saw the torture devices Lucy was holding up. "You actually want me to wear those?" She asked in disbelief. The shoes in Lucy's hand were black, with a tall heel that looked like it could snap off, it was so thin. And worst of all, it was covered in small, silver spikes. Spikes, for cripe's sake! How was she going to walk in them, let alone put them on?!
Lucy just rolled her eyes again as she watched the range of emotions play across the bluenette's face. "Trust me Lev, if any creepers approach you, these'll come in handy. Just kick 'em where it hurts, and they'll go crying right home to mommy."
Levy sighed and muttered, "I can defend myself, thank you very much..." But nonetheless, she delicately took the shoes and walked into the living room.
It was a struggle, but she finally managed to get the spiked monstrosities on. At that moment, Lucy walked into the room, hips swaying, breasts bouncing. "You ready to go?" She asked, coming to a stop just in front of the shorter girl.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Levy said ruefully as she stood, grabbing her purse from the couch.
Gajeel was nervous. Gajeel was very, very nervous. "Oi, are you sure about this Lily?" he asked his best friend as he adjusted his tie.
"Gajeel, relax. You look nice." Pantherlily, the black cat, said as he slipped on his exceed-sized jacket. "Just calm down and have a good time."
"If you say so," Gajeel grumbled as he grabbed some bolts off of is dresser.
"Gajeel! Don't eat those!" the exceed scolded "You'll spoil your appetite!"
The dragon slayer grunted in reply as he swallowed the metallic mass. "What can I say, I'm a nervous eater, giihiihii." He laughed to hide his discomfort.
Lily scoffed, "Or maybe you're just getting fat."
"You wanna go, cat?!"
"See, I was right. Now you're being defensive." Pantherlily replied as he activated his Aera and flew out of the window with a: "See you at the guild!"
"Why do I even have to go to this stupid party..?" Gajeel grunted, "It's not like anyone wants me there, anyway..."
It had been years since Gajeel attacked the guild, but he was still having some serious guilt about it. Not to mention how he attacked her...
"Damn it!" Gajeel groaned as he slammed a fist down on the window sill, looking out towards the guild. "How are they so carefree...?" Music could already be heard echoing across the city of Magnolia, and it was giving him a headache.
"In fact, I think I'll just stay home..." He growled up at the ceiling as he sat down heavily into a chair. He grabbed a nearby bottle of sake, and without bothering to grab a glass, took a swig directly from the bottle.
Gajeel closed his eyes and leaned his head back, waiting for the alcohol to take some sort of effect. "Giihiihii... Who wants to hang out with those weaklings anyway?" He smirked and took another swig, then stood up to go put the sake away. "Gotta mission tomorrow... Don't wanna get too drunk, giihii."
As he placed the bottle into a cabinet, something bright red in his usually drab home caught his eye. It was a brilliant crimson headband, something Levy had given him after Tenrou.
"Shit..." Gajeel groaned as an image of the smiling blue fairy popped into his mind. "Not now..." In truth, Gajeel wanted to think about anything but her. It's not that he hated her, it was more that he hated himself. He hated himself for all the horrible things he'd done to her and her friends. He hated that she could forgive him so easily, when he deserved anything but forgiveness. And, what was worse, is that he added to the pile of debt every time he sees her. With every 'shrimp' or 'bookworm' or 'shorty', every little tease, he gives her even less of a reason to talk to him, let alone enjoy his company.
Because the worst part was, Gajeel was hooked. Hard. He was hooked on her mega-watt smile, the way she tucked her hair behing her ear when she was concentrating, even down to the way her nose scrunched up when they were arguing.
And he didn't deserve her. So, he refused to believe that he may... like her. There was no way in hell that it was anything more than guilt. He probably just felt a teensy, tiny amount of attraction to her, and the rest was pity. Or whatever.
So Gajeel decided to go to the guild after all. There was nothing there to hide from, in fact, Gajeel didn't hide from anything! He was the Kurogane, the iron dragon slayer. There was no way in hell he would hide from a bunch of weaklings, let alone a blue-haired midget!
He paused to look in the mirror in the entrance-way. Of course, he hadn't been the one to put it there. Pantherlily had insisted that 'it brought a nice, welcoming vibe' to the house, whatever the hell that meant.
Gajeel was, to say the least, disheveled. He hair was in knots from not brushing it, his shirt had stains, and he had forgotten to wear pants. Gajeel rushed back to his room and tore of his shirt, quickly buttoning up a clean white one instead. He put on some black pants, leaving his shirt untucked, and went into the bathroom to deal with his hair.
It wasn't that Gajeel cared how he looked, it was just.. for himself! There was no way in hell he would ever worry about looking nice for someone, especially a short woman who had the strangest blue hair...
First, he tried to brush it. Due to his impatience, he yanked the comb through his hair. Unfortunately, the plastic implement was no match for his tangled locks. The teeth of the dark green comb broke off in his hair, leaving small flecks of plastic that were impossible to remove entirely.
He gave up on brushing it, and tried to slick it back. That resulted in him looking like even more of a sleaze bag than usual. Grumbling about his unruly hairstyle, he opted to tie it back in a low pony tail. It worked well enough, but Gajeel could only pray to Edolas as he walked to the guild that no one would see the green pieces of plastic that were still embedded within his hair.
When Levy and Lucy arrived, the party was already in full swing. Streamers hung from the rafters and confetti flew through the air. Laki was sitting with Cana in the corner drinking, Natsu and Happy were zooming around laughing, and the guild master was oogling girls.
But, something was... missing. Levy couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something wasn't right. After a second though, she shrugged and went to sit at a table, giggling slightly at her friends' antics. Levy quickly became bored, and looked around for something that might snag her attention.
There was a black notebook lying nearby! Levy immediately brightened, and scampered over to snatch up the book, returning to her table without a trace of guilt.
She opened it to the first page and began to read. Except... nothing was written? The bookworm frowned and turned to the next page, and the next, and the one after that. Levy ended up flipping through about half the book before realizing it must be entirely blank. What a pity, Levy was certainly a reader, not a writer. She sighed and pushed the notebook aside, running a hand through her blue wavy locks.
Levy jumped slightly as Natsu sat down heavily across from her, holding a bowl of suspiciously bright red chip-things, and a glass of iced tea. "Yo Levy! What's with the gloomy look?" He set both the tea and the bowl on the table. Levy looked inside the bowl and realized that it was filled with Cheetos.
"It's nothing Natsu, I'm just bored." Levy sighed again as she glanced around the room.
"Bored?!" But this is a party, ain't it?" Natsu grinned as he took a handful of the red cheetos and crammed them in his mouth, spewing a few crimson morsels across the table.
Levy shook her head slightly and muttered, "If it were my choice, I'd be at home." Natsu frowned at her grim look.
"Look, go home if you want, but the dance contest is about to start." He stuffed his face with the cheetos yet again, and left.
The bluenette grimaced at his act of barbarity, and turned back to the notebook, idly flipping through the pages.
She pondered her boredom, thinking about random things in the guild. She'd like to go on a job soon, but trusting her teammates, they might make a nuisance of things.
It was unthinkable to go on a job on her own, Levy mused. She was just a bit too weak, and team Shadow Gear was completely inseparable! She loved her Jet and Droy, and would never abandon them, despite their flaws. Levy had flaws of her own. Again, she was too weak to go on jobs by herself, and she certainly didn't have the looks to charm anyone.
Don't misunderstand, Levy loved herself. She appreciated her petite stance, as she never had trouble finding a place to curl up with a good book. She knew she had curves, although they may not be as pronounced as the other girls'. And Levy was smart, that's for sure. Everyone associated her with books and languages, but she was rather good at arithmetic as well. After all, someone had to figure out team Shadow Gear's allowance.
Levy continued to think, looking at nothing in particular. She distractedly reached for the bowl of cheetos and pulled them closer, resting her chin in her hand as she did. She reached into the bowl and pulled out a fairly large handful, noticing some of the bright red dust sticking to her fingers as she did.
Levy shoved the scarlet snack into her mouth, still looking at nothing in particular. Then, she froze. Well, more like she boiled. Levy was turning the same color as the dust on her fingertips. She slowly swallowed, coughing immediately after.
"Dammit Natsu!" She choked out, grabbing the nearby icy glass of tea. She chugged it, a few drops sliding down her cheeks as her face turned a light shade of burgandy. Levy cursed herself, she should've known that the pyromaniac would be eating something ridiculously spicy! Finished with the drink, the blue-and-red girl slammed it down on the table, gasping for air.
She glared around the room to check if anyone had noticed her dangerous venture into the world of spicy junk food. Thankfully, everyone was busy doing there own thing, so Levy was safe.
That is, she thought she was safe as she heard a low chuckle from behind her. "What is it?!" She spat vehemently as she whirled around to face her assailant.
"Jeez Shorty, don't blow a gasket on me, you look like you're gonna explode as it it, giihiihii." Gajeel smirked as he looked down at the bookworm.
"Gajeel!" Levy blushed slightly as she stared up at the man in front of her. "I... You didn't see that, did you?"
"See what?" Gajeel put on a thoughtful face, idly rubbing his chin. "Oh, you mean when you about exploded when you ate one of these?" He smirked as her leaned down and across her to grab a single cheeto, straightening up and tossing it into his mouth, his sharp canines gleaming as he did.
Levy blushed as she tried to think of a comeback. "Oh be quiet Gajeel!" The dragon slayer just smirked and plopped down next to her, pulling the cheetos closer to him.
"You been drinkin', half-pint?" he asked as he noticed the empty glass next to her.
"Well, of course! I had to cool down somehow after those... those.. Satan-snacks!" Levy exclaimed.
"Giihiihii," Gajeel grabbed the glass and sniffed it slightly. "Twisted tea, eh? Didn't know you were planning on getting drunk tonight."
"Drunk?!" Levy pouted and blustered, "You can't fool me Gajeel, that's just regular iced tea."
"You'll feel it later, shorty." Gajeel said as he eyed her. "Just don't drink anymore, I don't think you could handle it." He ate a couple more cheetos.
"Oh yeah?!" Levy was riled up, first he catches her in a moment of weakness, then he proceeds to tease her about it, then he calls her names, and finally he as good as calls her weak! "Well, you can shove it Gajeel!" And she stormed off, grabbing the notebook and leaving a confused dragon slayer in her furious wake.