"Gajeel!" Her squeal made him jump, instantly looking about for trouble. Spotting nothing threatening, (though he did wonder about the giant white hairy creature propped up in the corner), his pierced eyebrows came together in a frown. The blue shrimp came barreling over, her arms full of books. She slid sideways, overshooting her mark and nearly knocking over a display. She righted herself and came at him. Skidding to a halt in front of him, her eyes sparkled with pure glee.
"Look what I found!" Even though she was trying to be quiet, excitement made her a touch squeakier than normal. She juggled the pile around so she was just holding two in one hand, balancing the rest of them against her side. "Look! It's the second of the Heir to the Empire series! I have the first one and the third one, but I've never been able to find Dark Force Rising. I'm so excited! I always find the first and third of a series and never the second one. I'm tempted to buy the box set they have back there of the Han Solo trilogy. Oh! It's so good, it's not even funny."
The words were just pouring out of her mouth and Gajeel had no clue what she was even saying.
Did she care?
Not really.
Did she slow down so he could understand her better?
Oh, no, of course not!
"I also found Millennium Falcon, Shadows of the Empire, and Shadow Games! They had some of the New Jedi Order books, but I kinda don't like them, ya know? Everything starts to get so depressing and go downhill from there. And then Jason goes bad! Oh, I was so upset when that happened. I just wanted to smack the author. Well, authors." Levy hugged her books to her chest, looking distressed.
"Shrimp?"
"Ooo… and then in Sacrifice…eh, I hated it! I think I cried buckets the whole last ten or fifteen chapters and Lu-Chan walked in on me curled up in bed sobbing."
"Shrimp?"
"I was falling apart when I finished the Legacy of the Force series. I'm pretty sure I moped around the house in my jammies, crying and eating ice cream because of all the deaths! It was horrible, so, so horrible."
"Shrimp."
"I binge watched The Clone Wars all five seasons to try and recover. And I was afraid there weren't going to be anymore books, and then the Fate of the Jedi books started getting published. I was in Barnes and Nobel and I screamed, literally."
"LEVY!" Startled by his use of her actual name, said bluenette looked at him in alarm.
"What's wrong, Gajeel?"
He decided it was best to be blunt with her. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Shrimp. Ya could be speakin' Chinese for all I know."
Levy blinked.
And blinked again.
Real shock shone in her face. If he didn't know better, he would say she was about to start crying.
"You…you don't know what Star Wars is?" Her whisper was aghast and scandalized. Gajeel sighed.
"No, midget, I don't know what Star Wars is."
Blue eyebrows coming together, Levy became the poster child for sheer determination. "Well, come on then," she ordered briskly. Hips swaying, she marched up to the counter, plopped her books down, bolted to the back and grabbed a couple more. Gajeel really had no idea what she was doing.
So he asked. "What are ya doing?"
She threw him a look, that one that said, 'There is a method to my madness, don't question it.'
"Come on, Gajeel!" Levy hoisted her tote bag over her shoulder and grabbed his hand. He felt heat rise to his cheeks as she dragged him along in the direction of her apartment. What was this woman doing? He watched her as she walked along; the strangely determined set of her shoulders, the way her blue hair bounced, and how he wanted very much to steal her headband and watch her hair fall down.
When had he become so obsessed with the shrimp? Darned if he knew.
Levy refused to relinquish her grip on his hand until they got to her apartment. He had never been there, and was admittedly very curious.
Levy's door was painted bright blue. Why wasn't he surprised?
"I'm home," Levy sang out as they both entered. Studded eyebrows drew in as he looked about warily. There were books everywhere, a small couch covered in pillows and several brightly colored blankets, and a few house plants dotted here and there. It was so very…Levy. There was no sign of life, however. Who was Levy talking to? Did she have a boyfriend she hadn't told him about? He tried, and failed, to quash the sudden rising jealousy.
"-jeel? Gajeel?" He blinked, refocusing on the bookworm. Her head was tipped to the side quizzically. She resembled Pantherlily so much right then, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Gihihi, Shrimp. Ya look like my cat with your head that way." She rolled her eyes, cheeks turning a fetching pink. "Anyway, who were you talking to when you said you were home?"
To his surprise, Levy looked sheepish and began twisting a lock of hair around her finger. "Promise you won't laugh, Gajeel?" She looked up at him with those great big trusting eyes and he melted.
"Fine, I won't laugh."
She took a deep breath and huffed it out. "I talk to my house," she told him quietly. "When I was little, my house was always silent, and there wouldn't be anyone home when I came in, so I got into the habit of saying 'I'm home' even if it's just to the empty air." Levy continued fiddling with her hair. Gajeel just watched her, touched that she trusted him enough to talk about her past, even though it was obviously painful. "So, yeah, that's why." Eyes meeting his and crinkling up, she smiled. "Now come on! I have to introduce you to the amazing life-changing amazingness that is Star Wars! But let me put my new books away first." Levy picked up her bag and did this strange hop-skip-jump thing that was oddly adorable. He trailed after her, only stopping when she did.
"What the heck?"
An entire shelf, taller than him, was covered in Star Wars books and memorabilia. He blinked at the sight of all those books written about one thing. Obsessive much?
Levy beamed. She looked like a proud mother. "This is my collection," she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. Only problem, she forgot about her book bag and managed to clock Gajeel a good one on the side of the face. Thankfully, the books were all paperback, so it didn't hurt.
Much.
Levy bobbed about like a demented blue squirrel; sometimes hopping up and down to see on one of the higher shelves, sometimes bent in half sideways with the top of her head brushing the floor. She made putting books away look like a gymnastics routine.
"Hey, Shrimp?"
"Uh huh?"
"I think ya need to get your head checked. You clearly have a problem, if all these Star Wars books are your pride."
Levy straightened and shot him a look. "Just you wait," she informed him serenely. "Once Star Wars gets ahold of you, you can never escape. Resistance is futile. I suggest you surrender now."
Gajeel took a step back. Then another, and another. He didn't like the gleam in her eye, oh no sir, he did not!
Levy pounced on him before he could escape, cackling madly and dragging him toward the television.
"Come on, Gajeel! Let's go watch Star Wars!"
A/N: Dorks. Fluff. Books. Star Wars. Levy is an obsessive fan girl. More fluff. So much fluff... Oh yeah, I think so. ;) But that pretty much describes me. I bob about like crazy when in a bookstore or the library. I own almost every Star Wars book ever published and am constantly on the lookout for more.
Now, should I do another one shot of Gajeel's reaction to the films? Because I honestly think he would love them. It'd be just a quick little thing (or not), but I don't know for sure…Let me know, okay?
