There were nine people on that ship.

Nine.

So the fact that they were taking up the entire ship was either impressive, or terrifying.

Levy had seen Erza pack an entire cart load for a weekend spa trip—and she was a requip mage that didn't need to actually pack clothes. But even she was awe-struck at the sheer amount of stuff they had all brought. Sure, she and Gajeel between them had four large suitcases, an extremely heavy trunk full of books, and a travelling pack. But it looked as though every member of Golden Sarcophagus had luggage on the vessel, not just the seven that stood packed like sardines in the cargo hold. They had every imaginable piece of archaeological equipment—scientific and otherwise—and each had bags of clothes and at least two boxes each of books and three—yes three—wooden chests the same size Levy had packed full of communal books. Then there were crates and crates of food, barrels of clean water, camping gear, all-weather gear, and even a large fluffy sofa.

Levy leaned back against Gajeel's legs and watched their host argue back and forth with a pretty blonde woman. Gajeel was paying attention to the tiny blunette before him; he didn't care about whatever it was they couldn't agree on. He couldn't resist the urge to touch her hair, rolling the locks between his fingers.

Levy, on the other hand, was completely entranced. She was so used to only being able to talk to Freed about her work—translation, script magic, runic languages. And there weren't many in Fairy Tail who could keep up with her when she was excited, or agitated, since she tended to switch rapidly between languages—several of which were long dead.

Sorren and the girl—Kara, Levy remembered from their brief introduction—were in the midst of a heated debate on the easiest way to translate a newly discovered language—one so new even Levy didn't recognize it. To top it off, they were switching seamlessly between over a dozen languages without even seeming to notice.

"I'm telling you, it just makes more sense to begin by first translating it into Ancient Fiorian before the modern common language." The woman was saying. Levy glanced over them at the board where they'd put the piece they'd been working on. She did see more similarities between the new language and Ancient Fiorian.

"And I am saying that is a waste of time. It takes even longer to translate it both ways than it would to put the extra effort into a direct translation!" they were both very animated, hands waving madly about as they went back and forth.

Levy cocked her head and studied the piece, which looked like a very well-preserved book's page. There were notes around it, dating the language. Her work-brain took over, trying to work through the translation on impulse.

"You're both wrong," She said after a few minutes, making both archaeologists stop mid-sentence. If Levy noticed the skeptical looks she got from both, she ignored them. She stood and walked over to the board, pulling Gajeel up and along with her—she didn't want anything to do with that awful motion sickness again. She pulled her light pen from her boot and stepped forward. "If you look at the structure of the sentences, words, and characters, you can see a distinct similarity to Ancient Boscan. If you start translating straight to that," She made a few marks, and wrote out a couple of sentences with characters Gajeel couldn't read. "Then it is just a standard translation from Ancient to modern Boscan, then to the modern common tongue." Levy turned, brandishing her light pen

Sorren was giving her that look again, one Levy could only describe as vaguely hungry—predatory. Kara was looking at her, though, with a touch of hero-worship in her eyes. Levy's smile fell, and she faltered. "What? Did I mess something up" She whirled around, worry creasing her face. She knew how mad she could get whenever someone even ruffled her notes.

"No! Of course not!" Kara exclaimed, rushing over and grabbing her hand as Levy went to wipe away her notes. "No, that's not it. We're just amazed someone could even follow our conversation, let alone correct it. And you're right; this would just about cut our work-time in half." The woman raked her eyes over the page, tapping one slim finger against her chin. "It also makes the tenses and the strange verb pattern make sense, too. You know, this is so similar to Ancient Boscan…It's from a tiny island about forty miles east of Claw Island, actually. Did you know that?" She pulled herself up to sit cross-legged on a crate full of apples. Levy's face was full of that hunger for knowledge that kept her shut in the stacks of the Guild library for weeks on end as she sat on the rocking floor, scooting forward to let Gajeel sit behind her against her chest of books. The floor was cold; at Levy's shiver, Gajeel reached into one of their big suitcases and pulled out a big fluffy throw blanket, wrapping it around the both of them.

"Until recently, we had not known the island was ever inhabited. This," She gestured at the board, "Is one page of a text that appears to be a historical account of the people who settled there. The problem is that this is a language we've never seen, with no sort of Rosetta stone available. We are having to do all of it from scratch."
Kara did not miss the excitement filling Levy's face as she looked longingly at the text. Gajeel knew it was hopeless; nothing would keep his shrimp from this new project.

"Would you like to help me in this venture, Mrs. Redfox?" She asked hopefully.

Levy nodded for a moment before freezing and turning beet red. "I-it's n-not Redfox, yet." She stuttered.

Kra's eyes flashed between Levy's blush, Gajeel's completely contented face where he rested his chin on her hair, and the slight movement under the blanket where Gajeel was rubbing warm circles on her belly. "I thought we were working with Team Redfox. And didn't I see a ring earlier?"

"Well, w-we are Team Redfox; it's just my last name is still McGarden." Levy smiled.

"Team Redfox is a sep'rate team within Shadowgear." Gajeel said softly. His eyes were closed; he was entirely at ease, almost reduced to a puddle of goo by his woman. Not that he would ever admit it. "Makes more sense. Two Redfoxes, 'bout to be 3. And my cat. McGarden is the odd one out."

Kara looked even more confused. "I thought Black Steel Gajeel had no other ffamily. Who's the other Redfox?"

Levy laughed and slipped her hand over Gajeel's under the blanket. "Silly dragon." She teased. "It's not a Redfox yet, either."

Gajeel cracked one eye open to look down at Levy's hair. "Whatcha mean, ain't a Redfox? 'Course it's a Redfox."

Levy shook her head, disturbing his resting place. "Nope, until we're married, he or she is also a McGarden. And since Lily is A) not here, and B) not a Redfox either, that technically makes you the odd one out." Kara still looked royally confused. "I'm pregnant." Levy said. She loved saying it. Loved the way Gajeel's heart skipped a beat, and the way he pulled her a fraction of an inch closer every time she did say it. And she loved how, no matter whether or not they liked children, everyone she told immediately had this insanely happy glimmer in their gaze, if only for a moment, or, like her new friend, Kara, they would give her a smile that threatened to break their face in half.

"Really?" She didn't pause to give Levy a chance to answer. "And you're staying for a year with us, right?" Levy nodded, and Kara jumped up, squealing and pulling Levy up off the floor for a big, crushing hug. "I'm so excited! I love babies! Does it have a godmother yet?"

Levy almost couldn't resist the big blue doe-eyes Kara was giving her; she almost decided to make Kara the godmother, until an image of Mira's reaction flashed through her mind. The blunette blanched and said in a deadpan voice "Yes."

Gajeel groaned loudly, reaching for Levy's hand as the motion sickness suddenly caught up with him. Instead of her hand, though, he got a good handful of her butt. Levy jumped and glanced down at him in surprise, blushing furiously again. "Uh, Gajeel?" He hummed in response, the motion sickness fading away again. He flexed his hand, making Levy's skin tingle. "Gajeel, what are you doing?"

Kara glanced down and noticed where his hand was and giggled. "Do you need me to let you two alone for a bit?" She asked

"No," Levy said.

"Yes," Gajeel said a little louder, at the same time. He wore a wicked grin, both eyes open now and on her ass. Levy reached back and tried smacking his hand away, but he caught her wrist in his other hand. They shared a deep, lust-filled look. "You sure 'bout that, love?" Gajeel asked, letting his voice get deeper and huskier, the way he knew made her blood race. Sure enough, he saw her inhale sharply at his words. Levy didn't answer, caught in his gaze, easy prey.

Kara's eyes widened a bit. She had just been joking. And then she saw the looks they were giving each other, and was surprised they still had clothes on. As quietly as she could, she left the room, dragging Sorren away from the board as she did and shutting the hatch leading down to the cargo bay as she went, making sure everyone knew not to go down there until they saw the couple again. She didn't tell anyone what they were doing, of course, but they knew. Of course they knew.

And these two aren't married? Kara thought. She shook her head. This was going to be a long trip. She was very glad they had decided to pack extra earplugs; they would need them.