The next few days passed quickly, as Gajeel packed his few belongings. Juvia came to assist, knowing that his packing skills were often nothing more than throwing everything he owned into a garbage bag, just like they were forced to as children in foster care. She helped him pre-sort the items he would be needing on his year-long trip, and the things that would stay in Levy's penthouse for storage. It took him hours of debate to narrow down which instruments and amplifiers he wanted to bring with him, and which would go into storage for a year.
All of his belongings fit into one small rental truck, and the only reason it was crowded in the truck was because Gajeel had insisted on bubble wrapping the cases to his instruments, his amplifiers, and his instrument stands. Juvia drove the rental to the address Levy provided, while Gajeel drove his motorcycle ahead, speeding off ahead to burn away some stress before arriving at his new home for the next few weeks.
He arrived at the downtown building he recognized it as one he had dropped Lucy off at on multiple occasions. It was a building known to house some of the richest in town, and that showed from the stone architecture outside, as well as the marble interior and statues. All of the furniture perfectly matching, from the chairs, to the drapes. He had walked Lucy into the building every time, so the man at the front desk recognized him immediately. Perking up from his slump while reading, he noticed that Lucy was not with the tall, muscular man.
"I'm not working with her any more, I'm actually here because.." his explanation got cut off by the elevator dinging and Levy walking out.
"Hey Gajeel!" her voice echoed through the marble lobby. Both men turned their heads to see Levy skipping out of the elevator. Gajeel's breath was caught in his throat, as he couldn't imagine the girl being any more beautiful than she already was, but she was more bright and beautiful than the sun it's self today. Her blue hair was pulled back into two messy buns that sat behind her ears, and stray locks fell on either side of her face, framing it perfectly. Her lips were clean of the ombre lipstick from the night prior, though her eyes were once again dawned in a perfect cat wing. She wore a bright yellow dress with no straps, but was supported around her neck with a thick white ribbon and tied to the front with a bow. It had wide open sleeves, but they were held to her upper arm with ribbon rather than being attached to the dress. On her tiny feet there were tiny red sandals that reminded him of a pair Juvia had when they were kids.
The man at the desk cleared his throat, as Levy was in the process of skipping the length of space between the elevator and desk. "Oh, I see..." the man said coyly. "You've got a date with the lovely lady Levy."
"What?!" Gajeel choked out, "What, no, I uh... was hired... as her body guard. To go on the world tour with her and shit."
"Mmmmhmmmm." The man raised an eyebrow at Gajeel. "Not buying it." He turned and went to retrieve something from the back room, as Levy reached Gajeel her brow quirked up in question.
"Where are all your things, Gajeel?" Having her presence near and her attention on him seemed to warm his skin and bring a feeling in his stomach he had never felt before.
Gajeel stuttered for a moment before answering, internally face palming himself repeatedly for his slip up. "My sister," he finally choked out, "she's driving the rental truck. I drove my bike here, you said there was a locked garage for me to use?"
"Oh, you have a bike? Can I see?" Levy bounced a bit in the place she stood. The man at the desk returned from the backroom, struggling to carry a enormous vase dozens, if not a hundred, of long steamed red roses.
"Miss Levy, these arrived for you today..." he gasped after setting the heavy bouquet down on the counter.
Gajeel expected Levy to be delighted that someone had sent her such a beautiful and surely expensive gift of flowers, but instead she scowled deeply. She sighed before responding "Just... call the florist next door... she'll come pick them up and rid me of their presence." The man nodded his head and went to go make the phone call as Gajeel turned to Levy with a confused face.
"What was that about?" He questioned, but Levy started out the front lobby to his bike before beginning to answer his question.
"One of the reasons you've been hired... a stalker. Some guy who tries to follow all my local shows, leaving gifts here at my house, taking pictures of me in public..." She signed deeply and tried to wipe away a tear without Gajeel noticing. Before Gajeel could think of what to say to comfort her, they reached his bike outside the penthouse and Levy immediately perked up. "Nice wheels," she commented, reaching for the handle and throwing a leg over to sit down on top it.
"Hey, watch it Shorty! I don't need some punk who doesn't know a thing about bikes scratchin' up my baby," Gajeel scolded Levy for touching bike. She simply raised an eyebrow up at Gajeel, turned the key into on position, kicking the street bike into gear and starting it with ease.
"Sounds like you need some work done. Hop on, I'll show you where to park it... in the garage I have... specifically for bikes... there might be room if we squeeze her in." Levy deadpanned, as Gajeel stood with his jaw hanging open slightly and a dumbfounded look replaced his normally cocky grin.
Doing as he was told, he slid on behind Levy. He tried to hang onto the small space of seat between he and Levy, but Levy grabbed his hands and pulled them around her waist to hold her hips. Gajeel was thankful that he didn't have review mirrors on his bike, or Levy would absolutely be able to see the bright red blush on his cheeks with his lack of helmet on. He flexed his fingers over her hip bones and noticed how despite Levy's petite stature, her hips were quite wide. Not that he minded at all, in fact he found himself focused solely on how sturdy but soft her hips were as he gripped onto them.
"Um... Gajeel?" A soft voice interrupting his thoughts, "you can let go now..."
Gajeels eyes flew open wide and he stumbled to climb off the bike until he found himself completely red in the face and awkwardly standing next to Levy on his bike. "I, uh, so-sorry..." He sputtered quietly. Levy looked at him with wide eyes, before she started to laugh heartily in a contagious manner. Gajeel couldn't help but laugh his embarrassment off.
"You know, Gajeel," Levy started, bringing their laugher to a standstill, wiping a tear from her eye from laughing so hard, "I think this is gonna be a good thing." She smiled warmly at Gajeel, with a small blush on her own cheeks. Before he could reply, Gajeel's cellphone started ringing a jazzy beat. He retrieved it to find that Juvia was outside the building waiting to help carry boxes up to the penthouse suite.
"You're gonna have to bring me back up here and let me test drive some of these bikes." Gajeel told her as they walked back down to lobby.
"I dunno, I don't really need 'some punk who doesn't know a thing about bikes, scratchin' up my babies.'" Levy quipped at Gajeel for thinking she didn't know anything about bikes before getting to know her.
As they reached the lobby, Juvia stood with a few of Gajeel's instruments at her feet. Juvia and Levy hit it off immediately, starting to chat and gossip about how much teasing they got as children being naturally blue haired, the books they've recently read. As they reached the apartment, Gajeel let Lily out of his carrier and he ran to sniff about as Levy led them room to room in their new shared dwelling.
"You'll have your own room with a view of the city and walk in closet, bathroom with jacuzzi tub and a shower, living room with all the works, everything is fully furnished, but if for whatever reason you want to bring your own furniture you can put this stuff in storage if needed. The only thing that is shared is the kitchen... but you won't have to worry about that. Besides making tea or coffee I really don't use the kitchen. I usually just order out or eat while I'm out and about." Levy explained as she walked into the kitchen and start preparing them all cups of tea. "The burn marks above the stove give me away anyway, I'm an absolutely terrible cook."
Juvia perked up after sipping her tea, waiting for the perfect opportunity to make Gajeel look good. "Gajeel-kun is a wonderful cook, Levy-chan! He has even taken culinary classes!" Levy snorted in disbelief.
"I'd love to see big, bad, body guard over here in an apron, whipping up culinary meal. That would be a sight to see," Levy giggled into her tea cup.
"Oi! I'll have you know I'm a down right bad ass cook."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Levy shot back at him.
"Alright, anything you want, right here and now." Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest and stood tall over Levy, staring down his nose at her.
"I told you, I don't cook, the kitchen is bare besides cookies and teas. We'd have to go grocery shopping, and you need to unpack."
"You guys go!" Juvia spoke up, "If it is alright with Levy-chan, Gray-sama can come help Juvia unpack the moving truck!"
"Gray?" Levy questioned, "Gray Fullbuster?"
Juvia nodded her head and beamed, "Juvia's fiance!"
"I know Gray! We went to high school together, played band. Does he still play the drums?" Levy inquired information on her old school mate.
"Yes, he plays a number of instruments now. He plays in the band at the club where Gajeel and Juvia perform at on jazz night. You should come see our goodbye performance for Gajeel on Friday before he goes away with you. Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and some of our other friends will be there!" Juvia bounced in excitement at the thought of Levy attending one of Gajeel's performances, but Gajeel didn't share the same enthusiasm. A light blush crossed his face.
"Oi, Rain Woman, quit pressuring the girl, she doesn't need to come out and.." but Levy interrupted.
"I would love to! Lucy is my best friend, but I haven't seen Gray in years. I can't believe he and Natsu still hang out, they were constantly fighting when we were in school."
Gajeel rolled his eyes, "Flame Brain and Ice Princess still fight like cats and dogs." Juvia and Levy giggled.
"Well then, Gajeel and I can run to the grocery store and he can test drive Mavis on the way." Levy chirped. "Two birds with one stone."
Gajeel and Juvia both looked at Levy with confusion. "Mavis?"