Author's Note: Again, I am so appreciative of everyone who has read and reviewed, or those on Tumblr who've read, liked, and/or reblogged the story so far. Thank you!
Prompt: First Date
Late one afternoon, early evening really, most of the guild members were hanging out in the hall, eating, drinking, and socializing, as was the usual.
Team Shadow Gear had just returned the night before from a job, and they were regaling their friends with the tale of a supposedly kitsune-haunted mansion, which had turned out to be little more than a couple local village pranksters. As she talked, Levy snuck glances at Gajeel, who appeared to be more interested in observing the rest of the guild than listening to her story.
And just like that, the last thread of Levy's patience snapped. She was sick of waiting on Gajeel to do something, but she unhappily acknowledged that she was too insecure to ask him out. The fear of rejection and losing their friendship was too great.
When Jet and Droy finished speaking, Levy turned to Lucy.
"Ne, Lu-chan? I've, um, got a date tonight… Could you come help me pick out what to wear?"
The blonde whipped her head around to look at Gajeel and then back at Levy, her face lighting up in amazement.
"Did—"
Levy shook her head. "Nope."
Lucy arched an eyebrow and then grabbed Levy's hand, dragging the bluenette out the door, barely giving them enough time to say bye to their respective teams.
Jet and Droy reacted predictably to the news, wailing about their "Levy-chan" as they flopped deafeatedly onto the tabletop, tears streaming down their faces.
Gajeel, however, said nothing.
After several minutes of watching Gajeel, or rather watching his lack of reaction, Gray crossed his arms over his suddenly bare chest, leaned back in his chair, and regarded the stoic dragon slayer. "Hey, what gives? You seem awfully calm for Levy to be going out with some guy tonight."
Gajeel grinned slyly. "Gi hi. I ain't worried. She's not going out with anyone tonight."
Natsu cocked his head in confusion. "Huh? How can you be so sure?"
"Shrimp's got a tell—she twirls a bit of her hair around her finger the whole time she's lying. Salamander, your Bunny Girl's got one too, ya know."
Gray rolled his eyes at the implication that Natsu owned their teammate. Natsu and Happy leaned in close, mischievous smiles spreading across their faces. "Ohhhh?"
Gajeel snorted. "Not that hard to miss. She giggles and won't make eye contact."
While they processed this fairly non-Earthland-shattering information, Gajeel walked up to the bar to get another drink.
Mira smiled as she wiped down the bar. "Same thing?"
He nodded, and she set about preparing his version of a Screwdriver—whiskey neat, literally poured over an iron screw.
"Mira, when you're finished with that, can you make me another appletini?" Evergreen propped up against the bar next to him. "Hi, Gajeel."
He inclined his head in acknowledgment and, once he had his drink in hand, was about to return to his seat when something Mira said to Evergreen caught his attention.
"So, Ever, what's with Bickslow spending so much time at the library these days?"
Evergreen shrugged and fanned her face. "Who knows for sure… But…" She leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially, "I think maybe he's taken a liking to a particular blue-haired volunteer librarian. Wouldn't surprise me if he asked her out soon."
Gajeel gulped his drink and slammed the empty glass on the bar, shattering it in the process and eliciting twin startled squeaks from the women. Then he stomped out the door, not even bothering to wait for Pantherlily, who looked at him with wide surprised eyes.
Evergreen snapped her fan closed and winked at Mira, receiving a Cheshire-cat grin in return.
After a short chat and no small amount of frustrated tears, Lucy and Levy commiserating over baka dragon slayers, the celestial mage went home, assuring Levy she'd keep up the ruse.
Levy knew she was being petty and immature, but she was so very tired of feeling like a foregone conclusion.
Damn that man! Is it so hard to make just a little bit of effort?
She sighed. Maybe she should simply bite the bullet and ask him herself.
Levy flung herself on her bed, wincing in pain as something dug into her midcalf. Squirming around, she retrieved the offending object. It was the newest book left by her clandestine admirer, a rare anthology of dragon fairy tales from various cultures across the world.1
Whoever this person was, they had excellent taste.
She was thumbing through the collection, smiling at the colorful pictures, when a loud thwack against her apartment door had her bolting upright, heart thundering in her chest.
"Oi. Shrimp. I know you're home."
Gajeel.
"How're you even in here? Guys aren't allowed in Fairy Hills!"
"Heh, as if that would stop me." He cleared his throat. "Listen, you, uh, want to grab a bite to eat tonight or somethin'?"
"Gajeel… I'd love to, but I already have a date."2
"Yeah? With who?"
"Umm…a library patron. You don't know him," Levy said hesitantly.
"'Course you're not the kind of girl who would break a date…"
"No, I'm not."
"And I ain't the kinda guy who'd ask you to."
"I know."
"So, uh, pick you up at eight?" he asked.
"I'll be ready."2
She listened to his retreating footsteps and pressed her hands to her mouth to muffle her gleeful squeal.
A date. With Gajeel. Our first date.
Finally!
Except… Now she really did want Lucy's help!
Meanwhile…
Lucy had planned on going home, but her short heart-to-heart had left her feeling a bit blue and needy. Rather than wallow in her thoughts at home alone, she decided to go back to the guild for a bit. She knew someone's antics would cheer her up.
No, you just want to see Natsu. You liiiiiike him.
Why the traitorous little voice in her head had randomly adopted Happy's voice, Lucy had no clue.
Heading for her team, she saw Laxus at the bar with Mira and Evergreen, a scowl on his face, and she overheard him saying something like "that was just dirty."
Before she could sneak over to eavesdrop for some juicy gossip, she was accosted by Natsu and Happy. Their matching sly expressions immediately put her on guard.
"Luuuuuuuccccyyyyyy…" Natsu's grin was a little too toothy for her liking.
She began backing away slowly. "Y-yes?"
"Got any food at your apartment?"
"Yeah, Lucy, maybe some fish?" Happy added.
"Ah, ano…" She bit her lip and glanced at her feet. Sure, she had just bought groceries, including fish, but there was no way she could tell THEM that.
She giggled nervously and peeked at them. They were staring expectantly at her, awaiting her response.
"N-no… I, um [giggle] need to go to the store tomorrow."
To her surprise, their smiles didn't fade. No, instead, they grew larger if possible.
Happy chuckled ominously, and he and Natsu said in unison, "You're lying!"
And then each grabbed ahold of her, and with Natsu on one arm and Happy on the other, they dragged a shell-shocked Lucy out of the guild toward her apartment.
Ehhhh? What the hell just happened?
Author's Note: Nope, not going to describe their first date. Everyone's ideal first date is individual, so I leave that up to readers' imaginations.
Footnotes:
1. Note: Refers to A Book of Dragons, by Ruth Manning-Sanders. Published in 1964, it's a collection of 14 dragon-related fairy tales. Whether it actually has colorful pictures or not, I couldn't say.
2. Note: Starting with the line "I'd love to, but I already have a date" and ending with "I'll be ready," this scene was adapted from the 1959 movie Pillow Talk, starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Though technically it would've been nice to use this on the Pillow Talk prompt day, it just worked better here. :-)
