Author's Note: Ugh, this chapter didn't come out exactly the way I wanted it to, but I hope you guys like it anyway. It looked a lot weirder 5 months after I wrote it. It's also way shorter than I expected... Sigh, oh well. *throws chapter at you* I'm tired. I'm sorry for bad editing.
(Pst, thanks for sticking with me and for all the comments. One chapter left.)
Limits by HawkofNavarre
Chapter 4 - The Way it Works
It was strange how much things had changed after Gajeel had given her that one little note. He acted the same, still kept things from her that Levy knew he was keeping from her, and wasn't even a little more open, but she seemed happier and more assured. The tense moments of insecurity he'd sensed before, even when he'd denied it, had disappeared altogether and Levy just seemed cheerful and carefree.
Who knew that a stupid piece of paper could change his life?
Well, right, it had still been awfully difficult to write what he had on that little sheet, and he was sweating balls when he had placed it in her hand. It felt like he'd finally initiated a positive development in his life. Juvia had brought him into Fairy Tail, and Gajeel had helped that along once he was there, but this was him. This was only him.
The iron dragon slayer had never felt so pumped up with pride in all his years of living. Conquering an enemy felt great, but he got his woman. He got his mate! He was certain that the aura of arrogance pouring off his was hitting everyone on the beach. Good. He hoped everyone felt it. It was their privilege to be in the presence of a badass like himself!
"Gihihihihi!"
Pantherlily eyed his partner wearily. "Why are you laughing?"
"I'm such a badass," he replied haughtily, grinning as he looked across the water. It was a nice day to be at the beach with the rest of his guild. On a real high note, Levy would be dressed skimpy, something the more conservative solid script mage didn't do very often, and that was extra pleasant to look at.
"You're an embarrassment sometimes," the Exceed sighed as he scratched at his paw. "Besides, 'your woman' looks like she's having some problems, and it's drawing a fair amount of attention."
Gajeel's head went on a swivel, looking for her familiar blue hair. It didn't take long for him to spot her when she looked so desperate in front of a palm tree. She was staring up into the leaves, cheeks puffed up and eyes narrowing. She threw her arms up, leaping to try and reach whatever was up there. She stopped after a moment, glancing above forlornly before she began aggressively hopping again.
Well, that was just fucking adorable.
The iron dragon slayer got to his feet, leaving the cat behind as he surveyed the rest of Levy's surroundings. There were two males watching, ogling her behind shamelessly, while another in yellow shorts was beginning to approach Levy. Friends were one thing, even if they were scrawny cowards—those guys were family—but random strangers?
Gajeel moved swiftly, walking up behind his girl and shooting the guy in the yellow shorts the most frightening I-will-beat-your-ass glare he could possibly muster. It was an extremely satisfying thing to watch the blood drain out of the dude's face. People were often intimidated by Gajeel for no reason, but he hardly ever did it intentionally. However, knowing that he still had his touch was rather reassuring. He wasn't about to pound on any weaklings anyway. He just wanted to make sure that there weren't any other guys coming after Levy. He knew exactly how she worked; that little blunette was too nice to turn anyone away, even if she rejected them.
Effectively staving off the teenage hormone-sacks, Gajeel took a look at what Levy was struggling so desperately to reach in her little red bikini. It...was a hat. A sun hat. It had gotten stuck between the thick leaves of a fairly short palm tree, but even when propelling herself up, her fingertips didn't come close to the object she was seeking.
Stepping forward, Gajeel plucked the hat from the tree and tossed it on her head. Resting his palm on her head, he glanced down at her with a cocky grin. "Lookin' for something, shorty?"
She sulked, crossing her arms. "Don't laugh at my size."
His grin remained solid. "Who's laughin'?" He ruffled her hair with the sunhat before he finally backed off, earning him a sour look from the woman who would be his mate. Ah, today felt like a good, good day.
Gingerly, Levy pulled of the hat to try and groom her hair a bit. It ended up looking a little neater, but Gajeel didn't even understand why she bothered. Her hair was as wild and hopeless as his, and he liked it that way.
"Hmph, you try being short," she countered, pouting as she put her hat back on, finished adjusting her hair. She led them back toward the blankets the guild had laid out, kneeling to open the cooler and grab a soda.
"So you're short. Whatever. Everyone's got issues."
She blinked. "Even you...?"
"I...guess..."
"Like what?"
He pulled a soda out after her, shaking it inconspicuously. "My fingers. It ain't easy playing guitar with fat fingers, you know."
Levy smiled, taking one of his hands in hers and pulling it into her lap while they sat together. "I guess that it would be kind of difficult to play chords cleanly when your fingers keep touching extra strings," she agreed with a nod before she took a sip of her beverage. "That's okay. I like your fingers."
Gajeel froze for a minute, putting his drink to the side as he stared at the mage he was sitting next to.
What...what the hell? Had he actually just admitted to her something he felt self-conscious about? Willingly? The person he knew would never concede an insecurity about himself unless he were speaking to Juvia, because Juvia never laughed; she always understood and always was supportive.
Her smile was radiant, he thought, when she was looking at him directly like that. She was so jovial, content with just this conversation and finally it felt like he really understood why.
He truly was a fool. This was all Levy had wanted since the beginning. She'd only wanted him to trust her with these small things, even just a little, and that was why she'd asked him just to try.
But he had been stupid and scared, absolutely resolute to keep going the way they had been since their relationship had gotten to this threshold where they were either friends or going steady. They'd always sort of walked the line, maybe a little more on the "going steady" side, and that was just the way he'd liked it, so when the ultimatum came, he wasn't about to just give up what he wanted. Of course, the even dumber part was when he actually did give in and things went back to the way they had been, mostly, he'd felt like he had won some sort of game because Levy didn't push the issue any further. It never occurred to him that the ultimatum had been a key in this whole thing. She'd put the key in the door and it was his choice whether to leave it safely locked or open it. He'd been dead-set on keeping it closed, but he eventually caved and turned the key.
He'd thought it was just the same as it was. It wasn't. Immediately, the next time Gajeel saw her, Levy seemed closer. She would take his hand, something she did before as well, but not as often and certainly not as easily. She would lean close against him, talk to him about her problems with Jet and Droy sometimes, definitely something she hadn't done before, and she suddenly wasn't so timid about passionately speaking about her favourite novels. He didn't mind any of it. In fact, he quite enjoyed it.
He...hadn't realized that his efforts would lead to this. She knew now that he liked singing in the shower, but she hadn't said anything at all about it, and until now, he hadn't realized that it was a sign of respect and a message telling him that he could trust her. Though he hadn't picked up on that, he'd subconsciously gotten more comfortable around her and unknowingly began to trust her more, all because she didn't tease him for singing in the shower. He'd become secure enough that he'd just said something to her that left him vulnerable.
What the hell was he thinking, things went "back"? Things were different. So different. Comfortable. Secure. Better.
Gajeel nudged her gently with his elbow. "Yeah, well, good thing you're shrimpy. It's easier to throw you over my shoulder when you're being stubborn," he remarked with a smirk.
She swatted at him playfully. "You know, I'm not a potato sack."
He snickered. "You sure make a good one."
"You're mean!" Levy squeaked, throwing sand at him.
He blocked it with his arm. "Hey, you'd better watch it or I'll put that hat back in the tree!" the dragon slayer threatened as he snatched the accessory from her head just to make his point.
Levy simply retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him defiantly. Just as she did, a volleyball landed next to her. She picked it up, serving it back to the area where a number of their guild mates were playing beach volleyball.
"How long have they been going at that?" Gajeel asked, pressing the hat back on her when she took a seat next to him once again.
"About an hour and a half," she replied, watching as Elfman made the first move, putting the ball over the net. "I know you got here a bit later, but I was certain I'd find you here playing."
He snorted when he saw Lisanna set the volleyball and Erza come down with a massive spike. The ball hit Max square in the temple and the sand mage went down hard. "And why's that?"
"Well, you're seriously competitive, for one thing," she stated casually, completely focused on the game at hand, "and then you also like hitting things. The harder the better."
He supposed her reasoning was quite rational, considering how hard he worked to be talented and how much he enjoyed beating up males who leered at his girlfriend or whatever she was. However, Gajeel was really only interested in competing against Natsu, Gray or Laxus, and none of them were present in the game at that time. Because of that, his interest in playing the sport waned significantly. Oh Erza was a tough opponent—no doubt she would be a worthy adversary—but she wasn't someone he would call a rival, mostly because she was batshit crazy and scared the crap out of him (though he would never admit that out loud). That level of competition was not something he wanted, especially if he knew the inevitable ending would be him lying on the ground in a bloody pile.
"Not really like anyone would stand a chance against me," he grumbled to her instead, but when there was no reply, Gajeel found that she was completely engrossed in the match.
Quizzically, the iron dragon slayer examined the match. It didn't appear all that riveting, considering Erza was basically dominating the team of males in all her dark-red bikini glory. Gajeel was almost tempted to join the men so that they didn't look so pathetic. Still, he couldn't figure out what Levy found so intriguing about the whole thing. Volleyball was something he preferred to play rather than watch.
He glanced at her eyes, then followed her line of sight. It...looked like it was a moving target. Gajeel looked back and forth, believing he had spotted exactly what she was focused on, but...but it couldn't be right. Because that was just weird. No, it wasn't possible—not with his mate.
...Unless...
Gajeel aimed the top of his soda can at the solid script mage and popped open the top. She squealed when the burst of soda hit her, guarding herself with her hands and falling onto her back.
"What are you doing, Gajeel?" she demanded, shoving him with her sticky hands. Her entire frontal plane had been soaked and she didn't seem very amused.
"You were staring at Erza's tits," he retorted, eyes narrowed as he drank from the can.
Levy let out a high-pitched noise, somewhere between a gasp and a cry of horror. "Y-you could tell?"
"Well, you stopped talking and your head was following how they were bounc—"
"Don't finish that sentence!" she shrieked, absolutely mortified. She breathed deeply and rubbed her forehead with her palm. "I can't believe you caught me... I'm just, you know, sort of...jealous."
"Of Erza's tits?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes! And can you stop calling them 'tits'?"
Gajeel blinked. "That's it? Why?"
Levy glowered at him, cheeks flushed. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly comparable when it comes to...assets with the other girls in the guild."
"What're you talkin' about? You've got nice tits."
"Wha—I—can you please stop calling them 'tits'?"
He rolled his eyes. "Relax. You've got perfectly nice, round tits. Nothing to worry about. They're just boobs. Whatever."
"I can't believe we're even talking about this," she groaned in devastation. "And then you go and tell me they're nice."
"Well, they are. I don't get the fuss over big tits."
"See? You just called them small!"
"Damn it, woman! You just aren't gonna let me win, are you?"
"Because you're mean!"
"How am I mean? I said you have nice—"
"Don't you dare say 'tits' again!"
"—boob-breasts."
"You called them small!"
"No I didn't!"
"You implied it!"
"FUCK. NO. I. DIDN'T."
"..."
"You're not...mad at me, right...?"
"...No, I'm sorry. I was just being dramatic."
Gajeel quietly let out a sigh of relief. For a minute, he had truly felt like he'd really, really screwed up, though he wasn't sure how it was possible that he even top his last screw-up. Still, that had felt like an impossible situation, more difficult that any battle he'd ever fought. It was like facing Acnologia, where anything he did just resulted in a disastrous outcome. In his denial during the ultimatum, he'd truly thought that Levy was being unreasonable. New he just wanted to kick himself for even thinking that after what he'd just experienced.
He knew managing a relationship was going to be hard; he just didn't expect it to be this hard when it came to breasts. Boy, was he grateful Levy had settled down. He made a mental note to avoid the topic of lady lumps in the future.
"I'm sorry," she apologized again, shyly taking his hand for the second time that day. "That's just always been sort of a sensitive subject for me."
Gajeel nodded, recalling how she hadn't brought up his shower singing because she knew he was uncomfortable with it. Didn't that kind of thing apply in this situation as well? Probably, in which case he couldn't blame her for getting flustered and upset so easily. Even if he could, of all people, he understood how mistakes worked and currently, forgiveness followed immediately. He was quick to realize that he shouldn't have talked so crudely about the subject and he wouldn't next time. Levy may have overreacted, but he had a definite part in it too.
"It's...my bad," he replied, voice strained, not at all used to making apologies that were heartfelt and sincere...or apologies at all, really. Jeez, and he'd thought writing down that confession had been rough. This definitely took the cake. The words rolled off his tongue way more awkwardly than intended.
"No, it's alright. It's only right that you know that about me. We're partners, right?" she asked softly, the fingers woven between his closing a little tighter.
Before he had a chance to respond, Levy stood up, pulling him up with her.
"Ugh, that soda made me all sticky," she wined as she dragged him toward the ocean. "If I have to clean up, you're coming with me."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "For what?"
She shot a teasing smile back at him. "To protect me from the big, bad sea monsters, of course! I could be eaten in the water!"
"Why don't I just lick it off you and we can avoid the water altogether?" he deadpanned.
"Pervert!" she proclaimed, now dashing into the shallow areas on the short. She let go of his hand and dropped her body into the water to wash off.
"Maybe..." Gajeel murmured as he admired her much like the other males he had scared off earlier. He was mesmerized as she ducked under the surface, rising back up and brushing her wet hair back in a seductive motion.
Well shit. Had his mind just turned into some stereotypical dirty film? That movement had definitely appeared slower in his perception than it should've been. Mavis help him, if he'd ever wished for his brain to convert every action Levy took into a sultry, seductive beckoning. Her skin glistened under the sunlight like diamonds of the purest clarity, hair dripping with pearls and beads of crystal rolling down her sides—it was the most tantalizing vision he'd ever beheld. She was shining, sparkling.
...What the fuck! I'm turning into Juvia!
Even if he was turning into Juvia, though, Gajeel decided that this shrimpy little woman was truly the most beautiful sight he'd every set his eyes upon. That part wasn't jazzed up by his imagination. That was just what she was all on her own. She was intelligence, compassion, strength, and happiness wrapped up in a tiny blue-haired package, sometimes with glasses. There was no other he'd rather have by his side.
He waded up behind her and put his arms around her waist.
"Hm? Gajeel, wha—eep!"
Gajeel dropped onto the sand beneath them, taking Levy down with him and creating a splash that got his own hair damp. She fell into his lap and he held her close. He wasn't going to let her go this time. He knew what he had, no illusions or rationalizations. He knew.
The only problem was that he wasn't exactly the type of person who vocalized that kind of thing. Doing that would just feel really self-conscious and unnatural, and somehow it didn't seem like Levy would appreciate that.
Fortunately, Levy said nothing, remaining silent as though she understood that he need to hold her. Maybe she because she read like nobody else he knew, someone who could read all day shut up in a room of isolation, she appreciated silence as much as he did. She was good at reading, especially the quiet. Brilliant girl. His girl.
"So, we are partners, right?" she murmured gently, shifting into his arms to face him with a coy smile.
"You know what we are," Gajeel replied seriously, though his manner was cool all the same. However, the statement underneath was just as sober as the tone of his voice. With that look in her eyes, he could tell she sincerely did know that things were different this time. She wasn't thinking it over anymore, because he had given her something to put her faith in. She believed in them, and there was nothing that shook that belief anymore.
"Yes, I do," Levy agreed cheerfully. "We're siblings, right?"
He rolled his eyes. "I don't think siblings kiss."
"And us?" she asked quietly. "Do we kiss?"
He pulled her into him, her lips pressing against his, and he claimed her for the first time, truly, as his partner. His hand was on her cheek, keeping her close until they settled into a comfortable motion together. Kissing felt horribly strange for a moment, until that feeling of awkwardness melted away into something remarkably thrilling. People always said good things about it, and going for the lips definitely felt instinctual, but damn, he really hadn't believed all the hype until now.
Especially because this was it. Only because it was her.
When they finally separated, Levy was giggling and he was chuckling, both of them finding humour at how horrible it was at first, and how ridiculously better it had become once they were both in sync. Gajeel placed his hand on her head and his chin on top, leaning on her as she laughed into his wet chest.
"We do now," he answered.