.
.
.
"It's such a crass idea - you're either in love or out of love."
.
.
.
Gajeel sighed, running a hand down his face in exasperation. If he wasn't already in the dog house for being so late, he would have probably marched into Cana's office and called her insane for hiring the tiny woman to waitress in the bar.
Unfortunately, he WAS in the doghouse, so he couldn't exactly do that without expecting a bottle to the face and possibly a kick to the teeth by means of her wrath. Cana was usually very selective about the women who were waitresses in the bar, and usually, he didn't doubt her judgment but Blue didn't even look like she'd last the day.
She chewed on her lip, her hands wringing around themselves as she looked around awkwardly. Sighing, he leaned against the counter again and looked off to the side where the gaggle of women who took his shift always stayed. There were only three of them sitting around a circular table, their white blouses tucked into the high waist black pencil skirts, lean legs folded carefully.
Looking back at the bluenette, he noted that they might not even HAVE a uniform that fit her.
"So, you mind tellin' me how the hell you got raked into this?" he asked, setting his hands down in front of her.
She looked up, her brown eyes flashing into his for the barest moment before she looked down again in embarrassment. "Cana…made me a deal."
"What is it with you and deals?" Gajeel asked, ready to throw his hands in the air.
"Hey, it kept you your job!" She retorted, looking at him with her mouth twisted up to the side.
The black haired man bit down on his tongue, idly messing around with the two barbells to keep him from glaring. Okay, fine, it was true that the shrimp had saved his ass from unemployment, but that didn't mean he was going to be happy about it.
For starters, she didn't look like she could stay awake past 10 pm, especially with the weary look on her face. It was only 9 and she already seemed like she was ready to fold up and take a nap like some kind of kitten, cat ears, paws and all.
Though, upon the mental image he got, he decided that it was not a wise thing to think of a woman folding up and being like a cat, so he instantly punched the thought away.
Instead, he focused on the fact that his shift ended at 2 am. As in, he locked up the place. During the day, Bacchus was the person who manned the bar with Cana taking over for about two hours after his shift was over, waiting for Gajeel to arrive. The bar opened up at 10 am in the morning, so Bacchus worked until 5 and usually crashed at the bar due to his relationship with the owner.
For waitresses, the shifts were different. There were about 20 girls who worked in the place, either as entertainment in the form of singing or as simple waitresses, delivering drinks and looking pretty. As such, since the bar was open 18 hours a day, with Cana heading out at around 10, the girls had shifts of only about 4 to 5 hours.
Except the late night crowd.
There used to be 6 girls who worked the late shift, and it was usually for the desperate type. Once, there was a woman who had three kids to support and a fourth on the way and the late shift was her only option as she worked another job during the day.
It was pretty brutal. It was the longest shift out of all of them, 8 hours instead of 5 and was also the busiest. Since there used to be 6 workers instead of the current 3 (4, including Levy), the girls used to split up the shifts so they worked in rounds, scheduling out breaks and things of that nature. Since Cana usually wasn't around to regulate at that point, it was Gajeel's job to oversee that they didn't slack off.
As if they could: from midnight to 2 am was the rush. Every single person who had troubles would come in, ready to throw down shot after shot. They got everything from sleazy older men, trying to cop feels to pretty boys who got dumped, to girls lookin' to get lucky and women who complained about their husbands.
Fun, right?
It would seem that Gajeel could get a degree as a therapist with how many issues his customers poured onto him, drunk out of their minds.
But he didn't want to be locked up, so he listened to the lonely fucks who thought he gave a shit.
He could handle it, after all, Natsu was more annoying than they were. It was the women he had slight concern for. One of the girls who worked the shift was a woman by the name of Kinana, and she was family.
Not related by birth, but ever since she married Cobra she became family. The guy was some distant cousin, closer to Natsu than he was to Gajeel, but he still asked for him to take care of the lady so she could have enough money to raise their son while he dealt with…business.
So, many a man had become well acquainted with the brute force that he could muster up with little to no effort when they became "hands-y".
…And they liked to get hands-y.
Most of the waitresses would just sigh and go on their way, accepting the fact that they were drunk and if a smack to the butt would ensure that they had food on the table, then hey, they got food on the table. And it wasn't as if Gajeel was some chivalrous knight in shining armor.
It was just that he wasn't exactly the kind of bastard that could sit by and watch chicks get harassed, especially since his best friend happened to be a girl.
And okay, maybe (MAYBE) he was starting to get a soft spot for Blue, with her big brown eyes and her 1000 watt smile, and seeing her getting groped was not exactly on his bucket list.
"Have you ever even DONE something like this, shrimpette?" he asked, looking her over.
"I waitressed in high school…for a few years."
"Not in a bar I'm assuming." Gajeel said, dryly.
"Well….no. But it can't be that different, right?" Levy asked in a rush, looking him over and wanting to see some kind of encouragement.
He shook his head and she practically deflated. "Look, Tiny, you got the hardest fucking shift in the house."
"I can handle it!" she said, stubbornly.
"Till 2 am? You can handle being on your teeny lil' feet for 8 hours, runnin' around this goddamn place?" he asked.
"You can do it." She retorted.
"There's a BIG difference between what I can handle and what YOU can handle, squirt. For one, I've got more endurance."
She glared. "Are you saying I'm incapable? I had plenty of endurance when I chased you!"
He grinned. "Yeah, you did. But you look like you'll drop piss dead in an hour. Hell, you probably have a bedtime."
"I do NOT! I am not a child!" she said, pouting up at him and making what she said before seem very, very ironic. "Oh yeah, when do you usually go to sleep?"
Taken aback, she sheepishly looked down. "Usually 11…if I don't have any caffeine."
"That's a bedtime, blue. Get ready to work while you're a zombie. We don't get coffee in here unless you wanna make a run to the shop four blocks down, and during Rush, you won't have a chance in hell to do that. Unless liquid courage is your deal, you're piss out of luck. When do you wake up?"
"….around 8 am."
"6 hours o' sleep'll do you some right fine good, hm? You really got the best deal." he said, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "Cana must be cacklin' like the witch she is.
"Well…it's not like I have much choice." She said, pouting up at him.
"She's your friend, talk to the bitch."
She shook her head, slight scowl on her face as her blue curls settling on her shoulders. "Non negotiable. She said I work your shift or you don't get one anymore. And don't call her a bitch!"
"What ELSE would you call her?" he asked, wincing as he ran a hand through his hair, letting the band holding it together go loose. He spotted the almost guilty expression on her face before he looked around as he went to tie it back up. In sharp contrast to the rush, 10 to midnight was like a ghost town. People still had things to do, clubs to go to, and arguments to win. It was really the messed up people who came around after that. There were always stragglers though, and one of the ladies could usually handle it. Looking back at her, he noted how her eyes were focused on his hands as he pulled his hair out of his face. He held back a grin of triumph, instead deciding to speak up.
"Do you have to stay today?" he asked.
She seemed to almost jolt and then quickly composed herself. "She told me to shadow someone…get fit for a uniform. You know, learn the ropes?"
"Yeah, I know. I've been workin' here longer than you have, munchkin." he said teasingly.
"Will you stop with the names?" she asked, looking ready to throttle him.
"Not a chance in hell." He replied, watching as she flopped back down into her seat and set her cheek onto her palm to give him a disapproving look.
Seems like Gajeel was going to have to keep an extra close eye on her.
Levy was out like a light.
No, really, she was out like a light, snoring softly. Gajeel hadn't payed much attention to her, after their conversation. He had sent her off to see Kinana and let the two women discuss the manner of the job in their own privacy. It was getting pretty late. The night was black as pitch and some of the customers were starting to stumble in, but they were a trickle compared to what they'd be later. Gajeel didn't have to do much, just pour a few glasses of whiskey or brandy, a margarita here or there, nothing complex or difficult. In fact, it was an easy night. He could just lounge around. However, Kinana was running her shift, delivering drinks to those who sat at the tables. The bar counter was empty, so he didn't have to mix anything up. Instead, the customers just ordered from a list of simple drinks that he could pop into a glass in an instant and be done with.
But, if Kinana was running her shift, where exactly was the bluenette? Well, she was in the corner, a darkened portion of the place that usually only the grumpy customers sat at. The waitresses flipped coins to see who got to serve that table. Cana had already left, so it was up to Gajeel to keep count of how many customers they had and what was happening. Of course, the first place he turned his eyes to was the "trouble corner".
And who should he find there but her? He was amused for a total of about three seconds before the realization hit him. He couldn't just leave her there. Grumbling, Gajeel let Yukino man the bar while he walked over to her, intent on waking her so she could head to Cana's office and sleep in the plush chair.
After all, it was unlocked because sometimes, Gajeel would need something from there: extra glasses if someone broke one, a first aid kit if anything went out of hand, bottles of alcohol in case something he had to serve went dry. In fact, it was only four months into his working there that he insisted she leave the office open and give him a key. She had been wary at first, but after one of the waitresses, some girl called Mary, broke a bottle and got glass imbedded in her hand after Cana had left, she relented and accepted the fact that since she couldn't be there all the time, it was only fair.
So, he took advantage of that sometimes.
He looked down at her, her head pillowed by her slender arms, her face so peaceful and carefully composed that he didn't really want to wake her. Plus, they did run around a lot and she seemed tired enough to nap under the tree. If he woke her, she'd probably be too stubborn to sleep. Sighing, Gajeel relented.
Bah, he was getting so soft.
He scooped her up, not particularly surprised by how light she actually was. He tried to avoid looking down at her as her shorts hiked up higher and higher on her thighs and seemingly lower and lower on her hips, something he was sure the gods were doing simply out of spite. He tries to do something nice for once in his life, and what does he get rewarded with?
He really needed to kick Natsu out of his apartment so he could go back to his old ways, accepting offers from women who leaned up against the bar counter with their flirty eyes and their low cut shirts.
And damn it all, did she just nuzzle him? He looked down, finally, seeing her yawn and wrap her arms around his neck sleepily. Oh NO! Gajeel was NOT a teddy bear and he was certainly not going to be made into one in an establishment of drunk losers who had little to no control of their big mouths. Quickly, he supported her with one arm as he opened up the door to Cana's office, closing it with his foot as he stabilized her weight with both appendages again.
The girl seemed to be a snuggler, he noted, as she curled her body up, the back of her knees pressing hard against his arms, her face forward, cheek pressed against his chest while he strode up to the chair behind the desk, almost certain that if she tucked her legs under her, she could actually sleep in the damn thing like it was a bed or a couch. With a harsh gentleness, he lay her down and removed his limbs from her body, arranging her in a manner that would cause the least stiffness upon waking. He avoided her legs entirely, just letting them dangle. He grabbed a pillow from Cana's closet and set it down on the desk, laying her head down on it. Her arms instantly tightened, hugging it to her cheeks.
He chuckled.
It was 11:30, and of course, he was right.
She didn't last the day after all.
He smirked, closing the door as he walked back to the bar, his heavy footsteps alerting the silvery haired woman that he was heading back. It wasn't Rush time yet, so she didn't have her hands full with impossible customers, but Gajeel wanted to get Levy out of the soon to be ridiculous bar so nothing would happen to her. Besides, she needed to get a quick nap in, and 2 and a half hours of undisturbed rest was something that he was sure would help her. Plus, coupled with the nap she took before under the tree with him, it would send her sleeping patterns out of wack and make it easier for her to develop the schedule for the night shift. She would have to learn how to buck up, especially for Thursdays.
Shuddering, Gajeel was instantly reminded of the two evil women who always frequented the bar, half starting fights with one another from across fancy bottles and glasses of wine, comparing their clients/lovers and clashing with their overly polite attitudes.
Erza Scarlet and Mirajane Struass…well, soon to be Erza Fernandes and Mirajane Dreyer, he hears. Then again, maybe the gossip from the waitresses is something he really shouldn't eavesdrop on.
…Maybe he could convince Cana that there was no way she'd be ready in time for them. He shuddered again, half annoyed that all the women in his life were feisty, spunky and terrifying. He didn't think she would be when he first saw her, but he had to admit that she had guts for standing up to a man who could have been a murderer. She reminded him a bit of Juvia only...nicer? Sweeter?
No, that wasn't it. Probably more normal. She was shorter and had a wider grin, and didn't babble a lot, but she did have a nice voice and she was shaped more to his liking than Juvia was.
He never did like the busty type.
Sighing, he quickly shook his head, pouring himself another shot so he could prepare himself for what was to come in about thirty minutes or so. His eyes went to the side, looking at the closed door to his boss's office.
In any case, Day 1 was officially Failed.
Lucy was beautiful when she slept.
She wasn't one of those messy sleepers, with her mouth gaping open ridiculously wide, drooling and snoring as loudly as she could. Instead, she was delicate, dainty, breathing mainly through her nose. She was curled up, pressing against Natsu, her head pillowed by his chest and her legs tucked underneath her so she could fit on the couch comfortably.
Natsu didn't really think this through.
Sure, at the time, he had wrapped his arm around her, tugging her forward so she could sleep easier, but he wasn't tired. And he had almost NOTHING to do to occupy himself.
He sighed, reaching out a hand and playing with her hair, loose and waved, framing her face. He was bored. And a bored Natsu isn't a content Natsu.
In fact, a bored Natsu tends to be a pretty dangerous Natsu. But, this was Lucy.
He flicked her ponytail, frowning in his boredom, hoping that Happy would pad into the room or something along those lines. Of course, Gajeel wouldn't be home for two more hours, but what did that matter? They were planning to be long gone by then, so he wasn't an option to relieve the lack of things to do.
He'd throw a fit since Natsu invited a girl over to his apartment and didn't even help pay rent. Which was why he wasn't planning on telling him. He sighed again, knowing he needed to get a job soon. He wasn't a mooch, and he knew Gajeel was going to start struggling pretty soon. The guy was only used to taking care of himself and a cat, so suddenly doubling the number in the apartment was a bit ridiculous.
Gajeel had flat out told Cobra that he wasn't going to take Kinana and her son in when Cobra ran into trouble and had to skip town for a few months. Kinana always got postcards from him, and of course, money, messages, emails, pictures and well wishes to her and her boy, who was only about 7 months old. Though, she works at the bar so he keeps an eye out for her, he knew he wouldn't be able to support all three of them.
Natsu felt just a LITTLE guilty that he imposed upon him. Gajeel really wasn't a bad guy and he knew that he was taking advantage of the unfortunate walk out of Metalicana, but he didn't have much choice. Igneel had taken him in, but he also had sufficient funds for taking care of two boys, even without any help. His work as a firefighter made it harder for Natsu to spend time with him, but when his coworkers found out that he took in another boy, they helped out as well.
Now they were adults, no more doting parent, no more gifts from kind strangers. Gajeel had, however, in a rare act of kindness, alerted most of the other family members about Kinana's predicament and they helped her, but he would never go to Porlyusica, Wendy's aunt, or Rogue for help in the financial field.
Especially since their distant cousin seemed to have some weird kind of obsession with him. The guy even bought red contacts so he could look more like him. Natsu chuckled. Though the family they had was small, it was certainly interesting. He was about to stretch until he remembered Lucy and huffed.
Okay, fine, a few stiff joints never killed anyone. He'd gotten worse cramps from stubbing his toe.
He looked around the apartment, noting the cleanliness. Gajeel had been around the place less and less as he spent more time with Levy. That was good, in Natsu's eyes. Finally, the man was getting a decent influence on him. She seemed like she enjoyed his company too. Natsu smirked, remembering how he had checked Gajeel's phone and found all the calls and texts she sent him.
They didn't go a single day without talking to each other since she had actually called him for the first time. Boy, that punch had hurt, anyway, when he teased him. But he should have known that Natsu would, that's just who he was!
Okay, so maybe he was just a TAD bit too dense to realize that Gajeel would thrust his fist out, but he did take it in stride.
…Even if his face hurt something awful for a few hours.
Still, he owed him. Soon, he decided, firmly, soon he was going to find a job. He'd send Lisanna a letter about how he was stabilized and make her stop worrying, he'd get off of Gajeel's back, and he'd prove Sting and his smug chortle of "You? No way in hell you'll find another job." wrong.
Because everyone was like that when he was in high school too, anyway. And middle school. Boy, he remembered middle school well.
He was always a bit of a class clown, managing to make everyone laugh. Lisanna was most grateful for that, but then there was also Gajeel, who appreciated the odd laugh every once in a while. Natsu nearly choked on his spit when he remembered how he used to be, back when he didn't have any piercings and his hair was cut short.
The guy was such a dork.
Not in the way that he was super smart, though he WAS plenty smart, he was picked on a lot. Especially because, when he had the choice of Choir, Orchestra or Gym, he picked orchestra.
And learned the cello.
Natsu snorted, remembering how the damn thing was bigger than HE was. Gajeel didn't like gym because he didn't like a lot of the guys in the school and he was more of a loner, so the prospect of private lessons and getting to take three classes off a week so he could "practice" was appealing. Plus, he was allowed to cut class any time he wanted four days before a performance, so he jumped at the chance. He got teased a lot for it and ended up in a plenty of brawls. Once, he had to perform with a black eye. Good times, those were.
Last Natsu heard, the guy had quit and took up the guitar when Natsu left. Igneel had encouraged the cello, telling him that Gajeel's mom used to play.
When he died, Gajeel got his first piercings, a double set of tongue barbells and he refused to even look at the bass clef, settling for an instrument that was set in treble instead. He had a hard time in learning the new clef, but he knew the keys and sounds, so he learned pretty quick. If he had continued playing the instrument that two of the most important people in his life loved after they died, he would have probably gone insane.
That was the last Natsu had heard of Gajeel's life before he found him after college; the last message that the guy sent him when he was still in high school.
"Quit the cello. Learned guitar." was all he sent before contact stopped for years. Heck, the only way he found him was through Cobra, who also told him about his entire situation with Kinana, and that was after he asked Rogue, Wendy AND Sting. If it wasn't for him, Natsu would still be on a wild goose chase, as the guy was obviously not back in his hometown. When he asked Lisanna what happened to him or Phantom High, she just tensed up, her hands stopped washing the dishes and she replied, in a strained, high voice that she didn't really want to talk about it.
She had attended a different school, but it was obvious that what happened in the town was…interesting, to say the least. Still, Natsu didn't pry, it didn't concern him at the time. But...well, there was nothing to do, now was there?
Carefully, he pulled Lucy off of him, gently setting her down on the couch fully so he wouldn't disturb her any more in his musings. He stood, walking to the kitchen to grab another drink, as his soda was long gone and then made his way to Gajeel's room.
He was only going to grab a change of clothes, but it was obvious that his cousin wasn't going to tell him anything. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that Gajeel had something to hide.
And it would only be found in his room.
So, next chapter will be a LONG one. I'm seeing 6,000-7,000 words on that one. If not, 5,000, at least. My apologies for updating with a transitional chapter, and leaving you guys with a mild cliffie, but it had to be done! Also, I'm very, VERY sorry for the long time it took to update. I've been having familial issues lately. But, at least the past is coming! Plus, a cello playing kid!Gajeel was just TOO good to pass up. I can SO see him being a total Orch Dork!
And you now know a bit more about the family. Don't worry, next chapter will be far, FAR more interesting. I'm also not very happy with this update, but next one I'm excited about!
As always, my readers are wonderful and I send so many kisses and hugs your way, dear readers! Happy-nerd, HeirToTheShadows, FairyTailxoLove, MaliceArchangela, Guest, Rosa Pendragon, KuroshitsujiLawliet, Tazski, Helekiller2, WaterPanda, hellbunnyxxx, Ulcaasi, GjinkaGirl, Levina, Miss Mungoe, Heve-chan, adamski, Thegodeater, Ureko, Mrs. HopeEstheim, HetaliaHeart, and obako-chan97F . T! Thank you all and stay tuned. As of now, I'm considering updating every Sunday. But, trust me, I WILL finish this story. I have bits and pieces worked out for all of it, and I feel like it'll be past 10 chapters almost definitely. I try to write a MINIMUM of 4,000 words per update so there's something to grab onto and it's not just a measly 1,000 word scene.
As always, thank you for reading. :) I appreciate it greatly, and thank you for your patience! Please point out any mistakes you find so I may fix them and make the story more enjoyable. Also, if you find a plot hole or don't understand something, feel free to criticize me or ask questions! I'm not perfect, but I try to make my story as easy to tie off and enjoy as possible. Also, take note of the quotes, because soon, they'll start to make more and more sense. ;P
