Happy New Year!

Here is another chapter as part of the 12 days of Christmas presents I'm giving. This chapter is actually five little drabbles as a gift for making it to 2015. Hope you're all celebrating the start of a fresh year!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairytail.


Chapter 8: Five

See

Ever since Gajeel could remember, he had been surrounded by black. It was a strong colour, according to Metallicana, and a symbol of strength, according to Jose. Still, black had never been the colour of death and despair for him. It was the colour of power, strength. Darker colours like it reminded him of Metallicana especially. Even if the metal was cold, the colour was like the backdrop of night behind his old dragon's silvery scales and he had enough of those memories to blot out any ill associations.

Indeed, black and gray had been the best colours. That is, if blue hadn't become more appealing.

Touch

"A little farther."

"If hit into something, Lev, I swear-" The whining noise increased and Gajeel tried his best to ignore it, dragging his feet down the hall.

"Relax. Have some faith in me, would you?"

"How can I when you're so small? What if I fall and I crush you?"

Levy wrinkled her nose, unsatisfied with the image that floated into her head. "That'd be very uncomfortable. Besides, you wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

"I wouldn't if I wasn't blind like right now."

"I said relax, Gajeel." Her hand slipped into his, squeezing his cold fingers. "We're basically here now. Are you ready?"

"Do I have to be?"

"Gajeel!"

"Fine." He opened his eyes, allowing Levy to draw his hand forward till it rested on the smooth skin of the forehead. The whining ceased instantly and bright red eyes shone up at him.

"See? You are good with children."

Hear

"You are very strange." Gajeel blinked twice, mutely staring at the thing before him. "You smell like a human; disgusting. But your eyes...they are strong." The thing's rumbling voice reverberated through the cave and Gajeel almost flinched at its obvious strength. "Why are you here?"

"I was cold."

"Cold?" The thing laughed loudly. "That's a pathetic reason."

"Well humans get cold and I'm cold," Gajeel shot back, pulling back his shoulders bravely. He couldn't see the creature in the dark, but he could sense where he was.

"That's a pathetic reason."

"Shut up! You don't know anything. Just leave me alone."

The thing laughed again, hot breath wafting over Gajeel's face. He couldn't detect the scent, but there was something metallic about it. It reminded him of the smiths in the town, how they worked away at burning metal to shape it just to their liking before infusing it with magic. "I know just about everything there is to know, brat."

"I know more than you!"

"Do you know how to destroy cities? Live on mountains? Fly?"

"No…but you probably don't!"

"And yet I do, you spoiled human. You know nothing."

"I know how to survive on my own."

The thing was silent, and all of a sudden Gajeel felt something wrap about his midsection and lift him up off the ground. "I could teach you how to survive anywhere on your own; to be strong enough to fight those petty battles in your town that you seen so fond of getting into." There was a strength that resonated in the thing's voice. Gajeel knew strength when he heard it. He knew that the voice revealed things about one's personality and this creature filled the room with the power of his voice.

"Wha- how'd you know about those?"

"Your blood still swims with adrenaline, human. I can smell blood on you, your own and the blood others as well. You fight. But you do not win."

"I can win!"

"Not yet. But you will."

Smell

It was very slight, but it was certainly enough to distract him. Living with Lily had put the cats scent on just about everything Gajeel owned, which did not bother him as much as his friends had thought it had. Standing just outside his own home, he caught hints of many things; meat, a soup base, alcohol, all of which sat alongside with the scent of iron. Someone was making something in his home., which was not unusual most nights. However, there was something else there that shouldn't be; something that did not fit into his iron scented home.

He took another deep breath and shut his eyes, trying to picture what it was. He caught the food smells rather easily again and could visualize a stew sitting atop his modestly sized stove, bubbling away while being stirred at regular intervals. But there were other scents there too; the scents of kiwi and cats, of burned fabric and steel, of wet earth and ink. There was a distinctly sweet smell as well, like strawberries mixed with sugar... A cake perhaps? He prayed that what lay beyond his front door was not what he imagined it would be.

He stuck his key into the lock and turned it accordingly, catching the sound of scraping chairs and muffled whispers. Following his eyes, his footfalls sounded past his threshold and into his darkened home. He followed the scent of food to his kitchen, where he could see the outline of quite a few people and when they jumped out to surprised him, he kept his expression as bored and annoyed as possible, trying to contain his joy.

"Happy Birthday, Gajeel!"

Taste

There was his meals, so full of flavour and various tangs that he could feel it sinking into his pallet every second that he chewed. They would swirl about his mouth and fill his stomach just as they were meant to. A quick shot to burn his throat and clean his tongue would be considered the end to a good meal, and, should the alcohol become a meal of its own later on, he knew he could find stronger stuff in Cana's secret barrels.

Then there was iron; his beautiful, thick, flavourful iron that reminded him of late nights of training, sitting by his father's belly and relishing in the crunch and metallic clang of metal in his mouth. It ran straight to his hard and through his muscles till everything felt powerful and content; the satisfaction of simply having the metal near his tongue unimaginable.

Then there was skin, her skin in particular, that carried a different hint everyday due to her ragtag adventures but remained a vital source of her taste despite everything else. On his lips, it was smooth and pleasing, but his taste buds could catch all the little things she had done all at once, her last meal, her latest mission, any make-up that she had deigned to put on to suite the occasion. He was glad that he needn't deal with the latter issue, as she was well aware what he thought about such masking elements. It would doll her up but it would also alter the flavour of her body when his mouth grew hungry for hers. Indeed, it was in those moments above all the others, that Gajeel was glad to be born a dragon slayer with heightened senses.


Please R&R