a/n: Sorry for not uploading; here is Chapter 10 for now, and I'm hoping to upload Chapter 11 tomorrow if I'm not to busy. Mer x

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail still isn't mine

"You know, you probably wouldn't be throwing up this much if you didn't eat breakfast," Levy commented as Gajeel heaved into a paper bag for the sixth time.

"Grrglgl gli glu...", Gajeel mumbled his response.

His face was pallid and in the two hours they'd been on the train, his cheeks had already sunken in, giving him the look of a corpse. His constant vomiting had cast a green shadow over his face. He kind of looks like a zombie, Levy giggled.

Gajeel glared up at Levy. He might be uncomfortable and sick to his stomach but his hearing was working perfectly. "Stop laughin! It ain't funny," he closed his eyes and leant back, resting his head against the wall of the compartment.

"Sorry," she squeaked in between fits of laughter. Black Steel Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer, who had never backed down from anything, was undone by a mere train ride. No matter which way you looked at it, the sight was funny nonetheless.

When Levy felt as if she could control her face without contorting it, she said, "Why don't you sleep, then?".

Gajeel opened his eyes and rolled them at her.

"Don't roll your eyes at me! I mean, if you sleep then you won't feel sick, right?" Levy explained.

"Shrimp... don't you think that with as many vehicles I've had to travel on, I wouldn't think of sleeping as an option to avoid getting motion sick?" Gajeel forced out through clenched teeth.

Heat rose to Levy's face. "Oh.. um. I didn't think of that,". They sat in silence. Well, Levy sat in silence and Gajeel was moaning and groaning. Levy's eyes suddenly snapped to Gajeel's.

"But wait, you didn't tell me whether sleeping works or not!" Levy said excitedly, pleased to have found the loophole in Gajeel's statement.

Gajeel groaned as he felt his empty stomach lurch. "I do-grrrggggllll... I don't sleep, Shrimp..uuuuugggggghh...be-because I c-mmmmgggggg- I can't," the Slayer said, his words interjected with groans, as he tried to prevent himself from puking once again.

Levy looked at him hard. "Hmmmm... I think I can help you with that." She stood up and rummaged through her smaller bag mumbling under her breath.

"What are you doing, Shri..grrggglll?"

"I'm looking for something. Aha!" her hand emerged from the depths of her bag holding a small container filled with tiny purple pills.

Gajeel looked at the pills dubiously between strands of sweaty hair. "Shrimp, I don't think they're gonna work, trust m-"

While Gajeel was talking, Levy had shook out two pills and had shoved them in the Slayer's mouth. Slapping her hand against his mouth, the only choice Gajeel had was to swallow the ghastly pill. Levy didn't move her hand until she saw his throat bob up and down, signalling that he had swallowed.

The Dragon Slayer stared hard at the tiny bookworm who had stuffed two pills down his throat. He noted that her hand was soft against his lips and a faint blush tinged her cheeks. Half her hair was messed up more than usual from leaning against the window but Gajeel thought it made her look cuter. Gah, I can't even stand to hear myself think! I'm turning into a sissy with these thoughts... shit, I wish I brought Lily with us. He would know what to do.

Levy slowly removed her hand from his mouth, almost reluctantly. She liked the way that despite his hard and rough appearance, his lips were soft and seemingly gentle. She wondered what it would be like to kiss them. She mentally shook her head but couldn't avoid the small blush that came with the thought.

"What was in the pill, Shrimp?" Gajeel choked out, trying to rid himself of the eggy aftertaste. Though the pill looked relatively harmless and was odourless, it had a strong rotten fish and egg flavour that almost made even Levy gag from thinking about it.

"They're sleeping pills. I got them from Ms. Porlyusica a while ago," Levy told him.

Gajeel could feel the immediate effects of the pills drawing him into unconsciousness. "Why do you need slee..." Gajeel drifted off into a deep sleep before finishing his question.

Almost unconsciously, Levy's shoulder's relaxed as if they were tense before. She didn't know how to answer that. Would she ever tell him that every night she took one of those pills so that she didn't have any nightmares? That the nightmares were mainly of his other form, re-enacting their first encounter over and over again? No, she decided, I'm not going to tell him. I don't want to ruin what trust and friendship we have accumulated since then.

Levy sighed, and leaned back against her seat, looking at the scenery rush past them through the window. She glanced over at Gajeel, now sleeping peacefully next to her. His mouth was slightly open and his head tilted towards her. He looked calm. He really does look like a chipmunk. Maybe a dark and scary chipmunk, but a chipmunk all the same. And all chipmunks are cute, no matter their personalities.

She looked back over to the window, smiling. The sun was high up in the sky and she knew that by now, the guild would be filled with her friends. Gray and Natsu were probably engaged in another fight; Juvia would be cheering Gray on while holding his clothes. Lucy wouldn't be aware of it, but she would only be staring at Natsu. Mira would be serving the guild and the Exceeds would be talking to each other. It was on long missions such as the one she was embarking on, that made her remember her friends and love them even more.

Squuueeeaallll.

The train's brakes squealed in protest as the brakes were put on. Suddenly, everything lurched to the right as the train veered off into another lane. The jerky movement had thrown Gajeel across the space between them and into Levy's lap.

The bookworm's face grew heated and red as she looked down at Gajeel's sleeping form. He was too heavy to move, so she resorted to turning his head so it was facing away from her. The only reason I'm not moving him is because he's heavy, she was telling herself as she brushed away strands of inky hair from his face, not because I like having his head on my lap where I can touch his hair.

As she repeated the same thought over and over in her head like a mantra, her face had returned to its normal complexion and her heartbeat was no longer racing.

She looked down at slumbering face. His piercings glinted every time the sun shone on them through the window. His eyebrows had settled out of their habitual frown and his mouth was set in a small smile. She never realised before that he had rather long eyelashes. Their shadows grazed the tops of his high cheekbones in graceful lines. His ears were rather delicate too. Not as large as one might think they would be. One was redder than the other, as it was crushed between her legs and his head. Each ear had four piercings. I wonder how many piercings he has...

In order to occupy herself, she gently touched one of his eyebrow piercings. 1 2 3... Levy began counting. Once she reached the number of 32, she let her finger wander a bit, letting it graze his pronounced jawline before going back to stroking his dark mane.

Is that all? Levy thought, wondering if maybe the mysterious man had any more piercings hidden under his clothes. She blushed at herself and looked out the window.

The warmth of the outside had seeped into the room and was beginning to make her feel drowsy. She closed her eyes for a moment and before she knew it she had drifted off into the empty void of sleep.

Levy's fingers were entangled in Gajeel's hair as she rested her cheek on the other, her elbow propped up by the armrest. The Slayer's head was lying on Levy's bare legs facing away from her, his legs tucked underneath him. One of his hands was on her knee and the other was under him. To anyone walking past their compartment, they would've looked like a couple. Both mages stayed asleep until the end of their long train ride.