Gajeel waited until the Shrimp had left on a mission, and then went to the bookstore in a needlessly clandestine fashion, hugging back alleyways, and traversing rooftops. Don't be seen Gajeel, it ain't worth it.

Once safely inside, with a cautionary whiff to make sure that Bunny Girl wasn't here, Gajeel started looking around at the signs for the sections. Levy hadn't realised it, but this was difficult for him. Even now, he still traced words with his finger as he read, and he found it hard to scan for words in a large array.

"Can I help you?" Gajeel turned to see the bookstore owner. He was a kindly old man, and having learnt that this big brute was affiliated with Levy, had quickly warmed to him. He held no antipathy for a stray trying to better himself.

"Um…hi, Gramps. I'm looking for the cookery section," he said rather awkwardly, trying to be polite. He knew that making a fuss here would make the Shrimp never forgive him. Beat the shit out her? Sure. Brand her with fire? Sure. Crucify her? Sure. But do something wrong in the bookstore? Oh sweet Jesus, that was a last syllable offence.

"Trying to impress a certain beautiful woman?" He asked, and his eyes twinkled.

"Uh…well…kinda…but can we keep it a secret?" Gajeel stammered in return.

"Of course," he said happily. He left the counter, guiding Gajeel to the cookery section. Seeing the tall man slowly run his finger down the spines, he asked him; "Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Something fer a beginner. I'm not too bright, I gotta keep it simple." The words saddened the older man. To see someone denigrate themselves when clearly trying so hard to better themselves and make someone else happy…it wasn't right.

"Here," he said, taking down a moderately sized book. He briefly opened the pages for Gajeel to see. "It has quite a few different things for you to try, and it has a lot of pictures to help demonstrate. It also goes over all the basics, like boiling rice or pasta."

"Oh, that's perfect! Thank ya! How much?"

The man shook his head and patted on Gajeel's arm. "For the boyfriend of the bright Miss McGarden, It's on the house."

"Oh…ya don't have to," Gajeel replied uncertainly.

"Listen to an old man for a minute. I've seen a lot of people in this life unhappy. When I see you two, I see two people trying their hardest to make the other happy. It's a beautiful thing to see. Make me a promise: Never forget that kindness in your heart."

Gajeel mumbled his gratitude. He suddenly felt very small. Through Levy, he'd become aware of the concept of strength other than physical or magical. He felt like he'd just seen another kind.

"Oh sweet Lord," murmured Lily looking into the kitchen. "This cannot end well." The kitchen was laden under ingredients and cooking utensils. For some reason, the slayer had decided he'd needed a big chef's hat and an apron.

"Heya, Lily! I'm gonna try a few things out!" Gajeel said with enthusiasm. In the next few minutes, Lily put some common sense into the kitchen, forcing Gajeel to focus on one thing at a time, and putting away the ingredients he didn't need. He swiped the hat off of him, much to Gajeel's dismay.

"Okay, look at this one," the Exceed said, standing on the worktop to read the book. "Let's learn to fry an egg. That'll be the first step to serving her breakfast in bed. That's a good first goal, right?"

Gajeel smiled. Breakfast in bed! That was a great idea!

"Okay," he said, looking at the pages. "Heat the pan, add oil. I can do that." He could not do that. He added far too much oil, and it sizzled and splashed everywhere. Coming back for his second attempt, Gajeel had eaten iron and put up his iron scales. Who knew cooking was so painful? Lily looked on with more than a little dread.

"Okay, now to break the egg." He instantly broke the first one just trying to pick it up. Crap, these things were fragile. Being much more careful, the next one reached the pan, but he broke it badly, failing. Again and again. On his seventh egg, he got it.

"Aha!" He shouted.

"Okay," said Lily, like it was a military operation, "prepare the spatula. Wait for it to solidify a little, then turn it." Gajeel did, and while it was a bit sloppy, it worked! He'd cooked something, and it tasted alright! A bit underdone maybe, but hey, it was getting better!

So he tried doing the other things he needed for a fried breakfast. It didn't go very well. The bacon was easy enough, but he kept burning things. Dammit, he was surprised how hard it was. He thought his smell would help him judge, but he kept getting it wrong. He couldn't get another egg to come out right either.

With everything turned off, Gajeel sat on the kitchen floor and buried his head in his arms. Dammit, he hated this. This was his one problem with his relationship.

He kept feeling stupid.

He was constantly doing things outside his comfort zone, and it was stressful. It always became worthwhile seeing Levy's happiness, but it was hard going. She just didn't realize how smart she was compared to him. She always forgot, always took for granted that things that were easy for her were easy for anyone.

Gajeel didn't know it, but he was not a stupid man, just uneducated. Metalicana lacked even Igneel's parenting skills. And it wasn't like Phantom Lord had an IQ test to join.

"You gonna sit there all day feeling sorry for yourself?" Asked Lily roughly. He knew not to coddle Gajeel; he wouldn't appreciate it.

"Go away, damn cat."

"Remind me; why were you doing this again?"

Damn cat.

Gajeel stood. He took the book into the living room and went through it slowly. Maybe there was something easier? What if he reduced the ingredients? Maybe eggs and bacon were enough? Cut out the other crap for a later date. Was a fried breakfast even a good idea for the bedroom? Greasy and messy – no fuck that, it was his bed, and he was happy for it to get messy. It could always be washed.

"Dammit. This is something people do every day. Why can't I do this?" He felt his anger rising with his building frustration. Lily noted his demeanour and let it go.

Finally, Gajeel got up and cleaned everything away. Maybe this'd wait for another day.

It was late at night. Gajeel was in his bed, the light on. He looked at the cover of the Watership Down he'd been reading. He'd been unable to finish it due to how hard he found the small letters and difficult prose.

It's a book about bunnies, and yer too stupid to read it.

Annoyed, he opened it to a random page, and tried reading. He placed a finger and started reading. It took him five minutes to finish one page, and there were two words he hadn't understood. He hurled it onto the floor in anger. Damn, the Shrimp would have hated to see that.

He went to the bookshelf and looked through what he had read. Children's books all of them. The more he looked, the more he felt that five year olds read these things. It wasn't clever that he'd done so. His shoulders fell.

To his surprise, he heard the key turn in the front door, and a moment later Levy entered the bedroom.

"Gajeel! I saw the light on and thought I'd stop by."

"Ya got back from yer mission, then?"

"No, I'm still out there!" She quipped, smiling.

"Shut up!" Levy blinked in surprise. Gajeel was glowering, though not at her, but at some point off to the side. "Don't talk to me like I'm stupid!"

Silence stretched out as he shook slightly in anger, not looking at her. Damn him, why'd he taken it out on her. That wasn't right. A small hand found his.

"Gajeel? Honey, what's wrong?" Tears welled in his eyes. Why? Why was she so understanding? He didn't deserve her. But he couldn't speak, couldn't find any words, and pulled his hand away, lying down on the bed, facing away from her.

"Leave me alone," he said sullenly.

Levy could almost hear his pain. She wanted to help him, but wasn't sure what to say; in truth she was exhausted having come back from a mission, and not in her prime. She'd sleep on it; it'd look better in the light of day.

Gajeel woke early and turned to face her. He loved watching her sleep. Her peaceful sleeping expression was so beautiful.

He wanted to try.

Soon, he was in the kitchen. Okay, just bacon and eggs, nothing fancy. He instantly broke an egg, but kept trying. He only had four left, and he messed them all up. He closed his eyes. C'mon, get the bacon right, it's dead easy. He hadn't realised that he had only two rashers left. But that was enough, just don't screw them up.

He burned them.

With the gas off, he stood there, looking at what he'd done, simmering with anger. Anger at himself.

"Why are ya…why are ya….SO STUPID!" He smashed the frying pan on the counter bending it out of shape. He discarded it onto the floor, and joined it, hunching over his knees, burying his face.

Levy hurried out of the bedroom at the racquet. A half formed question left her lips, but as she took in the scene, she understood what he'd done. For her. She knelt down next to him.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked gently.

"I'm too stupid. I can't do something so fucking basic as cook an egg."

"Oh Gajeel, you're not stupid, you just haven't had anyone teach you how to do it," Levy said reassuringly. "Eggs are quite difficult; you shouldn't start with them."

"No, I had a book to teach me and I still couldn't do it," he replied gloomily. To his surprise, she laughed.

"Don't be silly! No one can learn to cook from a book in a day! I've had a lot of people teach me different recipes over the years. And I certainly didn't do anything by myself for a long time."

"See? I'm so fucking stupid that I didn't even know how fucking stupid I was." Then the most surprising thing in the universe happened. Levy punched him in the face. She'd been learning from Lily's advice. Often, the best way to deal with Gajeel was to simply get him moving again whenever he'd stalled.

"What the hell was that!" He cried.

"Feel better now?" She asked sweetly. "Don't mope. C'mon let's go and get some more ingredients and I'll teach you."

Gajeel was bewildered. "But it's seven in the morning…"

"Oh? What can we do to pass the time for a couple of hours?" She winked and then winced, shaking her hand. "Ow, what the hell is your head made of? And if you say 'iron', I'll punch you again!"

"No, like this," she said, holding the egg against the edge of the pan. "Just tap it, and break it like this." The egg fell into the pan perfectly. Gajeel tried to imitate her, but broke it wrongly. She held his hand, guiding him though the next egg and it too went smoothly. "See?"

"I think so."

"Okay, now watch them for a bit, you wanna wait until the white is fairly solid, then flip them."

"Umm…like this?" He flipped the pair of eggs.

"That's it!" She beamed at him. "You're getting it!"

"It seems easier when you explain it…," he mumbled.

With the eggs done, Levy turned to Gajeel. "Do you understand the difference between ignorance and stupidity?" She asked.

"Umm…no, not really," he admitted.

"Being stupid means that you lack intelligence. Ignorance means that you lack experience. Gajeel, don't ever think that you're stupid. You just need to learn things. Look at how well you're reading's coming along! You're perfectly capable, you just weren't taught how!"

"Don't…I can't…I don't wanna hear…," he said quietly, unable to look at her. Again, her hands found his.

"Gajeel, I love you. I don't think that you're stupid. And I wanna help teach you anything that I can!"

Quietly, in the privacy of their home, Gajeel hugged her to him and cried into the silence.

When it comes to cooking, I'm a Gajeel, not a Levy, so if you don't actually flip eggs, then these are magical Chimera eggs that do require it! XD