Iron Gray Chapter 11 Natsu Dragneel
It was well past the midnight hour when Gajeel unlocked the door to his new barren apartment. It was nothing special, off white walls, wooden floors, one bedroom, small kitchen and tiny bathroom. He had just signed the lease papers that morning, before going to the guild and he hadn't even made time to actually look at it. This was his first time being inside. He had, had just enough money left over from the payment Master Makarov had given him to afford the security deposit and first month's rent to move in.
Unfortunately he had nothing to put in it yet, with the exception of his clothes. All of his money was spent, until his next payment, but he didn't really care. All he had wanted was a place he could get on short notice. One that wasn't too expensive and also wasn't too far from the guild and he had gotten all of that.
It was an aging building and the floors creaked loudly as he stepped inside with his large black boots, a small black duffle bag full of his clothes hanging over his shoulder. He glanced around, it didn't look to be in perfect condition, but at least it was decently clean, he didn't need much anyways.
Gajeel didn't even bother to turn on the lights; instead he just walked right into the bathroom. It was there he finally switched on the light illuminating the tiny room and threw his bag on top of the closed toilet and then turned to face the mirror that hung over the sink.
It was the first time he had noticed how scorched his clothes actually were, not that it mattered all that much, but he had been wearing them like that all day. He began to slip the burned shirt off, over his head and let it fall to the ground without a second thought. He stood before the mirror now, his red eyes searching over his bare torso, surveying the damage he had gotten from the attack that day. There were some nasty singe marks and a couple of larger burns, but they didn't look to be too bad considering he had let them go all day without cleaning them.
He sent himself a glare in the mirror, damn lightning bastard. He thought as he remembered his run in with Laxus earlier that day. You just wait… I'll return the favor. He smirked at the thought of some day getting his revenge, but his face faded to a scowl the more he thought about the events of that day. What was with that guy? He almost fried the shrimp… Gajeel's eyes widened and he looked away from his reflection, discomfort gracing his features due to the odd thought.
Shrimp? Where had that come from? Gajeel often dawned people with nicknames. Most of the time he did it, because he didn't want to bother learning the person's actual name, but he definitely knew hers. It felt kind of strange giving Levy one of his nicknames, seeing as he had planned on avoiding her as much possible. That would mean there would never be any reason to ever address her or use the word he had chosen for her. Yet at the same time it had just floated into his mind so naturally. With no effort or thought on his part and it felt somewhat fitting for her. Gajeel found he couldn't help, but like it for some reason.
His mind drifted back to the question at hand, trying to get the odd title for Levy out of his head. Wasn't Laxus, Makarov's grandson and one of Fairy Tail's S-class wizards? Why would he have done that? Gajeel had seen that the Fairy's often sparred and fought with one another, but that blast he had thrown at her was not on par with the normal shenanigans of the guild. It was on a much higher scale and she would have been seriously hurt, if he hadn't of stepped in when he did. As far as Gajeel was concerned, Laxus had come across as someone who was very powerful and liked to throw that power around.
He could feel his jaw beginning to clench, Levy hadn't been involved though… Hell she was the only wizard that hadn't been involved in that fight, because she had chosen to stay out of it, so the fact that she had been the one to almost eat that lightning irked him.
Gajeel's eyes shifted back up at his reflection, his jaw was still clenched angrily, but then it relaxed. He was beginning to realize that he had no right to be as upset towards Laxus as he was. After what he had done to her himself… How was he any different than Laxus, except in his case he had actually succeeded in hurting her?
Gajeel's fierce red eyes matched the red of his own reflection, his face grew determined as he stared at himself in the mirror and his chest heaved heavily. But I wasn't a member of her guild back then. He thought and that was it.
He wasn't excusing himself, but it was simple for him. It was the reason why he had saved her. She was his comrade now and that meant protecting her if he was capable, even against other guild mates if necessary.
Gajeel had noticed that Levy hadn't wanted to take revenge on him like her teammates had and that had been the only thing he could think to give back for what he had done to them. He hadn't understood why, other than maybe, because of the fear he had sensed coming from her. He was figuring that she had to of been just too afraid to take part in the attack, because why else? He couldn't seemed to fathom any other reason in his thick skull as to why she wouldn't have wanted to hurt him back if given the chance. He knew saving her didn't amend for what he had done, but at least now he could keep her from getting hurt again by someone else's hand.
Gajeel scowled again and shook his head at all of the thinking he'd been doing. He looked away from the mirror and kicked off his heavy boots. He then sat down on the edge of the tub with his feet inside of it. He picked up the soap and began to run the water, allowing it to get warm first. He cleaned his hands and then lathered them up again and slowly began to clean the wounds on his torso and arms. His jaw clenched again from the pain, but he knew he needed to do this, so he just ignored it as he worked.
He found his thoughts drifting back to Levy again as he began to watch the water flow out from under his feet. Despite the pain he had been in, he remembered feeling relieved that he had managed to get to her in time. He paused and stared at the rushing water coming out of the faucet trying to understand something.
Why was she invading his thoughts so much? Was it just the guilt still? She hadn't been the only person he hurt, but she was the one that kept clouding his head.
His eyes were still trained on the serene flowing water and the sound it made calmed him, but it also made him realize how exhausted he actually was. He had, had a long busy day and he needed to sleep, really sleep. He was hoping this night he would be able to, unlike the night before, but of course tonight he didn't have a bed to sleep in.
Gajeel had finally finished cleaning his burn wounds and he brought a hand to his forehead running it through his hair. He stood up suddenly kicking the faucet off and stalked off not bothering to dry himself at all. He walked into the empty bedroom turning the light off behind him. He let himself sit down up against the wall, with his knees propped up and his arms resting on them. He let his head fall back lazily. He was so beat, but at least after everything he had succeeded in finding Master Ivan already.
Gajeel's lips curled up a little as he remembered the 'fun' he had, had while trying to find the mage guild leader in question. He could feel his eyes blinking consecutively until they finally began to stay shut. His face was still holding to the tiny smirk over his lips as his head faced the ceiling while he began to doze off. An image with a bight flash and then Levy's face appeared for the second night in a row in his dreams. This time though she didn't appear hurt, but she did look scared. Her expression was full of shock, her eyes teary. She appeared to look just as he had seen her that day. At least she's all right, his voice echoed whilst he dreamed. His smile grew a little more and he finally got the peaceful nights rest he had been waiting for, even without the bed.
It was morning when Lucy woke up with a moan, realizing she felt very uncomfortable. She rolled over stiffly and rose up slowly while rubbing her eye, which was still wet from the moister of sleep.
"What… Where am I?" She mumbled to herself, straining her brain to operate through her sleepiness. She realized she was in her apartment still, but not her bed… No wonder she had felt so stiff! She was lying on the floor right next to her bed, bundled up in a blanket. She looked around groggily, "Why am I… on the-" She looked over to her bed and became fueled with so much annoyance that it woke her up completely. From her spot on the floor she could just make out a spiky salmon colored head on top of her bed, with a white scaly looking scarf hanging off the edge of it.
Lucy jumped to her feet letting her blanket fall away. She looked down upon the sleeping dragon slayer with utter disbelief as he slept peacefully; blissfully unaware of the trouble he was in.
"NATSU!" She screeched at the top of her lungs, causing Natsu to stir only slightly. He opened one onyx colored eye and looked at her lazily and let out a slight sigh.
"Oh morning…" He replied, but then he just closed his eyes again with a sleepy smile as though he was having a good dream.
"Don't give me that! Why didn't you go home last night?!" Lucy screamed again, angrily pointing her finger accusingly as she did so, but Natsu hardly budged. The pure volume of Lucy's furious shouting would probably have terrified most people or at least startled them, but Natsu had become completely used to it. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" She shouted, becoming red in the face with frustration.
"Can you keep it down..?" Came Natsu's muffled voice as his face was buried in Lucy's pillow. Lucy just stared at him incredulously not even knowing what to say at the moment. "I'm just so sleepy… " He moaned out more clearly as he shifted his head, his eyes were closed still. Lucy folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"I had to sleep on the floor, because of you, I'll have you know!" She stated not quite as enraged, but still loudly. He opened his eyes again and glanced up at her finally and Lucy took her chance. "I should have sent you home with Happy." She stated looking away from him with a stubborn expression.
Natsu rose up and sat Indian style with his hands resting on his knees. He turned to face Lucy slightly taking her in with a long blank stare. Lucy felt his eyes on her and tried to ignore him, but she started to become self-conscious under his unnecessarily long gaze. She could never tell what he was thinking whenever he looked at her that way despite how well she knew Natsu. She still could never predict what he would say next.
"What!? Why are you looking at me like that!?" She shouted finally as she turned back to him unnerved. Natsu just flashed her his most heartwarming smile and his eyes closed happily.
"Thanks for letting me sleep here in your bed Lucy. I felt pretty sick last night." He laughed lightly and Lucy just blushed and looked away from him. She turned away from him folding her arms.
"Yea well… I'm going to get ready and head to the guild now. I want to eat breakfast there. Happy is probably wondering where you are so don't you think you should go home?" She waited for his reply, but heard nothing. "Natsu…?" she turned back around to look at him and he had laid back down on his back, sprawled out on her bed once more, already snoring quietly. She clenched a fist angrily as she watched him, "He's already… asleep?!" She growled, her sentence ending loudly.
She watched him for a moment and he turned over suddenly on his side and his body began to grow tense, his face scrunched and he winced in his sleep. Lucy's anger melted away as she watched him, it slowly fading into slight worry. Her expression eased up into a sympathetic glance at the dragon slayer. He still is not feeling good? How long is this going to last? Poor guy.
Lucy took a few steps towards him on the bed and thought for a moment. Maybe she should just let him sleep a little longer; it wasn't as if they were going to have time to fit in a job before the Fantasia parade anyways. Plus she had to figure out what she was going to do for the Miss Fairy Tail contest Happy had told her about the night before. She was kind of counting on that money to pay rent for that month. She didn't want to push him out of bed if he was still feeling sick. She felt bad, wanting nothing more than for Natsu to be himself again. She stood there a moment contemplating it, but her mind was already made up. She'd leave him there, for the time being at least, and just make her way to the guild. It wasn't as if Natsu wasn't already there all the time when she wasn't anyways.
Lucy rolled her eyes at the thought. No in fact he was there quite often when she wasn't despite her constant yelling at him about it. She turned away and began to go about getting ready for the day, allowing the ill dragon slayer more peace as he slept.