Hello everyone! I finally uploaded chapter 11, i had a bit of writers block D: Thankfully, my dad has brought the laptop along :D
Enjoy!
Fairy tail and all characters belong to Hiro Mashima
Gajeel cursed internally at Levy's little screaming session and frowned at the little bookworm before him. Her face now resembled a ripe tomato and she was fidgeting with the hem of her dress.
"God damn it woman, control your voice!" He growled angrily before placing a pinky in his ear and wiggling it around to emphasize his point.
"I am not that bad am I?!" He thought when he saw her trying to avoid his gaze.
He leaned back against the bench and raised an eyebrow at the shrimp "Well, I guess that was a reaction I hadn't expected."
She looked up at him and glared a little. "Well, its not like I expected a suggestion like that either." She said, moving her hands up to cover her pink cheeks.
"With the situation being what it is now some people, including you, will have to stay with others until they can find replacement homes." Gajeel said before leaning forward to support his head on his hand. "Ya know your gonna have to stay with someone anyway."
He watched her glance around nervously before standing up with her nose wrinkled in thoughtfulness.
"I guess I will think about it…" She said as she moved away to order a drink.
Gajeel nodded, before turning away to stand up. Though when he started to walk away, he was stopped by her voice and he turned around to look back at the little bluenette. She was almost at the bar but had turned to face him, an expression on her face that he could not read.
"I will talk to you later, after you have done your training. Is that ok?" She asked quietly.
He nodded sharply. Seeing this, she turned back towards the bar to ask the demon lady about salamander.
Not wanting to look like a complete dork as he stood there staring after her, Gajeel quickly turned away and started to make his way out of the big top, ducking under a flying table as he walked outside.
He began to walk to the caravan to pick up the juggling clubs, thinking over the events from this morning.
When Gajeel had woken up in a drowsy haze behind the bar, he had felt as though there was something missing. He realized what it was after feeling around beside him and could not help feeling a little disappointed that Levy had left. Though, she had been drunk the night before, so he could understand that she obviously didn't remember a thing, and would be quite confused. He confirmed this when he heard her talking to Mira.
Thankfully he had been there to cut off the demon lady's sentence when she had begun to tell Levy about last nights snuggling session.
Unfortunately, Gajeel had not been able to escape quickly enough and the white haired devil managed to threaten him into taking Levy with him on the grocery trip.
Sure he had needed some help, but he hadn't wanted her to suggest the shrimp of all people. The little woman could hardly lift a single bag without straining under the weight.
He growled as he walked through the nearby stalls, thinking about Mira's intentions. "The evil woman is definitely up to something." He quickly became frustrated when he could not figure out what it was.
Gajeel turned his thoughts back to the grocery trip and scowled angrily when the shrimp had almost come face to face with one of the people he despised the most after his phantom ordeal. If Levy hadn't been there, he was sure that he would have charged straight at him and sent the man to an early grave.
The idea made him grin evilly and he quickly restrained himself so that he would not scare the crap out of anyone walking past.
Gajeel rounded the last corner and bounded up the stairs to his caravan before flinging the door open. After locating his clubs, he stepped out of his now rather cluttered home and strode to his training area.
"If this doesn't work, I'm gonna go to Onibas and drag Lily's sorry ass back here myself." He muttered before turning his thoughts to the issue with the lions.
There was no doubt that it hadn't just been a coincidence. He knew that shit head Jose was planning something, and having just seen one of his most trusted employees in Magnolia confirmed that something dodgy was going on.
"That guy…He must have had something to do with those bloody animals." He thought as he began to weave his way through the long strands of grass that now surrounded him completely.
He stopped and stood on the downtrodden circle of dead plants and sat down. Thinking things through before training seemed like a good way to prevent distractions.
Gajeel leaned back and thought over the incident. He had enjoyed the opportunity to hold her waist and throw her onto his shoulder, though; maybe he had enjoyed it a little too much.
It had been the moment when she had suddenly run off into the path of potential danger to find bunny girl that had his heart lurching, with an unfamiliar and strange feeling settling in his chest.
The idea of her being mauled by some mindless beast had made him run after her without a second thought. The strange and sudden anger he had felt after finding her sort of safe with Blondie then left him feeling damned confused.
Gajeel frowned when he remembered placing his body before hers. He had no idea why he had done such a thing. Surely his own safety came first, but with the little bookworm around that seemed to be a completely different story.
He sighed. He was now lying down on the flattened grass and the realization that he was even more confused than before made him scowl unpleasantly. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He thought angrily.
Deciding to suck it up like a man, he stood up with two clubs in each hand and began to slowly flip them into the air. He would need to forget about throwing the objects to his partner, since the guy wasn't around.
"Lets get this shit over with." He muttered before throwing the metal juggling clubs into the air, deciding that he would try improvising a few new techniques that would actually work and try not to look like an idiot in the process.
…
"Fuck this!"
One of the clubs whistled as it flew through the air and landed with a heavy thunk in another grassy meadow further away, the other three landing a few meters beside it.
"Why cant I get this thing to god damned fucking work?!" He shouted angrily at the sky.
He then began to shout a whole list of curses at his surroundings, proving that he was officially pissed off to anyone unfortunate enough to be within his shouting range.
When he was finally out of breath, he sat down with an angry huff and grumbled a few more creative sentences that showed his very colorful language.
Almost a whole three hours had passed by and Gajeel had made barely any progress. He still had the habit of throwing his clubs to an absent partner. The fact that he would be reduced to a single person performance made him angry, and the realization that he would also need to minimize his rolls and flips just made it worse.
"May as well just wait for Lily to get back." He thought miserably before moving to stand up to collect his clubs.
"G…Gajeel?"
The small voice made him whip around and he started to look for its source.
He spotted a flash of wavy blue hair hidden amongst the grass and he quickly approached it, already knowing whom it might be.
"What's up, shrimp?"
He grinned when her frowning face emerged from the tall plants.
"I suppose me telling you my name over and over still isn't going to get it into your thick skull." She said angrily before joining him in the training circle.
He raised a studded brow at her insult and shrugged. "Nah, I remember it. Nicknames are just more fun."
Gajeel frowned a little when she smirked at him. "Then why did you use my name before? That time in town and with the lion?"
He felt his eyes widen. Now that she mentioned it, he had called her by her name both times.
"Dunno shrimp, probably just slipped out." He said as he turned away from her curious gaze.
"Oh, ok. Well I had come to talk to you about the caravan thing but delayed it when I saw you're little…um, spaz attack." She said, referring to his angry moment.
He just grunted and went to look for his clubs. He could hear her following behind him by the noise of crunching grass under her feet.
"So, what about the caravan thing?" Gajeel asked while trying to navigate his way around the meadow.
He turned towards her, waiting for her to answer. She was biting her lip and resting her hands on her hips.
He found this pose very distracting. "For gods sake Gajeel your meant to be listening to her, not ogling her!" This thought quickly made him pull his eyes up to look at her face.
"You mean what you said? About staying in your caravan?" She asked cautiously.
He just nodded, still recovering from his previous thoughts.
The shrimp suddenly sent him a dazzling grin. "Then I accept your offer, I would love to stay." She said happily.
Gajeel let a toothy grin settle on his face. "Sweet. Now…could ya help me look for my clubs? I sorta lost them somewhere."
She huffed a little at his lack of enthusiasm, before turning around to help him search for his clubs.
After a little while, he heard her calling his name and he made his way towards her voice. It still took him a little longer to actually find her since she was so short he could not see her head over the long grass.
When he did finally find her she had all four of his clubs. They were lying on the ground because she obviously had difficulty carrying them.
Gajeel smirked at her and she pouted back.
"Thanks bookworm." He said before picking up his clubs. She chased after him when he began to walk away.
"Wait! In return for me helping you, I would like you to help me." Levy said loudly.
He inclined his head towards her while still walking. "What?"
"I need help getting all of my stuff to your place, could you help me carry some of it?"
He frowned and turned to face her. He realized quickly that he should have just looked away because now he was caught in the shrimp's big, innocent eyes.
"Ah…um." Gajeel was lost for words as he stared into her golden brown orbs that looked like they could swallow him whole. "Jesus Christ, is she even human?!" He thought in awe.
He realized that he was completely helpless when she started saying please in a really cute voice. "Damn it!"
"Fine! I'll do it." He growled in defeat. He tried to mask the happiness he felt when she started to jump up and down a little, looking like a kid at Christmas who just got their first bicycle.
"Okay, lets go!" Levy said before grabbing his arm and dragging him forward through the field, giggling and laughing happily.
Gajeel just sighed. "Shorty…you're going the wrong way."
He grinned when she stopped, her face turning a pretty shade of pink before turning towards him. "Maybe you should lead the way." She said sheepishly.
He grinned and unthinkingly grabbed her wrist gently before turning around and leading her the other way. He could swear he felt her pulse rise at the contact, and he could not stop the heat from flooding his ears.
He cursed his stupid blood pressure the whole way back to Fairy Tail.
…
"That lion sure fucked up your caravan" Gajeel said bluntly.
He watched Levy sigh sadly at the pile of dented pink metal that was once her home. It was covered in bite and claw marks. He guessed that the large dents were from the lion ramming into it.
"So how are we gonna get your stuff out?" He asked the shrimp, who seemed to be zoning out a little.
"I suppose the door wont be an option." She said sadly before moving towards the lump of scrap metal.
Gajeel let his eyes wander over it, ideas slowly popping into his head. "The window…is it smashed in?" He thought before walking to stand next to the bookworm.
He frowned when he saw one of the largest windows. It had a large crack in the center and looked big enough for someone like him to fit through.
"Listen shrimp, I have an idea." He said, looking down at the bluenette. She turned to gaze up at him, her expression hopeful.
"What is it?"
"Can I borrow your headband?" He asked, avoiding her question.
She frowned at him curiously before raising her arms to untie the long piece of orange fabric from around her head.
He took the headband from her, his hand brushing against hers as he did so. Thankfully, his ears didn't heat up this time. However, her cheeks flushed slightly.
Gajeel decided to ignore it and began to unfold her headband so that it was wide enough. He then began to wrap it around his hand and knuckles', making sure that the material was placed evenly.
"Just don't freak out, ok?" she nodded, looking confused.
He approached the window and motioned for her to step back and she obeyed.
"Make sure you cover your eyes." He ignored her wide-eyed look when she realized what he was about to do.
"Gajeel, wai-"
She stopped abruptly when Gajeel suddenly pulled his arm back and thrust it into the window. The glass shattered at the impact and he quickly covered his eyes to stop them from being cut by any stray shards.
He stepped back and grinned down at his handiwork. His smile didn't last long when he saw that a he had a medium sized cut above his wrist, which had stayed unprotected.
"Gajeel, you idiot what were you thinking?!" He heard Levy screech before she barreled into him, almost making him fall on the ground.
The bluenette had her arms wrapped around one of his, so that she was clinging to him.
He snorted. "Calm down shrimp, its just a cut."
He was surprised to see her glare up at him. "But it could have been much worse!" She shouted.
Before he could react, she was holding his wrist and examining the small cut. He tried to pull away but she latched on firmly. "Let me look at it." She said sternly.
He just sighed and watched as she poked and prodded at it, before unwrapping her headband from her head.
Gajeel frowned at her. "Oye, what are you doing? Your gonna ruin it." He began to tug his arm away as she started to wrap the material around his wrist.
"Stop it, it's bleeding and this is the only thing I have that can stop it." She said seriously. Her blue bangs, which were no longer being held back by her headband, were now falling over her face.
"Its not even bleeding that much!" He scoffed, ignoring the fact that it had actually started to bleed more than before.
"Will you just hold still already?" She said angrily.
Gajeel growled impatiently but held still as she continued to wrap the fabric around his wrist.
When the shrimp finally wrapped the last of the material, she tied a small knot and stepped back. "That should work for now." She said.
He looked down at his wrist that was now firmly tied with her orange headband. The blood had already started to stain it and he felt bad that he was ruining an item of her clothing.
Levy spoke as if she was reading his thoughts. "I have plenty more where that came from."
He looked down at her and grinned. "At least its not a girly colour."
She smiled at him before turning towards the former caravan.
"Since you broke the window, I'll go in." He panicked a little when she began to walk towards the smashed window.
Gajeel grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. She shot him a confused glare and he spoke quickly.
"Forget it shrimp, I'm gonna go." Before she could protest, he quickly made his way to the metallic wreck and began to step onto the battered surface.
He grabbed the overhang at the top of the window and lifted himself inside. When he felt his feet touch the floor, he crouched and turned around. Gajeel could see Levy's face appear in the space before him and he grinned.
Her face was contorted into an expression of anger and frustration, but before she could get a word out to start lecturing him, he reached a hand through the window and pressed the tips of his fingers against her lips.
She was silenced immediately, and he let a devilish grin spread when he saw her face and neck both turn a dark red. He quickly removed his hand when she started squeaking.
"Let me know what's yours and I'll hand it to ya through the window." He said, letting a serious expression slip onto his face.
She nodded with a small "Okay" and he crouched down further so that he could make his way around the demolished caravan.
"Giant shitty cat sure did some damage." Gajeel thought as he examined his surroundings.
The bookcase across from him had collapsed and there were books scattered everywhere. The beds in both corners were the only things holding the roof up and there was water on the floor, which seemed to be coming from what was once a bathroom.
Gajeel suddenly remembered that water and books did not mix and he quickly scrambled forward and began to shove as many of the books out of the way of the spreading puddle as he could. He winced a little when the action made his wrist sting.
"Yo bookworm, incoming!" He hollered before throwing books out of the smashed window. He smirked a little when he heard her shouting curses at him and something about books being her reason for living.
Once he was sure all of the books were outside, he began to search for anything else that seemed important. The first thing he came across was a set of draws. He wrenched open the top of the battered draws and did a double take.
This draw was full of underwear. Ladies underwear. Aka, bras and panties.
Gajeel felt all of the blood drain from his face and he bolted away as fast as he could, back towards the window. "No way am I going near those!"
He began to call out for Levy, knowing that if someone like Erza saw him doing something like this, he would either be sent to hospital in a critical condition or slaughtered.
"Ah…Shrimp. I may need your help with this one." He said nervously.
Levy popped her head through the gap in the metal and frowned. "Why?"
Sighing, Gajeel leaned in a bit closer. "Top drawer?"
She seemed to suddenly grasp what he was on about and her mouth fell open with a small popping noise.
"Ah…ok." Levy said quietly before climbing onto the side of the caravan.
She slipped her legs through the window and Gajeel grabbed her waist to steady her descent.
When her feet toutched the floor, he placed his hand on her head to stop it from hitting the low roof.
Soon they were both crouching and she crawled towards her draws to empty them of her clothes.
"I'll check the bathroom." Gajeel muttered and he slipped through the remains of the bathroom door.
He grabbed a load of towels and toiletries and threw them into a large plastic bag that he found in a nearby draw. Suddenly, Gajeel heard a gasp and a little yelp. He quickly flung himself into the main room and his eyes widened.
Levy was kneeling by her bed and holding a small, trembling bundle. He crawled over to her and raised a studded eyebrow.
"What the hell is that?"
She turned towards him and held up a small white dog. He almost immediately recognized it as Blondie's dog.
"That must have been what made the lion go nuts." She murmured as she gently scratched it behind the ears.
Gajeel furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her. "Have ya got everything?"
She nodded and pointed at a duffel bag near the window. "I also grabbed Lucy's things so that I can give them to her later." She said before wiggling towards the window, with a bit of difficulty because the trembling dog was still in her arms.
He followed and picked up the bags before throwing them out of the window. He then turned towards the shrimp.
"I'll get out first then I will lift you, got it?" She nodded and he grabbed the upper ledge again before swinging his legs out so he ended up sitting on the sill. Gajeel then bent his head through the window and threw himself so that he landed on the ground in a crouch.
He turned back to the caravan and knelt in a large dent below the window before lowering his arms down to wrap around levy's waist again.
Gajeel raised his arms up, pulling her with him so that she now sat on the outer windowsill. "Ya ok?" He asked and she nodded.
He stepped away and she slid down the side of the caravan and landed on her feet before setting the dog on the floor.
He stretched before turning around to look at the huge mess he had made.
"We got a lot of stuff to clean up." He muttered.
Gajeel turned to see the shrimp placing the books in small piles and he walked over to help.
She sighed when he stood beside her. "So, how are we going to do this? Your caravan is near the other side of the circus, so I don't see how we can do this in one go."
He frowned. "I suppose we are gonna have to take a little at a time. Todays show starts at five, and it's four fifteen now. We have to make sure we finish this quickly."
He growled at the little dog that had begun to yap at his feet. He wasn't a dog person.
"Hey, don't be mean to Plue." The bookworm said before bending down to pat the dog.
"Plue? What kind of name is that?" Gajeel asked as he hefted the duffel bag over his shoulder and lifted a pile of books.
He watched her frown before she swept her blue bangs behind her ears. "I don't know, you will have to ask Lucy."
He shrugged and began to walk away, looking over his shoulder as he did so to make sure Levy was following him.
…
Gajeel sat back against his caravan's wheel and puffed a little. His home was partly surrounded by the shrimp's stuff, mostly books.
They had both decided that they would place all of her stuff outside just to make their lives easier. So Levy had left to return Lucy's things, including her annoying dog and he had decided to take a break while she was gone.
"Things are really not going my way this week." He grumbled to himself, before he started fiddling with the make shift bandage on his wrist.
The headband now had large red blotches showing the shape of his cut. Even though she said she had more, Gajeel couldn't help feeling kind of unhappy that he had ruined something that had suited her so well.
"I should probably wash it." He thought before he unwrapped the headband from his wrist and shoved it into his pocket. He looked over his cut. It wasn't really that big now that it had stopped bleeding.
"I'm back."
Gajeel quickly shoved his hands into his pocket, not wanting her to see that he had removed her headband.
He let a grin spread over his face and he stood up. "How's the salamander and bunny girl?"
She frowned. "Lucy is ok, just a little traumatized. Natsu has his arm in a sling and won't be able to do some of his tricks."
Gajeel nodded and moved to his door. "Ya want to have a look before we put everything inside?" He asked her.
He let out a "Gihihi" when he saw her grin up at him while nodding her head.
He led her up the stairs, before stopping in front of his door. He looked down at the bookworm who was standing next to him.
Gajeel chuckled again before flinging open his door and stepping aside to allow her to take a look.
He watched her frown a little when she peered inside.
"Well, it could do with a good clean."
Gajeel let out a low grumble. "What did you expect? I am a guy." He said before turning around to pick up some of her books.
He heard her laugh and he glimpsed her bending down to help him.
"We will have to set some rules you know." She said.
Gajeel just growled a little more as he lifted up the pile of books. "The joys of living with a woman." He sighed to himself as they began to place the belongings inside his caravan.
Well thats the end of chapter 11, thanks for reading! :D
Cheerio!