AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!
Really sorry about the wait! I hope you find this chapter worth it! Thank you to everyone reviewing/reading/following/favouriting this! It is honestly the motivation we need and love! XD Thank you to MakeItHale for BETAing this! XD
Ok, I'm trying to finish a couple of sketches (which I am actually going to ink! I'm really nervous!), so I hope you don't mind, but I'll wait until the update on Thursday to update Rovr u nerrna viparketh et rka nuthouha ik Gajiru :) Please enjoy this latest update! ^_^
(Also, I'm trying to think of a tag for this fic for on Tumblr? 'Mountains to Dust' is apparently a culture festival? I didn't know that until I looked up the tag 'Mountains to Dust'. Anyone got any ideas?)
Chapter Twenty-One
Levy cautiously took her first step into the men's wing, gulping as she glanced down the corridor. She slowly released her breath as she recognised it as a flipped version of the girls' wing, seemingly identical in every way. She followed after Gray - Gajeel less than a meter behind her - towards the third door on her right. The first had been Gray's, so the second would have been the first spare bedroom, but even a fool would realise that Gray did not want Gajeel making a mess in his shared bathroom.
"You can wait in here while I get the Barbarian to take that 'tunic' off in the bathroom." Gray sighed, letting her into the spare bedroom.
Levy placed herself awkwardly on the sofa, watching as Gray lead Gajeel into the bathroom. Within seconds she could hear Gajeel getting agitated. She knocked on the door; Gray called back that everything was fine. She could hear the water running into the bath, along with Gray's strained attempt to talk as soothingly as he could to Gajeel. Levy guessed that he was likely trying to persuade Gajeel to take the tunic off, but hopefully he did not try to force it off of the giant. He had not liked Levy grabbing it, never mind Gray trying to pull it off of him.
"Perhaps I should try to explain?" Levy called through the door, listening for a response.
"You think he will strip in front of you?" Gray grumbled, opening the door slightly.
"No, but if I explain what he has to do...and tell him that he has to put another one on once he is clean...he might be more cooperative." She suggested sheepishly, trying not to think of the picture her cousin had just put into her head.
"Fine. I will wait out here – let me know when you win him over." Gray sighed, stepping out of the bathroom reluctantly.
"Gajeel?" She called, sticking her head in through the opening nervously.
"Vkrepr? He wants me to take my clothes off! What is wrong with him?! He is not my mate! I will not take my clothes off!" Gajeel ranted while pacing back and forward along the length of the clay-tiled bathroom.
"I know he wants you to take your clothes off, but that is so that you can...'bathe'." She explained, gesturing to the half-filled bath.
"'Bathe'...'durka'." Gajeel nodded, frowning at her as he continued to pace.
"Okay, 'durka', I will remember that." She smiled reassuringly, stepping into the bathroom. "Gray has brought you here so that you can bathe. He is also going to...cut your 'hair'." She continued, pulling at her own as she said 'hair', earning an angry snarl from him. "Gajeel?"
"Levy! Is everything okay?! I-"
"Everything is fine! I was just explaining what he was doing here. I will find out what made him angry, do not worry." Levy called, shutting the door between the bathroom and the bedroom. "Gajeel, what is wrong? Why are you upset? It is nice to bathe."
"I will never let that-that-that weakling cut my kuer!" He growled, the sound trying to rattle every bone in her body.
"Gajeel, what- what does your hair mean?" Levy asked, trying to stay calm as she took a step towards him, raising her hand as if to touch him.
"My hair? I am a Ragkiz! My hair is as important as my studs, Vkrepr! How dare you belittle it!?" He snapped, glaring fiercely at her, his threat clear as his growl grew.
"What is a 'Ragkiz'!?" She exclaimed, her own anger beginning to surface. "I was not 'belittling' your hair! I cannot understand its importance unless you explain - which you often refuse to do by the way! I know so little about your culture that you cannot expect me to always understand! I cannot understand unless you explain, you rarm!"
"...Vkrepr...did you just...did you just carr me a 'jerk'?" He replied, completely dumbfounded as he came to a complete standstill in the middle of the bathroom.
"Yes! Yes, I did! You are a complete rarm that thinks that he can get angry at me every time I do not understand his culture, even though he will not explain! You were surprised when Lucy kicked you yesterday, but look at yourself!" She snapped, glaring angrily at him.
"...Sorry, Vkrepr...I wirr exprain..." He mumbled, sitting down on the edge of the bath, careful not to fall in. "I am Gajeel of the Ragkiz family. We are a hunting family and we have our own traditions. We have our studs to show that we are successful providers. The families all have different ways to show who they are and their pride in it. The royal family have dragon's scales tattooed on their necks and arms. The King's neck tattoos extend onto his face. My father has his two extra piercings on his forearms, as I will when I take my place as head of the family."
"You are next in line in your family?" Levy gasped, staring at him in disbelief. "Then why do you stay?! Why do you not return home to your people?!"
"Vkrepr." He growled, back to his usual warning threat. "If I return to my family without achieving my mission, my hair will be cut. In the Ragkiz family, that is the greatest shame. Having your hair cut means that you have failed. I cannot let your cousin cut my hair, as much as you ask me to – I could not return home if I did."
"I am sorry, Gajeel...I did not know." She replied softly, sitting down next to him. "Are you allowed to bathe?"
"Gihe, of course! We are not 'barbarians', as your people insist!" He mused, grinning down at her.
"Do you have a word for 'barbarians'?" She asked, smiling back up at him.
"No, we do not. All we know is your definition of it and that it is a serious insult to our people...We are taught it as children and told we are not allowed to retaliate if called it. Our elders explain to us that retaliation would prove to the human that said it that we are truly barbarians." He explained sadly, looking down at his hands as he clenched them.
"I know you are not a barbarian, Gajeel. I trust you, so if you say your people are not, then I shall believe you." Levy soothed, running her hand gently down the scarred inside of his forearm, her fingers delicately trying to unfurl his fingers as her hand reached his.
"They are not, Vkrepr...Thank you." He muttered, unclenching his fist, allowing her to lay her tiny hand flat in his.
"Gray will be wondering if you have killed me and ran." She teased, bumping her shoulder into his arm.
"I could not kill you, Vkrepr." He reassured, closing his hand on hers carefully.
"I know, Gajeel." She smiled softly, leaning against him. "I should go get Gray, though. You need to bathe or Uncle will get angry and come here himself."
"I will not take my clothes off in front of him – he is not family." Gajeel growled, his expression hard and determined.
"Does that mean you will take them off in front of me?!" She teased, earning an impressive blush as she stood up from the side of the bath.
"You are family...but I meant you are not my parents...or my male cousins..." He frowned, looking away from her.
"There has to be a way around that problem..." She hummed, her head tilting slightly in confusion as his face grew brighter, almost matching his eyes. "You will not undress in front of Gray...Will you let him wash your hair?"
"I will never trust him near my hair! He threatens to cut it off!" Gajeel snarled, his body becoming tense again.
"Will you let me wash it?" She asked simply, looking him straight in the eye.
"...How? Do- Do you expect me to take my clothes off...in front of- of you?" He questioned, shifting uncomfortably on the edge of the bath.
"No, I was thinking you could just get in the bath with your tunic on, then I could wash your hair. You could take your tunic off once I finish." She nodded, feeling pleased with herself.
"You do expect me to take my tunic off in front of you?" He asked in obvious bewilderment, staring up at her.
"No! No, em, I meant I will leave once I have washed your hair and then you can take your tunic off." She corrected, her cheeks flushing as the image of Gajeel stripping for her flashed through her mind again, this time from a wet tunic.
"I do not want you to leave me with your cousin. I do not trust him." Gajeel mumbled awkwardly, looking away from her.
"Then I will not. I will wait in the bedroom next door until you have finished bathing. I will not go far." She smiled reassuringly.
"Thank you, Vkrepr." He grunted, his eyes flicking up to hers before retreating to the seemingly interesting clay tiles that covered the floor.
"I will need to explain to Gray." She stated, smiling expectantly at him for a few moments in silence. "Gajeel...You need to let go of my hand..."
Gajeel released her hand instantly, snapping his own away. She giggled and turned to leave the bathroom, aware of his gaze following her. The more she understood him, the more amusingly adorable he became. He certainly was not a barbarian as everyone said, but truly a misunderstood boy, lost and alone in their world. He had come here on a mission that he could not tell anyone about and he was not even full-grown. She – who had actually begun to understand – had almost allowed her cousin to do something unspeakable to him without even realising. Hopefully her cousin would accept her terms.
"Gray-"
"Is he ready to actually bathe?" Gray demanded, getting up from the sofa.
"Give me ten minutes – I am going to wash his hair and then he is going to bathe. Alone." She finished, holding her gaze against Gray.
"He cannot bathe alone." Gray returned, narrowing his eyes at her.
"That is the only way you will get him to take his tunic off. Would you take your clothes off in front of him?" She challenged, folding her arms across her chest.
"No, I would not." He sighed, frowning at the clean tunic on the bed. "Tell him to put this on after his bath – and leave the door open while you are in there! I did not like you shutting the door! He could have done anything to you!"
"As I have explained many times, Gajeel will not hurt me." She huffed, taking the new tunic and walking back into the bathroom.
She began to laugh as she spotted Gajeel sitting in the bath, his back to her. He turned his head slightly to look at her out the corner of his eye, his ears a perfect shade of crimson. They matched the tint of what she could see of his cheeks perfectly. She inhaled in surprise as she noticed his naked shoulders, her eyes instantly searching the bathroom around her. She slowly approached the bath, holding her breath, unsure what she would find when she got there. She giggled as she found his tunic, earning a glare from the giant as he sat naked, covering himself with the rag that had been his previous tunic.
"Very clever, Gajeel." She mused, kneeling down on the floor behind him. "I will need you to sit forward slightly so that I can get to your hair, though."
"Rkuraxar, Vkrepr." He grunted, leaning forward, the sound of water sloshing reaching her ears as the water rushed in behind him under his thick mane.
"You are to put on this clean tunic once you are dried. You dry yourself with a towel." She explained, pointing up to the shelf that would have been at her head height had she been standing. "And do not forget to use the soap while you are bathing! And do not answer me with 'whatever' again – do not deny you just did!"
"Yes, Vkrepr." He mumbled, sitting quietly as she began to drench his hair with bowls of water.