Chapter 25
Gajeel was exhausted as they finally made it back to town.
He was so tired that the first thing he did was collapse on the bed.
He barely felt it as Levy sat beside him. Her slight weight didn't make the crater in the mattress sink any further.
He was surprised the bed had survived him flopping onto it.
"Get enough exercise today?" Levy asked.
"Shush. Sleeping." He mumbled as he buried his face into the pillow.
His body really wanted to sleep.
Yet he could feel every nerve ending coming awake as her hands touched his shoulders.
"You look dead to the world like this." She said.
He mustered up enough energy to flip her off and grinned at her laughter at it.
She was almost relaxed around him when alone and not in the eyes of those who still hated him.
Their distrust of him made her feel uneasy herself around him.
He never wanted her to fear him again.
He could never tell anyone of his double agent status for the Old Man, but no one needed to know unless it was going to injure him.
He knew his limits.
And he wanted her within them.
She'd gotten under his skin with those big eyes and gentle nature from day one.
He felt it as she straddled his hips and glanced at the mirror on the back of the door.
She settled herself on the back of his thighs and brushed his hair out of the way.
"What're you doing Levy?" He sounded tired to his own ears.
He almost wanted to question how she had so much energy, but he knew.
He'd carried her from the moment they got out of the desert. She had slept, her soft breath against the back of his neck, the entire walk back.
He didn't mind it. In fact he had liked it.
But now his spar with Laxus was taking its toll.
xXx
Levy felt a slight bit nervous.
She had done this mainly to some of the other girls. And once to Laxus, but he'd been sick with a fever and delirious so it didn't count. It had helped relax him into sleep though.
She had never done this to any man, let alone someone like Gajeel. Least of all awake.
She didn't think Gajeel needed the relaxation part, but the muscle easing would help him after the beating he had both taken and dished to Laxus while she and Rai watched.
She timidly touched his shoulders again. It was slightly more difficult now that he'd borrowed a tattered shirt from Laxus, but she could try and work around it.
As Gajeel winced, she sighed.
"I can't feel through that thick shirt." She said. "You'll have to take it off."
"Too tired." Gajeel mumbled.
Levy blushed slightly as she realized she was sitting on him and even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't have gotten up to take it off.
"Do it yourself."
She blushed completely at his words.
He was giving her permission to touch him.
She clenched her hands for a moment as they hovered over his lower back.
He made a sound of annoyance as she froze for a moment.
"Oy."
She reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it free of his pants.
That was the easy part.
xXx
Gajeel mentally groaned at the situation.
He wasn't entirely sure where she had learned how to massage, but he guessed from a book.
Even her half-baked attempts couldn't be worse than the steam therapy Juvia had tried when he'd been sore from a beating last year.
Her hands hit the skin of his hips and he tensed.
She took an audible breath in before he sighed.
"Your hands feel good." He said.
She pushed his shirt up and he tried to use his arms to lift himself enough to get it off. She pulled it over his head and then dropped it to the floor.
He'd never been in this situation before.
Shirtless with a woman, yes.
Shirtless with a woman on top of him, not so much.
Levy's hand touched his shoulders and the difference was profound.
Instead of the pain he'd felt from her pushing against abused muscle, he instantly felt relaxed.
Her hands were gentle as she eased the pain from his spar away.
His body started to wake up as she moved over his back.
It was as if she had lit a fire in him just by touching him gently.
She'd be horrified to know that this was making him hard.
Not for just anyone. Only her.
Her hands made their way down to his lower back and after several minutes, he felt like putty.
"Gajeel?" Her voice wavered.
"Hmm?" He felt both completely awake and totally relaxed at the same time. He could only think of one other feeling this related to.
Sex.
"You do care right?"
"Hmm? About what?" He frowned as he looked at her in the mirror.
She looked so small and delicate against his much larger frame that he had to wonder how he was not scaring her.
She looked down and held her hands against the spot on his spine just above his pants.
"About me." She spoke quietly.
xXx
Levy felt more nervous asking the question than she had massaging him.
She didn't want to ruin their friendship, since she knew she was one of few considered his friend.
But she wanted to know if Jet and Droy had been right in their theory. That the only reason he hadn't hurt her that day was because he cared.
He was quiet for so long she thought he might have fallen asleep. She leaned over his back, content to soak up his warmth again and be his blanket.
"I think I'm falling in love with you."
"I'm not worth it, but I do love you." He said.
She gasped as she sat back up.
He had turned his head enough to look at her with one eye.
"I..." She blushed.
He started to turn himself over and somehow managed without her falling over.
He settled her to sit on his stomach.
"I'm too heavy for this." She said as she started to get up.
"Maybe some other guys might have weak muscle, but you forget I'm metal. I can handle whatever you've got." He held on to her hips to keep her in place.
She nodded as the metal scales covered his body.
He grinned at her and she saw the hint of his fangs.
Rai had suspected that she was coming to love the ornery Metal Dragon Slayer, so he'd given her the answers to questions she hadn't even been brave enough to ask.
Would Gajeel become even more like a Dragon during sex?
Would he hurt her even on accident?
And most embarrassing: was it even possible for them to be together physically?
He had been patient with her and explained as much about Dragons as he could to someone not initiated in a Clan.
It was only because he could sense Gajeel's inner Dragon reaching for her, like his own had done for his mate, that he had told her that much.
She hadn't known about the inner Dragon part, but it made sense now.
Why he cared when he felt he didn't deserve her, why he hadn't been able to hurt her or see her hurt at any time, every time he'd acted possessive over her.
Pinning her to the tree had probably been very hard for him.
xXx
Gajeel should have let her go once he saw that she looked nervous.
But he couldn't make himself move his hands from her hips.
Her outfit today was one he wished no one could ever see again.
A short skirt and bikini style top that had tormented him all day.
"I swear I'll never hurt you." Gajeel spoke as softly as he could.
She nodded.
"If you don't want everyone else knowing about us, I'll keep it a secret. But only because you ask."
"It's not that, it's just...they still don't trust you and if they knew that you're actually gentle around me, it might make them fear me being around you less."
"Or hate me more for defiling their precious bookworm. Your pets seem to be reflecting the attitude of the rest of the guild." He said.
"Please stop calling them that." She frowned.
"Fine." He said. "At least around you. But you can't deny the guild still hates me."
"Not so much hate...they just don't know you." She said.
He reached up and touched her cheek and she felt the cool, tiny metal scales on his palm.
"You are the only one I care about not hating me. Mira and Cana and Juvia are just added bonus."
She looked down at him and he threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her bandana off to let her hair free.
He noticed the slight shimmer of honey blond at the roots.
"Is your hair dyed?"
She grinned. "Magic."
He laughed.
"I knew it. You're more adventurous than they know."
"My mother did it when I was small because it's more family tradition than anything else, and after they died, I kept doing it to feel close. Cana used to do it for me until I learned the spell myself."
"You've been in the Guild for a while haven't you?" Gajeel asked.
She leaned down and he relished the feel of her laying on top of him, absorbing his strength.
He instinctively knew that this was a hard topic and had something to do with the darkness the Old Man was talking about.
"My family was part of a clan of Script Mages, Freed is actually a distant cousin, and when I was born it made the notions that our generation was going to be the breakers of tradition even worse. Freed uses the Dark Script and has since he was born. I used ancient Scripts lost generations before when I was born and that's why I like old writing so much. The casual Script Mages, like the old man who hired us, don't get the backlash because their magic isn't as powerful as our family." Levy laid her cheek on his shoulder and he ran his fingers through her hair in a soothing gesture Metalicana had once done to him when he'd been frightened of thunder.
"So..."
"Freed and I are the last of the family. He became part of the Guild and when my parents were killed, he begged the Master to take me in, even promised to pay my way to learn magic. Luckily Master Makarov is so nice." Levy smiled and he felt it as she traced her hand over the studs on his left arm.
xXx
Levy hadn't told anyone about her past other than Master Makarov and Freed. Even Mira and Laxus had no idea and they were closest to the both of them respectfully.
But she didn't think Gajeel would betray her trust.
"What kind of ancient Scripts are we talking about? Old Fiore language or other countries?" He asked.
"The closest thing I've ever felt was a language related to Dragon Script. Until I saw the actual Dragon Script and Rai taught me a word." Levy said.
"You understand it?" Gajeel looked down at her as she looked up nervously.
"Not yet but he taught me one you'd like."
She held up her hand and traced out the word of Iron in the Dragon Script.
The small metal word shimmered in the air for a moment before settling to rest on his chest.
He reached up to pick it up and tested it.
"You learned this today?" He asked.
"Yeah." She nodded. She moved to sit up as he took it in both hands.
She watched him test the weight and composition of it before licking it.
"This..."
She was a little worried. Having grown up as a Metal Dragon, he was the one person who could tell her if it was good.
Rai had taught her that Dragon Script molded to the mind. Unlike traditional Solid Script which just created words, Dragon Script molded before it solidified. Hence the shimmering earlier, it had been waiting for a form.
"This is really good Levy." He nibbled on it. "Feels solid and heavy like it should be, and tastes completely of iron and your personal magic. I like it."
She smiled.
"Rai gave me a code to try and read Dragon Script and learn to write the words. Soon I should be able to do much more."
"That's good." He said. He looked up at her as he finished off the word. "I'll admit that I'm a little worried about ever being able to hide things from you because no matter which language I write in, you can translate. And you're really good with codes, so that's out of the question. I have no way other than just not talking to you to hide anything."
She reached down to put her finger over his lips.
"If you want something secret from me, just tell me you don't want to me know."
It would hurt, but she'd get over it.
"I only have one thing that you shouldn't know, but believe me when I say it isn't because I don't want you to know. It's one of those, you're safer not knowing, situations." She nodded as she traced her finger over the studs on his chin.
He was handsome, at least to her.
xXx
Jet and Droy waited until they saw Gajeel and Levy come back.
He was carrying her back to the inn, sporting several visible bruises and a new shirt.
It looked familiar, but Jet couldn't place it.
Droy sighed as he saw the expression on Gajeel's face as Levy turned her face to burrow into his hair.
Gajeel looked satisfied.
They turned out their light and went to bed.
The feeling of heartbreak was still a little fresh but they both knew that she would be happier with Gajeel.
He protected her and cared more than they could admit to.
They could never protect her as well as a real Metal Dragon Slayer.
Jet turned his back to the window.
If nothing else, he still had Droy as a teammate.