Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or The Giver.

Lucy told her that Gajeel had been trained by Giver Metalicana, as well.

Levy had asked if she might be able to talk to him about their old teacher, but the blonde somberly shook her head.

"Aside from the responsibilities he carries that keep him busy, he does not speak of his past in your settlement."

"Ah, I suppose I could understand that…But I still want to thank him."

Levy quirked an eyebrow at Lucy's unladylike snort. "Don't get your hopes up too high, he's cantankerous on better days. You'll have to tread lightly around that one."

"You make him sound hopeless." The Receiver shook her head amusedly.

"There is no 'making', Gajeel Redfox is the walking definition of the word."

Imagine the newcomer's great surprise when the man himself knocked on her door two evenings later, a towering shadow that shifted awkwardly under her voiced surprise.

"If it's a bad time-"

"No, it's not! I just wasn't expecting- well…" Her gaze fell to his shoes, looking shyly back up at him through her lashes.

"Talked to Heartfilia, have ya?" His eyes didn't meet hers, instead they fell on a spot just over her shoulder.

Levy refused to acknowledge or show the disappointment that settled behind her ribs, she was being naive to suddenly think the man with a reputation of keeping to himself would open up to her because of a few misfortunate similarities between them.

"I-I might have. Come in. And, just so you know, she only mentioned your tendency to stay relatively low and how busy you are."

"Ah. Plannin' on runnin' down my door, were you?"

Her cheeks pinked at that and her fingers fidgeted, tangling together with her nerves. "Not necessarily, but I wanted to thank you is all."

"Fer what?"

"The night we arrived, I know you were the one to give me the blankets and carry me back."

He shook his head, distractedly scratching the nape of his neck. "Don't worry about it."

Levy opened her mouth to continue, anything to dispel the tension between her and her company, when Rogue cried out from his nursery. She excused herself in a mumble and darted back down her hallway. The infant was a wiggling mess in his crib, giggling shrilly and smiling as she appeared in his line of vision.

She smiled warmly at her unlikely charge and scooped him up.

"Hey there, little guy. I bet you're hungry." The babe's only response was to wrap a hand in a loose curl that had fallen over her shoulder, Levy chuckled as he carefully tugged on her hair.

As she reappeared, Gajeel still stood uncomfortably in her main room, his eyes snapping to the bundle in her arms. "He doin' all right?"

She winced past a particularly hard tug on her hair, but smiled all the same. "He has, he's happier than ever as well." Levy shyly moved her gaze to Rogue, thoughtfully unwinding his hand form her hair and trapping it within her bigger palm. Silence fell between them for only a few moments before she spoke back up again. "W-would you mind helping me for a second?"

He quietly agreed and followed her to the kitchen. He allowed an easy going smirk to make itself known to the world for the first time years. "Need help reaching the top shelf?"

The girl spun back on her heel, eyes narrowing on the cocky essence that seeped into her apartment.

"No. I was actually wondering if you would hold Rogue? I-I just need to prepare a bottle." The unyielding set to his shoulders returned with the request, but Levy was quick to appease the situation. "Ah, I can hold him and talk you through how to make it instead!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes and carefully stepped up to the smaller girl. "It's fine. I can hold 'im."

"A-are you sure? You don't have to if you don't want-"

He met her eyes then, a stark look that ended her flustering. It occurred to her that Gajeel Redfox was not one to do anything he truly didn't want to do. It was a trait she understood with every fiber of her bones.

"Right. J-just, mind his head, okay?"

It was an awkward shuffle that broke any personal space issues either of them might have had, but soon enough Rogue was comfortably tucked into the crook of the larger man's arms.

"There." Levy stepped back, tilting her head thoughtfully as Gajeel carefully watched the little one grasp fistfuls of his shirt. "I think he likes you."

The older Receiver snorted, "What makes you say that?"

"He cried when Natsu tried to hold him."

"I don't blame the brat, I would've pitched a fit too."

Levy turned to begin the process of fixing the infant's meal before the novelty of meeting someone new wore off and he remembered that he was hungry. "That's terrible. And don't call him a brat, he has a name!"

"Maybe, but can't deny suddenly being thrust into the arms of that loudmouth with that head of awful hair wouldn't startle you at least a little. And I know he's got a name."

She rolled her eyes at him, chuckling to herself. "Does he know it's pink?"

"Not a clue. It's an unspoken agreement that any of us who can see color not say anything to 'im. Gives us a chance for a good laugh."

"Wouldn't it grow old?"

"You'd think, but it hasn't yet." Gajeel cautiously readjusted the baby in his arms, noting the way the infant's eyes flicked this way and that to study him. The serious scrutinization from someone so young made him feel odd and he got the sneaking suspicion that Rogue could see what he and Levy could. Before the thought could, another had slipped unbidden from his mouth. "Is he yours?"

Levy whipped her head back to Gajeel, her head swimming from the force of the movement. The man himself had paled and looked as if he was two seconds away from being devoured by the foulest of beasts, despite their painful differences in size. A pin's drop could have been heard in the half second neither of them breathed. It wasn't the first time she had been asked, but every time it came as a shock. It was going to be a slow process getting used to their ways, many that lived here had children or were expecting. It wasn't a taboo, the real taboo was what she had left behind.

She recovered first, her eyes falling to the boy comfortably nestled in a scarred arm, and she smiled warmly. "It was sort of a mutual decision, really."

He nodded and moved to adjust the baby again, subconsciously offering Rogue his much larger hand to grasp and play with. "That why you ran?"

She busied herself with the bottle, clearing her throat in hopes the action would serve the same purpose to the dark memories that flooded her vision. "Yeah, we were both more than an acceptable disappointment, you see."

His answer came in the form of a grunt, but rang in her mind clear as a bell. "Good."

Levy hummed quietly, but she couldn't hide the genuine smile that wormed its way from one ear to another. Gajeel struck her as the kind of person to know exactly what the best kind of disappointments were, knowing her and the infant fell into that category warmed her bones in a way she hadn't felt since her lessons with Metalicana.

prompt; Giver end

A/N: Only Receivers/Givers can see color.