a/n: much longer chapter, woo~! So close to this whole story getting to 100,000 words which is maybe why this chapter was published so early :o Hopefully this chapter pushes the word count~
A few weeks had gone by slowly shifting the currently seated pair. Small chats solely about current work turned into more personal subjects. Bubbling questions of early adulthood found answers with light jokes after sinking into an ease amongst each other.
"Now that I think 'bout it, haven't seen Salamander for a few days." Gajeel scratched the back of his head attempting to pick out a memory which contained his pink haired brother.
"Oh he's with Lucy, they went away for a few days." The blunette was quickly able to add finishing Gajeel's open questioning.
"Oi yah always seem to know where he is more than me." He added a non-seneschal risen grin.
"I just know where my friends are." Her face quickly shifted shutting him down.
"They're flirting…" Juvia dropped the manila folder from which she attempted to hide behind. She couldn't hold back from her excitement.
Her mouth left agape, she covered with her hands attempting to hide some audio of joy. "I wonder if Gajeel and Levy would like to go on double dates with Juvia and Gray-sama?" Juvia continued her love fueled thoughts picturing the couples together.
"Juvia…" Mira attempted to remain the level headed one of the two. Although she had to admit that the prospect of hitching two friends together was more than tempting.
The girls turned to each other giving a smile both knowing that they strongly understood each other.
The woman turned back after their moment to the table once occupied now left open.
"W-Where did they go…?"
"Meet me in my office later Juvia." As he walked past their table, Gajeel continued forward only leaving a small message for the snooping woman.
"Are you sure that Juvia is okay?" Levy turned back to the woman whom she failed to notice in the same room. Her large sapphires appeared to widen to the shock of being caught.
"She'll be fine." Gajeel coldly responded not giving his cherished friend a second glance. "Ain't goin' to do anythin' bad to her."
Levy nodded sure that he had meant no harm. Only a soft fear was rudely embedded into her. "I'm just going to drop this off to Jellal. I guess I'll see you in a few days." She raised the file in her arms gesturing for a kind departure. A second note was added as her shift was to be over after just one final errand.
"Yeah…" Gajeel paused in his steps in order to see her off. The weekend he knew that she had off effectively losing her for a few days. A few curses he mumbled to himself for being unable to just say the words.
Finally, the words muttered out, "Oi Levy, wait." At the last minute, Gajeel called out to the woman before should could take another step away from his side.
"Hmm?" Levy peered over her shoulder checking if she had heard right. "Can I help you with something?"
He gulped deeply peering into her wondering doe eyes, "There's this festival thing and I'm just wonderin' if you want to come with me?" He managed to muster up not breaking eye contact.
The flush to her face prevented his own turn of expression. She nodded her head slowly accepting with a sweet smile.
Levy hummed softly to herself as she arranged the curls in front of her face. Her hair pressed against her painted on rosy cheeks to frame the lower half of her heart shaped face.
Lucy grinned from a far noting her friend excitingly getting ready for her night. She rushed over after Levy's innocent text message letting her know where she would be when the subject was brought up. The excitement of a date between the two lit a fire in her heart.
Levy lifted her head up slightly catching a peek of her ease dropping friend. "Lu…"
The blonde quickly turned in her seat the moment that she was caught. She paused for a moment before going back to face her with a daring question. "So where exactly is he taking you on your date?" She hummed the last word with tinge of joy coating her voice.
The blunette paused as her hand slipped before she could finish tying off her olive head band. The fabric fell off tussling her curls that she had worked so hard to contain. "I-It's not a date Lu." She fumbled with her fingers ignoring her preparation now put on pause.
"Come on Levy, you can't keep believing that every time he asks you out that it's just on friendly terms." Lucy laid out the grand statement as she looked towards her flustered friend.
Levy paused in order to face her, "No but…every time? This is the first time…"
"First of many to come." Quick tongued, Lucy giggled once more. "Okay, while you work on accepting it, where are you going? You know just in case I need to check up on you."
The blunette coughed slightly choking as she tried to accept the situation which dawned on her. "Umm, we're going to the Magnolia Festival! Hopefully we can stop by and get a funnel cake." Her mind quickly shifted into a safer subject of a sugar fueled desert. The soft rumbling of her stomach gave her another thing to look forward to.
"What?" Levy raised a high brow. "But I heard that it was canceled?" She continued with a weaning question to if she had read the article properly.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah just give…me…a second." Lucy flipped to her phone tapping a few times for the desired information to be pulled up. "Here, look." She rose from her seat handing over her phone over to Levy to read for herself.
Levy scanned over the article notifying the city of a change of plans last minute. "Oh? Then I'm not so sure what we're going to do. Maybe he'll just cancel…" She started to look down and away to the thought of not seeing him tonight.
The ringing of her phone turned her attention towards a clear answer from him without needed much speculation.
"See? He's going to cancel." Levy gulped as she predicted his message while approaching her phone resting connected to a current charge.
'On my way, maybe five minutes.'
Lucy hovered over her shoulder reading along with the reassuring message, "Stay out for as long as you want, I'll be here house sitting for you."
Levy flustered to the words questioning his intentions through Lucy's words. "Nothing is going to happen Lu…" She began to look away with a subconscious nibble to her lips leading her thoughts onto another softer subject.
The blonde raised a sculpted brow chuckling at her menial actions that she had yet to catch up on.
She paused her teasing for a moment that the door rang with a harsh knock.
Levy jumped on her jittery feet with the excitement that she refused to verbally acknowledge to rush to the front door. "Coming!" She called out before reaching for the knob with a dash as if he was to leave.
The door flung open in a rush exposing her ready frame.
"Oi." Gajeel took a moment of delay as he laid his eyes upon her. The framing of her legs in dark azure tights he caught first before forcing himself to look away onto her safer face.
"Eh?" Lucy hummed softly to his body sinking in the shadows to his dark attire. She took a moment to make sure it was him before being sure. The shifting of his crimson eyes solidified the correct person.
"Are yah ready?"
"Y-Yes." Levy reached for her purse before turning to say goodbye to her friend.
"Take care of my Levy!" Lucy emphasized the use of the word as she gave a wave seeing them off.
As Levy raised her hand up to give a similar departure, Gajeel dropped his hand on top of her hair pressing down curls, "Yeah I ain't goin' to hurt her. Gi hi." He responded to Lucy as if she was a worried mother caring for her child. Walking quicker away from her door step, he decided upon before Lucy could actually set a time limit.
As Levy walked besides Gajeel, she focused on his silence. His long wild locks controlled beneath a matching black hoodie.
She softly nodded to herself as he needed for dark attire in order to be concealed for as much as his six foot-one heights could hide in public.
"Oi what's wrong?" The silent qualm between the two filled in with light glances from her.
"I-It's nothing!" Levy spoke up before her voice lowered to the questioning that she wanted to get out. "Just…where are we going? I thought that the festival was canceled?" She held her breath for a confused snort from him.
The possibility of news coming in late and now a personal cancellation on her was breathtaking.
"Yeah I know."
Levy slowly began to open her eyes from no blow hitting as she expected. "Huh?" She softly peeped.
Gajeel shrugged not really caring for the shutdown of the event. "Thought we'd get dinner back at my place instead." He brought up a second option that appeared better to him. "We just have to go to the store, there's nothing back at my place."
Gajeel looked down after a few second without getting a response from her.
Levy took a moment to process the information before she shook her head lightly to the second option. The blunette nodded with the realization of never entering his home sunk in. 'His…home…?' She gulped back her worries.
"Yea, yer kitchen is too small…" A partial problem was access into the small area which refused to make room for him. The second part of Lucy's presence was a detail that he left out.
"Sounds good." The clearing hesitation of her heart began to slowly fade allowing her to breathe clearly.
Quickly grabbing a basket each for only a few times, they rushed to the back of the store. The display of freshly cut meats caught Gajeel's attention as he looked over.
"Oi, if you want somethin' just get it…" He mumbled to the woman that he thought was besides. "Levy?" Looking around after no response, he caught her sprig of azure peeking from a nearby aisle making her own way around. With a chuckle, he shook his head to her fluttering behavior. Picking up his pace, he rushed to put in his order for the butcher to produce.
"What are yah lookin' at?" Gajeel spoke besides the blunette appearing at her shoulder.
Levy, in mid-reach, paused at his sudden words sneaking up on her so suddenly. Turning slowly, she caught his face nearby holding a single digit of inches apart. "O-Oh Gajeel!" Her hand bounced back to hold her beating heart down as not to flutter out.
Gajeel coughed breaking out the lump in his throat blocking his breathing. "Is that what you were lookin' at?" Once he stood up straight, he came face to face with the bottle of wine that she was struggling to reach. From the wall full of a strong variety of whites, she wanted the rich red up top.
"Y-Yeah." Levy nodded as he must have been watching her struggling for a chuckling moment from him.
A smirking smile lifted his lip to her acceptance, "Let's get two then." The length of his arms easily reached up to snatch up two bottles of the desired red. His strong fingers held the two necks between them as to hand them over.
Levy held both of her hands out to hold each bottle tightly as she could not do the same. "Thank you."
Gajeel nodded as he looked around at their location in the market. The produce set up besides the wine selection spoke of their trip to take a new approach to place their night back on track.
"I'll just get a few more things." He nodded to the new area yet to be picked through.
Levy nodded as she slipped the bottle in her basket to follow behind his lead.
"Are you sure that you don't need help?" Levy attempted to be of help as she held only one bag; the lightest one to be exact. She managed to sneak a plastic bag into her possession to help despite his call to carry them all.
Gajeel snorted with a failed attempt to hold in his laughter. "Are yah sure that you don't need help?" While carrying four bags overfilled with heavier objects, he looked over to her sinking bag. Filled with a varieties of fruits, it slowly began to weigh her hands down as she carried it almost dragging on the ground.
When he had pointed this out, Levy pulled the back up quickly grasping the slick handles pulling them up to her chest. "I'm okay!" Face deadpanned, the few pieces of fruit jumbled inside.
"Gi hi, don't worry, we're almost there. Just down the street." Gajeel looked around finding the familiarity of his neighborhood.
The large upscale condos appeared familiar.
"Do you live with Natsu?" Levy began her new questioning with a light giggle. The thought of brothers refusing to live by themselves was sweet in a way.
Gajeel snorted, "Hell no." He shot her a look knowing that she must have intentionally placed them in the same room. Most of his friends thought the same at first when they discovered their mirrored addresses. Much less Levy, he had never brought her back home. "He lives a few doors down. I wanted him further away though." Gajeel pouted within himself as he explained his desire to want to have areas much further away. Yet he refused to acknowledge or even think of the times that having him so close came in handy – how convenient.
"Oh." Levy nodded lightly as she hadn't known.
"Yeah…come on, it's getting dark." Gajeel urged her forwards as the sun lowered for rest behind them.
"O-Oh right!" The blunette attempted to move her feet faster shuffling forward to his large strides.
'meow.' A soft source purred from the darkness of the ally that they were passing.
Gajeel clicked his teeth as he initially refused to hear it as just the sound of an innocent animal. He switched position falling from her right onto her left side for protection. On edge, he offered his body as an iron wall in order to block Levy from possible danger.
"G-Gajeel…?" Levy inched back a few steps from his sudden appearance before her. Curiosity hit as she slowly peered over his side to see for herself said threat.
They peered into the darkness that seemed to go on forever. A few seconds they held their breath once more as to hear the sound disturbance.
A soft purring came once more as a midnight coat appeared to drag the darkness out. An apprehensive first few steps the small animal took to approach the pair showing up.
"Oh! It's a little kitten!" Levy quickly dropped her tight hold on the bag besides the pile that Gajeel had created on the ground. She carefully moved as not to startle the petite animal crying out for them.
Crouching over to get a better look, Gajeel ended up face to face with the kitten. The curve to his lower face bringing in a new color reached up to the unique curvature of his ears. The bear like feature twitched in reaction to his dark crimson eyes staring.
Levy slowly reached her hand out carefully waiting for his reaction. As the cat didn't move, she placed her fingertips lightly in the space between his round ears. A light scratch she gave him sparking a friendly connection.
"How cute are you!" The blunette lightly squealed as the cat slowly dropped his guard purring to her touch.
Her smile continued to grow before the small animal turned his face showing off a unique feature yet to be seen. "Oh no…" A dropping of her joy to a healing scar crossing his right eye.
Gajeel also noted the harsh discoloration noting that he must have been though a lot. He stood back up with a deep sniffle. "Take him."
"Huh?" Levy looked up to Gajeel questioning as if she had heard him correctly.
Gajeel attempted to hold back his desire to rapidly snatch up the small animal all for himself. "Yeah why not? He looks like a stray."
Levy looked back down at the collar less cat finding his rouge nature. "Does that sound alright with you?" She paused for a moment as if he were to verbally reply.
The soft gleaming of his honey eyes gave a visual acceptance.
"That's great!" Levy piped up as she flattened her hands out allowing him to climb up.
"Huh?" Levy followed his small steps continue from the security of her small hands. He continued up to her shoulder using her for leverage.
Bouncing off, the small kitten rushed onto Gajeel's higher shoulder. The high perch he grasped with deep nails securing his once shaky spot.
A beat of nervous sweat ran down the side of his contorted face. What was his intention from approaching with such mystery?
Nerves silenced only when a soft lick to Gajeel's cheek was applied.
The blunette giggled to the sweet interaction which she was overjoyed to have witnessed.
A soft grin cracked on his face to the kind offering, "Gi hi, yer alright after all."
Lily Lily Lily~! what a cutie! I just had to put him into the story! Til next time :3