Gajeel and Levy were out about town, just sort of browsing, when they passed a shop. One of them squealed with joy and bounded over, stars in their eyes.
As you know due to my lack of gender specific pronouns, it was Gajeel.
Levy blinked in surprise. They'd been holding hands and she'd simply been taken along with her man. Confused, she looked at where they were. It was vehicle dealership. Gajeel was fawning over a motorbike in the courtyard.
"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," he whispered. Levy scowled, but was mature enough not to take that completely literally. The bike was black, of course. It was sleek, but massive with a heavily reinforced chassis. It almost seemed like it had been designed for a muscle-headed brute.
"Can I have it?" He asked, eyes shining. Levy balked, not used to this side of Gajeel.
"Gajeel, aren't you forgetting something important?"
"Oh right," he said, looking for a price. "Look it's only two million! It's not cheap, but I can afford that!"
Levy sighed. "Not that. I meant…"
"Oh crap, I'd have to get a licence. But I've got good reflexes and senses, so it'll be easy enough, right?"
"I mean that you're a slayer…"
"I won't eat it!" He said, hugging the bike defensively. "I eat meat, but I don't eat ya!"
How the fuck did his brain work?!
"You get motion sickness!" Levy snapped. The look of realisation on Gajeel's face was like telling a small boy that his dog just got run over.
"No…," he wailed thinly. "But…maybe it's different if I'm driving!"
"How would it be…"
"Like how if you scratch yer nails on a blackboard it hurts other people more!" To underline his point, he made talons with one hand and scraped them along iron scales on the other arm. Levy grimaced. "See? Don't hurt me so much!"
"I don't think that's how it works," Levy said through gritted teeth. At that point, a salesman hurried over. A stereotypical weasel-like face with slick hair and a cheap suit.
"I can see that you've got your eye on the Stormchaser 5000 here!"
"Stormchaser 5000," Gajeel breathed, as if testing the divine words.
"May I compliment your eye? I can see that you are a Fairy Tail mage; well this is a combat vehicle, perfect for you!" He looked conspiratorial, whispering in hushed tones. "Its reinforced frame is made from Etharno-steel weave. It's magically driven, able to be fed off the owner's supply in a pinch so that it'll never run out in a crisis! Turning circle…almost zero!"
"Wow," Gajeel marvelled like a small child.
"No, no, sir! Let me show you the best feature!" He grabbed a body panel, pulling it out to reveal a series of scabbards and holsters. "It can store up to six weapons, so you'll always have something close by!"
"Oh. My. God."
"Gajeel, you don't have any weapons! You ARE a weapon!" Levy shouted.
"How fast does it go?" Gajeel asked, ignoring Levy.
"It does sacrifice some speed for rugged all terrain handling, but I reckon you could clock a good 110 mph on a good road. Imagine it now: your hair blowing in the wind!"
Gajeel was there, doe eyed.
"And all yours for a mere three million!"
"The ticket said two!" Levy fumed.
The salesman waved a dismissive hand. "That's the basic model. Only suckers get that." He looked suspicious suddenly. "You're not a sucker, are you sir?"
"No!" Gajeel said decisively. "See, Shrimp? Sometimes ya just have to ask!"
Levy turned around, unable to stand this stupidity much longer. Hands massaged her temples.
"No, no, your little sister has a good mind to ask!"
"Gihi, sis sure does!"
I'm going to kill him, she thought.
"But I'll need a licence…"
"No, that's the beauty! As a combat model, current Magnolia law dictates that any guild mage may pilot one of these lovely machines without documentation!"
"Sold!" Gajeel was hugging the bike again. "I'm going to take good care of ya!"
Where will I bury the body? I'll have to cut it up!
"Now to take her for a spin!"
Gajeel was pushing the bike home. He had gotten five feet from the dealership before succumbing to motion sickness and had to get off. The saleman had quickly pointed out the 'no refunds' section on the contract. Levy stalked angrily behind Gajeel, stewing.
"It's not fair…why can't I use her?" He croaked.
"You knew beforehand," Levy simmered with anger, "and you still bought it!"
"But she's so beautiful…I still want her." He sniffled. "She purrs wonderfully."
"Stop calling it a girl!" Levy snapped. "Three million, Gajeel! Now our best bet is to sell it on and reduce our losses."
"I'm not selling her!" Gajeel protested petulantly. "She's part of the family now!"
Levy pressed her hands against the sides of heads, covering her ears. She had no idea how this had happened so fast. One minute they'd just been walking along, and the next her boyfriend had apparently gone insane and sunk three million jewels into a piece of scrap metal.
Oh well, by morning he'd have eaten it and it'd be gone.
A few days later, Levy looked out of her studies' window at Gajeel in their front garden with Sasha. She had no idea why he'd chosen that name, but he'd said it like it was obvious. She had mixed feelings now; something unexpected had come out of this.
Gajeel had bought books on automechanics. He learned how to look after her. He looked positively serene out there, cleaning her and tuning her. Oh crap, even Levy was calling it a her now!
But it made Levy think; she had her books. She had her hobby that made her happy, but Gajeel had nothing. His whole life was fighting, with little else. Sas…the bike seemed to give him something to do. Something creative, rather than destructive-and he seemed to have an affinity with machines. Probably due to the metal. And as he himself had said; he was young. Why not live now?
Levy sighed and went down to the basement. She plucked out the book Fried had given her on runes. Struggling under the weight, she hefted it back up two stories to her study. She took her wind reading glasses (which she only used for business, and never pleasure – books should be savoured) and began to look for what could help her.
"Heya Shrimp!" Gajeel said happily as he saw Levy approach him. He noted the pen and book in her hands. "What'cha up to?"
"I'm going to help you ride this bike," she said firmly.
"Really?" Gajeel thrilled. "Can you use runes on me like Troia?"
"No. I'm going to write on your bike." She moved towards it, but suddenly her feet weren't touching the ground any more. Gajeel had picked her up.
"Don't hurt Sasha," he pleaded.
"It's a bike."
"Don't hurt her!"
"Gajeel, you idiot!" Levy raged. "Put me down, I'm trying to help you!"
Gajeel looked suspicious but put her down. She walked over to…the bike and began transcribing runes along her…its bodywork.
"I'm not a medical magic user. I can't heal your sickness. But I think I might be able to fool it. These are containment runes. They will project a space around the bike, and mark it as stationary. Things will still pass through, but it'll seem like you're standing still."
"So I can't feel the speed?" Gajeel sounded disappointed.
"No one can feel speed!" Levy snapped. She gave a brief physics lesson. "People can only feel acceleration. This spell will take that away, but you'll still have the wind whipping through your hair!" She got a little snarky at the end there.
"Huh. If I can't feel acceleration, I'll have better control in tight turns…"
"There you go! It's all coming up daises," Levy muttered. "I heard Lu-chan say that I was a mechanic in Edolas. I have no idea how; these machines don't interest me at all."
"But Edolas me had a bike! He was just like me, with my cool and smooth charms!"
Levy looked at him with lidded eyes, but said nothing before returning to her work. "There. I'll need to periodically recharge the runes, but they should last for at least a month – whoa!" Gajeel picked her up from behind in a crushing hug. She could feel his tears streaming into her hair. He got weird sometimes.
"Woooooohooooooooo!" Gajeel yelled, revving the engine before throwing her into a pinpoint turn. Sasha handled like a beauty. She was really made for maneuverability The heavy chassis quickly killed speed and added impact to her turns.
He took her up Magnolia's sweeping roads, feeling the glorious wind in his face, hair blowing like some lion-maned Adonis. He grinned like a fool. He'd missed this sort of thing ever since his motion sickness had kicked in. He eventually returned home.
"I'm taking Sasha on every mission from now on!" He said gleefully.
"Oh no, you are not!" Levy fumed. "And I am not competing with this thing for your affections! Give it a non-human name!"
Gajeel stared at his love. The bike, not Levy. Something to do with black, he thought. He looked at her sleek and dangerous curves, predatory in nature. His eyes lit up.
"Kurotaka!" And she was so dubbed, Black Hawk.
Levy came back from the shops a couple of days later carrying a bag of groceries. She saw Reedus just about to leave her front gate.
"Reedus!" She said happily. "Come by to visit?"
He looked nervous. "Oui, but I have to go now, bye!" He scurried away, leaving Levy bemused. She walked in to see Gajeel with Kurotaka in the garden. He looked up guiltily.
"Ah, Shrimp!"
"Hey, what was Reedus up to…," she stopped to gape. Kurotaka now had her name emblazoned on her side. Reedus' handiwork. But the problem was what was next to it. A sexy lady decal. A scantily clad woman in a bikini. Levy scowled like satan. It had her face. It did not have her body, that was for sure.
"It's supposed to be complimentary!" He said, panicky. Reedus had said that it was a bad idea…
Levy placed the grocery bag down and began to twirl her handbag by the strap. Gajeel gulped, remembering the moment on Tenrou. He had witnessed the awesome power of that handbag then.
He fled.
"Come here Gajeel, I wanna 'kiss' you!" She never stopped scowling as she went after him. "Right in the face!"
This chapter was a chance to look at Gajeel's sillier side, like when he went looking for cats before Edolas. When he wants something, he wants something! Oh, and the bike is Cloud's from FFVII AC.
I think I'm gonna let him keep it…
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaay!"
Enjoy the handbagging…
"Oh sweet baby Jesus, no!"
And sorry, I know this one of my weaker ones…but sleep no come good, writing no come good.
