It was quite late at night as Levy sat snugly in her bean bag chair, reading a horror novel. This close past Halloween she couldn't help herself. The lights were off, save the dim illumination from the lamp on her nearby desk.

She looked up at a tiny noise outside the window and shook her head. Levy fundamentally liked horror stories for their plots, but actually sitting through them was difficult. She always wanted to know who or what was going on, but panicked easily. Gajeel's love of horror movies was not helping. They went to see Paranormal Activity in the cinema. Levy had spent most of it pressing her face into Gajeel's shoulder, trying not to see or hear.

She squeaked like a mouse as the front door suddenly slammed. Trying to calm her racing heart and chastising herself for being stupid, she heard a sound a bit like a dying whale.

"Calm down, Gajeel!" Lily's voice barked.

Levy hurried out of her study as Lily, in his battle mode, made the top of the stairs supporting an ailing Gajeel, one hand clasped over his mouth.

"Gajeel, are you okay?" Levy asked.

"T…t…toilet!" He blurted, and Lily pushed him into the bathroom. There was a retching noise. Levy pushed past a shrinking Lily to her boyfriend. She gently pulled back his long hair to get it out of the way. Absent-mindedly, she removed her headband, and tied it around Gajeel's hair to make a ponytail.

"Feeling better?" She asked kindly.

He shook his head. "I did something stupid," he said, holding his head over the toilet bowl.

Levy smiled. "Sounds like you!"

He glared at her, but returned to chucking up the contents of his stomach.

"So what actually happened?" Levy asked.

"I was eating some scrap metal that I found…," Gajeel began, his voice weak.

"…which he didn't check through first," Lily added.

"Shaddup. Well, it turns out that there were some batteries in that pile," Gajeel finished.

Levy looked around, as if searching for the punchline. "And…?"

"Did you never tell her?" Lily asked.

"Tell me what?"

"Shaddup, damn cat!" He turned and ralphed again. "They were nickel-cadmium batteries."

"So?"

Gajeel grimaced. "I'm allergic to cadmium," he admitted, as if confessing to an old, dark secret.

"Allergic? Is that all? It's poisonous to any other human!" Levy exclaimed.

"Huh? Really? Maybe it's not an allergy then. Maybe it's just a bit much for my slayer…mag…ic…" His sentence ended in him puking again. "I'll be okay later, but it takes about a day for my system to purge this shit!"

Levy cocked an eyebrow. "How many times have you done this to know how long it'll last?"

Gajeel didn't respond. "Twice since I've met him. This is the third. Lord knows how many times before that?" Lily said, enjoying Gajeel's impotent rage. Gajeel grabbed a loose toilet roll and threw it at the Exceed, but it didn't even reach his feet. Levy's eyes widened. Just how much strength had Gajeel lost? The man who could punch through walls was unable to throw a roll of paper.

Gajeel looked at her as she giggled. "Now I can look after you for a change!"


Finally, Gajeel appeared to have emptied the entirety of his digestive system. Levy helped him back to their bedroom, supporting his weight on her small frame. He looked pitiful as she helped him out of his clothes and into bed.

"I can't sleep like this," he moaned.

"Would you like me to read to you?" She asked happily.

"I ain't a child!" He replied petulantly. Levy looked a little sad, but Gajeel didn't pay attention to that, instead changing to weak voice. "I didn't say no."

Levy giggled at his machismo. She went and fetched a nice long book to take his mind off of his condition. She went back to the bed, and Gajeel rested his head on her thighs as she readied the book. She winced slightly. She was not good at supporting his weight.

"What is the book?" He asked.

"The Hobbit by Tolkien. It's very famous."

"Oh? Will I like it?"

"There's a lot of fighting and fantasy stuff," she replied. Gajeel looked at her funny, as it had sounded like she was going to continue, but stopped herself. "Alright, it has a dragon and short people!"

"Gihi! Sounds like my kinda book!"

Levy began to read aloud. Gajeel closed his eyes, listening to her voice. She was really good at this, Gajeel thought. Reading was her thing, after all. Perfectly pitched and not too fast…Gajeel was asleep within minutes. Levy giggled as his snores began. She ran her small hand through that mane of his. He made a noise of pleasure but didn't wake. She let him lie there until her leg had gone completely numb from his weight. She then pushed him over to his pillow and he made little complaint.


Levy woke to a fist in her face. Thankfully, Gajeel was still weak and it didn't hurt. She sighed. It was still the middle of the night and the room was pitch black. She pushed the hand away just have it right back in her face again. Gajeel was moaning pitifully, clearly in physical distress. He farted. It sounded a bit like a bomb went off. Levy covered her nose. Oh sweet merciful heavens, it was awful! She'd have to remember to check all of the metal he ate from now on!

He was still writhing, seemingly only half conscious. Poor thing, she thought. She sat up in the bed and cradled his head against her side. He seemed to relax a little at the touch. Levy opened her mouth and began to sing to him, the only song she could think of at that moment.

Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat,

And if that billy goat doesn't pull, Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over, Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark, Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down, Well you'll still be the sweetest baby in town.

Levy was certainly not the world's greatest singer, but her voice was soothing and melodious, and Gajeel seemed to be quite content by the end. Levy had no idea if he was really awake at all, but he was just so cute like this. Gajeel's normal sleeping face was as harsh as his normal one, but like this, he seemed like a little child.


Gajeel woke in the morning and instantly clutched his aching head. He felt a bit like he'd been hit by a train. He had to never eat a fucking battery again. At least they weren't Lithium – that metal was like a fucking narcotic to him. It gave him a bad acid trip that he never wanted to repeat.

But, he noted, he felt much better than he expected to. He couldn't remember the night at all, save for a soothing voice singing to him. He looked over to see that Levy had vacated the bed before he'd woken. He sniffed as he heard footsteps approach. That smelled good!

Levy re-entered holding a tray with a bowl on it.

"Ah Gajeel! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Not too shabby, Shrimp."

"Here! I made you some chicken soup to help ease you back in," she said, setting the tray over his legs.

"Thank ya," he mumbled. He still wasn't used to showing weakness and having other people look after him. It wasn't a huge action, but he still felt humbled by her kindness. He was used to suffering maladies in their rawest form, and unused to having the symptoms eased by treatment.

"Gajeel, why are you crying?" She asked with concern.

What!? He was crying. Damn him for being so weak, but seeing her look after him, feeling her love…damn he was such a fucking softy now!

"Sorry…I'm just being stupid," he said, wiping his eyes. He pushed past it and began slurping the soup. Levy smiled.

"You're going to have to give me a list of metals that you shouldn't eat!"

Gajeel cocked an eyebrow. "Did Superman tell Luthor: 'Hey, I don't like kryptonite?'"

"I'm not your arch nemesis!" Levy pouted. "So, cadmium's bad. Iron, lead, nickel, brass, copper, gold, silver, you've eaten all of those…platinum?"

"Never tried it."

"Mercury?"

"Actually, it's a very interesting flavor."

"Cobalt?"

"Turns my tongue blue," he laughed, "but it ain't harmful."

"How about the alkali metals like lithium or potassium?"

"There is more than just lithium!? Oh crap, what sorta drug coma is potassium gonna give me!?" He quailed.

"Right, none of those!" Levy said cheerily. "Is it okay?"

"The soup? Yeah, it's great." He looked sincere. "Thank ya for taking care of me."

"Of course! You end up doing it for me all of the time!" Levy said. "Of course I'll look after you…Gajeel, you're eating the spoon again!"

He looked down. "Ah crap! Sorry!" Levy began to laugh, unable to help herself. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Gajeel smiled thinly, but didn't quite see the funny side. He went through far too much cutlery. Finally, she managed to calm herself.

"Don't worry – you're sick! You can do silly things when you're ill!" She stood and went to him, embracing his arm. She kissed his forehead. With him on the bed, she was just about tall enough to make it. "I'll look after you until you're all better!"

Gajeel smiled and bereft of his spoon, lifted the bowl to down the remaining soup in one go. Levy took the tray and put it on a drawer. She helped him to his feet.

"Come on," she said forcefully. "A bit of exercise will do you the world of good!"


"Hey Metalhead!" Natsu shouted as Gajeel entered the guild the following day. "I heard through the cat-gossip that someone has a weakness! Who has ever heard of a slayer that couldn't eat his element?" He spread his hands wide, mocking.

Gajeel grimaced. This was gonna be a long day.

"Hey Romeo! Mastered the green flame yet?" Levy called. "Natsu said that he wanted to try it!"

Romeo brightened at her words and hurled the green fire at a blustering Natsu. He swallowed the flame involuntarily, and he went the same unhealthy green himself. He rolled on the ground, making pathetic noises.

Gajeel chuckled. "I love ya, Shrimp!"