Gajeel had only been awake for a single day, yet he already decided Fairy Tail was the strangest place he had ever seen.

It was always loud, there was always fighting, and the Master was constantly yelling and threatening everyone. It had taken all of his courage to crawl out of his wonderful, new bed with it's thick blanket, put on his new boots, and walk to the doorway. It was barely morning and he could already hear the sounds of fighting and what sounded like glass breaking. He cringed when he heard the Master raise his voice and his heart pounded in his chest. His palms grew damp and his stomach rolled.

I can't do this, I just can't…

Calling himself a coward, he turned to head back into his room when a bright light filled the hallway.

"Hey, Metal Man! You comin' or what?"

Gajeel glanced at the Fairy...Natsu, if he remembered correctly. "Um, no I'm not hungry."

It wasn't a lie. The smells coming from downstairs made his nose quiver, but his stomach was too unsettled to even think about eating.

"How about just come sit with us then? Levy was wonderin' where you were at and asked me to check on you. Something about making sure your bandages are still fine. Mira wants to check too."

"Oh…" he scratched his head, staring down the hall. "I guess I could come then." It wouldn't be fair of him to make Levy worry, not when she went through so much trouble to get him there. He had to show her how grateful he was, that it wasn't a mistake to help a failure like him.

"Great! Though you'll probably want to put on a shirt. Gray might not like having competition of who can lose their clothes the fastest." The pink haired Fairy grinned, his smile taking up his entire face.

"Ok, I'll bring one down. Can you tell Shor-Levy I'm on my way?"

"Sure thing, big guy!"

Natsu disappeared down the hall and Gajeel took a deep breath, grabbing his shirt quickly before he lost his nerve again. He pounded down the stairs, but by the time he reached halfway his legs trembled so badly he wondered how they were holding him up. He managed to make it to the bottom without any mishaps and peeked around the corner to study the room.

Everyone was yelling. As usual. Several groups were wrestling on the tables and plates, forks and cups flew through the air. But what surprised Gajeel the most was the laughter. Even with all the fighting, the room was filled with laughter.

He didn't realize people could laugh that much. It overpowered the shouts, the curses, the angry taunts and jeers.

Not angry...maybe just...playing?

He looked for his familiar, blue-haired Fairy, but couldn't find her. Had she turned big or was she flying off somewhere else in the building? After a few seconds of sorting through the chaos, he finally spotted her sitting in the back with her group of friends.

The morning sun filtered through the window, making her hair shine. His mouth went dry and his hands itched to catch the light. He wanted to go to her, to share her smile, but his feet remained frozen. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the wall.

Who was he to interrupt her time with her friends? She was only worrying about him because she was a kind, gentle person with a heart made out of pure starlight. She didn't need to be worrying about some coward that couldn't even go into a normal room without breaking into a cold sweat. She just needed her friends, not him, not some-

"Gajeel!"

He jumped, pushing away from the wall, and saw Levy's soft blue light hovering in front of him.

She tilted her head, her deep brown eyes peering at him intently.

Stay strong, Gajeel….

"You ok? Did you sleep fine?"

"Uh, yeah...different having people in the same room, though."

Her soft chuckle flowed over him. "I bet. They are pretty noisy too, but I promise you'll get used to it after a while. But come on, we were waiting for you!"

He felt her weight settle onto his shoulder, but guilt kept his feet still. "S-sorry fer making you wait, I didn't mean to-"

"Oh, no, it's not like that. We just didn't want you to feel bad about eating all by yourself, so we decided to wait until you woke up. No biggie."

"Oh, ok."

She squeezed his ear, not seeming to be upset at all. Somehow he found the courage to step around the wall.

A bottle flew through the air, almost knocking him in the head. He yelped and ducked, heart pounding. The movement made his back throb in agony.

"Hey! What have I said about throwing things in the building!" Gajeel lowered his hands and watched the Master yell at two mages. "Small, NOW!"

"Yes Master!" They shrieked, instantly shrinking in size. The guild hall rang with laughter, making the two mages turn red.

"Hey, Gajeel," he startled at the soft voice, seeing Mira leaning against the counter with a spoon in her hand. "Do you want me to look at your bandages before or after you eat?"

The yelling, the laughs, the flying bottle had all caused his empty stomach to churn. "I'm not really hungry."

"Before breakfast it is then! Levy, stir this for me."

"Ehh!?"

Levy flew across the counter, turning big and he heard Mira give her muted instructions on how to cook breakfast. He eyed the back counter frantically, seeing breakfast preparations almost finished.

"But...if yer busy, I can just wait-"

He turned to leave, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "It's not a problem," the blonde mage said with a large smile, "Levy can stir the oatmeal for a little while, can't you, Levy?"

"I'll try not to burn it," the Fairy gave a thumbs up, eyes focused on the pot in front of her.

Gajeel followed Mira to the far end of the counter, where a pile of cloth and bandages sat waiting. She pulled out several bottles from the back of the counter and patted a nearby seat. He dutifully sat on the chair, twisting his shirt in his hands.

"Just let me know if I'm hurting you and I'll give you something for the pain."

He nodded, silently vowing to remain as silent as possible and not cause her any more trouble than he already was.

"Gray? Can you come help me with the bandages? I don't want them pulling on his stitches."

"Yeah, sure."

Gajeel stiffened. "You don't have to-ouch."

Mira rapped him on the head and speared him with a hard look. "No more of this 'don't want to be a bother' stuff. We want to help you and that's final."

Gajeel gulped and looked at his lap. He lifted his arms when instructed and the binding around his waist slowly disappeared. The thick padding on his back pulled his stitches when the pair removed it, but he didn't make a sound.

"Careful, he just flinched. I think that spot is still tender."

Gajeel glared at the dark-haired mage in front of him...one of Levy's friends, but he couldn't remember her name. She smiled and waved her fingers.

"Might as well get used to it, big guy. The guild is full of women just waiting for Levy to leave on a request so they can finally get a chance to mother you."

He gulped again, looking around the room and the female Fairies that were staring at him. He wasn't sure what 'mothering' should look like, but he was certain the predatory gleam in their eyes would not be in that category.

The last of the bandages were removed from his back and the open air made his wounds ache. He purposefully kept his head lowered, refusing to let the dark-haired Fairy see his face.

"Oof, is it supposed to look like that?" Gray's hushed tone drew his attention. Other Fairies hovered in the air nearby, their lights turning bright white or a sickly green color before they darted away.

Mira opened a bottle and Gajeel's nose quivered at the strong scent of medicine. The salve helped soothe the ache and left behind a cool, fuzzy feeling on his skin.

"There, that should help. You might still feel some stinging, so I'm sorry."

Gajeel started to shrug, but thought better of it. "Not yer fault." He looked at his torso and trailed his fingers along the red lines on his side. "Do you guys have a mirror?"

The pressure on his back stopped. "You want to look at it?"

Mira moved around him, eyes wide and fingers covered in salve. Levy paused mid-stir and even Gray looked at him as if he grew horns.

"Nevermind, I'm sorry…"

"No, no it's fine. Um, yeah we have one right over there." Mira pointed down the bar and wiped her hands on a towel.

Gajeel stood slowly, his lip curling despite his efforts not to grimace. He scowled at Levy's friend before she could say anything. She only smirked and lifted her tankard to her mouth. He moved along the bar and turned his back to the mirror, glancing over his shoulder to look at his back.

Oh. Yeah, I get it now.

Wide, red lines covered his entire back from his shoulders to his waist. Many were still swollen and most were sewn shut with black thread. He reached behind and gently touched one of the largest gashes, the angry skin warm beneath his fingers.

"I've never in my entire life had to do that many stitches before. I had to send Alzack out for more thread halfway through."

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, seeing the rows and rows of stitches. It must have taken her hours to finish, time she could have spent helping her own guild and not some random Draak that showed up at her doorstep.

"It was no trouble, I'm just glad we were able to help. You had us worried there, for a while." She placed a cool hand on his shoulder, but he couldn't take his eyes off of his mutilated skin. "If you had come to us any later, I don't know if you would have made it."

He smelled salt and knew Levy was crying.

Because of him.

Again.

He shook his head, turning away from the mirror. "But it still made trouble for you. Last night, one of the guys said-"

"Hey! Breaking Rule Number One already!?" Gray smacked him on the side of the head, a scowl on his face.

Gajeel rubbed his head and leaned away, whispering to Mira. "They said you had to throw away yer dress. Somethin' about it being their favorite?"

"Hey!"

"That's it, no more secrets around Gajeel!"

"Yer not supposed to tell the girls we actually talk about them!"

"Max, you're a moron! Now they know for sure!"

"And Laxus said it was only one of his favorites."

"Quit yer yappin'!"

A scuffle broke out among the Fairies, their bright lights rolling back and forth on top of the tables. Laughter filled the guild but Gajeel's palms grew damp.

"Are they mad at me? For sayin' something?" Why did he think he could do this? Everything he did was wrong and he was going to make everyone hate him.

Mira led him back to the chair and brought out her supplies. "Nah, they're just being boys and always love fighting over every little thing. Wait a few days and you'll get used to them."

Gajeel watched the tables, terrified of what the Master would do when he saw and confused as to why everyone was still laughing. But he just sat on a stool near the back, watching with a strange smile on his face. Gajeel shook his head, wincing when the numbing medicine seemed to have worn off. The hovering mage had joined the fight, so Gajeel knew she wouldn't tell everyone how weak he was.

A red light broke out of the fray and flew to the counter. Natsu grew big and leaned against the bar, watching Mira resume her work.

"Dude, that's gonna leave some gnarly scars."

"I'm used to scars."

"Don't worry though, girls dig guys with scars." Gray said as Mira started to bind the wounds. "Just work those big eyes of yours, choke up a little when she asks how you got them, and you'll have her eating out of the palm of your hand."

Levy snorted and Mira sighed heavily.

"I don't really think…" He jerked when Natsu cuffed Gray upside the head.

"Don't listen to Ice Princess here, he doesn't know what he's talking about. No, what you need to say is that you got into this huge fight saving a litter of kittens-"

"Seriously? Kittens?"

"Girls love cats! Just look at Wendy, she's always begging the Master for one!"

"No, that's just you..and you're seriously setting him up with her? She just barely turned 12! And he's...how old are you again?"

"I'm not sure-"

"I'm not settin' him up! I'm just using her as an example!"

"Whatever, Flame Breath."

"Whatcha say about me, Ice for Brains?"

Both mages turned back to their Fairy forms and rolled on the countertop. Mira squealed and lifted her jars and bottles. "Boys, really? In my kitchen? Gajeel, please take care of them, I need to clean this up."

Mira moved off, leaving Gajeel gaping at the tiny, wrestling mages in front of him. What did she expect him to do? Hit them on the head? Yell at them like the Master always did? Glancing around the room and finding no help, Gajeel did the only thing he could think of: with a deep breath, he used the thumb and forefinger of both hands to carefully pluck them up by their wings.

The two Fairies immediately stopped yelling at each other and began spewing profanities at him. Gajeel held his arms out as far as he could and looked around for somewhere to put the squirming mages. Spotting a large jar at the end of the counter, hurried to it and held them over the opening.

Their squirming stopped and their curses turned into desperate pleas.

"No, Gajeel please don't-"

"Buddy, come on, ya wouldn't do this to me, right?"

He lowered his arms to set them back on the counter, but jumped when the entire guild hall erupted in a chant. "Do it, do it, do it!"

His face immediately burst into flames and he looked to Levy for help. The blue-haired Fairy held onto Mira's arm, both mages watching him expectantly. The room continued to chant, the dark-haired mage flashed him a thumbs up, and the blonde one tried to hide her smile behind her hand. With a small smirk, he dropped Natsu and Gray into the jar and held his hand over the opening so they couldn't escape.

The room cheered, bursting into laughter. Mira rushed around the bar and hugged his arm, Levy doubled over in laughter and spilled oatmeal on the floor. Master Makarov guffawed and nearly fell off his chair and even the terrifying red-haired knight looked like she was smiling.

Gray and Natsu yelled at him again and on a whim Gajeel picked up the jar and gave it a swirl. Natsu moaned and Gray screamed when the Fairy got sick all over him, making the room laugh even louder than before.

Gajeel startled, nearly dropping the jar. "Whah, what'd I do?" He turned to Levy, silently pleading for help.

She waved her hand in the air, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Don't worry, Natsu gets motion sickness. It's fine, they deserved it."

He looked around the room, watching everyone laugh their hearts out.

The Master walked along the counter and patted him on the arm with a wide smile. "Well then, it sure didn't take you long to fit right in, now did it?"