Christmas Day Shenanigans
Gajeel picked at the sleeve of the horrible clothes the guys forced him into wearing. Of course Gray would have to ask that question right away.
"Um," Gajeel said, trying to think of a way to answer that wouldn't sent Levy into a rage. "I've never really celebrated Christmas before."
"What?" Cana leaned across the table, "Seriously? I thought you just meant that it was your first Christmas here with us."
Gajeel shook his head, "Nope."
"But you had to have gotten something for Christmas!"
Should I show them?
Gajeel looked at their expectant faces. They had seen the scars on his back, they had heard some of his stories of his past, so maybe they could handle a bit more?
"Well...if I wasn't on a mission, Mast...er, Jose did give me some things." He slowly rolled up his sleeves, ignoring the way Levy's brows furrowed at his old master's name.
The group leaned forward and he simply pointed to the long, thick scars on each of his forearms. He knew the exact moment Levy understood his silent message. Her face turned bright red and she crossed her arms, her fury radiating off of her like a storm.
"I knew I should have set his stupid mustache on fire when I had the chance," she spat, glaring out the window with enough heat he was surprised the glass didnt melt.
She mumbled incoherently in her chair, the rest of them slowly scooting away from the dark shadow surrounding the usually even-tempered Fairy. He was certain he heard the words "fire" and "explosion" and wondered if he made a huge mistake in telling them anything.
"That's it!" Levy shouted, startling everyone in the room. She jumped onto the table, not seeming to care that she was still in her big form or that the bottoms of her blue pajama pants trailed in pancake syrup.
She pumped her fists into the air. "We're gonna give Gajeel the best Christmas ever! We're gonna go ice skating and sledding and eat all the yummy food we can sneak from Mira and throw snowballs and eat candy canes and take a nap and open presents and go caroling and make snow angels and-"
"Breathe, Levy-girl," Cana gently pulled on her arm and finally got her off the table.
"Yeah Lev, take it easy. Maybe he doesn't want you to overwhelm him, huh?"
Levy turned her glare to Natsu, who squeaked and hid behind Lucy's chair. The blonde mage rolled her eyes and cuffed him on the head. In a terrified silence, Gajeel watched Levy level a pointed finger at each one of them.
"Best. Christmas. Ever." She growled, sitting in her chair with a huff.
Gajeel raised a timid hand. "Whatever we do is fine. I'll just follow you guys and um," he frantically searched for an idea that would cool the fire burning in her eyes, "maybe we can one favorite thing from everybody?"
The entire table breathed a sigh of relief when the anger cleared from Levy's brow. "That's a great idea! Let's do it!"
"Great, I'll pick first! Time to go sledding."
"Wait, wait, let me write it down first. Ok, give me the rest of your favorites."
Gajeel sat back in his chair, eyes wide at all the ideas that were thrown around the table. He had no idea that there were so many things people did on Christmas Day! Unsurprisingly, all of Natsu's ideas involved some sort of fire or explosions and were immediately rejected by the girls.
Levy tapped her chin, a light flashing in her eyes. "Wish I had those ideas months ago. I wonder if the master would let me take a small trip to Phantom Lord-"
"Time's a burnin'! Let's get changed and head outside!" Lucy grabbed their plotting bookworm and dragged her out of her seat.
"Last one there gets a giant snowball dumped down their shirt!"
"Wait," Gajeel said, making everyone freeze halfway out of their chairs, "so I can change out of this?"
Gray snorted, "Yeah, we really only wear it for breakfast and-"
Gajeel didn't wait for the rest. He bolted out of his chair and was all the way to the bottom of the stairs by the time the rest of the table knew what he was doing. Once he slid into the bedroom, Gajeel slammed the door shut and quickly changed into his normal clothes before they could stick him into some other hideous monstrosity.
His body tensed, his sensitive ears hearing the sound of feet on the stairs.
Shoving on his boots, he ran to the window, opened it as far as it could go, and looked down at the ground two stories below him. Seeing a thick pile of snow beneath the window, and hearing his roommates right outside the door and thereby blocking the main escape route, Gajeel climbed into the window sill. With a deep breath to relax his body, Gajeel jumped from the window, bent his knees, and tucked his body the moment he felt his feet touch the ground. He used his momentum to lean to the side and roll over his shoulder. He landed on his back, the thick snow sticking to his body and trapping him in its grasp.
Footsteps crunched the snow next to him and Gajeel craned his neck upwards. Levy's face blocked the sun and she bent over his sprawled form, her body wrapped in the puffiest coat he'd ever seen and a wide grin on her face.
"So...whatcha doing?" She giggled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Gajeel smirked back at her, not even caring that snow had fallen down the back of his pants. "Escaping torture."
Still laughing, she reached out a hand to help him out of the snow. "That's a good reason."
He brushed the snow off his backside and Levy helped him remove the bits clinging to his arms. With her help he was free from the white powder in a matter of seconds, but Levy didn't release her hold on his arm.
"Oi, what're doin', Shrimp?"
"I told you...you'd be stuck with me all day. Oh! I almost forgot. Here you go! I grabbed this for you while I was in town the other day."
She reached into her pocket and brought out a brightly colored bandana. The white and gold fabric was definitely more festive than his black coat and he ducked his head to let her wrap it around his hair. He smoothed it across his forehead, seeing the same fabric wrapped tied around her own hair.
The front door opened and Levy waved to the girls running toward them. They guys followed directly behind, Gray with a disk above his head and Natsu with a long, flat board.
"Did you seriously just jump out a window?" Gray asked, setting the disk's edge into the snow.
Gajeel adjusted his bandana, "I was desperate, ok? Didn't want to risk you lot shoving me into some other weird thing..."
"I would have done the same thing," Lucy said, smacking Natsu lightly on the arm. "Now let's get going before someone else takes the best hills!"
Levy jumped up and down, pulling on his arm to follow after the group. Her fingers wrapped around his in an ironclad grip. He still didn't know why they were so excited about sledding, but he was willing to try anything.
It was Christmas, after all.
Gajeel and the rest of Levy's group barreled into the common room, laughing and shivering from the cold. They hung their jackets on their designated hooks and stomped the snow from their shoes, hearts still pounding from the epic battle they just finished.
They had been attacked as soon as he and the others began to head back after a morning of sledding. The other group of seven guys had been sure they would beat Levy and the other girls, but it was downright terrifying to see the girls in action. Levy used her magic to make a continuous supply of ammunition and Cana and Lucy hurled snowballs with deadly precision.
Gajeel and the other male Fairies hardly had to do anything, although Gray did build a perfect snow fortress for Cana and Lucy to launch their assault. Gajeel supported Levy by rolling snowballs when her hands grew tired and protecting her back when the enemy cut them off at both sides. Gajeel had surprised himself with how seriously he took their mock battle. He ducked behind snow drifts and easily rolled out of the way of enemy fire. Months of sparring with Laxus and years of battling strange animals had honed his fighting skills until the other group ran away screaming.
While the fight had been exhilarating, it was nothing compared to sledding. The breathtaking speed, the wind in his face, the laughter; it made the hazy memories of his childhood come into focus and he remembered playing with his father and the other village children during the snowy season. After a few turns down the hill, Gajeel also remembered how nauseous he and Natsu became on anything that moved.
With their jackets properly hung up to dry, Gajeel and his roommates hurried upstairs to change their wet clothes. Gray and Natsu finished in just a few minutes and bolted back out of the room. Gajeel stood in the middle of the floor for a moment before deciding to only change his pants.
During their sledding spree, his body had warmed enough for him to shed his outer coat. He also managed to control his nausea just enough to take a few turns down the hill while holding Levy tightly in front of him. His shirt still held Levy's familiar scent and he refused to take it off, even if it was still slightly damp with snow.
Natsu peeked his head around the doorway. "Hey, Big Guy, com' on!" The mage waved his hand and Gajeel slowly followed, alert for anything his roommate threw at him.
He made it into the hallway and the tension in his shoulders relaxed when he saw Gray and the others sitting at the crossroads on the upper floor. The girls, swaddled in blankets and holding mugs of what smelled like steaming hot chocolate, sat on the side of the hallway closest to their room. Colorfully wrapped packages filled the entire area.
Gajeel followed their example and sat cross-legged on the floor. Cana handed him his own mug and he sniffed it, raising an eyebrow.
"Ya didn't put any of yer special stuff in it, did you?"
The group laughed and Cana waved her hand. "No I didn't. I promise."
Eyebrow still raised, he took a tiny sip just to be sure.
"If you're wondering, we're doing presents right now." Lucy leaned over and told him softly.
Gajeel gulped on his drink, quickly putting it down. "Oh! Be right back."
He scrambled off the floor and ran back to his room. He dropped to his hands and knees and pulled out the presents hidden under his bed. He cradled them in his arms, handling Levy's with extra care so he didn't bend the pages, and rushed back to the group.
He gave a quick glance to the names scrawled on the packages and dropped each wrapped present into their owner's lap before sitting down next to his mug. He set Levy's carefully on the floor next to him and waited. The Fairies looked at one another, then the presents in their laps.
"Um, there you go." He scratched his head when the group broke out into quiet chuckles. "I did that wrong, didn't I?"
Lucy shook her head, her eyes twinkling. "You did just fine. But I'm thinking you might be spending too much time with a certain blue-haired fairy," the blond mage lifted her present and shook it next to her ear. "This feels an awful lot like a book."
His ears turned warm and he ducked his head, grinning sheepishly. He heard the sound of tearing paper and watched their faces light up when they saw the book he purchased for each one of them. Natsu leaned over and Gajeel managed to dodge a punch just in time.
"Hey Flame Brain, why're you hittin' him? What book did you get?"
Natsu held up a thick volume of Fireproofing Your Home for the Holidays and the entire group burst into laughter. Gray began to tease the pink-haired Fairy and a small scuffle started on the ground. Swallowing past the pounding of his heart, Gajeel reached for Levy's gift and slowly held it out to her.
"Here, Shor...um, Levy." He willed his hands to stop shaking.
Cheeks strangely pink, Levy slowly opened her gift while Gajeel looked on, hardly daring to breathe.
She's gonna hate it...it's stupid...she's not gonna like it…
When the final wrapping was gone, the girls gasped. Gajeel wrung his hands together. The guys paused their wrestling to lean over and look at the gift. Levy covered her mouth with a hand, a wet sheen forming in her eyes.
"Did you...you wrote this?" she whispered, flipping through the first few pages of the journal.
He nodded, picking at his nails. "Um, yeah. That's why I've been in my room so much lately."
"I was wondering what you were doing, keeping us up all night with your scratchy pen." Gray bumped him with his elbow.
A small sniff was Gajeel's only warning before Levy launched herself across the space between them. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed him tightly.
"Levy!" Cana hissed, "Get back to our side of the hallway or the master will get mad!"
"Thank you! Oh thank you thank you thank you, Gajeel! It's so beautiful, I'll treasure it always! I'm going to save it for tonight so I can enjoy the entire thing!" She leaned back until they were only inches apart, her eyes shining brightly.
His heart pounded and her warmth chased away the last of the chill from outside. "Y-you're welcome," he swallowed, her scent covering him and making his hands refuse to let her go.
"Alright you two, that's enough. My turn!"
They jerked away from each other and Levy scrambled back to her side of the hall, stroking the cover of her book as if it were a kitten.
Lucy quickly passed out her gifts and Gajeel was shocked to see her set a small, wrapped package next to his knee. Cana stood next and also set a present next to him. Gray rose to his knees and Gajeel was almost certain he saw a package with his name on it in the ice mage's hands.
"So um, is...is this one of your traditions too?" He asked, a strange warmth spreading in his chest.
"Sort of. We usually pass out our big presents downstairs by the window," Gray looked between the gifts in his hands and placed one in Gajeel's lap, "But we wanted a little bit of quiet before the rest of the guild gets crazy later tonight."
"We can't go in each other's rooms, so we thought that this would be the next best thing. Nice and cozy." Lucy accepted Gray's present to her.
Gajeel flipped his gift over in his lap, hearing their unspoken message; they were giving him a chance to take a break.
"I think I like this tradition," he said with a smile, looking at the group sitting around him.
"Yeah? Then let's do it again next year too!" Natsu thumped him on the head with a present and Gajeel carefully took it out of the mage's hand to place it with the rest.
"My turn!" Levy jumped up, arms full of gifts, and bounced to each Fairy, handing them a present.
Several lone packages sat at her spot and after passing out the ones in her hand Levy collect them all into her arms, and dumped them into his lap.
"Hey! Why does he get the most!"
"Cause I like him more than you, Natsu," she sniffed, spinning on her heel to return to her spot. Gajeel could have sworn he saw her cheeks turn bright pink.
"Merry Christmas!" Cana hollered, holding up her mug of cocoa.
"Merry Christmas!" he raised his voice with everyone else.
Trying to follow their example, he set his mug down but held onto the packages in his lap. He listened to everyone laugh and chat, the sound of paper ripping and delighted gasps filling the air.
Yeah, I think I could get used to this tradition.