Hello my lovely readers! I know its been a little while, but things have happened and so much still needs to be done and continue to happen.

My dog had died last week at the age of 15 and after 14 years with my family, my brother is now a tween and taller than me :(, I am just getting over being sick, and thankfully my family is going away this weekend.

Now it is time to give you what you've been waiting for, the next chapter!


Gajeel and Lily were in the guild hall early the next morning, under the guise of looking for a job before the other teams showed up. After that they sat at a corner table crowd watching while he ate on some more scrap metal. He was scolded soon after the Battle Royale for eating the silverware so they started ordering in small amounts for the sake of the silverware. He had watched several members, who he was faintly aware lived in Fairy hills, arrive and sat silently as the noise level gradually increased with the number of bodies that filed in.

"You made it!" he heard Natsu call out, he saw the Shrimp approach the flame brain and bunnygirl. They all sat at one of the many tables and had breakfast, Levy seemed to eat nothing in comparison to Natsu and his giant fireproof stomach. What he found odd was the fact her team hadn't been around to follow in her shadow showering her with compliments.

"What are you thinking about?" Lily asked seeing that Gajeel had spaced out again.

"Her minions aren't hovering around her," Gajeel didn't have to bother say who because it had been established that Gajeel felt obligated to watch out for the blue haired shrimp.

"Mira told me she somehow convinced them to go on a mission without her, that she was not needed for the job and would only hold them back."

"You really need to stop hanging out with that demon," Gajeel muttered.

"We have similar interests, and I can hold a decent conversation with her that doesn't compose of grunts or other similar short responses."

"Tch," Gajeel responded

"Like that for instance, are we actually getting a job today or what?" Lily asked, because he had a feeling they were not going to do anything productive with the way Gajeel was watching Levy. Lily took the moment to analyze the young script mage in question. She was wearing clothing ideal for training: orange racer back tank top, denim shorts and the same boots from the previous day with her hair pulled back except for her bangs and the hair that drapes over her ears.She rose from her table along with Natsu, Lucy and Happy, and the four of them left the guild hall quickly. Lily turned to see Gajeel grow tense, like he was stopping himself from doing something, which in itself was odd.

"We're going to follow Levy aren't we?" Lily asked, almost disappointed that Gajeel was the one keeping distance between him and Levy. Lily agreed with the girls the previous night that Gajeel was being hard headed about his attraction to Levy, which pretty much anyone in the guild that wasn't oblivious (cough, Natsu, cough) saw they liked each other. Without a word Gajeel stood up and made his way out. Lily sat on his shoulder as they tailed the group to the woods where the smaller guild hall resided.

Gajeel had decided to hide in the woods where they met just the edges of his senses, because he didn't want Natsu to bust him and have to deal with that. He saw that bunnygirl and the blue cat were standing as spectators as Natsu and Levy faced each other. He had been a bit surprised to hear she was training with Ash for brains instead of her own teammates, but was wary if she could actually go up against him.

"Ready?" Natsu asked and he saw Levy prepare herself and give him a nod. He then came at her with a flaming elbow attack that she seemed to dodged fast enough with time to put up the word 'guard' Natsu seemed happy about it. "Good, reaction time is getting better, execution is quicker too." Natsu stated calmly. The fact Natsu was being slow enough to correct Levy if needed was a shock to both Gajeel and Lily considering they knew Natsu for being rash in fights. They watched as Natsu he attacked her guard with Fire dragon fist and hit it so hard that it resonated, while she kept the guard up she built out the word 'storm' and sent it at Natsu sending him a dozen feet away from her. When Natsu rose and went at Levy again she used a small word that shifted Natsu off of his path and once he stopped spinning he was facing Gajeel. The larger dragon slayer in question stiffened in worry that Natsu would go blabbing his mouth forgetting Levy and challenge Gajeel to fight him. In reality once Natsu gathered his bearings, he didn't seem to register Gajeel's presence and returned to going at Levy, who after a while he noticed only used each spell at most twice except 'guard.' She would jump out of the way of his attacks and only a few times did he actually make contact, Gajeel could tell that Natsu had pulled back a little. Levy didn't look very tired, but sheened with sweat when Lucy decided to call a break for lunch.

"Can we go now?" Lily asked as he had been watching alongside Gajeel, aware that his friend had not took his eyes off of her the entire morning as they hid from sight. "Or would you rather I drag you over there where you would have to admit to spying on them?"

"Fine," Gajeel huffed and turned around to head back to the guild hall, to get away from the thing he seems to be be so easily teased on, and maybe actually pick up a job. Lily amused with himself quickly followed and watched how Gajeel seemed to be dealing with some internal turmoil that was hidden under a blank face.

After the group's short lunch break, they continued working on various skills that Levy was determined to get better at. She showed the others only a few of the new spells that she had been practicing but they did get to spend some time on a certain project that Natsu had been more than helpful in the practical testing of. She was grateful for the two of them willing to devote so much time as to helping her train, but she knew better than to show all her cards, she relished when she could surprise people with new spells.


Like the day before Gajeel watched from his seat in the guild as Levy arrived just at dinner time with the blonde and pink haired duo. Just like before she looked like she had worked hard and long, this time at some point she had put her hair up in a crazy pony tail. He heard Natsu going on about how good Levy was getting and it made him want to grind his teeth just a bit. If the ash for brains kept it up, he would be just as bad as the two cheerleaders of Shadowgear. His eyes followed her as she made her way through the guild to take a seat at the bar where Mira was standing. Not as guilty as he should've been, he decided to listen in on their conversation.

"How did it go today?" Mira asked as she handed Levy a fruity drink.

"Great, I'm getting a lot better than I was."

"I'm proud of you, Levy. Maybe some time I can come by and see how good you're getting, I'm sure a lot of us would."

"I may not be always for violence, just because I'm stronger than I was doesn't mean I'm going to go pick fights everywhere like some people around here."

"I just feel better knowing you can take care of yourself," Mira stated as she took the empty glass from Levy.

"Same here, got any new translations for me? It's been a few days since I asked since I've been so busy."

"I'll go check and put in your dinner order, to-go tonight or in house?"

"I should be getting back, but I think in house tonight."

"I'll find you when it's ready," Mira stated before giving Levy a wink and walking away. Levy looked around the guild before catching his gaze, and he saw a little blush spread across her cheeks as she gave a shy smile before getting up and making her way to his table. Lily had decided to sit over with Happy so he was on his own tonight.

"Hey Gajeel, how are you?" Levy greeted cheerfully.

"Alright, I guess," he muttered.

"So what did you think?" Levy asked and he looked at her with furrowed brow.

"What the hell you talking about Shorty?" he asked and she seemed to brush off the nickname faster than usual.

"My training this morning, what did you think?" She asked again and Gajeel felt his gut tighten at the knowledge of being spotted, she took it upon herself to sit across from him. "Natsu knew you were there," she bluntly stated.

"Damn Salamander," he muttered taking another gulp of his beer, he watched her as she glanced over at the pink haired slayer who was making a bit of a ruckus. He finally found the reason she smelled of steel, somehow in the time he had been gone she got a piercing. A steel bar in the top of her right ear with the ends resembling rubies, the skin still had a pinkness to provide further evidence of how new it was. Mentally he questioned why the hell she would get something as out of character as an ear-piercing like that.

He froze as she returned her gaze in front of her, she just caught him staring at her ear. She also knew why exactly he had been staring since her hand went up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as an excuse to touch the jewelry.

"Does it still hurt?" He asked off handedly, curious what possessed her to get it in the first place, but still had enough control not to blurt that question aloud.

"Not really, just have to sleep on my other side for a little longer." She stated a little shy on the matter.

"I'm sure your team didn't take it well when they saw it," he could just picture those two freaking out over such a little thing.

"Just that I didn't take them with me when I got it done, they were on a job at the time."

"Did Shadowgear break up or something?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Lily said something about you telling them to go on missions without you."

"They need the jobs more than I do, and I've been busy with my own stuff," Levy explained and they paused their conversation as Mira appeared with Levy's dinner, which consisted of tomato soup and grilled cheese with a side salad, as well as a few flyers for jobs.

"You can pick up the material on your way out, sweetie," Mira said in referring to the translation jobs.

"Thanks, Mira." Levy stated and she glanced at the flyers to get an idea what they were asking for, Gajeel raised a studded brow since he usually doesn't see those kind of flyers on the job board. "As the only one who can do translation jobs, Mira keeps them aside for me," Levy explained after deciphering his look. He decided to look them over while she began eating her dinner when they both heard her stomach growl.

"So this is how you make due when not with the two cheerleaders?" He asked a few minutes later and when Levy had somehow already made half of her dinner disappear. She nodded as she chewed, waiting until she finished before she spoke.

"Its why I am always learning new languages, in case someone provides something I may not already know."

"So why bother going out in the field?"

"I have to go to the material sometimes, like archeological sites or ruins, but even I can get stir crazy sometimes."

"Even shorties like you have to get out once in awhile," Gajeel chuckled, her cheeks puffed out slightly at the name. He did enjoy how she look like when he did make her angry, if he would allow himself to think it, it was only because she looked adorable with her fury. She let out a huff of frustration as she turned to look at anywhere but at him, as she did that he watched the light bounce of the bar's rubies, something about it made him swell with satisfaction and possessiveness.

"I have some work to do, so I'll see you around," Levy stated as stood and took her empty plate and the flyers to the bar where Mira traded the plate for several large tomes. Levy carried the tomes like they weren't as heavy as they looked and walked out most likely to return to Fairy Hills.

"How did you screw up this time?" Lily asked as he landed on the table in front of Gajeel. He had watched their interaction, all was well until Gajeel said something to make her mad. That was one one of the many questions Gajeel asked himself whenever the Shrimp reacted in a way he didn't expect. "Did you insult her again?" Lily asked of his partner, Gajeel remained silent, and lost himself in his thoughts.


Can you give me your thoughts? I would love to see how you all liked this chapter, I always find joy in how many people out there actually read and enjoy my work, it definitely surprises my parents.

Love you all!

-Greekgeekspywannabe

9/29/16