Chapter 15: Brand New Thing
Lir expected an ugly fight when Natsu's team returned to the guild hall. Erza, Gray, and Natsu had been in Fairy Tail since they were young children and she couldn't imagine them taking kindly to the addition of Gajeel and Juvia to their ranks. But Gajeel didn't bite when Natsu got in his face and cursed him out. He didn't even flinch or react when Erza leveled her sword at his jugular. For all his years in a guild as cutthroat as Phantom Lord, he seemed to catch on to the fact that Makarov didn't allow actual battles for blood between members.
Thankfully, everyone's limits were not tested further as Loke forced a reservation at Akane Resort on Team Natsu, allowing the tension to return to a less volatile level. But the mood stagnated in a low grade strain as Gajeel brooded in the corner of the hall day in and day out. Lir tried to avoid the situation entirely by working in the library but eventually couldn't take the isolation while her friends were just in the other room and brought her stack of books with her into the main hall.
After finishing a chapter she leaned back in her chair and surveyed the room. It was relatively empty and quiet as most mages were out on jobs and the ones present were doing research. Except for Gajeel who seemingly wasn't doing much of anything. He didn't exactly looks sad, more resigned to a difficult situation that he didn't see changing any time soon. A pang of sympathy shot through her and she almost reflexively closed her book and gathered up her notes before sliding out of her seat.
"You're not still trying to talk to him, are you?" Vijeeter asked, a bit of an edge creeping into his voice.
Heat flared to her face as several of the others at the table looked up at her, almost challenging her.
"Yeah, I just don't think leaving him on his own is going to help anything," she said, fiddling with her pen.
"I'm not sure how much he's worth the effort," Max said.
Lir couldn't think of a decent response so she just collected her things and carefully picked her way over to Gajeel. He certainly heard her coming so he didn't react at all when she sat down across from him. Tension still hung in the air but now it was at least the open ended kind stemming from her complete inability to guess how he would respond instead of already knowing what her other guild mates thought of her choices.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"How do you think?" he snapped back.
She had to violently smother the reflex to wince. It had been kind of a silly question after the near fight with Natsu and Erza but there wasn't much else to ask in the way of an opening.
"I mean besides Erza almost taking your head off," she retorted.
The tone and comment were far too antagonizing but she couldn't help it; she was the only one even trying to connect with him and the first thing he did was lash out.
"Same as it was the first day I got here," he said, far less hostile.
"It could be worse," she offered.
"Sure, let's put it that way," he grumbled.
Despite that absolute travesty of a social interaction he didn't get up and leave like she expected. Another precarious moment passed and she decided he wouldn't flee like a startled animal so she flipped open her book and rearranged her notes. Gajeel rested his elbow on the table and then propped his chin in his palm, apparently content to just observe the guild hall. Despite the general unease, she picked right back up with her research, knowing that no one was going to risk approaching Gajeel just to interrupt her.
After a recent archaeological discovery on the southern coast of Fiore, the Weprol civilization was undergoing a surge of new interest from the academics and that meant several high paying jobs were about to be sent to the guilds. In preparation, she pulled every book with information on Weprol from the guild's library to get an idea of what she would be looking for in their ruins and she was starting to develop the sense that any job she took would not be an easy one.
She didn't realize she was dozing off until her head nodded forward suddenly, jolting her awake. Gajeel glanced over at her, his face completely impassive.
"Do you want coffee?" she asked, already standing up.
"Sure," he said.
She rubbed her eyes as she made her way to the bar, trying to pull herself out of her brain fog in case she was accosted by the others again. But the outrage had cooled over the past few days of Gajeel not attacking anyone and without fresh anger, instigating anything with a mage on par with Erza and Laxus sounded like an increasingly bad idea. She poured two cups of coffee and added milk and sugar to one and then walked back to the table.
"Phalloide zombies?" Gajeel asked, as she approached.
He had pulled her book and notes across the table and was scanning the list she had started of potential risks. Her chest clenched with apprehension at the impending mockery he would make of the things she considered a threat, things he could probably brush off with minimal effort. But he said nothing, his expression remaining neutral.
"They're a type of poisonous, fungal zombies," she said, sitting down. "It's common for the area of the Werpol civilization so I expect to run into some and I don't really want to do it totally blind."
His expression changed slightly and while she couldn't quite read it she got the distinct feeling she was being appraised. The silence didn't help her defensive, jittery nerves so she elaborated.
"Everything I've read has said to either take them out from long range or avoid them altogether. If you damage their bodies while you're close you're pretty much guaranteed to breathe in their spores," she said.
He gave a hum. "You don't have to worry about that much if you have metal based magic."
"Do you really have a resistance to poisons?" she asked, partially convinced he was messing with her.
"Yeah, not complete immunity but it takes a lot more to affect me," he said.
For a split second she considered asking him to team up with her on whatever job she got. She would be able to pull a much higher paying contract with an S-Class mage – even one that had lost his S-Class license in the transition between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail – and it would be significantly less risky if he was as resistant to poison as he claimed. But it felt incredibly presumptuous. Why would he even want to work with her in the first place?
Then he gave her a grin she could almost describe as mischievous if it wasn't for the general nefarious quality of his face.
"Maybe I'll make you take me on whatever job you get," he said before collapsing back in his chair.
Her only response was the defusing, awkward smile that reflexively popped up on her face. It was impossible to tell how serious he was or what exactly "making her" would entail. He responded with a very pronounced chuckle.
"I'm kidding," he said.
"I know," she replied even though she absolutely didn't.
He gave his very distinct laugh again before pushing away from the table and walked across the guild. She didn't want to stare after him so she turned back to her research on Werpol trade routes.
Halfway through her coffee she decided that she was going to have to make flash cards of every artifact commonly found in other contemporary civilizations because Werpol traded with them all. She wanted to guarantee that she would only bring back Werpolian artifacts to her potential client and not accidentally return with items already found in museums. She heaved out a sigh and lifted her head from her growing list of trade partners just in time to hear heavy, nonchalant footsteps approaching.
"Leviathan," Gajeel said from behind her.
It took her a second to realize he was talking to her as so few people ever referred to her by her alias when addressing her.
"Yeah?"
In lieu of answering he dropped a sheet of paper on top of her notes. She glanced up at him, waiting for him to explain but he just looked back at her, waiting for her to figure it out herself. She heaved herself forward in her chair, dumped her book on the table, and picked up the paper. It was a job flier. A high paying, A-Class job flier.
"Recovering stolen merchandise from pirates," she read aloud.
He still didn't elaborate so she pointedly looked up at him, waiting for him to spell out his point because she was certainly not going to be the one to suggest that the two of them take this mission in particular.
"I want your help on this job," he stated plainly.
"My help?" she repeated, not even bothering to hide her disbelief.
"That's why I'm asking," he retorted.
She stared up at him, hoping for elaboration or whatever confused logic he had used to come to such a conclusion.
"Juvia'd be my first choice but she went chasing after Salamander and the cheerleader's team for some gods forsaken reason," he said, rolling his eyes. "And I get the feeling that I'm gonna need a water mage for this."
For a second she wished she had learned a less useful magic type, if Oceanus had been a plant or ice dragon she likely wouldn't have been repeatedly asked to go on dangerous jobs that she never would have picked on her own.
"I don't have a ton of experience with jobs like this," she offered, hoping to downplay her value.
A twinge of irritation flickered in the crease that appeared between his studded eyebrows but he quickly schooled it away before uncrossing his arms and shifting his weight back on his heels.
"Look, you're scared of the job, that's fine. I can handle the pirates myself, I just need backup in case they try to get us out to sea," he said plainly.
He had the strangest ability to make those statements without it sounding like an insult, he wasn't trying to hurt or demean her, he was just stating facts. And they were facts, she was scared to take the job. Anything that Gajeel picked was likely to be far out of her wheelhouse and dangerous.
But what was fighting some pirates next to the lake temple job?
"You think I could stop a whole ship from leaving port?" was the question she heard come out of her mouth. Not disbelieving but genuinely curious if that was his opinion.
"Do you think I'd be asking you if I didn't?"
She pinched the knuckle of her right index finger, contemplating his offer. It fell right into Laxus's suggestion of being baby sat by a stronger mage, she thought sardonically. Going out of her way to fight other mages alongside someone as strong as Gajeel was sure to sharpen that particular skill. Not to mention, it would be a good way to get him away from the pressure of the guild hall and connect with him, even a little.
"Sure," she said.
He gave her a toothy grin that emphasized the wicked quality of his face. "Great."
Then he plucked the flier from her hands and walked over to the bar where Mirajane was working. After he handed her the paper and explained the situation, she cast a tense glance over his shoulder at Lir. She wasn't wrong to worry, on paper going off on a mission – alone – with Gajeel was a terrible idea. But her gut said she would be fine. Which was a strange sensation as her instincts usually erred on the side of caution. The utter lack of anxiety at working with him, once she disregarded the particular job, was almost alarming.
Once Mirajane broke out the packet of paperwork, Lir got out of her chair and walked over to the bar. Gajeel quickly signed the bottom of the pages, and she had to wonder if he had ever bothered to read them, before returning to the table. Mirajane gave her a pointed look before sliding the packet across the bar top.
"Are you sure you're okay taking this job?" she asked.
Lir shrugged. "Yeah, it's not a crazy S-Class mission. And Gajeel doesn't have the clout in Fairy Tail to give me a hard time."
Mira opened her mouth like she was going to argue only to close it and cock her head to the side. "You have a point."
"Honestly, I'm more worried about potentially fighting these pirates on their own ship. It could get ugly if we both get taken out by motion sickness," she said.
"Take your time then, try to catch them on land," Mira said. "It wouldn't hurt to be away from the hall for a while."
"No it wouldn't," she agreed.
In preparation, Lir put aside her books on Werpol and went back to the library to scour the half she usually never touched; the newspaper stacks. She found them to be just as thorough and complete as the side containing her usual ancient texts and archaeological reports, any thread of information she wanted to follow had numerous resources carefully filed away. The stack of pertinent information grew quickly once she found the articles on the Mirage Bandits – the pirate crew in question – and maps of the areas they were known to raid. She carried the pile out to the table where Gajeel still sat and let it fall in front of him with a weighty slap.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Everything I could find on the Mirage Bandits," she replied.
"You don't have to do homework for this job," he said despite the fact he was tugging the topmost newspaper across the table.
She shrugged. "It'll give us a bigger advantage."
She sorted the articles by the information they provided; locations of attacks, magics used, apparent targets, and damage caused. While it didn't seem like they went out of their way to kill people, they certainly weren't afraid to do so if necessary. Her major concern, though, was the repeating mentions of some sort of unspecified illusion magic that no doubt lead to the name Mirage Bandits. Two dragon slayers with heightened senses would make quick work of basic mirage magic but several different articles written months apart referenced victims of the raids suffering from some sort of ill defined problems with vision and memory, implying the magic was strong enough to manipulate the mind directly.
"Have you gone up against hallucination magic before?" she asked.
"No. Some basic illusion stuff but dragon slayer senses take care of that easy," he replied.
She pursed her lips, not happy about the the information and their combined lack of experience with it. The temptation to ask Warren to come almost overrode her absolute knowledge that no one else in the guild, save Juvia, was willing to even talk to him; and that she was afraid to open herself up to more direct criticism from her guild mates. Gajeel seemed to sense something was eating at her and looked up from his newspaper.
"It's just an A Class mission, don't tear your hair out," he said.
She just nodded, not wanting to argue and come across as whiny or outright scared. Maybe it would help him if she put some trust in him, so she shoved her concerns into a corner of her mind.
Once they had combed through the newspapers and returned them to the library they decided to call it a day and go home to prepare. Leaving the guild hall released them from the judgment that had been clawing at them all day and a physical tension peeled off of Gajeel like a wet shirt, allowing him to relax and move more naturally. Even his face had shifted from active scowl to a more disinterested glower.
"Meet at the train station for the 8:10," he said.
They exchanged nods before turning and heading for home.
After scarfing down some leftovers, Lir meticulously laid out her gear to tweak her kit for the job. She removed her satchel of archaeological tools – brushes, trowels, and picks both needle fine and large enough to split rocks – and replaced it with her heavy duty first aid kit. And even though she had yet to use it on any mission, she added her dagger. While the idea of having to stab someone made her shudder but a small part of her hoped it would make her look a little tougher.
The train ride was predictably horrible and they passed it in complete silence. They didn't even have to speak to get man with the food service cart to leave as their combined glares were enough to make him slam the sliding door closed the second after he opened it. Gajeel made them wait well over and hour after disembarking, forcing down water and iron the whole time, to fully recover; with only two mages on the job he didn't want to show up to the client even slightly queasy.
Thankfully, the man that hired them, a jeweler with a very luxurious store, was only a few blocks from the train station. A leaden weariness had replaced the nausea so she had no desire to trek all the way across town for the job brief. But just before they reached the storefront Gajeel stopped and turned an appraising eye to her. She balked and took a step back.
"Stand up straight. You're tall enough that you won't have to do much else to get people to take you seriously," he said.
She rolled her shoulders back and straightened her spine, bringing the top of her head up to his eye level. He nodded approvingly.
"Don't fidget and don't back up too much," he added. "It makes you look scared."
"Am I that bad?" she asked.
"Yeah, it makes you look like you think you're weak. And this guy," he said, gesturing at the store. "Don't know you so he will think you're weak."
Even though the words were harsh, the way he said them was akin to being coached through a new spell. In a way it was, only that confident body language had a subtler effect than her dragon slayer magic. He gave her a once over again and seemed satisfied before walking into the store. Her stomach still roiled with butterflies but she shook her arms, forcing out the tension and schooled her face into a more neutral expression. As she followed him inside she grounded herself with his advice.
Gajeel was curt with the businessman but not impolite, clearly not willing to engage in any more talking than absolutely necessary. She always tried to be friendly with her clients in the hope of making a good enough impression that they would think to hire her again. Apparently mages as powerful as Laxus and Gajeel didn't have to engage in sales tactics, their strength did all the work for them.
When they emerged from the store, night had fully set in and the streets were bustling with people. She had a vague idea of how she would proceed but as Gajeel had been the one to pick the job she wanted to default to him.
"Now what?" she asked.
He scanned the street, his eyes sweeping the meandering crowd like those of a predator.
"We're going to grab a drink," he said, starting off with a purpose.
"What?" was all she could muster before hurrying after him.
He plowed his way forward, leading them towards the ocean and away from the higher end section of town. The buildings they passed grew increasingly worn and the crowds thinned into small, shady groups that made the hair on the back of Lir's neck stand on end. She lengthened her stride in order to stay even with Gajeel. He glanced at her but said nothing. The state of the street did not improve as they continued on and her heightened senses only added to her mounting stress; she picked up on people lurking the darkest shadows of the alleyways and the scents of some very intense drugs being smoked.
She just then realized how out of her depth she was and that she should not have been so cavalier about agreeing to go on the job. If their present location was any indication, she was not cut out for whatever this job would entail outside of actually retrieving the stolen goods and even that would be a stretch. Her heart rate spiked, her stomach roiled with nausea, and her face flushed red with embarrassment. She couldn't even muster any bravado to appear convincing to Gajeel, she fell right back into overthinking and fear and it was humiliating after two jobs with Laxus. And she knew for a fact that he could pick up on her change in mood through her scent.
Regardless, he lead them to a ramshackle building that radiated the scent of alcohol in a pungent cloud. She bit her tongue as he opened the door to a loud, hazy bar that set her on tenterhooks. Gajeel plowed inside like it was nothing and following him felt like going over the edge of a cliff.
People seemed to sense that they shouldn't mess with him and got out of his way as he walked to the bar. By the time she sat down next to him, he had already ordered two mugs of what smelled like ale and she grabbed one just to have something to do with her hands; her stomach was churning too much to actually drink.
She took a steadying breath. "So what's the plan?"
"Relax, we're just feeling things out," he said without turning to look at her.
She gave a slight nod before focusing on her mug and letting her other senses expand outwards. Snippets of conversations reached her through the din, all irrelevant to their purpose there, and the scents blurred together in a haze of alcohol, sweat, and seawater. But Gajeel had brought them there for a reason so she kept searching.
After several minutes, he turned to her and muttered, "hang out here for a second."
"By myself?" she demanded.
"Yes," he stated before getting up and slipping through the crowd.
A jolt of fear urged her to get up and follow, call out for him, anything besides just sitting alone at a dive bar. But she clenched her hands into fists and stayed in her seat. She had to handle this. Gajeel had asked her to come for a reason, she couldn't let him down at the first thing that made her nervous.
Or the second, as a strange man slid into Gajeel's bar stool with his attention clearly focused on her. He was obviously a sailor with his striped silk shirt and the scent of seawater that clung to him. Her gut said he was a pirate but she didn't want to risk offending him and causing a scene by wrongfully accusing him.
"Hi," she said awkwardly.
She could feel her body folding in on itself, closing herself off to the strange man, even though she really needed to appear casual, if not actively interested.
"You're not from here, are you?" he asked, leaning on the bar top.
With more than a small amount of effort she straightened her back and turned her torso towards him.
"No, I'm here on a job," she said, determined to keep her lies as close to the truth as possible. "What about you?"
"I work around here," he said.
She could tell he was being coy and she had already gone too far out of her comfort zone to back off now.
"What kind of work?" she asked, keeping her voice low and making herself lean forward in an attempt to draw him closer.
He took the bait and leaned into her space. "I work on a ship."
Her heart rate picked up, not out of nervousness but excitement. She could justify her entire presence on the job if this man turned out to be one of the Mirage Bandits and she could get any information out of him. She just had to pick the right angle to get him to spill.
"Ohhh," she said, adding an exaggerated, airy tone to her voice. "Do you work on one of the fishing boats in the harbor?"
She didn't sound all that convincing to herself but she could smell alcohol on the man's breath and hoped it would be enough to fool him.
"No, no, no," he insisted. "My ship is huge and the work we do is way more exciting."
"What, like catch bigger fish?"
She had to fight to keep herself from physically cringing at how stupid she sounded but she managed because she wasn't going to let such an air headed comment go to waste.
"Ha! Not quite," he exclaimed before gesturing for her to lean in closer.
She swallowed hard before scooting her stool right next to his, so close their shoulders touched. Going against every fiber of her being she tried to channel Mirajane and how easily she could flirt with men that came into the guild hall; she tilted her head down so she could look up at him through her eyelashes and pushed her chest up slightly.
He put a hand on her thigh before lowering his voice, "I'm a member of the Mirage Bandits. We've been raiding towns all over the southern coast."
Her heart leapt and she had to violently beat back any reaction beyond genuine interest and the air headed persona.
"Hmm, that name sounds familiar," she said, tapping her bottom lip. "You guys have been all over the south?"
"You really haven't heard of us?" he asked.
She bit her lower lip and shook her head.
He let out a beleaguered sigh and looked genuinely torn. "The captain would kill me if I took you to the ship."
She dug her nails into her palm to keep herself from dropping the act and outright demanding to know where the ship was. But it did seem like she was going to have to apply a bit of pressure to get the information.
"Aww, that's too bad, I've never seen a ship up close before," she said, feeling bold enough to outright lie.
She gently pressed her knee against his thigh to hopefully goad him on.
"Oh what the hell, Captain's on shore leave tonight anyway," he said, grabbing her wrist and getting to his feet.
Panic surged up her throat and she knew she openly balked.
He tugged on her wrist more intently. "It's just in Cedar Cove, it'll be a real quick trip."
She certainly wasn't going anywhere with him but a wave of panic swept over her as she realized she had backed herself into a corner. If she threw a scene she would put herself on the Mirage Bandits' radar and ruin all the work she had just done. Her body froze as her mind scrambled to come up with a solution.
Mercifully, Gajeel materialized next to her and slid an arm around her shoulder.
"Beat it," he snapped at the pirate.
For a moment, the man's grip on her wrist tightened like he was planning to fight Gajeel, but after appraising the dragon slayer backed down. He backed up before scowling and opening his mouth to say something only for Gajeel to cut him off.
"Think real hard about whatever's going to come outta your mouth," he said, his voice rumbling like an earthquake.
The pirate shook his head before stalking off into the crowd. Once he was out of sight, Gajeel released her from his grip and sat back down at the bar.
"Nice job, Leviathan," he said, picking up his glass, tilting his glass towards her, and then taking a drink.
She blinked, astonished. "You set me up for that?"
"Yeah, had the feeling they'd spill to a face prettier than mine," he said.
"What if I had botched it?"
He shrugged. "You didn't."
His bluntness stunned her again and she sat down and took a sip of her ale to give herself a second to recover. But before she could consider his personality quirks she was hit with a staggering wave of déjà vu. Not for the dive bar, the setting had faded into the background for the moment, but for his casual familiarity with her. His arm around her shoulder had been completely blasé, she hadn't even been concerned at the proximity of a mage that she fought against barely a few weeks ago. In fact she had been relieved.
Gajeel glanced over at her. "What's with that face?"
"Did we... have we ever met before? The guild war, I mean," she asked.
He gave her a baffled look. "No, I'd remember meeting another dragon slayer."
"Huh, I just got really bad déjà vu."
"Maybe it's the dragon slayer magic," he offered.
"Maybe."
She stewed into her ale, thoroughly rattled by the whole experience and wishing that she could go on a job that didn't leave a pit in her stomach over the any number of unexplained things about her past.
"Hey, don't start freaking out now. Stay focused on this job," he said.
He hadn't looked at her when she said it but he also hadn't sounded angry or frustrated so she couldn't help but grin at his effort.
AN: It always seemed to me that Gajeel wanted to turn over a new leaf in Fairy Tail but just didn't know how. I hope I'm not writing him too nice or out of character for where he is in the plot.
Thank you so much for reading, any feedback is greatly appreciated.