Four Calling Birds

Even with the bright, late-morning sun shining down on her, Levy's breath still puffed out in a cloud of smoke every time she sighed. She was bundled in the thickest gloves and scarf she could find and even stole...er, borrowed an extra blanket from Cana's hammock. She lowered the binoculars from her eyes and consulted the bird watching book again.

Her legs swung over the edge of the roof and she quietly chuckled at the memory of her reaction earlier in the morning. It had been startling, to say the least, when she woke up in her Fairy-sized hammock and saw the giant book and binoculars sitting next to her bed. She screeched and flailed on her hammock, twisting it around until she landed on the ground with a loud thud. Her antics woke the entire room and they practically chased her out so they could get a few more minutes of sleep.

She had spent her morning pouring through the book. She even found a small, bird-themed scavenger hunt on the last page. Upon her discovery, she had set up camp on the roof and was determined to find all four birds before it became too dark to see.

Gajeel had seen her laden down with her fluffy blankets and chuckled when she explained her stake out. She invited him to join her, but one look at the frost covered windows made him shudder. He ruffled her hair and poked her on the forehead, thanking her for the invite. Then he went back up the stairs to hide in his room, doing whatever it was he had been up to for the past few days.

Levy sighed and placed the binoculars back over her eyes. Maybe the activity around the hall had been getting to him lately; even she needed some time alone and was more than happy to bird watch her day away. But it would have been more enjoyable if a certain iron Draak decided to join her. She lowered her binoculars, thinking back to Gajeel's red-rimmed eyes. She wondered if he was having sleeping problems again. She hoped he took time while he was upstairs to take a nap.

I'll ask the guys to check up on him later for me.

A flash of red caught her eye and Levy leaned forward, bringing the binoculars up to the top of a tree. She adjusted the scope and smiled when a bright red and black bird came into focus. She watched it for several minutes, cooing when it preened its feathers and smiling as she heard it calling to its friends.

All too soon it flew off. Levy lowered her binoculars and placed a mark on the scavenger hunt. Raising the binoculars again, she studied the forest surrounding her home and listened to the calls of the birds in the air.

"One bird down...only three more to go."

I'm just taking a small break. Just closing my eyes for just a sec.

Gajeel stretched out on his back under his thick, green blanket. With an arm draped across his eyes, he could hardly even tell that the sunlight was streaming brightly through the window. His exhausted body and eyes thanked him for the small rest, but his thoughts jumped from one idea to the next and wouldn't let his mind relax enough to actually sleep. With a sigh he rolled over and tucked his head under his pillow. Eyes open once again, he welcomed the darkness under the small cave.

The door banged open and Gajeel waited to hear Natsu's or Gray's familiar footsteps. They were the only ones that barged into the room on a regular basis; everyone else managed to enter their room without ripping the door off its hinges.

"Hey, big guy...what's the deal?"

The pillow muffled Natsu's voice and Gajeel only grunted in response. A small weight landed on top of his head and a tiny hand waved under the pillow. Gajeel blew on it, smirking when it darted back out with a squeak from above.

Gajeel sighed and drew his arms under the pillow. "Nothin'. Just tired, I guess."

"You have been staying up pretty late. Whatcha been up too?"

"Just...somethin'," he muttered, closing his eyes again.

In a small guild like theirs, secrets were hard to keep. As much as he had begrudgingly come to think of the fire mage as a friend, Gajeel still didn't want to risk too many people knowing of his true plans. He truly appreciated it when Natsu and some of the others brainstormed ideas with him for a few of the daily surprises, but he wanted to work on Levy's real present on his own. His tired mind would have welcomed the help, but on Christmas he wanted to present Levy with something that he created entirely on his own.

Gajeel snorted and rose up on the bed.

"What was that growl for?" Natsu asked, flapping his wings to hover right in front of his face.

"Nothin', just being childish." Gajeel rubbed the back of his neck and glared at the journal sitting on the small table next to his bed.

"Hey, so this might not be the best time, but um…" Natsu turned big and sat on the edge of the bed, twiddling his thumbs. "Not naming names, but a certain little bookworm seemed kinda bummed that you didn't go up to the roof with her." Natsu bumped him on the arm with his elbow, a teasing note in his voice softening the rebuke.

Gajeel grunted and crossed his arms. "She seemed to be happily bird watchin' the last time I saw her."

"And how much happier do you think she'd be if you were there?"

Gajeel glared at the mage, who simply patted his head before shrinking and flying out of the room before Gajeel even had a chance to swing at him.

Gajeel sighed and rested his hands on the edge of the bed. If he were honest with himself, he had been missing Levy like crazy over the past few days. Of course he watched for her reaction over each day's new surprise, but it was nothing like how they usually hung out together.

No one in the guild took on any requests around the holidays and he had been planning on being right next to Levy as much as he possibly could. But between his multiple projects and his brain not cooperating like he wanted it to, he was running out of time to get anything done.

He sighed again and with a final glare to the journal, he yanked on his boots before he could change his mind. If he stayed up late and worked during the day when Levy was busy with her friends, then he should have time to finish her present before Christmas Day.

Who knows...maybe a bit of bird watchin' will help clear up my mind.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the story so far! Thank you for reading and have a great Wednesday :)