A/N: Hey guys! This chapter is the gala! Finally, huh?
Thanks for waiting so long! ^u^; I hope you enjoy this longer chapter!
Soul Eater fans here? A little treat is waiting because why not.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail (or Soul Eater).
Levy trotted into the ballroom, awestruck. The decorations made it look so much grander, like something from a fairy tale. Looking around, she spotted Lily's head amongst the workers.
"Lily! You look sharp." Levy commented, eyeing him appreciatively. Lily had dressed simply, his crisp white shirt contrasting with the deep black of his suit.
"You don't look too bad yourself." Lily replied. Levy beamed, curtseying. Today she felt like something out of a fairy tale herself. She had chosen a silver-gray dress that hugged her figure and flared out from the waist in sharp pleats. The sleeves, essentially thick straps that hung off her shoulders, made the dress feel very airy without being exposing.
"Thank you!" Levy looked around, straining her neck. "Where's Gajeel?"
"That eager to see him?" Lily said, giving her a catlike grin.
"N-No!" Levy replied a little too forcefully, waving her hands in front of her face. "Just curious, that's all."
"He's still getting ready."
"Ah, I see." Levy murmured. "Ah, I'd better get going, you know, make sure everything's running smoothly and all." She sputtered, waving sloppily to Lily.
Lily nodded. "I see. Good-bye." Levy headed off to the kitchens, wobbling a bit on her heels. She peeked in to see the chefs hard at work, preparing their meal for the night. She watched the servers set tables and the florists arrange flowers.
Soon, the room was still. The servers went to the kitchen to await their orders and all the other workers disappeared, clearing out for the guests. Levy let out a breath. Tonight was the night. She wasn't even speaking and she was feeling antsy. She couldn't imagine how Gajeel felt.
The thing she was looking forward to the most was Gajeel's speech. For some reason, he was being very secretive about it. He wouldn't even let her look at his computer. Just the other day, she was leaned over his shoulder to help him with his laptop and he slammed it shut, almost smashing her fingers.
"He better have a fantastic speech written." The doors opened, and Levy turned to see Gajeel standing in the entryway.
"Levy." Was it just her imagination, or did his voice sound dry?
.:.:.:.
The tycoon in question stood in a side room, off of the main hall. Gajeel shrugged on his jacket, inspecting it in the mirror. Exhaling, he stared at himself. It was time.
Was he nervous? Hell yes.
Was he going to show it? Hell no.
"Levy's waiting in the ballroom." Lily stood in the doorway. "You'd better hurry."
"Yeah." Gajeel turned, "I'm coming."
He strode down the hall, pushing the grand doors to the ballroom open.
"L-Levy." His voice dried up. She was wearing a dress that was all folds and edges, contrasting dramatically with the woman inside. She looked, well, really good.
"Gajeel." She replied, nodding.
"Let's go."
"Mm."
Together, they stood at the entrance as the cars pulled up. First came the Magnolia tycoons. Cana waggled her eyebrows at the two. "You coming to the after party?" she asked, "It's gonna be great."
"You're on, Alberona." Gajeel smirked and slapped his hand into hers.
"That sounds great, Cana!" The shrimp smiled beside him.
An hour passed, and the guests were still arriving. Gajeel greeted a young man with strange white hair.
"Solomon Evans." He shook the white haired man's hand.
"Call me Soul." The woman on his arm grinned at Gajeel's look of surprise. She was dressed elegantly, with loose ash blonde hair and a sweeping black dress.
"It's a Shibusen nickname. I didn't know you gave it out to your business associates."
"I don't. But this guy seems really cool." Gajeel smirked.
"Soul, then. It's a pleasure."
"Likewise." The man nodded and straightened the lapels on his pinstriped suit. "This is Maka, my girlfriend." He said, gesturing to the blonde at his side.
"Maka?!" The shrimp, who was chatting with the mayor, gasped.
"Levy?" Maka immediately whipped around towards the shorty.
"Maka! It's been so long!" the shorty squealed, hugging the other woman.
"Lev! What have you been doing all these years?" The two squealed and both Gajeel and Soul winced.
Gajeel didn't miss a beat. "…since the shorty probably wants to talk to your friend over there, I'll give you the details for the afterparty."
"Cool. We'll be there." The man nodded, and they exchanged knowing looks. "So, how long have you two been together?"
"What?"
"You and Miss Bluenette here."
"We aren't a- we're not together." Gajeel muttered, glaring at the other man.
"Uncool, man." Soul tipped his face to the ceiling lazily.
"Tch. Whatever." Gajeel turned away sharply, motioning the shrimp over. "Oi! Shorty! We got more people to greet." The shrimp looked up and waved goodbye to the blonde.
"Catch ya later, Redfox."
"Yeah, yeah."
.:.:.:.
They wandered around for another hour or so and soon the guest began getting seated.
As Gajeel disappeared to get ready for his speech, Levy sat down at her assigned table. The table was occupied by the mayor, his PAs, the governor of Magnolia, and a few sponsors.
Levy wrung her hands. All her months of planning would come to a close in these next hours. Lucy, who sat at the table next to her, leaned over.
"It'll be great." She said reassuringly, patting the shorter woman's shoulder.
"Thanks, Lu." Levy smiled, but it was a distracted expression. "I just…"
The lights dimmed and Levy took in a sharp breath. It was all coming together.
A spotlight lit up the stage at the end of the ballroom. Gajeel was standing in the light, and Levy could vaguely see Warren and a few of the other scientists standing in the shadows, as well as a table. A stand for the product, no doubt.
There was a polite smattering of applause, and Gajeel spoke into the microphone in front of him. "Welcome all." He paused, whether for dramatic effect or from nervousness Levy didn't know.
Natsu shouted, "Get on with it, Metal Head!" and Levy heard the thwap that followed as both Lucy and Erza hit him.
Gajeel ignored him. "You all know why we're gathered here. If I may, I'd like to talk to you about flowers." Levy's eyebrows rose. Around her, there was a collective murmur. What?
"Please give me your undivided attention. If you would, look to flower arrangement on your table. These were designed by Oiletta Floral designs." Levy scooted closer to the flowers, fully appreciating the pretty blooms. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see others doing the same. "First, I'd like you to look for the sprays of tiny white flowers. Those are called Baby's Breath, and they represents festivity. You'll see some Casablanca Lilies there as well; they represent celebration. We should celebrate. Not only is the new product coming out, we have guests here from all over the globe. From our own Mayor and Governor to representatives from Shibusen in Death City and L.M.E. in Tokyo, this is an event to be rivaled for years!"
The tycoons shouted their approval, and there was applause. When the noise died down, Gajeel began again. The servers were weaving their way through the room, placing flutes of champagne on the tables.
"Now, I'd like you to look for some yellow statice. They're very small." Gajeel coughed strangely. Was his voice wearing out?
Levy heard a cry of "Gray-sama, Juvia found it! Look!" coming from the tycoon's table. They're really getting into this.
"Statice grows in the mountain and signifies success. I hope our product will have quite a bit of success. I, personally, will be using mine day and night." The audience chuckled. "Now, that brings us to our pink carnations. These specific carnations symbolize gratitude. I'd like to thank our sponsors and all of our guests this evening." The audience clapped, still mesmerized by the powerful speaker onstage. "But the one I'd like to thank the most is Miss Levy McGarden. Would you please come up here?"
Hesitantly, she stepped up to the stage, unsure of what she was supposed to do. "Levy here organized this whole event, and for that I am extremely grateful." The audience clapped louder, and Levy blushed. "The last flower is for Miss Levy here." He grabbed a bouquet of yellow roses from the small table Levy had spotted earlier and presented it to her. "The yellow rose. For friendship."
"TO FRIENDS!" Erza shouted, raising her glass in a toast.
"TO FRIENDS!" Gajeel handed Levy a glass. She smiled at him, and all her anxiety vanished. They clinked their glasses.
The rest of the presentations were amazing, but Levy couldn't stop stroking the beautiful yellow blooms.
By the end of the night, Gajeel and Soul hit it off, Gray mysteriously lost his tie and jacket, Cana drank all of them under the table one by one, and Soul's Shibusen buddies were invited to the afterparty on account of being "awesomely awesome" according to Natsu. By the time the last guest left, the staff had already started cleaning. Gajeel herded her into a cab and they headed to Lucy's apartment and the afterparty.
When they got there (a little after midnight) the men were sitting in the living room. Levy unconsciously rubbed her arms. The dress, while elegant, was not very warm.
"Oi! Redfox, give your girl a coat!" Soul said, gesturing to the shivering Levy.
Gajeel spluttered. It wasn't the first time that night they had been mistaken for a couple.
Beside him, Cana grinned drunkenly. "Give her the damn coat or you're not getting any beer, Metalface!" Gajeel scowled at her, then Levy. The blunette looked away, trying to opt out of the situation.
"Fine." Something large and warm plopped on her shoulders and she looked up in surprise. "Happy now?!" he yelled, shaking his fist at Cana.
"Yo, Blue." Soul drawled, "The girls are in the kitchen."
"Th-Thank you." Levy blushed and waddled towards the kitchen, practically swimming in the fabric. Lucy, Erza, Juvia, Mirajane, Maka, and Tsubaki (who she'd been introduced to at the party) were sitting on the counter, drinking wine. The women were making themselves comfortable. Lucy was wearing a sweatshirt over her dress and Maka had put her hair up in pigtails. Strangely, Erza was wearing an entirely different outfit.
"Levy! Juvia thinks Levy did a very good job today." Juvia said, "Juvia especially liked the sweets." Next to her, Erza made a sound of agreement.
"It was real' well done, Lev." Lucy grinned. She was already drunk again, judging from the slur in her speech. "You- you had nothin' to worry 'bout."
"Thanks, Lu." Levy smiled as the woman poured her a glass.
"Ish- ish no pro'lem." Lucy grinned at her. Good thing it's her apartment.
"Let's go play a game!" Juvia crowed, grabbing the bottle of wine. "Gray-sama! Let's play a game!" The women were led by Juvia and Erza to the living room, where the men were engaged in a round of… Truth or Dare? It was hard to tell at this point. Levy swirled her glass of wine around.
"Yahoo! The Great Black*Star will kick all of your peasant asses!" One of Maka's friends had whooped loudly. His wife, Tsubaki, was trying to calm him down.
"Shut up, Black*Star!" Maka shouted at the strange blue haired man. "Last time I checked, Soul kicked your ass without even trying!" The threat was dampened by the sway in her fist.
"Shut it, Tiny Tits!"
"Black*Star!" his wife desperately tried to quiet her husband and Soul was holding back Maka. "I-I think it's time for us to leave. Thank you for having us." Tsubaki bowed, and dragged Black*Star out by his collar.
"The Great Black*Star leaves for no one!"
"It's best to kick him out when he stops making sense." Soul sighed. "C'mon, Maka. See ya, Metalhead."
"Oi! 'M… 'm not a metalhead." His threat wavered with his fist. Levy giggled at her boss' drunken state. Beside him, Natsu fell over.
"Tha' flameass can't hold his drink!" Gray found this hilarious. He joined Natsu on the floor.
The rest of the night (morning?) was filled with sloppy dares and soon Levy started to fear for her friends' livers. "Gajeel, it's five in the morning. Let's go." she pleaded. Gajeel was sprawled out on Lucy's couch.
"Okay." he heaved himself up. " 'M driving." He jingled his keys.
"Oh, absolutely not." Levy snorted, whisking the offending items away from him. "I'll do it. You're drunk."
"Wha- no. I'm not letting you drive fer me." Her boss muttered, scowling.
"Yes, you are. If you drive we're going to die."
"I've done it before." He whined like a petulant child. Levy smiled in spite of herself. "C'monnn…"
"Levy, it's probably best that neither of you drive." Erza butted in, seemingly sober. "Call a cab."
"…" They were both silent.
"Alright."
.:.:.:.
Gajeel was groggy. He'd always had a high tolerance for alcohol, but something about this night made him feel more intoxicated than usual. Maybe it was how she looked in that dress. It made his head feel hot and his mouth got dry. What was he thinking?
She was sitting next to him, looking out the window. He took in every detail, the way her hair curled, the gentle rise and fall of her chest, how the light made her skin look paler than usual. She looked like a magical creature.
He smashed his head onto the headrest. The alcohol, it's the damn booze. His thoughts were spiraling out of control. So this is what it feels like to be batshit crazy.
His bed felt so, so good. He buried his face in the cool sheets. Somewhere to his left, the shrimp giggled. "Gajeel, get some rest. I'm going to head home now."
"No way, shrimp." he grabbed her arm. She squeaked. "Stay here."
"H-hey, Gajeel…" the one eye he had open caught her surprised blush. "What are you-?"
He exhaled and dropped her hand. "See ya, shorty."
What the hell was he thinking?
He had never felt this… intoxicated. Unbidden, an image of Levy tucked into his arms appeared in his mind. Whenever he had women, they never affected him like this. Sex was the first and only thing on his mind. But now, with her, it was like flying. She was a magnet and he was an iron bar. She was-
"Fuck this." Gajeel's head throbbed. "Fuck!" a wave of nausea hit him, and he leapt out of bed to throw up.
.:.:.:.
Her hand felt like it was on fire… no, not fire. More tingly, like someone had sprinkled pixie dust on her hand. At least, that's what she imagined pixie dust to feel like.
What was she thinking?
A/N: Ah, yes, my love for bad similes. I'm getting back into my writing groove, so expect a chapter. If I've taken too long, drop a review or PM me. Ahaha… I really should write more…
Anyways, thanks to the two (?) Guests that reviewed chapter 8. ^^ You guys really motivated me to write faster.
Signing off,
MQW