Hey Jealousy - A Fairy Tail Fanfic - Chapter 3
How do you convince Gajeel to do anything he doesn't want to do?
All characters property Hiro Mashima
Chapter 3 – A Bunny Makes a Bargain
"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Lucy gulped as she stepped through the doors of the Fairy Tail guild. Sure, she'd been on some crazy difficult missions with her teammates before, but nothing could compare with the mission she had before her today.
Seriously, having to ask Gajeel to be her pretend boyfriend was an S-class mission in itself!
Lucy sighed, shoulders drooping. How the heck was she going to pull this off? She and Gajeel barely tolerated each other. Of course she had long since accepted him as a member of Fairy Tail, although she had to admit it was grudgingly at first. He had proven himself since then, especially when he protected Levy several times from some major attacks, and then even more so when he volunteered to be Levy's partner in the S-Class trial. And after Levy had told her she liked him, Lucy tried even harder to let bygones be bygones for the sake of her friend. But Lucy couldn't help remembering how Gajeel had beat both her and Levy up pretty badly before he joined Fairy Tail, so it was hard to let her guard completely down. Plus, the dude's perpetual bad attitude didn't help much.
"Aw, forget it," she mumbled. "There's no way I'm gonna go through with this!" Lucy turned around to walk back out the doors when she heard a familiar cheery voice call across the guildhall:
"Lucy! There you are! Come here to the bar please I'd like to speak with you!"
Lucy turned back around and shuffled over to the bar where Mirajane was smiling at her.
"Now Lucy," said Mirajane, lowering her voice. "I hope you weren't planning on backing out of our little plan now were you?"
"Well, Mira, it's like this…," Lucy began.
"Because, my dear," Mirajane went on, "I'd hate to think how disappointed the other girls would be if you didn't hold up your end of the bargain."
"I don't think they'd be that disap-"
Mirajane's sunny smile turned into a deadly stare, as she slowly began to transform into her Satan Soul takeover. "Lucy, don't you dare back down now!" she growled.
"Eeep!" jumped Lucy. "Of, of course not…Mira! I was just, just, just trying to think of, of a plan!"
Mirajane turned back into her cute self. "Oh my dear, you don't need a plan! Just be direct! That's the Fairy Tail way!"
Lucy grimaced, "Yeah, direct. Gajeel would probably understand that best I guess."
"He's over in his usual corner," sang Mirajane, picking up a glass and wiping it with a towel. "Good luck, I know you'll do great!"
"Thanks, I think," muttered Lucy as she glanced over to where Gajeel sure enough was sitting.
"Off you go!" urged Mirajane cheerily.
Lucy turned around and started heading over to the corner of the guild where the Iron Dragon Slayer
always sat. It was a corner that was darker and quieter than the rest, since most people were too afraid to sit anywhere near the metal mage, who preferred his privacy. It was also a corner where Lucy noted he had a perfect view of where Levy usually sat.
Lucy looked over her shoulder back at Mira, who gave her the thumbs up sign. Lucy shrugged and
continued walking.
"Hey, what's the matter with me?" thought Lucy. "You'd think this was a death sentence! I've faced tougher opponents than this!" Lucy stood up straighter. "Besides, I have to remember, this is for Natsu! I've got to do it for him!" The thought of her passionate, ever-cheerful teammate, best friend, and crush gave her strength, and she boldly walked over to Gajeel's table.
Gajeel looked up at Lucy and blinked. If he was surprised that she was brave enough to approach him, he didn't show it.
"What do you want bunny girl?" he growled.
Lucy cringed remembering the humiliating time she had ended up dancing alongside him in a bunny
costume while he sang a song on stage. It had been his attempt at making friends with the other guild
members, and her attempt at getting some attention – both had failed miserably.
"I came here to ask a favor," she replied.
"Oh? And why should I help you?" he asked, glaring at her.
Lucy decided to use all the girlish tricks she knew. She batted her eyes, pushed in her arms to push up
her cleavage, and smiled the most sparkling smile in her arsenal. "Because I'm a fellow guildmember
and your nakama," she cooed.
"Tch," Gajeel shrugged.
Lucy sighed, straightened up and crossed her arms. "And you owe me from beating my ass when you were part of Phantom Lord."
This time Gajeel shifted in his seat. He hated being reminded of those days, especially because of what he had done to Levy. He was a different person then, and though he had tried his best to make it up to everyone, he knew he still had a ways to go. Even if he managed to redeem himself, though, he knew the guilt he felt inside would never truly go away completely.
But he'd be damned if this blondie was gonna make him admit it.
"Alright I'm willing to hear you out but it'll cost ya," he grumbled.
"Fine," Lucy sighed. "Gajeel, I want you to pretend to be my…my…boyfriend," she whispered.
Anyone else wouldn't have heard that last word she spoke, but Gajeel's enhanced dragon senses allowed him to hear each syllable loud and clear.
What he did next, Lucy didn't expect.
"GI-HI-HI-HI-HIIIIIII!" he laughed out loud, pounding the table in front of him. "Oi, that's the funniest thing I've heard in weeks! Man, that's rich!" Gajeel continued laughing, his deep voice rumbling and shaking the walls around him, making the few guildmembers who were sitting nearby pick up their drinks and creep away to farther tables. Lucy fumed in silence as Gajeel wiped tears from his eyes. "Thanks bunny, that was one of the best laughs I've had in a while!"
"I'm not joking!" Lucy hissed, clenching her fists. "I'm serious!"
Gajeel stared at her. "You're serious? What happened? Did your flame-brain boyfriend dump ya?"
"No, he hasn't dumped me because he's not my boyfriend!" Lucy said.
"Bullshit!" said Gajeel. "That dumbass is totally your boyfriend!"
Lucy started. "Huh? How do you figure?"
Gajeel rolled his eyes. "BE-CAUSE, that pink-haired idiot is always all over you whenever you're around, putting his arm around you, dragging you everywhere, and crying like a baby if you don't hang out or go on missions with him. From what I also hear he's always barging into your place, and if your scent is any indication I wouldn't be surprised if he was sleeping with you too. Seriously some days you come in here reeking so much of that moron I think it's him walking through the doors instead of you," sighed Gajeel, who couldn't believe he was actually having this conversation.
Lucy blushed a deep crimson red and for the first time in her life couldn't think of a word to say.
"Although," said Gajeel, narrowing his eyes. "You don't smell at all like him today. In fact," Gajeel leaned closer to her and took in a deep whiff. "You smell good for once. You smell like her." He closed his eyes and leaned back, smiling a little to himself.
"Levy-chan did spend the night," Lucy remarked.
"Yeah, I know," Gajeel said. "Anyway, he's your boyfriend, so why do you wanna pretend that I am instead?"
"Well, because although you seem to think he's my boyfriend, Natsu hasn't ever asked me to be his girlfriend or confessed he likes me," said Lucy.
"Whaddya mean he's gotta ask you?" said Gajeel.
"From what I've observed that is the proper protocol between mating Earthland humans," said a deep voice from under the table.
Lucy looked around for the source of the voice and saw a small black exceed emerge from behind Gajeel's chair.
"Pantherlily!" said Lucy. "Uh, have you been here the whole time?" she sweat-dropped.
"Yes, I've heard the whole exchange," he said. "Also, Erza filled me in on your plan. I think it's a very good idea. Some of the humans here can be quite dense," he added, nodding at Gajeel, who was too busy taking a swig of his drink to notice.
"What plan?" Gajeel put down his tankard and narrowed his eyes at Lucy.
The blonde brightened. "Well, the idea is that if Natsu thinks you're my boyfriend he'll get, 'all fired up'
and jealous and finally confess his feelings for me!"
"Huh. Well why me? Why not ask your stripper teammate? Or anyone else who cares?" Gajeel growled.
"Gajeel," warned Pantherlily.
"I can't ask Gray because if he were to pretend to be my boyfriend Juvia would kill us both," said Lucy. "And…"
"And what?"
Here was the hardest part of the whole plan, where'd Lucy have to butter up Gajeel to get him to agree. She was SO going to hate herself later for this!
"And Natsu wouldn't get as jealous of Gray as he would you. I mean, you almost beat him when you first met! Confidentially," she gritted her teeth, "he's even said it was by pure luck that he beat you."
"AHA I KNEW IT!" Gajeel stood up, knocking over the table in front of him. "I KNEW I HAD THAT IDIOT IN THE PALM OF MY HAND!"
"Please, Gajeel, your inside voice!" said Pantherlily, who flew up to Lucy and whispered in her ear, "You know he's going to be impossible after this."
"I know," Lucy whispered back. "But as Erza said, desperate times call for desperate measures!"
"Gi-hi-hi-hi! Alright girlie, you're on!" said Gajeel extending his arm and pointing at her. "But like I said, it's gonna cost ya!"
Lucy winced. "How much?" she asked, thinking about her upcoming rent bill.
"I think about a month's worth of dancing while I sing my most popular hit, 'Shooby Do Bop' should do it!"
Lucy sweat-dropped again. "Deal," she sighed.
"Hmm…it looks like everyone in the guild is going to be paying for THIS favor!" said Pantherlily.
A/N - I like the idea of Pantherlily keeping Gajeel in line, lol
