chapter four
"Lucy, I'm tired!" Levy yawned loudly, proving her point.
"That's why we're getting coffee!" Lucy said brightly.
"You're way too chipper for 7:00 am." Levy said darkly.
After waking up so late last night, or rather, early this morning, Levy felt like a zombie, and while she loved hanging out with her best friend, she would have much preferred meeting for brunch than meeting for breakfast. Frost was still clinging to the grass and the pinkish light of dawn was still hanging in the sky as
they trudged (well, Lucy walked normally) together to the nearest cafe on their way to the guild.
"I really don't see why you needed to literally drag me out of bed... It's not like I'm going anywhere..." Levy grumbled into her mittens, which she then rubbed against her pink cheeks. Lucy scoffed, the white puffs of her breath hanging in the air for a minute before dissipating.
"That's the point. I got you up so we could grab coffee and snag a table at the guild before anybody else turns up! Today is stage 3 in the ultimate plan! I've got a great idea to put into play." Lucy said excitedly, steering Levi into Fairy Cakes. Levi sighed, gratefully inhaling the smell of roasted coffee beans and warm pastry.
"Sounds fabulous, Lucy." she yawned again, coughing in surprise when Lucy shoved a muffin into her mouth.
"Don't think I've forgotten- I'm totally going to grill you on last night over breakfast." she warned with a wide grin. Levy rolled her eyes and paid for the muffin and a large black coffee.
"...and so, ultimately, nothing happened." Levy finished, taking a grateful swig of coffee after recounting the events, or rather non-events, of the night before. To her surprise, Lucy snorted.
"'Nothing happened'... honestly. Sometimes, Levy, I wonder how you can be so smart, and so stupid at the same time. No offence," she said belatedly, holding her hands up. Levy rolled her eyes and pinched off some more muffin, chewing slowly. "First and foremost: Gajeel did not get angry that you ruined his kitchen. He didn't even say anything about it. Correct?"
"Correct." Levy said with her mouth full.
"Secondly, he comforted you, at least vaguely."
"I guess... he called me 'shortie', though." Levy grumbled.
"That's probably his idea of a romantic pet name." Lucy said with a wry grin. "Thirdly, he made you dinner. Fourthly, he sat next to you on the floor instead of the couch. Fifthly, he stroked your hair, sixthly, he complemented it, and seventhly, he let you fall asleep on him, and didn't even wake you up." Lucy finished with a deep breath. "Honestly, Lev, I'd say those look like good signs." Levy shook her head.
"Well, even if you say it was because he cared, and not because he was indulging me because I was upset-"
"Levy, you must be crazy if you think Gajeel would ever indulge anybody just because they were upset." Lucy interrupted, completely deadpan.
"Er... well, either way, you still haven't said anything about the way he suddenly disappeared after I left him in the living room!" Levy pointed out, grasping at straws in a ridiculous attempt to stump her friend's overeager imagination. Lucy shrugged with a smirk.
"I'd say he was awake the whole time, and was just pretending to be asleep. Maybe you woke him up, but he thought it would be awkward if you knew. Or maybe he just wanted to cop a feel. Who knows, but I'm sure he didn't expect you to come back with a blanket for him, which means..." Lucy's eyes narrowed as she licked icing thoughtfully off of her cinnamon bun.
"Which means," she repeated slowly, the gears apparently turning in her head. "that he doesn't know that you feel for him. Possibly," she continued, a broad grin beginning to spread on her face, which Levy took to mean that trouble was definitely brewing, "he's thinking the situation is reversed! Maybe he's got a crush on you, and doesn't realize that you feel the same way! Oh, you guys..." Lucy sighed, beaming, twirling her blonde hair through her fingers. "You two are so ridiculously cute! Your love must have a magical effect on people, Lev, because I never thought I'd say that Gajeel was in any way cute." she said with an eye-roll. "Hey!" Levy said, suddenly defensive, and feeling ridiculous for it.
"He's not always mean and scary! He's been really nice to me.." she trailed off as she watched Lucy's smile grow, if possible, even wider.
"Levy, you are so cute!" she squealed, reaching across the table and grabbing her friend in a hug. A Lucy-hug. Which basically involved squashing Levy's face into her boobs.
"Lucy, I hope you don't hug Natsu and Gray like this.." Levy said, her voice muffled by Lucy's chest.
"Well, yeah, why?" she asked, letting go and blinking in surprise.
"Nevermind..." Levy said, looking out the window with a small smirk on her face.
"So, dare I ask, what's the plan for today, O cunning one?" Levy asked as they walked, arm in arm, through the guild doors and towards one of the empty tables.
Only a few people were there; Mirajane and Cana were wiping dishcloths over some glasses, chatting comfortably, and Natsu and Elfman were having an arm-wrestling match over in a corner while Lisanna watched. Natsu called out to Lucy, but she told him she was busy, and hauled Levi onto a barstool, then hopped onto its neighbour, looking at her excitedly.
"The plan for today, Levi, is to shake things up. You and Gajeel had a nice, cozy evening last night, so what we're going to do today is get the romance going outside as well."
"What do you mean, 'outside'?" Levy asked, wrinkling her nose. Lucy grinned.
"Last night, I made invites for a pool party. We're all going swimming this afternoon at 3:00, and this morning, you and I are going to make sure you look like a goddess of sex in the pool. Now," Lucy continued, steamrollering Levy's objections into the ground, "your job is to make sure Gajeel goes -beg him or something, everyone knows you're his weak spot- and then to leave the pool with him, and either go for a romantic walk, or go out for dinner." Lucy folded her arms and beamed proudly. "This time, we're going to knock him dead." Levy wasn't quite as convinced.
"Lucy, I'm not trying to criticize, but a lot of your plans seem to be based on dressing me in something sexy."
"And?" Lucy asked. Levy rolled her eyes and propped her chin up on her hands.
"I think we've gone over this, but in terms of boob size, I might as well be a cutting board." she grumbled. Lucy shook her head, but seemed embarassed nonetheless.
"You're not the only one, Levy! Wendy's got a small chest as well-"
"Wendy is a child!" Levy cried, scowling at her friend before sighing. "The point is that with all of these e- and f-cup babes bouncing around, it's ridiculous enough to think that Gajeel might find me sexy alone. If everyone's there in the pool, with all their tits flying around, he won't even be paying attention to me." Levy reasoned, a little sulkily. Lucy still looked embarassed as she tousled her friend's bed-head hair comfortingly.
"Levy, we've been to pool parties or beach training sessions loads of times. Have you ever seen Gajeel staring at everybody else's chests instead of talking to you?" she asked. Levy thought back for a second or two with a frown.
"No..." Lucy nodded.
"And has he ever once said anything to you, teasing or serious, about the size of your chest?" Levy scoffed.
"He wouldn't do that!" she protested. Lucy laughed.
"Levy, be honest. He calls you 'shrimp', 'midget', 'pint-size', and 'shortie' every chance he gets. Do you really think he's holding off on your chest because he's too polite?" she asked, one eyebrow raised, smirking. Levy sighed.
"Well, I guess not." Lucy nodded.
"I personally think he's got a thing for tight, little bodies like yours. Which is why we're going to exploit that today." she said, tipping back the remains of her coffee and standing up, pulling Levy up too.
"Lucy, where are we-"
"To the swim shop! I know for a fact your current swimsuit is a tankini, but that just isn't going to cut it. Let's go!" Lucy said, eagerly dragging her friend behind her as they left the guild.
"I'm not so sure about this anymore..." Levy mumbled as she let herself into Gajeel's apartment, her arms weighed down with bags of 'Lucy supplies' as her best friend had dubbed them. She put them down in Lily's room and finally (it was now eleven am) got dressed properly.
She brushed out her hair, easing out various knots at the back, and pulled it back with a black, lacy headband. She brushed her teeth again, tugged off the sweatpants and tanktop she'd been wearing while out with Lucy, and changed into a light blue beachdress. She washed her face and reapplied her mascara and chapstick, stretched and yawned, and then went to find Gajeel.
Neither he nor Pantherlily were in the house, so Levy assumed they were out training. She was proved right after a pleasant walk down to their usual place, and found them locked in fierce hand-to-hand combat. She squinted in the sun, which was shining brightly after the frosty morning, and smiled. She sat down on the nearby grassy hillside and watched them for a bit, partly because she didn't like to interrupt, and partly because she liked watching Gajeel fight. She was always worried in case he got hurt, of course, but the raw power of his movement, even when not using Slayer magic, awed her.
She had once wanted to train with him, but quickly realized that she would hold him back- there was no way she could be a good sparring partner for someone like him. Jet and Droy would at least go easy on her; she wasn't entirely convinced that Gajeel would immediately see the need.
A few minutes later, Gajeel and Pantherlily took a break, so Levy stood up and trotted towards them. Lucy had seemed confident that Levy coul easily convince Gajeel to come swimming; Levy herself was not quite so sure. He often joined the guild in pool parties if they were away from home, considering the alternative would be to lurk alone in the hotel, but he might say he had better things to do.
"Levy?" She looked up and waved, jogging to cover the last bit of distance faster.
"Hi Lily!" she greeted the transformed cat, noticing with a stab of irritation that in this form, she only came up to his chest, if that. "Good morning!" she said, smiling at Gajeel, who grunted and pulled off his shirt, tossing it away and stretching. Levy eyed his hard, sweaty chest and gorgeous arms surruptitiously, blushing.
"What's up?" Gajeel asked at length.
"Oh!" Levy said, embarassed that she'd forgotten why she'd come down. "Did you get an invitation to the pool party?" she asked, linking her hands behind her back and smiling. Gajeel scratched the back of his head.
"I don't check the mail much... why?"
"Well, Lucy's organizing it, and everybody's going, and I was wondering if you were coming? We could go together..." she trailed off, scuffing her foot, inwardly cringing. Way to be subtle, Levy, way to go... Gajeel looked down at her for a few moments, his expression unreadable.
"I guess it would be good to cool off." he grumbled at last, glancing at Lily, who nodded.
"Great! I'm glad you're coming!" Levy said happily, shielding her eyes and tilting her head back to see them. "Ugh, you guys are so tall..." she muttered. Gajeel laughed and tousled her hair.
"You could always try growing, short stuff." he said with a smirk as Levy batted his hand away.
"Hey!" Levy sighed and patted her hair down again.
"I'll see you guys later. The party's at three, so please be back before then!" she said, waving before running off again, finally excited for Lucy's plan to be put into action.
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