chapter seven

Thanks for the follows, reviews, and favourites :)
Just a few notes: The stars and constellations discussed in this chapter are almost all made-up- I figured that they'd be different in the Fairy Tail universe, so I just made some up :) Also, I used the spelling 'Jellal' because I like that the best, not because I am unaware of alternative spellings, etc

Levy tucked her arms behind her back and gazed up at the moon as she waited for Gajeel, who was letting Pantherlily know where they were going.

The night air was cool and sweet, and Levy sighed happily as she breathed it in. Her birthday was next week, she realized with a start.
"Geez... eighteen..." she murmured, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face.
"Huh?" Gajeel was back. Levy shook her head and smiled.
"Nothing." she replied, beaming as Gajeel shrugged and began to walk down the path.
"You coming or what? I thought you wanted a walk." he called over his shoulder, and she hurried to catch up.
"Look at the stars! There are so many out tonight!" Levy said excitedly, pointing up at the black sky, which was dotted all over with shiny pricks of light. Gajeel glanced up.
"Oh yeah." Levy glanced at him as he continued to stare upwards.
"Are you interested in stars?" she asked after a few seconds, apparently jerking him out of his reverie. He shrugged.
"I guess... I don't know any of their names or anything. Do you?" he asked, after a pause. Levy nodded, then shrugged.
"I mean, I don't know all of them... but..." she trailed off, biting her lip as she tipped her chin back and scanned the sky, stopping. "That bright one there is Balthazar the Protector... and if you follow it up, to the Hero's Diamond, it becomes the tip of Echnidian, the dragon with seven heads. Do you see them? Look," she said, pointing up. "Three there, then that bright one, then the other three."
"Where?" Gajeel asked, squinting upwards and stopping as well. Levy glanced around and spotted a park bench.

"Come here." she said, walking over to it and standing on it.
"Give me your hand." she said as Gajeel followed her over. She took it and pointed it upwards. "There's the dragon... and there are the heads." she said, moving his hand over. "See?" she asked, and he nodded.
"What's that one?" he asked, pointing further to the left. Levy tilted her head to the side.
"That group of stars? To the right of the moon?"
"Yeah."
"That's the Heavenly Cluster. The seven greatest mages from the first century, turned into stars to watch over the world. And if you look just below them," she said, guiding Gajeel's hand down, "you see that they form the flame on the Moxal Torch of Sirenze the Light-bringer. Do you see that?" she asked, using Gajeel's hand to trace down from the bright cluster to the dotted outline of the torch and Sirenze. Gajeel looked at her and nodded.

Levy was suddenly aware of the way she was slightly taller than him while standing on the bench, of his shoulder, pressed against her chest as she held his arm, his hand, warm in both of hers. She was glad of the darkness, in case she was blushing. She distracted herself by pointing out all the zodiac constellations, showing Gajeel the heavenly forms of Lucy's spirits until she ran out of stars she could name.

"What's your favourite?" Gajeel asked her, and she twisted her mouth in thought for a minute before pointing further to the east.
"That one. Lillimarion the tiger. Those four stars make her head, then you follow the line down to the Goddess star on her back, then up to her tail. The Seven Son stars make the legs." she explained, then lowered her arm, smiling.
"I think I like the story behind Lillimarion the best. She was the Rune Princess -the mage who discovered and harnessed the basic magic that I use- and her body was covered in stripes of the code she discovered. She was asked by the Council of Four to aid them in a war that was devouring the world... she agreed, against her better judgement, because the man she was in love with (Gindread of Heaven, that's his star over there) was fighting in it, and she wished to protect him. She spent many days searching for him. When she found him, he was injured, fighting the Yimmith Drake. She killed the Drake, but Gindried died of his poisoned injuries. Her heart was broken, so Lillimarion turned herself into her True Beast Form."
"What's that?" Gajeel asked.
"It's a kind of rune magic which allows the user to assume the form of an animal, as suggested by its name. Like Elfman, Mirajane, and Lisanna's magic, but the body is made of runes, so it's not a full transformation. And it's forbidden, because you can never change back." Levy explained. "Anyway, the stripes of runes on her human body became the stripes of a tiger, and she vanished into the forest, never to be seen again." Levy finished, gazing up at the constellation fondly, remembering the way her father had told her the story when she was a child. It had been to cheer her up after her grandfather had died.
She smiled, now thinking of her grandfather and they way he used to read to her, pull coins from her ears, and take her fishing.

After some time, Levy blinked, wondering how long she'd been deep in thought, and glanced at Gajeel, blushing when he met his gaze, which had already been on her... for how long? For a few minutes, neither of them said anything. Levy's blush darkened as her gaze dropped to his mouth, then back to his eyes, his unreadable expression. It intrigued her the way she often couldn't read his thoughts, but now it just frustrated her.

"Do you..." she began, but a sudden loud rustle from the forest behind them startled her, and she tripped forwards over a loose brick in the cobblestone path, hit the grass sideways, then sat down on her butt, feeling very foolish.
"Ow." she said belatedly, rubbing her ankle, rolling her eyes as Gajeel laughed at her.
"What was that noise, anyway?" she asked, and Gajeel shrugged, glancing towards them.
"I see someone." he said after a pause, and Levy bit her lip nervously. "Wait here, I'll look." Gajeel said brusquely, and the next second, he was off, tramping through the undergrowth, shouldering his way past greenery.
For a few minutes, Levy stared at the place he'd disappeared from, listening hard to the sounds his feet made, snapping twigs and kicking up leaves. Then she realized that she was alone in the dark, on a rarely-used path, next to a forest full of wild animals, with what she suspected was a twisted ankle.
"Great." she muttered, but sat up straighter anyways, looking around her carefully. After all, she was a member of Fairy Tail. Even if she were afraid of the dark, she shouldn't show it.

Despite this mindset, she continued to twitch violently every time she heard a rustle of leaves, and when she heard a wolf howling, she let out a very embarassing squeak. To take her mind off her fears, she thought of Gajeel.
She had been so surprised when he'd shown an interest in constellations, as it wasn't often he wanted to discuss such things with her. She'd never thought of him as stupid, but she had always thought he was more interested in things like strategies or perhaps the different metal compounds- astronomy had never even crossed her mind.
She tucked her knees up to her chin and smiled, thinking of the way he'd held her gaze, the way his eyes, normally dark though they were, had looked so shadowed, and so... so sexy. Her jaw dropped when that realization dawned. It wasn't as though she'd never realized that Gajeel was attractive- she'd spent many, many hours daydreaming about his thick, muscular shoulders, his broad chest, strong arms, huge calves... honestly, she could probably go on forever. But there was simply something different about his eyes which made her...
She shook her head, confused by herself, and muttered that she really had to see Lucy in the morning. A few seconds later, she jumped as though she'd been shocked, as a loud crashing came from the trees next to her, and the next second, Gajeel reappeared, brushing leaves from his shoulders and smirking. Levy let go of the breath she'd been holding.
"Well?" she asked, looking up at him.
"It was Jellal. Probably waiting for Erza to meet him." he said with a shrug, and Levy sighed.
"I wish those two would just get together already. Everybody knows that they will. The only thing stopping them is their respective shyness."
"Or stupidity." Gajeel suggested, and Levy laughed.
"Definitely." she agreed.

"You getting up, or what?" he asked her, and she scowled.
"Well, I would, but because I'm not built like a brick horse, like some people, I have managed to twist my ankle, so you can either carry me, which I personally think is quite unlikely, or you can watch me crawl ba-" Levy cut herself off with a squeak as Gajeel rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the arms, pulling her up. She stood on one foot, tucking the injured one behind her other calf, and looked at him in bewilderment as he laughed, shaking his head at her.
"'A brick horse'? Can you even imagine what that would look like? I suppose that comment was reffering to me, was it?" he asked, grinning at her.
"Well...well, yes, but-" she made the mistake of catching his eye and burst out laughing.
"Well, pardon me if I'm not very good at coming up with similes that make sense on the spot! And the point is that a horse made of bricks... or a horse-shaped brick formation... would be very strong! The small matter of mobility is nothing when one is considering the big picture..." she trailed off, a smile pulling at the sides of her mouth as she fought to continue frowning, Gajeel laughing like she was the funniest thing in the world. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Come on. I'll carry you back." He said, pointing his thumb at his back and turning.
"It's okay, I can walk... or limp.." she said nervously. She could practically hear him rolling his eyes.
"If you're worried about being heavy, honestly, I think Pantherlily weighs more than you." he said, shaking his head.
"Don't be ridiculous..." Levy muttered, but put her hands on his shoulders anyway when he bent down, and looped her arms around his neck when he grabbed her legs and hoisted her up.
"If your ankles twist so easily," Gajeel said as he started walking.
"Let me stop you right there." Levy interrupted him. "They don't twist 'easily'. They twist normally. It's you who has ankles and wrists and whatever like metal pipes." she said, disgruntled.
"Well, don't you think that's a given?" he asked drily, and she sighed.
"Fine, whatever, I have weak ankles, what was your point?" she asked.
"I was wondering what you do if you hurt yourself on a job." he said, and Levy leaned her head back, sighing and watching the stars go by overhead.
"It would depend if we'd finished or not. It it's a dangerous job, it can be really bad, because Jet and Droy would have to protect me more than usual. I mean, I can still use my magic, but it's more difficult to defend myself, I guess. That's normal though, for everyone who can't heal themselves, or who aren't able to take as much damage, like myself or Lucy. But normally, Jet and Droy would carry me back." she said with a shrug. Gajeel snorted.
"Wouldn't those two spend ages fighting over who got to carry you?" he asked, and Levy remained silent, irritated that he was right. "I'm right, aren't I?" he said after a few seconds, and Levy muttered darkly at him, making him laugh again.

Levy sighed and pressed her cheek against Gajeel's shoulder, a little tired. She couldn't believe that they'd been swimming just an hour or so ago.. it felt like ages since she'd been hiding in the steam, topless, panicking... She tipped her head against Gajeel's back and groaned.
"What's up?" he asked her.
"Speak up, shortie." he said, when she just grumbled darkly.
"I just remembered the whole steam room thing..." she sighed, and he chuckled and shook his head. "Hey, what were you and Juvia talking about in there?" she asked, only just then remembering their rather enigmatic conversation. Gajeel cleared his throat.
"You heard that?" he asked, and Levy was both confused and intrigued to hear a certain amount of stiffness in his tone.
"I'm sorry, if it was private, but I couldn't really block it out, and I mean, Laxus was there too, so.." she said, a little uncomfortable, now regretting having asked, considering that he was right to be reluctant- she had been eavesdropping.
"Not really, she was just being annoying, as usual." Gajeel said shrugging, bumping Levy a bit. Levy smiled and tucked her chin onto his shoulder.
"But you guys are best friends!" she said happily.

Lucy had often asked her how she felt about Gajeel and Juvia's close friendship, but she had never felt jealous at all. For one thing, she never felt she had a right to be- considering that the chances of Gajeel going out with her had seemed to be as likely as Natsu learning to speak fluent Finnish- and as far as she was concerned, Gajeel being happy made her happy. Fairy Tail was all about friendship, and it was the closeness of all the members which had attracted her to the guild in the first place.
"For lack of a better word, I guess..." Gajeel said, and Levy patted his head.
"You're cute." she commented, forgetting herself momentarily. Gajeel snorted loudly.
"Aren't cute things normally small and friendly, like a cat, or like-"
"Can't I have opinions?" Levy interrupted, swinging her legs in his grip.
"I hate to think what kind of terrifying person you'd be without them." Gajeel said snarkily, and Levy rolled her eyes.
"It's getting cold." she commented, shivering.
"Do you want to just head home?" Gajeel asked.
"Yes, please." she said, wriggling up and burying her cold nose in his neck.
Gajeel stiffened for a second, staring down at her.
"Can I?" she asked belatedly, drawing back, realizing she may have crossed a boundary- after all, she and Gajeel were not quite as casual as she was with Lucy, or with Shadow Gear.
"It's fine." he said shortly after a pause, and she repositioned herself, shutting her eyes and attempting to forget the chill of the wind on her back, arms, and legs.
"As soon as we get back, I am going to have a hot shower." she mumbled into Gajeel's neck, sighing as she imagined the warmth, the steam, the fluffy towel waiting for her...

Levy blinked, and as soon as she looked around her, she realized she must have fallen asleep.
"We're back." Gajeel repeated, and as Levy rubbed her eyes and looked up again, she saw that he was quite right- he was standing at the front door.
"Oh! Sorry, I was-"
"Asleep, I know. You drooled on my shirt." Gajeel said drily as she slid off him, wincing as she forgot and landed on her injured foot.
"Jeez, sorry, sorry..." she muttered, blushing, genuinely embarassed, but irritated that he'd brought it up.
"You okay getting to the shower?" he asked her after he'd opened the door, watching as she hobbled up the steps and gingerly removed her shoes.
"Yeah, thank you. In theory, it'll be better tomorrow." she said, limping down the hall towards the bathroom.
"Oh! I forgot." she said, and turned around and hobbled back.
"What's up?" Gajeel asked, looking down at her as she smiled up at him.
"Thank you very much for coming on a walk, and for carrying me home." she said, hesitating only for a second before giving him a light hug around the middle, which (irritatingly) was about the highest she could reach without looking like she was trying too hard. With that, she turned back down the hall, and under Gajeel's surprised stare, headed for the shower.

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