Hello everyone! As always, first thing is to thank all of you who reviewed, faved, and alterted. I'm sorry it took a little bit longer than the past few chapters to update, but life got in the way, meaning the Euro cup started, which resulted in very funny scenes of me at bars teaching grown American men the beauty that is soccer. But anyways, the chapter's longer than usual, too, so that's my own way of saying sorry for taking that long.
Klagana1 - Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you enjoy the humor. Sometimes I wonder if it's just me laughing histerically at my own jokes.
So, no one got the movie reference last chapter? If you've never seen "Casablanca" I highly recommend you do. Yes, it's black and white, but it's awesome!
Anyways, so, what to expect for this chapter? Well, watch out for those blue-haired mages... And more fluffy scenes... Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Erza is still out chasing Gray.
Quick note: I just upped this story to an M rating, just to be sure with the language, adult themes, and adult situations. I'm not planning on writing anything more explicit than what you've all read already. So, that's all. Just wanted you to know.
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
"A Favor"
Chapter 8:
Gajeel Redfox, iron dragon-slayer and intimidator professionaire, had really done it this time. Mira wasn't angry; she was furious, unbelievably and demonically furious. The best way to describe the iron mage's current predicament was to imagine your worst nightmare and then multiply it by a thousand; and even still, that didn't completely convey the sort of threat Mirajane was projecting right now.
Happy was chatting amiably with Wendy and Charle, feeling particularly good about himself. Aside from resolving all of troubling thoughts with his Natsu, he had just offered the white Exceed one of his fish and she had actually accepted it this time. He couldn't deny he had been surprised by her reaction, but he was glad nonetheless. Apparently, being honest with and respectful of his lenient foster father and his weird blond mate had its perks.
The Exceed had originally intended to wrap the delicacy in the blue ribbon he had taken from Lucy's stash earlier, but he had returned the stolen object to the stellar mage after he apologized for being annoying. When the blue cat had extended his paw to reveal the rather large animal, the female had asked why it wasn't messily decorated with its usual ribbon. Happy had explained then how he had just returned the object to its rightful owner and apologized for it looking rather bare. To his utter surprise, Charle had actually smiled slightly at him and taken the fish off his paw, saying she was proud that he had offered her something that didn't involve stealing from others, something that just belonged to him. The blue Exceed considered this a huge step in his growing relationship with the white feline, as big as when she decided to start calling him by his name after Edolas instead of the demeaning and impersonal "He-cat."
Today had turned out to be a good day for Happy. If he could think of a word to described what had happened to him, he'd say it'd be "matured;" and that was a first for him. But, if it involved Charle being nicer to him and getting the irrefutable support of Lucy and Natsu behind his pranks, then he had to admit he kind of liked the new word, and could perhaps do a little bit more of it in the future.
Happy's uncharacteristic serene smile was short lived, however, being brought to an abrupt end when the eldest Take-over sibling awoke much more earlier than anyone had anticipated from her self-induced catatonic state. It was safe to say Happy had never seen Mirajane so angry and, when she opened her mouth to yell the iron dragon-slayer's name, the cat cowered in fear and he almost instantly felt Wendy grab both him and Charle and wrap them close to her in a tight embrace. The entire guildhall was silent and Happy could bet no one in the entire realm of Fiore wished to be the guy responding to the name "Gajeel Redfox." For the first time since he had met the white-haired barmaid, the blue cat really feared Mira would take things too far in her anger.
Levy was not happy. The white-haired mage was beyond reason already, and it was going to take a lot of work to get her back to a manageable state. In fact, she wasn't entirely sure that feat would be even possible to accomplish. She had no choice though, Mirajane would kill Gajeel if someone didn't intervened soon and stopped her for ripping the man apart. Erza was gone, her siblings couldn't even move, and both the master and his grandson were stuck somewhere in between admiration, arousal, and fright. So, if she didn't do something, nobody else would. It was obvious that no matter how Gajeel reacted, it wouldn't help his situation. That is, if he even realized the magnitude of the threat he was now facing.
The script mage was glad that she had anticipated Mira waking up faster than what many expected and that she had already begun looking for a strategy to deflate the imminent danger of the situation. Mira had lost no time in screaming Gajeel's name with scorn and in starting to transform into her most powerful Satan Soul form. Just a quick glance into the Take-over sibling's raging eyes, told Levy Gajeel would not be spared from a beating, no matter how deft her response ended up being. The iron dragon-slayer had already acted defensively and had dragged her behind him in an effort to protect her, but that just wouldn't do. Perhaps, this action would save her from some of the damage, but it would do nothing to keep him away from Mira's anger, which was already exponentially high. It was now or never, before either of them decided on making their first move. The bluenette sighed as she slid her right hand through her dress in search of her solid script pen and prepared herself for action.
Before Gajeel had any chance to respond to the white-haired mage's proclamation, or to say anything at all, for that matter, Levy had already sidetracked his defensive arm-wall and was now standing in front of him. In less than two seconds flat she moved her script pen up and wrote the word "paralyze" in the air as she yelled the incantation. The effect was immediate. Mira stood immobile in front of them, incapacitated from moving thanks to the blue-haired mage's spell. The older woman redirected her vengeful stare towards her and seethed, "Levy, if you know what's good for you, you'll release me now." Levy would have been lying if she had said she hadn't felt intimidated by the barmaid's threat. However, there was no backing up now; she knew her spell wouldn't keep the furious mage stuck in her place for long and she had to get to work immediately.
It all seemed to have happened in a second, Lucy hadn't even had enough time to react and, next thing she knew, she was forced behind a Natsu who was one step short from going into dragon force. The fire mage was ready to attack an enemy, but the enemy in question appeared to be a notoriously angry Mirajane. After her initial shock, Lucy quickly came back to her senses and examined the situation they were currently in. It was obvious the Take-over sibling's rage was directed at the iron dragon-slayer, and she assumed it had something to do with the rather blatant mockery he had made of her earlier. Before addressing that issue, however, she needed to calm down the fire mage in order to keep him from doing something he'd regret later. Without speaking, she slowly raised her left hand and placed it on his shoulder, squeezing it softly as she brought her body closer to his and whispered in his ear. "It's alright, Natsu, calm down. I'll be fine, Mira is our friend." The effect of her words and gesture was instantaneous, and she immediately felt the dragon-slayer relax and let out the defensive breath he had been holding.
When the stellar mage returned her attention to the raging Demon Mirajane, she was relieved to find Levy had already taken action to control the damage. She knew the script mage's spell wouldn't last long, but it could be long enough to reduce the mage's anger to a manageable amount. Lucy wasn't entirely sure what the bluenette had in mind at first, but once she had started negotiating with Mira, the stellar mage figured her entire plan in an instant. The blond noticed Natsu was still tense, so she squeezed his shoulder again and spoke in a louder voice to make sure both dragon-slayers heard her this time, "Don't worry, Levy knows what she's doing. Just play along." The fire mage nodded and she turned to her left a little to confirm the iron mage had gotten the message, "Gajeel?" The iron mage didn't turn to look at her, since his eyes were fixed on Levy, but he nodded slightly as well. Good, all that was left to do know was to make sure Mira bought whatever it was that Levy was going to sell to her, and, by the looks of it, Levy had chosen the perfect bargaining chip. Smart, Levy-chan, very smart.
The bluenette took a step forward and found the Take-over mage's gaze before speaking, "Mira, I know Gajeel can be an insensitive ass most of the time, but I would really appreciate it if you let me enjoy the rest of the day with him in one piece. It is an important day for both of us." Levy watched the white-haired barmaid's movements with care, her hands weren't fisted anymore and she had stopped resisting the immobilizing spell. Such reaction let the script mage know she had managed to capture Mira's attention, which promised to be a positive sign, but she was still, however, very much fuming with rage.
Placating the white-haired woman was not going to be an easy task. Levy sighed as she prepared for her next move, but almost immediately tensed again when she heard the iron mage speak. Apparently, Gajeel hadn't realized him speaking would only make matters worse, and, as it was customary with him, he had failed to keep his mouth shut and was already yelling an offended "Hey! What the fuck do you mean by that?" back at her. The blue-haired girl wasted no time in turning to look at her mate, "Shut it Gajeel, I'm trying to bargain for your life here, so just keep quiet and let me talk to Mira." The iron mage was not very happy by her response, but it had been successful in forcing his mouth shut. For a second, the script mage thought she had seen him smirk at her, but she didn't have the time to figure out what the gesture meant. Whether he had been pleasantly surprised by her aggressive comment or not, she would find out later. Right now, her attention needed to be solely focused on Mirajane.
The script mage returned her gaze towards the white-haired mage who was still trapped in her spell and, the second their eyes connected, she spoke again, calmly and collectedly, she needed to be convincing for her plan to work, "Let's make a deal Mira. You leave Gajeel alone for today and you get to be my second child's godmother." She waited, and, to the younger mage's relief, her last comment turned out to be much more effective than her previous plea. Almost immediately, she observed how some of her anger dissipated, as the older woman started to get lost in incredibly well-thought-out fantasies of Levy and Gajeel's children and the added honor of being the godmother of one of them. However, it was still not enough, as the blue-haired mage found out by her answer, "Second child? Why not the first? That would give you a lot more leeway here, Levy."
Levy was about to respond when Gajeel intervened again, "Hey! Don't go offering my kids around, Shrimp! I have a say in that, too!" Stupid idiot, is he trying to make this harder? She turned around momentarily to look at her mate. This time she clearly saw it; he was definitely smirking knowingly at her. He knew what was going on and he was just playing along. She found Lucy's gaze next, who was no longer behind a ready-to-kill Natsu. Instead, she was embracing him from behind, her head resting on his left shoulder. The fire mage seemed calmer, too; he had his own hands around hers and was rubbing his thumbs on her hands affectionately, probably in an effort to keep himself at bay. The stellar mage's expression confirmed what Levy already knew. The blond had figured out what she was trying to do somewhere along the line and had informed the two dragon-slayers about it. Lucy nodded slightly at her, silently telling her to continue.
Levy smiled briefly and then returned her attention to the iron mage and offered him her own sly grin. I get it know. Well, let's make this as believable as possible, then. "I told you to can it, Gajeel!" she admonishingly yelled back at him and, immediately after, turned to address the white-haired mage again, "Just ignore that idiot for a minute, Mira." She then noticed how the barmaid seemed to have waited for her to deal with her mate. Considering this a good sign, she continued, "I'm sorry, but I just can't offer that to you. I'd already promised Lu-chan she'd be my firstborn's godmother, and I can't go back on that promise." Levy watched as Mira turned to look at Lucy, who was now nodding to validate her statement. Once she had the white-haired mage's attention back, the bluenette spoke again, "But why don't I offer you something else instead?" The Take-over sibling raised a quizzical brow, what could she possibly offer that would beat being godmother of her fist child? Mira wasn't sure and her curiosity started to gain up on her; she wanted to know. No, she needed to known. "And what would that be, Levy-chan?" she responded with a mocking and slightly condescending tone in an effort to hide her growing interest.
Levy sighed internally, she had managed to intrigue the white-haired barmaid and, throughout their conversation, her anger had diminished some more, since she had other things to concentrate on besides planning the painful murder of the iron dragon-slayer. What is more, the script mage had seen through the older mage's attempt to conceal her curiosity, which helped her relax somewhat. It was time for the trump card; there was no way in hell Mira, with that ridiculous, overly romantic mind of hers, would reject what the bluenette was about to offer in a few seconds. To further her concern, Levy's spell would break any moment now; Mira was too strong a mage to contain for more than a few minutes.
Levy turned to glance at the iron dragon-slayer and gave him a knowing look to make sure he wouldn't interrupt again. It was a look that spelled "Don't fuck this up" and the iron mage got the message just as plainly as if she had actually spoken the words. The script mage then fixed her eyes on the Take-over mage again, noticing the spell had dissipated in the time period she was silently communicating with her mate. She needed to hurry and, with a stern and solid voice, she said, "Spare Gajeel for today and you'll also get to name my second child." This was it, the defining moment that would determine whether she had managed to appease the raging demon or not. She looked at the woman expectantly, waiting for an answer and trying her best to maintain her composure. Finally, after about a minute of nerve-racking silence, Mira spoke, "Fine. I get to name the child and be its godmother." She deactivated her Satan Soul and just before she made her way back to the bar, she decided to make herself as clear as water, "But, this doesn't mean I won't beat him senseless tomorrow, Levy, cause I will." The blue-haired mage nodded her understanding, "I know that, Mira, don't worry," and she then watched the older woman walk away.
Once the white-haired barmaid had returned to her usual spot behind the bar, she openly smiled to all her guildmates and yelled as she clapped excitedly, "Isn't it all wonderful news, everyone? Let's celebrate for them now. Drinks are on me!" She then stopped, frowned, and turned to point to the iron dragon-slayer still standing at the guild's entrance, "Except, of course, for the pierced asshole over there." Fairy Tail sweat-dropped; leave it to Mira to go from one mood extreme to the other in no time and start acting as if nothing had happened. No one dared to say anything, though; they all had more sense than that – meaning nobody wanted to die that day. The happy-go-lucky barmaid Mirajane chose to be most of the time would always, indiscriminately, hands down, no questions asked beat the vengeful, angered demon she had sleeping inside.
It took another few minutes of awkward silence before the guildhall exploded in cheers once more and, soon enough, its members took advantage of Mira's offer and began emptying alcohol containers at unprecedented speeds. Once the party was in full swing again and Levy was sure Mira was completely distracted serving her guildmates, she turned around and approached Gajeel. He was standing in the same spot she had left him, waiting patiently for her and expecting an explanation, that much she already knew. Natsu had also spun Lucy back into his arms and looked a lot more relaxed than when he was glaring poisonous flaming daggers at Mira. Phew, that was a close one!
The second the script mage was close enough, Gajeel pulled her closer and said, "Care to explain, Shorty?" Before speaking, Levy chose to get comfortable in the iron mage's embrace; her heart was beating a little faster than usual and she needed to be perfectly calm to be able to explain everything that had happened. She took a deep breath, "It's rather simple, Gajeel. I only played Mira into believing she was getting a great honor for agreeing to sparing you for today." She watched as her mate's expression turned confused. Apparently, he wasn't as informed as she had originally thought, and she'd have to be much more explicit than that. "What do you mean?" she heard him ask. She was about to answer when Lucy interrupted, "You still don't get it, do you?" After her comment, Natsu joined Gajeel in being totally lost, but before either of them could question the women again, the blond continued, "Levy only made it look like she was bargaining those things with Mira."
At the continued sight of the perplexed dragon-slayers, Levy decided to elaborate, "It's simple. I had already decided that if I had a second child, Mira would be its godmother. Aside from Lu-chan, she's the only other close friend who I trust enough to leave in charge of my kids." Gajeel interrupted, "What about naming my kids, Levy?" There it was again; he was calling her by her first name, which clearly meant no one else should participate in that part of their lives but them. She knew that already, though, so she'd have to make her intentions with Mira clearer for the iron mage to fully understand her actions. She sighed and then focused her whole attention on him, speaking slowly and clearly to make sure he'd get it right away, "Do you really think I'd let Mira name our kids? All I have to do when the time comes is accidentally mention the name I want for my kid close enough for her to hear and blab about how happy it would make me, and that's the name she'll choose. You forget I've known Mira for a long time, Gajeel. I know how that imaginative mind of her works." The iron mage relaxed at her answer, "So, what you're saying is…" The bluenette interrupted to finish his sentence, "I made Mira think that she was bargaining for honors that were already hers? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
The effect of her last words was immediate and both dragon-slayers started pleasurably guffawing upon realizing the full extent of Levy's actions. The script mage turned to look at her blond friend, who was enjoying the sight of the two males rather slow deduction capabilities. "You knew, right?" she asked. Lucy turned to look at her friend and smiled, giving her answer in a playful voice, "I figured it out the instant you mentioned your hypothetical second child, Levy-chan. I assumed you'd strategize your attack around Mira's overly creative mind, but I do have to admit I wasn't expecting that last move. That was both brutally cruel and insanely brilliant." The blue-haired mage smirked lightly back at the stellar mage, "I learned from the best, Lu-chan," she began, mimicking her friend's mocking tone, "You really think I didn't notice all your giggling whenever Natsu started one of those so-called jealousy outbursts? And I may not know what you said to Gray exactly, but I just had to take one look at Gajeel's face to know it wasn't something very nice." The two women stared at each other momentarily before they both openly joined their two mates in their boisterous laughing. Unbeknown to both females, the two dragon-slayers had listened to their entire conversation and they were both thinking the exact, same thing, Damn, are these two girls seriously demonic when they want to... I love it!
Natsu stopped his laughing momentarily, "Who would've thought the shy, well behaved Levy-chan was such a devious little devil, huh? I think you better watch out for this one, Metal-head." He then inhaled deeply to steady his breathing and moved to imprison the stellar mage in his arms once again and kissed her on the cheek loudly. Gajeel noticed Levy blushing at the pink-haired mage's comment and, taking a deep breath of his own, said, "Shut up, Salamander, leave the Shrimp alone," just as he proceeded to coil his arm protectively over her shoulders. "I was right, though," he said next, now looking at the blue-haired script mage beside him, "You are a little blue demon in the making." The girl's blush bloomed out of control and she lowered her face in an effort to hide it, "Stop teasing me, you idiot." The black-haired mage chuckled, using his free hand to ruffle her hair, "It's alright, I find it really sexy, Levy." The bluenette stared back at him, no longer caring that her face was painted red with embarrassment, and tried, unsuccessfully, to free herself from the iron mage's hold, as she simultaneously hit him relatively hard on his upper arm with her free hand, "Gajeel! Don't say stuff like that in front of Natsu and Lu-chan!"
The iron mage brushed the slap off and tightened his hold of the girl. "Nah, they don't mind, Shrimp," he said as he patted her head in his characteristic manner, "The fire idiot is as shameless as I am and the Blondie likes it, too." And, as he finished his sentence, he lifted the girl from the floor and tossed her unceremoniously behind his back. "Time to go, Shorty. I don't want to risk the Demon Woman changing her mind and I'm done sharing you for the day." He then gave Natsu, who was grinning amusedly back at him, a knowing smirk before he turned to leave Fairy Tail, "Catch you up later, Salamander." He turned to look at the stellar mage, who didn't seem too happy with his previous comment – Damn, I'm sure I'll pay for that one later –, and nodded his acknowledgment, "Bunny Girl." Immediately after that, he started his walk back home. All the while, Levy squirmed in his hold, hitting him on the back with her fists as she yelled at him, "Put me down, Gajeel! Put me down, this instant!" Gajeel just laughed, "Gi hee, no way in hell, Shrimp." Their rather noisy leaving went completely unnoticed by the vast majority of their guildmates, who were mostly crowded at the bar in an effort to get more free booze from a surprisingly energetic Mira. Now that I have you, I'm never letting you go.
Natsu and Lucy watched their retreating guildmates; the iron mage strengthening his hold and laughing repeatedly as the girl continued to move, yell, and punch the male all the way until Gajeel took a sharp turn and they were out of sight.
"Lucy," came Natsu's silence-breaking comment, given in a low and flirtatious tone, just as he tightened his embrace on the blond mage in his arms.
"Don't even think about it, Dragneel." Lucy snapped back at him.
"Aw, Lucy~! You're such a killjoy!" he answered, just as he lifted the girl from the floor and started twirling playfully on his spot. One day, though… Definitely.
The blue-haired dragon-slayer had released the two Exceeds from her protective hold around the same time Levy had stepped forward and casted her spell on Mira. The two cats didn't drink alcohol and Wendy still had three quarters of her own beer mug to go, so none of them approached the bar once Mirajane had returned to her duties. Instead, they stayed seated in the same table as before and continued laughing at the two male dragon-slayers' expense. They couldn't deny the interactions between those two were becoming more and more interesting to watch. From Gajeel and Natsu's complicit antics, to the pink-haired mage's playful threats, and the iron mage's frequent confused stares. Not even Charle had been able to withhold her laughter when Gajeel had lifted Levy up and thrown her over his shoulder as if she weighted nothing more than a sheet of paper and then continued to talk to the other couple, completely ignoring the enraged and embarrassed script mage struggling to free herself from such a compromising position.
From the three mages, Wendy was the only one who could hear what the four mages were saying to each other, and she had been kind enough to repeat most of the dialogue to her two companions. All had been rather shocked at Lucy and Levy's conversation; they had expected that sort of taunting interactions between the two dragon-slayers, but not their mates. Of course, once it had taken place, the three observers realized it couldn't have been any other way. It just so happened that the girls had a different approach to the whole "Let's mess with our friends" thing. Using a war analogy, the two men were the outspoken infantry at the front lines, choosing to attack their enemy directly, while the two girls were the strategists behind the entire operation, sidestepping the confrontation with indirect strikes.
Wendy momentarily thought just how much trouble the four could cause if they really put their minds to it and, upon picturing what could happened if they did, decided she would just love to take part of some of those games one day. Secretly, Charle found the entire thing adorable. The two older dragon-slayers were rambunctious and a mess, but they were loyal and well intended, and they knew how to take care of their own. She only hoped Wendy would find a mate that would look at her the way those two couples looked at each other. Happy just loved to watch Natsu making fun of the world. After all, he did grow up with the guy and it was inevitable that he'd turn out the way he did, being raised by the crazy wild Salamander and all. He had been pleasantly surprised years back when he had realized Lucy could put up with both him and Natsu at the same time and don't get tired of either them. That fact alone had proved to him that the blond would become an invaluable friend to his foster father. And, as time went by, he had noticed Natsu had become less restless in his search for Igneel. Perhaps, the two mages hadn't realized at first the sort of effect they had on each other, but the blue feline had certainly picked up on it. As much as he liked to tease his two friends, it was even more enjoyable to watch them having fun together.
So, unlike the rest of their guildmates, who were too busy getting drunk, Wendy, Happy, and Charle did notice Gajeel and Levy leaving their celebration party rather early. After having Wendy explain what was being said and laughing for a while at the amusing scene the black-haired dragon-slayer was making, the blue cat spoke, "Ah, I think it makes sense for them to leave. They probably want some time alone and enjoy some peace and quiet." Happy was surprised to see the two females give him a disagreeing look. "I wouldn't count on that," Wendy said, while Charle nodded approvingly at the dragon-slayer. Confused, he asked, "What do you mean?" Both girls fixed their gaze on him as the blue-haired mage spoke again, "Remember how we got to the guild later than usual today?" She paused to see the cat nod before continuing, "Well, we were helping Lily get his stuff together. He finally got over his cold this morning and he was getting ready to go back home. So, I don't think Gajeel will find the privacy he was hoping for. Lily should be there by now." Happy gaped, This girl is seriously more evil than I thought! "You know, you could've told him, Wendy," he said reproachingly. The girl side grinned deviously, "Well, it's not like he really gave me a chance to say anything, now did he?"
Happy's gape widened. He was discovering a whole new side to Wendy he'd never known before – and he liked it. He sure needed to pay more attention to the girl from now on. He was about to respond to her, when he heard Natsu call his name and say he and Lucy were heading home as well. Apparently, they were going back to the little shack he and the pink-haired mage shared for some unknown reason they felt unnecessary to share. The blue feline was having a great time and was not ready to go home just yet, so, after asking Wendy and Charle if they minded having him over for the night, he flew to tell his foster father he'd be staying with the younger dragon-slayer at Fairy Hills. He figured the two mages would enjoy a few more hours alone, and it was his own way of atoning for the trouble he had caused earlier.
Natsu was still enveloping Lucy tightly with his arms as he rocked both their bodies from side to side. It had been a few minutes since Gajeel and Levy had left and the two mages had moved away from the middle of the doorway and were now reclining onto one of the doors as they both watched the beautiful Magnolian sun set. He was holding her hands and playing with the ring in her finger in an effort to remind himself that everything that had happened was real; he had barely had a moment to calm down and really let things sink in that day. He hadn't gotten much sleep either, since he had spent most of the night awake working with Gajeel in both gifts, and things had been one emotional rollercoaster after another once he had showed up at Lucy's apartment.
The dragon-slayer yawned, making Lucy break the embrace and turn to look at the fire mage. "Are you tired? Do you want to head home and get some rest?" she asked, while letting him intertwine the fingers of both his hands with hers. He smiled lightly, "Would you mind? I didn't get much sleep yesterday." The blond returned the gesture and replied, "Not at all." She paused for a moment, "Only, could we go to your place? I really don't want to deal with the mess my apartment is in right now," she finished saying, wrinkling her nose and furrowing her eyebrows lightly. The fire mage laughed at her annoyed expression, "Not a problem, Lucy. Let me just tell Happy we're leaving." He straightened himself up, untangling his body from hers, and walked into the guild to search for the aforementioned blue hairball.
Lucy watched the fire mage get lost in the guildhall with a smile and, then, noticed the abandoned bag and purse at the other side of the guild's doors. That's probably Levy's. I should take it with me and bring it back to her tomorrow. It's not like she's going to need her keys to Fairy Hills anyways. The stellar mage picked up the belongings the bluenette had left behind and walked towards the bar to inform Mira she was taking them with her in case her friend came looking for them. When she came back out of the crowded bar, she found the fire dragon-slayer already waiting for her at the guild's doors. He informed her Happy would be staying with Wendy and, after taking her hand, they started their way to his house.
Gajeel was not happy. He'd never thought the day would come when he would not be glad to see his cat. But, alas, here he was, looking at his once again healthy fluffy partner and he was not pleased. He should've felt relieved that the black Exceed had recovered from that pretty ugly flu. However, since his blue-haired mate had instantaneously left his side to go hug the furred creature the second they entered his house, he was not one bit content. To his further annoyance, Lily was enjoying Levy's petting too much for his own liking.
It didn't take long for the cat to notice Gajeel scowling by the door and he decided he'd have some fun with the iron mage before excusing himself on the false pretense of retrieving some forgotten object at Wendy's. "So, Levy, I'm assuming you're spending the night?" he asked. The addressed girl blushed lightly as she nodded, "I guess. I left my purse at Fairy Tail all thanks to Gajeel, here, so I don't have my keys to get into Fairy Hills." The iron dragon-slayer squinted angrily as he saw the furry black cat lean into the bluenette's hand and let a small, almost inaudible moan escape him. Lily smirked, "I hope you don't mind if I cuddle into bed with you, then, I heard a thunderstorm was expected for tonight." The cat felt the script mage tense at his question and he could've sworn he saw Gajeel fume and tighten his fists. Boy, is this fun! "Of co-course, you can, Lily," the girl stuttered back at him embarrassedly.
The dragon-slayer couldn't stand it anymore. "That's it! Step away from the Shrimp. You know perfectly well there's no storm coming tonight and I refuse to let you cuddle with her in my bed!" he barked back. The Exceed chuckled, "Don't be so selfish, Gajeel. Haven't you heard that sharing is caring?" The iron mage's annoyance escalated to the point where Lily could see his partner's mane had spiked in anger along with the rest of the hair in his body. Before the man had a chance to yell some profanities back at him, he separated himself from Levy, opened his wings, and said, "Oh, yes, that's right, I'd promised Wendy I'd drop by later to pick up some medicine; guess I'll spend the night there. Congratulations to you both, it's good to see Gajeel finally manned up." He then flew out of the house through an open window, leaving a majorly embarrassed script mage and a speechless iron dragon-slayer. You're gonna wish you'd stayed sick, cat!
It took the iron mage a few minutes to recuperate from Lily's rather unexpected reappearance but much anticipated teasing. Gajeel knew the Exceed would definitely make some sort of remark about the two of them getting together, he had had enough conversations on that subject with the swordscat to expect something like that. Although, he had to admit he had forgotten all about his furry partner for a rather long period of time. In a way, he felt he was sort of excused from feeling guilty about it, since he had had his mind full all day. He sighed and turned to look at Levy, who was still seated frozen on the couch, "Let me go get you a t-shirt to sleep in." The blue-haired mage found his red eyes and nodded lightly, "Thanks, Gajeel." He then made his way towards his room and disappeared in it.
The fire dragon-slayer was sitting on his bed in his nightwear, consisting of a pair of loose and breezy shorts, and watching the beautiful figure that was his mate dressed in one of his old shirts as it approached him, "Natsu, we need to take another mission soon. My rent is coming up and we lost most of the reward from the last one thanks to your and Gray's antics." He chuckled lightly and waited for her to climb onto the bed and kneel next to him before speaking, "Sure thing, Lucy. We'll check the request board tomorrow morning." The girl smiled at him and leaned in to give him a fast but passionate kiss on the lips. "Sounds good," she said, pulling away, "but you need to rest up if we're going to leave by tomorrow." The pink-haired mage stopped her from retreating completely, raising his right hand and burring it in the nape of her head among the soft tresses of her loose blond hair, "Mm, Lucy, if rent is always such a hassle for you, why don't you move in with me and Happy and forget about the whole thing?" He watched as her eyes got lost in his momentarily, delaying her answer as she considered his proposal, "Your place is too small for the three of us, Natsu. It's alright for nights like this, but not for something permanent."
The fire mage wrapped her hand with his, intertwining their fingers together and never taking his eyes off hers. "I did build a separate room for us, didn't I?" he said in a soft voice and paused for a second before continuing, "Is size your only concern? Cause I can fix that." The stellar mage smiled brightly back at him, "I guess you could." The pink-haired dragon-slayer grinned widely in his characteristic way, "It's settled then, from here on out, we'll go on missions to get enough jewels to fix this place up. I promise to behave so we don't end up losing most of the cash and I can have you sleeping next to me every night in no time." He pulled his hand away from her head and grabbed her waist, pulling her with him as he let his body fall onto the mattress, "Deal?" Lucy started giggling as her hyperactive mate pulled her down and onto his naked chest. Tired or not, the boy always seemed to have energy to spare according to her. She let her free hand find its way up to move some of his tousled locks away from his face, "You've got yourself a deal, dragon boy, but I want a reasonably large space for my library." The dragon-slayer nodded. Dragon boy? You and Gajeel have more in common than you realize, he mentally sidetracked. He moved the hand on her waist to embrace her tightly and slid the other to her neck, pulling her down to seal their deal with a wild and reckless kiss.
Natsu loved the way her lips moved synchronically with his, up and down, in and out, pressing and loosening, biting and caressing. She never failed to correspond with the exact same intensity and emotion with which he started his lovemaking actions. It was the same with him whenever she initiated contact, sensing her mood instantly and responding accordingly. The fire mage felt her move her arms over his shoulders, so he rolled over to switch their positions and give her the space she needed to play with his pink locks freely like she wanted. Her fingers massaged his scalp as they pulled on his hair; his hands tightened, enveloping her protectively and possessively. Nothing compared to her touch; there was nothing he craved more, nothing he needed more, nothing that excited him more, or that calmed him more.
The dragon-slayer pulled apart breathing hard and lowered his head to nuzzle her neck. Lucy moved one of her hands forward and cupped his cheek, forcing him to look up at her. "Let's get some sleep so we can get up early tomorrow and get that first mission done," she told him quietly while smiling lovingly at him. The fire mage nodded his agreement, still too dazed with her addictive scent to speak, and maneuvered his way to get them under the covers. He lay on his back and allowed the blond to rest over his right pectoral as he hugged her tightly with the same arm. "Good night, Lucy," he said, kissing her forehead affectionately, "I can't wait to have you here permanently." The blond kissed his chest while her right hand made little circles on his exposed torso, "Neither can I, Natsu," she whispered, "Sweet dreams."
The couple fell almost instantly into a deep and peaceful sleep, but just before dosing off, the fire dragon-slayer took one last look at his mate and grabbed the hand that had been left resting on his upper stomach. I always get the best sleep when you're next to me, Lucy.
Gajeel stared at the sleeping figure beside him. Levy was cuddled up next to him as he was holding her from behind, his head resting over hers on the pillow. The black-haired mage would have fallen asleep hours ago if it hadn't been for the intoxicating scent of his mate's hair that linger in the air. Her head being so close to his nose didn't help either, but he didn't mind it at all. He'd rather have her close to him like this and depriving him from rest, than anywhere else far away from him. The bluenette was wearing an old t-shirt he had offered her, which hung loose from her body, sliding off of one shoulder and looming just above the knee. When the iron mage had first laid eyes on her in his clothing, he could've sworn he'd never seen her look more beautiful. There was just something naturally appealing about Levy being completely wrapped up in his clothes that he couldn't fully comprehend. No matter how much smaller or more delicate the oversized t-shirt made her look, to Gajeel, it only made her look stronger and more alive, because, as the dragon-slayer realized moments later, this was the best visible reminder that she was willingly his mate.
The script mage had removed her bandana and jewelry before getting into bed, but she had left the necklace around her neck and one of her hands was holding onto it as she slept. Gajeel smiled, realizing how he'd never be truly alone from now on; he'd always have someone beside him, someone to rely on. And he promised himself, as sleep started to gain up on him, that he would do everything in his power to make sure she'd stayed right there, next to him, where she belonged.
So, How was it? Please let me know what you all think of Levy's way of dealing with Mira. I'm curious about your reactions.
Sadly, this story is coming to its end. I'm guessing one, two at the most, chapters left, depending on how things work themselves out on the writing. What's coming up? A flash-forward to a few months ahead. What does that mean? You'll get to see the sort of trouble Natsu and Gajeel have been up to in that time. And expect an unexpected visit to Fairy Tail that will not have the fire mage very happy.