Chapter 24: Terrible Taste in Men

For once Lucy wasn't in the bath or the middle of working on her novel when someone started pounding on her door. It was a pleasant change. For a second she wondered if it was one of her teammates, and then she remembered that her teammates never knocked – they just broke into her house. That left only one likely option.

"Hi Levy!" Lucy paused, taking in her friend's less than happy expression. "Is everything alright?"

Levy ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

"Not really. Do you mind if I come in? I know it's kind of late…."

"No, it's fine. I hadn't even started to think about getting ready for bed, yet." Lucy stood to one side to let Levy through. "I was going to make hot chocolate – want some?" That was a lie, but Lucy often found that chocolate made things better.

"Yes, please."

Ten minutes later they were both seated at Lucy's kitchen table. Levy was staring into her mug of hot chocolate as if it held all the secrets of the universe. She still hadn't said anymore about why she was there.

"So what happened?" Lucy finally asked.

Levy's mouth twisted to one side.

"I just realized I have terrible taste in men." She pushed away her untouched hot chocolate and rested her head on her arms.

"How so?" Levy mumbled something, but Lucy couldn't make out what she had said. "What was that?"

Levy lifted her head slightly and gave her a doleful look.

"I have a crush on Gajeel."

Lucy was really glad that she had already swallowed.

"Gajeel?!"

"Yeah, I know." Levy let her head fall back against her arms. "I just realized what was going on."

"But… why?" Lucy couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Have you seen his arms? Those are good arms."

"Lev, the guy beat you and your boys to a pulp and nailed you to a tree. There's got to be more to it than that."

Levy let out another gusty sigh.

"Yeah," she finally admitted, "I know that. It's just… he's changed so much. Have you seen him with Pantherlily? That is not the same guy who attacked me. He's… he's kind of sweet, in his own way."

"Gajeel is many things, but sweet is definitely not one of them."

"And, um…," Levy hesitated, blushing fiercely, "hecanreadandspeakDraconic."

"Pardon?"

"He can read and speak Draconic," Levy repeated more slowly, her entire face now bright crimson. "It's hot."

Lucy couldn't help herself – she burst out laughing.

"And the truth comes out!" she teased. "You're just interested in him for his knowledge of an extinct language."

"I am not!" Levy retorted hotly, her face scrunching up in embarrassment and irritation. She gave Lucy's arm a smack. Then her face fell. "This would be so much easier if I'd just fallen for Jet or Droy like everyone was expecting me to."

Lucy reached over and rubbed her friend's shoulder.

"Everybody gets inappropriate crushes sometimes. It'll pass." At least, Lucy hoped it would. Gajeel had changed a lot since he had joined Fairy Tail, but well… he still came off as kind of untrustworthy. Like he might still be dabbling in the darker side of things.

"You know, Juvia told me once that in Phantom Lord they were actively encouraged to fight amongst themselves? The more brutal you were, the better you were rewarded. Master Jose thought it was a good way to weed out weaklings."

This time Lucy actually did choke on her hot chocolate.

"Seriously?" Lucy had never been so grateful that she had joined Fairy Tail instead of Phantom Lord.

"It doesn't excuse what they did, but… it does make it make more sense. And I do think he's genuinely sorry for what happened." Levy let her head fall back onto her arms again. "This is so messed up."

"You're right, Lev. You really do have awful taste in men, but I suppose it could always be worse."

"How?" Levy asked, lifting her head and eyeing Lucy cautiously.

"Well, you could have a crush on Ichiya from Blue Pegasus."

"That is the most horrific thing I have ever heard you say."

"It really makes Gajeel sound like a much better option, though, doesn't it?"

"I kind of hate you right now." But Levy was laughing, and that was the important thing. When she stopped laughing, Levy finally took a sip of the hot chocolate that had been sitting by her elbow. "Thanks, Lu."

"Your welcome. What else are best friends for? Though… don't you have a job tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I should probably be heading home. Thanks again for listening. It helped."

"Any time."

Lucy stood in the doorway and watched Levy's small form disappear down the darkened street.

Gajeel, huh? Oh, boy.

Hopefully it would just turn out to be a passing fancy for Levy, but… somehow Lucy had a feeling that that wasn't going to be the case.

Levy hesitated about halfway down the street and glanced back at Lucy's apartment door. Maybe she should have told her all of it – not just about the inappropriate crush part. She could trust Lucy, but-

But if she was right, it could be dangerous.

Levy was smart and observant. She listened and paid attention and her brain treated everything like a puzzle – it never stopped putting pieces together. She'd spent an awful lot of time over the past eight or nine weeks with Gajeel as he muddled his way through teaching her Draconic. Levy had noticed things.

She was almost certain that Gajeel was a spy. The part she hadn't figured out, yet, was a spy for who. Was Gajeel working for Master Makarov or someone else? She wasn't sure.

Honestly, it just made the realization of her crush a million times worse. What if Gajeel turned out to still be the enemy? Could he really fake such a significant shift in his character?

Levy bit her lip and turned once more towards home.

If Gajeel was spying for Master Makarov, then telling Lucy her suspicions could potentiality put him in danger. If he was spying for someone else, telling Lucy could put Lucy in danger. Either way, for the moment it was best if Levy just kept this to herself.

On top of a hill overlooking Magnolia, Gajeel leaned against a tree as the annoying paper doll yammered away at him. In the dark, Magnolia look like a sea of stars.

"And you're sure they trust you?"

"Yeah, I told you – even those Shadowgear idiots are warmin' up to me."

"Good. That's excellent news. Are you heading out on another job soon?"

"Me an' the cat are heading to a place near the capitol tomorrow morning. Think it's called Verbena. Why?"

"I have some new… information to discuss with you. It must be done in person."

"Whatever ya say, Master Ivan," Gajeel sneered.

"I shall meet you in three days."

Without ceremony the paper doll whisked away into the darkness. Gajeel watched it go, his earlier sneer melting into a frown of concern.

A/N: I think it's about time we threw a wrench in the works, don't you?

Thank you to my guest reviewers! You are wonderful and appreciated!