"Well. Go on. Kiss her." The town official beamed at Gajeel and Levy, completely oblivious to their inner shock and turmoil.

"Kiss?" Levy huffed out a breath, basically all the air left in her now starving lungs. The word a mere whisper.

Gajeel, with his Dragonslayer sensitive hearing, caught the word … and the tinge of shock and …fear? His stomach turned over. Thrice. He swallowed. In his mind's ear he could hear her voice much louder and clearer as in his memory she called him a monster. The word echoed through him, ringing over and over again like a physical beating. One he could not dodge.

Levy's knees felt shaky and her balance completely off, her natural grace deserting her as she turned to look up at her husband. Fear swamped her. Had she just blown away their rather awkwardly sweet friendship with this blunder? Would her mistake with the paperwork make him turn from her? She bit her lip to keep from making any embarrassing noises as she remembered moment after moment of Gray's reaction to Juvia's chasing him around. Not reciprocating the obsessive feelings of the water mage. Would Gajeel look at her like that? Would he turn away? Or worse yet? Play along out of a sense of duty to the job? Her head started shaking in denial. She wanted him to WANT to kiss her, not be forced into it! Didn't she? Well, that was the problem, wasn't it? Did she? He was strong and masculine and handsome and irritating and a stupid jerk at times and he'd saved her life but then he'd also hurt her and attacked her friends but he'd changed or had he ….. "eep!"

Levy drew back as Gajeel suddenly, and without romantic fanfare of any kind, leaned down and pressed two dry and uninterested lips somewhere in the vicinity of between her nose and upper lip. He drew back just as quickly, jamming his hands in his pockets. "We've got a train." He said in a mean and tight voice, clipping his words off with utter arrogance and disinterest.

Levy nearly stumbled, but righted herself immediately. Her large and expressive eyes narrowed onto her new husband's retreating back. "Wait! What about your new clothes?"

"You deal with it." Gajeel yawned widely and walked out the door. "I told you I need guitar strings."

Embarrassed, Levy made apologies for his abrupt speech and departure. She hurried out the door, then stopped suddenly, wanting to bang her head against something very, very hard. No. Make that her fists and make that his head. Levy sighed, drooping her head down. Gajeel probably wouldn't even feel the blows. The jerk. And she had to go back inside. One of the witnesses to her impromptu marriage was the saleslady at the clothing shop and Levy still had to pay for their purchases. Pay. She scowled with realization. She had all the money. Her own, and his that she'd collected from his previous landlord.

Maybe she couldn't hurt his head, but she could damned well put a large dent in his finances. Levy grinned evilly. She wondered briefly about the ethics of it all, then shoved those thoughts aside. Ms. McGarden was going shopping! Suddenly she coughed and bit her lip again. No. That was Mrs. Redfox now. Or maybe she wouldn't take his name. He couldn't make her and how would he like it if …. "oh drat." Levy's mind stilled once more. Gajeel wouldn't care if she didn't take his name! Of course he wouldn't. It wasn't a really real marriage. As soon as they returned to Magnolia, it would be annulled.

o.o.o.o.o

Gajeel walked down the street, not seeing anything. No shops, no people, no nothing. He was huge and rather scary looking, so pretty much everyone moved out of his way so it wasn't much of a problem.

All Gajeel could see was the fear in Levy's eyes as she'd turned to look up at him. Fear he'd put there. It sickened him on a fundamental level.

"Yo." Pantherlily moved to join him, though the Dragonslayer couldn't have said from which direction the Exceed cat had come. "Gajeel?"

A grunt was the Iron Magic wielder's only response.

"There are no kiwis in this town." Pantherlily said with disgust, then let the silence build between them as they walked aimlessly down several roads. Finally the cat cleared his throat. When that got no response he coughed sharply three times. Two more turns down two more roads later the cat again cleared his throat.

Gajeel stopped, gloomy and morose. "Hairball?"

"I'll kick your ever loving ass if you ever suggest such a disgusting thing to me again." Pantherlily said, though his words were more gentle than they warranted. He looked up at the human mage as if trying to read him. "What's the matter?"

Gajeel looked up at the sky, squinting as if trying to see something. He wasn't. He gave a resolute sigh and shook his head. "Married Levy."

Pantherlily nodded slowly. "It's a good cover. We arrive at the resort and check in. You two sign up for all sorts of activities, listen and snoop. I've heard from several of the mages back at the guild that Levy is a genius at slipping in nearly unnoticed and getting information."

"Nah. She'd be useless at it." Gajeel shook his head. "We need a better plan."

The Exceed cat shook his head, a bit taken aback. "Levy isn't useless."

"Not what I said." Snapped the Dragonslayer. "She's strong and brave, too brave actually for her size. But sneaking in? Unnoticed? Who'd not notice her? There's always like a friggin' spotlight on her, she practically glows. I always know when she walks in a room."

Pantherlily stepped back while still staring up at Gajeel's face. "Oh. Well. Now actually. That makes a lot of sense." He nodded thoughtfully. "You know it's only a pretend marriage, but you can use this time alone to get to know her better."

"Shut it you stupid cat!" Red eyes flashed instantly as white teeth shone between bared lips and hinted at fangs. "This is only a job!"

"Yes. Of course." Pantherlily nodded slowly, not believing his companion for an instant.

Gajeel turned away, staring blankly at a random shop window. Something with flowers. He grimaced. "Women like flowers, right?"

What passed for eyebrows on the small cat rose, shifting the battle scar over one eye. Insightfully the cat mentally reshuffled a few things in his head. "Most women seem to do so. Not Exceed females. Gifts of food would be better for us, but I've spent enough time around humans to have heard about flowers as gifts."

"I mean …on their wedding day." Gajeel sounded utterly lost.

Pantherlily tilted his head to one side, his tail swishing in agitation. He noticed some human children of the young teen variety watching them from a corner. He noted their number and their stances, it did not appear to be predatory but he kept watch anyway. "Not really a wedding though."

Gajeel's wide shoulders hunched miserably. "Just married Levy. Before you remind me again it's a farce, it turns out that our license wasn't good here. Instead of a new one, they just remarried us. Legally."

The cat's tail froze, twitched like a rattlesnake, and then began to swing slowly back and forth. "So."

"Yeah." Gajeel's eyes travelled over the flowers on display and then nearly laughed at himself as he realized they weren't real. Glass or crystal, maybe some enamel. A pink one caught his eye. It reminded him of the one in Levy's headband.

"It's not really a problem though, is it?" Pantherlily said cautiously. "A bit bothersome perhaps. An annulment at the end of the job would be fairly easy. They do have those in the human world, right?"

Gajeel grunted. Suddenly the word annulment felt poisonous to him. His hands clenched into fists in his pocket and he snarled. The watching children began to whisper and back away.

Pantherlily sighed. "Stop it. You're scaring the people. You're supposed to be a bridegroom, not a warrior."

"Lily? I'm no one's idea of a bridegroom. I don't belong on this mission. Jet or Droy should be here."

The cat sighed, crossing his arms as he shifted into a stern tone of voice. "Don't make me shift into my battle form and beat the snot out of you, Gajeel. That would really scare the local children. Let me ask you this …you want Levy to marry Jet or Droy?"

"No!" The word was torn from him, feeling like it had originated at the bottom of his very being. Wide-eyed, Gajeel turned his eyes to look at Lily's face reflected in the shop window. "I mean …."

"Okay. Step one in seducing a female …."

Gajeel roared and turned, staring wide-eyed at his small cat as if Pantherlily had just turned bright pink with polka dots. "What the hell? I never said that …"

"Shut up!" Lily glared up at the much larger male. "No. You have never said you like Levy in that way, but I'm not blind nor am I an idiot and let's not do this stupid dance where you deny what we both know." He paused thoughtfully. "Or what I know and you may not have come to terms with yet."

"Stupid cat." Muttered the Dragonslayer to one of the only beings on the planet who could say such a thing to him and not come to death blows.

"Step one …."

"Forget it." Gajeel shook his head strongly. "She looked at me in fear."

Pantherlily finally did snap his mouth shut as he looked up at his friend and companion. "When?"

"When the official said for me to kiss her."

"Oh."

"Yeah …oh." Gajeel looked utterly miserable. "You've heard about me being part of the Phantom Lord guild, and how I attacked Fairy Tail? I hurt her. And today? When I was supposed to kiss her? She looked at me in fear."

Lily sighed in sympathy. "She's forgiven you, or she wouldn't have accepted you as a partner on Tenrou. But … there might be some fear left over."

"I ….I can't have her looking at me like that. I can't stand to see myself reflected in her eyes when she is remembering that time."

Good. Pantherlily said, if only to himself. "Revising my list. Step one becomes apologizing to her."

"Words would never touch that wound." Gajeel rejected the advice immediately.

"Indeed not." The cat agreed. "You have to show her you're not that person. That you're worth any effort she might put into you."

"Into me? What does that mean?" Gajeel asked, baffled.

Pantherlily rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Nevermind. This means taking seduction off the table. You want to focus on making her comfortable around you, safe with you."

"I fought to protect her on Tenrou." Gajeel pointed out, feeling rather raw and exposed.

"And she fought to protect you too." The cat reminded him. "But yes, you already have a good foundation."

Brightening at Lily's words, Gajeel looked at him in hope. "We do?"

"You just have to stop acting like a jerk."

The Dragonslayer nodded, then frowned, the metal studs that passed for his eyebrows moved together as he considered his options. Finally he said a very bad word, followed by two or three more. "It's not an act." He admitted reluctantly.

Startled into a laugh, Pantherlily smiled and shook his head in resignation. "Okay. We get Levy to like you as you are."

"Impossible." Gajeel thought about her and mentally placed her next to an image of himself in his head. It wasn't a pretty picture, at least not to him.

"Flowers." Pantherlily pointed at the store. "Try those. And then we have to get back to the train or we'll miss our ride."

Gajeel nodded, then frowned. He'd left his money with Levy. He had enough pocket change for some guitar strings and food but not much else. He turned and looked at the small spun-glass flower in the window. His stomach growled.

o.o.o.o.o

Levy wasn't sure what in the world she was going to say to Gajeel. Hey! I bought you a bed! And sheets. And big fluffy pillows. A bookcase and a desk and a lamp and some basic plates ….. "Drat." She murmured. It sounded horribly like an over obsessed fangirl wanting to play house with a guy! It didn't help that the sheets were in a color that suited his personality, but wouldn't clash with the color of her hair. She blushed beet red at the thought. Stars. There were stars on the sheets. Would he like that bit of whimsy or think it childish?

Most of her purchases she'd arranged to be delivered back to the guild in Magnolia. Only a few things were with her here. Waiting.

"Oy."

Levy looked up, both startled and relieved to see both Gajeel and Pantherlily walking toward her. "Hey." She eyed the plain white bag that dangled from his long fingers, stark against the blackness of his fingerless gloves. She frowned.

"What's wrong, Short-stack?" Gajeel said, earning a glare from his feline companion. "What?"

"That's a jerk thing to say." Lily hissed at him.

"We established that as my norm." The human male reminded him.

Levy blinked at them both in confusion, then startled as the train whistled to let the passengers know to go ahead and board.

The duo moved through the crowds at the station onto the train itself. Overstuffed bags and over-stuffed people bumped into her and jostled them as they tried to push through. Then someone stepped on Levy's toe and she made a small distressed sound.

Suddenly she was air born.

Levy squealed and grabbed onto whatever she could find for support. Her fingers curled into Gajeel's thick hair as she realized she was now sitting on one side of his wide shoulders. It wasn't a perfect fit, she wasn't exactly THAT tiny, but it made her feel ridiculously small and weak …and warm and grateful … childlike …and protected ….condescended to … and just a tiny bit turned on. She blushed and tightened her hold on him.

"Watch the finger in the eye." He snarled, but there was no heat in his voice. Instead he sounded worried. Levy smiled sheepishly as Gajeel began thumping his fists and forearms into bags and people to clear a space in order to get them to their seats.

With great reluctance Levy slid off of him to stand on their train seat. She watched as he realized the overhead bins had no more space for their new purchases.

"Just put it all on the edge of the seat here. I'll sit with you." She said daringly. He couldn't possibly call her out on being fangirlish for that, it was only practicality after all. Right? When really what she meant is she would curl up right next to him. The memory of waking up with his hands on her bottom had been embarrassing at the time, but not without its own special thrill that sent warm tingles across her body.

Then she remembered how he'd treated her at the wedding and her ardor chilled off a bit. What if he really didn't want to be caught up next to her?

"Sure. Whatever." He grunted, yawned and stretched. He moved past Levy and threw himself into the corner, taking up nearly the entire available seat on the bench.

Levy moved to look through the purchases she'd elected to bring with them rather than to ship on back to Magnolia.

Gajeel's eyes moved to her backside as she innocently did whatever the hell she was doing. He was pretty sure that if she could read his mind right now she'd slap him into next week. The hem of her pretty little dress flirted with the tops of her creamy thighs and the material molded itself to her very, very, very fine ass.

His eyes started to ache and feel dry but by damned he wasn't going to blink and miss a second.

She stood suddenly, yanking out a fleecy blanket and travel pillow. Levy chucked the pillow at his head which he caught with a puzzled look. She gestured for him to take it and Gajeel suddenly grinned, putting it behind his head to protect him from the rigid walls of the train itself.

"Much better." He sighed happily. They had another day's train ride before reaching Burlone and the pillow was a small comfort, and a kind gesture. Not something someone in fear would do for you, or was it? He frowned slightly even as Levy shoved on his knees to move them.

He blinked at her and sat up on the bench rather than lie across it. She sat down next to him in the spot where his legs had been but a moment before.

Awkward they sat there, together and yet not. Pantherlily bounded across the train with ease, bouncing off people and bags with indifference until he landed on the bags of their belongings.

"Oy! Don't break anything!" Gajeel snapped, eying the white bag he'd carried on himself.

"Guitar strings don't break that easily." Laughed Levy a little too brightly as she twisted her fingers in her lap. She really didn't know what to do or say next.

Gajeel licked his lips and didn't say anything about her assumption of what he'd bought. He glanced at Pantherlily trying to find a good spot to sit, then at Levy looking all prim and proper next to him.

In his head part of him screamed that in order to get her not to fear him, then he should NOT be himself. It didn't work. Gajeel growled, scooped Levy up without warning and swung his legs back onto the bench and settled her firmly onto his lap, leaning back against his chest. His lap appreciated the soft weight and his arms felt nicely full. "Better." His voice rumbled deeply, reverberating next to her ear.

Levy shivered, but did not resist nor pull away.

Pantherlily shook his head sadly, thinking his friend might be single for life. "Here." He picked up the blanket Levy had brought and Gajeel stretched for it, which in turn made Levy settle even more snugly against his chest in a very intimate way. There was not a portion of skin on her that wasn't blushing by the time the Dragonslayer had flipped the blanket out and settled it over the two of them.

The train whistled loudly, indicating they'd be leaving the station shortly.

Pantherlily poked around their things, pushing bags aside to make room before he cried out happily. With a grin he handed Levy the book she'd been reading them on the first part of their journey. "Here! Didn't lose your place, I hope. Renault and Isla are caught in the dungeon and I can't wait to hear how they break out and thwart the evil Prince Tundra."

"She should just ditch Renault and marry Tundra." Gajeel grinned evilly, knowing his words would provoke the bookworm he was holding.

Levy had been focusing on how to refuse, since she didn't want to read either male any more of the story. Especially the more steamy passages she knew to be coming up shortly. But Gajeel's words shocked her. She slammed her palm down on his chest and growled into his face. It was a very decent growl too, he liked it.

"Tundra! Marry Tundra! He's wanting to steal everyone's land and he is no hero!"

Gajeel blinked into the face of an incensed Levy McGarden. There was no fear in her eyes now. Her brown eyes glared at him and he lost himself for a moment. Brown? No. They weren't brown, not quite. His mouth watered and his body nearly hummed in interest. He shifted his hip slightly to avoid embarrassing himself. "Renault's a wimp."

"It's called character development!" She lectured him, going on and on about starting out at one level and then rising with each accomplishment until reaching the zenith. When she was done she was actually breathing a bit heavily. He approved as her breasts lightly brushed against his chest. He reckoned himself a bit of a pervert around her.

"Isla is brave and insightful and fighting for her rights and those of her people, right?" He finally asked.

She nodded curtly.

"Why doesn't she have to develop? She's already pretty great. Tundra. He has money, drive, ambition but why can't he build on his own levels? He's accomplished more in his life than Renault ever would. Isla should dump the chump and marry the winner."

Her pretty eyes nearly crossed with shock and upset. He grinned happily at her.

"What? You see Tundra as the hero?" Levy snarled. "His intentions are evil!"

"Misunderstood." Gajeel crooned back at her.

"He's stubborn and won't listen!" She added on to her argument, rising up on his chest and glaring down into his face.

"He knows what's what and what he wants. That's not necessarily evil." He teased her, no longer talking about some fictional character.

"How can you say such things? Tundra doesn't even listen to her! Doesn't communicate!"

Speaking of himself and himself alone, Gajeel gave her a half grin. "He listens. He hears ever damned word, every sound, every emotion. He doesn't always understand her though and it's hard sometimes. He doesn't want her to see him as bad, but he can't help being who he really is and why can't she see that?"

Levy's mouth opened and closed soundlessly for a moment. "What book are you reading? Did you fall asleep and dream that up? Because that's not in this book. Isla would never marry the villain."

Stung, and feeling the call of her warm body next to his, Gajeel reacted without thinking. "Oh no? Well I think perhaps she already did marry the villain."

"Wha ….?"

Levy couldn't say anything else as she received the first proper kiss of her entire life. In other words, it wasn't proper at all.

Pantherlily blinked and then turned away, curling into a ball on the seat and ignored them. He sighed and laid his head down on his paws. "That is NOT what we discussed, Gajeel." He muttered to himself.

Gajeel's mouth was hot and Levy's mind failed her. It fritzed out completely. His lips stole her breath and her thoughts as she moaned outrageously loud. Her hair was caught in the palm of one of his hands as he held her to him, pressing their lips together. Ruthlessly he dragged his mouth across hers, laying siege until she opened for him and his tongue surged inside without guile or warning.

Levy collapsed against him, boneless as he ravaged her mouth. It was a kiss of passion and claiming. There was nothing romantic or light hearted about it. This was a raw coming together as Gajeel tasted her, staking his claim as if afraid she might cast him off and out and he'd never have the chance again.

She shoved him and he had enough humanity left in him to back away. To let her move back and stare at him with the widest and most beautiful damned eyes he'd ever seen. They definitely weren't brown though, he stared at her in bemusement. "Bronze."

"What?"

"Yer eyes." He growled. "They're bronze and shine like fire."

Levy groaned and he waited for her to slap him down, either verbally or physically. "Gajeel." His name was a breathless plea.

She leaned in and lightly kissed his bottom lip. Her mouth moved feather light to the left side and she kissed him there. He bit at her and she chuckled and moved back out of his way. When he settled she licked him lightly, delicately.

Gajeel's mind nearly blew. She licked him.

"You taste metallic. I did wonder."

His breathing was ragged as she sat back, blushing hotly and looking at him with shy glances, her mouth swollen and puffy. And there wasn't a hint of fear or rejection on her.

"Levy McGarden, you shock me."

"Maybe Levy Redfox is braver than you think." She nearly fainted at the daring of her own words.

He groaned and banged the back of his head against the side of the now moving train. They were in public and he could not do what he really wanted to do right now.

"We should eat." She said suddenly.

"Eat?" He echoed with disbelief. "No. What we need to do is curl up under this blanket and …."

"EAT!" She squeaked suddenly, shifting away from him and waving at him to shut up. It was utterly adorable.

"Yes ma'am." He said with an exaggerated sigh. His stomach growled loudly, startling both of them. Gajeel laughed and gave in. "My body betrays me." He didn't mention the other parts of his body feeling abandoned and achy at the moment. "Whatcha got?"

"I didn't know what you wanted. So I got the meal boxes with the highest iron. Broccoli and liver with onions."

Gajeel suddenly blinked. He had favorite foods, but he'd never considered that what he ate might actually be reflective of the trace amounts of iron in those foods. "Gihihi …actually, that is kinda accurate." He said proudly. "Damn you're smart."

"And this box has a sweet treat. Cake balls. They're individually wrapped and color coded. The red ones have cherry filling, and the green ones have pistachio. The ones with the green stripes though are kiwi and the yellow have lemon curd and …."

Pantherlily turned to them eagerly. "Did you say kiwi? I love kiwi!"

"Dinner first." Levy said, embarrassingly aware that the cat must have witnessed her kissing with Gajeel. "Dessert after."

"Not a child and I'll eat, but I want to make sure to get the kiwi ones. Which color were they?" He looked over at the dark-haired Dragonslayer who was looking through the box of sweets. "Gajeel what color balls do you have over there?"

"Blue."

Levy shook her head. "The kiwi ones have a green stripe. I don't remember blue bbbb…alls." Her voice broke and both hands went to cover her mouth in shock.

"Gihihihi …ow! Watch where you punch, Shrimp-girl!"