A Tough Opponent


Levy was tired and weary. She'd been traveling way too much in the past three months, not giving herself time to relax. Her body felt numb, the nerves overworked and strained from constant use; from constantly alerting her to the next best thing.

First Levy had buzzed to get back to Cambodia, leaving in a rush with Gajeel not to far behind her; their relationship kind of resembling a bodyguard and his charge with a heavier element of physical touch than she was willing to talk about. Who would have thought she'd be boning a dragon? From Cambodia, a short trip back home to pick up a competition fundraiser entry form, locally run with a handsome cash prize. It was a much-needed gift from Mira, the unofficial secretary of Fairy Tail. Next thing Levy knew she was catching a flight that same night to Brazil and from Brazil to Thailand a week later. Now she was finally home, well her home away from home, back at Gem-N-I covering the counter while Lucy recovered from magical overload. The boxing participant application form for the fundraiser now sat partially filled out on the glass counter in front of her.

"With this twenty-five thousand dollar grand prize we could finally finance that scholarship fund we've been talking about." Levy mused. Not only that but they could also apply it to some of the store's expenses, like helping cover her travel and accommodations. She felt bad about Lucy footing most of that bill to prevent too much of a financial strain on the business. "You know I'm good for it," Lucy would always joke with a wink before steering Levy's attention back to her travels, asking about everything. Levy knew Lucy dreamed of traveling, she was too curious to be completely stationary.

"You're still groaning about that application?"

"Yes." Levy sighed, her left cheek connecting with the glass countertop to bring Gajeel into view.

"Why? It's due soon aint it? Sides I've heard you talkin' about how the money would be helpful."

"Yes, but…do you want to compete? If not we wouldn't be mad." Levy knew she was starting to sound like a parrot. She wanted to make sure he knew he didn't have to do it. She would never make him do something he didn't want to do. "I could always go hunting for more inventory and I'm sure Lucy has an auction lined up. . ." the exhausted woman petered out. Levy knew both Lucy and her were beginning to run on empty. A growing business was demanding, especially when your staff consisted of two people. Unofficially three. Still, it wasn't nearly enough for them to be able to relax without folding under the demand: Bills, expenses, advertisement, repairs, maintenance, you name it they had it.

"I'm always down to test my strength," Gajeel's smile was a little menacing and the glint in his eyes made Levy want to rethink this idea. She could still back out, she hadn't told Lucy about it yet. She didn't know how she was going to tell Lucy about this; this was an opportunity they couldn't turn down.

"No killing, these aren't fights to the death. You can't fatally hurt your opponents." Levy pursed her lips before continuing, "Actually, you can't cripple anyone either. Bruises and non-important bones only, are we clear?"

"Non-important bones?"

"Gajeel, are we clear?"

"Crystal." Levy noticed his black hair puffing out a bit in annoyance. It made him look a little like a disgruntled cat. Cute.

" ." she replied sarcastically. She needed to focus on filling out the rest of the application, and then, maybe, on how to tell Lucy what she'd just done. It should be illegal to enter a dragon into any sort of fighting competition but …what the non-magical organization that was sponsoring this didn't know wouldn't hurt them. "Watch out for customers."

"I'd rather watch out for anything else."

"And I'd rather be at home but-" Levy's tirade was cut off by a looming shadow and gentle fingers grasping her chin, tilting her face up. She never heard him move. Startled brown met with bright red before his lips connected with hers. Though her gift was still experiencing burnout, Levy still felt an echo of the zing that hit her low and hard in the stomach before causing a burn to start between her legs. She didn't think she'd ever get used to that feeling. When he pushed his tongue into her mouth, her body sang and pinged like a windchime; Her body was vibrating hard enough to make noise. The chime of the door opening had Levy coming back to her senses and jerking back away from Gajeel, her body still tingling strongly.

"Luce has everything," Natsu's voice cut over the low growl that was rumbling out of the irritated man standing in front of her, "If she doesn't have it, Levy could always be on the lookout for it later." That last part had her wincing, for once she didn't want to be commissioned to find a certain stone. She wanted to lay in bed and read for a while, update some of her maps.

"Maybe you should ask Levy that before deciding for her," Gajeel cut in and much to Levy's surprise, vaulted over the counter to stand behind it with her. Her gaze bounced up to his, noticing a certain…competitive edge when they locked with Natsu's onyx gaze. The pink haired mage didn't seem intimidated, just raised an eyebrow before looking briefly over Levy and then around the shop. It was easy to tell who he was looking for.

"Hey Levy, where's Lucy? I wanted to introduce her to a…co-worker of mine," Natsu paused before smirking and gesturing over his shoulder. A dark-haired mage stood hovering in the doorway looking confusedly between Levy and the giant towering above her with a menacing scowl.

"Welcome back Natsu," Levy greeting, "Gray you know you can come inside and shut the door right? Lucy's been out sick for the past three days, so I'm covering for the time being."

"She's sick? Is it a cold? She does work too much…you too Levy." Natsu remarked with a frown, "Do…do you think she'll be back soon, I was kind of hoping to…" He trailed off still frowning and staring at the floor. Levy found herself really looking at Natsu, she'd known him the minute he'd walked into the shop. Within the world of magic, he was a big deal – the only person who didn't seem to know that was Lucy. She never did pay attention to the guilds themselves but rather the monsters they encountered. Levy was surprised to see the interest that flittered over his features the minute his eyes landed on Lucy; he started visiting often, finding any excuse to get closer to the blonde owner.

"Don't tell me you dragged me here to try to ask out that woman you're always moaning over," Gray sighed, "I was hoping you weren't being full of shit when you were bragging about this place."

"I'm not full of shit," Natsu countered, his face tinting a light pink.

"What did you need Gray?" Levy inquired, an amused smiled gracing her face. The fairies were her favorite guild to interact with. They were strong but didn't try to push anyone around. They were respectful to those around them, the banter between them seemed harsh, but was full of admiration for one another.

"Levy, long time no see," the affronted mage greeted, stepping closer to the counter and elbowing Natsu roughly out of the way, "Mira wanted me to ask if you were going to join in on the competition. She said if you were Fairy Tail might actually lose this year." Dark blue eyes slid in Gajeel's direction before returning to Levy behind the counter.

"Just finished filling it out," She briefly waved the sheet for him to see and then turned and beamed at her companion behind her, "I'd bet my life savings on Gajeel here."

"You're only saying that because you didn't know I was going to be competing," Natsu piped in with a shit eating grin pointed at Gajeel, "Metal head here hasn't beaten me in a fight since we were young."

"Still a loudmouth and annoying." Gajeel's smile went from sweet to feral in the blink of an eye. Levy was unsure of what to think of this interaction. It was the most she'd heard them talk to each other since he'd followed her back here, "Too bad I can't let you win this time, Levy wants the money."

"You saying you let me beat the scales off of you all these years?" A sharp laugh.

"Watch it, just cause bunny girl is sweet on you doesn't mean I can't rough you up a bit." Gajeel growled while prowling closer to the counters edge, "Her tears don't bother me."

"Bunny girl? You talking 'bout Luce?" The hopeful note in Natsu's voice had Gray gagging a little.

"ANYWAY," Gray cut in, "I was hoping you'd have an aquamarine with a high magical affinity. I need a decent offering to my deity, I need to get her backing for my advancement test next month."

"This is why I'm happy I'm a born mage and not a made one," Natsu grumbled under his breath, "Dealing with deities is such a fucking pain."

"How would you know? Shut up flame for brains."

"I don't know for certain if Lucy still has an aquamarine geode I sent her a while back, I'll have to ask. In the meantime, I do have a large moonstone tower…" Levy said thoughtfully.

"I'm set on aquamarine. Juvia has shown a strong interest in it. The darker the color the better." Gray responded. "I'm not in a hurry, if you wouldn't mind sending me an update after you talk to Lucy I'd be happy." Levy just nodded.

"Anyway, you gotta bring Luce to the competition," Natsu called over his shoulder as Gray shoved him toward the exit, "That's why I came today, to ask her to come watch me win."

"Like hell," Gajeel sneered.

"We just need to place within the top three," Levy sighed, "First is ideal, but second is fine too. He's not going to go down without a fight," she paused before grabbing the application and grinning widely, "I'd still bet my life savings on you, how about we close early and turn this in?"

oOo

"So, I had asked him about that conversation with Natsu," Levy started, her hair swaying around her face with the excitement of her words, "come to find out that they're distantly related or something. A cousin?"

"You're telling me that they've known each other this whole time and just…didn't feel the need to say anything?"

"Must be a man thing."

"Hm, interesting." Lucy sighed and Levy tensed, "You can't continue to distract me Lev, why have you been so high strung? You said you had something to tell me?"

"About that," Levy cleared her throat, her eyes bouncing from surface to surface, item to item in her room. The hand she was using to hold the phone was growing clammy. "I entered Gajeel into a local boxing fundraising competition. Grand prize is twenty-five thousand dollars, its tomorrow night and you have to be there…because you're the CEO and it's essentially a giant networking event that can bring in more clients and business opportunities."

"…Wait, is this a magically hosted event?"

"No."

"You entered a dragon in a mortal's fighting contest. A dragon. Against regular people. Regular people, might I add, that have no magical capabilities."

"Not exactly. A few guilds have entered the contestant. It's how they pad the pockets of their fund accounts. You know for scholarships, new equipment, training…" Levy trailed off. "Fairy Tail is going to be involved. So is Lamia Scale."

"…twenty-five thousand dollars is a lot," A pause to cough, "maybe…what the non-magical world doesn't know,"

"Won't hurt them." Levy finished with a grin.

"I'm still angry you kept this from me Levy Mcgarden. You know how much I hate doing public appearances, everyone's always thinks I'm a ditz because I run a crystal shop. We're going to talk about this later." The grin was effectively wiped from Levy's face.

"I'm not going to tell her I took fifty dollars from the register to pay the entry fee," Levy babbled after hanging up the phone. Gajeel snorted from the bathroom.