Levy felt as if the whole world had simply, disappeared. The comings and goings of those around her simply fading into the background, becoming the concern of others.
"Natsu pack it in!" Erza shouted, but Levy didn't hear, too engrossed in a tale of steamy romance and political intrigue to notice or care.
"He started it!" Came the infuriated reply, but who cared? Who cared that the guild had yet again erupted into chaos, Natsu being the spark that lit this particular match, as per usual.
"Like hell I did flame dick!" Came Grays' typical, if rather crude, response.
"The hell did you call me!?" A table flew across the room, deflected suddenly by an ice wall that sent it bouncing off to one side, crashing into the wall several feet to Levys' left where it shattered apart.
"Oh for crying out loud" Levy muttered, concentration now well and truly, just like the table, shattered.
She looked up with a huff, placing her book down on the table in front of her, the only one that seemed to have remained upright in the ensuing violence.
Natsu and Gray had each other in a headlock, steam rising from there bodies and causing a partial cloud as arctic cold and blazing heat fought for dominance.
The rest of the guild had somehow ended up similarly entangled. How on earth a fight between these two had ended up with everyone else kicking seven shades of magic out of each other she'd never understand.
And as predictable as the fight was, so was the inevitable end. With a bang that shook the rafters and a glare that scared children and adults both, Erza stomped over to both of them.
With a mighty heave and a furious yell, she smashed the nearest table over the two of them, flattening them both into a near unconscious heap on the floor.
Levy watched with some amusement as both mages were picked up by the scruff of their necks. Grays' clothes thankfully having stayed on this time in a rare deviation from the norm, they were berated loudly and, Levy winced, shook rather violently.
She idly watched as both mages picked themselves off the floor, throwing the occasional glare at each other when they thought Erza wasn't looking.
With that business taken care of, Levy reopened her book and turned to the page she had been reading. Tracing a finger down the page to find where she'd left off, she was startled by a huff and a thump as someone dropped moodily into the bench across from her.
"Natsu?"
The dragon slayer had a few bruises and a scuff here or there but was otherwise perfectly fine. Despite the fight having only been mere moments ago, he seemed more bored than anything.
"Are you ok?" She asked cautiously, she'd rather not get him riled up again but it couldn't hurt to ask.
He blinked a couple of times, apparently only just realising he'd sat at an occupied table, and cleared his throat a couple times.
"Ah, hey Levy" He said "I'm fine"
A rather short and unenthusiastic response from the normally energetic and talkative young man.
He looked down at the book in her hands and raised an eyebrow.
"What ya' reading?" He asked curiously.
She looked down in surprise as if briefly forgetting she'd only moments before been trying valiantly to continue her book.
"Oh this?" She asked "it's a romance book, I doubt you'd be interested"
Natsu had never shown an interest in reading before, so Levy assumed such a thing was far too dull for someone so energetic in his everyday life.
He looked up at her for a second, something unreadable in his eyes, before glancing once again at the book.
"Can I see?" He asked rather innocently
Levy felt startled for a second, surprised at first and then suddenly cautious.
"Er- I don't know Natsu, it's a rare book and I don't want it getting damaged" she felt guilty for saying it but Natsu didn't have a great track record when it came to fragile or valuable items.
He seemed hurt for a second, upset flashing in his eyes and maybe some mild irritation. The guilt immediately overwhelmed her and she instantly back tracked.
"Th-that is, I mean, just be careful ok?" She held it out to him with both hands, the book splayed open.
To her relief, he held his hands out gently and took the book, turning it so it was facing him right side up.
He scanned the pages for a second and then recognition flashed across his face.
"Hey I know this book!" He declared, looking up suddenly.
Surprised again, something that seemed to be a theme around this boy, she immediately asked the first question that came to mind.
"You do?" She asked curiously. Natsu read?
"Yeah!" He said with a smile. "I got stuck in the library about a month back and figured I might as well see what the fuss was all about, ya know, with romance novels"
She gave a startled laugh and his grin seemed to grow, lighting up his face. He had a handsome face, she thought, a strange thing for her to suddenly think.
"How long were you stuck in there to have read such a big book?" She asked still laughing.
He winced slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. An action that was always more endearing on him than anyone else.
"Ah well, ya know, long enough for a few chapters" he shrugged his shoulders slightly. "The words were all big and kept getting jumbled up, so I gave up after Mira got the door open"
'big and-?' She started to think then paused. "Natsu, didn't Erza teach you to read?"
He shrugged again, starting to look slightly embarrassed.
"Sure she did, I'm just better at smaller words" he sighed, agitated and passed the book back to her, "the bigger words just get all jumbled in my head and give me a headache"
"Oh" she said quietly, something nagging at the back of her mind. She looked thoughtful for a second, then laid the book back on the table and reached into her bag.
Natsu watched curiously as she rooted around for a second before giving a small "aha" and pulled a small, rectangular, leather case from her bag.
She passed it to him carefully, still cautious despite how carefully he'd handled the book earlier.
"Here try these on" she said with an eagre smile.
Wondering at the turn of events, Natsu carefully opened the case and stared fixed at the item inside.
"er… no" He said deadpan.
Startled, Levy looked confused.
"why not?"
Natsu stared at her as if she was crazy and gestured at the case as if it contained the remnants of last night's dinner… after it had passed through the human body.
"They're pink!" He said in disgust.
Startled further she huffed out an incredulous reply.
"So what? Natsu, your hair is pink!"
"So? That's different!"
"How!?"
"Pink hairs cool!"
Levy wasn't sure if she wanted to smack her own forehead or the doofus sat across from her.
"Just put on the glasses" she said tiredly.
He seemed likely to argue but her glare shut him up instantly. Hesitantly, as if handling a particularly agitated eel, Natsu picked up the pair of bright pink glasses and placed them gently on his face.
Levy almost burst out laughing at him but managed to hold it in valiantly. Natsu seemed to notice her struggle and looked to be about to rip the glasses of his face when she acted quickly. Pushing the book forward she jabbed a finger at the last word she had read on the page.
"what does this say?" She asked, eager to know if what she suspected was true.
He looked particularly rebellious for a second but reluctantly looked down at the book.
His eyes widened behind the glasses and he leaned forward excitedly.
"Hey, I can read that!" He declared triumphantly. "'indisputable evidence had brought her to the conclusion that she was, without a doubt, in love'" He read confidently, an enormous grin covering his face.
Levy smiled widely and clapped her hands triumphantly.
"You, my dear Natsu, have what is called dyslexia" she told him.
His smile slipped into confusion and he titled his head slightly.
'Oh by all the gods he looks adorable when he does that' she thought instantly, a bit of red creeping up her face.
"What's that?" He asked, his head tilting the other way as he leaned forward, the glasses still on his face.
'Holy shit that look should be weaponised' Was it getting hot in here? Levy was suddenly sweaty.
She coughed once to clear her thoughts as much as her throat.
"It's something some people have that makes it hard for them to translate words on a page into words that you'd say out load" she said by way of explanation, although she was heavily simplifying it.
"Huh?" He asked simply.
Ok, even simpler apparently.
"It makes words hard to read"
"Oh!" He said in understanding, smiling brightly. He carefully took the glasses off his face and stared at them in interest.
"So these glasses make it go away?" He asked.
"Er, not exactly" she took the glasses from him and pointed to the inside of the frame, along the arms.
"You see these markings?"
He looked closer and for sure, glowing faintly enough as to not be noticeable at a glance, were various runes and flowing script.
"Oh, yeah sure"
"Well" she started, "these runes help with lots of types of problems, mainly bad eye site, but other things aswell, they don't cure the problem, they just help out a bit"
He seemed impressed at this then looked questionably at Levy, who only just now noticed how close they'd gotten during the explanation and seemed to glow a brighter shade of red.
"So do you have this dyslexia thing?"
Leaning back as to give herself some breathing room, could she smell log fire all of a sudden?, she shook her head as she took a steadying breathe.
"No, I bought them for Lucy, she gets really bad eyestrain when she writing her novel so I got her these to help"
He nodded his head in understanding then smiled brightly, standing suddenly.
"Thanks Levy! It's nice to know I'm not as stupid as everyone says I am" he said with a chuckle.
"Woah hey, Natsu you're not stupid!" She declared hotly, "Who's been telling you that?!" He seemed surprised by her sudden anger, taken off guard by her ferocity.
Then his eyes softened and he smiled greatfully.
"Thanks Levy, your pretty great ya know?"
All outrage and fury vanished instantly, replaced instead with shock, embarrassment and a warm bubbly feeling in her belly.
"Oh, umm, thanks Natsu" she said dazedly. She was pretty sure her face was entirely bright red by now and noticeably so.
"I'm gonna head out and find Happy, see you later?" He asked as he stepped away.
Her mind was racing but she had enough about her to nod and say bye, she was pretty sure she did anyway, she could have also been staring at him in a daze and he'd simply left.
'What the hell just happened?'
She stayed sitting there for a while, book forgotten.