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[knockknockwhosthereartistism]

Why dis 🤓 look so mad 😭😭😭

From Ch. 23 of this fic by @sapphosscribe

[shell-senji]

Gajevy Week 2017: A Surreptitious Suitor, Chapter 5

Here’s chapter five of my Gajevy week story! (Chapter four is here.)

I know I keep thanking y��all, but seriously, I am so thankful and amazed at the reviews, likes, and reblogs. 

Read HERE on fanfiction.net.

                                  Day 6 Prompt: Grief

It was no secret to anyone in Fairy Tail that Levy McGarden could sleep through just about anything. It had been a long-standing joke among the members of Team Shadow Gear—that throughout the many jobs that had taken them across Fiore, Jet and Droy had searched high and low for an alarm clock that could rouse Levy. They joked that said alarm clock had yet to be made.

Thus, Erza made no attempts to be quiet when she confronted the not-so-stealthy Jet and Droy trying to sneak out of Fairy Hills one morning.

“Explain.”

Jet held up slightly shaking hands in appeasement. “Erza-san! G-g-gomennasai! We were only leaving a surprise for Levy.”

Droy nodded vigorously.

Erza didn’t look convinced. “You couldn’t have asked one of us to give it to her or put it in her room?”

They hung their heads and made noncommittal noises.

Though it woke the few remaining slumbering residents of Fairy Hills, the pain-filled cries of “itaiiii” failed to wake Levy.

Levy cracked open an eye to peer at the clock. Ten a.m. Could be worse.

She stretched and dragged herself out of bed, nearly tripping as the tangled sheets tried to come with her.

Gods I need coffee. I stayed up way too late last night reading.

Again.

One teeny downside to being a bookworm and working at a library was the almost infinite supply for her addiction.

Before she could mainline caffeine, a small potted plant on her desk caught her eye. It had dark green foliage and daisy-esque flowers with pale pink petals surrounding a pinkish-orange center.

She smiled at the cheerful little plant, which she assumed was a new gift from her secret admirer.

Who she hoped was Gajeel.

Feeling more awake than was normal pre-coffee, Levy decided to get her morning java at the guild, and it was difficult to keep a happy little skip out of her step as she went.

No sooner had she entered the guild than a stern-faced Erza stopped her.

“Levy, as the leader of Team Shadow Gear, you are responsible for making sure your team behaves appropriately. I let it slide with only minor punishment, but any further such grievances and I will not be so tolerant.”

Levy raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I… Um…” Though she had no clue what Erza was going on about, she decided it was best to simply smile and nod. Doing so, she added, “Of course, Erza. Thank you for letting me know.”

Satisfied, Erza smiled back and left Levy to—finally—get her much-desired coffee.

Steaming cup of heavenly bliss in hand, she made her way over to Jet and Droy’s table.

“So why exactly did I just get lectured by Erza?” she asked, sipping her coffee slowly. It was hot. And divine.

“We were sneaking you a surprise, Levy. I’m sorry,” Jet said, looking a bit like a kicked puppy.

“Did you see it? It’s a special cultivar, just for you! I call it ‘Levy Pink’ since it almost matches the one on your headband,” Droy said. “Argyranthemum frutescens1 usually require full sun and planting outside, but this one will be fine indoors as a houseplant. It’s easy to care for—”

Jet cut off Droy’s enthusiastic horticultural ramblings. “We thought you would like it, but we never intended to cause you any trouble. Hopefully she didn’t give you too much grief?”

Levy smiled gently and placed her hands on top of theirs. “I love it. It’s such a cheerful little plant, and it makes me so happy that you did it just for me. Thank you both.”

Their answering grins were so full of relief she couldn’t hold back a little giggle.

“And don’t worry about what happened with Erza. Except…maybe hold off on the sneaking in, okay?”

They nodded, and Levy went back to drinking her coffee.

Those two… I swear…

She really did love Jet and Droy, but like brothers, not anything more. And they seemed to have finally accepted that as well as her budding relationship with Gajeel, though the latter had taken some convincing.

An errant thought had her stomach churning unpleasantly.

They snuck me…a surprise… Oh no!

Levy kept her features schooled in a neutral expression and continued drinking her coffee. Inside, however, her mind was a veritable maelstrom of emotions.

Does that mean…the other mystery gifts…

Are they my secret admirers?

So the books weren’t from Gajeel after all?

No…surely… Surely if it had been them, Erza would have caught them sooner.

A sliver of doubt pushed back. Or maybe you just want to believe it was Gajeel, so you’re refusing to accept that it could have been them all along?

She swallowed hard around the golf ball-like lump that had formed in her throat.

Feeling hot tears prickling the backs of her eyes, she scolded herself mentally.

Cut it out, Levy. Stop acting like a kid. So what if Jet and Droy are your secret admirers? You know Gajeel likes you—sure, he moves at a glacial pace, but things are progressing! You’ve gone on several dates, shared a few kisses. This is not the end of the world.

“Levy-chan!” A singsong voice halted her self-chastising.

Forcing a smile, she looked up at Lucy. “Morning, Lu-chan!”

Lucy dropped into a seat next to her. Jerking a thumb at the still-subdued Jet and Droy, who had gone to browse the job board, Lucy asked, “What’s up with them?”

Levy laughed. “Oh, they got a dressing down from Erza for sneaking into Fairy Hills.”

Lucy joined her in laughing and wiggled her index finger back and forth in a “tsk-tsk” gesture.

“Upside is that now I’ve identified my mysterious admirer. Or should I say, admirers. You’ll have to come see the beautiful plant they gave me. Droy cultivated it just for me!”

The girls chattering away happily, they didn’t notice Pantherlily frowning in concern at Levy’s comments.

Padding away quietly as only a cat can, he found his friend observing a Natsu-Gray argument. No one was quite sure what this one was about.

“Gajeel.”

The iron dragon slayer looked down at the Exceed and waited patiently for him to continue.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Levy was just telling Lucy about her secret admirers Jet and Droy bringing her a plant today,” Lily spoke softly, knowing Gajeel would not want others in the guild to hear him.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Gajeel groaned. He shoved a hand through his hair and exhaled loudly.

“Do you want me—”

“Nah, I’ll figure somethin’ out. Thanks for the heads-up, Lily,” Gajeel said.

Lily nodded, though he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little concerned about what seemed to be an overly indirect tactic on Gajeel’s part.

I shouldn’t meddle. But if their happiness is on the line…

He mulled for a moment before deciding that for now, a wait-and-see approach would be best.

Deleted Scene

(The author apologizes in advance. It’s your choice whether to believe this happened during the story, or if it is simply the result of an overwrought brain. Should you wish to draw and quarter me, I will accept my punishment. But bear in mind that if you do, it means you won’t get the remaining chapters…)

 “Natsuuuuu! Why are we stopping here first?” Lucy asked as Natsu and Happy dragged her into the guild.

“Because I’m starving! Can’t start a job on an empty stomach!”

Happy nodded enthusiastically. “Aye!”

“Good grief, you two. You ate breakfast not an hour ago at my apartment!” The blonde glared at her partners, who’d plunked themselves at a table after giving Mira their orders.

Right on cue, both Natsu and Happy’s stomachs growled loudly.

Lucy sighed in defeat and sat down across from them. She started to comment when she noticed Levy staring at her.

“Oh, hi, Levy! Is everything okay?”

“Ne, Lu-chan, ever wonder about the origins of words or phrases?” Levy marked the page of the book she’d been reading and took a seat next to her friend.

Lucy gave an appreciative laugh. “Sure, all the time! But I think you and I might be unusual in that regard. What is it you’re wondering about?”

“The phrase ‘good grief’—excluding the idea of catharsis, not very many of us would think of grief as being a good thing,” Levy said.

“Hmm…good point…” Lucy tilted her head as she thought it over.

Around a mouthful of his second breakfast, Natsu asked, “Good grief… Ain’t that like Kobe?”

Lucy and Levy groaned and frowned at him.

“No, baka, that’s ‘good beef’.”

Natsu laughed. “Sorry, my bad.” He downed the last of his drink and slapped the tabletop. “Yoshi! Ready to go, Luce?”

Lucy waved to Levy as she hurried after her companions. “Bye, Levy-chan! You’ll have to let me know when you figure it out!”

Levy smiled and nodded, waving in return.

Author’s note: I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try to tackle full-blown angst in one chapter, plus I was uncertain about going there in this rather fluffy short story. So, I’ll back up my more lighthearted choices rather than traditional grief with a quote from Sappho—“There is no place for grief in a house which serves the Muse.” Given that my muse is finicky enough as is, who am I to argue??

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, “good grief” is what is known as a minced oath, believed to be substituting grief in place of “God.”

Footnotes:

1. Argyranthemum frutescens is also known as a marguerite daisy, and since it typically requires full sun (as Droy mentions), it wouldn’t be well suited as a houseplant—hence the need for Droy to cultivate an indoor one for Levy. While it does come in pink, to my knowledge no “Levy Pink” exists 😉