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ancient-artificer · 5 years ago

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Treasure Hunters: Morgan’s Lost Chest

A Gajevy AU oneshot mix of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Mummy.

Two professional treasure hunters clash while they desperately seek the lost chest of the infamous pirate, Captain Morgan. During their excavation, they run into a little dead-end...

Rated M for language and possible frightening descriptions.

4k+ words. Also found on ff.net.

This is what happens when you eat too many chocolate espresso beans and ask chat for a prompt (thanks btw). Up all night writing due to heavy insomnia, unending inspiration, and literal magic beans.’

Treasure Hunters: Morgan's Lost Chest

'Salty' wasn't a term used in his daily vocabulary, but Gajeel was sure it was a better word than what came to mind for the tiny spitfire currently berating his excavation team on the main deck. With a quick sigh, he tilted his head and emptied the soda can of its last drops.

The Sea Withers' weather deck carried the large various equipment needed to unearth what they all hoped would lead to the fabled Morgan Chest, reputed to have been lost for centuries when the pirate crew's mutiny went awry.

Golden treasure hidden away waiting to be uncovered sung its siren song.

When he approached the crew on deck, the woman - her finger pointed at one of his team member's chest- turned her attention to him. Her eyes darkened upon the sight. "You," she said with a low hiss.

He greatly wished at that moment that like the gold-laden chest, she too could have become lost.

"May I help you?" He asked. His indifference to her plight was tinged with condescension. His brow furrowed as he put his hands on his hips.

"This is how you treat a colleague!? I worked my butt off to get the rights for this location!" She cried and moved towards him, and though he towered above her, she wielded the finger like a sword.

Gajeel watched the index finger wag at him, almost making him go cross-eyed. He then looked at her reddened face. "Levy, is it?" He started.

Her cerulean locks shook with her anger. "Do not 'Levy' me. I mean it."

He smirked. "I was here first."

Levy all but threw herself at him. "Of course you are! You stole my papers!"

A short sound came from his mouth as he corrected, "I commandeered them."

Levy looked as though she were about to explode. She balled her fists and cocked back ready to throw one when someone came up and redirected her.

Laxus held her away from his team leader as Gajeel called to drop anchor. He let her go to roughly pull herself away from him and righting her t-shirt in the process. A dirty look was all she could muster.

There was nothing she could do about the deranged crew leader and the theft of her hard-earned property. It was by all rights her claim, whatever should they dig up. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself for the sake of their one goal.

"Alright, listen up ladies!" Gajeel called. He pulled his polarized sunglasses down to his face. "A-Team down to ground and scout, B-Team unload the ee-quip. Slow an' steady."

"What about her, sir?" Laxus asked. He gestured to the only woman on site.

Gajeel turned. He didn't want to have to deal with her griping about what he did or did not do. He shrugged. "She stays on the ship."

"I most certainly will not!" Levy shouted angrily.

"Fine," he snapped. He struggled not to roll his eyes. She was a definite pain in his ass and it wasn't even noon. "You can come. But no complaining. Stay on my six. I'm not gonna search for your body if you turn up missing."

Levy was already on the rope ladder on the way down to the small boat below as he spoke.

She, however, rolled hers.

"Gee, thanks. I'll keep that in mind," she said aloud, and then added quietly, "You butthole…"

Once they were on the shore, both teams worked to bring the equipment to solid ground. While they hauled the last of it, Gajeel let the gentle waves lap at his boots as he surveyed the length of the beach.

Most of it sand as far as the eye could see in either direction. Not more than forty yards inland the sand gave way to grass and trees. Further in was a mixed mass of rock and greenery of which the top could not be seen.

He slowly started up the sand towards a fallen tree trunk.

"Where are you going?" Levy asked. When he didn't answer, she pursed her lips and trudged after him, incoherently muttering along the way.

When she caught up with him, he was standing with one foot up on the log looking down at the map of the island in his hands.

"It's supposed to be here," he said to himself. His finger swirled over an area on the unfolded paper.

Levy peered over his arms to see where he was pointing. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"Dunno."

"Well, what do you think we should do first? I mean," she paused mid-sentence to swat at a flying insect crossing in front of her face. "Taking account for everyone on the payroll who follows us there."

Gajeel bit his cheek and then turned his head away from her to spit. "Dunno yet."

"I mean for tonight. For dinner and sleeping arrangements. It's not going to happen over-"

Cutting her off with a huff, Gajeel turned his head to her, the map crinkling in his fists. He seethed, "I don't know, dammit! And I'm not gonna know if you keep runnin' your piehole. I've never been here before, ya know."

Levy scowled at him and at the tone he used with her. She blew out a breath. "Neither have I but I did research before my approved documentation was stolen."

That piqued Gajeel's interest. He calmly looked at her.

"What kind of research?"

Levy opened her mouth to speak but promptly shut it. She gave him a sarcastic look -a wag of her eyebrows and a head tilt- and crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn't going to oblige if her questions would be waved off and ignored.

He shook his head, his eyes narrowed. "Naw, don't give me that bullshit. Since we have to work together, it's in your best interest to tell me everything you know. To help the rest of the crew. For a successful excavation."

She waved a hand out in front of her face and looked at him in her peripheral to see what he would do while she kept silent on her secret knowledge.

He didn't wait long. He breathed a rough sigh and let slip a quiet curse before going back to the map.

And she wouldn't tell him either. If he was going to be an asshole on all fronts, then some secrets were worth keeping to herself. And right now she was the only one she could trust.

The sun disappeared beyond the horizon when the crew finished settling the main camp. Small tents were pegged in the stretch of green vegetation between the beach and the rest of the jungle-like terrain. The night air cooled the island considerably. It was something which Levy had forgotten to take into account when she bounded off in search for Gajeel's ship.

She sat shivering on the same log from earlier in the day in front of the lively fire. Focusing on the orange flames, she jumped when something soft dropped onto her head.

"Put it on before you freeze." Gajeel sat down unceremoniously beside her.

She uttered her thanks and pulled it over shoulders. Warmth quickly seeped into her bones. A deep breath drew in a fresh manly scent, which told her he had recently worn it.

A coffee mug in his hand, he sipped at it and cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on the burning wood. The two of them sat in silence for some time, listening to the camp crackle with the crew's intermittent conversations and the nightly music of the island's various insects and other wildlife.

Levy looked over at the expedition's captain. Her fellow relic hunter seemed to be the type to hate waiting on others but also refused to ask for help or directions. As much as she hated the idea of him taking her claims for himself, he had a point in that they were now in it together whether it was desired or not.

They had to work as a cohesive team.

"You wouldn't like it even if I told you." Her voice cracked when she finally spoke.

His immediate response to her statement told her he had indeed been waiting on her said research.

"That so. And what would that be?"

"It's said there's a curse on the gold, any who open the chest or touch its contents are doomed for eternal misery in Davy Jones' Locker."

Gajeel coughed down the hot liquid. He snorted back a laugh and caught her gaze, her eyes alight from the glowing fire. He asked simply, "And you believe that shit? Are you an archaeologist or a superstitious historian?"

The woman was slightly taken aback. "Do you really think I'd be telling a made-up story? There's proof in the texts I found in Port Royal."

His hard stare bore a hole into her skull. Ha ha. She was pulling his leg. She had to be. When she stared back just as hard, he knew she was serious. Turning back to the fire, he gave a smile and said, "There's no such thing as curses."

A cold wind brushed through the camp. It stirred the fire and blew the hair from both of their faces.

"The ocean wind from the beach," he said, a matter of fact. He sat back and stretched out his legs.

Levy pursed her lips and stood up. She raised her chin but squinted down at him. There was no way the impossible man would believe it without physical evidence, and there was no way of obtaining it.

He stared back with a smug expression and put his hands behind his head.

"I know what I read, Mr. Redfox, captain," she said, holding her arms tightly over her chest against the cold air. "I don't need or want your condescending-"

In her rush to leave, the toe of her boot caught part of the log that had rotted off. Before she could throw her arms out to catch herself, she stumbled forward in the direction of her broad-shouldered rival.

The coffee mug spilled its contents on the ground beside Gajeel as Levy's weight dropped straight down into his lap.

Standing one moment, the next she was gazing up at the surprise plastered on him. She was well aware of his arms tightly folded over her body.

He gaped wide-eyed. "You ok?" He asked.

"Y-yea," she murmured, still shocked at the sudden change. Her nose briefly grazed his cheek and she could smell the dried sweat on his skin.

And for some reason, it smelled good.

A blush crept into her cheeks. She scrambled to her feet, left as quickly as the dark would let her and hoped he wouldn't bring it up in the morning.

***

Gajeel observed with a heightened excitement as the last bit of debris was removed from the roped-off digging area. Three full days of digging away as much dirt as possible in the humid air had taken most of the remaining patience he had left.

The deep pit revealed what appeared to be broken bits of old pitch-covered wood. Pieces of frayed rope and other non-degradable material surrounded an old, half-buried chest.

"Break out the cooler," Laxus called out. He stood above on the topsoil. He tossed their leader a glass container which sloshed with golden-brown liquid.

Gajeel untwisted the cap. "A round of Captain Morgan!" He exclaimed, then brought the bottle to his mouth for the first sip. He passed it to the closest man.

As he and the others celebrated their discovery, Levy felt an uneasiness. She had suspected some kind of supernatural boobytrap, but none came to slow down their progress. The lack thereof made her become overly cautious.

"Come on," Gajeel said to her without looking her way. No trace of their brief conversation the few nights before -and what had accidentally occurred between them- appeared to be of any concern to him.

Levy watched from her perch above them on the ground untouched by the digging equipment. Glancing around at the surrounding environment, she couldn't shake the odd feeling. She wanted to warn him again, but would her heed only fall on deaf ears?

"Gajeel, wait," she called anyways.

Standing by the chest and posing for pictures with other crew members, he seemed not to notice her. Only when the pit cleared away did he remember she had called to him.

He put one large hand on her shoulder and said, "We found it."

"Yes, I can see. Please don't touch it yet."

He huffed. "Levy, I'm telling you, there's nothing going to happen."

Despite his rebuke of the truth and reliability of her "research", he took his hand from her, but kept his other hand on his hip. With her experience in professionally recovering lost artifacts for science and the occasional museum, he let her take point to inspect it.

Levy approached the chest, assuming control of the situation. Bending at the waist, she put her hands on her knees.

Behind her came a clearing of a throat. Gajeel shifted his weight. He tried to not notice her short blue jean shorts rising up the underside of her thigh. His gaze averted, but only for a second. An inaudible grunt of slight arousal settled in his chest.

Oblivious, her eyes roamed over the old wooden box. Rusty iron strips were nailed into the decaying wood at the corners. Bugs crawled over parts around the bottom. It looked like anything someone could dig up if one went deep enough. The closer she got to it, the more it revealed of itself.

Walking around it and without physical contact with it, she closely inspected the front side. The standard keyhole lock from the era was missing. Red crumbly bits of rust settled on the iron rest where it would have been. A faint inscription was etched on the domed lid above the iron edging. A black substance stained its surface.

She frowned. Her stomach threatened to empty itself. The ancient documentation in Port Royal had to be accurate.

"What is it?" Gajeel asked.

Pointing, Levy read aloud the message carved into the rotten mahogany, "'Gold, silver, all treasures this chest has carried now lives to tell of souls long dead and tarried'."

Gajeel's brows furrowed. "The fuck," he grumbled. He quickly moved to her side, his eyes on their prize. "What does that even mean?"

He reached out a hand to flip the lid away to peer inside. Levy gasped and caught his arm, pulling it towards her.

"No! Don't do that!"

"Levy!" He roared in frustration.

One of the crew members hopped down into the pit. "If you two aren't gonna, let me, for fuck's sake..."

He quickly threw the lid back.

Levy, still clinging to Gajeel's arm, shut her eyes. Gajeel glanced down at her as she squeezed his limb tighter. Her forehead brushed against his bicep.

The crew member fell silent. No one spoke. The seconds that ticked by seemed more like minutes. Gajeel shifted his weight once again in his impatience.

"Well?"

The crewman's shoulders fell. His tone was one of shock. "It's empty."

Levy's eyes shot open. She spoke at the same moment as Gajeel.

"It is?"

"Come again?"

He shook off Levy's hold and was beside the brave crew member in one stride, dead set on seeing for himself. It had to be a joke. They spent way too much time and effort to come up short.

There was nothing inside. Not even dirt or sand.

Levy had hoped that despite the warning that there would lie some kind of treasure. It didn't have to be gold or other precious jewels or the like. She would have been ecstatic with an old half-filled journal. Or a comb. Or even a spoon.

She looked at Gajeel, defeated. "Now what?"

A dull, dumping sound filled the pit, like a pile of dirt dumped onto concrete. It gradually became louder.

A surprised cry spouted from the only person known to have touched what was supposed to have been a bountiful riches.

Gajeel looked in disgust at the crewman's arm as it turned a pale green with a shattered cracking pattern snaking across the skin right before his waking eyes.

He put his arm in front of Levy and backed them both to the excavation pit's edge. "Lax, are you seeing this?" His voice seemed both distant and as if he were shouting at the same time.

Laxus replied. "Yea…"

The others were watching the scene unfold, not knowing what was going on or what to do; obviously, no one had trained for something such as this.

The first mate hesitantly pulled the pistol from his holster and brought it up. He didn't want to point it at his friends, but what was happening below to one of them was not normal by any standards. "And I don't like it."

The man's skin went from the pale green to gray, the cracks webbing out began to widen, until one of his wrists severed from the rest of the lifeless limb. The man who had opened the chest was decaying at an unbelievably fast rate.

Levy abruptly turned upon the realization. She made a grab for the hanging rope ladder. Her breaths came shallow and hurried, her only thoughts were of getting out unscathed.

The crewman's face began to change colors. He twitched and jerked while the deterioration accelerated. One of his kneecaps slid diagonally down to the side, causing his leg to turn unnaturally when he attempted to take a step. When he moved his head, the gray skin cracking like dried mud broke loose. The mandible beneath unhinged itself from the skull, permanently propping open the man's mouth.

"Climb faster," Gajeel murmured.

The undead stepped out in his direction.

"Faster, Levy," he repeated with more force.

His colleague was halfway up the ladder. He shoved his hand upwards and cupped one of her ass cheeks, pushing her the rest of the way so he could begin his ascent to get the hell out.

Once she was at the top, a gunshot fired once and echoed into the rest of the island. Levy turned to see Gajeel hurrying up the ladder and the undead shipmate now without an arm on his way towards them.

Laxus fired another shot that missed.

"Has anyone else touched the chest?!" Levy shouted. Goosebumps traveled down her arms and legs. She hoped and prayed it was just the one.

If others had as she suspected, no one confessed. A commotion of mixed shouts and warnings came from the campsite. A few crew members cleared out of the way before the same thing that had just occurred in the pit began to eat away at two more.

Morgan's curse was spreading.

Gajeel scrambled to his feet once he reached solid ground. He yanked the ladder out in case the undead could come up after him. The rotted body loosed a sound that would have been a snarl and clawed at the dirt wall.

"So much for buried treasure, shoulda known," Gajeel roughly spat. In two quick strides, he was right next to Levy.

She gave him a disapproving look. "I tried to tell you."

"Yea, yea." He took her hand and swiftly guided them away from the excavation pit.

The main camp was in disarray. The undead was numerous, turning the others who had ignorantly treated the dig site as every other they previously created.

"We gotta get to the ship before they do."

A half snarl growl from the freshly dead warned Gajeel of its proximity in time for him to snatch up one of the cooking pans by the fire and connect it with the side of its ugly, deformed face. The remnants of their earlier breakfast unstuck itself to snag on the zombie's protruding nasal bone.

It fell to the ground, but of course, nothing could kill an undead in this case, given that it was unleashed via a curse.

He picked up another pan and shoved it into Levy's hand. "It won't kill them, but it'll keep you alive," he stated. He gave her a hard, meaningful gaze, shifting to both of her eyes. "Stay on my ass, Lev."

At her nod, he looked both ways for incoming bogeys and then rushed forward in the direction of the beach.

Gunshots echoed, screams and shouts of men running for their lives met their ears. They lept for the grassy trail which led straight for the ocean. Skinny tree trunks and other tall plants flashed by in a blur as they hightailed it, as fast as the overgrown vegetation would allow.

Gajeel used his pan like a sword and wacked two unsuspecting undeads clear off their broken feet. Bits of dust plumed out in small clouds from the contact made with his makeshift but effective weapon.

When they reached the beach's hot sand, he looked over his shoulder. The fierce little woman abruptly stopped and swung her frying pan like a baseball bat at the zombie following close behind her.

She gave a short grunt with the effort. The bottom of the weapon smacked the unnatural creature, its head popped off and flew back the way they came. Dust clouded the air in her wake. The undead body crumpled in a heap to the ground.

A clean headshot.

The display of power greatly impressed Gajeel.

Her next step onto the beach was a stumble, but he was there to catch her in one of his arms.

"Careful," he murmured. His gaze lingered on her face as he set her upright.

She saw the look in his eyes. A red-tinged her cheeks. Before he could see it, she grabbed his arm with her free hand and gave a tough tug. Her voice was breathless, "We can't stand around, come on!"

They ran for The Sea Wither still at anchor a distance away in deeper water. The smaller boat they came to shore in sat untouched on the dry sand, the motor flipped upside down inside for storage.

When Levy bounded into it, Gajeel started to shove the boat towards the water. They heard a loud shout for them to wait.

Laxus lead a few others out of the fray. They wielded various objects from camp, frantically booking it over the loose sand. The first mate slowed to a stop and immediately helped Gajeel in pushing the large vessel.

The others threw themselves into the boat, breathing heavily, scared out of their wits. Odd weaponry lay on the boat floor: another frying pan, a shovel, a machete, a long stick, a foldable chair. She gave credit for creativity within the group of people still alive.

"Alright, let's get the hell out of dodge," Gajeel said to Laxus and nodded.

Two other crewmen pulled their leader into the boat while Laxus readied the motor by securing it onto its mount. He yanked the pull cord and it suddenly came to life.

"What about the equipment? Everyone else still out there?" A man asked. He gripped his crowbar white knuckles.

"It's not worth the risk. Not right now."

With the motorboat gaining speed towards their ticket home, Gajeel looked back to see more decomposing bodies now emerging from the cursed island. He took a breath and turned to Levy. "Whoever's left isn't going to last," he admitted aloud for everyone to hear above the motor's roar.

Biting her lip, Levy had to turn away from the beach. She shook from adrenaline still coursing through her veins. The cold sea air didn't help either. She felt the warmth radiating from Gajeel when he sat next to her. What comfort she could feel came from him.

The boat slowed when they arrived at the ship. One by one they wasted no time in boarding the massive ship. The first thing he did after making sure what remained of his crew were safely aboard, Gajeel entered the bridge and created a distress call on the appropriate channels.

Levy sat in one of the main chairs and listened as he successfully made contact with the mainland. In her relief knowing there would be a rescue, her gaze shifted from the ships controls to the beach.

"Gajeel, y-you need to s-see this," she stuttered. Fear was again present in her voice.

He put down the radio and glanced up. He did a sharp double-take. "You gotta be kidding me! These fuckers can swim?!"

#gajevy #gajevy x levy #gajevy fanfics #ftfanfics #fairy tail #ft #ff.net #capaleran2-2 #andyswrite #possible trigger warnings #possible scary descriptions #undead #buried treasure

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not-just-any-fangirl · 7 years ago

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Days Of Summer Ch 6

A/N; Hey yall sorry for the wait! With school and some personal things we kinda lost track of his fic <3<3 feel free to come and talk to @hannah-nobody or myself about this fic tho, we love ti!

Here’s the updated playlist!

Summer has arrived, and with it the start of the two month long music camp; Fairy Tail! Full of new songs, friends, and adventures, the campers learn things they never knew about themselves and one another. And just how easy it is to sneak booze and a full sized karaoke machine out into the middle of the woods.

Camp Rock!AU

Pairing: Nalu, Gajevy, Gruvia, others mentioned; Fairy Tail

Words: 5379

Rating: T

Parts: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven

Chapter Six: Misery Hates Company

I don't belong to my mistakes

Tired of sleeping wide awake

It's killing me slowly

It's crowded and lonely

Natsu woke up staring at the ceiling of his bunk, unsure how he got there and surrounded by darkness.

Then he remembered.

And then he rolled over and tried to smother himself with his pillow.

“What the fuck did I do ?” Natsu wailed. The song. He sang that fucking song to Lucy. He'd made a giant fool of himself on stage. He was going to be sick, and not just from the leftover whiskey in his stomach.

“Well, you sent Lucy into a mini panic attack, then asked Cana if she could give her the trick she shared with you to calm down, then passed out when Gray here punched you in the face.” Loke drawled, unperturbed at Natsu waking up screaming past midnight. “Overall it was a hell of a first performance. Really scene stealing.”

Natsu moaned in a rather pathetic sound as he went back to trying to kill himself with his bedding. Maybe he'd just stay in the cabin for the rest of camp. His dad would probably miss the final performance anyway so no big loss.

“Oi, at least she proves the point you weren't hallucinating,” Gajeel supplied from under Natsu, like an awkward and sleep deprived troll under a bridge.

“But that's the worst possible thing that could happen!” Natsu spat. He was not feeling tears prick his eyes and he was not so pathetic to continue to have his emotions on display for his dickhead bunkmates.

“Why the fuck not?” Gajeel spat back, jostling Natsu as he probably kicked the plank under Natsu’s mattress. Loke too was confused, Natsu forcing himself not to tear apart his pillow when he spoke up as well.

“I mean, isn't it better to have everything out in the open?”

“Of course it's not, you fuckwit.” Gray finally snapped. Natsu looked over, Gray curled in his blanket and facing firmly away from him. “Lucy would have been much happier without ever knowing that her first kiss was with a fucking perverted scene wannabe like him .”

Natsu curled in on himself before throwing off the covers. He needed air. He needed to be alone.

“Fuck off already, what is your fuckin’ problem with my cousin?” Gajeel snarled. Natsu froze, caught off guard by Gajeel’s words. He never called Natsu his cousin, said he didn't want anyone to affiliate them with each other when Gajeel went big. “Ever since we got here you've been nothin’ but an ass. Not even Natsu deserves that bullshit twenty-four seven.”

Natsu blinked at his cousin’s defence.

“He took advantage of her when she was drunk-”

“Holy hell Gray. If you really believe that Natsu could take advantage of a drunk girl then come down here and look me in the eye when you say it. Natsu doesn't have a fucking malicious bone in his body and I understand that your fragile masculinity took a hit from failing to ‘protect’ Lucy or whatever but it's time you stop blaming Natsu for that shit. And yourself. Just accept that shit happens and there's nothing you can do but move on.” Loke huffed when he finished, rustling sounds of fabric indicating that he rolled over.

Natsu was pretty sure he was still drunk because nothing was making any sort of damn sense. Maybe he was having a whiskey dream.

He was still going to take that walk.

“Oi,” Gajeel grunted, freakishly good eyesight catching Natsu making his way down the ladder, “whad’ya think you’re doin’?”

“Getting some air,” Natsu said back. He grabbed his hoodie from where it had been thrown in the corner, by him or Gajeel he couldn’t remember. Happy mrawed at him as his bed was moved, jumping onto Gajeel’s bed and cuddling with Lily instead. Natsu mentally apologized to his cat, but was more thankful to feel his iPod in his pocket. Hopefully the charge wasn’t completely dead.

“You... you don’t have to go, dipshit,” Gray made more shuffling noises in his bunk, obviously uncomfortable.

“Aww, scared I’m going to get lost before you have the chance to apologize properly?” Natsu teased, unsure what to do at Gray’s olive branch and his defense swatting it away before he could stop his mouth from moving.

“On second thought I hope you drown in the lake. Bye.”

Natsu snorted, rolling his eyes as he walked around the suitcases that hadn’t made their way back under the bunks. He’d rather have this rivalry with Gray than try to unpack whatever the fuck was going on in either of their heads. He needed to focus all his energy of reliving every terrible moment and fantasizing about how much Lucy probably hated him.

God he was so fucked.

He threw in his headphones, praying as he pressed the button on his right earbud to play his music that his battery was still alive.

He left out a breath of relief as he exited the cabin before recognizing the song that was playing.

When you were here before

Couldn't look you in the eye.

You're just like an angel.

Your skin makes me cry.

Fuck.

He continued walking, debating changing the song or accepting his fate. The chorus rang in his ears as he reached the edge of where the cabins were tucked away, haunting and painful and true.

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here.

Natsu decided to let it play.

Loke woke up to his phone buzzing.

He frowned not remembering setting an alarm last night. He felt beside his pillow, hand splayed as he searched for the source of irritating buzzing. He finally found it, half shoved under his pillow. He squinted at the screen, bringing it so close it almost brushed his nose, blind without his contacts or glasses. Loke blinked in surprise when he saw that the vibrating was a steady stream of texts coming in from Lucy and Cana. He looked at the time. 7:13 AM.

This wouldn’t be good.

He unlocked the screen, deciding to start with Cana’s texts.

Alcoholic Princess - 6:59 AM: so Lucy’s awake

Alcoholic Princess - 6:59 AM: she’s not happy

Alcoholic Princess - 7:01 AM: Correction: She is Very Not Happy

Alcoholic Princess - 7:02 AM: Loke you’re the best at calming her she is yelling at me through text and not talking to me.

Alcoholic Princess - 7:04 AM: Loke I think I might have fucked up a little bit last night.

Alcoholic Princess - 7:04 AM: just a little

Alcoholic Princess - 7:06 AM: don’t tell her I said that

Alcoholic Princess - 7:10 AM: fuck

“Just a little bit,” Loke snorted under his breath. Hey, how were they supposed to know Natsu would be such a light weight? That wasn’t Loke’s fault, and it certainly wasn’t Natsu’s. Loke looked at the bunk diagonal to his, frowning at the unpleasant twist in his gut seeing it empty. A small meow took his attention from the phone vibrating in his hand and the empty bunk, Loke looking down to see Natsu’s blue cat sitting by the foot of his bed and staring at him with sad eyes.

“Do you know where he is?” Loke asked Happy. He sighed when the cat made a sad sound, slinking onto the bed as it took Loke speaking to it as invitation onto his bed. Loke decided it was probably best to deal with Lucy now before she stewed too long.

My Sunshine - 7:00 AM: Did you know?

My Sunshine - 7:00 AM: Loke I swear to god

My Sunshine - 7:01 AM: Get your ass up I know you’re a morning person

My Sunshine - 7:01 AM: As if you’d miss your skincare routine

My Sunshine - 7:03 AM: Answer me you coward

My Sunshine - 7:04 AM: Okay so you didn’t know but what did Natsu ever do to you that you decided it’d be funny to get him drunk?

My Sunshine - 7:06: AM Oh my god is Natsu okay

My Sunshine - 7:07 AM: Why didn’t he tell me? Loke ask him why he didn’t tell me

Loke looked at the empty bed again. How did he end up in the middle of this?

My Sunshine - 7:10 AM: Loke

My Sunshine - 7:11 AM: Oh my god Loke I kissed Natsu

My Sunshine - 7:11 AM: I’ve had my first kiss

My Sunshine - 7:11 AM: LOKE

My Sunshine - 7:11 AM: LOKE IVE KISSED A BOY

My Sunshine - 7:13 AM: AND GRAY KNEW ABOUT IT

My Sunshine - 7:14 AM: the stupid emo’s not responding to my texts

My Sunshine - 7:14 AM: tell Gray to get his ass to my cabin

My Sunshine - 7:14 AM: we

My Sunshine - 7:14 AM: are

My Sunshine - 7:14 AM: going

My Sunshine - 7:14 AM: to

My Sunshine - 7:14 AM: talk

Loke rolled over, groaning into his pillow.

This was so not good. And it was all Gray’s stupid fault.

Me - 7:15 AM: Be there in a minute bae

My Sunshine - 7:15 AM: I haven’t decided if you can call me bae yet or if I’m still angry at you.

Me - 7:16 AM: My everescent and wonderful star, I promise this was entirely Gray’s fuck up

My Sunshine - 7:16 AM: You can call me bae

My Sunshine - 7:16 AM: For now

Loke grinned at his phone before lifting his leg and kicking the bottom of Gray’s bunk. Hopefully by his dumb head.

“We’re going to Lucy’s cabin and she’s pissed so if you say anything stupid that makes her cry I’m throwing you in the lake myself.” Loke called, grabbing his glasses from under his bunk. He’d deal with the contacts when the birds weren’t still asleep.

“Fuck no,” drifted from Gray’s pillow, and Loke was utterly done with his best friend’s bullshit.

“Fuck yes. You got yourself in this mess by keeping it from her and bae, it’s time you reap what you sow.” Loke said flatly, getting dressed quickly. He’d do his skincare routine later. Gray grunted, jumping from the bed in only his boxers, hair messed and glare deadly if not for Loke’s done-ness with him so early in the morning. The got ready in silence, neither giving a farewell to the lump of blanket that was Gajeel. He’d really have to get Natsu’s and his other bunkmate’s numbers, that is if Natsu hadn’t gotten eaten by a fucking wild cat.

Not that Loke was still harbouring ill wishes for the two furballs that he was being forced to live with.

Even if the blue one was adorable.

Loke contemplated if he was growing into a cat person during the otherwise painfully quiet walk to Lucy and Cana’s cabin. Soft tapping sounds made Loke’s left eye twitch, knowing the sound of Gray’s growing anxiety and how close he was to either punching something or grabbing a smoke. Loke spoke when the sound of tapping and crunching of gravel grew to be too much, already pissed at having to skip his moisturizing routine. If he even saw so much as one wrinkle or the hint of bags under his eyes he would smother Gray the first chance he got. “For someone who almost died from asthma you think filling your lungs with toxic tar smoke would be less appealing.”

“You’d think with how blind you are without your glasses you’d keep your nose out of your damn phone more. But I guess we’re both dumbasses,” Gray snapped, drumming out a quick and syncopated rhythm on his thigh. Like rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone to spite Gray. He tapped in the passcode, Freddie Mercury's birthday. There was no other bi icon that was as flamboyant and dazzling and talented, all aspects that Loke aspired to be. He scrolled through Twitter, keeping updated on all the gossip that had happened on a weeknight with the people from his school, music writing group, model agency. He was bored quickly, closing the app and flicking on Instagram. A message popped up on the top of his screen just as he double tapped a video of a pair of lion cubs playing, Loke smiling slightly when he saw who it was. He tucked the phone closer, glaring at Gray’s half used cigarette in his mouth, red glow quick as it burned down the white stick.

Fluffball - 7:36 AM: Good morning :3

Me - 7:36 AM: It is truly a good morning now that you have graced my phone with your attention. How did my heart sleep?

Fluffball - 7:37 AM: Your flirting is much less convincing when I see you hit on anything that smiles at you, love

Me - 7:38 AM: You wound me muffin.

Me - 7:38 AM: You know my eye may wander but my heart never will

Fluffball - 7:40 AM: Uh huh. We’ve been best friends since we were two. I know when you full of poo

Fluffball - 7:41 AM: But I love you anyway <3

Fluffball - 7:41 AM: I have to go, those costumes won’t fix themselves!

Me - 7:42 AM: I’ll see you at lunch?

Fluffball - 7:43 AM: When have I ever missed a date?

Loke smiled, fingers tapping along the side of his case as he read through their messages.

“God, I really don’t want to die a virgin,” Gray groaned. Loke lifted his head, brow raising as he watched his ‘friend’ twitch and grind the cigarette out with his heel, frozen in front of Lucy and Cana’s cabin. He said ‘friend’ because real friends wouldn’t drag Loke into this kind of bullshit before one PM, instead falling on his own sword gallantly and with grace.

“Shoulda taken up that red head’s offer last May then,” Loke said flatly. He knocked on the door, slipping his phone into his pocket and crossing his arms as he waited. Gray whined, and Loke sighed loudly, grabbing his collar. As if he’d let him run away.

Loke refused to face the wrath of Lucy alone.

The door flew open and revealed Lucy in all of her pajama and messy haired glory. She grabbed the front of Gray’s collar, dragging him into the cabin with a deadly glare. Gray squeaked like a five year old girl. Loke wished he had recorded it. He sighed as he step into the cabin, identical to his own aside from girls clothes strewn on the railings of the bunks and several suitcases thrown open with make-up and hair products spilling from them. He lingered as he passed a small blue one that held some of the highest quality foundation he had seen, scowling when he recognized it as Ivory rather than the Nude or Flawless Natural, much too dark to pass for such a white colour. But maybe when he found the girl with this bag he could ask about her highlighters...

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

Oh, right, Lucy’s world rocking revelation.

“I didn’t think it was that important,” Gray shrugged off. His hands were shoved in his pockets, face turned down and away from Lucy as he glared at a bright pink and polkadotted duffel bag. Loke snorted as he leaned against the bunk that Levy was sitting on top of. He shared a tired look with the short haired girl, hey eye bags looking as exhausted as Loke felt.

This was going to be the fucking opposite of fun.

“You didn’t think my first kiss was important?” Lucy shrieked. She paced several feet, hands switching from crossing and folding behind her back. He wondered if she’d gotten any sleep, which was a dumb thing to think about considering he knew how she got when something bothered her. Either it needed to be solved or destroyed, and Lucy would never cut of a friendship with someone. “Gray what the hell?”

“You were drunk!” He shouted, finally looking at her. “It wasn’t your first kiss if you can’t remember it, and I didn’t think you two would ever see each other again.”

“That was not your decision to make,” Lucy hissed.

“I know I ain’t exactly the queen of good decisions, but even I know that was fucked up dude,” Cana interjected from where she sat on the bunk across from Loke, holding one of Lucy’s plushies to her chest and resting her chin between the pink cat ears.

“And how would she have reacted if I’d told her she’d made out with a random stranger at a music festival while drunk off one of your special concoctions?” Gray asked sarcastically. Cana made a face at him and he growled, running both hands through his hair before fisting at the sides of it. “Lucy, you would have freaked out and been horrified. You’d have been miserable all through your exams and that would make you even more stressed to shit. It wouldn’t have been worth it.”

“But it wasn’t your decision to make.” Lucy said back, pushing each word through her teeth with emphasis. “And now he’s here, and obviously Natsu remembered our kiss.”

“He wasn’t supposed to be here!” Gray growled, tugging on his hair again before shoving his hands back into his jean pockets.

“Well he is! And so am I! And he must think I’m the worst for forgetting him! Or worse, what if he thought I was just ignoring him? What if he hates me now?” Lucy asked, voice growing smaller with each question, less yelling at Gray and more worrying out loud. She hugged herself, flannel sleep shirt pulling on the sleeves as it was stretched. Lucy buried her face in her hands, Loke pushing off his standing post in distress.

“O-oi,” Gray called, hands hovering over her shoulders and all tense defensiveness leaving him. If anyone hated it more when Lucy cried than herself it would be Gray. The poor bastard could barely handle his own emotions, much less deal with someone so close’s.

“Way to go dickface!” Cana called, glaring from her spot on Lucy’s bed and shuffling over for the blonde to cuddle with her. “You made her cry!”

“I’m n-not crying,” Lucy sniffled.

Loke shot the nastiest glare that he could at Gray, not even satisfied when he watched him pale and duck his head in shame. He returned to leaning on his post when Gray grabbed Lucy’s arms and pulled her into a tight hug, Lucy pushing back for a second before hugging him fiercely. Loke smirked at Grays sharp grunt, Lucy punching him in the gut once before returning to holding him.

“No offence, Luce, but why are you so upset about a guy you barely know?” Gray asked, petting her head in the most natural way Loke had seen Gray show affection, went meant it was still stiff as fuck and somehow both awkward and endearing to watch happen.

“I’m more upset that you didn’t tell me.” Lucy mumbled, squeezing Gray tight enough to pull a grunt of pain from him. Her head twisted on his chest, Loke feeling ice crawl through his blood at her flat glare and watery gaze as she looked at him. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you lack of response to finding out I’ve had my first kiss either.”

“Bae, it wasn’t my place to butt in.” Loke felt his smile falter the longer Lucy leveled him with her unconvinced glare.

“You mean you were waiting for it to blow up in Gray’s face.”

“Yes.”

Loke shared a smirk with Cana, his other best friend cackling at his easy admittance.

“Thanks bae ,” Gray growled, setting his chin on top of Lucy’s head. She’d pretend to be upset for the first few weeks Gray had realized he was tall enough to do that know, but everyone saw how much she smiled when he did it. Or rested his elbow on her shoulder. Lucy got back at him by painting his nails, either a nice colourful black or if Gray was in a good enough mood a deep, deep , blue.

“He said it! Lucy, Gray said bae! Did you feel his heart thaw? Did it begin to beat like a normal human’s again? Gray, tell me, how does it feel to live ?”

Lucy snorted, burying her face in Gray’s chest as he grumbled insults into her hair. He tensed suddenly, scowling down at Lucy when she turned her face back to Loke. “Nope, he’s still our Tin Man.”

“Juvia could check for Gray’s pulse,” Juvia squeaked, burying her face back into her blanket when Gray looked at her.

“I think we’ve got it covered Juvi, though I’m sure Gray here wouldn’t mind getting a physic-”

“Cana,” Levy sighed. Loke grinned up at her, pleased to see her standing up to the other girl. While friendly and awesome, Cana had a tendency to steamroll things, and Loke was relieved that it wouldn’t just be Lucy having to keep her in check, God knew he and Gray were useless at corralling her.

Lucy sighed, tightness from her shoulders melting away as she continued to speak again, voice smaller than before and making Loke intently aware that easiness they’d brought back to the cabin was gone. “I guess I’m also upset that I forgot my first kiss. And he seems like such a nice guy too, to remember a random girl he met at a concert? I probably wasn’t even his best kiss, all drunk and gross. I can’t believe he’d even want to talk to me after I made such a fool out of myself in front of him.”

“It is alright Lucy, your’s and Natsu’s kiss was Natsu’s first kiss as well. Gajie was very concerned for his cousin that he had started to hallucinate such an event.” Juvia said, smile kind and encouraging. Lucy wailed, turning into Gray’s startled arms.

“That’s worse!”

“That’s what Natsu said,” Loke grumbled. He didn’t understand how any of this was a bad thing, they were obviously into one another, why not just get on with the fun part of dating and skip all the awkwardness?

“Lucy, it’ll be fine,” Cana soothed, staying in her spot on the bed and trusting Gray to not make things worse. “I’m sure he understands you were drunk, and didn’t mean to not recognize him. The dork doesn’t seem the to type to hold grudges.”

“I know what it’s like to be forgotten. I never thought I’d turn out like my dad.” Lucy mumbled, voice sounding tight again as she muffled it in Gray’s -miraculously- clothed chest. Cana sobered instantly, sharing a heavy look with Loke as he pushed off from his leaning post.

“You’re nothing like him, Lucy,” Gray hissed. “Absolutely nothing.”

She gave a weak laugh, and Loke’s mouth twisted sourly at her disbelief of his words. Lucy was friendly and compassionate and outgoing, nothing like her prestige focused father. While they all knew he loved her, they knew Jude loved the idea of what he could turn Lucy into more. Another business person to lead the company, his little puppet and yes-man as he made more deals and gained more power. A pretty face to show to the outside world.

“A guy like Natsu wouldn’t kiss ya if you were anything like Jude,” Loke said, forcing a grin on as he continued speaking. “Too much mustache.”

“What was he like this morning?”

Loke’s heart lept to his throat the same time Gray whimpered, his joke passed unnoticed as Lucy turned the conversation back to the present. Neither were keen on telling Lucy they had lost the pink haired boy around midnight and he hadn’t returned when they woke up. Cana had grown attached to the shy nerd, and Loke had to admit he had too, if not to the same extent as his alcoholic friend. There was just something about his bright smile and the impish glint he got in his eye when he laughed or made a snide comment, his fluffy hair reminding Loke of a duckling when he got rid of that damn beanie.

Loke didn’t feel up to dealing with the man-hunt Cana would lead looking for the idiot.

“Uh,” Loke drew out, ignoring Gray’s panicked shaking of his head over Lucy’s shoulder. “He wasn’t exactly there when we got up...”

“Does Loke or Gray know where Natsu is?” A light and musical voice asked. Loke looked up at Juvia, her hair piled in a messy bun over her head, blankets pulled her to chin and making her a giant lump of ugly-washed-out-baby-blue that was the camp supplied blanket.

“Uhhhh,” Gray said, helpfully.

“He’s on the grounds?” Loke followed up. He tried to smile at end, cowering slightly under Lucy’s loud squawk and Cana’s glower.

“How do you lose a sixteen year old boy?” Levy asked. Loke looked at her, betrayed. They were literally on the same side of the room, how dare she turn on their unagreed alliance and bonding of sharing a look while Gray was an ass.

“We ain’t his keepers,” Gray mumbled, resting his chin on Lucy’s head despite her trying to pull back to yell at them. “The bastard can walk around at midnight without us keepin’ tabs on him.”

“You let him wander around a camp in the middle of the woods at midnight while he was drunk ?” Lucy shrieked.

“Gray punched Natsu so hard he has a bruise!”

“What the fuck dude?”

Loke shrugged at Gray’s aghast look. He wasn’t going down without throwing a few friends under the bus. All was fair in love and not dying before legally going to a bar. Besides, he had a lunch date he couldn’t miss.

“Gray!”

“Loke and Cana got him drunk, why aren’t you yelling at them?” Gray barked. Loke brought a hand to his chest, offended that Gray would would do such a thing to him. Just because Loke would use him as a scapegoat doesn’t mean Gray had to sink to the same level.

“Speaking of that,” Lucy whirled on Loke. He held his hands up, paralyzed under her sharp look. “What did Natsu ever do to you for you to be so mean?”

“I was helping him!” Loke gaped at her, looking at Cana for support. “He’s just a major light weight! Gray said he hoped Natsu drowned when he left the cabin!”

Gray whined again as Lucy pulled from his arms, hands fisted on her hips as she glared at him like a mother might glare at a five year old she had caught drawing on the walls.

“I didn’t mean it,” he defended sourly, pulling at the neck of his shirt. And then throwing it onto Lucy’s bed. “He was being a prick! He just- that scene bastard gets under my skin with his stupid questions and dye job and stupid laugh.”

“Natsu’s hair is naturally rose,” Juvia said. Loke sputtered, everyone twisting to look at Juvia in shock.

“How the fuck did that happen?” Cana asked, smiling in disbelief at the bottom of the bunk above her. Juvia shrugged, pulling the blanket up to cover her nose as all eyes remained trained on her. Loke wondered what her talent was if she was so stage shy. “I wonder if the curtain matches the drapes.”

“ Cana!”

Cana grinned and shrugged under the shouts by the rest of the room, reminding Loke of the time he had caught Gajeel’s cat eating a kiwi of all things on Loke’s bed. Pleased with themself and uncaring of Loke’s outrage.

“Juvia would appreciate not talking about Gajie’s cousin’s genitals, please,” Juvia said shyly, face bright red as she peeked above her blanket.

“I’m with Juvia,” Levy said. “It’s too early in the morning to talk about dicks.”

“We’re talking about Gray.”

“Dude!”

Loke grinned at Gray’s offended bark, smile brightening when he saw Lucy grin and giggle into her hand at Loke’s insult of Gray. Being mean to Gray always made Lucy laugh if it wasn’t too harsh, especially because Gray always gave as good as he got. He was glad she was starting to calm down. He hated seeing her stressed.

“Does anyone have his number?” Lucy asked, hands fiddling in front of her and her gaze flicking anxiously between everyone.

“The boy’s lost and you’re trying to wheel him? Naughty naughty,” Cana cooed. She squeezed the stuffed cat pillow to her in glee, eyes sparkling as she grinned at Lucy.

Lucy sputtered, pink coating her cheeks in a way Loke had to bite his tongue to stop himself from calling cute, knowing Lucy was not above stealing his phone and deleting all his selfies in this kind of mood. Not that Loke couldn’t just take more, but sometimes the light was just right and who was he to deny a hint of divine intervention?

“I- I’m just worried about him! Shut up!”

Loke sighed and walked over to Cana, laying on Lucy’s bed and claiming her lap with his head.

“I don’t know bae, you seem pretty keen,” Loke teased.

“You seem pretty keen!” Lucy shot back, her arms crossed over her chest and her leg twitching in way it did when Lucy wanted to stomp her foot. Loke, Cana, and Gray had a running competition to see who could get Lucy to stomp her foot the most, and whoever won by the beginning of September got twenty bucks from the other two, each. And bragging rights.

“Great come back Lulu,” Levy called. She smirked as Lucy turned her glare-slash-pout on her, blowing her a kiss and wink. Loke silently forgave Levy for the earlier betrayal.

“Juvia has texted Natsu, and he says he’s fine aside from craving the sweet release of death. Or a nap. Natsu is undecided as of yet and says that it will be decided by if they’re serving pancakes for breakfast and how much Love Rival remembers about last night. Oh, Natsu said not tell you that. Forget what Juvia just said, please!”

Loke looked around, confused.

“Who’s ‘Love Rival’?”

“It’s what Juvi here calls Luce ‘cus she thinks Lucy wants to jump Gray despite clearly having a thing for natural pink-ettes or whatever the fuck his hair colour is called.” Cana pet Loke’s head as she talked, nodding sagely at his incredulous look.

“Those two are as likely to hook up as you and Bacchus.” Loke laughed, Cana grinning widely at his comparison.

“What! No! Gross! I mean, Lucy’s hot but like in a sister way where you ignore it and punch anyone who says it out loud! Not like... that! Just... I mean... no.” Gray spoke over himself, vehement in his denial while also trying not to insult Lucy. Loke wished he had got it on video, the raven haired boy’s face darkening with heat the longer he stumbled on his words.

His hands twitched at his belt, and Loke was not in the mood for an 8 AM peep show.

“C’mon, lets go get some pancakes from the mess hall before they’re all gone. And then I am heading back to my cabin to moisturize.” Loke grunted as he sat up, throwing Gray’s shirt at him. “Then we can all go and be awkwardly silent because Natsu and Lucy will refuse to make eye contact or resolve their love as we see who’s been paired on the announcements board. I hope whoever I’m paired with is cute.”

Lucy looked away, not denying Loke’s comment as she kicked at a green slipper on the floor. Gray re-dressed. Juvia watched from between her fingers. Levy looked both amused and fed up with all the yelling in her cabin.

“Juvia hopes they have blackberry.”

“You and me both sister,” Cana said, clinking her favourite flask to the side of the bed before taking a heavy sip.

Well, at least the day looked like it was going to be a lot more fun than the morning had promised.

Playlist:

Misery Hates Company - The Colour Morale Creep - Radiohead Hard Times - Paramore Find ‘Em, Fool ‘Em and Forget ‘Em - Anderson East With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Crocker

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unashamed-shipper · 7 years ago

Text

Living With You

read on ff.net and ao3

one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten / eleven / twelve / thirteen / fourteen / fifteen / sixteen / seventeen / eighteen / nineteen / twenty / twenty one

rating: t+ for sexual joking, swear words, and violence

pairings in this chapter: nalu, gajevy, and gruvia

characters in this chapter: natsu, lucy, gray, juvia, gajeel, levy

Natsu woke up with a grumble, realizing it was still early. His alarm had yet to go off, but he needed to wake up at this time for a reason. Today he had to be at work early because he had taken time off at the end of the day to go on a date with Lucy.

It was a surprise for her, after all, and it was a big date that he planned. He had been planning this for a while, and everything was about to fall into place. He was just excited to see everything happen and to hear Lucy’s reaction.

Stretching for a moment before throwing the covers off himself and getting out of bed, Natsu headed to the shower with renewed energy and excitement for his date with his girlfriend. It felt weird to call her that, but that’s what she was now. They had only been dating a week, but it felt as if they had gone through life together as an old married couple. Helping Lucy with her anxiety had made him feel closer to her than he had ever felt for another person, and such a thing could possibly become dangerous. He did not want to hurt her or make her feel like he was going too fast...but he also wouldn’t mind kissing her more and spending time with her physically.

Reminding himself that he wanted to go slow, he showered quickly and changed into his work clothes with a bounce in his step. “Morning,” he greeted Gajeel, who was still up watching TV reruns. The man had to watch his cooking shows, and apparently the only time they were on was in the wee hours of the morning when Natsu awoke for work.

Gajeel shushed Natsu violently and pointed toward his lap. Natsu peeked around the couch and find that Levy was asleep with her head on Gajeel’s thighs. Natsu smirked, turning around and beginning to make his breakfast. He didn’t want to tease the man further, as he would most likely become grumpy and start yelling, causing his girlfriend to wake up. And when Levy didn’t get her solid eight hours of shut eye, she became a monster that scared even her own boyfriend.

Tiptoeing out the door after preparing a lunch, Natsu saluted his roommate before leaving the apartment and making his way to his car. Now all he had to do was schedule an alarm so he could text Lucy good morning and then drive to work. He always had wanted to text the girl of his dreams good morning when she woke up, but since Lucy worked in retail she had a rather interesting schedule. She would work four days in a row then not for another two, then for six days and then she would be off for three. It made their date times quite rough for scheduling, but Natsu had her work agenda in his phone so he could message her at any time whenever she had to wake up for the day.

Planning the alarm to go off at 8:59 sharp so he had time to text her a sweet message, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and grimaced as he realized he hadn’t made coffee. Oh well, guess he’d fall asleep on the ride there. Or at work, which was even worse. His boss was great, but a bit of a hardass when it came to people sleeping on the job. She enjoyed putting on a fairy outfit and tapping people on the head with her wand, making an ugly face before they awakened. It would scare them awake, and she would chuckle and whip her red hair while walking away and going to work on a computer or wake up another unfortunate soul.

But it didn’t matter if he fell asleep, or if he didn’t make coffee this morning. He had a date with Lucy tonight, and that was what mattered for today.

Now, if he could only get through work without messing up on a computer because of tiredness…

Lucy’s alarm blared, playing Ke$ha’s new song at a level that scared even Lucy out of her slumber. She was like Levy--wake her up during her sleep, and she was a zombie for the rest of the day. Though, Levy was a little ruder than Lucy. The woman was positively sweet most of the time, but if the two had a sleepover, their boyfriends would be confused as hell to see them in their tired state.

Searching around for her phone groggily, Lucy sucked in a breath when she turned her phone to check her messages. The brightness of the screen was blinding in the dark room, and she had to push her phone closer to read her emails. Ever since she had gotten contacts, she had to take them out every night before falling asleep. The nightly ones were too expensive, and she was worried that if she got the ones she could sleep with on that it would get lost in her eye and never come out. It was an irrational fear, yes, but it was still a fear.

When her emails finally loaded, Lucy was excited to discover that her package of books she had ordered a week back would arrive today. It was almost too tempting to fall asleep and wait for the doorbell to ring. But, she resolved, she needed the money from work to pay for more books, bills, her portion of the rent, and helping out the boys with their eating habits. If it weren’t for her being one of the primary cooks of the house, she swore the boys would eat fast food almost every night.

Lucy noticed that a text was sent to her phone, which was confusing. Usually the entire group of the six of them used a messenger app to communicate, making texts rare. Clicking on the text notification, she saw that Natsu had sent her a message.

‘Good morning, Luce!’ it read, and a smile curled around her face as she scanned the words. ‘Hope ya have a good day at work. Check the note on the kitchen table to find your next clue!’

“Clue?” Lucy wondered aloud, “Clue for what?”

Scurrying out of bed and taking the blanket with her, she waddled over to the kitchen table and searched around it with her eyes squinted. She didn’t have her contacts in, and her glasses lay forgotten on the nightstand in her bedroom. Finding the piece of paper with the note on it was going to be rough. And she had just woken up, too!

Grasping her glasses and shoving them on her face when she made it to her room, she exited her bedroom once more and began to read the note. It told her that there was to be a package for her outside with her name on it. Lucy’s mind was rather addled with all of these new things arising, but she was determined to figure everything out.

Lucy opened the door and let the chilly autumn air in for a moment; the cold aided in awakening her tired eyes and body. Her eyes searched across the stoop on their apartment until they caught on a package that said her name in big letters. Natsu’s handwriting was unmistakable, and Lucy ripped it open after going inside without a moment’s notice.

Inside the box was a gorgeous olive green dress that Lucy had been fawning over last time she and Natsu had gone inside a store together. The neckline was very low, but it went down to her ankles and slit up to her knees on both sides of the dress. So Natsu did remember that she wanted that one! It had been weeks since she had been shopping, so she hugged the new dress to herself as if it was life-giving. Included were a pair of gold strappy sandals with mid height heels which would make her tall enough to see eye to eye with Natsu. Checking the shoe size, she found that they would even accommodate her high arches.

Snatching up the note, she studied the words Natsu had scrawled over the pink paper. It told her to go to work and then report to a store she had never heard of at five thirty sharp. Natsu was never one to tell her to be somewhere ‘sharp’ or buy her expensive clothes for that matter. Every piece of the ensemble had come from her favorite store and did Lucy ever know how expensive that store was. Each item was over $60 at least, and she loved drooling over every handbag, hat, top, shoe, and skirt the store had to offer.

With a smile, she hugged the items to her body and squealed, bouncing around the room until someone from the apartment below told yelled up at her to shut up. Even that did not quell her excitement, and Lucy bounded into her room and picked out her clothes for the day with a bounce in her step.

Nothing could ruin this day!

...Except customers. Lucy swore that they knew when she was having a good day because they would be in an exceptionally bad mood that particular moment when she walked into work. She had just stepped in the door when a woman with her chihuahua in her designer bag stormed up to her and began to complain.

“Miss, this hasn’t reduced my stress at all!” a woman said, shaking a lavender incense in the air in Lucy’s face, “I swear I have such bad anxiety that I should be admitted to a hospital!”

Lucy hardened for a moment. Did this woman even know the difference between stress and anxiety? She certainly did, and she was starting to feel it at this very moment. Her head began to hurt with a headache pulsing at the very back of her mind, and ice spindled up her stomach and clutched around her neck as if threatening to suffocate her. Lucy tried to speak, but she could barely breathe, much less talk to someone.

“What can Juvia help you with? Lucy needs to go put her apron on in the back, so please excuse her.” Juvia said from behind Lucy with a hand on her hip. The other hand shooed Lucy away in a firm but gentle way that reminded her that Juvia had her back. A small smile was shared between the two before Lucy hustled to the back, closing the door behind her with a relieved sigh.

Lucy breathed steadily in for eight seconds and out for five for a few minutes before her anxiety began to dwindle, and she cursed herself for working in such an environment that would give her such bad attacks such as this. But with her coworkers at her side, Lucy felt more empowered than ever. She had Juvia to thank for being such a lovely boss. She would figure out some way to repay Juvia for the kindness she had just given to her someday.

Tying her apron around her back twice, Lucy put her hand on her hip in a power pose that wouldn’t quit. She wanted to convey that she was confident to the customers even though her anxiety still prodded. No matter what would happen to Lucy today, she had a date with Natsu tonight, and that was all that mattered.

Now if she could only get those shelves to stop being so dusty every day she came in…

After work was over, Lucy dragged herself home and crashed on the couch. Her shoulders and arms ached from how long she had been dusting shelves, and she hated how messy her hair was. She had just taken a shower this morning and now her hair was full of dust and dirt. With a sigh, she flopped down on the sofa and let herself fall asleep for just a few minutes.

Peeking at her clock, she noticed it was five thirteen. Jumping off the couch with a shriek, she quickly searched on the internet how far the address was from the apartment. Ten minutes. If she hurried with getting dressed and brushing her hair, she could still make it in time!

Running a brush through her hair while practically ripping her clothes off, she shoved the dress on her body and applied a little mascara. She wiped underneath her tired, baggy eyes with a makeup wipe and reminded herself to put on a little lip gloss. With a turn to stare at her reflection in the mirror, Lucy sighed when she saw what she looked like.

It would just have to do. She knew Natsu would love her no matter what she looked like. But still...she wanted to look nice for him no matter where they were going.

Slumping over, Lucy frowned at her reflection in the mirror one last time before making her way to her car. She waved to her neighbor on her way out, who gave her a thumbs up. Well, at least someone liked how she looked today!

Her spirits a little higher, Lucy broke the laws of traffic to get to the address. But when she got there, it wasn’t a restaurant at all. It was a...salon?

Well. Maybe Natsu really did think of everything.

Stepping inside, she was greeted by the sweet brown-eyed, plum haired receptionist named Shana who told her to have a seat while she grabbed Lucy a mimosa. Eyes widening, Lucy took the stemmed glass with a meek thank you and a smile. Shana told her that her nail tech would be right with her.

‘Nail tech?’ Lucy wondered, looking at her nails. Grimacing, she noticed for the first time that day that there was dust on top of them and underneath them, and the mold she had scrubbed off the corners of the bathroom made them appear yellow underneath. Maybe Lucy really did need a manicure.

“Hello, Lucy! Nice to meet you. I’m Evie.” Lucy looked up from her glass and saw one of the most stunning women she had ever seen in her life. Her long brown hair was wavy at the bottom and rivaled Cana’s in terms of silkiness, and her eyes were a forest green not unlike Natsu’s. Lucy shook her hand with a soft flush on her face, cursing her bisexuality for being so obvious.

“Come on back here with me,” Evie said, motioning toward the nail table. Once Lucy sat down, she asked what color her dress was.

“Olive green,” Lucy replied, thankful for the mimosa for loosening her up a little. “What color nails would you suggest?”

“I think a french tip with gold tips would look stunning on you, Lucy. l will go get the polish right away! Do you want gel polish or gel with acrylic?” Evie stood, staring Lucy in the eyes for a moment.

“I--I don’t know what any of those words mean,” Lucy said with a blush, partially because she was embarrassed. She was a woman, she should know!

“It’s alright,” Evie laughed, “We’ll go with regular polish for now, and if you decide to come back to me, we’ll discuss afterward.”

Lucy looked at her nails as Evie shuffled to the back to pick the perfect color for her. Evie knew what she was doing, and if she did well enough with nails, she would definitely come back. Lucy would definitely have to thank Natsu for getting her pampered.

“What do you think of this gold?” Evie asked as she sat down across the table from Lucy, displaying a gorgeous gold with glitter that was sure to go well with Lucy’s coloring. Lucy nodded her head with a grin, and Evie’s lips curled up into a smile too.

After all the shaping, filing, massaging of the hands, and the base coat was finished, Evie began to paint and have a conversation with Lucy. Both women found out they were writers and shook their heads about the problems of being one on the internet. Evie asked a few questions about Natsu, and Lucy told her new friend about how Natsu romanced her and the entire story they had gone through.

“What do you think?” Evie asked, showing Lucy’s pinkie to her. It looked more polished and beautiful than her nails had looked in quite a long time. Nodding with a soft squeal, Lucy knew she was coming back now. She could afford it after paying all of her bills for the month--and it wouldn’t hurt to get pampered once in a while!

Evie finished up in around an hour, and Lucy sat with her hands underneath the blue light in order to harden them. As she turned to leave, Evie stopped her.

“You’re not done yet, Lucy! We still have hair and makeup to do!”

“H-Hair and makeup?!”

A little more than two hours later, Lucy walked out with soft highlights in her newly trimmed hair and a makeup look that was sure to stun Natsu. She barely wore makeup around him, but when she did he was shocked. Now she wore eyeliner, mascara, a bit of eyeshadow, and a highlight that was going to knock out everyone around her.

Shana handed Lucy another note from Natsu with another address on it--thankfully being one for an actual restaurant--and Lucy headed on her way to her actual date. Ruffling her hair up a bit to give it that sexy, lived in look, Lucy stepped out of the car and into one of the fanciest restaurants she had ever been to. If she had thought the salon was fancy, she should have looked at this place first. There was an honest to God chandelier in the entrance!

“Name?” the guy at the front desk asked, and Lucy gave him hers. Leading her to a table with Natsu at it, she was surprised to see a few other familiar faces at the table.

“Levy! Juvia! What are you two doing here?” Lucy said with a large grin as each woman got up to hug Lucy.

“We were just as surprised as you, Lu! Gajeel planned this for me too!” Levy smiled, twirling a tendril of curled blue hair. Her dress was a silver which Levy would have never picked out herself, but she looked gorgeous. The straps on her dress were thinner than Lucy’s, and the sweetheart neckline and mid length gave Levy height that she so desperately desired. On her feet were black heels that were higher than Lucy’s but slightly lower than Juvia’s.

Juvia wore a purple number that highlighted her legs and made them look long enough to go on for days. The neckline was high, but so was the length of the dress. Her heels were a darker color than her dress, but even they made her look taller than Lucy had ever seen her. Juvia wore a grin brighter than the lights in the room, and when Lucy looked at Gray he seemed content just gazing at his girlfriend.

“Gray-sama told Juvia to get off work early so she could go get her nails done. Juvia thought that was the only surprise, but Juvia was shocked even more to go to this place!” Juvia said, clutching Gray’s arm with a smile.

The six sat down from where they conversed, each couple across from each other. Natsu tapped his fork against his wine glass, and everyone turned to pay attention to him. Raising his glass in the air, he grinned as each person followed suit.

“I’d like to make a toast,” Natsu said as he stood once more, eyes focused on Lucy. “To Lucy Heartfilia, the world’s greatest girlfriend. She made me into the man I was supposed to be a hell of a long time ago, and she’s helped us all out a lot. To Lucy!”

“To Lucy!” everyone echoed with large grins, clinking glasses and taking drinks of their sparkling wine.

“Now,” Natsu replied, “Let’s eat!”

Hope you all enjoyed! If you could please leave a reblog/reply, that would mean the world to me. Thanks so much!

120 notes · View notes

neen-writes · 7 years ago

Text

Silver for Monsters

Series: Fairy Tail/Witcher AU

Pairing: Gajevy

Summary/Key: (This is a huge oversimplification so anyone not familiar with the franchise can understand the references enough to enjoy the story, I hope!) Story starts in a Province called Velen. Velen is primarily swampland, often called No Man’s Land, it is filled with death and the leftovers of war. The land is embroiled in a war between the Nilfgaardians(The Black Ones) and the Redanians(Led by King Radovid). Under Radovid’s rule and in his controlled territories, non-humans and mages are hunted and burned at the stake by witch hunters, and possession of magical paraphernalia is a crime. Novigrad and Oxenfurt are the names other large cities. Witchers are technically non-human though once were. They are created, given mutations that enhance all their senses and abilities, allow them to use “signs,” give them long lives, and yellow, cat-like eyes. Their purpose and livelihoods are to hunt monsters and complete contracts for money, but do not take sides in politics. The Lodge, or Lodge of Sorceresses, was initially a secret organization of all female mages formed during the political climate that had turned against nonhumans and mages. It essentially collapsed when most of the sorceresses needed to go into hiding or were captured. All monsters named in this AU are all ones that exist in the game.

Enjoy!

Good folk,

It is with great urgency that I write this contract, beseeching the help of any capable. A beast lurks in our woods, to which I believe we can attribute the disappearances of multiple citizens. I can no longer enter the wood to gather ingredients necessary for medicine. It threatens our lives and our livelihood. We are in grave need of a Witcher. To any this concerns, please seek the healer’s hut in Midcopse.

A gloved hand pulled the paper off the noticeboard, yellow eyes scanning over the ink. Briefly, he pulled the paper close and sniffed. Lavender. Typical.

The tall, broad man stuffed the contract into the pouch at his side and glanced at the sky, gauging what time it was and what time he would arrive at Midcopse if he left now. It was early morning, barring any interruptions he could be there by mid afternoon at a healthy trot. If he was lucky, he could have a trophy, a reward, and a hot dinner before nightfall.

With that thought, he grabbed the saddle of his horse and hauled himself up into the seat. Gajeel shook his head, tossing black strands unrestrained by a long ponytail from his face. The sun glimmered off several metal studs cross his brow, down his nose, and on his chin, outlining hard, weathered features. A thin scar ran from his left cheekbone down to the bottom of his jawline, but a closer look would reveal smaller scars elsewhere on his face as well.

“Let’s go.” A swift kick in the sides of his horse spurred the ebony beast forward, trotting down the dirt road out of the quaint, quiet village. His last contract had been a nasty wraith that had taken some time to track down, and his sleepless bones hoped this one was a rogue bear, frightening whatever sweet, old, lavender healer that lived in Midcopse. Or at least something simple that could be solved with steel, rather than silver.

But there was still the instinctive, purpose-driven part of the Witcher that craved the feel of his silver blade, cutting into some cataclysmic beast or ghoul. He felt little as a Witcher, most human emotions were lost on him besides the base desires thanks to the mutations, but he felt his calling. He lived to hunt beasts, and occasionally men if things got boring. Most times they were one in the same.

The afternoon’s warmth radiated from his dark, leather armor by the time he passed under the wooden arch into Midcopse. The road had been quiet, and thankfully he had not run into anyone that would mean to slow him down. The Nilfgaardians were only good for stalling a trip and throwing a wrench into otherwise simple tasks. They knew who he was, nearly every soldier on both sides of the war knew Black Steel Gajeel. No other man had ever wielded a steel blade of pure black, and fewer still knew how or where he found a smith to create the alloy. Yet they took great joy in making everything as difficult as they like for him.

The village looked about the same as the last time he had been there years and years ago, but they didn’t have a local healer then. At least in that regard they had something better finally going for them in No Man’s Land. There were little luxuries to be had in the swamps of Velen, a healer--a good one--could often be what turned the luck for a community.

He didn’t need to ask where the old woman lived; he usually would never have to. Every healer and herbalist had nearly identical tastes in property and landscaping. The herbs and flowers growing wild on their property always were enough of an indicator, and with a shift of the breeze he picked up the scent of lavender, muddled with other floral scents. Rose, honeysuckle, gardenia... There it is.

No one bothered him or tried to speak to him, in fact he thought he saw wary relief on the faces of many. They knew why he was there, and they didn’t have to get close enough to see his yellow, cat-like eyes. They only needed to see the two swords on his back to know what sort of man he was… or wasn’t. Only one type of person carried two swords, one steel, one silver, in this day.

The scent led him to the other end of the village, finally coming to a small hut surrounded, predictably, with flowers. He pulled his steed to a halt and swung out of the saddle, his boots hitting the earth with a heavy thud. He took one more sniff before approaching the wooden door, noting that he would have to duck through the frame. Small old woman then, he thought, knocking twice.

There was some shuffling inside before the door opened, and everything he had been expecting went right out the window.

The woman was tiny, nearly a head and a half shorter than him, and she was most certainly not old. In her early twenties, most like, with a full head of wavy, brilliantly blue hair. Honey-brown eyes started at his chest, then slowly slid up to his face, sending a foreign chill through him the second their eyes met.

He waited for her to say something, but she was as silent as he for several moments. She squinted, taking in his gaze before flicking to the two hilts peeking over his shoulder. Those eyes suddenly went wide and her whole face lit up. “A Witcher!” she gasped, stepping back and to the side as she quickly beckoned him inside. “Come in, please!”

Gajeel ducked wordlessly through the entrance and took in the room around him. Dried herbs and fruits hung from the rafters, but every wall was stacked to the roof with books. Books everywhere, far more than he had seen in any simple healer’s collection. This collection rivaled what he had seen in some homes in Oxenfurt.

As the door closed behind him, he turned to face her. “I’m here to see the healer, about the contract,” he stated, arching a brow at her. Surely she had to be a daughter, or an apprentice.

“I am she. I wrote the contract,” the girl declared, placing her hands on her hips. “My name is Levy. And you are?”

The Witcher blinked at her, looking her over from top to bottom, glanced around the room, then back to her. She was so young, and by all objective standards she was beautiful. She looked more like one of the Lodge’s sorceresses than some herbalist. “You’re the healer?”

Levy frowned, tilting her head. “That’s what I said.” There was an air of offense on her tone, like she couldn’t imagine why he would be so surprised.

The contract just got a little more interesting, and at least a little easier on the eyes; that was a blessing when heading off into some new danger. “Name’s Gajeel,” he finally responded.

The woman blinked, looking him over again. “The Gajeel?” she gasped, “As in Black Steel?”

Gajeel grinned, “That’s the one.” The pride on his voice was evident. He relished the nickname he had earned years ago. “‘Fraid I ain’t heard of you so I can’t extend the same surprise.”

She shook her head quickly, tossing her hair hypnotically, “You wouldn’t have. But that’s not the point; I am fortunate to have gotten supposedly one of the best with my posting. Now, we don’t have a lot of time. I’ve taken notes on the clues I’ve found each time I’ve gone out, and who the disappearances were.”

She wastes no time, he thought, until he realized what else she had said. “Wait, you’ve gone back out into the woods? More than once?”

“Well someone had to start gathering information until a Witcher took my contract, and all the villagers are too afraid to go out anymore. Just because I can’t go deep enough to find my best ingredients doesn’t mean I can’t go out at all.” Levy stopped in front of the table and spread out several pieces of paper.

Gajeel hummed, before approaching her and stopping just behind to look at the scattered parchment. Several names and descriptions were written down, but there were some sketches as well. What looked like a tree trunk, with claw marks illustrated through it, and a drawing of a footprint. One that looked very familiar, but he suppressed the groan that started to rise in him until he knew for sure what it was. “Ya find anythin’ other than prints and scratches?”

“I’ve found pieces of clothing but never any bodies, barely any blood. Whatever it is probably takes them elsewhere or is really really hungry. It started taking people about a month ago,” the woman spoke a mile a minute, hardly even looking at him.

“Are all village healers this committed to justice?” Gajeel finally interjected. “Or is it just you?”

Levy shot him a glance that unnerved him, a narrowed glare that made him feel exposed, and that was not something he felt often. “These days, these lands, it’s usually just me. The Black Ones can’t be bothered, I’m sure they think it’s population control as long as it doesn’t affect them. And I can’t very well make a plea to Radovid.” Gajeel lifted a brow at that, slightly taken aback. The Witcher tilted his head, quietly urging her to continue. Levy, as though realizing how much she had said, paused a moment before she gave him a tired smile, glancing at her books. “I’ve had interest in grimoires in the past, they have a great deal of historic value. I collect them, it’s a shame for them to be burned. But it would be enough to get me into some red hot trouble.”

Now that was unusual. “That’s a ballsy thing to collect,” he remarked. “Don’t seem like somethin’ worth facing the witch hunters for.”

“That’s subjective,” she shot back. “They don’t bother coming this deep into the swamps, there are plenty of non-humans and paraphernalia in Novigrad for them to hunt and burn. Now, can we get back to this?” she tilted her head, effectively ending that topic.

Gajeel huffed at her and rolled his yellow eyes, “Fine fine.” May as well play along, he didn’t want to drag this out any more than she. “This is all great. Point me in the right direction and I’ll take it from here.”

Now the healer turned to face him fully, her face full of defiance that he could tell was going to make this far more difficult. “Oh no, I’ll take you there myself.”

“You’ll whatnow?” he replied, crossing his arms. “Nuh-uh, I can’t have the village gardener following me out there, it ain’t safe.”

“I can handle myself.”

“Watched a lot of people die who said they could ‘handle themselves.’”

“I’m not a lot of people,” she stared him down again with those hard, brown eyes. “I will take you there, and I’ll let you do your thing. I swear, I’ll stay out of the way, but I need to see what it is.”

“Why? Curiosity killed the cat, or however that goes,” Gajeel replied dismissively.

“And satisfaction brought it back, is how the rest of it goes. Call me a seeker of knowledge.” She stood strong, steadfast, staring right into his yellow eyes in a way that most found themselves unable to. Usually the not-so-human gaze was enough to keep eye contact to a minimum. Generally the world didn’t know how to feel about Witchers, A necessity, an abomination, human or not. There were tales told to naughty children that a Witcher would come and steal them in the night and eat them up. But most of those same people pleaded with them when the Drowners patrolled their shores or a Hym crept into their guilt-ridden hearts. The same people that spat at them also wrote contracts when they were in trouble.

“Fine. But I’m not your escort, that ain’t the contract, and I can’t protect ya. And speaking of, we need to talk about my payment before we go farther.”

Levy stared him down a moment longer, not wanting to back off, but she finally released a sigh. “Right, of course, Witchers don’t hunt for free,” she responded, whirling from him and heading to a chest in the back corner of the room. She opened it up and pulled out a small, jingling pouch. “I already set it aside. Two hundred crowns should be enough?”

The Witcher raised his brows, “More than enough. Didn’t know a healer was that well-to-do, especially in Velen. Most patients can’t afford to pay much.”

“I get by,” Levy responded simply, dropping the pouch back into the chest and locking it. “Let’s go, we should get as much done as possible before dark. That’s when it strikes.”

“Lead the way then.”

Gajeel ran his gloved fingers through the grooves slashed into the wood of the tree and smelled his hand. “Earthy, claws coated in soil,” he mumbled to himself, looking up the trunk of the swaying tree. Several feet up, taller than he, the bark had been scraped off entirely. He’d seen these kinds of markings before, though usually, they were much lower; the height of a deer. “Scraped horns, or antlers up there, probably sharpening them,” he continued, before glancing at the very intrigued woman behind him. “Where did you see the tracks?”

Levy started and looked around her quickly, before picking a direction. Several yards from the scratched tree, she found a large, deep imprint in the soil, “Here, this is the one I found.”

The Witcher knelt next to the track and touched the dirt. “Days old. But, I might be able to follow it.” He looked back to her, finally noting what she was wearing. She dressed like she had planned from the beginning to follow him out here. Attached to a leather strap slung around her waist was a pouch, weighted with whatever ingredients she planned to use. Instead of the typical matronly skirts she was wearing fitted trousers into which she had tucked a white blouse that was breathable, easy to move in, with a tie across her neck to ensure she was covered no matter how she moved. Her knee-high boots were worn, heavily used, giving him the notion she spent very little time inside. Where it was safe for small human women to be.

“Do you have an idea of what it is?” she finally asked, not carefully. She was confident.

“Judging by the height of the antler scrapes on that tree I have an idea of how big it is, and the scent left by the claws is deep, earthy, with a hint of rot. These prints are familiar, I’ve seen them before, and based on what you’ve already told me, we might be dealing with a Fiend,” he scanned her face, waiting for the fear, but she just looked intrigued. Her brows rose as though she had thought it might be something different, but still not something that phased her.

“Are you sure?”

“You know about them,” Gajeel stated, rather than asked. Most villagers didn’t know the names of the less common monsters, let alone the ancient ones: Relicts. They knew about the Ghouls, Rotfiends, Drowners. The monsters that followed the pervasive death in their war-torn land were common knowledge. But the Relicts were the danger in the dark, creatures without names they knew of. Creatures of fear.

But she was here asking him if he was sure with nothing but determination on her face. “I know of them. I read.”

Gajeel had the gut feeling that she was not telling him something, or just not being truthful. But he wasn’t here to learn about her or dig up her secrets. He was here to complete the contract. “Has that satisfied your curiosity or do ya need to pet it?” Gajeel remarked.

“Are all Witchers this brutish or is it just you?” Levy spat, placing her hands on her hips.

“Mutations rob us of decency. Not my fault,” Gajeel shrugged, but he grinned devilishly at her. He could see her prickle, ready to fire back at him, but instead he interrupted her again. “I need to stay here and prepare until the sun sets, when it comes out to hunt again. Ya need to head back to your village now. You’ll only be a distraction, shorty.”

Levy narrowed her eyes, stiffening completely. “What did you call me?”

“I called ya beautiful,” Gajeel fired back at her with a smirk, watching her go stiff. “Go home,” he turned from her then before she could regain her composure, and followed the trail.

Surprisingly, Levy let him walk away without more than an angry huff and muttered curses. And he actually heard her turn around and leave back from where they came. Maybe she decided to finally make it easier on him, but the less optimistic side of him knew that was likely not going to be the case.

Regardless, he had a job to do, and he set off to follow the old tracks deeper into the woods. He needed to first get closer to its center of activity, and then all he needed to do was wait for dark.

The sun had started to sink low on the horizon when the medallion around his neck started to hum. Gajeel took a deep breath and opened his eyes, quickly scanning the area around him from where he sat cross-legged beneath a tree. It had taken about as long as he expected to start sensing signs of the Fiend, and the hum of his medallion came soon after. The silver wolf’s head shook, eyes glowing a brilliant crimson any time monsters were near: a useful tool to any Witcher.

Silently, Gajeel eased himself up onto his feet and reached back, wrapping his fingers around one of the two hilts over his shoulder. The silver hissed out of the sheath, glimmering in the orange light peeking through the trees. With his free hand, he pulled a small glass vial from the pouch at his side and yanked out the cork with his teeth. The Witcher poured the Relict oil liberally across his blade, twisting it in his grasp to ensure it covered as much as the weapon as possible, sinking into the runes along the silver. It would be poison to the creature, and he had been fortunate enough to already have some in his possession.

In front of him he saw green only, but the birds had gone quiet, and no crickets sung in their wake. He steadied his breathing as hum of his medallion grew more intense and a deep rumble grew in the forest beyond his vision. Then he heard its breathing, deep, gargled, and uneven. A breeze rustled the trees then, and he cursed silently as it pushed at his back, and all sounds in the wood beyond stopped. Gajeel had just started to tighten the grip on his sword when he heard something else, something at his rear.

Instinctively, the Witcher spun, blade at the ready, but it was not the Fiend he saw. Instead, it was a flash of blue. His yellow eyes went wide seeing her there, holding something in one hand while the other was raised defensively. Immediately the irritation boiled out of him. “What the hell do you think--”

A deafening roar from the direction he had originally faced drowned out his words, followed by the sound of splintering and exploding wood. Without another thought, he used his free arm to wrap around her waist and haul the tiny woman up and over this shoulder. Her shouts of protest filled his ears along with everything else, but he couldn’t be bothered with her opinions at this point. He’d barely had time to look behind him to see the massive creature charging straight for them before he started to run, weaving to the left around trees that would hopefully slow the onslaught.

The Fiend flew by them, showering the two in wood splinters and leaves, taking several strides before it could skid to a halt.

Gajeel hastily dropped Levy back to the ground and rose to his full height, squaring his shoulders to glower down at her. “Go. Home!” he snarled, “You know what I am, you know I can make you. I won’t ask again and I won’t save you next time.”

Levy glared right back, flushed from the interaction. But her resolve held firm as she took a sharp step towards him, looking ready to hit him over the head. “I don’t need you to! I can bloody help you if you just let me--hey!” Gajeel had already turned from her and wholly ignored her words, racing back towards the Fiend while its back was still turned. Levy watched as he sprinted headlong into danger, at a speed greater than any man. This was a Witcher in true form, and frustrated or not she had to admire that for what it was.

The Fiend started to turn to him as he reached striking distance, and at full speed Gajeel dropped to his knees, both hands now gripping his blade. He swung the silver to his left, slashing the metal into the beast’s rear legs. It screeched in agony, flashing countless fangs, as the toxic oil and silver dug into its flesh. It lurched forward, blindly swinging its massive rack of antlers.

On the last cut, Gajeel forced his weight into the strike, using the Fiend as an anchor to swing himself around and come to a stop. He leapt up to his feet, swinging his blade up high over his head to bring down upon its back.

But the Fiend was faster, spinning round to face Gajeel and swing the back of a paw into him, but not before his silver dug instead into its shoulder. The Witcher flew backwards, his back slamming into the trunk of a tree a great distance from the monster. A pained cough ripped from him as pain sung through his entire body, but his grip on his blade held steady.

Gajeel looked up to see it begin to charge at him again, and despite the pain he started to move. His left hand flew up in front of him and quickly drew the sign of Igni in the air, just as a blast of fire manifested and flew into the grotesque face of the beast. It screeched again, lurching to the side to try and keep the fire from its eyes, which diverted its charge just enough to miss Gajeel by mere feet.

He grunted as he pulled himself back up, staggering a few steps back to face it, ready. His sides heaved already, aggravating a pain in his back that he knew would be gone in a few days, but in this moment it was brutal. He’d left himself open to that swipe and it was a misstep he was paying for.

The Fiend finally whirled back around and took several stalking steps towards him, head low like it meant to charge again. The dense fur down it’s back rose and bristled, adding even more to its size. Its mouth hung open in a pant, thick globs of drool dripping from the maw that wanted so badly to tear into his flesh. It dug a paw into the earth, tensing, just as the third eye in the middle of its forehead opened.

“Shit!!” Gajeel cursed harshly, seconds before he went rigid and everything in his vision went black. All he saw was that single eye in front of him, burning through the darkness. Most humans unfortunate enough to find a Fiend would know this as the last thing they saw before their death, as they could not perceive where the beast would now be. But a Witcher could see it move, know when it drew closer, even if all their other senses were dimmed. It greatly impeded him, but he had some loose grasp on when to dodge, which would be enough for him to stay alive until it wore off. Theoretically.

In the dark, he could see it draw closer, and stalk off to the left, trying to shake his attention. Trying to fool him. He willed his body to step back, to keep his sword in front of him, and he could only hope he was actually doing what he thought. The movements of the eye became more erratic, and he knew it was moving to him, coming to finish him. It lunged, and he raised his blade.

The dark shattered with an explosion, followed by the agonized scream of the Fiend. All at once he saw everything clearly and moved freely again, and he watched as the Fiend stumbled backwards, pawing at its soot-covered face. Gajeel inhaled the smoke rising from it, and his eyes went wide. Devil’s Puffball?! But how did, his thoughts trailed off as he turned his attention, and once again saw the blue-haired woman. But now, he truly saw her.

Because there she stood, with another bomb in her left hand. But more intriguing than the fact she had presumably crafted the very bomb the monster was susceptible to, was what her right hand was doing. Her fingers moved, danced, shaping and maintaining a small ball of flame in front of her palm. The fire lit her face in the dying light of the forest, casting her narrowed honey eyes aglow and streaks of gold through her hair in a way that he would not soon forget. Sparks danced off of her as her clothing and hair swayed in a phantom wind, and he could feel the magic radiating off of the woman.

“Are you going to move or did that not break it’s hold? Now, Witcher!” Levy cried out, watching the monster begin to recover and now turn its gaze upon her. She hissed through her teeth, bringing the wick of the last bomb to her flame, as she lobbed both at the creature.

The second boom set Gajeel into motion, watching the Fiend now fall hard onto the ground. He made one final charge at the felled target. The witcher leapt, arcing his sword up, over his head, and then brought it down with everything he had into the monster’s neck. The force almost cut straight through, but as the last of the Relict oil flowed into the wound, the Fiend gave one final, disoriented struggle. It lashed out, dragging claws deep into Gajeel’s right arm and threw him back. After that final defiance, its life slipped away, chest caving with its last breath.

Gajeel staggered backwards, holding his hand over the wound that now had blood running rivers down his slack arm. He coughed once and shook his head, the pain from his back and arm mingling with one another. Still, he managed to turn his attention back to the woman, who stood steady, expectantly. They stared at each other for several quiet moments, the flames now gone as her visage returned to what he had mistaken for a simple herbalist earlier.

Finally, the Witcher found his words in between his heavy breaths, “You’re a damn mage.”

“Someone is gonna report you for those books if you leave ‘em in plain view like that,” Gajeel commented, followed by a groan of pain as she dabbed a wet cloth to the open flesh on his bicep. The fire at her hearth cast a bright orange light through the small abode, giving the sorceress enough light to work on his wounds. At her urging, he had come back to her home after the Fiend had been disposed of, if not just for his payment as much as a little curiosity. He sat on the floor shirtless in front of her fireplace, his tunic, chest armor, and swords on the floor next to them.

“No one here would risk losing their healer,” Levy responded, trying to focus on cleaning out the injury. The Fiend’s claws were filthy, and it would infect if she didn’t clean this well enough before applying a salve. But, the horrific scars across his back were a distraction, more so than the perfectly muscled frame. She knew well enough what Witchers did for a living, and she felt she was staring at a book in another language. The distinctive teeth marks, large enough to be a bear’s, on his shoulder. The purplish slash that ran with ragged edges diagonally from right shoulder to left hip. Multiple round scars that could have been from arrows, or spears. A burn or two. A bluish purple bruise had blossomed and spread from the center of his back, creeping outwards from where he had hit the tree. And she hadn’t even fully seen his front.

“Still risky being a mage in Velen. How’d ya find yourself here?” Gajeel asked despite himself.

Levy hummed a little, dipping her rag into the water again and wringing it out. “It’s a better hiding place than you’d think,” she replied, not quite the answer he was looking for. “The witch hunters ransack known mages in their homes in Novigrad and classrooms at Oxenfurt. They know to find mages there, but wouldn’t expect to find one like me in the swamps. And there’s a need for me here.”

He turned his head, looking at her from over his shoulder, studying her for a second. It made sense. If one imagined a swamp witch, they wouldn’t think of one like her, a tiny beauty surrounded by flowers. “How long have you been here?”

“Long enough,” she answered, trying to focus, and also not give all of herself to a complete stranger.

The shortness of her answers had the opposite effect on Gajeel, because he wanted to know more about the surprise mage. “Are you in contact with the Lodge at all?” he finally asked.

Levy flicked her gaze up to him, warily. But she saw only mild curiosity on that stoic face. “I was once. We’ve lost touch,” she put her rag aside. “They have their own charades to uphold.”

Gajeel finally chuckled, giving her a wry smile, “I didn’t know the Lodge took in dwarves.”

The small mage prickled again and flicked a small bolt of static into his face that surprised him. “I’ll kick you right out with half your damn coin and a festering wound if you don’t cut that right out,” she hissed. Gajeel raised a hand in surrender, still wrinkling his tingling nose, and looked back to the fire. “You’re a damn brute,” she started, “But you are not what I expected of a Witcher.”

Gajeel raised a brow at that, “You ain’t met one before?”

“You’re the first,” she replied. “Townsfolk talk about you all like you’re as bad as the Fiend. Bloodthirsty thieves of children in the night.” She’d been intrigued to the point of near excitement when she wrote and sent off the contract, knowing that she would finally have the opportunity to meet one of his kind. True, she knew enough about the beasts of this land, thanks to many books Witchers of multiple schools themselves had written, to know what the Fiend would have been weak to and had enough ingredients in her stock to make just about anything. But that alone would not have killed it. She needed a Witcher’s skillset to actually dispatch the creature. And now that she knew one as infamous as he… well that could very well serve her in the future.

“And what do ya make of me?” he rumbled.

She hesitated. “You certainly didn’t have to save me, brash as it was. You knew where my coin was, I was little consequence to you.”

“Eh. Bad for business if I let the people who contract me die,” Gajeel mumbled, tearing his gaze from her. They went quiet then for several long moments, neither sure how much more they could probe even if they wanted to. “Thanks,” he finally said after a few beats of silence. Teasing aside, she had helped him significantly, both with the Fiend and now.

Levy hummed as a simple reply, hovering her hand over the wound as a green light emanated from it. A warm sensation spread through his arm, and he looked back again to see the wound closing up, until it was just another thick, pink line across his flesh to add to his collection. “There,” she said softly, leaning back from him.

Gajeel rolled his shoulder, only feeling a dull ache from his injuries now, and a throb in his head. Certainly better off than he had expected to be at the end of today. “Not bad,” he commented, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. A deep sigh heaved from him. “Ya mind if I take a few? Been a long day…” he muttered. He could hear her get up to her feet and take a few steps away from him.

“Mmm,” she hummed the affirmative, and it was the last he remembered before he let exhaustion take him.

When he awoke early the next morning, she was gone, and the coin purse was sitting atop his clean and folded armor, with a stalk of lavender.

#gajevy #fanfiction #ftfanfics #witcher AU #fairy tail #will this be more than one chapter? maybe

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twit-writes · 7 years ago

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Light in the Dark

Hi! This is my first fanfiction, but I really love Gajevy so I was inspired to write this. I published this on my side blog but decided to move it to my main because it was getting too confusing switching around. Enjoy!

Prompt AU: Glimpses of Gajeel’s childhood 400 years ago, except that Levy was also in the same time period as a small glow fairy.

Chapter 1: Fateful Encounter

The harsh sound of leaves being crushed became louder as a small child angrily stomped his way through the dim forest.

“Stupid Metalicana, shitty father”, the small boy murmured in a mantra.

Lost in thought, the small boy had wandered too far from the Dragon’s cave and found himself in a huge clearing. The boy raised his head to look at the clear night sky. He shivered as a cold breeze went through him.

“….I’m not lost. I’m just getting away from the old man, only idiots get lost”, thought the child as he blankly looked around his surroundings. The quiet atmosphere calmed the child down as he plopped down on the grass.The boy thought back to the afternoon and groaned at the memory.

Today was the day Metalicana was finally going to teach him the Iron Dragon Roar. He witnessed the power of the roar firsthand when Metalicana had protected him from an enemy. He was so eager to make his old man proud. But despite training for the whole day, he could only produce a small puff of smoke. Metalicana roared with laughter as the boy ran away in frustration.

The small boy felt his eyes water and furiously wiped his eyes. “Crying is for wimps. I’m the strong Iron Dragon-”

“Um-”

The boy suddenly stiffened as a mysterious voice captured his attention. Even with his enhanced hearing, he couldn’t pinpoint where the voice came from. It was as if the voice was being carried by the wind.

His ears perked up as the soft buzzing noise faded in and out of hearing range. Assuming it to be a pesky bug, the boy swatted his hands around to knock it out.

“OW”

He whipped his head towards the voice and squinted to get a better look at the small ball of light. The boy’s eyes widened as he curiously watched a small blue haired fairy glaring back as she rubbed her head.

#gajevy #gajevy week #gajeel redfox #levy mcgarden #gajeel x levy #ftfanfics #gajevy au #gajevy fanfiction #gajevy fan #fuckyeahgajevy #fairy tail #fairy tail fanfiction #fairy tail fandom #gajevy fandom #twitwhatthings #my writing #my fanfiction #light in the dark

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theolddarkmachine · 8 years ago

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SUPER LATE GAJEVY WEEK 2017: DAY 7- KIDS

IT'S THE FINAAAAL CHAPTEEEEEER! (To the tune of Final Countdown.) This was a tiring challenge, y'all, but felt like the best way to come out of my writing hiatus. It definitely got me back into a writing headspace, and I'll definitely be excited to continue with some stuff. If y'all have any preferences for the type of fics you would like to me to work on-- like fluff, smut, AU, etc-- lemme know! I will definitely NOT be writing something everyday moving forward lol Cuz that shit wild, but if you happen to have any prompts you'd like to sling my way, I'd love to do like one or two one-shots a week based on those! I'll also most likely be starting a longform fic within the next week or so :) THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO READ WHAT I HAD TO WRITE!

(Also, nothing rated R, but some getting naked does occur near the end)

His name was Geppetto, and honestly, he should have been as easy wizard to defeat. It should have been a one-and-done, in-and-out, little to no fucking about. His magic was a bit like Bickslow’s, except instead of putting souls into dolls, he was able to make the dolls into real people. The problem was, they turned into kids so they didn’t really pose much of a threat. (Haha, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Levy got it.) In fact, on the surface it had seemed easy enough. Gajeel, Levy and Panther Lily had taken him out pretty easily. There had been a slight scare when Lily had been hit with a spell square in the chest, but while it had thrown him back quite a ways, he’d gotten up and managed to continue to fight until they had the guy in cuffs.

Their little family had been triumphant, hit the bar at the guild on the way home before they stumbled into their house, Levy and Gajeel retiring to their room upstairs and Lily heading to his downstairs. The three of them were very unprepared for the surprise that met them in the morning.

****

Levy was having another dream about the small, faceless blue haired children. Though they didn’t have faces, they knew they were supposed to be hers. The first time she’d had the dream, it had really freaked her out. Her and Gajeel had been married now for about a year and a half, and she was aware that the next step was kids. She wanted kids with him, of course she did. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to be able to create a tiny person that they could call their very own. The miracle of life was honestly a fascinating thing. However, the idea of pushing a miniature Gajeel out of her body was the single most terrifying thing she had ever imagined. So it wasn’t like she was in any rush. He didn’t seem to be in any rush either, they were just fine with their little family that consisted of themselves and Panther Lily. That didn’t seem to stop everyone’s incessant questioning.

The questions had started a few months into their marriage, she suspected after folks had deemed their “honeymoon phase” to be over. The first dream followed shortly after, causing her to wake up in a panic, the shirt she stole from Gajeel for her pajamas soaked through with a cold sweat. She’d gotten used to the dreams by now, almost welcomed the little glimpse into her future, whenever they finally decided to work on that. Tonight’s dream featured the family all snuggling together on their bed as rain fell outside. The faceless girl was curled up in the crook of Gajeel’s arm, her head resting on his chest as she traced random designs onto his dark shirt. The faceless boy was tucked under Levy’s chin, tinkering with a little iron dragon. It felt so real as she rest her cheek on top of the boy’s hair, enjoying the imagined warmth on her cheek. She could definitely be okay with this.

“Psst, Gajeel,” the faceless boy said. Huh, that was weird, Levy thought to herself as her dream self looked down at the kid. They normally didn’t talk in her dream, and she’d definitely thought her kids would refer to Gajeel as dad, even if they were just her dream children. “Psst,” another hiss from the faceless boy. She heard small footsteps shuffling across the room before a small finger poked into her cheek. That felt entirely too real to be a dream. Her eyes fluttered open, the image of the faceless children falling away and replaced by another child. This one definitely had a face, and was very much real. He was incredibly close to Levy’s face, so much so all she could see were wide dark eyes, and a deep scar through the kid’s left eyebrow.

****

Gajeel hadn’t ever woken up as quickly in his life as he had when he heard Levy scream. Without fully opening his eyes, he grabbed a hold of her arm pulling her back into him as he leapt out of the bed. He held her to his chest with his right arm, unleashing his scales over his left to protect them from whatever danger had caused her to cry out. Only, it didn’t look there was anything there.

“Levy, what the hell?” He croaked, his voice still heavy with sleep as he let her go. The bluenette just pointed to her side of the bed, and he saw her arm tremble slightly. He squinted in that direction, wondering if maybe there had been a big bug or something that he’d missed. Anything that would warrant that kind of scream so early in the morning. That’s when the small head peaked over the edge of the bed. It continued to rise to reveal a kid that didn’t look like he could be more than 5 or 6 years old. He was a small little thing, with shaggy black hair, wide black eyes and dressed in nothing more than a pair of green pants. A pair of green pants that looked oddly familiar. That’s when Gajeel noticed the scar through his eyebrow.

“Holy shit,” he muttered, not believing his eyes. “Lily?” The kid’s eyes sparkled as his bottom lip started to quiver. He hopped up on the bed and ran across it before leaping into the air and onto Gajeel, throwing his little arms around the dragon slayer’s neck.

“Gajeel,” Lily cried in his neck. “I don’t know what happened but I don’t want to be a kiiiiid.” If it wasn’t for how shocking the whole thing was, it actually would have been a little funny. He wrapped his arms around his friend as he held him up.

“Lily?” Levy said curiously, looking at Gajeel who just shrugged.

“Hey, c’mon bud, it’s okay,” he tried to say reassuringly as he started bouncing the former exceed as one would any other child that was fussy.

“Don’t patronize meeeee,” Lily whined into his neck, pulling on a handful of Gajeel’s hair. He couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course Lil would be able to still use words like patronize but not be able to control his tear ducts. Levy reached out hesitantly before she started to rub Lily’s back. Gajeel could feel his dragon parent instinct rearing to life as he continued to hold his friend. It didn’t matter that normally he could become a behemoth of a panther with a giant sword, right now he was just a kid and he knew he needed to protect him.

“How about we go make some breakfast, Lil,” he said as soothingly as he could before walking towards the door. He wasn’t quite sure what the hell was happening, but he did know pancakes would be a step in the right direction.

****

Levy still wasn’t exactly sure how to wrap her mind around the fact she was walking hand-in-hand with a tiny human version of Panther Lily. Gajeel had made them pancakes, which seemed to calm the one exceed down quite a bit, though he did occasional sniffle as he sat on his designated seat at their table. They’d kept him preoccupied with some paper and pencils from her work station as they stole away to do the dishes and discuss whatever it was that was going on.

“So I was thinking,” she’d started as she grabbed the freshly washed dish from Gajeel and started to wipe it dry with a towel.

“What else is new,” he’d said, elbowing her lightly in the arm. She added the dry plate to her finished stack as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Not the time for jokes, Redfox,” she’d said as sternly as she could. (Which, wasn’t very.) “I was thinking, do you think this may have been from when he got hit by Geppetto?” “There’s always time for jokes, Redfox,” he’d shot back, winking at her before turning his eyes back to the dish he was working on. The kitchen was filled with the sound of the water running as he scrubbed the syrup off. “It’s definitely a possibility. We should ask Makarov though before we do anything else.”

And that was how Levy ended up here, walking towards the hall with the 5-year-old Lily, who was wearing one of her white shirts that she normally reserved for training since it was the only thing small enough to fit him. Stupid Gajeel, sending her to the guild alone with a kid knowing full well how everyone had been giving her grief. All because he “had to go find something in the attack real quick.” Like she believed that. When this fiasco was over, he was going to pay for throwing her to the wolves like this. They were now standing in front of the entrance, and she was just trying to mentally prepare. With any luck, everyone would be out. She felt Lily tug on her hand for her attention.

“Are you okay, Levy?” He asked, cocking his head to the side. She felt her heart squeeze at the sight of him. He was honestly too adorable for words.

“I’m fine, Lil,” she smiled at him. “Just trying to explain what I’m doing with a tiny human is all.” He muttered, his lower lip poking out as he looked at her with that displeased look only children managed to pull off.

“I’m not a tiny human,” he grumbled causing her to laugh.

“C’mon, Lil. Let’s see if the master might know anything.” They pushed the door open to find Cana and Mira at the bar. A sigh of relief slipped from her lips as she saw that it looked like everyone else had found jobs to do. While the two of them would give her some serious shit, at least it was just the two. The card mage’s eyes were downright predatory as her and Lily walked up to the bar.

“Who’s this little guy, Blue?” She asked, a wicked smile stretching across her lips. Here it came. “He looks like he takes after a certain dragon slayer we know. Have you been hiding a secret love child from us?” Mira stifled a laugh into the towel she was using to wipe the bar down. They were both the biggest offenders when it came to asking Levy about kids, she suspected because they wanted to get their hands on them to ruin them and then give them back.

“It’s a very long story,” she sighed as she saw Lily pouting up at Cana from the corner of her eye. “Is the master around?” Levy turned her attention to Mira, knowing she’d know if Makarov was up in his office.

“Sure is,” Mira replied, eyeing the kid next to Levy. There was something familiar about him. “He’s about to head out to the council actually for the wizard’s trial. The one you, Gajeel and--” Levy saw the moment it all clicked. “Lily?!” She gasped at Levy’s pint-sized companion.

“Lily?” Cana asked confusedly, turning her full attention from her drink to the child. “Holy crap, Lily?!”

“Took you two long enough,” he said, pulling his hand from Levy’s and pointing between the pair of them. “I can’t believe you think I look like Levy and Gajeel!” There was a beat of silence before the three women standing around him started to laugh. It was just so hard to take him serious when he was so adorable.

“That’s not nice,” he said, deflating slightly and hanging his head in shame. Levy couldn’t resist as she patted his hair reassuringly.

“Sorry, Lil. Let’s go catch the master.” He nodded under her hand, reaching up to grab it with his hand again. Levy could hear her friends’ hushed voices as they walked towards the door that led to Makarov’s office.

****

The dark haired boy lay across the seat of the train with his head in Levy’s lap. His wife was staring out the window, lost in deep thought as she was running her fingers through his hair. If the motion of the train didn’t make Gajeel feel like he was dying, he may have admired the scene, loving the way motherhood looked on Levy, even if it was only a quick glimpse as they were taking care of their friend. He knew she eventually wanted to have kids, and he’d wait as long as she wanted him to, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t overly excited at the idea of having their own kid to take care of.

Another wave of nausea hit him as he leant forward in his seat across from his companions and placed his head in his hands. After Levy and Lily had come home from meeting with Makarov, they’d informed him that they would need to head out to the capitol in the morning to meet with the council. Makarov had said he’d set up a meeting for them with Geppetto after his trial for first thing in the morning, and while Gajeel was grateful that he’d do that, he honestly could have gone without starting his day on the god forsaken train.

“You okay, babe?” Levy’s quiet voice cut through his thoughts. He looked up, and tried to smile reassuringly at her.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, his voice full of grit. He nodded to Lily, who had rolled over and nuzzled his face into Levy’s stomach. “It’s Lil I’m worried about.” He watched as she smiled down at his friend in her lap.

“We’ll get him back to normal,” she said as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind Lily’s ear. “We always figure something out.”

It wasn’t too much longer before they finally reached their stop, Gajeel stumbling off the train and taking a large, steadying breath of fresh air. He already felt so much better just being away from that metal death trap. His eyes scanned the crowd as he saw Mest standing there, waving for them. Levy and Lily joined his side, and he reached down to take Lily’s small hand in his own as they headed to the meet up with the council member. Mest smiled at them nodding at each as he greeted them

“Gajeel, Levy, Panther Lily,” his eyes lingered on the last of their group, causing him to frown.

“Don’t you say anything,” Lily said, aware how pathetic he must look with Levy and Gajeel on either side of him holding his hands. The council member just shrugged.

“Wasn’t gonna,” was all he said before he led them towards the exit so they could head to the jail the council used. It wasn’t too long of a walk, surprisingly, and Mest filled what little time it took by filling them in on how the trial had gone the day before. Geppetto had been found guilty of using illegal magic, and would end up spending 10 years in prison before he’d be released but would need to check in with the council once a month for the rest of his life. It sounded like a fair enough punishment after he’d created a toy child army and tried to take over his own town. They were able to walk straight through into the building with their escort. Gajeel couldn’t help but noticed Lily’s small hand squeeze his a little tighter as they continued down into the lower levels of the building, which were certainly a bit more gloomy than the entrance had been. He smiled down at him, and nearly ran right into Mest.

“He’s in here,” he said. Gajeel grunted in acknowledgement before turning to his blue haired girl and Lily.

“How about you guys stay out here, and I’ll go talk to Geppetto, huh?” He suggested, not sure he wanted Lily to be in the same room with the guy again. Lily gave him quite a disgruntled look as he pulled his hand from Levy’s and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Gajeel,” he started, the small pout forming on his mouth. Kneeling before him, Gajeel put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small iron dragon. When they’d gone to talk to Makarov, he’d rummaged through his things in the attic to find it. It had been a gift for him from Metalicana when he was just a boy, and he’d been saving it for his kids but it seemed like it could be useful now. Though he knew Lily was fighting the urger to snatch the toy from his hand, he saw the boy’s eyes light up. Finally, Lily took it from his hand and started to move it around like it was flying in the sky. “I’m still mad though,” Lily said, before he hopped onto a chair outside Geppetto’s cell and continued to play with the small dragon.

“I’ll talk to Geppetto and see if we can get him to turn Lil back. Stay out here with him?” Levy’s eyes were trained on Lily as he was making roaring noises with the dragon.

“Of course,” she said when she turned back to him, a weird look in her eye. Gajeel kissed her forehead before turning to enter the cell with Mest.

****

Lily would be back to normal within about a day or so, which, was a relief. Not that Levy didn’t enjoy how small and adorable their friend was currently, it had just been putting a lot of thoughts and ideas in her head that she wasn’t sure she was ready to face head on. Well, the fact she kept thinking about it probably meant she was, but she wasn’t ready to admit that just yet. By the time they got off the train in Magnolia, the stars had already come out and poor Lily had been tired out from the day of travel and waiting for Gajeel to get information from Geppetto. Apparently there wasn’t really much the wizard could do, because he’d never managed to turn a living thing into a kid before, that’s why he’d always used dolls. Just based on what he knew of his powers though, the spell would wear off anywhere within 24-72 hours. It hadn’t been too helpful, and the realization had caused quite the tantrum from Lily. One that was unlike any tantrum she had ever seen from any actual human child, but she’d marveled as Gajeel had just picked him up off the floor he’d been pounding his fists against and wiped his tears away and carried him out of the prison. The warm feeling it created in her stomach was a strange one, and still hadn’t faded as they were now walking down the street to their home.

Lily was still in Gajeel’s arms, having fallen asleep again on the train. His snores were so little as his mouth hung open and his head stay trained on the dragon slayer’s shoulder. She hung back a bit, watching the sight and knowing that Gajeel was going to make an amazing dad.

“Ya comin, Shrimp?” He yelled over his other shoulder, reaching his free hand out to her. “Or do I need to carry you too?” She couldn’t help but laugh as she ran to catch up, grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. They walked home in a comfortable silence. She loved that they could just be together without filling silence with talk. It was one of her favorite things about Gajeel. Just being around him was enough for her. As they walked, she caught passersby smiling at them before turning to their friends and she knew to them they must look like a happy family. The warm feeling in her stomach grew. Maybe having a kid now wouldn’t be too bad. After they made sure Lily was back to his normal self, of course.

She hadn’t realized how tired she’d been until they walked into their home and the weight of the day slipped from her shoulders. It really had been a long day.

“I’m going to put him in bed,” Gajeel said as he walked towards Lily’s room. She headed up the stairs to their own, and plopped down onto it, not even caring that it wasn’t her side. Her eyes traced the patterns in their ceiling, trying to push away the idea of Gajeel tucking in the faceless blue haired children from her dreams and the yearning feeling it caused. Lost deep in her thoughts, she didn’t hear her husband enter the room.

“You’re on my side,” he growled playfully as he climbed on top of her, straddling her and leaning down onto his forearms so his face was just inches from hers.

“Whatcha gonna do about it?” She asked, lifting her head to kiss the tip of his nose.

“I’ll show you what I’m gonna do, Shrimp,” he smiled as he leant down and pressed their lips together. After being together for so long, and being married, you’d think at some point his touch would stop setting her blood on fire but that hadn’t been the case. In fact, as his tongue swept the inside of her mouth she couldn’t help but moan into it as she tangled her hands into his hair. She didn’t think there would be any point where she’d stop wanting him as badly as she did. His mouth traveled to her neck, biting and sucking down to her collar bone as her hands found the hem of his shirt and pushed it up so she could run her hands over his abs. The heat in her stomach had spread downwards and the space between them was electric as she started to tug on the fastenings of his pants. He moaned against the dip of her collar bone before he slipped an arm under her back and flipped them so he was laying on the bed and she was on top of him. His crimson eyes were full of hunger and fire as she tugged her dress over her head, leaving her in her strapless bar and underwear. She dropped the fabric onto the bed beside them and pushed up on his shirt until he took the hint and sat up to remove it. She threw her arms around his neck as she kissed him, biting on his lip and grinding her hips into his. She loved the way she could make him moan if she was being honest. It was such a wonderful sound. As he was fiddling with the clasp of her bra, a loud peel of thunder shook the windows. She felt the clasp give way as the strapless fell down between them. Pressing her breasts into his chest, he lay back without breaking the kissing, his hands now free to tangle in her hair. She could feel his hardness beneath her as her hips ground into his again. Another clap of thunder sounded, this time followed by a squeak and a knock on the door.

“No,” Gajeel growled, as he pulled away from their kiss. It took a moment for Levy to realize what was happening as another small knock rapped on their door. She couldn’t help but laugh. She suddenly understood why people always joked about how kids were the ultimate cockblock. Pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek, she pushed herself off of him, grabbing her discarded clothes and heading for their bathroom. Through the bathroom door, she heard Gajeel growl again before getting up and walking to the door.

“Hey Lil,” she heard him say as she dropped her clothes into the dirty clothes hamper and grabbed her stolen pajama shirt off the hook on the back of the door.

“Can I sleep with you guys tonight?” Lily’s little voice trembled as thunder rumbled again. The lights flickered in the bathroom and she heard the little guy squeak again. She pulled the pajama shirt over her head before walking up to the sink and grabbing her toothbrush.

“Yeah, Lil, c’mon,” Gajeel replied and from the sound of it, helped their friend crawling into their bed. A small smile crept onto her face before she started to brush her teeth.

****

Gajeel had never felt so warm and cozy as he did as he slowly started to drift out of sleep. Levy’s head was on his chest, her hair tickling his nose slightly but filling his sense with her floral scent. He would never get enough of her scent if he was honest. His arms tightened reflexively around her and he felt a smaller body squirm in the space between them. He heard Lily’s soft snores as the cat twisted so his face was pressed into Gajeel’s side. The dragon slayer felt Lily’s cat ears twitch against his side and he could help but smile. While he’d enjoyed playing dad for a couple days, he was happy to have his little family back to normal. Without opening his eyes, he pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Levy’s head.

****

It had been a couple weeks since the whole Lily incident, and one week since her missed period. She didn’t want to say she was freaking out as she stood there with Lucy, who was bouncing a little pink haired girl on her hip, but let’s be honest. She was freaking out.

“So I just, hold this lacrima in my hand, and if it glows purple, I’m pregnant and if it doesn’t, I’m not?” She questioned, staring at the offending bit of stone on the counter between them.

“That’s it!” Lucy said, not even bothering to look up from her daughter, who was currently blowing spit bubbles at her mom. Well, it was now or never. Squeezing her eyes shut, she thrust her hand towards the celestial wizard.

“I can’t do it Luce, just put the thing in my hand okay,” she said through gritted teeth. Her stomach was doing flips, sending a wave of nausea through her. Nausea that she was hoping was from nerves and not morning sickness. She felt the cold, smooth stone fall into her palm. And then, there was silence. Silence must have been good, if Lucy wasn’t making a big deal, that must have meant nothing. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Lucy smiling brightly at her as she pointed down at the stone. There, in her palm, the stone glowed a brilliant purple.

#gajevy week #gajevy #gajeel redfox #levy mcgarden #gajeel x levy #one shot #panther lily #kiiiiiids yall KIDS #fun fact: originally i was gonna do firsts #then marriage #then grief and kill one of them off #but after the chapter that shall not be named i figured that would be a bad idea XD

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shadowtsukiyo · 8 years ago

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Gajevy Week: Prompt: Matching. The Perfect Match

Gajevy

Rated: T

Prompt: Matching

One-Shot

The Perfect Match

Five years Post-Year-Gap

The twins learn about the perfect couple from Lily as they wait on their little brother to be born.

Levy was calmly sitting at the dining room table, sipping some tea. The twenty-three-year-old blunette was currently a mother of two beautiful twins, Shutora and Yajeh.

“Mama, you okay?” Shutora asked her mother, her fingers clutching at the woman’s flowy sea green dress.

“Yes, darling.” Levy smiled and moved to brush her daughter’s cornflower hair from her face. “The baby is just being difficult.”

Levy was at thirty-three weeks in her pregnancy, closing in on her thirty-fourth week. Because of the surprise of having twins her last pregnancy, they actually went through the whole doctor routine this time. Gajeel and Levy were having a boy this time. Just one boy. Surprisingly, it was more difficult than her first, despite it being her second pregnancy, and only one child.

“Daddy! Tell the baby to stop being mean to Mama!” Shutora called as she pouted, looking at her mother’s swollen belly.

Levy held back a sigh as she felt her husband coming up behind her. She didn’t even need to look back to know it was him.

“The kid still at it, Lev?” Gajeel moved up behind his wife, crouching down to be more at their daughter’s height. “Leave the baby to me, Shrimp, go bug Lil’ and Yajeh.”

Shutora puffed up her cheeks, ready to argue until she saw both of her parents gave her a stern look.

When the little girl ran off to go to her brother and godfather, Gajeel moved to stroke Levy’s abdomen.

“What’s goin’ on, Shorty?” He asked gently, his fingers gently moving over the swell of her belly.

“Just… a bit of pain. My lower back hurts, and I’m just cramping up. I thought tea would help.” She said lightly. It was how she calmed down during her first pergnancy.

She had experienced false labor pains multiple times during her pregnancy with Shutora and Yajeh and didn’t want to rush off at every little thing. She must have given Gajeel so many gray hairs from all the panic during their first pregnancy.

“Come on. We’re going to the hospital.” He grunted, moving to slip his arm under her thighs and behind her back. Pausing to let her wrap her arms around his neck.

“Gaj… it’s probably just–.”

“No. You were fidgeting more than usual last night too. Yer the smart one, Lev. I want you and the kid safe.” He dropped a kiss to her forehead to quiet her down.

A soft sigh escaped her as her lips tilted into a weak smile, leaning into him.

“Shutora, Yajeh, grab your ma’s bag from our room!” He called to the twins, both of them nearly five years old.

“Got it!” Yajeh’s footsteps raced past his sister to go grab the small duffle of supplies. “I got Mama’s clothes bag!”

“Can I pick out a book for Mama!” Shutora peeked her head around the corner, looking at her parents.

“Be quick ‘bout it. I wanna get yer ma to the doctor. Maybe have Wendy or Lucy come n’ see her.”

“Okay! I’ll grab Aunt Lu’s book for Mama!” Shutora smiled brightly and ran up to grab Lucy’s novel “Fairy Heart” for Levy.

Lily walked into the room, seeing the pregnant woman cradled in his partner’s arms he smirked slightly. Gajeel had grown so much since they first met.

The exceed transformed into his battle form, “I’ll help the kids out.” He commented to the coup couple.

He watched as Gajeel nodded. Usually the Iron Dragon Slayer was much more attentive to his children, but he was worried about his petite wife. Levy was small and despite her strength, childbirth was no easy task. If she was feeling pain as much as she was, she had to see a doctor.

“Uncle Lily… will Mama be okay?” Yajeh asked the exceed quietly as he took Levy’s clothes bag from the boy.

“Yes, Yajeh, she just needs to go to see Wendy and her doctor. To check on the baby.” Lily easily held the two blue haired children.

“Yer ma’ll be fine.” Gajeel moved towards the door. Levy no longer grew shy or embarrassed by Gajeel carrying her around, especially times like this. “If ya ask nice, she might read to ya when we get there.”

The trip to the hospital after a quick call to Wendy was full of pleading and whining, making Levy giggle. The two were currently focusing their attention on their Aunt Lucy who was on the Lacrima, on her way.

At the hospital, Levy was quickly moved to a quiet room with her family.

“Everything will be okay, Levy.” Wendy was calm, holding her hand, the younger female having met them at the hospital.

“Mrs. Redfox, good to see you.” The doctor was an older woman, something that made both Levy and Gajeel comfortable. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Hello, Doctor. It would be better if it was under different circumstances.” Levy said lightly. “Just some back pain, quite a bit more then I had with the twins and some Braxton Hicks or False Contractions. I told Gajeel it wasn’t anything to worry about.”

The older woman squinted at the mother. “Well, let me check something, you may want to have the children leave when I do the pelvic exam.” She mentioned to Gajeel and Lily. Levy blanched at the idea. While she was used to it, she didn’t particularly enjoy the exams.

“I’ll take them. How about we get some ice cream while we wait on your Aunt Lucy?” Lily asked, motioning to the kids who grew excited at the promise of ice cream.

“Yes please!” Leaning over, the twins loudly kissed their mother’s cheeks and their father before running after the exceed.

With the kids gone, the doctor pulled on some gloves.

It was simple abdominal exams, the contractions were still a far distance apart, so they could have been false.

Upon a pelvic exam, she let out a loud laugh.

“Well, my dear. I guess it is a good thing your husband demanded you come in. You’re in early labor.”

“B-but… with Shutora and Yajeh, it was nothing like this!” Levy was wide eyed, she had no idea.

“Every pregnancy is different. Don’t be too surprised. It happens to mothers all the time!” She laughed. “You’re too far into it to stop it with medication, so sadly, or happily, depending on how you look at it, you’ll be greeting this little one early.”

“Of course, he had to be dramatic like his father.” Levy muttered, stroking her belly in a loving manner.

Gajeel bit his tongue to keep from biting out a retort, rolling his eyes as he kissed her forehead. “Love ya too, babe.”

“Well, with how these contractions are, its already going a lot smoother than it did with the twins.”

“Oi, Lil… I need to ask ya a huge favor.” Gajeel approached Lily after scooping up his kids, listening to their laughter when they returned. Lily kept them out for a while, a hour and a half at least.

“Of course, Gajeel.”

“I need us to take the Short stacks home. Lev’s gotta stay.”

“Is Mama okay!?” Both twins gasped.

“Yes, is she okay?”

“Yeah, mostly.” Gajeel commented. “Yer ma’s having the baby, guys. But, the baby is early, so the baby and Lev have to stay here for a while. The baby longer then Lev.” He said calmly.

Lily knew he was panicking. Preterm labor was dangerous for the baby and sometimes the mother. Even though the baby was likely well developed…there was always a risk.

“But… that means we should stay here for Mama!” Yajeh argued.

“Yeah! We should be here for Mama and the baby!” Shutora chimed in.

“Look, I know ya wanna be here for her. So does she. But it ain’t fun. Yer Ma is gonna be very tired, and it’ll take a while for the baby to come. And when yer Ma is finally having the baby, she ain’t gonna be nice, because having a baby can be painful.”

Gajeel wasn’t gonna lie to his kids. “Ya both will be anxious and worried, and yer Ma only needs one anxious, worried Redfox on her at a time.”

“And he’ll send someone to get us as soon as the baby is born, right, Gajeel?” Lily met Gajeel’s tired and worried gaze.

Levy must have kicked him out of the room for hovering as she did when she was having the twins.

“Course. ’m not gonna keep yer brother from ya both. I’ll send maybe yer Aunt Juvia and maybe she’ll bring Silver to come get you guys.”

“Promise?” Shutora’s wide honey eyes looked up at her father.

“I give ya a Dragon’s Promise. If yer Aunt Lucy doesn’t run off and tell everyone in the Guild, you both will be the first one’s outside of the hospital to know.”

“Good. Tell Aunt Lucy not to or I’ll get really, really mad at her.” Shutora commented. Oh she was definitely a Redfox, alright.

“Can we bring Mama anything when we come? Or the baby?” Yajeh asked quietly. He eas so much like Levy it wasn’t even funny.

“Ya know what, bring yer Ma’s favorite dress and that blanket she bought for the baby, can ya do that for her?”

“Yes! I won’t let you down!”

Gajeel’s gaze softened at his children. “You never could, Yajeh… neither of you could ever let me down.” He held them close, nuzzling them before kissing their heads. “I love ya both, and Lev does too. You both are out everythings. You and this new baby… you’re our lives.” He whispered to his children.

Gajeel had changed so much since he first joined Fairy Tail. He had many turning points in his life, and at each one, he only became a better man. Lily was proud. If anyone told him back when he first became Gajeel’s partner that he’d see the man would have two children with Levy, but would be openly affectionate with them, he would have been extremely doubtful.

Lily was glad he was wrong.

“Come along, Shutora, Yajeh.” Lily smiled, patting Gajeel’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Gajeel. You’ve grown so much.”

Lily had no idea how much those words meant to him.

It was only an hour after they had gotten home that the children found themselves curled up in their parent’s bed.

“Miss them, hm?” Lily asked, walking around in his battle form. It was easier to look after the children in this form. The large formed Exceed moved to sit down on the end of the bed, watching as Shutora nodded her head.

“W-what if Mama or the baby don’t make it?” It saddened him to see such a young girl worried about that. It wasn’t an irrational worry, but it wasn’t something they should be worried about.

“Your mom is very strong.” He nodded to himself. “How about I tell you a story. One about two mages that despite everything, were the perfect match.”

This peeked the interest of both children.

“Like Mama and Papa?” Yajeh asked Lily, his dark honey eyes looking at his God Father.

Lily smirked slightly, “Yes.” He nodded.

The two cuddled up close to him, clutching a pillow.

“There was once a Mage that worked for a cruel guild, it was called Phantoms… They started a war with the Faes over one of their members. Her father had gone in search for her and paid the Guild Leader Jose to bring back his child. Jose, wanting revenge on the Faes, decided to start a guild war…”

Levy was in pain, her head dropping onto Gajeel’s arm. The contractions were hitting hard now, and she wasn’t fully dilated. They kept her hooked up to the Lacrima powered machines to keep track of how both she and the baby were doing.

“Jose had sent the man after a small team, with a member known for her light and happy disposition. She was almost the embodiment of the Fae’s herself. She was so positive and willing to accept anyone. The man was ordered to snuff out that light and hurt her.”

“NO!” Shutora cried out, Yajeh stayed quiet, but listened and looked at his God Father with wide eyes.

“Yer almost there, Lev.” He moved to lift her head, brushing her messy, damp locks form her face. “Yer working so hard, my Fae.” He whispered and kissed her forehead.

“Course I would… This is our baby…” She was so tired, but she knew she couldn’t give up.

“Hey, I brought her more ice chips.” Lucy said lightly, holding a small cup of ice chips for Levy. “I’ll go get another cloth to help clean her up some. I think I have something so we can tie her hair back too.”

“Thank you, Lu…”

“Yeah, thanks… Bunny girl.”

The nickname from the Iron Dragon Slayer made the celestial mage scowl, but she soon was smiling as she noticed Levy was weakly giggling.

“Yeah, yeah, Metal Face. Take care of our girl.” Gajeel didn’t need to be told twice by the blonde. As Lucy left, she saw Gajeel’s focus only on Levy, giving her a couple ice chips before whispering softly to her, making her smile.

“Yes, during the attack he hurt the woman and her team. He did something that would haunt both he and the woman… It infuriated her guild. And they came seeking vengeance for their friend, but also to protect their other member. The battle was hard, it left both the mage avenging his friends and the one that attacked the woman exhausted… The Phantoms had lost. Everyone had fallen. Wounds would heal, scars would fade, but nightmares stayed.”

“This isn’t a happy story Uncle Lily!” Yajeh scolded the male.

“I’m not done. It’s not a short story.” Lily chuckled. “It was around a month or so later that the master of the Fae Guild gave the man from the Phantoms an option. A second chance. To join the Faes… to join the light. With some hesitation, he did.”

“How did everyone take it!?”

“When he joined, there was an outrage. Only a few people stood by the master’s decision. One of those people was the woman he had hurt.”

“What did I do to deserve you? Deserve everything you’ve done for me?” Gajeel whispered, nuzzling her gently his hand occasionally cleaning up the sweat that decorated her face.

“You loved me… Protected me… showed me I was more than what anyone believed… even myself.” She whispered and moved to kiss his chin.

The doctor had entered the room to check to see if she was dilated enough. A small grin on her face. “Well, Mrs. Redfox, are you ready for the baby?”

“Oh, Mavis, yes!”

“While he had been distant and full of shame, the man started protecting the woman. He became her protector.”

“Her Dragon!” The twins chimed in.

“Yes. Her Dragon… That’s the perfect line for it. He teased her, yet he did the one thing no one did. He built her up. He made her big. He went with her to the S-class trials, standing by her side as her partner; protecting her from invaders on the island. In turn, she protected him, and when he couldn’t walk… she carried him.”

“I take it back, I’m not ready!” Levy cried out during a push. Lucy was on one side, clutching one of her hands, while Gajeel held the other.

He was calmer this time around. The first time he was in the delivery room, he nearly attacked one of the nurses when she screamed and begged to stop. He never expected labor to be so painful.

“Look at me, Levy. You’re ready. You’ve been ready. I’ll be damned if I’m lettin’ you get scared now.” Gajeel squeezed her hand. “You can do this, Shorty.” He encouraged her.

“He’s right, Levy!” Lucy chirped.

“Time and time again, they protected each other. Before they knew it, they were falling in love. A Fae and her Dragon. It took them years to figure it out. But they found it out at their pace.” Lily paused, “Maybe I should stop here…” He hid a smirk. It seemed like he had been speaking for hours… maybe he had been?

“What! NO!” Yajeh bounced, his sister joining him in her outrage. “Please continue!” It had been hours, yet both children were so invested in the story. They paused long enough to get food, tucked safely into Gajeel and Levy’s bed.

“Okay, okay. I’ll continue.” Lily chuckled. “It wasn’t till he nearly lost her to a mission in the cold mountains, that he realized how much he wanted to stay with her, with her by his side forever.

On these mountains, she trekked through snow, to protect him and the people on her mission after their team was blown up. The bad mages recognized his power… but they made a mistake and ignored hers.”

“What happened?” The kids were so engrossed in the story they lost track of time.

“She tracked them down. And beat some of them, but when he finally woke up… he protected her again. He recognized how injured she was. He recognized that he could lose her. Yet, even though all of that. Even when the bad guys deserved it. She stopped him from falling back into the darkness he once escaped.

When they got to the hospital, he promised himself one thing. The moment she woke up. He’d ask her to be his. Forever.”

“He asked her to marry him?!” Shutora was squirming in excitement, gaining an odd look from her brother.

“He did. And She said yes.” Lily smiled. “They rejoined their guild, and after a final war, where this time she nearly lost him… they settled down. In which they had two children.”

“What are their names, Uncle Lily?”

Hours… It must have been hours, but finally when the high pitch cry filled the room, Levy slumped back against the bed.

“There we go… a beautiful baby boy.” The nurses quickly got to work to clean the baby up, once he was cleaned up, he was placed in Levy’s exhausted embrace. The infant whimpering as he laid against her warm skin. Her face flushed red from exertion.

“Hey there, sweetheart…” Levy’s eyes were focused on the infant, he was a bit on the small side.

“Small like yer mom, eh…?” He chuckled and gently moved a finger down the infant’s back. “So’kay, I like small things.” He mumbled.

Gajeel moved to gently kiss his exhausted wife. “You did amazing, Lev. He’s beautiful.”

She smiled and leaned into him. She wanted to sleep, but at the same time she didn’t want to let her baby go.

“Mrs. Redfox, we’ll need to move him to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for now. He’s a bit on the small side, just under what we’d like. We want to make sure he’s as healthy as he seems.” The doctor’s voice was gentle, but Levy wanted to whimper at giving up her baby to anyone other than Gajeel.

“I’ll go with them.” Gajeel said lightly. “I’ll watch over our son, Lev. You get some rest; Bunny girl will call home and have Lily bring the kids later.”

The blunette slowly bobbed her head, tears stinging her eyes as the baby was gently passed over to the doctor. She didn’t even realize how hard she was squeezing Lucy’s hand.

The blonde didn’t utter a word, it was hard for her to let go of Nashi when she gave birth to her daughter early as well. She had been a little further along, but it was still difficult.

Levy watched as Gajeel left to follow to the NICU.

“He’ll watch over him, Levy. Your son won’t be without a parent. I promise.” Lucy cooed to Levy, helping her calm down. The woman’s anxiety was through the roof, not helping with the stress from having just given birth.

“Shutora and Yajeh Redfox.”

“W-wha? You mean that’s our mom and dad!?” Yajeh exclaimed, sitting up.

“That is…SO COOL! DADDY IS AMAZING!”

“Mama too! She beat up bad guys protecting Papa!”

“I KNOW! Daddy fought Dragons!”

Both children paused.

“Does Grandpapa Metalicana know about Daddy fighting dragons?” Shutora asked.

“Does Grandpapa Metalicana know Mama is having the baby right now?” Yahjeh turned to his sister, both wide-eyed thinking about their grumpy grandfather being the last to know.

The two remembering their grumpy grandfather from when he visited over the past few years. A massive, grumpy, metal dragon who joked at their father, adored their mother, and loved them.

The metal dragon and the other dragons had hidden from Acnologia to restore their energy, but they had not died.

Lily glanced aside noticing the communication Lacrima flashing brightly. “Hold on kids.” Moving to answer the Lacrima, seeing Lucy’s image in the orb. The twins were far too invested in their worry about Metalicanna being upset.

“Hey, Lily! The baby has arrived, Juvia and Gray should be coming by to get you and the kids.”

“That’s good, how is Levy and Gajeel.” Lily moved over by the window, leaning against the wall as he peered out over the front lawn.

“Oh, you know, Gajeel is stalking the nurses to keep an eye on the baby, and Levy is feeling very anxious because they had to take him to get everything done.” Lucy paused to look towards a door, hearing soft sobs from Levy. “Get the kids here as soon as you can. She really needs them. They aren’t going to be letting her out of bed until her blood pressure calms down, and I think it’s all due…”

Lily was glancing at the three figures walking down the front steps, one bouncing over the grass to rush to the front door. “To the baby being in the care unit, and Gajeel not being there. Go back inside, take care of Levy. I see Silver bouncing into the front lawn, so we’ll be leaving as soon as I grab the kids.”

“Thanks Lily…”

“No, thank you, Lucy.”

Lily ended the call on the Lacrima.

“Come along both of you. Juvia, Gray, and Silver are here. Your baby brother has been born.” Lily chuckled as Shutora happily squealed and scrambled to hug her uncle before grabbing her mom’s favorite dress.

Yajeh laughed and moved to grab their mom’s blanket for the baby.

As soon as the children were holding onto the items, they followed the battle formed Exceed out to the front yard, the twins happily greeting the dark-haired son of the water mage and ice make mage.

Lily sighed as he ended up taking the dress and blanket from the twins as they ran and played with Silver on their way to the hospital.

“Reminds me of Levy, Natsu, and I when we were kids.” Gray chuckled, watching as Juvia pouted. Gray didn’t talk much of his childhood.

“Juvia think the new baby will remind everyone of Gajeel when he was little.” Juvia mused as Gray tugged her closer to his side.

Lily laughed lightly. “So, on top of them being a very fitting couple, they get a matching set of kids that match all the adventurist people in Fairy Tail?”

Gray barked out a laugh. “Naw, no one can get an Erza level of extreme in their kid, unless they’re Erza.”

“Juvia thinks Levy would drop dead before she lets any of her children drink like Cana, too.”

Both Gray and Lily paused before nodding in agreement.

The trip was short, thankfully. Once in the hospital the twins tugged the items from Lily, offering a chirped “Thanks!” before running to their mother.

“Hey you two!” Lucy smiled, coming out into the hall when a nurse peeked her head in to tell Levy and Lucy they had guests.

“Hi Aunt Lucy, bye Aunt Lucy!” Shutora called before running past the blonde into the room.

“Mama!” Shutora cried, throwing herself up onto the bed, scrambling up into her mother’s arms the moments she noticed her tear stained face.

Yajeh was quick to join his sister in their mother’s arms.

Levy couldn’t help but cry, although this time it was not from anxiety or wanting to hold her baby that had to be taken to the NICU, it was from the joy of her two amazing, eldest children.

“Shutora, Yajeh…” She nuzzled into their cornflower locks lovingly, tears trailing down her cheeks as she held them, ignoring the blanket and dress they brought. “I missed you both so much.”

“We missed you and Papa too, Mama.” Yajeh whispered into his mother’s collar bone. “Where’s our little brother?” The boy asked, pulling away from his mother.

At her saddened expression, he frowned, looking at Shutora.

“Your dad is with him. Because he was born early, sweetheart, he has to be watched by doctors.” Levy explained, gently brushing her fingers through Shutora’s hair, earning a content sigh as the girl snuggled close.

Lily frowned, “You haven’t gone to see him there yet?”

“My… anxiety attack made the nurses worried. So, they made me stay here.”

Lily’s frown deepened as his eyes narrowing in annoyance. “I bet the only reason you were having an anxiety attack was because you weren’t with the baby and your husband.” Lily’s large hand carefully unhooked some wires, “You two come on. Time to go see your little brother.” Lily scooped Levy up once she was free of wires.

“W-wha, Lily where are you taking Levy!?” Lucy called, as much as she didn’t agree with the nurses, she was worried about Levy’s health, and Lily was usually a level-headed and rational guy.

“She’s not going to calm down or get better if she’s not with her family. All of her family.” Lily didn’t even look back as Levy looked up at Lily with a little shock. The twins happily following behind.

“One floor up all the way at the end of the hall from the East stairs!” Lucy called with a smile.

Juvia had to snatch Silver’s arm before the boy ran after his friends.

“Not right now, Silver. Levy needs a bit of time before our Fairy Tail family joins her.” She said to the boy lightly. Juvia looked at Lucy, “Juvia thinks we should call people. Lily is right, Levy needs all of her family.”

The cat like grin on Lucy’s face made Gray shiver a bit.

Levy was going to be getting a full Fairy Tail Congratulations while the infant would get a full welcome once he was healthy enough.

“You forgot something.” Lily called to Gajeel quietly, trying to be polite to all of the parents looking in on their children.

When Gajeel turned around, his wife was placed in his arms.

He didn’t question Lily, however he noted the tearstains on his wife’s face. “You were cryin’ Lev.” He frowned, moving to pull her closer to his chest. “I should have never left ya.”

“Yes, you should have.” She whispered, nuzzling him gently as she turned her head to look through the glass, her eyes glimpsing the swaddled baby with a large tag of “Redfox” on his hospital grade crib.

“Papa, we wanna see.” Yajeh tugged on his pants.

Lily smirked, carefully placing the Shutora on Gajeel’s shoulders as he moved Yajeh onto his. “Can you see now?”

“Yes! Thanks, uncle Lily!” Yajeh smiled.

“Yeah, thanks Uncle Lily!” Shutora smiled broadly as the family looked into the room.

“Thanks, Lil’. For everything.” Gajeel’s voice was soft, his eyes never leaving the infant that was quietly fussing as a nurse checked up on him.

“You never need to thank me, Gajeel, we’re family.” Lily’s voice was quiet.

It was in that moment Lily realized something as his eyes scanned over the infant, then to Gajeel and Levy.

That child would never have a better set of parents.

Would never have more amazing siblings.

Would be loved to bits and pieces by all of his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

That this family, was put together from fragile minds and bodies.

They had their highs and lows, and they’ve been to rock bottom and back.

They had so much love for each other and their children.

Gajeel and Levy were, undeniably, the perfect match.

Bonus

“So, what’re we gonna name the kid?” Gajeel asked, moving his arm over his wife’s shoulder.

She was finally healthy enough to roam willingly, no longer getting scolded by nurses. She was able to go into the NICU with a nurse to feed the baby.

Finally after nine days, they’d be able to take him home. He passed the tests he doctors had, making sure he was able to breath on his own and swallow without choking.

“I was so worried, I guess it slipped my mind that we hadn’t finished thinking up names.” Levy mumbled lightly.

“We could always…”

“We’re not naming him after your dad.” Levy glanced at her husband. Soon a light smile gracing her lips. “But… maybe we can allow him to name him?” She said lightly.

The large dragon had wanted to be near when she went into labor. It was unexpected that she gave birth early.

“Pops would like that.” He mumbled, moving to press a kiss to her temple. “Shutora and Yajeh and everyone had been making the baby’s room special.”

Gajeel stopped at home to catch Juvia and his children setting brand new toys, blankets, and other baby items all over the room. Some unopened presents with name tags from other Fairy Tail members littering the house.

Levy smiled. “Our family wanted to be as much a part of his birth and welcome home as possible. It’s nice.” She whispered, moving to brush a kiss against his cheek.

415 notes · View notes

doctorwhodunit · 8 years ago

Text

Bloody Venus

Gajevy Week Bonus Prompt: Alternate Universe

Summary: Gajeel Redfox studies to one day become the leader of the Second Division of the Police Department, the one that deals with cases of thefts and robberies. A particular thief piqued his interest, a quirky and arrogant one that managed to outsmart the police force too many times already. Cunning as he is, Gajeel decides to join in on the fun.

You can also read it on FFnet.

"Impenetrable fortress," Macao Conbolt, the head of the police squad, said with a smirk as he looked around the room.

"The walls are made of glass," Wakaba Mine, his best friend and right-hand man, retorted beside him. "I repeat," he quipped, miming a megaphone, "we're on the building's top floor at night and the walls are made of glass for 'fanciness reasons' according to the person in charge of the exhibition. There's nothing 'impenetrable' about this place."

The dozen police officers surrounding them sighed silently. 'Here we go again' and 'Always bickering' could be heard from some of them as they faked checking some of their equipment. "Bulletproof vest, okay," one of them coughed.

Macao rolled his eyes and glared back at Wakaba. "I know they're made of glass," he snapped, "but we," he yelled proudly, opening his arms wide, "the agents of Justice with a capital J, are what make this glass room impenetrable! We are the backbone of this nation! Bearing pride in our hearts, we have one and only goal! Protect the jewels from the filthy hands of this serial thief!"

A moment of silence passed and the police officers glanced at each other with a hint of a lopsided smile on their face. They all straightened their stance and looked intensely back at their leader.

"Yes, sir!"

Macao grinned a toothy grin, proud of his men's resolve. Beside him, Wakaba snorted. "You might sound cheesy but you sure know how to boost your squad's determination," he commented earnestly. However, he didn't let him have time to smile and promptly added, "she managed to escape from us twice already though."

Macao coughed as he unintentionally choked on a ball of bitterness thinking about how easily she outsmarted them without any bloodshed. If he were to be honest with himself, he would admit verbally that her thieving skills were out of this world. Stealing gems from right under their noses without using any lethal weapon against the police to do so was not an easy feat, and yet, she achieved her deeds with utmost brilliance. And arrogance. So much arrogance. Macao seethed inwardly just thinking about it.

"This time," he replied after regaining his composure, "she won't be able to steal anything." He considered the pedestal in front of him and smirked as he regarded the jewels in the glass case. "If you touch the glass, an alarm will ring and the trap door inside will open and close fast to protect the jewels." He glanced at Wakaba who clearly had his 'I already know about the security systems, stop repeating yourself' face on. Macao reached in his back pocket and whipped out with slight arrogance his ultimate weapon. "And I've got this!"

Jealousy could be read on Wakaba's eyebrows when he contemplated what looked like sunglasses from the future in Macao's hand.

"Glasses with Iris Recognition System!" he boasted. "When I put these on, they scan my irises and it activates a mechanism inside the pedestal that allows the glass case to open automatically!" He wished he could have wiggled his eyebrows at the annoyed and jealous Wakaba who clearly had enough of him repeating himself. "This means that only I, Macao Conbolt, can open the glass case to get the jewels!"

Wakaba clenched clenched his teeth and fist and rolled his eyes. He sounded even more arrogant than the thief itself, which had the tendency to piss him off more than anything. However, a quick look at his wristwatch made him realise that he had no time to deal with this prick.

“Anyway, Supreme Leader Macao Conballs, it's almost time.”

Macao ignored the tasteless nickname he gave him, put away the sunglasses in his front pocket, and cleared his throat. “Alright! She said she'll come to steal the jewels at 10:00 PM. Only two minutes left, get ready.”

His tone of voice sounded more serious, almost grave. He was determined to capture her this time. Close to the glass case containing the jewels, Macao and Wakaba regarded their men with confidence, knowing that their presence around them and the jewels would be more than enough to take the thief down. After all, they were the elite handpicked cautiously by the head of the police departm-

“From above!” a voice cried out.

Everyone's heart skipped a beat as they all instinctively shot their head upwards in order to neutralise their oncoming threat. Their eyebrows furrowed in confusion when not even the shadow of the thief could be seen.

“What's this?” one of the men said hastily, pointing at something falling under the moonlight.

Macao squinted to see that a small metallic object was falling, and it was only when it reached eye-level that his jaw dropped as he recognised what it was. Unfortunately, it had already reached the ground right in front of him before he could say anything.

“Flash grenade?!”

Like lightning descending from the skies in the middle of a storm, a blinding light suddenly illuminated the whole room, making it impossible to see anything. Their eyes couldn't handle the glow of the powerful light, and they instantly shut close in pain. The thudding sound of the explosion had Wakaba and the other men cover their ears, and they understood quickly that for a few seconds, they wouldn't be able to move as they pleased.

“I can't see shit! Damn thief!” Macao seethed.

“Conbolt-san! Here, the sunglasses!” a voice hurried.

Macao felt one of his men's fingers on his hands as he was handed the sunglasses. A sigh of relief in this confusing situation escaped his mouth.

“Thank you!” he yelled as he put them on.

He managed to open his eyes and his forehead grew a size when he saw what was happening. A blue light passed over his eyes and he could distinctly hear a sort of gas sound near him. He recognised the sound of the mechanism right away as he was the only one to have heard it in this room.

The glass case opened.

“Damn thief used the glasses with Iris Recognition System against me!” Macao cried out in horror. “Keep calm and get closer to me, the thief can't have escaped this quickly!”

Without ease and with their eyes still blinded, his men walked towards him. However, as seconds went by, their eyesight was slowly coming back to normal. They could spot Macao throwing his glasses and Wakaba rubbing his eyes. When all the officers reached their squad leader, their jaw dropped.

“The jewels disappeared,” Wakaba gasped at the open glass case.

Macao quickly examined the room, but there was no thief to be found. “Goddammit!” he cursed with gritted teeth.

“Look!” Wakaba exclaimed, snapping Macao out of his self-deprecating thoughts, pointing at the top of the pedestal.

A neat, laminated piece of paper was placed on the cushion that supported the jewels on the pedestal. Considering the neat penmanship, it was most likely a note written by a woman. Macao took a closer look at it and gritted his teeth, always so overwhelmed by this thief's arrogance.

How about a good ol' race, Conbolt-san?

The loser owes the winner Kinder Chocolate ice cream.

“This pretentious bastard,” he hissed. “Why would you choose Kinder Chocolate when you can have Oreo Cream?”

Before Wakaba could add a snide remark to his tasteless remark – and comment on his malfunctioning taste buds – they heard a screeching car noise coming from outside.

“Must be her,” Macao said curtly. “Oh, she wants a race, we're gonna give it to her. Guys! Let's get outta here, we're taking her down tonight!”

“Yes, sir!” they yelled back.

And in no time, they all rushed down the stairs to go after their enemy.

All except one.

Because of all this ruckus, none of the so-called elite of the police department realised that one of them had stayed behind. A whistle escaped the mouth of the member of the police force, only to be followed by a rather high-pitched chuckle. A smirk tugged at the corner of the officer's mouth as he brought his hands from behind his back up to his face – said hands holding what the elite of the police department was supposed to protect.

The object was round, and there wasn't anything much special about it. Cherry blossoms of different warm colours adorned the object, all seeming to converge to one point on the round-shaped jewel. It had all the characteristics of a… button. The officer raised an eyebrow, and his thumb naturally went over the button and pressed it. He almost made the ball-like object fall when it opened, as if it were a compartment someone would put a wedding ring into. But instead of a wedding ring, the eyes of the jewel bearer lit up, reflecting a magnificent display of shine and artistry.

Beauty was truly in the eyes of the beholder.

Falkor's Ashes. Peculiar name for this dragon-shaped diamond. As if frozen, the dragon stood tall on his tail, its nest appearing bigger on the inside. The craftsmanship of this masterpiece made the officer's hazel eyes glitter in awe.

His eyebrows furrowed suddenly, and he considered the dragon's nest once more. Ashes… Ash...

“Oooooh,” the officer exhaled, “it opens like a Poké Ball.”

“That's yer first comment, really? What a weirdo.”

Startled, the 'Poké Ball' almost dropped to the ground as the officer snapped his head in the direction of the foreign voice. It came from the staircase the other policemen had gotten out from. An ominous shadow was calmly making its way up, and step by step, it felt like its confidence was growing bigger, sharper.

A hand slowly dragged itself up the banister. The officer's heart beat faster and his blood started boiling as a long mane of hair appeared across the bars of the banister. He could feel the mischievous smile of an unexpected opponent.

How exciting.

“Yo,” the deep voice said, done walking up the stairs, “havin' a nice stroll?”

From where he was and because of the moonlight, all the officer could see was a tall figure with wild, long hair. At least, he could tell he was a man, judging by his deep and raspy voice.

“Who are you? How did you get here, kid?” the officer asked in an astonishingly deep voice.

A laugh that resembled a grunt escaped the tall figure's mouth. “Well, that clearly ain't yer real voice,” he snorted. “Let's get down to business,” he grunted then, “don't waste my time, thief.”

His last word echoed around the room with thunderous strength. The weight of the word as it burst out of his mouth was like no other, for some reason it felt like he deemed his enemy worthy of this battle, even though he had already won.

A long silence lingered in the air, both of them waiting for the other to whip out his next move, but the tall figure had already lost patience.

“This ain't no silent movie so how about I do the talk for ya?” he suggested. “First off,” he exclaimed, pointing his index finger upwards, “you've got the jewel in yer hands, that's already pretty suspicious if ya ask me.”

“Th-”

“Nah-uh, you had your chance, you wasted it,” he sniped. “Second off, give a close look at the bottom of the pedestal.”

The officer looked down carefully, still confused by the sudden turn of events. He blinked once or twice before seeing a white square stuck to the bottom of the pedestal.

“It's a wireless transmitter, also commonly known as a bug,” he bragged. “I've been listening to everything that was happening since the beginning.” A smirk tugged at his lips, foreseeing what the next question would be. “Why does it even matter that you listened to what was happening? Good question!” he blurted joyfully. “When Macao and Wakaba started bickering, one of the officers faked checking their equipment and referred to it as a bulletproof vest. What a newbie mistake,” he snorted, “the police force in this country mostly use stab vests, especially when they're up against someone who's known for not using firearms, like you.”

Who on Earth are you? the suspicious officer thought through gritted teeth. By the looks of it, he wasn't one of the policemen who had left. He wasn't a policeman, period. The wireless transmitter wasn't Macao's idea or else he would already have made a move. Whoever he is, he works alone, and he's good at it.

“Thief,” the tall figure spoke, “dunno how long yer gonna stay silent but I think there's something that'd make yer mouth work a little.” His mischievous smirk reeked of confidence, and he made it seem like his eyes could see right through the suspect's every move. “Whatcha have in your hands… it's a fake.”

The suspect's hands started trembling at once, and hazel eyes shivered over what was supposed to Falkor's Ashes. Fake?! The 'elite' of the police department wouldn't protect fake jewels, this didn't make sense. How could it be a fake? No matter how you looked at it, there was no way it could be a f-

“Eh?” came the culprit's confused inquiry.

“Finally seein' it?” he snorted. “Ya've been breathing on it this whole time, right? Diamonds have high thermal conductivity, which means condensation never stays on it, it vanishes immediately. But you can see it now, can't ya?” he asked provocatively. “The condensation from yer breath is still lingering.”

A blurry reflection of a lost-for-words culprit appeared on the fake diamond. Falkor's Ashes turned out to be an omen of bad luck in the end. The wrongdoer's lips started being bitten by short and sharp teeth. Frustration was building up inside. Should have come more prepared… oh well, makes my escape more exciting. A deep breath was taken then, and a shrill, almost snobbish laugh escaped her mouth.

“I guess I reached my limit,” she muttered wistfully.

The brilliant mind who found her out watched in confusion what followed. The fake officer started to undress, one piece of equipment after another. The fake bulletproof vest came off first, and as it reached the ground, it sounded like polystyrene covered the inside of the vest. It was probably to make her look chubbier because at first glance, even though from afar and without much light, he noticed that she instantly became much slimmer. Then, she unbuckled her helmet, from which puffed out a good amount of wild hair going more upwards and sideways than downwards. What struck him the most was when she took the shoes off, it looked as if she had dropped down from the first step of a ladder. Did she just lose 10 centimeters or what?

After she finished taking off the rest of her fake police equipment, she gently put the fake jewel on the floor, and promptly kicked it aside. He snorted at the angry-looking gesture, and the fact that she was ten centimeters now only added to the comedic effect.

“Finally turning yourself in, huh?” he boasted. “The only way out is the staircase right behind me,” he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, “so ya'd have to go through me if ya wanna escape, but I don't think starting a fight with me would be a good idea, shorty.”

As though deliberately answering his threat, the thief started walking straight to him. There was a sluggish pattern to her pace, it was slow, but it felt like she was sauntering her way to him. The effortlessness – or the smugness – of her walk made him snort.

“I like your guts,” he grunted, “what's yer name?”

“What are you going to do with it, add me on Facebook?” she sniped in a rather haughty voice.

He rolled his eyes at her boldness. “No, smartass,” he retorted sharply. “I just wanna get the name of the person who's managed to outsmart the police force way too many times already.”

Still slowly sauntering her way to him, her lips drew a lopsided smile. “You're a stranger and we've only just met,” she said with disdain, “I'm not giving you my name like that.”

With that, there was one thing he understood. Nobody could have such a haughty, nasal voice, which meant that, yet again, it wasn't her real voice. Only one reason would make her act this way: she didn't plan on being arrested tonight. However, judging by the fact that she didn't use weapons and that he was fairly confident in his combat skills, the last slither of doubt that ghosted over his mind flew away.

“C'mon, gimme at least yer nickname,” he snickered.

She raised an eyebrow. “Nickname?”

“Nickname, code name, alias, whatever,” he groaned. “Every good story needs a good old-fashioned villain, right?” He brushed his nose with his thumb and grunted. “And this story ends tonight as I, Gajeel Redfox, am the man who will arrest you.”

“What a presumptuous man we've got here,” she promptly answered, “if you want me to have a nickname, find it yourself.”

And as she uttered her answer, three meters away from reaching him and with finally enough light for them to see one another, Gajeel Redfox waved his hands in horror in front of him, stopping her in her track.

“W-wait!” he startled, clearly trying to repress a laugh. “There are way too many things to make fun of here! Where do I even start?! The fact that ya have double roller skates instead of shoes?! That you're in yer pink pajamas?! That yer backpack makes ya look like yer going on a school trip?! Or that yer mask looks like what a brat would wear at Halloween?!”

“H-how rude!” she spluttered. Her cheeks suddenly became hotter, mimicking the apparent colour of Gajeel's eyes by the moonlight. She waited a few seconds to regain her composure, trying not to fumble over her words. “It's not my fault, okay?” How embarrassing. “I didn't have enough time to put on a decent outfit because I was in a hurry! I had decided to take a nap in the afternoon and I woke up late because… my alarm clock didn't ring.”

Gajeel blinked. And he blinked again. …One more time for good measure.

“You in middle school or sumthin'?”

“I'm telling the truth!”

“Right,” he quipped. He cleared his throat then, and took a voice even deeper than his normal one. An official voice. “If you had read the School Rules & Regulations, young Miss, you would have noticed that 'my alarm clock didn't ring' isn't an accepted excuse to miss class anymore.”

What a shithead, she thought vehemently through gritted teeth. She wanted to punch him in the face for this one, though she couldn't but think that she would have laughed if the context had been different. She would probably have hurt herself doing it though, there were quite a handful of piercings on his face.

A deep breath and an eye-roll later, Levy brushed off her violent needs. “How did you manage to replace the original with a fake?”

Again. This toothy smirk of his. Not many things could rile her up easily, but this, this was infuriating. His mouth was quality punching-ball material. She had never felt that drawn to a mouth before.

“Let's say I know a guy.”

His tone of voice was surprisingly curt, as sharp as his physical features. She considered him for a moment. His features were sharp indeed, she wanted to punch him earlier but she could cut herself hitting this jawline; it was tantalizing in a away. Even the sand colour of his skin reminded her of giant rocks in the middle of a desert – jagged, perilous and rough. The worn, black – with khaki undertones – leather jacket that hung from his broad and well-defined shoulders added to the feeling that he was towering over her. And the shallow curve to his spine as he looked down at her did not help.

Her face twitched as his hand brushed his belt and reached the full pocket of his blue jeans.

“Anyway,” Gajeel Redfox muttered, whipping a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket, “turn around, I'm draggin' ya to the police station.”

She gave a quick look at her wristwatch and bit her lip. “W-wait a minute,” she stammered.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. “What now?”

“Are you sure you don't want to let me go?” she asked vainly. “It's simple, I just have to walk past you and go down the stairs, and we'll have another showdown later,” she suggested cheerfully. “Don't you like a good challenge? The thrill of the chase, the blood pumping through your veins, this sensational feeling of achievement you get when you explain how you managed to outsmart me. Don't you want to feel that again?”

“Nah I'm good,” he casually answered, “pajama girl.”

His bad habit of giving her nicknames was really getting on her nerves. Maybe she wouldn't mind cutting herself slapping his jawline after all. But she managed to put away her killing intent far, far away in the back of her mind, glanced at her wristwatch again, and breathed heavily.

“No choice then,” she muttered as she whirled around, holding her own hands behind her back.

Gajeel Redfox smirked. “There's a good girl.”

From behind, he couldn't help but think that she really did look like a grade school girl with her backpack and roller skates. And the freaking pajamas. He took a few steady steps forward and readied the handcuffs.

His eyes shot open wide in surprise when her small figure jumped up and hit the heels of her roller skates against one another.

“What th-”

BOOM!

A bright flash of light and the cracking of glass shattering snapped his head up in direction of the explosion. Right in front of him, a part of the glass wall was no more. Shards of glass bounced and scattered on the floor.

“What did y-”

Gajeel Redfox gritted his teeth in fear and backed a shivering step away from her. From underneath her double roller skates, two mini jet engines seemed to have popped out on both sides in-between the rear and front wheels.

“See you later, alligator!”

She swiftly reached down her roller skates and pressed a button, and before Gajeel could even think about getting a hold of her, a burst of fire shot out of her jet engines. It was so abrupt that she almost lost balance as she thrust herself forward.

Gajeel's mouth and eyes opened wide, and his heart skipped a beat as understanding dawned on him. “Are ya gonna jump off the window through the crack in the glass wall?! The roof of the building in front of ya is twenty meters away from here!”

I know, she thought tensely, and this building is ten meters taller than the one in front of me.

“Fucking stop!” he yelled, now desperately running after her. “Yer not gonna make it!”

She couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear his irregular and hasty footsteps behind her. She was too focused to pay attention to her surroundings, she even glossed over the fact that shards of glass could bounce off the ground as she wheeled at high speed and land anywhere on her body.

Given the size of the room, she speculated inwardly, I'll be around 40 km/h by the time I jump off the window. She bit her bottom lip nervously as she, lightning fast, thought things through. Damn, including gravity and the fact that there's a ten meter height difference between the two buildings, I'd need to go at 14 meters per second, so 50 km/h.

I need a 10km/h boost!

Without a moment's hesitation, she opened her backpack side pocket and managed to grab what she was looking for. A quick with low-medium power will do. I've got 1.42 seconds in mid-air, I can do this.

Gajeel - who tried as hard he could to keep up with her alarming speed towards her impending fall – couldn't look away from what was happening. He hated the idea that he could lose someone this way again. He tried his hardest, but he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her.

“Yer just being arrested! Don't do this! It's not worth it!” he implored in vain. “You suicidal or what?!”

She flinched, but as she almost reached the huge crack in the glass wall, she pulled the ring off of what she was grabbing onto and smiled wistfully.

“Who knows…”

And after wheeling on a few other shards of glass, she jumped over the edge. For a tiny moment, she was distracted by the weightlessness of the experience, but she snapped out of it quickly enough. There was no time for awe.

Before Gajeel saw her leaving his line of sight as she was falling, she threw what was in her hand behind her. Gajeel wasn't good in maths but his instinct was as sharp as his jawline; at the speed she went, there was no way she could reach the next roo-

BOOM!

The shards of glass on the floor shook and the earth trembled under the weight of this other explosion. Gajeel noticed it was less powerful, but he decided to walk carefully towards the shattered glass window. Glass cracked under each one of his shaky footsteps. His eyebrows furrowed as he peered down at the other building.

His mouth opened slightly and, for a moment, he stopped breathing. He brought his fingers to his eyes and rubbed them. Hard. He blinked multiple times as the knowledge of the notion of breathing to stay alive kicked in again.

“Unscathed…”

A handful of seconds after her jump, twenty meters away and ten meters below him, the thief – with her roller skates off and backpack gone – stood proudly at the edge of the roof with a defying grin tugging at her lips.

He swallowed thickly at the impossible sight.

On the other roof, the impossible thief seemed to shiver, but after she revealed what was behind her back, Gajeel Redfox's face turned green as she burst into a manic laughter.

Sitting gloriously on the palm of her hand, the Poké Ball shaped object opened, revealing a diamond dragon sitting on its tail. Falkor's Ashes.

Gajeel frantically checked his pockets, and as he looked down at her again, he shut his eyes and ran a hand through his hair in defeat.

“I started as a pickpocket,” she explained from the other side, “and you reeked of arrogance, so you must have had the jewel on you. I'll let you connect the dots!”

Gajeel bit his lip. “You stole it when I was distracted by the first explosion,” he muttered.

She didn't hear him, but she guessed he understood how he was defeated. It was good enough for her. Without giving him time to react, with a quick bow, she stepped off the edge of the roof and ran to the staircase, leaving Gajeel Redfox alone with his thoughts.

His voice got caught in his throat. He wanted to say something – anything – before she left, but she was already gone. He scratched the pocket that was supposed to keep Falkor's Ashes safe, and he clenched his fists and teeth in frustration. This damn suicidal thief! H-how –

He thought back to what happened, and a tiny moment was enough for understanding to dawn on him. He remembered she had thrown something behind her back, and a second later, the explosion happened.

“A hand grenade… no way…” He shook his head hard with scared eyes, as though trying to shake off this impossible truth. “She used the power of the detonation as a boost to make up for the lack of enough speed she needed to jump from this roof to the other…”

He froze. He unconsciously tried to imagine what was going on in her mind when she thought about this escape route. She must have thought about it the moment she took off her fake police equipment, since it was the only time where she could have set whatever she set for the first explosion. The thought of it alone made him dizzy.

A nervous laugh escaped his mouth. “What the hell…”

When he looked down at the floor, trying to find some sense of balance, something caught his eye. He decided to sit down after kicking away all the shards of glass that could have bitten him in the ass. He picked up what caught his attention.

A note.

Until we meet again, Gajeel Redfox.

- * insert nickname here *

He frowned. “Nickname?”

“C'mon, gimme at least yer nickname. Every good story needs a good old-fashioned villain, right?”

“If you want me to have a nickname, find it yourself.”

With a shy lopsided smile, he remembered. They did talk about this, didn't they?

A nickname for this woman thief, huh? A woman way too flashy for her own good. She outsmarted the elite of the police force three times tonight, and at the third time, she outsmarted him, too. She disguised herself as a policeman and used a flash grenade to make her appearance; she sure knew how to put on a show.

She was also dangerous. She took a lot of risks tonight just not to be arrested. She risked her own life for this dragon. No way in hell would someone be willing to throw their life away for the sake of an expensive jewel. She was dangerous… and it was ridiculously tantalizing. Gajeel wanted to reach out and touch her, even though he knew he could burn himself doing so.

Her light was already blinding enough as it was, she also had to be dangerous. She was dangerous to him, but she was even more dangerous to herself. He couldn't explain it, but his instinct told him that she, too, was unconsciously reaching for something that could burn her. A sun more powerful than the light she emitted.

One day, blood would splash her hands, and it wouldn't be someone else's. It would be hers.

She was a flashy woman who tried her hardest not to reach for something greater and eventually deadlier than herself.

Gajeel snorted. It wasn't like him to think this much about something, but this time was special. He reached in the back pocket of his jeans and whisked out a pen. Finally, he placed the note on the palm of his hand, brought it closer to him, and scribbled over some words.

Until we meet again, Gajeel Redfox.

- BLOODY VENUS

He left the note on the floor and stood up, deep in thought. He heard the sound of police cars outside the building, which meant they heard about the explosion. Under the weight of his footsteps heading out of the building, shards of glass – reminding him of his most exciting showdown – bent and shattered, making the soundtrack of his exit more… metal, the way he liked it.

“Don't you like a good challenge? The thrill of the chase, the blood pumping through your veins, this sensational feeling of achievement you get when you explain how you managed to outsmart me. Don't you want to feel that again?”

His devilish smirk came back.

“I can't wait.”

#gajevyweek #ftfanfics #gajevy #gajeel redfox #levy mcgarden #gajevy fic #doctorwhowrites

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tuxiedjabberwock · 8 years ago

Text

“The Not-Angels” - a Fairy Tail one-shot

Gajevy Week

The Not-Angels

Feb 17th — “Trouble Twins”

Gajeel didn’t like the idea of Levy going on a mission with Lucy and just her, but as long as he refused to go on a mission with Natsu (the prick) or Gray (the naked bastard) he had to deal with something equally as terrifying. So, he sat himself on his couch and made sure the brats’ faulty attention was trained on him and him alone.

“Alright, kids, listen up,” he started, already breaking off when he noticed Austin’s eyes being drawn towards a silver mirror hanging on the wall. He snapped his fingers until the younger twin looked over again with a frustrated huff.

“Daddy, ‘m starvin’,” he whined, brown eyes squinted with crocodile tears. Gajeel rolled his eyes in response.

“No yer not—you two jus’ ate.”

“Yeah but that was two million minutes ago!” It was actually an hour ago, but the five-year-old couldn’t tell time. Neither could his stomach apparently. But the fridge was pretty damn good at telling time, and at the moment it was peaking Not-enough-food-o’-clock.

“Hush up, Stooge,” Angel reprimanded, glaring at him. For her name, she was as ballsy as Gajeel, and with a sharp tongue and sharper teeth to boot. And thanks to the brain surely inherited from her mother alongside her light blue curls and big brown eyes, she had the vocabulary to make a grown man cry. (No, Gajeel wasn’t crying that time, he just had some iron fillings in his eyes.) Austin, on the other hand, had the semblance of Gajeel’s sharp face beneath the baby fat, and although his hair was a slightly darker blue, it was just as unruly as his old man’s. He also had a far bigger craving for iron than his sister, or at least had less self-control.

“Angel, ease off yer brother, would ya?”

“It’s not my fault he’s a dummy,” she proclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. Austin glared daggers into the back of her head while Gajeel wondered how their kids could end up as they did.

“Alright, look: Mom’s out, so it’s up to me to keep you brats entertained for the day, alright? I’m not gonna hit ya with any rules or nothin’, but I’d like that our place stays as clean as it is now.”

“But that’s not a rule!” With that, Austin leapt from the ground and to the wall right below the mirror. Before Gajeel could intervene, his forehead vulcanized and he slammed it into the wall, creating several miniature cracks but, more importantly, dropping the mirror. He caught it before it could shatter and immediately satiated himself with a huge bite of the ornately-woven silver. While Angel set off to chew his ear off as he chewed the metal, Gajeel just shook his head and wondered how in hell he was going to last another sixteen hours.

“You’re babysitting, huh?” Natsu asked, a slow grin spreading across his face as he looked from Gajeel’s narrowed eyes to the ankle-biters literally biting his ankles. He then proceeded to nearly fall from the barstool with his laughter. “Those kids aren’t gonna last the day!”

“I know,” he said instead of punching Dragneel’s teeth in like he wanted. “I was hopin’ that yer kid and mines could burn energy off—and hopefully not literally.” It was no secret that Astrid, while as beautiful as her mother, was just as much a pyromaniac as Natsu, a fact that the Master’s hairline was well aware of. As Gajeel worked on prying the two from his legs, Natsu continued with having a ball until Gray thankfully shoved him away.

“Austin likes Bellamy, maybe he’d be a good distraction,” he suggested. “And anyway, I need someone to watch him a few minutes. Juvia wants me to run to the market.”

“Again? What’s she want this time?”

“Dango and wasabi,” he said with a grimace. “And of course, she’ll change her mind by the time I get there.” Gajeel smirked at his dismay.

“Well that’s the problem with wantin’ to make her yers. Where’s yer brat?”

“Should be over there with Elfman.” He gestured with his chin to the other side of the guild were Mira and Lisanna were clapping and laughing as Elfman bounced around with the seven-year-old giggling on his large shoulders. Austin detached himself at the sight and ran over excitedly, leaving him with just one. Now, if he could only come up with an apt distraction for Angel, he could go and waste away the remainder of the day at the Guild and essentially come off scot-free.

“Alright, I know I make jokes about you being a Dad and all,” Natsu started, wiping his eyes, “but it’s just too funny! Like, as much as I’ve imagined you—not that I make a habit of imagining your face, mind you—it was never like this.”

“So, yer point?”

“I’m pretty proud of you, Metal-head.” Gajeel raised his brows at the compliment as Natsu grinned.

“Shut it. I don’t need yer praise.”

“Sure, sure.” Gajeel didn’t have time to bash in the idiot’s face, however, as Astrid came running, growling slightly as she jumped into Natsu’s chest.

“Daddy, Bell’s mad that I burned his ass!” she scowled. Gajeel looked at Natsu as he laughed awkwardly.

“Does Bunny-girl know yer daughter talks like that?”

“No, and I’ll be grateful if she never finds out.” He turned his attention to Astrid, who looked more excited than repentant, and ruffled her hair. It had been shortened to about Laxus’ length at her behest, which made it spike slightly from Natsu’s genes. “Good job, my little dragon! You’re learning well!”

“Come back here, Astrid!” Bellamy called, stomping a foot crossly as a visible wave of cold built around him. His hair, while blue, was closer to Gray’s in appearance than Juvia’s, and his lean build was also certainly his father’s, but he took more to Juvia’s Water Magic than Gray’s Ice—in fact, from what Gajeel had seen, Bellamy used Ice Magic as his means of “going easy” on another. Astrid stuck her tongue out at him, then flashed her sharp teeth as he hissed in anger. She squirmed in Natsu’s grip and he released her, watching with wide eyes as she tackled Bellamy to the ground and had her fist buried halfway into his mouth with one move.

“That’s a little demon you’re raising there, Dragneel,” Gajeel commented.

“She’s a machine trained to snipe any Fullbuster within a thirty-mile radius,” he said very seriously. “The one person she can’t chew up and spit out is—”

“What in the world is going on here?”

The two children froze, eyes wide and jaws dropped in identical expressions of terror as the Guild doors crept open. Erza was there, decked out in just a silver breastplate, plain clothes beneath, but that wasn’t what Bellamy and Astrid were focused on. It was ten-year-old Merlin right in front of her with a plainer but still durable metal top and a double-edged sword clasped to her hip. Her long scarlet hair was pinned back to show the expression of a warrior prodigy that could cause anyone with two balls to wet their pants on sight.

“U-Um, Merlin, we-we were just, uh, messing around,” Bellamy said immediately, a nervous smile crossing his face as he pushed Astrid away. She landed on her behind with a whump, shaking her head vehemently.

“Yeah, uh we weren’t fighting or nothing, we swear!”

“Hmph,” she huffed, “That’s what I thought.” Erza had a gleam in her eyes that was downright creepy as she took her daughter’s hand.

“Come on, Lin, let’s go see if Mira has any strawberry cake left.” Which was an inane thing to say and they both knew it—although the Guild didn’t buy too much strawberry cake, nobody else dared eat it in fear of the two scarlet demons’ wrath if they so thought of it. The Guild members parted like the Red Sea to allow them towards the bar, and as they were treated to their favorite dessert things slowly returned to normal.

“Haven’t seen Jellal in a while,” Gajeel commented. Natsu shrugged a shoulder.

“I think he’s in Bosco? I don’t remember.”

“Daddy,” Angel said, tugging Gajeel’s pants. “I’m hungry.”

“Alright, we’ll jus’ go to the—” He cut himself off as he glanced at the Scarlets still occupying the bar and changed his tune. “—the diner downtown. Oi, Austin!”

“Dad, look!” He ran over with a Tikki set on his hair, grinning. “Look what Bickslow gave me!”

“One of his creepy dolls?” He wanted to tell Austin to throw it out before it cursed him or something, but he looked so happy he let the matter go. “C’mon, let’s go get something to eat.”

It was far easier to deal with the twins with food in front of them. It was actually the one trait they shared, and by far the easiest trait to deal with, unlike Austin’s tendency to chomp anything metal (whether it was attached to a body or not) or Angel’s mouth (which had gotten him in so much trouble he believed she could’ve gave Jose a run for his money). They sat together on one booth sat while Gajeel sat opposite, Angel tossing fries at Austin’s head while he worked on ripping a steak apart with his teeth. Gajeel actually found the show pretty amusing.

“Daddy, how come Mama didn’t stay today?” Austin asked with his mouth full, barbeque sauce dripping from the corner. Gajeel, unlike him, waited until he swallowed his burger before speaking.

“She didn’t want to say it, but she missed goin’ on missions, so I chose to stay back while she did.”

“And you don’t miss going on missions?” Angel pointed out.

“You two are a pretty good mission.” He grinned as they groaned, taking a gulp of his beer. “I don’t get to spend as much time with ya rug rats as she does, ya know, and there’s gotta be someone to help the little prodigy Austin with his Dragon Slayer Magic.” He beamed at the praise, eyes sparkling even as he gnawed on his knife. “And Angel can teach me all the words she knows and I don’t.” Angel smiled, then frowned.

“We know you’re a great Daddy, but how come other people still look at you funny?” He sighed, leaning back in the seat and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well… I wasn’t always a great Daddy. I did some bad things before, things you two’ll never know if I have a say in it.” It wasn’t that he wanted to keep secrets from them, but he just didn’t want them to give him the same look. From random strangers, it was whatever; from his own children, he didn’t think he’d be able to stand himself. It was already bad enough when Levy used to give him that look.

“Daddy!” they complained, but he softened it with a hand on their heads.

“Don’t worry, alright? Jus’ know that I won’t mess up again, not while I need to keep an eye on you two menaces.” They pouted but continued to eat anyway. It was the truth in any case: he never planned on going bad, not for any reason, with Angel and Austin and Levy there behind him. He had never imagined himself with a family of his own, and now that he had it, he found it to be at the forefront of his mind most of the time, a driving force in everything that he did. It was amazing how much the three of them changed things, and he wouldn’t give them up for the world.

“Home,” Austin said quietly, bringing Gajeel’s attention back to the two of them. Done with their food, they started passing out where they sat. He glanced out the window from the corner of his eye and noticed that the sun was halfway set—Levy had mentioned a naptime for them around sunset. Going over to pay for their meal, he returned to see them attempting to sleep on each other. He took Angel in one arm, but Austin decided to climb atop his head instead. “Comfy,” he murmured into Gajeel’s hair, wrapping his arms around his neck.

“Yer pulling my hair, kid.”

“Comfy,” he repeated, purring contentedly. So Gajeel decided to let him be, and followed that familiar road towards the edge of Magnolia where he lived. Angel nuzzled into the space beneath his chin while Austin clung to him with all the strength of an ape. The contrast between them was so funny he had to laugh aloud.

Yup, wouldn’t trade ‘em for nothin’ else in the world.

By the time Levy got back, it was late into the night and the twins were in bed. Gajeel was working on the silver mirror, trying to bend the metal to hide the huge bite mark, until she came in their bedroom with a wide smile. “Had fun?” he asked.

“A lot! And the client was a book lover, so he spared Lucy and me a few new ones!” She clapped her hands excitedly as he chuckled under his breath. “So, how was your day?” she asked as she sat on the edge of the bed. He shrugged a shoulder with a smile.

“Nothin’ special.”

#fairy tail #fairy tail fanfiction #ft fanfiction #ft oneshot #gajeel redfox #fairy tail gajevy #gajeel x levy #gajevy week #levy mcgarden

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not-just-any-fangirl · 8 years ago

Text

Days Of Summer CH 2

A/N; Welcome back! We love seeing all that you guys have to say, so thanks to those that reblog or leave us messages! Feel free to spam @hannah-nobody's inbox as well!!

Here’s the updated playlist!

Camp Rock!AU

Pairing: Nalu, Gajevy, Gruvia, others mentioned; Fairy Tail

Words: 5405

Rating: T

Parts: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven

Chapter Two: Teenage Wonderland

Cause when we are gone

We hope for the knowledge that you

Wanted us to stay

“See ya around!” Lucy waved at the stranger.

She let Cana drag her away, looking over her shoulder to see the boy that had somehow known her name staring after her with a dumbstruck expression on his face. She smiled slightly at his expression, deciding she’d have to find out later how exactly the cute stranger had come to know her name.

Right now, she had to focus on Cana’s incessant pulling on her arm. The brunette had managed to drag her almost halfway to the cabins while Lucy was pondering over the identity of the guitar-clutching stranger.

Lucy really had wanted to stay talking to that cute boy, something about him just seemed so... familiar. Like a song you hear when you’re asleep and faintly remember in the middle of the day. But when Cana actually wanted something, well, Lucy had learned it was easier to just go along with her friend's plans. Cana had held onto Lucy’s wrist the entire time they hurried along the gravel paths, passing between large buildings until they were in the designated cabin area. Grass and a few trees outlined the paths and gave the illusion of privacy between the cabins, Lucy’s eyes scanning the numbers that rested above the doorways along the wooden cottages. If Lucy had remembered correctly what the kind girl had said her cabin number was when she dropped off her suitcases, then they would be there in three, two, one..

“Ta da!” Cana announced proudly, throwing open the door to cabin 15. “Let’s fuck shit up!”

Lucy brought her hand and rubbed at her temple, apologetic grin already working it’s way onto her face before she was even looking at the other girls in the room. Cana half blocked the doorway, both hands on hips and chest thrust out like some sort of alcoholic super hero, and Lucy looked past her to see who they were going to be sharing a place with for the next ten weeks.

Both girls were looking at them with a mix of horror, amusement, and curiosity. Kind of like a car accident. Actually, Lucy was pretty sure she had just found the perfect way to describe Cana’s entrance into anything. As it was, a petite looking girl with an angular face and intelligent eyes was staring at them over the top of a book, obviously having been interrupted by the front door being kicked in. Blue locks framed her face, the rest pulled back by a bright orange bandana. Red reading glasses finally slipped off her nose, her wide brown eyes were too focused on Lucy and Cana to notice. The other girl, also with blue hair, was equally frozen over her bed. She was lying a few white ghost looking dolls on her pillow, her bunk apparently the one below the bookish one. Lucy squinted a little bit and felt her smile grow, this girl was the same one that Gray had over stimulated earlier in the parking lot! Bright blue eyes were blown wide as she gawked at Cana, most likely over the brunette’s skimpy clothing if the girl’s high collared jacket and floor length skirt said anything about her modesty. Lucy wiggled her fingers in a shy wave before deciding that maybe she should be the one to continue introductions. God knew what else Cana was about to say, the other girl’s eyes sharpening in on the standing blue haired girl in a way Lucy knew all too well.

“Hi, my name’s Lucy, and this is my friend Cana,” Lucy said sweetly as she pushed past her friend who was now leaning on the doorway. For support or laziness Lucy couldn’t tell. “I guess we’re roomies." The girl laying on the top bunk finally closed her book, hesitant smile returning Lucy’s bright one.

“I’m Levy, it’s a pleasure to meet you Lucy, Cana." The girl’s voice was high and light, fitting her pixie-ish look. The final girl slowly straightened, hands clasping timidly in front of her.

“Juvia is also pleased to meet her cabin mates, Lucy and Cana.” Juvia said, her voice soft. Lucy felt her forehead wrinkle at the girl’s odd speaking. Had she just used third person?

“Hey, I know you!” Cana proclaimed, Lucy could practically see the light bulb flashing over her head as she watched Cana sling an arm around Juvia’s shoulders, “You’re the one who was getting all hot and heavy over our little drummer boy in the parking lot!”

Juvia noticeably blushed. She fidgeted nervously as Cana snickered in her ear. Lucy shook her head. Cana was such a sucker for making other people uncomfortable, and the girl herself was practically shame-proof.

“The way he just took off his shirt like that… so striking. So bold." Juvia seemed to mutter to herself before directing her gaze to Lucy, “Juvia envies you greatly. It seems we are to be love rivals."

There was a moment of silence before Cana burst out laughing. Lucy groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose as her friend's laughter rang in her ears. Juvia’s eyes flittered between them, her expression a mixture of confusion and concern. Poor girl, Lucy thought to herself. She seemed quite reserved, but Lucy knew that nothing brought you out of your shell better than overexposure to Cana.

“Really Juvia, there’s no rivalry for Gray’s love." Lucy assured her.

“Like, at all." Cana giggled before sighing to herself in amusement, “Our poor little emo friend is still a virgin."

Juvia’s face turned the colour of a tomato as she stared at Cana wide eyed. Cana noticed and fell into another fit of laughter. Even Levy couldn’t seem to hold back a laugh at Juvia’s expression. Lucy felt a little bad about allowing Cana to blab secrets about Gray’s- albeit non existent- sex life, but even she had to admit, it was funny.

“So who’s your ‘emo drummer’ friend?” Levy asked them once their laughter had calmed down.

“Oh, he’s one of the friends we came to camp with," Lucy explained, “His name’s Gray."

“You’ll probably recognise him when you see him,” Cana added, “Think 2007 Pete Wentz meets Edward Cullen and you’ve got Gray."

Lucy snorted.

“Yup, that’s our boy."

“No Lucy," Cana winked at her, voice dripping with mock seriousness, “he’s Juvia’s boy now."

“Juvia is not sure Gray would-”

“Don’t. Even." Cana cut her off, “If there’s one thing I won't tolerate in this cabin Juvia it’s self doubt and sobriety."

“That’s two things." Lucy pointed out.

From her perch on her bed Levy chuckled at their easy banter. Lucy caught her eyes and smiled. She had a feeling she’d get along just swell with her new roommates. Well, as long as Juvia remembered they weren’t love rivals.

“So you guys came with a friend?” Levy asked.

“Two actually,” Lucy replied as she made her way over to her own bed, “It’s me, Cana, Gray and Loke. And Cana’s dad is the guidance counsellor here this year."

“That’s so cool!” Levy smiled, “I came here with my friends Jet and Droy. We’re in a band; Shadow Gear. We need a few more members though."

“The four of us tried the whole band thing, but it didn’t really work out." Cana said as she finally moved away from a relieved looking Juvia and flopped down on her bed, “What with two drummers and Little Miss Classical over here, we were a disaster from the start."

“I don’t play classical, I’m just classically trained." Lucy ground out, staring pointedly at Cana who merely rolled her eyes at her. Lucy opted to change the subject, her performance history not really something she wanted to delve into just yet, “What about you Juvia? Any friends here at camp?”

“Juvia does not have friends,” she said as she looked away, fiddling with the multiple dolls Lucy had seen her placing earlier. Cana stormed over to Juvia so that she was gripping the pale girl's shoulders roughly, high pitched ‘eep’ tumbling from her lips at the sudden man handling.

“What the hell you going on about with this ‘I don't have friends’ bullshit?” Cana questioned sharply, eyes quickly sobering as she stared down Juvia. Just as quickly as the seriousness had come it was gone, Lucy infected by Cana’s easy grin and knowing by this point how to roll with the brunette’s mood swings. “Ya got us now! Who could want better friends than us bitches?" Lucy walked over and put her own hand gently on Juvia’s shoulder, looking pointedly at Cana over her word choice.

“Cana’s right, you have us!” She encouraged, smiling brightly at Juvia's watery grin. Levy finally came down from her bunk, grinning up at the other girls. And look up she had to, as Lucy wasn't sure if Levy was over 5 feet.

“Besides, you really don’t have much of a choice," Levy winked, “Not if you want to get into this MCR wannabe’s good books."

Juvia glanced hesitantly at Lucy and Cana, waiting to see their response to Levy’s jab at their friend. The two girls merely giggled at Levy’s words.

“Oh honey,” Cana grinned at Levy, “You have no idea how right you are."

“Achoo!”

“Ha! I fucking told you it was too cold in this shitty cabin! Now piss off and let me at the thermostat."

Natsu jumped down from his bunk, choosing to ignore the ladder to his right. Gray, one of the other two boys that were sharing a cabin with him and Gajeel, still stood leaning against the wall -trying to act all cool, which Natsu thought was annoying and pathetic- shirtless and blocking the highly sought after control of the temperature. Gray’s upper lip pulled back in a sneer and he narrowed his eyes at Natsu as the boy slowly stalked towards him.

“It ain't fucking cold you dipshit, just ‘cus you have the body temp of a goddamn lizard doesn't mean the rest of us need to melt.”

“What did you call me Ice Dick?”

“Are you stupid and deaf, Ash Face?”

Natsu lunged at Gray with a roar, the other boy grappling him to the ground. Soon fists were flying and the scuffle was quickly developing into a full fight, and just as Natsu lifted a fist to bring down onto Gray’s jaw his arm was pulled back sharply and his body was flying through the air. His back hit with a painful smack and his head with a loud crack against the bed frame, an angry growl sounding in his throat as he glared at the person who had thrown him.

“The fuck was that for, Metal Ass?” He seethed, unable to actually stand as there were currently nine boys rather than the expected three in the cabin.

“You two were gettin’ on my nerves.” the tall boy said simply, shrugging before he returned to his bunk, slouching on the thin mattress and going back to tuning his guitar. Very poorly.

“That's it, I'm going to go find my beloved, or maybe some other pretty thing to play with. Anything is better than this shit show,” Loke groaned, hands thrown up in the air as he climbed down from his bunk above Gray’s. His orange hair was even spikier than Natsu’s was naturally, tinted glasses barely hiding his narrowed eyes as he looked at his cabin mates. Both him and Gray had this sense of superiority that made Natsu burn with anger and want to punch them in their stupid faces. They had shared a look when Natsu had stumbled through the front door, heartbroken after Lucy had crushed him with a simple blank look. Maybe he was projecting, but God did he hate being looked down on. Even Gajeel didn't really look down on him. Well, other than literally.

Natsu scowled at Loke’s back as he watched the slightly older boy head for the door, only to stop dead in his tracks and let out a piercing shriek when something black dashed across his path.

“WHAT IN THE HELL-” Loke screamed, but was cut off by Gray’s sharp laugh.

“Oh man, I wish I’d filmed that for Cana.”

Loke’s gaze snapped around the room as he backed away from the door. The boy looked panicked. Natsu raised an eyebrow as he watched Loke grab his friend by the shoulders. What were these people on?

“Gray, this is serious,” Loke pleaded, “What if our cabin is- is… haunted?”

Natsu shared an amused glance with Gajeel, who seemed to be barely containing his laughter.

“Christ Loke, did you watch Paranormal Activity again?” Gray rolled his eyes, “You’re worse than Lucy."

Natsu’s attention snapped back to the dark haired boy. Gray shot him a bored expression before turning away from his friend, and that’s when everything clicked.

“You…” Natsu whispered to himself.

The dark haired boy. The dark haired boy that had carried her away. That had literally dropped her on top of him. Lucy’s friend. Lucy’s maybe-boyfriend-maybe-just-friends-but-maybe-not but God he hoped he wasn’t her boyfriend or he’d just give up on love altogether. He was that Gray. The shirtless, handsy, emo-looking douchewad who had robbed him of the chance to speak to the prettiest girl at GMG Fest. Who had cut short the best and only kiss of his life.

“You,” Natsu growled at Gray.

“Huh?” Gray frowned at him.

Natsu made to lunge himself at Gray but his plans were cut short by Gajeel, who’d grabbed him by his shirt collar and was holding him up like a rag-doll, allowing his legs to flail wildly as his cousin stared at him with seemingly deep concern.

“You on something again Salamander?” Gajeel squinted at him.

“I WASN’T HALLUCINATING AND I CAN PROVE IT,” Natsu bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at Gray, “HE WAS THERE AND HE RUINED IT!”

“I was where now?” Gray scowled.

“Can we please direct our attention to the more pressing matters at hand?” Loke pleaded, “Like, oh, I don’t know, the possible demon lurking within our midsts?”

“WHY DOESN’T SHE REMEMBER ME, ICE FOR BRAINS? HUH? YOU GONNA TAKE THAT FROM ME TOO? LIKE WARMTH AND GENERAL HAPPINESS-”

“Seriously, what are you talking about, you-”

“Guy, this isn’t a joke anymore, my pillow just moved-”

“ENOUGH!” Gajeel yelled.

Natsu and the others went silent. They all stared at Gajeel in surprise. Natsu recognised that look. Gajeel was annoyed. Very annoyed. Natsu resumed his feeble effort to break free.

“You," Gajeel pointed at Loke, “learn the difference between an agent of Satan and a goddamn cat. If you so much as attempt to exorcise Lily, I’ll be chopping you up into cat food."

Loke gulped audibly a moment before a black ball of fur bolted out from under his bed and shot between his legs. Natsu snickered to himself as Pantherlily, Gajeel’s own feline companion, wound his way around his master's ankles. Guess he hadn’t been the only one to sneak in a pet.

“And you," Gajeel continued, moving on to Gray, “Put a fucking shirt on. Now."

Natsu smirked to himself as Gray fumbled for a shirt, but his laugh was cut short when Gajeel abruptly let go and he hit the floor with thud, pain shooting up his spine from where his ass hit the wood.

“And you," His cousin stared down at him, “What in the hell are you shouting about. Did ya meet this moron in a strip club or somethin’?”

“No,” Natsu curled up his nose at the mental image, “He’s Lucy’s-" Natsu stuttered for a moment, not quite sure what Gray was to her, “H-He knows Lucy!”

Natsu gave his cousin a moment to let the news sink in. Gajeel leaned back. He seemed to consider a moment before nodding in understanding.

“I see,” He muttered, “So you’ve finally progressed from hallucinations to full blown conspiracy theories huh?”

Natsu grit his teeth as Gajeel laughed at his obvious annoyance. Why did everyone think he was crazy?! Was it really so hard to believe a girl would want to kiss him?

“Wait, wait, wait,” Loke rubbed at his temples, “What does Lucy have to do with anything? And, for the record, we’re both Lucy’s friends."

“Gajeel doesn’t think she’s real." Natsu huffed.

“Oooooohhhh-kay," Gray frowned, shaking his head as he rifled through his pockets. “Not that I would want to help Flame Brains case at all- or ever- but I’d like to think one of my best friends isn’t just a figment of my imagination. Does this help?”

Gray pulled out his phone from his pocket and held it in Natsu and Gajeel’s general direction. Gray clicked a button to bring the phone to life, causing Natsu to scramble across the floor to see the image that lit up the screen.

Under normal circumstances, Natsu would have mocked the corny nature of Gray’s lockscreen but right now he was too busy staring at his second glimpse of Lucy in three months. The photo was of Gray, Loke, Lucy, a brown-haired girl he vaguely recognised from pulling Lucy away from him earlier, and a silver-haired boy who looked not much older than Gray. The five of them lay sprawled across a couch, all looking slightly disheveled and bleary eyed as though they’d been out all night. On one end of the couch was Loke, his legs tossed over the armrest and his glasses sitting crookedly on his nose. He was sticking his finger in the ear of the brown haired girl who sat on the floor in front of him, her hands supporting a heavy head. The silver haired boy was clearly unconscious. His feet were thrown over the back of the couch and his face had gone red from all the blood rushing to his head. Or so it seemed from what Natsu could tell. The boy’s face was covered in crudely drawn mustaches, glasses, and… yup, that was a penis.

And on the other end of the couch sat Gray and Lucy. She was seated in his lap, and the two smiled at eachother broadly as Lucy held a pen in the air. Her feet rested on the silver haired boy's chest, and Natsu noticed absently that she was missing a shoe. And that also- much to his dismay- Gray’s arm was circled protectively around her waist. Just like it had been at the festival.

“Well I’ll be Salamander,” Gajeel whisted behind him, “She looks just like you sing about in the shower."

“You sing about Lucy in the shower too?” Loke asked, surprised. It took a nudge from Gray for him to remember himself, “Wait a minute, how do you even know her in the first place? It’s rare that a man vying for her attention gets my much needed seal of approval. I’m sure I would remember you."

Natsu groaned to himself. This day had turned into one hell of an emotional rollercoaster for him. He didn’t need Gajeel making it worse by embarrassing him, and he certainly didn’t need ailurophobic morons questioning him about his love life.

He glanced at Gray. The dark haired boy was frowning to himself as his fingers brushed over the image on his phone. Natsu realised he hadn’t figured it out yet. Wow. Lucy didn’t remember him and apparently neither did her frozen-brained excuse of a friend.

Was he really that forgettable?

Natsu’s brows furrowed as the thought occurred to him. He didn’t notice Gray lunging at him until the last second.

The two of them fell to the floor, narrowly avoiding crushing Pantherlily. Gajeel picked up his cat, protectively clutching him to his chest as he watched his cousin squirm beneath their new roommate. Natsu tried to dislodge the dark haired boy, but was stunned into submission when Gray ripped of his beanie and held it victoriously in the air.

“Ah HA!” Gray cried, “I knew I recognised your ugly face from somewhere. The pink proves it!”

“Gray, you can’t condemn a man for dying his hair pink," Loke said seriously, “Let him make his own choices."

“I don’t give a shit about his fugly hair colour moron, it just proves my point," Gray stood up abruptly and turned to his friend, all the while pointing a finger down at Natsu, “This is the guy I told you about! The one from the festival."

“You mean the one who molested Lucy?” Loke raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“I did not molest her!” Natsu yelled as he shoved himself into a sitting position, “She kissed me."

“Yeah, and I highly doubt she would have done it if she hadn’t been blind drunk," Gray scoffed.

Natsu almost flinched. He felt a pain in his chest, the words stinging as they rang through his ears. Of course. Of fucking course. The thought had always been nagging at him in the back of his mind. It had been too good to be true, a pretty girl like that picking him out of a crowd full of people. He’d pegged her strange behaviour down as her just being a weirdo, but he saw how naive he had been now. Who in their right mind would go for him?

His three roommates continued to mutter about the past while Natsu became caught up in his thoughts. As if sensing his darkening mood, he heard a soft thud behind him and turned to see Happy stretching his legs and sauntering towards him. The cat brushed his face against Natsu’s knees as he crossed his legs beneath him. Natsu smiled down at his blue-furred friend. At least Happy didn’t need to be drunk or bored to hang around with him.

“I don’t know Gray, he doesn’t really seem like that type of guy…” Loke’s words drifted over to him.

“I’m pretty sure Salamander wouldn’t know what to do with a girl if he got one,” Gajeel snickered.

“I can hear you y’know," Natsu scowled at them.

“Then maybe you should- What is that?”

Natsu followed Loke’s concerned gaze to the bundle of fur in his lap.

“This is Happy," Natsu introduced him, “My cat."

“It’s… blue?”

Natsu sighed. And people said he was slow. He bundled Happy up into his arms before standing and making his way back to his bed.

“Great, so he abuses girls and animals," Gray huffed.

“Hey Ice Princess, do you ever hear the sound of your own voice and think ‘man, I should really shut the fuck up," Natsu inquired with fake politeness.

“No, but I’m guessing that’s what goes through your mind every time you open your mouth."

Happy let out a yelp as Natsu accidentally squeezed him too hard. He was nine hundred percent certain he wouldn’t be able to spend two months with this prick without breaking something. Preferably his neck.

He was about to offer a snappy retort littered with curse words and maybe a punch or two when a soft voice filled the cabin. Natsu scowled to himself. Was that… Bruno Mars?

All heads turned to Loke as he patted at his jeans pockets, fishing out his phone and pressing a button just before they could hear about beautiful girls all over the world.

“Hey babe,” Loke smiled into the receiver, glancing at his unpacked bags as he turned away from the others, “Yeah we’re all unpacked. Uh huh… I’m glad one of us has nice roommates then. What? Oh yeah, they can hear me. Wanna say hi? Just kidding. They’re not Loke approved yet. Yeah… alright, no problem babe. Alright, Sunshine. Don’t pretend you don’t love it. See ya in a few."

Gray rolled his eyes when Loke turned back to him, even as a rueful smile played on his lips.

“That was Lucy,” Loke informed him, “She wants us to meet her at the cafeteria."

Natsu curled tighter around Happy. Why had Loke called her babe? And sunshine? Were they a thing? Were Lucy and Gray a thing? Did it even matter? Lucy would never go for a guy like him, she was too full of life and sweetness and weird in the best way to ever sink down to his level.

“She's gonna punch you if you keep calling her pet names,” Gray drawled out as he shrugged off his shirt -again. “You know she's hates how flirty you are. Cana has a better chance of getting in her pants than you do.” he finished, dry smile twisting his face as Loke ‘hrmphed’ irritably.

“You're just jealous of our love. Lucy will see it too, sooner or later.” Loke shot back as he fixed his glasses on his nose.

“Now who's the creepy one.” Gajeel mumbled under his breath, Gray quickly stifling his laugh into a cough at Loke’s sharp glare. Natsu however was too focused on the small flame of hope that had ignited in his chest at Gray’s scoffing at Loke. Lucy wasn't with either of them? She was single? Even if she didn't remember him, that at least meant there might be some hope. A chance.

“Well, we shouldn't keep the girls waiting too long. Cana is probably already on her fifth drink.” Loke said flippantly, signalling that he was ready to leave. Gray sneered at Natsu when he looked over, obviously wanting to crush any life that had returned to his slanted eyes as his brain was over working.

“You better stay the fuck away from her, Pinky. Attacking her once is enough, don'tcha think?” he said sharply, Natsu leaping from his bed and stepping towards Gray in a challenge. Before he could speak Loke’s exasperated voice cut in.

“Graaaay,” Loke whined, already halfway out the door. Gray made a final face at Natsu before turning on his heel and walking past Loke out the door. He heard Loke's quiet voice, even as the door was falling shut behind them. “Do you have to be a complete ass?"

“Hey,” Gajeel’s gruff voice drew Natsu’s attention to where the taller boy sat, back on his bed with his damn guitar in his lap again. Except now Pantherlily was curled up in his unruly black hair. “They’re justa bunch of pricks, ignore ‘em." Gajeel went back to strumming his black guitar, a -not completely horrible- melody sounding in his throat as he hummed along, Pantherlily purring as well. Natsu looked up at where he had left Happy, the blue cat peeking his head out between the wooden beams that bordered the bed. He let out a gentle meow, Natsu figuring if Happy could make facial expressions he would be making one of concern.

“I’mma go for a walk,” Natsu mumbled, head lowered as he swiped his beanie from where Gray had left it on the floor. He walked quickly to his bunk as he pulled his beanie harshly over his head so that it covered his hair again and took out Fev, the strings pushing into his palm as he held it by the neck.

“Don’t do nothin’ stupid.” Gajeel called as Natsu left the cabin, a grunt his only reply as he fled down the porch steps. He had two hours before the camp was meeting for announcements, and he had seen a river on a map of the camp before. He just needed some alone time, maybe sit on the grass and watch the river swim by, oblivious of all the heartbreak and angst of the people that surrounded it. The good thing about the river not caring about him is that it wasn’t supposed to, and somehow that comforted Natsu.

Kicking a large pebble Natsu wandered off the gravel path and into the thicker part of trees that was supposed to discourage people from venturing too far. A humourless smile pulled at one corner of his mouth as Natsu thought about how if there was anything he was good at it was playing guitar and disappearing.

“Small world, huh.” Loke questioned as he walked beside Gray, the two boys slowly making their way to the large mess hall beside the outdoor auditorium.

“Too small.” he muttered under his breath, ignoring Loke’s curious glance. His shoulders were hunched farther forward than usual, the silver pendant his dad had given him swaying gently and banging on his skin as he walked. When the fuck had he lost his shirt? Whatever, he got too hot with it on anyway. Loke’s voice brought him out of his glower, head whipping towards the ginger.

“I don’t see why you’re so pissy about it, honestly Lucy could have picked a worse guy.” he said carefully, cautious of Gray’s reaction. As he should be, because Gray was one more comment away from breaking his stupid glasses. Bastard didn’t even need them.

“You weren’t there,” he snapped, glare turning to a bottle cap that Gray kicked at harshly. “Lucy was blind drunk and I was supposed to look after her. And what happens? I lose her for five fucking minutes and find her trying to shove her tongue down some guy’s throat. A shirtless guy!” he continued to rant, ignoring the odd look his friend was giving him.

“You aren’t actually her keeper, y’know?” Loke questioned, jumping back with a yelp as Gray turned to him sharply.

“Yes I am.” he hissed, breaking eye contact and looking out the corner of his eye when he saw Loke’s eyebrows pinch together in concern and his lips thin. “I don’t have the best relationship with Lyon or Ultear, and Lucy’s like a sister. Like my favourite sister. She tries to rebel out from under her old man’s thumb, and sometimes she pushes herself too far. I need’a watch out for her.” he mumbled, hands stuffed roughly into the pockets of his black jeans, silver chain jingling at the forceful movement.

“If you think Lucy’s gonna punch me for flirting with her and not you for talking about her like that you’re dumber than you think Natsu is.” Loke warned, eyes completely serious as he stared down Gray. The black haired boy lifted his hand and rubbed at the scar on his forehead, letting out a long breath.

“I know, I know. And I know that she is more than capable of looking out for herself and making her own decisions and living with her own mistakes blah blah blah,” Gray said, rolling his eyes as he imagined Lucy’s furious lecture. “But she’s family.”

Loke’s eyes widened at Gray’s statement before he nodded in understanding, starting to walk forward towards where the girls were waiting again.

“Fine, but just don’t let Lucy hear you talking like that, got it? I’d rather not take you to the infirmary, even if I feel like both you and Natsu will be constant visitors there anyway,” Loke said, mumbling the last part so that Gray couldn’t hear him. Gray did anyway, but he chose to ignore it. Loke was his best guy friend, and he didn’t really have the energy to fight him right now. What he wanted was a smoke, but Lucy would kill him if she found out he had started again. And the camp forbid it. But Lucy was scarier.

“So what are you going to tell Lucy?”

“What?” Gray asked, confused by Loke’s random question. His friend just rolled his eyes and fixed his glasses in annoyance.

“About Natsu, duh.” Loke said slowly, eyebrow quirking at Gray’s loud snort.

“Nothing.”

Loke almost tripped over his feet at Gray’s quick dismissal, gaping at the raven haired boy. “You can’t not tell her who her first kiss was.” he protested, Gray shrugging his shoulder while his fist clenched in his pocket.

“Ain’t nothing to tell her, she was drunk so it doesn’t count as her first kiss. And didn’t you hear what that idiot was saying?” Gray questioned, a hard smirk pulling at his lips. “She already met him and didn’t remember him at all. So it’s all good.”

Loke looked at Gray from the corner of his eyes, disapproval clear in his face. “You sure?” he questioned hesitantly, giving Gray the chance to reconsider. Instead Gray looked him dead in the eye as he pulled the cafeteria door open harshly.

“Definitely.”

Playlist:

Teenage Wonderland - Kids In Glass Houses

Nothin’ On You - B.o.B. ft Bruno Mars

This Is How We Roll - Fifth Harmony

Good Girl - Carrie Underwood

Everybody’s Got A Secret - AWOLNATION

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