Entry for Gajevy/GaLe week - Prompt #1: Blanket
Snoring. That was all he could hear at night and Gajeel was regretting his decision to assist Levy with this job. How could such a tiny person make such loud noises? Especially in her sleep? He'd given her the better bed roll out of the two left at the guild. There was an invigorated spirit in Fairy Tail these days, and because of this, everyone was out on jobs, bringing in money, and trying to restore themselves back to glory. And although Levy and Gajeel had been successful at this job, he was seriously regretting his decision to be a stand-up guy and let the girl have the blanket without the holes. Especially with this incessant snoring!
He had been excited in the beginning – it was about time she dropped those dopes, Jet and Droy anyway. He didn't like that they were so clingy and well….weak. He'd made a promise to Levy years ago and Gajeel had every intention of keeping it – he'd make her big. He had a debt to pay to her, for hurting her, for breaking her. He'd thought he'd get his chance when she was testing for S-Class. But, as always, life had a weird way of messing things up for him. He'd learned a lot about Levy then – her unbreakable spirit, the way she handled stress under pressure, and how much she had truly forgiven him. It had been so much easier for Levy to forgive him. So much easier than what Gajeel went through every day to forgive himself.
Silence blessed his ears in the darkness. Gajeel sighed happily, figuring that Levy had finally rolled into a deeper sleep. He had tried everything during their short time together – putting her hand in cold water (which had ended terribly for Gajeel and gave Levy a salty attitude toward him for a few days), shoved cotton balls up her nostrils (which had made things very worse and given Levy a nose bleed), and tried to seek out another mage who specialized in this stuff. Couldn't he at least get some sleeping pills to get through it?
"Gajeel!"
Her voice interrupted his peace and quiet. It was soft, but urgent and completely impossible to ignore.
"Gajeel! Where are you? Don't leave me!"
It was true that Gajeel had a fascination with Levy. He did what he could to make her laugh and keep sadness away from her. He owed her that much, right? Sighing into the night, Gajeel rose and made his way toward her bed roll.
"Shrimp? Levy, are you awake?"
Silence followed his questioning, but he positioned himself next to her, looking at her slim form in the bright moonlight that lit the area.
"Gajeel. I'm so scared."
There was nothing to fear in the dark, but Gajeel quickly realized that she must be dreaming. Her eyes were squeezed tight and he could see that her breathing was coming in rapid little gasps. Hesitating, he placed his hand out to brush her beautiful, soft hair from her face.
"Shh now, Shrimp. I'm not gonna to let anything get you. You're perfectly safe with me around. Ain't no one gonna bother you. I promise you that."
"Gajeel."
Was it wrong that he liked it when she said his name?
"I'm cold."
A frown settled on his face, but he could see Levy visibly shiver under her blanket. It was a damn good thing that he was so tough. He stood up and grabbed his blanket – the hole covered, moth eaten one that had been left just for him – and he placed it upon the blue haired woman who entranced him.
Gajeel got little sleep that night, but Levy slept soundlessly. She knew that she had a snoring problem. She'd always been told it was something to do with her allergies. The pollen in the trees not only made her sneeze, but it gave her the most unattractive sleeping habit known to man. There was nothing sexy about a snoring woman in bed. Ugh. How'd she get to be so lucky? It was probably a good thing that she didn't know about her talking habit either, because if she did, she'd never be able to look Gajeel in the eyes after what she would imagine her sleeping self would have let loose.
It wasn't really a secret to anyone in the guild that Levy harbored a little crush on Gajeel. As a matter of fact, she was often teased by Cana and Lucy, two of the individuals who had witnessed a handful of slightly intimate moments a few years ago. Or at least, intimate by girl standards. Sure, Gajeel was nice to her now, but Levy was positive that he wasn't even interested in pursuing something further with her. The only ones who were remotely interested were Droy and Jet, but they had never quite been her type. Gajeel….well, let's just say he was a completely different story for sweet, smart, innocent Levy.
They'd worked so hard on this last job and Levy was so glad that she had escaped Jet and Droy for a few days. They had a habit of rubbing her too hard and she lost her joy for going on jobs with them more quickly now…now that she knew what it was like working with someone like Gajeel. He complimented her so well – his offensive magic gave her time to focus on her script skills. She wasn't weak – hell no, she wasn't weak. But she wasn't as strong as Gajeel.
Plus, he'd promised her. He promised her and she knew he would keep that promise.
With a small little yawn, Levy woke up to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight in her eyes. She felt like she was on fire, but that was practically impossible! The little blanket that she used, although good quality, only kept the chill out of her bones so much at night. She realized quickly that she had acquired yet another blanket during the night, and after looking for her partner, she found that he was curled up without one. The kind gesture made her blush a bright pink. He hadn't needed to give her his very own blanket. She'd have made due without! It was still sweet, nonetheless – probably just an act of kindness that didn't have any alternative meaning.
It absolutely didn't mean anything. Gestures like this never did.
With a sigh, Levy rose, taking Gajeel's blanket and draping it back over him. She studied him for a few minutes – her fingers itching for the feel of his skin under them. But she sighed, deciding not to play with the fires of temptation in case he were to wake up. Trekking back to Magnolia was going to be a long trip today, she thought. She'd best focus on packing herself.
Gajeel knew he must have been dreaming about the lingering that he'd felt when Levy came to his bed roll that morning. She had smelled like heaven – floral and spice mixed together in an incredible combination. He could have picked her scent out of a million other women – no one had a smell the reminded him of the library and of bliss like Levy did. He'd smiled when Levy draped his blanket back over him that morning, not missing the soft sigh she let out before moving to gather her things. He'd hear her calling for him a bit later, telling him that if they didn't get leaving soon that Lily was going to kill her for keeping him away for so long. Now, however, they were walking in silence, something thick and heavy lingering in the air.
Feelings? Emotions? Gajeel felt his palms become sweaty. Was he nervous? What was he nervous about? Levy had been deep in thought most of the morning, so he hadn't bothered her. But Gajeel didn't like it when Levy didn't talk to him. Clearing his throat, he started to speak. Levy also thought it was an appropriate time to breach conversation with him too.
"I need to talk to you about something, Shrimp."
"I need to talk to you about something, Gajeel."
He could see the pink blush cover her cheeks when they both spoke at the same time. He gave her a small grin before she told him to go ahead and go first. What she had to say wasn't important, or at least, that's what she thought. It was important to Gajeel.
"Well….before we go out on any more jobs together, you need to get that snoring of yours under control. I think you scared every livin' creature out of that forest last night!"
Gajeel teased her a bit, but he noticed her blush deepen to a dark maroon. It made Gajeel worry about her.
"I'm just messin' with ya, Shrimp. But seriously – did you know that you snore AND you like to talk in your sleep?"
Levy was mortified. MORTIFIED.
Gajeel had heard her snore. Gajeel had tried tricks to get her to stop snoring all throughout their trip! And she probably spilled her guts at some point in her sleep too. Great. Just what she needed when she was on a job with the love of her….life? Did she really just think that?
"I…I…I hope that…"
She stuttered, the look of pure terror remaining on her face. Gajeel took one look at her before laughing uncontrollably – she really was a lot of fun to antagonize.
"Don't look like that, Shrimp. You didn't say nuthin' to incriminate you or anything. Just that you were cold and scared for some reason. Must have been havin' a bad dream."
Relief washed through her immediately. She hadn't spilled her deepest secrets!
"You should go get some sleeping medicine to help you with that snoring thing though. You sound like a bear, not like the Shrimp that you are. Maybe Wendy can assist you or somethin'. She's good at that stuff."
"Ye..yeah, I will. Thanks for letting me know."
Silence hung between the both of them for a few minutes. Levy was still trying to calm herself from the panic she had felt earlier. But Gajeel wasn't aware and he turned to look at her with a curiosity.
"Hey, what did you want to talk about?"
"Oh – Nothing really."
"Come on now, Shrimp. Don't give me that. Traveling with a companion isn't fun when it's all silence."
"Oh, well – I wanted to thank you for the blanket, Gajeel."
"Don't mention it, Levy."
It was the first time that he'd used her name in a long time. The butterflies that lived in her stomach when he was around soared to life.
Author's Note:
Ahhh! So this is "chapter 1" of the first story that I've ever posted on here! I'm nervous and excited at the same time, so please feel free to send me comments and point out any errors you see in the chapter. Looking forward to adding on more this week as Gajevy/GaLe week continues! Chapters may include Mature Content in the future - so watch out for rating changes if that happens. Muahaha!
Prompt #2 will be: I Love You.
Tune in to see what doors this will open up to one of our favorite FT ships! #OTP