Brain and Brawn

Chapter Three: Brain and Brawn

Levy stared at the job board and hummed to herself as she searched for a job. She came to the guild early hoping to catch Lucy before she left but her stellar Mage friend was nowhere to be seen. After asking around Mira finally confirmed Natsu and Lucy were still on their job, something Happy was still complaining about.

"I can't believe he left without me!" The blue Exceed cried as he flew in circles around the guild hall, unsure of what to do without his best friend.

"Would you come down here Happy?" Carla called from her spot next to the young sky dragon slayer, Wendy Marvell. "Your bellyaching is giving everyone a headache, including me."

"Yes ma'am," Happy frowned and landed on the other side of Wendy.

"Don't worry Happy I'm sure they'll be back soon," the sweet girl assured the blue cat. "Until then you're more than welcome to join us on a job if you'd like. Right Carla?"

The white Exceed sighed and crossed her arms. "Oh I suppose it couldn't hurt," despite her usual snooty attitude she smiled at the blue Exceed.

"Seems everyone is pairing off with people they don't normally pair off with," Levy turned next to her to see Erza by her side. "First Grey and Juvia, then Natsu and Lucy run off without Happy, and now you and Gajeel."

"I hear you had some pull in Grey and Juvia taking a job together," Levy prodded.

The redhead smiled. "Grey is ignorant when it comes to girls. He was raised around girls who would sooner fight him for fun that date him, myself, Mira, and Cana namely, so he had no clue how to respond to Juvia's advances no matter how obvious she made them. So I told him he needed to make a choice, either accept her affections for him or turn her down, either way she deserved a straight answer. So when we came back he immediately asked her to go on a job with him, which she fainted when he asked, like literally keeled over," both women laughed at the thought. "It's not a love confession but, baby steps," she mused at the board with Levy for a moment. "So haven't found the right job yet?"

Levy shook her head. "I'm trying to find something that utilizes both of our strengths. So far none of these has piqued my interest. We need something that requires brain and brawn."

"Of course!" The warrior yelled, making Levy jump. "Hey Mira, do you still have the jobs that came in this morning?"

"Yes I do," the white haired Mage smiled and handed Erza a stack of papers.

"I forgot you two are stepping in for Master while he's at a conference," Levy observed while Erza flipped through the pages to find was she was looking for. After a moment Erza handed a job to her. "Brain and brawn needed," Levy read aloud. "Wizard needed to translate ruins on an ancient tomb, body guard needed as wizard bandits have attacked past translators." Levy looked down at the reward then snapped her head back up to Erza. "Two million Jewl to translate some old ruins?"

Erza nodded but Mira spoke. "Those bandits have proved quite the nuisance but don't underestimate them. Judging by the stories coming out of that tomb they're very capable wizards. Even the person who posted this job won't dare go out there. He just wants you to translate and bring anything you find to him at the end of the day."

"The good news is there's an inn close by," Erza piped up. " Mira and I will call ahead of you so you will have a room ready for you when you arrive."
 
Levy didn't like the smile either S Class wizard was wearing but she didn't get the chance to ask them about it as she was suddenly dragged away by a blur of blue and yellow. As she was shoved into one if the small supply rooms she finally got a good look at her kidnapper.

"Why did you just drag us off to a supply closet Lucy?" Levy asked, despite her off behavior Levy was glad her best friend was back before she left on her job. After she got no immediate response she looked closer and Lucy and found her hyperventilating. "Whoa! Calm down Lu," she placed a hand on her shoulders. "Breathe, good, now tell me what happened."

"He kissed me!" She blurted. "Natsu kissed me! I didn't even think he knew what kissing was."

Levy smiled at her friend and tried to hold in her laughter. "I didn't think you'd be bothered by this. I do recall you telling me awhile ago that you liked him."

"Yeah but I didn't think he reciprocated those feelings," she had quieted down but her breathing wasn't much better. "I don't know what to do Levy help me!"

Levy sighed. She wasn't the best at giving relationship advice having never been in a relationship herself but she did read, a lot, and her books taught her what she did know. "Well what did you do?"

"I kissed him back," Lucy blushed. "It was at the end of our job. When we freed the villagers of that monster everyone was happy and celebrating and he just grabbed me and kissed me. It was actually really nice..." Lucy seemed to almost fall into a trance as she remember what happened.

Levy snapped her fingers in front of her friends face. "Hey back to Earth Land Lu. I mean what did you do after you kissed?"

Lucy shook her head to exit her trance. "Well it was an awkward ride home even with Natsu feeling sick the whole time. I ran here to grab you as soon as we arrived before he could recover."

"You ran off!" Levy exclaimed. "That's not good Lucy now Natsu may think you don't like him."
 
"So what do I do?"

"Find him and talk about it silly," Levy laughed. "Find out if it's going to go anywhere," Levy placed her hand on the door handle to leave. "Oh and fill me in when I get back."

"You're leaving?" Lucy whined.

"Just for a few days. Gajeel, Lily, and I are taking a job out west but I'll be back before you know it," Levy shot out the door after seeing the look her best friend have her. She knew if she didn't leave she would be subject to questioning about taking a job with her crush.

"There you are Shrimp," Gajeel called from the bar. Levy joined him and filled her two new partners in on their job. "As long as I get to punch in a few faces it sounds good to me!" He exclaimed, punching his hand in anticipation.

"When do we leave?" Lily asked.

"Well there's a train that leaves in a couple hours we can catch it if we go pack up now," Levy said. "Where do you want to meet?"

"How about our place?" Lily suggested. "We live closer to the tracks than you anyway."

"Sounds good to me," Levy smiled. She'd never seen Gajeel's place before. "Does that work for you Gajeel?"

"On one condition," Gajeel said. He finished his drink and leaned in closer to Levy, his face inches from hers, making her heart stop for a moment. His voice was serious as he spoke. "You wait outside the girls dorm for me or Lily to escort you there."

"I don't need an escort Gajeel," Levy pouted.

"No Gajeel may be right," Lily intervened in their argument before it could continue, "the people who live in our area aren't the nicest of folk so an escort would probably be best. That being the case I can just go to the dorms with you Levy and help you out so I'm already there to escort you when you're ready. This way you don't have to try and get a last minute pass for Gajeel."

The dragon slayer stood up. "We better get to packin then!" He ruffled Levy's hair playfully, making her blush flare up. "Gihihi, I'll see you in a couple hours then Shrimp."

Authors Notes: Okay so this chapter actually ended being a little longer than the last one. Gajeel and Levy arrive at their hotel in the next chapter and discover why it may have been a bad idea to let Erza and Mira pick it out.