It's All Fair in Love and Guild Mates

Part 8

Gajeel x Levy, Natsu x Lucy, Gray x Juvia & Erza x Jellal
Disclaimer: I do not own the Fairy Tail story line or any of the characters in it. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

When Gajeel and Levy rolled into the Magic Council's banquet hall, they were overwhelmed. Crystal chandeliers hung from the intricately painted ceilings, wizards all dressed to the nines stood around marble columns that dotted the outer rims of the room, long tables packed with food lining in between them.
"LUCY! LOOK! THEY HAVE FIRE AT THE BUFFET!" Natsu practically screamed while pointing to the torches that stood on either side of each table.
"I don't think those are for eating Natsu," Lucy said skeptically. "And remember we're here on a job, not to snack."
"But it's free food!" He whined.
"Fine, run along then," Lucy dismissed him. I'll stay and look for any signs of the Carver. But Natsu-" Though by the time she had said his name, he was already half way to the buffet.
Levy patted her friend on the shoulder, "I'm sorry Lu-chan."
"It's fine Levy," Lucy sighed. "Just, typical Natsu."
"You should at least try to get a dance out of him before the end of the night."
"Good luck with that, blondie." Gajeel cut in gruffly. "Salamander ain't going to be doing much but chowin' down and brawling."
"You're probably right," She replied sadly. "Not that I expected much more than that from him."
"Oh don't talk like that Lucy, cheer up! He'll come around," Levy assured her. "Eventually."
"I applaud your enthusiasm, but we'll just have to see," her friend muttered.
"Look bunny girl, not that I don't love hearin' you mope about your boyfriend, but if we clump together like we're doin' now, we're never gonna catch this guy," Gajeel said. "So scram."
"Gajeel," Levy scolded. "Don't be rude!"
"No, he's right," Lucy said. "I think I'll go get a drink," she glanced around the banquet hall for a refreshments station before walking off.
Levy turned to her date. "You could've just asked me to dance and she would've left," she said grumpily, crossing her arms.
"Well I ain't much of a dancer, so what's the point in that?" Gajeel crossed his arms back at her.
"Fine!" She spun away from him mumbling,"It's not like I want to dance with a brute like you anyways."
Gajeel glanced over at his date, making sure she wasn't looking before he checked out what she was wearing. Her choppy blue hair was tied back by a black ribbon, made of the same silk as her dress. Her dress stopped just before her knees, and had a high-neck mesh piece that covered most of her chest. Her shoes were dainty black heels with little bows, she looked very pretty.
  His faced softened once he saw how upset he had made her. Gajeel put his hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, sweetheart," He apologized grudgingly.
  She whipped her head around to look up at him,"You mean it?" Gajeel nodded in reply. Levy smiled up at him and said, "then you're forgiven."
"So what's with all the black?" Gajeel asked suddenly, changing the subject before things got too lovey-dovey for him.
"I was going to ask you the same thing about the stripes," she giggled.
Gajeel looked down at his attire. His grey and black striped suit was buttoned closed over his dress shirt. He wore a tie, with his long, spiked hair was pulled back in a ponytail. The black handkerchief in his jacket pocket matched his tie, making his white dress shirt pop in color.
"Do you not like it?"
"No it's quite dapper," she assured him. "It's just, different. A good different though."
Gajeel smirked. "Then for the record, black looks hot on you."
Levy's face flushed bright red. "T-thanks." Glad I took Lucy's fashion advice, she thought.
As the pair had their little chat, couples were dancing all around them. Including Erza and Jellal, who were standing across the ballroom from the, near the dessert table. They both became very interested in their shoes.
  Gajeel held his hand out in front of her to break the ice. He scratched his neck awkwardly,"I don't suppose you were throwing a fit earlier because you wanted to dance?"
Levy raised her eyebrows at him. "I thought you weren't much of a dancer."
"Just nail it, short stack," he grumbled. "Are ya dancing with me or not?"
She curtseyed, "Oh no, we're dancing."
"Alright then milady," Gajeel bowed. "May I have this dance?"
"You may," Levy took his hand and giggled.
They danced stiffly for a while before easing into it, the ice breaker being when Levy snuggled her head into Gajeel's chest. They stayed like that for about a song and a half before the music became more upbeat. "Thanks for the dance," Levy said happily before standing on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek.
"Don't mention it." Gajeel turned away from her and then said, "I'll go get us some drinks, don't wait up for me."
  Levy watched him walk away, her heart slightly sinking.
*
  Lucy was just about to join Nastu back at the buffet before she was stopped by a attractive stranger. "Hey there, gorgeous." A silky smooth voice greeted from behind her. She turned to see a well-tailored man standing behind her. "A lovely girl like you shouldn't be walking around without a date, how about a dance?"
  This dude seriously needs to get his priorities straight! Lucy thought, slightly disgusted. Even Loki's flirting is more tasteful than this.
"Um, no thanks." She rejected him politely. "I have a date." She turned to walk away from him, but he caught her by the wrist. "Oh come on, beautiful, " The man's eyes glinted. "Just, one dance?"
Lucy didn't know what came over her, but she all of a sudden had the urge, the need, to dance with this guy. "Okay," she agreed.
  Though her movements were not of her own, she reached to take one of his outstretched hands. That's when she noticed the several rings on his fingers, one of was a large heart, while the others had various pictures of things like the moon and an eye. Her eyes widened, charm magic. Like a spell had been lifted, she snapped awake and stepped away from the man. "Thanks for the offer, but I really should be trying to find my date."
Lucy spun around and started to walk away quickly, but someone snatched her by the waist and pulled her into them. "Not so fast, girly," the man's smooth voice said hastily. "I'm not done with you yet."
"OY!" She heard Natsu's voice yell. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH MY DATE?"
"Natsu!" Lucy struggled against the guys grip. "Get off of me!" She screeched at the stranger. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Natsu's fists erupt into flames as he stomped over to Lucy and her captor. The sensory link allowed her to feel the warm feeling of his flames on his hands and his pulsing anger.
  The strange man took a step away from her, but still kept a tight grip on her waist. Natsu got real close to the guy's face. "Either let her go," he snarled. "Or we're going to have a problem."
"Cool it, pinky." The man said cockily and released her. "We were only having a little fun."
"Let me make myself very clear," Natsu pulled Lucy behind him protectively, locking his hand in hers. "No one touches my Lucy, I will burn that pretty face of yours to a crisp."
"N-Natsu. . ." Lucy looked at her friend, surprised about how enraged he was. His breathing was heavy, his enflamed fist clenched and his muscles tense. He looked about ready to kill the guy that had hit on her.
"Understood," the dark-haired man smirked. "Nice boyfriend you got there, blondie. Quite the sight." Natsu glared at the man as he watched him walk away.
"Natsu." Lucy said soothingly, placing her other hand on his shoulder. "Calm down."
He hadn't even realized that he was partly engulfed in flames, he looked over to his partner and extinguished them. "You okay, Luce? Did he hurt you? Because I swear if he did-"
"No, I'm alright," she interrupted him. "Thank you. For helping me out, I mean."
Instead of responding, Natsu pulled Lucy into a tight embrace."Don't scare me like that, okay Lucy?"
"O-okay," she said into his chest. When he let her go after a few moments, he was blushing slightly. Which made her blush too. "You didn't have to get so worked up about it though," she joked. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were jealous."
"Now you're starting to sound like Happy," he said grumpily. "What did he want anyways?" 
Lucy shrugged,"To dance with me, I guess. But I told the creep I already had a date."
"Good. Because the only guy you're dancing with tonight," he grinned and pulled her towards the dance floor. "Is me."
*
Gray and Juvia were on their way to report to Erza about what happened with Natsu and Lucy, when they ran into a familiar face.
"Hello, Gray," A cool voice greeted the pair.
Gray whipped around to see a fellow ice-make wizard. "Lyon."
"Haven't seen you since my visit to your guild in Magnolia, I see you have the lovely Juvia with you." He turned his attention to her, "Hello Juvy, I'm glad to see someone accompanying you with this fiend on the loose. Though I had hoped it would be someone more, reliable."
"Hello Lyon," Juvia greeted him as kindly as possible. "Gray is actually accompanying me as my date, I'm quite glad to have him around. Right, darling?"
"Yeah," Gray agreed. "I don't suppose you're implying that the 'more reliable' someone would be you?"
"Of course that's what I was implying," Lyon sneered. "In fact my main reason for traveling to Magnolia, aside from discussing the job requirements with your guild master, was to ask Juvia to be my date so that I could protect her."
"Guess I beat you to it," Gray snapped coldly. "But I'm sorry to disappoint, even if you had ask her, her answer would've been no."
"Even so, I would've made the better date," Lyon retorted icily. "You've been ignoring her this whole time! A real gentleman would've asked her to dance by now."
"Maybe I will!" Gray said and grabbed Juvia's hand. "C'mon Juvia, let's go."
"But Gray-" She started to protest.
Gray looked at her over his shoulder, his eyes swimming with conflict. "Juvia," he repeated. His tone was harsh and demanding, not one he had ever used to speak to her before. "Let's go."
  Her mouth shut, and she let Gray pull her forward. Through the sensory link, she felt the raw anger pulsing through his veins. Could this have something to do with what Lyon said? Was he jealous? Her mind was spinning, unsure of what to do. She had never seen Gray display so much raw emotion for her.
When they were a fair distance away from Lyon, Gray stopped and let go of Juvia's hand. "Gray. . ." She whispered.
He interrupted her,"Do you want to dance?"
Juvia's eyes widened. "Y-yes!" She choked.
"Then let's dance." Gray wrapped his arms around Juvia's waist, her arms immediately settling around his neck. Though when she went to look up at her beloved, he wouldn't meet her eyes.
"Juvia. . ." He said, his voice low. "I need to ask you something."