Beauty of Fairy Tail (Gale/Gajevy AU)

Chapter 14

Levy

I can feel Gajeel's muscular arms around me, when I wake up. The blanket that's draped over us is very cozy. I don't want to get up. I carefully sneak my hands across Gajeel's chest. He had moved considerably, last night, so I was laying on top of him. I hear his heart beat like the beating of a bass drum and I can feel his deep, yet soft, snoring reverberate through my being. With ease, I fall back to sleep for a while more.

When I wake up again, Gajeel is not there to greet me. Not in person, but I can hear his rough singing voice echoing through the flat. I sit up, rub my eyes, and look towards the direction of the voice and try to contain my laughter.

Gajeel is in the kitchen, wearing a black apron the says Hot Stuff in big, red letters that were on fire. He's also got a spatula in his hand and is vigorously singing Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, which playing from the mp3 perched on the cluttered island. I hold in my giggling as Mr. Shoo-bi-doo-bop rocks out and flips panckes.

I stand up, blanket over my shoulders, and silently walk into the kitchen. I wrap my arms around Gajeel's waist and bury my face in his back. His foresty scent fills my nose and I smile.

"Morning, Gajeel," I mumble happily.

"Morning. You sleep alright?" Gajeel asks. I nod 'yes' and continue snuggling his back. He keeps cooking, which I expect will catch fire any second. From what I've learned, dragon slayers can be clumsy. Natsu in fighting, Wendy in walking, and Gajeel's might be cooking.

"Hey, Shrimp, could you grab me a plate out of that cabinet, there?" Gajeel instructs. I let him go and struggle to grab the plates that are high up, by my standards. I reach off of my tiptoes and manage to get them without spilling the whole stack to the floor. Gajeel takes them from me and sets a few on each.

I follow him to the table, which is already set up with glasses of oj, silverware, and a third plate; It's stacked high with more pancakes. I sit down next to Gajeel, who instantly starts eating. I pick up my fork and take a bite.

"Holy hot damn, Uncle Sam!" My eyes feel like they're going to pop out of my head. They're so good that I had to stifle making a noise.

"Wow, Gajeel. These are really good. I never knew you could cook. Why don't you do that in the guildhall?" I inquire. He shrugs and makes the three note noise for 'I don't know.' He takes a big swig of his orange juice and goes back to eating. I drop it, for now, and return to mine, as well.

"By the way, Lilly told me that, last night, then he was going to bed, he heard people outside. They were looking for you," says Gajeel, seriously. "I don't think you should be away from my side for a while. Or you should, at least be with someone."

I sit in silence and fear. "What if those guys are back? What if Gajeel isn't there to save me?!" I shudder. I nod in agreement with Gajeel and finish breakfast. After, Gajeel walks me home and heads off to the guild to talk to Master Makarov about the events of last night. Well,... except what we were really doing.

I dress in my favorite, orange dress and brown flats. I also change to my orange and white headband. I wait in my room, until I hear Juvia start leaving. Grabbing a book, I walk with her to the guildhall and I help her choose, from a small stack of jobs, which job she should take. Her main question is "where does Gray-sama fit in?"

We walk in the guildhall and I march with false indifference to a far table where Gajeel is sitting, partaking in a sheet of metal. I sit on the bench across from him and open my book. He looks at me, knitting his metal eyebrows and frowning, wondering why I chose to sit at there. I quickly mouth "last night." The tips of his ears change to a dull pink.

I stick my nose back in my book and read for a while. Jet and Droy leave on a quick job, on the outer edge of town. They begged me to go with them, but I told them it was their job. Plus, I still need to talk to Master about my protection. He needs to know about this. I set down my book, walk up the stairs, and knock on Master Makarov's office door.

"Master, it's Levy. Can I come in? I need to talk to you," I say just loud enough for the rest of the guild not to hear me.

"Yes, come in, my dear. What can I do for you?" Makarov asks me as I step into his office.

I nervously sit in a chair, on the opposite side of his desk from him. He has the same caring, wise look that he always has and his hair is a mess from, what I could guess, a long night.

"Master, last night, I spent the night at a friend's and they heard something. They heard people, outside the window, who were looking for me." Master strokes his chin and looks to be thinking hard about the subject. "I was wondering if we could put my team on as a protection detail. And alert the girls. I don't want them getting hurt or taken."

"Hm. This is a very serious matter. I'll call a meeting and you put your team together. Not a single one of this new enemy is getting near us."