Okay, most of you may have found The Preperations boring. Well, I'm telling you now: The Journey will be much better. More detail, a bit more romance ;) Some mishaps that will drive you GaLe fans NUTS! WOOT WOOT! That was dumb -.-" Sorry. Ignore that. Now, onto our little bookworm and sexy Dragonslayer ;)
Gajeel's feet crunched in the dead leaves as he walked down the path, following the blue-haired bookworm in which he always called Shrimp, or Short-Stack, or occasionally Shorty. He couldn't help but watch her short hair bounce up and down as she walked in front of him. Today she was full of confidence, unlike any other day when she was quiet and shy.
"Are we there yet?" he asked tiredly. The walk had been going on for what seemed like hours.
"Gajeel, we've been out for forty five minutes," Levy answered him. "You can't be tired already."
"No, I'm bored. Ain't nothing to do out here." he kicked a rock for emphasis.
He heard Levy sigh. "I swear, you have the attention span of a puppy." she mumbled. She suddenly stopped and Gajeel ran into her back.
"What the hell?!" he exclaimed backing away from her.
Lily spoke for the first time since departing from Magnolia, "There's a pond over there," he pointed with his tiny paw. "If you're bored, have a swim. I'm sure there's a little time to spare, isn't there Levy?" he turned to the blue haired Mage.
Levy nodded in response. "I suppose, but we can only stay an hour or two."
Gajeel crossed his arms in defiance. "What if I don't wanna swim?" he asked skeptically.
"Then here," she pulled out a book from her seemingly bottomless bag. "Read this, it's a very good book." her brown eyes lit with excitement when she held the novel. Her smile was soft and encouraging, making Gajeel's mouth dry.
He cleared his throat and took the book from her. "I guess," he sighed trying to sound even more bored. Gajeel didn't want to make her unhappy. That was. His weakness: sad women.
Gajeel looked one more time at Levy. Her face was bright with joy as she sat on a rock and read her own book. The way her eyes darted from left to right on the page intrigued him.
"That doesn't look like reading," Lily snuck up from behind him, making Gajeel almost slap him with he book.
"W-What?" Gajeel stammered. "I was just just about to!"
"After you were done observing Levy?" the black Exceed asked all to innocently.
Anger flared through Gajeel like wildfire. "I oughtta pummel you into a pancake you pain in the ass!" he growled, stalking away to the other side of the pond and left Lily to keep the bookworm company. He sat down in a bed of crest and opened he book with an aggitated sigh. That jackass cat didn't know what he was talking about.
The book just wouldn't catch the Dragonslayer's attention, so he decided to go back to where Levy and Pantherlily were resting. When he arrived, he found them both sleeping on he rock Lev had been reading on earlier. 'Aw, jeez!' Gajeel thought. If he moved her to a more comfortable spot he'd never hear the end of it from Lily, but then if he didn't he'd never hear he end of Levy's complaints about a sore back.
He decided it would be best to just move them. Gajeel thought he was being helpful and trying to save the petit bookworm a wrenched back. Lily could rant all he wanted, because Gajeel would show no sign of him caring.
But how was he going to do his without waking either one of them up? Carrying them would be awkward, but it seemed like he had no other choice. Gajeel slid his right arm under the bend of Levy's knee and the other under her neck. She stirred once, making Gajeel freeze in terror, but then yawned and went back to dreaming.
He looked around for a place to put her. There was the cress hat he'd been sitting in earlier, but it was possible that the water would rise to the shoreline in the middle of the night. He decided to look further up the shore and go from there.
Luckily, just above the cress patch, there was a soft-looking bed of grass.Gajeel lay her down gently and stood back up, cracking his back. Gajeel stared to walk away and back to Lily, then he heard something, most quieter than a sigh.
"G-Gajeel-sama..." Levy whispered suddenly. Gajeel turned arond and found the little mage still asleep in the grass. 'I'm hearing things.' he thought to himself, rolling his eyes. Then he heard it again, but without the respectful name. "Gajeel?" Levy's tiny voice yawned. "Where are you going?"
The Dragonslayer turned around and saw the little bookworm rubbing her eyes with fatigue. He blinked and stretched as he spoke, "You fell asleep on a rock so I moved you."
"Y-You moved me?" Levy stuttered. "You didn't-"
"Nah," Gajeel waved his hand dismissively. "You looked awfully uncomfortable so I put you in a better spot."
He saw a familiar blush creep into the girl's cheeks, and he laughed without realizing it.
"What are you laughing at?" Levy crossed her arms the way Gajeel did when he was annoyed.
"You face likes to change color," he said, trying his hardest to stop. "It's a like a chameleon!"
Levy huffed and turned her face away so Gajeel couldn't see her smile.
