The Iron Dragon's Mark

The Mates

The next morning:

Gajeel kept in his grumble as he watched Levy tie another scarf around her neck. He didn't like the fact that she was covering up his mark, but he knew why she was doing it. Or at least she had told him why. He couldn't say he quite understood, but it was a girl thing, he shrugged mentally.

She met his eyes in the mirror. "It won't be for much longer," she told him with a smile. "Lily said Natsu was awake so I'll be able to talk to Lucy today!" She laughed, excited about telling her friend, but also at his expression. She knew he didn't want her wearing it, but Levy was the first one Lucy told about her mark - she wanted to do the same!

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in her neck. "Let's not spend too long there. I have some plans for us today," he said, kissing her neck and giving her a nip here and there.

"Um, thought we covered that last night!" Levy giggled.

"Well, if that's where your mind is going today..."

She turned and smiled up at him, not breaking the circle of his arms. "Let me talk to Lu first."

"Fine," he mumbled, kissing the top of her head.

At the Guild Hall:

"Lu-chan!" Levy called, seeing her friend standing next to Wendy, talking to the young dragon slayer.

"Levy-chan!" waved Lucy back. She said something to Wendy, then made her way over to Levy. Gajeel - not wanting to be any part of the girl talk, went and joined Lily at their usual table, tossing him a kiwi as a thank you for keeping them informed.

"How's he doing?" Levy asked. "I'm guessing by the smile on your face, pretty good?"

Lucy nodded. "Yep! Woke up last night. You know Natsu," she said, rolling her eyes, "he's ready to get up and going, but Porlyusica is making him stay in a bed a while longer."

Levy looked around, blushing. "Hey, let's head down to the library, okay? I, um, need to show you something."

"Sure! Oh, did you read any more of that dragon book we got from the Magic Library?"

Levy nodded. "It was pretty, um, well....informative."

She led Lucy to the far side of the library, behind a stack of books she hadn't gotten to yet. Gajeel had been distracting her lately!

"So, Lulu - I have something to show you," Levy giggled. She reached up for her scarf.

"No way! Levy!" squealed Lucy, giving her friend a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

Levy's face burned. "We've kind of moved in together. Well, not all the way - I still have my place at Fairy Hills. I just spend most nights over there."

Lucy looked closer at Levy's mark. "Aw, it looks like a metallic dragon! So cute!" She touched her own mark and giggled. "We are so screwed aren't we?"

Levy grinned. "Most definitely."

THE END