Chapter Text
Insomnia
Midnight shift was the only shift Gajeel worked nowadays.
At a 24-hour Pit Stop, a tiny cafe-and-petrol station, in the middle of nowhere, that served hot beverages in winter and iced beverages and icecream in summer. No-one else wanted the shift, there weren't any other jobs available in town, and Gajeel was hired here purely on the fact that if anyone dared to rob the place, he could handle them by himself. The problem was, the place was empty after eleven and he was stuck by himself for the six hours after that.
There was fuck-all to do, in his opinion, other than make the sandwiches that would be sold in the morning and rearrange the miscellaneous products lining the back shelf behind the counter. Sometimes he even read the magazines on the stand, or fiddled with the broken radio in the corner, but that was only when he was desperately bored.
It was when he'd taken to doodling weird faces on the napkins that the door swung open with a chime and a tiny girl with bright blue hair staggered in from the cold and wind outside.
Shocked to say the least, Gajeel frowned at the girl he presumed to be no older than fifteen.
"Ain't it past your curfew?" he scowled.
The girl glanced at him, smiled politely, then gestured at the earbuds in her ears. She pulled them out with a swift tug on the chord.
"Pardon?" she inquired. Gajeel looked her over again now that she'd wandered over. The girl sat down at a barstool at the end of the counter. She wore dark skinny jeans and an oversized hoodie under a large black leather jacket. A dark green bandana kept her hair back.
"How old ya, shorty? It's a bit late for ya to be out and about, ain't it?" Gajeel noticed he'd said more than intended, but ignored it.
The girl smirked. "Is that the kind of chat-up guys use on girls nowadays?" She took out her purse, retrieving a five dollar bill and an ID card, though what she ordered wasn't alcoholic. "You make hot chocolates at this hour?"
"To go?"
"Yeah."
Red eyes flickering over the ID, which showed the same blue hair and hazel eyes next to a birthdate from twenty years ago, he gave a grunt of confirmation before whirling around to turn on the drinks machine.
"What's a chick like ya doin' out late anyways?"
"Just moved here from a different timezone, adjusting to the hours I guess."
He made a noise at the back of his throat to show he'd heard, picking up the paper cup of hot chocolate and placing it before the girl, holding his other hand up in the 'one sec' gesture, grabbing the whipped cream canister from below the counter and gesturing if she wanted any, to which she nodded. He set it down before turning again to the shelf behind him and grabbing a small basket.
"Confectionery toppings, help yourself. Newbie treat."
Smiling, the girl picked up different containers and had a look through them. He watched her add the whipped cream, then, after hesitating between cinnamon and sprinkles, chose cinnamon. He collected the basket and cream and put them away, then took the note on the counter and counted up the correct change.
"I'm Levy, by the way. And this is really good." The blunette propped her elbows up on the counter as she leaned in to take another sip.
"Gajeel Redfox." As a kind gesture, he held his hand up for her to shake, which to his surprise, she did.
"Levy McGarden. My pleasure." With a calm smile, she took another sip before gathering her things and taking her leave.
It wasn't for another few days before he saw her again at around the same time as before; not long after midnight, edging its way to 1am.
And again a few days later, though this time she stayed a little while, and they exchanged some questions.
Did she settle in well? Yeah, she finished unpacking that day.
How old was he? Twenty-two and counting.
How long had she been dying her hair blue? Since she was fifteen, apparently; she was naturally a brunette.
Was he always on the midnight shift? Of course he was, he was the only one capable of projecting the joint at night. (She laughed at this, which offended him greatly).
After that, she turned up every other day, staying nearly an hour each time, and they talked about everything they could think of.
It was when she turned up the third night in a row that Gajeel finally got round to asking:
"Hey, are you okay?"
"What?" Levy frowned, tilting her head curiously.
"I don't wanna sound rude," Gajeel began awkwardly. "Cause I like seein' ya every night, but... it's not quite healthy is it? Are you sleepin' alright?"
After a surprised moment, the blunette replied calmly. "I could ask the same about you."
"First off: I sleep durin' the day. Second off: I used to suffer real bad insomnia, so I'm more awake at night anyways. Still don't sleep sometimes." He set down a mug of hot chocolate in front of her, already knowing what to add.
Levy sighed, resigned. "Yeah.. well I guess the cat's out of the bag. I'm a fellow member of the 'late night crew'," she air-quoted with a smirk. "About a year now, I get maybe three hours sleep a day?"
"Then sleep more durin' the day."
"When I've got classes full of elementary school kids to read to?"
"Oh, so you're a teacher?"
"Nope," she popped the 'P'. "School librarian."
Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Sounds just as fun, dealin' with brats."
"Not good with kids?" teased Levy mischievously. He scowled and she giggled amusedly.
"I'm putting that on my list of things I know about you," she sang, wiggling her eyebrows as she took a sip of the drink.
The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow sceptically. "There's a list?"
Nodding, the blunette blushed a little.
"Ya know what, I don't mind the sound of that." He smirked at her. "I'm gonna make a list about you too."
"What? No!"
"Gihihi."