Chapter Text
Apparently, Gajeel had joined just in time to get roped into Fairy Tail’s participation in one of Magnolia’s annual festivals. It was all anyone had talked about for the past week while he was at the guild between jobs, though nobody was talking to him about it, obviously. Even Natsu still wasn’t talking to him, which in his opinion was getting kinda ridiculous. It had been a week, and he still hadn’t even had the chance to explain himself because Natsu kept walking away or falling asleep.
Well, today was gonna be the end of that. Gray was out chaperoning Juvia on a job, and Erza had taken Lucy outside for some kind of demonstration. Natsu walked in with Happy perched on his shoulder, teasing him for being a sleepy-head, and Gajeel waited until he passed to stand up. “Oi, Natsu.” he said firmly, reaching out to catch him by the scruff of his vest. A week was longer than Metallicana would’ve put up with him being a petulant brat, it was time he knocked some sense into Natsu. Hopefully with words, but he wouldn’t say no to a spar if it came to that.
Happy launched himself from Natsu’s shoulder with a hiss, and his vod’ika [little sibling] whipped around with a barely-controlled lash of fire.
“Nu tigaanur! [Don't touch me!]” he shouted, heat rolling off him in stifling waves. Gajeel growled back, and grabbed the front of Natsu’s vest instead.
“Ke’sushir. [Listen (order)]” he growled, low enough none of the humans in the guild hall would hear him. “We’re going to go outside and have a little chat, understand?”
“Get away from me!” a magic circle appearing on the floor was all the warning he got before flames exploded from Natsu’s whole body, and Gajeel stumbled back with a hiss, clutching his hand to his chest.
“That stung you little shit!” he snapped, taking an extra step back for good measure. Natsu’s fire burned hotter the more emotion he poured into it, and Pissed Off was apparently enough emotion to actually burn Gajeel’s hand. Not badly, but he’d need to run this under cool water and get some aloe on it sooner than later.
“Perhaps you should listen to him.” Erza said, her voice colder than ice, one hand resting on the hilt of her sword. “I’m sure Master Makarov will have no problem with me taking your hands off should you try to touch Natsu again.”
Why did everyone here think he was going to hurt Natsu? The worst he’d been planning to do was whack him on the back of the head and sit on him in full scales until he was willing to listen. “No need to tell me twice.” he scoffed, and turned to head for the guild’s little infirmary. Maybe he should try to catch Natsu outside his place on the edge of town? Natsu wouldn’t use his fire as freely if he had to worry about his own shit getting wrecked. Or maybe Gajeel should call the brats in to help, get the twins to call Natsu over and then sit on him while he was with them?
That would probably work, but he’d have to time it right. Gajeel rinsed his hands in the infirmary sink, and smeared some aloe gel on the pinkened skin before grabbing a roll of bandages from the drawer labelled Free Use. No matter what he tried though, he’d have to wait before putting his plan in action. Might as well take a job while he waited, though with the state his hands were in monster fighting was out of the question for at least a few days.
Well, good thing Fairy Tail’s job board had all kinds of requests. Gajeel fixed the end of the second bandage wrap in place, and headed back out into the main guild hall. Lucy had joined Nab at the job board, and Gajeel scanned the available jobs quickly. Monster hunting was out, so that was about half the board off the table. Another quarter of the remainder were too local for his tastes, the treasure hunts looked promising but he didn’t wanna go digging or diving while his hands were fucked up...
“Hey, I saw that first!” Lucy complained when he plucked an easy tutoring job off the board. He’d already trained his vod’ike [little siblings] in how to use their magic, and this looked like it was for a beginner class. Easy money, and he’d be out of town for a good couple weeks. It was even in the right direction for getting in touch with Ivan, he was pretty sure.
“Should’ve grabbed it quicker.” he shrugged. Dibs meant nothing when it came to the job board, all that mattered was who got the paper to the validator first.
“Besides, aren’t you completely wrong for that kind of work?” Lucy asked sharply, crossing her arms and glaring up at him. Well, feisty was better than scared, even if he was sure it was wholly bravado.
“What jobs I take are my own business.” he narrowed his eyes at her. She stood her ground, and he cracked a smile. Yeah, no wonder Natsu liked her. “Try this one, little chick.” he pulled the flyer for the Ueda hunt off the board and held it out to her. “Should be a piece of cake with your digging spirit.”
Lucy looked down at the paper, eyes flicking over the print far too fast to be actually reading it, then back up at him, this time with a knit of suspicion between her brows. “Why are you being nice to me?”
“We’re guildmates now, why wouldn’t I be?”
Lucy opened her mouth again, but Gajeel didn’t wait for an answer before turning and heading for the exit. “Oi, Mirajane.” he called over his shoulder, holding up the flyer so she could see it from the bar. “Tell Miremarsh I’m on my way.”
Miremarsh was, unfortunately, far enough away that he would have to take the train, but the council mooks who’d been tasked with removing the wreckage of Phantom Lord’s guild hall from Magnolia’s lake had been happy to help him get his stuff back in exchange for helping break up the larger pieces of rubble and he already knew where to get the strongest ginger candies in the city. Between swinging by his flat to pack and stopping to buy some ginger candies, he could be on a train out of town as soon as this afternoon.
---
“Okay, you called me out here.” Gajeel dropped his travel bag with a clatter of metal on stone, and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’ve got a job I have to get to.”
“Job?” one of the Fairy boys he’d pinned up to the big tree in the park scoffed. “The man who destroyed our guild has no right to one of our jobs!”
“If you want work, you could go to any guild for it.” the other guy said, clearly trying to sound menacing. It was almost cute, like a small animal trying to sound big and fierce. “Can’t you tell you’re not wanted here?”
“You guys are fuckin’ petty, aren’t you?” he scoffed. “The guild hall? That’s what you’re pissed about?” he laughed. If they’d been angry about getting the snot kicked out of them, he would’ve gladly taken a rematch, but this was pointless posturing bullshit. They just wanted to soothe their own egos.
“Stop that, Jet! Droy!” the girl- Levy, the one who’d kicked Natsu in the ‘nads her first day as a Fairy- shouted from behind a tree. Wait, was she scared of him? Ugh, Erza would be insufferable if he traumatised one of her tra’viin [flight]. Might as well let Levy’s boys get their posturing done uninterrupted, it wasn’t like they could do any serious damage anyways.
“This is your last chance for smart remarks!’ Jet declared, launching himself forward with a burst of magic. Droy flung a fistful of seeds after him, and Gajeel let each blow knock him back.
“Watch the face, jackasses.” he huffed, pushing himself up off the ground.
“Hey, come on!” Jet scowled down at him. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re a better fighter than that, right?!”
“What’s this?” someone new snapped, drawing Jet and Droy’s attention. “Who’s picking on who here?”
“Laxus?!” Droy looked stunned. Gajeel couldn’t blame him. Even in Phantom Lord, they’d held a grudging respect for Laxus’s Thunder Legion. They were barely Fairies, out of Magnolia more often than they were in it, and Laxus’s power was so great Master Jose had once called him a Wizard Saint in the making.
“I get it. This is the punk who did a number on our guild, right?” Laxus strode closer, Jet and Droy stepping aside to give him room. “Damn old man... Recruiting people just so they don’t attack his guild anymore, huh?” the air went sharp with ozone, tinged with magic and something that set Gajeel’s teeth on edge. “That’s why people are laughing at us! Turds like you!”
The lightning strike was powerful, moreso than Gajeel had expected, and it cut through his defenses like they weren’t even there, searing down his spine and into the ground, ripping a scream from his throat eclipsed by the deafening crack of thunder. “It’s all your fault!” Laxus roared, and a ball of lightning exploded against Gajeel’s chest, punching the air from his lungs and throwing him back again. The little Fairies were talking, but Gajeel couldn’t really hear them over the ringing in his ears. Shit, Laxus was strong.
“You’re the whole reason that everybody thinks we’re weak!” Laxus shouted, burying his boot in Gajeel’s stomach, lightning surging across his skin from the point of impact. “You can apologise by dying! I’m going to kill anybody who opposes Fairy Tail!”
Stars above, if Laxus wasn’t trying to murder him Gajeel might actually like the guy. He was a bit rough around the edges, but he cared strongly enough about the guild that his protective instincts had gone rabid at the perceived threat Gajeel posed.
“Stop it, Laxus! That’s enough!”
Oh good, the other Fairies didn’t actually want him dead.
“Shut up!” Laxus turned, arm coming up, and Gajeel’s body moved on instinct. Laxus fired at the other Fairies, missing Jet and Droy, and Gajeel’s magic responded faster than thought, pouring out of his forearm in a Club that shot forward faster than his misfiring muscles could move his body. The lightning bent away from Levy, and Gajeel gritted his teeth against a scream as it burned down his Club, then his arm, then finally down his side into the ground below. He swayed on his feet, but steadied himself with a grunt. His ears were ringing too loud to make out what anyone was saying, but he could see mouths moving.
“Are you guys finished?” he rasped, dismissing his Club and staggering over to where he’d dropped his bag. At least he’d packed aloe and fresh bandages, hopefully he could patch himself up at the station. “I’ve got work to do.” he bent to grab his bag by the drawstring, and made no move to sling it over his shoulder.
One of the Fairies started to speak as he walked away, he could faintly hear them through the ringing in his ears, but he wasn’t in the mood to stand around chatting. “Leave me alone.” he said sharply, and the Fairy behind him blessedly shut up.