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He's No Negotiator

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Gajeel Redfox knows that he is no reader. In fact, he knows that he would rather clean their entire office than read a paragraph or two. He is the exact opposite of someone else – Levy McGarden.

Upon entering his workplace, Gajeel was welcomed by the sight of his members working on an investigation about the Avatar cult. He no longer needed to scan the entire room. Her scent is undeniable – a bit of grass and vanilla. He followed her scent and immediately noticed the one he was looking for amidst his swarm of members. The blunette was reading something while sitting on her desk. Her eyes were too focused on the little letterings of what seemed to be a magazine. The woman was simply much engrossed over reading that she did not notice the iron dragon slayer enter their premise.

The black-haired dragon slayer caught a faint reflection of his self on one of the glassed windows of their office. Following her after the guild's disbandment was definitely a good call, he thought while admiring himself in a white coat with blue and gold linings. He smirked as he recalled his position – Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit.

He cleared his voice, an attempt to get her attention. Few of his members look his way then turned their heads away upon realization that their captain was only interested on getting a certain member's attention.

The captain approached her desk and then cleared his voice again. Without looking up, Levy simply replied, "I know what you're doing, Gajeel."

"That's Captain Gajeel for you, shrimp." He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair. His gesture earned some curious looks from their colleagues and probably added more fuel to the ever-burning office rumor that they are more than friend. He actually does not mind the rumor as it gives him a sense of security that men in their unit won't dare try to pick up the girl.

Slightly annoyed with the dragon slayer's action, Levy swatted his hand then simply said, "Lily already has the reports and is now reading them somewhere."

Relief rushed in him as he found himself free from something that he does not enjoy doing. The last time he had to read a report, he spent his entire day simply making paper planes. After he had been caught by the solid script mage, he received a massive scolding from her.

She lifted her gaze and whispered with a courteous smile, "I know you don't like reading reports so I delegated the task to someone else."

"Thanks, shrimp," he laughed, "geehee."

Gajeel leaned and tried to peek at what she was reading, their faces closer to each other. It was an interview about the contenders of Grand Magic Games. The solid script mage was able to read his frown and explained before he had even asked, "Luu-chan has written something for Weekly Sorcerer again."

Someone inside the room cleared his throat and Gajeel stood straight and roamed his eyes inside the room. His hands clenched into fists, ready to punch that someone. On the other hand, Levy seemed to be oblivious. The solid script stood and rolled the magazine. She then gave it to the black-haired mage by gently plopping it against his head. "Here, you should read this."

"Not interested," was the only thing he was able to mutter as he took the magazine and placed it on her table. He started to walk towards his office with Levy following him behind.

"I've already delegated the task of reviewing the reports to Lily and plotted the strategy for the following weeks," the blunette told him as they walked past tables occupied by the other members of unit. "I'm also infiltrating the Avatar's church tomorrow."

Gajeel stopped midway. His sense of hearing is remarkable and he heard every word the solid script mage had said. The thought of her going to such mission made his heart race. He felt his jaw stiffened. He then turned his head and asked, "and who told you to do that?"

"I volunteered," Levy answered, her voice remained calm. He faced the woman with arms crossed. "We need inside information. We've been running around circles with our investigation."

"Why not send this guy as your replacement?" Gajeel growled then randomly pointed the member nearest to him. The man trembled in fear and whispered, "why me?"

"Why can't I?" Levy questioned as she crossed her arms as well. Her voice rose a little. Overhearing the beginning of their spite, several heads turned to them. She repeated the question, "why?"

Most of their colleagues watched how the scene unfolded. Gajeel swallowed hard as he racked his brain for a logical reason. It was a difficult – to think of something to make her stay despite him knowing that the woman can definitely accomplish the task. She's an intelligent and capable mage. She was a member of Fairy Tail and a candidate for S-class mage. The council would not even hire them in the first place if it wasn't for her. She only insisted of being a member and recommended him to the council for the captainship. But all he had been able to conjure was "because you're small."

Levy's eyebrow twitched. More annoyed because of his response, she punched the desk near her and replied, "and more reason for me to take the job."

Several people cringed while others whispered to one another. He then tried to use his authority. "Shrimp, you're not the one calling the shots here."

"The higher ups allowed this infiltration, Captain. I'm going to sneak inside their cult and find out more about this Avatar." She reiterated his position title, something that infuriated the hell out of him. He realized that the woman is simply steel hard about her decision and there is no way to change her mind. He sighed in surrender and said, "you'll bring two people with you."

He then randomly pointed out two people in the room, "you and you."

These two men flinched from their seats and nervously stood. Gajeel continued, "you'll accompany her."

These men were about to move closer then halted when Levy raised her hand. "I don't need them. It's better to work alone."

She gestured these men to go back to their seats and they happily obliged. Gajeel gritted his teeth and commanded, "take them."

The assigned men stood again. This time, Levy replied in a raised voice as well, "no."

"Levy," Gajeel said, his voice seemingly like a warning. "Take them."

A resounding "no" came from the solid script mage, her arms still crossed and her eyebrows a little closer to each other.

"One of them," Gajeel negotiated, pointing one of the originally assigned men. The other one sighed out of relief. "Just take one of them."

"No," she answered back. She was resolved to doing the mission alone.

"Fine," he surrendered as he raised both his hands. The woman was difficult to persuade. Then he added, "but our unit will have a camping in Mikage Forest."

The rest of the office groaned as all of them will now camp out instead of doing desk jobs. Gajeel gave them a frown and yelled, "back to work!"

Instantaneously, his members pretend to go back to work. Levy mischievously smiled at him and said, "thanks, Captain."

She stuck her tongue and left the office in a skipping manner. Gajeel pinched the bridge of his nose then turned his head to see his Exceed leaning at the door with a smirk on his face. Slightly angry about what unfolded, he spited, "how long have you been standing there?"

Lily laughed a little and replied, "long enough to witness everything."

"And you didn't help me?" Gajeel asked, somehow felt betrayed by his friend.

Lily then gave a booming laugh and told him, "why should I when I know that you can completely handle the situation, Captain?"

Gajeel heard a whipping sound made by one of his members. The iron dragon slayer's eyes narrowed. He immediately summoned his iron dragon's club and punched the source of the sound. The iron dragon slayer needs no gale force glasses to decipher what just happened. He realized that he was totally wrapped around the shrimp's finger.

FIN

Author: Oh, wow. It has been a long time since I posted something for Gale/Gajevy fans. This flash fiction has been sitting in my writing folders for six months already. Then, I realized yesterday that this flash fiction would sit well with their "all in a day's work" as council members. Thanks for reading and I truly appreciate all the reviews, follows, and favourites. Here's a bonus (the flash fiction prompt of this one-shot):

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Speed Reading

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The iron dragon slayer needs no gale force glasses to decipher Levy's thoughts. Just the pale red tint on her cheeks is enough while his hands are placed on her arms.