Omake

The silence in the room was thick and oppressive, save for the occasional dry flip as Levy turned a page. Finally fed up after an hour of rolling about on the bed trying to get Levy to notice him, Gajeel yoinked the book straight out of her hands and threw it clear across the room, hauling her close to him instead.

"Gajeel!" She protested, shoving at his chest and fighting to try and retrieve her book.

"Forget the book," he muttered, nuzzling her neck slowly, lips drifting up to her ear. "I'd prefer you as my present any day."

Her mouth fell open as his teeth ghosted across the sensitive skin along the curve of her ear, and she broke into goosebumps, stilling in his grasp and tilting her head for him as her eyes slid half-closed. Then she caught herself sharply.

"No, Gajeel! Not that!" She shrieked, pushing his face roughly away. Gajeel's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He hadn't been expecting such intense resistance after her enthusiastic kiss earlier.

"Oi, oi, what's the problem, Shorty?"

Levy brought both hands to her face to hide her ferocious blush. "It…It's just…Lucy was saying horrible things about stuff and..." Her voice trailed off into unintelligible muttering and Gajeel cocked one eye at her.

"What?" He asked blankly.

"W-well…Lucy was saying earlier to…to dress up in only a bow and…and doing naughty things under the blanket and now – eep!" Levy barely had time to squeak as Gajeel yanked her close, pulling her firmly onto his lap before tugging the blanket firmly shut around the both of them. He gave her a sharkish grin, holding her close.

"Maybe you should listen to her more often. She comes up with some pretty good ideas," he said, and kissed her quickly before she could say anything.

Levy, face flaming, continued to mumble incoherently into the kiss, until finally Gajeel cupped the nape of her neck with one hand, tilting her head to him and kissing her silent for good. When he finally let her go to breathe, Levy could only gasp and think dizzily that yes, Lucy did come up with some amazing ideas, and of several more ideas for under-blanket naughtiness.

In the week following the Christmas party, most Fairy Tail activities passed in a haze of drunken partying leading up to the New Year before finally dying off as mages nursed their weeklong hangovers. Only one person was up and about, carrying on her normal day to day activities with gleeful abandon.

Cana sat in her normal seat by the bar, cheerily knocking back the contents of her second barrel of the day. Wiping her mouth with a refreshed sigh, she turned brightly to Macao, who was slumped in a moaning heap on the table next to her and patted his back heartily.

"Cheer up, Macao! Don't be such a drag, here, have some beer!" She offered her barrel to him, and he instantly turned his head the other way, going green at the mere mention of more alcohol.

"Unghh…Cana, how are you even doing that?" He groaned.

Cana shrugged cheerfully and patted her bulging purse.

"Well, you know! Money makes a girl's heart happy, and when I'm happy, I drink!" She laughed uproariously and took a huge swig from her barrel. Macao flipped his head back to her and considered her fat wallet appraisingly.

"Hey, Cana, how did you manage to get that much dough? It's not like anyone's been going on missions with all the partying going on."

Cana grinned. "Oh, that's easy, see." She started counting off on her fingers.

"I won 200k in jewel from the bet I made on how long the Christmas tree would last, and then another 100k bonus for predicting exactly how it happened. I got another 100k each from Gray, Erza and Levy for betting against me when I said that Natsu would kiss Lucy on New Year's Day. Then I got 100k each from Alzack and Bisca when they bet against me about how Gray and Juvia would kiss on New Year's, but they didn't know that I got 100k each on the sly from Gray and Juvia for betting against them to kiss on New Year's, but that happened too!

Also, I had a long-running bet with Wakaba and Reedus about the color of Evergreen's lingerie, so when she started stripping during the New Year's party and I was right about her scarlet panties, I got to collect 300k from both of them! Then, I had a side bet with Gajeel and Lucy about how many shots Levy could take at one time, and Gajeel said three and Lucy said five, but I was right, since Levy was out like a light after her first shot! Man, I knew that girl was a lightweight, but I wasn't expecting to win that one! Still, that was another 200k each from those two!

So here I am, 2 million jewel up! Oh my! Gambling makes a girl's heart so happy!"

She gave a huge sigh of content, eyes sparkling. Macao's eye twitched and he lowered his head to the table.

"I'm so glad that I didn't ever bet against you," he muttered thankfully.

She winked and chugged deeply from her barrel before agreeing with him.

"H-how did you even manage to collect?" He asked incredulously, thinking of all the tight-fisted mages. Cana shrugged easily.

"I just took advantage of their drunken state and shook them until they paid up! Plus, this is only the beginning. I've got a running bet with Mirajane" – she pointed to where the white-haired bartender was sitting with her head buried in her arms – "about some of the hookups that are gonna happen after what she and Fried did with the mistletoe."

She winked roguishly. "Personally, my money is on that Gajeel and our cute little Levy-chan. I bet she's not as innocent as she looks!"

Macao shook his head in disbelief. "You really are something, you know that?"

Cana smiled unrepentantly at him with a coy "Yes," before turning her attention back to her alcohol.

Macao considered her for a second before leaning close to whisper "Oi, put 100k for me on Gajeel and Levy too, okay? I want in on some of these winnings!"

Cana pushed his face away playfully. "Of course you do. I'll do that, but right now you should probably focus on explaining to your girlfriend where you've been for the past week."

Macao made a dismissive gesture before resting his head back on the table and closing his eyes.

"Eh. She'll understand. I'd rather be here sleeping off my alcohol than back home with her yammering to wake me."

Cana nodded, a brief flare of happiness going off in her chest, which she instantly drowned with another long drink.

"Ey, Cana! Aren't you forgettin' somethin' baby?"

A loud, rude voice cut into her guzzling and she raised her head to see Bixlow and Fried making their wobbly way over to her table. Bixlow's dolls floated behind him, giggling at his inability to walk straight and dipping and bobbing to imitate his movements. All five of them were wearing the metal helmets that Erza had commissioned for Bixlow as his Secret Santa present.

The duo finally managed to sit down at the table, and with deep, matching sighs, they were silent for a moment to rest their spinning heads. Fried didn't even move from his face-down position on the table, his hair sprawled in messy green tendrils around his face. Finally, Bixlow sat up and jabbed a finger in Cana's general direction, grinning hugely under his half-mask.

"Hehe, it's time to pay up, Cana. 300k per for me and Fried."

"What?" Cana asked suspiciously, clutching her overflowing wallet close.

"Remember our bet with you and Titania about that Elfman and Ever?"

Cana nodded slowly, and Mirajane's ears perked up and she lifted her head blearily as she heard her little brother's name.

"Well, we just won, baby! Caught them makin' out somethin' awful behind the Guild Hall. They were so into it that they didn't even notice us!"

Bixlow guffawed at the memory, and Fried gave a forlorn groan. He really hadn't needed to see that much exposed skin from either of the two involved, what with his mind unable to comprehend simple things like walking. And breathing. Bixlow had had to carry him away because his brain had shut down on the spot and left him staring, dumbfounded, forced to watch as his usually-composed, reliable teammate stripped off Elfman's pants with reckless abandon. He wanted to claw his eyes out, but all he could settle for past the tribal pounding of his alcohol-induced migraine was another pitiful groan.

Cana and Mirajane jumped to their feet at the same time, excitement blazing in Cana's eyes while horror reflected endlessly in Mira's.

"Are they still there?" She asked eagerly.

Bixlow nodded and Cana tore off towards the back of the Guild Hall, quickly followed by Mirajane, who was murmuring "No! No, please don't let it happen!" Their footsteps clicked rapidly away, leaving the Hall silent again, save for the groaning of hungover mages.

Bixlow and Fried stayed where they were, and Macao raised a hand cautiously in greeting. Then the still air was rent with horrified shrieks (Mirajane and Evergreen) and uproarious guffaws (Cana). Elfman's mortified sobbing was lost under the high-pitched screaming.

Bixlow chuckled, and as one, his dolls nodded with an enthusiastic "Yeah!"

Fried held up one feeble hand, and Bixlow attempted to high-five it. Since he couldn't see straight, he had to try three times before succeeding. With a chuckle, he slumped onto the table next to his teammate.

"Looks like it's time to collect from Titania then, eh babies?"

His dolls zoomed enthusiastically through the air with little cries of "Titania!" and "Erza!" and Bixlow grinned.

"You really like your new hats a lot, huh babies?"

The totems giggled and nodded, chorusing their agreement. Bixlow turned his head on the table to look at Erza, who was passed out blissfully on the floor, wearing nothing but the "Happy New Year!" banner that had drifted down from the destroyed second-story banister at the end of the party.

With a groan, he rested his forehead back onto the table. "We'll get it from her tomorrow, babies. Let's just sleep for now."

The dolls nodded and settled into a line in front of the two sleeping Raijinshuu on the table. Macao edged away from them and decided to lounge on the floor next to Wakaba, who was sitting in an undignified faceplant position at the table, snoring and drooling out of the side of his mouth. With a chuckle, Macao crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes to get some sleep.

What a year!

A/N - Finished! Thanks for sticking with me and I'm so glad that people liked it as much as I did!

Anyhow, if you're looking for more Gajeel/Levy, my newest installment of standalone stories for them is up - Ironbound Paperbacks. It should be updated at a pretty quick rate, so feel free to check it out if you're interested!