Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, iPods, the Road Runner (cartoon), YouTube, or any other brands named in this work.

She eyed the treadmill warily eliciting a hearty laugh from the gym owner.

He settled a hand on her shoulder and merely continued to smile, even as she turned her sour expression on him. "I understand library steps are a bit more your speed, Levy, but you'll do fine on the treadmill." Lily affectionately yanked on her ponytail, the familiar treatment finally brought a smile to her face. "Besides, I'll keep an eye on you just in case."

Levy sighed and hopped up onto the extrusions, planting her feet solidly on either side of the track. She tapped the buttons cautiously, programming the machine for the warm-up, just a slow walk with an added incline that resembled the feel of the 35 steps leading up to Magnolia's library. It was the bunny slope compared to the gym olympian that was five machines down from her and ran at a guesstimated eight miles an hour.

The woman chewed her bottom lip and glanced back to Lily before she stepped down onto the track. "You don't have to. I don't have the money to upgrade my membership to include a trainer and I know you've got your hands full making sure everything else is running smoothly, let alone have the free time to ensure I am."

The dark skinned man snorted, rolling his eyes and pressing the green start button. "Right, at eight o'clock on a Monday night, I'm slammed. Don't know how I'll do it."

She laughed and easily adjusted to the pace set on the treadmill. Levy moved to tighten her ponytail and readjust the thin, lime colored headband holding her wild hair back. "I'll just have to come in at your rush hour and wreak absolute havoc next time."

"I'll keep that in mind." He winked, the skin at the corner of his eye pulling over the old, nasty scar there. It was comical the way it was in polar contrast with his personality.

She'd pay to just stand by the front door and watch people set eyes on him for the first time.

Levy smiled at Lily before she unwound the headphones of her iPod and turned on the playlist she'd made for working out. Mentally, she willed her legs and feet not to betray her- for once. She'd skinned her hands and knees more times than she could count on the way up the library's cement steps and she didn't need to add track burn to her list of fall ups. Natsu had played enough of those ridiculous videos on YouTube to know how it ended for anyone that fell on a treadmill.

With her luck, she'd wind up smacking her face onto the track- trying to explain away that injury and keep her dignity intact would have been nigh on impossible to do.

If it meant she had to work at a slower pace, then by all means, Levy would make like a snail without a hiccup or interrupting Lily's evening.

Levy snuck a look at her friend as he made his way down the aisle, watching for a moment as he struck up a conversation with the Road Runner. She'd known Lily for a few months now, it had been a wonder she hadn't met him beforehand. Magnolia was the textbook definition of a small world, despite being a fairly decent sized town. Everybody knew everybody and the gym owner turned out to be none other than the husband of her mentor from college.

Shagotte had been head of the English Department and made an instant connection with Freshman Levy McGarden four years ago. She had invited Levy over for dinner once she had settled back in town after graduating from Dawn City University, she had been very insistent on the matter. The older woman had been dying to introduce Levy to her husband ever since her and Levy had struck up their friendship. Since the English major didn't have the money to go back and forth between Dawn and Magnolia, the introductions had been put on hold. In a weird way, Levy felt she already knew him from all the stories Shagotte shared with her.

When she did finally meet him, at a small Fourth of July party the couple had hosted, he was nothing like she expected.

Maybe a savvy business man that was lean and sharp, clever in his manners of speech and the perfect gentleman, but she had been utterly taken aback at the man she was introduced to. He dwarfed Shagotte by a solid foot and had an intimidating scar that looked like it never properly healed over of his left eye. After proper introductions and two hours of steady conversation, Levy figured out exactly how Lily managed to sweep the often straight-laced Shagotte right off her feet and why the woman had been so adamant that Levy would love him. He was the polar opposite of Shagotte, but managed to be perfect with her. Levy could count on one hand the times she had been completely wrong and enjoyed being wrong.

Lily was easy to talk to and had coaxed almost her entire life story from her- without being impolite or nosey.

Their conversation had eventually steered toward Lily's profession and how his business was going. He told them how it wasn't easy keeping up a gym that wasn't part of a franchise- even in a local-business-loving town like Magnolia- and before she knew it, she'd been invited to check out the place on her night of choice and free of charge.

Shagotte and Lily had had to do some finagling to get her to agree to the 'free of charge' part. Lily compromised and promised that if his business wasn't doing so well in the future (and if it made her feel better), then she would pay like any first-timer. The cards weren't in favor in the end and she lost the argument of paying her way. He had winked at her and smirked, joking in a satisfied manner that "I could charge you double for the next visit, if it would make you feel better."

She also learned that night that Lily had an exceptional talent for silencing his juniors. She had opened her mouth to retort one last time and he'd served her with a look she hadn't been on the receiving end of in at least ten years.

"Let an old man have some pride, yeah? One free night's not going shut the doors permanently."

One month and a low rate membership later, she was hooked. The workouts helped to calm her, melting away the strain of her day. Not to mention, the routine bath she took the minute she returned home was all the sweeter after slowly getting coated in sweat and residue from the sanitary wipes the gym offered to clean the equipment once someone was done using it.

A wailing guitar yanked her from the reverie, the cheesy 80's pop song pounding against her ear drums nearly had her jumping out of her skin.

Levy fumbled for the iPod, dropping it once in her scramble to turn the volume down, and made a mental note to kick Lucy's ass next time she saw her. It would be the last time her mischievous friend would be allowed near her desktop computer or laptop. She unlocked the device, adjusted the volume, and switched to the next song. She prayed that Lucy had had enough mercy in her not to add anymore songs that would cause her permanent hearing loss and arrhythmia. Levy fixed the music player back in the little case at her hip and focused on finding her running rhythm once more.

She took a deep breath and lost herself to the music.

Just before her surroundings melted away altogether, the front door sounded its usual low beep to announce the arrival of another person. Unphased, she didn't spare a glance toward the front desk; there was close to nil chance that a large group of people would walk in to disrupt the peace and comforting thrum of equipment motors.

She was determined to make headway in her workout schedule, pushing herself just a hair farther than the last time, without interruption.

In her peripherals, she caught an odd flash of black against the pristine white walls and, over the low pulse of a bass line, the mumbled rumble of a 'Hey, Lil''.

Lucy clutched her sides as she doubled over in her chair, garnering several questioning looks from the cafe's patrons. "I can only imagine the look on your face and how high you must have jumped when that song came on."

"Yes, it's hilaaaarious that you nearly gave me a heart attack with your little joke- never mind the fact that I was on dangerous gym equipment." Levy pointed her salad fork in her friend's direction and narrowed her eyes. "You could have warned me, Lu. A simple 'Hey Lev, updated your playlist' would have more than sufficed."

The blonde tilted her sunglasses down and winked at her friend. "Ah, but then, you would have gone through and removed the songs before I got to have any fun. Besides, I'm sure you gave Lily more than just one good laugh."

Levy hummed, her thin brows raising over the brim of her own sunglasses as she took a drink of her tea. "Don't know if he caught it. Someone walked in around the same time, a friend of Lily's no doubt- I heard them call him Lil'- so he was probably more concerned with them rather than watching me almost wipe out on the treadmill."

"A handsome someone?"

The blue haired woman sighed and rolled her eyes up to the bright sun. The outdoor patio of the cafe had few occupants that afternoon and Levy was immensely thankful for it if her dating history was about to be brought up- which always came up during their bi-weekly lunch dates. Thankfully, Lucy asked more in good fun instead of seriously badgering her about the lack of a man at her elbow.

Levy rolled her eyes and smiled. "Don't know. I was there to workout, not ogle."

"A shame really." Lucy shrugged her shoulders and lazily propped her chin in her hand, ignoring the slight glower coming from an older woman; undoubtedly for speaking as frankly as she did and putting her elbow on the table.

Levy stayed her laughter and looked appalled at her friend's words, as if the familiar conversation was new between them. "Lucy, you're married."

"So? Doesn't mean I can't vicariously date through you." Lucy pulled her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose and winked at Levy. "Besides, it's not me I'm in it for."

Levy sighed, her shoulders slumping with the deep exhale. She rubbed her temple and glanced at Lucy pleadingly. "Is it really so bad that I started going to the gym to get in better shape?"

"Of course not! If anything, I commend you for the initiative. But if I know you, and I do, I know you're a brilliant multi-tasker and can also appreciate the scenery." Lucy clicked her tongue and winked coquettishly.

Levy scoffed at the odd compliment. She took a few more bites of her salad, eyeing Lucy warily as the woman innocently sipped from her drink. "What's Natsu think of your schemes and, apparently, wandering eye?" Levy lifted her brow quizzically up at her friend.

"That's the catch, for me- there's no one else, but for you- I will always be on the prowl." Lucy winked once more, then quietly sipped from her tea.

A comfortable silence fell between the pair after that. Levy took the opportunity to play out of the possibilities for Natsu's reaction to his wife's appreciative nature. He'd probably just laugh, say something about him having her wrapped around his little finger, and take the inevitable swing Lucy would make for him with only more laughter. No matter what her friend said, Levy knew the joke to be true on some level, but Natsu would just as equally be wrapped around her friend's finger. Completely taken with the other, there was no way Lucy or Natsu would be capable of having a real wandering eye.

Lucy cleared her throat and met Levy's eye evenly. "All joking aside, Lev, you're not being bothered by anyone while you're there, right? The no-shirt guy got the message? You're comfortable going solo? Because if you aren't, I can tag along and-"

"I'm fine, it's fine, and Lily runs a tight ship. That guy was a one time thing, I put him in his place and then Lily helpfully escorted him back to the lockers to get his car keys and right out the door. I really enjoy it despite the occasional speed bump from guys like him. It gives me the chance to just kind of lose myself for a couple of hours without having to worry about deadlines or holding up pointless conversation-"

"I see." Thin, blonde eyebrows arched high over the brim of red sunglasses.

"-not that our conversation is pointless, you know what I mean, Lu." Levy rolled her eyes as Lucy's bell-like laughter echoed around the patio once more. "Anyways, thanks for the offer, seriously." Levy smiled genuinely at her old friend.

"Good. And don't think anything of it, I could use a little more activity in the evenings anyways." The blonde's big heart would win out against her scheming every time.

Lucy narrowed her eyes on her friend and touched her chin in thought. "Although, if I was there, I could make sure you didn't miss any nice ones."

Even if that big heart didn't win out for very long.

"You're incorrigible. And the last time you so thoughtfully 'made sure I didn't miss a nice one', I ended up with a bruise on my ribcage."

Lucy waved her hand and scoffed, "Minor casualties of war." She placed both of her elbows on the table and daintily rested her chin over her interlaced fingers. "So, did he at least sound handsome?"

"Lucy."

circuits: one completion of all prescribed exercises and when one circuit is complete, the first exercise is started again for the next circuit. Traditionally, the time between exercises in circuit training is short, often with rapid movement to the next exercise.

extrusions: side parts of a treadmill you step on and off of.

A/N: I decided to get a move on and just post this. I've got a multi-chapter project I really wanted to work on and refused to even start that before this one even got off the ground and onto the interwebs. The chapters will stay relatively short, at the max 3k words, and maybe 5 chapters long.