Lillie never used to play before we got Toni. There was a lot of stuff she never did before Toni did it.

Migraines

Relationships: Dylan O’Brien x OFC

Warnings: Mentions of chronic illness (?)

Word Count : 5,010

Author’s Note: Hey y’all this is something kind of small and kind of cute I cranked out. I deal with chronic migraines and honestly 100% self indulged with this but it has tons of soft Dylan in it!! I kind of hoped to shine some light on what it’s like dealing with chronic migraines with it, mainly because that’s why I’ve been MIA the past week. It’s pretty hard to write when you can only see out of one eye lol. 

“Sometimes I just really wonder why I subject myself to this,” Lillian mumbled while she laid down on the ground in the middle of the Beacon Hills Memorial hospital set that they happened to be filming in on that day. “Or at least I mean, why I decide to just let my headaches go when I wake up some mornings,” she cracked an eye open to see Dylan standing above her. 

He held a hand out to her and she took it, pushing herself off the ground and closing her eyes once she stood flat so she hopefully wouldn’t notice the room spinning. “I would ask if you wanted anything but I know the answer already,” Lillian fell into step next to him while they got to where they needed to be for the next scene. “If you want to take a break I'm sure you could ask and-”

“I’m fine,” Lillian shook her head and closed her right eye that she currently couldn’t really see out of. She saw Dylan give her a knowing look and shook her head, “I’m seriously fine Dyl. I’m just going to grab some painkillers and coffee on lunch and I’ll be fine for the rest of the day after that.” She quickly pulled away from Dylan and walked over to where Holland and Crystal stood getting ready to film themselves. 

Dylan stood off to the side of the set with Tyler Posey, watching the girls film a scene together. Lillian laid in the hospital bed with her eyes closed, the prop heart monitor beeping steadily behind them while their director spoke. “Something is up with Lilly today,” Tyler mumbled while watching the way her forehead was wrinkled in discomfort when her eyes opened. 

“She has a migraine,” Dylan mumbled watching the girls again when quiet got called on the set. He saw Lillian close her eyes again while she waited for Holland and Crystal to finish their lines for the scene, everyone on set knowing they were going to lunch once their director felt happy with how the scene came out. “And I told her they would call the day early if she said something but she refuses to believe it,” he rolled his eyes. 

Tyler crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, “maybe she just needs lunch to unwind, clear her head,” he watched how Dylan looked on to set with concern. Tyler knew his friend cared deeply about their new cast member, from the dad Lillian had stepped onto the set Dylan and her had clicked. Lillian had grown up in     New York, allowing her and Dylan to quickly fall into conversation about their shared interest in some of the state’s sports teams. She had seen Dylan wearing his Mets cap the first time they met and offered him a smirk mumbling something about, “imagine being a Yankees fan,” before introducing herself to the rest of the cast. 

“I might just stick back here,” Dylan leaned closer to Tyler to speak so he wouldn’t interrupt filming at all, “just to make sure she’s fine,” he ran a hand through his messy hair. Tyler looked up to his friend and just nodded, not wanting to push the issue of where Dylan’s feelings for their friend currently were at the moment. 

When Lillian had moved to Los Angeles, fresh out of college, to join the cast of Teen Wolf for its third season, it quickly became clear that she wasn’t completely comfortable in the new environment. Her audition for the show had been a ‘joke’ of sorts originally and even getting a call back for the part had surprised her.

Lillian had planned on sticking back on her college’s campus for their fall break to attend a tournament for the college’s Ultimate Frisbee team she had played on. Due to weather concerns the tournament had gotten cancelled and with her parents also planning on going on vacation that week, there had been no point in her returning home. A few of her friends who happened  to be acting and theater majors, had planned on taking a trip out to LA that weekend for shits and giggles, to see if they could audition for a couple jobs after they graduated college, just to see if they had any shot at getting the parts.

They had convinced Lillian to walk into an audition with zero acting experience to raise their chances, even if would just raise them a minimal amount, it was still something. Upon walking into the audition, Lillian learned that she would be auditioning for a high school student who wanted to be any place other than high school. Something she related to on a personal level. She must have played the part pretty well because a week later on her way to practice she got the call that the producers wanted her to fly out to LA for the final round of auditions. 

After lengthy discussions with her advisors and parents the days following the call, she knew that she would be graduating a year early, and would have plenty of time to get out to LA before filming started. Armed with that knowledge and the fact that she would have to drop her dreams of attending law school if she did get the part, Lillian flew out to LA for the final audition for a role on the MTV series Teen Wolf. 

Two weeks after graduating from a tiny, central Pennsylvania University with a degree in Economics and Legal Studies, Lillian found herself moving out to Los Angeles to start a career as an actress. She had been able to rent a small house outside of Los Angeles with the help of her parents and moved herself and her dog out there in record timing. Her first day on set she had shown up in a pair of ripped jeans and a long sleeve from her college and felt grossly underdressed and unattractive when she had been introduced to the rest of the cast at the table read. 

“You must be Lillian,” A red headed young woman walked up to Lilly with a warm smile and offered her a hug. “I’m Holland.”

“You can just call my Lilly,” she offered a warm smile in return, tucking her keys into her jeans pocket and holding the binder with her first script in it tightly to her chest. 

Holland nodded and started to lead Lillian into a building, “Jeff told us not to overwhelm you, and we really didn’t trust any of the boys not to do that,” she laughed lightly turning down a long hallway. “We really are one big family though, I’d say this is the best way to ease into your first job.”

“I honestly never expected to wind up here,” Lillian laughed while she and Holland reached a door labeled ‘Teen Wolf’ within the studio. “I’m fresh out of college on an Economics and Pre-Law degree, before I auditioned I’d say acting was the last thing on my mind when it came to a career,” she shrugged. 

Holland looked into the small glass window of the room before speaking, “you’d get along great with Dylan then,” she stated, “Teen Wolf was his first job too! If you’re comfortable enough everyone else is in here, and the boys are quite eager to meet you if I’m honest. They love seeing new people on set.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Lilly shrugged while Holland pushed the door open, the room opening up to a bunch of tables in a large rectangle, the remainder of the cast, the show’s writer and some producers sitting around the table also. All the heads in the room turned to face them and Lilly watched as some of the members of the cast pushed their way out of their seats to introduce themselves. 

“I’m Crystal,” one of the other girls introduced themselves first out of the group. “That’s Tyler and Tyler,” she pointed to two of the younger guys who were standing up. “Daniel, Gage, and Dylan,” she introduced everyone who was standing. “I’m sure the adults are able to introduce themselves,” she laughed. Lillian saw the adults all talking amongst themselves, most likely not wanting to overwhelm her more than she already was.

“And you know me already,” Jeff Davis, the writer for the show, stood up to shake Lillian’s hand. “I’m sure you’ll be a more than amazing addition to the show.” He returned to his seat and started talking with the other adults, giving the younger actors time to properly introduce themselves. 

“Jeff said you were from New York,” one of the Tyler’s spoke up. “That’s pretty cool,”

“Not like the city,” Lillian laughed, “the island though yeah, I lived there until I went to college,” she offered the information. “And at least he’s not a Yankees fan,” she nodded towards the hat that Dylan was wearing. “How’re you a Mets fan?”

Dylan smiled and stepped more into the group, “I lived in Jersey a good chunk of my childhood,” he laughed. “You know how Mets fans raise their kids,” he just shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. 

From that first day on set onwards, Dylan had taken Lillian under his wing and showed her the ropes of being an actress. With Teen Wolf also having been his first acting job, he found a sort of kinship with Lillian that allowed the two to feel comfortable around each other. They shared experiences the others didn't really have in common with them. They had grown close together through filming, and with Lillian’s character taking a liking to Stiles they were both glad they had natural chemistry. On set they were never really far from each other, and some of their castmates had placed bets on when the pair would finally realize the feelings they had for each other.

“What does she think, Jeff’s going to kick her off the show if she takes a break?” Tyler asked Dylan while they watched Lillian rub at her temples between takes. “Because she really isn’t looking fantastic right now at all.”

Dylan let out a long sigh and shrugged, “I’m really not sure, man. You know how hard she is on herself though, so she won’t even tell you how bad it really is.” Once the director called for lunch break, Lillian sat up slowly in the hospital bed, swinging her legs over the end and pulling on her hair at the roots. She said something to Holland and Crystal who gave her sad smiles before nodding and walking over to Tyler and Dylan. 

“What’s Lilly not coming to lunch?” Tyler asked the two girls, glancing at Dylan out of the corner of his eye. 

Crystal shook her head, “she said she wants to just run through lines for the rest of the day. She said she had food in her trailer, plus she brought Bear with her today,” Crystal pointed out that Lillian had brought her corgi to set for the day and both of the boys turned to look at each other. “Oh you two see Bear plenty, give her a little space during lunch.”

Dylan watched Lillian talk to a few of the producers that were on the set that day, nodding along to what they were saying while she chewed on her bottom lip. Jeff walked over and said something that made her smile, giving a shallow nod to the writer before she walked off in the direction of her trailer, shuffling her feet while she went. “I’m going to stay behind too,” Dylan mumbled, taking off the flannel he had been wearing for Stiles’ outfit that day. 

Holland turned to give Tyler a knowing look and he just shrugged, not sure what to tell her. “Dylan, you know how she needs her space sometimes,” Holland pointed out. 

“It’s fine, I’m just going to check on her,” he waved the others off while he also started in the direction of the trailers. 

Opening her trailer door, Lillian peeled off the clothes she had been wearing on set and dropped them on to the table in the trailer. She grabbed the hoodie she had worn on to set that day, one Dylan had left at her house the week before and a pair of Nike shorts. She bent down to pet Bear who laid half awake on the couch in the room, his stuffed hedgehog under his chin. With a yawn Bear pushed himself up on to his short legs and stretched, going to sniff at his food bowl.

“Oh you’re starving,” Lillian laughed, opening the door to the cabinet where she kept his food, her head pounding while she leaned down. “Here ya go,” she filled his food bowl up and cracked open a fresh water bottle to fill up his bowl before plugging in her coffee maker and starting a fresh pot brewing. She had learned early on in her migraine endeavors that, unlike most people, caffeine fixed her headaches rather than giving her one. 

Grabbing a blanket she had folded on the table she quickly unfolded it and sat down on the couch, draping it over herself and closing her eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in her head. She wished that her coffee would brew faster so she could gain back some of her will to continue filming for the rest of the day after lunch. She knew that her and the rest of the cast had planned to go out to lunch that afternoon but couldn't bring herself to go sit in a loud restaurant for two hours with how quickly her migraine had taken its grip. Letting out a long sigh she felt Bear jump up in her lap and rested a hand on his back, running her fingers through his fur. 

Lillian had gotten Bear her senior year of high school, he’s a trained migraine alert dog and accurately alerted her to most of her oncoming migraines for the entire time she had him. He had alerted her of her current one the day before, but she had hoped it would have held off until after work that day. With her head tilted back and eyes closed Lillian continued to run her fingers through the dog’s fur, his chest rising and falling steadily under her hand. 

A few minutes later, while the coffee started to sputter out the last bits of coffee, a quiet knock rapped on her door and bear let out a sleep growl. Lillian just laughed lightly before saying ‘come in’ as loud as she could. Her head pounding when she did so, a quiet groan falling from her lips. The door opened and Lillian saw Dylan standing on the other side. He was dressed in a pair of sweats and a black tee shirt, his hair messy on his head and his phone in hand.

“He do his job like he’s supposed to?” Dylan asked Lillian motioning towards Bear who had decided to go back to sleep on Lillian’s lap. 

She nodded, “he did,” she knew Dylan wouldn’t be happy with her, now knowing the fact that she had an oncoming migraine she had told no one about until it hit. “I knew too,” she just shrugged while Dylan closed her trailer door behind him. She heard the coffee machine beep, signaling it had finished brewing and Lillian let out a quiet ‘yes’, going to move Bear so she could make a cup.

“I got it,” Dylan told her, walking over to the fridge and pulling out the milk and vanilla creamer she had in it. “Do you care if I take a cup?” He turned to face Lillian while he pulled down the sugar from where she kept it. 

Lillian shook her head slightly, “be my guest,” she told him. Dylan busied himself making the mugs of coffee, sliding Lilly’s carefully to her before making his own. 

“That’s the sweatshirt I left at your house last weekend,” he nodded to the hoodie she had on, “looks good on you,” he gave a small smile, sitting down on the end of the couch. Lillian shrugged in response, holding her mug between both hands and taking a sip of the warm liquid. 

She set the mug down again before speaking, “you left it, and it’s comfy. I’ll give it back later.” she closed her eyes while Bear got off her lap, moving to lay on his bed that currently had rays of sun pouring over it. 

“I wasn’t missing it all that much,” Dylan shrugged, taking a sip of his own drink. He turned to face Lillian, a serious look on his face. “Why don’t you ever say anything, especially when Jeff tells you to let him know?” He asked quietly. 

Lillian just let out a long sigh, opting to focus on her coffee mug instead of answering right away. “Can we talk about it when I can see out of both of my eyes again and can remember more than just my name and where I am?” she let out a small laugh. “I honestly was just planning on taking a nap after I downed a few mugs of coffee,” she added. 

Dylan watched as she started to rub her temples, her eyes closing while she did so. “I can go if you want,” he pointed towards her door. 

“No it’s fine, you’re here now and I'm awake we can just watch a movie or something if you want to,” she spoke softly, not opening her eyes at all in the process. 

“Lilly-”

“Dylan just, stop worrying,” she let out a long sigh. “Pick a movie and we can just hang out, you really shouldn’t have hung back,” she left the, ‘but I’m glad you did’, out. Lillian had a small crush on her castmate since the first day she had stepped on to set. His sense of humor and off the walls energy just appealed to her. Not to mention he always seemed incredibly sweet and cared about those around him in a way not many people could. The pair had bonded over their shared interest in many of the same sports team and one of them would usually host dinner and some friends on nights of games. 

He had also been the one to pick up on her migraine triggers first. He tried to avoid ordering food with too much garlic if he would be hosting the games, and he also knew if he planned on getting Chinese he could only order from a couple of places in the LA area. He knew that days on set where there would be flashing or bright lights and a lot of loud noise would also trigger her migraines sometimes. 

Off set, Dylan had learned to pay careful attention to Bear and could often notice when the dog was signaling to Lillian that she would have an oncoming migraine within the next day. “We don’t have to watch a movie,” Dylan shrugged and set his now empty mug next to Lillian’s. “You know I share your love for naps,” He laughed lightly kicking his shoes off and stretching out across her couch. “Give me a pillow and if you come lay up here I can rub your head,” he offered. 

Lillian pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, thinking the offer over. She knew that it would help her, and Dylan had done it before for her, but she didn’t want to get too cozy with him. Especially with her feelings growing stronger and stronger in the past weeks. “You don’t mind?” she asked quietly. 

“No I don’t mind,” Dylan shook his head with a small smile. Now give me a pillow and come share your blanket!” Lillian reached underneath her couch to grab one of the pillows she kept in her trailer and handed it to Dylan who adjusted it on the arm of the couch so he could comfortably lay on it. He sunk further into the couch, hanging his legs over the end, before opening his arms so Lilly could tuck into his side. 

Carefully shuffling around on the small couch, Lillian laid her head on Dylan’s chest and tucked in as close to him as possible so she could make sure she wouldn’t fall off the end. Pulling her blanket around both of them, Dylan wrapped his free arm around her back and the other started to gently rub at her left temple. “I don’t know how you balance everything,” he mumbled quietly, watching Lilly’s eyes close. 

“I’ve been doing it since like middle school,” she replied, yawning at the end. “You get used to it, trust me.”

Dylan moved his hand so it carded through her hair a few times before rubbing where the back of her skull met her neck, “but still,” he sighed. “I just feel bad is all,” he wasn’t quite sure what to say.

“Well you’re helping right now, so don’t feel bad,” Lillian snuggled more into his side. Her right hand resting on his chest. “Seriously this is more than I can ask for. At home I’ll sleep on a heating pad to try and help a little bit. Having an actual person is more than enough,” he words started to bleed together while she started to drift off. 

Dylan let out a small laugh, his chest vibrating against Lillian’s hand and cheek when he did so. He let his own eyes close while he moved his hand again, his thumb gently rubbing up and down the bridge of Lilly’s nose. He remembered her mentioning it the first time he had found them in this position. She had said her mom would do it when she had been younger and couldn’t sleep at night from her migraines. 

Opening his eyes when he felt Lilly’s breathing even out completely, he noticed her facial features had relaxed significantly, her brow no longer stuck in a tight crease. Her lips weren’t turned into a frown anymore and her nose no longer scrunched up in discomfort. He continued to rub her temples and up and down the bridge of her nose until Bear decided to use the steps to get up on the sofa to crawl into his lap and go back to sleep himself. 

��God,” Dylan breathed out slowly, letting his hand come to rest on Lillian’s hip once he knew she was actually asleep. “I am fucked,” he closed his eyes and decided to make use of the break to catch up on sleep himself.

✧༝┉┉┉┉┉˚*❋ ❋ ❋*˚┉┉┉┉┉༝✧

“Where are Dylan and Lillian?” Jeff approached the group of young actors when they had returned to set from their lunch break. “I’ve been texting and calling both of them and they haven't answered.” He looked around the group for an answer.

“Uhh-” Tyler Posey trailed off. “I know Dylan stayed behind to check on Lilly earlier, he said she had a migraine starting earlier and didn’t really want to tell anyone.” Jeff looked around the group, waiting to see if anyone else had an answer for him as to where the two could be.

Holland grabbed Tyler’s arm and nodded to him, “we’ll go see if we can find them,” she told Jeff with a small smile. The pair started in the direction of the cast’s trailers and Holland let out a long sigh. “This is why she's supposed to mention these things, no one wants her hurt or sick.” She spoke with genuine concern for her friend. 

“She told Dylan,” Tyler shrugged while they walked up the lines of trailers until they saw Lilly’s. “I mean, it’s something,” he added.

Holland just nodded and looked at Tyler. “Yeah, she likes him and he likes her, they’re happily oblivious to it though.” Holland approached Lilly’s trailer and looked in the window. She turned around to face Tyler with a smirk and nodded towards the window. 

Tyler approached the window and pushed himself up on his toes so he could see in. He noticed the pair curled up on Lilly’s couch together, asleep, and Lilly’s dog curled up on Dylan’s lap. “I bet they're both still pinning though,” He laughed quietly. “Should we see if the door’s open?” He asked Holland.

“Probably,” she walked up the stairs to the trailer and pushed on the door that swung open. Bear lifted his head to watch the pair, but didn’t make any noise. He knew the two and also knew they would often supply him with treats if he behaved. She watched Tyler take out his phone and take a picture of them before tucking it back into his pocket.

“For safekeeping,” he laughed while Holland approached the pair. She reached out and shook Dylan’s left shoulder, trying to carefully wake him up. He let out a quiet groan and opened his eyes, blinking sleepily at the room around him. When his eyes came into focus he noticed Holland and Tyler standing in the middle of the trailer, knowing smirks on their faces. 

Dylan cleared his throat before speaking, “she had a headache, I just offered to help,” his voice slightly scratchy from sleep. 

“And you are both absolutely oblivious to the mutual feelings between each other apparently,” Holland rolled her eyes. “You’re both supposed to be on set, but I’m sure Jeff wouldn’t mind wrapping early if he understood her situation.” Dylan looked down to where Lilly still laid passed out on his chest. 

Dylan sighed, “might be best for the day, I know earlier she wasn’t really able to see out of her one eye. Probably not the safest thing on set.” He watched Lilly turn her face further into his chest and started rubbing her temple again. 

“Yeah, man,” Tyler gave him a small smile. “We’ll go talk to Jeff and you see how she’s feeling.” He turned to leave the trailer, Holland hanging around a few seconds longer. 

“Trust me Dyl,” she let out a quiet sigh, “just tell her, I know you won’t be disappointed,” and with that she turned to follow Tyler. 

Dylan closed his eyes for a second before opening the again, lightly wrapping his hand around Lilly’s shoulder and shaking her. “Lills,” he hummed, “you gotta wake up,” he said. Lilly groaned and he watched her peel her eyes open, blinking at the light filling up the trailer and tucking her face into Dylan’s chest again. 

“I know,” he rubber her shoulder, “you still feel shitty, but Holland and Tyler are going to see if Jeff can end the day early-”

“Nope,” Lillian sat up quickly, groaning when she did. Her head still pounded and she wanted to go back to sleep, but she had a job to get done. “I just need to change and-”

“You need to lay back down,” Dylan grabbed her arm and pulled her back into his chest. “I care too much about you to keep letting you do this to yourself,” he added. Lilly just closed her eyes, trying to will her nausea to go away, not wanting to throw up in front of Dylan, of all people. She felt a few tears of pain and frustration slip out of the corners of her eyes and gave up, sinking back into Dylan’s warm embrace. 

“This fucking sucks,” she sniffled while Dylan’s thumb started rubbing up and down the bridge of her nose again. “I can’t just not work because I have a headache, everyone gets headaches, I just need a few minutes to get rid of the queasiness,” she mumbled. 

Dylan shushed her and used his thumb to wipe away the tears that slipped out of her eyes. “You need to rest more, Lills,” he started rubbing her back with his other hand. “Tyler and Holland are going to come tell me we can leave early and then I’ll drive you and your furry friend here home.” He looked down to Bear who had fallen asleep again.

“I don’t-” Lillian squeezed her eyes shut tighter, “I don’t want to be home alone,” she spoke quietly. “It’ll just last longer and then I won’t sleep and I’ll still have it tomorrow and-”

“I’ll stay,” he cut her off, “as long as it’s okay with you.”

“Dylan you don’t-”

“I want to, Lilly,” he looked down at her, her eyes finally open again. “I care about you,” he took in a shaky breath. “A lot, and I won’t leave you alone like this,” he continued to play with your hair. “I want to help you take care of this,” he leaned in and pressed his lips to her forehead. “So please just, let me take care of you for once.”

“I-” Lillian trailed off, looking up at Dylan who watched her closely. “I don’t want to tie you down with this, you don’t deserve to deal with this,” she shook her head. 

Dylan hummed in response and shook his head ‘no’, rubbing her temple again with his pointer and middle fingers. “I like this though,” he smiled lightly, “you’re warm and comfortable, Bear is asleep in my lap,” he shrugged, “I’m quite happy where I am.” He watched Lilly look at him, her face stuck in a state of disbelief. 

Just when Lilly went to speak again, Tyler, Crystal and Holland appeared in the trailer door. “Jeff said we can stop for the day, it was all just going to be getting a head start anyway,” Tyler said. 

“See,” Dylan looked down at Lilly, “thanks guys!” he addressed the others. They all gave Dylan knowing smiles before telling Lilly to feel better and leaving the pair alone again. “Now, let’s get you two home and order something to eat that won’t bother your head more.” 

Lillian sat up slowly, a small smile on her face while she pet Bear who yawned and opened his eyes also. “As long as you promise to snuggle more,” she pouted at Dylan. 

“I promise to snuggle more,” he laughed sliding off the couch. “Now let’s go.”

Learn to Fly - A Fairy Tail Fic Ch. 9

Summary: The world is split into two realms - the mortal and the spirit. In this world, demons attack humans and the winged protect them. When Levy gets shoved headfirst into the spirit realm, she will have to adjust her whole way of living and learn to deal with a moody dragon winged Gajeel. AU vaguely based on the manga plot.

Rated: T

Chapter 9

Once again sleep evaded Levy, no horror stories to blame this time around. No. Her restlessness came from a curious pair sat on her roof. She had been trying to keep an ear out, both eager and terrified to hear the sounds of battle – vicious demons colliding with her two protectors. She had only seen snippets of their abilities, Lilly able to shape shift and Gajeel able to change his limbs into iron poles; both dangerous and curious in their own right. But what if someone more dangerous came along? What if they got hurt? It would be all her fault! The train of thought was now on a runaway track as Levy leapt out of bed to the window searching for any clue that they would be safe.

The sky’s darkness was her only answer, eyes too weak to see anything past the street lights and ears only picking up the calming silence of the roads below. Not about to give up, she undid the window latches and pushed it open – dirt clinged to her palms, enough evidence alone that she really should dust more. Forgoing her less than perfect window maintenance, Levy lent out of the window, the wind bit her skin as the pages of her open books fluttered to life by the apparent breeze hidden in the night. Again she scanned the horizon; the pane of glass had done nothing to hide the outside from her bar the cold. Levy knew she should just go to bed, curl up in a blanket burrito and just let herself drift off. Instead she whispered into the wind “Gajeel!” No answer. Again and again she called increasing volume hoping for the man to make himself known. Patiently she waited, when only silence replied she decided he wasn’t about to answer her calls; defeated Levy turned back to her room.

However just before she moved from the window the faint sound of wing beats came, and there, hovering a foot away from her window was the iron dragon slayer, with a somewhat pissed look in his eyes. Levy felt a rush of excitement which rapidly degraded into questioning; why she had called the man? The look in his eyes suggested he wasn’t a fan of being repeatedly shouted for in the middle of the night, and honestly it did nothing to better the bluenette’s mood, restless as she was. So, rather than greeting the man and thanking him for answering like she should of, she gave an equally annoyed glare back, cheeks puffed and all.

Gajeel, confused as to why the woman in front of him had not so subtly called him down, just to give him evils grunted. “Wha’d’ya want shrimp?” His voice was rough trying to sound harsher than it truly was. He saw Levy flash panic and appear to be lost for words, getting more annoyed by the second, he raise a studded brow in her direction as a follow-up question.

“I-er-well; how’s it going?!” The words projected from her mouth in verbal vomit. It lingered in the space between them making it increasingly uncomfortable for the pair. Gajeel’s face portrayed disgust at the mere thought of such small talk, while Levy flushed crimson at her social ineptitude. Frantic for a remedy for the situation, she tried to speak again.

However Gajeel pounced before she could. “I know you didn’t call me ‘ere for that. I am not a dog shrimp, or someone who enjoys little chats.”  

Levy flinched at his tone, it was clear she had misunderstood the man – from their previous conversations she knew that he was hardened, jaded by his past perhaps. But she had been almost certain that he wasn’t the emotionless demon he tried to portray, she saw deeper than that. In any case, she had obviously pushed the boundary too far. Deciding she didn’t want to anger the man further she quietly apologised and moved to closed the window.

Gajeel watched as she closing the curtains as well, when she was blocked from his view he watched her shadow linger before moving to what he hoped was her bed. He got it, sure, magical creatures/near death experience/life in potential danger; it was enough to set anyone on edge – but didn’t she have any friends to distract herself with? Well no she wouldn’t have anyone else to talk to in the middle of the night would she. Dumbass. It had long stopped bothering Gajeel that his internal voice sounded like Lilly, the cat gave damn good advice and didn’t sugar-coat it either.

The thought persisted, she probably can’t sleep because of it all and called him down to distract herself; and he had just provided a solid brick wall as comfort. Against his normal reaction he tapped on the glass, comforting wasn’t really his thing, but he could at least apologise. Lilly would send him back down to so anyway, he knew that little Exceed ears overheard more than they let on. Sure enough the window was soon open again and a nervous Levy stood expectantly. Expecting another telling off probably, Gajeel mentally winced at his earlier tone.

“Sorry, you know, for snappin’ at ya” The words sounded empty, He tried to sound sincere, he really did. But a man made out of iron was cold, hard and honestly he couldn’t say he was a hundred per cent sorry.

“No no, I’m sorry for bothering you, I just- I um- I was worried about you guys up there.” Levy sighed heavily.

Oh. Well that got him, he wasn’t expecting she would be worried about them. He hated the sound of her voice, it was small like herself and just wasn’t what this spitfire woman who stared him down a few hours prior should sound like. “What you think I can’t handle myself? I already saved your ass twice today remember?” Feeling defensive he jumped back to his harsh tone, and immediately berated himself for it.

“Yes I remember! I thanked you for that as well!” She snapped back.

Gajeel smirked slightly; there was the voice this woman should have.

“But… I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me.” She was looking at the ground now, almost ashamed that they would be in harm’s way. Damnit, now he felt really guilty for barking at her– the pair sat in another awkward silence.

Gajeel wanted to say something, but everything that came to mind sounded stupid or mushy, thankfully Levy spoke again. “What’s it like to fly?”

Not wanting to revisit the silence again he replied as politely as he could manage “S’alright, get to go wherever you want.” He’s voice sounded dismissive, but held a certain wondrous tone. It was so much more than that, he was really down playing it. Ask any winged, flying was a necessity; it was their entire life, the thing that made them magical. There’s no way to quite explain it; made you feel more alive than any human could be.

Levy picked up on his voice as he spoke; she was good at hearing what was not said – reading in between the lines as you might say. Flying was definitely better than ‘alright’. Grinning she probed further, holding her head up on the tops of her hands as her elbows lent on the widow-side.

“Bet you have lots of adventures. Seeing the world; protecting people, fighting - must be pretty exciting.” It truly was like a story come to life, and he was living it! A character in a fantasy world, oh how she would love to spend just a day in such a world. Her eye’s softened, as reality brought her back; some dreams just stay that, dreams.

“Yea, pretty exciting. You’ll probably get the chance to do it as well – you know when you…” Gajeel drifted off, letting the sentence end unfinished. Sure the winged life was amazing but it came with a price, and not a pleasant one.

“When I what?” Levy queried

“You know,” He paused looked out to the night sky. “Die.” He lamely finished. The thought unsettled Gajeel sure people died, the guild was filled with winged who had done just that. Looking at Levy though, so young in her human life it didn’t seem right to talk about it like it was round the corner.

Pieces rapidly clicked together in Levy’s head as she realised why the demons were coming after her. They wanted to kill her and make her one of these winged so she could do something in their realm. No wonder they had been so vague, that thought alone almost set her into a panic attack again. Quickly she reminded herself she was safe, Gajeel was here, Lilly too, they’d keep her safe. “Hopefully, it’ll be a long time until then…”  Releasing her anxiety, she breathed deeply into the night the calm sky looked so inviting.

Gajeel watched her flick between several emotions before settling on the sky – he was probably going to regret this later. “Oi, go get a jacket or something.” He looked away refusing eye-contact with those big brown eyes.

“What? Why?”  Levy perplexed at his demand, found she was moving to grab a long sleeve hoodie on a chair nearby.

“Well you can wait however many years to kick the bucket, get wings and fly. Or; you can come with me now. Think of it as a test run, Gihi.” Gajeel couldn’t help himself, watching her face light up at his invitation inflated his ego just a little bit.

“Could you?!” All rational thought of flying with basically a magical stranger was gone. Excitement took control at this point.

“Yea, quit loitering. We gotta go now; the dark means no-one will catch us.” God this sounded like something from a bad chick flick, the guy stealing the girl away in the middle of the night to fly (wasn’t there a fairy-tale like this?). Briefly he contemplated just what the fuck he was thinking. He was meant to protect this girl not take her for a midnight flight; he almost went to tell her he was obviously joking, only to see her ready to go in front of him. There and then the thought died, he just couldn’t say no to her. Without another thought he stretched his hand out to her, he expected her to hesitate, mistrust; anything but clamber out of her window and take his hand.

Despite the shock he grabbed her expertly, pulling her close. Carefully he manoeuvred her to his back secure between his massive wings and cushioned by his mass of hair which caught and pinched his scalp as she moved to get comfortable. Her thin arms locked round his neck and she breathed heavily against his back. “Ready?” He asked mildly hoping she would change her mind and go back to bed. No such luck as she nodded over his shoulder. “Alright shrimp, you asked for it. Hold on!” If she wanted to fly, they were going to damn well fly.

One heavy wing beat and they shot upwards, past the rooftops and into the starry sky. Levy clamped her arms down and a silent scream escaped her lips; but she refused to close her eyes. The wind made them water and the cold flushed her face but she watched as the ground below them move further away and the world around them became so much bigger.

Gajeel cruised casually in the open sky, banking round her flat complex (well within sight of Lilly) and letting her enjoy the horizon as they flew. He felt her head move as she took into the sights and her grip around his neck relaxed slightly. Time to really fly. “Told you to hold on short-stuff!” Gajeel barrel-rolled unexpectedly, and Levy’s grip rapidly retightened.

“Gajeel! I’ll fall!”

“Hold then then, Gihi!”

Wings fought the air and won as they flew up, looping upside down Levy felt weightless like she might drift into space if she didn’t hold onto the man beneath her. As they came out of the loop she was crushed against his back and watched as he flew low through the streets she walked through every day – how different they looked now. Her heart was pounding, euphoria was growing, laughter escaped her lips and Gajeel took this as a sign to go faster, climbing altitude they re-joined the open sky.

Lilly watched from the rooftop as the pair flew across the skies. A faint grin touched his face as he watched his partner spectacularly open up to a woman who seemed to crawl right through his iron defences. It would be a true shame when they left – Gajeel didn’t connect with many people at all. Sure Juvia was the closest (excluding himself of course) and he could have bouts of drinking with Cana, and bouts of fighting with pretty much anyone. But there was a great deal of mistrust present, and Gajeel had almost all but exiled himself from the guild. Sure he was no social butterfly, but a life of solitude wasn’t one worth living. Lilly kept his musings to himself and sat contented with watching the pair own the sky. Still he kept beady eyes keen watching for danger.

Unfortunately for Lilly the danger didn’t come from the sky but from the ground, Sol emerged from the side of the building. Scowling he also watched dark wings score the sky, twirling in an array of impressive manoeuvres each followed by squeals and laughter from both parties. Now was the time, Jose was sick of waiting. Sinking into the brickwork, Sol prepared their advance.

I own nothing except a vague plot, feel free to review/ask/be inspired and share with me anything you find :)

Tour Journal 1/31 -2/7/2017

Hey all, here is the tour journal from my last tour.  Overall the tour was great, saw lot’s of old friends and met some new ones.  Most people I met at the shows had a positive attitude, always a couple bad apples but no major rock star ego’s. Mainly groups of artists enthusiastic about playing and supporting DIY music!!  

Tuesday January 31st / Driving day from Philadelphia, PA to Richmond, VA.  I packed up and left for tour Tuesday evening. No shows that night, I had four shows in North Carolina starting the next day. Richmond was an easy half way point for the first drive. My long time friend and ex band-mate Lewis let me crash at his place.  I got in around 10-10:30 pm. and we proceeded to drink beers and catch up through most of the night, although both of us were exhausted and cut ourselves off before heading into the wee hours.

Wednesday February 1st / Got up that morning and headed out to get coffee.  Lewis was going to run errands and meet back up with me.  It was only about 4 hours to Fayettville, NC were my first show was, and I didn’t need to be there until 7-8pm, so I wasn’t in a hurry.  I broke out my laptop in the cafe to catch up with emails.  To my dismay I got the early morning notification from the club, The Rock Shop, that the show had been cancelled.  The message was sent to my Facebook “Band Page” and stated “ What's up man? Are you good for playing Art Attack next week on the 8th. We have to close this week. Thanks”.  For those of you who don’t know, this is not how tours work. I had booked this tour months in advance, and had this show booked back in November.  I knew that having all my dates booked solid was too good to be true.  My first reply back to the club was, “ No, I'm on tour right now, I will not be anywhere close to Fayettville, NC on the 8th....I've been sending messages the last two weeks to get details, why am I only getting a message now?”  I didn’t receive a reply to this message.  When Lew met back up with me at the coffee shop I told him what happened.  He said, “Well I guess that means you don’t have to play tonight”.  But no, I had to look for another show, I take this time off to play music.  Granted a day lounging with my friends around Richmond sounds great, but there would be no way to ease my frustration than to search, and hopefully find another show.  I started researching online, first Richmond to see if there was anything I could likely hop on, but no luck.  I checked out surrounding areas, then in North Carolina.  It looked like there could be something I could squeeze on in Carborro, NC, possibly Chapel Hill.  I sent out some messages, we grabbed lunch and then I headed down to North Carolina.  First place I stopped was Carborro, NC, which for a small town it was extremely difficult to park on a Wednesday evening.  The venue 2nd Wind had a music showcase, but when I talked to the bartender it seemed like chances were slim and that the night was booked solid.  I went back to my car to regroup, I found a pop punk show in Chapel Hill.  I sped over there, basically the same town, and stopped at what I think was club 506.  I told the door guy my situation, and he was very sympathetic, having played music and been in the same situation before.  But the event was handled all by an outside promoter, and they had no pull.  I bounced around town for another hour or so and ended up a couple blocks down the street at The Cave.  I had heard about the Cave for years, and by the sight of the place, (dark dank punk rock dive) I thought my odds might be pretty good.  The bartender, who was a young punk kid, was super helpful with suggestions, but told me there was nothing he could do, if he had the authority to throw me on the show he would.  He was in charge of door and sound, no promoter in house, basically told me I was SOL.  I left and tried his suggestions, but nobody had any openings.  I returned to the Cave, basically having no where to else to go, hoping that maybe the situation in the Cave had somehow changed.  Same result, although he gave me some more ideas. I had found an open mic in Raleigh (45 min away) and he told me to try and hit up their sister bar Slim’s.  So I was off again, making my way to Slim’s, as that sounded like the best option.  I walked in the bar and struck up a conversation with the bartender..  I told him my situation, but there was nothing going on that night, but told me there was a show down the street at Kings.  Immediately though a patron that was sitting beside me heard my story and offered me a beer.  He said, “You lost your show, I know the road is tough, least I can do is buy you a beer”.  So I prolonged my attempt at trying to hit up Kings down the street and enjoyed a beer with my new friend.  After I took down the beer I walked a couple blocks to Kings, which for one had a $12 cover. I could also hear metal/hardcore bands playing in the distance, this was not a show I was going to be able to hop on.  I raised the white flag, and retreated to Slim’s.  I decided I would drink a couple more beers.  Money was tight this trip, and not having a show on the first day with no opportunity to sell my stuff or get some tips was a back breaker.  Granted I could have busked, I could have played my cards differently but this is what happened.  I moved on to my next game, which is known as “find a couch or floor for the night”.  I was in a bar with what seemed to be a friendly group, and I figured if I could start some conversation, make some friends that could offer me some hospitality.  I made some idle conversation with some folks, for the most part people were friendly but I could quickly tell this was going nowhere.  After beer number two I decided to find the nearest truck stop outside the city and set up there for the night.  After arriving at the truck stop and “settling in”, I started feeling frustrated about day number one of tour.  I decided to write the owner of the club one more time and make sure I let him know how much of an asshole he was.  Usually I don’t resort to this, not the first time it has happened to me, but usually I end up finding something!  Failing made me angry so I wrote,” Hey man, I have spent months organizing and putting this tour together. I spend hours everyday trying to piece this together, and have worked extra hours to finance this whole thing myself. To have a show cancelled the day of, without apology or any sense of regret is the shittiest thing you can do to a touring musician. I understand things happen, and that running a business, especially a bar/music venue is not easy and not always profitable. But to do this to me, without any time to throw something else together, and not even show sympathy is absolutely garbage. I discovered this message after driving hours towards Fayetville, exited to have the opportunity to play in front of some new people.  At the very least I deserved an apology or a legit explanation.”  Long story short he told me he had a death in the family and that’s why they closed, and then he somehow blamed me for cancelling the follow up gig.  He did apologize, and I apologized for giving him shit and showed sympathy for his loss, but said if he had just told me in the first place I would have never reacted the way that I did.

Thursday February 2nd / After waking up at a Raleigh truck stop I made my way into the city.  I had pretty much all day to kill and my next show was in Raleigh.  I didn’t do much, except walk around a lot, finding cheap things to eat.  Thought about busking, but didn’t want to move my car from the free parking spot that I had found, and didn’t want to lug my heavy guitar case across town to the prime busking spots (which it’s illegal to busk in Raleigh without a permit, not sure how strict the enforcement is). I was glad to see musicians at the venue early, ready to load in.  I met Mikka and the Nevernauts, my internet friends of the past year, finally meeting up with them in person.  The door guy for the venue was upbeat and positive, respectful to the bands, telling jokes and keeping things lively.  All the bands were on time, and no bullshit when we talked about the lineup.  Deep South the Bar was the name of the place, and I would definitely play there again.  The bands had promoted the show, certainly wasn’t packed, but there were people there. In other words it blew the previous nights experience out of the water.  Raw Dog played first, and then they all stuck around for the rest of the show, standing up front for all of the bands.  I played second, a little rusty and out of sorts. I hadn’t played since Monday and it showed. Still felt great to play and I got my shit together by the end of the set.  Born Again Heathens played next, awesome Celtic punk, bagpipes and all.  Then Nevernauts headlined and those guys are awesome.  We all took a group picture at the end of the night, it was a solid experience.  I made some gas money, I had a couple opportunity's for places to stay from people I met at the show, but most likely would have been subjected to an all night party, and I wanted to be able to wake up and drive the next morning.  So I headed back on the highway and hit the next rest stop on the way to Asheville and crashed there for the night.

Friday February 3rd / I woke up from a truck stop on route 40 just outside of Raleigh for the second night in a row.  Got an early start so I could visit my cousins in Hickory, NC on the way.  Left Hickory around 3-4 pm, arrived in Asheville and met up with my friends Tom and Lauren around 6 pm.  Pretty much took it easy and relaxed until I headed to the Burger Bar a couple hours later.  The Burger Bar is a super tight space, and by tight I mean comfortably cramped, especially when you have musicians setting up their gear next to the bar.  The guys from Skunk Ruckus were extremely hospitable and offered any help I needed.  Burger Bar is basically do your own show, no sound guy, basically set things up the way you want to.  Lilli Jean opened up, she had a sax player for accompaniment and the drummer from Skunk Ruckus sat in on their set on a last minute offer.  The whole set sounded surprisingly good, the drummer knew just what to do.  He offered to do the same for my set, which I was honestly tempted but I decided to go ahead with my regular setup.  It was a good set, and some folks in the audience tipped me in “burger shots”, which is a shot of bloody Mary mix, followed by a shot of whisky, followed by a pickle back.  Skunk Ruckus, which I could only describe as a mix between mountain music and psychobilly, started playing and brought tons of energy to the small little Asheville Bar.  There set was a lot of fun, old folks, hippies and punks were all dancing together.  I had a $25 bar tab, and a friend who offered to drive me back to his house if I got too drunk.  Either way I took full advantage of both offers and the remainder of my night was a bit hazy.  

Saturday February 4th / As I said before the remainder of the night was hazy, but I had awoke to see that I was able to make it upstairs and take advantage of one of the beds that was offered to me (I wisely choose the bottom bunk).  My friends made me breakfast, and we spent most the day watching Rocky III and trying to recover from what I had perceived as a mild hangover.  Eventually Tom gave me a ride back to my car, at which point I started to realize, from the uneasiness in my stomach, that I was going to have more trouble functioning than I thought.  Once I got to my car, I decided to get supplies for my drive to Wilmington; gas, coffee and snacks.  I almost decided I needed a bloody mary, but thought better of it and got a V8 instead.  Leaving the town of Asheville turned out to be a challenge, the driving was making me nauseous and I was trying to mentally overcome it.  I made it back to route 40, slammed the rest of my V8 and pulled over at the next exit I could.  My body was turning itself off, I just wanted to stay awake long enough to make it to the truck stop.  I parked, turned off the car, reclined the drivers seat and took a much needed power nap.  I woke up an hour later, feeling revived, thankfully without any vomiting.  Now I could drive, and I made the 5 hour trek to Wilmington, NC.  The show that night was at The Zoo, a house show venue.  I had never played there but stayed at the house the last time I came through.  My buddy Dirt from Poking Holes set up the show.   Sidney Dively opened up, playing originals on guitar and Uke, reminding me at times of Mazzy Star and The Smiths.  Poking Holes played next, old timey folk/punk.  It was the first show as a two piece, adding a washboard player.  I played next, this was probably my favorite show of the whole tour, not the biggest turnout but everyone at the show came for the show, not just to party!  Rumble Tramp from Boone, NC closed the show out, really cool set, reminds me of bands like Rosa and other Planet X bands of the era.  

Sunday February 5th / I got some much needed rest and headed out to Richmond, VA the next morning.  I arrived around 3 pm and I met up with my friends at the GWAR bar around to corner from the show, which was at Condemned Island (house venue).  My buddy Matt through this show together. After we originally agreed to set the show up earlier that month lot’s of road blocks arose, so we knew it was not going to be the most ideal situation. This was just one of those shows. It was on Super Bowl Sunday, and apparently you can’t compete with that.  At one point I had asked,”Wasn’t Jim Ramirez supposed to play this show”, and I heard somebody reply, “Oh yeah, I think I was supposed to pick him up”.  My buddy Mike Jones played, who goes by Aged Out.  He was awesome as usual.  I was told I would go after the next act, which it was over an hour later before they went on and a couple of my friends had left by that point.  I played for a few people, one of my drunken friends successfully alienated what remained of the crowd by screaming at me about fellatio and other un-music related topics during my set.  My set turned into a jam session with me and Mike, trying to remember how to play various cover songs and songs from our old band.  At one point I believe we were told we had to sober up and leave. Granted we knew the show had to be over early because Matt’s band had to play a show downtown.  Either way leaving was difficult, but we managed to succeed, not without my drunken friend taking a leak in front of their house and getting yelled at (Yeah, you were “that guy”).  I’ll go ahead now and skip to the end.  We all ended up at Mike and Kensey’s house.  After people either got a cab home or went to bed, I tried to sleep while Mitch and Kensey stayed up listening to country music until 4:30 am.

Monday February 6th / Mike took me out to breakfast at 821 Cafe, then brought me back to pick up my car.  I had managed to get enough rest, so the 6 house drive to Charleston, WV wasn’t too bad.  The show was at the Empty Glass, a venue that has been around for a long time.  It was actually an open mic night and I was the featured act, getting to play a full set at whatever the prime time of the night would be.  This was a great open mic, people were super friendly and energetic.  People danced for all the acts, I got tipped out well and people bought me more drinks than I was able to drink (my stomach was starting to rebel against me at that point).  I got offered a place to crash no too far from the venue.  I had to decline the whisky and beer nightcap and I passed out easily on a recliner chair in their living room.

Tuesday February 7th / I woke up in a sweat, not because I was sick but because it was 70 degrees outside, extremely warm for Charlseton, WV in February.  They had turned off the heat at some point during the night, but I was still sleeping in my sleeping bag.  It was almost 10 am., and I had a lot of driving ahead of me so I got my stuff together quickly, said my goodbyes and was off.  Fairly uneventful drive, other than I didn’t have any service on my phone until I exited West Virginia.  I’m proud to say that unlike many humans nowadays, I am able to read a map and do not require a GPS system to tell me where to go!  The show was in Ashland, PA at The Drunken Monkey.  My buddy Tyler from Condition Oakland put this show on.  A pretty great line up, Ace & The Kings played first, a mix of originals and classic punk covers. Churches & Trains, another one man band act, who I will hopefully do a weekender with at some point, played next.  He does a similar stuff to me, but much more towards a folk/country end of the spectrum. I played next, and was followed by Tedd Hazzard who has an extensive collection of catchy, screamy folk punk songs.  Tyler - Condition Oakland played last. Me and Tyler had played together a lot recently, and he gave me the ok to take off early, which I was happy to do, although I did catch some of his set.  I’ll just say that all of these guys are worth a listen, all have albums (save Ace & The Kings) that you can stream/buy on bandcamp.  This was the 3rd time in three months I have played this area of Pennsylvania, I believe Wyoming Valley is what they call the region?  Either way I am starting to feel like a local, so this kind of served as my homecoming show, only a couple hours from Philadelphia.  At this point all parts of my body and mind had gained some tour tolerance and the 2 hour drive at nighttime back to my house in Philadelphia was a piece of cake.  I managed to get to bed by 2:30am, although waking up the next day proved to be rough. 

That’s the tour journal, no out of this world crazy stories.  I don’t typically attract that kind of mess.  For me it’s all about playing music and making connections with people.  Things don’t happen for me when I stay in one place, it’s not how I work and not how I like to live. 

I feel bad, so many past tour journals I have slacked on and never posted. I feel I should go back and pick through them and post them up too.  Time is always the issue, I’m always involved with several things at once, and it’s always a struggle for me to get everything I want to get done, done...Anyways stay posted and thanks for reading!