Living in a guild, the rumors spread like wild fire. Everyone knew everyone's strengths and the stories of what made them tick. There were many rumors regarding Loke, play boy of Fairy Tail. What was known was that his dedication to his lady friends only lasted for as long as their coos and dreamy gazes, never passed to the tears and emotional embraces.
Little else was known. His past was not open to discussion, nor was his instinctive dislike of celestial wizards. Even his magic remained a mystery to his fellow guild members.
The first time that he saw her, she was just another pretty face come to the guild in search of a home, a family. Her excitement was palpable, radiating off of her as she stood in the open doorway, sunlight streaming in behind her while she surveyed the scene before her. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a scene. It was a brawl. But such was the life in the guild. He'd only been there a few years, but already he felt like part of the excitement, the draw to Fairy Tail.
Finally he had come to have a place here. His spirit may always long for home, but as time passed it hurt less and less. Eventually, he knew, it would cease to hurt at all.
He wasn't above throwing a few punches just to get her attention. It had landed him in Sorcerer's Weekly more than a few times as an eligible bachelor, so he figured it could do no harm to have a little demonstration of his abilities though his strength was a fraction of what it had been years ago.
When Loke next glanced her way, more than a few chairs had been shattered around the room and Mirajane was crushed beneath her brother. Natsu was swinging a pair of black boxers around on his fingers and Grey, the idiotic pervert, had sidled up next to the blonde bombshell, completely comfortable in his birthday suit while panic showed in her expression.
The guild had become a noisy place. Extra noise had a way of causing headaches more and more lately, his senses getting irritated while he felt like letting out a roar to silence them all, maybe pay them back for all the extra noise. Not to mention their insensitivity for just prancing about naked in the hopes someone had some extra underwear on hand for them.
Coming up behind the girl, Loke pulled her away from Gray, who was still reeling from the hit she'd given him.
"I simply can't stand these insensitive fools." He grinned, feeling more than a little victorious as he hoisted her into his arms. Honestly he was considering just walking out with his little prize. The impression of her body against his was a pleasant sensation he just couldn't rid himself of even when an arm too well muscled connected with his chin.
When the others started powering up, he had the vague idea that their aim might be a bit off and hitting this new girl before she even had a chance to get her feet on the ground seemed wrong on so many levels. Consider the damage it would do to that lovely body of hers. His first instinct, somehow, was just to let his magic flow. He had to protect her. He just didn't know why yet.
There were plenty of pretty faces still in the guild though, he wasn't above denying that. With the time he had left, there was no point in getting too attached to anyone. But there was just too much time to spend it just sitting around and waiting. He'd go insane. These distractions were all that had saved him over the last three years.
So when she left with Natsu, he turned away. Still, rumors were rampant within guilds and names were flying. Natsu, Happy, and Lucy.
Lucy.