Disclaimer: I do not own nor do I make any profit from the characters, plot, or setting of Fairy Tail.

It's All in the Timing

Loke had gotten rather tired of only being called out for emergencies, so he decided to pop out into the human world by himself. In deference to Lucy's modesty, he timed his arrival to coincide with her emergence from a shower, rather than during the shower itself.

Regardless of his chivalry, Lucy forced his gate closed without so much as letting him touch her lovely skin (which was always so delightfully alluring after a steamy shower). Still, he reasoned, if he had visited during a shower, she would have gotten Virgo to punish him.

The next day Loke decided to try again. This time he aimed for neutral territory that she could not, in good conscience, kick him out of. He stepped out of the celestial world and into Fairy Tail's impressive guild hall with all of the confidence of a celestial spirit about to woo his lady-love.

Unfortunately, he also stepped between Natsu and Gray and wound up falling to the floor with a serious case of freezer burn. He'd intended to have Lucy in this position, swooning at his feet, but, upon a glance upwards, he found that their position was reversed.

Lucy scolded him quite severely, admonishing him for following her around, but he wasn't really listening. After all, he discovered, the floor offered a beautiful perspective on Lucy's skirt. Virgo's punishment was worth it.

A few moments in the spirit world healed the worst of the damage inflicted by his nakama, but it wasn't until a week later that he tried to pop in on Lucy again. This time, he had at least slightly legitimate concerns; first Cancer and then Virgo had disappeared from the celestial world without any explanation, and he was slightly concerned when they returned abruptly and refused to share any details about Lucy's condition. She was so very stubborn when it came to summoning her strongest spirit (and so very prone to losing her keys), and he didn't want any harm to come to her in those tiny seconds between confidently approaching an enemy and realizing that an enemy had a lot more power than she originally anticipated. Honestly, he had come out ready to fight and protect his princess to the death. He was justifiably surprised to find himself in Lucy's apartment, where there was no sign of danger whatsoever apart from Lucy's killer rack-which was currently being flaunted in quite an attractive little dress that looked as though Virgo had taken it straight from the celestial world.

Oh, he realized, Lucy hadn't been summoning her spirits for a fight; she'd been summoning them to help her get ready for a date.

Unfortunately, Loke was already in a bit of a fighting mood, and he decided that his princess probably needed to be saved by lecherous no-good little boys who thought that they could look at his woman as much as she usually needed to be saved by big bad dark guild members.

Loke politely excused himself ("Princess, I'm blinded by your beauty and will be struck down if I gaze on your lovely face for too long").

Lucy was a little sad when her date (an extremely suspicious brunette boy with no magic to speak of and very little in the way of hand-to-hand combat skill) failed to show up at the appointed hour, but, luckily, Loke had stopped to pick up a darker set of shades and was able to comfort his damsel in her hour of need.

Satisfied though he was by the evening of having Lucy's exquisite curves pressed against him, Loke couldn't resist continuing to pop up unexpectedly (and uninvited). First, there was the girl's night he interrupted just in time to see Levy rub oil into Lucy's back before the sound of a requip frightened him back home like a cowardly lion. Then, he found himself on the pool deck outside of Fairy Tail; he admired Lucy as she floated lazily across the surface, basking in the uncommon emptiness of the area and gazing up at the blue sky contentedly. He loved the way her white bathing suit was really a poor color choice for water-based activities, but not as much as he loved the way her hair clung to the curves of her smile. A few days later, he stumbled into her apartment just in time to see her pull Natsu from her bed. Warm, fuzzy feelings forgotten, he assisted his princess by shoving the half-conscious dragon slayer onto the sidewalk below and offering to occupy half of her bed to make sure he couldn't come back. He wasn't really shocked when she forced him back through his gate, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that she had done it with a blush on her cheeks.

The next day, he made sure she woke up with a rose by her bed (standard wooing procedure), and she didn't even realize that he had hung around just long enough to see whether or not she would smile when she saw it. She did.

Encouraged (and with an easily stoked ego), Loke next decided to visit at an extremely less appropriate time. Lucy was at a bathhouse, and she was very much alone (he sensed a violent pillow fight was likely occurring nearby).

He took a moment to smile at her and to appreciate the way the hot water made the wisps of hair not caught in a bun curl delicately into soft baby ringlets. Politely, he cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. He pretended to look away as she turned to face him.

"Loke!" she cried, all shocked and embarrassed.

"Hello, my princess, I thought you might like some milk after your bath," he replied, thinking himself clever for reminding her of their second short-lived date (it had totally counted).

She blushed, which Loke had not expected.

"I-I'm still taking my bath," she'd stuttered, all flushed and shy, and Loke thought that he might melt at the adorableness of her cheeks and the utter shock that she was the light pink of "I can't believe you are seeing me when I'm naked" rather than the angry red of "Why are you peeping at me, you dirty pervert." She actually looked like her eyes were widening in virgin innocence. Loke thought that he probably wasn't going to last through this night.

Then she'd asked for her robe and smiled all sparkly-like at him when he turned around so that she could wrap herself properly in it, She wrapped her hand around his fingers and led him to a bench that let them lean against a pretty tree. The stars sparkled above, and the moon shone brightly. Loke thought he detected a hint of romance in the soft breeze.

He'd handed her the flavored milk and stared at her more than what was reasonably appropriate, but she hadn't seemed to mind.

"It's just like that night," she smiled (and somehow that was a legitimate way to describe her manner of speech), "back when I first found out that you really a celestial spirit."

"Yeah," he said, and then lost the rest of what he'd planned to spout off somewhere in her eyes.

She laughed, and she leaned her head against his shoulder while entwining their fingers together.

"It makes me so happy," she whispered, practically into his neck, "to have you appear whenever I wish that you were near."

Loke was confused for a moment, and nearly ready to go on about their love transcending the rules of heaven and earth, but, he looked at her smile, he looked at her eyes, and he looked at those little tiny wisps of hair on her neck, and, instead, he just smiled back, and kissed her hair (and he certainly didn't bother to correct her). He'd never had such perfect timing.

THE END

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