Summary: Sting was stuck with paperworks and hungry. Yukino came with some cookies.
Notes: This is set after Grand Magic Tournament.
Of Paperworks and Cookies
"Man, I'm so hungry…"
A complain shot straight out from the master of the famous Sabertooth, Sting Eucliffe. He knew that he should have not complained about doing paperworks when he was a master of a guild, but really, he never thought being a master would be such a pain in the ass. He lost his playtime for god's sake! He's supposed to play with Lector in town this afternoon, but Rogue just had to remind him about his work and take Lector away so he would do what a master supposed to do.
Sting slumped tiredly on his chair. He was stuck with these papers for almost 2 hours. The clock showed 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and his stomach growled in anticipation. He had skipped breakfast purposely this morning so he could gobble down with Lector in town, but again, this work ruined everything.
"Aargh! Why do I have to deal with this shit?!" Sting furiously yelled, holding his head in frustration. Banging the desk, he stood up. "Screw this, I'm off to—"
Knock, knock.
"Um, Sting-sama?" A soft voice interrupted Sting's outburst from behind the door of the master's chamber. "May I come in?"
"Yukino?" The white dragon slayer replied in surprise. He didn't expect anyone to be standing outside his room. Damn, she must have heard him yelling like an idiot. "Sure, come on in."
The door opened slowly, and the celestial spirit mage entered the room. She was holding something like a bowl in her hands. "Are you okay, Sting-sama? I heard you yelling just now…" Yukino asked, voice filled with concern.
"I'm just hungry." Sting grinned sheepishly, face a bit red from embarrassment. He sat on the chair once more. "So, what's up?"
"Um," Yukino fidgeted nervously. "I baked some cookies earlier. Please have some, Sting-sama." She smiled, placing the bowl on the desk.
Sting peered into the bowl, and boy he was amazed. The bowl was filled with white cookies, each one shaped like one of Sabertooth's member's faces. There were him, Rogue, Rufus, Orga, Dobengal…
Sting widened his eyes. Even the princess' face…
He picked a cookie with his face on it, and ate it. Yukino waited patiently while the dragon slayer was munching on her cookies, eager to know what he thought about it. A smile broke on her smile when he exclaimed, "It's delicious!" Sting took another cookie and ate it heartily, face looked so happy when gobbling down the treat. Yukino's smile turned into a grin, her cheeks turned red from happiness.
"I'm glad it suits your taste, Sting-sama." She said. Looking around, Yukino noticed a huge stack of paper on the desk. "You must be hungry from doing all these paperworks."
"You don't want to know." He huffed in annoyance, biting the next cookie. "You're a lifesaver. I'm about to die from starvation."
Yukino giggled at his words. Her eyes scanned the top paper's content, then taking it to read it closely. "Are these paperworks all about the last Grand Magic Tournament?"
Sting nodded. "Yeah. I need to take care of the change of master, since Master Jiemma—" He stopped. From the corner of his eye, he could see Yukino flinched a bit, and then realization dawned upon him. The mention of master must have brought bad memories to her, because she was briefly excommunicated from Sabertooth by Jiemma. Not to mention the excommunication incident was so cruel for a girl.
Sting looked down. "… Sorry." He apologized quietly.
Realizing she had made the dragon slayer feel uncomfortable, Yukino waved her hands. "Oh! No, no! It's okay, Sting-sama!" She exclaimed, then laughed nervously. "You don't have to feel bad about it." She unconsciously touched her stomach, where her guildmark was. "I'm glad you accept me again." The celestial spirit mage smiled. "Please, don't think too much about it."
"No. I mean…" Sting looked at the floor, uneasy. "I'm sorry I didn't stand up for you. I'm sorry I thought of you as a weakling, as someone who wasn't worth for the mark…" Sting closed his eyes. The images of that day flooding in his mind. He remember every moment of it clearly as he didn't even look away. How could he not look away? How could he let her being humiliated like that? "Even now, I don't think we deserve you. You deserve better than us. We treated you so badly, and yet—"
"Sting-sama."
Her voice cut his rambling. Sting lifted his head to see her. Her hand was holding his hand, and she had knelt down beside him. Her lips curled into a smile, and he wondered how could she still smile to him who had done so many wrong to her.
"I am a mage of Sabertooth." She said firmly. "I'm happy to be here. Back then, until now. And I'm sure that will never change." Yukino gripped his hand. She continued, "It's fine, Sting-sama. You accepted me again is more than enough."
Sting stared at her, waiting for her to lash out at him, to curse at him, to stop lying. But her smile never waver a bit. Her eyes showed sincerity, and he knew she wasn't lying at all.
The dragon slayer chuckled. "I promise I'll treasure you." He said, flashing a smile.
Yukino stunned upon hearing his words, but soon she laughed heartily. "Thank you, Sting-sama." She beamed radiantly, which Sting replied by the same bright smile.
Standing up, Yukino gestured to the door. "I should be going. Remember to take break, Sting-sama." She excused herself, bowing down. "You should eat a meal if you're hungry."
"I will later." He responded. "I enjoy these cookies for the meantime."
Yukino opened the door, ready to step out of the room, but Sting's voice stopped her.
"Yukino."
She looked back at her master, tilting her head. He was smiling, cookie in his hand. "Thank you."
The female mage giggled a bit. "I'll bake again some other time." She walked out and closed the door softly.
After the door was closed, Sting looked down at the bowl, smiling. "We should be the one who thank you." He murmured to no one. "Thank you… for accepting us."
END.
Thank you for reading!