A/N- This fic was written on commission for kittykatz009, who requested a Lucy/Loke first date scenario.
She wasn't sure why she had agreed to this.
Lucy studied herself in the mirror. Ostensibly she was trying to decide whether to wear her hair up or down, but her mind had long since meandered down a more unsettling path.
When Loke had asked her out that morning, she had said yes reflexively and spent the rest of the day regretting it. The two of them had worked together at a small publishing house for going on three years now; they had become good friends, and she knew him too well to think that this could end anything but badly. It wasn't that she didn't like him— she did, oh she did— and though Loke flirted with her all the time... he also flirted with everyone else.
It was true that he'd never actually asked for a date before, but he was constantly complimenting her and proclaiming his affection. The attention was flattering until the next time he told the secretary she looked ravishing, just like a rose in its first bloom of beauty and she was reminded that she really was nothing special. Being around Loke felt a bit like riding a yo-yo.
It would have been wiser to call off this date— or better yet, to have refused his invitation in the first place— to avoid another spin on Rollercoaster Loke, but here she was. Instead of picking up that phone and telling him right where he could stick his reservations at the Celestial Palace, she was dressed to the nines in one of her dresses leftover from her high society days.
Well, it was just one date, after all. One night of being treated to dinner at the most luxurious restaurant in Magnolia on someone else's tab, and then she could go back to being mildly disappointed every time he flirted with someone else right in front of her.
A knock at the door brought her back to the present moment. Well, looked like she was going to have to wear her hair down after all.
The first thing she saw when she opened the door was an enormous bouquet of brown-eyed susans. She looked from the flowers to Loke's grinning face and back again.
"For me?" she asked, flattered despite herself.
He nodded, and made as if to hand them to her, but before she could take them, he pulled them back and caught her fingers in his instead, bending down to kiss her hand. "You are sparkling tonight, Lucy," he murmured against her skin.
She felt a blush run from her cheeks all the way down her neck, and pulled her hand away sharply. "Thank you," she said, and reached out to claim the flowers again. This time he let her take them from him, and stepped through the door while she went over to the small kitchen area to find a vase.
She looked him over as she filled the vase at the tap. Loke usually showed up to the office dressed casually in jeans, occasionally with a tailored jacket thrown on if they were actually going to be meeting with one of their authors. Tonight, however, he was all dressed up, suit and tie, the whole nine yards. He looked good… really good.
But musing on how handsome her date looked in evening attire wasn't conducive to keeping her resolution of remaining detached this evening. She looked down, and immediately squeaked and turned off the water— she'd overflowed the vase.
"Brown-eyed susans are an unusual choice," she commented as she tipped out some of the excess water. "I'd have figured you'd be the kind of guy to give a girl roses or lilies."
"But roses wouldn't do for you, would they, Lucy?" he replied, a twinkle in his eye behind his glasses. "These… well, they made me think of you. All golden and sunshine, and your beautiful brown eyes…"
He sounded almost wistful, and she was blushing again. "You're too charming for anyone's good," she remarked.
"Just as long as I can charm you…" He gave her a flirtatious wink.
"Let's just go, shall we?" Lucy said, aware that she was speaking a little too loudly as she took his arm and dragged him bodily from her apartment.
The sooner they left, the sooner this would be over with, right?
Lucy hadn't been to the Celestial Palace since she had left her father's house. She had forgotten the glitz and glamour of it, the way the enormous crystal chandelier scattered endless glints of gold and white across the room, how the scents of fine food lingered tantalizingly in the air, how the soft sounds of silver on china and the clink of crystal glasses mingled with the gentle hum of conversation.
But as she stepped in through the door Loke held for her, a gradual hush fell over the diners, replaced by a low buzz.
Heartfilia, she heard them whisper, Lucy Heartfilia… heard she ran away… —at's she doing here?... who's that she's— ...Heartfilia… Heartfilia…
Lucy squared her shoulders, head held high as she allowed the maître d' to lead her to their table. She sank into the chair Loke held for her with a gracious nod of thanks, and ignored the stares and whispers to the best of her ability.
"We seem to have attracted some attention," Loke said as he sat down opposite her. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you would be so… known."
"It's okay," she said, although she wasn't entirely certain she meant it. "It's only for one night. And besides, it will be a nice change from trying to stomach my own cooking, right?" She forced up a laugh.
Loke smiled. "Perhaps on our next date, I could cook for you."
Lucy was saved from having to find an innocuous reply by the waiter, who arrived to take their drink orders with miraculously good timing. Loke ordered a bottle of champagne for the table, looking to her for approval. She nodded— it had been awhile since she'd had champagne, and if he didn't mind paying for it she certainly had no objection to drinking it.
As the waiter walked away and the attention of the room slowly began to fade, Lucy tried to find another subject of conversation, something that wouldn't potentially involve her having to explain to Loke this early in the evening that she wasn't too sure about seriously dating a known womanizer. Then again… maybe he wouldn't actually mind hearing that. He couldn't possibly be serious about dating her, so "thanks but no thanks" might not be as much of a mood killer as she feared.
Still, it was probably a conversation best left until at least the soup course.
"So… that new author that Levy signed last week," she said, fiddling with her napkin. "I admit, I had some doubts at first, but now that I've seen her draft, Ms. Alberona really seems to have some talent."
"Yes, her sense of humor is excellent." Loke was still smiling, but the quizzical quirk of his eyebrow indicated his confusion. At work they talked about anything and everything, and very little of it ever had to do with work; she could understand his confusion that she would suddenly want to talk shop on a date. But it couldn't be helped. She had to talk about something that would keep the focus off of the Lucy-and-Loke-as-a-couple subject as long as possible, and work was always a ripe subject.
"She's no Zaleon," she continued, "but she's got potential, don't you think?"
Loke reached across the table and took her hand. "Lucy," he said, as she tried and failed not to blush, "I don't want to talk about Cana Alberona right now. I want to talk about you. Tell me something I don't know about you."
You don't want to talk about Cana now, she thought, but what about tomorrow?
Aloud, however, she said, "When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a pilot when I grew up."
He chuckled. "I think you would make an excellent pilot..."
Despite herself, Lucy couldn't help but be charmed. Maybe it was the divine food. Maybe it was the champagne. Maybe it was the fact that Loke really was very good at making a woman feel special and appreciated. Whatever the reason, it was strong enough to have her forgetting her resolution to stay emotionally detached. By the end of dinner she found herself happily accepting a spoonful of chocolate mousse he offered her (in exchange, of course, for a bite of her crème brûlée) and allowing him to feed it to her.
Dinner passed in a pleasant cocoon of gentle flirtation and warm looks, light touches between hands and soft smiles. The car ride back to her apartment was filled with familiar chatter between two people who had known each other for years.
But when she stepped out of the car and into the cool night air, faced with the imminent end of what had been a genuinely enjoyable date, reality settled back in. Heavily.
"This was a wonderful evening," Loke said as he walked her to the door of her building. "Our second date seems much too far away. I know we'll see each other at the office, and any time with you is lovely, but it's not half so enchanting as having you all to myself."
Well, it looked like now was the moment.
"Loke," she said, steeling herself as she stopped and turned to face him, "I don't think there will be a second date."
He froze, and his expression as he looked at her was one of innocent surprise. "But… why not?" he asked. "Did you not have a good time?"
"No, I did! I really did. But I want to date someone I can have a real future with, someone who's serious about me," she said, "and you're sweet, Loke, and I really do like you, but we both know you're not the serious boyfriend type."
"Aren't I?" he asked quietly. He looked somewhere past her shoulder for a few moments, then met her gaze again with a thoughtful expression. "What makes you think I'm not serious about you?"
"Well, you… you flirt with everyone," Lucy said, feeling oddly wrong-footed all of a sudden. "How do you expect me to believe you actually mean it if you say the same kinds of things to every girl you meet?"
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, shoulders stiff as he watched her, still with that quiet intensity in his eyes. "I'll admit, I do tend to be flirtatious," he said. "It's easier to be charming than sincere. But believe me when I tell you that with you, it's different. I'm not paying you empty compliments, Lucy. You're very special to me, and have been for a long time."
It was easy to write him off when he was calling her a pearl among women with that twinkle in his eye and a tantalizing lilt to his voice, but when he gazed at her with the kind of honest admiration that was shining in his eyes at the moment, when he spoke so earnestly, it was harder not to take him seriously. He meant it, she realized. He really and truly meant it when he said he cared for her.
"Oh," she said, caught off-guard by this sudden revelation.
"I was in a… a rather dark place when we met," he said. "But knowing you, befriending you, brought a light back into my life that I thought was gone for good. Being your friend is delightful, but I want to be closer to you." He wasn't pleading, that wasn't the kind of man he was, but he was clearly determined to make her understand the weight he was giving their potential relationship.
"Are you sure it's wise to hang so much on me?" she asked dubiously. "The reality might be different than what you're expecting."
He reached out and softly stroked her cheek with the tips of his fingers, raising pleasant goosebumps and sending a shiver down her spine at the contact. "I have no doubt it will be," he said. "And finding out your truth will be half the fun."
Well, how could a girl not be enticed by such amorous sentiments? "Alright," she said, conceding defeat, "but I don't want to hear about you flirting it up with everything with a pulse anymore."
His grin was star-bright. "I can't promise not to be charming. That's simply my nature. But if that's what you need from me, then I will happily swear off trifling flirtations. Your happiness is important to me."
"You really are too charming for your own good," she said wryly. "Keep that up and a girl might just be tempted to fall for you."
"I very much hope so," he said, as he took her hand and lifted it to his lips again. His eyes never left hers as he dropped a soft kiss on her suddenly tingling skin, and warmth rose in her at the surprising intimacy of the moment.
They said their farewells after making plans for another date in a few days, and as Lucy stood in the doorway and watched as his car's taillights disappeared around the corner, she found herself wishing she had had the good sense to invite a kiss to somewhere more interesting than the back of her hand.
A/N part deux- As you may have gathered from my first authors' note, I am accepting fanfic commissions! If you would like more information about how that works or how to commission me, I've included a link to my commission page in my profile.