"You were nearly killed, you idiot! What were you thinking?!"
He leaned in, his eyes narrowed, his mouth tight, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets.
"I was protecting you. I told you, I won't let anything happen to you. I was fine. You were the one putting yourself in danger."
Although he had the benefit of height to emphasize his points, she cut a daunting figure when she brimmed with anger. Her hands were in shaking fists at her sides, her voice raised to a piercing shriek.
"So you can protect me, but I can't protect you?"
He fell to his knees, choking on a hot surge of blood. His vision blurred and danced, his eyes narrowing to reign in the pain and focus through the dizziness. His attacker was laughing and the sound jumped about with his vision.
His ears rang from the last blow and somehow he knew that if the world would stop spinning, if it would speed back up so every pound of his heart wasn't a moment in itself, the resounding chime would resolve into a scream, into his name.
He squeezed his eyes closed and hauled himself to his feet, his shoulders slouched, his body swaying even as he willed it to show no weakness. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and set himself for another attack.
"Close gate of the lion!" He knew she was screaming (because she was always screaming) but the words sounded distant and unfocused. Maybe it was just a memory, hopeful thinking of that exhausted part of him that wanted to surrender, that wanted to go home and lick his wounds.
And suddenly he was fighting the pull at his soul at the same time he fought the urge to collapse again. The fight drained and hurt like the burn deep in his muscles after running way too far, the ache and nausea after staying in the human world far too long. He fought the pull and won, and if he could win against Lucy, he could win against anything.
He set his shoulders as his opponent's laugh subdued into a chuckle and he spread his hands before him for another attack. He reached deep inside and yanked up what was left of his magical energy, leaving his insides raw and his vision pulsing. His energy ramped up in spurts, flaring and jerking. He was glowing with the intoxicating, exhausting thrill of barely controlled magic. For that second he was powerful. He was strong. He was giddy.
With a spring of coiled energy, with a deep, unconscious scream, with everything he had, he leapt.
"We're supposed to be partners. We fight together. I thought you liked that I don't treat you like a shield! Why do you keep trying to be one?"
"That's just it. You see me as an equal. It makes me want to protect you. You give me a choice and that makes all the difference."
The moment he stepped inside, his eyes swept the guild for signs of her. He really shouldn't have, given he was on a date and everything, but it was habit and it wasn't like he was going to purposefully not look around, purposefully avoid Lucy. He'd done enough of that already.
She was off to the side, collapsed on the table with her head pillowed on her arms. Between her and a sulking Natsu stood a thick casing of ice, which looked as though it had held Natsu in place at one point. Given the shards of melting ice scattered across the floor, the encasement hadn't worked very well. Gray sat across from them, glaring and shirtless, his side of the table blackened with recent scorch marks.
"Excuse me just a second, would you?" He offered his date a dazzling smile, and, completely taken with him, she nodded.
Gray looked up at his approach. Natsu didn't. And Lucy only opened her eyes when he draped his thick green jacket over her shoulders.
"Hey, Princess. You looked cold."
She turned her head to blink at the ice wall beside her. Then she shrugged and dropped her head back into her arms.
"Rough trip?"
Her eyes darkened, her shoulders slouching further as she muttered something under her breath.
"This idiot destroyed a suspension bridge," Gray said, glaring at Natsu. "We actually owe money this time."
Natsu crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look haughty. "I still say it was an ugly bridge anyway."
"And that means you can knock it over?! Lucy can't make ends meet now because of you, dumb ass!" They quickly deteriorated into shouting at each other, both standing and leaning over the table to get in each other's faces.
Loke ignored them, letting his hand linger on Lucy's shoulder. She tuned them out as well, letting the ice wall provide the illusion of privacy. "New girlfriend?"
He offered her a sad smile. "Trying to lift my spirits since you won't have me."
She flushed, then scoffed. "Quit using your lines on me. Go away. It's rude to leave your date waiting."
"Call me later and we'll try to earn some money back."
"Yeah. Whatever."
He pushed himself from the table and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked away. Over his shoulder he shouted, "Gray. Pants."
"Huh? Ah! Damn it!"
Gray's scramble for his clothes effectively ended his argument until Natsu started pointing and laughing and the whole thing started over again.
Loke didn't watch as Lucy slipped her arms into the jacket's sleeves. Instead he smiled at his date, draping an arm over her shoulders and leading her back out of the guild. Why had they come in here anyway? To show off the grandeur of Fairy Tail and look for Lucy, neither of which he ought to have done.
"You're so chivalrous," his date giggled, melting against his side.
He smiled at her even though the night air was cold without his jacket, and his date felt too close with just his t-shirt between them. "I try."
"You're reckless! You don't listen to me when I try to send you back. You throw yourself into danger because you think it makes you look cool or something."
"You're reckless. You get yourself into situations you can't handle and then you don't call on me until it's too late."
"I can too handle it! I handle things just fine, thank you! You big jerk! I don't need you! I'm not helpless!"
One final punch to the mage's face and he fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. The green swirling magic building around him fizzled with a poof, disappearing like a popped bubble.
Loke panted, staring down at the mage, waiting at the ready for him to stand once more and the battle to continue, for it to get harder. His knuckles throbbed under the glow of his fists, the pain lasting four heartbeats before fading behind his adrenaline and diverted attention.
The mage didn't rise. The dust settled around them and the battle was over. Loke let the glow of his magic fade as he straightened, let out a breath, and turned to Lucy.
Her eyes were wide, her form still tensed, still ready to fight. Smudges and scrapes laced her skin, matching her wild hair and rumpled, dirtied clothes.
She looked like a warrior.
She looked courageous.
She looked beautiful.
Her eyes rose to meet his and, at the sight of his easy smile, she let herself relax.
A laugh bubbled up from her chest as her tension drained away and her excitement spilled over. "Ha! Haha! We did it! We did it!"
Throwing her arms above her head, she leapt into the air, and before her shoes could touch the ground, he snatched her from the air, into his arms, and spun, her arms around his neck, her laughter bright in his ear, his grin hidden against her shoulder.
"You call on me to fight for you. Why are you so pissed off when I actually do it instead of rolling over and giving up the first time I get knocked down? Think of how far you'd get if I did that. Think of what trouble you'd be in. I'm stronger than that. I can take it. As long as I can stand, I'll protect you."
Her face turned bright red as he adjusted her posture, pressing the length of his arms to hers as he drew her fists closer to her face. He could feel her shoulders stiffen against his chest.
"Don't tense up like that," he said against her cheek, his amusement barely contained.
She ignored him, her eyes darting to the faces watching them. "Do we really have to do this in the guild?"
Several of the guys chuckled. They'd gathered at the nearest tables, half interested in Lucy's progress as Loke tried to teach her to punch things, half interested in their beer and their own muffled conversations.
His hands slipped down to her waist, brushing against bare skin where her shirt didn't quite meet her skirt. "If you'd rather go back to your apartment," he purred.
"No, thank you." She shoved his hands away with a sahay of her hips and readjusted her fighting stance. "Now are you going to teach me something or are you just going to stand there and breathe on me?"
"Breathing on you does sound nice."
She shot him a glare and he smiled, moving around to face her, nudging her foot into place with his own. "Keep your chin down." She did so. She didn't do more than narrow her eyes at him as he inspected her stance. Usually she'd shout at him to stop checking her out, but now she looked like she wanted his approval.
He held up a hand. "Throw a punch here. Show me what you got."
She punched him.
He frowned.
"What was that?"
"A punch!"
"No, it wasn't. Who are you going to hurt with that?"
"Shut up."
"I've felt you slap harder than that."
"Want to feel it again?"
"Yes. Now give me your best Erza face and show me. Right here. With your fist."
"My—my best what?!"
"Your most bone chilling, terrifying glare. Get really mad and punch me."
She slumped and muttered to herself. "If she finds out..."
"Punch me!"
"Don't shout at me!"
"Then stop fooling around."
"I'm not fooling a—"
"Lucy! Punch me!"
"ARRH!"
A clap snapped through the room, echoing up into the rafters. Their audience fell silent, each nursing their own smirk of satisfaction.
Holding her fist in a stinging hand, Loke grinned at her as she glared up at him.
"Good," he said. "Again."
Her scowl darkened up as she pounded her fist into his palm, bobbing on her toes.
"Good. Keep going...Follow through...Harder...Left this time. Right again...Faster. Mind your feet...Upper cut. Follow through with a left...Again." They were moving now, turning together across the floor. His movements sped up, blurring between hits, marking the spot of her next attack, then blocking her and blurring again, dragging the speed out of her, pushing her to keep up.
"Your aim's getting sloppy...Better. Watch your elbows...Harder. More. More! And kick!"
He caught her leg by her shin and ankle, suspending her in mid kick. Her balance was so good that she didn't even wobble as he held her in place. Now they really had the guild's attention.
He smirked at her. "Your kicks need work."
A dark grin spread across her face, empowered and vicious, setting itself firmly under her shadowed eyes and only visible as she tilted her face towards him. "Then let's do those next." She punched her hand into her fist for emphasis, and for a moment his world paused so he could bask in everything that made her great.
Then her face paled, and she let out a whine of pain, either the burn in her fist caught up to her, or she punched her hand too hand. "Oww. Oww." She shook out both hands, lost her balance, spazzed, and would have toppled to the floor if he hadn't grabbed her by the waist to right her.
"This isn't even about me is it?! This is about how you couldn't live with the guilt again if another of your masters died! It's not about me, it's about your second chance and how you're too scared that something'll go wrong. It's not about me, it's about her!"
He appeared in the dark, whipping around in search of the danger, in search of Lucy. He had to blink twice before he recognized her room.
His pulse spiked. Who would attack her in her apartment? At night? He bit down the instinct to call her name. Where was she?
Something shifted to his right, whimpering, and instantly he was at her side, kneeling on her bed and searching for her face in her cocoon of blankets. He kept his voice low as he whispered her name, fighting back fear that threatened to tear its way free. "Lucy?"
She muttered something again, something incomprehensible and frightened and weak, her face pulled into a grimace and lit gently by the faint glow streetlights through the window's curtains.
He grabbed for her blankets, ready to pull them off and assess her for damage, ready to sweep her into his arms and get her to safety.
Then she made a noise between a groan and a sigh and snuggled deeper into her pillow, and he froze. She was asleep.
"...Grnm Loke..." she whimpered.
He nearly laughed. He pressed his hand to his face and shook his head as relief and the ridiculousness of the situation hit him.
She'd summoned him in her sleep. Because she could apparently do that now. He wasn't sure if he should be proud of her or exasperated that he now had three AM wakeup calls to look forward to.
He leaned over her, brushing her damp hair from her forehead. "Shh," he murmured. "It's alright. I'm here." He stroked her hair, watching her relax, listening to her breathing even.
Looking at her peaceful face pulled at something inside him, drawing him closer. He considered leaning in—just a few short inches—and pressing a kiss to her temple. He considered draping his jacket over her, leaving her some indication of his presence, some sign that he'd been there for her.
Instead, he simply left, fizzling into the night to rejoin the stars.
"Why do you keep doing this?!"
"Because I love you!"
"So what?!"
He choked, slammed to a halt, but she barreled on.
"Loving someone isn't an excuse to go out and kill yourself! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, you big...dumb...Ergh!"
He stared, his eyes wide, his face slack as she grabbed at her hair in frustration. "Lucy..." It came out a whisper.
"Shut up! Just...just shut. Up." Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over as she squeezed them closed. He found himself reaching up to wipe them away with his thumb. Surprisingly, she didn't push him away.
"Lucy..."
She sniffed, and he pulled her gently into his arms, where she buried her damp face against his neck. Her fist pounded once against his chest, a gesture of tired anger and defeat. Then she eased, wrapping her arms around him beneath his jacket, her fingers digging into the back of his shirt.
He squeezed his eyes closed and held her tighter.