Oh boy, what a tiring week. My body seems to think sleep is overrated for some strange reason.
So sorry if my writing isn't quite up to scratch, but my head just isn't quite into it at the moment.
Disclaimer: Not awesome enough to own Fairy Tail or its characters… yes I did just call Hiro Mashima awesome…
Enduring the Stay
Closing the door behind her, Lucy let out a heavy sigh. She didn't realise just how much attention she and her feline friend were going to attract, but then again it wasn't everyday that a lion just wandered the streets of Magnolia. They got just about every reaction possible, from looks of fear as people backed away to looks of excitement from kids that tried to run up to him before being yanked off the sidewalk by their parents. Either she was going to have to suck it up and get used to it or Loke was staying home for the duration of his visit, and she was pretty sure there was no way in hell he was sitting put for however long it was going to take him to change back. Loke was a patient guy, but even he had his limits.
She strode over to her desk, leaving her companion to do his own thing while he waited on her, and shuffled through the papers on her desk, trying to organize herself a little bit before grabbing a handful of her writing, straightening it into a neat pile and carefully placing it into her handbag, along with an inkwell and a pen. As quickly as she had arrived, she was ready to leave again.
"Loke, we're going back out now." She called out to the spirit, who was rather interested in something underneath her sofa, which was difficult to believe considering it was so close to the ground it was impossible to see what was underneath. But she could tell something was nagging at his sense of smell as his black nose poked at the base of the couch. With a little more force he bumped it, careful not to knock it over, and received a shrill cry in response followed by a grey blur shooting out from underneath, straight towards Lucy… until it got caught under a massive, swift paw that slammed down on top of it.
Lucy stared at the scene before her for a minute before her brain registered Loke's catch, to which she jumped and screamed "EEEEWWWW! GET RID OF IT! GET RID OF IT!" Loke looked down at the trapped, squealing mouse with a slightly pained look on his face, then looked around the room as if trying to find something that could help him, but to no avail. He then hesitantly lowered his head towards it, lifted it slightly, then lowered it again, and picked up the mouse between his massive teeth, only by the tail. With a scrunched up face, he hurriedly trotted over to the window above Lucy's bed and tossed his head, flinging the rodent out of the apartment. He returned to Lucy's side, his expression unchanged, with his tongue hanging out of his jaws as if to say 'Blech!' Lucy took a deep sigh of relief with her unwanted visitor now gone. "I swear… I am going to kill Natsu for this…" Loke nodded in agreement. His face relaxed when Lucy ruffled his mane slightly and said "Come on, let's not worry about that until we see Natsu again." The loyal spirit nodded and obediently followed Lucy out onto the street.
They headed out of the apartment and made their way through the streets, Lucy glancing around nervously at the people that watched them with expressions similar to the ones they received before, whilst Loke just completely ignored everything around him except the girl he was following. He didn't seem to care that people were looking at him, but then again it was something he was kind of used to back when he was stuck in the human world and attracted attention for a living.
As they reached their destination, Loke stopped and looked around in awe at the place Lucy had brought him to, which he had never visited before. It was a giant park with lush green grass as soft as feathers, plenty of trees scattered throughout the area and a sparkling, clear blue lake in the middle. The spirit let out a noise that Lucy could have sworn vaguely sounded like a deep meow, and eagerly ran over to the lakeside. His master watched him as he frolicked all over the place and took in the sights, seemingly having fun, and a wide grin easily crept onto her face. She had never seen him so happy, as odd as it was that he was ecstatic over a park, but that was probably just the lion side of him. He had been acting a bit differently since he'd changed.
The blonde wandered over to the nearest tree, which delivered a considerable amount of shade, and sat on the ground, letting out a contented sigh as she slightly sank into the soft blades of grass and her back rested up against the thick trunk. She quickly pulled out her 'in-progress' chapter and set her inkwell up with her pen hovering above it as she scoured her brain for ideas. Her thoughts were interrupted at the sound of a scraping noise and a groan, and looked up to see a certain lion raised up onto his hind paws, using a nearby tree as a giant scratching post. Lucy just laughed as she watched him scratch at the trunk, his face looking as if it was sheer bliss as his sharp claws tore away the bark, his back slowly arching inwards. She couldn't deny that he looked adorable, but at the same time she couldn't help but think how ridiculous he looked when she remembered who he was. Eventually he lowered himself back onto all four paws and approached Lucy, letting out a huge yawn. As he sat down next to his owner, he curiously peered at the papers in her hand, which she held close to her chest when she noticed what he was doing. He let out a disgruntled moan and slightly lowered his head.
"No," she said firmly, "Levy's going to be the first person to read this, nobody else." The lion's ears lowered slightly and his eyes softened, making a 'Pretty please?' face, to which Lucy replied with a definite shake of her head. Loke huffed and lay down on the ground in defeat, slowly closing his eyes. Lucy sighed and relaxed, but yelped and tensed up again when a giant, furry head suddenly rested on her lap. Her first thought was that she was thankful she decided to wear shorts instead of a skirt, otherwise the situation could have gotten very awkward. Her next thought was to shove him aside, she still had a novel to write after all! But looking down at his peaceful face and listening to his steady breathing he seemed to be dozing off already, so she decided not to disturb him, her writing could wait for another time. She packed her stuff up, careful not to move too much, and rested a hand on the top of Loke's head. The two of them sat in peace for a while, with Lucy running her fingers through Loke's mane gently, earning her a contented purr from the big cat. She smiled and looked up around the park as she thought about the first time she had imagined coming here with Loke. Obviously it wasn't quite how she originally envisioned it, but it was still nice all the same and Loke did seem to be genuinely enjoying himself, leaning a little further into Lucy's lap as her delicate fingers gently swept across his fur.
Lucy looked down at her guardian spirit, and her gaze drifted to the Fairy Tail mark on his back. She was always curious as to where his was placed until he finally showed her and their guild mates. It was odd how it was in a spot where almost no-one could see it. Her hand slowly crept towards the tattoo and she let her finger lightly graze down the mark. The reaction she got from her lion was definitely not what she expected. With a short, loud roar Loke's entire body jumped, and his rough pink tongue fell out of the side of his mouth as he let out a long moan and his muscles finally relaxed from their spasm.
"Loke! Loke, are you alright?" Lucy held his limp head in both her hands, freaking out as she thought she'd accidentally hurt him. He lazily opened his eyes and let out a short groan, his tongue not moving. His face was similar to the one he had when he was scratching the tree. Lucy finally let go of the breath she was holding, he seemed to be okay, then she thought about how lucky she was that his paws weren't on her lap as well, because he would have easily punctured her legs in the small seizure he had, as they had unsheathed themselves rather quickly.
"Alright, let's go back home. The sun's just starting to set and it's going to get pretty dark soon." She slightly shifted her body, but Loke didn't move. "Come on, Loke." The celestial mage moved out from underneath his head, letting it slump to the ground, and picked up her bag. The lion spirit still didn't move. "Hey, are you okay?" She knelt down and shook him gently, becoming more and more concerned. After another minute or so, Loke slowly heaved himself back to his feet and shook his entire body like a wet dog. Lucy let out a deep sigh of relief and said "You scared me there. I thought I'd hurt you." Loke quickly shook his head, then rubbed up against her side just like a giant cat, letting her know he was perfectly fine. She cocked an eyebrow as she thought of what could have just happened. She'd heard about some people with sensitive spines, but she never would have picked Loke to be one of those, then again he was a feline. A tiny corner of her mind wondered if he would react the same if he was a human.
Shaking her head, she turned back towards the edge of the park and said "Come on, let's go." With a nod Loke began to follow behind his master, glancing over his shoulder to get one more look at the beautiful place they were leaving behind.
There weren't as many people out seeing as it was getting late, so the two had no troubles getting back to the apartment, but they decided to take the back roads just in case. Once back at home, Loke sat by the couch as Lucy heated some hamburger patties on her stove in the kitchen and placed them on two plates, one which she set down on the floor next to the dining room table to make it easier for Loke to reach. Judging by his reaction at the mouse earlier that afternoon his appetite seemed to be unchanged, otherwise he would have swallowed it whole, so Lucy figured she may as well be cooking for two. To her, it was strange how some things about him had changed, yet other things hadn't. But then again, it was only one star that had moved, so not everything was going to be different. Lucy sat down at the table, with Loke on the floor beside her, and they ate their dinner together quietly, Loke wolfing his down within less than a minute. Lucy could have also sworn she had one extra hamburger before she decided to get up and close the curtains…
Too tired to take a soak in her tub, the young mage just changed into her pajamas, while Loke waited in the other room of course, and pulled a few blankets out of the top of her cupboard for the white lion to sleep on, careful not to bring down the rest of the linen with them. She was a little uncertain about him staying in the same room as her, but she didn't have much choice since there was no space in the living room. Hell, it was hard enough for him to squeeze between the furniture. The bathroom was out of the question for the same reason, so that left the open floor space of her room. After she had prepared a temporary bed she opened the door and was almost knocked over as her guest bounded past her and leapt up onto the bed, instantly laying down and making himself at home.
"Ohhh no you don't!" Lucy said sternly, wrapping her arms around his middle and using all her weight to slowly slide him off her bed towards her, along with her blankets and sheets underneath him. "You are not sleeping up there!" Loke groaned in discontent and looked at her with upset eyes and slightly turned back ears. He really was stubborn. She turned and pointed at the pile of blankets, with one hand on her hip. His ears turned further backwards and he lowered his head a little. Lucy let out a sigh as her shoulders slouched. "Fine… I'll sleep on the floo-" He interrupted with a sharp roar and shot past her onto the bed she made on the carpet, he kneaded the cotton to make it more comfortable before he laid down, crossed his paws and grunted as he lowered his head onto them. "Good boy," Lucy chuckled. He just huffed in reply, obviously not entirely happy with the setup she had arranged. She knelt down, stroked his head and whispered "Goodnight Loke." He growled lightly and pressed his head a little further into her hand before she pulled away and settled into her own bed after fixing it up.
It took her a while to go to sleep because her mind was buzzing with many thoughts, most of them about Loke. She wondered how long it was going to take him to change back, and hoped it wouldn't require draining him of just about all of his energy. He could last three years in the human world, so changing back could take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months. Lucy shook her head at the thought. Two stars holding each other together would require a tremendous amount of energy, so hopefully it wouldn't take too much for them to eventually let go of each other. As Lucy's thought processes on the Leo constellation began to slow down she eventually dozed off to the sound of Loke's heavy breathing just a metre or so away from her.
-THE NEXT DAY-
Lucy wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to get up so soon, but she couldn't ignore the fuzzy sensation on the side of her face and eventually opened her chocolate brown eyes to the sight of Loke sitting beside her bed, and the feeling of him rubbing his face against hers and slightly tickling her cheek with his whiskers. She giggled as she sat up and gently wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer and rest her head in his soft mane. She could feel him purring lightly against her, and just wanted to go back to sleep the way she was, despite being in a half sitting position.
'Maybe I could get used to waking up to this for a little bit.' She thought as she snuggled a little more into the makeshift pillow, feeling the vibrations of his purr run through her own body. Eventually she awoke a little more from him constantly shifting in her hold and not being able to sit still for long, but he was still disappointed when she let go of him. She brushed off some stray strands of fur that had made their way onto her pajamas and grabbed her necessities for her much needed shower, while Loke sat down and waited patiently on his bed for her. After Lucy had freshened up, and the two of them had filled their stomachs with bacon and eggs, they were ready to head to the guild. As Lucy opened the door to her apartment she was met with an unexpected visitor.
"Lucy Heartfilia?"
The blonde blinked, with a clueless expression on her face, and replied "Yes?" She noticed the way the stranger leant to the side, looked curiously at Loke who stood behind her, looking just as confused as his owner, then straightened once again to look her in the eye once more.
"I am a messenger from the council. We have been notified of some concerns regarding your… pet."
Those last few paragraphs are rather rushed and I'm not entirely proud of them, but the chapter was getting pretty long, and the more I proof read stuff the more I mess it up until it's ruined beyond repair. Believe me, this happens to just about every story I write… which is why I'm trying not to do it to this one. I can get rather picky and just kill stuff, so I've been trying not to reread my stuff too much. Just the spell checks! But like I said, I've also been losing a heck of a lot of sleep. I think since my last update Tuesday (at about 1am where I am) I've gotten probably 10 hours of sleep. When uni starts back my sleeping pattern should hopefully fix itself.
Also I feel bad for what I did to the poor mouse… animal cruelty aside, hands up who wants their own lion now! o/
Anyways, reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated, but not necessary ^_^
No flames though, of course. I already live with a pyromaniac, so I don't need any more of those…
Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully I'll update soon!
~Piplup~
