"Are you serious?"

"Yes, you idiot," she said, probably for the hundredth time. "I'm serious."

"Positive?"

"Absolutely."

Loke let out a noise of excitement. It was like a mewl, Cana noted, which made him an excited little kitten. Before he could ask if she was serious again, she took a long, well-deserved sip of alcohol from her bottle, swinging it in a circle shape as she finally broke the moment of silence.

"I'll be your wing man."

For a while, she was wondering why he didn't ask Gray to be his "wing man," as Loke called it, but then she recalled that he wasn't one for talking, nor romance or support. "Go out with the ginger over there; he'll fuck you up," would probably the most supportive thing that would come out of Gray's mouth. Cana chuckled a bit, which broke out into laughter that wasn't contained in any way, which confused the "ginger" in front of her, who shrugged it off as he scanned the deck for his next woman.

"I can't believe I'm willing to help you with something so stupid," Cana said. He turned back to her, seeming to give a look that asked, "What's so stupid about this?" and all she could say was that it was absolutely rude and ungentlemanly of him to be so willing to woo every attractive woman he saw.

"Your attractive and I'm not flirting with you," he said, flashing a confident smile. He was confident in the fact that he had seemingly shown Cana that she was wrong.

"Only because I turned you down before you could say anything," she chimed back, watching his smile falter. Loke pouted a bit, then gave up on shooting a rebuttal back at her.

She peered around the deck, seeming to await an exclaim from the orange-haired player beside her. He was doing the same, peering around. He plopped himself down onto the bench when there was a long silence and a lack of attraction. He muttered under his breath how he was on the Titanic to get rich quickly, which Cana remembered very clearly, despite all the alcohol she drank.

"There's no point in flirting with third class girls," he groaned.

"You idiot," Cana said, tapping his head with her bottle. "Girls have a personality, too, you know. Fall in love with a girl before you marry her. You have that choice, unlike the upper classes. Hasn't Gray rubbed off on you? He's working for his money."

Loke was silent. Deep in her bones, Cana felt as though his silence was the sign of an impending apocalypse and doom, but another part of her knew that Gray would have killed to see his comrade in deep contemplation. When he didn't move, nor look up, Cana sat down beside him, biting her lip. He was bothered, but she didn't know by what.

Far quieter than he had ever spoken, he muttered, "I used to date this one girl, but some things happened, we lost contact, and I never saw her again."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He shrugged. Finally, after a long while, he turned his head up, and ran his hands through his tousled locks of orange hair. "Sure. Why not?" He flashed a smile, but it was weak and helpless, and for the first time, Cana saw despair in his eyes.

"Her name was Aries, like the zodiac." It was how he started, which would eventually lead into a story. Cana braced herself, taking one final sip of the alcohol in her hand, and she sat it down beside her. She turned her head to listen to him, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. It was common for her hair to become undone, which was why she rarely put it up.

"I cared about her so much. It was almost like she was the reason I breathed, you know what I mean? She was timid, shy, anxious... It was hard getting to know her, but I was hooked, and she became my drug. She was my opium, I guess..."

Loke claimed to have dated her for more than a year. For the first time in his life, he took things slowly, and he never rushed. He learned to work with a steady hand and took care of her with everything he had, everything he could offer. There was a rim of water at his eyes, which he quickly proceeded to blink away as he spoke. He fixed his glasses, and continued.

"I met her while I was still living in Ireland, a few years ago. My father needed to move to France, and so I was pulled there with him. I promised Aries I would come back, or, if she wanted to, she could come to France and live there with me. She seemed more interested to see the world, so I promised I would bring her there.

"Ticket prices between France and Ireland got really pricey at some point in time, but I was ready to bring her to Paris. I sent my money in the mail to her, but it never made it. The people it was sent with to Ireland ended up in some sort of accident, and they all died, and all of their cargo was lost. Not long after, my own father died, and what was in that envelope, headed to Aries, was everything I had left. Thus, second class Leo became third class Loke, and I gave up."

Taking her lower lip between her teeth, Cana chewed at it, anxious. He stuttered a lot, and paused between sentences for long periods of time. His tone was flate, and he spoke monotone, seeming to be forcing down whatever emotions he was stirring. She was putting her faith in his words, because the way he spoke and how cold he felt when he placed a reassuring hand on his own told her that he was serious, and not a single word was a lie.

"I met Gray a few months later," he said, seeming to perk up. Loke straightened his back, a smile returning. "He understood me and where I came from on a much grander scale, but I never told him all of that. It was nice just being Loke to him, and it became the name I took on. He never asked questions about me before I met him, which was all fine by me, and now, 1912, and we're on the Titanic. Look at us, moving on up!"

"Your optimism," was all that Cana could say.

"It gets me far." He turned to her, placed a relaxed hand on her shoulder, and asked, "So, your going to America to meet up with your dad? Isn't he sending you up there as a gift or something?"

"No," she said, frankly. "If I say any of that kind of stuff to anyone like, 'Oh, I'm visiting my dad, and he paid for my trip,' it's a total lie," she bantered. "I've never actually met the old guy, so me going to the United States because of him isn't a lie, but I'm going up there to meet him, and he has no idea who the hell I am."

"So Miss Cana Al-beautiful is the product of a man who left? He should have stuck around to see how gorgeous and amazing you turned out," he said.

"Thanks," Cana said, smiling at him. She took a sip of ale, and told him, "That's why I want you to find real love so you'll stick around. But don't worry, because he's supposedly a great guy. My mother said he was the love of her life, so I'm sure he's great. He probably didn't even know what he had left behind."

"He left behind a daughter and her mother." Loke stood to his feet, taking Cana's hand to pull her to her feet. "Don't worry, I wouldn't do that. And I'm sure you won't be let down when you meet this guy."

A/N: Hello, dearies!

I ended up writing this chapter on my birthday anyways, because I had lots of free time, but sorry it ended up being so short! Melly and I have just fallen in love with the thought of Loki (yes, I normally spell it with an i) and Cana being the best brOTP ever, so here was an entire chapter dedicated to those two, and it was heart-touching, ne?

I really like my play on Alberona with Al-beautiful! I'm really proud of that, because I was clever! I decided to use Loki and Cana in a chapter to themselves, though, because Fairy Tail Side Characters Week is coming up soon, and Cana Apperciation Day was May 18, so there's that!

Special thanks to all of those who told me happy birthday, as well as my darlings on Tumblr who sent me surprises!

I hope you guys liked this week's chapter! Sorry it was short, but at least it was something! I hope to hear from you!

Bye-bye now!~