Disclaimer - Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima & all things Pradesh belong to DESNA
A/N - Yes this is a VanLu ship, but Vander is still Vander and Boscan and still unattached. Please read and review!
"What do you mean she hasn't returned?"
She knew that would get his attention. Mira struggled to keep the glee from her voice and maintain a straight face before she turned around. She shrugged as she pretended to be really busy rearranging items behind the bar. "They came back. She didn't. Mission was S class, taking down a new dark guild. Maybe she needed some time off?" She paused before commenting, "I'm sure she'll come back eventually."
Vander narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. There was no way on Earthland that this guild would be calm if the Light of Fairy Tail was missing. She didn't seem to be lying but she was definitely not speaking the whole truth. He decided to just cut to the chase and ask. His curiosity was piqued. "And where might I find Crime Sorciere?" Mira pointed to the same duo she referenced earlier when explaining why Cobra was in hiding.
Meredy's eyes widened as he sauntered over and she licked her lips. Vander smirked internally and put a little extra swagger into his steps. "And hello tall dark and delicious!" Meredy exclaimed as he reached the table.
Vander gave her a smile, "I don't believe we've had the pleasure…"
"Oh we aren't with Fairy Tail so we aren't here often. Are you new? Are you taken?" She twirled her finger in her hair while letting her eyes roam his body.
"I'm not with Fairy Tail either, just visiting family. Also not taken. Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all!" She practically dragged him into the chair next to her, simultaneously scooting hers closer. She kept a grip on his arm as she leaned into him. "I'm Meredy and that gloomy guy is Jellal." The blue haired man looked up from his book and nodded to the Shadowquip at his mention. "Don't mind him, he's dull. What is your name sexy?" She couldn't believe her luck. Hanging out with Jellal definitely put a damper on her love life so it had been a while.
"Please attempt to behave yourself while visiting other guilds Meredy." Jellal requested dryly.
She rolled her eyes in response. "See? Dull."
"I'm Vander. What is such a beautiful flower doing in the middle of Fiore?" One of her hands started roaming across his chest, he leaned back a little and gave her free reign. She was very bold for a Fioran.
"I'm in Crime Sorciere. I'm one of the founders actually." Jellal cleared his throat loudly and gave her a pointed look as her hand started to reach under the leather to his skin. She stuck her tongue out at him, but retracted her hand slightly. "We specialize in taking down dark guilds since we all used to be in them. Right now it's just the two of us."
"I'd love to hear all about it," Vander prompted.
"Oh, but I wouldn't want to bore Jellal with all those old stories. Perhaps somewhere more private for a… chat?"
Vander pulled a set of keys out of… well she didn't know where because it didn't look like he had any pockets. But she was happy to see the keys nonetheless. "My brother left me his spare set and I know he won't be back for several hours."
Several hours later he strolled back into the guild hall and went upstairs to find his brother with his teammates. Bickslow raised a brow in question as his little brother tossed him his house keys. Vander winked. "There's a pink haired wild cat passed out in the spare room. I'm heading out for a while so I figured I'd return those."
"Pink hair?" Bickslow tried to figure out who his brother hooked up with. "The only one with pink hair here recently is… no way. Meredy?" The seith mage cackled in delight. "Is she as crazy as I think she is?"
"It's a good thing I heal quickly, kitty has claws. Also that sensory linking is no joke. You should seriously try it sometime." Bickslow cackled loudly again earning a smack from Evergreen's fan. He pouted at the fairy queen and bade his brother farewell as he disappeared in a swirl of shadows.
"Is he going back to Bosco?" Fried asked.
"I doubt it. Dad's being insufferable about getting grandkids right now. Wherever he's going, he'll probably get in trouble with Kaleb or Farron again. So I'm sure to hear about it soon enough."
It didn't take terribly long for Vander to follow the directions Meredy had given him to where Lucy was staying. Evidently they found a mage on the mission and she was keeping him out in the woods to train him. The mage had some strong gifts but lacked control and for some reason the celestial mage was immune to it. It was hard to get specifics from the exhausted maguilty mage.
The whole thing sounded odd, and he felt it was a good idea to check on her. She was a strong mage he knew, but he wanted to make sure she wasn't in over her head. At least that is what he kept telling himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that she was in the woods alone with a strange male mage for weeks.
He approached the clearing she was camped in quietly. He wanted to get eyes on the situation before making his presence known. Lucy was seated near a campfire apparently meditating. Behind her was the goat spirit and on the other side of the fire was another figure. He couldn't make out details other than the guy was short due to the fire blocking his view. As he circled the clearing to get a better look he felt a strong surge of frustration for no apparent reason.
"Lucas, you have to concentrate. There's no need to be upset. I have faith that you can do this. It just takes practice. Trust me Capricorn didn't think I'd ever learn to meditate properly."
Vander heard a sigh from the male as he finally got to a good vantage point. All of a sudden he felt a surge of love and adoration. He looked at the blonde practically glowing in the firelight with a warm smile on her face. She looked like an angel. He nearly walked right into the clearing forgetting all about the other mage just to get closer to her. Looking over he realized the mage was just a kid and the look on his face as he gazed at Lucy across the fire was exactly how he felt.