At the guildhall Natsu finds Loke at his usual spot, by the bar and flirting with his one of many girlfriends. The dragon slayer heaves a sigh.
"Yo, Loke!" He calls.
Upon seeing Natsu, Loke's usually calm demeanor changes. Natsu may not be the wisest, but he is not dumb. The salmon haired man clearly catches the way Loke's face shifts to a dejected look, before he quickly puts on a smile to cover up.
"H-Hey Natsu," Loke motions the girl beside him to give them some space and says, "Man 'sup?" Natsu warily eyes his nervous expressions, it is almost as if the celestial spirit wants a chance to escape.
Natsu will not let him do so, but he keeps himself from asking the ginger haired man anything about it. At least for the time being.
"Where's Luce?" Natsu quickly gets to the point. "It's been one week and she hasn't come to the guild yet." Loke shakes his head and sighs.
"I believe, she left you a letter?" He reminds the slayer, Natsu pulls out the paper from his pocket. "She did, and I don't trust this. There's something wrong and I need-"
The celestial spirit cuts him off with a glare. "Lucy is allowed to do jobs without you Natsu, she's not compelled to always be with other people," Loke snaps. "Get that inside your fuckin' head man."
Natsu again feels a pang of guilt in his chest, he clenches his fists on both sides and stares down. He knows something is wrong, something he needs to figure out but Loke is correct, he does not get to come to conclusions all by himself.
Once his anger subdues, Loke sighs in regret. Honestly, who can blame him for getting mad at Natsu? His master spent hours after hours crying, all for the dragon slayer.
But Loke is aware that it is not actually the salmon haired man's fault. He doesn't even know why Lucy left all on a sudden. Does not know that it is all because of him.
Natsu is doing what a best friend will do, what Loke would do if he were in his place. He lost his temper in the heat of the moment, thinking about Lucy, which was unfair to the fire mage.
So Loke aplogises the next moment.
"Sorry man, I'm a bit sensitive when comes to Lucy!" He raises his hand in the air.
The fire mage smilingly nods.
"Nah I get ya, I just… don't feel alright… about this. I know Lucy can protect herself better than me, heck even saved my ass at times! But… I just can't…" Natsu trails of with a groan, frustratedly rubs his temple. "Besides, even if I know she's safe… I still want to be by her side. I don't think I can go through the pain of… losing her again…" He adds right after.
The confession makes Loke reconsider his decision of not telling him anything about Lucy. Only if he can do anything to ease his pain, while not breaking his promise to his beloved master.
I know you won't tell anyone where I am, I trust you.
The ginger haired man then takes a deep breath and asks, "What is Lucy to you?"
"What?"
"I said, what is Lucy to you Natsu?" Loke repeats.
The celestial spirit sincerely hopes what he sees in the eyes of the man before him, is true.