~PREFACE STUFF cause I literally can't write oneshots without feeling like I've missed something I wanted to get across to y'all SO I'm sort of imagining this very Halsey/Lana Del Rey vibe for Lucy's voice. Also I'm a whore for angstyLucy and I haven't written her much so like here we are XD
The songs I mention/have listed are This is Gospel by Panic! At the Disco (Piano Version); The Run and Go by Twenty One Pilots; Colors by Halsey; Take me to Church by Hozier; Little Do You Know by Alex & Sierra so if y'all wanted to check em out or give a listen, go for it.~
Huge- A VanLu Singer AU no one asked for
Lucy Heartfilia had been steadily booking gigs at bars and clubs since she was a fresh faced sixteen year old girl with a guitar and a dream of becoming as big as her idol, MiraJane Strauss who was the face of the record company that also boasted powerhouse bands like Raijinshu and Twin Sabers, solo artists like Black Steel Gajeel and Gildarts Clive and even had a some EDM DJ's signed, the most popular being Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster. All signed to Fairy Tail. The relatively small but infamous label always put on the best, must-see concerts because they somehow managed to make even the two most unlikely artists from different genres to work together and sound amazing. She had gotten tickets to the Fire and Ice themed EDM tour built around Natsu and Gray when they played their final show of the tour in Magnolia before they got popular and the event was legendary.
It had been six years since she played her first real show and after those six years of holding out hope that any label would pick her up, she had gotten a call from Akane Resort about a spot in the lineup of their annual summer music festival needing filled and somehow the slot right before some foreign act was now hers. It was good spot on one of the bigger stages in the early evening on the first day and she was ecstatic to the point of having to keep herself in check until she actually got off the phone.
The main sponsor for the event was none other than Fairy Tail itself and nearly all of their artists would be attending the festival so the moment she got off the phone with the resort, she dialed Levy to tell her one of the perks of accepting were two free VIP passes for the entirety of the festival including a two bedroom suite in the swanky upper levels of the hotel and the two of them would be there.
When the pair of emotionally unstable ladies stepped out of the car that picked them up at the airport to gape and the effort put into the festival and saw just how huge it had gotten over the years. From the entrance of the resort, Levy and Lucy counted five separate stages with varying setups and that was just what they could see right then.
Eager to get checked in and unpacked, Lucy grabbed her best friends hand and bounced her way to the check-in desk as the two gushed about the lineup for the week-long music event of the year and how they were going to finally see Laxus Dreyar and the rest of the Raijinshu live after a decade of swooning at posters on their bedroom walls.
XxXxXxXxX
Poking her head of long pastel pink hair styled in loose beachy waves with the top split in two french braids to come to an end in two perfect buns to gage the mood of the decent crowd she managed to gather being a relatively unknown artist and pick out Levy's head of bright blue hair in a cute mini dress with wide bell sleeves and a plunging back made of layers of thin white cotton and gave the barest wave from the side of the biggest stage she's ever played on in her whole life.
They pretty much gave her an hour to do whatever she wanted with so she had a good mix of covers that always did well with both the younger and older music lovers and the songs she wrote herself. The prospect of getting to play her own music at a festival like this one had her bouncing from booted foot to foot in a moment of gleeful delight that this was actually happening. She was really about to play a set at Akane's Summer Festival.
Her nerves had been flip flopping since they woke up earlier that morning to check out the venue and plan the schedule for the bands they absolutely wanted to see and got ready with the band but standing off-stage in the pair of worn high-waisted jean shorts fraying at the hem cut high on her thighs and the now-cropped t-shirt from her first Dragneel concert so faded pink, it looked white against the thick red lines that spelled 'Salamander' across her chest while she shook her wrists to get all her bracelets and bangles down where they belonged made her adrenaline pump in the most addictive and wonderful way that felt almost as good as the first time she mustered the courage to get on stage and play her first gig alone.
Lucy Heartfilia was decidedly and irrevocably lost to show business and she had barely gotten a foot in the door.
Getting her cue from the stage manager, she crossed the stage to get to where they had set up a vintage grand piano with a smile and wave as she greeted the crowd soaking in the sunlight and good music to introduce herself as she sat on the bench and adjusted the microphone down to where she would be most comfortable while she played her own piano cover of one of her favorite songs.
Her own little chuckle sounded through the mic as cheers started from the few people who recognized the song before taking a deep breath and doing this thing.
This is gospel for the fallen ones
Locked away in permanent slumber
Assembling their philosophies
From pieces of broken memories
Oh, Oh
Their gnashing teeth and criminal tongues conspire against the odds
But they haven't seen the best of us yet
If you love me let me go
If you love me let me go
'Cause these words are knives and often leave scars
The fear of falling apart
And truth be told, I never was yours
The fear, the fear of falling apart
Lucky for her, the smokey lilting tone of her voice caught the attention of the one headliner she didn't recognize since he was from Bosco and this was the first time he was ever playing an official show in Fiore. Not only had she caught the infamous bachelor's attention but stop the stunning man dead in his tracks with the sharp look of growing desire on his face the longer he listened to the haunting natural vibrato of her voice as she hit flawless note after flawless note with emotion so real and tangible, he could feel the hot notes of fiery desire coupled with the morose undertones her piano arrangement brought out in the borrowed song.
This is gospel for the vagabonds,
Ne'er-do-wells and insufferable bastards
Confessing their apostasies
Led away by imperfect impostors
Don't try to sleep through the end of the world
And bury me alive
'Cause I won't give up without a fight
If you love me let me go
If you love me let me go
'Cause these words are knives and often leave scars
The fear of falling apart
And truth be told, I never was yours
The fear, the fear of falling apart
Oh, the fear of falling apart
Oh, the fear, the fear of falling apart
By the time she finished, Vander Pradesh was utterly fascinated by this unknown with the voice of an angel. His arms bulged as they crossed over his chest and his head of long raven hair with a deep red ombre swung to give his manager and oldest brother a shit-eating grin as he spoke with a playful finality that had both Kaleb and Cristoff rolling their eyes at his completely characteristic and unsurprising request, "I want one."
Farron didn't even bat an eye as he gave his youngest brother an indulgent smile and easy, "Of course, you do. Let me go see to that then," before heading off to the nearest security guard to take him backstage to talk to Miss Heartfilia's manager.
Kaleb had to hand it to the little pastel-haired woman effortlessly working the crowd with a genuine quality so pure even he was impressed with how she glowed on stage. She had real potential. That didn't mean that Vander would be necessarily good for her though.
Shooting Cristoff another knowing smirk before the older of them with Farron gone teased his taken little brother and frontman of their own band, "Try not to chew her up and spit her out like the others, Van. This one's got a future if she gets with the right people."
Mock-offense passed over Vander's face as he tore his eyes from Lucy just as she started singing one of her original songs, the harrowing smoke of her lower register soothing like the smell of a campfire in fall, "Are you implying that I am not the 'right people'?"
Both Cristoff and Kaleb answered in instant synchronization, "Yes."
"That is exactly what he's saying. That last time we did this, the poor girl you selected decided to go into accounting." The way the easy-going bassist said it made it sound like accounting was a bad thing as he ran his fingers through the new short messy cut to his silky raven hair only to end up scratching at the dark stubble covering his defined jaw absently.
Vander gave a shrug before he saw two girls start staring and whispering to each other with their fingers pointed directly at him and he decided he would have to finish listening to his sultry siren from backstage where his own fans wouldn't ruin the simple but mesmerizing stripped performance.
Lucy was having an amazing time with the breeze rolling off the ocean rustling her hair and cooling her down from the heat of the lights and bright summer sun. It was hard to believe that people actually stopped and joined her growing crowd so by the time she was about to play her last song, she stopped to thank them from the bottom of her heart with an infectious exuberance that had one random guy in the front row yelling, "I love you," with such vigor that she found herself saying it back through her own jovial laughter before announcing her final song would be another cover of a little fun number titled The Run and Go.
Sitting down to play the first chords with a nod from the band she'd spent most of the day practicing with, she felt like she was on top of the world as she inhaled.
I can't take them on my own, my own
Oh, I'm not the one you know, you know
I have killed a man and all I know
Is I am on the run and go
Before looking across the faces already singing along with her and launching into the chorus:
Don't wanna call you in the nighttime
Don't wanna give you all my pieces
Don't wanna hand you all my trouble
Don't wanna give you all my demons
You'll have to watch me struggle
From several rooms away
But tonight I'll need you to stay
By the time she got to the second verse, she was jamming right along with the scantily clad sea of dancing bodies from the edge of her seat, her backside hovering just above the wooden bench.
I am up against the wall, the wall
Oh, I hear them coming down the hall
I have killed a man and all I know
Is I am on the run and go
After finishing another chorus, her voice got a faraway dreamy smoke to it as she sang the bridge of the song with quiet focus on the delicate high piano notes, lost in her own personal attachment to the lyrics.
Cold nights under siege from accusations
Cerebral thunder in one-way conversations
Giving a cheeky smile, after the end of sweet notes just before her favorite part, she practically knocked the bench over as she stood to sing the last part of the song with an uninhibited free spirit and a brightness to her dark eyes that shined all the way to the people gathering on the outskirts of the crowd she had attracted with magnetic personality and unique voice.
Don't wanna call you in the nighttime
Don't wanna give you all my pieces
Don't wanna hand you all my trouble
Don't wanna give you all my demons
You'll have to watch me struggle
From several rooms away
But tonight I'll need you to stay
After belting the last of her repeated outro, there was a moment time stood still for her. A moment suspended in the air as if she flipped a coin to decide her fate and she needed to gather herself before seeing if she'd land heads of tails. It stood still by her own will, her own flash of reflection on how far she'd come before blinking and taking in the cheers and applause shaking the stage through the thick soles of her worn leather boots.
She gave another deep bow with a look of astonishment before giving another double wave and bounding off-stage to hug to closest warm body she could find and then more than likely die of happy overload. Perfectly content to be struck down riding such a exhilarating high.
True to her word, the instant she got out of view of the crowd her fist was pumping in the air before grabbing the closest patch of fabric she could wrap her fingers around and tugging the person wearing it into a surprisingly strong embrace while she tried to jump up and down at the same time which left her to basically just rub her boobs all over her whoever her unlucky victim was.
Her voice was breathless and elated through the black material of Vander's tight t-shirt as she continued her blind celebration with eyes squeezed shut and a beaming toothy smile on her lips, "I can't believe that just happened. I feel like my heart's gonna explode."
Stilling suddenly, her hand immediately went to her mouth as she mumbled to herself, "No, I'm definitely gonna be sick. I'm gonna hurl right now," before shoving the beautiful model of a human she just used as her own personal rubbing post away from her as she half stumbled behind some boxes of equipment and threw up the noodles she had eaten for lunch.
Vander watched as the nostalgia of his own first real gig washed over him before clearing his throat and asking the bent woman currently wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand with an easy drawl to his tone, "Are you usually this touch and go?"
With her focus on the dread of having to ask someone for something to clean that up, her hand shot out to give him a blind thumbs up as she groaned out, "Nope. This is just a super special case but thanks for asking."
Raising an intrigued pierced brow at her lack of interest in him after the friction of their emotional meeting, his voice was drawn and lazy like his carefree manner of being as he checked the filed edges of his nails from never using a pick when he played acoustic, "No problem, sunshine. Where'd you learn to sing like that?"
Taking a moment to take a breath and look up to the sky in hopes that someone up there would grant her patience to calm the growing irritation from his continued unnecessary presence, she finally turned with every intention of aiming a barb of her own at him but stopped dead when she finally took in the downright gorgeous man giving her the most attractive mischievous smile she's ever seen.
Floundering for a moment before looking around to see if anyone else was seeing what she was seeing only to watch uncareing bodies moving equipment for the next band, the pink-haired beauty cleared her throat before offering a little nicer than her original tone was going to be, "I...could always sing like that. It just sort of comes out of me." With a shrug, she gave her throw up one last guilty look before stepping around it to get out from behind the stacked equipment with her hand rubbing the back of her head in a nervous habit of hers.
Before anything more could come of the exchange, Farron's rich voice called from across backstage, "Vander! I couldn't find Miss Heartfilia's manager- Oh," pausing to offer his hand to her with a smile that melted her anxiety away, "I see you've done one better, Van. My name is Farron and I'm his manager. We would be delighted to have a discussion with you about potentially working together over some dinner at the resort?"
Throwing a glance back to the scene of her last attempted meal, the grumble of her stomach coupled with the wince that pulled at the delicate features of her face was almost too much for her to tamp down but instead, she gave the pair of unbelievably attractive men her best apologetic smile before her wide, honest eyes landed in Vander's deep wine pools to tilt her head sheepishly, "I'm sorry but, who are you exactly?"
The younger of the two let out loud, unbidden laughter at her words which made her face scrunch into confusion before Farron offered kindly, "Miss Lucy, let me introduce you to Vander Pradesh-"
Her eyes bugged as she choked on her own recognition. Vander Pradesh was a headliner. He was the headliner she had never heard of and here he was in all his sexy, mysterious glory and she just up-chucked the contents of her stomach in front of him.
Nice.
"The headliner. I'm an idiot." Smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand, she backpedaled. "And I'm so sorry about the hugging and the yelling in your ear and then the puking. You definitely didn't need to see that."
Levy's voice suddenly sounded from the other side of her like the sky split and angels hit all their harmonies at once, "Lulu? Lulu, where are you? Excuse you, sir, I am walking here," the sass of her short girlfriend unmistakeable over the clanging and banging of set changes.
Grabbing one of each of their hands in hers, she gave another apologetic smile as she rushed, "Hold that thought while I go get her before she gets herself in trouble," and deftly wound her way to the annoyed blunette before exchanging quiet words.
Levy's eyes went round as she spoke with astonishment lacing her words, "He wants to have dinner with you. That's- well that's just what you need, Lulu."
Pressing her cheek to Levy's, she gestured emphatically to the two freakishly good looking men politely waiting for her to get back. "Look at him, Levy! Look! He's beautiful. How am I supposed to focus on anything rational?!"
A thoughtful look took over the pixie features of her face before she offered unhelpfully with a shit-eating grin, "He is unreal levels of handsome, maybe even more than Laxus, eh?"
Grabbing her elbow with a sigh, Lucy muttered under breath as she made her way through the bustle of backstage, "I didn't have to bring you, you know. I could have just left you at home."
"Pfft, yeah okay," was all Levy scoffed out before meeting Farron and Vander Pradesh and heading out to have dinner.
XxXxXxXxX
After Lucy got over her shock that Levy actually knew who Vander was thanks to the blunette's mild obsession with Raijinshu's drummer Bickslow Pradesh and that she listened to his music without her best friend knowing, eased into the surprisingly light conversation without her hands shaking with uncertainty and excitement like before.
"So your whole family is in the business? That must rough." Which was an understatement in her opinion. She was a full time musician without family and she felt like she barely had time to relax. It must be insane to try and plan anything with all their busy schedules.
The smooth tone of Farron's voice sounded from across the crisp white cloth covered table, a glass of golden sweet tea in his hand as if he was just about to take a drink. "I rather enjoy getting to work with my brothers but we have two sisters who just don't care for the spotlight in such a literal sense. One's in the military and the other is well on her way to becoming a pediatrician."
Drawling from his casual position in the chair next to the baby-blue eyed sweetheart of a man, the wilder of the two men leaned back on his chair to look over the edge of the balcony they were seated as one arm caught him on the railing and the tapped a steady beat on his bent knee resting in his lap. "But all the boys are in the family biz. Even if Bixy is at a rival label, we still let him eat at the kiddo table at holidays."
"How generous of you all to still include him," was her teasing response mindless but she was distracted by strings of lyrics already filtering into her mind from the short time she spent with the whirlwind bad boy. His tall lithely built body was littered with the simple sexy black lines of his traditional Boscan clan tattoos and piercings, the accidental-on-purpose perfection that was the enviable raven-black to deep red ombre of his shoulder length tousled hair, the constant lust that burned in his playful pools the color of aged wine could make even the best of them flush; it was all this pristine haze of heady inspiration inciting prime firing for her creative neurons. She could get lost in it without even realizing she'd fallen down the rabbit hole.
Pulling out a tattered leather bound notebook on it's way to falling apart as she muttered to herself in her own little world, Levy just prompted conversation with Farron about what it was like to be a manager in the entertainment business when you needed to fill the incredibly large footsteps of Arman Pradesh, who worked with, produced and managed too many stars to name and he was more than happy to take the time to boast about his family and the reward of getting to make so many people happy through music.
Vander, however, had opened his mouth to make another of his easy retorts only to be drawn into the look on her face. Her brows drawn together deep in thought, the gentle slope of her slightly upturned button nose scrunched with the concentrated purse of her plump pink lips as she bounced an expensive drafting pencil off them before they parted in a 'o' as she started scribbling in the last few pages of empty paper. The slight wash of her fading pink hair as the loose curls framing her impossibly large chocolate eyes forcing him to take in the soft way her long lashes kissed her cheekbones as she closed her eyes as if to daydream right in the middle of everything like the world around her didn't exist; like she was in a world all her own and she didn't need anything else while she was there.
It was sensual in way even he wasn't expecting. He knew the feeling well except the world he delved into wasn't a daydream at all. The nightmare that fueled his muse when he wrote made him a shadow of the carefree man he was now and her innocence was a beacon for him to hold onto.
Or at least that's how it was in the beginning.
It took very little convincing on the Pradesh side of things to get Lucy to do a song with Vander during his primetime headliner slot on the main stage as the sole artist performing the whole two hours they gave he and his brothers on the second to last night and the result of the five minute duet was the spark that ignited her worldwide popularity that started with the announcement of a joint tour with the Pradesh brood.
Rumors of the two being in a scandalous secret relationship were laughed at for two years before the two singers finally admitted to having a romantic relationship for a short time before Vander did what he did best and sabotaged the seemingly picture-perfect relationship with random roadies and pills to put him to sleep after staying up for days on end.
It crushed Lucy to have to watch it and after a year and a half of breaking her back trying to make it work, she left. She left Farron and the White Sea record label; she left Bosco and she left Vander to sign a contract with Fairy Tail.
She loved being in her space in Magnolia and found herself distracting her thoughts from the once-sweet Pradesh who broke her heart by spending time with the welcoming family that was Fairy Tail and the artists signed with them. It was crazy to think she actually had a problem with Natsu Dragneel sneaking into her bed for cuddle sessions when he and Gray fought and he needed someplace to crash until the icy Fullbuster let him back into their home.
It took a little for her to feel totally comfortable around Bickslow since he reminded her so much of his younger, wilder brother but even that seemed to come with time. Which is how she came to announce her first world tour after the three year hiatus from performing outside of Magnolia and the smaller surrounding towns. The back-to-blonde singer had done a few shows at the arena in Crocus with her fellow Fairy Tail performers but this was huge. Bigger than even that was the excited buzz that started about the deeper meaning of a new world tour.
Lucy Heartfilia had a new album in the works and from the explosive overwhelming support she got from her first one, they had nearly swarmed the record label in a riotous move to get information from anyone coming within fifty feet of the front door until she finally released her first single Colors.
The soul-baring song was deceptively upbeat with the techno/EDM influences brought by her extremely close friendship to Natsu sent a wave through fans of both herself and her ex-flame to boost both there popularity in the press; both for better and worse.
Vander dealt with his one and only breakup after his one and only relationship like the trainwreck he was; he pretended to keep his playful facade up and made jokes but he had been worse than ever. He knew he fucked up the only truly good thing he would ever want to have and it ate away at him every second of every day which is why he outright refused to listen to the latest single of a yet to be released album launching a tour that would bring the blonde angel back to Bosco for the first time in years.
Until he was trapped in the back of the town car Farron sent and the driver seemed to be deaf as he pounded on the clever divider between them and he was forced to listen to her absolutely breathtaking voice rip through all his careful seams to keep his guilt and her locked away.
The longer he listened, the more the ache in his chest grew until he found himself dreaming she was there with him, right next to him in the back of his town car in the streets of Bosco's capital with her forgiving doe eyes and effortless grace. She was smiling despite the cutting honesty of her lyrics until he heard her voice, heard her speak with emotion so real and vibrant, he swore he could feel her breath:
You were red, and you liked me because I was blue
But you touched me, and suddenly I was a lilac sky
Then you decided purple just wasn't for you
But he blinked and she was gone. Leaving behind everything he smashed to try and forget everything they had together so she could move on and he could stay within the limits of what a guy like him deserved in the wake and he broke down in choking sobs.
Ignorant of the happenings in a town car on the streets of Pelerno, Lucy let out a tired sigh as she flopped onto the unforgiving rock of a couch in the studio after finishing the last of her vocal recording for the still unnamed album.
Having come in to listen to the somber siren and see if he could convince her to cook dinner for him since Gray had a show at a grand opening of some club near Shirotome, Natsu gave the top of Lucy's head a few affectionate pats from where she landed in his sprawled lap. "Luuuuce, I'm starving and your tasty cooking is all that will save me."
Turning her head just enough to shoot the pinkette a tired half-hearted glare from under the messy tangle of her fringe, her voice was dark as she spoke quietly. "I just spent the last two weeks of my life in this tiny box of a room. There is no way I'm going to do anything but relax when I get home."
A childish while left the grown man before a beat passed and his head suddenly snapped forward from its original place resting on the back of the couch and he spoke excitedly, "Take-out and movies."
Her tired reply was impulsive as she let out a groan of her own, "Natsu, I don't want to-"
"Take-out…"
"-put any effort into anything-"
"...and movies."
"-except showering and sleeping."
"And take-out and movies with your best friend! Come on, Luce. We haven't hung out in forever."
His persistence finally wore through her bad mood to pull airy chuckles from her chest before she sat up and admonished mirthfully, "You literally just spent the night yesterday."
"Yeah but we'll be on tour soon and I want you to hang out with me while you still like being around me." The casual way he said made it sound like something that happened a lot to the overzealous guy but he looked unfazed as he absently rubbed the end of his scarf between his fingers.
Having done many concerts with him, spent much of her time writing with him and spent practically every waking moment with him, she severely doubted she was going to get tired of him just because they were on the road. He was already pretty much a handful off the road and she adored him still.
Giving his sandaled foot a light kick with her bare foot, she nodded her head towards the door before brightly offering, "I like being around you all the time, idiot, now let's get moving. I am also starving and a great big pineapple-mushroom pizza is calling my name."
Disgust clearly displayed on her best friends sharp predatory features as he gagged out, "That's gross. There's no meat on that and you put fruit on pizza. That's really gross."
And the two made their way to Lucy's cozy little apartment to order way too much food and binge out on fictional plots and fake blood of old school horror movies that she and Natsu spent most of the movie busting a gut making fun of.
XxXxXxXxX
It was the day she absolutely had to get back to Levy, now her manager, with the title of her album or the devious blunette was going to let Cana name it for her. Normally that would be plenty of motivation for the blonde to get her ass in gear but she made the regretful decision to kick off her tour in Bosco to get the worst of it out of the way in the beginning but that meant multiple nights of shows which meant more time spent in the capital city that was home to White Sea.
It was kind of funny that she had just come from lunch with Cristoff but got stuck in traffic downtown. Turning up the radio to enjoy the sunshine of the day while she waited, she wasn't expecting to hear the radio personality mention about a new song he had to debut and it being a real career changer. Whatever that meant.
After a few relatively catchy commercials, one beautiful chord played on a piano before the all too familiar sound of Vander's voice rang through in a raw, bold way that nearly countered the simplicity of his harmonies and wrapped around her heart like a blanket fresh out of the dryer.
My lover's got humour
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshipped her sooner
If the Heavens ever did speak
She is the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week
'We were born sick,' you heard them say it
My church offers no absolutes
She tells me 'worship in the bedroom'
The only heaven I'll be sent to
Is when I'm alone with you
I was born sick, but I love it
Command me to be well
Amen, Amen, Amen
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
She was barely holding herself together behind the wheel of her rental car as she turned the radio up to hear what he wanted to tell her even though the monsoon of her emotions could only be held for so long before the dam broke and flooded everything.
If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
To drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
Something meaty for the main course
That's a fine looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
We've a lot of starving faithful
That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
No masters or kings when the ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human
Only then I am clean
Amen, Amen, Amen
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
Though she could vaguely register the voice of the DJ as he tried to talk up some new brand of headphones, the only thing running through her head as the cars around her slowly started moving and she found herself in a robotic trance was Vander's voice and his beautiful heartfelt words.
The moment her foot stepped through her temporary home for the time she would be in Bosco, she called Levy to let her know what the title of her album would be. Somehow, it seemed to already fit with the tours night sky/celestial theme.
A week later, Vander was chugging black coffee to try and wake himself up for a brunch with their father when he walked out onto the patio of his penthouse and did a spit take from forty floors off a building.
In the form of a gigantic digital billboard, was the long-awaited tour cover and title to her highly debated sequel album.
CHVRCH
A slow curling grin took hold on his face as the morning breeze took the loose hair of his messy low bun and he felt the beginnings of a spark in his chest. Now he just needed to get her in the same room so he could actually talk to her and rumor had it she was already in his city and was seen with each of his siblings. Which he already knew about since Cristoff was the biggest supporter of he and Lucy's relationship and Kaleb didn't do subtle well. The older of the three had grown tired of Vander's pitiful excuse at being okay shortly after Lucy left so he was more than willing to do whatever it took to get his youngest brother over himself and happy again.
Fortunately for the two, they both had enough meddling family members that they wouldn't have to worry about trying to work things out in their own way. As a result, Lucy was in her dressing room when Levy poked her head in the door and dropped the nuclear bomb that surprise Mira and Laxus found her the perfect special guest to fill the empty spot she had while she was touring in Bosco without Natsu since the pink-headed moron lost his passport and couldn't leave the country like he was originally supposed to and that special guest just had to be Vander.
Not that she didn't want to see him because she had been trying to muster the nerve to pick up the phone since her album dropped but because she really didn't want to have this reunion in front of a million strangers under the hellish stage lights that left you squinting for hours after and sweating like a sinner on sunday. Not to mention it had literally been years since they performed together and they had both changed a lot, or at least she hoped they both had changed.
"Levy-," was all she managed to hiss out before the snickering frame of her supposed sister disappeared with a click of the latch to leave her in utter silence staring at a doorknob to try and figure just how in the hell this was going to work.
Standing under the stage pacing out some pre-show adrenaline, she had been talking to her sound guy when the unmistakable smooth timbre of her first true love cut her soft giggles off with a casual ease that somehow raised her blood pressure and lowered her heart rate to pull at her chest. "Hey there, sunshine. Ready to go?"
And just like that, she was right back to the first time they sang together and the simplicity of their relationship before they let so much build up between them, even they couldn't break it down. The time apart wore them down and as her lip quirked into an eager grin, they crumbled completely to leave behind the solid foundation for them to build on the right way. "Absolutely, peaches. Do you know what songs we're supposed to do cause no one's told me anything." Though she wasn't lying, her tone was bright and playful as they warned them they hit the five minute mark.
"Doesn't matter to me," she could hear his casual shrug in his voice as he continued with a sly tone, "I know every one of 'em."
Raising a brow, she smiled up at the stagehand helping her on the platform before teasing Vander. "You must have bought CHVRCH the moment it came out then." Adjusting the form-fitting structured black one-piece studded with tiny crystals to mimic the stars displaying her curvy legs before hopping from one high-heeled platform black velvet boot to the other to add, "And you must have listened to it on repeat since then."
She was adjusting the sheer deep sapphire of her loose kimono-like cape also studded with all sorts of cosmic themed embroidery with crushed velvet and silk accents when he laughed out, "I'm actually listening to as we speak," before pausing and adding just a touch more serious than Lucy was used to hearing from the unpredictable man, "Just introduce me whenever you're ready and if you're not ready tonight, I'll be right here waiting in the wings tomorrow night. We can work out the details when we get there."
It took her all of fifteen minutes before it was time in her set for the song she wrote for them; Little Do You Know. Thankfully it was already a duet she had recorded with Gajeel so there would be little confusion as to who would be doing what as she started talking to the sea of smiling faces and they settled into silence to listen to her unique lilt.
"As many of you know, my very best friend Natsu Dragneel was supposed to come here and mix for all you lovely people but in an unfortunate but not surprising turn of events, he couldn't make it." She paused to let them have their boos and noises of disappointment before she was raising her hands to quiet them with a playful shake of her head, "Don't worry cause I can do you one better. So why don't y'all put your hands together and help me welcome a person very close to my heart, Vander Pradesh," before taking a sidestep to extend an arm off-stage and turn her head just in time to catch him as the spotlights light him up like a supernova.
He looked very much unchanged from the lasts time she had seen his picture in Sorcerer magazine. His raven hair hit midway down his broad chest as the top was pulled back in a messy bun just below the crown of his head and he was wearing his usual tight black t-shirt and black leather motorcycle pants loosely bunched above a pair of new untied suede boots. He replaced his nose stud with a thin silver ring though, so that was new. Sexy and new.
She should have known he wouldn't try to keep things low-key until after the show as he gave the crowd an energetic greeting and thank you before locking eyes with her, crossing the stage between them in record time to pick her up in an embrace so tight she almost didn't realize he was spinning them as the crowd roared loud enough, sound had to cut out the mics from the feedback.
It gave the pair a rare moment to keep for themselves before diving back into whirlwind of performing.
Her arms had already wound around his neck and with her head tucked safely away in the crook of his neck, she took in what felt like her first clear breath of fresh air since she walked out. "I missed you so much."
His arms tightened a fraction as he pressed a chaste kiss to her temple and whispered, "I missed you, sunshine but I wasn't any good for you."
Pulling back as she bit her lip, Lucy met his gaze without fear. "And now?"
He pressed his forehead against hers as he set her back on her feet while keeping her molded to his body, he chuckled before tucking her wild blonde hair behind her ear. "You made be want to be better. Teach me how to be better for you."
Before she could give her response, sound was letting them know the mics were back up and Lucy cupped his jaw lovingly before turning and launching into the intro of the one true, stripped down ballad she kept raw just for him. Hoping he would hear it the way she imagined when they would spend rainy days in their underwear with their guitars sipping coffee under the awning of his patio just laughing and soaking each other in.
It wasn't until she finally heard him sing the part written for his voice alone that it really hit home this was real. He was real and they were going to be okay.
Little do you know
I know you're hurt while I'm sound asleep
Little do you know
All my mistakes are slowly drowning me
Little do you know
I'm trying to make it better piece by piece
Little do you know
I, I love you till the sun dies
I'll wait, just wait
I love you like I've never felt the pain, just wait
I love you like I've never been afraid, just wait
Our love we see right here stays so lay your head on me
The starstruck blonde knew the crowd was singing along with them but as she stood hand in hand with the dark haired Pradesh hearing the flawless harmony that came naturally when they sang together, it was like everything faded away except the cheeky look of victory cemented on his handsome features.
After two encore songs and another hour of the two taking requests for covers of songs, they finally lowered the metaphoric curtain and raised the lights. Lucy had taken her shoes off sometime near the end of the show when she changed into a pair of ripped black overalls cut to the top of her thigh and a cropped golden sports bra-like top and now that she had more than three seconds to sit, she instantly piled her sweat mess of hair as best she could while securing it with two mismatched chopsticks and shut her eyes from where she landed on top of a box of sound equipment.
A smile cracked her resting face as she lifted her head to peak on eye open. Nestled soundly between her thighs as he slowly traced his palms up her legs, over the creamy skin of her thighs to grip her hips and pull her towards him to pull lilting laughter from the blonde.
His arms wrapped around her shoulders when she sat upright to wrap her arms around his hips under the soft cotton of his worn shirt as he pressed kiss after kiss into her hairline.
"What do you you and me get out of here, sunshine?"
Getting a mischievous glint in her eye, she cocked her head to the side as she refused his request. "Nope. No can do, peaches."
Familiar with the little game about to play out, Vander played his part out with a genuine crooked smile that melted any pretense that she was trying to keep up about just deeply her feelings ran. "What's a guy like me gotta do to take a girl like you home," was his easy response as he ran the tip of his nose over the sensitive skin below her ear.
"Kiss me like it's the-"
But she never got to finish before Vander said 'fuck it' and took her face in his hands to bring their lips together in a spark of a kiss before Lucy's leg hitched around his taut ass to pull him further into the apex of her body and release the tsunami of pent up sexual frustration at knowing he who brought the heavens to earth with the way she saw stars when they made love was out there and just out of reach.
The sly devil had undid one of her overall straps to cup her chest right there backstage, tweaking the rosy bud of her pierced nipple under the pad of his thumb when the familiar chirp of Levy sounded from behind Vander's toned, tall frame.
"Ah, there you two are. I've been waiting for you in your dressing room when someone let me know the two of you were already back to your gross and kinky ways." Without blinking at the position they were in, the little blunette reached up and smacked the back of his head with her clipboard to force his hand from Lucy's top to rub the pain at the base of his skull away. "Come on, you two have to get to bed. You have early starts tomorrow."
Narrowing her eyes at her longtime girlfriend as Vander flipped his body around to give her a piggyback ride which was an excuse for him to be able to feel up her legs, Lucy asked with suspicion heavy in her voice from where she had thrown her arms over his built shoulders, her chin leaned on the top of his head. "No I don't. I specifically asked to have no more early to rise days."
Unfazed by her complaint and firm belief that should would get to sleep til the afternoon, Levy sin-songed as she walked ahead of them to get the back door leading to a black town car she recognized from her time with the White Sea, "Not anymore. After the stunt you two just pulled, you'll be lucky to get enough downtime between shows, interviews and appearances to eat, sleep and shower."
Wiggling his brows at the deadpanned pixie of a manager as she checked over the details of the interview Entertainment Today confirmed only an hour earlier, Vander tried his best to get a reaction from the intelligent whip of a woman. "You know, I can easily make all three of those things have happy endings, right? And to clarify, by happy endings I mean mind-blowing, knee-weakening orgasms. Over every surface at least twice."
Levy gave a bored 'mmhmm' before raising her head to let Lucy know Farron would have the car sent for them at nine in the morning and if they were late, he would send both Kaleb and Cristoff up to drag them out of bed so it would just be easier for everyone if they just did what they were told for once.
The blonde was nodding along to Levy's words until the blunette stopped to give her a chance to ask any questions and confirm that she understood what she was supposed to do only to have her look up at the love of her life with mirth in her eyes as if contemplating something before tilting her head enough to meet Levy's expectant gaze with a cheeky grin. "He wasn't kidding about the orgasms by the way. The way he flicks his tongue over my-"
"Goodnight," quickly cutting off that doomed sentence before Lucy could have the satisfaction of finishing with a raise of her palm in a motion to clearly convey the need she had for Lucy to shut the hell up right that instant before turning and calling back over her shoulder, "Nine o'clock, Lu. Nine."
~This was the most fun ever to write. I have no idea why but it was and I hope y'all enjoyed it.
I've got two days left and both Doxy and Brimstone are gonna be fun if I can get them tweaked the way I want so hold on my pretties ~