There was something Loke noticed that could potentially endanger .

At first, it had been a minor thing, nothing of significant importance, but ever since the incident with Yuri, it started happening more frequently.

Lucy couldn't look him in the eye for more than a few seconds.

Unless they were talking about Anya and school.

Still, it made for some potentially high risk situations.

After all, who would believe them to be married for a year when they can't even hold eye contact for longer than a few seconds?

He would have to talk to Lucy.

It was still early in the morning, so Loke made his way to the bathroom where he knew Lucy was brushing her teeth. Anya didn't seem to be awake yet when he found Lucy alone in front of the sink.

"Lucy."

Lucy startled, glancing back at Loke briefly, her hair kept out of her face by a fluffy red headband. "Yes?"

Loke leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed and gaze serious. "Why are you avoiding looking at me?"

Lucy spat out the toothpaste in her mouth, splashes hitting the once pristine mirror and sliding down its smooth surface. Apologies tumbled from her mouth as the secret assassin hastily tried cleaning the mirror, silently hoping it might just distract her husband from his question.

It didn't.

Loke cleared his throat. "Well?"

Lucy sighed, running a dry paper towel down the now clean mirror again for good measure before she rinsed her mouth. "I um…I-I don't know what you mean!"

Loke noticed the position of her feet and the way Lucy's hips twisted, all pointing in the direction of the door.

An escape.

Loke quickly slammed his foot on the other end of the doorway, blocking the only exist with his whole body. He felt the air rush past him as Lucy now stood very close to him, obviously not having anticipated her escape route to be so swiftly blocked.

When their eyes met, Lucy jumped and averted her gaze. "Ah- sorry! Where did I put-"

Before Lucy could attempt another distraction, Loke asked softly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but would you please tell me if I make you uncomfortable, Lucy? It would be easier for me to decide how to conduct myself around you in public without seeming suspicious but also respecting your space."

At his words, Lucy finally looked him directly in the eyes.

And held his gaze.

Loke didn't know if it was because of the bright bathroom lights, the early morning sun peeking lazily in through the half-opened blinds or the remnants of sleep in his eyes, but Lucy suddenly seemed to glow. Her eyes sparkled like stars in the dark nights following a bombing, the soft redness on her cheeks only accentuating the ruby red of her eyes.

'Huh? What am I thinking?' this wasn't the time nor place to have such thoughts. Perhaps Loke was more sleep deprived and stressed than he thought.

His attention focused back on Lucy when she bit her lip, her eyes fluttering but remaining on him. "You…are doing it again, Loke." Was her face redder than before?

Loke blinked, "What?" Had he said something during his internal monologue? He didn't remember speaking.

Lucy briefly looked down at her feet before she returned her gaze back to his. "Y-You…you keep giving me that look…"

Loke blinked rapidly.

A look?

If only the mirror were in front of him, Loke could check what sort of expression he had on his face now that caused Lucy to become so uncomfortable with him.

Did he look too stern? Upset? Unsettling?

Handler used to tease him of being a 'cold, sharp eyed guy' back in his rookie days, but Loke had practiced his facial expressions in front of a mirror every day since. He knew what expression to make to gain the upper hand in a situation. He knew what expression to make to disarm people, so how did he look like for Lucy to react like this?

"A…look? What…what kind of look, Lucy?"

She bit her lip again, an action that inexplicably seemed to draw Loke's attention, before she hesitantly replied. "It's…it's very intense, Loke."

She swallowed, another inexplainable action that caught Loke's attention, before he focused on her words.

Intense?

Well, he supposed all his years as a spy did shape and require a person of certain intense character, but Loke wasn't so sure if he could be described as intense all the same.

"I…I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Lucy. It wasn't my intention." He relaxed his stance against the doorframe, no longer blocking the exit with his body and towering over her. "I didn't realize…I thought you might have avoided my gaze for different reasons."

Was all there was to it? Was Lucy shy? Was his gaze simply too intense?

Loke turned towards the door to allow Lucy privacy to finish her morning routine, but a hand firmly gripping his wrist stopped him in his tracks.

This time, it was Lucy that had a very intense look about her.

Loke had spent years knowing lot ,he knew how intense women could get. And Lucy had mentioned business in mission .

Loke felt the faintest dampness beginning to build up on the back of his neck. "Lucy?"

A determined expression caused the fire in her eyes to light up like a rising phoenix from its ashes. "You're right Loke, we have to practice!"

…Practice?

At his befuddled silence, Lucy helpfully supplied: "Practice holding eye contact!" her cheeks were tinged pink, not unlike after she would emerge from her shower.

Lucy silently waited for Loke to speak, her mind racing with newfound worries. 'If people notice me being too embarrassed to look Loke in the eyes, we'll be figured out and reported to the secret police! I can't allow that to happen!'

"Um…yes, of course. When would you like to start, Lucy?" Loke offered an easygoing smile, but it wavered when Lucy suddenly leaned in close to him, her eyes never leaving his.

"Right now."

Loke swallowed thickly.

The next morning at Berlint City Hall:

Erza sipped her black coffee, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear just as Lucy entered the break room with a boisterous: "Good morning, ladies!"

Almost immediately, all the women shared knowing glances with each-other before Erza revealed her thoughts on Lucy's mood. "Someone seems to be in a good mood, something good happen, Lucy?"

Lucy busied herself with making coffee for herself, smiling at Erza. It wasn't unusual for Lucy to smile, but this time it nearly blinded Erza from her leaning position against the window. "Ah, it's just – I spent a nice evening with my family. We went for a family outing and um, Loke and I went on a date yesterday."

Lucy had been so excited to try out their newfound eye contact record that she asked Loke if it was alright having their monthly dates a bit earlier. He had agreed without objections, they'd spent a lovely evening eating at a nice restaurant, maintaining good eye contact judging from people's reactions around them and a long walk through the park.

Evergreen's smirk resembled that of a Cheshire cat. "Oh? Did the two of you have a lovely evening together?"

Otiella, who had bit her tongue to wait for the right moment to tease Lucy, finally spoke. "Oh my, Lucy! I didn't peg you for that type of person! It's the same with my boyfriend and I! I just get too shy to look him in the eye after all the things we did the night before!" the pretty blush on her face could've fooled Lucy into believing she was running a high fever were it not for the salacious look in her eyes.

Lucy was oblivious to the woman's double meaning. "Oh, yes, I think I know what you mean. Last night was really intense, Loke insisted we continue and I guess I got swept up in it too. It was pretty late when we were done." It had been funny actually.

Loke had praised Lucy for overcoming her shyness to the point they managed to impress other patrons in the restaurant of how smitten they looked at each-other. He had asked if they could continue practicing for a while longer after coming home, his enthusiasm had infected Lucy and they had stayed up late as a result of that.

Erza's cigarette almost fell from her slack grip. "B-But where was your daughter?"

The silence in the break room of Berlint City Hall was deafening until Lucy opened her mouth to respond. "Oh? Wendy was sleeping of course, but we were quiet to not disturb her sleep." Of course, holding prolonged eye contact didn't require much talking, but Lucy and Loke had tried emulating situations of every day life and holding steady eye contact while conversing over the mundane to the more complex things in life, such as the exact filleting technique of a fish being eerily similar to that of skinning a person. Not that either Loke nor Lucy had any practical experience in that, of course. That knowledge had been gained through "extensive theoretical research."

Otiella seemed to regurgitate her coffee. "Wow, who knew they had such an active sex life." She rubbed her forehead in distress.

Erza adjusted her glasses, her fingers sweaty at the assault of images her mind conjured up of her innocent, pure co-worker engaging in such depraved acts with her daughter in the same house. "You know what they say, it's always the quiet ones…"

Evergreen blinked rapidly, taking a sip from her coffee. "Wow, ."

Lucy hummed happily, completely oblivious to the distress her coworkers found themselves in.

For some reason, her coffee that morning tasted much better. She idly wondered if the image of Loke's warm blue eyes engraved in her mind chased the bitterness away.