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Stellar Mistakes
By : Rhov
Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail
Views: 14748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I make money from this fanfic.
Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Chapter 14
Team Dinner
That evening, the team wrapped up their work and headed to a steak house Natsu had picked out in a chic part of town. Lucy guessed some of the guys drove—she knew Loke did—but she and Natsu decided to take the train there. She rode by his side, rubbing his back as the sway made him instantly sick. When their stop arrived, she had to half-carry him off the train and stabilize him on the platform before he could walk to the restaurant. The others were already waiting outside for them.
"I could've given you two a ride," Freed offered.
Lucy shook her head. "Natsu gets carsick easily. I wouldn't want him vomiting in your car."
Gray cringed. "Sheesh, and here I was about to offer to take one of you home on my motorcycle. Never mind."
"I'm not that bad," Natsu grumbled with a childish pout.
"You almost threw up on a nun."
"It was someone in drag."
Loke chuckled at the banter. "Next time we go out, I'll reserve a company van … and I'll make sure there's a bottle of Dramamine for Natsu."
They all walked into the restaurant together and looked around at the black leather booths, marble tables, modern décor, and orange candlelight at every table.
"Nice place," Freed said, amazed Natsu knew of such a fancy restaurant.
Natsu looked much better with the smell of sizzling beef filling the air. "Our department likes to use this place for wining and dining. They've got a huge menu, lots of good meat."
The team was led right back to their reserved table without having to wait. They ordered dinner along with bottles of wine to try. Lucy usually got something small like a salad when eating out, but Cana had sternly warned her not to act like a wimp in front of the guys. She went with a steak and shrimp dinner that she normally would reserve for something special, like her birthday. However, when the plates arrived, she was glad she had gone for something with substance. She was hungrier than she thought, and she dug right in to the food. When was the last time she had eaten a truly fulfilling dinner?
They ate and tried the different wines. They commented on the meals, and Natsu kept trying to grab pieces off of everyone's plates. Lucy laughed as they all looked so relaxed, even Loke, who joked with Freed and drank more than his fair share of wine.
In the middle of the meal, Gray looked up to Lucy. "Hey, I saw your proposal just before I left the office. It's really looking good."
Lucy gulped down a mouthful of steak. "You think so? Thank you!"
Natsu grinned broadly. "Nice job, Lucy."
"It's coming along wonderfully," Loke praised.
"Thank you, sir. I'll continue to refine it."
"Very good. Ah, this is a decent Chianti. I need to buy a bottle before I leave."
Just when they were all starting to feel a pleasant buzz from the wine, Natsu sipped from his glass and turned to Loke.
"By the way, I heard a rumor that someone from Fairy Tail aggressively approached the king in order to set up this competition between agencies."
Loke stared back without speaking, but the rest of them looked up in surprise. Someone from Fairy Tail approached the king himself, and aggressively? Obviously, that must have been Loke. For his part, Loke did not deny anything and maintained a perfect poker face. Next to him, Freed dispassionately sipped from his glass, as if he was hiding a secret.
Gray caught on to what Natsu was saying. "So in other words, Mr. Leo, this whole thing was your doing?"
"My doing?" Loke said, an enigmatic smile rising to his face. "Being aggressive with the king? That's slander."
"Well," Natsu pressed, "it sounds like if it weren't for you, there would've been no presentations, and the account would've gone straight to Sabertooth, like always."
Lucy looked around. People kept describing this as an unheard of event, so she had done a bit of research on it. For years, all major events in the kingdom simply went to Sabertooth. Everyone in the industry knew it, even expected it. For something this major to be open to all ad agencies … it simply had never happened before, not in many years. It was suspicious that Sabertooth secured such high-profile accounts with not even an offer from the government toward the other agencies in Fiore. Many thought Sabertooth had some form of blackmail or leverage with high-ranked officials in the government, if not the royal family itself.
Natsu went on. "Just between us, a lot of the agencies aren't happy with Sabertooth. They scoop up all of the big jobs. If it was you who started this, I wonder if the others will finally start to complain about the way things have been run in Fiore up until now. Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus: they could all finally start to speak out. This could change everything."
Lucy knew that part of Natsu's job as a sales associate was to know about other agencies and the current environment within the advertising world. He did not believe every story and rumor he heard, of course. He was selective in hunting out the right leads, and he had become good at sniffing out which rumors were credible.
Gray tipped his wineglass to Loke. "You are a hero to all the agencies and creative types, you've got a slew of awards, and everyone likes you. What Fairy Tail needs right now is a Lion to charge forward and lead the rest of the herd."
"Just between us," Natsu said, dropping his voice, "do you really have some kind of connection with the king? Blackmail?"
Lucy jolted at what he was implying. "N-Natsu! Maybe you've had enough to drink for now."
Despite her attempt to smooth things over, Loke lifted his glass with a smile. "Blackmail? No. If I did have something like that, I'd like to think I would've gotten us a chance sooner."
Freed smirked with a proud gleam in his eyes. "You're a man who doesn't wait to act when you have a plan. You were like that in college, too."
Loke chuckled and took a sip from his glass. "You're not usually one to reminisce."
Lucy looked between them in shock. "Wait, you two were in college together?"
"We were," Loke said casually. "Long time ago."
Lucy was suddenly curious to know more about Loke's past with Freed, but Natsu and Gray were talking about the Grand Magic Games, curious about how Loke managed to open up the committee into seeing various presentations.
"So," Natsu said, looking fired up, although maybe that was from all the meat and wine. "Who's participating in this aside from us and Sabertooth? I keep asking around, but they either aren't or they won't answer me."
"In the end," said Loke, "it's just us two."
"What?" Lucy gasped. "What about the other agencies?"
"They all declined the invitation, figuring they didn't have a chance when Fairy Tail and Sabertooth were in the mix." His face turned serious. "It's a battle between us, and Fairy Tail is aiming for the spot of number one ad agency in Fiore."
They all put their glasses down when they heard the words number one. Them, taking the title from Sabertooth? Fairy Tail was ranked number two, but still! The difference in profits between the two companies was insane. Everyone at the table knew that, including Loke.
However, he did not look like he was joking. Although every single person at that table had a look of astonishment, like he had just declared that the stars would fall from the sky, still Loke looked around at them with an ambitious, cunning smile.
"The idea that we could win this account and become the top ranking agency in the kingdom isn't a dream." He sounded so sure, so confident, as he declared that. "It's real, it's close, and I trust every single one of you has the talent to make that happen."
Natsu looked shocked and also excited at the prospective battle between groups. "You really believe that?"
"It's not possible," Gray said, also shocked but concerned. "Sabertooth has been at the top for a long time."
"But," Loke cut in, "what if we did end up as number one?"
Natsu's eyes lit up with fervor. "If this GMG account puts us at the top, it would be a major upset, and it'd be a coup for you."
They were all thinking about it now. If Loke could pull this off…
Gray spoke what they all were thinking. "That promotion everyone's been whispering about! Damn! It'd make you the youngest partner in Fairy Tail's history."
Natsu leaned back with a wild laugh. "It takes an ambitious man to get to where you are, sir."
Loke mused on that. "Ambitious, huh? I wouldn't say I'm not like that. But, you don't know what's possible until you try." Then he suddenly turned to the only woman at the table. "Wouldn't you say, Miss Heartfilia?"
She had been mostly listening, absorbing it all. Now she stiffened as the conversation suddenly landed in her lap. However, she felt energy flowing through her at all this talk, all these amazing aspirations from a man she had only admired from afar up until this team formed. Now she was here, amidst some of the greatest talent in the industry, the greatest people in Fairy Tail, and right on the cusp of something that, as Natsu said, could change everything. Just being present as they crafted such lofty goals was inspiring.
"I'll do whatever I can to make that happen, sir," she declared, feeling infused with zeal.
Loke had a proud gleam in his eye. "It is your concept that'll determine how this goes. Don't do it just for me, though. Do it for Fairy Tail. Work on it with everything you've got. Pour in all the creativity in your heart. Treat it like a piece of your soul."
"Okay!" she said, determined to fight alongside them.
Fairy Tail, number one in the kingdom! The men at that table clearly thought it was possible. There was a boyishness in Loke's expression as he talked about it that Lucy could still see in him. There was something different about his expression last time in the car, too, when he said 'I'm an ambitious man.' This was a completely different side to Loke: a fighter with confidence and lofty aspirations.
A petite waitress walked by just then. "Can I get you anything else tonight, Natsu?"
He grinned up at the girl with silvery bobbed hair. "Another round of drinks for everyone, Lisanna."
She grinned, curtsied, and hurried away.
"You really know the staff, huh?" Gray said with a his mouth partly full.
"It's a nice restaurant," Lucy said, looking around again at the décor and atmosphere. Their drinks arrived, and the petite waitress blushed as she set down Natsu's glass. Lucy caught it right away. After the young lady left, Lucy teased Natsu, "Do you come here to impress clients … or to seduce girls?"
"Oh, don't act jealous," he teased back. "Lisanna just happens to be an old friend. She's the one who told me about this place."
Lucy chuckled and sipped more wine. "Sure seems like she knows you as more than just an old friend."
"Well, maybe once we were more than friends," Natsu said with a complacent shrug. "I guess still being friendly with an old flame might be a foreign concept to an upright woman like you."
"Oh, it's not," Lucy chuckled, sipping more wine. "I'm shocked you bothered to remember the girl's name this time. Must've been serious."
"There you go again, acting all jealous."
"You wish."
As the two bantered like they always did, Loke looked on, watching Lucy being so relaxed around a man she fully trusted.
"Oh yeah," Gray realized, changing from shock at their intimate discussion to understanding and amusement. "You two knew each other as kids, right?"
Natsu gave a wide shrug. "There's no getting away from her even if I tried. Fate keeps pushing us back together."
"Childhood friends, huh?" Loke said as he sipped from his glass.
Lucy nudged Natsu in the arm. "You just love teasing me. You should try giving it a break some time."
"Well, look at you," Natsu said back. "Your looks don't exactly scream seduce me, so I gotta tease you instead."
Lucy huffed, folded her arms, and looked away with a scowling pout. "That's rude!"
"I disagree," Loke said with smooth words and a playful smile. "I think a woman like Miss Heartfilia wants a man to seduce her."
Lucy gasped at the brazen comment and nearly dropped her glass. She could not believe he just said that.
Gray added in, "Hate to admit it, but it does seem like you'd be an easy target."
"Hey!" Lucy snapped defensively.
"No, no," Natsu said, waving it off. "She's a late bloomer. Flirt with her, she won't even bite."
Lucy kicked him from under the table. "Quiet, you! I'll report you to HR."
Natsu kept egging on, "I always tell her, don't go anywhere with a stranger."
Lucy glared. "You do, huh?" What a liar!
"You're too upright, and you haven't been with a lot of guys. Barely any makeup, just that ponytail of yours, it's like you don't care about your looks, or maybe you haven't discovered your feminine charms."
Oh, what a jerk! "I have plenty of charm, thank you very much. If I wanted to, I could flirt with any man I want."
Natsu grinned mischievously. "Then why haven't you flirted with me?"
She wasn't sure whether to kick him again or laugh. "Because you're you."
"Ouch!" Gray exclaimed, and the whole table chuckled at the burn.
The wine was buzzing them all now. Lucy knew this sort of talk would have been utterly inappropriate at work, but now she felt like they really were just a group of friends hanging out.
"Now that he mentions it," Gray said, "I always see you working late. Doesn't your boyfriend get worried?"
Natsu barged in before Lucy could answer. "Oh, she's not seeing anyone. She hasn't dated in years."
"Like you're one to talk. You stay at home with your cat every night."
"No, I just don't tell you about who I'm dating, whereas whenever you hook up with a guy, you tell the whole world."
Loke raised his eyebrows. "You two really are close."
Lucy felt a slight panic. "N-no, I don't tell people every time." Oh God, how could she assure Loke that she had not told Natsu about them hooking up without making it obvious?
"Oh, do you mean there's someone now?" Natsu asked, leaning in at her.
Loke raised a hand. "Natsu, you're sounding aggressive. Perhaps you should back off."
Lucy sighed internally. Loke really saved her.
"You're not dating, and you work late," Gray muttered, looking rather concerned. "Work's important, but you need time for yourself. Maybe get out more. Right, Freed?"
Freed just shrugged and focused on the elegant hold his fingers had on his wineglass. "There are many kinds of women. Miss Heartfilia's dedication to work has its admirable qualities. Going out, drinking, hooking up with people: that sort of lifestyle simply isn't for everyone."
Lucy was glad he was on her side … maybe? The playful banter turned to Freed and stories of a relationship he had with the grandson of the CEO, Laxus Dreyar. Gray and Natsu tried to rile him up about it, to get a good reaction out of the straight-laced accounting executive, but Lucy lost track of the conversation. She realized that Loke was staring at her.
She felt his eyes on her, but she worried that if she looked back she might blush and give something away. She stared at her wineglass instead. She felt him watching her the whole time, and it made her nervous.
"Um, excuse me for a minute. I need to fix my makeup," she said.
Lucy grabbed her purse and made her escape to the restroom, where she immediately put on more foundation to cover her blushing cheeks. The reflection in the mirror looked so pathetic to her.
Loke's teasing words played through her mind again.
"I think a woman like Miss Heartfilia wants a man to seduce her."
He was just being social, chiming in on the conversation, nothing more. Lucy knew it was just a joke, and she was being overly self-conscious. Teammates teased one another. Maybe he was even being defensive of her feminine charms, considering Natsu's playful taunts.
And yet, the more Loke smiled meaningfully at her, the more she felt his eyes on her. The more she thought about him, the more paralyzed she became.
She knew what Natsu thought, even if it was just teasing. After all, he said it clearly. "Your looks don't exactly scream 'seduce me.'" They were childhood friends, so of course he did not see her in a more appealing way. Or more accurately, it would be really weird if Natsu did see her as a sensual woman and not as the friend who had always been by his side.
She stared into the reflection in the mirror. 'What do I look like in Mr. Leo's eyes? Am I really so out of place here, like Natsu says? Do I really look so … unattractive?' She sighed and put on even more makeup to cover her blush. 'I've been thinking about this sort of stuff too much lately. I didn't care about my looks before, so of course I'm probably awkward and come across as a prude. Natsu knows me better than anyone, and that's how he sees me." She put her makeup case back into her purse and stared back at her reflection. "I'm changing, though. And it's Mr. Leo's fault.'
Once she calmed down, she headed out into the hall leading to the dining area. There, she saw none other than Loke himself.
"Oh … H-Hello," Lucy stuttered.
Loke's voice was velvet as he replied, "Hello."
Even a single word from him could make her quiver inside. Then Loke stepped up close, reached his hand toward her, and touched her cheek tenderly. Lucy gasped and held perfectly still. What was he doing, right there, in the restroom hallway with their coworkers just meters away?
"Your cheeks are flushed. Is it the wine?"
Lucy heard it in his voice. He knew precisely what—or whom—made her blush like that.
She pouted as she mumbled, "You know that's not why."
Then he said with a smile in his voice, "Perhaps I overdid my teasing." Still, she could see from the look on his face that Loke was not planning to stop teasing her any time soon. "Oh right, I have something for you."
He took something out of his pocket, and Lucy saw that it was the necklace she had left at his home. She reached out to it, but he playfully pulled it back.
"Did leaving this behind mean you wanted to come to my apartment again?" he asked with a seductive smirk. "In that case, maybe I shouldn't give it back to you right here and now. Maybe I should hold on to it for later."
"What?" Lucy gasped. She was so stunned by his blatant offer for another night, she could not respond.
He cracked a smile, like he knew everything she was feeling. Then he walked around behind her and draped the necklace around. He shifted her hair out of the way as he clasped it, and his body was right up against her.
"Mr. Le- …"
"Stay still," he ordered.
She shivered as she felt his breath on the back of her neck, and then his lips on her skin as his fingers brushed against her neck. There was a glass window at the far end of the hallway, and Lucy could faintly see their reflection. From that angle, it looked like they were in a sensual embrace. The fear that someone might come made her heart race, yet she felt thrilled by the danger. She could not bring herself to shout at him not to touch her, and she was pretty sure he already knew how desperately she wanted to be this close.
"Back there," he said, his mouth by her ear, making her body quiver, "your childhood friend said you haven't been with a lot of guys. Seems to me," he said, and she tell he was grinning, "you're surprisingly good at hiding things."
"N-not really," she whispered, feeling flustered and enthralled. Lucy knew he had already finished fastening her necklace, yet he stayed pressed up behind her.
He deliberately talked in a low, suggestive whisper. "What was that other thing he said? Ah, yes, about lacking feminine charm." His hands went down from her neck to her arms, stroking down her side, then wrapping around her, clutching her against him in a possessive embrace. "He obviously hasn't seen what I've seen, that alluring look you get on your face when you're flushed with passion. I admit, I was almost jealous for a moment there, but I'm glad to know he doesn't know that side of you."
He did not take his hands off her body, nor did she move away. She was embarrassed and aroused. She wanted him to stop before she fainted from the trembling in her body, and she wanted more until she trembled in a completely different way. She wanted him to stop this since they were in public, and she wanted him to pull her back into the restroom and take her, right there in a stall. She looked straight ahead at the reflective glass, and she saw him looking at it, too. Their eyes met in the ghostly reflection.
Just a little longer … she wanted just a little more time like this. She wanted to give in to his irresistible touches once again.
Eventually, regretfully, he pulled back. They did not even need words; both understood that things would go too far if they stayed so close together. Lucy took a deep breath to compose herself while Loke pulled away and headed straight into the men's restroom. She waited for her heart to stop pounding, then finally she headed back to the table. Natsu looked up at her return, but immediately he eyed her suspiciously.
"Your face is kinda red."
"I-Is it?" she stammered. "Maybe I had a little more to drink than I should have." Drat! And after she put on so much makeup to hide it.
Gray turned away from a conversation with Freed and looked around the table. "Hey, where's Mr. Leo?"
"Umm, I passed him when I left the restroom," she said sheepishly.
Natsu's brow tensed slightly. Lucy realized he was looking at her chest, down to the necklace. He must have noticed the addition of that piece of jewelery, but he said nothing.
When Loke returned, he looked just as composed as always. The teasing completely stopped, and the conversation turned back to the project. Lucy continued to drink only water and followed the conversation as best as she could while trying her hardest not to even look at Loke.
She felt flustered by just how insufferable he could be, telling her he could not risk doing anything at work but then holding her and whispering such naughty things in her ear while dining out with the team.
She was also terrified by just much she actually liked being so dangerous with him in public.
- 13
- 14
- 15
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Stellar Mistakes	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 14748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor do I make money from this fanfic.

Stellar Mistakes