Fic | You're One of Us | Loki/Lucy | PG-13 | 1/2
Title: You're One of Us (Part 1 of 2)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Loki/Lucy
Genre: Drama
Word Count: 1.400
Summary: Loki is the eternal spirit of the Zodiac, Leo, and one day, he will have to give up all of his attachments to the human world.
Notes: This started out as an IM spam with nuakiire. She's drawn art for it here on devart.
You're One of Us
“You’re one of us, Leo. A Stellar Spirit.”
Five years since his return to the spirit world, Loki still feels a greater connection to the human world. Even though he’s never needed to, he’s kept the habit of eating at least once a day. As a member of the Zodiac, he’s one of the few able to look down on the human world - something he takes ample advantage of. The other Zodiac members don’t approve of his actions. “As if I could forget, with you always breathing down my neck, Aquarius.”
The mermaid leaned over his shoulder to look through the Window, though she clearly anticipated what she would see. “I like Lucy more than most of the summoners I’ve had. She’s a nice young woman, but you’ve noticed it yourself; she’s taking fewer missions and becoming more domestic. Spirits don’t fit into that storyline.”
You don’t fit into that storyline.
*
As the last of the shadow demons dissipated under the light of his Regulus, Loki felt Lucy approach him from behind. Clenching his jaw, he restrained himself from returning her one-armed hug around his waist.
“You were great today, like always.” Lucy punctuated her sentence with the self-assured smile that made Loki believe in her those years ago. “It’s still early, do you want to go get some lunch? I saw a place on the way in that-“
“Thank you, Lucy, but you know I don’t need any food. I’ll leave first.”
“Welcome back, Leo.” Aquarius has her arms out as if to take his coat. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Certainly more appropriate than you have been acting. I should supervise more often.”
“You’re not my superior.”
“And yet you act so differently when I’m watching.” The smug expression on her face made Loki want to punch something.
“I don’t want to hear it. Why aren’t you with your boyfriend you’re always abandoning Lucy for?”
With a scoff and a wave of her hand, Aquarius dismissed the subject change. “You spent such a short time with those Fairy Tail mages and even less with that girl and yet-“
“Three years isn’t a short time!” Loki held onto his anger while he waited for Aquarius’s response. He was tired of the baiting.
“We’re spirits of the Zodiac. We are eternal. Three years is nothing in the face of that. Human lives are fleeting, but it shouldn’t take her death to remind you of your true comrades. I’m saving you from yourself and her from you. The little idiot will never get a boyfriend with you looming over her shoulder. Let her find her own happiness.”
*
The Spirit King had the power to distance the memories of a spirit. He usually used this ability when a spirit’s contract broke…abruptly. He could even fully “reset” a spirit so that they had none of their former memories or experiences - this was almost exclusively practiced on the lesser spirits, allowing them to even be named by their summoners.
It was only Aquarius’s threat of being reset that kept Leo from watching Lucy in the human world and opening his gate to her side on a whim. That being the case, he nearly jumped for joy when his gate opened before him on its own. The only force keeping him grounded was Aquarius’s knowing look from the Window.
“There you are, Loki! Where have you been! I used to have to force-close your gate once a week!” Flushed cheeks, slight pout, confident stance: everything about Lucy made it so hard to do what was right.
He had to look away before he could say anything. “My name is Leo.”
“What?” Even without looking, he could perfectly picture her confusion. All of her expressions were burned behind his eyelids, even brighter than his Lion Brilliance.
“The member of the Zodiac already have individual names -I don’t need another.” He glanced in her direction, a poor semblance of eye contact, and then continued, “You’re not in any trouble, so I’ll leave first.”
When the human world disappeared and Lucy with it, it had to be Aquarius waiting for him. “Are you happy now?”
“All you’ve shown is that you should be reset, Leo. Maybe our summoner is too oblivious to see it, but you’re too emotionally invested. You need to disassociate yourself before you do something rash like the last time.”
“Stop right there, Aquarius. I can see where you’re going with this and that’s too far!”
“If the shoe fits. But I have a date now, so you’ll need to behave without my prompting. And I’ll know.”
*
There was definitely a conspiracy afoot. He'd glanced, just a glance through the Window and there was Cancer half a step behind him. "She's growing up, you know. Pretty soon she's going to settle down and focus on her novel, ebi. And maybe something more. She's going to get old and you're not, ebi."
Eyes still locked on Lucy through the Window, Leo answered, "I will always protect her."
With the sound of retreating footsteps, he thought it was over, but Cancer had a few more words. "You're thinking like a human, Leo. "Always" actually means something here, ebi."
*
"It's been a long time, Leo."
"Aries! How are you? You look great." Leo grinned genuinely in what felt like the first time in months. Even though the members of the Zodiac tended to keep to their own, there were some, like Aquarius, that spent most of their time mingling with the minor spirits.
"Wonderful. Have I told you about my new summoner? He's such a sweet man, always has me play with his daughters." She giggled and glowed with a light Kalain tried to break.
Leo laughed and they walked in silence towards the large white marble building reserved for members of the Zodiac. "I take it you're coming to the gathering?"
She nodded and held her hands up under her chin. "It's been thirty years since the last one. I don't think I've seen Sagittarius since then. You and he have the same summoner, don't you?"
Scratching the back of his head, Leo answered, "Yes. Actually, I think Lucy has most of our keys. Aquarius, Cancer, Virgo…"
Before she could answer, they'd reached the large den where they usually met. Loki sank into the deep blue sofa and relaxed the muscles in his shoulders. Seeing everyone gathered together gave him a nostalgic feeling. He'd been especially close with Scorpio before the last meeting, but hadn't seen him since Kalain was his summoner. His heart no longer ached when he thought of her - maybe he'd finally found his redemption.
"Leo, you look so different now, I almost didn't recognize you." Scorpio's comment knocked him out of his thoughts.
"Ha, you look the same as you did ten years ago."
Scorpio preened in a fashion more suited to Cancer and said, "Not all of us as so mercurial as to change in the blink of an eye."
"All right, everyone else is here. Where. Is. Sagittarius?" Aquarius's angry glare seemed distinctly out of place in the delicate goldfish-filled water feature, but Leo knew much better than to snicker.
As if summoned, Sagittarius's gate materialized and the man collapsed out of it onto the floor. Even though his wounds immediately closed, Leo knew from experience he'd be sore and weak for a few days. "Sorry I'm late. Our summoner got into a spot of trouble unexpectedly."
"Did that chit lose her keys again!?"
A nod. "Just before she and I were separated from her teammates."
"I am going to beat her so hard- Leo! No!"
Loki knocked off the strong grip on his shoulder and shoved his way into a clear space where he could open his gate. Over his shoulder he yelled, "She needs me! I don't care if she doesn't have her keys! I will protect her! Open the Gate of the Lion!"
One disorienting step later and Loki stood directly behind Lucy, only to find himself in the circle of more-than-slightly charred attackers. In front of Lucy, Natsu was crowing his victory and pumping his fist in the air like he had since he joined Fairy Tail. "Hey Loki! Did you come to see me kick all of their asses? I'm awesome, aren't I?"
Feeling Lucy's startled gaze on him, Leo fought to keep from looking down at her on the ground. Throwing on his best fake smile, he said, "Just checking up on everything. Well, things seem to be in control. I'll be off now." When he materialized back in the Spirit World, he pretended that Lucy's weak "Loki..?" was just his imagination.
Aquarius's triumphant expression did nothing to make him feel better.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Loki/Lucy
Genre: Drama
Word Count: 1.400
Summary: Loki is the eternal spirit of the Zodiac, Leo, and one day, he will have to give up all of his attachments to the human world.
Notes: This started out as an IM spam with nuakiire. She's drawn art for it here on devart.
You're One of Us
“You’re one of us, Leo. A Stellar Spirit.”
Five years since his return to the spirit world, Loki still feels a greater connection to the human world. Even though he’s never needed to, he’s kept the habit of eating at least once a day. As a member of the Zodiac, he’s one of the few able to look down on the human world - something he takes ample advantage of. The other Zodiac members don’t approve of his actions. “As if I could forget, with you always breathing down my neck, Aquarius.”
The mermaid leaned over his shoulder to look through the Window, though she clearly anticipated what she would see. “I like Lucy more than most of the summoners I’ve had. She’s a nice young woman, but you’ve noticed it yourself; she’s taking fewer missions and becoming more domestic. Spirits don’t fit into that storyline.”
You don’t fit into that storyline.
*
As the last of the shadow demons dissipated under the light of his Regulus, Loki felt Lucy approach him from behind. Clenching his jaw, he restrained himself from returning her one-armed hug around his waist.
“You were great today, like always.” Lucy punctuated her sentence with the self-assured smile that made Loki believe in her those years ago. “It’s still early, do you want to go get some lunch? I saw a place on the way in that-“
“Thank you, Lucy, but you know I don’t need any food. I’ll leave first.”
“Welcome back, Leo.” Aquarius has her arms out as if to take his coat. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Certainly more appropriate than you have been acting. I should supervise more often.”
“You’re not my superior.”
“And yet you act so differently when I’m watching.” The smug expression on her face made Loki want to punch something.
“I don’t want to hear it. Why aren’t you with your boyfriend you’re always abandoning Lucy for?”
With a scoff and a wave of her hand, Aquarius dismissed the subject change. “You spent such a short time with those Fairy Tail mages and even less with that girl and yet-“
“Three years isn’t a short time!” Loki held onto his anger while he waited for Aquarius’s response. He was tired of the baiting.
“We’re spirits of the Zodiac. We are eternal. Three years is nothing in the face of that. Human lives are fleeting, but it shouldn’t take her death to remind you of your true comrades. I’m saving you from yourself and her from you. The little idiot will never get a boyfriend with you looming over her shoulder. Let her find her own happiness.”
*
The Spirit King had the power to distance the memories of a spirit. He usually used this ability when a spirit’s contract broke…abruptly. He could even fully “reset” a spirit so that they had none of their former memories or experiences - this was almost exclusively practiced on the lesser spirits, allowing them to even be named by their summoners.
It was only Aquarius’s threat of being reset that kept Leo from watching Lucy in the human world and opening his gate to her side on a whim. That being the case, he nearly jumped for joy when his gate opened before him on its own. The only force keeping him grounded was Aquarius’s knowing look from the Window.
“There you are, Loki! Where have you been! I used to have to force-close your gate once a week!” Flushed cheeks, slight pout, confident stance: everything about Lucy made it so hard to do what was right.
He had to look away before he could say anything. “My name is Leo.”
“What?” Even without looking, he could perfectly picture her confusion. All of her expressions were burned behind his eyelids, even brighter than his Lion Brilliance.
“The member of the Zodiac already have individual names -I don’t need another.” He glanced in her direction, a poor semblance of eye contact, and then continued, “You’re not in any trouble, so I’ll leave first.”
When the human world disappeared and Lucy with it, it had to be Aquarius waiting for him. “Are you happy now?”
“All you’ve shown is that you should be reset, Leo. Maybe our summoner is too oblivious to see it, but you’re too emotionally invested. You need to disassociate yourself before you do something rash like the last time.”
“Stop right there, Aquarius. I can see where you’re going with this and that’s too far!”
“If the shoe fits. But I have a date now, so you’ll need to behave without my prompting. And I’ll know.”
*
There was definitely a conspiracy afoot. He'd glanced, just a glance through the Window and there was Cancer half a step behind him. "She's growing up, you know. Pretty soon she's going to settle down and focus on her novel, ebi. And maybe something more. She's going to get old and you're not, ebi."
Eyes still locked on Lucy through the Window, Leo answered, "I will always protect her."
With the sound of retreating footsteps, he thought it was over, but Cancer had a few more words. "You're thinking like a human, Leo. "Always" actually means something here, ebi."
*
"It's been a long time, Leo."
"Aries! How are you? You look great." Leo grinned genuinely in what felt like the first time in months. Even though the members of the Zodiac tended to keep to their own, there were some, like Aquarius, that spent most of their time mingling with the minor spirits.
"Wonderful. Have I told you about my new summoner? He's such a sweet man, always has me play with his daughters." She giggled and glowed with a light Kalain tried to break.
Leo laughed and they walked in silence towards the large white marble building reserved for members of the Zodiac. "I take it you're coming to the gathering?"
She nodded and held her hands up under her chin. "It's been thirty years since the last one. I don't think I've seen Sagittarius since then. You and he have the same summoner, don't you?"
Scratching the back of his head, Leo answered, "Yes. Actually, I think Lucy has most of our keys. Aquarius, Cancer, Virgo…"
Before she could answer, they'd reached the large den where they usually met. Loki sank into the deep blue sofa and relaxed the muscles in his shoulders. Seeing everyone gathered together gave him a nostalgic feeling. He'd been especially close with Scorpio before the last meeting, but hadn't seen him since Kalain was his summoner. His heart no longer ached when he thought of her - maybe he'd finally found his redemption.
"Leo, you look so different now, I almost didn't recognize you." Scorpio's comment knocked him out of his thoughts.
"Ha, you look the same as you did ten years ago."
Scorpio preened in a fashion more suited to Cancer and said, "Not all of us as so mercurial as to change in the blink of an eye."
"All right, everyone else is here. Where. Is. Sagittarius?" Aquarius's angry glare seemed distinctly out of place in the delicate goldfish-filled water feature, but Leo knew much better than to snicker.
As if summoned, Sagittarius's gate materialized and the man collapsed out of it onto the floor. Even though his wounds immediately closed, Leo knew from experience he'd be sore and weak for a few days. "Sorry I'm late. Our summoner got into a spot of trouble unexpectedly."
"Did that chit lose her keys again!?"
A nod. "Just before she and I were separated from her teammates."
"I am going to beat her so hard- Leo! No!"
Loki knocked off the strong grip on his shoulder and shoved his way into a clear space where he could open his gate. Over his shoulder he yelled, "She needs me! I don't care if she doesn't have her keys! I will protect her! Open the Gate of the Lion!"
One disorienting step later and Loki stood directly behind Lucy, only to find himself in the circle of more-than-slightly charred attackers. In front of Lucy, Natsu was crowing his victory and pumping his fist in the air like he had since he joined Fairy Tail. "Hey Loki! Did you come to see me kick all of their asses? I'm awesome, aren't I?"
Feeling Lucy's startled gaze on him, Leo fought to keep from looking down at her on the ground. Throwing on his best fake smile, he said, "Just checking up on everything. Well, things seem to be in control. I'll be off now." When he materialized back in the Spirit World, he pretended that Lucy's weak "Loki..?" was just his imagination.
Aquarius's triumphant expression did nothing to make him feel better.