Quest for the Eighty-Eight Keys

Chapter Two: Rufus Makes a Move

Rufus watched as Sting sat across from him at their table, hunched over a bunch of paperwork and occasionally cursing him out under his breath. The memory-make mage rolled his eyes at his Guild Master and repeated for the umpteenth time that morning, "if you don't get the paperwork done now, then it will pile up and you will have to spend even more time on it."

Sting furrowed his brow as he looked up at his friend and bit back, "I hate paperwork!"

Rufus sighed, responding, "well, you have to do it." He watched as the other blonde groaned and resumed his paperwork. He then turned his head to the side to see Rogue and Yukino playing a card game. He watched the pair play for a few moments before turning his dark green gaze back to Sting.

He was bored. Incredibly bored. The only reason he wasn't on a job was that he had injured his leg on his last one and was banned from going on a job for a few weeks. That was a couple of weeks ago, meaning he had one more week to go. His mind wandered to Fairy Tail and their celestial wizard.

Since things have calmed down, Lucy had been visiting frequently, mainly to see Yukino. Nevertheless, the blonde woman had acquainted herself with much of Sabertooth, especially Yukino's closest friends. Rufus had bonded with her on the topic of a common interest in literature and had spent several hours talking about their individual guilds and close friends, though Sorano liked to call it "gossiping."

It didn't take long for Rufus to find himself wanting to spend more time with Lucy the more she visited. He's found himself contemplating paying a visit to the destructive guild solely for the reason of spending more time with Lucy. Just the mere thought of sitting across from her and talking about whatever topic came to mind made his cheeks become warm and caused his gut to do flips.

Several days ago, he had heard Yukino mention to her sister that she and Mira had talked about setting Lucy up with someone. The blonde man had been reading a book, only partially listening to the two sisters since they were being rather loud, however, that reveal from Yukino was what dragged his attention away from his book and over to Yukino and Sorano.

He had stared down at his book, turning the page every few minutes, as he listened to what Yukino said. Apparently, she and the Fairy Tail barmaid had been recently talking about who they should attempt to set Lucy up with as a romantic partner. Several men had been considered: Laxus, Sting, Rogue, Midnight, Freed, Bixlow, Orga, and more men who he didn't know. With every male name, Rufus had felt a rotten feeling in his gut get stronger and stronger, his cursed mind imagining Lucy going on dates with these men. He had found himself hating the very thought of Lucy dating another man.

And then Yukino had stated that she believed Rufus would be an excellent match for Lucy. The memory-make mage had allowed his mind to imagine him dating Lucy. Walking through the park as they ranted to each other about their idiotic friends, having dinner together as they debated an academic topic, cuddling in bed as a comfortable silence befell them. He had felt the unpleasant feeling in his gut quickly disappear and get replaced with a fluttering feeling as his cheeks warmed into a faint blush.

It was at that moment that Rufus realized, he had fallen in love with Lucy.

Rufus was brought out of his thoughts when Yukino called from her spot right beside him, "Lucy!" She then jumped up and ran to the entrance of the Sabertooth guildhall. The blonde man who had just nearly become partially deaf, looked in the direction of the two large wooden doors and blushed upon seeing Lucy's bright smile as she hugged Yukino and started making her way over to the table that he was sitting at.

The celestial wizard turned her gaze to Rufus and waved as she greeted him, "hey, Rufus!"

The blushing memory-make mage turned his head away to instead look at the discarded cards next to him on the table as he responded with as much of a calm but polite tone as he could manage, "hello, Lucy. It's very nice to see you again."