"Boy do I have a killer sweet tooth." Alter mumbled as he drove by the streets back home, "I'll give the cuisine here a thumb up for having way more flavor than normal ramen, but it makes it hard to choose…" he slowed down near a bakery where the smell of freshly made chicken sandwiches with hot sauce hit his nostrils, "Ah St. Gentlemen Bakery, you always know how to make me happy."
As he walked in, passing by a man dressed in a colorful suit that was taking his time choosing his meal, he grabbed what he wanted for dinner and was ready to pay.
The rest of his day would have been uneventful, but, "Ah, someone took the last good sandwich and left one with a hole." Alter noticed that the man that paid after him was leaving in a hurry, "Ugh… I wanted to taste the famous chicken sandwich at least once…"
He saw a very busty blonde with her hair done in adorable pigtails, her breasts threatening to pop out of her white top, and warm brown eyes. She looked distraught as she seemed to contemplate whether or not to get the sandwich with a hole, and he looked at his with freshly baked bread. As the playful bastard that he really was, he felt tempted to eat it and ask her what was wrong after taking a bite, if not for her hand.
"Fairy Tail?" he noticed the pink emblem on the back of her hand, and while confused he decided to see what was going on, and to earn some charisma points, "Well, that's unfortunate but fortunate for you, little lady." He approached her with his hat tipped up and his warmly smiling fox face, "St. Gentlemen only makes those sandwiches in the morning and afternoon, so if you want the fresh ones, you're out of luck."
The girl sighed, "I see, the—" she was surprised as he handed her his meal, "Huh?"
"Don't worry, it's not a problem. I just want to talk with you." He started.
He shouldn't have been surprised when she moved into a defensive stance and looked for something in her pocket, "Stay back, you weird old man?"
"Old?" he asked with a perfectly acted chuckle, "Just because I have white hair I'm only twenty-one. Anyhow, I just want to talk with you. I'm an acquaintance of your guild." He handed her one of his cards, "Name's Haru Alter, inspector and administrator at the council. I usually deal with the toughest guilds, yours included."
The girl read it and pocketed it, "I see, still, you don't seem like an inspector."
"Have you ever seen one?" he rhetorically asked, "Most guilds are either somewhat reasonable or at least follow the norms. Guilds like Fairy Tail are a danger to walk in."
She paled at some memories, "I can't argue with that. So, Mr. Alter, why do you want to talk to me?"
He put his hat on his chest and bowed a bit, "Just consider it an informal interview to get to know better a new mage in the system. After all, I'm not one who wants to overlook details, and even less when there is a pretty lady around."
His words caused the girl to blush and look away, very flattered, "Well, you're certainly a decent gentleman. Oh!" she clasped her hands and bowed her head, "I am Lucy Heartfilia, nice to meet you and sorry for not introducing myself earlier!"
He put his hat back on, making sure to cover his eyes as he processed her last name, "Heartfilia, huh?" he knew she was worried with how he said her name, so he tipped up his hat and smiled warmly, "That's an odd name if I can say so. Sorry, a girl of the heart, huh? You certainly look cute and energetic enough to be that."
She felt herself blushing again, "Thank you, Mr. Alter. So, um, where do we start?"
"How about after I get myself something else for dinner in the park outside this place?" he asked and patted his empty stomach, "I'm craving blueberry pie all of a sudden."
Later, they sat on a bench with Alter enjoying a slice of blueberry pie with a plastic fork and Lucy trying to contain herself from finishing her sandwich too fast, "Alright, what do you need to know?"
"Well, for some reason there are guys at the council that ask for the three measurements of each adult girl that pop in, but I'm not them." He answered with a shrug and noticed the girl's eyes twitching as her hand reached for her pocket, "Worry not, I make sure to put the word 'secret' in each slot so whoever wants to know shuts up about it."
She relaxed a bit, but her hand remained near her pocket, "Why bring that up?"
"Some of the guys at the council try to get the pretty girls into being models." He answered matter-of-factly, "I bet you know a cute lady called Mira at your guild, right? She's the face my bosses want people to put together with your guild, not some of the… more energetic ones."
She groaned, "You could call them destructive and I wouldn't object."
"See, that's part of the job, I can't talk too badly about anyone or I get into trouble." He sighed and pulled out some papers after setting his half-eaten slice of pie on his lap, "Feel free to fill that one if you are tight for cash and feel like you have what it takes. Now, the real meat here is asking about your abilities? You can keep quiet about it in case it can harm you or reveal some secrets that could harm your performance."
"I'm a Spirit Mage, so that's kind of self-explanatory." She answered, and his eyes lit up.
"Really?!" he chortled, confusing her, "You're the first I've met that isn't a…" he rubbed the back of his head, "Well, you're the second one I've met, and the good thing is that you aren't like the first one."
"How so?"
"Well, she wasn't the nicest of people, she even used one of her spirits like some… pimp, for the lack of a better word." He let his act slip as he could growl in anger, "It may disturb you hearing me say so, but it's no wonder that not a single soul mourned her when she died."
Lucy was frozen in horror, "E-Even so, to say that of some—"
"Sorry!" he returned back to his act, rubbing his face tiredly, "It's been a long day, and… No, there's no excuse. That lady was a piece of work, using a poor female spirit despite the poor sweetheart's protests like a two-bit…" he let his face fall into his hands, "Sorry again, the memories really irk me."
"Then let's change subjects." He heard the shift in her tone, she was more sympathetic towards him, meaning she also felt angry hearing the story.
Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his face a bit more to hide a smirk at another memory. It doesn't hurt that I took cute little Aries-chan's key from that witch. He thought and resisted the urge to pat his shirt's breast pocket, "So!" he returned to a calmer appearance, "You rely on your spirits to do most of the fighting, so it must be tough to be among some of Fairy Tail's… uh…"
"Strongest?" she asked, confused.
He nodded, "I tried to say elite, but you can see why it's hard to even call them the best." He looked up, "Well, actually, the really good ones are mostly the girls. Mira's great and a love, Erza is tough and her attitude of no-nonsense really helps, Levy is adorable and at least tries to be polite… and now there's you."
He was happy to see her smile, "Do you always flatter girls?" she didn't seem to mind he did.
"I like to think of myself as a professional charmer." He snickered a bit, "One needs to know his way around people in this line of work to get something done, and it helps greatly when I have to see pretty faces."
She giggled but nodded, "Thank you. So, what else do you want to ask?"
"Nothing too serious or invasive, just a simple summary of what you can do will suffice, and I'll handle everything." As the two talked and enjoyed dinner, Alter pondered on what to do with the pretty girl. She had some interesting abilities, summoning spirits of all things, and was quite lovely, "I think I got it… Would you mind me seeing you in action?"
"What?" she grew worried, "You know the mages at my guild and how dangerous they are, and you want to tag along?"
He smiled, pulling out one of his cards, "I may be an office worker, but I got my tricks." He threw the card, nailing it to a tree with some wind chakra. Lucy was impressed already, but she'd have been more had she seen him cut a mosquito perfectly in half with that throw.
Surprised, Lucy put some thought into it, "I'll talk this out when I get a mission, alright?"
He beamed, "That's good enough. See you tomorrow, then. Oh, and if you want, I can treat you to lunch."
Her cheeks grew red and a smile spread on her face, "Thanks."
With that said and done, Alter walked to his single-room apartment. Nothing big or out of the ordinary, just a small cozy home with everything he needed, and a perch to put his coat, scarf and hat on. As he sat on the sofa he stared at a single key in his shirt's breast pocket with a ram horn design. Tiredly, he used it and saw a girl that could only be described as fluffy and cute. Long pink hair, a curvaceous petite body that could make any man and even some women happy, and a shy expression on her face were what he needed to smile. He didn't mind the ram horns or wool dress that seemed designed to make her more sheep-like.
"Ah, Mr. Alter!" she blushed and bowed to him, which made him smile.
"No need to be so formal, Aries." He started and eyed her with his friendly attitude, "Say, I met a Spirit mage just today, and was wondering if, after everything that happened, you'd be interested to hear me out."
She looked away, "But why…? After all that happened and how mad you seemed about her—" he cut her off with a hand on her head while standing at his full height. Aries blushed even harder as she tilted her head back to look at the taller man whose warm smile had her heart skip a few beats.
"I won't force you to anything, but if you want to start anew with a proper mage, I may have found the proper one." He offered her a seat and walked to his kitchen, "How's green tea sound?"
"Oh! Uh… lovely!" she curled into a ball on his sofa, her knees on her generous bosom.
He handed her a cup while the water boiled and sat on his couch before her, "After recovering your key from that site, I knew I wasn't fit to have you around. Sure, I summon you, but it's not like we have a contract. If anything, I'd say we're just friends who like to chat. Well, I do, in exchange for knowing more about you spirits."
She was captivated by his warmth and nodded, "Because you're so kind, caring, and…" she blushed, "You… really took care of me after that… event. After everything that happened, you could just sell me, but you have kept my key safe to look for a good mage for me. I fully trust your judgment with all the effort you've put into making me feel happy."
He chuckled, "It's the least I can do for a pretty thing after what happened to you at the hands of that b—" he thanked his lucky stars that the pot's whistle stopped him from breaking character and cursing, "Sorry, I'll be right back." After swiftly filling her cup, he continued, "So, would you be interested in getting to know her? At least after I make sure she's fit for you."
Aries was confused, "But didn't you say you found the right one?"
"I said I may have…" he shrugged, "I can't really let the same story repeat itself, so I want you to accompany me to see how well she does and hear your thoughts." He sealed the deal with a playful grin, "I really do want to see you happy for a change."
Hiding her beet red face with her cup, Aries nodded while looking away from him, "If… If that's what you want, Mr. Alter, I wouldn't mind."
He grinned and closed his eyes, really happy with himself. This could be interesting. Helping Lucy to get all the gold keys could give me access to see what these spirits are like, and perhaps even learn how to be whole once again without needing him. He slightly opened one eye, giving himself a predatory look that Aries didn't notice with her cup on her face, And with all the people playing around, pulling strings behind so many, I'd be glad to know if they have ways of making them regret their existence.
"Your Majesty, there's really no need—"
"Shush, I can't have you work for me and not worry."
In her massive chambers complete with a bed that would be too big for a human family, Shagotte was busy moving her paws over Haruto's body, her paw pads hovering inches from him. He sat on the bed and felt slightly bored as the queen without her robes tried to tend to him. Worry was all over her face. Her hands glowed with energy to see if he was injured or harmed in his latest battle.
"If Erza had harmed me, I would have known." He reasoned, but to no avail.
"And I can't be sure that King Faust didn't order that kind of fight to get one over you… Ah!" her gasp made his head turn as she pulled out a tiny needle from his arm.
He arched a brow and rolled his sleeve to see… not a single sign that it had been there, "Was that really there, or are you—"
Her glare said she wasn't kidding, "This needle has some sort of ointment on it. Whatever it is must have dulled your senses when it pierced your skin. Who even knows what it may have?" she threw it down and he let out a sigh of relief as he moved his arm.
"My arm feels a bit lighter…" he opened and closed his palm and smiled, "If it was poison, my body must be dealing with it. I'll give Knightwalker credit for being sneaky, but the question at hand is: what to do?"
Shagotte put a paw to her chin, pondering, "The king will think he poisoned my bodyguard… Why not let him think so?" she told him with a slightly devilish grin.
"You have your mean side, my queen. Can't say I blame you considering who we're dealing with, though." He told her and she smiled warmly, glad he was safe.
It was an odd friendship both had, but they knew things would get crazy sooner or later.